New England Colonies

The people who settled in the New England Colonies were the Separatist Puritans called

Pilgrims and the New Englanders would come to prosper through their hard work, thrift,

and the quality of their commitment to God and each other.

The settlement pattern in New England Colonies during 1600 to first half of 1700 was

designed in clustered housing and small agricultural fields. The king will give out land

and the settlement set up will include a meeting house, a village commons, large open lots which is very large and it contains kitchens and places where animals are kept and agricultural highland. The highlands were beautiful fields divided into segments and planting and harvesting were done together as a family.

Land preparation for farming and animal rearing was done using a method called girdling - tree killing. They will cut around each tree to stop nutrient from getting to the tree and the leaves will later felled down. They will now come back and cut the branches of the trees and burn the underbrush. Farmer starts plowing as the trees stumps decays and stones will be removed from the fields. Fields for farming are always small because of labor and there are boundaries between fields and the neighbors. The house or the farm was viewed as the workplace. And land given out to each family will be fenced to stop cattle from wandering off going into the farm areas. The land allocated to each family will show the family social status within the community. The towns developed individually and community involvement was given a great significant although the community was close knit.

The society during the New England colonies comprises of different three social classes. The lowest in the social order is the slaves and were for the most part domestic servants, and they usually received mild and humane treatment, were instructed in religion and morals, and were not infrequently admitted to the family circle. The next class is the social ladder is the most numerous of all, comprised the traders, shop-keepers, and small farmers. Most people in this class were moderately educated, religious, comfortable and wealthy. The uppermost class comprises of the ruling class, which in New England includes the clergy,