Tidewater is a region in the Atlantic Plains of the United States located east of the Atlantic Seaboard fall line (the natural border where the tidewater meets with the Piedmont region) and north of the Deep South. The term "tidewater" can be applied to any region where water levels are affected by the tide. Still, culturally and historically, the Tidewater region refers most commonly to the low-lying plains of southeastern Virginia (known as the coastal plain or Tidewater Virginia), eastern Maryland, the Eastern Shore, and the Chesapeake Bay. It can also encompass Delaware, the remainder of the Delmarva Peninsula, and northeastern North Carolina.
The cultural Tidewater region got its name from the effects of changing ocean tides on local rivers, sounds, and shorelines. The area has a millennia-old cultural heritage that sets itself apart from the adjacent inland parts of the United States, especially concerning its distinctive dialects of English, which are gradually disappearing, along with its islands, indigenous population and its receding shoreline.
History
Indigenous populations Most Native Americans in the Tidewater region were various Algonquian polities including various member nations of the Powhatan Confederacy alongside nations such as the Doeg, Piscataway, Nacotchtank, Tockwogh and the Chickahominy. Algonquians generally lived from the fall line eastward to the Chesapeake Bay and south to the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds. From north to south, they inhabited the area from the Potomac River in Maryland to the Neuse River in North Carolina. Two nations, the Accomac and the Accohanoc, also Algonquians, lived on the Eastern Shore. John Smith's map of the region, which has been deemed quite accurate compared to some modern maps, showing about 200 towns with king's house symbols indicating capitals. The Powhatan Confederacy in the Tidewater region was occasionally at war with their neighbors, and they were enemies with the Monacans and Manahoac west of the fall line in the Piedmont region. To the north were the Susquehannock and Massawomeck. To the south were the Tuscarora, Nottoway and Meherrin alongside other hostile Algonquian nations such as the Weapemeoc and Chowanoc.
The natives were agriculturalists dependent on the Three Sisters (corn, beans and squash) which they grew in the region's rich soils. They supplemented their diet with hunting, gathering, and fishing. By continuously growing corn, they were susceptible to crop failure. They fished and ate berries and nuts in the spring and summer, ate grown vegetables in the summer and fall, and hunted for deer, turkey, squirrel, rabbit, etc. in the winter. Deer was used for clothing and tools as well as food. Each nation had a leader, a Weroance. Political power was inherited and passed down through the female line although there was flexibility. The members of the Powhatan Confederacy lived in communities along rivers banks in houses called yehakins made from a tree framework covered in bark or marsh reed mats. Men hunted and fished while women farmed, made clothing, and cooked. Children learned these skills from adults and played. Tattoos of animals and nature were common, and clothes were made from deerskin and woven grasses. They made necklaces and earrings made from shells and pearls.
Many Algonquians were part of the Powhatan Confederacy which originated around the James River and encompassed the Pamunkey and Mattaponi Rivers to the north. Eventually, the confederacy included more than 30 Algonquian nations east of the fall line including the Pamunkey, Nansemond, and eventually the Chickahominy, the three largest nations in Virginia, as well as the Accomac and Accohanoc on the southern tip of the Eastern Shore.
The original Confederacy is estimated to have had around 1,750-1,850 members before expanding to have 8,000-9,000. The Eastern Shore had 400 members; the rest lived on the mainland with a slight majority living in the Northern Neck and South of the James River. The more central nations of the confederacy, like the Pamunkey, lived between the James and Rappahannock Rivers. There are accounts of nations further away, like the Potomac and Accomac, who refused to obey the Mamatowick of the whole Confederacy.
Powhatan, named Wahunsonacock in his language, was the Mamatowick of the Powhatan Confederacy at the time of European contact. He was also the father of Pocahontas. He grew his confederacy by invading many nations to force them to join, including the Chesapeake, Kecoughtan, and Piankatank, according to locals who interacted with the colonists. Powhatan's relative, Opechancanough (it's unknown if he is a brother, half-brother, or cousin), was the Weroance of the Pamunkey before succeeding his father as the leader after his death.
Native-English interaction
The Roanoke and Croatan were the first nations to come in contact with English settlers at their failed colony on Roanoke Island. At the start of English settlement in the region in the early 17th century, there was a shift in locations, as many natives moved west or further south into current North Carolina to avoid colonists. After the establishment of the first English settlement at Jamestown in 1607, Powhatan moved from Werowocomoco on the York River westward to Orapaks on the Chickahomony River. Many nations were forced to flee south in the 1630s and 1650s after the Indian massacre of 1622 (also called the Powhatan Uprising of 1622) and 1644.
