text:
Middle Colonies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Middle Colonies
Regional statistics
U.S. States Delaware
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
The Middle Colonies were four of the thirteen colonies in British America, located between the New England Colonies and the Southern Colonies. Along with the Chesapeake Colonies, this area now roughly makes up the Mid-Atlantic states (though with the notable exception of Vermont, which is reckoned with New England).
The Middle Colonies were very similar to the New England colonies in their stature[further explanation needed]. Much of the area was part of New Netherland until the Danish exerted their control over the region. The British captured much of the area in their war with the Dutch around 1664, and the majority of the conquered land became the Province of New York. But The Duke of York and the King of England would later grant others ownership of the land which would become the Province of New Jersey and the Province of Pennsylvania. The Delaware Colony later separated from Pennsylvania, which was founded by William Penn.
The Middle Colonies had lots of fertile soil, which allowed the area to become a major exporter of wheat and other grains. The lumber and shipbuilding industries enjoyed success in the Middle Colonies because of the abundant forests, and Pennsylvania saw moderate success in the textile and iron industry. The Middle Colonies were the most ethnically and religiously diverse British colonies in North America; they had settlers from England, Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and German states. The good farm land was much cheaper than in Europe. With the new arrivals came various Protestant denominations, which were protected in the Middle Colonies by written freedom of religion laws. This tolerance was very unusual and distinct from the situation in other British colonies.
Contents
[hide]
1 History
2 Province of New Jersey
3 Province of Pennsylvania
4 Province of New York
5 Delaware Colony
6 Geography
7 Industry
8 Politics
9 Demographics
9.1 English colonists
9.2 Labor
9.3 Religion
10 See also
11 Notes
12 References
12.1 Primary sources
13 Historiography
History[edit]
The Middle Colonies were explored by Henry Hudson on a journey into the Hudson River and Delaware Bay in 1609. The Dutch soon claimed the land. Although the Swedes and the Dutch fought over the land in the 1630s through the ultimately the Dutch claimed the land, calling it New Netherland.[1] In the 1660s, the English largely conquered this land from the Dutch, renaming the area New York after the Duke of York, James II.[2][3].
Province of New Jersey[edit]
Main articles: Bergen, New Netherland and Province of New Jersey
Map showing the borders of West New Jersey (left) and East New Jersey (right)
King Charles II renamed the land west of the Hudson River New Jersey and gave the region between New England and Maryland to his brother, the Duke of York (later King James II of England) as a proprietary colony.[2] James II later granted the land between the Hudson River and the Delaware River to two friends who had been loyal to him through the English Civil War: Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton. This land grant became the Province of New Jersey.[4][5]
In 1665, the Concession and Agreement was written in an effort to entice settlers to New Jersey. This document provided for religious freedom, no taxes without assembly approval, and a governor appointed by the proprietors.[6] The first governor appointed in this way was Philip Carteret, who founded Elizabethtown. Colonists were required to pay annual quit-rent taxes. On March 18, 1674, after encountering difficulty collecting the taxes, Lord Berkeley sold his share in the colony to Edward Byllynge, a Quaker businessman from London.[7] This sale divided New Jersey into East Jersey and West Jersey; however, the border between the two was not agreed upon until the Quintipartite Deed in 1676. From 1701 to 1765, colonists skirmished in the New York-New Jersey Line War over disputed colonial boundaries.
On April 15, 1702, Queen Anne united West and East Jersey into one Royal Colony, the Province of New Jersey.[8] Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon became the royal colony's first governor. After Hyde was recalled to England in 1708 over charges of graft, bribery, and corruption, the governor of New York was charged to also preside over New Jersey.[8] Finally, in 1738, King George II appointed a separate governor, Lewis Morris, to run New Jersey.[4]
