# The American Cyclopædia (1879)/United States of America

Edition of 1879. See also United States on Wikipedia; and the disclaimer. Geography and history section by Hawes, geology section by Hunt, zoölogy section by Kneeland, finance section by Knox, botany section by Thurber.
​UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, a federal republic in North America, comprising the central portion of the continent and the territory of Alaska, separated from the rest by British Columbia. (See Alaska.) The main portion lies between lat. 24° 30′ and 49° 24′ N. (at the lake of the Woods, W. of which the boundary follows the 49th parallel), and lon. 66° 50′ and 124° 45′ W. It is bounded N. by British America, from which it is in part separated by Lakes Superior, Huron, St. Clair, Erie, and Ontario, with their connecting streams, and the river St. Lawrence (see Canada, vol. iii., p. 672); E. by New Brunswick and the Atlantic ocean; S. by the gulf and republic of Mexico, from which it is partly separated by the Rio Grande; and W. by the Pacific ocean.
| Obverse | Reverse |
| Great Seal of the United States |||
| [The device for the great seal of the United States, as adopted by act of the continental congress on June 20, 1782, and readopted by the new congress, Sept. 15, 1789, provided for an obverse and a reverse, substantially as here depicted; but there is no evidence that the reverse was ever made. In the obverse as originally adopted, the eagle held in his sinister talon a bundle of thirteen arrows, and the first seal was thus made; but when, in 1841, a new seal was made to take the place of the old one, which had become worn, only six arrows were put into the eagle's talon. Whether this change, which was unauthorized by law, was made by design or by accident, is not known.] |||
The British American boundary, according to the war department map (1869), measures 3,540 m.; the Mexican, 1,550 m. The greatest length, from Cape Cod on the Atlantic to the Pacific near the 42d parallel, is nearly 2,800 m., and the greatest breadth, from the N. W. extremity of Minnesota to the southernmost point of Texas, 1,600 m.; general breadth, about 1,200 m. The area, according to Walker's “Statistical Atlas of the United States,” is 3,026,494 sq. m. (exclusive of lakes and river surfaces bounding the republic or the single states), of which 827,844 sq. m. belonged ​to the republic at the peace of 1783, 1,171,931 sq. m. were added by the Louisiana purchase from France in 1803 (supplemented by the Oregon treaty with Great Britain in 1846), 59,268 sq. m. by the Spanish cession of 1819, and 967,451 sq. m. from Mexico, viz.: 376,133 sq. m. by the annexation of Texas in 1845, 545,783 sq. m. by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, and 45,535 sq. m. by the Gadsden purchase in 1853.—The republic is divided into 37 states, one federal district (District of Columbia, ceded by Maryland), nine organized territories, and two unorganized territories (Alaska and Indian territory). By the act of congress of March 3, 1875, Colorado is authorized to frame a constitution and to submit it to a vote of the people in July, 1876, when, in case of its adoption, the president is to issue a proclamation declaring the territory admitted into the Union as a state. A bill for the admission of New Mexico as a state passed the senate March 10, 1876, and is (June 1) pending before the house of representatives. For convenience the states are generally classified by geographers as follows: eastern or New England states, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut; middle states, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware; southern states, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky; western states, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska; Pacific states, California, Oregon, Nevada. Another classification is: Atlantic and Pacific states, those on the Atlantic and Pacific slopes respectively; gulf states, those bordering on the gulf of Mexico; southwestern states, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas; northwestern states, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska; central states, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee. The slave states, those in which slavery existed at the outbreak of the civil war, numbered 15, viz.: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia (then including West Virginia), North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri; the others were known as the free states. Of the states, 13 existed at the formation of the constitution, and 24 have been admitted under its provisions. Of these one (Texas) was an independent republic, four were formed directly from other states (Kentucky from Virginia, Maine from Massachusetts, Vermont from territories claimed by New York and previously also by New Hampshire, and West Virginia from Virginia), and the rest were created from the public domain. The following tables contain a list of the states and territories, with various particulars. The second and third columns of the first give for the original states the date and order of ratification of the federal constitution, for the other states the date and order of admission into the Union, and for the territories the date and order of organization. The areas are taken from the report of the census of 1870. Many of these, as well as the general figures given above, are based mainly on approximative computations. In a few instances slightly different figures have been given in the articles on the states and territories, those in Pennsylvania being the estimate of the state geologist. The aggregate population in the second table includes tribal Indians, as estimated by the superintendent of the census in 1870.
CAPITALS. :
| Alabama | 1819 | 9 | 50,722 | 16 | Montgomery. |
| Arkansas | 1836 | 12 | 52,198 | 15 | Little Rock. |
| California | 1850 | 18 | 188,981 | 2 | Sacramento. |
| Connecticut | 1788 | 5 | 4,750 | 35 | Hartford. |
| Delaware | 1787 | 1 | 2,120 | 36 | Dover. |
| Florida | 1845 | 14 | 59,268 | 9 | Tallahassee. |
| Georgia | 1788 | 4 | 58,000 | 10 | Atlanta. |
| Illinois | 1818 | 8 | 55,410 | 12 | Springfield. |
| Indiana | 1816 | 6 | 83,809 | 28 | Indianapolis. |
| Iowa | 1846 | 16 | 55,045 | 13 | Des Moines. |
| Kansas | 1861 | 21 | 81,318 | 6 | Topeka. |
| Kentucky | 1792 | 2 | 37,680 | 25 | Frankfort. |
| Louisiana | 1812 | 5 | 41,346 | 22 | New Orleans. |
| Maine | 1820 | 10 | 35,000 | 26 | Augusta. |
| Maryland | 1788 | 7 | 11,124 | 30 | Annapolis. |
| Massachusetts | 1788 | 6 | 7,800 | 34 | Boston. |
| Michigan | 1837 | 13 | 56,451 | 11 | Lansing. |
| Minnesota | 1858 | 19 | 83,531 | 5 | St. Paul. |
| Mississippi | 1817 | 7 | 47,156 | 18 | Jackson. |
| Missouri | 1821 | 11 | 65,350 | 8 | Jefferson City. |
| Nebraska | 1867 | 24 | 75,995 | 7 | Lincoln. |
| Nevada | 1864 | 23 | 104,125 | 3 | Carson City. |
| New Hampshire | 1788 | 9 | 9,280 | 32 | Concord. |
| New Jersey | 1787 | 3 | 8,320 | 33 | Trenton. |
| New York | 1788 | 11 | 47,000 | 19 | Albany. |
| North Carolina | 1789 | 12 | 50,704 | 17 | Raleigh. |
| Ohio | 1802 | 4 | 39,964 | 23 | Columbus. |
| Oregon | 1859 | 20 | 95,274 | 4 | Salem. |
| Pennsylvania | 1787 | 2 | 46,000 | 20 | Harrisburg. |
| Rhode Island | 1790 | 13 | 1,306 | 37 | Newport and Providence. |
| South Carolina | 1788 | 8 | 34,000 | 27 | Columbia. |
| Tennessee | 1796 | 3 | 45,600 | 21 | Nashville. |
| Texas | 1845 | 15 | 274,356 | 1 | Austin. |
| Vermont | 1791 | 1 | 10,212 | 31 | Montpelier. |
| Virginia | 1788 | 10 | 38,348 | 24 | Richmond. |
| West Virginia | 1868 | 22 | 23,000 | 29 | Wheeling. |
| Wisconsin | 1848 | 17 | 53,924 | 14 | Madison. |
| Total states | . . . . | . . | 1,984,467 | | |
| TERRITORIES. | | | | | |
| Arizona | 1863 | 7 | 113,916 | 4 | Tucson. |
| Colorado | 1861 | 5 | 104,500 | 5 | Denver. |
| Dakota | 1861 | 6 | 148,932 | 1 | Yankton. |
| Dist. of Columbia | 1801 | 1 | 64 | 11 | Washington. |
| Idaho | 1863 | 8 | 86,294 | 7 | Boisé City. |
| Indian Territory | . . . . | . . | 68,991 | 10 | . . . . . . . . |
| Montana | 1864 | 9 | 145,776 | 2 | Helena. |
| New Mexico | 1850 | 3 | 121,201 | 3 | Santa Fé. |
| Utah | 1850 | 2 | 84,476 | 8 | Salt Lake City. |
| Washington | 1853 | 4 | 69,994 | 9 | Olympia. |
| Wyoming | 1868 | 10 | 97,883 | 6 | Cheyenne. |
| Total territories | . . . . | . . | 1,042,027 | . . | |
| Total U. S., exclusive of Alaska | . . . . | . . | 3,026,494 | . . | |
| Alaska | 1867 | . . | 577,390 | . . | Sitka. |
| Total United States | . . . . | . . | 3,603,884 | . . | Washington. |
Aggregate population, including  tribal Indians. :
| STATES. | White. | Rank in white population. | Colored. | Rank in colored population. | Born in the United States. | Rank in native population. | Born in foreign countries. | Rank in foreign population. | Total, including Chinese and non-tribal Indians. | Rank in total population. | Population per square mile. | Rank in density of population. | Aggregate population, including tribal Indians. |
| Alabama | 521,384 | 21 | 475,510 | 3 | 987,030 | 14 | 9,962 | 32 | 996,992 | 16 | 19.66 | 23 | 996,992 |
| Arkansas | 362,115 | 26 | 122,169 | 12 | 479,445 | 24 | 5,026 | 35 | 484,471 | 26 | 9.30 | 29 | 484,471 |
| California | 499,424 | 22 | 4,272 | 29 | 350,416 | 27 | 209,831 | 9 | 560,247 | 24 | 2.96 | 34 | 582,031 |
| Connecticut | 527,549 | 20 | 9,668 | 26 | 423,815 | 26 | 113,639 | 14 | 537,454 | 25 | 113.15 | 3 | 537,454 |
| Delaware | 102,221 | 34 | 22,794 | 21 | 115,879 | 34 | 9,136 | 33 | 125,015 | 34 | 58.97 | 9 | 125,015 |
| Florida | 96,057 | 35 | 91,689 | 14 | 182,781 | 32 | 4,967 | 36 | 187,748 | 33 | 3.17 | 32 | 188,248 |
| Georgia | 638,926 | 16 | 545,142 | 1 | 1,172,982 | 10 | 11,127 | 31 | 1,184,109 | 12 | 20.42 | 22 | 1,184,109 |
| Illinois | 2,511,096 | 4 | 28,762 | 19 | 2,024,693 | 4 | 515,198 | 3 | 2,539,891 | 4 | 45.84 | 11 | 2,539,891 |
| Indiana | 1,655,837 | 5 | 24,560 | 20 | 1,539,163 | 5 | 141,474 | 13 | 1,680,637 | 6 | 49.71 | 10 | 1,680,637 |
| Iowa | 1,188,207 | 8 | 5,762 | 27 | 989,328 | 13 | 204,692 | 10 | 1,194,020 | 11 | 21.69 | 21 | 1,192,092 |
| Kansas | 346,377 | 28 | 17,108 | 23 | 316,007 | 28 | 48,392 | 21 | 364,399 | 29 | 4.48 | 31 | 373,299 |
| Kentucky | 1,098,692 | 10 | 222,210 | 10 | 1,257,613 | 7 | 63,398 | 16 | 1,321,011 | 8 | 35.33 | 12 | 1,321,011 |
| Louisiana | 362,065 | 27 | 364,210 | 7 | 665,088 | 22 | 61,827 | 18 | 726,915 | 21 | 17.58 | 27 | 726,915 |
| Maine | 624,809 | 17 | 1,606 | 31 | 578,034 | 23 | 48,881 | 20 | 626,915 | 23 | 17.91 | 26 | 626,915 |
| Maryland | 605,497 | 18 | 175,391 | 11 | 697,482 | 20 | 83,412 | 15 | 780,894 | 20 | 70.20 | 7 | 780,894 |
| Massachusetts | 1,443,156 | 7 | 13,947 | 24 | 1,104,032 | 11 | 353,319 | 6 | 1,457,351 | 7 | 186.84 | 1 | 1,457,351 |
| Michigan | 1,167,282 | 9 | 11,849 | 25 | 916,049 | 15 | 268,010 | 7 | 1,184,059 | 13 | 20.97 | 19 | 1,187,234 |
| Minnesota | 438,257 | 23 | 759 | 34 | 279,009 | 31 | 160,697 | 12 | 439,706 | 28 | 5.26 | 30 | 446,056 |
| Mississippi | 382,896 | 25 | 444,201 | 4 | 816,731 | 16 | 11,191 | 30 | 827,922 | 18 | 17.56 | 28 | 827,322 |
| Missouri | 1,603,146 | 6 | 118,071 | 13 | 1,499,028 | 6 | 222,267 | 8 | 1,721,295 | 5 | 26.34 | 17 | 1,721,295 |
| Nebraska | 122,117 | 33 | 789 | 33 | 92,245 | 35 | 30,748 | 23 | 122,993 | 35 | 1.62 | 35 | 129,322 |
| Nevada | 38,959 | 37 | 357 | 36 | 23,690 | 37 | 18,801 | 26 | 42,491 | 37 | 0.41 | 37 | 58,711 |
| New Hampshire | 317,697 | 30 | 580 | 35 | 288,689 | 29 | 29,611 | 24 | 318,300 | 31 | 34.30 | 13 | 318,300 |
| New Jersey | 875,407 | 13 | 30,658 | 18 | 717,153 | 18 | 188,943 | 11 | 906,096 | 17 | 108.91 | 4 | 906,096 |
| New York | 4,330,210 | 1 | 52,081 | 17 | 3,244,406 | 1 | 1,138,353 | 1 | 4,382,759 | 1 | 93.25 | 5 | 4,387,464 |
| North Carolina | 678,470 | 15 | 391,650 | 6 | 1,068,332 | 12 | 3,029 | 37 | 1,071,361 | 14 | 21.13 | 18 | 1,071,361 |
| Ohio | 2,601,946 | 3 | 63,213 | 16 | 2,292,767 | 3 | 372,493 | 4 | 2,665,260 | 3 | 66.69 | 8 | 2,665,260 |
| Oregon | 86,929 | 36 | 346 | 37 | 79,323 | 36 | 11,600 | 29 | 90,923 | 36 | 0.95 | 36 | 101,883 |
| Pennsylvania | 3,456,609 | 2 | 65,294 | 15 | 2,976,642 | 2 | 545,309 | 2 | 3,521,951 | 2 | 76.56 | 6 | 3,521,890 |
| Rhode Island | 212,219 | 32 | 4,980 | 28 | 161,957 | 33 | 55,396 | 19 | 217,353 | 32 | 166.43 | 2 | 217,353 |
| South Carolina | 289,667 | 31 | 415,814 | 5 | 697,532 | 19 | 8,074 | 34 | 705,606 | 22 | 20.75 | 20 | 705,606 |
| Tennessee | 936,119 | 12 | 322,331 | 8 | 1,239,204 | 8 | 19,316 | 25 | 1,258,520 | 9 | 27.60 | 16 | 1,258,520 |
| Texas | 564,700 | 19 | 258,475 | 9 | 756,168 | 17 | 62,411 | 17 | 818,579 | 19 | 2.98 | 33 | 818,899 |
| Vermont | 329,613 | 29 | 924 | 32 | 283,396 | 30 | 47,155 | 22 | 330,551 | 30 | 32.37 | 14 | 330,551 |
| Virginia | 712,089 | 14 | 512,841 | 2 | 1,211,409 | 9 | 13,754 | 28 | 1,225,163 | 10 | 31.95 | 15 | 1,225,163 |
| West Virginia | 424,033 | 24 | 17,980 | 22 | 424,923 | 25 | 17,091 | 27 | 442,014 | 27 | 19.22 | 25 | 442,014 |
| Wisconsin | 1,051,351 | 11 | 2,113 | 30 | 690,171 | 21 | 364,499 | 5 | 1,054,670 | 15 | 19.56 | 24 | 1,064,985 |
| Total states | 33,203,128 | . . | 4,835,106 | . . | 32,642,612 | . . | 5,473,029 | . . | 38,115,641 | . . | 19.21 | . . | 38,203,210 |
| TERRITORIES. | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Arizona | 9,581 | 9 | 26 | 9 | 3,849 | 10 | 5,809 | 6 | 9,658 | 9 | 0.08 | 10 | 41,710 |
| Colorado | 39,221 | 4 | 456 | 2 | 33,265 | 4 | 6,599 | 5 | 39,864 | 4 | 0.38 | 4 | 47,164 |
| Dakota | 12,887 | 7 | 94 | 7 | 9,366 | 7 | 4,815 | 9 | 14,181 | 8 | 0.09 | 8 | 40,501 |
| Dist. of Columbia | 88,278 | 2 | 43,404 | 1 | 115,446 | 1 | 16,254 | 2 | 131,700 | 1 | 2,057.81 | 1 | 131,700 |
| Idaho | 10,618 | 8 | 60 | 8 | 7,114 | 8 | 7,885 | 4 | 14,999 | 7 | 0.17 | 6 | 20,583 |
| Indian Territory | . . . . . . | . . | . . . . . . | . . | . . . . . . | . . | . . . . . . | . . | . . . . . . | . . | . . . . . . . . | . . | 68,152 |
| Montana | 18,306 | 6 | 183 | 4 | 12,616 | 6 | 7,979 | 3 | 20,595 | 6 | 0.14 | 7 | 39,895 |
| New Mexico | 90,393 | 1 | 172 | 5 | 86,254 | 2 | 5,620 | 7 | 91,874 | 2 | 0.76 | 3 | 111,303 |
| Utah | 86,049 | 3 | 118 | 6 | 56,084 | 3 | 30,702 | 1 | 86,786 | 3 | 1.03 | 2 | 99,581 |
| Washington | 22,195 | 5 | 207 | 3 | 18,931 | 5 | 5,024 | 8 | 23,955 | 5 | 0.34 | 5 | 37,432 |
| Wyoming | 8,726 | 10 | 183 | 4 | 5,605 | 9 | 3,513 | 10 | 9,118 | 10 | 0.09 | 9 | 11,518 |
| Total territories | 386,249 | . . | 44,903 | . . | 348,530 | . . | 94,200 | . . | 442,730 | . . | 0.42 | . . | 649,539 |
| Total U. S., exclusive of Alaska | 33,589,377 | . . | 4,880,009 | . . | 32,991,142 | . . | 5,567,229 | . . | 38,558,371 | . . | 12.74 | . . | 38,852,749 |
| Alaska | . . . . . . | . . | . . . . . . | . . | . . . . . . | . . | . . . . . . | . . | . . . . . . | . . | . . . . . . . . | . . | 70,461 |
| Total United States | 33,589,871 | . . | 4,880,009 | . . | 32,991,142 | . . | 5,567,229 | . . | 38,558,371 | . . | 10.70 | . . | 38,923,210 |
A state census was taken in Michigan in 1874, and censuses were taken by 14 states in 1875. The population according to these enumerations, except in Florida, from which the returns have not (June 1, 1876) been received, was as follows: Iowa, 1,350,544; Kansas, 528,437; Louisiana, 857,039 (404,916 white and 452,123 colored); Massachusetts, 1,651,652; Michigan, 1,334,031; Minnesota, 597,407; Nebraska, 246,280; Nevada, 52,540; New Jersey, 1,019,413; New York, 4,705,208; Oregon, 104,920; Rhode Island, 258,239; South Carolina, 925,145 (350,754 white and 574,391 colored); Wisconsin, 1,236,729. According to the census of 1870, there were 52 cities with more than 25,000 inhabitants each, of which 8 had upward of 200,000, 6 from 100,000 to 200,000, 11 from 50,000 to 100,000, and 27 from 25,000 to 50,000. Besides these there are 9 cities which, according to the state censuses named above, contained upward of 25,000 inhabitants each in 1874 or 1875. The table on the next page contains a list of these 61 cities with their population as returned by the United States census in 1870, and the population in 1874 or 1875 of such as are contained in the state censuses.
POPULATION. :
| CITIES. | 1870. | 1875. |
| New York, N. Y. | 942,292 | 1,046,037 |
| Philadelphia, Pa. | 674,022 | . . . . . . . . |
| Brooklyn, N. Y. | 896,099 | 484,616 |
| St. Louis, Mo. | 310,864 | . . . . . . . . |
| Chicago, Ill. | 298,977 | . . . . . . . . |
| Baltimore, Md. | 267,354 | . . . . . . . . |
| Boston, Mass. | 250,526 | 341,919 |
| Cincinnati, Ohio | 216,239 | . . . . . . . . |
| New Orleans, La. | 191,418 | 203,439 |
| San Francisco, Cal. | 149,473 | . . . . . . . . |
| Buffalo, N. Y. | 117,714 | 134,573 |
| Washington, D. C. | 109,199 | . . . . . . . . |
| Newark, N. J. | 105,059 | 123,310 |
| Louisville, Ky. | 100,753 | . . . . . . . . |
| Cleveland, Ohio | 92,829 | . . . . . . . . |
| Pittsburgh, Pa. | 86,076 | . . . . . . . . |
| Jersey City, N. J. | 82,546 | 109,227 |
| Detroit, Mich. | 79,577 | 101,255 |
| Milwaukee, Wis. | 71,440 | 100,775 |
| Albany, N. Y. | 69,422 | 86,013 |
| Providence, R. I. | 68,904 | 100,675 |
| Rochester, N. Y. | 62,386 | 81,673 |
| Allegheny, Pa. | 53,180 | . . . . . . . . |
| Richmond, Va. | 51,038 | . . . . . . . . |
| New Haven, Conn. | 50,840 | . . . . . . . . |
| Charleston, S. C. | 48,956 | 56,540 |
| Indianapolis, Ind. | 48,244 | . . . . . . . . |
| Troy, N. Y. | 46,465 | 48,821 |
| Syracuse, N. Y. | 43,051 | 48,315 |
| Worcester, Mass. | 41,105 | 49,265 |
| Lowell, Mass. | 40,928 | 49,677 |
| Memphis, Tenn. | 40,226 | . . . . . . . . |
| Cambridge, Mass. | 39,634 | 47,838 |
| Hartford, Conn. | 37,180 | . . . . . . . . |
| Scranton, Pa. | 35,092 | . . . . . . . . |
| Reading, Pa. | 33,930 | . . . . . . . . |
| Paterson, N. J. | 33,579 | 38,814 |
| Kansas City, Mo. | 32,260 | . . . . . . . . |
| Mobile, Ala. | 32,034 | . . . . . . . . |
| Toledo, Ohio | 31,584 | . . . . . . . . |
| Portland, Me. | 31,413 | . . . . . . . . |
| Columbus, Ohio | 31,274 | . . . . . . . . |
| Wilmington, Del. | 30,841 | . . . . . . . . |
| Dayton, Ohio | 30,473 | . . . . . . . . |
| Lawrence, Mass. | 28,921 | 34,907 |
| Utica, N. Y. | 28,804 | 32,070 |
| Charlestown, Mass. | 28,323 | . . . . . . . . |
| Savannah, Ga. | 28,235 | . . . . . . . . |
| Lynn, Mass. | 28,233 | 32,600 |
| Fall River, Mass. | 26,766 | 45,840 |
| Springfield, Mass. | 26,703 | 31,053 |
| Nashville, Tenn. | 25,865 | . . . . . . . . |
| Salem, Mass. | 24,117 | 25,955 |
| Trenton, N. J. | 22,874 | 25,031 |
| New Bedford, Mass. | 21,320 | 25,876 |
| Elizabeth, N. J. | 20,832 | 25,928 |
| Hoboken, N. J. | 20,297 | 24,766 |
| Camden, N. J. | 20,045 | 33,852 |
| St. Paul, Minn. | 20,030 | 33,178 |
| Grand Rapids, Mich. | 16,507 | 25,928 |
| Minneapolis, Minn. | 13,066 | 32,721 |
—With the exception of a small portion of the N. E. coast, the shores on the Atlantic and gulf are low, while those on the Pacific are mostly bold and rocky. The most important indentations on the Atlantic are Passamaquoddy, Frenchman's, Penobscot, Casco, Massachusetts, Cape Cod, Buzzard's, Narragansett, New York, Raritan, Delaware, and Chesapeake bays, and Long Island, Albemarle, and Pamlico sounds; on the gulf, Tampa, Appalachee, Pensacola, Mobile, Galveston, Matagorda, Espiritu Santo, Aransas, and Corpus Christi bays, with those about the delta of the Mississippi; and on the Pacific, San Diego harbor, Monterey bay, San Francisco bay, and the strait of Fuca. The length of coast line, not including indentations of the land, according to the United States coast survey, is 5,715 m., viz.: 2,349 m. on the Atlantic, 1,556 on the gulf of Mexico, and 1,810 on the Pacific. The shore line of the great lakes, according to estimates made in the coast survey office, measures 3,450 m., viz.: Superior, 955; Michigan, 1,320; Huron, 510; St. Clair, 65; Erie, 370 ; Ontario, 230.—The rivers of the United States may be comprised in four distinct classes: 1. The Mississippi and its affluents, which drain the region between the Alleghanies and the Rocky mountains. The chief of these affluents are: on the east, the Wisconsin, Rock, Illinois, Ohio, Yazoo, and Big Black; on the west, the Minnesota, Des Moines, Missouri, St. Francis, Arkansas, and Red river. Several of these are from 1,000 to 2,000 m. in length, while many of the secondary affluents have courses extending from 300 to 1,000 m. 2. The rivers which rise in the Alleghany chain and flow into the Atlantic. Of these, the most important, beginning at the northeast, are the Penobscot, Kennebec, Merrimack, Connecticut, Hudson, Delaware, Susquehanna, Potomac, James, Roanoke, Neuse, Cape Fear, Great Pedee, Santee, Savannah, and Altamaha, most of which exceed 300 m. in length, and are navigable to a considerable distance from the sea. 3. The rivers of the southern slope, flowing into the gulf of Mexico, the principal of which, E. of the Mississippi, are the Appalachicola, Mobile, and Pearl, and W. of the Mississippi, the Sabine, Neches, Trinity, Brazos, Colorado, Nueces, and Rio Grande (which forms the boundary between Texas and Mexico). 4. The rivers which flow into the Pacific, of which the most important are the Columbia, which has several large affluents; the Sacramento and the San Joaquin, which flow into the bay of San Francisco, and drain the fertile valley between the Sierra Nevada and Coast mountains; and the great Colorado of the West, which has its terminus in the gulf of California, and drains the region between the Wahsatch and Rocky mountains. Besides these may be mentioned the shallow streams of the Great Basin, which have no outlet to the ocean; the Red river of the North, which empties into Lake Winnipeg in British America; the St. Lawrence, which forms part of the boundary between New York and Canada, and discharges the waters of the great lakes and their affluents; the St. John and St. Croix, which form part of the boundary between Maine and New Brunswick; and the St. John's, in Florida. Few countries in the world contain so many lakes as the United States, though these are principally confined to the northern portion. Of the five great lakes, as they are called, the largest bodies of fresh water on the globe, with perhaps the exception of the newly discovered and imperfectly known lakes in the interior of Africa, four, viz., Superior, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, lie on the northern border, partly in the United States and partly in British America, while ​Lake Michigan is wholly within the territory of the republic; so is nearly all of Lake Champlain. Near the S. end of the last, in New York, is Lake George, renowned for its beautiful scenery, a feature equally characteristic of other lakes in the neighboring wilderness of the Adirondacks and in New England. Among the last mentioned, the most important are Moosehead in Maine, Winnipiseogee in New Hampshire, and Memphremagog, partly in Vermont and partly in Canada. The central parts of Maine are thickly strewn with lakes of great beauty and considerable size; and in almost every part of New England sheets of water are abundantly found under the designation of ponds, which in Europe from their size and beauty would be classed as lakes. The central and western parts of New York contain several large lakes, the most remarkable of which are Otsego, Oneida, Skaneateles, Cayuga, Seneca, Keuka (formerly Crooked), and Chautauqua. In the southern states lakes of fresh water are rarely found except in Florida, where the principal is Okeechobee, and in Louisiana, where there are many lakes formed by expansions of the numerous rivers. In the states of the northwest, lakes are very numerous in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota; the great number and size of those in the last form indeed one of its most remarkable geographical features. The most noted on the Pacific slope is Great Salt lake. In the Great Basin, in Utah and Nevada, are many other lakes or sloughs, most of which, like this, are salt. In California and E. Oregon are several similar bodies of water. The area of the United States, with reference to its watersheds, is divided, according to Walker's “Statistical Atlas of the United States,” as follows: 1. The Pacific slope, 854,314 sq. m., including the basin of the Columbia, 219,706 sq. m.; Great Basin, 210,274; basin of the Colorado of the West, 264,386; coast basins, 159,948. 2. The Mississippi valley, 1,257,545 sq. m., including the Missouri basin, 527,690 sq. m.; upper Mississippi, 179,635; Ohio, 207,111; Arkansas, 184,742; Red river, 92,721; lower Mississippi, 65,646. 3. The gulf slope W. of the Mississippi, 279,768 sq. m., of which the Rio Grande basin occupies 101,334, and the gulf slope E. of the Mississippi 145,990 sq. m. 4. The Atlantic slope proper, 304,538 sq. m. 5. The basins of the St. Lawrence and Red river of the North, 184,339 sq. m.—The United States is crossed in a general N. and S. direction by two great systems of mountains, the Rocky mountains in the west and the Appalachian or Allegheny chain in the east, between which is the extensive and fertile Mississippi valley. The great mass of the Rocky mountain system is W. of the 105th meridian. Its two main chains are the Rocky mountains proper, extending through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, and the Sierra Nevada in California, with its extension, the Cascade range, in Oregon and Washington territory. Between these two chains is a plateau, crossed by numerous mountain ranges, which through its centre E. and W. is from 4,000 to 5,000 ft. high, falling off toward the north and south from that line. The Wahsatch mountains are the most important range of the plateau. They extend S. and S. W. through Utah and S. E. Nevada, and form the E. rim of the Great Basin, the W. rim being the Sierra Nevada. They rise from 4,000 to 6,000 ft. above the plateau, Mt. Nebo being 11,992 ft. high. The Blue mountains in E. Oregon are little known. The most elevated portion of the plateau is between the Wahsatch and Rocky mountains, and embraces the Colorado “parks” and the Laramie plains in Wyoming. The average elevation here is from 7,000 to 9,000 ft., being greatest on the N. edge of the South park, whence there is a gentle decline in either direction. The loftiest portion of the Rocky mountains is in Colorado, where there are many peaks upward of 14,000 ft. high. The Wind River mountains in N. W. Wyoming, and the Bitter Root mountains, forming part of the boundary between Idaho and Montana, are important spurs of this chain. In the Wind River mountains rise the Missouri river, the Green river, forming the main branch of the Colorado of the West, and the Snake, one of the main branches of the Columbia. The Black hills, on the border of Wyoming and Dakota, may be considered an outlying group of the Rocky mountains. The Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains run nearly parallel with the Pacific coast, from 100 to 150 m. from it. In the former are several peaks more than 14,000 ft. high, Mt. Whitney (14,887 ft.) being the highest in the United States. The Coast range is the westernmost of the Rocky mountain system, running through California, Oregon, and Washington territory, at a distance of from 10 to 50 m. from the coast. It averages from 2,000 to 3,000 ft. in height, but a few peaks rise more than twice as high, and Mt. San Bernardino, the loftiest (which is however not generally considered as belonging to the Coast range), to an elevation of 11,600 ft. The Rocky mountain system embraces an area of nearly 1,000,000 sq. m. It is widest between the 36th and 41st parallels, where the breadth is from 800 to 1,000 m. It is lowest along the 32d parallel, where the greatest elevation is not more than 4,000 ft. The Appalachian chain extends S. W. from Canada to Alabama. It includes among other ranges the Green mountains in Vermont, the Catskills in New York, the Blue Ridge in Virginia, the Black mountains in North Carolina, and as outlying spurs the White mountains in New Hampshire and the Adirondacks in New York. Mt. Washington in the White mountains is 6,293 ft, high (according to Prof. Hitchcock); the loftiest peak of the chain is the Black Dome in the Black mountains, about 6,700 ft. The greatest width of the chain, not ​including outliers, is 100 m., in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The height of the plain at the base is 500 ft. in New England, and becomes 1,200 ft. S. of Virginia; the W. base in Virginia and Tennessee is from 1,000 to 2,000 ft. high. The Appalachians make their nearest approach to the sea in the Highlands on the Hudson, which are about 30 m. from Long Island sound; in the south the distance from the coast is 200 m. The Atlantic slope, between the Appalachians and the ocean, is in general hilly, with level tracts near the shore, particularly in the south. The great central district between the two mountain systems is a region of prairies and plains, sloping from each toward the Mississippi river, with a gentle southern decline to the gulf of Mexico. A portion in the northeast slopes toward the great lakes, and the basin of the Red river of the North toward the north. The elevation at the base of the Rocky mountains in Montana is 4,091 ft.; at the mouth of the Yellowstone river, on the border of Montana and Dakota, 2,010 ft.; at Denver, Colorado, 5,267 ft.; of the Llano Estacado in Texas and New Mexico, 3,200 to 4,700 ft.; of the source of the Mississippi in Minnesota, 1,680 ft.—Some details of the distribution of the great geological formations over the territory of the Union, and the relations of these to its geography, have already been given in the article Geology, vol. vii., p. 695. It is there stated that the eozoic formations bearing the names of Laurentian, Huronian, Montalban, and Norian make up the Atlantic belt of the Appalachians, extending from E. Canada through New England and E. New York to N. E. Alabama. To these eozoic groups belong the White mountains, the Green mountains, the Adirondacks, the Highlands of New York and New Jersey, the South mountain of Pennsylvania, and its continuation south of the Potomac, the Blue Ridge. The lower levels of E. New England are also, with some exceptions, occupied by eozoic rocks, and the same is true of a broad belt of rolling country between the E. base of the Blue Ridge and the low lands of the coast. In addition to what has been said with regard to the distribution of the various formations over this area, it may be noted that rocks of the Laurentian age extend from the Hudson to the Schuylkill, while further southward Huronian and Montalban rocks prevail, including however a belt of Laurentian in Virginia. Westward from the Adirondacks eozoic rocks, embracing the four great types already mentioned, extend through Canada to N. Michigan and Wisconsin, while southward they reappear in the Ozark mountains of Arkansas, and also in small areas in Missouri. In the Rocky mountains eozoic rocks appear which seem to be identical in their character with those of the Appalachians, but have not yet been critically studied. At the W. base of the Green mountains, and thence extending along the W. flank of the South mountain and the Blue Ridge as far as Georgia, is a series of rocks to which Prof. Emmons gave the name of the Taconic system. He described them as having a total thickness of about 20,000 ft. and consisting of an upper and a lower division; the latter consisting of sandstones and quartzites, followed by a great mass of limestones interstratified with and overlaid by argillaceous and magnesian schists, and destitute of fossils; while the upper division, including sandstones, slates, and limestones, contained a palæozoic fauna supposed by him to be older than that of the Potsdam and calciferous of New York, which latter were declared to overlie unconformably the Taconic system. These views were opposed by most American geologists, and chiefly by Mather, H. D. Rogers, and Logan. According to these authorities, the whole Taconic system represented in a modified condition the middle and upper Cambrian rocks, from the Potsdam to the Oneida. (See Geology, tabular view, vol. vii., p. 694.) Later researches have confirmed the views of Emmons as to the antiquity of a portion of the fauna of the upper Taconic rocks, while the lower Taconic may correspond to the lower Cambrian of Europe, or perhaps to a still earlier period more closely related to the eozoic rocks already noticed. These rocks are important as making up the chief part of the floor of the great Appalachian valley from Lake Champlain to Georgia, a region remarkable for fertility of soil and for the great deposits of brown hematite (limonite) iron ore which belong to the lower Taconic strata. The American subdivisions of the middle and upper Cambrian rocks, from the Potsdam to the summit of the Loraine (or Hudson river) shales, appear in their characteristic forms in the valleys of the Mohawk and the St. Lawrence. From this great plain around the base of the Adirondacks they extend westward to the Mississippi valley, and thence southward as far as Texas. They are also found at intervals along, the eastern border of the palæozoic basin as far as Tennessee, but their precise relations to the Taconic rocks along this line are still involved in discussion. The base of the next great palæozoic division, the Silurian proper, is the Oneida, which rests unconformably upon the preceding, and, being a strong and massive sandstone or conglomerate, gives rise to a conspicuous ridge along the eastern border of the basin. It forms the Shawangunk mountains of S. E. New York and the Kittatinny mountain of Pennsylvania, stretching thence southward and bounding the great Appalachian valley on its N. and W. side, while the crystalline rocks of the South mountain and the Blue Ridge enclose it on the south and east. The whole eastern portion of the great palæozoic basin has been much disturbed by undulations of the strata having a general N. E. and S. W. direction, often complicated by fractures with great vertical displacements of the strata, which may be described as upthrows on the N. W. side of the faults. This disturbed region includes the whole of the palæozoic ​series to the top of the coal, embracing various massive sandstones and conglomerates. As the combined result of these disturbances and the subsequent erosion of the surface, the whole region has been converted into a mountainous belt of parallel ridges, extending along the N. W. side of the great Appalachian valley from the Catskill mountains of New York throughout all its length, and constituting the Alleghany mountain belt, of which the Kittatinny may be considered as the eastern limit. In this disturbed region occur the anthracite and semi-bituminous coal basins of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, and the dislocations just alluded to are in repeated instances so great as to bring up the base of the palæozoic series on the N. W. side of the detached areas of coal. To the westward these disturbances become less and less marked, and the Devonian and carboniferous rocks are seen comparatively undisturbed. Further to the west we reach the Cincinnati axis, which is traced from Lake Ontario to N. Alabama, and brings up on a gentle anticlinal the upper Cambrian beds, known in this region as the Cincinnati group, from Cincinnati with some interruptions to Nashville, Tenn. Further southward it sinks beneath the coal formation of Alabama. To the east of this great dividing line extends the Appalachian coal field from Alabama through E. Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio, including West Virginia and the W. half of Pennsylvania; while to the west of it are three other palæozoic coal fields, that of Michigan, that of Illinois, including parts of Indiana and western Kentucky, and that west of the Mississippi, extending from Iowa, through Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas, into Texas. (See Coal.) To the westward of this last coal field are great areas of newer rocks of triassic, Jurassic, cretaceous, and tertiary periods, which extend to the base of the Rocky mountains and beyond. The cretaceous and tertiary strata, after stretching southward through Texas, reach up the Mississippi valley as far as the mouth of the Ohio, eastward along the gulf of Mexico, and thence northward to the coast of Massachusetts, in a belt of gradually diminishing breadth, including Long Island and a part of Martha's Vineyard. The valley of the Mississippi, with the greater part of Florida and a border of varying width along the seaboard, is overlaid with deposits which are regarded as post-tertiary. The whole of these newer strata along the Atlantic region rest in a nearly horizontal attitude on the eozoic and palæozoic rocks. The cretaceous strata are in many parts concealed, but are recognized along the N. portion of Long Island, and pass across New Jersey and N. Delaware to the head of Chesapeake bay. Thence they are exposed at a few points in E. Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, till in the W. part of this state they appeal in a broad belt extending through central Alabama and curving northward through N. Mississippi and E. Tennessee. These newer rocks along the Atlantic coast form the tide-water region, and are nowhere affected by the movements which have disturbed the older rocks. What has been called the new red sandstone formation of the Atlantic belt extends in a narrow line from N. Massachusetts along the Connecticut valley to New Haven. It is again continued from the Hudson across New Jersey and Pennsylvania into Virginia, and is found in smaller areas in S. E. Virginia and in North Carolina. From its organic remains this sandstone is regarded as lower mesozoic, probably including the triassic and Jurassic periods. In Virginia and in North Carolina it includes beds of workable coal, which rest upon the eozoic crystalline rocks. In a similar relation there is a considerable area of coal-bearing rocks in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, which are however of palæozoic age like the coals of the Appalachian field. Small areas of fossiliferous lower Cambrian, Silurian, and Devonian are found in various localities among the crystalline rocks of New England. Over the N. E. portions of the United States is widely spread the so-called drift formation or diluvium of post-pliocene ago (see Diluvium), consisting of unstratified bowlder drift and modified or stratified drift. The southern limit of these deposits and of the marks of glaciation is about lat. 40° N. The crystalline rocks to the north of them present hard, smoothly worn, or striated surfaces, except in some protected localities; but further southward they are generally decayed or softened to a greater or less depth, sometimes 100 ft. or more, from a process of chemical change. The great elevated western or Rocky mountain region differs widely in general features from that just described. Upon the broad area of crystalline rocks, which reproduce on a grand scale the characteristics of the Appalachian belt, are found all the members of the palæozoic series, overlaid for the most part by older mesozoic rocks and by a great thickness of cretaceous and tertiary strata, in which each one of the three great divisions of the latter is well represented. These newer rocks constitute vast arid plains, and in the cretaceous and eocene or lower tertiary strata the great coal deposits of this region are found. These strata have been disturbed by great faults, penetrated and overflowed by vast volumes of eruptive rocks, and subjected to erosion on a grand scale. The crystalline rocks which bound the great palæozoic basin of the United States to the east and the north are rich in ores of iron, and include also gold, copper, lead, nickel, and chrome. The native copper of the S. shore of Lake Superior belongs to a peculiar group of strata, unknown elsewhere, lying at the very base of the palæozoic series. Various horizons in the palæozoic rocks, up to the coal inclusive, abound in ores of iron, and in the Mississippi valley in lead, zinc, and copper; while salt and petroleum occur at several horizons in the palæozoic series in different parts of the ​great basin. The western or Rocky mountain region is the great source of the precious metals, the deposits of which, as has been observed, may be described in a general way as arranged in parallel zones coinciding with the mountain belts. Along the Pacific Coast range are deposits of quicksilver, tin, and chrome, while the belt of the Sierra Nevada and the Cascades carries a range of copper mines near its base, and a line of gold-bearing veins and gold alluvium on its western flank. Along the E. slope of the Sierra lies a zone of silver mines stretching into Mexico, and including the great Comstock lode of Nevada, while silver ores abound in the subordinate ranges between the Sierra and the Wahsatch. The silver-lead ores of New Mexico, Utah, and western Montana, and the still more eastern gold deposits of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, follow the same general distribution. (For particulars of the mineral deposits of the United States, see Anthracite, Borax, Coal, Copper Mines, Gypsum, Iron Ore, Marble, Petroleum, Salt, and the articles on the different metals and states.)—The republic abounds in natural curiosities and other objects of interest. Immense numbers of persons annually resort to the mineral springs, the most prominent of which are mentioned in the article Mineral Springs. The White mountains and other portions of the Appalachian chain are noted for their striking or picturesque scenery; while the great mountain ranges of the Pacific slope present innumerable scenes of unsurpassed beauty and sublimity, among which are the “parks” and lofty peaks of Colorado, the Yellowstone national park in Wyoming, and the Yosemite valley in California. The prairies and arid plains are noteworthy features. Besides the great cataract of Niagara and the Yosemite falls, the falls of the Missouri in Montana, St. Anthony's falls of the Mississippi in Minnesota, and the falls of the Snake river in Idaho may be instanced. The most remarkable caves are the Mammoth cave in Kentucky; Madison's cave and Weyer's cave, Virginia; Nicojack cave, Georgia; and Fountain cave, near St. Paul, Minnesota. Not the least interesting among the picturesque features of the country are the remarkable channels cut by some of the rivers through ranges of hills or rocky ridges. Such are the passage of the Hudson through the Highlands of New York; the Delaware Water Gap; the passage of the Potomac through the Blue Ridge at Harper's Ferry; the “gates of the Rocky mountains” on the upper course of the Missouri in Montana; the deep cañons of the Colorado of the West; and the “cascades” where the Columbia river breaks through the Cascade range on the boundary between Washington territory and Oregon. The natural bridge of Virginia, the pictured rocks on the shore of Lake Superior in Michigan, the mammoth trees of California, the geysers, and the popular seaside resorts, as well as nearly all the scenes above mentioned, are described in other articles.—The climate of the United States is as varied as might be expected in a country stretching through 25 degrees of latitude, and rising from low swampy shores to vast elevated and arid table lands and prodigious mountain ranges. Except in the extreme south and on the Pacific coast, it is characterized by fickleness and by great difference in temperature between summer and winter. Transitions from heat to cold and from cold to heat, to the extent of 30° in a few hours, are common at all seasons, and the alternations from rain to drought are nearly as remarkable. The summer is marked by intense heat, the thermometer rising sometimes several degrees above 100° F. In the north this extreme is seldom continued for more than a few days at a time, and in the southern states the heat, though long continued, is seldom so great. In winter the thermometer often falls below zero in the north, and it has been known, particularly in Minnesota and Dakota, to reach the freezing point of mercury (−40°). The Atlantic states have in general a temperature about 10° more severe than countries of the same latitude in western Europe, while California has a climate as mild as that of Italy. The northeastern states are subject to chill winds from the Atlantic (and at points along the coast to fogs), especially in the spring months; and the ice fields of British North America are the cradle of cold blasts which, having no mountain barrier to overcome, sweep over the northern states upon every considerable rise in the temperature further south. The great lakes mitigate to some extent the temperature of the country surrounding them, and other local features, such as the elevated plains and lofty ranges of the Rocky mountain system, affect the climate of particular parts of the country. The average annual temperature varies from 76° in S. Florida to 36° in N. E. Minnesota. The isothermal lines are irregular, but between the Pacific and the upper Mississippi they have a general tendency toward the north. On the Pacific coast the annual temperature of 52° in lat. 48° corresponds to a like temperature on the Atlantic coast in lat. 41.° Rain is abundant over the greater part of the republic, and pretty equally distributed throughout the year. In the north Atlantic states the fall is more regular than in the coast states S. of Washington, being in the latter more plentiful than in the former, and more frequent in summer than in winter. On the Pacific coast the rains are periodical, occurring chiefly in winter and spring, and S. of lat. 40° in autumn also. In the northern states snow frequently falls to a considerable depth, and in the most northerly portions it does not melt until spring. It is comparatively rare S. of the Potomac and on the Pacific coast, and when it does occur in these districts it lasts but a short time. The average annual precipitation of rain and melted snow on the Atlantic coast and on the gulf as far W. as the Sabine ​river varies from 36 to 60 inches, being generally from 40 to 50 inches; in the greater part of Texas and in the Mississippi valley it is from 24 to 50 inches, diminishing toward the north and west. The greatest precipitation occurs in Oregon and Washington territory, between the Coast mountains and the Pacific, varying from 80 inches in the N. part of the latter to 68 in the former. Between the Coast and Cascade mountains it is from 24 to 44 inches, and in N. California from 20 to 36, diminishing in the S. portion of that state. In the region bounded W. by the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountains and E. by an irregular line commencing at the 95th meridian in N. Minnesota, and intersecting the 101st meridian in N. W. Texas, it does not exceed 20 inches, and is generally much less than that. Very little of this fall occurs in summer, and irrigation is a necessary adjunct to agriculture. In the mountains of this region snow falls to a great depth in winter.—The most fatal diseases of the New England and middle states are affections of the lungs; of the southern states, bilious fevers, with occasional severe visitations of yellow fever along the gulf; and of the western states, intermittent and bilious fevers and dysentery. The fever and ague so prevalent in the west is attributed to the miasmatic exhalations incident to the breaking up of new lands, and rapidly disappears as the country becomes settled. The cholera has generally been more fatal in the valley of the Mississippi than in any other part of the country.—The soil presents almost every variety, from the dry sterile plains in the region of the Great Salt lake to the rich alluviums of the Mississippi valley. It can most conveniently be described by following the seven great divisions indicated by the river systems of the country, viz.: the St. Lawrence basin, the Atlantic slope, the Mississippi valley, the Texas slope, the Pacific slope, the inland basin of Utah, commonly called the Great Basin, and the basin of the Red river of the North. 1. The St. Lawrence basin embraces parts of Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and all of Michigan; it is an elevated and fertile plain, generally well wooded. 2. The Atlantic slope includes all New England except a part of Vermont; all of New Jersey, Delaware, the District of Columbia, South Carolina, and Florida; and portions of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. It may be subdivided into two regions, a N. E. section and a S. W. section, separated by the Hudson river. The former is hilly, and generally better adapted to grazing than tillage, though some parts of it are naturally fertile, and a large proportion is carefully cultivated. The S. W. section may be again divided into a coast belt from 30 to 150 m. in width, running from Long Island sound to the mouth of the Mississippi, and including the whole peninsula of Florida; and an inland slope from the mountains toward this coast belt. The former as far S. as the Roanoke river is sandy and not naturally fertile, though capable of being made highly productive; from the Roanoke to the Mississippi it is generally swampy, with sandy tracts here and there, and a considerable proportion of rich alluvial soil. The inland slope is one of the finest districts in the United States, the soil consisting for the most part of alluvium from the mountains and the decomposed primitive rocks which underlie the surface. 3. The Mississippi valley occupies more than two fifths of the area of the republic, and extends from the Allegheny to the Rocky mountains, and from the gulf of Mexico to British North America, thus including parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Dakota, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and all of Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Indian territory, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. It is for the most part a prairie country, of fertility unsurpassed by any region on the globe, except perhaps the valley of the Amazon. The ground in many places is covered with mould to the depth of several feet, in some instances 25 ft. But the N. W. part of the valley offers a strong contrast to the remainder. There is a plateau from 200 to 400 m. wide lying at the base of the Rocky mountains, part of it incapable of cultivation on account of the deficiency of rain and lack of means of irrigation, and part naturally sterile. 4. The Texas slope includes the country S. W. of the Mississippi valley, drained by rivers which flow into the gulf of Mexico, and embracing nearly all of Texas and portions of Louisiana and New Mexico. (See Texas.) 5. The Pacific slope, embracing the greater part of California, Oregon, and Idaho, with Washington territory and Arizona, and parts of New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, is generally sterile. That part however between the Coast range and the ocean, and the valleys between the Coast range and the Cascade range and Sierra Nevada are very fertile; and the same may be said of a few other valleys and mountain slopes, though these are commonly better adapted to pasturage than to agriculture. 6. The great inland basin of Utah, which besides Utah includes Nevada and parts of California, Oregon, and Idaho, is probably the most desolate portion of the United States, though in parts the soil with irrigation yields good crops, and grazing may be more extensively pursued. It abounds in salt lakes. 7. That portion of the basin of the Red river of the North which belongs to the United States is confined to the small tract in the N. part of Dakota and Minnesota; it contains some very productive lands, especially in the river bottoms.—The varied physical aspects of the country indicate a correspondingly varied ​
* Engd. by O.J. Stuart, N.Y.
