In which of the colonies do you feel
would be the best place to live?
A. The New England Colonies
B. The Middle Colonies
0%
C
A
B
A. A
B. B
0%
0%
C. C
C. The Southern Colonies
Chapter 4 Growth of the
Thirteen Colonies (1607-1770)
Section 1 Life in the Colonies
Chapter Time Line
Chapter Time Line
How did geography affect the
economic development of the three
colonial regions?
The Colonial Regions
• Were very different
• Were as different as “fire and
water”
• Still they continued to grow
• 1700- 250,000
• 1770’s- 2,500,000
• African Americans- 28,000 to
more than 500,000
• Immigration increased
• Most lived in cities
• New York, Philadelphia,
Charles Town, Savannah, and
Newport
• Freedom of worship was
allowed here
New England Colonies
• Most people lived in well
organized towns
• Meetinghouse- church and
town meetings
• Citizen army trained
• Farms were smaller
• New England had a poor
growing season and rocky
soil
• Farmers practiced
subsistence farming
• Just enough to meet their
families needs
• Most Northern farmers
relied on their children for
labor
Commerce in New England
• Commerce= trade
• Many small businesses
• Water ran mills for grinding
grain or sawing lumber
• Women made cloth,
garments, candles, and soap
for their families
• Sometimes to sell
• Large towns attracted skilled
craftspeople
• Blacksmiths, shoemakers,
furniture makers, gunsmiths,
metalsmiths, and printers
• Shipbuilding was important
• Fishing and whaling was very
important
Colonial Trade
• Northern coastal cities were
the centers of trade
• Linked Northern Colonies
with Southern Colonies
• Also linked to other parts of
the world
• New England ships traded
with the West Indies and
across the Atlantic Ocean
• Followed different trading
routes
• England and back
• Triangular trade
• Example: Rum to Africa
• Slavery was very common in
the West Indies
Which part of the coast was the
center of the shipping trade?
A. Southern coastal cities
B. Northern coastal cities
0%
C
A
0%
A. A
B. B
C.0%C
B
C. Coastal cities on the
Gulf of Mexico
The Middle Passage
• Enslaved Africans first went to a
European Fort on the West
African coast
• Tied together with ropes around
their necks and hands
• Branded
• Forced on a ship
• Trip across Atlantic is called the
Middle Passage
• A young African Olaudah
Equiano described his journey:
• “So crowded that each had
scarcely room to turn himself,
almost suffocated us…”
• Chained together for more than a
month
More Middle Passage
• Could hardly sit or stand
• Given little food or water
• Africans that died or
became sick were thrown
overboard
• Those that refused to eat
were whipped
• When they reached
American ports they went
to the slave market
• Examined and prodded
• Sold as laborers
• Between the 1400s and
mid 1800s about 12 million
were forcibly transported to
the Americas
The Middle Colonies
• Better soil and growing
season than New England
• Farms produced bigger
harvests
• Grew wheat and other
cash crops
• New York and Philadelphia
sold these crops and
became busy ports
• NY- 18,000 people Phily24,000 largest cities in the
colonies
Which two cities were the largest in
the American colonies by 1760?
A. New York and Philadelphia
B. Charles Town and Savannah
0%
C
B
A. A
B. B
0% 0%
C. C
A
C. Newport and Cambridge
Industries in the Middle Colonies
• Some home based- carpentry
and flour making
• Others larger- lumbering,
mining, and small scale
manufacturing
• Iron mills
• Many were German
immigrants
• 100,000 Germans came to
America during the colonial
era
• Most in Pennsylvania
• Great diversity in the Middle
Colonies
• Germans, Dutch, Swedish,
and other non-English
The Southern Colonies and Slavery
• Good growing season and
soil
• Most settlers made their
living from farming
• Little commerce or
industry
• Tobacco was the
principal cash crop of
Maryland and Virginia
• Most sold in Europe
• Planters tried to use
indentured servants
• Too expensive and scarce
• Began using enslaved
Africans
Tobacco and Slavery
• Slaveholders grew
wealthy from
tobacco
• Surplus sometimes
made prices fall
• This caused some
farmers to grow
other crops (corn
and wheat)
South Carolina and Georgia
• Main cash crop was rice
• Created rice fields called
paddies
• Work was very hard
• Standing knee deep in
mud all day
• Blazing sun
• Biting insects
• Relied on slave labor
• Rice was even more
profitable that tobacco
• Rice became popular in
Europe and price rose
Tidewater
• Most Southern plantations
were located on the
Tidewater
• Flat, low-lying plains along
the seacoast
• Located on rivers so they
could take crops to market by
boats
• Each plantation was a selfcontained community
• Planter’s wife supervised the
house and house servants
• Plantation included slave
cabins, barns, and stables
• Also blacksmith shops,
storerooms, and kitchens
• Maybe even a chapel and
school
Backcountry
• Toward the Appalachian
Mountains
• Small farms- grew tobacco
and corn
• Worked alone or with their
families
• May have 1 or 2 slaves
• Small farmers
outnumbered the
plantation owners
• Plantation owners were
very wealthy and had
more influence
• Plantation owners
controlled economic and
political life in the region
Slavery
• Most slaves lived on plantations
• Most worked in fields and suffered
great cruelty
• Overseers kept slaves working
hard
• 1705- Virginia created slave codes
• Strict rules that governed the
behavior and punishments of slaves
• Couldn’t leave plantations without
written permission
• Could not meet in large groups
• Allowed whipping slaves
• For serious crimes, owners could
hang or burn to death the slave
• Slaves that ran away were
punished severely
African Traditions
• Enslaved African
families were torn
apart
• Turned to African
roots
• Some learned
trades- carpentry,
blacksmithing, or
weaving
• Some were able to
buy their freedom
Criticism of Slavery
• Most white
Southerners were
NOT slaveholders
• Some did not believe
in slavery
• Less support in
Northern colonies
• Puritans refused to
own slaves
• Quakers condemned
slavery
How did geography affect the economic
development of the three colonial regions?
-New England: Harsh Climate and rocky soil led to
subsistence farming; coastal location led to shipbuilding
and other industries, fishing, and trade
-Middle Colonies: fertile soil and milder climate led to
larger farms and cash crops; availability of natural
resources led to small-scale manufacturing, lumbering,
and mining; good ports allowed trade.
- Southern Colonies: Rich soil and warm climate led to
large farms, cash crops, the development of the plantation
system, and an economy based on slavery.
Chapter 4 Section 1 Quiz
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Which of the following means producing just
enough to meet the families' needs, with
little left over to sell or exchange?
A. harvesting
25% 25% 25% 25%
B. subsistence
farming
C. cash crop
D. Tidewater farming
The most inhumane aspect of
the triangular trade was the
A. Southern Route.
B. merchant trade
route.
C. Middle Passage.
D. fishing trade.
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25% 25% 25% 25%
Where were most of the large
Southern plantations located?
backcountry
Tidewater
coastal areas
flatlands
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25% 25% 25% 25%
ba
A.
B.
C.
D.
The plantation bosses who kept the
enslaved Africans working hard were called
overseers.
slaveholders.
employers.
supervisors.
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25% 25% 25% 25%
ov
A.
B.
C.
D.
Which group controlled the economic and
political life of the Southern Colonies?
merchants
teachers
farmers
plantation owners
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25% 25% 25% 25%
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A.
B.
C.
D.
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