The Provincial Congress of New Jersey, made up of elected delegates, formed in January 1776 to govern the colony. The Congress had Royal Governor William Franklin arrested on June 15, declaring him "an enemy to the liberties of this country".[9] On July 2, 1776, New Jersey enacted the New Jersey State Constitution, soon after having empowered delegates to the Continental Congress, on June 21, to join in a declaration of independence. The United States Declaration of Independence ended their colonial status.[5]
Province of Pennsylvania[edit]
Main article: Province of Pennsylvania
Chester Courthouse in Pennsylvania was built in 1724
King Charles II granted the land for the Pennsylvania Colony to William Penn on March 4, 1681 as payment for a debt the crown owed his family.[10] Penn wrote the Frame of Government of Pennsylvania before departing for the colony, which called for religious tolerance towards many groups, including the Religious Society of Friends and local natives.[11] As a proprietary colony, Penn governed Pennsylvania, yet its citizens were still subject to the English crown and laws.[11][12] Penn's cousin William Markham served as the first colonial deputy governor.[10][12]
Demarcated by the 42nd parallel north and 39th parallel north, Pennsylvania was bordered by the Delaware River and the colonies of New York, Maryland, and New Jersey.[12] In 1704, Dutch land given to Penn by the Duke of York was separated and once again became part of the Delaware Colony.[11] From 1692 to 1694, revolution in England deprived Penn of the governance of his colony. The Pennsylvania Assembly took this opportunity to request expanded power for elected officials, led by David Lloyd. Upon visiting the colony in 1669 and 1701, Penn eventually agreed to allow their Charter of Privileges to be added to the constitution.[12] When the British banned western expansion in 1764, fighting among colonists and against the natives swelled. In 1773, Arthur St. Clair ordered the arrest of a Virginian officer who was commanding troops against armed settlers loyal to Pennsylvania. Pennsylvanian revolutionary sentiment continued to grow, and Philadelphia, the largest city in America, soon became the meeting place of the Continental Congress. The publication of the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 by locally elected revolutionaries concluded the history of the Colony, and began the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Province of New York[edit]
Main articles: Province of New York and New Netherland
The first Dutch settlements in the New York area appeared around 1613. The English captured the New Netherland Colony from the Dutch in 1664, renaming it the Province of New York after the King's brother, the Duke of York (later King James II).[3] The Dutch recaptured the colony in July 1673 during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, but gave it back to the English under the Treaty of Westminster in exchange for Suriname. The Duke of York never governed the colony himself: he instead appointed governors, councils, and other officers to run the government. Richard Nicolls served as the first governor of New York.
In 1665, the Province of New Jersey split from New York; however, the New York-New Jersey Line War continued until the final borders were decided in 1769, and approved by the legislatures and the King in 1772 and 1773 respectively. A Colonial Assembly convened in October 1683, making New York the last colony to have an assembly. A constitution was drafted and passed on October 30, 1683, giving the colonists many rights, including the rights to no taxation without representation. However, upon learning of the constitution, James II declared it void.[3]
When the Duke of York became King James II of England, New York became a royal province. In May 1688 the province briefly became part of the Dominion of New England. When James II was overthrown, the citizens of New York rebelled against the Royal Governor in Leisler's Rebellion.[13] When Henry Sloughter became governor in March 1691, the rebellion was crushed and its leader, Jacob Leisler was arrested, tried, and executed for treason. New York's charter and constitution were reinstated soon after. In April 1775, American patriots formed the New York Provincial Congress to replace the assembly. Governor William Tryon and all royal officials were forced from the colony on October 19, 1775. Colonial status ended for the new state with the United States Declaration of Independence in July 1776.
Delaware Colony[edit]
Main article: Delaware Colony
