New England Colonies Essay

The pilgrims who settled in New England were in search of religious freedoms which was a major reason for them to leave England. These people believed that no one should be persecuted because of their religious beliefs. Some Protestants wanted to break away from the Anglican church while others wanted to be completely separate. Since there were many reasons for leaving England, there were many reason to go to America and set up the New England colonies. Another main reason for people such as farmers, craftsmen and traders to travel to America was to establish an all around better life. The colonies of Massachusetts and Rhode Island were settled by people in search of religious freedoms or a better overall way of life. They wanted a better

life so they could put their religious beliefs into practice or start their own church and not live their lives in fear for what they believed in. Connecticut and New Hampshire were settled by those who wanted to make profits from trade goods including the fur trade. Some just wanted to make money off their land by using the natural resources found in these areas.

The pilgrims who settled in the Middle colonies left England in search of a bigger area to farm in. They settled here because the fertile soil and coastal location which was ideal for farming and trade related profits. New York and Delaware were established in America for expanding the trade. New Jersey and Pennsylvania were established because the pilgrims were offered large tracts of land, religious freedom, trial by jury, and a representative assembly. A representative assembly means they would set their local laws and taxes.

The colonist who settled in the Southern colonies left England so they could make money and get rich fast. They settled in Southeastern America because the fertile land was perfect for growing a cash crop such as Tobacco. Each colony in the region had different reasons why they were settled. Settlers looking to make a profit from trade and selling land would settle in either North or South Carolina. If you were just interested in selling land and religious freedoms then you would go settle in Maryland. Virginia, however, was established to expand the region's trade. There were many reasons to settle in Georgia such as religious freedoms, protection against Spanish Florida, and even a safe home for debaters.

Region
New England colonies are located in the Northeastern part of America. They include the present day states of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Maine did not exist in the New England colonies during the 1600’s, this area was just known as another part of Massachusetts. The New England colonists faced cold snowy winters and hot humid summers which made it difficult to survive from one extreme to the next. The New England colonies also received lots of precipitation all year long which caused lots of erosion along the Atlantic coast. Unfortunately the stony soil in Boston was not good for producing any crops, so the New England colonists used the fertile Connecticut River valley soil to produce grains for crops. Sometimes the colonists were able to trade the fish, lumber and furs for other goods they needed.

Middle colonies are located in the Central Atlantic coast of America. They include the present day states of New York, Vermont, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania. Vermont did not exist in the Middle colonies in the 1600’s, this area was just known as New York. The Middle colonists had all four seasons but at much more temperate conditions. They did continue to have large amounts of precipitation. The fertile soil in this region combined with the moderate temperatures led to a larger harvest each year. The colonies New York and Delaware were able to utilize the many waterways including rivers, ports and harbors to allow them to become the center for trade in America.

Human Environment Interactions
New England colonists in America would have barely or not survive at all if Squanto and Samoset had not shown the pilgrims how to grow food such as pumpkins, beans, and corn.

Squanto even showed the pilgrims where to hunt and fish. The New England colonies prospered as they produced furs, fish, lumber, cattle, grain, iron, rum, ships and whales. Even though the colonists produced these products, they mostly leaned on the fishing industry and a bit of ship building for the economy because of the stony soil that surrounded them.

Middle colonies were prosperous in industries like lumber, mining, manufacturing and iron work. They were also quite successful at raising cattle, fishing and farming because they had bigger harvests of grain, wheat and cash crops. They were also able to use the major waterways to establish New York as the center of trade to and from

America.

Southern colonies most important economical growth factor were plantations.

The plantation industry was the most important economical factor in the Southern colonies because they used indentured servants to help with there products. Indentured servants were people who agreed to work without pay for a certain amount of time in exchange for passage to America. Plantations relied on indentured servants to help with the agriculture. The good farmland allowed the servants to produce cattle, fish, grain, indigo, iron, rum, lumber, rice, and tobacco on the plantations. Tobacco was the leading export which was a wonderful cash crop, and it’s still a major industry

today.

