Land, Business, TechnologyIn 1750 there are scarcely any cities, and no settlements at all west of the great mountain barrier, or much below Virginia. By 1850, new states extend west beyond the Mississippi River, and south into Florida. And this doesn't include new Gold Rush settlements in California, or the various western territories. To make room, almost all remaining eastern Indians have been marched off, and confined to a reservation in Oklahoma. But the biggest change is in technology. River steamboats and steam locomotives now crisscross the entire country east of the Mississippi. This marks the end of America's adolescence. Adulthood is next. |
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Land, Dirt-cheap The rapid settlement of western lands is encouraged from the start by the national government, which starts selling off undeveloped land almost as soon as the new country is born. Unable to manage all the land transactions itself, the government instead surveys the land, divides it into large blocks, and then sells off these blocks for almost nothing. Even so, the minimum block size is far too large for a single family, so land speculators move in first. They form land companies that buy up huge tracts, and then subdivide them into parcels of just a few dozen acres, which are sold to individual settlers. George Washington is an early and enthusiastic land speculator. The chart at top right shows the two big bursts in federal land sales. | |||||||||
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Compared to Today The maps included in this presentation use green highlights to indicate population density. The brighter the highlight, the greater the number of settlers per square mile. The map above shows how these densities compare to those of modern-day America. The areas highlighted in the darkest GREEN (leftmost oval, above) indicate sparsely settled areas at the very edge of the frontier, averaging just one family per square mile. This is about the same density as in Wyoming today (center top). The next lighter green (middle oval) indicates moderate density equivalent to today's Iowa, which has lots of corn fields but few farmhouses (top right). The brightest green (right oval) is higher density, similar to that of Kentucky today, which ranks near the national average. | |||||||||
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Railroads Lead the Way The top chart shows the most common manufacturing businesses in 1850. The top four categories involve either textile mills (wool and cotton) or iron (castings and wrought iron). The map shows that manufacturing activity (YELLOW highlights) is centered New England, with its many textile mills. But manufacturing represents only a relatively small portion of total business investment. The lower chart shows that the great bulk of investment is being channeled into railroads, either existing or under construction. Banks are in third place, being heavily involved in mortgages for land transactions, particularly in the West. | |||||||||
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Mix of Crops and Livestock Despite all the investment in railroads, mills and iron manufacturing, farming is still the mainstay of the American economy. Farmland, livestock and farm equipment, taken together, account for more than half the value of all property (chart at top left). The number of farm animals is surprising (chart at top right). There are slightly more horses and mules than households, but twice as many milk cows, three times as many cattle, seven times as many sheep and ten times as many pigs (top right). The chart at lower right shows that cotton exports bring in the most foreign money, by a wide margin. | |||||||||
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Thriving Downtowns Cities in 1850 are bustling with business. The Great Irish Potato Famine results in two million Irish farmers fleeing to America. Most arrive in Boston and New York, where many find work in mills and small factories. They tend to remain in the cities where they get off the boat, having no money to travel. With so much cheap labor arriving by the boatload, every week, northern cities suddenly have a seemingly limitless local workforce. In many ways, the condition of Irish immigrants in the North is little different from that of slaves in the South. They are essentially captive labor, allowing mill and plantation owners, alike, to amass impressive wealth at little cost. While technically free to leave, few immigrants are able to do so. | |||||||||