Chronicles of America Volume 05 - Pioneers of the Old South

The story of how the American South came to exist is one of desperation, ambition, and violence. Mary Johnston traces the earliest English attempts to colonize the Chesapeake region through the establishment of Virginia, the founding of Maryland as a haven for English Catholics, the turbulent early years of the Carolinas, and finally Georgia, the last of the southern colonies to be settled. These were not gentle beginnings. Starvation, disease, Indian wars, political instability, and ruthless competition for land and power shaped a region that would become central to American history.Johnston brings remarkable life to the political maneuvering, the religious conflicts, and the daily struggles of survival that defined colonial life. She examines why some settlements failed while others survived, how the quest for profit drove colonization, and how the relationship between European settlers and Indigenous peoples determined the future of the region. The book illuminates the foundations of a society that would eventually divide a nation.For readers interested in understanding the origins of the American South, this volume offers a compelling, thoroughly researched account of the people and forces that built a colony and a culture from nothing.