THE KORTHWESTERN BOUNDARY -LINE. 207 



Tlius, when the Thirteen Colonies obtained inde- 

 pendence, and treated for the partition between them 

 and Great Britain of the British empire in America, 

 each took the part of which they respectively held 

 constructive jurisdiction, according to its recognized 

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

 retained for herself the territories which she had con- 

 quered from France, and relinquished to the Thirteen 

 Colonies all the territory which she had theretofore 

 claimed as hers against France by title of colonization 

 and possession. 



The new Republic thus became the sovereign of a 

 magnificent territory regarded in the comparison with 

 European standards of magnitude, and also of intrin- 

 sic value and 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 we pos- 

 sessed as territory, 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 overshadowed us 

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

 relative strength to constitute an object of solicitude 

 to us so long as they remained in the hands of Great 

 Britain. 



Westward, we were hemmed in along the Missis- 

 sippi by the French, who also held the mouths of 

 that river, and barred us from access to the sea in 

 that direction. 



