Data Literacy for Social Studies, Value of Exports from and Imports to England by the American Colonies, 1697-1780

This graph comparing the value of exports from and imports to England by the American colonies from 1697 to 1780 uses data from the colonial period compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau. Clicking on the source will take you to a workbook with sheets containing the original table of data, a recreated table, and a graph. There is also a note about how the values in the graph were determined. The graph shows a shifting balance of trade in the late colonial periods between the colonies and England within the mercantilist economic system. The relative increase in the value of imports from England to the colonies compared with the value exports from the colonies to England was partially a product of population growth in the colonies, but also because of British policies that restricted imports from other countries.