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The 13 Colonies
The New England Colonies
Rhode Island
Founding the colony of Rhode Island in 1636, Roger William’s led many Aristocrats to their religious freedom. Rhode Island has many religions including Quaker, Puritan, Baptist, Anglicans, Jewish, Catholic, and Congregationalists. Their government is not that small having a Governor, Deputy Governor, a General Assembly, and ten assistants. Rhode Island has red clay soil with lots of hills and forests. January and February are the coldest months with temperatures reaching 20 degrees. July is the hottest month with 71 degrees. Most people are shipbuilders, dairy and cattle farmers for their living. Rhode Island is the smallest colony, but I think the most beautiful.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire was first founded in 1623 by Pilgrims from England and was one of the first original 13 colonies. Pilgrims came to New Hampshire for religious freedom and starting their lives over. One of the ships which brought the pilgrims to New Hampshire was called The Jonathan. The Jonathan’s passengers were 10 white male pilgrims. Three years later more pilgrims came to New Hampshire and began to settle there.
When the Revolutionary War began in 1775, New Hampshire was the first colony to declare independence from England. New Hampshire also captured a British Navy ship.
New Hampshire is governed under a constitution adopted in 1784. This constitution is older than every other state except Massachusetts. An earlier constitution for New Hampshire was adopted in 1776. New Hampshire cast the deciding vote on June 21, 1788 which put the Constitution into effect. The geography is a mix of different things. They have a lot of mountains like Mount Washington. There are over 1,300 lakes and rivers. There is only one seaport in the colony, called Portsmouth. There are six religions in New Hampshire. The six religions are Roman Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Puritans. The climate temperature through the year is from the adverage 70 degrees to 6 degrees. The adverage temperature in July is 70 degrees. The adverage temperature in January is 6 degrees. The jobs of New Hampshire pilgrims were fishing, lumber, ship building and farming. Public education in New Hampshire was established by law in 1647 when New Hampshire was a part of Massachusetts.
Connecticut
What was it like in Connecticut during the 18th century? It was founded by Thomas Hooker in 1636. It was founded so that he could practice his Puritan religion. For that same reason many colonists came to live in Connecticut. People in the colony included colonist and Native Americans. The economy included trade and growing crops. The climate in Connecticut is colder than England’s, and its summers are mild. Their government is based on the consent of the people. The colony of Connecticut was one of the first colonies to have a constitution, the "Fundamental Orders." Connecticut is my favorite colony.
MASSACHUSETTS
Massachusetts was a spectacular colony. Captain John Smith founded Massachusetts for religious freedom. Massachusetts had rocky coasts, ports, cliffs, and, is very sandy. Summers are warm and winters are mild. There was a population of more than 200,000 people. The people there were mostly puritans, Indians, and farmers. There were no trained doctors. The work was strictly divided between men and women. Their jobs were mostly farming and trade. The farmers grew many vegetables such as beans, pumpkins, peas, and corn. Most colonists lived to an average age of less than forty years old. The religion was mostly Roman Catholics and Quakers. They spent half of Sunday in church which was in the center of town. During the week there was a Lecture Day which was religious talks. The topic of conversation the rest of the week would be the minister’s sermon. The government was ruled by ministers. I think Massachusetts is a wonderful place to live!!!!!!!
The Southern Colonies
North Carolina
North Carolina was one of the Southern Colonies. It was once part of a colony called Carolina, but it was later separated into North and South Carolina. In North Carolina, people sold tobacco, tar, pitch, turpentine, lumber, and some crops. (Turpentine was an oil found in trees used as medicine for the skin.) There were four different men who tried to settle what is now North Carolina, but the four men failed in their attempts. Ralph Lane tried to settle a colony, but everyone disappeared. The same thing happened to Sir Walter Raleigh, and these lost colonies are still a mystery to all. The king then gave the eight Lord Proprietors land because of their total loyalty to the royal family. They settled and stayed. North Carolina was mountainous. The summers were hot, and the winters were mild. Few settlers lived in the mountains. The others lived by the water or at least close to it. All over North Carolina, there were Indians. North
Carolinians were very cruel to the Native Americans. The selfishly took the Indians land without hesitation. This resulted in two fierce battles between the colonists and Native Americans. In 1729, North Carolina went from being a proprietary colony to a crown colony.
