The American Colonies in the 1700’s
and Mercantilism
AP US -Hamer
Unit 2
Growing Population
More by birth rate then immigration
 1700: 300,000 people (20,000 black slaves)
 1775: 2.5 million people (400,000 white
immigrants, 500,000 black slaves)
 Average age in 1775 was 16
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Urban vs. Rural

Few major cities

Philadelphia (34,000),
NYC, Boston, and
Charleston
90% of population lived
in rural areas
 Didn’t reach much past
the Appalachians
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Philadelphia in 1800
Diversity

Mainly English but more diverse than anywhere
else
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German 6%
Scots Irish 7%
Others 5%
Africans 20%
Americans became a new ethnicity
American Social Ladder
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More stratified in the 1700’s than the 1600’s
Top few were very wealthy (planters and
merchants)
Mostly middle
 Artisans
 Shopkeepers
 Farmers
 Workers (Labor or servants)
 Some destitute women and children
 Land became scarcer
Convicts from England
Slaves
Less stratified than Europe + ability to progress up
the social ladder
Jobs of the 1700’s
Clergy
 Physicians
 Lawyers
 Agriculture - 90% of the people
 Shipbuilding and fishing
 Manufacturing

Transportation in the Colonies
Terrible roads - these were improving in the
1700’s though
 Waterways
 Caused the slow dissemination of news
 Taverns found along travel routes
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Became the place to get news and share ideas
Mail existed, but not confidential or quick
Religion in the 1700’s
Congregationalists (This is the new word for
Puritans) and Presbyterians made up half of all
church members in 1775
 Anglicans were 1/4
 Congregationalism, Presbyterianism, and
Rebellion became a Holy Trinity
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Education
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Public education was not a priority in England
New England soon wanted public education so that
they could have educated, Bible reading citizens
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Massachusetts School Law (and soon other New England
colonies) required a school teacher for every town with
more than 50 families
Not much schooling in the south because of distance
between homes – relied more on tutors
Colleges at the time were to train ministers and learn
old, dogmatic education
What does it mean to have an educated citizenship – how
will this affect the Revolution?
Culture


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Very little in America
since people were
working so hard to
build a country
Ben Franklin was the
first “civilized”
American
The few scientists, like
Franklin, were not
approved of by clergy
Press

Not many libraries or individual ownership of
books

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Franklin started the first public lending library in
Philadelphia
By 1775, 40 colonial newspapers
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News was slow
Zenger case, argued by Hamilton, allowed for more
freedom of the press and therefore more
discussion about life and politics
Colonial Folkways

Hard life

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Some time for play

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Dirty
Dancing and plays allowed in South (away from
Puritans!)
Many similarities

Some democracy, ethnic and religious toleration,
spoke English, mainly Protestant, used to
independence
Mercantilism
 What is it?
 Economic system where the mother country is
supposed to profit from her colonies.
 Colonies supply raw materials to only the
mother country
 Colonies also provide markets for the
manufactured goods from the mother
country (and only the mother country)
 Wealth for the mother country is measured
in bullion
Early Mercantilism

American colonies could not produce manufactured
goods
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Woolen Act 1699 – No manufacturing of textiles
Hat Act 1732 – No manufacturing of hats
Iron Act 1750 – No manufacturing of iron products
Growing Problems with Trade
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Trade Imbalance
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Growing American population demanded more
British goods
Slow growing British population quickly got
saturated with American goods
America had no bullion left (it all went to England)
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American colonies shipped to other countries
Also began to buy from other countries
Tightening the Mercantilist System

Molasses Act of 1733
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Created by England to get the colonists to stop
buying cheaper French Caribbean molasses to make
rum
Parliament would not end the act in spite of
colonial pleas
Colonists got around this with smuggling…this will
lead the tone for future conflicts