title: Facts and conditions of progress in the North-west. being the annual discourse for 1850, before the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio : delivered April 8, the sixty-third anniversary of the first settlement of the state
text: c^ ccc:_ < <: ot <^ ^ *^/^^ a<.<:': CiClL_. ^V ^^^c?^ <-•-< ' ds'- <c«w c_c: r <:< <?x «<-<:: c :z CC *^<i' 2;c ^<c*. ' <rc: dc c: <IC^ c * <L dec <j* CC ^LM <JC CC «<r c c <3 CC <I<^c <' ^ <1 vc> <^ C.C <Z — ^_c_c<- CC* JLIBRARY OF CONGRESS. # *l ^A./^ M4:^ i i ——1 :^.-ju0X I I UNITED STATES OF AeRICA. | ^Z' c < <LC <r ^C d__ CC <:: 'v^ < ■C^ e< < ■^«-*l-. <■>-_ "^ ^ •^rtr "^IL *- «<:: c<< d!Zl ^ *■ <!: CC <:i ^<^ d i.<L <r_ ^< <<i^ CC «t:'.- d CC «L. <iCL CC «C^ "CC. '».:!C «L_ ^ - ^.< «C- ^ ' '<j< <- ^^tf C Cl C CC C CC C Cc: C Cl #1^ c c <:< <L c c dC: <1 CC. ^c <1 c c 4C:C C^ CC ■ diC <1 CC dec ^C. <: S^,^5 ^^^ <3-< c ^c c <ZCC -^ d r ■ <£r ::• c <:_ -' c <:: ' " XL r < c <^ c <: c < "^ ^- <^^-< «r ;...,-- ^ <' -^ fc;cA. -^i _^x«- «:- ^^' '<i: <' ■v. 'tSi ^^^ ^ ,r-, ^C^c< -"^ ^^ CLv ^. ^C^ ^ ^ • <€ «r^^CL<. ^r^ ■t ■ a <; < <?c<r <i_.c<:«L': -d: <:>. <r: <:'■■ <^:. <. c^ •<r: < cr <c: <:«:•■ ' ^< <: c: <sc - "■.:« '^Lc C" ^^^ OKU' ^ <:<! < c ^ <SSL -ac: c C '■_ • . «cz < c . ^ <^ <^ ^^ -•c:^*;: aC C t ' <rc PROGRESS IN THE. NORTH-WEST. ANNUAL DISCOURSE BEFORE THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF OHIO, BY THE PRESIDENT, WILLIAM D. GALLAGHER. DELIVERED APRIL 8, 1850, ON THE OCCASION OF THE COMMEMORATION OF THE SIXTY-SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE STATE. CINCINNATI: H. W. DERBY & CO., PUBLISHERS 18 5 0. «• VALUABLE LAW BOOKS, RECENTLY PUBLISHED BY H. W, DERBY & CO. HOLCOMB'S INTRODUCTION TO EQUITY JURISPRU- DENCE, on the basis of Story's Commentaries, with notes and reference to English and American Cases, adapted to the use of Students. By James P. Holcombe. 1 neat 8vo. vol. This work contains,,; in a condensed form, the most important part of Story's Com- mentaries, with an abstract at the beginning of each chapter, of the subjects comprehcndnd under it. It has been sought to increase its value as a fii-st book for students, by the addition of numerous notes of an elementary nature, containing reference to the leading American authorities, and such important decisions in England as have been made s^^nce the last edition of the Commentaries, New York, July 17, 1846. I have penised with pleasure, Mr. Holcomb's Introduction to Equity Jurisprudence. It is a clear and able manual or outline of the Elementary principles of Equity, as adminis- tered in the English and American Courts. I think it may be eminently useful in facili- tating and recommending the study and knowlcdga of the Equity administration of Justice. Yours, respectfully, JAMES KENT. To Messrs. Derby, Bradley & Co. Lexington, December 22, 1846. Dear Sir — Engagements almost incessant, have, until very recently, prevented me from a careful and thorough examination of your " Introduction to Equity," a copy of which you had kindly presented to me. It is more simple and didactic than Mitford or Jeremy ; and it is so much more condensed and readable than Story (which is too diffuse), as to entitle it, in my judgment, to the patronage of Teachera and Students of Rudimental Equity ; and I am disposed, as a Teacher of Jurisprudence, to substitute it for Mitford, which, though once pre-eminent, and even yet excellent in some re.spects, as an instructive book on Equity, is neither so methodical nor comprehensive as your "Introduction," which exhibits, with general accuracy, an intelligible outline of the p inciplcs of modern Equity, and to the young Student, unacquainted with the anatomy of this great subject, cannot fail to be useful. Very respectfully. G. ROBERTSON. To James P. Holcombe, Esq. " An excellent book, peculiirly adapted to the use of the Student ; indeed, for him it is a capital book ; and, in the language of Chancellor Kent, ' it may be eminently useful in facilitating and recommending the study and knowledge of the Equity administration of Justice.' " — Western Law Journal, February, 1847. ♦- FACTS ASD CONDITIONS OF PROGRESS IN THE NORTH-WEST. BEING THE ANNUAL DISCOURSE FOR 1850, BEFORE THE HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF OHIO; DELIVERED APRIL 8, THE SIXTY-THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE STATE. BY WILLIAM D. GALLAGHER. WITH AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY, AND OTHER MATTER. f: CINCINNATI : PUBLISHED BY H. W. DERBY & CO. 1850. /^^f J e Entered according to act of Congress, in tlie year of our Lord, 1850, BY H. W. DERBY & Co., in tlie Clerli's Office of the District Court for tlie District of Oliio. PUBLICATION ORDERED BY THE SOCIETY. CINCINNATI : H. W. Derby S( Co., Pri liters. DISCOURSE. By the constitution of the Historical and Philosophi- cal Society of Ohio, it is made the duty of the President of this association, at the anniversary each year, to de- liver a pubHc discourse on some subject lying within the appropriate fields of its investigation. Occupying, at the present time, the position referred to, I appear before you. Gentlemen of the Society, for the purpose of dis- charging the duty thus imposed. And the theme to which I have thought proper to invite your attention, is — The Facts and Conditions of Progress in the North- Western SECTION OF THE UNITED StATES. That part of American Literature, which is made up of the different descriptions of the Public Discourse, de- livered on occasions of anniversary and other periodical celebrations, though