Page images
PDF
EPUB

severe to be voluntarily undertaken. It has, we are aware, been alleged, over and

over

climate, usually at one twentieth part again,

that slavery has retarded the progress of Virginia, the Carolinas, and other S. states. But there is really no foundation whatever for this allegation. New York and the middle and northern states, that have so rapidly advanced without the aid of slaves, are placed under totally different circumstances. They are to Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, &c., what England is to Jamaica. Branches of industry suited to the one are not suited to the other; and that field labour which may, without difficulty, be carried on in the New England states, New York, and Pennsylvania, would be oppressive and all but intolerable in the states lying along the Gulph of Mexico. But, as stated above, we do not mention this in vindication of slavery, or as an apology for the cruelties of slave-masters. This probable consequence of the abolition of slavery should, however, be kept in view by those who would fairly estimate its real influence. The dangers of rebellion, anarchy, and bloodshed, are not the only contingencies American statesmen have to guard against in dealing with the blacks; they must, also, keep in view the probable influence of their acts on the productive energies and trade of the country; and should endeavour, in as far as possible, to combine with the maintenance of the latter a proper respect for the rights and interests of humanity.

The rapid increase of population, and particularly the continual extension of the white settlers further W. will, ere long, go far to extinguish the native races. The Sioux Indians, estimated at 27,000 or 28,000, still hold their ground W. of the Mississippi; and nearly all the region from that river to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Arkansas to the head waters of the Missouri, are inhabited by nations more or less connected with them; but of the tribes formerly inhabiting the country E. of the Mississippi, few remnants exist. Of the Iroquois and Algonquins, there are now estimated to be only about 8,000 individuals in all, chiefly in New York, and the New England States. Further S. a few Cherokees, Chicksaws, &c. still occupy their original seats; but a war of extermination has been latterly carried on against the Indians of Florida, provoked in a great measure by their hostility to the whites; and it is stated, that, "from the Tennessee to the Lakes, and from the Desmoines to the Gulph of Mexico, scarcely a drop of Indian blood remains within the limits of the States." (Encyc. of Geog.) The Indians who remain within the limits of the States are allowed to retain their own government, laws, &c., but inducements have been held out to them either to become citizens of the states in which they reside, or to emigrate to the Platte country, W. of Arkansas and Missouri, where lands have been provided for the purpose; and where they are supplied with agricultural implements, and other necessaries of civilized life. In 1836, about 31,300 Indians had migrated thither; and the number remaining within the States at the same period was estimated at rather more than 150,000.

Land and Agriculture. - In the N. states, extensive landholders are not common; and where they exist, a great part of their possessions is unproductive. The soil is chiefly cultivated by its owners, who in many re

spects resemble the tenants of Scotland, and often perform a great portion of the manual labour of the farm. But in many parts of the country, which have been long settled, the farmers are opulent, and hire a good deal of labour; and in the more recently settled tracts they do not labour hard after the first 3 or 4 years from their settlement. (Shirreffs Tour in N. America, p.340.) In the S., estates are larger; and in the rice plantations of Louisi ana, a single field sometimes comprises 300 or 400 acres ! (Flint.) The price of land is very variable: near Phila

obtain soil of an equal or better quality, and in a finer of the price. Is Michigan, &c., though the prairie lands sometimes leten from 3 to 6 dolls. an acre, the government upset price is only 14 doll.; and the rich land in Illinois, and elsewhere in the Union, is often to be had at the same low ra The terms of rent, at least in the N., are almost equally variable. Near towns, and in thickly peopled districta, a sinall rent is paid in money, and a lease of several years taken. In remote situations, land is commonly let in shares from year to year. If the owner of the soil furnish seed and labouring animals, he gets two thirds of the produce; if the tenant supply animals and seed, the land owner gets one third. But terms may vary according to situation, soil, and crop." (Shirref's N. Amer passim.)

