State of the Republic and its Industries

The administration of Mr. Monroe, which ended on the 4th of March, 1825, was not marked by any very important events besides those already mentioned, excepting the passage of an act making provision, in a degree, by pensions, for the widows and children of deceased soldiers of the War for Independence and of 1812-15; also an arrangement with Great Britain by which American citizens were allowed to share with those of that realm in the valuable Newfoundland fisheries. At about the same time the boundary between the United States and the American-British possessions from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains was defined. The industries of the country were readjusted. In New England, in which capital had been chiefly employed in commerce, navigation and the fisheries, manufactures soon became a favorite pursuit, and under the stimulating influence of high tariffs established in 1816 and 1818, was amply remunerative. The business of the country was generally very prosperous. The population had rapidly increased; the paper currency of the country was contracted and restored to a specie basis. Cotton had become the staple production of the Southern States; the manufactures of the country had increased tenfold, and the tonnage threefold; the national debt had dwindled from $127,000,000 in 1816, to less than $80,000,000, and the banking capital of the country was $127,000,000. Such was the general condition of our country when John Quincy Adams, then fifty-seven years of age, was elevated to the office of President of the republic.