Southern Colonies:
I. Map of the Southern Colonies:
This map
shows the five colonies of the Southern Colonies composed of Maryland,
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
II. Information and facts about the Southern Colonies of Colonial America:
*Geography; Featured fertile soil, hilly coastal plains, forests, long rivers and swampy areas.
*Natural Resources: Fish, forests, timber, and good agricultural land, farming was important. Exported agricultural products to the other colonies.
*Religion: Not dominated by a specific religion which gave way to religious freedom for Baptists, Anglicans and others.
*Climate: Warmest of the three regions, winters not difficult to survive, but the hot and humid summers gave rise to the spread of disease. The warm climate made it possible to grow crops throughout the year and was ideally suited for plantations.
*Trade/Exports: Tobacco, cotton, rice, indigo (dye), lumber, furs, farm products.
III. Southern Colonies: Economic Activity and Trade:
There were considerable differences between the New England, Middle and Southern Colonies. Economic activities and trade were dependent of the environment in which the colonists lived.
The Southern Colonies concentrated on agriculture and developed plantations that exported tobacco, cotton, corn, vegetables, grain, fruit and livestock. The Southern Colonies had the largest slave population in the 13 colonies. Plantations grew cotton, tobacco, indigo, and other crops.
Some of the plantations were massive and consisted of the main house, slave quarters, a dairy, blacksmith, laundry, smokehouse and barns which made the plantations to a large degree, self-sufficient. Crops were traded for items that could be produced on the plantations including farm tools, shoes, lace, and dishes.
*Geography; Featured fertile soil, hilly coastal plains, forests, long rivers and swampy areas.
*Natural Resources: Fish, forests, timber, and good agricultural land, farming was important. Exported agricultural products to the other colonies.
*Religion: Not dominated by a specific religion which gave way to religious freedom for Baptists, Anglicans and others.
*Climate: Warmest of the three regions, winters not difficult to survive, but the hot and humid summers gave rise to the spread of disease. The warm climate made it possible to grow crops throughout the year and was ideally suited for plantations.
*Trade/Exports: Tobacco, cotton, rice, indigo (dye), lumber, furs, farm products.
III. Southern Colonies: Economic Activity and Trade:
There were considerable differences between the New England, Middle and Southern Colonies. Economic activities and trade were dependent of the environment in which the colonists lived.
The Southern Colonies concentrated on agriculture and developed plantations that exported tobacco, cotton, corn, vegetables, grain, fruit and livestock. The Southern Colonies had the largest slave population in the 13 colonies. Plantations grew cotton, tobacco, indigo, and other crops.
Some of the plantations were massive and consisted of the main house, slave quarters, a dairy, blacksmith, laundry, smokehouse and barns which made the plantations to a large degree, self-sufficient. Crops were traded for items that could be produced on the plantations including farm tools, shoes, lace, and dishes.
*Plantations: Cash Crops
Tobacco, rice,
cotton, sugar cane and indigo were valuable plants and grown as cash crops.
Cash crops (as opposed to subsistence crops) were specialized crops that were
grown by planters to be sold for profits and not used for personal use on the
plantations. Planters had no trouble transporting their crops because of the
many waterways in the Southern colonies that made it made it easy for ocean
going ships to tie up at plantation docks.
*Plantation Economy: Slaves:
A slave plantation
economy was based on agricultural mass production requiring a large labor
force. Southern Plantations were labor intensive and required thousands of
slaves. The longer a crop's harvest period, the more efficient the plantations
were. There was no machinery and only oxen and horses for power. Vast areas of
land had to be cleared for planting and crops had to be sewn and harvested by
hand.
Cheap labor was
essential for the slave plantations to become profitable. Slaves, both men and
women, worked all year round undertaking back breaking work for up to eighteen
hours per day. The women were compelled to do as much as the men The
use of slaves kept the costs down on the plantations. After the initial outlay
required to purchase a slave, little expenditure was required and with the
successive generations of slaves born on the slave plantations their masters
gained new employees at no cost. The plantation slaves lived in basic, crude
wooden cabins consisting of one or two rooms, often with a dirt floor, in the
slave quarters.
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