Travelers from across the sea, welcome to the Chesapeake Colonies. Life here is very different from that of England, and I am sure you are very curious to learn more about the Chesapeake and how people live their lives over here. I’m Mary Hudson and I will be telling you a little bit about the life I have been living, since I migrated over here from England in the mid-1600’s.
In the early years of settlement, more than three-quarters of the white population of the Chesapeake consisted of men. So after I arrived, it was not long until I met a wonderful man named John Hudson, whom I then married several months later. John is a major plantation owner, who recently started growing tobacco because it has become a major cash crop in the Chesapeake and is in very high demand these days. However, the growing of tobacco ruins the land, so my …show more content…
As a result of this, he had to buy a lot more slaves to work in the fields. Landowners used to rely on the work of indentured servants, but when the emigration of indentured servants into America declined, they started to rely much more heavily on African slavery as their principle source of labor. This was an easy thing to do because at the time, more and more Africans were being brought to the region to serve as slaves. So, while my husband usually spends his days supervising and working on the fields, I stay at home and take care of our three amazing children. I have given birth five times, but two of my babies did not survive infancy due to infections they caught after they were born. Although I still grieve the loss of my baby boys, I am very thankful and lucky that I have lived through all my childbirths, so that my three children get to have a mother to raise them. Many women and babies
In the early years of settlement, more than three-quarters of the white population of the Chesapeake consisted of men. So after I arrived, it was not long until I met a wonderful man named John Hudson, whom I then married several months later. John is a major plantation owner, who recently started growing tobacco because it has become a major cash crop in the Chesapeake and is in very high demand these days. However, the growing of tobacco ruins the land, so my …show more content…
As a result of this, he had to buy a lot more slaves to work in the fields. Landowners used to rely on the work of indentured servants, but when the emigration of indentured servants into America declined, they started to rely much more heavily on African slavery as their principle source of labor. This was an easy thing to do because at the time, more and more Africans were being brought to the region to serve as slaves. So, while my husband usually spends his days supervising and working on the fields, I stay at home and take care of our three amazing children. I have given birth five times, but two of my babies did not survive infancy due to infections they caught after they were born. Although I still grieve the loss of my baby boys, I am very thankful and lucky that I have lived through all my childbirths, so that my three children get to have a mother to raise them. Many women and babies