Middle Colonies

Why did the Dutch settle Manhattan?

In 1609, a Dutch trading company hired Henry Hudson to look for a water passage across North America. During his search, he sailed by Manhattan along a body of water now called the Hudson River.

Hudson found many beavers in the area. Beaver furs were valuable in Europe because they could be used to make waterproof hats.

Over the next 15 years, Dutch settlers moved to the area around the Hudson River to make money from the beaver fur trade.

In 1625, a Dutch company built a fort on Manhattan to control access to the Hudson. This fort soon grew into the settlement of New Amsterdam.

Did the Lenape actually sell Manhattan to the Dutch?

No one knows for sure. The Lenape (le-NAH-pay) people, also called the Delaware, controlled most of the area around Manhattan. But the Dutch record of the land deal never said which Native American group sold Manhattan. Some historians believe Manhattan was sold by a group that didn't even control the island. Either way, the Dutch did not pay much. The value of the goods they traded would only be worth about $1,000 in today's money!

After the English took over New Netherland, they renamed it New York. The name was meant to honor the king of England's brother James, the Duke of York.

Today, the state capital of New York is Albany. In Scotland, the Duke of York was called the Duke of Albany. In other words, both the state of New York and its capital city are named after the same person!

Diversity in New Netherland

Before the English took over New Netherland, the colony was home to a diverse population. A diverse population is made up of people from many different backgrounds. Aside from the Dutch, there were Puritans from England, other Christians from Sweden and present-day Germany, and Jews from Portugal.

Many of these settlers had moved to New Netherland to find religious freedom. When the English took over the colony, they wanted all these settlers to stay and help the colony grow. So, the English agreed to protect the settlers' freedom of religion.

After New Netherland became New York, it remained a place where people were free to choose their own religion. Even today, New York City is famous for its diverse population.

Attracting settlers to New Jersey Colony

In the 1600s, life in Europe was difficult for many people. Europe was crowded, and people without any land had a hard time making money. In addition, many countries in Europe did not have religious freedom. Many people were treated badly for their beliefs.

Sir George Carteret and John Berkeley promised religious freedom to everyone in New Jersey Colony. They hoped this promise would make more Europeans settle there.

Did their plan work?

Yes, but not as Berkeley and Carteret hoped. The promise of religious freedom brought some people to the colony. But Berkeley and Carteret struggled to make money from the colony. Many settlers would not pay the fees on the land.

In 1673, Berkeley sold his part of the colony, known as West Jersey, to a group of Englishmen. Carteret sold his part, East Jersey, to the same group in 1682. In 1702, these Englishmen returned control of the colony to the king of England.

William Penn was a member of a religious group called the Quakers. In England, the Quakers were often persecuted. William Penn wanted to start a new colony in North America so that the Quakers would have a safe place to live.

Who were the Quakers?

The Quakers were also called the Religious Society of Friends of God. They were Christians, but they did not practice Christianity like any other group. Here are some things that made Quakers different:

• They did not go to church. Instead, they worshipped at home or in plain meeting houses.

• Women were allowed to speak during their meetings.

• They did not swear oaths to any government.

• They were pacifists. Pacifists do not believe in using violence for any reason.

How were the Quakers treated in England?

The English government passed several laws meant to make life more difficult for Quakers. One of these laws banned all Quaker meetings.

Quakers were often beaten, fined, or thrown in jail for their beliefs. Even William Penn, a powerful gentlemen, was sometimes put in jail.

William Penn's "holy experiment"

Penn called the Pennsylvania colony a "holy experiment." He hoped to build a society where people of all religions could live together in peace. An important part of this experiment was treating Native Americans as fairly as he could.

Most other English colonies used violence or trickery to take Native American lands. But William Penn tried to make fair deals with the Lenape and other groups living in Pennsylvania.

Later settlers did not always live up to Penn's ideas. After Penn's death, Pennsylvania's leaders did use tricks to take more land from the Lenape.

In 1682, William Penn started to plan Pennsylvania's first city, which he named Philadelphia.

The City of Brotherly Love

To this day, Philadelphia's nickname is "the City of Brotherly Love." William Penn's "holy experiment" in Pennsylvania was to get different groups of people to live together. The name for the colony's first city was a symbol of Penn's ideas.

