Middle Colonies

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Page semi-protected
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

U.S. States:

The Middle Colonies were a subset of the Thirteen Colonies in British America, located between the New England Colonies and the Southern Colonies. Along with the Chesapeake Colonies, this area now roughly makes up the Mid-Atlantic states.

Much of the area was part of the Dutch colony of

King of England would later grant others ownership of the land which would become the Province of New Jersey and the Province of Pennsylvania
. The Delaware Colony later separated from Pennsylvania, which was founded by William Penn.

The Middle Colonies had much fertile soil, which allowed the area to become a major exporter of wheat and other grains. The lumber and shipbuilding industries were also successful in the Middle Colonies because of the abundant forests, and Pennsylvania was moderately successful in the textile and iron industries. The Middle Colonies were the most ethnically and religiously diverse

British colonies in North America with settlers from England, Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and German states. Farm land was both productive and much less expensive than in Europe. Later settlers included members of various Protestant denominations, which were protected in the Middle Colonies by written freedom of religion
laws. This tolerance was very unusual and distinct from the situation in other British colonies.

History

The Middle Colonies were explored by

Dutch in 1655.[1] In October 1664, as a prelude to the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the English largely conquered this land from the Dutch. Though the war ended in a Dutch victory in 1667, the English retained New Netherland and renamed it New York after the English King's brother, the Duke of York, who had co-instigated the war for personal gain and had commanded the attack on New Netherland.[2][3][4] In 1673, the Dutch retook the area but relinquished it under the Treaty of Westminster (1674), ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War
the next year.

Province of New Jersey

Main articles: Bergen, New Netherland and Province of New Jersey
Map showing the borders of West New Jersey (left) and East New Jersey (right)

King Charles II renamed the land west of the

Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton. This land grant became the Province of New Jersey.[5][6]

In 1665, the

New York-New Jersey Line War
over disputed colonial boundaries.

On April 15, 1702, Queen

Royal Colony, the Province of New Jersey.[9] Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon became the royal colony's first governor. After Hyde was recalled to England in 1708 over charges of graft, bribery, and corruption, the governor of New York was charged to also preside over New Jersey.[9] Finally, in 1738, King George II appointed a separate governor, Lewis Morris, to run New Jersey.[5]

The

New Jersey State Constitution, soon after having empowered delegates to the Continental Congress, on June 21, to join in a declaration of independence. The United States Declaration of Independence ended their colonial status.[6]

Province of Pennsylvania

Main article: Province of Pennsylvania
Chester Courthouse in Pennsylvania was built in 1724.

William Markham served as the first colonial deputy governor.[11][13]

Demarcated by the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
.

Province of New York

Main articles: Province of New York and New Netherland

The first Dutch settlements in the New York area appeared around 1613. The English captured the New Netherland Colony from the Dutch in 1664, renaming it the Province of New York after the King's brother, the Duke of York (later King James II).[3] The Dutch recaptured the colony in July 1673 during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, but gave it back to the English under the Treaty of Westminster in exchange for Suriname. The Duke of York never governed the colony himself: he instead appointed governors, councils, and other officers to run the government. Richard Nicolls served as the first governor of New York.

In 1665, the Province of New Jersey split from New York; however, the

New York-New Jersey Line War continued until the final borders were decided in 1769, and approved by the legislatures and the King in 1772 and 1773 respectively. A Colonial Assembly convened in October 1683, making New York the last colony to have an assembly. A constitution was drafted and passed on October 30, 1683, giving the colonists many rights, including the rights to no taxation without representation. However, upon learning of the constitution, James II declared it void.[3]

When the Duke of York became King James II of England, New York became a royal province. In May 1688 the province briefly became part of the Dominion of New England. When James II was overthrown, the citizens of New York rebelled against the Royal Governor in Leisler's Rebellion.[14] When Henry Sloughter became governor in March 1691, the rebellion was crushed and its leader, Jacob Leisler was arrested, tried, and executed for treason. New York's charter and constitution were reinstated soon after. In April 1775, American patriots formed the New York Provincial Congress to replace the assembly. Governor William Tryon and all royal officials were forced from the colony on October 19, 1775. Colonial status ended for the new state with the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776.

Delaware Colony

Main article: Delaware Colony

Delaware changed hands between the Dutch and Swedes between 1631 and 1655. The Dutch maintained control of Delaware until 1664, when Sir Robert Carr took

colonial assembly.[15]

Geography

The

partly unglaciated Middle Colonies enjoyed fertile soil vastly different from the nearby New England Colonies, which contained more rocky soil. Because of the large grain exports resulting from this soil, the colonies came to be known as the Bread Basket Colonies. Pennsylvania became a leading exporter of wheat, corn, rye, hemp, and flax,[13] making it the leading food producer in the colonies, and later states, between the years of 1725 and 1840.[17] Broad navigable rivers of relaxed current like the Susquehanna River, the Delaware River, and the Hudson River attracted diverse business. Fur trappers moved along these rivers, and there was enough flow to enable milling with water wheel
power.

