The Thirteen English Colonies

Chapter 4

New England Colonies

Geography and Climate

• Rocky soil• Cool climate• Dense forests

Economy • Shipbuilding **

• Whaling and fishing

• Hunting – furs, wild turkey and deer

• Rum

• Farming (very little) – corn, pumpkins, squash and beans

Massachusetts

– Date: 1620– Leader: William Bradford– Reason Founded: Religious Freedom -

Pilgrims (Separatists) wanted to separate from the Church of England

Plymouth

Massachusetts

– Date: 1630– Leader: John Winthrop– Reason Founded: Religious Freedom –

Puritans wanted to purify the Church of England

– Other colonists included younger sons who wanted to have an opportunity to own land

Massachusetts Bay

Connecticut• Date: 1636

• Leader: Thomas Hooker

• Reason Founded: Religious and Political Freedom– Hooker left Massachusetts Bay because

he believed that the governor had too much power

– Fundamental Order of Connecticut• Gave the vote to all men who owned property (they

did not have to be church members)• Limited the governor’s power

This is reflected in the American system of government today:

-Limited Government:

the government can only do what the Constitution states

- Separation of Church and State

Rhode Island

• Date: 1636• Leader: Roger Williams• Reason Founded: Religious Freedom

– Williams believed that the Puritan church in Massachusetts had too much power.

– Separation of church and state – there would be no support of a particular church

– Religious Tolerance – all religions were welcome in Rhode Island

This is reflected in the American system of government today:

-First Amendment

-Freedom of religion

-Separation of church and state

New Hampshire

• Date: 1623• Leader: none• Reason Founded: Economic

–People had spread farther north of Massachusetts Bay.

–Settlers built trading and fishing villages north of Boston then in 1680 the king made these coastal settlements into a separate colony.

Middle Colonies

Geography and Climate• Moderate climate with mild winters

• Fertile soil

Economy• Many people made their living by farming

“Breadbasket Colonies” – wheat, barley and rye

• Raised livestock

New York

• Date: 1664• Leader: Duke of York• Reason Founded: Expand trade

– New Netherlands and England were rivals for trade and colonies.

– In 1664 England attacked New Amsterdam.

– New Amsterdam had few weapons and fell without a fight.

– King Charles II of England gave New Netherlands to his brother the Duke of York

New Jersey

• Date: 1702

• Leader: George Carteret and Lord Berkeley

• Reason Founded: Expand trade– The Duke of York decided that New York

was too big to govern easily.

– He gave some of the land to friends Lord Berkeley and Sir Carteret.

Pennsylvania

• Date: 1681• Leader: William Penn• Reason Founded: Religious freedom

– Quakers moved to Pennsylvania for religious freedom; King Charles II granted the land to William Penn

– They paid Native Americans for the land– Quaker Beliefs

• Equality - Men, women, nobles, and commoners were equal in God’s sight

• Pacifists - peaceful; against war

Delaware

• Date: 1701

• Leader: (William Penn)

• Reason Founded: Desire to set up a separate assembly– Settlers in the Lower Counties did not want

to send delegates to a distant assembly in Philadelphia so they were allowed to break away to form the colony of Delaware.

Southern Colonies

Geography and Climate• Extremely fertile soil• Many rivers • Humid climate

Economy• Growing cash crops – tobacco, indigo and rice

Virginia

Jamestown

– Date: 1607

– Leader: Captain John Smith

– Reason Founded: Economic

– people came to search for gold but later made money by growing tobacco

Maryland

• Date: 1632

• Leader: (Calvert) Lord Baltimore

• Reason Founded: Religious freedom– Baltimore wanted to set up a colony where

Catholics could practice their religion freely and later Protestants were welcomed too.

– Act of Toleration

• Law provided religious freedom for all Christian

North Carolina

• Date: 1663

• Leader: (none)

• Reason Founded: Trade and farming– Settlers were mostly poor tobacco farmers

who had drifted south from Virginia.– Made of mostly small farms

South Carolina

• Date: 1663

• Leader: group of eight proprietors (nobles)

• Reason Founded: Trade and farming– Settlers came from a British colony in the

Caribbean– There were many more large plantations than

in North Carolina

Georgia• Date: 1732• Leader: James Oglethorpe• Reason Founded: Home for debtors

– Debtors in England were thrown in jail and often were unable to pay off their debts

– Oglethorpe would pay for debtors passage – they would be given land in Georgia

• He wanted to give debtors a chance have a fresh start.

– At first rules stated that farms had to be small and slavery was forbidden.

– When colonists saw the success of plantation farmers in South Carolina they complained and the rules changed to allow large plantations and slave labor the colony grew quickly after that.

Education in New England Colonies

Teachers were paid in products like food

Puritans believed that it was everyone’s duty to study the Bible

In 1642 Massachusetts became the first colony to set up public schools.

They ordered all towns with 50+ people to hire a teacher

Education in the Middle Colonies

Churches and individual families set up private schools

Pupils paid to attend only wealthy families could afford to educate their children

Education in the Southern Colonies

• In the Southern Colonies, people lived too far from one another to bring children together in one school building.

• Some planters hired tutors, or private teachers

• The wealthiest planters sent their sons to school in England

• Slaves were denied education of any kind

Colonial Society

1. Gentry: wealthy planters, merchants, ministers, lawyers, royal officials

2. Middle Class: farmers who owned land, trades people, crafts workers

* Most people fit in this category 3. Indentured Servants: hired farm hands who

were working off their debt4. African Americans 5. Slaves

Colonial Government

• The right to vote by the 1720s was restricted to– Men– Christians– White– Over 21– Owned property

Puritan’s held town meetings to discuss topics concerning the settlement.

These helped to encourage the growth of democratic ideas.

Limits on Liberties

1. White men2. Unmarried women – they could buy

land, make contracts, sue3. Married women – could not make

contracts without husbands approval, they had to give all personal property to their husband

4. African Americans 5. Slaves – have no liberties

The Great Awakening

• Date: 1730s and 1740s

• Leader: Jonathan Edwards

• Religious movement that called on colonists to examine their lives and heed the Bible’s teaching.

The Great AwakeningImpact

–New churches formed / spread Christianity

–Spread democratic feelings–More people started to

challenge authority when their liberties were at stake.

–New spirit of independence

The Enlightenment

• During the 1600s and 1700s, European scientists began to use reason and logic instead of superstition to understand the world.

• This movement became known as the Enlightenment.• Many colonists began to read and discuss new ideas.• Benjamin Franklin: he wanted to improve the world

around him– Lightning rod– Smokeless fireplace– Bifocal glasses– Encouraged Philadelphia to organize a fire company and a

library and pave the streets

England Regulates Trade• England believed that its colonies should

benefit the home country

• Mercantilism: a nation becomes strong by keeping strict control over its trade (especially the trade of its colonies.)– Imports:

goods brought into a country– Exports:

goods sent to markets outside a country– To make more money a country must export more

than it imports

Navigation Acts• England passed the Navigation Acts to

regulate trade between England and its colonies

Purpose: to make England money

1. Colonists could only use colonial or English ships

2. Certain crops from the colonies could ship only to England

(first tobacco then later cotton)

Reactions to the Navigation Acts

1. Colonists could only use colonial or English ships- Colonists built their own ships – This made New England a center for shipbuilding

2. Certain crops from the colonies could ship only to England (first tobacco then later cotton)- Colonists resented this because it favored English merchants- many people ignored the Navigation Acts or smuggled goods

Triangular Trade