The Economy, Society, and Culture of the Middle Colonies, 1625 - 1775

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1. Prosperous Farms:Unlike New England, the Middle Colonies of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware had quite fertile soil and long growing seasons (March – September) that enabled the average farmer to cultivate and harvest extra, or surplus, crops—the bulk of which was then exported and sold to the West Indies and England. Here, the most commonly grown crops included wheat, oats, barley, and other bread grains. Of these, wheat was the region’s major cash/staple crop (a farm product grown for profit). This crop not only influenced what colonists ate, but also where they lived, as the spread-out nature of wheat farming required lots of land, which in turn caused colonists’ farms to be scattered and isolated from each other. Because of the impressive abundance of grains grown in the Middle Colonies, they earned the nickname, the “Breadbasket Colonies.”

Just remember…

William Penn founded

Pennsylvania for the Quakers…

And they grew oats!!!

1-A. Labor:Although family labor dominated much of the Middle Colonies, settlers used forms of unfree labor as well. Clearly, African slavery was one such option, as some 35,000 enslaved people lived and worked on Middle colonists’ farms and cities by 1770. In fact, one-fifth of New York City’s population was enslaved. That said, few slave owners in the Middle Colonies owned more than two or three slaves on average—a small number when compared with slave ownership in the Southern Colonies. Far more common was the use of indentured servants and redemptioners.

Indentured ServantsBetween 1607 and 1775, as many as 500,000 English colonists arrived in the colonies as indentured servants. Recruited by farmers and planters in the Chesapeake and Middle Colonies, these immigrants were too poor to afford the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. As a result, such people signed legally-binding indenture contracts in which colonial farmers and planters agreed to pay the cost of their trip to the colonies in exchange for a four to seven-year promise of servitude. After a servant’s period of service was up, he/she was usually provided with a fifty-acre plot of land and a basic “start-up” package that consisted of a shovel, seed, and some clothes.

Although many of these servants followed through on their contracts, took their land, and became successful farmers and even planters, a large minority of servants, in fact, died from disease, mistreatment, or overwork before their contracts ended. The system of indentured servitude helped to fulfill two needs. On the one hand, it provided labor-hungry tobacco producers in the Chesapeake region and wheat farmers in the Middle Colonies with a major source of workers. On the other hand, it provided unemployed and landless men and women in England with opportunity to immigrate to the colonies and transform their lives for the better—after their indenture periods were over, that is.

RedemptioneeringDuring the 1700s, a new system of unfree labor took hold, particularly in the Middle Colonies: redemptioneering. This new system began as potential servants realized that indenture contracts left them no bargaining room with their future masters because they were written up in and agreed to in England, not in the colonies. Redemptioners solved this problem by not signing a contract until they had arrived in British America—usually Pennsylvania or New York. Typically, redemptioners—many of whom were German—borrowed money from a shipper for the trip across the Atlantic Ocean. Once in the Middle Colonies, these immigrants negotiated a labor contract with a farmer that would allow them to repay the shipper and still save enough to purchase their own land with the intention of starting a farm. In a region like the Middle Colonies where many farmers needed extra labor for a couple of months at a time, rather than year round, this arrangement tended to suit the needs of everyone involved.

2. Manufacturing and Trade:The Middle Colonies had perhaps the most diverse regional economy in British America. A. Rich deposits of iron ore allowed skilled German immigrants to manufacture many specialized goods such as tools, watches, nails, locks, guns, and the like.B. Cities like Philadelphia and New York became thriving shipping and trade centers. Moreover, thousands of slaves were imported into and sold in these cities to buyers from all over British America. Without exaggeration, the African slave trade dwarfed other businesses in New York City and Philadelphia. C. Because Middle colonists had direct access to the backcountry (frontier) wilderness areas of the Appalachian Mountains, they developed a very profitable fur-trade with various Native American groups, the most powerful of which included the tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy. In exchange for animal furs from the Indians, colonists commonly traded weapons, beads, clothing, household goods, and alcohol.

3. The Conditions of Life for the “Average Middle Colonist”:Although the bulk of the Middle Colonies’ population was English, thousands of immigrants from the Netherlands, Sweden, the various German kingdoms, Scotland, and Ireland helped to give the region a distinctive, multi-cultural feel. Thus, there may not have truly been an “average Middle colonist.” That said, a few generalizations about the daily conditions of life for Middle colonists—regardless of national background—can be made.

A. The Farmstead:Since most Middle colonists were modestly successful farmers, their lives were typically comfortable and stable. They grew, raised, and produced much of what they ate—wheat, corn, milk, cheese, butter, pork, etc.—and had easy access to imported manufactured goods, clothing, and fabric from England because of prosperous seaport trade centers like New York City and Philadelphia. Unlike New England, homes were constructed of logs, stone, and brick. This sturdy form of construction began with the first Swedish and Dutch settlers and spread throughout the Middle Colonies. Homes were very spacious and roomy and often had several floors.

B. Native American Relations and Defense:Because of the close trade ties Middle Colonists had with Native American groups such as the Iroquois, relations between white settlers and local Indians were very friendly. Indeed, in places such as Pennsylvania, militias, or military groups of citizen-soldiers, were unnecessary because local Native Americans agreed to defend colonists from attack by the French or hostile Indian tribes like the Huron.

C. Traveling Into the Backcountry Frontier:With the British government’s permission, thousands of German, Scottish, and Irish colonists traveled west from the Atlantic coast into the backcountry wilderness of the Appalachian Mountains’ eastern foothills. Most of these settlers traveled in large groups over a road known as the “Great Philadelphia Road” that stretched from the city of Philadelphia into the frontier areas.

Atlantic Ocean

The typical pioneering family used Conestoga Wagons (canvas covered wagons) to move their belongings, supplies, and women/children to their new homes in the backcountry. German immigrants in Pennsylvania became known as the “Pennsylvania Dutch” because many English-speaking colonists misunderstood the word “Deutsch” which is German for “German.” Some of these German settlers were intent on creating religious communities where they could freely practice their versions of Christianity. Spreading throughout portions of Pennsylvania and eventually Ohio, the descendents of these original German religious groups became known as the Amish.