The Southern colonies had very fertile soil. Coupled with that was a long growing season from a climate that sported long, hot, humid summers and very mild winters, and the Southern Colonies had the perfect recipe for financial success from agriculture.
Wide, slowly rambling rivers allowed for the movement of those cash crops on boats and rafts. Appalachian Mountains bordered the Southern colonies in the west. In the east, the flat land along the coast was known as the tidewater.
The soil and climate of the southern colonies encouraged the planting of warm-weather crops such as tobacco, rice, and indigo. These crops required a large labor force, so the southern colonies became home to the largest population of enslaved Africans in the colonies.
As large plantations formed along the rivers in coastal areas, landowners became rich from exporting cash crops.