The Middle Colonies

I. Map of the Middle Colonies:  The Middle Colonies were composed of the following: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.

II. Important facts about the Middle Colonies:

*The four colonies consisted of a mix of both northern and southern features and its early settlement was dominated by non-English Europeans, mostly Dutch and German, the English colonists were in the minority.  Here are some facts about the Middle Colonies:

*Geography: The geography of the Middle Colonies had a mix of New England and Southern features but had fertile soil and land that was suited for farming. 

*Natural Resources: Good farmland, lots of timber/lumber, furs, coal, precious metals, iron ore was an important natural resource.

 *Religion: Not dominated by a specific religion, which gave way to religious freedom for Quakers, Catholics, Lutherans, Jews and many others.

*Climate: The Middle Colonies had a mild climate with warm summers and mild winters.

*Trade/Exports: Middle Colonies were the big food producing region that included corn, wheat, livestock, beef, pork, chicken.  Other industries included the production of iron ore, lumber, textiles, furs and shipbuilding.

IV.  Middle Colonies : Economic Activity and Trade:

          Geography and climate impacted trade and economic activities of the Middle Colonies.  The Middle Colonies exported agricultural products and natural resources.  The Middle Colonies are often called the breadbasket colonies because they grew so many crops, especially wheat.  They built flour mills where wheat was ground into flour, then shipped to England.  A typical farm was 50 to 150 acres consisting of a house, barn, yard and fields.  They were also able to manufacture iron ore products such as plows, tools, kettles, nails, large blocks of iron, which they exported to England.

V.  Middle Colonies: Government:

        All of the systems of government in the Middle Colonies elected their own legislature, they were all democratic, they all had a governor, governor's court, and a court system.  The government was mainly proprietary, but New York started a royal colony.

• Royal Government: The Royal Colonies were ruled directly by the English monarchy (KING)
• Propriety Government: The King granted land to people in North America, who then formed Proprietary Colonies

MIDDLE COLONIES