1. Southern Plantations
Lesson 2

2. The Plantation Economy
Plantation owners = planters
Early plantations were built in low-lying land along the coast.
Crop buyers could get to plantations easily because of the waterways.
Big plantation owners sold cash crops through a broker.
A broker buys and sells for someone else.

3. Plantation Workers
Big plantations needed more workers for the hard labor.
Early plantation workers were indentured servants.
At first some Africans were indentured servants doing work in the fields.
After the mid-1600s traders started bringing Africans as SLAVES.

7. Slaves were sold like property at an auction.
Slaves were never given freedom after a certain amount of time.
Indentured servants could be free.
A law was passed that said children of enslaved people were also slaves.

8. A Slave’s Life Two kinds of slaves: 1. Field Slaves OR 2. House Slaves
Field slaves worked raising crops.
Some slave owners hired overseers to punish slaves if they did not work.

10. House slaves were usually treated better than field slaves.
Female house slaves cooked, cleaned, and sewed.
Male house slaves drove carriages and took care of horses.

11. Slave owners were free to treat slaves however they wanted – good or bad.
Laws said slaves could not learn to read or write.
The Christian religion became a source of strength for slaves.
They sang spiritual songs to get through the day.

12. A Planter’s Life Plantations were far from towns.
There were few schools in the South.
Southern planters were very educated.
They hired teachers from Europe.
Girls only went to school until age 12 or 13.
The boys had to learn business skills to run the farm.

13. Many planters were expected to serve the community (judge, representative).
So, many planters became leaders in the 13 colonies.