The New England colonies were founded by political and religious reformers and developed around tightly knit towns and villages.

Massachusetts- Who? Why?  The migration to Massachusetts Bay during the 1630s was led by a religious group known as the Puritans. Their leader was a man named William Bradford.  They came to the New World looking to practice their religion freely.

Massachusetts- WHEN? ECONOMY?  In 1630 about 1000 Puritans arrived at the colony. John Winthrop was elected governor.  Winthrop decided that all church members could vote.  The elected officials became part of an assembly called the General Court.  The colony prospered. Many new settlers came to the colony and settled in what is now Boston.  The economy of this colony was based on fishing, livestock, lumber, and shipping.

Connecticut- WHO? WHY? WHEN? WHAT ELSE?  The Puritan leaders were very strict and did not like to be questioned. This led some people to want to leave the colony to seek freedom from the strict Puritan life.  In 1636 a minister named Thomas Hooker led about 100 settlers out of Massachusetts Bay. When they got to the Connecticut River, they built a town, called Hartford.  The settlers wrote a plan of government called the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut in This plan gave all men the right to vote, even non-church members. It also limited the government’s power.  The economy of Connecticut was based on fishing, whaling, and shipbuilding.

Rhode Island- WHO? WHEN? WHY? ECONOMY?  Roger Williams was a young minister who challenged the Puritans.  He believed that the church and the government should be separate.  He believed that people should not be forced to go to church.  The General Court ordered him to leave Massachusetts.  In 1647 Williams, with a woman who had also been kicked out of Massachusetts named Anne Hutchinson, started a new colony became known as Rhode Island.  He allowed people of all religions to worship freely.  The government was an elected assembly of citizens.

Anne Hutchinson  Among those who fled to Rhode Island was Anne Hutchinson.  Hutchinson attended church and held gatherings at her home after church to discuss the sermons.  She often questioned the Puritan teachings and persuaded many people to question them too.  The Puritan leaders grew angry. They brought her to trial.  During her trial, she told the court that God spoke to her spirit.  The leaders were shocked! God speaking to a woman??!  The court ordered her to leave the colony. She fled for Rhode Island.  For many later Americans, Hutchinson became a symbol for religious freedom.

New Hampshire- WHO? WHEN? WHY? ECONOMY?  The colony of New Hampshire was settled by fishermen as a trading and fishing colony along the coast just north of Boston.  It became its own colony around  Like the other colonies, New Hampshire’s government consisted of an elected assembly. SHIPBUILDING WHALING

Life in a New England Town  Religion-Sunday was a worship day (no games, jokes, or visits to town. Everyone had to attend church).  Government-held town meeting to discuss and vote on issues. Examples of representative government are the General Court in Massachusetts and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut.  Economy-based on shipbuilding and fishing industries.

 The Dutch set up a colony called New Netherland.  However, England was jealous at the Dutch’s success, so they sent a fleet of warships to capture the colony in  The unpopular Dutch governor surrendered without a fight.  England took over the colony of New Netherland.  King Charles II of England gave the colony to his brother, the Duke of York.  The Duke renamed the colony New York!  People in New York were typically farmers and fishermen.

 The Duke of York decided his colony, New York, was too large to govern.  He gave some of the land to two of his friends.  His friends set up a proprietary colony called New Jersey.  A proprietary colony is a colony where land is given to one or more people in exchange for a yearly payment.  New Jersey had fertile farmland and attracted a lot of people.  In 1702, New Jersey became a royal colony, which is a colony under the direct control of the English crown.

 William Penn  West of New Jersey, William Penn founded the colony of Pennsylvania in Penn was a friend of the King of England and a Quaker.  The Quakers  Quakers believed that all people were equal in God’s sight.  They allowed women to preach in public and refused to bow down to nobles.  Most people thought the Quakers were wicked. They were fined and arrested for their actions.  The economy of Pennsylvania was prosperous. Settlers here were farmers, merchants, and tradesmen.

