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a restraint to vice; and, on this subject, it will only be necessary to direct your attention to the plan of education as prescribed by the constitution. * ** I recommend to your consideration the propriety of providing, by law, to prevent more effectually any unlawful attempts to seize and carry into bondage persons of color legally entitled to their freedom; and, at the same time, as far as practicable, to prevent those who rightfully owe service to the citizens of any other State or territory, from seeking, within the limits of this State, a refuge from the possession of their lawful owners. Such a measure will tend to secure those who are free from any unlawful attempts [to enslave them], and secure the rights of the citizens of the other States and territories as far as ought reasonably to be expected."

The territorial government of Indiana was thus superseded by a State government, on the 7th of November, 1816; and the State of Indiana was formally admitted into the Union by a joint resolution of congress, approved on the 11th of December, in the same year.

On the 8th of November, 1816, the general assembly, by a joint vote of both houses, elected James Noble and Waller Taylor to represent the State of Indiana in the senate of the United States. Subsequent joint ballotings resulted in the electing of Robert A. New, secretary of state; William H. Lilley, auditor of public accounts; and Daniel C. Lane, treasurer of State. The session of the first general assembly of the State of Indiana was closed, by a final adjournment, on the 3d of January, 1817.

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GENERAL VIEWS OF THE PROGRESS OF POPULATION AND IMPROVEMENTS.

In the preceding chapters I have traced the history of the discovery and settlement of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, and the history of Indiana, from the period of its organization under a territorial government to the year 1816, when the citizens of the territory formed for themselves a republican constitution, and established a State government. The history of the State of Indiana, from the year 1816 to the present time, would be, if it were now written in detail, a record of the rapid growth of a State, whose peaceful progress toward a condition of strength and prosperity was sometimes greatly embarrassed by the presence of financial difficulties, once agitated by the events of a war between the United States and Mexico, and often retarded by the disturbing influence of unwise legislation, and by obstacles which had their origin in the demoralizing dissensions of local factions.

The number of free white inhabitants in Indiana, at the close of the year 1816, did not, probably, exceed seventy thousand; but the tide of immigration which flowed into the State from other quarters of the Union, between the years 1816 and 1820, was so full that the population of Indiana, in 1820, according to the census tables of that year, amounted to 147,178. The inhabitants of the new State began to open new farms, to found new settlements, to plant new orchards, to erect schoolhouses and churches, to build hamlets and towns, and to engage, with some degree of ardor, in the various peaceful pursuits of civilized life. A sense of security pervaded the minds of the people. The hostile Indian tribes, having been overpowered, humbled, and impoverished, no longer excited the fears of the pioneer settlers, who dwelt in safety in their plain log cabin homes, and cultivated their small fields without the protection of armed sentinels. The numerous temporary forts and blockhouses, which were no longer required as places of refuge for the pioneers, were either converted into dwelling houses, or suffered to fall into ruins.

The State was in its infancy, its resources were undeveloped, its citizens were not wealthy, and, while the number of the proper objects of taxation was small, their value, at that time, was not great. The revenue which was necessary for the support of the new State government, was, for a period of about twenty years, drawn almost wholly from the land-holders; and the funds required for county purposes were derived, chiefly, from a poll tax, and taxes on lands, town lots, horses, carriages, clocks, and watches, and from charges on licenses which were granted to the vendors of merchandize, the retailers of spiritous liquors, and the keepers of taverns. For revenue purposes, the taxable lands were classed as first rate, second rate, and third rate lands. The taxes which were levied on such lands, for the support of the State government, were not burdensome. For example, the rate of taxation on one hundred acres was—

In 1817, on first rate land, $1 00; on second rate land, 871 cents; on third rate land, 50 cents.

In 1818, on first rate land, $1 00; on second rate land, 87 cents; on third rate land, 62 cents.

In 1821, on first rate land, $1 50; on second rate land, $1 25; on third rate land, 75 cents.

In 1824, on first rate land, $1 50; on second rate land, $1 00; on third rate land, 75 cents.

