Some colonists became skilled craftsmen in the Middle Colonies because it ended up not being enough open farm land for everyone to farm and there was, at that time, not enough of other trades so instead of farming, they went to craftsmanship. Most of the farm land was also covered with a lot of forestry and at the time, tree removal was a very long and lengthy process; this meant that land would open up at a painfully slow pace. Basically, they didn't have much of an option to go to other avenues to make money.
I’m not sure exactly what you’re looking for, but the US spent $15m dollars and gained 54% of Mexico’s pre-1836 territory. There’s a nice article on Wikipedia called ‘Mexican Cession’ that seems helpful. Hope this is helpful :)