characterized by a brilliant diction and a philosophic spirit, and informed with the learning of by-gone ages, has been too often deficient in the great events bearing upon our own immediate times, and, con- sequently, lacking in that prophetic spirit, whose broad and intelligent survey extends at once over the past and the future, and founds upon the present an encouraging hope for man. The great majority of these discourses, which do not perish in the day that gives them bu-th, are evidently the work of abilities far beyond my own, and filled Avith a wisdom to which I make no pretensions. It would ill be- come me, especially on an occasion like this, to usurp the seat of literary justice, and pronounce judgment upon them, even if satisfied, as I am not, that their defects were many. All I mean to say is, that it seems to me they too often, though filled with the wisdom of Egypt, the art of Greece, and the grandeur of Rome, though charged with the learning of the European Continent and instinct with the spirit of liberty that has moved with a mighty pre'sence from the Isle of Britain, yet fail to pro- duce and array, as they might, the facts that have borne upon our own past, and shape our immediate present, and will enter into our near and far future. Many of them have also been deficient, I think, in making that clear and distinctive presentation of the conditions of our pro- gress as a people, which would be useful to us, both as warning voices and as guiding hands. In attempting to do for our own section of the Union, what so many have foiled to do for other sections and for the whole, I may be undertaking that which is beyond the capabilities of a single discourse, and fail also. But feeling, in the broad and beautiful region of country to which I belong, an interest surpassed by that of no other man ; having watched its progress for a quarter of a cen- tury, with a closeness that has permitted little to pass un- observed ; and possessing some views as to its future ad- vancement, which are the result of my best reflections, I feel impelled, be the hazard what it may, to make the attempt. My subject divides itself naturally into two parts : the first, treating of the focts of our past progress ; the sec- ond, of the conditions of our future advancement. I. The Facts of Past Progress in the North-Western States. The facts of our past progress, I do not propose to show in anything like detail. This would be an encyclo- pedic task — even were it desu'able — for which I should not have time, nor you patience. Beside, our history is so recent, that its details are familiar to the minds of all of adult age. The general features of that progress, with the grand outline of the domain upon which it has been made, are all that I shall attempt to present. Peogress being one of those indefinite terms, which are made, in the using, to mean, at times, almost anything, and at other times almost nothing, it may be proper to determine its signification as employed in this discourse. Ordinarily, it is made to stand for almost anything in the nature of movement, physical, moral, or spiritual — for- ward, sidewise, or backward. Here, it is used in its most comprehensive sense, as the equivalent of the term Hu- man Civilization. But even this explanation may be un- satisfactory ; for Civilization itself is a word more easily understood through its popular signification, than defined from its classical origin. Symbolically, it may be de- scribed as a plant of everlasting growth, whose roots are in the nature of man, which germinates in his savage state, which sends up its stately trunk and develops its beautiful foliage in his political or social condition, which unfolds its flowers only in a state of human excellence that has not yet been reached by any nation of the earth, and which finally matures its fruits among the angels of heaven, in the Great Hereafter. Or it may be presented 6 as an unbroken chain of events and consequences, whose beginning is in the soul of man as he exists upon earth, whose hnks are perfect to the Eternal Eye, though to the human vision their connection is often lost, Avhose differ- ent sections stretch from historic epoch to epoch, under the Supreme design and guidance binding together the whole, and whose end is in the bosom of God. But in less abstract terms, Civilization may be de- scribed as that part of human progress which takes man in his savage or his nomadic state, — that state which had its type in the Gothic hordes before the Conquest of Rome, or that which is represented now by the wild In- dian tribes of the North- American Continent, — and in- structs his understanding, cultivates the affections of his heart, elevates his tastes and desires, improves his physi- cal condition, till he is endowed with the arts generally of peaceful and associated life : agriculture, commerce, trade, manufactures, science, painting, sculpture, music, litera- ture, and others of the more elegant and refining accom- plishments of Society. The art and the weapons of war belong to the nomadic and the savage state, as do also religions, and, to some extent, the marriage relation, with more or less skill in rude fabrics. These, therefore, are not peculiar to civili- zation, though existing with it, and carried by it to a condition of refinement of which their original state gives but the feeblest promise. Neither Christianity, nor a knowledge of God, is necessarily a part of human civilization, in all its first developments, even to a state of very great perfection. The Apostle Paul found a high civilization at Athens, 7 where temples the most beautiful the world has seen were dedicated, in express terms, "To the Unknown God." Robespierre lived amid the highest civilization known in the eighteenth century, and in it the names of God and Christ were both mocked, and Human Reason was enthroned as the Supreme Intelligence. Modem civilization, however — which is but another term for Christian civilization — has a more compre- hensive signification than the word Civilization simply. The ancient civilizations were essentially selfish. Kings, priests, and nobles, were the almost exclusive recipients of their bounties, while the masses of people remained ignorant, oppressed, superstitious, and were of little weight in either the church or the state.