That part of North America which is under the government of the United
States, now constitutes one of the most powerful and most enlightened
nations in the world. The inhabitants enjoy the advantage of a vast
extent of territory, over which the daily increasing population is able,
with facility, to expand itself; and much of this territory, though
covered with forests, is capable of being cleared, and many parts of it
are every day cleared, for the purposes of cultivation.
The origin of the United States may be dated from the time of the
formation of an English colony in Virginia, about the year 1606. Other
English colonies were subsequently formed; and, during one hundred and
fifty years, these gradually increased in strength and prosperity, till,
at length, the inhabitants threw off their dependance upon England, and
established an independent republican government. This, after a long and
expensive war, was acknowledged by Great Britain, in a treaty signed at
Paris on the 30th of November, 1782.
The _boundaries_ of the States were determined by this treaty; but, some
important acquisitions of territory have since been made. In April,
1803, _Louisiana_ was ceded to them by France; and this district, in
its most limited extent, includes a surface of country, which, with the
exception of Russia, is equal to the whole of Europe. _Florida_, by its
local position, is connected with the United States: it belonged to
Spain, but, in the year 1820, it was annexed to the territories of the
republic.
Geographical writers have divided the United States into three regions:
the _lowlands_ or flat country; the highlands, and the mountains. Of
these, the first extend from the Atlantic ocean to the falls of the
great rivers. The _highlands_ reach from the falls to the foot of the
mountains; and the _mountains_ stretch nearly through the whole country,
in a direction from south-west to north-east. Their length is about 900
miles, and their breadth from 60 to 200. They may be considered as
separated into two distinct chains; of which the eastern chain has the
name of _Blue Mountains_, and the western is known, at its southern
extremity, by the name of _Cumberland_ and _Gauley Mountains_, and
afterwards by that of the _Alleghany Mountains_. The Alleghanies are
about 250 miles distant from the shore of the Atlantic. Towards the
north there are other eminences, called the _Green Mountains_ and the
_White Mountains_. The loftiest summits of the whole are said to be
about 7000 feet in perpendicular height above the level of the sea.
Few countries can boast a greater general fertility of _soil_ than North
America. The soil of the higher lands consists, for the most part, of a
brown loamy earth, and a yellowish sandy clay. Marine shells, and other
substances, in a fossil state, are found at the depth of eighteen or
twenty feet below the surface of the ground. Some of these are of very
extraordinary description. In the year 1712, several bones and teeth of
a vast nondescript quadruped, were dug up at Albany in the state of New
York. By the ignorant inhabitants these were considered to be the
remains of gigantic human bodies. In 1799 the bones of other individuals
of this animal, which has since been denominated the _Mastodon_ or
_American Mammoth_, were discovered beneath the surface of the ground,
in the vicinity of Newburgh, on the river Hudson. Induced by the hope of
being able to obtain a perfect skeleton, a Mr. Peale, of Philadelphia,
purchased these bones, with the right of digging for others. He was
indefatigable in his exertions, but was unable, for some time, to
procure any more. He made an attempt in a morass about twelve miles
distant from Newburgh, where an entire set of ribs was found, but
unaccompanied by any other remains. In another morass, in Ulster county,
he found several bones; among the rest a complete under jaw, and upper
part of the head. From the whole of the fragments that he obtained, he
was enabled to form two skeletons. One of these, under the name of
mammoth, was exhibited in London, about a year afterwards. Its height at
the shoulder was eleven feet; its whole length was fifteen feet; and its
weight about one thousand pounds. This skeleton was furnished with large
and curved ivory tusks, different in shape from those of an elephant,
but similar in quality. In 1817 another skeleton was dug up, from the
depth of only four feet, in the town of _Goshen_, near Chester. The
tusks of this were more than nine feet in length.
In a region so extensive as the United States, there must necessarily be
a great variety of _climate_. In general, the heat of summer and the
cold of winter are more intense, and the transitions, from the one to
the other, are more sudden than in the old continent. The predominant
winds are from the west; and the severest cold is felt from the
north-west. Between the forty-second and forty-fifth degrees of
latitude, the same parallel as the south of France, the winters are very
severe. During winter, the ice of the rivers is sufficiently strong to
bear the passage of horses and waggons; and snow is so abundant, as to
admit the use of sledges. In Georgia the winters are mild. South
Carolina is subject to immoderate heat, to tremendous hurricanes, and
to terrific storms of thunder and lightning.
