The Building Blocks of Chesapeake
“By 1617, the colonists had grown enough tobacco to send the first commercial shipment to England, where it sold for a higher price” (Roark 56). Chesapeake thrived with growing a newly studied crop, tobacco. This crop requires a strenuous amount of man hours to grow, and harvest to make money. This complication requires more than just a few farmers, thus a system of indentured servants was put in place as a solution. The system of bringing indentured servants to Chesapeake for work gave them a new start in their lives. With the system of indentured servants the Chesapeake society began to flourish tremendously. With a higher initial cost for African Slaves, indentured servants were a better choice for the people of Chesapeake. …show more content…
Becoming an indentured servant was appealing to many poor Europeans. This is because they were given an opportunity to lead a new life and have a possibility of paving a new way of wealth for themselves and their families. It was also more profitable for tobacco farmers to pay for an indentured servants trip to the New World rather than pay for an African American slaves to be shipped from Africa. This turned the colony of Chesapeake into a heavily European based population. One of the benefits of signing the contract to become an indentured servant was they benefits that they were entitled to. They specified that they would obtain “ transportation from England, as well as food and shelter after they arrived in the colony” (Roark 56). It was even more so beneficial for the farmer bringing the indentured servant to the New world because, “Each indentured servant meant more land for his sponsor under the headright system, which had the effect of squeezing out small‐scale farming”
“By 1617, the colonists had grown enough tobacco to send the first commercial shipment to England, where it sold for a higher price” (Roark 56). Chesapeake thrived with growing a newly studied crop, tobacco. This crop requires a strenuous amount of man hours to grow, and harvest to make money. This complication requires more than just a few farmers, thus a system of indentured servants was put in place as a solution. The system of bringing indentured servants to Chesapeake for work gave them a new start in their lives. With the system of indentured servants the Chesapeake society began to flourish tremendously. With a higher initial cost for African Slaves, indentured servants were a better choice for the people of Chesapeake. …show more content…
Becoming an indentured servant was appealing to many poor Europeans. This is because they were given an opportunity to lead a new life and have a possibility of paving a new way of wealth for themselves and their families. It was also more profitable for tobacco farmers to pay for an indentured servants trip to the New World rather than pay for an African American slaves to be shipped from Africa. This turned the colony of Chesapeake into a heavily European based population. One of the benefits of signing the contract to become an indentured servant was they benefits that they were entitled to. They specified that they would obtain “ transportation from England, as well as food and shelter after they arrived in the colony” (Roark 56). It was even more so beneficial for the farmer bringing the indentured servant to the New world because, “Each indentured servant meant more land for his sponsor under the headright system, which had the effect of squeezing out small‐scale farming”