The Middle Colonies: The American Labor System

I have to chosen to compare and contrast the differences between the Middle and the Southern colonies; moreover the way in which their separate labor systems were usually conducted. I will begin by explaining how the labor systems in the Middle colonies were generally operated, and I will then move on to how the majority of Southern colonies implemented their system of labor. The Middle colonies, of the pre-Revolutionary War America, consisted of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. These colonies were settled by a large variety of differing European ethnic groups, such as the English, German, Dutch, French, Scots-Irish, and Swedes. These groups were clustered tightly together, and they lived in a closer proximity within these four Middle colonies, than they previously ever would have while living anywhere on the European continent. The Middle colonies also boasted an already standing and …show more content…
The pure logistics of maintaining a cash crop style of economy required a labor force that had never been known anywhere north of Maryland. Although there was both slavery and indentured servitude north of Maryland at that time, it was nowhere near the prevalence as it was in the Southern colonies. For this simple reason, African slaves were sent to the southern colonies in vast numbers, and this practice would continue for many decades to come. Slavery and indentured servitude became the backbone of how the economy of the Southern colonies prospered. Although the differences between the pre-Revolutionary War American Middle and Southern Colonies were not as prevalent as with the New England colonies, there were stark differences between the two as I explained. Conversely, the various types of ethnic groups consisting within the middle colonies created an almost night and day difference than that of the similar peoples of the Southern