Let America Begin!!!
Get your Colonies On…..!
New England Colonies
MA, NH, RI, CT
Massachusetts
(Plymouth - 1620,
Massachusetts Bay
Colony)
Middle Colonies
NY, PA, NJ, DE (MD?)
Southern Colonies
MD,Virginia
VA, NC, SC, GA
(Jamestown
Colony - 1607)
Why did the English settle here?
• The first permanent English settlement in North
America was Jamestown.
– founded in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London
– purpose: economic opportunity (to make money)
• Settlers (all men) were looking for gold and riches
• Settlers weren’t planning to stay in the New World
All is NOT WELL in Jamestown
• No one wanted to work -- too busy looking
for gold
• Location made people sick -- mosquitoes,
malaria, bad water
• John Smith took charge in winter of 1607
– forced men to work (“He who does not
work, shall not eat”)
• “Starving Time” (winter 1609) -- all but 60
settlers died before spring
“Starving Time”
• What were conditions like in Jamestown?
• How did the settlers survive?
• If you were a Powhatan, would you have helped
the settlers? Why or why not?
• Video Clip: Jamestown
Problems Solved
• 1610 -- Lord De La Warr became new
governor, set up strict martial law
• 1612 -- John Rolfe developed new strain
of tobacco – colony now has a way to
make money
• Women and children arrived (impact??)
• 1640s – Virginia House of Burgesses
established
– first elected assembly in the New World
Jamestown Relationships
• Powhatan Indians were native to the region
• Colonists would take food and land, Natives
would raid colonist settlements
• Marriage between Rolfe and Pocahontas
helps for a while
• Opecancaunoh’s war – Surprise attack on
many colonial outposts. Killed 300+ settlers (possibly
including John Rolfe)
Massachusetts
(Plymouth - 1620,
Massachusetts Bay
Colony)
Virginia
(Jamestown
Colony - 1607)
New England: Plymouth and
Mass. Bay Colonies
• Life in Plymouth Colony…(8:20)
• The early New England Colonies were
settled by Puritans seeking freedom from
religious persecution in Europe
– Puritans were very religious – often intolerant
of those who didn’t follow their religion
–Very Ironic…..
Plymouth Rock?
• 1620 – Pilgrims (a group of Puritans) arrived at
Plymouth (Massachusetts)
– wrote the Mayflower Compact
• no government in the area, so must create their
own
• formed a “covenant community”
– brought their families, planned to stay forever
Early New England
• 1630 – more Puritans came to Mass. Bay
–John Winthrop (leader) wanted to create
a “City on a Hill” – set an example for
the rest of the world of godly living
• Town Meeting – a form of direct
democracy (all men of the town discuss
and vote on issues)
New England Colonies
MA, NH, RI, CT
Middle Colonies
NY, PA, NJ, DE (MD)
Southern Colonies
(MD), VA, NC, SC, GA
Remember New England?
• One problem – religious dissent
– Puritans wanted the freedom to practice their
religion but did not want others to practice a
different religion.
– People who went against Puritan teachings or
challenged their ideas about church and
government were punished
– Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson were
dissenters – banished from Massachusetts,
started new colony of Rhode Island
Location, Location, Location
• The settlers moved into three different areas
for various reasons
– New England Colonies - seeking freedom from
religious persecution
– Southern Colonies - seeking economic opportunity
– Middle Colonies - seeking both religious freedom
and economic opportunity
Southern Colonies
• Settled by people seeking economic
opportunity
– Cavaliers – English nobility who
received large land grants in eastern
Virginia from the King of England
– Indentured servants – poor immigrants
who agreed to work for 4-7 years in
exchange for their passage to the New
World]
Southern Colonies
– Other poor immigrants became small farmers or
artisans
• settled in the Shenandoah Valley or western Virginia
• Bacon's Rebellion - Frontier settlers wanted
support from the Royal Governor against the
Native Americans. He refused and the rebellion
became violent. Showed differences between
wealthy landowners and poor frontier settlers.
The Middle Colonies are….in between 
• Seeking religious freedom and economic
opportunity
• Settled mainly by English, Dutch, and
German-speaking immigrants
• More tolerance and diversity in language,
religion, nationality
Homework
• Read the article and fill out the graphic
organizer on characteristics of the three
colonial regions.
• You can also use your textbook, Chapters
2 and 3.
Warmup: 9/11 and 9/12
• In your writing journals…use complete
sentences:
• Describe the three types of people who
settled in the Southern Colonies. What
kind of conflicts do you think might
happen between any of these groups?