Overview
The British Colonies in America are typically divided into three groups — the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. The four New England Colonies were:
Although Plymouth Colony was the first New England Colony, it merged with Massachusetts in 1691.
Essential Facts
- Before Europeans settled in New England, the area was inhabited by various Native American Indian tribes and bands, including the Abenaki, Micmac, Pennacook, Pequot, Mohegan, Nauset, Narragansett, Nipmuc, Waronoco, and Wampanoag.
- People living in Europe decided to move to the New World, where they believed they could build a better life. While many of them were looking for religious freedom, like many of the Pilgrims who made the Mayflower Voyage, some were looking for a chance at a new life. Others sought fame, fortune, and glory.
- Europeans from England, France, and Holland ventured into New England and established settlements, but the Pilgrims made the first permanent settlement at Plymouth in 1620.
- Some Native American Indians, like Squanto and Massasoit, helped the Pilgrims survive by teaching them how to plant corn and fertilize the ground with fish.
- English settlements were established throughout New England, and the colonists developed a strong sense of independence.
Significance
The New England Colonies are important to American History because they helped establish the 13 Original Colonies. The self-determination to survive, as shown by the Pilgrims in Plymouth and the independent, democratic spirit of settlers in the other colonies, contributed to the region being the focal point of the American Revolution, centering on Boston, Massachusetts.
History
By the time the American Revolutionary War started in 1775, there were four colonies in New England. Before then, different settlements and smaller colonies merged with larger colonies either for economic reasons or to defend against attacks from the French or Native American Indians. These included New Haven and Salem,
Connecticut
Connecticut was founded in 1636 when a group of Puritans, led by Thomas Hooker, left Massachusetts and established a settlement at present-day Hartford. Two years later, in 1638, another colony, New Haven, was established in the same area. In 1643, both colonies joined the New England Confederation. Then, in 1664, New Haven merged with Connecticut.
Connecticut has been known as the River Colony, Connecticut River Colony, Colony of Connecticut, Connecticut Colony, and the Province of Connecticut.
Maine
Maine was the site of various colonization efforts led by Sir Ferdinando Gorges. Gorges died in 1647, and his heirs eventually sold the territory to Massachusetts. The first attempt to establish a colony in New England was made in Maine in 1607, the same year Jamestown was founded in Virginia. Gorges and John Popham tried to establish the Popham Colony, but it only lasted about a year before the colonists were forced to abandon it.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts was established in 1629 by Puritans, including John Winthrop, who was the first Governor of the colony. Puritans were issued a grant by King Charles I, allowing them to create a colony in Massachusetts. However, unlike many of the other colonies, the charter and the group that controlled it, the Massachusetts Bay Company, did not stay in England. The Puritans brought the charter with them to Massachusetts to retain as much control of their colony as possible. Over time, Massachusetts and its Puritan religious foundations led to the Salem Witch Trials and the independent spirit that fueled the American Revolution.
Massachusetts has been referred to as the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Province of Massachusetts Bay, Massachusetts Colony, and the Province of Massachusetts.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire was founded by John Mason, who worked with Ferdinando Gorges on various attempts to establish colonies in New England. The first permanent settlements in New Hampshire were established at Odiorne Point — present-day Rye — and Dover Point in 1623. From the time it was settled until after the American Revolutionary War, New Hampshire was involved in various territorial disputes. The most famous one was between New Hampshire and New York over the New Hampshire Grants. Eventually, New Hampshire dropped its claims to the Grants, but the settlers living there — who were led by Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys — fought to defend their land and their rights to it. The New Hampshire Grants eventually became the state of Vermont.
New Hampshire has been known as the Province of New Hampshire and New Hampshire Colony.
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony — also known as New Plymouth — was established in 1620 on Cape Cod Bay in Massachusetts. It was the first colony established in the territory of the New England Colonies. It was founded by a group of settlers who sailed to the New World on board the Mayflower. Most of the settlers were Puritan Separatists, who are more commonly known as Pilgrims. They named their settlement after a town in England. In 1691, Plymouth merged with Massachusetts.
