Download SS4H3 The student will explain the factors that shaped British

SS4H3 The student will explain the factors that shaped British colonial America.
a.
Compare and contrast life in the New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Southern colonies.
b.
Describe colonial life in America as experienced by various people, including large landowners,
farmers, artisans, women, indentured servants, slaves, and Native Americans.
Southern Colonies

Province of Maryland, later Maryland (which comprised the Chesapeake Colonies)

Colony and Dominion of Virginia, later Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia (Virginia along
with Maryland comprised the Chesapeake Colonies)

Province of North Carolina, later North Carolina and Tennessee

Province of South Carolina, later South Carolina

Province of Georgia, later Georgia
New England Colonies

Province of New Hampshire, later New Hampshire

Province of Massachusetts Bay, later Massachusetts and Maine

Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, later Rhode Island and Province Plantations

Connecticut Colony, later Connecticut
Middle Atlantic Colonies

Province of New York, later New York and Vermont

Province of New Jersey, later New Jersey

Province of Pennsylvania, later Pennsylvania

Delaware Colony, later Delaware
Southern Colonies
Jamestown was the first successful English colony established in 1607 near Chesapeake Bay. Englishmen
were sent here in present day Virginia as a business venture looking for gold. The London Virginia
Company was not successful in there gold venture, since there was very little gold, wars with local Indians,
and disease and starvation which the settlers were not prepared to encountered. However, the settlers
turned tobacco into Virginia’s cash crop, which became the main source of its export economy. This
flourishing business drew wealthier settlers to the area; they built plantations and imported indentured
servants and slaves to work the tobacco fields.
After the settlement of Virginia a group of English Lords Proprietors financed an attempt to colonize the
Province of Carolina in 1663. This attempt was made with the hopes that this colony would be just as
successful as Jamestown, it was not. About seven or eight years later a settlement was led by John West
who took his mission to land that is now named Charleston. South Carolina established a successful
trading business in provisions, deerskins and Indian captives with the Caribbean Islands. One of the islands
South Carolina traded with was Barbados, which was known for its sugarcane plantation island. Barbados
was also known for using large numbers of Africans in plantation style agriculture. During the 1690’s rice
cultivation was introduced to South Carolina by the Africans who worked in the land in Barbados.
The Province of Georgia was established in 1733, its main purpose was to provide a buffer between two
colonies, Spanish Florida and British Carolinas. James Oglethorpe decided that it would be a great idea to
settle this land with debtors from Great Britain, riding the country of unwanted individuals. Georgia was
established on strict principles such as no slavery and alcohol, unlike its neighboring colonies. The
moralistic principles caused the colony to suffer economically when compared to the Carolina, since
Carolina was very successful with the rice plantations. As a result the laws were changed, slavery was
allowed and Georgia came just as successful as Carolina. Unlike other colonies, Georgia never had a
specific religion, this colony was comprised of people of varied faiths.
The settlers in the Southern Colony were mostly wealthy people who own slaves, which were brought in
from Africa to work the plantation. Being a plantation owner was a lucrative business yet slaves were very
poor, earning just enough to live. When slaves had children their children were slaves as well, slaves also
had no legal rights making it impossible to change their status. The women of these plantation owners
were expected to be a social elite, dressing like the British and hosting parties.
New England Colonies
In 1620, a small group of Protestants who were called Pilgrims sailed to the New World on the Mayflower
and settled in Massachusetts. The Pilgrims drafted a set of laws which was given the name Mayflower
Compact; this gave them powers of self-governance within their colony called Plymouth Colony. The
Massachusetts Bay Colony was established in 1629 by the Puritans. This Colony was established with the
main purpose of creating a more extremely religious colony in the New World. The Puritans aimed to be a
religious self sufficient community with no desire to build off of others labor. The Plymouth Colony
eventually merged with the Massachusetts Bay Colony and lead by William Bradford. In 1636, Rev. Roger
Williams fled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony and founded the Providence Plantation later known as
Rhode Island Colony, after being banished for preaching about religious tolerance, separation of Church
and State and various other ideas which were against the Puritans faith. The Puritans economy was based
on self-supporting farmers who traded only for goods they could not produce.
Small farm families comprised most of the land in this colony. The husband in this family had complete
control over aspect of his family’s life, including his wife. The wife lost her identity after marriage, she
could not be a landowner, file lawsuits, or participate in political life, even if she became a widow. The
women’s role was to have many healthy children that could help take care of the land. The women were
also responsible for providing the family with most of their clothing and domestic needs. As the population
grew, the artisans provided their skills to the farmers in the area. Storeowners in this area traded imported
goods with the farmers for a portion of their crops.
Middle Atlantic Colonies
The Dutch and the Swedish were the first to settle the land, later the Dutch lost control of the land. Around
1664 the British took the land from the Dutch and renamed this land the Province of New York. Out of this
land derived the Province of New Jersey and the Province of Pennsylvania. The Delaware Colony later
separated from the Province of Pennsylvania after being purchased by William Penn from both the
Delaware Indians and King Charles II. The Delaware, Algonkian, and Iroquis Indians inhabited this land
before immigrants settled. This land had rich soil, which was great for the production of wheat, grain, and
oats. These colonies were not ran by a specific church or government therefore, the colonies were more
religiously, politically, economically, and ethnically diverse. William, Penn, founded Pennsylvania in 1682
using policies of religious freedom and freehold ownership, which attracted a large amount of immigrants
from Ireland, Switzerland, and Germany.
Women in the German communities worked in the fields and stables. In the German and Dutch
communities wives were allowed to write wills disposing of property, unlike the English colonial wives.
Artisans worked with the aid of their wives and later taught their children their skills. Artisans, along with
shopkeepers, seamstresses, shipwrights and other skilled professionals made up the middle class in these
provinces. Farming in this colony was done differently than any other, the farmers used a mixed farming
technique which produced crops for humans and animals. The farmers also had begun fertilizing their land
and rotating production of crops. Indentured servants were used to assist in the fields and once the export
business had grown they also worked on the seaports and in manufacturing systems.
References
http://www.cerritos.edu/soliver/American%20Identities/Making%20British%20America/Middle%20Colonies.htm
http://www.ushistory.org/us/4.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_history_of_the_United_States