Life on the Tobacco Coast

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses what life was like on the Tobacco Coast as opposed to New England in the 17th and 18th centuries. The paper describes the relation of these two places to Great Britain, as they had initially been colonies thereof. The British influence on all spheres of life on the Tobacco Coast is explored in the paper and explained as the direct result of the bay culture. The paper examines the total opposite phenomenon in New England, claiming that this was due to the fact that this colony had been founded because of a disagreement with the British Crown.

From the Paper:

"The Tobacco Coast was dependent for its existence and the cadences of its life on the Great Chesapeake Bay. This is described as "a vast inland sea thrusting its deep estuaries and logn tidal reaches far into the wooded coastal plain" (Mason & Middleton, 1953, p. 30). It was first settled in 1607, and thereafter, the region flourished more luxuriantly than the Virginia Council dared hope in 1609 when it prayed God "so to nourish this grain of seed, that it may spread till all the people of the earth admire the greatness, and seek the shades and fruit thereof" (Quoted by Mason & Middleton, 953, p. 30). Its numerous rivers and creeks, spread out over a wide estuarine area, were compared by the early settlers to 'veins in humane Bodies' because they were so numerous and so intricately interconnected. One visitor predicted that the Chesapeake tidewater would eventually become "like the Netherlands, the richest place in all America" (Quoted by Mason & Middleton, 1953,p. 30)."

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