Rural Economy in New England 299 



a continuous belt along the coast of the two states for some 250 miles. 

 They contained in 1810 a total population of about 150,000, of whom 

 over 110,000 were slaves. This, then, was the extent of the market 

 for food supplies in that general region known as the Southern states. 



The back-country region of these two states could have very easily 

 supplied this market, except for the presence of a strip of pine barrens 

 intervening between the upper country, where general agriculture 

 was carried on, and the plantation district. This middle country, 

 a sterile area varying from fifty to seventy miles in width, producing 

 little in the way of food-stuffs except in the river valleys, formed a 

 barrier to trade between the regions on either side. It was the pres- 

 ence of the barrier region that forced the planters of the lowlands to 

 buy a part at least of their grain, vegetables, dairy products and salt- 

 meat from the Middle and New England states. It would be a 

 mistake, however, to suppose that the back-country furnished no sup- 

 plies at all to the planters. The intervening region was crossed in at 

 least three places by rivers navigable to the edge of the upper country, 

 by vessels of 70 tons burden.^ There was, besides, some carriage of 

 country produce by wagons from the upper country to the coast.^ 



The products of the Middle and Northern states were carried 

 hither in the small coasting vessels which, as we have seen, were 

 owned in so many New England ports. They brought grain from 

 New York and Pennsylvania; and from New England, cheese and 

 butter, dried fish, salted beef, apples, potatoes, hay and cider. Some 

 of the cargoes contained various products of household industry 

 such as the coarse linen tow-cloth used for garments for the slaves. 



In Georgia: 



Districts Total Inhabitants Slaves 



Chatham 12,946 9,049 



Bryan 2,836 2,306 



Liberty 5,313 3,940 



Mcintosh 2,660 1,819 



Glynn 1,874 1,092 



Camden 1,681 735 



27,310 18,941 



Total for both states 153,059 113,956 



These figures are taken from the second U. S. Census (1800). 



' See Drayton, View. pp. 30-31. 



^ Ibid. p. 141, and La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, Travels, I. 630. 



