Like other places in the world, tensions between colonists arose because of various political, social, religious and economic differences and challenges. The colonists tended to recreate the social and political structures that they left. Thus, the Quakers of Pennsylvania created a colony that was one of the most open and liberal in terms of personal freedoms. Virginians recreated the social and political structures of the English gentry. The Dutch were primarily concerned with commerce, creating political structures to support its growth and oppose imposition on trade. On top of this, religious disposition created both cohesion and division. The Colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut were founded when the Puritans expelled those they considered heretics.
Economic tensions would provide the biggest, and ongoing, division in the Colonies. The North developed a fairly diverse economy as agriculture was limited by climactic and soil conditions. Thus, from the beginning, trade was an essential for survival in the Northern Colonies. Small farmers were generally very poor, but it was in the North that entrepreneurs would establish various business, including mills and ironworks. Manufacturing would become increasingly important.
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Early on, colonists discovered that large cash crops could be grown. Trade focused back toward the lucrative English market rather than among the colonies. The large-scale agriculture necessitated labor-intensive practices, giving rise to the importation of slaves. Tobacco, cotton and rice would come to dominate Southern agriculture. Manufactured goods were imported from England and the Southern Colonies returned tobacco, rice, hides and indigo. As a result of the success of the large cash crops, there was little incentive to develop a manufacturing economy. Politically, each of the Southern colonies developed a unique culture, yet all were concerned with local political