Price : American Port Towns 163 in dominating trade as indigenous firms did in the northern ports. It was, of course, precisely because Charleston offered commodities desired in England (rice and indigo) that British merchants were attracted more toward this tradejhan-toward that of die uurtirefH^ rW|nrr.n rn rhp level rather than a real "commercial center" or ^Entrepreneurial decisions were made in Brit- raisethere, ships were built or chartered there and outfitted there, insurance was made there—all for the South Caro- lina trade. There was nothing conspiratorial in this, nor anything to be taken as evidence of the feckless character of the Charleston mercantile community. It was rather a rational adaptation to mar- ket conditions and comparative costs, given the commodities traded and the markets available to them. Nevertheless, this "colonial" character of Charleston's commercial life helps to explain why Charleston with a larger volume of tonnage and more valuable im- ports and exports than New York had only half the population of New York City in 1770. The last remaining arear£o be discussed is perhaps the most para- colonial America: the Chesapeake Bay colonies of Vir- ginia and Maryland. Virginia was the most populous continental colony, or state, from its foundation until passed by New York in 1820. Virginia and Maryland together accounted for over 30 per- cent of the population of the thirteen colonies in 1770. Their chief product, tobacco, was the most valuable export of North America for more than a century preceding the Revolution. In 1770, ex- ports were estimated to be worth over -£900,000 sterling. They were also major exporters of wheat. Yet down to 1750 or 1760 they had no town with a population of as much as 3,000. This was partly corrected in the years 1760-1775 by the rise of Baltimore and Norfolk, but on the eve of the Revolution the former had only 5,934 inhabitants and latter about 6,250. Williamsburg, the capital of Virginia (not a port but a Rc