Welcome back, historians! Caroline here. We've
learned about how English settlers arrived in Virginia colonies like Roanoke and Jamestown,
as well as Northern colonies like Plymouth. Over time, many colonies emerged. Some broke apart, and
some merged together. We ended up with 13. Today our objectives are to group the 13 colonies into
three regions, based on their characteristics, and describe what those regions were like in
the early 18th century. Ready, historians? Let's start by taking a moment to pause the
video and label the 13 colonies in your PDF. You'll add color to classify them into different
regions later, but for now let's make sure we get their names down. You may remember that
the English first arrived in Virginia as a bunch of joint stock companies and
individuals looking to get rich. Then we learned that religious communities migrated
across the sea, hoping to escape persecution back in England, and arrived in Plymouth. Next,
we'll explore how they developed over time. Unlike other empires in North
America such as France and Spain, people just kept coming across the ocean
to live in the English colonies. By 1750, the English colonies had more than a million
inhabitants. The southernmost colonies included Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina,
and Georgia. While we've got the map on screen, choose a color to represent the South, and
give these colonies an outline in that color. This region, the South, is great for farming.
It has long, warm summers, lots of rivers, and fertile soil. You may remember that the first
people to settle Virginia had a tough time. Can you remember who set the colony on a better
path when he brought tobacco seeds to Jamestown? If you guessed John Rolfe, you're right! And
based on his influence, the South based its whole economy on growing cash crops - including tobacco,
rice, and indigo. These crops were grown and sold for profit. Many of the workers on Southern farms
were enslaved people, brought across the ocean from Africa beginning in 1619. To encourage more
settlement in this region, Virginia's government awarded 50 acres of free land to anyone who
paid for a ticket across the Atlantic Ocean. This policy led people to have really big
farms and to live far apart from one another. People living on different plantations mainly saw
each other at church on Sundays, but not often, otherwise. Visiting everyone in town and
learning about their problems was practically a full-time job. So Virginia created a group
of lawmakers, called the House of Burgesses, to govern over the area. These legislators were
chosen by election, making this the first place in North America to have an elected assembly. It
paved the way for future democracy in America. Other Southern colonies, like Maryland, also had
elected assemblies of lawmakers. The original settlers of Maryland were Catholics. In 1649, they
passed the law protecting the right to practice any kind of Christianity, so that catholics would
not be persecuted for their beliefs. This was a step on the way to the First Amendment right
protecting the freedom to practice any religion. Quiz time! Can you remember
which group settled Plymouth? Yes, it was the Pilgrims, who were
fleeing religious persecution in England. After the success of Plymouth, a big wave of
people came across the ocean in a great migration. The Puritans, who also had problems with the
church of England, settled near Plymouth, naming their colony Massachusetts Bay. The Puritans
were led by John Winthrop, and had a covenant, or promise with God, to form an ideal Christian
community that would be a "beacon on a hill" for people around the world to use as a model for
their own societies. The people of Massachusetts Bay had a theocracy, in which only special members
of the church could serve in the government. Some colonists didn't like this, and left Massachusetts
Bay. Ann Hutchinson and Roger Williams began colonies in what became Rhode Island. Thomas
Hooker began a colony in Connecticut to get away from the Massachusetts Bay theocracy. And
eventually, New Hampshire formed to the north. Time to add some color to the New England
colonies! Pick a color for this region, and color or outline Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Rhode Island, and New Hampshire in that color. All of these other New England colonies were
created on the basis of the separation of church and state. The people were still deeply
religious, they just didn't want their faith and their government all mixed together. Even
Massachusetts eventually converted to this type of government by 1700. People wanted a say in
their community affairs. So these colonies had town hall meetings, and elected lawmakers to
set taxes and provide services, like schools. Unfortunately, the climate wasn't as good in New
England for plantation farming. The soil was rocky and infertile compared to the South, and winters
were frigid. It was too hard to grow cash crops, but many people were subsistence farmers and grew
enough vegetables for their families on their own land. Big industries in the New England colonies
included fishing, forestry, trading, and whaling, as well as cottage industries for special skills
like printing, smithing, and textiles. There were not as many slaves in the New England colonies,
because there is not as much farming. But some of the richest members of society had help
running their homes. Education was important in New England for religious reasons. Many people
wanted to make sure that future generations could read the Bible. Massachusetts was the first
colony to pass a law requiring public schools to be built for all children to attend.
Harvard, a university still attended today, was opened in 1636. Its first school was
a seminary, where ministers were trained. Between Maryland and Massachusetts
were four Mid-Atlantic colonies: New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Once more, let's pick a new color representing
the Mid-Atlantic colonies, and add it to our map. You may remember that New York was
originally settled by Dutch merchants, who purchased Manhattan Island for 24 dollars
worth of gifts. They formed a diverse community of people from around the world, speaking
many languages and practicing many religions. New Amsterdam grew to over 9,000 inhabitants by
1664, when British ships sailed into the harbor, threatening war. They met with
the governor, Peter Stuyvesant, who surrendered the colony to the British in
exchange for a peaceful transition of power. The British renamed the colony New York after
the Duke of York, who had organized the mission. Other colonies close by followed in New York's
lead. They were a multi-ethnic, multi-religious haven for immigrants, and became big trading
cities. Mid-Atlantic colonists got heavily involved in the fur trade, setting them up for
conflict with the French, and used lumber from New England to develop a large shipbuilding industry.
But more than anything, the Mid-Atlantic colonies became known as the bread basket colonies, growing
staple crops. These are crops grown to feed a society. The middle of the road climate promoted
crops including wheat, corn, oats, barley, and rye - grains that people made bread out of, and
which had a long shelf life. William Penn was the founder of Pennsylvania. He had the rights to all
of the land in the entire colony, but as a quaker, he believed in the equality of people before God,
and wanted everyone to have the same rights. So he established an elected assembly of lawmakers and
limited his own power when he wrote No Cross, No Crown. With policies like the freedom of religion,
elected assemblies, and a multi-ethnic tradition, the Mid-Atlantic colonies were the most attractive
to many immigrants. The population of cities like New York and Philadelphia grew to be the largest
in all of England's colonies in North America. It's amazing to think about all these different
kinds of people living in the same empire. The 13 colonies had from their
start been a diverse community, and the U.S. remained one since, welcoming
immigrants throughout its history. That's one of the reasons that the English colonies were so
successful. Lots of different people felt welcome, and they thrived through continued immigration
and steady population and economic growth. By 1700 all three regions had their own
representative governments, and were accustomed to taxing and ruling themselves, with
little involvement from the King and Parliament. In a future lesson, we'll learn about how
colonists grew apart from England and started thinking differently about being part of
a monarchy. Until then, always be clever!
