01.27.2025 - Small Group - The English Colonies

Why did immigrant groups settle in the colonies?

Immigrant Groups

In most of the 13 colonies, the majority of colonists came from England. Some colonies, like New York and New Jersey, were exceptions because they were first settled by non-English immigrants. Over time, a large number of people arrived from all over Europe and other parts of the world. Most colonial settlements were established near the Atlantic and the waterways that flowed into it.

Wars and religious issues pushed many people out of Europe. They were pulled to America by the opportunities there. The colonies offered religious freedom, land, jobs, and for some, the chance to start a business. Large immigrant groups included Germans, Scots, and French Protestant called Huguenots. Religious unrest and religious persecution in Europe also brought large numbers of Jews to America. Many of the Germans and Scots were farmers. Other Germans had craft and trade skills. Many French immigrants also brought such skills to the colonies.

Some people arrived against their will. In the early colonial period, some Europeans enslaved American Indians. The introduction of European diseases, however, killed a large number of them. Europeans then turned to the African slave trade and Africans were brought to the colonies by force to work in the fields, shows, and home of colonists. Slavery existed in every colony. However the Southern Colonies had the largest number of enslaved people. The colonies were different in other ways, too. In fact 3 separate regions of colonies can be identified based on their characteristics and locations.

Multiple Choice

Which of these are PUSH factors?

• Religious Freedom
  Available Jobs

• War
  Opportunity to acquire land

• Religious Persecution
  War

• Religious Persecution
  Religious Freedom

Multiple Choice

Which of these are PULL factors

• Religious Freedom
  Available Jobs
  Opportunity to acquire land

• War
  Opportunity to acquire land
  Available Jobs

Multiple Choice

Which geographic characteristic did MOST of the English colonies share?

• Most established representative government

• Most had rich soil and good farmland

• Most had their populations concentrated near the coast

• Most were located in warm climates

The New England Colonies

The New England Colonies included Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. The ethnic makeup of New England was most English of all the colonies. These colonies developed in ways that were most like life in England. That is one reason the region was called New England.

Shipbuilding, Fishing, and Trade were the main economic activities along the coast. Farther inland, many colonists had small farms. The town was the center of rural life. Families often lived in towns and farmed the land nearby.

The most important city in New England was Boston. Its population and good natural harbor made the city a center of business, manufacturing, and trade. Merchants sold lumber, fish, grain, and other products to England and elsewhere in Europe and the West Indies. They also traded with the other colonies.

New England's climate was cold, the land was rocky, and the soil was poor. Most farmers grew only enough to feed their families. Corn and vegetables were the main crops. Many farmers also had orchards and raised livestock to provide wool, milk and meat

Multiple Choice

Which of the following BEST describes the colonial economy of New England?

• Based on family farms that grew wheat

• Dependent on textiles for export to Britain

• Based on plantation agriculture and cash crops

• Dependent on fishing, shipbuilding, and trade

The Middle Colonies

The Middle Colonies lay south of New England. Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware were Middle Colonies. Many Dutch remained in New York after it became an English colony. Delaware had many Swedish colonists. Besides its English colonists, Pennsylvania attracted large numbers of German settlers. Most belonged to Protestant churches and included Lutherans, Calvinists, and Mennonites.

The middle colonies had better land and a milder climate than New England. Farms were also larger. The most important crop was wheat. Farmers grew enough of it to sell grain and flour to other colonies and in Europe. As a result, New York and Philadelphia became important port cities for trade.

Multiple Choice

True or False? The Middle Colonies was the region that had the least ethnic diversity

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

True or False? Wheat was the major crop grown in the Middle Colonies

• True

• False

Many plantations owners were English but most farmers did not own plantations. They lived on small farms, where they grew wheat, vegetables, and a small amount of tobacco for sale. Most of these farms were located inland from the plantations. Many small farmers were English however others were Scots or Scots-Irish.

The plantation system and the South's dependence on growing crops for export discouraged the development of manufacturing and growth of cities. Charleston, South Carolina, had a good natural harbor. It became an important trading port. The South remained the colonies' most rural region. Roads and towns developed slowly.

The Southern Colonies comprised of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. As in the Middle Colonies, good soil encouraged agriculture. Tobacco became the most valuable crop because there was a demand for it in Europe. Tobacco's importance caused plantations to develop. In South Carolina, rice was the most important plantation crop. The demand for plantation workers caused the growth of slavery in the South. To obtain these workers, the transatlantic slave trade developed.

Southern Colonies

Multiple Choice

True or False? One characteristic of the Southern Colonies was the plantation system that relied on enslaved workers.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

True or False? - People in the Southern Colonies mostly lived in rural areas, but Charleston, South Carolina, was a major port.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

This list describes a type of colony
1. Many large farms that grow only one crop
2. Climate is warm and soil is rich
3. Much work is done by enslaved Africans

• Southern Colony

• Middle Colony

• New England Colony

• Coastal Colony

Multiple Choice

Read each characteristic and select the region that best describes

Short winters, Fertile Soil

• New England Colonies

• Middle Colonies

Multiple Choice

Read each characteristic and then select the region that it best describes
Longer winters, rocky soil

• New England Colonies

• Middle Colonies

Multiple Choice

Read each characteristic and then select the region that it best describes
Economy heavily dependent upon fishing

• New England Colonies

• Middle Colonies

Multiple Choice

Read each characteristic and then select the region that it best describes
Economy heavily dependent upon farming

• New England Colonies

• Middle Colonies

Poll

How confident are you in what you learned?

• I'm Confused

• I feel okay

• I feel pretty confident

• I am an expert

Poll

How hard did you focus or try?

• Not much effort

• Some effort

• Good effort

• My best effort

Open Ended

Reflection - Complete one or more of the sentence stems below

I learned...

I had difficulty...
I feel...