Life in the Colonies

New England Colonies (Northern) Most people in New England lived in well-organized towns. In the center of the town stood the meetinghouse, a building used for both church services and town meetings. Farmers lived in the town and worked in fields on its outskirts. However, New England farms were smaller than those farther south. Long winters and thin rocky soil made large-scale farming difficult. Farmers in New England practiced subsistence farming, which means that they generally produced just enough to meet the needs of their families. Most Northern farmers relied on their children for labor.

Commerce in New England New England also had many small businesses. Some people used the waterpower from the streams on their land to run mills for grinding grain or sawing lumber. Women who made cloth, garments, candles, or soap for their families sometimes made enough of these products to sell or trade. Additionally, Trees from the forests regarded as a source of wood. Large towns attracted skilled craftspeople who set themselves up as blacksmiths, shoemakers, furniture makers, gunsmiths, metal smiths, and printers. Shipbuilding was an important industry in the North since the region relied on fishing. New Englanders fished for cod, halibut, crabs, oysters, and lobsters. Some even ventured far out to sea to hunt whales for oil and whalebone.

Colonial Trade As the center of the shipping trade in America, northern coastal cities linked the northern colonies with the Southern Colonies, and linked America to other parts of the world. New England ships sailed south along the Atlantic coast, trading with the colonies and with island in the West Indies. Ships brought sugar and molasses from the West Indies to the New England Colonies. Many of these colonial merchant ships followed the Triangular Trade route which was route that formed that formed a triangle through the Atlantic ocean. With its trade, shipbuilding, and fishing, New England’s economy flourished. New England’s population grew and cities and towns developed. The inhumane part of the triangular trade, shipping African Americans to the West Indies was known as the Middle Passage.

Middle Colonies The Middle Colonies enjoyed fertile soil and a slightly milder climate than New England’s. Farmers in this region cultivated larger areas of land and produced bigger harvests than did New Englanders. Men, women, and children worked all day. Boys helped harvest crops while girls helped with housework. In New York and Pennsylvania, farmers grew large quantities of wheat and other cash crops, crops that could be sold easily in the markets and overseas. Like New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies also had industries. Some were home-based crafts such as carpentry and flour making. Others included larger businesses such as lumbering, mining, and small-scale manufacturing. The Middle Colonies also had cultural diversity (Variety) from nearly 100,000 German immigrants who came to America.

Southern Colonies With their rich soil and warm climate, the Southern Colonies were well suited to certain kinds of farming. Southern farmers could cultivate large areas of land and produce harvests of cash crops. Because most settlers in the Southern Colonies made their living from farming the land, they didn’t find the need to develop industry. Tobacco was the principal cash crop of the South. Most of the large Southern plantations were located in the Tidewater, a region of flat, low lying, plains along the seacoast. West of the Tidewater lay a region called the back country. This region consisted of hills and forests that was settled by hardy new-comers to the colonies. These settlers grew corn and tobacco on small farms.