Before America was the United States, it was a group of 13 colonies. Ready to hop on a slow train heading south? First stop: the Massachusetts Bay Colony where kids can discover that religious freedom doesn’t necessarily mean freedom for every religion.
After a slight detour to explore the region’s communities, the train continues south to the Middle Colonies. There, kids get an overview of Quaker beliefs, the Dutch West India Company, and the founding of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Heading farther south toward the final destination, kids arrive in the Southern Colonies and discover how rice, sugar, and cotton laid the groundwork for culture, growth, and trouble.
Kids curious about life back in the day can explore in-depth portraits of communities up and down the coast, including the reality of enslaved plantation labor in Southern Colonies and the organization of New England communities around the all-purpose commons. For kids who want more details about events surrounding the founding of the colonies, they can read about historic touchstones like how the Duke of York divvied up much of New England to form New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Visually oriented kids can enjoy diving into the maps and time lines that help keep the details straight.
8 Topics in this unit
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The Seeds of a New Nation
Early settlers risked everything to set up new homes in the unfamiliar territory of North ...
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Founding the New England Colonies
Ten years after the Pilgrims first landed at Plymouth, another group set out from England ...
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Life in the New England Colonies
What are winters like where your family lives? If your home is in New England, you may kno ...
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Colonial Town at a Glance
In just a few short generations, scattered settlements had expanded into bustling cities w ...
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Founding the Middle Colonies
Countries all across Europe were looking to build as many colonies as possible, because co ...
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Life in the Middle Colonies
Trade in the Middle Colonies grew rapidly. Port cities like New York and Philadelphia had ...
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Founding the Southern Colonies
In 1607, the first permanent English settlement in North America was founded at Jamestown, ...
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Life in the Southern Colonies
Good weather makes farming easier and more profitable. The Southern region has mild weathe ...
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1 Videos in this unit
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Life in the New England Colonies
Colonists in New England faced many hardships, including long, cold winters that left many ...