Rhode Island Colony
Rhode Island was founded by Roger Williams in 1636 when he and a group of settlers left Massachusetts and established Providence Plantations. About a year later, another group from Massachusetts, who were followers and supporters of Anne Hutchinson, established a settlement at Portsmouth on Aquidneck Island. In the 1660s, the settlements in Rhode Island united as the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Rhode Island was unique because Williams firmly believed in religious freedom and the separation of church and state.
Rhode Island has been known as Providence Plantations, the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the Rhode Island Colony, and the Province of Rhode Island.
Charters
There were three different types of colonies in British North America: Royal, Proprietary, and Corporate. Each colony was granted a charter, usually from the English monarch, which allowed groups to colonize a specific area and establish settlements.
A Royal Charter meant the colony was ruled by the Crown through a Royal Governor.
- New Hampshire was a Royal Colony.
A Proprietary Charter meant the territory was granted to a person or family and also granted them rights to govern the colony.
- There were not any Proprietary Colonies in New England.
A Corporate, or Joint-Stock Charter, was granted to a business. Colonies with a Corporate Charter are usually referred to as Charter Colonies.
- In New England, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island were Charter Colonies.
- These colonies were free to govern themselves as long as they were based their laws on English laws.
- Popham was a Proprietary Colony.
- Plymouth was intended to be a Proprietary Colony. However, because the Mayflower was blown off course, the settlement was established without an official charter and governed independently under the Mayflower Compact.
- New Haven did not have a charter. It was established by a group of businessmen, which made it similar to a Proprietary Colony.
Government
The government in the New England Colonies was established by the charter. The charter usually allowed for a Governor, Governor’s Council, General Assembly, and court system. Assemblies were allowed to enact laws, provided they followed English laws, which were found in a collection of legal documents known as the English Constitution.
At the local level, the government in each settlement was usually based on the Puritan religion. Men who attended church were considered citizens and were eligible to serve in the government. Rhode Island was the exception because it did not allow church officials to enforce public laws.
Settlements in New England were governed by Town Meetings. Meetings were held, committees were formed, and decisions were made based on the popular vote.
- Town Meetings were particularly effective in Massachusetts and helped organize resistance to British policies during the American Revolution.
- As war became inevitable, the Town Meetings helped create the Committees of Correspondence, Provincial Governments, and the system of express riders that included men like Paul Revere.
New England Confederation
The New England Confederation, also known as the United Colonies of New England, was an alliance formed between the Puritan Colonies of Plymouth, Connecticut, New Haven, and Massachusetts Bay in 1643. After the Pequot War, leaders from these colonies felt it was necessary to coordinate their defenses against attacks from various threats, including Indians, the French, and the Dutch. The Confederation marked the first attempt made by any of the English colonies in North America to unite for mutual benefit. The Confederation ended when the Crown established the Dominion of New England.
Dominion of New England
In 1686, King James II of England, the Privy Council, and the Lords of Trade decided to merge the colonies in New England together under a single government. Under the new arrangement, the colonies were known as the “Dominion of New England.” The purpose of the Dominion was to streamline English oversight of the colonies and give England more control over trade, land titles, and coordination of colonial defenses. The Dominion collapsed after the Glorious Revolution, and the colonies restored their governments according to their colonial charters.
Religion
Religion in the New England Colonies was based primarily on the beliefs and practices of the Puritans who left England and went to the New World seeking religious freedom and to escape the struggle between Protestants and Catholics that plagued Europe.
Although Puritans were part of the Church of England, they were concerned that the church was becoming too much like the Roman Catholic Church and that they wanted to “purify” it. Within the Puritans was an even more radical group, the Separatists, who wanted to completely separate from the Church of England and base their worship entirely on Biblical teaching.
