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A

B

New England

New York

Rhode Island

Maryland

Virginia

Pennsylvania

Mayflower Compact

Massachusetts

House of Burgesses

Virginia

joint-stock company

Business in which investors pool their wealth in order to turn a profit.

charter

Written contract issued by a government giving the holder the right to establish a colony.

Jamestown

First permanent English settlement in North America.

John Smith

Man who saved Jamestown saying If you don't work you don't eat.

indentured servant

Person who sold his or her labor in exchange for passage to America.

House of Burgesses

First representative assembly in the American colonies.

Pilgrims

Member of the group that rejected the Church of England, sailed to America, and founded the Plymouth Colony.

Mayflower Compact

Agreement established by the men who sailed to America on the Mayflower, which called for laws for the good of the colony and set forth the idea of self-government.

Puritans

Member of a group from England that settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 and sought to reform the practices of the Church of England.

Great Migration

Movement of Puritans from England to establish settlements around the world, including 20,000 who sailed for America.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

Set of laws that were established in 1639 by a Puritan congregation who had settled in the Connecticut Valley and that expanded the idea of representative government.

Roger Williams

Man that established the first Baptist churc in America, he founded the colony of Rhode Island.

Anne Hutchinson

This person was brought to trial and forced to leave Massachusetts because they challenged church authority.

Peter Stuyvesant

Govenor of New Netherland.

Duke of York

Person who drove the Dutch out of New Netherland.

proprietary colony

Colony with a single owner.

William Penn

Established the colony of Pennsylvania for the Quakers.

Quaker

Person who believed all people should live in peace and harmony; accepted different religions and ethnic groups.

royal colony

Colony ruled by governors appointed by a king.

James Oglethorpe

Founded Georgia as a refuge for debtors.

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A B New England New York Rhode Island Maryland Virginia Pennsylvania Mayflower Compact Massachusetts House of Burgesses Virginia joint-stock company Business in which investors pool their wealth in order to turn a profit. charter Written contract issued by a government giving the holder the right to establish a colony.

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Video: Fun description of regions (modern).

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The History of America's 13 Colonies | Educational Rap for Social Studies

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Video: The English landing in Chesapeake Bay

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The 13 Colonies of America: Clickable Map

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American History Glossary *Clickable map of the 13 Colonies with descriptions of each colony *Daily Life in the 13 Colonies *The First European Settlements in America *Colonial Times

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For Kids

A small group of people, the Pilgrims, arrived in the New World from England on a rented ship named the Mayflower. They landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, on a cold day in December 1620. Back in England, everyone had to belong to the Church of England. The Pilgrims did not want to belong to the Church of England. They were seeking religious freedom.

There were only 102 people - men, women, and children - aboard the Mayflower. When they arrived in the New World, there was no one to meet them. What they found was a foot of snow on the ground, and a dense forest of trees along the shore. It had taken 8 weeks for the voyage. People were sick. Nearly half of their people died within the first week. While caring for the sick, those who could began to build a long cabin of logs, to act as a community home for themselves and their animals. They moved everything they had brought with them from the ship into this log cabin. The Mayflower had to return to England. It was only rented, with borrowed money at that. But it stayed in harbor long enough for the Pilgrims to unload and to bury those who had died.

Those who survived made wise use of nature about them - the land, the sea, and the forest. They found food. Come spring, they planted corn, which they received from the friendly local Indians. An Indian named Squanto was especially helpful. Squanto showed them how to plant corn, where the best fish could be found, and much more. This small band of people might not have survived without Squanto's help. But nothing would have made them move back to England, even if they could. In England, they had been imprisoned and harassed and suffered much for their religious convictions. They were determinded to make a home for themselves in the New World. With Squanto's help, and other friendly Indians, they did just that.

One day, a new tribe arrived. They handed the Pilgrims a snakeskin bag full of arrows. It was their way of announcing war. The Pilgrims sent back a bagful of bullets. Then, as quickly as possible, the settlers built a huge wall of logs around the village of Plymouth for protection. They locked the gate at night, and left men on guard. They expected trouble, but none arrived. They did not hear from these Indians again.

The first autumn was a cause for rejoicing. The Pilgrims had lived through the harsh winter. They had planted in the spring. They had made friends with the local Indians. And in the autumn, they harvested their crops, canned food, and prepared for the winter ahead. In November, they had a celebration. They ate deer, and wild turkeys, and corn, and bread. They went to church. And then they feasted. They invited their good friends, the Indians, to join them. That was the first Thanksgiving.

Before the end of November, a ship arrived from England, carrying more settlers. These settlers did not have to go through what the first settlers had experienced. These settlers were greeted by the first Pilgrims. The ship carried away a payment for the rent of Mayflower - beaver skins, boards, and codfish.

Over the next seven years, more settlers arrived in Plymouth. They brought cows and hogs and sheep with them. The people of Plymouth worked to gather goods to send back to England, each time a ship arrived, to repay the original debt as well as new ones created by the new settlers. At the end of seven years, although the debt was not yet repaid in full, Governor Bradford, who was in charge of the Plymouth community, went ahead and divided the good farmland beyond the village. He gave every family a plot of land, a farm of their own. That was a day of rejoicing! Each Pilgrim had earned a home in the New World.

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A small group of people, the Pilgrims, arrived in the New World from England on a rented ship named the Mayflower. They landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, on a cold day in December 1620. Back in England, everyone had to belong to the Church of England.

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The 13 American Colonies for Kids - The Puritans - Who were they and what did they believe? - 1

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About 10 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, a large group of people called the Puritans arrived in the New World, also from England. They believed everyone should belong to the Church of England, but they had left England because they believed the Church of England neede…

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For Kids

Quakers: In England, in the 1600s, there was a group of people who called themselves "Friends". Others called these people Quakers. Quakers believed that everyone could talk to God directly without the interference of a priest or a minister. In England, at this time in history, everyone had to belong to the Church of England and follow its rules. Not to belong was against the law. In fact, it was considered treason. That's a big law to break. But the Quakers would not back down. They did not believe in the pomp and splendor of the Church of England. They refused to join the Church or obey its rules. Many Quakers were arrested and sent to jail for their beliefs.

In the 1600s, William Penn and many other Quakers left England and sailed for the New World on a ship they named "Welcome". They settled in Pennsylvania. There, they practiced religious freedom. People were free to believe what they wanted and talk to God in their own way. People from all over Europe poured into their communities seeking religious freedom.

As for the Quakers themselves, Quaker meetings were quiet places. There was not a lot of discussion usually. People sat peacefully, thinking about things. Both Quaker men and women could speak up if they believed God wanted them to share a thought or an idea. But mostly, they each communicated with God, each with their own thoughts, in silence.

Quakers believed (and still believe) that religion is action not words. To a Quaker, if you are religious, then your actions must show it. To show their religion, Quakers treated other people with honesty. They tried to help the poor. They worked (peacefully) for women's rights and the rights of Native Americans. The one belief they had that caused them more trouble than any other was their belief that all people could live in peace if they simply refused to fight. Since Quakers believed in peace, Quakers would not fight, no matter what the reason.

Quakers in the New World were brave, and loyal, and often misunderstood. Quakers stood up for what they believed was right and good. They protested. They boycotted. They politely and incessantly pointed out what needed to be done to correct what they thought was a wrong. Yet, many people believed that the gentle Quakers were weak and cowardly because the Quakers would not bear arms.

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Quakers: In England, in the 1600s, there was a group of people who called themselves "Friends". Others called these people Quakers. Quakers believed that everyone could talk to God directly without the interference of a priest or a minister. In England, at this time in history, everyone had to belong to the Church of England and follow its rules.

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For Kids - The New England Colonies

The New England colonies were composed of the colonies of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

In the New England colonies, land was given to a colony by the crown (the king or queen of England.) In these early days of settlement, a colony was not a state. A colony was a business. Each colony was in the business of sending riches back to England in exchange for money, tools, and supplies they needed in their colony. Each colony had a central government. The central government of each New England colony divided their own colony into pieces called towns.

Towns varied greatly in size. But the average town was about 100 square miles (10 miles long and 10 miles wide). Towns were populated by assignment at first - the central government of the colony not only assigned a site for the town, they also assigned a group of people to that town. This initial group was made up of about 30 or 40 households, or about 150-200 people. Most of the people in a group knew each other, and had a common lifestyle back in England or in another settlement. This was done to keep arguments at a minimum. It was also done to keep control. People in a town had the freedom to govern themselves as long as they understood that the colony was in charge of all the towns, and the king of England was in charge of all the colonies; this was understood.

The core of the "town" was the village. There was one street that ran down the middle of the village, with houses on either side. There was a "green", a central park, in approximately the middle. The green held the meeting house, which was also the church in most towns. The militia (the men of the village) gathered to practice on the green. People gathered on the green to chat. Each villager owned the plot of land that held their house. They also owned a plot of land, or several plots scattered about, in the land that surrounded the village. They could sell the land or all their "holdings" (which included their house in the village), as long as the villagers found the new owner acceptable.

The poor were assigned the worse farm plots and lived at the edge of the village. The rich were assigned the best plots and lived near the meeting house. But for the most part, people in a town shared good and bad fortune. They worshiped together. They governed together. They tried to regulate everything, from what a craftsman could charge to the amount of the fine for using bad language. They did not appreciate interference from other towns. A town was a unit. Each town had its own character.

The "town" approach did continue into the early 18th century, but it never got much beyond the New England colonies. The New York colony had town meetings, but it was voluntary. In the New England colonies, town meetings were required forms of government.

The tight hold the New World towns initially held on the early settlers through the establishment of colonial central government approved "towns" soon disappeared. Three things made a huge difference - an abundance of wood, countless fresh-water streams, and seemingly endless land. Slowly, people started to expand beyond the towns. If they didn't like the way they were treated, they could leave, as their courage and other town boundaries allowed.

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The 13 Colonies for Kids - New England Colonies

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The New England colonies were composed of the colonies of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. In the New England colonies, land was given to a colony by the crown (the king or queen of England.) In these early days of settlement, a colony was not a state.

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Facts about the colony

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The colony of Rhode Island was founded between 1636 and 1642 by five separate and combative groups, most of whom had been expelled or left the Massachusetts Bay colony for disputative reasons. The colony was first named "Roodt Eylandt" by Dutch trader Adriaen Block (1567-1627), who had explored that area for the Netherlands. The name means "red island" and it refers to the red clay that Block reported there.

Fast Facts: Rhode Island Colony

Early Settlements / Plantations

Although the Puritan British theologian Roger Williams (1603-1683) is often given the sole role of founder of Rhode Island, the colony was in fact settled by five independent and combative sets of people between 1636 and 1642. They were all English, and most of them began their colonial experiences in Massachusetts Bay colony but were banished for various reasons. Roger Williams' group was the earliest: In 1636, he settled in what would become Providence on the north end of Narragansett Bay, after he was kicked out of the Massachusetts Bay colony.

