The Middle Period in the United States. 
133 
CHAPTER VII. 
THE MIDDLE PERIOD. 1830 TO 1865. 
A. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 
Beginning with the administration of President Jackson the 
United States entered upon a period in many respects the most 
remarkable in the history of the country. In a certain sense it 
may be called the beginning of the industrial development, or 
the industrial revolution, of the New World. Mighty strides 
were made in all branches of learning and especially in the in¬ 
dustrial arts. The most wonderful inventions 1 were applied, 
and machine production on a large scale began. Towns in¬ 
creased enormously in size 2 and importance so that city ques¬ 
tions were forced to the front. Gradually one power after an¬ 
other was turned over to municipalities, until they held in many 
respects almost the same position as fee-collecting institutions, 
that the states held in the earlier epoch. The legislature, to be 
sure, fixed the maximum and minimum amount which might be 
charged; but the towns had the power to fix the charge, within 
those limits, and to grant licenses or to refuse them. These 
municipal privileges were granted much earlier in a few isolated 
instances, 3 but the movement did not become general. 
B. LICENSE REGULATIONS AND FEES. 
As a result of the rapid growth of the cities the liquor ques¬ 
tion came into prominence, and high licenses were introduced 
1 Telegraph, 1837; cheap postage proposed by Hill; steam propulsion, 
etc., etc. 
2 The percentage of total population living in cities increased from 6.7 
per cent, in 1830 to 20.9 per cent in 1870. U S. Census. 
3 Mayor and Aldermen of Hudson granted power to license taverns. Fee 
not to exceed 16s per year. Statutes, N. Y., 13th sess., p. 195-196. Annapo¬ 
lis, Md., given power to regulate ordinaries and retailers of liquor. Laws , 
1784, Ch. 49. City of Washington given the same power, also the power to 
license and regulate wharfs. Laws , Md., 1784, Ch. 45, § 12. Georgetown 
granted similar powers. Ibid., 1799, Ch. 85, § 2. 
