When you have finished studying this chapter, you should be able to:
Trace the general process of colony building in the 17th century southern colonies: from initial founding through episodes of social crisis to stable, gentry-dominated societies.
Describe relations between Spanish colonists and natives in the Southwest and outline the objectives of each group.
Describe relations between English colonists and the Powhatan confederacy of the Chesapeake and outline the objectives of both groups.
Explain the ways in which the introduction of staple crop economies-tobacco, sugar, and rice-transformed the societies of the Chesapeake, the Caribbean, and South Carolina.
Describe and explain why slavery became the dominant labor system in the southern colonies and how it affected the social and political order.
Contrast Spanish settlements in the Southwest with the British colonies of the Southeast.
