Day 3: Monday- Learning about the Role of Women

My trip here is half way over. I hope nothing has changed too much with you guys while I was gone. Here I finally see things that are similar to home. Like us in New England the women weave, cook, clean the house, and take care of the children. So, basically women still do the housework in the south. However, because we migrate as families instead in individuals there are typically more women where we live. Also here, women have fewer children compared to us at home because families are weaker. Back in the north however, women are looked upon as less compared to here because men typically live longer. Here in the south, women have more power. This is because it is said that men typically have a shorter life in the south, so women can/ have the right to inherit the money left for them. Also here women are less conservative than we are. When we women in the north commit adultery we have to wear an “A” on our bosoms, if we are caught, but here they don’t do that, and you can tell by the mixed culture around here, but that topic is saved for tomorrow.

Love,
Erica

Day 2: Sunday- Learning about Religion

How's everyone dong at home?
I believe that today is the first time that I haven't gone to our church on Sunday. So, today I went to church with cousin Brandon here in Virginia but he told me that he doesn't really go to church very often because they aren't as dedicated to religion as we are. I learned that they are people who come to the new world in support of the Church of England, however we are trying to reform the Church of England and that made it pretty weird. Here I also noticed that there aren't many women who are able to go to church. Back at home people who have different beliefs that us, would be kicked out of the Mass. Bay Colony, like Anne Hutchinson was. However, here in the south Brandon told me that people who believe in different types religions moved around. For example, Catholics would move down to the colony of Carolina for more acceptance. After church I saw people working on farms and other places and I asked them why do they work so hard and do you know what they said? They said that they do work in hopes of becoming free and to gain profit. I believe that people should work to get the chance to be saved by god. Another interesting fact is that we tend to wake up earlier when we are going to church on Sundays. I would know given that I woke up at our usual time and was ready to go while everyone else was still sleeping. Today has been a very interesting day for me, I learned that people here can have different views from us and our religious practices. Still missing all of you back home, but I'll be back in a few days!!!

Love,
Erica

Day 1: Saturday-Learning About Society

Hi everyone,
Today is my first day in Virginia!!! I still miss all of you back a home though. Cousin Brandon is good and he was showing me around. So, anyways today I learned about society here. So you know how at home we live in a big group together as a family, but here the families are weaker and there aren’t many families because there are more men than women here in Jamestown. Also people here do not live as a democracy, they have a social hierarchy. At the top are the large plantation owners who own these massive pieces of land where the grow tobacco. Then there are the small farmers who make up most of the population here. Brandon is considered to be a small farmer. Then there are these people who are called the landless whites. You may be wonder what there are, well the name says it all, they are whites who do not have land. They might not have land because they used to be indentured servants and their masters took all the land. Then the indentured servants are next in the hierarchy. They are the people whose trip was paid by someone else and so they had to work on the plantations to pay off their debt and eventually they would be freed and gain land. Here I have also discovered that they have massive use of slaves because of their large plantations. Here the slaves are at the bottom of the social hierarchy and treated as if they are nonhuman. Here they even have laws called the Barbados Code to rule the slaves. It is so different here because they don’t live as we do, by majority rules, and it is so weird because not everyone is equal. If they were to come to the north I’m sure that they would consider us weird. Well I have to go now because tomorrow is going to be another adventure!

Love,
Erica