The North-west, the most rapidly growing region in the United States, and in some ways the most vigorous, had very definite economic interests, which were largely not identical with those of other parts of the Union. The export of wheat to Europe began to be important just before the Civil War. At this time, the disposal of the public lands, homestead acts, and railways, were matters as to which the West depended upon the Federal Government or Eastern capital. The desire to find a field for white labour on new lands caused opposition to the extension of slavery into Kansas and other Territories that bordered on the North-west.