54 The Winning of the West 



by Great Britain through conquest and treaty; in 

 a precisely similar way Clark taking the place of 

 Wolfe it was afterward won from Britain by the 

 United States. We gained it exactly as we after- 

 ward gained Louisiana, Florida, Oregon, Califor- 

 nia, New Mexico, and Texas : partly by arms, partly 

 by diplomacy, partly by the sheer growth and pres- 

 sure of our spreading population. The fact that 

 the conquest took place just after we had declared 

 ourselves a free nation, and while we were still 

 battling to maintain our independence, does not 

 alter its character in the least; but it has sufficed to 

 render the whole transaction very hazy in the minds 

 of most subsequent historians, who generally speak 

 as if the Northwest Territory had been part of our 

 original possessions. 



The French who dwelt in the land were at the 

 time little affected by the change which transferred 

 their allegiance from one European king to another. 

 They were accustomed to obey, without question, 

 the orders of their superiors. They accepted the re- 

 sults of the war submissively, and yielded a passive 

 obedience to their new rulers. 13 Some became 

 rather attached to the officers who came among 

 them; others grew rather to dislike them; most felt 

 merely a vague sentiment of distrust and repulsion, 



13 In the Haldimand MSS., Series B, Vol. 122, p. 3, the letter 

 of M. Ste. Marie from Vincennes, May 3, 1774, gives utterance 

 to the general feeling of the Creoles, when he announces, in 

 promising in their behalf to carry out the orders of the Brit- 

 ish commandant, that he is "remplie de respect pour tout ce 

 qui porte 1'emprinte de 1'otorite." [sic.] 



