Southern Colonies

Which colonies are known as the Southern Colonies?

The Southern Colonies include Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. A warm climate, rich and fertile soil, and a long growing season are all parts of the South's geography. As a result of having such good geographic conditions, agriculture thrived in the Southern Colonies. More on the economy of the South later.

Why did people move to the Southern Colonies?

Maryland: Come on over Catholics

Catholics were being persecuted throughout England during the 1600s. One Catholic, Sir George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, wanted to establish a safe place for Catholics to live. In 1632, King Charles I made Lord Baltimore a proprietor of a colony north of Virginia. Baltimore, however, died, but his son Cecilius Calvert took charge of the colony and named it Maryland, after the English Queen. Cecilius Calvert, the new Lord Baltimore, sent two of his brothers to run the colony. Once there, the brothers along with more than 200 settlers, became tobacco farmers. However, to ensure that the colony did not rely solely on tobacco for survival, a law was set in place that called for settlers to "plant and tend (to) two acres of corn." Maryland farmers also produced wheat, fruit, vegetables, and livestock to feed their families and workers.

Were Lord Baltimore's brothers and the 200 settlers the only ones in the colony?

No. Lord Baltimore gave large estates to his relatives and other English aristocrats. In doing so, he created a wealthy and powerful class of landowners in Maryland. To help the colony grow even more, Lord Baltimore offered 100acres of land to each male settler, 100 to his wife, 100 for each servant, and 50 for each child. With the increase of population and the need for a cheap source of labor, Maryland began importing indentured servants and Africans to work the land. 

   Side note: "Wait a minute, if all these people were moving to Maryland and were getting all this land how do we know where Maryland ends and Pennsylvania (to the north) begins?

Interesting fact: Often times in American history you may here the term the "Mason-Dixon line." Here is where it comes from......(and we are jumping ahead a little bit here, but who cares? We can do that sometimes in history!). In the 1760s Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon were hired to map the line dividing the colonies of Pennsylvania and Maryland. Hence the name "Mason-Dixon line." It took the two almost five years to lay boundary stones between Pennsylvania and Maryland. The stones had the crest of the Penn family on side and the crest of the Calverts on the other.

What's the Act of Toleration?

Maryland had originally been founded to help Catholics get out of England. However, they also welcomed Protestant settlers into the colony. From the start, Protestants had outnumbered Catholics, thus causing Catholics to worry that the Protestants might try to make Maryland a Protestant colony. To avoid this, a law was passed called the Act of Toleration in 1649. This law granted all Protestants and Catholics the right to worship freely. 

Virginia continues to grow

As you already know, Jamestown was prospering due to its tobacco farming industry. Due to the success of Jamestown, more and more colonists moved to the Virginia area with the hopes of becoming wealthy plantation owners. With the influx (flood) of settlers, land along the coast became scarce and settlers moved inward. In doing so, they came in contact with Native Americans. In order to avoid conflicts, the governor of Virginia, Sir William Berkley, worked out an arrangement with the Natives in 1644. In exchange for a large piece of land, he agreed to keep settlers from pushing farther into Native American land. 

Did all of the settlers agree with this arrangement?

Not at all. In fact, a wealthy young planter, Nathaniel Bacon, opposed many of what the colonial legislature in Virginia was going. Some of them illegally moved onto Native American territory and then became angered when the government did not protect them from Native American raids. Bacon and others then began attacking Native American villages and marched to Jamestown where they set fire to the capital and caused Berkley to flee. Bacon's Rebellion failed shortly thereafter as a result of Bacon's unexpected death. Though order was restored, the rebellion showed that settlers were not willing to expand and in 1677 the colonial government signed another treaty with Native Americans that forced them to give up more land. 

Coming Soon: The Carolinas & Georgia 

Short Summary of the Southern Colonies

Geography: rich/fertile soil, warm climate, long growing season

Economy: large plantations, cash crops: tobacco, cotton, & rice

Social: life was centered around the "Great House," or large plantation. Numerous religious groups, mainly Catholics and Protestants. 

Political: elected assemblies, governors, proprietors 

    *Virginia House of Burgesses