* Engd. by O.J. Stuart, N.Y.
features would require its subdivision into 20 or more regions characterized by the prevailing vegetable forms; but a mere glance at a few broad geographical divisions must suffice, noticing only the more conspicuous flowering plants. 1. The northern states, east of the Mississippi, from the northern border to Virginia and Kentucky, present a flora essentially European in its general aspects, though it is largely wanting in the alpine and subalpine plants so common in northern Europe. Our alpine or arctic flora (excepting that of Alaska) is confined to the limited areas presented by the tops of the higher mountains of New England and New York; and of the little over 30 species found on these, only 4 are peculiarly American. The trees of this division are largely of European genera; the pine, spruce, birch, oak, maple, ash, elm, and others, which make up the bulk of the forest growth, are also the prevailing genera of Europe, but they are mostly represented here by different species. The principal trees not of European genera are the magnolias, tulip tree, yellowwood, buckeye, locust, honey locust, liquidambar, tupelo, sassafras, and all the hickories; while among the conifers are the arbor vitæ and the hemlock spruce, which by some botanists is placed in a genus distinct from the spruces. Abundant shrubs of European genera are sumachs, thorns, azaleas, rhododendrons, dogwoods, whortleberries, blackberries, &c.; while the laurel (Kalmia), papaw (asimina), prickly ash, witch hazel, spice bush, leatherwood, buffalo berry, and others, are peculiarly American. As in most floras, the compositæ are here very numerous, one eighth of all the species belonging to this family; some of these, as the solidagos, asters, sunflowers, and others, are so abunant as to give a warm coloring to the autumn landscape. Two or three cacti and one pitcher plant, and the mistletoe, genera very abundant in other regions, are found here. A remarkable analogy has been noticed between the flora of the eastern coast of this continent and corresponding portions of eastern Asia, many of the genera of this region being found elsewhere only in Japan, China, and the Himalayas. The flora of this division gradually blends with that of the next. 2. The southern states, from the preceding to the gulf of Mexico, exclusive of southern Florida. Along the mountains northern plants extend far southward. Among southern species of northern genera of trees, the most conspicuous are the great magnolia (M. grandiflora), one of the finest of evergreen trees, the live oak, so valued for timber, and the old-field and long-leaved pines; the pecan, really a hickory, abounds here, and the planer tree, hackberry, persimmon, and holly, not common at the north, have here their centres of greatest abundance; the deciduous or bald cypress, barely a native of the northern region, is here abundant and valuable. Among the trees of genera not found in the northern division are Osage orange, catalpa, wild China, sorrel tree, Georgia bark, devilwood, and alligator pear. Torreya is a very local conifer; and of the four palms, the cabbage palmetto may be ranked as a tree; a grass, the giant cane, often reaches 20 to 30 ft., and forms dense jungles known as canebrakes. The herbaceous plants present great attractions to the botanist, and some from their contrast with northern forms arrest the attention of the unbotanical traveller. Long or Spanish moss is a true epiphyte, and hangs from the trees in such abundance as to form a feature in the scenery; and other tillandsias, several ferns, and two orchids are other epiphytes to be met with in the far south. This region is the home of the pitcher plants (Sarracenia), and of the very local Venus's fly trap (Dionæa), the most wonderful of all carnivorous plants. The bright colors of the coral plant, several species of hibiscus, the Carolina pink (Spigelia), the abundance of phloxes, gerardias, and convolvuluses, and the fragrance of the Carolina jasmine (gelsemium), remind the northerner that he is surrounded by a new flora. 3. Southern Florida, especially the “keys,” presents very distinct features, the trees particularly being those characteristic of the West Indies. Conspicuous among these are the mangrove (also found elsewhere along the gulf), the mahogany and lignum vitæ trees, the poisonous manchineel, several small-fruited figs, the tropical papaw (Carica), calabash, and many others. In the Florida arrowroot or coontie (zamia) is found our only representative of the cycads. The orange grows here as a naturalized plant in such abundance that many regard it as a native. 4. The plains west of the Mississippi, and the Rocky mountains. Immediately west of the Mississippi the flora is not widely different from that on the eastern side; but as the wide plains and the elevated dry plateaus are reached, a different vegetation appears, while that of the Rocky mountains is mainly unlike that of the high eastern peaks; some wide districts have the soil so strongly impregnated with alkali that few plants can exist. The plains are mostly destitute of trees, except along the courses of the streams, where the cottonwoods (species of poplar) are most abundant. Here are found wide areas of single or few species; on the more fertile portions the buffalo grass covers vast tracts, multiplying so freely by its spreading stems that it rarely produces seed. On the sterile portions the “everlasting sage brush” (Artemisia tridentata) gives a sombre hue as far as the eye can reach; the “greasewood” of the travellers (sarcobatus) and other chenopods are often abundant; plants of this family, with a few composites, grasses, and sedges, make up the flora of the wide alkaline stretches. On the more fertile plains the leguminous plants, and those of the phlox and evening primrose families, are frequent. The mountains afford a rich and varied flora; here are found a great ​variety of pines, spruces, and firs, and above them a truly alpine region, which has enriched our flora with a long list of choice species. 5. The Pacific coast, with the neighboring mountain ranges, within the influence of the mild atmosphere of the ocean, has a wonderfully varied flora. Among trees, maples, buckeye, cherry, buttonwood, oaks in great number, chestnut, birches, willows, and others of genera common to the northern states of the east, are here represented by species peculiar to the coast. The conifers of this region are among the loftiest; and pines, spruces, firs, cypresses, and arbor-vitæs make up an arboreal vegetation of great variety and interest. Among the trees of genera not found in the other divisions are the madroña, sometimes called strawberry tree, a magnificent broad-leaved evergreen (arbutus Menziesii), and the California laurel or bay (oreodaphne). The genus Torreya, of which there is a species in Florida, is represented here by the “nutmeg tree;” California white cedar, sometimes reaching 140 ft., is a libocedrus; here is the home of the sequoias or redwoods, of which S. gigantea, widely known as the mammoth tree, towering from 300 to 450 ft., is one of the two largest trees of the world. The shrubby growth of this region presents numerous species of eastern genera, and is equally varied. Among herbaceous plants, the range from the coast to the mountain tops is wide, and presents a flora so rich that the labors of botanists have not yet exhausted it. Many of the choice ornaments of our gardens, eschscholtzias, gilias, nemophilas, the mimulus, whitlavia, collomia, lupines, pentstemons, and others, have here their homes; perhaps the most interesting plant of this region is the Darlingtonia, a pitcher plant of curious structure, and, like its eastern relatives the sarracenias, carnivorous. A marked feature of the flora of this region is the wide areas occupied by single species, almost to the exclusion of all others. A great many interesting native grasses are found here. 6. Western Texas, 200 m. from the coast, is a high plateau, and with the lower parts of New Mexico and Arizona forms a region the vegetation of which is more like that of Mexico than of any other part of the United States; it is a region of elevated table lands, cut up by sterile mountain ranges, with but few streams and very little rain. Along the watercourses are found cottonwoods and willows, but the majority of the few trees which occur elsewhere are of the leguminosæ, the most frequent being the mezquite and the related screw bean; these and the tesota or ironwood (Olneya), palo verde or green tree (cercidium and Parkinsonia), cassias, and others, the Mexican pistachio, Spanish buckeye (Ungnadia), mulberry, and a few others, make up the tree growth, except in the mountains, where in favorable localities pines, oaks, &c., occur. The shrubs are numerous, and, in common with other vegetation, abundantly armed with prickles and spines; some shrubs, such as Kæberlinia and holocantha, rarely show any leaves, the green bark answering their purpose, but have every branch and twig sharpened to form a formidable spine, and the leafy shrubs often have their branches thus terminated, or are furnished with special thorns; a thick growth of these spinescent shrubs is known as “chaparral,” and forms an impenetrable barrier to man and beast. In this division are found agaves, dasylirions, and yuccas, some reaching the stature of a tree. The most characteristic plants of a large part of this region are the cacti, which occur in a great number of species presenting a wide variety of forms and size. Opuntias of the prickly pear style are numerous; some are 6 ft. high, others with cylindrical stems are scarcely bigger than a quill, while the tree-like O. arborescens is as large as an apple tree. Species of the globular mammillarias are not larger than a walnut, while some of the oblong echinocacti are of the size of a barrel; all these are dwarfed by the giant cereus, the candelabra-like stems of which sometimes reach 40 or 50 ft. In some localities almost the whole vegetation is made up of these plants, which present nature in her most grotesque aspect.—Flowerless or cryptogamous plants, especially those of a lower organization, are much less restricted in their distribution than flowering plants. Among the higher orders of these, the ferns and club mosses, many of the genera and also of the species are the same as those of Europe, and in the mosses, lichens, and lower forms the number of European species is still greater; but all these families present a large number of peculiarly American genera, and American species of European genera. Among ferns, the most noticeable of the northern and southern states are the maiden-hair (adiantum), the walking fern (camptosorus), the climbing fern (lygodium), the golden fern (polypodium aureum), and the so-called sensitive fern (onoclea). The smallest of our ferns is schizæa, very local in New Jersey, and one of the most striking is vittaria, an epiphyte in Florida, the fronds of which are more like a tuft of grass than a fern. The Pacific coast, the Rocky mountains, and even the desert region of Arizona, have their peculiar species. In mosses and hepaticas the country is very rich, and in these as well as in lichens the few botanists who devote themselves to their special study are continually adding to the number of known species. The fungi, though but partially investigated, are numerous, with a large number of edible species among them. In algæ the Atlantic coast, while it has many that are common to the shores of Europe, produces its peculiar species of interest; but owing to the sandy character of a great portion of the shores, the marine vegetation is as a whole very meagre. The keys of Florida are rich in species, many of which, as well as those of the gulf of Mexico, are also common to the Mediterranean. On the Pacific coast are found the gigantic ​macrocystis, with stems several hundred feet long, and other gigantic algæ, which make fields so dense and extended that navigators carefully avoid them. The partial study that our fresh-water algæ have received shows that this obscure vegetation is rich in interesting forms.—A marked feature of the vegetation of a large portion of our territory is the introduced plants, which are not only numerous as species, but as individuals; the climate being especially favorable to their development, many foreign plants appear to thrive better here than at home. The great majority of the agricultural weeds are of exotic origin; in some of the older states the meadows are white with oxeye daisy or yellow with foreign buttercups, while in Virginia they are blue with viper's bugloss (echium); the thistles, docks, purslane, crab grasses, and other pests of the farmer and gardener, are natives of other countries, as are also the stramoniums, hemlock, and other occupants of waste places around settlements. Many natural meadows are due to foreign grasses, and white clover is so generally introduced that farmers in the eastern states seldom sow it, being quite sure that, with a favorable soil, it will “come in.” Two plants in the southern states afford remarkable instances of rapid naturalization. A few years ago a little prostrate composite (acanthospermum) appeared in the waste places, especially along the railroads, suddenly and completely carpeting the ground; it is a South American plant, the seeds of which were probably introduced with wool. The other is a little leguminous plant called Japan clover (lespedeza striata), which at the close of the civil war appeared all over the southern states. As cattle eat it, the introduction cannot be regarded as a misfortune; but this wide and sudden distribution of a Japanese species still remains a puzzle. Upon the Pacific coast, the most prominent introduced plants are mostly valuable ones; the wild oat (avena fatua), which covers such wide ranges to the exclusion of all other vegetation, is a European species; and bur clover (medicago) and alfilaria (erodium), which in certain seasons are the main reliance of stock growers, are both weeds introduced by the early Spanish settlers.—The zoölogy of the United States is essentially that of North America, nearly every species found on the North American continent having its habitat in some part of the states or territories. The quadrumana, embracing the entire monkey tribe and its congeners, are wanting. Of the cheiroptera, or bat tribe, there are 3 genera and 11 species (outside of Alaska, the fauna of which is not included in this description). Of the carnivora, the largest is the couguar or catamount, a formidable animal, inferior in strength and ferocity to the South American jaguar. There are 6 or 7 species of the fox. Of wolves there are the gray wolf of the wooded districts, of which there are several varieties, and the prairie wolf, the American representative of the jackal. To the digitigrada also belong the pine marten or American sable, the fisher, mink, weasel, skunk, and ermine. Among the plantigrada we have the black bear, the grisly bear, the largest and most formidable of American carnivora, and the California bear. The remaining members of the order found here are the badger, the wolverene or glutton, and the raccoon. Of the pinnigrada, the common seal occurs on the Atlantic coast, and the northern sea bear (callorhinus ursinus), which is taken in great numbers on the Pribyloff islands belonging to Alaska, occurs as far south as the mouth of the Columbia. The ruminantia are represented in considerable numbers. Among the cervidæ or deer family we have the moose and caribou, now confined to the N. E. states, and very scarce even there; the wapiti, incorrectly called the elk; and 5 or 6 species of deer. There is an antelope, the prong-horn, a native of the Rocky mountain region; and a representative of the sheep family, the big-horn or Rocky mountain sheep, found in the region of the Rocky mountains and Sierra Nevada. The bison, usually called the buffalo, is the only wild representative of the ox family. Of the amphibious mammals, a species of the manatee or sea cow frequents the shores of Florida and the gulf of Mexico. The porpoise and 5 or 6 species of the dolphin, among them the white whale, and the narwhal, are found along the coast; and the smaller species of whale are not uncommon, while the great sperm whale appears at some distance from the Pacific coast. The insectivora are represented by the mole, 3 genera and 7 or 8 species, and by 12 species of shrew. Among the rodentia are the beaver, porcupine, 10 or 12 squirrels proper, several flying squirrels, 4 or 5 prairie squirrels, 2 prairie dogs, and the gopher or pouched rat, of which there are several species; the woodchuck or American marmot; the muskrat; the rat tribe, of which 2 genera and 3 or more species are indigenous; the mouse tribe, of which there are 4 genera and about 20 species; the meadow mouse, of numerous species; the hare, of which there are 4 or 5; and the rabbit, of which there are at least 6 species. The marsupialia are represented by a single genus, the opossum. Of birds the genera and species are so numerous, that only the more prominent can be named. Of the order raptores (birds of prey), the eagle, of which 5 species have been ascertained to exist in the United States, takes the first place. Next follow the vultures, of which at least half a dozen species inhabit the United States, from the king vulture of California to the turkey buzzard and carrion crow; the hawks, of which there are not less than 25 aor 30 species, including the falcon, kite, hen hawk, goshawk, sparrow hawk, &c.; and the owls, of which there are at least 40 species. The scansores or climbers are represented by the Carolina parrot and the woodpeckers, a well known genus, ​of which there are many species. The order insessores is very numerous in the United States, and includes the song birds as well as those distinguished by their cry or sharp shrill note. The most common members of the order are the thrush tribe, including the bird here called robin, the mocking bird, and the cat bird; the warblers and flycatchers; the swallows, a numerous family; the finch tribe, which includes the sparrows; the kingfishers, the crow tribe, the orioles, the grakles, and the humming birds. The rasores, divided into the suborders columbæ and gallinæ, are numerously represented. Pigeons and doves of many species are found in vast numbers in the wooded portions of the western and northwestern states, and are not uncommon in any part of the Union. There are no true partridges in the United States, the partridge of the northern states being a grouse, and that of the southern states a quail; but the grouse, of at least a dozen species, quail, wild turkey, and several other species of gallinaceous birds, occur in great numbers. Of the grallatores or waders we have the flamingo, several herons, the ibis, the crane, the coot or mud hen, the rail, sandpiper, snipe, plover, &c. The natatores or swimmers are here a very numerous order. Of the anserinæ or geese there are about 20 species, including 2 species of swans; and of the anatidæ or duck family, at least 30. There are also 2 species of pelicans, a great number of species of gulls, and half a dozen cormorants. In reptiles the United States are less prolific than some other countries. There is a considerable variety of tortoises, though few of great size; and the keys or small coral islets along the coast of Florida, and the sandy spits along the shores of the southern Atlantic and gulf states, are frequented by the green and other sea turtles in great numbers. The alligator inhabits the rivers and bayous of the gulf states. The saurians are abundant, especially in the southern states, and include a great variety of lizards, skinks, horned frogs, monitors, &c. The ophidians or serpents are numerous, but only the rattlesnakes, the moccason snakes, and the vipers are venomous. The black snake is the only large constrictor in the United States. The batrachians embrace numerous species of frogs, tree frogs, 2 or 3 species of toad, the menobranchus, siren, 3 or 4 tritons or newts, and about 20 species of salamander. The number of genera and species of fish visiting or inhabiting the waters of the United States is too great to be enumerated. The most remarkable of the spine-finned are the perch, mackerel, sword fish, and mullet. Among those with soft abdominal fins, the best known are the salmon, shad, menhaden, alewife, herring, pike, and carp; of those with soft fins at the throat, cod, flounders, flat fish, &c.; and of fish without ventral fins, several species of eels, both fresh and salt water fish, and the lamprey The shark, of which there are 16 or 18 species and the ray or skate, of which there are 30 or 40, are the most formidable on the American coasts. Other fish well known and highly prized for the table are the halibut, tautog, blue fish, sea and striped bass, tomcod, porgy, perch, roach, dace, brook trout, lake trout, giant pike or muscalonge, and the delicious white fish of the lakes. Of mollusks, the acephala are widely distributed on the sea coast and through the lakes and rivers. The oyster of numerous varieties attains a flavor and excellence unknown elsewhere. The pearl oyster has been found on the California coast, and several of the unionidæ secrete pearls of considerable value. The soft-shelled clam (mya arenaria) and the quahaug or round clam (Venus mercenaria) are also much prized in some districts as articles of food. The pecten or scollop and the mussel are also edible species of bivalves. Others of the order are the cockle, hammer shell, razor shell, club shell, waterpot shell, and teredo or ship worm; and in the rivers the numerous species of unio and anodonta, usually called fresh-water clams, are abundant. There are many genera and species of land snails and slugs, and many species of fresh-water and marine gasteropoda; and the Atlantic, Pacific, and gulf of Mexico wash upon our shores great numbers of the cephalopods which inhabit their waters, among them the squid. The crustacea are numerous, and many of them edible. Crabs, lobsters, shrimps, horseshoes or king crabs, &c., abound on the coast; and the crawfish and land crab are found in the interior. Of the arachnida there are in the gulf states some venomous species, as the scorpion and several species of spider; but for the most part the spiders, mites, &c., of the United States are harmless. The centipede, though properly belonging to the tropics, is occasionally found in the southwestern states. The insect tribes are too numerous to receive more than a passing notice. The beetles are very abundant, and include many genera. There are several species of locust, some of them as destructive to vegetation as the locust of oriental countries. The bee, wasp, hornet, and bumblebee, each of numerous species; the vast tribe of butterflies; the whole family of flies, including a blistering fly nearly equal to the Spanish; and the other insect orders, all have their representatives; and as we approach the tropics their number and variety greatly increase.—The population of the country prior to the first census, according to Bancroft, was as follows:
Total. :
| 1688 | ........ | ........ | 200,000 |
| 1714 | 375,750 | 58,850 | 434,600 |
| 1727 | 502,000 | 78,000 | 580,000 |
| 1760 | 1,040,000 | 220,000 | 1,260,000 |
| 1754 | 1,165,000 | 260,000 | 1,425,000 |
| 1760 | 1,385,000 | 310,000 | 1,695,000 |
| 1770 | 1,850,000 | 462,000 | 2,312,000 |
| 1774 | 2,100,000 | 500,000 | 2,600,000 |
| 1780 | 2,383,000 | 562,000 | 2,945,000 |
​The population as reported by the decennial censuses has been as follows:
Aggregate. :
| 1790 | 3,172,006 | 757,208 | 59,527 | 697,681 | 3,929,214 |
| 1800 | 4,306,446 | 1,002,037 | 108,485 | 893,602 | 5,308,483 |
| 1810 | 5,862,073 | 1,377,808 | 186,446 | 1,191,362 | 7,239,881 |
| 1820 | 7,862,166 | 1,771,656 | 233,634 | 1,538,022 | 9,633,822 |
| 1830 | 10,537,378 | 2,328,642 | 319,599 | 2,009,043 | 12,866,020 |
| 1840 | 14,195,805 | 2,873,649 | 386,293 | 2,487,355 | 17,069,453 |
| 1850 | 19,553,068 | 3,638,808 | 434,495 | 3,204,313 | 23,191,876 |
| 1860 | 26,922,537 | 4,441,830 | 488,070 | 3,953,760 | 31,443,821 |
| 1870 | 33,589,377 | 4,880,009 | 4,880,009 | ........ | 38,558,371 |
Included in the aggregate for 1860 were 44,021 Indians and 34,993 Chinese, and in that for 1870, 25,731 Indians out of tribal relations, 63,199 Chinese, and 55 Japanese. The number of Indians sustaining tribal relations in 1870 was estimated at 357,981. In 1875 the number was reported by the commissioner of Indian affairs at 279,337, exclusive of 11,650 in Alaska; land reserved for Indians, 165,729,714 acres; number of agencies, 82. The representative population, excluding Indians not taxed and the inhabitants of the territories, was 38,115,641. The average increase in the aggregate population since 1870, in the 14 states that took censuses in 1875 and one in 1874, was over 15½ per cent.; at the same rate the population of the United States in 1875 would be about 44,590,000. The density of population in 1870 was 10.7 persons to the square mile, or, excluding the territories, 19.21. The total number of families in the United States was 7,579,363, having an average of 5.09 persons to each; the number of dwellings was 7,042,833, with an average of 5.47 persons to each. Of the total population in 1870, 32,991,142 were born in the United States and 5,567,229 in foreign countries. The number born of foreign parents was 9,734,845, and there were 1,157,170 persons of mixed (half native and half foreign) parentage, making 10,892,015 persons having one or both parents foreign. Only the nativity of those born in foreign countries is reported by the census. The distribution of the entire foreign element (10,892,015) into the chief nationalities has been computed as follows: Irish, 3,630,839; German, 3,307,205; British, 1,496,739; Scandinavian, 467,183; all others, 1,990,049. (See Emigration.) The distribution of population by sex, nativity, and color, in 1860 and 1870, was as follows:
1870 :
| PARTICULARS. | Total | Male. | Female. | Total. | Male. | Female. |
| Population | 31,443,321 | 16,085,204 | 15,358,117 | 38,558,371 | 19,493,565 | 19,064,806 |
| Native | 27,304,624 | 13,856,313 | 13,448,311 | 32,991,142 | 16,486,622 | 16,504,520 |
| Foreign | 4,138,697 | 2,228,891 | 1,909,806 | 5,567,229 | 3,006,943 | 2,560,286 |
| White | 26,922,537 | 13,811,387 | 13,111,150 | 33,589,377 | 17,029,088 | 16,560,289 |
| Native | 22,869,805 | 11,643,081 | 11,226,724 | 28,095,665 | 14,086,509 | 14,009,156 |
| Foreign | 4,131,686 | 2,225,379 | 1,906,307 | 5,493,712 | 2,942,579 | 2,551,133 |
| Colored | 4,441,830 | 2,216,744 | 2,225,086 | 4,880,009 | 2,393,263 | 2,486,746 |
| Blacks | 3,853,467 | 1,936,586 | 1,916,931 | 4,295,960 | 2,115,380 | 2,180,580 |
| Mulattoes | 588,363 | 280,208 | 308,155 | 584,049 | 277,896 | 306,153 |
| Chinese and Japanese | 34,933 | 33,149 | 1,784 | 63,254 | 58,680 | 4,574 |
| Indians | 44,021 | 23,924 | 20,097 | 25,731 | 12,534 | 13,197 |
The number of males and females of school age, of males of the military and voting ages, with the distinctions of general nativity and race, and of male citizens of the voting age, was as follows in 1870:
Female. :
| From 5 to 18 years of age | 12,055,443 | 6,086,872 | 5,968,571 |
| Native | 11,509,126 | 5,811,730 | 5,697,396 |
| Foreign | 546,317 | 275,142 | 271,175 |
| White | 10,422,564 | 5,264,635 | 5,157,929 |
| Colored | 1,620,978 | 814,576 | 806,402 |
| Chinese | 4,143 | 3,666 | 477 |
| Indians | 7,758 | 3,995 | 3,763 |
| Males 18 to 45 years of age | 7,570,487 | ........ | ........ |
| Native | 5,697,085 | ........ | ........ |
| Foreign | 1,873,402 | ........ | ........ |
| White | 6,655,811 | ........ | ........ |
| Colored | 861,164 | ........ | ........ |
| Chinese | 48,666 | ........ | ........ |
| Indians | 4,846 | ........ | ........ |
| Males 21 yrs. of age and upward | 9,439,206 | ........ | ........ |
| Native | 6,896,623 | ........ | ........ |
| Foreign | 2,542,583 | ........ | ........ |
| White | 8,353,719 | ........ | ........ |
| Colored | 1,032,475 | ........ | ........ |
| Chinese | 47,531 | ........ | ........ |
| Indians | 5,481 | ........ | ........ |
| Male citizens 21 years of age and upward | 8,425,941 | ........ | ........ |
The total population 10 years of age and over was 28,228,945, of whom 14,258,866 were males and 13,970,079 females. There were engaged in all occupations 12,505,923, of whom 10,669,635 were males and 1,836,288 females, and 739,164 were from 10 to 15 years of age; in agriculture, 5,922,471 (5,525,503 males and 396,968 females), including 2,885,996 laborers and 2,977,711 farmers and planters; in professional and personal services, 2,684,793 (1,618,121 males and 1,066,672 females), including 2,053 actors, 43,874 clergymen, 975,734 domestic servants, 5,286 journalists, 1,031,666 laborers not specified, 40,736 lawyers, 62,383 physicians and surgeons, and 126,822 teachers not specified; in trade and transportation, 1,191,238 (1,172,540 males and 18,698 females); and in manufactures and mechanical and mining industries, 2,707,421 (2,353,471 males and 353,950 females), including, besides 41,619 mill and factory operatives not specified, 111,606 cotton and 58,836 woollen mill operatives, and 152,107 miners. The total number of blind was 20,320; deaf and dumb, 16,205; insane, 37,432; idiotic, 24,527. The total deaths from all causes during the year ended May 31, 1870, as reported by the census, were 492,263, being ​1.28 per cent, of the entire population, excluding the territories. The highest rates of mortality were 2 per cent. in Louisiana and 1.77 in Massachusetts; lowest, 0.69 in Oregon, 0.80 in Minnesota, and 0.81 in Iowa. The total number of births during the year, and living on May 31, was 1,100,475. Of the total number of deaths, 188,684 were from general diseases, of which 94,832 were chiefly acute and 93,852 chiefly chronic. Under general diseases are classed those affections which involve a great number of diverse organs, or the whole frame, rather than any special part of it, the most important being fevers and consumption. Under local diseases were classed 60,455 deaths from those of the nervous, 17,034 of the circulatory, 63,971 of the respiratory, and 73,999 of the digestive system, 4,744 of the urinary system and male organs of generation, and 1,318 of the female organs of generation; 4,810 from affections connected with pregnancy; 2,187 from diseases of the organs of locomotion, and 2,778 of the integumentary system. Besides these, there were 28,493 deaths from conditions not necessarily associated with general or local diseases, 2,351 from poisons, 1,069 from worms, 364 from malformations, 22,740 from accidents and injuries, and 17,266 from unknown causes. The number of deaths from certain principal diseases, with their ratio to the total number from all causes, was as follows:
Deaths from  all causes  to one from  disease specified. :
| Cholera infantum | 20,255 | 24.3 |
| Consumption | 69,896 | 7.0 |
| Croup | 10,692 | 46.0 |
| Whooping cough | 9,008 | 54.6 |
| Measles | 9,237 | 53.8 |
| Pneumonia | 40,012 | 12.8 |
| Smallpox | 4,507 | 109.2 |
| Diphtheria | 6,303 | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ 18.5 |
| Scarlet fever | 20,320 | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ 18.5 |
| Intermittent fever | 7,142 | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ 43.1 |
| Remittent fever | 4,281 | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ 43.1 |
| Cancer | 6,224 | 79.1 |
| Cerebro-spinal fever | 651 | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ 20.0 |
| Enteric fever | 22,187 | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ 20.0 |
| Typhus fever | 1,170 | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ 20.0 |
| Diarrhœa | 14,195 | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ 15.8 |
| Dysentery | 7,912 | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ 15.8 |
| Enteritis | 9,046 | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ 15.8 |
The highest death rate for consumption was in the New England states; the lowest in the southern and western states, and especially the territories. Intermittent and remittent fevers were most destructive in the southern states, and least in New England.—The agriculture resources of the United States, though but partially developed, contribute largely to its wealth and political importance. Of the 12,505,923 persons engaged in all occupations in 1870, 5,922,471 were employed in agriculture, including 2,977,711 farmers and planters and 2,885,996 laborers. The exports of agricultural produce form the most important feature of the commerce of the country; in 1874 they amounted to more than $700,000,000 in value. The exports of breadstuffs were valued at $161,198,864, including wheat worth $101,421,459, wheat flour $29,258,094, and Indian corn $24,769,951; of provisions, $78,328,990, including bacon and hams valued at $33,383,908, cheese $11,898,995, preserved meats $19,308,019, and pork $5,808,712; of cotton, $211,223,580; and of leaf tobacco, $30,399,181. The following are the most important statistics of agriculture, as reported by the censuses of 1860 and 1870:
1870. :
| Land in farms, acres | 407,212,538 | 407,735,041 |
| Land in farms, improved | 163,110,720 | 188,921,099 |
| Land in farms, woodland | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ 244,101,818 | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ 159,310,177  59,503,765 |
| Land in farms, other unimproved | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ 244,101,818 | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ 159,310,177  59,503,765 |
| Percentage of unimproved to total | 59.9 | 53.7 |
| Number of farms | 2,044,077 | 2,659,985 |
| Average size, acres | 199 | 153 |
| Cash value of farms | $6,645,045,007 | $9,262,803,861 |
| Cash value of farming implements and machinery | $246,118,141 | $336,878,429 |
| Total amount of wages paid during the year, | | |
| including value of board | .............. | $310,286,285 |
| Total estimated value of all farm productions, | | |
| including betterments and additions to stock | .............. | $2,447,538,658 |
| Produce of orchards, value | $19,991,885 | $47,335,189 |
| Produce of market gardens | $16,159,498 | $20,719,229 |
| Produce of forests | .............. | $36,808,277 |
| Home manufactures | $24,546,876 | $23,423,332 |
| Animals slaughtered or sold for slaughter | $213,618,692 | $398,956,376 |
| All live stock | $1,089,329,915 | $1,525,276,457 |
| Horses on farms, number | 6,249,174 | 7,145,370 |
| Horses not on farms | 1,185,514 | 1,547,370 |
| Mules and asses | 1,151,148 | 1,125,415 |
| Milch cows | 8,585,735 | 8,935,332 |
| Working oxen | 2,254,911 | 1,319,271 |
| Other cattle | 14,779,373 | 13,566,005 |
| Neat cattle not on farms | 3,347,009 | 4,273,973 |
| Sheep | 22,471,275 | 28,477,951 |
| Swine | 33,512,867 | 25,134,569 |
| Wheat, bushels | 173,104,924 | 287,745,626 |
| Wheat, spring | .............. | 112,549,733 |
| Wheat, winter | .............. | 175,195,893 |
| Rye | 21,101,380 | 16,918,795 |
| Indian corn | 838,792,742 | 760,944,549 |
| Oats | 172,643,185 | 282,107,157 |
| Barley | 17,571,818 | 29,761,305 |
| Buckwheat | 17,571,818 | 9,821,721 |
| Rice, lbs. | 187,167,032 | 73,635,021 |
| Tobacco | 434,209,461 | 262,735,341 |
| Cotton, bales | 5,387,052 | 3,011,996 |
| Wool, lbs. | 60,264,913 | 100,102,387 |
| Peas and beans, bushels | 15,061,995 | 5,746,027 |
| Potatoes, Irish | 111,148,867 | 143,337,473 |
| Potatoes, sweet | 42,095,026 | 21,709,824 |
| Wine, gallons | 1,627,192 | 3,092,330 |
| Butter, lbs. | 459,681,372 | 514,092,683 |
| Cheese (on farms) | 103,663,927 | 53,492,153 |
| Milk sold, gallons | .............. | 235,500,599 |
| Hay, tons | 19,083,896 | 27,316,048 |
| Seed, clover, bushels | 956,188 | 639,657 |
| Seed, grass | 900,040 | 583,188 |
| Hops, lbs. | 10,991,996 | 25,456,669 |
| Hemp, tons | 74,493 | 12,746 |
| Flax, lbs. | 4,720,145 | 27,133,034 |
| Flaxseed, bushels | 566,867 | 1,730,444 |
| Silk cocoons, lbs. | 11,944 | 3,937 |
| Sugar, cane, hhds. | 230,982 | 87,043 |
| Sugar, sorghum | .............. | 24 |
| Sugar, maple, lbs. | 40,120,205 | 28,443,645 |
| Molasses, cane, gallons | 14,963,996 | 6,593,323 |
| Molasses, sorghum | 6,749,123 | 16,050,089 |
| Molasses, maple | 1,597,589 | 921,057 |
| Wax, lbs. | 1,322,787 | 631,129 |
| Honey | 23,366,357 | 14,702,815 |
​The leading crops in 1874, as reported by the department of agriculture, were as follows:
Average  yield  per acre. :
| Ind. corn, bushels | 850,148,500 | 41,036,918 | $550,043,080 | 20.7 |
| Wheat | 309,102,700 | 24,967,027 | 291,107,895 | 12.3 |
| Rye | 14,990,900 | 1,116,716 | 12,870,411 | 13.4 |
| Oats | 240,369,000 | 10,897,412 | 125,047,530 | 22.0 |
| Barley | 32,552,500 | 1,580,626 | 29,983,769 | 20.6 |
| Buckwheat | 8,016,600 | 452,590 | 6,477,885 | 17.7 |
| Potatoes | 105,981,000 | 1,310,041 | 71,823,330 | 80.9 |
| Total | 1,561,161,200 | 81,361,330 | $1,087,353,900 | ...... |
| Tobacco, lbs. | 178,355,000 | 281,662 | $23,362,765 | 632.2 |
| Hay, tons | 24,133,900 | 21,769,772 | 331,420,738 | 1.11 |
| Cotton, bales | 3,800,000 | ......... | 256,215.000 | ...... |
The number and value of farm animals in 1874 were as follows:
Value. :
| Horses | 9,504,200 | $68 01 | $646,370,939 |
| Mules | 1,393,750 | 80 00 | 111,502,713 |
| Milch cows | 10,906,800 | 28 52 | 311,089,824 |
| Oxen and other cattle | 16,313,400 | 18 68 | 304,858,859 |
| Sheep | 33,783,600 | 2 79 | 94,320,652 |
| Swine | 28,062,200 | 5 34 | 149,869,234 |
The states producing the most wheat in 1873 were: Iowa, 34,600,000 bushels; Illinois, 28,417,000; Minnesota, 28,056,000; Wisconsin, 26,322,000; California, 21,504,000; Indiana, 20,832,000; Ohio, 18,567,000; Pennsylvania, 15,548,000; Michigan, 14,214,000; Missouri, 11,927,000; Tennessee, 7,414,000; Kentucky, 7,225,000; New York, 7,047,000. Indian corn: Illinois, 143,634,000; Iowa, 105,200,000; Ohio, 88,422,000; Missouri, 70,846,000; Indiana, 67,840,000 ; Kentucky, 58,451,000. Oats: Illinois, 35,360,000; Pennsylvania, 31,229,000; New York, 27,548,000; Ohio, 23,090,000; Iowa, 21,130,000; Wisconsin, 18,862,000; Missouri, 15,670,000. Rye: Pennsylvania, 3,283,000; Illinois, 2,078,000; New York, 1,853,000; Wisconsin, 1,240,000; Kentucky, 1,107,000. Barley: California, 10,213,991; New York, 5,876,000; Iowa, 4,500,000; Illinois, 2,280,000; Ohio, 1,576,000 ; Wisconsin, 1,515,000; Minnesota, 1,060,000. Buckwheat: New York, 2,947,000; Pennsylvania, 2,022,000. Tobacco: Kentucky, 152,000,000 lbs.; Virginia, 50,000,000; Ohio, 32,500,000; Tennessee, 23,750,000; Maryland, 19,300,000; Missouri, 13,200,000. Wool (census of 1870): Ohio, 20,539,643 lbs.; California, 11,391,743; New York, 10,599,225; Michigan, 8,726,145; Pennsylvania, 6,561,722; Illinois, 5,739,249; Indiana, 5,029,023; Wisconsin, 4,090,670. The chief cotton-producing states are Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Florida. In 1874 the greatest number of horses was in Illinois, of mules in Tennessee, of oxen and other cattle in Texas and Illinois, of milch cows in New York, and of hogs in Iowa and Illinois. The wool product of 1873 was estimated at 146,000,000 lbs. The industry of wool growing, though progressing but little east of the Mississippi, has been increasing from the Missouri to the Pacific coast. The states reporting the largest number of sheep in 1874 were California, 4,683,200; Ohio, 4,639,000; Michigan, 3,486,300; New York, 2,037,200; Iowa, 1,732,600; Indiana, 1,722,500; Pennsylvania, 1,674,000; Missouri, 1,408,500; Illinois, 1,408,200; Texas, 1,338,700; and Wisconsin, 1,187,600.—The growth of manufactures is shown by the following statistics, reported by the censuses of 1850, 1860, and 1870:
