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Southern Colonies

Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia

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  • Overwhelmingly rural, with large agricultural operations

  • Developed prosperous economies based on the plantation system to cultivate cash crops such as tobacco, indigo, and rice

  • As a result, slavery and indentured servitude was an indispensable part of the Southern Colonies's economy, in a way that wasn't true for the other parts of British America
     

  • Outbreaks of malaria and yellow fever kept life expectancies lower

  • Settlers in the Southern colonies came to America to seek economic prosperity they could not find in Old England due to hereditary laws (estates passed to the eldest son)

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READ MORE:

A Glimpse of Everyday Life in the Southern Colonies, 1763-1774

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Virginia  |  Maryland  |  North Carolina  |  South Carolina  |  Georgia

Colony of Virginia

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  • Slavery

    • 1662: Hereditary slavery defined by law came to Virginia

      • By law, Africans, with the exception of those entering the Eastern Shore, entered the colonies as slaves for life

      • Even if they were freed, their freedoms were inhibited by laws that left them few liberties

    • With the passage of the Slave Code of 1705, slavery became ensconced at all levels of Virginian society

      • Bacon's Rebellion (1676–1677) had increased white Virginians’ hostility toward non-whites​

      • Around 1680, the flow of white indentured servants from England fell off dramatically

      • The English, having established the Royal African Company, became significantly involved in the Atlantic slave trade around this time; as a result, enslaved Africans became less expensive​

  • Gender dynamics

    • Nearly all power was in the hands of white male landowners, who ran the government and, by law, belonged to the Church of England

    • Women who married and worked at home were considered “good wives”; those who refused such “proper” roles were considered troublesome, although some women certainly did find ways to resist their traditional roles

  • Religion

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Virginia's road to voting Yes for independence

  • May 15, 1776: Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia advised the Colonies to establish their own governments.

    • The Virginia Convention responded by passing a resolution calling for a direct act by the Continental Congress to strike for independence.

    • The Virginia delegates also appointed a drafting committee to write a bill of rights and a constitution for Virginia.

  • Late May 1776: George Mason submitted a first draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights to the Committee.

  • May 27, 1776: The committee added onto Mason’s draft and submitted it to the Virginia Convention.

    • While waiting for the Convention to adopt his Declaration of Rights, Mason wrote a first draft of the Virginia Constitution and submitted it to the Convention.

  • June 12, 1776: The final draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights was passed.

  • June 28, 1776: The Convention adopted the final draft of the Virginia Constitution.

  • June 7, 1776: Richard Henry Lee, representing Virginia at the Second Continental Congress, proposed a resolution formally declaring the colonies independent.

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Votes for independence

  • July 1, 1776: Yes

  • July 2, 1776: Yes

 

Delegates who signed the Declaration of Independence:

  • George Wythe

  • Richard Henry Lee

  • Thomas Jefferson

  • Benjamin Harrison

  • Thomas Nelson, Jr.

  • Francis Lightfoot Lee

  • Carter Braxton​

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April 1607: "The first permanent English settlement" was established in Jamestown, Virginia

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​​18th century Virginia

  • Economy​

    • ​Dominated by a handful of elite families, most of whom lived on isolated rural plantations

    • Geographically, Virginia had few towns, and instead relied on family ties to forge community and economic relationships

    • Key commodity: Tobacco 

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.

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Province of Maryland

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  • Slavery

    • ​Similar to Virginia: as indentured European servants became scarce and expensive, enslaved African labor came to dominate the labor force

    • 1663: Hereditary slavery defined by law came to Maryland, one year after Virginia

      • By law, Africans, with the exception of those entering the Eastern Shore, entered the colonies as slaves for life

      • Even if they were freed, their freedoms were inhibited by laws that left them few liberties

    • In the 18th century, most of the enslaved people of Virginia lived and worked growing tobacco on “quarters” or “plantations” in the eastern part of Virginia

    • Read more

  • Religion

    • ​Began as one of the few predominantly Catholic regions among the English colonies in North America

      • Maryland had in fact been founded in order to be a haven for Roman Catholics persecuted in England

