1800, the area brought within the limits of settlement was 65,000 square miles. Between 1810 and 1820, the American people, then numbering 8,250,000, increased the density of population in every section of their settled territory, increased their manufacturing capital two-fold in spite of a three years’ war, and occupied 101,000 additional square miles. The Civil War checked the westward flow of people, and retarded development, but did not stop it, and since 1870 the development that characterized earlier days has proceeded without interruption.
The growth of farming in this country shows two distinct phases, one lasting until 1860, and the other starting about that time and not yet complete. Prior to the Civil War, agriculture was treated more as an occupation, or means of subsistence. Fertile soil was practically free to all. There was little outside pressure to make a farmer careful to preserve the productiveness of the soil, and the agricultural products were generally greater than the demand, partly because transportation
