CHAPTER 4 • SECTION 2
Expansion of Plantations Brings Resistance
KEY QUESTION How did African Americans resist their enslavement?
Slavery allowed plantation farming to expand in South Carolina and
Georgia. Without slave labor, there probably would have been no rice
plantations in the lowcountry—the region’s swampy lowlands.
Teach
Backbreaking Labor Rice cultivation required great skill.
Because West Africans had these skills, planters sought out
slaves who came from Africa’s rice-growing regions. Rice
growing involved backbreaking labor. Enslaved workers
drained swamps, raked fields, burned stubble, and broke
ground before planting. They also had to tend the fields and
harvest the crop.
indigo, a plant that proOn higher ground, planters grew indigo
duces a deep blue dye used to dye clothes. A young woman
named Eliza Lucas had introduced indigo as a successful plantation crop after her father left her to supervise his South
Carolina plantations when she was 17.
Expansion of Plantations
Brings Resistance
Think, Pair, Share
• Why did planters seek out slaves from West
Africa? (They had the skills and experience
needed to successfully grow rice.)
• How did some African Americans resist
enslavement? (They worked slowly, damaged
goods, and pretended not to understand tasks.)
The Enslaved Fight Back Although they were kept in
bondage, people of African origin found ways to resist their
enslavement. They sometimes worked slowly, damaged goods,
or deliberately carried out orders the wrong way. A British
traveler in 1746 noted that many slaves pretended not to
understand tasks they often had performed in West Africa.
• Compare and Contrast Contrast slave laws
before and after the Stono Rebellion. (New
laws were stricter and made the conditions of
slavery even more inhumane than before.)
Reenactors portray
slave labor.
More About . . .
“
Eliza Lucas
Lucas was born in the West Indies and
lived in England and Antigua before
coming to Carolina with her family. In
1739, Lucas, who was only in her midteens, became responsible for one of her
family’s plantations. It was at the Wappoo
plantation that she began to experiment
with indigo.
Unit 2 Resource Book
• America’s History Makers, pp. 107–108
• Interdisciplinary Projects, pp. 109–110
”
—Edward Kimber, quoted in White over Black
Connecting History
Slavery
In the next century, South
Carolina’s continuing
dependence on slavery
would lead the state to
secede from the Union
in 1861—the event that
started the Civil War.
See Chapter 15, p. 502.
Connecting History
South Carolina still grows tobacco today,
but agriculture overall accounts for only a
small percentage of its economy.
PRIMARY SOURCE
You would really be surpriz’d at their Perseverance; let an hundred Men
shew him how to hoe, or drive a wheelbarrow, he’ll still take the one by
the Bottom, and the other by the Wheel; and they often die before they
can be conquer’d.
In South Carolina, the enslaved vastly outnumbered whites, who lived in
fear of slave rebellions. Their fears came true in the late 1730s when a revolt
occurred in South Carolina.
The Stono Rebellion In September 1739, an uprising known as the
Stono Rebellion took place. The revolt began when about 20 slaves gathered
at the Stono River just southwest of Charles Town. Wielding weapons, they
killed planters and marched south, beating drums and chanting “Liberty!”
They called out for other slaves to join them in their plan to seek freedom
in Spanish-held Florida. Many joined them, and their numbers grew until
there were perhaps one hundred in open rebellion. Seven plantations
were burned along their route and twenty whites were killed. By late that
afternoon, however, a white militia had surrounded the escaping slaves.
The two sides clashed, and many slaves died in the fighting. Those captured
were executed.
106 Chapter 4
DIFFERENTIATING INSTRUCTION: TIERED ACTIVITIES
CONNECT
to the Essential Question
What factors allowed each colonial
region to grow and prosper?
Ask students what they have learned so far
that can help them answer this question.
Students might mention:
• Geography and climate in the South were
favorable to large plantations that grew
cash crops.
• Slavery provided the cheap labor needed
on large plantations.
106 • Chapter 4
OBJECTIVE Create a flow chart showing the development of the plantation system from
the mid-1600s to the mid-1700s.
Basic
On Level
Challenge
Have students create a flow
chart that shows major steps
and factors (climate and
geography of the South,
types of crops, need for
large labor force, growth of
slavery, slave rebellion).
Have students create a
flow chart that shows
major steps and factors and
includes explanations of
how these are related to the
development of plantations.
Have students use reference
sources to create a flow
chart that shows major
steps and factors, explains
the importance of each,
includes statistical details of
the growth of slavery, and
describes the effects of slave
rebellions.
CHAPTER 4 • SECTION 2
The Southern Colonies 1750
Major Exports
NS
Furs and skins
Pot
om Baltimore
Riv ac
W
er
N
Tobacco
onies’ plantation economy and large slave
population helped create a unique Southern
identity. In northern colonies, with their diverse
economies, wealth was more evenly distributed.
