Describe several significant economic, political, religious, and social similarities among the English North American colonies by 1700

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

ANSWER: A strong essay should point out distinct regional agricultural economies, trade, indentured servitude, and strong commercial values. In the political sphere, elected assemblies gave colonists some control over local political matters but this was defined by specific religious or economic based voting restrictions. The religious component of a good answer would include the existence of some level of tolerance outside Massachusetts Bay, but all settlements were Protestant, with the exception of Maryland. In addition, the religious wars in Europe influenced the nature of toleration in the colonies, which often changed during both the mainland Thirty Year's War and the English Civil War that merely illustrated that the Atlantic ocean grew more insignificant as a temporal barrier between the old and new continents. Discussion of social issues would include emerging class definition punctuated by the introduction of indentured servitude and slavery as well as the role of family, particularly that of men and women as they sought to survive in often harsh environments. In addition, colonists interacted with local Indian populations and dealt with violence and conflict on the ever spreading frontier, which also formed a new class of people, far different from the most established coastal communities.