1. Which were the largest British colonies in 1760?
The largest British colonies were Massachusetts (New England) with 246,000 people, Pennsylvania (Middle Colonies) with 220,000 people, Virginia (Southern Colonies) with 346,000 people, Canada (formerly New France of the Canadian colonies) with 79,000 people, and Jamaica of the West Indies with 210,000.
2. How did the 13 American colonies compare in size to Britain's other New World possessions?
For the vast majority, American colonies had much more people than did colonies in Canada or the West Indies. Only a few colonies, like Georgia (6,000 people), lacked in size to colonies like Jamaica.
3. Why do you think 13 of the colonies would band together in 1776 and declare independence-and not more or fewer?
The fact that the 13 colonies were all near each other made it easier to spread the news and the atmosphere was just ready for war. Canadian colonies spoke different languages and therefore never got involved. Also, with the installation of the Quebec Acts, Canada was being treated rather fairly by Britain and thus had no motive to revolt. the West Indies were separated by hundreds of miles of ocean from the shore of the nearest American colony. Therefore they did not experience the same atmosphere of revolution as did the colonists along the east coast of the American continent. Also, the West Indies had a massive number of black slaves versus a much smaller number of white plantation owners. Therefore, by joining the war, the slaves would have rebelled against there owners (the British promised freedom to all slaves who rebelled against the American slave owners).
1. How many people lived in the colonies' three largest cities?
49,000 people lived in the colonies three largest cities, which were Philadelphia, Boston, and New York.
2. Why do you think the urban population was so low?
The colonies were mostly agricultural and rural at the time. Only the coastal cities heavily involved in trade experienced urbanization. Also, cities were centers of disease and unsanitary conditions.
1. What proportion of American colonists were of English descent in 1775?
48.7% of Americans were of British descent.
2. What were the largest non-English ethnic groups in the colonies?
20% of the American colonist population was African, largely due to the fact that the colonies mass-imported slaves from Africa.
3. Why do you think that the colonies were able to create relatively peaceful multicultural societies?
Besides the slaves, everybody that came to America were a bunch of misfits in their own societies. Therefore they came to America to escape religious or political prosecution. This common goal and background united them because the people all shared the same previous problem. Also the level of freedom was unmatched and thus created a healthy and generally happy environment.
1. How evenly was wealth distributed in the American colonies, in your view? Was it more evenly distributed in urban or rural areas?
The wealth was unevenly distributed throughout the colonies. In the North, wealthy traders and merchants hoarded most of the money, while in the south, plantation owners owned many times more many than others. Overall, the south was more unevenly distributed.
2. Was wealth growing more or less concentrated over time?
Wealth was growing more and more concentrated over time.
1. What were the largest religious denominations in the American colonies?
The largest religious denominations were Anglican with 289 churches total and Presbyterian with 233 churches total.
2. Which were the fastest growing?
The fastest were Baptist with an increase of more than 12,000 in 160 years and Methodist with an increase of 19,800 in the span of 160 years.
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