13 Colonies Colonial Lifestyle and Road to Revolution

1600–1649 1650–1699

148 UNIT 2 Colonial Settlement: 1587–1775

1660 England passes Navigation Acts

1654 First Jewish settlers arrive in NewAmsterdam from Brazil

Life in the 13 Colonies1620–1763

CHAPTER 6★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

FocusColonists brought traditions from their home countries and

developed new ways of life in America. While lifestyles varied fromregion to region, in time the colonists found that they shared manyconcerns.

Concepts to Understand★ How diverse populations and cultures led to different ways of

life in the thirteen colonies★ How American democracy took root and grew in the colonies

Read to Discover . . .★ the reasons that particular ways of life developed

in different regions of the colonies.★ how events in England

helped to strengthen democracy in thecolonies.

SETTING THE SCENE

Journal NotesImagine that you are

a filmmaker making a

documentary about

workers in the New

England, Middle, and

Southern Colonies. As

you read the chapter,

keep track of different

occupations in each

region.

Americas

World

1607 Jamestown founded1647 Massachusetts establishes

public schools

Chapter OverviewVisit the American History: The Early Years to1877 Web site at ey.glencoe.com and click onChapter 6—Chapter Overviews to previewchapter information.

HISTORY

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/ushistory/ahey2001/chapter6/overview.html

149CHAPTER 6 Life in the 13 Colonies: 1620–1763

1700–1749 1750–17991725 English Quakers speak out

against slavery1748 France and England compete for

trade with India

1700s Thousands of Africans arebrought to America and enslaved

1750 New England merchants leadcolonial trade

1763 British begin to enforce Navigation Acts

� HORNBOOK FROM COLONIAL SCHOOL

Dame’s Schoolby Thomas Webster

Nineteenth-century artist Thomas Webster painted thisscene of a dame school in New England. Dame schoolswere a popular means of education in the 1700s.

History

A R TAND

The newcomers’ wagon rolled alongthe dusty New England road and stoppedat the grassy common in the center oftown. After weeks of rocking in a shipacross the Atlantic, the travelers werehappy to be on land. This place did notlook much different than their home inEngland. Would life in America be as theyimagined?

In the late 1600s the New EnglandColonies welcomed many settlers. Whatthey found was a way of life based on thePuritan ethic of work and strict rules.Many qualities that people think of as typ-ically American began with these thrifty,hardworking New Englanders.

★ Making a LivingWith a harsh climate and poorer land

than other parts of the colonies, New Eng-land developed an economy based on morethan farming. The region did have valuablenatural resources and drew more and moresettlers, mainly from England. These peo-ple made their living from the environmentaround them—the land and the sea.

FarmingFarming in New England was not an

easy life. Much of the land was hilly or toorocky and hard to plow. Before they couldplant, farmers had to spend days picking

The New England Colonies★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★


SECTION 1

GUIDE TO READING

� CHILDREN’S DOLLS

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information As you read aboutlife in the New England Colonies, use a dia-gram like the one shown here to list the mainways in which New Englanders made a living.

Read to Learn . . .★ what ways New England colonists made

a living.★ how much New Englanders valued

education.★ how community life was organized in

New England.

Terms to Know★ subsistence farming★ export★ import★ artisan★ triangular

trade routes

Main IdeaNew England was made up mostlyof small communities, where life cen-tered around hard work, education,and religion.

Types of Work


rocks out of the soil. They piled up stonesto make fences between the fields or tobuild house foundations and fireplaces.Many of these stone fences are still stand-ing in New England today.

The growing season in these northerncolonies was short. Farmers could plantand harvest only one crop—such ascorn—before the ground froze and winterset in. Most farms were small and all fam-ily members worked together. They pro-duced just enough for the family’s ownneeds. This type of farming is called sub-sistence farming. Sometimes farm fami-lies produced extra food—apples from theorchard, honey from their beehives—thatthey could sell.

Harvesting the SeaThe cold waters of the Atlantic were a

richer source of food than the thin NewEngland soil. New England harbors werewithin easy sailing distance of the greatfishing grounds in the Atlantic Ocean.Fishing fleets sailed regularly from theports of Gloucester and Portsmouth.

Fishing was a backbreaking, dangerousway to make a living. The most importantcatch was codfish, which New Englandersdried or salted to store, cooked in chow-ders, and pressed to make cod-liver oil.Fishing boats also brought back halibut,herring, and mackerel.

Fishing became an important part ofthe New England economy. Fisherscaught enough fish to export it, or sell itelsewhere. They sent some to othercolonies. They packed large quantities ofsalted or dried fish in barrels to ship tomarkets in Europe and the islands of theWest Indies. With the profits fromexports, New Englanders could import,or buy goods brought in from Europe.

The more adventurous sailors took upwhaling, which held the promise of betterpay. They hunted whales for their valu-able oil, which was used in oil lamps.Other parts of the whale such as the bones

and spermaceti—a waxy substance usedin candle making—were also valued.

The islands of Nantucket and Martha’sVineyard, along with New Bedford on themainland, were important whaling cen-ters. Many whalers’ crews includedNative Americans. This is how St. John deCrevecoeur, a French writer who settled inAmerica, described the crew of a whalingship and the dangers they faced:

. . . [T]hey always man themwith thirteen hands [sailors]in order that they may rowtwo whale-boats, the crewsof which must necessarilyconsist of six, four at theoars, one standing on thebows with the harpoon, andthe other at the helm. It isalso necessary that thereshould be two of theseboats, that if one should bedestroyed in attacking thewhale, the other . . . may be ready to save the hands.

Living From the ForestWhen Europeans arrived, thick forests

covered most of eastern North America.Colonists cut down trees to clear land,supply firewood, and build houses andfurniture. Like the Native Americans, set-tlers hunted in the forests for deer, squir-rel, or wild turkeys to feed their families.

Timber from the forests also provedvaluable for shipbuilding. Cedar, oak, andwhite pine all made excellent ship timber.Starting with fishing boats, New Englandshipbuilders went on to make ocean-going ships for the transatlantic andCaribbean trade. While there were ship-yards in most American port cities, morethan half the ships built in the coloniescame from Massachusetts, New Hamp-shire, and Rhode Island. England encour-aged colonial shipbuilding because itsown forests had been cut years earlier.

”

“


Business and TradeShipbuilders provided jobs for many

artisans, or craft workers, and other labor-ers. Carpenters and coopers—barrel mak-ers—found steady work in shipyards.Other artisans made sails, rope, and nails.Small factories produced naval storesfrom the white pines of New Hampshire.Naval stores were products such as tur-pentine or rosin used to maintain woodenships. Some colonists found jobs on shipswhile others worked on the docks, load-ing and unloading goods.

