USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -There was an abundance of oak forests that provided wood for the ships. In the late 1680s “there were more than 2 dozen sawmills around the Maine and Massachusetts areas. These sawmills, along with a dense supply of wood, helped to increase the business of colonial shipbuilding.

Detailed explanation-2: -Lumber became very important to the shipbuilding industry because they built ships for the colonies. Ships and lumber were also exported to England. Also, because the New England colonies were along the coast, many colonists fished.

Detailed explanation-3: -Shipbuilding quickly became a successful and profitable industry in Massachusetts, with its miles of coastline featuring protected harbors and bays, and extensive supplies of raw materials.

Detailed explanation-4: -The New England colonies developed an economy based on shipbuilding, fishing, lumbering, small-scale subsistence farming, and eventually, manufacturing.

Detailed explanation-5: -Shipbuilding was important in the New England colonies for several reasons. Since the soil in the area was poor, New England colonists could not grow the cash crops like tobacco or cotton that were abundant and lucrative in the southern colonies.