2. * The southern colonies were an ideal
place for agriculture. This area
consisted of
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West
Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennesse
e, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and
Arkansas. It was an area where the
tidewater leaves minerals on the
tideland, leaving it fertile and rich
enough to grow plentiful of crops.
Colonies located further south meant
that the growing season was also
longer. It usually lasted for 7 or 8
months. The climate was warm, damp
and at the perfect temperature for
growing cash crops. Primary products
produced were staple crops such as
cotton, tobacco, sugar, and rice. Cotton
was the most profitable and valuable for
southern farmers.
3. * Plantations in the South
* The Southern colonies concentrated on agriculture
and developing plantations to export mainly
tobacco, cotton, corn, vegetables, grain, fruit, and
livestock. A large population of the slave population
was hired to work on these plantations. Inside, they
usually grew cotton, rice, tobacco, indigo, and more
crops. The large number of waterways located
around the south made it easy for them to transport
their goods. Plantations were known as self-
sufficient, since they housed their planters,
families, and workers needed. They were like small
villages with small shops, schools, and everything
needed inside of it. People in the south lived very
far apart, so plantations were often separated by
hundred of miles. By the 1600s, planters turned to
enslaved Africans also known as indentured
servants to work in the fields. They were promised
to work on the land for several years in exchange
for money and a place to live in.
4. * In the early colonies the northeast has generally poor land and weather making it difficult to make a
living from farming. Turning to other pursuits, the New Englanders had water power and made grain
mills and sawmills. Good resources of timber manufacturing of ships. Excellent harbors promoted
trade, and the sea became a source of a lot of power and wealth. In Massachusetts, the cod industry
also was profitable to the early colonies . The early colonies were also a part of Triangular trade was
trading between three points. Many times it would be like bringing molasses from the Caribbean all the
way to New England where it would be used to make Rum. Rum would then be shipped to Africa to be
traded for slaves. After that Slaves would be brought to the Caribbean to work on the plantations.
* Much of this trade was done by New England traders, which helped to develop New England into a
leader in trans-Atlantic trade and ship building. the primary dispute was that Britain forbade its colonies
from trading directly with other countries rather than going through Britain. Colonies found it much more
efficient and profitable to trade directly.
5. The Early Colonies were located east of
the Appalachian mountain along the
coastal line. The Appalachians were
located in the western border of the
colonies which made a barrier that kept
them closer to the coast. After the war,
England controlled all of the eastside of
the Mississippi River. Many colonists
wanted to move across the Appalachian
Mountains into land that the French had
controlled before the war. The first
colony was founded at Jamestown,
Virginia, in 1607.
6. * The climate in the Northern
colonies was much colder
compared to the Southern
colonies. Due to the
temperature differences, the
North had a more longer winter
period, resulting in a short
growing period. Also, compared
to the South, the North had
much more
forests, rocks, mountains and
lakes. Through these lakes and
rivers, the Northern colonies
relied on these harbors for
transferring goods.
