13 Colonies
Study Guide
PARTS 1-3, VISUAL INFORMATION
ANSWERS, PLUS VOCABULARY,
AND OVERVIEW QUESTIONS
The Colonial Period
New Peoples
1. What
years was the Colonial
Period?
1607-1776
2. From
what 8 countries did
most settlers who came to
America during this time
travel?
England, Netherlands,
Sweden, Germany, France
(French Huguenots), Spain,
Italy, and Portugal
3.
List 3 reasons from the text
of why people left their
home country to come to
America?
to escape the path of war,
avoid poverty, and
absentee landlordism
4.
What was the population
America at the end of the
Colonial Period?
2.5 million
New England
5. What
part of the United
States were the New England
colonies?
Northeast
6.
List 4 ways the people in New
England made a living.
grain and sawmills,
shipbuilding, trade, cod
industry (fishing)
7.
Where did most settlers live
in New England?
in villages and towns
around the harbors.
8.
Why was the
Massachusetts Bay
Colony able to lay the
foundation or the
beginning of trade?
because they built
their own vessels
(ships) and sailed them
to parts all over the
world
9.
What things started
making New England
shippers a lot of money?
Rum and slaves
10.
What was the triangular
trade?
merchants and shippers
would purchase slaves off
of the coast of Africa for New
England rum, then sell slaves
in the West Indies where they
would buy molasses to bring
home for sale to the local
rum producers.
1.
The Middle Colonies
List 3 ways the Middle
Colonies were different from
the New England colonies.
society in the Middle
Colonies was far more
varied, cosmopolitan, and
tolerant than the New England
2.
Who helped make
Pennsylvania and
Delaware successful
colonies?
William Penn
3.
What was the heart of
Pennsylvania?
Philadelphia
4.
Describe Philadelphia.
broad tree-shaped streets,
substantial brick and stone
houses and busy docks
5.
What religion were most
people in Philadelphia?
Quakers
6.
From what country did the
most successful farmers in
Pennsylvania migrate?
Germany
7.
What are the cottage
industries?
weaving, shoemaking,
cabinet making, and other
crafts
8.
Why do you think they are
called that (cottage
industries)?
because these things
could be done in their
home or cottage
9.
What immigrants settled in
Pennsylvania that were
very poor, hated the
English and didn’t trust any
governments?
Scots-Irish (Scottish-Irish)
10.
Where did this group settle
and how did they survive?
the back-country and they
survived primarily by
hunting and subsistence
farming
11.
What state had the largest
variety of immigrants?
New York
12.
List the countries from where
people were immigrants.
Netherlands (Dutch),
France (French), Denmark
(Danes), Norway (Norwegians),
Sweden (Swedes/Swedish),
England (English), Scotland
(Scots/Scottish), Ireland (Irish),
Germany (Germans), Poland (Poles
/Polish), Bohemia (Bohemians),
Portugal (Portugese), and Italy (Italians)
13.
Who had the largest
influence on New York
even after their country
lost the colony of New
York to the British?
The Dutch
The Southern Colonies
1.
List the Southern Colonies.
Virginia, Maryland, North
and South Carolina, and
Georgia
2.
What 2 groups made up
the economic and social
structure in Maryland and
Virginia?
great planters and
yeoman farmers
3.
Who helped the planters
of the tidewater region?
slaves through slave labor
4.
Describe the planters of
the tidewater region.
Held most of political
power and best land, built
great houses, adopted
aristocratic way of life
5.
What is a yeoman farmer?
He works smaller tracts of
land
6.
About what did the yeoman
farmers warn the planters?
Not to encroach too far upon
the rights of free men
7.
Where was the most
successful port in the
Southern Colonies?
Charleston, South Carolina
8.
List 3 things that grew in
North and South Carolina
that made these colonies
very rich.
Rice, indigo, forest (trees)
9.
Where did the population
grow in the Southern
Colonies?
North and South Carolina
10.
What are 3 reasons that
people moved inland away
from the larger coastal cities?
(1)Germans/Scots-Irish were
unwilling to live in the
original tidewater
settlements, (2) people
could not secure fertile land
or (3) exhausted the lands
they held
12.
Where did Frontier
families build?
On the edge of Indian
country
13.
What did they grow?
Maize and wheat
Visual Information Packet
Questions/Answers
1.
The 13 colonies were a
part of what continent?
North America
2.
They are a part of what
present day country?
United States of America
3.
Which colony is farthest
north?
New Hampshire
4.
Which colony is farthest
south?
Georgia
5.
The colonies were bound by
the Appalachian Mountains
on the west. What ocean
bordered the colonies on the
east?
Atlantic
6.
The oldest colony was
Virginia (founded in 1607).
Which colony was just
south of Virginia?
North Carolina
7.
The colony of Virginia
contained what are now
the states of Virginia and
West Virginia. What colony
bordered Virginia to the
northeast?
Maryland
8.
In which section of the 13
Colonies is Massachusetts
located?
Northern/New England
9.
Which colony was
founded last?
Georgia
10.
What colony was founded
second?
New York
13 Colonies Vocab

1. Persecuted - hostility and illtreatment, especially because of
race or political or religious beliefs.
13 Colonies Vocab
2.

