THE SOUTHERN COLONIES Section 1

SETTLEMENT IN JAMESTOWN 1605: London Company is given permission to found (establish) a settlement in a region called Virginia 1607: founded Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement

Colonists weren’t prepared to live in America, so many of them died  Most men were adventurers without skills like farming and carpentry  Land was surrounded by marshes full of disease-carrying mosquitoes  2/3 died by winter

1608: John Smith took control and built a fort  Forced settlers to work  Initiated a system of rules that rewarded hard workers with food  They also received help from the Powhatan Confederacy (Natives) after Smith made an agreement with them  They brought food and taught how to plant corn

1609: 400 more settlers arrived in Jamestown  Disease and famine hit again— “the starving time”—only 60 left Jamestown failed to make a profit until John Rolfe introduced a new type of tobacco that sold well in England

1614: John Rolfe married Pocahontas, the daughter of the Powhatan leader  Marriage led to peaceful relations  Pocahontas died three years later in England 1622: war broke out after colonists killed a Powhatan leader 1624: VA became a royal colony (king rules) because they could not protect its colonists

DAILY LIFE IN VIRGINIA At first people lived in scattered farms Tobacco farmers established plantations  Sometimes used as money The London Company had started the headright system  50 acres if they paid for their trip  They could earn 50 more acres for every extra person they brought—many would bring servants and relatives

High death rate = labor shortages  Majority of workers were indentured servants—they signed a contract to work for four to seven years for those who paid for their journey to America 1619: first Africans brought  Some were servants and became farmers when their contracts ended  Others were slaves Mid-1600s: life-long slavery established  Demand for workers was high + slaves were cheaper

1676: Nathaniel Bacon led former indentured servants to attack friendly Native Americans  He opposed the governor’s policy of trade with the Natives  He also wanted the Natives’ lands When the governor tried to stop him, they attacked and burned Jamestown in an uprising known as Bacon’s Rebellion  At one point, he controlled a lot of the colony  But he died of fever, and the rebellion ended…

MARYLAND 1620s: Catholics wanted a colony for religious freedom 1632: Maryland founded  Intended to be a refuge for English Catholics  Proprietary colony—the owners controlled the government instead of the king

1634: 200 English Catholics came to Maryland  Wealthy landowners, servants, craftspeople, farmers  Learned from the people of Jamestown– began to grow tobacco for profit Protestants began moving in the 1640s  religious conflict Toleration Act of 1649: made it a crime to restrict religious rights of Christians  First law of religious tolerance in the English colonies

THE CAROLINAS 1663: Carolinas founded At first, it was one colony  But settlements were too far apart to govern so they separated in 1712 North Carolina was mostly farmers from VA Europeans settled South Carolina—it was managed poorly : proprietary govt. overthrown—became royal colony

GEORGIA 1732: King George II granted a charter to James Oglethorpe to found Georgia  He hoped to shield the English from the Spanish in Florida Oglethorpe wanted Georgia to be a place where people in debt could start a new life  Wanted small farms (not plantations)—so he outlawed slavery (and other strict rules) People got tired of the rules and the British government made it a royal colony with new rules (1752)  Soon, it was filled with rice plantations and slaves

ECONOMIES OF THE SOUTHERN COLONIES Economies depended on agriculture  Farms and plantations did well because of the warm climate and long growing season  They grew cash crops like tobacco, rice, and indigo Also exported raw materials for ship-building Cash crops and plantations made slavery necessary  Most of the southern colonies passed slave codes, or laws to control the slaves

COLONIES COMPARATIVE CHART ColonyYear Founded Reason Founded RegionSuccessesFailures Virginia Maryland North Carolina South Carolina Georgia When you identify different successes and failures, use different colors (of pen or highlighter) to differentiate between political, social, and economic. Ex: Growing tobacco is an ECONOMIC success; South Carolina being managed poorly is a POLITICAL failure. Make a key to show the meaning of the colors.