The United States are usually classed in three divisions: the northern,
the middle, and the southern. The _northern states_ have the general
appellation of _New England_: they are Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The _middle states_ are New
York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. The
_southern states_ are Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Tenessee, and Louisiana.
Besides these, the United States claim the government of the
_territories_ of the Illinois, Alabama, and Mississippi. By a public
ordinance, passed in the year 1787, a territory cannot be admitted into
the American Union, until its population amounts to 60,000 free
inhabitants. In the mean time, however, it is subject to a regular
provisional form of government. The administration of this is entrusted
to a governor, who is appointed by the president and congress of the
United States; and who is invested with extensive powers, for protection
of the interests of the States, and the observance of a strict faith
towards the Indians, in the exchange of commodities, and the purchase of
lands.
The _government_ of the United States is denominated a "Federal
Republic." Each state has a constitution for the management of its own
internal affairs; and, by the federal constitution, they are all formed
into one united body. The legislative power is vested in a _congress_ of
delegates from the several states; this congress is divided into two
distinct bodies, the _senate_ and the _house of representatives_. The
members of the latter are elected every two years, by the people; and
the senators are elected every six years, by the state legislatures. A
senator must be thirty years of age, an inhabitant of the state in which
he is elected, and must have been nine years a citizen of the United
States: the present number of senators is thirty-eight. The executive
power is vested in a _president_, who is chosen every four years. In
the election both of members of congress, and of the president of the
United States, it is asserted, that there is much manoeuvering, and
much corrupt influence exerted. In the electioneering addresses of the
defeated parties, these are, perhaps, as often made a subject of
complaint and reproach, as they are in those of defeated candidates for
the representation of counties or boroughs in the British House of
Commons.
Washington is the seat of government; and the president, when there,
lives in a house destined for his use, and furnished at the expense of
the nation. His annual salary is 25,000 dollars, about L.5600 sterling.
The president, in virtue of his office, is commander-in-chief of the
army and navy of the United States, and also of the militia, whenever it
is called into actual service. He is empowered to make treaties, to
appoint ambassadors, ministers, consuls, judges of the supreme court,
and all military and other officers whose appointments are not otherwise
provided for by the law.
The _national council_ is composed of the President and Vice President;
and the heads of the treasury, war, navy, and post-office establishment.
The _inhabitants_ of the United States (says Mr. Warden[1]) have not
that uniform character which belongs to ancient nations, upon whom, time
and the stability of institutions, have imprinted a particular and
individual character. The general physiognomy is as varied as its origin
is different. English, Irish, Germans, Scotch, French, and Swiss, all
retain some characteristic of their ancient country.
The account given by Mr. Birkbeck is somewhat different from this. He
asserts that, as far as he had an opportunity of judging, the native
inhabitants of the towns are much alike; nine out of ten (he says) are
tall and long limbed, approaching or even exceeding six feet. They are
seen in pantaloons and Wellington boots; either marching up and down,
with their hands in their pockets, or seated in chairs poised on the
hind feet, and the backs rested against the walls. If a hundred
Americans, of any class, were to seat themselves, ninety-nine (observes
this gentleman) would shuffle their chairs to the true distance, and
then throw themselves back against the nearest prop. The women exhibit a
great similarity of tall, relaxed forms, with consistent dress and
demeanour; and are not remarkable for sprightliness of manners.
Intellectual culture has not yet made much progress among the generality
of either sex; but the men, from their habit of travelling, and their
consequent intercourse with strangers, have greatly the advantage, in
the means of acquiring information. Mr. Birkbeck says that, in every
village and town, as he passed along, he observed groups of young
able-bodied men, who seemed to be as perfectly at leisure as the
loungers of Europe. This love of indolence, where labour is so
profitable, is a strange affection. If these people be asked why they so
much indulge in it, they answer, that "they live in freedom; and need
not work, like the English."
In the interior of the United States, and in the back settlements,
_land_ may be purchased, both of individuals and of the government, at
very low rates. The price of uncleared land, or of land covered with
trees, and not yet in a state fit for cultivation, is, in many
instances, as low as two dollars an acre. The public lands are divided
into townships of six miles square; each of which is subdivided into
thirty-six sections, of one mile square, or 640 acres; and these are
usually offered for sale, in quarter sections, of 160 acres. The
purchase money may be paid by four equal instalments; the first within
forty days, and the others within two, three, and four years after the
completion of the purchase.
