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