Regional Geography & Climate
This region was known for its cold winters, rocky soil, and reliance on fishing and shipbuilding rather than large-scale farming.
What is the New England Region?
Main crops grown primarily to be sold for profit, such as tobacco, indigo, and rice, were known by this term.
What are cash crops?
Established in 1607, Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in North America, starting with this colony.
What is Jamestown?
Signed aboard a ship in 1620, this document established a self-governing colony based on majority rule in Plymouth.
What is the Mayflower Compact?
This religious group settled in New England and wanted to reform or "purify" the Church of England.
What are the Puritans?
Featuring fertile soil and broad rivers, this middle region earned the nickname "The Breadbasket Colonies."
What are the Middle Colonies?
This English joint-stock company financed and established the Jamestown settlement in 1607 in hopes of making a profit.
What is the Virginia Company?
Founded by William Penn, this Middle Colony was intended as a refuge for Quakers seeking religious freedom.
What is Pennsylvania?
Created in Virginia in 1619, this was the first elected legislative assembly in the American colonies.
What is the House of Burgesses?
King James I issued this official written grant giving the Virginia Company the legal right and privilege to establish a colony in North America.
What is a charter?
The warm climate and long growing seasons of this southern region allowed for the growth of cash crops like tobacco and rice.
What are the Southern Colonies?
Demand for labor on southern cash crop plantations led to the forced migration and lifelong servitude of millions of Africans through this system.
What is slavery?
Established by Puritans seeking freedom from religious persecution, this colony became the center of the New England area.
What is Massachusetts (or Massachusetts Bay Colony)?
This strict Puritan set of beliefs and practices emphasized hard work, high moral standards, and close-knit church-centered communities.
What is the New England Way?
Individuals who agreed to work without pay for a specified number of years in exchange for transportation to North America.
What are indentured servants?
The region that was home to large agricultural estates that relied heavily on enslaved labor to harvest cash crops.
What are the Southern Colonies?
This economic system relied on mother countries gaining wealth by extracting raw materials from their colonies.
What is mercantilism?
Founded by James Oglethorpe as a haven for debtors and a buffer against Spanish Florida, this was the last of the 13 colonies.
What is Georgia?
Early colonial developments like the House of Burgesses and the Mayflower Compact laid the groundwork for this political principle of citizens ruling themselves.
What is self-government (or representative government)?
The Southern Colonies were distinct from New England and the Middledue to high levels of ethnic and religious diversity among these people.
What are European immigrants (or colonists)?