Women in the Economy Women played an important role in the

development of the economy of NewEngland. On family farms, most wivesworked side by side with their husbands.Many New Englanders became mer-chants. Women whose husbands wereaway at sea often opened shops. Othersproduced goods for sale such as cloth,garments, candles, soap, or furniture.

Triangular Trade RoutesTrading ships were constantly sailing in

and out of the harbors of Boston andNewport. They brought in luxuries suchas tea, English-made cloth, and furniture,as well as books and news from Europe.By 1740 New England’s trading centerwas Boston, the largest city in the colonieswith 17,000 people.

Colonial merchant ships followed reg-ular trading routes. Some ships wentdirectly from the colonies to England andback. Others followed what came to becalled the triangular trade routes becausethe routes formed a triangle. On one legof such a route, ships took fish, grain,meat, and lumber to the West Indies.There the ship’s captain traded for sugar,molasses—a syrup made from sugar-cane—and fruit, which he then took backto New England. Colonists used themolasses and sugar to make rum.

The rum, along with manufacturedgoods, was then shipped on the next legof the route—to West Africa. It was tradedfor Africans who had been captured byslave traders. On the final leg of the route,the ships carried the Africans back to theWest Indies, where planters were alwaysin need of workers. With the profits, thecaptain bought more molasses and sugarto sell in the colonies. A later routebrought enslaved West Africans directlyto the American colonies.

★ A Belief in EducationIn the 1600s, many people could not

read. The Puritans believed that peopleneeded enough education to read the Bibleand understand laws. Those parents whocould read taught their children at home,along with instructing them about reli-gious beliefs and practical skills. A com-mon scene in New England was a group of

Footnotes to HistoryFemale Attorney in Maryland The first female barrister, or lawyer, in Americawas Margaret Brent. She was the colonial attorney for the Lord Proprietor ofMaryland. Brent was also the first American woman to be denied the right tovote. Brent attempted to vote in the Maryland General Assembly in 1648. At thattime, Maryland’s law limited the vote to landowners. Despite the fact that Brentwas a wealthy landowner, she was denied the right to vote based on her gender.Women were denied the right to vote until 1920, when the Nineteenth Amend-ment was passed.


children sitting around a fireplace readingaloud from a shared book. This took placeat private dame schools. Here womentaught the alphabet, reading, verses fromthe Bible, and perhaps simple arithmetic.For colonial girls, this was probably theironly chance at formal schooling.

Books were scarce in the colonies.Instead of textbooks, dame schools usual-ly had a hornbook, a flat wooden boardshaped like a paddle. It held a sheet ofpaper printed with the alphabet and theLord’s Prayer, covered by a thin sheet oftransparent horn.

By about 1690, Boston printers began topublish the New England Primer. Soon this

120°W 90°W 60°W 30°W 0°W

60°N

30°N

Manufactured goods, clothes, furniture, luxuries

Lumber, furs, fish, whale oil, iron, gunpowder, rice, tobacco, indigo

Sugar, molasses, fruit

Rum, iron, gunpowder, cloth, tools

Enslaved persons, gold, pepper

Flour, fish, meat

Ensla

ved

pers

ons,

money

, mol

asse

s,su

gar

NORTH AMERICA

SOUTH AMERICA

ENGLAND

EUROPE

AFRICA

BritishColonies

WestIndies

0

0 500 1,000 kilometers

500 1,000 miles

British colonial exportsBritish colonial imports

ATLANTICOCEAN

British Colonial Trade Routes, 1730

Movement Triangular trade routes developed among the British Colonies,Great Britain, Africa, and the West Indies. What did the colonies export toAfrica? What did they import from Africa?

book of illustrated alphabet verses andsimple religious texts appeared in mostNew England homes and schools.

The First Public SchoolsBecause of the Puritans’ concern for

education, Massachusetts laws requiredall towns to teach their children to read. In1647, the colony set up the first publicschool system under the MassachusettsSchool Law. The law provided that everytownship with more than 50 householdsmust hire someone to teach its children toread and write. This law marked a steptoward universal education.


The first college in the colonies wasHarvard, founded in Cambridge, Massa-chusetts, in 1636. The first colonial collegesmainly trained ministers. By the 1700s,some young men were studying to belawyers. Most who wanted to be lawyersor doctors, however, got their training byworking alongside professionals.

★ Community LifeFrom the beginning, towns were the

center of New England life. Colonistsbelieved that issues of religion and gov-ernment should be settled within theirown communities.

The TownIn a typical New England town, set-

tlers built two rows of houses facing anopen field called the green or the com-mon. The church, or meetinghouse as itwas often called, stood on one side of the

green. As the town grew, more rows ofhouses and streets were built around thegreen. Most houses had a small gardenand orchard.

At first, cattle and sheep grazed on thegreen. Later on, pastures were fencedbehind the village. The common becamethe social center of the town. Many NewEngland towns today still have a towngreen.

One typical New England house stylehad two stories in front and one in back,with a long sloping roof. Because it resem-bled the shape of boxes in which salt wasstored in colonial kitchens, this style ofhouse was often called a saltbox. Mosthouses were built around a large centralchimney, with fireplaces for both heatingand cooking.

� PILGRIMS GOING TO CHURCH by George H. Boughton, 1867 Religion was animportant part of Pilgrim life. What evidence shown in this picture suggeststhat the settlers did not yet feel safe?

History

A R TAND

� WILLIAM BRADFORD’S BIBLE

Family LifeThe family was important in New Eng-

land. Puritan children, like their parents,had to work hard and follow the strictideas of discipline. Still, many familieswere close and devoted to each other.

Even with chores and religious duties,children had time to play, and parentsfound time to tell stories and make toys.Puritan children played jacks, marbles,hide-and-seek, and other familiar games.

Observing the Sabbath In a community centered on religion,

Sunday, or the Sabbath, was a high pointof the week. Farm and household choreswere set aside because Puritan laws for-bade most kinds of work on Sunday. Peo-ple put on their best clothes—whichmight be of rich fabric even if plainlycut—to go to the meetinghouse.

Inside, men sat on one side of the centeraisle, women on the other. Servants orAfrican slaves stayed in the back or in thebalcony. In winter churchgoers shiveredthrough long services in unheated build-ings. A Sunday morning service includedseveral hours of intense preaching by theminister. There was another service in theafternoon. To make sure that peoplestayed awake, a “tithingman” walked up

and down the aisle carrying a long polewith a feather at one end and a knob onthe other. Drowsy churchgoers were eithertickled gently or rapped on the head.

