Introduction

The population of the English colonies surged upward during the first three-quarters of the eighteenth century. Europeans put ever-increasing amounts of land under cultivation, and British North America became a reasonably prosperous node on international trade routes. Though the colonies were controlled by England, the people pouring into them were by no means all English. Indeed, the American colonies on the eve of the Revolution contained an extremely diverse population, many of whom were still speaking their own native languages. This module contains two maps. The first depicts the spread of population inland from the seaboard and down the Appalachian valleys. The second depicts the location of major ethnic and racial groups in early America.