Products

About

©2019 StudyMode.com

Colonial America

Topics: Colonialism, Thirteen Colonies, United States Pages: 3 (819 words) Published: December 8, 2013

The colonial period of America was a time of great change to the New World. People of the colonial period had very traditional thoughts and traditions. These different ideas influenced the unique society that America is today. The people of this time period had very different political, economic, and social values than we have today.

Political life during colonial America was much different than it is now. They were broken up into three types of colonies, proprietary, royal charter, and self-governing. A proprietary colony is a colony that is owned by one person, the proprietor, who can run the colony however they want. An example of this is William Penn and Province or Pennsylvania. The opposite of a proprietary colony would be a royal charter colony, where the colony is under direct control of the mother country, and has no role in running the colony. The Province of North Carolina is an example of a royal chart colony. The final type of colony is the self-governing colony, which as the name states, is more self-governing than the other two. The government of these colonies is elected and makes most decisions for the colony. An example of this would be the Colony of Massachusetts. There would also be a colonial legislature in every colony. They would be elected by property holding males and would be in control of the salary of the governor. They could use this influence to keep governors thoughts in line with those of the colony. However, the governor would be appointed by the king. This was just one way for the mother country to control their colonies. Another way was through the policy of mercantilism, or the belief in the benefits of profitable trading. All this along with the freedom that everyone sought served as stepping stones towards the American Revolution.

Much like the political life, the economy was much different during colonial America than it is today. In the New England Colonies the growing season was much shorter...
Continue Reading

Please join StudyMode to read the full document

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Colonial America Essay

    ...Colonial America experienced rapid growth during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Much of the foundation and growth of the American colonies can be attributed to the promise of economic opportunity. While land was plentiful and labor was in high demand, the colonist’s opportunities to succeed were plentiful. New areas of commerce and profit were available to those willing to work hard, especially to those Europeans immigrating to America. The early settlers of America found the New World rich in natural resources. One example of this is tobacco. In the Southern colonies of America, tobacco grew wild and when Columbus first came to this land he observed the native “…Indians’ habit of ‘drinking smoke.’” Following Columbus’ voyage to the New World, the Spanish colonists and the settlers of the New World realized that tobacco would make a profitable commodity if exported back to Europe. As a result, tobacco became an expensive luxury use only by the wealthy. After a while, so much tobacco was being sent to Europe that the prices dropped and tobacco became a product that almost everyone could enjoy, thereby increasing the demand. Clearly, the profitability of tobacco proved to be a great source of income to the early settlers of America, limited only by his or her efforts to work hard. The economic opportunities available in America did not end at the cultivation...

    Read More
    699 Words 2 Pages
  • "Economic concerns had more to do with the settling of British North America than did religious concerns"- Assess the validity of this...

    ...colonization of America, the statement that "economic concerns had more to do with the settling of British North America than did religious concerns" is valid. These economic concerns, as a cause for the colonization of British North America, outweighed the notable religious concerns that arose, and dominated colonial life during and up until the very end of the British colonial era in North America. The vast economic concerns that caused British settlement of North America included the opportunity to discover gold and silver, to find a North American waterway that would lead directly to China and the Indies, and the hope of countering Spain's dominance in North America. In addition to these economic reasons for colonization, the English were also seeking to obtain the essential "raw materials" in America that they had been previously buying from other European countries for ridiculous amounts of money and gold. Many Englishmen wanted to go to America in search of gold in order to better their lives. The economics in Great Britain were not great, some classes were falling and some were rising on the economic scale. The change from Feudalism to capitalism in Great Britain, in addition to the changes in classes and fluctuations on the economic scale, was upsetting the conditions in England greatly. Due to these changes, many people...

    Read More
    1527 Words 5 Pages
  • Religion in Colonial America Essay

    ...Amanda Wilson Period 3 9/15/12 Religion in Colonial America Throughout the colonial period with British North American settlement, the subjects of religion and economics often come hand-in-hand when associated with significance. Although economic concerns of development and exploration had its part in British settlement into the New World, religious entanglement, such as Puritan progression and The Great Awakening , played a bigger role in the rise of the American colonies. The flee for religious freedom and organization based on religion in a colony outweigh the concerns for economics. The American colonies valued their religion, as well as making it the most valuable part of their lives. In the early 1500’s certain Christians from different European nations went against the Roman authority of the pope. Religious wars/conflicts, competition, and the Protestant Reformation all contributed to a religious motive for exploration and colonization into North America. Many British immigrants came to the new world not only looking for wealth, but for a religious freedom and structured society. This pull factor created a foundation for religion in the new colonies many people fled the home country to avoid religious persecution and inferiority. Furthermore, Puritans, who colonized the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629, sought to create an empire of religious tolerance. Under John Winthrop, the religious...

