Economic and Social Characteristics of the

Colonial PeriodSOL VUS.3

A strong belief in private ownership of property and free enterprise characterized colonial life.

The New England colonies, middle colonies, and the southern colonies each developed distinct economic characteristics.

Economic characteristics of the New England colonies

The New England colonies developed an economy based on shipbuilding, fishing, lumbering, small-scale subsistence farming, and eventually manufacturing.

The New England colonies prospered.

This reflected the Puritans’ strong belief in the values of hard work and thrift.

The middle colonies included:

New York New Jersey Pennsylvania Maryland Delaware

The middle colonies developed economies based on:

Shipbuilding Small-scale farming Trading

Cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore began to grow as seaports and commercial centers.

Economic characteristics of the Southern colonies and Virginia:

The economy differed for the eastern coastal lowlands and the inland mountains and valleys of the Appalachian foothills.

The economy of the eastern coastal lowlands was based on large plantations.

The large southern plantations grew “cash crops” to export to Europe such as:

Tobacco Rice Indigo

In the mountains and valleys of the Appalachian foothills, the economy was based on: Small scale farming Hunting Trading

The New England colonies, middle colonies, and southern colonies also developed distinct social characteristics.

New England’s colonial society was based on religious standing.

The Puritans grew increasingly intolerant of dissenters who challenged the Puritans’ belief in the connection between religion and government.

Rhode Island was founded by dissenters fleeing persecution by Puritans in Massachusetts.

The middle colonies were home to multiple religious groups who generally believed in religious tolerance.

The religious groups in the middle colonies included:

The Quakers in Pennsylvania The Catholics in Maryland

The middle colonies had more flexible social structures and began to develop a middle class of skilled artisans, entrepreneurs (business owners), and small farmers.

Virginia and the other Southern colonies had a social structure based on family status and the ownership of land.

Large landowners in the eastern lowlands dominated colonial government and society.

The large landowners in the southern colonies maintained an allegiance to the Church of England and had closer social ties to England than in the other colonies.

In the mountains and valleys further inland society was characterized by small subsistence farmers, hunters, and traders of Scotch-Irish and English descent.

The “Great Awakening” was a religious movement that swept both Europe and the colonies during the mid-1700s.

The “Great Awakening” led to the rapid growth of evangelical religions such as the Methodists and Baptists and challenged the established religious and governmental order.

The “Great Awakening” laid one of the social foundations for the American Revolution.

The growth of a plantation based agricultural economy in the hot, humid coastal lowlands of the Southern colonies required cheap labor on a large scale.

Some of the labor needs, especially in Virginia, were met by indentured servants, who were often poor persons from England, Scotland, or Ireland.

Indentured servants were poor people who agreed to work on plantations for a period of time in return for their passage from Europe or relief from debts.

Most plantation labor needs eventually came to be filled by the forcible importation of Africans.

While some Africans worked as indentured servants, earned their freedom, and lived as free citizens during the colonial Era, over time larger and larger numbers of enslaved Africans were forcibly brought to the Southern colonies.

The journey of Africans to America became known as the “Middle Passage” in the triangular trade route.

The African slave trade and the development of a slave labor system in many of the colonies resulted from plantation economies and labor shortages.

The development of a slavery-based agricultural economy in the Southern colonies would lead to eventual conflict between the North and South and the American Civil War.

1. What Puritan belief helped promote New England’s economic prosperity?

Puritans believed in the value of hard work and thrift.

2. Which cities in the middle colonies became major seaports and commercial centers?

New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia

3. Name two examples of religious groups in the middle colonies.

Quakers from Pennsylvania

Catholics from Maryland

4. The Puritans were intolerant of dissenters who challenged the Puritan’s belief in the relationship between ___________________.

religion and government

5. What was the religious movement that led to rapid growth of evangelical religions in the colonies?

The Great Awakening

6. How were the labor needs of the plantation system met?

slaves

Labor needs were also met by _______________ who worked to pay off debts.Indentured servants

7. The voyage from Africa to bring slaves to America was part of the triangular trade route known as the _____________________.Middle Passage

8. What was the economy based on in the Appalachian foothills and inland mountains and valleys of the south based on?

Small farms, hunting, and trading

9. What strong beliefs characterized the English colonies?

Free enterprise and private ownership of property

10. Why was Rhode Island founded?

Dissenters in Massachusetts fled the Puritan communities

11. Areas of the middle colonies developed into thriving ______________________ and _____________.

commercial centers

seaports

12. Name two factors that contributed to the growth of the slave labor system.

plantation economies

labor shortages

13. What group of colonies exported “cash crops” to Europe?

the South

What were the basic “cash crops” exported?

tobacco, rice, and indigo

14. Which colony maintained an allegiance to the Church of England and was closer to England than the other colonies?

Virginia

15. ___________________ laid one of the social foundations for the American Revolution.

The Great Awakening