The quantity of land unoccupied within the U. States and territories was, in 1835, estimated at 220 millions of acres; besides that in the subject Indian territory to the W., which, in fact, is as much at the disposal of the go vernment of the U. States as the unoccupied lands to the E., of the Mississippi, and which is supposed to com prise above 750 millions of acres. From 1833 to 154 56,842,806 acres of land within the limits of the States were sold by the central government at prices which realized to the treasury 72,269.750 dolls. (See past.) But the extent of cleared land is still quite inconsi derable, as compared with the whole surface. It is principally in the country E. of the Alleghanies, where all the land worth occupying belongs to private ind viduals. But even of this, a great part is covered with forest; and in all situations near a village, or where there is ready access to water-carriage, forest land is more va luable than that which has been cleared, fuel, in many places, having latterly become dear. Except on the banks of the rivers, the soil E. of the mountains is generally sa inferior, that much of the land covered with wood is nat worth cultivating; and should the trees be cut down, it a likely to remain in pasturage, or be preserved as a forest for the production of new trees. The price of farms, how ever, varies from 57. to 30l., an acre, according to the qua lity of soil, buildings, and situation. This part of the States has a comparatively abundant supply of labour, and a ready market for all kinds of produce. Market-gardening and dairy husbandry are here the most profitable branches of industry.

The soil W. of the Alleghanies is generally much su perior to that on their E. side; and large tracts produce, for a while at least, Indian corn and wheat without tha nure. Almost all the land in the E. part of this region belongs to private individuals, though a large proportion be still covered with forest trees. On the W. side of the Mississippi the greater part of the country is publie pro perty; but in either case great quantities of land are always in the market. Labour can generally be had. except in the extreme W. Farm produce is in constant demand, and prices are regulated by the markets of New Orleans, to which it is sent down by the Mississippi these being in part governed by the prices on the E. coast, and in part by those in the Havannah and other great W. Indian ports. Manures are seldom used except near the larger towns. The price of farms of an equal quality of soil vary according to their distance from the means of transport, from a dollar to 12/. the acre. The money wages of labour may be stated to be nearly the same from the E. to the extreme W., any difference being towards a rise in the W. But land is there so cheap, that every prudent labourer is able to purchase a farm for himself in a year or two, and it is only the it prudent who continue labourers. (Shirref, 395-30) Speaking generally, agriculture is little known as a science in any part of America, and but imperfectly under stood as an art; and it could not rationally be expected that it should be otherwise. In all those countries

which, as in the greater part of America, portions of fertile and unoccupied land may be obtained for little

more than

a

nominal price, the invariable practice

delphia land of fine quality and in high condition may be can no longer be advantageously followed; and there, coll

had at from 100 to 120 dollars an acre; but there produce

is

after clearing and breaking up a piece of land, to subject it to a course of continuous cropping; and when it exhausted, to resort to some other tract of new ground leaving that which has been abandoned to recover itself by the aid of the vis medicatriz nature! But in these parts of the Eastern or Atlantic states that have been long settled, and are fully occupied, this scourging system sequently, a better system of agriculture has been intre the land are generally practised, sometimes with more and sometimes with less care and success. Still, however, it certain that even in the best farmed districts agriculture here is very backward; and in the W., and other resis settled districts, it is conducted on the scourging ambu latory principle previously noticed. In the neighbour

of all kinds fetches a high price; and the straw of a duced; and the rotation of the crops, and the manuring of

wheat crop has been sold at 30 dollars per acre. In some parts of New York, as near Canandaigua, 25 doll. an acre is asked for fine cleared land; but in other parts of the same state land is sometimes sold by auction at 14 doll.; and Mr. Shirreff attended a sale in New York at which 25,000 acres in the co. St. Lawrence were knocked down in one lot at Is. 1d. sterling per acre! (Shirreff, hood of Newposts, when the grassb p. 316.) Almost every farmer in the E. states who

worn out, Indian co

has a family, or is in straitened circumstances, is willing not manured: thoughed and sown with antire in the sell land, and move to the states, where can second year; followed, if early, by buck-wheat: in the

1

UNITED STATES (THE).

third year barley; and in the 4th oats, accompanied
with grass-seeds. Potatoes are grown in drills, as in
Britain. According to the official returns, there were
raised in the Union, in 1840, 108,298,060 bushels pota-
toes. Near Philadelphia, and in many other parts of
the Union, Mr. Stuart says that, in appearance at least,
the farms and buildings are like those seen in England
and Scotland, except that thorn hedges and other fences
are often wanting. According to the official returns the
total produce of wheat in the Union, in 1840, amounted
to only 84,832,272 bush., or 10,604,034 quarters.

