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READIR^S IN 
 AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 BY 
 
 DAVID SAVILLE H ZZEY, Ph.D. 
 
 BARNARD COLLEGE, COLUMBIV.iMVERSITY, NEW YORK 
 
 Out of monuments, na/r.'s, words, proverbs, 
 traditions, private records, rjgments of stories, 
 passages of books, and thdike, do we save and 
 recover somewhat from tl-^ deluge of time. 
 
 Francis Bacon, The -'-. Ancement of Leatiiing 
 
 REVISED iDITION 
 
 G1.NN AND COMPANY 
 
 boston • NEW YORK • CHICAGO • LONDON 
 ATLANTA • DA.-I.AS • COLUMBUS • SAN FRANCISCO 
 

 >»ip" 
 
 En3 
 
 1 
 
 CoPYRIG^r, 1915, 1921, BY 
 DAVID SA ILLE MUZZEY 
 
 ALL RIG rS RESERVED 
 -121.2 
 
 tEht gtftengum jgrc g a ; 
 
 CINN AND CUMHANV- FKO+ 
 PRIETORS • BOSTON • U.S.iV, 
 
 MAR 22 m\ 
 
 ©CU608783 
 
i 
 
 1 prp:face 
 
 The use of selected material from primary sources to 
 illustrate and enliven the narrative of the textbook has 
 become so general and' has proved so valuable that there 
 is no further need for apology or explanation in the 
 introduction of a book of historical readings. In select- 
 ing the material for the present volume the author has 
 sought to give the student a sense of the number and 
 variety of sources- — acts of Congress, decisions of courts, 
 proclamations and messages of presidents, records of 
 debates, party platforms, charters, pamphlets, memoirs, 
 diaries, ktters, plays, poems, etc. — that are available for 
 the illustration of American history. 
 
 A unique feature of the book is the frequent employ- 
 ment of two or more extracts for the elucidation of a 
 single topic, these extracts either furnishing cumulative 
 evidence from different sources or presenting conflicting 
 or divergent views of different authors. For example, Nos. 
 14, 17, 37, 40, 45, 68, 81, 91, 93, 104 illustrate the type 
 of the " cumulative group of extracts," while Nos. 24, 30, 
 34, 39, 59, 74, 94, 106, 114, 116 represent the 
 " conflicting group." The value of such groups is twofold: 
 they not only help to save the source-book from the gen- 
 erally merited reproach of scrappiness, but they furnish 
 the student with just what he is likely to miss in the 
 study of the textbook, namely, the realization that on 
 every important historical and social question there is and 
 has been a variety of opinion and judgment. ' 
 
iv Preface 
 
 Although the readings can be used to advantage with 
 any textbook on the subject, they have been planned 
 especially as a companion volume to the author's *' Amer- 
 ican History," following the text chapter by chapter and 
 section by section. • There are constant references to the 
 History in the notes, and beneath each marginal title of 
 the Readings a number in brackets refers to the page of 
 the History where the subject illustrated by the reading 
 is treated in the narrative. 
 
 A few of the extracts are taken from secondary works ; 
 and due acknowledgment is made to D. Appleton and 
 Company for the passages from Professor McMaster 
 (Nos. 45, 70), to the Century Company for the quotations 
 from De Tocqueville (Nos. 6j, 74) and Nicolay and Hay 
 (No. 87), to Houghton Mifflin Company for the descrip- 
 tion from John S. Wise (No. 95), to Charles Scribner's 
 Sons for the pages from Robert Louis Stevenson (No. 
 1 1 2), and to Messrs. Ziegler and McCurdy for the extracts 
 from Alexander H. Stephens (Nos. 89, 97). 
 
 It is hoped that the detailed Table of Contents will serve 
 the teacher as a working bibliography of the sources of 
 American history. It can be best supplemented by the 
 comprehensive ''Classified Bibliography" in Part H of 
 Channing, Hart, and Turner's ''.Guide to the Study and 
 Reading of American History " (Ginn and Company, 
 19 1 2). The reference in the case of each extract in the 
 Readings is to the publication in which the source from 
 which that extract is taken is most available for the 
 teacher. Hence compilations of documents and editions of 
 statesmen's works have been freely cited. The original 
 spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and syntax (or the 
 want of it) have been left unchanged in the Readings. 
 
 ( 
 
Preface v 
 
 The author wishes to express his thanks to the efficient 
 staff of the loan and reference departments of the Hbrary 
 of Columbia University for their constant and willing 
 courtesy in supplying his needs, and to Professor James 
 Harvey Robinson, the general editor of this series of 
 textbooks and readings, for his sympathetic interest and 
 valued suggestions at all stages of the work. 
 
 DAVID SAVILLE MUZZEY 
 New York 
 
CONTENTS 
 PART I 
 
 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ENGLISH 
 CHAPTER I— THE NEW WORLD 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Discovery of America 
 
 1. Geography before Columbus 
 
 Strabo, Geography, Book I, chap, iv, par. 6 3 
 
 Seneca, J/^^/m, Act II, 11. 371 ff 3 
 
 PuLCi, Morganti Maggio7-e, Canto XXV, strophes 229, 230 4 
 St. Ambrose, Hexaemeron, in Migne, Patrologia Latina, 
 
 Vol. XIV, col. 123 4 
 
 Thomas Wright, Poptilai- Treatises on Science written 
 
 during the Middle Ages, London, 1841, pp. 1-3 . . 5 
 Alexander of Neckam, De Natura Rencni, ed. Thos. 
 
 Wright, in Rolls Series, Book II, chap. 98, p. 183 . 5 
 
 2. The " Capitulation " of April 17, 1492 
 
 FiLSON Young, Christopher Columbus, Vol. II, Appen- 
 dix C, pp. zii^ZZl 6 
 
 3. Columbus' letter to Luis de Santangel, February 1 5, 1493 
 
 Original Narratives of Early American History, Vol. I, 
 ed. Olson and Bourne, The Northmen, Columbus 
 and Cabot, pp. 263-271 7 
 
 4. Columbus complains to his son Diego, December 1 , 1 504 
 
 John Boyd Thacher, Christopher Columbus, Vol. Ill, 
 
 pp. 318-325 9 
 
 A Century of Exploration 
 
 5. Magellan's voyage around the world, 1 519-1522 
 
 Pigapheta's Nan-ative, in Hakluyt Society Publications, 
 
 Vol. LII, pp- 35-163 II 
 
viii Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 6. De Soto's journey to the Mississippi, 1 538-1 542 
 
 Richard IIakluyt, Voyages, Travels, and Discoveries, 
 
 Vol. V, pp. 476-550 15 
 
 7. A Tribute to Queen Elizabeth as the " Mother of Eng- 
 
 lish Sea-greatnesse," 1625 
 Hakhiytus Postiimiis, or Purchas, His Pilgrimes, ed. 
 
 MacLehose, Glasgow, Vol. XIX, pp. 449-450 . , 18 
 
 8. Sir Humphrey Gilbert's patent, 1578 
 
 Richard Hakluyt (see No. 6), Vol. Ill, pp. 174-176 19 
 
 9. An encouragement to English colonization, 1584 
 
 Richard Hakluyt, A Discourse Conceniing Western 
 Flatiting, in Maine Historical Society's Documen- 
 tary History, Series II, Vol. II, pp. 101-161 ... 20 
 
 CHAPTER II — THE ENGLISH COLONIES 
 
 The Old Dominion 
 
 10. An English gentleman's impression of Jamestown in 
 
 1619 
 Original Naii'atives (see No. 3), Vol. Ill, ed. L. G. 
 
 Tyler, Narratives of Early Virginia, pp. 281-287 24 
 
 11. Virginia changes masters, 165 1-1662 
 
 Ebenezer Hazard, Historical Collections of State 
 
 Papers, Vol. I, pp. 556-558 26 
 
 W. \V. Hening, Statutes at Large . . ■ of Virginia, Vol. I, 
 
 P- 530 27 
 
 Ebenezer Hazard, op. cit. Vol. II, pp. 607-611 ... 28 
 
 12. An eyewitness' account of Bacon's rebellion, 1675- 
 
 1676 
 
 Peter Force, Tracts . . . relating to the Origin, Settle- 
 ment, and Progress of the Colonies in North America, 
 Vol. I, No. 8 30 
 
 The New England Settlements 
 
 13. The coming of the Pilgrims, 1620 
 
 Original Narratives (see No. 3), Vol. VI, ed. W. T. 
 Davis, Bradford's History of Plimouth Plantation, 
 pp. 32-107 passim 34 
 
Contents ix 
 
 PAGE 
 
 14. Illustrations of Puritan character 
 
 Thomas Hutchinson, History of the Colo7iy of Massa- 
 chusetts Bay, Wo\. I, y>V'^S^-^S2> ••••••• 37 
 
 Samuel Whiting, Life of John Cotton, in Alexander 
 Young's Chronicles of the First Planters of the 
 Colony of Massachusetts Bay, pp. 423-430 • • • 39 
 
 Cotton Mather's Diary, in Massachusetts Historical 
 Society Collections, Series VII, Vol. VIII, pp. 3-5, 
 252-258 40 
 
 15. " Independency " in Massachusetts, 1664 
 
 Thomas Hutchinson (see No. 14), Vol. I, pp. 537-542, 
 
 appendix 42 
 
 16. The " Glorious Revolution " of 1689 
 
 Peter Force (see No. 12), Vol. IV, No. 10, An Account 
 
 of the Late Revolution in Neiv England .... 46 
 
 The Hutchinson Papers, in Publications of the Prince 
 
 Society, Vol. II, pp. 314-317 49 
 
 The Proprietary Colonies 
 
 17. Two accounts of early New York, 1643, 1661 
 
 The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, ed. R. G. 
 Thwaites, Vol. XXVIII, pp. 105-111 50 
 
 Original Narratives (see No. 3), Vol. VIII, ed. J. F. 
 Jameson, Narratives of New Netherland, pp. 423- 
 424 53 
 
 18. Rivalry between Dutch and English in the Connecticut 
 
 valley, 1 627-1 650 
 Massachusetts Historical Society Collections for the Year 
 
 I7g4, Vol. Ill, pp. 51-52 55 
 
 Documents Relative to the Colonial History of . . . New 
 — York, ed. E. B. O'Callaghan, Vol. I, pp. 287-289 57 
 
 Thomas Hutchinson (see No. 14), Vol. I, pp. 514-5^5 59 
 
 19. New Netherland becomes New York, 1664 
 
 Original Narratives (see No. 3), Vol. VIII, pp. 451-453 60 
 Documents Relative to the Colonial History of . . . New 
 
 York (see No. iS), Vol. II, pp. 250-253 62 
 
 20. The rise of the Quakers, about 1650 
 
 Rouert Proud, History of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 
 
 1797, Vol. I, pp. 28-61 passim 63 
 
X Contents 
 
 PAGl 
 
 Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, Series IV, 
 
 Vol. IX, p. 159 .... 66 
 
 21. Peopling a new colony, 1 681-1683 
 
 Samuel Hazard, Register of Pennsylvania., Vol. I, 
 
 pp. 306-308 67 
 
 Original Narratives (see No. 3), Vol. X, ed. A. C. 
 Meyers, Narratives of Early Pennsylvania, West 
 New Jersey, and Delaware, pp. 379-397 .... 69 
 
 The Colonies in the Eighteenth Century 
 
 22. The First Navigation Act, 1660 
 
 William Macdonald, ed. Select Charters illustrative 
 
 of American History, 1606-1775, PP- 110-115 . . 72 
 
 23. Observations of two foreign visitors, 1 748-1 749, 
 
 1 759-1 760 
 
 Peter Kalm, Travels into North A7?terica, tr. J. R. 
 
 Foster, London, 1770, Vol. I, pp. 260-265 ... 75 
 
 Andrew Burnaby, Travels . . . in North America, 
 ed. John Pinkerton, London, 1812, General Collec- 
 tion of Travels, pp. 750-752 77 
 
 24. Harvard College in the early days, 1642, 1680, 1741 
 
 .Vew England^ s Fii'st Fruits, London, 1643, pp. 12-15 . ^o 
 The fount al of fasper Bankers, ed. H. C. Murphy, in 
 Memoirs of the Long Island Historical Society, 
 
 Vol. I, pp. 384-385 82 
 
 JosiAH QuiNCY, History of Ha? vaj-d University, Vol. II, 
 
 pp. 88-89 83 
 
 CHAPTER HI— THE STRUGGLE WITH FRANCE FOR 
 NORTH AMERICA 
 
 The Rise of New France 
 
 25. La Salle's voyage down the Mississippi, January to 
 April, 1682 
 
 Le Clercq, The Fii'st Establishment of the Faith in Neio 
 
 France, tr. John G. Shea, Vol^ II, pp. 1 61-179 . . 85 
 
Contents xi 
 
 PAGE 
 
 26. Dongan and Denonville, 168 5- 168 7 
 
 Documents relative to the Colonial Hlst07y of N^ew York 
 (see No. 18), Vol. IX, pp. 292-293; Vol. Ill, 
 pp. 456-472 87 
 
 27. The Albany plan of union, 1754 
 
 The Writings of Benja?nm Franklin, ed. A. H. Smyth, 
 
 Vol. I, pp. 386-389; Vol. Ill, pp. 197-199 ... 94 
 
 The Fall of New France 
 
 28. Washington's embassy to the French forts, 1753 
 
 The Writings of George Washhigton, ed. W. C. P^ord, 
 
 Vol. I, pp. 11-40 98 
 
 29. The fall of Quebec, September 13, 1759 
 
 John Knox, An Historical Jom-nal of the Campaigns 
 in North America for the Years ly^y-iyOo, Vol. II, 
 
 pp. 66-73 ^°4^ 
 
 Thomas Jeffreys, The Natural and Civil History of the 
 French Dominions In Noi-th and South America, 
 PP- 133-136 106 
 
 PART II 
 
 THE SEPARATION OF THE COLONIES FROM 
 ENGLAND 
 
 CHAPTER IV — BRITISH RULE IN AMERICA 
 
 The Authority of Parliament in the Colonies 
 
 30. The rights of the colonies 
 
 Thomas Povvnall, The Administration of the Colonies, 
 
 London, 1764, pp. X, 40-85 m 
 
 Thomas Hutchinson, Letters, etc., Boston, 1773, 
 
 pp. 8, 9, 16 114 
 
 Stephen Hopkins, The Rights of Colonies Examined, 
 
 in Colonial Records of Rhode Island; ed. J. R. 
 
 Bartlett, Vol. VI, pp. 419-424 "5 
 
xii Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Taxation Without Representation 
 
 31. The truth about the Stamp Act 
 
 Franklin, Works (see No. 27), Vol. VII, pp. 118-120 118 
 
 32. The Circular Letter of Massachusetts Bay, i 768 
 
 The Writings of Samuel Adams, ed. H. A. Gushing, 
 
 Vol. I, pp. 1S4-188 120 
 
 John Almon, Prior Documents, London, 1777, 
 
 pp. 203-205 123 
 
 33. The control of the purse strings, 1 768 
 
 John Dickinson, Letters from a Farme?; etc., pp. 69-80 125 
 
 The Punishment of Massachusetts 
 
 34. Conflicting reports of the conflict at Lexington, April 
 
 I9» 1775 
 Paper in the Hancock-Clark House at Lexington, 
 
 Massachusetts 128 
 
 New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 
 
 Vol. XXVII, p. 434 130 
 
 Peter Force, Americaji A?rhi7>es, fourth series. 
 
 Vol. II, pp. 488, 491 131 
 
 CHAPTER V — THE BIRTH OF THE NATION 
 
 The Declaration of Independence 
 
 35. The final petition to King George III, July 8, 1775 
 
 fou?yials of the Continental Congress, ed. W. C. FoRD, 
 
 Vol. II, pp. 1 58-161 133 
 
 36. Thomas Paine's argument for independence, Janu- 
 
 ary 10, I 776 
 
 " Common Sense," in Paine's Writings, ed. M. D. 
 
 Conway, Vol. I, pp. 84-101 passim 138 
 
 37. The French alliance, 1778 
 
 Charlemagne Tower, Jr., The Man/uis de Lafayette 
 
 in the American Revolution, Vol. I, pp. 184, 185 . 1 41 
 
Co Jit cuts xiii 
 
 PAG 
 
 Journals of the Continental Cong7'ess (see No. 35), 
 
 Vol. XI, pp. 449-453' 753' 756, 757 i43 
 
 Franklin, Works (see No. 27), Vol. VIII, pp. 641-643 146 
 
 The Revolutionary War 
 
 38. George Rogers Clark's capture of Vincennes, Febru- 
 
 ary 24, 1779 
 
 William H. English, The Conquest of the Northwest, 
 
 Vol. I, pp. 568-575, appendix 148 
 
 The Anierica7t Historical Revietv (Documents), Vol. I, 
 
 P-95 153 
 
 Peace 
 
 39. The Tories 
 
 Hezekiah Niles, Principles and Acts of the Revolu- 
 tion, pp. 393-396 153 
 
 Frank Moore, Diary of the American Revolution, 
 
 Vol. II, pp. 166-168 156 
 
 Winthrop Sargent, Loyal Verses . . . relating to the 
 
 American Revolution, pp. 11-12 157 
 
 M. C. Tyler, Litei-aiy Histoiy of the American Revo- 
 lution, Vol. II, pp. 124-125 159 
 
 PART III 
 
 THE NEW REPUBLIC 
 CHAPTER VI — THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 The Critical Period 
 
 40. The new nation on trial 
 
 Richard Price, Obsei-vations on the ImpoHance of the 
 American Revolution, London, 1785, pp. 1-8, 
 
 84-85 163 
 
 JosiAH Tucker, Cui Bono? or an Inquiry, Gloucester, 
 
 1781, pp. 93-96, 117-119 165 
 
 Tench Coxe, A View of the United States, London, 
 
 1794, pp. 4, 5, 2S-32 167 
 
xiv Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 41. Hamilton's plea for an adequate constitution, Septem- 
 
 ber 3, 1780 
 
 The Works of Alexander Hamilton^ ed. H. C. Lodge, 
 
 Vol. I, pp. 213-219 168 
 
 "A More Perfect Union " 
 
 42. The constitutional convention, May to September, 1 787 
 
 Journals of Congress (see No. 35), Vol. XII, p. 17 , . 172 
 The Amei'iean Historical Review (Documents), Vol. Ill, 
 
 PP- 327-331 173 
 
 Debates on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution^ 
 
 ed. Jonathan Elliot, Vol. V, pp. 554, 556, 565 174 
 
 Ibid. Vol. I, pp. 17-18 176 
 
 43. Mason's argument against ratification, 1788 
 
 Pamphlets on the Constitution, ed. P. L. Ford, pp. 329- 
 
 332 177 
 
 44. Jefferson's plan for the government of the West, i 784 
 
 The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, ed. P. L. Ford, 
 
 Vol. Ill, pp. 429-432 180 
 
 CHAPTER VII — FEDERALISTS AND REPUBLICANS 
 
 Launching the Government 
 
 45. America the land of opportunity 
 
 Franklin, IVorJks (see No. 27), Vol. VIII, pp. 603-614 183 
 J. B. McM ASTER, History of the People of the United 
 
 States, Vol. I, pp. 517-519 186 
 
 La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, P'oyage dans les Etats- 
 
 ^«/j, ... 7795-/797, Vol. I, pp. 133-136 ... 187 
 
 46. The inauguration of the government, 1789 
 
 Washington, Woi-ks (see No. 28), Vol. XI, pp. 382- 
 
 383 188 
 
 The fotcrnal of William Maclay, ed. E. S. Maclay, 
 
 pp. 7, 9, 10, 74, 137, 138 190 
 
 47. Jefferson versus Hamilton, 1 791-1792 
 
 Jefferson, Works (see No. 44), Vol. V, pp. 284-287 . 192 
 Hamilton, Works (see No. 41), Vol. IX, pp. 513-535 194 
 
Contents " xv 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Reign of Federalism 
 
 48. The neutrality proclamation, April 22, 1793 
 
 Washington, Works (see No. 28), Vol. XII, pp. 279- 
 
 282 197 
 
 49. The XYZ message, April 3, 1798 
 
 Annals of Congress^ 5th Congress, Vol. Ill (ed. 1851), 
 
 PP- 333^3345 200 
 
 50. A plea for peace, October 2, 1798 
 
 Joel Barlow, Tivo Letters to the Citizens of the United 
 
 States, London, 1806, pp. 37-43 203 
 
 51. The Kentucky and Virginia resolutions, 1798- 1799 
 
 The Writings of fames Madison, ed. G. Hunt, Vol. IX, 
 
 pp. 326-331 205 
 
 Elliot, Z>^(^«/^j- (see No. 42), Vol. IV, p. 545 .... 208 
 
 Jefferson, Works (see No. 44), Vol. VII, p. 290 . . 209 
 
 Madison, Works (see above), Vol. IX, pp. 444-445 . 209 
 
 52. Washington, appeal to Patrick Henry, January 15, 
 
 1799 
 
 Washington, Letters (privately printed by W. K. 
 Bixby of St. Louis from original manuscripts), 
 pp. 96-99 210 
 
 The Jeffersonian Policies 
 
 53. The discovery of the Columbia River, 1792 
 
 Robert Greenlow^, The IListoiy of Oregon and Cali- 
 
 foi-nia, appendix, pp. 434-436 212 
 
 Old South Leaflets, Vol. VI, pp. 22-23 (^o- ^30 • • 214 
 
 54. A petition of the inhabitants of Louisiana, 1 804 
 
 Annals of Congress, 8th Congress, 2d session (ed. 1852) ' 
 appendix, pp. 1 597-1608 214 
 
 55. The Lewis and Clark expedition, 1803-1806 
 
 Original fouiiials of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 
 
 ed. R. G. Thwaites, Vol. VII, pp. 247-252, 298 . 218 
 
xvi Co7itents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The War of 1812 
 
 56. British and French aggressions, 1 805-1 807 
 
 America)i State Papers, Foreig7i /delations, Vol. II, 
 
 PP- 749-750 222 
 
 Ibid. Vol. Ill, pp. 16-19 224 
 
 57. "Mr. Clay's war," December 31, 181 1 
 
 Annals of Co7igress, i2th Congress, ist session (ed. 
 
 1853), pp. 599-602 227 
 
 58. Madison's war message, June i, 181 2 
 
 Messages and Papers of the Presidents, ed. J. D. 
 
 Richardson, Vol. I, pp. 499-504 229 
 
 PART IV 
 
 NATIONAL VERSUS SECTIONAL INTERESTS 
 
 CHAPTER VIII— THE GROWTH OF A NATIONAL 
 CONSCIOUSNESS 
 
 A New American Spirit 
 
 59. British opinions of America, 1820-1837 
 
 The Edinburgh Review, Vol. XXXIII, pp. 78-80 . . 235 
 Mrs. Trollope, Domestic Manners of the Americans, 
 
 pp. 140-142, 169-17 1, 230-232 237 
 
 Captain Marryat, A Diary 771 A7ne7-ica, Vol. I, 
 
 PP-8-23 239 
 
 60. The river trade of New Orleans, 181 6-1840 
 
 United States Report on Co7?i77ie7re a/id A\r,iigatio7i for 
 
 1887, Part II, pp. 191-205 241 
 
 61. The Supreme Court and the Constitution, 1816-1824 
 
 United States Repo7is, i Wheaton, 324-326, 343-344 ; 
 
 4 Wheaton, 421, 432, 436; 9 Wheaton, 2 10-2 11 . 243 
 Jefferson, Works (see No. 44), Vol. X, pp. 170-17 1 . 2_i5 
 
Contents xvii 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Monroe Doctrine 
 
 62. The Florida dispute, 181 6-1 819 
 
 Annals of Congress, 15th Congress, 2d session, appen- 
 dix, p. 2153; ibid. pp. 2 106-2 107 246 
 
 America}!. State Papers (see No. 56), Vol. IV, pp. 539- 
 
 545 248 
 
 63. The Monroe Doctrine, December 2, 1823 
 
 Messages and Papers (see No. 58), Vol. II, pp. 208-219 251 
 
 CHAPTER IX — SECTIONAL INTERESTS 
 
 The Favorite Sons 
 
 64. Jockeying for the presidential race, 1824 
 
 Memoirs of Jo h 71 Qnincy Adams, Vol. VI, pp. 241-248, 
 
 261, 265, 292, 332, 333, 464, 465, 483, 501, 504 . 255 
 
 An Era of Hard Feeling 
 
 65. Benton's plea for the occupation of Oregon, 1825 
 
 Thomas Hart Benton, Thirty Years' Fie^a, Vol. I, 
 
 PP- 51-54 259 
 
 The " Tariff of Abominations " 
 
 66. The protest of South Carolina against high tariff, 1828 
 
 r/ie Works of^/ohn C. Calhoun, ed. R. K. Cralle, 
 
 Vol. VI, pp. 1-15 262 
 
 CHAPTER X — " THE REIGN OF ANDREW JACKSON" 
 
 Nullification 
 
 67. Andrew Jackson, constitutional autocrat 
 
 Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, ed. 
 
 F. Bowen, 1898, Vol. I, pp. 532-533 265 
 
 Messages and Papers (see No. 58), Vol. Ill, pp- 69-93 267 
 
xviii Contents 
 
 68. The specter of disunion, 1 830-1832 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Congressional Debates, Vol. VI, Part II (ed. 1830), 
 
 P-857 270 
 
 Writings and Speeches 0/ Daniel Webster (^SiixomX Edi- 
 tion, 1903), Vol. VI, pp. 69, 75 272 
 
 H. D. Capers, Life and Times of C. G. Alemminge?; 
 
 pp. 46-48 275 
 
 Setiate Dociunents, 22d Congress, 2d session, No. 30, 
 
 PP- 36-39 276 
 
 A New Party 
 
 69. Early anecdotes of the railroad 
 
 Frances Anne Eutler, /<:^//r;/«/, Vol. I, pp. 161-172 27S 
 Harriet Martineau, Society in America, Vol. II, 
 
 pp. 7-13 280 
 
 70. Labor unrest in the thirties 
 
 McMaster's History (see No. 45), Vol. VII, pp. 220-223 282 
 Docicniejiiary History of American Indnstrial Society, 
 
 ed. Commons and Sumner, Vol. V, pp. 303-305 ; 
 
 Vol. VI, pp. 87-90; Vol. V, pp. 61-63 284 
 
 PART V 
 
 SLAVERY AND THE WEST 
 CHAPTER XI— THE GATHERING CLOUD 
 
 The Missorui Compromise 
 
 71. The petition of the Georgia colonists for slavery, i 738 
 
 Peter Force, T7-acts (see No. 12), Vol. I, No. 4, 
 
 PP- 37-41 291 
 
 72. The debate on the Missouri Compromise, 1820 
 
 American Orations, ed. Johnston- WocjDiUJRN, Vol. II, 
 
 PP- 34-62 294 
 
Contents xix 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Annals of Congress, i6th Congress, ist session, Vol. 1, 
 
 PP- 391-415 299 
 
 The Abolitionists 
 
 73. A report from Liberia, 1828 
 
 The African Repository and Colonial fonrnal, Vol. V, 
 
 PP- 3-9 301 
 
 74. The " peculiar institution " 
 
 {a) Hezekiah Niles, The Weekly Register, Vol. XXVII, 
 
 P- 264 305 
 
 {b) Executive Documents, 19th Congress, 2d session. 
 
 Vol. IV, p. 69, No. 59 307 
 
 {c) Senate Documents, 20th Congress, ist session. 
 
 Vol, III, pp. lo-ii. No. 81 307 
 
 {d) D. F. Houston, A Critical Study of Ahillification 
 
 in South Carolina, pp. 51-52 309 
 
 Alexis de Tocqueville (see No. 67), Vol. I, pp. 486- 
 
 490 309 
 
 CHAPTER XII— TEXAS 
 
 The " Reoccupation " of Oregon and the '' Reannexa- 
 TiON " OF Texas 
 
 75. British interference in Texas, 1843- 1844 
 
 Calhoun, Works (see No. 66), Vol. V, pp. 315-336 . 312 
 
 76. An abolitionist on annexation, January 22, 1845 
 
 J. R. GiDDlNGS, Speeches in Congress (ed. 1853), 
 
 pp. 123-147 . . 318 
 
 'J']. Benton's attack on the " Fifty-four-Forties," May 22, 
 1846 
 
 Congressional Globe, 29th Congress, ist session, 
 
 pp. 851-862 322 
 
 The Mexican War 
 
 78. Leaves from Polk's " Diary " : the Mexican War, 1846- 
 1848 
 James K. Polk, Diary, ed. M. Quaife, Vol. I, pp. 9, t,t,, 
 
 34. 93» 164, 319, 363, 375, 382, 387, 390, 394, 397 328 
 
XX Contents 
 
 CHAPTER XIII — THE COMPROMISE OF 1850 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The New Territory 
 
 79. The gold seekers, 1 849 
 
 Walter Colton, Three Years in California, pp. 242- 
 
 290 335 
 
 H. H. Bancroft, California inter Pocula ; Works, 
 
 Vol. XXXV, pp. 73-74 . 339 
 
 The Omnibus Bill 
 
 80. Ichabod: (" where is the glory ? "), March 7, 1850 
 
 Webster, Works (see No. 68), Vol. X, pp. 57-98 . . 341 
 John Greenleaf Whittier, " Ichabod," in Songs of 
 
 Labor, etc. (ed. 1850), pp. 93-94 344 
 
 The Four Years' Truce 
 
 % 
 
 81. The secession movement of 1850 
 
 State Documents on Federal Relations, ed. H. V. Ames, 
 
 pp. 254-258 346 
 
 Correspondence of fohn C. Calhoun, ed. J. F. Jameson, 
 in Annual Report of American Historical Associa- 
 tion, 1899, Vol. II, pp. 762-763, 775-776,1210-1212 348 
 
 H. V. Ames (see above), pp. 271-272 351 
 
 82. The Ostend Manifesto, October 18, 1854 
 
 House Executive Documents, 33d Congress, 2d session, 
 
 No. 93 353 
 
 PART VI 
 
 THE CRISIS OF DISUNION 
 
 CHAPTER XIV — APPROACHING THE CRISIS 
 
 The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the For- 
 mation OF the Republican Party 
 
 83. The origin of '' squatter sovereignty," December 24, 
 
 1847 
 Niles, Register (see No. 74), Vol. LXXIII, pp. 293-294 359 
 
Contents xxi 
 
 PAGE 
 
 84. Fugitive slaves 
 
 Acts of the Getieral Assembly of Virginia, 184.^-18^0, 
 
 Richmond (ed. 1850), pp. 248-250 361 
 
 Documentary History, etc., ed. U. B. Phillips (see 
 
 No. 70), Vol. II, p. 75 .... 363 
 
 Life and Times of Fredej-ick Douglass, from i8iy to 
 
 1882, Written by Himself, pp. 245-249 .... 364 
 
 " A House Divided against Itself " 
 
 85. The " Bogus Legislature" of Kansas, 1855 
 
 G. D. Brewerton, Wars of the Western Border, 
 
 pp. 284-289 367 
 
 House Repofis, 34th Congress, ist session, Vol. II, 
 
 pp. 894-897 371 
 
 Charles Robinson, The Kansas Conflict, pp. 1 14-116 372 
 
 * 
 
 86. The gist of the Dred Scott decision, March 6, 1857 
 
 United States Reports, 19 Howard, 404-405, 408, 449, 
 
 451, 452, 464 373 
 
 CHAPTER XV— SECESSION 
 
 The Election of Abraham Lincoln 
 ^'j. The Republican standard, 1 860-1 861 
 
 J. G. NicoLAY and John Hay, Abraham Lincoln, 
 
 Vol. II, pp. 221-224 378 
 
 Messages and Papers (see No. 58), Vol. VI, pp. 5-12 . 381 
 
 88. The Chicago convention, May 16-18, i860 
 
 MURAT Halstead, A History of the A'ational Political 
 
 Conventions of i860, pp. 121— I ^4 384 
 
 89. A Southerner's plea for union, November 14, i860 
 
 Alexander H. Stephens, A Constitutional View 
 of the Late War betweefi the States, Vol. II, 
 pp. 280-300 388 
 
 The Southern Confederacy 
 
 90. " The crime of the North," January, 1861 
 
 The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. VII, pp. 118-121 .... 391 
 
xxii Conte7its 
 
 PAGE 
 
 91. Secession: its justification and its accomplishment, 
 
 December, i860 
 
 The Correspondence of Robert Toombs, Alexander II. 
 Stephens, and Howell Cobb, ed. U. B. Phillips in 
 Annual Report of the American Historical Asso- 
 ciation, 191 1, Vol. II, pp. 51 1-518 394 
 
 War of the Rebellion, Official Records of the Union 
 
 and Confederate Armies, Series I, Vol. I, p. 1 12 . 398 
 
 Frank Moore, Rebellion Records. Vol. I, Documents, 
 
 pp. 19-20 399 
 
 The Fall of Fort Sumter 
 
 92. The bombardment of Fort Sumter, April 12-14, 1861 
 
 Abner Doubleday, Reminiscences of Forts Su?nter 
 
 a?id A/onltrie, pp. 141-iyS 40^ 
 
 CHAPTER XVI — THE CIVIL WAR 
 The Opposing Forces 
 
 93. War measures from April to August, 1861 
 
 {a) United States Statutes at Large, Vol. XII, p. 1258 . 408 
 
 ^b) Ibid. pp. 1258-1259 409 
 
 (f) Ibid. pp. 259-261 411 
 
 {d) House fo7ir7ial, 37th Congress, ist session. No. 123 412 
 
 {e) United States Statutes at Large, Vol. XII, p. 319 • 412 
 
 From Bull Run to Gettysburg 
 
 94. The British view of the Trent affair, November- 
 
 December, 1 861 
 Lord Newton, Loj-d Lyons, a Record of British Diplo- 
 macy, Vol. I, pp. 55-57, 61-62 414 
 
 Massachusetts Historical Society^ s Proceedings, 1911- 
 
 1912, Vol. XLV, pp. 148-157 417 
 
 95. Pen pictures of the war 
 
 Sarah M. Dawson, A Confederate GirVs Diaiy, 
 
 pp. 16-46, 308 , 421 
 
 Helen D. Longstreet, Lee and Longstreet at High- 
 tide, pp. ^o-^z .... ./ 425 
 
 J. S. Wise, 77/^ /wr/ </./// Ar/, pp. 346-356 . ... 427 
 
Contents xxiii 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Triumph of the North 
 
 96. Change in the fortunes of the Confederacy, April- 
 
 December, 1863 
 
 Messages and Papers of the Coj!fede?-acy, ed. J. D. 
 
 Richardson, Vol. I, pp. 331-335, 345. 381-382 . 430 
 
 97. A Confederate embassy, February 3, 1865 
 
 Stephens, War betzveen the States (see No. 89), Vol. II, 
 
 pp. 599-618 435 
 
 98. The surrender at Appomattox, April 9, 1 865 
 
 Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Vol. II, pp. 489-498 ; 
 
 appendix, pp. 625, 626 440 
 
 99. Poetical tributes to Abraham Lincoln 
 
 Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (ed. 1907), pp. 262- 
 
 263 445 
 
 London Punch, Vol. XLVIII, p. 182 446 
 
 James Russell Lowell,' Works (Riverside ed.). 
 
 Vol. X, pp. 22-24 448 
 
 Edwin Markham, Lincoln and Other Poems, pp. 1-3 449 
 
 PART VII 
 
 THE POLITICAL AND INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF 
 THE REPUBLIC SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 CHAPTER XVII— TWENTY YEARS OF REPUBLICAN 
 SUPREMACY 
 
 Reconstruction 
 
 100. A Southerner's advice to President Johnson on recon- 
 struction, June 14, 1865 
 
 Johnson Manuscripts, in Library of Congress, Wash- 
 ington, D.C 453 
 
 loi. The Reconstruction Act, March 2, 1867 
 
 United States Statutes at Large, Vol. XIV, pp. 428-429 458 
 
xxiv • Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 02. Ku-Klux testimony, 1871 
 
 Kti-Klux Conspiracy^ Report of Joint Select Committee, 
 Washington, 1872, Vol. VI, pp. 304-3 16; Vol. VII, 
 pp. 668-670 461 
 
 HE Aftermath of the War 
 
 103. The liberal Republican movement of 1872 
 Appleton, Annual Americatt Cyclopedia, Vol. XII, 
 
 P- 552 468 
 
 Carl Schurz, Speeches, Correspondence, Political 
 Papers, ed. Frederick Bancroft, Vol. II, pp. 354- 
 361 • 470 
 
 104. The " indirect damage humbug " 
 
 Works of Charles Sumner (ed. 1880), Vol. XIII, 
 
 PP- 59-86 473 
 
 Messages and Papers (see No. 58), Vol. VII, p. 102 . 477 
 
 W. M. Stewart, i?^/«/«/j^^«<:^j, pp. 177-179 . . . . 478 
 
 A New Industrial Age - 
 
 105. The farmer and the railroad 
 
 Documentary History, etc., ed. Commons and An- 
 drews (see No. 70), Vol. X, pp. 42-45, 63-66 . 4S0 
 
 106. The resumption of specie payment, 1 869-1 878 
 
 Congressional Globe, 40th Congress, 3d session, 
 
 Part I, pp. 626-630 485 
 
 Ibid. 42d Congress, 3d session, Part I, p. 627 . . . 490 
 John Sherman, Recollections of Forty Years, Vol. II, 
 
 p. 628 493 
 
 107. Blaine's tribute to Garfield, February 27, 1882 
 
 Memorial Address, Government Printing Office, 
 
 W^ashington, 1882 494 
 
 108. The merit system 
 
 Senate Reports, 47th Congress (1882), No. 567 ... 499 
 United States Statutes at Large, Vol. XXII, pp. 403-407 502 
 
 109. The Democratic platform and candidate, 1884 
 
 Edward Stanwood, A History of the Presidency, 
 
 , Vol. I, pp. 434-440 505 
 
 r/S^ A^a^/V7«, July 17, 1884, Vol.XXXIX, p. 46 ... 507 
 
Contents xxv 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII — THE CLEVELAND DEMOCRACY 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A People's President 
 
 no. The tariff message of 1887 
 
 Messages and Papers (see No. 58), Vol. VIII, pp. 580- 
 
 591 5" 
 
 New York Daily Tribune^ December 8, 1887, p. i, 
 
 col. 5 515 
 
 A Billion Dollar Country 
 
 111. The new South 
 
 Henry W. Grady, His Life, Writings, and Speeches, 
 
 ed. J. C. Harris, appendix, pp. 105-1 12 .... 518 
 
 112. The hurricane at Samoa, March 15-16, 1889 
 
 Robert Louis Stevenson, A Footnote to History, in 
 Works (Scribner's edition, 1896), Vol. XIX, 
 
 PP- 541-554 522 
 
 New York Sunday Times, March 31, 1889, editorial 
 
 page 525 
 
 Problems of Cleveland's Second Term 
 
 113. The Chicago strike of 1894 
 
 Chicago Daily Herald, June 26, 1894 526 
 
 Grover Cleveland, Presidential Pivblerns, pp. 109- 
 
 "3 529 
 
 1 14. Twisting the British lion's tail : the Venezuela affair, 
 
 1895 
 Accounts and Papers, State Papers, Vol. XLIX, 
 Correspondence relating to the Question of 
 the Boundary of British Guiana, London, 1896, 
 
 PP- 13-24 533 
 
 Grover Cleveland (see No. 113), pp. 269-273 . . 538 
 Saturday Review, London, December 21, 1895, ^o^- 
 
 LXXX, p. 821 '. . 540 
 
 Nc*io7tal Review, London, January, 1896, Vol. XXVI, 
 
 PP- 573-574 541 
 
 115. Bryan's "cross of gold" speech, July 9, 1896 
 
 W. J. Bayan, The First Battle, pp. 199-206 .... 542 
 
xxvi Contents 
 
 CHAPTER XIX — ENTERING THE TWENTIETH 
 CENTURY 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Spanish War and the Philippines 
 
 1 1 6. The case against imperialism 
 
 The Nation, Vol. LXXIII, p. 4 ... 546 
 
 House Doaimenis, 55th Congress, 3d session, Vol. I, 
 
 No. I, Foreign Relations, pp. 934-935 .... 549 
 MooRFiELD Storey, IVkat shall we do 7vith our 
 
 Dependencies ? pp. i, 2, 5, 6, 9-1 1, 51-54, 60 . . 551 
 
 The Roosevelt Policies 
 
 117. The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, November 18, 1903 
 
 Senate Documents, 6ist Congress, 2d session, No. 
 357, Treaties, Conventions, etc., Vol. II, pp. 
 1349-1357 556 
 
 118. Roosevelt's speech to the governors, May 13, 1908 
 
 Proceedings of a Conference of Governors, May 13-15, 
 
 1908, Government Printing Ofifice, Washington, 
 
 1909, pp. viii-ix, 3-12 560 
 
 The Return of the Democrats 
 
 1 1 9. The trusts : causes and remedies 
 
 House Documents, 57th Congress, ist session, No. 182, 
 Report of the Industrial Commission on Trusts, 
 etc., Vol. XIII, pp. v, vii, xvii, xxx, xxxiii-xxxv . 566 
 
 120. Wilson's Mexican policy of " watchful waiting " 
 
 Congressional Record, 63d Congress, ist session, 
 
 p. 3803 ; 2d session, pp. 6908-6909 ...... 571 
 
 N^e-cv Vorh Times, March 26, 191 6 . . . . ■ . . . . 575 
 
 CHAPTER XX — AMERICA AND THE WORLD WAR 
 Neutrality 
 
 121. The typewriter 7>s. the torpedo 
 
 Department of State, Diplomatic Cr rrespondence, 
 European War Series, No. i, pp. 54, 75; No. 3, 
 P-24I 577 
 
Contents xxvii 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1 22. President Wilson accepts the gage of battle 
 
 House Docu?)iejtt, No. i, 65th Congress, ist session . 581 
 
 Participation 
 
 123. The Americans at St. Mihiel 
 
 Final Repoii. of General John J. Pershing, Commander- 
 i7i- Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces, 
 Washington Printing Office, 1919, pp. 38-43 . . 584 
 
 Problems of Peace 
 
 1 24. Labor and the war 
 
 The Nation, issne oi ]\xx\& 14, 1919 586 
 
 The Mojithly Labor Review, United States Department 
 
 of Labor, May, 1919 588 
 
 Co7tgressional Reco7\i, 66th Congress, ist session. 
 
 Part I, p. 4 1 590 
 
 INDEX • . • 593 
 
READINGS IN AMERICAN 
 HISTORY 
 
 PART I. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 
 . THE ENGLISH 
 
PART I. THE ESTABLISHMENT 
 OF THE ENGLISH 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE NEW WORLD 
 
 The Discovery of America 
 
 Although Ptolemy's '' Geography," which was regarded i. Geography 
 as the highest authority, perpetuated through the Middle coiumbus 
 Ages the tradition that the western boundary of the world m 
 was the " River Ocean," into whose forbidden waters dar- 
 ing sailors sometimes ventured through the Pillars of Her- 
 cules (the Strait of Gibraltar), nevertheless hints occur in 
 ancient as well as in mediaeval writers that these waters 
 were the same as those which washed the eastern coast 
 of Asia, and that new lands might be found to the west of 
 the Pillars of Hercules. Strabo, a Greek geographer of 
 the first century a.d., says : 
 
 The temperate zone makes a "continuous circle by uniting with 
 itself, so that, if the great size of the western sea did not prevent, 
 we might sail from Spain to India on the same parallel [of lati- 
 tude] . . . and it is possible that within the same temperate zone 
 there may be two or even three inhabited lands, and particularly 
 in the neighborhood of the parallel drawn through Athens. 
 
 Shortly after "Strabo, the Roman philosopher and poet 
 Seneca (3 B.C.-63 a.d.) wrote the following prophetic lines 
 in his play '' Medea": 
 
 In late years the time will come when Ocean will loose the 
 bands of nature, and the earth will stretch out huge, and the 
 
4 The Establishment of the English 
 
 sea will disclose new worlds, nor will Thule [the northern British 
 islands] be the last [remotest] of lands. 
 
 Only a few years before Columbus sailed, a Florentine 
 poet, named Pulci, wrote the following striking prophecy 
 of a western voyage : v," h t 
 
 The daring mariner shall urge far o'er 
 
 The western wave, a smooth and level plain. 
 
 And Hercules might blush to learn how far 
 Beyond the limits ^ he had vainly set 
 The dullest sea-craft soon shall wing her way. 
 We shall descry another hemisphere. 
 
 At our antipodes are cities, states, 
 
 And thronged empires ne'er divined of yore. 
 
 The following extract shows how ecclesiastical authority 
 discouraged scientific speculation and experimentation in 
 the Middle Ages. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan and 
 one of the four great fathers of the Latin Church, warns 
 his generation of the futility of scientific inquisitiveness 
 in these words (389 a.d.) : 
 
 To discuss the nature and position of the earth does not help 
 us in our hope of the life to come. It is enough to know what 
 Scripture states, that '' He hung up the earth on nothing " 
 (Job xxvi, 7). Why then argue whether He hung it up in air 
 or upon the water, and raise a controversy as to how thin air 
 could sustain the earth ; or why, if upon water the earth does 
 not go plunging down to the bottom. . . . The earth endures 
 stable upon the unstable and void because the majesty of God 
 sustains it by the law of His will. 
 
 At no time during the Middle Ages did educated men 
 lose the tradition, derived from the ancient Greeks, that 
 
 ^ The Pillars of Hercules, or Strait of Gibraltar. 
 
The New World 5 
 
 the earth was a sphere. " The Venerable Bede " of North- 
 umbria, the first of the EngHsh historians, declared in his 
 work '*On the Nature of Things," in the eighth century, 
 that "the earth ... is not perfectly round, owing to the 
 inequalities of mountains and plains," but that, ''if all its 
 lines be considered, it has the perfect form of a sphere " 
 (ch. xlvi). In an Anglo-Saxon treatise of the tenth cen- 
 tury, based on Bede, we read : 
 
 On the second day God made the heaven, which is called the 
 firmament, which is visible and corporeal ; and yet we may never 
 see it on account of its great elevation and the thickness of the 
 clouds, and on account of the weakness of our eyes. The heaven 
 encloses in its bosom all the world, and it ever turns about us, 
 swifter than any mill-wheel, all as deep under this earth as it 
 is above. It is all round and entire and studded with stars. 
 
 Truly the sun goes by God's command between heaven and 
 earth, by day above and by night under the earth. . . . The sun 
 is very great : as broad she is, from what books say, as the 
 whole compass of the earth ; but she appears to us very small, 
 because she is far from our sight. . . . The moon and all the 
 stars receive light from the great sun. . . . 
 
 Another Englishman, Alexander of Neckam, writing at 
 the close of the twelfth century, gives us the following 
 description of the compass : 
 
 The sailors, as they sail over the sea, when in cloudy weather 
 they can no longer profit by the light of the sun, or when the 
 world is wrapped in the darkness of night, and they are igno- 
 rant whither the ship's course is directed, touch a needle to the 
 magnet ; the needle will then whirl around in a circle until, when 
 its motion ceases, its point is directed to the north. 
 
 The voyages of Columbus roused tremendous enthusi- 2. The "Ca- 
 asm among his contemporaries. Mr. Henri Harrisse has ApririT^^pa 
 collected five hundred and seventy titles of histories, [4] 
 
6 The EstablisJiment of the English 
 
 poems, plays, prophecies, letters, and narratives written by 
 the men of Columbus' day, dealing with the great nav- 
 igator's achievement. Another scholar, Justin Winsor, 
 notes over sixty existing authentic writings of Columbus 
 himself. The " Capitulation, " or terms of agreement 
 between Columbus and the Spanish sovereigns, signed at 
 Granada, April 17, 1492, were as follows : 
 
 The things supplicated which your Highnesses give and de- 
 clare to Christopher Columbus in some satisfaction for what he 
 is to discover in the oceans, and for the voyage which now, 
 with the aid of God, he is about to make therein in the service 
 of your Highnesses, are as follows : — 
 
 First, that your Highnesses as Lords that are of the said 
 oceans make from this time the said Don Christopher Columbus 
 your Admiral in all those islands and mainlands which by his 
 hand and industry shall be discovered or acquired in the said 
 oceans during his life, and after his death his heirs and succes- 
 sors, from one to another perpetually. . . . 
 
 Likewise, that your Highnesses make the said Don Christo- 
 pher your Viceroy and Governor General in all the said islands 
 and mainlands, . . . and that for the government of each one 
 and of any one of them, he may make selection of three per- 
 sons for each office, and that your Highnesses may choose and 
 select the one who may be most serviceable to you. ... 
 
 Item, that all and whatever merchandise, whether it be pearls, 
 precious stones, gold, silver, spices, and other things whatso- 
 ever . . . which may be bought, bartered, discovered, acquired, 
 or obtained within the limits of the said Admiralty, your High- 
 nesses grant henceforth to said Dofi Christopher, and will that 
 he may have and take for himself the tenth part of all of them 
 . . . the other nine parts remaining for your Highnesses. . . . 
 
 Item, that in all the vessels which may be equipped for the 
 said traffic . . . the said Admiral may if he wishes contribute 
 and pay the eighth part of all that may be expended in the 
 equipment ; and also that he may have and take of the profit the 
 eighth part of all which may result from such equipment. . . . 
 
The Neiv World 7 
 
 These are executed and despatched with the responses of 
 your Highnesses at the end of each article in the town of 
 Santa Fe de la Vega de Granada, on the 17 th day of April, in 
 the year of the nativity of our Savior Jesus Christ 1492. I, the 
 King. I, the Queen. By order of the King and of the Queen. 
 
 John de Coloma. Registered, Calgena. 
 
 \ The first ofificial account of the immortal voyage of 3. Columbus' 
 1^92 is contained in a letter written by Columbus on /eSantangeT, 
 Fe\)ruary 15, 1493, when he was off one of the Azores February 15, 
 in his tiny caravel, the Nifia, on his way back to Spain. 
 The letter was addressed to Luis de Santangel, one of 
 King Ferdinand's .courtiers. 
 
 Sir : As I know that you will have pleasure from the great 
 victory which our Lord hath given me in my voyage, I write 
 you this by which you shall know that in thirty-three days I 
 passed over to the Indies with the fleet which the most illustri- 
 ous King and Queen, our Lords, gave me ; where I found very 
 many islands peopled with inhabitants beyond number. And of 
 them all I have taken possession for their Highnesses, with 
 proclamation and the royal standard displayed ; and I was not 
 gainsaid. To the first which I found I gave the name Sant 
 Salvador, in commemoration of His High Majesty who hath 
 marvelou&ly given all this : the Indians call it Guanaham. The 
 second I named the Island of Santa Maria de Concepcion, the 
 third Ferrandina, the fourth Isabella, the fifth La Isla Juana.^ . . . 
 When I reached Juana, I followed its coast westwardly and 
 found it so large that I thought it might be mainland, the 
 province of Cathay. And as I did not thus find any towns or 
 villages on iche sea-coast, save small hamlets with the people of 
 which I couM not get speech, because they all fled away forth- 
 with, I went on further in the same direction, thinking I should 
 not miss of' great cities or towns. ... I sent two men into the 
 country to learn if there were a king or any great cities. They 
 
 1 Cuba. 
 
8 The Establishment of the English 
 
 travelled for three days and found innumerable small villages 
 and a numberless population but nought of ruling authority. . . , 
 I followed the coast eastwardly for a hundred and seven leagues 
 as far as where it terminated ; from which headland I saw 
 another island to the east ... to which I at once gave the name 
 La Spanola.^ . . . The lands are all most beautiful . . . and full 
 of trees of a thousand kinds, so lofty that they seem t6 reach 
 the sky. And I am assured that they never lose their foliage : 
 as may be imagined, since I saw them as green and as beautiful 
 as they are in Spain during May. . . . And the nightingale was 
 singing, and other birds of a thousand sorts, in the month of 
 November. ... In the earth are many mines of metals ; zx^j^^- 
 there is a population of incalculable number. . . . The pteople 
 have no other weapons than the stems of reeds in their seeding 
 state, on the end of which they fix little sharpened stakes. Even 
 these they dare not use ; for many times has it happened 
 that I sent two or three men ashore to some village to parley, 
 and countless numbers of them sallied forth, but as soon as 
 they saw those approach they fled away in such wise that even 
 a father would not wait for his son. And this was not because 
 any hurt had ever been done to any of them : — on the con- 
 trary, at every headland where I have . . . been able to hold 
 speech with them, I gave them everything that I had, as well 
 cloth as many other things, without accepting aught therefore ; 
 — but such they are, incurably timid. . . . They are straight- 
 ways content with whatsoever trifle of whatsoever kind be given 
 them in return for it [their gold and cotton]. And I forbade 
 that anything so worthless as fragments of broken platters and 
 pieces of broken glass and strap buckles should be given them. 
 . . . They believed very firmly that I, with these, ships and 
 crews, came from the sky. . . . Wherever I arrived they went 
 running from house to house and to the neighboring villages, with 
 loud cries of " Come ! come to see the people from Heaven ! " 
 . . . This is a land to be desired, — and once seen, never to be 
 relinquished, — in which, in a place most suitable and best for 
 its proximity to the gold mines and for traffic with the mainland 
 
 ; 
 1 Hispaniola or Hayti. ' 
 
The New World 9 
 
 both on this side [Europe] and with that yonder belonging to 
 the Great Can [China], I took possession of a large town, which 
 I named the city of Navidad. And I have made fortification 
 there . . . and I have left therein men enough, with arms and 
 artillery and provisions for more than a year . . . and a great 
 friendship with the king of that land, to such a degree that 
 he prided himself on calling and holding me as his brother. . . . 
 In another island, which they assure me is larger than Espanola, 
 the people have no hair. In this there is incalculable gold ; and 
 concerning this and the rest I bring Indians with me as wit- 
 nesses. . . -. And I believe that I have discovered rhubarb and 
 cinnamon, and I shall find that the men whom I am leaving 
 there will have discovered a thousand other things of value. . . . 
 And in truth I should have done much more if the ships had 
 served me as well as might reasonably have been expected. . . . 
 Since thus our Redeemer has given to our most illustrious King 
 and Queen, and to their famous kingdoms, this victory in so 
 high a matter, Christendom should have rejoicing therein, and 
 make great festivals and give solemn thanks to the Holy Trinity 
 for the great exaltation they shall have by the conversion of 
 so many peoples to our holy faith; and next for the tempo- 
 ral benefit which will bring hither refreshment and profit, not 
 only to Spain but to all Christians. This briefly, in accord- 
 ance with the facts. Dated on the caravel off the Canary 
 Islands, the 15 February of the year 1493 
 
 At your command 
 
 The Admiral 
 
 The last years of Columbus' life were clouded with dis- 4. Columbus 
 appointment, poverty, and sickness. He was greedy of both hirson^^^ 
 fame and ffold. He had written to his sovereigns on the i>iego, De- 
 
 o "^ cemberi,i504 
 
 return from his fourth and last voyage to the Indies (i 503) r^j 
 praising gold like a miser. Now, a year later, he writes to 
 his son Diego, who is at the court. His revenues of " tenths 
 and eighths " have not been given him (No. 2, p. 6) ; the 
 trade of the Indies has been seized by covetous rivals. He 
 hopes in the justice of " the Queen our Lady " to remedy 
 
 \ 
 
lO The Establishment of the English 
 
 his wrongs. But four days before his letter was penned 
 Queen Isabella had died (November 26, 1 504). Two years 
 later (May 20, 1 506) the great admiral died in poverty and 
 obscurity at Valladolid. The letter to Diego follows : 
 
 Very dear Son : 
 
 Since I received your letter of Nov. 1 5 I have heard nothing 
 from you. I wish that you would write me more frequently. . . . 
 Many couriers come daily and the news is of such a nature that 
 in hearing it all my hair stands on end, it is so contrary to what 
 my soul desires. May it please the Holy Trinity to give health 
 to the Queen our Lady that she may settle what has been placed 
 under discussion. ... It appears to me that a good copy should 
 be madelof the chapter of that letter which their Highnesses 
 wrote me, where they say they will fulfil their promises to me 
 and will place you in possession of- everything ; and that this 
 copy should be given to them with another writing telling of 
 my sickness and that it is now impossible for me to go and 
 kiss their Royal feet and hands,^nd that the Indies are being 
 lost and are on fire in a thousand places, and that I have re- 
 ceived nothing and am receiving nothing from the revenues 
 derived from them . . . and that I am living upon borrowed 
 funds. . . . We must strive to obtain the government of the 
 Indies and then the adjustment of the revenues. . . . Today is 
 Monday, I will endeavor to have your uncle and brother start 
 [for the court, to " kiss the hands " of the sovereigns] tomorrow. 
 Remember to write me very often. ... May our Lord have 
 you in His holy keeping 
 
 Done at Seville, December i 
 
 Your father who loves you as himself 
 ' S 
 
 S A S 
 X M Y 
 Xpo Ferens ^ 
 
 ^ An enigmatical anagram with which Columbus usually signed his 
 letters. For conjectures as to its meaning see Thacher, Christopher 
 Columbus, Vol. Ill, pp. 454-458. 
 
1522 
 
 [12] 
 
 The New World 1 1 
 
 A Century of Exploration 
 Anthoyne Pigapheta, a knight of Rhodes, finding him- 5. Magei- 
 self in Spain " in the year of the Nativity of our Lord a^^oundThTe^^ 
 1 5 19," out of sheer curiosity ('' to experiment and go and world, 1519- 
 see with mine own eyes a part of the awful things of 
 ocean ") joined the expedition of Magellan that was destined 
 to make the first voyage around the world. On his return 
 to Lisbon in 1 522, Pigapheta sent to his Lord Philip, Grand 
 Master of Rhodes, a long letter recounting his ample ex- 
 perience of " the awful things of ocean." 
 
 Monday, the day of St. Laurence, the loth of August [15 19] 
 . . . the fleet, provided with what was necessary for it, and carry- 
 ing crews of different nations to the number of 237 men in all 
 the five ships, was ready to set sail from the mole of Seville, 
 and firing all the artillery, we made sail only on the foremast, 
 and came to the end of a river named Betis, which is now called 
 Guadalcavir. . . . After that we had passed the equinoctial line 
 toward the south, we navigated between south and west ; and 
 we crossed [the Atlantic] as far as a country named Verzin 
 [Brazil]. ... At this place we had refreshments of victuals like 
 fowls and meat 6f cows, also a variety of fruits of singular 
 goodness. . . . The people of the said place gave, in order to 
 have a knife or a fish-hook, five or six fowls, and for a comb 
 they gave two geese, and for a small mirror or a pair of scissors 
 they gave so much fish that ten men could have eaten of it. . . . 
 For a king of cards, of the kind which they used to play with 
 in Italy, they gave five fowls and thought they had cheated me. 
 . . . They have boats which are made of a tree, all in one piece, 
 which they call canoo. These are not made with iron instru- 
 ments, for they have not got any, but with stones like pebbles ; 
 and with these they plane and dig out these boats. Into these 
 thirty or forty men enter, and their oars are made like iron 
 shovels ; and those who row these oars are black people, quite 
 naked and shaven, and look like enemies of hell. . . . Depart- 
 ing thence as far as 49^ degrees in the Antarctic heavens we 
 
1 2 The Establishment of the English 
 
 entered a port to pass the winter, and remained there two whole 
 months without ever seeing anybody. However one day we 
 saw a giant on the shore dancing and leaping and singing, and 
 whilst singing he put the sand and dust on his head . . . and he 
 raised one finger on high, thinking that we came from heaven. 
 He was so tall that the tallest of us came only to his waist. 
 He had a large face painted red all around, and his eyes were 
 painted yellow all around them, and he had two hearts painted 
 on his cheeks ; he had but little hair on his head, and it was 
 painted white. . . . The captain caused food and drink to be 
 given to this giant, and they showed him some things, among 
 them a steel mirror. And when the giant saw his likeness in 
 it, he was greatly terrified, leaping backwards so that he made 
 three or four of our men fall down. . . . And when he danced 
 he caused the earth to sink a palm's depth at the place where 
 his feet touched. He was a long time with us, and at the end 
 we baptised him and gave him the name of John. This giant 
 pronounced the name of Jesus, the Pater Noster [Lord's prayer], 
 and the Ave Maria [Hail, Mary !] as clearly as we did : but he 
 had a terribly strong and loud voice. ... 
 
 After taking the course to the 5 2d degree of the said Ant- 
 arctic sky ... we found by miracle a strait which we called the 
 Cape of the Eleven Thousand Virgins ; this strait is 1 1 o leagues 
 long . . . and it issues in another sea which is called the peaceful 
 sea [Pacific]. It is surrounded by very high mountains covered 
 with snow, and it was not possible to anchor with the anchors, 
 because no bottom was found. . . . Wednesday, the 28th of 
 November 1520, we came forth out of the said strait, and 
 entered into the Pacific sea, where we remained three months 
 and twenty days without taking in provisions, and we ate only 
 old biscuits reduced to powder and full of grubs . . . and we 
 drank water that was yellow and stinking. We also ate the ox- 
 hides which were under the main yard, so that the yard should 
 not break the rigging : they were very hard on account of the 
 sun, rain, and wind, and we left them for four or five days in 
 the sea, and then we put them a litde on the embers, and so 
 ate them ; also the sawdust of wood, and rats which cost half a 
 crown each : moreover enough of them were not to be got. . . . 
 
The Neiv World 13 
 
 Besides those that died, twenty five or thirty fell ill of divers 
 sicknesses both in the arms and legs and other places, in such 
 manner that very few remained healthy. However, thanks be 
 to the Lord, I had no sickness. . . . And if our Lord and His 
 Mother had not aided us ... we should all have died of hunger 
 in this vast sea, and I think that man will never again undertake 
 to perform such a voyage. . . . 
 
 Saturday, the i6th of March 1521, we arrived at daybreak 
 in sight of a high island . . . named Zamal.^ The next day the 
 captain-general ... set up two tents on shore for the sick, and 
 had a sow killed for them. . . . The people became very friendly 
 and familiar with us, and the captain seeing that they were of 
 this good condition . . . conducted them to the ship and showed 
 them all his goods, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, ginger, 
 mace, gold, and all that was in the ship. He also had some 
 shots fired with his artillery, at which they were so much afraid 
 that they wished to jump from the ship into the sea. . . . These 
 people are tawny, fat, and painted, and they anoint themselves 
 with the oil of coconuts and sesame to preserve them from the 
 sun and wind. Their hair is very black and long, reaching to 
 the waist, and they carry small daggers and knives ornamented 
 with gold, and their boats are like ours. . . . They only half 
 cook their victuals, and salt them very much, which makes them 
 drink a great deal : and they drink much with reeds, sucking 
 the wine from vessels. Their repasts always last from five to 
 six hours. . . . 
 
 After recounting the death of Magellan (" our mirror, 
 light, comfort, and true guide ") in a battle against the 
 natives of the island of Matan, Pigapheta gives a long de- 
 scription of the journey through the East Indies, bringing 
 up at the island of Timor, where the crew was regaled with 
 fabulous stories of Java, Siam, and China beyond. 
 
 Tuesday night on the nth of February 1522, we left the 
 Island of Timor and entered upon the great sea named Laut 
 
 1 Samar, in the Philippines. 
 
14 The Establishment of the English 
 
 Chidol.^ ... In order to double the Cape of Good Hope we 
 went as far as 42° South latitude. . . . Some of our men, and 
 among them the sick, would have liked to land at a place be- 
 longing to the Portuguese called Mozambique, both because the 
 ship made much water and because of the great cold which we 
 suffered. . . . But the greater number of us, prizing honor more 
 than life itself, decided on attempting at any risk to return to 
 Spain. . . . We then sailed to the north-west for two whole 
 months without ever taking rest ; and in this short time we lost 
 twenty one men between Christians and Indians. We made then 
 a curious observation on throwing them into the sea, that the 
 Christians remained with the face turned to the sky, and the 
 Indians with the face turned to the sea. And if God had not 
 granted us favorable weather, we should have all perished of 
 hunger. . . . We touched at the Cape Verde Islands . . . and the 
 inhabitants told us that it was Thursday, which was a great cause 
 of wondering to us, since with us it was only Wednesday. . . . 
 But we were afterwards advised that there was no error on our 
 part, since as we had always sailed towards the west, following 
 the course of the sun, and had returned to the same place, we 
 must have gained twenty-four hours, as is clear to anyone who 
 reflects upon it. . . . 
 
 At last when it pleased Heaven, on Saturday the 6th of Sep- 
 tember 1522, we entered the bay of San Lucar; and of sixty 
 men who composed our crew when we left Maluco, we were 
 reduced to only eighteen, and these for the most part sick. Of 
 the others, some died of hunger, some had run away at Timor, 
 and some had been condemned to death for their crimes. From 
 the day when we left this bay of San Lucar until our return 
 thither, we reckoned that we had run more than 14,460 leagues 
 and we had completed going round the earth from east to west. 
 
 Monday the 8 th of September we cast anchor near the mole 
 of Seville, and discharged all the artillery. 
 
 Tuesday we all went in shirts and barefoot, with a taper in 
 our hands, to visit the shrine of Santa Maria of Victory. . . . 
 The Chevalier Anthoyne Pigapheta 
 
 1 The "Javanese," or Southern (Indian), Ocean. 
 
The New World 1 5 
 
 In 1609, as an encouragement to "the right worshipp- 6. De Soto's 
 
 full counsellors and other cheerefull adventurers " who had {heliiSs^s- 
 
 just founded at Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent sippi, 1538- 
 
 1542 
 English settlement in America, Richard Hakluyt, a most 
 
 enthusiastic promoter of colonial enterprise, translated from 
 the Portuguese an account of De Soto's " four yeares con- 
 tinual! travell and discoverie for above one thousand miles 
 east and west." The narrative was written by a gentleman 
 of the Portuguese town of Elvas, who accompanied De Soto. 
 It contains the earliest information we have of the interior 
 of Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Arkansas, and the 
 Gulf States. After describing De Soto's voyage to the 
 West Indies, the narrative continues : 
 
 On Sunday the 18 of May, in the yeere of our Lord 1539 
 the Adelantado, or president, departed from Havana in Cuba 
 with his fleete, which were nine vessels. . . . They sailed seven 
 dales with a prosperous wind. The 25 day of May, the day de 
 Pascade Spirito Santo (which we call Whitson Sonday), they saw 
 the land of Florida. . . . They came to the town of Vcita, where 
 the Governour was, on Sunday the first of June, being Trinitie 
 Sunday. . . . The Countrie round about was very fennie, and 
 encumbered with great and hie trees. The Governor commanded 
 to fel the woods a crossebow shot round about the towne, that 
 the- horses might runne, and the Christians might have the 
 advantage of the Indians if by chance they should set upon . 
 them by night. ... 
 
 After two years wandering in search of gold, with many 
 a dangerous encounter with the Indians, De Soto's company 
 reached the banks of the Mississippi. 
 
 And because the streame was swift, they went a quarter of 
 a league up the River along the bancke, and crossing over, fell 
 down with the streame, and landed right over against the Camp. 
 ... As soon as those that passed first were on land on the 
 
1 6 The Establishment of the English 
 
 other side, the barges returned to the place where the Governor 
 was : and within two hours after Sunne-rising all the people 
 were over.^ The River was almost half a league broad. If a 
 man stood still on the other side, it could not be discerned 
 whether he were a man or no. The River was of great depth 
 and of strong current : the water was always muddie : there 
 came downe the River continually many trees and timber, which 
 the force of the water and streame brought downe. There was 
 a great store of fish in it of sundrie sorts, and the most of it 
 differing from the fresh water fish of Spaine. . . . 
 
 For still another year De Soto pursued his fruitless quest 
 for gold beyond the Mississippi, and returned to the western 
 bank of the great river to die. 
 
 The Governor felt in himselfe that the houre approached, 
 wherein hee was to leave this present life, and called for the 
 King's Officers, Captaines, and principall persons . . . and re- 
 quested them to elect a principall person, able to governe, of 
 whom all should like well, and when he was elected they should 
 sweare before him to obey him. . . . And Baltasar de Galleyos 
 answered in the name of all the rest : And first of all comforting 
 him, he set before his eyes how short the life of this world was, 
 and how with many troubles and miseries it is accompanied, and 
 how God showed him a singular favor which soonest left it. 
 And touching the Governor which he commanded that they 
 should elect, he besought him that it would please his Lordship 
 to name him which he thought fit, and him they would obey. 
 And presently he named Luis de Moscoso de Alvarado his 
 Captaine generall. . . . The next day, being the 21st of May, 
 1542, departed out of this life the valiant, virtuous, and valorous 
 Captaine, Don Fernando de Soto, Governor of Cuba, and Adelan- 
 tado of Florida : whom fortune advanced, as it useth to do others, 
 that hee might have the higher fal. . . . Fuis de Moscoso deter- 
 mined to conceale his death from the Indians, because Ferdnando 
 
 1 The site of the crossing was probably Council Bend or Walnut Bend, 
 in Trinca County, Mississippi, some twenty-five to thirty-five miles south 
 of Memphis. 
 
The New World 17 
 
 de Soto had made them believe that the Christians were immor- 
 tal! ; also because they tooke him to be bardie, wise, and valiant : 
 and if they should know that he was dead they would be bold 
 to set upon the Christians, though they lived peaceablie by them. 
 ... As soone as he was dead, Luis de Moscoso commanded to 
 put him secretly in an house, where hee remained three dales : 
 and removing him from thence, commanded him to bee buried 
 in the night at one of the gates of the towne, within the wall. 
 And as the Indians had seene him sick and missed him, so they 
 did suspect what might bee. And passing by the place where 
 hee was buried, seeing the earth mooved, they looked and spake 
 one to another. Luis de Moscoso understanding of it, commanded 
 him to be taken up by night, and to cast a great deale of sand 
 into the mantles wherein he was winded up, wherein hee was 
 carried in a canoe and throwne into the middest of the River. 
 The Cacique (Chief) of Guachoya inquired for him, demanding 
 what was become of his brother and Lord, the Governor ; Luis 
 de Moscoso told him that hee was gon to heaven, as many other 
 times hee did : and because hee was to stay there certaine dales, 
 hee had left him in his place. . . . Luis de Moscoso commanded 
 all the goods of the Governor to be sold at an outcrie (auction) : 
 to wit, two men slaves, & two women slaves, and three horses, 
 and 700 hogges. . . . 
 
 Under Luis de Moscoso the men built "seven brigan- 
 dines " in which they sailed down the Mississippi, and, 
 after fifty-two days of perilous voyaging on the Gulf, 
 three hundred and eleven out of the original company 
 of six hundred arrived at the Mexican town of Panuco, 
 September 14, 1543. 
 
 All of them were apparrelled in Deeres skins tanned and died 
 black, to wit cotes, hose, and shooes. When they came to Panuco 
 they presently went to the Church to pray, and give God thanks 
 that so miraculously had saved them. The townsmen . . . carried 
 some of them to their houses and entertained them . . . because 
 they were their Countrimen. . . . And all of them were provided 
 for by their hostes of many hennes and bread of maiz and fruits 
 
nesse 
 [18] 
 
 1 8 The Establishment of the English 
 
 of the Countrie . . . God reward them all. And God grant that 
 those which it pleased him to deliver out of Florida, and to bring 
 againe into Christendome, may serve him ; and unto those that 
 died in that countrey . . . God for his mercie sake grant the 
 kingdome of heaven. Amen 
 
 7. A tribute The following turgid and clumsy laudation of Queen 
 Elizabeth as Elizabeth was prefixed to a chapter of an ambitious work 
 the "Mother " contayning a History of the World in Sea Voyages and 
 Sea-great- Lande Travells," published in 1625 by Samuel Purchas, 
 " ^^^5 son of a yeoman of Essex. Purchas was a younger asso- 
 ciate of the great chronicler Richard Hakluyt, and called 
 himself '' Hakluytus Posthumus." 
 
 Haile greatest of English Names, glorious Elizabeth ! Nor 
 may wee after thy voyage and peregrination out of this World, 
 unto thy true and heavenly home & Country, forget the great 
 acts of thy earthly Pilgrimage. Thou wast indeed the Mother 
 of English sea-greatnesse, and didst first by thy Generalls not 
 salute alone, but awe and terrify the remotest East and West, 
 stretching thy long and strong armes to India, to China, to 
 America, to the Peruvian seas, to the Californian Coast and 
 New Albians scepters : Thou mad'st the Northerne Muscovite 
 admire thy Greatnesse : Thou gavest name to the North-west 
 Straits (Meta Incognita) and the Southern Negros, and Islands 
 of the South-unknowne-continent which knew not humanitie, 
 were compelled to know thee. Thou imbracedst the whole 
 Earthly Globe in thy Maritime Armes. . . . Thou wast a Mother 
 to thy neighbors, Scots, French, Dutch ; a Mirror to the re- 
 motest of Nations. Great Cumberlands twelve voyages before 
 recited are thine, and the fiery vigor of his Martiall Spirit was 
 kindled at thy bright Lamp. . . . Drake, Candish [Cavendish], 
 John and Richard Hawkins, Raleigh, Dudley, Sherley, Preston, 
 Greenvile, . . . Winter, Frobisher, Davies, and other the Star- 
 worthies of Englands Sphere, whose Planet-courses we have 
 before related, acknowledge Elizas Orb to be their first and 
 highest Mover. 
 
