Chapter 2: Planting of English America Part 2

Continuing from pg. 36

COLONIZING THE CAROLINAS
Civil war in england during the 1640s. King Charles dismissed parliament in 1629 and recalled it in 1640. They beheaded king charles and put oliver cromwell as the ruler of england. He ruled for nearly a decade but Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660.

Colonization had been interrupted during this "bloody unrest". In the restoration period, empire building resumed with greater intensity and royal involvement. Carolina was named for Charles II and was created in 1670 after the king granted to his court favorites, the Lords Proprietors, an expanse of wilderness ribboning across the continent to the pacific. These aristocratic founders hoped to grow food to provision the sugar plantations in Barbados and export non english products like wine, silk, and olive oil.

Carolina devoloped close economic ties wi/ sugar islands of the english west indies. Many carolina settlers, in fact, had migated from Barbados brining its slave system with them. The Lords Proprietors in London protested against indian slave trading. In 1707, the savannah indians ended their alliance with the carolinians to migrate back to the backcoujuntry of maryland and pennsylvania founded by the quakers. Blood raids annihilated the indian tribes by 1710.

Rice emerged as the principal export crop in Carolina. However, rice was grown ikn Africa and the Carolinias payed premium prices for west african slaves experienced in rice cultivation. Their agricultural skill and immunity to malaria made them ideal laborers on the swampy rice plantations. Charles Town rapidly became the busiest seaport in the South and many sons of engilsh families deprived of inheritance came to charleston. French protestant refugess and others were attracted by religious toleration.

In Flordia, catholic Spaniards abhorred the intrusion of Protestant heretics and carolina's frontier was open aflame. Indians tried to wipe out Carolina but carolina was too strong.

THE EMERGENCE OF NORTH CAROLINA
The inhabitatns were poor but sturdy and earned a reputation for being irreligious and hospitable to pirates. They were isolated from neighbors and their location was between aristocratic virginia and south carolina. It was separated from south carolina in 1712 and shares with Rhode island several distinctions. They were most democratic, independent-minded, and least aristocratic of the original 13 colonies.

Although it did not import large numbers of slaves at first, it shared with southern carolina the ongoing tragedy of bloody relations between indians and europeans. They defeated the tuscaroras indians and sold them into slavery. Four years later, south carolinians defeated the yamasee indians and all coastal indian tribes had been devastated by 1720. However, the cherokees, creeks, and Iroquois remained and were stronger and more numerous than their coastal cousins.

LATE-COMING GEORGIA: THE BUFFER COLONY
Georgia was formally founded in 1733 and proved to be the last of the 13 colines to be planted. It was intended to be a buffer to protect carolinas against the spaniards from florida and the french from louisiana. It suffered much buffering but received moentary subsidies. It was named in honor of King George II of England and was launched by philanthropists. It also produced silk and wine. They were also determined to keep slavery out of Georgia. James Oglethorpe was interested in prison reform after one of his friends died in a debtors' jail and as a military leader, he repelled spanish attacks. Savannah was a melting pot community with german lutherans and scots highlanders. Christian worshipers except catholics enjoyed religious touleration. Missionaries armed with bibles arrived in savannah to work among debtors and indians. John Wesley was one of them who later returned to england and founded the methodist church. Georgia grew slowly and was the least populous. The devlopment of a plantation economy was thwarted by an unhealthy climate and restrictions on black slavery and by demoralizing spanish attacks.

THE PLANTATION COLONIES
Maryalnd, viriginia, norther carolina, south carolina and georgia were all devoted to exporting commercial agricultural products. Staple crops were rule notably tobacco and rice. Slavery was found in all plantation colines. Scattering of lantations and farms and retarded growth of cities made the establishment of churches and schools difficult and expensive. In 1671, the governor of virginia thanked god that no free schools or printing presses existed in his colony. All the plantation colonies permitted some religious toleration and the tax-supported church of england was the dominant faith. These colonies were in somedegree expansionary. "Soil butchery" by excessive tobacco growing drove settleres westward and the rivers invited penetration of the continent and continuing confrontation with native americans.

End of Chapter2