Maize is the great staple of American husbandry, and
it grows on soil, not particularly rich, as respects other
products for a succession of years without manure, in all
the vigour and luxuriance of an indigenous plant. It
has been justly called the "meal, meadow, and manure"
of the farm, as it is used for both human food and the

849

supply of the farm stock in winter; and furnishes more
nourishment for man and beast on a given space, and with
less labour, than any other bread-corn. But it is not
successfully cultivated beyond lat. 430 N., where it begins
to be superseded by the grains of Europe. The total
produce of maize in the Union, in 1840, was estimated
by the marshals, under the census, at 377,531,875 bush.
Tenessee is the principal maize-growing state; and next
to it are Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, &c.

The surface of the New England States is often hilly,
and the soil rocky, or of the most inferior kind of sand.
The principal crops here are oats for horses, &c., and
rye for distillation; and perhaps the corn produce of
these states barely supports their inhabs. Boston, the
largest corn and flour importing port in the Union, re-
ceives nearly all her supplies of these articles from the
S. states. We subjoin

An Official Account of the Produce of the principal Corn Crops raised in the greater number of the States,
in 1840, as ascertained by the Marshals appointed to take the Sixth Census.

[blocks in formation]

The returns from North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan, Florida, and Wisconsin, not included.

[blocks in formation]

Years.

Bushels of Wheat Exported.

to

Barrels of Flour Exported.

A verage Price of Flour per

Barrel each year in

Philadelphia.

Ayerage Price of Flour per

Barrel each year in British

Currency.

Flour shipped

England.
of

Quantity

Exports of Flour from Canada.

1,920

Dolla. L. a. d. Barrels.

Barrels.

1810

325,924 798,431

[blocks in formation]

1811 216,833 1,445,012

9-95 2 3 1

38,183

10,340

1812

53,832, 1,443,492

9-83 227

[blocks in formation]

1813

288,535 1,260,942

[blocks in formation]

1814

193,474 8-60 1 17 3

1,217

1815

17,634 862,739

1816

62,321 729,053

8-71 1 17 8
9-782 24

104,855

5,572

1,135

[blocks in formation]

Total bushels of grain

Tobacco is grown from lat. 39° or 40° throughout all
the S., and in a part of the W. states; it is the staple
product of Maryland and. Virginia, where more is raised
than in any other part of the Union. The tobacco of the
U. States is of very superior quality; but it is a crop
which scourges the land, and the labour attending its
cultivation is very severe. (See VIRGINIA.)

Cotton and rice are the great staples of the S. part of
the Union: the former has even supplanted the culture
of tobacco in some of the cos. of Virginia.

A little cotton had been raised for domestic use, in the
Southern states, previously to the revolutionary war,
but its produce was quite inconsiderable. In 1791 it
began, for the first time, to be exported; the trifling
quantity of 189,316 lbs. having been shipped in the course
of that year, and 138,328 lbs. in 1792. Such was the late
and feeble ble beginning of the American cotton trade!
And we are warranted in saying that there is nothing in
the history of industry to compare with its subsequent
progress and extension, unless it be the growth of the
manufacture in this country.

American cotton, the produce of the Gossypium her-
baceum, is of two kinds, generally known by the names
of sea island and upland. The former grows along the
low sandy islands off the shores of Carolina, Georgia, &c.
It is long in the staple, has an even silky texture, a yel.
lowish tinge, is easily separated from the seed, and is
decidedly superior to every other description of cotton
hitherto brought to market. Unluckily, however, it can
be raised only in certain situations; so that its quantity
is limited, and has not, in fact, been at all increased
since 1805. At present 97 or 98 per cent. of the cotton
produced in the United States consists of what is deno-
minated upland, from its being grown on the compa-
ratively high ground at a distance from the coast.
Though of varying qualities, it is all short-stapled; and
its separation from the seed and pod, if attempted by the
hand, is so very difficult, that the cotton is hardly worth

The entire produce of the corn crops in the Union, in the trouble and expense. This, however, was the only

1840, was-

way in which it could be made available for home use,

VOL. 11.

