Center of population, 1860. millions in 1830 and less than eight hundred and fifty thousand in 1783. The settled area had increased even more rapidly from six hundred and thirty thousand square miles in 1830 to nearly twelve hundred thousand square miles (1,194,754) in 1860. The center of population moved westward with everincreasing rapidity-one hundred and ninety-one miles in the years 1830-60, in comparison with one hundred and twenty-five miles in the preceding thirty years (map, p. 318). The western progress of this artificial point during the last decade (1850-60) was owing to the rapid settlement of California and Oregon, and shows how artificial, misleading, and inaccurate it is as denoting density of population or national growth: in 1850 twelve persons at San Francisco had as much weight in determining this artificial point as forty at New York. Nevertheless, until 1850, and after 1870, the movement of the center of population 1860] Population 485 indicates in a rough way the growth of the population of the 321. Slave and Free Sections compared. — The area of Influence of the United States open to slavery was vastly larger than that slavery. preserved to freedom. Much of the former was still unoccupied, but the settled area given over to slavery was greater than that devoted to freedom. The settled slave region was as fertile as any part of the United States. It contained inexhaustible stores of coal and iron and possessed vast water powers, magnificent forests, and a climate admirably suited to all kinds of human occupations. Yet, notwithstanding these great natural advantages, the slave states contained only twelve of the thirty-one million inhabitants of the United States. Moreover, as fully one third of the population of the Southern states was servile, the white population of the slave and free states was in the proportion of eight to twenty. The effect of slavery in limiting population will become apparent by a study of the accompanying map, showing the density of population by states. It will be seen, for instance, that only two slave states, Maryland and Delaware, contained over forty-five inhabitants to the square mile, and five states fewer than eighteen to the square mile. On the other hand, four free states contained over ninety persons to the square mile and three large free states, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, between forty-five and ninety. Indeed, two Northern cities alone contained more people than the state of South Carolina or of Texas, while one Northern city held more free whites than any slave state. Northern cities. Southern cities. The growth of Northern cities had been stupendous. The urban population of the country, as a whole, had increased from eight hundred and sixty-four thousand in 1830 to over five millions in 1860. In 1830 less than seven per cent of the population had been gathered into cities; in 1860 more than sixteen per cent was classed as urban. The opening of the commercial route from the Great Lakes to the seaboard by the Erie canal and the Hudson River had contributed wonderfully to the increase of population of the two cities at the ends of the line, New York and Chicago. In 1830 the population of New York numbered less than two hundred thousand; by 1860 it had increased fourfold, and now numbered eight hundred and seven thousand. Chicago in 1833 had thirty-three names on the voting list; in 1860 more than one hundred thousand persons lived within its limits. There were many other large cities of from one hundred thousand to five hundred thousand inhabitants, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Boston, Cincinnati, Buffalo, and Newark. There were only three cities south of Mason and Dixon's line with over one hundred thousand inhabitants, Baltimore, New Orleans, and St. Louis. Of these, New Orleans alone was situated within the limits of the states which seceded. In the North, also, there were innumerable manufacturing towns, growing rapidly and increasing in number. In the South there were no manufacturing towns and almost no commerce. Of the one hundred and seven cotton mills in operation, only eight were in the South; of the thirty thousand miles of railroad, but ten thousand were in the South. To all intents and purposes, the slave states were socially, economically, and commercially where they were in 1810. "Alone in all the world she [the South] stood, unmoved by the whirl and rush' of modern civilization," said one Southern man. "From the rattle with which the nurse tickled the ear of the child to the shroud for the dead," said another, "everything that the Southerners used came from the North." 1860] Population 487 building, 322. Transportation. The first period of railway build- Railway ing ended in 1849; there were then between six and seven 1830-60. thousand miles of railways in the country. Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois were still open fields. Between 1849 and 1858 there was great activity in railway construction: more than twenty-one thousand miles were built in those years. There was then a slackening, owing to the panic of 1857, but by the outbreak of the Civil War there were thirty thousand miles in operation. The maps of the northeastern states had begun to take on that gridironed appearance which is so familiar to the map reader of the present time. Simultaneously with railway extension consolidation of existing lines had proceeded. In 1850 one could not go by rail from New York to either Boston or Albany, as the journey was broken in places by water transport; in 1860 one continuous line of rails stretched from New York to the Mississippi. The great extension of the railway lines in the newer The land states west of the Alleghanies was due largely to the stimulus grants. imparted by congressional grants of lands to the railroads in that section. This process was begun in 1850 by a grant in aid of the Illinois Central. Congress gave to the state of Illinois every alternate section of the public lands on either side of the proposed railroad, and the state, on its part, turned over the land grants to the railroad company in consideration of a cash payment and a percentage of the gross receipts of the road when built. This policy was repeated in the case of other roads, and no less than one hundred and eighty million acres of the public lands were given in aid of the improved facilities of transport; but the privilege was shamefully abused by unscrupulous and avaricious rail road promoters. During the same period water transport, both domestic Steamboats. and foreign, enormously increased. There was often the most criminal recklessness in the management of steam craft, especially on the interior waterways. In 1852, on the motion of Senator John Davis of Massachusetts, Congress The mercantile marine. Cause of prosperity, 1840-60. passed an excellent and stringent act for the regulation of steam traffic on the water. This law, with some modifications suggested by later experience, is still in force. American maritime industry was at its highest point in the decade before the war. In 1861 the tonnage of the United States exceeded that of any other nation: no less than five and one half million tons of shipping was registered under the American flag, in comparison with four and one half millions on the British shipping list. In 1860 three quarters of the exports of the United States were carried in American vessels. 66 323. Material Prosperity. Mr. Rhodes, in his interesting chapter on the condition of the country in 1860, asserts no one can doubt that from 1846 to 1857 the country was very prosperous.” This prosperity was the result of a fortunate combination of many causes, among which may be enumerated the rapid settlement of the national domain, the enormous extension of lines of railroad, and the great increase of foreign commerce, especially with Great Britain. The first two of these have been described in preceding sections; it will be well to consider the last more in detail. The imports and exports of the United States had trebled in value since 1830. The increase in imports was due in part to the great demand for manufactured iron in the construction of railroads, and to the increased use of other foreign manufactures, owing to the low rates of impost under the Walker Tariff. In part, also, it was due to the importation of raw materials for the use of American manufacturers. The growth of exports was owing largely to the repeal of the British corn laws, and the establishment of free trade which accompanied it. The repeal of the corn laws permitted the importation of cheap food stuffs into England. It greatly diminished the cost of living there, especially among the workers, and made it possible for them to accept lower wages. The abolition of duties on the raw material of manufacture, in combination with cheap labor, enabled English manufacturers to gain control of the markets of the |