The lives of a high proportion of nineteenth-century Americans were connected with farming and the land. At the beginning of the century the Eastern states were to varying degrees settled and the character of their communities reflected to some extent earlier developments. Much of the rest of the country, however, remained to be peopled and exploited so that as the frontier rolled westwards the settlements and communities that emerged were essentially creations of the nineteenth century. For the historian the study of both change in the rural and farming history of older communities and of communities and farming areas from their beginnings is a considerable challenge.

The general themes of frontier development and settlement, the disposal of the public domain and the nature of early and later land use are connected and suggest many other topics for investigation. The disposal of the public domain was a complex matter affecting the history of many parts of the country. The effect of the land laws on the timing of settlement and its character and the subsequent economic and social consequences of later land sales and leases between individuals embrace topics worthy of local study. These include the part played by speculation in the development of the new lands and its social and economic effects, who the speculators were, the relationship between the development of tenancy and speculation, and the part played in land development by land companies, railroads, other institutions, and individuals.