THE SOUTHERN STATES OF NORTH AMERICA: A RECORD OF JOURNEYS IN LOUISIANA, TEXAS, THE INDIAN TERRITORY, MISSOURI, ARKANSAS, MISSISSIPPI, ALABAMA, GEORGIA, FLORIDA, SOUTH CAROLINA, PUBLISHERS' PREFACE. THI HIS Book is the record of an extensive tour of observation. through the Southern and South-western States of North America during the whole of the year 1873 and the spring and summer of 1874. The journey was undertaken at the instance of the publishers of Scribner's Monthly Magazine, who desired to present to the public, through the medium of their popular periodical, an account of the material resources, and the present social and political condition, of the people of the States formerly under the dominion of Slavery. The author and the artists associated with him in the preparation of the work travelled more than twenty-five thousand miles; visited nearly every city and town of importance in the Southern States; talked with men of all classes, parties, and colours; carefully investigated the state of the country, the labour question, manufacturing enterprises and sites; studied the course of politics in each State since the advent of reconstruction; explored rivers, and penetrated into mountain regions heretofore rarely visited by people of the Northern States, and all but unknown to Europeans. They were everywhere kindly and generously received; and they have endeavoured, by pen and pencil, to give the reading public a truthful picture of life in a section of the country which has, since the close of a devastating war, been overwhelmed by a variety of misfortunes, but upon which the dawn of a better day is breaking. The fifteen ex-slave States cover an area of more than 880,000 square miles, and are inhabited by fourteen millions of people. The aim of the author has been to tell the truth as exactly and completely as possible in the time and space allotted him, concerning the characteristics of this region and its inhabi tants. 2072252 This volume contains not only all that was valuable in the series of articles published in Scribner's Magazine under the title of "The Great South," re-written and re-arranged, but also embodies a large amount of picturesque description and many engravings not heretofore published. To the talent and skill of Mr. J. WELLS CHAMPNEY, the artist who accompanied the author during the greater part of the journeys, the public is indebted for more than four hundred of the sketches of Southern life, character, and scenery which illustrate this volume. The other artists who have contributed have done their work faithfully and well. The topographic maps of the Southern States, as well as those founded on the latest Census Reports of the United States, will be found of material assistance to the reader, in enabling him to comprehend the relations of the several States and the condition of the country under review. GLASGOW, May, 1875. CONTENTS. PAGE XXII......ST. LOUIS GERMANS AND AMERICANS-SPECULATIVE PHILOSOPHY-EDUCATION... 222 XXIII.....COMMERCE OF ST. LOUIS-THE NEW BRIDGE OVER THE MISSISSIPPI.. |