Rise of the New West, 1819-1829 | Page 7

the household to the factory,
was rapidly carried on. A labor class began to develop, farmers moved
into towns, the daughters worked in the mills. It was not long before
Irish immigrants found their way to the section and replaced the natives
in the mills. The old social and racial unity began to break down.
[Footnote: Woollen, "Labor Troubles between 1834 and 1837," in Yale
Review, I., 87; Martineau, Society in America, II., 227, 243, 246;
Chevalier, Society, Manners, and Politics, 137; Addison, Lucy Larcom,
6; Clay, Works, V., 467.]
Agriculture still occupied the larger number of New England people,
but it was relatively a declining interest. As early as 1794, Tench Coxe
had characterized New England as a completely settled region, with the
exception of Maine and Vermont. The generation that followed saw an
expansion of agricultural population until the best valley lands were
taken and the hill-sides were occupied by struggling farmers. By 1830
New England was importing corn and flour in large quantities from the
other sections. The raising of cattle and sheep increased as grain
cultivation declined. The back-country of Maine particularly was being
occupied for cattle farms, and in Vermont and the Berkshires there was,
towards the close of the decade, a marked tendency to combine the

small farms into sheep pastures. Thus, in the tariff agitation of the latter
part of the decade, these two areas of western New England showed a
decided sympathy with the interests of the wool-growers of the country
at large. This tendency also fostered emigration from New England,
since it diminished the number of small farms. By the sale of their
lands to their wealthier neighbors, the New England farmers were able
to go west with money to invest. [Footnote: Niles' Register, XLIX., 68;
Smith and Rann, Rutland County [Vt.], 166; Goodhue, Hist. of
Shoreham [Vt.], 59; Nat. Assoc. of Wool Manufacturers, Bulletin,
XXX., 47, 242, 261.]
In the outlying parts, like the back-country of Vermont, farmers still
lived under primitive industrial conditions, supporting the family
largely from the products of the farm, weaving and spinning under the
conditions of household industry that had characterized the colonial
period, slaughtering their cattle and hogs, and packing their cheese.
When the cold weather set in, caravans of Vermont farmers passed, by
sledges, to the commercial centers of New England. [Footnote: Heaton,
Story of Vermont, chap. vi.] But the conditions of life were hard for the
back-country farmer, and the time was rapidly approaching when the
attractions of the western prairies would cause a great exodus from
these regions.
While New England underwent the economic changes that have been
mentioned, a political revolution was also in progress. The old
Federalist party and Federalist ideas gradually gave way. Federalism
found its most complete expression in Connecticut, "the land of steady
habits," where "Innovation" had always been frowned upon by a
governing class in which the Congregational clergy were powerful.
Permanence in office and the influence of the clergy were prominent
characteristics of the Connecticut government. [Footnote: Dwight,
Travels, I., 262, 263, 291; Welling, "Conn. Federalism," in N. Y. Hist.
Soc., Address, 1890, pp. 39-41.] The ceremonies of the counting of
votes for governor indicated the position of the dominant classes in this
society. This solemnity was performed in the church. "After the
Representatives," wrote Dwight, the president of Yale College, "walk
the Preacher of the Day, and the Preacher of the succeeding year: and a

numerous body of the Clergy, usually more than one hundred, close the
procession." He notes that there were several thousand spectators from
all over the state, who were perfectly decorous, not even engaging in
noisy conversation, and that a public dinner was regularly given by the
state to the clergy who were present at the election. [Footnote: Dwight,
Travels, I., 267.]
After the War of 1812, this dominance of the Congregational clergy
throughout the section was attacked by a combination of religious and
political forces. [Footnote: Schouler, United Stales, II., 282, 511, III.,
52; Adams, United States, IX., 133.] There had been a steady growth of
denominations like the Baptists and Methodists in New England. As a
rule, these were located in the remoter and newer communities, and,
where they were strongest, there was certain to be a considerable
democratic influence. Not only did these denominations tend to unite
against the Federalists and the Congregationalists, but they found
useful allies in the members of the old and influential Episcopal church,
who had with them a common grievance because of the relations
between the state and Congregationalism. Although the original
support of the Congregational clergy by public taxation had been
modified by successive acts of legislation in most of these states, so
that persons not of that church might make their legal contributions for
the support of their own clergy, [Footnote: