Going South to Carolinas

Virginia and Maryland became so settled by the 1660s that population spilled southward. into the Carolinas.  In 1663 eight proprietors were granted the region of the Carolinas.  Their principal settlement, Charles Town, grew slowly.

There were several reasons for Charles Town's slow growth.  First tobacco was unsuited to the semi-tropical climate and tobacco was all the colonists had for revenue. Tobacco required longer growing season and good rich soil  Second, colonists hesitated settling in Charles Town which was very close to Spanish Florida and a danger to the settlers.

The settlers found a commodity of their own for monetary profit - the fur trade.  It would provide needed capital and also could be used to lure Indians away from their loyalty to the Spanish.  The 1690s found large caravans of pack horses leaving Savannah Town for the purpose of "deare skins, furrs, and younge Indian slaves".  Their month long expeditions brought back enough for merchants to ship some 54,000 deer skins to London markets yearly.

Next time...Pilgrims and Puritans

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Today in Pioneer History: On August 20, 1804  Sergeant Charles Floyd dies three months into the voyage of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, becoming the only member of the Corps of Discovery to die during the journey.