Once established, the thirteen British colonies could be divided into three geographic areas: New England, Middle, and Southern. Each of these had specific developments that were unique to the regions. Though there were many similarities in the development of the New England, Middle and Southern Colonies, they were very different: politically, socially, and economically. The three colonies all had comparable similarities, as they were all democratic. But they ran their democratic government in all different types of ways. For instance, the Middle Colonies had their government and church separated. The New England Colonies, however, were a Theocracy, which meant that the church controlled the government. The Southern Colonies had the least autonomy since they were an Oligarchy. This meant that the wealthy plantation owners controlled the government because they were the only people who could manage to pay for all their own expenses. Even though the three colonies were all self-ruled, they all had distinguishing (recognize or treat someone or something as different) features. Although a majority of the colonists were from England, socially the three groups of colonies developed differently. The New England Colonies supported each other to create a one-class system: middle class. The Middle Colonies had a two-class system which consisted of upper class landowners and middle class professionals living in large cities. The Southern Colonies had a strict three class system: upper class wealthy plantation owners, lower class poor whites and a population of “ Negroes”, which were not considered a class at all. Each of the three segments of the British American Colonies had their own social order. The American Colonies vastly (to an exceedingly great extent or degree) differed due to the geography of the three regions.
The Southern Colonies were largely corporate in nature. This led to the growth of a plantation economy based on single crops – mainly tobacco and rice – that required slavery to bring in substantial profits. The economy encouraged the growth of widely-dispersed, isolated settlements.
The Middle Colonies were more economically diverse, hosting small farmers, craftsmen, and merchants – all who depended on some sort of profit for their living. This led to the growth of a diverse economy that required a large number of indentured servants. The economy encouraged the growth of small, dispersed, but inner-connected settlements.
The New England colonies were economically homogeneous, hosting small, self-sufficient farmers living on family-run farms and a few merchants. The led to the