Southern economies were less diverse, based
on crops such as tobacco, rice, and indigo. The
wealth from these crops was concentrated in the
hands of an elite.
The different economic systems of Northern
and Southern Colonies were reflected in the
landscape: the north had smaller farms and
larger, more numerous towns. The South had
scattered settlements, few towns, and self-sufficient plantations. The contrast between northern
and southern landscapes, settlement patterns,
and economic systems emerged very early in
American history. Distinct regionalisms were
developing that continue to influence American
culture and politics.
Rice and indigo
S
Timber
Jamestown
James River Norfolk
N
Naval supplies
Ro
anoke R
ive
r
75°W
35°N
N O RT H CA R O LI N A
C
LA
PA
P
A
Sa
AT L A N T I C
OCEAN
SOUTH
va CA R O LI N A
nn
ah
R
Charles Town
ive
r
GEORGIA
0
Al
tamaha
R.
Connect Geography
100
0
100
200 miles
ANSWERS
200 kilometers
1. Place South Carolina, North Carolina,
and Georgia
80°W
History
2. Draw Conclusions along the coast
1. Place Which Southern Colonies grew both rice and indigo?
2. Draw Conclusions Where would planters have built their
plantations if they wanted to keep transportation costs low?
Assess Have students complete the Section
Assessment.
ONLINE QUIZ
Section Assessment
KEY IDEAS
3. Where were most of the early plantations located?
4. How did planters meet their labor needs?
USING YOUR READING NOTES
2. Compare and Contrast Complete the diagram
you started at the beginning of this section.
Tidewater
wealthy planters
Unit 2 Resource Book
• Section Quiz, p. 122
For test practice, go to
Interactive Review @ ClassZone.com
TERMS & NAMES
1. Explain the importance of
• Bacon’s Rebellion
• Stono Rebellion
• Eliza Lucas
Western
Frontier
Assess & Reteach
4
SUMMARIZE Describe how African Americans
resisted their enslavement.
Answer: They worked slowly, damaged goods, and sometimes launched rebellions.
2
History
MAKE GENERALIZATIONS Challenge
students to make some generalizations
about where crops were grown in the
Southern colonies. (Possible Answers:
Tobacco was grown in northern parts of the
region; rice was grown in the southern part
of the region. Corn was grown in the interior
of the region; naval stores were prevalent
along the coast.)
H
IA
Connect Geography
VI R G I N I A
MO
Economy of the South The Southern Col-
The Southern Colonies 1750
E
M A RY LA N D
TA I
Cattle and grain
UN
Stono and similar revolts led planters to make
slave codes even stricter. Slaves were now forbidden from leaving plantations without written
permission. The laws also made it illegal for
slaves to meet with free blacks. Such laws made
the conditions of slavery even more inhumane.
Interactive Review
@ ClassZone.com
Power Presentations
CRITICAL THINKING
5. Make Inferences Why did South Carolina’s
colonists live in fear of a slave revolt?
6. Summarize How did the House of Burgesses
strengthen colonists’ rights after Bacon’s Rebellion?
Test Generator
Reteach Write the following terms on the
board: geography, climate, crops, labor force.
Have students work in groups, using the
section text and graphics, to list details about
New England and the Southern colonies that
relate to each term.
7. Writing Research Report Use the internet
to research the Virginia House of Burgesses. Write
a paragraph on the importance of the House of
Burgesses in the history of American democracy.
Unit 2 Resource Book
• Reteaching Activity, p. 126
The Colonies Develop 107
SECTION 2 ASSESSMENT ANSWERS
Terms & Names
1. Bacon’s Rebellion, p. 104; Eliza Lucas,
p. 106; Stono Rebellion, p. 106
Using Your Reading Notes
2. Possible Answers: Tidewater—many
waterways, lively trade with other
colonies and England, ideal climate
for plantation crops; Backcountry—
poorer freemen, battled Native
Americans for land, paid high taxes
Key Ideas
3. near the coast in the Tidewater region
4. They turned to slavery.
Critical Thinking
5. The enslaved population vastly
outnumbered whites.
6. They passed laws limiting the powers
of the royal governor.
7. Possible Answer: Paragraphs
should meet all required criteria
(first legislative governing body in
colonies, 22 members elected from
11 settlements, first met in 1619,
managed colony’s affairs, initiated
legislation including taxes; model
for representative government),
show evidence of research, and be
historically accurate. Use the rubric to
score students’ paragraphs.
Writing Rubric
Content
Research and Accuracy
4
identifies and clearly
describes importance
strong evidence; no errors
3
identifies and lists
examples of importance
shows evidence; few/minor errors
2
identifies but does not
explain importance
little evidence; several errors
1
addresses no important
points
no evidence; many errors
Teacher’s Edition • 107