Unit 2. European Settlement in America., Apuntes de Historia de los Estados Unidos

¡Descarga Unit 2. European Settlement in America. y más Apuntes en PDF de Historia de los Estados Unidos solo en Docsity! UNIT 2: EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT IN AMERICA. 1. Britain in the New World. Most modern American citizens consider Great Britain to be their European "parent" country. However, by the time British arrived in the New World and established their first permanent settlement at Jamestown in 1607, much of the continent had already been claimed by other European nations. All of the modern Southwest, including Texas and California, had been peopled by Spanish settlers for about a century. The entire expanse of land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Rocky Mountains had at one point been claimed by France. Many factors contributed to Britain's tardiness. England was not the most powerful European nation in the 16th century. Spain was most influential. Along with Portugal, Spain dominated New World exploration in the decades that followed Columbus. France, the Netherlands, and Sweden all showed greater interest in the Western Hemisphere than England did. Late Expectations: A voyage by John Cabot on behalf of English investors in 1497 failed to spark any great interest in the New World. England was divided in the 1500s by great religious turmoil. When Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church in 1533, decades of religious strife ensued. Finally, under Henry's daughter Elizabeth, the English were prepared to stake their claims. Although England was an island and therefore a seafaring nation, Spain was the undisputed superpower of the seas in the 16th century. Many of England's adventurous sea captains found that plundering Spanish ships was a far simpler means of acquiring wealth than establishing colonies. Sea Dogs and the Spanish Armada: Sea Dogs were English mariners of the Elizabethan era employed by the queen to harass the Spanish fleets and establish a foothold in the New World. Among the most prominent sea dogs were Francis Drake, John Hawkins, Humphrey Gilbertand, and Walter Raleigh. These sea captains possessed exceptional maritime and military skills as well as a burning desire for capturing Spanish treasure. These sea dogs, including Walter Raleigh, Francis Drake, and the infamous John Hawkins, helped provoke the eventual showdown between Elizabeth I's England and Philip II'S Spain. Philip was certain that his great fleet of ships would put an end to England's piracy. In 1588, one of the greatest turning points in world history occurred when Spain's "invincible" Armada of 130 ships sailed into the English Channel. Despite their numerical inferiority, the English ships were faster and easier to maneuver than the Spanish fleet. With the aid of a great storm, Elizabeth's ships humiliated Philip's navy, which returned to Spain with fewer than half their original number. This battle marked the beginning of the end of Spain's domination of Europe and the Western Hemisphere. More importantly for England, it marked the dawn of the era of permanent English Settlement of the New World. 1.1 Early Ventures Fail What kind of investment was Queen Elizabeth making? As a finanical backer of English sea captain Francis Drake, she supported a buccaneer who found it easier to plunder the gold of others than mine it himself. 1 This philosophy of plunder motivated the sea dogs of Queen Elizabeth's time. Making a business of raiding Spanish ships, John Hawkins and Francis Drake gained riches for themselves and their investors. Once, after raiding ports in New Spain, Drake was faced with a difficult dilemma. Because the Spanish fleet would surely destroy him if he attempted a conventional return, he proceeded to circumnavigate the globe in his flight. Upon Drake's safe arrival in England, the Spanish demanded his arrest. New Spain refers to Spanish-controlled territories in North America. These territories included what would become the southwest United States, Florida, Mexico, Central America north of Panama, some West Indian islands, and the islands of the Philippines. The Knight Stuff: Of course, Elizabeth refused to comply with Spain's demands. She was one of Drake's investors. Instead, she knighted him on the deck of his treasure-laden ship. In the process, Drake became the first to sail around the world since Ferdinand Magellan's voyage. He completed perhaps the longest escape route in the history of the world. As tensions flared between England and Spain, it soon became sensible for England to establish permanent settlements in the New World to rival the Spanish. If nothing more, they could serve as bases from which to raid Spanish ships. Early Attempts at Colonizing: The first to attempt such a venture was HUMPHREY GILBERT. Gilbert had already made a name for himself as a colonizer. Throughout the 1560s and 1570s, he ruthlessly put down Irish rebellions. Due to his fervor for the Church of England, he stopped short of nothing — torture, starvation, or beheading — in the name