New England, Middle and Southern colonies: land, climate and how people earned a living

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Land and work in three regions (summaries in our words from the National Park Service and the Library of Congress). Card A, New England: rocky soil and long, cold winters left small farms that mostly fed the family that worked them. Deep harbors and rich fishing grounds made fishing, shipbuilding and shipping the main ways to earn a living in port towns such as Boston. Card B, the Middle Colonies: rich soil in the Hudson and Delaware river valleys grew wheat and corn, and rivers carried the grain to port cities such as New York and Philadelphia to be sold abroad. Many peoples lived there, including English, Dutch, German and African settlers. Card C, the South: warm, wet land supported large plantations. In the Chesapeake, tobacco was the cash crop, and a tobacco field wore out after about three years. In the Lowcountry of the Carolinas, planters grew rice and indigo. Planters sold these crops through ports such as Charleston.

2. 1.

   Card B says rivers carried grain to port cities. Why did that help the Middle Colonies' economy, Bo asks?

   • Farmers could feed their families without any need for markets
   • Grain could not leave the colony, so prices fell
   • Farmers could sell extra grain, and merchants shipped it abroad
   • Ships carried tobacco from the Hudson Valley to England
3. 2.

   Card C says a tobacco field wore out in about three years. What did that most likely lead planters to need, Esme asks?

   • More land and more workers, as plantations spread
   • A new crop to grow on the same field each year
   • Less land and fewer workers, as farms shrank
   • Machines to plant tobacco faster than people could
4. 3.

   Why were enslaved workers more central to the Lowcountry's rice economy than to New England's farms, Jun asks?

   • The Lowcountry had fewer harbors than New England had
   • New England's farms were large and the Lowcountry's farms were small
   • Plantations needed many workers; New England farms were small
   • New England's law banned any form of work done for pay
5. 4.

   The cards are modern summaries by public agencies. What is a limit of using them for what workers felt, Kira asks?

   • They cannot be trusted for any fact about the colonies
   • They are written by planters, so they favor the owners
   • They describe regions broadly, without workers' words
   • They were written in the 1700s, so their spelling is old

6. Use this

   Who knew how, and who did the work? (Summaries in our words from the National Park Service, the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian.) Card D: the Lenni-Lenape taught colonists how to live in the climate of the Middle Colonies and New England. Corn, squash and beans were planted together. Card E: in the Lowcountry, rice plantations depended on enslaved Africans. Many had been brought from rice-growing parts of West Africa, and historians point out that they carried skills for growing and processing rice. Card F: early Chesapeake planters relied on indentured servants from England, who worked for a set number of years. Over the late 1600s, planters bought more and more enslaved Africans, who were held for life.

7. 5.

   Card D says the Lenni-Lenape taught colonists to plant corn, squash and beans together. How did that help the colonists, Milo asks?

   • It made farming unnecessary for the colonists in the region
   • It gave them wheat seeds they brought from England
   • It let them build large plantations of tobacco soon after
   • It gave them crops that suited the local soil and seasons
8. 6.

   Card E says historians point out the skills enslaved Africans brought. Why does the Lowcountry card stress that, Noah asks?

   • Rice needed no skill, so the workers were simply replaceable
   • Planters taught the workers how to grow rice from the start
   • Workers' rice knowledge helped planters earn their profits
   • Rice was a crop that mainly fed workers, not planters
9. 7.

   Card F says planters shifted from indentured servants to enslaved Africans. What changed for the workers, Pia asks?

   • Labor for a set term gave way to labor held for life
   • Labor held for life gave way to labor for a set term
   • Workers moved from tobacco fields to rice fields
   • Workers moved from the Chesapeake to New England
10. 8.

    In the Lowcountry, who did the work of growing rice and who kept most of the profits, Ren asks?

    • Enslaved Africans did the work, and planters kept most of the profits
    • Planters did the work, and enslaved Africans kept most of the profits
    • Native nations did the work, and planters paid them wages
    • Indentured servants did the work and planters shared the profits

11. Use this

    Land and work in three regions (summaries in our words from the National Park Service and the Library of Congress). Card A, New England: rocky soil and long, cold winters left small farms that mostly fed the family that worked them. Deep harbors and rich fishing grounds made fishing, shipbuilding and shipping the main ways to earn a living in port towns such as Boston. Card B, the Middle Colonies: rich soil in the Hudson and Delaware river valleys grew wheat and corn, and rivers carried the grain to port cities such as New York and Philadelphia to be sold abroad. Many peoples lived there, including English, Dutch, German and African settlers. Card C, the South: warm, wet land supported large plantations. In the Chesapeake, tobacco was the cash crop, and a tobacco field wore out after about three years. In the Lowcountry of the Carolinas, planters grew rice and indigo. Planters sold these crops through ports such as Charleston.

12. 9.

    Which region's cards describe farms worked mainly by the families who owned them, Tala asks?

    • The Chesapeake
    • The Hudson Valley
    • New England
    • The Lowcountry

13. Use this

    Land and work in three regions (summaries in our words from the National Park Service and the Library of Congress). Card A, New England: rocky soil and long, cold winters left small farms that mostly fed the family that worked them. Deep harbors and rich fishing grounds made fishing, shipbuilding and shipping the main ways to earn a living in port towns such as Boston. Card B, the Middle Colonies: rich soil in the Hudson and Delaware river valleys grew wheat and corn, and rivers carried the grain to port cities such as New York and Philadelphia to be sold abroad. Many peoples lived there, including English, Dutch, German and African settlers. Card C, the South: warm, wet land supported large plantations. In the Chesapeake, tobacco was the cash crop, and a tobacco field wore out after about three years. In the Lowcountry of the Carolinas, planters grew rice and indigo. Planters sold these crops through ports such as Charleston. Who knew how, and who did the work? (Summaries in our words from the National Park Service, the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian.) Card D: the Lenni-Lenape taught colonists how to live in the climate of the Middle Colonies and New England. Corn, squash and beans were planted together. Card E: in the Lowcountry, rice plantations depended on enslaved Africans. Many had been brought from rice-growing parts of West Africa, and historians point out that they carried skills for growing and processing rice. Card F: early Chesapeake planters relied on indentured servants from England, who worked for a set number of years. Over the late 1600s, planters bought more and more enslaved Africans, who were held for life.

14. 10.

    Which claim about the three regions do cards A to F best support, Zee asks?

    • Labor and knowledge mattered less than the weather or soil did
    • Land, climate, knowledge and labor all shaped each economy
    • Planters alone made the South's economy succeed and grow rich
    • Land alone decided how each region earned its living in the colonies