Colonial Population

1. Colonial Population By; Autumn Hefty, Katie Petrilak, and Alex Cruz

2. Indentured Servants • Three fourths of immigrants to the Chesapeake were indentured servants. • Most servants chose to go but soon prisoners, orphans, vagrants and paupers were sent unwillingly to provide a work force. • Male indentures were supposed to be provided with benefits like clothing, tools, and even land, but most men were given nothing. • Most male servants ended up without spouses, land or jobs, and most of the time these men were the cause for social unrest. • After a while the indentured servant system became unappealing because of the instability and African slavery became more prominent.

3. Birth and Death • Everyone that was born faced inadequate food, epidemics which most of the time resulted in early death. • The North had almost a 40 year higher life expectancy then in the South.(cleaner water, cool climate, and relatively disease free environment) • Only a 40 year life expectancy in the South for a white man. • Through the 17th century families became more balanced.(men to women) • By the end of the 17th century North America grew over a quarter of a million people, 25 percent were Africans.

4. Medicine in the Colonies • High Death rate of women who bore children. 17th and 18th century physicians had no understanding of infections and sterilization. • Many people died from infections during childbirth or surgery(dirty instruments and hands). • Garbage and unclean water in colonies didn’t understand bacteria. • Midwives helped in childbirth and gave ideas of natural remedies.

5. Galen’s Doctoring Theory • Galen was a Roman physician that believed that the body was made of four parts and the four parts should be all in balance. • The four parts were yellow bile(choler), black bile(melancholy), blood, and phlegm. • If the parts weren’t in balance they treated it with purging, expulsion, and bleeding to even them out.

6. Beginnings of Slavery in the Americas • At first the demand for black servants was low, but as soon as tobacco became a staple of the Chesapeake colony, the demand went up. • Eventually the Dutch and French joined the slave trade and supply of slaves in North America was plentiful. • The Middle Passage was the forced immigration of Africans to the New World. • Slaves brought to the New World suffered hardship, like abuse, lack of food and water and commonly death. • The slave population in the colonies started to grow and outnumbered the Europeans in some areas, especially the south. • Eventually the status of black laborers in the Americas became uncertain as some laborers were treated better and eventually released, owned land and a few owned their own land.

7. Women and families in Chesapeake • Many women stay single because of the sex ratio. • Some women become pregnant before marriage as a slave and are given harsh treatments. • The most common cause of death for woman is childbirth. • The men usually die before their wives.

8. Women and families in New England • The sex ratio between men and women were more equal than in the Chesapeake. • Woman married young and gave birth to 6-8 children. • Most children lost their parents before the age of 21. • They usually had parents consideration of their spouse for things in return. • Men and women are equal. • Women do farm work.

9. Changing Sources of European Immigrants • Different cultures immigrated. • English, French, German, Swiss, Irish, Welsh, Scottish, and Scandinavian traveled as immigrants. • French Calvinists or Huguenots were the most non-english immigrants.