What was the economy of the New England colonies primarily based on?

Not ready to purchase a subscription? Click to download the free sample version   Download sample

The first settlement in New England, now present-day Massachusetts was founded by the Pilgrim Fathers in 1620. After a decade, a Great Migration of English people populated the Americas and founded the colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

See the fact file below for more information on the New England Colonies or alternatively, you can download our 20-page New England Colonies worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

REASONS FOR EMIGRATION

• The original settlers of the New England colonies emigrated from Britain to the Americas for religious freedom. They fell into two categories: pilgrims and puritans.
• Pilgrims were separatists – they wanted to distance themselves from the Church of England and practice their own religion. They were fewer in numbers and less educated, but far more tolerant and egalitarian in their treatment of others.
• Puritans sought to purify the church, but wanted to remain part of the Church of England. They made up the majority of the New England colonies and saw themselves as superior to the pilgrims; they were more educated and from the upper-middle class.

THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES

• There were four New England colonies: Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
• The Massachusetts Bay colony was founded originally as the Plymouth colony in 1620 by pilgrims from the Mayflower, but it later became a royal colony with the help of puritan John Winthrop who helped found the Massachusetts Bay colony.
• The New Hampshire colony was founded in 1622 by John Mason.
• The Rhode Island colony was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson after they were exiled from the Massachusetts Bay colony for espousing beliefs of religious tolerance. It was founded as a safe haven for religious freedom.
• The Connecticut colony was originally under Dutch control, but in 1633 the colony was taken over by Reverend Thomas Hooker and a group of puritans from the Massachusetts Bay colony.

GOVERNMENT

• On their way to Plymouth in 1620, the pilgrims created a document called the Mayflower Compact that outlined their expectations of each other once they reached land. Their document, signed by all persons aboard the Mayflower, stated that all men would be treated equally and that all laws made would be fair and in the best interest of the colony.
• The government of the New England colonies was primarily theocratic, meaning it was religiously based. Only men could participate in the government, and they had to attend the local church to do so.

ECONOMY

• Due to their harsh winters and infertile land, the New England colonies could not rely on agriculture for their food or income as the southern colonies did. Instead, the New England colonies had to find new ways to make money.
• Fishing and shipbuilding were common trades in the New England colonies given their ready access to harbors along the eastern coast.
• Additionally, colonists in New England were able to make money raising livestock, making textiles, running mills, and chopping lumber.

COLONY CONFLICT

• The New England colonies experienced interpersonal and external conflict during their time.
• Due to their deeply-held religious beliefs, puritans often found conflict with each other when members of their communities espoused religious tolerance, gender equality, or other liberal ideals. This led to the Salem witch trials, which were a series of court cases in Salem, MA that involved the accusation that (predominantly female) members of the community were practicing witchcraft. This led to mass hysteria and the execution of dozens.
• New England colonists also experienced conflict with the Native Americans in their region. Because they were unable to work the land as the Natives did, colonists in the New England area would frequently raid and pillage from Native villages, causing unrest between the two parties.
• New England colonists caught a predominant figure of the Native community, Squanto, to sell into slavery in Spain. When Squanto made his way back to the colonies, he would later help the colonists plant and harvest a successful crop. Squanto and his tribe, the Massasoit, were invited to celebrate this harvest by the colonists that year. This is often considered the “first Thanksgiving,” but it wasn’t exactly a peaceful day of celebrating friends and family.

New England Colonies Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about New England Colonies across 20 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use New England Colonies worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the New England Colonies of 1803 which was a land deal between the United States of America and France.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

• New England Colony Facts
• New England Mapping
• Photo Vault
• Colonial Crossword
• Pilgrim v. Puritan
• Mayflower Compact Analysis
• Life of John Winthrop
• Greetings from New England
• Bewitching Comics
• Witch, Please!
• New England Poets Society

Link/cite this page

If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.

Link will appear as New England Colonies Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, August 20, 2019

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.