1870. :
| Number of establishments | 123,025 | 140,433 | 252,148 |
| Steam engines, number | ........ | ........ | 40,191 |
| Steam engines, horsepower | ........ | ........ | 1,215,711 |
| Water wheels, number | ........ | ........ | 51,018 |
| Water wheels, horsepower | ........ | ........ | 1,130,431 |
| Hands employed, all | 957,059 | 1,311,246 | 2,053,996 |
| Hands employed, males above 16 | 731,137 | 1,040 349 | 1,615,598 |
| Hands employed, females above 15 | 225,922 | 270,897 | 323,770 |
| Hands employed, youth | ........ | ........ | 114,628 |
| Capital | $538,245,351 | $1,009,855,715 | $2,118,208,769 |
| Wages | $236,755,464 | $378,878,966 | $775,584,343 |
| Value of materials | $555,123,822 | $1,031,605,092 | $2,488,427,242 |
| Value of products | $1,019,106,616 | $1,885,861,676 | $4,232,325,442 |
The difference between the schedules used in 1870 and those of 1860 and 1850 renders the above statements only approximately valuable for purposes of comparison. Certain industries are included in the results of 1870 which are excluded from those of 1860; others reported in 1860 do not appear in the above totals for 1870. The marked increase in the value of products between 1860 and 1870 is especially noticeable. Making allowance for the differences above referred to, and estimating the increase due to special administrative efforts in 1870 at $250,000,000, the superintendent of the census computes that the value of products in 1870 should be reduced to $3,924,958,660, in order to be fairly comparable with that of 1860. This would show an increase of $2,039,096,984, or 108.12 per cent., 56 per cent. of which is attributed to the general advance in prices, leaving 52 per cent. as the actual increase of manufacturing production. In 1870 the leading industries were:
Value of Products. :
| Agricultural implements | 2,076 | 25,249 | $34,834,600 | $12,161,504 | $21,473,925 | $52,066,875 |
| Bagging, flax, hemp, and jute | 33 | 3,170 | 3,158,101 | 958,106 | 2,624,682 | 4,507,664 |
| Bags, paper | 39 | 444 | 473,100 | 134,932 | 1,053,463 | 1,483,963 |
| Bags, other than paper | 39 | 1,097 | 1,290,500 | 452,517 | 3,827,678 | 8,261,679 |
| Belting and hose leather | 91 | 808 | 2,118,577 | 454,187 | 3,231,204 | 4,558,043 |
| Blacksmithing | 26,364 | 52,982 | 15,977,992 | 9,246,549 | 13,223,907 | 41,828,296 |
| Bleaching and dyeing (exclusive of straw goods) | 250 | 4,172 | 5,006,950 | 1,783,449 | 53,166,634 | 58,571,498 |
| Boats | 174 | 2,381 | 1,665,198 | 1,225,996 | 1,214,016 | 3,300,775 |
| Bookbinding | 500 | 7,697 | 5,319,410 | 3,095,821 | 8,026,870 | 14,077,309 |
| Boot and shoe findings | 271 | 2,773 | 858,560 | 792,957 | 1,817,028 | 3,389,091 |
| Boots and shoes | 23,428 | 135,889 | 48,994,366 | 51,972,712 | 93,582,528 | 181,644,090 |
| Boxes, wooden packing | 489 | 4,509 | 3,571,942 | 1,909,088 | 4,236,745 | 8,222,433 |
| Boxes, paper | 234 | 4,486 | 1,148,025 | 1,222,338 | 1,553,777 | 3,917,159 |
| Brass founding and finishing | 275 | 3,377 | 4,783,585 | 1,731,306 | 3,293,629 | 6,855,756 |
| Brass rolled | 11 | 448 | 562,800 | 233,484 | 704,870 | 1,254,966 |
| Brass ware | 30 | 757 | 1,243,450 | 386,008 | 907,908 | 1,849,018 |
| Bread, crackers, and other bakery products | 3,550 | 14,126 | 10,025,966 | 5,558,184 | 22,211,856 | 36,907,704 |
| Brick | 3,114 | 43,293 | 20,504,238 | 10,768,853 | 7,413,097 | 29,028,359 |
| Bridge building | 64 | 2,090 | 2,973,250 | 1,123,353 | 3,239,771 | 5,476,175 |
| Brooms and whisk brushes | 635 | 5,206 | 2,015,602 | 1,268,875 | 3,672,837 | 6,622,285 |
| Brushes, not whisk | 157 | 2,425 | 1,683,998 | 691,405 | 1,312,897 | 2,694,823 |
| Butchering | 509 | 1,881 | 2,099,905 | 546,346 | 11,039,928 | 18,686,061 |
| Carpentering and building | 17,142 | 67,864 | 25,110,428 | 29,169,588 | 63,943,115 | 132,901,482 |
| Carpets, rag | 474 | 1,016 | 310,744 | 141,148 | 498,595 | 1,005,327 |
| Carpets, other than rag | 215 | 12,098 | 12,540,750 | 4,681,718 | 13,577,998 | 21,761,578 |
| Carriages and wagons | 11,847 | 54,928 | 36,563,095 | 21,272,780 | 22,787,341 | 65,362,837 |
| Cars, railroad, and repairs | 170 | 15,931 | 16,632,792 | 9,659,992 | 18,117,707 | 31,070,734 |
| Cement | 46 | 1,632 | 1,521,500 | 631,998 | 773,192 | 2,033,893 |
| Charcoal and coke | 167 | 3,473 | 2,398,083 | 1,294,707 | 1,204,779 | 3,161,104 |
| Cheese | 1,313 | 4,607 | 3,690,075 | 706,566 | 14,089,284 | 16,771,665 |
| Chromos and lithographs | 91 | 1,399 | 1,533,725 | 837,732 | 735,810 | 2,515,684 |
| Clocks | 26 | 1,330 | 882,700 | 805,340 | 818,409 | 2,509,643 |
| Clothing, men's | 7,838 | 106,679 | 49,891,080 | 30,535,879 | 86,117,231 | 147,650,378 |
| Clothing, women's | 1,847 | 11,696 | 3,520,213 | 2,513,956 | 6,837,978 | 12,900,583 |
| Coal oil, refined | 170 | 1,870 | 6,770,383 | 1,184,559 | 21,450,189 | 26,942,287 |
| Confectionery | 949 | 6,825 | 4,995,298 | 2,091,826 | 8,703,560 | 15,992,643 |
| Cooperage | 4,961 | 23,314 | 9,798,847 | 7,819,813 | 12,831,796 | 26,863,734 |
| Copper, milled and smelted | 27 | 1,082 | 3,158,500 | 577,129 | 10,715,400 | 11,684,123 |
| Copper, rolled | 7 | 266 | 1,608,750 | 183,875 | 1,777,585 | 2,390,460 |
| Cordage and twine | 201 | 3,698 | 3,530,470 | 1,234,272 | 5,739,608 | 8,979,382 |
| Cotton goods, not specified | 819 | 129,442 | 133,238,797 | 37,280,856 | 106,307,962 | 168,457,353 |
| Cotton batting and wadding | 27 | 244 | 276,800 | 78,876 | 533,451 | 720,117 |
| Cotton thread, twine, and yarns | 128 | 6,077 | 7,392,295 | 1,743,651 | 5,135,303 | 8,726,217 |
| Cutlery | 82 | 2,111 | 2,246,830 | 973,854 | 762,029 | 2,882,803 |
| Cutlery and edge tools, not specified | 102 | 2,317 | 1,880,717 | 1,157,904 | 862,014 | 2,739,998 |
| Drugs and chemicals | 292 | 4,729 | 12,750,800 | 2,141,238 | 11,681,405 | 19,417,194 |
| Dye woods, stuffs, and extracts | 19 | 548 | 1,227,500 | 300,755 | 1,275,434 | 2,053,300 |
| Edge tools and axes | 97 | 8,520 | 4,219,205 | 1,997,795 | 2,413,555 | 5,482,539 |
| Envelopes | 22 | 910 | 875,000 | 316,158 | 1,288,139 | 2,277,541 |
| Fertilizers (not ground plaster) | 126 | 2,501 | 4,395,948 | 766,712 | 3,808,025 | 5,815,118 |
| Firearms | 46 | 3,297 | 4,016,902 | 2,490,774 | 1,100,999 | 5,582,258 |
| Flax and linen goods | 10 | 1,746 | 2,325,250 | 424,946 | 1,121,467 | 2,178,775 |
| Flouring and grist-mill products | 22,573 | 58,448 | 151,565,376 | 14,577,533 | 367,392,122 | 444,985,143 |
| Fruits and vegetables, canned and preserved | 97 | 5,869 | 2,335,925 | 771,643 | 3,094,846 | 5,425,677 |
| Furniture, not specified | 6,452 | 40,836 | 36,304,029 | 18,051,591 | 21,873,427 | 58,521,580 |
| Furniture, chairs | 529 | 12,462 | 7,643,884 | 3,522,940 | 3,979,748 | 10,567,104 |
| Furs, dressed | 182 | 2,903 | 3,472,267 | 1,042,305 | 4,816,122 | 8,903,052 |
| Glass, window | 35 | 2,859 | 3,244,560 | 1,503,277 | 1,400,760 | 3,811,808 |
| Glass, other | 166 | 12,963 | 10,867,082 | 6,341,148 | 4,734,408 | 15,334,554 |
| Gloves and mittens | 221 | 4,058 | 2,340,550 | 980,549 | 1,884,146 | 3,998,521 |
| Grease and tallow | 62 | 442 | 841,980 | 184,787 | 5,114,868 | 6,035,845 |
| Gunpowder | 33 | 989 | 4,060,400 | 570,279 | 2,270,747 | 4,011,839 |
| Hardware | 580 | 14,236 | 13,869,315 | 6,845,640 | 9,188,064 | 22,237,329 |
| Hardware for saddlery | 155 | 2,566 | 1,482,225 | 1,062,059 | 1,257,947 | 3,227,123 |
| Hat materials | 62 | 1,014 | 1,168,635 | 537,287 | 2,074,959 | 3,225,763 |
| Hats and caps | 483 | 16,173 | 6,489,571 | 6,574,490 | 12,262,407 | 24,848,167 |
| Heating apparatus | 59 | 1,141 | 1,605,830 | 853,516 | 1,424,345 | 3,425,150 |
| Hoop skirts and corsets | 194 | 4,345 | 1,707,600 | 1,045,188 | 2,276,577 | 4,758,290 |
| Hosiery | 248 | 14,788 | 10,931,260 | 4,429,085 | 9,835,823 | 18,411,564 |
| Hubs, spokes, bows, shafts, wheels, and felloes | 302 | 3,721 | 4,050,609 | 1,544,896 | 2,204,713 | 5,285,157 |
| India-rubber and elastic goods | 56 | 6,025 | 7,486,600 | 2,559,877 | 7,434,742 | 14,566,374 |
| Iron, pigs | 386 | 27,554 | 56,145,326 | 12,475,250 | 45,498,017 | 69,640,498 |
| Iron, castings, not specified | 2,328 | 37,980 | 47,745,241 | 20,679,793 | 39,178,481 | 76,453,553 |
| Iron, castings, stoves, heaters, and hollow ware | 326 | 13,325 | 19,833,720 | 8,156,121 | 9,044,069 | 23,389,665 |
| Iron, blooms | 82 | 2,902 | 4,506,733 | 1,195,964 | 5,685,466 | 7,647,054 |
| Iron, forged and rolled | 396 | 47,891 | 59,119,094 | 27,002,829 | 33,834,268 | 128,062,627 |
| Iron, anchors and cable chains | 18 | 359 | 276,480 | 165,582 | 353,824 | 634,200 |
| Iron, bolts, nuts, washers, and rivets | 93 | 4,423 | 4,263,227 | 1,665,426 | 4,021,070 | 7,191,151 |
| Iron, nails and spikes, cut and wrought | 142 | 7,770 | 9,091,912 | 3,961,172 | 18,792,383 | 24,823,996 |
| Iron, pipe, wrought | 22 | 2,129 | 5,311,095 | 1,155,910 | 4,872,907 | 7,369,194 |
| Iron, railing, wrought | 74 | 630 | 405,200 | 321,101 | 533,116 | 1,268,756 |
| Iron, ship building and marine engines | 1 | 852 | 750,000 | 210,000 | 187,000 | 472,000 |
| Jewelry | 710 | 10,274 | 11,867,856 | 4,498,343 | 9,252,425 | 22,321,029 |
| Lead, bar and sheet | 5 | 39 | 246,000 | 23,500 | 693,789 | 747,700 |
| Lead, pigs | 62 | 589 | 2,191,600 | 237,628 | 2,807,074 | 3,499,183 |
| Lead, pipe | 17 | 100 | 2,054,500 | 115,020 | 9,303,869 | 12,861,959 |
| Lead, shot | 7 | 55 | 330,000 | 32,755 | 988,189 | 1,218,354 |
| Leather, tanned | 4,237 | 20,784 | 42,720,505 | 7,934,416 | 63,069,491 | 86,170,883 ​ |
| Leather, curried | 3,083 | 10,027 | $12,303,785 | $4,154,114 | $43,565,593 | $54,191,167 |
| Leather, morocco, tanned and curried | 113 | 3,006 | 3,854,072 | 1,678,226 | 6,623,066 | 9,997,460 |
| Leather, patent and enamelled | 26 | 528 | 906,000 | 341,445 | 3,211,749 | 4,018,115 |
| Leather, dressed skins | 110 | 898 | 1,340,450 | 397,574 | 2,099,735 | 2,859,972 |
| Lime | 1,001 | 6,450 | 5,344,154 | 1,936,158 | 4,458,542 | 8,917,405 |
| Liquors, distilled | 719 | 5,131 | 15,545,116 | 2,019,810 | 19,729,432 | 36,191,133 |
| Liquors, malt | 1,972 | 12,443 | 48,779,435 | 6,758,602 | 28,177,684 | 55,706,643 |
| Liquors, vinous | 398 | 1,486 | 2,334,394 | 230,650 | 1,203,172 | 2,225,238 |
| Looking-glass and picture frames | 320 | 3,587 | 2,590,020 | 1,623,653 | 2,466,313 | 5,962,235 |
| Lumber, planed | 1,113 | 13,640 | 18,007,041 | 6,222,076 | 28,728,348 | 42,179,702 |
| Lumber, sawed | 25,817 | 149,871 | 143,399,082 | 39,966,817 | 103,102,393 | 209,852,527 |
| Machinery, not specified | 1,737 | 30,781 | 40,383,960 | 17,812,493 | 22,575,692 | 54,429,634 |
| Machinery, cotton and woolen | 338 | 8,918 | 10,603,424 | 4,632,913 | 5,246,874 | 13,311,118 |
| Machinery, fire engines | 9 | 838 | 986,000 | 307,414 | 913,833 | 1,636,580 |
| Machinery, railroad repairing | 150 | 20,015 | 23,222,761 | 12,541,818 | 11,952,840 | 27,565,650 |
| Machinery, steam engines and boilers | 663 | 22,962 | 25,987,452 | 12,572,244 | 19,784,404 | 41,576,264 |
| Malt | 208 | 1,640 | 8,017,248 | 700,624 | 9,002,094 | 12,016,515 |
| Marble and stone work, not specified | 923 | 13,190 | 11,287,677 | 7,601,471 | 8,034,858 | 21,316,860 |
| Marble and stone work, monuments and tombstones | 1,049 | 5,719 | 4,942,063 | 2,490,296 | 3,709,518 | 8,916,654 |
| Masonry, brick and stone | 2,264 | 11,043 | 2,546,425 | 2,471,700 | 7,015,782 | 14,587,185 |
| Matches | 75 | 2,556 | 1,523,802 | 616,714 | 1,179,666 | 3,540,008 |
| Meat, cured and packed, not specified | 17 | 499 | 1,549,100 | 173,180 | 2,531,552 | 3,760,802 |
| Meat, packed, beef | 36 | 435 | 496,700 | 111,595 | 1,524,680 | 1,950,306 |
| Meat, packed, pork | 206 | 5,551 | 20,078,987 | 1,722,326 | 46,577,864 | 56,429,331 |
| Millinery | 1,668 | 7,205 | 2,425,926 | 1,156,531 | 3,365,132 | 6,513,222 |
| Mineral and soda waters | 387 | 2,383 | 3,462,360 | 923,703 | 1,687,931 | 4,222,278 |
| Musical instruments, not specified | 105 | 1,460 | 1,759,600 | 896,119 | 1,166,424 | 2,616,149 |
| Musical instruments, organs and materials | 76 | 1,566 | 1,775,850 | 1,139,780 | 743,351 | 2,960,165 |
| Musical instruments, pianos and materials | 156 | 4,141 | 6,019,311 | 3,071,392 | 2,924,777 | 8,329,594 |
| Oil, animal | 58 | 543 | 2,072,532 | 298,975 | 7,582,576 | 9,728,667 |
| Oil, fish | 101 | 1,487 | 1,490,131 | 277,895 | 2,782,361 | 3,993,139 |
| Oil, cotton-seed | 26 | 664 | 1,225,350 | 292,032 | 1,333,631 | 2,205,610 |
| Oil, linseed | 77 | 945 | 3,862,956 | 458,387 | 7,216,414 | 8,881,962 |
| Oil floor cloth | 84 | 1,411 | 2,237,000 | 687,288 | 2,548,768 | 4,211,579 |
| Paints, not specified | 68 | 1,008 | 3,742,150 | 550,463 | 3,998,106 | 5,720,758 |
| Paints, lead and zinc | 75 | 1,932 | 7,414,250 | 1,016,574 | 7,480,622 | 11,211,647 |
| Paper, not specified | 163 | 2,770 | 5,001,820 | 1,028,208 | 3,478,709 | 6,406,817 |
| Paper, printing | 235 | 8,167 | 16,771,920 | 3,400,038 | 16,120,363 | 25,200,417 |
| Paper, wrapping | 225 | 3,111 | 6,276,600 | 1,249,821 | 4,420,240 | 7,706,317 |
| Paper, writing | 46 | 3,862 | 6,314,674 | 1,470,446 | 6,009,751 | 9,263,384 |
| Paper hangings | 15 | 869 | 1,415,500 | 329,267 | 1,315,106 | 2,165,510 |
| Patent medicines and compounds | 319 | 2,436 | 6,667,684 | 1,017,795 | 7,319,752 | 16,257,720 |
| Plated ware | 203 | 4,235 | 4,586,125 | 2,350,169 | 3,771,981 | 8,142,150 |
| Printing cotton and woollen goods | 42 | 8,894 | 13,367,553 | 3,438,089 | 43,873,358 | 54,446,044 |
| Printing and publishing, not specified | 311 | 10,668 | 16,839,993 | 7,156,332 | 11,398,131 | 28,995,214 |
| Printing and publishing, book | 40 | 1,390 | 2,128,993 | 760,275 | 1,525,773 | 3,568,823 |
| Printing and publishing, newspaper | 1,199 | 13,130 | 14,947,887 | 8,168,515 | 8,709,632 | 25,393,029 |
| Printing and publishing, job | 609 | 5,555 | 6,007,354 | 2,710,234 | 2,966,709 | 8,511,934 |
| Quartz, milled | 296 | 2,973 | 10,910,822 | 2,460,631 | 12,446,974 | 18,386,406 |
| Saddlery and harness | 7,607 | 23,553 | 13,935,961 | 7,046,207 | 16,068,310 | 32,709,981 |
| Salt | 282 | 2,953 | 6,561,615 | 1,147,910 | 1,760,670 | 4,818,229 |
| Sash, doors, and blinds | 1,695 | 20,379 | 21,239,809 | 10,059,812 | 17,581,814 | 36,625,806 |
| Saws | 72 | 1,595 | 2,883,391 | 995,609 | 1,332,891 | 3,175,289 |
| Scales and balances | 49 | 1,003 | 1,019,500 | 668,451 | 920,870 | 2,823,816 |
| Screws | 18 | 1,582 | 9,147,880 | 664,408 | 1,248,135 | 3,425,473 |
| Sewing machines | 49 | 7,291 | 8,759,431 | 5,142,248 | 3,055,786 | 14,097,446 |
| Ship building, ship materials, and repairs | 762 | 11,063 | 9,102,335 | 5,594,686 | 8,252,394 | 17,910,328 |
| Shovels and spades | 13 | 849 | 757,100 | 489,100 | 1,424,944 | 2,445,526 |
| Silk goods, not specified | 53 | 4,176 | 4,019,630 | 1,328,389 | 4,126,821 | 7,066,487 |
| Silk, sewing and twist | 35 | 2,523 | 2,223,500 | 624,917 | 4,197,752 | 5,672,875 |
| Silverware | 55 | 815 | 1,282,550 | 542,113 | 1,222,428 | 2,344,357 |
| Soap and candles | 614 | 4,422 | 10,454,860 | 1,925,951 | 15,232,587 | 22,535,337 |
| Starch | 195 | 2,072 | 2,741,675 | 900,719 | 3,884,909 | 5,994,422 |
| Steel, Bessemer | 3 | 329 | 858,000 | 176,000 | 1,373,812 | 1,818,220 |
| Steel, cast | 20 | 1,893 | 3,979,400 | 1,256,632 | 3,417,928 | 6,936,566 |
| Steel springs | 41 | 1,021 | 2,426,500 | 601,706 | 1,662,920 | 2,928,993 |
| Stone and earthen ware | 777 | 6,116 | 5,294,398 | 2,247,173 | 1,702,705 | 6,045,536 |
| Sugar and molasses, raw cane | 713 | 21,299 | 10,248,475 | 1,230,119 | 6,069,271 | 10,383,368 |
| Sugar and molasses, refined cane | 59 | 4,597 | 20,545,220 | 3,177,288 | 96,899,431 | 108,941,911 |
| Tar and turpentine | 227 | 2,638 | 902,225 | 476,284 | 2,146,090 | 3,585,225 |
| Tin, copper, and sheet-iron ware | 6,646 | 25,823 | 21,027,876 | 9,516,357 | 19,067,015 | 40,636,811 |
| Tobacco and cigars | 61 | 1,431 | 1,767,100 | 546,538 | 1,782,829 | 3,337,274 |
| Tobacco, chewing and smoking, and snuff | 512 | 20,368 | 11,788,714 | 4,670,095 | 20,351,607 | 36,258,177 |
| Tobacco, cigars | 4,631 | 26,049 | 11,368,516 | 9,098,709 | 12,522,171 | 32,166,593 |
| Trunks, valises, and satchels | 222 | 3,479 | 2,185,694 | 1,810,798 | 3,315,038 | 7,725,488 |
| Umbrellas and canes | 83 | 2,618 | 1,737,757 | 837,580 | 1,926,056 | 4,098,032 |
| Varnish | 59 | 415 | 2,168,740 | 252,059 | 3,311,097 | 4,991,405 |
| Watches | 37 | 1,816 | 2,666,133 | 1,304,304 | 412,783 | 2,819,080 |
| Wire | 175 | 4,270 | 4,200,700 | 1,802,617 | 4,512,891 | 8,017,625 |
| Wood, turned and carved | 733 | 4,103 | 2,751,544 | 1,499,565 | 1,648,008 | 4,959,191 |
| Wool-carding and cloth-dressing | 1,001 | 2,318 | 1,740,249 | 260,419 | 3,504,052 | 4,675,926 |
| Woollen goods | 1,938 | 77,870 | 97,173,432 | 26,648,272 | 93,406,884 | 151,298,196 |
| Worsted goods | 102 | 12,920 | 10,085,778 | 4,368,857 | 14,308,198 | 22,090,331 |
Taking the value of products as a standard, the leading manufacturing states were: New York, $785,194,651; Pennsylvania, $711,894,344; Massachusetts, $553,912,568; Ohio, ​$269,713,610; Missouri, $206,213,429; Illinois, $205,620,672; New Jersey, $169,237,732; Connecticut, $161,065,474; Michigan, $118,394,676; Rhode Island, $111,418,354; and Indiana, $108,617,278. The great centre for the manufacture of boots and shoes, straw goods, cotton and woollen goods, and textiles in general, is in Massachusetts. The manufacture of iron (excepting castings), machinery, cast-steel springs, and glass ware is most extensively carried on in Pennsylvania; of leather, flour, sewing machines, and refined molasses and sugar, in New York; of silk goods, in New Jersey; of agricultural implements, in Ohio; and of clocks, India-rubber and elastic goods, and hardware, in Connecticut. The following statement affords a comparison between the values of leading products in 1870 and 1860:
VALUE OF PRODUCTS. :
| INDUSTRIES. | 1860. | 1870. |
| Agricultural implements | $17,487,960 | $52,066,875 |
| Boots and shoes | 91,889,298 | 181,644,090 |
| Brick and tile | 11,263,147 | 29,302,016 |
| Carpets other than rag | 7,857,636 | 21,761,573 |
| Clothing, men's | 80,830,555 | 147,650,378 |
| Hosiery | 7,280,606 | 18,411,564 |
| Cotton goods | 115,681,774 | 177,489,739 |
| Flouring and grist-mill products | 248,580,365 | 444,985,143 |
| India-rubber and elastic goods | 5,768,450 | 14,566,374 |
| Iron, blooms | 2,628,178 | 7,647,054 |
| Iron, pig | 12,748,727 | 69,640,498 |
| Iron, rolled | 31,888,705 | 120,314,158 |
| Iron, cast | 36,132,033 | 99,843,218 |
| Iron, forged | 2,030,718 | 8,385,669 |
| Lead, pig | 839,222 | 3,499,183 |
| Liquors, distilled | 26,768,225 | 36,191,133 |
| Liquors, malt | 21,310,933 | 55,706,643 |
| Lumber, sawed | 96,715,854 | 210,159,327 |
| Machinery | 51,887,266 | 138,519,246 |
| Nails and tacks | 9,857,223 | 23,101,082 |
| Oil, vegetable | 7,689,960 | 13,249,241 |
| Oil, animal (not fish) | 2,568,336 | 9,728,667 |
| Salt | 2,289,504 | 4,818,229 |
| Sewing machines | 4,255,820 | 14,097,446 |
| Soap and candles | 18,464,574 | 22,535,337 |
| Silk | 6,607,771 | 12,739,362 |
| Steel | 1,778,240 | 9,609,986 |
| Sugar and molasses (cane), refined | 42,241,834 | 108,941,911 |
| Tar and turpentine | 1,031,356 | 3,585,225 |
| Tobacco, chewing and smoking, and snuff | 21,820,535 | 38,388,350 |
| Tobacco, cigars | 9,068,778 | 33,373,685 |
| Woollen goods | 61,894,986 | 155,405,358 |
| Worsted goods | 3,701,378 | 22,090,331 |
The number of cotton (spinning) mills in the United States in 1875 was 875, having a total of 9,539,364 spindles; of these, 694 mills, with 9,057,543 spindles, were in northern, and 181 mills, with 481,821 spindles, in southern states. The quantity of cotton consumed during the year ending June 30 was 1,242,080 bales of 576,742,753 lbs., including 1,097,001 bales in northern and 145,079 in southern mills. The total number of spindles has increased from 7,114,000 in 1870 to 9,539,364 in 1875, the ratio of increase being larger in the southern than in the northern states. The consumption of cotton has increased from 930,736 bales in 1870 to 1,242,080 in 1875. For the production and manufacture of cotton in the United States, see Cotton, and Cotton Manufacture.—The statistics of mining in 1870 were as follows:
Value of products. :
| Asphaltum | 1 | 23 | $514,286 | $450,000 |
| Cinnabar | 4 | 811 | 11,900,000 | 817,700 |
| Coal, anthracite | 231 | 53,096 | 51,016,785 | 38,495,745 |
| Coal, bituminous | 1,335 | 41,658 | 68,991,244 | 35,029,247 |
| Copper | 40 | 5,404 | 7,789,374 | 5,201,312 |
| Gold, hydraulic mined | 362 | 1,978 | 1,887,484 | 2,508,531 |
| Gold, placer mined | 1,632 | 8,463 | 5,624,549 | 7,266,613 |
| Gold quartz | 224 | 8,297 | 9,454,500 | 4,360,121 |
| Gold and sliver | 57 | 2,114 | 29,062,400 | 9,068,526 |
| Iron ore | 420 | 15,022 | 17,773,935 | 13,204,138 |
| Lead | 112 | 1,126 | 613,736 | 736,004 |
| Marble | 22 | 795 | 1,316,600 | 804,300 |
| Nickel | 1 | 48 | 60,000 | 24,000 |
| Peat, cut | 4 | 39 | 13,100 | 8,200 |
| Petroleum | 2,314 | 4,488 | 10,045,826 | 19,304,224 |
| Silver quartz | 102 | 1,056 | 4,015,000 | 3,248,861 |
| Slate | 101 | 1,749 | 2,738,239 | 1,311,492 |
| Stone | 997 | 12,573 | 7,152,854 | 9,971,100 |
| Zinc | 15 | 588 | 2,414,942 | 788,880 |
| Total | 7,974 | 154,328 | $222,384,854 | $152,598,994 |
Of the above named minerals, nearly one half in value were the product of Pennsylvania, which produced nearly all of the anthracite coal and of the petroleum, more than a third of the bituminous coal, and more than a fourth of the iron ore. The census returns of gold and silver were greatly below the actual production. The annual production of gold in the United States to 1873 and of silver to 1874 is given in the articles Gold, vol. viii., p. 81, and Silver, vol. xv., p. 57. The production of gold in 1874 amounted to about $42,000,000, and that of silver in 1875 to about $40,000,000. The production of pig iron in the United States has increased from 784,178 tons in 1855 to 919,770 in 1860, 931,582 in 1865, 1,865,000 in 1870, 2,854,558 in 1872, 2,868,278 in 1873, and 2,689,413 in 1874. About one fourth of the total amount is smelted from Lake Superior ores. The production of Bessemer steel has increased from 3,000 tons in 1867 to 40,000 in 1870 and 176,579 in 1874; that of other steel from 15,262 tons in 1865 to 35,000 in 1870 and 47,481 in 1874. In 1875 there were 10 establishments producing Bessemer and 42 other steel. The latest statistics of the production of iron and steel in the United States, as reported by the American iron and steel association, are as follows:
1874. :
| Pig Iron | 2,854,558 | 2,868,278 | 2,689,413 |
| All rolled iron, including nails | 1,941,992 | 1,966,445 | 1,839,560 |
| All rolled iron, including nails and excluding rails | 1,941,992 | 1,076,368 | 1,110,147 |
| Rails of all kinds | 1,000,000 | 890,077 | 729,413 |
| Bessemer steel rails | 94,070 | 129,015 | 144,944 |
| Iron and all other rails | 905,930 | 761,062 | 584,469 |
| Street rails | 15,000 | 9,430 | 6,739 |
| Kegs of cut nails and spikes | 4,065,822 | 4,024,704 | 4,912,180 |
| Merchantable Bessemer steel other than rails | 16,430 | 27,985 | 31,635 |
| Total of merchantable Bessemer steel | 110,500 | 157,000 | 176,579 |
| Crucible cast steel | 27,260 | 32,786 | 34,128 |
| Open-hearth steel | 3,000 | 3,500 | 7,000 |
| All other steel | 7,740 | 13,714 | 6,353 |
| Blooms from ore and pig iron | 58,000 | 62,564 | 61,670 |
​—The recent growth of the foreign commerce of the country is shown in the following statement of the gross specie value of imports and exports for years ending June 30:
EXPORTS OF DOMESTIC PRODUCTS. :
| YEARS. | Merchandise. | Coin and bullion. | Total. | Merchandise. | Coin and bullion. | Total. | Merchandise. | Coin and bullion. | Total. | Mixed values, gold and currency. |
| 1850 | 173,509,526 | 4,628,792 | 178,138,318 | 9,475,493 | 5,476,315 | 14,951,808 | 134,900,233 | 2,046,679 | 136,946,912 | .......... |
| 1851 | 210,771,429 | 5,453,503 | 216,224,932 | 10,295,121 | 11,403,172 | 21,698,293 | 178,620,138 | 18,069,580 | 196,689,718 | .......... |
| 1852 | 207,440,398 | 5,505,044 | 212,945,442 | 12,053,084 | 5,236,298 | 17,289,382 | 154,931,147 | 37,437,837 | 192,368,984 | .......... |
| 1853 | 263,777,265 | 4,201,382 | 267,978,647 | 13,620,120 | 3,938,340 | 17,558,460 | 189,869,162 | 23,548,535 | 213,417,697 | .......... |
| 1854 | 297,623,039 | 6,939,342 | 304,562,381 | 21,631,260 | 3,218,934 | 24,850,194 | 213,985,236 | 38,062,570 | 252,047,806 | .......... |
| 1855 | 257,808,708 | 3,659,812 | 261,468,520 | 26,158,368 | 2,289,925 | 28,448,293 | 192,751,135 | 53,957,418 | 246,708,558 | .......... |
| 1856 | 310,432,310 | 4,207,632 | 314,639,942 | 14,781,372 | 1,597,206 | 16,378,578 | 266,438,051 | 44,148,279 | 310,586,330 | .......... |
| 1857 | 348,428,342 | 12,461,799 | 360,890,141 | 14,917,047 | 9,058,570 | 23,975,617 | 278,906,713 | 60,078,352 | 338,985,065 | .......... |
| 1858 | 263,338,654 | 19,274,496 | 282,613,150 | 20,660,241 | 10,225,901 | 30,886,142 | 251,351,033 | 42,407,246 | 293,758,279 | .......... |
| 1859 | 331,333,341 | 7,434,789 | 338,768,130 | 14,509,971 | 6,385,106 | 20,895,077 | 278,392,080 | 57,502,305 | 335,894,385 | .......... |
| 1860 | 353,616,119 | 8,550,135 | 362,166,254 | 17,333,634 | 9,599,388 | 26,933,022 | 316,242,423 | 56,946,851 | 373,189,274 | .......... |
| 1861 | 289,310,542 | 46,339,611 | 335,650,153 | 14,654,217 | 5,991,210 | 20,645,427 | 204,899,616 | 23,799,870 | 228,699,486 | .......... |
| 1862 | 189,356,677 | 16,415,052 | 205,771,729 | 11,026,477 | 5,842,989 | 16,869,466 | 179,644,024 | 31,044,651 | 210,688,675 | 213,069,519 |
| 1863 | 243,335,815 | 9,584,105 | 252,919,920 | 17,960,535 | 8,163,049 | 26,123,584 | 186,003,912 | 55,993,562 | 241,997,474 | 305,884,998 |
| 1864 | 316,447,283 | 13,115,612 | 329,562,895 | 15,333,961 | 4,922,979 | 20,256,940 | 143,504,027 | 100,473,562 | 243,977,589 | 320,085,199 |
| 1865 | 238,745,580 | 9,810,072 | 248,555,652 | 29,089,055 | 3,025,102 | 32,114,157 | 136,940,248 | 64,618,124 | 201,558,372 | 323,743,187 |
| 1866 | 484,812,066 | 10,700,092 | 445,512,158 | 11,341,420 | 3,400,697 | 14,742,117 | 337,518,102 | 82,643,374 | 420,161,476 | 550,684,277 |
| 1867 | 395,763,100 | 22,070,475 | 417,833,575 | 14,719,332 | 5,892,176 | 20,611,508 | 277,641,893 | 54,976,196 | 332,618,089 | 438,577,312 |
| 1868 | 357,436,440 | 14,188.368 | 371,624,808 | 12,562,999 | 10,038,127 | 22,601,126 | 269,389,900 | 83,745,975 | 353,135,875 | 454,301,713 |
| 1869 | 417,506,379 | 19,807,876 | 437,314,255 | 10,951,000 | 14,222,414 | 25,173,414 | 275,166,697 | 42,915,966 | 318,082,663 | 413,961,115 |
| 1870 | 435,958,408 | 26,419,179 | 462,377,587 | 16,155,295 | 14,271,864 | 30,427,159 | 376,616,478 | 43,883,802 | 420,500,275 | 499,092,143 |
| 1871 | 520,223,684 | 21,270,024 | 541,493,708 | 14,421,270 | 14,038,629 | 23,459,899 | 428,398,908 | 84,403,359 | 512,802,267 | 562,518,651 |
| 1872 | 626,595,077 | 13,743,689 | 640,338,766 | 15,690,455 | 7,079,294 | 22,769,749 | 428,487,131 | 72,798,240 | 501,285,371 | 549,219,718 |
| 1873 | 642,136,210 | 21,480,937 | 663,617,147 | 17,446,483 | 10,703,028 | 28,149,511 | 505,033,439 | 73,905,546 | 578,938,985 | 649,132,563 |
| 1874 | 567,406,342 | 28,454,906 | 595,861,248 | 16,849,619 | 6,930,719 | 23,780,338 | 569,433,421 | 59,699,686 | 629,133,107 | 693,039,054 |
| 1875 | 533,005,436 | 20,900,717 | 553,906,153 | 14,158,611 | 8,275,013 | 22,438,624 | 499,284,100 | 83,857,129 | 583,141,229 | 643,094,767 |
To the total value of domestic exports in 1874 should be added $10,200,059 gold or $11,424,066 currency, and to the value of those in 1875, $15,596,524 gold, for merchandise which the Canadian reports show to have been exported from the United States, but which does not appear in the returns of this country. The average yearly value in gold of the imports and exports, from the formation of the government to 1850, was as follows:
Exports of  domestic products. :
| 1789 to 1799 | $52,359,269 | $15,175,257 | $27,944,992 |
| 1799 to 1809 | 93,351,628 | 37,827,500 | 37,287,530 |
| 1809 to 1819 | 81,906,927 | 13,357,458 | 45,338,432 |
| 1819 to 1829 | 80,220,651 | 28,326,438 | 52,832,653 |
| 1829 to 1839 | 126,641,148 | 19,564,916 | 83,845,630 |
| 1839 to 1849 | 119,678,698 | 13,233,998 | 110,840,752 |
The chief articles of import and of domestic export during the year ending June 30, 1875, with their values, were as follows:
IMPORTS. :
| Chemicals, drugs, dyes, and medicines | $10,272,571 |
| Coffee | 50,591,488 |
| Gold and silver, coin and bullion | 20,900,717 |
| Gums | 2,321,383 |
| Hides and skins, other than fur | 18,536,902 |
| India-rubber and gutta-percha, crude and manufactures of | 5,189,469 |
| Paper materials, rags and other | 4,770,745 |
| Silk, raw | 4,504,306 |
| Tea | 22,673,703 |
| Animals, living | 2,861,002 |
| Books, engravings, &c. | 2,633,796 |
| Barley | 6,297,738 |
| Cotton manufactures | 27,738,401 |
| Earthenware | 4,265,210 |
| Fancy goods | 5,623,949 |
| Flax and manufactures of | 17,720,647 |
| Fruits | 12,952,680 |
| Furs and fur skins, dressed | 3,017,631 |
| Glass and glass ware | 5,805,115 |
| Hemp and manufactures of | 3,219,385 |
| Iron and steel, and manufactures of | 18,475,733 |
| Jute and other grasses, and manufactures of | $3,882,268 |
| Leather and manufactures of | 10,245,597 |
| Opium | 2,037,793 |
| Precious stones | 3,612,280 |
| Seeds | 6,687,192 |
| Silk, manufactures of | 24,380,923 |
| Soda and salts of | 5,563,526 |
| Spices | 2,285,525 |
| Straw and palm leaf, manufactures of | 2,325,539 |
| Sugar, brown | 70,015,757 |
| Molasses | 11,685,224 |
| Melado | 3,313,597 |
| Tin and manufactures of | 15,365,565 |
| Tobacco and manufactures of | 6,861,384 |
| Watches, clocks, &c. | 2,566,195 |
| Wines and spirits | 7,769,527 |
| Wood, manufactures of | 6,182,988 |
| Wool, unmanufactured | 11,071,259 |
| Wool, manufactures of | 44,609,704 |
| All other articles | 62,084,493 |
| Total | $552,918,857 |
| Total merchandise, exclusive of specie | $532,018,140 |
| DOMESTIC EXPORTS. ||
| Agricultural implements | $2,625,372 |
| Animals, living | 2,672,505 |
| Indian corn | 24,456,937 |
| Wheat | 59,607,863 |
| Wheat flour | 23,712,440 |
| Cotton, raw | 190,638,625 |
| Cotton, manufactured | 4,071,882 |
| Chemicals, dyes, and medicines | 2,925,322 |
| Furs and fur skins | 4,396,424 |
| Gold and silver, coin and bullion | 83,857,129 |
| Hides and skins, other than fur | 4,729,725 |
| Iron and steel, and manufactures of | 19,349,671 |
| Leather and manufactures of | 7,324,796 |
| Naval stores | 2,901,625 |
| Oil cake | 5,138,300 |
| Oils, mineral, refined or manufactured | 30,078,568 |
| Provisions | 81,343,401 |
| Spirits of turpentine | 1,924,544 |
| Sugar and molasses | 3,793,517 |
| Tallow | 5,692,203 |
| Tobacco and manufactures of | 27,844,490 |
| Wood and manufactures of | 17,740,085 |
| All other articles | 36,239,343 |
| Total | $643,064,767 |
| Total merchandise, exclusive of specie | $559,207,638 |
​The chief countries represented in the foreign commerce in 1875 were as follows:
Domestic exports. :
| Argentine Republic | $5,834,709 | $1,301,294 |
| Belgium | 6,189,098 | 12,387,590 |
| Brazil | 42,033,046 | 7,634,865 |
| Central American states | 2,627,359 | 1,042,784 |
| Chili | 789,242 | 2,062,190 |
| China | 13,480,440 | 1,465,984 |
| France | 63,342,631 | 50,133,711 |
| French West Indies and Guiana | 2,037,266 | 1,167,276 |
| Germany | 40,893,386 | 52,517,913 |
| England | 144,195,531 | 321,014,343 |
| Scotland | 11,615,139 | 17,457,991 |
| Ireland | 1,237,167 | 28,327,535 |
| Nova Scotia, New Brunswick | 3,896,350 | 7,724,820 |
| Quebec, Ontario, &c. | 26,308,456 | 23,909,153 |
| British Columbia | 2,154,753 | 1,032,883 |
| British West Indies and Honduras | 4,642,891 | 7,587,218 |
| British Guiana | 2,499,245 | 1,830,807 |
| British East Indies | 15,584,099 | 473,049 |
| British Hong Kong | 1,206,816 | 7,296,070 |
| British Australasia | 3,755,590 | 3,505,345 |
| Hayti | 2,207,173 | 4,870,812 |
| Italy | 9,190,182 | 7,226,554 |
| Japan | 7,772,302 | 1,647,197 |
| Mexico | 11,634,983 | 3,895,792 |
| Netherlands | 2,353,658 | 7,483,010 |
| Dutch East Indies | 6,775,399 | 1,034,159 |
| Peru | 1,344,695 | 2,448,657 |
| Portugal | 480,362 | 2,820,099 |
| Russia on the Baltic | 698,221 | 10,420,706 |
| Spain | 4,534,873 | 7,540,086 |
| Cuba | 66,745,527 | 15,586,658 |
| Porto Rico | 6,980,082 | 2,377,757 |
| All other Spanish possessions | 6,830,187 | 89,889 |
| Turkey in Europe | 72,459 | 3,454,795 |
| United States of Colombia | 12,942,305 | 4,272,950 |
| Uruguay | 2,935,039 | 1,440,665 |
| Venezuela | 5,690,224 | 2,423,254 |
| All other countries, islands, &c. | 10,445,378 | 14,193,956 |
| Total | $553,906,153 | $643,094,767 |
The total number of vessels entered in the foreign trade during the year ended June 30, 1875, was 27,961, with an aggregate tonnage of 11,692,810. Of these, 11,074, of 3,573,950 tons, were American, and 16,887, of 8,118,860 tons, were foreign; 1,028, of 1,141,734 tons, were American ocean steamers, and 1,246, of 3,142,723 tons, foreign ocean steamers. The total number cleared was 28,236, of 11,896,507 tons, including 11,216 American vessels, of 3,736,639 tons, and 17,020 foreign vessels, of 8,159,868 tons. Besides the above, 74,027 vessels, of 31,614,282 tons, entered, and 73,324, of 30,440,626 tons, cleared in the coastwise trade and fisheries. The extent of the merchant marine of the United States at different periods has been as follows:
Total, tons. :
| 1790 | 478,377 | ........ | 478,877 |
| 1800 | 972,492 | ........ | 972,492 |
| 1810 | 1,424,783 | ........ | 1,424,783 |
| 1820 | 1,280,167 | ........ | 1,280,167 |
| 1830 | 1,127,304 | 64,472 | 1,191,776 |
| 1840 | 1,978,455 | 202,309 | 2,180,764 |
| 1850 | 3,010,020 | 525,434 | 3,535,454 |
| 1855 | 4,441,716 | 770,285 | 5,212,001 |
| 1860 | 4,485,931 | 867,937 | 5,353,868 |
| 1865 | 4,029,643 | 1,067,139 | 5,087,782 |
| 1870 | 4,171,412 | 1,075,095 | 4,246,507 |
| 1875 | 3,685,064 | 1,168,668 | 4,853,782 |
The distribution of the merchant marine has been as follows:
Cod and  mackerel   fisheries,  tons. :
| 1790 | 346,254 | 103,775 | ........ | 28,348 |
| 1800 | 667,107 | 272,492 | 3,466 | 29,427 |
| 1810 | 981,019 | 405,347 | 3,589 | 34,828 |
| 1820 | 583,657 | 588,025 | 36,445 | 72,040 |
| 1830 | 537,563 | 516,979 | 39,705 | 97,529 |
| 1840 | 762,838 | 1,176,694 | 136,927 | 104,305 |
| 1850 | 1,439,694 | 1,797,825 | 146,017 | 151,918 |
| 1855 | 2,348,358 | 2,543,255 | 186,848 | 133,540 |
| 1860 | 2,379,396 | 2,644,867 | 166,841 | 162,764 |
| 1865 | 1,518,350 | 3,381,522 | 90,516 | 106,394 |
| 1870 | 1,448,846 | 2,638,247 | 67,954 | 91,460 |
| 1875 | 1,515,598 | 3,219,698 | 38,229 | 80,207 |
The classification of the merchant shipping of the United States in 1870 and 1875 was as follows:
Year ending June 30, 1875. :
| CHARACTER. | Vessels. | Tons. | Vessels. | Tons. |
| Registered, permanent | 1,932 | 1,093,649.69 | 2,030 | 1,125,898.32 |
| Registered, temporary | 1,010 | 423,150.37 | 951 | 427,929.60 |
| Enrolled, permanent | 21,150 | 2,584,792.81 | 23,379 | 3,108,440.86 |
| Enrolled, temporary | 375 | 98,147.81 | 584 | 129,948.68 |
| Licensed under 20 tons | 4,531 | 51,766.55 | 5,391 | 61,514.68 |
| Total | 28,998 | 4,246,507.23 | 32,285 | 4,853,732.14 |
Of those reported in 1875, 23,440, of 3,367,618.01 tons, were returned for the Atlantic and gulf coasts; 1,225, of 229,257.51 tons, for the Pacific coast; 5,496, of 837,891.76 tons, for the northern lakes; and 2,124, of 418,964.86 tons, for the western rivers. The number, class, and tonnage of vessels built in the United States for a series of years have been:
Total  tonnage. :
| 1820 | 21 | 60 | 301 | 152 | ... | 534 | 47,784 |
| 1830 | 25 | 56 | 403 | 116 | 37 | 637 | 58,094 |
| 1840 | 97 | 109 | 378 | 224 | 64 | 872 | 118,309 |
| 1850 | 247 | 117 | 547 | 290 | 259 | 1,360 | 272,218 |
| 1855 | 381 | 126 | 605 | 669 | 253 | 2,047 | 583,450 |
| 1860 | 110 | 36 | 372 | 289 | 264 | 1,071 | 212,892 |
| 1861 | 110 | 38 | 360 | 371 | 264 | 1,143 | 233,194 |
| 1862 | 62 | 17 | 207 | 397 | 183 | 864 | 175,076 |
| 1863 | 97 | 34 | 212 | 1,113 | 367 | 1,823 | 310,884 |
| 1864 | 112 | 45 | 322 | 1,389 | 498 | 2,366 | 415,741 |
| 1865 | 109 | 46 | 369 | 853 | 411 | 1,788 | 383,806 |
| 1866 | 96 | 61 | 457 | 926 | 348 | 1,888 | 336,147 |
| 1868 | 80 | 48 | 590 | 848 | 236 | 1,802 | 285,305 |
| 1870 | 73 | 27 | 519 | 709 | 290 | 1,618 | 276,958 |
| 1872 | 15 | 10 | 426 | 900 | 292 | 1,643 | 209,052 |
| 1874 | 71 | 22 | 655 | 995 | 404 | 2,147 | 432,725 |
| 1875 | 114 | 22 | 502 | 340 | 323 | 1,301 | 297,639 |
On June 30, 1875, there were employed in the cod and mackerel fisheries 1,259 vessels of 68,703 tons, and in the whale fisheries 165 vessels of 38,229 tons. The products of the year ending on that date were valued at $13,588,581, ​including $2,841,002 whale and $10,747,579 other fisheries. (See Fisheries.) The number and chief nationalities of emigrants arriving in the United States each year to the close of 1873 are given in the article Emigration. For the years 1874 and 1875 they were:
1875. :
| England | 43,396 | 30,040 |
| Ireland | 47,683 | 29,969 |
| Scotland | 8,765 | 5,739 |
| Wales, Man, Jersey, and Channel islands | 573 | 431 |
| Total British isles | 100,422 | 66,179 |
| British America | 30,596 | 23,420 |
| Norway | 6,581 | 4,465 |
| Sweden | 4,336 | 6,031 |
| Denmark | 3,188 | 1,951 |
| Holland | 1,533 | 1,073 |
| Germany | 56,927 | 36,565 |
| Austria | 6,891 | 6,039 |
| Russia | 7,447 | 4,369 |
| France | 8,741 | 3,607 |
| Switzerland | 2,436 | 1,641 |
| Italy | 5,787 | 3,315 |
| All other countries | 25,929 | 27,576 |
| Total | 260,814 | 191,231 |
The whole number of customs districts in the United States is 112, each having a port of entry. There are also 15 interior ports of delivery, at which duties may be collected on appraised merchandise transported in bond from exterior ports of entry, viz.: Albany, N. Y. ; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Parkersburg and Wheeling, W. Va.; Cincinnati, O.; Evansville, Ind.; Cairo and Galena, Ill.; Burlington and Dubuque, Iowa; Omaha, Neb.; Louisville, Ky.; Memphis and Nashville, Tenn.; and St. Louis, Mo. Of these the following have also been made ports of entry, to which merchandise may be transported directly without prior appraisement: Cincinnati, O.; Evansville, Ind.; Louisville, Ky.; Memphis, Tenn.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; and St. Louis, Mo. The railroad, canal, telegraph, and postal systems of the United States are described in the special articles on those subjects.—The wealth, taxation (not national), and public debt (not national) in 1860 and 1870 were as follows:
1870. :
| True value of real and personal estate | $16,159,616,068 | $30,068,518,507 |
| Assessed value of real estate | 6,973,006,049 | 9,914,780,825 |
| Assessed value of personal estate | 5,111,553,956 | 4,264,205,907 |
| Assessed value, total | 12,084,560,005 | 14,178,986,732 |
| Taxation, state | ............ | 68,051,298 |
| Taxation, county | ............ | 77,746,115 |
| Taxation, town, city, &c. | ............ | 134,794,108 |
| Taxation, total | 94,186,746 | 280,591,521 |
| Public debt, state, bonded | ............ | 324,747,959 |
| Public debt, state, all other | ............ | 28,118,739 |
| Public debt, county, bonded | ............ | 157,955,880 |
| Public debt, county, all other. | ............ | 29,609,660 |
| Public debt, town, city, &c., bonded | ............ | 271,119,668 |
| Public debt, town, city, &c., all other | ............ | 57,124,852 |
| Public debt, aggregate | ............ | 868,676,758 |
