In New England, land was the most important component of wealth from first settlement through the American Revolution (1775–1783). In nearly all of New England, large-scale commercial agriculture was not possible because of climate, topography, and the quality of the soil. In the interior farming predominated (supplemented, early on, by trapping) but most of these farms were engaged in subsistence agriculture that provided, at most, a small surplus for their owners. The distribution of land was fairly egalitarian in nearly all of New England because of the custom of dividing land among heirs. Over time, however, there was social stratification as a result of land speculation.
