In what ways did the British North American colonies differ from one another? In what ways were they similar?

The British North American colonies differed in ethnic composition and economic structure.

For example, the New England colonies were mostly White-Anglo-Saxon-Protestant (Wasp), the Middle Colonies had important German and Dutch populations, and the South had many African slaves, and Scotch-Irish in the Appalachian Mountains.

The New England colonies were more egalitarian, and their economy was based on small farms, and a few ports with small fishing and shipping industries. The Middle Colonies were more dynamic, and had bigger ports, and the South was a plantation economy in the lowlands, and a subsistance-farming economy in Appalachia.

The Colonies were similar in that they offered more economic and religious freedom than the average European country of the time. They also had a great degree of political independence from the British Crown, and were developing a democratic culture that would later influence the American Revolution.