The Origin of the Middle Colonies!

      Like the other colonies, a lot of Middle Colony settlers immigrated to make a living. But the Middle Colonies also had a large population of settlers who came for religious freedom, some to even escape persecution in their home countries. 

      New York, originally called New Amsterdam, was founded in 1625 by the Dutch. It was bought from the Indians for as little as 20 cents per acre. But in 1664, the control of the colony was handed over the English. They named it New York after the Duke of York. Under the dutch New York had a free government, but under the English rule they had an Assembly of Representatives that made all the laws and taxes. The Indian traded with the colonists and were generally friendly, but during the revolutionary war the Indian lost connections because some Indians sided with the British, and some with the American.

Above is a map of New Amsterdam. 

     The colony of Pennsylvania was founded in 1684 by William Penn. He obtained the land grant because King Charles the II owed it to Penn's deceased father. He founded Pennsylvania because he wanted to create a colony that allowed freedom of religion, mainly because he was trying to protect himself and fellow Quakers from persecution. Here is a link that shows the original land grant Penn received from Charles II. Pennsylvania had free people governed by their own laws,  and it was almost a fully representative democracy. Penn bought all of the land from the Indians over time, so interactions with the natives were few. 

     Delaware, originally called New Sweden, was founded in 1638 by Peter Minuit and the New Sweden Colony, as a part of New Netherland.  When King Charles II gave the Duke of York New Netherland, he demanded New Sweden. He then renamed it Delaware, and immigrants soon flooded in. The interactions with indians differed. The Indians destroyed one town within the first year of its founding. But besides that, the indians were generally nice and happy to trade. The British let the people govern themselves, and then when William Penn granted the region a separate legislator.  

     In 1638, New Sweden and New Netherland both settled parts of New Jersey. But in 1664, when the Duke of York received control of New Netherland, he granted the land to two of his friends, Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. The two advertised many benefits for colonists including representative government and freedom of religion. Immigrants flooded in. But in 1673 a group of Quakers purchased their charter. They had a concessions government which was granted religous liberty to englishmen. It was carried on by a governor  ,council, and assembly of 12 men chosen by the people. No taxes were paid without the consent  of the assembly. A farm was free for five years if you "had a good musket and 6 months' province", but others had to pay a half-penny per acre and many of the farmers ignored the government rules.