Cultural Landscapes in Colonial Virginia
Plantation Owners
In the early settlement of Virginia’s Tidewater region, three-quarters of all English colonists came to the New World as servants. Half died before they completed their indentured servitude. A fourth of them remained poor farmers, tradesmen, etc. The other quarter eventually became prosperous citizens having gotten their fifty acres of land and had saved enough money for legal fees, tools, seed and livestock. Many eventually became planters and gentlemen.
As they became more prosperous the planters built themselves substantial house and their families came to own much of the land in Virginia. Their plantations usually consisted of a large manor house, many small buildings, and slave quarters. The plantation supported the owner’s family, slaves, and employed overseers. They grew food for the plantation as well as crops for sale like tobacco. The tobacco was sold or traded for products from Europe and colonial craftsmen.
They belonged to the Church of England. It was the state religion and was involved in local government. The twelve “best Gentleman of the Country” were in charge of the local government. They announced new laws and kept the official records which would include births and deaths. They oversaw the collection of taxes and church tithes. They used the money to pay the minister’s salary and support the church as well as orphans and neglected children. They were in charge of apprenticing children to local craftsmen and oversaw the building of churches. (2) By the 1700’s these men came to think of themselves as Virginians as well as subjects of the English king. They had governed the colony as they liked for over a hundred years and felt that it was their right to do so. They began to resent laws and rules made in England.
The planters were part of the ruling class and awarded themselves large sections of the frontier lands. However, to make any money from that land, they needed settlers. They also felt that the new settlers would help defend the colony from the French and Indians. To help draw settlers from Scotland, Ireland, Germany and France they began to allow the new settlers to practice their own religions. The gentry class began to sell farm-sized pieces of land through holding companies. The parcels of land were first in the Piedmont area and later in the Shenandoah Valley and finally the mountains.
Slaves
“ Virginia slaves came from every part of West and Central Africa, with a few from East Africa. Speaking different languages, they had to learn English to communicate with each other. But they developed a distinct dialect that became the vehicle of a unique culture.
By 1776 African-Virginians were 40 percent of the population. Various African cultural traditions, including food and cooking preferences, music, dance, vocabulary, religious and healing practices, and folklore mixed to form a new African-Virginian culture that strongly affected white culture as well.
The existence of slavery had other effects on white culture. It united whites against a possible black uprising; it lessened white's own class antagonisms by giving lower-class whites a group they could look down on; and it paved the way for the revolutionary idea that "all [white] men are created equal." (1)
Small English Farmers
In the early settlement of Virginia’s Tidewater region, three-quarters of all English colonists came to the New World as servants. Half died before they completed their indentured servitude. A fourth of them remained poor farmers, tradesmen, etc. The other quarter eventually became prosperous citizens having gotten their fifty acres of land and had saved enough money for legal fees, tools, seed and livestock. Many eventually migrated into the western parts of the state.
Many of the small farmers were subsistence farmers, meaning that they raised only enough to support themselves and their families. They raised their own food (wheat, corn, oaks, and fruit trees), hunted for meat, and made clothing out of homespun or deer skin. Some raised a small cash crop like tobacco, but lacked the land and earn much money. The women usually spun flax, wool, or cotton into thread and then wove it into homespun fabric to make clothing. Their homes were log cabins with one room and later an upstairs for sleeping. Many had a single door, but some had a door facing east and west for cross ventilation. They located their farms and houses near springs and streams to provide for water and heated the house with a fireplace. Their furniture was homemade and usually consisted of a rough plank table, benches, chests for storage and a rough log frame bed with a straw mattress.
They belonged to the Church of England. It was the state religion and was involved in local government. The twelve “best Gentleman of the Country” were in charge of the local government. They announced new laws and kept the official records which would include births and deaths. They oversaw the collection of taxes and church tithes. They used the money to pay the minister’s salary and support the church as well as orphans and neglected children. They were in charge of apprenticing children to local craftsmen and oversaw the building of churches. (2) The small English farmers would not have been among the vestry.
Scotch Irish
“Between 1715 and 1775 perhaps 250,000 people from the northern parts of the British Isles came to British America. Most were Scotch-Irish (Scots settled in Northern Ireland-- Ulster--after 1603), but there also were Irish as well as people on both sides of the Scottish- English border. They shared a heritage of living in disputed, unstable regions wracked by violence that bred warrior cultures. Not welcomed in eastern settlements, they hurried on their way west and began settling the Shenandoah Valley after 1740. Theirs became the dominant culture of the Appalachians from Pennsylvania to Georgia, partly by weight of numbers, but mostly because Old World border culture was exceptionally well suited to New World frontier conditions. (1)
The Scotch-Irish largely leapfrogged the Germans and concentrated in the southern part of the Valley of Virginia. One leader was Col. James Patten, an ancestor of General George Patton (who embodied much of this culture). In 1745 Colonel Patten obtained 100,000 acres on the New, Holston, and Clinch rivers, drawing Scotch-Irish settlements into southwest Virginia.” They believed in strong families and personal freedom (each man was his own mater). They moved frequently to the south and west fighting Indians as they went. (1)
Most of these settlers became subsistence farmers, meaning that they raised only enough to support themselves and their families. They raised their own food (wheat, corn, oaks, and fruit trees), hunted for meat, and made clothing out of homespun or deer skin. The women usually spun flax, wool, or cotton into thread and then wove it into homespun fabric to make clothing. Frontier men often preferred deerskin clothes and moccasins. Their homes were log cabins with one room and later an upstairs for sleeping. Many had a single door, but some had a door facing east and west for cross ventilation.
