During Colonial times, the new settlers and their families lived off the land as had their ancestors in the Old World, raising and consuming their own food, making most of their garments by spinning their own yarn, weaving their own cloth and sewing their own clothes, and using simple hand tools to construct their homes and furnishings. Even the light in their homes was created by candles they had dipped by hand. Colonists with more than modest means who desired expensive luxury items such as fine china, cloth, or furniture purchased them from England. Indeed, many of the raw materials used to create these finished items originated in the colonies. Yet, the outward appearance of a slow and methodical existence was actually building the foundation for dramatic change. In reality, the colonies experienced rapid growth in the 17th and 18th centuries. For example, Virginia had approximately 350 settlers in 1610, whereas by 1650 that number had soared to 20,000. Fifty years later the population had tripled to 60,000 and, on the eve of the Revolution, Virginia boasted a population of one half million. Although forty percent of Virginia’s population was black, having arrived through the African slave trade, the meteoric pace of growth attests to the richness of the land and the hardiness and ability of the settlers to subdue their environment to sustain such growth. Even the small number of early urban centers grew at impressive rates. In the early 18th century Baltimore had only seven houses, but by the time of the Declaration of Independence the city had 70,000 residents. Philadelphia’s population numbered 4,000 in 1690 and grew nearly nine times by 1776. Put in aggregate terms, all the colonies from Maine to Jamestown had 50,000 people in 1650. The number swelled to 250,000 in 1700 and was estimated at 1.2 million in 1750. In 1650 a trip between New York and Boston was not only a frightening adventure, it was an expedition. There were few roads, and those that did exist were barely passable and dangerous as the Native Americans were a constant threat along the journey. Two generations later the same trip could be accomplished in approximately two weeks and the few Native Americans that appeared did so infrequently. Associated with the population increase was a slow but steady rising tide of trade and industry. Between the years 1700 and 1775 the value of colonial shipments to Great Britain in pound sterling grew from 395,000 pounds to 1.9 million pounds, the vast majority in agriculture and related areas such as tobacco and timber. However, the faint din of manufacturing could also be heard in America. Philadelphia distilleries produced 200,000 gallons of rum per year for export by the Revolution. In addition, the Chesapeake Bay was home to the most modern flour mills, and the thirteen colonies had more forges and blast furnaces for iron production than England and Wales combined by 1776.1
The potential for growth was inevitable as the colonies were not actually underdeveloped as much as they were undeveloped. The climate was similar to that of Great Britain, and the land was plentiful, rich, and full of natural resources. Furthermore, the umbilical cord that linked Great Britain and America provided sustaining life juices that stimulated change, new opportunity, the spirit of adventure, and expansion and abhorred apathy. These traits created a special relationship that was unlike any other in the long period of European colonization. The often-cited Puritan ethic of hard work and discipline brought to the New World by many of the early settlers also gave an undeniable boost to the desire for unfettered enterprise in the colonies. Even the lack of an abundant, ready supply of capital comparable to Great Britain was not a huge detriment as the colonies could fall back on the mother country for support in terms of British investors, entrepreneurs, equipment (tools, machines, and supplies), and shipping (80% of the Atlantic trade was carried on British ships on the eve of the Revolution).
In spite of the importance of the linkage between the colonies and Great Britain, the mother country in the first half of the 18th century on occasion attempted to stifle the growth of certain infant American industries. In fact one of the main grievances of the colonists against the British government was its restrictions on manufacturing by Americans. In most cases the pressure to ban certain colonial manufacturing came from competing enterprises in Great Britain. For example, in 1699 parliament forbade the export of woolen fabrics between the colonies. Furthermore, in 1732 London declared that the colonies could not export hats. Finally, in 1750 a Parliamentary act attempted to prevent the colonies from constructing mills or engine devices for the purpose of slitting or rolling iron or furnaces for making steel. In reality, the distance and effort in monitoring these acts proved too difficult for Parliament and most prohibitions were ignored.
World History
