A History of the United States: Chapter 4: Life in the American Colonies

Most farmers here practiced subsistence farming—producing enough to meet the needs of their families, with little left over to sell or trade.

In New York and Pennsylvania, farmers grew large quantities of wheat and other cash crops—crops that could be sold easily in markets in the colonies and overseas.

They gave the Middle Colonies a cultural diversity, or variety, not found in New England.

Tobacco was the principal cash crop in Maryland and Virginia.

Because most Europeans did not have experience with growing rice, many relied on the knowledge of enslaved Africans who had lived in the rice growing regions of West Africa.

We were then unbound, but were unable to take any food; and, being quite overpowered by fatigue and grief, our only relief was some sleep, which allayed our misfortune for a short time.

When we went to rest the following night, they offered us some victuals, but we refused it; and the only comfort we had was in being in one another’s arms all that night, and bathing each other with our tears.

The English had a tradition of representative government, in which people elect delegates to make laws and conduct government.

The Bill of Rights stated that the ruler could not suspend Parliament's laws, impose taxes, or raise an army without Parliament's consent.

The Bill of Rights stated that the ruler could not suspend Parliament's laws, impose taxes, or raise an army without Parliament's consent.

Beginning in the 1600s, many European nations followed a theory known as mercantilism. Mercantilism holds that a country builds wealth and power by building its supplies of gold and silver.

To achieve this goal, a country must export, or sell to other countries, more than it imports, or buys from other countries.

To achieve this goal, a country must export, or sell to other countries, more than it imports, or buys from other countries.

Immigration—the permanent moving of people into one country from other countries—was important to this growth.

Many people died in epidemics, outbreaks that affect large numbers of people.

Throughout the colonies, people adapted their traditions to the new conditions of life.

An apprentice agrees to work with a skilled craftsperson as a way of learning a trade.

The new churches placed an emphasis on having personal faith rather than on church rituals.

In spring 1754, the governor of Virginia sent a militia—a military force made up of ordinary citizens—to drive out the French.

The Iroquois Confederacy was the most powerful group of Native Americans in eastern North America.

The Iroquois refused an alliance, or partnership, with the British.

They did, however, promise to remain neutral—that is, to take no side.