The Colonists of British North America
...lver or gold” (Maier, 138). As of the 18th century, the greatest sings of America’s progressing modernity and improving quality of life can be found in the economies of the urban centers. Each of the three regions of America had distinct population composition. As the eighteenth century progressed, the racial heterogeneity in the south increased dramatically, in proportion with the rise of slavery. During the period of 1700-1770 the black population in the Virginia colony had risen from only 16,390 to 187,605 (Wheeler, 59). The South was also characterized by explosive increases in the black population; the greatest enlargement in a single year was 212 percent in Virginia(Maier, 59). In the North, on the other hand, slave labor was not needed, and therefore the black population in these areas grew at a far slower rate. Another change in the composition of the population came from a steady flow of immigrants. Those immigrants composed a very diverse group, with origins from all over Europe. The most significant numbers emigrated from Scotland, France and Germany. Scotch settlers were by far the most numerous, with over 200,000 settling in the southern backcountry by 1760 (Maier, 120). The next most populous immigrants were the Germans, who numbered 125,000 by 1760, and made up over a third of the population in Pennsylvania (Maier, 122). Another significant change in the population composition was the sex ratio. The Puritans in the North had come with their families, and so had an even sex ratio. The South, on the other hand, was initially composed of an overwhelming majority of young men. As the life expectancy of these men rose, the population began to grow naturally, and the sex ratio was brought into balance. During the eighteenth century, the population of the North was settled in close, tight-knit communities, which shared a town center. These farmers did not need to spread out over great distances, since the size of their land was usually just large enough for subsistence. Immigration into these areas was limited; the growth of population relied on high birth rates. “Unlike the Chesapeake colonies…immigration waned, but Massachusetts Bay grew steadily by natural increase (Wheeler, 54). At the end of the seventeenth century, the men of the north were outliving those of the south by more than sixteen years (wheeler, 54). This began to change over the course of the eighteenth century, however, as the life expectancy of the men in the South rose. The population began growing very steadily in the South, via a high birth rate and low mortality rate. As the population grew, settlements pushed further towards the west. No longer was the Indian threat so harrowing, thus settlers did not need to bunch together for protection and thus spread out to new areas. These settlements were far more distant to each other, relative to farms in the north, due to the enormous size of most plantations. The coastal cities of this time were undergoing the greatest changes, the populations of which increased dramatically as trade began to expand (Maier, 138). The politics of the North and the South were quite similar to each other. “The politics of all colonies- with the possible exception of Connecticut and Rhode Island… had a lot in common” (Maier, 144). The other eleven colonies all had a governor, who was appointed by the king and shared all of his power. His salary, however, was paid by a local assembly, giving them a great deal of power over him. Usually the assemblies and their governors would agree on most policies, seeing as they were both picked by the king. The only exceptions to this form of government were Connecticut and Rhode Island, who elected their own officials. The distribution of wealth in the colonies was one of its defining qualities. “The size of the middle class was, in fact, the m...