cond place, of becoming one of the first trading powers of the globe.

The Anglo-Americans have always displayed a very decided taste for the
sea. The Declaration of Independence broke the commercial restrictions
which united them to England, and gave a fresh and powerful stimulus to
their maritime genius. Ever since that time, the shipping of the Union
has increased in almost the same rapid proportion as the number of its
inhabitants. The Americans themselves now transport to their own shores
nine-tenths of the European produce which they consume. *g And they also
bring three-quarters of the exports of the New World to the European
consumer. *h The ships of the United States fill the docks of Havre and
of Liverpool; whilst the number of English and French vessels which are
to be seen at New York is comparatively small. *i

[Footnote g: The total value of goods imported during the year which
ended on September 30, 1832, was $101,129,266. The value of the cargoes
of foreign vessels did not amount to $10,731,039, or about one-tenth of
the entire sum.]

[Footnote h: The value of goods exported during the same year amounted
to $87,176,943; the value of goods exported by foreign vessels amounted
to $21,036,183, or about one quarter of the whole sum. (Williams's
"Register," 1833, p. 398.)]

[Footnote i: The tonnage of the vessels which entered all the ports of
the Union in the years 1829, 1830, and 1831, amounted to 3,307,719 tons,
of which 544,571 tons were foreign vessels; they stood, therefore,
to the American vessels in a ratio of about 16 to 100. ("National
Calendar," 1833, p. 304.) The tonnage of the English vessels which
entered the ports of London, Liverpool, and Hull, in the years 1820,
1826, and 1831, amounted to 443,800 tons. The foreign vessels which
entered the same ports during the same years amounted to 159,431 tons.
The ratio between them was, therefore, about 36 to 100. ("Companion
to the Almanac," 1834, p. 169.) In the year 1832 the ratio between the
foreign and British ships which entered the ports of Great Britain was
29 to 100. [These statements relate to a condition of affairs which
has ceased to exist; the Civil War and the heavy taxation of the United
States entirely altered the trade and navigation of the country.]]

Thus, not only does the American merchant face the competition of his
own countrymen, but he even supports that of foreign nations in their
own ports with success. This is readily exp