Francis Samuel Philbrick

“ A comparatively low cost of labour, the fact that labour is not, as in the days of slavery, that of unintelligent blacks but of intelligent free labourers, the centralized organization and modern methods that prevail on the plantations, the remarkable fertility of the soil (which yields 5 or 6 crops on good soil and with good management, without replanting) , and the proximity of the United States, in whose markets Cuba disposes of almost all her crop, have long enabled her to distance her smaller West Indian rivals and to compete with the bounty-fed beet. ”

“ Separation from European politics—the doctrine of “America for Americans” that was embodied later in the Monroe declaration—was a tenet cherished by Jefferson as by other leaders (not, however, Hamilton) and by none cherished more firmly, for by nature he was peculiarly opposed to war, and peace was a fundamental part of his politics. However deep, therefore, his French sympathies, he drew the same safe line as did Washington between French politics and American politics, [9] and handled the Genet complications to the satisfaction of even the most partisan Federalists. ”

“ Others have echoed Rufus Choate’s phrase, that the Declaration is made up of “glittering and sounding generalities of natural right.” In truth, its long array of “facts . . . submitted to a candid world” had its basis in the whole development of the relations between England and the colonies; every charge had point in a definite reference to historical events, and appealed primarily to men’s reason; but the history is to-day forgotten, while the fanciful basis of the “compact” theory does not appeal to a later age. ”

“ Of the palm there are more than thirty species. The royal palm is the most characteristic tree of Cuba. It attains a height of from 50 to 75 ft., and sometimes of more than 100 ft. Alone, or in groups, or in long aisles, towering above the plantations or its fellow trees of the forest, its beautiful crest dominates every landscape. Every portion, from its roots to its leaves, serves some useful purpose. ”

“ In the direct language of reproach and advice, with no disingenuous loading of the Crown’s policy upon its agents, these resolutions attacked the errors of the king, and maintained that “the relation between Great Britain and these colonies was exactly the same as that of England and Scotland after the accession of James and until the Union; and that our emigration to this country gave England no more rights over us than the emigration of the Danes and Saxons gave to the present authorities of their mother country over England.” ”

“ In material prosperity the progress of the island from 1902 to 1906 was very great; but in its politics, various social and economic elements, and political habits and examples of Spanish provenience that ill befit a democracy, led once more to revolution. Congress neglected to pass certain laws which were required by the constitution, and which, as regards municipal autonomy, independence of the judiciary, and congressional representation of minority parties, were intended to make impossible the abuses of centralized government that had characterized Spanish administration. ”

“ The two men and the fate of the parties they led are understandable only by regarding one as the leader of reaction, the other as in line with the American tendencies. The educated classes characteristically furnished Federalism with a remarkable body of alarmist leaders; and thus it happened that Jefferson, because, with only a few of his great contemporaries, he had a thorough trust and confidence in the people, became the idol of American democracy. ”

“ Not all the men who rendered the greatest services to independence were in Congress in July 1776; not all who voted for the Declaration ever signed it; not all who signed it were members when it was adopted. The greater part of the signatures were certainly attached on the 2nd of August; but at least six were attached later. With one exception—that of Thomas McKean, present on the 4th of July but not on the 2nd of August, and permitted to sign in 1781—all were added before printed copies with names attached were first authorized by Congress for public circulation in January 1777. ”

“ Among those who waged the war were men who fought to compel reforms, others who fought for annexation to the United States, others who fought for independence. The reformists demanded, besides the correction of the above evils, action against slavery, assimilation of rights between peninsulars and creoles and the practical recognition of equality, e.g. in the matter of office-holding, a grievance centuries old in Cuba as in other Spanish colonies, and guarantees of personal liberties. ”

“ Party feeling in America has probably never been more dangerously impassioned than in the three years preceding this election; discount as one will the contrary obsessions of men like Fisher Ames, Hamilton and Jefferson, the time was fateful. Unable to induce Burr to avow Federalist principles, influential Federalists, in defiance of the constitution, contemplated the desperate alternative of preventing an election, and appointing an extra-constitutional (Federalist) president pro tempore. ”

“ Sugar has been the dominant crop since the end of the 18th century. Before the Civil War of 1895–1898 the capital invested in sugar estates was greater by half than that represented by tobacco and coffee plantations, live-stockSugar. ranches and other farms. Since that time fruit and live-stock interests have increased. The dependence of the island on one crop has been an artificial economic condition often of grave momentary danger to prosperity; but generally speaking, the progress of the industry has been steady. The competition of the sugar-beet has been felt severely. ”

“ Congress adopted the resolution of independence; and on the 4th, Jefferson’s “Declaration.” The 4th has always been the day celebrated; [1] the decisive act of the 2nd being quite forgotten in the memory of the day on which that act was published to the world. It should also be noted that as Congress had already, on the 6th of December 1775, formally disavowed allegiance to parliament, the Declaration recites its array of grievances against the crown, and breaks allegiance to the crown. ”