    • Famed for embracing religious toleration and religious freedom at the beginning; however, that would change over time

      • By the late 17th century, a small Catholic minority reigned over a growing Protestant majority​

      • This meant that Protestants were locked out of substantial political, social, and economic influence, despite being able to practice their faith openly

      • As a result, the religious tolerance (of Protestantism) bred resentment, not acceptance of other faiths or a pluralist commitment to diversity

  • Politics

    • One of the key destinations where the government sent tens of thousands of English convicts punished by sentences of transportation (basically, the punishment was to send convicted criminals to a faraway location for a specified time period, where the prisoners usually wouldn't have the resources to return home after their sentences were served); such punishment persisted until the American Revolutionary War

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Maryland's road to voting Yes for independence

  • ​At first, Maryland did not favor independence and gave instructions to that effect to its delegates

  • April 1775: Samuel Chase told John Dickinson that those who favored resistance needed to assume the powers of government

    • ​"While the present forms of Government subsist, we can neither raise men nor collect men sufficient to answer any effectual purpose. We are afraid of delay. ... The Question is shall we immediately change our Governors or not. Some are for delaying till the Congress determine what we shall do—I am of the former opinion."

  • As late as May 21, 1776: The Maryland Convention reiterated its instructions to its Congressional delegates that they were not to vote for independence without the express approval of the Convention

  • June 27, 1776: The Maryland Gazette published two articles

    • The first announced that the ship Fowey, which had been carrying Maryland's last proprietary governor Robert Eden, had "hoisted sail and went down the Bay."

    • The second, signed by "American," decried the ambivalence of the Convention then sitting in Annapolis

      • "Is it not remarkable that a convention, composed of many of the same delegates should now, without any change in their governor's conduct, express 'their real wishes for his return to resume the government of this province?'"

      • This "American" believed the only viable course of action was a declaration of independence and a new form of government

  • June 28, 1776: The Maryland Convention rescinded its instructions to the Maryland congressional delegation that prohibited them from voting for independence

  • July 3, 1776: The Maryland Convention resolved that a new convention be elected "for the express purpose of forming a new government by the authority of the people only, and enacting and ordering all things for the preservation, safety and general weal of this colony"

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Votes for independence:

  • July 1, 1776: Yes

  • July 2, 1776: Yes

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Delegates who signed the Declaration of Independence:

  • Samuel Chase

  • William Paca

  • Thomas Stone

  • Charles Carroll of Carrollton

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Baltimore in 1752.

Established 1632 as a proprietary colony

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18th century Maryland

  • Economy

    • Developed along similar lines to Virginia

    • Early settlements and population centers tended to cluster around the rivers and other waterways that empty into the Chesapeake Bay

    • Key commodity: Tobacco

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Province of North Carolina

Split from the proprietary Province of Carolina in 1712

  • Series of conflicts across the province

  • Communication and transportation up and down the coast was difficult

Became a royal colony in 1729

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Salem, North Carolina, 1787.

​18th century North Carolina

  • Economy

    • 95% of people engaged in farming or related activities

      • ​Primarily maintained small farms and cultivated crops such as tobacco, corn, peas, beans, wheat, rice, and a variety of fruits

      • Few owned large tracts of land

      • The people did not, as a rule, congregate together in towns or live close to each other in the country; they scattered far and wide, wherever fertile land could be found

    • Key commodity: Tobacco

  • Slavery

    • ​Because of its geography, North Carolina's initial trade of enslaved people was limited; it was difficult for ships to land on its coast

      • Exception: Wilmington, which sat on the Cape Fear River​

    • North Carolina also lacked the extensive plantation system of the Lower South colonies

    • North Carolina did enact laws to control enslaved people

      • ​North Carolina Slave Code of 1715

        • Required enslaved people to carry a ticket from their enslaver whenever they left the plantation

        • Prevented enslaved people from gathering in groups for any reason, including religious worship

        • Required white people to help capture escaped freedom-seeking enslaved people

      • 1741

        • Prevented enslaved people from raising their own livestock and from carrying guns without their enslaver's permission, even for hunting

        • Limited manumission (freeing of enslaved people) to "meritorious services," and even then the decision had to be approved by the county court

        • "Runaway slaves": If freedom-seeking enslaved people refused to surrender immediately, they could be killed and there would be no legal consequences

    • Read more

  • Religion

    • ​Established church was the Church of England (Anglicans), but the colony generally saw no great religious activity; there were only a small handful of churches, and practically no ministers

    • The Anglican church did, however, play a strong role in the colony's education​

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North Carolina's road to voting Yes for independence

  • Initially, when North Carolina sent delegates to the Second Continental Congress, the delegates were not authorized to seek independence but were to seek redress of grievances.