Demory house built around 1780. The orginal cabin was a single story. The half story was added much later. Close up of how the logs were notched together. Floor plan: D stands for door, W for windows and C for chimney. A half floor and staircase was added much later. (4) They located their farms and houses near springs and streams to provide for water and heated the house with a fireplace. The cabins had very few windows, but did often have “loopholes” to fire a weapon out of for defense against the Native Americans. Their furniture was homemade and usually consisted of a rough plank table, benches, chests for storage and a rough log frame bed with a straw mattress.
Most Scotch-Irish settlers were Presbyterian and did not belong to the Anglican or official state church. They had no love for England and felt that freedom, including religious freedom was their right. Early church was often held in camp like meetings with men on look out for Indian attack. Later, wooden churches were built as small towns began to grow. (3) They felt freedom of religion was important, but even more important was that each man should be his own master. The English colony tolerated their religions because they saw their settlements as a buffer between the settled Piedmont and Tidewater areas and the French and Indians on the frontier. Often there were so few Anglican Church members that the vestry (local colonial governing body that oversaw church and civil functions) had to include prosperous members of these other religions.
German
The Germans came first to Philadelphia and then down the Great Wagon Road from Philadelphia into the Shenandoah Valley as part of migration between 1683 and 1775. They were leaving behind war, conscription (mandatory military service), taxes and religious persecution. They began arriving in 1730 into the Shenandoah Valley bringing their culture and religions with them.
Some German settlers first arrived in Virginia because ex-governor Spotswood who created a settlement called Germannna in the Piedmont area. He was looking for iron ore to mine and smelt and brought over German iron miners and their families to operate his settlement. However, as soon as their “contracts” were complete most of them left and moved further west. (4) Most settlers were farmers and it was often thought their farms were more better run and more productive. This may be due to the fact that they brought along the practice of three crop rotation from Germany. Another craft or skilled job that traveled from Germany to Virginia was pottery making. Rich clay deposits in the lower Shennandoah Valley and in what is now West Virginia gave rise to an early German pottery industry. (5)
Some of the German groups were Lutherans, Calvinists, Brethren, Amish, Mennonites and Moravians. .(1) Some of these Protestant groups did not build churches, but meet in homes. Other eventually build small churches. At that time in the Virginia Colony, the Anglican church was the official state church. The English colony tolerated the religions of these new settles because they saw those settlements as a buffer between the settled Piedmont and Tidewater areas and the French and Indians on the frontier. Although they suffered no discrimination, they were sometimes made to feel unwelcome and were often forced to tithe (give 1/10 of their income to a to the Anglican Church). (5) Often there were so few Anglican Church members, the vestry (local colonial governing body that oversaw church and civil functions) had to include prosperous members of these other religions. The German settles felt uncomforatable with slavery. They felt freedom meant that the government left churches, communities and families alone to worship and live as their beliefs dictated. Their communities were very important to them. (1)
Sometimes a whole community, family or congregation came from southwest Germany. The leader of these groups was Jost Hite who was granted 100,000 acres which he resold to other families. Many settled in the central part of the valley and also in the Piedmont. Some groups like the Amish stayed in their community groups and did not integrate into the larger colonial society. Others began to assimilate into the English culture.
By 1790, 28 percent of all colonial Virginians were German speaking peoples. They tended to build stone houses with a central kitchen. They preferred stoves to fireplaces for heating and cooking.
They brought a distinctive diet to the colony such as kraut, scrapple and raisin pies. Some of these foods spread into the surrounding communities. For some years they taught their children in German speaking schools and churches. It was not until after the Revolutionary War that they began to speak English as their first language. Their cultural heritage also contributed to the developement of local violins or fiddles and dulcimers. (5)
Citations
1. Becoming Virginians-The Story of Virginia. Virginia Historical Society, 2007. http://vahistorical.org/sva2003/virginians.htm December 18, 2008.
2. Colonial Williamsburg: “The Role of the Vestry”. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2008. http://www.history.org/history/teaching/vestrole.cfm. December 18,2008.
3. Life on the Frontier. Micheal Scoggins, York Country Culture and Heritage Commission, 2003. http://newacquisitionmilitia.com/Scotch-Irish%20on%20the%20Frontier.htm December 18, 2009.
History of Germanna. The memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies in Virginia Inc., www.germannaorg/history. Decemeber 17, 2008.
4. Log House Architechture In the Eighteenth Century Virginia Piedmont. Christopher C. Fennell, 2003. http://www.histarch.uiuc.edu/harper/demoryarch.html January 5, 2009.
5. Milners, Gerald. Signs, Cures & Withcery: German Appalachian Folklore. Unniversity of Tennesse Press: Knoxville, 2007.
Photos from: DiscoveryStreaming.com and Pics4learning.com