1. All four colonies were founded by the British.
2. All four colonies had a plantation economy based on cash crops such as tobacco and rice.
3. All four colonies had a hierarchical social structure with a small elite of wealthy planters at the top and a large majority of poor farmers and slaves at the bottom.
4. All four colonies had a representative form of government with an elected assembly.
Differences:
* Virginia:
- First permanent English settlement in North America (Jamestown, 1607)
- Established as a joint-stock company (Virginia Company of London)
- Headright system encouraged settlement: 50 acres for each person transported
- Representative assembly (House of Burgesses) established in 1619
- Diverse economy, including agriculture (tobacco, corn), shipbuilding, and fur trade
- Slavery became entrenched
* Maryland:
- Founded as a refuge for English Catholics (Lord Baltimore, 1634)
- Proprietary colony under the Calvert family
- Toleration Act of 1649 granted religious freedom to all Christians
- Economy based on tobacco cultivation and trade
- Influx of indentured servants and African slaves
* North Carolina
- Established as a royal colony in 1663
- Diverse population, including English settlers, Scots-Irish, Germans, and African slaves
- Agriculture (tobacco, rice, indigo), livestock raising, and naval stores (tar, pitch)
- Limited self-government through elected assembly
* South Carolina:
- Founded in 1669 as a proprietary colony under the Lords Proprietors
- Attracted settlers seeking economic opportunities and religious freedom
- Developed a plantation economy based on rice and indigo cultivation
- Large African slave population
- Complex social structure, including free people of color and Native Americans