Name: ______________________________________________
Social Studies: Unit 2
Northeast Region
 The Northeast region can be divided into two smaller regions: o The New England States: State Capitals:
 Connecticut
 Maine
Hartford
Augusta
 Massachusetts
 New Hampshire
 Rhode Island
 Vermont
Boston
Concord
Providence
Montpelier o The Middle Atlantic States: State Capitals:
 New Jersey
 New York
 Pennsylvania
Trenton
Albany
Harrisburg
The New England States
 In 1614 two English ships sailed along the northeast coast of what is now the United States. o The explorers on the ships, led by Captain John Smith, saw a land with many natural resources. o Bays along the coast provided places for ships to anchor, and thick forests covered a flat coastal plain. o Smith named the land New England. He was convinced it was a good place to settle. o Some Native Americans were already living there when Smith arrived. o Each tribe, or group, of Native Americans had its own culture. o They used their regions’ natural resources to feed their families and make the things they needed. o People shared the land and its resources by hunting the same forests and fishing the same waters. They gathered shellfish from the water, grew crops, and gathered wild foods such as roots, nuts, and berries.
What generalizations can you make about how Native Americans used natural resources?
They fished, hunted, and gathered shellfish, roots, nuts, and berries.
 In 1620 a small ship called the Mayflower set sail from England with about 100 men, women, and children on board.

Name: ______________________________________________ o They were sailing to North America because they were not allowed to practice their religion in England. o For this reason, the Mayflower settlers came to be called
Pilgrims, or people who make a long journey for religious reasons. o Plymouth Colony was founded by the Pilgrims in 1620.
Besides religious freedom, what other opportunities do you think were available in North America?
The Pilgrims could own land and do the kind of work they wanted to do.
What is the Mayflower Compact?
It is a list of laws the Pilgrims agreed to live by.
 Puritans and other settlers arrived in New England to found other colonies. The colonists eventually developed industries based on the sea.
 Textile mills were the first factories in New England. Shipping, fishing, manufacturing, and service industries dominate New England’s economy today.
VOCABULARY:
1.
colony- a settlement started by people who leave their own country
to live in another land
2.
colonists- people who live in a colony
3.
harbor- a place where ships can dock safely
4.
industrial economy- an economy in which factories and machines
manufacture most of the goods
5.
textile mill- a factory in which fibers such as cotton and wool are
woven into textiles, or cloth
 Glaciers shaped most of New England’s landforms.
 Farmers in New England raise crops and animals that thrive in rocky soil and a cool climate.
 New England has large quantities of marble, granite, and other rocks.
 New England’s forests and orchards produce lumber, paper products, maple syrup, and fruit.
**Test Material for Test 1 Ends Here**

Name: ______________________________________________
The Middle Atlantic States
VOCABULARY:
1.
confederation- a loosely united group of governments working
together
2.
treaty- an agreement between countries or groups of people
3.
port- a trading center where ships are loaded and unloaded
5.
representation- acting or speaking on behalf of someone or
something else
4.
generation- the average time between birth of parents and the birth of their children
6.
independence- freedom to govern oneself or freedom from control
of others
7.
revolution: a large, sudden change in government or in people’s lives
8.
declaration: an official statement
9.
navigable: deep and wide enough for ships to use
10.
rapid: a rocky place in a river where a sudden drop in elevation causes
water to be fast-moving and dangerous
11.
metropolitan area: a large city together with its suburbs
12.
immigrant: a person who comes to live in a country from another
country
13.
urban growth: growth of cities
14.
commute: travel back and forth
 The Middle Atlantic Colonies, first explored by Henry Hudson and settled by the Dutch, grew to include people from many backgrounds.
 The fertile soil in the Middle Atlantic Colonies allowed farms there to prosper.

Name: ______________________________________________
 As thousands of people settled in the Middle Atlantic Colonies, towns near water grew into busy port cities.
 After Britain passed new laws in the 1760’s that made it difficult for the colonists to trade, the colonists declared independence from Great Britain. After eight years of fighting, the Americans defeated the British, winning independence.
Use the terms confederation and treaty to describe relations between Native Americans and Middle Atlantic colonists.
A treaty helped the Quaker colonists keep friendly with the
confederation of Native Americans.
When was the Declaration of Independence signed? 1776
What were the boundaries of the United States after the
American Revolution?
It reached from present-day Florida to present-day Canada and was bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the west by
the Mississippi River.
What do you think the colonists meant when they wrote in the
Declaration of Independence that all people have the rights of
“Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”?
Everyone has the right to live in freedom and try to find happiness.
 In the early years of the United States, people in the Middle
Atlantic region traveled on poor roads or on waterways that did not connect the entire region.
 The state of New York linked the Great Lakes with the Atlantic
Ocean by building the Erie Canal.
 By the early 1900’s roads, waterways, and railroads linked the
Middle Atlantic region, allowing new industries to develop.
 Today highways, airplanes, and trains link Middle Atlantic cities.

Name: ______________________________________________
How did improved transportation in the early 1900’s lead to the development of the steel industry in the Middle Atlantic region?
People could build steel mills closer to the natural resources used
by the steel industry.
Use the terms navigable and rapid to explain why people in the
Middle Atlantic region built canals.
Rapids kept some rivers from being navigable, so people built
canals to allow boat travel between cities.
Why did the state of New York decide to build the Erie Canal?
The Erie Canal was built to connect the Great Lakes to the Atlantic
Ocean.
Why did western Pennsylvania become a center for the nation’s steel industry?
Western Pennsylvania was surrounded by the natural resources
needed to make steel.
How was early road travel in the United States different from traveling by road today?
Early road travel was hard and slow because of poor roads. Today,
good roads and cars make road travel faster and smoother.
 Much of the Middle Atlantic region is made up of cities that form a megalopolis.
 New industries and immigrant workers were two important factors in the growth of Middle Atlantic cities.
 Service industries such as tourism fuel the economy of
Middle Atlantic cities today.
 Cities in the Middle Atlantic states are meeting the challenges of growth and crowding.
What are the reasons the Middle Atlantic states make up a region of cities?
Since the Middle Atlantic Region was often the 1 st place immigrants arrived and settled, it developed many large cities. Also, the region has the nation’s
largest megalopolis.
How did new industries help cause urban growth in the Middle Atlantic states?
Factories in cities needed workers, so thousands of people moved to the
cities.