The Thirteen Colonies Adapted from Vacaville Unified School District Regina Rosenzweig, Kate Wyffels, Nancy Riebeek A Big Book of History

Region by region the colonies grew. From dreams to reality, there was much work to do. What do you think it was like to go across an ocean hundreds of years ago? Europeans began coming to North America hundreds of years ago. You would not see land for many days. No one would come to help you if you lost your way. You might get sick. Rats might eat the food on your ship. Yet many brave people took this dangerous trip to come to America.

Region by region the colonies grew. From dreams to reality, there was much work to do. They came for three reasons. Some people came to get rich. Others wanted freedom of religion. Many others came because they thought they could have a better life in America.

Region by region the colonies grew. From dreams to reality, there was much work to do. In 1733, James Oglethorpe went to Georgia with 120 people. These people had been in jail in England because they were in debt.

Region by region the colonies grew. From dreams to reality, there was much work to do. The English started Jamestown in the Virginia Colony. This was the first successful English colony in North America. They came to find gold and become rich. They were hungry in their first winter and many died. They came for economic opportunities.

Region by region the colonies grew. From dreams to reality, there was much work to do. In 1634, 300 Catholics came and started a colony called Maryland. They left England because they were sent to jail if they prayed in Catholic churches. They came for religious freedom.

Region by region the colonies grew. From dreams to reality, there was much work to do. Charleston, also named for King Charles, became their most important port city. They came for economic opportunity, both for themselves and for King Charles II. In 1670, King Charles II gave property rights to some of his friends. These friends named their colony after their King. These two settlements became North Carolina and South Carolina.

Region by region the colonies grew. From dreams to reality, there was much work to do. Peter Minuet settled on Manhattan Island with other Dutch settlers and bought the island from the local Indians. He named the island New Amsterdam. In 1664, Peter Stuyvesant surrendered to English forces and New Amsterdam was renamed New York.

Region by region the colonies grew. From dreams to reality, there was much work to do. In 1631, the Dutch attempted the first settlement in Delaware. In 1638, Peter Minuet, led a group of Swedish settlers to the Delaware River area under a grant from the New Sweden Company. After defeating the Dutch in 1664, the English obtained Delaware.

Region by region the colonies grew. From dreams to reality, there was much work to do. The Duke of York made a land grant, to Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley. He gave them the land between the Hudson and the Delaware Rivers. The new grant was named New Jersey for Carteret, who was governor of the Isle of Jersey, in England.

Region by region the colonies grew. From dreams to reality, there was much work to do. The Quakers were another group of people who would not pray in the Church of England. William Penn was a Quaker. In 1681 William Penn started the Pennsylvania colony. There was peace and everyone had freedom of religion in the Pennsylvania colony.

Region by region the colonies grew. From dreams to reality, there was much work to do. JJohn Mason came in 1623 to establish a fishing colony. He named the colony of New Hampshire after Hampshire his home county in England. King James I allowed the colonists to own their own land as long as the colony was forever under English rule.

Region by region the colonies grew. From dreams to reality, there was much work to do. The Puritans were a group of people who did not want to pray in the Church of England. In 1628 a group of Puritans came to Massachusetts for freedom of religion. The Puritans did not let other people have freedom of religion.

Region by region the colonies grew. From dreams to reality, there was much work to do. Roger Williams told the Puritans that everyone should have freedom of religion. He met Native Americans who helped him on his way traveling through the forests. He bought land from them. Roger Williams started the Rhode Island colony on that land in Providence was the first city in America where there was freedom of religion for all.

Region by region the colonies grew. From dreams to reality, there was much work to do. English Puritans made the first settlements in Connecticut from Massachusetts, starting in Minister Thomas Hooker and his followers arrived in 1636 in Hartford. These settlers formed the Connecticut colony. They had left Massachusetts Bay colony because the Puritan leaders controlled their lives.

Region by region the colonies grew. From dreams to reality, there was much work to do.