* Amid the splendors of those old civilizations, agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, flourished; the art of war was carefully cultivated; and, among the opulent and selfish few, the elegant arts, literature, science, and the refinements of life generally, were carried to a high state of perfection. But all this was for the castes and orders, and not for the masses of men. The results were, the elevation of the few, and the degradation of the many. From those ancient civilizations, the modern civiliza- tion differs essentially. It is emphatically the civilization of MAN: not that of kings, priests, and nobles. It is pervaded by the spirit of Love — the spirit of Jesus — which is a spuit of good to man. . It is full-charged with * From this general characterizing, the Hebrew civilization, which had the knowledge of God, and was in some peculiar manner under his immediate direction, is, of course, excepted. the promises of the Gospel, which promises come to all who shall hear and heed them. It speaks to the poor and lowly, as nothing else has spoken, but the voice of the Son of God. It says to the proud noble, whose brows are decked with a dazzling coronet, to the priest at the altar, dressed in his shining vestments, to the monarch on his imperial throne, whose word is fate to the millions over whom his dominion extends, and whose blazonry of diamonds, and stars of gold, and robes of purple, rival the luster of the glittering heavens: '-^Diist thou art, and unto dust slialt tliou return!'''' while to the humblest human being, who looks up from his low estate and his hard toil, and blesses God, it shouts: "Be of good cheer! Thou art a man! The Son knoweth thee, and the Father forge tteth thee never! The day of deliver- ance draweth nigh!" The ancient civilizations were sensuous: the modern civilization is spuitual. The ancient civilizations encour- aged distinctions: the modern civilization proclaims, in tones that thrill and echo through the universe, "God is no respecter of persons ! " The ancient civilizations made of woman a slave to man's caprices, appetites, and power, and denied her anything approaching to equality of state with him: the modern civilization declares her equality, praises and protects her virtues, seeks to educate her in- tellect and develop her deepest affections, and proclaims her "a ministering angel" amid the doubt, and suffering, and nefarious wrongs of life. The ancient civilizations built the pyramids and the palaces of Egypt, founded the mag- nificent empires and the rich cities of Asia, erected the tem- ples of Greece, and constructed the Appian Way and the 9 Roman Aqueducts: the modern civilization builds the common school, the christian church, the lunatic asylum, the institution for the blind, the school for the deaf and dumb, the hospital, and the almshouse. The ancient civilizations sent armies abroad, to conquer and subdue with the sword and with fire: the modern civilization sends the schoolmaster and the missionary abroad, to conquer and subdue with intellectual light, with gospel truth, with human and divine love. Such in itself, and such by contrast, is Modern Civ- ilization: the Progress of which I speak. Eighteen hundred years ago its seeds were sown in Palestine and the Holy Land, and since then they have been silently 10 but ceaselessly germinating, and springing up, and spread- ing over the world, which is sooner or later to feel their presence in its whole extent. Just at this time, from the wickedness and folly of other nations and the favors shown our own, the elements of a civilization still higher than even this, seem to be gathering on the wide territo- ries of the United States. The physical and moral grounds upon which this is basing itself, and the social and spiritual conditions of its advancement, are topics which would seem to be worthy the consideration of all classes, but especially of the Historical Student and the Christian Philosopher. On the North-American Continent, scooped out by the hand of Omnipotence with wonderful adaptation to the wants of man, and the purposes of his existence, lies the most stupendous and favored Inland Valley upon which the sun shines. Having for its eastern edge the Allegheny and the Cumberland Mountains, and for its western the Rocky Mountains and the Black Hills, for its northern rim the summitlands between Lake Win- nipeg and the headwaters of the Mississippi River, and for its southern the Guadalupe Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico, it extends in one direction over tAventy-four parallels of longitude, and in the other embraces eighteen degi'ees of latitude. Within it are all the varieties of temperate climate, and all the geological and topograph- ical features that are essential to fit it for the residence