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Characteristics Of The New England Colonies

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The eventual settlers of the New England, Middle Atlantic, and Southern colonies of North America sailed across the Atlantic from England in order to start colonies which would help strengthen their ways of life. While members of the three colonies each had different means of living, it was these differences that helped solidify each of their separate identities. The colony of New England was very heavily influenced by the Puritan way of life. The Puritans were a group of English Protestants who desired to absolve the Anglican Church from its Catholic practices in the 16th and 17th centuries, retaining that the Church of England was only somewhat reformed. The people were very supportive of each other, and created a system with only one class: the middle class, which resulted in a homogenous background. The climate and location largely impacted the economic aspects of the New England Colonies. In this region, the colonies faced long winters and the rocky soil made farming limited to crops such as corn, pumpkins, rye, squash and beans. The Northern colonies of New England focused more on town life and shipbuilding and small-scale factories were common. In the 17th century, most European kingdoms had adopted the economic policy of mercantilism. Mercantilism provides that in order to build a strong economy, a nation must export more than it imports. To achieve this, colonies were to provide raw materials to the parent country to contribute profit and growth to that countries

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