Delaware changed hands between the Dutch and Swedes between 1631 and 1655. The Dutch maintained control of Delaware until 1664, when Sir Robert Carr took New Amstel for the Duke of York, renaming it New Castle.[14] A Deputy of the Duke governed Delaware from 1664 to 1682.[14] When William Penn received his land grant of Pennsylvania in 1681, he received the Delaware area from the Duke of York, and dubbed them "The Three Lower Counties on the Delaware River".[15] In 1701, after he had troubles governing the ethnically diverse Delaware territory, Penn agreed to allow them a separate colonial assembly.[14]
Geography[edit]
The partly unglaciated Middle Colonies enjoyed fertile soil vastly different from the nearby New England Colonies, which contained more rocky soil. Because of the large grain exports resulting from this soil, the colonies came to be known as the Bread Basket Colonies. Pennsylvania became a leading exporter of wheat, corn, rye, hemp, and flax,[12] making it the leading food producer in the colonies, and later states, between the years of 1725 and 1840.[16] Broad navigable rivers of relaxed current like the Susquehanna River, the Delaware River, and the Hudson River attracted diverse business. Fur trappers moved along these rivers, and there was enough flow to enable milling with water wheel power.
Industry[edit]
Abundant forests attracted both the lumbering and shipbuilding industries to the Middle Colonies. These industries, along with the presence of deep river estuaries, led to the appearance of important ports like New York and Philadelphia. While the Middle Colonies had far more industry than the Southern Colonies, it still did not rival the industry of New England. In Pennsylvania, sawmills and gristmills were abundant, and the textile industry grew quickly. The colony also became a major producer of pig iron and its products, including the Pennsylvania long rifle and the Conestoga wagon. Other important industries included printing, publishing, and the related industry of papermaking.[12][17]
Politics[edit]
The Middle Colonies’ political groups began as small groups with narrowly focused goals. These coalitions eventually grew into diverse and large political organizations, evolving especially during the French and Indian War.[18]
The Middle Colonies were generally run by Royal or Proprietary Governors and elected Colonial Assemblies. Many Middle Colony constitutions guaranteed freedom of religion and forbade taxation without representation. Royal governors were arrested or overthrown on more than one occasion, most notably when New Jersey arrested its governor and during Leisler's Rebellion in New York. Growing unrest in the Middle Colonies eventually led the region to become the meeting place for the Continental Congress, and a center for revolution.[19] However, there were numerous pockets of neutrals and Loyalists.[20]
Demographics[edit]
The Middle Colonies tended to mix aspects of the New England and Southern Colonies. Landholdings were generally farms of 40 to 160 acres (16–65 hectares), owned by the family that worked it. In New York's Hudson Valley, however, the Dutch patroons operated very large landed estates and rented land to tenant farmers.[21]
Ethnically, the Middle Colonies were more diverse than the other British colonial regions in North America and tended to be more socially tolerant. For example, in New York, any foreigner professing Christianity was awarded citizenship, leading to a more diverse populace. As a consequence, early German settlements in the Americas concentrated in the Middle Colonies region. Indentured servitude was especially common in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York in the eighteenth century, though fewer worked in agriculture.[22]
German immigrants favored the Middle Colonies. German immigration greatly increased around 1717, and many immigrants began coming from the Rhineland. They were erroneously labeled the Pennsylvania Dutch (the German word for German is "Deutsch"), and comprised one-third of the population by the time of the American Revolution. The industry and farming skills they brought with them helped solidify the Middle Colonies' prosperity. They were noted for tight-knit religious communities, mostly Lutheran but also including many smaller sects such as the Moravians, Mennonites and Amish[23]
The Scotch-Irish began immigrating to the Middle Colonies in waves after 1717. They primarily pushed farther into the western frontier of the colonies, where they repeatedly confronted the Indians.[24] Other groups included the French Huguenots, Welsh, Dutch, Swedes, Swiss, and Scots Highlanders.[25]
English colonists[edit]
