18 



AMERICA. 



ANDERSON, ROBERT. 



hours a week will be devoted to it, so as to 

 enable the pupils to pass the examinations. 

 The lowest class of every institution must con- 

 duct the entire instruction, with the exception 

 of the French, to which six hours will be given, 

 in the German language. For the following 

 years it is intended to divide, in the higher 

 classes of the learned institutions, the several 

 brandies among the two languages, using the 

 German language for the instruction in Latin, 

 Greek, history, and geography." 



AMERICA. The year 1871 has been event- 

 ful in history, in witnessing the settlement, by 

 peaceful arbitration, of the long-standing dis- 

 putes between the United States and England. 

 The most important of these disputes is to be 

 adjusted by a tribunal at Geneva, for which each 

 of the contracting parties, as well as the King 

 of Italy, the President of the Swiss Confedera- 

 tion, and the Emperor of Brazil, appointed one 

 member. The Emperor of Germany, in com- 

 pliance with the joint wish of the two Govern-* 

 ments, consented to act as the arbitrator of the 

 disputed water-boundary between the United 

 States and Great Britain. The outrages com- 

 mitted in Corea against an American surveying- 

 party led to an armed expedition against that 

 country, in which several forts were destroyed, 

 after which the expedition returned, as it was 

 found impracticable to obtain any further re- 

 sult. The most important events in the inter- 

 nal history of the United States were the or- 

 ganization of a Territorial Government for the 

 District of Columbia, and the adoption of strin- 

 gent measures for the suppression of polygamy 

 among the Mormons. In October, the Presi- 

 dent, in pursuance of an act of Congress, com- 

 monly known as the Ku-klux law, issued a 

 proclamation suspending the privilege of the 

 writ of habeas corpus in nine counties of 

 South Carolina, on the ground that unlawful 

 combinations of men endeavored to deprive 

 the emancipated class of the substantial bene- 

 fit of freedom, and to prevent the free political 

 action of those citizens who did not sympa- 

 thize with themselves. The national debt of 

 the United States was during the year reduced 

 to the extent of $86,057,126 ; but the pros- 

 perity of the country, on the other hand, greatly 

 suffered by terrible fires, especially in the city 

 of Chicago, and in the woods of Wisconsin, 

 Michigan, and Minnesota. 



Under the presidency of a commissioner of 

 the United States, a conference was held at 

 Washington between the plenipotentiaries of 

 Spain and the allied South American republics, 

 which resulted in an armistice, with a reason- 

 able assurance of a permanent peace. 



The Empire of Brazil has taken the initia- 

 tory steps toward the abolition of slavery ; but 

 in the West India colonies of Spain the reforms 

 in this direction which were promised by the 

 Spanish Government have not been carried 

 out, the laws and regulations for the apparent 

 abolition of slavery in Cuba and Porto Rico 

 retaining most of the laborers in life-long bond- 



age. In Brazil another important reform has 

 been inaugurated by the introduction of com- 

 pulsory education. 



The republics of Spanish America have been 

 in a more disturbed condition than usual. Al- 

 most every one, with the exception of Chili, 

 has been a prey to civil war, and in several the 

 disturbances continued during the greater part 

 of the year. In Ecuador, Bolivia, Guatemala, 

 and Salvador, the regular government was 

 overthrown by a successful revolution. Vene- 

 zuela and Colombia appear to be bankrupt, as 

 they are unable to meet the financial responsi- 

 bilities which they incurred by formal treaties. 

 Real progress is made in Chili and in the Ar- 

 gentine Republic, where the cause of education 

 is advancing. 



The struggle of the Cubans for their inde- 

 pendence continued throughout the year, 

 though there appears to be no hope for their im- 

 mediate success. Unheard-of atrocities were 

 committed by the Spaniards in their attempts to 

 suppress the insurrectionary movements, and 

 all demonstrations in their favor. The Gov- 

 ernment of the United States found it neces- 

 sary to instruct the naval commanders in Cu- 

 ban waters to spare no effort in case it should 

 become necessary to protect the lives and 

 property of lona-fide American citizens, and to 

 maintain the dignity of the flag. 



In accordance with a resolution passed by 

 Congress, President Grant, in January, ap- 

 pointed three commissioners to visit San Do- 

 mingo and report upon the condition of affairs 

 on the island. In April the President sent to 

 Congress the report of the commissioners, 

 which is highly favorable to the annexation of 

 the republic to the United States. While the 

 ruling party in San Domingo continued to 

 show a great anxiety for having the annexa- 

 tion scheme carried out, public opinion in 

 Hayti strongly declared itself against the meas- 

 ure. (See PUBLIC DOCUMENTS.) 



ANDERSON, ROBEET, Brigadier and Brevet 

 Major-General, U. S. A., born at " Soldiers' Re- 

 treat," near Louisville, Ky., June 14, 1805 ; died 

 at Nice, France, October 26, 1871. His father 

 was a colonel in the Revolutionary army, and 

 his mother a cousin of Chief-Justice Marshall. 

 He graduated from the Military Academy at 

 West Point as brevet second-lieutenant of First 

 Artillery, but was transferred to the Second 

 Artillery as full second-lieutenant the same 

 year. After spending a few months at Santa 

 F6 de Bogota as private secretary of the United 

 States minister there, he returned, and was or- 

 dered to the artillery-school for practice at 

 Fortress Monroe, Ya., where he remained until 

 1828, being then placed on ordnance duty, 

 upon which he continued until 1832. Though 

 only a second-lieutenant in the regular army, 

 he received, May 9, 1832, the honorary ap- 

 pointment of assistant inspector-general with 

 the rank of colonel of Illinois Volunteers, in 

 the "Black Hawk War," and as such was en- 

 gaged in the battle of " Bad Axe " under Gen- 