Planning Philadelphia

William Penn planned out the city of Philadelphia himself. By doing so, he became the first urban planner, or a planner of cities, in the Thirteen Colonies. Philadelphia was small at first, but it grew quickly. By the 1750s, it was the largest city in the Thirteen Colonies. Philadelphia also became the first national capital of the United States. Today, Philadelphia has a population of more than 1.5 million people.

Who did William Penn want to move to Pennsylvania?

One of William Penn's main goals in starting Pennsylvania was to give Quakers a safe place to live. But Quakers weren't the only people he hoped to bring to Pennsylvania. He wanted to attract people from all over Europe, especially people who were treated badly for their religious beliefs. Part of his "holy experiment" was to have many types of people in the same place.

Pennsylvania's famous beauty

William Penn's writings helped to make Pennsylvania famous in England and across Europe. Penn's description of beautiful and rich land encouraged many Europeans to move there. Within ten years, more than 10,000 Europeans had moved to Pennsylvania. By 1750, the colony had a population of more than 100,000 people!

In the 1730s, New York Governor William Cosby was known for being greedy and unfair. Most of the local press, or news reporters, were afraid to attack him. But one reporter, John Peter Zenger, wrote news articles about all the things Governor Cosby was doing wrong.

In 1735, the governor had Zenger arrested for writing lies about a government official. Zenger went to court and admitted to writing the articles. But he also argued that he wasn't guilty, because he only wrote the truth. In the end, the judge agreed. Zenger was allowed to go free.

Freedom of the press

John Peter Zenger was a member of the press, or the group of people who cover the news. When Zenger was found innocent, it was the first time a colonial judge had ruled that reporters could not be punished for telling the truth.

The trial began a long English and American tradition of protecting the freedom of the press. Future generations of colonists and Americans saw freedom of the press as one of the most important ways for people to fight back against unfair governments.

Today, freedom of the press is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Reporters cannot be punished for criticizing members of the government, as long as they are telling the truth.

Voting rights and land ownership the Middle Colonies

As in most British colonies, voting rights in the Middle Colonies were almost always connected to owning land or property such as farm animals. Owning land and property was more common in some places than in others:

• In newer British settlements with lots of cheap land, up to 9 out of 10 white men could vote.

• In older settlements or cities like Philadelphia, most people could not afford to buy land. Sometimes as few as 4 out of 10 white men could vote.

What about other groups of people?

Women, young people, enslaved people, and free people of African heritage were usually not allowed to vote anywhere in the British colonies. Historians estimate that only about 2 out of every 10 people living in the Thirteen Colonies could vote.

What did the Middle Colonies all have in common?

The Middle Colonies were founded by different groups for different reasons. But they all had some important things in common:

• After the English took over, all four Middle Colonies started as proprietary colonies.

• The earliest leaders saw the colonies as ways to make money.

• So, they invited people from all over Europe.

• All four colonies protected religious freedom.

• People from many religions were not always welcome in colonies such as Virginia and Massachusetts. But all religions were welcome in the Middle Colonies.

Benjamin Franklin lived in Philadelphia for most of his life. He was one of the first people to argue that the Thirteen Colonies should unite.

What made the Middle Colonies special?

Most colonists were farmers. But the Middle Colonies had more than just good farmland. They also had the largest cities in the Thirteen Colonies.

Those cities later became important meeting places for political leaders from across the colonies:

• In the 1750s, colonial leaders met in New York to decide how to deal with a war between Great Britain and France.

• In the 1770s, colonial leaders met in Philadelphia to figure out how to separate from Great Britain and form a new country.

By working together, people from across the colonies helped to form the United States of America. The cities in the Middle Colonies helped to make the American Revolution possible.

A good place to settle

Unlike most of New England, the Middle Colonies had excellent farmland. Several features of the environment made the region good for growing crops:

• The summers were warm and humid.

• The winters were short and mild.

• The entire area got a lot of rain.

How did farming in the Middle Colonies change over time?

The first Europeans to settle in the Middle Colonies had to figure out how to survive in an unfamiliar environment. They were mostly subsistence farmers, or farmers who grow food just to feed themselves.

Over time, farmers got used to the environment in the colonies. They could grow more food than they needed. Meanwhile, settler towns grew. There were more people who needed food. So, more farmers decided to spend time raising crops to sell.

