Life in the Colonies - Review

1. Life in the Colonies - Review Warning: You will be Quizzed on this material & MAP this tomorrow!!!!

3. Colony Population explosion • 3 Reasons the English Colonies in America grew so quick: • Immigration – between 1607 and 1775, almost a million people (Europeans & Africans came to live in the colonies) • Colonial Women – married young and had many babies • Healthy place to live (especially New England)

5. New England • Farming: • Smaller farms than south b/c of long winters and bad soil • Subsistence farming – grow enough to feed family • Commerce: • Small businesses thrived – blacksmiths, furniture makers, printers • Shipbuilding – lumber from forests  transported down rivers • Fishing – cod, halibut, crabs, oysters • 3. Trade: • New England coastal cities  southern colonies & West Indies Triangular Trade • West Indies (sugar/molasses) New England colonies (make rum) • New England (rum)  West Africa (slaves) Middle Passage: enslaved Africans to the West Indies

6. Triangular trade

8. Middle colonies • Farming: fertile soil & milder climate than New England • Larger farms than New England • Cash crops – sold easily in the market (example: wheat) • Seaports • New York and Philadelphia – largest cities in the colonies • Industries • Small business – carpentry and flour making • Big business – Lumber, mining (iron), manufacturing • Immigration • 100,000 Germans  Pennsylvania (farmers) • + Dutch, Swedish = cultural diversity (unlike New England) • Diversity = tolerance for religious & cultural differences

10. Southern colonies • Farming: rich soil and warm climate • Large farms & cash crops • Commerce & Industry • No need to develop because farming so good • London merchants managed trade in the South • Maryland and Virginia • Cash crop = Tobacco • High demand for tobacco in Europe • Indentured servants (too much $)  enslaved Africans • Surplus of Tobacco = Prices drop • South Carolina & Georgia • Cash crop = Rice • Built dams to create rice fields (paddies) • Difficult to harvest  Slave labor • More profitable than tobacco (southern Europe)

11. New! Tidewater & Backcountry • Tidewater • Flat, law-lying planes along the seacoast • Plantations – large farms • Located on rivers for easy shipping / trade • Self-contained community • Backcountry • West of Tidewater • Hills and forests climbing up toward the Appalachian Mountains • Settled by newcomers / small farms (some slaves) • Small farmers outnumbered plantation owners • Plantation owners controlled economy & politics

12. New!Slavery • Most slaves lived on plantations • Slave Codes • Strict rules governing the behavior & punishments • Leaving plantation  written permission • Cannot learn to read or write • Violations = whippings, hangings, burnings • Runaways  punished severely • African Traditions • Families torn apart – family members sold to other slaveholders • Still found strength in African roots through language & customs of West African homelands • Critics • Puritans & Quakers (many northerners) hated slavery • Humans cannot another human as property • Slavery brought too much economic success to the South