Cash Crops In Colonial America

Down in the southern colonies the climate was usually mild and warm. The soil was fertile allowing crops to be grown. Farmers would either use the crops to eat or they would sell them, which would also be known as a cash crop. This is a crop not used for the farmers use, but to sell instead. Its surprising how the southerners managed to survive and thrive without the amazing inventions we have come to know today. Many of the inventions could have been extremely helpful in the southern colonies if people could travel back in time.

The economy of the two regions also greatly differed because of the terrain that they landed on. Because the land in the south was much more fertile than in the north, the southern colonies thrived in rice and tobacco, profiting greatly. In New England the settlers could not grow anything in the rocky terrain and were forced into fishing, building, and farming. However, not much farming went on because of the infertile soil. In the Chesapeake slaves were also a main part of their economy. The slave trade made them very wealthy because of their closeness to the West Indies. They would be shipped many slaves and then use them to harvest their crops and plant their land. Soon, the slaves outnumbered white settlers by about four to one.

Slavery was the main resource used in the Chesapeake tobacco plantations. The conditions in the Chesapeake region were difficult, which lead to malnutrition, disease, and even death. Slaves were a cheap and an abundant resource, which could be easily replaced at any time. The Chesapeake region’s tobacco industries grew and flourished on the intolerable acts of slavery.

The land was used to establish plantations, which were used for large scale farming. Plantations became the core economic driver, exporting large amounts of cash crops for huge profits, this shows that Chesapeake Bay’s colonies economic basis was centered around agriculture. This economic basis became the core component of the Southern states’ economy which focused on growing cash crops to export and

The English colonies were developed out of many different circumstances, ranging from religious persecution in England to the search for wealth and financial security. The colonies had both fertile and infertile lands, and climates ranging from the hot and humid South to the more cool and arid North. The was a high demand for labor, due to the creation of plantations and shipping ports, that was fulfilled by indentured servants in some areas and slaves more so in others. The diverse conditions of the colonies’ upbringings led to the creation of two distinct societies. The varying climates, geographical features, religious traditions, economies, and labor systems led to recognizable differences in the development of the New England and Chesapeake colonies.

The economy of the Chesapeake and New England were both directly affected by their geographical locations and surroundings. The Chesapeake colonies were very rich and fertile in soil, which allowed them to develop an agricultural-based economy; whereas, the New England colonies were

The development of Chesapeake Society allowed England to control the trading market. By England controlling the trading market, they were able to control the cotton

The southern colonies of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, all formed throughout the 17th and 18th centuries have arguably the most recognizable features. The political, social, and economic circumstances that brought about their formation in the 17th and 18th centuries are still seen in modern society. One of the major factors that established the southern colonies was the economic conditions. Due to the fertile farmlands, people turned to agriculture to make a living and provide for themselves. As a result of the vast space and sheer amount of farmland, slavery quickly became the labor of choice. One source explains it, “The Southern Colonies developed labor- intensive agricultural economies that relied heavily upon enslaved labor” (The Southern Colonies). The southern colonies began to grow cash crops such as rice, indigo, and tobacco in order to support their families and farms, and this was a huge booster to the economy.

During the first time of European settlers in US, the settlers of the South were mainly attracted to the grand potential for agricultural growth. The South, with its flat terrain, warm climate and abundance of water recourses, presented terrific conditions for growing crops for longer seasons.

The citizens of the Southern Colonies such as Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina were mainly successful with lots of crops; mostly tobacco and rice, which in turn gained a lot of money for them. These large plantations usually were farmed by forced labor of

In the South the climate was warm and it rained more making the soil fertile for growing crops. Therefore, many of the people lived on farms and agriculture became a vital part of the South. Crops such as cotton, tobacco, rice, sugar cane, and indigo was sold as cash crops. Cotton was the most important crop after the cotton gin was invented and slaves became in high demand. Southern land owners bought African American as slaves to work on their field because they wanted to have workers but did not want to pay them.

The unique climate of the South allowed for a prosperous economy of crops. The warm weather and amount of rainfall made it possible to grow bizarre crops, such as rice and tobacco. These crops were prized by the countries in Europe.

Some key factors that affected the growth of goods and resources were the locations, temperature, soil, amount of resources available (from that location), and population. This will have soon led to the increased exportation of goods shipped to other countries, and thus began a pre-modernized world economy. For example, while farmers who were from Virginia, Kentucky, or Missouri focused on the production and growth of tobacco, wheat was prevalent (in production) in other U.S. states such as Maryland and Virginia. In the southern states such as in South Carolina and Georgia, farmers grew rice. Louisiana focused on the growth of sugar in its area. But the real winner is cotton; cotton was the most prevalent and primary crop throughout the Southern region of the U.S. during the 1800s, with the expanding cotton region stretching from the Carolinas to Texas areas. By the mid-19th century, the South (of the U.S.) grew to about 60 percent of the world’s production of cotton and provided about 70 percent of the cotton consumed by the British textile industry*. In the U.S during the 1800s, the South attained these qualities and created a unique and independent economy from the North, which was heavily industrialized from that time. These raw materials and resources have grown from their respective locations

They obtain food by hunting game, by fishing, by gathering wild plant foods, and during their last few thousand years on the continent, by harvesting cultivated plant foods. Hunting was the chief means of supporting life in that large part of north America which formed a vast triangle based on the arctic ocean and extending its apex almost to the carribean. Fishing pre dominated in part of Alaska, in the territory of the northwest coast Indians, on the coasts of southern cal, and on the coasts of the states bordering the carribean. Wild plants foods were the mainstay of the southern part of the intermountain plateau west of the Rockies and most of cal. Farming, although more than 4000 years old in the Americas in 1492, was carried on by only

In economy the slave trade had become less important. There was no longer a need for large numbers of slaves to be imported to the British colonies to work on sugar plantations because there was a world over-supply of sugar. This also meant that British merchants had difficulties re-exporting it. Also sugar could be cheaply bought without the use of slavery from Britain’s other colonies. For example, India.