What role did economic forces play in the emergence of distinctive regional cultures in eighteenth-century America?

Question

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Answer 1

Economic forces played a major role in the emergence of distinctive regional cultures in eighteenth-century America. The thirteen colonies were grouped into five regions—New England, the mid-Atlantic, the upper South, the lower South, and the back country—reflecting their diverse economies.

The New England economy depended on the sea in the form of fishing, shipbuilding and merchant trade (especially of spirits). It thus follows that New England (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island) was the most ethnically homogenous region in colonial British America, being mostly white and English.

The mid-Atlantic (New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware) was the most ethnically diverse region in the colonies, which was reflected in its economy. Major cities like Philadelphia and New York were centers of commerce and finance. These cities traded with Europe and other ports in the Atlantic world. Agricultural products from rural Pennsylvania and Delaware were sold in the markets of Philadelphia. New York's Hudson River carried agricultural products from upriver farms and furs from northern New York. The mid-Atlantic region also had small manufacturing enterprises, such as flour milling, lumber, mining, and metal foundries. The region depended on indentured servants for much of its labor. The region's merchant class was very influential in mid-Atlantic society.

The culture of the South was closely tied to slave labor. The South was comprised of two distinct regions: the upper South (Chesapeake Region) and the lower South (parts of South Carolina and Georgia). Both regions produced different cash crops and used slave labor in different ways. The upper South had immigrants mainly from England and Scotland. These colonists dominated this region and became the planter elite who built great fortunes from their tobacco plantations through the use of slave labor. The lower South benefited more from the growth of immigration and was more religiously diverse than the upper South. Charleston was a major cultural and economic center of the region because the wealthiest planters would build their second homes there to avoid the damp, hot climate of the low country.

The back country region had lots of Scots-Irish, who settled in large numbers in Pennsylvania and the Carolinas. The Scots-Irish sought to create farmsteads, which led to tensions with the Indians, who were displaced. Back country settlers were less connected to the Atlantic economy and more independent than people in other regions. They farmed, hunted, and raised livestock for their own consumption and for local trade. The egalitarian culture of the back country meant that there were few representatives of either the colonial or the British governments.