A Plantation Economy Arises

• Southern colonies were mostly – grown primarily for sale rather

than for farmer’s own use• (VA, MD, NC)• (SC, GA)

– Largely rural, self-sufficient society• No need for docks in region• Goods produced on plantation• Fewer communal institutions

Life in Southern Society

Southern Social StructureUpper Class

Middle Class

Lower Class

*hereditary

Fall Line

Slavery Becomes Entrenched

• Labor needs – Native Americans– Indentured Servants– African slaves

• Worked for life• Difficult to escape• Resistance to

European diseases• Knowledge of farming

techniques• Most (80-90%) worked

in fields in North America

Stowage of the British Slave Ship

Brookes, 1790

Africans Cope in Their New World• Slaves struggled to maintain cultural practices

– Surrogate families– Religious/spiritual practices– Dance– Language

• Resistance– Daily forms illness, breaking tools, slowing down– Revolt

• : 1739– Slaves killed several planter families– Attempted to march south to Spanish Florida– Stopped by militia– Led to stricter slave laws

– Escape

Gullah