Chapter 4, Section 2 Reading Focus Questions
Section 2 Objectives: (These do not have to be answered.)
1. Identify the resources of the Middle Colonies
2. Describe the prosperity of the cities
3. Evaluate the diversity of the region
4. Analyze the treatment of African Americans
Important terms, people, and events to be defined:
cash crop
gristmill
diversity
artisan
Conestoga Wagon
Section 1 – A Wealth of Resources/ The Importance of Mills
1. What resources were available in the Middle Colonies?
2. Why were the Middle Colonies called the “breadbasket colonies”?
3. What did the immigrants contribute to the economy?
Section 2-The Cities Prosper
1. How did the geography of the Middle Colonies contribute to the growth of the
cities?
2. Why did Philadelphia grow so quickly?
Section 3- A diverse Region/ A climate of Tolerance
1. Why did so many German immigrants come to this region?
2. How did their cultural diversity affect the Middle Colonies?
3. What are the three principles of Quaker life?
Section 4- African Americans in the Middle Colonies
1. What percentage of the population of the Middle Colonies was made up of
enslaved persons?
2. How was the work of African Americans in the Middle Colonies different from
that of New England?
3. What happened in the 1712 race riot in New York City?