Farmers also discovered they could make more money by focusing on certain crops. Many of the most valuable cash crops were grains, such as wheat, corn, and rye.

The breadbasket of the colonies

During the colonial era, the Middle Colonies were famous for their huge wheat farms.

Wheat is a grain. Grains such as wheat can be ground into flour, which is the main ingredient in most breads.

Unlike most fruits and vegetables, flour lasts a long time before going bad. So, it was easy to send to other colonies or back to Europe.

The most valuable crop

People living in the Middle Colonies made a lot of money selling wheat, wheat flour, and wheat bread. By 1770, bread and flour were the most valuable goods that the Thirteen Colonies were selling overseas. The shipments of bread and flour from that year alone would be worth over $100 million in today's money.

The cash crops from the Middle Colonies were often sold to other colonies or to England. However, farmers did not usually sell the crops to these places by themselves. Buying and selling goods was a different job.

The changing role of merchants

Merchants played a key role in colonial trade. At first, merchants made money mostly by selling European goods to the colonists. But as the colonies began producing their own crops and goods, merchants began to sell colonial goods overseas.

Trade, wealth, and power

As trade increased, merchants also became wealthier and more powerful. By the mid-1700s, many of the richest people in the Thirteen Colonies were merchants. Some merchants became political leaders, too.

Enslaved people played important roles in almost all parts of the economy. They worked on farms, in households, and in workshops in the larger cities.

What was life like for free people of African heritage?

In the Middle Colonies, it was sometimes possible for enslaved people to escape their owners or even buy their own freedom.

But even free people of African heritage were treated unfairly. They had fewer rights than white settlers. For example, their words did not count in court trials against white people. They also always faced the threat of kidnappers. Kidnappers would try to capture free people of African heritage and sell them back into slavery.

What is a free enterprise system?

Enterprise means a business or organization. In a free enterprise system, people can own their own property and start their own businesses. They don't need to ask permission from a central power or government. Today, the economy of the United States is based on free enterprise.

Did the Middle Colonies have a free enterprise system?

Some historians say so. Compared to most European countries, the colonies had lower taxes and fewer rules about trade. Many Europeans came to the Middle Colonies in search of economic opportunity, or a chance at success. In the colonies, free colonists could choose from many ways to make money.

However, not everyone was equally free in the Middle Colonies. For example, enslaved people could not choose what kind of work they did. And women were usually expected to work at home. They could not choose any job they wanted.

Artisans in the Middle Colonies

Artisans played an important role in the economy of the Middle Colonies. They made many things that colonists needed:

• Blacksmiths made farm tools and weapons.

• Glassblowers made cups, dishes, and bottles.

• Carpenters made furniture, houses, and boats.

Without artisans, people in the Middle Colonies would have had to import all of these goods from Europe!

How did a colonist become an artisan?

Many colonists chose to become artisans because they did not own any land to farm. A young person could become an artisan by working as an apprentice. An apprentice would learn a specific skill from an experienced artisan.

Who became indentured servants?

Historians estimate that nearly half of all the Europeans that moved to the Thirteen Colonies during the colonial period were indentured servants. They came from many different European countries, including England, Scotland, and Germany.

Most indentured servants were young. About 3 out of every 4 indentured servants were under the age of 25. Many people became indentured servants as children.

Why would someone agree to be an indentured servant?

In the 1600s, life in Europe was difficult for many people. People born into poor families often struggled to make a living. Many young people hoped to find better luck in the colonies in North America. But the journey across the ocean was expensive.

By signing up to be an indentured servant, a person could get to North America even if he or she had no money. For some people, a chance to live in the colonies was worth years of hard work.

The life of an indentured servant

Most indentured servants came to the colonies looking for a better life. But they often found that life was no better in the colonies. Gottlieb Mittelberger wanted other Europeans to understand how difficult life was for indentured servants. So, he described some of the saddest things he saw:

It often happens that whole families, husband, wife, and children, are separated by being sold to different purchasers, especially when they have not paid any part of their passage money.

If you were a poor person in Europe in the 1700s, would you have been willing to be an indentured servant? Do you think losing your family and doing years of hard work would be worth a chance to live in North America?

Slavery in New York City

Slavery was an important part of life in New York City during the colonial period. In 1703, 4 out of every 10 households owned at least one enslaved person. Slavery was more common in New York City than any other city in the Middle Colonies.

