So much coming and going! That’s life in the busy ports of the Southeast.
In colonial days, the ports along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico helped make the Southeast’s economy very powerful. One of the busiest ports was Charleston, South Carolina. Another was New Orleans, Louisiana. Plantation owners would send crops, like cotton, down the river to port cities. From there, ships would take the cotton to buyers in Europe. In return, the ships would bring manufactured goods from overseas. These goods would be sold in the United States.
All this trade turned ports into centers of business, industry, and travel. Ports required lots of labor to keep them running. So cities grew around them. Today, the tall ships are gone. But busy ports are still vital to the Southeast.