Town MeetingsThe meetinghouse was also where New

Englanders met to deal with communityproblems and other issues. At the yearlytown meeting, all the free men of thetown discussed and voted on importantcommunity questions. Town meetingswere limited at first to landowning churchmembers but later included all white maleproperty owners. This democratic tradi-tion is still carried out today throughoutNew England and across America. Nowwomen also attend.

Town meetings were never dull andoften noisy. Should a citizen be allowed tobuild a fence? Could a new road cutthrough the field of another citizen? Peo-ple brought up every detail of communitylife for discussion and elected the townleaders, called selectmen.

Although not every community mem-ber could vote, town meetings were animportant step toward democracy.Thomas Jefferson called them “the wisestinvention ever devised by the wit of manfor the perfect exercise of self-governmentand for its preservation.”

Checking for Understanding1. Define subsistence farming, export, import,

artisan, triangular trade routes.2. Why was the Massachusetts School Law of

1647 important?

Critical Thinking3. Analyzing Information Why were the town

meetings not completely democratic? 4. Summarizing Create a chart like the one

shown here, and use it to summarize New

Englanders’ views on education, family, andreligion.

6. Learn more about whaling and productsobtained from whales. Make an illustrat-ed poster showing these products andthe parts of the whale that are used inproducing them.

INTERDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITY5. The Arts Make an illustrated poster

showing products obtained from whales and the parts of the whale that are used.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ ★★★★★★★★★★★Section 1 ★ Assessment★ SECTION 1 ASSESSMENT ★

CHAPTER 6 Life in the 13 Colonies: 1620–1763 155

Education FamIly Religion

Quilts are pieces of history. Their verynames suggest long-ago times and tradi-tions—Rising Sun, Wild Goose Chase, Starof Bethlehem. For colonial women, quiltswere something more. They were a chanceto create works of art. The tiny scraps of fab-ric that were sewn into quilt patterns told afamily’s story, using pieces of a favorite shirtor baby’s dress. In practical terms, warmquilts were useful and necessary in coldcolonial houses.

Geometric Shapes Form PatternsBy the middle of the 1700s, inexpensive

cotton fabrics in many colors and patternswere available from India, another Britishcolony. To show off the beautiful colors anddesigns, quilters sewed square blocks fromsmaller patches cut into geometric shapessuch as triangles or diamonds. Every smallscrap of material could be used, includingleftovers from larger projects such as shirts ordresses.

A quilter worked hard to create lively andimaginative block patterns or put her specialtouch on a traditional design such as “DoubleWedding Ring.” New patterns were namedfor familiar objects, events, and occasions.Some included designs of a family home, aspecial flower, even people. Sometimes quiltswere patterned after patriotic or religiousthemes. A quilter sometimes signed anddated the finished quilt.

Finished quilt blocks were sewn together,creating a design of repeated patterns overthe quilt top. The top was sewed to a layerof padding and then to the quilt bottom.Few colonial homes had paintings or muchdecoration; their quilts provided both colorand beauty.

Making the Arts Connection1. Where did quilters get the fabrics to

make quilts?

2. What kinds of shapes were used in thequilt blocks?

3. How did quilts let the maker expressindividual artistic talent?

156

ACTIVITY4. Create a geometric pattern for a quilt

block using cut scraps of fabric or col-ored paper. Use squares, triangles, anddiamonds in your pattern. Glue yourscraps to a piece of paper to make aquilt block.

QUILTING

S C I E N C E M A T H G E O G R A P H Y E C O N O M I C S

HistoryAND

T H E A R T S

� COLONIAL QUILT

The Middle Colonies★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★


SECTION 2

GUIDE TO READING

� PINE TREE SHILLING, 1652

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information As you read aboutthe Middle Colonies, use a diagram like theone shown here to list the ethnic groups thatsettled there, as well as their religions.

Read to Learn . . .★ why the Middle Colonies were known

as breadbasket colonies★ which groups of people settled in the

Middle Colonies.★ what life was like on the frontier.

Terms to Know★ cash crop★ Conestoga wagon★ patroon★ apprentice★ frontier

Main IdeaThe Middle Colonies were home torural communities and bustling cities,as well as a diverse population.

Middle Colonies

Religions PracticedEthnic Groups

Sailing into New York Harbor in theearly 1700s made most sea captains smile.They could see a bustling harbor, a grow-ing community, and profits to be made.Growth and prosperity were evidentthroughout the Middle Colonies of NewYork, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, andDelaware. Here the land was gentler, andthe people were more varied in back-ground than in New England.

★ The BreadbasketColonies

For farmers, the Middle Colonies hadmany advantages—rich soil, a generallymild climate, and a long growing season.

The region also included several long,deep rivers that made it easy to transportproduce from inland farms to the sea.

Crops for SaleBecause of the good climate and soil,

farmers in the Middle Colonies could pro-duce more food—especially meat andgrains—than they needed to feed them-selves. People in other colonies, in the WestIndies, and in Europe were eager to buy thewheat and other grains they grew. Thesebecame cash crops, food crops grown to besold. Beef and pork were also exported.

The Middle Colonies produced so muchgrain that they became known as the“breadbasket colonies.” Millers groundthe grain into flour and the corn into meal.


From this, colonists baked wheat or ryebread or made cornmeal puddings. Euro-pean settlers introduced new foods—Dutch cooks baked waffles, while the Ger-mans made pretzels and noodles.

Taking Farm Goods to MarketMost farmers in the Middle Colonies

shipped their grain through two portcities—Philadelphia and New York City.They loaded barrels of grain and flour and

shipped them by boat along theDelaware River to Philadelphia

and along the Hudson Riverto New York City. Farmers incentral Pennsylvania ship-ped their products along theSusquehanna River to theChesapeake Bay. All threerivers flowed through therich farmlands of the MiddleColonies.

Many Pennsylvania Dutchfarmers had settled fartherwest, away from these rivers.To get their crops to marketby road, they developed anew vehicle named the Con-estoga wagon after a nearbyvalley. The Conestoga wagon

was large and very sturdy, more than 20 feet (6 m) long with a curved, boat-shaped body. Above the wagon bed, ahomespun cloth cover was stretched overan arched framework. Because its wheelsdid not easily sink into mud, it was wellsuited to the poor roads.

A team of four to six horses pulled asingle Conestoga wagon, which couldhold a ton or more of farm produce. Atraveler through Pennsylvania noted, “Inthe months of September and October, it isno uncommon thing, on the Lancaster andReading roads, to meet in one day fromfifty to one hundred of these wagons. . . . “In later years, pioneers would use awagon similar to the Conestoga wagon totravel west.

