to call attention to the more important among these new political arrangements, and to give in each case the most recent facts, though I am for obvious reasons precluded from adding comments on many of the facts which it is proper to state.
It was with some anxiety that I entered on this revision, fearing lest the hopeful spirit with which my observation of American institutions from 1870 to 1894 had inspired me might be damped by a close examination of their more recent phases. But all I have seen and heard during the last few years makes me more hopeful for the future of popular government. The forces working for good seem stronger today than they have been for the last three generations.
In the prefaces to the first and third editions I expressed my thanks to a large number of friends, American and English, who had helped me. Many of those to whom I was most indebted have now passed away. To those who happily remain I renew the expression of my gratitude, and am glad to thank also many others, too numerous to be all mentioned by name, in the United States, who have within the last few years helped me in a thousand ways towards acquiring a more thorough knowledge of their country.
I venture to take this opportunity of saying how deeply I appreciate the extraordinary kindness with which this attempt, made by one who was then, comparatively speaking, a stranger, to describe American institutions, has been received in the United States, and of which I have received so many proofs in travelling to and fro throughout the country.
James Bryce
October 22, 1910.
This new edition has been carefully revised in order to introduce into the text the changes made by recent amendments to the Constitution, and otherwise to bring the book up to date.
February 26, 1914.
| 1789–1793 | GEORGE WASHINGTON |
| 1793–1797 | Re-elected |
| 1797–1801 | JOHN ADAMS |
| 1801–1805 | THOMAS JEFFERSON |
| 1805–1809 | Re-elected |
| 1809–1813 | JAMES MADISON |
| 1813–1817 | Re-elected |
| 1817–1821 | JAMES MONROE |
| 1821–1825 | Re-elected |
| 1825–1829 | JOHN QUINCY ADAMS |
| 1829–1833 | ANDREW JACKSON |
| 1833–1837 | Re-elected |
| 1837–1841 | MARTIN VAN BUREN |
| 1841–1845 | WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON (died 1841) |
| JOHN TYLER | |
| 1845–1849 | JAMES KNOX POLK |
| 1849–1853 | ZACHARY TAYLOR (died 1850) |
| MILLARD FILLMORE | |
| 1853–1857 | FRANKLIN PIERCE |
| 1857–1861 | JAMES BUCHANAN |
| 1861–1865 | ABRAHAM LINCOLN |
| 1865–1869 | Re-elected (died 1865) |
| ANDREW JOHNSON | |
| 1869–1873 | ULYSSES S. GRANT |
| 1873–1877 | Re-elected |
| 1877–1881 | RUTHERFORD B. HAYES |
| 1881–1885 | JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD (died 1881) |
| CHESTER A. ARTHUR | |
| 1885–1889 | STEPHEN GROVER CLEVELAND |
| 1889–1893 | BENJAMIN HARRISON |
| 1893–1897 | GROVER CLEVELAND |
| 1897–1901 | WILLIAM MCKINLEY |
| 1901–1905 | Re-elected (died 1901) |
| THEODORE ROOSEVELT | |
| 1905–1909 | THEODORE ROOSEVELT |
| 1909–1913 | WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT |
| 1913- | WOODROW WILSON |
Dates of Some Remarkable Events in the History of the North American Colonies and United States
| 1606 | First charter of Virginia. |
| 1607 | First settlement in Virginia. |
| 1620 | First settlement in Massachusetts. |
| 1664 | Taking of New Amsterdam (New York). |
| 1759 | Battle of Heights of Abraham and taking of Quebec. |
| 1775 | Beginning of the Revolutionary War. |
| 1776 | Declaration of Independence. |
| 1781 | Formation of the Confederation. |
| 1783 | Independence of United States recognized. |
| 1787 | Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia. |
| 1788 | The Constitution ratified by nine states. |
| 1789 | Beginning of the federal government. |
| 1793 | Invention of the cotton gin. |
| 1803 | Purchase of Louisiana from France. |
| 1812–14 | War with England. |
| 1812–15 | Disappearance of the Federalist Party. |
| 1819 | Purchase of Florida from Spain. |
| 1819 | Steamers begin to cross the Atlantic. |
| 1820 | The Missouri Compromise. |
| 1828–32 | Formation of the Whig Party. |
| 1830 | First passenger railway opened. |
| 1840 | National nominating conventions regularly established. |
| 1844 | First electric telegraph in operation. |
| 1845 | Admission of Texas to the Union. |
| 1846–48 | Mexican War and cession of California. |
| 1852–56 | Fall of the Whig Party. |
| 1854–56 | Formation of the Republican Party. |
| 1857 | Dred Scott decision delivered. |
| 1861–65 | War of Secession. |
| 1869 | First transcontinental railway completed. |
| 1877 | Final withdrawal of Federal troops from the South. |
| 1879 | Specie payments resumed. |
| 1898 | War with Spain: annexation of Hawaii. |
| 1899 | Cession by Spain of Puerto Rico and the Philippine Islands. |
| 1904 | Acquisition of the Canal Zone at the Isthmus of Panama. |
Area, Population, and Date of Admission of the States
The thirteen original states, in the order in which they ratified the Constitution
| Foreign Policy and Territorial Extension | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ratified the Constitution | Area in square miles | Population (1910) | |
| Delaware | 1787 | 2,050 | 202,322 |
| Pennsylvania | 1787 | 45,215 | 7,665,111 |
| New Jersey | 1787 | 7,815 | 2,537,167 |
| Georgia | 1788 | 59,475 | 2,609,121 |
| Connecticut | 1788 | 4,990 | 1,114,756 |
| Massachusetts | 1788 | 8,315 | 3,366,416 |
| Maryland | 1788 | 12,210 | 1,295,346 |
| South Carolina | 1788 | 30,570 | 1,515,400 |
| New Hampshire | 1788 | 9,305 | 430,572 |
| Virginia | 1788 | 42,450 | 2,061,612 |
| New York | 1788 | 49,170 | 9,113,614 |
| North Carolina | 1789 | 52,250 | 2,206,287 |
| Rhode Island | 1790 | 1,250 | 542,610 |
| States subsequently admitted, in the order of their admission | |||
| Vermont | 1791 | 9,565 | 355,956 |
| Kentucky | 1792 | 40,400 | 2,289,905 |
| Tennessee | 1796 | 42,050 | 2,184,789 |
| Ohio | 1802 | 41,060 | 4,767,121 |
| Louisiana | 1812 | 48,720 | 1,656,388 |
| Indiana | 1816 | 36,350 | 2,700,876 |
| Mississippi | 1817 | 46,810 | 1,797,114 |
| Illinois | 1818 | 56,650 | 5,638,591 |
| Alabama | 1819 | 52,250 | 2,138,093 |
| Maine | 1820 | 33,040 | 742,371 |
| Missouri | 1821 | 69,415 | 3,293,335 |
| Arkansas | 1836 | 53,850 | 1,574,449 |
| Michigan | 1837 | 58,915 | 2,810,173 |
| Florida | 1845 | 58,680 | 752,619 |
| Texas | 1845 | 265,780 | 3,896,514 |
| Iowa | 1846 | 56,025 | 2,224,771 |
| Wisconsin | 1848 | 56,040 | 2,333,860 |
| California | 1850 | 158,360 | 2,377,549 |
| Minnesota | 1858 | 83,365 | 2,075,708 |
| Oregon | 1859 | 96,030 | 672,765 |
| Kansas | 1861 | 82,080 | 1,690,949 |
| W.
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