<P> 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 . Other groups included the French Huguenots, Welsh, Dutch, Swedes, Swiss, and Scots Highlanders . </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> 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 . Often areas of the Middle Colonies displayed prevalent Irish cultural influence . </P>

Politics in new england middle and southern colonies