American colonies were known as: New England, the Southern colonies, and the Middle colonies.
The colonies developed because economic and political institutions in the colonies were either typically European or distinctively American. Climate, soil conditions, and other natural resources shaped regional economic development in all the colonies. New England made big profits from trade. The Middle Colonies had big cities and excellent harbors along the coasts. The merchants who lived in these growing port cities exported cash crops, especially grain, and imported manufactured goods. Because of its enormous trade, Philadelphia was the fastest growing city in the colonies. The Southern colonies developed into prosperous colonies that made large
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They build ships, farmed, and traded for money. The Middle Colonies were less industrial than the New England Colonies, yet more industrial than the Southern Colonies. Lumber and shipbuilding were both important industries in the Middle Colonies. The middle colonies were fertile. Land was generally acquired more easily than in New England. Farming was dominant in the Middle Colonies and was known as the bread winner of all the colonies. The Middle Colonies' chief export was grain, in addition to other crops such as corn, vegetables, fruit and livestock. There was more religious freedom in the Middle Colonies than in New England. No single church or religion dominated in the Middle Colonies. The Middle colonies were the most democratic, religiously tolerant, and the fastest growing colonial region. Their religious groups were: Quakers, Huguenots, Jews, and the Presbyterians. The people who founded the Middle Colonies were looking to practice their own religion (Pennsylvania mainly) or to make money. All of the systems of government in the Middle Colonies elected their own legislature, they were all democratic, had a governor, governor's court, and a court …show more content…
Southern Colonies were dominated by a desire to make money, which led to the development of large plantations and an agriculturally-focused society. Much of the labor on the farms and plantations was done by slaves brought over from Africa. The Southern colonies had warm climate and rich soil. The southern colonist’s religions were mixed between Baptists and Anglicans. They grew rice, indigo, and tobacco for cash. The southern colonists learned, quickly, how to make a living growing tobacco. They built huge plantations to grow massive crops of tobacco to be exported to England. They made trades, hunted, and farmed for money. The southern colonies had their own government. The colonists had meetings when they wanted to talk about issues, interests, or laws. The laws had to be approved by the advisory council and their
The New England and the Southern colonial settlements were united in several areas that created the opportunity for each group of colonies to grow. However, these groups of colonies took divergent paths when it came to the founders’ motives to settle the New World, the importance of religious and social orientation, economic approaches and political developments. These different approaches were ultimately successful beyond the early founders’ expectations.
The New England and Southern colonies, although they had their differences, did share a similar government system. However, the differences on a economic, religious, and social level overrode the similarity shared, making the two regions different nonetheless. The New England’ colonies focus on a business economy made them a central area of trade and commerce, but in the long run created society open to innovation and brought in new inventions. Whereas the Southern colonies’ focus on agriculture economy brought a sensation of profits for the mother country, but later attributed to the introduction of slave codes. Then, in the New England colonies, the religious restrictions increased tensions between the Separatists and Puritans, which later
It is evident then, that geography and climate greatly shaped the lifestyles of the early colonies. The frigid North had the close knit towns, smaller farms and central governing bodies. The moderate climate of the Middle colonies allowed for prosperous farming, trade and, opportunity. Large plantations ruled the Southern Colonies with their scattered settlements and independently-run lifestyles.
Since it was easier to grow grain and livestock in the Mid-Atlantic region, there was a diverse group of farmers, fishermen, and merchants who worked in those colonies. The environmental conditions were ideal for farms of various sizes and the Middle colonists could trade in market areas where the colonial regions met. Although a lot of money could be made by growing tobacco (in Maryland especially) and other cash crops, they were bad for the soil and people needed more land. However, this resulted in a newfound lack of labor, which was an issue. For instance, families procreated too slowly, there was a high infant mortality rate, African slaves cost too much, and, according to the colonists, Native Americans didn’t make good slaves. Eventually white indentured servants from Europe were recruited to work on plantations, but it was a difficult life for them- even after they were freed they continued to earn low wages. This high demand of cash crops in Maryland and other Middle colonies led to an overall decline in the wellness of the
A community is a group of people who work together towards a common goal and share a common interest. Lack of such a quality can and most likely will cause a struggling town or city to fall into the extremes of poverty and wealth. The New England community was so strong and so supportive in comparison to that of the Chesapeake Bay, that it is no wonder they developed into two distinctly different cultures before the year 1700. The Chesapeake region developed into a land of plantations and money-driven owners, with the elite wealthy, almost no middle class, and those in poverty creating the population. New England, on the other hand, had developed into a religion and family based society comprised of mostly middle class families by 1700. Looking at the terrain, ethic, government, and even the people themselves, reveals clues about how the drastic split in society came to be. It was one America, but two distinct societies had developed in it by the 1700's.
