Characteristics Of The Middle Colonies

Each of these colonies were founded for a different reason, but most of them were founded for economic reasons. Delaware was founded by Sweden, purely for an economic gain. New Jersey was founded by Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton, England, they had received this piece of land as a give from King Charles’ brother, the Duke of York. They promised the freedom of religion and a representative government. Pennsylvania was founded by Quakers so that they would not have to deal with the persecution of their religion elsewhere. New York was founded by Peter Minuit for the purpose of profits and trade. Other than Pennsylvania, most of these colonies did not have a very religious composition. The colonists who lived in the middle colonies were not wealthy and were not poor, again having jobs including farming, but mostly their lives depended on trade. The middle colonies political development was a lot like New Englands, there was no real democracy, there was a monarch appointed governor. Overall, we can see that there are many differences and similarities between New England and the middle colonies in terms of motives for founding, religious and social composition, economic foundations, and political

By 1700, the Middle Colonies also known as The Bread Basket, had been established by different people with different purposes. Religion plays a big part in the colonies. There were mostly catholics and quakers. Here in the Middle colonies, there are more rich soil, mild winter, deep rivers, and natural ports. Because of longer growing seasons, it was able to produce more grains and wheats. With the huge amount of farming lands, causing small coastal towns with few large ones. Though they were mainly focused on agriculture and eat, colonists elect their proprietary government, representative. All this wouldn't be possible if it weren't for the founding fathers of the four colonies.

After the first few struggling settlements in the New World progressed, more and more colonies sprung from the untested North American soil. Eventually, there were three main categories to the European colonies. They were each unique, although one certain class stood in stark contrast to the other two. This group, the Middle colonies, was a halfway point between the New England and Southern colonies – and not just geographically. The Middle colonies extracted parts of its neighbors, like farming habits and spiritual sects, but the middle group managed to retain its own flavor.

The three colonies all wanted to make money but they had to go about it in different ways. This was mainly due to what they had available. The New England Colonies were mainly agricultural farmers. With all the water reservoirs like Cape Cod there were plenty of fish so lots of people became fishermen. There were a lot of lumberjacks to cut down trees and export them to England. The Middle Colonies were extremely different because they set up extensive cosmopolitan cities reminiscent of New York. They had many specialists like doctors, lawyers, accountants, and teachers. They traded a lot with in North America and occasionally overseas. The Southern Colonies primarily depended on cotton and tobacco plantations. As the plantations grew they had to employ black slaves. The plantations were fully self contained with their own blacksmith, teachers and professionals. So there were no big cities or towns. The main plantations traded directly with Europe via the Mississippi. The three colonies all made money differently with their diverse professions and traders.

A benefit to settling in the Middle colonies benefits was that they were not strict about anything. There was desirable land that could be acquired easily and prevailing social and economic equality. They embraced everyone who wanted to settle, regardless of who they were. There was freedom of religion, ethnic diversity and they were very against slavery.

When we think of our country now, we think about how it is separated into states, but back then the states were part of colonies. Some of the main colonies were the Chesapeake colonies which consisted of Virginia and Maryland, the middle colonies were Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, and lastly, the New England colonies which were Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. In the colonial regions of New England, Chesapeake and the middle colonies they all share similarities and differences, most predominantly shown in family life, rank and status.

1. There were several main differences among the British colonial regions. The New England colonies being colonized mainly for religion while the Middle colonies found wealth through industry, whereas the Southern colonies sought more trade and wealth opportunities through colonization. Economically, the New England colonies did not have trade as their primary focused, but still were involved in the processes of fishing, lumbering, and trapping, the Middle colonies found their wealth in lumbering and shipbuilding; the Southern colonies sought to grow and trade cash crops for wealth. The Northern colonies composed of [Separatist] Pilgrims, Puritans, and Quakers had more religious reasons for being founded, but not limited to refuge from religious persecution, and a holy society or “city upon a hill.” The Northern colonies were also religiously self-governing; one example being the Mayflower Compact, while the South had regular laws instituted. Demographically, the colonies started with an overwhelming white population over the blacks, but as the tobacco industry grew and slavery became an increasing practice, blacks began to outnumber the white population.