New York FarmsOwning their own land was important

to colonists. In parts of New York State,however, the old Dutch patroon system ofland ownership continued. Five wealthyfamilies ran their huge estates like smallkingdoms. The Van Rensselaer familymanor—owned into the 1700s—coverednearly 2 million acres (810,000 ha). Itsthousands of farmer tenants had to payrent to the patroon, or owner family.Unhappy tenants rebelled several timesbut failed to change the system.

� FLOUR MILL Farmers from the surroundingarea brought their wheat to be ground at thiswater-powered mill. What other farm cropwas usually ground into meal?

istoryPicturingH

� CONESTOGA WAGON


★ Business, Trade, and Cities

Besides the farmers themselves, otherpeople in the Middle Colonies prosperedfrom agriculture. Millers ground grain,and many people worked on ships or builtships that transported farm goods. Anupper class of wealthy merchant familiesgrew up in New York and Philadelphia.

Other businesses and small craftsindustries developed too. Many familiesin the 1700s spun thread, wove linen, orknit wool at home. Artisans, such as iron-makers, tailors, glassblowers, and silver-smiths, had workshops attached to theirhomes.

In cities, small shops sold goods such ashats, books, and tea brought by ship fromEngland. In smaller towns, a general storesold everything that people did not makefor themselves. At sawmills workers cutwooden boards and lumber. Using localclay, brickmakers baked bricks for build-ing houses or paving streets.

Cities Grow QuicklyBy the mid-1700s Philadelphia and

New York had passed Boston as thelargest cities in the colonies. Philadelphia,with more than 23,000 people in 1760,was bigger than most cities in GreatBritain. It was a major center for shippingexports. The city of Baltimore also grewquickly.

Busy port cities were a contrast to thequiet countryside. City streets werepaved with bricks or cobblestones andlined with shops and inns. There was thenoise and clatter of horses’ hooves andcartwheels. Crowds of people spokemany languages.

Many settlers in the Middle Coloniesbuilt houses like those they had known inEurope. Dutch influence, for instance,was strong in New York. Neat Dutchhouses were built of red brick, usually 11⁄2stories high, with steep roofs. Each had a

Dutch door divided into upper and lowersections. The upper part could be openedto see visitors, while the lower was closedto keep out animals.

★ A Different Kind of Community

The people of the Middle Colonies weredifferent than their northern New Englandneighbors who were mostly English. The

Pennsylvania

New York

Maine(Part of Mass.)

Mass.

N.H.

Conn.

R.I.

Del.

Md.

NorthCarolina

SouthCarolina

Ga.

N.J.

ATLANTICOCEAN

Lake Erie

LakeOntario

LakeHuron

80°W 70°W

40°N

Virginia

Cattle and grain

Tobacco

Rice and indigo

Fishing and whaling

Lumber and timber

Shipbuilding

Naval stores

Ironworks

Fur trapping

0

0 100 200 300 kilometers

100 200 300 miles

Making a Living inthe British Colonies, 1730

Human/Environment Interaction Britishcolonists produced goods to sell in thecolonies and to export to Britain. Whichcolonies grew rice and indigo?


Middle Colonies were settled by peoplefrom many countries, with differentbeliefs, customs, and languages.

Descendants of the original Dutch andSwedish settlers lived in New York, NewJersey, and Delaware. Other large groupswho came from Europe by the 1700s werethe Germans and the French. Many alsocame from England and other parts of theBritish Isles. Some were Scotch-Irish,Welsh, or Scottish.

Many ReligionsUnlike the New England Colonies, the

Middle Colonies did not have a singlereligion that was more powerful than anyother. People who came from one countryusually shared the same religious beliefs.Most belonged to one of several Protes-tant denominations, or groups, that hadfaced persecution in Europe. A minorityof the people were Roman Catholics orJews.

Many Germans followed the Lutheranreligion, as did the Swedes. Othersbelonged to smaller groups with distinctivebeliefs, such as the Amish and the Mennon-ites. One Mennonite leader who came toPennsylvania in 1683 described his trip astraveling on a “Noah’s Ark” of religiousfaiths. He arrived with Roman Catholics,Lutherans, Quakers, and Calvinists as wellas his own group of German Mennonites.

Quakers came to the Middle Coloniesfrom England, while the Scots and Scotch-Irish were mostly Presbyterian. MostFrench settlers were Huguenots, a term forFrench Protestants. The Dutch were main-ly Dutch Reformed, another Protestantgroup. The Jews in New York, RhodeIsland, and Pennsylvania came fromSpain and Portugal.

Country Customs and FunAs soon as Pennsylvania was founded

in 1681, groups of immigrants poured into

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Fear of SmallpoxThroughout history, people

have feared certain deadlydiseases. Today, at least oneof those diseases—small-pox—has been wiped outworldwide.

ThenA Dreaded Disease

Europeans brought smallpoxto the Americas. This diseasekilled or scarred millions of peo-ple. Smallpox was as conta-gious, or easy to catch, as thecommon cold. If a victim

coughed the virus into the air,anyone nearby might catch it.Native Americans had no resis-tance to the virus and easilybecame infected. Whole popu-lations died.

NowA Dead Disease

In 1796 English doctorEdward Jenner introduced a

vaccine that prevented small-pox. By the 1940s, smallpoxhad been wiped out in Europeand North America. By 1980smallpox was officially declareddead throughout the world.

Linking Past and Present

� A MODERN VACCINATION

� COLONIAL DOCTOR


its Delaware River valley. Newcomersworked together to clear land and establishcommunities. One German custom thatsoon spread throughout the region wasbarn raising. Neighbors gathered to helpraise the frame of the barn, then relaxedwith a huge outdoor feast with music anddancing. Sheepshearing, cornhusking, andbutchering were other chores that settlersoften shared. Any community gatheringmight end with footraces and jumpingcontests. Women also gathered in oneanother’s farmhouses to spin or makequilts together.

★ Education and TrainingWhile many colonists respected educa-

tion, the Middle Colonies did not set uppublic schools. Children were taught byprivate tutors or in church or privateschools. Merchants in some cities fundedcharity schools for those who could notafford private school fees.

Not all young people continued theirschooling. Any ambitious 12- or 13-year-old could learn a craft by becoming anapprentice, or trainee, to a master craft worker. The apprentice would workwithout wages for several years whilelearning the craft. Everything from shoe-ing horses to making wigs was taught inthis way.

