Getting Ready
The way of life in the southern colonies was much different from that of the middle colonies and New England. In the south, many colonists owned large pieces of land that they used for cultivating cash crops. These are crops that are raised to sell to others for a profit, rather than for one's own use. Tobacco, cotton and rice were and still are important cash crops in Maryland and the Carolinas.

In South Carolina, on land where rice would not grow, some colonists grew indigo, a plant used for making blue dye. Large indigo plantations, requiring many workers, sprang up in the second half of the 1700's. Indigo growers earned large profits by sending their dye to English cloth makers. Indigo plantations not only added to the prosperity of the southern colonies, they also contributed to the growth of slavery.

Today we have a wide variety of dyes and paints that were not available during the colonial era. Today's dyes are almost entirely synthetic, or man-made, rather than natural.

Activity

1. Paint pictures, designs, or write words using colors from nature. Fresh fruit with deep colors such as berries, oranges and kiwis are a great source of natural paint. Gather a variety of juicy fruits or other plants with colors that you can bleed onto paper. If you decide to use plants other than fruit, ask an adult to help you determine whether or not the plant is safe to use. Some plants are POISONOUS. Natural paints can stain so wear an apron and cover your work area with old newspaper.

Make a simple outline of your picture on construction paper using light pencil marks. Use the fruits or plants as your paintbrushes, squeezing each "brush" gently as you create lines and fill in spaces.

Or, try creating a symmetrical design: Fold a piece of paper in half. Open the paper. Paint or stamp with your natural paints on one half of the paper only. After adding each line or dab of color, fold your paper in half again along the fold line and press it closed so that your painted mark transfers to the other half of the paper. Open the paper and continue adding "paint" to one side only, then folding the paper closed to transfer the paint.

To display your work, when you're satisfied with your design, fold your paper closed again and trim an irregular shape from the edges of the paper. Using glue, mount your unfolded design on a contrasting sheet of paper.


2. Place a small handful of white rice in a bowl. Squeeze color from a piece of fruit or other plant onto the rice. Add a tablespoon of rubbing alcohol and stir until all of the rice is colored. Allow the rice to dry on several layers of newspaper. Wash out the bowl and dye another small handful of rice another color. Continue this procedure until you have a variety of colors. When the rice is dry, you're ready to "paint." Draw lines or fill in spaces with glue then sprinkle colored rice onto the wet glue. Shake off the excess rice. Continue painting new lines and spaces with glue, covering each with your colored rice.


3. In addition to using plants to make paint or ink, plants are used to make paper. At many times during the Revolutionary War, supplies were scarce. Imagine that you are a soldier who wants to send a letter home, but you don't have any paper or a pencil. What could you use to write? What could you write on?

Think More About It
Though cities had general stores, colonists had to make lots of things for themselves. To get a feel for what that might have been like, try making your own paper.

You might also try making your own candles or soap.

Words to know: symmetrical, irregular, contrasting, transfer