Date of Award

5-2007

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Degree Program

History

Department

History

Major Professor

Billings, Warren

Second Advisor

Cassimere, Raphael

Third Advisor

Hirsch, Arnold

Abstract

England's first settlers arrived in Virginia hoping to achieve the same success Spaniards had in the West Indies. Yet, North America held little wealth in the forms of gold or silver and the hopes of finding a Northwest Passage proved fruitless as well. For over ten years British holdings in the New World showed little sign of producing profits. It was not until 1614, and the introduction of tobacco, that Virginians finally discovered a commodity that could be sold back in Europe. Tobacco cultivation, however, was not the only activity that offered the possibility of wealth. Between the years of 1629 and 1635 there existed an opportunity for the creation of trade networks between the white man and Indian. Unfortunately, almost as quickly as these trade networks emerged, competition between the natives and Europeans led to the exhaustion of the beaver population, and ultimately caused the colonies of the Chesapeake to erupt into warfare.

Rights

The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.

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