governments. The results are stated below, for 1870 and 1902, in round millions of dollars. Sinking funds are deducted.
| Government. | 1870. | 1902. | ||
| Total. | Per capita. | Total. | Per capita. | |
| $ | $ | $ | $ | |
| United States | 2,331.2 | 60.46 | 925.0 | 11.77 |
| States and territories | 352.9 | 9.15 | 234.9 | 2.99 |
| Counties | 187.6 | 4.87 | 196.6 | 2.50 |
| Other local governments, excluding rural school districts | 328.2 | 8.51 | 1,387.3 | 17.65 |
| School districts outside of urban centres of 8000 or more in habitants | —[1] | — | 46.2 | 0.59 |
The national government set out in 1790 with a revolutionary debt of about 75 millions of dollars. This debt continued, slightly increased but without any very important change, until 1806, when a reduction began, continuing until 1812, when the debt was about 45 millions. The then ensuing war with England carried the debt up to 127 millions in 1816. This was reduced to 96 millions in 1819, to 84 millions in 1825 and to 24 millions in 1832, and in the three years following was extinguished. The crisis of 1837, and the financial difficulties ensuing, created indebtedness, fluctuating in amount, which at the beginning of the war with Mexico was about 16 millions. At the conclusion of peace the debt had risen to 63 millions, near which point it remained until about 1852, from which time successive reductions brought it down to 28 millions in 1857. The financial crisis of that year caused an increase, which continued until the imminence of the Civil War, when it rose from 65 millions in 1860 to 91 millions in 1861, to 514 in 1862, to 1120 in 1863, to 1816 in 1864, to 2681 in June, and its maximum (2846 millions) in August 1865. These figures are of gross indebtedness. The amount of the debt per capita of population, less cash in the treasury, was $15.63 in 1800; it fell to $0.21 in 1840; rose again, and in 1865 reached a maximum of $76.98; since when it had fallen by the 30th of June 1908 to $10.76. The amount of the debt outstanding, minus old and silver certificates and Treasury notes offset by cash in the Treasury, was $1,295,147,432.04 on the 1st of November 1909. Of this amount $913,317,490 was bearing interest.
IX.—Army
The regular army has always been small, and in time of war reliance has been upon volunteer forces (see Army). This was truer of the Civil War than of the War of Independence or the war with Mexico. In the last the numbers of militia and volunteers was but little more than twice, and in the second little more than equal to the number of regulars engaged; while in the Civil War the proportion was as one to twenty. Again, the number of regular troops engaged in the War of Independence (namely, 130,711 men enlisted) was greater, absolutely, than that engaged in the Civil War (126,587). Finally, it is interesting to note that in 1799, when war seemed probable with France, the army was organized with a force of 52,766 men, and during the second war with Great Britain the number was made 57,351 in 1813 and 62,674 in 1814; while the organized strength under the law of 1861, which was in force throughout the Civil War, was only 39,273 men. Small as the regular force has always been, its organization has been altered some two score of times in all.
The law for its organization in force in 1910 provides that the total enlisted strength shall not at any one time exceed 100,000. The full active force of the present organization is as follows: 15 regiments of cavalry, with 765 officers and 13,155 enlisted men; 6 regiments of field artillery, with 236 officers and 5220 enlisted men; 30 regiments of infantry, with 1530 officers and 26,731 enlisted men; 3 battalions of engineers, with 2002 enlisted men, commanded by officers detailed from the corps of engineers; a special regiment of infantry for Porto Rico, with 31 officers and 576 enlisted men; a provisional force of 50 companies of native scouts in the Philippines, with 178 officers and 5731 enlisted men; staff men, service school detachments, the military academy at West Point, Indian scouts, &c., totalling 11,777 enlisted men. The total number of commissioned officers, staff and line, on the active list, is 4209 (including 219 first lieutenants of the medical reserve corps on active duty). The total enlisted strength, staff and line, is 78,782, exclusive of the hospital corps and the provisional force. (See also Navy and Navies.)
(F. S. P.)
X.—History
A.—Beginnings of Self-government, 1578–1690.
1. The American nation owes its origin to colonizing activities in which the British, Dutch, Swedes, French and Spaniards bore a share, and which were continued during a period of more than two centuries at the beginning of the modern era. The settlements of the Dutch and Swedes (New Netherland and New Sweden) were soon merged in those of the British, and of the territory colonized by Frenchmen and Spaniards the United States, as it was in 1783, included only certain outlying regions (Florida and certain posts on the Great Lakes and in the Mississippi Valley). All the European nations which were interested in colonization shared in the enterprise, and the population of the region was therefore cosmopolitan from the outset. But the British, especially after 1660, secured a controlling influence, to such an extent that the history of the period can properly be regarded as the record of an experiment in British colonization.
Permanent settlements on the Atlantic seaboard were first made in the early years of the 17th century, and they continued steadily to increase until after 1680. Relatively speaking, that was the period of settlement, but population continued slowly to advance westward. In the 18th century occurred a large immigration of Germans and Scottish-Irish, who settled in Pennsylvania and New York and thence overflowed into the western parts of Virginia and the Carolinas. The only colony which was founded in the 18th century was Georgia (1732), by means of which British outposts on the Florida frontier were strengthened.
2. British colonization originated chiefly in private initiative, though it acted in half-conscious obedience to certain General Aspects of Colonization.general principles of action. From this fact originated the trend toward self-government, which was fundamental and controlling in the history of the British on the American continent. But to an extent the tendencies which favoured self-government were counteracted by the influence of the British Crown and parliament. The influence of the Crown was continuous, except during the period of the Civil War and Commonwealth (1642–1660), while that of parliament was not felt until the middle of the 17th century, and its colonial legislation subsequent to that time was chiefly confined to matters of trade. The activities of Crown and parliament were directed toward the securing of Imperial interests and of that degree of subordination and conformity which, in states that have developed from Roman and feudal origins, attaches to the condition of colonies or dependencies. The term "imperial control" therefore suggests the second tendency in colonial affairs, to the discussion of which the historian must address himself.
3. Among the colonists the trend toward local independence and self-government was in harmony with the spirit of the English. Neither was it lacking among the other nationalities represented in the colonies. But in the case of the British it was greatly strengthened by the fact that the colonies were founded by private initiative, the government legalizing the efforts of the "adventurers" and planters, but leaving them in many cases almost wholly to themselves. Hence many small colonies and settlements were founded along the coast. A variety of motives—economic, religious and political—contributed to the founding of these colonies, and people correspondingly different in type came to inhabit them. As they differed from one another, so their descendants came to differ from the Europeans, out of the midst of whom they had come. The remoteness of the colonies from Europe and the difficulties under which communication with them was maintained confirmed and perpetuated the tendency toward independence both of England and its government. Somewhat similar conditions controlled intercolonial relations, kept the colonists apart from one another and checked efforts at co-operation. Thus it was that the causes which confirmed the colonists in the spirit of independence toward the mother country at the same time made them jealous of any external authority.
4. The term "chartered colonies" is the one which best describes the forms under which the British-American Chartered Colonies.settlements were founded and under which they all continued for periods varying from a single generation to that of the entire duration of their colonial existence. They were the direct and characteristic results of private initiative in colonization. The discoverers and would-be
- ↑ Included in 1870 in the preceding category.
