Southern Colonies Plantations & Slavery

Location & Climate • Southern colonies—Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia • West border is Appalachian Mountains; east border is Atlantic Ocean • Conditions good for warm-weather crops: tobacco, rice, indigo

Maryland and the Carolinas • Lord Baltimore establishes Maryland for Roman Catholics (1632) • Maryland passes Toleration Act—promises freedom of religion • Maryland’s economy is based on tobacco • Colony of Carolina (1663) grows rice, indigo; use enslaved African labor • Sell Native Americans into slavery; conflicts between colonists, tribes • Colonists overthrow Carolina’s proprietary rule • Carolina becomes royal colony—rule by king-appointed governor • Colony divides into North Carolina and South Carolina

Georgia • James Oglethorpe founds Georgia as refuge for debtors (1732) • During English-Spanish war, Spain tries to oust English colonists, but fails • English, Germans, Swiss, Scottish settle Georgia; all religions welcome • Oglethorpe’s strict rules upset colonists • In response, king makes Georgia a royal colony in 1752

The Plantation Economy • Soil, climate ideal for plantation crops; need a lot of workers to grow • Plantations self-sufficient; large cities rare in Southern Colonies • Growing plantation economy causes planters to use enslaved African labor

The Turn to Slavery • In mid-1600s, Africans and European indentured servants work fields • Indentured servants leave plantations and buy their own farms • Try to force Native Americans to work; they die of disease or run away • Planters use more enslaved African laborers • By 1750, 235,000 enslaved Africans in America; 85 percent live in South

Plantations Expand • Slavery grows, allows plantation farming to expand • Enslaved workers do back-breaking labor; make rice plantations possible • Eliza Lucas introduces indigo as a plantation crop • On high ground, planters grow indigo—plant that yields a blue dye

The Planter Class • Enslaved labor makes planters richer; planters form elite class • Small farmers cannot compete, move west • Planter class controls much land; gains economic, political power • Some planters are concerned about their enslaved workers’ welfare • Many planters are tyrants, abuse their enslaved workers

Life Under Slavery • Planters hire overseers to watch over and direct work of slaves • Enslaved workers do exhausting work 15 hours a day in peak harvest • Enslaved people live in small cabins, given meager food • Africans preserve customs and beliefs from their homeland

Resistance to Slavery • Africans fight against enslavement; purposely work slowly, damage goods • Stono Rebellion (1739): - 20 slaves kill several planter families - join other slaves, seek freedom in Spanish-held Florida - white militia captures rebellious slaves, executes them

Resistance to Slavery • Stono and other rebellions lead planters to make slave codes stricter • Slaves now forbidden from leaving plantations without permission • Illegal for slaves to meet with free blacks