The Thirteen Colonies

I. Economy a. A region’s economy includes its wealth, resources, and the goods that it produces.

b. Analyze the map and answer the questions on your sheet.

What items were produced in the New England colonies? Lumber, beef, fish, rum, whale oil were sold in the New England colonies. 2. What items were produced in the Middle Colonies? Whale oil, wheat, lumber, beef/pork, deerskins, rum, and iron were sold in the middle colonies.

3. Which products came from the southern colonies 3. Which products came from the southern colonies? Tobacco, beef, pork, wheat, deerskins, iron, lumber, indigo, and rice came from the southern colonies. 4. Based on all the evidence you have seen on the map, what is a conclusion or judgment that you can draw from this map?

II. The Southern Economy The main business in the South was agriculture (farming). b. Much of the land was made up of large farms called plantations. i. People in the South could farm because of the South’s warmer climate, longer growing season, and fertile soil.

c. Plantations grew cash crops which were sold for a profit. i. Cash crops included rice, tobacco, and indigo.

d. Work on plantations was done by slave labor. a. Slaves lived under a series of laws in the South known as slave codes. 1. In South Carolina, slaves could not hold meetings or own weapons. 2. Some colonies did not allow slave owners to free their slaves.

e. The first permanent settlement in the colonies was Jamestown, Virginia. i. The London Company was given a charter to start the Jamestown settlement in 1606. ii. In April 1607, 105 colonists sent by the London Company arrived in America and settled on the James River in Virginia.

iii. Many of the men did not have any farming or carpentry skills. 1. By the first winter, two- thirds of the men either died of starvation or disease given to them by mosquitoes.

iv. John Smith took control of Jamestown and forced the colonists to work or else they could not eat. 1. The colonists built houses and learned to farm from the local Native Americans.

v. In 1610, John Rolfe arrived and introduced tobacco seeds that he had found in Trinidad. 1. Rolfe’s tobacco was grown in Jamestown and exported, or sent, to England. 2. Jamestown’s tobacco sold well in England. i. Demand for the tobacco was very high. ii. Rolfe’s tobacco helped Jamestown make a profit.

III. The New England Economy a. New England’s economy could not rely on farming alone to make money because of the colder climate, shorter growing season, and rocky soil

b. New England relied on four things to help its economy: i. Trading ii. Fishing iii. Shipbuilding iv. Skilled craftsmen (blacksmith, weavers, printers, etc.) 1. Young men started out as apprentices who learned a trade from master craftsmen. 2. Once they completed their training, they became journeymen who traveled and learned new skills before becoming masters themselves

IV. The Middle Colonies’ Economy a. People grew wheat, barley, and oats (staple crops) b. Raised livestock c. Used slave labor and indentured servants to farm or perform skilled jobs like blacksmithing, carpentry, or shipbuilding d. Traders exported goods like wheat to Great Britain or the West Indies (in the Caribbean Sea).

V. Mercantilism a. England (Great Britain, the British) owned the colonies for one reason- to make money off of the colonies’ trade! b. England practiced mercantilism- a system of creating and maintaining wealth through carefully controlled trade.

c. In order to enforce mercantilism and control the colonies’ trade, England passed a series of Navigation Acts. Under the Navigation Acts: i. The colonies could not trade with any other country except England. ii. Traders could only use English ships. iii. Goods could only be traded in English ports, where taxes would be added to each item.

d. Colonists wanted to be able to sell their products to anyone that would give them the best price, not just England. e. In order to get around the Navigation Acts, traders began smuggling, or trading illegally. i. Traders would receive goods including sugar, molasses, and rum from non-English countries. ii. Many times, traders bribed tax collectors in order to avoid British taxes and trade their goods illegally.

VI. Triangular Trade a. Trade between the colonies and England took the form of a triangular trade- a system in which goods and slaves were traded among the Americas, Britain, and Africa.

VII. Democracy a. Democracy is a form of government in which people rule themselves (self-government)

The Mayflower Compact 1. Pilgrims traveling on the Mayflower from England to America signed the Mayflower Compact- a legal contract in which they agreed to create fair laws that protected everyone in their settlement.

ii. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut 1. 1636- Minister Thomas Hooker and his followers left Massachusetts and found the colony of Connecticut. i. In 1639, Hooker wrote the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut. These laws allowed non-church members to vote (but still only for men- sorry, women .

In Connecticut, men could vote… …but women couldn’t.

iii. The House of Burgesses i. Some colonies had representatives who were voted by the people to make laws. 1. Each assembly of representatives created laws that had to be approved by the governor and his advisers.

3. In 1619, Virginia created its own assembly, the House of Burgesses, whose members were elected by the people. 4. It was the first representative legislature in North America.

House of Burgesses I have something to say! No one cares.

iv. Town Meetings 1. In New England, many areas conducted town meetings. 2. In town meetings, people talked about and decided on issues of local interest such as paying for schools

Everyone’s armpits smell. Town meetings Back then… … and today. Everyone’s armpits smell.

VIII. Religion a. Religious toleration means allowing other people to practice their own religion.

i. Maryland 1. 1649- The Maryland colonial assembly passed a law known as the Toleration Act, which made it a crime to restrict the religious rights of Christians.

ii. Rhode Island Rhode Island allowed for a separation of church and state (the government did not support any official religion). 2. All religions were allowed to practice in Rhode Island.

iii. Pennsylvania Quakers believed in equality between women and men, non-violence, and religious tolerance. 2. William Penn created Pennsylvania for Quakers but allowed religious freedom for any person who believed in God.

Keep calm and eat oatmeal.