at
Port Newark–Elizabeth Marine Terminal in the
Port of New York and New Jersey The Mid-Atlantic region was settled during the
colonial era between the early 17th century and the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 by
European Americans of primarily
Dutch,
German,
Swedish,
English, and other
Western European ethnicities. Shipping and trade have been important to the Mid-Atlantic economy since the beginning of the colonial era. The explorer
Giovanni da Verrazzano was the first European to see the region in 1524.
Henry Hudson later extensively explored that region in 1611 and claimed it for the Dutch, who then created a fur-trading post in
Albany in 1614.
Jamestown, Virginia was the first permanent English colony in North America, established in 1607. From early colonial times, the Mid-Atlantic region was settled by a wider range of Europeans than New England or the South. The Dutch
New Netherland settlement along the
Hudson River in
New York City and
New Jersey, and for a time,
New Sweden along the
Delaware River in
Delaware, divided the two great bulwarks of English settlement from each other. The original English settlements in the region notably provided refuge to religious minorities,
Maryland to
Roman Catholics and
Pennsylvania to
Quakers and
Anabaptist Pennsylvania Dutch. In time, all these settlements came under English colonial control, but the region remained a magnet for people of diverse nationalities. Religious pluralism and freedoms existed in the original
Thirteen Colonies. They were particularly prevalent in the
Province of Pennsylvania and in the geographic region that ultimately broke away from Pennsylvania to form the
Delaware Colony. Among the 13 colonies, the
Province of Maryland was the only colony with a substantial
Catholic population. The region was known in the 17th century as the "
Middle Colonies" during the
colonial era, initially including four colonial provinces, the
Delaware Colony and the provinces of
New Jersey,
New York, and
Pennsylvania, each of which were among the
Thirteen Colonies in pre-
revolutionary British America. Afterward, the area was recognized geographically as the "Middle States", with Maryland, Virginia, and, in some instances,
North Carolina included, as well as the
Ohio Territory. The area that came to be known as the Middle Colonies served as a strategic bridge between the North and South. The
New York and New Jersey campaign during the
American Revolutionary War saw more battles than any other theater of the conflict.
Philadelphia, midway between the northern and southern colonies, was home to the
Continental Congress, the convention of delegates who organized the
American Revolution. Philadelphia was also the birthplace of the
Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the
United States Constitution in 1787, and it was there that the
United States Bill of Rights was drafted and ratified. The first
Supreme Court of the United States sat for the first time, in the first capital under the
Constitution of New York. While early settlers were mostly farmers, traders, and fishermen, the Mid-Atlantic states provided the young United States with
heavy industry. They served as the "
melting pot" of new
immigrants from Europe. Cities grew along major ports, shipping routes, and waterways, including New York City and
Newark on opposite sides of the
Hudson River, Philadelphia on the Delaware River,
Allentown on the
Lehigh River, and
Baltimore on the
Chesapeake Bay. Following the American Revolutionary War, the Mid-Atlantic region hosted each of the
United States' historic capitals. The nation's capital was constructed in
Washington, D.C. in the late 18th century and relocated there from Philadelphia in 1800. In the early part of the 19th century, New York and Pennsylvania overtook Virginia as the nation's two most populous states, and the Mid-Atlantic region overtook
New England as the nation's most important trading and industrial center. During this period, large numbers of
German,
Irish,
Italian,
Jewish,
Polish, and other
immigrants arrived in the region's coastal cities, including
Baltimore,
Newark,
New York City, Philadelphia, and interior cities such as
Pittsburgh, and
Rochester,
Albany, and
Buffalo, the latter of which is also included in the
Great Lakes region, with their skyscrapers and subways, which emerged as icons of
modernity and American economic and cultural power in the 20th century. In the late 19th century, the region played a vital and historic role in the development of
American culture, commerce, trade, and
industry sectors. ==Major states, cities, and urban areas==