13 Colonies

13 Original Colonies

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Colonies Founder Why it was Geographic Role of Comparison
Founded
Characteristics Religion

New England Very cold
winters, mild
summers,
shortest
growing
seasons

Rhode Island Roger In 1636, Roger The smallest of Baptists, smallest ,
Williams Williams settled all colonies, a Quakers,​ had lagoons
at the tip of shallow Jews and and salt
Narragansett lowland with other marshes
Bay after being sheltering religious
banished from lagoons and minorities.
the salt marshes
Massachusetts
Bay Colony for
his religious
views, on land
granted to him
by the
Narragansett
tribe

New John were given a variety of Puritan bigger , had
Hampshire Wheelwright land grant by hills, low coast
the Council for mountains, and plateaus
New England. low coast and
Only three years plateaus
after the
Pilgrims landed
at Plymouth, the
first settlers
arrived near
present-day
Portsmouth in
1623.

Connecticut Thomas The colony of Narrow Puritan Small,
Hooker Connecticut was lowlands, mountains
originally established hilly eastern were thick
by the Dutch in the upland, and with trees.
early 1630s. Thomas mountains
Hooker, a puritan thick with
minister, arrived in
the colony in 1636
and delivered a
powerful sermon.
Hooker is
responsible for
founding Hartford,

CT. Eventually, the trees.
English drove the
Dutch out and gained
control of CT. The
colony received a
charter from England
in 1662.

Massachuset John pilgrim Fathers, or trees, rivers Catholic Big, very
ts Winthrop Pilgrims, sail on but poor poor rocky
the Mayflower rocky soil that soil that was
Ship and founded was difficult difficult to
the colony at to farm and farm.
Plymouth, unsuitable for
Massachusetts crops. Mild,
based on the short
Mayflower summers and
Compact. The long, cold
Massachusetts winters.
Bay Colony was
founded in 1630
by John Winthrop
and other
colonists.

Middle Cold winters,
moderate
summers,
longer
seasons

New York Peter Minuit The colony of New mountains in Quaker​, Bigger,
York was also the northeast, Lutheran, border of
originally inhabited lowlands near Anglican, New England
by the Dutch. It the Canadian Catholic colonies,mou
was originally border and an and ntains
known as New Atlantic Judaism.
Amsterdam. In coastal plain.
1664, Peter The climate
Stuyvesant, the was mild with
Dutch leader, warm
surrendered to the summers and
English. The average
colony was then winters.
renamed New
York, after the
Duke of York.

Pennsylvania William Penn The colony of mild climate Freedom of Biggest,
Pennsylvania was with coastal religion Border of
founded by plains, Indian
William Penn, a plateaus and territory and
Quaker, in 1681. mountains southern
Penn was given a colonies,
charter to found
the colony by King
Charles II. One
factor that
distinguished PA
from the other

colonies was
religious freedom.
The colony
attracted settlers
from a number of
different beliefs
and countries,
including
Germany.

New Jersey English Like New York, the land Roman Small, border
colonists New Jersey was between the Catholics of atlantic
originally Hudson and and Jews ocean,
colonized by the Delaware
Dutch and part of rivers,
the New bordered to
Netherlands the west by
colony. It began to the
be controlled by Appalachian
the English in Mountains,
1664 after the longer
Dutch seasons
surrendered. The
colony was
originally divided
into East Jersey
and West Jersey,
but these two
halves were united
in 1702. As a
colony, New
Jersey was bigger
than it is as a
state.

Delaware Peter Minuit because of its The Quakers Smallest,
rich soil and peninsula is and Welsh peninsula,
agricultural about 180 Baptists bordered by
prospects, such long, and Chesapeake
as wheat, which nearly 71 Bay
led to highly miles wide.
prosperous It's bordered
trading. by the
Chesapeake
Bay on the
west, and the
Delaware
River,
Delaware
Bay, and
Atlantic
Ocean on the

east.

Southern Mild winters,
Maryland hot summers,
longest
growing
seasons

Lord The colony of a good Protestan Smallest
Baltimore Maryland was mixture southern
started in 1633 by between ts​, colony,
Lord Baltimore. It mountains, Catholics​, mountains
was named for hills and flat Christian and flat low
Queen Henrietta low area. area.
Maria. A southern s
colony on the
coast, Maryland
was a port colony,
known for
shipbuilding. It
was also known
for agriculture.

Virginia John Smith Virginia was the swamps, Church of Bigger, wet
home of the first wetlands and England
surviving English waterways
colony, near the
Jamestown, ocean
founded in 1606.
Life in Jamestown
was very rough
and dangerous
and many did not
survive. In 1676,
the settlement was
attacked and
almost ruined
during Bacon's
Rebellion. The
colony itself is
named for Queen
Elizabeth, the
virgin queen.

North Virginia The banks of the coastal, Quakers Bigger, foot
Carolina colonists North Carolina Piedmont and hills, the
were the site of mountain coastal
the first colonizing regions. Piedmont
attempts by the There were
English. The swamps,
settlement of islands,
Roanoke Island foothills and
began in the mountains in
1500s. Roanoke
failed and all the
settlers
mysteriously
disappeared. In

1653, the British North
tried again, and Carolina.​
colonists from
Virginia began to
move to NC.

South English South Carolina had a long French Smaller,
Carolina colonists was first settled by growing Huguenots damp but
the Spanish in season and a , the warm
Georgia 1526 and was warm, damp Anglicans
known as San climate, and the
Miguel de which allowed dissenters
Guadalupe. In settlers to from the
1663, King grow cash Church of
Charles II of crops. England
Britain gave the called the
colony to his non-confor
supporters mists.
through a charter.
The city of
Charleston,
named after the
king, was founded
in 1700 by another
group of English
colonists. South
Carolina was a
colony valued for
its agriculture.

James The colony of experienced Roman Smaller,
Oglethorpe Georgia was hot and Catholics hottest
started by General humid summers,
James Edward summers and longest
Oglethorpe in warm growing
1732. Georgia is temperatures season,
named for King throughout Peach state
George II. the year. The
Oglethorpe is climate and
different from geography
other colony made it
founders because possible for
he survived the colonists​ to
revolution and was grow major
able to see the crops and
colonies achieve establish
statehood. plantations.
Georgia became
the fourth state in
1788.

Comparing the 13 Original Colonies

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