When the English took direct control of the Middle Colonies around 1664, many Quakers from Rhode Island had already been pushed into the region by Puritans, while Episcopalian businessmen settled in Philadelphia and New York City.
Welsh Quakers, Baptists and Methodists settled in the Welsh Tract of Pennsylvania. While some Welsh colonists like Roger Williams, left to found Rhode Island, Anne Hutchinson founded a seed settlement in New York. Rhode Island was not initially counted as part of New England, having been excluded from the New England Confederation, but later joined the Dominion of New England. Thus, the definition of the Middle Colonies sometimes changed and overlapped with Rhode Island's colonial boundaries. After joining the Dominion of New England, however, Rhode Island was permanently thought of as a New England colony. New York's initial possession of parts of Maine ensured a close relationship with other New England colonies like Vermont and a continuing New England influence in the colony.[20]
Both William Penn and the Lords Baltimore encouraged Irish Protestant immigration, hoping they could obtain indentured servants to work on their estates and on colonial developments.[20] Often areas of the Middle Colonies displayed prevalent Irish cultural influence.[20]
Labor[edit]
Labor was always in short supply. The most common solution was indentured servitude of young whites. These were teenagers in Britain or Germany whose parents arranged for them to work for families in the colonies until age 21, in exchange for their ocean passage. The great majority became farmers or farm wives.[26] By the mid-eighteenth century, African American slaves comprised 12% of the population of New York. Most were house servants in Manhattan, or farmworkers on Dutch estates.[27]
Religion[edit]
The Middle Colonies were the religiously diverse part of the British Empire, with a high degree of tolerance. The Penn family were Quakers, and the colony became a favorite destination for that group as well as German Lutherans, German Reformed and numerous small sects such as Mennonites, Amish and Moravians, not to mention Scotch Irish Presbyterians. The Dutch Reformed were strong in upstate New York and New Jersey, and Congregationalists were important in Long Island. The First Great Awakening invigorated religiosity and helped stimulate the growth of Congregational, Methodist and Baptist churches. Non-British colonists included Dutch Calvinist, Swedish Lutherans, Palatine Mennonites, and the Amish.[28]
See also[edit]
Mid-Atlantic
New England Colonies
Southern Colonies
Chesapeake Colonies
Colonial United States
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ Jaap Jacobs, The Colony of New Netherland: A Dutch Settlement in Seventeenth-Century America (2nd ed. Cornell University Press; 2009)
^ Jump up to: a b Turner (1948), 83.
^ Jump up to: a b c Kammen (1996), 71-72.
^ Jump up to: a b Streissguth (2001), 96.
^ Jump up to: a b John E. Pomfret, Colonial New Jersey: A History (1973)
Jump up ^ Berkeley and Carteret (1664).
Jump up ^ Gerlach (2002), 384.
^ Jump up to: a b Elson (1904), 148.
Jump up ^ Skemp (1990), 192.
^ Jump up to: a b Pennsylvania Society of Governors (1916), 180-181.
^ Jump up to: a b c Penn (1682).
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Pennsylvania State History.
Jump up ^ Jerome R. Reich, Leisler's Rebellion: A Study of Democracy in New York, 1664-1720 (1953)
^ Jump up to: a b c Faragher (1990), 106-108
Jump up ^ State of Delaware (A Brief History) (2007).
Jump up ^ Ebeling (1979)
Jump up ^ Edwin J. Perkins, The Economy of Colonial America (1988)
Jump up ^ Greene (1997), 709.
Jump up ^ Jensen (1968), 461-468.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Fischer (1992), 972.
Jump up ^ Sung Bok Kim, "A New Look at the Great Landlords of Eighteenth-Century New York," William and Mary Quarterly Vol. 27, No. 4 (Oct., 1970), pp. 581-614 in JSTOR
Jump up ^ Westerkamp (1998), 452.
Jump up ^ A. G. Roeber, Palatines, Liberty, and Property: German Lutherans in Colonial British America (1998)
Jump up ^ James Graham Leyburn, The Scotch-Irish: A Social History (1989)
Jump up ^ Stephan Thermstrom, ed. Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups (1980)
Jump up ^ Marcus Jernegan, Laboring and Dependent Classes in Colonial America, 1607-1783 (1931)
Jump up ^ Ira Berlin and Leslie Harris, Slavery in New York Some work in the fields of plantations.(2005)
Jump up ^ Patricia U. Bonomi, Under the Cope of Heaven: Religion, Society, and Politics in Colonial America (2003)
References[edit]
Bod, Wayne. "The Middle Colonies." in Louise A. Breen, ed., Converging Worlds: Communities and Cultures in Colonial America (2013): 219+.
