Regions of the 13 Colonies, Essay Example

There were three different regions of the American colonies: the Northern Colony, made up of New England, the Middle Colonies, in between New England and the Southern colonies, and the Southern Colonies. Each colony had its own standards of living, economic and cultural norms. New England was comprised of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. In New England, the landscape was not conducive to farming because it was so rough so that the economy was based on shipbuilding and shipping. To a lesser degree, they participated in fur trading and the fishing industry. The cold climate of New England was a mixed blessing because the cold weather killed bacteria and thereby presented illnesses, but the severe winters also killed many people (Regions of the 13 Colonies.) The natural resources of New England included fish, whales, trees, and fur. The religion of the region was Puritanism, which did not permit other religions so that religious freedom as a concept was nonexistent.

The Middle Colonies consisted of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. The majority of the early settlers in this region depended on the fur trade, as well as farming in order to survive economically. The settlers were scattered randomly over the region, usually remaining in small farms with only a few cities established. The Middle Colonies were more diverse than the New England colonies because they were not centered on a single religion, or code of values. There farms were larger than those in the New England area but smaller than the southern areas. Servants, rather than slaves, provided a great deal of the labor, and the region was inhabited by people from many different nationalities, leading to greater religious tolerance and diversity, particularly in New York (The Middle Colonies.)

The Southern Colonies had the warmest climate in the colonies, considered an asset because the citizens did not have to worry about harsh winters. On the other hand, the warm climate allowed many illnesses to kill colonists. Its natural resources were farmland, forests and fish. Their cash crops were tobacco and fish; their entire economy was based on agriculture. There was also a great deal of religious tolerance in the Southern Colonies, since whether or not one went to church and where was relatively unimportant to the citizens there (Regions of the 13 Colonies.)

References

Regions of the 13 Colonies. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2012, from Cyber School.com: http://www.brtprojects.org/cyberschool/history/ch04/regions.html

The Middle Colonies. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2012, from Radford.edu: http://www.radford.edu/~rvshelton/Middle.htm