As settlers first began moving into the Eastern regions of North America, life was tough for them. Unknown terrain, possibly hostile Natives, new diseases, and unclean environments. At first, the colonists weren’t even capable of surviving and keeping up with the land. England sent over perfumers and bankers rather than farmers or blacksmiths which resulted in a very fatal blow to the population of colonists sent over. But they soon realized what they had taken responsibility for and fixed their mistake. The starting of new colonies wasn’t easy but in the end, the people of Chesapeake turned around and created a blossoming colony that we can now proudly call the U.S.
Two major colonial regions began at around the same time, yet were drastically different in many ways. Those regions were New England and Chesapeake of course. First was the colony of New England. This region in the NorthEastern part of what is now the US was pretty cold which allowed most bugs that carried deadly or harmful diseases to be killed off. Another major factor that helped this colony thrive and flourish was that there wasn’t a mixing of salt and fresh water. The water was clean so this allowed the colonists to bathe and drink without worry. They also had much more of even men to women ratio that helped them reproduce at a quicker and healthier rate. Because of the healthier climate, even sex ratios, and cleaner environments, men and women tended to live longer and have higher life expectancies.
Now, in contrast to the New England people, the Chesapeake was struggling much more with staying alive and well to build a colony. The environment was unclean to start. They arrived at a part of the North American coast that was very marshy. This was a hazard to health because mosquitoes ran rampant due to the regionally higher temperatures and swamp-like environments and this was a cause for concern because they carried malaria. Malaria was a huge problem during these times because the medicine and “treatments” they had for illnesses were often ineffective or resulted in a quicker death. Life expectancy was much lower in this region as well. 30 to 31 years lower than that in New England. Infant mortality was also very high with a 25% mortality rate among them. With very few children being born and people dying off more quickly, it’s amazing that they even had the manpower to pick themselves back up.
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So the question is, how did the Chesapeake people survive? It’s honestly quite interesting if you look at how they started, where they ended up, and how much of a difference there is in between. The Chesapeake people ended up having something pretty great going for them. They had three major cash crops: tobacco, rice, and indigo. Indigo was a very popular blue dye in England at the time and tobacco was very big there too. Slave labor was also very heavily depended upon. With more and more African slaves being transported to the colonies, the need for indentured servitude decreased. With indentured servitude no longer necessary, people could now save up their money before coming over here which meant the want for more land to produce crops also increased along with the population. All of these factors contributed to the Southern economy flourishing and defining social and political structures.
Another big question that needs to be answered is: did the Chesapeake deserve to survive? Putting aside the awful treatment of Africans aboard the ship on the Middle Passage and the fact that they even treated African people as less than others, I do think that the Chesapeake people did deserve to survive. From the very beginning, they were met with a harsh climate, had to face pretty terrifying mortality rates, and just figure out how to survive in a new region altogether. But before it was too late, they had figured out fantastic ways to produce a healthy and booming economy and colony.
Taking everything into account, it’s amazing that there was such a successful creation of the U.S. today when you consider the hardships that all of the colonists had to face coming over here. Although there was such a drastic difference between the northern and southern colonies, both wound up becoming something greater than I’m sure any of the colonists could ever have imagined. Despite the struggles that the South faced in their upbringing in Chesapeake, they faced it head-on and survived some of the harshest conditions. With everything I’ve learned about the colonial people, I know that they were tough and dedicated people more than deserving of survival.
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