The document summarizes the original 13 colonies, dividing them into three groups: New England colonies (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire), Middle colonies (Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware), and Southern colonies (Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia). It describes the important economic activities of each region, including fishing and commerce in New England, agriculture in the Middle colonies, and plantation farming and the use of slaves in the Southern colonies. It also discusses religion in each region and historical events like the Great Awakening and Enlightenment that influenced the colonies.

1. By: Kiersten Locklear

2. The Original Colonies

 There are three groups used to categorize the
original thirteen colonies. They are:
 The Southern colonies
 The New England colonies
 The Middle colonies

3. New England Colonies

 The four original New England colonies included:
 Massachusetts
 Rhode Island
 Connecticut
 New Hampshire

4. Important Attributes:
Fishing

 New England colonies had rocky thin soil, so they
couldn’t farm. Fishing brought great prosperity to
the New England colonies. Whaling also brought in
a lot of the colonies’ profits.

5. Important Attributes:
Commerce

 The New England colonies were heavily involved in
commerce. The trade with England allowed ship
holders to flourish. Further, they traded with the
West Indies and the French colonies to the north.

6. Important Attributes:
Agriculture

 Even though there wasn’t much fertile soil for
farming, towns were surrounded by farms owned by
the workers. They had a high degree of mechanical
ingenuity and self-sufficiency.

7. Religion in the New
England Colonies

 Many individuals in the New England colonies were
Calvinists or heavily influenced by John Calvin's
works and thought. Many people were also Puritans.

8. Middle Colonies

 The original Middle Colonies were:
 Pennsylvania
 New York
 New Jersey
 Delaware

9. Important Attributes:
Agriculture

 The middle colonies had fertile land. Land was
generally acquired more easily than in New England
or in the South. Wheat and corn from local farms
would feed the American colonies through their
colonial infancy and revolutionary adolescence.

10. Important Attributes: The
“Breadbasket Colonies”

 The Middle colonies were not as well known for
their farming as they were for their mills and bread.
Their mills were powered by water. On average, a
person in the Middle colonies ate about 1 pound of
bread per day.

11. Important Attributes:
Jobs

 There were a variety of jobs in the middle colonies
due to the varying climate and the different needs of
the people. The main jobs were:
 Farmers
 Tailors
 Glass blowers
 Silversmiths
 And Brickmakers

12. Religion in the Middle
Colonies

 The Middle colonies presented an assortment of
religions. The presence of Quakers, Mennonites,
Lutherans, Dutch Calvinists, and Presbyterians made
the dominance of one faith next to impossible.

13. Southern Colonies

 The original Southern colonies were:
 Maryland
 Virginia
 North Carolina
 South Carolina
 Georgia

14. Important Attributes:
Plantations

 The founders of the Southern Colonies came to America
seeking wealth in the form of landownership. Some were
rich aristocrats from England who became owners of
huge tracts of land in America. These landowners
recognized that the Southern Colonies were rich in
farmland. The coastal plains and the rolling hills were
perfect for raising crops. The rich soil and the warm
weather helped the crops thrive. They established very
large farms known as plantations. Each plantation
required many, many workers. Growing the crops was
nearly a year-round job in the warmer colonies, and there
were lots of other jobs to do on a large plantation too.

15. Important Attributes:
Slaves

 Plantation owners could not find enough workers among
the European immigrants to the United States. Most of
these immigrants wanted to farm their own land, not
work for someone else. The Native Americans were not
interested in taking jobs on the plantations either. The
plantation owners found the solution to their labor
shortage on a Dutch slave ship. They purchased their first
slaves in Jamestown in 1619. According to some histories,
these first African Americans were known as servants
rather than slaves. Either way, they were forced to work
on the plantations.

16. Important Attributes:
Agriculture

 The economy in the Southern colonies was
dependent on farming. This is why plantations were
so common in the south. The main types of crops
produced were:
 Sugar
 Cotton
 Tobacco
 Coffee
 And Rice

17. Religion in the Southern
Colonies

 The southern colonies were made up of religiously
diverse settlers. The settlers were mostly Anglicans,
Catholics, Baptists, Lutherans, and Presbyterians.

18. The Triangular Trade

 The Triangular Trade was a system in which slaves,
crops, and manufactures were traded between
Africa, the Caribbean, and the American colonies.
 The majority of slaves transported to the New World
were Africans from the central and western parts of
Africa, sold by native African tribes to European
slave traders who then transported them to the
colonies in North and South America.

19. The Great Awakening

 The Great Awakening was a spiritual renewal that
swept the American Colonies, particularly New
England, during the first half of the 18th Century.
Certain Christians began to disassociate themselves
with the established approach to worship at the time
which had led to a general sense of complacency
among believers, and instead they adopted an
approach which was characterized by great fervor
and emotion in prayer.

20. The Age of
Enlightenment

 The Enlightenment was appreciated by many people
in the colonies who tried to keep up with the
advancements of the Europeans. Professor John
Winthrop was among those responsible for the
spread of enlightenment in America.