WESTERN TERRITORY CEDED. 291 tinued, since they could not be persevered in without endangering the stability of the Federation. On the tenth of October, Congress took action again, this time determining how the Western territory should be disposed of in case the States should transfer it to the Federal Union.* In consequence of this action the States began to make cession of their Western lands to the Federal Union. On the first of March, 1781, New York ceded its territory; Virginia followed on the first of March, 1784, supplementing its act on that date by another on the thirtieth of December, 1788, by which it agreed to ratify the fifth article of the ordinance of 1787. On the nineteenth of April, 1785, Massachusetts followed; Connecticut did the same, September 14, 1786. South Carolina, August 9, 1787; North Carolina (stipulating that "no regulation made or to be made by Congress shall tend to the emancipation of slaves") February 25, 1790; and Georgia, April 24, *The resolution provided that these lands should be formed into distinct Republican States, having, when admitted to the Union, the same rights held by the others, and that the reasonable expenses of war in acquiring the ceded territory should be repaid to the States which had incurred it. † In making the cession, Connecticut reserved to herself a tract on the shores of Lake Erie, still known as the Western Reserve, or the Connecticut Reserve, jurisdiction over which she did not resign until May 30, 1800. The tract comprised about four million acres, a territory one third larger than the present State. Half a million acres of this were granted to certain citizens who had suffered by the burning of their property during the Revolution (known afterwards as the "Fire Lands") and the remainder was sold in 1795 for $1,200,000.00, the sum being set apart for the support of education. Washington and others strongly opposed this compromise. See Rice's History of the Western Reserve, and “Maryland's Influence in Founding a National Commonwealth," by Dr. Herbert B. Adams. 1802. The territory ceded by each State was the object of separate legislation by Congress, first be The M heat Royer, thermand for Gro Toryton Josiah Bertats Ben Franklin William Elly feed Rattady Set. Smither Elledge AUTOGRAPHS OF THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. coming a dependent territory, and afterwards being admitted to the union as an independent member; but the Northwestern Territory was the subject of important legislation, first by the resolution of April THE CONFEDERATION COMPLETE. 293 23, 1784, and then by the adoption of the ordinance July 13, 1787, which repealed the resolution of 1784. It will be seen from the above recapitulation that the States at the very beginning were with reason jealous of each other, and that the relative power which each one exerted in the confederation became a matter of very serious moment; and not only this, but the rights which each State retained for itself, as well as those resigned to the federal government after becoming a member of the Confederation, were differently held in different sections, and thus the seeds were laid for the constant discussion of these questions in after years, and at last for the War of the Secession in 1861.* After the States had severally ratified the articles of confederation, it became their duty to frame new governments. This Massachusetts and New Hampshire had done in 1775. Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina and Maryland, followed in 1776; New York, Georgia and South Carolina, 1777; while Connecticut and Rhode Island used their royal charters under which they had sufficiently liberal governments, not forming new constitutions until 1818 and 1842 respectively. Thus the States were better organized than the nation. THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. The celebrated ordinance of 1787 was declared by Congress to be a compact between the original States and the people and States to be formed in the territory northwest of the Ohio River, which should for *These articles of confederation were not fully ratified until March 1, 1781, and by that time it had become apparent that they conferred upon the Federal government powers wholly inadequate to its purposes, especially in the provision for raising a revenue, and for regu lating foreign commerce. ever remain unalterable, unless by common consent. It contained but six comprehensive articles, providing, 1. That no orderly person should ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments. 2. That civil liberty should be guaranteed, the benefits of trial by jury, of the writ of Habeas Corpus, of proportionate representation, and immunity against unusual punishments, and that no law ought to invade private rights, or affect honest private contracts. 3. That schools and education should forever be encouraged, and that good faith should always be observed in dealings with the Indians. 4. That the territory should be a part of the United States having equal rights with the other portions, and that the rivers leading into the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi should always be free to the inhabitants, no less than to the other citizens of the United States. 5. That no less than three, nor more than five States should be formed out of the territory, and that when these States should respectively gain a population of sixty thousand free inhabitants, they should be admitted to the Union with Republican constitutions of their own forming. 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, provided always, that any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid. There have been six subsequent additions to the territory of the United States, making the area at the present time about thirty-six hundred thousand square miles. This sum is made up as follows: Limits of the original thirteen States, 407,000 Western claims ceded to the general government, Louisiana purchase in 1803, for $15,000,000.00, Florida purchased of Spain, in 1819, for $ 5,000,000.00 New Mexico and California, ceded by Mexico, in 1848, Total, CHAPTER XIV. NORTHERN OPERATIONS. Y driving Howe from Boston, Washington had shifted the operations from the vicinity of that city, about which they had up to that time been mostly confined, and had made New York the scene of active strug gles. The war which began at Lexington on the nineteenth of April, 1775, was stopped by a general order from Washington, announcing the cessation of hostilities, read before each regiment on the same date, in 1783. Until 1778, the Americans carried on the struggle with little encouragement, and with no aid from without, and the conflicts were mainly in the Northern and Middle States; but after that time the operations were more in the South, and the alliance with France gave encouragement as well as material strength to the patriots. On the ninth of July, 1776, Washington caused the Declaration of Independence to be read before the army, and it had the effect of giving a new impulse to all. He said, in the order for that day, that he hoped it would "serve as a fresh incentive to |