The Carolinas are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina, considered collectively. They were both part of the original Thirteen Colonies, which gained independence from the British Empire in 1783 (while the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, the fighting ceased in 1781 and the countries of France, the United States and the British Empire signed the Treaty of Paris (1783)). During the colonial period, the southern portion of the Carolinas was primarily a support for the British West Indies; where thousands upon thousands of slaves were brought in to feed the growing trade. The same could not be said about the northern part of the region, which was a sparsely populated area, mostly inhabited by decommissioned servants from the Chesapeake area, many of whom set up small tobacco farms.