Southern Colonies

Southern Colonies in North America were established by England (later Great Britain), during the 17th and 18th centuries and consisted of the Province of Maryland, the Colony of Virginia, the Province of North Carolina, the Province of South Carolina, and the Province of Georgia.

The colonies were founded in order to compete with other European powers in the quest for land and wealth and clothing. They developed prosperous economies based on the cultivation of cash crops, such as tobacco,indigo,rice, and cotton [6]

The Colonies

Carolina

The Province of Carolina, originally chartered in 1608, was an English and later British colony of North America. Because the original charter was unrealized and was ruled invalid, a new charter was issued to a group of nine English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors, on March 24, 1663. Led informally by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, the Province of Carolina was controlled from 1663 to 1729 by these lords and their heirs.

Shaftesbury and his secretary [John Locke], devised an intricate plan to govern the many people arriving in the colony. The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina sought to ensure the colony's stability by allotting political status by a settler's wealth upon arrival - making a semi-manorial system with a Council of Nobles and a plan to have small landholders defer to these nobles. However, the settlers did not find it necessary to take orders from the Council. By 1680, the colony had a large export industry of tobacco, lumber, and pitch.