Empire to Independence Part II
Colonial Economies
Southern ColoniesEconomy based on staple crops
VA, NC- TobaccoSC, GA- Rice
Southern Colonies
• Very difficult work– Most free workers unwilling to do it– Started in Carolinas, spread to VA• In VA numbered 400 in 1650…by 1700 is was 16,000• In SC, Africans outnumbered Europeans in the 1700s
Southern Colonies
• To be successful, planters needed lots of land and workers– View towns and cities developed
Middle Colonies
• Middle colony’s economy based on farming and commerce– Grain, wheat, barley, and rye
Middle Colonies
• NYC and Philly among largest cities in the colonies– Lots of people buying and selling goods
• Ethnically diverse populations
New England Colonies
• small towns and farms dependent on long distance trade
• did not rely on local crops for commerce– carried crops and good from one place to another• hauled good from England to the West Indies, back to
New England– Triangular Trade– By 1700, about 20% of the people in the colonies were of
African descent
The Middle Passage
• One leg of the triangular trade between the Americas, Europe and Africa– Also the term used to refer to the forced transport
of slaves from Africa to the Americas
The Middle Passage
• 10-40% of the slaves on a ship dies during transport– chains– heat– disease– odor– poor sanitation and ventilation
The Middle Passage
• Crews of slave ships were typically heavily armed due to fear of a revolt– On average a revolt happened every two years
• Slaves would be auctioned off– 50% of all trades resulted in a family being torn
apart
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