Changes

==Colonial Era==

==Colonial Era==

The royal government brought political and legal stability and largely ended the Indian threat. Prosperity came after 1660 with the realization that tobacco could be grown for a huge profit and that black slaves could do the work. Virginia developed a distinctive culture that spread from there through much of the South. Tobacco and slavery produced an economic, social, and political system dominated by a native oligarchy of rich farmers called the planter aristocracy. Poor whites operated self-sufficient farms, with a little tobacco grown for personal use and cash sales. There were no cities or even towns, as the planters shipped tobacco in barrels from small wharfs close to their plantations directly to London.  

The royal government brought political and legal stability and largely ended the Indian threat. The Virginia General Assembly of 1619 was called to give the anticipated large number of new settlers a voice in the government of the colony.  It was the first elected government in the America, and is now one of the oldest in the world. The governor and council acted informally as an upper house of the legislature until 1680 when a formal bicameral body was established.

 

Prosperity came after 1660 with the realization that tobacco could be grown for a huge profit and that black slaves could do the work. Virginia developed a distinctive culture that spread from there through much of the South. Tobacco and slavery produced an economic, social, and political system dominated by a native oligarchy of rich farmers called the planter aristocracy. Poor whites operated self-sufficient farms, with a little tobacco grown for personal use and cash sales. There were no cities or even towns, as the planters shipped tobacco in barrels from small wharfs close to their plantations directly to London.  

===Demography===

===Demography===

Demographic conditions after 1660 were increasingly favorable. Malaria was not fatal to people born in Virginia, and the food supply was ample. Both the white and black population grew rapidly.  Wars were uncommon and small-scale.  Immigration comprised mostly middle class families, plus poor teenagers who came as "indentured servants" and became fully independent at age 21. Between 1718 and 1775, Britain dumped about 20,000 convicts in Virginia (after the Revolution it sent them to Australia).

Demographic conditions after 1660 were increasingly favorable. Malaria was not fatal to people born in Virginia, and the food supply was ample. Both the white and black population grew rapidly.  Wars were uncommon and small-scale.  Immigration comprised mostly middle class families, plus poor teenagers who came as "indentured servants" and became fully independent at age 21. Between 1718 and 1775, Britain dumped about 20,000 convicts in Virginia (after the Revolution it sent them to Australia).