Coach Kuntz United States History The Southern Colonies Coach Kuntz United States History

Maryland -In 1632, Sir George Calvert was granted land for a colony in the Americas. As a Roman Catholic, he wanted a colony where Roman Catholics could practice their religion freely. -Calvert died before the colony could get underway, so his son, Lord Baltimore, began the project. -Lord Baltimore appointed a governor but allowed colonists to create and elected assembly.

Maryland (Cont.)-Religious Tolerance -Over the years, both Protestants and Catholics came to the Maryland Colony. -Lord Baltimore worried that eventually Protestants would stop Catholics from being able to practice their beliefs. -In 1649, Lord Baltimore asked the Maryland assembly passed the Act of Toleration that provided freedom for all Christians to practice their beliefs in the colony.

Virginia -The Virginia Colony was established in 1607 through a charter to the Virginia Company of London. -John Rolfe is credited as bringing tobacco to the colony. Tobacco was the colonies most valuable export.

Bacon’s Rebellion -Virginia colonists continued to arrive in the colony and pushed further and further onto Native American lands. Native Americans retaliated by fighting these colonists. -In 1676, a young Virginia planter named Nathaniel Bacon led a raid on many Native American villages. He was angry that Virginia’s governor would not protect settlers from Native American attacks. -Bacon and his followers burned the Virginia capital of Jamestown to the ground. -Bacon died suddenly of dysentery and the rebellion fell apart.

The Carolinas -In 1663, eight English nobles received a land grant from the king to establish a colony in the Carolinas. -The nobles created two separate colonies: North Carolina-This colony was made up of mostly poor tobacco farmers who drifted down from Virginia. They tended to have small farms. South Carolina- The larger of the two Carolina colonies. The largest settlement, Charles Town, was mostly made up of English people who had been living in the Caribbean. -Carolina farmers grew rice and indigo (a plant used to make a valuable blue dye). The farmers relied on slave labor to grow these crops. By 1700, most people coming to Charles Town were African Slaves.

Georgia -In 1732, the colony of Georgia was founded by an English soldier named James Oglethorpe. -The colony was established as a place where debtors could make a fresh start. Oglethorpe offered to pay for debtors to travel to Georgia. -Debtors- people who owed money they could not pay back. -Rules were put in place that forbid farms bigger than 500 acres and outlawed slavery. These rules slowed the growth of Georgia. -Later on, large farms and slavery were permitted, and the colony began to grow very quickly.