small, compact communities, and were engaged in shipbuilding and
commerce, rather than in agriculture. There was an aristocratic group,
but most of the people belonged to the middle class, and were simple
and even severe in their tastes. In the middle colonies, on the other
hand, most of the people were small farmers of mixed religious and
racial character. Social classes existed to a considerable extent.
Finally, the South was devoted to large plantations, cultivated by
black slaves. Social lines were sharply drawn, and a genuine
aristocratic class was already well formed.

A third reason for the weakness of the coöperative spirit among the
states is to be found in the lack of means of transportation and
communication. Travel was mostly confined to natural waterways, or to
rude paths over which horses proceeded with great difficulty. As late
as 1800 it often took a horseman longer to go from Boston to New York
than it now takes to go by rail from New York to San Francisco and
back again. There were no railroads in those days, no telephones, no
telegraph, and practically no postal service. Life was primarily
rural, even on the seacoast. Most interests centered about the local
community, or at farthest, about the colony or state. In many sections
there was little exchange of products or of ideas. From the resulting
isolation there developed a strong feeling of localism or
provincialism. Ignorance and suspicion of intercolonial affairs gave
rise to misunderstandings, and emphasized differences and disputes
which in themselves were unimportant. Thus jealousy and hostility
often sprang up where mutual confidence and coöperation were sorely
needed.

28. NEGATIVE FORCES FAVORING UNION.--The failure of the Articles of
Confederation is one of the most discouraging chapters in the