Exploring the 13 Colonies
By Holly Knipfer
Argument
The 13 colonies. The all have their good qualities, and their bad. But, there is one in particular. That colony is New York. New york is the most diverse and prosperous colony of them all. Living here, you can practice any religion you want! New York is a great cultural experience. There are many occupations for you to partake in, if you decide to live here. So come and settle here anyone is welcome!
Defintions of Important Vocabulary Used
Quaker: Also known as the Society of Friends, they believed in treating everyone equally. They did not take orders from the king, fight in war, or pay taxes.
Settlement: A place that usually has not been inhabited yet, where people begin a community.
Economy: The resources located in a certain place, and how they use those resources.
Prosperous: Creating success and/or wealth
The Middle Colonies
The New York Colony; Come Live Here!
In New York, the climate was cold, snowy winters and hot, humid summers. The geography consisted of wetlands ran along the coast and the Hudson River. There was forested mountains in the North. There were also mountains, plains, rolling hills, it was rocky, and had good soil and land. There were no trees or rocks around the soil that the settlers used to farm and build on. Another way this colony would befefit you is that it had different climates that could bring different occupations, crops, animals, etc.
In this colony the people were Dutch and English settlers who wanted a fresh start and to began a new life. A lot of them were farmers, who were paid to farm the land. The economy was mostly from farming and furs.The people in the colony practiced different religions. The goverment of New York was proprietary, then is was royal. Also, this colony was the most diverse and prosperous (successful and strong) colony. A way this colony would benifit you would be that if you wanted to start a new life, get away from your past, get a fresh start you could start one in New york.
If you were a farming or a fur trader you would be better off here. Some occupations in this colony were fur-trapping, farming, lumbering, shipping, slave trade, merchants, tradesmen, and iron mining. Something interesting about this colony is James, the Duke of York gave two chunks of the colony to his friends. The two chunks he gave his friends, would become part New jersey. Also, New York played a big part in political and strategic roles during the Revolutionary War. Another way living in this colony would benifit you is there would be many options for possible jobs, so you could make money doing something you might enjoy.
The North Carolina Colony; Do Not Come Live Here!
In North Carolina rice was a major crop. There was also tobacco grown there. People moved to this coloy for the good farming land. Another negative quality of this colony is if you are not a farmer, there wasn’t much for you to do in North Carolina. Many people were involved in the slave trade. The people imprisoned the governor because they did not want to pay rents. They then ran the colony for two years themselves. People came here for trade and profits. A bad quality about living in this colony is slave trade was very popular, and slave trade was a terrible thing. Participating in slave trade would leave you a bad person, and someone those people(slave) would look at as if you were some sort of monster trading people like they are just an object. Also the settler did not like the governor, which leads you to think if the governor is not a pleasant person, then the colony will not be a good place either.
Some facts of the North Carolina Colony is the lords proprietors made colonists pay rent. Farmers fought against the rents in 1677. In 1712, Carolina was split into two parts. But then, King George III bought North Carolina back from the lords proprietors. Another bad quality that should discouraged you from living here is If you lived there, you must pay additional money for rent, and who no one wants to pay extra money. Then North Carolina was split into two parts, which means things were not being settled. If you were not into trade and/or profits, there wasn’t much for you there, besides farming.
The Colony of Maryland; Do Not Live Here!
People moved to Maryland for farming and ranching purposes. Such as crops, beef, dairy. They also moved there for shipping, lumbering, fishing, iron mining. Another negative reason that makes Maryland less desireable is if you were not interested in the occupations here, you could not make money and support yourself in this colony.
Some facts about Maryland is there were various faiths there, mainly Catholic. In 1649, Cecil helped to pass the Act Concerning Religion. But, this law only applied to Christians. Another bad quality about Maryland is if you were christian, you would have a law against you that not every religion had. which is not a very fair law to have.