[Footnotei:Ifthepopulationcontinuestodoubleeverytwenty—twoyears，asithasdoneforthelasttwohundredyears，thenumberofinhabitantsintheUnitedStatesin1852willbetwentymillions;in1874，forty—eightmillions;andin1896，ninety—sixmillions。ThismaystillbethecaseevenifthelandsonthewesternslopeoftheRockyMountainsshouldbefoundtobeunfitforcultivation。Theterritorywhichisalreadyoccupiedcaneasilycontainthisnumberofinhabitants。Onehundredmillionsofmendisseminatedoverthesurfaceofthetwenty—fourStates，andthethreedependencies，whichconstitutetheUnion，wouldonlygive762inhabitantstothesquareleague;
thiswouldbefarbelowthemeanpopulationofFrance，whichis1，063tothesquareleague;orofEngland，whichis1，457;anditwouldevenbebelowthepopulationofSwitzerland，forthatcountry，notwithstandingitslakesandmountains，contains783
inhabitantstothesquareleague。See"MalteBrun，"vol。vi。p。
92。
[Theactualresulthasfallensomewhatshortofthesecalculations，inspiteofthevastterritorialacquisitionsoftheUnitedStates:butin1899thepopulationisprobablyabouteighty—sevenmillions，includingthepopulationofthePhilippines，Hawaii，andPortoRico。]]
WhateverfaithImayhaveintheperfectibilityofman，untilhumannatureisaltered，andmenwhollytransformed，I
shallrefusetobelieveinthedurationofagovernmentwhichiscalledupontoholdtogetherfortydifferentpeoples，disseminatedoveraterritoryequaltoone—halfofEuropeinextent;toavoidallrivalry，ambition，andstrugglesbetweenthem，andtodirecttheirindependentactivitytotheaccomplishmentofthesamedesigns。
ButthegreatestperiltowhichtheUnionisexposedbyitsincreasearisesfromthecontinualchangeswhichtakeplaceinthepositionofitsinternalstrength。ThedistancefromLakeSuperiortotheGulfofMexicoextendsfromthe47thtothe30thdegreeoflatitude，adistanceofmorethan1，200milesasthebirdflies。ThefrontieroftheUnitedStateswindsalongthewholeofthisimmenseline，sometimesfallingwithinitslimits，butmorefrequentlyextendingfarbeyondit，intothewaste。Ithasbeencalculatedthatthewhitesadvanceeveryyearameandistanceofseventeenmilesalongthewholeofhisvastboundary。
*jObstacles，suchasanunproductivedistrict，alakeoranIndiannationunexpectedlyencountered，aresometimesmetwith。
Theadvancingcolumnthenhaltsforawhile;itstwoextremitiesfallbackuponthemselves，andassoonastheyarereunitedtheyproceedonwards。ThisgradualandcontinuousprogressoftheEuropeanracetowardstheRockyMountainshasthesolemnityofaprovidentialevent;itislikeadelugeofmenrisingunabatedly，anddailydrivenonwardsbythehandofGod。
[Footnotej:SeeLegislativeDocuments，20thCongress，No。117，p。105。]
Withinthisfirstlineofconqueringsettlerstownsarebuilt，andvastStatesfounded。In1790therewereonlyafewthousandpioneerssprinkledalongthevalleysoftheMississippi;
andatthepresentdaythesevalleyscontainasmanyinhabitantsasweretobefoundinthewholeUnionin1790。Theirpopulationamountstonearly4，000，000。*kThecityofWashingtonwasfoundedin1800，intheverycentreoftheUnion;butsucharethechangeswhichhavetakenplace，thatitnowstandsatoneoftheextremities;andthedelegatesofthemostremoteWesternStatesarealreadyobligedtoperformajourneyaslongasthatfromViennatoParis。*l[Footnotek:3，672，317—Censusof1830。]
[Footnotel:ThedistancefromJefferson，thecapitaloftheStateofMissouri，toWashingtonis1，019miles。（"AmericanAlmanac，"1831，p。48。）]
AlltheStatesareborneonwardsatthesametimeinthepathoffortune，butofcoursetheydonotallincreaseandprosperinthesameproportion。TotheNorthoftheUnionthedetachedbranchesoftheAlleghanychain，whichextendasfarastheAtlanticOcean，formspaciousroadsandports，whichareconstantlyaccessibletovesselsofthegreatestburden。ButfromthePotomactothemouthoftheMississippithecoastissandyandflat。InthispartoftheUnionthemouthsofalmostalltheriversareobstructed;andthefewharborswhichexistamongsttheselagoonsaffordmuchshallowerwatertovessels，andmuchfewercommercialadvantagesthanthoseoftheNorth。
Thisfirstnaturalcauseofinferiorityisunitedtoanothercauseproceedingfromthelaws。Wehavealreadyseenthatslavery，whichisabolishedintheNorth，stillexistsintheSouth;andIhavepointedoutitsfatalconsequencesupontheprosperityoftheplanterhimself。
TheNorthisthereforesuperiortotheSouthbothincommerce*mandmanufacture;thenaturalconsequenceofwhichisthemorerapidincreaseofpopulationandofwealthwithinitsborders。TheStatessituateupontheshoresoftheAtlanticOceanarealreadyhalf—peopled。Mostofthelandisheldbyanowner;andthesedistrictscannotthereforereceivesomanyemigrantsastheWesternStates，whereaboundlessfieldisstillopentotheirexertions。ThevalleyoftheMississippiisfarmorefertilethanthecoastoftheAtlanticOcean。Thisreason，addedtoalltheothers，contributestodrivetheEuropeanswestward—afactwhichmayberigorouslydemonstratedbyfigures。ItisfoundthatthesumtotalofthepopulationofalltheUnitedStateshasabouttripledinthecourseoffortyyears。
