THE MIDDLE COLONIES
Ch. 2.5
OBJECTIVES
Explain how Dutch New Netherland became
English New York.
 Describe William Penn’s relationship with
Indians in Pennsylvania.
 Compare and contrast the Pennsylvania Colony
to other colonies.

KEY PARTS
Dutch Establish New Netherland
 New Sweden Is Founded
 The English Conquest
 William Penn Founds Pennsylvania
 Diversity In the Middle Colonies

READ SECTION 2.5
Take 15 min to read over the section.
 As you read compare and contrast the push and
pull factor.
 Also explain some of the Christian values that
William Penn expresses in this section.

DUTCH ESTABLISH NEW NETHERLAND
In 1609 Dutch merchants sent ships across the
Atlantic into the Hudson River to trade for furs
with the Indians.
 They establish a permanent settlement at Fort
Nassau. (later called fort orange)
 To guard the mouth of the river the Dutch built
New Amsterdam at the tip of Manhattan Island
in 1625

CONT.
New Amsterdam had the finest harbor on the
Atlantic coast.
 Largest town in the colony’s thus far and a major
seaport.
 Also they constructed government headquarters.
 The Dutch did not send out any missionary effort
to convert Indians to Christianity like the
English, French and Spanish.

PUSH AND PULL FACTORS
Despite an appealing location and religious
tolerance the Dutch colony attracted few
immigrants.
 The Dutch did not have any real push factors due
to the fact they were used to and able to have a
high standard of living in their country.
 The colonies did not offer much pull factor to the
Dutch because they didn’t have very much
religious persecution and hundreds of roaming
poor people.

SWEDEN IS FOUNDED
In 1683 traders founded New Sweden on the
lower Delaware River.
 This was a dual economy with fur and grain
goods.
 Some of the colonists were Swedes but most were
from Finland under Swedish rule.
 Expanded to both sides of the Delaware River but
were not able to hold this land with only 500
colonist.
 They were forced to surrender by a Dutch
governor with seven warships.

ENGLISH CONQUEST
In 1664 the Dutch took over New Netherland and
called it New York after the Duke of York.
 This was a proprietary colony.
 New Amsterdam became the city of New York
and Fort Orange became Albany.
 The Duke of York also proclaimed the land
between the Hudson and Delaware rivers as a
distinct new colony called New Jersey, primarily
made up of Puritans, Scots and Quakers.

WILLIAM PENN FOUNDS PENNSYLVANIA
It began as a debt paid to William Penn by King
Charles II.
 William Penn was a very wealthy Quaker, which
is atypical to what is considered a normal
Quaker.
 Quakers sought out the “inner light” to
understand the Bible. They also considered
women spiritually equal to men.

CONT.
In 1680 the king granted Penn the land west of
the Delaware River as the colony of
Pennsylvania. (Penn’s Woods)
 In 1682 Penn arrived with 2000 colonists to his
new capital of Philadelphia.
 By 1700 the colonist reached 17,000 due to the
fertile land and navigable river.
 Unlike other colonial leaders, Penn treated the
Native Americans with respect and paid them for
the land that he took.

DIVERSITY IN THE MIDDLE COLONIES
The middle colonies were the most ethnically
diverse out of all the colonies.
 There was no one single ethnic group or specific
religious denomination in most all of the middle
colonies.
 This diversity violated traditional belief that
political order depended on ethnic and religious
uniformity.