Roger Williams had grown up in England, only leaving in 1630 with his wife Mary Barnard when the persecution of Puritans and Separatists began increasing. He moved to the Massachusetts Bay Colony and worked from 1631 to 1635 as a pastor and a farmer. Although many in the colony saw his views as quite radical, Williams felt that the religion he practiced must be free from any influence of the Church of England and the English king. In addition, he questioned the right of the King to grant land to individuals in the New World. While serving as a pastor in Salem, he had a fight with the colonial leaders because he believed that each church congregation should be autonomous and should not follow directions sent down from the leaders.

Founding of Rhode Island

In 1635, Williams was banished to England by the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his beliefs in the separation of church and state and freedom of religion. Instead, he fled and lived with the Narragansett Indians in what would become Providence Plantation (meaning "settlement"). Providence, which he formed in 1636, attracted other separatists who wished to flee from colonial religious rules with which they did not agree.

One such separatist was the poet and feminist Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643), another Puritan from Massachusetts Bay, who began Pocasset on Aquidneck Island in 1638, which eventually became Portsmouth. She had been banished for speaking out against the Church in Massachusetts Bay. William Coddington (1601-1678), a magistrate at Massachusetts Bay, settled first in Pocasset but split from Hutchinson's group and settled in Newport, also on Aquidneck Island, in 1639. In 1642, Massachusetts Bay ex-patriot William Arnold (1586-1676) settled on the mainland in Pawtuxet, now part of Cranston. Finally, Samuel Gorton (1593-1677) settled first in Plymouth, then Portsmouth, and then Providence, and finally set up his own group in Shawomet, later renamed to Warwick in 1642.

Political and religious squabbling was a common feature of these small plantations. Providence evicted people for speaking out in meetings; Portsmouth had to hire two police officials in late 1638 to keep the peace; a small group of people from Shawomet were arrested and brought forcibly to Boston, where they were tried and convicted on various charges. William Arnold fell into dispute with Warwick plantation and for a time put his plantation under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts Bay.

These disputes were primarily were struggles over religious practices and governing, in addition to boundary issues with Connecticut. Part of the problem was they had no charter: The only "legitimate authority" in Rhode Island from 1636-1644 was the voluntary compacts which everybody but Gorton's group had agreed to. Massachusetts Bay kept intruding into their politics, and so Roger Williams was sent to England to negotiate an official charter in 1643.

Uniting the Colony

The first charter was validated by British Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell in 1644 and that became the basis of government in Rhode Island colony in 1647. In 1651, Coddington obtained a separate charter, but protests led to the reinstatement of the original charter. In 1658, Cromwell died and the charter had to be renegotiated, and it was on July 8, 1663, that the Baptist minister John Clarke (1609-1676) went to London to get it: That charter united the settlements into the newly named "Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations."

Despite the conflict, or perhaps because of it, Rhode Island was quite progressive for its day. Known for fierce independence and the absolute separation of church and state, Rhode Island attracted persecuted groups such as Jews and Quakers. Its government guaranteed freedom of religion for all its citizens and abolished witchcraft trials, imprisonment for debt, most capital punishment, and enslavement of both Black and White people, all by 1652.

The American Revolution

Rhode Island was a prosperous colony by the time of the American Revolution with its fertile soil and ample harbors. However, its harbors also meant that after the French and Indian War, Rhode Island was severely impacted by British import and export regulations and taxes. The colony was a frontrunner in the movement toward independence. It severed ties before the Declaration of Independence. Although not a lot of actual fighting occurred on Rhode Island soil, except for the British seizure and occupation of Newport until October 1779.

In 1774, Rhode Island sent two men to the First Continental Congress: former governor and then-chief justice of the Supreme Court Stephen Hopkins and former governor Samuel Ward. Hopkins and William Ellery, an attorney who replaced the deceased Samuel Ward, signed the Declaration of Independence for Rhode Island.

After the war, Rhode Island continued to show its independence. In fact, it did not agree with the federalists and was the last to ratify the U.S. Constitution-after it had already gone into effect, and the government had been established.

Sources and Further Reading

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The Cranky History Behind the Settlement of Rhode Island

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Learn more about the Rhode Island colony, first founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, and the significant events that led to its independence.

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Facts about the colony

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Rhode Island Colony Facts

The Rhode Island Colony was one of the 13 original colonies in America, which were divided into three regions including the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. The Rhode Island Colony was one of four in the New England Colonies, which also included the New Hampshire Colonies, the Connecticut Colony, and the Massachusetts Colony. The Rhode Island Colony was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, and was an English colony until 1776 when it joined the other colonies in a rebellion against Great Britain for independence. Rhode Island was give its name by Adriaen Block, a Dutch explorer who named it 'Roodt Eylandt' because of the red clay lining the island's shore.

The Rhode Island Colony was founded by those who wanted to escape the lack of religious tolerance found in the other New England colonies. Its founder Roger Williams was a former colonist and religious exile from the Massachusetts Colony, where religious tolerance did not exist among the Puritans.

The Rhode Island Colony was home to the first Jewish synagogue and the first Baptist church in the New World.

Rhode Island Colony's founder Roger Williams paid the Indians for their land - as he and several others believed it was the right thing to do.

Rhode Island's capital today is Providence, the same place where the original colony was founded.

Rhode Island's landscape was flat with rolling hills and lots of coastline, about 400 miles of coastline in total. Rhode Island is approximately 48 miles in length and 37 miles wide. It is the smallest U.S. state today.

Nicknames given to Rhode Island over the years include the Ocean State, Little Rhody, the Plantation State, the Smallest State, the Land of Roger Williams, and the Southern Gateway of New England.

Rhode Island's motto is 'Hope'.

Major industry in the Rhode Island Colony included fishing, whaling, manufacturing of ships, rum manufacture and export, and some farming.

Rum manufacturing was so popular in the Rhode Island Colony that by 1761 it was home to three sugar refineries and 22 distilleries.

Rhode Island Colony had long cold winters and mild summers. Like the other New England Colonies, the cold winters made it difficult for disease to thrive, unlike in the warm Southern Colonies where the climate made it possible for diseases to spread more easily.

The Rhode Island Colony prohibited the import of slaves in 1652, but it was not enforced until 1774. It had been a major port for the slave trade and actively involved in the 'triangle trade' which involved trading slaves for molasses and rum.

The Rhode Island Colony was the first to declare independence from Great Britain formally, on May 4 th, 1776.

The Rhode Island Colony became a state on May 29 th, 1790. It was the final state to ratify the United States Constitution. It took so long to sign because leaders in the colony were concerned about the government being too powerful. It signed only once the agreement was made to add a Bill of Rights.

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The Rhode Island Colony was one of the 13 original colonies in America, which were divided into three regions including the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. The Rhode Island Colony was one of four in the New England Colonies, which also included the New Hampshire…

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Facts about the colony

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When was the Massachusetts Bay Colony founded, and how long did it last?

What was the purpose of the Massachusetts Bay Colony?

What is the importance of the Massachusetts Bay Colony?

This article was most recently revised and updated by

Massachusetts Bay Colony, one of the original English settlements in present-day Massachusetts, settled in 1630 by a group of about 1,000 Puritan refugees from England under Gov. John Winthrop and Deputy Gov. Thomas Dudley. In 1629 the Massachusetts Bay Company had obtained from King Charles I a charter empowering the company to trade and colonize in New England between the Charles and Merrimack rivers. The grant was similar to that of the Virginia Company in 1609, the patentees being joint proprietors with rights of ownership and government. The intention of the crown was evidently to create merely a commercial company with what, in modern parlance, would be called stockholders, officers, and directors. By a shrewd and legally questionable move, however, the patentees decided to transfer the management and the charter itself to Massachusetts. By this move, they not only paved the way for local management, but they established the assumption that the charter for a commercial company was in reality a political constitution for a new government with only indefinable dependence upon the imperial one in England. Among the communities that the Puritans established were Boston, Charlestown, Dorchester, Medford, Watertown, Roxbury, and Lynn.

The Puritans established a theocratic government with the franchise limited to church members. Winthrop, Dudley, the Rev. John Cotton, and other leaders zealously sought to prevent any independence of religious views, and many with differing religious beliefs-including Roger Williams of Salem and Anne Hutchinson of Boston, as well as unrepentant Quakers and Anabaptists -were banished. By the mid-1640s Massachusetts Bay Colony had grown to more than 20,000 inhabitants.

Increasing estrangement between the colony and England resulted in the annulment of the company's charter in 1684 and the substitution of royal government under a new charter granted in 1691. The charter of 1691 merged the Plymouth colony and Maine into the Massachusetts Bay Colony. See also Plymouth.

Jeff Wallenfeldt.

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Massachusetts Bay Colony | Facts, Map, & Significance

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Massachusetts Bay Colony, one of the original English settlements in Massachusetts.

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Facts about the colony

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Massachusetts Bay Colony was settled in 1630 by a group of Puritans from England under the leadership of Governor John Winthrop. A grant issued by King Charles I empowered the group to create a colony in Massachusetts. While the company was intended to transfer the wealth of the New World to stockholders in England, the settlers themselves transferred the charter to Massachusetts. By so doing, they turned a commercial venture into a political one.

Fast Facts: Massachusetts Bay Colony

John Winthrop and the "Winthrop Fleet"

The Mayflower carried a mixture of English and Netherlands Separatists, the Pilgrims, to America in 1620. Forty-one colonists on board the ship signed the Mayflower Compact, on November 11, 1620. This was the first written governmental framework in the New World.

In 1629, a fleet of 12 ships known as the Winthrop Fleet left England and headed for Massachusetts. It reached Salem, Massachusetts, on June 12th. Winthrop himself sailed aboard the Arbella. It was while he was still aboard the Arbella that Winthrop gave a famous speech in which he said:

"[F]or wee must Consider that wee shall be as a Citty upon a Hill, the eies of all people are uppon us; soe that if wee shall deale falsely with our god in this worke wee have undertaken and soe cause him to withdrawe his present help from us, wee shall be made a story and a byword through the world, wee shall open the mouthes of enemies to speake evill of the wayes of god and all professours for Gods sake...."

These words embody the spirit of the Puritans who founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony. While they emigrated to the New World to be able to freely practice their religion, they did not espouse freedom of religion for other settlers.

Settling Boston

Though Winthrop's Fleet landed at Salem, they did not stay; the tiny settlement simply couldn't support hundreds of additional settlers. Within a short time, Winthrop and his group had moved, at the invitation of Winthrop's college friend William Blackstone, to a new location on a nearby peninsula. In 1630, they renamed their settlement Boston after the town they had left in England.

