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4. The Middle Colonies

New Netherland becoming New York, the Quaker settlements of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the growth of Philadelphia, and the ideas of Benjamin Franklin.

4. The Middle Colonies

William Penn paid 1200 pounds for the land he purchased from the Delaware Indians. Americans have often prided themselves on their rich diversity. Nowhere was…

4a. New Netherland to New York

England was not the first European power to settle the land known now as New York. That distinction belongs to the Dutch. Governor Stuyvesant, appointed by the…

4b. Quakers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey

Central to the Quaker way of life was the Meeting House. Here, Quakers would come together to worship. The above image depicts one of London's Quaker Meeting H…

4c. City of Brotherly Love: Philadelphia

The Print and Picture Collection, The Free Library ofWilliam Russell Birch's idyllic engraving of the back of the Pennsylvania State House hints at the diversi…

4d. The Ideas of Benjamin Franklin

Although his life is most closely associated with Philadelphia, Ben Franklin was born in Boston. At the age of seventeen he made his way to the City of Brother…