Wild land was then so abundant that the quantity literally seemed inexhaustible; and it was absolutely valueless until settled.

Our forefathers may well be pardoned for failing to see that it was of more importance to have it owned in small lots by actual settlers than to have it filled up quickly under a system of huge grants to individuals or corporations.

Many wise and good men honestly believed that they would benefit the country at the same time that they enriched themselves by acquiring vast tracts of virgin wilderness, and then proceeding to people them.

There was a rage for land speculation and land companies of every kind.
The private correspondence of almost all the public men of the period, from Washington, Madison, and Gouverneur Morris down, is full of the subject.

Innumerable people of position and influence dreamed of acquiring untold wealth in this manner.