British Colonies in America

By: Addison Adams

Colonies in America

The colonies in America began in Virginia. In 1607, the first permanent English Colony appeared in Jamestown, Virginia.

When more and more people came to the colonies it formed the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies.

New England Colonies

New England Colonies

The New England Colonies include: Rhode Island Massachusetts Connecticut & New Hampshire

New England Colonies

The New England colonies where some of the only colonies in the New World formed because of something other than money.

Money did play a part, however the largest was religious freedom.

John Calvin

After England split from Catholicism, they formed the Church of England, which was becoming a forced religion in England.

John Calvin spoke against the Church of England and Catholicism. He said that neither Catholic nor Anglican churches spoke in favor of God’s will.

Persecution

John Calvin was found and he was tried as a heretic and found guilty. He was later, persecuted.

After Calvin’s persecution the Pilgrims and the Puritans began planning to escape England. The first plan was to seek refuge in Netherlands, which ended badly and with a new plan for America.

Formation

The first groups of English to arrive in New England were the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims originally set out to arrive just north of Jamestown to be under their charter.

However, a storm blew them off course. They landed in Plymouth Bay, where they formed the Mayflower Compact.

Middle Colonies

Middle Colonies

The Middle Colonies include:

New York New Jersey Pennsylvania & Deleware

The Breadbasket

The Middle colonies were nicknamed the bread basket colonies. They were named this because they were known for mills and bread.

On average of 1 pound of bread per day.

People who owned the mills used the river power to crush the grains using grinders.

Jobs In The Middle Colonies

The Middle Colonies were very unique with their jobs. Their jobs included:

Farmers Tailors Glass blowers Brick Makers & Silversmiths

Weather and Soil

The Middle Colonies had mild weather, and rich soil.

Both of these produced a long growing season which produced meat, any grain, and some corn.

Famous people

Famous people in the Middle Colonies include:

Peter Minuit Peter Stuyvesant Lord Berkeley George Carteret & William Penn

Southern Colonies

Southern Colonies

The Southern Colonies include: Georgia South Carolina North Carolina Virginia & Maryland

Exports

Cash crops were one of the main products produced in the Southern Colonies.

The Cash Crops include tobacco, rice, and indigo.

Other products produced were lumber, tar, turpentine, pitch, furs and cattle.

Slaves

The Southern Colonies had the most slaves to produce the cash crops.

The slaves often had to work long days with no breaks. They would pick the tobacco in the fields or just do miscellaneous things on the plantations.

Indentured Servants

Indentured Servants were mostly German, Irish, or English in heritage.

They were people who agreed to act as a slave for 4 to 7 years in exchange for a free passage to the New World.

Indentured Servants eventually made up half of the White population in America.

Life in the Southern Colonies

The ratio of men to women in the Southern Colonies was 3 to 2. Most men died around 40 while most women lived to be in their late 30’s.

The mortality rate of children was ¼ for newborns. Over ½ of children died before20.

A big factor of the early deaths was the wide variety of diseases spread by bugs/ mosquitoes.

Triangle Trade

The Triangle Trade was beneficial for the colonies because they exported many more materials that they imported, the main item imported was the slaves. Although the slaves were expensive they were still cheaper than the goods exported. With all the import/export it increased the wealth of the colonies

Great Awakening

The Great Awakening was a rebirth of religion. This affected the colonies because it forced other religions other than the main (Catholicism and Anglican) to seek freedom from persecution.

Enlightenment Thinking

Enlightenment thinking affected the colonial government because when the founder’s came together to form governments they combined the thinking's of John Locke, Montesquieu, etc.

Sources:

http://techline0.tripod.com/id2.html http://

www.landofthebrave.info/middle-colonies.htm

http://tdl.org/txlor-dspace/bitstream/handle/2249.3/679/04_southern_colonies.htm?sequence=5

http://www.landofthebrave.info/triangular-trade.htm

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo/grawaken.htm