Did colonial America have walls built, like stone walls or wooden for protection and defenses?

Glaciers created the New England landscape during the last ice age. As the glaciers pushed south, it broke and roles chunks of granite rock as it moved. Many of the big pieces broke and became boulders the size of a truck or larger. Smaller ones lay everywhere. As the European farmers cleared the land, trees and rocks had to be moved, cut up, or burned to keep them warm in the winter.

The stones were broken or split to make them smaller. Farmers tackled the large ones by first drilled a hole in the bolder on what they hoped was a fault line. Then, come winter, they filled the hole with water. As the water froze, it expanded and possibly cracked the stone. You can still see the drilled markings on many rocks in New England. The smaller rocks were lined up around the field's perimeter or along what would become roads by some wall builders. The occupation of stone wall builders grew to accept this challenge that still exists. The cattle could, of course, walk over the stone walls, but the sheep couldn't. New England was known for its wool. New England built many factories to process the fleece and export it to England the other countries. The smaller rocks were lined up around the perimeter of the field on along what would become roads

Picture provided by the Grafton Historical Society

The pioneers felled the trees then split them to make 'split' rail fences for cattle. Some patriots used fences, but the fences didn't provide much cover from the British Regulars. The stone walls were often used by the militia in 1775 for defensive positions, as I wrote about in When Thirteen Became One.

Joseph Smith Sr. Farm, near Palmyra, New York by Royce Bair