George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 10

[350] jurisdiction; that the provinces of the south already

Chap. XVII.} 1779.

very much weakened the confederation; that further extension on that side would immeasurably augment this inconvenience; that the south was the seat of wealth and of weakness; that the poverty and vigor of the north would always be the safeguard of the republic; and that on this side lay the necessity to expand and to gain strength; that the navigation of the Mississippi below the mouth of the Ohio should belong exclusively to Spain, as the only means of retaining the numerous population which would be formed between the Ohio and the lakes; that the inhabitants of these new and immense countries, be they English or be they Americans, having the outlet of the river St. Lawrence on the one side and that of the Mississippi on the other, would be in a condition to domineer over the United States and over Spain, or to make themselves independent,—that on this point there was, therefore, a common interest. Some dread of the relative increase of the south may have mixed with the impatient earnestness with which two at least of the New England states demanded the acquisition of Nova Scotia as indispensable to their safety, and therefore to be secured at the pacification with England. The leader in this policy was Samuel Adams, whom the French minister always found in his way.

The question of recruiting the army by the enlistment of black men forced itself on attention. The several states employed them as they pleased, and the slave was enfranchised by the service. Once congress touched on the delicate subject; and in March, 1779, it recommended Georgia and South