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Long, long ago, in a place far, far away the 

great colony of New York was founded by 

the Dutch (Holland). The Dutch wanted to 

set up a trade for the Dutch West Indies 

Company. They named this thriving 

trading colony New Amsterdam, but 

surrendered to the English in 1664, and 

was renamed New York.

Delaware was founded by the Swedes, but 

also gave up their land to the big bad 

English. The Swedes founded Delaware for 

trade and land.

New Jersey was founded by George Carteret 

and Lord John Berkley. New Jersey was 

awarded to these English nobles by the Duke 

of York, because they had been good friends 

of him. In New Jersey they offered religious 

and political freedoms.

Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn. 

Fortunately, the King had owed Penn some 

dues, and offered this piece of land to him 

in order to get Penn off his back. William 

Penn founded Pennsylvania for religious 

freedom, especially for Quakers. 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania extended 

religious freedom and equality to all.

In England the Quakers were looked down upon 

because they led their church sermons differently than 

many other religions. They had no pastor that led the 

sermon, but they would sit there and connect with 

God until God spoke to one of them, and that person 

would stand up and say what God had "talked" to 

them about. Quakers were often persecuted for their 

beliefs, so they moved to America to live in a safe 

environment were they could practice their religion. 

They were the first group in America to raise their 

voice against slavery because they believed in 

equality, tolerance, peace, and anti-slavery.

The Navigation Acts were laws that limited the 

colonies from exporting and importing goods. The 

colonies businesses were controlled by the national 

government. They had high tariffs (taxes) on 

goods, and most of the goods were transported to 

England, leaving the colonies with scraps. The 

Navigation Acts benefited the mother country 

(England). 

The triangular trade was the trade of goods, 

resources, and slaves. It created a triangle 

from, Europe, to West Africa, to the Americas, 

and back to Europe. The middle passage 

carried slaves from West Africa to the colonies. 

England used this trade as an advantage, and 

used mercantilism as the main economic 

system in Europe.

The Middle colonies economy had a variety of 

life styles. They grew live stock and used the 

cash crop system. Cash crops are when a 

certain area or family is assigned a certain 

type of crop to grow. The middle colonies 

mostly grew grains, which gave them the nick-

name "Bread Basket". They also fished and 

had successful trading industries.

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