The Southern Colonies

The Southern Colonies: The Carolinas North Carolina Settlers were mostly poor tobacco farmers who drifted from Virginia They tended to have small farms

The Southern Colonies: The Carolinas South Carolina A group of 8 English nobles set up a larger colony. The largest settlement, Charles Town, grew up where the Ashley and Cooper Rivers met. Later Charles Town was shortened to Charleston Most early settlers were English people who had been living in Barbados

The Southern Colonies: The Carolinas Around 1685, a few planters discovered that rice grew well in the swampy lowlands along the coast. Before long, Carolina rice was a valuable crop traded around the world. Settlers in South Carolina, later learned to raise Indigo, a plant used to make a valuable dye.

The Southern Colonies: The Carolinas Carolina planters needed large numbers of workers to grow rice. At first they tried to enslave local Indians. Many Indians died of disease or mistreatment Others escaped into the forests. Planters then turned to slaves from Africa. By 1700, the majority of people coming to Charleston were African men and women brought against their will.

The Southern Colonies: The Carolinas The northern areas of Carolina had fewer slaves. Differences between the two areas led to division of the colony into North Carolina and South Carolina in 1712.

The Southern Colonies: Georgia The last of England’s 13 colonies was carved out of the southern tip of South Carolina. James Oglethorpe, a respected English soldier and energetic reformer, founded Georgia in 1732. He wanted the new colony to be a place where debtors could make a new start.

The Southern Colonies: Georgia Under English law, the government could imprison debtors until they paid what they owed. If they ever got out of jail, debtors often had no money and no place to live. Oglethorpe offered to pay for debtors and other poor people to travel to Georgia.

The Southern Colonies: Georgia Oglethorpe set strict rules for the colony Farms could be no bigger than 500 acres and slavery was forbidden At first Georgia grew slowly. Later Oglethorpe changed the rules to allow large plantations and slave labor. After that the colony grew more quickly

The Southern Colonies: Georgia England hoped that Georgia would act as a buffer between Spanish Florida and the Carolinas. A buffer is a land located between two larger bodies that reduces the possibility of conflict between them Spain tried to force Oglethorpe and the English out, but they held their ground.

The Southern Colonies: Two Ways of Life One along the Atlantic Coast and one in the backcountry Along the Atlantic Coast plantations were built up and farming thrived. Slaves would be found here In the backcountry smaller fields thrived People were more likely treated as equals More democratic