How we cite our quotes: (Sentence)
Quote #1
Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. (16)
The country expanded by leaps and bounds during the 19th century, thanks to the Louisiana Purchase and later sentiments of Manifest Destiny. Roosevelt hoped to reinvigorate the country's economy by unlocking the vast potential profits in the form of America's natural resources. In addition to the naturally occurring bounty, there was money to be made from humans modifying it.
Quote #2
Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. (17)
The frustration President Roosevelt must have felt at this line is palpable. The United States was gifted with a hardworking, industrious population, and a huge territory ripe with resources for the plucking. So the fact that the country was suffering with so much still available was devastating. At the same time, it meant that there was still a reason to hope for the future since there were still so many possibilities.
Quote #3
Hand in hand with this we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land. (37)
During the Industrial Revolution, urban center populations exploded with impoverished rural transplants and new immigrants seeking jobs in the rapidly expanding manufacturing industries and services that supported them. This movement, however, came at a price. When the depression hit, farms were especially hurt, and little can cripple a nation faster than problems with its food supply. Roosevelt's solution to this was the pretty drastic step of redistributing the population.