You are Susanna Boyd, an English colonist living in Virginia. Just like most people in your town, your parents came to America as indentured servants and worked very hard for seven years growing tobacco for a rich family in Virginia. When your parents’ contracts were up, they received clothes, tools and money to buy new land. They have a small farm in Western Virginia where they grow corn and raise pigs. You have grown up with plants and animals your whole life, and you are looking forward to getting married and raising a family on your own farm.
Your parents want to be able to give you some land to start your own farm, but they barely have enough land for themselves. They cannot afford to give you any of their land. They also can’t afford to buy you land, because it is so expensive. Europeans have been settling in Virginia since the 1600s and all the land is owned by someone—someone who will only sell their land if they can make a profit. It feels sometimes like you’ll have to live on your parents’ farm forever.
…show more content…
Roger says that he has saved up a little money to buy land. It definitely isn’t enough to buy land here in the civilized part of Virginia, but way out west in the Ohio Valley, land is very cheap. The Ohio Company sells land for less than half of what it is near the coast. Roger and Abby will be able to get married and start their own form in Ohio. They suggest that when you get married, you should move to the Ohio Valley to live near them.
You’re not sure about this idea. You’ve heard that the Native Americans out west try to kill settlers and burn their farms. You’ve also heard that there are huge bears and dangerous snakes. Are they just rumors, or are those true? If these rumors aren’t true, living in the Ohio Valley sounds great. The land is very cheap and the climate is similar to