Opechancanough led these uprisings against the colonists starting on March 22, 1622, in which the Powhatan Confederacy surprise attacked killing or abducting approximately 347 settlers, about a quarter of the colonists. Their tactic was to enter settlement homes friendly, as this was now normalized, before attacking. The Jamestown settlement was warned by a Christianized native the night before and escaped harm. These attacks rose tensions between the natives and the colonists and incited a ten-year long Anglo-Powhatan war. On the morning of the first uprising, the process resulting in Indian reservations began. Opechancanough led another uprising in 1644 which killed almost 500 colonists, but he was captured and killed in captivity. In 1675, fighting broke out between English colonists and Susquehannock due to colonial encroachment on Susquehannock land on the frontiers of Virginia and Maryland. By the early 18th century, some natives adopted Christianity and European culture.
English settlement
Roanoke Island
The first English colony, Roanoke Colony, was established on Roanoke Island in 1587 in the current Outer Banks of North Carolina. The colony consisted of men, women, and children sent by Sir Walter Raleigh, the leading Englishman in colonial establishments. The settlers explored the Pamlico and Albemarle sounds and rivers and documented new animal and plant species. Because of the infertile soil, the colonists resorted to taking food from neighboring natives which resulted in fighting. A month into the establishment, Governor John White left the island, promising to return in three month. However, he returned three year later in 1590 to find all the inhabitants and their houses gone with the letter "CRO" carved into a tree and the word "Croatoan" carved onto a post. Governor White speculated that they moved to the land occupied by the Croatoan tribe but couldn't search for them and returned to England.
Jamestown Settlement
In May 1607, the first successful English colony was established on the James River in Jamestown, Virginia. When the 104 men arrived, they found fertile soils, meadows, tall trees, and an abundance of fish, oysters, and crabs, and set out in search of gold. They built a chapel from wood which burned down in 1608 and was rebuilt to be the largest building in the settlement. The church was where John Rolfe and Pocahontas were wed.
Few of the colonists knew artisan skills necessary for survival. The colonists struggled with Malaria from the mosquitos that inhabited the swamps, other diseases like typhoid fever and dysentery, a lack of fresh water, winter famines, and strained relationships with the natives that they encountered. Within the first month of settlement, the Powhatans had attacked the colonists' fort before the Chief sent messengers to ask for friendship. However, interaction between the two groups were often unstable as they both traded and fought.Lee, J. (2018). The colony of jamestown: conceptions, challenges, and change. Aletheia, 3. By the end of the first winter, only 38 of the original settlers had survived. In 1608, 200 more were sent to the colony. The colony struggled until tobacco became its economic driver and cash crop.
Albemarle colony The settlers continued to explore the Albemarle-Pamlico region and starting in 1653, they expanded their colony into this area. Most settlers who moved south to Carolina from Jamestown were Quakers seeking religious freedom. The settlers here changed the ecosystem by digging ditches and canals which drained the swampland, cutting down forests, building river dams, and attempting to drain lakes. They overtook the natives who lived there and farmed on the land, adopting the planting of maize, planting their own rice, wheat, and tobacco, and raising livestock.
Maryland colony In 1634, the colony of St. Mary's was established near the Potomac River with the arrival of around 200 settlers. The colony was established to be a refuge for English Catholics prosecuted by Protestants. However, most who came were Protestants, although there were also Catholics, Quakers, and Puritans. The religious diversity in the area merited the creation of the 1649 "Act Concerning Religion" that allowed free exercise of religion as long as the religion was a Christian denomination, although it did little to solve religious turmoil.
Colonial history
Indentured servitude and slavery
Before slavery, indentured servants were the predominant source of labor in Virginia and Maryland. English indentured servants exchanged four or seven years of free labor in return for passage to America and fifty acres of land after their release. Indentured servants in the 1700s tended to arrive from Ireland and came in families. Criminals from England were also sent in 1718.
Slavery was more appealing to planters because, unlike indentured servants, slaves were to work their whole lives and could not be freed and given parcels of land that could compete with owners. In 1619, the first Africans in Virginia were landed at Jamestown by the English privateer White Lion. They had been baptized and could not be sold as slaves and instead were sold as servants. By 1649, 300 Africans, a mix of slaves, indentured servants, and free, were living in Virginia. Africans went south to the Albemarle region in 1653 with other English settlers. By the 1660s, most Africans were either servants for life or slaves. During the 18th century, slavery significantly increased in Virginia from 12,000 slaves in 1708 to 120,000 in 1756. Maryland and the Carolinas saw similar increases, with slaves outnumbering whites in South Carolina by 1708. The three types of slaves were skilled workers (carpenters, blacksmiths, tailors, etc.), house servants (cooks, maids, nurses), and field hands who worked in the tobacco fields.
Colonial governments In 1619, the Virginia Company of London authorized for every adult male in Virginia to elect a legislature called the House of Burgesses. In its first meeting, the House passed laws concerning Native American relations and conversion, agriculture, land and labor, religion, and morals. This was the first form of self-government that the colonists had.