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The economy of the Southern Colonies was affected by the plantations and workers that farmed on them.

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A woman named Eliza Lucas introduced indigo as a cash crop at her father's plantation in South Carolina. Indigo was, and still is a cash crop that produces deep blue dye.

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Eliza Lucas introduced indigo as a successful plantation crop in South Carolina when she was 17.

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Eliza Lucas introduced indigo as a cash crop. Indigo is a plant that produces deep blue dye.

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Overseers watched and directed the work of slaves on the plantation.

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Overseers were people who were hired and directed the work of slaves and watched over them when they were doing their work.

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The planter class was a group of wealthy plantation owners. They hired overseers to watch and direct the slaves.

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William Byrd was a part of the successful planter class. When people were included in the planter class, they had a lot money so they could buy slaves and gain control of fertile land across the coast.

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Cash crops, like cotton and tobacco were  grown in the plantation to be sold for money.

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The Southern Colonies had a long growing season which was ideal for growing plantation crops.

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The planter class included slave labor which allowed planter families to get wealthy and grow crops like tobacco, indigo, and rice.

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Slaves were needed to work on plantations because plantations needed a lot of workers. Slaves would work for no pay and could be bought very easily.

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The Southerners owned slaves that were forced to work on these plantations and farmed indigo dye which was one of the main cash crops, other than tobacco and rice, used for trading and gaining wealth.

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This crop was discovered by Eliza Lucas who gained major success when introducing it to the slave owners. They then planted the seeds and forced their slaves to farm and harvest it.

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Overseers were the people hired by planters to supervise slaves to make sure they were in good working condition because they relied on them to gain wealth.

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As years went by, the population of slaves increased. At the end of 1750, 35% of the population was made up of slaves. This was a large population compared to the 5% of the population they started with.

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One of the most famous Southern planter family was the Byrd family. William Byrd I owned a large estate of land and a membership in the House of Burgesses. After he died, his son inherited his responsibilities.