The Middle Colonies
Middle Colonies
•  New York, New Jersey, Delaware and
Pennsylvania: “The Bread Colonies”
–  Fertile soil & large rivers
–  Grain production
•  Fur trade, some industry, shipbuilding
•  Most diverse of all of the colonies
–  Most “American”
Dutch Colonization
•  Dutch very active in coloniazation in 17th
century
–  Most active in East Indies & Caribbean
•  Planted New Netherland on Hudson
River in 1623
–  Fur trade
–  Bought Manhattan from Natives
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New Amsterdam
•  Company town for the Dutch Company
–  Always secondary to Caribbean colonies
–  Will later be New York City
•  New Amsterdam had no religious
toleration, free speech, etc.
–  Yet was still very diverse
•  Very hostile toward Native Americans
Relationship with English
•  As New Amsterdam grew, English saw
Dutch as threat
–  Hostilities between New England & New
Amsterdam
–  Connecticut expelled Dutch citizens
–  Three New England colonies wanted war
but was vetoed by Massachusetts
•  Dutch will surrender New Amsterdam to
English in 1664
–  Renamed New York
The Society of Friends
" Founded in the 1650s
" Called Quakers because they quaked during
intense religious practices.
" Saw English church as corrupt
" Man could find grace through inward light
§  Believed all were children of Godà refused
to treat the upper classes with deference.
§  Spiritual equality of the sexes.
§  Pacifists.
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William Penn
" Aristocratic Englishman.
" 1660 – attracted to
the Quaker faith.
" 1681 à he received a
grant from king to
establish a colony.
The Holy Experiment
•  Penn s Three Goals:
–  Refuge for the persecuted.
–  Frame of Government: Representative
Government elected by landowners.
–  Charter of Liberties (1701): allowed
freedom of religion and unrestricted
immigration
Penn & Native Americans
" Bought [didn t simply take]
land from Indians.
" BUT…….. non-Quaker
Europeans flooded PA
§  Treated native peoples poorly.
§  This undermined the actions
of the Quakers!
§  By mid-18th c., Penn and
Indians near war.
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Pennsylvanian Society
" Attracted many different people
§  Religious misfits from other colonies.
§  Many different ethnic groups.
§  Jews and Catholics still not allowed to hold
office (orders from England)
" No provision for military defense.
" No restrictions on immigration.
" No slavery!!
A society that gave its citizens economic
opportunity, civil liberty, & religious freedom!!
Pennsylvania Success
•  Quakers were shrewd businessmen
–  Exported grain and other foodstuffs
–  Population will boom
•  By 1700, only Virginia & Mass. had higher pop.
•  Quaker settlements also in New Jersey
•  Delaware was under the governor of
Pennsylvania until the American Revolution
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