The Southern Colonies

1. The Southern Colonies By: Kate, Carolyn, Annie, Paige, Grace, and Annika

2. The Colonies • Virginia: - Purpose: Gold! - Date: 1606 - People: John Smith and Pocohontas • Maryland: - Purpose; Catholics could practice religion freely - Date: 1634 - People: Sir George Calvert and Lord Baltimore • North Carolina: - Purpose: Tobacco farmers (Money) - Date: 1663/1712 - People: English Nobles • South Carolina: - Purpose: Farming, Plantations, Growth of rice and indigo - Date: 1663/1719 - People: English Nobles • Georgia: - Purpose: Debtors could make a fresh start - Date: 1732 - People: James Oglethorpe

3. Unique Economy • Warmer weather and longer growing season • Tidewater region- Large plantations of tobacco and rice • Virginia, Maryland, and some of NC- major tobacco growing areas • SC +Georgia - rice & indigo • Profitable on large plantations • Earlier settlers along rivers &creeks because land washed by water = rich farmland • Also settled on rivers- easy to move goods to market • Women kept household running smoothly • Backcountry- hunters and farmers- • Rich soil • More democratic treat each as equals • Smaller fields • Self-sufficient provide everything they need make clothes, farming food ,hunt food etc.

4. Bacon’s Rebellion • English settlers continued to arrive in Virginia • As more settlers arrived the farther they moved west into Native land • Conflicts over land led to fighting between Indians and settlers • The English called on governor to act against Natives but he refused • 1676 – Nathaniel Bacon organized angry men and women • They raided Native villages and killed anyone they could get their hands on even if they were friendly to colonists or not • Then they went to Jamestown and burned the capitol

5. Slavery • In early years – Africans in English colonies included free people/servants/slaves • First enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia in 1619 • By 1700 plantations in south relied on slave labor • Slaves made up majority of population in SC and Georgia • Slaves cleared land, worked crops, tended livestock • In Africa + elsewhere slavery = part of economic/social system since ancient times • Slaves were usually people captured in war • They were part of community and treated as servants not property • Traders transported/sold slaves as laborers

6. The Middle Passage and Resistance The Middle Passage: - Africans living on the coast of the Atlantic ocean captured other Africans from farther inland and sold them to Europeans - Enslaved Africans were loaded onto ships sailing for America - Below decks- Africans crammed tightly together on shelves - Chained to each other hand and foot - Some Africans resisted but few escaped  African Resistance: - Mutiny or revolt - Refusing to eat - Jumping overboard •  Slave trade lasted about 400 years, and probably caused the deaths of 2 to 3 million Africans. • Many died of illnesses that spread due to condition on ship and some died of mistreatment

7. Slave Rights Rights: • Slavery importance increased  greater limits placed on the rights of slaves • Colonists made laws that set rules for slaves behavior, denied slaves basic rights • “Slave codes” treated enslaved Africans not as human beings but as property • English colonists didn’t question the justice of slavery • English belief: black Africans inferior to white Europeans • Racism- the belief that one race is superior to another • some colonists thought they were helping slaves by introducing them to Christianity  Speaking Out Against Slavery: • a handful of colonists were against slavery • 1688- Quakers in Germantown, Pennsylvania were first group of colonists to call for an end of slavery

8. Religious Tolerance • In Maryland - to make sure it kept growing Lord Baltimore welcomed Protestants and Catholics to Maryland • Later he feared Protestants might try to deprive Catholics their right to worship freely • 1649: The Act of Toleration was passed • The law provided religious freedom to all Christians • This freedom – not for Jews

9. Roots to Self - Government • Maryland: - Governor - Council of Advisors - Let colonists elect assembly • Virginia: - Mayflower Compact - All 41 adult male passengers signed - Pledged themselves to unite as a government and to make and abide by laws that insured the general Good of the Colony • Georgia: - They could imprison debtors (under English law) - Farms could be no bigger than 500 acres large - Slavery forbidden - Later the rules changed and more people came to live there

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