Location
There were four New England colonies at this time. These colonies were known as Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut. This region contained the Appalachian mountains which gave them a large supply of timber and anthracite coal. The anthracite coal was used for fuel during wars and heat for homes. This region also contained the fertile Connecticut river valley soil that was good for farming. However not all soil was good for farming because near the coastlines along the Atlantic there was rocky soil. There were also many waterways such as bays, lakes, capes, wetlands, and rivers which made this region perfect for a fishing and shipbuilding industries. This location near the sea was ideal for shipbuilding as there was no need for transporting the ships, because they were already near the sea. The many rivers and wetlands made this area a good location for the fishing industry, because different types of fish live in the different types of water.

There were also four colonies included in the middle colonies they were New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania. This region included the Appalachian Mountains and Adirondack Mountains. It also contained the Hudson and Delaware Rivers which surrounded New Jersey. These rivers were easy to navigate with good harbors and connected to the coastal plains which all led to New York being the center of trade. Pennsylvania was known as the society of friends where everyone was viewed as an equal. The Middle colonies also contained piedmonts and plateaus.

Place
Thomas Hooker, a Massachusetts minister grew dissatisfied with the
Puritans leaders and the way that Winthrop ran the Massachusetts colony in the early 1600’s. Religion affected the government severely, an example of this would be that only male church members could vote or serve in the government. This means that the Puritans made rules and laws for themselves. Hooker took his congregation and settled in Hartford Connecticut. Later Wethersfield and Windsor joined Hartford and adopted the Fundamentals Orders of Connecticut, which was the first written plan of government in America.
Thomas Hooker longed for a place where all men could vote so he led 100 colonists to the Connecticut River where Hartford was founded and grew successful and made into the state of Connecticut.
In 1638 John Wheelwright led dissidents from Massachusetts to the North. A town named Exeter was founded in New Hampshire, and other Puritans settled Hampton this same year. In 1679 New Hampshire became an independent colony.
In 1636 Rhode Island was settled by Roger Williams, who wanted more religious freedoms. Rhode Island was the first settlement in America where every person could worship freely and whoever was forced out of Massachusetts, because they disliked the Puritan leaders beliefs, could come here.
While all these settlement were being established, Native Americans had traded furs to the settlers for iron pots, blankets, and guns. When the settlers moved onto Native American land without permission or payment, conflicts sparked. English settlers and native americans fiercely competed for the land. A war broke out in 1636. In Pequot territory two traders were killed, Massachusetts sent troops to punish the Pequot. In return, the Pequot killed nine colonists in Connecticut. Troops from Connecticut burned the Pequot main village, killing hundreds of natives in May 1637. In 1675 New England went against Wampanoag people and their allies. The Wampanoag chief, Metacomet, was known to the settlers as King Philip, who wanted the settlers to stay off native american land. The New England groups joined Metacomet when he tried federalism on small towns. The Native Americans and settlers fought back, this conflict was called King Philip’s war. This war ended in defeat for the Wampanoag and their allies. This means colonies were now free to expanding their settlements since the war destroyed the power the Native Americans had.

After the English defeated the Dutch a battle over New Netherlands broke out in 1664. The colony was unprepared for the fight and surrendered to English forces. King Charles ll then gave the newly gained colony to his brother the Duke of York. The Duke of York renamed New Netherlands, New York, and it was a proprietary colony which means it was run by individuals or groups to whom land was granted. The diverse culture groups in New York included the Dutch, German, Swedish, Native Americans and Brazilian Jews, the first jews to settle in America.
The land between The Delaware and Hudson Rivers was given to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret by The Duke of York. They named it New Jersey. Reasons to settle in New Jersey included that the assembly made the local laws and set the taxes. It was an ethnically diverse area but made little profit so Carteret and Berkeley sold their shares which returned New Jersey to a royal colony in 1702.
King Charles II used land as payment to William Penn as a debt owed to Penn’s father. He was given the land inland from the Delaware River, it was about the size of England. Pennsylvania had a representative colony. It too was culturally diverse settled by English, Welsh, Dutch, Irish and German people.
Delaware was a separate colony originally settled by the Swedes then the Dutch and then taken over by the English. It was run under the governor of Pennsylvania, which was allowed by the Charter of Privileges. It was located in southern Pennsylvania. Trades slowly stopped with the Native Americans as Settlers ran out of goods to trade.