All Topics  
Mid-Atlantic States

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Mid-Atlantic States
 
 
  Topics Mid-Atlantic States Topic Home

The Mid-Atlantic States (also called Middle Atlantic States or simply the Mid Atlantic) form one of the nine geographic divisions within the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau

The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data....
. The census classification includes New Jersey
New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north by New York, on the east by the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean, on the southwest by Delaware, and on the west by Pennsylvania....
, New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
 and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a U.S. state located in the Northeastern United States and Mid-Atlantic States regions of the United States....
, and along with New England
New England

New England is a region of the United States located in the northeastern corner of the country, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and New York State, and consisting of the modern U.S....
 comprises the Northeastern United States
Northeastern United States

The Northeast is a region of the United States. According to the definition used by the United States Census Bureau, the Northeast region consists of nine states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania....
. This corresponds with the region's traditional definition as the section of the Atlantic Seaboard
East Coast of the United States

The East Coast of the United States, also known as the "Eastern Seaboard" or "Atlantic Seaboard", refers to the easternmost coastal states in the central and northern United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada....
 between New England
New England

New England is a region of the United States located in the northeastern corner of the country, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and New York State, and consisting of the modern U.S....
 and the South
Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States....
; however, Delaware
Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the East Coast of the United States in the Mid-Atlantic States region of the United States. The state takes its name from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, a British nobleman and Virginia's first colonial governor, after whom Cape Henlopen was originally named....
, Maryland
Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic States of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east....
 and Virginia
Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is an United States U.S. state on the East Coast of the United States of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of Lists of United States Presidents by place of birth#By state....
 may also be considered part of the Mid-Atlantic region.

The traditional Mid-Atlantic States comprise the most densely-populated of the nine U.S.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Mid-Atlantic States'
Start a new discussion about 'Mid-Atlantic States'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The Mid-Atlantic States (also called Middle Atlantic States or simply the Mid Atlantic) form one of the nine geographic divisions within the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau

The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data....
. The census classification includes New Jersey
New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north by New York, on the east by the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean, on the southwest by Delaware, and on the west by Pennsylvania....
, New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
 and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a U.S. state located in the Northeastern United States and Mid-Atlantic States regions of the United States....
, and along with New England
New England

New England is a region of the United States located in the northeastern corner of the country, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and New York State, and consisting of the modern U.S....
 comprises the Northeastern United States
Northeastern United States

The Northeast is a region of the United States. According to the definition used by the United States Census Bureau, the Northeast region consists of nine states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania....
. This corresponds with the region's traditional definition as the section of the Atlantic Seaboard
East Coast of the United States

The East Coast of the United States, also known as the "Eastern Seaboard" or "Atlantic Seaboard", refers to the easternmost coastal states in the central and northern United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada....
 between New England
New England

New England is a region of the United States located in the northeastern corner of the country, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and New York State, and consisting of the modern U.S....
 and the South
Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States....
; however, Delaware
Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the East Coast of the United States in the Mid-Atlantic States region of the United States. The state takes its name from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, a British nobleman and Virginia's first colonial governor, after whom Cape Henlopen was originally named....
, Maryland
Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic States of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east....
 and Virginia
Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is an United States U.S. state on the East Coast of the United States of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of Lists of United States Presidents by place of birth#By state....
 may also be considered part of the Mid-Atlantic region.

The traditional Mid-Atlantic States comprise the most densely-populated of the nine U.S. regions, and anchor the megalopolis
BosWash

BosWash is a group of metropolitan areas in the Northeastern United States United States, extending from Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, to Washington, D.C., including Manchester, New Hampshire; Worcester, Massachusetts; Springfield, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; Bridgeport, Connecticut, Hartford, Connecticut, New Haven, C...
 which runs from Boston to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
.

History

From early colonial times, the Mid-Atlantic region was settled by a wider range of European people than in New England or the South. The New Netherland
New Netherland

File:Seal of new netherland.jpgNew Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the seventeenth-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the Eastern Seaboard of North America....
 settlement along the Hudson River in New York and New Jersey, and for a time New Sweden
New Sweden

New Sweden was a small Sweden settlement along the Delaware River on the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America from 1638 to 1655. It was centered at Fort Christina, now in Wilmington, Delaware, Delaware, and included parts of the present-day United States states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania....
 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
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
, and Pennsylvania to Quakers
Religious Society of Friends

The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers, was founded in England in the 17th century as a Christian denomination by people who were dissatisfied with the existing denominations and sects of Christianity....
 and the mostly Anabaptist
Anabaptist

Anabaptists are Christianity of the Radical Reformation. Various groups at various times have been called Anabaptist, but the term is most commonly used to refer to the Anabaptists of 16th century Europe....
 Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch

The Pennsylvania Dutch are the descendants of German people immigrants who came to Pennsylvania prior to 1800. According to Don Yoder, a Pennsylvania German expert and retired University of Pennsylvania professor, the word "Dutch" in this case owes its origin to an archaic meaning where it designated groups that are today considered Ger...
. In time, all these settlements fell under English control, but the region continued to be a magnet for people of diverse nationalities.

