ABSTRACT
The original 13 colonies were founded and populated by farmers. Communities grew initially as the farms, which were designed to be essentially self-sufficient, abutted one another and interaction necessarily occurred. The need for general safety from both the indigenous population and the elements promoted increasing collectivity and enabled the earliest interdependence to evolve. Over time, agricultural and industrial specialization would help create economic efficiency and the beginnings of urbanizing trends, but, in the earliest years, even small rural towns were quite few and located far between. Even when such growth did occur, most of it took place in proximity to the navigable rivers that provided the most effective transportation available.