—The several states of the Union, so far as their internal affairs are concerned, are supreme and independent, while for the common interests of all they delegate a portion of their powers to a central government, whose laws, so long as they are not in conflict with the constitution, are paramount to state authority. All powers not expressly granted by the constitution to the federal government, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively or to the people. The government consists of three branches, the legislative, executive, and judicial. The executive power is vested in a president, who together with a vice president is elected for four years by a college of electors, each state returning as many electors as it is entitled to have senators and representatives in congress. The present total number of electors is 366. The constitution provides that they shall be appointed in such manner as the respective legislatures may direct. At first they were generally chosen by the legislatures themselves, and this continued to be done in South Carolina till 1860; but now they are designated in all the states by popular vote at an election held every four years (counting for this century from 1800), on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November. The electors meet in each state on the first Wednesday in December and cast their votes for president and vice president. On the second Wednesday in February the certificates of the votes thus cast are opened by the president of the senate in presence of the two houses of congress, when the votes are counted and the result declared. The official term of the officers declared elected begins on the 4th of March following. In case of the removal, death, resignation, or inability of the president, the vice president succeeds to the presidency, and, if the disability be not temporary, serves the remainder of the presidential term; and in case of the failure of both president and vice president, congress has authority to declare what officer shall act as president until the disability be removed or a president shall be elected. By act of congress approved March 1, 1792, the president of the senate pro tempore, or in case there be no president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, is to act as president in such a case, and a new president is to be elected if the vacancy occurs more than five months before the end of the existing presidential term. Neither the president of the senate nor the speaker of the house has ever succeeded to the presidency under this law. Three presidents have died in office and been succeeded by vice presidents, viz.: William Henry Harrison in 1841, succeeded by Vice President John Tyler; Zachary Taylor in 1850, succeeded by Millard Fillmore; and Abraham Lincoln in 1865, succeeded by Andrew Johnson. When there is no election of president by the people for want of a majority of electoral votes for any one candidate, the house of representatives chooses the president from the three having the highest ​number of votes, the body of representatives from each state casting a single vote. Two elections by the house have occurred, viz.: in 1801 (under the original provision of the constitution, which required that the candidate having the highest number of votes for president should be president and the candidate having the next highest number vice president), when, there being a tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, the former was chosen president by the house; and in 1825, when John Quincy Adams was chosen. When the election results in no choice for vice president, that officer is chosen by the senate from the two who have received the highest number of votes. In 1837 Richard M. Johnson was thus chosen vice president by the senate. The president may be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. He is commander-in-chief of the army and navy, and of the militia of the several states when they are called into the actual service of the general government; and has power, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, to make treaties, and to appoint ministers and other public officers of the United States whose appointment is not otherwise provided for. He receives a salary of $50,000 (until 1873, $25,000) a year, and the vice president $10,000. All acts of congress must be presented to him before they can become law, and he may within ten days from its presentation return any bill of which he disapproves to the house in which it originated, stating his objections. If on reconsideration the bill is again passed by two thirds of each house, it becomes law. The president and vice president must be native-born citizens, 35 years of age, and 14 years resident within the United States. The president is assisted by a cabinet of seven ministers, called the secretaries of state, of the treasury, of the interior, of war, and of the navy, the attorney general, and the postmaster general, who are nominated by him and confirmed by the senate. They receive $8,000 a year each. These are the heads of the seven executive departments of the government, viz., state, treasury, interior, war, navy, justice, and post office. There are two assistant secretaries in the department of state, two in that of war, two in the treasury, and one in the interior department. There are three assistant postmasters general, and three assistant attorneys general in addition to the solicitor general, who is the first assistant of the attorney general. These officers are also appointed by the president with the consent of the senate. The principal duties of the secretary of state relate to foreign affairs. Besides other matters relating more directly to finance, the secretary of the treasury superintends the collection of duties and internal revenue; he also has general supervision of the lighthouses of the United States. There are in the department of the treasury a treasurer, commissioner of customs, commissioner of internal revenue, and comptroller of the currency; also a bureau of statistics, which collects and publishes statistics relating to commerce and navigation; and a bureau of the mint, which has under its control all the mints and assay offices of the United States. The secretary of the interior is charged with the supervision of public business relating to: 1, the census; 2, public lands, including mines; 3, Indians; 4, pensions and bounty lands; 5, patents; 6, custody and distribution of publications; 7, education; 8, government hospitals for the insane; 9, Columbia asylum for the deaf and dumb; also certain duties relating to the territories. The most important of these functions are intrusted to the commissioner of the general land office, commissioner of Indian affairs, commissioner of pensions, commissioner and assistant commissioner of patents, superintendent of public documents, and commissioner of education, who are appointed by the president with the consent of the senate. The department of agriculture (which is not an executive department), under the charge of a commissioner of agriculture, is designed to obtain and diffuse useful information relating to agriculture, and to procure and distribute new and valuable seeds and plants. Annual reports are made to congress through the president by the chiefs of the departments above named. The general supervision of Indian affairs is vested in a board consisting of not more than ten commissioners, who are appointed solely by the president “from men eminent for intelligence and philanthropy,” and who serve without pecuniary compensation. They are required to supervise all expenditures for the Indians, and to inspect all goods purchased for them. Inspectors, not exceeding five, are appointed by the president to visit the Indian superintendencies and agencies as often as twice a year and investigate their affairs. There are four superintendents of Indian affairs, who exercise a general supervision and control over the official acts of all persons employed by the government in that service. The national legislature consists of a congress composed of a senate and house of representatives. The senate consists of two senators from each state chosen by the respective legislatures for six years, in such a way that one third of the whole body goes out of office every two years. The act of congress of 1866 provides that in every state each branch of the legislature shall first vote separately and viva voce for senator. These votes are declared in joint assembly on the following day, and if no candidate has received a majority vote of each house, both houses in joint assembly elect a senator by ballot. If a vacancy occur in the senate when the legislature of the state interested is not in session, it may be filled by appointment of the governor until the legislature next meets, when a senator is chosen for the unexpired term. The vice president of the United States is ​president of the senate ex officio, and the senate elects a president pro tempore to serve in his absence; the vice president has only a casting vote. A senator must be 30 years of age, nine years a citizen of the United States, and at the time of his election resident within the state for which he is chosen. The senate has sole power to try all impeachments. The house of representatives is composed of members chosen for two years by the people of each state; they must be 25 years of age, seven years citizens of the United States, and at the time of their election resident within the states for which they are chosen. The number of representatives in congress is fixed by the law of 1872 at 292, and they are apportioned among the several states according to their representative population, excluding Indians not taxed. The number of representatives in congress and of electoral votes of each state are as follows:
Electoral  votes. :
| Alabama | 8 | 10 |
| Arkansas | 4 | 6 |
| California | 4 | 6 |
| Connecticut | 4 | 6 |
| Delaware | 1 | 3 |
| Florida | 2 | 4 |
| Georgia | 9 | 11 |
| Illinois | 19 | 21 |
| Indiana | 13 | 15 |
| Iowa | 9 | 11 |
| Kansas | 3 | 5 |
| Kentucky | 10 | 12 |
| Louisiana | 6 | 8 |
| Maine | 5 | 7 |
| Maryland | 6 | 8 |
| Massachusetts | 11 | 13 |
| Michigan | 9 | 11 |
| Minnesota | 3 | 5 |
| Mississippi | 6 | 8 |
| Missouri | 13 | 15 |
| Nebraska | 1 | 3 |
| Nevada | 1 | 3 |
| New Hampshire | 3 | 5 |
| New Jersey | 7 | 9 |
| New York | 33 | 35 |
| North Carolina | 8 | 10 |
| Ohio | 20 | 22 |
| Oregon | 1 | 3 |
| Pennsylvania | 27 | 29 |
| Rhode Island | 2 | 4 |
| South Carolina | 5 | 7 |
| Tennessee | 10 | 12 |
| Texas | 6 | 8 |
| Vermont | 3 | 5 |
| Virginia | 9 | 11 |
| West Virginia | 3 | 5 |
| Wisconsin | 8 | 10 |
| Total | 292 | 366 |
The admission of Colorado as a state with one representative and two senators will add three to the total number of electoral votes. Every state is entitled to at least one representative. New states admitted after the apportionment (which is made after each decennial census) elect representatives in addition to the limited number of 292, but such excess continues only till the next apportionment. There are also delegates, one from each organized territory, who are entitled to speak in the house, but not to vote. The election for representatives and delegates to congress is held biennially on the Tuesday next after the first Monday of November in even years. The house of representatives chooses its own speaker and other officers; has the sole power of impeachment; and originates all bills relating to revenue. Members of both senate and house receive $5,000 a year, and mileage at the rate of 20 cents for each mile of travel in going to and returning from the seat of government. The pay of the speaker of the house is $8,000 a year. The regular sessions of congress begin on the first Monday of December in each year, and extra sessions may be called by the president whenever he deems it necessary. The term of office of representatives, and consequently the duration of each congress, expires by law on the 4th day of March of every odd year. Congress has power to lay and collect taxes, imposts, and excises, which must be uniform throughout the United States; to borrow money on the credit of the United States; to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the several states, and with the Indian tribes; to coin money; to define and punish piracy and offences against the law of nations; to declare war; to raise and support an army and navy; to provide for calling forth the militia when required; and to exercise exclusive legislation over the District of Columbia. Congress can make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. It has passed general laws of bankruptcy and for the protection of inventions, copyrights, and trade marks. (See Bankrupt, Patents, Copyright, and Trade Mark.) The judiciary comprises a supreme court, circuit courts, district courts, and the court of claims. There are also the supreme court of the District of Columbia and the territorial courts, the judges of which are appointed by the president. The former has jurisdiction corresponding to that of the state courts and also that of the federal district courts; the jurisdiction of the latter is specially defined by the acts providing for their creation. Besides these, each state has its own independent judiciary. The supreme court consists of a chief justice (salary $10,500) and eight associate justices (salary $10,000 each). It holds one session annually in Washington, beginning on the second Monday in October. The United States is divided into nine judicial circuits, as follows: 1, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island; 2, Vermont, Connecticut, and New York; 3, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware; 4, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina; 5, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas; 6, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee; 7, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin; 8, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas; 9, California, Oregon, and Nevada. There is a circuit judge (salary $6,000) resident in each circuit, and a justice of the supreme court visits each circuit for the purpose of holding circuit court. Circuit courts are held by the justice of the supreme court assigned to the circuit, or by the circuit judge of the circuit, or by the district judge of the district, or by any two of them sitting together. The United States is also divided into 57 districts, in each of which there is a district court composed of one ​judge, who resides in the district for which he is appointed. In many states the district is coextensive with the state; in others the state is divided into two or three districts The court of claims consists of a chief justice and four associate judges; its sessions are held in Washington. All the judges of the federal courts are appointed for life by the president with the consent of the senate; but they may be removed for cause. (For the jurisdiction of the federal courts, see Court, vol. v., pp. 432-'3.) The qualifications of voters in the United States are prescribed by the states respectively; the fifteenth amendment to the federal constitution provides that the right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. The executive power of each organized territory is vested in a governor, who is appointed for four years by the president of the United States with the consent of the senate, and receives a salary of $3,000. The secretary is appointed in the same manner and for the same period, and receives a salary of $2,500. The legislative power is vested in a council and house of representatives, chosen by the people for two years; the sessions are biennial. A delegate to congress is elected by the people in each territory for two years. The legislation of the territories is subject to revision by congress. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court consisting of a chief and two associate justices, who are appointed for four years by the president with the consent of the senate, and receive a salary of $3,000 each; in three district courts each held by a judge of the supreme court; and in inferior courts organized by the territory. Territories are admitted as states into the Union by special acts of congress. The District of Columbia is under the exclusive jurisdiction of congress. By act of June 20, 1874, the government is vested in a commission of three persons appointed by the president with the consent of the senate. All ministers to foreign countries are appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate.—The constitution forbids the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it; the passing of any bill of attainder or ex post facto law; the imposition of any capitation or other direct tax except in proportion to the census, or of any tax or duty on articles exported from any state; and the passing of any commercial or revenue regulation giving a preference to the ports of one state over those of another state. No money can be drawn from the treasury except in consequence of appropriations made by law, and a statement of the public receipts and expenditures must be published from time to time. No title of nobility can be granted by the United States, and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them can without the consent of congress accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind from any king, prince, or foreign state. The right of the people to bear arms may not be infringed; soldiers may not be quartered in any house in time of peace without the consent of the owner, nor even in time of war except in a manner to be prescribed by law. The persons, houses, papers, and effects of the people are exempt from search and seizure except under a warrant issued upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized. No person may be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor may any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed; to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence. Excessive bail may not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Private property may not be taken for public use without just compensation. No state can enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money, emit bills of credit, or make anything but gold and silver a legal tender for debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts; grant any title of nobility; or lay any imposts or duties on imports and exports, without the consent of congress, except what may be necessary for executing its inspection laws. The net produce of all imposts and duties laid by any state on imports or exports shall be for the benefit of the treasury of the United States. Without the consent of congress no state may lay any duty on tonnage; keep troops or ships of war in times of peace; enter into any agreement or compact with another state or with a foreign power; or engage in war unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. Treason against the United States consists only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. The punishment of treason is left to be defined by congress, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, ​and judicial proceedings of every other state, and citizens of each state are entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states. Slavery is prohibited by the thirteenth amendment of the constitution. All persons born or naturalized in the United States are declared to be citizens thereof, and every state is prohibited from making or enforcing any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of such citizens. New states may be admitted into the Union by congress, but no new state can be erected within the jurisdiction of any other state, nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of congress. The several states have exclusive power to prescribe the qualifications of voters and state officers, and the form of their state government. The constitution only requires that the form of government be republican, and that no law or ordinance be passed which would conflict with any law of the United States. Congress has power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territories or other property belonging to the United States. Amendments to the constitution may be proposed by two thirds of both houses of congress, or by a convention convoked by congress on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the states; they become valid when ratified by the legislatures of or conventions in three fourths of the states.—The army of the United States comprises 25 regiments of infantry, 10 of cavalry, and 5 of artillery, besides a corps of engineers, &c. The chief officers are: the general (in 1876, William T. Sherman), annual salary $13,500; the lieutenant general (Philip H. Sheridan), $11,500; three major generals, $7,500 each; and six brigadier generals, $3,500 each. The United States is divided into four military divisions, which are respectively under the command of the lieutenant general and the three major generals. The division of the Atlantic, with headquarters in New York, constitutes but one department; that of the Missouri, with headquarters in Chicago, comprises the departments of Dakota, Missouri, the Platte, and Texas; that of the South, headquarters in Louisville, Ky., includes the departments of the South and of the Gulf; that of the Pacific, headquarters in San Francisco, the departments of California, the Columbia, and Arizona. The numerical strength of the army is about 25,000 enlisted men. The national armory is at Springfield, Mass. There are United States arsenals at Augusta, Ga.; Augusta, Me.; Benicia, Cal.; Fort Union, N. M.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Jefferson Barracks, Mo.; New York city (arsenal and agency); Old Point Comfort, Va.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Pikesville, Md.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Rock Island, Ill.; San Antonio, Texas; Vancouver, W. T.; Washington, D. C.; Watertown, Mass.; and West Troy, N. Y. The soldiers' home, for honorably discharged soldiers of the regular army who have served 20 years or have been discharged for disability contracted in the service, is situated in the District of Columbia, near Washington. It is under the supervision of a board of commissioners consisting of the surgeon general, adjutant general, and commissary general of subsistence of the army. The national home for disabled volunteer soldiers is at Dayton, Ohio, and has branches at Augusta, Me., Milwaukee, Wis., and Hampton, Va. These homes are under the direction of a board of managers, and are maintained by annual congressional appropriations. (See Pension.) In 1876 there were for the interment of soldiers and sailors 81 national cemeteries in the United States, most of them being near famous battle fields of the war. The total number of interments to 1875 was 306,053. The cemeteries were classified as follows:
* FIRST CLASS.
* Arlington, Va.
* Andersonville, Ga.
* Beaufort, S. C.
* City of Mexico, Mexico.
* Corinth, Miss.
* Camp Nelson, Ky.
* Chattanooga, Tenn.
* Chalmette, La.
* Fredericksburg, Va.
* Gettysburg, Pa.
* Hampton, Va.
* Jefferson Barracks, Mo.
* Little Rock, Ark.
* Mound City, Ill.
* Memphis, Tenn.
* Murfreesboro, Tenn.
* Marietta, Ga.
* Nashville, Tenn.
* Natchez, Miss.
* Pittsburgh Landing, Tenn.
* Poplar Grove, Va.
* Port Hudson, La.
* Richmond, Va.
* Salisbury, N. C.
* Soldiers' Home, D. C.
* Vicksburg, Miss.
* SECOND CLASS.
* Alexandria, Va.
* Alexandria, La.
* Brownsville, Texas.
* Baton Rouge, La.
* Barrancas, Fla.
* City Point, Va.
* Culpeper, Va.
* Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
* Fort Smith, Ark.
* Florence, S. C.
* Fort Scott, Kan.
* Knoxville, Tenn.
* Mill Springs, Ky.
* Mobile, Ala.
* New Berne, N. C.
* Philadelphia, Pa.
* Raleigh, N. C.
* Wilmington, N. C.
* Winchester, Va.
* Yorktown, Va.
* THIRD CLASS.
* Annapolis, Md.
* Ball's Bluff, Va.
* Battle Ground, D. C.
* Beverly, N. J.
* Camp Butler, Ill.
* Cave Hill, Ky.
* Cold Harbor, Va.
* Crown Hill, Ind.
* Cypress Hills, N. Y.
* Danville, Ky.
* Danville, Va.
* Fayetteville, Ark.
* Finn's Point, N. J.
* Fort Donelson, Tenn.
* Fort Gibson, Indian Ter.
* Fort Harrison, Va.
* Fort McPherson, Neb.
* Fort St. Philip, La.
* Fort Vancouver, W. T.
* Glendale, Va.
* Grafton, W. Va.
* Jefferson City, Mo.
* Keokuk, Iowa.
* Laurel, Md.
* Lebanon, Ky.
* Lexington, Ky.
* London Park, Md.
* New Albany, Ind.
* Rock Island, Ill.
* San Antonio, Texas.
* Santa Fé, N. M.
* Seven Pines, Va.
* Springfield, Mo.
* Staunton, Va.
* Woodlawn (Elmira), N. Y.
The law provides for the enrolment in the militia of every able-bodied male citizen of the respective states between the ages of 18 and 45 years, except those specially exempted. The organization and control of the militia when not in active service are left to the respective states. The president is empowered to call out the militia whenever the United States is invaded, or in imminent danger of invasion from any foreign nation or Indian tribe, or in case of rebellion. (See Militia, vol. xi., p. 540.) In 1876 the navy comprised 147 vessels ​of 152,492 tons measurement, carrying 1,195 guns. Of these, 26 were sailing vessels, 26 ironclads, and 95 ordinary steam vessels, including 25 tugs. The chief officers on the active list are the admiral (in 1876, David D. Porter), annual salary $13,000; vice admiral (Stephen C. Rowan), salary $9,000 when at sea and $8,000 when on shore duty; 12 rear admirals, each receiving $6,000 a year when at sea and $5,000 on shore duty; 25 commodores, 50 captains, and 90 commanders. The whole field of naval operations in every part of the world is divided into six stations, each commanded by a rear admiral, designated as the European, the Asiatic, the South Pacific, the North Pacific, the South Atlantic, and the North Atlantic. There are United States navy yards at Kittery, Me.; Boston, Mass.; New London, Conn.; Brooklyn, N. Y.; League Island (Philadelphia), Pa.; Washington, D. C.; Norfolk, Va.; Pensacola, Fla.; and Mare Island, Cal. Nine naval hospitals are maintained by the United States, as follows: Annapolis, Md.; Brooklyn, N. Y.; Chelsea, Mass.; Mare Island, Cal.; Norfolk, Va.; Pensacola, Fla.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Washington, D. C.; and Yokohama, Japan. (See Navy.)—The national debt of the United States, past and present, has accrued chiefly in consequence of the war of the revolution, that of 1812, the Florida war, the Mexican war, and the civil war. The cost of the revolutionary war was estimated by Hamilton at $135,193,703 in specie; the estimated cost of the war of 1812 was $75,450,930, and of the Mexican war $82,232,745. Acquisitions of territory have added $72,200,000 to the debt, as follows: the purchase of Louisiana from France in 1803, for $23,500,000 (including certain claims in addition to the price of the territory); of Florida from Spain in 1819 for $6,500,000; the Texas cession in 1850, $10,000,000; the acquisition of California from Mexico in 1848, $15,000,000; the Gadsden purchase from Mexico in 1853, $10,000,000; and the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, $7,200,000. In 1790 the secretary of the treasury reported that the aggregate foreign and domestic debt on Dec. 31, 1784, was $54,124,464; the state debts, including interest, were estimated at $25,000,000. The outstanding principal of the public debt of the United States on Jan. 1 of each year from 1791 to 1843 inclusive, and on July 1 from 1844 to 1875, has been as follows:
Amount. :
| 1791 | $75,463,476 |
| 1792 | 77,227,924 |
| 1793 | 80,352,634 |
| 1794 | 78,427,404 |
| 1795 | 80,747,587 |
| 1796 | 83,762,172 |
| 1797 | 82,064,479 |
| 1798 | 79,228,529 |
| 1799 | 78,408,669 |
| 1800 | 82,976,294 |
| 1801 | 83,038,050 |
| 1802 | 80,712,632 |
| 1803 | 77,054,686 |
| 1804 | $86,427,120 |
| 1805 | 82,312,150 |
| 1806 | 75,723,270 |
| 1807 | 69,218,398 |
| 1808 | 65,196,317 |
| 1809 | 57,023,192 |
| 1810 | 53,173,217 |
| 1811 | 48,005,587 |
| 1812 | 45,209,737 |
| 1813 | 55,962,827 |
| 1814 | 81,487,846 |
| 1815 | 99,833,660 |
| 1816 | 127,334,933 |
| 1817 | $123,491,965 |
| 1818 | 103,466,633 |
| 1819 | 95,529,648 |
| 1820 | 91,015,566 |
| 1821 | 89,987,427 |
| 1822 | 93,546,676 |
| 1823 | 90,875,877 |
| 1824 | 90,269,777 |
| 1825 | 83,788,432 |
| 1826 | 81,054,059 |
| 1827 | 73,987,357 |
| 1828 | 67,475,043 |
| 1829 | 58,421,413 |
| 1830 | 48,565,406 |
| 1831 | 39,128,191 |
| 1832 | 24,322,235 |
| 1833 | 7,001,698 |
| 1834 | 4,760,082 |
| 1835 | 37,513 |
| 1836 | 336,957 |
| 1837 | 3,308,124 |
| 1838 | 10,434,221 |
| 1839 | 3,573,343 |
| 1840 | 5,250,875 |
| 1841 | 13,594,480 |
| 1842 | 20,601,226 |
| 1843 | 32,742,922 |
| 1844 | 23,461,652 |
| 1845 | 15,925,303 |
| 1846 | 15,550,202 |
| 1847 | $38,826,534 |
| 1848 | 47,044,862 |
| 1849 | 63,061,858 |
| 1850 | 63,452,773 |
| 1851 | 68,304,796 |
| 1852 | 66,199,341 |
| 1853 | 59,803,117 |
| 1854 | 42,242,222 |
| 1855 | 35,586,956 |
| 1856 | 31,972,537 |
| 1857 | 28,699,831 |
| 1858 | 44,911,881 |
| 1859 | 58,496,837 |
| 1860 | 64,842,287 |
| 1861 | 90,580,873 |
| 1862 | 524,176,412 |
| 1863 | 1,119,772,138 |
| 1864 | 1,815,784,370 |
| 1865 | 2,680,647,869 |
| 1866 | 2,773,236,173 |
| 1867 | 2,678,126,103 |
| 1868 | 2,611,687,851 |
| 1869 | 2,588,452,213 |
| 1870 | 2,480,672,427 |
| 1871 | 2,353,211,332 |
| 1872 | 2,253,251,328 |
| 1873 | 2,234,482,993 |
| 1874 | 2,251,690,468 |
| 1875 | 2,232,284,531 |
In 1835 the country was entirely out of debt, the small amount unpaid having been provided for. The total amount of loans and treasury notes issued by the government previous to the year 1861 was $492,371,087, all of which has been paid, with the exception of $1,408,050, which has matured but has not been presented for payment. The whole amount of loans and treasury notes issued since 1861 is $5,011,818,908. Under the acts of Feb. 8, July 17, and Aug. 5, 1861, were issued $207,736,350 of bonds redeemable in 1881, bearing 6 per cent. interest payable semi-annually, and known as sixes of '81. Under the acts of July 17, 1861, June 30, 1864, and March 3, 1865, treasury notes to the amount of $970,087,250 were issued in denominations of $50 and over, bearing 73/10 per cent. interest, and known as seven-thirties. With an unimportant exception, all of these have been paid or funded. Under the acts of Feb. 25, 1862, March 3, 1864, and Jan. 28 and March 3, 1865, $1,602,697,000 of coupon and registered bonds were issued, redeemable after 5 and payable in 20 years, bearing 6 per cent. interest payable semi-annually in coin, and known as five-twenties of '62, '64, and '65, and consols of '65, '67, and '68; outstanding, April 1, 1876, $701,318,300. Under the act of March 3, 1864, were issued $196,117,300 of “ten-forty” bonds, redeemable in 10 and payable in 40 years in coin, with 5 per cent. interest payable semi-annually; outstanding, $194,566,300. Under the acts of July 14, 1870, and Jan. 20, 1871, were issued $500,000,000 of 5 per cent. bonds payable in coin after 10 years, and the interest quarterly. Under the act of March 3, 1863, ​$266,595,440 of compound interest notes were issued, payable in three years with 6 per cent. interest; outstanding April 1, 1876, $336,700. The acts of Feb. 25 and July 11, 1862, authorized the issue of $300,000,000 of legal-tender notes fundable into a bond bearing 6 per cent. interest in gold. The demand notes previously issued, $60,000,000, were also made a legal tender by the act of March 17, 1862. The act of March 3, 1863, authorized an additional issue of $150,000,000; and the right to exchange such notes for 6 per cent. bonds was limited to July 1, 1863. The act of June 30, 1864, provided that the total amount of such notes should not exceed $400,000,000, and such additional sum, not exceeding $50,000,000, as might be lawfully required for the redemption of temporary loans. The amount outstanding on April 1, 1876, was $370,823,645. (See Money, vol. xi., p. 743.) On Jan. 1, 1861, the debt amounted to $66,243,721. During the next six months it increased at the rate of about $4,000,000 a month; during the year beginning July 1, 1862, at the rate of about $36,000,000 a month; during the following year at the rate of $49,500,000 a month. Increasing more than $70,500,000 a month from Dec. 1, 1863, to April 1, 1865, and $84,400,000 a month during the five months following, it reached its maximum on Aug. 31, 1865, when it amounted to $2,845,907,626, composed as follows:
| Funded debt | $1,109,568,192 |
| Matured debt | 1,503,020 |
| Temporary loans | 107,148,713 |
| Certificates of debt | 85,093,000 |
| Five per cent. legal-tender notes | 33,954,230 |
| Compound Interest legal-tender notes | 217,024,160 |
| Seven-thirty notes | 830,000,000 |
| United States notes (legal tenders) | 433,160,569 |
| Fractional currency | 26,344,742 |
| Suspended requisitions uncalled for | 2,111,000 |
Of these obligations, $684,138,959 were a legal tender in the payment of all debts, public and private, except customs duties and interest on the public debt. The amount of legal-tender notes, demand notes, fractional currency, and national bank notes outstanding on Aug. 31, 1865, and annually thereafter, from Jan. 1, 1866, to Jan. 1, 1876, inclusive, was:
Aggregate. :
| DATES. | Fractional currency. | Old demand notes. | Legal-tender notes. | Total. | National bank notes, including national gold bank notes. | Aggregate. |
| August 31, 1865 | $26,344,742 | . . . . . . | $433,160,569 | $459,505,311 | $176,213,955 | $635,719,266 |
| January 1, 1866 | 26,000,420 | . . . . . . | 426,231,389 | 452,231,809 | 298,588,419 | 750,820,228 |
| January 1, 1867 | 28,732,812 | . . . . . . | 380,497,842 | 409,230,654 | 299,846,206 | 709,076,860 |
| January 1, 1868 | 31,597,583 | . . . . . . | 356,159,127 | 387,756,710 | 299,747,569 | 687,504,279 |
| January 1, 1869 | 34,215,715 | . . . . . . | 356,021,073 | 390,286,788 | 299,629,322 | 689,866,110 |
| January 1, 1870 | 39,762,664 | $113,098 | 356,000,000 | 395,875,762 | 299,904,029 | 695,779,791 |
| January 1, 1871 | 39,995,089 | 101,086 | 356,000,000 | 396,096,175 | 306,307,672 | 702,403,847 |
| January 1, 1872 | 40,767,877 | 92,801 | 357,500,000 | 398,360,678 | 328,465,431 | 726,826,109 |
| January 1, 1873 | 45,722,061 | 84,387 | 358,557,907 | 404,364,355 | 344,582,812 | 748,947,167 |
| January 1, 1874 | 48,544,792 | 79,637 | 378,401,702 | 427,026,131 | 350,848,236 | 777,874,367 |
| January 1, 1875 | 46,390,598 | 72,317 | 382,000,000 | 428,462,915 | 354,128,250 | 782,591,165 |
| January 1, 1876 | 44,147,072 | 69,642 | 371,827,220 | 416,043,934 | 346,479,756 | 762,523,690 |
The refunding of the national debt was authorized by the acts of congress of July 14, 1870, and Jan. 20, 1871. The amount of six per cent. gold-bearing bonds outstanding on Jan. 1, 1870, was $1,886,349,800, and of five per cent. bonds $221,589,300. On Jan. 1, 1876, the former amounted to $1,017,615,400, and the latter to $670,384,750, showing a decrease in the funded debt of $419,938,950. The reduction in the total debt during this period (excluding $35,175,000 of special deposits of legal-tender notes) was $435,716,254. The temporary loans, certificates of indebtedness, seven-thirty notes, and all the items of the debt bearing interest in lawful money, with the exception of the navy pension fund, either have been paid, have matured and ceased to bear interest, or have been funded. The public debt outstanding on April 1, 1876, is shown in the following statement. Besides this, $64,623,512 of 6 per cent. bonds, maturing 30 years from their date, have been issued to the several Pacific railway companies, which are to pay them at maturity.
| Debt bearing interest in coin: |
| Bonds at 6 per cent. | $984,999,650 00 |
| Bonds at 5 per cent. | 710,037,600 00 |
| | | $1,695,037,250 00 |
| Debt bearing interest in lawful money: |
| Navy pension fund at 3 per cent. | 14,000,000 00 |
| Debt on which interest has ceased since maturity | 9,183,360 26 |
| Debt bearing no interest: |
| Old demand and legal-tender notes | $370,823,645 50 |
| Certificates of deposit | 34,230,000 00 |
| Fractional currency | 42,604,893 71 |
| Coin certificates | 32,337,600 00 |
| | | 479,996,139 21 |
| Total debt | | $2,198,216,749 47 |
The total receipts and expenditures of the government during each decade to 1860 were:
EXPENDITURES. :
| PERIODS. | Net ordinary. | Gross. | Net ordinary. | Gross. |
| 1791-1800. | $56,800,000 | $77,200,000 | $34,000,000 | $75,000,000 |
| 1800-1810. | 132,000,000 | 133,600,000 | 55,900,000 | 131,900,000 |
| 1810-1820. | 201,800,000 | 312,400,000 | 182,900,000 | 314,200,000 |
| 1820-1830. | 212,200,000 | 230,300,000 | 122,000,000 | 226,600,000 |
| 1830-1840. | 310,000,000 | 329,500,000 | 230,700,000 | 300,600,000 |
| 1840-1850. | 246,400,000 | 374,200,000 | 293,900,000 | 374,400,000 |
| 1850-1860. | 589,200,000 | 646,200,000 | 545,500,000 | 645,800,000 |
​The annual receipts and expenditures of the government for 20 years, with the chief sources and objects, have been as follows, the fiscal year ending June 30:
RECEIPTS.
Gross receipts. :
| 1856 | $64,022,863 | .......... | ........ | $8,917,644 | $1,116,190 | $74,056,699 | .......... | $200 | $74,056,699 |
| 1857 | 63,875,905 | .......... | ........ | 3,829,486 | 1,259,920 | 68,965,312 | .......... | 3,900 | 68,969,212 |
| 1858 | 41,789,620 | .......... | ........ | 3,513,715 | 1,352,029 | 46,655,365 | .......... | 23,717,300 | 70,372,665 |
| 1859 | 49,565,824 | .......... | ........ | 1,756,687 | 1,454,596 | 52,777,107 | $709,357 | 28,287,500 | 81,773,965 |
| 1860 | 53,187,511 | .......... | ........ | 1,778,557 | 1,088,530 | 56,054,599 | 10,008 | 20,776,800 | 76,841,407 |
| 1861 | 39,582,125 | .......... | ........ | 870,658 | 1,023,515 | 41,476,299 | 33,630 | 41,861,709 | 83,371,640 |
| 1862 | 49,056,397 | .......... | $1,795,331 | 152,203 | 915,327 | 51,919,261 | 68,400 | 529,692,460 | 581,680,121 |
| 1863 | 69,059,642 | $37,640,787 | 1,485,103 | 167,617 | 3,741,794 | 112,094,945 | 602,345 | 776,682,361 | 889,379,652 |
| 1864 | 102,316,152 | 109,741,134 | 475,648 | 588,333 | 30,291,701 | 243,412,971 | 21,174,101 | 1,128,873,945 | 1,393,461,017 |
| 1865 | 84,928,260 | 209,464,215 | 1,200,573 | 996,553 | 25,441,556 | 322,031,158 | 11,683,446 | 1,472,224,740 | 1,805,939,345 |
| 1866 | 179,046,651 | 309,226,813 | 1,974,754 | 665,031 | 29,036,314 | 519,949,564 | 38,083,055 | 712,851,533 | 1,270,884,173 |
| 1867 | 176,417,810 | 266,027,537 | 4,200,233 | 1,163,575 | 15,037,522 | 462,846,679 | 27,787,330 | 640,426,910 | 1,131,060,920 |
| 1868 | 164,464,599 | 191,087,589 | 1,788,145 | 1,348,715 | 17,745,403 | 376,434,453 | 29,203,629 | 625,111,433 | 1,030,749,516 |
| 1869 | 180,048,426 | 158,356,460 | 765,685 | 4,020,344 | 13,997,338 | 357,138,256 | 13,755,491 | 238,678,081 | 609,621,828 |
| 1870 | 194,538,374 | 184,899,756 | 229,102 | 3,350,481 | 12,942,118 | 395,959,833 | 15,295,643 | 285,474,496 | 696,729,973 |
| 1871 | 206,270,408 | 143,098,153 | 580,355 | 2,388,646 | 22,093,541 | 374,431,104 | 8,892,839 | 268,768,523 | 652,092,468 |
| 1872 | 216,370,286 | 130,642,177 | ........ | 2,575,714 | 15,106,051 | 364,694,229 | 9,412,637 | 305,047,054 | 679,153,921 |
| 1873 | 188,089,522 | 113,729,314 | 315,254 | 2,882,312 | 17,161,270 | 322,177,673 | 11,560,530 | 214,931,017 | 548,669,221 |
| 1874 | 163,103,833 | 102,409,784 | ........ | 1,852,428 | 32,575,043 | 299,941,090 | 5,037,665 | 439,272,535 | 744,251,291 |
| 1875 | 157,167,722 | 110,007,493 | ........ | 1,413,640 | 15,431,915 | 284,020,771 | 3,979,279 | 387,971,556 | 675,971,607 |
EXPENDITURES.
