Materials

• Maps of colonial and present-day America
• Outline map of the southern colonies for each student
• Computer with Internet access

Instructional Activities

1. Briefly review the previous session’s activities, as needed.
   
   
2. Begin discussion of Virginia and the other southern colonies from the perspective of the region’s economy. Remind students that this information should be added to the chart they began during study of the previous organizing topic.
   
   
3. Instruct students to identify the present-day states (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia) that were considered part of the southern colonies. Use maps to illustrate this. Provide students with an outline map that they can color code.
   
   
4. Display the following prompt on the board or overhead:
   
   The economy of Virginia and the other southern colonies in the eastern coastal lowlands was based on the agriculture of large plantations that grew “cash crops” such as tobacco, rice, and indigo.
   
   Display a period map and a present-day map of Virginia and the other southern colonies reflecting their location, and stimulate student discussion with questions that will identify what geographic and cultural characteristics contributed to the facts in the statement. Sample questions to prompt student responses may include
   • What geographic features contributed to an economy based on the agriculture of large plantations?
   • What geographic features contributed to an economy based on cash crops such as tobacco, rice, and indigo?
   • What geographic features contributed to an economy based on small-scale subsistence farming, hunting, and trading?
   • Did the origin of Virginians and other southern colonists contribute to the economic structure of the colonies? Why, or why not? For example, did the Virginia and other southern colonists come from areas where large plantations were normal? What were the dominant religions in Virginia and the other southern colonies during colonial times? Did the religious beliefs of the Virginia and other southern colonists contribute to the economic structure of these colonies?
   • To whom did Virginians and the other southern colonists sell? (Great Britain, Spain, and Africa) What are some examples of products they sold? (wheat, corn, tobacco, rice, indigo, and rum) What products/items did they get in exchange? (manufactured goods from Great Britain and Spain, wine from Spain, slaves from Africa
   
   
5. Assign a teacher-selected reading, worksheet, or other reinforcement activity, using available teacher resources.