3I

or exportation, in 1791; and had any one then ventured to predict that 10,000,000 lbs. of upland cotton would ever be exported, he would have been looked upon as a visionary. But the genius and talent of Mr. Eli Whitney did for the cotton planters of the United States what Arkwright did for the manufacturers of England. He invented a machine by which the cotton wool is separated from the pod, and cleaned with the greatest ease and expedition; and in this way may be said to have doubled the wealth and industry of his country men. (Pitkin's Statistics of the United States, p. 109, ed., 1835.) Mr. Whitney's invention came into operation in 1793; and, in 1794, 1,601,760 lbs., and in 1795, 5,276,300 lbs. of cotton were exported! The effect of the machine has been, like that of Arkwright's, all but miraculous. The exports of cotton from America, during the year ending 30th of Sept., 1840, reached the enormous amount of 743,941,061 lbs.; worth, when shipped, 63,870,307 dollars ! And it is not going too far to say that, had not Whitney's, or some equivalent machine been invented, there is no reason to think that the exports, during the above year, would have exceeded 45,000.000 lbs., if so much, so that the existence of the other 700,000,000lbs., with the greater part of that retained for home consumption, may be ascribed to Mr. Whitney's machine, as to its real source and origin. The total crop of cotton in the United States may at this moment (1842) be estimated at about 1,200,000,000 lbs. It is generally exported in bales, firmly packed, and containing each about 330 lbs. The quantity of cotton produced per acre varies, according to the American edition of the Encyc. of Geog., on good lands, from 250 to 300 lbs., and on inferior lands from 125 to 150 lbs.

Rice is produced chiefly in S. Carolina. It was introduced into the States in 1694 from Madagascar, and has since succeeded so well, that, besides supplying the home consumption, from 100,000 to 140,000 tierces, worth from 2 to 24 million dollars, are exported yearly. "The usual time of planting rice is from the 20th of March to the 20th of May, and the harvest begins about Sept. 1. No grain yields more abundantly. From 40 to 70 bushels an acre is an ordinary crop, but 80 and 90 bushels are often produced on strong lands, having the advantage of being overflowed by a river or reservoir. The water is not let in upon the field till after the second hoeing, and is kept on frequently for 30 days." (Stuart, ii. 89.) The sugar cane grows in low and warm situations as high as lat. 33°, but the climate does not suit it well N. of 31°. 30. In Louisiana, however, it is cultivated with success, and in 1840, about 155,000,000 lbs. sugar, with a proportional quantity of molasses were raised in that state. Several varieties of the cane, as the African, Otaheite, W. Indian, and Ribband, are grown. The last is the most prolific of juice, and, according to Mr. Stuart, an acre of ground, properly managed, will yield a hhd. of sugar. (ii. 156.) In the N. part of the Union, as in Canada, maple sugar, a saccharine matter derived from maple trees, either growing wild or cultivated for the purpose, is extensively collected. "The trees are tapped two or three inches into the wood to obtain the sap, from which the sugar is extracted, some time in February or the beginning of March. The holes are made in a slanting direction, in which sprouts of alder or sumach are placed; but they are plugged up as soon as the sap is drawn. The tree does not become impove. rished by repeated tappings. There are instances on the Hudson, where the process has been continued for 50 years." (Stuart, i. 74, 75.)

Indigo was formerly raised in Georgia and Carolina, but its culture has been superseded by that of cotton. Some good wine has been produced in the same states; and the vine and mulberry tree are common in many parts of the Union, without, however, having yet become objects of much attention. Fruits of most temperate and tropical climates, and European vegetables, thrive well. The apples grown in the vicinity of New York are decidedly the best variety of the fruit that is anywhere to be met with. Hemp, flax, hops, &c., are frequent crops in the N. and W. states.

state than to keep up their size by a care and nourish ment that would cost him much labour." (Notes on Firginia, p.90.) This, no doubt, is the cause of the lean and wretched condition of the cattle in most parts of the Atlantic states; but wherever the pastures are of especial excellence the cattle are comparatively good: and, luckily, fine grass lands are not unfrequent even in the old settled states. Mr. Shirreff says of the Genessee flats in the state of New York, "Perhaps no gentleman's park in Britain equals them in fertility and beauty. They differ from the rest of the surface in this part of the country, in having been cleared by nature; and are chiefly in grass, affording the richest pasturage 1 ever saw, with the exception of some fields in the neighbourhood of Boston in Lincolnshire." (Tour, p.) But the great cattle-breeding states are in the W.; and herds of some thousands are brought up from Kentucky, &c., for sale at New York. They bear some resemblance to the Hereford cattle, and when 4 or 5 years old are esti mated to weigh at an average 80 stone. (Ibid p. 32.) On the improved farms, the sheep are mostly crosses Saxon and Merino; for, though the Leicester and Cots wold breeds are reared, the former, particularly if pure, is not found to answer. In 1840 the U. States are said to have possessed 19,311,374 sheep, producing 35,802,114 lbs. of wool, Illinois appears to be the state best adapted for sheep, as it is for most other species of husbandry; and so much of its surface remains to be disposed of, that, estimating the fleece of a Merino sheep at 3 lbs., and its price at 60 cents the lb., the wool of one sheep in a year will nearly purchase 14 acre of land! Wool can be transported from Illinois to the E. states for 3 or 4 cents per lb. (Shirreff, p. 457.)