The area that came to be known as the Middle Colonies
Middle Colonies

The Middle Colonies, also known as the Bread Colonies for the region's production of wheat and grain, were one area of Thirteen Colonies in pre-Revolutionary War Northern America....
 served as a strategic bridge between the North and South. Philadelphia, midway between the northern and southern colonies, was home to the Continental Congress
Continental Congress

The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....
, the convention of delegates that organized the American Revolution
American Revolution

The American Revolution refers to the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen Colonies of North America overthrew the governance of the British Empire and then rejected the British monarchy to become the sovereign United States of America....
. The same city was the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence
Declaration of independence

This article is about declarations of independence in general. Specific declarations of independence are listed below in alphabetical order. For the painting of this name, see Trumbull's Declaration of Independence....
 in 1776 and the United States Constitution
United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America; the Federal Government of the United States; and all the State & local governments and Territorial Administrative bodies contained therein....
 in 1787.

While early settlers were mostly farmers, traders and fishermen, the Mid-Atlantic states provided the young United States with heavy industry
Heavy industry

Heavy industry does not have a single fixed meaning as compared to light industry. It can mean production of products which are either heavy in weight or in the processes leading to their production....
 and served as the "melting pot
Melting pot

The melting pot is an analogy for the way in which wiktionary:heterogeneous societies become more wiktionary:homogeneous, in which the ingredients in the pot are combined so as to develop a multi-ethnic society....
" of new immigrants
Immigration to the United States

American immigration refers to the movement of World population to the United States. Immigration has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of history of the United States....
 from Europe. Cities grew along major shipping routes and waterways. Such flourishing cities included New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 on the Hudson River
Hudson River

The Hudson River, called Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk , the Great Mohegan by the Iroquois, or as the Lenape Native Americans called it in Unami, Muhheakantuck, is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York....
, Philadelphia on the Delaware River
Delaware River

The Delaware River is a river on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the United States.The Delaware was explored by Adriaen Block as part of the New Netherlands Colony, and was named the South River to mark the southernmost reach of that colony....
 and Baltimore on the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia....
.

Major cities

  • Albany, New York
    Albany, New York

    Albany is the Capital of the state of New York and the county seat of Albany County, New York. Albany is roughly 136 miles north of the city of New York City, and slightly south of the confluence of the Mohawk River and Hudson Rivers....
  • Buffalo, New York
    Buffalo, New York

    Buffalo , is the second largest city in the state of New York. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River, Buffalo is the principal city of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area and the county seat of Erie County, New York....
  • Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
    Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

    Harrisburg is the Capital of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the United States of America. As of the United States Census, 2000, the city had a population of 48,950, making it the tenth largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Pennsylvania, Erie, Pennsylvania, Reading, Pennsylvania, Scranton, Pennsylvani...
  • Jersey City, New Jersey
    Jersey City, New Jersey

    Jersey City is a City in Hudson County, New Jersey, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the population of Jersey City was 240,055, making it New Jersey's List of municipalities in New Jersey , behind Newark, New Jersey....
  • New York City, New York
  • Newark, New Jersey
    Newark, New Jersey

    Newark is the largest City in New Jersey, and the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey. Newark has a population of 281,402, making it not only List of Municipalities in New Jersey but also the 65th List of United States cities by population Newark is also home to major corporations, such as Prudential Financial....
  • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population city in the United States. It is the fifth-largest metropolitan area and fourth-largest urban area by population in the United States, the nation's fourth-largest consumer media market as ranked by the Nielsen Media Research, and the 49th-most...
  • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

    Pittsburgh is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania with a population of 312,819. The population of the seven-county metropolitan area is 2,462,571....
  • Rochester, New York
    Rochester, New York

    Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, New York State, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. The Rochester metropolitan area is the second largest economy in New York State, behind the New York City metropolitan area....
  • Trenton, New Jersey
    Trenton, New Jersey

    Trenton is the Capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated that the City of Trenton had a population of 82,804....


See also