The Thirteen Colonies Study Guide
Test Date: Thursday, February 16th
 Your test will consist of multiple choice questions, matching, and a true / false section.
 Your social studies book is online. Follow the directions under the important links section
of my faculty webpage to access it. Once you have logged in go to “Unit Three” to access
what we have read in class.
 You should know the following colonies and which group they were a part of:
New England Colonies
 Massachusetts
 Rhode Island
 Connecticut
 New Hampshire
The Middle Colonies
 New York
 New Jersey
 Pennsylvania
 Delaware
The Southern Colonies
 Maryland
 Virginia
 North Carolina
 South Carolina
 Georgia
Vocabulary




Charter – official paper
Expel – to force to leave
Artisan – skilled craft worker (example – blacksmith, carpenter, dress-maker)
Apprentice – someone who lives and works with an artisan and his family for several
years in order to learn a skill
 Cash crop – a crop that people grow to sell
 Overseer – someone hired by a plantation owner who was responsible for watching over
slaves while they worked
 Militia – a volunteer army
The New England Colonies
Massachusetts
 John Winthrop led a group of Puritans to settle the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This
group wanted their colony to be an example of Christian living. John Winthrop became
the governor of this colony. He was very strict and did not allow anyone to have freedom
of religion. Anyone who did not follow the strict Puritan rules of the colony was punished
or expelled.
Rhode Island
 Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson were expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony
because they did not follow some of the strict Puritan rules. They both formed separate
colonies to the south that later joined together to become the colony of Rhode Island.
Roger Williams is considered to be the founder of Rhode Island.
Connecticut
 Thomas Hooker left Massachusetts because he disagreed with how the colony was being
managed. He took a group of people with him to a new place and they formed the colony
of Hartford. Hartford later joined with other colonies to form the colony of Connecticut.
New Hampshire
 David Thompson left Massachusetts to try to make a better living. He started a fishing
settlement called Portsmouth which later joined with other colonies to form the colony of
New Hampshire.
The Middle Colonies
New York & New Jersey
 The Dutch had a colony called New Netherland that King Charles II wanted control of.
The king wanted this land because he wanted more settlements, natural resources, and
control of the fur trade. King Charles gave his brother, the Duke of York, the land
between Maine and the Delaware River, including New Netherland. The Duke of York
had to conquer these lands before he could own them so he took warships to attack New
Netherland. New Netherland surrendered and gave up their colony without a single shot
being fired by either the English or the Dutch. New Netherland was split into two parts
which became New York, and New Jersey.
Pennsylvania
 King Charles II gave a charter to William Penn that gave William Pennsylvania. The
King did this because he owed William’s father money. William wanted this colony to be
a place for Quakers and other religions to live together peacefully. He was a kind man
who wanted Native Americans to be treated with justice. He also created a government in
Pennsylvania that gave the colonists that lived there some important rights and freedoms.
 Frame of Government of Pennsylvania – Created by William Penn, this gave citizens
the freedom of speech, religion, and the right to a fair trial by jury.
 Benjamin Franklin lived in the city of Philadelphia which was located in Pennsylvania.
Delaware
 A year after giving William Penn Pennsylvania, the King gave him control of the land
that made up Delaware. William Penn gave this colony its own assembly, or government,
a few years later.
The Southern Colonies
Maryland
 This colony was founded by the Calvert family who were wealthy Catholic land owners.
They created this colony to provide people of the Catholic religion a safe place to
worship since the Catholic religion had been banned in England. Cecilius Calvert became
the first owner of the colony and his brother Leonard Calvert became the colonies first
governor. Most of the original colonists of Maryland were indentured servants.
Virginia
 The king was in control of this colony. It was the largest English colony in North
America in the early 1700’s and Williamsburg became its capital. The Virginia colonies
were founded so that England could collect lumber and other resources. The people living
in Jamestown were sent by merchants and came to get rich and find gold. Many of the
early colonists died because they were lazy and did not want to work.
North Carolina & South Carolina
 In 1663 King Charles II granted land for another colony named Carolina. King Charles II
did this because he wanted more land. He granted the land that was named Carolina to a
group of eight people called the Lords Proprietors. This colony was large and hard to
manage so in 1712 the colony was split into North Carolina and South Carolina. In North
Carolina farmers grew tobacco and corn. In South Carolina farmers used slaves to grow
rice.
Georgia
 King George II wanted control of land that England, France, and Spain had all claimed. A
man named James Oglethorpe had an idea to help the king do this. He suggested that the
king send people who had been put into prison for owing money to this new land to settle
it and defend the land from other countries. King George II gave James a charter for this
colony and it was named Georgia after the king.