Life in Colonial America

The 13 colonies

Between 1607 and 1732, England (later Great Britain) set up 13 colonies along the Atlantic coast. Historians often group them into three regions:

• New England: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island
• Middle Colonies: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware
• Southern Colonies: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia

Every colony was built on the homeland of Indigenous nations. The Powhatan, Wampanoag, Lenape, Haudenosaunee, Cherokee, Catawba and many others were already living, farming and governing there.

Homes, food and work by region

Most colonists lived on farms, and most families grew or made much of what they needed. But the land and climate were different in each region, and so was daily life.

New England

New England had rocky soil, thick forests and long, cold winters. Families farmed small plots and grew corn, beans, squash and wheat, often using methods learned from Indigenous neighbors. Many people also fished, built ships, cut timber or worked in trades. Towns grew up around a meetinghouse used for church services and town meetings. Homes were usually wooden, with a large central fireplace for cooking and heat.

Middle Colonies

The Middle Colonies had richer soil and a milder climate. Farms grew so much wheat, barley and oats that the region was nicknamed the “breadbasket” colonies. Cities like Philadelphia and New York became busy ports. People from many backgrounds lived here, including English, Dutch, German, Swedish and Scots-Irish families, along with free and enslaved Africans.

Southern Colonies

The South had a long growing season and warm weather. Many families ran small farms, but wealthy planters owned large plantations that grew cash crops such as tobacco in Virginia and Maryland and rice and indigo in South Carolina and Georgia. These plantations depended on the forced labor of enslaved Africans. Towns were fewer and farther apart.

School and childhood

Children in colonial America worked from a young age. Girls usually learned cooking, sewing, spinning and caring for younger children. Boys often worked in fields or learned a trade. Some boys became apprentices, living with a craftsperson for years to learn skills like printing or blacksmithing.

Schooling depended on where you lived and how much money your family had. Massachusetts passed a law in 1647 requiring larger towns to set up schools so children could learn to read. Young children often learned letters from a hornbook. In the South, where people lived farther apart, wealthy families hired tutors, while many other children had little schooling. Girls were often taught less than boys. In many colonies it was illegal or strongly discouraged to teach enslaved people to read, yet some learned anyway, often in secret.

Faith and community

Religion was central to many colonists’ lives. Puritans in Massachusetts wanted their communities to follow their beliefs closely. Rhode Island, founded by Roger Williams, and Pennsylvania, founded by the Quaker William Penn, were known for allowing more religious freedom. Maryland was founded partly as a refuge for English Catholics. Jewish communities formed in port cities like Newport and New York. Enslaved Africans brought their own beliefs and traditions, and over time many blended them with Christianity.

Enslaved people’s lives and resistance

Slavery was legal in all 13 colonies. In 1619, the first recorded Africans were brought to English Virginia by force. Over the next century, slavery grew, especially in the South, and colonies passed laws making slavery last for life and pass from mother to child.

Enslaved people worked in fields, homes, workshops and on ships, without pay and without freedom. Many West Africans brought knowledge of growing rice, which helped make rice plantations in South Carolina and Georgia profitable. Families could be separated by sale at any time.

Enslaved people resisted in many ways. They kept their languages, music, stories and beliefs alive. They slowed down work, broke tools, and ran away. Some rose up in open revolt, such as the Stono Rebellion in South Carolina in 1739. The Gullah Geechee people of the coastal Southeast still keep many traditions that began in this period.

Indentured servants

Many poor people from England, Scotland, Ireland and Germany could not afford the trip across the Atlantic. They signed an agreement to work for a set number of years, often four to seven, in exchange for their passage, food and shelter. These indentured servants could not leave or marry without permission. At the end of their service, they were free. This is a key difference from slavery, which had no end and was passed to children.

Indigenous neighbors

Colonists and Indigenous nations traded goods like furs, corn, cloth and metal tools. Indigenous people taught colonists which plants to grow and how to survive local winters. At the same time, colonists kept taking more land, and disease and wars devastated many Native communities. Some Native people were also enslaved by colonists. Indigenous nations used diplomacy, trade, alliances and war to protect their people and homelands.

A day in colonial life

	New England farm child	Philadelphia apprentice	Southern plantation
Morning	Fetch water, feed animals, help light the fire	Open the shop, sweep, prepare tools	Enslaved workers begin field work at sunrise
Midday	Work in the fields or garden; short lessons if school is open	Learn the trade by watching and practicing	Long hours of hard labor in tobacco or rice fields
Evening	Spin, sew, mend tools by firelight	Eat with the master’s family; sleep in the shop or house	Tend family gardens, cook, share stories and music in quarters
Learning	Hornbook and Bible reading	Reading, writing and numbers for business	Often forbidden to learn to read

How to use this page for homework

• Use the region sections to compare and contrast, a common assignment for this topic.
• Make sure to explain how life was different depending on who you were, not just where you lived.
• Use the “A day in colonial life” table as a starting point, then add details from one of the sources listed below.
• Use the glossary terms correctly. For example, indentured servants and enslaved people are not the same.