citizens, and giving them covert support in withdrawing that territory from its proper owners, we took possession of it, and when they naturally undertook to protect, or recover it, we made a war of invasion on them, employed our superior skill and vigor to disarm their State, and took as much more of their territory as suited our purposes; in short, that we picked a quarrel, and being the strongest bound and robbed them. 6. It cannot be agreeable to lovers of justice and defenders of equal rights, that there should be so much of truth in this statement as to render it impossible to clearly and distinctly prove the contrary. There was, however, an element of the necessary and unavoidable, even in this, that was more in harmony with the previous system of acquisition than appeared on the surface. Texas presented, perhaps, the finest climate and the greatest facilities for money-making on the continent. The Mexicans inherited the religion and hatred of protestants with the haughty, repelling spirit of the Spaniards, and wished to preserve the old Spanish policy of separating themselves from us by a broad barrier of desert and wilderness. They did not wish to settle Texas themselves, nor feel willing that any one else should. It is inevitable that enterprise and strength, impelled by self-interest, will disregard such wishes. Americans are neither perfect nor magnanimous enough to stand on ceremony when their interests are concerned. The best that can be said of them is that they are more moderate and selfcontained than any other people. The necessities of the institution of slavery required more territory to balance the rapid increase of free States, and this precipitated the movement that was inevitable sooner or later from other causes. Indeed the first patent of territory obtained in Texas, from the Mexican government, was by a native of Connecticut. The rapid growth of commerce in the Pacific ocean, the agreeable climate and fertile soil of California, and the unsettled, wilderness state of that region, caused the commercial nations of Europe to look at it with longing eyes. The Monroe doctrine was in danger of being violated. England had fully prepared to plant L a colony there when it was taken possession of by the American forces. 7. Thus the enterprise and energy of the nation, which had still further developed its instinct, or anticipations and plans, of future greatness, required to use the vast resources of the Gulf region, and to extend settlements to the Pacific Slope in order to develop the mineral resources of that region and prepare to build up its commerce with Eastern Asia. The northern parts of Mexico were useless to her, since she had neither population to occupy them, nor strength to subdue the Indians who roamed over them in scattered bands. There is a justice and propriety which has the force of Natural Law in allowing the active and vigorous to take possession of the natural resources that others can not or will not develop. The earth was made for mankind as a whole, and what cannot benefit one race, another, that is able to employ it for its own and the general good, has some show of right in entering upon. That, at least, must be the justification of our ancestors in intruding themselves upon the lands and hunting grounds of the aborigi nal inhabitants of America, and our only excuse for making war with the Indians, forcing them to part with their lands, confining them to reservations, and denying to King Philip, Powhattan, and Tecumseh the admiration and esteem we give to the patriotic defenders of our native land and natural rights. 8. It is to be regretted that the vast and valuable territory acquired from Mexico should be the spoil of conquest rather than the fruit of peaceful negotiation; but the eagerness of the speculator, the unreasonable pride and selfishness of the Mexican, and the peculiar requirements of our internal conflict over slavery put to silence, for a time, the voice of moderation and equity, and we annexed near 1,000,000 square miles of territory by force. The payment of $18,500,000, when we might have taken it without, was an indication that our ordinary sense of justice was not altogether quenched. 9. We may reasonably consider that this was exceptional, and that the confusion of judgment and the disorder consequent on the life and death struggle of the institution of slavery, which were in a few years to produce the most terrible civil war known to history, led us into the comparatively moderate aggression and violence that marked this annexation to our territorial area. Our traditional policy is to acquire peaceably, and with a satisfactory remuneration, such territory as the national progress and development demand. It is contrary to the spirit of our institutions to oblige the majority of the inhabitants of any region not within our boundaries to form a part of the Republic. 10. Two annexations have been made since the Mexican war. Arizona was obtained by treaty and purchase from Mexico, in 1854, and Alaska by treaty and purchase from Russia, in 1867. The first is valuable for its mineral treasures. It was useless to Mexico, though we gave $10,000,000 for it. It will ultimately be worth to us hundreds of millions, and its ruins of an ancient people will be replaced by a thriving population of intelligent freemen. Alaska is specially valuable in relation to our future commerce with Asia, and for its fisheries and fur trade. Its internal resources are, as yet, scarcely known. 11. The superior stability of American institutions and the love of law and order of the American people may make annexation desirable and profitable to the more volatile and unsteady Southern States of America, but it is probable that no labored efforts to induce annexation will be tolerated by the mass of the people. We may fairly judge that we have reached our natural boundaries; that the advancement of neighboring governments in order and intelligence will suffice to give protection to the comparatively small numbers who may find a better field for their energies without than within the Union; and that if any future annexations are made it will be by the purchase of uninhabited regions that may be more valuable to us than to their owners; or that, if any inhabited regions are incorporated into the Union, it will be at the instance and desire of its own inhabitants rather than of our people. We are the special champions of popular and all other rights, and shall never be likely to forget ourselves again so far as to repeat the Mexican war, however pressing our desires. CENSUS STATISTICS. Population of the United States and Territories from 1790 to 1870. WHERE SETTLED. 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 Slaves Slaves Mobile. Delaware.... Indiana Kentucky Maine Maryland. Mississippi.. Nebraska. New Hampshire. New Jersey. Windsor.. St. Augustine. Kaskaskia. Vincennes.---- Boonesboro... Iberville. Fort Snelling. St. Genevieve. Dover. Cape Henlopen.. 59,096 64,273 72,674 238,141 251,202 262,042 127,901 309,527 590,756 771,623 964,201 996,988 Fort Leavenworth... 674,913 1,191,802 107,206 362,872 Rhode Island. South Carolina. Tennessee.. Texas West Virginia. Roanoke River. Pr. du Chien. 69,110 69,122 77.031 434,373 602,361 810,091 1,047,507 1,348,233 1,724,033 2,311,786 2,906,115 3,515,993 3,7837 97,199 108,830 147,545 174,620 249,073 245,501 415,115 217,356 952 581,185, 594,398 668.507 703,708 35,791 105,602 261,727 728,000 107,194 402,541 681,904 829,210 1,00,717 1,109,801 1,257,983 3,417 275,784 212,592 604,215 797,500 85,416 154,465 217,713 235,749 280,652 201,948) 314,120 315,098 330,552 748,308 880,200/974,622 1,065,129 1,211,405 1,233,797 1,421,661 1,246,690 1,224,830 293,427 349.628 445,616 30,945 305,391 775,881 1,055,167| 73,077 220,955 406,511 564,135 687,917 779,828 982,405 1,155,684 1,321,001 11,830 Population of the United States and Territories from 1790 to 1870.-(Continued.) TERRITORIES. ** 1860. "1870. Grand total in 1870... 3,929,827 As shown in the last census (1870), the seven leading States rank, according to population, as follows: (1) New York; (2) Pennsylvania; The ratio of increase in population from 1790 to 1800 was 35.02 per cent.; from 1800 to 1810, 36.45 per cent.; from 1810 to 1820, 33.13 per cent.; |