3. Formation of the North American nation

1. Growth of business and industrial activity in the colonies

In the middle of the XVIII century in the English colonies in America a single internal market began to form, trade links between the northern and southern colonies were strengthened. From the southern colonies cotton, tobacco were brought to the north, from the north to the south grain, industrial products, and fish were carried.

The number of people before the War of Independence in the 13 English colonies was about 2.5 million people (not including the local population - Indians). During life on American earth the colonists formed a kind of common culture and way of life, different from the European. English became a common language. The vast majority of colonists defined their nationality as not the country of origin, but as the new home, they spoke with pride about themselves: "We are the Americans."

The new nation was like a community of enterprising business people who have achieved success through hard work. There was a popular "American legend" about a man who arrived on the continent with a few coins in his pocket, worked hard, did hard work and finally succeeded - became rich and respected. Not every American, of course, turned into a rich man, but this was the legend of the young American capitalism.

The formation of a new ideology was due to the activities of the American Enlighteners. Relying on the ideas of the European Enlightenment, they created new ideals of the American nation. Life and work of the American Enlightenment - Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, became an example of the realization of these ideals.

Colonial era

Early settlers had a variety of reasons for coming to America. The Puritans of Massachusetts wanted to create a purified religion in New England. Other colonies, such as Virginia, were founded principally as business ventures. England's success at colonizing what would become the United States was due in large part to its use of charter companies. Charter companies were groups of stockholders (usually merchants and wealthy landowners) who sought personal economic gain and, perhaps, wanted also to advance England's national goals. While the private sector financed the companies, the King also provided each project with a charter or grant conferring economic rights as well as political and judicial authority. The colonies generally did not show quick profits, however, and the English investors often turned over their colonial charters to the settlers. The political implications, although not realized at the time, were enormous. The colonists were left to build their own lives, their own communities, and their own economy. Throughout the colonies, people lived primarily on small farms and were self-sufficient. In the few small cities and among the larger plantations of South Carolina, and Virginia, some necessities and virtually all luxuries were imported in return for tobacco, rice, and indigo exports.

Small local industries emerged as the colonies grew, such as sawmills, and gristmills (лесопилки,мельницы). Entrepreneurs established shipyards to build fishing fleets and, in time, trading vessels and built iron forges. By the 18th century, regional patterns of development had become clear: the New England colonies relied on shipbuilding and sailing to generate wealth; plantations (many using slave labor) in Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas grew tobacco, rice, and indigo; and the middle colonies of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware shipped general crops and furs. Except for slaves, standards of living were generally high—higher, in fact, than in England itself.

New England

The New England region's economy grew steadily over the entire colonial era, despite the lack of a staple crop that could be exported. All the province and many towns as well, tried to foster economic growth by subsidizing projects that improved the infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, inns and ferries. They gave bounties and subsidies or monopolies to sawmills, grist mills, iron mills, pulling mills (which treated cloth), salt works and glassworks. Most important, colonial legislatures set up a legal system that was conducive to business enterprise by resolving disputes, enforcing contracts, and protecting property rights. Hard work and entrepreneurship characterized the region, as the Puritans and Yankees endorsed the "Protestant Ethic", which enjoined men to work hard as part of their divine calling.

The benefits of growth were widely distributed in New England, reaching from merchants to farmers to hired laborers. The rapidly growing population led to shortages of good farm land on which young families could establish themselves; one result was to delay marriage, and another was to move to new lands farther west. In the towns and cities, there was strong entrepreneurship, and a steady increase in the specialization of labor. Wages for men went up steadily before 1775; new occupations were opening for women, including weaving, teaching, and tailoring. The region bordered New France, and in the numerous wars the British poured money in to purchase supplies, build roads and pay colonial soldiers. The coastal ports began to specialize in fishing, international trade and shipbuilding—and after 1780 in whaling. Combined with growing urban markets for farm products, these factors allowed the economy to flourish despite the lack of technological innovation.

So, before the War of Independence British colonies formed the North American nation. It had all the signs of a nation, except independence.