Page:Cambridge Modern History Volume 7.djvu/719

CHAPTER XXII. THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. THE economic history of the United States differs from that of any European country, in the fact that it begins with the transplantation of a civilised race to a vast territory endowed with extraordinary resources. It can hardly be said that a new nation begins its develop- ment at the point that has been reached by the older nation from which it springs ; for there is an inevitable return to a more primitive economic Hfe in the adjustment to a primitive environment. Further- more, the process of transplanting removes many of the shackles of custom and tradition which retard the progress of older countries. In a new country things cannot be done in the old way, and therefore they are probably done in the best way. There is no force to oppose the quick adoption of the methods which make most directly for the end in view. It is true that this progress of economic adjustment may have important effects on national character and on legal and political conceptions; but the period of transition is temporary, and the social changes are conditioned by the racial inheritance. The nation begins its new life with the period of apprenticeship already past; and the century-long process of accumulating knowledge, of building character, of shaping economic and political institutions, in short, of rearing stone by stone the structure of civilisation, does not require to be repeated. For these reasons, an account of the economic growth of the United States is rather a chronicle of material achievement than a history of economic institutions. It should be remembered, however, that an intelligent race and natural resources are not in themselves sufficient to bring about with speed a condition of economic stability. To secure this result, the new nation must not only draw its inherited ability from the old stock, but also the successive supplies of capital which it needs for the exploitation of its resources; while the channel of commerce must be kept open if the energy of the country is to follow the lines of its greatest economic advantage. The new country must be able to CH. XXII.