ButintherecentStatesadjacenttotheMississippi，thepopulationhasincreasedthirty—one—fold，withinthesamespaceoftime。*n[Footnotem:ThefollowingstatementswillsufficetoshowthedifferencewhichexistsbetweenthecommerceoftheSouthandthatoftheNorth:—
In1829thetonnageofallthemerchantvesselsbelongingtoVirginia，thetwoCarolinas，andGeorgia（thefourgreatSouthernStates），amountedtoonly5，243tons。InthesameyearthetonnageofthevesselsoftheStateofMassachusettsaloneamountedto17，322tons。（SeeLegislativeDocuments，21stCongress，2dsession，No。140，p。244。）ThustheStateofMassachusettshadthreetimesasmuchshippingasthefourabove—mentionedStates。NeverthelesstheareaoftheStateofMassachusettsisonly7，335squaremiles，anditspopulationamountsto610，014inhabitants[2，238，943in1890];whilsttheareaofthefourotherStatesIhavequotedis210，000squaremiles，andtheirpopulation3，047，767。ThustheareaoftheStateofMassachusettsformsonlyone—thirtiethpartoftheareaofthefourStates;anditspopulationisfivetimessmallerthantheirs。（See"Darby’sViewoftheUnitedStates。"）SlaveryisprejudicialtothecommercialprosperityoftheSouthinseveraldifferentways;bydiminishingthespiritofenterpriseamongstthewhites，andbypreventingthemfrommeetingwithasnumerousaclassofsailorsastheyrequire。Sailorsareusuallytakenfromthelowestranksofthepopulation。ButintheSouthernStatestheselowestranksarecomposedofslaves，anditisverydifficulttoemploythematsea。Theyareunabletoserveaswellasawhitecrew，andapprehensionswouldalwaysbeentertainedoftheirmutinyinginthemiddleoftheocean，oroftheirescapingintheforeigncountriesatwhichtheymighttouch。]
[Footnoten:"Darby’sViewoftheUnitedStates，"p。444。]
Therelativepositionofthecentralfederalpoweriscontinuallydisplaced。FortyyearsagothemajorityofthecitizensoftheUnionwasestablisheduponthecoastoftheAtlantic，intheenvironsofthespotuponwhichWashingtonnowstands;butthegreatbodyofthepeopleisnowadvancinginlandandtothenorth，sothatintwentyyearsthemajoritywillunquestionablybeonthewesternsideoftheAlleghanies。IftheUniongoesontosubsist，thebasinoftheMississippiisevidentlymarkedout，byitsfertilityanditsextent，asthefuturecentreoftheFederalGovernment。Inthirtyorfortyyears，thattractofcountrywillhaveassumedtherankwhichnaturallybelongstoit。Itiseasytocalculatethatitspopulation，comparedtothatofthecoastoftheAtlantic，willbe，inroundnumbers，as40to11。InafewyearstheStateswhichfoundedtheUnionwilllosethedirectionofitspolicy，andthepopulationofthevalleyoftheMississippiwillpreponderateinthefederalassemblies。
Thisconstantgravitationofthefederalpowerandinfluencetowardsthenorthwestisshowneverytenyears，whenageneralcensusofthepopulationismade，andthenumberofdelegateswhicheachStatesendstoCongressissettledafresh。*oIn1790
VirginiahadnineteenrepresentativesinCongress。Thisnumbercontinuedtoincreaseuntiltheyear1813，whenitreachedtotwenty—three;fromthattimeitbegantodecrease，andin1833
Virginiaelectedonlytwenty—onerepresentatives。*pDuringthesameperiodtheStateofNewYorkprogressedinthecontrarydirection:in1790ithadtenrepresentativesinCongress;in1813，twenty—seven;in1823，thirty—four;andin1833，forty。
TheStateofOhiohadonlyonerepresentativein1803，andin1833ithadalreadynineteen。
[Footnoteo:Itmaybeseenthatinthecourseofthelasttenyears（1820—1830）thepopulationofonedistrict，as，forinstance，theStateofDelaware，hasincreasedintheproportionoffivepercent。;whilstthatofanother，astheterritoryofMichigan，hasincreased250percent。ThusthepopulationofVirginiahadaugmentedthirteenpercent。，andthatoftheborderStateofOhiosixty—onepercent。，inthesamespaceoftime。
Thegeneraltableofthesechanges，whichisgiveninthe"NationalCalendar，"displaysastrikingpictureoftheunequalfortunesofthedifferentStates。]
[Footnotep:IthasjustbeensaidthatinthecourseofthelasttermthepopulationofVirginiahasincreasedthirteenpercent。;
anditisnecessarytoexplainhowthenumberofrepresentativesforaStatemaydecrease，whenthepopulationofthatState，farfromdiminishing，isactuallyupontheincrease。ItaketheStateofVirginia，towhichIhavealreadyalluded，asmytermofcomparison。ThenumberofrepresentativesofVirginiain1823
wasproportionatetothetotalnumberoftherepresentativesoftheUnion，andtotherelationwhichthepopulationboretothatofthewholeUnion:in1833thenumberofrepresentativesofVirginiawaslikewiseproportionatetothetotalnumberoftherepresentativesoftheUnion，andtotherelationwhichitspopulation，augmentedinthecourseoftenyears，boretotheaugmentedpopulationoftheUnioninthesamespaceoftim...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：
第33章