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The Middle Colonies
What makes up the Middle Colonies?
What makes up the Middle Colonies?
• New York
• Pennsylvania
• New Jersey
• Deleware
Geography
Hudson River
• Flows south through the eastern part of New
York
• Reaches New York City
• Dumps into the Atlantic Ocean
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
• This is the second largest colony in the region
• Philadelphia is the biggest city. It is located on
a lowland on the Delaware River
• Lowland-is an area of land that is low in
relationship to the rest of the surrounding
land
New Jersey and Delaware
• Delaware is the regions smallest state (second
smallest overall)
• Most of New Jersey is a lowland on the
Atlantic Ocean
Farming
• Weather is much better for farming in the
Middle Colonies than in the New England
Colonies
• Fertile soil
• Warmer climate
• Crops were wheat and a variety of fruits and
vegetables
New York
New York
• Began as a Dutch colony of New Netherlands
• Colony was known for its fur trade between
the Dutch and the Native Americans
• Also traded with merchants in the English
colonies
• A major problem was its small Dutch
population
• England and the Netherlands did not like one
another
• In 1664, King Charles II granted the right to all
Dutch lands in North America to his brother,
James
• Colony renamed New York after James, the
Duke of York.
New Jersey
New Jersey
• Established in 1665 when part of Southern
New York split off to form a new colony
• It was a first a proprietary colony
• Becomes a royal colony in 1702
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
• In the 1640s-1650s the Quakers were one of a
number of new religious groups in England.
• Ideas different from most other groups
• Believed that all people had direct link or
inner light with God
• No ministers because all people were equal in
God’s eyes
• One of the first to speak out against slavery
• Believed in equal rights for both men and
women
• Refused to pay taxes that supported the
Church of England
• William Penn gets a charter from the King for
a new colony in North America
• Penn arrived in 1682
• His goal was to provide a place for people to
practice their religions peacefully
• Much better relationship with the Native
Americans than in other colonies
1) What colony was owned by Netherlands
before being taken over by the English?
2) Who was the leader of the Quakers?
Delaware
Delaware
• Dutch took control of it in the 1650s but lost it
when the English took over New York
• Penn was given control of it as well
• He allows them to form their own colony
Growth and Change
Growth and Change
• By the early 1700s more than 20,000 colonists
lived in Philadelphia
• Farms were productive (especially wheat,
Philadelphia is called “America’s breadbasket”
• Manufactures produced iron, flour, and paper