The American victory in the Revolutionary War united 13 of the English-speaking settlements into the largest and most powerful political unit in the territory , even though those first 13 states hugging the eastern coast seem small compared with the country' s eventual size. As a result of the Revolution ,approximately 71 , 500 people out of a population of some 2. 5 million fled the new United States. Some were Loyalists - political or economic refugees whose loyalties to Great Britain remained strong; others were blacks seeking refuge from slavery. Immigration and the commercial slave trade after the war quickly restored the population to its former level. The Revolution also opened up the area west of the Appalachian Mountains to settlement , as fur traders and farmers were no longer confined by British settlement restrictions. Pioneering citizens , immigrants , and slaves moved west , displacing Native Americans who had hoped to preserve their cultures undisturbed by the expanding United States. The 17th and 18th centuries saw a growing importation of Africans into North America. After 1808 U. S. law forbade the importation of slaves from abroad , although some smuggling of slaves continued. Few people from Africa chose to come to the United States voluntarily (the free African population was small) because they were considered second-class citizens , and confined largely to the northern states. Large numbers of Europeans migrated to the United States in the early national period , drawn by the promise of freedom , cheap land in the West , and jobs in the first factories of the emerging industrial age. The influx of Europeans , the end of the slave trade , and the ongoing wars removing Native Americans meant that some of the racial diversity of the population was diminishing. By the early decades of the 19th century , a greater proportion of Americans were of western European and Protestant heritage than at the time of the Revolution. Over the course of the 19th century , the United States gradually absorbed the French colonists in the upper Midwest and in New Orleans , Louisiana; the Spanish and Russian colonists in the South , West ,and Northwest; and the territories of the Hawaiian people and other indigenous groups. Sometimes these territories were added by diplomacy , sometimes by brute force. European visitors were surprised at the diversity in nationalities and in religious and secular beliefs in early America , as well as the number of intermarriages between people of differing European heritages. There were also cross-racial births , sometimes voluntary and sometimes by force , but rarely within legal marriages. The population continued to grow through migration as well , driven in part by English , Irish , and German settlers who came in large numbers around 1848 to escape political repression and food shortages in Europe. 31. The American independence made all of the following leave the new country EXCEPT ( ) A. those who were hostile to the old colonialists B. pro-British colonialists loyal to the old political system C. those attempting to free themselves from slavery D. those who fled on account of economic problems caused by birth of the new nation 32. It can be inferred from the passage that ( ) A. slavery was soon abolished after the victory of the American Revolution B. people didn't enjoy freedom of settlement in the West before the Revolutionary War C. native Americans moved abroad in large numbers during the War D. the western expansion destroyed the environmental conditions in those areas 33. Which of the following stopped the influx of Africans into the United States in the first decade of the 19th century? ( ) A. Large numbers of European immigrants. B. Some smuggling slaves. C. Legislation by the government. D. Second-class citizens. 34. By ( ), the United States succeeded in obtaining vast land from other colonies during the 19th century. A. military action and re-settlement B. negotiations and re-settlement C. military action and negotiations D. negotiations and industrialization 35. Implied , but not directly stated , is the fact that ( ) in early America. A. there appeared to be many diverse nationalities B. numerous different religions existed c. marriages between European descendants were commonplace D. marriages between different races were not encouraged or accepted