Economic Perspectives on Colonial America

Economic Perspectives in Colonial America
Worksheet

Open the spreadsheet entitled Population in the North American Colonies - 1620-1780. Your first task is to put the data into a graphical format to look for trends. The CHART function in Excel creates a graphical representation of the data highlighted.

How to make a simple Excel chart:

Highlight the columns with the data you wish to chart. In this case, highlight A5 through B15.
Select the CHART option from the INSERT menu.
Select the type of chart [XY (scatter) is optimal. Subtype suggested is the one with data points connected by straight lines] you want and hit NEXT. Hit NEXT for Step 2 as well.
For Step 3, choose the tab at the top which says TITLES and insert labels for the chart and the axes.
Hit NEXT for Step 4 as well.
Your chart should appear. It is easy to change its size by clicking on the chart itself and then dragging the handles to expand the image. It is also easy to change the scale. Drag your mouse over the values on either axis, and when you see a box pop up saying Axis, doubleclick and choose the SCALE tab. Select the increments you would like.

Once you've made a chart from the population data, think about what is striking about the line?

To understand more about the historical perspective, an additional spreadsheet with comparative data is included on sheet 3 (tab in lower left). You will compare the changes between 1700-1780 with growth from 1900-1980. Graphing the raw numbers on the same chart is not useful since only a tremendous scale would provide enough detail to make the two comparable. Instead, you will calculate the percent the population has changed in the two periods and then graph those two sets of numbers.

This calculation can be easily done with spreadsheet functions. First, come up with a formula to calculate how much the population has changed over each ten year period. You will calculate these figures only for the data from 1700-1780 and from 1900-1980. Click on sheet 3 of the new spreadsheet to find the sheet on which to work. There is a column for percent change where you will input your calculations and the additional data for the period 1900-1980. If you need help with the mechanics of this, read the section below.

How to calculate percentages in Excel:

First, come up with a formula which will calculate the percent change in total population from 1700 (260,400) to 1710 (333,800) to be inserted in cell C4. Hopefully, you arrive at (B4-B3)/B3. The percentage part of the calculation can be done easily as a second step. Type in your formula preceded by an = in Cell C4 and then hit enter. To convert it to a percentage, pull down the Format menu and choose Cell and Percentage. Check to see if your formula is correct by calculating the percentage by hand and comparing it with your formula's answer. Modify if needed.
Instead of calculating each percentage individually, the spreadsheet has a FILL function which will perform the same operation using the numbers relevant to the next row or column. For example, you need to calculate the percent change for each year from 1700-1780. After coming up with the formula in C4, you should highlight the C column from C4 to C11. Then, from the EDIT pull down menu, select FILL and COLUMN or DOWN. Each percentage should be filled in from 1700-1780.
Now, you need to come up with a formula for the percent change from 1900-1980. Once you do that, repeat the fill procedure for percent changes needed in the F column.

You are now ready to graph your percentage changes and compare the two centuries. As before, highlight the cells which will be graphed. Begin with A4:A11. Then, press the control key and move the mouse to highlight C4:11 and then again to highlight F4:11.Three columns should be highlighted. Follow the same procedure above (Insert...Chart...XY Scatter). In Step 2, select the Series Tab so you can label which series is 1710-1780 and which is 1910-1980. In Step 3, give the axes labels. It will be helpful to call the X axis Decades so it will be applicable for the 1700s and 1900s. Again, once the chart is graphed it can be re-sized.

You are finally ready to make some observations about population growth in the 18th century so take a good look at the two charts and think about the following questions.

Look closely at the slope of both lines and estimate by sight the average percent change in the 20th and 18th centuries. What is striking or surprising about the two averages?
When the line slopes down sharply, what does this mean is happening to the population change?
Can you determine if the total population is rising or falling based on the chart of percent change?
Today, American families are much smaller than in past years yet according to the chart, our growth rate in 1980 was still 11%. How is this possible? From what source does most American growth occur?
Why would the 18th century growth rate have been so high? Was most growth coming from natural increase or migration?
With such high growth rates in colonial America, why did overpopulation never occur? What was unique about America in this regard? Does this have economic consequences?
Is a large population always economically advantageous?
How could the American economy thrive and enjoy such a high standard of living without progressing in terms of technology or strucutural economic changes?

This module was created by Brooke Graham of the University of Virginia.