The colonies made use of available
resources to build their economies.
The first successful
English colonies were
founded in
Massachusetts
(Plymouth) &
Virginia (Jamestown)
.
Why do you think
colonists continued
to come to North
America?
Social Studies Standard 8.1: Students
understand the major events preceding
the founding of the nation and relate
their significance to the development
of American constitutional democracy.
subsistence farming: a type of agriculture
in which people live on what they grow
themselves.
cash crop: crops that are grown to be sold.
debtor: an individual who owes something
to another and/or cannot pay their own
debts.
The New England Colonies
 Founding:
 Massachusetts: Plymouth Colony founded in
1620 Massachusetts Bay Colony founded by the
Puritans in 1630 (Both – religious freedom)
 Rhode Island: Founded in 1636 by Roger
Williams (religious freedom)
 Connecticut: Founded by Thomas Hooker in
1636 (religious/political freedom)
 New Hampshire: Founded in 1622 by
Ferdinando Gorges and John Mason (profit from
trade and fishing)
The New England Colonies
 Economy:
 New England had land that was difficult to farm, so
people lived on what they grew themselves.
 New Englanders benefited from sea products and
forest products.
 It became a center of shipbuilding and trade.
The Middle Colonies
 Founding:
 New York: Renamed New York in 1664 after England
took it over from the Dutch. Originally founded in
1624 (expand trade)
 Delaware: Founded in 1638 by Swedish settlers
(expand trade)
 New Jersey: Founded in 1664 by John Berkeley and
George Carteret (expand trade/religious and political
freedom)
 Pennsylvania: Founded in 1682 by William Penn, a
Quaker (profit from land sales/religious and political
freedom)
The Middle Colonies
 Economy:
 The Middle Colonies had land and weather that were
suitable for large-scale farming on plantations. Many
farmers produced cash crops.
 The people developed a wide variety of industries
and crafts.
 New York and New Jersey
were proprietary colonies.
Land was granted to one
or more owner.
The Southern Colonies
 Founding:
 Virginia: Founded in 1607, at Jamestown, by John
Smith (expand trade/farming)
 Maryland: Founded in 1634 by Lord Baltimore (profit
from land sales/religious and political freedom)
 The Carolinas: Founded in 1663 by a group of eight
proprietors. They were later divided into 2 states in
1712 and 1719 (expand trade/farming)
 Georgia: Founded in 1733 by James Oglethorpe
(profit/home for debtors/buffer against Spanish
Florida)
The Southern Colonies
 Economy:
 The Southern Colonies had rich farmland near the
coast where they produced rice and tobacco on huge
plantations.
 Farther inland, along the Appalachian Mountains
(backcountry), people cleared their own land and
existed by growing their own crops instead of relying
on slave labor.
 Plantation owners became
dependent on slave labor.
Tobacco Plantation
Colonial Trade
 Trade Routes:
 A major route went up and down the Atlantic coast.
 Another route carried goods across the Atlantic to
England.
 A third route, the triangular trade, linked the colonies to
the Caribbean (West Indies) and Africa. Slaves were
traded for sugar and molasses.
 Navigation Acts:
 The English Parliament began to pass Navigation Acts to
regulate colonial trade.
 The acts benefited English manufacturers but not the
colonies.
 List the New England
Colonies.
 Massachusetts,
 Rhode Island,
 New Hampshire,
 Connecticut
 List the Middle Colonies.
 New York
 Delaware
 New Jersey
 Pennsylvania
 List the Southern
Colonies.
 Virginia
 Maryland
 The Carolinas
 Georgia
HOMEWORK EXTENSION
 Write a detailed SUMMARY of the section and
complete the UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
section of your notes.
 Choose two of the remaining Depth & Complexity
ICONS in your notes and explain how they relate
to this section.