Shared Practices of New England and Southern Colonies

Common Colonial Activities

Despite divergent economies and societies, New England and Southern colonies shared several key practices:

1. Shipbuilding

• New England: Oak/pine forests + harbors → fishing vessels, merchantmen, whalers, warships. Major yards: Boston, Portsmouth, Salem, Newport.
• Southern: Naval stores (tar, pitch, turpentine) + live oak → merchant ships, naval vessels. Yards: Norfolk, Charleston, Savannah.

2. Triangular Trade Participation

• New England exports: Fish, lumber, rum, livestock → Europe/West Indies.
• Southern exports: Tobacco, rice, indigo, naval stores → Europe.
• Both imported: Manufactured goods (textiles, tools, luxury items), enslaved Africans (NE merchants shipped; Southern planters bought).

3. Slave Trade Involvement

• New England: Newport, Bristol, Providence — major slaving ports (rum → Africa → enslaved people → West Indies → molasses → rum). "Triangle within triangle."
• Southern: Charleston, Savannah — primary North American disembarkation points. Internal trade grew post-1808 import ban.

4. Religious Diversity (Nuanced)

• New England: Puritan/Congregational establishment, but Baptists, Quakers, Anglicans, Antinomians present — dissent tolerated unevenly.
• Southern: Anglican establishment (Virginia, Maryland, Carolinas), but Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist growth — especially backcountry.

5. Educational Institutions

• New England: Harvard (1636), Yale (1701), Dartmouth (1769) — clergy/leader training.
• Southern: William & Mary (1693) — planter elite, law, surveying. Later: Hampden-Sydney, Washington College.

6. Urbanization

• Northern ports: Boston, Newport, Providence, Portsmouth — commerce, printing, crafts.
• Southern ports: Charleston, Savannah, Norfolk, Alexandria — staple export hubs.
• Both: <5% urban population overall (1770); cities small but influential.

Critical Difference

Labor system: New England = family labor + some indentured + few enslaved. Southern = enslaved African labor (gang system) — fundamental divergence shaping all else.