  • April 12, 1776: Fourth North Carolina Provincial Congress met in Halifax, NC, where the 83 members present unanimously adopted the Halifax Resolves.

    • ​Halifax Resolves: First official action in the American Colonies calling for independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution

  • ​The Halifax Resolves ordered North Carolina's delegation to the second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, not only to form foreign alliances, but also to seek and vote for independence from Great Britain.

  • With the Halifax Resolves, North Carolina became the first colony to explicitly permit their delegates to vote in favor of independence.

    • The Halifax Resolves, however, stopped short of instructing North Carolina's delegates to introduce a resolution of independence to Congress, a step which was taken by Virginia in June with the adoption of the Lee Resolution.

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Votes for independence:

  • July 1, 1776: Yes

  • July 2, 1776: Yes

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Delegates who signed the Declaration of Independence:

  • William Hooper

  • Joseph Hewes

  • John Penn

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Province of South Carolina

Split from the proprietary Province of Carolina in 1712

  • Series of conflicts across the province

  • Communication and transportation up and down the coast was difficult

Became a royal colony in 1719

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Rice cultivation in South Carolina.

18th century South Carolina

  • Economy

    • One of the most prosperous of the Thirteen Colonies​

      • Local colonists developed indigo, rice and Sea Island cotton using slave labor as export goods

      • ​By 1776, Charleston was home to nine of America’s 10 wealthiest people — thanks largely to its exploitation of slave labor

    • Key commodity: Rice

      • ​Growing rice required 10 times the labor needed for other crops and incurred high mortality rates; enslaved people died at much higher rates in the rice region than anywhere else in the South

      • As a result, Charleston started trafficking in more enslaved people than it trafficked out

  • Slavery

    • ​With the expansion of the colony's plantation economy, numerous African slaves were imported to South Carolina via the Atlantic slave trade

    • South Carolina's capital city of Charleston became North America’s largest port in the Transatlantic Slave Trade

      • ​Nearly 150,000 kidnapped Africans—over 40% of all enslaved Africans trafficked to North America—arrived through Charleston Harbor

    • By 1776, enslaved Black people made up more than 70% of Charleston's population

    • Enslaved people in Charleston were also “hired out” to work as unskilled laborers or skilled artisans for business owners, families, and the city itself

      • The practice of “hiring out” was so common that the City of Charleston developed a “slave badge” system to regulate hired-out enslaved people

    • Laws barred enslaved people from traveling without written permission, meeting in groups, raising their own food, possessing money, using drums, horns, and other instruments, and learning to read and write, among other things

    • As the minority of the Charleston population, the white ruling class developed a “siege mentality” and deep commitment to upholding slavery and maintaining white supremacy that culminated in its violent secession from the Union in 1860

  • Religion

    • ​Official church: Church of England (Anglicans)

    • Although the Church of England was established in South Carolina, it was relatively weak because there wasn't a bishop, and other denominations were tolerated

    • South Carolina passed legislation to disestablish the Church of England in 1778, during the Revolutionary War

  • Politics

    • Developed a system of laws and self-government

    • Possessed a growing commitment to republicanism (the rights and values that citizens ought to have in a republic), which the Patriots feared was threatened by British policies after 1765

    • Joined the American Revolution in 1775, but the colony was bitterly divided between Patriots and Loyalists

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South Carolina's road to voting Yes for independence

  • Delegates from South Carolina had received only general marching orders, but had not been expressly told how to vote

  • June 28, 1776: Edward Rutledge wrote to John Jay of New York, expressing his feeling that the motion to declare independence was being rushed through

