MIDDLE COLONIESChapter 3 Lesson 3

MIDDLE COLONIES

The middle colonies were under control of the

Dutch West India Company. The company offered large grants of

land to anyone who would bring over 50

settlers to increase the colonies population.

Those who received the land grants were called patroons and ruled like

kings (they had their own courts and laws) . Settlers owed the

patroons labor and a share of their crops.

Present-day New York was New Netherland.

The main settlement of New Netherland was New Amsterdam, on

Manhattan Island. This location had a good

seaport with access to the Hudson River. The river served as a major transportation route to

a land rich of farms, forests, and furs so New Amsterdam became a

major center of shipping to and from

the Americas.

The English wanted control of the prosperous Dutch colony of New

Netherland. In 1664 the English sent a fleet to attack New Amsterdam. Peter Stuyvesant, governor of the colony,

surrendered it to English forces without a fight.

England’s King Charles gave the colony to his brother Duke of York, who

renamed it New York. New York was a proprietary colony in which an owner (proprietor) owned all the land and

controlled the government. It wasn’t until 1692 New Yorkers could elect their

legislature.

NEW NETHERLAND BECOMES NEW

YORK

New York was prosperous and diverse (Dutch, German,

Swedish, and Native American People) with the first Jewish population. In

1664 NY had 8,000 residents with 300 slaves and grew to

be the fastest growing population in 1683 swelled to

12,000 people.

FOUNDING NEW

JERSEYThe Duke of York decided to divide his colony. He

gave the land between the Hudson and Delaware

Rivers to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret who name the colony New Jersey (after Jersey were Carteret was born). Proprietors offered large tracts of land and

also promised freedom of religion, trial by jury, and a representative assembly.

New Jersey had a diverse population of different racial,

religious, and ethnic backgrounds. New Jersey had no natural

harbors, so it did not develop a major port or city like New York. New Jersey’s proprietors made few profits and eventually sold their shares of the colony. By

1702 New Jersey became a royal colony, but the colonists

continued to make local laws.

PENNSYLVANIA

The Quakers (Protestant group that had been persecuted in England)

founded the colony of Pennsylvania. In 1680 William Penn, a wealthy

English Quaker, received the land from King Charles (debt owed from

the king to Penn’s father). Pennsylvania or “Penn’s Woods”,

stretched inland from the Delaware River. This colony was nearly as

large as England.

William saw Pennsylvania as a “Holy Experiment”, a chance to put his Quaker ideals into practice. The

Quakers (Society of Friends) believed everyone was equal. People could follow their “Inner Light” rather than a religious leader. Quakers were also pacifists (people who refused to use force or fight in wars).

Penn was an active proprietor who, in 1682, sailed to America to supervise the building of Philadelphia-

“brotherly love”. Penn designed the city himself and wrote Pennsylvania's constitution. He also believed the

land belonged to Native Americans and the settlers should pay for it.

DELAWARE

Penn advertised his colony throughout Europe so that in 1863 3,000 English, Welsh, Irish, Dutch, and German settlers had arrived. In

1701, in the Charter of Privileges, Penn granted the colonists the right to elect representatives to the legislature and

Philadelphia quickly became America’s most popular port and prosperous city.

People from Sweden had settled in Pennsylvania before the Dutch and then the

English took over the area. Penn allowed these southern counties to form their own legislature.

The counties then functioned as a separate colony known as Delaware. However Delaware

remained under Pennsylvania’s governor.

Create a newsletter to encourage settlers to move to the Middle

Colonies.

You need:

-Title-Colonies and their

features-Picture

-2 Important Dates and description

-Reasons to live in Middle Colonies

-Map of all four Middle Colonies

-2 Fun Facts about Middle Colonies