New England Colonies:
Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island
Farming
Farming in the
New England colonies was a challenge. Due to the cold, long, and harsh winters,
the growing season was very short. The soil was also rocky, so farmers had to
take all the rocks out of the ground before planting. Due to these
shortcomings, the farmers in the New England colonies only farmed enough for their
family, themselves, and their farm animals.
Slavery in the New England Colonies
Due to the lack of good farming areas, slaves were not needed as
much as the other colonies because there was no labor for slaves to do. They
were expensive to feed because of the lack of farmland. Most of the slavery in
the New England colonies was in large cities, and most people were indentured
servants.
Religion in the New
England Colonies
The
Anglican Church and the Puritans were starting to lose their power in the New
England area in the 1700's. Because of the large groups of different back
grounds coming from many different areas from many different areas, there were
many new religions mixing together in the colonies. Due to the loss of power,
the church had almost no say in politics.
Making A Living
New England was not a
good place for farming. The farmers only farmed enough for themselves, so the
people in New England had to find other ways to make money. The main ways
to make money in the 1700 New England colonies was to:
- Build
ships
- Whaling
(catch whales for their oils, etc.)
- Fish
- Blacksmith
Whaling was a very successful way to make a living if you were able to work
well together and catch whales often. If you did catch a whale, you could
get a very profitable item: whale oil. Whale oil was used to make commodities
such as soap and candles.
Building ships was also a good way to make money. The reason it was a
good money maker for the New England colonies is because you needed ships if
you were a sailor, fisherman, whaler, or a traveling merchant. These
colonies also built ships for England themselves.
Fishing was a very good way of making money in the New England colonies. Due to
the lack of good farming soil, fishermen were able to get enough fish to sell
and make a living. This made life easier for everybody, because if there was no
food, nobody would be able to live in the colonies.
Blacksmithing was also a great way to make money. Blacksmithing includes making
silverware, locks, and just about anything with iron or metal in the 1700's.
The items blacksmiths made often had to do with houses and items to improve
your life at home.
There weren't always enough people for labor forces in the colonies, so many
men had to work more than one job. Often, people would have to get together to
build more houses, leaving the women and children to do the chores and cook.
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