The Chesapeake 09 10 2013 Life in the 17th Century Chesapeake Demographics 6 persons per square mile Malaria a great debilitator weakens you to a great extend makes more venerable to other diseases Life expectancy 48 years for men 44 for women in the 17th century Parental death most children lost one parent 1 3rd lost both Harsh living conditions 1 room shack about dorm room size not floor very few utensils Unfree labor 85 percent of immigrants to 17th century Maryland arrived as indentured servants 80 percent of the indentured servants were men about age 20 Most served 5 7 years Gender imbalance As late as 1704 men outnumbered women 4 1 Marriage and Pregnancy Immigrant women married at 25 native born women at 17 Premarital pregnancy about 10 percent of births out of wedlock Up to 1 3 of women pregnant when the wed Less parental and community control Tobacco s Troubles Price collapse in 1629 price sink 97 from 36 pence pound to 1 pence pound Stabilized at 2 3 pence pound Cost about 2 pence pound to produce Productivity o 65 000 pounds shipped annually in early 1620 o 1 million pounds by end of 1630 s o 20 million pounds by late 1670 s Little Opportunity o Little upward mobility o Poor living conditions Land exhaustion o Could only plant tobacco for 3 successive years Marriage age and population growth o Age of marriage increases number of children declines Bacon s Rebellion Bacon arrives as wealthy 29 year old Establishes a plantation upriver from Jamestown Conflict with local Indians Sesquehannahs Doegs and Nathaniel Bacon and Gov William Berkeley Bacon raises an army and attacks Susquehannahs and Piscattaways Occaneechees Bacon burns Jamestown Sept 19th 1676 Bacon dies October 26th 1676 from dysentery Bacon becomes a symbol of discontent From Servants to Slaves Few servants came to Chesapeake by 1690s Planters turn from servants to African slaves o Only 4 000 slaves in MD and VA by 1680 o 100 000 slaves arrive 1690 1770 Slave demographics and low fertility of immigrants Origins of African American Society Three stages of community development First stage 1650 1690 o Small populations little community most slaves immigrants o Conflicting legal status before c 1660 Second stage 1690 1740 o Large scale slave importations peak about 1740 o Small plantation sizes o Social conflicts among slaves Third Stage 1740 1790 Slave importations declines Plantation sizes increase Black population grows More stable communities St John Island Slave rebellion on St John island o Danish colony in 1733 o 1087 blacks 208 whites o Held island for six months but not all slaves supported the rebellion 09 10 2013 09 10 2013