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HISTORY
CHAPTER 5: COLONIAL
SOCIETY ON THE EVE OF
REVOLUTION
1700-1775
• Britain had 32 colonies
in North America in
1775, and only 13 of
them opted for
Revolution and
Independence.
• In 1700 the 13 colonies
had less than 300,000
people.(but had rapidly
In 1775 the 13 colonies had 2.5 million people, of
growing populations) • which 500,000 were black.
• 400,000 of these were immigrants (both free and
forced) but the rest had been born in the
colonies through remarkable natural fertility.
• The colonies were doubling their numbers every
25 years.
• The average American in 1775 was about 16.
In 1700 the English outnumbered
the colonists 20 to 1, but that
margin fell to 3 to 1 by 1775
In 1775 the most populous colonies
were VA, MA, PA, N.C., and MD., in
that order.
90 percent of Americans were rural
in 1775.
America had only 4 real cities in that
year: Philadelphia (34,000), N.Y.C.,
Boston, & Charleston.
See map on page 85
6% of Americans were
Germans in 1775 making up
about 1/3rd of Pennsylvania’s
population.
Germans were primarily
Lutherans by faith.
Scots-Irish- made up about
7% of the population in
1775.
Most were Scottish lowlanders who
had been transplanted to Northern
Ireland where they were not treated
well by the Irish Catholics.
Many squatted on Indian and White-
claimed land on the frontier, provoking
many clashes with Indians and the
white owners.
Most Scots-Irish hated the British
government who had mistreated their
people in Scotland and Ireland for
decades.
About a dozen future American
presidents were from this Scots-Irish
stock.
DIVERSITY IN THE COLONIES
Most other non-English
immigrants including: Huguenots,
Welsh, Dutch, Swedes, Jews, Irish,
& Swiss felt no loyalty to the
British crown.
See percentages on page 86
The population in the 13
colonies was probably the most
diverse on Earth at that time. A
true “melting pot” of
nationalities.
New England remained
mostly English puritan and
was the least diverse region.
The middle colonies were
the most diverse.
Not counting New England,
the colonies were about ½
English and non-English in
1775.
Of the 56 signers of the
Declaration of Independence
18 were non-English and 8
had not been born in the
colonies.
• Most colonial Americans were
small farmers.
• Ministers were the most
respected in the communities.
• No titled nobility existed in
America.
• Colonial America had a high
degree of social mobility. Rags to
riches stories were fairly
common in America and very
rare in England.
• A thriving minority of rich
merchants emerged in America in
the late 1600s-early 1700s.
• By the mid 1700’s the number of
poor people in the American
colonies remained tiny compared
with the number in England.
By 1750 10% of Bostonians and
Philadelphians owned 2/3rds of
the wealth.
Almost all slaves owned in the
south were held by the elite few
plantation owners. Most small
farmers in the South owned no
slaves or were tenant farmers
themselves.
The English dumped thousands of
prisoners on American soil.
Slaves, of course, made up the
lowest class of Americans.
90% of Americans were involved
in agriculture.
The middle colonies grew grain,
the Chesapeake colonies grew
tobacco, and the South grew rice
and indigo, New England had
small farms and many were
engaged in whaling and fishing.
On average, life in America was
more prosperous than in Europe,
or in any nation in the history of
the world, up to that time.
See map on pg 91.
TRIANGULAR TRADE
The triangular trade made up
only one small part of colonial
commerce.
New England rum was shipped to
Africa where it was sold for
Slaves, who were transported to
the West Indies in exchange for
molasses, which was shipped
north to New England to be
distilled into rum.
Each leg of the triangle made the
merchant money.
INDUSTRIES IN THE COLONIES
By 1775:
8 of the 13 colonies had
royal governors appointed by
the king.
3 colonies (MD, PA, and DA)
were under proprietors who
chose the governor.
2 colonies (CONN, and RI)
elected their own governors
and had self-governing
charters.
Almost every colony had a
bicameral (2 house) legislature.
The upper house was usually
appointed by:
the crown in the royal colonies
the proprietor in the proprietary
colonies
the voters in the charter colonies
The lower house was chosen by
the people in the individual
colonies (although most colonies
required property ownership to
vote).
Self-taxation through local
representation was a rare
privilege that Americans
cherished above most others.
Although many were able, most
governors (appointed by the
King) were resented by the
colonists.
Many colonial legislatures
withheld the governor’s salary
until he came to terms with what
they wanted.
Local government varied widely
among the colonies.
COMPARED TO ELSEWHERE ON EARTH…