XIV.

THE UNITED STATES IN 1880.

THE INCREASE OF POPULATION FROM 1790 TO 1880.

FROM WALKER AND GANNETT'S REPORT ON THE PROGRESS OF THE NATION. TENTH CENSUS, VOL. I., PP. XII-XX.

1790.

THE First Census of the United States, taken as of the first Monday in August, 1790, under the provisions of the second section of the first article of the Constitution, showed the population of the thirteen States then existing and of the unorganized territory, to be, in the aggregate, 3,929,214.

This population was distributed almost entirely on the Atlantic seaboard, extending from the eastern boundary of Maine nearly to Florida, and in the region known as the Atlantic plain. Only a very small proportion of the inhabitants of the United States, not, indeed, more than five per cent., was then to be found west of the system of the Appalachian mountains. The average depth of settlement, in a direction at right angles to the coast, was 255 miles. The densest settlement was found in Eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, and about New York City, whence population had extended northward up the Hudson, and was already quite dense as far as Albany. The settlements in Pennsylvania, which had started from Philadelphia, on the Delaware, had extended northeastward, and formed a solid body of occupation from New York, through Philadelphia, down to the upper part of Delaware.

The Atlantic Coast, as far back as the limits of tide-water, was well settled at that time from Casco Bay southward to the northern border of North Carolina. In what was then the District of Maine, sparse settlement extended along the whole seaboard. The southern two-thirds of New Hampshire and nearly all of Vermont were covered by population. In New York, branching off from the Hudson at the mouth of the Mohawk, the line of population followed up a broad gap between the Adirondacks

and the Catskills, and even reached beyond the centre of the State, occupying the whole of the Mohawk valley and the country about the interior New York lakes. In Pennsylvania population had spread northwestward, occupying not only the Atlantic plain, but, with sparse settlements, the region traversed by the numerous parallel ridges of the eastern portion of the Appalachians. The general limit of settlement was, at that time, the southeastern edge of the Allegheny plateau, but beyond this, at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, a point early occupied for military purposes, considerable settlements had been established prior to the War of the Revolution. In Virginia settlements had extended westward beyond the Blue Ridge, and into what is now West Virginia, on the western slope of the Allegheny mountains, though very sparsely. From Virginia, also, a narrow tongue of settlement had penetrated down to the head of the Tennessee river, in the great Appalachian valley. In North Carolina the settlements were abruptly limited by the base of the Appalachians. The State was occupied with remarkable uniformity, except in its southern and central portion, where population was comparatively sparse. In South Carolina, on the other hand, there was evidence of much natural selection, apparently with reference to the character of soils. Charleston was then a city of considerable magnitude, and about it was grouped a comparatively dense population; but all along a belt running southwestward across the State, near its central part, the settlement was very sparse. This area of sparse settlement joined with that of Central North Carolina, and ran eastward to the coast, near the junction of the two States. Further westward, in the "up country" of South Carolina, the density of settlement was noticeably due to the improvement in soil. At this date settlements were almost entirely agricultural, and the causes for variation in their density were general ones. The movements of population at this epoch may be traced in almost every case to the character of the soil, and to facility of transportation to the seaboard; and, as the inhabitants were then dependent mainly upon water transportation, we find the settlements also conforming themselves very largely to the navigable streams.

Outside the area of continuous settlement, which we have attempted to sketch, were found, in 1790, a number of smaller settlements of greater or less extent. The principal of these lay in Northern Kentucky, bordering upon the Ohio river, comprising

an area of 10,900 square miles. Another, in Western Virginia, lay upon the Ohio and Kanawha rivers, and comprised 750 square miles. A third, in Tennessee, upon the Cumberland river, embraced 1,200 square miles.

In addition to these, there were a score or more of small posts, or incipient settlements, scattered over what was then an almost untrodden wilderness, such as Detroit, Vincennes, Kaskaskia, Prairie du Chien, Mackinac, and Green Bay, besides the humble beginnings of Elmira and Binghampton, in New York, which, even at that time, lay outside the body of continuous settlement.

Following the line which limits this great body of settlement in all its undulations, we find its length to be 3,200 miles. In this measurement no account has been made of slight irregularities, such as those in the ordinary meanderings of a river which forms the boundary line of population; but we have traced all the ins and outs of this frontier line, which seem to indicate a distinct change in the settlement of the country for any cause, whether of progression or of retrogression. The area of settlement, thus, is the area embraced between the frontier line and the coast, diminished by such unsettled areas as may lie within it, and increased by such as lie without it. These are not susceptible of very accurate determination, owing to the fact that our best maps are, to a certain extent, incorrect in boundaries and areas; but all the accuracy required for our present purpose can be secured. The settled area of 1790, as indicated by the line traced, is 226,085 square miles. The entire body of continuously settled area lay between 31° and 45° north latitude and 67° and 83° west longitude.

