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1. Middle Atlantic States.—Leaving New England, let us visit the Middle Atlantic states. All of them except two lie along the Atlantic coast, and are between the New England states on one side and the Southern states on the other. Hence they are called Middle Atlantic.

These states are New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, De1aware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. New York and Pennsylvania are the most populous states of the Union and are also first in manufactures.

2. Early Settlements.—The first permanent English colony in America was the one established at Jamestown, in Virginia, in 1607. Virginia is thus the oldest of the states, and is sometimes called the Old Dominion.

In 1609 Henry Hudson, an Englishman, discovered the Hudson river. A few years after this settlers came from Holland, and founded Albany on the Hudson and New Amsterdam on Manhattan island. This last was the beginning of what is now the city of New York. In 1664, when England took possession, she changed the name New Amsterdam to New York.

In 1682, more than two hundred years ago, William Penn, an English Quaker, established a colony where Philadelphia now stands. The country was called Pennsylvania, or Penn's Woods.

In 1634 Maryland was settled by some English Roman Catholics sent over by Lord Baltimore, for whom the city of Baltimore was named.

New Jersey was first settled by the Dutch, and Delaware by Swedes along the Delaware river. But the Swedish settlements became a part of the English colonies.