Southern Plantations

Most of the people who lived in the South owned farms. The South had a long growing season. This made it easier for farmers to grow food. This made it possible to have a cash crop, meaning they could sell their crops for money.

Soon, the farms grew into plantations. A plantation was about the size of 100 small farms. For some of the plantations, the cash crop was tobacco. Others grew rice or indigo.

To grow these crops, owners and farmers needed a lot of workers. Sometimes they had as many as 50 to 100 workers. Many of these workers at the time were indentured servants. They were working to pay off their passage to America. But soon these workers were replaced with slaves. Slaves were cheaper. Slaves were easier to control. Slavery rose to become a huge issue in the South for many years to come.