they regard ent sections

ed in differ

of the Union?

satisfaction either to the North or to the South. 'A 1850. portion of the South, complaining of the injustice of 1. How were excluding their citizens from territory purchased by their blood and by the common treasure of the Union, would have rejected California until she struck from her constitution the clause prohibiting slavery; while at the North there was much bitterness of feeling 1851-2. against the fugitive slave law, which exhibited itself in conventions of the people, and in the aid afforded to fugitive slaves escaping to Canada.

2. What is remainder administra

said of the of Filmore's

tion? 3. State of

&.c.?

and results

6. During the remainder of President Filmore's administration, little occurred to disturb the quiet tenor of our country's history. At peace with foreign nations, and blessed with almost unexampled prosperity in the various departments of agriculture, commerce, the country. and manufactures, our course is steadily onward in the march of national greatness. The presidential election 4. Character of 1852, although following closely upon the violent of the prest sectional and political contentions of the 31st Congress, tion of 18527 was one of unusual quiet, and great moderation of party feeling-a harbinger of good-a bow of promise spanning the political horizon after the storm has passed away. The result of the political canvass was the election of the democratic candidate, General Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, over General Winfield Scott, the candidate of the whig party.

dential elec

1852.

period have rived in our history?

6.

since the

CONCLUSION. "At this period in our history—at the 5. At what beginning of the last half of the nineteenth century—we now arit is wise to review the past, while with feelings of mingled fear and hope we contemplate the future. 1. 'Little more than two centuries have elapsed since the first permanent settlement by civilized man was made within the limits of the present United States. "During more than two thirds of that period, while the colonies remained under the government of Great Britain, the English settlements were confined to the Atlantic coast; and at the close of the Revolution the population numbered only three millions of souls.

2. The separation, perfected by the Revolution, at once opened new fields for exertion and enterprise ;— a great change was suddenly made in the character of the American people; and, under the fostering care

How long first settleU. States? 7. State of the country more than that period?

ment in the

during

two thirds of

8. Change that imme diately followed the Revolution

1852. of republican institutions, the tide of population has Progress of rolled rapidly inland, crossing the Alleghanies-sweeppopulation ing over the vast valley of the Mississippi, and the

westward.

plains of California-looking down from the heights of the Sierra Nevada-nor resting in its onward course until it has settled on the waters of the Colum⚫ 1. Rapid in- bia, and the shores of the Pacific. 'During the last population. sixty years of our country's history, the population has increased, in a ratio hitherto unprecedented, from three millions to more than twenty millions of souls.

crease of

2. Progress in the arts, &.c.

and re

sources.

our com

merce.

3. Nor has our progress been less rapid in the various arts of civilized life. Our transition has been sudden from the weakness of youth to the vigor 3. Power of manhood. 'In power and resources we already sustain a proud rivalry with the time-honored nations of the Old World, and we rank the first among the re4. Extent of publics of the New. 'Our busy commerce has extended over every sea, and entered every port; and from the Arctic circle to the opposite regions of Polar cold, our canvass whitens in every breeze. Our doManufac mestic manufactures, in the amount of capital employed, and in the quality and value of their fabrics, are already competing successfully with those of France Agricul and England, while the rewards of agriculture are shedding their blessings on millions of our happy people.

tures.

ture.

of commu

5. Facilities 4. Our numerous railroads, telegraphs, and canals, nication. navigable rivers and inland seas, by the facilities of communication which they open, bring closely together the most distant sections of the Union, and do much to harmonize that diversity of feelings and of in•. Religion. terests which would otherwise arise. "The Bible, and the institutions of Christianity, shed their blessings Education upon us; and the education of youth, upon which the well-being of society, and the perpetuity of our republican institutions, so greatly depend, is receiving that share of attention which its importance demands. 7. Gratitude For all these blessings we are bound to acknowledge due for these and adore the invisible hand of Almighty power that has directed and sustained us; for every step in our progress has been distinguished by manifest tokens of providential agency.

blessings.

1853.

ments and

поред гос

ish.

'Let our prayer then be that the same God who 1. The sent brought our fathers out of bondage, into a strange land, to found an empire in the wilderness, may conshould cher- tinue his protection to their children. Let us indulge the hope, that in this Western World freedom has found a congenial clime; that the tree of liberty which has been planted here may grow up in majesty and beauty, until it shall overshadow the whole land; and that beneath its branches the nations may ever dwell together in unity and love. Let us endeavor to cultivate a spirit of mutual concession and harmony in our national councils; and remembering that the monarchies of the Old World are looking upon us with jealousy, and predicting the day of our ruin, let us guard with sacred faith the boon that has been bequeathed us, and amid all the turmoils of political strife by which we may be agitated, let us ever bear aloft the motto, "The Union; one and inseparable."

APPENDIX.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.-It has been our object, in the foregoing pages, to give a connected history of the United States, from the earliest discovery of the North American continent to the present time. In order to preserve the chain of events unbroken, we have seldom digressed to consider the histories of other American states, except where they were intimately connected with our own. But as our relations with the British Possessions on our north, and the Mexican States on our southwest, are daily becoming more and more intimate, a knowledge of the past history and present condition of those countries is becoming additionally important to our people. Besides, Texas, New Mexico, and California, recently brought into our confederacy, have thus made their history our own, and rendered it additionally desirable in a work designed for our schools, to give some account of their past annals, and of the country from which they have been separated. For these reasons we annex, in the following pages, a brief history of the Canadas, both under French and under English rule, the history of Mexico, and the history of Texas down to the time when the "lone star" became one in our glorious constellation.