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whirli overlaps New England at many points; the
.soiitli-westeni Appalachian, which includes the coun-
try from Maryland to llic C'arolinas. In North Caro-
lina the mountain hell reaches its greatest altitude,
falling away in Georgia and Alabama. Much of the
early history of the United States is concerned with
the Atlantic coastal plain. In New England the
mountains almost front the sea, and harbour and hill
are within sight of each other. From New York,
however, the inter\-al which separates them gradually
widens toward the southward, until in the State of
Georgia it extends into the interior about 120 miles,
after which it unites with the Gulf coastal plain. In
New York is the rugged Adirondack region, which
was very late in being settled. The characteristics of
the region of the Great Lakes, which is a projection of
the Laurentian Highlands in eastern Canada, are
well known. Of almost inexhaustible fertihty and of
immense area is the region included by the Prairie
States. Roughly speaking, it may be bounded by the
Ohio and the Missouri Rivers on the south, and by the
Great Lakes on the north. The Prairies are the gift
of the glacial period. The Gulf coastal plain has been
alluded to. Authorities on physical geography also
distinguish a Texas coastal plain. Passing by the
great valley of the Mississippi, the next division is the
region known as the Great Plains, which extends
from the 97th meridian of W. longitude to the
base of the Rocky Mountains. To the elevated sec-
tion between the Great Plains and the Pacific is given
the name Cordilleras. This includes the Rocky
Mountains, the Basin range, the plateau province,
and the Pacific ranges (Cascade and Sierra Nevada).
Around desirable harbours and in situations favour-
able for defence the first European settlements were
made in what is now the United States. In this con-
nexion are suggested the names: Boston, Salem, Ply-
mouth, Providence, New York, Philadelphia, Charles-
ton. For a long time the waterways not only
influenced the social and political life of the people,
but determined the direction of their movements when
they went to new regions. Thus were the early west-
ward movements of population conditioned "by the
river systems. This, too, explains the irregular char-
acter of the frontier line until railways became nu-
merous, when it moved regularly toward the west.
Geology. — The Laurentian uplift, seen in the Adi- rondacks and the region of the Great Lakes, was clearly in the earliest geological periods. The rock structure and the character of the deposits tend to support this opinion. The Cordilleras, on the contrary, are of comparatively recent formation, and exhibit evidences of late volcanic action. The volcanoes of Mexico and of Alaska, indeed, are not yet extinct. Many of the valleys in the Cordilleras are vast lava beds. The entire region, including New England, New York to the Ohio River, and westward to the prairies and the great plains, exhibits evidences that a great glacial sheet had in practically recent times spread over it. In its retreat were left fertile prairie in the United States and unnumbered lakes and water-courses as well in that country as in Canada. In 1902 the L'nited States produced about one third of the entire coal supply of the world. In the east it is generally distributed, except the anthracite variety, which is found in only a limited field. It is also found in many sections of the west. Still more valuable than the production of coal is that of iron, which in the year mentioned amounted to .$367,000,000. Approxi- mately the value of the gold produced yearly in the United States is .S.SO,000,0(X); copper comes next with an estimated value of $77,0(K),0()(). Silver amounts to S29,000,000, lead to S22,()00,0()(), and zinc to 814,000,- 00(). Aluminivmi and quicksilver are less important. Montana and the Lake Superior region lead in the out- put of copper; gold is found in many of the western states, and silver is widelv distributed. The zinc de-
posits in northern New Jersey are among the richest in
the world . The non-metalhc mineral product s are also
of great value, e. g. petroleum, clay, gypsum, salt, and
nal ural gas. Of the tin, antimony, sulphur, and plati-
num consumed in the United States, much is imported.
Colonization. — In April, 1606, King James I created a company with two branches, viz. the Lon- don and the Plymouth. The former was given per- mission to make settlements between 34° and 41° N. lat., and was to receive grants of land extending fifty miles north and south from its first settlement, — a coast front of 100 miles and the same distance inland. The Plymouth merchants were permitted to make their first settlement between 38° and 4.i° N. lat., and were also given a block 100 miles square. To prevent disputes, the branch making the second settlement should locate at least 100 miles from the colony first estabUshed. Each branch was very careful to fix its first settlement on territory to which the other had no right whatever. The two branches are always men- tioned as two companies. King James's patent of 10 April, 1606, is a document of interest. It pro- vides that English colonists and their posterity "shall have and enjoy all liberties, franchises, and immunities within any of Our other dominions, to all intents and purposes as if they had been abiding and born within this Our realm of England or any other of Our said dominions". A similar provision was found in the earlier patent granted to Raleigh, and even in that obtained by Gilbert. On the other hand, the colonists of France, Spain, and other nations were regarded as persons outside the laws, privileges, and immunities enjoyed by these who continued to dwell in the mother land. It will thus appear that English settlers carried with them as much of the common law of their country as was applicable to their new situation. In colonization this principle marked an epoch.
The London Company was composed of merchants and gentlemen in the vicinity of London, and the Plymouth company of persons dwelling in the west of England. In some respects the British government had no more enlightened a conception of colonization than did contemjjorary governments. England was "to monopolize the eon.sumption of the colonies and the carriage of their produce". This led to the enact- ment of the celebrated Navigation Laws. Commer- cial legislation affecting colonial trade falls under two heads: acts controlling exportation and importation, and those controlling production. By a law of 1600 certain enumerated commodities, being all the chief products of the colonies, could be landed only in British ports. Two later acts further extended this restriction. Under the Navigation Act of 1660, pjuropean goods could not be imported into the colo- nies except in ships of Britain or of British colonies, sailing from British ports. We are not now con- cerned with the Act of 1733. If strictly enforced this would have oppressed the New England colonies, but, fortunately for them, the revenue officers winked at their frequent infractions of the law.
The London Company was the first to establish a settlement, viz. that at Jamestown in 1607. The vicissitudes of that colony and the general out fine of English colonial development will be found in the articles on the thirteen original states, viz. Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carohna, and Rhode Island. This summary can touch upon them but briefly. On 6 May, 1607, the first Virginia settlers, 120 in number, entered Chesapeake Bay, and sailed about thirty miles up the James River, so named after the king. Toward evening they landed, and were attacked by the Indians. In a few months Captain Newport, who had brought out the first settlers, returned to England, collected supplies and recruits,
