There were now thirteen colonies. They numbered about 2,000,000 people. The largest cities were Boston and Philadelphia, each containing about eighteen thousand inhabitants Three forms of government existed--charter, proprietary, and royal. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, had charter governments. Maryland and Pennsylvania (with Delaware) were proprietary--that is, their proprietors governed them. Georgia, Virginia, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, and the Carolinas were directly subject to the crown, the last three being at first proprietary, but afterward becoming royal. The colonies were all Protestant. The intolerant religious spirit of early days had moderated, and there had been a gradual assimilation of manners and customs. They had, in a word, become Americans. In accordance with the customs of the age, the laws were still severe. Thus in New England, at one time, twelve offences were punishable by death, while in Virginia there were seventeen capital crimes. The affairs of private life were regulated by law in a manner that would not now be endured. At Hartford, for example, the ringing of the watchman's bell in the morning was the signal for every one to rise and in Massachusetts a scold was sometimes gagged and placed near her door, while for other minor offences the stocks and pillory were used. The social prejudices brought over from England still survived in a measure. Even in New England official positions were monopolized by a few leading families, and often descended from father to son. The catalogues of Harvard and Yale were long arranged according to the rank of the students. [Illustration: THE STOCKS.] [Illustration: A SCOLD GAGGED.] Nine colleges had already been established. These were Harvard, William and Mary, Yale, Princeton, Columbia (originally called King's), Brown, Rutger's (then Queen's), Dartmouth, and Hampden Sidney. Educational interests were not fostered by the English government. Only one donation was given to found a college in the colonies--that of William and Mary, an institution named in honor of these sovereigns. [Illustration: The pillory.] Agriculture was the main dependence of the people, though manufactures, even at this early period, received much attention at the north. Hats, paper shoes, household furniture, farming utensils, and the coarser kinds of cutlery were made to some extent. Cloth weaving had been introduced. Most thrifty people, however, dressed in homespun. It is said of Mrs. Washington that she kept running sixteen spinning-wheels. Commerce had steadily increased--principally, however, as coast trade, in consequence of the oppressive laws of Great Britain. The daring fishermen of New England already pushed their whaling crafts far into the icy regions of the north. Money was for many years very scarce. In 1635 musket-bullets were made to pass in place of farthings, the law providing that not more than twelve should be given in one payment.