Empire to Independence Part II

Colonial Economies

Southern ColoniesEconomy based on staple crops

VA, NC- TobaccoSC, GA- Rice

Southern Colonies

• Very difficult work– Most free workers unwilling to do it– Started in Carolinas, spread to VA• In VA numbered 400 in 1650…by 1700 is was 16,000• In SC, Africans outnumbered Europeans in the 1700s

Southern Colonies

• To be successful, planters needed lots of land and workers– View towns and cities developed

Middle Colonies

• Middle colony’s economy based on farming and commerce– Grain, wheat, barley, and rye

Middle Colonies

• NYC and Philly among largest cities in the colonies– Lots of people buying and selling goods

• Ethnically diverse populations

New England Colonies

• small towns and farms dependent on long distance trade

• did not rely on local crops for commerce– carried crops and good from one place to another• hauled good from England to the West Indies, back to

New England– Triangular Trade– By 1700, about 20% of the people in the colonies were of

African descent

The Middle Passage

• One leg of the triangular trade between the Americas, Europe and Africa– Also the term used to refer to the forced transport

of slaves from Africa to the Americas

The Middle Passage

• 10-40% of the slaves on a ship dies during transport– chains– heat– disease– odor– poor sanitation and ventilation

The Middle Passage

• Crews of slave ships were typically heavily armed due to fear of a revolt– On average a revolt happened every two years

• Slaves would be auctioned off– 50% of all trades resulted in a family being torn

apart