13 Colonies: Regions, Types, and Key Historical Events

New England Colonies

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island

Middle Colonies

New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware

Southern Colonies

Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland

Reasons for New England Settlement

For religious reasons — Puritans, Separatists, and other groups seeking freedom to practice their faith

Key Characteristics of Middle Colonies

Fertile land, diverse immigrants, good harbors, religious tolerance

Key Characteristics of Southern Colonies

Growing cash crops (tobacco, rice, indigo), more enslaved Africans, fertile lands, less motivated by religion

Types of Colonies

Corporate (joint-stock company), Royal (under king's rule), Proprietary (under chartered individuals)

Virginia Company

A joint-stock company that founded Jamestown in 1607

Problems Faced by Jamestown Settlers

Drought, aristocratic backgrounds, bad relations with Powhatans, communal workload

John Smith

Helped save Jamestown by enforcing discipline and work

Headright System

Granted 50 acres of land to anyone who paid for their own or another person's passage to Virginia

Indentured Servant

Someone who worked 4-7 years in exchange for passage, room, and board — not free

First Africans in Virginia

Arrived in 1619

Treatment of First Africans

Historians debate — some were treated as indentured servants at first

Jamestown's Main Cash Crop

Tobacco (introduced by John Rolfe)

House of Burgesses

The first representative assembly in the American colonies (Virginia, 1619)

Bacon's Rebellion

Armed uprising (1676-1677) in Virginia led by Nathaniel Bacon over high taxes, falling tobacco prices, corruption, and Native American conflicts

Roger Williams

Banished from MA Bay Colony, founded Rhode Island, emphasized religious freedom and separation of church and state

Maryland Founding

Founded by George Calvert (Lord Baltimore) as a haven for Catholics

Act of Toleration (1649)

Granted religious freedom to all Christians, death penalty for denying Christ's divinity

Puritans' Goal

To create a model Christian society others would look up to, known as the 'City upon a Hill'

Predestination

Belief that God has already chosen who will be saved or damned

Theocracy

Government where religious leaders rule in God's name

Great Awakening Message

Anyone could be converted and born again without traditional church leadership

Old Lights and New Lights

Old Lights = established churches (Congregationalist, Anglican), New Lights = new churches from the Great Awakening (Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist)

Enslaved Populations by Region

Fewest in NE (small farms), many in Middle port cities, most in Southern plantations

Enslaved Population in Virginia and South Carolina by 1750

About ½ of Virginia, ⅔ of South Carolina

Stono Rebellion

1739 SC slave uprising attempting to escape to Florida, led to stricter slave laws

New York Conspiracy Trials

1741 trials over a suspected slave and poor white plot to revolt and burn New York City

Mercantilism

Economic system where colonies exist to benefit the mother country

Navigation Acts

Laws controlling colonial trade: Only English ships could bring goods into England; All goods imported into colonies had to come from England; Certain colonial goods could be exported to England only

Positive Impacts of Navigation Acts

Aided NE ship-building, gave Chesapeake tobacco a monopoly in England, provided English military protection

Negative Impacts of Navigation Acts

Limited colonial economic development, high prices for English goods, low prices for colonial farmers

Salutary Neglect

Lax enforcement of the Navigation Acts due to long distance, England's wars and domestic issues, and corrupt agents