New England Colonies - - PDF document

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• New England Colonies

Geography

• Every colony had access

to the coast

• Short growing season
• Harsh winters/cold

climate

• Hard/rocky soil
• Large forests

New England Colonies

• Also :

– Mayflower Compact – 1st doc of self-gov’t – Fundamental Orders of CT – 1st constitution

• Subsistence farming
• Whaling

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• Pilgrims and Puritans were original settlers
• Movement toward more Religious freedom
• Great Awakening began here
• Towns formed by congregations

– Boston was major city

• Farms established around common area with

Meetinghouse

Middle Colonies Geography

• Every colony had access

to the coast

• Moderate growing season
• Mild winters/warm

summers

• Fertile soil good for

farming

• Large forests
• Iron ore mined in the

mountains

Middle Colonies

• New York and New Jersey taken from the

Dutch

• Pennsylvania – limited government, granted

religious freedom and other liberties

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• “Breadbasket Colonies”

– Gristmills ground grain

• Artisans (craftsman)
• Trade (ports) export crops/import manufactured

goods

• Small scale

manufacturing

Candle-making Textiles Woodworking/sawyer Blacksmith

• Quakers, Dutch influence religious tolerance
• Great Awakening
• Most ethnically (nationalities) diverse

colonies

– English, Dutch, Germans, Africans

• Treated most people as equals

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Southern Colonies Geography

• Long growing season
• Hot climate
• Flat land and good soil
• Many rivers to transport

crops

• Every colony on the coast

Southern Colonies

• Representative Assemblies
• VA House of Burgesses - 1st rep. assembly
• Planter Class controls most of political power
• Indentured Servants/Slavery
• Planters control economy
• Best suited for mercantilism

(country controls the trade)

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• Maryland – haven for Catholics
• Great Awakening
• Charleston, Jamestown, Balitmore, Richmond
• English, African, Scots-Irish
• Plantations are self-sufficient

– Not many towns