England and the colonies prosper The 13 Colonies Develop

Prosperity of England in the Colonies By the mid 1700s, there were 13 colonies in America and all were controlled by the British. The purpose of the 13 colonies was to benefit England The colonies exported raw materials to England and imported manufactured goods produced by England The people of the 13 colonies were primarily English, however there was a wide variety of nationalities present in the colonies. Together, the 13 colonies had very diverse economies, resources, and agricultural products

Mercantilism About the same time the colonies were developing, a new economic theory dominated Europe. This new economic theory was called mercantilism Under mercantilism, European countries believed they could increase their wealth and power in 2 ways: Obtain as much gold and silver as possible Establish a favorable balance of trade (sell more goods to other countries than it bought) A nation’s goal under mercantilism was to be as self-sufficient as possible and not have to depend on other countries for goods Colonies were very important in accomplishing this goal

The Navigation Acts In order to protect their investment in the American colonies, England passed the Navigation Acts (1651) The Navigation Acts established the following rules: No country could trade with the colonies unless the goods were shipped in either colonial or English ships All ships had to be operated by crew that were at least 3/4 English or colonial The colonies could only export products like tobacco, sugar, rice, molasses and furs to England All goods traded between the colonies and Europe first had to pass through an English port. The Navigation Act ensured that England would have the first opportunity to profit off of the colonies

Colonial Government In most of the 13 colonies, the government had basically the same appearance. Each colony had: A governor An advisory council to the governor A local assembly – elected by land owning white males of the colony The local assemblies established the taxes and passed the laws. The Governor could veto any law passed by the assemblies, but did so at a risk In each colony, the governors salary was paid by the assembly and therefore could with hold their salary if they didn’t like how he governed (power of the purse)

Comparing / Contrasting the Colonies New England Colonies Massachusetts New Hampshire Connecticut Rhode Island Middle Colonies New York Delaware New Jersey Pennsylvania Southern Colonies Virginia Maryland North Carolina South Carolina Georgia

Religion in the Colonies New England Colonies: Primarily Puritan Middle Colonies – Very Diverse Quakers (William Penn & Pennsylvania) Anglicans Dutch Reformed Presbyterians, Mennonites, Huguenots, Baptists Catholics (Maryland) Southern Colonies Primarily Anglicans Presbyterians, Baptists, Catholic

Economic Activity in the Colonies New England Colonies – Very Diverse Massachusetts: shipbuilding, shipping, fishing, lumber, rum New Hampshire: Ship masts, lumber, fishing trade, shipping, livestock Connecticut: rum, iron foundries, shipbuilding Rhode Island: snuff, livestock Middle Colonies – Diverse New York: furs, wheat, glass, shoes, livestock, shipping, shipbuilding, rum, beer, snuff Delaware: trade, foodstuffs New Jersey: trade, copper, foodstuffs Pennsylvania: flax (for textiles), shipbuilding

Economic Activity in the Colonies Southern Colonies: Virginia: tobacco, wheat, cattle Maryland: tobacco, wheat, snuff North Carolina: naval supplies, tobacco, furs South Carolina: rice, indigo, silk Georgia: indigo, rice, naval supplies, lumber