<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (July 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Seaports that expanded from wheat trade had more social classes than anywhere else in the Middle Colonies . By 1773, the population of Philadelphia had reached 40,000, New York 25,000, and Baltimore 6,000 . Merchants dominated seaport society, and about 40 merchants controlled half of Philadelphia's trade . Wealthy merchants in Philadelphia and New York, like their counterparts in New England, built elegant Georgian - style mansions such as those in Fairmount Park . </P> <P> Shopkeepers, artisans, shipwrights, butchers, coopers, seamstresses, cobblers, bakers, carpenters, masons, and many other specialized professions made up the middle class of seaport society . Wives and husbands often worked as a team and taught their children their crafts to pass it on through the family . Many of these artisans and traders made enough money to create a modest life . </P> <P> Laborers stood at the bottom of seaport society . These poor people worked on the docks unloading inbound vessels and loading outbound vessels with wheat, corn, and flax seed . Many of these were African American; some were free, while others were enslaved . In 1750, blacks made up about 10 percent of the population of New York and Philadelphia . Hundreds of seamen worked as sailors on merchant ships, some of whom were African American . </P>

How many generations were there between the first settlers and the patriots