of the queen. He took this philosophy and loyalty to Newfoundland with the goal of establishing the first permanent English settlement in the New World. In 1583, he rushed ashore and proudly claimed the land for his queen — despite the fact that fishermen from other countries had lived there for decades. His ship was lost at sea on his return home. Roanoke: Sir Walter Raleigh's expedition to ROANOKE did not fare much better. In 1585, Raleigh's men settled on the small island off the coast of modern-day North Carolina. Relations with the Native American inhabitants were peaceful at first, but as the colonists' supplies dwindled, amity dwindled too. The colonists left in 1586 after beheading the local Indian chief, Wingina. Raleigh arranged for Governor John White and a group of families to return to live in peace with the natives in 1587. Violence, however, is not easily forgotten. Within one month, hostilities resumed, and White was forced to return to England to ask Raleigh for reinforcements. Time was not on White's side. When the war with Spain erupted, White could not return to the colony for three years. When he set foot on Roanoke Island in August 1590, he searched frantically for the settlers, including his daughter and granddaughter, the first English New World baby, named VIRGINIA DARE. All that could be found was the remains of a village and a mysterious word, "CROATOAN," engraved on a tree. White concluded there must be a connection between the word and a nearby Indian tribe, but before he could investigate, a violent storm forced him out to sea and back to England. This lost colony remains one of the greatest mysteries of the colonial period. 1.2 Jamestown Settlement and the "Starving Time" The first joint-stock company to launch a lasting venture to the New World was the Virginia Company Of London. The investors had one goal in mind: gold. They hoped to repeat the success of Spaniards who found gold in South America. 2 Because land could not be owned, it could not be sold or yielded in treaty. Selling land was the equivalent of selling air. The English view of individual land ownership was completely foreign to the Powhatans, who could not understand being pushed off tribal lands so it could be sold to individuals. To the Powhatans, the loss of their land was a matter worth fighting for. Warfare and disease eliminated about 90% percent of the Native American population in Virginia within the first 60 years of English settlement. 1.5 The House of Burgesses Although many differences separated Spain and France from England, perhaps the factor that contributed most to distinct paths of colonization was the form of their government. Spain and France had absolute monarchies, but Britain had a limited monarchy. In New France and New Spain, all authority flowed from the Crown to the settlers, with no input from below. An absolute monarchy is a state in which the monarch has sovereign power and controls all aspects of government without being checked by any representative assemblies. A limited or constitutional monarchy is a state in which the power of the monarch is checked by other constitutionally sanctioned institutions, such as a Representative Assembly (e.g., the British Parliament). The English kings who ruled the 13 original colonies reserved the right to decide the fate of their colonies as well, but not alone. The colonists drew upon their claims to traditional English rights and insisted on raising their own representative assemblies. In April, 1619, Governor George Yeardley arrived in Virginia from England and announced that the Virginia Company had voted to abolish martial law and create a legislative assembly. It became the House of Burgesses — the first legislative assembly in the American colonies. The first assembly met on July 30, 1619, in the church at Jamestown. Present were Governor Yeardley, Council, and 22 burgesses representing 11 plantations (or settlements) Burgesses were elected representatives. Only white men who owned a specific amount of property were eligible to vote for Burgesses. The first popularly elected legislature in the New World. There have been hundreds of members of Virginia's House of Burgesses. Among the most famous are: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Pendleton, and Patrick Henry. The Magna Carta: English landowners had insisted on meeting with their leaders for consultation in local matters ever since the Magna Carta was signed in 1215. Virginia settlers expected that same right. Modeled after the English Parliament, the House of Burgesses was established in 1619. Members would meet at least once a year with their royal governor to decide local laws and determine local taxation. King James I, a believer in the divine right of monarchs, attempted to dissolve the assembly, but the Virginians would have none of it. They continued to meet on a yearly basis to decide local matters. Democracy in Practice: What is the importance of a small legislative body formed so long ago? The tradition established by the House of Burgesses was extremely important to colonial