Colonial America: Demography, Economy, Society & Culture

Colonial Population Growth

Rapid increase of settlers in British North America, especially after 1750, driven by high birth rates and immigration.

50% Death Rate (Early Colonies)

Rough estimate that half of the first European arrivals died from disease, warfare, starvation, or exposure.

7.6 Million Americans by 1775

Approximate colonial population on the eve of the Revolution, reflecting explosive growth from earlier decades.

6.5 Million English People in 1750

Contemporary population of England, showing that the colonies were approaching the mother country in numbers.

Threat to English World Supremacy

British fears that a booming American population might weaken England’s global dominance and control over its colonies.

Younger Marriage Age in Colonies

Colonists tended to marry earlier than Europeans, lengthening the child-bearing years and boosting population.

High Birth Rate (10–12 Children)

Typical large colonial family size, a key factor in demographic expansion.

Cheap, Plentiful, Fertile Land

Abundant farmland encouraged settlement, early marriage, and large families in America.

European Overpopulation

Crowded conditions in Europe that contrasted with the spacious New World and pushed migrants westward.

Infant Mortality

High rate of babies dying before age one; a persistent colonial challenge despite plentiful food.

Maternal Mortality in Childbirth

20–50 % of colonial mothers risked death giving birth, making pregnancy a dangerous ordeal.

Yellow Fever

Mosquito-borne viral disease that repeatedly struck colonial port cities, killing thousands.

Measles Epidemics

Contagious outbreaks that could wipe out entire families and even generations in colonial America.

Lower Colonial Death Rate by 1750

By mid-18th century, Americans generally out-lived Europeans due to better diet and dispersed settlement.

Middle Colonies

New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware—known for fertile soil, mixed economy, and diversity.

Breadbasket Colonies

Nickname for the Middle Colonies, whose wheat, barley, and oats fed both America and the West Indies.

Ethnic Diversity of Middle Colonies

Region contained Germans, Scots-Irish, Dutch, Swedes, English, Welsh, Swiss, and others living side by side.

Germans in Pennsylvania

Large immigrant group (often called Pennsylvania Dutch) that introduced barns, rifles, and Lutheran faith.

Scots-Irish Settlers

Frontier-minded Presbyterian immigrants from Ulster who pushed westward and often clashed with Natives.

Mennonites & Quakers

Pacifist Protestant sects flourishing in the tolerant Middle Colonies, especially Pennsylvania.

Race-Based Slavery

System that defined Africans and their descendants as perpetual property because of skin color.

Indentured Servitude

Contract labor system in which poor Europeans worked 4–7 years in exchange for passage to America.

Servants Able to Gain Freedom

Early practice allowing some Africans and indentured laborers to become free landowners after service.

Slave Codes

Colonial laws that legalized slavery, denied rights to Africans, and made bondage inheritable.

South Carolina Slave Code

First comprehensive statute (1690s) defining slaves as lifelong chattel and permitting harsh discipline.

Lifetime Slavery

Legal norm by late 17th century that enslavement lasted for a person’s entire life and passed to children.

Triangular Trade

Trans-Atlantic network exchanging New England rum, African slaves, and West Indian sugar/molasses.

Rum-for-Slaves Exchange

New England merchants shipped distilled rum to Africa, receiving captives for the Americas in return.

New England Shipbuilding

Major industry using local timber and skilled labor to construct vessels prized throughout the Atlantic world.

Colonial Timber Supply

Vast forests provided Britain with masts and hulls; one large ship could consume 2,000 mature trees.

Quality & Cost Advantage of American Ships

Colonial vessels were cheaper and often sturdier than those built in England, boosting Yankee exports.

Illegal Trade with Spain, France, Netherlands

Smuggling that skirted British mercantile laws and enriched New England merchants.

Salem Witch Trials (1692-1693)

Massachusetts hysteria in which over 300 were accused and 30 executed for alleged witchcraft.

Puritan Religious Zeal

Strict moral code and fear of the devil that fueled witchcraft accusations in New England towns.

Forced Witchcraft Confessions

Torture and intimidation used to extract admissions of guilt during the Salem proceedings.

Rice Plantations

Large Southern coastal estates cultivating rice in swampy paddies with heavy slave labor.

Mosquito-Borne Hazards

Wet lowlands bred malaria- and yellow-fever-carrying insects, endangering workers on rice fields.

Wealthy Rice Planters

Among the richest people in the British Empire, profiting from export staples and enslaved labor.

Limited Need for Slavery in New England

Rocky soil and small farms meant less demand for large slave workforces north of the Chesapeake.

Rocky Soil of New England

Thin, glaciated earth that discouraged large-scale agriculture, pushing colonists toward trade and fishing.

New England Religious Centrality

Puritan communities organized towns around a meetinghouse and prioritized church life.

Midweek & Sunday Church Attendance

Colonists in Puritan regions were expected to attend multiple weekly services as civic duty.

Church Taxes in New England

Mandatory local levies used to pay ministers and maintain meetinghouses regardless of personal belief.

New England Economy of Merchants

Shopkeepers, traders, and artisans formed the backbone of northern urban society.

Cod Fishing Industry

Extremely lucrative New England enterprise supplying dried fish to Europe and the Caribbean.

Harbors & Seaport Development

Deep coastal inlets fostered bustling trade centers like Boston, Newport, and Portsmouth.

European Famine

Periodic crop failures in Europe that elevated mortality and contrasted with American food abundance.

Urban Disease Spread in Europe

Close-packed continental cities facilitated rapid transmission of plague, smallpox, and other illnesses.

Greater Gender Balance in Colonies

More women migrated to America over time, allowing stable family structures and population growth.

Gov. John Winthrop on Wives’ Subordination

Puritan leader insisted a “true wife” be in total obedience to her husband’s will.

Domestic Duties of Colonial Women

Married women managed households, raised children, cooked, gardened, and tended livestock.

Women’s Role in Sunday Schools

Females often taught Bible lessons and religious instruction to community children.

Punishment of Prostitutes

Authorities publicly shamed sex workers, sometimes parading them through town in carts.

Southern Social Stratification

Distinct class system developed with wealthy planters atop small farmers, poor whites, and enslaved Africans.

Planter-Merchant Elite

Rich landowners who controlled politics and economy by exporting staple crops and importing luxury goods.

Plantation Mansions

Large brick homes built by affluent Southern planters to display wealth and status.

Staple (Cash) Crops

Agricultural products grown primarily for sale abroad—e.g., tobacco, rice, indigo, cotton, sugar.

Tobacco as Cash Crop

Chesapeake staple that dominated exports and shaped labor demand for much of the 17th century.

Rice as Cash Crop

Key export of South Carolina & Georgia requiring extensive irrigation and enslaved labor.

Indigo Dye

Blue-producing plant encouraged by British bounties, supplementing rice profits in the Lower South.

Cotton (Emerging Staple)

Still minor in colonial era but would later become the South