There were many different religions because of the many different origins of the people. However, most people practiced the Anglican religion. There were slaves, but very few compared to places like Virginia.
North Carolina has gone through many hardships, but all in all, it’s a great place to live.
Virginia
On April 26, 1607 three ships arrived at Southern Virginia, and the leader was John Smith. John Smith and his settlers were looking for gold and were trying to build a new settlement. The religion in Virginia was the Anglican religion. The government was ruled by the white men who owned the land and were able to vote for representatives to the House of Burgesses.There were many jobs for people including baker, farmer, glass maker, and a silversmith. Virginia has long,hot and humid summers,and mild winters.Slaves worked on many farms in Virginia.They grew corn, tobacco and other products.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Life in South Carolina was very pleasant it. It was founded by King Charles the second in the year 1663 . And was a gift to the 8 Lords Proprietors for the great deeds they had done for the king. The weather is nice and has short mild winters , and long summers which give farmers long growing seasons. Most of the geography is dark,wooded mountains and rolling hills . The government is made up of 3 branches: a legislature to make laws, a judicial branch to approves laws , and a governor who rules over all of the colony .The economy is mostly farming cotton , rice , indigo ,and most popular is tobacco.
MARYLAND
Many people lived in Maryland centuries ago. Many Native American tribes had crossed Bering Strait and had been living there long before settlers came. In 1570, Spanish came and tried to make them Christians. John Smith founded the Virginia colony, encouraging George Calvert (Lord Baltimore) to found another colony. He persuaded the king to give him permission. However, he died in 1632 . Two months later, his son Cecil (Lord Baltimore II ) started a colony, naming it after King Charles’ wife, Maria (Mary). They were treated badly in England, for being Catholics, so in his colony, he wanted religious freedom. He thought of it as an experiment. Cecil’s brother, Leonard, was the 1st governor.Two ships, Ark and Dove, were in the voyage. It was a hard trip,especially when they got separated during a bad storm. They anchored off on St.Clement’s island, on March 25, 1634. Chesapeake Indian tribes allied with the settlers for protection. Captain John Smith had explored the Chesapeake bay region, forming plans for a basic map. Maryland was a proprietary colony.The Maryland General Assembly was the government. Tobacco farming was the main part of the economy. It was grown in what is now the Atlantic Coastal Plain area in Maryland. After a few years, the old tobacco fields lost vitamins and nutrients needed. They needed new fields. 80 % of the land was plantations by the 1650’s. There weren’t too many blacks in Maryland, some free. Life was hard, but by the 1700’s a few families had gotten fortunes with other businesses. Maryland has a good climate. It has mild winters, but warm summers, as well. Maryland has an exiting and interesting history.
The Middle Colonies
The New York Colony
New York has a very intriguing history. In the beginning it was called New Netherland. The founders of New Netherland were Samuel de Champlain and Henry Hudson. New Netherland had a wide variety of people living there , including the Dutch, French Huguenots , English, Portuguese, Africans , and Finns. This colony’s economy prospered because of the good trading set-up with the Indians . Shipbuilding, and the slave trade also ran well. The colony of New Amsterdam had many trees, water sources, fertile soil, and good agriculture. Even though New Netherland was ruled by the king, it could elect its own mayor. England later saw how prosperous New Netherland was , and took over. It was renamed New York for James, the Duke of York. The Dutch , and the English were accustomed to each other and life went on as if nothing had changed.
One American Heroine from New York was Margaret Corbin who took over her husband’s place at the cannon when her husband was shot during a battle at Fort Washington. She served this way until she herself was shot. The Battle of Freeman’s Farm and the Battle of Saratoga took place in New York . These battles were important because they were the turning point of the Revolutionary War, and earned the patriotic fighters an important friend.......the French. New York certainly played an important role in America’s history , and has an interesting past of its own.
