TheStoryof TheThirteenColonies
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withtheirlivesin
manypeople
werenotsatisfied
Intheearly1600s,
theirhomes.
to leave
theydecided
Europe.Fora numberof reasons,
in the NewWorld.
Theyhopedfor opportunities
colonies.Thebest
Therewerebigdifferences
amongthethirteen
wayto understand
themisto knowwhythe peoplecame,andwhere
out.
didnotstartin onespotandthenspread
theysettled.Settlements
Onecolonybeganin thewarmSouth.Thenextcolonystartedin the
of the North.Soon,asmoreandmorepeoplearrived,
colderclimate
werefilledin, 13in number.lt is
between
thecolonies
thespaces
probably
easiest
to lookat themin theorderof thedatestheyarrived.
Virginia
coastaftermonths
at sea.
attheVirginia
In 1607,threeshipsarrived
people
River.TheretheyfoundThese
sailedup theJames
braveEnglish
edthevillage
of Jamestown.Theriver
werenamedafterKing
andthevillage
Thecolonists
considJames
of England.
Englishmen.
Theyhoneredthemselves
had.
oredthe samelawsastheyalways
withdreams
of
These
colonists
arrived
in thenewland.
findinggoldandriches
"gentlemen"
were
There
aboard.They
hadlivedthe livesof theveryrich. Sothey
knewnothingaboutrealwork. Theothers
hadskills.Butnoneof themknewhowto
in the newland.Monevcouldnot
survive
h e l pt h e m .
Jamestown,
Virginia:Firstpermanent
Englishcolonyin NorthAmerica.
16
hunger,disease,
and
At firsttheybuilta town of mud huts. However,
in
Indianattackskilledalmosteveryone.Of the fivehundredcolonists
only60 livedthroughthe winterof 1609. Thenhelparrived
Jamestown,
the firstcolonyin NorthAmericasurvived.
from England.Jamestown,
s n dt h e l a n d .T h ec o l o n yp r o s a b o u tt h e f o r e s t a
T h es e t t l e rlse a r n e d
p e r e d .l n 1 6 1 2 ,J o h nR o l f eb e g a nt o g r o wt o b a c c o .R o l f el a t e rm a r r i e d
P o c a h o n t a st h
, e d a u g h t eor f a n I n d i a nc h i e f .T h i sm a d ep e a c e
b e t w e e nt h e c o l o n i s tasn dt h e I n d r a n s .
it took
Peoplein Europewantedto buy plentyof tobacco.However,
m a n yw o r k e r st o r a i s ea c r o p . B y 1 6 1 9 ,s l a v e sw e r eb r o u g htto V i r g i n i a .T h ef a r m e r sb o u g h t h e mt o u s ea sf r e el a b o r .S l a v ews o r k e do n
c l i m a t ew a sp e r f e cfto r
t h e i rl a n da n di n t h e i rh o m e s .T h es o u t h e r n
f a r m i n g .S m a lfla r m sq u i c k l yg r e wi n t ol a r g ep l a n t a t i o n s .H o u s ehs a d
a as
. irginiw
f o r t h e k i t c h e nV
s h a d e dp o r c h eas n da s e p a r a tbeu i l d i n g
v e r yh o t d u r i n gt h e l o n gs u m m e r s .
Massachusetts
Anothership,the Mayflower,
o rV i r g i n iian 1 6 2 0 .
l e f tE n g l a nf d
stormblewthem
A terrible
in
Theylanded
northward.
instead.These
Massachusetts
or Puritans,
werethe Pilgrims,
whowantedreligiousfreedom.
the Pilgrims
Whileon board,
drewup the Mayflower Com-
pact. Thiswasan agreement
FirstSermonat Plymouth
amongallof them.Theirnew
landwouldbe ruledbythewillof mostof thepeople.Theybuiltvilbuilthouses
of town.ThePilgrims
in thecenter
lages,
withthechurch
thewinroofs.During
or mudandgrass,
madeof woodwiththatched,
waskeptgoingallday.Winterwaslongand
ter,thegreatfireplace
harshin theNorth.
