How it works
The thirteen colonies are traditionally grouped into three regions. This 13 colonies graphic organizer sets the regions side by side, so the differences in land, work and reasons for settling show up across each row.
Read the full guide
Fill in one row at a time
Work across a row before moving down. With the land and climate of all three regions written first, the economy row is easier to explain: a class can ask what each kind of land was good for.
From regions to single colonies
When the regions are clear, print the sheet for one region and give each colony its own box. For a research project, the page for one colony has room for its founding, its people’s work and its land.
- Books give different founding years for some colonies, since a first settlement and a later charter both count. Use your textbook’s years.
- Tick the thirteen colonies from memory first, then check the sheet against the answer key.
Questions and answers
What are the three regions of the 13 colonies?
New England, the Middle Colonies and the Southern Colonies. New England and the Middle Colonies had four colonies each, and the Southern Colonies had five.
Why were the Middle Colonies called the breadbasket colonies?
Their fertile soil let them export so much wheat and other grain that they came to be known as the Bread Basket Colonies.
How were the New England, Middle and Southern colonies different?
New England had rocky soil and lived by fishing, lumber, shipbuilding and trade. The Middle Colonies had fertile soil and exported grain. The Southern Colonies grew cash crops such as tobacco, rice and indigo on plantations worked by enslaved people.