known as "Mason and Dixon's line," and later marked the separation of the slave and the free states.

122. Dissatisfaction in Pennsylvania. The governors appointed by Penn were not always as wise and unselfish as he, and many of the settlers forgot what Penn had done for them in founding the great colony. Even if these two causes had not existed, it would have been impossible for people so different in nationality, ideas, and habits as the settlers of Pennsylvania, to have agreed with the Quakers on all questions.

We have seen how "the lower counties," which made up Delaware, objected to being a part of Pennsylvania (110). But the greatest difficulties arose over the payment of quit-rent, a small sum annually due William Penn as proprietor. The people did not like to go on paying rent forever to him and his heirs, yet this is just what "quit-rent" meant. Penn came back in 1699 and things went better for a time. But the quarrel broke out again with his descendants, and ended only when the Revolution turned the attention of the people to greater questions.

Penn's colony prospered; agriculture and commerce grew, and schools and newspapers multiplied. Emigration from Ireland and Germany increased, so that Pennsylvania, although settled much later than most of the colonies, soon became larger than New York, and was exceeded in population only by Virginia and Massachusetts.

COLONIAL LIFE

THE PEOPLE

123. Distribution and Growth. The surrender of New Netherland gave to the English an unbroken line of colonies from Maine to Florida. By 1750 settlers had already pushed up the larger streams, such as the

Connecticut, the Hudson, the Delaware, the Susquehanna, the Potomac, the James, and the Roanoke. The hardy pioneers of Virginia and Carolina were preparing to cross the mountains into what is now Tennessee and Kentucky. Beyond the line of settlements was a region where the English woodsman contended for the Indian trade with his hated rival, the French fur trader.

In 1750 Boston, New York, Albany, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Williamsburg, and Charleston were the most important places in the colonies, either on account of their size and trade or because they were capital towns. None of them were very

large, for the great majority of the colonists lived on farms or in small villages.

Although population was increasing very fast, the thirteen colonies in 1750 contained less than one million five hundred thousand inhabitants. New York City with its immediate vicinity alone now has more than twice as many inhabitants. Moreover, this number included the negro slaves. In Virginia the blacks nearly equaled the whites, while in South Carolina they were more numerous. The middle colonies had fewer slaves than the southern, and New England had fewest of all.

124. English and Non-English Colonists. In 1750 the majority of the people of the thirteen colonies were English. In New England nearly everybody was of English descent. The southern colonies, especially

Maryland and Virginia, came next in the number of English settlers, though both of the Carolinas contained many non-English people. The middle colonies, however, had a greater mixture of nationalities than the others.

In 1700 the Dutch were still in a majority in New York. Soon after, thousands of Germans arrived and settled along the Hudson and the Mohawk, where they became prosperous farmers, and where to-day are many towns with German names.

But the majority of these Germans settled in Pennsylvania and made up a very large part of the population. The Pennsylvania Germans, nicknamed "Pennsylvania Dutch," for a long time kept the language and customs of their native land. Some of their quaint ways may still be seen in the nooks and corners of that state. From them, as well as from the other non-English settlers, have come some of the famous men of the country.

Among the boldest and most energetic pioneers of the colonial period were the Scotch-Irish, whose forefathers originally lived in Scotland, but who afterward moved to the northern part of Ireland. They settled largely in the mountain valleys of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the Carolinas, where they had few or no

THE HARDY BACKWOODSMAN

slaves, and lived very plainly in their log houses on little farms. They were the "backwoodsmen" of later colonial

days. These Scotch-Irish settlers were the greatest Indian fighters and the best marksmen in America. The sore oppression which drove them from Ireland made them among the first to resist the king's tyranny in America.

125. Social Classes. The American colonists did. not quickly get rid of all their old-world customs. People everywhere were more separated into social

classes than now. Although few persons who emigrated to America had titles and belonged to aristocratic society, yet in all the colonies there were great social differences.

The negroes were the lowest class. They and their children were bought and sold as slaves, unless some kindhearted master set them free. Even when treated kindly their life was a hard one.

Next to the negro slaves were the white "indented" or bond servant and the poor white laborer. They were widely separated from the negro by their color and by the fact that they were free or would soon become so, but they were generally ignorant and seldom got ahead in life unless they moved into the newer regions where people thought less about social standing.

A COLONIAL GENTLEMAN

In the second class of whites were the mechanics, shopkeepers, and small farmers. These were a sturdy and promising class, and made up the majority of the colonists. They struggled to improve their condition by saving their earnings and by educating their children.

The third, or highest social class, was made up not only of educated people, as ministers, lawyers, governors,

and judges, but, especially in the middle and the southern colonies, of the rich, such as the patroons and the great planters.

126. How Social Differences Were Shown. The differences between classes were shown in many ways. The lower classes were expected to be very polite and respectful to the upper. Marriage between persons of different social rank was strongly opposed. At church the people were often seated according to social standing, and the common people sometimes remained outside the church till the great officers or the rich planters and their families had entered. Students at Harvard College were seated according to their social standing.

Social rank was partly shown in dress. The slaves wore little, and that little of the cheapest kind. The poorer class of whites dressed plainly because they could afford no better. In place of shoes they often, like the Indians, wore moccasins made of the furs and skins of wild animals. When cloth was scarce the men wore leather breeches sometimes trimmed with fur. The middle class dressed more comfortably, while the men and women of the highest class tried in every way to show their standing by their clothing.

For weddings, receptions, and balls the men powdered their hair, wore wigs, rich velvet coats, knee breeches, silk stockings, and silver shoe-buckles, and carried goldheaded canes and gold snuffboxes. Fashionable young men sometimes wore swords, laced hats, and red cloth coats. The women on such occasions were dressed in silks, satins, and velvets brought from London. The royal governors and other officers appointed by the king made great efforts to impress the people with their rank, not only by receptions and balls, but by ceremonies in opening and closing the legislatures and by "processions" through the colony.