An Economic History of the United States

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1922 Excerpt: ... ECONOMIC HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES PART I COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I EXPLORATION AND COLONIZATION 1. The conditions of economic development.--The main conditiomTcTTheThdustrial growth of any country consist of two factors--the character_of, thfi_. people and the natural resources. Only when the gifts of nature are bountiful and are intelligently utilized by man can a nation attain to the highest degree of strength and prosperity. The presence of rich natural resources alone has not been sufficient to secure the development of a weak, ease-loving race like the LatinAmerican, nor has mere growth in numbers, as in China or India, been enough to make the nation wealthy and strong. On the other hand, even a bold, vigorous race like the Scandinavian has not been able to make great advance in an inhospitable country like Iceland. In the territory now included in the United States, a virile, energetic people found extraordinary opportunities for industrial development, and devoted themselves to the exploitation of the natural resources with wonderful success. The keynote of the national history of the United States is to be found in this work of winning a continent from nature and subduing it to the uses of man. A truly gigantic task, it has absorbed the main energies of the American people from the beginning, and has been approached in significance only by the struggle to preserve the Union. Inevitably it has left its impress on the character and ambitions of the people. For this reason, says Woodrow Wilson, the history of the country and the ambitions of its people have been deemed both sordid and mean, inspired by nothing better than a desire for the gross comforts of material abundance; and it has been pronounced grotesque that mere bigness and wealth s...