The Middle Colonies
(Lecture Notes from Mr. Kersey's 8th Grade U.S. History Class)New Netherlands becomes New York:
- King Charles II decided to go to war with the Netherlands, and sent their ships to Manhattan Island in 1685.
- A guy named Stuyevsant was the governor of the colony, and because he was so rotten, England was able to take over without a fight.
Pennsylvania:
- In 1681, King Charles II gave some land between New York and Maryland to William Penn, because the King owed a debt to Penn's father.
- Penn was a Quaker, the Society of Friends, a small religious group that was also unpopular in England.
- Quaker religious beliefs:
- Each person had an "inner light."
- All people were equal before God.
- Each person had a "spark of divinity."
- Each person had an "inner light" that could be used to communicate with God directly. The Church of England thought this was an offensive idea, since it was believed only the ministers were to do this.
- The Quakers were a religion that believed all people were equal before God: men and women, rich and poor, noble and common, and this disrupted the social order.
- If each person had a "spark of divinity," then if a person did something bad, it was in a way saying God did something bad, since God was a part of every person; people could not be expected to pay taxes, fight wars, etc.
- Penn decided to make Pennsylvania a "Holy Experiment," kind of a New England for the Quakers, but Penn also believed in religious toleration, so all faiths were welcome
- Penn was very liberal, and because of this Pennsylvania grew faster than any other colony, attracting colonists from all over Europe. Philadelphia was even bigger than London by the time of the Revolution.
Delaware and New Jersey:
- Delaware was a part of Pennsylvania until after the Revolution.
- New Jersey became a Royal colony in 1702.
