Different Ways of Different Ways of LifeLife

The Economy of Colonial The Economy of Colonial AmericaAmerica

New England

• poor farming -

rocky soil,dense forests

•Coast used for fishing, shipbuilding, trade

•Fishing, whaling, trapping

•Some livestock (cows, sheep)

•Rivers are difficult to navigate

•Can be used for energy

•Must use roads to travel, trade

•Cities develop as centers of trade, shipping

Middle ColoniesMiddle Colonies

•Better soil - larger farms

•Cash crops - surplus crops grown to make money

•Fewer cities than New England

•When land runs out, immigrants flood into the backcountry Appalachians

•Great Wagon Road over the Appalachians is eventually replaced by the National Road

•Conflict with the Indians as settlers moved over the Appalachian Mountains!

The SouthThe South

•Plantations - completely self-sufficient farms

Includes ablacksmith,silversmith,cooper (barrelmaker),grain mill, etc

•Muddy and wet in spring, summer•Hard to travel by road

•Rivers - wide, easy to navigate

•Goods shipped directly from plantation - few cities develop

•Large plantations depended on slave labor

•Crops - tobacco, cotton, rice

•Pigs, cattle