Beginning in 1607, when ambitious English colonists settled in Jamestown, and continuing until the last of the thirteen colonies was established; geography was a substantial factor in the development of colonial America. The crops that essentially saved the colonists lives, such as tobacco, rice, and indigo, wouldn’t have grown without a certain type and amount of soil to grow properly. Also, the Appalachian Mountains and the dense forests provided a barrier for the colonists, preventing them from going too far west right away, and causing the colonies to form in the arrangement they did. Finally, the population was the most dense in middle colonies, such as New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania partly because of the mild …show more content…
This, in turn, made it so that the population were more dense, and there was a higher concentration of people. The dense forests of the eastern seaboard disallowed for large cities to be created right away. This geological factor forced colonists to spread out within the perimeters of the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, without being too close together. Both of these factors could be overlooked easily enough, but did have a reasonable impact of the development of colonial America. Finally, the geography of the middle colonies, such as New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania played a big role on the development and population of this area. In the sixteen and seventeen hundreds, the above colonies were the most populated of the thirteen establishments. There was plentiful and fertile soil, in which tobacco was heavily grown. The Susquehanna River also flowed through this region, opening the possibility of fur trade. Other minor rivers that were found in the middle colonies were gentle, which provided for easy transportation and fishing. The land in the middle colonies was broad and expansive, making it easy for even the middle class residents to create an enjoyable and profitable lifestyle. In conclusion, there were many factors that contributed to the development of the colonial America, but geography was clearly a sizable influence. If the geography of America wasn’t the way it was, the colonists who settled here may have not survived as
Land capabilities would also contribute to shaping these two areas differently. For the New Englanders, massive plantations and mass crop production was not an option with their rocky soil. The inability to use massive plots of land for crop production, contributed to the closeness of the New England settlers. This closeness allowed for the establishment
People in the hollows of Appalachia who manufactured “moonshine” are doing the same as their ancestors did in the borderlands of northern Britain
In the early America colonies, each colony was largely settled by people of English origin. Although the majority of the colony founders were generally from similar areas, the colonies were all different. Two regions like this were the New England region and the Chesapeake region. New England consisted of the states Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Chesapeake consisted of Virginia and Maryland. Although the regions were very close to each other on a map, by the 1700’s both regions had evolved into two very distinct societies. This was due to the colonists reasons fro coming to the New World, their belief systems, the colonists themselves, and the geography.
New England was a harsh land at the beginning. They had cold winters that didn’t help the growth of food. The cold weather killed off a lot of colonists, getting the colony onto a rough start. New England was first developed because of religion. The Puritans originally came because they wanted to find sanction where they could practice their religion freely. Since the Puritans believed in equality, there was more of a variety of people. The colony that they formed was affected by certain geographic factors. The
Around the 1600’s, New England started to develop a drastic population growth. This growth caused several problems for the occupants including, high prices on food, land, and a shortage of work for many because of the aggressive competition. Immigrants from New England began to prepare for a voyage that would be beneficial for some travelling to Massachusetts and not so much those who were travelling to Virginia. Although the settlers from the Chesapeake Bay and New England came from the same country, these colonies established different societies because of varying elements such as religious freedoms, economy, government’s role in society and unity.
America was a place for dreams and new beginnings, until white people arrived in 1607. Three groups sailed over the treacherous Atlantic from their cruel lives in England to set up peaceful religious colonies. The only problem is that they attempted to settle in their own way and all failed dismally. The New England, Middle and Southern Colonies grew differently over the period 1619-1760.Examining the three sets of colonies will prove that they were all different: socially, economically, politically but not philosophically.
When the European settlers arrived in the New World, geography had a huge impact on how the New World colonies developed. The new settlers wanted to reside in area where they could access food and natural resources, the sea for trade, land for farming, and an area safe from attack. Each colony relied on a product to sell that was native to their location. These products were traded, and helped the colony to survive. Although cultural and religious beliefs played a significant role in developing the British colonies of North America, geography played an even bigger role in shaping the colonies, as well as today's society.
During the late 16th century and into the 17th century, two colonies emerged from England in the New World. The two colonies were called the Chesapeake and New England colonies. Even though the two areas were formed and governed by the English, the colonies had similarities as well as differences. Differences in geography, religion, politics, economic, and nationalities, were responsible for molding the colonies. These differences came from one major factor: the very reason the English settlers came to the New World. The Chesapeake colonies were primarily created by companies interested in profiting from the natural resources of the New World such as gold or silver to bring back to England. The New England colonies were primarily created to escaped religious persecution and set up a haven for people of their faith. The inhabitants of the New England area were far healthier. Their clean water supply was a sharp contrast to the contaminated waters of Chesapeake Bay. The cool climate had a good impact on colonists because it prevented the spread of life-threatening diseases. Because of New England’s cool climate, many people died during severe winters. Chesapeake’s climate had positive and negative factors as well. The warm, moist climate in the Chesapeake colonies carried diseases that killed many of the colonists. In contrast to the New England colonists, the Chesapeake colonists did not have to worry as much about surviving cold winters. The natural resources of the
The Middle Colonies also had a section known as the Chesapeake region. The New England region consisted of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut (New Haven), and Rhode Island. The Middle Colonies consisted of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The northern part of Delaware was also part of the Middle Colonies, while the southern part was in
During the 1700’s, European nations colonized in the newly discovered Americas. Two regions evolved by the English settlers into New England colony and the Chesapeake Bay colony. Even though they were coming from England with the same ethnicity, they were significantly different from the way the colonies were set up. These differences stemmed from the reason why the settlers decided to come to the new world. Later on the two regions developed to have distinct societies.
Many historians believe that the biggest factor in the development of the British colonies in North America was geography. This statement is very valid because each region of America had its own special characteristics and natural resources that helped them thrive at different things like fishing, trading, and farming. For example the New England colonies had many mountains, forests, and rivers which gave them an abundant amount of wood and fish. The Middle colonies had a lot of farm land and were surrounded by oceans making it a center of trade. The Southern colonies were made up of flat land and fertile soil which was ideal for growing crops. The geography did not only affect the colonies economically, but it also affected them socially
By the 1700’s, New England, the Chesapeake region and the Southern Colonies developed into three distinct societies, despite coming from the same mother country, England. The regions of Colonial America each had a distinctive culture and economy entirely different from the other regions. Religion and religious tolerance was completely different in each region, running from being free to complete persecution. Ethnicity and racial composition ranged from almost complete British descent to a wide range of composition. Each region was politically and economically structured different and had its own identity. Each developed differently based on immigration trends, geography and other features. Throughout the colonization of Colonial America,
Differences Between the Middle and New England Colonies. You can’t replace something that can’t be taken. The New England colonies have a rocky terrain exclusive to its region. The Middle colonies have beaver filled streams and rolling hills that can stretch far and wide. The Southern colonies contain rich soil and coastal forests that can make it great for farming.
Even together as the thirteen original colonies, the environment between the New England, Middle and Southern colonies all were different. Each section had a different way of life but all still functioned as one. The environment is significant in the colonial and early U.S. history because of its use of political, economic and social factors as demonstrated by trade, agriculture, transportation and religion. Trade was a big economic factor in each environment within colonial history because of its ability to create an economy and unite each other. In the New England colonies trade was kind of limited because they did not have any farm land to harvest crops so they traded what they had available.