Middle Colonies
The Middle Colonies had much fertile soil, which allowed the area to become a major exporter of wheat and other grains.
Later settlers included members of various Protestant denominations, which were protected in the Middle Colonies by written freedom of religion laws.
On March 18, 1674, after encountering difficulty collecting the taxes, Lord Berkeley sold his share in the colony to Edward Byllynge, a Quaker businessman from London.
[9] Finally, in 1738, King George II appointed a separate governor, Lewis Morris, to run New Jersey.
The Congress had Royal Governor William Franklin arrested on June 15, declaring him "an enemy to the liberties of this country".
[6] King Charles II granted the land for the Pennsylvania Colony to William Penn on March 4, 1681 as payment for a debt the crown owed his family.
[12] As a proprietary colony, Penn governed Pennsylvania, yet its citizens were still subject to the English crown and laws.
The Pennsylvania Assembly took this opportunity to request expanded power for elected officials, led by David Lloyd.
Upon visiting the colony in 1669 and 1701, Penn eventually agreed to allow their Charter of Privileges to be added to the constitution.
In 1773, Arthur St. Clair ordered the arrest of a Virginian officer who was commanding troops against armed settlers loyal to Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvanian revolutionary sentiment continued to grow, and Philadelphia, the largest city in America, soon became the meeting place of the Continental Congress.
[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.
[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.
The Dutch maintained control of Delaware until 1664, when Sir Robert Carr took New Amstel for the Duke of York, renaming it New Castle.
[16] In 1701, after he had troubles governing the ethnically diverse Delaware territory, Penn agreed to allow them a separate colonial assembly.
These industries, along with the presence of deep river estuaries, led to the appearance of important ports like New York and Philadelphia.
The colony also became a major producer of pig iron and its products, including the Pennsylvania long rifle and the Conestoga wagon.
These coalitions eventually grew into diverse and large political organizations, evolving especially during the French and Indian War.
Growing unrest in the Middle Colonies eventually led the region to become the meeting place for the Continental Congress, and a center for revolution.
They were noted for tight-knit religious communities, mostly Lutheran but also including many smaller sects such as the Moravians, Mennonites and Amish[24] The Scotch-Irish began immigrating to the Middle Colonies in waves after 1717.
[26] 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.
[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.
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.
[28] The Middle Colonies were the religiously diverse part of the British Empire, with a high degree of tolerance.
The First Great Awakening invigorated religiosity and helped stimulate the growth of Congregational, Methodist and Baptist churches.
