Treatment of Enslaved People

• Traders brought millions of Africans to North America, South America, and the Caribbean for more than 300 years
• Men, women, and children were taken from Africa, chained together in ships, and sold into slavery

Treatment of Enslaved People

• The first Africans likely arrived in the English colonies in Virginia in 1619
• Initially, the English colonies used indentured servants as workers
• Colonial governments legalized slavery as more workers were needed
• By the mid-1700s, slavery was legal in every colony
• Laws stated that children born to enslaved people would also be enslaved
• Families were often broken apart and sold to different owners
• Most enslaved Africans in the Southern Colonies worked on plantations
• The treatment of enslaved people depended on their owners, they were often beaten and abused without the ability to speak out
• Despite the conditions and punishments, enslaved people resisted by rebelling, breaking tools, feigning sickness, or working slowly
• Enslaved people preserved their culture through storytelling and song
• By the late 1700s, Christianity became a source of strength for some enslaved people.

A Farming Economy

• The Southern Colonies' economy was primarily based on plantations
• Plantations relied on the labor of enslaved people, and cash crops made some planters wealthy

The Plantation System

• Plantations were first built along the Coastal Plain
• By 1750, settlers moved west and started plantations farther inland
• As planters became richer, the amount of land they owned increased
• Some plantations resembled small villages, including workshops for enslaved people to make nails, bricks, barrels, and other items
• Plantation owners hired overseers to watch enslaved people work
• The overseer's house was typically near the fields
• Enslaved workers' houses were usually far from the planter's house
• Some enslaved people kept small gardens near their homes
• Planters managed the plantations but did not usually perform the manual labor
• Planters sometimes served as judges or members of the colonial assembly
• Many planters hired teachers to educate their children at home
• Enslaved children were not allowed to attend school, and it was illegal for enslaved people to learn to read or write, with harsh punishments

Life on Small Farms

• While the Southern Colonies' economy depended mostly on crops from large plantations, most colonists lived and worked on small farms
• Former indentured servants often owned small farms, though few became rich
• Most owners of small farms did not own enslaved people, and those who did worked alongside them but did not treat them as equals
• Church services were major events due to the distance between farms and families would travel for hours to attend and socialize

Free Africans

• Some Africans were able to buy their freedom and start farms, though most did not want to be part of the system of slavery and bought relatives to free them
• Many enslaved people ran away to escape slavery, but were often caught and returned
• Some found safety in Spanish Florida or received help from Native American tribes

The Black Seminoles

• The Seminole tribe provided runaways with food and shelter, offering land in exchange for one-third of the crops
• Many runaways adopted Seminole dress and language, becoming known as Black Seminoles

Cash Crops

• Seaports like Charles Town were important to the Southern Colonies' economy
• Plantations produced tons of cash crops each year that needed to be shipped to markets in England and the West Indies

Adapting to the Climate

• Plantations in different colonies grew different crops
• Tobacco was the main cash crop in Maryland, Virginia, and northern North Carolina, requiring many workers and a lot of land
• After about seven years, tobacco plants depleted the soil's nutrients, leading farmers to clear more land
• The climate in southern North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia was too warm and wet for growing tobacco
• Rice became a major cash crop in South Carolina, often called "Carolina gold"
• Indigo plants, which produced a blue dye used in clothmaking, grew well on drier land
• Indigo became an important cash crop after Eliza Lucas Pinckney's experiments
• By the 1740s, indigo was a major cash crop throughout South Carolina

Eliza Lucas Pinckney

• Moved to South Carolina with her parents in 1738
• When she was 16, her father returned to the West Indies and she began experimenting with indigo seeds, working so hard she "hardly allow[ed] myself time to sleep or eat."
• Able to grow an indigo plant that produced an excellent dye after three years
• Gave some of her seeds to neighbors and friends
• Within a few years, South Carolina planters were selling one million pounds of indigo per year to European clothmakers

The Economy Grows

• Plantations were largely self-sufficient but depended on merchants and others for some goods and services
• Traders and merchants depended on plantations for cash crops and raw materials
• Economic interdependence existed

Exporting Goods

• As plantations grew, more cash crops were exported
• Large plantation owners often sold crops with a broker
• The broker is a person who is paid to buy and sell for someone else
• Brokers took the crops to market to sell and bought the goods the planters wanted
• Location affected how well plantations did
• The most successful Plantations were on rivers or near ports, which made it easier to ship crops
• Location affected the growth of cities
• By the mid-1700s, towns along the southern Atlantic coast, such as Norfolk and Savannah, had grown into large cities
• Baltimore, Maryland, founded in 1729 on the Patapsco River flowing into Chesapeake Bay, exported grain and tobacco
• As more goods were exported, the demand for ships grew
• Baltimore became a major center for shipbuilding and developed the Baltimore clipper, among the fastest sailing ships

Other Industries

• Farming was the most important part of the Southern economy, the region also had supporting industries
• Forests were important natural resources, helping Wilmington, North Carolina.

For over 300 years, traders forcibly brought millions of Africans to the Americas. Enslaved people faced harsh treatment, abuse, and family separation. Despite these conditions, they resisted through various means.