Thirteen Colonies

The Thirteen Colonies were colonies in British North America in what is now the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. They were founded for different reasons. Some people thought that they would make a lot of money in new goods in America that could not be found in Europe, such as tobacco. Others left to find freedom of religion or just to make a new start. Some wanted to be in charge and to change things that they did not like back at England.

The first colony was Virginia, which was started in 1607 at Jamestown. The last colony of the thirteen to be started was Georgia in 1732.

The Thirteen Colonies (listed from north to south):
New Hampshire
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
Connecticut Colony
New York
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Delaware
Maryland
Virginia Colony
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia 

The colonies are often divided into three groups. The northern group was called New England and included New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

There were four Middle Colonies: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.

The South had five colonies: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

New England had small farms and focused on fishing, forestry (trees and lumber), shipping, and small industry to make money.

The South had large plantation farms that grew tobacco and later cotton. Plantations were farmed first by indentured servants, who would work for a period of years in return for their passage to America and land. They were later replaced by slaves.

The Middle Colonies had medium-sized farms. They also had people from many different cultures with many different beliefs. 

All three regions were tied to the "Atlantic economy". Colonists built merchant vessels, and merchants traded slaves, agricultural goods, gold, fish, lumber, and manufactured goods between America, the West Indies, Europe and Africa.

After the French and Indian War, Great Britain made new taxes and other laws that angered some people in the colonies. That led to a war between Great Britain and its former colonies: the American Revolutionary War.

The colonies said why they wanted to become independent of Great Britain on July 4, 1776 at the Declaration of Independence and became known as the United States of America.

References

Category:History of the United States
Category:American Revolutionary War
Category:British North America