The Middle Colonies

The Middle Colonies

1. Second or third phase of English colonization: earlier colonies are examples of the crown "allowing" colonialism, but now there is an internal and intentions agenda. After the 1650s, England is thinking about its colonies in a systematic way.

   • Examples: Navigation Acts, acquisition of Jamaica by force, taking of New Netherlands, charters for NC and PA

2. All Proprietary Colonies

   • Proprietors want to make money

3. New Jersey was originally 2 colonies with two different sets of proprietors

   • East Jersey: Scotts
   • West Jersey: Quakers
     • Call themselves "Society of Friends," called Quakers by opponents because they quake/tremble before God
     • Founder of Quakers: George Fox
       • left home in search of meaning of life - discovered that every individual has a God-given inner-light, which directly connects them to God.
       • Fox becomes a minister preaching that this inner-light is everything to an individual's spiritual light.
         • He got to his revelations in the 1640s and they're popular by the 1650
         • Quakers renounce formal prayers/sermons/fees. They think religious life consists of you and God. Where there are people, there is God.
           • Everybody is good, everybody can be saved, equality of men/women, rich/poor, native/English, etc.
       • Makes sense that Quakers would show up from an early date
     • Pennsylvania Quakers
       • William Penn: Penn's father was a naval man/admiral. King Charles feels indebted to the Penn family - 'random' was William was a Quaker convert
         • Quakers usually weren't elite, but Penn was. He had a combination fo wealth/elite status and radical Quakerism
         • Penn wants to make $$
           • sponsors, writes, publishes propaganda
             • By 1686, more than 8,000 people living in PA
               • Philadelphia has become and instant city - fastest growing urban area in North America
                 • PA is 'best poor man's country'
                   • no compulsory military requirement because Quakers don't support the war
                     • they'll sell land to anyone
                       • By 1700, PA has 18,000 people
                         • it's easier to establish a colony in the late 17th century than earlier, so PA is at an advantage
                           • existence of other colonies on the ground
                             • when VA was established, all supplies had to come from England. Now colonies can rely on each other
                             • easier to find markets for trade and money making
                           • fewer delusions of gold/silver/massive wealth
                           • no starving time for later colonies - half the population doesn't immediately die
                           • Lenni Lenapi (Delaware Indians) native groups moving to PA because they see relations between Penn and Lenni Lenape as better than anywhere else. Penn's strategy had been to make a buffer but it didn't work.
                             • PA govt. reaches agreement (James Logan and Thomas Penn) --> Walking Purchase
                               • they get from the natives 'what a man can walk in 36 hours' but they train runners and get like 1200 miles, Lenni Lenape are bitter.
       • Roots of PA closely tied to NY
         • both proprietary colonies
         • similar policies: religious toleration, political freedom, a *kind of* diversity
       • Penn styles PA as a "Holy Experiment" - running in the face of what's happening in England
         • Let's see what happens when people believe what they want to believe and do what they want to do. Let Quakers be Quakers
           • Just need to pay quit rents and abide by the law - they're not paying salaries of bishops
       • George Keith was a leader of a faction of Quakers known as "Keithites"
         • wealth starts to divide Quakers - can you be acquisitional and still a Quaker? Resolved by Keith going back to England
       • PA is the first large scale religious toleration
         • Quakers take most pride in manners/respect --> Americans as fundamentally proud and simplistic

4. The English Civil War: 1642-1651

   • Diggers
     • aimed to use the earth to reclaim the freedom they felt had been lost - they wanted common land so as to escape the slavery of property
       • believed they could create a classless society if they seized the land and used it for the common good
     • never super influential
   • Levellers
     • ideas found support in the 'New Model Army' formed by Cromwell
     • believed all men were equal, so the government can only have legitimacy if it's elected by the people
   • spirit of millenerianism: people believe the world is going to end - something that's going to restructure reality is going to happen
     • Because Quakers refuse to swear on the Bible (they don't believe in it as scripture and they resented the fact that it implied they'd be lying otherwise - they believed they were truthful), wouldn't participate in military purposes because they didn't believe in killing for any reason or pay taxes to the military, they dressed differently and spoke differently, they were viewed as dangerous and radical
       • 1662: The Quaker Act: made it illegal to refuse to take an oath of allegiance
         • 1664: Conventicle Act: illegal to hold secret meetings
           • 1670s: Tests and Corporation Acts - targeted more at Catholics - trying to exclude them from sitting in Parliament, but victimized Quakers too

5. By the end of the 17th century there's an additional burden on colonial promoters to get people to come to *their* colonies - lots of options with different land policies, religious reputations, etc.