In 1632, Boston was made the capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. By 1640, hundreds more English Puritans had joined Winthrop and Blackstone in their new colony. By 1750, more than 15,000 colonists lived in Massachusetts.

Unrest and Exile: The Antinomian Crisis

During the first decade of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, several political crises occurred, unfolding simultaneously, concerning the way religion was practiced in the colony. One of those is known as the "Antinomian Crisis" which resulted in the departure of Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643) from Massachusetts Bay. She was preaching in a manner that proved unseemly to the colony's leaders and was tried in civil and ecclesiastical courts, which culminated in her excommunication on March 22, 1638. She went on to settle in Rhode Island and died a few years later near Westchester, New York.

Historian Jonathan Beecher Field has pointed out that what happened to Hutchinson is similar to other exiles and departures in the early days of the colony. For example, in 1636, because of religious differences, Puritan colonist Thomas Hooker (1586-1647) took his congregation to found Connecticut colony. That same year, Roger Williams (1603-1683) was exiled and ended up founding Rhode Island colony.

Christianizing Indigenous Peoples

In the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Puritans carried out a war of extermination against the Pequots in 1637, and a war of attrition against the Narragansetts. In 1643, the English turned the Narragansett sachem (leader) Miantonomo (1565-1643) over to his enemies, the Mohegan tribe, where he was summarily killed. But beginning with the efforts of John Eliot (1604-1690), missionaries in the colony worked to convert the local Indigenous peoples into Puritan Christians. In March of 1644, the Massachuset tribe submitted themselves to the colony and agreed to take religious instruction.

Eliot set up "praying towns" in the colony, isolated settlements such as Natick (established 1651), where newly converted people could live separated from both English settlers and independent Indigenous peoples. The settlements were organized and laid out like an English village, and the residents were subject to a legal code that required that traditional practices be replaced by those proscribed in the Bible.

The praying towns roused dissent in the European settlements, and in 1675, the settlers accused the missionaries and their converts of treason. All of the Indigenous peoples professing loyalty to the English were rounded up and placed on Deer Island without adequate food and shelter. King Philip's War broke out in 1675, an armed conflict between English colonists and the Indigenous people led by Metacomet (1638-1676), the Wampanoag chief who had adopted the name "Philip." Some of the Massachusetts Bay Indigenous converts supported the colonial militia as scouts and were crucial to the eventual colonial victory in 1678. However, by 1677, the converts who had not been killed, sold into enslavement, or driven northward, found themselves restricted to praying towns that were essentially reservations for people reduced to live as servants and tenant farmers.

The American Revolution

Massachusetts played a key role in the American Revolution. In December 1773, Boston was the site of the famous Boston Tea Party in reaction to the Tea Act that had been passed by the British. Parliament reacted by passing acts to control the colony, including a naval blockade of the harbor. The first Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774, and five men from Massachusetts attended: John Adams, Samuel Adams, Thomas Cushing, and Robert Treat Paine.

On April 19, 1775, Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, were the sites of the first shots fired in the Revolutionary War. After this, the colonists laid siege to Boston, which the British troops held. The siege eventually ended when the British evacuated in March 1776. Signers of the Declaration of Independence from Massachusetts on July 4, 1776, were John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, and Elbridge Gerry. The war continued for seven more years with many Massachusetts volunteers fighting for the Continental Army.

Sources and Further Reading

Breen, Timothy H., and Stephen Foster. "The Puritans' Greatest Achievement: A Study of Social Cohesion in Seventeenth-Century Massachusetts." The Journal of American History 60.1 (1973): 5-22. Print.

Brown, Richard D., and Jack Tager. "Massachusetts: A Concise History." Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2000.

Field, Jonathan Beecher. "The Antinomian Controversy Did Not Take Place." Early American Studies 6.2 (2008): 448-63. Print.

Lucas, Paul R. "Colony or Commonwealth: Massachusetts Bay, 1661-1666." The William and Mary Quarterly 24.1 (1967): 88-107. Print.

Nelson, William E. "The Utopian Legal Order of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1630-1686." The American Journal of Legal History 47.2 (2005): 183-230. Print.

Salisbury, Neal. "Red Puritans: The "Praying Indians" of Massachusetts Bay and John Eliot." The William and Mary Quarterly 31.1 (1974): 27-54. Print.

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How the Massachusetts Bay Colony Was Founded

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Learn the story behind the founding of the Massachusetts Bay colony, the colony's historical significance, and its role in the American Revolution.

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Facts about the colony

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Plymouth Colony was founded in 1620, at Plymouth, Massachusetts, by Pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower, a ship carrying settlers. The Massachusetts Bay Colony wasn't settled for another 10 years.

When the Pilgrims first arrived in 1620 it was the local Wamapanoag Indians who taught them how to plant crops. The Indians and the Pilgrims went on to celebrate the first Thanksgiving in the New World together.

The Massachusetts Colony was an English Colony until it joined in the rebellion against Great Britain in 1776 (once the rebellion was over it became the state of Massachusetts).

Major towns in the Massachusetts Colony included Boston, Plymouth, Quincy, Lexington, and Salem. When Massachusetts absorbed the New Hampshire Colony for several decades, its major towns also included Concord.

Major industries in the Massachusetts Colony included fishing, livestock, farming, lumber, and shipbuilding.

As was common in the New England Colonies, the Massachusetts Colony was dominated by Puritans and there was no tolerance for other religions.

Natural resources in the Massachusetts Colony included forests (timber), furs, fish, whales, and some farming.

Although it was difficult to farm because of the rocky terrain, colonists still farmed for beans, corn, squash, pumpkins, wheat, and rye.

The Massachusetts Colony's landscape included treed mountains, lots of hills, rocky soil and lots of rivers. Massachusetts's coast is jagged.

The climate in the Massachusetts Colony included long, cold winters and mild summers. Like the other colonies in the New England region, the cooler climate made it difficult for disease to thrive, unlike in the warmer Southern Colonies.

Salem, Massachusetts is the location where the Salem Witchcraft Trials were held in 1692. They lasted for three months and 19 people were sentenced to hang, while one man who refused to be tried was crushed under heavy stones.

Well-known battles that took place in the Massachusetts Colony include the Battle of Lexington, and the Battle of Concord.

Nicknames for Massachusetts include the Bay State, Old Colony State, the Puritan State, and the Baked Bean State.

The Massachusetts state motto is 'By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty'.

Between 1675 and 1677 the Indians and the colonists fought a bloody battle called King Philip's War.

United States presidents that were born in Massachusetts include John Adams, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and George Herbert Walker Bush.

The Massachusetts Colony became the sixth U.S. state on February 6 th, 1788 when it ratified the Constitution.

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The Massachusetts Colony was one of the original 13 colonies in America. The 13 original colonies were divided into three areas including the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. The Massachusetts Colony was one of four colonies that made up the New England Colonies, which also included the New Hampshire Colony, the Connecticut Colony, and the Rhode Island Colony.

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Facts about the colonies

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The founding of the Connecticut colony began in 1636 when the Dutch established the first trading post on the Connecticut River valley in what is now the town of Hartford. The move into the valley was part of a general movement out of the Massachusetts colony. By the 1630s, the population in and around Boston had grown so dense that settlers began to spread out throughout southern New England, concentrating their settlements along navigable river valleys such as those in Connecticut.

Founding Fathers

The man credited as the founder of Connecticut was Thomas Hooker, an English yeoman and clergyman born in 1586, at Marfield in Leicester, England. He was educated at Cambridge, where he received a Bachelor's in 1608 and a Master's in 1611. He was one of the most learned and powerful preachers of both old and New England and was the minister of Esher, Surrey, between 1620 and 1625. He was the lecturer at St. Mary's Church at Chelmsford in Essex from 1625-1629. Hooker was also a nonconformist Puritan, who was targeted for suppression by the English government under Charles I and was forced to retire from Chelmsford in 1629. He fled to Holland, where other exiles had sought refuge.

The First Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, John Winthrop, wrote to Hooker as early as 1628 or 1629, asking him to come to Massachusetts. In 1633, Hooker sailed for North America. By October, he was made pastor at Newtown (now Cambridge) on the Charles River in the Massachusetts colony. By May 1634, Hooker and his congregation at Newtown petitioned to leave for Connecticut. In May 1636, they were allowed to go, and they were provided a commission by the General Court of Massachusetts.

Hooker, his wife, and his congregation left Boston and drove 160 cattle southward, founding the river towns of Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield. By 1637, there were almost 800 people in the new colony of Connecticut.

New Governance in Connecticut

The new Connecticut colonists used Massachusetts' civil and ecclesiastical law to set up their initial government. Most people who came to the American colonies came as indentured servants or "commons." According to English law, it was only after a man had paid or worked off his contract that he could apply to become a member of the church and own lands. Freemen were men who had all the civil and political rights under a free government, including the right to vote.

In Connecticut, whether a man was indentured or not, if he entered the colony as a free person, he had to wait over a one- to two-year probationary period, during which he was closely observed to make sure he was an upright Puritan. If he passed the test, he could be accepted as a freeman. If not, he could be forced to leave the colony. Such a man could be an "admitted inhabitant," but he was only able to vote after the General Court accepted him to freemanship. Only 229 men were admitted as freemen in Connecticut between 1639 and 1662.

Towns in Connecticut

By 1669, there were 21 towns on the Connecticut River. The four main communities were Hartford (established 1651), Windsor, Wethersfield, and Farmington. Together they had a total population of 2,163, including 541 adult males. Only 343 were freemen. That year, the New Haven colony was brought under the Connecticut colony's governance. Other early towns included Lyme, Saybrook, Haddam, Middletown, Killingworth, New London, Stonington, Norwich, Stratford, Fairfield, and Norwalk.

Significant Events

From 1636 to 1637, the Pequot War was fought between the settlers in Connecticut and the Pequot people. By the end of the war, the Pequots were decimated.

The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut were created in 1639. Many believe that this written Constitution would become the basis for the later United States Constitution.

The Colony Charter was accepted in 1662.

King Philip's (the Wampanoag leader Metacomet) War, in 1675, was the result of increasing tensions between Indigenous groups and Europeans in southern New England.

The Connecticut colony signed the Declaration of Independence in October 1776.

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The Connecticut colony, founded in 1636, was one of the original 13 colonies in North America. Here's some information about the founding of Connecticut.

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Facts about the colonies

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The Connecticut Colony was founded by Puritans and there was no tolerance for other religions.

In 1614 a Dutchman named Adriaen Block became the first explorer of the Connecticut Valley.

The first European settlement in the Connecticut Colony occurred in Windsor, and then in the Hartford and Wethersfield areas in 1633. The settlers were Dutch, having arrived from New Netherlands (present day New York). These settlements combined to form the Connecticut Colony in 1633, founded by Thomas Hooker.

