New England Colonies - Commerce

Commerce

The earliest colonies in the New England Colonies were usually fishing villages or farming communities along the more fertile land along the rivers. While the rocky soil in the New England Colonies was not as fertile as the Middle or Southern Colonies, the land provided rich resources including lumber that was valued for building of homes and ships. Lumber was also a resource that could be exported back to England, where there was a shortage of lumber. In addition, the hunting of wild life provided furs to be traded and food for the table. The New England Colonies were located near the ocean where there was an abundance of whales, fish and other marketable sea life. Excellent harbors and some inland waterways offered protection for ships and were also valuable for fresh water fishing. The Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony named the settlement on the Shawmut Peninsula as Boston. For most of the early years, Boston was the largest city in all of the British Colonial America. By the end of the seventeenth century, New England colonists had tapped into a sprawling Atlantic trade network that connected them to the English homeland as well as the West African slave coast, the Caribbean's plantation islands, and the Iberian Peninsula. Colonists relied upon British and European imports for glass, linens, hardware, machinery, and other items found around a colonist's household. In contrast to the Southern Colonies, which could produce tobacco, rice, and indigo in exchange for imports, New England's colonies could not offer much to England beyond fish, and furs, and lumber respectively. Inflation was a major issue in the economy.