A short Description of, and Remarks upon a new State called The Western Territory, being one of four settled by the Americans since 1774.
THAT no nation can serve the Americans with good equal in quality and price to Britain, is what the whole world knows, and from experience the most obstinate rebel American dare not deny: It is with pleasure, therefore, we inform our readers, that the United States are paying more attention to agriculture than to manufactures–They have already laid out four new States since the beginning of their rebellion, viz. Vermont, Kentucky, Indiana, and The Western Territory.
About seventeen years ago Vermont was a wilderness; they only began to settle it about the year 1774. Kentucky, ten years ago, lay in forest wild, it was settled in 1780. Yet so rapid has been the population, that there are not less than one hundred thousand inhabitants, already, in each of these States. The State of Indiana was only laid off this present year 1789, and contains but two or three hundred inhabitants. From a description of these four States, published in American in May last, we give our readers a short abridged description of the last of them, called The Western Territory; and it must rerejoiced the heart of every Briton to read it, and think, that the settling of these countries, though the Americans double their numbers every 15 or 20 years, will long keep them from manufacturing, and is every day opening a field for new customers to Great Britain; for who will work as a tradesman, even though wages are very high, when he can, for twenty pounds, purchase a thousand acres of land, that being the present price fixed by Congress for lots of land in The Western Territory.–Hence the demand of our manufactures will continually increase with the increasing population of America.–Desponding politicians may derive comfort from the prospect, that new channels of commerce will be opened, and the inland parts of the Continent will require an incresing supply.–British manufactures will for ages ascend the great rivers of that Continent, and by means of a most extraordinary inland navigation, will be diffused through a country more fertile, more susceptible of population, and six time more extensive, than all the Thirteen United States.
The Western Territory
Is the name given to this new State by Congress. It is bounded on the west by the Mississippi riverlb/>–north by the Lakes–east by Pennsylvania– south and south-east by the Ohio reiver; contains, according to Mr. Hutchins, Geographer General to the Congress, 411,000 square miles, equal to two hundred and sixty-three millions of acres, from which he deducts forty-three millions of acres for water; there will then remain two hunred and twenty millions of acres belonging to the foederal government, which is to be sold for the discharthe debt owing to the United States. But a very small proportion of theselands is yet purchased of the native Indians and disposed of by Congress*.
On the lands which have been purchased by Congress from the Indians two settlements and already commenced*#x2013;one at Marietta, the other at Miami.
This State was only laid out by Congress in the end of the year 1787, and already contains about 8000 inhabitants. The principal rivers are the Mississippi, Ohio, Muskingham, Hockhocking, Sioto, Miami, Wobash, &c.–Coal and iron mines, and salt pits, abound in this State; the soil is excellent–as rich as can be imagined, and may be reduced to yield plentiful crops with little or no labour. It is exceeding healthy, pleasant, and commodious–the most fertile sport of earth known to the Europeans or Americans–exceeding the soil of any of the United States. The timber is tall, and in great variety.–Streams for mills abound here. Wheat, indigo, hemp, and cotton, thrive well. Many years will probably not escape before a good part of the country will be brought to that degree of cultivation that will exhibit all its latent beauties, and justify the descrpition of travellers, who call it the *garden of of a great empire will be fixed in some future pethe world*. It is here probably also that the centre riod. It is the most centrical place for Congress to accomodate themselves at. No country is better stocked with wild game of every kind; herds of deers, elks, bear, &c. fill the extensive meadows of this country–turkies, geese, swans, and partridges, &c. are innumerable. The rivers are excellently stored with fish, and almost all navigable for small sloops.
In the ordinance published by Congress for the government of this territory, they are to be allowed an Assembly when their number amounts to 30,000 persons’ and when they acquire a certain degree of population they are to have representatives in Congress; and when fifty millions of acres are settled they are to be divided into States.
Rejoice, O Britons! that they must all be supplied with manufactures by you, and you *only*
*No more than about twelve millions of acres have yet been purchased of the poor natives, for which Congress gave them only eight thousand dollars value in goods and rum.
Citation: Glasgow Advertiser (Glasgow, United Kingdom), 21 September 1789, available at the Scissors and Paste Database, http://www.scissorsandpaste.net/395.