Early Colonial Life

Early Colonial Life

When the first colonists came to America there were not many things available to them. Their life was hard, almost impossible compared to life today. The early colonists spent almost every hour of everyday working to stay alive. They survived because they were committed to making their settlement grow. (John F. Warner- pg.12-13)     

The Building of the colony

 The first colonists had to make almost everything using only a few simple tools. They built their own houses, their furniture, and even the utensils they ate with. Farm life was also a big part of surviving. Family farms and plantations remained the backbone of life right up until the end of the colonial era. The first permanent English settlement was made up of a group of men who were "gentlemen". They called the settlement Jamestown in honor of King James. They came hoping to find gold--instead they found sickness, heat, hunger, hard labor, and Indians. These were men who were not used to work. They had to learn to work with their hands in order to survive. It was May of 1607. The first dwellings the colonists had were probably forked posts supporting thatched roofs with branches woven together for the sides. These were then covered with mud. There may have been a hole in the center of the roof for the smoke from the cooking fires to escape. Eventually they built one room cabins from notched logs and filled the chinks with "wattle and daub"(a mixture of mud and straw). In some places they lived in caves for a long period of time.

Wars and Conflicts

It wasn't long after the first settlers came that others followed--for various reasons. Some came for religious freedom. Some came as slaves or indentured servants. People came hoping to find great riches. Some were running from their past; others wanted to build a future in a new land. Once they arrived, whatever their reason, they were all faced with the same challenge: survival in an untamed land. Some of the newer settlers that came to Jamestown were determined to make a success of the colony. After failing to find the expected gold they discovered that the land was rich ---for growing tobacco. They now had an export that would soon make the southern colonies prosperous.

The infancy of government

The governor directly represented the Crown or the proprietor. His position was a most difficult one to fill. The council consisted usually of twelve men, though in Massachusetts there were twenty-eight, and in early Maryland but three. They had to be residents of the colony in which they served, and they were usually men of station and wealth. Appointed by the same power that appointed the governor, they usually sided with him in his conflicts with the assembly. The functions of the council were threefold,--it was a board of advisers to the governor, it constituted the upper house of the legislature, and it frequently formed the highest court of the ...