In 1419, Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal began the period of time known as the “Age of Exploration”. Europe’s leading superpowers, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, and England, all competed for colonization in unknown territories. Samuel de Champlain colonized along the St. Lawrence River in 1608, Henry Hudson of Holland established Albany in 1609, and Spain established colonies in Mexico and Mesoamerica. In 1607, England established its first colony in North America around the Chesapeake Bay, and nearly a decade later established a second colony in present-day New England. Both New England and the Chesapeake were founded by the British around the same time; however, both colonies developed a different economy, government, and many other ways of life.
New England and the Middle Colonies (to a smaller degree) symbolized the industrial power where industries such as metal manufacturing, lumbering, mining and fishing were predominant in these regions. For the most part, they were white workers (artisans, crafters, silver working) and the trades would take place between the colonies. To the contrary of these two regions, the South would focus more on massive slaves work to grow tobacco and rice that they would sell to England. As we can notice, the two trading systems have different markets. New England and the Middle colonies would trade more internally, helping merchants with the Act of Navigation, whereas the South targets England as a market for more commercial trades.
Of all the areas with which the southerners contended, the socio-political arena was probably their strongest. It is in this area that they have history and law to support their assertions. With the recent exception of the British, the slave trade had been an integral part of the economies of many nations and the slaves were the labor by which many nations and empires attained greatness. Southerners envisioned an American empire that required slave labor.... ... middle of paper ...
A nation that would one day be the greatest the world had ever known. During the development of the thirteen colonies, diversity set in early. In the south the temperate climate made the growth of tobacco a suitable and very profitable business. Cultivation of this crop required a lot of land, and therefore settlers lived far apart. Northern Colonies, though, were much more dependent on small farms, with closely knit communities.
Southern colonies were hilly coast with grew cotton, tobacco, rice, sugar cans .also they had specific regions which gave way to religious freedoms.The founders of the Southern Colonies were, for the most part, out to make money. They brought their families, as did the New England colonists, and they kept their families together on the plantations.In the Southern Colonies and travel environment controlled social life. The Southern Colonies had a hard-and-fast three class system. Upper-class rich colony owners, middle-class small colony owners, lower class.The southern colonies were established early on after the settlement of Jamestown in 1607. At first, the south also relied on the forests and the water, but tobacco and cotton later emerged as cash crops. Initially, these crops were harvested by indentured servants, but with the growth of plantations, planters started to import slaves from Africa. In the South, there was a great divide between the rich and the poor. The Church of England was the dominant religion and the center of life for southerners. Laws were made by county governments and the economy centered around the large
Another large difference between the development of the New England colonies and the Chesapeake Bay region is the development of economic and political structure. All of the original colonies were a part of the Atlantic trade network which included the West African slave posts and Caribbean islands. In the South, the rich farmland meant expansive plantations and a feudal-like structure. The patroon system in New Netherlands was similar in the aristocratic impression, but further North the development of communities was much more prevalent. On the plantations in the South, “planters” would live nearly entirely in self-sufficiency, almost independent but still loyal to the mother country. The land was great for farming crops such
...many slave merchants and shipping services. These port cities became exceedingly important in expanding the trade network between the southern plantations and the Atlantic markets. This is how slavery in the south contributed indirectly to the growth and economic status of the northern colonies. Slaves were first shipped to Pennsylvania where nearly everyone who was able to do so bought one. In 1760, in Newport, Rhode Island, 20 percent of the population consisted of black people as a direct result of the slave trade from that port. By 1770 black people were about 10 percent of the population in New York and New Jersey.
What major problems did the young republic face after its victory over Great Britain? How did these problems motivate members of the elite to call for a federal constitution?
During the late 16th century and into the 17th century, European nations rapidly colonized the newly discovered Americas. England in particular sent out numerous groups to the eastern coast of North America to two regions. These two regions were known as the Chesapeake and the New England areas. Later, in the late 1700's, these two areas would bond to become one nation. Yet from the very beginnings, both had very separate and unique identities. These differences, though very numerous, spurred from one major factor: the very reason the settlers came to the New World. This affected the colonies in literally every way, including economically, socially, and politically.
...olonial times, and paved ways into what was to become a diverse America. People were allowed to think freely if there was an array of ideas rather than just a central belief. The Middle Colonies could have been positively affected by the diversity in ideas and could have been more tolerable and fewer arguments could have arisen. Tensions would have been less, which made room for a more comfortable environment in which its citizens felt welcomed rather than shunned away. Another factor that could be attributed to the Middle Colonies’ high survival could be their fertile and booming economy. The Middle Colonies highly emphasized the fur trade, which made it a lucrative market. The climate of the Middle Colonies made it possible to have abundant crops. These were the factors that I believe make the Middle Colonies more susceptible to survival among the other colonies.