Life in the New England Colonies | Kids Discover Online (2024)

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What was the life like in the New England colonies? ›

Colonists in New England faced many hardships, including long, cold winters that left many sick. Mostly, people farmed small plots of land and worked to store enough food for winter. Colonists didn't have many luxuries, but for the Puritans, a simple life was what they wanted.

The New England colonies were Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. The colonists sent natural resources, which are things from nature that people use, such as furs, fish, and whale oil, back to England.

In 1776 the 13 colonies declared their independence from Great Britain. The names of the colonies were Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Much of colonial life was hard work, even preparing food. But colonists found ways to mix work with play. They also enjoyed sports and games. For most of the 1700s, the colonists were content to be ruled by English laws.

The first colony in New England was Plymouth Colony, established in 1620 by the Puritan Pilgrims who were fleeing religious persecution in England.

The New England colonies were the northernmost of the colonies: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

The New England colonies were made up of the colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. Geography and Climate. The New England colonies were flat along the rocky coastline, which made good harbors. It became hilly and mountainous further inland. The land was covered in dense forests.

America was formed from 13 colonies in 1776. Many of these colonies had been around for more than one hundred years, including Virginia which was founded in 1607. Colonies are regions controlled by another country. The 13 colonies were controlled by the British.

The Bay Colony quickly became the largest and most influential of all of the New England colonies. The British New England colonies included Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. While there were several large communities within the Bay Colony, the city of Boston became the capital for the group.

Who founded each colony? ›

The 13 colonies were a group of settlements that became the original states of the United States of America. Nearly all the colonies were founded by the English. All were located along the East Coast of North America. In 1776 the 13 colonies declared their independence from Great Britain.

Girls would grind corn, spin, and weave. Many poorer children did not go to school. They learned to farm, hunt, cook, and sew from their families. Even though colonial kids worked hard, they still found time for outdoor fun, like swimming, fishing, and flying kites.

In terms of social status, New England was also less stratified than other colonies. Most of the colonists were free men and women, some were minor gentry, but none were aristocrats, members of the highest strata of English society.

Life in the early 1600s at Jamestown consisted mainly of danger, hardship, disease and death. The first settlers at the English settlement in Jamestown, Virginia hoped to forge new lives away from England―but life in the early 1600s at Jamestown consisted mainly of danger, hardship, disease and death.

Colonial life was filled with work, but it wasn't always hard or boring. Early Americans knew how to turn work into fun by singing or telling stories, having contests, or working together in spinning or quilting bees. Some liked to dance to fiddle and fife music.

As a result, farming in New England was limited to small farms on which families managed to grow enough to feed themselves and not much else. These subsistence farmers grew vegetables, apples, and possibly a field of grain crops (often oats that were fed to livestock).