Why was the land in the Middle Colonies attractive to immigrants?
1 Answer
It was fertile land, and was protected on the North by New England, and protected on the South by Virginia.
Explanation:
The Middle Colonies (present day New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware) were some of the last English Colonies in North America to be settled. The Middle Colonies came about primarily to connect the other colonies.
The Chesapeake colonies (i.e., Jamestown) took the warmer, more fertile land further south, and exported tobacco to create revenue, leaving little room to grow standard English crops (such as wheat). New England (present day Massachusetts and surrounding area) was created further North by religious separatists. The climate there was too cold to grow wheat or easily raise cattle and pigs.
After the other colonies were settled, the British government wanted to connect their colonies to protect against foreign invasion (mostly French, Spanish, and Dutch). In addition, the Dutch controlled the area of the middle colonies, and they were the primary competitors to the British trade monopoly. In 1664, Britain invaded the area, took it from the dutch, and established colonies there.
The colonies main purpose was to attract settlers from England. Britain created policies such as giving each immigrant large chunks of land, and focusing on the raising wheat, cattle, and pigs to reflect the diet in England at the time.
