The Cultural Landscape of the Colony of Virginia Interactive Notes VS. 4b

1. Although it was a colony of England, Virginia developed a unique culture that was different from the culture of England. Usually whenever people settle in an area, they bring their beliefs, customs, and architecture with them and change the existing culture.

2. However, in Virginia, it was European immigrants, American Indians, and Africans who influenced the areas where they settled and left signs of their cultures. They influenced the culture and landscape of colonial Virginia to reflect their beliefs, customs, and architecture which included barns, homes, and places of worship.

3. The names of places also reflect the culture of settlers who lived there. Richmond, the capital city of Virginia today, is an English name. It comes from Richmond-on-the- Thames, a suburb of London. The city of Roanoke, which is located in southwestern Virginia, is an American Indian name that means “sea-shell,” or “wampum.”

“wampwum” Wampum are traditional shell beads of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of the indigenous people of North America. Wampum include the white shell beads fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk shell; and the white and purple beads made from the quahog, or Western North Atlantic hard-shelled clam.

Richmond on the Thames

Richmond, Virginia

Roanoke, Virginia

Roanoke, Virginia (Blue Ridge Mountains)

4. Different cultural groups chose different areas of Virginia to settle. The first inhabitants of Virginia were the American Indians. Before the settlers came, they lived throughout Virginia. After the settlers arrived, most were forced inland.

Settlers trade with Indians

Native peoples would be forced out of their homes for many years to come…

5. The English and other Europeans settled primarily in the Coastal Plain (Tidewater) and Piedmont regions. German and Scots-Irish immigrants moved more inland and settled primarily in the Shenandoah Valley which was along a popular migration route.

English settlers in Virginia welcome new wives

Many English colonial houses resembled something like this

The Shenandoah Valley, where most Germans and Scots-Irish immigrants settled

Location of Germany in Europe

German- style barns

German stone houses

Early German stove

“Scots-Irish” Scotch-Irish or Scots-Irish may refer to: The Ulster Scots people, an ethnic group in Ulster, Ireland, who trace their roots to settlers from Scotland. Scotch- Irish Americans, descendants of Ulster Scots who first migrated to America in large numbers in the early 18th century.

Scots-Irish fiddle

Modern Scots-Irish clog dancing

6. Africans were settled primarily in the Coastal Plain (Tidewater) and Piedmont regions. The economy of these two regions depended heavily on tobacco agriculture which required a lot of labor.

As these groups migrated to Virginia and settled there, they adapted their old customs, beliefs, and architecture to their new environment.