Differences Between England And The Middle Colonies

When the English settled into the New World, they were split up into two sections, the Chesapeake region and the New England region. Although the English settled both, the two regions were severely different from each other when they were brought about. The New England and Chesapeake colonies differed in three ways: their reason for venturing over, economy, and population. These major differences were what shaped our nation today and what will continue shaping our nation in the future.

The New England colonies did not have very good soil, but they did have trees. They grew what they could, but their economy was based off of their timber industry and fish, which were plentiful in the colonies. The middle colonies had very fertile soil and used it to their advantage. They grew crops such as wheat and tobacco. They became known as “The Breadbasket Colonies” for their large supply of wheat.

The three colonies all wanted to make money but they had to go about it in different ways. This was mainly due to what they had available. The New England Colonies were mainly agricultural farmers. With all the water reservoirs like Cape Cod there were plenty of fish so lots of people became fishermen. There were a lot of lumberjacks to cut down trees and export them to England. The Middle Colonies were extremely different because they set up extensive cosmopolitan cities reminiscent of New York. They had many specialists like doctors, lawyers, accountants, and teachers. They traded a lot with in North America and occasionally overseas. The Southern Colonies primarily depended on cotton and tobacco plantations. As the plantations grew they had to employ black slaves. The plantations were fully self contained with their own blacksmith, teachers and professionals. So there were no big cities or towns. The main plantations traded directly with Europe via the Mississippi. The three colonies all made money differently with their diverse professions and traders.

When we think of our country now, we think about how it is separated into states, but back then the states were part of colonies. Some of the main colonies were the Chesapeake colonies which consisted of Virginia and Maryland, the middle colonies were Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, and lastly, the New England colonies which were Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. In the colonial regions of New England, Chesapeake and the middle colonies they all share similarities and differences, most predominantly shown in family life, rank and status.

The Middle Colonies contained Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and New York. Since they were between the Northern and Southern colonies, the middle colonies were important and served as distribution centers in the English mercantile system at that time. Some people were wealthy and worked in the city but most of the colonists were farmers. Farmers grew a good amount of fertile soil for their family and

In the early seventeenth century, the English began to establish colonies in the New World. The colonies in New England consisted of New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. While, the colonies making up the Chesapeake region were Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Given that the New England and Chesapeake region were both largely settled by those of English origin, by the 1700 they had evolved into two distinct societies because of the contrast in their geographical locations, their political structure, and their social hierarchy.

The British colonies of New England, Middle, and Southern developed during the 17th and 18th centuries as a result of the competitive nature of the European explorers to colonize and obtain more land than the others.

The Southern colonies, Middle colonies, and New England colonies created their own ways of economic gain during their development in the early eighteenth century. The climate of each colony was a huge impact on imperial goals. Southern colonies based their economy on farming and producing crops such as tobacco, rice, and indigo. This was possible due to the south being a tidewater

In 1607, the British king founded the 13 Colonies, with the first being Jamestown, Virginia. This colony, now referred to as a state, was part of the Southern Colonies. These colonies were split into three main regions: the New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Southern Colonies. Each of them had different motivations for settlement, geographies, relationships with the Native Americans, and economic bases. Although they had so many differences, eventually the thirteen colonies came together and got rid of the controlling, micromanaging king and began developing the United States of America.

Agriculture was a prominent feature in colonial economy. In all of the colonies, it was a way for colonists to obtain food and income. In New England, subsistence farming was common. In the Middle Colonies, there was rich soil that produced the perfect environment for crops such as wheat and corn, which was exported as to Europe and the West Indies, creating a source of income from agriculture. In the Southern Colonies, there were subsistence farms and plantations. Plantations grew their own food, as well as cash crops that created a source of income.

The middle colonies were founded by the Dutch New Amsterdam but led by Quakers and William Penn. The middles colonies consisted of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. The two largest cities in the middle colonies was Philadelphia and New York. The middle colonies prospered from many farm goods. They prospered with farm good because of their climate. They had warmer winters, warmer summers, very fertile mountain valleys and most of all they had longer growing season than the New England colonies. The colonist in the middle colonies grew a lot of wheat, grains and oats as well as other crops. They are known as the “Bread Basket” of the colonies because of its amount of grains they produced. Producing all of those crops made them

Brinkley’s contradiction exists because throughout the early 18th Century nearly all colonist considered themselves to be loyal English subjects. Despite this, the American colonist simultaneously, and inadvertently began to develop their own unique identity. One that wasn’t necessarily a conscious decision to be different from England, but one that was largely shaped by, as Brinkley states, “the nature of the New World” (53). American colonist tried hard to maintain their cultural Englishness, but were being shaped by environmental factors in the areas where they now lived. This led to unique differences between the colonies and England in terms of population, economics, and society and religion, and political ideas.

Economies quickly emerged as a result of human and environmental interaction. Each settlement had its own economy which were based on different aspects. The English colonies were arguably the most diverse with economic activities including farming, fishing, and trading. Their settlements were mostly mercantile, meaning it “promoted governmental regulation of a nation's economy for the purpose of augmenting state power at the expense of rival national powers,” and was famous for their exports, which largely consisted of tobacco, rice, timber, and fish. Tobacco and rice became the major cash crops of the southern colonies. These cash crops were grown on large plantations of land that needed large numbers of workers. Most colonists grew their own food. The soil was too thin and rocky and the climate too harsh for the colonists to grow cash crops. They turned to fishing, lumbering, fur trading, and metal working to nourish their economy. The French economy was mainly based on fur trade because it was more profitable, but still had its part in farming. An abundance of rivers allowed for transportation of goods between the colonies. Mills to grind grains developed and supported local economies. Much like the others, the Spanish were famous for their trading, while also having farming in their western colonies. It was strictly regulated by the Spanish Board of Trade and laws were enforced by the Spanish military. The Northern colonies developed cottage industries that traded on a simple barter system. For example, one household might mill grain while the neighbor spun

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.

New England consisted of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. While the southern colonies were Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia. Even though both of them were in the New World they differ religiously, economically, socially and politically. Both, New England and Southern colonies, made an impact on the development of culture.