U.S. History IColonial America (1607 to 1754)D2.His.1.9-12

The Middle Colonies

New York (Dutch New Netherland until 1664), New Jersey, Pennsylvania (founded by William Penn, a Quaker, in 1681) and Delaware were the most diverse colonies, with wheat farms, ports and wide religious toleration.

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Between New England and the Chesapeake lay the Middle colonies: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Not all of them began as English colonies, and none was settled by a single church.

Key idea

The Middle colonies were the most diverse. New York began as Dutch New Netherland and became English in 1664. William Penn, a Quaker, founded Pennsylvania in 1681 with wide religious freedom. Rich soil made the region the colonies' "breadbasket," growing wheat for export through ports such as New York and Philadelphia.

Why it works

The Dutch West India Company cared most about the fur trade and welcomed settlers of many backgrounds to make the colony pay. After England took it, the mix remained. Penn, for his part, wanted a "holy experiment": Quakers had been jailed in England for their beliefs, so he promised freedom of worship to all who believed in God. That promise drew English and Welsh Quakers, Germans of many churches, Scots-Irish Presbyterians and others. Diversity came both from trade and from principle.
The thirteen colonies by region, with the year each began. The Middle colonies are in the center.

Worked example: New Netherland becomes New York

How did New Netherland become New York?
  1. The Dutch had built New Amsterdam on Manhattan, which Peter Minuit bought from Lenape people in 1626 for trade goods.
  2. In 1664, during a war between England and the Netherlands, English warships arrived.
  3. Governor Peter Stuyvesant surrendered without a battle, and the colony was renamed for the Duke of York.

Answer: England took it in 1664 without a fight, and the Dutch settlers stayed.

Worked example: Why Pennsylvania?

King Charles II gave William Penn a huge grant of land in 1681. Why?
  1. The crown owed a large debt to Penn's late father, an admiral.
  2. The land grant paid it off, and it also gave England a place to send Quakers.

Answer: To repay a royal debt; Penn turned it into a refuge for Quakers and others.

Penn planned Philadelphia, the "City of Brotherly Love," and made treaties with the Lenape to buy land; later deals, such as the Walking Purchase of 1737, cheated the Lenape and broke that early peace. Delaware, first settled as New Sweden (1638), was governed with Pennsylvania until it got its own assembly in the early 1700s. New Jersey was split off from New York in 1664.

ColonyBeganNotes
New York1624 (Dutch); English 1664Fur trade, port of New York
New Jersey1664Given by the Duke of York to two proprietors
Pennsylvania1681Penn's Quaker colony; Philadelphia
Delaware1638 (Swedish)Later part of Penn's grant

Common mistake

Students often assume every colony was English from the start and that all colonies were alike. New York began as Dutch, Delaware as Swedish, and the Middle colonies mixed Dutch, English, German, Scots-Irish and other settlers, with Quakers, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Catholics, Jews and others living side by side.

Practice

Pass with 3 right answers, the last 2 in a row. Each right answer earns 2 XP.

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