Thirteen Colonies Comparison Worksheet
Slide Companion Guide U.S. History & Government Foundations
Colonial Motivations & Democratic Roots
Tracking Political, Social, and Economic Origins of the 13 Colonies & Their Modern Legacies
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Lecture Slide Tracker: As each colony is presented, record why settlers came (Motivations), what government body they formed (Colonial Government), and how it lives on in the United States today (Modern Legacy).
Part 1 of 3
Region 1: The New England Colonies
Geography/Economy: Rocky soil, timber, maritime trade • Social: Puritan/Pilgrim covenants
| Colony & Year Founded | Primary Motivations (Social, Political, Economic) | Colonial Government Created | Modern U.S. Legacy |
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| Massachusetts | | | |
Plymouth (1620) • Mass. Bay (1630)
W. Bradford, J. Winthrop
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Rhode Island
Founded 1636
Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson
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Connecticut
Founded 1636
Thomas Hooker
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New Hampshire
Founded 1623 / 1638
John Mason, J. Wheelwright
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Government Spotlight • New England Town Hall & The Mayflower Compact
Because Puritan villages centered around the church meetinghouse and subsistence farming required close community coordination, New England pioneered direct democracy through local Town Hall Meetings. Explain how town meetings worked and why this model differs from representative democracy:
Slide Companion Guide Part 2: The Middle Colonies (The Breadbasket)
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Region 2: The Middle Colonies
Geography/Economy: Fertile river valleys, wheat/grain • Social: Ethnic/religious pluralism
| Colony & Year Founded | Primary Motivations (Social, Political, Economic) | Colonial Government Created | Modern U.S. Legacy |
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| New York | | | |
1624 (Dutch) / 1664 (Eng.)
Peter Minuit, Duke of York
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Pennsylvania
Founded 1681
William Penn ("Holy Experiment")
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New Jersey
Founded 1664
Lord Berkeley, G. Carteret
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Delaware
1638 (Swedes) / 1682 (Penn)
Peter Minuit, William Penn
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Government Spotlight • Religious Pluralism & Penn's Frame of Government
The Middle Colonies were the most ethnically and religiously diverse region (Quakers, Lutherans, Dutch Reformed, Anglicans, Jewish merchants). How did this diversity force Middle Colony leaders to protect freedom of conscience and establish representative assemblies based on compromise, laying the foundation for the First Amendment?
Slide Companion Guide Part 3: Southern Colonies & The Democratic Blueprint
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Region 3: The Southern Colonies
Geography/Economy: Warm climate, plantation cash crops • Social: Hierarchical, agrarian
| Colony & Year Founded | Primary Motivations (Social, Political, Economic) | Colonial Government Created | Modern U.S. Legacy |
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| Virginia | | | |
1607 (Jamestown) • London Co.
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Maryland
1634 • Lord Baltimore (Calvert)
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North Carolina
1663 / 1712 • Small tobacco farmers
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South Carolina
1663 / 1712 • Planters from Barbados
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Georgia
1732 • James Oglethorpe
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Government Spotlight • Virginia House of Burgesses (1619) & Representative Democracy
Because plantation agriculture caused southern colonists to live spread out across large counties rather than in compact towns, direct town meetings were impossible. How did this geography lead to the Virginia House of Burgesses, and why did this body serve as the direct prototype for the modern U.S. House of Representatives?
Synthesis • The Colonial Blueprint of Modern American Government
Connecting the 3 Regional Models
Complete the synthesis table below showing how each colonial region directly contributed to a specific branch or pillar of modern American constitutional government:
New England Model
Town Meetings & Covenants
Modern Government Legacy:
Middle Colonies Model
Pluralism & Frame of Gov't
Modern Government Legacy:
Southern Model
House of Burgesses & Counties
Modern Government Legacy: