Slavery was popular in the southern colonies. Slaves were referred to as indentured servants for many years. Harsh punishments were given to slaves who tried to escape or did not obey their masters.Whippings and branding were among the standard punishments.ome of the most common things to export in the southern colonies were tobacco, rice, wheat and indigo. They used slaves to work at the big plantations. The big plantations were owned by rich wealthy people. Of course that means that they owned the slaves. Many of the rich owned slaves.