T7
I
Indians
taughtthePilgrims
Friendly
howto cleartheland.Theyintroto newfoods.Farming
ducedthesettlers
in the rockysoilwasnoteasy.
Butdeerandturkeywereplentiful
in thewoods.
ThePuritans
hadverystrictreligious
rules.Theysoonforgotthatthey
hadcometo the NewWorldto be ableto worshipin theirown way.
Theydid not acceptthosewho would not followtheirway of life.
S o m ep e o p l ef e l tt h e yh a dn o t f o u n dt h e r e l i g i o uf sr e e d o mt h e yh a d
comefor.
Rhodelsland
RogerWilliamswasdrivenout of Massachusetts
for his
beliefs.Rogers,
a minister,
walkedsouthalone.Heboughtland
f r o mt h e N a r r a g a n sIentdt i a nisn 1 6 3 5 .H i sc o l o n yR, h o d e
lsland,
peoplewithdifferent
welcomed
views.lt became
religious
successf
ul at fishinq.
NewHampshire
Justto the northof Massachusetts,
NewHampshire
was
established
in 1623.Settlers
weremovingto newareas
very
quickly.Mostof thoselivingheretradedfursor fishedfor a
living.Themountains
werecovered
withpineandoaktrees.
R o g e rW i l l i a ms:
h i s b e l i e fi n
These
wouldsoonprovide
woodto buildships
for American
fishermen.
religious
freedom led to
the founding of
R h o d el s la n d .
Connecticut
As theybeganto knowthe landbettel otherstraveledsouth. They
c a m eu p o nw o n d e r f ufla r m l a n d I. n 1 6 3 8 ,t h e s ec o l o n i s tess t a b l i s h e d
C o n n e c t i c uA
t . t t h i sp o i n t ,t h e yw e r em o v i n go n t o I n d i a nl a n d . T h e r e
w a sa f i e r c ew a r . M a n yw e r ek i l l e do n b o t hs i d e s .T h eI n d i a n s
d e s t r o y em
d a n yN e wE n g l a ntdo w n s . F i n a l l tyh, e I n d i a nssu r r e n d e r e d .
T h ec o l o n i eosf M a s s a c h u s e tRt sh,o d el s l a n dN, e wH a m p s h i r a
en
,d
C o n n e c t i c ubte c a m ek n o w na st h e N e w E n g l a n dC o l o n i e s .T h es e t t l e r so f e a c ho f t h e mh a dc o m ef r o m E n g l a n dT. h e i rc o l o n r aglo v e r n mentand customswerebasedon thoseof Englano.
18
New Amsterdamwas laterrenamed
NewYork
at the mouthof the Hudson
settled
Dutchcolonists
Meanwhile,
River.TheynamedtheirtownNew Amsterdam.Manyof the Dutch
or rich,landwasturnedintolarge
Thefertile,
upthe Hudson.
sailed
intotheharbor.Thatendedthe
Navysailed
farms.In 1666,theEnglish
Dutchreign.
port
NewYork.lt wasa natural
wasrenamed
NewAmsterdam
goodsfor all
Theyprovided
stores.
opened
andcraftsmen
Businessmen
withcloth,potsandpans,
loaded
fleetsandships,
Fishing
thecolonies.
a busycenter
in the NewYorkharbor.lt became
andevenguns,arrived
financial
in thisgrowing
wereopened
anda stockmarket
of trade.Banks
center.
New tersey
an area'The
claimed
fromNewYork,the British
the Hudson
Across
Freelandwasofferedto attract
Dukeof York namedit NewJersey.
of worshipbroughtQuakersfromthe
of freedom
Thepromise
settlers.
fromNew
andWales.Othercolonists
Scotland
of lreland,
countries
camedown,too. Theyfoundthelandto begoodfor farming'
England
19
@,'"
r
Pennsylvania
Thislargecolony
Pennsylvania.
williamPennfounded
TheQuaker
thattherebe religious
Penninsisted
wasto thewestof NewJersey.
