New England:
Commerce and Religion
1. What is the backcountry?
 Far western edges of the colonies
2. Which colonial region was most
populated (had the most people)?
 New England
3. a. Why was farming in New
England not easy?
 Short growing season
 Rocky soil
b. What happened as a result of this?
 Farmers practiced subsistence
farming- grew only enough for
themselves and a little extra for trade,
SO they had to find another way to make
money
4. Why did New England come to depend
on fishing and shipbuilding?
 Farming was NOT a money maker Had to use the resources available - fish
and timber
 Made money building ships with the
timber and used those ships to fish and
trade
5. What happened as a result of merchants
exporting (shipping goods out) from the
colony?
 Began carrying goods produced in
other places.
 New England ships became
important in international trade.
6. Why did England pass the
Navigation Acts?
England wanted to ensure
that it made money from
its colonies’ trade.
7. What were the four major
provisions of the Navigation Acts?
 All goods had to be carried on English ships
or on ships made in the English colonies
 Products could only be sold to England or its
colonies (who couldn’t they sell to?)
 European imports to the colonies had to pass
through English ports (Why?)
 Taxed any colonial goods not shipped to
England
8. Why didn’t the colonists like the
Navigation Acts?
The colonists would make more money if
they could trade directly and cut England
out.
9. Why was piracy a threat to the
mercantile system?
It interfered with colonial trade, creating a
loss of money and supplies
10. List New England’s three
types of trade:
11. . What was triangular trade?
A system of trans-Atlantic (across
the Atlantic) trade that exchanged
slaves, rum, sugar and molasses.
Atlantic Trade
New Englanders were part of the triangular trade with
Africa and the West Indies. Here is how the triangular
trade worked:
• First, a New
England merchant
ship brings rum to
Africa and trades for
slaves.
• Next, the merchant
ship brings slaves to
the West Indies and
trades for sugar.
• Last, the merchant
brings the sugar to
New England, where
it is made into rum.
12. a. Did New England have a
lot of slaves?
No
b. Why or why not?
They had no large plantations so
there was no need for a large labor
force to work the farms
13. How did New Englanders profit
from triangular trade?
 Made money by trading slaves, rum, sugar
and molasses
14. What caused King Phillip’s War?
 The conflict between the Native Americans
and Europeans over land ownership. The
Indians didn’t believe that land could be
owned (just used like air).
15. Why do you think the Pequot
and Mohegans helped the
colonists?
 They may have been rivals; might have
been paid by the colonists; they may
have made treaties to protect
themselves and their lands.
16. How did the King Phillip’s War affect the
colonists and the Native Americans? (What
happened as a result of this war?)
 The colonists had to rebuild communities
destroyed during the fighting;
 With the Native Americans defeated, the
colonists were able to expand their
settlements;
 Many Native Americans were sold into
slavery and sent to the West Indies.
17. Explain how Native Americans
reacted to colonial growth. (What did
they do when colonists started to take
over their lands?)
 They had an uprising (King Phillip’s
War) against the Puritans.
18. What did Increase Mather mean
when he said that the Puritans
“chose a new God”?
 Puritans were beginning to value money and
wealth more than God.
 Money had become more important than
religion.
19. How did the arrival of people of other
religions affect Puritan power?
 As new immigrants arrived who were NOT
Puritans, they established their own
churches (Anglicans and Baptists), so they
were no longer the most powerful group
 Changes in the Massachusetts Charter
guaranteed religious freedom to ALL and
Puritan churches no longer controlled the
elections.
20. What happened in Salem,
Massachusetts?
 Some people were accused
and put on trial.
 Some were put to death.
of witchcraft
21. What lasting effects did Puritan
power have on American culture even
after the decline of Puritan power?
 The Puritan work ethic
 Value placed on education
 Opposition to royal power and support
for representative government
 Practice of voting on community issues