The freedom of the individual and the broad basis for democratic representative government in the United States developed not in the older states but for the first time on the extending frontier of the Middle West. The contributions made to this social movement by the early populations of Ohio from Pennsylvania and the South form the subject of this paper. In the discussion the topics are presented in the following order:
The physical environment was of fundamental importance. It reacted upon the settlers and they, in turn, became masters of material things. By this process was shaped their progress along political, religious, educational and social lines.
Of no less importance were the sources from which the streams of westward migration were rising. Those who came from New England and the coast regions of the South were leaving the conservative societies in search of more freedom or better economic opportunity. The back-country of the older states contributed a strong, aggressive, individualistic type. The new environment emphasized these same qualities. Success depended upon industry and individual initiative.
In political and social organization the pioneers from the first revealed the qualities indicated above. Aristocratic control by the territorial government was opposed. The new state constitution incorporated manhood suffrage, popular control through the legislature, and election of local officers by the people. The settlers were loyal followers of Jefferson.
advertisement