of the

According to the official returns, the live stock of the Union, in 1840, were:

[blocks in formation]

The condition and mode of life of the agricultural pop. is very different in different parts of this extensive region The N.E. states, the oldest settled portions of the cou try, bear the greatest resemblance to Great Britain. "The villages of New England are uniformly clean, airy, and neat, with spacious openings near the centre, in which churches form the most prominent feature. The houses are, in some instances, built of brick, but more frequently of wood, painted white, and with green Venetian blinds opening to the outside. Both churches and dwelling houses seem to be painted annually; at least they are never seen in the slightest degree dingy coloured. The houses of every size and fabric have a light appearance from the number of windows they contain. They seldom indicate either extensive wealth or poverty in the in mates, and the villages want only the judicious aid of flowers and shrubs to render them beautiful." (Shirref p. 52.) Landscape gardening, and similar ornamented work, is, however, very backward in America.

In the newly settled states of the W., the farmer must dispense with much of the civilisation of the Es and live in his log house with a few necessary articles of furniture, in the rudest and most primitive manner. But if his style of life be less comfortable, he reaps the benefit of his privations in a more rapid accumulation of wealth. "The settler of Illinois places his house on the forest or on the open field as fancy may dictate. The prairie furnishes summer and winter food for any pian ber of cattle and sheep, and poultry and pigs shift for themselves until the crops ripen. With the preliminary of fencing, the plough enters the virgin soil, which, in a few months afterwards, yields a most abundant crop of Indian corn, and, on its removal, every agricultural ope ration may be executed with facility. Pastoral, arable, or mixed husbandry, may be at once adopted, and produce of all kinds obtained in profusion." (Shirr P 459.)

The agricultural labourers of the U. States are well fed, and generally efficient. Mr. Shirreff states, that, near Philadelphia, a craddler or mower boarding with another labourer, and paying 45 cents a day, would breakfast at 7 o'clock on wheat or rye bread, fish, cheese, butter, and coffee; lunch at 10 on cold meat, pickled pork, cheese, butter, pickles, bread and coffee; dine at 12 on every thing good and substantial; at 5 take coffee, with bread, butter, fruit, and fruit pie; and occasionally have sopper at 7, though this meal is considered superfluous. (P. 15.) Generally, however, the labourers do not fare quite sa well. The hours of labour are usually from sunrise to

Mr. Shirreff speaks disparagingly of the cattle and sheep of the Eastern states. Near New York, he says, the cattle grazing on the scanty herbage appeared mere starvelings, and smaller than some of the highland cattle of Scotland. The sheep were even more miserable-looking than the cattle; pigs corresponded; and the horse alone formed an exception to the general wretchedness, some fine animals of this species being met with. The same appeared to him to be the case in the New England States, sometimes even on superior farms, and with cattle originally of a good breed. This inferiority of the cattle in the Eastern states has, however, sunset. Near New York farm labourers get from 10 to been satisfactorily explained by Mr. Jefferson: "In a 12 dollars a month, with bed and board, including wash

thinly-peopled country, the spontaneous productions of the forests and waste fields are sufficient to support

ing; spademen get 75 cents a day, without board, all the year Near Philadelphia, wages are about the farm help obtains 120, and an indifferent one 100 dol. lars a year, with bed and board; and a female kelp re ceives, in private families, one dollar a week. An er

indifferently the domestic animals of the farmer, same. In Michigan, where labour is scarce, a good very little aid from him, in the severest and scarcest season. He, therefore, finds it more convenient to recelve them from the hands of nature in that indifferent

UNITED STATES (THE).

dinary farm labourer in Illinois gets the value of 80 acres of land a year in Britain, due allowance being made for the board of the labourer, he does not get 1-10th of the value of an acre of good land; so that when wages are compared with land, the farm labourer of Illinois is about 800 times better rewarded than in Britain! (Shirreff.) This, however, does not show that labour is better paid in America than in England; but that there land is very cheap, and here very dear. As respects clothing and lodging, the English labourer is better off than the American. For further particulars we refer the reader to the articles on the several States in this work.