In 1831, on first rate land, 80 cents; on second rate land, 60 cents; on third rate land, 40 cents.

By an act of February 7, 1835, the general assembly made some provisions for the levying of taxes on land, not according to its quality, but in proportion to its value; and every assessor was required to appraise taxable land "as he would appraise the same in the payment of a just debt due from a solvent debtor." The new mode of raising a State revenue, by the levying of a certain per centage on the value of taxable property, was, on its adoption, viewed by many persons as a measure of doubtful expediency; but a large majority of the people soon began to regard it as an equitable mode of taxation, and a part of the settled policy of the State government. The different opinions which were, for many centuries, in conflict in European nations with respect to the policy of supporting and advancing the cause of general education among the people, were transmitted from those nations to North

America by the early colonists. As early as the year 1647, the colonists at Plymouth, by a public act, declared that, "the Lord assisting their endeavors," they would provide for "the education of the people" by establishing schools to teach reading and writing, and "grammar schools to fit youth for the university." But while the greater number of the early emigrants to North America were inclined to regard the idea of popular education with favor, those theorists who, in Europe, were opposed to the general dissemination of knowledge. among the masses of mankind, had, for a long period, a small number of faithful representatives of their sentiments among the British colonists of North America. In 1670, one of the English governors of the colony of Virginia, in the course of a reply to some queries which had been addressed to him by commissioners, said: "I thank God there are no free schools nor printing ***; for learning has brought disobedience, and heresy, and sects into the world; and printing has divulged them."

These antagonistic theories which were brought from Europe to America, continued, for more than a century, to produce, respectively, their natural results. The cause of popular education, however, acquired new strength on the promulgation of the declaration of American Independence; and, when the successful termination of the Revolutionary War gave to a free people the control of a great nation, the fact that the safety and welfare of the nation depended on the general intelligence and virtue of the people, was so evident that nearly all of the several States of the Union began to provide means for the encouragement and support of popular education; and the general government adopted the policy of making munificent donations of public lands for the support of common schools, colleges, and universities. This policy has been continued by the national government up to the present time.

On the 20th of May, 1785, congress passed an ordinance in relation to the mode of disposing of the public lands in the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio. This territory, at that time, embraced within its boundaries all the lands which are now included within the limits of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, together with the part of Minnesota which lies on the left bank of the river

Mississippi. The ordinance of May 20th, 1785, declared that one square mile of land, or section No. 16 in every township, should be reserved for the maintenance of public schools. This new policy was confirmed by the third article of compact in the ordinance of congress of July 13, 1787, which declares that "religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall for ever be encouraged."

By these national acts a great principle was asserted and established, and a thirty-sixth part of all lands within the immense northwestern territory was devoted to the maintenance of common schools for the education of the people.

In the course of the territorial existence of Indiana, the subject of schools, for the instruction of youth, was often pressed upon the attention of the people by the friends of popular education. But, from the time of the organization of the territorial government until the adoption of a State constitution, in 1816, the constant presence of insurmountable difficulties prevented the establishing of any system of common school education in Indiana. In 1807 the general assembly of the territory passed an act to incorporate "the Vincennes university," "for the instruction of youth in the Latin, Greek, 'French, and English languages, mathematics, natural philosophy, ancient and modern history, moral philosophy, logic, rhetoric, and the law of nature and nations." In the preamble to this act, the territorial legislature declared that "the independence, happiness, and energy of every republic depended (under the influences of the destinies of heaven) upon the wisdom, virtue, talents, and energy of its citizens and rulers;" and that "science, literature, and the liberal arts contributed, in an eminent degree, to improve those qualities and acquirements;" and that "learning had ever been found the ablest advocate of genuine liberty-the best supporter of rational religion, and the source of the only solid and imperishable glory which nations can acquire." The first board. of trustees of the Vincennes university, being named in the act of incorporation, were-William Henry Harrison, John Gibson, Thomas T. Davis, Henry Vanderburgh, Waller Taylor, Benjamin Parke, Peter Jones, James Johnson, John Badollet, John Rice Jones, George Wallace, William Bullitt, Elias

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