Middle Colonies Vs New England Colonies

During the seventeenth century, colonial America was welcoming many newcomers, several from England. Quantities of these newcomers were seeking land for economic purposes as others were longing for religious toleration. Many of the English colonists settled in the New England region for religious freedoms, to escape the English king, and leave adversaries of other religions behind. Settlers who resided in the Middle Atlantic region were affected differently. Although the Middle Atlantic was more

     Unlike the Chesapeake, the New England colonies were greatly interested in their long-term colonization efforts. A man by the name of John Winthrop led the Puritans, which composed the New England colonies. He believed that their colony was “a city on the hill,” as described in the book of Matthew. The Puritans were a fervent religious colony, where the church was never disputed. There were some historical cases when the Puritan people would speak out and therefore speak out against the church; the story of Anne Hutchinson was just such a case. She held weekly meetings in her home where her and her husband would interpret the bible for their followers. In addition she noted that not all the clergy would be saved and attacked many of their teachings. She was banished and took her husband and seven kids to Road Island where religion was not as strict. The New England colonies survived on exporting lumber, grain and the production of ships. The Puritans wanted to be the model society; they did

The New England colonies consisted of puritans who wanted to purify the church because the Church in England was corrupt. They wanted a place where they could worship freely and work together to

During the 17th and 18th century, English residents felt that England was over-crowded and intolerable. They wanted to lessen these problems that rose up because of the large population increase and to establish more religious freedom (Horn). The English believed that the best way to go about this was to colonize the New World. Subsequently, many colonies began to develop, and of these colonies, Massachusetts Bay and Virginia were the most well-known. The early settlements of Massachusetts and Virginia were both established by similar groups of people at the same time; furthermore, their contrasting beginnings as a colony, views on religion, and method of economic stability all contributed to our American heritage today.

America was a place for dreams and new beginnings, until white people arrived in 1607. Three groups sailed over the treacherous Atlantic from their cruel lives in England to set up peaceful religious colonies. The only problem is that they attempted to settle in their own way and all failed dismally. The New England, Middle and Southern Colonies grew differently over the period 1619-1760.Examining the three sets of colonies will prove that they were all different: socially, economically, politically but not philosophically.

In the New World, various resources, climates, and considerable amounts of land allowed numerous opportunities for settlers. Those who once yearned to climb the social ladder or gain the freedoms bestowed from land ownership flocked toward the newfound settlements. Colonization proved to be a grueling task; however, success was found after adapting to the new environment and facing many hardships. Two colonies established early in the seventeenth century included Virginia and New England. Both Virginia and New England were forerunning settlements that differed in the following senses: political, social, and economical.

The article, “Economy in Colonial New England” talks about the economy in the New England colony, it says “In contrast to the southern colonies, which could produce tobacco, rice, and indigo in exchange for imports, New England's colonies couldn't offer much to England beyond fish, furs, and naval stores.” The New England colonies used the fishing and the construction of boats to maintain economically. They made soap, clothing and candles. Its exports fish, whale products, boats, wood products, furs, maple syrup, copper, horses, beer and whiskey. They had problems with agriculture, it was difficult to plant wheat because the quality of nutrients on the land was poor, but corn, pumpkins, rye and beans had better

Agriculture and environment were factors in the way each culture grew. The fertile land of the south along with a warmer climate made it possible for the colonists to grow cash crops such as tobacco, rice and indigo. However, this was not the case with

1. There were several main differences among the British colonial regions. The New England colonies being colonized mainly for religion while the Middle colonies found wealth through industry, whereas the Southern colonies sought more trade and wealth opportunities through colonization. Economically, the New England colonies did not have trade as their primary focused, but still were involved in the processes of fishing, lumbering, and trapping, the Middle colonies found their wealth in lumbering and shipbuilding; the Southern colonies sought to grow and trade cash crops for wealth. The Northern colonies composed of [Separatist] Pilgrims, Puritans, and Quakers had more religious reasons for being founded, but not limited to refuge from religious persecution, and a holy society or “city upon a hill.” The Northern colonies were also religiously self-governing; one example being the Mayflower Compact, while the South had regular laws instituted. Demographically, the colonies started with an overwhelming white population over the blacks, but as the tobacco industry grew and slavery became an increasing practice, blacks began to outnumber the white population.

There was very little development of the industry as a result of plantation owners putting all of their money into their land and slaves. This resulted in little investment and was therefore the cause for little development. The little bit of industry development that there was resulted in Lumber, fur and Naval store trading. In the Middle Colonies the establishment was also partially economical, with the exception of Pennsylvania. Just as in the South these colonies were established to serve the mother country, however the agriculture was producing different crops, and the industry was producing fur and Naval supplies but not much Lumber. The agricultural aspect of the economy flourished because of the moderate climate which provided for longer growing seasons and also the rich soil found in the area. The main crops were Wheat, Barley, Fruit and livestock was also produced. These colonies were known as "The Bread Basket." Although mainly established for religious reasons the north also contributed to the mercantile system. The climate was cold ad growing seasons were short, the soil was rocky and it was hard to produce crops. However small amounts of Beans, Barley, Oats and corn were produced along with livestock. The main economic advantage in the North was the fact that it was in a good trading location and had good ports. This is why the

One of the biggest difference in the 3 different colonial regions was their Economies. Due to the rich and fertile soil that the Southern colonies possessed along with the warm climate of the area, farming was a main source of income. Wealthy Englishmen set up huge plantations with hundreds of acres of land in order to farm cash crops and other goods. The less fortunate would subsistence farm inland in hopes of one day being able to run a large plantation of their own. The economy in the middle colonies also relied on farming to an extent. They grew staple crops in excess earning them the name of the “Breadbasket Colony”. Due to the deep harbors and thick forests ship building was also a common practice in the middle colonies. The many harbors in the middle colonies also made trade a very important part of

This encouraged the development of Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey as a rich, grain-growing, “Bread Basket Colonies.” Some colonies were founded for educational purposes or for refuge. The colonies that lied in the middle, were the most religiously and ethnically diverse of them all because of the influence of their, English, Dutch and other countries origins. The many influences of their founders added tolerance regarding religion.

Second, the New England colonies were founded by many who were seeking religious freedom, therefore the New England colonies were more open minded regarding religion. For instance, the first religious toleration act was passed in Maryland in 1649 by the by the assembly of the Province of Maryland. This act mandated religious toleration. Rhode Island was also seen as a colony of free thinkers and a place for religious toleration. So there was simply a lot of diversity in New England, the vast majority were Protestant Christians however there were significant numbers of Roman Catholics in Maryland and Delaware, as well as a small amount of Jews, most of which lived in Rhode Island. So therefore it was New England that began acting upon one of this country’s founding ideals, the ideal of freedom of religion.

The colony soon became to grow both in population and in towns, leading to changes in government. Their government was originally established under the MAYFLOWER COMPACT, which gave the people of the colony a free,civil government and

In the southern colonies the concentration was mostly on the plantations. The southern colonies included the province of Maryland, the colony of Virginia, the province of North Carolina, the province of South Carolina, and the province of Georgia. They all had year round growing seasons for crops such as rice and tobacco. The presence of many waterways in the area made is a lot easier for people to get around. Usually each colony specialized in one or two different crops. On the other hand the northern colonies, which was made up of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Plymouth, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, were more concentrated on they’re trading. Farming was more difficult to do because of the poor soil, cold climates, and shorter growing seasons. Families in New England grew enough food to feed their families but had to rely on the trading to earn livings. The economy in all of the economies is bad, its not just one side of the 13