Wealth Estimates for the New England Colonies about 1770
- 1 March 1972
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in The Journal of Economic History
- Vol. 32 (1) , 98-127
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022050700075410
Abstract
The purpose of my studies is to estimate the total and per capita wealth of the thirteen colonies in the early 1770's and something of its composition and distribution. The estimates for New England presented here add another building block to the accumulating evidence that a rather high level of living was reached in the American colonies at the close of over 150 years of economic development. They also show that wealth was unequally distributed among the population in this transitionally commercial era, well before the onset of industrialism. They yield quantitative evidence as well on size of wealth in relation to such characteristics of wealth holders as their age and sex, occupations, urban or rural residence and testacy, that is whether or not they left a will at death.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Growth of Real Product in the United States Before 1840: New Evidence, Controlled ConjecturesThe Journal of Economic History, 1967
- American Economic Growth Before 1840: An Exploratory EssayThe Journal of Economic History, 1964