Gross  expenditures. :
| 1856 | $16,963,160 | $14,074,834 | $2,644,263 | $1,296,229 | $31,794,038 | $66,772,527 | $385,372 | $1,953,822 | $3,614,618 | $72,726,341 |
| 1857 | 19,159,150 | 12,651,694 | 4,354,418 | 1,310,380 | 28,565,498 | 66,041,143 | 368,572 | 1,598,265 | 3,276,606 | 71,274,587 |
| 1858 | 25,679,121 | 14,053,264 | 4,978,266 | 1,219,768 | 26,400,016 | 72,330,437 | 574,443 | 1,652,055 | 7,505,250 | 82,062,186 |
| 1859 | 23,154,720 | 14,690,927 | 3,490,534 | 1,222,222 | 23,797,544 | 66,355,950 | ........ | 2,637,649 | 14,685,043 | 83,678,642 |
| 1860 | 16,472,202 | 11,614,649 | 2,991,121 | 1,100,802 | 27,977,978 | 60,056,754 | ........ | 3,144,120 | 13,854,250 | 77,055,125 |
| 1861 | 23,001,530 | 12,387,156 | 2,865,481 | 1,034,599 | 23,327,287 | 62,616,055 | ........ | 4,034,157 | 18,737,100 | 85,387,313 |
| 1862 | 389,173,562 | 42,640,353 | 2,327,948 | 852,170 | 21,385,862 | 456,379,896 | ........ | 13,190,344 | 96,097,322 | 565,667,563 |
| 1863 | 603,314,411 | 63,261,235 | 3,152,032 | 1,078,513 | 23,198,382 | 694,004,575 | ........ | 24,729,700 | 181,081,685 | 899,815,911 |
| 1864 | 690,391,048 | 85,704,963 | 2,629,975 | 4,985,473 | 27,572,216 | 811,283,679 | ........ | 53,685,421 | 430,572,014 | 1,295,541,114 |
| 1865 | 1,030,690,400 | 122,617,434 | 5,059,360 | 16,347,621 | 42,989,383 | 1,217,704,199 | 1,717,900 | 77,395,090 | 609,616,141 | 1,906,433,331 |
| 1866 | 283,154,676 | 43,235,662 | 3,295,729 | 15,605,549 | 40,613,114 | 385,954,731 | 58,476 | 133,067,624 | 620,263,249 | 1,139,344,081 |
| 1867 | 95,224,415 | 31,034,011 | 4,642,531 | 20,936,551 | 51,110,223 | 202,947,733 | 10,813,349 | 143,781,591 | 735,536,980 | 1,093,079,655 |
| 1868 | 123,246,648 | 25,775,502 | 4,100,682 | 23,782,386 | 53,009,867 | 229,915,088 | 7,001,151 | 140,424,045 | 692,549,685 | 1,069,889,970 |
| 1869 | 78,501,990 | 20,000,757 | 7,042,923 | 28,476,621 | 56,474,061 | 190,496,354 | 1,674,680 | 130,694,242 | 261,912,718 | 584,777,996 |
| 1870 | 57,655,675 | 21,780,229 | 3,407,938 | 28,340,202 | 53,237,461 | 164,421,507 | 15,996,555 | 129,235,498 | 393,254,282 | 702,907,842 |
| 1871 | 35,799,991 | 19,431,027 | 7,426,997 | 34,443,894 | 60,481,916 | 157,583,827 | 9,016,794 | 125,576,565 | 399,508,670 | 691,680,858 |
| 1872 | 35,372,157 | 21,249,809 | 7,061,728 | 28,533,402 | 60,984,757 | 153,201,856 | 6,958,266 | 117,357,839 | 405,007,307 | 682,525,270 |
| 1873 | 46,323,138 | 23,526,256 | 7,951,704 | 29,359,426 | 73,328,110 | 180,488,636 | 5,105,919 | 104,750,688 | 233,699,352 | 524,044,597 |
| 1874 | 42,313,927 | 30,932,587 | 6,692,462 | 29,038,414 | 85,141,593 | 194,118,985 | 1,395,073 | 107,119,815 | 422,065,060 | 724,698,933 |
| 1875 | 41,120,645 | 21,497,626 | 8,384,656 | 29,456,216 | 71,070,702 | 171,529,848 | ........ | 103,093,544 | 407,377,492 | 682,000,885 |
The receipts and expenditures of the post office department are not included in the above statement. They are given from 1790 to 1874 in the article Post, vol. xiii., p. 754. The receipts for the year ending June 30, 1875, were $26,791,360, of which $24,490,942 were for stamps, stamped envelopes, and postal cards. The expenditures were $33,611,309, of which $18,779,201 were for transportation of the mails, $10,464,746 for compensation of postmasters and clerks, $1,877,210 for compensation of letter carriers, and $724,186 for postage stamps. (For particulars concerning internal revenue, see Taxes, vol. xv., p. 589.) The total production of gold from 1848 to 1874, inclusive, was $1,282,927,092; of silver, $217,051,114. The coinage of the mints from 1793 to Jan. 1, 1876, was: of gold, $920,070,958; of silver, $169,669,963; of minor coinage, $12,717,198. Of this amount, $471,433,936 of gold, $116,153,632 of silver, and all of the minor, were coined at Philadelphia; and $390,427,157 of gold, and $19,175,425 of silver, coined at San Francisco. (See Gold, Silver, and Mint.)—A law for the establishment of a national banking system was passed by congress in February, 1863, and was superseded by the national bank act of June 3, 1864. (See Bank, vol. ii., p. 281.) The act of June 20, 1874, authorized the retirement of the circulation of national banks, and the surrender of bonds held as security therefor, upon the deposit of legal-tender notes in the treasury for the amount of the circulation thus retired. It also repealed the provision requiring a reserve on circulation, and provided for a system of redemption of national bank notes in the treasury department. The act of Jan. 14, 1875, provides for the unlimited issue of circulating notes to national banks, subject to the provisions of existing laws, and the reduction of the legal-tender notes at the rate of 80 per cent. upon the amount of additional bank notes issued, until the legal-tender notes shall be reduced to $300,000,000. The following table exhibits ​in millions of dollars the resources and liabilities of state banks in the years 1857 and 1875, and of national banks in 1865 and 1875:
NATIONAL BANKS. :
| RESOURCES. | Jan., 1857,  1,416 banks. | Jan., 1875,  551 banks. | Oct., 1865,  1,513 banks. | Oct., 1875,  2,087 banks. |
| | Millions. | Millions. | Millions. | Millions. |
| Loans and discounts | $684.5 | $176.3 | $487.2 | $984.7 |
| Bonds for circulation | ..... | .3 | 272.6 | 370.3 |
| Other stocks and bonds | 59.3 | 23.7 | 155.1 | 61.6 |
| Due from banks | 65.9 | 19.9 | 107.4 | 144.7 |
| Real estate | 26.1 | 9.0 | 14.7 | 42.4 |
| Specie | 58.3 | 1.2 | 18.1 | 8.1 |
| Legal-tenders and bank notes | 28.1 | 26.7 | 206.2 | 97.6 |
| United States certificates | ..... | ..... | ..... | 48.8 |
| Clearing-house exchanges | ..... | ..... | ..... | 75.1 |
| Due from U. S. treasurer | ..... | ..... | ..... | 19.7 |
| Other resources | 31.0 | 15.2 | 98.5 | 29.2 |
| Total | $953.2 | $272.8 | $1,359.8 | $1,882.2 |
NATIONAL BANKS. :
| LIABILITIES. | Jan., 1857,  1,416 banks. | Jan., 1875,  551 banks. | Oct., 1865,  1,513 banks. | Oct., 1875,  2,087 banks. |
| | Millions. | Millions. | Millions. | Millions. |
| Capital stock | $370.8 | $69.1 | $393.2 | $504.8 |
| Surplus fund | ..... | 6.8 | 38.7 | 134.4 |
| Other profits | 59.7 | 9.0 | 32.4 | 53.0 |
| Circulating notes | 214.8 | .2 | 171.3 | 318.4 |
| Deposits | 230.4 | 165.9 | 549.1 | 675.4 |
| Due to banks | 57.7 | 10.5 | 174.2 | 179.7 |
| Other liabilities | 19.8 | 10.8 | .9 | 16.5 |
| Total | $953.2 | $272.3 | $1,359.8 | $1,882.2 |
The following table exhibits for each year, from 1868 to 1875 inclusive, the amount of circulation and of net deposits of the national banks, together with the reserve required and held by them, the figures below hundreds of thousands being omitted:
CLASSIFICATION OF RESERVE. :
| DATES. | Number of banks. | Circulation. | Net deposits. | Total. | Required. | Hold. | Ratio. | Specie. | Other lawful money. | Due from agents. |
| | | Millions. | Millions. | Millions. | Millions. | Millions. | Per cent. | Millions. | Millions. | Millions. |
| Oct. 5, 1868 | 1,645 | $295.7 | $559.2 | $854.9 | $172.3 | $234.5 | 27.4 | $11.5 | $156.0 | $67.0 |
| Oct. 9, 1869 | 1,617 | 293.6 | 504.4 | 798.0 | 160.1 | 208.2 | 26.1 | 22.0 | 129.5 | 56.7 |
| Oct. 8, 1870 | 1,615 | 291.8 | 523.5 | 815.3 | 163.2 | 203.4 | 24.9 | 14.5 | 122.6 | 66.3 |
| Oct. 2, 1871 | 1,767 | 315.5 | 636.7 | 952.2 | 191.3 | 233.4 | 24.5 | 12.0 | 134.5 | 86.9 |
| Oct. 3, 1872 | 1,919 | 333.5 | 619.8 | 953.3 | 187.4 | 209.9 | 22.0 | 10.2 | 119.0 | 80.7 |
| Sept. 12, 1873 | 1,976 | 339.1 | 673.3 | 1,012.4 | 199.5 | 229.1 | 22.6 | 19.9 | 113.1 | 96.1 |
| Oct. 2, 1874 | 2,004 | 333.2 | 717.3 | 1,050.5 | 210.0 | 244.9 | 23.3 | 21.2 | 139.8 | 83.9 |
| Oct. 1, 1875 | 2,087 | 318.4 | 731.9 | 1,050.3 | 208.9 | 235.1 | 22.4 | 8.1 | 141.4 | 85.6 |
The total amount of circulation on March 1, 1876, was $342,819,073, of which $24,452,580 is being retired, lawful money having been deposited with the treasurer for that purpose. The remainder of the circulation, $318,366,493, is secured by $356,680,150 of United States bonds, the value of which in currency on March 1, 1876, was $427,947,224, and in gold $374,582,200. The following statement shows by geographical divisions the average number of national, state, private, and savings banks during the six months ending May 31, 1875, with their average capital and deposits in millions of dollars:
SAVINGS BANKS  WITHOUT CAPITAL. :
| GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS. | Number. | Capital. | Deposits. | Number. | Capital. | Deposits. | Number. | Capital. | Deposits. | Number. | Deposits. |
| | | Millions. | Millions. | | Millions. | Millions. | | Millions. | Millions. | | Millions. |
| New England states | 511 | $161.7 | $132.5 | 128 | $11.4 | $22.5 | 2 | $0.3 | $4.7 | 426 | $395.7 |
| Middle states | 595 | 190.3 | 387.2 | 1,307 | 98.1 | 232.2 | 8 | 0.2 | 2.3 | 215 | 369.0 |
| Southern states | 175 | 34.5 | 38.0 | 529 | 35.5 | 45.4 | 5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 5 | 1.9 |
| Western states and territories | 753 | 110.4 | 162.5 | 1,803 | 66.7 | 176.3 | 22 | 4.9 | 33.1 | 40 | 48.4 |
| United States | 2,034 | $496.9 | $720.2 | 3,767 | $211.7 | $476.4 | 37 | $5.9 | $40.6 | 686 | $815.0 |
—There is no national system of education in the United States, and the general government exercises no control over public schools and makes no regular provision for their support, except that the military academy at West Point, N. Y., the school of artillery at Fortress Monroe, Va., and the naval academy at Annapolis, Md., are wholly supported and controlled by the government. Officers are also detailed by the government to give military instruction in certain colleges. (See Military Schools, and Annapolis. For the aid given by the government for the advancement of learning, see Smithsonian Institution.) The regulation of all matters pertaining to education is left entirely to the states, each of which maintains a system of public instruction independently of the others. In each state free common schools are provided by law for all persons of school age. But the general government has made liberal provision for purposes of education by various grants of land, dating as far back as 1803. More than 75,000,000 acres of land have thus been set apart ​for common schools and universities, including 7,830,000 reserved by act of congress passed July 2, 1862, for the establishment in the several states of colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts. The organization and control of these institutions are given to the respective states and many of them are in operation. The following are the most important facts relating to the common schools in the United States in 1874, as reported by the bureau of education, the number of states in the Union being 37, and of territories, including the District of Columbia, 11:
In territories. :
| PARTICULARS. | States. | Territories. | In states. | In territories. |
| School population | 37 | 11 | 13,735,672 | 139,378 |
| Estimated number between 6 and 16 years of age | ...... | ...... | 10,442,492 | 94,155 |
| Number enrolled in public schools | 34 | 11 | 8,030,772 | 69,209 |
| Number in daily attendance | 30 | 4 | 4,488,075 | 33,489 |
| Pupils in private schools | 13 | 5 | 352,460 | 10,128 |
| Total number of teachers | 35 | 8 | 239,873 | 1,427 |
| Male | 28 | 7 | 87,395 | 499 |
| Female | 28 | 7 | 129,049 | 731 |
| Public school income | 37 | 10 | $81,277,688 | $881,219 |
| Public school expenditure | 35 | 9 | $74,169,217 | $805,121 |
| Permanent school fund | 28 | .. | $75,251,008 | ........ |
The higher and special institutions of instruction were as follows:
Pupils. :
| City schools | .... | 16,438 | 976,837 |
| Normal schools | 124 | 966 | 24,405 |
| Business colleges | 126 | 577 | 25,892 |
| Academies | 1,031 | 5,466 | 98,179 |
| Preparatory schools | 91 | 697 | 11,414 |
| Scientific and agricultural schools | 72 | 609 | 7,244 |
| Colleges for women | 209 | 2,285 | 23,445 |
| Universities and colleges | 343 | 3,783 | 56,692 |
| Theological schools | 113 | 579 | 4,356 |
| Law schools | 38 | 181 | 2,585 |
| Medical schools | 99 | 1,121 | 9,095 |
| Regular | 63 | 780 | 6,888 |
| Eclectic | 4 | 36 | 303 |
| Homœopathic | 7 | 122 | 565 |
| Dental | 11 | 133 | 431 |
| Pharmaceutical | 14 | 50 | 908 |
| Institutions for the blind | 29 | 525 | 1,942 |
| Institutions for deaf and dumb | 40 | 275 | 4,900 |
| Institutions for feeble-minded | 9 | 312 | 1,265 |
| Kindergarten | 55 | 125 | 1,636 |
The charitable educational institutions embraced, besides those mentioned for the blind, deaf and dumb, and feeble-minded, 56 reform schools, 156 orphan asylums, 21 soldiers' orphans' homes, 9 infant asylums, and 57 miscellaneous charities. There were 26 industrial schools, with 259 teachers and 6,096 pupils. Art instruction, including training in industrial art, was afforded by 26 institutions. There were 44 museums of natural history, and 27 of art. (See Education, vol. vi., pp. 424-431.) No general provision is made by the United States for the treatment of the insane, idiotic, deaf and dumb, or blind. Such institutions are organized and maintained by the states and by corporations. (See Blind, Deaf and Dumb, Idiocy, and Insanity.) There is a government hospital for the insane in the District of Columbia, intended for the treatment of the insane of that district and of the army and navy. The superintendent is appointed by the secretary of the interior. The Columbia deaf and dumb institution is intended primarily for the deaf and dumb of the District of Columbia; but pupils residing in the states, not exceeding 40 in number, may be admitted to the collegiate department without charge for tuition. For an account of the charitable and reformatory institutions maintained or aided by congress in the District of Columbia, see District of Columbia, and Washington. United States prisoners are confined in state or territorial prisons. For the prison systems of the states and the mode of treating paupers, see Prisons and Prison Discipline, and Pauperism; see also Reformatories.—The total number of libraries in 1870 was 164,815 having 45,528,938 volumes. Of these, 108,800 with 26,072,420 volumes were private, and 56,015 with 19,456,518 volumes other than private. They were classified as follows: 1 congressional library, with 190,000 volumes; 14 departmental, 115,185; 53 state and territorial, 653,915; 1,101 town, city, &c., 1,237,430; 1,073 court and law, 425,782; 14,375 school, college, &c., 3,598,537; 33,580 Sabbath school, 8,346,153; 4,478 church, 1,634,915; 47 of historical, literary, and scientific societies, 590,002; 9 of charitable and penal institutions, 13,890; 43 of benevolent and secret associations, 114,581; and 1,241 circulating, 2,536,128. In 1876 the library of congress had more than 300,000 volumes. (See Library, vol. x., p. 404.)—The whole number of newspapers and periodicals in 1870 was 5,871, having an aggregate circulation of 20,842,475, and issuing annually 1,508,548,250 copies. There were 574 daily, with a circulation of 2,601,547; 107 tri-weekly, 155,105; 115 semi-weekly, 247,197; 4295 weekly, 10,594,643; 96 semi-monthly, 1,349,820; 622 monthly, 5,650,843; 13 bi-monthly, 31,650; and 49 quarterly, 211,670. In 1875 the total number was reported at 7,870, including 718 daily, 80 tri-weekly, 107 semi-weekly, 6,957 weekly, 24 bi-weekly, 106 semi-monthly, 802 monthly, 8 bi-monthly, and 68 quarterly. (See Newspapers, vol. xii., p. 342.)—There is no established or state church in the United States. The most numerous denominations are the Methodists, Roman Catholics, Baptists, and Presbyterians, which are generally found in all parts of the country, though the number of Presbyterians is not great in New England, and the Baptist denomination is not relatively so strong there as in other parts of the country. But a small proportion of the Roman Catholics are of American parentage, being mostly of Irish, German, and French nativity. Of the 2,887 Congregational organizations reported by the census of 1870, 1,400 were in New England and 1,178 in New ​York, Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The greatest numerical strength of the Friends is in Pennsylvania, though the denomination is well represented in Ohio, New York, Iowa, Indiana, New Jersey, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Maryland. The Jews are found in most of the states, chiefly in the largest cities, the greatest numbers being in New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and California. More than a third of all the Lutherans were reported in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Of the 72 Moravian organizations, 15 were in Pennsylvania, 13 in Wisconsin, 10 in North Carolina, 6 each in New York and Minnesota, and 5 in Iowa. The Mormons are almost exclusively in Utah. Of the 471 organizations of the Reformed church in America (late Dutch Reformed), 304 were in New York, 97 in New Jersey, and 22 in Michigan; and of the 1,256 of the Reformed church in the United States (late German Reformed), 712 were in Pennsylvania and 288 in Ohio. Of the 18 Shaker organizations, 15 were in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Ohio. More than half of the Spiritualists are in Massachusetts and Michigan. Of the 331 Unitarian societies, 180 were in Massachusetts, 23 in New Hampshire, and 22 in New York. Seven Chinese religious organizations were reported in California. The total number of religious organizations, as reported by the census of 1870, was 72,459, having 63,082 edifices with 21,665,062 sittings, and property valued at $354,483,581. The denominations were represented as follows:
Property. :
| Baptist, regular | 14,474 | 12,857 | 3,997,116 | $39,229,221 |
| Baptist, other | 1,355 | 1,105 | 363,019 | 2,378,977 |
| Christian | 3,578 | 2,822 | 865,602 | 6,425,137 |
| Congregational | 2,887 | 2,715 | 1,117,212 | 25,069,698 |
| Episcopal, Protestant | 2,835 | 2,601 | 991,051 | 36,514,549 |
| Evangelical Association | 815 | 641 | 198,796 | 2,301,650 |
| Friends | 602 | 662 | 224,664 | 3,939,560 |
| Jewish | 189 | 152 | 73,265 | 5,155,234 |
| Lutheran | 3,032 | 2,776 | 977,332 | 14,917,747 |
| Methodist | 25,278 | 21,337 | 6,528,209 | 69,854,121 |
| Miscellaneous | 27 | 17 | 6,935 | 135,650 |
| Moravian (Unitas Fratrum) | 72 | 67 | 25,700 | 709,100 |
| Mormon | 189 | 171 | 87,838 | 656,750 |
| New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian) | 90 | 61 | 18,755 | 869,700 |
| Presbyterian, regular | 6,262 | 5,683 | 2,198,900 | 47,828,732 |
| Presbyterian, other | 1,562 | 1,388 | 499,344 | 5,436,524 |
| Reformed Church in America | | | | |
| (late Dutch Reformed) | 471 | 468 | 227,228 | 10,359,255 |
| Reformed Church in the United States | | | | |
| (late German Reformed) | 1,256 | 1,145 | 431,700 | 5,775,215 |
| Roman Catholic | 4,127 | 3,806 | 1,990,514 | 60,985,566 |
| Second Advent | 225 | 140 | 34,555 | 306,240 |
| Shaker | 18 | 18 | 8,850 | 86,900 |
| Spiritualist | 95 | 22 | 6,970 | 100,150 |
| Unitarian | 331 | 310 | 155,471 | 6,282,675 |
| United Brethren in Christ | 1,445 | 937 | 265,025 | 1,819,810 |
| Universalist | 719 | 602 | 210,884 | 5,692,325 |
| Unknown (local missions) | 26 | 27 | 11,925 | 687,800 |
| Unknown (union) | 409 | 552 | 153,202 | 965,295 |
Among the miscellaneous denominations were 7 Chinese and 2 Greek organizations in California; 1 Bible Communist in Connecticut and 2 in New York; 1 Catholic Apostolic each in Connecticut, Illinois, and Massachusetts, and 2 in New York; 1 Sandemanian in Connecticut; 1 Plymouth church in Massachusetts; 1 Bible Christian and 1 Schwenkfelder in Pennsylvania; and 1 Huguenot in South Carolina.—History. When first visited by the Europeans, the country now comprised within the United States was exclusively inhabited by the red or copper-colored race commonly called American Indians. Of the origin of these people nothing is positively known, though their own vague traditions and their general resemblance to the tribes of N. E. Asia give a certain degree of plausibility to the theory that their ancestors came to America by way of Behring strait or the Aleutian islands. There is reason to believe that these savages were not the first occupants of the land, in almost every part of which, and especially in the valley of the Mississippi, are found monuments consisting of mounds and other earthworks of great extent, which must have been erected by an unknown and long extinct race. In physical appearance, manners, customs, religion, and social and political institutions, the Indians were so strikingly alike as to form but one people; yet they were divided into a multitude of tribes almost perpetually at war with each other, and speaking a great variety of dialects. While in possession of its savage aborigines, the country from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, and from the lakes to the gulf of Mexico, with comparatively slight exceptions, was one vast forest, inhabited by wild beasts, whose pursuit formed the principal occupation of the Indians, and gave them their chief means of subsistence and clothing. (See American Antiquities, American Indians, and American Indians, Languages of the.) According to the Scandinavian sagas, Leif, a Norwegian, sailed about 1001 from Iceland for Greenland, but was driven southward by storms till he reached a country called Vinland, from the wild grapes he found growing there. Other Scandinavian adventurers followed him, and made settlements, none of which were permanent. By many writers Vinland is supposed to have been Rhode Island or some other part of the coast of New England, but of its real position nothing is certainly known. If these northern legends be rejected as too vague to afford a basis for history, we must conclude that the territory now comprised within the United States was first visited by Europeans about five years after Columbus discovered the West Indies. In 1497 John Cabot, a Venetian, commanding an English ship under a commission from Henry VII., sailed from Bristol westward, and on June 24 discovered land (coast of Labrador), along which he coasted to the southward nearly 1,000 m., landing at various points, and planting on the soil the banners of England and of Venice. In 1498 his son Sebastian Cabot sailed with two ships from Bristol in search of a northwest passage to China; ​but finding the ice impenetrable, he turned to the south and coasted along as far as the entrance of Chesapeake bay. A few years later, about 1508, it is probable that Verrazzano, a Florentine in the French service, made a cruise on the coast of North America; but there is no authentic account of his discoveries, the letter over his signature addressed to Francis I. and long received as genuine being now suspected to be spurious. In 1513 the Spaniard Ponce de Leon discovered Florida, and took formal possession of the country near where St. Augustine now stands; but on attempting afterward to plant a colony, he was repulsed and mortally wounded by the natives. In 1539 took place the famous expedition of the Spaniard De Soto, who landed with several hundred followers in Tampa bay on the west coast of Florida, and fought his way in the course of two years through the region which now forms the states of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, to the river Mississippi, beyond which he penetrated for about 200 m., and to which he returned to die in 1542. After his death his discouraged followers descended the river in boats, and crossed the gulf to the Spanish settlements in Mexico. For a long period no further attempt was made by the Spaniards to colonize Florida. But in 1562 the French Calvinists, under the direction of Admiral Coligni, endeavored to found there a colony which might become a place of refuge for the persecuted Huguenots. Charles IX. conceded an ample charter, and an expedition under Jean Ribault made a settlement at Port Royal in South Carolina, the name of Carolina being then first given to the country in honor of King Charles. This colony was soon abandoned, and another, composed also of Protestants, was planted on the banks of the St. John's in Florida, which in 1565 was surprised and massacred by the Spaniards, who in the same year founded St. Augustine, the first permanent settlement in the United States.—The discoveries of the Cabots had given the English crown a claim to North America, which, though not prosecuted for nearly a century, was never relinquished, and which in the reign of Elizabeth led to efforts at colonization on a large scale. In 1585 an expedition sent by Sir Walter Raleigh made a settlement on Roanoke island in North Carolina, which failed so utterly that in a few years not a trace of it remained. In 1602 Bartholomew Gosnold effected a settlement on the Elizabeth islands in Massachusetts, which was abandoned the same year. James I. in 1606 established two great divisions in the American territory claimed by England: South Virginia, extending from Cape Fear to the Potomac, and North Virginia, from the mouth of the Hudson to Newfoundland. Two companies were formed in England for the colonization of America: the London company, to which was granted South Virginia, and the Plymouth company, to which was granted North Virginia; and it was agreed that the region between the Potomac and the Hudson should be neutral ground on which either company might make settlements. The London company sent out three ships and 105 emigrants, who entered Chesapeake bay, and founded on May 13, 1607, the commonwealth of Virginia by building Jamestown on James river, both names being given in honor of the English king. Capt. Newport commanded the expedition, but the master spirit of the enterprise was the celebrated Capt. John Smith. The natives were conciliated by the marriage of Pocahontas, the daughter of their king or principal chief Powhatan, to an Englishman, and remained friendly for some years. The government of Virginia was at first retained by the king in the hands of councils subject to his appointment or control; but after repeated changes the constitution was at length so framed that a house of burgesses chosen by the people was instituted, which met for the first time July 30, 1619. This was the beginning of representative government in America. In August, 1619, a Dutch man-of-war entered James river, and sold 20 Africans to the planters, thus introducing slavery into the colony; and in 1621 the cultivation of cotton was begun. Capt. John Smith had returned to England in 1609, and in 1614 sailed again for America; and having examined the coast from the Penobscot to Cape Cod, he named the country New England. On his return home he published a map and description of New England, which, together with his personal representations of the advantages of emigration, excited much enthusiasm in England for colonizing America; and a patent was obtained from the king for a new company incorporated as “the council established at Plymouth in the county of Devon for the planting, ruling, ordering, and governing New England in America,” which gave the planters absolute property, with unlimited jurisdiction, the sole powers of legislation, and the appointment of all officers and all forms of government, over the territory, extending in breadth from the 40th to the 48th degree of north latitude, and in length from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The first English settlement within its limits, however, was established without the knowledge of the corporation and without the aid of King James, by the “pilgrim fathers of New England,” a body of Puritans (102 in number) who, led by John Carver, William Brewster, William Bradford, Edward Winslow, and Miles Standish, sailed from England, Sept. 6, 1620, in the Mayflower, a vessel of 180 tons burden. They anchored first at Cape Cod (Nov. 9), and on Dec. 11 (O. S.) an exploring party landed at a harbor in Massachusetts bay, where the Mayflower anchored a few days afterward. Here they began to build a town, which they called Plymouth in memory of the hospitalities received at the last English port from which they had sailed. The government of the colony was strictly republican. The governor was elected ​by the people, and restricted by a council of five (afterward seven) assistants. The legislature at first comprised the whole body of the people, but as population advanced the representative system was adopted. The foundation of the Plymouth colony was followed by that of Massachusetts Bay, where Salem was settled by John Endicott in 1628. A reënforcement of 400 colonists landed in 1629. In 1630 a fleet arrived with about 700 additional emigrants, with John Winthrop as governor, and Thomas Dudley as deputy governor. In September of the same year they settled Boston, which they named in honor of the town in England from which came their minister, the Rev. John Cotton. In 1692 Plymouth colony was united to Massachusetts. While these settlements on Massachusetts bay were in progress, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and John Mason obtained a patent for a territory called Laconia, extending from the Atlantic to the St. Lawrence and from the Merrimack to the Kennebec, and settled Portsmouth and Dover in New Hampshire in 1623. In Maine a French colony had been planted in the island of Mount Desert as early as 1613, which was soon broken up by an expedition from Virginia; and the first permanent English settlements in Maine were made at Monhegan in 1622 and at Saco about the same time, or according to Bancroft, probably at the mouth of the Pemaquid in 1626. These settlements ultimately fell under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, and Maine continued to form a part of that commonwealth till 1820. Connecticut was colonized in 1635-'6 by emigrants from Massachusetts, who settled at Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield, though a trading post had been established at Windsor somewhat earlier, and the Dutch, who claimed the territory, had built a fort and trading house at Hartford in 1633. Rhode Island was first settled at Providence in 1636 by Roger Williams, who had been exiled from Massachusetts for maintaining religious and political opinions at variance with those of the rulers of that colony. In September, 1609, Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the service of the Dutch East India company, entered New York harbor and went up the river to which his name has been given, exploring it beyond the mouth of the Mohawk. The region thus discovered was claimed by Holland and named New Netherland; and in a few years trading posts were erected at Fort Orange (now Albany) and on Manhattan island. In 1623 permanent settlements were made at Fort Orange and at New Amsterdam on Manhattan island, on the present site of the city of New York. The Dutch settlements gradually spread up the river, and eastward to the Connecticut, and westward and southward to the Delaware. On the Delaware they came in collision with the Swedes, who had settled there in 1638 and occupied both banks nearly to the site of Philadelphia, and named their settlements New Sweden. They were finally expelled in 1655 by a Dutch army. The English claimed the whole country under the right given by Cabot's discovery, and, after much diplomatic controversy protracted through nearly half a century, at length ended the contest by seizing New Amsterdam in 1664, and with it the whole of New Netherland. The province in the same year had been granted by Charles II. to his brother the duke of York and Albany, in whose honor the name of New Amsterdam was changed to New York, which also became the name of the province, while Fort Orange became Albany. New Jersey at this time acquired its distinctive name from Sir George Carteret, who had been governor of the island of Jersey, and in conjunction with Lord Berkeley had purchased the territory from the duke of York and made it a separate colony. In 1681 the territory west of the Delaware was granted to William Penn, who colonized it chiefly with Friends or Quakers, and founded Philadelphia in 1682. Pennsylvania soon became one of the most flourishing of the colonies, and was honorably distinguished among them for the kindness and justice of its treatment of the Indians, and its consequent exemption for nearly a century from savage warfare. About 1730 a large immigration of Germans began, which peopled several counties and gave a peculiar character to the population of the province. The country between the southern line of Pennsylvania and the Potomac was early called Maryland, in honor of Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I. The first settlement within its limits was made in 1631 by Capt. William Clayborne, with a party of men from Virginia, on Kent island in Chesapeake bay. In 1632 Charles I. granted the province by a charter to Cecilius Calvert, Lord Baltimore, who sent out in 1633 a colony of about 200 persons, nearly all of them Roman Catholic gentlemen and their servants, led by the brother of the lord proprietor, Leonard Calvert, who became the first governor of the province. They landed on St. Mary's river, March 27, 1634, and began a settlement. In 1649 the assembly passed the memorable act by which Christians of all sects were secured in the public profession of their faith, and allowed to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences. The first permanent settlement in North Carolina appears to have been made about 1663, on Albemarle sound, by emigrants from Virginia. The first permanent settlement in South Carolina was made in 1670 by colonists from England on the Ashley river, near the site of Charleston, which began to be settled about the same time. The territory S. of Virginia had been granted in 1663 by Charles II., under the name of Carolina, to Clarendon, Monk, and others as proprietaries. A constitution for the government of the country, framed by the philosopher Locke, was adopted by the proprietaries in 1670; but, being impracticable, it never completely went into operation, and was abrogated in 1693. In 1729 the king ​bought out the proprietors and divided the colony into two, called respectively North and South Carolina. The present state of Georgia originally formed part of Carolina, but in 1732 George II., in honor of whom it was named, granted the territory to a corporation entitled “the trustees for settling the colony of Georgia.” In the same year a colony of about 120 persons sailed for the new province, under the direction of Gen. James Oglethorpe, and in February, 1733, founded Savannah.—In the course of little more than a century from the settlement of Jamestown, 13 permanent colonies were thus founded by the English within the present limits of the United States. Within the same limits the Spaniards had also settled in Florida and New Mexico, and the French had established posts in Michigan, in Illinois, and in Louisiana near the mouth of the Mississippi. Though agriculture was the chief pursuit of the colonists, manufactures and commerce were not wholly neglected. But as early as 1660 the mother country began to hamper their trade with navigation acts designed to compel the commerce of the Americans to pass exclusively through English hands. The house of commons in 1719 declared “that the erecting of manufactories in the colonies tended to lessen their dependence upon Great Britain,” and laws were accordingly enacted prohibiting or restricting manufactures. Prompt attention was paid to education. Provision was made for a school in Virginia in 1621, and in 1692-'3 William and Mary college was established at Williamsburg. A school was founded in New Amsterdam in 1633. Harvard college in Massachusetts was founded in 1636, and Yale college in Connecticut in 1700; the college of New Jersey was incorporated in 1746, and King's (now Columbia) college in New York in 1754. In the New England colonies, as soon almost as they were founded, laws were enacted providing for a liberal system of common schools.—The details of colonial history being given in this work under the names of the individual states, we shall only notice here the most prominent events of general interest, which may be classed under the three heads of Indian wars, French wars, and political struggles against the English government. The Indians at first received the whites as friends; but the steady encroachments of the settlers on their hunting grounds and other causes led at length to war, though to the last a few tribes continued faithful friends to the Europeans. The first serious encounter took place in 1622, after the death of the friendly Powhatan, when a general conspiracy of the Indians of Virginia broke out in a bloody massacre, in which in one hour about 350 of the English fell beneath the tomahawk. The colonists were victorious in this contest, and again in 1644-'6, when the Virginian tribes made their last struggle for independence, led by Opechancanough, who was captured and kept in prison till he died. In 1636 the powerful Pequot tribe began hostilities in Connecticut, which resulted in its destruction in 1637 by Massachusetts and Connecticut troops. In 1675 the famous Pometacom, sachem of the Wampanoags, or King Philip as he was called by the English, effected a general combination of the aborigines against the colonists. A terribly destructive war ensued, which for some months threatened the extermination of the European population of New England, but was finally ended by the defeat and death of Philip in 1676. The Carolines became involved in a fierce and sanguinary struggle with the Corecs and Tuscaroras in 1711, and with the Yemassees in 1715, in both of which the whites were victorious. Toward the close of the 17th century the hostile Indians on the northern and western frontiers began to receive powerful aid and encouragement from the French in Canada, who, whenever their mother country was at war with England, carried on hostilities with the English colonies, and frequently, accompanied by their savage allies, made destructive inroads into New England and New York. In one of these incursions, in 1689, Dover in New Hampshire was burned by the Indians, and the inhabitants were killed or carried away captive; and in 1690 a similar fate was inflicted on Schenectady in New York, by a party from Montreal. A few years later (1704-'8) Deerfield and Haverhill in Massachusetts were destroyed, with hundreds of men, women, and children, by bands led by Hertel do Rouville, a French officer. Father Marquette, Louis Joliet, Robert Cavelier de la Salle, and other missionaries and adventurers, had carried the cross and the standards of France through the wilderness, from the St. Lawrence and the great lakes to the Mississippi and the gulf; and gradually the English settlements on the Atlantic were flanked on their western side by a chain of French posts. This threatening lodgment of the French in the rear of their American colonies greatly excited the jealousy of the English, who, under the charters granted by James I., claimed dominion westward from the Atlantic to the Pacific, south of the latitude of the north shore of Lake Erie, while the French claimed all the territory watered by the Mississippi and its tributaries under the more plausible title of having made the first explorations and settlements. But the earliest conflict between the two nations in America arose not from any colonial quarrel, but from the revolution of 1688, and is known as King William's war. It lasted seven years, and during its continuance the colonies suffered exceedingly from the incursions of the French and their Indian allies. In retaliation for these attacks efforts were made by the colonists to conquer Canada, against which in 1690 two expeditions were sent, one from Massachusetts under Sir William Phips, and another from Connecticut and New York under Gen. Winthrop, neither of which accomplished ​anything of importance. The war was terminated by the treaty of Ryswick, Sept. 20, 1697, but peace was not long maintained. The war of the Spanish succession involved in its hostilities the French and English in America (1702), where the contest is known as Queen Anne's war. Its effects were chiefly felt in New England, whose whole western frontier was ravaged by the Indians to such an extent that most of the remote settlements were destroyed or abandoned. In 1707 an ineffectual attack was made upon the French colony of Acadia; but in 1710 an expedition from Boston conquered it and annexed it to the English empire, under which it received the name of Nova Scotia. In 1711 a powerful armament of English and New England troops, under Sir Hovenden Walker, attempted the conquest of Canada by sea, but failed, as did another expedition which at the same time marched from Albany to attack Montreal. The peace of Utrecht (April 11, 1713) terminated hostilities, which were not resumed for 30 years. At the expiration of that period the war of the Austrian succession broke out in Europe, and spread to America, where it is known as King George's war. Its principal event was the capture of Louisburg, the chief stronghold of the French in America, which was taken Juno 17, 1745, by a force from New England led by William Pepperell, a wealthy merchant of Maine. This exploit excited much enthusiasm in England as well as in the colonies, and gave the Americans an idea of their own military strength which had an important influence in the future. The war ended by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, Oct. 18, 1748, and Louisburg was restored to the French. Disputes having arisen with the French on the Ohio, an expedition under Washington was sent toward that river, which on May 28, 1754, cut to pieces a French detachment under Jumonville, who was slain. This affair began the long contest known in America as the French and Indian war (nearly simultaneous with the seven years' war in Europe). Hostilities were waged in America for two years before war was formally declared between France and England. In 1755 four expeditions were undertaken against the French. Gen. Braddock, with a force of regulars and provincials, the latter commanded by Washington, proceeded against Fort Duquesne on the Ohio; but about 10 m. from that post he fell into an ambush, and was defeated and mortally wounded. The army was withdrawn from danger chiefly by the steadiness and skill of Washington and his provincials, who covered the retreat. The result of this expedition shook the confidence of the people in the prowess of the British soldiery, and gave Washington a hold on popular esteem and confidence which was never afterward shaken. An expedition against Niagara and Frontenac on Lake Ontario, commanded by Gov. Shirley of Massachusetts, also failed. An attack on the French posts near the head of the bay of Fundy, led by Gen. Winslow, a New Englander, resulted in their capture and the expulsion of the French inhabitants from Acadia. The fourth expedition, composed chiefly of New England troops, was led by Sir William Johnson against Crown Point. It encountered the enemy at the head of Lake George, and in one day, Sept. 8, suffered a repulse and gained a complete victory, in which the French commander Dieskau was incurably wounded and made prisoner. Johnson failed to follow up this success, and the campaign of 1755 ended on the whole more favorably for the French than for the English. The energy and ability of the marquis de Montcalm, who succeeded Dieskau as commander-in-chief in Canada, gave during the next two years a still more marked superiority to the French arms. Oswego, with an immense amount of military stores, was captured by them in 1756; and Fort William Henry, at the head of Lake George, was compelled to surrender in 1757, an event long remembered from the massacre of part of the garrison after the capitulation by Montcalm's Indian allies. In 1758 the current of affairs, under the management of the new English premier William Pitt, was reversed. Louisburg was taken after a siege of seven weeks by Generals Amherst and Wolfe; Fort Frontenac was captured by Col. Bradstreet, with a provincial force; and Fort Duquesne met the same fate from an expedition of which Washington was one of the commanders. These advantages, however, barely counterbalanced the repulse of an attack on Ticonderoga made by a powerful army under Gen. Abercrombie and Lord Howe, in which the latter officer fell at the head of his troops, while the former was obliged to retreat with a loss of 2,000 men. Abercrombie was promptly superseded by Amherst, before whose approach in 1759 the French fled from Ticonderoga and Crown Point without striking a blow. Almost at the same time Niagara was taken by Sir William Johnson, and a large force sent to its relief was completely routed. The crowning exploit of the campaign and of the war was the taking of Quebec by an army led by Gen. Wolfe, after a battle on the plains of Abraham (Sept. 13), in which both Wolfe and Montcalm were mortally wounded. The surrender of Quebec virtually decided the contest in America, though it continued in Europe and on the ocean till 1763, when by the treaty of Paris Canada and its dependencies were formally ceded to Great Britain. The transfer from the French to the English of the posts between the great lakes and the Ohio led to a war with the Indian tribes, of which the master spirit was Pontiac. It broke out in May, 1763, and lasted several years. Detroit was besieged, and many posts were captured and their garrisons put to death. (See Pontiac.)—The termination of this war left the colonies poor and exhausted, for their contributions in men and money had been ​very large, and they had suffered severely from the enemy during the mismanagement of the first half of the contest. Nevertheless they had gained greatly by the struggle. The conquest of Canada, of Louisburg, and of the military posts on their western frontier, extinguished their chief source of anxiety and danger, and freed them for ever from any serious dread of the Indians, who were really formidable only when supported by the French. Then, too, the incapacity of the English generals and the defeats sustained by large bodies of English troops had materially weakened their superstitious reverence for the power of the mother country, while their own exploits in the war had given them a confidence in their strength hitherto unfelt. The general characteristics of the people were intelligence, industry, and a high degree of moral and religious culture. They were descended for the most part from intelligent and enterprising ancestors, who had emigrated from the old world either to secure to themselves greater freedom to worship God or better opportunities to acquire competence or wealth. The passage across the Atlantic was tedious and expensive, and life in the new settlements hard and perilous. The lazy, the timid, the improvident, the brutally ignorant, shrank from the terrors of the sea and the wilderness, and the vast majority of the emigrants were of the respectable and energetic middle class. Religious influences operated powerfully, not only in giving an impulse to emigration, but on the character of the emigrants in their new homes; and not only on the Puritans, Huguenots, and Quakers, who came avowedly from the highest motives, but on vast bodies of churchmen, Dutch Calvinists, and Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. Much care was devoted to the education of children, and especially to training them in a knowledge of the Bible and the catechism, and in reverence for the sabbath. In Virginia the laws enacted that in every settlement there should be “a house for the worship of God.” Absence from church was punished by a fine, and travelling or shooting on the sabbath was forbidden. In the Carolines there were similar laws, and in Pennsylvania acts were passed against “stage plays, playing of cards, dice, May games, masques, and balls.” Similar also was the legislation of the New England colonies, where in addition at some periods sumptuary laws and laws regulating the use of tobacco were in force. The spirit of political freedom was strongly developed among the colonists, and republican ideas and feelings transmitted from the period of the commonwealth in England were widely diffused, though at the same time a warm attachment existed for the mother country and a devoted loyalty to the crown. This attachment was disinterested, for though England afforded protection during the wars with the French, these wars, with the single exception of that recently concluded, had originated in Europe, and were waged for objects with which America had neither concern nor sympathy. In many other respects the connection was injurious to the colonies. Their trade and manufactures were systematically restricted for the selfish benefit of England; but though these oppressive enactments were heavily felt by the colonists, they made no resistance so long as the imperial authority confined itself to measures which, however harsh or injurious, were not clearly unconstitutional. But in 1761 parliament authorized sheriffs and officers of the customs to use “writs of assistance” or general search warrants which empowered them to enter stores and private dwellings and search for merchandise which it was suspected had not paid duty. These writs were first used in Massachusetts, where they roused great excitement and opposition. Obedience was refused to them on the ground of illegality, and a trial ensued in which the eloquent James Otis, the advocate general of the crown, refused to defend them, but resigned his office and appeared in behalf of the people. His speech made a profound impression. The judges evaded a decision, and the writs, although secretly granted, were never executed. In Virginia two years later occurred a collision between the royal prerogative and the colonial legislation on the subject of dues to the clergy, in which the cause of the colony was defended by Patrick Henry. It was at length decided in England to tax the colonies directly in spite of all their protests, and the stamp act passed the house of commons on Feb. 27, 1765, and the house of lords on March 8, and received the royal assent on March 22. This act declared that every document used in trade or legal proceedings, to be valid, must have affixed to it a stamp, the lowest in value costing a shilling, and the duty increasing indefinitely in proportion to the value of the writing. To enforce the act, against which while it was under discussion the colonies had vehemently remonstrated, parliament authorized the ministry to send as many troops as they saw proper to America, for whom the colonies were required to find “quarters, fuel, cider or rum, candles, and other necessaries.” These acts created great excitement and indignation in America. The Virginia assembly passed resolutions, introduced by Patrick Henry, declaring that the general assembly of that colony possessed the sole right and power to lay taxes on its inhabitants. The legislature of Massachusetts resolved that the courts should conduct their business without the use of stamps. In New York and Pennsylvania the opposition, though not so genera], was yet very strong. Everywhere the people determined not to use the stamps, and associations calling themselves “sons of liberty” were organized in opposition to the act and for the general defence of the rights of the colonies. So powerful were these combinations, and so intense the popular indignation, that when the day came (Nov. 1) on which the obnoxious law was to go into ​effect, it was found that all the stamp distributors had resigned their offices. Meantime in June the Massachusetts legislature issued a circular inviting all the colonies to send delegates to a congress at New York on the first Tuesday of October. On that day delegates from nine of the colonies appeared. The congress drew up a declaration of rights, a memorial to parliament, and a petition to the king, in which they claimed the right of being taxed only by their own representatives; and these proceedings were approved by the colonial assemblies. The merchants of the principal cities agreed to purchase no more goods in England till the act was repealed, and the people pledged themselves to use no articles of English manufacture. These demonstrations of popular feeling in America led to the repeal of the stamp act on March 18, 1766, an event celebrated with great rejoicings both in the colonies and in the English seaports, whose trade was already seriously affected. But the plan of taxing America was not yet given up, and in June, 1767, parliament passed an act imposing duties on paper, glass, tea, and some other articles imported into the colonies. The colonies in return revived with renewed vigor their non-importation associations. Massachusetts, and especially the town of Boston, was foremost in the opposition; and in Boston, on the occasion of the seizure (June 10, 1768) of a sloop belonging to John Hancock for an alleged false entry, a disturbance occurred, which the commissioners of customs made the pretext for retiring to a vessel of war in the harbor. The government resolved to take vengeance on “the insolent town of Boston,” and a military force under Gen. Gage was sent to occupy the place in September. A collision took place March 5, 1770, between the soldiers and a crowd of citizens, in which three of the latter were killed and eight wounded. This “Boston massacre,” as it was called, caused great excitement throughout the country, and had much influence in heightening the popular feeling against England. The non-importation associations soon produced such an effect in England, that in April, 1770, the government removed all the duties except that of threepence a pound on tea, which was retained at the express command of George III., who said that “there should be always one tax, at least, to keep up the right of taxing.” This did not satisfy the Americans, who objected not to the amount of the taxes, but to the principle of taxation without representation; and combinations were formed against the importation and use of tea, and measures taken to prevent its being either landed or sold. At Boston, on the evening of Dec. 16, 1773, a band of men disguised as Indians went on board three tea ships, which had recently arrived from England and lay at one of the wharves, and, taking out the chests, emptied the tea into the water, and then quietly retired. When the news of this action reached England, the government determined to punish the colonies, and especially to make an example of Boston. Parliament accordingly, in March, 1774, passed the “Boston port bill,” which closed that port to all commerce, and transferred the board of customs to Marblehead and the seat of colonial government to Salem. Bills were also passed abrogating the most popular features of the colonial charter, and authorizing the commander to quarter his army in towns, and to transfer to another colony or to Great Britain any persons informed against or indicted for crimes committed in supporting the revenue laws or suppressing riots. These acts excited to a still greater pitch the already deep indignation of the people. Boston was everywhere regarded as the champion of popular rights, and as the victim of ministerial persecution; and money and provisions were sent to it from the most distant colonies and from England. Hutchinson was superseded as governor of Massachusetts in May, 1774, by Gen. Gage. Meanwhile conventions were held and delegates chosen to the congress at Philadelphia, known as the “old continental congress,” which met Sept. 6 in Carpenters' hall, all the colonies being represented except Georgia and North Carolina; but delegates from the latter arrived on the 14th. Among the 53 members were Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Edward and John Rutledge, Christopher Gadsden, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Philip Livingston, William Livingston, and John Jay. Peyton Randolph of Virginia (succeeded by Henry Middleton of South Carolina on Oct. 22) was chosen speaker, and Charles Thomson of Pennsylvania secretary. The discussions were opened on the second day by Patrick Henry in a speech of surpassing eloquence, in which he said: “British oppression has effaced the boundaries of the several colonies; the distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American.” A declaration of rights was agreed upon, in which was set forth the claim of the colonists as British subjects to participate in making their own laws and in imposing their own taxes, to the right of trial by a jury of the vicinage, of holding public meetings, and of petitioning for redress of grievances. The maintenance of a standing army in the colonies without their consent was protested against, as were eleven acts passed since the accession of George III. in violation of colonial rights and privileges. The measures of redress which they proposed were peaceable, and comprised the formation of an “American association,” pledged not to trade with Great Britain or the West Indies, nor with those engaged in the slave trade, and not to use British goods or tea. Among the papers issued by them were a petition to the king and an address to the people of Canada, written by John Dickinson of Pennsylvania; an address to the people of Great Britain, by John Jay; and a memorial ​to the people of the colonies, by Richard Henry Lee. The congress adjourned on Oct. 26, after providing for another congress to meet the following May, in case redress of grievances should not meanwhile be obtained. Perceiving a conflict to be almost inevitable, the people of the colonies began to prepare earnestly for war, and in Massachusetts nearly all men able to bear arms were trained daily in military exercises, and engaged to take the field at a moment's notice, whence originated their name of “minute men.” Gen. Gage began to fortify Boston neck, and to seize arms and ammunition in the surrounding towns. Small stores of these had been accumulated by the provincial government of Massachusetts at Worcester and at Concord. Gage, on the night of April 18, 1775, secretly despatched a large force to destroy the stores at Concord. The movements of the British were vigilantly watched, and the minute men were roused in every direction. At Lexington, half way between Boston and Concord, on the following morning, the first blood of the revolution was shed. Major Pitcairn ordered the soldiers to fire upon the citizens who appeared in arms upon the common, and eight were killed and nine wounded. The British proceeded to Concord, and destroyed some stores, but met with such resistance at the north bridge over Concord river that they were forced to retreat, and, hotly pursued by the Americans, made their way back to Boston with a loss of 273 killed, wounded, and missing. The entire loss of the Americans during the day was 49 killed, 34 wounded, and 5 missing. This action brought the political contest between the colonies and England to a summary ending, and inaugurated the war of the revolution. The tidings of the fight spread with wonderful rapidity while it was going on, and everywhere throughout New England the people sprang to arms; and on the night of the day following the action the king's governor and army found themselves closely beleaguered in Boston. The provincial congress of Massachusetts on April 22 resolved unanimously that a New England army of 30,000 men should be raised, of which the quota of Massachusetts should be 13,600. As the news from Lexington and Concord spread westward and southward, the people everywhere rose in arms, and before the close of summer the power of all the royal governors from Massachusetts to Georgia was at an end. Volunteer expeditions from Vermont and Connecticut, led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, seized the important fortresses of Ticonderoga (May 10) and Crown point (May 12), whose cannon and ammunition were of incalculable value to the poorly equipped forces of America. In North Carolina a convention assembled at Charlotte, Mecklenburg co., in May, proclaimed their constituents absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and organized a local government with preparations for military defence. The second continental congress assembled on May 10 at Philadelphia, in the state house, now known as Independence hall. Among the members were Franklin, Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Washington, Kichard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, Jay, George Clinton, and Robert R. Livingston. Hancock, who with Samuel Adams had been proscribed as a rebel, was elected president on May 24, Peyton Randolph vacating the chair to attend the Virginia legislature. Conservative and moderate to the last, the congress sent still another petition to the king, denying any intention of separation from England, and asking only for redress of grievances. But they took measures to raise an army, to equip a navy, and to procure arms and ammunition. The forces before Boston were adopted as the continental army, and at the suggestion of the New England members Washington was nominated and unanimously chosen (June 15) as commander-in-chief. Before he could reach the seat of war the battle of Bunker Hill had been fought, June 17. (See Bunker Hill.) Four days later he arrived, and on July 8 assumed command of the army in Cambridge. Charles Lee, Philip Schuyler of New York, Artemas Ward of Massachusetts, and Israel Putnam of Connecticut had been elected major generals. Horatio Gates (adjutant general), Seth Pomeroy, Richard Montgomery, David Wooster, William Heath, Joseph Spencer, John Thomas, John Sullivan, and Nathanael Greene were chosen brigadiers. The army was unorganized, undisciplined, poorly clad, imperfectly armed, and almost destitute of powder. With the aid of Gates, who almost alone of the generals had had much experience in war, Washington brought the troops into tolerable order, and regularly beleaguered Boston till March 17, 1776, when the British evacuated the city and sailed for Halifax, carrying with them a large body of loyalists. Meantime an invasion of Canada, whose inhabitants were reported to be disaffected to British rule, was decided upon by congress, and carried out with insufficient forces under command of Gen. Montgomery. Montreal was taken, and Quebec was attacked Dec. 31, 1775, by parties led by Montgomery and Arnold. The assault was conducted with great courage and energy, but was repulsed, and Montgomery was slain and Arnold severely wounded. After a blockade of the city continued for some months, the Americans, whose forces were totally inadequate in numbers and equipment to the enterprise, on the arrival of powerful reinforcements to the British, abandoned the province in June, 1776. On June 28 a British fleet made an attack on Charleston, S. C., where they were repulsed with great loss by a small force in Fort Sullivan (afterward Fort Moultrie), commanded by Col. Moultrie. In all these operations the Americans were greatly impeded by want of powder and other munitions of war. Cruisers ​were fitted out by order of congress and by some of the colonies, and several of the British supply ships were captured. Congress also appointed a naval committee with authority to build 13 frigates. A secret committee appointed to correspond privately with the friends of the colonies in Europe may be regarded as the germ of the state department. A financial committee and a war committee had already been instituted, and thus the main departments of the government of the united colonies were put in operation. The success of the colonial armies at Boston and at Charleston, and the outrages committed by British commanders on the coast and in Virginia, greatly stimulated the feeling in favor of independence, which Samuel Adams and a few others had desired from the beginning of the contest; and a powerful impulse was given to this sentiment by Thomas Paine's “Common Sense,” which was issued about the beginning of 1776 and widely circulated. On June 7 Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution into congress declaring “That these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.” This was adopted on July 2 by the vote of twelve colonies, the delegates from New York, pending the decision of the question by the people of that colony, not voting. On the 4th the Declaration of Independence, written by Jefferson, setting forth the reasons for the separation, was adopted by the same vote, and in this document the colonies were first designated the “United States of America.” On the same day it was authenticated by the president and secretary of congress, and published, but it was not then signed by the members. Having been engrossed on parchment, it was signed on Aug. 2 by 54 delegates, and subsequently by two others, 56 in all, representing all the thirteen colonies, the New York convention having approved the act on July 9. The text of the declaration is as follows:
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present king of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world:
He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature; a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining, in the mean time, exposed to all the danger of invasion from without and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to, the civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation—
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us;
For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states;
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world;
For imposing taxes on us without our consent;
For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury;
For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences;
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies;
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering, fundamentally, the powers of our governments;
For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries, to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.
In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, ​whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts made by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them, by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.