Outside of this body of continuous settlement are the smaller areas mentioned above, which, added to the main body of settled area, give as a total 239,935 square miles, the aggregate population being 3,929,214, and the average density of settlement 16.4 to the square mile.

In 1790 the District of Maine belonged to Massachusetts. Georgia comprised not only the present State of that name, but nearly all of what are now the States of Alabama and Mississippi. The States of Kentucky and Tennessee were then known as the "Territory south of the Ohio river," and the present States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota, as the "Territory northwest of the Ohio river." Spain claimed possession of what is now Florida, with a strip along the

southern border of Alabama, Mississippi, and all of the region west of the Mississippi river.

An inspection of the maps relating to the earlier census years will show that the progress of population westward across the Appalachian system has taken place, in the main, along four lines. The northernmost of these, which was the first to be developed, runs through Central New York, following up, generally, the Mohawk river. This line has, throughout our history, been one of the principal courses of population in its westward flow. The second crosses Southern Pennsylvania, Western Maryland, and Northern Virginia, parallel to and along the course of the Upper Potomac. The third runs through Virginia, passing southwestward down the great Appalachian valley, crossing thence over into Kentucky and Tennessee. South of this, the principal movement westward has been around the end of the Appalachian chain, through Georgia and Alabama.

1800.

At the Second Census, that of 1800, the frontier line, as it appears on the map, has been rectified, so that while it embraces 282,208 square miles, it describes a course, when measured in the same manner as that of 1790, of only 2,800 lineal miles. The advancement of this line has taken place in every direction, though in some parts of the country much more markedly than in others.

In Maine and New Hampshire there is apparent only a slight northward movement of settlement; in Vermont, on the other hand, while the settled area has not decidedly increased, its density has become greater. Massachusetts shows but little change, but in Connecticut the settlements along the lower course of the Connecticut river have appreciably increased.

In New York settlement has poured up the Hudson to the mouth of the Mohawk, and thence, through the great natural roadway, westward. The narrow tongue which before extended out beyond the middle of the State has now widened until it spreads from the southern border of the State to lake Ontario. A narrow belt of settlement even stretches down the St. Lawrence, and along all the northern border of the State, to Lake Champlain, completely sourrounding what may be characteristically defined as the Adirondack region.

In Pennsylvania settlements have extended up the Susquehanna and joined the New York groups, leaving, as yet, an unsettled space in the north-east corner of the State, which comprises a body of rugged mountain country. With the exception of a little strip along the western border of Pennsylvania, the northern part of the State, west of the Susquehanna, is as yet entirely without inhabitants. Population has streamed across the southern half of the State, and settled in a dense body about the forks of the Ohio river, at the present site of Pittsburgh, and thence extended slightly into the State of Ohio.

In Virginia we note but little change, although there is a general extension of settlement, with an increase in density, especially along the coast. North Carolina is now almost entirely covered with population; the mountain region has, generally speaking, been nearly all reclaimed to the service of man. In South Carolina there is a general increase in density of settlement, while the southwestern border has been carried down, until now the Altamaha river is its limit. The incipient settlements in Northern Kentucky have spread southward across the State, and even into Tennessee, forming a junction with the little settlement, noted at the date of the last census, on the Cumberland river. The group thus formed has extended down the Ohio, nearly to its junction with the Tennessee and the Cumberland, and across the Ohio river into the present State of Ohio, where we note the beginning of Cincinnati. Other infant settlements appear at this date. On the east side of the Mississippi river, in the present State of Mississippi, is a strip of settlement along the bluffs below the Yazoo bottom. Besides the settlement on the present site of St. Louis, not at this time within the United States, is an adjacent settlement in what is now Illinois, while all the pioneer settlements previously noted have grown to a greater or less extent.

From the region embraced between the frontier line and the Atlantic must be deducted the Adirondack tract, in Northern New York, and the unsettled region in Northern Pennsylvania, already referred to; so that the actual area of settlement, bounded by a continuous line, is to be taken at 271,908 square miles. All this lies between 30° 45′ and 45° 15′ north latitude, and 67° and 88° west longitude.

To this should be added the aggregate extent of all settlements lying outside of the frontier line, which collectively amount to