Examine the challenges the virginians faced and the ways in which their efforts changed the colony socially and economically over the century. DBQ #1 The Virginian people faced many challenges throughout the 17th century, and their efforts changed the colony both socially and economically. Economically, the Virginians had a lot of land to farm and even needed a cheap work source. Socially, they lived in a cruel environment full of diseases and low reproduction rate.
The Virginians had economical challenges and economical efforts that changed and effected them. The economical challenges involved men dieing because of illness or wars. Document A] There was no money because of the ongoing war with the Indians, so the farm owners had to look for a cheap source who could work their land, known as indentured servants. There was a contract binding a servant to a land owner in the colonies, allowing him to come to the new world if he worked a certain amount of years, and in return the servant would receive land of his own. [Document C] This effort was made a lot of farm owners tons of money, even though they had to pay for the passage of their indentured servants, they acquired fifty acres of land for every servant and it was a cheap labor source.
There were social challenges and social efforts the Virginias had to face or come up with. There were little food to go around, because the plantation is full of disease and the indentured servants where full of diseases. [Document B] This challenges they face of food shortage and disease made it hard for an indentured servant to live in the colonies, some wanted to go back to Britain but couldn’t because of their contract binding. An effort the Virginians faced to help get an even cheaper and less rebellious type of work source were to bring in slaves from Africa.
In these ships Africans were treated like animals chains up one to another treated like animals and had to lay on a ship crowded next to each other till they arrived in colonies. [Document F] There was little money the farm owners had so the African slaves were sent to the colonies to take the place of the indentured servants. African slaves were a cheaper work labor, and they didn’t have to treat them fairly, which they didn’t do either way. Bacon’s Rebellion took place when the indentured servants revolted because of harsh living environments, and they were not receiving their promised land.
