The Social, Ethnic, and Economic Differences among the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies The original thirteen colonies, established in the 1600’s, shaped the course for the unique, unified and diverse America that we live in today. The thirteen colonies were initially diversified by being placed into three different groups according to their location. The three groups were as follows: the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies. The New England colonies were Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The Middle colonies were New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. And the Southern colonies were the Carolinas, Georgia, Maryland, and Virginia. The colonies were unified and stood together in hard times, Many of the New England colonists were white and the most prominent and religious families owned the best land. They had a system of self-government in these colonies which had representative town meetings across the colonies. The life expectancy of its citizens became longer than that of the Middle and Southern colonies because of the cooler climate they were accustomed to in Britain. The New England colonies were more industrialized and had built more towns than the others, causing the New England colonies social life to be more active than the other colonies and were centered around the towns. Many of the Southern colonists were primarily white and black, with the minority consisting of free men and women and the majority consisting of laborers and slaves. Many of the white men were plantation owners or smaller landowners who would employ indentured servants, meaning they had a tiered social class with the plantation owners at the top of the pyramid and slaves at the bottom of the pyramid. The Southern colonies created the House of Burgesses which was the first example of a representative government in America. The warm climate gave rise to a number of diseases that the colonists were not immune to causing their life expectancy to be shorter than that of the New England colonists. The Southern colonies were more rural and the towns were spaced apart further meaning the colonists did not interact with each other as much as the New England colonists. The Middle colonist’s population came from all around the world and the social class was mostly white. Social differences were clearly apparent here more than any other of the colonies. You had the Dutch landowners of New York, who were at the top of the social pyramid. You had the traders and merchants whom formed a middle class far below these landowners and not far
Both the New England and Southern colonies enjoyed some common conditions that enabled them to grow. First, the colonies were loyal to the English crown and considered themselves English citizens, subject to their mother country’s laws. They also shared a common language. Finally, England inadvertently helped the colonies develop a sense of autonomy by essentially ignoring them while dealing local issues such as the English Civil War in the 1650’s.
Two unique societies were constructed by people of common origin. These English colonists immigrated to the New World for either economic prosperity or religious freedom. During colonization, two regions were formed, New England and the Chesapeake Bay area. The two contrasting societies of New England and Chesapeake region were the results of diversity of: social and family structure; health and living conditions; economy; religion and beliefs; and government policies.
The New England and Southern colonies, although they had their differences, did share a similar government system. However, the differences on a economic, religious, and social level overrode the similarity shared, making the two regions different nonetheless. The New England’ colonies focus on a business economy made them a central area of trade and commerce, but in the long run created society open to innovation and brought in new inventions. Whereas the Southern colonies’ focus on agriculture economy brought a sensation of profits for the mother country, but later attributed to the introduction of slave codes. Then, in the New England colonies, the religious restrictions increased tensions between the Separatists and Puritans, which later
When the United States was still the thirteen colonies, they were characterized into three groups: the New England, the Middle, and the Southern colonies. These three varied in their economic aspects, their politics, social viewpoints, and the religion that was practiced.
Middle Colonies one of the more interesting groups of colonies had good soil, diverse population, and lots of different jobs. Since there is a moderate grow season and flat land in the middle colonies this allowed for great amounts of farming to be done. In comparison to the new england colonies who had rocky soil and short growing season. This made life more farm centered. In the middle colonies there were lots of religious diversity. In pennsylvania there were the quakers who were exiled by the king to pennsylvania. The religious freedom was also helped along by the fact that all of the colonies were settled by proprietors who let everyone have religious freedom. Since the middle colonies were taken over from the Dutch this meant that the
The New England, Middle and Southern colonies were all English ruled, but yet very different. Among their distinctions, was the geography which played an important role in shaping these colonies. New England attracted Puritan farmers who wanted to separate from the Catholic Church. But because of the bone dry soil in the North, these colonists found they couldn't continue with their traditional ways of farming. However, with the immense amounts of water that surrounded them, they found that they could fish and trade. The Middle colonies on the other, hand had a moderate amount of everything. The fertile soil and the major seaports such as Philadelphia and New York, allowed these Middle colonists to make a living any way they saw fit. This led to the brisk development of the Middle Seaboard . Unlike the Middle and Northern colonies, the Southern colonies had large amounts of fertile land allowing for the development of large plantations. Because farming the plantations was the economic thrust for the South, towns and cities developed slowly. Thusly Geography greatly affected the lifestyles of these regions in the New World.
