Summary
Franklin Pierce's 1855 Annual Message to Congress argues that the United States' rapid absorption of land by citizens and immigrants, enabled by the federal government's liberal policy of distributing unoccupied lands at nominal prices, was the primary driver of the nation's progress and the foundation of its civil liberty. The message traces this development from the earliest period of settlement through the post-Civil War revival, noting that the intense rivalry for land at the opening of Oklahoma Territory marked the practical end of the settlement era. Pierce then shifts to the government's response to this new reality: funding agricultural colleges and experiment stations modeled on European technical institutions, and equipping the Department of Agriculture for both practical and experimental work. The message also contrasts this American trajectory with the Dark Ages' oppression of rural populations and the agricultural perfection of ancient Nile and Euphrates civilizations, which supported dense populations without modern imports. A reader takes away Pierce's concrete argument that land policy, not abstract principles, drove American expansion and that scientific agriculture became the government's next priority.
Key concepts
- Dark Ages agricultural oppression — The crushing of the rural population under arbitrary burdens, which marked the era before civil liberty and diffused intelligence in Europe.
- Federal land absorption policy — The government's extremely liberal distribution of enormous unoccupied tracts to encourage settlement by citizens and immigrants.
- Oklahoma Territory opening rivalry — The intense competition for land that demonstrated the practical termination of the era of settlement.
- Agricultural experiment stations — Government-funded institutions modeled on European technical origins, providing scientific investigation for all branches of agriculture.
- Ancient Nile and Euphrates agriculture — An excellent system that supported populations as dense as any today, without food imports, in the oldest civilizations.
- Oriental agricultural vitality — The retention of agricultural perfection in Japan, China, and India, where Japan supports more inhabitants than the United Kingdom without importing food.
From the book
For works with similar titles, see Aar . ← Aalborg Collier's New Encyclopedia , Volume 1 Aar Aarau → Edition of 1921; disclaimer . 421829 Collier's New Encyclopedia , Volume 1 — Aar AAR (är), the most considerable river in Switzerland, after the Rhine and Rhone. It forms at Handeck, in the valley of Hasli, a magnificent waterfall of above 150 feet in height, and empties into the Rhine, opposite Waldshut, after a course of about 170 miles.For works with similar titles, see Aarau . ← Aar Collier's New Encyclopedia , Volume 1 Aarau Aard-vark → Edition of 1921; disclaimer . 421830 Collier's New Encyclopedia , Volume 1 — Aarau AARAU (ä′rou), a town in Switzerland, capital of the canton of Aargau, on the right bank of the Aar. Has manufactures of scientific instruments, silk, cotton,…
For works with similar titles, see Aargau . ← Aard-wolf Collier's New Encyclopedia , Volume 1 Aargau Aarhuus (district) → Edition of 1921; disclaimer . 421834 Collier's New Encyclopedia , Volume 1 — Aargau AARGAU (är′gou), or ARGOVIA , one of the cantons of Switzerland, bounded on the N. by the river Rhine, on the E. by Zurich and Zug, on the S. by Lucerne and Berne, and on the W. by Soleure and Basel. Area, 542 square miles of well cultivated soil and extensive vineyards. This is one of the cantons most distinguished for industry and generally diffused prosperity. Pop. about 250,000.← Aarhuus (district) Collier's New Encyclopedia , Volume 1 Aarhuus (city) Aaron → Edition of 1921; disclaimer . 654815 Collier's New Encyclopedia , Volume 1 — Aarhuus (city) AARHUUS , a city, the capital…
It embraces the most eastern part of the peninsula of Jutland, and is divided into two bailiwicks, Aarhuus and Randers. Area, 1,821 square miles. Pop. about 225,000, chiefly occupied in the fisheries.For works with similar titles, see Aaron . ← Aarhuus (city) Collier's New Encyclopedia , Volume 1 Aaron Ab → Edition of 1921; disclaimer . 421837 Collier's New Encyclopedia , Volume 1 — Aaron AARON , son of Amram (tribe of Levi), elder brother of Moses, and divinely appointed to be his spokesman in the embassy to the court of Pharaoh. By the same authority, avouched in the budding of his rod, he was chosen the first high-priest. He was recreant to his trust in the absence of Moses upon the Mount, and made the golden calf for the people to worship. He died on Mount Hor in the 123d year of…
Popular questions readers ask
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