3.4 The Southern Colonies

Chapter 3 Section 4p. 84

Section FocusWhat factors influenced the development of the Southern Colonies?

Geography of the Southern Colonies● 5 Colonies made up the Southern Colonies:

● Maryland● Virginia● N. Carolina● S. Carolina● Georgia

● They are all located south of the Mason-Dixon Line

● The Mason-Dixon Line was originated by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon who were tasked with settling a boundary dispute between Pennsylvania and Maryland

Geography of the Southern Colonies● Climate: Warm and Humid

● Hot/humid Summers provided long growing seasons

● Raised crops such as tobacco and rice

● Because these crops require heavy manual labor to harvest, this spurred the early development of slavery

Conflicts with Native Americans● As Virginia’s white population grew, the Native American population sank

● This was due to disease and violence among them

● Farmers were beginning to take over more land for growing tobacco

● Native Americans who were living in English areas began to conform to English rules

Bacon’s Rebellion● Trouble began to grow as wealthy farmers were buying up all of the ‘good’ land

near the coast and the poor farmers became disgruntled

● They were mad because they could not provide for their family and because they were not able to vote

● These colonists began to look inland to find land and found trouble with the Native Americans

● Fighting broke out and the farmers demanded laws against the Native Americans

Bacon’s Rebellion● Nathaniel Bacon became the leader of the frontier settlers

● In 1675, he organized a force of 1,000 westerners to attack and kill Native Americans

● The governor declared Bacon and his men were rebels

● Bacon reacted by attacking Jamestown, burning it to the ground and forcing the the governor to flee

● This revolt, known as Bacon’s Rebellion, collapsed when Bacon died

● The governor’s response was to hang 23 of Bacon’s men

● What conditions favored the development of a plantation economy?

● What was the main cause of Bacon’s Rebellion?

Religious Toleration in Maryland● In 1632, King Charles I granted a charter for a new

colony to George Calvert, an English Catholic

● His goal was to set up a colony where Catholics could live safely

● His colony, Maryland, lay across the Chesapeake Bay from Virginia

● Their first settlers were Catholics and Protestants

● They grew tobacco and harvested the sea life of the Chesapeake Bay

● Soon tension grew between the Catholics and Protestants and the Act of Toleration of 1649 was formed to help settle the disagreements

Colonies in the Carolinas and Georgia● By the 1660s, settlers were moving south of Virginia

● In 1663, King Charles II granted a new charter for a new colony there called Carolina

● Northern Carolina developed slowly with settlers living on small farms, raising and exporting tobacco, and producing lumber

● The slow expansion was due to lack of harbors and rivers where ships could travel

Colonies in the Carolinas and Georgia● The Southern part of Carolina grew more quickly

● Sugar was growing well in the swampy lowlands

● Many planters came from the West Indies and brought slaves with them to grow the sugar

● Soon, farmers were using slaves to help harvest another crop: rice

● As rice sales grew, Carolina’s main city, Charles Town (today’s Charleston) became the biggest city of the Southern Colonies

● This was the beginning of 2 colonies: North Carolina and South Carolina

Georgia● The last of England’s 13 colonies, Georgia, was founded for 2 reasons:

1. As a buffer for fear of Spain expanding northward

● A debtor is someone who owes money

● Under English laws, the government could imprison debtors until they paid what they owed

● Georgia’s founders wanted to keep it simple with small farms and not plantations.

2. Englishmen wanted a colony where there would be protection for English debtors

The Tidewater Region● Life along the coast was much different than life inland

● The biggest difference was coastal settlers had plantations

● Plantations, or large farms, were used where hot climates made growing crops such as cotton, sugar, and rice easy

● The plantation system spread whenever settlers discovered crops that grew well in their climate and realized they needed more help to harvest

The Backcountry● It was cut off by poor roads and long distances

● Families usually lived on isolated farms

● They often did not legally own the land they farmed

● Few (if any) had servants so the women and girls worked in the fields with the men and boys

● Life in the backcountry vs. life near the coast was so different, they believed that colonial governments did not care for them or their well-being

● Half Sheet of paper○ Map Master (p. 86) a and b○ Reading Charts Activity (p. 88) a and b○ C.Y.P. (p.89) 3, 4, 5