APUSH - Slavery, Maryland & Southern Colonies

Were the 1619 Africans the first Africans in present-day United States territory?

No. Africans had been present in Spanish territories, including Florida, before 1619.

Juan Garrido

An African man who accompanied Spanish exploration in the early 1500s, demonstrating that Africans were present in the Americas before 1619.

St. Augustine and Africans

The Spanish brought Africans to St. Augustine, Florida, after establishing the settlement in 1565.

Status of Africans in 1619

Historians debate whether some were initially treated similarly to indentured servants, but evidence shows they were subjected to forced labor and the system of hereditary racial slavery developed over time.

Development of racial slavery

Racial slavery became increasingly formalized through colonial laws during the late 1600s and early 1700s.

Barbados

An English Caribbean colony whose harsh slave code influenced the development of slavery in the Carolinas.

Barbados Slave Code

A harsh system of laws governing enslaved people in Barbados that influenced slave laws and practices in the English mainland colonies.

Maryland

A colony founded partly as a refuge for English Catholics and later developed a plantation economy.

Lord Baltimore

The proprietor associated with Maryland who wanted to create a refuge for Catholics.

Act of Toleration

A Maryland law intended to provide religious toleration but primarily protected Christians rather than granting complete religious freedom to everyone.

Why was Maryland's Act of Toleration unsuccessful?

It did not provide religious freedom to everyone because its protections were limited mainly to Christians.

West Indies

Caribbean islands that became major centers of sugar production under European colonial powers.

Sugarcane

A highly profitable but labor-intensive crop that encouraged the growth of plantation slavery in the Caribbean and Americas.

Why did sugar increase slavery?

Sugarcane required large amounts of labor, so plantation owners increasingly relied on enslaved Africans.

Middle Passage

The forced Atlantic voyage of enslaved Africans from Africa to the Americas as part of the transatlantic slave trade.

Triangle Trade

A system of Atlantic trade connecting Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas through the exchange of goods, enslaved people, and raw materials.

Carolina

English colony officially established in 1670 and named after King Charles II.

South Carolina economy

South Carolina prospered through plantation agriculture, especially rice and indigo, and through trade with the West Indies.

Rice

A major cash crop in the Carolinas that required intensive labor and became especially important in South Carolina.

Why were Africans from West Africa especially sought for rice cultivation?

Many West Africans had extensive knowledge and experience with rice cultivation, making their agricultural skills valuable to Carolina plantation owners.

Indigo

A valuable cash crop grown in the southern colonies, especially South Carolina.

Charleston

The largest and busiest seaport in the South during the colonial period; it became a major center of trade.

North Carolina characteristics

North Carolina tended to have more small farmers, poorer and more independent settlers, and less of an aristocratic plantation culture than South Carolina.

South Carolina characteristics

South Carolina had a wealthier planter elite, larger plantations, rice and indigo production, and a major port at Charleston.

Carolina split

North and South Carolina developed into separate colonies; they officially separated in 1712.

Carolina royal colonies

North and South Carolina became royal colonies in 1729.

Georgia

Colony founded in 1733 that served as a place for debtors and as a buffer between English colonies and Spanish Florida.

James Oglethorpe

A founder and leader of Georgia who was involved in its development as a colony for debtors and as a military buffer.

Why was Georgia created?

To provide a place for debtors and to serve as a buffer protecting the English colonies from Spanish Florida.

Georgia as a buffer

Georgia protected the southern English colonies from Spanish Florida, which was controlled by Spain.

Southern plantation colonies

Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia developed plantation economies based on cash crops and increasingly enslaved labor.

Plantation economy

An agricultural economy based on large farms or plantations that produced cash crops for profit, often using enslaved labor.

Slavery in the 13 colonies

Slavery existed in all 13 English colonies during the colonial period, although its economic importance varied by region.

Slavery in the South

Slavery became central to southern plantation agriculture and the production of cash crops such as tobacco, rice, and indigo.

Southern colonial society

The South was largely rural, with plantations spread out across the countryside and fewer large towns, schools, and churches.

Rivers in the South

Rivers were important transportation routes for moving bulk crops such as tobacco, rice, and indigo to markets and ports.

Soil depletion

Tobacco farming could exhaust soil nutrients, encouraging plantation owners to acquire more land and expand.

Effect of soil depletion

Tobacco depleted soil, encouraging plantation owners to seek new land and contributing to territorial expansion and conflict with Native Americans.

Primogeniture

The practice of giving the family's land and property to the eldest son, encouraging younger sons to seek opportunities elsewhere.

Why did primogeniture encourage colonization?

Younger sons who could not inherit family land sometimes went to the New World seeking land, wealth, and opportunities.

English nationalism after 1588

The defeat of the Spanish Armada increased English confidence, nationalism, and desire to build an overseas empire.

Why did England want to compete with Spain?

England wanted wealth, territory, religious influence, and greater political and military power.

Why did few farmers own enslaved people in early Jamestown?

Enslaved labor was expensive and the system of hereditary racial slavery was still developing.

Why did South Carolina prosper?

It developed profitable plantation agriculture, especially rice and indigo, and maintained strong trade connections with the West Indies.

Why did early Jamestown settlers starve despite fish and game?

Many settlers were focused on finding gold instead of farming and preparing for survival; poor planning, drought, disease, and conflict also contributed.

Why did Native societies change after European colonization?

Disease, warfare, loss of population, and European expansion forced many Native communities to adapt, merge, relocate, or change their traditions.

First English permanent settlement

Jamestown, founded in 1607 in present-day Virginia.

Most significant 1600s English settlement to the future of the United States

Jamestown because it became the first permanent English settlement and helped establish a lasting English presence.

Financial means behind Jamestown

The Virginia Company, which was a joint-stock company.

First attempt vs. first permanent settlement

Newfoundland was the first English colonization attempt; Jamestown became the first permanent English settlement.

Gold and Jamestown

The Virginia Company hoped to find gold and other wealth, but the colony became profitable primarily through tobacco.

Disease and European colonization

Disease caused enormous Native American population losses and was one of the most destructive consequences of European contact.

English colonization and Native Americans

English expansion led to trade and alliances but also conflict, land loss, disease, and major disruption of Native societies.

Main crops of the southern colonies

Tobacco, rice, and indigo.

Main crop of Virginia and Maryland

Tobacco.

Main crops of South Carolina

Rice and indigo.

Main reason for Maryland's creation

To provide a refuge for English Catholics.

Main reasons for Georgia's creation

Debtors and defense against Spanish Florida.

Main reason for South Carolina's use of enslaved West Africans

Their agricultural knowledge, especially experience with rice cultivation, was valuable to plantation owners.