Conquest by the Cradle
In 1775, the most populous colonies were Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Maryland.
About 90% of people lived in rural areas. A Mingling of the Races
Colonial America was a melting pot.
Germans were 6% of the total population in 1775. Many Germans settled in Pennsylvania, fleeing religious persecution, economic oppression, and the ravages of war.
Scots-Irish were 7% of the population in 1775. They were lawless individuals.
By the mid-18th century, a chain of Scots-Irish settlements lay scattered along the "great wagon road" which hugged the eastern Appalachian foothills from Pennsylvania to Georgia.
The Scots-Irish led the armed march of the Paxton Boys in Philadelphia in 1764, protesting the Quaker oligarchy's lenient policy toward the Indians, and a few years later, spearheaded the Regulator movement in North Carolina, a small but nasty insurrection against eastern domination of the colony's affairs.
About 5% of the multicolored colonial population consisted of other European groups- French Huguenots, Welsh, Dutch, Swedes, Jews, Irish, Swiss, and Scots Highlanders. The Structure of Colonial Society
By the mid-1700s, the richest 10% of Bostonians and Philadelphians owned 2/3 of the taxable wealth in their cities.
By 1750, Boston contained a large number of homeless poor, who were compelled to wear a large red "P" on their clothing.
In all the colonies the ranks of the lower classes were further swelled by the continuing stream of indentured servants.
The black slaves were the lowest in society.

Clerics, Physicians, and Jurists
Most honored of the professions was the Christian ministry.
Most physicians were poorly trained and not highly esteemed. The first medical school came in 1765.
Epidemics were a constant nightmare. A crude form of inoculation was introduced in 1721. Powdered dried toad was a favorite prescription for smallpox. Diphtheria was also a killer, especially of young people. (colonies still not great places ta live) Workday America
Agriculture was the leading industry, involving