Effects of the 1712 revolt

Even before the fire, some white colonists were frightened by the large number of enslaved people in the city. They were afraid that enslaved people would join together to revolt, or fight for freedom. The colonists' fears seemed to come true during the 1712 fire.

After the city captured the enslaved people involved in the fire, they put them in death in violent ways. Then the city passed new laws meant to keep enslaved people under control:

• No more than three enslaved people could meet together at the same time.

• Slave owners had to pay money to the city if they ever freed a slave.

• The colony set up separate courts for enslaved people accused of crimes.

Fears of another revolt

The new laws did not reduce the colonists' fears about another slave revolt. In 1741, city officials claimed that enslaved people were planning to burn down the whole city.

Historians still do not know if the plan was ever real. But city courts sentenced many people to death. The city killed dozens of enslaved people as well as some white people accused of helping them.

Enslaved people in the Middle Colonies had hard lives. They had little control over their own labor, and masters could brutally abuse enslaved people.

Since enslaved people wrote few written documents about their lives, historians who want to learn about them must rely on other types of evidence.

New York City's African Burial Ground

Thousands of enslaved people in New York City were buried in the same cemetery during the colonial era. But for hundreds of years, the cemetery was lost and forgotten.

When the burial ground was rediscovered in 1991, New Yorkers decided to build a monument to honor the people buried there. These words are written on the monument:

For all those who were lost,

For all those who were stolen,

For all those who were left behind,

For all those who were not forgotten.

In the 1730s and 1740s, many people in the Middle Colonies took part in a new religious movement. The movement encouraged people to have a more personal and emotional connection to their religion.

In the 1730s and 1740s, people throughout the Thirteen Colonies began to change the way they thought about religion. Because people were "waking up" to new ideas, historians sometimes call this movement the Great Awakening.

During the Great Awakening, new religious leaders rose up to share their ideas. These leaders often gave emotional sermons, or religious speeches, to get people excited about their beliefs.

The Great Awakening took place in the 1730s and 1740s. In 1739, a colonist named Benjamin Franklin heard the preacher George Whitefield give a sermon, or religious speech. Franklin later wrote about the experience:

The multitudes of all sects and denominations that attended his sermons were enormous.

multitudes : large numbers

sects and denominations : different groups within a religion

The Great Awakening in the Middle Colonies

In the 1700s, Philadelphia was one of the most diverse places in the Thirteen Colonies. People from many different countries followed many different religions. During the Great Awakening, sermons often brought different groups together. For this reason, historians often argue that the Great Awakening helped to make people in the Thirteen Colonies more united.

George Whitefield and revivals

George Whitefield was an English preacher who became famous for leading revivals in the Thirteen Colonies. A revival is a series of religious meetings meant to get people more interested in religion.

George Whitefield's revivals worked as intended in Philadelphia. Benjamin Franklin later wrote about the changes he was seeing in his city:

It seemed as if all the world were growing religious; so that one could not walk through the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street.

psalms: religious songs

Why do historians say the Great Awakening united the colonists?

During the Great Awakening, different religious groups often came together during revivals. Revivals made religion more emotional and personal for many colonists. Even large numbers of enslaved people became deeply religious Christians. Throughout the colonies, Christians were united by their excitement for religious belief.

If the colonists were more united, why didn't they go to the same church?

The Great Awakening was never about uniting colonists in the same church. By the end of the period, Christian colonists had split up into many new churches. Religion became more personal, so colonists chose to practice religion in different ways. Still, many colonists preferred to worship with people who spoke the same language.

A diverse population is a population made up of many different groups of people. A less diverse population is mostly made up of one group.

Why were the Middle Colonies so diverse?

The Middle Colonies were more diverse than the other colonial regions throughout colonial times. There were several reasons for this:

• The earliest European settlements in the Middle Colonies were not all English.

• The Middle Colonies always welcomed people of many different religions.

• The English leaders of the Middle Colonies often advertised the colonies all over Europe.

Diversity then and now

Even after the Middle Colonies became part of the United States, the area continued to be one of the more diverse parts of the country.

Today, New York City is still famous for its diversity. The population now includes many groups that were barely present during colonial times. If you visit different parts of the city, you can see signs written in Chinese, Russian, Spanish, and many other languages!