It is true that European countries would build different types of colonies in different climates (example: France built trading post colonies in colder climates, but plantation colonies in the Caribbean). What truly happened is that European colonists had to adapt and knew how to adapt to the different climate conditions of the new territories in the Americas. It was not an easy task to work in agriculture in the northern regions of North America because the soil was not as fertile than the middles colonies or the southern colonies, and because of the cold weather conditions in many months of the year. On the other hand, the soil was very fertile in the middle and southern colonies, and plantations flourished growing crops such as cotton, rice or tobacco.