of man. It produces in perfection all the fraits and vegetables that are most valued by civilized communities for wholesome and nutritive properties, and all the grains 11 that are so associated with the history of mankind, as to have received the name of "the staff of life." Its rivers are the most wonderful known to Christendom, and its lakes are so large, and commercially so important, as to have been designated " inland seas." Its mineral wealth is beyond computation; the richness of its soil is inex- haustible; and its general adaptation to the purposes of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, is unsurpassed, perhaps unequaled, by that of any other part of the earth. GeogTaphically, it is difficult to conceive of anything better than the position of this great valley, whose plains stretch west from the base of the Allegheny Mountains to the Mississippi River, with an almost uniform pitch in that direction, and east from the base of the Rocky Mountains to the same water, with an almost uniform pitch in this direction, the two natural divisions meeting in that great trough, and finding on its edges their lowest common level. Into the immense channel on this level, pour, generally in an east and southeast direction, the waters from the hither slopes of the Rocky Mountains, and the drainage from the western half of the great valley: into it also pour, generally in a west and south- west direction, the waters from the hither slopes of the Alleghenies, and the drainage of the eastern half of the valley: showing that not only have the two natural divisions of this Great Basin Plain an eastern and a western declivity, but that both divisions have also a common pitch to the south, which at the same time canies their surplus waters into the Gulf of Mexico, exposes their fertile bosoms to the warm and generating 12 "beams of the sun, and secures to them an unfaihng prevalence of gentle and salubrious winds. The western of these two natural divisions of the great valley under view, is for the most part a desert land, and much of it mast for a long course of years remain so. Some of it, also, is totally unfitted for the abode of man, and will forever continue an uninhabited waste. But the uniformly cultivable character of the eastern division, is one of the most remarkable features of this region. This division is watered as is no other known country, and di- vided into uplands and lowlands, hillranges and interve- ning valleys, heavily-timbered tracts and naked prauies, which alternate over much of its surface in a manner the most favorable to the productive interests of life. Up- land and loAvland, prairie and forest, alil^e have a soil of great fertility, the capacity of which to produce, under good tillage, is inexhaustible. In this division of the great valley, natural and artifi- cial causes have induced a subdivision, the more impor- tant part of which is called the North- West. The region thus known has an almost uniform south-western expo- sure, and embraces nearly the whole of the valley north of thu-ty-six degrees thirty minutes, stretching from the western slopes of the Alleghenies to the Mississippi River, and beyond that great natural Hue ascending the west- ern division first to the eighteenth parallel of longitude west fi'om Washington, then to the nineteenth parallel, and finally (in Minnesota) to the twentieth. This region, as now organized and civilly divided, embraces the States of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Michi- gan, Iowa, and Wisconsin, with Minnesota Territory, 13 the aggregate superficial area of wliich is 478,349 square miles — to which I add a small strip of Western Virginia and Western Pennsylvania lying immediately upon the Ohio River, and on its two forming tributaries chiefly near their point of confluence, and obtain, in round numbers, the grand territoral extent of 500,000 square miles, or three hundred and twenty millions of acres : * a territorial superficies greater than the entire extent of the Original Thuieen States of the Union. This is the great field of observation, that is now spread before me. And ere surveying it, with a view to my ulti- mate purpose, it is necessary to go back to some specific period, as a starting point from which to trace its pro- gTess. We are now just at the middle of a hundred years. The meridian line of the nineteenth century is over our heads. Fifty years is but a short time in the his- tory of great nations: and fifty years ago the oldest State t of this region, was admitted into the Union. To the be- ginning of this century, then, let us turn, for a moment, and see what there was in the region under vieAV, at that time, to invite the presence of civilized man. At Pitts- burgh, at Marietta, at Cincinnati, at the Falls of the Ohio, on the Muskingum, the Kentucky, the Wabash, the Up- per Mississippi, and the Illinois Rivers, and scattered about at a few other points, Avere small villages, composed in part of hardy adventurers, soldiers, and traders, in a small degree of men of education and ambition, who had sought * See note A. t Kentucky, it is true, was admitted in 1792, but did not fairly get "under way" as a State till 1799, when she amended her Constitution. 