Industry

Abundant forests attracted both the lumbering and shipbuilding industries to the Middle Colonies. These industries, along with the presence of deep river estuaries, led to the appearance of important ports like

Pennsylvania long rifle and the Conestoga wagon. Other important industries included printing, publishing, and the related industry of papermaking.[13][18]

Politics

The Middle Colonies' political groups began as small groups with narrowly focused goals. These coalitions eventually grew into diverse and large political organizations, evolving especially during the French and Indian War.[19]

The Middle Colonies were generally run by Royal or Proprietary Governors and elected Colonial Assemblies. Many Middle Colony constitutions guaranteed freedom of religion and forbade taxation without representation. Royal governors were arrested or overthrown on more than one occasion, most notably when New Jersey arrested its governor and during Leisler's Rebellion in New York. Growing unrest in the Middle Colonies eventually led the region to become the meeting place for the Continental Congress, and a center for revolution.[20] However, there were numerous pockets of neutrals and Loyalists.[21]

Demographics

The Middle Colonies tended to mix aspects of the New England and Southern Colonies. Landholdings were generally farms of 40 to 160 acres (16–65 hectares), owned by the family that worked it. In New York's

patroons operated very large landed estates and rented land to tenant farmers.[22]

Ethnically, the Middle Colonies were more diverse than the other British colonial regions in North America and tended to be more socially tolerant. For example, in New York, any foreigner professing Christianity was awarded citizenship, leading to a more diverse populace. As a consequence, early German settlements in the Americas concentrated in the Middle Colonies region. Indentured servitude was especially common in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York in the 18th century, though fewer worked in agriculture.[23]

Mennonites and Amish[24]

The

Swedes, Swiss, and Scots Highlanders.[26]

English colonists

When the English took direct control of the Middle Colonies around 1664, many Quakers from Rhode Island had already been pushed into the region by Puritans, while Episcopalian businessmen settled in Philadelphia and New York City.

Welsh Quakers,

Roger Williams, left to found Rhode Island, Anne Hutchinson founded a seed settlement in New York. Rhode Island was not initially counted as part of New England, having been excluded from the New England Confederation, but later joined the Dominion of New England. Thus, the definition of the Middle Colonies sometimes changed and overlapped with Rhode Island's colonial boundaries. After joining the Dominion of New England, however, Rhode Island was permanently thought of as a New England colony. New York's initial possession of parts of Maine ensured a close relationship with other New England colonies like Vermont and a continuing New England influence in the colony.[21]

Both William Penn and the Lords Baltimore encouraged Irish Protestant immigration, hoping they could obtain indentured servants to work on their estates and on colonial developments.[21] Often areas of the Middle Colonies displayed prevalent Irish cultural influence.[21]

Labor

Labor was always in short supply. The most common solution was

indentured servitude of young whites. These were teenagers in Britain or Germany whose parents arranged for them to work for families in the colonies until age 21, in exchange for their ocean passage. The great majority became farmers or farm wives.[27] By the mid-eighteenth century, African American slaves comprised 12% of the population of New York. Most were house servants in Manhattan, or farm workers on Dutch estates.[28]

Religion

The Middle Colonies were the religiously diverse part of the British Empire, with a high degree of tolerance. The Penn family were

Calvinist, Swedish Lutherans, Palatine Mennonites, and the Amish.[29]
There was a Jewish community already established in New York from 1654 (when it was still New Amsterdam), and Jews settled in what became Pennsylvania from 1655.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Jaap Jacobs, The Colony of New Netherland: A Dutch Settlement in Seventeenth-Century America (2nd ed. Cornell University Press; 2009)
  2. ^ a b Turner (1948), 83.
  3. ^ a b c Kammen (1996), 71-72.
  4. ^ Jonathan I. Israel, The Dutch Republic, Its Rise, Greatness and Fall, 1477–1806, p. 2.
  5. ^ a b Streissguth (2001), 96.
  6. ^ a b John E. Pomfret, Colonial New Jersey: A History (1973)
  7. ^ Berkeley and Carteret (1664).
  8. ^ Gerlach (2002), 384.
  9. ^ a b Elson (1904), 148.
  10. ^ Skemp (1990), 192.
  11. ^ a b Pennsylvania Society of Governors (1916), 180-181.
  12. ^ a b c Penn (1682).
  13. ^ a b c d e f Pennsylvania State History.
  14. ^ Jerome R. Reich, Leisler's Rebellion: A Study of Democracy in New York, 1664-1720 (1953)
  15. ^ a b c Faragher (1990), 106-108
  16. ^ State of Delaware (A Brief History) (2007).
  17. ^ Ebeling (1979)
  18. ^ Edwin J. Perkins, The Economy of Colonial America (1988)
  19. ^ Greene (1997), 709.
  20. ^ Jensen (1968), 461-468.
  21. ^ a b c d Fischer (1992), 972.
  22. ^ Sung Bok Kim, "A New Look at the Great Landlords of Eighteenth-Century New York," William and Mary Quarterly Vol. 27, No. 4 (Oct., 1970), pp. 581-614 in JSTOR
  23. ^ Westerkamp (1998), 452.
  24. ^ A. G. Roeber, Palatines, Liberty, and Property: German Lutherans in Colonial British America (1998)
  25. ^ James Graham Leyburn, The Scotch-Irish: A Social History (1989)
  26. OCLC 1038430174
    .
  27. ^ Marcus Jernegan, Laboring and Dependent Classes in Colonial America, 1607-1783 (1931)
  28. ^ Ira Berlin and Leslie Harris, Slavery in New York Some work in the fields of plantations.(2005)
  29. ^ Patricia U. Bonomi, Under the Cope of Heaven: Religion, Society, and Politics in Colonial America (2003)

References

  • Tanner, Edwin Platt (1908). The Province of New Jersey 1664-1738. New York City: Columbia University. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
  • Tiedemann, Joseph S. "A Tumultuous People: The Rage for Liberty and the Ambiance of Violence in the Middle Colonies in the Years Preceding the American Revolution," Pennsylvania History Volume 77, Number 4, Autumn 2010, pp. 387–431 in
    Project MUSE
  • Tiedemann, Joseph S. "Interconnected Communities: The Middle Colonies on the Eve of the American Revolution," Pennsylvania History, 76 (Winter 2009), 1–41.
  • Turner, F.C. (1948). James II. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode.
  • Westerkamp, Marilyn (1998). The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History.
    Houghton Mifflin
    .

Primary sources

Historiography

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Middle_Colonies&oldid=1209590927"