Existing comment:
Virginia's Colonial Backcountry
The colonial backcountry reached into the Shenandoah Valley. Beyond were the Appalachian Mountains, a protective natural barrier from French settlements that stretched from Canada to Louisiana.
To shield against Indian attacks and French expansion, and to deter runaway slaves from establishing colonies in the mountains, British and colonial leaders encouraged settlement of the Shenandoah Valley. German, Scots-Irish, and English settlers introduced ethnic and religious diversity there and established small farms where they grew grain and bred livestock. Absent was the eastern Virginia dependence on tobacco and slavery. |