Final answer:
The colonists are the primary beneficiaries of being able to support a family in the new colony, as this directly impacts their well-being and economic success, which also indirectly supports the British Empire's economy and the prosperity of tobacco plantations through increased production and profits.
Step-by-step explanation:
The colonists would be the primary beneficiaries of the ability to support a family in the new colony. In the context of the seventeenth century, mercantilism and the cultivation of cash crops such as tobacco played a significant role in the viability of colonies like those in Chesapeake Bay. The colonists, who looked for social mobility and economic prosperity, found tobacco cultivation a sure way to make money, notably after 1614 when Jamestown started exporting it to Europe, yielding profits.
While the ability to support a family directly influenced the well-being and success of the colonies and thus the individual colonists, it inadvertently supported the British Empire's mercantilist goals by providing raw materials like tobacco at lower prices. These would be turned into manufactured goods in England and sold back to the colonies at a higher price, thus increasing England's wealth. At the same time, self-sustaining colonies like Carolina reduced the logistical and financial burden of the English government to continually supply and support them.
Meanwhile, the tobacco plantations directly benefited from the labor and management by the colonists who could support their families, as the surplus labor could be directed towards increasing tobacco production, leading to greater exports and profits.