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Politically the planters controlled local government through their control of the Anglican parishes and county government; neither was elected. The planters also controled elections to the the colonial legislature, the House of Burgesses. English institutions were changed into a system of democracy--most white men owned property so they could and did vote, and usually voted for their "betters". (In England, by contrast, fewer than 10% of the men could vote.)
Politically the planters controlled local government through their control of the Anglican parishes and county government; neither was elected. The planters also controled elections to the the colonial legislature, the House of Burgesses. English institutions were changed into a system of democracy--most white men owned property so they could and did vote, and usually voted for their "betters". (In England, by contrast, fewer than 10% of the men could vote.)
It was a patriarchal society ruled exclusively by men. However, if a man overstepped the boundaries of local norms, the county court could intervene and punish him. Thus in 1668-70 a rich planter named Henry Smith was charged several times in court--he was accused of concubinage, wife beating, adultery, child abuse, fathering bastards, sexual harassment, rape, and brutality toward servants. The court heard damning testimony from his wife and from his mistress and other local women. Illiterate and isolated but well versed in their legal and customary rights and duties, the women knew how to handle Smith, who was found guilty.<ref> Irmina Wawrzyczek, "The Women of Accomack Versus Henry Smith: Gender, Legal Recourse, and the Social Order in Seventeenth-Century Virginia," ''Virginia Magazine of History and Biography,'' 1997 105(1): 5-26. </ref>
It was a patriarchal society ruled exclusively by men. However, if a man overstepped the boundaries of local norms, the county court could intervene and punish him. Thus in 1668-70 a rich planter named Henry Smith was charged several times in court--he was accused of concubinage, wife beating, adultery, child abuse, fathering bastards, sexual harassment, rape, and brutality toward servants. The court heard damning testimony from his wife and from his mistress and other local women. Illiterate and isolated but well versed in their legal and customary rights and duties, the women knew how to handle Smith, who was found guilty.<ref> Irmina Wawrzyczek, "The Women of Accomack Versus Henry Smith: Gender, Legal Recourse, and the Social Order in Seventeenth-Century Virginia," ''Virginia Magazine of History and Biography,'' 1997 105(1): 5-26; on patriarchy, see by Kathleen M. Brown, ''Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs: Gender, Race, and Power in Colonial Virginia'' (1996). </ref>
===Frontier===
===Frontier===
Tobacco plantations were in the "tidewater" area close to the ocean. Plenty of good cheap land was available on the frontier. The settlers west of the Blue Ridge mountains from the 1720s to the 1740s were mostly German and Scotch-Irish Protestants, whose society contrasted sharply with tidewater Anglican colonists. Historians explaining the distinctiveness of the backcountry focus on two factors: the availability of good land at low prices and the pioneering efforts of land speculators encouraged by the colonial government.
Tobacco plantations were in the "tidewater" area close to the ocean. Plenty of good cheap land was available on the frontier. The settlers west of the Blue Ridge mountains from the 1720s to the 1740s were mostly German and Scotch-Irish Protestants, whose society contrasted sharply with tidewater Anglican colonists. Historians explaining the distinctiveness of the backcountry focus on two factors: the availability of good land at low prices and the pioneering efforts of land speculators encouraged by the colonial government.
*Breen, T. H. ''Tobacco Culture: The Mentality of the Great Tidewater Planters on the Eve of Revolution'' (1985)
*Breen, T. H. ''Tobacco Culture: The Mentality of the Great Tidewater Planters on the Eve of Revolution'' (1985)
*Breen, T. H., and Stephen D. Innes. ''"Myne Owne Ground": Race and Freedom on Virginia's Eastern Shore, 1640-1676'' (1980)
*Breen, T. H., and Stephen D. Innes. ''"Myne Owne Ground": Race and Freedom on Virginia's Eastern Shore, 1640-1676'' (1980)
* Brown, Kathleen M. ''Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs: Gender, Race, and Power in Colonial Virginia'' (1996) [http://www.amazon.com/Wives-Nasty-Wenches-Anxious-Patriarchs/dp/0807846236/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244861919&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
*Byrd, William. ''The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover, 1709-1712'' (1941) ed by Louis B. Wright and Marion Tinling [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=14559892 online edition]
*Byrd, William. ''The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover, 1709-1712'' (1941) ed by Louis B. Wright and Marion Tinling [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=14559892 online edition]
*Bruce, Philip Alexander. ''Institutional History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century: An Inquiry into the Religious, Moral, Educational, Legal, Military, and Political Condition of the People, Based on Original and Contemporaneous Records'' (1910) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=51565681 online edition]
*Bruce, Philip Alexander. ''Institutional History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century: An Inquiry into the Religious, Moral, Educational, Legal, Military, and Political Condition of the People, Based on Original and Contemporaneous Records'' (1910) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=51565681 online edition]