Competition and Conflict: Maryland\u27s First Ten Years

England\u27s first settlers arrived in Virginia hoping to achieve the same success Spaniards had in the West Indies. Yet, North America held little wealth in the forms of gold or silver and the hopes of finding a Northwest Passage proved fruitless as well. For over ten years British holdings in the New World showed little sign of producing profits. It was not until 1614, and the introduction of tobacco, that Virginians finally discovered a commodity that could be sold back in Europe. Tobacco cultivation, however, was not the only activity that offered the possibility of wealth. Between the years of 1629 and 1635 there existed an opportunity for the creation of trade networks between the white man and Indian. Unfortunately, almost as quickly as these trade networks emerged, competition between the natives and Europeans led to the exhaustion of the beaver population, and ultimately caused the colonies of the Chesapeake to erupt into warfare