. Mission of the North American people, geographical, social, and political . n society, flash suddenly out of mid-night obscurity, and by a single step plant themselves upon the verythrone itself of public attention, may be thus illustrated: Columbus,intent upon discovering a direct route by sea to Oriental Asia, died with-out any thought of the new continent, or knowledge that he had seen Vespucci, a younger navigator, identified the new continent,established its existence in the popular mind, and gave to it his own name,America. Thus, in 1842, commenced to agitate itself througho
. Mission of the North American people, geographical, social, and political . n society, flash suddenly out of mid-night obscurity, and by a single step plant themselves upon the verythrone itself of public attention, may be thus illustrated: Columbus,intent upon discovering a direct route by sea to Oriental Asia, died with-out any thought of the new continent, or knowledge that he had seen Vespucci, a younger navigator, identified the new continent,established its existence in the popular mind, and gave to it his own name,America. Thus, in 1842, commenced to agitate itself throughout America, theenergetic geographical movement, to reorganize the column of central pro-gress artificially stagnated in Missouri since 1820. Exploration, conquest, the conversion of the wilderness, have sinceadvanced with intense celerity. As is the case with all normal instincts: war, peace, domestic andforeign schemes of opposition, have each contributed to precipitate itsadvance and fire its activity. The American people are, then, now advancing, victoriously to plant34. THE PLATEAU OF NORTH AMERICA. 35 democratic empire co-equal with the area of the continent. The grandnovelty which rises in front, is the Plateau of the Table Lands. ThisPlateau, inclosed within the Cordilleras of the Mountain Formation, pos-sesses characteristics new to mankind, and about to arrest the attention andsway the mental energies of America. In the first place, it is necessary, by reference and comparison, to iden-tify this Plateau ; to discover what and where it is; and thence to go onand demonstrate its area, its climate, its capacity, and its geographicalpower in the world. Asia contains two plateaux ; South America, one; North America, and Africa have great mountain chains, but no plateau. The immense Plateau of Asia occupies the central region of that con-tinent, extending east and west from the Pontic Sea to Middle China. Itis inclosed between the Himalaya Mountains and those of S
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