Page:Archæologia Americana—volume 2, 1836.djvu/190

154 It seems to have been a general opinion, that they had certainly much more land than they wanted; that there would be no difficulty in obtaining a sufficient quantity from them, since there was enough for both parties; that their situation would be greatly improved by the blessings of Christianity and a participation in the arts and superior knowledge of the Europeans; and that both races would subsist and nourish together. Those expectations were fulfilled in every respect but that in which the Indians were most immediately concerned. The fact was, that the Indians, so long as they preserved their habits, had but little if any more land than they actually wanted. And, to this day, they have almost universally proved refractory to every attempt made to induce them to change these habits. The Indian disappears before the white man, simply because he will not work. The struggle was between inveterate indolence and the most active and energetic industry; and the result could not be doubtful. The Indian at first thoughtlessly sold his land for a trifle; he then vainly fought in order to recover or to preserve it; he finally was compelled to seek a retreat farther to the west: and the few who remained behind, though protected by government, and with reserved lands sufficient, as we might think, for their sustenance, still persevering in their indolent habits, sank into a most degenerate race, and have almost altogether disappeared.

The four millions of industrious inhabitants, who, within less than forty years, have peopled our western States, and derive more than ample means of subsistence from the soil, offer the most striking contrast, when compared with perhaps one hundred thousand Indians whose place they occupy. Not only was the hunter unable to procure food for an increased population, but he had generally to provide daily for the wants of the day, and never could accumulate the product of his labor in the shape of capital. An agricultural people, even though as little advanced in that respect as our western settlers are at first, have always, from the moment they have prepared a field sufficient for the food of the family, a capital either in their barns or growing, equal to the product of one year's labor. Within two years, more corn is produced than is wanted for their own support. The surplus affords means of subsistence to new emigrants; it is either sold to those who have some property; or advanced in the shape of wages to those who bring nothing with them but their labor. This simple process,