American Colonies Economic Analysis

The Northern Colonies as an Empire of Goods” by T.H. Breen deals with how the economic developments of the 1740s affected the economic relationship between the colonies and Great Britain. Basically merchants started to arrive along with new supplies which led to the colonists to depend on the British. In the beginning they refused to have to go to the merchants so, whenever they were in need of any goods, they would go knocking on their neighbor’s door. The merchants were the last resort. This introduced them to what was almost the opposite of the lineal family. Once the population in the their area started to rise , many picked up and traveled towards west. At this point in time, the British importations increased tremendously.

During the 1700's, people in the American colonies lived in very distinctive societies. While some colonists led hard lives, others were healthy and prosperous. The two groups who showed these differences were the colonists of the New England and Chesapeake Bay areas. The differentiating characteristics among the Chesapeake and New England colonies developed due to economy, religion, and motives for colonial expansion. The colonists of the New England area possessed a very happy and healthy life. This high way of living was due in part to better farming, a healthier environment, and a high rate of production because of more

Regarding the economy in the colonies, they had united through each other's trades, by feeding off of every area's goods. For example, tobacco, cotton, and wheat from Virginia for example would be used throughout the colonies, and the fish, fur, and artifacts from New England would also be distributed all the way to the South, ensuring everyone's share in all goods.

Some colonies relied on their geography, some on their people, and some on both. New England colonies relied on their people for trade because of their bad farmland. In the middle colonies they needed their geography for farming which helped their economy grow from trade. In the Southern Colonies their geography helped them grow crops on plantations to trade. All three colonies they had skilled workers which affected their economy by not needing to trade certain things but instead make those items themselves. The geography and people largely affected the economy by what they had and who they were.

The three colonies all wanted to make money but they had to go about it in different ways. This was mainly due to what they had available. The New England Colonies were mainly agricultural farmers. With all the water reservoirs like Cape Cod there were plenty of fish so lots of people became fishermen. There were a lot of lumberjacks to cut down trees and export them to England. The Middle Colonies were extremely different because they set up extensive cosmopolitan cities reminiscent of New York. They had many specialists like doctors, lawyers, accountants, and teachers. They traded a lot with in North America and occasionally overseas. The Southern Colonies primarily depended on cotton and tobacco plantations. As the plantations grew they had to employ black slaves. The plantations were fully self contained with their own blacksmith, teachers and professionals. So there were no big cities or towns. The main plantations traded directly with Europe via the Mississippi. The three colonies all made money differently with their diverse professions and traders.

The colonists as we know came to the New World to start a better life in a new place. However, it was later proven that they wanted to make money in all sorts of things and ways and they also wanted to practice their religion away from anyone else. Therefore, it is clear to say that the colonists came to the New World to make money and practice their own religion.

In the 16th century into the early 17th centuries, there was a rapid spread of various European nations who occupied the new American lands. Before they set out on ships to occupy, kings would send people to explore the treasuries and worth of North America’s coast. Before settling, there were already two different colonies who existed which were the New England and Chesapeake colonies. Although the New England and the Chesapeake colonies are massively different from each other, there are also many similarities that readers can compare such as their economy, geography, and religious characteristics.

Starting off as a single colony, the New England colony eventually expanded to form the Middle colonies, Southern colonies, and the Chesapeake colonies. The Chesapeake and New England colonies both stemmed from England, but developed in a way that made them each very unique in the way that they developed. Developing around different intentions, the New England and Chesapeake colonies were unique due to their different economic and social structures.

What allowed America its prosperity? Riddled with hurricanes, tribal warfare, harsh winters, and other difficulties, it seems like colonial America should’ve been decimated without constant support from Great Britain. And with benign negligence from Great Britain, Colonial America started to understand they could in fact hold their own as a group of colonies, but not without vast intellectual and economic innovation and progress to overcome the disasters of famine, weather, and the wild nature of the American continent. Colonial America saw these dangers and knew there was a need for a system to gather the most food and provide the most work; that system came to be known as capitalism after socialist-like communes failed their colonies.

Lumbering was also a major source of profit for the colonies. The lumber would be shipped to ENgland or used for ship building. There was also some manufactoring in the colonies, then the goods would be traded within the colonies or to

Not only did the government affect the town’s development, but also the geographical features of the Middle Colonies. Back in the Ice Age, glaciers grazed the rich soil from the Northern Colonies and deposited to the Middle Colonies. Although not many settlers were interested in agriculture, Dutch officials promoted farming by giving some few rich families large measure of land. Their fertile soil allowed farmers to grow so much wheat and grains. This is how the Middle Colonies received their “breadbasket colonies” name. So much was being produced that they turned into cash crops! These crops aren’t being grown for the farmer’s families, but for the economy. Growing seasons in these colonies are longer and have a sufficient amount of sunlight

In the eighteenth century the colonies of New England possessed great economic and demographic potential. They had raw materials and labor power, much of it given by the slaves. They had a great trade, an excellent agricultural production, all they lacked was the license of manufacture which the United Kingdom refused to allow its colonies. According to the traditional scheme the colony was the one that had to produce the raw material, that of the manufactured products already she was in charge, that was of the causes of the independence of the colonies. But let us first address the demographic potential of the new English colonies of North America. In the eighteenth century the most densely populated colonies were New Hampshire, Connecticut,

Even together as the thirteen original colonies, the environment between the New England, Middle and Southern colonies all were different. Each section had a different way of life but all still functioned as one. The environment is significant in the colonial and early U.S. history because of its use of political, economic and social factors as demonstrated by trade, agriculture, transportation and religion. Trade was a big economic factor in each environment within colonial history because of its ability to create an economy and unite each other. In the New England colonies trade was kind of limited because they did not have any farm land to harvest crops so they traded what they had available.

From 1607 to 1754, people’s views on governing themselves changed greatly. It began in 1607, with the settlement of Jamestown. They were a corporate colony, working for the Virginia Company, they were whole-heartedly British. The Great Awakening, the Enlightenment, and the Tradition of Neglect all introduced new ways for the American colonies to think of themselves as more independent. Although they still considered themselves part of the British Empire, by the end of this era they had discovered that they could make their own laws and constitutions that fit the way that their world worked as opposed to Great Britain.

Colonialism is a structure that controlled much of our world in the not so distant past. As time has gone by, the understanding of the effects of colonialism have become more apparent. Poverty, crime, inequality, depleting resources and cultural breakdown are all examples of the effects of colonialism. Colonialism is defined as “The policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically” (Dictionary.com). This system of control can eat away at both the economic and social infrastructure of a nation. This practice has touched almost every corner of the planet. From the U.S and Mexico to Vietnam and China, colonialism has made its impacts both positive and negative in almost every aspect. A look into the specific effects of the lack of economic development and of the social/ cultural breakdown will show that these effects can be attributed to colonialism.