THE UNITED STATES. The United States of America, exclusive of Alaska, or the territory acquired from Russia in 1867, extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, and from British America to the Gulf of Mexico. It lies between Lat. 24° 20′ and 49° North, and Long. 10° 14′ East, and 47° 30′ West from Washington. It has a coast line of 2,163 miles on the Atlantic, 1,764 miles on the Gulf of Mexico, and 1,343 miles on the Pacific. Alaska, sometimes known as North-western America, with its islands, extends from the South end of Prince of Wales Island, Lat. 54° 40', to Point Barrow, 71° 30′ North, and from Lon. 53° to 116' West from Washington. The entire area of the United States and Territories is 3,578,392 square miles, or about four-ninths of North America, and more than one-fifteenth of the land surface of the globe. This area has been acquired as follows: The first European settlement was made by Spaniards at St. Augustine in Florida, in 1565, but this place was not included within the limits of the United States until 1821. The first permanent English settlement was made at Jamestown in Virginia, in 1607. Other settlements were made and colonies organized which were subject to the English government until the Declaration of Independence, July 4th, 1776. Delegates from the following States: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, in congress assembled, adopted articles of confederation in 1777. The Constitution which was framed in 1787, and ratified by the thirteen original States, went into operation March 4th, 1789. It received ten amendments in 1791, an eleventh amendment in 1798, a twelfth in 1804, a thirteenth in 1865, and a fourteenth in 1868. The government of the United States is based on this constitution which, with the laws made in accordance with its provisions, and treaties made under its authority, is the supreme law of the land. By the constitution, the government is entrusted to three separate authorities, the Legislative vested in congress, the Executive vested in the President, and the Judicial vested in one Supreme court and such inferior courts as congress may from time to time establish. (50) PRINCIPAL OFFICERS OF THE GOVERNMENT FROM THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS TO THE PRESENT TIME. Thomas Jefferson.. Va. NAME. 1789-1794 1743 1826 Daniel Webster. Timothy Pickering. Mass. 1795-1800 1745 1829 Abel P. Upshur.. Edmund Randolph. Va. John Marshall.. James Madison.. Robert Smith. Va. James Monroe. 1835-1841|1780 1841 John M. Clayton... State. Term of Ser Born. Died. Oliver Wolcott..... Samnel Dexter.. 804 Walter Forward.. Alexander Hamilton N. Y. 1789-1795 1757 1804, Samuel D. Ingham.. Penn. 1829-1831 1779'1860 Howell Cobb... Louis McLane. Roger B. Taney. Levi Woodbury.. Thomas Ewing. Ohio. 1850-1853 1794 1865 1853-1857 1793| Ky. Ga. 1857-1860 1815 1868 Md. 1860-1861 1810] Md. 1833-1834 1777 1864 Wm. P. Fessenden. Me. Henry Knox. 8tate. Term of Ber- Eorn. Died. Mass. 1789-1795 1750 1806 Timothy Pickering. Penn. 1795-1795 1745 1829 James McHenry. James Barbour.. NAME. Benjamin F. Butler. Md. 1796-1800 1755 Md. 1801-1805 1757 1842 David Henshaw. Mass. 1843-1844 1791 1852 POSTMASTERS-GENERAL. NAME. Samuel Osgood... Samuel D. Hubbard Conn. 1852-1853 1799 1855 Mass, 1789-1791 1748 1813 Cave Johnson. Timothy Pickering. Penn. 1791-1795 1745 1829 Jacob Collamer.. Joseph Habersham. Ga. 1795-1801 1750 1815 Nathan K. Hall. Gideon Granger.. Conn. 1801-1814 1767 1822 Return J. Meigs, Jr. Ohio. 1814-1823 1766 1825 John McLean.. 1823-1829 1785 1861 William T. Barry. 1829-1835 1785 1835 1835-1840 1789 1810-1841 1787 1856 N. Y. 1841-1841 1787 1868 1841-1845 1788 Amos Kendall.. John M. Niles. Francis Granger. Ohio. Ky. Chas. A. Wickliffe.. Ky. Aaron V. Brown.. Tenn. 1857-1859 1795 1859 ATTORNEYS-GENERAL. NAME. Levi Lincoln. Robert Smith.. Edmund Randolph, Va. 1789-1794 1813 John J. Crittenden. Penn. 1849-1850 1796 | 1850-1853 1786 1863 Caleb Cushing... Mass. 1853-1857 1800 James S. Speed.. Ky. Henry D. Gilpin.. CHIEF JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. ASSOCIATE JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. S. C. 1789-1791 1739 1800 John McLean.. Gabriel Duval. Smith Thompson.. Robert Trimble.... Ky. N. H. 1845-1851 1789 1851 Ala. 1853-1856 1802 1858-. 1803 1862 1805 1862 1816 1815 1817 PRESIDENTS PRO-TEMPORE OF THE SENATE. Henry Tazewell. John Langdon.. N. H. Ralph Izard. 1789-1789 1741 1819 John Pope.. S. C. 1811-1811 1770 1842 1812-18131772 184 1813–1814 1759 1821 1814-1819 1826 Va. S. C. N. C. 1826-1827 1757 1837 Md. 1828-1831 1752 1839 Va. Tenn. S. C. Samuel Livermore.. N. H. 1799-1799 1732 1803 William R. King.. Ala. Uriah Tracy. Vt. Ky. John E. Howard... Md. Andrew Greg.. Samuel L. Southard N. J. 1832-1832 1774 1860 1832-1833 1773 1840 1834-1834 1853 1835-1835 1790 1862 1836-1841 1786 1852 1841-1842 1787 1842 1842-1845 1792 1861 1846-1849 1807 1850-1852 1786 1852 1852-1854 1807 1854-1857 1812 Conn. 1800-1800 1755 1807 1857-1857 1798 Ala. 1858-1859 1802 1861-1863 1802 1866 1864-1865 1809 |