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Regional Characteristics in the British North American Colonies
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Southern Colonies ► Colonies: - Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. ► Associated Groups: Cavaliers
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Cavaliers
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Southern Colonies ► Government Characteristics: - Elected assemblies: - VA House of Burgesses (1619) = 1 st elected assembly in the New World. - Land determines wealth; Wealth determines political power. - Social structure is based on family status and ownership of land.
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Virginia House of Burgesses
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Southern Colonies ► Government Characteristics (cont’d): - Ownership of land required to vote. - Planters play leading roles in colonial legislatures. Large landowners in the east dominate colonial governments and society and maintain allegiance to the Church of England and closer social ties to Britain than other regions. - Poor paid most of the taxes.
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Southern Colonies ► Religious Characteristics: - Most people are Anglican (becomes Episcopalian Church after the American Episcopalian Church after the American Revolution). Revolution). ► Economic Characteristics: - Tidewater area: Economy dominated by Plantation farming. “Cash crops” grown (Tobacco, rice, indigo).
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Plantation Farming
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Cash Crops
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Southern Colonies ► Economic Characteristics (cont’d): - Initially marked by headright system and indentured servitude. - Indentured servitude replaced by slavery after events like Bacon’s Rebellion. - Piedmont (inland area) = small farms, hunting, and trading.
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Indentured Servitude
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Small Scale Farming
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New England Colonies ► Colonies: - New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Connecticut. ► Associated Groups: Puritans, Pilgrims (Separatists).
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New England Colonies ► Government Characteristics: - Government (Governor / Legislative Assembly) elected yearly. - Direct Democracy practiced through town meetings (Athenian model). - The “Elect” rule. - Taxes
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Town Meetings
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New England Colonies ► Government Characteristics (cont’d): - “Covenant communities” (Plymouth based on Mayflower Compact and Puritan religious beliefs). - Mayflower Compact = established the ideas of (1) majority rule and (2) fair and just laws.
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The Mayflower Compact
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New England Colonies ► Religious Characteristics: - Society based on Puritan views of the Anglican Church. - Social standing based on religious standing - Increasingly intolerant of dissenters. - RI, Conn. = founded as havens (refuges) for Puritan dissenters.
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Puritan Dissenters
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New England Colonies ► Economic Characteristics: - Economic activities: Shipbuilding, shipping, fishing, rum trade, lumbering, livestock trade, manufacturing (barrels, candles, salted meats, corn), subsistence farming. - Puritan belief in hard work.
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Middle Colonies ► Colonies: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. ► Associated Groups: English, Dutch, and German Immigrants.
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Middle Colonies ► Government Characteristics: - Government (Governor / Legislative Assembly) elected yearly. - Incorporate a number of democratic principles that reflect basic rights of Englishmen. - Taxes - William Penn = founded Pennsylvania
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Middle Colonies ► Religious Characteristics: - Freedom from religious persecution. - Multiple religious groups (PA = Quakers; MD = Catholics) - Freedom of Religion - Maryland = Religious Toleration Act (1649) - Pennsylvania = Charter of Privileges (1682)
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Toleration Act of 1649
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Middle Colonies ► Economic Characteristics: - Flexible Social Structure - Developed middle class (of skilled workers, artisans, business owners, and small farmers) - Economic Activities: Trading, shipping, shipbuilding, livestock (cattle), grain, mining (example: iron ore) and small farms.
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Skilled Artisans
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Middle Colonies ► Economic Characteristics (cont’d): - Variety of goods: to be sold here in the colonies and abroad. - Variety of goods: to be sold here in the colonies and abroad. - Trading ports: Philadelphia, New York City.
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Major Ports
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Concluding Thoughts ► A strong belief in private ownership of property and free enterprise characterized colonial life everywhere. ► The “Great Awakening was a religious movement that swept both Europe and the colonies in the mid-1700s (1740s and 1750s). It led to the rapid growth of evangelical religions, such as Methodist and Baptist, and challenged the established religious and government orders. It laid the social foundations for the American Revolution.
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