The Neiv World ' 19 
 
 After conspicuous military services in Ireland and the 8. Sir Hum- 
 Netherlands, Sir Humphrey Gilbert petitioned the Queen J^^,^ ^tent 
 for the favor of serving her by exploration. His request ^578 
 was granted, and the following patent issued, by virtue of I^^l 
 which he was the first Englishman " to carry people to 
 erect an habitation and government in these Northerly 
 Countreys of America." 
 
 The Letters Patents granted by her Majestic to Sir Humfrey 
 Gilbert knight, for the inhabiting and planting of our people in 
 America. 
 
 Elizabeth, by the Grace of God, Queene of England, &c. 
 To all people to whom these presents shall come, greeting. 
 Know ye that of our especiall grace, certaine science and meere 
 motion, we have given and granted, and by these presents for" 
 us, our heirs and successors, doe give and grant to our trustie 
 and wellbeloved servant Sir Humfrey Gilbert of Compton in 
 our countie of Devonshire knight, and to his heirs and assignes 
 forever, free libertie and license from time to time, and at all 
 times forever hereafter, to discover, finde, search out, and view 
 such remote, heathen and barbarous lands, countries and terri- 
 tories not actually possessed of any Christian prince or people, 
 as to him, his heirs & assignes, and to every or any of them, 
 shall seem good : and the same to have, hold, occupie, and en- 
 joy to him, his heirs and assignes forever, with all commodities, 
 jurisdictions and royalties, both by sea and land. . . . And we 
 do likewise by these presents . . . give full authoritie and power 
 to the saide Sir Humfrey . . . that he shall and may at all and 
 every time and times hereafter, have take and lead ... to in- 
 habit there with him . . . such and so many of our subjects as 
 shall willingly accompany him . . . with sufficient shipping and 
 furniture for their transportations, so that none of the same 
 persons nor any of them be such as hereafter shall be specially 
 restrained by us, our heires and successors. And further that 
 he, saide Humfrey, his heirs and assignes . . . shall have, hold 
 and occupy and enjoy ... all the soyle of all such lands, coun- 
 tries & territories so to be discovered or possessed as aforesaid, 
 
20 * The Establishme7tt of the English 
 
 and of all Cities, Castles, Townes, and Villages, and places in 
 the same, with the rights, royalties, and jurisdictions, as well 
 marine as other ... to be had or used with ful power to dispose 
 thereof, & of every part thereof in fee simple . . . according to 
 the laws of England . . . paying unto us for all services, duties 
 and demands, the fifth part of all the oare of gold and silver 
 that . . . shall be there gotten. ... 
 
 And forasmuch as ... it shall be necessarie for the safety 
 of all men that shall adventure themselves in those journeys or 
 voyages to determine to live together in Christian peace and 
 civill quietness, whereby everyone may with more pleasure and 
 profit enjoy that whereunto they shall attaine with great paine 
 and perill : wee . . . doe give and grant the said Humfrey and 
 his heires and assignes forever . . . that they shall have full and 
 meere [free] power and authoritie to correct, punish, pardon, 
 governe, and rule ... as well in causes capitall or criminall, as 
 civill, both marine and other, all such our subjects as shall . . . 
 adventure themselves in the said journeys or voyages ... ac- 
 cording to such statutes, lawes, and ordinances as shall be by 
 him the said Sir Humfrey, his heires and assignes . . . devised 
 or established for the better government of the said people : so 
 always that the sayd statutes, lawes and ordinances may be as 
 neere as conveniently may, agreeable to the forme of the lawes 
 & pollicy of England ; and also that they be not against the true 
 Christian faith or religion now professed in the Church of Eng- 
 land, nor in any wise to withdraw any of the subjects or peoples 
 of those lands or places from the allegiance of us, our heires or 
 successours, as their immediate Soveraignes under God. . . . 
 
 Witnesse ourselfe at Westminster the 1 1 day of June, the 
 twentieth yeere of our raigne. Anno Dom. 1578 
 
 Per ipsam Reginam 
 
 9. An en- Until the last quarter of the sixteenth century the Eng- 
 
 to^Engi^h*^* lish showed practically no interest in the colonization of 
 colonization, the new vvorld. Richard Hakluyt wrote in the Dedicatory 
 Epistle to his "Divers Voyages," published in 1582: 
 
 [191 
 
 I marvaile [marvel] not a little, that since the first 
 
The New World 21 
 
 discoverie of America, which is nowe full fourscore and 
 tenne yeerss, after so great conquests and plantings of 
 the Spaniards and Portingales [Portuguese] there, that 
 wee of England could never have the grace to set fast 
 footing in such fertill and temperate places as are left as 
 yet unpossessed of them." Two years later, on the fail- 
 ure of Gilbert's expedition and the transfer of his patent 
 (No. 8, p. 19) to Sir Walter Raleigh, Hakluyt, now chaplain 
 of the English embassy at Paris, '' at the request and direc- 
 tion of the right worshippfull Mr. Walter Raylay," wrote 
 his " Discourse Concerning Western Planting" (Coloniza- 
 tion), from which the following extracts are taken : 
 
 Nowe, to leave the Spaniardes and Frenche and to come to 
 ourselves : seeing it hath pleased Almightie God to reveale at 
 this instant unto her Majestie and the realm that once again 
 afreshe which was in parte discovered by Sebastian Gabote 
 [Cabot] ... to her most famous grandfather, Kinge Henr}^ the 
 Seaventh ... if nowe the Queene, her Counsel], and other sub- 
 jects shall never so little delaye ... let them assure themselves 
 that they will come to[o] late and a day after the faire : ffor as 
 the wise man sayeth ([^ Post est occasio calva} ... To con- 
 clude ; if wee doe procrastinate the plantinge [colonizing] . . . 
 the Frenche, the Normans, the Brytons, or the Duche or some 
 other nation will not only prevente us of the mightie Baye of 
 St. Lawrence, where they have gotten the starte of us already, 
 thoughe wee had the same revealed to us by bookes published 
 and printed in Englishe before them, but also will deprive us 
 of that goodd land which nowe wee have discovered. Which if 
 they doe (as God defende they shoulde), then it falleth oute that 
 we shall have our enemyes or doubtfull frendes rounde about 
 us . . . and also incurr great danger and inconvenience in suffer- 
 inge Papistes ... to enriche themselves under our noses, to be 
 better able to supplant or overrunne us. . . . 
 
 ^ " Opportunity is bald behind." 
 
22 The EstablisJiment of the E^tglish 
 
 The Discourse proceeds with a long and labored argu- 
 ment that the northwest passage to China may be " easily, 
 quickly and perfectly searched out" by English expeditions 
 to the new world, and that Spain's claim to the mainland of 
 America is invalid in spite of both Columbus' voyage and 
 the Pope's Bull. For, even passing over the voyage of the 
 Welshman, Mardoch ap Owen, in 1 170, '' Gabote [Cabot] 
 discovered this long tracte of firme lande twoo yeeres before 
 Columbus ever sawe any part of the Continent thereof." 
 The treatise closes with a list of reasons to induce the 
 Queen to " take in hande the westerne voyadge." 
 
 1. The soyle yeldeth, and may be made to yelde, all the 
 severall comodities of Europe, and of all kingdomes, domynions, 
 and territories that England tradeth with. . . . 
 
 2. The passage thither and home is neither to[o] longe nor 
 to[o] shorte, but easie and to be made twise in the yere. . . . 
 
 6. This enterprise may staye the Spanishe Kinge from 
 flowinge over all the face of that waste firme [unoccupied main- 
 land] of America, if wee seate and plante there in time. . . . 
 Howe easie a matter may it bee to this realme, swarminge at 
 this day with valiant youthes, rustinge and hurtfull by lack of 
 employment ... to be lordes of all those sees, and to spoile 
 Phillipps Indian navye [Philip IPs fleet in the West Indies], and 
 to deprive him of the yerely passage of his treasure into Europe, 
 and consequently to abate the pride of Spaine and of the sup- 
 porter of the great Antechrist of Rome, and to pull him downe 
 in equallitie with his neighbor princes. . . . 
 
 10. No forren [foreign] comoditie that comes into England 
 comes withoute payment of custome once, twise, or thrise before 
 it comes into the realme, and so all forren comodities become 
 derer to the subjectes of this realme : and by this course to 
 Norumbega [the northern shores of America] forren princes 
 customes are avoided. . . . 
 
 16. Wee shall by plantinge there inlarge the glory of the 
 Gospell, and from England plante sincere religion, and provide 
 
The Nezv World 23 
 
 a safe and sure place to receave people from all partes of the 
 world that are forced to flee for the truth of Gods worde. . . . 
 
 17. If frontier warres there chaunce to arise ... it will occa- 
 sion the trayninge upp of our youthe in the discipline of warr, 
 and make a nomber fitt for the service of the warres and for the 
 defence of our people there and at home. . . . 
 
 20. Many men of excellent wittes and of divers singuler giftes, 
 overthrown by suertishippe [suretyship, trusteeship], by sea, or 
 by some folly of youthe, that are not able to . live in England, 
 may there be raised againe, and doe their contrie goodd service. . . . 
 
 22. The frye of the wandringe beggars of England, that grewe 
 upp idly, and hurtefull and burdenous to this realme, may there 
 be unladen and better bredd upp. . . . 
 
 23. If Englande crie oute and affirme, that there is so many 
 in all trades that one cannot live for another . . . this Norumbega 
 . . . offreth the remedie. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE ENGLISH COLONIES 
 
 The Old Dominion 
 
 John Pory, the author of the following letter, was a 
 Cambridge Master of Arts and an ex-member of Parlia- 
 ment. He accompanied Governor Yeardley to Jamestown 
 in 1 6 19 and became secretary of the Colony. He was 
 [29] Speaker of the first legislative assembly that met on 
 American soil, the House of Burgesses of July 30 to 
 August 4, 16 19. The proceedings of this memorable 
 session, written in Pory's own hand, were discovered in 
 the State Paper Office of England in 1853. The follow- 
 ing letter was written by Pory to his friend, the English 
 Ambassador to Holland, only a few weeks after the 
 adjournment of the Assembly : 
 
 Right Honorable, and my singular good Lorde : 
 
 . . . Here (as your lordship cannot be ignorant) I am, for faulte 
 of a better, Secretary of Estate, the first that was ever chosen 
 and appointed by Commission from the Counsel! and Company 
 in England, under their handes and common scale. By my fees 
 I must maintaine my selfe ; which the Governour telles me, may 
 this yeere amounte to a matter of 300 1. sterling; wherof fifty 
 doe I owe to himselfe, and I pray God the remainder may 
 amounte to a hundred more. As yet I have gotten nothing, save 
 onely (if I may speak it without boasting) a general reputation 
 of integrity. ... 
 
 As touching the quality of this country, three things there bee 
 which in a fewe yeares may bring this Colony to perfection ; the 
 
 24 
 
The English Colonies 25 
 
 English plough, Vineyards, and Cattle. For the first, there may 
 be many grounds here, cleared by the Indians, to our handes, 
 which being much worne out will beare no more of their corn, 
 which requireth an extraordinary deale of sappe and substance 
 to nourish it ; but of our graine of all sortes it will beare great 
 abundance. We have had this yeare a plentifull cropp of English 
 wheat, though the last harvest 1618 was onely shed upon the 
 stubble and so self-sowne. In July last, so soone as we had 
 reaped this self-sowen wheate, we sett Indian corne upon the 
 same grounde, which is come up in great abundance. . . . 
 
 Vines are here in suche abundance that, wheresover a man 
 treads, they are ready to embrace his foote. . . . For cattle they 
 do mightily increase here, both kine, hogges and goates, and are 
 much greater in stature than the race of them first brought 
 out of England. All our riches for the present doe consiste in 
 tobacco, wherein one man by his owne labor hath in one yeare 
 raised to himself e to the value of 200 1. sterling; and another 
 by the meanes of sixe servants hath cleared at one crop a thousand 
 pound English.^ 
 
 Nowe that your lordship may knowe that we are not the veriest 
 beggers in the worlde, our cowekeeper here of James citty on 
 Sundays goes accowtered [dressed] all in freshe flaming silke ; and 
 a wife of one that in England had professed the black arte, not 
 of a scholler but of a collier of Croyden, weares her rough bever 
 hatt with a faire pearl hatband, and a silken suite thereto cor- 
 respondent. But to leave the populace and come higher; the 
 Governour here, who at his first coming, besides a great deale of 
 worth in his person, brought onely his sword with him, was at 
 his late being in London, together with his lady, out of his meer 
 gettings here, able to disburse very near 3000 1. to furnishe him- 
 selfe for his voyage. And once within seven yeares, I am per- 
 suaded (absit invidia verbo) ^ that the Governors place here may 
 be as profittable as the lord Deputies of Irland. ... At my first 
 coming hither the solitary uncouthnes of this place, compared 
 with those partes of Christendome or Turky where I had been ; 
 and likewise my being senquestered from all occurrents [events] 
 
 1 $5000, equivalent perhaps to $20,000 to-day. 
 "^ " Envy be absent from my speech." 
 
26 TJie Establishme7it of the English 
 
 and passages which are so rife there, did not a little vexe me. And 
 yet in these five moneths of my continuance here, there have come 
 at one time or another eleven saile of ships into this River : but 
 fraighted more with ignorance then [than] with any other mur- 
 chandize. At length being hardened to this custome of abstinence 
 from curiosity, I am resolved wholly to minde my business here, 
 and nexte after my penne, to have some good book alwayes in 
 store, being in solitude the best and choicest company. Besides, 
 among these christall rivers and odiferous woods I doe escape 
 muche expense, envye, contempte, vanity, and vexation of minde. 
 Yet good my lord, have a litde compassion on me, and be pleased 
 to sende me what pampletts and relations of the Interim since I 
 was with you, as your lordship shall think good. . . . 
 
 Your lordships ever most humbly at your commande 
 
 Jo. Pory 
 
 James Citty in Virginia, Sept. 30, 1619 
 
 The colonies in America naturally felt the effect of the 
 
 stormy years of the mid-seventeenth century in England. 
 
 Two years after Oliver Cromwell had established the 
 
 [32] Commonwealth (or Republic) in England, the following 
 
 proclamation was issued by Parliament : 
 
 INSTRUCTIONS FOR CAPTAIN ROBERT DENIS, MR. 
 RICHARD BENNET, MR. THOMAS STAGGE, AND CAPTAIN 
 WILLIAM CLAYBOURNE, APPOINTED COMMISSIONERS 
 FOR THE REDUCING OF VIRGINIA AND THE INHABIT- 
 ANTS THEREOF TO THEIR DUE OBEDIENCE TO THE 
 COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND 
 
 . . . Upon your arrival at Virginia, you, or any two or more 
 of you (of whom captain Robert Denis to be one) shall use your 
 best endeavors to reduce all the Plantations within the Bay of 
 Chesopiaik [Chesapeake] to their due obedience to the Parlia- 
 ment of the Commonwealth of England. For which purpose 
 you . . . have hereby power to assure Pardon and Indemnity to 
 all the Inhabitants of the said Plantations, that shall submit unto 
 the present Government and authority. . . . 
 
The English Colonies 2/ 
 
 And in case they shall not submit by fair ways and means, 
 you are to use all Arts of hostility, that lie in your power 
 to enforce them : and if you shall find that the People so 
 stand out that you can by no other ways or means reduce 
 them to their due obedience, you have power to appoint cap- 
 tains and other officers, and to raise forces within every one 
 of the Plantations aforesaid, for the furtherance and good of 
 the Service. . . . 
 
 You shall cause and see the several acts of Parliament against 
 kingship and the House of lords to be received and published ; 
 also the Acts for abolishing the Book of common prayers . . . 
 and all other Acts herewith delivered you. You . . . have full 
 Power to administer an oath to the Inhabitants or planters there, 
 to be true and faithful to the Commonwealth of England, as it 
 is now established, without a King or House of lords 
 
 You shall cause all writs, warrents, and other processes what- 
 soever to be issued forth as occasion shall require, in the name 
 of the keepers of the liberty of England, by authority of the 
 Parliament. . . . 
 
 And lastly we doubt not but you will use your best diligence 
 and care in carrying on of this affair. ... So the Council ^ will 
 take the same into consideration, that respect may be had of 
 your Pains and travail therein, and of a recompence agreeable 
 to your service. . . . 
 
 Signed in the name and by the order of the Council of State 
 appointed by authority of Parliament 
 
 Jo. Bradshawe, President 
 Whitehall, Sept 26th, 1651 
 
 From the resignation of Richard Cromwell, son of the 
 great Oliver, April 22, 1659, until the restoration of 
 Charles II, May 29, 1660, England was without a legal 
 government. The Virginia House of Burgesses in its 
 session of March 13, 1660, passed the following acts: 
 
 1 The Council of State was a committee of about forty members of 
 Parliament which performed the executive duties under the Common- 
 wealth. 
 
28 The RstablisJimcnt of tJic English 
 
 Whereas by reason of the late frequent distractions, which 
 God in his mercy putt a suddaine period [sudden stop] to, there 
 being in England noe resident absolute and gen'll confessed 
 power : Be it e?iacted and confirmed, That the supreame power of 
 the government of this country shall be resident in the Assembly, 
 and that all writts issued in the name of the Grand Assembly 
 of Virginia, until such a comand and commission come out of 
 England, shall be by the Assembly judged lawfuU. 
 
 Bee it enacted, That the honourable Sir William Berkeley bee 
 Govemour and Captain Gen'll of Virginia, and that 'he govern 
 according to the ancient lawes of England and the established 
 lawes of this country. . . . 
 
 The restoration of Charles II in 1660 was followed by 
 loyal acts of acknowledgment on the part of the colonies 
 and expressions of pardon and goodwill from the amiable 
 king. To Governor Berkeley, who had gone over to Eng- 
 land shortly after the Restoration, the following instructions 
 were issued : 
 
 . . . You shall within one month after your arrival, or soonerj 
 if you think fit call a General Assembly according to the usage 
 and custom of that our Colony and at the opening thereof you 
 shall declare to them that we are graciously pleased to grant a 
 free and General act of pardon and oblivion to all our subjects 
 of what degree and quality whatsoever . . . excepting such per- 
 sons who are attainted by act of Parliament for the horrid mur- 
 der of our dear Father^ of blessed memory . . . provided that 
 you and the Assembly take present care for the repeal of all 
 laws and orders made during the late times of rebellion and 
 usurpation against our crown and dignity. . . . 
 
 You shall let that Assembly know that we do expect from 
 you and them that you establish good and wholesome rules 
 and orders ... for the punishment of all vice and debauchery 
 and idleness . . . and that they likewise establish all necessary 
 
 1 The " regicide " members of the Rump Parliament who had voted 
 for Charles I's execution, 1649. 
 
The English Colonies 29 
 
 encouragements for virtue, industry and obedience, and for \vhat- 
 soever may advance the wealth, honor, and reputation of that our 
 Colony ... in order to which we do very heartily recommend 
 to you and their care and consideration. 
 
 1. That care be taken to dispose the Planters to be willing 
 to build towns upon Every River, which must tend very much 
 to their security and in time to their profit. . . . 
 
 2. That all possible endeavours be used and encouragement 
 given to advance the plantation of Silk, Flax, Hemp, Pitch and 
 potatoes for which we are well assured that climate and soil is 
 very proper. . . . 
 
 .3. Whereas we have been moved to put some restraint on 
 the planting of Tobacco in that our Colony, both for the advanc- 
 ing of the other commodities we have recommended to you, and 
 because the price thereof falls so low by the great quantities 
 brought in from our other plantations, that the same will not in 
 a short time be valuable to the planters or merchants ... we do 
 recommend the consideration and debate of the whole to you 
 and our Assembly . . . and we do direct you that some Commis- 
 sioners be appointed to treat with others of Maryland to that 
 purpose, and a fitt place agreed upon for the same. In order 
 whereunto we are well assured the Lord Baltimore will send 
 Directions to those that are trusted by him. . . . 
 
 5. . . . Whereas we have certain knowledge that very much 
 Tobacco is shipped in that our Colony in Dutch vessels . . . and 
 that very much which is put on English vessels is not yet brought 
 into England ... we do hereby require you that a very exact 
 account you do cause to be . . . transmitted to our Counsellors 
 and Farmers of our Customs here of all the Tobacco which 
 shall be shipped from that our Colony in English vessels. . . . 
 
 8. You shall once every year transmit the true and full state 
 of that our Colony to our Council of plantations here, with a 
 particular account of every improvement you observe to be 
 made by the industry of the planters as well as by the direction 
 of the Government. In the year past what number of people 
 have been transported thither . . . and what new plantations 
 they have entered upon, and what new encouragement you de- 
 sire from hence ... so that we may show you by some new 
 
30 The Establishment of the English 
 
 multj^ d grace and favor how much we take to heart the good 
 anc' .iiefit and advancement of that our Colony and our good 
 subjects thereof. 
 
 9. Lastly ... we do hereby recommend to your wisdom and 
 integrity that Justice be well and impartially administered, and 
 that our good subjects shall have no cause of complaint. . . . 
 
 Given at our Court at White Hall this 12 th day of September 
 in the fourteenth year of our reign/ 1662 
 
 By his Majesties Command 
 
 12. An eye- It would be hard to find in the whole mass of colonial 
 account of literature a piece to surpass in interest the vivid and con- 
 Bacon's re- vincing narrative entitled '' The Beginning, Progress and 
 1676 ' Conclusion of Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia." The ac- 
 
 [33] count was written in 1705, at the request of Lord Oxford, 
 by a Virginia planter and fellow-member of Bacon's in the 
 House of Burgesses of 1676, who signs himself simply 
 T. M. The manuscript was bought by the American 
 minister in London, at a bookseller's sale, and sent to 
 President Jefferson (December 20, 1803), who had a copy 
 made for publication in the Richmond Enquirer^ Septem- 
 ber I, 5, 8, 1804. 
 
 My dwelling was in Northumberland, the lowest county on 
 the Potomack river, where having also a plantation, servants, 
 cattle &c., my overseer there had agreed with one Robert Hen 
 to come thither and be my herdsman, who then lived ten miles 
 above it ; but on a Sabbath day morning, in the summer anno 
 1675, people in their way to Church saw this Hen lying thwart 
 his threshold, and an Indian without the door, both chopt on 
 their heads, arms, and other parts, as if done with Indian 
 hatchetts, the Indian was dead, but Hen when asked who did 
 that 1 answered Doegs, Doegs, and soon died, then a boy came 
 out from under the bed where he had hid himself, and told them 
 
 1 Charles II, ignoring the Commonwealth and Protectorate, the years 
 of his exile, dated his reign from his father's execution in 1649. 
 
The English Colonies 31 
 
 Indians had come at break of day and done those murders. 
 Ffrom this Englishman's bloud did (by degrees) arise Bacons 
 rebellion with the following mischiefs which overspread all Vir- 
 ginia and twice endangered Maryland, as by the ensuing account 
 is evident. . . . 
 
 Frequent complaints of bloodshed were sent to Sir William 
 Berkeley (then Govern 'r) from the heads of the rivers, which 
 were as often answered with promises of assistance. These at 
 the head of James and York rivers . . . grew impatient at the 
 many slaughters of their neighbors and rose for their own de- 
 fence, who chusing Mr. Bacon for their leader sent oftentimes 
 to the Govern'r humbly beseeching a commission to go against 
 those Indians at their own charge, which his hono'r as often 
 promised, but did not send. . . . 
 
 During these protractions and people often slaine ... 300 
 men taking Mr. Bacon for their coman'r met and concerted 
 [discussed] together the danger of going without a comiss'n 
 on the one part and the continuall murders of their neighbors 
 on th' other part [not knowing whose or how many of their own 
 turns might be next] and came to this resolution viz. : to prepare 
 themselves with necessaries for a march, but interim to send 
 again for a comission, which if could or could not be obteyned 
 by a certaine day, they would proceed comission or no comission. 
 
 This day lapsing and no com'n come, they march'd into the 
 wilderness in quest of these Indians after whom the Govern'r sent 
 his proclamacon denouncing all rebells, who should not return 
 within a limited day . . . but Mr. Bacon, with 5 7 men, proceded 
 untill their provisions were near spent without finding enemys. . . . 
 The circumstances of this expedicon [expedition] Mr. Bacon en- 
 tertained me with at his own chamber on a visit I made him. . . . 
 
 Bacon was pardoned by Governor Berkeley after this 
 fruitless expedition and given a seat in the Governor's 
 Council (to keep him out of the Assembly .?), but still he 
 persisted in his demand for a commission, and finally fled 
 from Jamestown and again put himself at the head of a 
 body of men up the river. 
 
32 The Establishment of the Eriglish 
 
 In three or ffour daies after this escape, upon news that 
 Mr. Bacon was 30 miles up the river at the head of 400 men, 
 the Govern'r sent to the parts adjacent, on both sides James 
 river, for the militia ... to come and defend the town . . . 
 who att 2 of the clock entered the town without being with- 
 stood, and formed a body upon a green not a flight shot from 
 the end of the state house, of horse and ffoot as well as veteran 
 troops. . . . 
 
 In less than an hour more Mr. Bacon came with a file of 
 ffusileers on either hand near the corner of the state house, 
 where the Govern'r and Councill went forth to meet him. We 
 saw from the window ^ the Govern'r open his breast, and Bacon 
 strutting betwixt his two files of men with his left arm on kenbow 
 [akimbo] flinging his right arm every way . . . when in two 
 minutes the Govern'r walked toward his private apartment a 
 coits cast distant at the other end of the state house . . . and 
 after him walked Mr. Bacon with outragious postures of his 
 head arms body, and leggs, often tossing his hand from his 
 sword to his hat, and after him came a detachment of ffusileers 
 . . . who presented their ffusils [guns] at a window of the assembly 
 chamber filled with faces, repeating with menacing voices " we 
 will have it, we will have itt.^ "... In this hubub a servant of 
 mine got so near as to hear the Govern'rs words . . . when he 
 opened his breast he said " here ! shoot me, foregod fair mark 
 shoot," often rehearsing the same . . . whereto Mr. Bacon 
 answered, " no may it please yo'r hono'r we will not hurt a 
 hair of yo'r head ... we are come for a comission to save 
 our lives from th' Indians, which you have so often promised, 
 and now we will have it before we go." . . . 
 
 In an hour more after these violent concussions Mr. Bacon 
 came up to our chamber and desired a comission from us. . . . 
 Our speaker sat silent, while one Mr. Blayton a neighbor to 
 Mr. Bacon . . . answered '' twas not in our province, or power, 
 nor of any other, save the king's vicegerent our govern'r," he 
 pressed hard nigh half an hours harangue on the preserving 
 
 ^ The window of the state house where the Burgesses, of whom T. M. 
 was a member, were assembled as anxious spectators. 
 2 That is, the commission. 
 
The English Colonies 33 
 
 our lives from the Indians . . . whereto having no other answer, 
 he went away dissatisfied. . . . 
 
 We had account that Generall Bacon was march'd with a 
 thousand men into the fforest to seek the enemy Indians, and 
 in a few daies after our next news was that the govern 'r had 
 sumoned together the militia ... to the number of 1200 men 
 and proposed to them to follow and suppress that rebell Bacon ; 
 whereupon arose a murmuring before his face, Bacon Bacon 
 Bacon, and all walked out of the field, muttering as they went 
 Bacon Bacon Bacon, leaving the govern 'r and those that came 
 with him to themselves, who being thus abandon'd wafted 
 [sailed] over Chesepiacke bay 30 miles to Occomack, where 
 are two countres of Virginia. ... ^ 
 
 The govern 'r made a 2d attempt coming over from Occo- 
 mack with what men he could procure in sloops and boats 
 forty miles up the river to Jamestown, which Bacon hearing of 
 came again down from his forest pursuit . . . and stormed and 
 took the town [Jamestown] in which attack were 1 2 men slaine 
 and wounded, but the govern'r with most of his followers fled 
 back down the river in their vessells. . . . 
 
 Here resting a few daies they [Bacon and followers] con- 
 certed the burning of the town . . . and laid the whole town 
 (with church and state house) in ashes, saying the rogues should 
 harbor no more there. 
 
 On these reiterated molestacons [molestations] Bacon calls a 
 convention at Midle plantation 15 miles from Jamestown in the 
 month of August 1676, where . . . writts were by him issued 
 for an assembly ; and . . . one proclamation commanded all men 
 in the land on paine of death to joine him, and retire into the 
 wilderness on the arrivall of forces expected from England, and 
 oppose them untill they should propose or accept to treat of an 
 accomodation ... so the whole land must have become an Acel- 
 dama^ if God's exceeding mercy had not timely removed him. . . . 
 
 The govern'r went in the fflet to London . . . and by next 
 shipping came back a person who waited on his hono'r in the 
 
 1 Aceldama, "the Field of Blood," or Potter's Field, for the burial 
 of paupers in Jerusalem. Said to have been purchased with the thirty 
 pieces of silver for which Judas sold Christ. 
 
34 The Establishment of the English 
 
 voyage ; from whom a report was whispered about that the 
 king did say that old fool has hanged more men in that naked 
 country than he [the king] had done for the murther of his 
 ffather, whereof the govern'r hearing dyed soon after without 
 having seen his majestie ; which shuts up this tragedy. 
 
 The New England Settlements 
 
 13. The com- William Bradford was governor of Plymouth Colony 
 grfms, 1620 ' almost continuously from 1621 to his death in 1657. His 
 history "Of PHmoth Plantation," begun in 1630, is the 
 source from which the material for all the subsequent histo- 
 ries of the pioneer colony in New England has been chiefly 
 drawn. The precious manuscript of Bradford's history 
 disappeared from the library in the tower of the Old 
 South Church, Boston, at the time of the American Revo- 
 lution. It was found in 1855 ii^ the library of Fulham 
 Palace, the residence of the Bishop of London ; and after 
 repeated and urgent requests it was given by the English 
 government to the State of Massachusetts. It is now ex- 
 hibited to visitors in the State Library at the Capitol. The 
 following passages contain an account of the flight of the 
 Separatists to Holland, part of the final letter written to 
 the Pilgrims by their pastor John Robinson, on their depar- 
 ture for America, and the Compact which they made in the 
 cabin of the Mayflower just before landing at Plymouth. 
 
 [The Separatists] yet seeing themselves thus molested ^ and 
 that ther was no hope of their continuance ther [in England], 
 by a jointe consente they resolved to goe into the Low Countries 
 [Holland], wher they heard was freedom of religion for all men. 
 ... So affter they had continued togeither aboute a year, and 
 
 ^ James I on his accession in 1603 determined to make all the 
 Puritans and Brownists, or Separatists, conform to the worship of the 
 Church of England or drive them out of the land. 
 
The English Colonies 35 
 
 kept their meetings every Saboth in one place or other, exercis- 
 ing the worship of God amongstt themselves, notwithstanding 
 all the dilligence and malice of their adversaries, and seeing 
 they could no longer continue in that condition, they resolved 
 to get over into Holland as they could : which was in the year 
 1607 and 1608. . . . But to go into a country they knew not 
 (but by hearsay) wher they must learne a new language and 
 get their livings they knew not how ... it was by many thought 
 an adventure almost desperate . . . and a misserie worse than 
 death. Espetially seeing they were not aquainted with trad[e]s 
 nor traffique (by which that country doth subsiste) but had only 
 been used to a plaine countrie life, and the innocent trade of 
 husbandrey . . . but they rested on God's providence, and knew 
 whom they had beleeved. . . . 
 
 Being now come into the Low Countries they saw many 
 goodly and fortified cities strongly walled and guarded with 
 troops of armed men.-^ They also heard a strange and uncouth 
 language and beheld the differente manners and customes of 
 the people with their strange fashons and attires . . . and though 
 they saw faire and bewtifull cities, flowing with abundance of all 
 sorts of welth and riches, yet it was not long before they saw 
 the grimme and grisly face of povertie coming upon them like 
 an armed man, with whom they must buckle and incounter . . . 
 yet by God's assistance they prevailed and got the victorie. . . . 
 Being thus settled . . . they continued many years [1608-1620] 
 in a comfortable condition, injoying much sweete and delighte- 
 full societie and spirituall comfort together in the wayes of God, 
 under the able ministrie and prudente governmente of Mr. John 
 Robinson and Mr. William Brewster . . . and if at any time any 
 differences arose or offences broak out . . . they were nipt in 
 the head betim[e]s or otherwise so well composed, as still love, 
 peace and communion was continued. . . . 
 
 After ten or a dozen years' residence in Holland, the 
 Pilgrims began to think of removing to the New World, 
 
 1 The Dutch under Wilham of Orange and his brothers had been 
 maintaining a valiant war of independence against Philip of Spain since 
 the year 1567. 
 
36 The Establishment of the English 
 
 " not out of any newfangledness or other such Uke giddie 
 humor . . . but for sundrie weightie and soHd reasons," 
 which were their growing numbers, their pohtical and 
 social restraint in a foreign land, their disapproval of the 
 " Continental morals," and their " great hope and inward 
 zeall " of converting the Indians to Christianity. 
 
 So being ready to departe, they had a day of solleme humili- 
 ation, their pastor taking his texte from Ezra 8, 21 . . . upon 
 which he spente a good parte of the day very profitably. . . . 
 The nexte day the wind being faire they went aborde . . . where 
 truly dolfull was the sight of that sade and mournfull parting . . . 
 so that sundry of the Dutch strangers that stood on the key as 
 spectators could not refraine from tears. ... At their parting 
 Mr, Robinson writ a letter to the whole company. 
 
 Lovinge Christian friends, I doe hartily in the Lord salute 
 you all . . . though I be constrained for a while to be bodily 
 absente from you. . . . 
 
 Now next after heavenly peace with God and our own con- 
 sciences, we are carefully to provide for peace with all men what 
 in us lieth. ... As many of you are strangers, as to the persons, 
 so to the infirmities one of another, [you] so stand in neede of 
 more watchfullness this way, lest when shuch things fall out in 
 men and women as you suspected not, you be inordinately 
 affected with them. . . . 
 
 And lastly, your intended course of civill comunitie will 
 minister continuall occasion for offence, and will be as fuell for 
 that fire, excepte you dilligently quench it with brotherly for- 
 bearance. . . . Store up therefore patience against the evill 
 day. . . . And as men are carfull not to have a new house 
 shaken with any violence before it be well setled and the parts 
 firmly knite, so be you, I beseeche you, brethren, much more 
 earful that the house of God, which you are and are to be, be 
 not shaken with unnecessarie novelties or other oppositions at 
 the first setling thereof. . . . 
 
 Lastly, whereas you are become a body politik ... let your 
 wisdome and godliness appeare, not only in chusing shuch 
 
The English Colonies 37 
 
 persons as doe entirely love and will promote the commone good, 
 but also in yeelding unto them all due honor and obedience. . . . 
 Fare you well in him in whom you trust and in whom I rest. 
 An unfained wellwiller of your hapie 
 success in this hopefull voyage 
 
 John Robinson 
 
 Arriving off Cape Cod, November ii (21), 1620, and 
 realizing that they were outside the jurisdiction of the Lon- 
 don Company which had granted them their patent, the 
 Pilgrims, in order to assure a stable government on landing, 
 agreed to this famous compact in the Mayjiozver s cabin. 
 
 In the name of God, Amen 
 
 We whose names are under-writen, the loyal subjects of our 
 dread soveraigne Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of 
 Great Britaine, Franc, and Ireland king, defender of the Faith, 
 etc., having undertaken, for the glorie of God, and advance- 
 mente of the Christian faith, and honour of our king and 
 countrie, a voyage to plante the first colonic in the Northerne 
 parts of Virginia, doe by these presents, solemnly and mutualy 
 in the presence of God, and of one another, covenant and com- 
 bine ourselves togeather into a civill body politick, for our better 
 ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends afore- 
 said : and by vertue hearof to enacte, constitute and frame 
 such just and equall lawes, ordinances, acts, constitutions and 
 offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete and 
 convenient for the generall good of the Colonic, unto which we 
 promise all due submission and obedience. In witnes wherof 
 we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cap-Codd, the 1 1 
 of November, in the year of the raigne of our soveraigne Lord, 
 King James, of England, France, and Ireland the eighteenth, 
 and of Scotland the fiftie fourth. An": Dom. 1620. 
 
 The character of the New England Puritan has always i4. lUustra- 
 inspired conflicting sentiments in the mind of his critic. taTcharacter 
 Steadfastness, zeal, and intrepid virtue were joined in him J37J 
 with a harsh and intolerant judgment of the least deviation 
 
38 The Establishment of the English 
 
 from the conduct and creed prescribed by the orthodox 
 clergy. Sweet reasonableness was regarded as a weak 
 surrender of principle. Thomas Hutchinson, the royal 
 Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts on the eve of the 
 American Revolution, writes of the Puritans in his "His- 
 tory of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay" : 
 
 In the beginning of 1649 died Mr. Winthrop, the father of 
 the country, in the 63d year of his age. His death caused a 
 general grief through the colony. . . . He was of more Catholic 
 spirit than some of his bretheren before he left England, but 
 afterwards he grew more contracted, and was disposed to 
 lay too great stress on indifferent matters. He first proposed 
 leaving off the custom of drinking one to another, and then 
 procured a law to prohibit it. He pursued with great vehe- 
 mence Mr. Vane's adherents.^ . . . Some writers say that upon 
 his deathbed when Mr. Dudley pressed him to sign an order of 
 banishment of an heterodox person, he refused saying, " he had 
 done too much of that work already." Mr. Endicott succeeded 
 him in the place of governor, and Mr. Dudley took the place 
 of deputy governor. 
 
 I fancy that about this time the scrupulosity of the good 
 people of this colony was at its height. Soon after Mr. Win- 
 throp's death, Mr. Endicot, the most rigid of any of the magis- 
 trates, being governor, he joined with the other assistants in an 
 association against long hair. 
 
 In every age indifferent things have been condemned as sin- 
 ful, and placed among the greatest immoralities. The text 
 against long hair in Corinthians,^ as contrary to the custom in 
 the aposde's day, induced our ancestors to think it criminal in 
 all ages and all nations. ... I have wondered that the text 
 in Leviticus [xix, 27] "Ye shall not round the corners of your 
 heads," was never brought against short hair. . . . The rule in 
 
 1 Sir Harry Vane, Governor of Massachusetts 1 636-1637, supported 
 Anne Hutchinson in theological heresy. He played a leading part in 
 the English Civil War of 1642, and was executed twenty years later 
 by Charles II. 
 
 I Cor. xi, 14 : " If a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him." 
 
TJic EnglisJi Colonies 39 
 
 New England was, that none should wear their hair below their 
 ears. In a clergyman it was said to be the greater offence. . . . 
 A few years before, tobacco was prohibited under a penalty, 
 and the smoak of it in some manuscripts is compared to the 
 smoak of the bottomless pit. Some of the clergy fell into the 
 practice of smoaking, and tobacco by an act of government was 
 '' set at liberty." In England, periwigs came into use soon after 
 the Restoration [1660]. In New England, they were an eyesore 
 for thirty years after, and did not generally obtain until about the 
 time of the revolution [1689], and even then the example and 
 authority of . . . ministers in England besides . . . foreign 
 protestant divines who wore wigs, was necessary to remove 
 all scruples concerning them. 
 
 The most famous of the Puritan ministers of New Eng- 
 land was John Cotton, who came from the old Boston in 
 Lincolnshire to the new Boston in Massachusetts in the 
 year 1633. Settled near Cotton, both in old England and 
 New England, was his distant relative, Samuel Whiting, 
 who has left us a biography of him. 
 
 Well, to Boston [England] the good man came [from Cam- 
 bridge University], and for three years he preached and lived 
 so amongst them that they accounted themselves happy. . . . 
 But it pleased God,* after three or four years being there, that 
 he could not digest the ceremonies. . . . He took much pains 
 in private, and read to sundry young scholars that were in his 
 house, and some that came out of Germany, and had his house 
 full of auditors. . . . He always preached at the election of 
 miayors . . . and always (if he were at home) at the funerals 
 of those of the abler sort that died. He was frequent in the 
 duty of humiliation and thanksgiving : in which I have known 
 him in prayer and opening the word and applying it, five or 
 six hours. . . . He was of admirable candor, of unparalleled 
 meekness, of rare wisdom, very loving even to those that dif- 
 fered in judgment from him, yet one that held his own stoutly, 
 arete tenens aeeurateque defendejis^ what he himself judged to 
 
 1 " Strictly holding and painstakingly defending." 
 
40 The Establishment of the English 
 
 be the truth. . . . He was exceedingly beloved by the best and 
 admired and reverenced of the worst of his hearers. He had many 
 enemies at Boston, as well as many friends, and some that rose 
 up against him and plotted secretly to undermine him, and others 
 that practised more openly against him. But they were all of 
 them blasted, either in their names, or in their estates, or in their 
 families, or in their devices, or else came to untimely deaths; which 
 shows how God . . . owned his servant in his holy labors. . . . 
 
 And God bringing him and his company over [to America] 
 in safety . . . there grew some trouble between those that were 
 to settle matters in church and Commonwealth. But Mr. Cotton 
 then preaching before the General Court an excellent sermon 
 out of Haggai ii. " Be strong, Zerubbabel, and be strong, Joshua, 
 and be strong, ye people of the land " etc., it pleased God so 
 to compose and calm spirits that all apprehensions were laid 
 aside, and they were . . . much encouraged. ... I could speak 
 much more : but at this present want strength. ... I am not 
 like to live to see such another in New England, though I know 
 that God is able to double the spirit of that Elias upon him that 
 succeeds him. ... It is well for both Bostons that they had 
 such a light, if they walk in the light . . . and truth that he held 
 out to them. . . . Amen 
 
 The following extract from the diary of John Cotton's 
 distinguished grandson, Rev. Cotton Mather, "the Puri- 
 tan saint " of Massachusetts, shows how heavy a burden 
 of responsibility the Puritan laid upon his own soul. 
 
 Butt one special Action of this Day [March 12, 1681] was 
 to make and write the following: 
 
 Resolutions as to my Walk with God 
 
 Lord! Thou that workest in mee to ivill, help mee to resolve 
 I. As to my Thoughts. 
 
 1. To endeavour that I will keep God, and Christ, and 
 Heaven much in my Thoughts. 
 
 2. In a special manner, to watch and pray, against . . . 
 ambitious Thoughts, and wandnng Thoughts in the Times 
 of Devotion. 
 
The English Colonies 4 1 
 
 II. As to my Words. 
 
 1. To bee not of many Words, and when I do speak, to do 
 it with Deliberation. 
 
 2. To remember my obligations to use my Tongue as the 
 Ij)rds., and not as my own. . . . 
 
 3. Never to answer any weighty Question, without lifting up 
 my Heart unto God, in a Request that Hee would help mee 
 to give a right Answer. 
 
 4. To speak HI of no Man ; except, on a good Ground, and 
 for a good End. 
 
 5. Seldome to make a Visit, without contriving, what 1 may 
 do for God i?i that visit. 
 
 III. As to my daily Course of Duties. 
 
 1. To pray at least thrice, for the most part every Day. 
 
 2. To meditate once a day. . . . 
 
 3. To make a Custome of propounding to myself, these Th?'ee 
 Questions, every Night before I sleep : 
 
 What hath been the Mercy of God unto mee, in the Day past? 
 What hath been my carriage before God, in the Day past ? 
 And, If I dy this Night, is my immortal Spirit safe ? 
 
 4. To lead a Life of heavenly Ejaculations. 
 
 5. To bee diligent in obse?ving and recording of illustrious 
 Providences. 
 
 But in all, to bee continually going unto the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, as the only Physician, and Redeemer, of my Soul. 
 Lord ! Thou that workest in mee to do, help mee to perform. 
 Penned by, Cotton Mather ; a feeble and worthless, 
 yett {Lord! by thy Grace!) desirous to approve him- 
 self a Sincere and faithful Servant of Jesus Christ. 
 
 The XXXVIth Year of My Age • 
 
 12 d. 12 m. 1697.^ This day, thro' the Forebearance of God, I 
 am thirty five Years old. When I behold, how extremely foolish 
 and carnal, I still am ... at this Age, my Spirit sinks with 
 Astonishment ! Lord ! I am astonished that thou has Suffer'd 
 
 1 Twelfth day of the twelfth month, 1697. As March i. was still 
 generally observed as the beginning of the new year, this date is 
 February 12, 1698. 
 
42 The Establishment of the English 
 
 such a barroi tree, to stand thus long, among thy People ! . . . 
 I did spend some Time-extraordinary [this Day] in confessing 
 and bewayling the Sins of the Year past, and giving Thanks for 
 the Mercies of the year; and in Supplications, that in the ensuing 
 Year, I may enjoy the Gracious Presence of God with mee. . . . 
 Memorandimi. I was a little comforted with a Word spoken 
 to mee, by a Gendeman, a Lawyer, who came a few months 
 ago out of England, and who since hee came had sett himself 
 a little to observe the People of New England : ^^ Mr. Mather, 
 (said hee) I can tell you this : All the men that have any Vertue 
 or any Reason in them, I find, love you, and value you, and 
 honor you ; but all the base People, who are scandalous for Vice 
 and Wickedness, hate you, and can't give you a good Word." 
 
 15. "inde- From the restoration of the Stuarts to the English 
 fn Massachu- throne in 1660 until their expulsion in 1688, there was 
 setts, 1664 great uncertainty in the New England colonies, '' the prin- 
 1^3] cipal persons both in church and state," as Hutchinson says, 
 " being never without fearful expectations of being deprived 
 of their privileges." In 1664 their fears seemed to be justi- 
 fied by the tidings that some men-of-war were coming from 
 England, "with several gentlemen of distinction aboard 
 them." The General Court (legislature) of Massachusetts 
 appointed a committee to visit the ships and warn officers 
 and sailors '' in their coming ashore to refresh themselves 
 ... to give no offence to the people and laws of the 
 place." They later resolved on the following address to 
 King Charles II : 
 
 TO THE KINGS MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTIE 
 
 The humble supplication of the Genei'al Court of the 
 Massachusetts Colony in New England 
 Dread Soveraigne 
 
 Iff your poor subjects, vvho have removed themselves into a 
 
 • remote corner of the earth, to enjoy peace with God and man, 
 
 doe, in this day of their trouble, prostrate themselves at your 
 
TJie EnglisJi Colonies 43 
 
 royal feet, and beg your favor, we hope it will be graciously 
 accepted by your Majestic. And that, as the high place you sus- 
 tein on earth doth number you among the gods, so you will 
 imitate the God of heaven in being ready to maintain the cause 
 of the afflicted, and the rights of the poor, and to receive their 
 cries and addresses to that end. And we humbly beseech your 
 majestic, with patience and clemency, to heare and accept our 
 plain discourse, tho of somewhat greater length than would be 
 comely in other or lesser cases. Wee are remote, and can speake 
 but seldom, and therefore crave leave to speake the more at 
 once. Wee shall not largely repeat, how that the first under- 
 takers for this plantation, having, by considerable summs, pur- 
 chased the right thereof, granted to the counsel established at 
 Plimouth by King James your royal grandfather, did after obtain 
 a patent, given and confirmed to themselves by your royal father. 
 King Charles the first, wherein it is granted to them, their heirs, 
 assigns, and associates forever, not only the absolute use and 
 propriety of the tract of land therein mentioned, but also full 
 and absolute power of governing all the people of this place, 
 by men chosen from among themselves, and according to such 
 lawes as they shall, from time to time, see fit to make and estab- 
 lish, being not repugnant to the lawes of England (they paying 
 only the fifth part of the oare of gold and silver that shall here 
 be found, for and in respect of all duties, demands, exactions, 
 and service whatsover) as in the said patent is more at large 
 declared. Under the encouragement and security of which royal 
 charter, this people did, at their own charges, transport them- 
 selves, their wives, and their families over the ocean, purchase 
 the lands of the natives, and plant this colony with great labor, 
 hazards, cost, and difficulties, for a long time wrestling with the 
 wants of a wilderness, and the burdens of a new plantation; 
 having also now above 30 yeares enjoyed the aforesaid power 
 and privilege of government within themselves, as their un- 
 doubted right in the sight of God and man. And having had, 
 moreover, this further favor from God, and from your Maj- 
 estic, that wee have received several gracious letters from your 
 royal selfe, full of expressions tending to confirm us in our 
 enjoyments. , . . 
 
44 The Establishment of the English 
 
 But what affliction of heart must it needs be unto us, that 
 our sins have provoked God to permit our adversaries to set 
 themselves against us by their misinformations, complaints, and 
 solicitations (as some of them have made it their worke for 
 many yeares) and thereby to procure a commission under the 
 great seal, wherein 4 persons (one of them our knowne and 
 professed enemy) are impowered to heare, receive, examine, 
 and determine all complaints and appeals, in all causes and 
 matters, as well military as criminal and civil, and to proceed 
 in all things for settling this country according to their good 
 and sound discretions, etc. Whereby, instead of being governed 
 by rulers of our owne choosing (which is the fundamental privi- 
 lege of our patent) and by lawes of our owne, wee are like to 
 be subjected to the arbitrary power of strangers, proceeding not 
 by any established law, but by their own discretions. . . . And 
 tho wee have yet had but a little taste of the words or actings 
 of these gentlemen, that are come over hither in this capacity 
 of commissioners, yet we have had enough to confirme us in 
 our feares, that their improvement of this power, . . . will end 
 in the subversion of our all. We should be glad to hope that 
 your Majestie's instructions (which they have not yet been 
 pleased to impart unto us) may put such limitation to their busi- 
 ness here, as will take off much of our feare ; but according to 
 the present appearance of things we thus speak. . . . 
 
 If these things go on (according to the present appearance) 
 your subjects here will either be forced to seeke new dwellings, 
 or sinke and faint under burdens that will be to them intoller- 
 able. The vigor of all new endeavors in the several callings and 
 occupations (either for merchandize abroad, or further sub- 
 duing this wilderness at home) will be enfeebled, as we perceive 
 it already begins to be, the good of converting the natives ob- 
 structed, the inhabitants driven to we know not what extremities, 
 and this hopeful plantation in the issue ruined. . . . 
 
 There have also been high representations of great divisions 
 and discontents amongst us, and of a necessity of sending 
 commissioners to relieve the aggrieved, &c. Whereas it plainly 
 appeares, that the body of this people are unanimously satisfied 
 in the present government, and abhorrent from change, and 
 
The EnglisJi Colojiics 45 
 
 that which is now offered will, instead of relieving, raise up such 
 grievances as are intolerable. Wee suppose there is no govern- 
 ment under heaven, wherein some discontented persons may 
 not be found. And if it be a sufficient accusation against a 
 government, that there are some such, who will be innocent ? 
 Yet through the favor of God there are but few amongst us 
 that are malcontent, and fewer that have cause to be so. 
 
 Sir, the allknowing God knows our greatest ambition is to 
 live a poor and quiet life, in a corner of the world, without of- 
 fence to God or man. Wee came not into this wilderness to 
 seeke great things to ourselves, and if any come after us to seeke 
 them heere they will be disappointed. Wee keep ourselves 
 within our line, and meddle not with matters abroad. A just 
 dependence upon and subjection to your Majestic, according 
 to our charter, it is far from our hearts to disacknowledge. 
 Wee so highly prize your favorable aspect (tho at this great 
 distance) as wee would gladly do anything that is within our 
 power to purchase the continuance of it. . . . But it is a great 
 unhappiness to be reduced to so hard a case, as to have no 
 other testimony of our subjection and loyalty offered us but 
 this, viz : to destroy our owne being, which nature teacheth us 
 to preserve, or to yield up our liberties, which are far dearer 
 to us than our lives, and which, had we had any feares of being 
 deprived of, wee had never wandered from our fathers houses 
 into these ends of the earth, . . . 
 
 Royal Sir, it is in your power to say of your poor people in 
 New England, they shall not die. If we have found favor in the 
 sight of our king, let our life be given us at our petition. . . . 
 Let our government live, our patent live, our magistrates live, 
 our lawes and liberties live, our own religious enjoyments live, 
 so shall we all yet have further cause to say, from our hearts, 
 let the King live forever. And the blessings of them that were 
 ready to perish shall come upon your Majestic . . . and wee 
 and ours shall have lasting cause to rejoice, that we have been 
 numbred among your Majestie's 
 
 Most humble servants 
 
 and suppliants 
 
 25th of October, 1664 
 
46 The Establishment of the English 
 
 The later years of the Stuarts brought the realization of 
 the worst of the New Englanders' fears. In 1684 the 
 Massachusetts Charter was revoked by Charles II, and 
 \^^\ on June 3, 1686, Sir Edmund Andros received from the 
 new king, James II, a charter making him Captain Gen- 
 eral and Governor in Chief of all New England. Andros' 
 tyrannical behavior is set forth in a '' Declaration of the 
 Gentlemen, Merchants, and Inhabitants of Boston and the 
 Country Adjacent," published the day of his overthrow, 
 April 18, 1689. 
 
 ... Sir Edmund Andross arrived as our Governour ; who be- 
 sides his Power, with the Advice and Consent of his Council, to 
 make Laws and raise Taxes as he pleased ; had also Authority 
 by himself to Muster and Imploy all Persons residing in the 
 Territory as occasion shall serve : and to transfer such Forces 
 to any English Plantation in America, as occasion shall require. 
 And several companies of Souldiers were now brought from Eu- 
 rope, to support what was to be imposed upon us, not without 
 repeated Menaces that some hundreds more wore intented for us. 
 
 The Government was no sooner in these Hands, but care 
 was taken to load preferments principally upon such Men as 
 were strangers to, and haters of the People: and evryones 
 Observation hath noted, what Qualifications recommended a 
 man to publick Offices and Employments, only here and there 
 a good Man was used, where others could not easily be had. . . . 
 But of all our Oppressors we were chiefly squeezed by a crew of 
 abject Persons, fetched from New York to be the Tools of the 
 Adversary, standing at our right hand ; by these were extraor- 
 dinary and intollerable Fees extorted from evry one upon all 
 occasions, without any Rules but those of their own insatiable 
 Avarice and Beggary ; and even the probate of a Will must 
 now cost as many Pounds perhaps as it did Shillings heretofore ; 
 nor could a small Volume contain the other Illegalities done by 
 these Horse- Leeches in the two or three Years that they have 
 been sucking of us ; and what Laws they made it was as im- 
 possible for us to know, as dangerous for us to break. . . . 
 
The English Colonies 47 
 
 It was now plainly affirmed, both by some in open Council, 
 and by the same in private converse, that the People in New 
 England were all Slaves, and the only difference between them 
 and the Slaves is in their not being bought and sold ; and it was 
 a maxim delivered in open Court to us by one of the Council, 
 that ive must not thijik the Eriviledges of Englishmen would 
 follow us to the end of the World: Accordingly we have been 
 treated with multiplied contradictions to Magna Charta, the 
 rights of which we laid claim to. Persons who did but peace- 
 ably object against the raising of Taxes without an Assembly, 
 have been for it fined, some twenty, some thirty, and others 
 fifty Pounds. Packt and pickt Juries have been very common 
 things among us. . . . Without a Verdict, yea, without a Jury 
 sometimes have People been fined most unrighteously ; and 
 some, not of the meanest Quality, have been kept in long and 
 close Imprisonment without any least Information appearing 
 against them or an Habeas Corpus allowed unto them. . . . 
 
 Because these things could not make us miserable fast 
 enough, there was a notable Discovery made of we know not 
 what Elaw in all our Titles to our Lands : and tho besides our 
 purchase of them from the Natives ; and besides our actual 
 peaceable unquestioned possession of them for near threescore 
 Years, and besides the Promise of K. Charles II in his Procla- 
 mation sent over to us in the Year 1683, That no Man here 
 shall receive any Prejudice in his Free Hold or Estate . . . yet 
 were we every day told, That no Man was owner of a Foot of 
 Land in all the Colony ; Accordingly, Writs of Lntrusion began 
 everywhere to be served on People, that after all their Sweat 
 and their Cost upon their formerly purchased Lands, thought 
 themselves Freeholders of what they had. And the Governour 
 caused the Lands pertaining to these and these particular Men, 
 to be measured out for his Creatures to take possession of. . . . 
 
 All the Council were not ingaged in these ill Actions, but 
 those of them which were true Lovers of their Country were 
 seldom admitted to and seldomer consulted at the Debates 
 which produced these unrighteous things. Care was taken to 
 keep them under Disadvantages; and the Governor, with five 
 or six more, did what they would. We bore all these and many 
 
48 The Establishme7it of the English 
 
 more such Things, without making any attempt for Relief; 
 only Mr. Mather/ purely out of respect unto the Good of his 
 Afflicted Country, undertook a voyage into England. . . . God 
 having through many Difficulties given him to arrive at JV/iite 
 Hall, the King more than once or twice promised him a certain 
 Magna Charta for the speedy Redress of many things which 
 we were groaning under : and in the meantime said that Our 
 Governor should be written u7tto, to forbear the Measu?'es that he 
 was upon. However, after this we were injured in those very 
 things which were complained of. . . . 
 
 We do therefore seize upon the Persons of those few ill Men 
 which have been (next to our Sins) the grand Authors of our 
 Miseries : resolving to secure them, for what Justice, Orders 
 from his Highness,^ with the E?iglish Parliament shall direct, 
 lest, ere we are aware, we find ourselves to be given away by 
 them to a Forreign Power ^ before such Orders can reach unto 
 us ; for which orders now we humbly wait. In the mean time 
 firmly believing, that we have endeavored nothing but what 
 meer Duty to God and our Country calls for at our Hands : we 
 commit our Enterprise unto the Blessing of Him who hears the 
 cry of the Oppressed, and advise all our Neighbors, for whom we 
 have thus ventured ourselves, to joyn with us in Prayers and all 
 just Actions, for the Defence of the Land. 
 
 There follows the letter dispatched the same day by the 
 chief citizens of Boston to Governor Andros, who had 
 taken refuge in the Fort : 
 
 At the Town-House, Boston, April i8, 1689 
 
 oIR, 
 
 Ourselves and many others the Inhabitants of this Town, and 
 the Places adjacent, being surprized with the peoples sudden 
 
 1 Reverend Increase Mather, son-in-law of John Cotton, and father 
 of Cotton Mather. See No. 14, p. 40. 
 
 2 William, Prince of Orange, the news of whose coronation in 
 February, 1689, had not yet reached New England. 
 
 ^ There was considerable fear in New England that the Roman 
 Catholic King James II would betray the Puritans of New England to 
 the French in Canada. See Randolph's letter, p. 50. 
 
The English Colonies 49 
 
 taking of Arms; in tlie first motion whereof we were wholly 
 ignorant, being driven by the present Accident, are necessitated 
 to acquaint your Excellency, that for the quieting and securing 
 of the People inhabiting in this Country from the imminent 
 Dangers they many ways lie open and exposed to, And tendring 
 your own Safety, We judge it necessary you forthwith surrender 
 and deliver up the Government and Fortification to be preserved 
 and disposed according to Order and Direction from the Crown 
 of England, which suddenly is expected may arrive : promising 
 all security from violence to your Self or any of your Gentlemen 
 or Souldiers in Person and Estate. Otherwise we are assured 
 they will endeavour the taking of the Fortification by Storm, if 
 any Opposition be made. 
 
 To Sir Edmond Andross K't 
 (Signed by fifteen of the prominent citizens of Boston) 
 
 Andros, after an attempt to escape to the frigate Rose, 
 which was lying at anchor in Boston Harbor, surrendered 
 and was brought to the Council House in the town, 
 where he was *' confined for that night to Mr. John 
 Usher's house under strong guards," and the next day 
 conveyed to the Fort and held a prisoner. Among the 
 " few ill Men " arrested with him was Edward Randolph, 
 who was particularly odious to the Bostonians because of 
 his violent condemnation of them in a report to Charles 
 n in 1680, in which he accused them of usurping the 
 king's prerogative in government, of refusing the oath 
 of allegiance, of protecting the '' murderers " of Charles I, 
 of insulting the king's commissioners, of violating the 
 acts of trade and navigation, and, generally, of treating 
 the king's letters "of no more account than an old number 
 of the London Gazetted At the outbreak of the ''Glorious 
 Revolution " Randolph was promptly put in jail, whence 
 he wrote (a month later) the following letter to the Gov- 
 ernor of Barbados : . 
 
50 The Establishment of the English 
 
 Gaol in Boston, May i6, '89 
 Sir, 
 
 By a heady multitude possessed with jealousyes that our 
 Governor, Sir Edmund Andros, was a Papist and intended to 
 bring in the French and Indians to cut off the inhabitants, a 
 generall insurrection was intended and so perfected on the 
 1 8th of Aprill last, that the Governor hoping to secure himself in 
 our fort, missed an opportunity of going aboard the Rose 
 frigott [frigate], then at anchor in the harbour, and so being 
 overpowered, wee were taken prisoners of warr, as the silly 
 multitude told us. . . . We have, at this day, above 100 persons 
 equally concerned as conservators of the peace, but their power 
 signifies nothing, further than it pleases the people ; sometymes 
 they are for having their old magistrates reassume their former 
 government ; sometymes to form a new modell of government ; 
 but their being many more ready (and of necessity disposed) to 
 pull down than build up, they know not what to be att. . . . 
 
 I must confess that there have been ill men from New York, 
 who have too much studdied the disease of this people, and both 
 in courts and councills they have not been treated well. How- 
 ever, nothing done can amount to countenance such an open 
 rebellion . . . and the kingdome of England cannot loose this 
 country nor govern it without some respect and allowance to the 
 weaknes of those who are mislead, and the force of education 
 and the bias of common prejudices. However we are at present 
 as much distracted and as far from cementing into any sort of 
 government as at the building of Babell. God onely keeps them 
 from destroying us. . . . 
 
 Sir, I wish you all happiness and remain your humble 
 servant ^ Randolph 
 
 The Proprietary Colonies 
 
 Isaac Jogues, a devoted Jesuit missionary to New France 
 (Canada), was captured by a party of Mohawk Indians in 
 1642 on his way to his mission field among the Hurons. 
 After a year of cruel torture and imminent fear of death, 
 
The English Colonies 5 1 
 
 as he was dragged from one Mohawk town to another, 
 Jogues escaped from his captors and fled to the Dutch at 
 Fort Orange (Albany). Thence he was sent down the 
 Hudson to New Amsterdam (New York), where Governor 
 Kieft received him kindly and gave him means to return 
 to France. The zealous missionary came back to the new 
 world, only to suffer martyrdom at the scene of his former 
 tortures. Shortly before his death Jogues wrote the follow- 
 ing description of New Netherland as he saw it in 1643 : 
 
 New Holland — which the Dutch call, in Latin Novum 
 Belgium, in their own language, Nieuw Nederland, that is to 
 say New Netherlands — is situated between Virginia and New 
 England. The entrance to the River which some call the River 
 Nassau, or the great River of the North, to distinguish it from 
 another which they call South River (and some charts, I believe, 
 that I have recently seen, the River Maurice ^) is in the latitude 
 of 40 degrees, 30 minutes. Its channel is deep and navigable 
 by the largest ships, which go up to Manhattes [Manhattan] 
 Island, which is 7 leagues in circumference ; thereon is a fort 
 intended to serve as a nucleus for a town to be built, and to be 
 called New Amsterdam. . . . 
 
 There may be, on the Island of Manhate and in its environs, 
 about 4 or five hundred men of various sects and nations ; the 
 Director General told me that there were eighteen different 
 languages represented. The inhabitants are scattered here and 
 there, up and down the river, according as the beauty or con- 
 venience of a site appeals to each one to settle. Some artisans, 
 however, who work at their trades, are located under cover of 
 the fort : while all the rest are exposed to the incursions of the 
 savages, who in the year 1643, when I was there, actually killed 
 about forty Dutchmen and burned many houses, and barns filled 
 with wheat. 
 
 1 The Hudson, or North, River was called in the early days of New 
 Netherland either the Nassau or the Maurice, after the Dutch general 
 Prince Maurice of Nassau, who died in 1625. The South River was the 
 Delaware. 
 
52 The Establishfnent of the English 
 
 The River, which is very straight, and flows directly from 
 North to South, is at least a league wide before the Fort. The 
 ships are at anchor in a bay which forms the other side of the 
 island, and they can be defended by the Fort. 
 
 Shortly before I arrived there 3 large ships of 300 tons had 
 come to load wheat. Two had received their cargo, but the 3d 
 could not be laden because savages had burned part of the grain. 
 These ships had sailed from the West Indies, where the West 
 India Company usually maintains seventeen war ships. 
 
 There is no exercise of Religion except the Calvinist ; and all 
 but Calvinists are forbidden to enter the colony ; still the orders 
 are not obeyed, for besides Calvinists there are in this settle- 
 ment Catholics, English Puritans, Lutherans, Anabaptists whom 
 they call Mnistes (Mennonites), etc. When any one comes for 
 the first time to dwell in the country they furnish him horses, 
 cows, etc., and give him provisions — all which he repays when 
 he is well settled : and as for lands, at the end of ten years he 
 gives the Company of the West indies a tenth of the produce 
 that he gathers. 
 
 This country has for limits on the New England side a River 
 which they call the Fresh River, which serves as a boundary 
 between them and the English ; ^ nevertheless the English ap- 
 proach them very closely, preferring to have lands among the 
 Dutch, who require nothing from them, to depending upon Eng- 
 lish Milords, who exact rents and like to put on airs of being 
 absolute. On the other side — the Southern, toward Virginia — 
 it has for limits the River which they call South River, on which 
 there is also a Dutch setdement^; but at its entrance the Swedes 
 have another, extremely well equipped with cannon and people. 
 It is believed that these Swedes are maintained by Amsterdam 
 merchants, incensed because the Company of the West Indies 
 monopolizes all the trade of these regions. . . . 
 
 1 The Fresh River (Connecticut) was named in 1614 by Adrian 
 Block. For the boundary treaty between Dutch and English, see No. 18, 
 
 P-59- 
 
 2 Fort Nassau (near Gloucester, New Jersey) on the Delaware, 
 settled in 1623. 
 
The EnglisJL Colonies 53 
 
 During about 50 years the Dutch have frequented these re- 
 gions.^ In the year 161 5 the fort was begun; about 20 years 
 ago they began to make a settlement : and now there is already 
 some little trade with Virginia and New England. 
 
 The first arrivals found lands there quite suitable for use, 
 already cleared by the savages, who tilled their fields there. 
 Those who have come since have made clearings in the woods, 
 which are commonly of oak. The lands are good. Deer hunt- 
 ing is abundant toward autumn. There are some dwellings- built 
 of stone : they make the lime with oyster shells, of which there 
 are great heaps made in former times by the savages, who live 
 in part by that fishery. 
 
 The climate there is very mild : as the region is situated at 
 40 and two thirds degrees, there are plenty of European fruits, 
 as apples, pears, cherries. I arrived there in October, and even 
 then I found many Peaches. Ascending the River as far as the 
 43d degree, you find the 2nd settlement [Albany], which the 
 flow and Ebb of the tide reaches, but extends no further. Ships 
 of 100 and a hundred and twenty tons can land there. . . . 
 
 Eighteen years after Jogues' visit another traveler pass- 
 ing through New Amsterdam wrote a ''Description of the 
 Towne of Mannadens," 1661. This brief document (dis- 
 covered a few years ago in London) is anonymous. The 
 author may have been one of the company of Governor 
 Winthrop of Connecticut, who in the year the '' Descrip- 
 tion " was written was commissioned to obtain a charter 
 for Connecticut, and set sail from New Amsterdam in 
 the Dutch vessel De Troinv. After describing the '' Easter- 
 side," the ''Wester-side," and the " Souther-side or round- 
 head " (Battery Point) of the town, the author continues : 
 
 Within the towne, in the midway between the N. W. corner 
 and N. E. gate, the ground hath a smal descent on each side 
 
 1 This is an exaggeration. The Dutch had " frequented " the regions 
 for only about thirty years at the time of Jogues' visit in 1643. 
 
54 The Establishment of the English 
 
 much alike, and so continues through the towne unto the arme 
 of water on the Easter-side of the Towne : by help of this de- 
 scent they have made a gut almost through the Towne, keyed 
 it on both sides with timber and boards as far in as the three 
 small bridges : and near the coming into the gut they have built 
 two firme timber bridges with railes on each side. At low water 
 the gut is dry, at high water boats come into it, passing under 
 the two bridges, and go as far as the 3 small bridges.-^ In the 
 country stand houses in several places. 
 
 The bay between Long iland and the maine [sea] below the 
 town and Southwest of Nut iland [Governor's Island] within the 
 heads,^ is 6 mile broad, and from the towne unto the heads 'tis 
 8 mile. . . . 
 
 The towne lyeth about 40 deg. lat., hath good air, and is 
 healthy, inhabited with severall sorts of trades men and mar- 
 chants and mariners, whereby it has much trade, of beaver, 
 otter, musk, and other skins from the Indians and from the 
 other towns in the River and Contry inhabitants thereabouts. 
 For payment give wampen and Peage^ many of the indians 
 making, w^'' they receave of them for linnen cloth and other 
 manufactures brought from Holland. 
 
 From Long iland they have beef, pork, wheat, butter, some 
 tobacco, wampen and peage. From New England beef, sheep, 
 wheat, flower, bisket, malt, fish, butter, cider-apples, tar, iron, 
 wampen and peage. From Virginia, store of tobacco, oxhides 
 dried, some beef, pork and fruit, and for payment give Holland 
 and other linnen, canvage [canvas], tape, thrid [thread], cordage, 
 brass, Hading cloth, stuffs, stockings, spices, fruit, all sorts of iron 
 work, wine. Brandy, Annis, salt, and all useful manufactures. . . . 
 
 From Amsterdam come each year 7 or 8 big ships with 
 passengers and all sorts of goods, and they lade back beaver 
 
 1 The gut, or canal, ran through the present Broad Street, continuing 
 north nearly to Beaver Street. It was constructed in 1657- 1659 to drain 
 the swamp on the east side of the town. 
 
 2 The " heads " are the headlands (Dutch, Hoof den) of Staten Island 
 and Bay Ridge just above the entrance to New York harbor, at the 
 Narrows. 
 
 2 Wampen and Peage = wampumpeag or wampum, the polished 
 shell beads which the Indians used commonly for money. 
 
The English Colonies 55 
 
 and other skins, dry oxehides, and Virginia tobacco. Tis said 
 that each year is carried from thence above 20000 sterl. value 
 in beaver skins only. 
 
 The Governor of Manados and New Netherland [so called 
 by the Hollanders] is called Peter Stazan [Stuyvesant]. He 
 exerciseth his authority from thence southward [towards Vir- 
 ginia] as far as Dillow-bay [Delaware Bay], being about 40 
 leagues. The Suedes had a plantation in Dillow-bay formerly ; 
 but of late years the Hollanders went there [1655], dismissed 
 the Suedes, seated themselves there, have trade for beaver, etc. 
 He exercises also authority Eastwards towards New England 
 unto West Chester, w'^'' is about 2 o miles and inhabited by Eng- 
 lish. Also on Long iland inhabitants as far as Osterbay [Oyster 
 Bay]. . . . The said iland is in length 120 miles east and west, 
 between 40 and 41 deg. lat., a good land and healthy. The other 
 parr: of the said iland Eastward from Osterbay is under the 
 authority of the New England Colonies, as it stretches itself on 
 their coast. The christian inhabitants are most of them English. 
 
 In the early days of the Dutch settlement at New Am- is. Rivalry 
 sterdam kindly feelings existed between them and the Pil- ^utch^Ld 
 grim settlers at Plymouth, as the following extract from English in 
 
 /- -r. ir i> «< T 1 1 >> 1 • • the Connec- 
 
 Governor Bradford s Letter-book ^ attests, written in ticut vaiiey, 
 answer to a letter from Isaac de Rasieres, Secretary of ^<527-i65o 
 the Colony at New Amsterdam, March 19, 1627. ^^^^ • 
 
 To the Honourable and Worshipful the Director and Council 
 of New Netherland, our very loving and worthy friends and 
 christian neighbours. 
 
 The Governour and Council of Plymouth in New England 
 wish youi Honours and Worships all happiness, and prosperity 
 in this life, and eternal rest and glory with Christ Jesus our Lord 
 in the world to come. 
 
 1 This letter book like the manuscript of "Plimoth Plantation" (see 
 No. 13, p. 34) disappeared from its place of deposit in the tower of the 
 Old South Church, Boston, at the time of the American Revolution. 
 It was found in a mutilated condition in a grocer's shop in Halifax, 
 in 1894, and published by the Massachusetts Historical Society. 
 