We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in general congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that, as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
“The declaration was not only the announcement of the birth of a people,” says Bancroft, “but the establishment of a national government; a most imperfect one, it is true, but still a government, in conformity with the limited constituent powers which each colony had conferred upon its delegates in congress. The affairs of internal police and government were carefully retained by each separate state, which could, each for itself, enter upon the career of domestic reforms. But the states, which were henceforth independent of Britain, were not independent of one another; the United States of America assumed powers over war, peace, foreign alliances, and commerce.” Soon after the evacuation of Boston by the British, Washington had transferred his army to the city of New York. On June 29 a fleet from Halifax, bearing Gen. Howe and the late garrison of Boston, entered New York harbor, and on July 2 landed the forces on Staten Island. A few days later arrived Admiral Lord Howe, to whom, in conjunction with his brother Sir William, the king had intrusted the control of American affairs. The British government, unable to recruit the army to the desired number from its own people, who disapproved the war, had hired from German princes, and especially from Hesse-Cassel, large bodies of mercenaries; and with these and fresh troops brought from the south by Sir Henry Clinton, the force on Staten Island was augmented to 30,000 men. Washington's army was much less in numbers, and every way inferior in supplies and equipments. The campaign began on Long Island, where on Aug. 27 the Americans were defeated with heavy loss, and forced to abandon that island, and soon after the city of New York. Having fought another unsuccessful battle at White Plains (Oct. 28), Washington early in December was compelled to retreat beyond the Delaware at the head of but 3,000 men, poorly clad, half starved, and destitute of blankets end tents. About the same time the British seized and held the island of Rhode Island, and at Baskingridge, N. J., captured Gen. Charles Lee. On the night of Dec. 25 Washington crossed the Delaware in open boats with 2,400 men, and falling upon the British forces at Trenton captured about 1,000 Hessians. A few days later (Jan. 3, 1777), he defeated the enemy again at Princeton, taking 230 prisoners. Soon after the army went into winter quarters at Morristown. When the campaign opened in the spring of 1777, Washington's force consisted of about 7,500 men. Gen. Howe, after vainly attempting to bring on a general engagement, withdrew his forces (June 30) from New Jersey to Staten Island, and afterward sailed with nearly 20,000 men for the Chesapeake, where he landed on Elk river and threatened Philadelphia. To defend the capital Washington was forced to give battle on the Brandy wine, Sept. 11, but was outnumbered and compelled to retreat with the loss of nearly 1,000 men. Lafayette, who had recently entered the service of the United States as a volunteer, and had been made a major general, was severely wounded on this occasion. On the 26th the British took possession of Philadelphia without opposition. On Oct. 4 Washington made an attack on the British at Germantown, seven miles from Philadelphia, but was repulsed with heavy loss; and soon afterward both armies went into winter quarters, the Americans at Valley Forge, on the Schuylkill, 20 m. from Philadelphia. The want of success in this region was more than counterbalanced by victories in the north. A British army, 7,500 strong, besides Indians, commanded by Gen. Burgoyne, advanced from Canada by Lake Champlain, and took Ticonderoga, Fort Independence, and Whitehall. Strong detachments, which were sent to Bennington, Vt., to destroy a collection of stores, were met there (Aug. 16) and defeated with the loss of about 200 killed and 600 prisoners by the Vermont and New Hampshire militia led by Gen. Stark. Burgoyne advanced to Stillwater on the Hudson, where he was encountered by Gen. Gates; and on Sept. 19 an indecisive engagement was fought at that place, in which the British lost more than 600 men. The American encampment had been strongly fortified by Kosciuszko. On Oct. 7 a second battle (commonly called the battle of Saratoga) was fought on nearly the same ground, in which the Americans had the advantage; and ten days later Burgoyne with his whole army capitulated at Saratoga. The consequences of this victory were of the highest importance at home and abroad. On Dec. 1 Baron Steuben, a German officer, arrived in the country, and during the winter joined Washington at Valley Forge. He was afterward appointed inspector general, and was of great service in introducing discipline into the army. From the beginning of the conflict the French ​government had secretly encouraged the revolt of the colonies, and had furnished them with supplies of arms and military stores, without which it would have been almost impossible to carry on the war. Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee had been sent by congress as commissioners to France shortly after the declaration of independence, but received no open countenance from the court till after the surrender of Burgoyne. That event decided the negotiations in their favor; and in February, 1778, treaties of alliance and of amity and commerce were signed at Paris. Sir Henry Clinton, who succeeded Howe as commander-in-chief of the British, evacuated Philadelphia in the night of June 17 with more than 17,000 men, and on the 18th began his march toward New York. Washington pursued, and on the 28th the two armies engaged in battle on the plains of Monmouth, near the village of Freehold, N. J. The action was not decisive, but the Americans remained masters of the field, while the British retreated to New York and remained inactive for the rest of the summer. On July 8 a French fleet from Toulon, under Count d'Estaing, anchored in Delaware bay, but too late to intercept the British squadron and transports retreating from Philadelphia. An attempt made in August with the assistance of the French fleet to drive the British from Ehode Island proved a failure, and d'Estaing, without having accomplished anything of importance, sailed in November for the West Indies. At the close of the campaign of 1778 the position of the British was not at all advanced from that which their forces held in 1776. They occupied nothing but Rhode Island and the island of Manhattan, while the Americans had gained largely in knowledge of the art of war, and had secured the powerful alliance of France. But great embarrassment was felt from the wretched condition of the national finances, the continental money issued by congress having depreciated to a very low point. In this emergency the patriotism and the financial skill and credit of Robert Morris were of the highest value. In 1779 the principal theatre of war was at the south, where Gen. Benjamin Lincoln commanded the Americans. Toward the end of 1778 Gen. Clinton had sent an expedition to Georgia, which defeated the American forces at Savannah, and took possession of the city, Dec. 29; and the colony was soon completely in the power of the British. In September, 1779, Savannah was besieged by a French and American force, and on Oct. 9 an assault was made upon it, which was repulsed with a loss to the allies of nearly 800 men, among them Casimir Pulaski. The siege was thereupon abandoned. About this time the British evacuated Rhode Island, to concentrate their forces at New York. Paul Jones, commanding an American frigate, captured on Sept. 23 two British ships of war in the English channel, in one of the most desperate naval battles ever fought. During the whole war in fact Paul Jones was actively employed against the enemy on the sea, and, together with a swarm of privateers from New England, inflicted immense loss on the mercantile marine of England. One of the most brilliant achievements of the war was the storming (July 16) of Stony Point on the Hudson by Gen. Wayne at the head of 1,200 men, taking 543 prisoners; only 15 of his men were killed, while the British killed numbered 63. About the beginning of 1780 Clinton, leaving the Hessian general Knyphausen in command at New York, sailed south with 8,500 men to carry the war into the Carolinas. Charleston was besieged for several weeks, and Gen. Lincoln after a feeble defence surrendered on May 12, the garrison becoming prisoners of war. The rest of the state of South Carolina was overrun by detachments of the British, and nominally submitted to the restoration of the royal authority, so that Clinton, deeming his conquest complete, sailed for New York on June 5, leaving Lord Cornwallis in command. But a guerilla warfare, under the command of Sumter, Marion, and other partisan leaders, continually harassed not only the British but the tories, as the American royalists were commonly called, of whom there were great numbers in the state. Congress sent Gen. Gates to recover South Carolina. On his first encounter with Cornwallis at Camden, Aug. 16, he was routed with great loss, Baron de Kalb, a French officer of experience, who was second in command, being mortally wounded. Gates with the remnant of his force fled to North Carolina. Within three months two American armies had been destroyed, while the most formidable of the partisan bands, that of Sumter, had been dispersed by Col. Tarleton. Early in September Cornwallis marched into North Carolina, where on Oct. 7, at King's mountain, a detachment from his army was totally defeated by 900 militia, who killed and captured upward of 1,100 of the enemy. This serious reverse, and the renewed activity of Marion, Sumter, and other partisan leaders, induced Cornwallis to withdraw to South Carolina. During the summer the only military operation of importance in the north was an unsuccessful irruption of the British into New Jersey. Soon after, on July 10, a French fleet arrived at Newport, bringing the count de Rochambeau and 6,000 soldiers. Washington went to Hartford in September to confer with the French officers, and during his absence it was discovered that Benedict Arnold, who commanded the important fortress of West Point, had agreed to deliver that stronghold and its dependencies into the hands of Sir Henry Clinton. Arnold escaped, but Major André, the British officer who communicated with him, was caught and hanged as a spy. The principal military operations of 1781 were in the south, where Greene had been made commander in place of Gates. At Cowpens, S. C., on Jan. 17, Gen. Morgan won a brilliant ​victory over the British under Col. Tarleton. On March 15, at Guilford Court House, N. C., a battle was fought in which the British gained the victory, but drew from it no advantage; and on Sept. 8 occurred the drawn battle of Eutaw Springs, a bloody action which nearly terminated the war in South Carolina. At the close of the year the British in the states south of Virginia were confined to Charleston and Savannah. Cornwallis, having advanced into Virginia in April, was opposed by Lafayette, Wayne, and Steuben, and fortified himself at Yorktown, where be gathered a considerable army. Meanwhile the American army under Washington and the French army of Rochambeau had formed a junction on the Hudson; and while the British commander, Sir Henry Clinton, was kept from sending aid to Cornwallis by apprehensions that Now York was threatened, the allied army was far on its way toward Yorktown, where it arrived Sept. 28, 1781, and began a regular siege, which lasted till Oct. 19, when Cornwallis surrendered with his whole force of 7,247 men, besides 840 sailors; 106 guns were taken. This victory substantially terminated the contest, and secured the independence of America. The French contributed 37 ships (under De Grasso) and 7,000 men to the besieging force, and the Americans 9,000 men. In England Lord North and his administration were forced to retire, March 20, 1782, and were succeeded by a cabinet opposed to the further prosecution of the war, headed by the marquis of Rockingham. Orders were sent to the British commanders in America to cease hostilities, and in July, 1782, Savannah was evacuated, and Charleston on Dec. 14. Adams, Franklin, Jay, and Laurens on the part of the United States, and Strachey, Oswald, and Fitzherbert on the part of Great Britain, signed a preliminary treaty of peace at Paris on Nov. 30, 1782; and on Sept. 3, 1783, a definitive treaty was signed at Versailles, by which the United States wore formally acknowledged by Great Britain to be free, sovereign, and independent. New York, the last position held by the British on our coast, was evacuated Nov. 25, 1783. In the seven years of the revolutionary war Great Britain sent to America about 112,000 soldiers and 22,000 seamen. Tho forces raised by tho United States during tho same period consisted of about 232,000 continental soldiers and 56,000 militia. On Nov. 2 Washington issued a farewell address to tho armies of the United States, and, after taking leave on Dec. 4 of his officers at New York, proceeded to Annapolis, Md., where congress was then in session, and on Dec. 23 resigned his commission as commander-in-chief and retired to his estate at Mount Vernon.—The existence of tho United States as a political entity may be dated from tho assembling of the second continental congress, May 10, 1775, as the first assumed no political powers. From that date to March 1, 1781, when the articles of confederation were finally ratified, the government of the Union was revolutionary, the powers exercised by congress being assumed by that body and conceded by the states from the necessity of tho situation. The period of the confederation extended to March 4, 1789, when the constitution went into effect. On June 12, 1776, while the resolution of independence was under consideration in congress, a committee of one from each colony was created to draft a form of confederation, and the articles reported by it were adopted, Nov. 15, 1777. They were ratified by South Carolina on Feb. 5, 1778, and by ten other states before tho close of that year. Delaware ratified them on Feb. 1, 1779, and Maryland on Jan. 30, 1781; and, being signed by delegates from all tho states, they went into effect as above stated. The delay of Maryland was caused by her refusal to join the confederation until those states claiming territory beyond their settled limits should cede it to the Union for the common benefit. Cessions having been made, an ordinance was passed by congress, July 13, 1787, for the government of the territory N. W. of the Ohio river, since famous as the ordinance of 1787. Dissatisfaction with the confederation, owing to the weakness of the central government under it, soon became widespread, and in September, 1786, a convention of delegates from several states at Annapolis, Md., recommended the calling of a convention of delegates from all the states to propose changes in the articles of confederation. This plan was approved by congress on Feb. 21, 1787, and tho convention organized at Philadelphia on May 25, by the choice of Washington as president. It remained in session in Carpenters' hall until Sept. 17, when it adjourned after adopting the constitution. All the states were represented except Rhode Island. On the 28th congress passed a resolution transmitting the constitution to the several states to be acted upon by conventions. Delaware ratified it on Dec. 7, and ten other states prior to Sept. 13, 1788, when a resolution of congress declared it ratified by nine states (the constitution providing that when ratified by that number it should go into effect in the states ratifying), fixed the first Wednesday of January, 1789, for the choice of presidential electors in the several states, and the first Wednesday of February for the choice of president by the electors, and provided that the new government should go into operation on the first Wednesday of March. The second continental congress expired on March 4, 1789, having maintained its corporate identity for nearly 14 years, though changed from time to time in its membership. Its presidents, though without power or patronage, were regarded as the personal representatives of the sovereignty of the Union. The following are their names, with the date of their election: Peyton Randolph of Virginia, May 10, 1775; John Hancock of Massachusetts, May 24, 1775; ​Henry Lanrens of South Carolina, Nov. 1, 1777; John Jay of New York, Dec. 10, 1778; Samuel Huntington of Connecticut, Sept. 28, 1779; Thomas McKean of Delaware, July 10, 1781; John Hanson of Maryland, Nov. 5, 1781; Elias Boudinot of New Jersey, Nov. 4, 1782; Thomas Mifflin of Pennsylvania, Nov. 3, 1783; Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, Nov. 30, 1784; Nathaniel Gorham of Massachusetts, June 6, 1786; Arthur St. Clair of Pennsylvania, Feb. 2, 1787; Cyrus Griffin of Virginia, Jan. 22, 1788. The first congress under the constitution was long without a quorum; the house did not organize till March 30, 1789, nor the senate till April 6. The electoral votes were then counted, when Washington, having received the entire number (69), was declared elected president, and John Adams, who had received the next highest number (34), was declared elected vice president. Adams took his seat as president of the senate on April 21, and Washington was inaugurated in New York on April 30. The president appointed Jefferson secretary of state, Hamilton secretary of the treasury, Henry Knox of Massachusetts secretary of war, and Edmund Randolph of Virginia attorney general, those officers then constituting the whole of the cabinet. North Carolina ratified the constitution on Nov. 21, 1789, and Rhode Island on May 29, 1790, completing the list of the original states. Ten amendments in the nature of a bill of rights, suggested by the conventions in some of the states, and adopted by the first congress, became a part of the constitution in 1791. An eleventh amendment, taking from the federal courts jurisdiction of actions prosecuted against a state by citizens of another state, became operative in 1798, and a twelfth, changing the method of electing the president and vice president, in 1804. No further amendments were made for more than 60 years. The seat of government was removed to Washington in 1800, the first session of congress held there commencing on Nov. 17. The previous seats of government were as follows, the dates being those of the opening of sessions of congress: Philadelphia, May 10, 1775; Baltimore, Dec. 20, 1776; Philadelphia, March 4, 1777; Lancaster, Pa., Sept. 27, 1777; York, Pa., Sept. 30, 1777; Philadelphia, July 2, 1778; Princeton, N. J., June 30, 1783; Annapolis, Md., Nov. 26, 1783; Trenton, N. J., Nov. 1, 1784; New York, Jan. 11, 1785, where the constitutional government was organized in 1789; and Philadelphia, Dec. 6, 1790. The beneficial influence of the new government was immediately felt in the restoration of public confidence, the revival of commerce, and the general prosperity of the country. A system of finance, advocated in an able report by Hamilton, was adopted, and the debts of the late confederacy and of the individual states were assumed by the general government. A bank of the United States was incorporated in 1791, and a mint was established at Philadelphia in 1792. In the summer of 1790 an Indian war broke out with the tribes of the northwest, who, after inflicting defeats on Gens. Harmar and St. Clair, were finally quelled by Gen. Wayne, and peace was restored in August, 1795. The great revolution in France, which broke out at the beginning of Washington's administration, was powerfully felt in its principles and effects in this country. Two parties had already been formed: the federalists, composed of those who favored the maintenance of the constitution just as it was; and the republicans or democrats, who desired to introduce amendments to limit the federal power, and to increase that of the states and the people. Washington, Adams, Hamilton, and Jay were accounted among the federalists; while Jefferson, Madison, Gallatin, and Edward Livingston were among the leaders of the republicans. The federal party on the French question advocated a strict neutrality, while the republicans freely avowed their sympathy for France, and their willingness to aid the French republic in its struggle with the European monarchies. Party spirit ran high on this point, yet at the second presidential election in 1792 Washington again received the unanimous votes (132) of the electoral colleges. Adams was re-elected vice president, receiving 77 votes, while George Clinton, the republican candidate, received 50 votes, and 5 were cast for others. The feeling against Great Britain existing since the revolution was strongly stimulated by the obnoxious conduct of the British government in retaining possession of forts in the west to which its title had been ceded by the treaty of 1783, and in seizing American vessels and impressing American seamen. After in vain remonstrating against these outrages, the president sent John Jay as a special envoy to England, where, in November, 1794, a treaty was concluded, which was regarded by the republicans as so favorable to England that the requisite confirmation by the senate was obtained with difficulty, and its promulgation among the people raised an extraordinary clamor against Jay and the president, which however soon subsided. In pursuance of this treaty the forts were surrendered in 1796. Its ratification exasperated the French government, which openly showed its displeasure by decrees under which American commerce suffered continual annoyances and losses. Among the important domestic events of Washington's administration were the admission into the Union of the new states of Vermont (1791), Kentucky (1792), and Tennessee (1796), and the whiskey insurrection against an unpopular excise law, which in 1794 threw western Pennsylvania into confusion, but was energetically suppressed by the president, who called out 15,000 militia. On the approach of the third presidential election, Washington positively declined to be a candidate, and the two great parties at once arrayed themselves against each other with a bitterness of zeal never since equalled. The federalists ​supported John Adams and the republicans Thomas Jefferson. Adams, who received 71 electoral votes, was chosen president, while Jefferson, who received 68, the next highest number, became, by the constitution as it then was, the vice president. The two next highest candidates were Thomas Pinckney and Aaron Burr. Timothy Pickering was made secretary of state, Oliver Wolcott of the treasury, James McHenry of war, and Charles Lee attorney general. In 1798 the navy department was created, and Benjamin Stoddert made secretary. The relations between France and the United States were so threatening that one of the first acts of President Adams was to convene congress in extra session, May 13, 1797. Three envoys, C. C. Pinckney, Elbridge Gerry, and John Marshall, were sent to France with authority to adjust all difficulties. The French government refused to receive them, but intimated that a considerable present of money would greatly facilitate negotiations, and that a refusal to pay the bribe would lead to war. “War be it then,” replied Pinckney; “millions for defence, but not a cent for tribute.” Pinckney and Marshall, who were federalists, were ordered to quit France; but Gerry, who was a republican, was allowed to remain. The insult to their envoys excited great indignation in the United States, and congress made preparations for war. The army and navy were enlarged, and Washington was appointed commander-in-chief, with the rank of lieutenant general. The frigate Constellation captured a French frigate in the West Indies, and disabled another of superior force in an action lasting five hours. The decided measures adopted by the United States were not without effect on the French government, and overtures were made to the president for a renewal of negotiations. A fresh embassy was sent, and, Napoleon Bonaparte having attained to power, a treaty was promptly concluded, Sept. 30, 1800. During these troubles with France two acts were passed by congress, known as the alien and sedition laws: the first, which was limited to two years, empowering the president to order aliens who were conspiring against the peace of the United States to quit the country; the other, which was to remain in force till March 4, 1801, providing among other things for the punishment by fine and imprisonment of seditious libels upon the government. The alien law was defended on the ground that the country swarmed with French and English emissaries, whose mission was to embroil the United States with European quarrels; while the apology for the sedition law was the unquestionable licentiousness of the press, which at that time was chiefly conducted by refugees and adventurers from Great Britain and Ireland. Nevertheless these laws became exceedingly unpopular, and were bitterly denounced as harsh and unconstitutional. They contributed largely to the dissatisfaction with Mr. Adams's administration, which prevailed especially in the south and west, and which led in the next presidential election to the success of the republican candidates, Jefferson and Burr, each of whom received 73 votes, while Mr. Adams received 65, C. C. Pinckney 64, and Jay 1. The tie in the votes for Jefferson and Burr threw the election into the house of representatives, where on the 36th ballot Jefferson was chosen president and Burr vice president. This contest led to the adoption of the twelfth amendment of the constitution, requiring the electors to designate which person is voted for as president and which as vice president, while the original article required them to vote for two persons, of whom the one who had the highest number of votes was to be president, and the next highest vice president. Jefferson's cabinet consisted of James Madison, secretary of state; Samuel Dexter, and afterward Albert Gallatin, of the treasury; Henry Dearborn, of war; Benjamin Stoddert, and afterward Robert Smith, of the navy; and Levi Lincoln, attorney general. For the most part his administration was marked by vigor and enlightened views, and in 1804 he was re-elected for a second term, receiving 162 votes. George Clinton was elected vice president by the same vote. The opposition ticket, C. C. Pinckney of South Carolina and Rufus King of New York, received only 14 votes, those of Connecticut and Delaware and 2 from Maryland. During his first term Ohio was admitted (1802), and Louisiana was purchased of France in 1803. The insolence of the piratical states on the Barbary coast was humbled by the bombardment of Tripoli in 1804, and by the invasion of that state by a small force led from Egypt by Capt. Eaton, an American officer, which led to a satisfactory treaty in 1805. In 1806 Aaron Burr secretly organized, chiefly in the western states, a military expedition, which led to his arrest and trial at Richmond in 1807 on a charge of attempting to dismember the Union and to establish an independent dominion west of the Alleghanies; but no overt act being proved against him, he was acquitted. The amicable relations which had existed between the United States and Great Britain for several years began in the latter part of 1805 to be disturbed by the condemnation by British courts of several American vessels for alleged violations of neutrality; and the situation was aggravated by the operation of an order in council (May 16, 1806) of the British government declaring the whole coast of Europe, from the Elbe to Brest, to be in a state of blockade; an order which Napoleon retaliated by declaring in a decree issued at Berlin, Nov. 21, 1806, a blockade of all the ports of the British islands. Under these and other orders and decrees great numbers of American vessels were seized by French and English cruisers, and our foreign commerce, which had attained extraordinary prosperity from the neutral position of the country, was nearly destroyed. The irritation ​against Great Britain produced by her depredations on our commerce was greatly increased by her persistent assertion of the right to search American vessels for suspected deserters from her navy, a right continually exercised by her cruisers in the most offensive manner, and in the practice of which multitudes of native-born American seamen were forced into the British navy. The insolence of the British naval officers was at length carried so far that in June, 1807, the frigate Chesapeake was stopped near the entrance to Chesapeake bay by the English man-of-war Leopard, and on the refusal of her commander to submit to a search was fired into, and 21 of her crew were killed or wounded. This outrage, for which immediate reparation was demanded by Jefferson, was not atoned for till four years later, and even then the right of search was still claimed by the British government, and eventually became a cause of war. In February, 1806, an act had been passed prohibiting the importation of certain articles of British production, the first of a series of similar measures designed to bring Great Britain to terms. In December, 1807, congress, on the recommendation of the president, laid an embargo, which prohibited the departure from American ports of vessels bound for foreign countries. This measure was vehemently denounced by the federal party, and for a time it prostrated the shipping and commercial interests of the United States. It was repealed in February, 1809, just before the expiration of the president's second term. In the presidential election of 1808 the republican (or, as it was now often called, the democratic) party supported James Madison for president and George Clinton for vice president. Madison and Clinton were elected, the former receiving 122 votes and the latter 113, while the federal candidates, C. C. Pinckney and Rufus King, received each 47, a few votes being cast for other candidates. The ruinous operation of the embargo law had considerably weakened the democratic party, particularly in the commercial eastern and middle states. Mr. Madison formed his cabinet as follows: Robert Smith, secretary of state; Albert Gallatin, of the treasury; William Eustis, of war; Paul Hamilton, of the navy; and Cæsar A. Rodney, attorney general. Congress met in May, 1809, in extra session, and continued the non-importation system. A long negotiation was carried on with the English government on this subject, the orders in council, and the right of search, which resulted only in augmenting the unfriendly feeling between the two countries. Though the president was exceedingly averse to forcible measures, the pressure of public opinion, and the influence of Clay, Calhoun, Lowndes, and other leaders of the war party, at length induced him to acquiesce reluctantly in a declaration of hostilities. He sent to congress, June 1, 1812, a message on the subject of the aggressions of Great Britain, which was referred to the committee on foreign relations in the house of representatives, who on June 3 reported a manifesto as a basis of the declaration of war, for these reasons: the impressment of American seamen by the commanders of British ships of war; the British doctrine and system of blockade; the orders in council; and, lastly, various depredations committed by British subjects on the commerce of the United States. The house adopted the measure by a vote of 79 to 49, and the senate by a vote of 19 to 13; and on June 18 the president signed the act declaring war. For several months thereafter the British government did little toward counter hostilities. But although the United States had the advantage that the main force of their enemy was occupied by the great European conflict, their own preparation for the contest was in every respect inadequate. The treasury was almost empty, the revenue having been nearly ruined by the non-importation acts and embargoes; the army at first numbered but 10,000 men, half of them raw recruits, and was very deficient in officers of experience; while the navy comprised only eight frigates, two sloops, and five brigs. Long before war was declared British emissaries, as was alleged, had been engaged in exciting the northwestern Indians against the Americans; and in the summer of 1811 hostilities were actually begun by the tribes north of the Ohio under the lead of Tecumseh. William Henry Harrison, governor of Indiana territory, encountered them with a considerable force on the banks of the Tippecanoe river, Nov. 7, 1811, and defeated them. After the declaration of war, Gen. Hull, then governor of Michigan territory, was ordered to invade Canada from Detroit, which he accordingly did at the head of 1,800 men. His force was wholly inadequate to the enterprise, and he was soon compelled to fall back; and his men being reduced by various casualties to 800, on Aug. 16, 1812, he surrendered his army, Detroit, and all Michigan to Gen. Brock. An invasion of Canada on the Niagara frontier was almost equally unsuccessful, and the campaign of 1812 closed with little or no credit to the American arms on land. But the navy, small as it was, had achieved a series of brilliant victories. The frigate Constitution, Capt. Isaac Hull, captured the British frigate Guerriere, Aug. 19; the sloop of war Wasp, Capt. Jones, captured the brig Frolic, Oct. 18; the frigate United States, Capt. Decatur, captured the frigate Macedonian, Oct. 25; and the Constitution, of which Capt. Bainbridge had now taken command, captured the frigate Java, Dec. 29. In these contests the British loss in killed and wounded was vastly in excess of that of the Americans, and the result highly elated the public, with whom the navy hitherto had been in no special favor. A swarm of privateers scoured the ocean, preying upon British commerce to such an extent that their captures in this year alone amounted to more ​than 300 vessels. The campaign of 1813 was marked by alternate successes and reverses. In January a detachment of 900 men from the western army, under Gen. Winchester, was defeated and captured at the river Raisin, and many of the prisoners massacred by the Indian allies of the English. In April Gen. Pike with 1,600 Americans captured York (now Toronto), which was defended by 800 men, but was himself killed by the explosion of a magazine, by which 200 of his men were killed or wounded. In May an attack on Sackett's Harbor by the British under Gen. Prevost was repulsed by Gen. Brown, and Fort George in Canada was taken by the Americans. In October Gen. Harrison defeated the British, who had abandoned Detroit, near the Thames river in Canada, with severe loss, the Indian chief Tecumseh being among the slain. Attempts at an invasion of Canada from Lakes Ontario and Champlain, with a view to the capture of Montreal, came to nothing, partly through disagreement between Gens. Wilkinson and Hampton. The navy as usual was more successful than the army. On Lake Erie, Sept. 10, a British fleet of six vessels was captured after a severe contest by Commodore O. H. Perry, which rendered the Americans masters of the lake. On the ocean, the Hornet, Capt. Lawrence, captured the Peacock, Feb. 24; and the Enterprise, Lieut. Burroughs, captured the Boxer, Sept. 5. On the other hand, the frigate Chesapeake, commanded by Capt. Lawrence, was on June 1 captured by the British frigate Shannon, Capt. Broke. The campaign of 1814 was conducted with more vigor on both sides, and was marked by obstinate and sanguinary engagements on the Niagara frontier. On July 5 the British were defeated at Chippewa by Gen. Brown, and on the 25th at Bridgewater or Lundy's Lane by Gens. Brown and Winfield Scott, the latter of whom had also distinguished himself at Chippewa. The war in Europe having closed, large reënforcements, consisting of troops who had served under Wellington in Spain, were sent to Canada by the British government; and Sir George Prevost, at the head of 12,000 men, invaded New York on the northern frontier and laid siege to Plattsburgh, defended by Gen. Macomb. The army was supported by a powerful fleet on Lake Champlain, commanded by Commodore Downie. On Sept. 11 the United States fleet, under Commodore Macdonough, totally defeated the English fleet, and on the same day the British army retreated in disorder to Canada. In August a British fleet arrived in the Chesapeake with an army of 5,000 men commanded by Gen. Ross, who landed in the Patuxent and marched on Washington, and, after putting to flight the militia at Bladensburg, took possession of the federal city on the 24th, and burned the capitol, the president's house, and other public buildings. On the day after this barbarous exploit the British retired to their ships, and on Sept. 12-13 made an attack on Baltimore, where they were repulsed by the citizens, and Gen. Ross was killed. On the ocean during this year and the beginning of 1815 the British vessels of war Epervier, Avon, Reindeer, Cyane, Levant, Penguin, and Nautilus were taken by the Americans, who on their part lost the frigates Essex and President, both captured by greatly superior forces, besides two or three smaller vessels. After protracted negotiations a treaty of peace was signed at Ghent. Dec. 24, 1814, on the part of the United States, by Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, Jonathan Russell, James A. Bayard, and Albert Gallatin. The treaty provided for the mutual restoration of all territory taken during the war, and for the mutual appointment of commissioners to determine the northern boundary of the United States. Nothing was said of the impressment of American seamen, one of the main causes of the war, but the practice was discontinued. Before the news of peace could cross the Atlantic, a British army 12,000 strong, led by Gens. Pakenham, Gibbs, Keene, and Lambert, landed on the coast of Louisiana and made an attack on New Orleans, which was defended by Gen. Andrew Jackson with less than 5,000 men, chiefly militia from Tennessee and Kentucky. The attack was repelled, Jan. 8, 1815, with a loss to the British of 2,000 killed, wounded, and prisoners, while the Americans lost only a few men. The war from its beginning had been distasteful to the majority of the people of New England, who, being mostly federalists, regarded it not only as unnecessary and impolitic, but as waged chiefly to gratify democratic prejudice against England and partiality for France. They suffered from it immense losses by the destruction of their commerce and their fisheries, and the federal government did little or nothing for their protection from the enemy. To remedy these evils the celebrated Hartford convention was held. (See Hartford Convention.) For many years the democrats continued to impute treasonable designs to that convention, and it was one of the causes which led to the decay and extinction of the federal party. In the latter part of 1813 and the beginning of 1814 the country of the Creek Indians, within the present limits of Alabama, was invaded by four columns, one under Gen. Jackson, and that tribe was severely defeated and compelled to cede the greater part of its lands. During the war the Algerines had resumed their old practice of piracy, had seized several American vessels, and had insulted and plundered the American consul. Immediately after the conclusion of peace with Great Britain a naval force commanded by Decatur was sent to the Mediterranean, which captured several Algerine cruisers, and in a few weeks compelled the rulers of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli to make indemnity for their outrages, and to agree to abstain from depredations on American commerce. ​The national finances were in a very confused state at the close of the war, the debt created by which exceeded $80,000,000. The banks, except in New England, had suspended specie payments, and the want of a uniform and solvent currency was urgently felt. To remedy this latter evil, congress in 1816 chartered for 20 years a national bank at Philadelphia, with a capital of $35,000,000, whose notes furnished a convenient and uniform circulating medium, convertible at all times into gold and silver.—The presidential election of 1812 had resulted in the choice of Mr. Madison for a second term by a vote of 128, against 89 for De Witt Clinton, who was supported by the federalists. Elbridge Gerry was chosen vice president by 131 votes to 86 for Jared Ingersoll. On the approach of the presidential election of 1816, James Monroe of Virginia, Mr. Madison's secretary of state, received the democratic nomination, and in the election was chosen by 183 votes, against 34 votes given to Rufus King by the federal states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Delaware. Daniel D. Tompkins of New York was elected vice president. The administration of Mr. Madison terminated March 4, 1817. The war with Great Britain was its principal feature, but among other events of importance were the admission of Louisiana into the Union in 1812, and of Indiana in 1816. President Monroe's cabinet was constituted as follows: J. Q. Adams, secretary of state; William H. Crawford, of the treasury; John C. Calhoun, of war; Benjamin W. Crowninshield, of the navy; and William Wirt, attorney general. His administration commenced under very favorable circumstances. Party distinctions had so nearly disappeared, that democrats and federalists combined to support the government. Monroe was reëlected in 1820 by all the electoral votes except one. Daniel D. Tompkins was reëlected vice president by nearly the same vote. In the spring of 1818 Gen. Jackson led a force against the Seminole Indians in Florida, and destroyed several of their villages. The main event of Monroe's administration was the Missouri controversy, by which for the first time the country was divided upon the slavery question. The admissions to the Union hitherto had been of slaveholding and non-slaveholding states in compensating order. Vermont and Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio, Louisiana and Indiana had offset each other; and in 1817 the slaveholding state of Mississippi was admitted, followed immediately in 1818 by non-slaveholding Illinois. Congress in its session of 1818-'19 authorized the territory of Alabama, which was rapidly filling with a slaveholding population, to form a constitution without any prohibition of slavery. A similar bill was brought forward for the territory of Missouri, and James Tallmadge of New York moved in the house of representatives to insert a clause prohibiting any further introduction of slaves, and granting freedom to the children of those already there on their attaining the age of 25; and this motion was carried by a vote of 87 to 76. A few days later John W. Taylor of New York moved as an amendment to a bill for the organization of the territory of Arkansas, that slavery should not thereafter be introduced into any part of the territories ceded by France to the United States N. of lat. 36° 30′. This was intended as a compromise, but was warmly opposed, a large number both of northern and southern members declaring themselves hostile to any compromise whatever, and the amendment was consequently withdrawn. The slaveholders contended that for congress to prohibit slavery in the territories would be a violation of the constitutional right of the citizen to enjoy his property anywhere within the jurisdiction of the United States. The restrictionists, on the other hand, denied that men could be property under the jurisdiction of the United States, however the case might be under the laws of particular states; and they maintained that the constitutional question was conclusively settled by the action of the congress contemporaneous with the framing of the federal constitution, which in 1787 introduced into the bill for the government of the territory N. W. of the Ohio the proviso that “there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in said territory, otherwise than in punishment for crime.” And in further confirmation of their views, they brought forward the fact that the most distinguished statesman of the south, Thomas Jefferson, had in 1784 introduced and urged with all his influence the passing of a bill in congress prohibiting slavery not only in all the territory held by the United States, but in all that might be afterward acquired. The debate on this subject was long and excited. The southern orators declared that if the restriction should be persisted in the south would retire and the Union be dissolved. The senate refused to concur in the restriction imposed by the house, and consequently the Missouri bill failed for the session of 1818-'19. During the recess of congress a strong public agitation against slavery arose in the middle states, and finally spread to New England, both democrats and federalists coöperating in it. Alabama was admitted into the Union early in the session of 1819-'20, an event promptly followed by the admission of Maine. When the legislatures of the free states met in their annual session in 1820, the agitation among the people on the slavery question was forcibly expressed by their representatives. Pennsylvania led off by a solemn appeal to the states “to refuse to covenant with crime,” and by a unanimous declaration that it was the right and the duty of congress to prohibit slavery in the territories. The rest of the middle states also unanimously adopted similar resolutions. Ohio and Indiana took the same position; and though the New England legislatures were silent, numerous memorials from towns, cities, and public ​meetings there in favor of freedom were laid before congress. The legislatures of the slave states expressed themselves, on the other hand, very strongly in opposition to restriction. In congress the debate was long and acrimonious. The senate sent to the house the Missouri bill with the prohibition of slavery in that state struck out, but with the proviso that it should not thereafter be tolerated N. of lat. 36° 30′. The striking out of the restrictive clause was reluctantly assented to by the house by a vote of 90 to 87, a very few northern members voting for it. The compromise by which slavery was prohibited for ever N. of 36° 30′ was then agreed to by a vote of 134 to 42. The northern states acquiesced in this compromise as a political necessity, and as finally settling a controversy dangerous to the peace and stability of the Union, and the slavery agitation subsided for a time. Missouri was finally admitted as a state in 1821. The other great question of Mr. Monroe's administration was the recognition of the Spanish American republics, which had declared and maintained their independence for several years. Chiefly by the efforts and the eloquence of Henry Clay, their independence was acknowledged in 1822; and in the following year the president in his annual message put forth a declaration which has since been famous as the “Monroe doctrine.” In this it was announced that any attempt on the part of European governments to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere would be considered dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States; that the republic would not interfere with existing colonies or dependencies, but would regard as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition to the United States any attempt of a European power to oppress or control the destiny of the governments whose independence the United States had acknowledged. In 1819 Florida had been ceded by Spain.—In the presidential election of 1824 the confused state of parties led to the nomination of four candidates, none of whom had a majority of the electoral votes. Andrew Jackson received 99, John Quincy Adams 84, William H. Crawford 41, and Henry Clay 37. The election went to the house of representatives (the choice being between the three highest candidates), where Mr. Adams received the vote of 13 states, and was declared president; while Jackson received the vote of 7 and Crawford of 4 states. John C. Calhoun had been elected vice president by the electoral colleges, receiving 182 votes to 78 for all others. The total popular vote (the electors in six states being chosen by the legislature) was 352,062, viz.: 155,872 for Jackson, 105,321 for Adams, 46,587 for Clay, and 44,282 for Crawford. The political views of Mr. Adams did not differ from those of Mr. Monroe, and his foreign and domestic policy was very similar. He appointed Henry Clay secretary of state, Richard Rush of the treasury, James Barbour of war, Samuel L. Southard of the navy, and William Wirt attorney general. His administration was remarkable for order, method, and economy, though party spirit was higher than it had been for many years. Perhaps the most important event in his term was the adoption of what was called the American system of protecting home manufactures by a heavy duty upon foreign articles of the same kind, a system popular in the manufacturing north, but bitterly opposed in portions of the agricultural south. A tariff law enacted in 1828 on the principle of protection led a few years later to serious political complications. The presidential contest of the same year was carried on with great animation and virulence, chiefly by means of discussions on the personal character and history of the candidates, Gen. Jackson having been nominated in opposition to Mr. Adams. The result was the election of Jackson by 178 votes to 83 for Adams, while John C. Calhoun was reëlected vice president in opposition to Richard Rush. The popular vote was 647,231 for Jackson and 509,097 for Adams. President Jackson selected for his cabinet Martin Van Buren, secretary of state; Samuel D. Ingham, of the treasury; John H. Eaton, of war; John Branch, of the navy; John McPherson Berrien, attorney general; and William T. Barry, postmaster general. The last named officer was now for the first time made a member of the cabinet. In his first annual message, December, 1829, the president took strong ground against the renewal of the charter of the United States bank, as an institution not authorized by the constitution. A long and excited contest ensued in congress and among the people on this question. Congress in 1882 passed a bill to recharter the bank, but Jackson vetoed it; and as it failed to receive the votes of two thirds of the members of both houses, the bank charter expired by limitation in 1836. The commercial part of the community in this contest generally took the side of the bank, and the party formed in opposition to the president assumed the name of whig, while his supporters adhered to the old name of democrats. The tariff of 1828 had always been distasteful to the cotton-growing states, and on the passing of an act of congress in the spring of 1832 imposing additional duties upon foreign goods, the discontent of South Carolina broke out in almost actual rebellion. A state convention held there in November declared the tariff acts unconstitutional and therefore null and void, and proclaimed that any attempt by the general government to collect duties in the port of Charleston would be resisted by force of arms, and would produce the secession of South Carolina from the Union. The chief leaders of the nullifiers, as this South Carolina party was called, from their assertion of the right of a state to nullify an act of congress which she deemed unconstitutional, were John C. Calhoun, who had resigned the vice presidency and become a senator of the United States; ​ Robert Y. Hayne, also a senator; and George McDuffie, governor of the state. The nullifiers made considerable military preparations, and for a time civil war between South Carolina and tho federal government seemed inevitable. Jackson had just been reëlected for a second term by 219 electoral votes, against a divided opposition which cast 49 votes for Henry Clay, 11 for John Floyd, and 7 for William Wirt, while Mr. Van Buren was chosen vice president. The popular vote was 687,502 for Jackson and 530,189 for his opponents. All the disposable army was ordered to assemble at Charleston under Gen. Scott, and a ship of war was sent to that port to insure the collection of duties. A proclamation was issued, Dec. 10, 1832, denying the right of a state to nullify any act of the federal government, and warning all engaged in fomenting the rebellion that the laws against treason would be enforced at all hazards and to their utmost penalties. The leaders of the nullifiers were also privately given to understand that if they committed any overt act they should surely be hanged. The firmness of the president, who in this conjuncture was warmly supported by the great mass of the nation of all parties, gave an effectual check to the incipient rebellion, and the affair was finally settled by a proposition brought forward in congress by Henry Clay, the leading champion of the protective system, for the modification of the tariff by a gradual reduction of the obnoxious duties; a compromise which was accepted by the nullifiers as the only means of escape from the perilous position in which they had placed themselves. Meanwhile the president's vehemence in party matters had led to sweeping removals from office, and a personal quarrel to changes in the cabinet, which in the latter part of 1831 was constituted thus: Edward Livingston, secretary of state; Louis McLane, of the treasury; Lewis Cass, of war; Levi Woodbury, of the navy; and Roger B. Taney, attorney general. Barry remained postmaster general. In his annual message in December, 1832, the president recommended the removal of the public funds from the bank of the United States, where they were by law deposited. Congress by a decisive vote refused to authorize the removal, and the president on his own responsibility directed the secretary of the treasury to withdraw the deposits and place them in certain state banks. That officer refusing, he was removed, and Mr. Taney, the attorney general, appointed in his place, who complied with the order. This step was attended by a financial panic, and great commercial distress immediately ensued. A resolution censuring the president was passed in the senate, but the house of representatives sustained him. The foreign policy of President Jackson was very successful. Useful commercial treaties were made with several countries, and indemnities for spoliations on American commerce were obtained from France, Spain, Naples, and Portugal. At home the principal events of his administration, besides those already mentioned, were the extinction of the national debt, the beginning, toward the close of 1835, of the war with the Seminole Indians in Florida, and the admission of Arkansas (1836) and Michigan (1837) into the Union.—In the presidential contest of 1836 Mr. Van Buren, who was supported by the democrats, received 170 electoral votes, and was elected; while the opposition or whig vote was divided between William Henry Harrison (73), Hugh L. White (26), Daniel Webster (14), and Willie P. Mangum (11). No candidate having been elected vice president, Richard M. Johnson, who had received the highest number of votes (147, against 77 for Francis Granger, 47 for John Tyler, and 23 for William Smith), was chosen by the senate. The popular vote was 761,549 for Van Buren and 736,656 for the opposition candidates. President Van Buren selected as his cabinet, John Forsyth, secretary of state; Levi Woodbury, of the treasury; Joel R. Poinsett, of war; Mahlon Dickerson, of the navy; B. F. Butler, attorney general; and Amos Kendall, postmaster general. All of these except Mr. Poinsett had been members of President Jackson's cabinet at the close of his last term; but several changes were subsequently made, James K. Paulding becoming secretary of the navy and Felix Grundy attorney general in 1838, Henry D. Gilpin attorney general and John M. Niles postmaster general in 1840. The new administration commenced under most untoward circumstances. The business of the country, affected by excessive speculation and overtrading, and by sudden contractions and expansions of the currency, was on the verge of ruin. Within two months after the inauguration of the president the mercantile failures in the city of New York alone amounted to more than $100,000,000. Nearly the whole of Mr. Van Buren's term was occupied with attempts to remedy these evils by legislative measures for the establishment of a stable currency and a sound system of government finance. A favorite measure of the president was the independent treasury system for the custody of the public funds, which was ultimately sanctioned by congress, and is still in force. The war with the Seminoles was not ended till 1842. The pecuniary troubles were imputed in great measure to the financial policy of the administration by its political opponents; and, as the presidential election of 1840 approached, the state elections indicated that the democratic party was in danger of overthrow. A whig national convention (the congressional caucus system for nominating candidates having been abandoned) was held at Harrisburg, Dec. 4, 1839, and Gen. Harrison was nominated for president, with John Tyler for vice president. The national democratic convention met at Baltimore, May 5, 1840, and unanimously nominated Mr. Van Buren. The canvass was one of the most ​animated and exciting that have ever taken place, and the result was that Harrison and Tyler each received 234 electoral votes, and Van Buren 60 (those of New Hampshire, Virginia, South Carolina, Illinois, Alabama, Missouri, and Arkansas), while the same number were divided between R. M. Johnson, L. W. Tazewell, and James K. Polk as democratic candidates for the vice presidency. The popular vote was 1,275,011 for Harrison and 1,128,702 for Van Buren. Gen. Harrison was inaugurated March 4, 1841, and selected as his cabinet Daniel Webster, secretary of state; Thomas Ewing, of the treasury; John Bell, of war; George E. Badger, of the navy; Francis Granger, postmaster general; and J. J. Crittenden, attorney general. Before any distinctive line of policy could be adopted by the new administration, the president died, April 4. The presidential office devolved on John Tyler, who retained the cabinet of his predecessor until the following September, when all but the secretary of state resigned in consequence of the unexpected development of a policy on the part of the president in relation to a national bank much more in accordance with the views of the democratic party, to which he had formerly been attached, than to those of the whigs, by whom he had been elevated to power. A treaty was concluded in 1842 with Great Britain by Mr. Webster for the settlement of the northeastern boundary. On April 12, 1844, a treaty to annex Texas to the United States was concluded by Mr. Calhoun and the agents of the new republic, but was rejected by the senate, on the ground that it would involve the country in a war with Mexico. The Texas question immediately became the prominent issue in the presidential contest of that year, the democratic party supporting and the whigs opposing annexation. At the south it was advocated as a means of strengthening the slavery interest, and at the north it was in great part opposed for the same reason, the anti-slavery element in both the parties being at this period of considerable strength. The friends of Texas soon obtained control of the democratic party, and, Mr. Van Buren having expressed unconditional opposition to annexation, at the national convention of that party at Baltimore, May 27, 1844, James K. Polk was nominated for president, and George M. Dallas for vice president. The whig national convention, which met at Baltimore May 1, had already nominated for president Henry Clay, and for vice president Theodore Frelinghuysen. The result of the election was 170 electoral votes for Polk and Dallas, and 105 for the whig candidates. The popular vote was 1,337,243 for Polk and 1,299,062 for Clay. The management of the Texas question was now assumed by congress, and joint resolutions for annexing that country to the United States as one of the states of the Union were signed by President Tyler March 1, 1845; and his last important official act was to sign two days later the bill for the admission of Florida and Iowa into the Union.