New England
Middle
Southern
Map
People
Geography
Economy
• Most people organized as
• Wealthiest people owned large
congregations lived on farms
farms and other businesses
• In the cities merchants
• Most farmers produced a
controlled trade, artisans
small surplus
made goods, unskilled workers • Tenant farmers rented land
and Africans provided labor
from large landowners or
worked for wages
• Coastal areas with good
• Fertile soil and long growing
natural harbors
seasons for farming
• Inland areas with dense
• Rivers ran into backcountry,
forests
making shipping easier
• Poor rocky soil and a short
growing season for farming
• Small farms, lumber mills,
• Colonies grew large amounts
fishing, ship building, and
of rye, oats, barley, potatoes,
trade flourished
and wheat as cash crops
• Cities developed along the
• Cities developed along the
coast
coast
• Wealthy elite controlled most
of the land
• Cash crops required a large
amount of labor, which was
supplied on large farms by
indentured servants and
enslaved Africans
• Favorable soil and climate for
agriculture
• Wide rivers made cities
unnecessary
• Tobacco, rice, and indigo
grown as cash crops
• Large plantations emerged
Adapted from chapter 3 summary in The American Vision by Mr. Dean.