ECONOMY

By Michael Cusack

(Senior Editor, Scholastic Magazine)

Lonely and isolated, early settlements of northern Europeans in the New World huddled near the Atlantic coastline. The Spanish missions on the Pacific coast of the continent and in the area of what is now Mexico, 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) distant, were unknown to them. To the east, 3,000 miles of angry ocean separated the settlers from their former homelands. Inland, they faced a vast, frightening, unknown and mostly forested wilderness.

LURE OF THE WILDERNESS

Settlers viewed the wilderness both as a source of danger and a source of wealth. Dangerous beasts posed a serious threat anywhere outside the settlements. The native peoples were numerous, and their reaction to the sudden appearance of new settlers unpredictable. On occasion, scouts and explorers vanished into the immensity of the forests.

Though the wilderness awed the early settlers, it also attracted them. It provided a wealth of timber for building and use as fuel. In many areas, game animals were plentiful. Beavers, foxes and other small animals provided valuable furs for sale to Europe.

Historic first photograph of the geyser known as "Old Faithful,"

located in Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone is a one million

-hectare wilderness area in the state of Wyoming that was establishe

d as the nation's first national park in 1871.

Eastman House

Explorers who did return from the continent's interior told stories of high mountains, great fertile valleys, grassy plains, mighty rivers and lakes as big as inland seas. To the people who told the stories and to the people who heard them, the wealth and resources of the New World appeared limitless. All that seemed necessary was courage and hard work to create a paradise on Earth.

NEW FRONTIER

People made the difficult and dangerous voyage to America for many different reasons. Some sought adventure. Others wanted gold and silver. Many made the voyage to escape oppression or to be free to practice their religion. Beyond these reasons was the additional drive for living space. Very few of the settlers could have hoped to own land in Europe. But in America, the land seemed to be there for the taking.

Waves of land-hungry settlers established farms and homesteads in the primeval forest. The forest was so vast and overpowering that each clearing was viewed as a victory in "taming the wilderness."

In some places, however, after settlers cut away the trees and removed the brush, they found the soil to be rocky or poor in nutrients. Many areas of New England—the region now made up of Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Vermont—have shallow, coarse soil. The winters are harsh and the growing seasons are short.

Under these conditions, pioneer farming in much of New England and parts of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania proved to be difficult and disappointing. After years of struggle, some people sold or abandoned their farms and moved westward in search of more fertile land.

Farther south, in what are now the states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia, the soil was generally richer. Except for some swampy coastal areas, the soil is mostly red-yellow clay. And in early colonial times, that soil was very fertile. The long growing season, abundant rainfall, warm climate and relatively flat land made the southern coastal region ideal for certain cash crops. At various times, these included tobacco, rice, sugarcane, corn and cotton. By the mid-1600s, it was clear that these crops could be grown most economically on large landholdings—plantations— worked by slaves.

Many small farms in the South were sold to help make up the large plantations, and their former owners moved west in search of fertile land. They were joined by new settlers from Europe, who bypassed the settled plantation areas near the coast.

Most soil in the South was originally very fertile, but the continuous growing of demanding crops such as tobacco and cotton took nutrients from the soil. In addition, the frequent heavy rains of the region tended to erode—wear away— exposed topsoil. In many areas, this led to a decline in the yield of crops per hectare. Plantation owners often dealt with this problem of worn-out soil by expanding—by buying and using more land for their cash crops. Plantations spread to the west

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SPIRIT OF THE FRONTIER

The European population of what is now the United States was scattered over a large area. The population density was very low. Farms, towns and villages were spaced far apart. Also, farms tended to be much larger than farms in Europe, partially because the yield per hectare was lower in America.

Except in the area near the seacoast, communication links between early American settlements were very poor. Roads were few and far between; those that existed were usually in terrible shape. To an extent, rivers served as communication links, but waterfalls and rapids often limited their usefulness.

As one traveled inland, the isolation of settlements increased. In search of fertile land, groups of settlers often bypassed large areas that they considered to be wilderness. As a result, a small settlement might be hundreds of miles from other settlements. A family might be a day's journey from another family. This pattern of settlement created frontier communities that had to rely completely on their own resources. Almost everything they used they had to make themselves. They developed their own music, entertainment, folklore, art and forms of religious worship.

In this setting, a frontier spirit developed. It was marked by toughness, independence, self-reliance, caring for others, but a suspicion of outsiders. There was also a restlessness and a sense of curiosity in the frontier spirit.

At any given time during the long westward flow of American settlement (from the early 1600s to the late 1800s), the number of people on the frontier was tiny compared to the number of people "back East" in the settled areas. Yet, the frontier spirit has always had an enormous influence on the entire nation. Politicians have praised the frontier life. Songs and stories have described it in glowing terms. Such frontier heroes as Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie have been admired by generations of Americans.

Writing in the 1890s, historian Frederick Jackson Turner claimed that the frontier experience shaped the American character for all time. In his opinion, the geography and environment of America— particularly the westward expansion and the availability of free land—shaped American attitudes and institutions.

Turner wrote: "This perennial (enduring) rebirth, this fluidity of American life, this expansion westward with its new opportunities, its continuous touch with the simplicity of primitive society, furnish the forces dominating American character." Not every modern historian agrees with all of Turner's ideas, but most historians agree that the westward expansion of the frontier has had great significance in American history.

Many values and attitudes—good and bad—of present-day America can be traced to the frontier experience. The westward expansion stressed values of ruggedness, resourcefulness, self-reliance and comradeship. There was always a greater sense of equality on the frontier than in long-settled areas. After the American Civil War (1861-1865), many black Americans who had been recently freed from slavery moved west in search of equal opportunities. Many of these black frontiers­men gained some fame and fortune as cowboys, miners and prairie settlers.

In 1869, the western territory (later the state) of Wyoming became the first place in the world where women could vote and hold elected office.

Because the resources of the West seemed limitless, people developed wasteful attitudes and practices. Herds of buffalo (American bison) were slaughtered. Dry, flat grasslands (prairies) were badly farmed, and in years of drought much of the exposed soil blew away as dust. Open mines were used and abandoned. The western frontier was so large, and people there were so few, that it seemed that the natural resources could never be used up or destroyed. In more recent years, Americans have tried to conserve their resources better.