Life in Pennsylvania
Come with me, and I’ll tell you about the life in Pennsylvania. This colony was founded by William Penn. King Charles owed much money to Penn, but Penn asked that instead of paying the money, the King grant him land in America. Penn first wanted to call the land New Wales, but an assistant to the King objected. Penn then suggested Sylvania, a Latin word meaning "forest". The King honored the Penn family though, and wanted Penn to add Penn to Sylvania, making Pennsylvania. Penn agreed to this and many people from other countries went there.
By 1770, only Virginia had a larger population than Pennsylvania. By 1750, Philadelphia was Pennsylvania’s largest city, with 15,000 people of the 20,000 people that lived in Pennsylvania as a whole. Only Massachusetts’ city of Boston had a larger population than Philadelphia, with 20,000 people. Philadelphia had many German and Scot-Irish people as well as Quakers, the group in which William Penn belonged. Many people in Pennsylvania could not read. Pennsylvania had no public-school systems, although there were a few church-run and private schools. Wealthy families got tutors to teach their sons advanced subjects like Latin and Greek. Only boys could go to college, and they went to college in England or other colonies.
People in Pennsylvania were merchants, ship-builders, and many other things. The first newspaper was called the "Pennsylvania Gazette", and told us that Pennsylvanians had the same interests as we do today, like local politics and events. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were both written in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania was the 2nd state to accept the Constitution, five days after Delaware. Philadelphia was also one of the cities where many major battles were fought. Valley Forge served as winter quarters for George Washington and his troops in the terrible winter of 1777 to 1778. The men had poor rations and badly-built houses, but Washington refused to have better odds of surviving. He offered a 12-dollar prize to whomever finished their cabin first, and that speeded things up. After the winter, more than 3,000 soldiers died. The Revolution ended soon after with the Americans victorious.
That is all the time I have. I hope to see you again, and I hope you learned a lot from your experience of life in Pennsylvania.
The Geography and Climate of Delaware
What are the geography and climate of Delaware? Delaware is the colony behind Rhode Island. On a map it resembles a shoe kicking upward. Nearly all of Delaware is on the water. Water covers two-thirds of the coast of Delaware. It has over fifty freshwater lakes and ponds filled with fish which is an industry. The largest river within the state is the Christiana named after Queen Christiana of Sweden.
In the early days when the Dutch founded Delaware, they sailed down the Chesapeake Bay to the west. Instead of calling it Delaware they named it New Sweden. It was later renamed Delaware after Sir Thomas West, Lord de la Warr. The people there are shipbuilders, merchants, landowners and farmers. The farmers grew peaches for an industry.
The climate of Delaware is not very cold. In the winters it is below 74 degrees. The summers are hot and above 80 degrees An interesting fact about Delaware is that it was the first state that approved The Constitution on December 7, 1787.
The New Jersey Colony
New Jersey is a middle colony. It was founded by the British but when they arrived it was populated by the Indians. There were many tribes but the biggest and most favored of them were the Lenni-Lenape, that would mean ‘’Original People" in English. They were friendly to one another and they all lived in peace.
When the colonists arrived, if the Indians hadn’t helped them they would not have survived. They helped the colonists by hunting food for them, giving them some of the crops they had grown and helping them build shelter for cold nights and windy days. Indians also grew many different crops such as corn, squash, and beans. They had lots of deer to hunt for and their prime meat was Venacin. The colonists included are Quakers, Puritans, indentured servants, Indians, other religions and the Dutch.
When the English did arrive they decided to take over and basically steal the Indians land. The Indians didn’t really understand what the English were doing and so they really didn’t mind until the English took their land. The Indians didn’t like this at all and neither did the friendly colonists. But the British’s power was too large and the Indians were kicked out of New Jersey. Most of the colonists worked as farmers and mill owners growing many different kind of wheat and that’s how they got their name as the "Bread Basket." Some of the crops they were growing were: corn, rye, oats, barley, flax, they also used cows for milk and beef, chickens for eggs and meat, hogs for pork and bacon and sheep for wool. 7
The England Colonies Sites
The New England Colonies
the People in the New England Colonies
Naming Thier Children
The Southern Colonies
Information about the Southern Colonies
The Southern Colonies
the History of the Southern Colonies
The Middle Colonies
Information About the Middle Colonies
The Middle Cololies
The Great Awakening in the Middle Colonies
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