Wanderlust World Wanderlust World When identifying the New England colonies, it's essential to distinguish them from the Middle and Southern colonies. The four New England colonies were:
Pennsylvania was not a New England colony—it was one of the Middle Colonies, along with New York, New Jersey, and Delaware.
The colonial regions had distinct characteristics:
| Region | Colonies | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| New England | MA, CT, RI, NH | Puritan roots, town meetings, shipbuilding, fishing, subsistence farming |
| Middle | NY, NJ, PA, DE | Religious diversity, grain farming, trade ports, ethnic pluralism |
| Southern | MD, VA, NC, SC, GA | Plantation economy, cash crops (tobacco, rice, indigo), slavery |
Pennsylvania, founded by William Penn in 1681 as a Quaker haven, exemplified the Middle Colonies' religious tolerance and agricultural prosperity—distinct from New England's Puritan homogeneity and the South's plantation system.