14 the region that they might grow up with it to wealth and distinction, and to some extent of religious missionaries and their converts from among the aboriginal tribes. There were none of the refinements of life here, and but few of its comforts. The whole population of the State of Kentucky was then 220,955 persons, that of what is now the State of Ohio was 45,oC5, and that of Indiana 4,875. And this was about all : 271,195 persons, scattered over an area of 500,000 square miles — making an average of one person to a fraction less than two square miles. On the Ohio River were a few barges and keelboats, and now and then one or two of this description of craft would ascend the Upper Mississippi to St. Louis; but the waters of the Illinois, the Wabash, and other streams, and those also of the Lakes, were still swept by the birchen bark of the Indian. Ten years later, Kentucky had a population of 406,511 persons, Ohio of 230,700, Indiana of 24,520, Missouri of 20,845, lUinois of 12,282, and Michigan of 4,762 : making an agregate of 699,680, or one person on the average to about every three quarters of a mile square. The tide of emigration had now fairly set in this direc- tion. Little communities were pitching their tents and building then' cabins on most of the better streams. The settler's ax resounded through the depths of the wilder- ness in all directions, and the blue smoke curled above the tops of the tall trees, at once advising newcomers of the presence of a habitation, and giving the watcliful sav- age note of a place where he might strike at those who were encroaching on his old heritage. The Indians were now receding fast before the whites — going reluctantly, but 15 every year further and further — then' dark forms disap- pearing in the recesses of the wilderness, as the dusky shadows of a dark and unblcst age, recede and disappear before the light of a high, christian civilization. And all this continued — and in another period of ten years, the population of the region had swelled to 1,423,622. A new agent of civilization and settlement was now in- troduced. The keel of the steamboat had been plowing the waters of the West for three or four years. This de- scription of navigation was no longer a mere experiment. Speaking relatively to what was then attempted, it had succeeded ; and every time the escape of steam or the splash of the paddles woke the echoes of the still solitary shores, a requiem sounded for the departing Indian, and a song of gladness went up for the arrival of his adventur- ous successor. The genius of Fulton was, in the hands of these adventurers, the Lamp of Aladin : it opened to them freely the doors of the Great West, fi'ightened away their enemies, and displayed to their enraptured gaze, the many and ghttering charms of this beautiful land. And still the paddles dashed the waters — and still the pier- cing shriek of the escapepipe woke the deep echoes — and still the child of the forest receded further and further — and still rolled on the stream of emigration, through the gaps of the Cumberland, over the bights of the AUeghenies, down into the rich valley through which coursed the calm waters of the Ohio. And another period of ten years passed — the third decade in the half century — and the population was become 2,298,390. By this time, over nearly the whole broad bosom of the region which I have mapped out, were scattered the habi- 16 tations of men, and introduced the institutions of christian, civilized life. In the interiors of its different sections, the wigwams of the savage had given place to the cabins of the newcomers, and the farmhouses of the first settlers. On the small streams, which everywhere sent up their glad voices, giving to the deep solitude a tongue that was eloquent, the hand of enterprise had taken the wil- ling waters, and borne them to the clattering wheels of the manufactory, where they labored and yet sported, and, like virtue, were overruled and yet free. On the broad lakes, on the mighty rivers, the arm of Steam — " That flesliless arm, whose pulses leap With floods of living fire," — was propelling the gigantic hull, freighted with hundreds of human beings, coming from afar to cultivate the land, to fabricate its crude products, to engage in trade and commerce, to " multiply and replenish the earth." On the great natural highAvays, populous cities had taken the place of the primeval groves, and the schoolhouse, the church, the depots of commerce, and the elegant mansion, invited the on-coming multitudes to seek in and around them new and better homes. And the years of the fourth decade Avere told, and the population had swelled to 4,131,370 souls. Still went on the Avork. The seat of a commerce of hundreds of milhons per year, was this now populous region.* The marts of its trade Avere filled Avith the sur- plus products of its soil, Avhich were borne away in thou- sands of vessels, to feed the hungry in less-favored lands. * See note B. 17 Its flocks were feeding on unnumbered hills, and in count- less fields its crops sprang up, and ripened, and bowed be- fore the sickle. That subtle Power, which by water had brought its myriads of people to its generous bosom, and borne its rich products away in exchange for what its own son did not yield, scorned longer to be confined to the rivers and the lakes, and their comparatively slow-moving keels. Springing upon the diy land, and seeking the iron tracks which science and labor had laid on the lev- eled earth, he clutched the loaded car with his invisible fingers, and bore it from point to point, for hundreds of miles, with an ease and a velocity before unknown — " The beatings of his mighty heart" still sounding through the storm or the calm, and giving the only note of his approach, as he rushed through for- est and field, over streams and marshes, and around the bases of many hills, with his