THE NOHTIIWESTEUN BOUNDARY -LINE. 207 



Thus, when the Tliirtecn Colonies obtaineel inde- 

 pendence, and treated for the partition between tlieni 

 and (ireat Britain of the British empire in America, 

 eacli took the part of wliich they respectively held 

 constructive jurisiliction, according to its recognized 

 limits in time of peace, — that is to say, Great Britain 

 retained for lierself the territoi'ies which she had con- 

 qnered from France, and relincpiished to the Thirteen 

 Colonies all the territory which she had theretofore 

 claimed as hers against France by title of colonization 

 and possession. 



The new R«'pnblic thus became the sovereign of a 

 magnificent territory regarded in the comparison with 

 European st Jidards of magnitude, and also of intrin- 

 sic value r jd resources unsurpassed by the posses- 

 sions of any European State. 



But, even with such limits, we felt cribbed and con- 

 fined from the first: for the statesmen of the United 

 States had clear perception not only of what "sve pos- 

 sessed as territoiy, but also of what we needed to 

 possess in order to be a first-rate Power in America. 



We found ourselves blocked in on the North by 

 the British possessions, which also oversluidowed us, 

 on the East, and which were at that time of sutlicient 

 relative strength to constitute an object of solicitude 

 to u.s so long as they remained in the hands of Great 

 Britain. 



"Westward, we Averc hemmed in along the ^Missis- 

 sippi by the French, who also held the njouths of 

 that I'iver, and baiTed us from access to the sea in 

 that direction. 



