Two trends emerge from the demographic data gathered throughout the eighteenth century in the northern section of the British colonies which would become the northeastern United States. First, the racial composition of the colonies' population changed between 1700 and 1750, because the Black population grew steadily and more rapidly than the White population. By 1750, Black people constituted about 5 percent of the population. They were concentrated in a few cities some of which had a greater proportion of Black people in 1750 than in 1960. In 1746 more than one-fifth of New York City's population was Black. In 1755 Black people made up one-quarter of the population of Newport, Rhode Island, and one-seventh of the population of all Rhode Island. Second, the rate of growth of the Black population in northern colonies reached a peak sometime around 1750 and the Black population grew very slowly thereafter. The first United States census, taken in 1790 enumerated fewer Black people in Connecticut and Rhode Island than were counted by colonial censuses in 1750, and New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts showed slow growth at best.
Several factors account for this slower growth rate. First, immigration of European workers increased after the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, and White employers preferred to hire European laborers. Second, the political situation was worrisome to many White people. A slave revolt in New York City in 1712 and an altercation in the same city in 1741 resulted in over 50 deaths--mostly of Black people--and caused some people to oppose the importation of more slaves to the northern colonies. Third, there was growing indignation about the holding of slaves. Quakers in Pennsylvania campaigned against the slave trade, and similar sentiments in New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island led to the passage of anti-slave-trade laws. Massachusetts abolished slavery altogether.
Most important was the changing economic structure of the colonies. Ecological conditions in the South encouraged large-scale farming, and Southern plantation owners desiring to increase production faced a severe labor shortage. Thus, slaves were brought to the South, not the North. In the South, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, Black people were concentrated around the Tidewater area; by 1790 the southern Black population had increased to 35 percent of the total southern population. They were more widely dispersed geographically throughout the southern colonies and lived in rural arms for the most part.
Although all of the relevant information has been gathered, it is difficult to evaluate the reliability of these data. Reports of colonial administrators, estimates made by European travelers, and local censuses indicate that in 1700 the population of both the northern and southern colonies was 250,000, including 30,000 Black people. In 1750 the total population was 1.2 million, of whom 250,000 were Black people. These figures imply that the Black population grew in excess of 4 percent per annum from 1700 to 1750, while the White population expanded by 3 percent each year. The first federal census, taken in 1790, counted 3.9 million Americans, 750.000 of whom were Black. This means that, from 1750 to 1790, the growth rate was approximately 3 percent annually for each race.
1. One of the main concerns of this passage is to account for the(A) decrease in total population in northern cities after 1750
(B) slowing of the growth rate of the Black population of the northern colonies after 1750
(C) increasing urbanization of the northern colonies during the eighteenth century
(D) political unrest in northern cities in the late .eighteenth century
(E) influence of agricultural innovation on the population of the northern colonies during the eighteenth century
2. All of the following are listed in the passage as sources for data about the colonial population in the eighteenth century EXCEPT(A) local censuses
(B) travelers' accounts
(C) reports of colonial administrators
(D) birth and death records
(E) the national census
3. Of the following, which is the most likely source of this passage? (A) A textbook on demographic analysis
(B) A history of the South before the Civil War
(C) An article on eighteenth-century demographic change in the United States
(D) An extended analysis of class and labor relations in the United States
(E) A history of immigration to the United States
4. According to the passage which of the following was a significant factor in European immigration to the United States in the eighteenth century?(A) The increasing urbanization of the northern colonies throughout the eighteenth century
(B) The abolition of slavery in the northern colonies at the end of the eighteenth century
(C) The signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783
(D) The growth of large-scale farming in the southern colonies
(E) Political unrest in the northern colonic
5. According to the passage, between 1700 and 1750, the growth rate of the total Black population exceeded that of the total White population by approximately how much per year?(A) 1 percent
(B) 2 percent
(C) 3 percent
(D) 4 percent
(E) 5 percent
6. If the post-1750 population trends described in the passage had continued, which of the following could be an accurate description of the population of the United States in 1850?(A) The urban population was smaller than it had been in the eighteenth century, but the rural population was larger.
(B) The proportions of Black people and White people were roughly equal in the North, but White people outnumbered Black people in the South.
(C) The size of the population of the United States and the proportions of Black people and White people were roughly equal to what they had been in 1790.
(D) The proportion of Black people in the rural South was higher than it was in the total population.
(E) The proportion of Black people in urban areas to White people in those same areas remained constant.
7. The passage suggests that census data gathered throughout the eighteenth century regarding the distribution and growth of the population could best be used to support which of the following claims?(A) Industrialization was the chief contributing factor to the urbanization of the Black population.
(B) Agricultural expansion in the South was a contributing factor to the continuation of the slave trade.
(C) The population of the northern colonies grew more rapidly than that of the southern colonies.
(D) The abolition of slavery in Massachusetts contributed to a decline in the number of slaves in the total population.
(E) Records kept in the northern colonies were much more accurate than those kept in the southern colonies.
8. Of the following, which is the most appropriate title for this passage?(A) The Urban Experience in the Pre-Revolutionary Period
(B) Conflicts in the Northern Colonies
(C) Demographic Trends in the Black Population
(D) The Expansion of Slavery
(E) Pre-Revolutionary Labor Trends in the North and South