Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 85.djvu/197

Rh and the East North Central States—are plainly in a class by themselves. Among these states, in every instance except one (the East North Central States, 1850), the proportion of eminent persons born in those groups of states is higher than the proportion of the total population found in those states at the same time. Among the other groups of states, in every case except two (Pacific States, 1870 and 1880), the proportion of eminent persons born is lower than the proportion of the total population found in the states. It therefore appears that of the eminent persons born up to 1890, the vast proportion were in that northeastern section of the United States bounded by the Mason and Dixon line on the south, and the line of the Mississippi-Missouri River on the west.

Among these northeastern groups of states New England holds a unique position. Throughout the entire period she appears as the birthplace of a far larger proportion of eminent persons, in proportion to her population, than either of the other groups. During the early years her lead was little short of remarkable. Of the distinguished persons born before 1850, she produced almost one third, while her population in 1850 was but one ninth of the total population of the United States. The Middle Atlantic States, with a quarter of the population, produced only a little more than a quarter of the eminent persons. The same relation between the two sections holds true of the decade from 1850 to 1859. In this period New England has one tenth of the population, and one fourth of the distinguished persons, while the Middle Atlantic States have a quarter of the population, and about a third of the distinguished persons. Even as late as 1880 the ratio between the proportion of eminent men and of population is higher in New England than in any other section except the Middle Atlantic States. At the same time, the East North Central States, with the single exception of the years before 1850, report a proportion of distinguished persons born only a little higher than their proportion of the population. During the first three periods the relative proportions of eminent persons born and of population are fairly similar in the Middle Atlantic and the East North Central States, but at the same time very markedly below the standard set by New England.

The considerable lead of New England and the marked lead of the Middle Atlantic States and the East North Central States over the other sections of the country may be tested in various ways. Instead of comparing the proportion of eminent persons in the various sections with the total population, a comparison may be made with the native white population. This seems particularly fitting in view of the large negro population in the south, which has contributed so little to the number of eminent persons in the country. Such a comparison is likewise desirable in those states of the north where there is a large proportion of foreign-born persons. A comparison appears in Table IV., where the number of eminent persons per one hundred thousand of total population and of native white population is given.