Chapter 4 - The Thirteen Colonies

Question 1

How did geography influence where the settlers settled the colonies?

Answer 1

Hills and valleys covered much of the MIDDLE colonies. Farmers grew many crops in the rich soil. Ships would travel far inland on deep, wide waters like the Hudson. These waterways were used to ship goods and to travel.

NEW ENGLAND colonies had few rivers to travel and the land was either too rocky or sandy to farm. The farmers struggled to grow enough crops to feed their families. However, they had other natural resources. Lots of wood from forests to build ships and houses. People caught fish and whales in the ocean.

The SOUTHERN colonies land was low with many rivers and wetlands. Settlers used boats to reach area of rich farmland.

Question 2

What is the FALL LINE?

Answer 2

Rivers from the higher land of the mountains flow to the lower lands near the coast and often form water lands.

Few people settled on the rough, rocky land beyond the FALL LINE.

Question 3

Why did settlers come to the colonies? (3 reasons)

Answer 3

ECONOMIC reasons -
Gold and riches - Jamestown was founded
Poor and land - Georgia was founded

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM from the Church of England - Pilgrams in Plymouth, Massachusetts and the Quakers in Pennsylvania

POLITICAL Freedom - the people wanted to make laws for themselves instead of being governed by England

Question 4

What is self-government?

Answer 4

The power of people to make laws for themselves.

Question 5

What is a compact?

Answer 5

An agreement

The Mayflower compact was the first written plan of government in North America.

Question 6

What is an economy?

Answer 6

The way in which the people of an area use the resources around them.

Question 7

What is a proprietor?

Answer 7

A person who owned and controlled all the land in a colony.

I.e.: James, Duke of York was NY’s proprietor

Question 8

What is a cash crop?

Answer 8

A crop that people grow and then sell to earn money.

Question 9

What is a plantation?

Answer 9

A very big farm

Question 10

Describe life in the NEW ENGLAND colonies.

Answer 10

Government - town meetings, where colonists held elections and voted on laws for their towns.

Economy -
Farming - rye, corn, wheat, barley, apples, cattle, sheep
Fishing - cod, mackerel, whales
Trading - fish, lumber

Culture & Daily Life - farms - boys spent much of their time farming, but some also went to school; girls helped in the fields, prepared and preserved food.

Science & Technology - improved shipbuilding - better design, travel father with less crews

Question 11

Describe life in the MIDDLE colonies.

Answer 11

Government -
Proprietors chose governors to make important decisions.
Assembly - landowning men elected to help make laws.

Economy -
Farming - wheat, para, corn, barley, potatoes, hay, peaches, apples, farm animals
Trading - crops, lumber

Culture & Daily Life -
Farms - boys helped plant and harvest crops; girls cooked, sewed, and did housework.
Cities - people owned businesses or worked as shopkeepers, craftspeople, or laborers; children might learn a job or craft.

Science & Technology - Inventions - bifocal glasses, a fireplace to better heat rooms, an early battery to store electricity (all invented by Ben Franklin)

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Question 12

Describe life in the SOUTHERN colonies.

Answer 12

Government -
Proprietors owned and controlled the colonies
House of Burgesses - male, white, landowners in Virginia elected to make and change laws for the colony.

Economy -
Cash crops - tobacco, rice, indigo
Trading - cash crops

Culture/Daily Life -
Plantations - children of owners lived fairly easy lives; enslaved African children had to work very hard and could be sold and separated from their families.
Small Farms - children helped with farm work.

Science/Technology - improved agriculture like a new type of indigo.

Question 13

What is a trade network?

Answer 13

Shipping routes developed between the colonies and Europe and Africa

Question 14

What is MERCANTILISM?

Answer 14

A system in which the government controlled the economy of its colonies in order to grow rich from trade.

Question 15

What were the Navigation Acts?

Answer 15

Trade laws to control how, what and with who the colonies could trade with.

These laws became unpopular with the colonies …

Question 16

What is an immigrant?

Answer 16

A person who leaves one country to live in another country.

Question 17

What is an apprentice?

Answer 17

Worked with a master to learn how to do a job. They did not get paid, but receive food, shelter, and clothes.

Question 18

What is an indentured servant?

Answer 18

People who did not have enough money to come to the colonies so they agreed to work for someone who could pay for their trip. After 4-7 years they were free to work for themselves.

Question 19

What were the rights of the colonists under English rule?

Answer 19

Most colonists in Ny had little say in how the colony was run.

The governor , who was chosen by the King, controlled the colony.

The colony had an elected assembly of white, property owners, who went to church.

Women could own property but were not allowed to vote or hold office.

Question 20

What were Africans rights?

Answer 20

Enslaved Africans were treated as property and were denied basic rights. They could not own property and did not get paid, few were given an education. Parents and children could be sold at any time, forcing families apart.

Very few free slaves owned property and none were allowed to vote.

Question 21

What is a merchant?

Answer 21

A person who buys and sells goods.

Question 22

Describe the daily life in the New York colony.

Answer 22

In NY city many immigrants started businesses using SKILLS they learned in Europe. I.e.: furniture, tools, ships

Other people opened shops to SELL these goods.

People also worked as TRADERS - they bought goods from England and sold them in the colonies.

There were skilled workers like dentists and printers.

Many worked on farms - men plowed and planted. Women made clothing. Children fed farm animals and milked cows. They would trade for things they could not grow.

Question 23

Who were the Puritans?

Answer 23

A religious group that settled the Massachusetts Bay (New England). Their religion shaped their lives and government. Everyone had to go to church, even if they weren’t church members. Only men who went to church could vote.

Question 24

Describe New York’s population.

Answer 24

A very diverse colony and because of its location it’s population grew quickly. Immigrants from Sweden, Scotland, Germany, and Jews.

Question 25

What was voting like in the colonies?

Answer 25

Only white men who owned property and went to church could vote.

Women had fewer rights. They could own property but not allowed to vote.

Even free blacks, who owned property were not allowed to vote.