The Thirteen Colonies

• During the 1600’s and 1700’s, many English settlers moved to North America.

• People believed that they had a better chance to make a living in North America or to find freedoms that they did not have at home.

• These settlers established the 13 Colonies.

• The 13 colonies are located along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.

• The Appalachian Mountains formed a natural boundary to the west of the colonies.

The geography and climate of the 13 colonies separated them into 3 different regions:

New England

Middle Colonies

Southern Colonies

New England Colonies

MassachusettsRhode IslandConnecticut

New Hampshire

• New England’s geography was shaped by glaciers during the Ice Age. As glaciers moved they cut deep valleys through the mountains and left a thin, rocky layer of dirt.

• The rocky, sandy land made it difficult to farm.

• The regions and rugged mountains made it hard to find good farmland.

• The climate also affected farming. Summers were warm but winters were long and very cold. This made the growing season short (late May to early October).

• Farming was hard, but the area had many natural resources. The resources helped the colonists make a living. They used the wood from the forest to build buildings and ships. They caught fish and whales to use for food and other products.

Massachusetts• Puritans were English colonists who settled in New England

during the 1600’s.

• These settlers wanted to live in a community where they could follow the rules of the Bible and serve their God.

• Religion shaped the government of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. One law required all people to attend church on Sundays.

Rhode Island• Roger Williams, a dissenter wanted more religious freedom, so he began

the colony of Rhode Island.

• A dissenter is a person who does not agree with the beliefs of his or her leaders.

• Williams believed that the government should not make laws about religion.

• In Rhode Island, people could worship freely. He also kept the government separate from the church.

• Anne Hutchinson, also a dissenter,was banished from Massachusetts. She held meetings in her home where both men and women talked about religion.

Connecticut• Thomas Hooker was a minister who also did not like the

rules of the Puritan leaders.

• He wanted to form a community where all men could vote even if they were not members of the church.

• In 1636, he led about 100 colonists to the Connecticut River where he founded the town of Hartford. They created the colony of Connecticut.

New Hampshire and Maine (part of Massachusetts)

These colonies were formed by other colonists that moved from the Massachusetts Bay area because they did not agree with the Puritan

rules.

Conflicts Over the Land• The New England colonies were founded on lands where Native

Americans lived.

• The Native Americans and colonists disagreed on who owned the land. The Native Americans believed that no one truly owned the land, but the colonists disagreed with them.

• In the 1630’s, a war broke out between the colonists and the Pequot Indians. Most of the Pequot Indians were killed.

• In 1675, Metacomet, the leader of the Wampanoag Indians, became known as King Phillip to the colonists. He and his tribe attacked the colonists because of the fight over the land. This war became known as King Phillip’s War.

Life in New England

• New England colonists made a living by using resources from the land and sea.

•Many people specialized in ship building and fishing.

• The most common fish was cod.

Triangular Trade

• Colonists began exporting fish and whale oil between North America, Europe, and Africa.

Slavery

• Some traders in the triangular trade made money by selling humans.

• In Africa, traders bought enslaved African men, women, and children. They were put on ships and sent to the West Indies. This passage was known as the Middle Passage because the Africans would then be shipped to North America were they were sold as slaves.

Home life in New England• Colonial families in New England often had 6 or 7 children.

• They lived in small wooden houses with few rooms. Many homes had only one room with a huge fireplace.

• The men and boys worked in the fields. The women and girls prepared the food and worked in the home.

• Children were taught how to read so they could read the Bible.

• Boys were able to go on to Harvard, the first college in the Colonies.

Middle Colonies

New YorkNew Jersey

PennsylvaniaDelaware

• The fertile soil in the Middle Colonies was good for farming.

• The Middle Colonies’ wide rivers, such as the Delaware and Hudson, were ideal for transporting crops to sell and for bringing supplies to the farms.

• The woods in the Middle Colonies were full of wildlife. Colonists hunted and trapped animals such as deer and beaver.

New York• The English settlements of the Middle Colonies began in 1664.

• The King of England gave the colony to his brother James, the Duke of York. He changed the name to New York and gave part of it to two of his friends.

New Jersey

• John Berkeley and George Carteret named the land given to them by James, the Duke of York, New Jersey.

Pennsylvania• William Penn founded Pennsylvania as a place where people

could worship freely.

• He was a Quaker (a person who believed that all Christians should be free to worship in their own way).

• Penn made fair treaties with the Lenni Lanape Indians which allowed them to live together peacefully for years.

Delaware

• The Duke of York gave William Penn more land that was once part of Pennsylvania.

• Later it became the colony of Delaware.

Life in the Middle Colonies• The people of the Middle Colonies came from many

lands (Dutch, Scots-Irish, Scandinavian, and English). Some were enslaved Africans.• Many colonists were Quakers.

• The Middle Colonies had religious tolerance.

• The climate and soil was excellent for farming.

• Most children learned how to read and write; however, most colonists thought that their children needed to learn useful work skills.

Southern Colonies

VirginiaMaryland

North CarolinaSouth Carolina

Georgia

Southern Colonies

• The Southern Colonies were very different from the New England and Middle Colonies.

• It was full of bays, rivers, and wetlands. It is known as the TIDEWATER area.

• The climate and soil was excellent for farming.

• Colonists used the waterways to ship crops to markets in other towns and cities.

Virginia

• In 1607, Jamestown, Virginia became the FIRST English colony in North America.

• The first colonists came to Virginia to look for gold. When they did not find any, many started plantations on the fertile soil.

Maryland• The colony of Maryland began in 1632 when King

Charles I of England gave land in North America to Cecilius Calvert, who was known as Lord Baltimore.

• Calvert hoped to make Maryland a safe place for Catholics.

Carolinas• King Charles II of England started these colonies.

• North Carolina had few harbors and was not as good for farming. It grew more slowly than the southern part.

• South Carolina had good farmland and many excellent harbors. Rice plantations were built in the city of Charles Town that later became Charleston.

Georgia

• In 1732, England’s King George II started another colony to keep the Spanish and French away from South Carolina. He gave this land to James Oglethorpe. The new colony was named Georgia to honor King George II.

Life in the South

• The long growing season and warm, damp climate of the Southern Colonies made the region perfect for growing tobacco, rice, and indigo.

Family Life in the South

• The children of wealthy plantation owners lived fairly easy lives. Most were educated at home. The boys spent their free time outdoors learning how to ride horses and hunt. The girls learned how to sew and sing.

• Life was different for children who lived in the backcountry farms. They learned how to read only if their parents taught them. They rarely went to school and spent most of their time helping around the farm at an early age.

Lets play a game to locate the 13 colonies!

http://www.softschools.com/social_studies/13_colonies_map