An Era of Contrasts.

The revolutionary era was bracketed by two long wars in which much blood and money were spent. Yet, paradoxically, in this age the population of British North America surged upward, and colonial merchants and planters became lavishly wealthy. The French and Indian War brought unprecedented levels of British government spending to the colonies, and many a colonial merchant made his fortune outfitting British soldiers and ships. New England and New York merchants, Pennsylvania farmers, and Southern planters profited from wartime spending and increasing intercolonial trade. In the backcountry European settlers engaged in a bloody war of attrition with Native Americans, steadily pushing them off valuable land. Tens of thousands of people poured into the colonies from Europe and Africa, feeding a seemingly inexhaustible demand for labor in fields,and workshops.

Colonial Culture: New Fortunes.

The rising wealth of upper- and middle-class colonists was largely...