5.3 Social Studies Notes

1. 5.3 – New England’s
Economy

2. New England Farming
 Land was filled with trees and rocks,
which made farming very difficult.
 As families began growing more
food and livestock, there was a
surplus of goods, so trade became
common.
 Free Market Economy – people are
free to choose which goods to make
or buy and what to use
 People competed for each other’s
business, keeping prices low.

3. Logging and Shipbuilding
 Industry – all businesses that
make one kind of product
 Ex: Shipbuilding industry is
made of lumber jacks, black
smiths, and carpenters
 Dense forests provided plenty
of material for shipbuilding
 Naval Stores – products used
in ship building (wood, tar,
turpentine)

4. Logging and Shipbuilding
 Building ships was cheap in
the colonies due to the
availability of raw materials.
 By late 1700’s, 1/3 of all ships
under English control were
built in the colonies

5. Colonial Trades
 Imports – goods brought into a
country to buy
 Exports – goods sent out of a
country to sell
 Main New England Exports:
Ships, Wood, Fish, Whale Oil
 Whale oil is used to as fuel for
lamps
 New England could ONLY trade
with England, allowing England
to control the price of goods in
the colonies.

6. Triangular Trade Routes
 Common route of trade
between Africa, Europe, and
the Americas
 England sent finished goods
to Africa
 Africa sent slaves to the
Americas
 America sent raw materials to
England

7. Middle Passage
 Trade route from Africa to Americas was the Middle Passage
 Millions of slaves were sent from Africa to the Americas to work as cheap labor.
 Thousands died from the journey due to the cramped living quarters, starvation, and
disease aboard the ships.

8. Discussion Questions (Answer for Class):
 How did the surplus of food in the New England colonies create a free market
economy?
 Why did the ships built in New England cost less than ships built in England?
 How did England benefit from being the only country that could trade with the
colonies? (2 Answers)
 How did the free-market economy allow New England to grow faster than the other
regions of the colonies?
 Why do you think so many slaves were put aboard a ship at the risk that many of
them would die before reaching America?