ldren, and few minsters. In eighteenth century America the Englishness of the colonies had increased, and all men looked to England to set the fashion in eduction, science, literature, and the arts. At the opening of the eighteenth century the population of the English mainland colonies stood about 250,000. By 1750 this figure had increased to some 1,500,000. These people (black as well as white) represented many different European nationalities, not distributed in uniform fashion. Colonial population remained will into the century a costal based population. Even with such urban centers as Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, American colonials were overwhelming rural. 90% of the population lived in a rural environment and were engaged in agricultural pursuit. The abundance of land, scarcity of capital (many were newcomers) and inadequate labor supply are the major features in the developing colonial economy. Through the eighteenth century economic activities continued to be based on extractive industries as colonies exploited the land, the forest and the sea. Increasing diversification did occur and the economy became more and more complex. Industrial development dependant upon skilled and semi-skilled labor took place in the towns and cities, and the produce of that development continued with the benefits of a burgeoning agricultural sector to stimulate an every expanding maritime enterprise, but it was the American farmer who stood at the center of the colonial economy. In the first century and half the history of the British colonies in America, women occupied a distinctively submerge position in society. A Woman could not hold property expect in very special circumstances; nor were they expected or even permitted to have any opinions upon the great affairs of the world. Education for women as considered a waste of time and money. They were expected to bear children, keep house, and go to church on sunday. With the approach of the re...
