The Half Century, Or, a History of the Changes That Have Taken Place and Events That Have Transpired, Chiefly in the United States, Between

Title: The Half Century, Or, a History of the Changes That Have Taken Place and Events That Have Transpired, Chiefly in the United States, Between 1800 and 1850 General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1851 Original Publisher: Tappan and Whittemore Subjects: Education United States Education / History History / General History / United States / General History / United States / 19th Century Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: THE HALF CENTURY. CHAPTER I. POLITICAL CHANGES AND EVENTS. Section L In the United States. Most of those who, fifty years ago, were the leading men in public affairs, and filled places of responsibility and influence in this nation, have been laid in their graves, or are sinking down under a weight of years. Those who now stand at the helm, both of our national and state governments, at the commencement of this century were in their boyhood, or in early manhood; while many, who are acting important parts on the stage of life, are less than half a century old. I propose, in this section, to present a brief outline of the changes that have been made in our geographical boundaries, and in the number of states, during the period under review, together with a brief notice of those events, which, at the time, excited the deepest and most general interest. My object is not to enter into the minute details of these events, nor to discuss particularly the policy of different political measures, but simply to narrate, as a chronicler of the past, the leading facts, with the dates and the names of the principal actors. I will ask the reader to compare what is with what was, and judge for himself whether any progress has been made in civilization and social ref...