Bodle, Wayne, “The Mid-Atlantic and the American Revolution,” Pennsylvania History 82#2 (Summer 2015), 282–99.
Channing, Edward (1908). A History of the United States: vol. 2, A Century of Colonial History, 1660-1760. MacMillan.
Doyle, John Andrew. English Colonies in America: Volume IV The Middle Colonies (1907) online
Ebeling, Walter (1979). The Fruited Plain: The Story of American Agriculture. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-03751-9. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
Faragher, John Mack, ed. (1990) The Encyclopedia of Colonial and Revolutionary America. New York: Sachem Publishing Associates, Inc.
Fischer, David Hackett (1992). Albion's Seed. Oxford UP. ISBN 0-19-506905-6.
Greene, Jack P (1997). "Political Partisanship in the Middle American Colonies: 1700-1776". The Journal of Interdisciplinary History. Cambridge: MIT Press. 27 (4).
Illick, Joseph E. Colonial Pennsylvania: A History (1976)
Kammen, Michael (1996). Colonial New York: A History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-510779-1.
Landsman, Ned. Crossroads of Empire: The Middle Colonies in British North America (Johns Hopkins University Press; 2010) 248 pages
Munroe, John A. Colonial Delaware: A History (2003)
Penn, William (February 2, 1683). "Frame of Government of Pennsylvania". Avalon Project. Retrieved April 11, 2011.
"Pennsylvania State History: The Quaker Province: 1681-1776". Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Archived from the original on August 22, 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
Skemp, Sheila (1990). William Franklin: son of a patriot, servant of a king. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505745-7. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
Slavery: Growth in Colonial America. Detroit: UXL of the Gale Group. 2003.
State of Delaware (A Brief History). State of Delaware. 2007-01-21.
Streissguth, Thomas (2001). New Jersey. Lucent Books.
Tanner, Edwin Platt (1908). The Province of New Jersey 1664-1738. New York City: Columbia University. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
Tiedemann, Joseph S. "A Tumultuous People: The Rage for Liberty and the Ambiance of Violence in the Middle Colonies in the Years Preceding the American Revolution," Pennsylvania History Volume 77, Number 4, Autumn 2010, pp. 387–431 in Project MUSE
Tiedemann, Joseph S. “Interconnected Communities: The Middle Colonies on the Eve of the American Revolution,” Pennsylvania History, 76 (Winter 2009), 1–41.
Turner, F.C. (1948). James II. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode.
"United States". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
Westerkamp, Marilyn (1998). The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History. Houghton Mifflin.
Primary sources[edit]
Gerlach, Larry (editor) (2002). "New Jersey in the American Revolution, 1763-1783: A Documentary History" (PDF). New Jersey Historical Commission. Retrieved July 13, 2017. CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)
Historiography[edit]
Bodle, Wayne. "Themes and Directions in Middles Colonies Historiography, 1980–1994", William and Mary Quarterly, July 1994, Vol. 51 Issue 3, pp. 355–88. JSTOR 2947435.
Bodle, Wayne. "The "Myth of the Middle Colonies" Reconsidered: The Process of Regionalization in Early America", Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 113, No. 4 (Oct. 1989), pp. 527–548. JSTOR 20092405.
Greenberg, Douglas. "The Middle Colonies in Recent American Historiography", William and Mary Quarterly, July 1979, Vol. 36 Issue 3, pp. 396–427. JSTOR 1943383.
[hide]
v
t
e
The Thirteen Colonies of Colonial America
New England Colonies
Middle Colonies
Chesapeake Colonies
Southern Colonies
Connecticut
Delaware
Georgia
Maryland
Massachusetts Bay
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
South Carolina
Virginia
Early English colonial entities
Carolina
East Jersey
Maine
New England
New Haven
Plymouth
Saybrook
West Jersey
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Middle_Colonies&oldid=816069190"
Categories:
Colonial United States (British)
Colonization history of the United States
Former British colonies and protectorates in the Americas
Hidden categories:
Wikipedia articles needing clarification from September 2017
CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list
Good articles
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
Languages
Norsk
Occitan
Svenska
Edit links
This page was last edited on 19 December 2017, at 01:44.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