 A Policy of Fairness  Penn wanted his colony to be an example of religious freedom, peace, and fair living.  People of many different religions came to Pennsylvania to live.  Penn was also an advocate for the rights of Native Americans.  He believed their lands were being taken unjustly.  The Colony Grows  Because Penn advertised his colony in Europe, many new arrivals settled in Pennsylvania.  Penn planned a great capital city along the Delaware River. It became the city of Philadelphia.  Delaware- Penn allowed the lower part of his colony separate in 1704.

 Most people made their living by farming. Farming was better in the Middle Colonies than in the New England colonies.  Farmers raised cash crops, such as wheat, barley, and rye. The Middle Colonies became known as the Breadbasket Colonies.  Farmers also raised herds of cattle and pigs.  Enslaved African Americans were used to work the large farms.  There were also skilled workers in the colonies.  Hardware, clocks, watches, locks, guns, flints, glass, stoneware, nails, and paper were available.

Virginia  The colony of Virginia was the first permanent English colony in the New World.  Jamestown, VA was settled in 1607 by English settlers for the purpose of claiming land and making money for England.  The economy of Virginia was based upon tobacco farming.

Maryland  Lord Baltimore (Cecilius Calvert) wanted to establish a colony for Catholics.  He named the colony Maryland in honor of the King’s wife.  Settling the Colony  In 1634, about 200 colonists landed in Chesapeake Bay.  It was truly a land of plenty, full of fish oysters, and crabs.  Maryland’s colonists hoped to plant tobacco.  Government  Lord Baltimore set up an elected assembly.  He offered generous land grants to anyone who brought over servants, women, and children.  Act of Toleration – religious freedom  Bacon’s Rebellion

The Carolinas  In 1663, a group of English nobles received permission from the King to settle here.  The area was divided into two colonies- North Carolina & South Carolina.  North Carolina was occupied mainly by poor tobacco farmers.  South Carolina was the home to the rich nobles. Large plantations and a great city, known as Charles Town were located here.  Immigrants from all over Europe settled here.  Rise of Plantation Slavery  Over time, planters in the colony learned that rice grew well near the coast.  However, they needed slaves to work the large rice plantations.  At first they used Indians, who died quickly.  Then they began using slaves from Africa.  Soon, Africans outnumbered Europeans in South Carolina.

Georgia  The last of the Southern Colonies was carved out of the southern part of S. Carolina.  James Oglethorpe founded the colony in  He wanted the colony to be a place where debtors, or people who owed money, could make a fresh start.  Under English law, debtors could be imprisoned until they paid up.  Oglethorpe paid their way to the colony and offered them land.  The economy of Georgia was based upon farming and trade.

Two Ways of Life  As the Southern colonies grew, two distinct ways of life emerged- one along the Atlantic coast and the other in the back-country.  Tidewater Plantations  This area closer to the Atlantic coast proved to be fertile soil for tobacco.  Large, wealthy plantations sprouted.  Gently sloping land and plentiful rivers offered rich farmland.  Plantations were owned by few very wealthy families who lived in huge houses.  They consisted of several buildings and many slaves.

Two Ways of Life  The Backcountry South  West of the Tidewater, life was very different.  The land was covered in dense forests.  Settlements in the backcountry were more democratic.  People were more likely to treat each other as equals here.  Families farmed and hunted.  They took care of themselves.  There were few slaves here.  Neighbors counted on each other during hard times.

Growth of Slavery & The Slave Trade  From what we have learned so far, why do you think slavery began to grow?  By 1700, plantations in the Southern colonies began to rely heavily on slave labor.  Slaves became the majority of the population in this area.  In order to maintain their supply of slaves, plantation owners relied on a system of slave trading that stretched halfway around the globe.

Slavery had been part of African society since ancient times. Usually, slaves were the captives of war. They were treated as servants and not as property. Slave traders in Africa made fortunes selling African slaves overseas.

The Middle Passage  In the 1700s, English sailors began referring to the passage of slave ships west across the Atlantic as the “Middle Passage.”  Below the decks of the ships, slaves were chained together tightly, and crammed together in suffocating conditions.  Slaves would often fight back, but the slave traders would be heavily armed and guarding against such action.  Some slaves would commit suicide by refusing to eat or throwing themselves overboard.  10-20% of Africans put aboard the ships did not survive.  As many as 2 to 3 million Africans died on the Middle Passage.