13 British Colonies in North America

A colony is an area under control by a country and occupied by settlers from the Mother Country

The Mother Country is the country that “owns” the colony

For example: the 13 colonies in North America belonged to the Mother Country, England

The Colonial Period in American history: 1607-1776

Settlers came to the 13 colonies for a variety of reasons: make money, practice their religion freely, to “start over” in life, etc.

13 British ColoniesRegions

The 13 British colonies can be categorized in 3 regions: New England, Middle and Southern

New England colonial region: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Connecticut

The rocky soil and hilly land of New England made it suitable only for small, family farms

The growing season was short due to the long, cold winters

People in New England worked on small farms, or in the lumber, fishing or shipbuilding industries

Settlers first came for religious freedom.

13 British ColoniesRegions

The Middle Colonies included: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware (sometimes Maryland gets classified as a middle colony)

People from many different European countries (not just England) settled in the Middle Colonies

Settlers in the Middle Colonies were able to grow a variety of crops (including lots of grain) in the rich soil, had milder weather and raised livestock

In addition to farming, people in the Middle Colonies worked in the lumber (valleys and wooded mountains)and shipbuilding industries (coastal areas)

There were a variety of religions in the Middle Colonies One example of a religion: Quakers started Pennsylvania, in

order to practice their religion freely.

13 British ColoniesRegions

The Southern Colonies included: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia

Fertile soil and a warm, moist climate combined to make an ideal setting for growing crops– especially cash crops (tobacco, rice, indigo, etc.)

Wealthy colonists in the Southern Colonies established large farms (plantations) where only 1 or 2 cash crops were grown

The region had broad rivers and vast wetlands that merged with the sea.

Indentured servants and African slaves worked in the fields to sow and harvest the cash crops. (Keep in mind there were slaves in ALL of the colonial regions at this time.)

In addition, debtors were able to start a new life in Georgia.

Focus on 6…

Rather than studying the specific details of ALL 13 of the colonies, we are going to focus on 6

They will be introduced in the order they were founded

Virginia (southern colony)began as the early settlement of Jamestown the success of Jamestown, and later Virginia, was due

in large part to tobacco (“brown gold”) the first African slaves were brought to Jamestown in

1619 (later there would be slavery in ALL of the 13 colonies– even the New England colonies)

the first representative government (land-owning white men could elect representatives to run the government) was founded in Virginia: the House of Burgesses

the famous colonial city of Williamsburg was the capital of the Virginia colony

Massachusetts (New England colony)

began as the Plymouth settlement in 1620

founded by Puritans (the Pilgrims were a type of Puritan)– who were seeking to practice their religion freely (they wanted to purify the Church of England)

Ironically, Massachusetts did not allow religious freedom– the Puritan church was the only allowed church

Settlers unhappy with Massachusetts broke off to form Rhode Island and Connecticut

the most famous colonial city in Massachusetts: Boston

Colonial Boston

New York (Middle colony) this colony was originally

founded by the Dutch (people from the Netherlands) in 1624

when the Dutch settled it, they named it New Netherland and its largest city was called New Amsterdam

in 1664, the English took over (without having to fire a shot, even though they were prepared to do so) and promptly renamed the colony New York (after a place in England)

New York colony was home to people of mainly Dutch and English background AND people of various faiths

Colonial shipbuilding– port city of New York

Maryland’s founder: Lord Baltimore

Maryland (Southern/Middle colony)

founded by the Calvert family, an English noble family, in 1634

the men of the Calvert family were granted the title of Lord Baltimore by the King of England (thus, Maryland’s city of Baltimore)

the Calvert family was Catholic– and because England was a Protestant country, they felt they were being treated poorly

so Lord Calvert got permission from the King to establish a colony where there was religious freedom– one of the few colonies where Catholics could worship freely

Pennsylvania (Middle colony) founded by William Penn in 1682 the King of England owed a debt to

Penn’s father AND the King disliked Penn because he was not a member of the Church of England– but was a member of the Society of Friends (or Quakers)

Quakers believed in treating all people fairly; they refused to bow before the king, pay taxes to the Church of England, or fight in wars

Penn advertised his colony as a place where people of any faith could practice freely– including Quakers

Penn named his capital city Philadelphia– Greek for “city of brotherly love”

Philadelphia became one of the most famous colonial cities– especially because it is where the Declaration of Independence was written

Colonial Philadelphia

Early colonial map of Georgia

Georgia (Southern colony)

founded in 1733 by James Oglethorpe

the Georgia colony was founded to 1) provide a place for debtors to go, rather than to jail (debtor = someone who owes money) AND 2) to provide a geographic buffer against the Spanish colony of Florida

Oglethorpe tried to impose rules such as no drinking and no slaves– but the people of Georgia rejected these ideas

the Georgia colony became home to people of a variety of faiths