The United States - Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries - page 16

their natural setting, they also found it oppressive and dangerous. William
Bradford wrote that when the Pilgrims looked about, “what could they see
but a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men?” 2
As settlement moved inland from the Atlantic, filling the Tidewater and
the Piedmont Plateau, the settlers found land almost perfectly suited to
agriculture. Rainfall was ideal. Within a few years a newly arrived farmer
could chop down the forest for fields for crops and pasture. The fertility
of the soil led to prosperity. The early farmers were not only productive,
they were reproductive. Their birthrate far exceeded that of England and
Europe. Many families had 10 and 12 children, most of whom survived
to adulthood, unlike the situation back across the Atlantic. In turn the
children could move to the frontier and start their own prosperous farms.
Many regions doubled their populations within 20 years. The virgin forest
gave way to corn and cattle. Yet, in fact, some of the forests were not quite
virgin. The Indians had systematically burned them to improve hunting
and increase fertility for their own occasional crops.
In 1763 the British government had tried to stop the westward expan-
sion at the crest of the Allegheny Mountains in order to prevent clashes
with the Indians. The restriction incensed the Americans and was one of
the causes of the Revolution. After the Revolution, settlers flowed across
the mountains to Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio. This land proved even
better for agriculture, and soon the forests were destroyed.
In 1790 the infant United States conducted the first national census in
the world. It was required by the new Constitution in order to apportion
seats in the House of Representatives. The total was nearly four million,
about half the size of England, and an eighth the size of France. The growth
came from natural increase due to large families and a high survival rate.
The number of immigrants into the country in the colonial period was
actually quite small. At home the War of 1812 discouraged immigration,
and in Europe the destruction and need to conscript soldiers during the
Napoleonic Wars limited emigrants, but by 1850, the population was
20 million, and the frontier reached to the Great Plains.
Although 18th-century Americans were not much concerned about
nature, they were interested in science. Benjamin Franklin experi-
mented with electricity, wrote on population statistics, and founded the
Philosophical Society. While living in London and Paris as a diplomat,
he met the leading scientists of the day. After the 1783 volcanic explo-
sion at Laki in Iceland, he correctly concluded that its emissions were the
cause of atmospheric haze and colorful sunsets, and even suggested that