Manufacturing Industry in the United States, though, of course, very considerable, is carried on under several disadvantages incident to their situation. The fact is that, under the peculiar circumstances in which America is placed, agriculture is necessarily the most advantageous employment in which her population can engage; and it is a short-sighted, false, policy to endeavour, by dint of custom-house regulations, to force up a manufacturing interest. The boundless extent of her fertile and unoccupied land gives her extraordinary advantages as compared with almost every other people in respect of agriculture; but she has no such advantage as regards manufactures; and yet it is plain that, unless the work-people engaged in manufactures in different parts of the Union realised the same rate of wages, and the capitalists the same rate of profits that is realised by the workmen and capitalists engaged in agriculture, they would either never engage in the former, or speedily abandon it for the latter. Hence the futility of all attempts to establish the finer branches of manufacture in America, without burdening similar articles when imported from abroad with heavy duties. The coarser description of articles, or those which are bulky and heavy, and in which the value of the raw material exceeds the value of the workmanship must, of course, in America as elsewhere, be always produced at home. But the finer description of goods, or those of which the value or price is principally made up of wages and profits, would, but for the interference of Congress, be wholly imported from countries in which wages and profits are comparatively low. And it is needless to say, that every attempt to limit or hinder such importation is inconsistent with and subversive of every sound principle. If the cotton and woollen manufactures now carried on in the United States cannot exist without a duty of 25 or 35 per cent. being laid on foreign cottons and woollens, it is plain that the existence of such manufactures obliges every individual in the United States to pay from 25 to 35 per cent, additional price for every yard of their produce that he has occasion to use! And even this is not all; for the prohibition withdraws a large portion of the public capital and industry from employments in which America has an advantage to make them be vested in employments in which the advantage is on the side of others!

The commercial policy of America is, in truth, but little creditable to her people and legislature. The prohibitions that have so long fettered the employment of industry, and the growth of commerce in Europe, grew up in a comparatively dark and unenlightened age, and have for many years been progressively declining. But America has been foolish enough to adopt the prohibitory and forcing system after its felo de se character had been fully demonstrated. She has not acted in ignorance, but in contempt of well

851

it is not easy to estimate the extent nor to foresee the termination.

No doubt America will gradually become more and more suitable for manufacturing industry; and her command of water-power and of coal, and her facilities for internal transport and navigation, are circumstances eminently favourable to manufactures. Still, however, it is certain that her natural progress to manufacturing eminence cannot be hastened but must, in fact, be retarded by the policy on which she has embarked. When population has become dense in America, and her unoccupied land has been generally appropriated, she will necessarily undertake, and will no doubt successfully carry on, such branches of manufacturing industry as are suitable to her peculiar capabilities; but this natural development of her maturer growth must be waited for; and though it may be delayed cannot be forwarded by interfering with the free exercise of industry.

Pitkin estimated the total value of the manufactures of the U. States in 1835, at from 325,000,000 to 350,000,000 dollars. The first cotton-mill was established at Providence, in 1790, but power-looms were not introduced till 1815. A convention held at Harrisburg in 1832 put forth the following statement respecting the cotton manufacture of America in 1831. But as this convention was held for the express purpose of endeavouring to procure additional support and encouragement for the manufactures of the Union, the fair presumption is that it will rather have exaggerated its importance and value.

STATEMENT, exhibiting the Number of Manufacturing

Establishments, the Capital employed, and the Raw Cotton wrought up, in the Cotton Manufacture of the States of Virginia, Maryland, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, in 1831, with the Number of Persons employed in the same, and other Particulars.

[blocks in formation]

Sheetings, shirtings, printed calicoes, jeans, sail-cloth, &c. are among the principal cotton fabrics produced in the Union; but though substantial and durable, they are mostly of a coarse quality, the American manufacturers being unable to come into competition with our own in the finer description of goods. Lowell (which see), in Massachusetts, is the chief seat of the cotton manufacture.