values: This is a good article. Follow the link for more information.

attrs: class id

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

value: tbody

value: big

values:
/wiki/U.S._State
mw-redirect
U.S. State

values: width: 300px; border-collapse:collapse; font-size: 95%;

values:
/wiki/Thirteen_colonies
mw-redirect
Thirteen colonies

values: The text near this tag needs further explanation. (September 2017)

values:
/wiki/King_of_England
mw-redirect
King of England

values:
/wiki/British_colonies_in_North_America
mw-redirect
British colonies in North America

values:
/wiki/Sir_George_Carteret
mw-redirect
Sir George Carteret

values: John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton

values:
/wiki/Philip_Carteret_(Governor)
mw-redirect
Philip Carteret (Governor)

values:
/wiki/New_York-New_Jersey_Line_War
mw-redirect
New York-New Jersey Line War

values:
/wiki/Royal_Colony
mw-redirect
Royal Colony

values:
/wiki/New_Jersey_State_Constitution
mw-redirect
New Jersey State Constitution

values:
/wiki/Religious_Society_of_Friends
mw-redirect
Religious Society of Friends

values:
/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Pennsylvania
mw-redirect
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

values:
/wiki/Colonial_assembly
mw-redirect
Colonial assembly

values:
/wiki/Wisconsinian_glaciation
mw-redirect
Wisconsinian glaciation

values:
/wiki/Pennsylvania_long_rifle
mw-redirect
Pennsylvania long rifle

values:
/wiki/German_American
mw-redirect
German American

values:
/wiki/French_Huguenots
mw-redirect
French Huguenots

values:
/wiki/Swedish_American
mw-redirect
Swedish American

values:
/wiki/Roger_Williams_(theologian)
mw-redirect
Roger Williams (theologian)

values:
/wiki/Indentured_servant
mw-redirect
Indentured servant

values:
/wiki/Colonial_United_States
mw-redirect
Colonial United States

values:
nofollow
external text
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1919705

values: -moz-column-width: 33em; -webkit-column-width: 33em; column-width: 33em; list-style-type: decimal;

values: The Journal of Interdisciplinary History

values:
/wiki/Houghton_Mifflin
mw-redirect
Houghton Mifflin

values: Category:CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list

values:
nofollow
external text
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2947435

values:
nofollow
external text
https://www.jstor.org/stable/20092405

values:
nofollow
external text
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1943383

values: Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

values: nowraplinks hlist collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

values: Category:Colonial United States (British)

values: Category:Colonization history of the United States

values: Category:Former British colonies and protectorates in the Americas

values: Category:Wikipedia articles needing clarification from September 2017

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values:
/wiki/Middle_Colonies
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values: Discussion about the content page [ctrl-alt-t]

values: p-namespaces navigation vectorTabs p-namespaces-label

values:
p-variants
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-variants-label

values: Past revisions of this page [ctrl-alt-h]

values: p-views navigation vectorTabs p-views-label

values:
p-cactions
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-cactions-label

values:
mw-wiki-logo
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page

values:
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page [ctrl-alt-z]
z

values: Featured content – the best of Wikipedia

values: Find background information on current events

values:
/wiki/Special:Random
Load a random article [ctrl-alt-x]
x

values: portal navigation p-navigation p-navigation-label

values: Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia

values: About the project, what you can do, where to find things

values: A list of recent changes in the wiki [ctrl-alt-r]

values: portal navigation p-interaction p-interaction-label

values: List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [ctrl-alt-j]

values: Recent changes in pages linked from this page [ctrl-alt-k]

values:
/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard
Upload files [ctrl-alt-u]
u

