New England
 New England was made up of New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
 Fishing, whaling, and timber forests for shipbuilding
created bustling seaports that distributed trade goods
throughout the world.
 The center of business was Boston, the city that would
become the birthplace of The Revolution!
The Middle Colonies
 New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware
hosted a rolling landscape of grain fields and iron
mines, and these resources created a thriving middle
class.
 The cities of New York and Philadelphia were
crammed with diverse nationalities that created the
first steps toward a unique level of tolerance in
America.
The Southern Colonies
 Primarily small farmers and tradesmen lived in
Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia
 Yet 75 percent of the wealth was owned by a small
group of grand plantation owners.
 Their vast estates depended on slaves to work the
fields of tobacco, cotton and rice
French Colonies
 France established colonies in much of eastern Canada
and on a number of Caribbean islands. Most colonies
were developed to export products such as fish, sugar,
and furs.
 As they colonized the New World, the French
established forts and settlements that would become
such cities as Quebec and Montreal in Canada
 Most French settlements were established for trade
purposes (not for settlement)
Spanish Colonies
 Spanish “conquistadores” explored for the Monarchy of
Spain. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade
and the spread of the Catholic faith through
indigenous conversions. (convert natives to Christianity)
 Beginning with the 1492 arrival of Christopher
Columbus and continuing for over four centuries,
the Spanish Empire would expand across most of present
day Central America, the Caribbean Islands, Mexico, and
much of the rest of North America including
the Southwestern, Southern coastal,
and California's Pacific Coast regions of the United States.
Portuguese Colonies
 Portugal was the leading country in the
European exploration of the world in the
15th century
 Portugal colonized parts of South
America (mostly Brazil), but also made
some unsuccessful attempts to
colonize North America in present
day Canada.