In the first place, if there be no advantage in placing ourselves right in our own eyes, our cause can be advanced in the eyes of foreign observers, by the publication of the truth. Were the facts as represented, an Englishman would be justified, to a certain degree, in sympathizing with a large number of the descendants of Englishmen, engaged in a revolt against a superior number of foreigners. His intense nationality, which has so long given his nation an undue influence, leads him to take this view, and his belief in English invincibility causes him to prejudge the case, and to deem the subjugation of his Southern relatives an impossibility.
Secondly, class prejudices are aroused everywhere in Europe by the idea that a nation of gentlemen is contending for every right against a vulgar crowd; the idea of what in reality constitutes an American democracy being still exceedingly nebulous to the European mind.
Thirdly, we have borne too long the imputation thus cast on us, for our own good in the management of our own affairs. Already expression has been given to threats of ultimate division of the North into separate nationalities, on the ground that we have no common interests and no common origin. It seems well, therefore, to investigate the data at hand, and to see if the South be so united or the North so divided as alleged.
A few tables, prepared from the official Census returns, will serve to place the question in a clear light, and they will be easily confirmed or rejected.
I assume in the following table that the inhabitants of the United States were citizens by birth, and by deducting at the end of each decade the number of immigrants, we have what may fairly be claimed as the percentage of natural increase. I have added the slight excess over the percentage to the column of native born, believing this advantage at least belongs to them:
WHITE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES.
Table No. I.—Increase and Immigration.
| Date. | Percent of Natural Increase | Total per Census. | Natives. 1790. | Aliens. 1800. | Aliens. 1810. | Aliens. 1820. | Aliens. 1830. | Aliens. 1840. | Aliens. 1850. | Aliens. 1860. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1790 | 33.7 | 3,172,464 | 3,172,464 1,071,971 | 50,000 | |||||||
| 1800 | 34.4 | 4,294,435 | 4,294,435 1,465,290 | 50,000 16,200 | 70,000 | ||||||
| 1810 | 32.1 | 5,845,925 | 5,709,725 1,835,672 | 66,200 21,250 | 70,000 22,470 | 114,000 | |||||
| 1820 | 32.1 | 7,839,317 | 7,545,397 2,424,228 | 87,450 28,071 | 92,470 29,781 | 114,000 36,594 | 151,824 | ||||
| 1830 | 29 | 10,509,815 | 9,969,625 2,899,444 | 115,521 33,501 | 122,251 35,452 | 150,594 43,673 | 151,824 44,028 | 599,125 | |||
| 1840 | 25.1 | 14,165,038 | 12,869,069 3,238,699 | 149,022 37,403 | 157,703 39,583 | 194,267 48,761 | 195,852 49,157 | 599,125 150,380 | 1,713,251 | ||
| 1850 | 23.9 | 19,442,272 | 16,107,768 3,868,994 | 186,425 44,456 | 197,286 47,151 | 243,028 58,083 | 245,009 58,557 | 245,009 58,557 | 749,505 179,131 | 1,713,251 | |
| 1860 | 26,706,425 | 19,976,762 | 230,881 | 244,437 | 301,111 | 303,566 | 928,636 | 2,122,718 | 2,598,214 | ||
This table shows us that in the States in 1860, out of 26,706,425 white inhabitants, 19,976,762 were the descendants of the original citizens of 1790. I omit the Territories, as the number of inhabitants cannot affect the result, and it is difficult to decide upon their nationality.
In Table II, I propose to divide the inhabitants of 1790 into four classes, the first comprising New England; the second, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; the third, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia; and the fourth, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Tennessee.