第51章

But even in them there was till quite of late a strong section so opposed to the Republican party as to give a material aid to the South. This, I think, was particularly so in New Hampshire, from whence President Pierce came. He had been one of the Senators from New Hampshire; and yet to him, as President, is affixed the disgrace--whether truly affixed or not I do not say--of having first used his power in secretly organizing those arrangements which led to secession and assisted at its birth. In Massachusetts itself, also, there was a strong Democratic party, of which Massachusetts now seems to be somewhat ashamed. Then, to make up the North, must be added the two great States of New York and Pennsylvania and the small State of New Jersey. The West will not agree even to this absolutely, seeing that they claim all territory west of the Alleghanies, and that a portion of Pennsylvania and some part also of New York lie westward of that range; but, in endeavoring to make these divisions ordinarily intelligible, I may say that the North consists of the nine States above named. But the North will also claim Maryland and Delaware, and the eastern half of Virginia. The North will claim them, though they are attached to the South by joint participation in the great social institution of slavery--for Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia are slave States--and I think that the North will ultimately make good its claim. Maryland and Delaware lie, as it were, behind the capital, and Eastern Virginia is close upon the capital. And these regions are not tropical in their climate or influences. They are and have been slave States, but will probably rid themselves of that taint, and become a portion of the free North.

The Southern or slave States, properly so called, are easily defined. They are Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The South will also claim Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland, and will endeavor to prove its right to the claim by the fact of the social institution being the law of the land in those States. Of Delaware, Maryland, and Eastern Virginia, I have already spoken. Western Virginia is, I think, so little tainted with slavery that, as she stands even at present, she properly belongs to the West. As I now write, the struggle is going on in Kentucky and Missouri. In Missouri the slave population is barely more than a tenth of the whole, while in South Carolina and Mississippi it is more than half. And, therefore, Iventure to count Missouri among the Western States, although slavery is still the law of the land within its borders. It is surrounded on three sides by free States of the West, and its soil, let us hope, must become free. Kentucky I must leave as doubtful, though I am inclined to believe that slavery will be abolished there also. Kentucky, at any rate, will never throw in its lot with the Southern States. As to Tennessee, it seceded heart and soul, and I fear that it must be accounted as Southern, although the Northern army has now, in May, 1862, possessed itself of the greater part of the State.

To the great West remains an enormous territory, of which, however, the population is as yet but scanty; though perhaps no portion of the world has increased so fast in population as have these Western States. The list is as follows: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas to which I would add Missouri, and probably the Western half of Virginia. We have then to account for the two already admitted States on the Pacific, California and Oregon, and also for the unadmitted Territories, Dacotah, Nebraska, Washington, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, and Nevada. I should be refining too much for my present very general purpose, if I were to attempt to marshal these huge but thinly-populated regions in either rank. Of California and Oregon it may probably be said that it is their ambition to form themselves into a separate division--a division which may be called the farther West.

I know that all statistical statements are tedious, and I believe that but few readers believe them. I will, however, venture to give the populations of these States in the order I have named them, seeing that power in America depends almost entirely on population. The census of 1860 gave the following results:--In the North:

Maine 619,000

New Hampshire 326,872

Vermont 325,827

Massachusetts 1,231,494

Rhode Island174,621

Connecticut 460,670

New York 3,851,563

Pennsylvania 2,916,018

New Jersey 676,034

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Total10,582,099

In the South, the population of which must be divided into free and slave:

Free. Slave. Total.

Texas 415,999 184,956 600,955Louisiana 354,245 312,186 666,431Arkansas331,710 109,065 440,775Mississippi 407,051 479,607 886,658Alabama 520,444 435,473 955,917Florida 81,885 63,809 145,694Georgia 615,366 467,461 1,082,827South Carolina 308,186 407,185 715,371North Carolina 679,965 328,377 1,008,342Tennessee 859,578 287,112 1,146,690--------- --------- ---------

Total 4,574,429 3,075,231 7,649,660in the doubtful States:

Free. Slave. Total.

Maryland646,183 85,382 731,565Delaware110,548 1,805 112,353Virginia 1,097,373 495,826 1,593,199Kentucky920,077 225,490 1,145,567--------- ------- ---------

Total 2,774,181 808,503 3,582,684In the West:

Ohio 2,377,917

Indiana 1,350,802

Illinois 1,691,238

Michigan754,291

Wisconsin 763,485

Minnesota 172,796

Iowa682,002

Kansas 143,645

Missouri 1,204,214*

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Total 9,140,390

* Of which number, in Missouri, 115,619 are slaves.

To these must be added, to make up the population of the United States as it stood in 1860,--The separate District of Columbia, in which is included Washington, the seat of the Federal Government 75,321California 384,770

Oregon 52,566

The Territories of--

Dacotah 4,839

Nebraska 28,892

Washington 11,624

Utah 49,000

New Mexico 98,024

Colorado 34,197