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Colonial Life: Growth and Diversity Continues

Explore the population boom and economic activities in the English colonies of America, including farming, trade, and slavery. Understand the cultural diversity and economic impact in each region.

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Colonial Life: Growth and Diversity Continues

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  1. Life in the Colonies - Review Warning: You will be Quizzed on this material & MAP this tomorrow!!!!

  2. Colony Population explosion • 3 Reasons the English Colonies in America grew so quick: • Immigration – between 1607 and 1775, almost a million people (Europeans & Africans came to live in the colonies) • Colonial Women – married young and had many babies • Healthy place to live (especially New England)

  3. New England • Farming: • Smaller farms than south b/c of long winters and bad soil • Subsistence farming – grow enough to feed family • Commerce: • Small businesses thrived – blacksmiths, furniture makers, printers • Shipbuilding – lumber from forests  transported down rivers • Fishing – cod, halibut, crabs, oysters • 3. Trade: • New England coastal cities  southern colonies & West Indies Triangular Trade • West Indies (sugar/molasses) New England colonies (make rum) • New England (rum)  West Africa (slaves) Middle Passage: enslaved Africans to the West Indies

  4. Triangular trade

  5. Middle colonies • Farming: fertile soil & milder climate than New England • Larger farms than New England • Cash crops – sold easily in the market (example: wheat) • Seaports • New York and Philadelphia – largest cities in the colonies • Industries • Small business – carpentry and flour making • Big business – Lumber, mining (iron), manufacturing • Immigration • 100,000 Germans  Pennsylvania (farmers) • + Dutch, Swedish = cultural diversity (unlike New England) • Diversity = tolerance for religious & cultural differences

  6. Southern colonies • Farming: rich soil and warm climate • Large farms & cash crops • Commerce & Industry • No need to develop because farming so good • London merchants managed trade in the South • Maryland and Virginia • Cash crop = Tobacco • High demand for tobacco in Europe • Indentured servants (too much $)  enslaved Africans • Surplus of Tobacco = Prices drop • South Carolina & Georgia • Cash crop = Rice • Built dams to create rice fields (paddies) • Difficult to harvest  Slave labor • More profitable than tobacco (southern Europe)

  7. New! Tidewater & Backcountry • Tidewater • Flat, law-lying planes along the seacoast • Plantations – large farms • Located on rivers for easy shipping / trade • Self-contained community • Backcountry • West of Tidewater • Hills and forests climbing up toward the Appalachian Mountains • Settled by newcomers / small farms (some slaves) • Small farmers outnumbered plantation owners • Plantation owners controlled economy & politics

  8. New!Slavery • Most slaves lived on plantations • Slave Codes • Strict rules governing the behavior & punishments • Leaving plantation  written permission • Cannot learn to read or write • Violations = whippings, hangings, burnings • Runaways  punished severely • African Traditions • Families torn apart – family members sold to other slaveholders • Still found strength in African roots through language & customs of West African homelands • Critics • Puritans & Quakers (many northerners) hated slavery • Humans cannot another human as property • Slavery brought too much economic success to the South

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