$6 The Establishment of the English 
 
 We have received your letters wherein appeareth your good 
 will and friendship toward us, but is expressed with overhigh 
 titles, and more than belongs to us, or than is meet for us to 
 receive : But for your good will and congratulation of our 
 prosperity in this small beginning of our poor colony, we are 
 much bound unto you, and with many thanks do acknowledge 
 the same. ... It is to us no small joy to learn that it hath 
 pleased God to move his Majesty's heart to confirm that ancient 
 amity, alliance and friendship, and other contracts formerly 
 made . . . the better to resist the pride of that common enemy 
 the Spaniards, from whose cruelty the Lord keep us both, and 
 our native countries. Now forasmuch as this is sufficient to 
 unite us together in love, and good neighborhood in all our 
 dealings ; yet are many of us further tied by the good and 
 courteous entreaty [treatment] which we have found in your 
 country ; having lived there many years with freedom and good 
 content. . . . Likewise for your friendly proposition and offer 
 to accommodate and help us with any commodities and mer- 
 chandize which you have and we want, either for beaver, otters, 
 or other wares, is to us very acceptable, and we doubt not but 
 in short time, we may have profitable commerce and trade 
 together : But you may please to understand that we are but 
 particular colony or plantation in this land, there being divers 
 others besides, whom it hath pleased those Honorable Lords of 
 his Majesty's Council for New England to grant the like com- 
 mission and ample privilege to them (as to us) for their better 
 profit and subsistence. . . . Yet for our parts, we shall not go 
 about to molest or trouble you in any thing . . . only we desire 
 that you would forbear to trade with the natives in this bay 
 and river of Narragansett and Sowames which is (as it were) 
 at our doors. 
 
 May it please you further to understand, that for this year 
 we are fully supplied with all necessaries, both for clothing and 
 other things ; but it may fall out that hereafter we shall deal 
 with you, if your rates be reasonable. . . . 
 
 Thus hoping that you will pardon and excuse us for our 
 rude and imperfect writing in your language, and take it in 
 good part ; because for want of use [practice], we cannot so 
 
The English Colo7iies 57 
 
 well express that we understand ; nor happily understand every- 
 thing so fully as we should. And so we humbly pray the Lord, 
 for his mercy's sake, that he will take both us and our native 
 countries, into his holy protection and defence. Amen. 
 
 By the Governour and Council, 
 your Honours' and Worships' very 
 good friends and neighbours 
 New Plymouth, March 19th 
 
 "After this," as the historian Bradford writes, ''ther 
 was many passages between them both by letters and other 
 entercourse, and they had some profitable commerce to- 
 gether for diverce years till other occasions interrupted 
 the same." The '' other occasions " were signs of rivalry 
 between the Dutch and the English for the valley of the 
 Connecticut River. The Dutch built Fort Good Hope (on 
 the site of Hartford), but did not have sufficient men to 
 hold it. The English then 
 
 invaded and usurped the entire Fresh river, and finally sunk so 
 low in shamelessness that they seized in the year 1640 the 
 Company's land around the Fort . . . beat the Company's 
 people with sticks and clubs . . . forcibly threw their plows and 
 other implements into the river . . . and impounded their horses. 
 
 In July, 1649, the Dutch of New Netherland sent a 
 Remonstrance to the States General in Holland, recount- 
 ing these outrages and asserting the claim of the Dutch 
 to the Fresh River. 
 
 In the beginning, before the English were ever spoken of, 
 our people, as we find it written, first carefully explored and 
 discovered the northern parts of New Netherland and some 
 distance on the other side of Cape Cod. And even planted an 
 ensign on, and took possession of Cape Cod. Anno 1614, our 
 traders not only trafficked at the Fresh River, but had also 
 ascended it before any English people had ever dreamed of 
 
58 The Establishment of the English 
 
 coming there ; the latter arrived there for the first time in the 
 year 1636, after our Fort Good Hope had been a long time in 
 existence, and almost all the land on both sides of the river had 
 been bought by our people from the Indians, which purchase 
 took place principally in the year 1632 : and Kievits hook 
 [Saybrook Point] was purchased at that time also by one Hans 
 Eencluys, an officer of the Company. The State's arms were 
 also affixed at this Hook to a tree in token of possession, but 
 the English, who still occupy the Fresh River, threw them down, 
 and engraved a fool's face in their stead. Whether this was 
 done by authority or not we cannot say : such is probable 
 and no other than an affirmative opinion can be entertained ; 
 this much has come to pass — they have been informed of it 
 in various letters, which have never produced any result ; but 
 they have in addition, contra jus gentiiun per fas et nefas} in- 
 vaded the whole, because, as they say, the land lay unoccupied 
 and waste, which was none of their business, and, besides, was 
 not true ; for on the river a fort had already been erected, 
 which continued to be occupied by a garrison. Adjoining the 
 fort was also a neat bouwery [farm] belonging to the Dutch 
 or the Company ; and most of the land was purchased and 
 owned. . . . 
 
 All the villages settled by the English from New Holland or 
 Cape Cod unto Stamford, within the Dutch limits, amount to 
 about thirty, and may be estimated at nearly five thousand 
 persons capable of bearing arms ; their goats and hogs cannot 
 be stated. . . . There are divers places which cannot be well 
 put down as villages and yet are the beginnings of them. 
 Among the whole of these, the Rodenbergh or New Haven is 
 the principal ; it has a governor, contains about thirteen hun- 
 dred and forty families, and is a province or member of New 
 England,^ there being four in all. This place was begun eleven 
 years ago, in the year 1638, and they have since hived further 
 out and formed Milford, Stratford, Stamford and the Trading 
 House already referred to. 
 
 1 " Contrary to the law of nations, and right or wrong." 
 
 2 That is, the New England Confederation, formed in 1643 ^Y the 
 colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven. 
 
The EnglisJi Colonies 59 
 
 Director Kief t hath caused divers protests, both in Latin and 
 other languages to be served on these people, commanding 
 them ... to desist from their proceedings and usurpations ; 
 and in case of refusal warning them thereby that satisfaction 
 should be required of them, some time or other, according as 
 circumstances might allow ; but it was knocking at a deaf man's 
 door, for they did not heed it, nor give it any attention ; . . . 
 General Stuyvesant hath also had repeated differences with 
 them on this subject, but it remains m statu quo. The farthest 
 that they have ever been willing to come is, to declare that the 
 matter could never be arranged in this country, and that they 
 were content and very desirous that their High Mightinesses^ 
 should arrange it with their Sovereigns ; and this is very neces- 
 sary, inasmuch as the English already occupy and have seized 
 nearly the half of New Netherland ... so it is earnestly to 
 be desired that their High Mightinesses would please to press 
 this matter before it proceed further, and the breach become 
 irreparable. 
 
 In the year following this spirited protest (1650) com- 
 missioners from Governor Stuyvesant and the New Eng- 
 land colonies agreed on a boundary line between New 
 Netherland and New England. 
 
 Articles of agreement made and concluded at Hartford upon 
 Connecticut, Sept. 19, 1650, betwixt the delegates of the honored 
 commissioners of the united English colonies, and the delegates 
 of Peter Stuyvesant, governor generall of Newe Netherlands. 
 Concerning the bounds and lymits betwixt the Englishe united 
 Collonies and the Dutch province of New Netherlands, wee 
 agree and determine as followeth. 
 
 I. That upon Long-Island a Line run from the westermost 
 part of Oyster-bay and so in a streight and direct line to the 
 sea, shall be the bounds betweene the Englishe and the Dutch 
 there : the easterly part to belonge to the English, the wester- 
 most part to the Dutch. 
 
 1 The States General of the Netherlands. 
 
6o TJie Establishment of the English 
 
 2, The bounds upon the maine [main-land] to begin upon 
 the west side of Greenwich bay, being about 4 miles from 
 Stamford, and so to run a westerly line 20 miles up into the 
 country, and after as it shall be agreed by the two governments 
 of the Dutch and Newe Haven, provided the said line runn not 
 within tenn miles of Hudson's river. . . . 
 
 3. That the Dutch shall hould and enjoy all the lands in 
 Hartford that they are actually in possession of, knowne or 
 sett out by certaine merkes [marks] and boundes, and all the 
 remainder of said lands on both sides of Connecticut river, to 
 be and remaine to the English there. 
 
 And it is agreed that the aforesaid bounds and lymyts . . . 
 shall be observed . . . both by the Englishe of the united Collonies 
 and all the Dutch nation, without any encroachment or moles- 
 tation, until a full determination be agreed upon in Europe, by 
 mutual consent of the two states of England and Holland. . . . 
 Symon Bradstreete Tho : Willet 
 
 Tho : Bruce Theo : Baxter 
 
 19. New Between 1650 and 1675 rivalry for the carrying trade 
 
 bewmes^New ^^ ^^ world gave rise to three wars between Holland and 
 York, 1664 England. An incident in this struggle was the seizure of 
 [^^] New Netherland, in 1664, by an English expedition and 
 
 the transfer of the control of the Dutch colony to the 
 King's brother, James, Duke of York. The town council 
 of New Amsterdam described the surrender of the colony 
 to the English in the following letter written to the Direc- 
 tors of the West India Company at Amsterdam : 
 
 Right Honorable Lords : 
 
 We, your Honors' loyal, sorrowful, and desolate subjects 
 cannot neglect nor keep from relating the event, which through 
 God's pleasure thus unexpectedly happened to us in consequence 
 of your Honors' neglect and forgetfulness of your promise — to 
 wit, the arrival here, of late, of four King's frigates from England, 
 sent hither by his Majesty and his brother, the Duke of York, 
 with commission to reduce not only this place, but also the whole 
 
The English Colonies 6i 
 
 New Netherland under his Majesty's authority, whereunto they 
 brought with them a large body of soldiers, provided with con- 
 siderable ammunition. On board of one of the frigates were 
 about four hundred and fifty as well soldiers as seamen, and the 
 others in proportion. 
 
 The frigates being come together in front of Najac in the Bay,^ 
 Richard Nicolls, the admiral, who is ruling here at present as 
 Governor, sent a letter to our Director General [Stuyvesant], 
 communicating therein the cause of his coming and his wish. 
 On this unexpected letter, the General sent for us to determine 
 what was to be done herein. Whereupon it was resolved and 
 decided to send some commissioners thither to argue the matter 
 with the General [Nicolls] and his commissioners, who were so 
 sent for this purpose twice, but received no answer, than that 
 they [the English] were not come here to dispute about it, but 
 to execute their order and commission without fail, either peace- 
 ably or by force, and if they [the Dutch] had anything to dispute 
 about it, it must be done with His Majesty of England. . . . 
 
 But meanwhile they were not idle ; they approached with their 
 four frigates, two of which passed in front of the fort, the other 
 anchored about Nooten [Governor's] Island, and with five com- 
 panies of soldiers encamped themselves at the ferry, opposite 
 this place, together with a newly raised company of horse and a 
 party of new soldiers, both from the North and from Long Island, 
 mostly our deadly enemies, who expected nothing else than pillage, 
 plunder, and bloodshed, as men could perceive by their cursing 
 and talking, when mention was made of a capitulation. 
 
 Finally, being then surrounded, we saw little means of deliver- 
 ance ; we resolved what ought to be here done, and after we had 
 well inquired into our strength and had found it to be full fifteen 
 hundred souls strong in this place, but of whom not two hundred 
 and fifty men are capable of bearing arms exclusive of the soldiers, 
 who were about one hundred and fifty strong, wholly unprovided 
 with powder both in the city and in the fort ; yea, not more than 
 six hundred pounds were found in the fort, besides seven hun- 
 dred pounds unserviceable ; also because the farmers, the third 
 
 1 Nyack or Gravesend Bay, just below the Narrows, between New 
 Utrecht and Coney Island. 
 
62 The Establiskmejtt of the English 
 
 man of whom was called out, refused, we with the greater portion 
 of the inhabitants considered it necessary to remonstrate with 
 our Director General and Council, that their Honors might con- 
 sent to a capitulation, whereunto we labored according to our 
 duty and had much trouble ; and laid down and considered all 
 the difficulties, which should arise from our not being able to 
 resist such an enemy, as they besides could receive a much 
 greater force than they had under their command. 
 
 The Director Generall and Council at length consented there- 
 unto, whereto commissioners were sent to the admiral, who 
 notified him that it was resolved to come to terms in order to 
 prevent the shedding of blood, if a good agreement could be 
 concluded. Six persons were commissioned on each side for this 
 purpose to treat on this matter, as they have done and concluded 
 in manner as appears by the articles annexed. How that will 
 result time shall tell. 
 
 Meanwhile, since we have no longer to depend on your 
 Honors' promises of protection, we, with all the poor, sorrowing 
 and abandoned commonalty here, must fly for refuge to Almighty 
 God, not doubting but He will stand by us in this sorely afflicting 
 conjunction and no more depart from us : And we remain 
 Your sorrowful and abandoned subjects 
 Pieter Tonneman [and six others] 
 
 Done in Jorck [York] heretofore named Amsterdam in New 
 Netherland Anno 1664, the i6th September. 
 
 The "articles annexed," to which the councilmen refer, 
 granted very liberal terms to the surrendered Dutchmen. 
 Even the stern old Governor Stuyvesant came back from 
 Holland to live under the English government at his farm, 
 the " Great Bouwery," until his death in 1672. In the 
 articles it was stated that . . . 
 
 3. All people shall still continue free denizens, and enjoy 
 their lands, houses, goods, shipps, wheresoever they are within 
 this country. ... 
 
The English Colonies 63 
 
 4. If any inhabitant have a mind to remove himself he shall 
 have a year and six weeks from this day to remove himself, wife, 
 children, servants, goods, and to dispose of his lands here. 
 
 6. . . . Dutch vessels may freely come hither, and any of 
 the Dutch may freely return home, or send any sort of merchan- 
 dise home in vessels of their own country. 
 
 8. The Dutch here shall enjoy the liberty of their consciences 
 in divine worship and Church discipline. 
 
 9. No Dutchman here, or Dutch ship here, shall, upon any 
 occasion be prest to serve in war, against any nation whatever. 
 
 I o. That the townsmen of the Manhatoes [Manhattan] shall 
 not have any soldier quartered upon them without being satisfied 
 and paid for them by their officers. . . . 
 
 21. That the town of Manhatans shall choose Deputies, and 
 those Deputies shall have free voices in all public affairs, as much 
 as any other Deputies. 
 
 During the course of the American Revolution, Robert 20. The rise 
 Proud of Philadelphia wrote, and dedicated to the ''de- kers,^about 
 scendants of the first colonists and early settlers," his 1650 
 "History of Pennsylvania" (1776-1780), in which he t^^] 
 gives the following account of the rise of the Society of 
 Friends, or the Quakers. ^ 
 
 Near the middle of the 17 th century, during the civil war, 
 in England, when men were tearing each other in pieces, and 
 when confusion and bloodshed had overspread the nation, many 
 sober and thinking persons of the different religious societies, 
 weighing the uncertainty of human affairs, and beholding the 
 various vicissitudes in the political system, after having examined 
 
 1 " The name of Qtiakers, or T7-eTnblers, hath been in reproach, by their 
 enemies cast upon them, which serveth to distinguish them from others, 
 thojigh not asstcmed by them : yet as the Chiistians of old, albeit the 
 name of Christian was cast upon them by way of reproach, gloried in 
 it, as desiring'above all things to be accounted the followers of Christ \ 
 so they also are glad the world reproacheth them as such, who tremble 
 before the Lord, and -who work out their salvation in fear and tremblifigi" 
 Robert Proud, History of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1797, Vol. I, 
 p. 30, note. 
 
64 The Establishment of the English 
 
 the many vain and futile opinions, and absurd customs, in religion, 
 which were either imposed, practised, or insisted on by the various 
 professors of O^m/'/^^zZ/y, under all denominations, in that country, 
 withdrew themselves from their assemblies for divine worship ; 
 and having their minds turned to what appeared to them more 
 rational, and consistent with a rightly informed understanding, 
 and a life more congruous, or agreeable, to the mind of that 
 Deity which is spiritual, and communicates his goodness and 
 knowledge more nearly through a medium of his own nature ; 
 and places the human mind above the reach of terrestrial influ- 
 ence ; they thence fell into that practical belief, and christian 
 conduct, which gave rise to this religious society. 
 
 It was not until the year 1650 that the name of Quakers was 
 imposed on them ; who had before generally gone under the de- 
 nomination of professors^ or children, of the light ; but the most 
 common appellation, by which they distinguish themselves from 
 others, even to this day, is by the name of Friends. . . . 
 
 This is the frst and chief est pri?icij>le held by them, viz. : 
 That there is somewhat of God, some light, some grace, 
 some power, some measure of the spirit, some divine, spiritual, 
 heavenly, substantial life and virtue, in all men ; which . . . 
 leads, draws, moves and inclines the mind of man to righteous- 
 ness, and seeks to leaven him, as he gives way thereto, into the 
 nature of itself. . , . And in affirming of this, they do not at all 
 exalt self or nature, as do the Socinians [Unitarians] ; in that 
 they freely acknowledge that man's nature is defiled and cor- 
 rupted, and unable to help him one step, in order to salvation. . . . 
 Nor do they believe this seed, light and grace to be any part of 
 man's nature . . . , but that it is a free grace and gift of God, 
 freely given to all men, in order to bring them out of the fall, 
 and lead them to life eternal. . . . 
 
 Consistent with the nature of this universal principle ... ap- 
 pears to be their worship ; which, according to the account of 
 it given by themselves, was more divested of those numerous 
 external and bodily exercises and performances, "which either 
 the ignorance or ingenuity of men had introduced, under the 
 specious pretence of thereby rendering themselves more accept- 
 able to a Spiritual Being, than that of any other religious societies 
 
The English Colonies 65 
 
 known to them, at that time, under the name of Christians : 
 — a worship which they professed to be spiritual, and performed 
 in the mind ; not being confined to particular persons, times, 
 places, nor ceremonies . . . according to the New Testament, 
 which expressly declares, " that the worship of God ought to be 
 performed in spirit a?id in t7'uthr This is the only precept, or 
 declaration, concerning divine worship ; and the manner of it, 
 which is left us by the author of Christianity. . . . 
 
 Of their ministers and ministry, W. Penn speaks as follows : 
 " They were changed men themselves before they went abroad 
 to change others. Their hearts were rent as well as their gar- 
 ments ; and they knew the power and work of God upon them. . . . 
 
 " They coveted no man's silver, gold, nor apparel ; sought no 
 man's goods ; but sought them, and the salvation of their souls : 
 whose hands supplied their own necessities, working honestly 
 for bread, for themselves and families. ... 
 
 " The bent and stress of their ministry was conversion to God, 
 regeneration and holiness. Not schemes of doctrines and ver- 
 bal creeds. . . . 
 
 " They did not shew any disposition to revenge, when it was 
 at any time in their power, but forgave their cruel enemies ; 
 shewing mercy to those, who had none for them. . . . 
 
 " Their known great constancy and patience in suffering . . . 
 and that sometimes unto death, by beatings, bruisings, long and 
 crowded imprisonments, and noisesome dungeons. Four of them 
 in Neiv England dying by the hands of the executioner, purely 
 for preaching among that people. 
 
 " Their plainness with those in authority, like the ancient 
 prophets, not fearing to tell them to their faces, of their private 
 and public sins : and their prophecies to them of their afflictions 
 and downfall, when in the top of their glory : — Also for some 
 national judgments : as of the plague and fire of London, in 
 express terms." 
 
 They disused vain compliments and flattering titles, bowing, 
 kneeling, and uncovering the head to mankind. . . . They also 
 used the plain language of thou and thee to a single person, 
 whatever was his degree among men. . . . Nor could they 
 humour the custom of good ?iight, good morrow, God speed : for 
 
66 The Establishment of the Ejiglish 
 
 they knew the 7iighf was goocj, and the day was good, without 
 wishing of either; and that, in the other expression, the holy 
 name of God was too lightly, and unthoughtfully used, and 
 therefore taken in vain. . . . Their disuse of all gaming, and 
 vain sports; as the frequenting oi plays, horse-races, &lc., was a 
 custom strictly and constantly adhered to by them. . . . Their 
 entire disuse of going to laiv with one another was a singular 
 instance of their uniform practice of christian love and charity. . . . 
 The last thing that I shall mention is their maintaining all their 
 otvn poor, at their own expence . . . (besides contributing toward 
 the support of the poor of other societies in all common/^<?r rates 
 or faxes^ : insomuch that no such thing as a common beggar 
 was permitted, or known, to be among them, of that society. 
 
 An example of the sufferings of these unoffending people 
 years before William Penn opened a refuge for them in the 
 colony of Pennsylvania is furnished by the following letter 
 of King Charles II to the authorities of New England : 
 
 Trusty and Wellbeloved. Wee greet you well, — 
 Having been informed that severall of our Subjects amongst 
 you, Called Quakers, have been & are Imprisoned by yoii, 
 whereof some have been Executed, & others (as hath been 
 represented to us) are in danger to undergoe the Like ; Wee 
 have thought fitt to signify our Pleasure in that behalf for the 
 future. And do hereby Require, that if there be any of those 
 People called Quakers amongst you, now allready Condemned 
 to suffer Death, or other Corporall Punishments, or that are 
 Imprisoned, & obnoxious to the like Condemnation, you for- 
 beare to Proceed any farther therein. But that you forthwith 
 send the said Persons, whether Condemned or Imprisoned, 
 over into this our Kingdom of England, together with ther 
 respective Crimes or offenses laid to ther Charge, to the end 
 such course may be taken with them here, as shalbe agreeable 
 to our Lawes & theire Demerrits. And for soe doing, these 
 our Letters shalbe your warrent & sufficient Discharge. 
 
 Given at our Court at White Hall the 9th day of September 
 1 66 1 in the 13 yeare of our Reigne 
 
TJie English Colonies 6/ 
 
 No other colony in the seventeenth century was so 21. Peopling 
 widely, wisely, or honestly advertised as the great domain 1681^1683^^' 
 (almost as large as England itself) granted to William Penn [53] 
 by the very liberal terms of Charles 11 's Charter, March 4, 
 1 68 1 . Scarcely a month after the grant, Penn wrote a pro- 
 spectus for his new colony, under the title " Some Account 
 of the Province of Pennsilvania," which appeared immedi- 
 ately on the continent in Dutch and German translations. 
 When Penn sailed himself for America, in August, 1682, 
 over 600.000 acres of his land had been sold. 
 
 SOME ACCOUNT OF THE PROVINCE OF PENNSILVANIA 
 IN AMERICA; LATELY GRANTED UNDER THE GREAT 
 SEAL OF ENGLAND TO WILLIAM PENN, ETC. TOGETHER 
 WITH PRIVILEDGES AND POWERS NECESSARY TO THE 
 WELL-GOVERNING THEREOF. MADE PUBLICK FOR THE 
 INFORMATION OF SUCH AS ARE OR MAY BE DISPOSED 
 TO TRANSPORT THEMSELVES OR SERVANTS INTO 
 THOSE PARTS. LONDON: PRINTED AND SOLD BY BEN- 
 JAMIN CLARK, BOOKSELLER, IN GEORGE-YARD, LOM- 
 BARD-STREET, 1681 
 
 Since (by the good providence of God) a Country in America 
 is fallen to my lot, I thought it not less my Duty than my honest 
 Interest to give some publick notice of it to the World, that 
 those of our own or other Nations, that are inclined to trans- 
 port themselves or Families beyond the Seas, may find another 
 Country added to their choice, that if they shall happen to like 
 the Place, Conditions, and Constitutions (so far as the present 
 Infancy of things will allow us any prospect), they may, if they 
 please, fix with me in the Province hereafter describ'd. . . . 
 
 Next let us see. What is fit for the Journey and Place, when 
 there, and also what may be the Charge of the Voyage, and 
 what is to be expected and done there at first. That such as 
 incline to go, may not be to seek here, or brought under any 
 disappointments there. The goods fit to take with them for 
 
6S The Establishme7it of the EnglisJi 
 
 use, or sell for profit, are all sorts of Apparel and Utensils for 
 Husbandry and Building and Household Stuff. And because 
 I know how much People are apt to fancy things beyond what 
 they are, and that Immaginations are great flatterers of the 
 minds of Men ; To the end that none may delude themselves 
 with an expectation of an Immediate Amendment of their Con- 
 ditions, so soon as it shall please God they arrive there : I 
 would have them understand. That they must look for a Winter 
 before a Summer comes ; and they must be willing to be two 
 or three years without some of the conveniences they enjoy 
 at home : And yet I must needs say that America is another 
 thing than it was at the first Plantation of Virginia and New- 
 England: For there is better Accommodation, and English Pro- 
 visions are to be had at easier rates : However, I am inclin'd 
 to set down particulars, as near as those inform me, that know 
 the place, and have been Planters both in that and in the 
 Neighbouring Colonys. 
 
 . I St. The passage will come for Masters and Mistresses at 
 most to 6 Pounds a Head, for Servants five Pounds. a Head, 
 and for Children under Seven years of Age fifty Shillings, except 
 they suck, then nothing. 
 
 ' Next being by the mercy of God arrived safely in September 
 or October, two Men may clear as much Ground by Spring 
 (when they set the Corn in that Country) as will bring in that 
 time twelve month 40 Barrels, which amounts to two Hundred 
 Bushels. ... So that the first year they must buy Corn, which 
 is usually very plentiful. They may so soon as they are come, 
 buy Cows, more or less, as they want, or are able, which are to 
 be had at easy rates. For Swine, they are plentiful and cheap ; 
 these will quickly increase to a stock. So that after the first 
 year . . . they may do very well, till their own Stocks are suffi- 
 cient to supply them and their Families, which will quickly be 
 and to spare, if they follow the English Husbandry, as they do 
 in New-England and New- York. . . . 
 
 To conclude, I desire all my dear Country-Folks, who may 
 be inclin'd to go into those Parts, to consider seriously the 
 premises, as well the present inconveniences, as future ease 
 
The English Colonies 69 
 
 and Plenty, so that none may move rashly or from a fickle, but 
 solid mind, having above all things, an Eye to the Providence 
 of God, in the disposal of themselves. . . . 
 
 William Penn 
 
 Postscript : 
 
 Whoever are desirous to be concern'd with me in this 
 ince, they may be treated with and further Satisfied, a^Philip 
 Fords in Bow Lane in Cheapside, and at Thomas Rudyards or 
 Benjamin Clarks in George Yard in Lumbard-street. 
 
 One of the most enthusiastic advertisers of Penn's colony 
 was a very cultivated German lawyer, Francis Daniel Pas- 
 torius, who emigrated to Philadelphia in 1683 as the agent 
 of a group of Frankfort pietists who had purchased 1 5,000 
 acres of land in the new province. Pastorius lived in Ger- 
 mantown, as its chief citizen, till his death in 17 19 or 
 1720. In his ''Circumstantial Geographical Description 
 of Pennsylvania," published at Frankfort and Leipzig in 
 1700, after describing the discovery of the province and 
 the grant of the charter to Penn, Pastorius continues : 
 
 On November i, 1682, William Penn arrived in this province 
 with twenty ships, having spent six weeks upon the voyage. 
 Even while they were yet far from the land there was wafted 
 to them as delightful a fragrance as if it came from a freshly 
 blossoming garden. He found on his arrival no other Christian 
 people save those alone who on the discovery of the province 
 had been put there. ^ Part of them dwelt in New-Castle, and 
 part upon separate plantations. Penn was received as their 
 ruler by these people with especial tokens of affection, and 
 they most willingly discharged their obligation of submission 
 
 1 This is an error. There were English, Dutch, French, Swedes, and 
 Indians in the province when Penn arrived. They had come especially 
 from the Dutch and Swedish setdements on the Delaware. 
 
70 The Establishme7tt of the English 
 
 to him.^ All that he required of them in return was: A tem- 
 perate life and neighborly love. On the other hand, he promised 
 to protect them in both spiritual and temporal matters. 
 
 Firstly, no one shall be disturbed on account of his belief, 
 but freedom of conscience shall be granted to all inhabitants of 
 the province, so that every nation may build and conduct churches 
 and schools according to their desires. 
 
 2. Sunday shall be consecrated to the public worship of God. 
 The teaching of God shall be so zealously carried on that its 
 purity can be recognized in each listener from the fruits which 
 arise from it. 
 
 3. For the more convenient bringing up of the youth, the 
 solitary farmers living in the province shall all remove to the 
 market-towns, so that the neighbors may help one another in a 
 Christlike manner and praise God together, and that they may 
 accustom their children also to do the same. 
 
 4. The sessions of the court shall be held publicly, at ap- 
 pointed times, so that everyone may attend them. 
 
 5. Justices of the peace shall be appointed in the rising cities 
 and market-towns, to ensure the observance of the laws. 
 
 6. Cursing, blasphemy, misuse of the name of God, quarrel- 
 ling, cheating, drunkenness, shall be punished with the pillory. 
 
 7. All workmen shall be content with their stipulated wages. 
 
 8. Each child, that is twelve years of age, shall be put to 
 some handicraft or other honorable trade. 
 
 The Governor William Penn laid out the city of Philadelphia 
 between the two streams de la Ware [Delaware] and Scolkis 
 [Schuylkill] and gave it this name, as if its inhabitants should 
 lead their lives there in pure and simple brotherly love. . . . 
 
 My company consisted of many sorts of people. There was 
 a doctor of medicine, with his wife and eight children, a French 
 captain, a Low Dutch cake-baker, an apothecary, a glass-blower, 
 a mason, a smith, a wheelwright, a cabinet-maker, a cooper, a hat- 
 maker, a cobbler, a tailor, a gardener, farmers, seamstresses, etc., 
 
 1 On landing from the ship IVelcotiie at New Castle, Penn received the 
 symbols of his feudal lordship of the province — turf, twig, and water, 
 signifying dominion over the soil, the products, and the ways of travel 
 in the hind. 
 
TJic English Colonics 7 1 
 
 in all about eighty persons besides the crew. They were not only 
 different in respect to age . . . and in respect to their occupations, 
 but were also of such different religions and behaviors that I might 
 not unfittingly compare the ship that bore them hither with Noah's 
 Ark, but that there were more unclean than clean [rational] ani- 
 mals to be found therein. In my household I have those who 
 hold to the Roman, to the Lutheran, to the Calvinistic, to the 
 Anabaptist, to the Anglican church, and only one Quaker. . . . 
 
 On the 2oth of August we arrived at evening, praise God, 
 safely at Philadelphia, where I on the following day delivered 
 to William Penn the letters that I had, and was received by him 
 with amiable friendliness. Of that very worthy man and famous 
 ruler I might properly write many things ; but my pen (though 
 it is from an eagle, which a so-called savage lately brought to 
 my house) is much too weak to express the high virtues of this 
 Christian — for such he is indeed. He often invites me to his 
 table, and has me walk and ride in his always edifying company. 
 . . . He heartily loves the Germans, and once said openly in 
 my presence to his councillors and those who were about him, 
 I love the Germans and desire that you also should love them. . . . 
 
 On October 24, 1685 [1683] I, Francis Daniel Pastorius, with 
 the good will of the governor, laid out another new city, of the 
 name of Germanton, or Germanopolis, at a distance of two hours' 
 walk from Philadelphia, where there are a good black fertile soil 
 and many fresh wholesome springs of water, many oak, walnut, 
 and chestnut trees, and also good pastorage for cattle. The first 
 setdement consisted of only twelve families of forty-one persons, 
 the greater part High German mechanics and weavers, because 
 I had ascertained that linen cloth would be indispensable. 
 
 I made the main street of this city sixty feet wide, and the side 
 streets forty : the space or ground-plot for each house and garden 
 was as much as three acres of land, but for my own dwelling twice 
 as much. Before this I had also built a little house in Philadel- 
 phia, thirty feet long and fifteen wide. Because of the scarcity of 
 glass the windows were of oiled paper. Over the house-door I 
 had written : 
 
 Parva Domus, sed arnica Bonis, pj^ocul este profa?ii 
 
 [A small house but friendly to the good : depart ye profane] 
 
72 The Establishment of the English 
 
 Whereat our Governor, when he visited me, burst into laughter, 
 and encouraged me to keep on building. 
 
 I have also acquired for my High-German Company fifteen 
 thousand acres of land in one piece, on condition that, within 
 a year, they shall actually place thirty households thereon. . . . 
 
 It would therefore be a very good thing if the European 
 associates should at once send more persons over here for the 
 common advantage of the Company : for only the day before 
 yesterday the governor said to me that the zeal of his High- 
 Germans in building pleased him very much, and that he preferred 
 them to the English, and would grant them special privileges. 
 
 The Colonies in the Eighteenth Century 
 
 " The design in the settlement of colonies," remarked 
 the French political philosopher, Montesquieu, '' v^as the 
 extension of commerce and not the foundation of a new 
 l^^l empire." The British Navigation Acts furnish ample proof 
 of the truth of this statement. Rivalry with the Dutch for 
 the colonial carrying trade of the world led the English 
 Parliament, about the middle of the seventeenth century, 
 to begin a series of enactments for the strict regulation 
 and control of English commerce, with the purpose of 
 securing all the colonial trade for the mother country. 
 One of the most important of these acts was passed in 
 the year of the Restoration of the Stuarts (1660), and is 
 known as the First Navigation Act. 
 
 AN ACT FOR THE ENCOURAGEING AND INCREASING 
 OF SHIPPING AND NAVIGATION 
 
 [I] For the increase of Shiping and incouragement of the 
 Navigation of this Nation, wherin under the good providence 
 and protection of God the Wealth Safety and Strength of this 
 Kingdome is soe much concerned Bee it Enacted by the 
 Kings most Excellent Majesty and by the Lords and Commons 
 
The English Colonies 73 
 
 in this present Parliament assembled and the Authoritie therof. 
 That from and after the first day of December One thousand 
 six hundred and Sixty and from thence forward noe Goods or 
 Commodities whatsoever shall be Imported into or Exported 
 out of any Lands Islelands Plantations or Territories to his 
 Majesty belonging or in his possession or which may hereafter 
 belong unto or be in the possession of his Majesty His Heires 
 and Successors in Asia Africa or America in any other Ship or 
 Ships Vessell or Vessells whatsoever but in such Ships or Ves- 
 sells as doe truly and without fraud belong onely to the people 
 of England or Ireland Dominion of Wales or Towne of Ber- 
 wicke upon Tweede, or are of the built of, and belonging to any 
 of the said Lands Islands Plantations or Territories as the Pro- 
 prietors and right owners therof and wherof the Master and 
 three fourths of the Marriners at least are English under the 
 penalty of the Forfeiture and Losse of all the Goods and Com- 
 modityes ... as of alsoe the Ship or Vessell with all its Guns 
 Furniture Tackle Ammunition and Apparell. . . . 
 
 [IV] And it is further Enacted . . . that noe Goods or Com- 
 modityes that are of forraigne growth production or manufac- 
 ture and which are brought into England Ireland Wales ... in 
 English built Shipping . . . and navigated by English Mariners 
 as abovesaid shall be shipped or brought from any other place 
 or Places, Country or Countries but onely from those of their 
 said Growth Production or Manufacture, or from those ports 
 where the said Goods and Commodityes can onely or are or 
 usually have beene first shiped for transportation. . . . Under 
 the penalty of the forfeiture of all such of the aforesaid Goods 
 as shall be Imported from any other place or Country ... as 
 alsoe of the Ship in which they were imported with all her Guns 
 Furniture Ammunition Tackle and Apparel. . . . 
 
 [VIII] And it is further Enacted . . . That noe Goods or 
 Commodityes of the Growth Production or Manufacture of 
 Muscovy or of any of the Countryes Dominions or Territories 
 to the Great Duke or Emperor of Muscovia or Russia belong- 
 ing, As alsoe that noe sorts of Masts Timber or boards noe 
 forraigne Salt Pitch Tar Rozin Hempe or Flax Raizins Figs 
 Prunes Olive Oyles noe Come or Graine Sugar Pot-ashes Wines 
 
74 The Establishment of the English 
 
 Vinegar or Spirits called Aqua-vite or Brandy Wine shall from 
 and after [April i, 1661] . . . be imported into England ... in 
 any Ship or Ships Vessel or Vessells whatsoever but in such as 
 doe truly and without fraude belong to the people therof ... as 
 the true Owners and proprietors therof, and wherof the Master 
 and Three Fourths of the Mariners at least are English. . . . 
 
 [XVIII] And it is further Enacted . . . That from and after 
 [April I, 1661] . . . noe Sugars Tobaccho Cotton Wool Indicoes 
 Ginger Fustick or other dyeing wood of the Growth Production 
 or Manufacture of any English Plantations in America Asia or 
 Africa shall be shiped carried conveyed or transported from any 
 of the said English Plantations to any Land Island Territory 
 Dominion Port or place whatsoever other than to such English 
 Plantations as doe belong to His Majesty ... or to the King- 
 dome of England or Ireland or Principallity of Wales or Towne 
 of Berwick upon Tweede there to be laid on shore under the 
 penalty of the Forfeiture of the said Goods or the full value 
 thereof, as alsoe of the Ship with all her Guns Tackle Apparel 
 Ammunition and Furniture. . . . 
 
 [XIX] And be it further Enacted . . . That for every Ship 
 or Vessell which from and after [December 25, 1660] . . . shall 
 set saile out of England . . . for any English Plantation in 
 America Asia Africa sufficient bond shall be given ... to the 
 chiefe officers of the Custome house of such Port or place from 
 whence the said ship set saile to the value of one thousand 
 pounds if the Ship shall be of lesse burthen then one hundred 
 Tuns, and of the summe of two thousand pounds if the Ship 
 shal be of greater burthen. That in case the said Ship or. Ves- 
 sell shall loade any of the said Commodityes at any of the said 
 English Plantations, that the same Commodityes shall be by 
 the said Ship brought to some port of England . . . and shall 
 there unload and put on shore the same, the danger of the Seas 
 onely excepted. . . . 
 
 23. Observa- Peter Kalm, Professor in the University of Abo, in 
 
 forefgn vil^- -Swedish Plnland, and the Reverend Andrew Burnaby, 
 
 tors, 1748- Archdeacon of Leicester, England, made tours through 
 
 ^QQj the '' middle settlements " in North America in the years 
 
The English Colonies 75 
 
 1 748- 1 749 and 17 59-1 760 respectively. The Swedish 
 professor was particularly interested in the natural history 
 of America, but turned aside often to make '' several curi- 
 ous and important remarks on various subjects." Reaching 
 New York, he writes : 
 
 The king appoints the governor according to his royal pleas- 
 ure, but the inhabitants of the province make up his excellency's 
 salary. Therefore a man entrusted with this place has greater 
 or lesser revenues, according as he knows how to gain the con- 
 fidence of the inhabitants. There are examples of governors in 
 this, and other provinces of North America^ who by their dis- 
 sensions with the inhabitants of their respective governments, 
 have lost their whole salary, his Majesty having no power to 
 make them pay it. . . . 
 
 Each English Colony in N'o7ih A7?ienca is independent of the 
 other, and each has its proper [own] laws and coin, and may be 
 looked upon in several lights as a state by itself. From hence 
 it happens, that in time of war, things go on very slowly and 
 irregularly here : for not only the sense of one province is some- 
 times directly opposite to that of another; but frequently the 
 views of the governor and those of the assembly of the same 
 province are quite different : so that it is easy to see that, while 
 the people are quarrelling about the best and cheapest manner 
 of carrying on the war, an enemy has it in his power to take 
 one place after another. It has commonly happened that whilst 
 some provinces have been suffering from their enemies, the 
 neighboring ones were quiet and inactive, and as if it did not 
 in the least concern them. They have frequently taken up two 
 or three years in considering whether they should give assistance 
 to an oppressed sister colony, and sometimes they have ex- 
 pressly declared themselves against it. There are instances of 
 provinces who were not only neuter [neutral] in these circum- 
 stances, but who even carried on a great trade with the power 
 which at that very time was attacking and laying waste some 
 other provinces. 
 
 The Erench in Canada, who are but an inconsiderable body, 
 in comparison with the English in America, have by this position 
 
yd The Establishment of the English 
 
 of affairs been able to obtain great Advantages in times of war ; 
 for if we judge from the number and power of the English^ it 
 would seem very easy for them to get the better of the French 
 in America. It is however of great advantage to the crown of 
 England, that the North American colonies are near a country, 
 under the government of the French, like Canada. There is 
 reason to believe that the king was never earnest in his attempts 
 to expel the French from their possessions there ; though it 
 might have been done with little difficulty. For the English 
 colonies in this part of the world have encreased so much in 
 their number of inhabitants, and in their riches, that they almost 
 vie with Old England. Now in order to keep up the authority 
 and trade of their mother country, and to answer several other 
 purposes, they are forbid to establish new manufactures which 
 would turn to the disadvantage of the British commerce : they 
 are not allowed to dig for any gold or silver, unless they send 
 them to England immediately : they have not the liberty of trad- 
 ing to any parts that do not belong to the British dominions, ex- 
 cepting some settled places, and foreign traders are not allowed 
 to send their ships to them. These and some other restrictions 
 occasion the inhabitants of the English colonies to grow less 
 tender for their mother country. This coldness is kept up by the 
 many foreigners such as Germans, Dutch, and French settled 
 here, and living among the English, who commonly have no 
 particular attachment to Old England. . . . 
 
 I have been told by Englishmen, and not only by such as 
 were born in America, but even by such as came from Europe, 
 that the English colonies in North America, in the space of 
 thirty or fifty years, would be able to form a state by themselves,^ 
 entirely independent on Old England. But as the whole country 
 which lies along the sea-shore is unguarded, and on the land side 
 is harrassed by the French, in times of war these dangerous 
 neighbors are sufficient to prevent the connection of the colo- 
 nies with their mother country from being quite broken off. 
 The English government has therefore sufficient reason to 
 
 1 It was actually less than thirty years from the date of Kalm's writing 
 (1748) that the colonies, by throwing off the allegiance to England, 
 formed "a state by themselves." 
 
The English Colonics yy 
 
 consider the French in North America as the best means of 
 keeping the colonies in their due submission. 
 
 The Reverend Archdeacon, after rather caustic criti- 
 cisms of the manners and institutions of the colonists, in 
 his journey from Virginia to Massachusetts Bay, ends his 
 story with the following pessimistic estimate of the colonies 
 as a whole : 
 
 America is formed for happiness but not for empire : in a 
 course of 1200 miles I did not see a single object that solicited 
 charity, but I saw insuperable causes of weakness, which will 
 necessarily prevent its being a potent state. 
 
 Our colonies may be distinguished into the southern and 
 northern, separated from each other by the Susquehannah and 
 that imaginary line which divides Maryland from Pensylvania. 
 
 The southern colonies have so many inherent causes of 
 weakness that they can never possess any real strength. The 
 climate operates very powerfully upon them, and renders them 
 indolent, inactive, and unenterprising ; this is visible in every 
 line of their character. I myself have been a spectator, and it 
 is not an uncommon sight of a man in the vigour of life, lying 
 upon a couch, and a female slave standing over him, wafting 
 off the flies, and fanning him, while he took his repose. 
 
 The southern colonies (Maryland, which is the smallest and 
 most inconsiderable, alone excepted) will never be thickly seated 
 [populated] ; for as they are not confined within determinate 
 limits, but extend to the westward indefinitely ; men sooner 
 than apply themselves to laborious occupations, occupations 
 militating with their dispositions, and generally considered too 
 as the inheritance and badge of slavery, will gradually retire 
 westward, and settle upon fresh lands, which are said also to 
 be more fertile ; where by the servitude of a negro or two, they 
 may enjoy all the satisfaction of an easy and indolent independ- 
 ency ; hence the lands upon the coast will of course remain thin 
 of inhabitants. 
 
 The mode of cultivation by slavery is another insurmountable 
 cause of weakness. The number of negroes in the southern 
 
78 The Establishment of the English 
 
 colonies is upon the whole nearly equal, if not superior, to that 
 of the white men : and they propagate and increase even faster. 
 Their condition is truly pitiable ; their labour excessively hard, 
 their diet poor and scanty, their treatment cruel and oppressive ; 
 they cannot therefore but be a subject of terror to those who 
 so inhumanly tyrannize over them. 
 
 The Indians near the frontiers are a still further formidable 
 cause of subjection. The southern Indians are numerous, and 
 are governed by a sounder policy than formerly : experience 
 has taught them wisdom. They never make war with the colo- 
 nists without carrying terror and devastation along with them. 
 They sometimes break up intire counties together. Such is the 
 state of the southern colonies. 
 
 The northern colonies are of stronger stamina, but they have 
 other difficulties and disadvantages to struggle with, not less 
 arduous, or more easy to be surmounted than what have been 
 already mentioned. Their limits being defined, they will un- 
 doubtedly become exceedingly populous : . . . but the northern 
 colonies have still more positive and real disadvantages to con- 
 tend with. They are composed of people of different nations, 
 different manners, different religions, and different languages. 
 They have a mutual jealousy of each other, fomented by con- 
 siderations of interest, power, and ascendency. Religious zeal 
 too, like a smothered fire, is secretly burning in the hearts of the 
 different sectaries that inhabit them, and were it not restrained 
 by laws and superior authority, would soon burst out into a flame 
 of universal persecution. Even the peaceable Quakers struggle 
 hard for preeminence, and evince in a very striking manner 
 that the passions of mankind are much stronger 'than any prin- 
 ciples of religion. 
 
 The colonies therefore separately considered, are internally 
 weak : but it may be supposed that by an union or coalition 
 they would become strong and formidable : but an union seems 
 almost impossible : one founded in dominion or power is morally 
 so : for, were not England to interfere, the colonies themselves 
 so well understand the policy of preserving a balance that I think 
 they would not be idle spectators, were any one of them to en- 
 deavor to subjugate its next neighbour. Indeed, it appears to me 
 
The English Colonies 79 
 
 a very doubtful point, even supposing all the colonies in America 
 to be united under one head, whether it would be possible to 
 keep in due order and government so wide and extended an 
 empire ; the difficulties of communication, of intercourse, of 
 correspondence, and all other circumstances considered. 
 
 A voluntary association or coalition, at least a permanent one, 
 is almost as difficult to be supposed ; for fire and water are not 
 more heterogeneous than the different colonies in North America. 
 Nothing can exceed the jealousy and emulation which they pos- 
 sess in regard to each other. The inhabitants of Pennsylvania 
 and New York have an inexhaustible source of animosity in 
 their jealousy for the trade of the Jerseys. Massachusetts Bay 
 and Rhode Island are not less interested in that of Connecticut. 
 The West Indies are a common subject of emulation to them 
 all. Even the limits and boundaries of each colony are a con- 
 stant source of litigation. In short, such is the difference of 
 character, of manners, of religion, of interest of the different 
 colonies, that I think, if I am not wholly ignorant of the human 
 mind, were they left to themselves, there would soon be a civil 
 war from one end of the continent to the other; while the Indians 
 and negroes would, with better reason, impatiently watch the 
 opportunity of exterminating them all together. 
 
 After all, however, supposing w^hat I firmly believe will never 
 take place, a permanent union or alliance of all the colonies, yet 
 it could not be effectual ... for such is the extent of the coast 
 settled by the American colonies, that it can never be defended 
 but by a maritime power. America must first be mistress of 
 the sea, before she can be independent or mistress of herself. 
 Suppose the colonies ever so populous ; suppose them capable 
 of maintaining 100,000 men constantly in arms (a supposition 
 in the highest degree .extravagant), yet a half a dozen frigates 
 would with ease ravage and lay waste the whole country from 
 end to end, without a possibility of their being able to prevent 
 it : the country is so intersected by rivers, rivers of such mag- 
 nitude as to render it impossible to build bridges over them, 
 that all communication is in a manner cut off. An army under 
 such circumstances could never act to any purpose or effect : its 
 operations would be totally frustrated. 
 
161] 
 
 8o The Establishment of the English 
 
 Further, a great part of the opulence and power of America 
 depends upon her fisheries, and her commerce with the West 
 Indies : she cannot subsist without them ; but these would be 
 intirely at the mercy of that power, which might have the sov- 
 ereignty of the seas. I conclude therefore that England, so long 
 as she maintains her superiority in that respect, will also possess 
 a superiority in America: but the moment she loses the em- 
 pire of the one, she will be deprived of the sovereignty of the 
 other : for were that empire to be held by France, Holland, or 
 any other power, America will, in all probability be annexed to it. 
 
 An anonymous writer, one of the members of the first 
 Massachusetts settlement, gives the following quaint ac- 
 count of Harvard College in 1642, only six years after its 
 foundation. The description formed one half of a tract 
 called '' New England's First Fruits," published in London 
 in 1643. 
 
 After God had carried us safe to New-Engla?td, and wee 
 had builded our houses, provided necessaries for our liveli-hood, 
 rear'd convenient places for God's worship, and settled the civill 
 government : One of the next things we longed for, and looked 
 after was to advance Learning and perpetuate it to Posterity ; 
 dreading to leave an illiterate Ministry to the Churches, when 
 our present Ministers shall lie in the Dust. And as wee were 
 thinking and consulting how to effect this great work ; it pleased 
 God to stir up the heart of one Mr. Harvard (a godly Gentle- 
 man and a lover of Learning, there living amongst us) to give 
 the one halfe of his Estate (it being in all about 1700 1.) towards 
 the erecting of a Colledge, and all his Library : after him an- 
 other gave 300 1. Others after them cast in more, and the pub- 
 lique hand of the State added the rest: the Colledge was, by 
 common consent, appointed to be at Cambridge (a place very 
 pleasant and accommodate) and is called (according to the name 
 of the first founder) Harvard Colledge. 
 
 The Edifice is very faire and comely within and without, 
 having in it a spacious Hall ; (where they daily meet at Common 
 Lectures) Exercises [Commons, Lectures, and Exercises], and 
 
The EiiHisk Colonies 8 1 
 
 a large Library with somef^ookes to it, the gifts of divers 
 of our friends, their Chambers and studies also, fitted for and 
 possessed by the Students, and all other roomes of Office neces- 
 sary and convenient, with all needfull Offices thereto belonging : 
 And by the side of the Colledge a faire Grammar ScHoole, for 
 the training up of young Schollars, and fitting of them for Aca- 
 demicall Learnings that still as they are judged ripe, they may 
 be received into the Colledge of this Schoole. . . . 
 
 Over the Colledge is master Dunster placed, as President 
 [1640-165 4], a learned, conscionable [conscientious] and indus- 
 trious man, who hath so trained up his Pupills in the tongues 
 and Arts, and so seasoned them with the principles of Divinity 
 and Christianity, that we have to our great comforts (and in truth) 
 beyond our hopes, beheld their progresse in Learning and godli- 
 nesse also. . . . The latter hath been manifested in sundry of 
 them, by the savoury breathings of their spirits in their godly 
 conversation. Insomuch that we are confident, if these early 
 blossomes may be cherished and warmed with the influence of 
 the friends of Learning, and lovers of this pious worke, they will 
 by the help of God, come to happy maturity in a short time. 
 
 Over the Colledge are twelve Overseers chosen by the Generall 
 Court, six of them are of the Magistrates, the other six of the 
 Ministers. . . . 
 
 Rules and Precepts that are observed in the Colledge 
 
 1. When any Schollar is able to understand Tidly [Cicero], 
 or such like classicall Latine Auther extempore^ and make and 
 speak true Latine in Verse and Prose, sua ut aiuiU Marte [with- 
 out help from others] ; and decline perfectly the Paradigmes of 
 Nounes and Verbes in the Greek tongue : Let him then and not 
 before be capable of admission into the Colledge. 
 
 2. Let every Student be plainly instructed, and earnestly 
 pressed to consider well, the maine end of his life and studies is, 
 to know God a?id Jesus Christ which is eternal life, Joh. 17. 3. 
 and therefore to lay Christ in the bottome, as the only foundation 
 of all sound knowledge and Learning. 
 
 5. That they studiously redeeme the time; observe the gen- 
 erall houres appointed for all the Students, and the speciall houres 
 for their owne Classis : and then diligently attend the Lectures, 
 
82 The Establishment of the English 
 
 without any disturbance by word ist gesture. And if in anything 
 they doubly ^ey shall enquire, as of their fellowes, so, (in case 
 of Non satisfaction) modestly of their Tutors. 
 
 6. None shall under any pretence whatsoever, frequent the 
 company and society of such men as lead an unfit, and dissolute 
 life. Nor shall any without his Tutors leave, or (in his absence) 
 the call of Parents or Guardians, goe abroad to other Townes. 
 
 8. If any Schollar shall be found to transgresse any of the 
 Lawes of God, or the Schoole, after twice Admonition, he shall 
 be lyable, if not adultiis^ to correction, if adultus, his name 
 shall be given up to the Overseers of the Colledge, that he may 
 bee admonished at the publick monthly Act. 
 
 The College seems to have declined somewhat in its first 
 half century from the lofty ideals of its founders, if we may 
 accept as an authentic picture of college life the short 
 description found in the journal of Jasper Danckaerts, a 
 Dutch visitor to Cambridge, in the year i68o. 
 
 9th [of July 1680] Tuesday. We started out to go to Cam- 
 bridge, lying to the north east .of Boston, in order to see their 
 college and printing office. We left about six o'clock in the 
 morning, and were set across the river at Charlestown. . . . We 
 reached Cambridge about eight o'clock. It is not a large village, 
 and the houses stand very much apart. The college building is 
 the most conspicuous among them.^ We went to it, expecting 
 to see something curious, as it is the only Colledge, or would-be 
 academy of the Protestants in all America, but we found our- 
 selves mistaken. In approaching the house we neither heard nor 
 
 1 This was New College, finished in 1682 after much delay owing to 
 the "Indian warre " (of King Philip). The original Harvard Hall, the 
 " Edifice very faire and comely within and without," had begun to show 
 signs of dilapidation very early. In 1647 President Dunster wrote to 
 the Commissioners of New England : " from the first evil contrivall of 
 the Colledge building there now ensues yearly decayes of the rooff, walls 
 and foundations, which the study rents [tuition fees] will not carry forth 
 to repair." The New College contained accommodations for forty 
 students. It was burned to the ground in 1764. 
 
The English Colonies ^ 83 
 
 saw anything mentionable ; but going to the other side of- the 
 building, we heard noise enough in an upper room,. to. lead my 
 comrade to suppose they were engaged in disputation. We 
 entered and went up stairs, when a person met us and requested 
 us to walk in, which we did. We found there, eight or ten young 
 fellows, sitting around, smoking tobacco, with the smoke of which 
 the room was so full, that you could hardly see : and the whole 
 house smelt so strong of it, that when I was going up stairs, I 
 said, this is certainly a tavern. We excused ourselves, that we 
 could speak English only a little, but understood Dutch or French, 
 which they did not. However, we spoke as well as we could. 
 We inquired how many professors there were, and they replied 
 not one, that there was no money to support one. We asked 
 how many students there were. They said at first, thirty, then 
 came down to twenty ; I afterwards understood there are prob- 
 ably not ten. They could hardly speak a word of Latin, so that 
 my comrade could not converse with them. They took us to 
 the library where there was nothing particular. We looked over 
 it a little. They presented us with a glass of wine. This is all 
 we ascertained there. The minister of the place goes there 
 morning and evening to make prayer, and has charge over them. 
 The students have tutors or masters. 
 
 Josiah Quincy in his '' History of Harvard University" 
 transcribes from the records of the Corporation the follow- 
 ing account of the reception of the newly elected Governor 
 Shirley of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. '' The inti- 
 mate union which subsisted between Harvard College and 
 the civil and ecclesiastical powers of the Province," says 
 Quincy, '' unavoidably connected the interests of the 
 seminary with political events." 
 
 The Governor came up to Cambridge with an escort of forty 
 men, including officers, accompanied by the Council, a great 
 many other gentlemen, and a considerable number who came 
 over the ferry, by way of Charlestown. He was met a mile off, 
 by the gentlemen of Cambridge, the Tutors, the Professors, 
 
84 The Establishment of the English 
 
 Masters, and two of the Bachelors.^ Both the Meetinghouse 
 bell and the College bell were rung. He was received at the 
 door of the College, exactly at eleven o'clock, by the President 
 and Corporation, and escorted to the Library, where, having 
 waited twenty minutes, the bell was tolled, and all moved down 
 to the Hall : the Corporation first, the Governor and Lieutenant- 
 Governor next, and then the other gentlemen. When all were 
 seated, the President ordered the orator (Mr. Winslow, a junior 
 Bachelor) to begin: and, when he had finished, the Governor 
 rose (all rising with him) and made a very fine Latin speech, 
 promising the College all his care for the promoting of learning 
 and religion. All proceeded afterwards to the Library again, 
 where the President asked the Governor if he would like to see 
 a philosophical experiment in the Professor's chamber ; on which 
 all moved there directly, and saw three or four experiments, 
 which took up almost all the time till dinner ; the Governor going 
 to Mr. Flynt's chamber again until it was ready. The tables 
 were laid two at each end of the hall, and one across by the 
 chimneys. The Governor, Council, and Corporation sat at the 
 cross table ; the Governor facing the door, the' rest in their order. 
 . . . The whole number present amounted to one hundred and 
 twenty 1 The Governor sat about an hour, and then, after the 
 I Gist Psalm was sung, he, with the rest of the gentlemen, went 
 off, about five o'clock with his guard. 
 
 1 Lest this should give the impression of a large college faculty it 
 might be well to quote the remark of the celebrated evangelist George 
 Whitefield, who visited Harvard in 1740: "The chief College in New 
 England has one President, four Tutors, and about a hundred students. 
 It is scarce as big as one of our least Colleges in Oxford and . . . not 
 far superior to our Universities in piety and true godliness. Tutors 
 neglect to pray with and examine the hearts of their pupils. Discipline 
 is at too low an ebb. Bad books are become fashionable amongst them." 
 — Whitefield, Seventh Journal, p. 28. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE STRUGGLE WITH FRANCE FOR NORTH AMERICA 
 
 The Rise of New France 
 
 In the stirring annals of French exploration in the new 25. La 
 world, Rene Robert Cavelier de la Salle's journey of a age down^" 
 
 thousand miles from Lake Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico, t^e Missis- 
 
 . sippi, Jan- 
 
 opening the main current of the great river system that uary to 
 
 drains our midland states, holds the first place. Among La ^P"^' '^^^ 
 
 Salle's companions was the Recollect (Franciscan) Friar, ^ ^ 
 
 Father Zenobius Membre, who reported the success of La 
 
 Salle's expedition in a letter directed to his cousin and 
 
 superior. Father Chretien Le Clercq of Gaspe, and dated 
 
 "From the Mississippi, June 3, 1682." Nine years later Le 
 
 Clercq published at Paris an ambitious work entitled '' The 
 
 First Establishment of the Faith in New France," in which 
 
 he included Father Zenobius' report of La Salle's voyage. 
 
 Monsieur de la Salle, having arrived safely at the Miamis on 
 the 3d of November [168 1], bent himself, with his ordinary 
 activity and great breadth of mind, to prepare all things neces- 
 sary for his departure. He selected twenty-three Frenchmen 
 and eighteen Indians inured to war, some Mahingans [Mohicans] 
 or Loups, some Abenaquis. They desired to take along ten of 
 their women to cook for them, as their custom is, while they 
 were fishing or hunting. These women took with them three 
 children, so that the whole party consisted of but fifty-four 
 persons, including the Sieur de Tonty and the Sieur Dautray, 
 son of- the late Sieur Bourdon, procurator-general of Quebec. 
 On the 2ist of December I embarked with the Sieur de Tonty 
 
 85 
 
86 The Establishment of the English 
 
 and part of our people on Lake Dauphin [Michigan] to go 
 toward the divine river called by the Indians Checagon, in order 
 to make the necessary arrangements for our voyage. The Sieur 
 de la Salle joined us there with the rest of his troop, on the 
 4th of January, 1682, and found that the Sieur de Tonty had 
 made sleds to put all the party on and carry them over -the 
 Checagon, which was frozen ; for though the winter in these 
 parts lasts only two months, it is notwithstanding very severe. 
 There is a portage to be made to enter the river of the Illinois, 
 which we found also frozen: we made it on the 27th of the 
 same month, dragging our canoes, our baggage and provisions 
 about eighty leagues' distance on the riyer Seignelay [Illinois], 
 which runs down into the river Colbert ^ ; we traversed the great 
 village of the Illinois without finding anyone there, the Indians 
 having gone to winter thirty leagues lower down on Lake 
 Pimiteoui [Peoria], where Fort Crevecoeur stands. We found 
 it in good condition.'-^ The Sieur de la Salle left his orders here, 
 and as from this spot navigation is open at all seasons and free 
 from ice, we embarked in our canoes, and on the 6th of Feb- 
 ruary reached the mouth of the river Seignelay, situated at 
 latitude 38°. The ice which was floating down on the river 
 Colbert at this place kept us there till the thirteenth of the 
 same month, when we set out and six leagues lower dowrxj^g 
 found the river of the Ozages [the Emissitoura or Missouri] 
 coming from the west. It is full as large as the river Colbert, 
 into which it empties, and which is so disturbed by it that from 
 the mouth of this river the water is hardly drinkable. The 
 Indians assured us that this river is formed by many others, 
 and that they ascend it for ten or twelve days to a mountain 
 where they have their source ; and that beyond this mountain is 
 the sea, where great ships are seen. . . . 
 
 1 The Mississippi was named the Colbert by La Salle, says Tonty, 
 on the occasion of his passage from the Illinois (Seignelay) into the 
 main stream. 
 
 '^ It was built by La Salle in 1680, and left as an outpost when he 
 was obliged to return to Fort Frontenac on account of the failure of 
 supplies, " all Canada," as his companion Father Membre says, " seem- 
 ing in league against his undertaking." 
 
The Struggle with France for North America 8/ 
 
 At last ... we arrived, on the 6th of April, at a point where 
 the river divides into three channels. The Sieur de la Salle 
 divided his party the next day into three bands to go and explore 
 them. He took the western, the Sieur Dautray the southern, 
 the Sieur Tonty, whom I accompanied, the middle one. These 
 three channels are beautiful and deep. The water is brackish ; 
 after two leagues it became perfectly salt, and advancing on, 
 we discovered the open sea, so that on the 9th of April, with 
 all possible solemnity, we performed the ceremony of planting 
 the cross and raising the arms of France. After we had chanted 
 the hymn of the church, Vexilla Regis^ and the Te Deum^ the 
 Sieur de la Salle, in the name of his majesty, took possession 
 of that river, of all rivers that enter it, and of all countries 
 watered by them. An authentic act was drawn up, signed by 
 all of us there, and, to the sound of a volley from all our mus- 
 kets, a leaden plate, on which were engraved the arms of France 
 and the names of those who had just made the discovery, was 
 deposited in the earth. The Sieur de la Salle, who always carried 
 an astrolabe, took the latitude of this mouth. . . . This river is 
 estimated at 800 leagues long: we travelled at least 350 from 
 the mouth of the river Seignelay. 
 
 To the energetic Irishman, Thomas Dongan, Governor of 26. Dongan 
 the Province of New York under the later Stuarts, belongs yme^iess- 
 the credit of first perceiving clearly and resisting firmly the 1687 
 dangerous French encroachments to the south of the great ^'^\ 
 lakes .^ Dongan protests first to Governor La Barre of 
 
 1 The famous Latin hymn Vexilla regis prodeicnt (" The banners of the 
 King advance "), composed by Venantius Fortunatus in the sixth century. 
 
 2 The ancient hymn Te Deiim laiidamiis (" We praise thee, O God ! "), 
 composed by an unknown writer in the fourth century. 
 
 ^ " Dongan entered the Hsts against the French. If his policy should 
 prevail, New France would dwindle to a feeble province on the 
 St. Lawrence : if the French policy should prevail, the English col- 
 onies would remain a narrow strip along the sea. Dongan's cause was 
 that of all the colonies ; but they all stood aloof and left him to wage 
 the strife alone. Canada was matched against New York, or rather 
 against the Governor of New York." — Parkman, Count Frontenac and 
 New France under Louis XIV, Vol. I, p. 124. 
 
88 The Establishment of the English 
 
 Canada, then to his successor, Denonville (1685), against 
 the extension of their authority and arms among the Iro- 
 quois, who were *' his Majesty of Great Britain's subjects." 
 The correspondence between Dongan and Denonville is 
 an amusing compound of deferential scolding and tart 
 amenities.^ 
 
 GOVERNOR DONGAN TO M. DE DENONVILLE, 
 
 OCTOBER 13, 1685 
 Sir: 
 
 1 have had the honor of receiving your letter, and greatly 
 rejoice at having so good a neighbor whose character is so wide 
 spread that it has anticipated your arrival. I have written several 
 letters to M. de la Barre ; that which you have honored is one 
 of the first. I presume the others have not been shown to you. 
 He meddled in an affair that might have created some indiffer- 
 ence between the two Crowns which gave me considerable pain, 
 as I entertain a very high respect for the King of France, of 
 whose bread I have eaten so much,^ that I feel myself under 
 the obligation to prevent whatsoever can give the least umbrage 
 to our masters. M. de la Barre is a very worthy gentleman, but 
 he has not written to me in a civil and befitting style. . . . 
 
 The King your master has no doubt been deeply afflicted at 
 the death of the late King Charles ^ of glorious memory, and 
 I trust his present Majesty [James II] will keep up as good 
 understanding and amity as the late King with the Crown of 
 France. It will not be my fault if we do not cultivate a cordial 
 friendship, being, with respect and truth, 
 
 Your most affectionate servant, 
 
 Dongan 
 
 ^ Dongan in his report to the Lords of Trade in 1687 writes : " The 
 new Governor Monsr de Nonville has written mee that hee desires to 
 have a very good correspondence with this Governmt & I hope he will 
 bee as good as his word." — O'Callaghan, Documentary History of 
 New York, Vol.1, p. 158. 
 
 2 Dongan had commanded an Irish regiment in the army of 
 Louis XIV. 
 
 * Charles the Second, who died February 6, 1685. 
 
The Stfiiggle with France for North America 89 
 
 M. DE DENONVILLE TO GOVERNOR DONGAN, 
 
 JUNE 5, 1686 
 Sir : 
 
 I have rec"* the letter you did me the honor to write me on 
 the 13th Octb' last. The very particular regard I have for your 
 merit causes me to receive with, much pleasure all the kind 
 expressions with which your letter is filled. Be assured, Sir, 
 that I can appreciate all the obligations I am under to endeavor 
 to deserve your friendship. . . . 
 
 In regard to the business wherein Mons*" de la Barre inter- 
 fered with what might have created a coolness between the two 
 Crowns, as you write me, I presume you refer to his quarrel 
 with the Senecas. As to that, I shall state. Sir, to you that I 
 believe you understand the character of that nation sufficiently 
 well to perceive that it is not easy to live in friendship with 
 people who have neither religion nor honour nor subordination. 
 M. de la Barre had many causes of complaint against their pro- 
 ceedings. . . . The King, my master, entertains affection and 
 friendship for that country through the zeal alone he feels for 
 the Establishment of Religion there and the support and pro- 
 tection of the Missionaries whose zeal to preach the gospel leads 
 them to expose themselves to the brutalities and persecutions 
 of the most ferocious of tribes. 
 
 You are better acquainted than I am with what they have 
 suffered, the torments they have endured and the fatigues they 
 experience every day for Jesus Christ his name. I know your 
 heart is penetrated with the glory of that name which makes 
 Hell tremble and at the mention of which all the powers of 
 Heaven fall prostrate. Shall we. Sir, be so unfortunate as to 
 refuse them our Master's protection to sustain them and to con- 
 tribute a little on our part to win poor souls to Jesus Christ, by 
 aiding them to overcome the enemy of God who rules them. . . . 
 
 Hitherto the avarice of our Traders warred against the Gospel 
 by supplying these people with arms to wage war against us, 
 and with the liquor that makes them mad. You are a man of 
 rank and abounding in merit ; you love the religion — Well, Sir, 
 are there no means by which we can come to an understanding. 
 
QO The Establishment of the English 
 
 you and I, to maintain our missionaries by keeping those fero- 
 cious tribes in respect & fear. . . . What have not the Iroquois 
 done to the poor people of Merilande [Maryland] and Virginia ? 
 Truly, I do not understand how the heart of a Christian can be 
 hardened to such a degree as to behold with a dry eye that it is 
 
 they themselves who destroy their bretheren and compatriots 
 
 I should have greatly desired to be conversant with English, 
 to be able to write you in your tongue, and thus prove to you 
 the consideration I entertain for you. But as I know that you 
 are acquainted with French, I have presumed you would consent 
 that I should not borrow another language, in order to avoid the 
 risk of writing you in villainous latin. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 Your most humble & most obedient servant 
 
 M. de Denonville 
 
 GOVERNOR DONGAN TO M. DE DENONVILLE, 
 
 MAY 22, 1686 
 
 I have sent for the five nations of the Indyans that belong to 
 this Government to meet me at this place [Albany], to give them 
 in charge, that they should not goe to your side of the great 
 lakes, nor disturb your Indyans and traders, but since my 
 comeing here I am informed that our Indyans are aprehensive 
 of warr, by your putting stores into Cataract^ and ordering 
 some forces to meet there ; I know you are a man of judgment, 
 and that you will not attack the King of England's subjects. . . . 
 I am likewise informed that you intended to build a fort at a 
 place called Ohniagero [Niagara] on this side of the lake within 
 my master's territoryes without question, (I cannot beleev it) that 
 a person that has your reputation in the world, would follow the 
 steps of Mons*" Labarr [de la Barre], and be ill advized by some 
 interested persons in your Govern* to make disturbance between 
 
 1 In his report to the Lords of Trade in 1687 Dongan says : " Ever 
 since my coming hither it has been no small trouble to keep the Sini- 
 caes [Senecas] from making warr upon the French, Monsieur de la 
 Barre was very hot upon it & brought a great many men to a place 
 called Cadaraque [Cataract, Fort Frontenac, or the present Kingston] 
 lying on the lake, with the intent to fall on the Indians. . . . Monsr 
 
The Struggle ivith France for North America 91 
 
 our Masters subjects in those parts of the world for a little 
 pelttree [peltry] ; when all those differences may be ended by 
 an amicable correspondence between us ; if there be anything 
 amiss, I doe assure you it shall not be my fault, tho' we have 
 suffered much, and doe dayly by your people's tradeing within 
 the King of England's territoryes. . . . 
 
 Setting apart the station I am in, I am as much Mons^ Des 
 Novilles [Denonville's] humble servant as any friend he has, 
 and will omit no opportunity of manifesting the same. . . . 
 
 M. DE DENONVILLE TO GOVERNOR DONGAN, 
 
 c, JUNE 20, 1686 
 
 Sir, ^ 
 
 I received the letter which you did me the honor to write me 
 on the 2 2d May last. You will sufficiently learn in the end how 
 devoid of all foundation are the advices which you have had of 
 my pretended designs, and that all that has been told you by -the 
 deserters from the Colony [New France] ought to be received 
 by you with much suspicion. You, Sir, are too well acquainted 
 with the service and the manner that things must be conducted, 
 to take any umbrage at the supplies which I send to Cataracouy 
 [Cataract] for the subsistence of the soldiers I have there. You 
 know the Savages sufficiently to be well assured that it would be 
 very imprudent on my part to leave that place without having 
 enough of supplies and munitions there for one year's time. . . 
 
 In respect to the pretensions which you say you have to the 
 lands of this country, certainly you are not well informed of all 
 the entries into possession (^prises de possessions) which have 
 been made in the name of the King my Master, and of the 
 establishments of long standing which we have on the land and 
 on the lakes ; and as I have no doubt but our Masters will 
 easily agree among themselves, seeing the union and good 
 understanding that obtain between them,^ I willingly consent 
 
 de Nonville [Denonville] put a great deal of provisions into & keeps 
 four or five hundred men in Cadaraque." — O'Callaghan, Documentary 
 History of New York, Vol. I, p. 158. 
 
 1 For the relations of the later Stuarts with Louis XIV of France 
 and the change in those relations brought about by the accession of 
 William of Orange, see Muzzey, An American History, pp. 78, 79. 
 
92 The Establishment of the Ettglish 
 
 with you tha^itheir Majesties regulate the limit among them- 
 selves, wishing nothing more than to live with you in good 
 understanding > but to that end, Sir, it would be very apropos 
 that a gentleman, so worthy as you, should not grant protection 
 to all the rogUes, vagabonds and thieves who desert and seek 
 refuge with you, and who to acquire some merit with you, be- 
 lieve they cannot do better than to tell you many impertinencies 
 of us, which will have no end so long as you will listen to them. 
 Your very humble and very obedient Servant 
 
 The M. de Denonville 
 
 GOVERNOR DONGAN TO M. DE DENONVILLE, 
 
 JULY 26, 1686 
 Sir, 
 
 I had the honor to receave two letters from you one dated 
 the 6th the other the 20th of June last. . . . Beleive it it is 
 much joy to have soe good a neighbour of soe excellent qualifi- 
 cations and temper and of a humour altogether differing from 
 M. de la Barre your predecessor who was so furious and hasty 
 very much addicted to great words as if I had bin to have bin 
 frighted by them. . . . 
 
