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US History Unit 2: Period 2: 1607–1754

British colonies developed distinct regional economies, labor systems and relationships with Native peoples and Britain.

Covers: Jamestown and the Chesapeake, New England colonies, Middle colonies, mercantilism and the Navigation Acts, Native relations and conflict, slavery in the colonies, the Great Awakening

Study guide

England's colonies developed very differently by region. In the Chesapeake (Virginia and Maryland), Jamestown (1607) survived by growing tobacco, a labor-hungry cash crop. Planters first relied on indentured servants, but after Bacon's Rebellion (1676) exposed tensions between poor whites and elites, they turned increasingly to enslaved Africans. Virginia's House of Burgesses (1619) was the first representative assembly.

New England was settled by Puritans seeking to build a model religious community, described in John Winthrop's "city upon a hill." Families, towns and congregations were central, the economy mixed small farms with fishing, shipbuilding and trade, and the Mayflower Compact showed early self-government. Conflicts with Native peoples included King Philip's War (1675–1676). The Middle colonies (New York, Pennsylvania) were the most diverse; William Penn's Quaker colony promised religious tolerance. The southern colonies, especially South Carolina, built rice plantations worked by enslaved Africans, and slave codes made slavery hereditary and race-based.

Britain governed through mercantilism: colonies supplied raw materials and bought British goods, enforced by the Navigation Acts. In practice, salutary neglect let colonists govern themselves with assemblies. The Atlantic economy linked colonies to Europe, Africa and the Caribbean through triangular trade. The Great Awakening, led by preachers like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, spread emotional religion and questioned authority, while Enlightenment ideas about reason and natural rights spread among educated colonists. Spanish and French colonies differed: the French traded furs and allied with Native groups, while the Spanish built missions.

Early Chesapeake settlers were mostly young single men who died young from disease, so the population grew mainly through immigration. New England settlers came as families, lived longer in a healthier climate, and grew quickly by natural increase. The Middle colonies' fertile soil made them a 'breadbasket' that exported wheat and flour through ports like Philadelphia and New York. New England towns governed themselves through town meetings. The Puritan emphasis on reading the Bible led to early public schools and to Harvard (1636).

Southern society was divided internally. Tidewater planters held large estates and most enslaved people, while backcountry settlers, many of them Scots-Irish, farmed small plots and resented coastal elites. Enslaved Africans resisted through work slowdowns, running away, keeping African traditions (as in the Gullah culture of the Carolina coast) and open revolt. The Stono Rebellion in South Carolina (1739) led to harsher slave codes.

James II merged the northern colonies into the Dominion of New England (1686) and suspended their assemblies. After England's Glorious Revolution (1688) removed him, colonists overthrew the Dominion, which strengthened their belief in the rights of Englishmen and representative government. As Atlantic trade grew, colonists bought more British consumer goods such as cloth, tea and ceramics, which tied colonial elites more closely to English tastes. Merchants often got around the Navigation Acts by smuggling, especially molasses from the French Caribbean.

Key ideas

• Regional economies shaped each colony's society and labor system.
• Chesapeake tobacco depended first on indentured servants, then on enslaved Africans.
• Puritan New England centered on towns, families and religion.
• Mercantilism tied colonies to Britain, but salutary neglect allowed self-government.
• The Great Awakening and Enlightenment encouraged questioning authority.

Formulas and rules

Common mistakes

• Assuming all colonies were founded for religious freedom.
• Forgetting that slavery existed in every British colony, not just the South.

Words to know

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in North America (1607), in Virginia.

Indentured servant

A worker who traded several years of labor for passage to the colonies.

Bacon's Rebellion

A 1676 uprising of frontier farmers in Virginia; it pushed planters toward enslaved labor.

House of Burgesses

Virginia's elected assembly, the first in the colonies (1619).

Mayflower Compact

The Pilgrims' 1620 agreement to govern themselves.

Puritans

English Protestants who settled New England to build a model religious society.

City upon a hill

John Winthrop's vision of Massachusetts as a model Christian community.

Quakers

Pennsylvania's founders, known for religious tolerance and pacifism.

Mercantilism

Policy that colonies exist to enrich the mother country through trade.

Navigation Acts

Laws limiting colonial trade to English ships and markets.

Salutary neglect

Britain's loose enforcement of colonial laws before 1754.

Triangular trade

Atlantic trade linking Europe, Africa and the Americas, including enslaved people.

Middle Passage

The brutal voyage of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic.

Great Awakening

A religious revival of the 1730s–1740s that encouraged questioning authority.

King Philip's War

A 1675–1676 war between New England colonists and Native peoples led by Metacom.

Sample practice questions

5 more questions like these, from level 1 to 5, are in the practice set.