Plantation System Relationship To Indentured Servitude Essay

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1. Explain the plantation system and its relationship to indentured servitude. As Virginia’s tobacco farms flourished, local society became that of master-slave. There was a lack of community, no real towns, churches or schools. Plantations were spread out from each other along the regions rivers, and with every plantation conducting its own manufacture, sales and distribution, there was very little chance for the Virginians to create a more communal society. Plantation owners controlled large groups of bondsmen working in the fields controlled by overseers, and women served as house servants for the plantation masters. Most of these women were sexually abused by their masters and penalized with longer terms of service if they happen to bare illegitimate children. Because of disease, living conditions and harsh treatment 40% of the servants did not survive their terms of service. 1. Describe the various problems that the colonist encounter in the development of Jamestown. The settlers of …show more content…

Even though the native cultures sometimes entered into trade agreements with the colonists, the relationships were temperamental , with some tribes launching attacks on settlements and colonists. To ensure the survival of the starving colonists in Jamestown, John Smith negotiated an agreement between Jamestown and the local tribe of natives to trade their English goods for native corn, but when Smith had to return to England, trade broke down between the colonists and the natives, and they almost starved over the ensuing winter, turning even to cannibalism. Even after another colonist entered into marriage with the native leaders daughter and a truce between the colonists and natives seemed solid, eventually the natives attacked the settlement numerous times, bringing great losses to