George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 10

[48] exceeded its own. By their very extent, embracing,

Chap. I.} 1778.

at least in theory, all the Pacific coast of America; and north of the Gulf of Mexico the land eastward to the Mississippi, or even to the Alleghanies, it could have no feeling of their subordination. The remoteness of the provinces on the Pacific still more weakened the tie of supremacy, which was nowhere confirmed by a common language, inherited traditions, or affinities of race. There was no bond of patriotism, or sense of the joint possession of political rights, or inbred loyalty. The connection between rulers and ruled was one of force alone; and the force was in itself so very weak that it availed only from the dull sluggishness of the governed. Distrust marked the policy of the home government, even toward those of its officials who were natives of Spain; still more toward the Creoles, as the offspring of Spaniards in America were called. No attempt had been made to bind the mind of the old races, except through the Roman religion, which was introduced by the sword and maintained by methods of superstition. There was, perhaps, never a time when the war-cry of the semi-barbarous nations who formed the bulk of the population was not heard somewhere on their border. The restraints on commerce were mischievous and vexatious, prompted by fear, and provoking murmurs and frauds.

Moreover, all the world was becoming impatient that so large a portion of the globe should be monopolized by an incapable and decrepit dynasty. The Dutch and the British and the French sought opportunities of illicit trade. The British cut down foresttrees, useful in the workshop and the dye-house, and