<P> Indigo was mainly cultivated in South Carolina beginning in 1739, due to the efforts of Eliza Lucas Pickney, and became one of the biggest cash crops of the colony up until the end of the war . American indigo reached its peak in 1773 when 1.1 million pounds were exported to England . </P> <P> South Carolina's swampy wetlands also made it a prime area for the cultivation of rice . In the 1700s, the South Carolina economy was based upon the exportation of rice from its tidewater region . The first attempts at cultivation were failures, and South Carolinian planters began to pay premiums to have slaves imported from specific regions in Africa where rice was grown . </P>

How did physical geography affect the growth of the united states