I am aware that, notwithstanding my care, nothing
will be easier than to criticise this book, if anyone
ever chooses to criticise it. Those readers who
may examine it closely will discover the fundamental
idea which connects the several parts together.
But the diversity of the subjects I have had to treat
is exceedingly great, and it will not be difficult
to oppose an isolated fact to the body of facts which
I quote, or an isolated idea to the body of ideas
I put forth. I hope to be read in the spirit
which has guided my labors, and that my book may be
judged by the general impression it leaves, as I have
formed my own judgment not on any single reason, but
upon the mass of evidence. It must not be forgotten
that the author who wishes to be understood is obliged
to push all his ideas to their utmost theoretical
consequences, and often to the verge of what is false
or impracticable; for if it be necessary sometimes
to quit the rules of logic in active life, such is
not the case in discourse, and a man finds that almost
as many difficulties spring from inconsistency of
language as usually arise from inconsistency of conduct.
I conclude by pointing out myself what many readers
will consider the principal defect of the work.
This book is written to favor no particular views,
and in composing it I have entertained no designs
of serving or attacking any party; I have undertaken
not to see differently, but to look further than parties,
and whilst they are busied for the morrow I have turned
my thoughts to the Future.
Chapter I: Exterior Form Of North America
Chapter Summary
North America divided into two vast regions, one inclining
towards the Pole, the other towards the Equator—Valley
of the Mississippi—Traces of the Revolutions
of the Globe—Shore of the Atlantic Ocean
where the English Colonies were founded—Difference
in the appearance of North and of South America at
the time of their Discovery—Forests of
North America—Prairies—Wandering
Tribes of Natives—Their outward appearance,
manners, and language—Traces of an unknown
people.
Exterior Form Of North America
North America presents in its external form certain
general features which it is easy to discriminate
at the first glance. A sort of methodical order
seems to have regulated the separation of land and
water, mountains and valleys. A simple, but grand,
arrangement is discoverable amidst the confusion of
objects and the prodigious variety of scenes.
This continent is divided, almost equally, into two
vast regions, one of which is bounded on the north
by the Arctic Pole, and by the two great oceans on
the east and west. It stretches towards the south,
forming a triangle whose irregular sides meet at length
below the great lakes of Canada. The second region
begins where the other terminates, and includes all
the remainder of the continent. The one slopes
gently towards the Pole, the other towards the Equator.
Copyrights
Democracy in America — Volume 1 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