—President Polk appointed as his cabinet James Buchanan, secretary of state; Robert J. Walker, of the treasury; William L. Marcy, of war; George Bancroft, of the navy; Cave Johnson, postmaster general; and John Y. Mason, attorney general. At the beginning of his administration the country was involved in disputes with Mexico, growing out of the annexation of Texas to the United States. Gen. Zachary Taylor was sent with a small army to occupy the region between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, which the United States claimed as belonging to Texas, while the Mexicans maintained that Texas had never extended beyond the Nueces. In April, 1846, a slight collision occurred on the Rio Grande between Gen. Taylor's army and that of the Mexican commander, Gen. Arista. On May 11 the president sent a special message to congress declaring that “war existed by the act of Mexico,” and asking for men and money to carry it on. Congress, by a vote of 142 to 14 in the house, and of 40 to 2 in the senate, appropriated $10,000,000, and gave authority to call out 50,000 volunteers. Taylor meanwhile had defeated the Mexicans at Palo Alto, May 8, and at Resaca de la Palma, May 9, and on being reënforced continued the war by brilliant victories at Monterey in September, and at Buena Vista, Feb. 23, 1847. (See Taylor, Zachary.) The conduct of the war was now assumed by Gen. Scott, commanding in chief. On March 9, 1847, he landed near Vera Cruz with about 12,000 men; that city was immediately besieged, and surrendered before the end of the month. Gen. Scott entered the city of Mexico on Sept. 14, after a series of hard-fought and uniformly successful battles. (See Scott, Winfield.) Meanwhile Gen. Stephen W. Kearny, at the head of a small force, had marched from Fort Leavenworth over the great plains to Santa Fé, and conquered New Mexico in August, 1846. He instituted an American government over the province, and then resumed his march toward California, which had already been conquered by Col. Fremont and Commodore Stockton. On his arrival at Monterey, Gen. Kearny assumed the office of governor, and on Feb. 8, 1847, proclaimed the annexation of California to the United States. While Kearny was on his way to California, Col. Doniphan, at the head of 1,000 Missouri volunteers, had made a prodigious march across the plains, and taken the city of Chihuahua, after routing, Feb. 28, 4,000 Mexicans, who met him about 18 m. from the city. Gen. Scott's army occupied the Mexican capital until after the ratification of a treaty of peace which was negotiated at Guadalupe Hidalgo, Feb. 2, 1848, by Nicholas P. Trist on the part of the United States. By this treaty Mexico granted to the United States the line of the Rio Grande as a boundary, and also ceded New Mexico and California. On their part the United States agreed to pay Mexico $15,000,000, and to ​assume the debts due by Mexico to American citizens to an extent not exceeding $3,500,000. At the beginning of the Mexican war negotiations in relation to the Oregon region were going on between Great Britain and the United States. “The whole of Oregon up to 54° 40′ ” had been one of the watchwords of the democratic party during the recent presidential canvass, and Mr. Polk in his inaugural address had declared that “our title to the country of the Oregon was clear and unquestionable.” But Great Britain, on various pretexts, asserted a claim to the whole country, and the president after much negotiation finally offered as an amicable compromise the boundary of the parallel of 49°, with a modification giving to her the whole of Vancouver island, which was agreed to by Great Britain. The other important measures of Mr. Folk's administration were the revision of the tariff in 1846, by which its protective features were lessened, and the admission (1848) of Wisconsin into the Union as the 30th state, Florida and Texas having been admitted in 1845, and Iowa in 1846.—In the democratic national convention which met at Baltimore May 22, 1848, Lewis Cass was nominated for president, and William O. Butler for vice president. By the whig convention, which met at Philadelphia on June 7, Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore were nominated. The question of slavery had a powerful influence on the political combinations of this period. After the subsidence of the Missouri agitation in 1821, slavery attracted little attention until the establishment of the “Liberator” newspaper by William Lloyd Garrison at Boston, Jan. 1, 1831, and the formation of anti-slavery societies in the free states in 1832-'3 by Arthur Tappan and others. These societies relied exclusively on moral and religious influences to promote emancipation, and avoided political action, affirming that congress had no right to interfere with slavery in the states, though they petitioned that body to abolish slavery in the territories, in the District of Columbia, and wherever else the federal government had constitutional jurisdiction. Violent attempts were made to suppress the agitation throughout the country, resulting in many places in serious riots. Several of the southern legislatures called upon those of the north to suppress the movement by penal enactments. President Jackson in his message to congress in 1835 recommended the adoption of a law prohibiting the circulation of anti-slavery publications through the mails; and a bill for that purpose reached a third reading in the senate, but was finally rejected. In the house of representatives a rule was adopted in 1836 that all anti-slavery petitions should be laid on the table without reference or consideration; this rule was finally rescinded in 1845. In 1840 a disagreement among the abolitionists led to their separation into two divisions, one of which, consisting only of a few hundred men, under the lead of Mr. Garrison, in 1844 took the position that the compromises of the constitution on the subject of slavery were immoral, and that consequently it was sinful to swear to support that instrument or to hold office or vote under it, and that the union of the states was “an agreement with hell and a covenant with death,” which ought to be at once dissolved. The other and far more numerous division of the abolitionists, with whom the followers of Mr. Garrison were often erroneously confounded, adhered to the Union and the constitution, and, having become satisfied that both the whig and democratic parties were completely under the control of the slave-holders, established in 1840 the “liberty party,” and at a national convention held at Albany nominated James G. Birney for president and Thomas Earle for vice president. Their entire vote at the election of 1840 was 7,059. In 1844 Mr. Birney was again nominated for president, with Thomas Morris for vice president, and received 62,300 votes. These figures, however, imperfectly represented the numbers of the opponents of slavery, most of whom still maintained their connection with the two great parties, on whose action they had a powerful influence. In 1846, during the Mexican war, a bill being before congress authorizing the president to use $2,000,000 in negotiating a peace, David Wilmot, a democratic representative from Pennsylvania, moved to add thereto the proviso that, “as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any territory from the republic of Mexico by the United States, by virtue of any treaty to be negotiated between them, and to the use by the executive of the moneys herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall be first duly convicted.” This proviso was adopted in the house, nearly all the members from the free states voting for it, but failed in the senate from want of time. At the next session, 1846-'7, a similar bill appropriating $3,000,000 was finally passed without the proviso. On the termination of the war, the practical question involved in the Wilmot proviso, whether the introduction of slavery should be allowed or prohibited in the territories newly acquired from Mexico, became of prominent interest. In the whig national convention by which Gen. Taylor was nominated were several delegates from the northern states representing what were called “free-soil” opinions, that is, opinions hostile to the extension of slavery; several of these withdrew on the rejection of a resolution committing the party against the introduction or existence of slavery in the territories, and subsequently separated themselves from the whig party. A similar schism had already taken place in the democratic national convention of the same year, the “barnburners,” as the free-soil democrats were termed, having seceded ​partly on anti-slavery and partly on personal grounds. An agreement was soon made between these seceding whigs and democrats and the liberty party to unite their forces in opposition to the extension of slavery; and a convention was held at Buffalo, Aug. 9, 1848, which was attended by delegates from all the free states and from Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. A free-soil or free democratic party was formed, and Martin Van Buren was nominated for president and Charles Francis Adams for vice president. A platform was adopted, declaring that the new party was formed “to maintain the rights of free labor against the aggressions of the slave power, and to secure free soil to a free people; that slavery, in the several states of this Union which recognize its existence, depends upon the state laws alone, which cannot be repealed or modified by the general government, and for which laws that government is not responsible; we therefore propose no interference by congress with slavery within the limits of any state; that the only safe means of preventing an extension of slavery into territory now free is to prohibit its extension in all such territory by an act of congress; that we accept the issue which the slave power has forced upon us, and to their demand for more slave states and more slave territory, our calm but final answer is, no more slave states and no more slave territory.” Van Buren and Adams received at the presidential election, in November, 1848, a popular vote of 291,263, but secured no electoral vote. The democratic candidates, Cass and Butler, received 127 electoral votes; and the whig candidates, Taylor and Fillmore, received 163 electoral votes, and were elected. The popular vote for Taylor was 1,360,099 and for Cass 1,220,544.—President Taylor was inaugurated on Monday, March 5, 1849, and appointed as his cabinet John M. Clayton, secretary of state; William M. Meredith, of the treasury; George W. Crawford, of war; William B. Preston, of the navy; Thomas Ewing, of the interior (an office created by congress two days before, March 3, 1849); Jacob Collamer, postmaster general; and Reverdy Johnson, attorney general. One of the earliest and most difficult of the questions which pressed on the new administration arose out of the acquisition of California, the people of which in 1849 framed a constitution prohibiting slavery. This being presented to congress early in 1850 with a petition for the admission of that region as a state, great excitement in congress and throughout the country arose. The extreme slavery party, led by Mr. Calhoun, demanded not only the rejection of California, but, among other concessions, an amendment of the constitution that should equalize the political power of the free and slave states. The question was still further complicated by the application of New Mexico for admission, and by a claim brought forward by Texas to a western line of boundary which would include a large portion of New Mexico. Finally a compromise was proposed by Henry Clay in the senate as a final settlement of the whole question of slavery, and after a long discussion the result aimed at by Mr. Clay was attained by separate acts, which provided for: 1, the admission of California as a free state; 2, territorial governments for New Mexico and Utah without excluding slavery, but leaving its exclusion or admission to the local population; 3, the settlement of the Texas boundary question; 4, the abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia; 5, the enactment of a stringent law for the arrest and return of fugitive slaves. Ten of the southern senators, including Mason and Hunter of Virginia, Soule of Louisiana, and Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, published a final protest against the admission of California after the vote was taken; and the free-soil party at the north denounced the concessions to Texas and the refusal to prohibit slavery in New Mexico and Utah as unjust and unwise, and proclaimed the fugitive slave law unconstitutional, immoral, and cruel. While the compromise bills were yet before congress, President Taylor died, July 9, 1850, and was succeeded by the vice president, Millard Fillmore, who soon after reconstructed the cabinet as follows: Daniel Webster, secretary of state; Thomas Corwin, of the treasury; Charles M. Conrad, of war; Alexander H. H. Stuart, of the interior; William A. Graham, of the navy; Nathan K. Hall, postmaster general; and John J. Crittenden, attorney general. The acts relating to California, New Mexico, Utah, and Texas were signed by Mr. Fillmore on Sept. 9, the fugitive slave act on the 18th, and the District of Columbia act on the 20th; and the whole weight of his administration was given to the support of these measures. During the remainder of his term the events of most importance were the invasion of Cuba, in August, 1851, by a band of “filibusters” from New Orleans, led by Gen. Lopez, who was speedily captured and executed with many of his followers; the visit of Louis Kossuth to the United States in December, 1851; a dispute with England on the subject of the fisheries in 1852, which was settled by mutual concessions; and lastly the negotiation of a treaty with Japan by Commodore Perry, in command of an American fleet, by which the commerce of that empire was thrown open to the world.—On the approach of the presidential election of 1852 it became evident that, notwithstanding the apparent acquiescence of the great mass of the people in the compromise measures of 1850, the question of slavery was still a source of political agitation. The democrats of the south were divided into “Union men” and “southern rights men,” the latter maintaining the right of a state to secede from the Union whenever its rights were violated by the general government. On the other hand, the whigs of the south were mostly Union men and satisfied with the compromise ​measures, while a majority of the whigs of the north were opposed to the fugitive slave law, though not offering resistance to its execution, and were still desirous of preventing the extension of slavery by national legislation. The democratic national convention met at Baltimore, June 1, 1852, and nominated for president Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire, who was known to hold opinions satisfactory to the south on the subject of slavery. William E. King of Alabama was nominated for vice president. The platform declared resistance to “all attempts at renewing in congress or out of it the agitation of the slavery question, under whatever shape or color the attempt may be made;” and also a determination to “abide by and adhere to a faithful execution of the acts known as the compromise measures settled by the last congress, the act for reclaiming fugitives from service or labor included.” The whig national convention met at Baltimore, June 16, and nominated for president Gen. Winfield Scott and for vice president William A. Graham of North Carolina. The platform declared that “the series of acts of the 31st congress, commonly known as the compromise or adjustment, the act for the recovery of fugitives from labor included, are received and acquiesced in by the whigs of the United States as a final settlement in principle and substance of the subjects to which they relate; . . . . and we deprecate all further agitation of the questions thus settled, as dangerous to our peace, and will discountenance all efforts to continue or renew such agitation, whenever, wherever, or however made.” The national convention of the free-soil party was held at Pittsburgh, Aug. 11, all the free states being represented, together with Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky. John P. Hale was nominated for president, and George W. Julian for vice president. A platform was adopted declaring “that the acts of congress known as the compromise measures of 1850, by making the admission of a sovereign state contingent upon the adoption of other measures demanded by the special interest of slavery, by their omission to guarantee freedom in the free territories, by their attempt to impose unconstitutional limitations on the power of congress and the people to admit new states, and by their invasion of the sovereignty of the states and the liberties of the people through the enactment of an unjust, oppressive, and unconstitutional fugitive slave law, are proved to be inconsistent with all the principles and maxims of democracy, and wholly inadequate to the settlement of the questions of which they are claimed to be an adjustment. That no permanent settlement of the slavery question can be looked for except in the practical recognition of the truth that slavery is sectional and freedom national; by the total separation of the general government from slavery, and the exercise of its legitimate and constitutional influence on the side of freedom; and by leaving to the states the whole subject of slavery and the extradition of fugitives from justice.” At the election, Nov. 2, 1852, the democratic candidates, Pierce and King, received 254 electoral votes from 27 states. Scott and Graham received the 42 votes of Vermont, Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The popular vote for Pierce and King was 1,601,474, for Scott and Graham 1,386,578, and for Hale and Julian 155,825. President Pierce was inaugurated March 4, 1853, and appointed as his cabinet William L. Marcy, secretary of state; James Guthrie, of the treasury; Jefferson Davis, of war; James C. Dobbin, of the navy; Robert McClelland, of the interior; James Campbell, postmaster general; and Caleb Cushing, attorney general. One of the first questions that occupied the administration was a boundary dispute with Mexico concerning a tract of land bordering on New Mexico and comprising 45,535 sq. m., which finally by negotiation and purchase became a part of the United States. It is known as the Gadsden purchase, from the American minister who negotiated the treaty, and forms part of Arizona and New Mexico. In 1853 various expeditions were sent out to explore the routes proposed for a railroad from the Mississippi to the Pacific. In January, 1854, Stephen A. Douglas, chairman of the senate committee on territories, reported a bill for the organization of two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska, in the region west of Missouri and north of lat. 36° 30′. By this bill the Missouri compromise act of 1820 was repealed, and slavery allowed to enter where it had been formally and for ever excluded. The measure was warmly supported by the administration and by the leaders of the democratic party, and was strenuously opposed in debates of extraordinary length and interest by Chase and Wade of Ohio, Everett and Sumner of Massachusetts, Seward of New York, Fessenden of Maine, Houston of Texas, and Bell of Tennessee, in the senate, where it finally passed by a vote of 37 to 14. In the house it was opposed by Thomas H. Benton of Missouri and others; but it passed by a vote of 113 to 100, and the bill became a law on the last day of May. This bill roused great excitement and indignation in the free states, where it was denounced as a flagrant breach of faith, and its enactment greatly increased the strength of the antislavery party. Much dissatisfaction also was caused in those states by a conference at Ostend between the United States ministers to England, France, and Spain (Buchanan, Mason, and Soulé), in the circular issued by whom it was proposed to buy Cuba from Spain, or, if necessary to prevent emancipation in the island, to take it by force. The attempt to obtain Cuba was regarded at the north as prompted, like the repeal of the Missouri compromise, chiefly by a desire to extend and strengthen the slaveholding influence in the United States. So also were the filibuster expeditions against ​Nicaragua led by William Walker, whose envoy at Washington, Vijil, was formally recognized by the president in 1856. (See Walker, William.) As, by the terms of the Kansas and Nebraska act, the people of those territories were to be left free to determine for themselves whether or not slavery should be tolerated there, a struggle soon began in Kansas, to which chiefly emigration was directed, between the anti-slavery and pro-slavery parties, which, after many acts of violence and a long period of confusion amounting almost to civil war, terminated in the adoption by the people of Kansas of a state constitution excluding slavery. (See Kansas.) In the course of the debates on the Kansas question Mr. Sumner of Massachusetts made a speech in the senate, May 19 and 20, 1856, and two days afterward was assailed in the senate chamber by Preston S. Brooks of South Carolina for expressions therein, and so much injured that he was long unable to resume his duties. This event increased still further the anti-slavery feeling at the north; and when the canvass for president began in 1856, an anti-slavery party appeared in the field of far more formidable dimensions than any previous organization of the kind. This party assumed the name of republican, and absorbed the entire free-soil party, the greater part of the whig party, and considerable accessions from the democratic party. The first decisive exhibition of its strength was the election in the congress of 1855-'6 of N. P. Banks, a former democrat, as speaker of the house of representatives. The whig party about this period disappeared from the field, that portion of it opposed to anti-slavery measures having been merged, especially at the south, in an organization called the American party from its opposition to foreign influence, and particularly to Roman Catholic influence, in our political affairs, but popularly known as the “Know-Nothing party” from the secrecy of its organization and the reticence of its members. This party held a national convention at Philadelphia, Feb. 22, 1856, and, after adopting a platform virtually recognizing the principles of the Kansas-Nebraska act and approving the fugitive slave law, nominated Millard Fillmore for president, and Andrew J. Donelson of Tennessee for vice president. The democratic national convention met at Cincinnati, June 2, and reaffirmed the Baltimore platform of 1852, with the addition of resolutions condemning the principles of the American party, recognizing the Kansas-Nebraska act as the only safe solution of the slavery question, affirming the duty of upholding state rights and the Union, and assenting generally to the doctrines of the Ostend circular. James Buchanan of Pennsylvania was nominated for president, and John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky for vice president. The republican national convention met at Philadelphia, June 17, and adopted a platform declaring that “the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the federal constitution is essential to the preservation of our republican institutions, and that the federal constitution, the rights of the states, and the union of the states shall be preserved;” and that “the constitution confers upon congress sovereign power over the territories of the United States for their government, and in the exercise of this power it is the right and the duty of congress to prohibit in the territories those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy and slavery.” John C. Fremont of California was nominated for president, and William L. Dayton of New Jersey for vice president. The election resulted in the choice of Buchanan and Breckinridge by 174 electoral votes, against 114 for Fremont and 8 for Fillmore. The popular vote for Buchanan was 1,838,169, for Fremont 1,341,264, and for Fillmore 874,534. Fillmore received the vote of Maryland, Buchanan the votes of all the other slave states and of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, and California (19 in all), and Fremont those of the 11 remaining free states.—President Buchanan appointed as his cabinet Lewis Cass, secretary of state; Howell Cobb, of the treasury; John B. Floyd, of war; Isaac Toucey, of the navy; Jacob Thompson, of the interior; Aaron V. Brown, postmaster general; and Jeremiah S. Black, attorney general. With the exception of a rebellion of the Mormons in Utah in 1857-'8, which was suppressed without bloodshed, and of the admission into the Union of Minnesota in 1858 and of Oregon in 1859, the chief interest of Mr. Buchanan's administration centred around the slavery controversy, which still continued in Kansas, in the halls of congress, and in the legislatures of the free states. Several of the latter bodies, under the influence of a growing public opinion in opposition to the justice and constitutionality of the fugitive slave law, passed acts designed to impede its operation, and to secure to alleged fugitives the right to trial by jury and to the legal assistance usually given to those charged with criminal offences. These acts were commonly called personal liberty laws. An important element in the slavery controversy was the decision of the supreme court in the case of Dred Scott, rendered soon after the inauguration of Presidaent Buchanan. (See Taney, Roger Brooke.) A constitution for Kansas framed at Lecompton in 1857 was laid before congress in the session of 1857-'8, and was strongly opposed by the republicans on the ground that it had been fraudulently concocted by the pro-slavery party there, that it did not represent the wishes of the people of Kansas, and that some of its provisions were cunningly framed for the purpose of forcing slavery into the new state in spite of the opposition of the inhabitants. A powerful section of the democratic party, headed by Stephen A. Douglas, sided with the republicans in this matter; but ​the so-called “Lecompton bill,” submitting this constitution to the people under certain conditions, after a parliamentary struggle of extraordinary intensity and duration, was passed by congress by the votes of the democratic majority, led in the house by Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, and in the senate by Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, John M. Mason of Virginia, and John Slidell of Louisiana. The president lent all his influence to the measure, on the ground that it would pacify the country, and would not prevent Kansas from becoming a free state if the people desired to exclude slavery. This contest resulted in a schism in the democratic party, and eventually in its division into two bodies, one of which looked upon Mr. Douglas as its leader, while the other supported for the presidency John O. Breckinridge of Kentucky. An attempt to free slaves by force of arms, made at Harper's Ferry in October, 1859, by John Brown of Kansas, for which he was hanged by the authorities of Virginia, Dec. 2, created a profound sensation throughout the country. (See Brown, John, vol. iii., p. 338.) In January, 1861, after the withdrawal of southern members of congress, Kansas was admitted into the Union under a constitution framed at Wyandotte in 1859.—The democratic national convention met at Charleston, April 23, 1860, and a controversy on the subject of slavery immediately arose. On the 30th a platform was adopted by a vote of 165 to 138, the essential portion of which was as follows: “Inasmuch as differences of opinion exist in the democratic party as to the nature and extent of the powers of a territorial legislature, and as to the powers and duties of congress, under the constitution of the United States, over the institution of slavery within the territories; resolved, that the democratic party will abide by the decisions of the supreme court of the United States on the questions of constitutional law.” Most of the southern delegates thereupon withdrew, and on May 3 the convention adjourned to meet at Baltimore on June 18, after recommending that the vacant seats be filled prior to that date. The seceding delegates met, adopted a platform, and adjourned after calling a convention to assemble at Richmond on June 11. The portion of their platform relating to slavery was as follows: “That the government of a territory organized by an act of congress is provisional and temporary; and, during its existence, all citizens of the United States have an equal right to settle with their property in the territory, without their rights, either of person or property, being destroyed or impaired by congressional or territorial legislation. That it is the duty of the federal government, in all its departments, to protect, when necessary, the rights of persons and property in the territories, and wherever else its constitutional authority extends. That when the settlers in a territory having an adequate population form a state constitution, the right of sovereignty commences, and, being consummated by admission into the Union, they stand on an equal footing with the people of other states; and the state thus organized ought to be admitted into the federal Union, whether its constitution prohibits or recognizes the institution of slavery.” The regular convention assembled in Baltimore pursuant to adjournment, and nominated Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois for president and Benjamin Fitzpatrick of Alabama for vice president, though a further withdrawal of delegates took place. Mr. Fitzpatrick subsequently declined, and Herschel V. Johnson of Georgia was substituted by the national committee. The convention called by the seceding delegates met first at Richmond, but adjourned, and convened finally at Baltimore on June 23, when it adopted the Charleston platform and nominated John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky for president and Joseph Lane of Oregon for vice president. The “Constitutional Union” party, composed mainly of the American party, held its national convention at Baltimore May 9, and nominated for president John Bell of Tennessee, and for vice president Edward Everett of Massachusetts. This party declared that it recognized “no political principle other than the constitution of the country, the union of the states, and the enforcement of the laws.” The republican national convention assembled at Chicago on May 16, and nominated for president Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, and for vice president Hannibal Hamlin of Maine. The portion of the platform adopted by the convention relating to slavery was as follows: “That the maintenance of the principle promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the federal constitution, ‘that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,’ is essential to the preservation of our republican institutions; and that the federal constitution, the rights of the states, and the union of the states, must and shall be preserved. That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the states, and especially the right of each state to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of powers on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any state or territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes. That the new dogma that the constitution, of its own force, carries slavery into any or all of the territories of the United States, is a dangerous political heresy, at variance with the explicit provisions of that instrument itself, with contemporaneous exposition, and with legislative and judicial ​precedent; is revolutionary in its tendency, and subversive of the peace and harmony of the country. That the normal condition of all the territory of the United States is that of freedom; that, as our republican fathers, when they had abolished slavery in all our national territory, ordained that ‘no person should be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,’ it becomes our duty, by legislation whenever such legislation is necessary, to maintain this provision of the constitution against all attempts to violate it; and we deny the authority of congress, of a territorial legislature, or of any individuals to give legal existence to slavery in any territory of the United States.” In the presidential election of Nov. 6, 1860, Mr. Lincoln received the electoral votes of all the free states (except three votes in New Jersey, which were given to Mr. Douglas), to the number of 180, and was elected. Mr. Bell received the votes of Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, 39; Mr. Douglas the 9 votes of Missouri, which added to 3 from New Jersey gave him a total of 12 votes; and the remaining southern states cast their 72 electoral votes for Breckinridge. The popular vote for Lincoln was 1,866,452; for Douglas, 994,139; for Breckinridge, 669,082; for Bell, 575,193; and 575,327 votes were cast for fusion tickets opposed to Lincoln. The total vote was 4,680,193. When this result became known, the legislature of South Carolina ordered the election of a convention to consider the question of secession. The convention assembled Dec. 17, and on Dec. 20 unanimously adopted a secession ordinance, declaring that “the union now subsisting between South Carolina and other states, under the name of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved.” The alleged reason for this action was hostility on the part of the successful party to the institution of slavery. Before the end of May, 1861, 11 states had passed ordinances of secession, in the following order: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. The western portion of Virginia refused to be bound by the ordinance of that state, and in 1863 was admitted into the Union as a separate state under the name of West Virginia. In eastern Tennessee also the prevailing sentiment continued favorable to the Union. On Feb. 4, 1861, a congress, composed of delegates from the states that had then seceded, assembled at Montgomery, Ala., and framed a constitution for the “Confederate States of America.” Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was chosen president, and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia vice president; a government was organized, and measures were taken to create an army. The senators and representatives from the seceded states withdrew from the United States congress. Nothing was done by President Buchanan's administration to thwart the purposes of the secessionists, who proceeded to seize the arsenals, custom houses, navy yards, and forts throughout the south. At the close of his term only Fort Sumter at Charleston, S. C., and Fort Pickens at Pensacola, Fla., with the posts on the Florida keys, remained in the possession of the government in the seven states that had then seceded. Various measures were proposed looking to conciliation, but without effect. For details of these, as well as of the progress of secession and the organization of the confederacy, see Confederate States of America. In his inaugural address, March 4, 1861, President Lincoln declared that the accession of a republican administration afforded no ground to the southern states for apprehending any invasion of their rights, and that the power confided to him would be used “to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the government, and collect the duties and imposts; but, beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere.” “The course here indicated will be followed, unless current events and experience shall show a modification or change to be proper.” (See Lincoln, Abraham.) He appointed as his cabinet William H. Seward, secretary of state; Salmon P. Chase, of the treasury; Simon Cameron, of war; Gideon Welles, of the navy; Caleb B. Smith, of the interior; Edward Bates, attorney general; and Montgomery Blair, postmaster general. The last two were from the slave states of Missouri and Maryland. In 1862 Cameron was succeeded by Edwin M. Stanton (Jan. 14) and Smith by John P. Usher; in 1864 Chase was succeeded by William P. Fessenden, Blair by William Dennison, and Bates by James Speed. Upon Lincoln's second inauguration (1865) Hugh McCulloch succeeded Fessenden. The army at the beginning of active measures on the part of the south was only 16,000 strong (on Jan. 1, 1861, it consisted of 16,402 officers and men, of whom 14,657 were present for duty), and by orders from Mr. Floyd, the secretary of war, who was himself a party to the secession movement, had been dispersed in the remotest parts of the country, while the navy was mostly absent on foreign stations. Under Floyd's orders also an extensive transfer of arms and ammunition from northern to southern arsenals was made during 1860. Before the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln Gen. Twiggs, commanding in Texas, had surrendered to the Texan authorities half the military force of the Union. Most of the army and many of the navy officers from the south resigned upon the secession of their states. The first warlike act was the bombardment by the confederates, under Gen. Beauregard, of Fort Sumter, which was commanded by Major Anderson with a garrison of 109 men. Fire was opened on April 12, 1861, and continued on the 13th, and Major Anderson was compelled to evacuate the fort on the 14th, sailing with his garrison to ​New York. (See Sumter, Fort.) The next day (April 15) President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling upon the governors of the several states for a force of 75,000 militia for three months. The utmost enthusiasm was aroused throughout the north. On the evening of the 16th several companies from Pennsylvania reached Washington, and on the 17th the 6th regiment of Massachusetts started for that city. On the 19th, in company with ten companies from Philadelphia, it reached Baltimore, where it was attacked by a party of secessionists, and three of its members were killed and eight seriously injured. The Philadelphia troops were compelled to return, but the 6th Massachusetts proceeded to Washington. On the 25th several other regiments reached that city. On May 13 Gen. B. F. Butler took military possession of Baltimore, repressing the secession element in that city. In the mean time the United States arsenal at Harper's Ferry (April 18), and the Gosport navy yard, near Norfolk, Va. (April 21), fell into the hands of the confederates. On April 19 and 27 the president issued proclamations declaring a blockade of the ports of the seceded states. On April 15 he called an extra session of congress to meet on July 4. This body made large appropriations for the organization and support of the army and navy, which were continued by subsequent congresses. Various loans were authorized and other financial measures adopted during the struggle, to which reference has been made in a previous portion of this article. The states and subordinate political bodies also promptly raised large sums in aid of the war, and did not relax their efforts till its close. Bounties were offered to soldiers enlisting, by the United States and by state and local authorities. On May 3, 1861, a second call was made by the president for 42,034 volunteers for three years, 22,714 men for the regular army, and 18,000 seamen. The acts of July 22, 25, and 31 authorized the president to accept not exceeding 1,000,000 volunteers for periods of from six months to three years. No formal call was made, but men came forward promptly under these acts, which were regarded in the apportionment of quotas as a call for 500,000 men for three years. On July 2, 1862, a call was made for 300,000 volunteers for three years, and on August 4 a draft was ordered of 300,000 men for nine months, to be made by the state authorities from the militia. On March 3, 1863, an act was passed providing for the enrolment and drafting of the military forces of the Union, and creating in the war department the bureau of the provost marshal general to carry it into effect. A draft was commenced under its provisions in July, which resulted in little direct benefit to the army, but served greatly to stimulate volunteering. This draft gave rise to severe riots in New York, continuing three days. On Oct. 17 a call was made for 300,000 volunteers for three years, followed by others on Feb. 1 and March 14, 1864, for 200,000 each for the same period. In April a draft was commenced to supply the deficiencies in these calls. On July 18 a call was made for 500,000 men for one, two, and three years, and on Dec. 19 another for 300,000 for the same periods; and these calls were followed by drafts. Recruiting was ordered to be discontinued on April 13, 1865. Simultaneously with the organization of the army measures were taken to enlarge the navy, which for service against the confederacy was largely recruited by the purchase of steamers and other vessels from the merchant marine.—On May 24, 1861, the national forces took possession of Arlington heights and Alexandria on the Potomac, opposite Washington. On the 27th federal troops under Gen. McClellan entered western Virginia. They soon obtained control of that part of the state, and at the close of the year scarcely any armed confederates were found W. of the Alleghanies in Virginia. On July 21 was fought the battle of Bull Run, near Manassas Junction, Va., the first of any magnitude during the war, in which the Union forces under Gen. McDowell were defeated by the confederates under Gen. Beauregard, and fell back in disorder to Washington. (See Bull Run.) Soon after Gen. McClellan was placed in command of the army of the Potomac, and began to reorganize and discipline his forces, in which occupation the rest of the summer and the following winter were quietly passed. On Aug. 29 Forts Hatteras and Clark, at Hatteras inlet, the main entrance to Pamlico sound on the coast of North Carolina, were taken by a military and naval expedition under Gen. Butler and Com. Stringham. On Oct. 29 a fleet of 75 vessels under command of Com. Du Pont, with transports conveying 10,000 men under Gen. T. W. Sherman, sailed from Hampton roads, and on the night of Nov. 3 arrived off Port Royal, S. C. On the 7th they attacked Forts Beauregard and Walker at the entrance of the harbor, and after a bombardment of nearly five hours put the garrisons to flight, thus securing the finest harbor on the southern coast. Meantime troops in aid of the confederacy had been organized in Missouri, and others had come in from Arkansas and Texas. On Aug. 10 a battle was fought at Wilson's creek, near Springfield, in the S. W. part of Missouri, between the confederates under Gen. McCulloch and the federals under Gen. Lyon. The former lost 265 killed, 800 wounded, and 30 missing; the latter 223 killed (including Gen. Lyon), 721 wounded, and 292 missing. After the battle the Union army, under Col. Sigel, fell back to Rolla in the central portion of the state. Gen. Fremont, having been appointed to the command of the western department, took the field in Missouri near the end of September, and by degrees drove the confederates under Gen. Price back to the S. W. corner of the state; but on Nov. 2 he was superseded by Gen. Hunter. The federal army again fell ​back to Rolla, the confederates advancing as it receded. On the 12th Gen. Halleck took command of the department, and by the end of December Price was again in full retreat toward Arkansas, losing within a few days 2,500 prisoners and a large amount of stores. A conspicuous incident of the struggle in Missouri was the defence of Lexington, on the Missouri river, against a greatly superior force, by 2,780 men under Col. Mulligan, who surrendered (Sept. 21) only after being three days cut off from water. About Oct. 1 the confederate army before Washington began to fall back, and the national lines to be pushed forward. On the 21st a portion of Gen. Stone's command, having crossed the Potomac at Ball's bluff, about midway between Harper's Ferry and Washington, was disastrously defeated by the confederate general Evans, with a loss of 1,000 out of 1,900 men. Col. Baker, United States senator from Oregon, was among the killed. On Oct. 31 Winfield Scott, general-in-chief of the armies of the United States, retired from active service, and was succeeded by Gen. McClellan. On Nov. 8 Capt. Wilkes, in command of the frigate San Jacinto, intercepted the British mail steamer Trent, from Havana for Southampton, and forcibly took from on board Messrs. Mason and Slidell, commissioners from the southern confederacy to England and France. The action was resented by the British government, and produced a great display of feeling against the United States. A war with England seemed imminent, when the president decided to surrender the commissioners to the British minister. On Dec. 20 Brig. Gen. Ord routed the confederates with heavy loss at Dranesville, on the road from Washington to Leesburg. In the west, Bishop Polk of Louisiana, serving as major general in the confederate army, had occupied Hickman and Columbus, Ky., on the Mississippi, and begun to fortify them. Gen. Grant, commander of the federal forces at Cairo, Ill., consequently took possession (Sept. 6) of Paducah, on the Ohio just below the mouth of the Tennessee. About the same time Gen. Zollicoffer led a confederate force from Tennessee into S. E. Kentucky. This was subsequently placed under Gen. G. B. Crittenden, and was defeated on Jan. 19, 1862, by Gen. G. H. Thomas at Mill Spring, Zollicoffer himself being killed. On Feb. 6 the federal commodore Foote, with a fleet of gunboats from Cairo, reduced Fort Henry on the E. bank of the Tennessee river in Tennessee; and on the 16th Fort Donelson, on the W. bank of the Cumberland, surrendered with about 13,000 men after some severe fighting to Gen. Grant. (See Fort Donelson and Fort Henry.) On the 15th Gen. Mitchel, advancing from Louisville, had occupied Bowling Green, Ky., a place of great natural strength, the confederate forces under Gen. A. S. Johnston retiring to Nashville, Tenn. That city was occupied by the federal forces on the 26th, Gen. Johnston retreating as far as Corinth, Miss.; and on March 2 Columbus, Ky., was evacuated by the confederates. The whole of Kentucky and a part of Tennessee were thus secured by the federal arms. To command the Mississippi, the confederates had fortified island No. Ten in a sharp bend of that river, a few miles above New Madrid, Mo., which was also fortified and defended by a confederate force. On March 3 Gen. Pope invested the town, which he took possession of on the 14th, the confederates having abandoned it during the preceding night, leaving 33 guns and a large quantity of small arms, ammunition, &c. Com. Foote, having in the mean time moved a fleet of gunboats down the river, opened on the island on the 15th. Two of the gunboats succeeded in running past it; and a canal 12 m. long having been cut through a peninsula on the Missouri side, enabling the fleet to get below it, Gen. Pope on April 7 crossed a portion of his troops to the E. side. The confederates, thus cut off from retreat, surrendered during the following night, and nearly 7,000 prisoners, 123 cannon, 7,000 stand of small arms, and an immense quantity of stores fell into the hands of the federals. The federal fleet proceeded down the river, and after some opposition from forts and gunboats received the surrender of Memphis on June 6. The command was now devolved on Com. Davis, Com. Foote having been disabled by a wound. The fleet continued its course down the river, reaching Vicksburg, Miss., before the end of June, where the first serious obstacle was encountered. In the mean time the federal forces under Gen. Grant had advanced from Fort Donelson up the Tennessee river, and when encamped in the vicinity of Shiloh church, Tenn., near Pittsburgh Landing on the river, were attacked by the confederates under Gens. A. S. Johnston and Beauregard, who had advanced from Corinth, about 20 m. distant. The battle, which at first threatened to overwhelm the federals, raged two days (April 6 and 7), when the confederates fell back to Corinth, leaving the field in the possession of the Union army. (See Shiloh.) After the battle Gen. Halleck assumed command of the Union army, and with augmented forces operated against Corinth, which the confederates evacuated on May 29. About the same time Gen. Mitchel entered N. Alabama, capturing Huntsville and other points, and destroying much confederate property. A confederate force had entered New Mexico from Texas early in 1862, but they were driven out before the close of the spring, and subsequently that territory was unmolested. A victory was gained by the national forces under Gen. Curtis at Pea Ridge, Ark., March 7 and 8, over the armies of Van Dorn, Price, and McCulloch, which had just been driven out of Missouri. Gen. Curtis subsequently met with little resistance, and in July occupied Helena on the Mississippi. During the latter half of the year there were numerous conflicts in Missouri and Arkansas between ​small forces of confederates and federals, the advantage being in favor of the latter. The battle of Prairie Grove, Ark., was fought on Dec. 7, the Union forces being commanded by Gens. Herron and Blunt, and the confederates by Gen. Hindman. The latter retreated during the ensuing night, leaving the federals in possession of the field. Ship island, about 10 m. from the coast of Mississippi, had been occu- pied in the latter part of 1861, and here troops were collected for the capture of New Orleans, to be under the command of Gen. Butler, who reached the island March 25, 1862. New Orleans was defended by Forts Jackson and St. Philip, on opposite sides of the Mississippi, about 83 m. below the city. Both of these works were of great strength, and between them the passage had been barred by chains and hulks. On April 18 a bombardment was commenced by a federal fleet of 47 vessels, carrying 289 guns and 21 mortars, the whole commanded by Oapt. Farragut, the mortar fleet being under the special command of Capt. Porter. On the morning of the 24th, the barriers having been previously removed, Capt. Farragut ran past the forts with a part of his fleet, destroyed a squadron of the enemy's rams and gunboats, silenced the batteries above the forts, and reached New Orleans on the 25th. Gen. Lovell, in command of the confederate troops, evacuated the city on his arrival, and destroyed all the cotton, sugar, and other valuable stores. Forts Jackson and St. Philip surrendered to Capt. Porter on the 28th. Gen. Butler now moved up with his army, took formal possession of New Orleans (May 1), and placed it under martial law. Farragnt's fleet passed up the river, captured Baton Rouge, and afterward proceeded to Vicksburg, the only remaining stronghold of the confederates on the Mississippi, of which a bombardment was begun on June 26. On the morning of the 28th Capt. Farragut with seven vessels passed the city, and joined Capt. Davis's flotilla from Memphis. The siege of Vicksburg was abandoned about the end of July, Capt. Farragut, who had repassed the batteries, dropping down the river with his fleet. On Aug. 5 the confederate Gen. Breckinridge was repulsed in an attack on Baton Rouge by Gen. Williams, who fell at the moment of victory. In December Gen. Butler was superseded by Gen. Banks. Another expedition, under the command of Gen. Burnside and Com. Goldsborough, sailed from Hampton roads Jan. 12, 1862, entered Pamlico sound by way of Hatteras inlet, and attacked Roanoke island, which the confederates had strongly fortified. The troops landed Feb. 7, and on the following day stormed the intrenchments, and obliged about 2,700 of the enemy to surrender. On the 9th the fleet passed up the sound to Elizabeth City, N. C., and destroyed the confederate flotilla. On March 14 Gen. Burnside captured New Berne after a severe battle, taking 500 prisoners and 69 guns, and immediately afterward marched a force thence to Beaufort, which made no resistance; but Fort Macon, which defended the entrance to it from the sea, held out until April 25. Washington, Plymouth, and other towns on the coast were also occupied. On April 11 Fort Pulaski, on Cockspur island at the mouth of the Savannah river, was reduced by bombardment from batteries on Tybee island. On March 8 the confederate ironclad Virginia (formerly Merrimack), coming out from Norfolk, attacked the federal fleet in Hampton roads, and destroyed the frigates Cumberland and Congress. During the ensuing night the ironclad Monitor, under command of Lieut. Worden, arrived from New York, and in the morning engaged the Virginia, which retired after a protracted contest. (See Hampton Roads.) On May 10 Norfolk was occupied without resistance by a detachment from Fortress Monroe under Gen. Wool, and the Virginia was blown up to prevent it from falling into his hands. In June, 1862, Gen. Buell left Corinth, Miss., and moved east, threatening Chattanooga, Tenn. Gen. Bragg, in command of the confederates, thereupon moved from Tupelo, Miss., through N. Alabama and Georgia, reaching Chattanooga in advance of Buell. Toward the end of August he started on an invasion of Kentucky, which his forces entered from E. Tennessee. On the 30th a corps under Kirby Smith encountered a raw Union force under Gen. Manson at Richmond, Ky., and totally defeated it with a loss of several thousand in disabled and prisoners. Lexington was occupied on Sept. 4. On the 17th Bragg captured Munfordsville, with the Union force there of about 2,000 men under Col. Wilder, and on Oct. 1 entered Frankfort. In the mean time Buell had marched by way of Nashville, which he left strongly garrisoned, to Louisville, where his army arrived between Sept. 25 and 29. On Oct. 1 he began to move against Bragg, who slowly retreated to Perryville, where he made a stand, and on the 8th a battle ensued, in which the confederates lost 2,500 men and the federals more than 4,000. During the succeeding night Bragg continued his retreat, and joining Kirby Smith passed into E. Tennessee. On the 30th Buell was superseded by Maj. Gen. Rosecrans. The confederates under Gen. Price having occupied Iuka, Miss., Gen. Rosecrans attacked that place on Sept. 19, and severe fighting ensued, which was ended by darkness. During the succeeding night Price retreated, and at Ripley united with a stronger confederate force under Gen. Van Dorn, who soon advanced against Corinth, now defended by Gen. Rosecrans. The attack was commenced on Oct. 3, and ended on the following day with a strong and determined assault, which was repulsed with great loss, the federal pursuit continuing as far as Ripley. (See Corinth, vol. v., p. 354.) Gen. Rosecrans, having assumed command in Kentucky, began on Nov. 10 to move to Nashville. On Dec. 26 he began to march thence upon Murfreesboro, where Bragg's forces ​were concentrated; he encountered some opposition, and reached Stone river near that place on the 29th and 30th. Here bloody engagements occurred, Dec. 31, 1862, and Jan. 2, 1863, which resulted in the abandonment of Murfreesboro by the confederates during the night of Jan. 3-4. (See Murfreesboro.) The other operations in this vicinity during the winter and spring were confined to cavalry raids. On Nov. 28, 1862, Gen. Grant, in command in W. Tennessee, commenced an advance into Mississippi with the design of operating against Vicksburg. He had reached Oxford when, on Dec. 20, a blow was struck at his communications in the capture of Holly Springs by Van Dorn, who took more than 1,000 prisoners and destroyed a vast quantity of munitions and stores, compelling Grant to abandon the movement. On Oct. 8 Galveston, Texas, was occupied by a naval force, and was held till Jan. 1, 1863, when it was retaken by Gen. Magruder.—Operations of greater magnitude had in the mean while taken place on the eastern theatre of the war. About April 1, 1862, Gen. McClellan, who now had command only of the department of the Potomac, transferred his forces to Fortress Monroe, and began a movement upon Richmond up the peninsula between the York and James rivers. On the 4th an advance was made upon Yorktown, which was besieged for a month, when it was abandoned by the confederates. McClellan then continued his advance, and a series of bloody battles was fought, viz.: at Williamsburg, May 5; Hanover Court House, May 27; Seven Pines and Fair Oaks, May 31 and June 1; Mechanicsville, June 26; Cold Harbor, June 27; Savage's Station, June 29; Frazier's Farm, June 30; and Malvern Hill, July 1, on the James. During the night of July 1 Gen. McClellan withdrew his troops to Harrison's Landing, 7 m. below Malvern Hill, where he remained till about the middle of August, when his army was transferred to the Potomac. The confederate army in this campaign was at first commanded by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, who was succeeded by Gen. Robert E. Lee. Soon after the battle of Malvern Hill it retired to Richmond, to assume the offensive against Washington. (For a detailed account of the peninsular campaign, see Chickahominy.) In the mean time a confederate force under Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson and federal forces under Gens. Banks and Fremont had been operating in the Shenandoah valley. (See Cross Keys.) Several battles were fought, and about the middle of June Jackson was summoned with the greater part of his force to Richmond. In July Gen. Pope was placed in command of the federal army of Virginia, consisting of the forces that had been operating in the valley and of those under Gen. McDowell covering Washington. About the same time Gen. Halleck was summoned from the west to act as general-in-chief at Washington. On Aug. 9 a portion of Pope's army under Banks was repulsed with loss at Cedar mountain, near Culpeper Court House, by a superior body of confederates under Jackson, who formed the van in Lee's offensive operations. On Aug. 29 and 30 occurred the second battle of Bull Run, between the Union army under Pope and the confederate forces under Jackson and Longstreet, in which the latter had the advantage. (See Bull Run.) Pope retreated within the defences of Washington and resigned, Gen. McClellan assuming command of the remnant of his army. Lee moved to the Potomac above Washington and crossed into Maryland. McClellan soon started to meet him, and encountered portions of the enemy on Sept. 14 at Turner's and Crampton's gaps in the South mountain, from which they were driven after severe fighting. The next day Harper's Ferry, with 11,583 men, 73 guns, 13,000 small arms, and other stores, was surrendered to a detachment of Lee's army under Jackson. McClellan, advancing, found Lee on the 15th strongly posted across Antietam creek near the village of Sharpsburg, where on the two following days a bloody but indecisive battle was fought. (See Antietam, Battle of.) On the night of the 18th Lee retreated into Virginia. McClellan crossed the Potomac about Nov. 1, and advanced to Warrenton, near the Rappahannock. On the 7th he was directed to turn over the command to Gen. Burnside, who moved down the Rappahannock to Fredericksburg, which was summoned without effect on the 21st. Lee had made a parallel movement down the S. bank of the river, and strongly intrenched himself on the bluffs behind the town. On Dec. 13 Burnside crossed the river and made repeated attacks on the enemy's position, but was repulsed with great slaughter, and on the 15th returned to the N. bank. (See Fredericksburg, Battle of.) On Jan. 26, 1868, Burnside was superseded by Gen. Joseph Hooker. About the close of April Hooker began to cross the Rappahannock, and concentrated his forces at Chancellorsville, where a bloody engagement ensued, May 24, in which the Union army was worsted by the forces under Lee, Hooker recrossing to the N. side of the river. In this battle Jackson was mortally wounded. (See Chancellorsville, Battle of.) About the beginning of June Lee, again assuming the offensive, advanced into the Shenandoah valley, capturing Winchester on the 15th, whence he drove a federal force under Gen. Milroy, taking many prisoners. The main body of the confederate army crossed the Potomac above Harper's Ferry, June 24-25, and marching across Maryland entered Pennsylvania. Hooker had begun on June 13 to move north, so as to cover Washington, and on the 26th crossed the Potomac about half way between Washington and Harper's Ferry, advancing to Frederick, Md. On the following day he resigned his command, in consequence of a difference with Gen. Halleck respecting the disposition of a force at Maryland Heights opposite Harper's ​Ferry, and on the 28th was succeeded by Gen. Meade. The latter advanced into Pennsylvania, and on July 1, 2, and 3 the two armies met in the great battle of Gettysburg, which ended in the discomfiture of the confederate army. (See Gettysburg, Battle of.) On the 4th Lee began his retreat, and on the 13th recrossed the Potomac at one of the points where he had crossed on his advance. Meade crossed a little below Harper's Ferry on the 18th, and reached Warrenton on the 25th, where he was soon confronted by Lee on the other side of the Rappahannock. Few important movements were made by either army during the remainder of the year, and the campaign of 1863 closed with the abortive attempt of Meade upon Lee's position on Mine run, a small affluent of the Rapidan, at the end of November.