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How Did The Economy Affect The Development Of Colonial Virginia

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In the time period from 1607 to 1750, the economies of Virginia and Massachusetts began to develop. In Virginia, during the colonial times, it was a tobacco growing colony with a large population of tobacco planters. The spread of the tobacco cultivation increased the demand for workers and led Chesapeake planters to buy large amounts of slaves. They chose not to use indentured servants because African slaves offered more advantages to the owners. This led to a great increase in slave population along with the growth of tobacco planters in Virginia; an upper class of wealthy landowners with control emerged. Massachusetts, on the other hand, was a place of shipping for the Western hemisphere. The colonies were used to export manufactured goods …show more content…

The system of trade being so present in the colony allowed for more goods to be transported to Massachusetts, increasing their wealth and value of the merchandise. There were many other sources of income for the colony as well, including shipbuilding, fur trade, lumbering, and fishing. This brought their income rates up significantly. Virginia relied on tobacco production for most of their income; it was the colonies most successful cash crop. This meant farmers could grow a sufficient amount of tobacco and sell it for cash rather than keep it for themselves. In terms of economics, Virginia was known mostly for their vast amount of slaves, tobacco, and plantations. Aside from this, the colony didn’t have another way to make money meaning Virginia was less prosperous due to the lack of economic …show more content…

The Virgin Company of London, which was composed of wealthy British men, tried a number of reforms in terms of representative government. The most successful was the House of Burgesses. It was made up of twenty-two members, one being the governor, six forming the council, and the remaining fifteen were representative of Virginia's the majority of virginia's population, the citizens. In both Virginia and Massachusetts there was a similar government, each having a governor, council and some from of representatives. What set them apart was how they governed which was based on their different economic standpoint. Since Massachusetts had more money in general that Virginia, the government was able to run their people much easier, without having to worry about facing economic problems issues. This raised the politics to become more advanced compared to

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