Students will need two contrasting color pencils for the pie charts.  Use a light color for the "White Population" category so the lettering will not be obscured in the two largest pies.   Remind students that the lettering for the graphs should be done very neatly.  It's a good idea to show an example on the board. 

What the Chart Shows

   This chart shows the wide variation in the ethnic make-up of the colonies.  Massachusetts had only a small black population, while South Carolina was majority black in 1750.

   Notice that Virginia had the largest population, with Massachusetts not far behind. 

   The graphs would be very different if an earlier date, such as 1650, were chosen.  The black population was very small in the early Colonial era, but grew more rapidly after 1700.
 
 

   Students will need a color pencil for this bar graph.  (If they wish, they can use different colors for each product.  Yellow and other light colors, however, usually do not show up well on bar and line graphs.) 

What the Chart Shows

   This chart shows that tobacco was the single most important crop in the colonial export trade.  It also shows that a number of other produces were also important, however.

   Students may ask, "How much was a British Pound Sterling worth in today's money?"  There is no easy or short answer.  For example, the British Pound today is worth a bit over two dollars.  In 1770, however, the American dollar did not yet exist - the Spanish silver dollar was the closest thing in circulation in America. 
   It would probably be best to tell students that direct comparisons across time periods are always difficult, but the numbers would be many times higher if expressed in modern currencies. 

   What do you think best explains...

   The pattern shown by the pie charts reflects the pattern of slavery in the colonies.  Although there were free blacks in the Colonial era, the majority were held as slaves.  In the Southern colonies, large plantations were heavy users of slave labor.  In Northern colonies, climate and soil conditions made the plantation style of agriculture unprofitable.  As a result, there were fewer slaves.

   What was the most valuable...

   The graph shows that tobacco was the most valuable export in 1770, well ahead of the other products shown.  But it's important to notice that the trade in other products was very large.  The combined value of the next two most important exports (wheat and fish) is greater, for example, than the value of the tobacco crop.