The American Nation A History of the United States, Combined Volume (14th Edition)

273

Middle-class parents practiced sexual abstinence and even simple forms of contraception to limit family size. By

having fewer children, they could lavish more attention and economic resources on each one. Middle-class

fathers occupied themselves with business, and mothers with child rearing. Such people often sought to

persuade others to similarly control their desires.

90

Population density

in inhabitants

per square mile:

45

18

6

2

1.7

1.9

Number of

children under

10 per 1,000

white women

aged 16–44,

per state:

1.5

1.3

1.2

1.0

0.9

0.7

MD.

CONN.

ALABAMAGEORGIA

MAINE

MASS.

VT.

UNORGANIZED

TERRITORY

MINNESOTA

TERRITORY

OREGON

TERRITORY

UTAH TERRITORY
CALIFORNIA

NEW MEXICO

TERRITORY

INDIANA

ILLINOIS

WISCONSIN

IOWA

FLORIDA

N.H.

N.J.

NEW

YO R K

DEL.

PENNSYLVANIA

OHIO

R.I.

N. CAROLINA

S. CAROLINA

VIRGINIA

KENTUCKY

TENNESSEE

MICHIGAN

ARKANSAS

MISSOURI

LOUISIANA

TEXAS

MISS.

Fertility and Population Density, 1850Women in the densely populated Northeast had fewer children than those in the sparsely-
populated frontier regions.