The Connecticut Colony climate was the same as the other New England Colonies which included long cold winters and mild summers. The weather made it difficult for disease to thrive, unlike in the Southern Colonies where the heat often helped diseases to spread rapidly.

The Connecticut Colony's landscape was hilly, mountainous, rocky, treed, with lots of rivers and soil unsuitable for farming for most crops.

Natural resources in the Connecticut Colony included fish, whales, forests (timber), and some farming.

Despite the poor soil and farming conditions, colonists in the Connecticut Colony were able to grow some crops including beans, corn, pumpkins, squash, and rye.

The Connecticut Colony, like other New England Colonies, was an exporter of rum.

The Connecticut Colony colonists prospered in several different sectors including shipbuilding, whaling, fishing, timber, fur trading, livestock, and maple syrup.

Whaling was important to the colonists as it provided oil for lanterns.

Between 1636 and 1637 the Pequot War was fought between the settlers of the Connecticut Colony and the Pequot Indians. The war resulted in decimation of the Indians.

In 1639 The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut were written, which are believed to have formed the U.S. Constitution's basis.

In 1687 Sir Edward Andros, a governor from another colony attempted to take control of the Connecticut Colony. He demanded the charter, but the charter was hidden in an oak tree. It later became known as the 'Charter Oak'.

Connecticut's state song today is 'Yankee Doodle'.

The Hartford Courant is the oldest continually running U.S. newspaper, having been established in 1764 in Hartford, Connecticut.

The Connecticut motto is 'He who transplanted still sustains'.

Nicknames given to Connecticut over the years include the Constitution State, the Nutmeg State, the Land of Steady Habits, and the Provisions State.

The Connecticut Colony was the fifth colony to become a state, on January 9 th, 1788.

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The Connecticut Colony was one of the 13 original colonies in America, which were divided into three regions including the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. The Connecticut Colony was one of the four New England Colonies which also included the New Hampshire Colony, the Massachusetts Colony, and the Rhode Island Colony.

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Facts about the colony

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New Hampshire was one of the 13 original colonies of the United States and was founded in 1623. The land in the New World was granted to Captain John Mason, who named the new settlement after his homeland in Hampshire County, England. Mason sent settlers to the new territory to create a fishing colony. However, he died before seeing the place where he had spent a considerable amount of money building towns and defenses.

Fast Facts: New Hampshire Colony

New England

New Hampshire was one of the four New England Colonies, along with Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and Rhode Island colonies. The New England colonies were one of three groups comprising the 13 original colonies. The other two groups were the Middle Colonies and the Southern Colonies. Settlers of the New England Colonies enjoyed mild summers but endured very harsh long winters. One advantage of the cold was that it helped to limit the spread of disease, a considerable problem in the warmer climates of the Southern Colonies.

Early Settlement

Under the direction of Captain John Mason and his short-lived Laconia Company, two groups of settlers arrived at the mouth of the Piscataqua River and established two fishing communities, one at the mouth of the river and one eight miles upstream. David Thomson set sail for New England in 1623, with 10 others and his wife, and landed and established a plantation at the mouth of the Piscataqua, near what is Rye, called Odiorne's Point; it only lasted for a few years. About the same time, London fishmongers William and Edward Hilton set up a colony at Hilton's Point near Dover. The Hiltons obtained financial support to buy land in 1631, and by 1632, a group of 66 men and 23 women were sent out to the budding colony. Other early settlements include Thomas Warnerton's Strawberry Bank near Portsmouth and Ambrose Gibbons at Newichawannock.

Fish, whales, fur, and timber were important natural resources for the New Hampshire colony. Much of the land was rocky and not flat, so agriculture was limited. For sustenance, settlers grew wheat, corn, rye, beans, and various squashes. The mighty old-growth trees of New Hampshire's forests were prized by the English Crown for their use as ships masts. Many of the first settlers came to New Hampshire, not in search of religious freedom but rather to seek their fortunes through trade with England, primarily in fish, fur, and timber.

Indigenous Inhabitants

The primary Indigenous peoples living in the New Hampshire territory when the English arrived were the Pennacook and Abenaki, both Algonquin speakers. The early years of English settlement were relatively peaceful. Relations between the groups began to deteriorate in the latter half of the 1600s, largely due to leadership changes in New Hampshire. There were also major problems in Massachusetts and across New England, including King Philip's War in 1675. During the war, English missionaries and the Indigenous peoples whom they converted to Puritan Christians combined forces against independent Indigenous peoples. The colonists and their allies prevailed overall, killing thousands of Indigenous men, women, and children over the course of multiple battles. There remained, however, no unity between colonists and their surviving Indigenous allies, and a deep resentment quickly separated them.Those Indigenous peoples who had not been killed or enslaved moved northward to locations including New Hampshire.

The town of Dover was a focal point of struggle between the settlers and the Pennacook, where settlers built numerous garrisons for defense (giving Dover the nickname "Garrison City" that persists today). The Pennacook attack on June 7, 1684, is remembered as the Cochecho Massacre.

New Hampshire Independence

Control of the New Hampshire colony changed several times before the colony declared its independence. It was a Royal Province prior to 1641 when it was claimed by the Massachusetts Bay Colony and was dubbed the Upper Province of Massachusetts. In 1680, New Hampshire returned to its status as a Royal Province, but this lasted only until 1688 when it again became part of Massachusetts. New Hampshire regained independence-from Massachusetts, not from England-in 1741. At that time, the people elected Benning Wentworth as its own governor and remained under his leadership until 1766.

New Hampshire sent two men to the First Continental Congress in 1774: Nathaniel Folsom and John Sullivan. Six months before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, New Hampshire became the first colony to declare its independence from England. Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, and Matthew Thornton signed the Declaration for New Hampshire.

The colony became a state in 1788.

Sources and Further Reading

Daniell, Jere R. "Colonial New Hampshire: A History." University Press of New England, 1981.

Morison, Elizabeth Forbes, and Elting E. Morison. "New Hampshire: A Bicentennial History." New York: W. W. Norton, 1976.

Whitney, D. Quincy. "Hidden History of New Hampshire." Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2008.

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How the New Hampshire Colony Was Founded

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Facts and events of the New Hampshire colony, one of the original 13 colonies and the first colony to declare its independence from England.

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Facts about the colony

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The New Hampshire Colony was a small community that was once called the Province of New Hampshire. It was governed as one with the Massachusetts Bay Colony for a time, but it eventually became its own Colony. Today it is the state of New Hampshire.

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read about

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The 13 American Colonies for Kids - The Middle Colonies - New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware - The 13 Colonies for Kids

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The Middle Colonies for Kids: The Breadbasket colonies

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Facts about the colony

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John Cabot was the first European explorer to come into contact with the New Jersey shore. Henry Hudson also explored this area as he searched for the northwest passage. The area that would later be New Jersey was part of New Netherland. The Dutch West India Company gave Michael Pauw a patroonship in New Jersey. He called his land Pavonia. In 1640, a Swedish community was created in present-day New Jersey on the Delaware River. However, it was not until 1660 that the first permanent European settlement of Bergen was created.

The Motivation for Founding the New Jersey Colony

In 1664, James, the Duke of York, received control of New Netherland. He sent a small English force to blockade the harbor at New Amsterdam. Peter Stuyvesant surrendered to the English without a fight. King Charles II had granted the lands between the Connecticut and Delaware Rivers to the Duke. He then granted land to two of his friends, Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, that would become New Jersey. The name of the colony comes from the Isle of Jersey, Carteret's birthplace. The two advertised and promised settlers many benefits for colonizing including representative government and freedom of religion. The colony quickly grew.

Richard Nicolls was made the governor of the area. He granted 400,000 acres to a group of Baptists, Quakers, and Puritans. These resulted in the creation of many towns including Elizabethtown and Piscataway. The Duke's Laws were issued that allowed for religious tolerance for all Protestants. In addition, a general assembly was created.

Sale of West Jersey to the Quakers

In 1674, Lord Berkeley sold his proprietorship to some Quakers. Carteret agrees to divide the territory so that those who bought Berkeley's proprietorship were given West Jersey while his heirs were given East Jersey. In West Jersey, a significant development was when the Quakers made it so that almost all adult males were able to vote.

In 1682, East Jersey was purchased by William Penn and a group of his associates and added with Delaware for administrative purposes. This meant that most of the land between the Maryland and New York colonies were administered by Quakers.

In 1702, East and West Jersey were joined by the crown into one colony with an elected assembly.

New Jersey During the American Revolution

A number of major battles occurred within the New Jersey territory during the American Revolution. These battles included the Battle of Princeton, the Battle of Trenton, and the Battle of Monmouth.

Significant Events

New Jersey is divided into East and West Jersey in 1674. It is reunited in 1702 when it becomes a royal colony

New Jersey was the third state to ratify the Constitution

New Jersey was the first to ratify the Bill of Rights

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What Was the Motivation for Founding the New Jersey Colony?

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Learn more about the colony of New Jersey and when it was founded, as well as its significance and important people like James, Duke of York.

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Facts about the colony

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From 1664 to 1702 the New Jersey Colony was divided into East Jersey and West Jersey. Each had their own constitution. The border was never firmly established and often in dispute.

In 1702 East Jersey and West Jersey became one royal colony. Its first governor was Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury, who proved to be corrupt.

After Lord Cornbury was sent back to England, the New Jersey Colony was ruled by New York's governor. It wasn't until 1738 that the New Jersey Colony separated from New York's government and adopted its own governor Lewis Morris.

Major towns in the New Jersey Colony included Princeton and Trenton.

The Middle Colonies had a warmer climate than the New England Colonies and had land that made agriculture and farming much easier.

The New Jersey Colony was not dominated by the Puritans like in the New England Colonies and had religious tolerance and freedom for its settlers. Settlers to the New Jersey Colony included Catholics, Jews, Lutherans, and Quakers.

Natural resources in the New Jersey Colony included agricultural land, forests (timber), iron ore, coal, and furs.

Major exports from the New Jersey Colony included livestock, rice, wheat, indigo, rice, grain and other agricultural products.

Iron ore was important to the New Jersey Colony. They used it to manufacture items to export to England such as tools, kettles, nails, plows, and nails. They also exported large chunks of iron to be manufactured into iron products elsewhere.

The New Jersey Colony was one of the colonies referred to as a 'breadbasket' colony because it grew so much wheat, which was ground into flour and exported to England.

A typical New Jersey Colony farm included a barn, house, fields, and between 50 and 150 acres of land.

The first state constitution in New Jersey was adopted on July 2 nd, 1776, after the American Revolution had already begun. This constitution gave women and blacks the right to vote if they met specific requirements, which helped avoid a complete collapse of its government.

The New Jersey Colony was located in such a position that it saw a lot of action during the American Revolution.

The New Jersey Colony became the 3 rd U.S. state of the original 13 colonies on December 18 th, 1787.

