THE INFLUENCE OF LAND POLICIES 115 



The country experienced hard times from 1808 to 

 1815, but land speculation again was practiced be- 

 tween 1815 and 1819, due to the rise in the price of 

 cotton. However, the fall in the price of cotton in 

 1820 resulted in another depression. The govern- 

 ment was compelled to pass several relief acts, in- 

 cluding one for relinquishing the title of much land 

 to the United States. These policies did not prove 

 very helpful. The settlers of the West became dis- 

 satisfied because of the high prices of the land, the 

 use of the funds for revenue purposes, and the pre- 

 vailing credit system. Many people in the old 

 states of the East objected to any reduction in pub- 

 lic land prices for fear that this inducement would 

 cause the farm population of the East to leave their 

 farms and move to the West, thereby affecting land 

 values and causing a rise in wages in industrial 

 enterprises. 



In the meantime, the people of the West were be- 

 coming critical of the early land policy of the govern- 

 ment. The western representatives became increas- 

 ingly hostile to the plan of making the public 

 domain a source of profit. Thomas H. Benton, who 

 was elected to Congress from Missouri in 1821, 

 strongly advocated the granting of free lands to 

 settlers. "So long as tidewater congressmen pre- 

 vailed in Washington/ 7 says Frederic L. Paxson, 

 "there was no hope of victory for the notion that 

 the United States ought to give free farms to the 

 frontiersmen. The eastern desire for revenue was 



