"On the left bank of the [Ohio] river the population is sparse; from time to time one sees a troop of slaves loitering through half-deserted fields; the primeval forest is constantly reappearing; one might say that society had gone to sleep…. But on the right bank a confused hum proclaims from afar that men are busily at work; fine crops cover the fields; … on all sides there is evidence of comfort; man appears rich and contented; he works.

--Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America