New Jersey is also referred to as the Garden State.

It wasn't until 1804 that New Jersey passed a law to gradually abolish slavery.

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The New Jersey Colony was one of America’s original 13 colonies. The original 13 colonies were divided into three regions including the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. The New Jersey Colony was one of the Middle Colonies which also included the New York Colony,…

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Facts about the colony

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The land that became the Pennsylvania Colony had been in dispute for many years by the English, Dutch, and the Swedes.

The Pennsylvania Colony was also called the Province of Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Colony was dominated by the Quaker religious beliefs and values. However there was still religious freedom for other beliefs.

The reason for founding the Pennsylvania Colony was based on religious beliefs. The reason that King George II gave William Penn such a large area in the New World was because he owed William's father a large amount of money.

The Pennsylvania Colony included immigrants from England, German, Scotch-Irish, and African Americans.

The Pennsylvania Colony was on good terms with the Native Americans. There was an unsworn treaty in place that was never broken. The Quakers never helped the New Englanders during the Indian Wars.

The Pennsylvania Colony's landscape included mountains, coastal plains, and plateaus and land suitable for farming.

Natural resources in the Pennsylvania Colony included iron ore, coal, furs, forest, and farmland.

The Pennsylvania Colony exported iron ore and manufactured iron products to England, including tools, plows, kettles, nails and other items.

Major agriculture in the Pennsylvania Colony included livestock, wheat, corn, and dairy.

Manufacturing in the Pennsylvania Colony included shipbuilding, textiles, and papermaking.

The Pennsylvania Colony grew hemp, flax, rye, which were important for industry.

The Pennsylvania Colony's major cities included York, Lancaster, and Philadelphia.

Famous colonists who lived in Pennsylvania included Benjamin Franklin (Founding Father), Thomas McKean (signer of Declaration of Independence and 2 nd Governor of Pennsylvania), Robert Morris (Financier of the Revolution), Thomas Paine (invented the phrase 'United States of America'), Arthur St. Clair (judge and general), James Wilson (lawyer and signer of Declaration of Independence), and Peggy Shippen (Benedict Arnold's wife).

Slavery was legal in the Pennsylvania Colony. Free African-Americans were also controlled by law and treated differently than whites.

During the American Revolutionary War the Liberty Bell was hidden in the Zion's Reform Church in Allentown.

The Pennsylvania Colony was a proprietary colony until the American Revolution began. It then became the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and one of America's first 13 states.

The Pennsylvania Colony became a U.S. state on December 12 th, 1787.

The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia's Independence Hall.

Pennsylvania is famous for many places and things including Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Gettysburg, and Valley Forge.

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The Pennsylvania Colony was one of the 13 original colonies in America. These 13 colonies were divided into three regions which included the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. The Pennsylvania Colony was one of four Middle Colonies which also included the New York Colony, the Delaware Colony, and the New Jersey Colony.

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Facts about the colony

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New York was originally part of New Netherland. This Dutch colony was founded after Henry Hudson explored the area in 1609. He had sailed up the Hudson River. By the following year, the Dutch began trading with Indigenous peoples. They created Fort Orange located at present-day Albany, New York, to increase profit and take the greater part of this lucrative fur trade with the Iroquois Confederacy.

Between 1611 and 1614, further explorations were explored and mapped in the New World. The resulting map was given the name, "New Netherland." New Amsterdam was formed from the core of Manhattan, which had been purchased from Indigenous peoples by Peter Minuit for trinkets. This soon became the capital of New Netherland.

Motivation for Founding

In August 1664, New Amsterdam was threatened with the arrival of four English warships. Their goal was to take over the town. However, New Amsterdam was known for its heterogeneous population and many of its inhabitants were not even Dutch. The English made them a promise to let them keep their commercial rights. Due to this, they surrendered the town without a fight. The English government renamed the town New York, after James, Duke of York. He was given control of the colony of New Netherland.

New York and the American Revolution

New York did not sign the Declaration of Independence until July 9, 1776, as they were waiting for approval from their colony. However, when George Washington read the Declaration of Independence in front of City Hall in New York City where he was leading his troops, a riot occurred. The Statue of George III was ripped down. However, the British took control of the city with the arrival of General Howe and his forces in September 1776.

New York was one of the three colonies that saw the most fighting during the War. In fact, the Battles of Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775, and the Battle of Saratoga on October 7, 1777, were both fought in New York. New York served as the major base of operations for the British for most of the war.

The war finally ended in 1782 after the British defeat at the Battle of Yorktown. However, the war did not end formally until the signing of the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783. The British troops finally left New York City on November 25, 1783.

Significant Events

The Albany Congress occurred at Albany, New York in 1754 to help unite the colonies for defense against the Iroquois Confederacy.

The Federalist Papers were published in New York newspapers to sway voters to accept the new constitution.

New York was the 11th state to ratify the Constitution.

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Founding and History of the New York Colony

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Learn more about the New York colony. This colony, founded in 1664, was the location of the Albany Congress, the first attempt to unite the colonies.

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Facts about the colony

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The New York Colony was originally called the Province of New York (from 1664), and later New York.

The original boundaries of the New York Colony included present-day New York State, New Jersey, Delaware, and Vermont. The boundaries also included parts of present-day Maine, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

The New York Colony was not dominated by a specific religion and residents were free to worship as they chose. There were Catholics, Jews, Lutherans, and Quakers among others.

Natural resources in the New York Colony included agricultural land, coal, furs, forestry (timber), and iron ore.

The New York Colony was also referred to as a breadbasket colony because one of its major crops was wheat. The wheat was ground into flour and exported to England.

Exports from the New York Colony included iron ore as a raw material and as manufactured goods such as tools, plows, nails and kitchen items such as kettles.

The landscape of the New York Colony included lowlands, mountains, coastal plain, and farmland.

The mild climate of the New York Colony with cold winters and hot summers. This made the climate ideal for farming. The cold winters made it more difficult for disease to thrive like it did in the Southern Colonies where it didn't get as cold in the winter.

A typical farm in the New York Colony included between 50 and 150 acres of land, a house, fields, and a barn.

The New York Colony eventually gained the nickname of Empire State.

The New York Colony declared its independence on July 9 th, 1776.

On April 20 th, 1777 the New York Colony adopted its constitution.

In June, 1777, the New York Colony elected its first governor, George Clinton.

The New York Colony became a U.S. state on July 26 th, 1788.

On April 30 th, 1789 George Washington was inaugurated as the President of the United States in New York City. New York City was the new country's first capital city.

It is estimated that approximately one-third of the battles of the American Revolution were fought on New York Colony soil.

In January 1797 Albany became New York State's capital city.

It is estimated that from 1892 and 1954 millions of immigrants came to the United States via Ellis Island in New York.

It is estimated that as many as 40% of all Americans had at least one ancestor that came through New York's Ellis Island.

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The New York Colony was one of the 13 original colonies in America. The original 13 colonies were divided into three regions which included the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. The New York Colony was one of the four Middle Colonies which also included the Pennsylvania Colony, the New Jersey Colony, and the Delaware Colony.

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Facts about the colony

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The Delaware colony was founded in 1638 by European colonists from the Netherlands and Sweden. Its history includes occupations by the Dutch, Swedish, British-and the colony of Pennsylvania, which included Delaware until 1703.

Fast Facts: Delaware Colony

Early Arrivals

The first European arrivals in the area occurred in the early 17th century when the Dutch were involved in establishing many trading posts and colonies around the world including in North America. Henry Hudson had been hired by the Dutch to explore the New World in 1609 and he "discovered" and named the Hudson River.

By 1611, the Dutch had established fur trading enterprises with Indigenous peoples called the Lenni Lenape. In 1614, Fort Nassau, on what is the Hudson River near Gloucester, New Jersey, was the earliest Dutch settlement in the New World.

Peter Minuit and the New Sweden Company

In 1637, Swedish explorers and stockholders created the New Sweden Company to explore and trade in the New World, under a charter with Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus. Adolphus died in 1632, and his daughter and successor Queen Christina took over the charter's administration. Christina's chancellor formed the New Sweden Company in 1637 and hired Peter Minuit.

Minuit was a German-born Dutch resident likely of French Huguenot ancestry, who had previously been the governor of New Netherland from 1626 to 1631 and is most well known for the purchase of Manhattan Island. In March of 1638, Minuit and his two ships, Key of Kalmar and the Griffin, landed at the mouth of a river they named Christina, in what is now Wilmington and founded the first permanent colony in Delaware.

Annexed to New Netherland

While the Dutch and Swedes coexisted for some time, the incursion of the Dutch into New Sweden territory saw its leader, Johan Rising, move against some Dutch settlements. In 1655, Peter Stuyvesant, New Netherland's governor, sent armed ships to New Sweden. The colony surrendered without a fight. Thus, the area that was once New Sweden then became part of New Netherland.

British Ownership

The British and Dutch were direct competitors during the 17th century. England felt they had a claim to the prosperous New Netherland territory due to the explorations by John Cabot made in 1498. In 1660, with the restoration of Charles II to the throne of England, the Dutch feared the British would attack their territory and forged an alliance with the French against the British. In response, Charles II gave his brother, James, the Duke of York, New Netherland in March 1664.

This "annexation" of New Netherland required a show of force. James sent a fleet of ships to New Netherland to demand its surrender. Peter Stuyvesant agreed. While the northern part of the New Netherland was named New York, the lower part was leased to William Penn as the "lower counties on the Delaware." Penn wanted access to the sea from Pennsylvania. Thus, the territory was part of Pennsylvania until 1703. In addition, Delaware continued to share a governor with Pennsylvania until the Revolutionary War, even though it had its own representative assembly.

Beginning the War of Independence

In October 1765, Delaware sent two delegates to a congress of the colonies in New York to deliberate on a joint colonial response to recent British measures, in particular, the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765. The two men were landholder Caesar Rodney and attorney Thomas McKean: the two men and assemblyman George Read would continue to play a role in the movement for independence.

Delaware declared its independence from Great Britain on June 15, 1776, and signed the Declaration of Independence with its fellow colonies on July 4.

Delaware Facts. Delaware Historical Society

Munroe, John A. "History of Delaware," 5th ed. Cranbury NJ: University of Delaware Press, 2006.

Wiener, Roberta and James R. Arnold. "Delaware: The History of Delaware Colony, 1638-1776." Chicago, Raintree, 2005.

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Significant Events of the Delaware Colony

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The Delaware colony was founded in 1638 as New Sweden and was later part of New Netherland before being claimed by the British.

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Facts about the colony

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Major religious groups in the Delaware Colony included Quakers, Catholics, Jews, and Lutherans. There was no dominating religion like in the New England Colonies and religious tolerance made the area attractive to those who were not purists.

Major towns in the Delaware Colony included Georgetown and Wilmington.

