The Middle Atlantic Source: The U.S. Department of State If New
England provided the brains and dollars for 19th-century
American expansion, the Middle Atlantic states provided the
muscle. The region's largest states, New York and Pennsylvania,
became centers of heavy industry (iron, glass, and steel). The
Middle Atlantic region was settled by a wider range of people
than New England. Dutch immigrants moved into the lower Hudson
River Valley in what is now New York State. Swedes went to
Delaware. English Catholics founded Maryland, and an English
Protestant sect, the Friends (Quakers), settled Pennsylvania. In
time, all these settlements fell under English control, but the
region continued to be a magnet for people of diverse
nationalities. Early settlers were mostly farmers and traders,
and the region served as a bridge between North and South.
Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, midway between the northern and
southern colonies, was home to the Continental Congress, the
convention of delegates from the original