Mid-Atlantic (United States)

History

The first European to see the region was the explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524. Henry Hudson later extensively explored the region in 1611 and claimed it for the Dutch, who then created a fur-trading post in Albany, New York in 1614. The first permanent English colony in North America was Jamestown, Virginia, established in 1607.

The Mid-Atlantic region was settled during the colonial era between the early 17th century and the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 by European Americans of primarily Dutch, German, Swedish, English, and other Western European ethnicities. From early colonial times, the Mid-Atlantic region was settled by a wider range of Europeans than New England or the South. The two great bulwarks of English settlement were divided from each other by the Dutch New Netherland settlement along the Hudson River in New York City and New Jersey, and—for a time—by the Swedish New Sweden settlement along the Delaware River in Delaware.

The region's original English settlements notably provided refuge to religious minorities: Maryland to Roman Catholics, and Pennsylvania to Quakers and Anabaptist Pennsylvania Dutch. In time, all these settlements came under English colonial control, but the region remained a magnet for people of diverse nationalities.

In the original Thirteen Colonies—which comprised six of the seven Mid-Atlantic states—religious pluralism and freedoms existed, particularly prevalent in the Province of Pennsylvania and in the geographic region that ultimately broke away from Pennsylvania to form the Delaware Colony. The Province of Maryland was the only one of the Thirteen Colonies with a substantial Catholic population.

In the 17th century, the region was known as the "Middle Colonies." It initially included four colonial provinces: the Delaware Colony and the provinces of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, each of which were among the Thirteen Colonies in pre-revolutionary British America. Afterward, the area was recognized geographically as the "Middle States," with Maryland, Virginia, and, in some instances, North Carolina as well as the Ohio Territory.

The area that came to be known as the Middle Colonies served as a strategic bridge between the North and South, as well as the location of the early governing documents of the young nation. More battles than in any other theater of the American Revolutionary War took place in the New York and New Jersey campaign. Philadelphia, midway between the northern and southern colonies, was home to the Continental Congress, the convention of delegates who organized the American Revolution. Philadelphia was also the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the United States Constitution in 1787, and it was there that the United States Bill of Rights was drafted and ratified. The first Supreme Court of the United States sat for the first time, in the first capital under the Constitution of New York.

Shipping and trade have been important to the region's economy since the beginning of the colonial era.

Although the early settlers were mostly farmers, traders, and fishermen, the Mid-Atlantic states provided the young United States with heavy industry. They served as the "melting pot" of new immigrants from Europe. Cities grew along major ports, shipping routes, and waterways, including New York City and Newark on opposite sides of the Hudson River, Philadelphia on the Delaware River, Allentown on the Lehigh River, and Baltimore on the Chesapeake Bay.

Following the American Revolutionary War, the Mid-Atlantic region hosted each of the United States' historic capitals. The nation's capital was constructed in Washington, DC in the late 18th century and was relocated there from Philadelphia in 1800.

In the early part of the 19th century, New York and Pennsylvania overtook Virginia as the nation's two most populous states, and the Mid-Atlantic region overtook New England as the nation's most important trading and industrial center. During this period, large numbers of German, Irish, Italian, Jewish, Polish, and other immigrants arrived in the region's coastal cities, including Baltimore, Newark, New York City, Philadelphia, and interior cities such as Pittsburgh, and Rochester, Albany, and Buffalo (the latter also being included in the Great Lakes region) with their skyscrapers and subways, which would emerge in the 20th century as icons of modernity and American economic and cultural power.

In the late 19th century, the region played a vital and historic role in the development of American culture, commerce, trade, and industry sectors.

Major states, cities, and urban areas

Metropolitan areas

States and federal district

State capitals and federal district

Note: The Mid-Atlantic region is also home to the nation's capital, Washington, DC.

Presidential elections

• Bold denotes election winner.

Culture

Cuisine

Indigenous and immigrant cultures from around the world deeply shape the cuisine of this region.

Cinema and television

New York City is a major center for both American cinema and American television.

Literature

New York City and Philadelphia are major centers for American literature. Notably, the Harlem Renaissance took place in Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City.

Notable authors from the region include James Baldwin, James Fenimore Cooper, Junot Díaz, Michael Chabon, Allen Ginsberg, Louise Glück, Washington Irving, Herman Melville, Ezra Pound, Philip Roth, Susan Sontag, John Updike, Edith Wharton, Colson Whitehead, Walt Whitman, and William Carlos Williams.

Music

Baltimore, New York City, and Philadelphia are major centers for American music.

Sports

The Mid-Atlantic is home to 33 professional sports franchises in the five major leagues and the two most prominent women's professional leagues.

Notable golf tournaments in the Mid-Atlantic include the Atlantic City LPGA Classic,Barclays, and Quicken Loans National..

Two high-level professional tennis tournaments are held in the region. The US Open, held in New York, is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, whereas the Washington Open is part of the ATP Tour 500 series and WTA 250 series.

Notable motorsports tracks include Dover Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway, and Watkins Glen International, which have hosted Formula One; International Motor Sports Association (IMSA); IndyCar; National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR); and World Sportscar Championship races. The Englishtown and Reading drag strips have also hosted National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) national events.

Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore and Belmont Park in New York host the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes horse races, which are part of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.

Economy

With a nominal GDP of over $5.2 trillion, the Mid-Atlantic economy would be the third-largest in the world if calculated separately, behind only the United States and China, and nearly $1 trillion larger than Japan. A significant financial services and banking sector, healthcare and chemicals industry, and telecommunications and entertainment conglomerates buoy this economic prosperity.

According to the Global Financial Centres Index, the Mid-Atlantic region is home to the leading financial center in the world (New York) at #1 and Washington, DC at #15.

Notable companies (over $100 billion market cap) headquartered in the region include:

Education

The region is home to eight of the top 30 ranked universities in the nation: Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh; Columbia University in New York City; Cornell University in Ithaca, NY; Georgetown University in Washington, DC; Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD; Princeton University in Princeton, NJ; the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia; and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA, according to U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Ranking.