American History: An American History Textbook

When peace came in 1783 there were in the United States approximately three million people, who were spread over the whole Atlantic coast from Maine to Georgia and back into the interior as far as the Alleghany Mountains; and a relatively small number of settlers had crossed the mountain barrier. About twenty per cent of the population, or some six hundred thousand, were slaves.

There was also a large alien element of foreign birth or descent, poor when they arrived in America, and, althoug...