Looking Back

As we wrap up this chapter, let's look back at how the country grew during the first century. These are the years of America's infancy and childhood, when colonists remain almost completely dependent upon Mother England.

The two maps shown here are separated by just 100 years, but it is already clear that people are spreading into all available unsettled land. Technology plays almost no role, and exports are limited to crops and wood products.

Colonists are moving rapidly into upland areas, sharing the land with the native Indians before pushing them aside. The mountains are the only real constraint, as wagon roads are only practical in flatter coastal areas.
Colonial growth, 1650-1750 map

  Gradual Growth
The map at left shows colonial America after the first wave of settlement, in 1650. Patchy coastal settlements are isolated, and daily life is little more than survival. The map at right is the same view 100 years later, when colonists are beginning to show some style. Towns are thickly scattered in the North, while settlements have pushed towards the mountains everywhere.

Port cities, 1750

  Real Cities
By 1750, the major ports have become real cities. The big northern ports of Boston, New York and Philadelphia are now roughly the same size, with populations close to 20,000 each. In the South, Charleston and New Orleans have both grown to 10,000 residents. Charleston is swelling due to the rapidly growing slave trade. New Orleans is still a Spanish possession, but will be absorbed by America within 50 years. Chesapeake Bay finally has a thriving deep-water port at Baltimore, with 5,000 residents.


The Enlightenment, in Europe

  The Enlightenment
Great thinkers in Europe are pushing science and the arts into new territory. Galileo develops an improved telescope to provide convincing evidence that the earth revolves around the sun. Descartes champions the 'scientific method,' where beliefs are based upon observable reality. Sir Isaac Newton virtually invents mathematics and physics through careful observation. John Locke argues that life is not preordained by God, but instead a blank slate. Bach creates music with mathematical precision.