1. MIDDLE COLONIES
CHAPTER 3 SECTION 3

2. GEOGRAPHY OF THE MIDDLE COLONIES
Middle Colonies- New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware
The climate is warmer than New England with a longer growing season.
The soil is fertile and well suited for crops like wheat, fruits, and vegetables.
Major cities are New York City and Philadelphia.
Major rivers are the Hudson and the Delaware Rivers

3. NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY
New York began as the Dutch colony of New Netherlands. The colony was small.
It had Swedish, French, Portuguese and English colonist that were hostile to Dutch rule.
New Netherland separated the English southern and new England colonies and England and Holland were trade rivals.
The King sent his brother the Duke of York to capture New Netherland from the Dutch.
In 1665 New Jersey was spilt off from New York as a Proprietary Colony,
1702 it became Royal Colony.

4. PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE
PENN’S “HOLY EXPERIMENT”
Founded by William Penn as a refuge for Quakers
Quakers were a religious group persecuted in England for their beliefs.
They believe in equality for all people, they were some of the first to speak out against slavery.
They were Pacifists(do not believe in violence/war).
They refused to pay taxes to the Church of England.
Penn established Philadelphia

5. PENN’S “HOLY EXPERIMENT”
Pennsylvania –
very diverse place
people to elected an Assembly
religious freedom for all groups.
Penn tried to deal fairly with the Native Americans.
Penn hoped to create a colony where people from different religious backgrounds could live together in peace.
Delaware was a part of Pennsylvania.
William Penn allowed them to elect their own assembly. In 1704 Delaware became a separate colony.

6. GROWTH AND CHANGE
Fertile soil made the Middle colonies very productive. Farmer grew more than they use and sold the rest for cash. Wheat became the chief cash crop. Pennsylvania became known as the Breadbasket of America.
In the 1700’s manufacturers and artisans became important to the Middle colonies economy.
Germans who settled in the backcountry became known as the Pennsylvania Dutch
The Middle Colonies became the most diverse colonies in America.