Adam Taylor

                                                                                                                                                AP US History

                                                                                                                                                8-17-04

                                                                                                                                                Chapter. 3 Section. 1

The Southern Colonies

I. The Southern Economy

                A. The Colonies economy depended on the farming of cash crops.

                                1. Tobacco, rice, indigo.

                                                A. Tobacco was the main crop grown in Virginia and Maryland, and somewhat                                                                    in North Carolina.

                                                B. Rice and indigo were grown in South Carolina.

                                                C. All crops were grown on large, farms called plantations were their were many                                           workers working the land for the crop landowner. 

                B. Geography: Tobacco and the Chesapeake

                                1. Between 1620 and 1660 the demand for tobacco in Europe was greater then the                                          supply.

                                                1. Kept the price high.

                                                                A. The owners of the plantations got very wealthy.

                                2. To grow the crop much work was needed.

                                3. Trade was easy because the plantations were all near rivers, inlets, and the ocean to sail                         straight to Europe.

                C. Indentured Servants

                                1. Copious amounts of land in the Americas, but not enough labor, but copious amounts                                                      of labors in England and not enough land.

                                                A. People agreed to become indentured servants.

                                                                1. A wealthy plantation owner paid your fair to the new world in                                                                        exchange you worked on his land for a set amount of years.

                                                                                A. Normally no more than 7 years.

                D. Rice and Indigo in South Carolina

                                A. After the failure of sugarcane and rice settlers find a new cash crop.

                                                1. With a new type of rice found in the 1690’s West African slaves were brought                                            to the plantations to harvest the new cash crop.

                                                                A. West Africans had grown rice for centuries in their farms.

                                B. Early 1740’s South Carolina starts a new cash crop.

                                                1. Indigo, a blue dye for cloth, which on a high demand in Europe.

                                                2. In 1740, 17 year old Eliza Lucas started experimenting with the crop.

                                                                A. See found that is grew best in high ground and sandy soil not the                                                                                      wetlands of the rice.

                                                                B. Good second cash crop, because it only needed attention in seasons                                                                                      when the slaves were not busy with the rice.

II. Southern Society.

                A. The Planter Elite

                                1. Wealthy landowners were also referred to as gentry.

                                                A. These people were the governing councils, assemblies, commanded the local                                                             militias, and served as the local county judges.

                                2. There were no roads and communities really.

                                                A. Everyone lived closed to each other.

                                                                1. Each plantation had everything they needed to survive.

                                                                                A. Schools, chapels, workshops, blacksmiths, carpenters,                                                                                                 weavers, coopers, leather workers.

                                3. In the 1600’s most plantations were small and rough.

                                                A. A few indentured servants of about 30, and the main house of 4 to 7 rooms.

                                4. By the 1700’s things changes to slavery and the gentry came to be.

                                                A. The gentry spent their gambling, hunting, managing accounts, fishing, or in                                                              some causes intellectual pursuits.

                B. Backcountry Farmers

                                1. Close to half the indentured servants who came to work in the Chesapeake region died                                                 before gaining their freedom.                       

                                                A. Of those less then half got some land.

                                2. Land was easy to get but hard to live on.

                                                A. Most became farmers in the backcountry away from the plantations.

                                                                1. Called the yeomen. 

                                                                                A. lived in tiny one or two room houses.

                                                                                B. Were subsistence farming.

                                                                                                1. Raise what you need to live.

                                                                                                                A. corn, beans, potatoes, barley, rice, hogs,                                                                                                                                      other cattle.

                                3. Like normal societies, small population of gentry but big yeomen.

III. Bacon’s Rebellion

                A. Governor Sir William Berkeley in 1660s controlled the legislature, due to his wealth as a                            gentry.

                                1. Got House of Burgesses to exempted himself and councilors from taxations.

                                                A. Also that voting should be for only the rich.

                                                                1. Cut the number of voters in half.

                                                                                A. Really ticked off the yeomen.

                B. Crisis Over Land

                                1. More indentured servants wanted land, and the yeomen wanted to expand their land but                                     all that was left were the Native American’s lands.

                                2. The gentry on the coast land aka the Tidewater did not care what the lower class people                        wanted.

                                                A. The gentry opposed going to war with the Native Americans.

                                3. Then in  1675 war erupted between the backcountry settlers and the Susquehannock                                        people.

                C. Nathaniel Bacon Leads a Revolt

                                1. A group of backcountry farmers got together in a meeting in April of 1676 and there                                     they meet Nathaniel Bacon.

                                                A. A gentry, but still wanted to help the backcountry because of the recent                                                          Native American attacks on his plantation.

                                2. Bacon organized a militia and attacked the Native Americans.

                                                A. In response Governor Berkeley had the voters elect an assembly to calm                                                      things down.

                                                                1. The new House of Burgesses gave Bacon permission to a massive                                                                              1,000 troops to attack the Native Americas.

                                                                2. Then the House of Burgesses gave back the voting rights to all free                                                                        men, and got rid of the tax exemptions Berkeley had granted to this                                                                          supporters.

                                3. Bacon was still not happy so in July 1676 he took Jamestown with several hundred                                      armed men, seized power, and charged Berkeley with corruption.

                                                A. In response Berkeley fled town raised his own army and the two fought until                                                        Bacon died from sickness while hiding in a swamp.

                D. Slavery Increase in Virginia

                                1. After the rebellion the gentry from then on always made sure that their was land. Even                                        if they had to expand into Native American lands.

                                2. Also the rebellion increased the interested in the use of African slaves over Indentured                                                servants.

                                                A. Which was a great help due to King Charles II granting a charter to the Royal                                                          African Company to engage in slave trade.

IV. Slavery in the Colonies

                A. The journey of the slave.

                                1. Started with a march to a European fort on the West African coast, tied together with                                            ropes around the necks and hands.

                                2. Once at the fort traded to Europeans, branded, and forced aboard a ship.

                                3. Between 1450 to 1870 roughly 10 to 12 million African slaves were transported to the                                          Americas.

                                                A. Roughly 2 million died at sea.

                                4. Olaudah Equiano also known as Gustavus Vassa  was kidnapped from his West African                       home by other African in the 1760s. Traded to Europeans and sent to the plantations to                                           work.

                                                A. After getting his freedom he wrote of the horrible travels across what we call                                                               the Middle Passage (Atlantic Ocean).

                                                                1. Chained and crammed into ships, with filthy holds from more than a                                                                         month, no room to move, minimal food and drink. People dying,                                                                            vomiting, and screaming.

                B. The destination of slaves

                                1. Of the 8 to 10 million slaves who reached the Americas, 3.5 million went to Brazil,                                        another 1.5 million to Spainish colonies, and British, French and Dutch in the                                                    Caribbean imported 4 million. Another 500,000 went to the colonies in North America.

                C. Live of Slaves in North America

                                1. When the first Africans arrived in Virginia in 1619 their were no English laws about                                           them, but that soon changed. 

                                                A. Slaves could gain their freedom by becoming Christians, because the owners                                                        thought that they had the right to enslave people who were not Christian.  

                                2. Then when the population increased, the laws changed.

                                                A. Maryland in 1638 became the first state to recognize slavery when it denied                                                         the Africans rights as English citizens.                 

                                                B. Then in 1660s they lowered the African statues even more and made slavery a                                           hereditary system based on race and religion did not slave any more African                                                              from the doom of it.

                                                C. Finally in 1705 Virginia pulled all the laws together and made the slave code.