The founders of Plymouth Colony were Separatists, and the founders of Massachusetts were Puritans. Both groups came to the New World for religious freedom. However, they did not tolerate differing religious viewpoints.
- Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson were banished from Massachusetts for having different ideas from the Puritan leaders.
- Williams established Providence Plantations, and the government allowed religious freedom, which was organized by the separation of church and state — two essential principles enshrined in the United States Constitution.
Another similarity between the two groups was the idea that new towns, or congregations, could be established as long as they followed the core religious principles. Because of this, the Separatists and Puritans are known as “Congregationalists.”
Over time, it became clear that the colonies would need to tolerate other religions. They needed to do business with each other and help each other defend against attacks on the frontier from the French and Indian tribes.
Early settlements in each colony practiced some form of Congregationalism, except for Rhode Island, which tolerated all religions.
Economy
The economy in the New England Colonies focused on fishing, whaling, lumber, subsistence farming, and the production of rum, whiskey, and beer. Rum Distilling was one of the largest industries in the New England Colonies during the Colonial Era.
The geography and climate in the northeast were not suitable for large-scale farming, but the proximity to the sea allowed ship-building and merchant shipping to flourish.
New England’s economy became dependent on the manufacturing of ships, harvesting timber from forests, and fishing in the deep seas off the coast. The products New Englanders produced, especially ships, lumber, and rum, were essential to the Triangular Trade and helped fuel England’s Mercantile System. The reliance on manufacturing led to the establishment of large settlements that grew into towns and cities.
The New England colonies traded lamp oil and other commodities with the Middle Colonies and Southern Colonies, primarily for agricultural products that could not be grown in the New England climate. Food and supplies had to be shipped into the large harbors, like Boston, and then transported to the settlements and towns throughout the colonies.
Mercantile System
Mercantilism is an economic theory that focuses on the trading of goods as a means of creating wealth. It gained popularity in Europe as nations transitioned from feudal to national governments, especially from the 16th through the 18th Centuries — the Age of Exploration.
England and other European powers worked to create a stand-alone economic system that was as self-sustaining as possible. In other words, they wanted to be able to produce everything they needed for their empires to survive within the empire, including food and raw materials used to manufacture products, as well as ships.
Implementing the English Mercantile System in New England forced the colonies to operate as a source of raw materials for England and as a market for British merchants to sell finished products. As far as England — later Great Britain — was concerned, the colonies only existed for the benefit of the Mother Country. Within this system, the New England Colonies produced timber and other products that were sent to England.
Navigation Acts
To ensure compliance with the Mercantile System, Parliament developed and enforced the Navigation Acts, a series of laws designed to regulate and control the shipping of raw materials and products within the empire. The laws were based on the principles of mercantilism and intended to give England a favorable trade balance against other nations. The Navigation Acts played an essential role in shaping the economy of the New England Colonies.
Throughout the American Colonies, including the New England Colonies, merchants turned to smuggling to avoid paying the taxes levied on shipping. They also traded illegally with nations and merchants outside of the empire.
Salutary Neglect
Salutary Neglect was the concept that British customs officials were not required to enforce the Navigation Acts strictly. In the New England Colonies, merchants ignored the Navigation Acts by increasing smuggling and offering bribes to government officials. In many cases, it was less expensive to offer a bribe than to pay taxes on a shipment of goods. Merchants knew they were breaking the law, but they also believed they were doing intelligent business. Salutary Neglect allowed American merchants to flourish and increased their independent spirit. However, Salutary Neglect also allowed English merchants to prosper because they had access to America’s natural resources and affluent markets, like Boston, which their European competitors did not have.
Triangular Trade
Triangular Trade in New England contributed to the wealth of New England merchants and the slave trade in the British Empire. As part of their involvement in the Triangular Trade System, New England Merchants traded rum to West Africa for slaves and then traded the slaves to the West Indies for molasses. Then, New England distilleries used the molasses to make more rum.
Geography
The geography of the New England Colonies featured a rocky coastline that extended into the mainland, where land was covered with rocks and thick, dense forests.
