Unit 2 - Chapter 1: The Thirteen Colonies

UNIT 2

winding river across plains under downcast ssky

Unit 2 Chapter 1: The Thirteen Colonies

1. The New England Colonies did fishing and whaling.

2. The Middle Colonies had fertile soil that led to the development of farming and had the highest number of free African Americans.

3. The Southern Colonies had mild winters and fertile soil that led to the development of farming.

4. The important idea from the Magna Carta that influenced the colonists was that the king was not above the law.

5. The colony of Georgia was founded to give prisoners and debtors a fresh start and to serve as a buffer zone against Spanish territory.

6. Fertile soil benefited South Carolina the most.

7. Native American groups such as the Massachusett and Mohegan lived in the New England colonies.

8. New Jersey and Pennsylvania were part of the Middle Colonies.

9. The Middle colonies differed from the New England colonies because they were more religiously tolerant than the New England colonies.

10. Choose one of the colonial regions and describe its geography, economy, and society.

Essay

How were the New England colonies, the Middle colonies, and the Southern colonies both similar and different?” The three colonial regions were more different than similar. The regions had different geographies, populations, and cultures. Geography shaped the economy of each region. New England was not good for farming, but it had forests, a long coastline, and harbors, so it became a center of shipbuilding and commerce. The Middle and Southern colonies did have fertile soil, so farming became important there. But farming in the Southern colonies meant plantations and the use of enslaved labor, which was not the case in the Middle colonies. The founding of each region led to differences in culture, too. New England was founded for religious freedom but became the least religiously tolerant region. The Middle colonies, such as Pennsylvania, were also founded for religious freedom, but they were religiously tolerant and more culturally diverse. The Southern colonies were largely founded to make money, which they did through the use of plantations to grow cash crops using enslaved labor.

Southern colonies had a warmer climate and were able to farm large plantations
New England colonies had poor growing conditions but vast forests and created an economy based around maritime industries, like fishing and shipbuilding
the laws in different parts of New England were similar
the Middle colonies were a combination of both the Southern and New England economies because their climate was a mixture of both.
Similarities
most people were yeoman farmers;
artisans played an important role in all regions;
most children learned at home rather than at school, with boys having more educational opportunities;
all colonists practiced a form of self-government.

VOCABULARY
Assembly, n. a group of people that makes laws (12)

Buffer zone, n. a neutral area that separates rival nations or factions (5)

Cargo, n. goods transported by ship, plane, or truck (21)

Chattel slavery, n. private ownership of people (16)

Debtor, n. a person who owes money (5)

Denomination, n. a branch of a religion (14)

Inhumane, adj. cruel, lacking mercy (18)

Parliament, n. in Great Britain, a group made up of representatives and the king or queen that makes the laws for the country (5)

Procure, v. to gain possession of (24)

Protestant, adj. describing a Christian church that separated from the Catholic Church (13)

Regulate, v. to control or place limits on (12)

Representative, n. a person who speaks or acts on behalf of someone else (12)

Secular, adj. not religious (13)

Self-government, n. the ability of people to rule themselves and make their own laws (12)

Tropical latitudes, n. areas around the equator that remain warm all year (21)

Yeoman, adj. describing a person who owns and cultivates a small farm (10)

Taken from Bayou Bridges Colonial America