The manufacture of woollens has been extensively carried on from an early period, in the colonisation of the States: but it is principally conducted in private families; and it is only in recent times that woollen factories have been established on any large scale. In 1836, the excess of the imports of fine wool in the U. States over the exports is stated to have been 1,390,678 lbs., and of wool 10,905,571 lbs. The quantity of wool maestablished principles and of the most compre-nufactured in families, chiefly in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, was then estimated at 8,500,000 lbs.; and at the same period there existed 1,549 sets of ma1830 Cotton is principally shipped for the United

hensive experience; and has consequently involved herself in difficulties and losses of which

[blocks in formation]

The manufactures of leather, and articles made of leather, of linen and linen yarn, iron and hardware, glass, soap, candles, &c., are all carried on pretty extensively; but we have no estimates of their amount on which it would be safe to rely. Steam-engines, and all kinds of machinery, nails, fire-grates, and stoves, chain cables, agricultural and mechanical implements, firearms, &c., are extensively manufactured; but all the finer descriptions of hardware and cutlery, and a great variety of hardware articles, are imported from England. In 1840, according to the census, there were 10,306 distilleries in the United States, producing in that year 41,402,627 gallons spirits. N. Carolina had the greatest number of these establishments; but the greatest quantity of spirits was distilled in the states of Pennsylvania, Massachusets, and New York. It has been said that the consumption of spirits in the U. States has declined, in consequence of the spread of temperance; but however this may be, the foregoing return shows that the consumption continues to be enormous.

The shot, and red and white lead manufactured in the States, now nearly supply their consumption. About 6,000,000 bushels salt are estimated to be annually made from brine-springs. But, notwithstanding, about 8,000,000 bushels salt are annually imported, principally from Great Britain, but partly, also, from Spain and Portugal.

Commerce. The trade of the U. States is very extensive. The great article of export is cotton wool, the value of the exports of which, in 1840, amounted, as already seen, to 63,870,307 dolls., being considerably more than half the value of the entire exports (of domestic growth) from the Union. Indeed, the astonishing increase in the production of cotton, and in the demand for it in foreign countries, has been the principal cause of the rapid growth and vast magnitude of American com

merce.

exports of manufactured goods from the U. States are comparatively trifling: the value of those of cotton amounted, in 1840, to 3,549,607 dolls.

The great articles of importation are manufactured products, including cottons, woollens, linens, hardware, and earthenware, principally from England; silks and wines, from France and Spain; tea from China; sugar and coffee from Cuba and Brazil; linens and woollens from Germany; salt from England and Portugal; with spices, dye-stuffs, and an infinite variety of other articles from all parts of the world. We subjoin some statements illustrative of the progress and present magni tude of American commerce.

[blocks in formation]

Kingdom, France, and Germany. Next to cotton, the great articles of export are wheat flour, Indian corn, and provisions; tobacco, raw and manufactured; rice; the produce of the American fisheries; timber, lumber, &c. The flour and provisions are partly sent to Europe, but principally to Cuba, Brazil, and the W. Indies generally, which are also the great mart for lumber. Tobacco is principally sent to England and Holland. The

1831 1832

83,241,341

47,155,408 27,543,622 74,699,030 77,579,267 1824 50,649,500 25,337,157 75,986,657 80,549,007 66,944,745 32,590,643 99,535,388 96,340,015 53,055,710 24,539,612 77,595,322 84,974,477 58,921,691 23,403,136 82,324,827 79,484,068 50,669,669 21,595,017 72,264,685 88,509,824 1829 55,700,193 16,658,478 72,358,671 74,492,37 59,462,029 14,387,479 73,849,508 70,876,950 61,277,057 20,038,526 81,310,583 103,191,134 63,137,470 24,039,473 87,176,943 101,029,266 70,317,698 19,822,735 90,140,433 108,118.511 81,024,162 25,312,811 104,336,973 126,521,338 1835 101,189,082 20,504,495 121,693,577 149,895,748 1836 106,916,680 21,746,360 128,663,040 189,980,053 1837 95,564,414 21,854,962 117,419,376 140,989,217 1838 96,033,821 12,452,795 108,486,616 113,717,404 1839 103,533,891 17,494,525 121,028,416 169,092,138 18,190,312 132,085,946 107,141,519

1833 1834

1840 115,895,634

ACCOUNT of the Value of the Imports into and Exports from each State and Territory in the American Union, during the Year ending 30th September, 1840, specifying the Value of those Imported and Exported in American and Foreign Ships:

[blocks in formation]

Commission houses

The official returns under the census give the following | Capital invested

statements as to the commerce of the Union in 1840:-

Men employed in internal transportation

119,295,367 dolls. Butchers, packers, &c.

Lumber-yards

250,501,799 dalls

1,108

2,881

Capital invested

Retail stores

Capital invested

57,565

Capital invested

1,795

Men employed

:

9,848,307 dolls

35,963
17,594
4,808

11,526,950 dolls

« PreviousContinue »