Name:_______________
Southern Colonies Homework
Monday: Use p. 162-163 in your textbook to complete the questions. Write the answers in complete sentences.
1. Describe the tidewater.
The water in rivers and streams rises and falls every day with the oceans tides.
2. Why was the tidewater a good place for farming?
Excellent fertile soil and plenty of rivers, streams, and rainfall.
3. How was the backcountry different from the tidewater?
It was steep (higher altitude) and covered with forests. Most colonists settled in the
tidewater because it was easier to travel through.
Tuesday: Use p. 160-163 to complete the chart.
Land
New England Rocky and sandy soil.
Climate/Growing Season
Natural Resources
Warm to very cold. Shorter growing Wood from thick forests,
season.
fish, whales.
Middle
Colonies
Rich fertile (nutrient
rich soil), Rolling hills,
and valleys.
Longer growing season and a
moderate climate (cold to warm
temperatures) many sunny days
and plenty of rain.
Soil was rich and great
for farming. Woods were
full of wildlife.
Southern
Colonies
Tidewater area that
had rivers, bays, and
wetlands. The land was
very flat.
Climate and soil were excellent for
farming. Growing season lasted 7
to 8 months.
Rivers, good soil, wildlife,
forests in the
backcountry.
Name:_______________
Southern Colonies Homework
Wednesday: Use pgs. 202-205 to answer questions 1-4 in complete sentences.
1. Why did many plantations exist in Virginia?
Plantations were started when colonists realized there was no gold to be found; however, there was rich
soil in the tidewater region in which they could farm quite well. Wealthy men bought huge areas (tracts) of
land and made their plantations. They could grow cash crops and become even wealthier.
2. Who could be elected to the House of Burgesses?
Only planters and other white men who owned property were allowed to vote or be elected to the House of
Burgesses.
3. How did James Oglethorpe help poor people?
Oglethorpe used the land given to him by King George II, to start another colony. The colony was settled by
poor people in England who had gone to jail for not being able to pay their debts.
4. What rules did James Oglethorpe create for Georgia?
Georgian colonists could not drink alcohol, nor could they own slaves or elect their own legislature. These
rules were later changed and colonists bought slaves to work on plantations as soon as slavery was allowed.
Thursday: Use Chapter 6 to identify the meaning of each word and how it was important to the Southern colonists.
Word
Plantation
Meaning
Importance to Southern colonies
Plantations were large
farms on which crops were
raised by workers who
lived on the farm.
Mostly slave labor was used to grow the cash crops on
plantations. Planters (plantation owners) became quite
wealthy by growing and selling cash crops grown on the
plantations: tobacco, rice, indigo.
*Although the South was known for its large plantations, most
southern colonists lived on small family farms in th
backcountry, away from the tidewater.
legislature
debtor
A group of people with the Virginia colonists wanted to have a voice in government,
power to make and change so they had a legislature.
laws.
They practiced self-government because white planters
and landowners were elected into the House of
Burgesses and made laws for the colony.
A debtor is a person who
People who owed money were put in prison. Oglethorpe
owes money.
thought the people would help England more if they
were let out of jail to begin a new life in Georgia. The
King let Oglethorpe have the colony of Georgia to
populate with debtors who wanted to start a new life.
Name:_______________
Southern Colonies Homework
backcountry
The higher land on the
other side of the fall line
was known as the
backcountry.
Since wealthy men created plantations in most of the
tidewater area, new colonists had to settle in the
backcountry further from the ocean. They farmed,
hunted, and fished. The land was steep and covered
with forests.
cash crop
A crop that people grow
and sell to make money.
Many southern planters sold crops to people in other
colonies or England for high prices. Land in some areas
grew certain crops better:
Virginia and Maryland – main cash crop was tobacco.
North Carolina – Greatest resource was pine forests, so
they made pitch (a thick liquid used to keep water out of
ships). They also grew and sold tobacco.
South Carolina and Georgia – main cash crops were rice
and indigo (a plant that can be made into a dark blue
dye).