The Southern Colonies Ch.  3:    Colonies  Take  Root  

(1587-­‐1752)  Sec<on  4  

1.)  Students  will  describe  the        geography  &  climate  of  the      Southern  Colonies.  

2.)  Students  will  describe  the  early      history  of  Virginia.  

3.)  Students  will  explain  how  Maryland,    the  Carolinas,  and  Georgia  were    founded.  4.)  Students  will  iden<fy  the  factors  that  

 produced  the  Tidewater  and      backcountry  way  of  life.  

Lesson  Objec1ves  

Remember  the  diversity  in  the  middle  colonies:    the  Southern  colonies  are  much  less  diverse.    Keep  this  in  mind  as  we  learn  about  the  new  colonies.  

Background  Review  

Map  of  English  Colonies  

• During  the  1760’s,  Charles  Mason  and  Jeremiah  Dixon  were  hired  to  seQle  a  boundary  dispute  between  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania.    They  conducted  a  survey  which  took  4  years  to  complete  and  labeled  it  the  Mason  Dixon  line.  

• This  line  marked  the  boundary  between  the  two  colonies;  as  well  as  aUer  the  American  Revolu1on,  it  was  the  dividing  line  between  Northern  states,  where  slavery  was  abolished  &  Southern  states,  where  slavery  persisted.  

Geography  of  the  Southern  Colonies  

Map  of  the  Mason  Dixon  Line  

• 5  Colonies  are  located  south  of  the  Mason  Dixon  Line;  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia.  • Each  of  these  colonies  shared  a  coastal  area  called  the  Tidewater,  a  flat  lowland  that  included  many  swampy  areas.  • On  its  west,  the  Tidewater  blends  into  a  region  of  rolling  hills  called  the  Piedmont.  

Geography  of  the  Southern  Colonies  

• The  climate  of  these  states  is  warm  and  humid.  • Hot  summers  provide  a  long  growing  season;  colonists  used  this  to  plant  tobacco  and  rice  • Both  of  these  crops  required  many  workers  in  the  field;  helped  spur  the  early  development  of  slavery.  

Climate  of  the  Southern  Colonies  

What  condi<ons  in  the  Southern  Colonies  favored  the  development  of  a  planta<on  economy?  

 (A)      They  had  preQy  houses;    (B)      Hot  and  humid  summers  allowed  them  a  long  growing  season;    (C  )      They  were  more  ar1s1c  than  the  colonists  in  the  north.    (D)       None  of  the  above.    

Checkpoint  –  Farming  

Condi1ons  

• The  death  rate  was  high  due  to  disease  and  poor  condi1ons;  but  seQlers  kept  coming  from  Europe  so  the  popula1on  grew  gradually  during  the  1600’s  

• AUer  1650,  the  death  rate  decreased  and  the  popula1on  began  to  grow  more  rapidly  

• By  1670,  popula1on  had  reached  nearly  40,000  • The  makeup  of  the  popula1on  had  also  changed;  there  were  more  children  during  the  1670’s  because  fewer  were  dying  at  a  young  age.  • The  percentage  of  women  in  the  popula1on  also  increased.  

Virginia  Grows  

• While the white population grew; Native Americans population shrank due to disease and violence. • In 1607 there were about 8,000 Native Americans in Virginia; by 1675 only about 2,000 were left. • Farmers took more land to plant tobacco; which led to trouble with the Native Americans • There were 2 instances of violence; one in 1622 and one in 1644; both times Natives were defeated; after 1644, those left had to accept English Rule    

Conflicts  with  Na1ve  Americans  

• Beginning  in  the  1660’s  wealthy  Virginia  tobacco  farmers  bought  most  of  the  good  farmland  near  the  coast.  

• This  leU  liQle  land  for  poor  colonists  who  wanted  to  start  their  own  farms.  • Most  of  these  farmers  were  young  men  who  were  forced  to  work  the  land  of  wealthy  farmers.  • This  made  them  angry;  they  also  could  not  vote  because  they  didn’t  own  property.  

