Colonial Societies: Culture in America

The New England Primer

The Chesapeake Tobacco Plantations

Throughout Northern America, most colonists continued the traditional European lifestyle of working the land. Commercial Agriculture mainly took place in the Chesapeake and the Lower-South, where most of the slave plantations were located. Eventually agriculture spread to the north where Pennsylvania became the bread basket of North America. Although agriculture spread to the north, it was not a business that was highly influential in the region as it was in the south; farmers raised their own crops and livestock for their own purposes and needs. Colonial cities became the centers of commerce, where most of the trade was occurring. Most of the people located in New England and Pennsylvania were skilled laborers such as ship-builders, rope-makers, carpenters, and iron-makers. Colonial Culture varied in each area where different colonists resided, such as Pennsylvania, New England, the Back-country, the Chesapeake, and the Lower-South.  For example, in New England mostly Puritans emigrated there; causing a society which was very religious and strict. The people did not tolerate other ways of life nor other ideas that would be potentially dangerous to their society's structure. America at the time, did not include that much theater or musical influences, but colonial societies did have plenty of acclaimed and published works of writing such as newspapers like the New England Primer, captivity narratives, almanacs, and the bible. There were not that many pass-times that were created during this time that were specifically highlighted, but there was plenty of emphasis on kinship, family, the church, and the local community surrounding the colonists.

Annotated Bibliography: "Forgotten Founders" by Johansen

Johansen, Bruce E. Forgotten Founders: Benjamin Franklin, the Iroquois, and the Rationale for the American Revolution. Ipswich, MA: Gambit, 1982. Print.

In this section of "Forgotten Founders"by Johansen, he talks most about the effects of communication of Indian ideas and how those particular ideas affected the foundation of America. He explains all of the great things the Indian peoples gave to the incoming Pilgrims, along with his display of certain bias' and ideas from historians that agree with the topic of interest. But although this piece of text gives you extra information about the Native peoples and how they affected America, it contains a specific bias that eventually overpowers the text making it hard for the reader to gain breadth from other groups from the time period. The source could help us in our study of American Colonization by gaining information about what other things the Indian people gave to the foundation of America but it does contain a bias that effects the amount of new information we could possibly gain and what types of perspectives we could learn and acknowledge from this source.