Unit 2.3: The Regions of the British Colonies

New England Colonies

(Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Maine, Connecticut, and New Hampshire)

  • Settled by Puritans who were seeking religious freedom from their mother countries

    • John Winthrop: Founding figure for the Massachusetts Bay Colony

    • Although they preached religious toleration, they doubled down on their radical beliefs.

      i.) Anne Hutchinson: Minister who criticized the religious

      authority of the colonies.

* Puritans: Radical English protestants who hoped to rid the Roman Catholic traces in the Anglican Church

  • Family farms and towns

    • Emphasis on the nuclear family structure

  • High literacy rates in order to encourage Bible reading

  • Unfavorable rocky soil and growing seasons

    • Utilized the abundance of lumber to invest in shipbuilding

    • Fishing played a role in overall commerce

* Mayflower Compact (1621): Established self-governance in the Plymouth colony.

  • Pilgrims were in need of a government, as they had originally planned to settle in Virginia, but they landed in Massachusetts instead.

  • Established Democratic town meetings

Middle Colonies

(New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware)

  • Attracted diverse migrants due to religious tolerance

* Quakers: A Christian Protestant denomination that emphasized religious liberty

  • William Penn: Founding figure for the Pennsylvania colony

  • Economically favorable, as they had access to major port cities

    • i.e., New York, which was formerly New Amsterdam

    • Growing middle class with emphasis

  • Cereal crops – “Bread basket”


Chesapeake Colonies

(Virginia, Maryland)

  • Jamestown (1607): Established by the Virginia Company

    • House of Burgesses (1619): Established colonial laws and oversaw tobacco cultivation

    • Competition with the Powhatan Confederacy led to issues

  • Took advantage of access to waterways

  • Economy relied on cash crops and plantation systems

    • TOBACCO

  • Religious tensions between Anglicans and Catholics

    • Act of Toleration (1649): Statement that religious freedom and liberty would be exhibited by the colonies

Southern Colonies

(North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia)

* North Carolina and South split occurred in 1712

  • Georgia served as a buffer state between French and Spanish colonies

  • Long growing seasons (agrarian society)

    • Relied on enslaved labor

  • Feudal social structure/hierarchy

  • Anglican but focused very little on religious conformity