In the autumn of 1851, more accessions were made to the vastly-extended possessions of the United States, by the purchase of twenty-one millions of acres of land in Minnesota, from the Upper Sioux tribes. The amount paid for this tract was about three hundred and five thousand dollars, to be given when the Indians should reach their reservation in Upper Minnesota, and sixty-eight thousand dollars a year, for fifty years. At about the same time, another broad region was purchased of the Lower Sioux; and now [1856] a white population is flowing thither, to take the place of the Indians, and make “the wilderness blossom as the rose." On account of the rapid progress of immigra tion from abroad and inter-emigration at home, and the wonderful prosperity of business of all kinds, the greatest activity everywhere prevailed, and forecast perceived a vast and speedy increase of population and national wealth. Already new States and Territories were sending additional representatives to the seat of the Federal Government, and the capitol was becoming too narrow." In view of future wants, its extension was decided upon; and on the 4th of July, 1851, the President laid the corner-stone of the addition.* In the month of May, 1845, Sir John Franklin, a veteran English explorer, with two vessels and one hundred and thirty-eight men, left Great Britain in search of the long-sought-for north-west passage to the East Indies. Since the spring of 1846, no certain tidings of him have been received, and several expeditions have been sent in search of him. Among others, Henry Grinnell, a wealthy merchant of New York, sent two vessels, at his own expense, in quest of the missing mariner. The expedition left New York in May, 1850, under the command of Lieutenant De Haven, of the United States navy. It penetrated the polar waters to the southern entrance of Wellington Channel, where the graves of three of Franklin's men, made in April, 1846, were discovered. After ineffectual attempts to pass up that channel to the supposed open circumpolar sea beyond, the expedition returned in October, 1851, without accomplishing its benevolent object. Yet the search for the brave Sir John and his com 1 Page 31. 2 About $225,000 were paid for this tract, and a promised annual payment of $30,000 for fifty years. Altogther, the United States government paid about $3,000,000 for Indian lands in the autumn of 1851. Each State is entitled to two senators. The number of States now [1856] being thirty-one, the Senate is composed of sixty-two members. The number of Representatives to which each State is entitled, is determined by the number of inhabitants. The present number of the members in the House of Representatives is two hundred and thirty-four. Note 1, page 388. On the occasion of laying the corner-stone, an oration was pronounced by Daniel Webster, in the course of which he said: "If, therefore, it shall hereafter be the will of God that this structure shall fall from its base, that its foundations be upturned, and the deposit beneath this stone brought to the eyes of men, be it then known, that on this day the Union of the United States of America stands firm-that their Constitution still exists unimpaired, and with all its usefulness and glory, growing every day stronger in the affections of the great body of the American people, and attracting, more and more, the admiration of the world." Note 2, page 47, also page 52, and note 8, page 59. In 1855, an overland exploring party, was dispatched by the Hudson's Bay Fur Company to examine the localities on the northern coast of America, where it was supposed Franklin and his associates perished. At the mouth of the Great Fish, or Black River, Esquimaux informed them that about four years before, a party of white men had perished from famine and exhaustion in the vicinity of Montreal Island. Some articles known to have belonged to Sir John Franklin's party, were found among the Esquimaux, and seem to confirm the belief that these brave adventurers actually perished about the year 1851, on the northern borders of North America. DR. KANE. panions was not abandoned. From England another expedition was sent; and Mr. Grinnell, in connection with the government of the United States, sent another on the same errand, under the command of Dr. Elisha K. Kane, the surgeon and naturalist of the former enterprise. It sailed from New York on the 31st of May, 1853, and on the 10th of September following they were frozen in on the coast of Greenland, at the most northerly point ever reached. There they passed the winter, and the following summer was spent in exploring the shores, their vessel all the while remaining fast in the ice. The winter of 1854 and 1855 was one of unexampled severity, and they suffered inconceivable hardships. Their stock of fuel was exhausted, and even rats became choice morsels of food. Disease fell upon them; and at one time it appeared as if all must inevitably perish. But the indomitable perseverance of Dr. Kane' and his party overcame all; and they were rewarded by the discovery of the long-suspected open polar sea, beyond the great ice-belt that girdles the North Pole. The long absence of the expedition excited fears for their safety, and another was sent to their relief. Dr. Kane and his party, compelled to abandon their vessels, had voyaged in open boats thirteen hundred miles to a Danish settlement on Greenland, and were about to take passage for England when the Relief Expedition found them. On the 18th of September, 1855, they all sailed for New York, where they arrived on the 11th of October. In the mean while, the great problem which, for three lundred years, has perplexed the maritime world, had been worked out by an English navigator. The fact of a north-west passage around the Arctic coast of North America, from Baffin's Bay to Behring's Straits, has been unquestionably demonstrated by Captain M'Clure, of the ship Investigator, who was sent in search of Sir John Franklin in October, 1853. Having passed through 1 Elisha Kent Kane was born in Philadelphia in February, 1822, and he took his degree in the Medical University of Pennsylvania in 1843. He entered the American navy as assistant-surgeon, and was attached as a physician to the first American embassy to China. While in the East, he visited many of the Islands, and met with wild adventures. After that he ascended the Nile to