What Were the Key Factors to the Evolution of the Chesapeake Region?

The Chesapeake region reached such high heights after such an unfamiliar and unfortunate beginning because of various changes in population, the economy, and household composition.

From 1630 to 1800, the demography of the Chesapeake region incessantly changed. One key factor that contributed to the sporadic changes in population was the mortality rates. In the Chesapeake region, the age at which people died became younger as time went by. Document 7 proves the increasing mortality rate by showing that the average of Chesapeake-born men who reached age 20, born between 1670 to 1679, lived longer than those born in later years such as 1720 to 1729. Although people died younger as the years passed, the population continuously grew. For instance, the average population of whites in the Chesapeake region in 1640 was about 3,901, but in 1770 the population grew to an mean of approximately 133,180 whites, around 34 times more than that of 1640. However, the arrival and settling of British migrants largely contributed to the flourishing population of the Chesapeake region. Religious tolerance or religious heterogeneity, especially in Maryland, could have been one element that may have influenced more British migrants to travel to the Chesapeake region. Document 4 shows that in the years 1630 to 1640, approximately 21.9 to 24.6 percent of all British migrants went to the Chesapeake region. By 1690 to 1700, migrants that went to the Chesapeake region increased to about 15,800 to 16,000 out of 44,100, or 35.8 to 33.0 percent. Some migrants became indentured servants to pay for their transportation to the colonies. However, with the rise and growth of plantations, servants gradually became replaced with slaves, as shown on document 10. As th...

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...nd 18.1 years of age. However, through 1740 and 1749, on average, women married at about 22 years of age. Consequently, women bore less children. The average completed family size, as stated in the sixth source, was 9.4 in 1650 to 1700, but it decreased to 6.9 in 1750 to 1800. Some families depended on inherited wealth. Document 18 shows the "division of estates" in Middlesex County, Virginia from 1699 to 1750. While through 1699, 93 percent of all sons received land, only 62 percent received land between 1720 to 1750. As the division of land between sons decreased, so did the population of people with land and wealth.

Although the Chesapeake region faced many obstacles such as the "starving time," fatal diseases, and dire population shortages, it ultimately evolved and grew because of population increases, economic fluctuation, and changes in household composition.