Mid-Atlantic

The Quakers and the German and Scotch-Irish immigrants added special elements to the architecture and culture of Pennsylvania. New Jersey was populated mostly by English, Dutch, French and German immigrants and their descendants. Most of New York's residents were English, with a number of Dutch and German immigrants and a Scotch-Irish settlement in the northern part of the state. Although slavery was legal in the Middle States, there were few slaves, and many free blacks. Their freedom was restricted by laws which limited their rights and sometimes limited the number of free blacks who could live in a particular area. The Iroquois, Erie, Mohegan and Susquehanna Indians lived in Western New York and Pennsylvania until the United States took control of their land.