Journey to the 13 Colonies!
Pay a visit or make a home, the New World is great for both!
The Three Regions
New England Colonies
Massachusetts Bay, Massachusetts Plymouth, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut
Middle Colonies
New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware
Southern Colonies
Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georiga
New England Colonies
Farming
Do you want to live in a region with long winters, rich soil, and a small farm to call your own? Then you want to live in New England! Farming is a job your whole family can share and enjoy together, and you only need to grow enough to feed you all! It is the perfect opportunity. Also your children will learn the values from spinning yarn, preserving fruit, milking cows, and fencing in fields. In this picture we can see a New England farm with the livestock you would raise to feed your family. This is the type of house you would live in.
Business
In New England, we have many businesses located on water ways for the water power and transportation. You can be a part of this experience. We have many jobs available, such as blacksmith, gunsmith, shoe maker and fishermen! Our fishermen catch many delectable treats like cod, halibut, crabs, lobster, and oysters! Even the ladies can join in on the work! There are opportunities to sell cloth, candles, soap, and clothing all over the region!
Trade
We settlers trade with many places and receive many amazing products in return. If you want any item from the Southern or Northern colonies, the West Indies, or Europe, we got you covered! Just trade some fish, fur, fruit, or other wanted item in order to receive a cool manufactured product. Ships like these would carry the goods to and from other places.
Triangular Trade Route
Our colonies are in a trade group with Britain and Africa. Our products from plantations, like sugar, are shipped to Europe. Europe then gives manufactured goods to Africa, and African kings send slaves to work on our farms. The red lines on the picture show exactly how this all worked.
Government
All of the settlements in New England are either Charter or Royal. Royal Colonies like the Massachusetts and New Hampshire are ruled by the King of England. Connecticut and Rhode Island are Charter, so they have a grant of rights and privileges to establish a colony. In these colonies, only the settlers can pick the legislature members and Government officials.
The Middle Colonies
Farmers Life
In the Middle Colonies, they have fertile soil and a mild climate most of the year. People grow wheat and raise livestock. Philadelphia and New York City grow and receive a lot of these crops. New York had 18,000 colonists by the 1760's, while Philadelphia had nearly 24,000. Most workers in the Middle Colonies are from all over Europe, people could be German, Dutch, Swedish, English, or any one else. New York City is shown on the map to the right, this is one of the bigger cities in the New World right now.
Not a farmer?
If farming isn't your thing, you can go into business. The Middle Colonies offer jobs like iron mining, chopping lumber, and manufacturing small items. These jobs can bring in a good income and will teach you good skills from business and labor. If you go into ship building, you will have horses to carry large trees from the woods as shown here.
Government
In the Middle Colonies, New York and New Jersey are Royal colonies. Those settlements are ruled by the King himself and the King appoints top leaders. Pennsylvania and Delaware are Proprietary, to be ruled by a man who has received land by the King. The leader, or Proprietor elects the governors and upper house.
The Southern Colonies
Slavery
Many of our workers are indentured servants or slaves. Here in the South, we have strict rules about our slaves. We have a law called the Slave Code that includes rules about the behavior and punishment of your families slaves. This code makes it so slaves can't leave their assignment plantation without permission. It is also illegal for a slave to read, write, or hold an assembly with other slaves. Failure to follow these rules allows for severe punishments. Punishments varied from whipping to hanging, depending on the severity of the crime.
Plantations
In the South, there are many plantations. Plantations are large farms where slaves work for a Colonist to grow corn or tobacco. A plantation was like a little community inside the gates. There was a main house where the Plantation owner and their family lived. There were barns and stables to hold animals and crops that had been picked. Some larger plantations had other buildings like churches, schools, a storeroom, even blacksmiths. The slaves had their own cabins to live in. Most cabins could house many people.
Farming in Maryland and Virginia
Farmers in these colonies have rich soil and a warm climate to work with. They mainly all grow tobacco to make a living. Tobacco was grown to sell to Europeans. Tobacco takes a lot of labor so farmers had many indentured servants, and soon, slaves as well. Eventually there was so much tobacco, farmers had to stop growing this crop. Soon many people switched to corn and wheat.
Farming in South Carolina and Georgia.
In these colonies, there is also rich soil and a warm climate. The only difference, here people grow rice. Rice was grown in low lying areas created by workers building dams. This crop took a lot of work because slaves had to work knee deep in mud all day with no sun or insect protection.
Backcountry
The region is located west of the tidewater region. This land is hilly with many forests. Not many people settle here except hardy newcomers to these colonies. These people must be capable of living in difficult conditions. Colonists in Backcountry rarely have slaves. Instead they grow corn and tobacco on their own with their families to help.
Government
Maryland is a Proprietary colony, which means the land is ruled by a proprietor, who is someone who has received land from the King of England. Proprietors appoint the governors and upper house, while citizens elect the lower house. The other colonies, Georgia, the Carolina's, and Virginia are Royal colonies, where the King rules them directly and chooses the top officials.