The Delaware Colony was divided into three counties in 1682 including New Castle, Sussex, and Kent.

The major agricultural industries in the Delaware Colony included livestock, indigo (a dye), grain, wheat, and rice.

Manufacturing in the Delaware Colony included products derived from iron ore such as nails, locks, kettles, tools, and plows. A lot of these products were exported to England.

Natural resources in the Delaware Colony included farmland, forest (timber), coal, furs, fish, and iron ore.

The Delaware Colony's landscape includes Atlantic coastal plains and flat lowland. Delaware`s southern region is made up of more than 30,000 swampy acres.

The Delaware Colony's mild climate made farming and agricultural pursuits feasible for the colonists.

The Delaware Colony was often referred to as the breadbasket colony. The colony grew a lot of wheat (which is used to make bread), and after being ground into four it was exported to England.

A Delaware Colony farmer's property usually included between 50 and 150 acres with a house, yard, and barn.

In 1664 the British gained control of the Delaware Colony. William Penn was given the deed by the Duke of York, and from 1682 to 1701 it was governed under Pennsylvania.

In 1701 the Lower Counties, which included Delaware Colony petitioned for independent colonial legislature. Despite being granted its request, the Delaware Colony continued to share Pennsylvania's governor until 1776.

In 1776 the Delaware Colony's assembly voted to break ties with Pennsylvania and with England as well, essentially declaring its independence in a document signed by representatives from all 13 colonies. It joined in the rebellion against Great Britain, along with the other 12 colonies, and laid the groundwork to becoming a U.S. state.

The Delaware Colony was the first of the original 13 colonies to ratify the federal Constitution.

The Delaware Colony became a state on December 7 th, 1787.

Delaware encompasses 2,489 square miles. It is the smallest state but also one of the most densely populated states in the U.S.

Nicknames given to Delaware over the years include The First State, The Diamond State, the Blue Hen State, and Small Wonder.

Delaware's motto is 'Liberty and Independence'.

Today, Delaware's capital is Dover.

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The Delaware Colony was one of the 13 original colonies in America, which were divided into three regions including the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. The Delaware Colony was one of the four Middle Colonies which also included the Pennsylvania Colony, the New York Colony, and the New Jersey Colony.

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Life was very different in the rural southern colonies of Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

The weather in the south provided a long growing season, which allowed crops like rice, cotton, and tobacco to flourish. The south also exported indigo (a blue dye made from native plants). To produce enough rice or cotton or tobacco to make a profit took a great deal of land and labor.

In the south, huge plantations developed, owned and governed by one family. Each plantation was nearly self-sufficient. They produced or made just about everything they needed on the plantation. Planters could easily transport their crops because there were many waterways that allowed ocean going vessels to tie up at a dock. The south did not have a need for big cities, only for port towns (a place with a deep water dock). Charleston, South Carolina was the major port.

For labor, the plantation owners first used indentured servants, people who had exchanged passage to the New World for a great deal of work when they arrived. Once the indentured servants worked off their debt, they were paid for their labor. In time, they could save up enough money to buy their own land, perhaps not a plantation, but land enough to support their families.

By the end of the 1600s, the labor pool of indentured servants began to dry up. Plantation owners were in need of another cheap source of labor. They began to use slaves as the labor force of the south.

The economic and social structure of the rural southern colonies rested on great plantations and smaller farms.

The plantation owners built huge mansions and tried to follow the culture, or what they believed to be the culture, of the aristocrats back in England.

The smaller farm owners were independent of the great plantations and were very outspoken about the rights of free men. Many smaller farm owners found their way into politics.

The third social structure was composed of the people who lived and worked in the port towns.

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The 13 Colonies for Kids - Southern Colonies

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Life was very different in the rural southern colonies of Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The weather in the south provided a long growing season, which allowed crops like rice, cotton, and tobacco to flourish. The south also exported indigo (a blue dye made from native plants).

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Facts about the colony

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The South Carolina Colony was founded by the British in 1663 and was one of the 13 original colonies. It was founded by eight nobles with a Royal Charter from King Charles II and was part of the group of Southern Colonies, along with North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and Maryland. South Carolina became one of the wealthiest early colonies largely due to exports of cotton, rice, tobacco, and indigo dye. Much of the colony's economy was dependent upon the stolen labor of enslaved people that supported large land operations similar to plantations.

Early Settlement

The British were not the first to attempt to colonize land in South Carolina. In the middle of the 16th century, first the French and then the Spanish tried to establish settlements on the coastal land. The French settlement of Charlesfort, now Parris Island, was established by French soldiers in 1562, but the effort lasted less than a year.

In 1566, the Spanish established the settlement of Santa Elena in a nearby location. Indigenous peoples from the neighboring Orista and Escamacu communities attacked and burned the settlement in 1576. While the town was later rebuilt, the Spanish devoted more resources to settlements in Florida, leaving the South Carolina coast ripe for the picking by British settlers. The English established Albemarle Point in 1670 and moved the colony to Charles Town (now Charleston) in 1680.

Slavery and the South Carolina Economy

Many of the early settlers of South Carolina came from the island of Barbados, in the Caribbean, bringing with them the plantation system common in the West Indies colonies. Under this system, large areas of land were privately owned, and most of the farm labor was completed by enslaved people. South Carolina landowners initially claimed enslaved people as property through trade with the West Indies, but once Charles Town was established as a major port, they were brought directly from Africa. The great demand for labor under the plantation system created a significant population of enslaved people in South Carolina. By the 1700s, their population nearly doubled the White population, according to many estimates.

South Carolina's captive enslaved people were not limited to people of African descent. It was also one of the few colonies to claim enslaved Indigenous peoples. In this case, they were not imported into South Carolina but rather exported to the British West Indies and other British colonies. This trade began in about 1680 and continued for nearly four decades until the Yamasee War led to peace negotiations that helped end the activity.

North and South Carolina

The South Carolina and North Carolina colonies originally were part of one colony called the Carolina Colony. The colony was set up as a proprietary settlement and governed by a group known as Carolina's Lord's Proprietors. But unrest with the Indigenous population and fear of rebellion from enslaved people led White settlers to seek protection from the English crown. As a result, it became a royal colony in 1729 and was divided into South Carolina and North Carolina.

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White people, Black people, and Native Americans in the South Carolina Colony

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South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies and was developed largely through the stolen labor of enslaved people and the plantation system. Learn more about its foundation.

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Facts about the colony

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The original colony that encompassed both North and South Carolina was founded by the Lords Proprietors under a Royal Charter granted by King Charles II.

The South Carolina Colony was originally named the Province of South Carolina before being referred to as the South Carolina Colony, and eventually South Carolina.

The South Carolina Colony allowed for religious freedom, but relied heavily on slavery for its prosperity in plantation farming.

The South Carolina Colony's original settlers were English plantation owners who relied on slavery to keep their operations running and profitable.

The South Carolina Colony plantation grew a variety of crops including cotton, tobacco, vegetables, fruit, and livestock.

The plantations in the South Carolina Colony were often massive. They included a main house, slave quarters, barns, a smokehouse, blacksmith shop, and laundry, in addition to the farm and agricultural lands.

Items that could not be made on the plantations were acquired by trading for the agricultural products they grew. Items they had to acquire through trade often included dishes, shoes, thread, and farming tools.

Natural resources in the South Carolina Colony included forests, fish, and land suitable for farming and large plantations.

The warm climate of the Southern Colonies made it suitable for farming and agricultural pursuits most of the year. The downside to the warmer climate was that it was much easier for diseases to thrive and spread. Winters and cold climates could help to slow the spread of disease.

The population of the South Carolina Colony was largely dominated by African-Americans in the late 1700s due to the prevalence of slavery.

During the colonial period the South Carolina Colony region was hit by four major hurricanes.

South Carolina leaders on the road to independence included Christopher Gadsden, Arthur Middleton, and Henry Laurens.

In 1776 South Carolina set up their own independent government and John Rutledge was appointed president.

The South Carolina Colony ratified the United States Constitution in 1788, making it the eighth U.S. state.

In 1861 South Carolina seceded from the Union.

The first shots fired during the Civil War were fired in South Carolina's Fort Sumter.

South Carolina eventually rejoined the Union in 1868.

Because of war and destruction and the abolishment of slavery in South Carolina, the economy suffered. It had been dependent largely on agriculture and the free labor was gone.

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The South Carolina Colony was one of the 13 original colonies in America. The 13 original colonies were divided into three regions including the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. The South Carolina Colony was one of the five Southern Colonies which also included t…

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Facts about the colony

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The Province of Maryland-also known as the Maryland Colony-was founded in 1632 as a safe haven for English Catholics fleeing anti-Catholic persecution in Europe. The colony was established by Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore (also known as Lord Baltimore), who also governed the Colony of Newfoundland and the Province of Avalon. The Maryland Colony's first settlement was St. Mary's City, which was built along the Chesapeake Bay. It was the first settlement in the New World to guarantee religious freedom for all Trinitarian Christians.

Fast Facts: Maryland Colony

Who Founded Maryland?

The idea for an English colony along the Chesapeake Bay where Catholics could live and worship in peace came from George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore. In 1632, he received a charter from King Charles I to found a colony east of the Potomac River. That same year, Lord Baltimore died, and the charter was given to his son, Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore. The first settlers of the Maryland Colony included a mix of about 200 Catholics and Protestants who had been promised land grants; they arrived on the ships the Ark and the Dove.

Why Was Maryland Founded?

Following the Protestant Reformation, Europe experienced a series of religious wars in the 16th and 17th centuries. In England, Catholics faced widespread discrimination; for example, they were not allowed to hold public office, and in 1666 they were blamed for the Great Fire of London. The first Lord Baltimore, a proud Catholic, envisioned the Maryland Colony as a place where English people would have religious freedom. He also wished to found the colony for economic gain.

The new colony was named Maryland in honor of Henrietta Maria, the queen consort of Charles I. George Calvert had previously been involved in a settlement in Newfoundland but, finding the land inhospitable, hoped this new colony would be a financial success. Charles I, for his part, was to be given a share of the income that the new colony created. The first governor of the colony was Cecil Calvert's brother, Leonard.

Interestingly, although the Maryland Colony was ostensibly founded as a refuge for Catholics, only 17 of the original settlers were Catholic. The rest were Protestant indentured servants. The settlers arrived at St. Clement's Island on March 25, 1634, and founded St. Mary's City. They became heavily involved in the cultivation of tobacco, which was their primary cash crop along with wheat and corn.

