- The Dutch were the first group to settle in the Middle Colonies. Henry Hudson, the British explorer who first found the area that would become the Middle Colonies in 1609, was sent by Dutch traders to find new lucrative trade routes. After Hudson's discovery, the Dutch West India Company began to colonize New York, New Jersey and Delaware, in what was known by the Dutch as "New Netherlands."
- The European settlers of the Middle Colonies lived among various Native American tribes and established extensive trading relationships. The most important relationship was with the Iroquois Confederation, a group of five different Native American tribes that shared the Iroquois language. The five nations were the Mohawks, Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas and Senecas. Albany was a central trading point between the settlers and the various tribes. The Iroquois would commonly trade furs for colonial finished goods, such as guns.
- The Middle Colonies, unlike the South and New England, drew most of its settlers from European countries disrupted by the Protestant Reformation. This led to a multiplicity of religious sects in the area and a natural political climate of religious toleration. Among the many religious groups represented in the Middle Colonies were the French Huguenots, German Baptists, Dutch Mennonites, Dutch Reformed, Portuguese Jews, Lutherans, Quakers and Anglicans. The diversity of religious denominations in the Middle Colonies made the dominance of a single sect impossible.
- The New England economy was based on manufacturing and the Southern colonies were based on agricultural production. Workers in the Middle Colonies did both manufacturing and farming work. While the colonies of New England had rocky soil, prohibiting large-scale agricultural production, the mid-Atlantic colonies were fertile, and farmers in the region grew crops such as wheat and corn on their plantations. Manufacturing workers in the Middle Colonies also built watches, guns, locks, clocks and hats.
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