development. Each new English colony demanded its own legislature in turn. Historians often ponder why the American Revolution was successful. The French, Russian, and Chinese Revolutions each ended with a rise to power of a leader more autocratic than the pre- revolutionary monarch. But starting with the Virginia House of Burgesses, Americans had 157 years to practice democracy. By the time of the Declaration of Independence, they were quite good at it. 5 2. The New England Colonies The Founders of the New England colonies had an entirely different mission from the Jamestown settlers. Although economic prosperity was still a goal of the New England settlers, their true goal was spiritual. Fed up with the ceremonial Church of England, Pilgrims and Puritans sought to recreate society in the manner they believed God truly intended it to be designed. Religious strife reached a peak in England in the 1500s. When Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church of Rome, spiritual life in England was turned on its ear. The new church under the king's leadership was approved by the English Parliament, but not all the people in England were willing to accept the Church of England. At first, the battles were waged between English Catholics and the followers of the new Church — the Anglicans. The rule of Queen Elizabeth brought an end to bloodshed, but the battle waged on in the hearts of the English people. Pilgrims and Puritans both believed in the teachings of John Calvin. According to Calvin, neither the teachings of the Catholic nor the Anglican Churches addressed God's will. By the end of Elizabeth's reign, England was a nation of many different faiths. The Stuart Family, who ascended to the throne after the demise of Elizabeth, made matters worse for the followers of John Calvin. King James and his son Charles supported the Church of England, but secretly admired the ceremonies of the Catholic Church. To these kings, Calvin was a heretic, a man whose soul was doomed for his religious views. The Pilgrims, called the Separatists in England because of their desire to separate from the Anglican Church, were persecuted by agents of the throne. The Puritans, so named for their desire to purify the Church of England, experienced the same degree of harassment. By the second and third decades of the 1600s, each group decided that England was no place to put their controversial beliefs into practice. Where else but in the New World could such a golden opportunity be found? The land was unspoiled. Children could be raised without the corruption of old English religious ideas. The chance to create a perfect society was there for the taking. The Stuart kings saw America a means to get rid of troublemakers. Everything was falling into place. By 1620, the seeds for a new society, quite different from the one already established at Jamestown, were planted deeply within the souls of a few brave pioneers. Their quest would form the basis of New England society. 2.1 The Mayflower and Plymouth Colony Not all the English Separatists set out for the New World. The first group to leave England actually headed for the Dutch Netherlands in 1608. They became uneasy in their new land as their children started speaking Dutch and abandoning English traditions. Even worse to the Separatists, the tolerance shown to them by the Dutch was shown to many different faiths. They became disgusted with the attention paid to worldly goods, and the presence of many "unholy" faiths. The great Separatist experiment in the Netherlands came to a quick end, as they began to look elsewhere for a purer place to build their society. Some headed for English islands in the Caribbean. Those who would be forever known to future Americans as the Pilgrims set their sights on the New World in late 1620. Crossing the Atlantic: Over a hundred travelers embarked on the voyage of the Mayflower in September 1620. Less than one third were Separatists. The rest were immigrants, adventurers, and speculators. 6 When the weather was good, the passengers could enjoy hot food cooked on deck. When there was high wind or storms, they lived on salted beef, a dried biscuit called "HARD TACK," other dried vegetables, and beer. The nearest thing to resemble a bathroom was a bucket. Their voyage took about two months, and the passengers enjoyed a happier experience than most trans-Atlantic trips. One death was suffered and one child was born. The child was named Oceanus after the watery depths beneath them. Are We There Yet?: One of the greatest twists of fate in human history occurred on that epochal voyage. The Pilgrims were originally bound for Virginia to live north of Jamestown under the same charter granted to citizens of Jamestown. Fate charted a different course. Lost at sea, they happened upon a piece of land that would become known as Cape Cod. After surveying the land, they set up camp not too far from Plymouth Rock. They feared venturing further south because winter was fast approaching. The Pilgrims had an important question to answer before they set ashore. Since they were not landing within the jurisdiction of the Virginia Company, they had no charter to govern them. Who would rule their society? In the landmark Mayflower Compact of 1620, the Pilgrims decided that they would rule themselves, based on majority rule of the townsmen. This independent attitude set up a tradition of self-rule that would later lead to Town Meetings and elected legislatures in New England. Like the Virginia House of Burgesses established the previous year, Plymouth colony began to lay the foundation for democracy in the American colonies. 