Northern Colonies

New England
Religion defined the colonies of New England as much as climate and geography. Settlers in Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and New Hampshire were Puritan. Religion dictated everyday life and permeated the lives of northern colonials, exercising a pervasive influence over the people. In most colonies, the church and the state remained one, controlling many aspects of life and creating great social strains.
Towns anchored northern colonial life. Villages formed around the church and a central green area where all important business and community activities occurred. Houses clustered around the center, radiating out in concentric circles, with fields in the outlying areas. Community involvement and activity became a central feature of life in these colonies. The northern colonies included:
New Hampshire
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
Connecticut

The Environment of the New England Colonies
The climate of the New England Colonies was colder than the other two colonial regions because they were the farthest north.
The climate was a positive factor for the colonists in the New England Colonies; it prevented the spread of life-threatening diseases.
The climate was a negative factor for the colonist in the New England Colonies; the severe winters killed many people.
The geography of New England was mostly hills with rocky soil.

The natural resources of the New England Colonies
The natural resources of the New England Colonies included fish, whales, trees and furs.
The natural resources were more important than agricultural crops to colonists in New England because of poor, rocky soil and the short growing season.

Religion in the New England Colonies
The main function of New England towns was to support the religion of the Puritans.
Religious freedom in Puritan colonies did not exist. The Puritan's world view did not tolerate other religions.

Middle Colonies
(New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey)

There was relatively good climate in the Middle colonies. Having this and good soil helped the farming greatly. They could produce more crops, causing the farmers to be able to sell their extras for money, but still not as much as the Southern colonies could. Even though the Middle colonies had decent climate and soil, farming was not the main way to make money and a living.

Religion in the Middle Colonies
There was more religious freedom in the Middle Colonies than in New England. No single church or religion dominated in the Middle Colonies.

Map showing the borders of West New Jersey (left) and East New Jersey (right)
Province of New Jersey
King Charles II renamed the land west of the Hudson River New Jersey and gave the region between New England and Maryland to his brother, the Duke of York (later King James II of England) as a proprietary colony.[2] James II later granted the land between the Hudson River and the Delaware River to two friends who had been loyal to him through the English Civil War: Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton. This land grant became the Province of New Jersey.[4][5]
In 1665, the Concession and Agreement was written in an effort to entice settlers to New Jersey. This document provided for religious freedom, no taxes without assembly approval, and a governor appointed by the proprietors.[6] The first governor appointed in this way was Philip Carteret, who foundedElizabethtown. Colonists were required to pay annual quit-rent taxes. On March 18, 1674, after encountering difficulty collecting the taxes, Lord Berkeley sold his share in the colony to Edward Byllynge, a Quaker businessman from London.[7] This sale divided New Jersey into East Jersey andWest Jersey; however, the border between the two was not agreed upon until the Quintipartite Deed in 1676. From 1701 to 1765, colonists skirmished in the New York-New Jersey Line War over disputed colonial boundaries.
On April 15, 1702, Queen Anne