When was colonial times

Many of the people who settled in the New World came to escape religious persecution. The Pilgrims, founders of Plymouth, Massachusetts, arrived in In both Virginia and Massachusetts, the colonists flourished with some assistance from Native Americans. New World grains such as corn kept the colonists from starving while, in Virginia, tobacco provided a valuable cash crop. By the early s enslaved Africans made up a growing percentage of the colonial population.

By , more than 2 million people lived and worked in Great Britain's 13 North American colonies. Choose Another Time Period. The Scots and Irish tended to settle in the back country, where they cleared land and lived by hunting and subsistence farming. The southern settlements were predominantly rural. In Virginia and Maryland, the planters, supported by slave labor, held most of the political power and the best land.

At the same time, yeoman farmers, who worked smaller tracts of land, sat in popular assemblies and found their way into political office. Charleston, South Carolina, became the leading port and trading center of the South.

Whereas Virginia was bound to a single crop - tobacco -, North and South Carolina also exported rice and indigo. By the early 18th century, colonial legislatures held two significant powers: the right to vote on taxes and expenditures, and the right to initiate legislation rather than merely act on proposals of the governor. The legislatures used these rights to check the power of royal governors and to pass other measures to expand their power and influence.

In time, the center of colonial administration shifted from London to the provincial capitals. What kind of information materials are available? Texts are abridged from U. Teachers: Request a copy for classroom use. To log in and use all the features of Khan Academy, please enable JavaScript in your browser.

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