7th Grade 13 Colonies Summary Notes
English Colonies in North America
England established 13 colonies in North America.
New England Colonies: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island
Middle Colonies: New York, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania
Southern Colonies: Virginia, Maryland, North and South Carolina, Georgia
English colonists sought economic opportunity:
 England wanted to establish colonies to provide new markets for their goods and get
raw materials
 Because of the thin, rocky, soil and long, jagged coastlines, many New England
colonists turned from farming to fishing.
 Because of its abundant wheat, Pennsylvania was called America’s breadbasket.
 The plantation system of the Southern Colonies helped spread slavery.
English colonists showed their power:
 In 1664, King Charles II granted all Dutch land in North America to his brother James,
the Duke of York. The colony of New Netherland became New York.
 Even after Bacon’s Rebellion collapsed, English colonists moved onto Native
American land.
 As well as offering debtors protection from imprisonment, Georgia was founded to
keep the Spanish from moving northward from Florida.
English colonists exercised freedom of Religion:
 1620: English Separatists, known today as the Pilgrims, landed at Plymouth.
 Puritans who wanted to reform the Church of England established settlements in what
are now Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
 Disagreements about religion led to the founding of other colonies, including Roger
Williams’ settlement in Rhode Island, Thomas Hooker’s settlement in Connecticut, and
John Wheelwright’s settlement in New Hampshire.
 Quakers, who refused to pay taxes to the Church of England, settled in Pennsylvania
and Delaware.
 George Calvert founded Maryland so Catholics could live safely.
English colonists claimed the right to freedom of government:
 1619: Virginia’s House of Burgesses marked the start of representative government in
North America.
 1620: Mayflower Compact was the first document in which American colonists
claimed the right to govern themselves.
 The Puritans believed towns and churches should manage their own affairs.