The master was required to providethe apprentice with food, board, andclothing. Sometimes the master alsogave instruction in religion and basicreading and writing. At the end of train-ing, an apprentice might become a paidassistant in the same shop or go to workfor another artisan.

★ The FrontierEarly colonists settled in a band along

the Atlantic coast and the banks of a fewlarge rivers. As more and more people

arrived, some moved farther inland to thefrontier, a thinly settled area on the outerlimits of the colonies. In the 1600s, thefrontier of the Middle Colonies was theeastern foothills of the AppalachianMountains. By the 1700s the frontierextended west into the Ohio Valley.

The frontier drew an assortment of peo-ple. Many—including young marriedcouples, recent immigrants, and formerindentured servants—wanted cheap landand a new start in life. Some young singlemen wanted adventure and freedom from

Georgia

SouthCarolina

NorthCarolina

Virginia

Conn.

NewYork

Maine (Part of Mass.)

Md.

N.J.

R.I.

N.H.

Savannah

Charles Town

PhiladelphiaWilmington

New York

Boston

80° W

35° N

40° N

45° N

75° W

70° W

ATLANTICOCEAN

Mass.

BaltimoreDelaware

APPA

LACH

IAN

MOU

NTAI

NS

0

0 100 200 kilometers

100 200 miles

EnglishGermanScotch-IrishAfricanDutchScottish

Pennsylvania

National Origins of Colonists, 1760

Place Although all lived under Britishrule, people in the American coloniescame from many different national andcultural backgrounds. What groupsettled mostly along the AppalachianMountains?


Checking for Understanding1. Define cash crop, Conestoga wagon,

patroon, apprentice, frontier.2. Why were the Middle Colonies called the

breadbasket colonies?

Critical Thinking3. Predicting Consequences How do you think

the Native Americans who lived on the fron-tier would have reacted to the movement ofsettlers into the area?

4. Organizing Information Re-create a chart likethe one shown here, and list the groups thatlived on the frontier and the reasons theysettled there.

6. Illustrate a colonial street scene in NewYork or Philadelphia. Label shops andbuildings.

� COLONISTS GATHER TO WORK Settlers used wooden paddles to separate fibersfrom the flax plant. The fibers were then spun into cloth. What area was calledthe frontier in the 1600s?istory

PicturingH

the laws and restrictions in the settledcolonies.

In addition to the everyday chores offarming and housekeeping, men andwomen on the frontier had to do manyother jobs. They cut trees to build theirhomes—usually one-room cabins. Theymade their own furniture, wagons, candles,soap, and shoes. There were few schools, sochildren received little formal education.

Because frontier families all faced thesame dangers and hardships, they devel-oped a spirit of independence and equali-ty. Women worked alongside men andcarried equal responsibility for the well-being of the frontier family. People of dif-ferent culture groups shared and mixedtheir traditions and beliefs. Few of thesocial class distinctions were common inthese settled regions far from cities.

INTERDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITY

5. The Arts Illustrate a colonial street scenein New York or Philadelphia. Label shops andbuildings.


Groups Reasons for Settlement

The Southern Colonies★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★


SECTION 3

GUIDE TO READING

� INDIGO PLANT

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information As you read aboutthe Southern Colonies, use a diagram similarto the one shown here to list the region’s threemost important cash crops and the maincolonies in which they were grown.

Read to Learn . . .★ what the economy of the Southern

Colonies was based on.★ how Southern planters came to depend

on enslaved labor.★ what life was like on a plantation.

Terms to Know★ urban★ rural★ Tidewater★ Middle Passage★ slave codes

Main IdeaThe Southern Colonies were a mostlyrural area that relied heavily on slavelabor to produce cash crops.

Important Cash Crops Colonies

★ An Agricultural EconomyMost settlers in the Southern Colonies

made their livings from the land, but theybelonged to two very different groups. Afew wealthy planters owned thousands ofacres. They made up a rich, upper class.The rest were farmers—the lower class—who owned small farms or worked for alarge planter. Their lives were more likethose of small farmers in the othercolonies.

The land along the region’s southerncoast had long, hot, humid summers,mild winters, and heavy rainfall. Besides

Life in the Southern Colonies of Vir-ginia, Maryland, North and South Caroli-na, and Georgia differed in several waysfrom that in the other regions. City, orurban, life was important in the MiddleColonies. In contrast, the South was main-ly rural—mostly farms, with few townsand only one large city, Charles Town.

As in New England, the first settlers inthe Southern Colonies were English.Many, however, were wealthy aristocratsand friends of the king. They belonged tothe Anglican Church. Later settlers camefrom other parts of Britain—Scotland andIreland—and from France.


raising corn and cattle for their tables,farmers grew three cash crops—tobacco,rice, and indigo. All three required thehard work of many people. As a result,planters came to depend on the labor ofenslaved Africans who were an impor-tant part of the colonial population.

Tobacco Growing Tobacco was the first crop grown in Vir-

ginia to bring farmers a profit. Later thecrop spread to North Carolina and Mary-land. A few Southern planters whoowned thousands of acres grew half of allthe tobacco shipped to England each year.Families with smaller farms of 100 or 200acres (41 or 81 ha) grew the rest.

Large plantations covered acres of landalong Chesapeake Bay. They hugged thebanks of slow-flowing tidal rivers, includ-ing the Potomac, the James, and the York.This part of Virginia came to be called theTidewater, because ocean tides affectedthe rivers for miles upstream. Most plan-tations had their own docks on the rivers.Planters could ship barrels of tobaccodownstream to the coast and then directlyto England. For this reason, the SouthernColonies had fewer major port cities thanthe New England or Middle Colonies.

Rice and IndigoAround 1680 a ship captain brought

some rice seed to South Carolina from theAfrican island of Madagascar. Planters inSouth Carolina and Georgia found thatthe swampy coastal lands near the Savan-nah River were perfect for growing rice.By the 1720s, some rice planters intro-duced an irrigation system that increasedthe size of their crops.

Another important crop in South Car-olina was indigo, a plant used to producea rich blue dye. Indigo was harvestedwhile the rice was still growing, whichmade it a profitable second crop for Car-olina planters. It was a valuable export toEngland, where textile manufacturersused indigo to dye cloth.

To make a profit from the kind of cropsgrown in the Southern Colonies, plantersneeded many laborers. At first plantersused indentured servants, both Africanand European, to work in the fields. Soon,however, most of the workers wereAfricans brought from the West Indies.Many already had experience growingrice in Africa. About this time plantersbegan to treat Africans as slaves for life—as property that could be owned—ratherthan as servants who would be free afterseveral years.

