The Middle Colonies had fertile soil and grew wheat, becoming the breadbasket of America. They also had industry like ironworks, mills, and shipbuilding. New York was originally settled by the Dutch as New Netherland but was taken over by the English in 1664. New Jersey was split between East and West and attracted diverse religious and ethnic groups. Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn as a haven for Quakers and offered religious freedom and representative government. Delaware was originally part of Pennsylvania but formed its own assembly in 1701.

1. THE MIDDLE COLONIES: (New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware)
Characteristics of The Middle Colonies
-fertile soil
-top cash crop was wheat/became America’s “bread-basket.”
-Largest manufacturers produced iron, flour and paper. Artisans worked as
shoemakers, carpenters, masons, weavers and coopers.
NEW YORK:
-already occupied by the Dutch (New Netherland)
-base for a profitable fur trade between Dutch and Native Americans
THE ENGLISH MOVE INTO NEW YORK:
-the English wished to link New England and Virginia
-war in Europe brakes out between England and Netherlands
-England sends warships to New Amsterdam
-The Dutch were outgunned and forced to surrender without a fight
-King Charles gave control of New Netherlands to his bother the Duke of York
-1683 the people in New York were allowed to choose an assembly to make laws
New Jersey:
-In 1664 the Duke of York gave part of his land to two friends
-Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret
-both men set up a PROPRIETARY COLONY: king give land to one or more people and
takes a percentage of the profits
-New Jersey was divided into East & West NJ
-Settled by many different groups of people (Puritans, French, Protestants, Scots, Irish,
Dutch, Finns, etc.)
-In 1702 New Jersey was united into one colony
-it was made a ROYAL COLONY: under the king’s control
-colony was allowed religious freedoms & an assembly to vote on local matters
PENNSYLVANIA: “holy experiment”
-founded by William Penn 1682
-wanted religious freedom for a group known as the Quakers
-land in new world had been given to Penn’s father by the king
-Quakers believed that men and women were equal
-they had no ministers or priests and paid no taxes
-Quakers had no religious ceremonies and refused to fight in wars
-In England & New England, Quakers were arrested, fined, even executed
-William Penn, a wealthy man who personally knew King Charles II got a charter to
form a new colony in North America.
1682-wrote Frame of Government:
*Penn appointed a governor and a council of advisors to make laws
*a representative assembly accepted or rejected these laws
*any white man who owned property could vote

2. *allowed freedom of worship (Protestants, Catholics, Jews, others)
-Penn felt that the land belong to the Indians and even paid them for it
--Penn advertised all over Europe (large number of Germans, English, Welsh and Irish
went to PA)
-built the capital at PHILADELPHIA “City of Brotherly Love”
-backcountry was home to the Scotch-Irish and the Germans or “Deutsch”
DELAWARE:
-the Duke of York gave some land to PA so they could have an outlet to the coast
-residents did not like sending delegates to a distant assembly in Philadelphia
-in 1701 Penn allows them to set up their own assembly
-new colony called Delaware
THE SOUTHERN COLONIES:
(VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, N. CAROLINA, S. CAROLINA, GEORGIA)
CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUTHERN COLONIES:
-large plantations with slaves
-staple crops
-aristocratic
-few cities, churches, schools
-some religious tolerance
COLONY OF VIRGINIA:
-Jamestown founded in 1607 – later settlement grows into Virginia
-colony in trouble at first until they start to grow tobacco
-Tobacco was a problem (ruined soil, single crop economy, need for labor)
-many indentured servants (males 15-24)
-1619 first African slaves were sold in Jamestown (Dutch ship knocked off course)
-Representative Government (House of Burgesses) 1619
-1624 King James I revokes charter, made Virginia into a
royal colony (directly under the kings control)
BACON’S REBELLION
-new poorer settlers in Virginia clashed with Indians for land inland
-wanted the Governor to help protect them
-governor refuses
-Bacon raises army – attacks Indian villages – marches on & burns Jamestown
-result; English settlers keep moving onto Native American lands.
MARYLAND:
-founded by Lord Baltimore (never visited, but planned colony)
-Proprietary Colony

3. -large estates given to Catholic land owners (smaller for protestants)
-Tobacco economy – indentured servants and slaves
-ACTS OF TOLERATION: 1649
-all Christians tolerated/adult male Christians given the right to vote
-intolerance towards Jews and atheists
-established representative assembly
THE CAROLINAS:
-Royal Colonies granted to Lord proprietors in the 1670’s
SOUTH CAROLINA:
-Sugar & Rice Economy
-at first Indian slaves then African slaves used (majority of population by 1710)
-Charles Town – large port
-English aristocrats
-often threatened by Spanish in Florida
NORTH CAROLINA:
-outcasts from Virginia mostly squatters – not nearly as wealthy as people in South
Carolina
-settlers lived on small farms and raised and exported tobacco and lumber for ship
building.
-separated from South Carolina (1712)
-more democratic, independent, less aristocratic
GEORGIA: THE LAST COLONY
-established in 1733 by James Ogelthorpe
-founded as a buffer between S. Carolina and Spanish Florida
-populated by people released from debtors (people who own money) prison in England
-religious tolerance except Catholics
-least populous, slowest growing