1. The Southern Colonies: Plantations and Slavery
Ch. 4 Section 2
The Southern Colonies:
Plantations and Slavery

2. Where were most of the early plantations located?
2. Where is the tidewater?
The Tidewater
Flat land along coast

3. b. What “cash crops” were grown in southern plantations?
a. What are “cash crops”?
b. What “cash crops” were grown in southern
plantations?
4. What was needed to grow these cash crops?
Crops raised to be sold for money
Rice, tobacco, indigo
Labor- enough workers to produce them

4. Why weren’t there many large urban centers (cities) in the South?
Plantations were self-sufficient (produced most of
the things they needed right on the plantations)

5. a. Who were the “elite” in the South?
b. What did they control?
Plantation owners
Were like nobility in other countries
Political and economic power

6. 7. Fill in the class system pyramid:
(Planters)
Poor Freemen
(Indentured Servants)
Slaves

7. 8. What caused many of the early conflicts in the South?
9. Who controlled the Tidewater region?
10.
Where did poorer freemen settle?
Who did they have to fight for this land?
Desire for more land and wealth
Rich planters
Western frontier
Native Americans

8. 11. What did Nathaniel Bacon and other landless frontier settlers complain about?
High taxes
Favoritism toward large plantation owners
12. What did Bacon want?
Help fighting the Native Americans at the frontier settlements

9. 13. What happened as a result of Virginia Governor William Berkeley refusing to help frontier settlements against Native Americans?
Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)
Bacon took control of the House of Burgesses and burned down Jamestown to the ground.

10. They passed laws limiting the powers of the royal governor.
14. How did the House of Burgesses strengthen colonists’ rights after Bacon’s Rebellion?
They passed laws limiting the powers of the royal governor.

11. 15. Why did tensions develop between Tidewater and frontier settlers?
Rich vs. Poor
The frontier settlers resented the rich planters of the coast (Tidewater) and their control of the government.

12. 16. What caused a shortage of workers in the 1660s?
White indentured servants finished their terms of service and fewer laborers were moving to the Southern Colonies.
17. Why didn’t the planters use Native Americans as slaves?
They died of diseases brought by Europeans.
They were also able to escape because they knew the area well.

13. 18. Why did southern planters turn to slavery?
They needed cheap labor for plantations
Couldn’t find enough indentured servants
19. How did the growing number of slaves affect southern laws?
Laws were passed to define slavery and to control slaves
20. Who watched over and directed the work of the slaves?
Overseers

14. 21. What happened if the slaves didn’t look like they were doing their jobs?
They were whipped.
22.What happened if they defied their masters?
They were tortured or mutilated.
23. Why did planters seek out slaves from West Africa?
They had the skills needed to grow rice.

15. 24. What was indigo? A plant that produces blue dye
b. Who introduced it as a cash crop?
Eliza Lucas

16. 25. How did African Americans resist enslavement?
Worked slowly
Damaged goods
Rebelled
Carried out orders incorrectly
Pretended not to understand orders

17. 26. What happened as a result of slave uprisings like Stono Rebellion?
Planters made stricter slave codes:
Slaves were forbidden to leave plantations without written permission
Illegal for slaves to meet free blacks

18. 27. The Northern and Southern Colonies developed into distinct regions
27. The Northern and Southern Colonies developed into distinct regions. List ways they were different. Complete the chart.
South
North
Large slave populations
Plantation economy – based on cash crops (i.e., tobacco, rice, indigo)
Less diverse
The wealth concentrated in the hands of an elite (planters)
Scattered settlements, few towns
Self-sufficient plantations
Diverse economy
Wealth more evenly distributed
Smaller farms
Larger, more
numerous towns