Middle Colonies Had Small Diversified Farms, Not Large Plantations

Unlike the plantation-dependent South, the Middle Colonies (NY, NJ, PA, DE) developed smaller, mixed farms growing wheat, corn, vegetables, and raising livestock. Factors: temperate climate less suited to cash crops like cotton; less fertile, hillier terrain; and a more diverse European immigrant population with family-farm traditions. This fostered a more egalitarian rural society.