The Three Colonial Regions

The Three Colonial Regions The three colonial regions which were controlled by the British were founded in the years of 1607 and 1732. The inhabitants of the regions were primarily men which is why society was not a big patriarchal society. Although, the colonies made up one huge colony not each region was alike, they were very distinct in religion, economic and political structures. These areas were divided into three regions which were New England, Middle and Southern colonies. Each region contained in own unique way of living, based on the culture of the people, as well as their topography. The dissimilarities amongst the regions were perhaps the very reason the colonies were able to persevere and eventually grow into a sovereign nation. Each colony came to the new continent for different reasons and created settlements with distinct economic, political,
and religious structures. The economic structure in the New England colony as well as the Southern colony was highly based on the production of agricultural products such as tobacco, as well as industry being a leading contender in their economic structure.
Natural resources were very important to the New England colony as well as the Southern Colony, because both regions contained unfertile soil which prevented major crops such as wheat, indigo, and maize to be grown. Due to the very fertile soil that the Middle Colonies contained they were able to produce the crops indigo, maize, and barley that the other colonies weren’t able to produce. The New England, Middle and Southern Colonies all used navigable waterways to promote trade between each other; they utilized the triangular trading route. In the Middle colonies the economy was primarily based on the amount of trade that occurred which was fur trade, industry, shipbuilding, and commerce, not to mention the slave trade that occurred throughout the regions which linked New England, Middle and Southern
Colonies. The Middle Colonies were founded under religious toleration. This foundation was established by William Penn with his mindset on creating a utopian society. In contrast to the Middle colonies New England’s religious stance was that of a stronger emphasis on religious practice. In comparison to New England’s non-secular stance, the southern colonies mirrored New England’s religious practices when they attempted to convert the Native Americans to Christianity. In the Middle colonies there religious structure was first controlled around the orders of a royal colony which was owned by a King. The settlement of New England resorted from the religious controversy that was instigated by Martin Luther’s reformation movement to split from the Catholic Church in order to satisfy his radical theologian ideas. The Middle Colonies were originally proprietary colonies but at some times all five were royal provinces, the local government was in the hands of the people. New England ran under the May flower compact which was a social contract, this theory of this social contract is that man is born free but willingly gives up some freedom in exchange for the benefit of civilization. This social contract is embedded in our constitution today, which promotes our general welfare. In contrast to the Southern and Middle Colonies constructed a society solely based on religious belief. Many forms of political structure where seen throughout the history of the colonies for example, in the southern colonies in 1676, Bacon’s Rebellion took place and it was mainly a rebellion on an oppressive government, and the Middle Colonies there was the Peter Zenger Trial in the year of 1734, which took place to protect the freedom of the press in the colonies, and lastly the New England Colonies which had the English Bill of Rights in the year of 1689, which gave rights to English citizens. In the final analysis, the three colonial regions held many similarities along with many differences. At the end of the day all three regions were in search of wealth, trade, and the pursuit of happiness. Furthermore, the three colonial regions were alike based on their economic structure, but were very different based on their religious and political structures.