★ The African PopulationBy 1760 there were about a quarter of a

million Africans in the colonies. EnslavedAfricans were shipped directly from WestAfrica to the American colonies. Mostenslaved Africans—more than 200,000—worked in the fields and houses of theSouthern Colonies. Smaller numbers ofAfricans and people of African descentlived in New England and the MiddleColonies. Some were enslaved, workingas household servants or on farms. Otherswere free people who worked as artisansor sailors.

� SHIPPING TOBACCO Planters shipped barrelsof tobacco to Europe and the West Indies.Along what tidal rivers was most tobaccoshipped?

istoryPicturingH


The Slave TradeAs soon as European settlers built plan-

tations in the Americas and the Caribbeanislands, they began to depend on workersbrought by force from Africa. Most camefrom West Africa. By the 1700s slavetraders, often armed with European guns,reached deeper into the African continent.They raided villages and kidnapped men,women, and children to satisfy thedemand for workers.

The Africans were brought to Americaor the West Indies in small, overcrowdedships. Africans later told their story of thehorrors and brutality of the Middle Pas-sage, the route between Africa and Amer-ica. Slave traders viewed the people ascargo, not human beings, packing in asmany as possible to increase the profitsfrom the trip. People were chained andpacked together in dark, filthy, cramped

compartments. Sometimes there was notroom enough to stand or even sit up.Many died from ill treatment and lack offresh food and water.

Many colonists did not think that slav-ery was wrong. The need for laborers wasmore important than the welfare of theAfricans. Some believed that they weredoing Africans a favor by teaching themChristianity and forcing them to forgetAfrican culture.

Around the early 1700s, some coloniesmade these attitudes law. They passedslave codes, laws that denied enslaved

History

A R T

Student Web ActivityVisit the American History: The Early Years to 1877 Website at ey.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 6—StudentWeb Activities for an activity about the Middle Passage.

HISTORY

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/ushistory/ahey2001/chapter6/webact.html


Africans most of their rights. Under thecodes enslaved people were looked on asboth persons and property. Under someslave codes, enslaved people could notcarry weapons or hold meetings. In mostplaces, it was against the law for them tolearn to read and write.

Reactions to SlaverySome enslaved Africans tried to run

away from slaveholders, and a few foundrefuge with local Native Americans.Most runaways, however, were latercaught and returned to their slavehold-ers. Those who were not caught had littlechance of making a life for themselves.European colonists were suspicious ofany African they did not know. Rebel-lions and resistance by the enslavedoccurred both on slave ships and onplantations.

Free AfricansSome enslaved Africans became skilled

workers, such as carpenters or seam-stresses. Generous slaveholders mightallow them to work for other families andkeep part of the money. Sometimes aworker earned enough money to buy hisor her freedom and perhaps that of aspouse or child. Some slaveholders gave

trusted servants their freedom. Eventual-ly, small communities of free Africansgrew up in towns and cities throughoutthe colonies.

★ The Southern PlantationEvery American colony had a wealthy

upper class. The rich planters of the Southdeveloped their own way of life on theirplantations.

A plantation centered on the “bighouse,” or the family mansion. Often itstood on a hill, overlooking a river. A typ-ical plantation house had two stories andwas built of brick. Through its tall win-dows could be seen a graceful staircase inthe entrance hall. To avoid the danger offire, the kitchen was in a separate build-ing. Other small buildings clusteredaround the mansion, including barns,laundries, and stables. At some distanceaway were the small cabins of the slavequarters.

Most of the plantation workers wereenslaved men and women. Many werefield-workers who planted and tendedcrops. Others were artisans such as black-smiths and shoemakers, while still othersworked as servants in the mansion. Theseworkers made the plantation self-suffi-cient, supplying almost all its needs.

Checking for Understanding1. Define urban, rural, Tidewater, Middle

Passage, slave codes.

2. Why were enslaved Africans important tofarmers?

3. Describe how enslaved Africans could gaintheir freedom.

Critical Thinking4. Comparing and Contrasting Re-create the

diagram shown here, and list the similarities

and differences between the Southern andNew England colonies.


5. The Arts Imagine that you are someone from New England visiting your cousins on a farm in the Carolinas. Write a letter to a friend at home describing your visit.


SouthernColonies

New EnglandColonies

167167

Study and Writing SkillsBUILDING SKILLSBUILDING SKILLS

Writing a Topic Sentence

Learning the SkillIn an essay or explanation, a paragraph is

a group of sentences centered on a singleidea or topic. The topic sentence summa-rizes the main idea of the whole paragraph.The other sentences further explain the mainidea. The topic sentence often appears at thebeginning of the paragraph. It can also be inthe middle or at the end.

In the paragraph below, the topic sentenceis in darker type.

Practicing the SkillWrite a topic sentence for each para-graph below.

1. Although the Puritans left England tofollow their religious beliefs, Puritancolonies did not grant that freedom toothers. Rhode Island and Pennsylva-nia, on the other hand, allowed peopleof all faiths to worship as they pleased.

2. Most indentured servants were peoplewho wanted to come to America butcould not afford to pay the passage. Inexchange for their fare, they promisedto work for a certain number of yearsfor someone else.

APPLYING THE SKILL3. Look at a recent edition of your daily

newspaper. Choose one story on thefront page and underline the topic sen-tence in each paragraph.

Geography affected the economies of the different regions of Americancolonies. In New England, a cool cli-mate and rocky soil made farming diffi-cult. The many harbors and rich fishinggrounds nearby, however, encouragedtrade and fishing. In the SouthernColonies, a warm climate and flat,moist land encouraged the growth ofplantations.

� NEW ENGLAND FARM

Glencoe’s Skillbuilder InteractiveWorkbook, Level 1 provides in-struction and practice in key socialstudies skills.

Democracy Takes Root★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★


SECTION 4

GUIDE TO READING

� SEAL OF WILLIAM AND MARY

Reading StrategyClassifying Information As you read aboutdemocratic ideals in the colonies, use a chartlike the one shown here to identify the causeof the Glorious Revolution and its effect onthe colonies.

Read to Learn . . .★ how the Glorious Revolution in

England affected the colonies.★ why England passed the Navigation Acts.★ how the colonists tried to establish their

rights as citizens.

Terms to Know★ bill of rights★ libel★ mercantilism★ Navigation Acts★ legislature

Main IdeaAs the American colonies grew, theideals of democracy—including free-dom of the press and participation ingovernment—began to take root.