Regions of the Middle colonies such as Philadelphia was occupied by Quakers who influenced their religion in the area. Individuals of German descent who had occupied some areas of the Middle Colonies became the most skilled farmers in the colony.

Still, they had other means of earning money such as producing paper, textiles, and iron ore products such as plows, tools, kettles, nails, and blocks of iron in factories. Their source of lumber for ship building was provided for by the forests that surrounded the region and their trade of manufactured goods and natural resources was often done with Great Britain and sometimes other European countries. The Middle Colonies’ diverse economy was most beneficial for families as they were then able to provide for themselves in a variety of ways.

The first colony was Dutch which settled at the mouth of the Hudson River, more colonies that were included were New jersey, New York, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. The Middle Colonies farmed in order to make money as well, they farmed crops such as corn, wheat, and fruits. The society or social structures of this region is relationships with the Native Americans which was better than any other colonies, Quakers seeking religious freedom which settled in Pennsylvania, the area was the most ethnically diverse, and an abundance of rivers was allowed to transport goods between the

The Southerners would make the majority of their profits off of plantations. A plantations are large farms.The colonists purchased slaves on board ship Ashley Ferry to use their labor (Doc 8). The slaves were not paid for their work therefore the colonists could keep their profits. However, in New England they had many towns and cities which were made up of many jobs, including shipbuilding, lumbering, livestock, school teaching, etc. As a result of the schools they had taxes. Taxes are school charges. Therefore all the colonists had to pay for the school to keep it running. Also they had the triangular trade which was the trade between England, Africa, and the colonies. This is how the colonies got most products, by trading to other countries for new material. As a result the colonies made profit because of the

Throughout the 1600’s, the Middle colonies and the New England colonies had more differences than similarities. They had different religions, areas of expertise, and overall economics. First, the colonist who settled in the New England and Middle colonies had different religions. In New England, the majority of people practiced the Puritan faith.

Economies quickly emerged as a result of human and environmental interaction. Each settlement had its own economy which were based on different aspects. The English colonies were arguably the most diverse with economic activities including farming, fishing, and trading. Their settlements were mostly mercantile, meaning it “promoted governmental regulation of a nation's economy for the purpose of augmenting state power at the expense of rival national powers,” and was famous for their exports, which largely consisted of tobacco, rice, timber, and fish. Tobacco and rice became the major cash crops of the southern colonies. These cash crops were grown on large plantations of land that needed large numbers of workers. Most colonists grew their own food. The soil was too thin and rocky and the climate too harsh for the colonists to grow cash crops. They turned to fishing, lumbering, fur trading, and metal working to nourish their economy. The French economy was mainly based on fur trade because it was more profitable, but still had its part in farming. An abundance of rivers allowed for transportation of goods between the colonies. Mills to grind grains developed and supported local economies. Much like the others, the Spanish were famous for their trading, while also having farming in their western colonies. It was strictly regulated by the Spanish Board of Trade and laws were enforced by the Spanish military. The Northern colonies developed cottage industries that traded on a simple barter system. For example, one household might mill grain while the neighbor spun

Breadbasket Colonies - Also known as the Middle colonies, these colonies were main producers of grains such as corn, wheat and barley. This was characterized by good soil and a good climate for agriculture. These grains were important because they could be sold or traded in other colonies or New England. The colonies were included Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and New Jersey. These colonies also had a significant amount of forests for lumber, which was important because England had a shortage of lumber.

To begin with, the English colonies were awfully diverse based on the environment that they were founded on. Each region consisted of different growing seasons, agriculture, and climates. Simultaneously, the New England colonies (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut) were founded upon hilly and mountainous terrain that consisted of many rivers, rocky soil, and the coldest climate of all three regions. The long, harsh winters meant for the shortest growing season, leading the New England colonists to discover new ways of making income. In these northern colonies, fish, timber, and furs were their resources. Meanwhile in the middle colonies (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware), flat land, rich soil, , navigable waters and coastal plains that stretched as far as the Appalachian foothills led to the Pennsylvania colony being the first to prosper in North America for England. Family farmers had a rich, level growing land as