war.

Paying the Debt.-Since that date the country has been occupied in paying its enormous debt. Its paper money had greatly depreciated in value, at one time a dollar in gold being worth nearly three dollars in paper. For years the business of the country was conducted on the paper money of the government, and that issued by the national banks which the government had established during the The money of these banks was not like that of the old State banks. They bought government securities and deposited them in the United States Treasury, so that the government became responsible for their bank-notes. The credit of the country grew, till its paper became as valuable as gold, and on January 1, 1879, specie payments were resumed, the government being now able to redeem its paper in gold and silver coin. Since the close of the war the debt has been enormously reduced, more than $1,600,000,000 having been paid. In addition nearly all the internal revenue taxes have been taken off, and the rate of interest has been reduced to about half what it was in war times. No other country in the world has ever shown so great a progress in the paying of a great war debt, and each of the great countries of Europe, except Germany, has now a much larger debt than this country.

United States Coinage.-The decimal system of United States coins was suggested by Robert Morris, shortly after the Revolution. Jefferson suggested that the dollar should be the monetary unit. There was no coinage (except some copper coins) until after the establishment of the United States Mint in 1791, the first coins being issued in 1792.

The total United States coinage to the end of the fiscal year of 1901 was: Gold coins, $2,266,153,828; silver coins, $831,436,658; copper, bronze, and nickel coins, $35,513,537.

Silver Coinage. The recent great interest in silver coinage calls for some special statement on this subject. The coinage of silver dollars was authorized April 2, 1792, and began in 1794, at the ratio of fifteen ounces of silver to one of gold. The coinage was to be free and unlimited and the dollars to be legal tender for all debts. In 1834 an act of Congress was passed to reduce the weight of gold coins. This made the ratio 16.002 to 1. In 1837 the ratio was again changed, and was made 15.988 to 1. This ratio still holds good. It is usually called 16 to 1. The gold dollar contains 23.22 grains of pure gold; the silver dollar 371.25 grains of pure silver. Each is alloyed with ten per cent. of copper, so that each is nine-tenths pure metal and one-tenth

copper.

In 1873 the coinage of silver dollars was discontinued. The silver dollar was then worth more than a gold dollar, and none had been in circulation for years. Up to that time the total coinage of silver dollars had been $8,045,838. In 1878 the coinage of silver dollars was resumed, under a law which said that not less than two million or more than four million dollars' worth of bullion should be purchased monthly. They were to be legal tender for all debts unless otherwise stipulated. The Sherman Silver · Bill, passed in 1890, required the purchase of not less than four million dollars in silver bullion monthly. This bill was repealed in 1893, and since then no silver has been purchased. Up to that date the total coinage of standard silver dollars had been over four hundred and thirty-one million dollars. Meanwhile, the mercantile value of silver had fallen until the bullion value of a dollar was little more than fifty cents. In 1900 Congress passed a law making gold the sole standard of value in this country, the gold dollar being made the monetary unit.

6. POPULATION AND IMMIGRATION.

The Original Colonists.-The territory of the United States was settled by people from five nations of Europe, Great Britain, France, Spain, Holland, and Sweden. The great bulk of the colonists were English. Of the original colonists, aside from the English, only the French of Louisiana and Canada and the Dutch of New York have left any distinct traces.

Later Immigrants. Subsequently to the original settlements, immigrants came from various countries of Europe. There was a considerable immigration of Scotch-Irish,1 several hundred of whom settled at Londonderry, New Hampshire, and others in the Carolinas and Georgia. Many came to Pennsylvania, five thousand arriving in Philadelphia in 1729. They formed a very thrifty and useful portion of the population.

Another very desirable class of immigrants were the French Huguenots, who settled in every colony, but mostly in the Carolinas. They brought with them the mulberry and olive and introduced many choice varieties of pears. Germany also sent large numbers of useful immigrants, driven from their country, like those already named, by religious persecution. Thirteen thousand Germans from the Palatinate were sent over in Queen Anne's time, four thousand of them going to New York, others to the South. To Georgia came Moravians from Austria, fleeing from persecution, German Lutherans, and Highland Scotch.

The Pennsylvania Dutch.-Among the most persistent in their characteristics of the non-English settlers have been

1 Presbyterians from Scotland who had settled in the north of Ireland.

those known as the "Pennsylvania Dutch," though really of German descent. In 1776 the population of Pennsylvania was only about one-half English. One-third was German and the rest Swedish and Irish. The Germans remain a distinct element of the population, still speaking a language known as Pennsylvania Dutch, but really the provincial German of the past century, with many changes in dialect. They are industrious farmers, very conservative in character and habits.

The Dutch of New York have been also persistent in character, and a number of customs, now wide-spread in the country, were introduced by them.

The Negroes and Indians.-The negroes, who came here as slaves, but are now all free, constitute a strongly marked and numerous element of the population. The remnant of the Indian population, now settled in communities and on reservations, are also strongly marked in their characteristics, though they may in time be absorbed by the whites.

A Mixed Population.-These various early elements, with the still more varied immigrants who have sought this country within the present century, make up a population of an unusual variety of origin. Yet it has largely amalgamated, and may eventually combine into a single new type of man. What that type will be it is yet too early to say.

Numbers of the Population.-Just how many people were in this country at various colonial periods we do not know. It is believed that in 1689 there were about 200,000; in 1750, about 1,100,000; in 1763, about 1,800,000; and in 1776, about 2,500,000. In 1790 the first census gave a population of 3,929,214. Since then the population has doubled, on the average, every twenty-five years, and in 1900 was 76,303,387.

States and Cities.-In 1776 Virginia had the largest population, about five hundred thousand. Pennsylvania had about four hundred thousand, and Massachusetts about three hundred thousand.. Connecticut, New York, Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina had about two hundred thousand each, and the other colonies each less than one hundred thousand.

Of the cities, Philadelphia, the largest, had in 1790 a population of 42,520; New York, 33,131; Boston, 18,038; Charleston, 16,359; and Baltimore, 13,503. Of inland towns, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was the largest, with something over six thousand inhabitants. There were only five cities with over ten thousand population. In 1900 there were four hundred and twenty-three.

Location of the People.-In 1790 nearly all the American people lived along the Atlantic seaboard, few having gone more than two hundred and fifty miles westward. The centre of population was then about twenty-three miles east of Baltimore. Since then this centre has moved steadily westward, keeping nearly on the same parallel of latitude (39°), at the rate of about fifty miles every ten years. In 1890 it had reached a point near Greensburg, in southeastern Indiana. It may be further said that there has been a steady tendency toward increase of city life. In 1790 only three out of each one hundred people lived in cities. In 1840 this had increased to nine, and in 1890 to twenty-nine per one hundred.

The Movement Westward.-After the Revolution an active movement westward set in, and soon towns arose west of the Alleghanies. Settlements were made in Kentucky and Tennessee at an earlier date. The first settlement in Ohio was at Marietta, in 1788. In the same year was founded a village, which in 1790 was named Cin