2.2 William Bradford and the First Thanksgiving The major similarity between the first Jamestown settlers and the first Plymouth settlers was great human suffering. November was too late to plant crops. Many settlers died of scurvy and malnutrition during that horrible first winter. Of the 102 original Mayflower passengers, only 44 survived. Again like in Jamestown, the kindness of the local Native Americans saved them from a frosty death. The Pilgrims' remarkable courage was displayed the following spring. When the Mayflower returned to Europe, not a single Pilgrim deserted Plymouth. Helping Hands: By early 1621, the Pilgrims had built crude huts and a common house on the shores of Plymouth Bay. Soon neighboring Indians began to build relations with the Pilgrims. Squanto, a local Indian who had been kidnapped and taken to England nearly a decade before, served as an interpreter with the local tribes. Squanto taught the Pilgrims to fertilize the soil with dried fish remains to produce a stellar corn crop. Massasoit, the chief of the nearby Wampanoags, signed a treaty of alliance with the Pilgrims in the summer. In exchange for assistance with defense against the feared Narragansett tribe, Massasoit supplemented the food supply of the Pilgrims for the first few years. Governor Bradford: Successful colonies require successful leadership. The man to step forward in Plymouth colony was William Bradford. After the first governor elected under the Mayflower Compact perished from the harsh winter, Bradford was elected governor for the next thirty years. In May of 1621, he performed the colony's first marriage ceremony. Under Bradford's guidance, Plymouth suffered less hardship than their English compatriots in Virginia. Relations with the local natives remained relatively smooth in Plymouth and the food supply grew with each passing year. By autumn of 1621, the Pilgrims had much for which to be thankful. After the harvest, Massasoit and about ninety other Indians joined the Pilgrims for the great English tradition of Harvest Festival. The participants celebrated for several days, dining on venison, goose, 7 Roger Williams was a similar threat. Two ideas got him into big trouble in Massachusetts Bay. First, he preached separation of church and state. He believed in complete Religious Freedom, so no single church should be supported by tax dollars. Massachusetts Puritans believed they had the one true faith; therefore such talk was intolerable. Second, Williams claimed taking land from the Native Americans without proper payment was unfair. Massachusetts wasted no time in banishing the minister. In 1636, he purchased land from the Narragansett Indians and founded the colony of Rhode Island. Here there would be complete religious freedom. Dissenters from the English New World came here seeking refuge. Anne Hutchinson herself moved to Rhode Island before her fatal relocation to New York. America has long been a land where people have reserved the right to say, "I disagree." Many early settlers left England in the first place because they disagreed with English practice. Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson were two brave souls who reminded everyone at their own great peril of that most sacred right. 2.6 Reaching to Connecticut Despite a few internal problems, Massachusetts Bay Colony was thriving by the mid-1630s. It would only be a matter of time before individuals within the colony would consider expansion. There were obstacles to consider. Establishing a new colony was never easy. Pequot Indian settlements west of the Connecticut River were an important consideration. Nevertheless, the Puritan experiment pushed forward, creating new colonies in the likeness of Massachusetts Bay. Thomas Hooker was a devout Puritan minister. He had no quarrels with the religious teachings of the church. He did, however, object to linking voting rights with church membership, which had been the practice in Massachusetts Bay. In 1636, his family led a group of followers west and built a town known as Hartford. This would become the center of Connecticut colony. In religious practices Connecticut mirrored Massachusetts Bay. Politically, it allowed more access to non-church members. In 1639, the citizens of Connecticut enacted the first written Constitution in the western hemisphere. The Fundamental Orders Of Connecticut called for an elected governor and a two- house legislature. It served as a model for other colonial charters and even future state constitutions after independence was