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Crossroads of Empire

The Middle Colonies in British North America

Ned C. Landsman

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This work examines the Middle Colonies—New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania—as a region at the center of imperial contests among competing European powers and Native American nations and at the fulcrum of an emerging British-Atlantic world of culture and trade.

Ned C. Landsman traces the history of the Middle Colonies to address questions essential to understanding their role in the colonial era. He probes the concept of regionality and argues that while each territory possessed varying social, religious, and political cultures, the collective lands of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania...

This work examines the Middle Colonies—New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania—as a region at the center of imperial contests among competing European powers and Native American nations and at the fulcrum of an emerging British-Atlantic world of culture and trade.

Ned C. Landsman traces the history of the Middle Colonies to address questions essential to understanding their role in the colonial era. He probes the concept of regionality and argues that while each territory possessed varying social, religious, and political cultures, the collective lands of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania came to function as a region because of their particular history and their distinct place in the imperial and Atlantic worlds. Landsman demonstrates that the societal cohesiveness of the three colonies originated in the commercial and military rivalries among Native nations and developed further with the competing involvement of the European powers, eventually emerging as the focal point in the contest for dominion over North America. In relating this progression, Landsman discusses various factors in the region's development, including the Enlightenment, evangelical religion, factional politics, religious and ethnic diversity, and distinct systems of Protestant pluralism. Ultimately, he argues, it was within the Middle Colonies that the question was first posed, What is the American?

An insightful and valuable classroom synthesis of the scholarship of the Middle Colonies, Crossroads of Empire makes clear the vital role of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania in establishing an American identity.

Reviews

Reviews

Solid, well-sourced, and very readable. Recommended.

Researchers on the middle colonies may find it a starting point and essential reference on most topics.

Informative, nicely written synthesis.

Landsman and the press are to be commended for promoting, albeit in traditional print format, the importance of the middle colonies for the development of American society to an English-speaking, twenty-first-century audience that is increasingly unaware of historical perspectives before the founding of the Republic.

Students new to the field and senior scholars alike can benefit from, and should enjoy, this excellent short volume.

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Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
5.5
x
8.5
Pages
256
ISBN
9780801897689
Illustration Description
10 b&w illus., 7 halftones, 3 line drawings
Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Prologue: Region and History
1. The Origins of the Middle Colonies
2. The Duke's Dominions
3. Penn's Proprietary
4. The Commercial Crossroads of the British Atlantic
5. The Crossroads of

Acknowledgments
Prologue: Region and History
1. The Origins of the Middle Colonies
2. The Duke's Dominions
3. Penn's Proprietary
4. The Commercial Crossroads of the British Atlantic
5. The Crossroads of Cultures: Diversity, Toleration, and Pluralism
6. The Crossroads of Philosophy and Faith
7. Politics at the Crossroads: Liberty and Faction, Empire and War
Epilogue: Empire and Revolution
Notes
Essay on Sources
Index

Author Bio
Featured Contributor

Ned C. Landsman

Ned C. Landsman is a professor of history at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and the author of From Colonials to Provincials and Scotland and Its First American Colony, 1683–1765.