Regional Characteristics of the

13 ENGLISH COLONIES

NEW ENGLAND• SETTLERS – Pilgrims, Puritans, and Former MA Puritans who

moved to RI and CT

• REASONS FOR SETTLEMENT– Escape England’s religious persecution– To set up settlements with Religious freedom

apart from MA Puritans (in RI and CT)• CLIMATE & GEOGRAPHY (review from Monday)

– cold winters, rocky soil, seacoast, woodlands forested hills

NEW ENGLAND• ECONOMY– crop and livestock farming (subsistence farming)– Lumbering and shipbuilding– Fishing and whaling

• RELIGION– Puritan– Various faiths (those who left the MA Puritans)

• GOVERNMENT– Self-governing

• Mayflower Compact, (written document describing how they’d govern themselves) and The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (a written constitution)

MIDDLE COLONIES• SETTLERS – Dutch and English– English Quakers (William Penn)

• REASONS FOR SETTLEMENT– To make money– To safely practice their own religions

• CLIMATE & GEOGRAPHY (review from Monday)

– Cold winters, hot summers, wetlands, forested mountains, rolling hills, fertile soil

MIDDLE COLONIES• ECONOMY– Farming (Grains = “The Breadbasket Colonies)– Trade– Lumbering and ship building

• RELIGION– Various faiths (religious diversity – no one

dominant religious group = tolerance among all)• GOVERNMENT– British-Appointed governor and Council (NY) – Elected Assembly (elected by the people to represent their

interests) (PA)

SOUTHERN COLONIES• SETTLERS

– English Catholics and Protestants– English landowners and skilled laborers– Debtors from English prisons (GA)– Other Europeans

• REASONS FOR SETTLEMENT– Religious and political freedom– Make money– Cheap land

• CLIMATE & GEOGRAPHY (review from Monday)

– Hot summers, mild winters, fertile soils, wetlands, forested mountains, coastal lowlands

– Allowed for a year-round growing season

SOUTHERN COLONIES• ECONOMY– Plantation Farming – slaves – cash crops – rice, indigo, tobacco– Lumbering– Shipping, fishing– Iron mining

• RELIGION– Various faiths– Catholic– Church of England

• GOVERNMENT– Elected Assembly (House of Burgesses in VA) – self governing– Georgia was ruled by a Royal Governor for 12 yrs. before changing to an elected

assembly.

VOCABULARY(see Word Wall for 13 Colonies on the Wiki)

Subsistence FarmingAn Elected Assembly or Colonial AssemblyCash CropPlantationSlaveryEconomyDemocraticIndentured Servant