Aim: How did geography affect the social, political, and economic development of the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies?

The 13 British colonies are divided into 3 colonial regions:New England colonies

• Rhode Island• Connecticut• Massachusetts• New Hampshire

Middle colonies• Delaware• Pennsylvania• New York• New Jersey

Southern colonies• Maryland• Virginia• North Carolina• South Carolina• Georgia

New England ColoniesWhy were the New England colonies

founded?–Religious Freedom

• Puritans and Pilgrims looked to escape religious persecution and were looking to find a new place to create a more pure and holy place to live.

Society Puritans:

– Believed in “purifying” the Church of England.

Pilgrims:– Believed the Church

of England was too corrupt and could not be reformed (changed)

– Only male who owned property could vote

GodPope

Cardinals/Bishopspriests

People

Ministers

People

Society

Society

1st English governor of Massachusetts colony

Intolerant of Diversity:• Roger Williams—was kicked out of

Massachusetts because he disagreed with the Puritans. He founded his own colony in Rhode Island.

• Anne Hutchinson—was kicked out of Massachusetts because she argued that people can read and interpret the bible by themselves without the minister. She was encouraged by Roger Williams to settle in Rhode Island.

Society

• Salem Witch Trials 1692—When the daughter of a minister died of mysterious causes several people including young women are blamed for doing witchcraft.

• Many people were accused and 20 were declared witches and hanged.

• Those who were not killed, lived with the reputation of being witches.

Geography– Long, cold winters– Rocky soil difficult

to grow food– Bad farming

conditions • Short farming

season• Subsistence

farming (only grow the crops you need to survive)

– Great harbors for port• Cities like

Boston

Great harbors for portCities like Boston

Economic Activity

• Mayflower Compact—agreement between the male settlers coming to Plymouth to create and follow rules to live in order in the new colony.

• Fundamental Orders of Connecticut—a written plan for creating a government for the colony of Connecticut.

• New England Town Meetings—system of government where people of a town would meet to discuss new rules or policies to benefit the town.

• Only church members were allowed to participate and only men could vote.

Political

Middle ColoniesWhy were the Middle colonies

founded?–Religious Freedom–To make money through trade

Geography– Mild climate (not as

cold as New England but not as warm as Southern colonies)

– Rocky soil but better able to have small farms (longer growing season)

– Considered the “bread basket”• Grew large

amounts of grains for trading

– Great harbors for port• Cities like New

York City

Great harbors for portsCities like New York City

• William Penn was a Quaker who founded the colony of Pennsylvania.

• Penn limited his power, established an elected assembly, and promised religious freedom to all Christians.

Society

Economic Activity

• The Middle colonies were known as the “Breadbasket”

• Grew crops like wheat and corn

– Provided food for other colonies

– Some shipping and manufacturing

The Middle colonies are recognized for their strong courts.• In 1735, Peter Zenger is

accused of printing negative stories about the governor of New York colony on his newspaper. He went through trial and was declared innocent.

• The Zenger Trial was the 1st to protect the idea of freedom of the press in the colonies.

Government

Southern ColoniesWhy were the Southern colonies

founded?–To make money through cash crops

[Maryland was founded for

religious freedom][Georgia was

founded as a place for criminals/

debtors]

• John Rolfe—Englishman who introduced tobacco to the Southern colonies.

• He married Pocahontas.• The Southern Colonies had the largest slave population who

worked on the Plantations. Plantations grew cotton, tobacco, and other crops. Some of the Southern plantations were very big and consisted of the main house, slave quarters.

Society

Geography – Warm Weather– Fertile soil

• Great for growing “cash crops” (crops that make lots of money) such as cotton and tobacco.

– Very long growing seasons

– Bad harbors

Economic Activity

– Focused on farming cash crops like • Tobacco “brown

gold”• Cotton “white

gold”– Large farms called

plantations– Relied on slave

work to maintain plantations

A plantation

Virginia House of Burgesses—1619

• 1st legislative assembly in America (formal meeting between male delegates that represent the towns of the colony to discuss policies of the colonies.)

• Beginning of representative government

Government