This term includes at least part of New York, New Jersey Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Generally this encompasses the coastal subregion, the Delaware and Susquehanna River watersheds and Chesapeake Bay. While it is clear that the Mid-Atlantic includes the northeast corridor of cities that Interstate 95 links from Washington, DC to New York City, inland boundaries are more diffuse and vague: the Appalachians often seem to mark graded differentiation westward.

The Mid-Atlantic historically has been the center of economic and social power within the US. Apart from its claims as colonial cradle to many seminal events of American history from the Revolution onwards, the region also contains a great many shared American cultural symbols: civic monuments in Washington, Philadelphia, PA, Baltimore, MD and New York City, NY; world-class museums, major universities and research centers in these and other cities; and the cultured landscapes of city town and village. These are reflected in literature and mass media from colonial days to the early twenty-first century, when rock music, art and movies continue to depict and explore the region (Philadelphia, 1995; Twelve Monkeys, 1995; Barry Levinson and John Waters’ films on Baltimore, Bruce Springsteen and many New York producers).

This cultural heritage reflects a long economic prosperity: until the mid-twentieth century, the Mid-Atlantic states were hubs for the production and shipping of goods to the nation and the world, made in and shipped from New York, Philadelphia, Trenton, New Jersey, Delaware, Wilmington and Baltimore. This combination of industrialization and urbanization, fed by European immigration and the great migration of Southern African Americans, allowed the Mid-Atlantic to distinguish itself from new England (“quaint and isolated”) or the Southeast (“rural and backward”). This also gave the region political clout. Although the last Mid-Atlantic-born president was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, advisors, money and votes are consolidated and close to Washington.

As US manufacturing has moved overseas since the 1960s, there is a sense that the Mid-Atlantic’s hegemony is being eclipsed by others. In a postindustrial economy the region is now commonly associated with crumbling cities desperately attempting to revive themselves, sprawling suburbs connected by aging highways and railroads, and ever-present problems of pollution, drugs, crimes and poverty. Tourism still brings in revenues, but urban populations plummet each year as citizens have opted for new Sunbelt and Pacific Northwest opportunities.

Despite these changes, the Mid-Atlantic continues to offer promise to citizens and visitors alike. Its history and cultural, diversity has been renewed by migration from Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa. Its landscapes include a wide range of cityscapes, small towns and rural landscapes shaped by centuries of care, as well as the rivers and bays of the coast. While Southwestern and California cuisine have been fashionable, Mid-Atlantic cities claim the best cuisine among European and other ethnic restaurants, while local specialties reflect the natural and cultivated resources of the area, whether Maryland crabs, Amish pastries or urban street food. In all, the region embodies the promises and dilemmas of America in the global century.