Middle Colonies Essay

348 Words2 Pages
The Middle Colonies were the first to become self-sufficient after the Colonies separation from England. The geographical features that adorned the Middle Colonies greatly contributed to their early success in economic development. The Hudson River Valley and the Appalachian mountains were some of the most influential geographic features on the economy of the Middle Colonies. The Hudson River was named after Henry Hudson, an English explorer, who had only stumbled upon it. It was an ideal trading location due to the fact that water was easily accessible, and merchants could ship things quickly. After Hudson discovered the river-which would later be named after him- he claimed it, and its surrounding area, as Dutch property; because he had been hired to explore the Middle Colonies by the Dutch East India Company. Because it was near a river, the Hudson River Valley experienced an influx in trade and agriculture after they started to use the river frequently. Transportation was made easier by the Hudson River, and people often built boats to travel, given their proximity to a body of water which enabled them to travel from the Adirondack Mountains to Upper New York Bay. After the first few struggling settlements in the New World progressed, more and more colonies sprung from the untested North American soil. Eventually, there were three main categories to the European colonies. They were each unique, although one certain class stood in stark contrast to the other two. This group, the Middle colonies, was a halfway point between the New England and Southern colonies – and not just geographically. The Middle colonies extracted parts of its neighbors, like farming habits and spiritual sects, but the middle group managed to retain its own flavor. Perhaps one of the most important circumstances of the New World was the varying climate. The North American continent was
Open Document