Why did northern factory owners make it more difficult for settlers to obtain land in the western territories?

Question

Please help! Thanks!

Answer 1

I didn't know that they did, or how they could have done it;  but as a pure guess I'd say that they didn't want their customers moving away from the market place for their goods.

Answer 2

Well, off the top of my head--did they want to keep a big supply of (cheap) labor--if the number of workers were lower, they might have to pay them more money to get them to work for their factory, rather than someone else's.