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The Southern Colonies had an agricultural economy. The climate was good for growing crops. Planters used enslaved Africans to do the hard work needed to grow tobacco and rice. In Virginia and Maryland, tobacco was the most important crop.

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Once tobacco was grown in the Colonies, plantations became very important to the economy of the southern colonies. Plantations also grew other cash crops like rice, and indigo. The first plantations were usually built along a river. ... Money was rarely used in the Southern Colonies.

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The Southern Colonies is located in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, and Maryland

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Sergeants carried halberds, like this reproduction, to signify rank.
The Brown Bess musket gets its name from its brown stock. ...
Mounted officers carried pistols like this reproduction. ...
This tool, called a worm, was used to remove debris from the barrel of a weapon. ...
Fine swords indicated rank and stature.

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Salted or smoked pork often supplemented the vegetable diet. Those on the "rice coast" ate ample amounts of rice, while the southern poor and slaves used cornmeals in breads and porridges. Wheat was not an option for most poorer residents in the southern colonies.