“ Growth of the Nation in Population.—If the 19th century was remarkable with respect to national and urban growth the world over, it was particularly so in the growth of the United States. Malthus expressed the opinion that only in such a land of unlimited means of living could population freely increase. ”

“ At first the reign of terror and the X. Y. Z. disclosures strengthened the Federalists, until these, mistaking the popular resentment against France for a reaction against democracy—an equivalence in their own minds—passed the alien and sedition laws. In answer to those odious measures Jefferson and Madison prepared and procured the passage of the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions. These resolutions later acquired extraordinary and pernicious prominence in the historical elaboration of the states’-rights doctrine. ”

“ After the first American occupation a private company built a line from Santa Clara to Santiago, more than half the length of the island, finally connecting its two ends (1902) . The policy of the railways was always one rather of extortion than of fairness or of any interest in the development of the country, but better conditions have begun. There was ostensible government regulation of rates after 1877, but the roads were guaranteed outright against any loss of revenue, and in fact practically nothing was ever done in the way of reform in the Spanish period. ”

“ Jefferson is of course not entitled to the sole credit for all these services: Wythe, George Mason and James Madison, in particular, were his devoted lieutenants, and—after his departure for France—the principals in the struggle; moreover, an approving public opinion must receive large credit. But Jefferson was throughout the chief inspirer and foremost worker.
In 1779, at almost the gloomiest stage of the war in the southern states, Jefferson succeeded Patrick Henry as the governor of Virginia, being the second to hold that office after the organization of the state government. ”

“ The best buildings in Havana are constructed of a very rich white limestone, soft and readily worked when fresh, but hardening and slightly darkening with age. There are extensive and valuable deposits of beautiful marbles in the Isle of Pines, and lesser ones near Santiago. The Organ Mountains contain a hard blue limestone; and sandstones occur on the N. coast of Pinar del Rio province. Clays of all qualities and colours abound. Mineral waters, though not yet important in trade, are extremely abundant, and a score of places in Cuba and the Isle of Pines are already known as health resorts. ”

“ But in all other parts of the country the increase is faster than in the South; since aside from agriculture, which has long been in a relatively stable condition, there is not by any means so strong a movement of women into professional services in city districts. The increase is universal. There is not a state that does not show it. The greatest increase for any section between 1880 and 1900 was that of the North Central division from 8.8 to 14.3%. Here too both factors—farm-life, as in North Dakota, and manufacturing, as in Illinois-showed their plain influence. ”

“ A national policy of “growling before fighting”—later practised successfully enough by the United States—was not then possible; and one writer has very justly said that what chiefly affects one in the whole matter is the pathos of it—“a philosopher and a friend of peace struggling with a despot of superhuman genius, and a Tory cabinet of superhuman insolence and stolidity” (Trent) . It is possible to regard the embargo policy dispassionately as an interesting illustration of Jefferson’s love of peace. The idea—a very old one with Jefferson—was not entirely original ”

“ A study of the family names appearing on the census rolls of two prosperous and typical American counties, one distinctively urban and the other rural, in 1790 and 1900, has confirmed the popular impression that the British element is growing little, and that the fastest reproducers to-day are the foreign elements that have become large in the immigration current in very recent decades. ”

“ Full explanations do not remove from some important transactions in his political life an impression of indirectness. But reasonable judgment must find very unjust the stigma of duplicity put upon him by the Federalists. Measured by the records of other men equally successful as political leaders, there seems little of this nature to criticize severely. Jefferson had the full courage of his convictions. Extreme as were his principles, his pertinacity in adhering to them and his independence of expression were quite as extreme. ”

“ The constitution is republican and modelled on the Constitution of the United States, with some marked differences of greater centralization, due to colonial experience under the rule of Spain, notably as regards federalism; the provinces of the island being less important than the states of the American Union. The president of the Republic, who is elected for four years by an electoral college, and cannot hold office for more than two successive terms, has a cabinet whose members he may appoint and remove freely, their number being determined by law. ”

“ It is the key to an understanding of the times to remember that the War of Independence had disjointed society; and democracy—which Jefferson had proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, and enthroned in Virginia—after strengthening its rights by the sword, had run to excesses, particularly in the Shays’ rebellion, that produced a conservative reaction. To this reaction Hamilton explicitly appealed in the convention of 1787 ”

“ In 1790 there were about 600,000 white families in the United States. Speaking broadly, there were few very rich and few very poor. Food was abundant. Both social traditions and the religious beliefs of the people encouraged fecundity. The country enjoyed domestic tranquillity. All this time, too, the land was but partially settled. Mechanical labour was scarce, and even upon the farm it was difficult to command hired service, almost the only farm labourers down to 1850, in the north, being young men who went out to work for a few years to get a little money to marry upon. ”