The Southern Colonies

The Southern Colonies' primary economic activities were agricultural in nature, and thus they developed less industry than the other colonies. Due to the warmer climate, winters in the Southern Colonies were milder than in the more northern colonies. For the same reason, the growing season was nearly year-round, allowing for greater agricultural production. Southern plantations cultivated cash crops such as cotton, tobacco, rice, and indigo which could be traded for food and other supplies (Akins). In the Carolinas, hogs and cattle were important commodities. The demand for labor in these colonies in addition to the Southern Colonies' head right system led to slaves being more valuable here than in the north (Akins). Products produced in these

In this region, the major crops were wheat and grains, and consequently this region earned the epithet “the breadbasket of the colonies”. In many ways, these colonies were a crossroads of America, with elements of New England and the Southern Colonies coming together. The farms were larger than those of the Northern Colonies, although they were smaller than the plantations of the south (Akins). The large urban centers as well as its central location led to this region becoming an important center for trade, and its access to the Delaware and Hudson rivers allowed for goods to be quickly transported throughout the colonies (Middle Colonies). The Northern Colonies, or the New England Colonies, did not have the fertile soil of the Middle and Southern Colonies, and thus had to pursue different economic interests than the other Colonies. Unlike their Southern counterparts, they couldn't offer many goods to England. Despite this, they produced furs and fish. The New England Colonies built a mercantile network and a prosperous shipbuilding industry, and the region quickly became dependent on trade. England harmed their economy by raising taxes on major exports, thus contributing to the colonists' dissatisfaction with English rule

The primary motivation of the settlers in New England was to escape religious persecution. The original colonists who settled there were Puritans, who had first went to Denmark for asylum. They found that they wanted to remain British but also keep their new-found religious freedoms, which led them to founding a colony in Plymouth (Akins). However, not all of the settlers of the New World were seeking religious freedom. People who came to the Middle Colonies They were usually regular families who came to the colonies in search of new opportunities. Since land was easier to come by in America than in England, it was a great opportunity for them to start a farm. Other people came to the cities and worked with skilled labor. Colonists in the south were motivated by profit. Land in England was passed down from aristocracy to the first son, and thus it was hard to come by. Other sons sometimes be sent to America, and these aristocrats would settle in the south and become plantation owners