Over the next 15 years, the number of Protestant settlers steadily increased, and there was fear that religious liberty would be taken away from the Catholic population. The Act of Toleration was passed in 1649 by Governor William Stone to protect those who believed in Jesus Christ. However, this act was repealed in 1654 when outright conflict occurred and the Puritans took control of the colony. Lord Baltimore actually lost his proprietary rights and it was some time before his family was able to regain control of Maryland. Anti-Catholic actions occurred in the colony all the way up until the 18th century. However, with an influx of Catholics into Baltimore, laws were once again created to help protect against religious persecution.

June 20, 1632: King Charles I grants a charter for the Maryland Colony.

March 25, 1634: The first group of settlers, led by Leonard Calvert, reach St. Clement's Island in the Potomac River. They established St. Mary's City, the first Maryland settlement.

1642: The people of the Maryland Colony go to war against the Susquehannocks; fighting will continue until the two groups sign a peace treaty in 1652.

1649: Maryland passes the Maryland Toleration Act, which guarantees religious freedom to all Trinitarian Christians within the colony.

1767: A border dispute between Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware results in the drawing of the Mason-Dixon line, which marks Maryland's northern and eastern borders.

1776: Maryland joins the rest of the 13 American colonies in a revolution against England.

September 3, 1783: The American Revolution officially comes to a close with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.

April 28, 1788: Maryland becomes the seventh state to be admitted to the United States.

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The Maryland colony was founded in 1634 by Lord Baltimore as a haven for Roman Catholics escaping anti-Catholic persecution.

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Facts about the colony

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The Maryland Colony's original name was the Province of Maryland.

The Maryland Colony was founded as a refuge for English Catholics. Although the charter had been originally issued to George Calvert, 1 st Baron Baltimore, he died before it was formally executed and his son Cecil Calvert, 2 nd Baron Baltimore was granted the charter.

George Calvert had been stripped of his title as Secretary of State in 1625 when he declared his Catholicism. George and Cecil were the only Roman Catholics in the British Empire's history to be given a colony.

The original Maryland Colony encompassed a lot more land than it does today as the state of Maryland. It originally covered approximately 12 million acres. It is approximately half that today.

Major cities in the Maryland Colony included Baltimore and Annapolis.

The early settlements in the Maryland Colony often clustered around its rivers and waterways, in particular those that emptied into Chesapeake Bay.

Although the settlers in the Maryland Colony grew a variety of crops, the major export was tobacco.

The climate in the Maryland Colony was much warmer than in the New England and Middle Colonies. This made it easier to grow crops year round but the warmer temperatures made it easier for disease to spread.

Plantations in the Maryland Colony were dominated by tobacco, and as prices dropped the plantation owners grew to rely heavily on slaves to maximize profits.

Natural resources in the Maryland Colony included forests, fish, and good farming land.

Plantations grew tobacco, cotton, corn, vegetables, grains, and fruit. Livestock was also commonly raised in the Maryland Colony.

Plantations often included everything they required to be self-sufficient including the main house, slave quarters, a laundry house, smokehouse, a dairy, a blacksmith's shop and several barns.

Major industry in the Maryland Colony included agriculture, iron works, shipbuilding and other manufacturing.

Parts of the original Maryland Colony eventually became other states as Maryland ceded land that became part of Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. Maryland's northern border was established after a legal dispute which resulted in the Mason-Dixon Line in 1763.

In 1776 the Maryland Colony signed the Declaration of Independence. Maryland's signers included Samuel Chase, William Paca, Charles Carroll, and Thomas Stone.

The Maryland Colony was the last of the 13 colonies to ratify the Articles of Confederation, which it did in 1781.

The Maryland Colony became a state on April 28 th, 1788 when it ratified the United States Constitution.

Nicknames given to Maryland over the years include the Free State, and the Old Line State.

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The Maryland Colony was one of America's first original 13 colonies. The 13 original colonies were divided into three regions which included the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. The Maryland Colony was one of the Southern Colonies which also included the Virginia Colony, the North Colony, the South Carolina Colony, and the Georgia Colony.

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Facts about the colony

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The colony of Georgia was the last of the formally founded colonies in what would become the United States, in 1732 by Englishman James Oglethorpe. But for nearly 200 years before that, Georgia was a disputed region, with Spain, France, and England jockeying for the control of land owned by several powerful Indigenous groups, including the Creek Confederacy.

Fast Facts: Colony of Georgia

Early Exploration

The first Europeans to set foot in Georgia were Spanish conquistadors: it is possible that Juan Ponce de Leon (1460-1521) made it to the coastal reaches of the future state by 1520. The first European colonization was on the coast, probably near St. Catherine's Island, and established by Lucas Vázques de Ayllón (1480-1526). Called San Miguel de Guadalupe, the settlement only lasted a few months before it was abandoned over the winter of 1526-1527 due to illness, death (including its leader), and factionalism.

Spanish explorer Hernan de Soto (1500-1542) led his expeditionary forces through Georgia in 1540 on his way to the Mississippi River, and the "De Soto Chronicles" contained notes about his journey and the Indigenous inhabitants he met along the way. Spanish missions were set up along the Georgia coast: the most permanent of those was established by the Jesuit priest Juan Pardo on St. Catherine's Island in 1566. Later, English settlers from South Carolina would travel into the region of Georgia to trade with the Indigenous peoples they found there.

Part of Georgia was subsumed into the Carolina colony in 1629. The first English explorer was Henry Woodward, who arrived at the Chattahoochee falls in the 1670s, what was then the center of the Creek Nation. Woodward formed an alliance with the Creek and together they forced the Spanish out of Georgia.

The Margravate of Azilia

The Margravate of Azilia, a colony proposed in 1717 by Robert Montgomery (1680-1731), the 11th Baronet of Skelmorlie, was to be located somewhere between the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers, as an idyllic establishment with a palace of the margrave (leader) surrounded by a green space and then in descending circles farther and farther from the center, sections would be laid out for barons and commoners. Montgomery likely never made it to North America and Azilia was never built.

In 1721, while Georgia was part of the Carolina Colony, Fort King George near Darien on the Altamaha River was established and then abandoned in 1727.

Founding and Ruling the Colony

It was not until 1732 that the colony of Georgia was actually created. This made it the last of the 13 British colonies, a full fifty years after Pennsylvania came into being. James Oglethorpe was a well-known British soldier who thought that one way to deal with debtors who were taking up a lot of room in British prisons was to send them to settle a new colony. However, when King George II granted Oglethorpe the right to create this colony named after himself, it was to serve a much different purpose.

The new colony was to be located between South Carolina and Florida, to act as a protective buffer between the Spanish and English colonies. Its boundaries included all of the lands between the Savannah and Altamaha rivers, including much of present-day Alabama and Mississippi. Oglethorpe advertised in the London papers for poor people who would get free passage, free land, and all the supplies, tools, and food they would need for a year. The first shipload of settlers set sail aboard the Ann in 1732, disembarked at Port Royal on the South Carolina coast, and reached the foot of Yamacraw Bluff on the Savannah River on February 1, 1733, where they founded the city of Savannah.

Georgia was unique among the 13 British colonies in that no local governor was appointed or elected to oversee its population. Instead, the colony was ruled by a Board of Trustees that was located back in London. The Board of Trustees ruled that Catholics, lawyers, rum, and the enslavement of Black people were all banned within the colony. That would not last.

War of Independence

In 1752, Georgia became a royal colony and the British parliament selected royal governors to rule it. Historian Paul Pressly has suggested that unlike the other colonies, Georgia succeeded in the two decades before Independence because of its connections to the Caribbean and based on an economy of rice supported by the enslavement of Black people.

The royal governors held power until 1776, with the beginning of the American Revolution. Georgia was not a real presence in the fight against Great Britain. In fact, due to its youth and stronger ties to the 'Mother Country,' many inhabitants sided with the British. The colony sent no delegates to the First Continental Congress: they were facing attacks from the Creek and desperately needed the support of regular British soldiers.

Nevertheless, there were some staunch leaders from Georgia in the fight for independence including three signers of the Declaration of Independence: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton. After the war, Georgia became the fourth state to ratify the US Constitution.

Sources and Further Reading

Coleman, Kenneth (ed.). "A History of Georgia," 2nd edition. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1991.

Pressly, Paul M. "On the Rim of the Caribbean: Colonial Georgia and the British Atlantic World." Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2013.

Russell, David Lee. "Oglethorpe and Colonial Georgia: A History, 1733-1783." McFarland, 2006

Sonneborne, Liz. "A Primary Source History of the Colony of Georgia." New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 2006.

"The Margravate of Azilia." Our Georgia History.

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How and Why Was the Colony of Georgia Founded?

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Learn about the history of the formation of the British colony of Georgia by James Oglethorpe, including the events leading up to its foundation.

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Facts about the colony

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The Georgia Colony was one of the 13 original colonies in America. The 13 original colonies were divided up into three regions including the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. The Georgia Colony was one of the Southern Colonies which also included the Maryland Colo…

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Facts about the colony

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The North Carolina colony was carved out of the Carolina province in 1729, but the history of the region begins during the Elizabethan period of the late 16th century and is closely tied to the Virginia colony. The North Carolina colony is the direct result of British colonization efforts in the New World; it was also the place where the first English settlement was built and mysteriously disappeared.

Fast Facts: North Carolina Colony

The first European settlement in what is today North Carolina-indeed, the first English settlement in the New World-was the "lost colony of Roanoke," founded by the English explorer and poet Walter Raleigh in 1587. On July 22nd of that year, John White and 121 settlers came to Roanoke Island in present-day Dare County. The first English person born in North America was settler John White's granddaughter Virginia Dare (born to Elenora White and her husband Ananias Dare on August 18, 1587).

John White returned to England shortly after its founding, and apparently, the colonists also left the area. When White returned in 1590, all the colonists on Roanoke Island were gone. There were only two clues left: the word "Croatoan" that had been carved on a post in the fort along with the letters "Cro" carved on a tree. Although much archaeological and historical research has been attempted, no one has yet discovered what actually happened to the settlers, and Roanoke is called "The Lost Colony."

Albemarle Settlements

By the late 16th century, Elizabethans Thomas Hariot (1560-1621) and Richard Hakluyt (1530-1591) were writing accounts of the Chesapeake Bay area exhorting the beauties of the New World. (Hariot visited the region in 1585-1586, but Hakluyt never actually made it to North America.) The mouth of the bay opens up at the northeastern corner of what is today North Carolina. In an attempt to discover what had happened to his colony, Walter Raleigh sent several expeditions out of his Virginia colony at Jamestown into the region.

The first charter to include North Carolina included part of Albemarle County and was given by Charles I to Robert Heath, the king's attorney general in 1629. That parcel, from Albemarle sound to Florida, was named Carolana after Charles I. Although there were repeated efforts to establish colonies, they all failed until 1648, when Virginians Henry Plumpton of Nansemond County and Thomas Tuke of the Isle of Wight County purchased a tract of land from local Indigenous peoples.