Glorious Revolution

Cause Effect on Colonies

During much of the time that theAmerican colonies were being settled,civil war and political changes were caus-ing turmoil in England. As a result, thefaraway colonies were generally left aloneto handle their own affairs. When theEnglish monarchy was restored in 1660, itagain turned its attention to America.

★ Changes in Colonial Governments

Charles II, the new king, wanted morecontrol over the colonies and their prof-itable trade. Founded by different groupsand proprietors, the American colonies

were spread out along the Atlantic coast.Charles chartered new royal colonies inwhich he chose the governor and council.Later he changed the charters of Massa-chusetts and New Hampshire, makingthem royal colonies.

The Dominion of New EnglandWhen Charles died in 1685, his brother,

the Duke of York, became king as JamesII. He immediately tried to unite NewEngland, New York, and New Jersey as“the Dominion of New England.” Jamesappointed a single governor and councilfor the dominion and abolished the colo-nial assemblies elected by the colonists.


The dominion’s royal governor, SirEdmund Andros, set up new rules. Heplaced restrictions on New England townmeetings, schools, and the press. Becausethe rights of the colonists did not seemimportant to Andros, he was widelyhated. Andros was especially unpopularin Massachusetts, where he tried toreplace the Puritans’ CongregationalChurch with the Anglican Church.

The Glorious RevolutionNeither James II nor the Dominion of

New England lasted very long. The Eng-lish people feared the king would try tomake their country Roman Catholic. So, in1688, the English Parliament unseatedJames and gave the throne to James’sdaughter Mary, a Protestant, and her hus-band, William of Orange.

People were so pleased by this peacefulchange that it became known as the Glo-rious Revolution. The next year the newking and queen agreed to a bill of rightsthat put limits on their power. At the sametime it listed “true, ancient . . . rights andliberties of the people.”

When people in Boston heard about thechanges in England, they moved quicklyagainst Governor Andros. He tried toescape but was caught, imprisoned, andsent back to England. That ended theDominion of New England.

William and Mary restored electedassemblies in the individual colonies. Theassemblies did not have a great deal ofpower, however. Royal governors still hadthe final authority over colonial assem-blies and courts.

★ Bacon’s RebellionThe revolt against Andros was not the

first protest against colonial governors. In1676 Nathaniel Bacon, a planter on theVirginia frontier, charged that GovernorWilliam Berkeley was not doing his job.

Bacon claimed the Virginia governor wasnot protecting the frontier from raids byNative Americans and was more interest-ed in the profitable fur trade. Bacon soontook action in what was called Bacon’sRebellion. He led 300 small farmers andservants in a raid against the NativeAmericans.

Then civil war broke out betweenBacon’s volunteers and the governor’stroops. The farmers marched onJamestown, demanded other reforms,and later burned the town. The governorfled. Bacon’s Rebellion was gaining pop-ular support when Bacon suddenlybecame ill and died. Without him, therebellion collapsed.

Bacon’s Rebellion was by no means afailure. Charles II ordered GovernorBerkeley back to England to explain howhe had allowed such disorders to arise inVirginia. Berkeley died before he had a

� BACON’S REBELLION The raidagainst Native Americans byBacon’s mob showed Gover-nor Berkeley to be a weak gov-

ernor. How did King Charles II react to therebellion in Berkeley’s colony?

istoryPicturingH


chance to report to the king, but gover-nors who came after him ruled in a muchdifferent manner. They relaxed their per-sonal control over the colony andallowed Virginians more voice in theirown government.

Biography ★★★★

Zenger Fights for Freedom of the Press

Armed revolts were not the only way toprotest against colonial governors. Oneman who protested with the printed wordwas John Peter Zenger. Born in Germanyin 1697, he came to America at age 13 andbecame an apprentice printer. In 1726 hestarted his own print shop. In 1733,Zenger began to publish the New YorkWeekly Journal, a newspaper that openlyopposed Governor William Cosby.

The paper criticized the governor for ayear, until Zenger finally was arrestedand copies of the newspaper wereburned in public. Zenger was tried forlibel, the act of publishing harmful state-ments. Zenger’s lawyer, Andrew Ham-ilton, defended Zenger saying the printershould be found not guilty because his

criticisms of the gover-nor were true. Hamiltonasked the jurors to standup for freedom againstthe governor claiming,“It is the best cause. Itis the cause of liberty.”Spectators cheered asthe jury agreed andfound Zenger notguilty. Zenger’s casewas the first one inAmerica to protectfreedom of the press. ★★★

★ Controls on Colonial Trade

England wanted its colonies to be profit-able. The American colonies were valuablefor their natural resources and their tradeof goods. As early as 1650 Parliamentpassed laws to regulate trade. These lawshad both helpful and harmful effects.

Most European countries with coloniesfollowed a policy called mercantilism.This policy meant that to gain wealth, a country had to sell more goods than it bought. The English colonies were

Restrictions on Colonial Trade, 1650–1750

British trade actsaffected manyAmericanproducts. Whichtrade act dealtwith foodproducts?

Acts Restrictions

Navigation Acts1650, 1651, 1660–1661,1696

Only English or English-built ships could carry oncolonial trade. Tobacco, cotton, indigo, and othercolonial products could only be sent to England.Colonial trade laws had to agree with theNavigation Acts.

Woolen Act1699

Prohibited the colonial exports of wool or woolproducts.

Hat Act1732

Prohibited the exporting of hats from one colonyto another.

Molasses Act1733

Levied a large duty on foreign sugar, molasses,and rum.

Iron Act1750

Prohibited building of new colonial iron plants.Prohibited colonial import duties on iron boughtfrom Britain.

� ZENGER’S NEWSPAPER

important because of this policy. First,they provided raw materials to the homecountry. Second, the colonists were aready-made market for products from thehome country.

To make mercantilism work, Englandpassed laws to control colonial trade.These laws were known as the Naviga-tion Acts. The first of these laws, passedin 1660, said that the colonists must useEnglish-built ships for all their trade. Inaddition, certain colonial products, includ-ing tobacco, cotton, and indigo, could besold only in England or in an English pos-session. Later laws said that colonistscould buy only English-made goods. Anycrops or products bought or sold else-where had to be shipped through Englandand be taxed. As a last measure, Englandimposed duties on the coastal tradeamong the English colonies.

★ Moving Toward Self-Government

Restoration of colonial assemblies hadbeen an important result of the GloriousRevolution. It supported the colonists’belief that the English Parliament, eventhough far away, ought to listen to them.Americans actually had a lot of freedom torun local affairs through their assemblies.

Rights of the ColonistsThe colonists were proud of the rights

they had as English citizens. These rightsincluded the right to a fair trial by a juryof equals, and the right to be taxed by law-makers elected by the people.

