2.8 Comparison in Period 2

Comparing New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies

New England colonies had subsistence farming, close-knit Puritan towns, and small family farms. Middle Colonies (PA, NY, NJ, DE) featured religious/ethnic diversity, cash-crop agriculture, and thriving port cities. Southern Colonies relied on cash crops (tobacco, rice, indigo) grown on large plantations using enslaved labor, with dispersed settlement patterns and Anglican influence.

Regional economies and labor systems

Economic systems diverged based on geography and imperial goals. New England developed shipbuilding, fishing, and trade. The Middle Colonies became the "breadbasket" exporting grain. The South's plantation economy deepened dependence on chattel slavery, especially after Bacon's Rebellion (1676) pushed elites toward enslaved African labor over indentured servants.

Society, religion, and self-government

Colonies varied in social structure and governance. New England emphasized religious conformity and town meetings; the Middle Colonies practiced religious tolerance and diverse assemblies; the South had rigid social hierarchies with a small planter elite. Despite differences, all colonies developed traditions of representative government and increasing autonomy from Britain, shaped by distance and salutary neglect.

Key terms

New England Colonies economy

Subsistence farming, fishing, shipbuilding, and trade due to rocky soil and cold climate.

Middle Colonies characteristics

Religious/ethnic diversity, grain cash crops, thriving port cities like Philadelphia and New York.

Southern Colonies economy

Plantation agriculture (tobacco, rice, indigo) dependent on enslaved labor and dispersed settlement.

Bacon's Rebellion (1676)

Uprising in Virginia that pushed planters to replace indentured servants with enslaved Africans to reduce risk of class-based alliances.

Common colonial political trend

All regions developed representative assemblies and local self-government, fostering growing autonomy from Britain.

Try an AP-style question

Compared with New England, the Chesapeake had…

1. more religious uniformity
2. higher mortality and fewer families
3. more towns and schools
4. fewer enslaved people