gigantic burden. Nor was this enough. For commerce it might have been, and for bodily transit from place to place, but not for thought. And next flashed upon human genius the still more sub- tle essence of the electric spark ; and hither came its Avhis- pering wires, stretching from hill to hill and from state to state, crossing mountains, leaping ravines, spanning rivers, and bearing to the depths of this far Interior, in the twinkling of an eye, the message spoken a thousand miles away, on the outer rim of the vast Continent. And the human tide has still rolled on and on — and the re- moter forests of this region have been pierced and sub- dued, tni the solitudes that, at the period from which this retrospect started, heard only the eternal chime of the 2 18 Falls of St. Anthony, and the wild voices of the dark Chippeways, are filling with the homes of civilized man, and becoming vocal with prayers and hymns of thanks- giving to God. And the fifth decade has gone by, and seven millions now number the population of this region, which a half century ago, as was shown, contained less than 300,000 souls!* Only two prominent facts remain to be mentioned, as entering into and assisting this wonderful progress. One of them is that blessed boon, the Ordinance of 1787, which sprang from the profound regard of the Fathers of the Republic for the Rights of Man, and forever closed the doors of all that part of the region under view, which lies north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi rivers, against the entrance of human slavery ; the other is the evidence which the settlement of this region has afforded, that it lies in just that geographical belt of the globe, to which the natural sagacity of man leads him, when he is departing from an old and seeking a new home. These two facts, I shaU consider together. The circumstances that connected them, indeed, render them almost inseparable. A year ago, in preparing for publication some historical and statistical matter about the North- West, I had occa- sion to construct a series of tables, for the purpose of ex- hibiting the influence of lines of latitude on increase of population. Though I shall not burden your minds with a repetition of these tables here, yet some of the results thus obtained I shaU use, as fuUy answering my present purpose. And, with a 'view to what is to be done here as * See note C. 19 well as to what has been done, I start out with the distinct proposition, already intimated, that the region of country of which I am treating — the North-West — lies in the geographical belt the most favorable of any, to the growth and support of a numerous, athletic, free, and enterprising people. There is an accepted theory among political econo- mists, I know, that, as the productiveness of land depends principally on heat and moisture, and these increase as the equator is approached, the nearer you go to that line the more luxuriant and uninterrupted becomes the vegetation; and hence the completer the abundance of food, and the greater the capacity of supporting a numer- ous population. * And to sustain this theory elaborate tables have been constructed, setting forth, among other things, that maize, which produces forty or fifty for one in France, will produce one hundred and fifty on the average in Mexico; that an arpent of land, which will scarcely support two men when sown in wheat, will support fifty when planted in bananas; that the same extent of ground which supports four persons at the latitude of sixty degrees north, will support fifteen at the latitude of forty-five, and one hundred at (0) the equator; and that as eighty-five is to thirty-five, so is the productiveness of the useful soil within thirty degrees of the equator, as compared with that of the useful soil beyond thirty degrees and within sixty — the latter being capable of supporting two hundred persons to each square mile, and the former four hundred and ninety persons. Though mean temperature, which is influenced by altitude, as well as latitude, is an important element in 20 calculations of this kind, and may very materially modify the preceding theory, yet, that this theory is true in respect to that sort of persons whom bananas and other tropical fruits will produce and satisfy, I do not care to dispute. Indeed, so far as the theory applies to mere numbers, I am willing to admit its correctness. But mere numbers do not make great nations. The men of bananas are not the men of muscle or mind — not the men among whom free. Christian institutions can be successfully introduced, and the arts of production, fabrication, and exchange be made to flourish. The latitude of the banana may present fascinations to an effeminate emigra- tion, as that in which Nature produces food without the necessity of physical or intellectual exertion on the part of those who are to consume it, and in which clothes are not among the necessaries of life. So, too, a barbarian emigration, driven by wars or oppressions from the frozen North, may seek again the latitude of the polar bear, whose flesh will satisfy the cravings of hunger, and whose skin protect from the severity of cold — the natural enemy to be encountered being thus converted, as it were, into the fi?iend that feeds and clothes. But the latitude of the cereal grains, of the wholesome and various fruits of the northern temperate zone, of wool, and flax, and hemp, is that which a civlUzed emigration will seek. And this is the latitude of The North- West — the region which I have designated "the most favorable of any, to