Middle Colonies

    The Middle Colonies were settled by people from many different countries.  Many of these people did not speak English.  They were from all over Europe.  Some of the languages spoken in the Middle Colonies were Dutch, German, Swedish, Welsh, French, and English with a Scottish or Irish accent.  Three of the colonies were begun for trading reasons (Delaware, New Jersey, New York) and one (Pennsylvania) for religious freedom.

    Pennsylvania was organized by William Penn.  Penn was a Quaker religious leader.  The Quakers were a religious group that is best known for being against any kind of war.  They believed that all people should be free to worship in their own way.   Pennsylvania had more people living in it than any of the other middle colonies.

    This middle colonies area was first settled by the Swedes from Sweden, a little later by the Dutch from Holland (now called Nederland) and then the English.  People from all over Europe came to this area.  The land had really good soil, so it could be used for growing many different crops.  Early on the Middle Colonies was known as the "Bread Basket" of the colonies because they had more grain to trade with Europe. 

    The following colonies made up the middle colonies: New York, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.  The chart below will give you some idea about what their first settlements were called, who lead the colony, what year it was begun, and why it was started.  The Dutch, German, Scottish, Irish, English, Swedes, and others settled the middle colonies.  These colonies were the most tolerant of all the colonies of different religions and cultures.  The farms in this area tended to have between 50-150 acres of land and were farmed by family farmers.

    The Fall Line is a place where there are many waterfalls along the United States eastern coast.  Fall lines often happen at the edge of a high plateau.  Rivers flowing on the plateau then fall over this line into the valley below.  In the middle colonies the fall line allowed people to use the waterfalls to power mills.  Saw mills and mills that ground wheat and corn into flour took advantage of the falling water to make the mills work.