The New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies

Who were the first colonists?

• Businesspeople looking for profit
• People looking for religious freedom
• Debtors

Why did England support the colonies?

• They were competing with Spain and France for land in the New World.
• They needed raw materials to support their industry.
• They used raw materials to turn into products that they then sold to other countries and back to their own colonies.

Mercantilism: an economic policy in which nations tried to gain wealth by controlling trade and establishing colonies.

By 1733 there were 13 British colonies along the Atlantic Coast

The New England Colonies

Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire

Settlers came seeking religious freedom.

Farming was difficult because of long winters and hilly wilderness.

People used forests and the sea to make profits on small farms, lumbering, fishing, shipbuilding, and trade.

Middle Colonies

New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware

Quakers settled PA and were joined by others looking for religious freedom.

The Dutch, French, Germans, Danes, Finns, Scots, Irish, and English settled in the Middle Colonies

There was rich soil in NJ and DE and valleys and wooded mountains in NY and PA.

People raised crops, and livestock. They cut lumber and built ships.

Southern Colonies

Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia

In the southern colonies there were broad rivers, vast wetlands, rich soil, hot wet climate

Large plantations farmed by indentured servants and slaves raised cash crops.

Read the Government in the Colonies on teachtci.com

Define the following in your notes

• Charter
• Theocracy
• Democratic