The Middle Colonies

“The breadbasket colonies”

Overview• THE MIDDLE

COLONIES

• Society in the middle colonies was made up of settlers from many different countries, many different religious groups, and was much more tolerant than in the New England Colonies.

• Settlers from all over Europe came for new opportunity and greater freedoms.

Pennsylvania• Algonquian and

Iroquoian Native Americans lived in the Pennsylvania region when Dutch explorers first visited in 1609. Henry Hudson sent word of the area after sailing into the Delaware Bay in search of a trade route to Asia.

• In 1615, Cornelius Hendricksen reached what is now Philadelphia.

• Sweden established the first permanent settlements near Philadelphia in 1643. Dutch troops conquered the area in 1655 until England conquered it in 1664.

• In 1681, King Charles II granted the land to William Penn. He named the region Sylvania, meaning “woods”. “Penn” was added later by the King in honor of William’s father.

• William Penn, a Quaker, desired religious freedom and self-government for all who settled in Pennsylvania.

• Shortly after arriving, Penn signed treaties with the Native Americans and paid them for the land he was given by the King of England

• In 1682, he founded the city of Philadelphia. Penn returned to England in 1684.

• Several conflicts arose in his absence, and many changes resulted in Pennsylvania’s government.

• In many ways, Pennsylvania and Delaware owed their initial success to William Penn.

• Under his guidance, Pennsylvania functioned smoothly and grew rapidly. By 1685 its population was almost 9,000.

• The heart of the colony was Philadelphia, a city soon to be known for its broad, tree-shaded streets, substantial brick and stone houses, and busy docks.

• Although the Quakers dominated in Philadelphia, elsewhere in Pennsylvania other groups were well represented. Germans became the colony's most skillful farmers and cottage industries such as weaving, shoemaking, cabinetmaking and other crafts sprung up everywhere.

• Pennsylvania was also home to the Scots-Irish, who settled in the colony in the early 1700’s. They hated the English and were suspicious of all government. The Scots-Irish tended to settle in the backcountry where the government had less control. They cleared the land and lived by hunting and subsistence farming.

New York• As mixed as the people were in Pennsylvania,

New York best illustrated the polyglot nature of America. By 1646 the population included Dutch, French, Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, English, Scots, Irish, Germans, Poles, Bohemians, Portuguese and Italians -- the forerunners of millions to come.

• The Dutch continued to exercise an important social and economic influence on the New York region long after the fall of New Netherland to the English.

• Their sharp-stepped, gable roofs became a permanent part of the city's architecture, and their prosperous merchants gave Manhattan much of its original bustling, commercial atmosphere.

• For more than three centuries England and Holland (the Dutch) had been the closest of friends but now, the power of Spain was crushed, and the Dutch, no longer having anything to fear from Spain decided to try and become a Naval power. This upset England who were already upset that the Dutch traded with the English colonies freely.

• Their ships carried great quantities of goods such as Virginia tobacco to Holland, and thus at least £10,000 a year was lost in taxes to the English government.

• The English Parliament passed The first Navigation Act (Law) in 1651 which would stop Dutch ships from trading goods. The Dutch traders ignored the law and continued as before.

• The fact that Dutch traders were essentially stealing English tax dollars and that New Netherlands split the English colonies in two led the English to decide to conquer the Dutch colony.

• The English claimed New Netherland and Charles II gave the entire country to his brother James, Duke of York, ignoring the claims of the Dutch colony. A small English fleet and about five hundred of the king's veteran troops were joined by several hundred of the militia of Connecticut and Long Island. They all sailed for the mouth of the Hudson where New Amsterdam and Manhattan lie.

• Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch colonial Governor had heard of the fleet's arrival at Boston, but believed the King was cracking down on the Puritans in New England. Stuyvesant had been away stopping an Indian uprising when he heard the fleet was heading for New Amsterdam. He arrived at New Amsterdam only one day before the English fleet came into view.

• Nicolls, the Fleet Captain demanded the surrender of the fort and Stuyvesant refused. He fumed and fretted and swore and stamped his wooden leg.

•He tore to bits a polite letter sent him by Nicolls. He mustered his meager forces for defense but the people were not with him.

• They were tired of his tyrannical control where they had no say in the government and tired of enriching the colonial company at their own expense, and the choleric old governor had to yield. The fort was surrendered (1664) without bloodshed and New Amsterdam became New York (named after the Duke of York) and all of New Netherlands was under English control.

New Jersey

• In 1609, Henry Hudson claimed New Jersey and New York for the Dutch. By 1630, Dutch settlement of New Jersey began along the Hudson River but because of Indian attacks, the first permanent town, Bergen, wasn’t established until 1660. Swedish fur traders began settling southern New Jersey in 1638, but were quickly forced out of the area by the Dutch.

• England gained control of New Jersey in 1664 after taking New York with soldiers from the English colonies along the coast.

• Many settlers arrived looking for cheap land and political and religious freedom. The colony was later divided into West and East Jersey. After land disputes caused rioting in the 1690s, England again united the two colonies into one colony.

Delaware• Two groups of Native

Americans lived in the Delaware region when European explorers first visited the area. The Lenape and the Nanticoke.

• In 1610, an English ship sailed into the Delaware Bay from the colony of Virginia. Captain Samuel Argall named the bay after Virginia’s governor, Lord De La Warr. The bay, river, and land surrounding the region became known as Delaware.

• One year earlier, Henry Hudson had entered the Delaware Bay for a Dutch company. The Dutch tried to establish a settlement in 1631, but Indians killed the settlers and destroyed the fort.

• Sweden also made claims to Delaware. In 1638, colonists arrived and established Fort Christina, the first permanent settlement in the region. Sweden also claimed land from New Jersey and Pennsylvania and named the entire colony New Sweden. The Dutch captured New Sweden in 1655.

• When England captured New Netherland Delaware became part of the colony of New York. In 1681, William Penn was granted land that included Pennsylvania and Delaware. Delaware then became known as the Three Lower Counties, because of its position down the Delaware River from Pennsylvania. As the population in Pennsylvania’s counties grew the Three Lower Counties had less votes in government. As a result, in 1704 Delaware was given its own legislature, but continued with Pennsylvania governors until the Revolutionary War.

• Delaware flourished under English rule. The lumber industry brought thousands to work in sawmills built along the Delaware River. By 1760, nearly 35,000 people lived in the Delaware region.