"The earlier colonial and Indian wars had drawn upon the resources and heroism of our forefathers. Hardship and toil had imbued them with a consciousness of their strength and instilled into them that spirit of independence which enabled them, after long years of strife, to establish our republic. It was this people, after having gained their independence, in the belief that foreign complications were forever at an end, who, at the close of the Revolution, turned their attention to peaceful pursuits and endeavored to meet every requirement of a growing country. With characteristic skill and industry they began the development of those tremendous resources of our country, the measure of which is almost beyond human conception. Here, under liberal laws and wise administration, the people found that which had been heretofore lacking in the government of the world. Invention had not yet made possible the intercommunication facilities which we of the present enjoy. Upon water transit, therefore, they were obliged to depend for an outlet for the commerce of their western territory. The barriers which were sought to be interposed to communication over the mighty river which rises in the northwest brought forth vigorous protests from those who had just begun to cultivate its fertile fields. Angry passions were aroused, and the people of our country who had been so successful in carving out the republic demanded that this barrier should be removed. Livingston and Monroe, clothed only with power to effect a treaty which should insure this right of transit, with no possible opportunity of quick communication with their government, took upon themselves the responsibility which brought to a successful consummation the relinquishment of this vast territory.