Chapter 6 – Middle and Southern Colonies

Chapter 6 – Middle and Southern Colonies

Lesson 4 – Life in the South

Pg. 210-215

What will we learn today?

•Today we will about life in the Southern Colonies.

Words to Watch For

•indigo•overseer•spiritual

Lesson 3 – The Southern Colonies

•Where?•Southern Colonies•What?•Life on farms and plantations•When?•1600-1800

The Southern Colonies

Southern Agriculture• The Southern Colonies’

economy was based on farming (agriculture).

• Tobacco and rice crops made many colonists wealthy, but also resulted in the increase of indentured servants and enslaved Africans.

Crops of the Colonies

•Virginia & Maryland– Tobacco

•North Carolina– Small

Tobacco farms

– Pitch: made from pine syrup, sealed ships

•South Carolina & Georgia– Rice: learned

how to grow from enslaved Africans

– Indigo: a plant used to make dark blue dye

Cities• There were

fewer cities in the Southern Colonies than the New England, or Middle Colonies.

Charles Town• Charles Town in

South Carolina (later to be Charleston) was the biggest.–Center for trade–Shipping of crops–Diverse population

Plantations•Grounds

–Planter’s Home–Horse Stables–Workshops–Gardens–Fields–Workers’ houses

•Workers–Usually slaves

–Field workers–Cooks–Maids

Tidewater Plantation

Small Farms• Most colonists were

small farmers often living in the backcountry.– Usually family

members or one or two servants or slaves lived there

– Would sometimes have a small amount of crop left to sell

Family Life• Plantations

– Educated – learned to read and write

– Boys learned to run a plantation.

– Girls learned how to manage a household.

•Small Farms–Little education

–Children had to learn how to help around the home and farm at an early age.

Slavery• First started

with indentured servants, then slaves followed

• By 1750, most slaves were in the Southern Colonies.

Harsh Life• Slaves were bought and

sold like property.• Usually were used as field

workers or as a house slave

• Worked morning until night

• Very hard work• Could be whipped and

punished by the overseer• Many died at an early age

African American Culture

• Slaves often bonded together like a family

• Many relied on the comfort of religion

• Often would tell stories and sing spirituals- African-American religious folk song

• Gullah - blend of African and English languages

“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”

•http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/singers/sfeature/songs_swing_qt.html

In Summary•Most Southern Colonists lived in

the backcountry on small farms.•Tobacco, rice, and indigo were

important crops in the Southern Colonies.

•The harsh system of slavery expanded as more and more plantations were started.

1. The economy of the Southern Colonies was based on

A. agriculture.

B. industry.

C. rice.

D. fishing.

2. Most of the colonists in the Southern Colonies were

A. carpenters.

B. plantation owners.

C. overseers.

D. backcountry farmers.

3. Which colonies grew rice and indigo as their main crops?

A. Virginia and North Carolina

B. South Carolina and Georgia

C. Maryland and Virginia

D. North Carolina and South Carolina

4. What was one difference between plantations and backcountry farms?

A. Backcountry farms had overseers.

B. Planters' children learned to read and write from their parents.

C. Backcountry farms were huge.

D. Farmers' children learned to read and write from their parents.

5. Which sentence about slaves' lives is true?

A. Overseers made their lives easier.

B. Many slaves lived long lives.

C. Many slaves adopted Christianity.

D. Private teachers taught them spirituals.

Images• http://comsewogue.k12.ny.us/~ssilve

rman/documents/hall7R/hall7r.htm• http://www.navyandmarine.org/onde

ck/1776reprisetorndefeat.htm• http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/

utc/abolitn/abhp.html• http://chi.gospelcom.net/GLIMPSEF/

Glimpses/glmps089.shtml• http://www.sonofthesouth.net/

slavery/photographs/plantation-slaves.htm