Mr. Birkbeck thus describes the mode in which _towns_ _are formed_ in
America. On any spot, (says he,) where a few settlers cluster together,
attracted by ancient neighbourhood, or by the goodness of the soil, or
vicinity to a mill, or by whatever other cause, some enterprising
proprietor perhaps finds, in his section, what he deems a good site for
a town: he has it surveyed, and laid out in lots, which he sells, or
offers to sale by auction. When these are disposed of, the new town
assumes the name of its founder: a store-keeper builds a little framed
store, and sends for a few cases of goods; and then a tavern starts up,
which becomes the residence of a doctor and a lawyer, and the boarding
house of the store-keeper, as well as the resort of the traveller. Soon
follow a blacksmith, and other handicraftsmen, in useful succession. A
school-master, who is also the minister of religion, becomes an
important acquisition to this rising community. Thus the town proceeds,
if it proceed at all, with accumulating force, until it becomes the
metropolis of the neighbourhood. Hundreds of these speculations may have
failed, but hundreds prosper; and thus trade begins and thrives, as
population increases around favourite spots. The town being established,
a cluster of inhabitants, however small it may be, acts as a stimulus on
the cultivation of the neighbourhood: redundancy of supply is the
consequence, and this demands a vent. Water-mills rise on the nearest
navigable streams, and thus an effectual and constant market is secured
for the increasing surplus of produce. Such are the elements of that
accumulating mass of commerce which may, hereafter, render this one of
the most important and most powerful countries in the world.
Though the Americans boast of the freedom which they personally enjoy,
they, most inconsistently, allow the importation and employment of
_slaves_; and, with such unjust detestation are these unhappy beings
treated, that a negro is not permitted to eat at the same table, nor
even to frequent the same place of worship, as a white person. The white
_servants_, on the contrary, esteem themselves on an equality with
their masters. They style themselves "helps," and will not suffer
themselves to be called "servants." When they speak to their masters or
mistresses, they either call them by their names; or they substitute the
term "boss," for that of master. All this, however, is a difference
merely of words; for the Americans exhibit no greater degree of feeling,
nor are they at all more considerate in their conduct towards this class
of society, than the inhabitants of other nations. Indeed the contrary
is very often the case. Most persons, in America, engage their servants
by the week, and no enquiry is ever made relative to character, as is
customary with us.
The _constitution_ of the United States guarantees freedom of speech and
liberty of the press. By law all the inhabitants are esteemed equal. The
chief military strength of the country is in the militia; and, whenever
this is embodied, every male inhabitant beyond a certain age, is
compellable either to bear arms, or to pay an equivalent to be excused
from this service. Trial by jury is to be preserved inviolate. A
republican form of government is guaranteed to all the states, and
hereditary titles and distinctions are prohibited by the law. With
regard to religion, it is stipulated that no law shall ever be passed to
establish any particular form of religion, or to prevent the free
exercise of it; and, in the United States, no religious test is required
as a qualification to any office of public trust.
In _commerce_ and _navigation_ the progress of the States has been rapid
beyond example. Besides the natural advantages of excellent harbours,
extensive inland bays, and navigable rivers, the Americans assert that
their trade is not fettered by monopolies, nor by exclusive privileges
of any description. Goods or merchandise circulate through the whole
country free of duty; and a full drawback, or restitution of the duties
of importation, is granted upon articles exported to a foreign port, in
the course of the year in which they have been imported. Commerce is
here considered a highly honourable employment; and, in the sea-port
towns, all the wealthiest members of the community are merchants. Nearly
all the materials for manufactures are produced in this country. Fuel is
inexhaustible; and the high wages of the manufacturers, and the want of
an extensive capital, alone prevent the Americans from rivalling the
English in trade. The produce of cultivation in America is of almost
every variety that can be named: wheat, maize, rye, oats, barley, rice,
and other grain; apples, pears, cherries, peaches, grapes, currants,
gooseberries, plums, and other fruit, and a vast variety of vegetables.
Lemons, oranges, and tropical fruits are raised in the southern States.
Hops, flax, and hemp are abundant. Tobacco is an article of extensive
cultivation in Virginia, Maryland, and some other districts. Cotton and
sugar are staple commodities in several of the states. The northern and
eastern states are well adapted for grazing, and furnish a great number
of valuable horses, and of cattle and sheep; and an abundance of butter
and cheese.
* * * * *
It will be possible to describe nearly all the most important places
within the limits of the United States, by reciting, in succession, the
narratives of different travellers through this interesting country. In
so doing, however, it may perhaps be found requisite, in a few
instances, to separate the parts of their narrations, for the purpose of
more methodical illustration; but this alteration of arrangement will
not often occur.