Having richer and less rocky soil, the territory was able to produce and export wheat and other grains to its constituent colonies, becoming known as the Breadbasket Colonies.In comparison to the South where the cash crop plantation system dominated, and to New England whose rocky soil made large-scale agriculture difficult, the Middle Colonies were gifted with fertile soil and land was generally acquired more easily.Indentured servitude was also especially common in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York during the 18th century, although a small number worked in agriculture.Landholdings were farms sized 40 to 160 acres, owned by the family that worked them. In terms of industry, the Middle Colonies had mixed aspects of the New England and Southern Colonies.The Middle Colonies were literally a middle ground between its borders to the North and South, wherein elements of both New England towns and sprawling country estates were manifested, and religious dissidents from all regions could settle in the relatively tolerant middle zone.The Middle Colonies’ central location served as an advantage as they became an important distribution point in the English mercantile system and served as the crossroads of ideas from both sides of the Atlantic during the colonial period.The presence of Quakers, Amish, Mennonites, Lutherans, Dutch Calvinists, and Presbyterians made the dominance of one faith next to impossible. In comparison to the exclusive Puritan New England, the middle colonies were more tolerant and presented a diversity of religions in its populace.These colonies were considered to be more accepting of various ethnicities as its population grew to include a variety of backgrounds such as Native American tribes of Algonquian and Iroquois language groups as well as Italians, Germans, Dutch, French, Swedish, Norwegians, Polish, Portuguese, and a sizable percentage of African slaves during the early years.In 1664, King Charles II granted the land between New England and Virginia to his brother James, the Duke of York, and in 1680, granted William Penn 45,000 square miles of land.The Middle Colonies consisted of the middle region of the 13 colonies of the British Empire in North America, which included Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.
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See the fact file below for more information on the Middle Colonies or alternatively, you can download our 24-page Middle Colonies worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment. A combination of both urban and rural lifestyles made it more cosmopolitan, religiously pluralistic, and socially tolerant within a commercial atmosphere. The British Middle Colonies in North America had a mix of both northern and southern features, creating a unique environment of early settlement by non-English Europeans. Download the Middle Colonies Facts & Worksheets.