Assess how the geographic conditions and colonists' motives impacted the Middle and Southern Colonies economically and socially.
Response.
The Southern and Middle Colonies were two different regions of American Colonization. They developed differently as a result of the contrast of the economic motives of the Southerners and the combination of the motives for religious freedom and economic prosperity in the Middle Colonies, and as a result of the different lengths of their growing seasons and the much more fertile soils of the Southern colonies. These differences led to more profitable economic conditions in the South, leading to a wildly different social climate, and the Middle was focused equally on both religious freedom and economic prosperity which led to a much less profit-based society. These socioeconomic differences made such a lasting impression on the colonial regions that they can still be felt today. The Southern Colonies' geography proved to be a large impacting factor on the region's economy. The land of the Southern colonies is nutrient-rich because of the many rivers, and the land near the coast was even more fertile. Because the land was so fertile, when John Rolfe first cultivated the tobacco plant and it became a cash crop, wealthy people came to the South to buy large estates and begin plantations run off of indentured servants and, eventually, slaves. Because of the booming cash crop market, these large, wealthy families all across the South became wealthier, and contributed to the overall economy of the South. Because the economy of the South was the primary concern of the rich families, society and economic venture became intertwined. A person's level in society was based off of how much money you had, with the Cavaliers at the top and the indentured servants and slaves at the bottom. Because the geography of the South was so favorable towards agriculture, it was slower to industrialize than the North.