Local governments in each colony wereshaped by the founders, by royal officials,and by the settlers themselves. Not sur-prisingly, colonial governments wereorganized somewhat like the governmentof England. Most colonies had an appoint-ed governor and a legislature, or law-making body, with two houses—thecouncil and the assembly. This was thesame organization followed in the EnglishParliament.

Members of the assembly, or lowerhouse, were elected by the voters of thecolony. Slowly, the assembly gained thepower to pass tax bills and to decide howtax money would be spent. The assemblyalso ran the colony’s military affairs.

Compared with people in Europe, theAmerican colonists had an unusualchance to take part in their government.Generally, however, voters were whitemen over the age of 21 who owned prop-erty. Women generally could not voteeven if they owned property. Otheradults who could not vote includedindentured servants, slaves, and NativeAmericans.

Checking for Understanding1. Define bill of rights, libel, mercantilism,

Navigation Acts, legislature.2. Why were colonies important to England’s

policy of mercantilism?3. How were most colonial governments

organized?

Critical Thinking4. Analyzing Issues Create a diagram like the

one shown here, and use it to list the ways

in which the colonists tried to establish theirrights as citizens.

6. Imagine that you are a merchant in oneof the thirteen colonies. Write and illus-trate a newspaper ad that shows youropinion of the Navigation Acts.


5. Economics Imagine that you are a mer-chant in one of the thirteen colonies. Write and illustrate a newspaper ad that shows your opinion of the Navigation Acts.

Citizenship


Colonists EstablishTheir Rights


CHAPTER 6 ★ ASSESSMENT


Montreal

PortsmouthBoston

Plymouth

Penobscot

HartfordProvidence

New HavenNew YorkPhiladelphia

Wilmington

Jamestown

ATLANTICOCEAN

Edenton

Charles TownPort Royal

ForestsSettled areasTownsRivers

Eastern North America in 1700

Using Key VocabularyMatch each word in Column A with the correct

definition in Column B.

Column A1. subsistence farming 3. slave codes2. cash crop 4. legislature

Column Ba. laws that denied rights to enslaved Africans b. farming that produces little more than the

farm family needs c. official body that makes laws d. farm product grown to be sold

Reviewing Facts1. Explain how people in New England used

natural resources to make a living.

2. List at least one important product exportedby each region of the colonies: New England,Middle, Southern.

3. Describe how enslaved Africans were a partof the colonies’ “triangular trade routes.”

4. Explain how most colonial governments wereorganized and how officials were chosen.

Understanding ConceptsAmerican Democracy1. How were town meetings in New England a

vital step toward democracy in America?

2. What effect did the Glorious Revolution inEngland have on colonists’ attitudes towardtheir rights as citizens?

Diverse Populations and Cultures3. Which group of colonies had the most varied

populations? Why was this so?

4. Re-create the chart shown here, and use it tomake generalizations about the three colonialregions regarding the listed topics.

History and GeographyEastern North America in 1700

Study the map and answer the questions.

1. Place Which town is located furthest inlandfrom the Atlantic Ocean?

2. Region What part of the region was forested?

3. Human/Environment Interaction Near whatphysical features did most colonists settle?

Self-Check QuizVisit the American History: The Early Years to1877 Web site at ey.glencoe.com and click onChapter 6—Self-Check Quizzes to prepare forthe chapter test.

HISTORY

ColoniesNew England

Middle

Southern

Physical Setting EconomicPopulation

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/ushistory/ahey2001/quiz.shtml?BOOK=002&CHAPTER=6&TITLE=Life+in+the+13+English+Colonies

CHAPTER 6 ★ ASSESSMENT

Critical Thinking1. Determining Cause and Effect How did the

agriculture that developed in the SouthernColonies affect the lives of workers there?

2. Understanding Point of View Why did theEnglish monarch and Parliament treat thecolonists differently from English citizens inEngland? How did the colonists react?

3. Analyzing Illustrations What can you tellfrom the illustration below about treatment ofAfricans in the colonies?

Interdisciplinary Activity:Speech

Work in a small group to prepare an interviewshow with the following list of colonists asguests: New England town resident, Philadelphiamerchant, enslaved person, Southern plantationfamily member, and someone from the frontier.Work together to develop a list of questions to askthe guests to find out about their lives. One groupmember acts as host; others are the colonists.

Practicing SkillsWriting a Topic Sentence1. Read the paragraph below and identify its

topic sentence.

Nowhere in the colonies could you findmore diversity than in the Middle Colonies.The first settlers in New York and New Jer-sey had been the Swedes and the Dutch.Then came English Quakers in Pennsylva-nia, followed by German and Scotch-Irishsettlers.

2. The following paragraph lacks a topic sen-tence. Read the paragraph and write a topicsentence that expresses the main idea.

On the passage to America, enslavedAfricans were given little food or water.Crammed into hot, stuffy holds below thedecks, they often had no room to lie down.

Technology ActivityDeveloping a Multimedia Pre-sentation Work with another stu-dent to create a multi-media presentation onone of the originalcolonies.

Cooperative

Learning


Using Your JournalOf the colonists’ occu-pations that you readabout, choose one youfound interesting. As afilmmaker, write a scriptfor a short film thatwould show this way ofmaking a living.

History

WritingABOUT

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Cultural Kaleidoscope

FFashion trends in Britain’sthirteen colonies started inEurope. Wealthy colonistsmight buy imported clothingmade in England. Colonialtailors and seamstressesoften followed patterns orpictures from Europe.

ColonialStyles andFashions

174

�

Bonnets For everyday, women and girls woreruffled caps both indoors and out-doors. More formal outings mightcall for a bonnet—plain or fancy.

�

Colonial HairstylesMen and women alike often wore wigs for festiveor formal occasions. Women’s styles called forhair swept high on top. Men’s styles were moreflowing, often with hair tied inback. Powdering thewigs made themwhite.

�

Men’s Hat StylesColonial men’s headgear might call foran embroidered cap or a tricornered

hat—one worn with a point in frontand one on each side.

�

On the Streets in TownsA typical day in a colonial town found people going about their business.

175

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Dresses for Women and GirlsColonial women wore dresses with long skirtsand fitted waists. A shawl over the shouldersmight add a touch of warmth or decoration.

�

Fashion AccessoriesTo complete her wardrobe, the

colonial woman might carry alovely fan to accent her

gown. The wealthy gen-tleman might carry

a finely crafted walking stick.

�

Documents

13 Colonies Colonial Lifestyle and Road to Revolution