Climate
The climate of the New England Colonies was the coolest of the three regions. Because of this, the summers were short and mild, so the growing season for crops was shorter than in the Middle Colonies and Southern Colonies.
New England typically experienced harsh winters with heavy snow and cold temperatures.
Timeline
This timeline presents an overview of the history of the New England Colonies and includes most of the critical dates in the history of Colonial New England.
1602 — English Privateer Bartholomew Gosnold led an expedition to Cape Cod. He found an island and named it “Martha’s Vineyard.” However, this expedition decided to return to England due to a lack of supplies. Gosnold returned to the New World in 1607 and helped found Jamestown.
1603 — King James I became King of England and King James VI of Scotland. His ascension to the English throne united the two kingdoms.
1603 — Captain Martin Pring led an expedition that explored present-day Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. He became the first European on the Piscataqua River and built the first English fort on Cape Code.
1606 — Two joint stock companies were created and received Royal Charters from King James I. The charters permit the companies to establish colonies in North America.
- The Virginia Company of London was granted from the 34th parallel — Cape Fear — and the 41st parallel — Long Island Sound.
- The Virginia Company of Plymouth was granted from the 38th parallel — Potomac River — and 45th parallel — the St. John River.
- The two companies shared the territory between the 38th parallel and the 41st parallel.
- The first leader of the Plymouth Company was Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who was permitted to establish colonies in North America.
1607 — In May, Bartholemew Gosnold and his cousin, Captain John Smith, led an expedition on behalf of the London Company and established Jamestown.
1607 — In August, the Plymouth Company, led by George Popham, established the Sagadahoc Colony, also known as the Popham Colony, in present-day Maine.
1608 — The Popham Colony was abandoned, and the Plymouth Company dissolved.
1609 — The Second Charter of Virginia extended the territory of the London Company. It included the old territory of the Plymouth Company. It established the “sea to sea” provision, which meant the territory extended from the east coast (Atlantic Ocean) to the west coast (Pacific Ocean).
1614 — John Smith explored and mapped the coasts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, giving the territory the name “New England.”
1614 — Captain Thomas Hunt kidnapped Squanto and some other men from the village of Patuxet and took them to Europe to be sold as slaves. Squanto was able to escape, and then he traveled to Spain and England, where he learned English.
1619 — Squanto returned to Massachusetts.
1620 — The Plymouth Company was revived as the Plymouth Council for New England.
- King James I gave the Plymouth Council a Royal Charter and permission to establish settlements in New England.
- The Mayflower sailed for the New World, and the passengers had permission to settle in Virginia.
- However, the ship was blown off course during the trip and anchored in Cape Cod. The colonists decided to settle there, establishing the colony of Plymouth.
- They wrote the Mayflower Compact, which defined the democratic government of the colony.
1622 — The Plymouth Council of New England granted land to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason. The territory was between the Merrimack River and the Kennebec River, which included parts of present-day New Hampshire and Maine. Gorges was the first person to call the territory “Maine.”
1623 — Captain Christopher Levett received grants from the Plymouth Council to establish colonies in New England. Levett’s first settlement was the Colony of York, at the site of present-day Portland, Maine. However, it was abandoned by the settlers. His second settlement was at the mouth of the Piscataqua River — Kittery — and succeeded. A second settlement at York, on the York River, also survived. Kittery and York were the first permanent English settlements in Maine.
1625 — Charles I became King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. He worked with Archbishop William Laud to remove non-conformists from the Church of England, the largest group being the Puritans.
1626 — Salem was established by Roger Conant and a group of settlers from Cape Ann.
1628 — The Massachusetts Bay Company received a Royal Charter from Charles I to establish a colony in North America within the territory of the Plymouth Council of New England. The charter’s language gave the Massachusetts Bay Company control of the colony.
1629 — On March 2, Charles I dissolved Parliament, and the ‘11 Years of Tyranny” started. Over the next 11 years, roughly 80,000 Puritans leave England.