    • "The Congress sat till 7 o’clock this evening in consequence of a motion of R. H. Lee’s resolving ourselves free & independent states. The sensible part of the house Opposed the motion… They saw no wisdom in a Declaration of Independence, nor any other purpose to be answered by it…No reason could be assigned for pressing into this measure, but the reason of every Madman, a shew of our Spirit…"​

  • On July 1, 1776, the delegates voted no

    • They were not necessarily opposed to the motion, but they felt the timeline was rushed: they wanted the colonies to first form a practical plan of confederation before declaring independence​​​​

    • As Jefferson recounted it, "Mr. Rutledge of South Carolina then requested the determination might be put off to the next day, as he believed his colleagues, though they disapproved of the resolution, would then join in it for the sake of unanimity."

  • On July 2, 1776, the delegates changed their vote to yes — as Rutledge predicted

  • Notably, while Edward Rutledge did have a vested interest in preserving the institution of slavery in his home state, he was NOT actually a leader of removing the clause from the Declaration in the historical record.

    • In fact, contrary to the musical's portrayal, the vote for independence did not hinge on the removal of that clause at all, since Congress voted on independence before debating the contents of the Declaration

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Votes for independence:

  • July 1, 1776: No

  • July 2, 1776: Yes

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Delegates who signed the Declaration of Independence:

  • Edward Rutledge

  • Thomas Heyward, Jr.

  • Thomas Lynch, Jr.

  • Arthur Middleton

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Province of Georgia

​Initially established to:

  • Serve as a haven for English subjects who had been imprisoned for debt and "the worthy poor"

  • Be a buffer state and a "garrison province" which would defend the southern British colonies from Spanish Florida

    • ​Because of this, the colony's charter prohibited slavery

    • The ban on slavery was lifted by 1751

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18th century Georgia​

  • Economy

    • Key commodities: Cash crops such as indigo, rice, and sugar

      • Note: Cotton only really took off after 1793 (after the time 1776 is set), when Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin​

  • Slavery

    • By the mid-1750s the earlier debate on the introduction of slavery to Georgia seemed never to have taken place; almost every white person in the Georgia Lowcountry at that time believed that the institution of slavery was essential to their economic prosperity

    • ​Beginning in the mid-1760s, Georgia began to import captive workers directly from Africa—mainly from Angola, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia

    • Most were given physically demanding work in the rice fields, although some were forced to labor in Savannah’s expanding urban economy

  • Religion

    • ​Official church: Church of England (Anglicans)

    • Welcomed large groups of Puritans, Lutherans, and Quakers

    • Banned Catholics

  • Politics

    • Georgia was the youngest of the Thirteen Colonies and had also received significant financial assistance from Britain, making the colony reluctant to rebel​

    • However, Georgian sentiment began to shift in favor of independence when other colonies began to favor the same; it's notable that Georgia never initiated action (and also never went as far as the other colonies in doing so), but the colony was clearly playing an important support role

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Georgia's road to voting Yes for independence

  • Georgia had not taken part in the First Continental Congress; the colony was deeply divided on its opinion about British rule, especially because it had benefited from a great amount of financial aid from Britain

  • May 13, 1775: Lyman Hall was admitted as a delegate from the Parish of St. John's in the Colony of Georgia — not as a delegate from the colony itself

    • He was unanimously accepted as a delegate to Congress, but until Georgia was fully represented, he declined to vote on any matters which were to be decided by a vote of colonies​

  • July 4, 1775: Revolutionary Georgians held a Provincial Congress to decide how to respond to the American Revolution — specifically, the Battle of Lexington and Concord — and decide how to put the colony on the same footing as the other colonies

  • July 7, 1775: The Provincial Congress decided to send delegates to the Continental Congress

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Votes for independence:

  • July 1, 1776: Yes

  • July 2, 1776: Yes

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Delegates who signed the Declaration of Independence:

  • Button Gwinnett

  • Lyman Hall

  • George Walton

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Last of the Thirteen Colonies to be founded; became a proprietary colony in 1732

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Became a royal colony in 1752

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