achieved. In 1637, under the leadership of John Davenport, a second colony was formed in the Connecticut River Valley, revolved around the port of New Haven. Unlike the citizens in Hartford, the citizens were very strict about church membership and the political process. They even abolished juries because there was no mention of them in the Bible. Most citizens accused of a crime simply reported to the magistrate for their punishment, without even furnishing a defense. New Haven was merged into its more democratic neighbor by King Charles II in 1662. Connecticut provides a great example of the strictness of colonial society. Laws based on scripture, called Blue Laws, were applied to Connecticut residents. Examples include the death penalty for crimes that seem minor by modern standards. Blue laws condemned to death any citizen who was convicted of blaspheming the name of God or cursing their natural father or mother. These laws were in effect at least as late as 1672 in colonial Connecticut. 2.7 Witchcraft in Salem Surely the Devil had come to Salem in 1692. Young girls screaming and barking like a dog? Strange dances in the woods? This was behavior hardly becoming of virtuous teenage maidens. 10 The town doctor was called onto the scene. After a thorough examination, he concluded quite simply — the girls were bewitched. Now the task was clear. Whomever was responsible for this outrage must be brought to justice. The ordeal originated in the home of Salem's Reverend Samuel Parris. Parris had a slave from the Caribbean named Tituba. Several of the town's teenage girls began to gather in the kitchen with Tituba early in 1692. As winter turned to spring the townspeople were aghast at the behaviors exhibited by Tituba's young followers. They were believed to have danced a black magic dance in the nearby woods. Several of the girls would fall to the floor and scream hysterically. Soon this behavior began to spread across Salem. Ministers from nearby communities came to Salem to lend their sage advice. The talk turned to identifying the parties responsible for this mess. Puritans believed that to become bewitched a witch must draw an individual under a spell. The girls could not have possibly brought this condition onto themselves. Soon they were questioned and forced to name their tormentors. Three townspeople, including Tituba, were named as witches. The famous Salem witchcraft trials began as the girls began to name more and more community members. Evidence admitted in such trials was of five types. First, the accused might be asked to pass a test, like reciting the Lord's Prayer. This seems simple enough. But the young girls who attended the trial were known to scream and writhe on the floor in the middle of the test. It is easy to understand why some could not pass. Second, physical evidence was considered. Any birthmarks, warts, moles, or other blemishes were seen as possible portals through which Satan could enter a body. Witness testimony was a third consideration. Anyone who could attribute their misfortune to the sorcery of an accused person might help get a conviction. Fourth was spectral evidence. Puritans believed that Satan could not take the form of any unwilling person. Therefore, if anyone saw a ghost or spirit in the form of the accused, the person in question must be a witch. Last was the confession. Confession seems foolhardy to a defendant who is certain of his or her innocence. In many cases, it was the only way out. A confessor would tearfully throw himself or herself on the mercy of the town and court and promise repentance. None of the confessors were executed. Part of repentance might of course include helping to convict others. As 1692 passed into 1693, the hysteria began to lose steam. The governor of the colony, upon hearing that his own wife was accused of witchcraft ordered an end to the trials. However, 20 people and 2 dogs were executed for the crime of witchcraft in Salem. One person was pressed to death under a pile of stones for refusing to testify. No one knows the truth behind what happened in Salem. Once witchcraft is ruled out, other important factors come to light. Salem had suffered greatly in recent years from Indian attacks. As the town became more populated, land became harder and harder to acquire. A Smallpox epidemic had broken out at the beginning of the decade. Massachusetts was experiencing some of the worst winters in memory. The motives of the young girls themselves can be questioned. In a society where women had no power, particularly young women, is it not understandable how a few adolescent girls, drunk with undoreseen attention, allowed their imaginations to run wild? Historians make educated guesses, but the real answers lie with the ages. 3. The Middle Colonies 11 Americans have often prided themselves on their rich diversity. Nowhere was that diversity more evident in pre-Revolutionary America than in the Middle Colonies of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. European ethnic groups as manifold as English, Swedes, Dutch, Germans, Scots-Irish and French lived