The History of America's 13 Colonies | Educational Rap for Social Studies

A colony is a place that's settled by a group of people outside their home country and belongs to or is ruled by that home country. By the mid-1700s, England had set up 13 colonies along the east coast of America. These colonies all had some things in common, but they can be divided into three groups that each had a certain way of life. Now let's start in the northeast. Look and you'll see the New England colonies. Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. People came mainly from England for religious freedom, to practice their religion the way they needed. But to raise a family and try to feed them can prove to be difficult and for a few reasons. The soil was rocky, the climate cold. They could barely grow more food than their bellies could hold. So to make money, they whaled and fished, and from all the lumber there, they built ships. And since they needed to trade, Boston became a port city. That's how they got paid. Hey, in New England, they had town meetings. In the meeting house, that's where people found seating. The men discussed the issues of the town, and the meeting house is where church services went down. Now, religion was a major inspiration, and it was integrated in kids' education. Lastly, for black people living in New England, some lived free, but they were treated different. And even worse, many were enslaved, doing skilled jobs or housework for no pay. I've got something y'all will want to see. Follow me through the 13 colonies. New England, the Middle, and Southern, and each region shared traits you'll discover. Listen, some came for freedom of religion. Some came to get money and make a living. Others were forced here to work as slaves. The 13 colonies became 13 states. Now, in the middle colonies there are New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Yeah, and they were the most diverse. Home to German, French, Irish, Dutch, the worst. And it hurts when we mention blacks. Some were free. Some were slave laborers breaking their backs. And the climate was more mild. It was wild. The wheat and many grains stockpiled. Plus, they had factory supply, and the people would pay for textiles and iron. And big cities like New York and Philly had merchants and artisans of all kinds, really. Now, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia, the Southern colonies, where you'll find a climate that's much warmer than up north. And with rich soil, they grew crops of all sorts. So, of course, in the Southern colonies, plantations were the base of their economy. Large farms where cash crops were produced, like cotton, rice, and tobacco. And they used the labor of African slaves who were taken from their home countries and forced on the plantation. They were beaten and treated as less than human. Though the work slaves did kept the economy moving. Slavery was critical to plantation. But the harm it caused wasn't part of the equation. That history cuts deep. But, Pete, before we skate, the 13 colonies became 13 states. I've got something y'all will want to see. Follow me through the 13 colonies. New England, the Middle, and Southern, and each region shared traits you'll discover. Listen, some came for freedom of religion. Some came to get money and make a living. Others were forced here to work as slaves. The 13 colonies became 13 states.