Such instances of the readjustment of centres of population have been common in the past; they will also occur in the future. In nearly every case the readjustment results from economic causes, the opening of new lines of transportation, the lowering of the cost of the production of a commodity, the discovery of new economic processes—all these cause a disturbance of population, and the latter must readjust itself to new and changed conditions.
Not all peoples have the necessary intelligence and training at first to adapt themselves to their environment. For the greater part, the American Indians were unable to take advantage of the wonderful resources of the continent in which they lived. The Boers occupied about the richest part of Africa, but made no use of the natural wealth of the country beyond the grazing industry; in fact, their nomadic life reduced them to a plane of civilization materially lower than that of their ancestors.
People of the highest state of civilization do not always adjust themselves to their environment readily. The people of the New England plateau were nearly a century in learning that they possessed nearly all the best harbors of the Atlantic coast of North America. When, however, the great commerce of the country had been wiped out of existence, it did not take them long to readjust themselves to the industry of manufacture, the water-power being the natural resource that made the industry profitable.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
Were the middle Atlantic coast of the United States to undergo an elevation of 100 feet, what would be the effect on New York City?
Find the factors that led to the settlement of the city or town in which or near which you live. What caused the settlement of the three or four largest towns in the same county?—of the following places: Minneapolis, Fall River, New Haven, New Bedford, Cairo (Ill.), Cairo (Egypt), Marseille, Aix-la-Chapelle, Alexandria (Egypt), Washington (D.C.), Columbus (O.), Johannesburg (Africa), Kimberley (Africa), Albany (N.Y.), Punta Arenas (S.A.), Scranton (Pa.), Vancouver (B.C.), San Francisco, Cape Nome?
What circumstances connected with commerce led to the passing of the following-named places: Palmyra, Carthage, Babylon, Genoa, Venice, Ancient Rome, Jerusalem?
COLLATERAL REFERENCE
Any good cyclopædia.