How did geography affect the economic development of the three colonial regions?

The Colonial Regions

• Were very distinct

• Still they continued to grow

• 1700- 250,000

• 1770’s- 2,500,000• 1770’s- 2,500,000

• African Americans-28,000 to more than 500,000

New England Colonies• Most people lived in well organized towns

• Meetinghouse- church and town meetings

• Citizen army trained

• Farms were smaller

• New England had a poor growing season and rocky

• New England had a poor growing season and rocky soil

• Farmers practiced subsistence farmingsubsistence farming

• Just enough to meet their families needs

• Most Northern farmers reliedrelied on their children for labor

Commerce in New England• Commerce= trade

• Many small businesses

• Water ran mills for grinding grain or sawing lumber

• Women made cloth, garments, candles, and soap for their families

• Sometimes to sell• Sometimes to sell

• Large towns attracted skilled craftspeople

• Blacksmiths, shoemakers, furniture makers, gunsmiths, metalsmiths, and printers

• Shipbuilding was important

• Fishing and whaling was very important

Colonial Trade• Northern coastal cities were the centers of trade

• Linked Northern Colonies with Southern Colonies

• Also linked to other parts of the world

• New England ships traded with the West Indies and with the West Indies and across the Atlantic Ocean

• Followed different trading routes

• England and back

•• Triangular tradeTriangular trade

• Example: Rum to Africa

• Slavery was very common in the West Indies

Which part of the coast was the center of the shipping trade?

A. Southern coastal cities

A. A

B. B

C. C

B. Northern coastal cities

C. Coastal cities on the Gulf of Mexico

A

B

C

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The Middle Passage• Enslaved Africans first went to a

European Fort on the West African coast

• Tied together with ropes around their necks and hands

• Branded

• Forced on a ship

• Trip across Atlantic is called the • Trip across Atlantic is called the Middle PassageMiddle Passage

• A young African Olaudah Equiano described his journey:

• “So crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us2”

• Chained together for more than a month

More Middle Passage• Could hardly sit or stand

• Given little food or water

• Africans that died or became sick were thrown overboard

• Those that refused to eat were whipped

• When they reached • When they reached American ports they went to the slave market

• Examined and prodded

• Sold as laborers

• Between the 1400s and mid 1800s about 12 million were forcibly transported to the Americas

The Middle Colonies• Better soil and growing

season than New England

• Farms produced bigger

harvests

• Grew wheat and other

cash cropscash crops

• New York and

Philadelphia sold these

crops and became busy

ports

• NY- 18,000 people Phily-

24,000 largest cities in the

colonies

Which two cities were the largest in the American colonies by 1760?

A. New York and Philadelphia

A. A

B. B

C. C

B. Charles Town and Savannah

C. Newport and Cambridge

A

B

C

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Industries in the Middle Colonies• Some home based- carpentry

and flour making

• Others larger- lumbering, mining, and small scale manufacturing

• Iron mills

• Many were German immigrantsimmigrants

• 100,000 Germans came to America during the colonial era

• Most in Pennsylvania

• Great diversity in the Middle Colonies

• Germans, Dutch, Swedish, and other non-English

The Southern Colonies and Slavery• Good growing season and soil

• Most settlers made their living from farming

• Little commerce or industry

• Tobacco was the principalprincipal cash crop of principalprincipal cash crop of Maryland and Virginia

• Most sold in Europe

• Planters tried to use indentured servants

• Too expensive and scarce

• Began using enslaved Africans

Tobacco and Slavery

• Slaveholders grew

wealthy from

tobacco

•• SurplusSurplus sometimes •• SurplusSurplus sometimes

made prices fall

• This caused some

farmers to grow

other crops (corn

and wheat)

South Carolina and Georgia• Main cash crop was rice

• Created rice fields called paddies

• Work was very hard

• Standing knee deep in mud all day

• Blazing sun• Blazing sun

• Biting insects

• Relied on slave labor

• Rice was even more profitable that tobacco

• Rice became popular in Europe and price rose

Tidewater• Most Southern plantations

were located on the TidewaterTidewater

• Flat, low-lying plains along the seacoast

• Located on rivers so they could take crops to market by boats

• Each plantation was a self-• Each plantation was a self-contained community

• Planter’s wife supervised the house and house servants

• Plantation included slave cabins, barns, and stables

• Also blacksmith shops, storerooms, and kitchens

• Maybe even a chapel and school

BackcountryBackcountry• Toward the Appalachian Mountains

• Small farms- grew tobacco and corn

• Worked alone or with their families

• May have 1 or 2 slaves

• Small farmers • Small farmers outnumbered the plantation owners

• Plantation owners were very wealthy and had more influence

• Plantation owners controlled economic and political life in the region

Slavery• Most slaves lived on plantations

• Most worked in fields and suffered great cruelty

•• OverseersOverseers kept slaves working hard

• 1705- Virginia created slave codesslave codes

• Strict rules that governed the behavior and punishments of slavesbehavior and punishments of slaves

• Couldn’t leave plantations without written permission

• Could not meet in large groups

• Allowed whipping slaves

• For serious crimes, owners could hang or burn to death the slave

• Slaves that ran away were punished severely

African Traditions• Enslaved African

families were torn

apart

• Turned to African

roots

• Some learned • Some learned

trades- carpentry,

blacksmithing, or

weaving

• Some were able to

buy their freedom

Criticism of Slavery• Most white

Southerners were

NOT slaveholders

• Some did not believe

in slavery

• Less support in • Less support in

Northern colonies

• Puritans refused to

own slaves

• Quakers condemned

slavery

How did geography affect the economic development of the three colonial regions?

-New England: Harsh Climate and rocky soil led to subsistence farming; coastal location led to shipbuilding and other industries, fishing, and trade

-Middle Colonies: fertile soil and milder climate led to -Middle Colonies: fertile soil and milder climate led to larger farms and cash crops; availability of natural resources led to small-scale manufacturing, lumbering, and mining; good ports allowed trade.

- Southern Colonies: Rich soil and warm climate led to large farms, cash crops, the development of the plantation system, and an economy based on slavery.

Which of the following means producing just

enough to meet the families' needs, with

little left over to sell or exchange?

25% 25%25%25%A. harvesting

B. subsistence

farming

C. cash crop h

arve

st i n

g

su

bs

i s

t ence

farmi

ng

ca

sh cr

op

Ti d

ew

at e

r

farm

i ng

C. cash crop

D. Tidewater farming

The most inhumane aspect of

the triangular trade was the25% 25%25%25%A. Southern Route.

B. merchant trade

route.

C. Middle Passage. S

ou

t he

rn

Ro

ut e

.

m

er

ch

an

t tr

ad

e r

ou

t e.

Mi d

dl e

Pa

ssag

e. fi

shin

g tra

de.

C. Middle Passage.

D. fishing trade.

Where were most of the large

Southern plantations located?25% 25%25%25%A. backcountry

B. Tidewater

C. coastal areas

D. flatlands b

ack

coun

t ry

Ti d

ewa

ter

co

as

tal

area

s

flat

l an

ds

D. flatlands

The plantation bosses who kept the

enslaved Africans working hard were called

25% 25%25%25%A. overseers.

B. slaveholders.

C. employers.

D. supervisors. o

verse

er

s.

sl a

ve

ho

l de

rs

.

em

pl o

yers.

su

pervis

ors.

D. supervisors.

Which group controlled the economic and

political life of the Southern Colonies?

25% 25%25%25%A. merchants

B. teachers

C. farmers

D. plantation owners m

er

chant s

te

ac

he

r

s

farm

er

s

plan

tati o

n o

wn

er

s

D. plantation owners