in closer proximity than in any location on continental Europe. The middle colonies contained Native American tribes of Algonkian and Iroquois language groups as well as a sizable percentage of African slaves during the early years. Unlike solidly Puritan New England, the middle colonies presented an assortment of religions. The presence of Quakers, Mennonites, Lutherans, Dutch Calvinists, and Presbyterians made the dominance of one faith next to impossible. Advantaged by their central location, the middle colonies served as important distribution centers in the English mercantile system. New York and Philadelphia grew at a fantastic rate. These cities gave rise to brilliant thinkers such as Benjamin Franklin, who earned respect on both sides of the Atlantic. In many ways, the middle colonies served as the crossroads of ideas during the colonial period. In contrast to the South where the cash crop plantation system dominated, and New England whose rocky soil made large-scale agriculture difficult, The middle colonies were fertile. Land was generally acquired more easily than in New England or in the plantation South. Wheat and corn from local farms would feed the American colonies through their colonial infancy and revolutionary adolescence. The middle colonies represented exactly that — a middle ground between its neighbors to the North and South. Elements of both New England towns and sprawling country estates could be found. Religious dissidents from all regions could settle in the relatively tolerant middle zone. Aspects of New England shipbuilding and lumbering and the large farms of the South could be found. Aptly named, they provided a perfect nucleus for English America. 3.1 New Netherland to New York England was not the first European power to settle the land known now as New York. That distinction belongs to the Dutch. Ironically, the English explorer Henry Hudson brought the region to the attention of the Netherlands in 1609 by sailing into New York Bay and up the river that would eventually bear his name. New Netherland became a reality fourteen years later. The Dutch West India Company hoped to reap the profits of the area's fur trade. Shortly after setting up camp, Peter Minuit made one of the greatest real estate purchases in history. He traded trinkets (small ornaments, jewelry, etc.) with local Native Americans for Manhattan Island. The town that was established there was named New Amsterdam. The Dutch had no patience for democratic institutions. The point of the colony was to enrich its stockholders. The most famous governor of the colony, Peter Stuyvesant, ruled New Amsterdam with an iron fist. Slavery was common during the Dutch era, as the Dutch West India Company was one of the most prominent in the world's trade of slaves. Languages that could be heard in the streets of New Amsterdam include Dutch, French, Flemish, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, and several other European and African tongues. Northwest of New Amsterdam, New Netherland approached feudal conditions with the awarding of large tracts of land to wealthy investors. This would create eventual instability as the gap between the landed and the landless grew more obvious. 12 Virginia was the first successful southern colony. While Puritan zeal was fueling New England's mercantile development, and Penn’s Quaker experiment was turning the middle colonies into America's bread basket, the South was turning to cash crops. Geography and motive rendered the development of these colonies distinct from those that lay to the North. Immediately to Virginia's north was Maryland. Begun as a Catholic experiment, the colony's economy would soon come to mirror that of Virginia, as tobacco became the most important crop. To the south lay the Carolinas, created after the English Civil War had been concluded. In the Deep South was Georgia, the last of the original thirteen colonies. Challenges from Spain and France led the king to desire a buffer zone between the cash crops of the Carolinas and foreign enemies. Georgia, a colony of debtors, would fulfill that need. English American Southerners would not enjoy the generally good health of their New England counterparts. Outbreaks of malaria and Yellow Fever kept life expectancies lower. Since the northern colonies attracted religious dissenters, they tended to migrate in families. Such family connections were less prevalent in the South. The economy of growing cash crops would require a labor force that would be unknown north of Maryland. Slaves and indentured servants, although present in the North, were much more important to the South. They were the backbone of the Southern economy. Settlers in the Southern colonies came to America to seek economic prosperity they could not find in Old England. The English countryside provided a grand existence of stately manors and high living. But rural England was full, and by law those great estates could only be passed on to the eldest son. America provided more space to realize a lifestyle the new arrivals could never dream to achieve in their