The capture of Savannah and Charleston by the British during the War for Independence, however, doubtless caused a number of the nearby inhabitants to move into the Piedmont as refugees, carrying their slaves with them.
The commercial demands of the early settlers embraced hardly anything beyond salt, ammunition and a little hardware.

The forest and their half-cleared fields furnished meat and bread; workers in the households provided rude furniture and homespun; and luxuries, except home-made liquors, were unknown.

But the time soon came when zealous industry yielded more grain and cattle than each family needed for its own supply.

The surplus required a market, which the seaboard was glad to furnish.

The road and river traffic increased, and the procurement of miscellaneous goods from the ports removed the need of extreme diversity in each family's work.
This treeing of energy led in turn to a search for more profitable market crops.