Bacon’s  Rebellion  

• Many  poor  colonists  began  to  move  inland  to  find  good  farmland  and  figh1ng  broke  out  with  the  Na1ve  Americans.  • Farmers  on  the  fron1er  demanded  that  the  government  take  strong  ac1on  against  the  Na1ves  • The  royal  governor,  William  Berkley,  was  reluctant  to  do  so;  he  did  not  want  an  all  out  conflict  with  the  Na1ves  

• He  also  benefited  heavily  from  fur  trade  with  them.  

Bacon’s  Rebellion  

• Nathaniel  Bacon  became  the  leader  of  the  fron1er  seQlers  • In  1675  he  organized  a  force  of  1,000  westerners  and  began  aQacking  and  killing  Na1ve  Americans  • The  governor  then  declared  Bacon  and  his  men  as  rebels.  • Bacon  then  reacted  by  aQacking  Jamestown;  burning  it  to  the  ground  and  forcing  the  governor  to  run  away  

Bacon’s  Rebellion  

Nathaniel  Bacon  

Burning  of  Jamestown  

• This  revolt,  known  as  Bacon’s  Rebellion,  ended  when  Bacon  became  sick  and  died.  • 23  of  his  men  were  hanged  by  the  governor  

• But  he  was  unable  to  stop  English  seQlers  from  moving  onto  Na1ve  American  lands.  

• Although  the  rebellion  was  not  successful  in  driving  the  Na1ve  American’s  from  Virginia;  Governor  Berkley  was  eventually  recalled  to  England  to  answer  for  the  events  and  his  part  in  them.  

Bacon’s  Rebellion  

What  was  the  main  cause  of  Bacon’s  Rebellion?    

(A) They  were  upset  because  the  royal  governor  had  laughed  at  Nathaniel  Bacon’s  clothes  (B) They  wanted  to  decrease  the  popula1on  in  all  of  the  colonies  (C) Desire  for  Western  Land;  (D) None  of  the  above.  

Checkpoint  –  Bacon’s  

Rebellion  

Religious  Tolera1on  in  Maryland  

• In  1632,  King  Charles  I  granted  a  charter  for  a  new  colony  to  George  Calvert,  an  English  Catholic.  

• Catholics  had  suffered  great  discrimina1on  • Calvert  wanted  to  establish  a  colony  where  Catholics  could  be  free  from  persecu1on  

• Maryland  lay  across  Chesapeake  Bay  from  Virginia  

Religious  Tolera1on  in  Maryland  

• The  Act  of  Tolera1on  was  passed  in  1649  under  Lord  Bal1more  as  a  result  of  conflict  between  the  Catholics  and  Protestants  

• This  act  gave  adult  Chris1an  males  the  right  to  vote  and  hold  office  • Although  it  did  not  help  people  who  were  not  Chris1an;  it  was  s1ll  an  important  step  toward  religious  tolera1on  in  America.  

 

Who  benefited  from  Maryland’s  tolera<on?    

(A) Everyone  

(B) Na1ve  Americans  

(C) Chris1ans  

(D) None  of  the  Above    

Checkpoint  –  Religious  

Tolera1on  

Colonies  in  the  Carolina’s  &  Georgia  

• In 1663 King Charles II granted a charter for a new colony there, Carolina.

• The northern part developed slowly; lacking harbors and rivers for ships to easily travel

• Settlers here lived on small farms, raising and exporting tobacco with a few producing lumber

• The southern part grew more quickly; sugar grew well in swampy lowland; many people came from Barbados and brought slaves with them. They began growing rice & it became the most important crop.  

