Middle Colonies and the South

Middle Colonies Middle Colonies NY, NJ, DE, PA

Middle Colonies most diverse of 13 colonies inhabitants that included Scots, French, Dutch, Swedes, Germans, Norwegians, Irish, Poles, Portuguese, and Italians who were the forerunners of millions to come.

Why colonize here?Goal for NY, NJ, PA, & DE was to develop

profitable trading centers

Dutch were the first to settle here- Dutch East India Company hired Henry Hudson, who encountered Delaware Bay and claimed the area around it for the Dutch-New Netherland, which was settled as a proprietorship. The crown granted individuals or a group of partners a charter to develop these proprietary colonies

New YorkHenry Hudson explored Hudson River

1626-Dutch bought Manhattan Island from the Native Americans for pennies on the acre called it New Amsterdam

1664-English seize New Amsterdam (Dutch surrender without any fight)

New Amsterdam renamed New York, in honor of the Duke of York

New JerseyDuke of York granted the land between the

Hudson & the Delaware Rivers to two of his friends

To attract settlers NJ offered land, established freedom of religion, and a relatively democratic government.

QuakersQuakers=Society of Friends

Spirituality was rooted in an individual’s personal relationship with God.

Quakers in England were being persecuted, killed, and imprisoned for their beliefs. As with the Puritans, however, the English government was willing to put up with colonies of Quakers in the Americas so long as they expanded the English presence on the Atlantic Coast.

PennsylvaniaThe name of the land granted to William Penn by

the English crown. Pennsylvania named in honor of William’s father by King Charles II, Pennsylvania=Penn’s woods

Goals: establish a haven for Quakers; make money

Immigration was very diverse

PennsylvaniaPenn promoted the colony, promised land to

settlers, and had no restrictions on immigration.

Amicable relationship with Indians

Penn’s new colony was liberal

Penn guaranteed freedom of religion

Middle Colonies OverviewThe middle colonies were urban and linked by

trade and commerce.

No dominant religious group, resulting in relative tolerance

Refuge for a variety of dissenters and religious misfits.

Coastal cities were maritime centers with ships that brought supplies from Europe and returned to Europe filled with grains, furs, and lumber for shipbuilding.

Southern ColoniesKing Charles II grants land south of VA to

supporters in 1663

Forms North and South Carolina (originally just Carolina)

South Carolina was settled largely by European settlers from Barbados

South Carolina’s main cash crop is rice

South CarolinaRice is cash crop

Labor force begins with Native Americans as slaves, then indentured servants, then African slavesWhy? African slaves were slaves for life;

knowledge of rice cultivation; health factorsBy 1710 Africans outnumbered Europeans

Slave TradeMiddle Passage: voyage from Africa to the New

World

Slaves were packed into tight quarters on slave ships

In S.C. slaves followed “task system” only 1 task a day, when they were done they were done for the day

Other southern colonies “gang system” worked from sun up to sun down under watchful eye of white owner

Slavery’s BrutalityBought and sold like animals

Worked long hour hours and faced brutal beatings for no reason

Poor diet of corn and salted pork

Lived in small shacks

Slavery: Holding on to Heritage

Children were given “African” names

Music reflected heritage

Spoke a “slave” language called Gullah= language of English and African words

Slavery: ResistanceSubtle resistance was common. i.e. break tools,

fake illness, pretend not to understand English

Slaveholders fear rebellion

Stono RebellionWhites fear major rebellion; fear becomes a

reality in 1739

Context takes place during yellow fever outbreak

Stono Rebellion: Beginnings

20 slaves initially involved when slaved named “Jemmy” broke into a store to take weapons and powder

Traveled south, gathering 60-100 slaves along the way

Local militia stops advancement

Rebellion put down, but uprisings continue for several weeks

Stono Rebellion: AftermathLargest slave rebellion of the colonial period

Slaves who participated in the rebellion were killed and their heads were placed on mileposts

New slave code past; increasing slave patrols

Tighter control on slaves and their owners

MarylandMaryland allowed for some religious toleration

when, Lord Baltimore agreed to the Act of Toleration, which guaranteed freedom of religion to anyone “professing to believe in Jesus Christ.”

GeorgiaGeorgia was founded in 1732 and named for

King George II

Founded as a buffer between South Carolina and Spanish Florida

Georgia was settled by those who were in debtor’s prison in England

GeorgiaMany settlers came from Germany, Switzerland,

England, and Scotland

Missionaries attempt to spread Christianity

The number of settlers are too small so slavery is legalized and it becomes similar to S.C.