DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOUTHERN COLONIES

FOUNDINGPeople, Reasons, & Colonies

• JAMESTOWN & CAPT. JOHN SMITH -- first permanent English colony in America; founded by Virginia Co. in 1607 near Chesapeake Bay & James River; swampy & poor soil; Smith was leader who forced colonists to work and treated with Indians – ensured survival of Jamestown

FOUNDINGPeople, Reasons, & Colonies (continued)

• GEORGE CALVERT (LORD BALTIMORE) & CATHOLICS – Sir Calvert, a Catholic, founded Maryland as a refuge for English Catholics; planted a variety of crops; cheap land & religious freedom helped colony grow

FOUNDINGPeople, Reasons, & Colonies (continued)

• CAROLINA PROPRIETORS – Group of 8 important friends of King Charles II who helped him regain the throne; rich landowners had huge plantations where cash crops were grown using slaves; split into North & South in 1729

FOUNDINGPeople, Reasons, & Colonies (continued)

• JAMES OGLETHORPE – wanted a place for debtors to have a second chance; founded Georgia in 1733; many restrictions on colonists (no slavery or rum) which slowed growth; plan failed & GA became a royal colony in 1751

GOVERNMENTDocuments, Ideas, & Firsts

• VIRGINIA HOUSE OF BURGESSES, 1619 – First representative assembly in America; had the right to make laws for the colony; beginnings of democratic principles in government in America

• ACT OF TOLERATION – Passed by Lord Baltimore in 1649; gave Protestants & Catholics in MD right to worship freely

SOCIETYFamily, Community, Religion

• INDENTURED SERVANTS – Laborer who agreed to work without pay for a certain time in exchange for passage to America

• SLAVERY – While all 13 colonies had slavery; most worked on plantations; slave codes were passed that gave rules for behavior & punishment; reason for economic success in South; moral arguments about humans owning others

ECONOMICSFarming & Other Ways Of Making A Living

• CASH CROP FARMING – Crops grown and sold for profit

• MAJOR CROPS – Rice, tobacco, indigo.

ECONOMICSFarming & Other Ways Of Making A Living (continued)

• PLANTATION SYSTEM -- Each was a self-contained community; included slave cabins, barns, stables, kitchen buildings, carpenter & blacksmith shops, chapel, and large house; each plantation had hundreds of slaves working crops on thousands of acres