the confines of Nubia, and passed a season in Egypt. After traveling through Greece and a part of Europe, on foot, he returned to the United States in 1846. He was immediately sent to the coast of Africa, where he narrowly escaped death from fever. Soon after his recovery he went to Mexico as a volunteer in the war then progressing, where his bravery and endurance commanded universal admiration. His horse was killed under him, and himself was badly wounded. He was appointed senior surgeon and naturalist to the "Grinnell Expedition," sent in search of Sir John Franklin; and after his return he prepared an interesting account of the exploration. He was appointed to the command of a second expedition, which sail d in May, 1853. Governed by the suggestions of a theory which had long occupied his mind, ho prepared more for land than water explorations. Supposing Greenland to be the southern cape of a polar continent, it was the intention of Dr. KaLe to sail as far north along that coast as the ice would allow, and then leave his vessels and make an overland journey northward, in quest of supposed green fields under a mild atmosphere, and an open sea within the polar circle; and, perhaps, there find the temporary home of Franklin and his men. The rigors of those northern winters prevented a full carrying out of his plan, but he accomplished wonders in behalf of geographical science. The record of this wondful expedition, prepared by himself, has been published in two superb volumes, ill trated y engravings from drawings by Dr. Kane. The hardships which he had endured made great inroads on the health of Dr. Kane (who is a very light man, weighing only 106 pounds); and in October, 1856, he sailed for England to recruit. Behring's Straits, and sailed eastward, he reached a point with sleds upon the ice, which had been penetrated by navigators from the East (Captain Parry and others), thus establishing the fact that there is a water connection between Baffin's Bay and those Straits. Already the mute whale had demonstrated this fact to the satisfaction of naturalists. The same species are found in Behring's Straits and Baffin's Bay; and as the waters of the tropical regions would be like a sea of fire to them, they must have had communication through the polar channels. Toward the close of 1851 [December], Louis Kossuth, the exiled governor of Hungary, arrived in New York, from England, on a mission to the United States in quest of aid for his oppressed country. His wonderful efforts in behalf of liberty in Hungary during and after the European revolutions in 1848,' and his extraordinary talent as an orator, secured for him a reception in Great Britain and in the United States, such as the most powerful emperor might be proud of. His journey throughout a greater portion of the States was like a continued ovation. He was welcomed by a deputation from all classes and pursuits; and many thousands of dollars were raised in aid of Hungary, by voluntary.contributions. His noble advocacy of correct international law and universal brotherhood, his unwearied labors in behalf of his smitten country, and his devotion to the cause of human freedom in general, endeared him to the great majority of the people of the United States. The policy of our government forbade its lending material aid; but Kossuth received an expression of its warmest sympathies. His advent among us, and his bold enunciation of hitherto unrecognized national duties, are important and interesting events in the history of our republic. Some ill-feeling between Great Britain and the United States was engendered during the summer of 1852, when the subject of difficulties concerning the fisheries on the coast of British America was brought to the notice of Congress, and for several months there were indications of a serious disturbance of the amicable relations between the governments of the United States and Great Britain. American fishers were charged with a violation of the treaty of 1818, which stipulated that they should not cast their lines or nets in the bays of the British possessions, except at a distance of three miles or more from the shore. Now, the British government claimed the right to draw a line from head-land 1 In February, 1848, the French people drove Louis Phillippe from his throne, and formed a temporary republic. The revolutionary spirit spread; and within a few months, almost every country on the continent of Europe was in a state of agitation, and the monarchs made many conces sions to the people. Hungary made an effort to become free from the rule of Austria, but was crushed by the power of a Russian army. He asserted that grand principle, that one nation has no right to interfere with the domestic concerns of another, and that all nations are bound to use their efforts to prevent such interference. Matters connected with his reception, visit, and desires, occupied much of the attention of Congress, and elicited warm debates during the session of 1852. The Chevalier Hulseman, the Austrian minister at Washington, formally protested against the reception of Kossuth, by Congress; and because his protest was not heeded, he retired from his post, and left the duties of his office with Mr. Auguste Belmonte, of New York. Previous to this, Hulseman issued a written protest against the policy of our government in relation to Austria and Hungary, and that protest was answered, in a masterly manner, in January, 1851, by Mr. Webster, the Secretary of State. Pages 47 and 453. to head-land of these bays, and to exclude the Americans from the waters within that line. An armed naval force was sent to sustain this claim, and American vessels were threatened with seizure if they did not comply. The government of the United States regarded the assumption as illegal, and two steam vessels of war (Princeton and Fulton) were sent to the coast of Nova Scotia to protect the rights of American fishermen. The dispute was amicably settled by mutual concessions, in October, 1852, and the cloud passed by. 3 During the summer of 1852, another important measure of national concern was matured and put in operation. The great importance of commercial intercourse with Japan, because of the intimate relations which must soon exist between our Pacific coast and the East Indies, had been felt ever since the foundation of Oregon and California. An expedition, to consist of seven