Evolution of Colonial Economies in North America

By 1750 there were 13 English colonies in North America. They were divided into three groups:

The New England Colonies : Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire

The Middle Colonies : Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey

The Southern Colonies: Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia

Economy of Colonial America

The American colonies were farming land. Colonists grew their own food, corn and wheat. They raised cows that gave them meat, milk and butter and kept chicken and sheep. They also went hunting and fishing.

In New England farms had little land but in the southern colonies farms were much bigger. On these plantations colonists grew tobacco and other products which they sold to England and other colonies. As time went on

Towards the end of the 18th century Catholics, Jews and other groups lived in America. government

All colonies had a governor who was chosen by the a king. Most of them had assemblies, like the parliament in England. They passed laws and took taxes. Only people who paid taxes and owned land had the right to vote in an assembly. Apart from local laws the British government also passed some laws.

Not all people had the same rights. Women were not allowed to vote and married women were not allowed to own land. In some colonies people had to be a member of a religion in order to have the right to vote.

Geography of the 13 colonies

GEOGRAPHY OF THE

13 COLONIES New England Colonies Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island cold winters, mild summers flat land near coastline, mountainous land inland soil was rocky and not fit for farming relied on the ocean as their main resource fished for food (codfish) ship building was a big part of the economy

The Middle Colonies New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware Mid Atlantic region of the United