New England Colonies

Economy of New England  Based on fishing, lumber, and industry.  Soil and climate not good for cash crops, like in the South. The people are small plot farmers practicing subsistence farming.  Main crop is corn.

New England Towns  Puritans believed in church covenants – where groups of people agree to worship together.  This idea of forming congregations for worship, also played into forming towns for groups of people.  Land was given to groups of Puritans, not individuals, and the leaders (town proprietors) decided how the land was settled and how the group was governed.

New England Town Meetings  These townspeople met and discussed their issues and problems.  The free men elected the town’s leaders and deputies for the General Court.  Anyone could go and express their opinion in the meeting, but only landowners could vote.  Eventually the town meetings were used to pass laws for their town – Direct Democracy.

New England Town Meetings  The Town Meetings produced colonists who governed for themselves, and when England tried to make the colonists follow the rules of England instead – there would be big problems, the American Revolution.  The Town Meetings produced a tradition of democracy in America.

Puritans and “Holy Watching”  Puritans lived near the Meeting House (church) – so there would be no excuse for missing.  The sermons, worship, and religious lectures kept the Puritans devout to their strict moral code.  No cards, dice, mixed dancing, or theatre acting.  They kept themselves and their neighbors accountable to the rules by practicing “Holy Watching”

“Holy Watching”  Watching over your neighbors was “the Lord’s work”.  “Holy Watching” kept these Puritans from breaking the rules, and if they did break the rules – they would be sure to be punished.

England is Walmart  New England had few goods that England needed besides lumber and ships, but England had a lot of goods New England needed.  New England had good ships and good harbors, so many New Englanders became merchants.  Cities and towns formed along the coasts and harbors to get these English goods and be homes for merchants and sailors.

Triangular Trade  Well, if England doesn’t want our goods, let’s find someone who does.  Caribbean plantations wanted New England’s lumber, fish, and meat.  Caribbean planters would trade raw sugar or give them bills of exchange – credit slips that acted like money to get goods from England.

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Significance of Triangular Trade  Some of these merchants became wealthy and built factories.  Some of these factories made rum, which led to another triangular trade.  New England would trade rum to Britain for goods, and Britain would get slaves from Africa in exchange for rum.  It also led to more trading with the Southern Colonies, getting rice, indigo, and tobacco while giving the Southern Colonies fish, rum, and grain.

Triangular Trade