Chesapeake Colonies

1721 map of the Chesapeake region

The Chesapeake Colonies were the Colony and Dominion of Virginia, later the Commonwealth of Virginia, and Province of Maryland, later Maryland, both colonies located in British America and centered on the Chesapeake Bay. Settlements of the Chesapeake region grew slowly due to disease (malaria etc.) Most of these settlers were male immigrants from England who died soon after their arrival. Due to the majority of men, eligible women did not remain single for long. The native-born population eventually became immune to the Chesapeake diseases and these colonies were able to continue through all the hardships.

Chesapeake had one crop economy that was based on tobacco. This contributed to the slave labor necessity in the southern colonies. The tobacco also ruined the soil and much more land was in demand. White and African indentured servants were also common in this region early in its settlement, gradually being replaced by African slaves by the latter half of the seventeenth century due to improved economic conditions in Europe leading to decreased emigration to the Chesapeake region. Indentured servants were people who signed a contract of indenture requiring them to work for their Chesapeake masters for on average five to seven years in return for the coverage of the cost of the Atlantic crossing. When finished, would be given land and an "outfit" consisting of a suit of clothes, some farm tools, seed, and perhaps a gun.

See also

• First Families of Virginia
• Colonial families of Maryland
• Thirteen Colonies
• Middle Colonies
• Southern Colonies
• Colonial South and the Chesapeake

References

Mark C. Carnes & John A. Garraty, The American Nation: A History of the United States, Pearson Education, 2006.