Final answer:
The northern colonies' economy was shaped by its geography, with New England focusing on whaling, fishing, and shipbuilding due to poor farming conditions, whereas the middle colonies farmed grains and raised livestock, also leading in iron manufacturing.
Step-by-step explanation:
The geography of the northern colonies significantly shaped its economy by making certain types of agriculture and industry more viable than others. In the New England colonies, the long winters and rocky soil did not favor large-scale agriculture, leading settlers to practice subsistence farming. However, these colonies capitalized on their coastal geography by leading in whaling, fishing, and shipbuilding, which all became important export industries.
The middle colonies, with more fertile land, focused on growing grains like wheat and raising livestock, eventually leading to iron manufacturing. In the southern regions, agriculture thrived with tobacco in the Chesapeake colonies and rice, indigo, and salt pork in the Carolinas and Georgia, which had milder climates and more suitable land for these crops. Additionally, the southern economies expanded into timber and the Indian trade, reflecting the flexibility of colonial economies to adapt to their geographic circumstances.