From Colonies to The United States

The First 13 Colonies

Colony – What is a colony?

A settlement in a new area.

The first English colonies in North America were along the eastern coast.

Why did people decide to settle in the new world?

Some Englishmen came for religious freedom from the Church of English.

They wanted land and wealth that they couldn’t have in England. 

They wanted freedom from the King’s rule.

They wanted a new beginning

They wanted adventure.

They wanted gold and riches.

Self-rule

By 1735 there were over 6 million English men women and children looking o the 13 English Colonies here in North America for a new beginning.

The people who came from England to the new colonies in America, were looking for different things, but they were not prepared for the difficulties they would face once they landed in the new world.

Diseases: such as yellow fever, smallpox, malaria, Typhoid and dysentery. All of these diseases were deathly to the settlers, not many of them survived because they didn’t have the immunological defenses.

Second, the harsh weather that hits the east coast of the United States. They didn’t have any kind of protection. They were there trying to build their houses, but it was not enough.

Food: The new English settlers didn’t have the skills to grow crops in the sandy soil of the east coast.

Many settlers die, and many other survived. The first Colony was Jamestown (it later became Virginia) and as more people arrive to America more colonies were founded. They were divided into 3 sections: New England Colonies, Middle Colonies and Southern Colonies.

Watch the video to check out the characteristics each colony had...

In the chart below, you can see a summary of the characteristics of the first 13 colonies.