Getting the Word Out

Number of pamphlets published between 1750 and 1776 addressing the Anglo-American controversy: over 400
Number published between 1776 and 1783: 1,100

Number of newspapers in the mainland colonies in 1775: 38

Population

Total colonial population in 1776: almost 2.5 million.

New York Colony

Population in 1771: 163,348
Percentage that was white: 88%
Percentage that was male: 52%
Percentage under the age of 16: 46%

Massachusetts Colony

Population of Massachusetts in 1776: 290,900
Black population of Massachusetts in 1776: 4,761 (1.6%)

City Populations in 1775

Boston: 16,000
Newport, Rhode Island: 11,000
New York City: 25,000
Philadelphia: 33,500
Charleston, South Carolina: 12,000.

Slavery

Number of slaves in the colonies in 1776: 500,000
Ratio of free colonists to slaves: 4 to 1

Number of members of the Virginia delegation to the Continental Congress that did not own slaves: 0

State Constitutions

Number of states that had drafted and adopted constitutions by the end of 1776: 10
Number of states that had drafted and adopted constitutions even before the national Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776: 2