CHAPTER II

GENERAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS

AN attempt will be made in the present chapter to set forth in a general way the economic and social conditions under which the people of the United States were living during the period of the Confederation. A knowledge of these conditions will be necessary to our study of the making of the Constitution, which is to follow.

The "critical period" of American history marks an epoch in the nation's political and industrial development. The treaty of peace made with Great Britain in 1783 severed formally and finally the ties which bound the States to the mother country. The independent and sovereign career of the United States may be dated legally from this time. Then, too, the era witnessed the beginning of great economic and social changes, which were destined to revolutionize American life. The industrial revolution, both in Great Britain and America, was soon to inaugurate the factory system. In colonial times the necessities were manufactured by the household, for the most part; but a remarkable series of inventions by Watt, Arkwright, Hargreaves, Crompton, and others caused the transfer of manufacturing from the home to the factory. Great improvements were made in the machinery for carding, spinning, and weaving. Manufacturing, particularly in the textile industries, received a remarkable impetus. Parliament undertook by statute to restrict the advantages of these inventions to Great Britain, but was not successful in so doing. As Weeden remarks

in his Economic and Social History of New England: "Wherever a people exists capable of adopting new discoveries, then the industrial atmosphere wafts the pollen of invention and new growth springs up." The new inventions found their way to our shores, and skilled artisans came from England to start the business of manufacturing in the New World. In 1785 Boston had an association of tradesmen and manufacturers, and Hamilton's famous report on the manufactures of America a few years later was a revelation to the men of the Old World. An attempt was made to manufacture cotton at Worcester, Massachusetts, as early as 1780. Other unsuccessful attempts were made in the next few years. Finally, in November, 1789, Samuel Slater, a man of great executive ability, arrived from London and established the first successful cotton mill in the United States. His mill was located at Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and was put in operation for the first time on December 20, 1790. The coming of Slater was an important event in the history of American industrial development.

If one would form an adequate conception of the boundaries and area of the new republic, he must avail himself of the work of the historical geographer. He must consult maps of the period of which we write. By so doing he will see that the territory actually occupied by the thirteen States in 1783 was the long, narrow strip of land extending from St. Croix River to Florida. The whole territory, however, as far west as Mississippi River was claimed on various grounds by different States. Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, Connecticut, and Georgia made claims to this western territory. The other six States had no such prospects for expansion, and the small States dreaded the effects that they feared might result from the occupation of the western territory by the larger States, and therefore contended that this territory should be ceded to the general government. Maryland was particularly desirous of having this done, and refused to sanction the Articles of Confederation until assured that its

wish would be granted. New York was the first State and Georgia the last, in 1802, to abandon claims to western. territory. A large part of this cession was the so-called Northwest Territory lying between Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. After getting possession of this vast domain, Congress enacted the Ordinance of 1787 for its government. This ordinance has been spoken of as "the most important piece of general legislation of the Confederation epoch," and is certainly one of the most enlightened documents in our history.

Even the narrow strip of territory on the Atlantic coast was not densely populated. The first census, taken in 1790, showed a population in the thirteen States of three million nine hundred and twenty-nine thousand two hundred and fourteen people. The population of the earlier periods can only be estimated, but at the time of the treaty of peace with Great Britain (1783) it was probably about three million two hundred and fifty thousand. The northern, middle, and southern sections of the United States contained, respectively, about one-third of the total population. Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania had the largest populations, and Georgia and Rhode Island the smallest. About four-fifths of the population consisted of free persons, the remaining one-fifth being African slaves.

The cost of the Revolutionary War amounted to about $135,000,000. In addition to this sum, France spent about $60,000,000 in behalf of the colonies. It is impossible to determine the sum of the national debt in 1783, because the accounts of the government were so loosely kept. It is, however, estimated to have been from $30,000,000 to $42,000,000. About $8,000,000 was due to France and Holland, and the remainder to citizens of the United States. The annual interest on the debt was between $2,000,000 and $2,500,000. This was the financial burden which the States, in their aggregate, had to face in 1783.

There were other burdens, however, that the war laid upon the young republic. The industries of the country