United States, 1909
United States, 1909
CHAPTER XXXIX.
progress of the epoch.
SPREAD AND CHARACTER OF POPULATION.
702. The Industrial Period.—While it is always difficult for people to understand thoroughly the characteristics of their own age, it seems almost certain that the epoch of American history which begins with the readmission of the Southern states to the Union in 1870, and ends with the Spanish and Philippine wars in 1898–1901, will be known by some such name as the “Industrial Age.” As we have just seen, many interesting events occurred and many prominent men figured in it; but these are overshadowed by the enormous development of manufactures, trade, commerce, and farming,—that is to say, by the stupendous results that have followed the application of the nation’s mind and energy to almost every department of human industry.
703. Growth of Population.—The census of 1870 was inaccurate with regard to the population of the South. The corrected figures give a total of nearly forty million inhabitants (39,800,000) to the entire country. During the decade 1860–1870, no less than seven new territories were organized, showing a great gain of population in the far West. There was also a very considerable development of urban populations, New York City standing just below the million mark, Philadelphia nearing seven hundred thousand, and Chicago and St. Louis struggling for commercial supremacy in the West, the former city approaching three hundred thousand inhabitants. Ten years later, the population of the Union was 50,155,178. Colorado was the only new state admitted during the decade, but Florida, Texas, and the far West were being rapidly settled. The growth of the cities was not relatively very great, but New York showed, in 1880, upward of one million two hundred thousand inhabitants. By 1890 the population of the country had reached 62,622,250, six new states, all Western,—Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming,—having been admitted. The organization of Oklahoma as a territory and the admission of Utah as a state (1896) made the Union proper in 1900 consist of forty-five states, four territories, and one District,—the total population in 1900 being slightly over seventy-six millions. In 1890 New York state and city still led in population, as also by the census of 1900; but Pennsylvania and Illinois proved formidable rivals. The annexation of various suburbs made Greater New York (3,437,202 in 1900) next to London the largest city on the globe. Other cities throughout the Union, especially in the north and central West have also, as a rule, grown remarkably. In 1900 there were seventy cities each containing a population of over fifty-three thousand.
704. Immigration.—The tendency of foreigners to seek our shores, which was very marked during the period 1830–1860, has increased, rather than diminished, since that time. Even in the distracted decade of the Civil War, over two million three hundred thousand immigrants were received; the next decade saw two million eight hundred thousand; while that ending in 1890 saw nearly five million two hundred and fifty thousand. A falling off took place in the ten years ending in 1900, owing to special legislation against pauper immigrants and to other causes; but the total for the decade was still enormous,—3,687,564. The character of the immigrants has somewhat changed,—a fact which is due to the increased influx from Austria, Hungary, Russia and Poland, and Italy, the last-named country leading all others during the decade. Many of the foreigners that have settled among us have made excellent citizens, who have contributed to the national wealth and industry in a way that can hardly be praised too highly. These immigrants have been mainly attracted to the northern half of the country. Many of them have settled in New England, in the great cities, especially New York and Chicago, and in the Northwest. In the South, with the exception of Texas, they form but a very slight part of the population, for the presence of the negroes as competitive laborers has kept them out of what would otherwise be an attractive region.