The13 original coloniesof the United States were the groundwork of what would become a novel nation , born from a portmanteau word of ambition , conflict and compromise . These colonies unfold along the Atlantic sea-coast , from New Hampshire in the northward to Georgia in the south .

But how did these British colony develop into the United States of America ? Let ’s take a journeying through history and research what made these dependency tick .

A New World Beckons

think the 1600s : The British government , along with other European mightiness , saw the American continent as a land of eternal chance .

The New World was mature for exploration , trade and settlement . Companies like the Virginia Company and thePlymouth Companyset sail with high-pitched hopes and even high stakes .

The first permanent English settlement was establish inJamestown , Virginia , in 1607 , near the James River . Settlers get in aboard three ships — the Susan Constant , the Godspeed and the Discovery — seeking wealth and a impudent start .

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Unfortunately , they face harsh realities , including disease , starvation and tense sexual congress with Native Americans . Yet , the dependency survived , pave the fashion for other colonies to fly high .

Breaking Down the 13 Colonies

The 13 Colony can be divided into three distinct region :

New England Colonies

The New England colonies include Massachusetts , Rhode Island , Connecticut and New Hampshire . Life here revolved around community , religion and hard work .

Middle Colonies

Dubbed the " stomach colonies " for their fertile estate , the middle dependency were made up of New York , New Jersey , Pennsylvania and Delaware .

Southern Colonies

The southerly colony were known for their plantations , Agriculture Department and reliance on enslaved Africans . This part include Virginia , Maryland , North Carolina , South Carolina and Georgia .

Life in the Colonies

In the American Colony , rule construction diverge widely . Some , like Massachusetts Bay Colony , embrace self - government through townsfolk meetings , while others were now dominate by the British peak as royalcolonies .

The British sevens and English cap handle pregnant influence , but many colonists chafe under British normal , laying the groundwork for revolt .

The colonies prosper on trade , import goods from the mother area and export raw materials like tobacco , pelt and lumber . Dutch traders and British ships dominated the water , make bustling port wine along the Atlantic seaboard .

However , compound prosperity was n’t evenly share . Plantation economies in the South relied heavily on the labor of enslaved Africans , while indentured servitude was common in both the southern and New England colonies .

Seeds of Rebellion

As the dependency grew , tension with the British government mounted . Taxes like theStamp Actand restrictive trade insurance policy lead to widespread discontentedness . The settler increasingly sought their own government , detached from preventative by the mother country .

By the time of the Revolutionary War , the united settlement were ready to stand together as Americans , no longer just British colonists . The state of war culminated in the nascence of a new nation , inspired by the mind that all men are create equal — a concept rooted in the struggle of all the colony .