English North America, during the seventeenth century was a world known for its fortunes and its vast opportunities for a better life. Promises of religious freedom, independence, and economic freedom attracted large amounts of English emigrants to make the passage to the new world. English North America, also known as the colonies, was made up of three regions: New England, Mid-Atlantic, and the Southern colonies. Although the regions varied in what they offered, they were similar in the benefits they provided to the colonists who were leaving a more authoritarian England. The Mid-Atlantic region was the most culturally and racially diverse region in colonial America. The states that made up the region are now known as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Delaware. The way the government system was constructed in the Mid-Atlantic colonies made living in society tolerable. Unlike the government systems in the New England and Southern colonies, the Mid-Atlantic colonies had more opportunities for its inhibiters. The colonies presented a diverse workforce of farmers, fishermen and merchants. With rich farmland and moderate climates, the economy in the Mid-Atlantic colonies flourished because of its wealth of natural resources. .
The Mid-Atlantic region attracted more colonists than the other regions because of their religious freedoms. Settlers that helped establish the colony were Dutch, Germans, French, and English. Some of the religions found in the Mid-Atlantic colonies were Quakers, Christianity, Catholics, Jews, and Congressionalist. Unlike the Puritans that dominated the New England colonies, colonists could have their own religious beliefs as long as it was exercised in private. The Puritans in New England sought to purify Christianity. They followed strict rules and were intolerant of other religions. William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, made religious freedom his most fundamental principle.
