The development of the colonies in British America was initially largely based on the economic activity and the religion. The Southern and Chesapeake colonies were the ones based on agriculture, having enormous plantations of cash crops, which they were exporting back in Europe and making lot of wealth from it. The New England colonies were orientated toward ship building and fishing, while the Mid-Atlantic ones were a mixture of them all. This led to different economic developments which had big influence on how the societies came to be. The religion was also a big factor, as the Southern and Chesapeake colonies were very strict and not tolerant at all toward other religions, the New England colonies were mostly Puritan, while the Mid-Atlantic ones, again, were a mixture, and there was religious tolerance. This had big influence on shaping the cultural landscape of the colonies. The biggest similarity between them all can be see that the basis for all of the colonies was the English culture and language.
