13 British Colonies in North America
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A colony is an area under control by a country and
occupied by settlers from the Mother Country
The Mother Country is the country that “owns” the
colony
For example: the 13 colonies in North America belonged
to the Mother Country, England
The Colonial Period in American history: 1607-1776
Settlers came to the 13 colonies for a variety of reasons:
make money, practice their religion freely, to “start over” in
life, etc.
13 British Colonies
Regions
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The 13 British colonies can be categorized in 3 regions: New
England, Middle and Southern
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New England colonial region: Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
New Hampshire and Connecticut
The rocky soil and hilly land of New England made it suitable
only for small, family farms
The growing season was short due to the long, cold winters
People in New England worked on small farms, or in the
lumber, fishing or shipbuilding industries
Settlers first came for religious freedom.
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13 British Colonies
Regions
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The Middle Colonies included: New York, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey and Delaware (sometimes Maryland gets classified as a
middle colony)
People from many different European countries (not just
England) settled in the Middle Colonies
Settlers in the Middle Colonies were able to grow a variety of
crops (including lots of grain) in the rich soil, had milder
weather and raised livestock
In addition to farming, people in the Middle Colonies worked
in the lumber (valleys and wooded mountains)and shipbuilding
industries (coastal areas)
There were a variety of religions in the Middle Colonies
One example of a religion: Quakers started Pennsylvania, in
order to practice their religion freely.
13 British Colonies
Regions
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The Southern Colonies included: Maryland,Virginia, North
Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia
Fertile soil and a warm, moist climate combined to make an
ideal setting for growing crops– especially cash crops
(tobacco, rice, indigo, etc.)
Wealthy colonists in the Southern Colonies established large
farms (plantations) where only 1 or 2 cash crops were grown
The region had broad rivers and vast wetlands that merged
with the sea.
Indentured servants and African slaves worked in the fields to
sow and harvest the cash crops. (Keep in mind there were
slaves in ALL of the colonial regions at this time.)
In addition, debtors were able to start a new life in Georgia.
Focus on 6…
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Rather than studying the
specific details of ALL 13
of the colonies, we are
going to focus on 6
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They will be introduced in
the order they were
founded
Virginia (southern colony)
 began as the early settlement of Jamestown
 the success of Jamestown, and later Virginia, was due in
large part to tobacco (“brown gold”)
 the first African slaves were brought to Jamestown in
1619 (later there would be slavery in ALL of the 13
colonies– even the New England colonies)
 the first representative government (land-owning white
men could elect representatives to run the government)
was founded in Virginia: the House of Burgesses
 the famous colonial city of Williamsburg was the capital of
the Virginia colony
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Massachusetts (New England
colony)
began as the Plymouth settlement
in 1620
founded by Puritans (the Pilgrims
were a type of Puritan)– who
were seeking to practice their
religion freely (they wanted to
purify the Church of England)
Ironically, Massachusetts did not
allow religious freedom– the
Puritan church was the only
allowed church
Settlers unhappy with
Massachusetts broke off to form
Rhode Island and Connecticut
the most famous colonial city in
Massachusetts: Boston
Colonial Boston
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New York (Middle colony)
this colony was originally
founded by the Dutch (people
from the Netherlands) in 1624
when the Dutch settled it, they
named it New Netherland and
its largest city was called New
Amsterdam
in 1664, the English took over
(without having to fire a shot,
even though they were
prepared to do so) and
promptly renamed the colony
New York (after a place in
England)
New York colony was home
to people of mainly Dutch and
English background AND
people of various faiths
Colonial shipbuilding– port city of New York
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Maryland’s founder: Lord Baltimore
Maryland (Southern/Middle
colony)
founded by the Calvert family, an
English noble family, in 1634
the men of the Calvert family
were granted the title of Lord
Baltimore by the King of England
(thus, Maryland’s city of
Baltimore)
the Calvert family was Catholic–
and because England was a
Protestant country, they felt they
were being treated poorly
so Lord Calvert got permission
from the King to establish a
colony where there was religious
freedom– one of the few colonies
where Catholics could worship
freely
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Pennsylvania (Middle colony)
founded by William Penn in 1682
the King of England owed a debt to
Penn’s father AND the King disliked
Penn because he was not a member of
the Church of England– but was a
member of the Society of Friends (or
Quakers)
Quakers believed in treating all
people fairly; they refused to bow
before the king, pay taxes to the
Church of England, or fight in wars
Penn advertised his colony as a place
where people of any faith could
practice freely– including Quakers
Penn named his capital city
Philadelphia– Greek for “city of
brotherly love”
Philadelphia became one of the most
famous colonial cities– especially
because it is where the Declaration of
Independence was written
Colonial Philadelphia
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Early colonial map of Georgia
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Georgia (Southern
colony)
founded in 1733 by James
Oglethorpe
the Georgia colony was
founded to 1) provide a
place for debtors to go,
rather than to jail (debtor
= someone who owes
money) AND 2) to
provide a geographic
buffer against the Spanish
colony of Florida
Oglethorpe tried to
impose rules such as no
drinking and no slaves– but
the people of Georgia
rejected these ideas
the Georgia colony
became home to people of
a variety of faiths