Life in the 13 Colonies

Section One The New England Colonies

Main Idea New England was made up mostly of small communities, where life centered around hard work, education, and religion.

I. Making a Living A.Farming – Was not easy 1.Hilly or rocky 2.Short growing season 3.Small farms 4.Subsistence farming 5.Produced extra food a.apples from orchard b.honey from beehives

B.Harvesting the Sea 1.Cold waters of the Atlantic 2.Caught codfish, halibut, herring, and mackerel 3. Exported extra to other colonies, Europe, or West Indies 4. Whaling a.oil for lamps b.bones and spermaceti c.Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard were important whaling centers

C. Living From the Forest 1. Hunted for deer, squirrel, and wild turkeys. 2. Cut trees for firewood, houses, and furniture. 3. Shipbuilding a. cedar, oak, and white pine a. cedar, oak, and white pine b. More than half the ships built in the colonies were from New England b. More than half the ships built in the colonies were from New England

D. Business and Trade 1. Shipbuilders provided jobs a. carpenters & coopers (barrel maker) (barrel maker) b. sails, rope, and nails c. white pines used for naval stores (turpentine or rosin) d. jobs on the ships and on the docks d. jobs on the ships and on the docks

E. Women in the Economy 1. worked on family farms 2. opened shops 3. produced goods for sale – cloth, garments, candles, soap, or furniture

F. Triangular Trade Routes 1. Harbors of Boston and Newport a. Boston largest colony in 1740 with 17,000 people 2. Trade routes a. colonies to England b. triangular trade routes (New England, West Indies, England, Africa) (New England, West Indies, England, Africa)

3. Products exported a. lumber, furs, fish, whale oil, iron, gunpowder, rice, tobacco, indigo, flour,meat, rum, cloth, tools 4. Products imported a. England – manufactured goods, clothes, furniture, luxuries, books b. Africa and West Indies – enslaved persons, molasses, sugar c. Africa later has a direct route for slaves