Colonial America was a veritable melting pot of individuals of all nations fused into a new race of men whose labors and posterity would shape the future. Legends about America painted the picture of a land unsoiled and pure, an asylum, and a venture at a new beginning for all who desired it. But those who fled from their home countries were met with a more realistic landscape, and were unprepared for the bleak ruggedness of unexplored territories. Soon colonies formed on rocky foundations and prospered into stable communities. Nevertheless, the metamorphosis from a group of colonies to an independent country was not an easy one. Before the thirteen colonies could merge, forming the United States, they experienced hardships and barriers to forming a cohesive union. The distribution of wealth within the colonies, competition for money and differences in assets between the colonies, and failed attempts at unification were all limiting factors of colonial convergence.

It seems quite clear that class lines hardened throughout the colonial period. The distinction between rich and poor became sharper. A study of colonial New England showed that the poor numbers conti

Collier, Christopher and Collier, James Lincoln. The French and Indian War. New York: Benchmark Books, 1998.

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The same group of aristocrats always controlled even Boston town meetings, which were the truest cradles of democracy (Zinn 48).

Dean, Ruth and Thomson, Melissa. Life in the American Colonies. San Diego: Lucent Books, Inc., 1999.

Jealousy between colonies existed, as well as major discrepancies in the affluence of different colonies. Fortunes were being made in the import-export business, and wealthy people in cities like Boston, Philadelphia, and Charleston were building grand houses and furnishing them with the grandest luxuries from Europe (Collier and Collier 12). Colonies like Maryland and Pennsylvania were wealthy and populous while colonies like Georgia, New Hampshire, and North Carolina were poor (Carman and Syrett 156). Aristocracy in New York was the most ostentatious. Three quarters of the land belonged to only thirty people, and the poor overflowed from the many almshouses (Zinn 48).

"Albany Congress," Microsoftc Encartac Encyclopedia 99. c 1993-1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

The thirteen colonies, although wary of their prerogatives, guarded their wallets even more carefully. It can be argued that almost every uprising in colonial history was a direct result of an attack on the "colonial wallet", or wealth of the colonists. The same can be said for the difficulties encountered before the colonies formed the United States. Each colony was in a different economical state, and no colony was ready and willing to risk forfeiting any of its affluence to a unification plan. It was for this reason that the Albany Congress did not work out. The internal conditions of each colony were also unstable, as many were dominated by a rich upper class. Most problems of colonial and inter-colonial society can be accounted for by problems with money, wealth and other assets or possessions. The auspicious colonies that lined the North American coastline needed to overcome their money problems before they could become the framework for what is

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