First European Settlement

The first successful settlement of what became the North Carolina colony likely dates to around 1648, by Plumpton and Tuke. A 1657 map of the region between the Chowan and Roanoke Rivers illustrates "Batts house," but it probably represents a small community perhaps including Plumpton and Tuke, not just Batts. Captain Nathaniel Batts was a wealthy man, known to some as the "Governor of Roan-oak."

Other Virginians moved in over the next decade or so, either purchasing land from the Indigenous peoples-Chesapeake, Secotan, Weapemeoc, and Croatons, among others-or obtaining grants from Virginia.

Official Founding

The Carolina Province, including what are today North and South Carolina, was finally officially founded in 1663, when King Charles II recognized the efforts of eight noblemen who helped him regain the throne in England by giving them the Province of Carolina. The eight men were known as the Lord Proprietors: John Berkeley (1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton); Sir William Berkeley (Governor of Virginia); George Carteret (Governor of Jersey in Britain); John Colleton (soldier and nobleman); Anthony Ashley Cooper (1st Earl of Shaftesbury); William Craven (1st Earl of Craven); Edward Hyde (1st Earl of Clarendon); and George Monck (1st Duke of Albemarle).

The Lord Proprietors named the colony in honor of their king. The area they were given included the territory of present-day North and South Carolina. In 1665, John Yeamans created a settlement in North Carolina on the Cape Fear River, near present-day Wilmington. Charles Town was named the main seat of government in 1670. However, internal problems arose in the colony, leading the Lord Proprietors to sell their interests in the colony. The crown took over the colony and formed both North and South Carolina out of it in 1729.

North Carolina and the American Revolution

The colonists in North Carolina were a disparate group, which often led to internal problems and disputes. However, they were also heavily involved in the reaction to British taxation. Their resistance to the Stamp Act helped prevent that act's implementation and led to the rise of the Sons of Liberty.

These irascible colonists were also one of the last hold outs to ratify the Constitution-after it had already gone into effect and the government had been established.

Sources and Further Reading

Anderson, Jean Bradley. "Durham County: A History of Durham County, North Carolina," 2nd ed. Durham: Duke University Press, 2011.

Butler, Lindley S. "The Early Settlement of Carolina: Virginia's Southern Frontier." The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 79.1 (1971): 20-28. Print.

Crow, Jeffrey J. and Larry E. Tise (eds.). Writing North Carolina History. Raleigh: University of North Carolina Press Books, 2017.

Cumming, W. P. "The Earliest Permanent Settlement in Carolina." The American Historical Review 45.1 (1939): 82-89. Print.

Miller, Lee. "Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony." Arcade Publishing, 2001

Parramore, Thomas C. "The 'Lost Colony' Found: A Documentary Perspective." The North Carolina Historical Review 78.1 (2001): 67-83. Print.

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The Founding of North Carolina Colony and Its Role in the Revolution

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The North Carolina Colony had a long history of failed settlements, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke. It was finally officially founded in 1663.

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Facts about the colony

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Carolina is a word derived from the Latin name for Charles, 'Carolus'.

The first settlement in the North Carolina region occurred in 1587. One of these settler's named John White was the father of the first English baby born in the New World. Her name was Virginia Dare. These colonists all disappeared by 1590 and the first permanent settler would not arrive until more than 60 years later, in 1653.

The earliest known permanent settler in the North Carolina Colony was Nathaniel Batts, who settled there in 1653.

There was no dominating religion in the North Carolina Colony. Like most of the Southern Colonies settlers were free to worship as Catholics, Anglicans, Jews, Baptists or whichever they chose to believe.

The North Carolina Colony landscape included coastal plains, mountain ranges and plateaus. Farming and agriculture were extremely important to the settlers because of the warm climate and vast farmland.

The warm weather and lack of cold winters made it much easier for illness to spread and thrive.

Because of the warm climate in the Southern Colonies it was possible to farm most of the year. This made it possible for the North Carolina Colony farmers to export agricultural products to the other colonies.

Natural resources in the North Carolina Colony included forests (timber), fish, and land, suitable for the development of large plantations.

Common crops grown on plantations and farms included cotton, fruit, grains, vegetables, tobacco, rice, sugar, indigo and livestock.

Slavery was common in the Southern Colonies, exploiting workers to work on large plantations.

The plantation owners often traded their crops for items they could not produce themselves such as tools, shoes, thread, lace, and kitchenware such as iron kettles.

In 1712 the Carolina colony officially became the North Carolina Colony and the South Carolina Colony.

The North Carolina Colony's first governor was Edward Hyde.

In 1729 the North and South Carolina colonies became royal colonies, after the Lord Proprietors sold their holdings of the Carolinas to the English.

Nicknames given to the North Carolina Colony over the years included the Old Northern State, and the Tar Heel State.

The North Carolina Colony became a state on November 21 st, 1789.

North Carolina would secede from the United States in 1861, along with 10 other states. This signified the beginning of the Civil War.

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The North Carolina Colony was one of the 13 original colonies in America. The 13 original colonies were divided into three regions including the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. The North Carolina Colony was one of the five Southern Colonies that also included the Maryland Colony, the Virginia Colony, the South Carolina Colony, and the Georgia Colony.

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Facts about the colony.

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In 1607, Jamestown became Great Britain's first settlement in North America, the first foothold of the Virginia Colony. Its permanency came after three failed attempts by Sir Walter Raleigh beginning in 1586 to attempt to establish a stronghold in the land he called Virginia after his queen, Elizabeth I. And its continued survival was very much in doubt for the first 15 years.

Fast Facts: Virginia Colony

Early Colonial Life

On April 10, 1606, King James I (ruled 1566-1625) issued a charter creating two companies for Virginia, one based in London and one in Plymouth, to settle all of the land between the Passamaquoddy Bay in Maine and the Cape Fear River in North Carolina. Plymouth would get the north half and London the south.

The Londoners left on December 20, 1606, in three ships carrying 100 men and four boys, and they landed in what is today the Chesapeake Bay area. A landing party scouted for a suitable area, and the three ships worked their way up what they called (and is still called) the James River, landing at the site of Jamestown on May 13, 1607.

The location of Jamestown was chosen because it would be easily defended since it was surrounded by water on three sides; the water was deep enough for the colonists' ships, and Indigenous tribes did not inhabit the land. Unfortunately, there were reasons Indigenous peoples did not inhabit the land; there was no potable water source, and the marshy landscape emitted great clouds of mosquitoes and flies. Disease, heat, and skirmishes with Indigenous peoples consumed both colonists and their supplies, and by the time the first supply ship arrived in September, only 37 of the original 104 colonists were living.

The Starving Time

Captain John Smith assumed the colony's leadership in September 1608, and his leadership is credited with improving conditions and stockpiling stores. England continued to send supplies and colonists and in late Spring 1609, after the colony had been reorganized into a joint stock venture, London sent nine ships and 500 colonists. The ship bearing the deputy governor Thomas Gates wrecked off the Bermuda coast. The 400 survivors straggled into Jamestown in the late summer, too sick to work but fully capable of consuming the stockpile of stores. Disease and famine set in, and between October 1609 and March 1610, the colony population dropped from 500 to about 60. The winter became known as "The Starving Time," and the colony became known as a deathtrap.

During the early period of the colony, Jamestown was primarily a military outpost, populated by men, either gentlemen or indentured servants. The servants who survived were obligated to work for their passage for a period of seven years. By 1614, those indentures began to expire and those who chose to remain became free laborers.

Signs of Recovery

Leadership of the colony by Thomas Dale and Thomas Gates kept the colony going between 1610 and 1616, and the colony began to grow strong after John Rolfe began his experiments with tobacco, Nicotiana rustica, to make it more palatable to the English taste. When a royal family member of the Powhatan tribe named Pocahontas married John Rolfe in 1614, relations with the Indigenous community eased. That ended when she died in England in 1617. The first enslaved Africans were brought to the colony in 1619.

Jamestown had a high mortality rate due to disease, colonial mismanagement, and raids from Indigenous peoples. The presence of women and family units encouraged some growth and stability, but factionalism and fiscal insolvency continued to plague Virginia. In 1622, a Powhatan attack on Virginia killed 350 settlers, plunging the colony into warfare that lasted a decade.

Charter Changes

Jamestown was originally founded from a desire to gain wealth and to a lesser extent to convert Indigenous locals to Christianity. Jamestown went through several forms of government in its first decades, and by 1624, they used a representative assembly known as the House of Burgesses, the first institutional instance of representative self-government on the North American continent.

Threatened by the House of Burgesses, though, James I revoked the charter of the bankrupt Virginia Company in 1624, but his timely death in 1625 ended his plans for disbanding the assembly. The colony's formal name was the Colony and Dominion of Virginia.

Virginia and the American Revolution

Virginia was involved in fighting against what they saw as British tyranny from the end of the French and Indian War. The Virginia General Assembly fought against the Sugar Act which had been passed in 1764. They argued that it was taxation without representation. In addition, Patrick Henry was a Virginian who used his powers of rhetoric to argue against the Stamp Act of 1765 and legislation was passed opposing the act. A Committee of Correspondence was created in Virginia by key figures including Thomas Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee, and Patrick Henry. This was a method by which the different colonies communicated with each other about the growing anger against the British.

Virginia residents who were sent to the First Continental Congress in 1774 included Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Edmund Pendleton, Peyton Randolph, and George Washington.

Open resistance started in Virginia the day after Lexington and Concord occurred, on April 20, 1775. Other than the Battle of Great Bridge in December 1775, little fighting happened in Virginia though they sent soldiers to help in the war effort. Virginia was one of the earliest to adopt independence, and its hallowed son, Thomas Jefferson, penned the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Significance

It was the first permanent English settlement in the New World at Jamestown.

It provided a source of fertile land and great wealth to England in the form of the cash crop, tobacco.

With the House of Burgesses, America saw the first institutional instance of representative self-government.

Sources and Further Reading

Barbour, Philip L. (ed.) "The Jamestown Voyages under the First Charter, 1606-1609." London: The Hakluyt Society, 2011.

Billings, Warren M. (ed.). "The Old Dominion in the Seventeenth Century: A Documentary History of Virginia, 1606-1700," revised edition. Durham: The University of North Carolina Press, 2007.

Earle, Carville. "Environment, Disease, and Mortality in Early Virginia." Journal of Historical Geography 5.4 (1979): 365-90. Print.

Hantman, Jeffrey L. "Monacan Millennium: A Collaborative Archaeology and History of a Virginia Indian People." University of Virginia Press, 2018.

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The Virginia Colony founded by the London Company in colonial America in 1606, the first permanent English settlement. Learn more about its history.

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Facts about the colony.

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The Virginia Colony was the very first of the original 13 colonies in America. The 13 colonies were divided into three regions including the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. The Virginia Colony was one of the Southern Colonies, which also included the Maryland Co…