Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/808

UNITED STATES. {|align="center" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" rules="cols" style="font-size: smaller"
 * colspan="5"|
 * align="center" rowspan="3"|COLONIES
 * align="center" colspan="2"|Exports to
 * align="center" colspan="2"|Imports from
 * colspan="2"|
 * colspan="2"|
 * align="center"|1893
 * align="center"|1903
 * align="center"|1893
 * align="center"|1903
 * Hawaii
 * align="right"|$2,717,338
 * align="right"|$10,787,666
 * align="right"|$9,146,767
 * align="right"|$26,201,175
 * Philippine Islands
 * align="right"|154,378
 * align="right"|4,028,677
 * align="right"|9,159,857
 * align="right"|11,372,584
 * Porto Rico
 * align="right"|2,510,607
 * align="right"|11,976,134
 * align="right"|4,008,623
 * align="right"|10,909,147
 * Totals
 * $5,382,323
 * $26,792,477
 * $22,315,247
 * $48,482,906
 * colspan="5"|
 * }
 * Porto Rico
 * align="right"|2,510,607
 * align="right"|11,976,134
 * align="right"|4,008,623
 * align="right"|10,909,147
 * Totals
 * $5,382,323
 * $26,792,477
 * $22,315,247
 * $48,482,906
 * colspan="5"|
 * }
 * Totals
 * $5,382,323
 * $26,792,477
 * $22,315,247
 * $48,482,906
 * colspan="5"|
 * }
 * }

For details on commerce, government, history, etc., see , , and.

. The population of the United States constitutes over one-half that of the Western Hemisphere and greatly exceeds that of any European country except Russia. The rapidity of the growth of the population is without parallel among civilized nations. In 1900 it was over fourteen times greater than in 1800. During the same period the population of the United Kingdom and the German Empire increased about two and one-half times each, while that of France increased by less than half. The growth of the population also has been remarkably steady. Except in the war decade, 1860-70, the increase in each decade since 1790 has been greater than in the decade preceding.

The following table shows the growth of the population by sections—the North as compared with the South and the East with the West:

It will be seen that the North has, until recent years, grown much more rapidly in population than the South. The more rapid growth of the South in the last decade was largely due to the development in the southwest. The gain in the region east of the Mississippi has been remarkably regular. The percentage of gain west of the Mississippi was formerly enormous, but is rapidly falling to that of the region east of the Mississippi. The percentage of gain of the former region in 1890-1900 was 25 and in the latter 19.2.

A considerable part of the country is losing in population. In the decade 1880-1890, 14.7 per cent. of the area of the North Atlantic and North Central States decreased in number of inhabitants, and in the following decade 19.5 per cent. of the same area represented a loss. In the South Atlantic and South Central States the percentage of area which lost population in the respective decades was 9.0 and 5.1. Of the region east of the Mississippi 17.8 per cent. lost population in the decade 1880-90, and 10.6 per cent. in the following decade. The corresponding percentages for the region west of the Mississippi were 10.1 and 11.1, respectively.

Estimates of the population prior to the first regular census place the figure at 200,000 in 1688 and 1,850,000 in 1770. At the time of the first census the population was almost wholly

confined to the Atlantic coast region, the five most populous States being Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and New York, in the order named. The growth of the country has involved an enormous migration of peoples. This movement may be considered as twofold: first, an interstate migration of native Americans; second, foreign immigration.

. In the early period of migration the direction of the movement was determined largely by the opportunities afforded by waterways and mountain passes, and, later, by the railroad accommodations. The waterway system of the United States was admirably adapted to aid in the settlement, and the part it played is not easily over-emphasized. Not only did many of the early settlers secure transportation to their new homes by rivers, but they used the rivers also as avenues of commerce, and new settlements almost universally began along watercourses. In the North the immigrants from New England and New York passed almost wholly through the Mohawk Valley, and western New York developed rapidly along the line of the Erie Canal. By this route the Lake region and the Northwest in general were peopled. Farther to the south a large number of settlers found passage west by way of the valley of the Potomac, and by the Ohio and its tributaries. The settlements made in the region tributary to the Ohio were first to the south and later to the north of that stream. In the Southeast the Savannah and other rivers in like manner aided in opening up the interior region. The influence of streams in the Mississippi Valley was very marked. Through the main stream from the south, and through the Ohio from the east, large numbers of immigrants passed to the centre of the valley and thus were enabled to reach other regions watered by the Mississippi system, until settlements lined the main and tributary streams. The railroads came at an opportune time and made possible and profitable the settlement of regions that would otherwise have remained unsettled for a much longer time. The gold discoveries in California drew large numbers of immigrants in spite of the difficulties of the route, but, generally speaking, the Pacific Coast and the Cordilleran region awaited the construction of railroads. The movement of the population in the United States has been in the main westward, following the parallels of latitude. Almost every newly settled region, however, received representatives from all parts of the older settled regions, and there are a few very marked north and south movements. Thus, for instance, southern and central Indiana were filled largely with immigrants from North Carolina, Kentucky, and other Southern States. The early lead-miners and settlers in the adjacent corners of Wisconsin and Illinois on the Mississippi were Southerners. The recently settled Oklahoma and Indian Territory received large numbers 