13 British North American Colonies Essay

Words: 1068
Pages: 5

In the 1600’s, three extremely powerful European countries fought over the one thing they could not have: the world. Each country, Great Britain, Spain, and France wanted to be number one on the planet in all aspects. Military strength, economic standing, and influence were important components that they needed to dominate, and they used varying ideals and structures to accomplish their goal. England, following mercantilist policies, created 13 North American colonies to gain resources, land, and wealth. These colonies were then further divided into thirds, the Northern, Middle, and Southern colonies. The 13 British North American colonies had some similarities but mostly maintained their own unique qualities because of their political structure, …show more content…
This original, and unintentional, original separation was the basis of the political differences between the colonies, it led to each colony setting up their beliefs and government in their own way. In addition to these three distinctions, the colonies were also different because of the further division of Northern, Middle, and Southern colonies which had opposing perspectives on political, governmental and other issues. The Northern and Middle colonies had many resemblances because of their geographical relativity and openness toward ideas. They had similar climates and, correspondingly, similar crops and weather. As a result of William Penn creating and enforcing Pennsylvania laws, it was a very unique colony that held a liberal political standpoint. Penn wanted to, “...to enact liberal ideas in government…” and “He provided the colony with a Frame of Government (1682-1683), which guaranteed a representative assembly elected by landowners, and a written constitution, the Charter of Liberties (1701), which guaranteed freedom of worship for all and unrestricted immigration,”(amsco 34.) Pennsylvania was one of the colonies