native land. 4.1 Indentured Servants The growth of tobacco, rice, and indigo and the plantation economy created a tremendous need for labor in Southern English America. Without the aid of modern machinery, human sweat and blood was necessary for the planting, cultivation, and harvesting of these cash crops. While slaves existed in the English colonies throughout the 1600s, indentured servitude was the method of choice employed by many planters before the 1680s. This system provided incentives for both the master and servant to increase the working population of the Chesapeake colonies. Virginia and Maryland operated under what was known as the "Headright System." The leaders of each colony knew that labor was essential for economic survival, so they provided incentives for planters to import workers. For each laborer brought across the Atlantic, the master was rewarded with 50 acres of land. This system was used by wealthy plantation aristocrats to increase their land holdings dramatically. In addition, of course, they received the services of the workers for the duration of the indenture. This system seemed to benefit the servant as well. Each Indentured Servant would have their fare across the Atlantic paid in full by their master. A contract was written that stipulated the length of service — typically five years. The servant would be supplied room and board while working in the master's fields. Upon completion of the contract, the servant would receive "freedom dues," a pre-arranged termination bonus. This might include land, money, a gun, clothes or food. On the surface it seemed like a terrific way for the luckless English poor to make their way to prosperity in a new land. Beneath the surface, this was not often the case. Only about 40 percent of indentured servants lived to complete the terms of their contracts. Female servants were often the subject of harassment from their masters. A woman who became pregnant while a servant often had years tacked on to the end of her service time. Early in the century, some servants were able to gain their own land as free men. But by 1660, much of the best land was claimed by the large land owners. The former servants were pushed westward, where the mountainous land was less arable and the threat from Indians constant. A class of 15 angry, impoverished pioneer farmers began to emerge as the 1600s grew old. After Bacon's Rebellion in 1676, planters began to prefer permanent African Slavery to the headright system that had previously enabled them to prosper. 4.2 Life in the Plantation South Plantation life created a society with clear class divisions. A lucky few were at the top, with land holdings as far as the eyes could see. Most Southerners did not experience this degree of wealth. The contrast between rich and poor was greater in the South than in the other English colonies, because of the labor system necessary for its survival. Most Southerners were Yeoman farmers, indentured servants, or slaves. The plantation system also created changes for women and family structures as well. The Tidewater Aristocrats were the fortunate few who lived in stately plantation manors with hundreds of servants and slaves at their beck and call. Most plantation owners took an active part in the operations of the business. Surely they found time for leisurely activities like hunting, but on a daily basis they worked as well. The distance from one plantation to the next proved to be isolating, with consequences even for the richest class. Unlike New England, who required public schooling by law, the difficulties of travel and the distances between prospective students impeded the growth of such schools in the South. Private tutors were hired by the wealthiest families. The boys studied in the fall and winter to allow time for work in the fields during the planting times. The girls studied in the summer to allow time for weaving during the colder months. Few cities developed in the South. Consequently, there was little room for a merchant middle class. Urban Professionals such as lawyers were rare in the South. Artisans often worked right on the plantation as slaves or servants. The roles of women were dramatically changed by the plantation society. First of all, since most indentured servants were male, there were far fewer women in the colonial South. In the Chesapeake during the 1600s, men entered the colony at a rate of seven to one. From one perspective, this increased women's power. They were highly sought after by the overwhelming number of eager men. The high death rate in the region resulted in a typical marriage being dissolved by death within seven years. Consequently there was a good deal of remarriage, and a complex web of half-brothers and half-sisters evolved. Women needed to administer the property in the absence of the male. Consequently many developed managerial skills. However, being a minority had its downside. Like in New England, women were completely excluded from the political process. Female slaves and indentured servants were often the victims of aggressive male masters. 16