The middle colonies had many varying motives for founding, religious, economic foundations, and political development. Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey all have different reasons for the creation of the colony. Pennsylvania was claimed by William Penn because he wanted a safe place for his, and everyone else’s, religion. New York, however, was founded because the Dutch were seeking great riches; although Henry Hudson, an English explorer they employed, did not find a shortcut through North America, he did claim the land for the Dutch. Comparatively, New Jersey was established and inhabited for its rich and fertile soil. Moreover, New York had different religious motives than those of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. New York, being founded …show more content…
Similar to Pennsylvania, many of the New England states were founded in order to grant people freedom of religion. The formation of Massachusetts was because many Puritans were looking to leave England's oppression; just as Roger Williams, who was against the Bay colony's religious restrictions, wanted to found Rhode Island to leave Massachusetts. The location of the New England colonies prevents settlers from finding many riches and its rocky terrain resulted in poor farming results compared to the middle colonies; therefore, New Jersey and New York's intentions for establishing their colony were far from those of the New England territories. Moreover, the New England colony of Massachusetts's religious motive was very similar to those of New York, while others, such as Rhode Island, were more like Pennsylvania's and New Jersey's. Just like New York's Dutch Reformed Church, the Bay Colony saw the members of their own church, the Congregational Church, as better than those who were not a part of it; They intended to control unchurched citizens. However, like Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Rhode Island offered complete religious freedom to all, even though he didn't agree with some of their ideologies. Furthermore, the economic foundations in the New England colonies were mostly identical to those of the middle colonies, yet there were two important differences. Instead of shipbuilding like those farther south did, the New England colonies were great fishermen; the industry thrived in colonies such as Plymouth, Massachusetts, and many others. In addition, the New England territories made little to no money off of exporting grain. Although, they did practice fur trading and lumbering, just as those in the middle colonies did. Equally important was the New England colonies