 I have heard that before ever the King your Master pre- 
 tended to Cannida, the Indians so far as the South sea were 
 under the English Dominion and always traded with Albany, 
 Maryland and Virginia, but that according to your desire with 
 very good reason is wholly referred to our Masters, and I 
 heartely pray that neither you nor myselfe give occasion of any 
 of the least misunderstanding between them. . . . The stricktest 
 care shall be taken concerning runawayes from you — but if 
 there be any soldiers who have deserted, I desire you to give 
 me the assurance that they shall not loose their lives. 
 Sir, 
 Your most humble and affectionate servant 
 
 Tho. Dongan 
 
The Struggle with France for North America 93 * 
 
 M. DE DENONVILLE TO GOVERNOR MNG AN, 
 OCTOBER 1, 1686 
 
 ... I do not believe, Sir, that the King your Master approves 
 all the pains you have taken to induce by presents and arms, 
 the entire Iroquois nation to wage war this year -against us — 
 nor the exhortations you have made them to pillage the French 
 who trade to places which we acquired heretofore, previous to 
 New York being what it is. You proposed. Sir, to submit every- 
 thing to the decision of our Masters. Nevertheless your emissary 
 to the Onnontague's [Onondagas] told all the Nations, in your 
 name, to pillage and make war on us. . . . I ask you. Sir, what 
 do you wish me to think of all this, and if these things accord 
 with the letter you did me the honour to write on the 27 th of 
 July, which is filled with civilities and just sentiments. ... I am 
 heartily convinced of the zeal of the King your Master for the 
 progress of the Religion . . . but it were desirable. Sir, that his 
 piety should have the like effect under your orders, that you 
 would enter with greater accord than you do into the means of 
 checking the insolence of the enemies of the Faith . . . think 
 you. Sir, that Religion will make any progress whilst your mer- 
 chants will supply, as they do, Eau de Vie in abundance which, 
 as you ought to know, converts the Savages into Demons and 
 their Cabins into counterparts and theatres of Hell. 
 
 I hope. Sir, you will reflect on all this, and that you will be 
 so good as to contribute to that union which I desire and which 
 you wish for. . . . 
 
 Your very humble and obedient Servant 
 
 The M. de Denonville 
 
 GOVERNOR DONGAN TO M. DE DENONVILLE, 
 DECEMBER 1, 1686 
 
 . . . Bee assured. Sir, that I have not solicited nor bribed the 
 Indians to arme and make warr against you. ... I have only 
 permitted severall of Albany to trade amongst the remotest In- 
 dians with strict orders not to meddle with any of your people, 
 and I hope they will find the same civillity from you. ... I have 
 
94 The Establishment of the English 
 
 written to the King my Master who hath as much zeal as any 
 prince liveing to propagate the Christian faith and assure[d] him 
 how necessary it is to send hither some Fathers to preach the 
 Gospel to the natives allyed to us, and care would be then taken 
 to dissuade them from their drunken debauches, though certainly 
 our Rum doth as little hurt as your Brandy and in the opinion 
 of Christians is much more wholesome ; however, to keep the 
 Indians temperate and sober is a very good and Christian per- 
 formance, but to prohibit them all strong liquors seems a little 
 hard and very turkish. . . . 
 
 Sir, assuredly with all due respect 
 
 Your most humble and affectionate servant 
 
 T. Dongan 
 
 DONGAN TO DENONVILLE 
 
 June 20, 1687 
 
 S"", I send you some Oranges hearing they are a rarity in your 
 partes and would send more but the bearer wants conveniency 
 of Carriage. 
 
 DENONVILLE TO DONGAN 
 
 August 27, 1687 
 
 I thank you. Sir, for your oranges. It was a great pity that 
 they should have been all rotten. 
 
 27. The Benjamin Franklin, whose long life almost spanned the 
 
 f/uS,^l754 eighteenth century (i 706-1 790), was the most versatile 
 [82] genius of our colonial period. A few months before his 
 death he received from President Washington this message: 
 "If to be venerated for benevolence, if to be admired for 
 talents, if to be beloved for philanthropy can gratify the 
 human mind, you must have the pleasing consolation that 
 you have not lived in vain." ^ One of Franklin's most 
 
 1 Writings of George Washington, ed. W. C. Ford, Vol. XI, p. 432. 
 
The Struggle with France for North America 95 
 
 cherished plans was the union of the colonies under the 
 presidency of a benevolent governor-general from the 
 mother land, for better mutual acquaintance and common 
 defense against the French and Indians. In his ''Auto- 
 biography," he gives the following account of the plan 
 of union : 
 
 In 1754, war with France being again apprehended, a con- 
 gress of commissioners from the different colonies was, by order 
 of the Lords of Trade,^ to be assembled at Albany, there to con- 
 fer with the chiefs of the Six Nations concerning the means of 
 defending both their country and ours. Governor Hamilton hav- 
 ing received this order, acquainted the House with it, requesting 
 they would furnish proper presents for the Indians, to be given 
 on this occasion ; and naming the speaker (Mr. Norris) and my- 
 self to join Mr, Thomas Penn and Mr. Secretary Peters as com- 
 missioners to act for Pennsylvania. The House approv'd the 
 nomination, and provided the goods for the present . . . and 
 we met the other commissioners at Albany about the middle 
 of June. 
 
 In our way thither, I projected and drew a plan for the union 
 of all the colonies under one government, so far as might be 
 necessary for defence, and other important general purposes. 
 As we passed through New York, I had there shown my project 
 to Mr. James Alexander and Mr. Kennedy, two gentlemen of 
 great knowledge in public affairs, and, being fortified by their 
 approbation, I ventured to lay it before the Congress. It then 
 appeared that several of the commissioners had formed plans 
 of the same kind. A previous question was first taken, whether 
 a union should be established, which passed in the affirmative 
 unanimously. A committee was then appointed, one member 
 from each colony, to consider the several plans and report. 
 Mine happen'd to be preferr'd, and, with a few amendments, was 
 accordingly reported. 
 
 1 The Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations was a board 
 created in 1696 by William III, a reorganization of the old Council for 
 P'oreign Plantations appointed by Charles II in 1660. 
 
9^ The Establishment of the English 
 
 By this plan the general government was to be administered 
 by a president-general, appointed and supported by the crown, 
 and a grand council was to be chosen by the representatives of 
 the people of the several colonies, met in their respective assem- 
 blies. The debates upon it in Congress went on daily, hand in 
 hand with the Indian business. Many objections and difficulties 
 were started, but at length they were all overcome, and the plan 
 was unanimously agreed to, and copies ordered to be transmitted 
 to the Board of Trade and to the assemblies of the several prov- 
 inces. Its fate was singular : the assemblies did not adopt it, as 
 they all thought there was too much prerogative in it, and in 
 England it was judg'd to have too much of the democratic, . . . 
 
 I am still of the opinion that it would have been happy for 
 both sides of the water if it had been adopted. The colonies, 
 so united, would have been sufficiently strong to have defended 
 themselves ; there would then have been no need of troops from 
 England : of course, the subsequent pretence for taxing America, 
 and the bloody contest it occasioned, would have been avoided. 
 But such mistakes are not new ; history is full of the errors of 
 states and princes. 
 
 " Look round the habitable world, how few 
 Know their own good, or, knowing it, pursue ! " 
 
 Those who govern, having much business on their hands, do not 
 generally like to take the trouble of considering and carrying 
 into execution new projects. The best public measures are 
 therefore seldom adopted from previous wisdom^ but fordd 
 by the occasion. 
 
 The plan drafted by Franklin was as follows : 
 
 SHORT HINTS TOWARDS A SCHEME FOR UNITING THE 
 NORTHERN COLONIES 
 
 A Governor- Ge?ieral 
 
 To be appointed by the king. 
 
 To be a military man. 
 
 To have a salary from the crown. 
 
The Struggle zvith France for North America 97 
 
 To have a negation [veto] on all acts of the Grand Council, 
 and carry into execution whatever is agreed on by him and 
 that Council. 
 
 Grand Council 
 
 One member to be chosen by the Assembly of each of the 
 smaller colonies, and two or more by each of the larger, in 
 proportion to the sums they pay yearly into the general treasury. 
 
 Members' Pay 
 ^ shillings sterling per diem, during their sitting, and 
 
 milage for travelling expenses. 
 
 Place afid Time of Meeting 
 
 To meet ^ times every year, at the capital of each colony, 
 
 in course, unless particular circumstances and emergencies re- 
 quire more frequent meetings, and alteration in the course of 
 places. The governor-general to judge of those circumstances, 
 &c. and call by his writs. 
 
 General Treasury 
 
 Its fund, an excise [internal revenue tax] on strong liquors, 
 pretty equally drunk in the colonies, or duty on liquor imported, 
 
 or shillings on each license of a public house, or excise on 
 
 superfluities, as tea, &c. &c. All which would pay in some pro- 
 portion to the present wealth of each colony, and increase as 
 that wealth increases, and prevent disputes about the inequality 
 of quotas. To be collected in each colony and lodged in their 
 treasury, to be ready for the payment of orders issuing from 
 the governor-general and grand council jointly. 
 
 Duty and Poiver of the Governor- General a?id Grand Council 
 
 To order all Indian treaties. Make all Indian purchases not 
 within proprietary grants. Make and support new settlements, 
 by building forts, raising and paying soldiers to garrison the forts, 
 defend the frontiers, and annoy the enemy. Equip guard-vessels 
 
 1 Later filled in '' ten." 2 Later filled in " once." 
 
98 The Establishment of the English 
 
 to scour the coasts from privateers in time of war, and protect 
 the trade, and everything that shall be found necessary for the 
 defence and support of the colonies in general, and increasing 
 and extending their settlements &c. For the expense they may 
 draw on the fund in the treasury of any colony. 
 
 Manner of For7ning this Unio7i 
 
 The scheme, being first well considered, corrected, and im- 
 proved by the commissioners at Albany, to be sent home, and 
 an act of Parliament obtained for establishing it. 
 
 The draft was sent to Mr. James Alexander with the 
 
 following letter : 
 
 New York, June 8, 1754 
 
 Mr. Alexander is requested to peruse these Hints, and make 
 remarks in correcting or improving the scheme,^ and send the 
 paper with such remarks to D'" Golden, for his sentiments, who 
 is desired to forward the whole to Albany to their very humble 
 servant, ^ Franklin 
 
 The Fall of New France 
 
 28. Wash- As the eighteenth century progressed the rivalry between 
 
 bassy to the French and English in America increased. The abandon- 
 French forts, ment of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the Hudson Bay 
 1753 . ^ 
 
 region to the English, and the recognition of the English 
 
 [83] 
 
 protectorate over the Iroquois, by the Treaty of Utrecht 
 (171 3), marked the beginning of the disintegration of the 
 French power in the new world. The colonies, following 
 the example of New York, gradually woke to the danger 
 of the French establishments behind the Alleghenies ; 
 
 1 Several changes were made in the plan before its adoption at 
 Albany. The student may find these changes by comparing the •present 
 text with the finished plan as published in Macdonald, Select Charters 
 of American History, 1606-177 5, pp. 253-257, or in the Old South Leaflets^ 
 No. 9. 
 
The Struggle with Fra^ice for North America 99 
 
 notably Virginia, ^ whose loosely worded charter of 1609 
 gave her claims to all the Ohio valley. When the French 
 built forts to connect the Great Lakes with the Ohio river 
 system, Governor Dinwiddle of Virginia, following general 
 instructions to colonial governors from their chief Lord 
 Holdernesse to employ force if necessary to '' prevent any 
 such unlawful undertakings," sent George Washington, 
 whom he called ''a person of distinction," ^ to warn the 
 French to desist. When Washington's Journal of the ex- 
 pedition was published in 1754 copies were sent to all the 
 colonial governors. 
 
 Wednesday, October 31, 1753 
 
 1 was commissioned and appointed by the Honorable Robert 
 Dinwiddie, Esq : Governor, &c. of Virgi7iia, to visit or deliver 
 a letter to the Commandant of the Frefich forces on the Ohio, 
 and set out on the intended Journey the same day. The next 
 day, I arrived at Fredericksburg, and engaged Mr. Jacob Van- 
 braam to be my French interpreter ; and proceeded with him to 
 
 ^ Colonel William Byrd of Virginia wrote the following " humble 
 representation" of the situation in 1735: "On the back of the British 
 Colonies on the Continent of America, about 250 miles from the Ocean, 
 runs a chain of High Mountains stretching away from the North East 
 to the South. ... As the French have settlements on the Western 
 Rivers, it will be greatly for their advantage to be beforehand with the 
 English in gaining possession of the Mountains, and for so doing (be- 
 sides their encroaching Temper) they will have the following Tempta- 
 tions. First that they may make themselves masters of all the Mines, 
 with which there is reason to believe these Mountains abound. ... In 
 the next place, that they may engross all the Trade with western In- 
 dians for Skins and Furrs . . . and lastly that they may build Forts to 
 command the Passes thro the said Mountains, whereby they will be not 
 only in condition to secure their own Traffick and Settlements West- 
 ward, but also to invade the British Colonies from Thence. . . . These 
 inducements to the French make it prudent for a British Ministry to be 
 watchfull and prevent their Seizing this important Barrier." — J. S. 
 Bassett (ed.), The Writings of Colonel William Byrd, p. 390. 
 
 2 Washington had been appointed Major of Virginia militia, at a salary 
 of ;i^ioo a year. 
 
lOO The Establishment of the Eiiglish 
 
 Alexandria^ where we provided necessaries. From thence we 
 went to Winchester^ and got Baggage, Horses, &c. ; and from 
 thence we pursued the new Road to Wills- Creek [Cumberland, 
 Md.], where we arrived the 14*'' of November. . . . 
 
 The excessive Rains and vast Quantities of Snow which had 
 fallen [early in November!] prevented our reaching Mr. Erazier's, 
 an Indian Trader at the Mouth of Turtle Creek on Monongehela 
 (River) till Thursday, the 22^. . . . Shingiss, King of the Dela- 
 wares . . . attended us to the Z^^^j^-town, where we arrived 
 between Sun-setting and Dark, the 25^^ Day after I left 
 Williamsburg. . . . 
 
 As soon as I came to the Town, I went to Monakatoocha 
 [an Oneida chief] (as the Half-King was out at his Hunting- 
 Cabbin on little Beaver Creek, about 1 5 miles off), and informed 
 him . . . that I was sent a messenger to the French general ; 
 and was ordered to call upon the Sachems of the Six Natio?is, 
 to acquaint them with it. I gave him a String of Wampum and 
 a Twist of Tobacco, and desired him to send for the Half-King ; 
 which he promised to do by a Runner in the Morning, and for 
 other Sachems. I invited him and the other great Men present 
 to my Tent, where they stay'd about an Hour and return'd. . . . 
 
 25th. . . . About 3 o'clock this Evening the Half-King came 
 to Town. I went up and invited him privately to my Tent; 
 and desired him to relate some of the Particulars of his Journey 
 to the Fre?ich Commandant and Reception there : Also to give 
 me an account of the Ways and Distance. He told me that the 
 nearest and levellest Way was now impassable, by Reason of 
 many large mirey Savannas ; that we must be obliged to go by 
 Venango, and should not get to the near Fort under 5 or 6 
 Nights Sleep, good Travelling. . . . 
 
 26th. We met in Council at the Lo7ig-House, about 9 o'clock, 
 where I spoke to them [the Sachems] as follows : 
 
 " Brothers, I have called you together in Council by order 
 of your Brother, the Governor of Virginia, to acquaint you 
 that I am sent with all possible Dispatch, to visit, and deliver 
 a Letter to the French Commandant, of very great Importance 
 to your Brothers, the English ; and I dare say to you their 
 friends and allies. 
 
The Struggle with Fraiice for North America loi 
 
 " I was desired, Brothers, by your Brother the Governor, to 
 call upon you, the Sachems of the Nations, to inform you of it, 
 and to ask your Advice and Assistance, to proceed the nearest 
 and best Road to the French. You see. Brothers, I have gotten 
 thus far on my Journey. 
 
 " His Honour likewise desired me to apply to you for some of 
 your young Men, to conduct and provide Provisions for us on 
 our Way ; and be a Safe-guard against those Fre?ich Indians 
 who have taken up the hatchet against us. I have spoken this 
 particularly to you, Brothers, because his Honour our Governor 
 treats you as good friends and Allies ; and holds you in great 
 Esteem. To confirm what I have said, I give you this String 
 of Wampum." 
 
 After they had considered for some time on the above Dis- 
 course, the Half-King got up and spoke. . . . 
 
 " I rely upon you as a Brother ought to do, as you say we 
 are Brothers and one People : we shall put Heart in Hand and 
 speak to our Fathers the French concerning the Speech they 
 made to me ^ ; and you may depend that we will endeavor to 
 be your Guard. ..." 
 
 30th. . . . We set out about 9 o'clock with the Half-King 
 /eskakake, White Thunder, and the Hunter ; and travelled on 
 the road to Venango, where we arrived the 4^^ of Dece^nber, 
 without any Thing remarkable happening but a continued Series 
 of bad Weather. This is an old Fidian Town, situated at the 
 Mouth of French Creek on Ohio ; and lies near N. about 60 
 miles from the Z^^^j--Town, but more than 70 the Way we 
 were obliged to go. We found the Fre?ich Colours hoisted at 
 a House from which they had driven Mr. John Frazier, an 
 English Subject. I immediately repaired to it to know where 
 the Commander resided. There were three Officers, one of 
 
 1 The Half-King had just returned from a visit to the French at 
 Venango to try to dissuade them from " building houses on the Indians' 
 land and taking it by force." The French general had defiantly repUed 
 that he was as little afraid of the Indians as of " Flies or Musquitos," 
 and that his forces were " as the Sand upon the Sea Shore. ... I 
 tell you that down that River [Ohio] I will go, and will build upon it 
 according to my command." — Washington, Journal, p. 18. 
 
I02 The Establishment of the English 
 
 whom, Capt. Joncaire, informed me that he had the Command 
 of the Ohio : But that there was a General Officer at the near 
 Fort, where he advised me to apply for an Answer. He in- 
 vited us to sup with them : and treated us with the greatest 
 Complaisance. 
 
 The Wine, as they dosed themselves pretty plentifully with 
 it, soon banished the Restraint which at first appeared in their 
 Conversation; and gave a Licence to their Tongues to reveal 
 their Sentiments more freely. They told me, that it was their 
 
 absolute Design to take Possession of the Ohio, and by G 
 
 they would do it: For altho' they were sensible the English 
 could raise two Men for their one ; yet they knew their Motions 
 were too slow and dilatory to prevent any Undertaking of theirs. 
 They pretended to have an undoubted Right to the River, from 
 a Discovery made by one La Salle 60 years ago. . . . 
 
 7 th (Dec). ... At II o'clock we set out for the Fort, and 
 were prevented from arriving there till the ii^*^ by excessive 
 Rains, Snows, and bad Travelling through many Mires and 
 Swamps. ... 
 
 12 th. I was prepared early to wait on the Commander, and 
 was received and conducted to him by the Second Officer in 
 Command. I acquainted him with my Business and offered my 
 Commission and Letter. . . . This Commander is a Knight of 
 the Military Order of St. Lewis and named Legardeur de St. 
 Pierre. He is an elderly Gentleman and has much the Air of 
 a Soldier. . . . The Chief Officers retired to hold a Council of 
 War ; which gave me an Opportunity of taking the Dimensions 
 of the Fort, and making what Observations I could. . . . 
 
 14th. This Evening I received an Answer to his Honour 
 the Governour's [Dinwiddle's] Letter from the Commandant. . . . 
 
 15th. The Commandant ordered a plentiful Store of Liquor, 
 Provision &c. to be put on Board our Canoe ; he appeared to 
 be extremely complaisant, tho' he was exerting every Artifice 
 which he could invent to set our own Lndians at variance with 
 us, to prevent their going until after our Departure. . . . 
 
 1 6th. . . . We had a tedious and very fatiguing Passage 
 down the Creek. Several Times we had like to have been 
 
The Struggle ivith FrcDicc for North America 103 
 
 staved against Rocks ; and many Times were obliged all Hands 
 to get out and remain in the Water Half an Hour or more, 
 getting over the Shoals. 
 
 23d. ... The Horses grew less able to travel every Day; 
 the Cold increased very fast ; and the Roads were becoming 
 much worse by a deep Snow continually freezing. Therefore 
 as I was uneasy to get back, to make Report of my Proceed- 
 ings to his Honour the Governor, I determined to prosecute 
 my Journey the nearest Way through the Woods, on Foot. . . . 
 I took my necessary Papers ; pulled off my Cloaths ; and tied 
 myself up in a Match Coat. Then with Gun in Hand and 
 Pack at my Back, in which were my Papers and Provisions, I 
 set out with Mr. Gist^ fitted in the same manner. . . . 
 
 The Day following ... we fell in with a Party of French 
 Indians, who had lain in wait for us. One of them fired at 
 Mr. Gist or me, not 15 steps off, but fortunately missed. . . . 
 The next day we got to the River. . . . We expected to have 
 found the River frozen, but it was not, only about 50 yards 
 from each Shore. . . . There was no way for getting over but 
 on a Raft. Which we set about with but one poor Hatchet and 
 finished just after Sun-setting. . . . Before we were half way 
 over we were jammed in the Ice in such a Manner that we 
 expected every moment our Raft to sink and ourselves to perish. 
 I put out my setting pole to try to stop the Raft that the Ice 
 might pass by ; when the Rapidity of the Stream threw it with 
 so much Violence against the Pole that it jerked me out into 
 Ten Feet Water: but I fortunately saved myself by catching 
 hold of one of the Raft Logs. . . . The Cold was so extremely 
 severe that Mr. Gist had all his Fingers and some of his Toes 
 frozen. . . . 
 
 . . . Arrived at Mr. Gisfs at Monongahela the 2"^ (Jan.), 
 where I bought a Horse, Saddle, etc. The 6'^ we met 17 
 Horses loaded with Materials and Stores, for a Fort at the 
 Forks of the Ohio, and the Day after some Families going out 
 to settle. This Day we arrived at Will's Creek, after as fatiguing 
 a Journey as it is possible to conceive, rendered so by excessive 
 bad Weather. . . . 
 
I04 The Establishment of the English 
 
 Arrived in Williamsburgh the 1 6^'' ; when I waited upon his 
 Honour the Governor with the Letter I had brought from the 
 French Commandant ^ ; and to give an Account of the Success 
 of my Proceedings. 
 
 29. The fall James Wolfe's victory on the Plains of Abraham was 
 
 Septem-*^' ^^ decisive blow in the struggle between England and 
 
 ber 13, 1759 France for mastery in North America. The following 
 
 [^^1 account of the battle is taken from the '' Historical Journal " 
 
 of Captain John Knox of Wolfe's army. The Journal was 
 
 published in London in 1 769, but, according to the author's 
 
 statement in the preface, ' ' was written mostly at the time, 
 
 and finished almost as soon as the events it contains." 
 
 Thursday, September 13, 1759 
 Before day-break this morning we made a descent upon the 
 north shore, about a quarter of a mile to the eastward of Sillery ; 
 and the light troops were fortunately, by the rapidity of the 
 current, carried down lower, between us and Cape Diamond ; 
 we had in this debarkation thirty flat-bottomed boats, containing 
 about sixteen hundred men. . . . The chain of centries [sentries] 
 which the enemy had posted along the summit of the heights 
 galled us a little and picked off several men and some Officers 
 before our light infantry got up to dislodge them. This grand 
 enterprise was conducted and executed with great good order 
 and discretion ; as fast as we landed the boats put off for rein- 
 forcements, and the troops formed with much regularity: the 
 General [Wolfe] with Brigadiers Moncton and Murray were 
 a-shore with the first division. We lost no time here but clam- 
 bered up one of the steepest precipices that can be conceived, 
 
 1 This letter, called in the Pennsylvania Archives (ii, 238) "a haughty 
 answer," determined Dinwiddie to raise forces to send to the Ohio. 
 Washington was given charge of one of the companies, with instructions 
 to hasten to finish " the Fort which I expect is there already begun by 
 the Ohio Company" (see Journal above, ad Jin.). It was the clash of 
 this little force of V^ashington's with Jumonville's men at Great 
 Meadow that opened the Seven Years' War (see Muzzey, An American 
 History, p. St,). 
 
The Stntggle with France for North America 105 
 
 being almost a perpendicular and of an incredible height. As 
 soon as we gained the summit all was quiet, and not a shot 
 was heard. ... It was by this time clear day-light. Here we 
 formed again, the river and the south country in our rear, our 
 right extending to the town, our left to Sillery, and halted a few 
 minutes. . . . We then faced to the right and marched towards 
 the town by files till we came to the plains of Abraham ; an 
 even piece of ground which Mr. Wolfe had made choice of 
 while we stood forming upon the hill. Weather showery. About 
 six o'clock the enemy first made their appearance upon the 
 heights, between us and the town ; whereon we halted, and 
 wheeled to the right, thereby forming the line of battle. . . . 
 
 About ten o'clock the enemy began to advance briskly in 
 three columns, with loud shouts and recovered arms, two of 
 them inclining to the left of our army, and the third towards 
 our right, fireing obliquely at the two extremities of our line from 
 
 the distance of one hundred and thirty , until they came 
 
 within forty yards ; which our troops withstood with the greatest 
 intrepidity and firmness, still reserving their fire, and paying 
 the strictest obedience to their Officers, this uncommon steadi- 
 ness, together with the havoc which the grapeshot from our 
 field pieces made among them, threw them into some disorder, 
 and was most critically maintained by a well-timed, regular, and 
 heavy discharge of our small arms, such as they could no longer 
 oppose ; hereupon they gave way, and fled with precipitation, 
 so that by the time the cloud of smoke was vanished, our men 
 were again loaded, and . . . pursued them almost to the gates of 
 the town, and the bridge over the little river, redoubling our fire 
 with great eagerness, making many Officers and men prisoners. 
 (The weather cleared up with a comfortably warm sun-shine.) . . . 
 
 Our joy at this success is inexpressibly damped by the loss 
 we thus sustained of one of the greatest heroes which this or 
 any other age can boast of, — General James Wolfe, who re- 
 ceived his mortal wound, as he was exerting himself at the head 
 of the grenadiers of Louisbourg ; and Brigadier Monckton was 
 unfortunately wounded ... at much the same time. . . . 
 
 The Officers who are prisoners say that Quebec will sur- 
 render in a few days ; some deserters who came out to us this 
 
io6 The Establishment of the English 
 
 evening agree in that opinion, and inform us that the Sieur de 
 Montcalm is dying in great agony of a wound he received today 
 in their retreat. Thus has our late renowned Commander, by 
 his superior eminence in the art of war, and a most judicious 
 coup d'etat, made a conquest of this fertile, healthy, and hitherto 
 formidable country, with a handful of troops only, in spite of 
 the political schemes and most vigorous efforts, of the famous 
 Montcalm ... at the head of an army considerably more nu- 
 merous. My pen is too feeble to draw the character of this 
 British Achilles ; but the same may with justice be said of him 
 as was said of Henry IV of France. He was possessed of courage, 
 humanity, clemeiicy, generosity, affability, and politeness, . . . 
 '^ When the matter match'd his mighty mind 
 
 Up rose the Hero : on his piercing eye 
 
 Sat observation, on each glance of thought 
 
 Decision followed, as the thunderbolt 
 
 Pursues the flash." 
 
 The following letter from General Monckton acquaint- 
 ing Pitt with the result of the battle, and the Articles of 
 Capitulation of the fortress of Quebec are taken from 
 '' Natural and Civil History of the French Dominion in 
 America," by Thos. Jeffreys, '' Geographer to the Prince of 
 Wales." It was printed at Charing Cross, London, 1760. 
 
 LETTER FROM THE HONOURABLE GENERAL MONCKTON 
 TO THE RIGHT 'HONOURABLE MR. SECRETARY PITT, 
 DATED AT CAMP AT POINT LEVI, SEPTEMBER 15, 1759 
 
 Sir 
 
 I have the pleasure to acquaint you, that, on the 13*'' instant, 
 his majesty's troops gained a very signal victory over the French, 
 a little above the town of Quebec. Gen. Wolfe, exerting himself 
 on the right of oui line, received a wound pretty early, of which 
 he died soon after, and I had myself the great misfortune of 
 receiving one in my right breast by a ball, that went through 
 part of my lungs (and which has been cut out under the blade 
 bone of my shoulder) just as the Fre7ich were giving way, which 
 
The Struggle with France for North America 107 
 
 obliged me to quit the field. I have therefore, Sir, desired Gen. 
 
 Toivnshend^ who now commands the troops before the town (and 
 
 of which I am in hopes he will be soon in possession) to acquaint 
 
 you with the particulars of that day, and of the operations 
 
 carrying on, 
 
 I have the honor to be, &c. 
 
 Rob. Monckton 
 
 ARTICLES OF CAPITULATION AGREED ON BETWEEN 
 GENERAL TOWNSHEND AND M. DE RAMZEY, COM- 
 MANDER OF QUEBEC 
 
 Art. I. . . . The garrison of the town, composed of land forces, 
 marines, and sailors, shall march out with their arms and baggage, 
 drums beating, lighted matches, with two pieces of cannon, and 
 twelve rounds, and shall be embarked as conveniently as possible, 
 in order to be landed at the first port in France. 
 
 Art. II. That the inhabitants shall be maintained in possession 
 of their houses, goods, effects, and privileges. 
 
 Art. III. That the said inhabitants shall not be molested on 
 account of their having borne arms for the defence of the town, 
 as they were forced to it, and as it is customary for the inhabit- 
 ants of the colonies of both crowns to serve as militia. . . . 
 
 Art. VI. That the exercise of the Catholic Apostolic and 
 Roman religion shall be preserved, and that safe-guards shall be 
 granted to the houses of the clergy, and to the monasteries, 
 particularly to the Bishop of Quebec . . . until the possession of 
 Canada shall have been decided by a treaty between their most 
 Christian and Britannic Majesties. 
 
 Art. VII. That the artillery and warlike stores shall be de- 
 livered up bona fide, and an inventory taken thereof. . . . 
 
 Art. X. That the commander of the city of Quebec shall be 
 permitted to send advice to the Marquis de Vaudreuil, governor 
 general, of the reduction of the town ; as also that this general 
 shall be allowed to write to the French ministry to inform them 
 thereof. . . . 
 
 duplicates signed at the Camp before Quebec 
 Sepr. 18, 1759 
 C. Saunders, G. Townshend, De Ramesay 
 
PART II. THE SEPARATION OF THE 
 COLONIES FROM ENGLAND 
 
PART II. THE SEPARATION OF 
 THE COLONIES FROM ENGLAND 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 BRITISH RULE IN AMERICA 
 
 The Authority of Parliament in the Colonies 
 
 No other Englishman was better quahfied to speak on 30. The 
 American affairs than Thomas Pownall, royal governor of "ofonfes 
 the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1757 to 1760. Pow- [91] 
 nail was one of the small group of statesmen who realized 
 the '' nascent crisis " in the colonies and advocated con- 
 sulting the sentiments of the colonists themselves in deter- 
 mining the relation of America to the home government. 
 In 1764, Pownall dedicated to George Grenville, the author 
 of the Stamp Act, a long treatise on '' The Administration 
 of the Colonies," prompted, as he says in the preface, by 
 ' ' a spirit of suspicion and alarm arising, a temper of ill- 
 blood infusing itself into the minds of men." Twenty years 
 later, when the independence of America was acknowl- 
 edged by George III, Pownall wrote: '' The publication of 
 this treatise ruined me with those who had the real power 
 of Government in their hands. I was not ignorant that it 
 would have such effect. I sacrificed to what I thought 
 truth and right, and I thank God that I have never yet 
 once, to this hour, repented that I made that sacrifice. 
 Perhaps they have more than once repented that they did 
 not follow this advice." ^ 
 
 1 Thomas Pownall, Three Memorials, 1784, General Preface, p. ix. 
 
 1 1 1 
 
112 The Separation of the Colonies from Engla7id 
 
 This American question, in which liberty and the rights of 
 property are so deeply engaged, must now come forward ... I 
 therefore address to your most serious consideration that state 
 of this business which the following book contains ... I speak 
 my own sentiments. I address them to your serious considera- 
 tion, as I do to every man of business in the nation, with an 
 hope that from conviction of the justice, policy, and necessity 
 of the measure, they may become the general sentiments of the 
 government, and of the people of Great Britain. "... I am no 
 Partizan. I do not palliate the errors of Great Britain. I do not 
 flatter the passions of America. ... I have stated the fact, and 
 the right, in hopes to point out what is the true and constitu- 
 tional relation between Great Britain and the American Colonies, 
 what is the precise ground on which this dangerous question 
 ought to be settled : How far they are to be governed by the 
 vigor of external principles, by the supreme superintending 
 power of the mother country : How far by the vigor of the 
 internal principle of their own peculiar body politic : And what 
 ought to be the mode of administration by which they are to be 
 governed in their legislative, executive, judicial, and commercial 
 departments, in the conduct of their money and revenues, in 
 their power of making peace or war — 
 
 It has been often suggested that care should be taken in the 
 administration of the plantations ; lest in some future time these 
 colonies should become independent of the mother country. But 
 perhaps it may be proper on this occasion, nay, it is justice 
 to say it, that if by becoming independent, is meant a revolt, 
 nothing is further from their nature, their interest, their thoughts. 
 . . . Their spirit abhors the sense of such ; their attachment to 
 the protestant succession in the house of Hanover will ever 
 stand unshaken ; and nothing can eradicate from their hearts 
 their natural, almost mechanical affection to Great Britain, which 
 they conceive under no other sense, nor call by any other name, 
 than that of home. Besides, the merchants are, and ever must 
 be, in great measure allied with those of Great Britain ; their 
 very support consists in this alliance, and nothing but false 
 policy here can break it. . . . Yet again, on the other hand, 
 
' British Rule in America 1 1 3 
 
 while [the colonies] remain under the support and protection of 
 the government of the mother country ; while they profit of the 
 beneficial part of its trade ; while their attachment to the present 
 royal family stands firm, and their alliance with the mother 
 country is inviolate, it may be worth while to inquire, whether 
 they may not become and act in some cases independent of the 
 government and laws of the mother country. . . . And if any 
 measure of such independency . . . should be insisted on — 
 perhaps it may be thought, that no time should be lost to 
 remedy or redress these deviations ... or to remove all jeal- 
 ousies arising from the idea of them, if none such really exist. 
 
 But the true and effectual way to remove all jealousies and 
 interfering between the several powers of the government of 
 the mother country, and the several powers of the governments 
 of the colonies, in the due and constitutional order of their sub- 
 ordination, is to inquire and examine what the colonies and 
 provinces really are ; what their constitution of government 
 is; what the relation between them and the mother country; 
 and in consequence of the truth and principles established on 
 such examination — to maintain firmly both in claim and exer- 
 cise, the rights and powers of the supreme government of the 
 mother country, with all acknowledgment of the rights, liberties, 
 privileges, immunities, and franchises of the Colonists, both per- 
 sonal and political, treating them really as what they are. Until 
 this be done there can be no government properly so called ; the 
 various opinions, connections and interests of Britains [Britons], 
 both in this island, and in America, will divide them into parties 
 — the spirit of mutual animosity and opposition will take ad- 
 vantage of the total want of established and fixed principles on 
 this subject, to work these parties into faction ; and then the 
 predominancy of one faction, or the other, acting under the 
 mask of the forms of government, will alternately be called 
 government. . . . 
 
 It is a duty of perfect obligation from government toward 
 the colonies, to preserve the liberty of the subject, the liberty of 
 the constitution : It is a duty also of prudence in government 
 toward itself, as such conduct is the only permanent and sure 
 
1 14 The Separation of the Colonies from England 
 
 ground, whereon to maintain the dependance of those countries, 
 without destroying their utility as colonies. 
 
 The constitutions of these communities, founded in wise 
 policy, and in the laws of the British constitution, are estab- 
 lished by their several charters, or by the King's commission 
 to his governors. ... It [the commission] becomes the known, 
 established constitution of that province which hath been estab- 
 lished on it, and whose laws, courts and whole frame of legis- 
 lature and judicature, are founded on it. It is the charter of 
 that province ; It is the indefeasible and unalterable right of 
 those people ; ... It cannot, in its essential parts, be altered 
 or destroyed by any royal instructions or proclamation ; or by 
 letters from secretaries of state : It cannot be superseded, or 
 in part annulled, by the issuing out of any other commissions 
 not known to this constitution. 
 
 Somewhat more foreboding for the colonies was the 
 language of another royal governor of Massachusetts, 
 Thomas Hutchinson, who remained on the field of dis- 
 pute longer than Pownall, and was himself the victim, in 
 the destruction of his furniture and library, of the riots 
 attending the attempts to enforce the Stamp Act. In 
 letters written to England in 1768 and 1769, at the 
 height of the agitation over the Townshend Acts, the 
 Circular Letter of Massachusetts, and the landing of 
 the king's troops at Boston, Hutchinson says ; 
 
 August ID [1768]. Yesterday at a meeting of the merchants 
 it was agreed by all present to give no more orders for goods 
 from England, nor receive any on commission until the late acts 
 are repealed. And it is said that all except sixteen in the town 
 have subscribed an engagement of that tenor. 
 
 October 4 [1768]. . . . Principles of government absurd 
 enough spread thro' all the colonies ; but I cannot think that 
 in any colony, people of any consideration have ever been 
 so mad as to think of a revolt. Many of the common people 
 have been in a frenzy, and talked of dying in defence of their 
 
British Rtde in America 1 1 5 
 
 liberties, and have spoke and printed what is highly criminal, 
 and too many of rank above the vulgar, and some iti public 
 posts have countenanced and encouraged them untill they in- 
 creased so much in their numbers and in their opinion of 
 their importance as to submit to government no more than 
 they thought proper. 
 
 January 20 [1769]. . . . This is most certainly a crisis. I 
 really wish that there may not have been the least degree of 
 severity beyond what is absolutely necessary to maintain . . . 
 the depe?ida7ice which a colony ought to have upon the parent 
 state ; but if no measures shall have been taken to secure this 
 dependance, or nothing more than some declaratory acts or 
 resolves, // is all over with us. The friends of government will 
 be utterly disheartened, and the friends of anarchy will be afraid 
 of nothing be it ever so extravagant. . . . 
 
 I never think of the measures necessary for the peace and 
 good order of the colonies without pain. There must be an 
 abridgment of what are called English liberties. I relieve my- 
 self by considering that in a remove from the state of nature to 
 the most perfect state of government there must be a great re- 
 straint of natural liberty. I doubt whether it is possible to project 
 a system of government in which a colony 3000 miles distant 
 from the parent state shall enjoy all the liberty of the parent 
 state. I am certain I have never yet seen the projection. I wish 
 the good of the colony when I wish to see some further restraint 
 of liberty rather than the connexion with the parent state should 
 be broken; for I am sure such a breach must prove the ruin 
 of the colony. 
 
 We may add to these opinions of the royal governors a 
 brief extract from an address of a popularly elected gov- 
 ernor, Stephen Hopkins of Rhode Island, entitled '* The 
 Rights of Colonies Examined" (1764). Hopkins, who 
 later was an influential member of the Continental Con- 
 gress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, 
 was an ardent advocate of American equality with Great 
 Britain. After showing how " colonies in general, both 
 
Ii6 The Separation of the Colonies from England 
 
 ancient and modern, have always enjoyed as much freedom 
 as the mother state from which they went out," Hopkins 
 continues : 
 
 From what hath been shown, it will appear beyond a doubt, 
 that the British subjects in America, have equal rights with those 
 in Britain; that they do not hold those rights as a privilege 
 granted them, nor enjoy them as a grace and favor bestowed ; 
 but possess them as an inherent indefeasible right ; as they, and 
 their ancestors, were free-born subjects, justly and naturally en- 
 titled to all the rights and advantages of the British constitution. 
 
 And the British legislative and executive powers have con- 
 sidered the colonies as possessed of these rights, and have al- 
 ways heretofore, in the most tender and parental manner, treated 
 them as their dependent, though free, condition required. The 
 protection promised on the part of the crown, with cheerfulness 
 and great gratitude we acknowledge, hath at all times been given 
 to the colonies. The dependence of the colonies to [on] Great 
 Britain, hath been fully testified by a constant and ready obedi- 
 ence to all the commands of His present Majesty, and his royal 
 predecessors ; both men and money having been raised in them 
 at all times when called for, with as much alacrity and in as 
 large proportions as hath been done in Great Britain, the ability 
 of each considered. 
 
 It must also be confessed with thankfulness, that the first 
 adventurers and their successors, for one hundred and thirty 
 years, have fully enjoyed all the freedoms and immunities 
 promised on their first removal from England. But here the 
 scene seems to be unhappily changing. 
 
 The British ministry, whether induced by a jealousy of the 
 colonies, by false informations, or by some alteration in the sys- 
 tem of political government, we have no information ; whatever 
 hath been the motive, this we are sure of, the Parliament in their 
 last session, passed an act, limiting, restricting, and burdening 
 the trade of these colonies, much more than had ever been done 
 before ; as also for greatly enlarging the power and jurisdic- 
 tion of the courts of admiralty in the colonies; and also came 
 to a resolution, that it might be necessary to establish stamp 
 
British Rule in America 117 
 
 duties, and other internal taxes, to be collected within them.^ 
 This act and this resolution, have caused great uneasiness and 
 consternation among the British subjects on the continent of 
 America. . . . 
 
 These resolutions, carried into execution, the colonies cannot 
 but help consider as a manifest violation of their just and long 
 enjoyed rights. For it must be confessed by all men, that they 
 who are taxed at pleasure by others, cannot possibly have any 
 property, can have nothing to be called their own. They who 
 have no property, can have no freedom, but are indeed reduced 
 to the most abject slavery. . . . 
 
 If we are told that those who lay these taxes upon the colo- 
 nies, are men of the highest character for their wisdom, justice, 
 and integrity, and therefore cannot be supposed to deal hardly, 
 unjustly or unequally by any ... it will make no alteration in 
 the nature of the case ; for one who is bound to obey the will 
 of another, is as really a slave, though he may have a good 
 master, as if he had a bad one. . . . And although they may 
 have a very good master at one time, they may have a very bad 
 one at another. And, indeed, if the people in America are to be 
 taxed by the representatives of the people in Britain, their 
 malady is an increasing evil, that must always grow greater 
 by time. . . . 
 
 But it will be said, that the monies drawn from the colonies 
 by duties, and by taxes, will be laid up and set apart to be used 
 for their future defence. This will not at all alleviate the hard- 
 ship, but serves only more strongly to mark the servile state of 
 the people. Free people have ever thought, and always will 
 think, that the money necessary for their defence, lies safest in 
 their own hands. . . . 
 
 We are not insensible, that when liberty is in danger, the 
 liberty of complaining is dangerous ; yet a man on a wreck was 
 never denied the liberty of roaring as loud as he could, says 
 Dean Swift. And we believe no good reason can be given, why 
 the colonies should not modestly and soberly inquire, what right 
 the Parliament of Great Britain have to tax them. 
 
 1 These acts are published in Macdonald, Select Charters . . . 1606- 
 1775, pp. 272-305. 
 
Ii8 The Separation of the Colotties from England 
 
 Taxation without Representation 
 
 Thirteen years after the passage of the Stamp Act, 
 Benjamin Franklin, Commissioner of the United States 
 at Paris, wrote the following letter to a friend, to clear 
 away any misapprehension as to Grenville's motive in the 
 proposal of that momentous measure » The letter was 
 written about a month after Franklin, with his associates 
 Silas Deane and Arthur Lee, had brought to a successful 
 close his negotiations for a treaty of alliance between 
 France and the United States. 
 
 Passy, March 12, 1778 
 Dear Sir:— ^' ' " 
 
 In the pamphlets you were so kind as to lend me, there is 
 one important fact misstated, apparently from the writer's not 
 having been furnished with good information. It is the transac- 
 tion between Mr. Grenville and the colonies, wherein he under- 
 stands that Mr. Grenville demanded of them a specific sum, that 
 they refused to grant anything, and that it was on their refusal 
 only that he made the motion for the Stamp Act. No one of 
 these particulars was true. The fact was this : 
 
 Some time in the winter of 1763-4 Mr. Grenville called to- 
 gether the agents of the several colonies, and told them that he 
 purposed to draw a revenue from America; and to that end 
 his intention was to levy a stamp duty on the colonies by act of 
 Parliament in the ensuing session, of which he thought it fit 
 that they should be immediately acquainted, that they might 
 have time to consider ; and if any other duty equally productive 
 would be more agreeable to them, they might let him know it. 
 The agents were therefore directed to write this to their re- 
 spective Assemblies, and communicate to him the answers they 
 should receive ; the agents wrote accordingly. 
 
 I was a member in the Assembly of Pennsylvania when this 
 notification came to hand. The observations there made upon 
 it were, "that the ancient, established, and regular method of 
 drawing aid from the colonies was this: The occasion was 
 
British Rtde in America 1 19 
 
 always first considered by their sovereign in his Privy Council, 
 by whose sage advice he directed his Secretary of State to write 
 circular-letters to the several governors, who were directed to lay 
 them before their Assemblies. In those letters the occasion was 
 explained to their satisfaction, with gracious expressions of his 
 Majesty's confidence in their known duty and affection, on which 
 he relied that they would grant such sums as should be suitable 
 to their abilities, loyalty, and zeal for his service ; that the colo- 
 nies had always granted liberally on such requisitions, and so 
 liberally during the late war, that the king, sensible they had 
 granted much more than their proportion had recommended it to 
 Parliament five years successively to make them some compensa- 
 tion, and the Parliament accordingly returned them ^200,000 a 
 year, to be divided among them ; that the proposition of taxing 
 them in Parliament, was therefore both cruel and unjust ; that, 
 by the constitution of the colonies, their business was with the 
 king in matters of aid ; they had nothing to do with any finan- 
 cier, nor he with them ; nor were the agents the proper channels 
 through which the requisitions should be made ; it was therefore 
 improper for them to enter into any stipulation* or make any 
 proposition to Mr. Grenville about laying taxes on their constitu- 
 ents by Parliament, which had really no right at all to tax them, 
 especially as the notice he had sent them did not appear to be 
 by the king's order, and perhaps was without his knowledge, as 
 the king, when he would obtain anything from them, always 
 accompanied his requisition with good words, but this gentle- 
 man, instead of a decent demand, sent them a menace, that they 
 should certainly be taxed, and only left them the choice of the 
 manner. But all this notwithstanding, they were so far from 
 refusing to grant money that they resolved to the following 
 purpose : " That they always had, so they always should think 
 it their duty to grant aid to the crown, according to their abili- 
 ties, whenever required of them in the usual constitutional 
 manner." I went soon after to England and took with me an 
 authentic copy of this resolution, which I presented to Mr. Gren- 
 ville before he brought in the Stamp Act. I asserted in the 
 House of Commons (Mr. Grenville being present) that I had 
 done so, and he did not deny it. Other colonies made similar 
 
I20 The Separation of the Colonies from England 
 
 resolutions, and had Mr. Grenville, instead of that act, applied 
 to the king in council for such requisitional letters to be circu- 
 lated by the Secretary of State, I am sure he would have ob- 
 tained more money from the colonies by their voluntary grants 
 than he himself expected from the stamps. But he chose com- 
 pulsion rather than persuasion, and would not receive from their 
 good will what he thought he could obtain without it. And thus 
 the golden bridge which the ingenious author [of the pamphlet 
 which Franklin is criticising] thinks the Americans unwisely and 
 unbecomingly refused to hold out to the minister and Parlia- 
 ment, was actually held out to them, but they refused to walk 
 over it. 
 
 This is the true history of that transaction : and as it is 
 probable there may be another edition of that excellent pamphlet, 
 J wish this may be communicated to the candid author, who, I 
 doubt not, will correct that error. 
 
 I am ever, with sincere esteem, dear sir, your most obedient, 
 
 humble servant, ^ ^ 
 
 B. Franklm 
 
 32. The Cir- The repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766 v^^as accompanied 
 of "Massa^chu- W ^ Declaratory Act, asserting the right of the British 
 
 setts Bay, Parliament " to bind the colonies and people of America, 
 1768 ... 
 
 subjects of the crown of Great Britain, in, all cases what- 
 
 [99] 
 
 soever." "This," said John Dickinson, '' was only planting 
 a barren tree that cast a shade indeed over the Colonies, 
 but yielded no fruity The tree, however, bore bitter fruit 
 the next year in the Townshend Acts. Protests against 
 the renewed determination of the British Parliament to 
 tax the colonies without their consent arose on every hand. 
 The most significant answer to the acts was the appoint- 
 ment, February 4, 1768, of a committee of seven by the 
 Massachusetts House of Representatives " to write to the 
 speakers of the other assemblies with reference to their 
 joining in a petition to the King." Samuel Adams, chair- 
 man of the committee, drew up the followingietter : 
 
British Rule iit America 121 
 
 Province of Massachusetts Bay 
 
 Feb. II, 1768 
 Sir: ' 
 
 The House of Representatives of this Province have taken 
 into their serious Consideration, the great difficultys that must 
 accrue to themselves & their Constituents by the operation of 
 several acts of Parliament imposing Duties and Taxes on the 
 American Colonys. 
 
 As it is a Subject in which every Colony is deeply interested 
 they have no reason to doubt but your Assembly is deeply im- 
 pressed with its Importance & that such constitutional measures 
 will be come into as are proper. It seems to be necessary, that 
 all possible Care should be taken, that the Representations of 
 the several Assembly upon so delicate a point, should harmonize 
 with each other : the House therefore hope that this letter will 
 be candidly considered in no other Light than as expressing a 
 Disposition freely to communicate their mind to a Sister Colony, 
 upon a common Concern, in the same manner as they would 
 be glad to receive the Sentiments of your or any other House 
 of Assembly on the Continent. 
 
 The House have humbly represented to the ministry,^ their 
 own Sentiments that His Majestys high Court of Parliament is 
 the supreme legislative Power over the whole Empire ; That in 
 all free States the Constitution is fixd ; & as the supreme Legis- 
 lative derives its Power and Authority from the Constitution, 
 it cannot overleap the Bounds of it without destroying its own 
 foundation ; That the Constitution ascertains & limits both Sover- 
 eignty & allegiance, & therefore His Majestys American Subjects 
 who acknowledge themselves bound by the Ties of Allegiance, 
 have an equitable Claim to the full enjoym* of the fundamental 
 Rules of the British Constitution : That it is an essential unal- 
 terable Right in nature, ingrafted into the British Constitution, 
 as a fundamental Law & ever held sacred & irrevocable by 
 the Subjects within the Realm, that what a man has honestly 
 
 1 Letters had been addressed, chiefly by Adams, to Lord Shelburne, 
 January 15; to the Marquis of Rockingham, January 22; to the Lord 
 Chancellor Camden, January 29 ; to Pitt, Earl of Chatham, February 2; 
 and a petition had been sent to the King, January 20, 1768. 
 
122 The Separation of the Colonies from England 
 
 acquired is absolutely his own, which he may freely give, 
 but cannot be taken from him without his consent: That the 
 American Subjects may therefore exclusive of any Consider- 
 ation of Charter Rights, with a decent firmness adapted to the 
 Character of free men & Subjects assert this natural and con- 
 stitutional Right. 
 
 It is moreover their humble opinion, which they express with 
 the greatest Deferrence to the Wisdom of the Parliament that 
 the Acts made there imposing Duties on the People of this 
 province with the sole & express purpose of raising a Revenue, 
 are Infringements of their natural & constitutional Rights, be- 
 cause as they are not represented in the British Parliam^ His 
 Majesty s Commons in Britain by those Acts grant their Property 
 without their consent. 
 
 This House further are of Opinion that their Constituents 
 considering their local Circumstances cannot by any possibility 
 be represented in the Parliament, & that it will forever be 
 impracticable that they should be equally represented there & 
 consequently not at all; being separated by an Ocean of a 
 thousand leagues ; and that His Majestys Royal Predecessors 
 for this reason were graciously pleased to form a subordinate 
 legislature here that their Subjects might enjoy the unalienable 
 Right of a Representation. . . . 
 
 Upon these principles . . . this House have preferred a humble 
 dutifuU & loyal Petition to our most gracious Sovereign, & made 
 such Representation to his Majestys Ministers, as they appre- 
 hended yN^ tend to obtain redress. 
 
 They have also submitted to Consideration whether any 
 People can be said to enjoy any degree of Freedom if the 
 Crown, in addition to its undoubted Authority of constituting 
 a Gov"", should also appoint him such a Stipend as it may judge 
 proper without the Consent of the people & at their Expence. . . . 
 
 These are the Sentiments & proceedings of this House ; & 
 as they have too much reason to believe that the Enemys of 
 the Colonys have represented them to His Majestys Ministers 
 & the pari* as factions disloyal & having a disposition to make 
 themselves independent of the Mother Country, they have taken 
 occasion in the most humble terms to assure His Majesty & his 
 
British Rule in America 123 
 
 ministers that with regard to the People of this province & as 
 they doubt not of all the colonies the charge is unjust. 
 
 The House is fully satisfyd that your Assembly is too gen- 
 erous and enlarged in sentiment, to believe, that this Letter 
 proceeds from an Ambition of taking the Lead or dictating to 
 the other Assemblys : They freely submit their opinions to the 
 Judgment of others, & shall take it kind in your house to point 
 out to them anything further which may be thought necessary. 
 
 This House cannot conclude without expressing their firm 
 Confidence in the King our common head & Father, that the 
 united & dutifull Supplications of his distressed American Sub- 
 jects will meet with his royal & favorable Acceptance. 
 
 The response of the other colonies to the Massachusetts 
 letter was prompt and cordial. The Virginia burgesses 
 replied May 9, applauding the representatives of Massa- 
 chusetts " for their attention to American liberty." On 
 the same date the representatives of New Jersey ac- 
 knowledged themselves ''obliged" to Massachusetts and 
 expressed themselves as '' desirous to keep up a corre- 
 spondence " on the subject. Connecticut, in replying on 
 June 1 1, declared that '' no constitutional measures proper 
 for obtaining relief ought to be neglected by any," and 
 that it was '* important that their measures for that end 
 should harmonize with each other, as their success may 
 in great degree depend on their union in sentiment and 
 practice, on this critical and interesting occasion." ^ In 
 addition to the colonies mentioned. New Hampshire, 
 Georgia, South Carolina, Rhode Island, and Maryland 
 replied — eight colonies out of twelve. Lord Hillsborough, 
 who in January 1768 had been appointed to the newly 
 created office of Secretary of State for the Colonies, and 
 
 1 The replies of the various assemblies may be found in John Almon, 
 Prior Documents, London, 1777, pp. 213-219. 
 
124 The Separation of the Colonies from England 
 
 whose character FrankHn summed up as " conceit, wrong- 
 headedness, obstinacy, and passion," wrote Governor Ber- 
 nard the following instructions relative to the letter sent 
 out by the Massachusetts legislature : fl 
 
 Whitehall, April 22^, 1768 
 
 It gives great concern to his Majesty to find that the same 
 moderation which appeared by your letter to have been adopted * 
 at the beginning of the session in a full assembly, had not con- 
 tinued, and that, instead of that spirit of prudence and respect 
 to the constitution, which seemed at that time to influence the 
 conduct of a large majority of the members, a thin house at 
 the end of the session should have presumed to revert to, and 
 resolve upon a measure of so inflammatory a nature as that of 
 writing to the other colonies on the subject of their intended 
 representations against some late acts of parliament. 
 
 His Majesty considers this step as evidently tending to create 
 unwarrantable combinations, to excite an unjustifiable opposition, 
 to the constitutional authority of Parliament, and to revive those 
 unhappy divisions and distractions which have operated so preju- 
 dicially to the true interests of Great Britain and the colonies. 
 
 After what passed in the former part of the session ... his 
 Majesty cannot but consider this as a very unfair proceeding, 
 and the resolutions taken thereupon to be contrary to the real 
 sense of the assembly, and procured by surprize : and therefore 
 it is the King's pleasure that so soon as the General Court is 
 again assembled at the time prescribed by the charter, you should 
 require of the House of Representadves in his Majesty's name, 
 to rescind the resolution which gave birth to the circular letter 
 from the Speaker, and to declare their disapprobation of, and 
 their dissent to that rash and hasty proceeding. 
 
 His Majesty has the fullest reliance upon the affection of his 
 good subjects in the Massachusetts Bay, and has observed, with 
 satisfaction, that spirit of decency, and love of order, which has 
 discovered itself in the conduct of the most considerable of its 
 inhabitants; and therefore his Majesty has the better ground 
 to hope, that the attempts made by a desperate faction to disturb 
 
British Rule in America 125 
 
 the public tranquillity, will be discountenanced, and that the 
 execution of the measure recommended to you will not meet 
 with any difficulty. 
 
 If it should, and if, notwithstanding the apprehensions which 
 may justly be entertained of the ill consequence of the continu- 
 ance of this factious spirit, which seems to have influenced the 
 resolutions of the assembly at the conclusion of the last session, 
 the new assembly should refuse to comply with his Majesty's 
 reasonable expectation, it is the King's pleasure that you should 
 immediately dissolve them, and transmit to me, to be laid before 
 his Majesty, an account of their proceedings thereupon, to the 
 end that his Majesty may, if he thinks fit, lay the whole matter 
 before his Parliament, that such provisions as shall be found 
 necessary may be made, to prevent for the future a conduct of 
 extraordinary and unconstitutional a nature. 
 
 As it is not his Majesty's intention that a faithful discharge 
 of your duty should operate to your own prejudice, or to the 
 discontinuance of any necessary establishments, proper care will 
 be taken for the support of the dignity of government. 
 
 I am, with great truth and regard, 
 
 Sir, your most obedient 
 
 humble servant 
 Hillsborough 
 
 Among the more moderate American patriots, who 33. The con- 
 wanted reform of abuses but abhorred the thought of sepa- ^^^^^ strfngs 
 ration from England, none was more influential with the no3] 
 pen than John Dickinson,^ a prominent lawyer of Pennsyl- 
 vania and Delaware. In his '' Letters from a Farmer in 
 
 1 Dickinson earned the title of " the Penman of the Revolution." He 
 wrote the Declaration of Rights (the protest of the Stamp Act Con- 
 gress, 1765), the Petition of the First Continental Congress to the King 
 (1774), the Address of the same Congress to the Inhabitants of Quebec 
 (1774), most of the Declaration on the Colonists taking Arms, and the 
 Final Petition to the King (1775). He also drafted the Articles of 
 Confederation, which were the first Constitution of the United States 
 (1 781-1789). Dickinson lost his seat in the Continental Congress, and 
 much of his popularity, by voting against independence in 1776. 
 
126 The Separation of the Colonies from England 
 
 Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies," 
 (1768) he protested hotly against the Townshend Acts. 
 The ninth letter reads in part : 
 
 My dear Countrymen 
 
 I have made some observations on the purposes for which 
 money is to be levied upon us by the late act of parliament. 
 I shall now offer to your consideration some further reflec- 
 tions on that subject: And, unless I am greatly mistaken, 
 if these purposes are accomplished according to the expressed 
 intention of the act, they will be found effectually to super- 
 sede that authority in our respective assemblies, which is es- 
 sential to liberty. The question is not whether some branches 
 be lopt off — The axe is laid to the root of the tree ; and the 
 whole body must infallibly perish, if we remain idle spectators 
 of the work. 
 
 No free people ever existed, or ever can exist, without keeping, 
 to use a common but strong expression, " the purse strings " in 
 their own hands. Where this is the case, they have a constitu- 
 tional check upon the administration, which may thereby be 
 brought into order without violence : But where such power is 
 not lodged in the people, oppression proceeds uncontrouled in 
 its career, till the governed, transported into rage, seek redress 
 in the midst of blood and confusion. . . . 
 
 If money be raised upon us by others, without our consent, 
 for our " defence," those who are the judges in levying it must 
 also be the judges in applying it. Of consequence, the money 
 said to be taken from us for our defence, may be employed to our 
 injury. We may be chained in by a line of fortifications — obliged 
 to pay for the building and maintaining them — and be told, that 
 they are for our defence. With what face can we dispute the 
 fact, after having granted that those who apply the money had 
 a right to levy it ? . . . Besides, the right of levying is of infinitely 
 more consequence, than that of applying. The people of Efigland, 
 who would burst out into fury, if the crown should attempt to 
 levy money by its own authority, have always assigned to the 
 crown the application of money. . . . 
 
British Rule in America 127 
 
 The declared intention of the act [of 1767] is " that a revenue 
 should be raised in his Majesty's Dominions in America, for 
 making a more certain and adequate provision for defraying the 
 charges of the Administration of Justice, and the support of civil 
 government in such provinces where it shall be found necessary, 
 and towards further defraying the expences of defe?iding, protect- 
 ing and securing \h^ said dominions." 
 
 Let the reader pause here one moment — and reflect — whether 
 the colony in which he lives, has not made such '' certain and 
 adequate provision ^^ for these purposes as is by the colony judged 
 suitable to its abilities, and all other circumstances. — Then, let 
 him reflect — whether if this act takes place, money is not to be 
 raised on that colony without its consent, to make '' provision " 
 for those purposes, which it does not judge to be suitable to its 
 abilities, and all other circumstances. Lastly, let him reflect — 
 whether the people of that country are not in a state of the most 
 abject slavery, whose property may be taken from them under 
 the notion of right, when they have refused to give it. 
 
 For my part, I think I have good reason for vindicating the 
 honor of the assemblies on this continent, by publicly asserting, 
 that they have made as " certain and adequate provision ^^ for the 
 purposes above mentiofied, as they ought to have made, and that it 
 should not be presumed, that they will not do it hereafter. Why 
 then should these most important trusts be wrested out of their 
 hands .'' Why should they not now be permitted to enjoy that 
 authority, which they have exercised from the first settlement of 
 these colonies ? Why should they be scandalized by this innova- 
 tion, when their respective provinces are now, and will be for 
 several years, laboring under loads of debt, imposed on them 
 for the very purpose now spoken of ? ... Is it possible to form 
 an idea of slavery more complete, more miserable, more disgrace- 
 ful, than that of a people, where justice is administered, govern- 
 ment exercised, and a standing army maintained, at the expence 
 of the people, and yet without the least dependence upon them ? If 
 we can find no relief from this infamous situation, let Mr. Grenville 
 set his fertile fancy again at work, and as by one exertion of it 
 he has stript us of our property and liberty, let him by another 
 
128 The Separation of the Colonies from England 
 
 deprive us of our understanding ; that unconscious of what we 
 
 have been or are, and ungoaded by tormenting reflections, we may 
 
 bow down our necks, with all the stupid serenity of servitude, 
 
 to any drudgery, which our lords and masters shall please to 
 
 command. . . . 
 
 Venienti occurrite morbo 
 
 Oppose disease at its beginning 
 
 A Farmer 
 
 The Punishment of Massachusetts 
 
 34. Conflict- The news of the battle of Lexington reached England, 
 of^the^con- ^^ General Gage's despatches, June 9, 1775, and the 
 flict at Lex- official account of the fight was forthwith published in 
 
 ington, ^ ^ 
 
 April 19, 1775 the London Gazette. "From the praises bestowed upon 
 [105] officers and men for their activity and bravery," says 
 Dr. Gordon, ''it is evident that the Americans made the 
 business of the day a hard, difficult, and dangerous serv- 
 ice." ^ The following account of the battle hangs framed 
 in the Hancock-Clark House, and is reprinted here by 
 courtesy of the Lexington Historical Society. 
 
 A CIRCUMSTANTIAL ACCOUNT OF AN ATTACK THAT 
 HAPPENED ON THE 19TH OF APRIL 1775, ON HIS MAJ- 
 ESTY'S TROOPS, BY A NUMBER OF THE PEOPLE OF THE 
 PROVINCE OF MASSACHUSETTS-BAY 
 
 On Tuesday the 18"' of April, about half past 10 at Night, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Smith of the lo'*" Regiment, embarked from 
 the Common at Boston, with the Grenadiers and Light Infantry 
 of the Troops there, and landed on the opposite side, from 
 whence he began his March towards Concord, where he was 
 ordered to destroy a magazine of military stores, deposited there 
 for the Use of an Army to be assembled, in Order to act 
 against his Majesty, and his Government. The Colonel called 
 
 1 Reverend William Gordon, D.D., The History of the American 
 Revolution, London, 1788, Vol. I, p. 503, 
 
British Rule in America 129 
 
 his Officers together and gave Orders that the Troops should 
 not fire unless fired upon ; and after marching a few miles, de- 
 tached six Companies of Light Infantry under the command 
 of Major Pitcairn, to take Possession of two Bridges on the 
 other side of Concord. Soon after they heard many signal 
 Guns, and the ringing of alarm Bells repeatedly, which con- 
 vinced them that the Country was rising to oppose them, and 
 that it was a preconcerted Scheme to oppose the King's Troops, 
 whenever there should be a favorable Opportunity for it. About 
 3 o'clock the next Morning, the Troops being advanced within 
 two Miles of Lexington, Intelligence was received that about 
 Five Hundred Men in Arms, were assembled, and determined 
 to oppose the King's Troops* ; [*At this time advanced Light 
 Companies loaded, but the Grenadiers were not loaded when 
 they received their first Fire] and on Major Pitcairn's gal- 
 loping up to the head of the advanced Companies, two Offi- 
 cers informed him that a Man (advanced from those that 
 were assembled) had presented his musquit [musket] and 
 attempted to shoot them, but the Piece flashed in the Pan. 
 On this the Major gave directions to the Troops to move 
 forward, but on no Account to fire, nor even to attempt it 
 without Orders. When they arrived at the End of the Village, 
 they observed about 200^ armed Men, drawn up on a Green, 
 and when the Troops came within a Hundred Yards of them, 
 they began to file off towards some Stone Walls, on their right 
 Flank : the Light Infantry observing this, ran after them ; the 
 
 1 This is a gross exaggeration. The Salem Gazette of Friday, April 21, 
 1775, under the caption "Bloody Butchery by the British Troops, or 
 the Runaway Fight of the Regulars," says : " At sunrise they observed 
 between 30 and 40 inhabitants exercising near the Meeting-House. 
 The Commanding Officer ordered them to lay down their arms and 
 disperse, which not being directly complied with he demanded them 
 for a pack of rebels, ordered his men to fire upon them, and killed 
 eight men on the spot, besides wounding several more." That there 
 were men in England who believed the colonial report of the " bloody 
 butchery" is shown by the fact that Home Tooke was fined ;^iooo in 
 1777 for collecting and transmitting to FrankHn a fund to relieve the 
 widows and orphans of those " who faithful to the character of English- 
 men, preferring death to slavery, were inhumanly murdered by the 
 King's troops at or near Lexington and Concord." 
 
130 The Separation of the Colonies from England 
 
 Major instantly called to the Soldiers not to fire, but to surround 
 and disarm them ; some of them, who had jumped over a wall, 
 then fired four or five shot at the Troops, wounded a man of 
 the 10*'' Regiment, and the Major's Horse in two Places, and 
 at the same Time several Shots were fired from a Meeting- 
 House on the left : Upon this, without any Order or Regularity, 
 the Light Infantry began a scattered Fire, and killed several of 
 the Country People ; but were silenced as soon as the Authority 
 of their Officers could make them.* [* Notwithstanding the Fire 
 from the Meeting-House, Colonel Smith and Major Pitcaim, with 
 the greatest Difficulty, kept the Soldiers from forcing into the 
 Meeting-House and putting all there in it to Death]. . . . 
 
 Far different is the account in the original dispatch 
 
 of the news of the battle of Lexington, sent by express 
 
 riders from Watertown, Massachusetts, a few hours after 
 
 the battle, and attested by patriotic committees in all the 
 
 towns through which it passed to reach Philadelphia, 
 
 April 24. 
 
 Watertown 
 
 Wednesday morning, near 10 of the clock 
 
 To all friends of American liberty be it known that this 
 Morning, before break of day, a brigade consisting of about 
 1000 or 1200 men, landed at Phip's farm at Cambridge, and 
 marched to Lexington, where they found a company of our 
 colony militia in arms, upon whom they fired without any prov- 
 ocation, and killed six men, and wounded four others. By an 
 express from Boston, we find another bridage [brigade] are 
 now upon their march from Boston, supposed to be about 
 1000. The bearer. Trail Bissel, is charged to alarm the country 
 quite to Connecticut, and all persons are desired to furnish him 
 with fresh horses as they may be needed. I have spoken with 
 several who have seen the dead and wounded. Pray let the 
 Delegates from this Colony to Connecticut see this, they know 
 Colonel Foster, of Brookfield, one of the Delegates. 
 J. Palmer 
 One of the Company of S.Y. [Safety] 
 
British Ride i7i America 131 
 
 Anxious to prove that the British and not the Colonials 
 fired the shot at Lexington which opened the Revolutionary 
 War, the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts ordered 
 many of the men who had taken part in the events of 
 April 19 to tell their story under oath. A set of these 
 depositions was sent to Benjamin Franklin, the Massa- 
 chusetts agent in London, to be published. The letter to 
 Franklin and the deposition of Captain John Parker, who 
 commanded the Lexington Minutemen, follow : 
 
 In Provincial Congress, Watertown 
 
 April 2(6, 1775 
 To the Hon. Benjamin Franklin, Esq., London : 
 
 Sir : From the entire confidence we repose in your faithful- 
 ness and abilities, we consider it the happiness of this Colony 
 that the important trust of agency for it, on this day of unequalled 
 distress, is devolved on your hands ; and we doubt not your 
 attachment to the cause of the liberties of mankind will make 
 every possible exertion in our behalf a pleasure to you, although 
 our circumstances will compel us often to interrupt your repose 
 by matters that will surely give you pain. A single instance 
 hereof is the occasion of the present letter; the contents of 
 this packet will be our apology for troubling you with it. From 
 these you will see how and by whom we are at last plunged 
 into the horrours of a most unnatural war. Our enemies, we 
 are told, have despatched to Great Britain a fallacious account 
 of the tragedy they have begun ; to prevent the operation of 
 which to the publick injury, we have engaged the vessel that 
 conveys this to you as a packet in the service of this Colony, 
 and we request your assistance in supplying Captain Derby, 
 who commands her, with such necessaries as he shall want, on 
 the credit of your Constituents in Massachusetts- Bay. But we 
 most ardendy wish that the several papers herewith enclosed 
 may be immediately printed and dispersed through every Town 
 in England, and especially communicated to the Lord Mayor, 
 Aldermen, and Common Council of the City of London, that 
 they may take such order thereon as they may think proper; 
 
132 The Separation of the Colonies from England 
 
 and we are confident your fiaelity will make such improvement 
 of them as shall convince all who are not determined to be in 
 everlasting blindness, that it is the united efforts of both Efiglands 
 that must save either. But that whatever price our bretheren 
 in the one may be pleased to put on their constitutional liberties, 
 we are authorized to assure you that the inhabitants of the other, 
 with the greatest unanimity, are inflexibly resolved to sell theirs 
 only at the price of their lives. Signed by order of the Provin- 
 cial Congress : x ^^r ^ ■ ^ 
 
 Jos. Warren, President pro tem. 
 
 Lexington, April 25, 1775 
 
 I, John. Parker, of lawful age, and Commander of the Militia 
 in Lexington, do testify and declare that on the nineteenth in- 
 stant, in the morning, about one of the clock, being informed 
 that there were a number of Regular Officers riding up and 
 down the road, stopping and insulting people as they passed 
 the road, and also was informed that a number of Regular 
 Troops were on their march from Boston, in order to take the 
 Province Stores at Concord, ordered our Militia to meet on the 
 common in said Lexington, to consult what to do, and concluded 
 not to be discovered, nor meddle or make with said Regular 
 Troops (if they should approach) unless they should insult us ; 
 and upon their sudden approach, I immediately ordered our 
 Militia to disperse and not to fire. Immediately said Troops 
 made their appearance and rushed furiously, fired upon and 
 killed eight of our party, without receiving any provocation 
 
 therefor from us. 
 
