ss report- thirteen colonies

PLEASE READ! AND PLEASE TELL ME WHAT GRADE YOU WOULD GIVE ME. we were supposed to research the 13 colonies. u need social, political, economical, and geogrphical info on EACH colony. u need the date it was founded as who founded it as well and why it was

The United States of America is made up of many states. Though it didn’t start with the 50 states it holds today. In the beginning of it all, many settlers of the eastern hemisphere explored the world, and some stumbled on the land of the Indians. After many years, and exploration, there came to be the 13 colonies. They were divided into 3 areas, The New England Colonies, The Middle colonies, and The Southern Colonies.

 

 

 

 

The New England Colonies

The New England Colonies consists of four colonies or what we call today, states. The colonies names today are Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. All of these colonies were created for religious purposes. They were all located near the middle of the eastern coast.

In the New England Colonies they had town meetings where the entire town would discuss the issues as well as vote on them. It gave the settlers a place to speak their minds. It helped develop the democratic ideas in New England.

Unfortunately, the soil was terrible for farming because it was too rough. The Native Americans taught the settlers how to grow many crops such as squash, Indian corn, beans, pumpkins etc. They also hunted wild turkey and deer within the forests. They cut down the trees and took them to sawmills near the ports. Another way they acquired goods was by fishing. Many people fished for cod and halibut. They would hunt whales, which supplied the oil for lamps and many other products. Hunting them, later, became a huge business.

 

 

 

 

Massachusetts

The first colony founded in the New England Colony was Massachusetts and was founded in the year 1620 by a group called the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims were a group of people who left there home to find religious freedom. Boarding on the ship called the Mayflower, and settled in what we now call Massachusetts. The ship held 102 passengers and departed from Plymouth England on September 16, 1920. Within the 102 passengers were 41 Christian puritan separatists. They traveled 66 days to reach New England. Once they reached the land, they created an agreement called the Mayflower Compact before setting foot on the land. On November 21, 1620 they first set foot on the land.  In  1629 a man named John Winthrop and a party of more then 1000 men arrived at Massachusetts. He became the first governor of Massachusetts. A governor wasn’t his only job though; he also worked on building a home and clears the lands and plant crops. Between 1629- 1640 some 15,000 children, women, and men traveled to Massachusetts and this movement was called the Great Migration. Many of the newcomers settled in Boston, which became the largest town of the colony. Massachusetts became a royal colony on 1691

 

New Hampshire

The second colony founded in the New England Colony was New Hampshire and was founded in the year1623 by a man named John Wheelwright. John Wheelwright was within one of the two groups of settlers sent by John Mason to what is now called New Hampshire. In the mouth of Piscataqua River they established a fishing settlement. It became a royal colony on 1679.

 

 

 

 

Connecticut

After New Hampshire was found the next Colony would be found by a man named Thomas Hooker in the year 1636. Thomas Hooker was a minister who lived in Massachusetts. He believed that the governor and officials had too much power. He wanted to create a place where there were more limitations to what the government can do. In May of 1636 he fled with 100 other settlers to make a new settlement where Thomas Hookers’ ideas would become a reality. With them they took all their cattle, goats, pigs and drove through Indian trails until they reached a Connecticut River, where then, they built a small town named Hartford. Once they reached their destination they wrote a plan called the Fundamental Orders Of Connecticut in 1639. It was very similar to the plan of Massachusetts; only in this new plan there were 2 changes. In Massachusetts only men who were church members could vote. They changed it so that all men who were property owners could vote. Another thing they changed was that the government would have much more restrictions. In 1662 Connecticut became a separate colony.

 

 

 

 

Rhode island

The last colony to be created in the New England Colony was Rhode Island, which was created in the year1636 by Roger Williams. Roger Williams lived in Salem, Massachusetts as a minister when he was kicked out because he thought the church had too much power. He thought that the church and business should be separated. He also believed in Religious Tolerance, which was the willingness to let others, practice whatever religion they want.  In 1635 the General Court ordered him to leave because they thought he would be dangerous. He went to Narragansett Bay, where he spent the winter with the Indians and later bought the land and made it a haven for those who seek religious freedom. He allowed every kind of religion settle there, and helped spread Religious Tolerance.

 

 

 

 

The Middle Colonies

The Middle Colonies consists of four colonies. The colonies names today are Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. They are located near the northern part of the eastern coast. The land in the middle colonies was perfect for farming and they raised many crops such as wheat, barley, and rye, which were called cash crops. They also raised cattle and pigs. They sent pork, beef and butter to New York and Philadelphia. From there it was sent to New England. They used many enslaved African Americans to work in large fields. Other then the production of farming, they also progressed with manufacturing items like hardware, clocks, watches, locks, guns, flints, glass, stoneware, nails, and paper. 

The Swedish settlers lived and introduced log cabins and the Dutch lived and introduced red bricks to create narrow, high-walled houses. The German settlers created wood burning stoves that heated homes better then the fireplaces did. Everything you needed to survive was created at home also.

 

 

 

 

Delaware

The first colony created in the Middle Colonies was Delaware. Peter Minuet and New Sweden Company founded it in the year 1638. In 1631 there was an attempt by the Dutch, but there was a dispute that killed the party. In 1638 Peter Minuet led a company of Swedish settlers to the Delaware River after getting a grant from the company. In the year 1655 the Dutch came back and took control of the land from the Swedish and then the English took it from the Dutch in 1674. William Penn took hold of it in 1682 as a reward from Delaware, but the state became independent in 1701.

