The
southern cities retained merely the same proportion of the exports
of domestic origin which they had in 1820, in spite of the great
increase of cotton production. New York and New Orleans gained a
large fraction of this trade, and Massachusetts changed its
proportion of domestic exports only slightly during the whole
decade. Over three-fourths of the cotton went to the British Isles,
while almost all the pork and beef, and two-thirds of the flour,
went to the West Indies, South America, and Great Britain's American
colonies. [Footnote: Pitkin, Statistical View, 121-137.]
The statistics of commerce repeat the same story of increasing
national self-dependence which was told by the development of
manufactures, internal trade, and transportation, and even by the
diplomatic policy of the United States. The nation was building an
empire of its own, with sections which took the place of kingdoms.
The west was already becoming the granary of the whole country. But
in the development of this "American system," the navigating
portions of New England and the staple states of the south and
southwest found themselves at a disadvantage.
Pages:
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424