 John Parker 
 
 (Attested by Justices of the Peace of Middlesex County) 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE BIRTH OF THE NATION 
 
 The Declaration of Independence 
 
 Ten weeks after the affray on Lexington green, and on 35. The final 
 the very day that George Washington, as commander in l^^^l^^ 
 chief, was reviewing the continental army at Cambridge George iii, 
 
 Tulv 8 I'7'7^ 
 
 (July 3, 1775) the more conservative members of the 
 Continental Congress, who still hoped for reconciliation 
 with England, secured the appointment of a committee 
 to draw up a final petition to the king.^ John Dickinson 
 (see No. 33, p. 125) wrote the petition, which was signed 
 July 8 — two days after the Congress had voted the reso- 
 lution justifying armed resistance to Great Britain — and 
 sent by Richard Penn to be laid before George III. But 
 this "olive branch" petition had no better fate than all the 
 preceding appeals to the king's officers, since the first pro- 
 test against Grenville's proposed Stamp Act was denounced 
 by the Lords of Trade as showing a '' most indecent dis- 
 respect " to Parliament. King George's proclamation of 
 
 1 Dickinson, John Jay, and James Wilson were leading conservatives 
 in the Continental Congress, opposed to the Adamses, Patrick Henry, 
 Jefferson, and Christopher Gadsden. One radical writer, Dulaney, com- 
 plained that Dickinson and Jay compelled Congress again " to whine 
 in the Style of humble petitioners to the king." Jefferson said : " Con- 
 gress gave a signal proof of their indulgence to Mr. Dickinson, and of 
 their great desire not to go too fast for any respectable part of our body, 
 in permitting him to draw their second petition to the King according to 
 his own ideas, and passing it with scarcely any amendment." — '' Auto- 
 biography," in Jefferson's Works, ed. P. L. Ford, Vol. I, p. 17. 
 
 133 
 
134 The Separation of the Colonies from England 
 
 the rebellion of the American colonies ^ was issued on the 
 day set for the presentation of the petition .2 
 
 TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY 
 
 Most gracious sovereign, 
 
 We, your Majesty's faithful subjects of the colonies of New 
 Hampshire, Massachusetts bay, etc. ... in behalf of ourselves, 
 and the inhabitants of these colonies, who have deputed us to 
 represent them in general Congress, entreat your Majesty's 
 gracious attention to this our humble petition. 
 
 The union between our Mother country and these colonies, 
 and the energy of mild and just government, produced benefits 
 so remarkably important, and afforded such an assurance of their 
 permanency and increase, that the wonder and envy of other 
 Nations were excited, while they beheld Great Britain riseing to 
 a power the most extraordinary the world had ever known. 
 
 Her rivals, observing that there was no probability of this 
 happy connexion being broken by civil dissensions, and appre- 
 hending its future effects, if left any longer undisturbed, re- 
 solved to prevent her receiving such continual and formidable 
 accessions of wealth and strength, by checking the growth of 
 these settlements from which they were to be derived. 
 
 In the prosecution of this attempt, events so unfavourable to 
 the design took place, that every friend to the interests of Great 
 Britain and these colonies, entertained pleasing and reasonable 
 expectations of seeing an additional force and extention immedi- 
 ately given to the operations of the union hitherto experienced, 
 by an enlargement of the dominions of the Crown and the re- 
 moval of ancient and warlike enemies to a greater distance. 
 
 1 See facsimile of the proclamation in Muzzey, An American History, 
 p. 112. 
 
 2 Though the king refused audience to the bearers of the " olive 
 branch" petition, it was laid before the House of Lords on November 7, 
 where the motion that it offered a basis for reconciliation was rejected 
 by a vote of 83 to 33. A week later a proposal for conciliation submitted 
 by Edmund Burke to the House of Commons was rejected by a vote of 
 210 to 105. King and Parliament were therefore committed to the prose- 
 cution of war in America before the end of the year 1775. 
 
The Birth of the Nation 135 
 
 At the conclusion, therefore, of the late war [with the French, 
 1 754-1 763], the most glorious and advantageous that had ever 
 been carried on by British arms, your loyal colonists having con- 
 tributed to its success, by such repeated and strenuous exertions, 
 as frequently procured them the distinguished approbation of 
 your Majesty, of the late king [George II, died 1760], and of 
 parliament, doubted not but that they should be permitted, with 
 the rest of the empire, to share in the blessings of peace and in 
 the emoluments of victory and conquest. While these recent 
 and honorable acknowledgments of their merits remained on 
 record in the journals and acts of that august legislature, the 
 Parliament, undefaced by the imputation or even the suspicion 
 of any offence, they were alarmed by a new system of statutes 
 and regulations adopted for the administration of the colonies, 
 that filled their minds with the most painful fears and jealousies; 
 and, to their inexpressible astonishment, perceived the dangers 
 of a foreign quarrel quickly succeeded by domestic dangers, in 
 their judgment, of a more dreadful kind. 
 
 Nor were their anxieties alleviated by any tendency in this 
 system to promote the welfare of the Mother country. For 
 tho' its effects were more immediately felt by them, yet its in- 
 fluence appeared to be injurious to the commerce and pros- 
 perity of Great Britain. 
 
 We shall decline the ungrateful task of describing the irksome 
 variety of artifices practised by many of your Majesty's Min- 
 isters, the delusive pretences, fruitless terrors, and unavailing 
 severities, that have, from time to time, been dealt out by them, 
 in their attempts to execute this impolitic plan, or of tracing, 
 thro" a series of years past, the progress of the unhappy dif- 
 ferences between Great Britain and these colonies, which have 
 flowed from this fatal source. Your Majesty's Ministers, perse- 
 vering in their measures, and proceeding to open hostilities for 
 enforcing them, have compelled us to arm in our own defence, 
 and have engaged us in a controversy, so peculiarly abhorrent 
 to the affections of your still faithful colonists, that when we 
 consider whom we must oppose in this contest, and if it con- 
 tinues, what may be the consequences, our own particular 
 misfortunes are accounted by us only as parts of our distress. 
 
136 The Separation of the Colonies from England 
 
 Knowing to what violent resentments and incurable animosi- 
 ties civil discords are apt to exasperate and inflame the con- 
 tending parties, we think ourselves required by indispensable 
 obligations to Almighty God, to your Majesty, to our fellow 
 subjects, and to ourselves, immediately to use all the means in 
 our power, not incompatible with our safety, for stopping the 
 further effusion of blood, and for averting the impending calam- 
 ities that threaten the British Empire. 
 
 Thus called upon to address your Majesty on affairs of such 
 moment to America, and probably to all your dominions, we 
 are earnestly desirous of performing this office, with the utmost 
 deference for your Majesty ; and we therefore pray that your 
 royal magnanimity and benevolence may make the most favor- 
 able construction of our expressions on so uncommon an occa- 
 sion. Could we represent in their full force, the sentiments that 
 agitate the minds of us your dutiful subjects, we are persuaded 
 your Majesty would ascribe any seeming deviation from rever- 
 ence in our language, and even in our conduct, not to any 
 reprehensible intention, but to the impossibility of reconciling 
 the usual appearances of respect, with a just attention to our 
 own preservation against those artful and cruel enemies, who 
 abuse your royal confidence and authority, for the purpose of 
 effecting our destruction. 
 
 Attached to your Majesty's person, family, and government, 
 with all devotion that principle and affection can inspire, con- 
 nected with Great Britain by the strongest ties that can unite 
 societies, and deploring every event that tends in any degree, to 
 weaken them, we solemnly assure your Majesty, that we not 
 only most ardently desire the former harmony between her and 
 these colonies may be restored, but that a concord may be es- 
 tabhshed between them upon so firm a basis as to perpetuate its 
 blessings, uninterrupted by any future dissentions, to succeeding 
 generations in both countries, and to transmit your Majesty's 
 Name to posterity, adorned with that signal and lasting glory, 
 that has attended the memory of those illustrious personages, 
 whose virtues and abilities have extricated states from dangerous 
 convulsions, and, by securing happiness to others, have erected 
 the most noble and durable monuments to their own fame. 
 
The Birth of the Nation 137 
 
 We beg leave further to assure your Majesty, that notwith- 
 standing the sufferings of your loyal colonists, during the course 
 of the present controversy, our breasts retain too tender a regard 
 for the kingdom from which we derive our origin, to request 
 such a reconciliation as might, in any manner, be inconsistent 
 with her dignity or her welfare. . . ; and the apprehensions that 
 now oppress our hearts with unspeakable grief, being once 
 removed, your Majesty will find your faithful subjects on this 
 continent ready and willing at all times, as they have ever been, 
 with their lives and fortunes, to assert and maintain the rights 
 and interests of your Majesty, and of our Mother country. 
 
 We, therefore, beseech your Majesty, that your royal authority 
 and influence may be graciously interposed to procure us relief 
 from our afflicting fears and jealousies, occasioned by the system 
 before mentioned, with all humility submitting to your Majesty's 
 wise consideration whether it may not be expedient for facilitat- 
 ing those important purposes, that your Majesty be pleased to 
 direct some mode, by which the united applications of your faith- 
 ful colonists to the throne, in pursuance of their common councils, 
 may be improved into a happy and permanent reconciliation ; 
 and that, in the mean time, measures may be taken for prevent- 
 ing the further destruction of the lives of your Majesty's subjects ; 
 and that such statutes- as more immediately distress any of your 
 Majesty's colonies may be repealed. 
 
 For by such arrangements as your Majesty's wisdom can 
 form, for collecting the united sense of your American people, 
 we are convinced your Majesty would receive such satisfactory 
 proofs of the disposition of the colonists towards their sovereign 
 and parent state, that the wished for opportunity would soon be 
 restored to them, of evincing the sincerity of their professions, 
 by every testimony of devotion becoming the most dutiful subjects 
 and the most affectionate colonists. 
 
 That your Majesty may enjoy a long and prosperous reign, 
 and that your descendants may govern your dominions with 
 honor to themselves and happiness to their subjects, is our 
 sincere and fervent prayer. 
 
 John Hancock [President] 
 [and forty eight members of the Congress] 
 
138 The Separation of the Colonies from England 
 
 36. Thomas Nothing could be more inconsistent than the conduct 
 ment^foMn-' ^^ ^^e colonists during the entire year 1775 : hurling de- 
 dependence, fiance at Great Britain and protestins^ loyalty to George III ; 
 
 January 10, , . , , , • t^ . 1 1 
 
 1776 besieging the royal governor in Boston with troops, and 
 
 [113] the royal ear in Britain with petitions. On the same day 
 (June 25, 1775) George Washington passed through the 
 city of New York on his way to take command of the con- 
 tinental troops at Cambridge, and William Tryon, King 
 George's governor, landed at the Battery. The militia of 
 New York, with apparently equal enthusiasm, served as 
 escort through the city, first to the rebel general, then to the 
 royal governor. The first clear call to the American colonies 
 to abandon this equivocal position and declare independ- 
 ence of Great Britain without reservations, apologies, 
 or regrets, was Thomas Paine 's " Common Sense," '' a 
 pamphlet," says Conway,^ ''whose effect has never been 
 paralleled in literary history." After discussing the origin 
 and design of government in general, and of Great Britain's 
 hereditary monarchy in particular, Paine comes to the 
 American situation. 
 
 1 M. D. Conway, Writings of Thomas Paine, Vol. I, p. 67 n. There 
 had been speculation before as to the probable eventual separation of 
 the colonies from England (see No. 30, pp. 112 ff.) and general proph- 
 ecies, like that of Turgot's, that colonies were like fruits, which would 
 drop from the tree when ripe. Also thwarted royal governors or irate 
 councilors had been quick to accuse the colonists of striving for " inde- 
 pendency." But unless the real feelings of the leading men in America 
 were disguised or hidden, John Adams must have been looking back 
 on events through the coloring medium of the Revolution when he 
 wrote in 1807 that "the necessity of [American independence] some 
 time or other, was always familiar to gentlemen of reflection in all parts 
 of America" (Works, ed. C. F. Adams, Vol. IX, p. 561). In November, 
 1775, Congress recommended to New Hampshire the establishment of 
 an independent government only " during the continuance of the present 
 dispute between Great Britain and the colonies " (Journals of the Con- 
 tinental Congress, ed. W. C. Ford, Vol. Ill, p. 319). 
 
The Birth of the Nation 1 39 
 
 Volumes have been written on the subject of the struggle 
 between England and America. Men of all ranks have embarked 
 in the controversy, from different motives and with various de- 
 signs : but all have been ineffectual, and the period of debate 
 is closed. Arms as the last resort decide the contest ; the appeal 
 was the choice of the King, and the Continent has accepted the 
 challenge. , 
 
 The Sun never shined on a cause of greater worth. 'Tis not 
 the affair of a City, a County, a Province, or a Kingdom ; but 
 of a Continent — of at least one eighth part of the habitable 
 Globe. 'Tis not the concern of a day, a year, or an age ; pos- 
 terity are virtually involved in the contest, and will be more or 
 less affected even to the end of time, by the proceedings now. 
 Now is the seed-time of Continental union, faith and honour. 
 The least fracture now would be like a name engraved with the 
 point of a pin on the tender rind of a young oak ; the wound 
 would enlarge with the tree, and posterity read it in full-grown 
 characters. 
 
 By referring the matter from argurrtent to arms, a new era for 
 politics is struck — a new method of thinking hath arisen. All 
 plans, proposals, &c. prior to the nineteenth of April, i.e. to the 
 commencement of hostilities, are like the almanacks of the last 
 year; which, tho' proper then, are superceded and useless now 
 
 I have heard it asserted by some, that as America has flourished 
 under her former connection with Great-Britain, the same con- 
 nection is necessary towards her future happiness, and will always 
 have the same effect. Nothing can be more fallacious than this 
 kind of argument. We may as well assert that because a child 
 has thrived upon milk, that it is never to have meat. ... I 
 answer roundly that America would have flourished as much, 
 and probably more, had no European power taken any notice 
 of her. The commerce by which she hath enriched herself are 
 the necessaries of life, and will always have a market while 
 eating is the custom of Europe. 
 
 But she has protected us, say some. That she hath engrossed 
 us is true, and defended the Continent at our expence as well 
 as her own, is admitted ; and she would have defended Turkey 
 from the same motive, viz.^ for the sake of trade and dominion. 
 
140 The Separation of the Colonies from England 
 
 Alas! we have been long led away by ancient prejudices, 
 and made large sacrifices to superstition. We have boasted the 
 protection of Great Britain, without considering, that her motive 
 was interest not attachment \ and that she did not protect us 
 from our enemies on our account^ but from her enemies on her 
 own account^ from those who had no quarrel with us on any 
 other account^ and who will always be our enemies on the same 
 account. Let Britain waive her pretensions to the Continent 
 [America], or the Continent throw off the dependance, and we 
 should be at peace with France and Spain, were they at war 
 with Britain. . . . France and Spain never were, nor perhaps 
 ever will be, our enemies as Americans^ but only as our being 
 the subjects of Great Britain} . . . 
 
 I challenge the warmest advocate for reconciliation to show 
 a single advantage that this continent can reap by being con- 
 nected with Great Britain. I repeat the challenge ; not a single 
 advantage is derived. Our com will fetch its price in any market 
 in Europe, and our imported goods must be paid for, buy them 
 where we will. 
 
 But the injuries and disadvantages which we sustain by that 
 connection are without number ; and our duty to mankind at 
 large, as well as to ourselves, instruct us to renounce the alliance. 
 . . . Europe is too thickly planted with kingdoms to be long at 
 peace, and whenever a war breaks out between England and 
 any foreign power, the trade of America goes to ruin, because 
 of her connection with Great Britain. . . . Everything that is right 
 or reasonable pleads for separation. The blood of the slain, the 
 weeping voice of nature cries, 'Tis time to part. . . . For as 
 Milton wisely expresses, '^ never can true reconcilement grow 
 where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep." . . . 
 
 As to government matters, 'tis not in the power of Great 
 Britain to do this continent justice : the business of it will soon 
 be too weighty and intricate to be managed with any tolerable 
 degree of convenience, by a power so distant from us, and so 
 very ignorant of us ; for if they cannot conquer us, they cannot 
 
 1 Here is the germ of the American doctrine of the undesirability of 
 entangling foreign alliances, as developed in Washington's Farewell 
 Address of 1796 and the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. 
 
The Birth of the Nation 141 
 
 govern us. To be always running three or four thousand miles 
 with a tale or a petition, waiting four or five months for an 
 answer, which, when obtained, requires five or six more to 
 explain it in, will in a few years be looked on as folly and 
 childishness. There was a time when it was proper, and there 
 is a proper time for it to cease. . . . 
 
 To talk of friendship with those in whom our reason forbids 
 us to have faith, and our affections, wounded through a thousand 
 pores, instruct us to detest, is madness and folly. Every day 
 wears out the little remains of kindred between us and them ; 
 and can there be any reason to hope, that as the relationship 
 expires, the affection will encrease, or that we shall agree better 
 when we have ten times more and greater concerns to qyarrel 
 over than ever ? 
 
 Ye that tell us of harmony and reconciliation, can ye restore 
 to us the time that is past ? . . . The last cord now is broken, 
 the people of England are presenting addresses against us. 
 There are injuries which nature cannot forgive : she would 
 cease to be nature if she did. . . . The social compact would 
 dissolve, and justice be extirpated from the earth, or have 
 only a casual existence were we callous to the touches of 
 affection. . . . 
 
 O ! ye that love mankind ! Ye that dare oppose not only the 
 tyranny but the tyrant, stand forth ! Every spot of the old 
 world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted 
 round the Globe. Asia and Africa have long expelled her. 
 Europe regards her like a stranger, and England hath given 
 her warning to depart. O ! receive the fugitive, and prepare 
 in time an asylum for mankind ! 
 
 " Comparatively few people of the present generation," 37. The 
 says Mr. Charlemagne Tov^er, Jr., in his work on " The aiurnce 
 Marquis de Lafayette in the American Revolution " (p. iv), jjig] 
 " are aware of the inestimable benefits which the French 
 nation conferred upon our forefathers during the American 
 Revolution, at a time when America was without credit 
 abroad and when our cause aroused no other national 
 
142 The Separation of the Colonies from England 
 
 sympathy in the world than that of our faithful ally. France 
 had her grievances against Great Britain as well as we, it 
 is true. . . . But for us Americans the essential facts to be 
 remembered in connection with the alliance are that we 
 went of our own accord to ask France for help ^ and that 
 we received it of her." In the summer of 1777 the young 
 Marquis de Lafayette came to America, fortified by a 
 letter of introduction to Congress from Franklin and 
 Deane, to offer his services to the patriot cause. On 
 July 31, 1777, Congress passed the following resolution : 
 
 Whereas the Marquis de Lafayette, out of his great zeal to 
 the cause of liberty, in which the United States are engaged, 
 has left his family and connections, and at his own expence 
 come over to offer his services to the United States without 
 pension or particular allowance, and is anxious to risque his life 
 in our cause — Resolved that his service be accepted, and that 
 in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connections he 
 have rank and commission of Major General in the Army of 
 the United States. 
 
 Lafayette replied in the following letter, the original of 
 
 which is in the Archives of the State Department at 
 
 Washington : ^ 
 
 the 13 august 1777 
 Sir 
 
 I beg that you will receive yourself and present to Congress 
 my thanks for the Commission of Major General in the Army 
 of the United States of America which I have been honor'd 
 with in their name the feelings of my heart, long before it be- 
 came my duty, engaged me in the love of the American cause. 
 
 1 See the facsimile of Franklin's letter to the French minister 
 Vergennes, asking for an alliance — our first diplomatic correspondence 
 — in Muzzey, An American History, p. 119. 
 
 - Mr. Charlemagne Tower, Jr., has published a facsimile of this 
 quaint letter in " The Marquis de Lafayette in the American Revolu- 
 tion," p. 184. 
 
The Birth of the Nation 143- 
 
 I not only consider'd it as the cause of Honor, Virtue, and uni- 
 versal Happiness, but felt myself empressed with the warmest 
 affection for a nation who exhibited by their resistance so fine 
 an exemple of Justice and Courage to the Universe. 
 
 I schall neglect nothing on my part to justify the confidence 
 which the Congress of the United States has been pleased to 
 repose in me as my highest ambition has ever been to do every- 
 thing only for the best of the cause in which I am engaged. I 
 wish to serve near the person of General Washington till such 
 time as he may think proper to entrust me with a division of 
 the Army. 
 
 it is now as an american that I '1 mention every day to con- 
 gress the officers who came over with me, whose interests are 
 for me as my own, and the consideration which they deserve 
 by their merits their ranks, their state and reputation in France. 
 I am sir with sentiments which every good american owe to you 
 Your most obedient 
 
 servant the mq^^ de lafayette 
 
 to 
 
 the honorable M"" Hankok 
 
 president of Congress 
 
 Philadelphia 
 
 After Burgoyne's surrender the French government 
 concluded not only the *' treaty of amity and commerce " 
 which the American commissioners had been seeking to 
 gain for a year, but also a treaty of defensive alliance, 
 February 6, 1778. This was the earliest recognition of 
 the United States by a foreign power, and the only treaty 
 of alliance we have ever made. The chief articles read 
 as follows : 
 
 Article I. If war should break out between France and 
 Great Britain during the continuance of the present war be- 
 tween the United States and England, his majesty [Louis XVI] 
 and the said United States shall make it a common cause, and 
 aid each other mutually with their good offices, their counsels. 
 
144 T^^ Separation of the Colo7ties from Engla7td 
 
 and their forces, according to the exigence of conjunctures, as 
 becomes good and faithful allies. 
 
 Article II. The essential and direct end of the present de- 
 fensive alliance is, to maintain effectually the liberty, sovereignty, 
 and independence Absolute and unlimited of the United States, 
 as well in matters of government as of commerce. . . . 
 
 Article V. If the United States should think fit to attempt 
 the reduction of the British power remaining in the northern 
 parts of America, or in the islands of Bermudas, those countries 
 or islands, in case of success, shall be confederated with or 
 dependent upon the said United States. 
 
 Article VI. The most christian king renounces forever the 
 possession of the islands of Bermudas, as well as of any part 
 of the continent of North America which, before the treaty of 
 1763, or in virtue of that treaty, were acknowledged to belong 
 to the crown of Great Britain, or to the United States, hereto- 
 fore called British colonies. . . . 
 
 Article VII. If his most christian majesty shall think proper 
 to attack any of the islands situated in the gulf of Mexico, or 
 near that gulf, which are at present under the power of Great 
 Britain, all the said isles, in case of success, shall appertain to 
 the crown of France. 
 
 Article VIII. Neither of the two parties shall conclude either 
 truce or peace with Great Britain, without the formal consent 
 of the other first obtained ; and they mutually engage not to 
 lay down their arms until the independence of the United States 
 shall have been formally, or tacitly, assured by the treaty or 
 treaties, that shall terminate the war. 
 
 Article X. The most christian king and the United States 
 agree to invite or admit other powers, who may have received 
 injuries from England, to make common cause with them, and 
 to accede to the present alliance, under such conditions as shall 
 be freely agreed to and settled between all the parties. . . . 
 
 Done at Paris, this 6*^ day of February, one thousand seven 
 hundred and seventy-eight 
 
 C. A. Gerard B. Franklin 
 
 Silas Deane 
 Arthur Lee 
 
The Birth of the Nation 145 
 
 Thursday, August 6, 1778, M. Gerard, the French sig- 
 natory of the above treaty, was presented to Congress as 
 the first foreign minister accredited to the United States. 
 He presented as his credentials the following letter from 
 Louis XVI : 
 
 Very dear, great friends and allies : 
 
 The treaties which we have signed with you, in consequence 
 of the proposals of your commissioners made to us in your be- 
 half, are a certain assurance of our affection for the United 
 States in general, and for each of them in particular, as well as 
 of the interest we take and constantly shall take in their hap- 
 piness and prosperity. It is to convince you more particularly 
 of this that we have appointed the Sieur Gerard, Secretary of our 
 council of state, to reside among you in the quality of minister 
 plenipotentiary. He is the better acquainted with our sentiments 
 towards you, and the more capable of testifying the same to you, 
 as he was entrusted on our part to negotiate with your commis- 
 sioners and signed with them the treaties which cement our 
 union. We pray you to give full credit to all he shall communi- 
 cate to you from us, more especially when he shall assure you 
 of our affection and constant friendship for you. We pray God, 
 very dear, great friends and allies, to have you in his holy and 
 
 noble keeping. 
 
 Versailles, 28 March, 1778 
 
 Your good friend and ally 
 
 Louis 
 Gravier de Vergennes 
 
 M. Gerard then made a short speech, to which the 
 president of the Congress replied as follows : 
 
 Sir : The treaties between his most Christian majesty and 
 the United States of America, so fully demonstrate his wisdom 
 and magnanimity as to command the reverence of all nations. 
 The virtuous citizens of America, in particular, can never forget 
 his beneficent attention to their violated rights, nor cease to 
 acknowledge the hand of a gracious Providence in raising them 
 
146 The Separation of the Colonies from England 
 
 up so powerful and illustrious a friend. It is the hope and 
 opinion of Congress that the confidence his majesty reposes 
 in the firmness of these states, will receive additional strength 
 from every day's experience. 
 
 This assembly are convinced, sir, that had it rested solely 
 with the most Christian king, not only the independence of 
 these states would have been universally acknowledged, but their 
 tranquillity fully established. We lament that lust of domination 
 which gave birth to the present war, and hath prolonged and 
 extended the miseries of mankind. We ardently wish to sheath 
 the sword, and spare further effusion of blood ; but we are de- 
 termined, by every means in our power, to fulfil those eventual 
 engagements which have acquired positive and permanent force 
 from the hostile designs and measures of the common enemy. 
 
 Congress have reason to believe that the assistance so wisely 
 and generously sent, will bring Great Britain to a sense of 
 justice and moderation, promote the interests of France and 
 America, and secure peace and tranquillity on the most firm 
 and honorable foundation. Neither can it be doubted that those 
 who adminster the powers of government within the several 
 states of this union will cement that connection with the subjects 
 of France, the beneficial effects of which have already been so 
 sensibly felt. 
 
 Sir : From the experience we have had of your exertions to 
 promote the true interests of our country as well as your own, 
 it is with the highest satisfaction Congress receive as the first 
 minister from his most Christian majesty, a gentleman whose 
 past conduct affords a happy presage, that he will merit the 
 confidence of this body, the friendship of its members, and the 
 esteem of the citizens of America. 
 
 In Congress, August 6, 1778 Henry Laurens 
 
 President 
 
 France scrupulously fulfilled the treaty. Her aid was 
 generous and timely. However, when the " essential and 
 direct end " of the alliance, as expressed in Article II, 
 was made possible by the surrender of the British Army 
 
The Birth of the Natio7i 147 
 
 at Yorktown, it was so manifestly to the advantage of the 
 United States to make peace with England, that Franklin 
 and his colleagues at Paris began negotiations in spite of 
 explicit instructions from Congress to respect Article VIII 
 of the treaty. When the French minister Vergennes dis- 
 covered this he wrote with pardonable indignation to 
 Franklin.^ 
 
 Versailles, December 15, 1782 
 Sir, 
 
 ... I am at a loss to explain your conduct and that of your 
 colleagues on this occasion. You have concluded your prelimi- 
 nary articles without any communication between us, although 
 the instructions from Congress prescribe, that nothing shall be 
 done without the participation of the King. You are about to 
 hold out a certain hope of peace to America, without even in- 
 forming yourself on the state of the negotiation on our part. 
 
 You are wise and discreet. Sir; you perfectly understand 
 what is due propriety ; you have all your life performed your 
 duties. I pray you to consider how you propose to fulfil those, 
 which are due to the King t I am not desirous of enlarging on 
 these reflections ; I commit them to your own integrity. When 
 you shall be pleased to relieve my uncertainty, I will entreat the 
 King to enable me to answer your demands [for money]. I 
 have the honor to be. Sir, with sincere regards, &c. 
 
 de Vergennes 
 
 Franklin's reply was a shrewd combination of flattery 
 and finesse, by which, sailing dangerously close to sophistry, 
 he was nevertheless able to pacify and satisfy Vergennes. 
 
 1 Four days later Vergennes wrote to Luzerne, the French minister in 
 America : " If we may judge the future by what has passed here under 
 our eyes, we shall be but poorly paid for all we have done for the United 
 States, and for securing to them a national existence " (Works of Ben- 
 jamin Franklin, ed. Smyth, Vol. X, p. 393). Franklin, Jay, and Adams 
 narrowly escaped being recalled in disgrace, on the complaint of Luzerne 
 to Congress. 
 
148 The Separation of the Colonies from England 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Passy, December 17, 1782 
 
 I received the letter your Excellency did me the honor of 
 writing to me on the 15**" instant. . . . Nothing has been agreed 
 in the preliminaries contrary to the interests of France ; and no 
 peace is to take place between us and England, till you have 
 concluded yours. Your observation is, however, apparently just, 
 that in not consulting you before they were signed, we have 
 been guilty of neglecting a point of bienseance [courtesy]. But 
 as this was not from want of respect for the King, whom we 
 all love and honor, we hope it will be excused, and that the 
 great work, which has hitherto been so happily conducted, is so 
 nearly brought to perfection, and is so glorious to his reign, will 
 not be ruined by a single indiscretion of ours. And certainly 
 the whole edifice sinks to the ground immediately, if you refuse 
 on that account to give us any further assistance. . . . 
 
 It is not possible for anyone to be more sensible than I am 
 of what I and every American owe to the King, for the many 
 and great benefits and favors he has bestowed upon us. All 
 my letters to America are proofs of this ; all tending to make 
 the same impressions on the minds of my countrymen, that I 
 felt in my own. And I believe, that no Prince was ever more 
 beloved and respected by his own subjects, than the King is by 
 the people of the United States. The English, I just now learn-> 
 flatter themselves they have already divided us. I hope this little 
 misunderstanding will therefore be kept a secret, and that they 
 will find themselves totally mistaken. With great and sincere 
 respect, I am. Sir, &c. B Franklin 
 
 [1261 
 
 The Revolutionary War 
 
 Among the little group of intrepid men who made the 
 wonderful midwinter march from the Mississippi to the 
 Wabash with George Rogers Clark in 1779, was Captain 
 Joseph Bowman, whose journal of the expedition first 
 appeared in print in the Louisville Literary News of 
 November 24, 1840, from an original manuscript in the 
 
The Birth of the Nation 149 
 
 possession of the Kentucky Historical Association. The 
 journal covers the period from January 27, when Clark at 
 Kaskaskia heard the news of Governor Hamilton's seizure 
 of Vincennes, to March 20, when the six boats conveying 
 Clark's band and their British captives, " after rejoicing, 
 were run out of sight " down the river on their return 
 journey to the Mississippi post. 
 
 Jan. 27 [1779]. Mr. Vigo, a Spanish subject, who has been 
 at Post St. Vincent [Vincennes] on his lawful business, arrived 
 and gave us intelligence that Governor Hamilton, with thirty 
 regulars and fifty volunteers and about four hundred Indians, 
 had arrived in November and taken that post, with Captain Helm 
 and such other Americans who were there with arms . . . and 
 disarmed the settlers and inhabitants, on which Colonel Clark 
 called a council of his officers, and it was concluded to go and 
 attack Governor Hamilton at St. Vincent. . . . 
 
 Jan. 31st. Sent an express to Cahokia for volunteers and 
 other extraordinary things. 
 
 Feb. I St. Orders given for a large batteau [boat] to be re- 
 paired and provisions got ready for the expedition concluded on. 
 
 5 th. Raised another company of volunteers, under the com- 
 mand of Capt. Francis Charleville, which, added to our force, 
 increased our number to one hundred and seventy men . . . about 
 three o'clock we crossed the Kaskaskia with our baggage, and 
 marched about a league from town. Fair and drizzly weather. 
 Began our march early. Made a good march for about nine 
 hours. The road very bad with mud and water. Pitched our 
 camp in a square, baggage in the middle, every company to 
 guard their own squares. 
 
 8th. Marched early through the waters, which we now began 
 to meet in those large and level plains, where from the flatness 
 of the country [the water] rests a considerable time before it 
 drains off ; notwithstanding which our men were in great spirits, 
 though much fatigued. . . . 
 
 1 2th. Marched across Cot plains ; saw and killed a number of 
 buffaloes. The road very bad from the immense quantity of rain 
 
150 The Separation of the Colonies from E^igland 
 
 that had fallen. The men much fatigued. . . . Now twenty-one 
 miles from St. Vincent. . . . 
 
 1 5 th. Ferried across the two Wabashes, it being then five miles 
 in water to the opposite hills, where we encamped. Still raining. 
 Orders not to fire any guns for the future, but in case of necessity. 
 
 1 6th. Marched all day through rain and water ; crossed Fox 
 river. Our provisions began to be short. . . . 
 
 2 2d. Colonel Clark encourages his men, which gave them great 
 spirits. Marched on in the waters. . . . Heard the evening and 
 morning guns from the fort. No provisions yet. Lord help us ! 
 
 23d. Set off to cross the plain called Horse-shoe Plain, about 
 four miles long, all covered with water breast high. Here we 
 expected some of our brave men must certainly perish, having 
 frozen in the night and so long fasting. Having no other resource 
 but wading this plain, or rather lake, of waters, we plunged into 
 it with courage. Colonel Clark being first, taking care to have 
 the boats try to take those that were weak and numbed with the 
 cold into them. Never were men so animated with the thought 
 of avenging the wrongs done to their back settlements as this 
 small army was. About one o'clock we came in sight of the 
 town. We halted on a small hill of dry land called Warren's 
 Island, where we took a prisoner, hunting ducks, who informed 
 us that no person suspected our coming at that season of the 
 year. Colonel Clark wrote a letter by him to the inhabitants, in 
 the following manner : 
 
 To the Inhabitants of Post St. Vincent : 
 
 Gentlemen : Being now within two miles of your village with my 
 army, determined to take your fort this night, and not being willing 
 to surprize you, I take this method to request such of you as are true 
 citizens, and willing to enjoy the liberty I bring you, to remain still 
 in your houses, and those, if any there be, who are friends to the 
 king, will instantly repair to the fort and join the Hair-buyer General^ 
 and fight like men. And if any such as do not go to the fort shall 
 be discovered afterwards, they may depend on severe punishment. 
 On the contrary, those who are true friends to liberty may depend 
 
 1 Governor Hamilton had offered rewards to the Indians for the 
 scalps of Americans. 
 
The Birth of the Nation 151 
 
 on being well treated ; and I once more request them to keep out of 
 the streets, for every one I find in arms on my arrival I shall treat 
 as an enemy. ^ ^ ^^^^^ 
 
 After wading to the edge of the water breast high we mounted 
 the rising ground the town is built on about eight o'clock [p.m.]. 
 Lieutenant Bailey, with fourteen regulars, was detached to fire 
 on the fort while we took possession of the town. . . . The 
 cannon played smartly. Not one of our men wounded. Men in 
 the fort badly wounded. Fine sport for the sons of Liberty. 
 
 24th. As soon as daylight, the fort began to play her small 
 arms very briskly. One of our men got slightly wounded. About 
 nine o'clock the colonel sent a flag with a letter to Governor 
 Hamilton. The firing then ceased, during which time our men 
 were provided with a breakfast, it being the only meal of victuals 
 since the 18* inst. 
 
 Colonel Clark's Letter^ as follows : 
 
 Sir : — In order to save yourself from the impending storm that 
 now threatens you I order you to surrender yourself, with all your 
 garrison, stores, etc., etc., etc. For, if I am obliged to storm, you 
 may depend on such treatment as is justly due to a murderer. Be- 
 ware of destroying stores of any kind, or any papers or letters that 
 are in your possession ; for, by heaven, if you do, there shall be no 
 mercy shown you. q j^ Clark 
 
 Answer from Governor Hamilton : 
 
 Governor Hamilton begs leave to acquaint Colonel Clark that he 
 and his garrison are not disposed to be awed into an action unworthy 
 of British subjects. 
 
 The firing then began very hot on both sides. None of our 
 men wounded ; several of the men in the fort wounded through 
 the port-holes, which caused Governor Hamilton to send out a 
 flag with the following letter : 
 
 Governor Hamilton proposes a truce for three days. ... He 
 wishes to confer with Colonel Clark as soon as can be. . . . If Colonel 
 Clark makes a difficulty of coming into the fort, Lieutenant-Governor 
 Hamilton will speak to him by the gate. Henry Hamilton 
 
152 The Separation of the Colonies from England 
 
 Colonel Clark's Answer 
 
 Colonel Clark's compliments to Governor Hamilton, and begs to 
 inform him that he will not agree to any other terms than that of 
 Mr. Hamilton's surrendering himself and garrison prisoners at dis- 
 cretion. If Mr. Hamilton is desirous of a conference with Colonel 
 Clark, he will meet him at the church with Captain Helm. 
 
 G. R. C. 
 
 The messenger returned with the above answer, during which 
 time came a party of Indians down the hill behind the town, who 
 had been sent by Governor Hamilton to get some scalps and 
 prisoners from the falls of the Ohio. Our men having got news 
 of it pursued them, killed two on the spot, wounded three, took 
 six prisoners — brought them into town . . . brought them to 
 the main street before the fort gate, there tomahawked them and 
 threw them into the river, during which time Colonel Clark 
 and Governor Hamilton met at the church. Governor Hamilton 
 produced certain articles of capitulation, with his name signed to 
 them, which were refused. The Colonel told him he would con- 
 sult with his officers and let him know the terms he would 
 capitulate on. Terms as follows : 
 
 1 . The Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton engages to deliver up 
 to Colonel Clark Fort Sackville as it is at present, with all the 
 stores, etc., etc., etc. 
 
 2. The garrison are to deliver themselves as prisoners of war, 
 and march out with their arms and accoutrements etc., etc. 
 
 3. The garrison to be delivered up at 10 o'clock tomorrow. . . , 
 Signed at Post St. Vincent, 24*^ February, 1779. 
 
 Agreed to, for the following reasons : The remoteness from 
 succor, the state and quantity of provisions ; unanimity of officers 
 and men in its expediency, the honorable terms allowed, and, 
 lastly, the confidence in a generous enemy. 
 
 Henry Hamilton 
 
 25th. About ten oclock Capt. Bowman's and Capt. McCarty's 
 companies paraded on one side of the fort gate. Governor 
 Hamilton and his garrison marched out, while Colonel Clark, 
 Capt. William's and Worthington's companies marched into the 
 
The Birth of the Nation 153 
 
 fort, relieved the sentries, hoisted the American colors, and 
 secured all the arms. ... 
 
 27 th. . . . came William Mires from Williamsburg [Virginia] 
 with very good news. . . . 
 
 The '' very good news " was the thanks of the Virginia 
 House of Burgesses to Clark for his capture of the Missis- 
 sippi posts and a major's commission for Captain Bowman. 
 Clark wrote to the Speaker of the House ten days before 
 quitting Vincennes : 
 
 Fort St. Henry St. Vincent, Mar. 10, 1770 
 D'-Sir, ^ ' ' ^^^ 
 
 I received your kind letter with the thanks of the House in- 
 closed. I must confess. Sir, that I think my country has done me 
 more honor than I merited, but may rest assured that my study 
 shall be to deserve that Honor they have already conferr'd on me. 
 by my publick letters you will be fully acquainted with my 
 late successful expedition against Lt. Gov'' Hamilton who has 
 fallen into my hands with all the principal Partizans of Detroit. 
 This stroke will nearly put an end to the Indian war, had I but 
 men enough to take advantage of the present confusion of the 
 Indian nations, I could silence the whole in two months. I learn 
 that five hundred men is ordered out to reinforce me. If they 
 arrive with what I have in the country, I am in hopes will enable 
 me to do something clever, 
 
 I am with respect Sir, 
 
 Your very humble servant 
 Colonel Harrison G. R. Clark 
 
 Speaker of the House, 
 Williamsburg 
 pr wm Moires 
 
 Peace 
 
 Soon after the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, 39. The 
 the Loyalists, or Tories, in America addressed the follow- 
 ing " humble and dutiful declaration to the king's most 
 excellent majesty, to both houses of parliament, and the 
 
 [129] 
 
154 The Separation of the polonies from England 
 
 people of Great Britain." The Declaration appeared in 
 the London Chronicle of March 9, 1782. 
 
 We, his majesty's most dutiful and faithful subjects, the loyal 
 inhabitants of America, who have' happily got within the protec- 
 tion of the British forces, as well as those who, though too wise 
 not to have foreseen the fatal tendency of the present wanton 
 and causeless rebellion, yet from numberless obstacles, and un- 
 exampled severities, have hitherto been compelled to remain 
 under the tyranny of the rebels, and submit to the measures 
 of congressional usurpation ; animated with the purest principles 
 of duty and allegiance to his majesty and the British parliament, 
 beg leave, with the deepest humility and reverence, on the pres- 
 ent calamitous occasion of public and national misfortune, in the 
 surrender of lord Cornwallis, and the army under his lordship's 
 command, at Yorktown, humbly to entreat that your majesty, 
 and the parliament, would be graciously pleased to permit us to 
 offer this renewed "testimony of loyalty and attachment to our 
 most gracious sovereign, and the British nation and government ; 
 and thus publicly to repeat our most heart-felt acknowledgments 
 for the infinite obligations we feel ourselves under for the heavy 
 expenses that have been incurred, and the great national exer- 
 tions that have been made, to save and rescue us, and your 
 American colonies, from impending ruin, and the accumulated 
 distresses and calamities of civil war. , . . Our sufferings as men, 
 and our duty as loyal subjects, point out to us at once, the 
 propriety, in our present situation, of thus publicly repeating 
 our assurances, that we revere, with a kind of holy enthusiasm, 
 the ancient constitution of the American colonies ; and that we 
 cannot but lament every event, and be anxiously solicitous to 
 remove every cause or suspicion, that might have the most 
 distant tendency to separate the two countries. . . . 
 
 Unhappily, indeed, for ourselves, and we cannot but think 
 unfortunately too for Great Britain, the number of well affected 
 inhabitants in America to the parent country, cannot, for obvious 
 reasons, be exactly ascertained. . . . The penalty under which 
 any American subject enlists in his majesty's service, is no less 
 than the immediate forfeiture of all his goods and chattels, lands 
 
The Birth of the Nation 1 5 5 
 
 and tenements; and if apprehended [captured], and convicted 
 by the rebels of having enlisted, or prevailed on any other per- 
 son to enlist in his majesty's service, it is considered as treason, 
 and punished with death. . . . Yet, notwithstanding all these 
 discouraging circumstances, there are many more men in his 
 majesty s provincial regiments than there are in the Continental 
 service. Hence it cannot be doubted but that there are more 
 loyalists in America than there are rebels ; and also that their 
 zeal must be greater, or so many would not have enlisted into 
 the provincial service under such very unequal circumstances. 
 . . . We also infer from the small number of militia collected 
 by General Greene, the most popular and able general in the 
 service of congress, in the long circuitous march he took through 
 many of the most populous, and confessedly the most rebellions 
 counties in that country, that there must be a vast 7najoiity of 
 loyalists in that part of America, as well as elsewhere. . . } 
 
 Relying with the fullest confidence upon national justice and 
 compassion to our fidelity and distresses, we can entertain no 
 doubts but that Great Britain will prevent the ruin of her Ameri- 
 can friends, at every risk short of certain destruction to herself. 
 But if compelled, by adversity of misfortune, from the wicked 
 and perfidious combinations and designs of numerous and power- 
 ful enemies abroad, and more criminal and dangerous enemies 
 at home, an idea should be formed by Great Britain of, relin- 
 quishing her American colonies to the usurpation of congress, 
 we thus solemnly call God to witness, that we think the colonies 
 can never be so happy or so free as in a constitutional connex- 
 ion with, and dependence on Great Britain ; convinced, as we 
 are, that to be a British subject, with all its consequences, is to 
 be the happiest and freest member of any civil society in the 
 known world. 
 
 1 The last royal governor of New York, James Robertson, in his 
 proclamation of April 15, 1780, spoke of "the ingenuous thousands of 
 America" who were faithful to the King; and of "the Few" rebels 
 who had " found Means to acquire Sway in the Management of your 
 affairs." " Can they want Evidence at this day," he continues, " of the 
 Detestation of their Measures, by an increasing Majority of their own 
 Countrymen ?" E. B. O'Callaghan, Documentary History of New York, 
 Vol. IV, p. 1086. 
 
156 The Separation of fke Colonies from England 
 
 While it is certain that the number of the LoyaUsts was 
 exaggerated in their own eyes and in those of the British 
 officers, nevertheless the very violence of the denunciations 
 of them by the Revolutionists from- Washington himself 
 down to the pettiest patriot scribe shows that they were a 
 real danger. Had they been only a tiny harmless minority, 
 like the northern opponents of the Civil War in 1861, for 
 example, or the denouncers of the Philippine War in 1 899, 
 they probably would have been treated with contemptuous 
 neglect or good-natured ridicule by the patriots, in spite of 
 the zeal of the Sons of Liberty. The following article from 
 the Pennsylvania Packet of August 5, 1779, illustrates the 
 patriot's animus : 
 
 Among the many errors America has been guilty of during 
 her contest with Great Britain, few have been greater, or at- 
 tended with more fatal consequences to these States, than her 
 lenity to the Tories. . . . We can no longer be silent on this 
 subject, and see the independence of the country, after standing 
 every shock from without, endangered by internal enemies. 
 Rouse, America! your danger is great — great from a quarter 
 where you least expect it. The Tories, the Tories will yet be the 
 ruin of you ! 'Tis high time they were separated from among 
 you. They are now busy engaged in undermining your liberties. 
 They have a thousand ways of doing it, and they make use of 
 them all. Who were the occasion of this war ? The Tories ! 
 Who persuaded the tyrant of Britain to prosecute it in a manner 
 before unknown to civilized nations, and even shocking to 
 barbarians ? The Tories ! . . . Who 'corrupt the minds of the 
 good people of these States by every species of insidious coun- 
 sel ? The Tories ! Who hold a traitorous correspondence with 
 the enemy? The Tories 1 . . . Who prevent your battalions from 
 being filled? The Tories! . . . Who persuade those who have 
 enlisted to desert ? The Tories ! . . . In short, who wish to see 
 us conquered, to see us Slaves, to see us hewers of wood and 
 drawers of water? The Tories. 
 
. The Birth of the Nation 157 
 
 And is it possible that we should suffer men, who have been 
 guilty of all these and a thousand other calamities which this 
 country has experienced, to live among us ! To live among us, 
 did I say ? Nay, do they not move in our assemblies ? Do they 
 not insult us with their impudence ? Do they not hold traitorous 
 assemblies of their own ? Do they not walk the streets at noon- 
 day, and taste the air of liberty ? 
 
 Believe not a spark of . . . virtue is to be found in the Tory's 
 breast ; for what principle can that wretch have who would sell 
 his soul to subject his country to the will of the greatest tyrant 
 the world at present produces? 'Tis time to rid ourselves of 
 these bosom vipers. An immediate separation is necessary. I 
 dread to think of the evils every moment is big with, while a single 
 Tory remains among us. . . . Awake, Americans, to a sense of 
 your danger. No time to be lost. Instantly banish every Tory 
 from among you. Let America be sacred alone to freemen. 
 
 Drive far from you every baneful wretch who wishes to see 
 you fettered with the chains of tyranny. Send them where they 
 may enjoy their beloved slavery to perfection — send them to 
 the island of Britain ; there let them drink the cup of slavery 
 and eat the bread of bitterness all the days of their existence — 
 there let them drag out a painful life, despised and accursed by 
 those very men whose cause they have had the wickedness to 
 espouse. Never let them return to this happy land — never let 
 them taste the sweets of that independence which they strove to 
 prevent. Banishment, perpetual banishment, should be their lot. 
 
 First among the Tory satirists, both in the power and in 
 the venom of his pen, was Jonathan Odell, a graduate of 
 Princeton College in 1754, surgeon in the British army 
 in the West Indies, then rector in the Anglican Church in 
 the province of New Jersey. Up to the last battle of the 
 Revolution, and while there was a British soldier left in 
 America, Odell maintained his confidence that the '' re- 
 bellion" would be crushed. When America won the fight, 
 Odell retired to Nova Scotia, where he lived in poverty. 
 
158 The Separation of the Colonies from England 
 
 an " unreconstructed " Loyalist to the end of his long life. 
 We print here his ode on the birthday of King George, 
 June 4, 1777, and his denunciation of Washington in 
 The American Times ^ ^779'- 
 
 Time was when America hallow'd the morn 
 On which the loved monarch of Britain was born 
 Hallow'd the day, and joyfully chanted 
 God save the King ! 
 
 Then flourished the blessings of freedom and peace, 
 And plenty flow'd in with a yearly increase ; 
 Proud of our lot, we chanted merrily 
 
 Glory and joy crown the King ! 
 
 With envy beheld by the nations around, 
 We rapidly grew, nor was anything found 
 Able to check our growth while we chanted 
 God save the King ! 
 
 O blest beyond measure, had honor and truth 
 
 Still nurs'd in our hearts what they planted in youth I 
 
 Loyalty still had chanted merrily 
 
 Glory and joy crown the King ! 
 
 But see ! how rebellion has lifted her head ! 
 How honor and truth are with loyalty fled ! 
 Few are there now who join us in chanting 
 God save the King ! 
 
 And see how deluded the multitude fly 
 To arm in a cause that is built on a lye ! 
 Yet we are proud to chant thus merrily 
 Glory and joy crown the King ! 
 
 Though faction by falsehood a while may prevail, 
 And loyalty suffers a captive in jail, 
 Britain is rouzed, rebellion is falling ; 
 God save the King ! 
 
The Birth of the Nation 1 59 
 
 The captive shall soon be releas'd from his chain ; 
 And conquest restore us to Britain again 
 Ever to join in chanting merrily 
 
 Glory and joy crown the King ! 
 
 Hear thy indictment, Washington, at large ; 
 
 Attend and listen to the solemn charge : 
 
 Thou hast supported an atrocious cause 
 
 Against thy king, thy country, and the laws 
 
 Committed perjury, encouraged lies. 
 
 Forced conscience, broken the most sacred ties ; 
 
 Myriads of wives and fathers at thy hand 
 
 Their slaughtered husbands, slaughtered sons demand. 
 
 What could, when halfway up the hill to fame 
 
 Induce thee to go back and link with shame ? 
 
 Was it ambition, vanity or spite 
 
 That prompted thee with Congress to unite ? 
 
 Or did all three within thy bosom roll, 
 
 ' Thou heart of hero with a traitor's soul ' ? 
 
 Go, wretched author of thy country's grief, 
 
 Patron of villainy, of villains chief ; 
 
 Seek with thy cursed crew the central gloom, 
 
 Ere Truth's avenging sword begin thy doom ; 
 
 Or sudden vengeance of celestial dart 
 
 Precipitate thee with augmented smart. 
 
PART III. THE NEW REPUBLIC 
 
 » 
 
PART III. THE NEW REPUBLIC 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 The Critical Period 
 
 The entrance of the United States into the family of 4o. The new 
 nations was a critical step. The acknowledgment of our ^^^^i 
 independence by Great Britain provoked, rather than settled, [135] 
 the most important questions. It remained to be seen, as 
 Washington said, whether the Revolution should prove a 
 blessing or a curse to America. There were enthusiastic 
 voices raised to proclaim the event as the opening of a new 
 era in the history of the world, and there were dire prophe- 
 cies of anarchy and destruction. The Reverend Richard 
 Price of London, who had followed our cause with sym- 
 pathy, wrote the following optimistic admonition in 1785: 
 
 Having, from pure conviction, taken a warm part in favor of 
 the British colonies (now the United States of America) during 
 the late war ; and been exposed, in consequence of this, to much 
 abuse and some danger ; it must be supposed that I have been 
 waiting for the issue with anxiety — I am thankful that my 
 anxiety is removed ; and that I have been spared to be a wit- 
 ness to that ver}^ issue of the war which has all along been the 
 object of my wishes. With heartfelt satisfaction, I see the revo- 
 lution in favor of universal liberty which has taken place in 
 America ; — a revolution which opens a new prospect in human 
 affairs, and begins a new era in the history of mankind ; — a 
 revolution by which Britons themselves will be the greatest 
 gainers, if wise enough to improve properly the check that has 
 been given to the despotism of their ministers, and to catch 
 
 163 
 
164 The New Republic 
 
 the flame of virtuous liberty which has saved their American 
 bretheren. . . . 
 
 Perhaps I do not go too far when I say that, next to the 
 introduction of Christianity among mankind, the American revo- 
 lution may prove the most important step in the progressive 
 course of human improvement. It is an event which may pro- 
 duce a general diffusion of the principles of humanity, and be- 
 come the means of setting free mankind from the shackles 
 of superstition and tyranny, by leading them to see and know 
 " that nothing is fundamental but impartial enquiry, an honest 
 mind, and virtuous practice . . . that the members of a civil 
 community are cotifederates, not subjects \ and their rulers, ser- 
 vafits, not masters. — And that all legitimate government consists 
 in the dominion of equal laws made with common consent." . . . 
 
 Happy will the world be when these truths shall be every- 
 where acknowledged and practised upon. ... It is a conviction 
 I cannot resist, that the independence of the English colonies 
 in America is one of the steps ordained by Providence to intro- 
 duce these times; and I can scarcely be deceived in this con- 
 viction, if the United States should escape some dangers which 
 threaten them, and will take proper care to throw themselves 
 open to future improvements, and to make the most of the 
 advantages of their present situation. . . . They have begun 
 nobly. They have fought with success for themselves and for 
 the world ; and in jthe midst of invasion and carnage, estab- 
 lished forms of government favorable in the highest degree to 
 the rights of mankind. — But they have much more to do. . . . 
 
 The present moment, however auspicious to the United States 
 if wisely improved, is critical ; and, though apparently the end of 
 all their dangers, may prove the time of their greatest danger. . . . 
 Should the return of peace and the pride of independence lead 
 them to security and dissipation — Should they lose those vir- 
 tuous and simple manners by which alone Republics can long 
 subsist — Should false refinement, luxury, and irreligion spread 
 among them ; excessive jealousy distract their governments ; 
 and clashing interests, subject to no strong controul, break the 
 federal union — The consequence will be, that the fairest ex- 
 periment ever tried in human affairs will miscarry ; and that a 
 
The Constitution 165 
 
 Revolution which had revived the hopes of good men and 
 promised an opening to better times, will become a discourage- 
 ment to all future efforts in favour of liberty, and prove only an 
 opening to a new scene of human degeneracy and misery. 
 
 Another English divine, Josiah Tucker, Dean of 
 Gloucester, in 1781 addressed to the distinguished 
 Necker, ex-controller general of the finances of France, 
 a series of letters entitled Cin Bono ? or an Inquiry as to 
 the benefit that could arise to America, or to any other 
 nation, from the war. Tucker sees only anarchy and ruin 
 ahead for the presumptuous new nation. In his sixth 
 letter he writes : 
 
 England being thus laid low, and humbled to the Dust, and 
 the American stripes interlaced with the Lillies of France, every- 
 where triumphant ; what is next to come to pass ? — Why truly, 
 after this total Separation, the Mass of the People on the 
 other side of the Atlajitic, will begin to awake out of their 
 Golden Dream, and reflect on their present Situation, by com- 
 paring it with the past. They will do this the sooner, because 
 all their Fears and Dreads about that fell Monster, the tyran- 
 nical Power of England, will then be at an End ; and the Hob- 
 gobling Stories of Racks and Chains, and Tortures, and Deaths, 
 and raw Heads, and bloody Bones, will affright no longer. . . . 
 
 Great indeed, and glorious were the things that had been 
 promised ! They were to be the happiest of all People, pro- 
 vided they would shake off the galling Yoke of BritatJi, and 
 assert their unalienable Birthrights, their native Indepe?idence. 
 When that happy Day should come, all Grievances, and all 
 Complaints would cease forever ... all Jealousies, and- Discords, 
 and Factions, would be banished from such a State ; and Har- 
 mony and Concord, Peace and Friendship, everywhere prevail. — 
 These honors and blessings were reserved for America ! 
 
 Well, the heavy Yoke of Britain being thus thrown off [Oh 
 may Britons have the Wisdom, and the Fortitude never to yoke 
 with the Americans again as Fellow-Subjects, on any Terms 
 
1 66 The New Republic 
 
 whatever] it is natural to ask, What have these Revolters gained 
 by their long-wished-for Change, after so much Parade and 
 Bluster ? They have gained, what necessarily follows the Breach 
 of Promises never intended to be fulfilled (if indeed such Ac- 
 quisitions can be called Gains) they have gained a general Dis- 
 appointment, mixt with Anger and Indignation. For now they 
 find that all the fine Speeches, and alluring Promises of their 
 patriotic Leaders, meant nothing at all — but to amuse and to 
 deceive. Now they feel that the little Fingers of their new- 
 fangled Republican Governors are heavier than the whole Body 
 of the limited and mild Constitution of Old England. And as 
 they despised and rejected [like the Frogs in the Fable] the Gov- 
 ernment of one King Log^ they are now obliged to submit to the 
 Tyranny of an hundred King Storks. . . . 
 
 As to the future Grandeur of America^ and its being a rising 
 Empire, under one Head, whether Republican, or Monarchical, 
 it is one of the idlest, and most visionary Notions, that ever was 
 conceived even by Writers of Romance. For there is nothing 
 in the Genius of the People, the Situation of their Country, or 
 the Nature of their different Climates, which tends to Counte- 
 nance such a Supposition. On the contrary, every Prognostic 
 that can be formed from a Contemplation of their mutual Antip- 
 athies, and clashing Interests, their Difference of Governments, 
 Habitudes, and Manners, — plainly indicates, that the America?is 
 will have no Center of Union among them, and no Common In- 
 terest to pursue, when the Power and Government of England 
 are finally removed. Moreover, when the Intersections and 
 Divisions of their Country by great Bays of the Sea, and by vast 
 Rivers, Lakes, and Ridges of Mountains; — and above all, when 
 those immense inland Regions, beyond the Back Settlements, 
 which are still unexplored, are taken into the Account, they form 
 the highest Probability that the Americans never can be united 
 into one compact Empire, under any Species of Government 
 whatever. Their Fate seems to be, — a disunited people, till 
 the End of Time. 
 
 A saner view of the promise and the danger in the 
 new situation of America was taken by Tench Coxe of 
 
The Constitution 167 
 
 Philadelphia, a distinguished writer of financial and com- 
 mercial pamphlets. On May 11, 1787 (exactly two weeks 
 before the Constitutional Convention began its work with 
 George Washington in the chair), Coxe read a paper 
 before the Society for Political Enquiries, at a meeting 
 at Benjamin Franklin's house. 
 
 There are in every country certain important crises when 
 exertion or neglect must produce consequences of the utmost 
 moment. The period at which the inhabitants of these states 
 have now arrived, will be admitted, by every attentive and serious 
 person, to be clearly of this description. Our money absorbed 
 by a wanton consumption of imported luxuries, a fluctuating 
 paper medium . . . foreign commerce extremely circumscribed, 
 and a federal government not only ineffective, but disjointed, 
 tell us indeed too plainly, that further negligence may ruin us 
 forever. . . . 
 
 The foundations of national wealth and consequence are so 
 firmly laid in the United States, that no foreign power can under- 
 mine or destroy them. But the enjoyment of these substantial 
 blessings is rendered precarious by domestic circumstances. 
 Scarcely held together by a weak and half formed federal con- 
 stitution, the powers of our national government, are unequal 
 to the complete execution of any salutory purpose, foreign or 
 domestic. The evils resulting from this unhappy state of things 
 have again shocked our reviving credit, produced among our 
 people alarming instances of disobedience to the laws,^ and if 
 not remedied, must destroy our property, liberties, and peace. 
 Foreign powers, however disposed to favor us, can expect neither 
 satisfaction nor benefit from treaties with Congress, while they 
 [Congress] are unable to enforce them.^ . . . 
 
 1 For examples of this state of anarchy, see Muzzey, An American 
 History, p. 139. 
 
 2 When our first minister to England, John Adams, attempted to treat 
 with the foreign Secretary, Lord Carmarthen, he was met with the 
 ironical request for thirteen ministers from the American States. See 
 Channing, History of the United States, Vol. Ill, p. 465- 
 
168 The New Reptiblic 
 
 It would not be difficult perhaps to form a new article of 
 Confederation ^ . . . and a question may arise whether fellowship 
 with any state that would refuse to admit it, can be satisfactory 
 or safe. . . . The present state of things instead of inviting emi- 
 grants, deters all who have the means of information, and are 
 capable of thinking. The setdement of our lands, and the intro- 
 duction of manufactories and branches of trade yet unknown 
 among us or requiring a force of capital, which are to make our 
 country rich and powerful, are interrupted and suspended by 
 our want of public credit and the numerous disorders of our 
 government. 
 
 41. Ham- "The Articles of Confederation," says Channing/'were 
 
 for'anade- obsolete when signed by the members of Congress, and 
 
 quate con- antiquated when the Maryland delegates gave the consent 
 
 September 3, of that State to their ratification. "2 To the wonderful genius 
 
 ^"^^^ of Alexander Hamilton we owe the most convincing ac- 
 
 ^^"^ ^ count of the inadequacy of the Articles and the first clear 
 
 call for a convention to frame a suitable Constitution for 
 
 the United States. On September 3, 1780, six months 
 
 before the Articles of Confederation went into effect even^ 
 
 Hamilton, then a young man of only twenty-three, wrote 
 
 to James Duane, a member of Congress from New York : 
 
 Liberty Pole, September 3, 1780 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 Agreeably to your request, and my promise, I sit down to 
 give you my ideas of the defects of our present system, and the 
 changes necessary to save us from ruin. They may, perhaps, 
 be the reveries of a projector, rather than the sober views of a 
 politician. You will judge of them, and make what use you 
 please of them. 
 
 The fundamental defect is a want of power in Congress. It 
 is hardly worth while to show in what this consists, as it seems 
 
 ^ Four months after Coxe read this paper the " new article of 
 Confederation," the Constitution of the United States, was finished 
 2 Channing, History of the United States, Vol. Ill, p. 463. 
 
The ConstittUion 169 
 
 to be universally acknowledged ; or to point out how it has hap- 
 pened, as the only question is how to remedy it. It may, how- 
 ever, be said, that it has originated from three causes: an excess 
 of the spirit of liberty, which has made the particular States 
 show a jealousy of all power not in their own hands, — and this 
 jealousy has led them to exercise a right of judging in the last 
 resort of the measures recommended by Congress, and of acting 
 according to their own opinions of their propriety, or necessity ; 
 a diffidence, in Congress, of their own powers, by which they 
 have been timid and indecisive in their resolutions, constantly 
 making concessions to the States, till they have scarcely left 
 themselves the shadow of power; a want of sufficient means 
 at their disposal to answer the public exigencies, and of vigor 
 to draw forth those means, which have occasioned them to de- 
 pend on the States individually to fulfil their engagements. . . . 
 
 It may be pleaded that Congress never had any definite 
 powers granted them, and of course could exercise none, could 
 do nothing more than recommend. The manner in which Con- 
 gress was appointed would warrant, and the public good required 
 that they should have considered themselves as vested with full 
 power to preserve the republic ffvni harm} They have done many 
 of the highest acts of sovereignty, which were always cheerfully 
 submitted to : The declaration of independence, the declaration 
 of war, the levying of an army, creating a navy, emitting money, 
 making alliances with foreign powers, appointing a dictator,^ 
 etc. All these implications of a complete sovereignty were never 
 disputed, and ought to have been a standard for the whole 
 conduct of administration. . . . 
 
 But the Confederation itself is defective, and requires to be 
 altered. It is neither fit for war nor peace. The idea of an un- 
 controllable sovereignty in each State over its internal police will 
 
 1 The formula {ne quid res publica detrimenti capiat) by which the 
 Roman Senate entrusted extraordinary powers to the consuls, or re- 
 publican officers. 
 
 2 The dictator in the Roman state superseded all the constituted 
 powers of the Republic. It is a gross exaggeration to use this term of 
 Washington, who was appointed commander of the continental army 
 simply, and who was subject to the hampering control of Congress 
 constantly. 
 
170 The New Republic 
 
 defeat the other powers given to Congress, and make our union 
 feeble and precarious. There are instances without numbei 
 where acts, necessary for the general good, and which rise out 
 of the powers given to Congress, must interfere with the in- 
 ternal police of the States ; and there are as many instances in 
 which the particular States, by arrangements of internal police, 
 can effectually, though indirectly, counteract the arrangements 
 of Congress. . . . 
 
 The first step must be to give Congress powers competent 
 to the public exigencies. This may happen in two ways : one 
 by resuming and exercising the discretionary powers I suppose 
 to have been originally vested in them for the safety of the 
 States . . . the other, by calling immediately a Convention of 
 all the States, with full authority to conclude finally upon a 
 General Confederation, stating to them beforehand, explicitly, 
 the evils arising from a want of power in Congress. . . . The 
 Convention should assemble the first of November next. The 
 sooner the better. Our disorders are too violent to admit of a 
 common or lingering remedy. The reasons for which I require 
 them [the delegates] to be vested with plenipotentiary authority 
 are that the business may suffer no delay in the execution, and 
 may in reality, come to effect. A Convention may agree upon 
 a Confederation ; the States individually hardly ever will. . . . 
 
 The Confederation, in my opinion, should give Congress 
 complete sovereignty, except as to that part of internal police 
 which relates to the rights of property and life among individuals, 
 and to raising money by internal taxes. . . . Congress should 
 have complete sovereignty in all that relates to war, peace, 
 trade, finance ; and to the management of foreign affairs ; the 
 right of declaring war; of raising armies, officering, paying 
 them, directing their motions in every respect; of equipping 
 fleets, and doing the same with them ; of building fortifications 
 arsenals, magazines, etc. ; of making peace on such conditions 
 as they think proper ; of regulating trade, determining with what 
 countries it shall be carried on ; . . . laying prohibitions on all 
 the articles of export or import ; imposing duties ; . . . instituting 
 Admiralty Courts etc. ; of coining money ; establishing banks 
 on such terms, and with such privileges as they think proper; 
 
The Constitution 171 
 
 appropriating funds, and doing whatever else relates to the 
 operations of finance ; transacting everything with foreign na- 
 tions ; making alliances offensive and defensive, treaties of 
 commerce, etc., etc. . . . The Confederation should provide 
 certain perpetual revenues, productive and easy of collection ; 
 a land tax, poll tax, or the like ^ ; which, together with the duties 
 on trade, and the unlocated lands, would give Congress a sub- 
 stantial existence, and a stable foundation for their schemes of 
 finance.^ . . . 
 
 The second step I would recommend is, that Congress should 
 instantly appoint the following great officers of State : A Secre- 
 tary of Foreign Affairs, a President of War, a President of 
 Marine, a Financier, a President of Trade. . . . Congress should 
 choose for these offices men of the first abilities, property, and 
 character in the Continent, and such as have had the best oppor- 
 tunities of being acquainted with the several branches.^ . . . 
 
 I have only skimmed the surface of the different subjects I 
 have introduced. Should the plans recommended come into 
 contemplation in earnest, I will endeavor to give them more 
 form and particularity.^ I am persuaded a solid confederation, 
 a permanent army, and a reasonable prospect of subsisting it, 
 would give us treble consideration in Europe, and produce a 
 peace this winter. . . . 
 
 If a Convention is called, the minds of all the States and the 
 people ought to be prepared to receive its determinations by 
 
 1 The Income Tax of 191 3 is the first of such " perpetual revenues " 
 to be provided by the Congress of the United States. 
 
 2 The student should compare these powers of Congress suggested 
 by Hamilton in 1780 with those actually granted in the Constitution of 
 1787 (Art. I, Sect. VIII). 
 
 3 This suggestion of Hamilton's foreshadowed the efficient executive 
 department of the government, established by the Constitution. How- 
 ever, Hamilton's letter bore fruit before 1787 ; for executive officers 
 were appointed by Congress — John Jay for Foreign Affairs, Robert 
 Morris for Finance, and others. Let the student compare the number 
 and titles of the executive officers suggested by Hamilton with those 
 of our actual cabinet. 
 
 4 The draught of Hamilton's plan for a constitution, drawn up in 
 "form and particularity" in 1787 may be found in Max Farrand, Records 
 of the Federal Convention, Vol. Ill, pp. 617-630. 
 
172 The New Republic 
 
 sensible and popular writings, which should conform to the 
 views of Congress. . . . 
 
 \ have not time even to correct and copy, but only enough 
 to add that I am, very truly and affectionately, dear sir. 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 A. Hamilton 
 
 "A More Perfect Union" 
 
 42. The con- As a result of the commercial conventions held at Mount 
 conventi(Mi Vernon in 1785 and Annapolis in 1786, six states had 
 May to Sep- already appointed delegates to a general convention for 
 the thoroughgoing revision of the Articles of Confedera- 
 
 [142] 
 
 tion, when Congress issued the formal summons, Feb- 
 ruary 21, 1787 i^ 
 
 Resolved, That in the opinion of Congress, it is expedient, 
 that on the second Monday in May next, a convention of 
 delegates, who shall have been appointed by the several states, 
 be held at Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose of 
 revising the articles of confederation, and reporting to Congress 
 and the several legislatures, such alterations and provisions 
 therein, as shall when agreed to in Congress, and confirmed 
 by the states, render the federal constitution adequate to the 
 exigencies of Government, and the preservation of the union. 
 
 1 Six weeks before this resolution of Congress, John Jay, Secretary 
 for Foreign Affairs, wrote to Washington : " Would it not be better for 
 Congress plainly and in strong terms to declare that the present Federal 
 Government is inadequate to the purpose for which it was instituted . . . 
 that in their opinion it would be expedient for the people of the States 
 without delay to appoint State conventions . . . with the sole and express 
 power of appointing deputies to a general convention, who . . . should 
 take into consideration the Articles of Confederation, and make such 
 alterations, amendments, and additions thereto as to them should appear 
 necessary and proper? . . . No alterations in the government should, 
 I think, be made, nor if attempted will easily take place, unless deducible 
 from the only source of just authority — the People.'''' — John Jay, Corre 
 spondence etc., ed. H. P. Johnston, Vol. Ill, p. 229. 
 
The ConstiUition 173 
 
 Major William Pierce, a delegate from Georgia, left 
 pen pictures of most of his associates in the Convention, 
 which were printed first in the Savminah Georgian, April, 
 1828. His characterizations of Washington, H-amilton, 
 Franklin, and Madison follow : 
 
 Gen' Washington is well known as the Commander in chief 
 of the late American army. Having conducted these States to 
 independence and peace, he now appears to assist in framing 
 a Government to make the People happy. Like Gustavus Vasa, 
 he may be said to be the deliverer of his Country ; like Peter 
 the great he appears as the politician and the States-man ; and 
 like Cincinnatus he returned to his farm perfectly contented 
 with being only a plain Citizen, after enjoying the highest honor 
 of the confederacy, — and now only seeks for the approbation 
 of his Country-men by being virtuous and useful : The General 
 was conducted to the Chair as President of the Convention by 
 the unanimous vote of its Members. He is in the 52^^ year of 
 his age. 
 
 Col" Hamilton is deservedly celebrated for his talents. He 
 is a practitioner of the Law, and reputed to be a finished 
 Scholar. To a clear and strong judgment he unites the orna- 
 ments of fancy, and whilst he is able, convincing, and engaging 
 in his eloquence the Heart and Head sympathize in approving 
 him. Yet there is something too feeble in his voice to be equal 
 to the strains of oratory ; — it is my opinion that he is rather 
 a convincing Speaker, than a blazing Orator. Col° Hamilton 
 requires time to think, — he enquires into every part of his 
 subject with the searchings of phylosophy, and when he comes 
 forward he comes highly charged with interesting matter, there 
 is no skimming over the surface of a subject with him, he must 
 sink to the bottom to see what foundation it rests on. — His 
 language is not always equal, sometimes didactic like Boling- 
 broke's, at others light and tripping like Stern's. His eloquence 
 is not so defusive [diffusive] as to trifle with the senses, but he 
 rambles just enough to strike and keep up the attention. He 
 is about 2iZ years old, of small stature, and lean. His manners 
 
174 The Neiv Repttblic 
 
 are tinctured with stiffness, and sometimes with a degree of 
 vanity that is highly disagreable. 
 
 Dr Franklin is. well known to be the greatest phylosopher 
 of the present age ; — all the operations of nature he seems to 
 understand, — the very heavens obey him, and the Clouds yield 
 up their Lightning to be imprisoned in his rod. But what claim 
 he has to the politician, posterity must determine. It is certain 
 that he does not shine much in public Council, — he is no 
 Speaker, nor does he seem to let politics engage his attention. 
 He is, however, a most extraordinary Man, and tells a story in 
 a style more engaging than anything I ever heard. Let his 
 Biographer finish his character. He is 82 years old, and pos- 
 sesses an activity of mind, equal to a youth of 25 years of age. 
 
 Mr. Maddison [Madison] is a character who has long been 
 in public life ; and what is very remarkable every Person seems 
 to acknowledge his greatness. He blends together the profound 
 politician, with the Scholar. In the management of every great 
 question he evidently took the lead in the Convention, and tho' 
 he cannot be called an Orator, he is a most agreable, eloquent, 
 and convincing Speaker. From a spirit of industry and applica- 
 tion, which he possesses in a most eminent degree, he always 
 comes forward the best informed Man of any point in debate. 
 The affairs of the United States, he perhaps, has the most 
 correct knowledge of, of any Man in the L^nion. He has been 
 twice a Member of Congress, and was always thought one of 
 the ablest Members that ever sat in that Council. Mr. Maddison 
 is about 37 years of age, a Gentleman of great modesty, — with 
 a remarkably sweet temper. He is easy and unreserved among 
 his acquaintance, and has a most agreable style of conversation. 
 