1629 — Gorges and Mason divided their grants at the Piscataqua River. Mason had the land west of the river, which became the Province of New Hampshire.
1630 — In April, the first ships in the Winthrop Fleet set sail from Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, headed to Massachusetts. They arrived at Salem on June 13, 1630.
- The colonial government of Massachusetts was organized.
- The General Court was located in Charlestown.
- The first three counties in Massachusetts were created: Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex.
1634 — Massachusetts started to annex land in Maine, which had initially been granted to Gorges and Levett. Massachusetts leaders believed they had a right to the land because it overlapped with their grants.
1635 — Roger Williams was banished from Massachusetts
1636 — Roger Williams bought land from the Narragansett Indians and established Providence Plantations.
1636 — Thomas Hooker led a group of Puritans and established Hartford.
1636 — The Pequot War started.
1637 — Anne Hutchinson was banished from Massachusetts.
1638 — Hutchinson and others founded Portsmouth, Rhode Island.
1638 — King Charles I put Sir Ferdinando Gorges in charge of Massachusetts. However, the ship carrying the document confirming the power transfer, with the King’s seal on it, sank in the Atlantic Ocean on the way to Boston. Since the document never arrived, the Puritan leaders in Massachusetts ignored it.
1638 — New Haven Colony was established.
1638 — The Pequot War ended.
1639 — The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut were adopted by the Freemen of Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor.
1640 — Parliament was restored and was dominated by Puritans.
1642 — The English Civil War started, and supporters of Parliament — Roundheads — went to war with supporters of the King — Royalists.
1643 — Plymouth, Connecticut, New Haven, and Massachusetts formed the United Colonies of New England — the New England Confederation — to help coordinate defenses against attacks from Indian tribes, the French, and the Dutch.
1645 — King Charles I was captured, and Parliament started ruling England.
1649 — King Charles I was tried, convicted, and executed for treason.
1651 — Oliver Cromwell defeated Prince Charles, and Charles fled to France.
1651 — The Commonwealth of England started. Cromwell was Lord Protectorate of the Commonwealth of England, and Puritans controlled Parliament.
1651 — Parliament passed the Navigation Act of 1651. It prohibited Dutch ships from transporting goods from the American Colonies to England. Colonial merchants were forced to ship their goods to England on English ships, which was more expensive than using Dutch shipping
1656 — The first Quakers in New England landed at Boston Harbor. Mary Fisher and Ann Austin were arrested immediately.
1658 — The towns in Maine voted to join Massachusetts.
1658 — Oliver Cromwell died.
1659 — Mary Dyer was convicted by the Church Court in Salem for the crime of being a Quaker. She was sentenced to death and hanged.
1660 — Parliament asked Prince Charles to return to the throne. As part of the Stuart Restoration, he became King Charles II of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
1660 — The Navigation Act of 1660 was passed. It identified “enumerated goods” produced in the English Colonies that could only be shipped to England. These items included tobacco, sugar, rice, cotton wool, ginger, and dyes like indigo.
1661 — King Charles II ordered Massachusetts to stop hanging Quakers.
1663 — Parliament passed the Navigation Act of 1663, also known as the Staple Act.
1665 — New Haven and Connecticut merged.
1673 — The Plantation Duty Act was passed to help reduce the smuggling of enumerated goods, especially tobacco. It also prohibited colonial merchants from trading directly with foreign nations.
1675 — King Charles II established the Lords of Trade and Plantations.
1675 — King Philip’s War started.
1678 — King Philip’s War ended.
1685 — King Charles II died. He was succeeded by his brother, King James II, who was Catholic.
1686 — The Dominion of New England was established. It united Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire under one government overseen by Governor Edmund Andros. King James II created the Dominion to have more control over New England. Andros started enforcing the Navigation Acts.
1687 — Connecticut hid its charter from Governor Andros in an oak tree called the “Charter Oak.”
