n Agriculture was poor due to rocky and hilly soil.
n Subsistence Farming – farming enough for your family
n Fishing thrived in the Atlantic Ocean. Fish were exported to Europe and a large part of the economy.
n Whaling was the most profitable, but also the most dangerous.
n Forests were plentiful and provided for a good shipbuilding Industry.
n Provided jobs for artisans (craft workers), laborers, and ship workers.
n Trade was heavy from the Colonies.
n Boston was the largest trading port.
n Education was very important to Puritans
n Reading was important b/c you had to be able to read the bible.
n In 1647 the Massachusetts School Law was passed providing public education to all children.
n Harvard became the first college in the colonies in 1636 in Cambridge, Mass.
n Towns were very important
n Most towns had a Meetinghouse or Church that sat aside a Common (gathering Area).
n No one worked on Sunday, the Sabbath
n Everyone went to church for several hours in the morning and several hours in the evening.
n Men sat on one side, women on the other.
n Every year there was a Town Meeting to discuss community problems and issues
n All free men attended the meetings.
n Early form of Democracy
n Agriculture thrived here b/c of good soil and climate.
n Wheat was the most popular crop.
n Became known as the “breadbasket colonies” b/c they produced so much wheat.
n Goods were shipped to the port cities of New York City & Philadelphia & then to Europe.
n Goods that couldn’t be transported by river were sent by road using Conestoga Wagons.
n City Life was important in the Middle Colonies.
n Many merchants, craft workers, and shops emerged in cities.
n By the mid 1700’s Philadelphia & New York City passed Boston as the largest cities.
n Middle Colonies had many kinds of people and many different religions.
n These different people merged their customs together.
n Education was considered important but not a priority.
n No public school system existed. Everything was private
n Young men usually learned a craft at 12 or 13 years of age.
n As the East coast became more populated, some moved farther inland for new land.
n This area was known as the Frontier.
n The Frontier boundaries changed with time.
n Frontier life was harder, b/c you were away from the city and away from society
n Everything was made from scratch.
n Very rural with few large cities.
n Agriculture was the key to the economy.
n Two distinct social groups formed. The wealthy planters and the small farmer.
n Major crops grown were:
n Tobacco – Wealthy planters grew ½ & small farmers grew ½ .
n Rice – Grew well in the Carolinas.
n Indigo – produced a blue dye which became popular for textiles (clothing)
n Agricultural economy demanded much labor.
n By 1760 250,000 African slaves were in the colonies.
n Most slaves came from the West Coast of Africa. The route between Africa and the Americas was called the Middle Passage.
n Most colonists saw nothing wrong with slavery.
n Slaves worked on large Plantations (huge farms) in the South.
n Plantation consisted of the “big house” where the master and family lived, slave quarters, and the farmland.
n Some were later freed and some purchased their freedom
n Some free black communities emerged in the colonies.
n When the colonies were being settled, England was in turmoil & the colonies were ignored.
n In 1660 Charles II was named King of England & he turned his attention towards the colonies.
n Charles II died in 1685 and his brother James II became King.
n James II combined New England, New Jersey, & New York into “the Dominion of New England”
n Sir Edmund Andros was named Governor. He was hated by the people b/c he didn’t care about their rights.
n James II was removed from power b/c the people thought he would make the country Catholic. His protestant daughter Mary was named queen.
n The people called the peaceful change the Glorious Revolution
n In the colonies the Dominion of New England came to an end and Governor Andros was sent back to England.
n William and Mary restored elected assemblies in the individual colonies.
n The revolt against Andros was not the first problem in the colonies.
n In 1676 a Virginia farmer named Nathaniel Bacon led a revolt against Native Americans.
n This turned into a Civil War between Bacon’s supporters and supporters of the Governor.
n Bacon captured Jamestown and burned it, but he died of illness and the Rebellion fell apart.
n Colonies are supposed to make money.
n The English colonies had natural resources and were a market for English goods.
n England passed laws to control trade
n Navigations Acts
n Colonist had to use English built ships for all their trade.
n Certain colonial products could be sold only in England or in an English possession.
n Colonists could only buy English made goods.
n After the Glorious Revolution colonists were given the same rights as English citizens.
n Colonial Governments were set up much like England’s Government.
n There was an appointed governor and a two house legislature. Legislature had no real power. The governor had the final say so.