values: A list of all special pages [ctrl-alt-q]

values: Permanent link to this revision of the page

values: Link to connected data repository item [ctrl-alt-g]

values: Printable version of this page [ctrl-alt-p]

values:
uls-settings-trigger
Language settings
0
button
true

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Middle_Colonies rootpage-Middle_Colonies skin-vector action-view


text:
Catherine Linton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For her mother, married name Catherine Linton, see Catherine Earnshaw.
This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (May 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Catherine (Cathy) Linton
Information
Nickname(s)
Cathy
Family
Edgar Linton (father)
Cathy Earnshaw (mother)
Spouse(s)
Linton Heathcliff
Hareton Earnshaw
Catherine Linton (also known as "Young Catherine" or Cathy Linton and later as Catherine Heathcliff then as Catherine Earnshaw) is a character in Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights. She is the daughter of Edgar Linton and Cathy Earnshaw, and, despite Heathcliff's attempts at exacting revenge on her for the indiscretions of her family, she eventually marries her true love, Hareton Earnshaw, re-establishing long-lost equilibrium in the story.
Story[edit]
About eleven o'clock that night was born the Catherine you saw at Wuthering Heights: a puny, seven-months' child; and two hours after the mother died, having never recovered sufficient consciousness to miss Heathcliff, or know Edgar.
—  Nelly Dean to Mr Lockwood in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights
Cathy is the only child of Catherine and Edgar. Her mother dies a few hours after giving premature birth to her, about half-way through the novel. Her father, Edgar, calls her "Cathy" for the most part, while Heathcliff refers to her as "Catherine", because he called her mother "Cathy" as an expression of his immense affection and love for her.
Cathy is a very curious and mischievous girl, and, at thirteen years of age, she seeks out Wuthering Heights, the house to which she is not allowed to travel because Heathcliff, Edgar's enemy, resides there. On arrival she meets Hareton Earnshaw, the nephew of her mother. Nelly, who travels with her, insists that he is indeed her cousin, but Cathy, genuinely amazed at his coarse, uneducated language, his dirty clothes and his savage manner, insists that there is no way that it could be so.
On her second visit, which Nelly desperately tries to prevent, Heathcliff meets her for the first time, greeting her with a warm and kindly matter, although we know that he blames her for the death of his soul mate, her mother. He tells Nelly that he means no harm; he only wants Cathy and his own son, Linton, to fall in love and be married. As a result of his encouragement, Cathy and Linton grow close. When Nelly forbids Cathy from visiting Wuthering Heights and the bitter tyrant Heathcliff, they take to writing love letters to one another.
It soon becomes apparent that Heathcliff's plans for their marriage form part of his endeavour for revenge on Edgar and his daughter: Catherine will marry Linton, be it willingly or not. Nelly finds the childish love letters and burns them. Linton's letters, it is implied, are so beautiful that they were most likely written by Heathcliff as a means of drawing Cathy to the Heights.
...yet with touches, here and there, which, I thought, were borrowed from a more experienced source.
—  Nelly Dean in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, p213
The relationship sinks after Nelly's discovery, but it later emerges, to Nelly's considerable horror, that Cathy has been making more visits to Wuthering Heights in their stead.
Edgar presently falls ill with distress, and Heathcliff keeps Cathy and Nelly at the Heights until Catherine finally agrees to marry Linton. Desperate to see her father once more before he dies, she consents, and her fate at Wuthering Heights is sealed. Edgar dies, kissing his daughter on the cheek, knowing that Thrushcross Grange, the Linton household, is now in the hands of his enemy.
Linton, who does not at all resemble his father, but is in almost every way like his mother, falls ill as well and dies shortly after his marriage. Heathcliff forces him in his dying moments to bequeath everything to him, nothing to Catherine. As a result, it seems that Catherine, now cold and distant because of her understandable misery, is yet another character destined for an unhappy ending.
Eventually, however, she and Hareton form an unlikely romance: after long having shrugged off his attempts at winning her affection, she begins to aid him in his education. Heathcliff sees the love between the two blossom and, probably because he has a grudging soft spot for Hareton, no longer takes pleasure in degrading them. Heathcliff begins to see Hareton as an adopted son, sharing a similar life of the poor stable boy robbed of his inheritance and love. He no longer stands between Hareton and Catherine, seeing it as now a pointless endeavour and essentially as revenge against himself, and the two are finally allowed to openly love each other.
Heathcliff dies and is buried next to the elder Cathy. Catherine and Hareton make plans to marry on New Year's Day, and to reside at Thrushcross Grange.
Description[edit]
Although she is Cathy Earnshaw's daughter, she resembles her father more in looks, with golden ringlets and fair skin. The only qualities that she inherits from her mother are the beautiful "Earnshaw eyes" (which also belong to her future husband, Hareton Earnshaw) and her wayward, mischievous spirit. At first, Catherine is gentle and kind, but a bit snobbish because of her guarded and wealthy upbringing at the Grange; however, when reduced to a life of misery at the Heights, she grows cold, distant, and dismissive of everyone around her. It is her romance with Hareton that re-establishes her bubbly personality.
[hide]
v
t
e
Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights
Characters
Heathcliff
Catherine Earnshaw
Edgar Linton
Isabella Linton
Hindley Earnshaw
Nelly Dean
Hareton Earnshaw
Catherine Linton
Lockwood
Adaptations
Film and TV
1920 film
1939 film
1954 film
1959 Australian TV play
Dil Diya Dard Liya (1966)
1964 telenovela
1970 film
1976 telenovela
1978 TV serial
1979 telenovela
Hurlevent
1988 film
Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1992)
1998 film
2003 film
2009 TV serial
2011 film
Stage
1951 Herrmann opera
1958 Floyd opera
1992 musical
Heathcliff (1996 musical)
Related
Location
Cultural references
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Catherine_Linton&oldid=788225236"
Categories:
Fictional characters introduced in 1847
Characters in Wuthering Heights
Hidden categories:
Articles that may contain original research from May 2009
All articles that may contain original research
Pages using infobox character with unknown parameters
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
Languages
Polski
Русский
Edit links
This page was last edited on 30 June 2017, at 06:35.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view

