Three Colonial Regions Comparison¶
Learning Objective¶
Side-by-side comparison of New England, Middle Colonies, and Southern Colonies across five dimensions — economy, religion, labor system, governance, and tensions with Britain. Select two regions to activate color-coded Compare mode.
- Bloom Level: Analyze (L4) — Compare
- Library: p5.js | Chapter: 3 — Colonial America (1607–1754)
Interactive Sim¶
About This MicroSim¶
Three equal panels represent the colonial regions. Clicking one region reveals its profile across five analytical dimensions. Clicking a second region activates Compare mode: cells turn red where the regions differ and green where they are similar. This visual encoding helps students see at a glance which dimensions show the sharpest contrasts — economy and labor system stand out most clearly between New England and the Southern Colonies.
Embed This MicroSim¶
<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/us-history/sims/colonial-regions-comparison/main.html" height="542px" width="100%" scrolling="no"></iframe>
Lesson Plan¶
Duration: 15–20 minutes | Grade: High School | Subject: U.S. History
Before: Ask: "If you were a colonial farmer in 1720, would your life be the same in Massachusetts as in Virginia? What would be different?"
During: Students compare New England vs. Southern Colonies, identifying the three most significant differences and explaining why each mattered for political culture.
After: Discussion: Which region most resembles modern American political values? Students defend their answer with evidence from the sim.
Extension: Students add a sixth dimension (e.g., relationship with Native nations) and propose what each region's profile would look like.
References¶
- Alan Taylor, American Colonies: The Settling of North America (2001)
- David Hackett Fischer, Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America (1989)
- James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom (1988) — Background on how colonial regional differences shaped the Civil War era