1. What were the effects on the American Colonies because of their economies?

2. What were their similarities?  Had ample natural resources  English colonies  Settled for similar reasons  Economic  Religious

3. What were their differences?  Climate  Land/ Natural Resources  Businesses (specialization)  People

4. How did the North and South become different?  The North and South remained distinctly different because once the first decision was made, all future decisions are limited by those previously made.  Behavior of the people changed due to the way the colony or region responded to the economic market.

5. Example: Southern Colonies The South had little experimentation to do before they realized that the land was an agricultural gold mine South became organized economically, socially, politically and culturally around agriculture and the plantation. Climate: Warm Natural Resources: Fertile soil

6. Effects of Economic Decisions South  Tobacco and Rice (Staple or Cash Crops)  quickly found to be staple, money making crops  Led to the dependency on slavery  Plantations  1620s  Dominated the South by the 1770s  Slave-based economy (40% population)  A small group of white planters and merchants  Extreme inequalities in wealth  Weak and slow growth  Transportation Networks  Educational organization  Religious organization

7. Effects of Economic Decisions Middle  Most ethnically and economically diverse region  Excellent harbors (NY & PA), fertile valleys, and trading posts  Agriculture, manufacturing, and trade all worked and played off of each other  Thousands of agricultural, manufacturing and commercial activities  All types economic activities, including craft and artisanal jobs.  NO GREAT STAPLE MARKET  High domestic demand for wheat  Family farming  Paid and indentured labor were used  Little slave labor was used as well, but not to the extent of the South  Wealth  Distributed more evenly  More jobs  Exchange of materials and ideas

8. Effects of Economic Decisions New England  Didn’t have one staple agricultural item  Did not have exports of high importance for England  Overcame limitations in natural resources  Improvised  A strategy based on flexibility and creativity  (used what they had )  Combined subsistence activities with local, regional, and international trade  Local and regional trade  Commercial and shipping services  Steady economic growth but grew wealthy  Set up industry for the future  Higher living standards for a large portion of the population  Little need for slavery

9. North South  Couldn’t produce valuable plantation staples  Limited value/use of slave labor  Economic balance and diversity  Constant innovation/change  Creative business practices  Early organization around plantation staples  High use of slave labor  No need for creativity due to the large profits that came from plantation agriculture

10. Led to… North South  Local and regional trade  Relatively equal distribution of wealth  More established social, educational, political and cultural institutions  These were made available to a wide variety of people  Focused on exports  Very unequal distribution of wealth  Economic and social inequalities  Inflexible strategies  Unskilled slave labor  Low-tech  Unable to develop with the North