Since it was easier to grow grain and livestock in the Mid-Atlantic region, there was a diverse group of farmers, fishermen, and merchants who worked in those colonies. The environmental conditions were ideal for farms of various sizes and the Middle colonists could trade in market areas where the colonial regions met. Although a lot of money could be made by growing tobacco (in Maryland especially) and other cash crops, they were bad for the soil and people needed more land. However, this resulted in a newfound lack of labor, which was an issue. For instance, families procreated too slowly, there was a high infant mortality rate, African slaves cost too much, and, according to the colonists, Native Americans didn’t make good slaves. Eventually white indentured servants from Europe were recruited to work on plantations, but it was a difficult life for them- even after they were freed they continued to earn low wages. This high demand of cash crops in Maryland and other Middle colonies led to an overall decline in the wellness of the
During the 1600's, many people in the American colonies led very many different lives, some better than others. While life was hard for some groups, other colonists were healthy and happy. Two groups that display such a difference are the colonists of New England and Chesapeake Bay. New Englanders enjoyed a much higher standard of living. This high standard of New England's was due to many factors, including a healthier environment, better family situation, and a high rate of reproduction.
When all things are considered, one can see the colonies didn't always agree with the way England handled things, in the area of religion, economics, politics, and social structure. Through their determination to obtain a better life for themselves, they ventured away from England and created their own nation over time.
The New England colonies developed a close-knit homogeneous society and a thriving mixed economy of agriculture and commerce. They developed this by creating a group called the New England Confederation. This focused on the protection of the people in the colony in the event of enemies trying to attack them. On page 49, it says “The primary purpose of the confederation was defense against foes or potential foes, notably the Indians, the French, and the Dutch.” They created this as a safety net for the New England colonies. Every part of the New England colonies had two votes, it didn’t matter on the size of the colonies. The ran it as their own because the king of the time didn’t care much for the colonies.
Colonial living in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the New World was both diverse and, in many cases, proved deadly through such avenues as disease, Native American attacks, a lack of proper medical treatment, and disastrous weather conditions. Even through all of these hardships, the first colonists persevered, doing their best to see the blessings in their lives and create a better life for their children through all of the uncertainties. Nothing, it seems, in the original colonies was set in stone except for the fact that they never knew what the next day would hold in store. Everything, even small mishaps, had dramatic impacts on the social, economic, and political aspects of their lives. These circumstances, however, were more strongly influenced by geography than class position, unlike what many were used to in England. How population, economics, disease, and climate played into the social conditions of early colonists is truly a story for the ages. Whether people were seeking land, religious freedom, or money and profits, everyone worked to a certain extent just to survive, let alone thrive, in the wilderness that was North America at that time.
The American colonies new England ,middle and southern colonies were very similar but different.The New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies grew differently over the period on 1619-1760. The three sets of colonies will prove that they were all different. There is hugely different between each other and style to lived. Such as, economics and agriculture.In this essay,
When settlers from England came to America, they envisioned a Utopia, where they would have a say in what the government can and cannot do. Before they could live in such a society they would have to take many small steps to break the hold England had on them. The settlers of America had to end a monarchy and start their own, unique, form of government. They also had to find a way that they would have some kind of decision making power. The most important change that the colonies in America had to make was to become a society quite different from that in England.
In the early stages of North American colonization by the English, the colony of Jamestown, Virginia was founded in 1607 (Mailer Handout 1 (6)). Soon after the Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded in 1629 (Mailer Handout 2 (1)). These two colonies, although close in the time they were founded, have many differences in aspects of their lives and the way they were settled. The colonies have a different religious system, economic system, political system, and they have a different way of doing things; whether that be pertaining to making money, practicing religion, or electing governors. Along with the differences, there are also a sameness between these two colonies. Each colony has been derived from England and has been founded by companies
During the late 16th century and into the 17th century, European nations rapidly colonized the newly discovered Americas. England in particular sent out numerous groups to the eastern coast of North America to two regions. These two regions were known as the Chesapeake and the New England areas. Later, in the late 1700's, these two areas would bond to become one nation. Yet from the very beginnings, both had very separate and unique identities. These differences, though very numerous, spurred from one major factor: the very reason the settlers came to the New World. This affected the colonies in literally every way, including economically, socially, and politically.