the growth and support of a numerous, athletic, free, and enterprising population." Let us see, now, what the history of the last half century will say to this theory. By the year 1800, 21 the American people had achieved their political Inde- pendence, and fairly started in their career of national greatness. The principal states then south of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, were North Carolina, South Caro- lina, and Georgia — contiguous territory, and all lying on the Atlantic seaboard. The aggregate superficial area of these states is 131,500 square miles. Their total popu- lation in the year 1800 was 985,795, and in 1840, 2,039,209. The nearest equivalent, in states, which can be found to the preceding area, on the seaboard north of thirty- six degrees thirty minutes, is composed of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland — all, likewise, contiguous territory. The aggregate superficial area of these states is 130,853 square miles. Their total population in the year 1800 was 2,571,330, and in 1840, 6,335,904. This shows an increase, in forty years, of 3,764,574, or 146 per cent.* By these figures it is shown, that the natural saga- city which, previous to the j^ear 1800, had planted a population of 2,571,330 persons on an area of about 131,000 square miles of territory north of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, and a population of only 985,795 persons on an equal area south of that parallel, manifested itself thereafter in even a more striking degree, for the period of forty years — increasing the population of the former territory during that time 146 per cent., and that of the latter not quite 107 per cent. Or, varying the * See note D. 22 form of the statement a little, and extending the length of the period by taking an official estimate of population from 1840 to 1850, we have these comparative results, as to the two areas: Population to the square mile of the area north in 1800, 19i; of the area south, 7i. Popu- lation to the square mile of the area north in 1850, 54i; of the area south, 14i. Showing that, in the space of half a century, a particular area on the Atlantic slope, north of thirty -six degrees thirty minutes, increased its population thkty-five to the square mile, while an equiva- lent area on the same slope, south of that parallel, increased its population only seven to the square mile. And now, in order to take a more comprehensive view, and for the sake of entke fairness, let us leave the sea- board, and pass over the Allegheny and the Cumberland Mountains, down into the great Inland VaUey described at the opening of this discourse. According to the elaborate Report pubhshed from the General Land Office in Washington City, in 1849, the entire extent of organized territory in the United States is 1,419,405 square miles.* Pursuing the parallel thu'ty-six degrees thirty minutes through this, from the Atlantic coast to the western line, we have 701,057 square miles as the proportion of the southern division, and 718,348 square mUes as the proportion of the northern division. These two divisions of the organized territory of the United States, by an east and west line, are so nearly equal in extent, as to make the presentation of their * See note E. 23 aggregate and separate populations, past and present, a matter of deep interest. THREE PERIODS. 1830. 1840. 1850. Aggregate population, 12,866,920 17,063,353 21,412,230 Northern division, 9,622,016 12,724,065 16,009,290 Southern division, 3,244,904 4,339,288 5,402,940 By this statement it appears, that while the southern division has in twenty years increased its aggregate num- bers QQ^ per cent, on a population of 3,244,904, the northern division has in the same period increased 66^ per cent., on three times that population ! Or, in other words, while the southern division, which twenty years ago had an average population of 4 6-10 persons to the square mile of her territory, has now an average of 7 7-10, the northern division, which twenty years ago had an average of 13 4-10 persons to the square mile, has now an average of 22 3-10: the latter having increased her numbers nearly nine to the square mile since the year 1830, and the former having increased hers but a fraction over three to the square mile ! Another thing appears from this statement, which is not be overlooked, viz., that while within a very small fraction of a full half of the entire or- ganized territory of the United States lies south of thirty- six degrees thirty minutes, yet north of that parallel is almost full three-fourths of our entire population ! Why, now, is this so ? Why, even supposing original settlement to have been somewhat in favor of the north side of the line — why is it that the disparity existing between the two divisions a half century ago, has been growing greater and greater ever since, and always in 24 favor of the region north of the dividing line ? Can any other answer be given than this ? That, after proper al- lowance for the influence of freedom in the one, and slavery in the other, it is because the natural sagacity of which we have spoken instinctively seeks the temperate regions of the North- West, with their cereal grains, their superior meats, their abundant fruits, their wholesome vegetables, their wool, flax, and hemp, rather than the hotter clime of the South-West in the same longitude, with its cotton, sugar, rice, maize, and its yams, oranges, and " hananas.