The over-arching theme of chapter 3 is that the northern colonies were started out of religious fervor and they largely grew out of religious fervor.

1. Plymouth, MA was founded with the initial goal of allowing Pilgrims, and later Puritans, to worship independent of the Church of England. Their society, ironically, was very intolerant itself and any dissenters were pushed out of the colony.
2. Other New England colonies sprouted up, due to (a) religious dissent from Plymouth and Massachusetts as with Rhode Island, (b) the constant search for more farmland as in Connecticut, and (c) just due to natural growth as in Maine.
3. The Middle Colonies emerged as the literal crossroads of the north and south. They held the stereotypical qualities of both regions: agricultural and industrial. And they were unique in that (a) New York was born of Dutch heritage rather than English, and (b) Pennsylvania thrived more than any other colony due to its freedoms and tolerance.