New England became the first stage for the industrial revolution in America. Still, the area remained poor compared to other parts of the country, mainly because of the difficult conditions for agriculture. Today, New England has a varied economy, including hi-tech industry, commerce, agriculture, and education. Whereas the Puritan founders of New England were in search of Utopia, there were no such intentions behind the settlement of the Mid-Atlantic colonies. They were founded for various reasons by groups from different European countries, and was thus a much more heterogeneous region than its northern neighbor even in the colonial era.
Multiculturalism remains a strong characteristic today.
The Dutch colony of New Netherlands , later to become the British colony New York, was founded in 1617. Delaware was founded as New Sweden in 1638. King Charles I of England granted a charter to Lord Baltimore in 1632 to establish the colony of Maryland as a haven for British Catholics. William Penn founded Pennsylvania as a Quaker community in 1681. Today, the region forms a sort of middle ground between New England and the South, both in geography, population, political outlook, and culture.