Oppression – to keep down by the cruel or unjust use of
power; rule harshly
3. Refugee – a person who flees from a country to seek shelter
or safety elsewhere
4. Commerce – buying/selling of goods especially when done
on a large scale between cities, states or countries
5. Prosperity – good fortune, wealth or success
6. Export – carry or send goods to another country
13 Colonies Vocab Continued

7. Commodity – anything bought or sold
8. Substantial – large in amount, size or number
9. Creed – a statement of the basic belief of a religion
10. Indigent – suffering from extreme poverty
11. Subsistence – minimum food or shelter needed to support life
13 Colonies Vocab
Continued

12. Predominantly – a position of power, authority or influence
over others
13. Revenue – an amount of money regularly coming in
14. Oligarchy – a form of government where all power is held by
a few prominent people
15. Interior – situated well inland from the coast or border
16. Tracts – an expanse or area of land, water, etc.
The Colonial Period 1607-1776
Overview Questions and Answers
1. Up until 1680 most of the settlers who came
to the new world were from what country?
____England____
2. List 3 reasons that that many people left
continental Europe and came to the New
World.
Escape the path of war, avoid poverty, and
absentee landlordism
3.
4.
5.
What was the population of the New
World by 1690?
¼ of a million__
What was the population by 1775?
_2.5 million______
Why was it difficult to farm in New
England?
Thin, stony soil, relatively little level
land, and long winters
6.
List 4 other ways that the people of
New England made money.
Grain mills and sawmills,
shipbuilding, trade, and the cod
industry
7.
Where did the people of New
England live and why did they
live there?
In villages and towns around
the harbors because may New
Englanders carried on some
kind of trade or business
8.
What was being built in the
Massachusetts Bay Colony?
vessels (ships)
Why was this important?
This laid the foundation for a
trade that was to grow
rapidly
9.
What was the triangular trade?
merchants and shippers
would purchase slaves off
of the coast of Africa for New
England rum, then sell slaves
in the West Indies where they
would buy molasses to bring
home for sale to the local
rum producers.
10. Why
was it considered
“unsavory”?
it was considered unsavory
because it was morally
wrong to purchase/own
another person
11.
The people in the Middle
Colonies were more _________
than in New England.
tolerant
12.
Who guided Pennsylvania and
was the reason it ran smoothly
and grew rapidly?
William Penn
13.
What was Philadelphia?
it was the heart of
Pennsylvania
14.
What made it one of the most
thriving cities in the colonies?
Their talent for successful
business enterprise
15. Who
were the best farmers?
Germans
16. What
cottage industries were
important in the Middle
Colonies?
weaving, shoemaking,
cabinetmaking and other
crafts
17.
Who moved into the Middle
Colonies in the early 18th
century?
Scots-Irish
Describe the Scots-Irish. Tell
about them, where they settled
and how they survived
they settled in the back country
of Pennsylvania and survived by
hunting and subsistence farming
18.
19.
What colony was a great example
of the many different nationalities
that moved to the New World?
New York
List the other nationalities that
settled along the Hudson River.
Dutch, French, Danes,
Norwegians, Swedes, English,
Scots, Irish, Germans, Poles,
Bohemians, Portuguese, and Italians
20.
What city in New York became
busy with all kinds of people and
businesses?
Manhattan
21.
How did the Southern Colonies
make their money?
lumber, tar, resin (from the long
leaf pine tree), rice, indigo,
maize, and wheat
22.
Describe the farmers of the
Tidewater region.
they were supported by slave
labor, held most of the political
power and the best land, built
great houses, adopted an
aristocratic (power in the hands
of a few) way of life
23.
__________________________
became the leading port and
trading center in the South.
Charleston, South Carolina
24.
What did the settlers there learn
to do?
to combine agriculture and
commerce
25.
Which colony only grew one
crop?
Virginia
26.
What did North and South
Carolina grow and export?
rice, indigo, and forests/trees
27.
Who moved inland and give the
reasons why?
Germans and Scots-Irish moved
inland because they were
unwilling to live in the original
tidewater settlements, they
could not secure fertile land
along the coast, or they had
exhausted the land they held
Describe the frontier family. Telling
where they lived and about their
lives.
they built cabins, cleared tracts in the
wilderness, cultivated maize and
wheat, the men wore leather known as
buckskin, the women wore clothes
made of cloth they spun at home, they
ate venison (deer), wild turkey, and fish,
they had great barbeques, dances,
housewarmings for newly married
couples, shooting matches, and
contests for making quilt blankets
28.