696 



UNITED STATES. 



with a shell or two from Fort Pulaski, which 

 came quite near them. Lieutenant Magner, 

 however, was allowed to examine another 

 small work situated so as to cover the whole 

 line of the beach between its two angles. He 

 found no guns left, but that the position was 

 admirable for defensive purposes. The enemy 

 had evidently been aware of its importance ; 

 as once in possession of Federal forces, it would 

 be very easy to throw shells into Fort Pulaski. 

 The remains of a hutted encampment large 



enough for a hundred men were to be seen from 

 this place, but they bore no trace of having 

 been recently occupied. There was no flag on 

 the island, and it had evidently been completely 

 abandoned. The fact that Federal vessels could 

 come under the lee of the island and anchor in 

 sight of Fort Pulaski, (only fifteen miles from 

 Savannah,) and that shells could be thrown into 

 the fort without difficulty, made its possession, 

 at any cost, a matter of importance to the Fed- 

 eral force. 



IT 



UNITED STATES. The population of the 

 United States is numbered at the end of each 

 ten years. The first census was taken in 1Y90, 

 at which time the whole population was 3,929,- 

 827. The last census was taken in the month 

 of June, 1860. The whole population, consist- 

 ing of white, free colored, and slave, and the 

 ratio of increase of each class since the pre- 

 vious census in 1850, were as given below. 



The election for a President of the United 

 States took place on the 4th of November, 1860. 



The candidate of the Republicans was Abraham 

 Lincoln, of Illinois. The distinctive principle 

 which he represented was the non-extension of 

 slavery to the territories of the United States, 

 and its speedy removal from all places belong- 

 ing to, or under the exclusive control of the 

 Federal Government. 



Stephen A. Douglas was the candidate rep- 

 resenting the principle of non-intervention, 

 which was understood to mean that Congress 

 should not interfere with the question of slavery 



