One of the first things that sparked the unification among the colonies was the Albany Plan of Union(1754). The document was mainly drafted by Benjamin Franklin. It was drawn up because the of the frequent wars between Great Britain and France would often cause violent conflict near the American Colonies and the skirmishes the settlers had with the Native Americans caused many people in the colonies to feel unsafe. This plan was the first step into allowing the colonies to govern themselves, at least in regards to protecting the colonies ' safety. With the Townshend Acts(1773) and Coercive Acts(1774) passed by the Parliament of Great Britain, the colonist responded with violence and called for a Continental Congress.
There were many differences between the four colonies. For example, the new England puritans came to America, because they were being prosecuted for not believing in the same religious view as the church of England. There society was mostly hard working middle class people. They didn’t trust and feared any new person that entered their society because they were afraid of them being associated with the Salem witch trails. They relied on beans and bread as their main food source since farming was almost impossible due to the cold climaxes and the poor soils they had.
The middle colonies were set differently from the New England and Chesapeake Bay regions, instead of searching for a place to colonize or be given the authority to use founded land by Britain, the middle colonies, owned by Charles I and the Duke of York, used the lands as a way to pay off debts or as political favors. The new proprietaries intended uses of the colonies were for wealth and freedom to practice any religion. William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, successfully created the first, middle colony a “colony of Haven for the children of light” (American Yawp, chapter 3) thus attracted a wide range of people from different nations. Because of the political and religious freedoms, a harmony of mixed towns of French, Dutch, German, Swedes,
Colonists who came to America differed greatly in backgrounds and settled for various reasons: Colonist in the New England Colony came to America primarily because they were religious reformers and separatist seeking a new way of life; the Middle Colony was inhabited by a tolerant and diverse group of people with different backgrounds; And the Southern Colony was mainly inhabited by English aristocrats, small farmers, and slaves. Because each colonial region inhabited different groups of colonists the social development differed greatly in each region. New England was founded on the Puritan faith and maintained a strong sense of faith, family, and community. New Englan was very strict on enforcing a strong sense Puritan religion, the lifestyle of colonist revolved around the puritan faith, so much so, it was referred to the "city upon a hill". Contrasting greatly with the New England Colony, the Middle Colony was greatly social and religiously diverse.
New England and the Middle Colonies are 2 Colonies that are total opposites from each other, but do have some similarities. New England had no religious freedom because if you were not puritan then you could not live there. On the other hand, the Middle Colonies did have religious freedom, you could be a Quaker, Lutheran, Jewish, Catholic or French and a lot more as well. New England and the Middle Colonies share some similarities based on religion and other things as well. Some similarities were that the church was an important part of both New England and Middle Colonies towns.
The religion in the southern colonies was mainly Catholics and Protestants while the religion in New England was for the most part
The Southern Colonies, comprising Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, had a plantation economy based on cash crops like tobacco and rice, relying heavily on slave labor. Religion in the Southern Colonies played a lesser role in shaping society compared to the Northern and Middle Colonies. Lifestyles in the Southern Colonies were marked by social hierarchy and a reliance on enslaved labor. Plantation owners lived lavish lifestyles, while small farmers and laborers struggled to make ends
These three groups had different lifestyles and were able to attain goods in distinct ways that helped to develop their societies individually and each of them left legacies that apply to society today. The Southern Colonies left behind an expert knowledge of the cultivation of crops, the most prominent of them being tobacco that is used for modern day recreational uses. The New England Colonies left behind the fishing tactics that they used for trade which is evident throughout the many fishing ports located around the coastal areas of America. The Middle Colonies left behind the skillful crop cultivation used to produce wheat, which is an important factor in the production of modern day starches. However, the one thing that these colonies all shared was the sense of independent thinking that they believed was the ethical way of running society, known as democracy.
This cartoon represented the need for the colonies to unite against Great Britain, and fight together against the unfair taxation. In the same year the cartoon’s original creator, Benjamin Franklin, proposed the Albany Plan of Union at the Albany Congress. His proposal was to unite all the colonies, but this idea was not executed because the it was not well received by several colonists and English Parliament whom refused to agree with the proposition. Many colonists who did not agree with Franklin’s proposition were more like-minded with the quote, “which is better, to be ruled by one tyrant three thousand miles away, or three thousand tyrants not a mile away” (D). Even though the concept of unity was not well received by many, Benjamin Franklin’s cartoon and his proposal had planted the idea into the heads of several colonies- making steps towards ultimate
The Albany Plan, proposed by Benjamin Franklin, had many purposes. Its main purpose was to unite all thirteen colonies. The plan consisted of establishing a council to make laws and to win the French and Indian War. All of the colonies wanted to do their own thing and wouldn’t cooperate so the plan failed. In 1776, leaders came together to write The Declaration of Independence in order to separate themselves from Great Britain.
The Middle Colonies had a successful economy. They were successful in the industries and in agriculture. Also because of the deep the deep harbors they were able to build ships too. Most of the middle colonists lived on 50 acre farms. In the Southern Colonies most people lived on farms.
It was composed of Dutch, French, Germans, Scottish, and Irish. The Southern Colonies were very different though, people from there came from England. They were adventurers, merchants, nobles, farmers, traders, and slaves. They all went to the Southern Colonies for economic opportunities and they heard of gold in this region. Like the Southern Colonies, the New England colonists came from England too and were also farmers.
The Middle colonies were known as the Breadbasket colonies (“Colonial America”). They were also known for their ethnic diversity (“Colonial America.”). The people in the middle colonies ate 1 pound of bread per day, the mills used to produce the bread was powered by rivers to crush their grains (“Colonial America.”). Farming in the middle colonies, had a decent climate and very good soil, and it helped with the farming (“Coming to America”).
Southern colonies society was built around their crops, slaves, and plantations. In the Northern colonies they built their society around religion and being fishing. There economy grew from fishing, mainly for with Cod. Religion played a huge role in the Northern colonies, it was a separation of church and state. The Middle colonies economy came from growing crops and fur trading with the Native Americans.
The Northern and Southern colonies in the seventeenth century had many differences and similarities. The differences go all the way back to the beginning as the United States was only separated into the Northern, middle and southern colonies. Each colony shared many differences mainly revolving around religion, politics, economics and social issues. The result of the way that they dealt with these issues in our country today. The Puritans established the Northern colonies and the southern colonies were ruled by The house of burgesses.
