The Middle Colonies: Farms and Cities
The Cities Prosper
Answer
Question#2
pg. 32
The valuable trade of the port cities helped the cities grow.
What economic activity helped New York City and Philadelphia to grow.
The excellent harbors along the coast of the Middle Colonies were perfect sites for cities. Many merchants lived in New York city, on the Hudson River, and Philadelphia, on the Delaware River.
They exported cash crops and imported manufactured goods. The valuable trade of the port cities helped them grow.
Philadelphia was the fastest growing city. Its prosperity was due mostly to its trade in wheat and other cash crops.
The busy port New York owed its growth to its trade in flour, bread, furs, and whale oil.
The wealth of Philadelphia and New York City also brought many public improvements. The cities graceful buildings, paved roads, and streetlights made them rival cities in England.
Answer
Question#4
pg. 32
A Cimate of Tolerance
In what ways did the Quakers promote tolerance?
Quakers insisted on the equality of men and women and were the first to raise their voices against slavery.
There were so many groups in the region that it was hard for one group to dominate the others. Diversity helped to promote tolerance.
The Middle Colonies' earliest settlers also helped to promote tolerance. The Dutch in New York and the Quakers in Pennsylvania both Practiced religious tolerance.
Quakers also insisted on the equality of men and women and were the first to raise their voices against slavery.
While the English Puritans shaped life in the New England Colonies, many different groups contributed to the culture of the Middle Colonies.
Quaker ideals influenced immigrants in the Middle Colonies- and eventually the whole nation.
cash crop
Crops raised to be sold for money.
gristmill
A mill where a grain was ground into flour.
Think
diversity
Conestoga wagon
Wagon with wide wheels, curved bed, and canvas cover.
artisan
Imagine that your starting a new town.
Key Terms
Think
SWL how the people who settled in the middle colonies made a society of great diversity.
What kind of people would you invite to establish your new town?
Think
Why would it be important to have people of different skills?
Answer
Question#1
pg. 31
How did the crops grown by farmers in the middle colonies differ from those grown in New England?
The soil was better and the climate was milder. The growing season was longer.
The soil of the Middle Colonies was better for farming than the soil of New England. Also, the climate was milder, and the growing season was longer.
Colonists built gristmills along the region's many rivers. The force of the water was used to power the mills.
These good conditions attracted immigrants from all over Europe. Among them were the Dutch and German farmers who brought advanced farming methods from their home countries.
A Wealth of Resources: The importance of Mills
African Americans in the Middle Colonies
Answer
Question#5
pg. 32
Whites used force and violence to control slaves.
What was one way that white people kept control of their slaves?
The tolerant attitude of many Middle Colony settlers did not prevent slavery. In 1750, about seven percent of the Middle Colonies' population was enslaved.
New York had more people of African descent than any other city in the Northern colonies. Tension existed between the races in New York City.
Sometimes the tensions led to violence. In 1712 a group of about24 rebellious slaves set fire to a building. Then they killed nine whites and wounded several others that came to put out the fire.
Armed colonists caught the suspects and punished them horribly. The harsh punishments showed that whites would use force and violence to control slaves. Even so, slave rebellions continued to occur.
After harvesting their crops of corn, wheat, rye, or other grains, farmers took them to the gristmill. At the grist mill, millers used large stones to grind grains into flour.
Their skills, knowledge, and hard work soon resulted in large harvests. The middle colonies began to produce cash crops- crops raised to be sold for money.
Answer
Question# 3
pg. 32
They were used to bring produce into town.
How were the Conestoga wagons built by the Germans used?
Diverse Region
The Middle Colonies became home to meny people besides the Germans. There Scots-Irish, African, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Swedish, and French people among the region's inhabitants.
These wagons had canvas covers and wide wheels suitable for dirt road. MAny people who later settled the American West would use wagons of this design.
Many groups of people arrived in the port cities of the Middle Colonies. Soon, the population of the Middle colonies showed great diversity, or variety of people.
After the English, the Germans were the largest group in the region. Many Germans arrived between 1710 and 1740. Most came as indentured servants fleeing religious intolerance.
Among theGermans were many skilled farmers and artisans, or craftspeople. German craftspeople built Constega wagons, which farmers used carry their produce to town.