Editing Colonial Commerce (section)

== Growth and Prosperity ==

Philadelphia's commercial success drove rapid population growth throughout the colonial period. From a few hundred settlers in the 1680s, the city grew to approximately 10,000 inhabitants by 1720, 25,000 by 1760, and nearly 40,000 by the time of the Revolution—making it the largest city in British North America and, for a time, the second-largest English-speaking city in the world after London. This growth reflected both natural increase and immigration, as the city's economic opportunities attracted settlers from throughout the British Isles, German-speaking Europe, and other colonial regions. The diverse population that resulted—English Quakers, Scots-Irish Presbyterians, German Lutherans and Reformed, Anglicans, Catholics, Jews, and others—made Philadelphia one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the colonial world.<ref name="bridenbaugh">{{cite book |last=Bridenbaugh |first=Carl |title=Cities in Revolt: Urban Life in America, 1743-1776 |year=1955 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |location=New York}}</ref>

The wealth generated by commerce supported an increasingly sophisticated urban culture. Philadelphia's merchants built elegant townhouses along the city's principal streets, furnished them with imported goods, and patronized craftsmen who produced locally made furniture, silver, and other luxury items. The city boasted theaters, assembly rooms, and a lively print culture that included multiple newspapers and North America's first magazine. Benjamin Franklin's various enterprises—printing, publishing, and civic improvement—both reflected and contributed to Philadelphia's prosperity. The intellectual life fostered by this wealth would bear fruit in the revolutionary era, when Philadelphia served as the meeting place for Continental Congresses and the site where independence was declared and the Constitution drafted.<ref name="weigley"/>