 

 

 

New Jersey

In 1664 lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret received a grant from the Duke of York. They received the land between the Hudson River and Delaware River. They wanted to create profits from real estate sales. The grant was named New Jersey for Carteret who became the governor of the New Jersey Isle.

 

 

New York

Peter Minuet went to Manhattan with a group of Dutch settlers and bought the land from the Indians in 1626 for 60 gilders (24 dollars) worth of goods. The settlement was called New Amsterdam. King Charles II reclaimed the land between Virginia and New England in the year 1664, when Peter Stuyvesant surrendered to the English forces. The king gave it to his brother The Duke of York who renamed the area to New York. The Dutch who obtained some of the area as well, called it New Netherlands and they struggled for many years at keeping the land. In 1674 the British took full control over the land. The Duke Of York thought that the land was far too big, and would be very difficult to manage, so he gave grants to friends of his.

 

Pennsylvania

In 1646 the Dutch, Swedish, and the English settled in what we today call Pennsylvania. On 1681 no one was allowed to colonize it any further because a grant was given to William Penn. William Penn was a member of a society that people today refer to it as Quakers. Charles II granted him the land because he was in debt to his father. William Penn thought that everyone was equal, as well as all other Quakers. In his new land, he allowed everyone to settle there and practice and vote.  He published pamphlets all over Europe and soon many different people went to Pennsylvania.

 

 

 

The Southern Colonies

The Southern Colonies consists of 5 colonies. The 5 colonies names today are Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The weather in the Southern Colonies was very hot, and the farming season lasted longer then the New England Colonies and the Middle Colonies. Located near the southern part of the eastern coast, the soil was more fertile. In parts of Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina, became tobacco-growing areas. Georgia and South Carolina raised indigo and rice. The tobacco and rice grew in large plantations that 20-100 slaves worked on. Slavery was one of the most important parts of the Southern Colonies. The African slaves did almost all the work. They would work on the fields, and be sold at high prices. If their owner was nice, they would pay them or give them less hours and work then others, but usually they would be treated terribly and would do the hardest jobs.

 

Virginia

The first colony to be created was Virginia. It was founded in 1607 by the London Company. The first year was the most challenging year for the settlers because they never faced such harsh winters. Out of the many settlers that went there, only 32 barely survived. They depended on the Native Americans to come and aid them with medicine and food. At the close of the 2^nd winter Lord Thomas de la Warr arrived with more commodities, and many settlers wanted to leave. He refused this and didn’t let them return to England. After a long time, the settlers were able to learn from the Indians how to grow food and survive in the terrible weather. Unfortunately many of the settlers wanted wealth and after many years, kidnapped the chiefs’, daughter, Pocahontas.

 

 

Maryland

Lord Baltimore (George Calvert) was given a charter to the land that is now called Maryland from king Charles the first.  He gave it to his son, named Leonard Calvert who sailed there with other settlers to establish the colony for his father in 1633. Maryland got its name because Lord Baltimore decided to name it after the kings’ wife, Queen Henrietta Maria. Calvert died before the project was done, so Leonard Calvert pushed the project further. Later he asked the assembly to pass the Act Of Toleration, which would provide religious freedom to all Christians.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carolinas’

On 1663 King Charles the second granted 8 noblemen the land southern of Virginia and Maryland. They decided to separate and create 2 settlements, one in the south and the other in the north.

 

North Carolina

In the north colony, many of the settlers were poor tobacco farmers and had small farms. They drifted from Virginia and finally became a colony in 1712.

 

South Carolina

In the southern colony the colony was much larger. The largest settlement was called Charles town and was located where the Ashley River and the Cooper River met. In 1719 the colony was known as South Carolina

 

 

Georgia

In the year 1732 James Edward Oglethorpe was granted the land that we now call Georgia. It was supposed to help protect the northern colonies as well as the original plans. James brought a large military contingent and the next year a large quantity of troops arrived also. He led his troops and helped protect the area by making the Spanish flee back to Florida. Georgia was also a place that James Edward Oglethorpe hoped that people that had debts could create a new start. By law the English were able to imprison the debtors till they paid out there rent, but often once they left the jails, they had nothing left. In the year 1733, James and 120 settlers built there first settlement above the Savannah River. He also created strict rules like farms couldn’t be larger then 500 acres and slavery was forbidden.

 

 

 

 

Everyone knows that the 50 states that make up the United States of America were each independently formed. Then they all agreed to join one country. Even though we don't know all the history of the lands, we do know a lot, and hope to learn more as we hop through each state and board the time machine!

Author's Note

PLEASE READ! AND PLEASE TELL ME WHAT GRADE YOU WOULD GIVE ME. we were supposed to research the 13 colonies. u need social, political, economical, and geogrphical info on EACH colony. u need the date it was founded as who founded it as well and why it was founded. PLEASE GRADE IT AS BEST AS YOU CAN. AND TELL ME IF MY TEACH WAS FAIR TO GIVE ME A 85!

Reviews

[Kelley]

I'm a big history buff myself and I would of gave you a A+ this was really good!
I knew most of it but some of it I didn't.
Great job! Thanks for sharing.
I hope you did well on it.

Kelley

[Ravenskald]

I need to read this cos I'm pretty sketchy
that means I won't be able to grade !
it looks great though, a thorough piece of research