The English Colonies 1600-1753

The New England Colonies

• Founders were English religious groups who disagreed with many of the practices of the Church of England

The Pilgrims Establish Plymouth

• Pilgrims- Group called Separatists

• Separate from Church of England

• Sailed on Mayflower• Landed in Plymouth,

Massachusetts • Squanto showed how to

hunt, fish and plant crops

The Massachusetts Bay Colony

• Puritan- Purify the Church, start a commonwealth

• Commonwealth- A community in which people worked together for the good of the whole

Puritan Town Organization

• Puritan law required everyone to attend church

• “New England Way”- Duty, godliness, hard work and honesty

• The puritan work ethic and abundant natural resources of the region led to rapid growth

Northern Agriculture and Resources

• New England soil was very rocky and winters long and cold

• Subsistence farming• Fishing, lumber for

ship building, fur hunting and iron deposits

New England Grows

• Other colonies founded by religious leaders who oppose Puritan beliefs

• In early 1700’s Puritanism declined because of drive to make a profit.

Triangular Trade

• Triangular Trade- Exchange of goods between America’s, Europe, and Africa

• New England send rum and iron to Africa• Trade cargo for slaves• Send slaves to West Indies for sugar &

Molasses• Take sugar & molasses to New England to make

rum

Triangular Trade

Africans in New England

• Few enslaved people • No need for slaves on

small farms• Slaves work as house

servants, cooks, gardeners, stable- hands, in shops, warehouse and docks

• Sometimes kept a portion of wage

The Middle Colonies

• New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware

• Protestants, Catholics, Quakers, and Jews settled

Agriculture & Resources

• The Hudson and Delaware Rivers supported shipping and commerce

• Broad valleys, rich soil and mild winters allowed farmers to grow crops & raise livestock

• Cash Crops- Raised and sold for money

Cities Built on Trade

• New York City on mouth of Hudson River

• Philadelphia founded on Delaware River

• Thriving wheat trade• Shipyards and

shipbuilding important business

Diversity and Tolerance

• William Penn founded Pennsylvania for Quakers

• Treated people equally

• One of the Wealthiest because people could pursue business freely

William Penn

Africans in the Middle Colonies

• 7% of Middle Colonies enslaved

• Most lived in New York

• Manual laborers, servants, drivers and assistants

• Free Africans worked as laborers, servants or sailors

The Southern Colonies

• Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia

Maryland and the Carolina’s

• Maryland founded by Lord Baltimore

• Place for Catholics• Carolina’s established

in 1663• Built Charles Town

became refuge for French Protestants

• Split in to North and South Carolina 1712

Southern Agriculture

• Coastal Plain, streams, & long growing season made Southern Colonies ideal for cash crops

• Grew tobacco, rice, and indigo

• South Carolina rice planters some of wealthiest in world

A Plantation Economy

• Plantation Economy- Way of life based on large, self sufficient farms

• Indentured servants bought their freedom, Native Americans died from disease & ran away

• Landowners bought African slaves

Africans in the Southern Colonies

• By 1750 more than 250,000 enslaved people lived in American colonies

• 85% lived in Southern colonies

• Made up 40% of South’s population

A Planter Class Emerges

• Upper class took control of the political and economic power of the South

• Landowners with one or more slaves could not compete with wealthy upper class

• Many moved to Backcountry

The Importance of Land Ownership

• In England fewer than 5% of the people owned land

• Colonist believed land meant land to be cultivated/owned

• Landownership granted political rights

• Large landowners highest social rank

Colonial Women

• Played an important role in Colonial America

• Common way to achieve status

• Cooked, churned butter, traded goods, tended animals, help raise crops, seamstress

Other roles of Women

• First to establish schools and orphanages

• Provide medical care• Women could not

own property and money earned

Colonial Children

• Apprentice- Worked without pay to learn a trade

• Girls rarely became apprentices, learned sewing & cooking

Colonial Education

• Taught to read or write so they could understand Bible

• Dame School – Learned alphabet and basic reading and writing

Higher Education

• Harvard, Yale, & Princeton trained political leaders, ministers and landowners

• Did not admit women• Teaching slaves was

illegal • Free Africans kept out

of school

The Great Awakening

• Great Awakening- Focused on internal religious expression, not external

• Individualistic thinking• Splitting up church

congregations• Educated Native

Americans & slaves• Contributed to American

Revolution movement

The Enlightenment

• Enlightenment- Relied on Science, not religion for knowledge

• John Locke- Wrote if government fails to protect rights people have right to change government

• Locke inspired writers of Declaration of Independence