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13 English Colonies

The Basics - Information that has been on most state examinations

• England created 13 new colonies along the east coast of North America. These 13 colonies each have very different backgrounds, cultures, climates and geographies. What they do have in common though is that they were all created to benefit the mother country - England. The belief that a country can get rich through trade is mercantilism, and it is for this reason England created these colonies. England hoped that the "New World" of North America could provide her with raw materials such as tobacco, lumber, fish and other products that could be used to help the English economy.

• The 13 colonies can be broken into three major groups - New England, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. All of the 13 colonies were located on the Atlantic Ocean, which allowed for trading ports and easier transportation of people and goods. Most of the small towns that made up the colonies sought to be self-sufficient - to have everything they needed for life right within close proximity to the townspeople.

• New England colonies were founded for religious reasons. Puritans started settlements in Massachusetts, then Connecticut. Life there was very strict, and Puritan was the only accepted religion. Massachusetts created the first government run by its citizens in North America when it drafted the Mayflower Compact, which would serve as another model for the US Constitution later on. Because the people of New England settled as families and hard work was at the core of the beliefs, their colonies did quite well compared to others. Rhode Island was another New England colony, but was very different from the others. Rhode Island granted religious freedom to all, a concept that would form the basis of American ideals later on, but quite radical in its day.

• The Middle colonies of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland were more relgiously tolerant than New England. That means that most Christian faiths were permitted to practice in these regions. This area is a bit more focused on trade in its ports for profit, being home to New York City and Philadelphia.

• The Southern colonies were primarily focused on profit as opposed to religion. They raised tobacco, rice, and indigo in this warm, moist climate. The Virginia government had officials elected by its citizens to represent them in the legislature, known as the Virginia House of Burgesses. This democratic concept was used when creating the US Constitution. It is in the south that slavery takes hold as landowners struggle to find people to work their lands. Slaves are brought from Africa on the second leg of triangular trade between New England, Africa, and the West Indies and the Southern Colonies. This second leg, known for crowded, hot, and dirty conditions, is the middle passage.

• England, being in control of the colonies, sought to make profits on all trading. Thus, it enacted the Navigation Acts, a law stating that all trades must at least have Britain's approval. The shippers of New England became very good at breaking these laws as time passed.

• As the 13 English colonies moved west across the Appalachian Mountains, they came into contact with New France. The hunters of New France feared the English expansion because the English were focused on agriculture and farming, and thus would cut down the forests in which the French hunted. To stop the English advance, the French and Indians joined forces in the French and Indian War against the British. While the British were unaccustomed to fighting with guerilla warfare, their superioir numbers overwhelmed the French. The resulting Treaty of Paris (1763) forced France out of North America and gave all lands up to the Mississippi River to the English, including Canada. Fighting this war caused a large debt for the English, however, as they recieved almost no assistance from the 13 colonies. Ben Franklin's Albany Plan of Union proposed help, but got nowhere. Thus, to pay off the war debt, the British began to tax the colonists. These taxes are a primary cause of the American Revolution.