Chapter 3-3 THE SOUTHERN COLONIES

LIFE IN VIRGINIA Life in Virginia was very different from life in a New England community. There were few towns in Virginia because planters relied on rivers for transporting goods.

Ships could sail up the James and other rivers bringing European products directly to the plantations and taking away cured tobacco for sale in England. Unlike New England there were few

schools because the population was scattered schools because the population was scattered. Most people educated their children at home. Most early Virginia settlers were more concerned with making money than in establishing families. Those

who did want to form a family faced several difficulties including, six times as many men as women. There was a high rate of death meaning people often married 2 or 3 times. Also many children

were orphaned. The London Company realized that families were essential if Virginia was to prosper so it worked hard to bring over female settlers. Over time men no longer outnumbered women and a stable family life developed.

The London Company campaigned constantly to attract settlers The London Company campaigned constantly to attract settlers. It gave colonists who paid their own way a headright which was 50 acres of land for each “head” or person transported. For those who could

not afford the cost of passage to America they could agree to be an indentured servant. That means they signed a contract agreeing to work for a period of time to pay for the voyage.

FAST FACT: What percent of the early VA colonists were at one time under indenture. 75 %.

Indentured servants worked without wages for whoever owned their indentures. The owner also received the headright for bringing the newcomer to Virginia. When servants completed their time

of service, their employers were supposed to provide them with clothes, food, and other basic supplies. In the early years disease killed more than 2/3 of the indentured servants before their

contracts expired. Also there were slaves in Virginia contracts expired. Also there were slaves in Virginia. In 1619 a Dutch ship arrived with 20 Africans on board. We are not sure if they were indentured servants or slaves. Soon more and more Africans were

brought to Virginia and they were treated like slaves brought to Virginia and they were treated like slaves. Before the 1690’s planters preferred indentured servants to slaves because they cost less. Soon however they figured out that using indentured servants

had drawbacks such as increased competition when they had completed their time of service. Newly independent planters found that they only had access to poor land and the increase in production caused the price of tobacco to fall.

BACON’S REBELLION In 1676 small planters in Virginia wanted land that was promised to the Powhatan in a 1646 treaty. Soon fighting broke out between farmers and the Powhatan. A newcomer to the colony named Nathaniel Bacon, raised

a large force and asked Governor Sir William Berkeley to authorize a war with the Powhatan. Berkeley refused Bacon’s request to in order to keep the peace. He defied the governor and his men massacred peaceful Powhatan and

attacked others at random. Gov. Berkeley declared Bacon a rebel attacked others at random. Gov. Berkeley declared Bacon a rebel. Bacon then drove the governor out of Jamestown and burned it to the ground.

In October 1676, Bacon became ill and died In October 1676, Bacon became ill and died. Bacon’s Rebellion soon collapsed.

This rebellion failed to get more land for the settlers but did force changes in Virginia. In 1619 most male settlers had been given the right to vote for representatives to an assembly called the House of Burgesses. This was the first elected English governmental body

New elections were held for the first time since Berkeley had refused to call one in 1661. Also planters became less willing to employ indentured servants who might become troublemakers like Bacon’s rebels. Instead, increasingly used slaves who could never become

economic competition. Planters also realized the children of slaves would provide labor for the future. NEW COLONIES IN THE SOUTH FAST FACT: By 1641 Virginia’s population had reached 7,500 and tobacco exports were worth 1 million

pounds a year. MARYLAND: Established in 1632 when King Charles gave several million acres of land around the Chesapeake Bay to a Catholic nobleman named George Calvert. He was the proprietor or single owner

of his colony. It was not a joint stock company of his colony. It was not a joint stock company. The first settlers arrived in 1634 in the new colony named Maryland after Queen Mary, the wife of Charles I. Maryland was founded as a refuge for Catholics but Protestants were also

admitted. This was guaranteed by the Toleration Act of 1649 which granted religious freedom to all Christians. Life was a little easier in Maryland than it was for the first colonists in Virginia. They had learned from the mistakes the Jamestown colonists had made and

they also turned to growing tobacco.

THE CAROLINAS: Established in 1663 when King Charles II gave the land between Virginia and Spanish Florida to 8 noblemen including Sir George Carteret. The proprietors called this colony Carolina which is Latin for “Charles.” They hoped to

attract settlers from the more established colonies attract settlers from the more established colonies. A number of Virginians did drift into the northern part of the grant but settlement there was scattered. There were few roads and practically no towns, churches, or schools.

The capital city of Charles Town was founded in 1670 The capital city of Charles Town was founded in 1670. It was a busy trading center and the social and political center of the new colony. In 1719 the settlers rebelled and asked the king to take control of the colony. 10 years later the grant was split into two

colonies, North and South Carolina.

GEORGIA: Established in 1733 when a group of charitable Englishmen led by James Oglethorpe set up Georgia as a colony for debtors and other poor people could make a new start in life. Few English settlers came to Georgia.

Because some prospective settlers feared the Spanish who also claimed the region and others resented Oglethorpe’s strict rules which included bans on liquor and slaves. In 1752 the colony’s trustees turned Georgia over to the the Crown.