Page:Memoir upon the negotiations between Spain and the United States of America which led to the treaty of 1819.djvu/39

29 aspire to become States, and ask to be admitted into the Union. According to the census of 1810, the population, in all the districts of which I have spoken, amounted to 109,000 souls, almost the whole of which was composed of negro and mulatto slaves. Even supposing this computation to be faithful and correct, still it does not make the complement required to form two states; and it is notorious, that the population in these immense countries has increased little or nothing since this period mentioned, with the exception of that of Illinois, which has made some progress by virtue of the benignity of the climate, and the great advantages of a free traffick with the Indians, and a clandestine one with the neighboring provinces of New Spain. Cultivation has scarecely yet begun to be encouraged at some few points of this vast region; but as both the government and individuals extend their ambitious views, even with enthusiasm, to the fertile and charming countries of New Mexico, Tehas, and other provinces in the interior of Mexico, it is probable, that the population will daily increase in the Illinois, and other districts bordering on the