Numbers, 1860. complete alteration in the political attitude of the leaders. who guided the fortunes of the South. In their opinion, the time had come to push their demands — or their rights, as they regarded them. It would no longer do for the Union. merely to tolerate slavery: the federal government must actively undertake the extension and protection of it; the Northerners must change their sentiments and declare it to be right. Failing this complete surrender on the part of the North, the Southern leaders were determined to break up the Union and to establish a slave republic in the South. Probably they expected little resistance from the people of the North; they certainly had no fears as to the outcome of civil war, should it take place. They were laboring under some of the most curious delusions which the student of history meets in the whole course of his work. To comprehend the history of the next six years, it is necessary to understand the material conditions of the country as a whole, and those of the two sections respectively. 319. Population, 1860. The population had increased. from slightly under thirteen millions in 1830 to over thirtyone millions in 1860. The increase had been especially rapid since 1850, when the population numbered twentythree millions. A large part of this growth was due directly to immigration, which had gathered in volume every decade. The total immigration of these thirty years amounted to nearly five millions (4,902,000). Of these newcomers about six hundred thousand came in the ten years 1831-40, more than seventeen hundred thousand in 1841-50, and over two and one half millions in 1851-60; the largest number in any one year before the Civil War was four hundred and Immigration, twenty-eight thousand in 1854. This ever-widening stream. 1830-60. of immigration was owing largely to causes over which the United States had no control. The period extending from 1830 to 1860 was a time of unparalleled distress and disorder in Europe: on the continent revolution succeeded revolution, while a terrible famine swept off a large portion of the people of Ireland 1860] Population 457 and made it difficult for the survivors longer to live in the old home of their race. From all parts of northern and western Europe immigrants poured into the United States. Great material prosperity and unusual personal liberty drew them to the states of the federal union in preference to Canada or Mexico or to the Australian or African colonies of England. These immigrants brought little with them; unskilled labor was their stock in trade; but this was what America needed. These strong men built the cities and railroads of the North, and added thousands of acres to the fields of corn and wheat in the West. Politically, their coming was of the greatest importance: in the crowded cities they often interfered sadly with the cause of good government, mainly through ignorance; but as far as national politics was concerned, their presence was a positive good. For years the United States- the great republic beyond the seahad been to them as a star of hope in the western sky: they knew nothing of the states, individually, and for them states' rights had no charm; the United States was their adopted home, and when the time came to show their devotion, they responded most heroically. Nor was this matter one of small moment in 1860 the foreign-born residents formed over thirteen per cent of the total population of the country. Unskilled white labor played little part in the development of the South; the immigrants settled almost entirely in the North, and formed nearly one quarter of the population of that section. In many parts of the West they were the majority of the inhabitants. Since Analysis of 320. Distribution of the Population, Area, etc. 1830, one million square miles had been added to the na- population. tional domain. This addition included Texas, Oregon, and the territory acquired from Mexico in 1848 and in 1853, when forty-five thousand square miles were purchased from Mexico-known as the Gadsden Purchase, from the name of the negotiator on the part of the United States Area. (Map, p. 428). The total area of the United States was now over three million square miles, in comparison with two Center of population, 1860. millions in 1830 and less than eight hundred and fifty thousand in 1783. The settled area had increased even more rapidly from six hundred and thirty thousand square miles in 1830 to nearly twelve hundred thousand square miles (1,194,754) in 1860. The center of population moved westward with everincreasing rapidity-one hundred and ninety-one miles in the years 1830-60, in comparison with one hundred and twenty-five miles in the preceding thirty years (map, p. 296). The western progress of this artificial point during the last decade (1850-60) was owing to the rapid settlement of California and Oregon, and shows how artificial, misleading, and inaccurate it is as denoting density of population or national growth: in 1850 twelve persons at San Francisco had as much weight in determining this artificial point as forty at New York. Nevertheless, until 1850, and after 1870, the movement of the center of population 1860] : indicates in a rough way the growth of the population of the several sections. Since 1830 nine states had been added to the Union, and another, Kansas, was demanding admission of those admitted, Arkansas (1836), Florida (1845), and Texas (1846) were slave states; the other six were free states Michigan (1837), Iowa (1846), Wisconsin (1848), California (1850), Minnesota (1858), and Oregon (1859). It should be noted that the admission of California gave the free states a majority in the Senate, which was further increased by the admission of Minnesota and Oregon. 321. Slave and Free Sections compared. The area of Influence of the United States open to slavery was vastly larger than that slavery. preserved to freedom. Much of the former was still unoccupied, but the settled area given over to slavery was greater than that devoted to freedom. The settled slave region was as fertile as any part of the United States. It contained enormous stores of coal and iron and possessed vast water powers, great forests, and a climate in every way suited to all kinds of human occupations. Yet, with these great natural advantages, the slave states contained only twelve million of the thirty-one million inhabitants of the United States. Moreover, as slaves formed fully one third of the population of the Southern states, the white population of the slave and free states was in the proportion of eight to twenty. The effect of slavery in limiting population will become apparent by a study of the accompanying map, showing the density of population by states. It will be seen, for instance, that only two slave states, Maryland and Delaware, contained over forty-five inhabitants to the square mile, and five states fewer than eighteen to the square mile. On the other hand, four free states contained over ninety persons to the square mile and three large free states, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, between forty-five and ninety. Indeed, two Northern cities alone contained more people than the state of South Carolina or of Texas, while one Northern city held more free whites than any slave state. Northern cities. Southern cities. The growth of Northern cities had been wonderful. The urban population of the country, as a whole, had increased from eight hundred and sixty-four thousand in 1830 to over five millions in 1860. In 1830 less than seven per cent of the population had been gathered into cities; in 1860 more than sixteen per cent was classed as urban. The opening of the commercial route from the Great Lakes to the seaboard by the Erie canal and the Hudson River had contributed greatly to the increase of the population of the two cities at the ends of the line, New York and Chicago. In 1830 the population of New York numbered less than two hundred thousand; by 1860 it had increased fourfold, and now numbered eight hundred and seven thousand. Chicago in 1833 had thirty-three names on the voting list; in 1860 more than one hundred thousand persons lived within its limits. There were many other large cities of from one hundred thousand to five hundred thousand inhabitants, — Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Boston, Cincinnati, Buffalo, and Newark. There were only three cities south of Mason and Dixon's line with over one hundred thousand inhabitants, Baltimore, New Orleans, and St. Louis. Of these, New Orleans alone was situated within the limits of the states which seceded. In the North, also, there were very many manufacturing towns, growing rapidly and increasing in number. In the South there were no manufacturing towns and almost no commerce. Of the one hundred and seven cotton mills in operation, only eight were in the South; of the thirty thousand miles of railroad, but ten thousand were in the South. To all intents and purposes, the slave states were socially, economically, and commercially where they were in 1810. "Alone in all the world she [the South] stood, unmoved by the whirl and rush' of modern civilization," said one Southern man. "From the rattle with which the nurse tickled the ear of the child to the shroud for the dead," said another, "everything that the Southerners used came from the North." |