The Southern Colonies The MasonDixon Line In 1763

The Southern Colonies

The Mason-Dixon Line • In 1763, 2 English mathematicians began to survey the 244 -mile boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland. – Charles Mason & Jeremiah Dixon • For 4 years, Mason and Dixon carefully laid stone markers on the border between the two colonies. – The sides facing Pennsylvania were inscribed with the letter ‘P’. – The sides facing Maryland were inscribed with the letter ‘M’.

The Mason-Dixon Line • In 1767, the two men completed the Mason-Dixon Line • It was more than just a boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland. – It also divided the middle colonies from the southern colonies.

The Southern Colonies • • • Maryland Virginia North Carolina South Carolina Georgia

The Southern Colonies: Virginia • In 1606, the Virginia Company of London received a charger from King James I. • In the spring of 1607, 105 colonists arrived in Virginia. • They sailed into Chesapeake Bay and began building homes along the James River. • They named this tiny outpost Jamestown after their King, James I.

The Southern Colonies: Virginia • The colonists soon discovered that their colony was located in a swampy area. • The water was unhealthy and mosquitoes spread malaria – Many settlers suffered or died from disease.

The Southern Colonies: Virginia • Another major problem was starvation. • Captain John Smith helped save the colony. – He set up stern rules that forced colonists to work if they wished to eat. – He also visited nearby Indian villages to trade for food. • Problems in the colony soon resumed when John Smith returned to England in 1609.

The Southern Colonies: Virginia • The Jamestown economy finally got on a firm footing in 1612. • Colonists began growing tobacco – By 1620, England was importing more than 30, 000 pounds of tobacco a year. • Virginians had at last found a way to make their economy succeed.

A Tobacco Field

The Southern Colonies: Virginia • Representative Government – Male settlers were allowed to elect representatives. • These representatives met in an assembly called the House of Burgesses. – They made laws for the colony with the governor.

The Southern Colonies: Virginia • Women in Virginia – In 1619, the Virginia Company sent 100 women to Virginia to make the men more “settled” • The Virginia Company profited from this shipment because any man who found a wife from this shipment had to pay the company 150 pounds of tobacco.

The Southern Colonies: Virginia • Women in Virginia – Women did make the colony more settled. • Still life remained a daily struggle. – Women were not allowed to vote – Women had to make everything from scratch including: food, clothing, and medicines – Hard work and childbirth killed many at a young age.

The Southern Colonies: Maryland • In 1632, Sir George Calvert persuaded King Charles I to grant him land for a colony. • Calvert had ruined his career in Protestant England by becoming a Roman Catholic • Now he wanted to build a colony where Catholics could practice their religion freely.

The Southern Colonies: Maryland • Calvert names his colony Maryland – In honor of Queen Henrietta Maria, the King’s wife • Calvert died before the colony got underway • His son, Cecil, Lord Baltimore, went forward with the project.

The Southern Colonies: Maryland • Remembering the problems of Jamestown, the newcomers avoided swampy lowlands. • Maryland was valued for its many sources – Its bay was full of oysters, fish, and crabs • Across the bay, Virginians were growing tobacco for profit • Maryland settlers wanted to do this as well.

The Southern Colonies: Maryland • Government – As proprietor of the colony, Lord Baltimore appointed a governor and a council of advisers – He gave colonists a role in government by creating an elected assembly

The Southern Colonies: Maryland • Eager for settlers, Baltimore gave generous land grants to anyone who brought over servants, women, and children • Few women took advantage of this, including two sisters, Margaret and Mary Brent, who arrived with 9 male servants – In time they set up 2 plantations of 1000 acres each

The Southern Colonies: Maryland • Religious Toleration – Lord Baltimore welcomed Protestants as well as Catholics to his colony – Later he feared that Protestants might try to take away the Catholics’ rights to worship freely – In 1649, he asked the assembly to pass an Act of Toleration – This provided religious freedom for all Christians, this freedom did not extend to Jewish.