 Passions often rose high during the stormy debates in 
 the Convention, and it looked several times as though the 
 assembly might break up in irreconcilable discord. The 
 Constitution which resulted from its labors was not alto- 
 gether acceptable to the leaders ; but Franklin, with his 
 rare good sense and quiet reasonableness, pleaded for har- 
 mony in the closing session. 
 
The Constitution 175 
 
 September 17 [1787]. . . . The engrossed Constitution being 
 read, — D"" Franklin rose with a speech in his hand, which 
 . . . Mr. Wilson read in the words following: 
 
 " Mr. President : — I confess that there are several parts of this 
 Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not 
 sure I shall never approve them. For, having lived long, I have 
 experienced many instances of being obliged, by better infor- 
 mation or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even on im- 
 portant subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be 
 otherwise. It is therefore that, the older I grow, the more apt 
 I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to 
 the judgment of others. . . . 
 
 In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution, with 
 all its faults, if they are such ; because I think a general govern- 
 ment necessary for us, and there is no form of government, but 
 what may be a blessing to the people if well administered. . . . 
 I doubt, too, whether any other Convention we can obtain may 
 be able to make a better Constitution. For, when you assemble 
 a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, 
 you inevitably assemble with those men all their prejudices, their 
 passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their 
 selfish views. From such an assembly can a perfect production 
 be expected ? It therefore astonishes me, sir, to find this system 
 approaching so near to perfection as it does ; and I think it will 
 astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to hear 
 that our councils are confounded, like those of the builders of 
 Babel ; and that our states are on the point of separation, only 
 to meet hereafter for the purpose of cutting one another's throats. 
 Thus I consent, sir, to this Constitution, because I expect no 
 better, and because I am not sure that it is not the best. The 
 opinions I have had of its errors I sacrifice to the public good. 
 I have never whispered a syllable of them abroad. Within these 
 walls they were born, and here they shall die. If every one of 
 us, in returning to our constituents, were to report the objec- 
 tions he has had to it, and endeavor to gain partisans in sup- 
 port of them, we might prevent its being generally received, 
 and thereby lose all the salutary effects and great advantages 
 resulting naturally in our favor among foreign nations, as well 
 
1/6 The New Republic 
 
 as among ourselves, from our real or apparent unanimity. Much 
 of the strength and efficiency of any government, in procuring 
 and securing happiness to the people, depends on opinion — 
 on the general opinion of the goodness of the government, as 
 well as of the wisdom and integrity of its governors. I hope, 
 therefore, that for our own sakes, as a part of the people, and 
 for the sake of posterity, we shall act heartily and unanimously 
 in recommending this Constitution (if approved by Congress 
 and confirmed by the conventions) wherever our influence may 
 extend, and turn our future thoughts and endeavors to the 
 means of having it well administered. 
 
 On the whole, Sir, I cannot help expressing a wish that every 
 member of the Convention, who may still have objections to it, 
 would with me, on this occasion, doubt a little of his own infal- 
 libility, and, to make manifest our unanimity, put his name to 
 this instrument." . . . 
 
 Whilst the last members were signing, D"" Franklin, looking 
 towards the president's chair, at the back of which a rising sun 
 happened to be painted, observed to a few members near him, 
 that painters had found it difficult to distinguish, in their art, 
 a rising from a setting sun. '' I have," he said, " often and 
 often, in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my 
 hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the presi- 
 dent, without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting ; 
 but now, at length, I have the happiness to know that it is a 
 rising, and not a setting sun." 
 
 The labors of the Convention being finished, its presi- 
 dent sent the engrossed and signed copy of the Constitution 
 to Congress with the following letter : 
 
 September 17, 1787 
 
 OIK. \ 
 
 We have now the honor to submit to the consideration of 
 the United States, in Congress assembled, that Constitution 
 which has appeared to us the most advisable. The friends of 
 our country have long seen and desired that the power of making 
 
The ConstiUition lyy 
 
 war, peace, and treaties ; that of levying money, and regulating 
 commerce ; and the correspondent executive and judicial author- 
 ities, — should be fully and effectually vested in the general 
 government of the Union. . . . 
 
 It is obviously impracticable, in the federal government of 
 these states, to secure all rights of independent sovereignty to 
 each, and yet provide for the interest and safety of all. Indi- 
 viduals entering into society must give- up a share of liberty to 
 preserve the rest. . . . 
 
 In all our deliberations on this subject, we kept steadily in 
 our view, that which appears to us the greatest interest of every 
 true American, the consolidation of our Union, in which is in- 
 volved our prosperity, felicity, safety — perhaps our national 
 existence. This important consideration, seriously and deeply 
 impressed on our minds, led each state in the Convention to 
 be less rigid, on points of inferior magnitude, than might have 
 been otherwise expected ; and thus the Constitution, which we 
 now present, is the result of a spirit of amity, and of that mutual 
 deference and concession which the peculiarity of our political 
 situation rendered indispensable. 
 
 That it will meet the full and entire approbation of every 
 state, is not perhaps to be expected ; but each will doubtless 
 consider that, had her interest alone been consulted, the conse- 
 quences might have been particularly disagreeable or injurious 
 to others ; that it is liable to as few exceptions as could reason- 
 ably have been expected, we hope and believe ; that it may 
 promote the lasting welfare of that country so dear to us all, 
 and secure her freedom and happiness, is our most ardent wish. 
 
 With great respect, we have the honor to be, sir, your Excel- 
 lency's most obedient and humble servants. By the unanimous 
 
 order of the Convention. 
 
 G° Washington, President 
 
 His Excellency^ the President of Congress 
 
 Only three of the delegates present at the closing ses- 43. Mason's 
 
 argument 
 
 sion of the Convention refused to sign the Constitution — against rati- 
 Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts and Edmund Randolph fi^^^ti^"* ^788 
 
 [145] 
 
178 The New Republic 
 
 and George Mason of Virginia.^ Mason led the fight 
 against ratification in the Virginia Convention of 1788, 
 supported by Patrick Henry (who had been elected to 
 the Convention at Philadelphia, but had refused to serve), 
 Richard Henry Lee, and James Monroe.^ Mason published 
 his apprehensive views to the citizens of Virginia under 
 the title, *' The Objections of the Hon. Geo. Mason to 
 the proposed Foederal Constitution." 
 
 There is no declaration of rights : and the laws of the general 
 government being paramount to the laws and constitutions of 
 the several states, the declarations of rights, in the separate 
 States, are no security. . . . 
 
 The Senate have the power of altering all money-bills, and 
 of originating appropriations of money, and the salaries of the 
 officers of their appointment, in conjunction with the President 
 of the United States — Although they are not the representatives 
 of the people, or amenable to them. These, with their other 
 great powers, (viz. : their powers in the appointment of ambas- 
 sadors, and all public officers, in making treaties, and in trying 
 all impeachments) their influence upon, and connection with, 
 the supreme executive from these causes, their duration of office, 
 and their being a constant existing body, almost continually 
 
 1 Of the 65 members elected to the Constitutional Convention, 55 
 attended. Of these 39 signed the Constitution. Three refused to sign, 
 and 13 were absent from the closing session. Of the absentees only four 
 (Lansing and Yates of New York and Mercer and Martin of Maryland) 
 were hostile to the Constitution. 
 
 '■^ About a fortnight after Virginia ratified, Monroe wrote to Thomas 
 Jefferson, who was our minister in Paris, declaring that Washington's 
 influence had carried the state for ratification, and that a certain letter 
 of Jefferson's on the subject had been discussed with great regard for 
 the author. Jefferson would probably have opposed the Constitution as 
 too aristocratic, had he been at home to take part in the events of 1787- 
 1788; although on the eve of his departure for Paris (July i, 1784) he 
 had written to Madison from Boston : " I find the conviction growing 
 strongly that nothing can preserve our confederacy unless the band of 
 union, their common council, be strengthened " (Works, ed. Ford, 
 Vol. Ill, p. 502). 
 
The Constitution 179 
 
 sitting, joined with their being one complete branch of the legis- 
 lature, will destroy any balance in the government, and enable 
 them to accomplish what usurpation they please, upon the rights 
 and liberties of the people. 
 
 The judiciary of the United States is so constructed and ex- 
 tended, as to absorb and destroy the judiciaries of the several 
 states ; thereby rendering laws as tedious, intricate, and expen- 
 sive, and justice as unattainable by a great part of the community, 
 as in England ; and enabling the rich to oppress and ruin the poor. 
 
 The President of the United States has no constitutional 
 council (a thing unknown in any safe and regular government) 
 he will therefore be unsupported by proper information and ad- 
 vice ; and will generally be directed by minions and favorites — 
 or he will become a tool to the Senate — or a council of state 
 will grow out of the principal officers of the great departments 
 — the worst and most dangerous of all ingredients for such a 
 council, in a free country ; for they may be induced to join in 
 any dangerous and oppressive measures, to shelter themselves, 
 and prevent an inquiry into their own misconduct in office. . . . 
 
 The President of the United States has the unrestrained 
 power of granting pardon for treason ; which may be sometimes 
 exercised to screen from punishment those whom he has secretly 
 instigated to commit the crime, and thereby prevent a discovery 
 of his own guilt. . . . 
 
 By requiring only a majority to make all commercial and 
 navigation laws, the five southern states (whose product and cir- 
 cumstances are totally different from those of the eight northern 
 and eastern states) will be ruined : for such rigid and premature 
 regulations may be made, as will enable the merchants of the 
 northern and eastern states not only to demand an exorbitant 
 freight, but to monopolize the purchase of the commodities, at 
 their own price, for many years, to the great injury of the 
 landed interest, and the impoverishment of the people. . . . 
 
 The state legislatures are restrained from laying export duties 
 on their own produce — the general legislature is restrained 
 from prohibiting the further importation of slaves for twenty 
 odd years, though such importations render the United States 
 weaker, more vulnerable, and less capable of defence. . . . 
 
l8o The New Republic 
 
 This government will commence in a moderate aristocracy ; 
 it is at present impossible to foresee whether it will, in its opera- 
 tion, produce a monarchy, or a corrupt oppressive aristocracy ; 
 it will most probably vibrate some years between the two, and 
 then terminate in the one or the other. 
 
 44. jeffer- Of almost equal importance with the Declaration of 
 
 for' the gov- Independence and the Constitution v^as the Ordinance 
 ernmentof of 1787, which furnished the model for the government 
 
 the West, ' " ^ 
 
 1784 of territories of the United States.^ This Ordinance was 
 
 [140] based on the following plan of Thomas Jefferson's, which 
 was substantially adopted by Congress, except for the 
 antislavery clause (No. 5, p. 181), on April 23, 1784 : 
 
 [March 22, 1784] 
 
 The Committee to whom was recommitted the report of a 
 plan for a temporary government of the Western territory have 
 agreed to the following resolutions. 
 
 Resolved, that so much of the territory ceded or to be ceded 
 by individual states to the United States as is already purchased 
 or shall be purchased of the Indian inhabitants & offered for sale 
 by Congress, shall be divided into distinct states in the following 
 manner . . . [by degrees of latitude and meridians of longitude] 
 
 That the settlers on any territory so purchased & offered 
 for sale shall, either on theil" own petition, or on the order of 
 Congress, receive authority from them [Congress] ... to adopt 
 the constitution and laws of any one of the original states, so 
 that such laws nevertheless shall be subject to alteration by 
 their ordinary legislature; & to erect, subject to a like altera- 
 tion, counties or townships for the election of members for 
 their legislature. 
 
 That such temporary government shall only continue in force 
 in any state until it shall have acquired 20,000 free inhabitants, 
 
 1 The Ordinance of 1787, or "Northwest Ordinance,'' may be found 
 in WilHam Macdonald, Select Documents of United States History; 
 1776-1861, pp. 21-29. The student should compare the Ordinance 
 with Jefferson's plan. 
 
The Constitution i8i 
 
 when giving due proof thereof to Congress, they shall receive 
 from them [Congress] authority with appointment of time & 
 place to call a convention of representatives to establish a per- 
 manent Constitution and Government for themselves. Provided 
 that both the temporary and the permanent governments be 
 established on these principles as their basis, i. That they shall 
 forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United States 
 of America. 2. That in their persons, property & territory they 
 shall be subject to the Government of the United States in 
 Congress assembled, & to the articles of Confederation in all 
 those cases in which the original states shall be so subject. 
 3. That they shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts 
 contracted or to be contracted, to be apportioned on them by 
 Congress ; according to the same common rule and measure, 
 by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the other 
 states. 4. That their respective Governments shall be in repub- 
 lican forms and shall admit no person to be a citizen who holds 
 any hereditary title. 5. That after the year 1800 of the Chris- 
 tian aera, there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude 
 in any of the sd [said] states, otherwise than in punishment of 
 crimes whereof the party shall have been convicted to have 
 been personally guilty. 
 
 That whensoever any of the sd states shall have, of free in- 
 habitants, as many as shall then be in any one of the least 
 numerous, of the thirteen original states, such state shall be 
 admitted by it's delegates into the Congress of the United States 
 on an equal footing with the said original states ; provided nine 
 states agree to such admission. . . . Until such admission by 
 their delegates into Congress, any of the said states after the 
 establishment of their temporary government shall have authority 
 to keep a sitting member in Congress, with a right of debating, 
 but not of voting. 
 
 That the preceding articles shall be formed into a charter of 
 compact, shall be duly executed by the President of the United 
 States in Congress assembled, under his hand & the seal of the 
 United States, shall be promulgated & shall stand as funda- 
 mental constitutions between the thirteen original states and 
 each of the several states now newly described, unalterable but 
 
1 82 The New Republic 
 
 by the joint consent of the United States in Congress assembled, 
 & of the particular state within which such alteration is pro- 
 posed to be made. 
 
 That measures not inconsistent with the principles of the 
 Confed" & necessary for the preservation of peace & good 
 order among the setders in any of the said new states until 
 they shall assume a temporary government as aforesaid, may 
 from time to time be taken by the U. S. in C. assemble*^. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 FEDERALISTS AND REPUBLICANS 
 
 Launching the Government 
 
 Great interest was shown in the new repubUc of the 45. America 
 United States by the people of Europe. We have pre- opportunity 
 served about forty books by French, EngUsh, German, [155] 
 and ItaHan travelers in this country between the Revo- 
 lutionary War and the end of the eighteenth century. At 
 the close of the war the venerable Benjamin Franklin, who 
 from his long residence on both sides of the Atlantic was 
 better qualified than any other man living to give advice 
 on America to European emigrants, wrote a tract called 
 " Information to those who would remove to America." 
 
 Many Persons in Europe, having directly or by Letters, ex- 
 press'd to the Writer of this, who is well acquainted with North 
 America, their Desire of transporting and establishing them- 
 selves in that Country ; but who appear to have formed thro' 
 Ignorance, mistaken Ideas and Expectations of what is to be 
 obtained there ; he thinks it may be useful, and prevent incon- 
 venient, expensive, and fruitless Removals and Voyages of im- 
 proper Persons, if he gives some clearer and truer Notions of 
 that part of the World, than appear to have hitherto prevailed. 
 
 He finds it is imagined by Numbers, that the Inhabitants of 
 North America are rich, capable of rewarding and disposed to 
 reward, all sorts of Ingenuity ; that they are at the same time 
 ignorant of all the Sciences, and, consequently, that Strangers 
 possessing Talents in the Belles-Lettres, fine Arts, &c., must 
 be highly esteemed, and so well paid as to become easily rich 
 
 183 
 
184 The New Republic 
 
 themselves ; that there are also abundance of profitable Offices 
 to be disposed of, which the Natives are not qualified to fill; 
 . . . that the Governments too, to encourage Emigration from 
 Europe, not only pay the Expence of personal Transportation, 
 but give Lands gratis to Strangers, with Negroes to work for 
 them. Utensils of Husbandry, and Stocks of Cattle. These 
 are all wild Imaginations ; and those who go to America with 
 Expectations founded upon them will surely find themselves 
 disappointed. 
 
 The Truth is, that though there are in that Country few 
 people so miserable as the poor of Europe, there are also very 
 few that in Europe would be called rich ; it is rather a general 
 happy Mediocrity that prevails. There are few great Proprietors 
 of the Soil, and few Tenants ; most people cultivate their own 
 Lands, or follow some Handicraft or Merchandise. . . . Letters 
 and Mathematical knowledge are in Esteem there . . . there being 
 already existing nine Colleges or Universities, viz. : four in New 
 England, and one in each of the Provinces of New York, New 
 Jersey, Pensilvania, Maryland, and Virginia, all furnish'd with 
 learned Professors ; besides a number of smaller Academies. . . . 
 Of civil Offices, or Employments, there are few ; no superflu- 
 ous Ones, as in Europe ; and it is a Rule established in some 
 of the States, that no Office should be so profitable as to make 
 it desirable. ... It cannot be worth any Man's while, who has 
 a means of Living at home, to expatriate himself, in hopes of 
 obtaining a profitable Civil Office in America. 
 
 Much less is it advisable for a Person to go thither, who has 
 no other Quality to recommend him but his Birth. In Europe 
 it has indeed its Value ; but it is a Commodity that cannot be 
 carried to a worse Market than that of America, where people 
 do not inquire concerning a Stranger, What is he ? but. What 
 can he do? . . . The Husbandman is in honor there, and even 
 the Mechanic, because their Employments are useful. The 
 People have a saying, that God Almighty is himself a Mechanic, 
 the greatest in the Universe ; and he is respected and admired 
 more for the Variety, Ingenuity, and Utility of his Handyworks, 
 than for the Antiquity of his Family. ... In short, America is 
 the Land of Labour, and by no means what the English call 
 
I 
 
 Federalists and Republicans 185 
 
 Lubberland, and the French Pays de Cocagne} where the streets 
 are said to be pav'd with half-peck Loaves, the Houses til'd with 
 Pancakes, and where the Fowls fly about ready roasted, crying, 
 Come eat me ! 
 
 Land being cheap in that Country, from the vast Forests still 
 void of Inhabitants ... so that the Propriety of an hundred 
 Acres of fertile Soil full of Wood may be obtained near the 
 Frontiers, in many Places, for Eight or Ten Guineas, hearty 
 young Laboring Men, who understand the Husbandry of Corn 
 and Cattle . . . may easily establish themselves there. A little 
 Money sav'd of the good Wages they receive there, while they 
 work for others, enables them to buy Land and begin their 
 Plantation. . . . Multitudes of poor people from England, 
 Ireland, Scotland, and Germany, have by this means in a few 
 years become wealthy Farmers. . . . 
 
 In the long-settled Countries of Europe, all Arts, Trades, 
 Professions, Farms, etc., are so full, that it is difficult for a 
 poor Man, who has Children, to place them where they may 
 gain, or learn to gain, a decent Livelihood. . . . Hence Youth 
 are dragg'd up in Ignorance of every gainful Art, and oblig'd 
 to become Soldiers, or Servants, or Thieves for a Subsistance. 
 In America ... it is easy for poor Families to get their Children 
 instructed ; for the Artisans are so desirous of Apprentices, that 
 many of them will even give money to the Parents, to have 
 Boys from Ten to Fifteen Years of Age bound Apprentices to 
 them till the Age of Twenty-one. . . . 
 
 Industry and constant Employment are great Preservatives 
 of the Morals and Virtue of a Nation. Hence bad Examples to 
 Youth are more rare in America, which must be a comfortable 
 Consideration to Parents. . . . Atheism is unknown there ; In- 
 fidelity rare and secret ; so that persons may live to a great Age 
 in that Country without having their Piety shocked by meeting 
 with either an Atheist or an Infidel. And the Divine Being 
 seems to have manifested his Approbation of the mutual For- 
 bearance and Kindness with which the different Sects treat each 
 other, by the remarkable Prosperity with which He has been 
 pleased to favor the whole Country. 
 
 ^ " Land of abundance." 
 
1 86 The New Republic 
 
 In October, 1787, immediately after the completion of 
 the Constitution, Congress was induced by land specu- 
 lators to offer for sale 5,000,000 acres (almost 8000 square 
 miles) of rich land in the Ohio valley, at 66\ cents per 
 acre. The Ohio Company purchased 1,500,000 acres, and 
 within a month had a party of forty-seven colonists ready 
 to send to the new lands. Professor McMaster thus de- 
 scribes the exciting days of the migration : 
 
 Emigration to the West now became the rage of the time. 
 Every small farmer whose barren acres were covered with mort- 
 gages, whose debts pressed heavily upon him, or whose roving 
 spirit gave him no peace, was eager to sell his homestead for 
 what it would bring, save what he could from the general wreck, 
 and begin life anew on the banks of the Muskingum or the 
 Ohio. And so many did so that at the return of every spring 
 hundreds of boats went down the Ohio heavy with catUe and 
 household goods. Ohe observer at Fort Pitt wrote home that 
 between the first of March and the middle of April 1787, he 
 saw fifty flat-boats set off for the settlements. Another at Fort 
 Finney saw thirty-four boats pass in thirty-nine days. . . . An- 
 other safe authority estimated that no less than ten thousand 
 emigrants went by Marietta in 1788. ... In New England the 
 success of the Ohio Company in procuring emigrants was im- 
 mense. They advertised, they put out pamphlets assuring the 
 people that a man of push and courage could nowhere be so 
 prosperous and so happy as in the West. The climate was de- 
 lightful. Rain was abundant. The soil rich and watered by 
 broad rivers, along whose banks were great bottoms and natural 
 meadows from twenty to fifty miles in circuit. ... In no long 
 time, therefore, the Company's lumbering wagon, with its black 
 canvas cover and flaming inscription, '* To Marietta on the Ohio," 
 became a familiar sight. At first the departure of so many men 
 from the States was little heeded, for they were believed to be 
 broken-down farmers and Shayites going to retrieve their for- 
 tunes and their honor in the West. But when it was noticed 
 that behind the wagon rode numbers of most robust and 
 
Federalists and Republicans 187 
 
 promising youths, the alarm of the people broke forth in bitter 
 complaints. The scheme was denounced in the coffee-houses as 
 a wicked plot to drain the East of its best blood. The opponents 
 of the company put out a number of pamphlets against it, and 
 wrote much bad verse on Cutler [the organizer of the Ohio Com- 
 pany]. The poor fools, it was said, were being enticed from 
 comfortable homes under the promise that they were going to 
 a land of more than tropical richness; to a land where they 
 should reap without having sown, and gather without having 
 ploughed. But in truth the climate was cold, the land sterile and 
 sickly, and the woods full of Indians, panthers, and hoop-snakes.^ 
 
 The Duke of Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, one of our 
 French visitors in 1 795-1 797, gives the following account 
 of how a plucky Englishwoman, Mistress Dash, took ad- 
 vantage of the opportunities offered by America to begin 
 life over again. 
 
 In one of our boating trips about Northumberland, with 
 Priestly's son, we landed near a wooden house, set on the side 
 of a huge mountain covered with woods and rocks, and sepa- 
 rated from the river by sloping ground some dozen rods wide. 
 This little house is inhabited by an Englishwoman. She has 
 three daughters, of whom the youngest only, a girl of twenty, 
 is with her. She left England after her husband went bankrupt, 
 both to shun the disgrace of his failure . . . and to prepare a 
 retreat for him after he should have settled his accounts. She 
 is Mistress Dash, and her husband is a banker of Bath, and 
 colonel of the militia of his County. . . . 
 
 It would be impossible for a mortal to show greater courage 
 than this woman has shown since she bought this absolutely 
 
 ^ " I have a distinct recollection of a picture which I saw in boyhood 
 prefixed to a penny anti-moving-to-Ohio pamphlet, in which a stout, 
 ruddy, well-dressed man on a sleek, fat horse with a label, ' I am going 
 to Ohio,' meets a pale and ghastly skeleton of a man, scarcely half 
 dressed, on the wreck of what was once a horse, with a label, ' I have 
 been to Ohio.'" — Walker. Transactions of Historical and Philosophical 
 Society of Ohio, Part II, p. 194. 
 
1 88 The New Republic 
 
 uncultivated piece of property of a hundred acres. Six months 
 ago there wasn't a hut on the place, or a single tree cut. She 
 has conquered every obstacle ; and at present she is building a 
 stone house, in which she will be able, within a year, to offer 
 her husband a comfortable retreat. . . . Two of her daughters 
 have married since they came to America. . . . 
 
 This woman's experience has convinced me again of the great 
 profit in the cultivation of new soil. Mistress Dash bought her 
 hundred acres for two hundred and sixty five dollars. She has 
 cultivated twenty acres . . . and spent, in the cultivation, in 
 building house and stable, etc., a thousand and sixty five dollars. 
 . . . Her twenty acres yield 400 bushels of grain, which is selling 
 this year at ten shillings a bushel. ... She has therefore real- 
 ized in the first year, from only twenty acres of her property, 
 4000 shillings, or 533 dollars, — almost half her entire expense, 
 counting the cost of the acquisition of the property. 
 
 46. The in- On April 30, 1 789, Gcorge Washington took the oath 
 thf govern-^ of office as first president of the United States, and de- 
 ment, 1789 livered a very formal speech to both houses of Congress, 
 [158] -y^ which he protested his incapacity for the proper admin- 
 istration of the high oflfice intrusted to him, begged his 
 fellow countrymen's indulgence for his shortcomings, 
 and expressed his conviction that "the preservation of 
 the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republi- 
 can model of government" were ''deeply, perhaps j^nalfy 
 staked on the experiment intrusted to the hands of the 
 American people." His secretary, Mr. Tobias Lear, de- 
 scribes the inauguration in his Diary : 
 
 April 30th — The morning was employed in making such 
 arrangements as were necessary for the ceremonies of the day. 
 At nine o'clock all the churches in the city were opened, and 
 prayers offered up to the Great Ruler of the universe for the 
 preservation of the President. At twelve the troops of the city 
 paraded before our door, and, soon after, the committees of 
 Congress and heads of departments came in their carriages to 
 
Federalists and Repziblicans 189 
 
 wait upon the President to the Federal Hall. At half past twelve 
 the procession moved forward, the troops marching in front with 
 all the ensigns of military parade. Next came the committees 
 and heads of departments in their carriages. Next the President 
 in the state coach, and Colonel Humphreys and myself in the 
 President's own carriage. The foreign ministers and a long train 
 of citizens brought up the rear. 
 
 About two hundred yards before we reached the hall, we 
 descended from our carriages, and passed through the troops, 
 who were drawn up on each side, into the Hall and Senate- 
 Chamber, where we found the Vice-President, the Senate, and 
 the House of Representatives assembled. They received the 
 President in the most respectful manner, and the Vice-President 
 conducted him to a spacious and elevated seat at the head of 
 the room. A solemn silence prevailed. The Vice-President soon 
 arose and informed the President that all things were prepared 
 to administer the oath whenever he should see fit to proceed to 
 the balcony and receive it. He immediately descended from his 
 seat, and advanced through the middle door of the Hall to the 
 balcony. The others passed through the doors on each side. 
 The oath was administered in public by Chancellor Livingston ; 
 and the moment the Chancellor proclaimed him President of the 
 United States, the air was rent by repeated shouts and huzzas 
 — God bless our WashingtoJi I Lo?ig live our beloved President ! 
 We again returned into the Hall, where, being seated as before 
 for a few moments, the President arose and addressed the two 
 branches of Congress in a speech, which was heard with eager 
 and marked attention. 
 
 After the President had finished his speech, we proceeded 
 from the Senate-chamber on foot to St. Paul's church, in the 
 same order that we had observed in our carriages, where the 
 bishop read prayers suited to the occasion. We were then met 
 at the church door by our carriages, and we went home. 
 
 In the evening there was a display of most beautiful fire-works 
 and transparent paintings at the Battery. The President, Colonel 
 Humphreys, and myself went in the beginning of the evening in 
 the carriages to Chancellor Livingston's and General Knox's, 
 where we had a full view of the fire-works. We returned home 
 
IQO The Nezv Republic 
 
 at ten on foot, the throng of people being so great as not to 
 permit a carriage to pass through it. 
 
 In spite of the '' repeated shouts and huzzas," there were 
 many who thought that we were tending rapidly to an aris- 
 tocratic despotism. William Maclay, Senator from Pennsyl- 
 vania in the first Congress of the United States, has left 
 us an acrimonious journal of the years 1789-1791, in which 
 his sturdy republican principles and prejudices are expressed 
 with unsparing frankness. 
 
 30th April, Thursday. — This is a great, important day. God- 
 dess of etiquette, assist me while I describe it. . . . The Senate 
 met. The Vice-President rose in the most solemn manner. This 
 son of Adam seemed impressed with deeper gravity, yet what 
 shall I think of him ? He often in the midst of his most important 
 airs . . . suffers an unmeaning kind of vacant laugh to escape 
 him. This was the case today, and really to me bore the air of 
 ridiculing the farce he was acting. " Gentlemen, I wish for the 
 direction of the Senate. The President will, I suppose, address 
 the Congress. How shall I behave t How shall we receive it t 
 Shall it be standing or sitting ? " . . . 
 
 As the company returned into the Senate chamber [after the 
 oath], the President took the chair. . . . He rose and addressed 
 them. This great man was agitated and embarrassed more than 
 ever he was by the leveled cannon or pointed musket. He 
 trembled, and several times could scarce make out to read. . . . 
 When he came to the words all the worlds he made a flourish 
 with his right hand, which left rather an ungainly impression. I 
 sincerely, for my part, wished all set ceremony in the hands of 
 the dancing-masters, and that this first of men had read off his 
 address in the plainest manner, without ever taking his eyes from 
 the paper, for I felt hurt that he was not first in everything. 
 He was dressed in a deep brown, with metal buttons, with an 
 eagle on them, white stockings, a bag [for the hair], and sword. . . . 
 
 May I st — Attended the Hall at eleven. The prayers were over 
 and the minutes reading. When we came to the minute of the 
 speech it stood, His most gracious speech. I looked all around 
 
Federalists and Republicans 191 
 
 the Senate. Every countenance seemed to wear a blank. The 
 Secretary was going on : I must speak or nobody would. " Mr. 
 President, we have lately had a hard struggle for our liberty 
 against kingly authority. The minds of men are still heated: 
 everything related to that species of government is odious to the 
 people. The words prefixed to the President's speech are the 
 same that are usually placed before the speech of his Britannic 
 Majesty. I know they will give offense. I consider them as 
 improper. I therefore move that they be struck out, and that 
 »it stand simply address or speech, as may be judged most 
 suitable." . . . 
 
 June nth — Dined this day with Mrs. Morris. . . . She talked 
 a great deal after dinner. ... I have ever been attentive to dis- 
 cover, if possible, General Washington's private opinions on the 
 pompous part of government. His address of '^ fellow-citizens " 
 to the two Houses of Congress seems quite republican. Mrs. 
 Morris, however, gave us something on this subject. General 
 Washington, on a visit to her, had dedared hi77iself in the most 
 pointed manner for generoics salaries; and added that ivithoiit 
 large salaries proper persons could 7iever be got to fill the offices of 
 government with propriety. He might deliver something of this 
 kind with propriety enough without using the word '' large." 
 However, if he lives with the pompous people of New York, he 
 must be something more than human if their high-toned manners 
 have not some effect on him. . . . 
 
 August 27 th — Thursday. Senate adjourned early. At a little 
 after four I called on Mr. Bassett, of the Delaware State. We 
 went to the President's to dinner. . . . The President and Mrs. 
 Washington sat opposite each other in the middle of the table ; 
 the two secretaries, one at each end. It was a great dinner, and 
 the best of the kind I ever was at. The room, however, was 
 disagreeably warm. First was the soup ; fish roasted and boiled ; 
 meats, gammon, fowls etc. This was the dinner. . . . The desert 
 was, first apple-pies, pudding etc. ; then iced-creams, jellies, etc. ; 
 then water-melons, musk-melons, apples, peaches, nuts. 
 
 It was the most solemn dinner I ever sat at. Not a health 
 drank ; scarce a word said until the cloth was taken away. Then 
 the President, filling a glass of wine, with great formality, drank 
 
192 The New Repjtblic 
 
 to the health of every individual by name round the table. Every- 
 body imitated him, charged glasses, and such'a buzz of " health, 
 sir," and '"' health, madam," and " thank you, sir," and " thank 
 you, madam," never had I heard before. . . . Mrs. Washington 
 at last withdrew with the ladies. 
 
 I expected the men would now begin, but the same stillness 
 remained. The President told of a New England clergyman who 
 had lost a hat and wig in passing a river called the Brunks. He 
 smiled, and everybody else laughed. He now and then said a 
 sentence or two on some common subject, and what he said was 
 not amiss. . . . There was a Mr. Smith who mentioned how 
 Homer described yEneas leaving his wife and carrying his father 
 out of flaming Troy . . . but if he had ever read it he would have 
 said Virgil. The President kept a fork in his hand, when the 
 cloth was taken away, I thought for the purpose of picking nuts. 
 He ate no nuts, however, but played with the fork, striking on 
 the edge of the table with it. We did not sit long after the ladies 
 retired. The President rose, went up stairs to drink coffee ; the 
 company followed. I took my hat and came home. 
 
 When Thomas Jefferson returned from France to take 
 up his duties as Secretary of State in Washington's cabinet 
 (March, 1790), Alexander Hamilton was already v^ell along 
 1^5^] in the development of his plans for strengthening the 
 financial status of the government.^ When Washington 
 requested from his cabinet v^itten opinions on the subject 
 of the charter of a national bank, Jefferson submitted the 
 following paper (February 15, 1791) : 
 
 ... I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on 
 this ground : That " all powers not delegated to the United 
 States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, 
 are reserved to the States or to the people " [Amendment X]. 
 To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially 
 drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of 
 
 1 For Hamilton's measures see Muzzey, An American History, 
 pp. 159-162. 
 
Federalists and Republicans 193 
 
 a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any defi- 
 nition. The incorporation of a bank, and the powers assumed by 
 this bill, have not, in my opinion, been delegated to the United 
 States by the Constitution. 
 
 I. They are not among the powers specially enumerated : 
 for these are : i st A power to lay taxes for the purpose of pay- 
 ing the debts of the United States [Art. I, Sect. VIII] ; but no 
 debt is paid by this bill, nor any tax laid. Were it a bill to raise 
 money, its origination in the Senate would condemn it by the 
 Constitution [Art. I, Sect. VII]. 
 
 2d. "To borrow money." But this bill neither borrows money 
 nor ensures the borrowing of it. The proprietors of the bank 
 will be just as free as any other money holders, to lend or not to 
 lend their money to the public. The operation proposed in the 
 bill, first to lend them two millions, and then to borrow them back 
 again, cannot change the nature of the latter act, which will still 
 be a payment, and not a loan, call it by what name you please. 
 
 3. "To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among 
 the States, and with the Indian tribes." To erect a bank, and 
 to regulate commerce, are very different acts. He who erects 
 a bank, creates a subject of commerce in its bills ; so does he 
 who makes a bushel of wheat, or digs a dollar out of the mines ; 
 yet neither of these persons regulates commerce thereby. To 
 make a thing which may be bought and sold, is not to prescribe 
 regulations for buying and selling. Accordingly, the bill does 
 not propose the measure as a regulation of trade, but as " pro- 
 ductive of considerable advantages to trade." Still less are these 
 powers covered by any other of the special enumerations. 
 
 II. Nor are they within either of the general phrases, which 
 are the two following : ^ — 
 
 I. To lay taxes to provide for the general welfare of the 
 United States. That is to say, " to lay taxes for the purpose of 
 providing for the general welfare." . . . They are not to lay 
 
 1 The second of the " general phrases " is " to make all laws which 
 shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution " the enu- 
 merated powers. Jefferson argues on this point that the convenience the 
 bank might be in the collection of taxes is not proof of either its necessity 
 or its propriety. 
 
194 ^'^^^ Nezv Reptiblic 
 
 taxes ad libitum for any purpose they please ; but only to pay the 
 debts or provide for the 7velfare of the Utiion. In like manner, * 
 they are not to do anything they please to provide for the general 
 welfare, but only to lay taxes for that purpose. To consider the 
 latter phrase, not as describing the purpose of the first, but as 
 giving a distinct and independent power to do any act they 
 please, which might be for the good of the Union, would render 
 all the preceding and subsequent enumeration of power com- 
 pletely useless. It would reduce the whole instrument to a single 
 phrase, that of instituting a Congress with power to do whatever 
 would be for the good of the United States ; and as they would 
 be the sole judges of the good or evil, it would be also a power 
 to do whatever evil they please. 
 
 It is an established rule of construction where a phrase will 
 bear either of two meanings, to give it that which will allow 
 some meaning to the other parts of the instrument, and not that 
 which would render all the others useless. Certainly no such 
 universal power was meant to be given them. It was intended 
 to lace them up straitly within the enumerated powers, and those 
 without which, as means, these powers could not be carried into 
 effect. . . . 
 
 Hamilton carried Congress with him on the bank, fund- 
 ing, and tariff bills, in spite of the able opposition led by 
 Jefferson. In the spring of 1792 he unbosomed him- 
 self to his friend Colonel Edward Carrington in a long 
 letter, intended perhaps primarily to exhibit Jefferson to 
 the people of his own state in his true light, and to ex- 
 plain to the Virginia Federalists why he had broken with 
 Madison and attacked Jefferson. 
 
 ,, , ^. Philadelphia, May 26, 1702 
 
 My dear Sir : 
 
 Believing that I possess a share of your personal friendship 
 and confidence, and yielding to that which I feel toward you ; 
 persuaded also, that our political creed is the same on two essen- 
 tial points — first the necessity of Union to the respectability 
 and happiness of this country, and second, the necessity of an 
 
Federalists and Republicans 195 
 
 efficient general government to maintain the Union, I have con- 
 cluded to unbosom myself to you on the present state of 
 political parties and views. . . . 
 
 It was not till the last session that I became unequivocally 
 convinced of the following truth : " that Mr. Madison, cooper- 
 ating with Mr. Jefferson, is at the head of a faction decidedly 
 hostile to me and my administration; and actuated by views, 
 in my judgment, subversive of the principles of good govern- 
 ment and dangerous to the Union, peace, and happiness of the 
 country." 
 
 Mr. Jefferson, with very little reserve, manifests his dislike of 
 the funding system generally ... I do not mean that he advo- 
 cates directly the undoing of what has been done, but he cen- 
 sures the whole on principles which, if they should become 
 general, could not but end in the subversion of the system. In 
 various conversations, with foreigners as well as citizens, he has 
 thrown censure on my principles of government and on my 
 measures of administration. He has predicted that the people 
 would not long tolerate my proceedings. . . . Some of those 
 whom he immediately and notoriously moves have even whis- 
 pered suspicions of the rectitude of my motives and conduct. . . . 
 When any turn of things in the community has threatened either 
 odium or embarrassment to me, he has not been able to suppress 
 the satisfaction which it gave him. . . . 
 
 I find strong confirmation in the following circumstances: 
 Freneau, the present printer of the Natiofial Gazette . . . was a 
 known Anti-federalist. It is reduced to a certainty that he was 
 brought to Philadelphia by Mr. Jefferson to be the conductor 
 of a newspaper. It is notorious that contemporarily with the 
 commencement of his paper he was a clerk in the Department 
 of State, for foreign languages. Hence a clear inference that his 
 paper has been set on foot and is conducted under the patron- 
 age and not against the views of Mr. Jefferson. What then is 
 the complexion of this paper? Let any impartial man peruse 
 the numbers down to the present day, and I never was more 
 mistaken if he does not pronounce that it is a paper devoted 
 to the subversion of me and the measures in which I have an 
 agency ; and I am little less mistaken if he does not pronounce 
 
196 The New Republic 
 
 that it is a paper of a tendency generally unfriendly to the 
 government of the United States.^ . . . 
 
 In almost all the questions, great and small, which have arisen 
 since the first session of Congress, Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madi- 
 son have been found among those who are disposed to narrow 
 the federal authority. ... In respect to foreign politics, the 
 views of these gentlemen are, in my judgment, equally [un] sound 
 and dangerous. They have a womanish attachment to France 
 and a womanish resentment against Great Britain. They would 
 draw us into the closest embrace of the former, and involve us 
 in all the consequences of her politics.^ . . . This disposition goes 
 to a length, particularly in Mr. Jefferson, of which, till lately, I 
 had no idea. ... If these gentlemen were left to pursue their 
 own course, there would be, in less than six months, an open 
 war between the United States and Great Britain. . . . 
 
 Mr. Jefferson, it is known, did not in the first instance cor- 
 dially acquiesce in the new Constitution for the United States ; 
 he had many doubts and reserves. He left this country [1784] 
 before we had experienced the imbecillities of the former 
 [Constitution, i. e. the Articles of Confederation]. . . . 
 
 In France, he saw government only on the side of its abuses. 
 He drank freely of the French philosophy, in religion, in science, 
 in politics. He came from France in the moment of a fermenta- 
 tion which he had a share in exciting. . . . He came electrified 
 with attachment to France, and with the project of knitting 
 together the two countries in the closest political bands. . . . 
 
 Another circumstance has contributed to widening the breach 
 [in American politics]. 'Tis evident beyond a question . . . that 
 Mr. Jefferson aims with ardent desire at the Presidential chair. 
 This too is an important object of the party-politics. . . . 
 
 ^ Specimens of the satirical and serious criticism of Washington's 
 administration which appeared in the Natio7ial Gazette are given by 
 A. B. Hart in his American History told by Contemporaries, Vol. Ill, 
 pp. 293 and 305. 
 
 2 Hamilton wrote this letter about a month after France, by declar- 
 ing war against Austria and Prussia, opened the quarter century of 
 strife which convulsed Europe from Russia to Portugal. 
 
Federalists and Republicans 197 
 
 A word on another point. I am told that serious apprehen- 
 sions are disseminated in your State as to the existence of a 
 monarchical party meditating the destruction of State and re- 
 publican government. If it is possible that so absurd an idea 
 can gain ground, it is necessary that it should be combatted. . . } 
 A very small number of men indeed may entertain theories less 
 republican than Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison, but I am per- 
 suaded that there is not a man among them who would not 
 regard as both criminal and visionary any attempt to subvert 
 the republican system of the country. ... As to the destruc- 
 tion of State governments, the great and real anxiety is to be 
 able to preserve the national from the too potent and counter- 
 acting influence of those governments. As to my own polit- 
 ical creed, I give it to you with the utmost sincerity. I am 
 affectionately attached to the republican theory. I desire above 
 all things to see the equality of political rights, exclusive of all 
 hereditary distinction. . . . 
 
 The Reign of Federalism 
 
 When the news of war between the French Republic 48. The neu- 
 and Great Britain reached America, President Washing- iamatTon^°^' 
 ton, in view of our close relations with France in the April 22, 1793 
 Revolutionary War and of the treaty of 1778, which bound I^^^l 
 us to an alliance with that nation (see No. 37, p. 143), sub- 
 mitted the following list of questions to each member of 
 his cabinet, ''preparatory," he v^ites, " to a meeting at 
 my house tomorrow, where I shall expect to see you at 
 9 o'clock, and to receive the result of your reflections 
 thereon." 
 
 1 Three days before Hamilton wrote this, Jefferson sent a letter to 
 Washington, in which the following sentence occurs : " This has been 
 brought about by the Monarchical federalists themselves, who having 
 been for the new government merely as a stepping stone to monarchy," 
 Jefferson, Writings, ed. P. L. Ford, Vol. VI, p. 5. 
 
198 The New Republic 
 
 Philadelphia, 18 April, 1793 
 
 I. Shall a proclamation issue for the purpose of preventing 
 interferences of the citizens of the United States in the war 
 between France and Great Britain &c. ? Shall it contain a decla- 
 ration of neutrality or not ? What shall it contain ? 
 
 II. Shall a minister from the Republic of France be received ? 
 
 III. If received, shall it be absolutely or with qualifications ; 
 and if with qualifications, of what kind ? 
 
 IV. Are the United States obliged by good faith to consider 
 the treaties heretofore made with France as applying to the 
 present situation of the parties? Ma)^ they either renounce 
 them, or hold them suspended till the government of France 
 shall be established \ 
 
 V. If they have the right, is it expedient to do either, and 
 which ? 
 
 VI. If they have an option, would it be a breach of neutrality 
 to consider the treaties still in operation ? 
 
 VII. If the treaties are to be considered as now in operation, 
 is the guarantee in the treaty of alliance applicable to a defensive 
 war only, or to war either offensive or defensive ? 
 
 VIII. Does the war in which France is engaged appear to 
 be offensive or defensive on her part? Or of a mixed and 
 equivocal character ? 
 
 IX. If of a mixed and equivocal character, does the guarantee 
 in any event apply to such a war ? 
 
 X. What is the effect of a guarantee such as that to be found 
 in the treaty of alliance between the United States and France ? 
 
 XL Does any article in either of the treaties prevent ships 
 of war, other than privateers, of the powers opposed to France 
 from coming into the ports of the United States to act as con- 
 voys to their own merchantmen ? 
 
 XII. Should the future regent of France send a minister to 
 the United States, ought he to be received ? 
 
 XIII. Is it necessary or advisable to call together the two 
 Houses of Congress, with a view to the present posture of 
 European affairs ? . . . 
 
Federalists and Republicans 199 
 
 Jefferson drew up the following memorandum of the 
 replies to these questions : 
 
 At a meeting of the heads of departments and the attorney- 
 general at the President's, April 19, 1793, to consider the fore- 
 going questions proposed by the President, it was determined 
 by all, on the first question, that a proclamation shall issue 
 forbidding our citizens to take part in any hostilities on the 
 seas, with or against any of the belligerent powers ; and warning 
 them against carrying to any such powers any of those articles 
 deemed contraband, according to the modem usage of nations ; 
 and enjoining them from all acts and proceedings inconsistent 
 with the duties of a friendly nation towards those at war. 
 
 On the second question, " Shall a minister from the Republic 
 of France be received ? " it was unanimously agreed, that he 
 shall be received. 
 
 The remaining questions were postponed for further con- 
 sideration. 
 
 President Washington accordingly issued the following 
 proclamation : 
 
 Whereas it appears, that a state of war exists between Austria, 
 Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain, and the United Netherlands, 
 on the one part, and France on the other [see p. 196, note 2] ; 
 and the duty and interest of the United States require, that they 
 should with sincerity and good faith adopt and pursue a conduct 
 friendly and impartial towards the belligerent powers ; 
 
 I have therefore thought fit by these presents to declare the 
 disposition of the United States to observe the conduct afore- 
 said towards those powers respectively, and to exhort and warn 
 the citizens of the United States carefully to avoid all acts and 
 proceedings whatsoever, which may in any manner tend to 
 contravene such disposition. 
 
 And I do hereby also make known, that whosoever of the 
 United States shall render himself liable to punishment or for- 
 feiture under the laws of nations, by committing, aiding, or 
 abetting hostilities against any of the said powers, or by carry- 
 ing to any of them those articles, which are deemed contraband 
 
200 The New Republic 
 
 \. -'• 
 by the modem usage of nations, will not receive the protection 
 of the United States against such punishment or forfeiture ; 
 and further that I have given instructions to those officers, to 
 whom it belongs, to cause prosecutions to be instituted against 
 all persons, who shall within the cognizance of the courts of 
 the United States violate the law of nations with respect to the 
 powers at war, or any of them. 
 
 In testimony whereof I have. caused the seal of the United 
 States of America to be affixed to these presents, and signed 
 the same with my hand. Done at the city of Philadelphia, the 
 22<* day of April, 1793, and of the independence of the United 
 States of America the seventeentli. 
 
 49. The When on top of the Neutrality Proclamation, Washing- 
 
 sage, AprU 3, ton's government negotiated the Jay treaty v^ith England 
 ^79S (1794)- th^ French Jacobins were persuaded that we were 
 
 [i^'O] . hostile to their new republic. Their indignation was fur- 
 4 ^^ tKer roused when the ardent republican minister, James 
 ' ■' fj Monroe, was recalled by Washington in the summer of 
 . .1/96 for overstepping his instructions ''to show our con- 
 fidence in the French Republic, without betraying the most 
 remote mark of undue complaisance." ^ The ill feeling 
 reached its culmination when the French Directory insulted 
 
 1 W. H. Trescott, The Diplomatic History of the Administrations 
 of Washington and Adams, p. 151. Trescott prints (p. 177) the letter 
 written by the Directory (the executive officials of France under the 
 Constitution of 1 795-1 799) to Monroe when he was recalled. It is dated 
 December 11, 1796, and informs Monroe that the Directors "will not 
 acknowledge .nor receive another Minister Plenipotentiary from the 
 United States, until after .the redress of the grievances demanded of the 
 American government, and which the French Republic has a right to 
 expect from it." The " grievance " was the negotiation of the Jay treaty, 
 which the French looked on as the annulment of their treaty of 1778 
 with the United States. When Monroe returned to America he published 
 a long pamphlet in vindication of his conduct as Minister at Paris, which 
 he called " A View of the Conduct of the Executive . . . connected with 
 the mission to. the French Republic during the years 1794, 5 and 6." 
 — Monroe, Writings, ed. S. M. Hamilton, Vol. Ill, pp. 383-457. 
 
Federalists and Republicans 20 1 
 
 the commissioners whom President Adams sent to. Paris in 
 1797 to attempt to restore amity. The story is told in the 
 following dispatch from the commissioners at Paris to the 
 Secretary of State, which was communicated to Congress 
 by President Adams on March 3, 1798 : 
 
 „ ^. Paris, October 22, 1707 
 
 Dear Sir : ' / :? / 
 
 All of us having arrived at Paris, on the evening of the 
 4'^ instant, on the next day we verbally and unofficially in- 
 formed the Minister of Foreign Affairs therewith, and desired 
 to know when he would be at leisure to receive one of our 
 secretaries with the official notification. He appointed the next 
 day, at two o'clock, when Major Rutfedge waited on him with 
 the following letter : 
 
 Citizen Minister : The United States of America being desirous 
 of terminating all differences between them and the French Republic 
 . . . the President has nominated, and, by and with' the consent of 
 the Senate, has appointed us, the undersigned ... Envoys Extraor- 
 dinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary to the French Republic, for 
 the purpose of accomplishing this great object. . . . We wish, Citizen 
 Minister, to wait on you at any hour you will be pleased to appoint, 
 to present the copy of our letters of credence ; and whilst we evince 
 our sincere and ardent desire for the speedy restoration of friendship 
 and harmony between the two Republics, we flatter ourselves with 
 your concurrence in the accomplishment of this desirable event. . . . 
 
 Charles C. Pinckney 
 John Marshall 
 
 Paris, October 6 Elbridge Gerry 
 
 To this letter the Minister gave a verbal answer that he 
 would see us the day after the morrow (the 8'^) at oae o'clock. 
 Accordingly at that day and hour we waited on the Minister at 
 his house. ... He informed us " that the Directory had required; 
 him to make a report relative to the situation of the United 
 States with regard to France, . . . which would be finished in 
 a few days, when he would let us know what steps were to 
 follow." . . . The next day cards of hospitality were sent us 
 and our secretaries, in a style suitable to our official character. . . . 
 
202 The New Republic 
 
 In the morning of October the i8"\ M. W^ called on General 
 Pinckney and informed him that a M. X who was in Paris, 
 and whom the General had seen was a gentleman of consider- 
 able credit and reputation and that we might place great reli- 
 ance on him. 
 
 In the evening of the same day, M. X called on General 
 Pinckney, and after having sat some time whispered to him 
 that he had a message from M. Talleyrand to communicate 
 when he was at leisure. . . . General Pinckney said that he 
 should be glad to hear it. M. X replied that the Directory, 
 and particularly two of the members of it, were exceedingly 
 irritated at some passages of the President's Speech,^ and de- 
 sired that they should be softened, and that this step would be 
 necessary previous to our reception. That, besides this, a sum 
 of money was required for the pocket of the Directory and 
 Ministers which would be at the disposal of M. Talleyrand; 
 and that a loan would also be insisted on. M. X said that if 
 we acceded to these measures, M. Talleyrand had no doubt 
 that all our differences with France might be accommodated. 
 On inquiry, M. X could not point out the particular passages 
 of the Speech that had given offence, nor the quantum of the 
 loan, but mentioned that the douceur for the pocket, was 
 1,200,000 livres, about 50,000 pounds sterling. ... 
 
 On the morning of the 20'^ M. X called and said that M. Y, 
 the confidential friend of M. Talleyrand, instead of communi- 
 cating with us through M. X, would see us himself and make 
 
 1 The names of the agents who dealt with our Commissioners were 
 given in the report from Paris, but Secretary of State Pickering with- 
 held them in the documents he submitted to Congress, supplying their 
 places by the letters W, X, V, and Z. The M. before these letters in 
 the text stands for the French word Monsieur (Mr.). 
 
 2 The speech to the special session of Congress, convened May 16, 
 1797. In it Adams reviews the behavior of France, and says that it 
 " ought to be repelled with a decision which shall convince France and 
 the world that we are not a degraded people, humiliated under a colonial 
 spirit of fear, and sense of inferiority, fitted to be the miserable instru- 
 ments of foreign influence, and regardless of national honor, character, 
 and interest." — Richardson, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 
 Vol. I, p. 235. 
 
Federalists and Republicans 203 
 
 the necessary explanations. We appointed to meet him the 
 evening of the 20"' at seven o'clock, in General Marshall's 
 room. At seven M. Y and M. X entered. ... M. Y stated to 
 us explicitly and repeatedly that he was clothed with no author- 
 ity, that he was not a diplomatic character, that he was only 
 the friend of M. Talleyrand, and trusted by him. . . . He then 
 took out of his pocket a French translation of the President's 
 speech, the parts of which, objected to by the Directory were 
 marked. . . . On reading the speech, M. Y dilated very much 
 upon the keenness of the resentment that it had produced, and 
 expatiated largely on the satisfaction he said was indispensably 
 necessary as a preliminary to negotiation. " But," said he, '' Gen- 
 tlemen, I will not disguise from you that, this satisfaction being 
 made, the essential part of the treaty remains to be adjusted ; 
 il faut de I'argent — il faut beaucoup d'argent; " you must pay 
 mofiey, you must pay a great deal of 7noney. He spoke much of 
 the force, the honor, and the jealous republican pride of France; 
 and represented to us strongly the advantage we should derive 
 from the neutrality thus to be purchased. He said that the 
 receipt of the money might be so disguised as to prevent its 
 being considered a breach of neutrality by England, and thus 
 save us from being embroiled with that Power. . . . These 
 propositions being considered . . . M. Talleyrand trusted that, 
 by his influence with the Directory, he could prevail on the 
 Government to receive us. . . . 
 
 The nature of the above communication will evince the neces- 
 sity of secrecy ; and we have promised Messrs. X and Y that 
 their names shall in no event be made public. 
 
 We have the honor to be etc., C. C. Pinckney » 
 
 J. Marshall 
 E. Gerry 
 
 M. Talleyrand advised Pinckney and Marshall to '' quit so. a plea 
 the territory, of the French Republic " and let him carry o°ctobeT2' 
 on negotiations with Gerry (the democratic member of the ^798 
 commission) alone. When Adams heard of this high- I^^il 
 handed *' diplomacy," he wrote to Congress (June 21, 
 
204 The New Republic 
 
 1798) : " I will never send another Minister to France 
 without assurances that he will be received, respected, and 
 honored as the representative of a great, free, powerful, 
 and independent nation." Preparations for war were made, 
 and George Washington was appointed commander of 
 the army. Joel Barlow, who had gone to Paris ten years 
 earlier as agent for the Ohio Land Company (see p. 186 
 above), wrote the following letter to Washington in the 
 vain attempt to stave off the war : 
 
 Paris, 2^ October, 1798 
 Sir, 
 
 On hearing of your nomination, for the second time, as com- 
 mander in chief of the American armies, I rejoice at it; not 
 because I believe that the war which this nomination contem- 
 plates is yet unavoidable, and that it will furnish an occasion 
 for the further display of your military talents ; but because it 
 may enable you to exert your influence to a greater effect in 
 preventing the war. . . . 
 
 Perhaps few men who cannot pretend to have been in the 
 secrets of either government, are in a better situation than 
 myself to judge of the motives of both ; to assign the true 
 causes of their unhappy misunderstanding ; or to appreciate 
 their present dispositions, pretensions, and wishes. I am cer- 
 tain no one labors more sincerely for the restoration of harmony, 
 on terms honorable to the United States, and advantageous to 
 the cause of liberty. 
 
 I will not in this place go over the history of pa5t transactions. 
 It would be of little use. The object is to seize the malady in 
 its present state, and try to arrest its progress. The dispute at 
 this moment may be characterized simply and literally a mis- 
 understa7iding. I cannot persuade myself to give it a harsher 
 name, as it applies to either government. It is clear that neither 
 of them has an interest in going to war with the other ; and I 
 am convinced that neither of them has the inclination. . . . 
 
 But each government . . . believes the other determined on 
 war, and ascribes all its conduct to a deep-rooted hostility. . . . 
 
Federalists and Republicans 205 
 
 By what fatality is it that a calamity so dreadful is to be 
 rendered inevitable because it is thought so ? Both governments 
 have tongues, and both have ears. Why will they not speak ? 
 Why will they not listen ? The causes that have hitherto pre- 
 vented them are not difficult to assign. . . . But I will avoid 
 speaking of any past provocations on either side. The point 
 which I wish to establish in your mind is, that the French Direc- 
 tory is at present sincerely desirous of restoring harmony be- 
 tween this country and the United States, on terms advantageous 
 to both parties. . . . 
 
 You will judge whether it does not comport with the inde- 
 pendence of the United States, and the dignity of their gov- 
 ernment, to send another minister, to form new treaties with 
 the French Republic. . . . 
 
 Were I writing to a young general, whose name was yet to 
 be created, I might deem it vain to ask him to stifle in its birth 
 a war on which he had founded his hopes of future honors. 
 But you, Sir, having already earned and acquired all that can 
 render a man great and happy, can surely have no object of 
 ambition, but to render your country so. To engage your in- 
 fluence in favor of a new attempt at negotiation, before you 
 draw your sword, I thought it only necessary to convince you 
 that such attempt would be well received here, and probably 
 attended with success. . . . 
 
 I am not accustomed to interpose my advice in the adminis- 
 tration of any country ; and should not have done it now, did 
 I not believe it my duty, as a citizen of my own and a friend 
 to all others. I see two great nations rushing on each other's 
 bayonettes, without any cause of contention but a misunder- 
 standing. I shudder at the prospect, and wish to throw myself 
 between the vans, and suspend the onset, till a word of explana- 
 tion/can pass. ... ^ , -r. , 
 I / . Joel Barlow 
 
 The strife between Federalists and Republicans broke 5i. The Ken- 
 up Washington's cabinet, divided the country into bitterly virgfnS^ res- 
 hostile factions, and culminated in the eventful year 1798, oiutions, 
 
 '^ 1798-1799 
 
 when the Federalists passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, ,^^^, 
 
2o6 The New Republic 
 
 and the Republicans replied by the Kentucky and Virginia 
 Resolutions, drawn up by Jefferson and Madison respec- 
 tively. Both sets of resolutions were sent to the other 
 states of the Union for approval ; but not one of the seven 
 replies received was favorable. Kentucky then contented 
 herself by reaflfirming her position, with the addition of a 
 new resolution (November 22, 1799), while Virginia simply 
 referred the matter to a committee. The Virginia Reso- 
 lutions of 1798 and the Kentucky Resolution of 1799 
 follow : 
 
 In the House of Delegates 
 Friday, December 21, 1798 
 
 [i.] Resolved, That the General Assembly of Virginia doth 
 unequivocally express a firm resolution to maintain and defend 
 the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of 
 this State, against every aggression foreign or domestic ; and 
 that they will support the Government of the United States in 
 all measures warranted by the former. 
 
 [2 .] That this Assembly most solemnly declares a warm attach- 
 ment to the Union of the States, to maintain which it pledges 
 all its powers ; and that, for this end, it is their duty to watch 
 over and oppose every infraction of those principles which 
 constitute the only basis of that Union, because a faithful 
 observance of them can alone secure its existence and the 
 public happiness. 
 
 [3.] That this Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily 
 declare that it views the powers of the Federal Government as 
 resulting from the compact to which the States are parties, as 
 limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument con- 
 stituting that compact . . . and that, in case of a deliberate, pal- 
 pable, and dangerous exercise of other powers not granted by 
 the said compact, the States, who are parties thereto, have the 
 right and are in duty bound, to interpose for arresting the 
 progress of the evil. . . . 
 
 [4.] That the General Assembly doth also express its deep 
 regret, that a spirit has in sundry instances been manifested by 
 
Federalists and Republicans 207 
 
 the Federal Government to enlarge its powers by forced con- 
 structions of the constitutional charter which defines them . . . 
 and so to consolidate the States, by degrees, into one sover- 
 eignty, the obvious tendency and the inevitable result of which 
 would be to transform the present republican system of the 
 United States into an absolute, or, at best, a mixed monarchy. 
 
 [5.] That the General Assembly doth particularly protest 
 against the palpable and alarming infractions of the Constitu- 
 tion in the two late cases of the "Alien and Sedition Acts," 
 passed at the last session of Congress ; the first of which exer- 
 cises a power nowhere delegated to the Federal Government 
 . . . and the other of which acts exercises, in like manner, a 
 power not delegated by the Constitution, but, on the contrary, 
 expressly and positively forbidden by one of the amendments 
 thereto — a power which more than any other, ought to produce 
 universal alarm, because it is levelled against the right of freely 
 examining public characters and measures, and of free com- 
 munication among the people thereon [Amd't I]. . . . 
 
 [6.] That this State having by its Convention which ratified 
 the Federal Constitution expressly declared that, among other 
 essential rights, " the liberty of conscience and of the press 
 cannot be cancelled, abridged, restrained, or modified by any 
 authority of the United States,'* ... it would mark a reproach- 
 ful inconsistency and criminal degeneracy, if an indifference 
 were now shown to the palpable violation of one of the rights 
 thus declared. . . . 
 
 [7.] That the good people of this Commonwealth having 
 ever felt and continuing to feel the most sincere affection for 
 their bretheren of the other States . . . the General Assembly 
 doth solemnly appeal to the like dispositions of the other States, 
 in confidence that they will concur with this Commonwealth in 
 declaring, as it does hereby declare, that the acts aforesaid are 
 unconstitutional ; and that the necessary and proper measures 
 will be taken by each for cooperating with this State, in main- 
 taining unimpaired the authorities, rights, and liberties reserved 
 to the States respectively, or to the people. 
 
 [8.] That the Governor be desired to transmit a copy of the 
 foregoing resolutions to the Executive authority of each of the 
 
208 The New Republic 
 
 other States, with a request that the same may be communi- 
 cated to the Legislature thereof ; and that a copy be furnished 
 to each of the Senators and Representatives representing this 
 State in the Congress of the United States. 
 
 The additional resolution adopted by the Kentucky leg- 
 islature in 1799, after the unfavorable response to the 
 resolutions of 1 798, reads : 
 
 Resolved, . . . That if those who administer the General 
 Government be permitted to transgress the limits fixed by that 
 compact [the Constitution], by a total disregard to the special 
 delegations of power therein contained, an annihilation of the 
 State Governments, and the creation upon their ruins of a Gen- 
 eral Consolidated Government, will be the inevitable consequence 
 — that the principle and construction contended for by sundry 
 of the state legislatures, that the General Government is the ex- 
 clusive judge of the extent of the powers delegated to it, stop 
 nothing [short] of despotism^ since the discretion of those who 
 administer the government, and not the Constitidion, would be 
 the measure of their powers : That the several states who formed 
 that instrument being sovereign and independent, have the un- 
 questionable right to judge of the infraction ; and, That a Nul- 
 lification by those sovereignties, of all unauthorized acts done under 
 color of that instrument is the rightful remedy : That this Com- 
 monwealth does, under the most deliberate reconsideration, 
 declare, that the said Alien and Sedition Laws are, in their 
 opinion, palpable violations of the said Constitution ; . . . That 
 although this commonwealth, as a party to the federal compact, 
 will bow to the laws of the Union, yet, it does, at the same 
 [time] declare, that it will not now, or ever hereafter, cease to 
 oppose in a constitutional manner, every attempt at what quar- 
 ter soever offered, to violate that compact. And, finally, in order 
 that no pretext or 'arguments may be drawn from a supposed 
 acquiescence, on the part of this Commonwealth in the consti- 
 tutionality of those laws, and be thereby used as precedents for 
 similar future violations of the Federal compact — this Common- 
 wealth does now enter against them its solemn PROTEST. 
 
Federalists and Republicans 209 
 
 Both Jefferson and Madison lived to a great age, and 
 many years after the bitter contests of the first quarter of 
 a century of our country's history, each gave his explana- 
 tion of the purpose of the famous Kentucky and Virginia 
 Resolutions. Jefferson wrote in a letter to J. C. Brecken- 
 ridge, December 11, 1821 : 
 
 At the time when the Republicans of our country were so 
 much alarmed at the proceedings of the Federal ascendency in 
 Congress, in the Executive and the Judiciary departments, it 
 became a matter of serious consideration how head could be 
 made against their enterprises on the Constitution. The lead- 
 ing Republicans in Congress found themselves of no use there, 
 browbeaten as they were by a bold and overwhelming majority. 
 They concluded to retire from that field, take a stand in their 
 state legislatures, and endeavor there to arrest their [Federalists] 
 progress. The Alien and Sedition Laws furnished the particular 
 occasion. The sympathy between Virginia and Kentucky was 
 more cordial and more intimately confidential than between any 
 other two States of republican policy. Mr. Madison came into 
 the Virginia legislature. I was then in the Vice-Presidency, and 
 could not leave my station ; but your father, Col. Nicholas, 
 and myself happening to be together, the engaging the coopera- 
 tion of Kentucky in an energetic protestation against the con- 
 stitutionality of those laws became a subject of consultation. 
 Those gentlemen pressed me strongly to sketch resolutions for 
 that purpose, your father undertaking to introduce them into 
 that legislature, with a solemn assurance, which I strictly re- 
 quired, that it should not be known from what quarter they 
 came. I drew and delivered them to him, and in keeping their 
 origin secret he fulfilled his pledge of honor. 
 
 Ten years later (March 27, 1831) the aged Madison 
 wrote to James Robertson : 
 
 The veil which was originally over the draft of the resolutions 
 offered in 1798 to the Virg^ Assembly having been long since 
 removed, I may say in answer to your enquiries that it was 
 
2IO 
 
 The Neiv Republic 
 
 52. Wash- 
 ington's 
 appeal to 
 Patrick 
 Henry, Jan- 
 uary 15, 
 1799 
 
 [173] 
 
 [they were] penned by me. . . . With respect to the terms fol- 
 lowing the term " unconstitutional" — viz., "not law, but null, 
 void and of no force or effect," which were stricken out of the 
 y**" resolution, my memory cannot positively decide whether 
 they were or were not in the original draft. ... On the pre- 
 sumption that they were in the draft as it went from me, I am 
 confident they must have been regarded only as giving accumu- 
 lated emphasis to the declaration that the alien and sedition 
 acts had in the opinion of the Assembly violated the Constitu- 
 tion of the U.S., and not that the addition of them could annul 
 the acts or sanction a resistance of them. The Resolution was 
 expressly declaratory^ and proceeding from the Legislature 
 only,^ which was not even a party to the Constitution, could be 
 declaratory of opinion only. 
 
 A few weeks after the publication of the Kentucky and 
 Virginia Resolutions, Washington, greatly disturbed over 
 the attacks on the administration of his Federalist suc- 
 cessor, John Adams, and alarmed by language of a state 
 legislature which spoke of acts of Congress as "not law 
 but altogether void and of no force," and " palpable in- 
 fractions of the Constitution," wrote to ex-Governor 
 Patrick Henry of Virginia, urging him to run for a seat 
 in Congress or in his state legislature, where he could 
 help rescue the country from the pending evil. 
 
 Confidential 
 
 Mount Vernon, 15 Jan. 1799 
 
 Dear Sir 
 
 At the threshold of this letter, I ought to make an apology 
 for its contents. ... It would be a waste of time to bring to 
 
 1 The astute Maciison saw at the time the inconsistency of protest 
 by a State Legislature. He wrote to Jefferson, December 29, 1798: 
 " Have you ever considered thoroughly the distinction between the 
 power of the State and that of the Legislatti?-e, on questions relating to 
 the federal pact? On the supposition that the former is clearly the 
 ultimate Judge of infractions, it does not follow that the latter is the 
 
Federalists and Republicans 2 1 1 
 
 the view of a person of your observation & discernment, the 
 endeavors of a certain party among us, to disquiet the Public 
 mind with unfounded alarms ; — to arraign every act of the 
 Administration ; — to set the People at varience with their 
 Government ; — and to embarrass all its measures. — Equally 
 useless would it be, to predict what must be the inevitable con- 
 sequences of such policy if it cannot be arrested. — 
 
 Unfortunately, and extremely do I regret it, the State of Vir- 
 ginia has taken the lead in this opposition. ... It has been said, 
 that a great mass of the Citizens of this State are well affected, 
 notwithstanding, to the General Government and the Union ; — 
 and I am willing to believe it — nay do believe it. . . . But at 
 such a crisis as this, when everything dear & valuable to us is 
 assailed ; when this Party hang upon the Wheels of Govern- 
 ment as a dead weight, opposing every measure that is calculated 
 for defence & self preservation ; — abetting the nefarious views 
 of another Nation [France], upon our rights ; — when measures 
 are systematically and pertenaciously pursued, which must even- 
 tually dissolve the Union or produce coercion — I say, when 
 these things have become so obvious, ought characters who are 
 best able to rescue their Country from the pending evils to re- 
 main at home.^ Rather, ought they not to come forward, and 
 by their talents and influence stand in the breach wh. such con- 
 duct has made on the Peace and happiness of this country, and 
 oppose the widening of it ? . . . 
 
 I come now, my good Sir, to the object of my letter — 
 which is — to express a hope, and an earnest wish, that you 
 wd. come forward at the ensuing Elections (if not for Congress, 
 which you may think would take you too long from home) as a 
 Candidate for representative in the General Assembly of this 
 Commonwealth.^ . . . 
 
 legitimate organ, especially as a Convention was the organ by which 
 the compact was made." — Works, Vol. VI, p. 328, note. 
 
 ^ Henry took Washington's advice and was elected in the spring of 
 1799 to the Virginia Assembly; but he died (June 6, 1799) before tak- 
 ing his seat. He had previously declined the offices of Secretary of 
 State (1795), Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1795), Governor of 
 Virginia (1796), and Minister to France (1799). 
 
212 The New Reptiblic 
 
 If I have erroneously supposed that your sentiments on 
 these subjects are in unison with mine ; — or if I have assumed 
 a liberty which the occasion does not warrant, I must conclude 
 as I began, with praying that my motives may be received as an 
 apology ; and that my fear, that the tranquillity of the Union, 
 and of this State in particular, is hastening to an awful crisis, 
 have extorted them from me. 
 
 With great, and very sincere regard and respect, — I am — 
 
 l~)ear sir 
 
 Your Most Obedt & Very H^'^ Serv^ 
 
 .. . , XT T. G° Washington 
 
 Patrick Henry Esq'' ^ 
 
 The Jeffersonian Policies 
 
 53. The dis- The completion of the Constitution of the United States 
 CoiumbL ^ w^s unexpectedly celebrated by the first voyage of the 
 river, 1792 American flag around the world. On September 23, 1787, 
 t^^^l Captains Gray and Kendrick sailed from Boston Harbor 
 in the ships Cohtmbia and Washington^ and doubling Cape 
 Horn, collected furs on the northwestern coast of America 
 for the Chinese trade. Gray, in the Columbia, sailed to 
 Canton, and continuing his westward journey around the 
 globe, brought his cargo of tea into Boston Harbor to the 
 sound of a rousing welcome on August 10, 1790.1 He 
 started to repeat his profitable voyage in September, 1 790, 
 fortified by letters from Governor Hancock of Massachu- 
 setts and President Washington ; and, while on the north- 
 western coast, discovered and sailed into the mouth of the 
 broad river which bears his good ship's name. The dis- 
 covery of the Columbia River established the earliest and 
 best claim of the United States to the great Oregon region. 
 The following account is from the log book of the Columbia : 
 
 ^ A charming narrative of the voyages of the Cohimbia, illustrated by 
 valuable drawings, was published by the Reverend E. G. Porter in the 
 New England Magazine for June, 1892, the Oregon centennial year. 
 
Federalists and Republicans 213 
 
 May 7*^ 1792 — Being within six miles of land, saw an en- 
 trance in the same, which had a very good appearance of a 
 harbor. . . . Made sail on the ship; stood in for the shore. We 
 soon saw from our mast-head a passage in between the sand- 
 bars. ... At five p.m. came to in five fathoms water, sandy 
 bottom with a safe harbor, well sheltered from the sea by long 
 sand-bars and spits. Our latitude observed this day was 
 46° 58' north. 
 
 May I o*^ — Fresh breezes and pleasant weather ; many 
 natives alongside. At noon all the canoes left us. . . . 
 
