Neither could appreciate the other's many and real
virtues. The policies for which they warred were hostile and
irreconcilable; the interests of the nations they represented were, as
regards the northwestern wilderness, not only incompatible but
diametrically opposed. The commanders of the British posts, and the men
who served under them, were moved by a spirit of stern loyalty to the
empire, the honor of whose flag they upheld, and endeavored faithfully
to carry out the behests of those who shaped that empire's destinies; in
obedience to the will of their leaders at home they warred to keep the
Northwest a wilderness, tenanted only by the Indian hunter and the white
fur trader. The American frontiersmen warred to make this wilderness the
heart of the greatest of all Republics; they obeyed the will of no
superior, they were not urged onward by any action of the supreme
authorities of the land; they were moved only by the stirring ambition
of a masterful people, who saw before them a continent which they
claimed as their heritage. The Americans succeeded, the British failed;
for the British fought against the stars in their courses, while the
Americans battled on behalf of the destiny of the race.
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