    Read More
    679 Words 2 Pages
  • The Captaincy System: Differences Between Portuguese Rule and Local Authority in Colonial Brazil Research Paper

    ...The Captaincy System: differences between Portuguese rule and local authority in Colonial Brazil The discovery of Brazil came about in the first half of 1500, when a Portuguese commander named Pedro Álvares Cabral landed on a beach in what is now the state of Bahia. King Manuel of Portugal had commissioned an ocean fleet larger than any of its predecessors, able to carry over a thousand people, and had then offered Cabral the caravels so he could set off with an experienced crew and head to the East Indies. The king expected great riches, since just a year before Vasco da Gama, another Portuguese explorer, had travelled to India and back and brought with him many exotic goods that had marvelled the court. Almost as soon as Cabral’s fleet set out to sea, however, the lead ship, commanded by Cabral himself, swung off course and into the Atlantic, sailing westwards. Cabral and his crew eventually reached the Brazilian coast. The fleet’s scribe, Pero Vaz de Caminha, wrote to King Manuel depicting a realm in which endless resources were available for the taking, and described the native people they encountered. The Portuguese crew preferred to solidify trade rather than impose formal political authority over the Indians they came across, and soon were trading simple objects such as hair combs and mirrors for precious metals such as gold. For the first thirty years after its discovery, Brazil was treated as merely another set of trading posts. Portugal had...

    Read More
    1819 Words 6 Pages
  • Dbq#1: Transformation of Colonial Virginia, 1606-1700 Essay

    ...at first. However, in the 1680s drastic changes occurred. Increasing wages in England decreased the amount of people willing to take their chances in America. Moreover, the planters were growing apprehensive of their discontented former servants. Many Americans saw opportunity in the profitable slave trade, and the surplus of slaves increased greatly. Most of the slaves were from West African tribes, who were captured and traded by African coastal tribes. These slaves were branded and bound and tightly packed into large ships (Doc D) which made the "middle passage" journey. Death rates on these gargantuan ships were as high as 20 percent, and horrified survivors were put almost immediately into auction, upon arrival in the colonies. In the decade after 1700, nearly ten thousand Africans were brought to America, and many more in the next half-century. By 1750, slaves had accounted for nearly half the population of colonial Virginia. Slaves in the Virginia colony had a relatively easy job. Tobacco wasn't a very physically demanding crop and they were permitted close contact with their family and friends. In Virginia these slaves, although sometimes harshly treated, helped benefit the economic needs of the large Chesapeake plantation region. It is apparent that the tobacco industry and its labor force helped jump-start the colonial Virginia economy. The colonists developed both a social and economical dependence on the...

    Read More
    797 Words 3 Pages
  • Essay about The Influence of Religion in America

    ...Religion did much more than play a part in the way that many aspects of culture in North America developed. In reality, religion contributed to the basis on which the initial movement to and colonization of America transpired. Colonies were settled by those who were not willing to concede to the ruthless persecution that was evident in 17th century Europe, and acted on the hope of a new life in America. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland were all founded as what Sydney E. Ahlstrom explained to be “plantations of religion”, as well as Rhode Island’s foundation as a result of religious persecution (Olmstead). Though it is also acknowledged that many migrated to the New World for several other reasons like economic depression in Europe, a determining factor in the uprooting of most Europeans to travel to America was to live a life based on a religion that they believed to be correct. These grounds on which America was initially colonized held true, despite the ironic eventual religious persecution that would eventually materialize in America itself. Considering the potent influence that religion had on the country’s founding, the resonation of religion throughout many cultural aspects of the United States from it’s founding throughout it’s history was inevitable. Religion played an essential role in American culture from 1607 to present by acting as a basis on which colonies and states...

    Read More
    1889 Words 5 Pages
  • Religion Had a Greater Impact Than Economics on English Colonization in North America Research Paper

    ...colonies started to become more established, more people in England began to migrate to America. Encouraging factors for America’s survival include the effect of the Great Awakening and varied interpretations of this movement. However, factors that held them back were the American colonies continued reliance on England for survival. Religion had a greater impact on English colonization in North America because it was the driving force that brought America closer to becoming a nation, whereas the economic portion of the American colonies forced them to rely on England. Colonists viewed America as a place they could go to practice their religion freely, however most people looked badly upon religions outside of their own. One of the most close-minded settlements in America was New England, this was both a good and a bad thing as it brought the settlers closer together, but also pushed outsiders away. The Middle Colonies accepted many more churches, as there was a greater amount of ethnic and religious diversity. This shows the importance of religion by highlighting how it brought people with common religions together to form colonies and gave insentive to people who lived in England to immigrate to America for more religious freedom than they previously had. Thus, when the Great Awakening occured, colonists were provided with even more reason to practice their religion and continue their...

    Read More
    676 Words 2 Pages
  • Made In America Essay

    ... “Made in America” The trend towards outsourcing overseas and the slowly decreasing of American manufacturing has made it very difficult to find American-made goods, but not impossible. There are a few small businesses that are still dedicated to manufacturing goods in the United States, but in today’s society, they are hard to come by. Buying goods manufacturing in the USA is something that us consumers, business owners and even the government can do to support these businesses that manufacture their products in America. Pros: 1. No Language Barrier: Communication with your suppliers would be much easier if you’re manufacturing in the United States. There would be no language barrier, no cultural conflict, and overall much easier communication. 2. Product Quality: Product quality would definitely be less of a concern since United States based companies are generally more reliable and quality expectations are much higher in the US. When a business outsources it’s manufacturing, it has to consider its ability to oversee and regulate the production process. Unless you can afford to pay one of your own employees to be on site for every shift, you won’t be able to observe and control the quality of your product and the overall production. 3. Shipping: By manufacturing in America, there is obviously a quicker turnaround and shipping for products. You wouldn’t have the risk of product damage associated with shipping or even...

    Read More
    1076 Words 3 Pages

Popular Essays

Become a StudyMode Member

Sign Up - It's Free