Editing Middle Colonies (section)

==Demographics==
The Middle Colonies tended to mix aspects of the New England and Southern Colonies. Landholdings were generally farms of {{convert|40|to(-)|160|acres|0|abbr=off}}, owned by the family that worked it. In New York's [[Hudson Valley]], however, the Dutch [[patroons]] operated very large landed estates and rented land to tenant farmers.<ref>Sung Bok Kim, "A New Look at the Great Landlords of Eighteenth-Century New York," ''William and Mary Quarterly'' Vol. 27, No. 4 (Oct., 1970), pp. 581-614 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1919705 in JSTOR]</ref>

Ethnically, the Middle Colonies were more diverse than the other British colonial regions in North America and tended to be more socially tolerant. For example, in New York, any foreigner professing Christianity was awarded citizenship, leading to a more diverse populace. As a consequence, early German settlements in the Americas concentrated in the Middle Colonies region. [[Indentured servitude]] was especially common in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York in the 18th century, though fewer worked in agriculture.<ref>Westerkamp (1998), 452.</ref>

[[German Americans|German immigrants]] favored the Middle Colonies. German immigration greatly increased around 1717, and many immigrants began coming from the [[Rhineland]]. They were erroneously labeled the [[Pennsylvania Dutch]] (the German word for German is "Deutsch"), and comprised one-third of the population by the time of the American Revolution. The industry and farming skills they brought with them helped solidify the Middle Colonies' prosperity. They were noted for tight-knit religious communities, mostly Lutheran but also including many smaller sects such as the [[Moravian Church|Moravians]], [[Mennonite]]s and [[Amish]]<ref>A. G. Roeber, ''Palatines, Liberty, and Property: German Lutherans in Colonial British America'' (1998)</ref>

The [[Ulster Scots people|Scotch-Irish]] began immigrating to the Middle Colonies in waves after 1717. They primarily pushed farther into the western frontier of the colonies, where they repeatedly confronted the Indians.<ref>James Graham Leyburn, ''The Scotch-Irish: A Social History'' (1989)</ref> Other groups included the [[French Huguenots]], [[Wales|Welsh]], [[Dutch people|Dutch]], [[Swedish American|Swedes]], [[Switzerland|Swiss]], and Scots Highlanders.<ref name="HEAEG1980">{{cite encyclopedia|editor-last=Thernstrom|editor-first=Stephan|editor-link=Stephan Thernstrom|editor-last2=Orlov|editor-first2=Ann|editor-last3=Handlin|editor-first3=Oscar|editor-link3=Oscar Handlin|title=Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups|url=https://archive.org/details/harvardencyclope00ther|year=1980|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|isbn=0674375122|oclc=1038430174}}</ref>

===English colonists===
When the English took direct control of the Middle Colonies around 1664, many [[Quakers]] from Rhode Island had already been pushed into the region by Puritans, while Episcopalian businessmen settled in [[Philadelphia]] and [[New York City]].

Welsh Quakers, [[Baptists]] and [[Methodism|Methodists]] settled in the [[Welsh Tract]] of Pennsylvania. While some Welsh colonists like [[Roger Williams]], left to found [[Rhode Island]], [[Anne Hutchinson]] founded a seed settlement in New York. Rhode Island was not initially counted as part of New England, having been excluded from the [[New England Confederation]], but later joined the [[Dominion of New England]]. Thus, the definition of the Middle Colonies sometimes changed and overlapped with Rhode Island's colonial boundaries. After joining the Dominion of New England, however, Rhode Island was permanently thought of as a New England colony. New York's initial possession of parts of Maine ensured a close relationship with other New England colonies like Vermont and a continuing New England influence in the colony.<ref name=Albion/>

Both [[William Penn]] and the [[Baron Baltimore|Lords Baltimore]] encouraged Irish Protestant immigration, hoping they could obtain indentured servants to work on their estates and on colonial developments.<ref name=Albion/> Often areas of the Middle Colonies displayed prevalent Irish cultural influence.<ref name=Albion/>

===Labor===
Labor was always in short supply. The most common solution was [[indentured servant|indentured servitude]] of young whites. These were teenagers in Britain or Germany whose parents arranged for them to work for families in the colonies until age 21, in exchange for their ocean passage. The great majority became farmers or farm wives.<ref>Marcus Jernegan, ''Laboring and Dependent Classes in Colonial America, 1607-1783'' (1931)</ref> By the mid-eighteenth century, African American slaves comprised 12% of the population of New York. Most were house servants in Manhattan, or farm workers on Dutch estates.<ref>Ira Berlin and Leslie Harris, ''Slavery in New York'' Some work in the fields of plantations.(2005)</ref>

===Religion===

The Middle Colonies were the religiously diverse part of the British Empire, with a high degree of tolerance. The Penn family were [[Quakers]], and the colony became a favorite destination for that group as well as German [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]], German Reformed and numerous small sects such as [[Mennonites]], [[Amish]] and [[Moravian Church|Moravian]], not to mention Scotch Irish [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]]. The Dutch Reformed were strong in upstate New York and New Jersey, and Congregationalists were important in Long Island. The [[First Great Awakening]] invigorated religiosity and helped stimulate the growth of [[Congregational church|Congregational]], [[Methodism|Methodist]] and [[Baptists|Baptist]] churches. Non-British colonists included Dutch [[Calvinism|Calvinist]], Swedish Lutherans, [[Palatine]] Mennonites, and the Amish.<ref>Patricia U. Bonomi, ''Under the Cope of Heaven: Religion, Society, and Politics in Colonial America'' (2003)</ref> There was a Jewish community already established in New York from 1654 (when it was still New Amsterdam), and Jews settled in what became Pennsylvania from 1655.