The correct answer is B) agricultural in both north and south.
The statement that BEST describes the economic activities of the English colonies during the 17th- and early-18th centuries is "agricultural in both north and south."
Since the English colonists arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, the first British colony in the North American territory, they have to work hard to make a living and overcome the difficult conditions such as the new land, the Native American Indian tribes, and the harsh winter conditions. They started to farm the fields and grow crops to make a living and be exported to Europe. Talking about Jamestown, that was the case of tobacco, that became the most important cash crop in the colony.