Life in Colonial America

In New England

• Religious purposes
• (Climate suited more for manufacturing than for agriculture)

Who settled the area?

• Puritans - left religious persecution in England. They thought the New World would be a utopia, a "mansion on a hill" for God. Their lifestyle was based on relative equality, unlike the divided social structure of the South

What were the basic Puritan beliefs?

• Grace -- Humankind was inherently sinful and redemption could only be given by God; no amount of good deeds could redeem a soul
• Plainness -- everything should be free of frivolous, decorative, things
• Divine Mission -- New World was to be settled for God

In the Southern Colonies

• Hope that plantations would provide new goods for trade in the British market
• Source of cheap land for the British
• New world would provide cheap labor source (Native Americans)*

How did the colonies like Jamestown grow?

• Excellent land for agriculture
• British Navigation Acts - Gave Britain a monopoly on trade with the southern colonies. This, in turn, stimulated the growth of the plantations by giving them a constant, large market.
• In 1607 the Virginia Company promoted the Jamestown Colony (established by John Smith)

Who lived in the southern colonies?

• Tidewater aristocracy - a few wealthy landowners that remained closely linked to the aristocracy of England. They still held on firmly to the Catholic faith.
• Large numbers of slaves and middle class frontiersmen

Comparison of the South and New England

_{Ms. Fye, 1996}