Text The Thirteen Colonies

Name Section: 70X Date 12/18/2024 Teacher: Knipes, Dixon
Early British colonies in America

By USHistory.org, adapted by Newsela staff on 03.27.17
In the early 1600s, Europeans

sailed across the Atlantic to explore what
was then called the New World. Their
reasons for wanting to settle in
present-day America varied, but many
were seeking religious freedom and
economic opportunity. The Spanish were
the first to explore the New World when
Christopher Columbus sailed in 1492.
However, it was England that established
the first colony, in Jamestown, Virginia, in
1607.
The American colonies can be
divided into three groups based on their geographic location: New England, the middle
colonies and the Southern colonies. Each region had its own unique climate and social,
political and economic characteristics.
New England Colonies

The founders of the New England colonies had a mission that was entirely different
from that of the Jamestown settlers. Although they were in search of economic opportunity,
their main goal was religious. Fed up with the ceremonial Church of England, Pilgrims and
Puritans sought to reshape society to match what they believed God wanted.
Religious strife in England reached a peak in the 1500s. When Henry VIII broke with
the Catholic Church of Rome and established his own church, religious life in England was
upended. The new church under the king's leadership was known as the Church of England. It
was approved by the English Parliament, but not everyone was willing to accept it. At first,
bloody battles were waged between English Catholics and the followers of the new church,
who were known as Anglicans. The rule of Queen Elizabeth I brought an end to this
bloodshed. However, the battle waged on in the hearts of the English people.
Pilgrims and Puritans both believed in the teachings of the protestant theologian John
Calvin. According to Calvin, neither the teachings of the Catholic Church nor those of the
Anglican Church were faithful to God's will. By the end of Elizabeth's reign, England was a
nation of many different faiths.
The Stuart Family, who ascended to the throne after the death of Elizabeth, made
matters worse for the followers of John Calvin. King James and his son Charles supported the
Church of England, but secretly admired the ceremonies of the Catholic Church. To these
kings, Calvin was a heretic, a man whose soul was doomed for his rejection of proper religious
views.
The Pilgrims, called the separatists in England because of their desire to separate from
the Anglican Church, were persecuted. The Puritans, so named for their desire to purify the
Church of England, experienced the same degree of harassment. By the early 1600s, each
group had decided that England was no place to put their controversial beliefs into practice.
To both groups, the New World seemed the perfect place to realize their ambitions. The
land was unspoiled. Children could be raised without being infected by wrongheaded English
religious ideas. The chance to create a perfect society was there for the taking.
By 1620, the seeds for a new society, quite different from the one already established
at Jamestown, were planted deeply within the souls of a few brave pioneers. Their quest would
form the basis of New England society.
Middle Colonies
Americans have often prided themselves on their rich diversity. Nowhere was that
diversity more evident in pre-Revolutionary America than in the middle colonies of
Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware. People of English, Swedish, Dutch,
German, Scots-Irish and French origin lived side by side. Algonquian and Iroquois Indians also
lived in the middle colonies. So, too, did a sizable number of enslaved Africans, at least during
the early years. Unlike solidly Puritan New England, the middle colonies were home to an
assortment of religious groups, including Quakers, Mennonites, Lutherans, Dutch Reformed,
Calvinists and Presbyterians.
The cities of New York and Philadelphia grew at a fantastic rate. They gave rise to
brilliant thinkers, such as Benjamin Franklin, who earned respect on both sides of the Atlantic.
In contrast to New England, where the rocky soil made large-scale agriculture difficult, the
middle colonies were fertile. Wheat and corn from local farms helped feed all the American
colonies.
Southern Colonies
While New England's development centered on trade, and the middle colonies fed
America, the Southern colonies turned to cash crops. The two most important were tobacco
and cotton.
Virginia was the first successful Southern colony. Immediately to its north was
Maryland. In both colonies, tobacco became the most important crop. To the south lay the
Carolinas, and in the Deep South was Georgia, the last of the original 13 colonies.
The South's focus on growing cash crops led to the development of an enslaved labor
force that was largely unknown north of Maryland. Enslaved people were present in the North
but were much more important to the South. They were the backbone of the Southern
economy.
Wealthy Southern plantation owners built elaborate mansions that recreated the great
estates of the English nobility. Many enjoyed a lifestyle they would never have been able to
achieve in the old country.

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Name Section: 70X Date 12/18/2024 Teacher: Knipes, Dixon

Early British colonies in America

In the early 1600s, Europeans

New England Colonies

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