In 1630, John Winthrop described the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a city on the hill, stating, “The eyes of all people are upon us.” The colony did not practice religious toler- ance, however, and its treatment of Native Americans was similar to that of the colonists in Virginia. Conflicts such as King Philip’s War resulted.

In New England, women who were widowed could maintain property and con- tracts. When they remarried, however, these rights ended, and their husband would take control of the woman’s estate. Women in New England were encouraged to read yet did not have the right to vote or hold public office.

An initial reason Maryland was established was to provide refuge for Catholics who were persecuted in England. Lord Baltimore allowed freedom of worship from its founding, however, and many Protestants began to migrate into the region, threatening Catholic domination in the colony. The Toleration Act, while extending toleration to all Christians, was mainly to protect the rights of the Catholics settled there. It protected Christians, but non-Christians such as Jewish colonists did not receive any protections.

The southern colonies’ economy was dominated by the export of staple crops such as tobacco, rice, and indigo. Upland cotton was initially not a major cash crop but later dominated the southern economy after the cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney in
1793, making the removal of seeds and processing of the fiber economically viable. Slaves and indentured servants initially worked side by side. This illustrated a potential danger, however, after Bacon’s Rebellion, in which they banded together against the plantation owners in 1676.

Roger Williams, though having separatist ideals, alienated himself from and was eventually exiled because of his rejection of Puritan practices in Boston. His belief in liberty of conscience called for individual freedom of religion and a separation of church and state. In 1636, he founded Providence, which stood apart from other North American colonies in that it practiced religious tolerance.

Hutchinson left England for New England to escape religious persecution, but once she was in Boston, she began to speak out against Puritan authority within the colony. She rejected church authority if it in her opinion violated the authority of God. When she was placed on trial for her beliefs in 1638, she defended her beliefs concerning a personal relationship with religion over the authority of the church. For these beliefs she was ban- ished from Massachusetts. Hutchinson and her followers left the Massachusetts Bay Colony and established Portsmouth in Rhode Island.

While the soil and climate were not as accommodating for the production of crops as in the southern colonies, agricultural exports served as a major component of the middle colonies. The climate did not support the growth of high-profit crops such as tobacco and indigo, or the cultivation of rice. Instead, grains such as wheat, oats, and barley became the major agricultural exports of the region. While agriculture was a major component of the economy, the farms in the middle colonies tended to be smaller, and slavery did not flour- ish. Furthermore, much of the agricultural production was consumed internally within the colonies.

During the 17th century, roughly half of the European settlers who arrived in North America were indentured servants. Indentured servants were laborers who contracted to work for a set period of time in exchange for passage to the Americas. Unlike a slave, an indentured servant was required to work only for a limited term specified in a signed con- tract. This practice slowed, however, after Bacon’s Rebellion, when poor farmers, including many former indentured servants, rose up against the wealthy landed planters. Afterward, the use of African slaves became more common.

New England, like many of the northern colonies, had generally thin, rocky soil; hilly land; and longer, more severe winters than in the South. This made intensive farm- ing of staple crops difficult. Instead, New England diversified its economy. New England harnessed water power to establish mills and used the abundant timber for shipbuilding. Furthermore, harbors within the region became a major source of prosperity, promoting trade and fishing.

In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon led an uprising in Virginia, marking the first rebellion in the colonies. The event became known as Bacon’s Rebellion. It was sparked by Native American raids on the outskirts of the colony but illustrated a rejection of Governor Wil- liam Berkley’s policies, which favored the wealthy planters over the poor. The uprising inspired a similar revolt in Maryland later that year.