 May II*'' — ... At 4 a.m. saw the entrance of our desired 
 port bearing east-south-east, distance six leagues. ... At eight 
 a.m. run in east-north-east between the breakers, having from 
 five to seven fathoms of water. When we were over the bar, 
 we found this to be a large river of fresh water, up which we 
 steered. Many canoes came alongside. ... At i p.m. the en- 
 trance between the bars bore west-south-west, distance ten miles ; 
 the north side of the river a half a mile distant from the ship ; 
 the south side of the same two and a half miles' distance ; a vil- 
 lage on the north side of the river, west by north, distance three 
 quarters of a mile. Vast numbers of natives came alongside ; 
 people employed in pumping the salt water out of our water 
 casks, in order to fill with fresh, while the ship floated in. . . . 
 
 May 14*'' — Fresh gales and cloudy; many natives along- 
 side ; at noon weighed and came to sail, standing up the river 
 north-east by east ; we found the channel very narrow. At four 
 p.m. we had sailed upwards of twelve or fifteen miles, when the 
 channel was so very narrow that it was almost impossible to 
 keep in it, having from three to eighteen fathoms of water, 
 sandy bottom. At half-past four the ship took ground, but she 
 did not stay long before she came off, without any assistance. 
 We backed her off stern foremost, into three fathoms. . . . The 
 jolly-boat was sent to sound the channel out, but found it not 
 navigable any farther up ; so, of course, we must have taken 
 the wrong channel. So ends, with rainy weather ; many natives 
 alongside. . . . 
 
 May I g*"" — Fresh wind and clear weather. Early a number 
 of canoes came alongside ; seamen and tradesmen employed in 
 
214 ^^^ iV^w^ Republic 
 
 their various departments. Captain Gray gave this river the 
 name of Columbians River, and the north side of the entrance. 
 Cape Hancock ; the south, Adams's Point. 
 
 May 2 o"' — ... At one p.m. (being full sea), took up the anchor 
 and made sail, standing down river. ... At five p.m. we were 
 out, clear of all the bars and in twenty fathoms water. ... At 
 eight Cape Hancock bore south-east, distant three leagues. . . . 
 
 Captain Gray's letter from President Washington reads 
 as follows : 
 
 To all Emperors, Kings, Sovereign princes, State and Regents 
 a?id to their 7'espective officers civil and ?nilita?y, and to all others 
 whom it may concern : 
 
 I, George Washington, President of the United States of 
 America, do make known that Robert Gray, Captain of a ship 
 called the Columbia, of the burden of about 230 tons, is a citi- 
 zen of the United States, and that the said ship which he com- 
 mands belongs to the citizens of the United States ; and as I 
 wish that the said Robert Gray may prosper in all his lawful 
 affairs, I do request all the before mentioned, and each of them 
 separately, when the said Robert Gray shall arrive with his 
 vessel and cargo, that they will be pleased to receive him with 
 kindness and treat him in a becoming manner, &c., and thereby 
 I shall consider myself obliged. 
 
 Sept. 16, 1790 — New York City 
 
 Ge" Washington 
 
 President 
 Thomas Jefferson 
 Secretary of State 
 
 54. A peti- The transfer of the Louisiana territory from France to 
 habitents^of' ^^ United States in 1803 has been called ''the largest 
 
 Louisiana, transaction in real estate that the world has ever seen.'* It 
 
 1804 
 
 fi78i "^^ ^^^^ doubled the original area of our country but by 
 its incorporation of alien peoples it gave rise to serious 
 problems of government. The third article of the treaty 
 
Federalists and Republicans 2 1 5 
 
 read : " The inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be in- 
 corporated in the Union of the United States, and admitted 
 as soon as possible, according to the principles of the Fed- 
 eral Constitution to the enjoyment of all the rights, advan- 
 tages, and immunities of citizens of the United States." . . . 
 But the law passed in March, 1804, by Congress, providing 
 for the territorial government was so poor a promise of the 
 fulfillment of this pledge that the following petition was 
 forwarded by the people of the territory to Congress. The 
 author was Edward Livingston, younger brother of Robert 
 R. Livingston, who, with special envoy Monroe, had nego- 
 tiated the purchase treaty. Edward Livingston removed to 
 Louisiana soon after the purchase, and did the people of 
 Louisiana a lasting service by recasting their old Spanish 
 and French laws into a code suitable for a state of the 
 American Union. 
 
 We, the subscribers, planters, merchants, and other inhabit- 
 ants of Louisiana, respectfully approach the Legislature of the 
 United States with a memorial of our rights, a remonstrance 
 against certain laws which contravene them, and a petition for 
 that redress to which the laws of nature, sanctioned by positive 
 stipulation, have entitled us. . . . 
 
 Persuaded that a free people would acquire territory only to 
 extend the blessings of freedom, that an enlightened nation 
 would never destroy those principles on which its Government 
 was founded, and that their Representatives would disdain 
 to become the instruments of oppression, we calculated with 
 certainty that their first act of sovereignty would be a commu- 
 nication of all the blessings they enjoyed. ... It was early 
 understood that we were to be American Citizens ; this satisfied 
 our wishes. . . . We knew that it was impossible to be citizens 
 of the United States, without enjoying a personal freedom, pro- 
 tection for property, and, above all, the privileges of a free 
 Representative Government. ... 
 
2i6 The New Reptiblic 
 
 With a firm persuasion that these engagements [of the 
 treaty] were to be fulfilled, we passed under your jurisdiction 
 with a joy bordering on enthusiasm. . . . Even the evils of a 
 military and absolute authority were acquiesced in, because 
 it indicated an eagerness to complete the transfer, and place 
 beyond the reach of accident the union we mutually desired. . . . 
 But we cannot conceal, we ought not to dissemble, that the 
 first project presented for the government of this country 
 tended to lessen our enthusiasm . . . and to fix our attention 
 on present evils, while it rendered us less sanguine as to the 
 future. . . . 
 
 Disavowing any language but that of respectful remonstrance, 
 disdaining any other but that which befits a manly assertion of 
 our rights, we pray leave to examine the law for erecting Loui- 
 siana into two Territories and providing for the temporary gov- 
 ernment thereof, to compare its provisions with our rights, and 
 its whole scope with the letter and spirit of the treaty which 
 binds us to the United States.^ 
 
 The first section erects the country south of the -i^-X)^ degree 
 into a Territory of the United States, by the name of the Territory 
 of Orleans. The second gives us a Governor appointed for 
 three years by the President of the United States. The fourth 
 vests in him and in a council, also chosen by the President, all 
 Legislative power, subject to revision by Congress. . . . And 
 a fifth establishes a judiciary ; . . . The judges of the superior 
 court are appointed by the President, to continue in office 
 four years. 
 
 This is a summary of our constitution . . . and this is the 
 promise performed, which was made by our first magistrate in 
 your name " that you would receive us as brothers, and hasten 
 to extend to us a participation in those invaluable rights which 
 had formed the basis of your unexampled prosperity." . . . 
 
 Is it necessary for us to demonstrate that this act does not 
 " incorporate us in the Union," that it vests us with none of the 
 " rights," gives us no '' advantages," and deprives us of all the 
 " immunities " of American citizens ? . . . 
 
 1 The text of the treaty can be found in the Old South Leaflets, 
 Vol.VI, No. 128. 
 
Federalists and Republicans 2 1 7 
 
 A Governor is to be placed over us whom we have not chosen, 
 whom we do not even know. . . . This Governor is vested with 
 all executive and almost unlimited legislative power. . . . 
 
 Taxation without representation, an obligation to obey laws 
 without any voice in their formation, the undue influence of the 
 executive upon legislative proceedings, and a dependent judiciary, 
 formed, we believe very prominent articles in the list of griev- 
 ances complained of by the United States at the commencement 
 of their glorious contest for freedom. . . . They formed, as your 
 country then unanimously asserted, the only rational basis on 
 which Government could rest. . . . 
 
 Were the patriots who composed your councils mistaken in 
 their political principles ? Did the heroes who died in their defence 
 seal a false creed with their blood ? . . . Do political axioms on 
 the Atlantic become problems when transferred to the shores 
 of the Mississippi? Where, we ask respectfully, where is the 
 circumstance that is to exclude us from a participation in those 
 rights .''... Many of us are native citizens of the United States 
 who have participated in that kind of knowledge which is there 
 spread among the people ; the others generally are men who 
 will not suffer by a comparison with the population of any other 
 colony. . . . For our love of order and submission to the laws 
 we can confidently appeal to the whole history of our settlement. 
 . . . Many individuals possessing a property and rank, which 
 suppose a liberal education, were among the first settlers. . . . 
 Their descendants now respectfully call for the evidence which 
 proves that they have so far degenerated as to become totally 
 incompetent to the task of legislation. . . . 
 
 Deeply impressed, therefore, with a persuasion that our rights 
 need only be stated to be recognized and allowed ; that the 
 highest glory of a free nation is a communication of the blessings 
 of freedom ; and that its best reputation is derived from a sacred 
 regard to treaties ; we pray you, Representatives of the people, 
 to consult your own fame and our happiness, by a prompt atten- 
 tion to our prayer. . . . Annexed to your country by the course 
 of political events, it depends upon you to determine whether 
 we shall pay the cold homage of reluctant subjects, or render 
 the free allegiance of citizens. . . . 
 
2l8 
 
 The New Republic 
 
 We, therefore, respectfully pray that so much of the law above- 
 mentioned, as provides for the temporary government of this 
 country, as divides it into two Territories, and prohibits the im- 
 portation of slaves, be repealed. And that prompt and efficacious 
 measures may be taken to incorporate the inhabitants of Louisi- 
 ana into the Union of the United States, and admit them to all 
 the rights, privileges, and immunities, of the citizens thereof. . . . 
 
 P. Sauve 
 L. Debigny 
 
 Destrehan 
 
 [177] 
 
 About three months before the Louisiana territory was 
 purchased from France, Jefferson, by a special message, 
 persuaded Congress to sanction and support a scientific 
 exploring expedition from the Missouri River to the Pacific 
 Coast — a scheme in which he had been interested for 
 twenty years. ^ Jefferson selected Meriwether Lewis, his 
 private secretary, to lead the expedition. His instructions 
 to Lewis are contained in a letter of June 20, 1 803 : 
 
 To Meriwether Lewis ^ Esquire^ Captain of the i'^ regiment of 
 infantry of the l/jiited States of America : Your situation as 
 Secretary of the President of the United States has made you 
 acquainted with the objects of my confidential message of 
 Jan. 18, 1803, to the legislature. You have seen the act they 
 passed, which, tho' expressed in general terms, was meant to 
 sanction those objects, and you are appointed to carry them into 
 execution. 
 
 Instruments for ascertaining by celestial observations the 
 geography of the country thro' which you will pass, have already 
 been provided, light articles for barter, & presents among the 
 Indians, arms for your attendants, say for from 10 to 12 men, 
 boats, tents, & other travelling apparatus, with ammunition, 
 
 1 In 1783 Jefferson had proposed to George Rogers Clark, the hero 
 of Vincennes, to head an expedition " for exploring the Country from 
 the Mississippi to California." — Original Journals of the Lewis and 
 Clark Expedition, ed. R. G. Thwaites, Vol. I, p. xx. 
 
Federalists and Republicans 219 
 
 medicine, surgical instruments & provisions you will have pre- 
 pared with such aids as the Secretary at War can yield in his 
 department ; & from him also you will receive authority to en- 
 gage among our troops, by voluntary agreement, the number 
 of attendants above mentioned, over whom you, as their com- 
 manding officer, are invested with all the powers the laws give 
 in such a case. . . . 
 
 Your mission has been communicated to the Ministers here 
 from France, Spain, & Great Britain, and through them to their 
 governments : and such assurances given them as to it's objects 
 as we trust will satisfy them.-^ . . . 
 
 The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, 
 & such principal stream of it, as, by it's course & communication 
 with the waters of the Pacific Ocean, may offer the most direct 
 & practicable water communication across this continent, for the 
 purpose of commerce. . . . 
 
 The commerce which may be carried on with the people in- 
 habiting the line you will pursue, renders a knolege [knowledge] 
 of these people important. You will therefore endeavor to make 
 yourself acquainted . . . with the names of the nations & their 
 numbers ; the extent and limits of their possessions ; their re- 
 lations with other tribes or nations ; their language, traditions, 
 monuments ; their ordinary occupations in agriculture, fishing, 
 hunting, war, arts, & the implements for these ; their food, cloth- 
 ing, and domestic accomodations ; the diseases prevalent among 
 them, and the remedies they use ; moral & physical circumstances 
 which distinguish them from the tribes we know ; peculiarities 
 in their laws, customs, and dispositions ; the articles of commerce 
 they may need or furnish, & to what extent. . . . 
 
 Other object[s] worthy of notice will be the soil & face of 
 the country, it's growth & vegetable productions ; especially those 
 not of the U.S. ; the animals of the country generally, & espe- 
 cially those not known in the U.S. ; the remains and accounts 
 of any which may [be] deemed rare or extinct; the mineral 
 
 1 The student must bear in mind that until we took over the Louisiana 
 territory from France, some time after this letter was written, all of the 
 land west of the Mississippi was in the hands or subject to the claims 
 of the foreign powers mentioned here by Jefferson. 
 
220 The Nezv Republic 
 
 productions of every kind; but more particularly metals, lime- 
 stone, pit coal & saltpetre ; . . . Volcanic appearances ; climate 
 as characterized by the thermometer ... by the winds prevailing 
 at different seasons, the dates at which particular plants put forth 
 or lose their flowers, or leaf, times of appearance of particular 
 birds, reptiles or insects. . . . 
 
 In all your intercourse with the natives treat them in the most 
 friendly & conciliatory manner which their own conduct will ad- 
 mit ; allay all jealousies as to the object of your journey ; satisfy 
 them of it's innocence, make them acquainted with the position, 
 extent, character, peaceable & commercial dispositions of the 
 U.S. of our will to be neighborly, friendly & useful to them. . . . 
 
 Should you reach the Pacific Ocean . . . inform yourself of 
 the circumstances which may decide whether the furs of those 
 parts may not be collected as advantageously at the head of the 
 Missouri as at Nootka sound or any other point of that coast ; 
 & that trade be consequently conducted through the Missouri & 
 U.S. more beneficially than by the circumnavigation now practised. 
 
 On your arrival on that coast endeavor to learn if there be 
 any port within your reach frequented by the sea-vessels of any 
 nation, and to send two of your trusty people back by sea . . . 
 with a copy of your notes. And should you be of opinion that 
 the return of your party by the way they went will be eminently 
 dangerous, then ship the whole & return by sea by way of 
 Cape Horn or the Cape of good Hope as you shall be able. As 
 you will be without money, clothes, or provisions, you must 
 endeavor to use the credit of the U.S. to obtain them ; for 
 which purpose open letters of credit shall be furnished you 
 authorizing you to draw on the Executive of the U.S. or any of 
 its officers in any part of the world. . . . 
 
 Your observations are to be taken with great pains and accu- 
 racy, to be entered distinctly, & intelligibly for others as well 
 as yourself, . . . several copies of these . . . should be made at 
 leisure times, & put into the care of the most trustworthy of 
 your attendants, to guard by multiplying them, against the acci- 
 dental losses to which they will be exposed. A further guard 
 would be that one of these copies be written on the paper of the 
 birch, as less liable to injury from damp than common paper. . . . 
 
Federalists and Republicans 221 
 
 To provide, on the accident of your death, against anarchy, 
 dispersion, & the consequent danger to your party, and total 
 failure of the enterprise, you are hereby authorized, by any instru- 
 ment signed & written in your hand, to name the person among 
 them who shall succeed to the command on your decease. . . . 
 
 Given under my hand at the city of Washington, this 20*'' day 
 
 of June 1803 
 
 Th. Jefferson 
 
 Pr. U. S. of America 
 
 John Ordvi^ay, first sergeant of the expedition, vi^rote his 
 parents just before the company started from camp at the 
 mouth of the Missouri River : 
 
 Camp River Dubois, April the 8*, 1804 
 Honored Parents : I now embrace this opportunity of writing 
 to you once more to let you know where I am and where I am 
 going. I am well thank God and in high Spirits. I am now 
 on an expedition to the westward, with Capt. Lewis and Capt. 
 Clark, who are appointed by the President of the united States 
 to go on an Expedition through the interior parts of North 
 America, we are to ascend the Missouri River with a boat as 
 far as it is navigable and then go by land to the western ocean, 
 if nothing prevents. This party consists of 25 picked men of 
 the armey and country likewise and I am so happy as to be one 
 of them picked men from the armey and I and all the party are 
 if we live to return to receive our discharge when ever we re- 
 turn again to the united States if we choose it. This place is 
 on the Mississippi River opposite to the mouth of the Missouri 
 River and we are to start in ten days up the Missouri River, 
 this has been our winter quarters, we expect to be gone 18 
 months or two years, we are to receive a great reward for this 
 expedition 1 5 dollars a month ^ and at least 400 ackers [acres] 
 
 1 In a draft of receipts for compensation for the expedition John 
 Ordway's name appears first, acknowledging the receipt of $266.66 for 
 thirty-three months ten days' services (January i, 1804, to October 10, 
 1806) at eight dollars a month. The privates received five dollars a 
 month. — Thwaites, Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedi- 
 tion, Vol. VII, p. 360. 
 
222 
 
 The New Republic 
 
 of first rate land and if we make great discoveries as we expect 
 the united States has promised to make us great rewards, more 
 than we are promised. . . . 
 
 I have received no letters since Betseys yet but will write 
 next winter if I have a chance. 
 
 Yours &c. 
 
 John Ordway Segt. 
 
 The War of 1812 
 
 The great struggle between France and England, which 
 lasted with scarcely a breathing space from 1793 to 181 5, 
 involved all the nations of western Europe and their colo- 
 nies in the distant parts of the earth. It was only in the 
 ships of the United States, under a neutral flag, that the 
 valuable food products of the French, Dutch, and Spanish 
 colonies could be brought to European ports. Our exports 
 increased from ^20,000,000 in 1790 to ^108,000,000 in 
 
 1807, or three and one-half times as rapidly as our popu- 
 lation ; and the tonnage of vessels engaged in foreign trade 
 rose from 346,000 in 1790 to 984,000 in 18 10. Each of 
 the two great belligerent powers tried to break up this trade 
 in so far as it benefited the other. Each called our com- 
 merce with the other " war in disguise against itself." 
 Each issued a series of decrees and orders hostile to our 
 commerce.^ And each committed acts of violence in the 
 forcible stoppage of our ships and impressment of our 
 crews that were ample cause for war. The following ex- 
 amples show what indignities the Americans suffered years 
 before they were provoked to the formal declaration of war : 
 
 1 At the request of the Senate, Secretary of State Madison compiled 
 a list of acts and decrees hostile to our commerce passed by the British, 
 French, and Spanish governments between March, 1793, ^"d October, 
 
 1808. He enumerates thirty-one British and eighteen French instances. 
 — American State Papers, "Foreign Relations," Vol. Ill, pp. 262-292. 
 
Federalists and Republicans 223 
 
 Charleston, South Carolina, June 12, 1805 
 To the honorable James Madisofi, Esquire^ Secretary of State 
 of the United States. The memorial of the President and Directors 
 of the South Carolina Insurance Company, and of the merchants 
 and others interested in the commerce of the city of Charleston, 
 respectfully showeth : 
 
 That your memorialists are deeply affected by the recent cap- 
 ture, at the very entrance of this port, of the American ship 
 Two Friends, by a French privateer. This event has excited 
 among all classes of citizens, the strongest sensations, not only 
 because the said ship v^as captured without any color of pre- 
 tence, within sight of land, but because she is our only regular 
 London trader, and had on board a full supply of spring and 
 summer goods. . . . Your memorialists are authorized to add 
 (although the fact be not detailed in the protest) that it appears, 
 from undoubted authority, that the magnitude of the prize was 
 the sole inducement of the above-mentioned capture, the captors 
 having said that they would release the Two Friends, in the 
 event of their falling in with any other valuable prize, which 
 might be more worthy of their notice. 
 
 This most extraordinary capture, in direct violation of our 
 treaty with France (as appears by the accompanying docu- 
 ments) has already been followed by events no less alarming, 
 our harbor being at this moment completely blockaded by three 
 French privateers (and more are daily expected), which examine 
 all vessels coming in and going out of this port, and either de- 
 tain or release them, according as their value excites the cupidity 
 of the cruisers. 
 
 This degrading state of our harbor has necessarily raised the 
 premiums of insurance, thus forcing additional sums from the 
 pockets of our citizens, has advanced the price of every com- 
 modity, and created a distressing stagnation of our exports; for 
 the merchants, not receiving their goods from abroad, are in- 
 capacitated from purchasing the produce of the country. Among 
 these deplorable effects of the defenceless and humiliating con- 
 dition of our commerce may be, moreover, enumerated the im- 
 mense loss of duties, those in the Two Friends alone being 
 estimated by the collector at forty-five thousand dollars. 
 
224 '^^^ iV^w Republic 
 
 Your memorialists have the best reasons for believing that 
 this early success, experienced by these French privateers, will 
 immediately allure others in swarms to our coast and bar, to 
 the total ruin of private mercantile concerns, and the most fatal 
 defalcation of the public revenue. Your memorialists have no 
 less ground for apprehending that British cruisers, availing 
 themselves of the absence of domestic protection, will, under 
 the color of expelling the French, assume and occupy their 
 ground, and either retain us in the same degraded state, harass- 
 ing our vessels by searches and detention, or subject us to the 
 disgraceful and mortifying obligations of gratitude for alien 
 succor and relief. 
 
 Your memorialists are the more alarmed at these depredations 
 because much valuable property is still expected this summer 
 from other quarters than London, and considerable importations 
 will be looked for in the fall, for our winter supplies. . . . 
 
 Your memorialists, having thus exhibited but an imperfect 
 view of their ruinous, unprotected and degraded situation, rely 
 with confidence on the prompt interposition of the President, to 
 obtain, by representations to the ministers of France and Spain 
 (in the event of the Two Friends being carried to a Spanish 
 port) restitution of the said ship and her cargo, and to cause a 
 stop to be put to similar spoliations. . . . 
 
 Thomas Corbett, President of the South Carolina 
 Insurance Company, and io6 others 
 
 The wanton attack of the British ship Leopard on the 
 American frigate Chesapeake off Hampton Roads, Vir- 
 ginia, June 22, 1807, in which three men were killed 
 and eighteen wounded (including the Commodore, James 
 Barron) may be called the opening act of the War of 18 12. 
 The British government later repudiated this act, recalled 
 Admiral Berkeley, on whose authority it had been com- 
 mitted, restored the two surviving sailors impressed from 
 the Chesapeake, and paid an indemnity for the killed 
 and wounded. The following extracts are from papers 
 
Federalists and Republicans 225 
 
 submitted by Robert Smith, Secretary of the Navy, to 
 Thomas Blount, chairman of the Committee of Congress 
 on Aggressions, relating to ''the outrage committed on 
 the frigate Chesapeake'' 
 
 British Consul's Office, Norfolk (Va) March 6, 1807 
 
 oIR I 
 
 The men named in the margin [Ware, Martin, Strachan, 
 
 Little] deserted sometime since from His Majesty's ship 
 
 Melampus^ in Hampton Roads, by running away with her gig, 
 
 and the first three are stated to have entered at the rendezvous, 
 
 now open here, for the enlistment of seamen in the service of 
 
 the United States. As the Melampus is at present in Hampton 
 
 Roads, I submit to you, sir, the propriety of your directing these 
 
 men (should they have entered for your service) to be returned 
 
 to their duty on board His Majesty's ship before mentioned. I 
 
 have the honor to remain, with perfect truth and respect, sir. 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 John Hamilton 
 To Captain Decatur 
 
 The cases of the alleged deserters were investigated, and 
 James Barron, commander of the Chesapeake, reported to 
 Secretary Smith, April 7, that Ware, Martin, and Strachan 
 were all Americans who had been ''pressed" or^ board 
 the Melampus at various times and places, and that they 
 had escaped to the shore in the captain's gig, amid " a 
 brisk fire of musketry," while an entertainment on board 
 was diverting the attention of the officers. The sequel is 
 told in Barron's letter to Smith, June 23, 1807, written 
 from on board the battered Chesapeake after her return 
 to the bay. 
 
 Sir: 
 
 Yesterday at 6 a.m. the wind became favorable, and knowing 
 your anxiety that the ship should sail with all possible despatch, 
 we weighed from our station in Hampton Roads and stood to 
 
226 The Nezv Republic 
 
 sea. In Lynnhaven bay we passed two British men of war, one 
 of them the Bellona, the other the Melampus ; their colors flying 
 and their appearance friendly. Some time afterwards, we ob- 
 served one of the two line-of-battle ships that lay off Cape 
 Henry, to get under way, and stand to sea ; at this time the 
 wind became light, and it was not until near four in the after- 
 noon that the ship under way came within hail. Cape Henry 
 then bearing north-west by west, distance three leagues, the 
 communication which appeared to be her commander's object 
 for speaking the Chesapeake, he said he would send on board ; 
 on which I ordered the Chesapeake to be hove to for his con- 
 venience. On the arrival of the officer he presented me with 
 the enclosed paper ^ from the captain of the Leopard ... to 
 which I gave the enclosed answer [denying any knowledge of 
 the deserters and refusing to have the crew of any ship he com- 
 manded '' mustered by any but their own officers "], and was 
 waiting for his reply. About this time I observed some appear- 
 ance of a hostile nature, and said to Captain Gordon that it 
 was possible they were serious, and requested him to have his 
 men sent to their quarters with as little noise as possible, not 
 using those ceremonies which we should have done with an 
 avowed enemy, as I fully supposed their arrangements were 
 more menace than anything serious. Captain Gordon immedi- 
 ately gave the orders to the men and officers to go to quarters, 
 and have all things in readiness ; but before a match could be 
 lighted, or the quarter-bill of any division examined, or the 
 lumber on the gun-deck, such as sails, cables, &c. could be 
 cleared, the commander of the Leopard hailed ; I could not 
 hear what he said, and was talking to him, as I supposed, 
 when she commenced a heavy fire, which did great execution.^ 
 
 1 An order of June i, 1807, published by Admiral Berkeley, who 
 was in command of the British ships in American waters, authorizing 
 all captains to search the Chesapeake on the high seas for the deserters 
 from the British ships. 
 
 2 The commission appointed to examine the damage done the 
 Chesapeake reported " twenty-two round shot in her hull," " fore and 
 main masts incapable of being made sea-worthy," " mizzen mast badly 
 wounded," together with great laceration of sails. 
 
Federalists and Republicans 227 
 
 It is distressing to me to acknowledge, that I found that the 
 advantage they had gained over our unprepared and unsuspicious 
 state, did not warrant a longer opposition ; nor should I have 
 exposed this ship and crew to so galling a fire had it not been 
 with the hope of getting the gun-deck clear, so as to have made 
 a more favorable defence ; consequently our resistance was but 
 feeble. In about twenty minutes after I ordered the colors to 
 be struck, and sent Lieutenant Smith on board the Leopard to 
 inform her commander that I considered the Chesapeake her 
 prize. To this message I received no answer; the Leopard's 
 boat soon after came on board, and the officer who came in 
 her demanded the muster book. I replied the ship and books 
 were theirs, and that if he expected to see the men he must find 
 them. They called on the purser, who delivered his book, and 
 the men were examined ; and three men demanded at Washing- 
 ton, and one man more were taken away. . . . 
 
 I called a council of our officers and requested their opinion 
 relative to the conduct which it was now our duty to pursue. 
 The result was that the ship should return to Hampton Roads, 
 and there wait your further orders. Enclosed you have a list of 
 the unfortunate killed and wounded, as also a statement of the 
 damage sustained in the hull, spars, and rigging of the ship. . . . 
 
 With great respect, I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient 
 servant ja^es Barron 
 
 Jefferson and Madison attempted to meet the British 57. "Mr. 
 and French aggressions by the '' peaceful war " of embargo De^cembe^^'i 
 and non-intercourse acts. It was Henry Clay, Speaker of ^Sn 
 the twelfth Congress, and his band of ''war-hawks" who \^^^\ 
 forced the hand of the administration. The following extract 
 is from the official report of Clay's speech of December 31, 
 1 8 1 1 , on the bill to increase the army of the United States : 
 
 Mr. C. [Clay] proceeded more particularly to inquire into the 
 object of the force. That object, he understood, to be war, and 
 war with Great Britain. . . . What are we to gain by war, has 
 been emphatically asked. In reply, he would ask, what are we 
 
228 The New Republic 
 
 not to lose by peace? — commerce, character, a nation's best 
 treasure, honor ! If pecuniary considerations alone are to govern, 
 there is sufficient motive for the war. Our revenue is reduced, 
 by the operation of the belligerent edicts, to about six million 
 of dollars, according to the Secretary of the Treasury's report. 
 The year preceding the embargo [1807] it was sixteen. Take 
 away the Orders in Council, it will again mount up to sixteen 
 millions. By continuing, therefore, in peace, if the mongrel state 
 in which we are deserves that denomination, we lose annually, 
 in revenue only, ten millions of dollars. Gentlemen will say, 
 repeal the law of non-importation. He contended that, if the 
 United States were capable of that perfidy, the revenue would 
 not be restored to its former state, the Orders in Council con- 
 tinuing. Without an export trade, which those orders prevent, 
 inevitable ruin would ensue, if we imported as freely as we did 
 prior to the embargo. A nation that carries on an import trade 
 without an export trade to support it, must, in the end, be as 
 certainly bankrupt as the individual would be, who incurred an 
 annual expenditure without an income. 
 
 He had no disposition to swell, or dwell upon the catalogue 
 of injuries from England. He could not, however, overlook the 
 impressment of our seamen ; an aggression upon which he never 
 reflected without feelings of indignation, which would not allow 
 him appropriate language to describe its enormity. Not content 
 with seizing upon all our property, which falls within her rapa- 
 cious grasp, the personal rights of our countrymen — rights which 
 forever ought to be sacred, are trampled upon and violated. . . . 
 We are required to bear the actual cuffs of her [England's] 
 arrogance that we may escape a chimerical French subjugation. 
 We are invited, conjured to drink the potion of British poison 
 actually presented to our lips, that we may avoid the imperial 
 [Napoleon's] dose prepared by perturbed imaginations. We are 
 called on to submit to debasement, dishonor, and disgrace — to 
 bow the neck to royal insolence, as a course of preparation for 
 manly resistance to Gallic invasion ! What nation, what individual 
 was ever taught, in the schools of ignominious submission, the 
 patriotic lessons of freedom and independence ? . . . It was not 
 by submission that our fathers achieved our independence. The 
 
Federalists and Republicans 229 
 
 patriotic wisdom that placed you, Mr. Chairman, said Mr. C, 
 under that canopy, penetrated the designs of a corrupt ministry, 
 and nobly fronted encroachment on its first appearance. It saw 
 beyond the petty taxes, with which it commenced, a long train 
 of oppressive measures terminating in the total annihilation of 
 liberty. . . . For, sir, the career of encroachment is never arrested 
 by submission. It will advance while there remains a single 
 privilege on which it can operate. 
 
 Gentlemen say that this government is unfit for any war, but 
 a war of invasion. What, is it not equivalent to an invasion, if 
 the mouths of our harbors and outlets are blocked up, and we 
 are denied egress from our own waters ? Or when the burglar 
 is at our door, shall we bravely sally forth and repel his felonious 
 entrance, or meanly skulk within the cells of the castle ? 
 
 He contended that the real cause of British aggression, was 
 not to distress an enemy but to destroy a rival. . . . She [England] 
 sickens at your prosperity, and beholds in your growth — your 
 sails spread on every ocean, and your numerous seamen — the 
 foundations of a power, which at no very distant day is to make 
 her tremble for naval superiority. ... 
 
 It is said that the effect of the war at home will be a change 
 in those who administer the Government, who will be replaced 
 by others, who will make a disgraceful peace. He did not believe 
 it. . . . He was one, however, who was prepared ... to march 
 on in the road of his duty, at all hazards. What ! shall it be said 
 that our amor patriae is located at these desks — that we pusil- 
 lanimously cling to our seats here, rather than boldly vindicate 
 
 the most inestimable rights of the country ? 
 
 \^ 
 
 After an explicit statement by the British minister in 58. Madi- 
 May, 1 8 12, that " Great Britain would not recede from message,'^ 
 its policy toward neutrals," that is, would not cease to J"'^® ^» ^^^2 
 stop and search American merchant ships on the high \^^^\ 
 seas, Madison sent a confidential message to Congress, 
 in which he reviewed the outrages of Great Britain on 
 our commerce, ever since the renewal of her war with 
 Napoleon in 1803, and recounted the vain efforts made 
 
230 The Nezv Republic 
 
 by this government to come to an honorable agreement. 
 The message concludes : 
 
 Such is the spectacle of injuries and indignities which have 
 been heaped upon our country ; and such the crisis which its 
 unexampled forbearance and -conciliatory efforts have not been 
 able to avert. It might at least have been expected, that an en- 
 lightened nation, if less urged by moral obligations, or invited by 
 friendly disposition on the part of the United States, would have 
 found, in its true interest alone, a sufficient motive to respect their 
 rights and their tranquillity on the high seas ; that an enlarged 
 policy would have favored that free and general circulation of 
 commerce in which the British nation is at all times interested, 
 and which, in times of war, is the best alleviation of its calamities 
 to herself, as well as to other belligerents ; and, more especially, 
 that the British Cabinet would not, for the sake of a precarious 
 and surreptitious intercourse with hostile markets, have per- 
 severed in a course of measures which necessarily put at hazard 
 the invaluable market of a great and growing country, disposed 
 to cultivate the mutual advantages of an active commerce. 
 
 Other councils have prevailed. Our moderation and concili- 
 ation have had no other effect than to encourage perseverance 
 and to enlarge pretensions. We behold our sea-faring citizens 
 still the daily victims of lawless violence, committed on the great 
 and common highway of nations, even within sight of the country 
 which owes them protection. We behold our vessels, freighted 
 with the products of our soil and industry, or returning with 
 the honest proceeds of them, wrested from their lawful desti- 
 nations, confiscated by prize courts, no longer the organs of 
 public law, but the instruments of arbitrary edicts, and their 
 unfortunate crews dispersed and lost, or forced or inveigled in 
 British ports into British fleets, whilst arguments are employed 
 in support of these aggressions, which have no foundation but 
 in a principle equally supporting a claim to regulate our external 
 commerce in all cases whatsoever. 
 
 We behold, in fine, on the side of Great Britain, a state of 
 war against the United States ; and on the side of the United 
 States, a state of peace towards Great Britain. 
 
Federalists and Republicans 231 
 
 Whether the United States shall continue passive under these 
 progressive usurpations, and these accumulating wrongs, or, 
 opposing force to force in defence of their natural rights, shall 
 commit a just cause into the hands of the Almighty Disposer 
 of events, avoiding all connexions which might entangle it in 
 the contests or views of other Powers, and preserving a constant 
 readiness to concur in an honorable re-establishment of peace 
 and friendship, is a solemn question, which the Constitution 
 wisely confides to the Legislative Department of the Govern- 
 ment. In recommending it to their early deliberations, I am 
 happy in the assurance, that the decision will be worthy the 
 enlightened and patriotic councils of a virtuous, a free, and a 
 powerful nation. . . . 
 
 James Madison 
 
i 
 
PART IV. NATIONAL VERSUS 
 SECTIONAL INTERESTS 
 
PART IV. NATIONAL VERSUS 
 SECTIONAL INTERESTS 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 THE GROWTH OF A NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 
 
 A New American Spirit 
 
 In the two decades following our second war with 59. British 
 England, when the land between the Alleghenies and the l^^^irTca °* 
 Mississippi was rapidly filling up, America was most con- 1820-1837 
 spicuously a pioneer community. Social amenities, polished , I^^^l 
 manners, literary and artistic ambitions, wereall in abeyance 
 before the stern necessity of coping with the actual physical 
 task of building a home, a city, an empire of the West. Our 
 many British visitors and critics in this period judged our 
 pioneer community harshly — the more harshly, perhaps, 
 as it supplemented a rather breezy confidence in Yankee 
 push and shrewdness with the boastful, persistent reminder 
 that America had twice brought Great Britain to treat ^ 
 
 for peace. In a review of Adam Seybert's '' Statistical 
 Annals of the United States," published at Philadelphia 
 in 181 8, Sydney Smith writes in the Edinbu7'gh Review 
 for January, 1820 : 
 
 Jonathan must not grow vain and ambitious ; or allow himself 
 to be dazzled by that galaxy of epithets by which his orators and 
 newspaper scribblers endeavor to persuade their supporters that 
 
 235 
 
236 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 they are the greatest, the most refined, the most enlightened, 
 and the most moral people upon earth. The effect of this is 
 unspeakably ludicrous on this side of the Atlantic — and even 
 on the other, we should imagine, must be rather humiliating 
 to the reasonable part of the population. The Americans are a 
 brave, industrious, and acute people; but they have hitherto 
 given no indications of genius, and made no approaches to the 
 heroic, either in their morality or character. They are but a 
 recent offset, indeed, from England ; and should make it their 
 chief boast, for many generations to come, that they are sprung 
 from the same race with Bacon and Shakespeare and Newton. 
 Considering their numbers, indeed, and the favorable circum- 
 stances in which they have been placed, they have yet done 
 marvellously little to assert the honor of such a descent, or to 
 show that their English blood has been exalted or refined by 
 their republican training and institutions. Their Franklins and 
 Washingtons, and all the other sages and heroes of their revo- 
 lution, were born and bred subjects of the King of England, — 
 and not among the freest or most valued of his subjects. And, 
 since the period of their separation, a far greater proportion 
 of their statesmen and artists and political writers have been 
 foreigners, than ever occurred before in the history of any civi- 
 lized and educated people. During the thirty or forty years of 
 their independence, they have done absolutely nothing for the 
 Sciences, for the Arts, for Literature, or even for the statesman- 
 like studies of Politics or Political Economy. . . . 
 
 In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American 
 book ? or goes to an American play ? or looks at an American pic- 
 ture or statue .'' What does the world yet owe to American 
 physicians or surgeons ? What new substances have their chem- 
 ists discovered, or what old ones have they analyzed ? What 
 new constellations have been discovered by the telescopes of 
 Americans ? — What have they done in the mathematics ? Who 
 drinks out of American glasses ? or eats from American plates ? 
 or wears American coats or gowns ? or sleeps in American blan- 
 kets ? — Finally, under which of the old tyrannical governments 
 of Europe is every sixth man a slave, whom his fellow-creatures 
 may buy and sell and torture ? 
 
The Growth of a National Consciousness 237 
 
 When these questions are fairly and favorably answered, their 
 laudatory epithets may be allowed : But, till that can be done, 
 we would seriously advise them to keep clear of superlatives. 
 
 One of our most unsparing critics was Mrs. F. M. Trol- 
 lope, an English novelist and mother of the more famous 
 Anthony Trollope, who lived three years (1828-1831) in 
 the new town of Cincinnati, " the western limit of our civi- 
 lization." Mrs. Trollope found the people among whom 
 she Hved harsh, uncouth, unfeeling, conceited, boastful, 
 tricky, and sanctimonious.^ Her stay in America con- 
 firmed her in the aristocratic faith that " the advantages 
 of life are on the side of those who are governed by the 
 few," and that '' degradation invariably follows the wild 
 scheme of placing all the power of the State in the hands 
 of the populace." 
 
 My general appellation amongst my neighbors was '' the 
 English old woman," but in mentioning each other they con- 
 stantly employed the term " lady " ; and they evidently had a 
 pleasure in using it, for I repeatedly observed, that in speaking 
 of a neighbor, instead of saying Mrs. Such-a-one, they described 
 her as " the lady over the way what takes in washing," or as 
 " that there lady, out by the gully, what is making dip-candles." 
 . . . Our respective titles certainly were not very important ; but 
 the eternal shaking hands with these ladies and gentlemen was 
 really an annoyance, and the more so, as the near approach of 
 the gentlemen was always redolent of whiskey and tobacco. 
 
 But the point where this republican equality was the most 
 distressing was in the long and frequent visitations that it pro- 
 duced. No one dreams of fastening a door in Western America ; 
 I was told that it would be considered as an affront by the whole 
 
 1 "Charles Dickens, in " Martin Chuzzlewit," paints a very unflattering 
 picture of western American society (1844). " One might almost fancy," 
 says H. T. Peck in his introduction to Mrs. Trollope's memoirs, "that 
 Mrs. Trollope's descriptions are the material from which the more highly 
 colored pictures of Dickens were elaborated." 
 
238 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 neighborhood. I was thus exposed to perpetual, and most vex- 
 atious interruptions from people whom I had often never seen, 
 and whose names still oftener were unknown to me. ... If it 
 was a female, she took off her hat ; if a male, he kept it on, and 
 then taking possession of the first chair in their way, they would 
 retain it for an hour together, without uttering another word ; 
 at length, rising abruptly, they would again shake hands, with, 
 " Well, now I must be going, I guess," and so take themselves 
 off, apparently well contented with their reception. . . . 
 
 There was one man whose progress in wealth I watched with 
 much interest and pleasure. When I first became his neighbor, 
 himself, his wife, and four children were living in one room, with 
 plenty of beef-steaks and onions for breakfast, dinner, and supper, 
 but with very few other comforts. He was one of the finest 
 men I ever saw, full of natural intelligence and activity of mind 
 and body, but he could neither read nor write. ... I have no 
 doubt that every sun that sets sees him a richer man than when 
 it rose. He hopes to make his son a lawyer ; and I have little 
 doubt that he will live to see him sit in Congress. When this time 
 arrives, the wood-cutter's son will rank with any other member 
 of Congress, not of courtesy, but of right. . . . 
 
 This is the only feature in American society that I recognize 
 as indicative of the equality they profess. Any man's son may 
 become the equal of any other man's son ; and the consciousness 
 of this is certainly a spur to exertion : on the other hand it is 
 also a spur to that coarse familiarity, untempered by any shadow 
 of respect, which is assumed by the grossest and the lowest in 
 their intercourse with the highest and most refined. This is a 
 positive evil,' and, I think, more than balances its advantages. . . . 
 
 In reading Capt Hall's volumes on America,^ the observation 
 which, I think, struck me the most forcibly . . . was the follow- 
 ing : " In all my travels both amongst Heathens, and amongst 
 Christians, I never encountered any people by whom I found 
 it nearly so difficult to make myself understood as by the Ameri- 
 cans." ... It is less necessary, I imagine, for the mutual under- 
 standing of persons conversing together, that the language should 
 
 1 Captain Basil Hall, Travels in North America in the Years 1827 and 
 1828, 3 vols. Edinburgh, 1829. 
 
The Grozvth of a National Consciousness 239 
 
 be the same, than that their ordinary mode of thinking, and 
 habits of life, should, in some degree, assimilate ; whereas, in 
 point of fact, there is hardly a single point of sympathy between 
 the Americans and us. . . . Herein, I think, rests the only apology 
 for the preposterous and undignified anger felt and expressed 
 against Capt. Hall's work. They really cannot, even if they 
 wished it, enter into any of his views or comprehend his most 
 ordinary feelings ; and therefore they cannot believe in the 
 sincerity of the impressions he describes. 
 
 A more sympathetic, if not much more favorable, view 
 of Americans is presented by the indefatigable traveler and 
 novelist, Captain Marryat, who visited us in 1837 : 
 
 The Americans are often themselves the cause of their being 
 misrepresented ; there is no country perhaps in which the habit 
 of deceiving for amusement, or what is termed hoaxing, is so 
 common. Indeed this and hyperbole constitute the major part 
 of American humor. If they have the slightest suspicion that a 
 foreigner is about to write a book, nothing appears to give them 
 so much pleasure as to try to mislead him. . . . When I was 
 at Boston, a gentleman of my acquaintance brought me Miss 
 Martineau's work,^ and was excessively delighted when he 
 pointed out to me two pages of fallacies, which he had told her 
 with a grave face and which she had duly recorded and printed. . . . 
 
 Another difficulty and cause of misrepresentation is, that 
 travellers are not aware of the jealousy existing between the 
 inhabitants of the different states and cities. The eastern states 
 
 ^ Harriet Martineau, Society in America, 3* vols. London, 1837. 
 Capt. Marryat cut from a New York newspaper in 1837 this notice: 
 " That old deaf English maiden lady, Miss Martineau, who travelled 
 through some of the States a few years since, gives a full account of 
 •Mr. Poindexter's death ; unfortunately for her veracity, the gentleman 
 still lives; but this is about as near the truth as the majority of her state- 
 ments. The Loafing English men and women who visit America, as 
 penny-a-liners, are perfectly understood here, and Jonathan amuses him- 
 self whenever he meets them, by imposing upon their credulity the most 
 absurd stories which he can invent, which they swallow whole, go home 
 with their eyes sticking out of their heads with wonder, and print all they 
 have heard for the benefit of John Bull's calves." 
 
240 Natio7tal versus Sectional Interests 
 
 pronounce the southerners to be choleric, reckless, regardless of 
 law and indifferent to religion ; while the southerners designate 
 the eastern states as a nursery of overreaching pedlars, selling 
 clocks and wooden nutmegs. . . . Boston turns up her erudite 
 nose at New York ; Philadelphia in her pride looks down on 
 both New York and Boston ; while New York, chinking her 
 dollars, swears the Bostonians are a parcel of puritanical prigs, 
 and the Philadelphians a would-be aristocracy. A western man 
 from Kentucky, when at the Tremont House in Boston, begged 
 me particularly not to pay attention to what they said of his state 
 in that quarter. Both a Virginian and Tennesseean, when I was 
 at New York, did the same. . . . 
 
 America is a wonderful country, endowed by the Omnipotent 
 with natural advantages which no other can boast of ; and the 
 mind can hardly calculate upon the degree of perfection and 
 power to which, whether the States are eventually separated or 
 not, it may in the course of two centuries arrive. At present all 
 is energy and enterprise. ... If I were to draw a comparison be- 
 tween the English and the Americans, I should say that there is 
 almost as much difference between the two nations at this present 
 time, as there has long been between the English and the Dutch. 
 The latter are considered by us as phlegmatic and slow ; and we 
 may be considered the same compared with our energetic descend- 
 ants. Time to an American is everything, and space he attempts 
 to reduce to a mere nothing. ... "Go ahead!" is the real motto 
 of the country. . . . The American lives twice as long as others ; 
 for he does twice the work during the time that he lives. . . . He 
 rises early, eats his meals with the rapidity of a wolf, and is the 
 whole day at his business. If he be a merchant, his money, what- 
 ever it amount to, is seldom invested ; it is all floating — his ac- 
 cumulations remain active ; and when he dies, his wealth has to 
 be collected from the four quarters of the globe. . . . Each man 
 would surpass his neighbour ; and the only great avenue open 
 to all, and into which thousands may press without much jostling 
 of each other, is that which leads to the shrine of Mammon. 
 
 There is no more accurate gauge of the prosperity of 
 our Middle West in the period under consideration than the 
 
The Grozvth of a National Consciousness 241 
 
 statistics of commerce on the great Mississippi River system. 60. The river 
 During the first half of the nineteenth century, when trans- orieans ^^ 
 portation in America was based on the waterways, and the 1816-1840 
 few short stretches of railway served chiefly to connect l^^^l 
 points of navigation on the rivers. New Orleans became 
 the queen city of commerce in the South, as New York 
 did in the North. The report of 1887 on the internal 
 commerce of the United States thus reviews the trade of 
 New Orleans : 
 
 The receipts of New Orleans during the first year of success- 
 ful steam navigation, 1816, amounted in value to $8,062,540. . . . 
 This is independent of the produce raised in Louisiana, such as 
 cotton, corn, indigo, molasses, rice, sugar, tafia or rum, and 
 lumber. These were brought to the market in the planters' crafts, 
 and often taken from the plantation direct in foreign-bound 
 vessels. . . . The value of the receipts shows to what extent 
 the produce of the West passed through New Orleans. Cotton, 
 which in later days rose to be 60 or even 75 per cent, in value 
 of all the receipts, was then barely 12 per cent. At least 80 per 
 cent, of the articles came from the West, that is from the Ohio, 
 and the Upper Mississippi, above the Ohio. They represented 
 the surplus products of the Mississippi Valley, for but little found 
 any other exit to market. Much of the product shipped from 
 the West to New Orleans was lost en route. A rough estimate 
 places the loss from disasters, snags, etc. at 20 per cent. Many 
 boats, moreover, stopped along the river on their way down to 
 sell supplies to the planters. Thus at Natchez flour, grain, and 
 pork were purchased from the Kentucky boats. From these 
 losses the sales and shipments down the river in 18 16, including 
 the products of Louisiana, may be estimated at $13,875,000. 
 The river traffic required 6 steam-boats, 594 barges, and 1287 
 flat-boats, of an actual tonnage of 87,670. . . . 
 
 During all this period [18 16-1840], and despite all these diffi- 
 culties, the number of arrivals at New Orleans and the amount of 
 river business on the Lower Mississippi continued to steadily in- 
 crease. The growth of the river traffic is well shown in this table: 
 
242 
 
 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 Years 
 
 Arrivals of Steamboats 
 
 Tons of Freight 
 
 Value of Produce 
 
 1816-1817 . . 
 
 
 80,820 
 
 R773.379 
 
 1820-1821 . . 
 
 202 
 
 99,320 
 
 11,967,067 
 
 1825-1826 . . 
 
 608 
 
 193,300 
 
 20,446,320 
 
 183O-1831 . . 
 
 778 
 
 307,300 
 
 26,044,820 
 
 1835-1836 . . 
 
 1272 
 
 437,100 
 
 39,237,762 
 
 I 840-1 84 I . . 
 
 1958 
 
 542,500 
 
 49,822,115 
 
 In regard to the steam-boats, it should be remembered that the 
 steady increase in arrivals each year does not fully express 
 the increase in tonnage, because the boats were not only growing 
 more numerous, but were increasing in size each year, and thus 
 while they doubled in number between 1825 and 1833, they 
 more than trebled in their carrying capacity. . . . 
 
 As the first two decades of the century showed the settlement 
 of the Ohio basin, and a rapid increase in population and pro- 
 duction, so the next two resulted in the settlement of the Lower 
 Mississippi region from Louisiana to the mouth of the Ohio. 
 The removal of the Indian tribes to the Indian Territory, the 
 building of levees and the immense increase in the demand for 
 cotton, hastened the development of West Tennessee, Mississippi, 
 Arkansas, and Northern Louisiana. . . . 
 
 It was during this period that the South first began to insist 
 on the sovereignty of King Cotton, and New Orleans claimed, 
 like Mahomet, to be its prophet. The rapid development of the 
 cotton manufacturing industries in Europe incited the planters 
 to devote more and more acres to it, and it became highly prof- 
 itable to cultivate cotton even on credit. New Orleans was over- 
 flowing with money in those flush times, and lent it readily. . . . 
 When the big collapse of 1837 came, the banks of New Orleans, 
 with a circulation of $7,000,000, purported to have a capital of 
 $34,000,000, a great majority of them being wrecked in the 
 storm. Within a few years, however, New Orleans had recovered 
 from the shock and strengthened its hold on the planters. . . . 
 
 That eminent statistical and economical authority, De Bow's 
 Review, declared that '' no city of the world has ever advanced 
 as a mart of commerce with such gigantic and rapid strides as 
 
The GrowtJi of a Natiojial Consciousness 243 
 
 New Orleans." It was no idle boast. Between 1830 and 1840 
 no city of the United States kept pace with it. When the census 
 was taken it was fourth in population, exceeded only by New 
 York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and fourth in point of com- 
 merce of the ports of the world, exceeded only by London, 
 Liverpool, and New York, being indeed but a short distance 
 behind the latter city, and ahead of it in the export of domestic 
 products. 
 
 The following extracts from decisions of the Supreme 61. The 
 Court, rendered by Chief Justice Marshall and Justice court^nd 
 Story, in the cases of Martin vs. Hunter's Lessee (18 16), theConsti- 
 
 \ /' tution, 1816- 
 
 McCulloch vs. Maryland (18 19), and Gibbons vs. Ogden 1824 
 (1824), illustrate how judicial interpretation of the Con- [199] 
 stitution stretched the meaning of the simple, language of 
 its clauses, much to the alarm and indignation of the *' strict 
 constructionists " of Jefferson's following. 
 
 The Constitution of the United States was ordained and 
 established, not by the states in their sovereign capacities, but 
 emphatically, as the preamble of the Constitution declares, by 
 " the people of the United States." There can be no doubt 
 that it was competent to the people to invest the general gov- 
 ernment with all the powers which they might deem proper 
 and necessary ; to extend or restrain these powers according to 
 their own good pleasure, and to give them a paramount and 
 supreme authority. As little doubt can there be, that the people 
 had a right to prohibit to the states the exercise of any powers 
 which were, in their judgment, incompatible with the objects of 
 the general compact. . . . The Constitution was not, therefore, 
 necessarily carved out of existing state sovereignties, nor a sur- 
 render of powers already existing in state institutions, for the 
 powers of the states depend on their own constitutions ; and 
 the people of every state had the right to modify and restrain 
 them, according to their own views of policy and principle. . . . 
 
 The government, then, of the United States can claim no 
 powers which are not granted to it by the Constitution. . . . 
 
244 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 On the other hand, this instrument, like every other grant, is 
 to have a reasonable construction, according to the import of 
 its terms. . . . The Constitution unavoidably deals in general 
 language. It did not suit the purposes of the people, in framing 
 this great charter of our liberties, to provide for minute specifi- 
 cations of its powers. . . . [It] was not intended to provide 
 merely for the exigencies of a few years, but was to endure 
 through a long lapse of ages. ... It could not be foreseen 
 what new changes and modifications of power might be indis- 
 pensable to effectuate the general objects of the charter. . . . 
 Hence its powers are expressed in general terms. . . . 
 
 It is a mistake that the Constitution was not designed to 
 operate upon states in their corporate capacities. It is crowded 
 with provisions which restrain or annul the sovereignty of the 
 states in some of the highest branches of their prerogatives. 
 The tenth section of the first article contains a long list of dis- 
 abilities and prohibitions imposed on the states. . . . When, there- 
 fore, the states are stripped of some of the highest attributes of 
 sovereignty, and the same are given to the United States ; when 
 the legislatures of the states are, in some respects, under the 
 control of Congress ... it is certainly difficult to support the 
 argument that the appellate power over the decisions of state 
 courts is contrary to the genius of our institutions. . . . 
 
 We admit, as all must admit, that the powers of the govern- 
 ment are limited, and that its limits are not to be transcended. 
 But we think the sound construction of the Constitution must 
 allow to the national legislature that discretion with respect to 
 the means by which the powers it confers are to be carried 
 into execution, which will enable that body to perform the high 
 duties assigned to it, in the manner most beneficial to the peo- 
 ple. Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of 
 the Constitution, and all means which are appropriate . . . are 
 constitutional. 
 
 If we apply the principle for which the State of Maryland 
 contends to the Constitution generally, we shall find it capable 
 of changing totally the character of tfeat instrument. We shall 
 find it capable of arresting all the measures of the government, 
 and of prostrating it at the foot of the States. The American 
 
The Growth of a National Consciousness 245 
 
 people have declared their Constitution, and the laws made in 
 pursuance thereof, to be supreme; but this principle would 
 transfer the supremacy, in fact, to the States. If the States 
 may tax one instrument employed by the government in the 
 execution of its powers, they may tax any and every other in- 
 strument. They may tax the mail; they may tax the mint; 
 they may tax patent rights; they may tax the papers of the 
 custom-house. . . . This was not intended by the American 
 people. They did not design to make their government de- 
 pendent on the States. . . . 
 
 The Court has bestowed on this subject its most deliberate 
 consideration. The result is a conviction that the States have 
 no power, by taxation or otherwise, to retard, impede, burden, 
 or in any manner control the operations of the constitutional 
 laws enacted by Congress to carry into execution the powers 
 vested in the general government. . . . We are unanimously of 
 the opinion, that the law passed by the legislature of Maryland, 
 imposing a tax on the Bank of the United States, is unconsti- 
 tutional and void. . . . 
 
 The acts of New York must yield to the laws of Congress ; 
 and the decision sustaining the privilege they confer, against a 
 right given by a law of the Union, must be erroneous. 
 
 This opinion has been frequently expressed in this Court, 
 and is founded as well on the nature of the government as on 
 the words of the Constitution. . . . The nullity of any act in- 
 consistent with the Constitution is produced by the declaration, 
 that the Constitution is the supreme law ; . . . and the law of 
 the State, though enacted in the exercise of powers not contro- 
 verted, must yield to it. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to his friend Thomas 
 Ritchie, protests against what he considers a dangerous 
 usurpation of power by the Supreme Court : 
 
 Monticello, Dec. 25, 1820 
 
 . . . The judiciary of the United States is the subtle corps 
 of sappers and miners constantly working under ground to 
 undermine the foundations of our confederated fabric. They 
 
246 National versus Sectiojial hiterests 
 
 are construing our constitution from a coordination of a gen- 
 eral and special government to a general and supreme one 
 alone. This will lay all things at their feet, and they are too well 
 versed in the English law to forget the maxim bo7ii jiidicis est 
 ampliare jurisdictionem} . . . Having found, from experience, 
 that impeachment is an impracticable thing, a mere scare-crow, 
 they consider themselves secure for life ; ^ they skulk from re- 
 sponsibility to public opinion. . . . An opinion is huddled up in 
 conclave, perhaps by a majority of one, delivered as if unani- 
 mous, and with the silent acquiescence of lazy or timid asso- 
 ciates, by a crafty chief judge, who sophisticates the law to his 
 mind, by the turn of his own reasoning. A judiciary law was 
 once reported by the Attorney-General to Congress, requiring 
 each judge to deliver his opinion seriatim [in order] and openly, 
 and then to give it in writing to the clerk to be entered in the 
 record. A judiciary independent of a king or executive alone, is 
 a good thing ; but independence of the will of the nation is a 
 solecism, at least in a republican government. . . . 
 
 I hope our political bark will ride through all its dangers ; 
 but I can in future be but an inert passenger. 
 
 I salute you with sentiments of great friendship and respect. 
 
 Tho^ Jefferson 
 
 The Monroe Doctrine 
 
 62. The General Jackson's zealous prosecution of the campaign 
 
 pute, 1816- against the hostile combination of Indians, escaped negroes, 
 ^^^9 Spaniards, and half-breeds in Florida, at the close of the 
 
 [203] 
 
 1 " It is the business of a good judge to extend his jurisdiction." 
 
 2 Jefferson is here alluding to the case of Supreme Court Justice 
 Samuel Chase of Maryland, one of the signers of the Declaration of 
 Independence, and a very ardent Federalist, who was impeached by 
 the Republican House in 1804-1805 for his unblushing partisanship on 
 the bench. He was acquitted. In a letter to James Pleasants, Decem- 
 ber 26, 1 82 1, Jefferson suggests that the Supreme Court judges be ap- 
 pointed only for a six-year term, " with a re-appointmentability by the 
 President with the approbation of both houses," impeachment being 
 "a bugbear which they fear not at all." — Jefferson, Writings, ed, 
 P. L. Ford, Vol. X, pp. 198-199. 
 
The Growth of a National Conscioiisiicss 247 
 
 War of 181 2, brought a spirited protest from the Spanish 
 minister at Washington, Don Luis de Onis, and com- 
 mitted our State Department to the firm and exacting 
 policy which forced Spain to surrender Florida to us by 
 the treaty of 18 19. A proclamation of Major Muhlen- 
 berg's to the Indians and extracts from de Onis' protest 
 and John Quincy Adams' ultimatum to our minister 
 Erving at Madrid follow. 
 
 Spanish Bluff, Nov. 28, 1817 
 Chiefs and Warriors: 
 
 The President of the United States has been informed of the 
 murders and thefts committed by the hostile Indians in this part 
 of the country. He has authorized General Jackson to arrest 
 the offenders, and cause justice to be done. The Indians have 
 been required to deliver up the murderers of our citizens, and 
 the stolen property, but they refused to deliver either; they 
 have had a council at Mickasukee in which they have deter- 
 mined on war ; they have been at war on helpless women and 
 children, let them now calculate upon fighting men. We have 
 long known that we had enemies east of this river ; we likewise 
 know we have some friends ; but they are so mixed together 
 we cannot always distinguish the one from the other. The 
 President, wishing to do justice to his red friends and children, 
 has given orders for the bad to be separated from the good. 
 Those who have taken up arms against him, and such as have 
 listened to the bad talks of the people beyond the sea [English 
 agents], must go to Mickasukee Suwany, where we wish to 
 find them together. But all those who were our friends in the 
 war will sit at their homes in peace ; we will pay them for what 
 corn and meat they have to sell us ; we will be their friends, 
 and when they are hungry we will give them meat. The hostile 
 party pretend to calculate on help from the British ! They may 
 as well look for soldiers from the moon to help them. Their 
 warriors were beaten and driven from our country by American 
 troops. The English are not able to help themselves; how 
 then should they help the old " Red Sticks," whom they have 
 ruined by pretended friendship ? 
 
248 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 o Washington, Dec. 12, 18 18 
 
 . . . With respect to the conduct of General Jackson in the in- 
 vasion of Florida, and the excesses committed there in violation 
 of the sovereignty and dignity of a friendly Power, as they are 
 public and notorious, and sufficiently reprobated by public opin- 
 ion ... I abstain from answering the arguments by which you 
 have endeavored to justify that officer in the note I have the 
 honor to reply to. Whatever may be the causes which, in the 
 view of your Government, justified the war against the Semi- 
 noles, you cannot fail to admit how improbable it is that those 
 miserable Indians, feeble and wholly destitute as they are, could 
 have provoked it. In the letter of the chief Boleck to the Gov- 
 ernor of St. Augustine, of the 20^*^ December, 18 16, a copy of 
 which I had the honor to transmit to you on the 27*^ March 
 last, you must have remarked that he speaks of assassinations, 
 carrying off of men and cattle, usurpations of his territory, and 
 even forging of treaties for the cession of lands, signed or 
 marked by the names of persons unknown to the chiefs of the 
 Creek nation, who, he adds, are alone authorized to transfer 
 the general property ; of all of which he accuses the Americans. 
 Besides, the friendship and good understanding existing between 
 the two nations . . . decisively required that any complaints 
 which there might be against the Indians should be laid before 
 His Majesty's Government [Spain], or before his Minister near 
 this Republic, previous to the adoption of violent measures ; as 
 it was scarcely possible that those excesses could be restrained 
 by His Majesty so long as he remained ignorant of them. . . . 
 
 The unquestionable fact is, that General Jackson, at the head 
 of his army, fell upon Florida as a haughty invader and con- 
 queror, regardless of the laws of humanity and the feelings of 
 nature, and put to death two foreigners, who there enjoyed the 
 protection of Spain, and an asylum which has ever been held 
 sacred by all civilized nations ; thereby offering an unexampled 
 insult to the sovereignty and independence of Spain ; trampling 
 under foot the most solemn compacts, founded on the laws of 
 nations ; and contemptuously driving from that province the 
 Spanish commandants and troops in garrison there. . . . 
 
 Luis de Onis 
 
The Grozvth of a National Consciousness 249 
 
 A fortnight before de Onis presented the above note 
 to our State Department, Secretary Adams had" dispatched 
 to our minister at Madrid, George W. Erving, his famous 
 letter of instructions which was tantamount to an ultima- 
 tum to Spain.i After ''reminding the government of his 
 Catholic Majesty of the incidents in which this Seminole 
 war originated," and ''giving the Spanish cabinet some 
 precise information of the nature of the business " in 
 which Spain's " allies " were engaged when they were in- 
 terrupted by General Jackson, Mr. Adams continues : 
 
 After the repeated expostulations, warnings, and offers of 
 peace, through the summer and autumn of 18 17, on the part 
 of the United States, had been answered only by renewed out- 
 rages, and after a detachment of forty men under Lieutenant 
 Scott, accompanied by seven women, had been waylaid and 
 murdered by the Indians, orders were given to General Jackson, 
 and an adequate force was placed at his disposal to terminate 
 the war. It was ascertained that the Spanish force in Florida 
 was inadequate for the protection even of the Spanish territory 
 itself against this mingled horde of lawless Indians and negroes; 
 and although their devastations were committed within the limits 
 of the United States, they immediately sought refuge within the 
 Florida line, and there only were to be overtaken. . . . There it 
 was that the American commander met the principal resistance 
 from them ; there it was that were found the still bleeding scalps 
 
 1 It is interesting to compare with the high tone assumed towards 
 Spain the real feeling of the President and of Secretary Adams in the 
 Florida affair. Adams records in his " Memoirs," under the date of No- 
 vember 23, 1818: "The President returned me the draft of a letter to Onis, 
 with some alterations which he suggested as necessary. He thought, 
 among other things, that I had gone too far in the justification of 
 Jackson's proceedings in Florida. He says he is decidedly of opinion 
 that these proceedings have been attended with good results, and that 
 they were in the main justifiable. But they were certainly not contem- 
 plated in any of the instructions given to Jackson. He also thinks that 
 the ultimate and deliberate opinion of the public will not entirely justify 
 Jackson, in which opinion I entirely concur." — Memoirs of John 
 Quincy Adams, Vol. IV, p. 176. 
 
250 National versus Sectio7ial hite^'ests 
 
 of our citizens, freshly butchered by them. . . . But it was not 
 anticipated by this Government that the commanding officers of 
 Spain in Florida, whose especial duty it was, in conformity to 
 the solemn engagements contracted by their nation, to restrain 
 by force those Indians from hostilities against the United States 
 [by the treaty of 1795], would be found encouraging, aiding, and 
 abetting them, and furnishing them supplies for carrying on 
 such hostilities. The officer in command immediately before 
 General Jackson was, therefore, specially instructed to respect, 
 as far as possible, the Spanish authority, wherever it was main- 
 tained ; and copies of these orders were also furnished to 
 General Jackson, upon his taking the command. 
 
 In the course of his pursuit, as he approached St. Mark's, he 
 was informed direct from the Governor of Pensacola that a party 
 of the hostile Indians had threatened to seize that fort, and that 
 he apprehended the Spanish garrison there was not in strength 
 sufficient to defend it against them. This information . . . proved 
 to have been exactly true. By all the laws of neutrality and of 
 war, as well as of prudence and of humanity, he was warranted 
 in anticipating his enemy by the amicable, and, that being re- 
 fused, by the forcible occupation of the fort. There will need 
 no citations from printed treatises on international law to prove 
 the correctness of this principle. It is engraved in adamant on 
 the common sense of mankind. ... 
 
 On the approach of General Jackson to Pensacola, the gov- 
 ernor sent him a letter denouncing his entry upon the territory 
 ot Florida as a violent outrage on the rights of Spain, command- 
 ing him to depart and withdraw from the same, and threatening, 
 in case of his non-compliance, to employ force to expel him. 
 
 It became, therefore, in the opinion of General Jackson, indis- 
 pensably necessary to take from the Governor of Pensacola the 
 means of carrying his threat into execution. . . . He took pos- 
 session therefore of Pensacola and of the fort of Barrancas, as 
 he had done of St. Mark's, not in a spirit of hostility to Spain, 
 but as a necessary measure of self-defence ; giving notice that 
 they should be restored whenever Spain should place command- 
 ers and a force there able and willing to fulfil the engagements 
 of Spain towards the United States, or of restraining by force 
 
The Groivth of a National Consciousness 251 
 
 the Florida Indians from hostilities against their citizens. . . . 
 The obligation of Spain to restrain, by force, the Indians of 
 Florida from hostilities against the United States and their citi- 
 zens, is explicit, is positive, is unqualified. The fact that for a 
 series of years they have received shelter, assistance, supplies, 
 and protection in the practice of such hostilities, from the Spanish 
 commanders in Florida is clear and unequivocal. If, as the com- 
 manders both at Pensacola and St. Mark's have alleged, this 
 has been the result of their weakness rather than of their will; 
 if they have assisted the Indians against the United States to 
 avert their hostilities from the province which they had not suffi- 
 cient force to defend against them, it may serve in some meas- 
 ure to exculpate, individually, those officers ; but it must carry 
 demonstration irresistible to the Spanish Government, that the 
 right of the United States can as little compound with impo- 
 tence as with perfidy, and that Spain must immediately make 
 her election, either to place a force in Florida adequate at once 
 to the protection of her territory, and to the fulfilment of her 
 engagements, or cede to the United States a province, of which 
 she retains nothing but the nominal possession, but which is, in 
 fact, a derelict open to the occupancy of every enemy, civilized 
 or savage, of the United States. . . . 
 
 You are authorized to communicate the whole of this letter, . 
 and the accompanying documents, to the Spanish Government. 
 I have the honor, etc., etc. j^j^^ q^j^^^ ^^^^^ 
 
 The famous paragraphs in President Monroe's seventh 63. The 
 annual message to Congress, December 2, 1823, which ^o°°trine 
 announced the policy of the United States in regard to the December 2, 
 interference of the European powers in the affairs of this 
 continent, either for the acquisition of new colonies or for 
 the disturbance of existing governments, have gained an 
 added interest in the last few decades, by reason both of 
 our entrance into the ranks of the great naval powers which 
 have conquered and colonized distant lands, and of our in- 
 creasing concern in the fortunes of the republics of Central 
 
252 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 and South America. Although the Monroe Doctrine is 
 the only official pronouncement in our history that bears 
 the name of a president, it was not Monroe's, nor any 
 other man's, doctrine. It was simply a clear statement, 
 at a critical moment, of our policy, asserted repeatedly 
 from the days of Washington down, to keep America as 
 remote as possible from the complicated quarrels of the 
 courts of Europe. 
 
 A precise knowledge of our relations with foreign powers as 
 respects our negotiations and transactions with each is thought 
 to be particularly necessary. Equally necessary is it that we 
 should form a just estimate of our resources, revenue, and prog- 
 ress in every kind of improvement connected with the national 
 prosperity and public defense. It is by rendering justice to other 
 nations that we may expect it from them. It is by our ability to 
 resent injuries and redress wrongs that we may avoid them. . . . 
 
 At the proposal of the Russian Imperial Government, made 
 through the minister of the Emperor residing here, a full power 
 and instructions have been transmitted to the minister of the 
 United States at St. Petersburg, to arrange by amicable negotia- 
 tion the respective rights and interests of the two nations on 
 the north-west coast of this continent. ... In the discussions 
 to which this interest has given rise and in the arrangements by 
 which they may terminate the occasion has been judged proper 
 for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of 
 the United States are involved, that the American continents, 
 by the free and independent condition which they have assumed 
 and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects 
 for future colonization by any European powers. . . . 
 
 It was stated at the commencement of the last session that 
 a great effort was then making in Spain and Portugal to im- 
 prove the condition of the people of those countries,^ and that 
 
 1 In the midsummer of 1822 the revolutionists of Spain had gotten the 
 upper l^and and compelled the absolute Bourbon king, Ferdinand VII, 
 to acknowledge a constitutional regime. Then French forces under the 
 Duke of Angouleme invaded Spain (April, 1823) and restored the ab- 
 solute king in a violent civil war. Riego, the leader of the revolutionists, 
 
The Growth of a National Consciousness 253 
 
 it appeared to be conducted with extraordinary moderation. It 
 need scarcely be remarked that the result has been so far very 
 different from what was then anticipated. Of events in that 
 quarter of the globe, with which we have so much intercourse 
 and from which we derive our origin, we have always been anx- 
 ious and interested spectators. The citizens of the United States 
 cherish sentiments the most friendly in favor of the liberty and 
 happiness of their fellow-men on that side of the Atlantic. In 
 the wars of the European powers in matters relating to them- 
 selves we have never taken any part, nor does it comport with 
 our policy so to do. It is only when our rights are invaded or 
 seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparations 
 for our defense. With the movements in this hemisphere we are 
 of necessity more immediately connected, and by causes which 
 must be obvious to all enlightened and impartial observers. The 
 political system of the allied powers^ is essentially different in 
 this respect from that of America. This difference proceeds from 
 that which exists in their respective governments : and to the 
 defense of our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so 
 much blood and treasure, and matured by the wisdom of their 
 most enlightened citizens, and under which we have enjoyed un- 
 exampled felicity, this whole nation is devoted. We owe it there- 
 fore to candor and to the amicable relations existing between 
 the United States and those powers, to declare that we should 
 consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any 
 portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. 
 With the existing colonies or dependencies of any power we 
 have not interfered and shall not interfere. But with the Gov- 
 ernments who have declared their independence and maintained 
 
 was hung from a gallows forty feet high, just a few days before Monroe 
 sent his message (November 7, 1823). 
 
