I took it that the colored people would go there in great numbers, so as to have independent states governed by their own race.

They would still be States of the Union, and under the protection of the General Government; but the citizens would be almost wholly colored.
By the war with Mexico, we had acquired, as we have seen, territory almost equal in extent to that we already possessed.

It was seen that the volunteers of the Mexican war largely composed the pioneers to settle up the Pacific coast country.

Their numbers, however, were scarcely sufficient to be a nucleus for the population of the important points of the territory acquired by that war.

After our rebellion, when so many young men were at liberty to return to their homes, they found they were not satisfied with the farm, the store, or the work-shop of the villages, but wanted larger fields.