Dutchsettled
ThePennsylvania
Pennsylvania.
throughout
freedom
groupwas
hugefarmsin thearea.Thiscultural
there.Theyoperated
for
camefromEurope
withoutfear.Quakers
freeto liveandworship
for
goodprices
paidthe Indians
too. TheQuakers
reasons,
religious
in Pennsylvania'
livedin peace
andIndians
theirland.TheQuakers
from Swedenbuiltthe firstlog cabinsthere. Thesewere
Colonists
woodenlogs,placedon top of eachotherand heldtogetherwith mud
andgrass.
c i t yo f P h i l a d e l p h i al.t sn a m e
thebustling
W i l l i a mP e n np l a n n e d
"the cityof brotherly
left Bostonto
Franklin
love." Benjamin
means
here.
starta newspaper
Maryland
Marylandbecamea colonyof richtobaccofieldsand busyvillages.lt
of yearstherehadbeentroublei
liesjustnorthof Virginia.Forhundreds
gaveMary-i
KingCharles
in England.
andProtestants
Catholics
between
about200
a catholic.ln 1633,a shipcarrying
landto LordBaltimore,
wereon board,
andProtestants
BothCatholics
leftEngland.
passengers
a colonywhere
became
priests.Maryland
aswellastwo Catholic
lived
andProtestants
theirreligion.Catholics
couldpractice
Catholics
andworkedsidebYside.
Delaware
20
coastwasthecolonyof Delaware'
A littlesnipof landon Maryland's
thecolonyin 1638.Theycalledit Newsweden.
started
settlers
swedish
tookoverthecolony.Thenthere
the British
within20 years
However,
River.lt hadno
wantedthe Delaware
wasa bigquarrel.Pennsylvania
it was
because
wantedDelaware
otherwayout to thesea.Maryland
wenton untiltheAmerican
to theirland.Thisargument
attached
itselffreefrom anyothercolony
declared
ThenDelaware
Revolution.
a n df r e ef r o m E n g l a n d .
and
Maryland,
Pennsylvania,
of NewYork,NewJersey,
Thecolonies
werehometo peoplewith variedcultures.Theymadeup the
Delaware
Middle Atlantic Colonies.
TheCarolinas
whichwe'vealready
Lookat the mapon page22. Skipovervirginia,
wereNorthandSouthCarolina.
Justsouthof thatcolony,
mentioned.
keptgoingfarthersouth.Riceandtobaclookingfor farmland
Settlers
sorl.Soonfarmsgrewinto
co werecropsthatgrewwellin Carolina
laborhere,too.
provided
Slaves
plantations.
Georgia
colony'
Thiswasa special
liesjustunderSouthCarolina.
Georgia
Hevisiteda
Parliament.
JamesOglethorpewasa memberof the English
prisons
wereterrible.Oglethorpe
in English
friendin prison.Conditions
hadnot doneawfulthings.Mostof them
manyof the prtsoners
realized
owed money.Buttheycouldnot paybackthe moneywithoutworK'
T h e yw o u l db e i n p r i s o nf o r l i f e . H ec o n v i n c ePda r l i a m etnhto s ep e o p l e
TobaccoFarm
1
&L
r
andverypoorpeoplegot
chance.ln 1732,prisoners
a second
needed
for
a smallfarmanda chance
Theretheyreceived
passage
to Georgia.
colonies'
the lastof thethirteen
became
a newlife. Georgia
and
SouthCarolina,
NorthCarolina,
thatVirginia,
Youcanguess
the SouthernColonies.Theircommoninterest
werecalled
Georgia
wasfarming.
13North
in Englands
people
lrved
By 1770morethan2 million
wererolling.The
By 1776thedrumsof freedom
colonies.
American
of the UnitedStates
states
thethirteen
wouldbecome
colonies
thirteen
of America.
T h e 1 3 C o l on i e s
in 1750
Namethe thirteen
colonies.Tellone
importantfact
about
eachcolony.
22
Go lo ?^ge 140 to leat"tr
u ove atboqf lhe Dqfch arrrA fhe
Enrglishi\ New Yovk!