The Middle Colonies
Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York
Delaware
- The first settlement was in 1638 by Peter Minuit at Fort Christina
- Delaware was named after Lord De La Warr who was the governor of Virgina in 1610
- They made their money by trading and they were substantial farmers
- It was a proprietary colony and was governed much the same as Pennsylvania until it split in 1703
- There was around 100 colonists when Delaware was formed to about 45,000 in 1780
- Some Native American tribes in Delaware were the Lenape and the Nanticoke
- Delaware did not really have any religion at all
Pennsylvania
- It was formed in 1682 by William Penn who was a Quaker
- It was established as a proprietary colony to settle a debt the king had with Penn's father
- They made their money mainly from mixed agriculture
- In 1682 the population was about 700 then in 1780 it was around 330,000
- The Native American tribes included the Erie, Lenape, Munsee, Nanticoke, and the Shawnee
- There really was not a religion in Pennsylvania, it was the Quakers that inhabited it so they decided that religious freedom was granted to all
New Jersey
- It was founded in 1664 by aristocratic proprietors who received the land from the Duke of York
- It was set up as a proprietary colony for some New Englanders who had run out of good soil
- They made the majority of their income from trading furs with the Native Americans and sold them back to people in England
- In 1664 there was around 1,000 colonists then in 1780 there was around 140,000
- Some Native American tribes included the Lenape, Munsee, Nanticoke, Powhatan, and Tappan
- New Jersey did not really have a religion but they did have some influence from the Quakers and had freedom of religions
New York
- New York was formed in 1664 by the Duke of York who was the king's brother, it had been discovered by Henry Hudson in 1623-1624
- It was set as a proprietary then made into a royal colony later on
- Like New Jersey they made their money from trading furs with the Native Americans and selling them back to Europe
- In 1664 the population was around 5000 and shot up to around 210,000 colonists
- Native American tribes in New York included the Erie, Iroquois, Mohawk, Oneida, and the Seneca
- Also like New Jersey they did not have a set religion