VS 4 Life in the Colony
The colonists living in Virginia in the early 1700’s were very dependent on agriculture to make money. The crop that provided the most wealth was a cash crop called tobacco. Tobacco was nicknamed “green gold.”
Growing tobacco required huge amounts of land because tobacco growing was hard on the soil. Tobacco was grown on plantations and required a lot of cheap labor. Tobacco growing encouraged slavery when Africans were forced to work on plantations, and they were not able to obtain freedom. Africans were the property of the plantation owners.
As more and more tobacco was grown, settlers continued to move westward across Virginia in search of land. People began to settle in the Piedmont region, and Valley and Ridge region. European immigrants traveled from Pennsylvania down into the Shenandoah Valley. They brought their culture and unique customs with them. Different culture could be seen in buildings such as barns and churches, and the different ways they were built. The cultures of the American Indians, European settlers such as the English, Scotch-Irish and German, and Africans influenced the cultural landscape of Virginia.
As settlers continued moving Westward, the capital of Jamestown was not a central location for Virginia. The capital was moved to Williamsburg, and then to Richmond. Our capital today is still Richmond, Virginia.
Tobacco was so important in the colony that it was even used as money. The settlers in Virginia had little or no paper money or coins. Tobacco was an accepted form of currency between the colonists. Settlers also began to use credit to purchase things; they would buy items and pay for them later when crops were harvested. Settlers did a lot of bartering and trading for items that were needed to survive.