The Middle Colonies

Geography

• Four states make up the Middle Colonies– New York– Pennsylvania– New Jersey– Delaware

• Warmer climate than New England with longer growing season

New York

• Began as Dutch colony of New Amsterdam• Economic success!– Famers were prosperous– Base of fur trade between Dutch and Native

Americans– Traded with British colonies

• Small Dutch population– Colonists were from France, Sweden, Portugal– English Puritans on Long Island

New York

• Tension between England and Netherlands– Trade rivals– Arrangement of colonies

• 1664 King Charles II of England granted all Dutch lands in North America to his brother James– James had to conquer the territory– James sent warships and Dutch immediately surrendered– Colony renamed New York after James, the Duke of York– New Amsterdam the capital was now known as New

York City

New Jersey

• Established in 1665– Part of NY split off to

start new colony

• At first was a proprietary colony

• In 1702 received a charter as a royal colony

• Proprietary Colony: a colony created by a grant of land from monarch to an individual or family

• Royal Colony: a colony controlled directly by the English king

Pennsylvania

• Quaker leader William Penn wanted to find a place for Quakers to live where they would be safe from persecution

• Knew King Charles II personally, used connection to get a charter

• Arrived to his colony in 1682• Capital is named Philadelphia “City of

Brotherly Love”

Pennsylvania

• Printed pamphlets and distributed around Europe• Considered his colony to be his “holy experiment”– Goal was to create colony in which people from different

religious backgrounds could live peacefully– Wrote freedom of religion into the Frame of Government

• Dealt fairly with Native Americans– People couldn’t settle on land until it was sold from

Native Americans

Delaware

• Penn’s charter for Pennsylvania included Delaware

• Delaware didn’t want to send delegates to a distant assembly in Philadelphia

• Penn gave the area its own representative assembly

• 1704 became a separate colony

Growth of Middle Colonies

• Fertile soil and hard work made farms productive

• Cash crop was wheat– Sold to New England and abroad

• Manufacturers produced iron, flour, and paper• Artisans worked as shoemakers, carpenters,

masons, and weavers