The Comparative Rank of the American States

Abstract

In proportion to population at their birth, New England produced about twice as many leaders of a score of types as did the middle Atlantic or north central states, about six times as many as the south Atlantic states, and about ten times as many as the south central states. The North surpassed the South in practically every item studied, and there is a steady decline southward in average rank. Within each of the geographic regions there is, with few exeptions, a progressive southward decline. The similar rank of any state in its yield of numerous types of leaders and in various other criteria of merit warrants the generalization that a region which excels in producing important types of leaders also excels in producing other sorts of leaders, and in other significant evidence of merit. There ha been a progressive decline since about 1860 in the pre-eminence of New England in the production of notables in proportion to population and a lesser decline of New York and other seaboard states. There has been a...