Notes
Background Info


By the mid 1700s the 13 colonies had been
founded
By 1750 over a million Europeans called the
English colonies their home
That types of things create or help create a
region?
Geographic features
Climate
People groups/ Religious groups
Economic Opportunities/ Natural
resources
3 Distinct Regions

By the 1700s the
colonies formed 3
distinct regions
◦ The New England
Colonies
◦ The Middle Colonies
◦ The Southern Colonies
◦ Some people settled in
the Backcountry
The New England Colonies

Characteristics
◦ Long bitter winters
◦ Short mild summers
◦ Shallow rocky soil –
made large scale farming
difficult – led to
Subsistence Farming
◦ Puritan Religious values
◦ Fishing & Whaling
◦ Ship building and trade

Primarily settled by
English Puritans
The Middle Colonies

Characteristics
◦ Shorter winters that were
cold.
◦ Hot humid summers
◦ Fertile soil for growing cash
crops of grain and fruits &
Veggies
◦ Religious Tolerance
◦ Settlers from all over Europe.
◦ Known as the breadbasket
colonies
◦ Large cities develop in this
region
Southern Colonies

Characteristics
◦ Mild winters
◦ Long hot humid summers
◦ Fertile soil good for
growing cash crops of
tobacco, rice, cotton and
indigo.
◦ Self-sustaining farms
called Plantations
◦ Wealthy English settler
◦ Slaves and slave labor
◦ Poor white Indentured
Servants