ships of war, under the command of Commodore Perry, a brother of the "Hero of Lake Erie," was fitted out for the purpose of carrying a letter from the President of the United States to the emperor of Japan, soliciting the negotiation of a treaty of friendship and commerce between the two nations, by which the ports of the latter should be thrown open to American vessels, for purposes of trade. The mission of Commodore Perry was highly successful. He negotiated a treaty, by which ports on different Islands should be open to American commerce; that steamers from California to China should be furnished with supplies of coals; and that American sailors shipwrecked on the Japanese coasts should receive hospitable treatment. Subsequently a peculiar construction of the treaty on the part of the Japanese authorities, in relation to the permanent residence of Americans there, threatened a disturbance of the amicable relations which had been established. The relations between the United States and old Spain, on account of Cuba, became interesting in the autumn of 1852. The Spanish authorities of Cuba, being thoroughly alarmed by the attempts at invasion, and the evident sympathy in the movement of a large portion of the people of the United States, became excessively suspicious, and many little outrages were committed at Havana, which kept alive an irritation of feeling inconsistent with social and commercial friendship. The idea became prevalent in Cuba and in Europe, that it was the policy of the government of the United States to ultimately acquire absolute possession This stipulation was so construed as to allow American fishermen to catch cod within the large bays where they could easily carry on their avocation at a greater distance than three miles from any land. Such had been the common practice, without interference, until the assumption of exclusive right to their bays was promulgated by the British. ⚫ Page 423. 2 Page 479. 3 Page 487. Previous to this, the Dutch had monopolized the trade of Japan. See note 5, page 59. In the autumn of 1852 an officer of the steamship Crescent City, which conveyed the United States mails, passengers, and freight between New Orleans and New York, was charged by the Spanish authorities with having written articles published in the New York papers, on Cuban affairs, which were very offensive. He was forbidden to land in Havana; and in November, when the Crescent City, on her way to New York, entered that harbor, no communication between her and the shore was allowed, and she was obliged to proceed to sea, with passengers and mails that should have been left at Havana. A more flagrant outrage of a similar character was committed in the spring of 1854. See page 521, of that island, and thus have the control over the commerce of the Gulf of Mexico (the door to California), and the trade of the West India group of islands, which are owned, chiefly, by France and England. To prevent such a result, the cabinets of France and England asked that of the United States to enter with them into a treaty which should secure Cuba to Spain, by agreeing to disclaim "now and forever hereafter, all intention to obtain possession of the Island of Cuba," and "to discountenance all such attempts, to that effect, on the part of any power or individual whatever." On the 1st of December, 1852, Edward Everett, then Secretary of State, issued a response to this extraordinary proposition, which the American people universally applauded for its keen logic and patriotic and enlightened views. He told France and England plainly, that the question was an American, and not an European one, and not properly within the scope of their interference; that while the United States Government disclaimed all intention to violate existing neutrality laws, it would not relinquish the right to act in relation to Cuba independent of any other power; and that it could not see with indifference "the Island of Cuba fall into the hands of any other power than Spain."" Lord John Russell, the English prime-minister, answered this letter, in February, 1853, and thus ended the diplomatic correspondence on the subject of the proposed "Tripartite Treaty," as it was called. At a national Democratic convention, held at Baltimore early in June, 1852, Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, was nominated for President of the United States, and William R. King, of Alabama, for Vice-President. At a Whig convention, held at the same place on the 16th of June, General Winfield Scott was nominated for the Chief Magistracy, and William A. Graham, of North Carolina, for Vice-President. The Democratic nominees were elected in November following. Mr. King never entered upon the duties of his office. Failing health compelled him to leave the country before the oath of office could be administered to him. He went to Cuba, remained a few months, and died on the 18th of April, 1853, soon after his return to his estate in Alabama, at the age of sixty-eight years. The most important of the closing events of Mr. Fillmore's administration was the creation by Congress of a new Territory called Washington, out of the northern part of Oregon. The bill for this purpose became a law on the 2d of March, 1853. 'As early as 1823, when the Spanish provinces in South America were in rebellion or forming into independent republics, President Monroe, in a special message upon the subject, promulgated the doctrine, since acted upon, that the United States ought to resist the extension of foreign domain or influence upon the American continent, and not allow any European government, by colonizing or otherwise, to gain a foothold in the New World not already acquired. [See note 5, page 448] This was directed specially against the efforts expected to be made by the allied sovereigns who had crushed Napoleon, to assist Spain against her revolted colonies in America, and to suppress the growth of Democracy there. It became a settled policy of our government, and Mr. Everett reasserted it in its fullest extent. Such expression seemed to be important and seasonable, because it was well known that Great Britain was then making strenuous efforts to obtain potent influence in Central America, so as to prevent the United States from acquiring exclusive property in the routes across the isthmus from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. 2 Page 479. |