The great natural entrance to the interior of the continent was by the broad river St. Lawrence and the chain of great lakes. On the other hand, the seacoast along which the English dwelt had good harbors, and there was a constant passage back and forth between the new World and the Old. Thus the people who lived in English settlements kept up a busy connection with England, buying much of what they needed in the old country and sending over their own products, especially tobacco and lumber. Moreover, the easiest way of going from one colony to another was by vessels along the coast, and in this way, and because of the extensive fishing interests, especially in New England, which was near the great fishing grounds, the people were largely a seafaring people.

Distribution of Population. There were at this time not far from sixteen hundred thousand persons living in the thirteen colonies, about equally divided between the colonies north and south of Mason and Dixon's Line; about one fourth of the whole population consisted of negro slaves, and of these three fourths lived in the Southern colonies, the remainder being chiefly house servants in the North. The whites were for the most part of English blood, and the English language was the common speech; the chief exception was to be found in a considerable body of Germans in Pennsylvania and a smaller number of descendants of the Dutch in New York and New Jersey. There were French Huguenots in small numbers in most of the colonies, and notably in the Carolinas. They all lived under the English law, and much the largest part was of the Protestant faith. All the colonies had thus a common likeness, but there was a difference in the character of each. This character was determined by the kind of soil on which the colony was planted, by the people who formed it, their origin, their occupation, and their way of thinking about religion and government.

2. Life in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts was the most northern and eastern colony. It then included what is now

the State of Maine. It had a long seacoast with many excellent harbors; the interior was covered with dense forests. The soil was not very productive; but the land was divided into small farms, which by hard labor were made to yield an abundance. The people of the colony were descendants mainly of Englishmen who had come over in the first ten years after Winthrop and his company landed. They were farmers, who raised, besides what they needed themselves, hay, grain, and cattle. They exported these to the Southern colonies and to the West Indies.

They were fishermen. A figure of a codfish hangs in the hall of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. It is a sign of what, with the whale fishery, was once the greatest source of wealth in the colony. They were shipbuilders and sailors. Their ships carried goods back and forth between the colonies and between Europe and America; they even carried goods from one port of Europe to another.

They were mechanics also. They built sawmills and gristmills by the banks of streams. They set up blacksmiths' forges, not only to shoe their horses, but to make tires for wagon wheels. They were coopers, and made barrels in which to pack fish. They made rope for their vessels. They had tanyards where they dressed leather. On all sides was the busy hum of industry. Moreover, these various occupations were not very carefully separated; the same man might be by turns, farmer, fisherman, seaman, and mechanic.

Mode of Life and Domestic Customs. In the country, people bought few things and hired very little labor. The new settler cleared a place in the forest, and built his house of logs, stopping the chinks with clay; by and by, as he grew more prosperous, he built a frame house. The two principal rooms in his house were the kitchen and the best room. In the kitchen was a great chimney, with a fireplace so large that there was room within it for seats, where the family gathered in the cold winter evenings. They burned huge logs which had been cut in the woods and hauled on sleds.

The cooking was done over a wood fire. An iron crane swung in the fireplace, and pothooks hung from the crane. The pots which hung from the hooks held the vegetables and the salt pork which were boiled for the dinner. It was seldom that the family had fresh meat, except when they shot or trapped game. They baked bannocks-flat cakes of rye or Indian meal-over the hot ashes on the hearth, and in the better houses a brick oven was built in the chimney. This was filled with hot wood coals; and when it was thoroughly heated, the coals were swept out and bread or beans set to bake. They used wooden platters for the most part, with a few pewter dishes which stood in a shining row on the dresser.

In the kitchen stood the spinning wheel, with which the women spun the wool and flax for family use. The loom for weaving was usually kept in another room. The best room was rarely used by the family. It was kept for company and special occasions. The floor was sprinkled with fine sand, and figures were traced on it like the figures in a modern carpet. Brass andirons shone in the fireplace, which in summer was filled with the green tops of asparagus.

Social Habits and Distinctions of Rank. Where all worked with their hands there was little difference in social rank. People came together for a house raising or harvest, for corn. husking or a quilting bee. The family at whose house they met provided good things to eat and drink, and the day ended with a frolic blindman's buff, fox and geese, and other sports. People knew each other familiarly in both work and play.

There were some distinctions made. The minister was the great man of the place. He had his farm, like others, and worked with his hands; but he was looked up to as a man of learning and piety. He was a college-bred man, and often prepared the boys of his parish for college. He was the leader of the church; and the church was the highest institution in the colony. In the church, people were placed according to their dignity. The deacons sat in front, near the pulpit. The

minister's family, the magistrates, and the chief farmers had the best seats given them. Often families were angry because they were not given seats as good as they thought they should have. Except in one or two large towns, the only church was what is now known as the Congregational.

Civil Government. - However lonely separate farms might be, each was included in some town.2 The meeting house was at the center of the town, and there also were the country store and the blacksmith's shop. The schoolhouse was sometimes there; but that was built in the place most convenient for the families whose children went to it. Once a year, at least, a town meeting was held. The men chose the officers of the town for the next year and decided all questions which came up about the affairs of the town, such as schools, roads, and taxes.

They also chose persons to represent the town in the Great and General Court, which met at Boston. Thus the people discussed the affairs of the whole colony as well as those of the town. Their representatives, when they went to Boston, knew how their neighbors felt and thought about public affairs. The town meetings of Boston were especially important, because that was the chief town and the seat of government. They were held in Faneuil Hall,-a building given by Peter Faneuil, a citizen of Boston. In the town meeting the people learned to govern themselves. Every voter used his vote. He knew the rules of debate, and he made his opinion known. There was free discussion, and the people were quick to learn the meaning of every law which was passed.

1 In college, students were arranged in the catalogue according to their social position, and had corresponding rights and privileges. Yale College adopted the alphabetical order in 1768, and Harvard followed five years later.

2 The town in New England differs from the township of the West, of which an explanation will be found on p. 231. Geographically, the boundaries of a New England town are irregular, being determined partly by natural objects, partly by surveys made from time to time to fix the limits of grants of land or settlements made by the first inhabitants. Its origin was in the company of people who formed a church, and were set off thus from similar companies. But a town once formed, other churches might be formed in the same town.

Country and Town Life. There was a marked difference between the life of the merchant class in the towns and that of the farmers. Spacious houses, often of brick, stood in large gardens and were furnished well. The growth of cities and towns in the last sixty years has swept away most of these, but a few still remain, and have even served as models for houses now building, which are said to be in colonial style.1 The people who lived in them dressed richly and lived in comfort. The royal governor and the officers of the crown in Boston formed a miniature court about which the richer folk gathered.

3. Life in Other New England Colonies. What was true of Massachusetts was true also, in the main, of the other colonies

1 A good example of this may be seen in the well-known Craigie House in Cambridge, once Washington's headquarters, and afterwards the residence of the poet Longfellow. Many new houses in the neighborhood are in architectural harmony with it.