The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-11-08
The Globes Home Study Course
How the a. :. J*as Expanded
BY DANA c. MuNRoE. A. M.

more than $40 year, which was for salt,
nails and the like. Nothing to wear, eat
or drink was purchased, as my farm
provided ALL
But the most striking fact is the abb
sence of the goods which are now COM
mon and on which Our national pros
perity so largely depends. In the South
practically no cotton was raised. In the
North the manufacturing establishments
were represented by q few paper mills.
an iron foundry or two and factory for
making cooked hats. There was then no
surplus of grain or iron to export. But
there was one commodity Of great value
which itself marks the state of the coun-
try and which was a product of the will
-derness covering the great part of the
country. The fur trade was a most lucra-
tive source of income for those engaged
in it. For mere trifies they secured from
the Indians the finest skins and sent
them to Europe.
1t was necessary to secure large profits
on articles exported and to pay large
prices for imports, as the vessels sailing
to Europe were small and the passage
slow. One month was a remarkably short
time for a trip either way. The passage
seems usually to have consumed eight
to ten weeks Travelling in America was
even slower. The fastest made was by
Under favorable conditions the passage
from New York to Providence could be
made in three days, but often the trip
took nearly or quite two weeks. On ac-
count of this uncertainty passengers gen.
orally preferred the stage coaches. In
these a trip could be made from Boston
to New York in six to nine days by
travelling eighteen hours a day. The ex-
ecrable roads and the lack of bridges
sod 1Irxxz
nothing worse. The crossing from Brook
lyn to New York was. dangerous trip
in winter and continued to be until the
application of steam to the ferry boats
When these were the conditions where
trade was most active and travelling most
usual, We can imagine the innumerable
dangers and accidents on the less COM
mon routes. 1t is no wonder that gentle
men setting out on journey of 3U8
miles should give a farewell banquet and
solemnly say goodbye to their friends.
If we turn Our attention for moment
from the seaboard to the country be-
yond the mountains, we find here and
there an outpost of civilization. Daniel
Boone was daring the dangers from wild
beasts and wilder men in Kentucky.
Western Tennessee was being settled.
But the country to the north, Ohio, In
diana and Illinois, was still the home of
the buffalo. st. Louis was becoming a
center for the fur trade. The Great
Lakes We're practically unknown. The
Mississippi river was hopelessly remote
from civilization, and it seemed barely
possible that this river could be of any
Importance for many decades.
If to these discouraging conditions the
state of the country after the war be
added, the outlook for expansion was
gloomy, and it is no wonder that the
Western territory was valued so lightly
The country was heavily in debt, there
was no efficient central power, there was
no community of interests or feelings
The states We're jealous of each other and
each tried to profit at the expense of the
others States which had mo convenient
ports for foreign commerce were subject
to be taxed by their neighbors through
whose ports their commerce was carried
on. New Jersey, placed between Phil
adelphia and New York, was liiSened to
a cask tapped at both ends; and North
Carolina, between Virginia and South
Carolina, to patient bleeding at both
arms" These are the words which James
Madison used in a timely and influential
pamphlet.
In the different states there were local
causes of trouble, which threatened to
paralyze any forward movement. In 1881
North Carolina was struggling with it's
rebellous colonies which had formed the
state of FARMLAND. Virginia was rem