1688 — The Glorious Revolution, also known as the “Bloodless Revolution,” took place. King James II was deposed, and his daughter, Mary, was named successor to the throne. Mary was a Protestant, as was her husband, William of Orange, the ruler of Holland. Parliament asked William and Mary to rule England together.
1689 — As part of the agreement to allow their joint rule, William and Mary agreed to the English Bill of Rights. The document outlined the rules for succession to the throne, gave more power to Parliament, and defined the fundamental freedoms of English subjects.
1689 — The Great Boston Revolt of 1689 occurred when news of the Glorious Revolution arrived. Governor Andros and other government officials were arrested and jailed. The inhabitants of Massachusetts elected Simon Bradstreet as Governor and restored the government under the colonial charter.
1691 — Massachusetts Bay Colony and Plymouth Colony merged into the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Maine started to be referred to as the “District of Maine.”
1692 — The Salem Witch Trials occurred.
1696 — King William III established the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations as a permanent legislative body to oversee the colonies. It was also known as the Board of Trade and Plantations or simply the Board of Trade.
1696 — The Navigation Act of 1696 was passed, which required ships to register with customs officials. It gave officials in the colonies the same authority as those in England and established more Admiralty Courts to help enforce the laws and collect customs duties.
1699 — The Wool Act was passed, which forced all wool and wool products produced in America to be shipped to England.
1702 — Queen Anne’s war started.
1707 — The Act of Union was approved by the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. It established the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
1714 — Queen Anne died. She was succeeded by King George I, who approved the creation of the role of Prime Minister and the Cabinet Government.
1718 — The first Ulster Scots — Scot-Irish immigrants — arrived in New England at Boston Harbor. They settled on the western frontier of New England.
1720 — Around this time, the religious revival known as the “First Great Awakening” started.
1721 — Robert Walpole became the first Prime Minister of Great Britain.
1732 — The Hat Act was passed, restricting the number of hats American manufacturers could produce.
1732 — The Debt Recovery Act was passed, allowing creditors to seize property — land and possessions — from people who failed to pay back their debts. The Debt Recovery Act considered enslaved people to be property, not just in Colonial America but throughout the entire British Empire. Before the Debt Recovery Act, enslaved people were not used as a means to pay off debt.
1733 — To protect the plantations in the British West Indies, Parliament passed the Navigation Act of 1773, also known as the Molasses Act, which levied taxes on molasses. The new taxes upset American merchants, especially in New England, who were afraid it would do significant damage to the rum industry. Merchants responded to the Molasses Act by bribing British Customs Officials and increasing smuggling to avoid paying taxes.
1750 — The Iron Act was passed, which prohibited the manufacturing of finished iron products in the colonies.
1754 — The Board of Trade instructed George Clinton, the Governor of New York, to hold a meeting at Albany to discuss a growing French threat in the Ohio Valley Region. The Albany Congress resulted in restoring the Covenant Chain with the Iroquois Confederacy and also adopted the Albany Plan of Union, which proposed a unified government for the colonies. Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire were the New England Colonies that sent delegates to the Albany Congress.
1754 — The French and Indian War unofficially started when an expedition led by George Washington attacked a French contingent near present-day Hopwood and Uniontown in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.
AP US History Alignment
The Southern Colonies are part of the following units, topics, and chapters in the APUSH Curriculum:
Unit 1: 1491–1607
Unit 2: 1607–1754
- 2.2 — European Colonization
- 2.3 — The Regions of British Colonies
- 2.4 — Transatlantic Trade
- 2.5 — Interactions Between American Indians and Europeans
- 2.6 — Slavery in the British Colonies
- 2.7 — Colonial Society and Culture
American Pageant Notes
- The Planting of English America (1500–1733)
- American Life in the 17th Century (1607–1692)
- Colonial Society on the Eve of Revolution (1700–1775)
Video
This video from Daily Bellringer provides an overview of the New England Colonies during the Colonial Era.
