The executive branch consisted of a President and VicePresident, with officials as heads of departments.

The President had the power to veto or annul any act of Congress of which he did not approve, but it could be passed over his veto by a two-thirds vote of both houses. It then became his duty to execute it or carry out its provisions.

The third body of the government, the Supreme Court, consisted of a number of eminent judges, whose duty was to examine all laws whose validity was called in question, and decide whether or not they agreed with the Constitution. If not, they ceased to be laws. Every law, either of Congress or of the States, must be in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution of the United States.

6. THE CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY.

Population. The political history of the United States is but part of its full history. It is proposed here to say something about its social and economical history at the period which our record has now reached. At the beginning of the Revolution there were probably more than two and a half millions of people in the country. By 1790 these had increased to nearly four millions.1 Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Massachusetts were the most populous States, while the leading cities were Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.

This population was largely confined to the coast region, the interior being very thinly settled. Most of it was still a forest-covered wilderness. The towns were small and far

1 The first census of the United States was taken in 1790. The population was found to be three million nine hundred and twenty-nine thousand two hundred and fourteen. Of these nearly seven hundred thousand were slaves.

apart. They were more numerous in New England than in the Middle States, and in the Southern States there were few beyond the size of villages. Excepting Balti

more, Charleston, Savannah, and some other coast towns, the South was almost wholly a country of farms and plantations.

Settlement of the West.-The settlement of the great West was making good progress. Daniel Boone and his fellow-pioneers had fairly conquered Kentucky, and its settlements were growing. Tennessee was also being rapidly

flat-boats down the Ohio and fighting with the Indians as they went. The foundations of later cities were being laid. Colonel Clark started Louisville in 1778, during his expedition against Kaskaskia. Cincinnati was founded in 1788. The same year no less than ten thousand emigrants went to Marietta and its vicinity. These pioneers lived in the most primitive manner, building rough log houses, grinding their corn between two stones, and obtaining meat by aid of the rifle. Everywhere they worked with their guns close at hand. The West once invaded, it was rapidly settled, a fever of migration to these new and rich lands being set up.

The Emigrants of the North.-The adventurous spirits of the Northern States did not find a navigable river to aid them in their westward progress. But the Iroquois Indians,

who had long stood in their way, had been largely annihilated by Sullivan's expedition, and no longer presented a serious obstacle. The pioneers of New York and New England pushed slowly west with emigrant wagons, making roads as they went. They would clear off the trees and cultivate the land for a year or two, and then, as the settlement began to thicken, would set out for a new home in the wilderness, leaving their clearings for those who followed. It was like a great army slowly marching forward, sending its scouts in advance, and pushing back the Indians as it went. Before its front the forest fell. By its main body the wilderness was converted into a land of farms. In its rear towns and cities sprang up.

The Products of the Land.-Most of the people were engaged in agriculture. The soil was rich and gave large crops; and comfortable farm-houses, with large, well-filled barns, were widely to be seen, while great flocks of cattle and sheep grazed in the fields. On the small New England farms sheep and corn were the leading food products. The Middle States were famous for wheat. In the South great plantations replaced the small farms of the North, and large crops of tobacco, rice, sugar, etc., were produced. Cotton had not yet become a leading product, but did so in a few years afterward, when the cotton-gin was invented. North Carolina yielded much tar, pitch, and turpentine. In addition the forests yielded a supply of lumber that seemed inexhaustible.

Manufactures.-Farmers in those days had none of the excellent machines which are in use to-day, and had to work very hard in their fields. Their work at home was as hard, for they had to make for themselves nearly everything they needed. While they were tilling the ground their wives and daughters were spinning and weaving in the house.

In the winter the men were kept busy making their own tools and articles of furniture, even hammering out the nails they needed and rude iron plates for ploughshares.

Commerce.-New England was largely engaged in commerce and the fisheries. Boston, New York, and Philadel

phia were busy centres of trade. This commerce grew more active after the war, and the wealth of the country soon increased. Tobacco and other products brought high prices, the ships were kept busy, and people began to dress better, buy superior furniture, and live in more comfort than of old. But the merchants and shippers of America found the competition of England very severe, while the few manufactures that had been started during the war could scarcely keep at work in competition with the cheap products of British workshops. Instead of soldiers, England now sent goods, and they proved as hard to fight against by the small American manufacturing industries.

SPINNING-WHEEL.

Fuel. At this period wood was the principal fuel of the country, though soft coal was burned to some extent near the mines. The anthracite or hard coal of Pennsylvania had been known since 1766, but it was long before people learned how to burn it in their houses, and it did not come into general use until after 1830.

Character of the Cities.-There were some handsome houses in the cities, but the mass of the dwellings were not what would to-day be called comfortable. In New York trees were planted before the houses, and there were railings on the roofs so that people could sit there on warm summer evenings. Broadway was lighted at night by oil

lamps, and was thought a splendid avenue, but it soon ran into the open country. Philadelphia was the handsomest and most important city, its broad, straight streets contrasting favorably with the narrow and crooked thoroughfares of Boston and New York.1

Little Wealth or Poverty.-There were no men of great riches. Very few in the country had an income of ten thousand dollars a year. There was little poverty and little riches, most of the people being nearly equal in wealth. They were simple in their manners, and did not, as a rule, live expensively.

Customs of the Rich.-But the rich people in the cities lived much better than the farmers and made much more display. They dressed, indeed, far more showily than the same class do to-day. The gentlemen wore white satin vests and white silk stockings, with velvet or broadcloth coats. The ladies wore rich silks and satins, and had their hair dressed with powder and pomatum and raised like a tower above their heads. Snuff-taking was common among gentlemen, and to offer the snuff-box was an ordinary act of politeness.

Social Entertainments.-Fine balls were given at which there was much formality. There were also musical concerts; but the theatre had as yet made little progress, it being considered immoral. At President Washington's receptions the pomp and show rivalled that of the courts of

1 1 In 1790 Philadelphia had about forty-two thousand population, New York thirty-three thousand, and Boston eighteen thousand. Charleston and Baltimore were the largest Southern cities, Savannah being still quite small. These cities resembled country towns. Boston, for instance, had unpaved streets and no flagged sidewalks. The better houses were of brick, with little flower-gardens or lawns adorned with shrubbery in front.