Excerpt: Virginia, pt. 1 -- The Successful Failure, 1607-1646
About this episode
This episode explores the transformation of Virginia from a struggling settlement to a prosperous colony, highlighting key figures and events in its history.
Virginia began from a small, undersupplied wooden fort immersed in a brackish and malarial marsh to become, after 30 years, the largest and most valuable colony in North America, pulling in thousands of indentured workers and African slaves each year and pumping out millions of pounds of tobacco. In achieving this shocking metamorphosis, the colonists had to contend with the Powhatan Confederacy, one of the strongest indigenous states in the Americas, which ruled the Tidewater region; and they had to to choose among different forking paths that might have led to an entirely different relationship between Indians and English. We consider the unrealized possible histories that iconic figures like John Smith and Pocahontas came to symbllize, and the reasons why the English backers poured so many resources and human lives into this endeavor of conquest and colonization, ultimately supplanting Powhatan civilization and creating a cash-crop colony. Please become a patron to hear all patron-only lectures: www.patreon.com/c/u5530632 Suggested further reading: Morgan, “American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia”; Wertenaber, “The Planters of Colonial Virginia”…
More episodes of Historiansplaining: A historian tells you why everything you know is wrong
- Excerpt: Myth of the Month 26: The Industrial Revolution -- pt. 2: Spinning the National Yarn
- Myth of the Month 26: The Industrial Revolution -- pt. 1: Conceiving a Catastrophe
- Unlocked: History of United States in 100 Objects -- Beaver Fur Hat, 1590-1670
- The Elizabethan Dream: How England Became a Sea Power
- Acadia: First Foothold in the North
- History of the United States in 100 Objects -- 25: "Wilkes And Liberty" Cufflink Jewel, 1760s
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Historiansplaining: A historian tells you why everything you know is wrong podcast page.