7.1 – SETTLING THE SOUTH

MARYLAND• Founded by the Calvert family, rich

English land owners• English Catholics who wanted

religious freedom and $$$!• George Calvert (Lord Baltimore)

funded the expedition• Colony was planned VERY carefully

to make sure it wouldn’t fail

ANALYZE THIS:

• The men in this picture are carrying a cross as Maryland is founded. What does this say about the people that settled Maryland?

LIFE IN MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA

• Tobacco was major cash crop

• Most struggled as indentured servants on farms

• 1649 – Maryland passes the Toleration Act, allowing religious freedom to all Christians in Maryland

THE CAROLINA COLONIES• Maryland and Virginia

were getting crowded, so colonists moved south to get more land.

• Lords Proprietors led the colony and created a constitution (written plan of government)

• Was located south of Virginia all the way down to Spanish Florida

• Colony was too big and no one followed the laws; split into North and South Carolina

GEORGIA

• King wanted to gain control of the area south of the Carolinas

• James Oglethorpe decided to send debtors to the colony• Debtor – someone who has been put in

prison for owing money• These settlers had to defend the land

but could start a new life• Farms did NOT allow slavery at first, but

eventually did, which increased the number of plantations

HEADING WEST• Some farmers moved west due to

crowding along the coast.• Many moved to the Piedmont –

land between coastal plain and the Appalachian Mountains

• Great Wagon Road provided route all across the southern colonies for settlers to move into the Piedmont.

CONFLICTS WITH NATIVE AMERICANS

• European settlers took control of more and more Native American land

• Some settlers destroyed Native American villages to build their own settlements

• Tuscarora Natives attacked many settlements over 3 years, but 1,000 of them were killed or sent into slavery

• Natives were forced to move West….again.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS• What role did enslaved Africans play in the Southern Colonies

economy?• Why was it hard to reach the back country (Piedmont)?• Why did families in the back country have to be self-

sufficient?• Why might people have wanted to settle in the back

country?