[hedgetrimmer]

in fact built it from 3 million backward colonists whose wealth consisted of assorted manure piles,

Now this is slander! The founders were the most enlightened men of their time, maybe the most enlightened in the history of the United States. Their wealth was considerable and real, and part of their wealth could be claimed to be the admiration and support a host of Americans bestowed upon them.

[JasonC]

Fine, I simply meant the founding generation was not exactly rolling in capital. We had not yet built most of the cities, none of the canals or roads, none of the industy or technology we have now, etc. We got rich off legal immigration of the skilled. The population grew 100 fold without impoverishing anybody, in fact that increase helped cause our growing wealth.

[JasonC]

Incidentally the turn of phrase is George Patton's. He was speaking of Lorraine, and meant merely "an entirely agricultural district".