^^ And this brings us directly to another point in this part of the argument. Official documents show, that of the pubhc lands of the United States subject to location on military warrants, under the act of February, 1847, nearly a foil half (47 i per cent.) was, at the time of the passage of that act, in the States of the South-West. In- telligent persons will not have forgotten, that in the some- what celebrated "Address of Southern Delegates in CongTess to their Constituents," agreed upon in Washing- ton City on the 22d of January, 1849, it was claimed that the South had furnished for the Mexican War about two thirds of the entire number of volunteers, leaving one third for the North. But we will cany^ a part of this claim to the credit of that harmless gasconade in which Southern Members of Congress are somewhat prone to indulge, and suppose that the two divisions of the Union, cut by the parallel thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, furnished about equal portions of the volunteers for the War. Well, then — official documents, again, show that to the 1st of Jan- uary, 1849, a total of 2,533,429 acres of land had been located on warrants under the law of February, 1847 — 25 2,358,229 acres of which was located in the North-West, and only 175,200 acres in the South- West.* Allow me to repeat : — The lands subject to entry as aforesaid lay about half and half in each of the two sec- tions, North- West and South-Wcst; the volunteers to whom the warrants were issued, belonged in nearly equal numbers to the two great divisions of the country, the North and the South ; yet 93 per cent, of the locations the first two years are made in the North- West, and but 7 per cent, in. the South-West ! A very large propor- tion of the waiTants, it is true, had passed out of the hands of the original holders, the volunteers, into those of speculators, and emigrants seeking settlement; but that does not in the least change the nature of the argu- ment, or affect its strength. The demonstration seems to me to be one of singular clearness and force. Natural Sagacity was free to act as it pleased. With its warrant in its hand, it could look to the South-West and to the North- West, and make choice as it listed. And it did so look and make choice. And what do they indicate ? Clearly, to my mind, that *See Note F. 26 here, in this region of vast capabilities, whose physical features I have hastily dehneated, and whose material and moral progress I have portrayed in general terms, is to be tried an Experiment in Humanity, higher in its character, and sublimer in its results, than any yet known. Hither- ward come not alone the Christian institutions of eighteen centuries, and the art, literature, philosophy, and science of six thousand years, but the men of all nations, distrust- ing the teachings of the past, unsatisfied with the courses of the present, and hopeful only of the future. My own idea is that here, on this magnificent domain — this un- dulating plain, that extends from the beautiftil bases of the Allegheny Mountains to the broad, fertile shores of the Mississippi River, and stretches its arms from near the thirty-sixth quite to the forty-second degree of north lati- tude — are in time to be witnessed the freest forms of social development, and the highest order of human civili- zation. The immediate present is manifestly an era of transi- tion, in all this region. That State which was the first here erected, has just laid aside the organic law which she adopted a half century ago, and entered on a new career under a Constitution more popular in its forms. The ex- ample of Kentucky, Ohio is now about to follow ; and the General Assembly of this State will doubtless hold its next sittings, under an organic law altogether more popular in its provisions, and more suitable for the constitution of a free, numerous, and progressive people, than that with which we commenced our career, forty-seven years ago. The same forward impulse, is influencing the whole of this North-West region. Illinois adopted a new Constitu- 27 tion two years ago. Indiana will meet in Convention in October next, and frame an organic law more promotive than the present one, of the great interests of her people. Michigan, erected into a State only fifteen years ago, has already outgrown her constitutional garments, and deter- mined to try the virtues of new ones, in her future strides to greatness. Principles, of popular right and social ne- cessity, not recognized when these several States were or- ganized, lie at the bottom of all these changes. But it is not in reference to political constitutions alone, that this era of transition is manifested. A humaner spirit of legislation is seeking to secure to every family its Homestead, beyond the contingencies of trade, misfor- tune, or chicanery. Attention is also turning every day, more and more, to the inequalities of woman in the mari- tal state ; and it is not extravagant to hope that ere long, to wed will not be to dispossess her of the ownership and control of property with which she enters into the marriage relation. But it would be tedious, and is unnecessary, to specify all the various indications given, that a Day is dawning upon this North- Western region, which will come with a light that shall penetrate many a poor home that is now dark, and a warmth that shall reach and bless its now shivering inmates, and a voice that shall sound cheer- ingly in their dull and listless ears, awaking them to a just sense of their real dignity and importance in the so- cial scale, by proclaiming to them that they are neither slaves nor nonentities, but true men and women. 