Compounded with other factors such as religious turmoil in Europe and political dissatisfaction, the environment of North America played a central role in the course of colonial societal growth. Whether it was struggling to survive by finding ways to farm crops in the New Worlds foreign soil or defending themselves against the native population, early settlers both suffered and prospered due to their new surroundings. As they slowly acclimated to the New World they came to realize the ways in which it could be both beneficial and harmful to them. The environment of North America had not only physically affected colonists but it also influenced the development of numerous aspects of early American society such as intercontinental trade, the import and export of goods and crops, as well as the societal relations between Europeans, Africans, and Natives.
The first successful voyages to the Americas were made by Spain in the early 1500’s. When news spread that Spanish explorers had found large amounts of land ready to be claimed and massive amounts of gold that had been harbored by the native peoples, many European powers such as England and France sought to reap some of these benefits from the New World as well. There was also the search for a North West passage that would provide access to the East Indies however, England and France were unsuccessful in fulfilling any of their goals. When they arrived, they were unable to maintain sustainable colonies and to their disappointment they found no gold whatsoever.
When King James learned of this he declared that, “God hath reserved lands lying north of Florida to be brought unto Christian civility.” With that decree, three ships of colonists were sent out and on April 26th 1607 they arrived at Chesapeake Bay. The colonists built a fort in what is now Virginia and named their newly claimed land Jamestown. This new environment was harsh on the English settlers. They had to defend themselves from the native population of Algonquin people and from Spaniards whose land was partially encroached upon by the settlers. However, the most severe challenges they faced were famine and disease. The English settlers could not properly farm the foreign soils of the New World and thus led to many deaths due to starvation. Along with a lack of food came a lack of biological defense against non-European diseases as well. Surprisingly, it was the actions of the Algonquin chief Powhattan that many believe saved the settlers lives. He offered them corn and taught them how to farm it in exchange for European goods. Their survival established Jamestown as the first successful English colony.
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Unbeknownst to the early settlers, there was a naturally growing crop that is native to the New World that would change not only their own lives but also the whole of Europe. Tobacco, which grew wild in North America and had been cultivated for many years by the native Americans was quite rare in Europe and was only obtainable by the wealthy. By 1600 settlers in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina learned to master the process of tobacco farming. North American colonial society centered entirely around the production and export of said tobacco brining incredible wealth to the early colonies. In the early 1600’s the Chesapeake region was mostly made up of small farmers that only produced enough to support them and their families. However, by the late 1600’s there was a clear divide between large elite farmers and their servants who hoped become free at some point in order to own land themselves.