key: html

type: local

value: div

attrs: id class

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

attrs: id class style

value: a

attrs: id class lang

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

attrs: href title

attrs: role class

values:
note
hatnote navigation-not-searchable

value: img

attrs: alt src width height srcset data-file-width data-file-height

value: td

value: b

attrs: class href

value: span

value: i

value: small

values: plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Original_research

values:
/wiki/Cathy_Earnshaw
mw-redirect
Cathy Earnshaw

values:
infobox
width:22em;border-spacing: 2px 5px;

values:
/wiki/Mr_Lockwood
mw-redirect
Mr Lockwood

values: nowraplinks hlist collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

values: Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1847

values: Category:Characters in Wuthering Heights

values: Category:Articles that may contain original research from May 2009

values: Category:All articles that may contain original research

values: Category:Pages using infobox character with unknown parameters

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values:
/wiki/Catherine_Linton
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values: Discussion about the content page [ctrl-alt-t]

values: p-namespaces navigation vectorTabs p-namespaces-label

values:
p-variants
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-variants-label

values: Past revisions of this page [ctrl-alt-h]

values: p-views navigation vectorTabs p-views-label

values:
p-cactions
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-cactions-label

values:
mw-wiki-logo
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page

values:
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page [ctrl-alt-z]
z

values: Featured content – the best of Wikipedia

values: Кэтрин Линтон – Russian

values: /static/images/wikimedia-button-1.5x.png 1.5x, /static/images/wikimedia-button-2x.png 2x

values: /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_132x47.png 1.5x, /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_176x62.png 2x

values:
suggestions
display: none; font-size: 13px;

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Catherine_Linton rootpage-Catherine_Linton vector-experimental-print-styles vector-nav-directionality skin-vector action-view