The Southern Colonies included Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The climate of these colonies led to their success with growing cash crops on large plantations. The Southern Colonies experienced a warm climate, with a hot summer and mild winters. They had a longer growing season than the New England and Middle Colonies and plenty of rainfall during the humid summers.

This climate made it easy to grow crops, and agriculture dominated the economy of the Southern Colonies. In Virginia and Maryland, tobacco was the main cash crop, while North Carolina focused on pine forests. In South Carolina and Georgia, rice and indigo flourished. As the cash crops formed large plantations, slavery became common, with slaves tending the fields.