How did New England make their money?
New England's economy was largely dependent on the ocean. Fishing (especially codfish) was most important to the New England economy, though whaling, trapping, shipbuilding, and logging were important also.
The colonial economy depended on international trade. American ships carried products such as lumber, tobacco, rice, and dried fish to Britain. In turn, the mother country sent textiles, and manufactured goods back to America.
COMMODITY MONEY OR "COUNTRY PAY"
The Massachusetts Bay Colony used corn and beaver skins as its medium of exchange. In the Southern colonies, it was tobacco and rice; and throughout most of the colonies, animal skins, corn, powder and gun shot, and livestock were often used.
Lumber became very important to the shipbuilding industry because they built ships for the colonies. Ships and lumber were also exported to England. Also, because the New England colonies were along the coast, many colonists fished. The fishing industry included whaling and cod, among other types of fish.
The New England colonies had rocky soil, which was not suited to plantation farming, so the New England colonies depended on fishing, lumbering, and subsistence farming. The Middle colonies also featured mixed economies, including farming and merchant shipping.
Throughout the 1600s, people in New Hampshire made their living through a combination of fishing, farming, cutting and sawing timber, shipbuilding, and coastal trade.
In 1690, the Massachusetts Bay Colony issued the first Colonial currency. Other colonies soon began to issue their own paper currency. Usually denominated in Spanish Milled Dollars, Colonial notes were also denominated in British shillings, pounds, and pence. In 1764, the British declared Colonial currency illegal.
Among the mainland colonies, the white southerners were the richest, on average, with about twice the wealth of New England or the Middle Atlantic region. If we include the West Indies as one of the colonial areas, then its thriving sugar industry made it the wealthiest.
Each colony had its own conventions, tender laws, and coin ratings, and each issued its own paper money. The monetary system within each colony evolved over time, sometimes dramatically, as when Massachusetts abolished the use of paper money within her borders in 1750 and returned to a specie standard.
They Saw Economic Opportunities
Without question, economic opportunity paved the way for the growth of the British Empire. Trade, land and the exportation of resources were critical for increased profit, but secondary industries and careers were also booming.
Why was England successful in the new world?
Of all the European countries, England established the firmest foothold in North America. Like the other European countries, England was motivated in part by the lure of both riches and the Northwest Passage.
The New England Colonies Founders
The first of these, the Plymouth Colony, was established by pilgrims seeking religious asylum in 1620. It was given an official grant in 1629, becoming the Plymouth Bay Colony.
In 1764 paraglide the passed the sugar act, which set duties, taxes, on molasses and sugar imported by the colonists. The sugar act was the first law passed by parliament that was designed specifically to raise money In the colonies.
Since the soil in New England was poor and the growing season was too short to grow many crops, besides corn, beans and squash, the New England colonies had to rely on other ways to make money, primarily through fishing, whaling, shipbuilding and rum making.
The New England colonies developed an economy based on shipbuilding, fishing, lumbering, small- scale subsistence farming, and eventually, manufacturing. The colonies prospered, reflecting the Puritans' strong belief in the values of hard work and thrift.
To prepare the nation for the changeover in currency systems, the Decimal Currency Board (DCB) was set up, running a public information campaign in the two years prior to the switchover on Monday 15 February 1971, also known as Decimal Day.
New England was key to the industrial revolution in the United States. The Blackstone Valley running through Massachusetts and Rhode Island has been called the birthplace of America's industrial revolution.
It wasn't until about 5,000 years ago that the Mesopotamian people created the shekel, which is considered the first known form of currency. Gold and silver coins date back to around 650 to 600 B.C. when stamped coins were used to pay armies.
The colonists developed an economy based on farming, commerce, and crafts. Farm families produced most of what they needed for themselves. In the villages and cities, many trades and crafts developed.
First Official Currency Is Minted
In 600 BCE, Lydia's King Alyattes minted what is believed to be the first official currency, the Lydian stater. The coins were made from electrum, a mixture of silver and gold that occurs naturally, and the coins were stamped with pictures that acted as denominations.
Why is it called New England?
Who named New England? Capt. John Smith named the region New England after he explored its shores in 1614 for some London merchants.
But South Carolina had some of the wealthiest colonists in all the 13 colonies. Massive plantations began to develop, with tobacco, indigo, and rice being main products.
India, Britain's most valuable and populous possession, achieved independence in 1947 as part of a larger decolonisation movement, in which Britain granted independence to most territories of the empire.
Cash in the Colonies was denominated in pounds, shillings, and pence. The value of each denomination varied from Colony to Colony; a Massachusetts pound, for example, was not equivalent to a Pennsylvania pound. All colonial pounds were of less value than the British pound sterling.
The colonies suffered a constant shortage of currency with which to conduct trade. There were no gold or silver mines and currency could only be obtained through trade as regulated by Great Britain. Many of the colonies felt no alternative to printing their own paper money in the form of Bills of Credit.