Map of the 13 Colonies and the Corresponding Aspects of Commerce, 1700s
The American Colonial Economy:
The American Colonial Economy:
New England:
The Bottom Line:
New England:
- Originally small farms and self-sufficiency
- Local trade and fishing produced extra income
- Forests provided resources for shipbuilding
- Ports allowed for trade between America, Europe, and Africa
- Richer soil allowed for farming to provide for population
- Rivers and other waterways provide routes for trading
- Immigration led to a diverse economy and major trading cities
- Traded goods between New England and the southern colonies
- Soil, heat, and rainfall led to ideal farming conditions for food and cash crops
- Large plantations grew rice, tobacco, and indigo
- Plantations also heavily used slave labor, increasing the importance of slave trade
The Bottom Line:
- Colonists had a better quality of life than the English and were taxed less
- English were slow to invest in American economy, allowing colonists to invest themselves
- Initially connections with England helped their economy, until increased taxation began