English Colonies in America

The Southern Colonies

Have you ever been to a southern state? What was it like? What are some of the natural features that you remember?

Tobacco field in Virginia

South Carolina “low country”

Southern Geography• The geography of the Chesapeake Bay region was

perfectly suited to tobacco farming.

The Southern Economy

• A few years after the founding of Jamestown, tobacco became the South’s first successful cash crop.

• A cash crop is a crop grown primarily for market.

• Tobacco was the main cash crop in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina.

• Rice and indigo were grown in South Carolina.

Southern Society Planter Elite (Gentry)

Backcountry Farmers (Yeomen)

Slaves

Owned the plantations. Had the most M, P, R.

Subsistence farmers. Grew just enough food to survive. Had very little M,P, R.

No M, P, R.

New England Economy• In New England and

the Middle Colonies, a diverse economy supported many large port cities.

• Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island

Sea - Fishing and Whaling• Fishing, more than any other

industry, brought prosperity to New England.

• Whaling was also prosperous along the coast. Whalers sought blubber, ambergris, and bones.

• The fall line is the area where rivers descend from a high elevation to a lower one.

• The waterfalls were used to power sawmills.

• Lumber cut at these sawmills was used to produce furniture, spinning wheels, barrels, and ships.

Economy of the Middle Colonies

• The Middle Colonies contained some of the most fertile farmland in North America.

• New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware

• The regions main cash crop was wheat.

• Wheat farming led to prosperity and created distinct groups of entrepreneurs and capitalists.

Location Geography Resource

New England Colonies

-Unsuitable for large farming-Coastal -Plenty of waterfalls

-Small scale farming-Fishing/Whaling-Lumber/Shipbuilding

Middle Colonies -Fertile Farmland -Wheat

Southern Colonies -Warm climate for growing cash crops-Water highways

-Cash crops such as tobacco, rice, and indigo

RecapSociety

-City life with an order of merchants, artisans, labor, and slaves.

-Creates a class of wealthy famers, entrepreneurs, and capitalists.

-Plantation life of gentry, subsistence farmers, and slaves.