Briefly trace the economy of Virginia from James-town through the 21st century
Virginia, formerly Jamestown, was founded in 1607. During the early years, the British colonialists used barter to trade with the ‘no work, no food policy’. This economic policy did not flourish for long as the British died during the starvation period with the dwindling of their food supplies.
This was followed by the second charter in 1610. They had a strict military law, and in order to make profit for the Virginia Company, settlers engaged in glassmaking, wood production, potash and tar manufacture. It was not until 1613, that tobacco was introduced as a cash crop, and its production came to existence. Later on, tobacco was adopted on larger scale due to it profitable nature. Due to the intensive nature of labor; the British acquired slaves to replace indentured servants in the mid-half of the 17th century from Angola. For the better part of the 18th -20th centuries, Virginians relied on tobacco as their main source income, with some planters adopting mixed farming, emphasizing on wheat and livestock farming. The civil war ravaged the economy of Virginia, but they soon reconstructed with the same happening after the World War II. …show more content…
The economy of Virginia was plantation based, with agriculture being the backbone. Food, being a major necessity to feed a hungry society, was in plenty in Virginia thus the people were able to sustain their food requirements, and get surplus that could be traded for other products and services like ornaments, jewelry and weapons[1].
Comparison of Virginia economy with the lower south in the pre-civil war era
The economy of Virginia relied heavily on plantation economy based on single type of crops, such as, tobacco. Other economies in the South embraced a more commercial economy that was dependent on small farmers, craftsmen and