Читать книгу A Beginner's History - William H. Mace - Страница 27
ОглавлениеINDUSTRIES, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS OF FIRST SETTLERS OF VIRGINIA
The Jamestown colony prospers
41. How the Virginia Colonists Lived. After the first hardships the colony grew and prospered. Ships continued to bring settlers from England and other countries of Europe. In a few years the little settlement at Jamestown was surrounded on all sides by newly cleared farms.
The planters grow rich
To any one living to-day the old colony would seem strange indeed. There were practically no towns; almost every one lived on a large farm, called a plantation. On these plantations were great fields of tobacco, whose broad leaves in summer almost concealed the ground. Here and there a field of corn could be seen, but little else was grown. After a time the owners, or planters, built themselves great houses and kept an army of servants to grow the crops and do the work about the house. The planters did no work with their hands, but looked after their estates and enjoyed such pleasures as hunting and horseback riding. Many of these old places were the scenes of brilliant dinners and balls at which the fine ladies and gentlemen of the colony gathered.
Negro slaves are brought to Virginia
Many poor people in England wanted to come to America, but had no money. To pay for the cost of bringing them over, these people were forced to work for the planters, often for six years or more. During this time they were almost slaves, but at the end of their service they became free. Then negroes were brought from Africa, and soon most of the work was done by black slaves.
Tobacco supported the colony and made the planters wealthy. It bought the food, clothes, and luxuries, and paid the taxes. It was even used as money, and people reckoned the value of an article in pounds of tobacco, as we do in dollars and cents. Most of the crop was shipped to England. The plantations lay along creeks or rivers up which boats could sail from the sea. When the tobacco was cured, it was packed in hogsheads, which were then rolled on board ship.
A famous robber and trader
42. Blackbeard the Pirate. The streams on which the planters shipped their goods also served as hiding places for pirates. When these sea robbers had plundered a ship on the open sea, they would hide away in a bend of one of the wooded streams. Most famous of these lawless men was Blackbeard. For years his very name was a terror to sailors along the coast. He plundered scores of merchant ships before he was run down and captured.
SUGGESTIONS INTENDED TO HELP THE PUPIL
The Leading Facts. 1. London merchants carried out Raleigh's idea by planting a colony in Virginia. 2. John Smith saved the colony by putting the settlers to work, by trading with the Indians, and by winning the friendship of Pocahontas. 3. Lord Baltimore, a Catholic, got permission to plant a colony in Virginia; he named it Maryland, and the first settlement, St. Mary's. 4. Protestants as well as Catholics were welcomed in the new colony. 5. Negroes were brought to Virginia as slaves.
Study Questions. 1. How long did it take Captain Newport to reach Virginia? 2. How long does it take a ship to cross the Atlantic now? 3. Why were the settlers afraid of the Indians and Spaniards? 4. Why did the Virginia settlers hunt for gold instead of raising something to eat? 5. What did Smith learn about the Indians? 6. Show how Pocahontas was a friend of the colony. 7. Tell the story of George Calvert, Lord Baltimore. 8. How was the colony different from that at Jamestown? 9. Picture the settlers at St. Mary's. 10. What town did the Puritans establish? 11. When was the richest and most important town in Maryland settled, and after whom was it named? 12. Why were slaves brought to Virginia? 13. Tell the story of Blackbeard.
Suggested Readings. Smith: McMurry, Pioneers on Land and Sea, 68–102; Hart, Source Book, 33–37; Higginson, American Explorers, 231–246.
Baltimore: Pratt, Early Colonies, 132–137; Smith and Dutton, The Colonies, 39–50; Sparks, American Biography, 5–229.
