efforts were made to construct serviceable
roads. The settlements had by that time extended back from the rivers
and creeks, and means of communication by land was absolutely
necessary. The nature of the country, however, presented great
difficulty. Hugh Jones wrote, "The worst inconveniency in travelling
across the country, is the circuit that must be taken to head creeks,
&c., for the main roads wind along the rising ground between the
rivers, tho' now they much shorten their passage by mending the swamps
and building of bridges in several places; and there are established
ferries at convenient places, over the great rivers." But slight
attention was given to keeping the roads in good condition and after
each long rain they become almost impassable. The lack of bridges was
a great hindrance to traffic and even the poor substitute of ferries
was often lacking, forcing travellers to long detours or to the
dangerous task of swimming the stream.[67]

Thus cut off from his neighbors the planter spent his life in
isolation almost as great as that of the feudal barons of the Middle
Ages. The plantation was to him a little world whose activities it was
his business to direct and this world moulded his character far more
than any outward influence.

It is a matter of no surprise that one of the first distinctive
characteristics to develop among the Virginia planters was pride. This
trait was natural to them even in the early years of the 17th century.
The operation of economic conditions upon a society is usually very
slow, and frequently the changes that it brings about may be detected
only after the lapse of centuries. This fact is nowhere more apparent
than in the development of the Virginia aristocracy, and we find that
its distinctive character had not been fully formed until after the
Revolution. Pride, however, is a failing so natural to humanity that
its development may be a matter of a few years only. Conditions in the
colony could not fail to produce, even in the first generations of
Virginians, all the dignity and self esteem of an old established
aristocracy. William Byrd I, Daniel Parke, "King" Carter were every
whit as proud as were Randolph, Madison or Jefferson.

It is interesting to note how careful were the Virginians of the 17th
century not to omit in documents and legal papers any term of
distinction to which a man was entitled. If he possessed two titles he
was usually given both. Thus Thomas Willoughby