The Middle Colonies were more diverse than colonies in New England and the South. Most of the early settlers depended on the fur trade and on farming for economic survival. The Middle Colonies were settled by different nationalities so there is greater emphasis on religious toleration and cultural diversity.

Early European colonists in the Middle Colonies included Germans, Scotch-Irish, French Huguenots, Welsh, Dutch, Swedes, Swiss, and Scots Highlanders. In New York ‘s Hudson Valley, the Dutch established a poltroon system which resembled a feudal aristocracy with vast land grants.

Unlike solidly Puritan New England, the middle colonies presented an assortment of religions. The presence of Quakers, Mennonites, Lutherans, Dutch Calvinists, and Presbyterians made the dominance of one faith next to impossible. The middle colonies included Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware.

The Middle colonies, like Delaware, New York, and New Jersey, were founded as trade centers, while Pennsylvania was founded as a safe haven for Quakers. The Middle colonies were also called the “Breadbasket colonies” because of their fertile soil, ideal for farming.

Puritan New England, Virginia, Spanish Florida, and the Carolina colonies engaged in large-scale enslavement of Native Americans, often through the use of Indian proxies to wage war and acquire the slaves.

Atlantic Ocean

The First Passage was the forced march of captives (future slaves) from their inland homes to African ports, such as Elmina, where they were imprisoned until they can be loaded onto a buying ship.

With the invention of the cotton gin, cotton became the cash crop of the Deep South, stimulating increased demand for enslaved people from the Upper South to toil the land.