New England: Commerce and Religion

1. What is the backcountry?

2. Which colonial region was most populated (had the most people)?

Far western edges of the colonies

New England

3. a. Why was farming in New England not easy?

b. What happened as a result of this?

Short growing season Rocky soil

Farmers practiced subsistence farming- grew only enough for themselves and a little extra for trade, SO they had to find another way to make money

Farming was NOT a money maker-

Had to use the resources available - fish and timber

Made money building ships with the timber and used those ships to fish and trade

4. Why did New England come to depend on fishing and shipbuilding?

5. What happened as a result of merchants exporting (shipping goods out) from the colony?

Began carrying goods produced in other places.

New England ships became important in international trade.

6. Why did England pass the Navigation Acts?

England wanted to ensure that it made money from its colonies’ trade.

7. What were the four major provisions of the Navigation Acts?

All goods had to be carried on English ships or on ships made in the English colonies

Products could only be sold to England or its colonies (who couldn’t they sell to?)

European imports to the colonies had to pass through English ports (Why?)

Taxed any colonial goods not shipped to England

8. Why didn’t the colonists like the Navigation Acts?

9. Why was piracy a threat to the mercantile system?

The colonists would make more money if they could trade directly and cut England out.

It interfered with colonial trade, creating a loss of money and supplies

10. List New England’s three types of trade:

11. . What was triangular trade?

A system of trans-Atlantic (across the Atlantic) trade that exchanged slaves, rum, sugar and molasses.

Atlantic TradeNew Englanders were part of the triangular trade with Africa and the West Indies. Here is how the triangular trade worked:• First, a New

England merchant ship brings rum to Africa and trades for slaves.• Next, the merchant ship brings slaves tothe West Indies and trades for sugar.• Last, the merchant brings the sugar toNew England, where it is made into rum. 

12. a. Did New England have a lot of slaves? b. Why or why not? No

They had no large plantations so there was no need for a large labor force to work the farms

13. How did New Englanders profit from triangular trade?

14. What caused King Phillip’s War?

Made money by trading slaves, rum, sugar and molasses

The conflict between the Native Americans and Europeans over land ownership. The Indians didn’t believe that land could be owned (just used like air).

15. Why do you think the Pequot and Mohegans helped the colonists? They may have been rivals; might have been paid by the colonists; they may have made treaties to protect themselves and their lands.

16. How did the King Phillip’s War affect the colonists and the Native Americans? (What happened as a result of this war?)The colonists had to rebuild

communities destroyed during the fighting;

With the Native Americans defeated, the colonists were able to expand their settlements;

Many Native Americans were sold into slavery and sent to the West Indies.

17. Explain how Native Americans reacted to colonial growth. (What did they do when colonists started to take over their lands?)

They had an uprising (King Phillip’s War) against the Puritans.

18. What did Increase Mather mean when he said that the Puritans “chose a new God”?

Puritans were beginning to value money and wealth more than God.

Money had become more important than religion.

19. How did the arrival of people of other religions affect Puritan power? As new immigrants arrived who were

NOT Puritans, they established their own churches (Anglicans and Baptists), so they were no longer the most powerful group

Changes in the Massachusetts Charter guaranteed religious freedom to ALL and Puritan churches no longer controlled the elections.

Some people were accused of witchcraft and put on trial.

Some were put to death.

20. What happened in Salem, Massachusetts?

21. What lasting effects did Puritan power have on American culture even after the decline of Puritan power?

The Puritan work ethicValue placed on education Opposition to royal power and support for representative government

Practice of voting on community issues