Download The Southern Colonies - Mater Academy Lakes High School

THE SOUTHERN COLONIES
Section 1
SETTLEMENT IN JAMESTOWN
1605: London Company is given
permission to found (establish) a
settlement in a region called
Virginia
1607: founded Jamestown, the
first permanent English
settlement
Colonists weren’t prepared to live in
America, so many of them died
Most men were adventurers without skills
like farming and carpentry
Land was surrounded by marshes full of
disease-carrying mosquitoes
2/3 died by winter
1608: John Smith took control and built a fort
Forced settlers to work
Initiated a system of rules that rewarded hard
workers with food
They also received help from the Powhatan
Confederacy (Natives) after Smith made an
agreement with them
They brought food and taught how to plant
corn
1609: 400 more settlers arrived in
Jamestown
Disease and famine hit again—
“the starving time”—only 60 left
Jamestown failed to make a profit
until John Rolfe introduced a new
type of tobacco that sold well in
England
1614: John Rolfe married
Pocahontas, the daughter of
the Powhatan leader
Marriage led to peaceful
relations
Pocahontas died three years
later in England
1622: war broke out after
colonists killed a Powhatan
leader
1624: VA became a royal
colony (king rules) because
they could not protect its
colonists
DAILY LIFE IN VIRGINIA
At first people lived in scattered farms
Tobacco farmers established plantations
Sometimes used as money
The London Company had started the headright system
50 acres if they paid for their trip
They could earn 50 more acres for every extra person
they brought—many would bring servants and relatives
High death rate = labor shortages
Majority of workers were indentured
servants—they signed a contract to work for
four to seven years for those who paid for
their journey to America
1619: first Africans brought
Some were servants and became farmers
when their contracts ended
Others were slaves
Mid-1600s: life-long slavery established
Demand for workers was high + slaves were
cheaper
1676: Nathaniel Bacon led former
indentured servants to attack friendly
Native Americans
He opposed the governor’s policy of
trade with the Natives
He also wanted the Natives’ lands
When the governor tried to stop him, they
attacked and burned Jamestown in an
uprising known as Bacon’s Rebellion
At one point, he controlled a lot of the
colony
But he died of fever, and the rebellion
ended…
MARYLAND
1620s: Catholics wanted a
colony for religious freedom
1632: Maryland founded
Intended to be a refuge for
English Catholics
Proprietary colony—the
owners controlled the
government instead of the
king
1634: 200 English Catholics came to Maryland
Wealthy landowners, servants, craftspeople,
farmers
Learned from the people of Jamestown– began to
grow tobacco for profit
Protestants began moving in the 1640s  religious
conflict
Toleration Act of 1649: made it a crime to restrict
religious rights of Christians
First law of religious tolerance in the English
colonies
THE
CAROLINAS
1663: Carolinas founded
At first, it was one colony
 But settlements were too far apart to govern
so they separated in 1712
North Carolina was mostly farmers from
VA
Europeans settled South Carolina—it was
managed poorly
1719-29: proprietary govt.
overthrown—became royal colony
GEORGIA
1732: King George II granted a charter to James Oglethorpe to found
Georgia
He hoped to shield the English from the Spanish in Florida
Oglethorpe wanted Georgia to be a place where people in debt could start a
new life
Wanted small farms (not plantations)—so he outlawed slavery (and other
strict rules)
People got tired of the rules and the British government made it a royal colony
with new rules (1752)
Soon, it was filled with rice plantations and slaves
ECONOMIES OF THE SOUTHERN COLONIES
Economies depended on agriculture
Farms and plantations did well because of the warm
climate and long growing season
They grew cash crops like tobacco, rice, and indigo
Also exported raw materials for ship-building
Cash crops and plantations made slavery necessary
Most of the southern colonies passed slave codes, or laws
to control the slaves
COLONIES COMPARATIVE CHART
Colony
Year
Founded
Reason
Founded
Region
Successes
Failures
Virginia
Maryland
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
When you identify different successes and failures, use different colors (of pen
or highlighter) to differentiate between political, social, and economic. Ex:
Growing tobacco is an ECONOMIC success; South Carolina being managed
poorly is a POLITICAL failure. Make a key to show the meaning of the colors.