COMPARATIVE TABLE
| Year 1793. | Year 1851. | Year 1900. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of States | 15 | 31 | 45 |
| Representatives and Senators in Congress | 135 | 295 | 476 |
| Population of the United States | 3,929,328 | 23,267,498 | 76,303,387[48] |
| Population of Boston | 18,038 | 136,871 | 560,892 |
| Population of Baltimore | 13,503 | 169,054 | 508,957 |
| Population of Philadelphia | 42,520 | 409,045 | 1,293,697 |
| Population of New York (city) | 33,121 | 515,507 | 3,437,202 |
| Population of Washington | ... | 40,075 | 278,718 |
| Population of Richmond | 4,000 | 27,582 | 85,050 |
| Population of Charleston | 16,359 | 42,983 | 55,807 |
| Amount of receipts into the Treasury | $5,720,624 | $52,312,980 | $669,595,431 |
| Amount of expenditures | $7,529,575 | $48,005,879 | $590,068,371 |
| Amount of imports | $31,000,000 | $215,725,995 | $849,941,184 |
| Amount of exports | $26,109,000 | $217,517,130 | $1,370,763,571 |
| Amount of tonnage (tons) | 520,764 | 3,772,440 | 5,164,839 |
| Area of the United States in square miles | 805,461 | 3,314,365 | 3,616,484[49] |
| Rank and file of the army | 5,120 | 10,000 | 67,587 |
| Militia (enrolled) | ... | 2,006,456 | 10,149,184[50] |
| Navy of the United States (vessels) | (None.) | 76 | 140 |
| Navy armament (ordnance) | ... | 2,012 | ... |
| Treaties and conventions with foreign powers | 9 | 90 | ... |
| Light-houses and light-boats | 12 | 372 | 843[51] |
| Expenditures for ditto | $12,061 | $529,265 | ... |
| Area of the Capitol | ½ acre. | 41⁄3 acres. | 3½ acres.[52] |
| Number of miles of railroad in operation | ... | 10,287 | 190,833[53] |
| Cost of ditto | ... | $306,607,954 | $11,692,817,066[54] |
| Number of miles in course of construction | ... | 10,092 | 1,329 |
| Lines of electric telegraph, in miles | ... | 15,000 | 210,000[55] |
| Number of post-offices | 209 | 21,551 | 76,945 |
| Number of miles of post-route | 5,642 | 196,290 | 511,808 |
| Amount of revenue from post-offices | $104,747 | $6,727,867 | $111,631,193 |
| Amount of expenditures of Post-office Department | $72,040 | $6,024,567 | $115,554,920 |
| Number of miles of mail transportation | ... | 52,465,724 | ... |
| Number of colleges | 19 | 121 | 484 |
| Public libraries | 35 | 694 | 5,383[56] |
| Volumes in ditto | 75,000 | 2,201,632 | 44,591,851 |
| School libraries | ... | 10,000 | ... |
| Volumes in ditto | ... | 2,000,000 | ... |
| Emigrants from Europe to the United States | 10,000 | 299,610 | 448,572[57] |
| Coinage at the Mint | $9,664 | $52,019,465 | $141,351,960 |
The City of Washington.
Who does not feel that, when President Washington laid his hand on the foundation of the first Capitol, he performed a great work of perpetuation of the Union and the Constitution? Who does not feel that this seat of the general government, healthful in its situation, central in its position, near the mountains whence gush springs of wonderful virtue, teeming with Nature’s richest products, and yet not far from the bays and the great estuaries of the sea, easily accessible and generally agreeable in climate and association, does give strength to the union of these States? that this city, bearing an immortal name, with its broad streets and avenues, its public squares and magnificent edifices of the general government, erected for the purpose of carrying on within them the important business of the several departments, for the reception of wonderful and curious inventions, for the preservation of the records of American learning and genius, of extensive collections of the products of nature and art, brought hither for study and comparison from all parts of the world; adorned with numerous churches, and sprinkled over, I am happy to say, with many public schools, where all the children of the city, without distinction, have the means of obtaining a good education, and with academies and colleges, professional schools and public libraries,—should continue to receive, as it has heretofore received, the fostering care of Congress, and should be regarded as the permanent seat of the national government?
With each succeeding year new interest is added to the spot; it becomes connected with all the historical associations of our country, with her statesmen and her orators; and, alas! its cemetery is annually enriched by the ashes of her chosen sons.
Washington Monument.
Its associations.
Before us is the broad and beautiful river, separating two of the original thirteen States, which a late President, a man of determined purpose and inflexible will, but patriotic heart, desired to span with arches of ever-enduring granite, symbolical of the firmly cemented union of the North and the South. That President was General Jackson.