Rivers: The Natural Highways that Shaped America

FYI: This week in American History I studied on life in Colonial America, and how rivers shaped life in that time period. Here's an essay I wrote on river's part in shaping American life.

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As more and more settlers came to the New World we now know as America, they began to spread out and settle in different areas of the country. Some moved to New England, and some moved to the South.

One great asset about the South was rivers—the highways of trade! The rivers were slow and deep...ideal for communication and transportation of goods and people. With all the rivers, there were very few if any roads on dry land—the rivers were the watery roads to shipping and receiving. There was so much land in the South that you could just say, “I’m going to settle here”, and do so! You would get a huge plantation, and build a dock on the riverfront. As in all of America, the farmers and landowners in the South were jacks of all trades—meaning that they would do everything for themselves.

Naturally with the river and almost unthinkable chunks of land, neighbors were far and few between. Sure, you may have neighbors, but they would be miles away farming their own lands. You might not see someone besides your own family for a week or more! So when you’d see someone come to your part of the river, wow! You’d drop your work and walk right over to him, give him a hearty handshake, and invite him on in to your house. Your wife would give him the best of your food, and you’d invite him to stay a while with you. Giving people the best you had became known as Southern hospitality.

In New England it was different. Sure, there were rivers, a few at least. But these rivers had vicious rapids, naturally not suitable for trading or travel. Roads were not an option—too much hard work, and then the weather made the roads not travelable. So New England settlers hugged the seacoast, which was a better way of transportation and trading. And the seaports became a lifeline of the colonist’s lives. For example, in 1690 Boston became the largest port city in North America.

With cloistering around the coast New Englanders built towns, and lived near each other. They invented the idea of town commons, a spot in the middle of the town where the entire population could gather for meetings, usually in a church or school. In fact, Massachusetts had the first public school…because people lived together.

There were several differences between the settlers of the South and those of New England. Those in the South used rivers for trading, settlers in New England traded on the seas. In the South people did not live close together because of the huge tracts of land. Colonists in New England settled together in towns, and had town commons with schools and churches.
And all American colonists became jack of all trades as they forged a new life for them, and their children, in a land called America.