Agriculture was the primary economic activity in the Southern colonies, with a strong focus on cash crops like tobacco, rice, and indigo.

The region's warm climate and rich soil provided optimal conditions for farming, resulting in the development of extensive plantations. These plantations relied on enslaved labor to enhance production and profitability, fostering a plantation economy that profoundly shaped the social and political landscape of the South. This dependence on cash crops and enslaved labor also led to economic inequalities and tensions that would later become pivotal in the American Civil War.