Life in the Middle Colonies (College Board AP® US History)

Summary

Life in the Middle Colonies during the 17th and 18th centuries was marked by a unique blend of cultural diversity, economic prosperity, and religious tolerance, shaped by the region’s history of European colonization. The Middle Colonies (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware) attracted settlers from various European nations, including the Dutch, English, Germans, Swedes, and French, as well as different religious groups like Quakers, Jews, and Protestants. 

Economically, the region thrived due to its fertile land, long growing seasons, and access to important trade routes. Agriculture, especially grain production, was a key economic driver, with the colonies also becoming hubs for industries like shipbuilding, textiles, and iron. The Middle Colonies were notable for their relatively high degree of religious freedom and self-government.

However, the system of slavery still played a significant role, especially in cities like New York and Pennsylvania, where enslaved Africans were integral to the workforce. The Middle Colonies thus represented a dynamic and prosperous part of the British colonial experience, influenced by both European heritage and the demands of the New World economy.

Demographics of the Middle Colonies

• The demographics of the four Middle Colonies reflected the diversity of the people who lived in the region

New York

• The following groups lived in New York:

  • Indigenous peoples: the Iroquois Confederacy, the Mahican and the Lenape

  • Europeans: Dutch, English, Welsh, Irish, Scots, Germans, Portuguese Jews and French Huguenots

  • Enslaved Africans

• In 1740, New York had the second-highest population density of enslaved people in the colonies. Only Charleston had a higher density of enslaved people

New Jersey

• The following groups lived in New Jersey:

  • Indigenous people: the Lenape

  • Europeans: Dutch, English, Walloons (Belgians), Germans, Welsh, Scots, and Scots-Irish

  • Quakers (Society of Friends) and French Huguenots

  • Scandinavians: Swedes and Finns

  • Enslaved Africans 

Pennsylvania

• The following groups lived in Pennsylvania:

  • Indigenous peoples: the Lenape, Susquehannock, Shawnee and Iroquois

  • Quakers, French Huguenots and Jewish settlers,

  • Europeans: Dutch, Irish, Welsh, English, Germans and Scots-Irish, Scandinavians: Swedes

  • Enslaved Africans and freed Africans

Delaware

• The following groups lived in Delaware:

  • Indigenous peoples: the Lenape and the Nanticoke

  • Quakers

  • Europeans: Dutch, English and Scots-Irish

  • Scandinavians: Swedes and Finns

  • Enslaved Africans

Economy of the Middle Colonies

Elements of New York’s economy

• Fur was the major export for New York

  • There were trading posts at Albany and Oswego

• The English traded with the Iroquois and members of other Indigenous groups

• Other key exports included:

  • timber

  • coal

  • grains: grown on the colony’s fertile farmland

  • iron ore

• Women had careers as merchants and shopkeepers

Elements of New Jersey’s economy

• Key exports included:

  • cattle

  • crops: rice and indigo dye

  • flour: major export produced from milling grains

• Key industries included:

  • iron industry

  • glass industry: sand and wood

  • timber, lumber, and sawmills

  • shipbuilding

Elements of Pennsylvania’s economy

• Key exports included:

  • crops: wheat, corn, rye, hemp and flax

  • flour

  • ship biscuits

• Key industries included:

  • Textiles

  • Sawmills

  • Iron industry

  • Printing, publishing, and papermaking

  • Shipbuilding

Elements of Delaware’s economy

• Key exports included:

  • Tobacco

  • Flour from milling soft red wheat

  • Pork

  • Corn

• Key industries included:

  • Shipbuilding

Long growing seasons

• The long growing seasons in these regions allowed farmers to cultivate a wide variety of crops and produce a surplus for export

The southern Atlantic Coast and British West Indies as plantation economies

• The Southern Atlantic Coast colonies and the British West Indies, with their long growing seasons, developed plantation economies  based on the mass production of staple crops like:

  • tobacco

  • rice

  • sugar

• These crops were highly profitable and demanded significant labor to grown and harvest

• To meet this demand, the colonies relied heavily on enslaved African labor

  • Enslaved Africans made up the majority of the population in these areas

• Enslaved Africans developed their own forms of cultural and religious autonomy

  • They often blended African traditions with European and Indigenous influences 

• As a result of the labour-intensive nature of plantation agriculture the economies of Southern colonies and West Indies became highly dependent on enslaved people

• The distance from England and the initially lax attention from the British government allowed these colonies to create their own self-governing institutions

  • Southern Colonies: Wealthy planters dominated local authority and the elected assemblies, holding much of the political power

  • New England Colonies: Power was based in town meetings, where colonists would directly vote on issues. These meetings then elected representatives to the colonial legislatures