The American
Colonies
•Title a piece of paper: The
American Colonies Notes.
•You will copy the big ideas and
take notes on the rest.
•Make sure you have your name,
date, and period in the upper right
hand corner of the paper.
Big Idea #1
• There were
three very
different areas
of colonies.
• New England,
Middle, and
Southern
Big Idea #2
• New England
colonies got
their money
from the sea.
New England
• New England Colonies rocky soil.
had long winters and
• English settlers made up the largest group in
the region’s population.
• New England’s soil made farming difficult. In
contrast, the Atlantic Ocean offered many
economic opportunities.
• New England settlers engaged in three types
of trade. First was the trade with other
colonies. Second was the direct exchange of
goods with Europe. The third type was the
triangular trade.
Big Idea #3
• The
Middle
colonies
had cash
crops and
cities.
Middle Colonies
• The Middle Colonies had shorter winters
and fertile soil made farming good. The
region attracted immigrants from all over
Europe.
• The Middle Colonies boasted a longer
growing season than New England and a
soil rich enough to grow cash crops. These
were surplus crops raised to be sold for
money.
• Surplus - having more than you need
• The excellent harbors along the coasts of
the Middle Colonies were ideal sites for
Big Idea #4
• The South
relied on
slave labor to
work their
plantations
(large farms)
Southern Colonies
• The Southern Colonies had a warm climate and good
soil, which was ideal for growing crops. There, some
settlers used enslaved Africans to work their
plantations.
• By 1750, there were over 235,000 enslaved Africans
in America. About 85 percent of slaves live in the
Southern Colonies. Enslaved Africans made up about
40 percent of the South’s population.
• A very wealthy class of Southerners existed that own
the large plantations and most of the slaves.
• Not all white people in the South owned slaves.
Those that did owned a few. Only the rich plantation
owners owned a lot of slaves.
Big Idea #5
•The more things
change, the more they
stay the same.
Map in 1861
Election map in 2000
Page 102
• Make your map look like the map on page 102.
The more detail you provide, the higher your
grade. The map will be due on Friday.
• The map should be colored or shaded to show
the three different areas of the colonies; New
England, Middle, and Southern.
• Don’t forget to include a key of what the colors
or shading mean.