Colonial Society: Hierarchy, Identity, and Life in the 13 Colonies

Colonial Settlement and Demographics

• Geographic Extent: The 13 colonies covered the Atlantic Coast from Spanish Florida up into present-day Canada, with varied settlement patterns.
• Population Density:
  • Densest Areas: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, down into Maryland and Delaware.
  • Sparser Areas: Coastal Virginia and North Carolina, largely due to tobacco farming, which required more spread-out settlements.
  • South Carolina and Georgia (Low Country): Unique for its economy based on rice culture.
    • Demographics: Overwhelmingly African American, with a ratio of approximately $70\%$ African American to $30\%$ white population.
• Frontier Expansion: While the Eastern Seaboard was settled, the backcountry (Virginia and the Carolinas) began to fill up. Historically, many settlers in regions like Jacksonville originated from the North Carolina backcountry.
• Urbanization: Increased population led to the development of small towns and a few significant cities:
  • Philadelphia: By far the largest city during this period, pushing $70,000$ residents.
  • Boston: Second largest, with about $17,000$ residents.
  • Charleston: Fifth or sixth largest, with only $7,500$ people, half the size of later cities but a substantial step up for its time. However, it still was quite a step up for Charleston considering it was less than a century old.

Civic Identity in the Colonies

• Initial View (Early Colonial Period): Colonists, particularly in Massachusetts and Virginia, initially saw themselves as