—About Dec. 20, 1862, Gen. W. T. Sherman with 30,000 men proceeded down the Mississippi from Memphis, and on the 29th assaulted the fortifications and batteries commanding Vicksburg from the north. The assault was repelled with a loss of nearly 2,000, and the forces a few days after were withdrawn to Milliken's Bend, where on Jan. 4, 1863, Gen. McClernand assumed command. An expedition into Arkansas was immediately undertaken for the capture of Fort Hindman at Arkansas Post on the Arkansas river, which was reduced on the 11th, the federals suffering a loss of 977 and capturing 17 guns, several thousand prisoners and small arms, and a large quantity of munitions and stores. Returning from this expedition, the forces were moved down the Mississippi, and on the 22d landed at Young's Point on the W. bank, about 9 m. above Vicksburg, where Gen. Grant arrived and assumed chief command, Feb. 2. Two months were now spent in unavailing attempts to flank the defences of Vicksburg by means of a canal at this point and through various bayous. Finally, a part of Admiral Porter's fleet and several transports having run past the batteries of Vicksburg and Warrenton and Grand Gulf below, a portion of Grant's army, which had marched down the W. bank of the Mississippi, crossed the river on April 30. Grand Gulf, being thus taken in the rear, was abandoned on May 3, and a few days after Grant was joined by Sherman's corps, which had remained above Vicksburg. An advance was then made up the left bank of the Big Black river, encountering some opposition at Raymond (May 12) and Jackson (May 14). On the 16th a battle was fought at Champion Hills, between Jackson and Vicksburg, by Grant's forces, against Gen. Pemberton, who had marched out of Vicksburg with the design of taking Grant in the rear. Pemberton was driven back with loss, and retreated to the Big Black river, across which he was driven the following day. The federal forces then advanced upon Vicksburg, and on the 19th the investment was complete. Porter immediately obtained control of the Yazoo river. On the 19th and 22d unsuccessful assaults were made, in the latter of which the loss was nearly 3,000. On July 3, the last day of the battle of Gettysburg, Gen. Pemberton, reduced by famine, surrendered with 27,000 men, and on the 4th Grant occupied the city. The result of this campaign rent the confederacy in twain, and was the severest blow it had yet received. On July 16 Gen. Sherman drove out of Jackson Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, who during the siege had been operating in the rear of Grant. On July 3 Helena, Ark., held by Gen. Prentiss with 3,800, was attacked by about 7,700 confederates under Gen. Holmes, who were repulsed with a loss of nearly 1,700. In Louisiana Gen. Banks invested Port Hudson on the Mississippi in May, 1863, and on the 27th made an assault which was repulsed with a loss of about 1,850 men. The place was then closely besieged, and surrendered on July 8 with 6,408 men. Other operations were carried on during the year in Louisiana between Gens. Banks and Taylor, but they were not decisive. Early in September an expedition under Gen. Franklin, consisting of 4,000 men and several gunboats, was despatched from New Orleans to proceed against Houston, Texas, by way of Sabine pass; but the gunboats, being disabled in an attack on the fortifications at Pass Franklin, returned to New Orleans. On Oct. 26 a new expedition, consisting of 6,000 men under Banks, started for the Rio Grande, and landed at Brazos Santiago Nov. 2. Having taken possession of Brownsville and other points in W. Texas, Banks left Gen. Dana in command and returned to New Orleans. After abandoning Murfreesboro, Bragg had concentrated the greater part of his forces at Shelbyville and Tullahoma, where they were strongly intrenched. Rosecrans remained quietly at Murfreesboro till June 23, 1863, when he advanced, and took possession of Shelbyville on the 27th and of Tullahoma on the 30th, forcing Bragg to retreat to Chattanooga. The federal advance reached the Tennessee river Aug. 21, and by Sept. 8 the army was all across the stream, concentrating at Trenton, Ga., some miles S. of Chattanooga, which was occupied by a detachment the next day, Bragg retiring into Georgia and posting his troops in the vicinity of Chickamauga creek, E. of Trenton. Here, Sept. 19 and 20, occurred a severe engagement, in which the federals were worsted and fell back to Chattanooga, where they were besieged by Bragg. (See Chickamauga, Battle of.) On Oct. 23 Gen. Grant arrived and took command. Reinforcements under Hooker had previously arrived from the east, and others from the west under Sherman came subsequently. A series of movements was at once initiated, which after much hard fighting resulted in driving Bragg from Chattanooga (Nov. 25) and forcing him to retreat into Georgia. (See Chattanooga.) Gen. Burnside, after being relieved from command on the Rappahannock, had been assigned to the ​command of the department of the Ohio, and having organized a force of about 20,000 men at Camp Nelson near Richmond, Ky., began on Aug. 16 an advance on Knoxville, which was occupied on Sept. 1. East Tennessee, where the army was enthusiastically received by the population, was thus restored to the control of the Union with little opposition, the greater part of the confederate forces having been withdrawn to aid Bragg at Chickamauga. On Nov. 17 Longstreet, with forces drawn from Bragg, began a siege of Knoxville, which continued till the beginning of December, when, upon the approach of Sherman to the relief of the city, the confederates retreated into Virginia. A confederate cavalry force under Gen. Morgan, starting on June 27 from Sparta, Tenn., had made a raid, which created great excitement, through Kentucky and S. Indiana into Ohio, where before the end of July they were nearly all captured or destroyed. On Aug. 10 Gen. Steele set out from Helena, Ark., with 12,000 men and 40 guns, for the capture of Little Rock, and, advancing against some opposition, occupied that city on Sept. 10. Other operations in Arkansas and Missouri during the year were of minor importance. On April 6 an attack was made on Charleston by a fleet of ironclads under Com. Du Pont, which was repelled by the fire of Fort Sumter. On July 10 a force was landed by Gen. Gillmore, then in command in South Carolina, on Morris island at the entrance of Charleston harbor, and on the following day an ineffectual attack was made on Fort Wagner, a strong earthwork at its N. end. On the 18th an assault was made in force, which was repulsed with a loss of 1,500 men. The fort was then besieged by regular approaches, and was abandoned on Sept. 7. It was afterward, with other batteries on the island, turned against Charleston, which was nearly destroyed by the bombardment. On the night of Sept. 8 an attempt to carry Fort Sumter by assault was made by a flotilla of boats from Admiral Dahlgren's fleet, which was repulsed with a loss of about 80 killed and wounded and 120 prisoners. The principal occurrence in North Carolina during 1863 was the ineffective siege of the town of Washington in the early part of April by a confederate force under Gen. D. H. Hill. An effort in February, 1864, to restore Florida to the Union by an expedition from Hilton Head, under Gen. Seymour, resulted disastrously. Landing at Jacksonville, he advanced west, and at Olustee on the 20th encountered a confederate force under Gen. Finnegan and was compelled to retreat to Jacksonville. Of about 5,000 men engaged, Seymour lost about 1,500 in killed and wounded; the confederate loss was less than 1,000. On April 20 Plymouth, N. C., was compelled to surrender to a confederate force under Gen. Hoke (see Plymouth), and as a consequence Washington was evacuated by the federals eight days later. On May 5 the confederate ironclad Albemarle, which had taken part in the attack on Plymouth, came out of the Roanoke river and was engaged by the gunboat Sassacus. Having received considerable injury, the Albemarle retreated up the river, and on Oct. 27 was sunk by a torpedo under the direction of Lieut. Cushing. On Oct. 31 Plymouth was retaken by the federal fleet. West of the Mississippi, the most important movement in 1864 was Banks's disastrous Red river campaign in the early spring. (See Louisiana, vol. x., p. 678, and Red River, vol. xiv., p. 237.) In Arkansas Gen. Steele moved S. from Little Rock, March 23-24, with 7,000 men, for the purpose of coöperating with Banks, and advanced as far as Camden on the Washita river, when, receiving news of the failure of Banks, he began a retreat on April 27, reaching Little Rock May 2. During this movement Steele had been repeatedly annoyed by the confederates, the most important engagements being at Marks's mill on April 25, when a detachment of three regiments was captured after a stout resistance by a superior force under the confederate Gen. Fagan, and at Jenkins's ferry on the Saline river, April 30, when a powerful attack by Kirby Smith was repulsed with great loss. In September and October Gen. Price with a considerable force made a raid through Missouri. Entering the state at the S. E. corner from Arkansas, he passed N. W. through the centre past Jefferson City to Lexington and Independence, whence he was driven south, escaping into W. Arkansas with a loss of 10 guns, much material, and nearly 2,000 prisoners. On April 12 Fort Pillow, on the Mississippi about 40 m. above Memphis, garrisoned by about 650 men, of whom half were colored, was taken by assault by the confederates under Gen. Forrest, and many of the garrison as well as non-combatants were killed after the capture. Gen. Sturgis with 12,000 men, being sent after Forrest, who was retreating, came up with and was routed by him at Guntown in N. Mississippi on June 10. Sturgis lost 3,000 or 4,000 men, mainly prisoners, and retreated to Memphis, pursued by Forrest. Another force of 12,000 men under Gen. A. J. Smith was then sent against Forrest, by which he was defeated with great loss at Tupelo, Miss., on July 14. In August Forts Gaines and Morgan, commanding the entrance to Mobile bay, were reduced by a fleet under Admiral Farragut, aided by a land force under Gen. Granger, and the confederate fleet there was destroyed. (See Mobile.)—Early in March, 1864, Gen. Grant was appointed lieutenant general and invested with the chief command of the Union armies, Gen. Halleck being relieved and assigned to duty in Washington as chief of staff to the army. Gen. Grant announced that his headquarters would be with the army of the Potomac in the field. On May 4 he began to cross the Rapidan and advance into the “Wilderness,” a region on the S. bank of that stream in Orange and Spottsylvania counties. ​Here (May 5 and 6) and at Spottsylvania Court House near by (May 8-21) followed a series of sanguinary engagements. (See Wilderness, Battles of the.) Grant then advanced by a series of flank movements to the Chickahominy, where on June 3 occurred the second battle of Cold Harbor, in which the federal assault on the confederate position was repulsed with great loss. (See Chickahominy, vol. iv., p. 416.) On the 12th, having determined to attack Richmond from the south, he began to move, crossing the Chickahominy below Lee's position, and effecting the passage of the James June 14-15. Lee thereupon retired within the intrenchments covering Richmond. On the 15th and 16th a part of the Union forces unsuccessfully assailed Petersburg, and on the 19th Grant began a regular siege. On July 30, a mine having been exploded, another attack was made, which was repulsed with loss. The siege of Petersburg and Richmond continued till April 3, 1865, when, after Lee's defeat at Five Forks (March 31, April 1), those places were occupied by the federals, having been evacuated by Lee during the preceding night. Grant vigorously pursued the retreating army, and at Appomattox Court House on the 9th compelled Lee to surrender the remnant of his forces, about 27,000 in all, an event which virtually terminated the war. (See Petersburg, Siege of.) Simultaneously with Grant's advance on Richmond, Gen. Sigel moved up the Shenandoah valley, and Gen. Crook from Charleston, W. Va., up the Kanawha valley. On May 15, 1864, Sigel was routed at Newmarket by Gen. Breckinridge, losing 700 men, 6 guns, and 1,000 small arms. Gen. Hunter, having superseded Sigel and having been somewhat strengthened, resumed the offensive. He was opposed by Gen. Jones, Breckinridge having been withdrawn to Richmond. The two armies met at Piedmont, near Staunton, June 5, when Jones was routed, losing 1,500 prisoners, 3 guns, and 3,000 small arms. Hunter advanced to Staunton, where he was joined by Crook, and advanced thence via Lexington on Lynchburg. Gen. Early being sent to the relief of this city from Richmond, Hunter retreated into West Virginia. Early then moved north, and on July 2-3 appeared on the Potomac. Crossing into Maryland, he threatened Washington and Baltimore, being stoutly but ineffectually opposed on the 9th by an inferior force under Gen. Wallace on the Monocacy river near Frederick, Wallace losing nearly 2,000 men in killed, wounded, and missing. Washington was saved by the timely arrival of troops ordered there by Gen. Grant. Early recrossed into Virginia, and on the 24th routed Gen. Crook near Winchester, inflicting a loss of 1,200. He then sent a body of cavalry on a raid into Pennsylvania, which burned Chambersburg, July 30. On Aug. 7 Gen. Sheridan was placed in command of the federal forces to operate in the Shenandoah valley. His force was soon raised to 30,000, Early opposing him with about 20,000. He defeated Early on Opequan creek near Winchester (Sept. 19), at Fisher's Hill 8 m. S. (Sept. 22), and on Cedar creek near by (Oct. 19), virtually clearing the valley of confederate troops. In the battle of Opequan creek he lost 3,000 men, and captured the same number of prisoners and 5 guns; in that of Fisher's Hill he took 1,100 prisoners and 16 guns. In the battle of Cedar creek Early surprised the Union camp at dawn in the absence of Gen. Sheridan, driving back the troops in confusion and capturing the camp and defences, 24 guns, and 1,200 prisoners. Sheridan, then at Winchester, being aroused by the firing, hurried to the front, and having reorganized his troops, retook the camp and guns in the afternoon, recovering many of the prisoners taken in the morning, and taking from the enemy 1,500 prisoners, 23 guns, and 1,500 small arms, besides equipments.—When Gen. Grant assumed the chief command, Gen. W. T. Sherman was placed in command of the division of the Mississippi, comprising the departments of the Ohio, the Cumberland, the Tennessee, and the Arkansas, and was to move against Atlanta, Ga., simultaneously with Grant's advance on Richmond. His forces for the campaign were encamped around Chattanooga, and consisted of a little less than 100,000 men, with about 250 guns, comprising the army of the Cumberland, Gen. Thomas; the army of the Tennessee, Gen. McPherson; and the army of the Ohio, Gen. Schofield. He was opposed by Gen. J. E. Johnston, with about 50,000 men, encamped at Dalton, Ga., organized in three corps under Hardee, Hood, and Polk. Sherman started on May 5, and gradually forced Johnston back, compelling him after much severe fighting to cross the Chattahoochee on July 10 and seek the intrenchments covering Atlanta. Here he was superseded by Hood, who made several attacks on Sherman, which were repulsed with great loss, and was compelled to abandon Atlanta on Sept. 1. (See Atlanta, and Sherman, William Tecumseh.) Having removed the inhabitants from the city and burned everything except the dwellings and churches, Gen. Sherman started near the middle of November for the coast, with about 60,000 men. Marching through the heart of Georgia without opposition, he reached the vicinity of Savannah. On Dec. 13 Fort McAllister on the Ogeechee river, in the rear of Savannah, was carried by assault by Gen. Hazen, and communication was then opened with the fleet. On the 21st Savannah was occupied, having been abandoned by its garrison during the preceding night. Sherman left Gen. Thomas in command in Tennessee. Hood, after abandoning Atlanta, had operated for a time upon Sherman's line of communication, and then moved into N. Alabama, whence, upon learning that Sherman had started for the coast, he advanced into Tennessee with about 55,000 men, and began to move on Nashville. On Nov. 30 he was opposed at Franklin by ​Gen. Schofield, who repelled repeated assaults, enabling the federal trains to cross the Harpeth river and reach Nashville. The federal loss was 189 killed, 1,033 wounded, and 1,104 missing; the confederate loss was reported by Thomas at 1,750 killed, 3,800 wounded, and 702 prisoners, while Hood admitted a total loss of 4,500. A little after midnight Schofield withdrew, and the next day reached Nashville. Hood established his lines S. of Nashville, and was attacked by Thomas on Dec. 15 and 16, and completely routed. He retreated with difficulty into Alabama, having suffered immense losses in disabled and prisoners. (See Nashville.) An attempt in December, by a fleet under Admiral Porter and a land force under Gen. Butler, to reduce Fort Fisher at the mouth of Cape Fear river, commanding the approach to Wilmington, N. C., failed; but on Jan. 15, 1865, it was carried by assault under Gen. Terry, aided by the fleet. During the following night the confederate works on the opposite side of the river were abandoned and blown up. The federal forces, reënforced by troops under Gen. Schofield, occupied Wilmington on Feb. 22, the confederates under Gen. Hoke retreating. On Feb. 1 Gen. Sherman started from Savannah on a northward movement through the Carolinas, and reached Columbia on the 17th. Gen. Hardee, being thus taken in the rear, evacuated Charleston, which was occupied by a detachment of Gen. Gillmore's forces on the 18th, and the same day the United States flag was raised over Fort Sumter. Sherman continuing his march reached Fayetteville, N. C., on March 12. On the 19th the left wing under Slocum encountered the confederate army under Gen. Johnston at Bentonville, repelled several assaults, and on the 21st, being reënforced, compelled it to retreat to Smithfield, covering Raleigh. Sherman then occupied Goldsboro, whence he advanced on April 10. Johnston retreated to and through Raleigh, and on April 26 surrendered his entire army, then reduced to about 81,000 men. In the mean time a cavalry force under Gen. Wilson had swept through Alabama from the north, and passed into Georgia, doing immense injury to the confederate resources. He occupied Selma on April 2, Montgomery on the 12th, and Columbus, Ga., on the 16th. At Selma he took 32 guns and 2,700 prisoners, and at Columbus 52 guns and 1,200 prisoners, and in both places destroyed numerous factories and a vast amount of stores. Toward the end of March operations were begun for the reduction of Mobile by Gen. Canby, with a force from New Orleans aided by a fleet under Admiral Thatcher. Spanish Fort and Blakely, commanding the city from the east, were taken on April 9, and Mobile was occupied on the 12th, Gen. Maury with 9,000 men fleeing up the Alabama river. (See Mobile.) On May 4 Gen. Taylor surrendered the confederate forces in Alabama to Gen. Canby. The last fight of the war occurred, May 13, on the Rio Grande in Texas, between Col. Barrett (federal) and Gen. Slaughter (confederate), the latter being victorious. The trans-Mississippi army of the confederates, the last in the field, was surrendered by Kirby Smith on May 26. Measures were immediately taken to disband the federal armies, and in a few months the greater part of the soldiers had returned to civil life.—The strength of the national armies at different periods was as follows: July 1, 1861, 186,751; Jan. 1, 1862, 575,917; Jan. 1, 1863, 918,191; Jan. 1, 1864, 860,737; Jan. 1, 1865, 959,460; May 1, 1865, 1,000,516. At the last date the number of men enrolled as subject to military duty, but not called out, was 2,254,063. The whole number of men called for by the government was 2,759,049; number furnished, 2,666,999 (equivalent to 2,135,000 for three years), of whom 186,097 were colored. This does not correctly represent the number of different persons under arms, as it includes reënlistments. A considerable number of men called out for short periods upon emergencies are not included. The total includes some who enlisted in the navy. Only a small number were obtained by the drafts, the result being as follows: held to personal service, 46,347; furnished substitutes, 73,607; paid commutation, 86,724; total, 206,678, to which should be added 87,588 credited to the states under the draft of 1862. The amount of commutation money received by the government was $26,866,316 78. The number of men who received the United States bounty ($100 to $400 each) was 1,722,690; amount paid, $300,223,500. The amount of bounties paid by states and local authorities, so far as returned, was $285,941,086. The casualties in the army numbered 280,739, viz.: 5,221 officers and 90,868 men killed in action or died of wounds, and 2,321 officers and 182,329 men died from disease or accident. These numbers do not include deaths after leaving the army from wounds or disease contracted in the service. The above statistics are compiled from the report of the provost marshal general (“Message and Documents, War Department, 1865-'6”).—During the war confederate cruisers, mostly built and fitted out in British ports, scoured the ocean. Evading vessels of war, they destroyed hundreds of merchantmen, doing irreparable injury to the commerce of the Union. The chief of these were the Alabama, Chickamauga, Florida, Georgia, Olustee, Shenandoah, Sumter, and Tallahassee. The Alabama, the most famous, commanded by Raphael Semmes, was sunk off Cherbourg, France, June 19, 1864, by the United States steamer Kearsarge, commanded by Capt. Winslow. A presidential proclamation of June 23, 1865, removed the blockade of all the ports in the southern states, and another of Aug. 29 annulled all restrictions upon trade with them. On April 2, 1866, the insurrection was proclaimed at an end in all the states except Texas, and there on Aug. 20. After the fall of Richmond ​President Davis of the confederacy fled south, and was captured at Irwinville, Ga., by Gen. Wilson's forces, May 10, 1865. He and some other prominent leaders were imprisoned for a time, but no man was punished for participation in the rebellion. On May 29, 1865, the president issued an amnesty proclamation, excepting 14 classes of those most prominent in the rebellion. This was followed by others on Sept. 7, 1867, July 4, 1868, and Dec. 25, 1868, the last making the amnesty universal.—A peculiar feature of the war was the voluntary organizations of citizens to promote the moral and physical welfare of the soldiers. The chief of these were the United States sanitary commission, the United States Christian commission, and the Western sanitary commission, organized in 1861. The sanitary commissions were designed to coöperate with the medical bureau of the war department, and performed valuable services in the prevention of disease, in supplying food, clothing, and hospital stores, in the relief of prisoners, and in other ways. They had branches throughout the north, and received large contributions in money and supplies. The Christian commission was composed of representatives of the young men's Christian associations, and performed services similar to those of the sanitary commissions, together with others of a more strictly religious character. Toward and after the close of the war various societies were organized for the relief of Union refugees from the south, the care of the freedmen, and the restoration of industry and education in the region devastated by war. By the act of March 3, 1865, the bureau of refugees, freedmen, and abandoned lands was created in the war department. (See Freedmen.) The question of emancipation early attracted the attention of the president and congress. On April 16, 1862, an act was passed abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia, and on June 9 another act declared that slavery should not thereafter exist in the territories. The act of July 17 declared that all slaves of persons who should thereafter be engaged in rebellion, escaping and taking refuge within the lines of the army, all slaves of such persons captured, or deserted and coming under the control of the United States, and all slaves of such persons found in any place occupied by rebel forces and afterward occupied by the federal forces, should be free. The same act authorized the president to receive into the military and naval service persons of African descent. On Jan. 1, 1863, the president issued a proclamation, in pursuance of a warning contained in a proclamation of Sept. 22, 1862, declaring free all persons held as slaves within the states or portions of states then in rebellion. (See Slavery.) On April 8, 1864, a joint resolution amending the federal constitution, by declaring that slavery shall not exist within the United States or any place subject to their control, passed the senate by a vote of 38 to 6, and on Jan. 31, 1865, it was approved by the house of representatives by a vote of 119 to 56. This, known as the thirteenth amendment, the secretary of state on Dec. 18, 1865, proclaimed ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the states, and consequently valid to all intents and purposes as a part of the constitution. The first step toward the reconstruction of loyal governments in the seceded states was the proclamation of President Lincoln of Dec. 8, 1863. This promised full pardon, with restoration of rights of property, except as to slaves, to all persons (with some exceptions) who had participated in the rebellion, upon condition that they should take and maintain an oath to support and defend the constitution of the United States and the union of the states thereunder, and to abide by all acts of congress and proclamations of the president having reference to slaves. It also provided that when in any of the seceded states persons, not less in number than one tenth of the votes cast at the presidential election of 1860 in that state, who had taken and not violated the oath and were qualified voters by law of the state in force immediately before secession, should reëstablish a republican government in no wise contravening the oath, such government should be recognized as the true government of the state. Under this scheme governments were organized in Louisiana and Arkansas in the early part of 1864, and in Tennessee early in 1865, but senators and representatives from those states were not admitted to congress. After the close of the war President Johnson recognized these governments, and also recognized Francis H. Pierpont as governor of Virginia, who after the admission of West Virginia had exercised jurisdiction in a few counties adjacent to Washington. On May 29, 1865, President Johnson appointed a provisional governor of North Carolina, and in June and July similar officers were appointed for Mississippi, Georgia, Texas, Alabama, South Carolina, and Florida. It was made the duty of the provisional governor in each state to call a convention, the delegates to which were to be elected by those who were qualified voters by the laws in force in the respective states immediately previous to secession, and who had taken the oath prescribed by the amnesty proclamation of the same date, similar to that of Lincoln's, for the purpose of restoring these states to their constitutional relations to the federal government. Conventions were accordingly held during the year in all these states except Texas, where a convention met in 1866. Ordinances were passed abolishing slavery, declaring the debt incurred in aid of the confederacy void, and repealing the ordinances of secession. State officers and congressmen were elected, and the legislatures ratified the thirteenth amendment. But congress did not approve this scheme of reconstruction, and senators and representatives from those states were not admitted. ​On April 9, 1866, the “civil rights bill” was passed by congress over the president's veto; it enacted “that all persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are hereby declared to be citizens of the United States; and such citizens of every race and color, without regard to any previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall have the same right in every state and territory in the United States to make and enforce contracts; to sue, be parties, and give evidence; to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real estate and personal property; and to full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property, as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains, and penalties, and to none other; any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.” The United States courts were given jurisdiction of offences against this act. On June 8 a joint resolution passed the senate by a vote of 33 to 11, and on the 13th was approved by the house by a vote of 138 to 36, proposing an amendment to the constitution, which is known as the fourteenth amendment. It provides that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside,” and that “no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States;” that when the right of suffrage in any state “is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being 21 years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens 21 years of age in such state;” that “the validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned;” and that “neither the United States, nor any state, shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave.” It also incapacitates from holding office certain classes of persons who shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; but congress may by a vote of two thirds of each house remove such disability. Under this power the disabilities have been removed from great numbers by special acts, and by the act of May 22, 1872, from all “except senators and representatives of the 36th and 37th congresses, officers in the judicial, military, and naval service of the United States, heads of departments, and foreign ministers of the United States,” who joined the confederate cause. In July, 1866, senators and representatives were admitted from Tennessee, that state having ratified the fourteenth amendment. On Jan. 8, 1867, an act was passed over President Johnson's veto conferring the right of suffrage on colored citizens of the District of Columbia, and on the 24th a similar act became a law for the territories. The congressional plan of reconstruction was developed in the act of March 2 and the supplementary acts of March 23 and July 19, each of which was passed over the president's veto. These acts declared that “no legal state governments or adequate protection for life or property now exist in the rebel states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas,” and divided them into five military districts. It was made the duty of the president to assign to the command of each of these districts an officer of the army not below the rank of brigadier general, and to detail a sufficient military force to enable each officer to enforce his authority. The district commanders were required to make a registration of voters, comprising male citizens of the United States 21 years old and upward, without regard to race, color, or previous condition, who had resided in the respective states one year and were not excluded from holding office by the fourteenth amendment. Upon registration voters were required to take and subscribe an oath, declaring among other things that they had not been disfranchised for participation in any rebellion or civil war against the United States; that they had never been members of any state legislature, nor held any executive or judicial office in any state, nor taken an oath in an official capacity to support the constitution of the United States, and afterward engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; and engaging faithfully to support the constitution and obey the laws of the United States, and to encourage others to do so. Delegates were to be elected in the several states by the registered voters to conventions for framing new constitutions. Only when constitutions had been adopted conferring the right of suffrage on colored persons, and such constitutions had been approved by congress, and when the fourteenth amendment had been ratified by the legislatures of the respective states, were senators and representatives to be admitted. The conditions of these acts were complied with in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina in 1868, and in Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia in 1870. But in Georgia the subsequent action of the legislature in excluding colored members led to further measures on the part of congress, and delayed ​the final restoration of that state until 1870. The adoption of the fourteenth amendment was proclaimed on July 28, 1868. On Feb. 25, 1869, a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the constitution, known as the fifteenth amendment, passed the house of representatives by a vote of 144 to 44, and on the following day was approved by the senate by a vote of 39 to 13. Its adoption was proclaimed on March 30, 1870. The amendment is as follows: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any state, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”—The second election of Lincoln had taken place before the close of the war, and just previous to the election Nevada had been admitted into the Union. The national republican convention assembled at Baltimore on June 7, 1864, and nominated President Lincoln for reëlection, and for vice president Andrew Johnson of Tennessee. The platform adopted contained the following resolutions: “That it is the highest duty of every American citizen to maintain against all their enemies the integrity of the Union, and the paramount authority of the constitution and laws of the United States; and that, laying aside all differences of political opinion, we pledge ourselves as Union men, animated by a common sentiment, and aiming at a common object, to do everything in our power to aid the government in quelling by force of arms the rebellion now raging against its authority, and in bringing to the punishment due to their crimes the rebels and traitors arrayed against it. That, as slavery was the cause, and now constitutes the strength of the rebellion, and as it must be, always and everywhere, hostile to the principles of republican government, justice and the national safety demand its utter and complete extirpation from the soil of the republic; and that, while we uphold and maintain the acts and proclamations by which the government in its own defence has aimed a death blow at this gigantic evil, we are in favor furthermore of such an amendment to the constitution, to be made by the people in conformity with its provisions, as shall terminate and for ever prohibit the existence of slavery within the limits or the jurisdiction of the United States.” The national democratic convention assembled at Chicago on Aug. 29, and nominated Gen. George B. McClellan for president, and for vice president George H. Pendleton of Ohio. The platform declared adherence to the Union under the constitution, and contained the following resolution: “That this convention does explicitly declare, as the sense of the American people, that after four years of failure to restore the Union by the experiment of war, during which, under the pretence of a military necessity, or war power higher than the constitution, the constitution itself has been disregarded in every part, and public liberty and private right alike trodden down and the material prosperity of the country essentially impaired, justice, humanity, liberty, and the public welfare demand that immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities, with a view to an ultimate convention of the states, or other peaceable means, to the end that at the earliest practicable moment peace may be restored on the basis of the federal union of the states.” The election took place on Nov. 8, the eleven seceded states not participating. McClellan and Pendleton received the electoral votes of New Jersey, Delaware, and Kentucky, 21; Lincoln and Johnson received those of all the other states, 212, and were elected. The popular vote was 2,213,665 for Lincoln, and 1,802,237 for McClellan. On March 4, 1865, Lincoln's second inauguration took place. On April 14 he was assassinated (see Lincoln, Abraham), and on the following day Vice President Johnson entered upon the duties of the presidency. In July, 1866, Postmaster General Dennison, Attorney General Speed, and Secretary of the Interior Harlan resigned, and were succeeded by Alexander W. Randall of Wisconsin, Henry Stanbery of Ohio, and Orville H. Browning of Illinois. The difference between the president and congress on the question of reconstruction led to his separation from the republican party, and to the passage on March 2, 1867, over his veto, of the “tenure of office” act, which took from the president the power to remove without the consent of the senate such civil officers as are appointed by the president with the consent of the senate. In August, 1867, Gen. Grant was appointed secretary of war ad interim in place of Mr. Stanton, suspended. When congress assembled in December, the president sent to the senate his reasons for the suspension, which that body did not approve; and thereupon in January, 1868, Gen. Grant surrendered the office to Mr. Stanton. On Feb. 21 the president issued an order removing Mr. Stanton from office and designating Gen. Lorenzo Thomas secretary of war ad interim; but as the senate had passed a resolution that the president did not possess the power of removal, Mr. Stanton refused to surrender the office. On the 24th a resolution for the impeachment of President Johnson was adopted by the house of representatives, and articles were subsequently drawn up charging him with high misdemeanors in office in the removal of Stanton and appointment of Thomas, and in attempting to bring congress into contempt and reproach. He was tried before the senate and acquitted in May, there being a majority against him, but not the necessary two-thirds vote. (See Johnson, Andrew.) Secretary Stanton thereupon resigned, and was succeeded by Gen. John M. Schofield. In July Mr. Stanbery was succeeded by William M. Evarts of New York as attorney general. One new state, Nebraska, was admitted during Mr. Johnson's administration, in February, 1867; and in the same year Alaska was purchased of Russia. On Feb. ​22, 1868, a naturalization treaty was concluded with the North German confederation. The national republican convention assembled at Chicago on May 21, 1868, and nominated Gen. Ulysses S. Grant for president, and for vice president Schuyler Colfax of Indiana. The platform congratulated the country on the success of the reconstruction policy of congress; denounced all forms of repudiation as a national crime; declared that “the national honor requires the payment of the public indebtedness in the uttermost good faith to all creditors at home and abroad, not only according to the letter, but the spirit of the laws under which it was contracted;” and that “the guaranty by congress of equal suffrage to all loyal men at the south was demanded by every consideration of public safety, of gratitude, and of justice, and must be maintained; while the question of suffrage in all the loyal states properly belongs to the people of those states.” The national democratic convention assembled at New York on July 4, and nominated Horatio Seymour of New York for president and Francis P. Blair, jr., of Missouri, for vice president. The platform recognized the settlement of the questions of slavery and secession by the war or the voluntary action of the southern states; demanded the “immediate restoration of all the states to their rights in the Union under the constitution,” “amnesty for all political offences and the regulation of the elective franchise in the states by their citizens,” and “the abolition of the freedmen's bureau and all political instrumentalities designed to secure negro supremacy;” denounced the reconstruction acts of congress “as usurpations and unconstitutional, revolutionary, and void;” arraigned the republican party because, “instead of restoring the Union, it has, so far as in its power, dissolved it, and subjected ten states, in time of profound peace, to military despotism and negro supremacy;” and declared that “where the obligations of the government do not expressly state upon their face, or the law under which they were issued does not provide, that they shall be paid in coin, they ought, in right and in justice, to be paid in the lawful money of the United States.” The election took place on Nov. 3, Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas not voting. Seymour and Blair received the electoral votes of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Georgia, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Oregon, 80; Grant and Colfax received those of all the other states, 214, and were elected. The total popular vote was 5,716,788, of which 3,013,188 were for the Grant electors and 2,703,600 for the Seymour electors. This was the first presidential election in which any considerable number of colored voters participated. (See Grant, Ulysses S.) In 1872 President Grant was reëlected. On May 1 of that year a convention assembled at Cincinnati, composed of persons previously in sympathy with the republican party, but now dissatisfied with the administration of President Grant and opposed to his reëlection. They styled themselves “liberal republicans.” By this convention Horace Greeley of New York was nominated for president, and Benjamin Gratz Brown of Missouri for vice president. The platform opposed any reopening of the questions settled by the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments of the constitution, and the candidacy of any president for reëlection; demanded the immediate and absolute removal of all disabilities imposed on account of the rebellion, a thorough reform of the civil service as one of the most pressing necessities of the hour, and a speedy return to specie payments; denounced repudiation in every form and guise; and declared that “local self-government, with impartial suffrage, will guard the rights of all citizens more securely than any centralized power.” The national republican convention assembled at Philadelphia on June 6, and nominated President Grant for reëlection, and for vice president Henry Wilson of Massachusetts. The platform, appealing to the history of the party, recited that it had suppressed a gigantic rebellion, emancipated 4,000,000 slaves, decreed the equal citizenship of all, established universal suffrage, and, with unparalleled magnanimity, had punished no man for political offences; approved the action of congress in extending amnesty to those lately in rebellion; favored reform in the civil service; denounced repudiation of the public debt, in any form or disguise, as a national crime; announced a confident expectation of a speedy resumption of specie payment; declared that “the recent amendments to the national constitution should be cordially sustained because they are right, not merely tolerated because they are law, and should be carried out according to their spirit by appropriate legislation, the enforcement of which can safely be intrusted only to the party that secured those amendments;” that “neither the law nor its administration should admit any discrimination in respect of citizens by reason of race, creed, color, or previous condition of servitude;” and that “congress and the president have only fulfilled an imperative duty in their measures for the suppression of violent and treasonable organizations in certain lately rebellious regions, and for the protection of the ballot box.” The national democratic convention assembled at Baltimore on July 9, and nominated the same candidates and adopted the same platform as the Cincinnati convention. On Sept. 8 a convention of “straight-out democrats, opposed to the Baltimore nominations and platform, assembled at Louisville, Ky., and nominated Charles O'Conor of New York for president and John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts for vice president. Conventions were also held and nominations made by the “labor reform” and “temperance” parties. The candidates of the former declined, and no ticket was put in the field; the candidates of the latter were, for president James ​Black of Pennsylvania, for vice president John Russell of Michigan. The election, which took place on Nov. 5, resulted in the choice of Grant and Wilson, who each received 286 electoral votes. Greeley having died prior to the choice of president by the electors, the 66 votes of the opposition were given to various persons. Grant and Wilson received a majority of the popular vote in all the states except Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas, which voted for Greeley and Brown, and Louisiana, where the result was in dispute, two returns being made, one in favor of either party, both claimed to be legal and correct. No electoral votes were counted from Louisiana, nor from Arkansas (owing to certain irregularities), those states together being entitled to 14 votes. The popular vote, excluding Louisiana, which cast about 125,000 votes, was 6,337,662, of which 3,525,469 were for Grant, 2,777,096 for Greeley, 29,489 for O'Conor, and 5,608 for Black. The inauguration took place on March 4, 1873, and the cabinet was constituted as follows, the only change being in the secretary of the treasury: Hamilton Fish, secretary of state; William M. Richardson of Massachusetts, of the treasury; William W. Belknap, of war; George M. Robeson, of the navy; Columbus Delano, of the interior; George H. Williams, attorney general; and John A. J. Oreswell, postmaster general. In 1874 Mr. Richardson was succeeded by Benjamin H. Bristow of Kentucky, and Mr. Oreswell by Marshall Jewell of Connecticut; in 1875 Mr. Delano was succeeded by Zachariah Chandler of Michigan and Mr. Williams by Edwards Pierrepont of New York; and in 1876 Mr. Belknap was succeeded by Alphonso Taft of Ohio. In 1869 the Central and Union Pacific railroads were completed, opening a highway between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. One of the most prominent events of Grant's administration is the settlement of outstanding disputes with Great Britain, of which the principal related to the charge that the British government had failed in its duties as a neutral in allowing the construction and fitting out of confederate cruisers in British ports. The claims for damages on this account are known as the “Alabama claims.” After protracted correspondence it was agreed to appoint a joint high commission to negotiate a treaty. The commissioners on the part of the United States were Hamilton Fish, secretary of state; Samuel Nelson, associate justice of the supreme court; Robert O. Schenck, then minister to England; E. R. Hoar, late attorney general; and George H. Williams, then United States senator. Those on the part of Great Britain were Earl de Grey (now marquis of Ripon), Baron Grantham, Sir Stafford Henry Northcote, Sir Edward Thornton, Sir John Alexander Macdonald, and Montague Bernard. The commissioners assembled in Washington, Feb. 27, 1871, and on May 8 signed the treaty of Washington, the ratifications of which were exchanged at London on June 17. The treaty provided for the settlement of the Alabama claims by a tribunal of arbitration to meet at Geneva, Switzerland, and to be composed of five arbitrators, appointed one each by the president, the queen, the king of Italy, the president of the Swiss confederation, and the emperor of Brazil. Other claims of American citizens against the British government and of British subjects against the United States arising out of acts committed between April 13, 1861, and April 9, 1865, were to be referred to three commissioners, appointed, one by the president, one by the queen, and one by the two jointly, to meet in Washington. The conflicting claims of the two nations, growing out of the treaty of June 15, 1846, to San Juan and other islands between Washington territory and Vancouver island, were referred to the arbitration of the emperor of Germany. The treaty also contained certain stipulations respecting the navigation of rivers, lakes, and canals adjacent to the United States and Canada, and respecting the transit of goods through those countries, and provisions respecting the coast fisheries. (See Fisheries, vol. vii., p. 231.) Three commissioners, to sit at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and to be appointed, one by the president, one by the queen, and one by the two jointly, were provided for the determination of the claim of Great Britain to compensation for the rights of fishery granted by her. The Geneva tribunal was composed of the following arbitrators: Charles Francis Adams, appointed by the United States; Sir Alexander J. E. Cockburn, by Great Britain; Count Paolo Federigo Sclopis de Salerano, by Italy; Jakob Staempfli, by Switzerland; and Marcos Antonio d'Araujo, baron (afterward viscount) d'Itajubá, by Brazil. The tribunal convened on Dec. 15, 1871, the United States being represented by J. C. Bancroft Davis as agent, and Caleb Cushing, William M. Evarts, and Morrison R. Waite as counsel. On Sept. 14, 1872, a decision was rendered that Great Britain had failed in her duties as a neutral in the cases of the Alabama, Florida, Shenandoah, and their tenders, and awarded to the United States the sum of $15,500,000 in gold. This sum was promptly paid by Great Britain, and a commission, appointed under an act of congress, is now (1876) in session in Washington determining the rights of individual claimants. The San Juan question was decided in favor of the United States by the German emperor on Oct. 21, 1872. (See San Juan.) (See “Papers relating to the Treaty of Washington,” published by the department of state, 5 vols., 1872.) The Washington commission was composed of James S. Frazer, appointed by the United States; Russell Gurney, by Great Britain; and Count Corti, Italian minister at Washington, by the two jointly. It assembled Sept. 26, 1871, and adjourned Sept. 25, 1873, after making an award against the United States of $1,929,819. The Halifax commission has ​not yet (1876) been organized. For a notice of the negotiations respecting the annexation of Santo Domingo (1869-'71), see Grant, Ulysses S., vol. viii., p. 160. Since the outbreak of the Cuban rebellion, the relations between Spain and the United States have frequently been disturbed. The capture of the steamer Virginius on the high seas under the United States flag on Oct. 31, 1873, by the Spanish man-of-war Tornado, for a time threatened war. The Virginius was taken to a Cuban port, and several of those on board were summarily shot on the charge of being connected with the insurrection. On Dec. 16 the steamer was given up to the United States, and two days after the survivors of those on board were surrendered. In the spring of 1876 Spain paid the United States $80,000 for the relief of the families of those executed. In 1868 a secret organization, known as the Ku-Klux Klan, made its appearance in the south, and numerous outrages were committed by its members on colored citizens and others who favored the congressional plan of reconstruction. On April 20, 1871, congress passed an act to enforce the provisions of the fourteenth amendment, by which cognizance of these offences was given to the United States courts, and several convictions were had under its provisions. On May 31, 1870, an act had been passed (amended Feb. 28, 1871) to enforce the provisions of the fifteenth amendment, the design of which was to protect colored citizens in their right to vote. An act of March 1, 1875, prohibited the denial of equal rights in inns, public conveyances, theatres, &c., to any one on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. On May 10, 1876, an exhibition of American and foreign arts, products, and manufactures was opened at Philadelphia, under the auspices of the government, in accordance with the act of congress of March 3, 1871. The undertaking has been carried on chiefly by private enterprise and state appropriations, but the act of congress of Feb. 16, 1876, appropriated $1,500,000. (See Philadelphia.)—The following is a list of the presidents and vice presidents of the United States:
Terms. :
| George Washington | Virginia | April 30, 1789, to March 4, 1797. |
| John Adams | Massachusetts | March 4, 1797, to March 4, 1801. |
| Thomas Jefferson | Virginia | March 4, 1801, to March 4, 1809. |
| James Madison | Virginia | March 4, 1809, to March 4, 1817. |
| James Monroe | Virginia | March 4, 1817, to March 4, 1825. |
| John Quincy Adams | Massachusetts | March 4, 1825, to March 4, 1829. |
| Andrew Jackson | Tennessee | March 4, 1829, to March 4, 1837. |
| Martin Van Buren | New York | March 4, 1837, to March 4, 1841. |
| William Henry Harrison | Ohio | March 4, 1841, to April 4, 1841. |
| John Tyler | Virginia | April 4, 1841, to March 4, 1845. |
| James Knox Polk | Tennessee | March 4, 1845, to March 4, 1849. |
| Zachary Taylor | Louisiana | March 4, 1849, to July 9, 1850. |
| Millard Fillmore | New York | July 9, 1850, to March 4, 1853. |
| Franklin Pierce | New Hampshire | March 4, 1853, to March 4, 1857. |
| James Buchanan | Pennsylvania | March 4, 1857, to March 4, 1861. |
| Abraham Lincoln | Illinois | March 4, 1861, to April 15, 1865. |
| Andrew Johnson | Tennessee | April 15, 1865, to March 4, 1869. |
| Ulysses S. Grant | Illinois | March 4, 1869 (still In office). |
| VICE PRESIDENTS. | | |
| John Adams | Massachusetts | April 21, 1789, to March 4, 1797. |
| Thomas Jefferson | Virginia | March 4, 1797, to March 4, 1801. |
| Aaron Burr | New York | March 4, 1801, to March 4, 1805. |
| George Clinton | New York | March 4, 1805, to April 20, 1812. |
| Elbridge Gerry | Massachusetts | March 4, 1813, to Nov. 23, 1814. |
| Daniel D. Tompkins | New York | March 4, 1817, to March 4, 1825. |
| John Caldwell Calhoun | South Carolina | March 4, 1825, to Dec. 28, 1832. |
| Martin Van Buren | New York | March 4, 1833, to March 4, 1837. |
| Richard Mentor Johnson | Kentucky | March 4, 1837, to March 4, 1841. |
| John Tyler | Virginia | March 4, 1841, to April 4, 1841. |
| George Mifflin Dallas | Pennsylvania | March 4, 1845, to March 4, 1849. |
| Millard Fillmore | New York | March 4, 1849, to July 9, 1850. |
| William Rufus King | Alabama | March 4, 1858, to April 18, 1853. |
| John Cabell Breckinridge | Kentucky | March 4. 1857, to March 4, 1861. |
| Hannibal Hamlin | Maine | March 4, 1861, to March 4, 1865. |
| Andrew Johnson | Tennessee | March 4, 1865, to April 15, 1865. |
| Schuyler Colfax | Indiana | March 4, 1869, to March 4, 1873. |
| Henry Wilson | Massachusetts | March 4, 1873, to Nov. 22 1875. |
The chief justices have been as follows: John Jay of New York, Sept. 26, 1789, to June 29, 1795; John Rutledge of South Carolina, July 1, 1795, to Dec. 15, 1795 (appointed in the recess of the senate, presided at the August term, rejected by the senate); Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut, March 4, 1796, to October, 1800; John Marshall of Virginia, Jan. 31, 1801, to July 6, 1835; Roger Brooke Taney of Maryland, March 15, 1836, to Oct. 12, 1864; Salmon Portland Chase of Ohio, Dec. 6, 1864, to May 7, 1873; and Morrison Remich Waite of Ohio, appointed Jan. 21, 1874. William Cushing of Massachusetts, appointed Jan. 27, 1796, and John Jay, reappointed Dec. 19, 1800, declined.
* ↑ The thirteen original states.
* ↑ Date when congress assumed exclusive jurisdiction.
* ↑ Date of cession by Russia.
* ↑ 1874.
* ↑ Annexed to Boston in 1874.
* ↑ Including civilized Indians.
* ↑ Total males.
* ↑ Total females.
* ↑ Gold.
* ↑ Mixed values.
* ↑ Partly old and partly new measurement.
* ↑ New measurement.
* ↑ New measurements from 1866.
* ↑ Included in these sums are certificates of deposit amounting to $31,730,000 in 1873, $58,760,000 in 1874, and $58,415,000 in 1875. These certificates are offset by notes held on deposit for their redemption, and should he deducted from the principal of the public debt in comparing with previous years.
* ↑ No interest-bearing notes, but demand notes only, are included with legal-tender notes from Aug. 31, 1865, to Jan. 1, 1870.
* ↑ Including the Geneva award, $15,500,000.
* ↑ The total amount of circulation outstanding on Oct. 1, 1875 (2,302 banks), was $347,900,082, which amount includes the notes in circulation of banks which have failed, are in liquidation, and have deposited legal-tender notes under the act of June 20, 1874.
* ↑ Died in office.
* ↑ Resigned.
* Engd. by O.J. Stuart, N.Y.
* Engd. by O.J. Stuart, N.Y.