The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were characterized as the age of exploration and colonization for Britain. The relatively recent “discovery” of the Americas attracted a lot of prominent nations. Among these nations were France, Spain, and Britain. To make a country’s presence known in the New World, they’d have to colonize. All three governments took over their own swatches of the Americas, Britain claiming a slice of North America. A slice meaning its East coast. This slice was split into four different regions: The New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, Chesapeake, and the Southern Colonies. The colonies that made up the New England region were “New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island” (Olson-Raymer).
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The Columbian Exchange was “the biological encounter between the two sides of the Atlantic” (Cornell, Keene, O’Donnell 16). The word “exchange” clarifies that there was ongoing trade between the New World (the colonies) and the Old World (Europe). The exports from the colonies were a plethora of distinct items due to the varying environments. Among the New England products were “rum,” “livestock products, horses, whiskey and beer” (“Trade” Alchin 1). The New England region was in the northernmost part of the British settlements, meaning the climate was cold. Moreover, it was too harsh to grow the tropical-climate-oriented crops desired by the Old World inhabitants. The climate was but one of the factors that prohibited settlers from performing intensive agriculture. Another factor was literal nature of New England which “consisted of mountains thick with trees, rivers and poor rocky soil that was difficult to farm and unsuitable for crops” (“Trade” Alchin 2).
The middle colonies can be considered northern, continentally speaking, meaning its climate is similar to that of New England’s and certainly different from the southern colonies. Exports of the middle colonies contained “corn, wheat, livestock, and furs;” the southern colonies (encircling Chesapeake), “tobacco,” “cotton,” and farm products” (“ Trade” Alchin
The Columbian Exchange was “the biological encounter between the two sides of the Atlantic” (Cornell, Keene, O’Donnell 16). The word “exchange” clarifies that there was ongoing trade between the New World (the colonies) and the Old World (Europe). The exports from the colonies were a plethora of distinct items due to the varying environments. Among the New England products were “rum,” “livestock products, horses, whiskey and beer” (“Trade” Alchin 1). The New England region was in the northernmost part of the British settlements, meaning the climate was cold. Moreover, it was too harsh to grow the tropical-climate-oriented crops desired by the Old World inhabitants. The climate was but one of the factors that prohibited settlers from performing intensive agriculture. Another factor was literal nature of New England which “consisted of mountains thick with trees, rivers and poor rocky soil that was difficult to farm and unsuitable for crops” (“Trade” Alchin 2).
The middle colonies can be considered northern, continentally speaking, meaning its climate is similar to that of New England’s and certainly different from the southern colonies. Exports of the middle colonies contained “corn, wheat, livestock, and furs;” the southern colonies (encircling Chesapeake), “tobacco,” “cotton,” and farm products” (“ Trade” Alchin