MIDDLE COLONIES APUSH PERIOD 5

POLITICAL Middle colonies were originally proprietary colonies, but all five of them were at some time royal provinces. Colonists were allowed to elect representatives to an assembly. The assembly contributed to lawmaking. William Penn was in charge of Pennsylvanian politics. He allowed political freedom. He aspired for political and religious balance.

The representative government consisted of: governor provincial council general assembly “Frame of Government”- Guarantee for limited government power and equality.

INTELLECTUAL Education was not generally encouraged in any of the Middle colonies. There interest in the middle colonies was more on practical education. William Penn and Benjamin Franklin stressed such education in Pennsylvania. Sectarian schools, local churches were the schools. The colonies weren’t concerned in providing education.

All boys learned trade, classical language, history and literature etc. The middle colonies were characterized by schools sponsored by many different kinds of religious denominations, rather than just the Puritan Church Girls were tutored at home or skilled for household work. Central Focus: Equality and Religious Toleration The colonies worked to exemplify the American values of diversity and multiculturalism of religions and cultures.

RELIGIOUS Had greater religious tolerance than other colonies. The most ethnically and religiously diverse of the thirteen original colonies. Religiously Diverse: Congregationalism Quakerism Dutch Reformed Lutheranism Scotch Presbyterian

Revivals first broke out in the middle colonies, particularly in New Jersey, where the First Great Awakening began. Revivalists preached that all could be born again and saved, and anyone had the power to preach. Great Awakening helped growth of Congregational Methodist & Baptist Churched Church of England established everywhere but Pennsylvania. No religion was more powerful than another. These colonies provided a model for the later religious tradition of the United States, the realization that the freedom to express one’s own faith depended on granting that same liberty to others.

Sir George Carteret Lords Proprietor of New Jersey John Berkeley Baron of Stratton Henry Hudson Captain who explored the Middle Colonies Peter Stuyvesant Last Director- General of New Netherland Peter Minuit Dutch Governor Known for purchase of Manhattan Important people to the Middle Colonies

ARTS / CULTURE Culture is a factor linked to there being so many different ethnic groups. New Jersey was more ethnically diverse than most colonies. Germans introduced industry and farming skills. Social customs of wealthy landowners were brilliant in variety and elegance. Most people of the middle colonies spent time farming, housing, building, basket weaving, and etc. Women gathered in farmhouses to spin or quilt. The writings of Benjamin Franklin were also very important to the middle colonies.

TECHNOLOGY Colonists used the conestoga wagon to transport their crops to the market. Travel was used through horseback or river. There were sawmills, gristmills, ship building and lumbering. Textile industry grew, producer of pig iron and it’s products. Printing, publishing, paper-making. They made clocks, watches, guns, locks, cloth, and hats.

Conestoga Wagon Pig Iron

ECONOMIC Geography of the region was good for growing crops and contributed to a surplus of food which they exported and made a profit with. Also had good trading and relationships with Native Americans of the region. Development of industry along the Hudson and Delaware Rivers. Some wealthy people worked in the city, most colonies were farmers. Farmers grew wheat, grains, and many more. There were many cash crops (grown to be sold) for trade and sell. They were known for their mills and bread.

Known as the “BreadBasket” of the large amounts barley, rye, and other grains that were grown there. The Middle Colonies produced more food than the New England or Southern Colonies. The main jobs for the Middle colonies were: Farmers Tailors Glass Blowers Silversmiths and Brickmakers

“ Now I would have you well observe, that I am very sensible of the unkindness and injustice that has been too much exercised towards you by the people of these parts of the word, who have sought…to make great advantages by you,…sometimes to the shedding of blood…But I am not such a man…I have great love and regard toward you, and I desire to win and gain your love and friendship by a kind, just, and peaceable life.” - William Penn

Brickmakers Cash Crops Textile Industry

SOCIAL In their free time, many people play cards and ride horses. No other colonies presented such a wide range in nationality. Three thousand slaves in middle colonies. Which were comparatively few. As a rule, they must be humanely treated. Drinking was very common. Prosperity was general in the colonies.

“We are more thoroughly an enlightened people, with respect to our political interests, than perhaps any other under heaven. Every man among us reads, and is so easy in his circumstances as to have leisure for conversations of improvement and for acquiring information.” -Benjamin Franklin

LEVELS OF QUESTIONS! Compare and contrast the social life structured in Middle Colonies with the New England and Southern Colonies. How would the people of the Southern and New England Colonies change if they lived in the Middle Colonies? Evaluate the different values of each different religion in the Middle Colonies. How does each group practice their religion? Why do you think the Middle Colonies were the most diverse and had greater religious tolerance than the other colonies? Imagine living in the Middle Colonies during this time, how would you choose your representative government? Economic factors, Ethnic and racial mixing, and Culture. Analyze the relation these three topics had to the development of the Middle Colonies. Justify the importance of geography, demography, and the commercial economy that help shaped the middle colonies. Why did these individuals believe life would be better in America? Explain the challenges they faced, politically, economically, and religiously.