Colonies  in  the  Carolina’s  &  Georgia  

• As  rice  produc1on  spread,  Carolina’s  main  city,  Charles  Town  (today’s  Charleston)  eventually  became  the  largest  city  in  the  Southern  Colonies.  • By  this  1me,  Carolina  had  two  separate  colonies,  North  Carolina  and  South  Carolina  

The  Original  Carolina  Colony  

Georgia  

• The  last  of  England’s  13  colonies,  Georgia  was  founded  for  2  reasons:  

(1) The  English  feared  that  the  Spaniards  would  expand  their  Florida  colony  northward  

(2) James  Oglethorpe  wanted  a  colony  where  there  would  be  protec1on  for  English  debtors  (people  who  owed  money)    (**Under  English  law  people  could  be  imprisoned  for  owing  money  un1l  they  paid  it)  

Georgia  

• Georgia’s  founders  wanted  Georgia  to  be  a  colony  of  small  farms,  not  large  planta1ons.  • Therefore,  slaver  was  banned.    

• This  was  not  popular  with  the  seQlers  and  didn’t  last;  by  the  1750’s  slavery  was  once  again,  legal  in  Georgia.  

What  were  the  2  mo<va<ons  for  crea<on  of  the  Colony  of  Georgia?  

 (A)      To  contain  the  Spanish  in  Florida    (B)      To  enjoy  the  beaches    (C  )      To  provide  a  place  were  debtors  were  free  from  persecu1on.    (D)         A  &  B  

(E)         A    &  C  

(F)       B    &    C  

Checkpoint  –  Mo1va1ons  for  Georgia  

The  Tidewater  Region  

• Planta1ons  were  the  most  important  feature  of  life  along  the  coast  in  the  Southern  colonies  • This  was  primarily  because  of  the  hot  climate;  which  made  it  possible  to  grow  coQon,  sugar,  and  rice.  • The  planta1on  system  actually  began  in  Virginia  and  Maryland  where  seQlers  were  growing  tobacco.  • Expansion  southward  occurred  when  people  discovered  other  crops  that  they  could  produce  and  export  to  England.  

The  Tidewater  Region  

• The  1dewater  region  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  was  well  suited  for  rice.  • Rice-­‐growing  required  large  numbers  of  workers  laboring  in  hot,  humid,  unhealthy  condi1ons.  • This  need  increased  the  slave  popula1on;  eventually,  the  number  of  enslaved  people  would  outnumber  the  free  people  in  South  Carolina  • The  planta1on  system  also  divided  the  white  popula1on  into  the  wealthy  and  extremely  poor;  who  owned  no  land  and  lived  in  the  Backcountry  south.  

The  Backcountry  

• Was  cut  off  from  the  coast  by  poor  roads  and  long  distances.  • Families  usually  lived  on  isolated  farms  in  1  room  shacks;  oUen  not  owning  the  land  they  farmed.  • Very  few  had  servants  to  help  them;  women  and  girls  worked  in  the  fields  with  the  men  and  boys.  • Here,  people  cared  much  less  about  rank;  it  was  a  sharp  contrast  to  life  near  the  coast.  • These  people  believed  that  colonial  governments  didn’t  care  about  them;  cared  only  about  protec1ng  the  Planta1on  farmers.  

How  did  people  live  in  the  backcountry?    

(A)      They  led  very  extravagant  lives;  had  large  farms;  lots  of  servants  and  lots  of  money.    (B)      They  had  many  servants  that  farmed  for  them  on  small  farms.    (C  )      They  frequently  lived  on  small  isolated  farms;  they  oUen  farmed  land  they  didn’t  own,  lived  in  one  room  shacks;  women  worked  equally  with  the  men.    (D)         None  of  the  above  

Checkpoint  –  Backcountry  

1.)  What  was  the  climate  and  geography  of    the  Southern  Colonies?  

 2.)  What  was  the  early  history  of  Virginia?    3.)  Why  were  Maryland,  the  Carolinas,  and    

 Georgia  founded?  3.)  What  produced  the  Tidewater  and  

 backcountry  ways  of  life.      

Questions