ABSTRACT
Agriculture in the northeastern states, particularly in the New England states, was early displaced in importance in the minds of their statesmen by commerce and industry. New England's touring Yankee peddlers, strident abolitionists, social reformers, and forceful leaders who sought to impose their theological and political philosophy on other sections of the country aroused deep resentment in the West and South. In addition to the mountainous country of western Massachusetts, northern New Hampshire, and the Green Mountain spine of central Vermont, there were other extensive areas not suited for anything but forest growth. Critics of New England wrote off its agricultural potentialities too readily. New England cities, with their flourishing industries and commerce, produced a demand for grain, flour, dairy products, vegetable crops, beef, pork, and mutton in addition to hay and grain for dray and driving horses. Farming in eastern Pennsylvania had attained in 1815 a high and profitable state of development.
