THE PLANTATION ECONOMY The South Turns To Slavery
STARTER – SEPTEMBER 5TH List why the Maryland, Carolina and Georgia colonies were founded.
THE TURN TO SLAVERY During the late 1600s, the labor system changed in the Southern colonies as indentured servants began to buy their own land. As a result, plantation owners turned to Africans. This resulted in a huge increase in the amount of Africans in America. Enslaved Africans made up 40% of the South’s population.
THE GROWTH OF PLANTATIONS The South’s soil and year-round growing seasons were perfect for growing crops like rice and tobacco. These cash crops were extremely valuable and wanted all over Europe. Plantation owners grew extremely wealthy from these crops because: Plantations were self-sufficient meaning everything they needed was produced on the plantation Slaves provided a cheap, permanent source of labor Because of the plantation lifestyle, large cites were rare.
THE PLANTER CLASS Plantation owners were REALLY WEALTHY. Soon these families formed their own social class called the Planters. Planters owned more than 50 slaves and some even owned several plantations. Small landowners with 1 or 2 slaves could not compete with the planter class. Planter class only made up 10% of the South’s Population. This small group of people soon dominated the South’s politics and commerce. Most planters were cruel and used violence control the slaves.
THE PLANTER CLASS To rebel, some slaves purposely damaged goods, worked slowly and carried out orders wrong. The Stono Rebellion was a rebellion of 20 slaves that stole weapons and escaped near the Stono River. The slaves killed several plantation owners and their families and made arrangements to escape to Florida. All 20 slaves were captured and executed for the rebellion.
Colonial Government - Royal Colony Royal colonies were owned by the king. These governments were appointed by the Crown, and carried out the orders and wishes of the Crown as opposed to private or local interests By 1775 the Royal Colony system of government was in the Carolina's, Virginia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire and New York. See the Lords Proprietors and the Charter of Carolina Colonial Government - Proprietary Colony In a Proprietary Colony, an individual, or small elite group, essentially owned the colony, controlling all of the actions and institutions of government, for which they would receive political or financial favors. The governors of the proprietary colonies reported directly to the king. By 1775 the Proprietary system of government was in Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania Colonial Government - Charter Colony The Charter Colonies were generally self-governed, and their charters were granted to the colonists via a joint- stock company When created, the British King granted these colonies a charter establishing the rules of government, but he allowed the colonists a great amount of freedom within those rules The Charter system of government was in Rhode Island and Connecticut. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was a royal province under a charter