 2 The Holy Alliance was concluded between the sovereigns of Aus- 
 tria, Prussia, and Russia in 181 5 for the alleged purpose of ruHng the 
 peoples whom they were " delegated by Providence to govern " accord- 
 ing to the "principles which the Divine Savior has taught to mankind." 
 Three years later, however, these sovereigns embarked on the policy of 
 armed intervention in the other states of Europe for the sake of quell- 
 ing rebellions and supporting "legitimate" thrones. The fear that they 
 would extend their operations to restore the authority of Spain in the 
 American republics called forth the Monroe Doctrine. 
 
254 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and 
 on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any inter- 
 position for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in 
 any other manner their destiny, by any European power in any 
 other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition 
 towards the United States. . . . 
 
 Our policy in regard to Europe, which was adopted at an 
 early stage of the wars which have so long agitated that quarter 
 of the globe, nevertheless remains -the same, which is, not to 
 interfere in the internal concerns of any of its powers ; to con- 
 sider the government de facto as the legitimate government for 
 us ; to cultivate friendly relations with it, and to preserve those 
 relations by a frank, firm, and manly policy, meeting in all in- 
 stances the just claims of every power, submitting to injuries 
 from none. . . . 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 SECTIONAL INTERESTS 
 
 The Favorite Sons 
 
 The following extracts from the diary of John Quincy 64. jockey- 
 Adams show how incessant were the combinations, in- ^^ggi^g^J^^i 
 trigues, and deals between the political factions to win race, 1824 
 the presidential election of 1824. [21 5] 
 
 Jan. 30^'' [1824]. Colonel R. M. Johnson, Mr. R. King, 
 and Mr. Fuller had long conversations with me concerning the 
 movements of the parties here for the Presidential succession. ■ 
 Johnson says that Calhoun proposed to him an arrangement by 
 which I should be supported as President, General Jackson as 
 Vice-President, Clay to be Secretary of State, and he himself 
 Secretary of the Treasury ; not as a bargain or coalition, but 
 by the common understanding of our mutual friends. I made 
 no remark upon this, but it discloses the forlorn hope of Calhoun, 
 which is to secure a step of advancement to himself, and the 
 total exclusion of Crawford, even from his present office at the 
 head of the Treasury. . . . 
 
 Feb'y 4'^. I attended in the evening the drawing-room at 
 the President's. On returning home I found J. W. Taylor at 
 my house, and had a long conversation with him. He told me 
 that Jesse B. Thomas, a Senator from Illinois,* had strongly 
 urged upon him the expediency of my acquiescing in the nomi- 
 nation as Vice-President, with Mr. Crawford for the Presidency. 
 He said that Mr. Crawford would certainly be elected . . . that 
 from the state of Mr. Crawford's health it was highly probable 
 the duties of the Presidency would devolve upon the Vice- 
 President . . . that a compliance with the views of Mr. Craw- 
 ford's friends on this occasion would be rendering them a 
 
 25s 
 
256 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 service which would recommend me to their future favor, and 
 would doubtless secure my election hereafter to the Presidency. . . . 
 
 Feb'y 5*^. At the office, Mr. Bradley of Vermont called, 
 and told me that he had information from an undoubted source 
 that there was a coalition between Clay and Calhoun. How far 
 the friends of Jackson had entered into it he did not know, but 
 the project for the Harrisburg Convention on the 4*'' of March 
 was to make up a ticket which would ultimately decide for 
 Jackson, Clay, or Calhoun, according to circumstances, but 
 excluding Crawford and me. . . . 
 
 March 1 9*''. Johnson says Mr. Crawford's friends, particularly 
 Governor Barbour, are very sanguine of his election, and entirely 
 sure of the vote of New York. They consider all prospect of my 
 being supported as having vanished, and that all New England 
 will abandon me and vote for Crawford. I believe Mr. Crawford's 
 prospects and mine equally unpromising. . . . Whether all New 
 England will support me is yet problematical, and the rest is yet 
 more uncertain. The issue must be where it ought to be, and 
 my duty is cheerful acquiescence in the event. . . . 
 
 March 23^^. The mining and countermining upon this Presi- 
 dential election is an admirable study of human nature. The 
 mist into which Calhoun's bubble broke settles upon Jackson, 
 who is now taking the fragments of Clinton's party. Those of 
 Clay will also fall chiefly to him and his sect, and Crawford's 
 are now working for mine. They both consider my prospects 
 as desperate, and are scrambling for my spoils. I can do no 
 more than satisfy them that I have no purchasable interest. 
 My friends will go over to whomsoever they may prefer. . . . 
 
 April 17'^. At the office, Albert H. Tracy came, and had a 
 conversation with me of nearly two hours, chiefly on the pros- 
 pects of the Presidential election. He said there was a great 
 and powerful party getting up for General Jackson as President 
 in New York ; that it could not possibly succeed, but that its 
 probable effect would be to secure the electoral vote of the 
 State to 'Mr. Crawford. ... 
 
 May i5*'\ W. Plumer, a member from New Hampshire, 
 was here this morning. ... I told him that there was no 
 person who could be substituted for Jackson to fill the 
 
Sectional Interests 257 
 
 Vice-Presidency. . . . He would be satisfied [!], and so would 
 substantially his friends, to be Vice-President. ... I said the 
 Vice-Presidency was a station in which the General could hang 
 no one, and in which he would need to quarrel with no one. 
 His name and character would serve to restore the forgotten 
 dignity of the place, and it would afford an easy and dignified 
 retirement to his old age. . . . 
 
 When the choice of presidential electors in November 
 failed to give a majority to any of the four principal candi- 
 dates, the election of a president was thrown into the House 
 of Representatives, and the electioneering was redoubled 
 for capturing the votes of the states in the House. 
 
 Jan'y cj"^ [1825]. Mr. Clay came at six and spent the eve- 
 ning with me. . . . He said that the time was drawing near when 
 the choice must be made in the House of Representatives of a 
 President from the three candidates presented by the electoral 
 colleges ; that he had been much urged and solicited with regard 
 to the part in that transaction that he should take. . . . He 
 wished me, as far as I might think proper, to satisfy him with 
 regard to some principles of great public importance, but with- 
 out any personal considerations for himself. In the question to 
 com.e before the House between General Jackson, Mr. Crawford, 
 and myself, he had no hesitation in saying that his preference 
 would be for me. . . . 
 
 Jan'y 29**". . . . [Mr. Clay's] own situation is critical and 
 difficult. He is attacked with fury in the newspapers for having 
 come out for me, and threats of violence have been largely 
 thrown out by the partisans of General Jackson, particularly 
 those of the Calhoun interest. Richard M. Johnson told me at 
 the drawing-room last Wednesday that it had been seriously 
 proposed to him, in the event of the failure of Jackson's elec- 
 tion, to erect his standard ; and I received this morning an 
 anonymous letter from Philadelphia threatening organized op- 
 position and civil war if Jackson is not chosen. This blustering 
 has an air of desperation. But we must meet it. . . . 
 
^58 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 Feb'y 9"". May the blessing of God rest upon the event of 
 this day ! — the second Wednesday in February, when the elec- 
 tion of a President of the United States for the term of four 
 years, from the 4'^ of March next, was consummated. . . . The 
 House of Representatives immediately proceeded to the vote 
 by ballot from the three highest candidates, when John Quincy 
 Adams received the votes of thirteen, Andrew Jackson of seven, 
 and William H. Crawford of four states. The election was thus 
 completed, very unexpectedly, by a single ballot. . . . After 
 dinner, the Russian Minister, Baron Tuyl, called to congratulate 
 me on the issue of the election. I attended, with Mrs. Adams, 
 the drawing-room at the President's. It was crowded to over- 
 flowing. General Jackson was there, and we shook hands. He 
 was altogether placid and courteous. I received numerous 
 friendly salutations. ... I enclosed Mr. R. King's note, with 
 a letter of three lines to my father, asking for his blessing and 
 prayers on the event of this day, the most important day of my 
 life, and which I would close as it began, with supplications to 
 the Father of all mercies that its consequences may redound to 
 His glory and to the welfare of my country. After I returned 
 from the drawing-room, a band of musicians came and serenaded 
 me at my house. It was past midnight when I retired. . . . 
 
 The elder Adams replied to his son's communication 
 in the following touching letter : 
 
 Quincy, Mass., 18*'^ February, 1825 
 
 I have received your letter of the 9*''. Never did I feel 
 so much solemnity as on this occasion. The multitude of my 
 thoughts and the intensity of my feelings are too much for a 
 mind like mine, in its ninetieth year. May the blessing of God 
 Almighty continue to protect you to the end of your life, as it 
 has heretofore protected you in so remarkable a manner from 
 your cradle ! I offer the same prayer for your lady and your 
 family — and am 
 
 Your affectionate father, 
 
 John Adams 
 
Sectional Interests 259 
 
 An Era of Hard Feeling 
 The most persistent advocate of westward expansion 65. Benton's 
 in the first half of the nineteenth century was Senator oJcup^ation of 
 Thomas H. Benton of Missouri. In aggressive, almost Oregon, 1825 
 truculent, language he maintained that neither Spain had [^i^l 
 any fair claim to Texas nor Great Britain to Oregon. In 
 1825, when the period of joint occupation provided by the 
 treaty of 18 18 was drawing to a close, Benton brought a 
 bill into the Senate, empowering the President to take 
 possession of the Columbia valley and hold it as exclusive 
 American territory. In defense of the bill (which received 
 only fourteen votes) Benton said : 
 
 It is now, Mr. President, precisely two and twenty years since 
 a contest for the Columbia has been going on between the 
 United States and Great Britain. The contest originated with 
 the discovery of the river itself. The moment that we discovered 
 it she claimed it ; and without a color of title in her hand, she 
 has labored ever since to overreach us in the arts of negotiation, 
 or to bully us out of our discovery by menaces of war. 
 
 In the year 1790 [1792] a citizen of the United States, 
 Capt. Gray of Boston, discovered the Columbia at its entrance 
 into the sea; and in 1803 Lewis and Clark were sent by the 
 government of the United States to complete the discovery of 
 the whole river from its source downward, and to take formal 
 possession in the name of their government.^ In 1793 Sir 
 Alexander McKenzie had been sent from Canada by the British 
 Government to effect the same object; but he missed the sources 
 of the river, . . . and struck the Pacific about five hundred miles 
 to the north of the mouth of the Columbia. . . . 
 
 The truth is, Mr, President, Great Britain has no color of 
 title to the country in question. She sets up none. There is 
 not a paper on the face of the earth in which a British minister 
 
 1 In Jefferson's instructions to Lewis, June 20, 1803, there is nothing 
 about taking formal possession in the name of our government. See 
 No. 55, p. 218. 
 
/ 
 
 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 has stated a claim. I speak of the King's ministers and not of 
 the agents employed by them. The claims we have been ex- 
 amining are thrown out in the conversations and notes of diplo- 
 matic agents. No English minister has ever put his name to 
 them, and no one will ever risk his character as a statesman by 
 venturing to do so. The claim of Great Britain is nothing but 
 a naked pretension founded on the double prospect of bene- 
 fiting herself and injuring the United States. The fur trader, 
 Sir Alexander McKenzie, is at the bottom of this policy. Failing 
 in his attempt to explore the Columbia River in 1793, he, never- 
 theless, urged upon the British Government the advantages of 
 taking it to herself, and of expelling the Americans from the 
 whole region west of the Rocky Mountains. The advice ac- 
 corded too well with the passions and policy of that government 
 to be disregarded. It is a government which has lost no oppor- 
 tunity, since the peace of '^:i,, of aggrandizing itself at the ex- 
 pense of the United States. It is a government which listens 
 to the suggestions of its experienced subjects, and thus an in- 
 dividual, in the humble station of a fur trader, has pointed out 
 the policy which has been pursued by every Minister of Great 
 Britain from Pitt to Canning, and for the maintenance of which 
 a war is now menaced. . . . 
 
 I do not argue the question of title on the part of the United 
 States, but only state it as founded upon — i. Discovery of the 
 Columbia River by Capt. Gray in 1790 [1792]; 2. Purchase 
 of Louisiana in 1803 ; 3. Discovery of the Columbia from its 
 head to its mouth by Lewis and Clark in 1803 [1805] ; 4. Settle- 
 ment of Astoria in 181 1 ; 5. Treaty with Spain in 1819 ; 6. Con- 
 tiguity and continuity of settlement and possession. Nor do I 
 argue the question of the advantages of retaining the Columbia, 
 and refusing to divide or alienate our territory upon it. I merely 
 state them . . . : i. To keep out a foreign power; 2. To gain 
 a seaport with a military and naval station on the coast of the 
 Pacific ; 3. To save the fur trade in that region, and prevent our 
 Indians from being tampered with by British traders ; 4. To 
 open a communication for commercial purposes between the 
 Mississippi and the Pacific; 5. To send the light of science and 
 of religion into eastern Asia. 
 
Sectional Interests 261 
 
 The "Tariff of Abominations" 
 
 The passage of the Tariff of Abominations of May, 66. The pro- 
 1828, brought from the legislature of South Carolina the crroiina^°"*^ 
 
 following: resolutions : against high 
 
 tariff, 1828 
 
 Resolved : That it is expedient to protest against the uncon- [224] 
 stitutionality and oppressive operation of the system of protect- 
 ing duties, and to have such protest entered on the Journals of 
 the Senate of the United States — Also, to make a public ex- 
 position of our wrongs and of the remedies within our power, 
 to be communicated to our sister States, with a request that they 
 will cooperate with this State in procuring a repeal of the Tariff 
 for protection, and an abandonment of the principle ; and if the 
 repeal be not procured, that they will cooperate in such measures 
 as may be necessary for arresting the evil. 
 
 Resolved : That a committee of seven be raised to carry the 
 foregoing resolution into effect. 
 
 The special committee reported the famous " Exposi- 
 tion and Protest " from the pen of John C. Calhoun, vice 
 president of the United States. The following extracts are 
 taken from that part of the Exposition dealing with the 
 economic evil of the tariff for the South : ^ 
 
 The committee have bestowed on the subjects referred to 
 them the deliberate attention which their importance demands ; 
 and the result, on full investigation, is a unanimous opinion that 
 the act of Congress of the last session, with the whole system 
 of legislation imposing duties on imports, — not for revenue, but 
 
 1 This economic danger had already been realized by leaders in the 
 South. President Thomas Cooper of the College of South Carolina had 
 written five years earlier (even before the tariff of 1824) to the Con- 
 gressmen from his state : " Let the Southern States look to it ! They 
 are not threatened with a system of unjust and burthensome taxation 
 merely : this is a trifle in the plan. They are threatened with the anni- 
 hilation of their staple commodity — not with taxation b7it dest?-uction ! " 
 — Thomas Cooper, Two Tracts on the Proposed Alteration of the 
 Tariff, p. 27. 
 
262 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 the protection of one branch of industry at the expense of others 
 — is unconstitutional, unequal, and oppressive, and calculated 
 to corrupt the public virtue and destroy the liberty of the 
 country. . . . 
 
 The committee do not propose to enter into an elaborate or 
 refined argument on the question of the constitutionality of the 
 Tariff system. The General Government is one of specific 
 powers, and it can rightfully exercise only the powers expressly 
 granted. ... It results, necessarily, that those who claim to ex- 
 ercise power under the Constitution, are bound to show that 
 it is expressly granted, or that it is necessary and proper as a 
 means to some of the granted powers. The advocates of the 
 Tariff have offered no such proof. It is true that the third sec- 
 tion of the first article of the Constitution authorizes Congress 
 to lay and collect an impost duty, but it is granted as a tax 
 power for the sole purpose of revenue, — a power in its nature 
 essentially different from that of imposing protective or prohibi- 
 tory duties. . . . The Constitution may be as grossly violated by 
 acting against its meaning as against its letter. . . . The facts 
 are few and simple. The Constitution grants to Congress the 
 power of imposing a duty on imports for revenue, which power 
 is abused by being converted into an instrument of rearing up 
 the industry of one section of the country on the ruins of an- 
 other. ... It is, in a word, a violation by perversion, — the 
 most dangerous of all because the most insidious and difficult 
 to resist. . . . 
 
 On entering this branch of the subject, the committee feel 
 the painful character of the duty which they must perform. 
 They would desire never to speak of our country, as far as the 
 action of the General Government is concerned, but as one 
 great whole, having a common interest, which all the parts 
 ought zealously to promote. Previously to the adoption of the 
 Tariff system, such was the unanimous feeling of this State; 
 but in speaking of its operation, it will be impossible to avoid 
 the discussion of sectional interest, and the use of sectional lan- 
 guage. On its authors, and not on us, who are compelled to 
 adopt this course in self-defence, by injustice and oppression, 
 be the censure. 
 
Sectional Interests 263 
 
 So partial are the effects of the system, that its burdens are 
 exclusively on one side and its benefits on the other. It imposes 
 on the agricultural interest of the South, including the South- 
 west, and that portion of the country particularly engaged in 
 commerce and navigation, the burden not only of sustaining the 
 system itself, but that also of the Government. . . . That the 
 manufacturing States, even in their own opinion, bear no share 
 of the burden of the Tariff in reality, we may infer with the 
 greatest certainty from their conduct. The fact that they urgently 
 demand an increase, and consider every addition as a blessing 
 and a failure to obtain one as a curse, is the strongest confession 
 that, whatever burden it imposes, in reality falls not on them, 
 but on others. Men ask not for burdens, but benefits. . . . 
 
 Let us now trace the operation of the system in some of its 
 prominent details, in order to understand, with greater precision, 
 the extent of the burden it imposes on us, and the benefits which 
 it confers, at our expense, on the manufacturing states. . . . The 
 exports of domestic produce, in round numbers, may be esti- 
 mated as averaging $53,000,000 annually; of which the States 
 growing cotton, rice, and tobacco produce about $37,000,000. 
 In the last four years, the average amount of the export of 
 cotton, rice, and tobacco, exceeded $35,500,000 ; to which, if we 
 add flour, com, lumber, and other articles exported from the 
 States producing the former, their exports cannot be estimated 
 at a less sum than that stated. Taking it at that sum, the ex- 
 ports of the Southern or staple States, and other States, will 
 stand as $37,000,000 to $16,000,000 — or considerably more 
 than the proportion of two to one ; while their population, esti- 
 mated in federal numbers, is the reverse ; the former sending 
 to the House of Representatives but 76 members, and the latter 
 137. It follows that about one third of the Union exports more 
 than two thirds of the domestic products. . . . The Government 
 is supported almost exclusively by a tax on this exchange, in 
 the shape of an impost duty, and which amounts annually to 
 about $23,000,000. Previous to the passage of the act of the 
 last session, this tax averaged about 37 1 per cent, on the value 
 of exports. . . . The present duty [averages] at least 45 percent, 
 which on $37,000,000, the amount of our share of the exports, 
 
264 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 will give the sum of $16,650,000 as our share of the contribution 
 to the general Treasury. . , . 
 
 What becomes of so large an amount of the products of our 
 labor placed, by the operation of the system, at the disposal of 
 Congress ? One point is certain, — a very small share returns 
 to us, out of whose labor it is extracted. It would require much 
 investigation to state, with precision, the proportion of the public 
 revenue disbursed annually in the Southern, and other States 
 respectively ; but the committee feel a thorough conviction . . . 
 that a sum of much less than two million dollars falls to our 
 share of the disbursements ; and that it would be a moderate 
 estimate to place our contribution, above what we receive back, 
 through all of the appropriations, at $15,000,000 ; constituting 
 to that great amount, an annual, continued, and uncompensated 
 draft on the industry of the Southern States, through the 
 Custom-House alone. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 " THE REIGN OF ANDREW JACKSON " 
 
 Nullification 
 
 Two of the scores of foreigners who have visited our 67. Andrew 
 country and written of our society and institutions stand s^tutiona?^ 
 out conspicuous for the accuracy, sympathy, and justice autocrat 
 of their remarks. One of these men is the recent EngHsh l^^^l 
 ambassador to the United States, James Bryce (now Lord 
 Dechmont), author of *' The American Commonwealth " ; 
 the other, a young Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, who 
 visited us in 183 1, with a commission from the French 
 government to study our prison system. De Tocqueville 
 duly visited and reported upon the prisons (Sing Sing, 
 Auburn, and others), but this part of his work was soon 
 forgotten in the interest and enthusiasm aroused by his 
 general treatise on '' Democracy in America." At the close 
 of a long section entitled '' What are the chances of dura- 
 tion of the American Union, and what dangers threaten 
 it .? " De Tocqueville writes of the President : 
 
 Some persons in Europe have formed an opinion of the 
 influence of General Jackson upon the affairs of his country 
 which appears highly extravagant to those who have seen the 
 subject nearer at hand. We have been told that General Jack- 
 son has won battles; that he is an energetic man, prone by 
 nature and habit to the use of force, covetous of power and a 
 despot by inclination. All this may be true, but the inferences 
 which have been drawn from these truths are very erroneous. 
 
 265 
 
266 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 It has been imagined that General Jackson is bent on establish- 
 ing a dictatorship in America, introducing a military spirit, and 
 giving a degree of influence to the central authority which cannot 
 but be dangerous to provincial [state] liberties. But in America 
 the time for similar undertakings, and the age for men of this 
 kind, is not yet come : if General Jackson had thought of exer- 
 cising his authority in this manner, he would infallibly have 
 forfeited his political station, and compromised his life, — he 
 has not been so imprudent as to attempt anything of the kind. 
 
 Far from wishing to extend the Federal power, the President 
 belongs to the party which is desirous of limiting that power to 
 the clear and precise letter of the Constitution, and which never 
 puts a construction upon that act [the Constitution] favorable to 
 the [central] government of the Union ; far from standing forth 
 as the champion of centralization, General Jackson is the agent 
 of the State jealousies [!] ; and he was placed in this lofty 
 station by the passions which are most opposed to the central 
 government. It is by perpetually flattering those passions that 
 he maintains his station and his popularity. General Jackson is 
 the slave of the majority ; he yields to its wishes, its propensities, 
 and its demands — say, rather, anticipates and forestalls them. 
 
 Whenever the governments of the States come into collision 
 with that of the Union, the President is generally the first to 
 question his own rights, — he almost always outstrips the legis- 
 lature ; and when the extent of the Federal power is controverted, 
 he takes part, as it were, against himself. . . . Not, indeed, that 
 he is naturally weak or hostile to the Union ; for when the 
 majority decided against the claims of nullification, he put him- 
 self at their head, asserted the doctrines which the nation held 
 distinctly and energetically, and was the first to recommend force ; 
 but General Jackson appears to me, if I may use the American 
 expression, to be a Federalist by taste and a Republican by 
 calculation. 
 
 General Jackson stoops to gain the favor of the majority ; 
 but when he feels that his popularity is secure, he overthrows 
 all obstacles in the pursuit of the objects which the community 
 approves, or of those which it does not regard with jealousy. 
 Supported by a power which his predecessors never had, he 
 
" The Reigji of Andrezv Jackson " 267 
 
 tramples on his personal enemies, whenever they cross his path, 
 with a facility without example; he takes upon himself the 
 responsibility of measures which no one before him would have 
 ventured to attempt ; he even treats the national representatives 
 with a disdain approaching to insult ; he puts his veto upon the 
 laws of Congress, and frequently neglects even to reply to that 
 powerful body. He is a favorite who sometimes treats his master 
 roughly. The power of General Jackson perpetually increases, 
 but that of the President declines ; in his hands, the Federal 
 government is strong, but it will pass enfeebled into the hands 
 of his successor. 
 
 As for the treatment; of *' disdain approaching to insult," 
 the '' national representatives " were not a whit less accom- 
 plished in its use than was General Jackson. When they 
 spread upon the records of the Senate a vote of censure 
 of the President for the removal of the deposits from the 
 National Bank in the summer of 1833, he replied in a 
 vigorous protest, April 15, 1834. 
 
 To THE Senate of the United States : 
 
 It appears by the published Journal of the Senate that on 
 the 26'^ of December last a resolution was offered by a mem- 
 ber of the Senate [Clay],^ which after a protracted debate was 
 
 ^ Henry Clay in the original form of the resolutions called the Presi- 
 dent's action " dangerous to the liberties of the people." In presenting 
 the resolutions before a crowded house, he said : " We are in the midst 
 of a revolution hitherto bloodless, but rapidly tending toward a total 
 change of the pure republican character of our government, and to the 
 concentration of all power in the hands of one man. The powers of 
 Congress are paralyzed, except when exerted in conformity with his 
 will, by frequent and extraordinary exercise of the Executive veto. . . . 
 By the 3d of March, 1837, if the progress of innovation continues, there 
 will be scarcely a vestige remaining of the government and its policy 
 as they existed prior to the 3d of March, 1829. In a term of eight years, 
 a little more than equal to that which was required to establish our 
 liberties, the government will have been transformed into an elective 
 monarchy — the worst of all forms of government." — Congressional 
 Debates, ed. Gales and Seaton, 1834, Vol. X, Part I, p. 59. 
 
268 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 on the 28^^ of March last modified by the mover and passed 
 by the votes of tv^enty-six senators out of forty-six who were 
 present and voted,^ in the following words, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That the President, in the late Executive proceedings in 
 relation to the public revenue, has assumed upon himself authority and 
 power not conferred by the Constitution and laws, but in derogation 
 of both. 
 
 Having had the honor, through the voluntary suffrages of 
 the American people, to fill the office of President of the United 
 States during the period which may be presumed to have been 
 referred to in this resolution, it is sufficiently evident that the 
 censure it inflicts was intended for myself. Without notice, un- 
 heard and untried, I thus find myself charged on the records 
 of the Senate, and in a form hitherto unknown in our history, 
 with the high crime of violating the laws and Constitution of 
 my country. . . . 
 
 Under the Constitution of the United States the powers and 
 functions of the various departments of the Federal Govern- 
 ment and their responsibilities for violation or neglect of duty 
 are clearly defined, or result by necessary inference ; . . . each 
 of the three great departments is independent of the others in 
 its sphere of action, and when it deviates from that sphere is 
 not responsible to the others further than it is expressly made 
 so in the Constitution. In every other respect each of them is 
 the coequal of the other two, and all are the servants of the 
 American people, without power or right to control or censure 
 each other in the service of their common superior [the people], 
 save only in the manner and to the degree which that superior 
 has prescribed. . . . 
 
 Tested by these principles, the Resolution of the Senate is 
 wholly unauthorized by the Constitution, and in derogation of 
 its entire spirit. It assumes that a single branch of the legisla- 
 tive department may, for the purposes of a public censure, con- 
 sider and decide upon the official acts of the Executive. But in 
 
 1 Notice that this falls short of the two-thirds majority that would 
 have been necessary to convict Jackson had he been tried on a regular 
 charge of impeachment. 
 
'' The Reign of Andrew Jackson'' 269 
 
 no part of the Constitution is the President subjected to any 
 such responsibility, and in no part of that instrument is any 
 such power conferred on either branch of the Legislature. . . . 
 The impeachment, instead of being preferred and prosecuted 
 by the House of Representatives, originated in the Senate, and 
 was prosecuted without the aid or concurrence of the other 
 House. The oath or affirmation prescribed by the Constitution 
 was not taken by the Senators, the Chief Justice did not pre- 
 side, no notice of the charge was given to the accused, and no 
 opportunity afforded him ... to be heard in his defense. . . . 
 
 The honest differences of opinion which occasionally exist 
 between] the Senate and the President in regard to matters in 
 which both are obliged to participate are sufficiently embarrass- 
 ing; but if the course recently adopted by the Senate shall 
 hereafter be frequently pursued, it is not only obvious that the 
 harmony of the relations between the President and the Senate 
 will be destroyed, but that other and graver effects will ulti- 
 mately ensue. If the censures of the Senate be submitted to by 
 the President, the confidence of the people in his ability and 
 virtue, and the character and usefulness of his Administration 
 will soon be at an end, and the real power of the Government 
 will fall into the hands of a body holding their offices for long 
 terms, not elected by the people and not to them directly re- 
 sponsible. . . . With this view, and for the reasons which have 
 been stated, I do hereby solemnly protest against the afore- 
 mentioned proceedings of the Senate as unauthorized by the 
 Constitution. . . . 
 
 The resolution of the Senate contains an imputation upon 
 my private as well as upon my public character, and, as it must 
 stand forever on their journals,^ I cannot close this substitute 
 for that defense which I have not been allowed to present in 
 the ordinary form without remarking that I have lived in vain 
 if it be necessary to enter into a formal vindication of my char- 
 acter and purposes from such an imputation. ... In the his- 
 tory of conquerors and usurpers, never in the fire of youth nor 
 
 1 As a matter of fact, after a bitter fight in the Senate lasting for 
 three years, and headed by Thomas H. Benton, the resolution was 
 expunged, January 16, 1837. 
 
2/0 Natio7tal versus Sectional Interests 
 
 in the vigor of manhood could I find an attraction to lure me 
 from the path of duty, and now I shall scarcely find an induce- 
 ment to commence their career of ambition, when grey hairs 
 and a decaying frame, instead of inviting to toil and battle, call 
 me to the contemplation of other worlds, where conquerors 
 cease to be honored and usurpers expiate their crimes. The 
 only ambition I can feel is to acquit myself to Him to whom I 
 must soon render an account of my stewardship, to serve my 
 fellow-men, and live respected and honored in the history of 
 my country. No, the ambition which leads me on is an anxious 
 desire and a fixed determination to return to the people unim- 
 paired the sacred trust they have confided to my charge ; to 
 heal the wounds of the Constitution and preserve it from further 
 violation ; to persuade my countrymen, so far as I may, that it 
 is not in a splendid government supported by powerful monopo- 
 lies and aristocratical establishments that they will find happi- 
 ness or their liberties protection, but in a plain system, void of 
 pomp, protecting all and granting favors to none, dispensing its 
 blessings, like the dews of Heaven, unseen and unfelt save in 
 the freshness and beauty they contribute to produce. . . . 
 
 I respectfully request that this message and protest may be 
 entered at length on the journals of the Senate. 
 
 Andrew Jackson 
 
 ''The secession movement," says Professor Houston, 
 " dates definitely from 1824. In the period from 1824 to 
 1832 all the principles that were fought for in the Civil 
 [230] War were formally enunciated by South Carolina, and a 
 
 determination to apply them, if it should become necessary, 
 was repeatedly expressed." ^ In 1830 George McDuffie, 
 Congressman from South Carolina, a sensational orator, 
 and a most extreme advocate of state sovereignty, denounced 
 the oppressive tariff measures in a fiery speech before a 
 crowded House. 
 
 1 D. F. Houston, A Critical Study of Nullification in South Carolina, 
 p. V. 
 
^^ The Reign of A iidren ' Jaekson " 271 
 
 It is vain, then, that the people of the South attempt to 
 palter with this question, or to disguise any longer the sad 
 reality of their condition. They have no security against tax- 
 ation, but the will of those who have a settled interest and a 
 fixed determination to increase their burdens ; they have no 
 rights of property, no title to that commerce which gives the 
 principal value to the productions of their industry, which 
 they do not hold by the same miserable and degrading tenure. 
 They are, to all intents and purposes, the slaves of northern 
 monopolists. If I were called on to give a definition of slavery, 
 I could not use language more appropriate than that which 
 should accurately describe the condition of the people of the 
 Southern States. 
 
 There is no form of despotism that has ever existed upon 
 the face of the earth, more monstrous and horrible than that of 
 a representative Government acting beyond the sphere of its re- 
 sponsibility. Liberty is an empty sound, and representation worse 
 than a vain delusion, unless the action of the Government be so 
 regulated that responsibility and power shall be co-extensive. 
 Now, I would be glad to know, under what responsibility the 
 majority of this House act, in imposing burdens upon the in- 
 dustry of the southern people, and in waging this merciless war- 
 fare against their commerce. Are they, in the slightest degree, 
 responsible to those upon whom they impose these heavy bur- 
 dens ? Have they any feelings of common interest or common 
 sympathy to restrain them from oppression and tyranny ? Does 
 the system of prohibitory duties, which falls with such destructive 
 power upon the dearest interests of the southern people, impose 
 any burden, or inflict any injury at all, upon the constituents of 
 that majority by which it has been adopted ? 
 
 The very reverse of this is the truth. The majority which 
 imposes these oppressive taxes upon the people of the South, 
 so far from being responsible to them, ... are responsible to 
 the very men who have been, for the last ten years, making the 
 welkin ring with their clamors for the imposition of these very 
 burdens. Yes, sir, those who lay the iron hand of unconstitu- 
 tional and lawless taxation upon the people of the southern 
 States, are not the representatives of those who pay the taxes. 
 
2/2 National 'versus Sectional Interests 
 
 or have any participation in it, but the representatives of those 
 who receive the bounty, and put it in their pockets. . . . 
 
 I am aware that the answer given to all this will be, that it is 
 the right of the majority to govern, and the duty of the minority 
 to submit. There is no political principle more undeniably true, 
 in all the cases to which it properly applies. . . . 
 
 It is contrary to the clearest principles of natural justice, that 
 the majority, merely because they have the power, should violate 
 the rights and destroy the separate and peculiar interests of the 
 minority. This would make power and right synonymous terms. 
 The majority have no natural right, in any case to govern the 
 minority. It is a mere conventional right, growing out of neces- 
 sity and convenience. On the contrary, the right of the minority 
 to the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property, without any un- 
 just interference on the part of the majority, is the most sacred 
 of the natural rights of man. 
 
 When the great antagonistic interests of society become 
 arrayed against each other, particularly when they are separated 
 by distance, and distinguished by a difference of climate, char- 
 acter, and civil institutions, the great object of the Government 
 should undoubtedly be, not to become the partisan of either of 
 those interests, but to interpose its power for the purpose of 
 preventing the stronger from destroying the weaker. Instead, 
 however, of assuming this attitude, instead of restraining the 
 major interest from doing this act of injustice and oppression, 
 this Government degrades itself into the character of a partisan 
 of the stronger interest, and an instrument of its oppression. It 
 cannot be otherwise, sir, as long as the majority in Congress, 
 being nothing more than the agent of the major interest in the 
 Confederacy, assumes the power of arbitrarily and unjustly ap- 
 propriating to its own use the rightful and exclusive property 
 of the minority. 
 
 Only a few v^eeks before this speech of McDuffie's in 
 the House, Daniel Webster, in his famous reply to Senator 
 Hayne of South Carolina, had given classic expression to 
 the doctrine of the sovereignty of the Union, basing his 
 
The Reign of A ndrciv Jackson " 273 
 
 argument on the two clauses of the Constitution which he 
 called '' the keystone of the arch," namely : that the Con- 
 stitution and the laws made in pursuance of it were the 
 "supreme law of the land," in spite of anything in the 
 Constitution or laws of any state (Art. VI, par. 2) ; and 
 the power of the Supreme Court of the United States 
 should '' extend to all cases . . . arising under the Consti- 
 tution and laws of the Union " (Art. Ill, Sect. II, par. i). 
 Webster finds no room for state sovereignty beside this 
 sovereignty of the Union : 
 
 For myself, sir, I do not admit the competency of South 
 Carolina, or any other State, to prescribe my constitutional 
 duty; or to settle, between me and the people, the validity of 
 laws of Congress, for which I have voted. I decline her um- 
 pirage. I have not sworn to support the Constitution according 
 to her construction of its clauses. I have not stipulated by my 
 oath of office or otherwise, to come under any responsibility, 
 except to the people, and those whom they have appointed to 
 pass upon the question, whether laws, supported by my votes, 
 conform to the Constitution of the Country.^ And, sir, if we 
 look to the general nature of the case, could anything have 
 been more preposterous, than to make a government for the 
 whole Union, and yet leave its powers subject, not to one inter- 
 pretation, but to thirteen or twenty-four interpretations ? Instead 
 of one tribunal, established by all, responsible to all, with power 
 to decide for all, shall constitutional questions be left to four- 
 and-twenty popular bodies, each at liberty to decide for itself, 
 and none bound to respect the decision of others ; and each at 
 
 1 Webster refers to the Supreme Court. But the people "appointed" 
 the Supreme Court only in the sense of accepting a constitution pro- 
 viding for the establishment of that body. The members of the Court 
 are " appointed " by the president. Furthermore, the Constitution no- 
 where explicitly confers on the Court the power to decide whether laws 
 " conform to the Constitution of the country." That power was assumed 
 as a necessary part of its right to decide cases arising under the Con- 
 stitution and laws of the United States. 
 
274 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 liberty, too, to give a new construction on every new election 
 of its own members ? Would anything with such a principle in 
 it, or rather with such a destitution of all principle, be fit to be 
 called a government? No, sir. It should not be denominated 
 a Constitution. It should be called, rather, a collection of topics 
 for everlasting controversy ; heads of debate for a disputatious 
 people. It would not be a government. It would not be ade- 
 quate to any practical good, or fit for any country to live under 
 
 I have not allowed myself, sir, to look beyond the Union, to 
 see what might lie hidden in the dark recess behind. I have not 
 coolly weighed the chances of preserving liberty when the bonds 
 that unite us together shall be broken asunder. I have not 
 accustomed myself to hang over the precipice of disunion, to 
 see whether, with my short sight, I can fathom the depth of 
 the abyss below ; nor could I regard him as a safe counsellor in 
 the affairs of this government, whose thoughts should be mainly 
 bent on considering, not how the Union may best be preserved, 
 but how tolerable might be the condition of the people when it 
 should be broken up and destroyed. While the Union lasts, we 
 have high, exciting, gratifying prospects spread out before us, 
 for us and our children. Beyond that I seek not to penetrate 
 the veil. God grant that in my day, at least, that curtain may 
 not rise ! God grant that on my vision never may be opened 
 what lies behind ! When my eyes shall be turned to behold for 
 the last time the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on 
 the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union ; 
 on States dissevered, discordant, belligerent ; on a land rent with 
 civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood ! Let their 
 last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous en- 
 sign of the republic, now known and honored throughout the 
 earth, still full high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming 
 in their original lustre, not a stripe erased or polluted, not a 
 single star obscured, bearing for its motto no such miserable 
 interrogatory as "What is all this worth?" nor those other words 
 of delusion and folly, " Liberty first and Union afterwards " ; but 
 everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing 
 on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the 
 land, and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other 
 
" The Reign of Ajidrezv Jackson " 275 
 
 sentiment, dear to every true American heart, — Liberty and 
 Union, now and forever, one and inseparable ! 
 
 The agitation over the tariff and states' rights divided 
 the state of South CaroHna into the ''Union" and "Nul- 
 lification" parties. And when the legislature of 1831 
 authorized Governor Hamilton to call a convention of the 
 people of the state to deliberate on their relation to the 
 Union, both parties began an active campaign to win dele- 
 gates. The Union party planned a grand program (pro- 
 cession, speeches, banquet) for July 4, 183 1, at Charleston, 
 " to celebrate the fifty-fifth anniversary of American inde- 
 pendence." President Jackson was invited to speak at the 
 banquet. His reply to the committee was as follows : 
 
 Washington City, June 14, 1831 
 Gentlemen, — 
 
 It would afford me much pleasure, could I at the same time 
 accept your invitation of the 5''^ instant and that with which I 
 was before honored by the municipal authorities of Charleston. 
 A necessary attention to the duties of my office must deprive 
 me of the gratification I should have had in paying, under such 
 circumstances, a visit to the State of which I feel a pride in 
 calling myself a citizen by birth. 
 
 Could I accept your invitation, it would be with the hope 
 that all parties — all the men of talent, exalted patriotism, and 
 private worth, who have been divided in the manner you de- 
 scribe — might be found united before the altar of their country 
 on the day set apart for the solemn celebration of its independ- 
 ence — independence which cannot exist without Union, and 
 with it is eternal. 
 
 Ever)' enlightened citizen must know that a separation, could 
 it be effected, would begin with civil discord, and end in colonial 
 dependence on a foreign power, and obliteration from the list of 
 nations. But he should also see that high and sacred duties which 
 must and will, at all hazards, be performed, present an insur- 
 mountable barrier to the success of any plan of disorganization, 
 
2/6 ■ National versus Sectional hiterests 
 
 by whatever patriotic name it may be decorated, or whatever 
 high feelings may be arrayed for its support. . . . 
 
 Knowing as I do the private worth and public virtues of dis- 
 tinguished citizens to whom declarations inconsistent with an 
 attachment to this Union have been ascribed, I cannot but hope 
 that, if accurately reported, they were the effect of momentary 
 excitement, not deliberate design ; and that such men can never 
 have formed the project of pursuing a course of redress through 
 any other than constitutional means ; but if I am mistaken in 
 this charitable hope, then in the language of the father of our 
 country, I would conjure them to estimate properly " the im- 
 mense value of your national Union to your collective and 
 individual happiness " ; to '' cherish a cordial, habitual, and im- 
 movable attachment to it, accustoming yourselves to think and 
 speak of it as the palladium of your political safety and pros- 
 perity, watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety ; dis- 
 countenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it 
 can, in any event, be abandoned ; and indignantly frowning on 
 the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of 
 our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which 
 now link together the various parts." . . . 
 
 The grave subjects introduced in your letter of invitation 
 have drawn from me the frank exposition of opinions which I 
 have neither interest nor inclination to conceal. . . . 
 
 I have the honor to be, with great respect, your humble and 
 obedient servant, Andrew Jackson ^ 
 
 The Nullification party grew steadily stronger in South 
 Carolina, and when Congress, in the tariff bill of 1832, 
 
 1 The toast to President Jackson at the dinner was : " He will fill the 
 measure of his glory by preserving the Union without impairing the 
 rights of the States." The bitterness to which partisanship can lead is 
 shown in John Quincy Adams' entry in his diary on the occasion when 
 the man who wrote the excellent letter above quoted was given an 
 honorary degree at Harvard: "Myself an affectionate child of our alma 
 mater, I would not be present to witness her disgrace in conferring her 
 highest literary honors upon a barbarian who could not write a sentence 
 of grammar and hardly could spell his name." — John Quincy Adams, 
 Memoirs, Vol. IV, p. 5. 
 
" The Reig7t of Andreiv Jackson " 277 
 
 refused to abandon the doctrine of protection, Governor 
 Hamilton, on the authorization of the legislature, called a 
 convention to deal with the tariff laws. On November 24, 
 1832, the convention, by a vote of 136 to 26, passed the 
 following ordinance : 
 
 Whereas the Congress of the United States, by various acts, 
 purporting to be acts laying duties and imposts on foreign im- 
 ports, but in reality intended for the protection of domestic 
 manufactures . . . hath exceeded its just powers under the 
 Constitution, which confers on it no authority to afford such 
 protection, and hath violated the true meaning and intent of 
 the Constitution, which provides for equality in imposing the 
 burthens of taxation upon the several States and portions of the 
 Confederacy. . . . 
 
 We, therefore, the people of the State of South Carolina, in 
 Convention assembled, do declare and ordain . . . that the sev- 
 eral acts and parts of acts of the Congress of the United States, 
 purporting to be laws for the imposing of duties and imposts on 
 the importation of foreign commodities . . . are unauthorized by 
 the Constitution of the United States, and violate the true mean- 
 ing and intent thereof, and are null, void, and no law, nor bind- 
 ing upon this State, its officers or citizens. . . . 
 
 And it is further ordained, that it shall not be lawful for any 
 of the constituted authorities, whether of this State or of the 
 United States, to enforce the payment of duties impOse4 by the 
 said acts within the limits of this State. . . . 
 
 And it is further ordained, that all persons now holding any 
 office of honor, profit, or trust, civil or military, under this State 
 . . . shall . . . take an oath well and truly to obey, execute, and 
 enforce this ordinance, and such act or acts of the Legislature 
 as may be passed in pursuance thereof. . . . 
 
 And we, the people of South Carolina, to the end that it may 
 be fully understood by the Government of the United States, 
 and the people of the co-States, that we are determined to main- 
 tain this, our ordinance and declaration, at every hazard, do 
 further declare that we will not submit to the application of force. 
 
2/8 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 on the part of the Federal Government, to reduce this State to 
 obedience ; but that we will consider the passage, by Congress, 
 of any act authorizing the employment of a military or naval 
 force against the State of South Carolina, her constituted au- 
 thorities or citizens ... as inconsistent with the longer continu- 
 ance of South Carolina in the Union : and that the people of 
 this State will . . , forthwith proceed to organize a separate Gov- 
 ernment, and do all other acts and things which sovereign and 
 independent States may of right do. 
 
 Done in Convention at Columbia, 24 November 1832. 
 
 A New Party 
 
 Fanny Kemble, the famous English actress, who visited 
 America in 1832, gives the following amusing description 
 [238] <^f ^ journey by boat, stage, and railroad from New York 
 to Philadelphia. The party embarked on the Philadelphia 
 boat at six o'clock on an October morning, at the docks at 
 the foot of Barclay Street, and crossing New York Bay 
 sailed a few miles up the Raritan River. 
 
 At about half-past ten we reached the place where we leave 
 the river, to proceed across a part of the State of New Jersey 
 to the Delaware. The landing was beyond measure wretched : 
 the shore shelved down to the water's edge; and its marshy, 
 clayey,, sticky soil, rendered doubly soft and squashy by the 
 damp weather, was strewn over with broken potsherds, stones, 
 and bricks, by way of pathway ; these, however, presently failed, 
 and some slippery planks, half immersed in mud, were the only 
 roads to the coaches that stood ready to receive the passengers 
 of the steam-boat. Oh, these coaches ! English eye hath not 
 seen, English ear hath not heard, nor hath it entered into the 
 heart of Englishmen to conceive the surpassing clumsiness and 
 wretchedness of these leathern inconveniences. They are shaped 
 something like boats, the sides being merely leathern pieces, re- 
 movable at pleasure, but which, in bad weather, are buttoned 
 down to protect the inmates from the wet. . . . For the first 
 
" The Reign of Andrew Jackson " 279 
 
 few minutes I thought I must have fainted from the intolerable 
 sensation of smothering which I experienced. However, the 
 leathers having been removed, and a little more air obtained, I 
 took heart of grace and resigned myself to my fate. Away 
 walloped the four horses, trotting with their front, and galloping 
 with their hind legs ; and away we went after them, bumping, 
 thumping, jumping, jolting, shaking, tossing, tumbling, over the 
 wickedest road, I do think the cruellest, hard-heartedest road 
 that ever wheel rumbled upon. Through bog [and marsh, and 
 ruts wider and deeper than any Christian ruts I ever saw, with 
 the roots of trees protruding across our path ; their boughs every 
 now and then giving us an affectionate scratch through the win- 
 dows ; and more than once a half-demolished trunk or stump 
 lying in the middle of the road lifting us up, and letting us down 
 again, with the most awful variations of our poor coach body 
 from its natural position. Bones of me ! what a road ! Even 
 my father's solid proportions could not keep their level, but were 
 jerked up to the roof and down again every three minutes. Our 
 companions seemed nothing dismayed by these wondrous per- 
 formances of a coach and four, but laughed and talked inces- 
 santly, the young ladies at the very top of their voices, and with 
 the national nasal twang. . . . 
 
 At the end of fourteen miles we turned into a swampy field, 
 the whole fourteen coachfuls of us, and, by the help of Heaven, 
 bag and baggage were packed into the coaches which stood on 
 the rail-way ready to receive us. These carriages were not drawn 
 by steam, like those on the Liverpool rail-way,^ but by horses, 
 with the mere advantage in speed afforded by the iron ledges, 
 which, to be sure, compared with our previous progress through 
 the ruts, was considerable. Our coachful got into the first car- 
 riage of the train, escaping, by way of especial grace, the dust 
 which one's predecessors occasion. This vehicle had but two 
 seats, in the usual fashion ; each of which held four of us. The 
 whole inside was lined with blazing scarlet leather, and the 
 
 1 The Liverpool and Manchester railway was opened in 1830. The 
 Stephensons' prize locomotive, the Rocket, weighing four and one-half 
 tons, drew cars at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, and demonstrated 
 the success of the steam engine for rapid railway locomotion. 
 
28o National versus Sectional hit crests 
 
 windows shaded with stuff curtains of the same refreshing color •, 
 which, with full complement of passengers, on a fine, sunny, 
 American summer's day, must make as pretty a little miniature 
 hell as may be, I should think. The baggage-waggon, which 
 went before us, a little obstructed the view. . . . This railroad 
 is an infinite blessing ; 't is not yet finished, but shortly will be 
 so, and then the whole of that horrible fourteen miles will be 
 performed in comfort and decency in less than half the time. 
 In about an hour and a half we reached the end of our railroad 
 part of the journey, and found another steamboat waiting for 
 us, when we all embarked on the Delaware. . . . 
 
 At about four o'clock we reached Philadelphia, having per- 
 formed the journey between that and New York (a distance of a 
 hundred miles) in less than ten hours, in spite of bogs, ruts, and 
 all other impediments. The manager came to look after us and our 
 goods, and we were presently stowed into a coach which conveyed 
 us to the Mansion House, the best reputed inn in Philadelphia. 
 
 Miss Kemble had hardly left our strenuous shores when 
 another still more distinguished Englishwoman, Miss 
 Harriet Martineau, historian, essayist, economist, came for 
 a two years' visit. The results of Miss Martineau's exten- 
 sive and discriminating observations on our politics, our 
 industries, our commerce, our manners and morals, our work 
 and our worship, our charities and our children, were em- 
 bodied in two remarkable volumes entitled '' Society in 
 America." Miss Martineau writes of her journeys in the 
 South in the spring of 1835 : 
 
 The only railroads completed in the south, when I was there, 
 were the Charleston and Augusta one, two short ones in the 
 States of Alabama and Mississippi, and one of five miles from 
 Lake Pontchartrain to New Orleans. There is likely to be soon a 
 magnificent line from Charleston to Cincinnati ; and the line from 
 Norfolk, Virginia, to New York, is now almost uninterrupted. . . . 
 
 My journeys on the Charleston and Augusta railroad were 
 by far the most fatiguing of any I underwent in the country. 
 
*' The Reign of Andreiv Jacksoii " 281 
 
 The motion and the noise are distracting. Whether this is owing 
 to its being built on piles in many places ; whether the fault is 
 in the ground or the construction, I do not know. Almost all 
 the rail-road travelling in America is very fatiguing and noisy. 
 I was told that this was chiefly owing to the roads being put to 
 use as soon as finished, instead of the work being left to settle 
 for some months. How far this is true I do not pretend to say. 
 The railroads which I saw in progress were laid on wood instead 
 of stone. The patentee discovered that wood settles after frost 
 more evenly than stone. The original cost in the State of New 
 York, is about two thousand dollars per mile.^ 
 
 One great inconvenience of the American rail-roads is that, 
 from wood being used for fuel, there is an* incessant shower of 
 large sparks, destructive to dress and comfort, unless all the 
 windows are shut ; which is impossible in warm weather. Some 
 serious accidents from fire have happened in this way ; and 
 during my last trip on the Columbia and Philadelphia rail-road, 
 a lady in the car had a shawl burned to destruction on her 
 shoulders ; and I found that my own gown had thirteen holes 
 in it ; and my veil, with which I saved my eyes, more than could 
 be counted.^ . . . 
 
 There are many rail-roads in Virginia, and a line to New York, 
 through Maryland and Delaware. There is in Kentucky a line 
 from Louisville to Lexington. But it is in Pennsylvania, New 
 York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, that they abound. All 
 have succeeded so admirably, that there is no doubt of the estab- 
 lishment of this means of communication over nearly the whole 
 of the United States, within a few years, as by-ways to great 
 high-ways [rivers] which Nature has made to run through this 
 vast country. ... I believe the best-constructed rail-road in the 
 
 1 The average cost of modern railroad construction in the United 
 States is given by Webb at $70,000 per mile. — New Dictionary of 
 Statistics, p. 513. London, 191 1. 
 
 2 These annoying injuries to apparel were not the only dangers of the 
 early railroads. The first American-built locomotive, the Best Friend, 
 running on the Charleston railroad in 1830, was blown up "because an 
 attendant, annoyed by the sound of the escaping steam, fastened down 
 the safety-valve " ! 
 
282 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 ^ States is the Boston and Lowell in Massachusetts ; length, twenty- 
 
 five miles. Its importance, from the amount of traffic upon it, 
 may be estimated from the fact that some thousands of dollars 
 ' were spent, the winter after it was opened, in clearing away a 
 fall of snow from it. It was again covered, the next night. 
 
 Another line from Boston is to Providence, Rhode Island, 
 forty-three miles long. This opens a very speedy communication 
 with New York ; the distance, 227 miles, being performed in 
 twenty hours, by rail-road and steam-boat. . . . 
 
 There is now an uninterrupted communication from the 
 Atlantic to the far end of Lake Michigan. It only remains to 
 extend a line thence to the Mississippi, and the circle is complete. 
 
 70. Labor The decade 1 8 30- 1 840 was marked by a great number of 
 
 twrties*^ ^ enterprises, reforms, and innovations which showed an 
 [2381 awakening of interest among the people at large in politi- 
 cal and social questions, and a participation of the people 
 at large in such questions, to an extent never before known 
 in our history. The widening of the suffrage, the substitu- 
 tion of elective for appointive offices, humanitarian reforms 
 in workhouses, asylums, and prisons, the multiplication of 
 inventions, the frequency of mass meetings and conventions, 
 the organization of temperance societies — are all different 
 aspects of the '' new democracy." One of the most inter- 
 esting features of this social ferment is the labor agitation 
 of the decade, of which Professor McMaster gives the 
 following summary: 
 
 Along the sea-board, the hard times which followed the re- 
 moval of the deposits [1833], and the depressed state of business 
 of every sort, caused by the State banks refusing loans, was 
 followed by a reduction of wages, and discontent among the 
 workingmen everywhere. . . . Four eastern factories had dis- 
 missed eleven hundred men. The blast furnaces of New Jersey 
 would soon be put out. In Philadelphia but eight building per- 
 mits had been issued during 1834, as against six hundred foi 
 
"^^ The Reig7i of Andrew Jackso7i'' 283 
 
 the same period in 1833. These were but typical instances of 
 a general condition which bore heavily on the banks, the manu- 
 facturers, the merchants, and the workingmen. It was better 
 that wages be low and many have work, than be high and few 
 find employment. 
 
 The workingmen, however, thought otherwise, and the old 
 agitation for shorter hours, better pay, and combined action went 
 on with renewed energy. In October of 1833 committees of 
 the various trade organizations in Philadelphia were appointed 
 to confer on the ills of labor. In Boston, in January 1834, steps 
 were taken to form a trades union of mechanics, and in March, 
 in each of these cities a General Trades Union was formed, a 
 constitution adopted, and officers elected. At Lowell in February 
 the girls in the factories turned out to prevent a reduction of 
 wages ; but others from the country filled their places and the 
 attempt failed. . . . 
 
 Striking cabinet-makers in New York became so enraged at 
 the importation of French furniture that a band of them entered 
 an auction room where some was for sale, and destroyed bureaus, 
 sofas, and tables to the value of a thousand dollars. . . . Coal- 
 heavers on the Schuylkill wharves in Philadelphia struck for a 
 laboring day from six in the morning to six in the evening, with 
 an hour for breakfast and another for dinner ; assaulted those 
 who would not join them, and raised a riot the mayor found it 
 difficult to put down. . . . The seamstresses, who made shirts 
 and pantaloons, now appealed to the public and stated their 
 grievances. For sewing shirts they were paid eight, ten, or 
 twelve and a half cents each. By working from six in the morn- 
 ing till nine at night they could make nine in the course of a 
 week ; thus earning seventy-two, ninety, or a hundred and twelve 
 cents per week. Carpenters were paid a dollar and a quarter for 
 ten hours' work and masons a dollar and three quarters for ten 
 hours of labor. That women should be given less for a week's 
 work than carpenters and masons for one day's work was cruel 
 and unjust. 
 
 After a series of meetings in Independence Square, and a 
 street parade, the carpenters adopted a report of a committee 
 demanding a six to six day ; divided the city into three districts 
 
284 National versus Sectional hitercsts 
 
 with a committee for each to watch the shops, and petitioned 
 councils to adopt the ten-hour system for all city work. . . . 
 Catching the movement of the day, the plumbers and wood- 
 sawyers struck for higher pay, gangs of tipsy seamen paraded 
 the streets with a banner inscribed : " Eighteen dollars a month 
 and small stores [grog] or death! " ; the tailoresses, seamstresses, 
 binders, folders, and stockworkers demanded more wages, and 
 the block and pump makers, in a card, thanked their employers 
 for accepting the ten-hour day without a struggle. . . . 
 
 Members of the Philadelphia Trades Union met in Independ- 
 ence Square, heard speeches by labor leaders from New England, 
 approved the stand taken by the Boston house-wrights for a ten- 
 hour day, and were urged to give up some luxury, as tobacco, 
 and contribute twenty-five cents a week for the support of the 
 Boston strikers. ... 
 
 The following extracts from contemporaneous documents 
 comprise {a) an appeal for the striking bakers in New York, 
 (p) the call for a convention to organize a general trade- 
 union in Boston, and {c) a communication on child labor 
 from " many operatives " in the Philadelphia factories. 
 
 (a) 
 
 STRIKE OF THE JOURNEYMEN BAKERS 
 
 To THE Public : the undersigned Committee, appointed by 
 the general Trades' Union, having now before them a well at- 
 tested statement of facts which sufficiently prove that the con- 
 dition of the Journeymen Bakers in this city has been for some 
 time in reality much worse than that of the southern slaves, 
 submit for the inspection of the public a few instances taken 
 from a very long list. 
 
 I St. Three men and a boy have had to bake 60 barrels per 
 week, have had to labor 115 hours each week (doing six men's 
 work) and have received about 50 cents per barrel. 
 
 2"^. Four men have had to bake 54 barrels per week, have 
 had to labor about 112 hours each week (doing nearly six men's 
 work) and have received about 60 cents per barrel. . . . 
 
The Reign of A ndrezv Jackson " 285 
 
 The above facts undoubtedly prove all that we have asserted, 
 and now we call upon the public to know whether those em- 
 ployers who persist in requiring from their men much more 
 than their nature can long bear, viz. : from 1 8 to 20 hours labor 
 out of the 24 — are to be sustained in their demands, or whether 
 they will not assist the oppressed Journeymen in their present 
 attempt to procure a fair equivalent for their labor. 
 
 We have also to state that the General Trades' Union have 
 resolved to support the Journeymen Bakers in their present 
 course, and are determined by all just and honorable means, to 
 raise them if possible to a fair standing among the other 
 mechanics of the city. 
 
 In conclusion, we respectfully suggest, that the public in gen- 
 eral can in no way more effectually support our cause, than by 
 bestowing their patronage on those employers who have nobly 
 agreed to give the wages required.^ In order to accomplish this 
 end, we give below a list of those employers, as far as we have 
 ascertained, and shall continue to do so from day to day, until 
 all difficulties are adjusted. 
 
 William Hewitt, and others. Committee of the 
 General Trades Union 
 New York, June 10, 1834 
 
 ib) 
 
 TRADES UNION OF BOSTON AND VICINITY 
 
 P^ELLOW Citizens : At a meeting of the workingmen of this 
 city, holden at the old Common Council Room, Court Square, 
 School Street, January 21, 1834, the subject of Trades' Unions 
 came before the meeting. After many interesting remarks, a 
 Committee was appointed to take such measures as they should 
 deem expedient to effect the formation of a General Trades' 
 Union of the mechanics of this city and vicinity. The Com- 
 mittee thus appointed assembled at Bascom's Hotel, School- 
 street, on the evening of January 28^*^ ult. They took the 
 
 1 A list of twenty-three such employers followed. The terms demanded 
 by the three hundred members of the Bakers' Trade Union were a 
 dollar per barrel with an average of nine barrels a week for each man, 
 and no work on Sunday before 8 o'clock in the evening. 
 
286 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 subject into deep and serious consideration, which resulted in a 
 vote to issue a Circular to the Mechanics of Boston and vicinity, 
 in order to lay before them the nature and design of the pro- 
 posed Union of Trades. The several trades were generally 
 represented in the committee.-^ 
 
 Judging by past experience, and close observation of causes 
 and effects, which act in reducing the Working Class in all coun- 
 tries to a situation far from enviable, your Committee deem it of 
 the very highest moment, that something should be done to im- 
 prove the condition of the mechanics of our city and vicinity, which 
 will prevent the fatal results which have followed the adoption of 
 a cruel and heartless policy towards the Mechanics of Europe. . . . 
 
 The cities of New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, have 
 adopted this method of concentrated action [in trade-unions] 
 to the satisfaction of all concerned. Since the formation of 
 Trades' Unions in those cities, we hear nothing of difficulties 
 and dissentions between employers and employed, which in all 
 cases produce dissatisfaction, discontent, and distress ; but em- 
 ployers and employed seem to be harmoniously united for the 
 mutual benefit of both, which ought always to be the case. 
 
 If there are a few in those cities more avaricious than others, 
 who wish to oppress their fellow men to aggrandize themselves, 
 the good sense and humanity of the greater number of honest 
 employers forbid the attempt, which, if made under the present 
 circumstances growing out of Trades' Unions would inevitably 
 result in total failure. . . . 
 
 It would be impossible to give a detail of all the advantages 
 of such a Union of the Trades, but one advantage will be ap- 
 parent to you all at first sight. Such a Union will produce a 
 friction of mind, and no doubt that sparks of intellectual fire 
 will be thus elicited, which will electrify, enlighten, and warm 
 the whole body. . . . 
 
 The Committee earnestly recommend that the Mechanics of 
 the towns in the vicinity of Boston would send delegates to the 
 
 ^ In the convention which met March 6, in response to this call, 
 there were delegates representing curriers, cabinetmakers, tailors, 
 masons, coopers, shipwrights, painters, ropemakers, iron^ founders, 
 printers, carpenters, sailmakers, pianomakers, and machinists. 
 
^^ The Reign of A ndrew Jackson " 287 
 
 proposed Convention, furnished with the proper credentials. . . . 
 Those trades which have societies already formed are requested 
 to take measures to be represented in the Convention. All of 
 which is respectfully submitted by the 
 
 Committee 
 Boston, Feb. 11, 1834 
 
 (^) 
 
 CHILDREN IN THE PHILADELPHIA FACTORIES 
 
 In looking over one of your late numbers [of the Mechanics' 
 Free Fress\ I was rejoiced to find that some friend has noticed 
 the sufferings of people employed in our manufactories ; par- 
 ticularly in that of cotton. It is a well known fact, that the 
 principal part of the helps in cotton factories consist of boys 
 and girls, we may safely say from six to seventeen years of age, 
 and are confined to steady employment during the longest days 
 in the year, from daylight until dark, allowing at the outside 
 one hour and a half per day. In consequence of this close con- 
 finement, it renders it entirely impossible for the parents of such 
 children to obtain for them any education or knowledge, save 
 that of working that machine, which they are compelled to work, 
 and that too with a small sum, that is hardly sufficient to sup- 
 port nature, while they on the other hand are rolling''in wealth, 
 of[f] the vitals of these poor children every day. We noticed 
 the observation of our Pawtucket friend in your number of 
 June 19, 1830, lamenting the grievances of the children em- 
 ployed in those factories. We think his observations very correct, 
 with regard to their being brought up as ignorant as Arabs of 
 the Desert ; for we are confident that not more than one-sixth 
 of the boys and girls employed in such factories are capable of 
 reading or writing their own name. . We have known many in- 
 stances where parents who are capable of giving their children 
 a trifling education one at a time, deprived of that opportunity 
 by their employer's threats, that if they did take one child from 
 their employ, (a short time for school,) such family must leave 
 the employment — and we have even known these threats put 
 in execution. Now, as our friend observes, we may establish 
 schools and academies, and devise every means for the instruction 
 
288 National versus Sectional Interests 
 
 of youth in vain, unless we also give time for application ; we 
 have heard it remarked to some employers, that it would be 
 commendable to congress to shorten the hours of labour in fac- 
 tories ; the reply was : it would be an infringement on the 
 rights of the people. We know the average number of hands 
 employed by one manufacturer to be, at the lowest estimate, 
 fifty men, women, and children. Now, the query is : whether 
 this individual, or this number employed by him, is the people. 
 It is not our intention at present, to undertake a thorough 
 discussion of this interesting subject, but rather to give some 
 hints on the subject, which, we hope, may attract the notice of 
 your readers, and be the means of arousing some abler pen to 
 write on the matter; for we think it is high time the public 
 should begin to notice the evil that it begets. We see the evil 
 that follows the system of long labor much better than we can 
 express it ; but we hope our weak endeavors may not prove in- 
 effectual We must acknowledge our inability prevents us from 
 expressing our sentiments fluently, at present, but we hope to 
 appear again in a more correct manner. 
 
 Many Operatives 
 
PART V. SLAVERY AND THE WEST 
 
PART V. SLAVERY AND THE 
 WEST 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE GATHERING CLOUD 
 
 The Missouri Compromise 
 The prevalence of slavery in the colonies in the seven- 71. The pe- 
 
 the 
 colo- 
 
 teenth and eighteenth centuries was chiefly due to the ^^^ ^ *^® 
 
 slavery, 1738 
 [247] 
 
 need of laborers for the cultivation of the soil. A scanty nists for 
 
 population, without manufactures, the colonists, especially 
 
 in the South, had to work large areas of land to produce 
 
 the tobacco, cotton, rice, indigo, and food-stuffs to exchange 
 
 in Europe for their luxuries and many of their necessities. 
 
 So, for example, the Lords Proprietors of Carolina, in their 
 
 "Proposals to 'First Settlers," in 1663, offered "to the 
 
 owner of every negro or man slave brought thither to settle 
 
 within the first year 20 acres and for every woman negro 
 
 or slave 10 acres of land." ^ James Oglethorpe, founder of 
 
 the neighboring colony of Georgia, was opposed to slavery 
 
 on moral grounds, and immediately after the granting of 
 
 the charter of Georgia the inhabitants were ordered " not 
 
 to hire, keep, lodge, board, or employ within the limits 
 
 of the Province any Black or Negro." Nevertheless the 
 
 1 Peter Force, Tracts, Vol. IV, No. 2, p. 25. At the census of 1790, 
 Massachusetts was the only state to report no slaves. The list of slaves 
 in New York in 1755 (excluding the counties of Albany, New York, and 
 Suffolk) fills twenty-four pages of O'Callaghan, Documentary History 
 of the State of New York, Vol. Ill, pp. 844-868. 
 
 291 
 
292 Slavery and the West 
 
 economic pressure of the need for laborers was so great 
 that five years later the following petition was sent to the 
 Trustees of the colony : 
 
 May it please Your Honours ; 
 
 We whose Names are under-written, being all Settlers^ Free- 
 holders and Inhabitants of the Province of Georgia, and being 
 sensible of the great Pains and Care exerted by You in En- 
 deavouring to settle this Colony, since it has been under Your 
 Protection and Management ; Do unanimously join to lay before 
 You, with the utmost Regret, the following Particulars. . . . We 
 have most of us settled in this Colony in Pursuance of the De- 
 scription and Recommendation given of it by You in Britai?i ; 
 and from the Experience of residing here several Years, do find 
 that it is impossible that the Measures hitherto laid down and 
 pursued for making it a Colony can succeed. None of all those 
 who have planted their Land have been able to raise Sufficient 
 Produce to maintain their Families in Bread kind only, even tho' 
 as much Application and Industry have been exerted to bring 
 it about as could be done by Men engaged in an Affair on which 
 they believed the Welfare of themselves and their Posterity so 
 much depended ; ... so that by the accumulated Expences every 
 Year, of Provisions, Cloathing and Medicine?, for themselves, 
 Families and Servants, several hath expended all their Money, 
 nay, even run considerably in Debt, and so been obliged to leave 
 off Planting and making further Improvements. . . . This being 
 now the general State of the Colony, it must be obvious that 
 People cannot subsist by their Land, according to the present 
 Establishment; and this being a Truth resulting from Tryal, 
 Practice and Experience, cannot be contradicted by any theorical 
 Scheme or Reasoning. The Land then, according to the present 
 Constitution, not being capable to maintain the Settlers here, 
 they must unavoidably have recourse to and depend upon Trade : 
 But to our woful Experience likewise, the same Causes that 
 prevented theyfn-/, obstruct the lattery for tho' the Situation of 
 this Place is exceeding well adapted for Trade, and if it was 
 encouraged, might be much more improved by the Inhabitants ; 
 yet the Difficulties and Restrictions, which we hitherto htwe and 
 
TJie Gathering Cloud 293 
 
 at present do labour under, debar us of that Advantage : Timber 
 is the only Thing we have here which we might export, and 
 notwithstanding we are obliged to fall [fell] it in Planting our 
 Land ; yet we cannot manufacture it for a Foreign Market but 
 at double the Expence of other Colonies ; as for Instance, the 
 River of May [St. Johns River, Florida], which is but twenty 
 Miles from us, with the Allowance of Negroes, load Vessels 
 with that Commodity at one Half of the Price that we can do ; 
 and what should induce Persons to bring Ships here, when they 
 can be loaded with one Half the Expence so near us ; therefore 
 the Timber on the Land is only a continual Charge to the Pos- 
 sessors of it, tho' of very great Advantage in all the Northern 
 Colonies, where Negroes are allowed, and consequently Labour 
 cheap. We do not in the least doubt but that in Time Silk and 
 Wine may be produced here, especially the former; but since 
 the Cultivation of Land with White Servants only, cannot raise 
 Provisions for our Families as before mentioned, therefore it is 
 likewise impossible to carry on these Manufactures according 
 to the prese7it Constitution. It is very well known, that Carolina 
 can raise everything that this Colony can ; and they having their 
 Labour so much cheaper will always ruin our Market, unless 
 we are in some Measure on a Footing with them. . . . 
 
 Your Honours, we imagine, are not insensible of the Numbers 
 that have left this Province, not being able to support them- 
 selves and Families any longer ; and those still remaining, who 
 had Money of their own and Credit with their Friends, have 
 laid out most of tht former in Improvements, and lost the latter 
 for doing it on such precarious Titles. And upon Account of 
 the present Establishment, not above two or three Persons, 
 except those brought on Charity and Servants sent by You, 
 have come hfere for the Space of tzvo Years past, either to settle 
 Land or encourage Trade, neither do we hear of any such likely 
 to come until we are on better Terms. . . . 
 
 Believing You will agree to those Measures that are found 
 from Experience capable to make this Colony succeed, and to 
 promote which we have consumed our Money, Time and Labour; 
 we do, from a sincere Regard to its Welfare, and in Duty both 
 to You and ourselves, beg Leave to lay before Your immediate 
 
294 Slavery and the West 
 
 Consideration the Two following chief Causes of these our present 
 Misfortunes and this deplorable State of the Colony, and which, 
 we are certain, if granted, would be an infallible Remedy for both. 
 
 Y'\ The Want of a free Title, or Fee-simple to our Lands. . . . 
 
 2^. The Want of the Use of Negroes, with proper Limita- 
 tions ; which if granted, would both occasion great Numbers of 
 White People to come here, and also render us capable to sub- 
 sist ourselves, by raising Provisions upon our Lands, until we 
 could make some Produce fit for Export, in some Measure to 
 Ballance our Importation. We are very sensible of the Incon- 
 veniences and Mischiefs that have already, and do daily arise 
 from an unlimited Use of Negroes ; but we are also sensible, that 
 these may be prevented by a due Limitation, such as so many to 
 each white Man, or so many to such a Quantity of Land, or in 
 any other Manner which Your Honours shall think most proper. 
 
 By granting us, Ge?itleme7i, these Two Particulars, and such 
 other Privileges as His Majesty's most dutiful Subjects \n America 
 enjoy. You will not only prevent our impending Ruin, but, we 
 are fully satisfied, also will soon make this the most flourishing 
 Colony possess'd by His Majesty in America, and Your Mem- 
 ories will be perpetuated to all future Ages, our latest Posterity 
 soundi?ig Your Praises, as their Jirst Founders, Patrons, and 
 Guardians. ... 
 
 We are, 
 
 with all due Respect, 
 Your Honours viost dutifid and obedient SenmJits 
 [signed by 1 1 7 Freeholders] 
 
 Savannah, 
 9''' December, 1738 
 
 72. Thede- " I went up to the Capitol," says John Quincy Adams 
 
 Missouri ^"^ his "Memoirs," under the date of February 11, 1820, 
 
 ^8^^"^°""'^^' " ^"^ \-^^2ix6. Mr. King in the Senate, upon what is called 
 
 [2521 ^^ Missouri question. . . . His manner is dignified, grave, 
 
 earnest, but not rapid or vehement. . . . He laid down the 
 
The Gathering Cloud 295 
 
 position of the natural liberty of man, and its incompati- 
 bility with slavery in any shape. ... He spoke with great 
 power, and the great slave-holders in the House, gnawed 
 their lips and clutched their fists as they heard him." ^ 
 The debate on the Missouri Compromise elicited the most 
 determined assertions of principle and provoked the most 
 violent bursts of passion since the struggle over the for- 
 mation and adoption of the federal Constitution. King's 
 famous speech and the reply of William Pinkney of Mary- 
 land 2 were delivered before an excited audience in the 
 Senate chamber at the height of the struggle. King argued 
 for the power of Congress to restrict slavery in the western 
 territories, and hence to permit them to enter the Union 
 only as free states. 
 
 The territory of Missouri is a portion of Louisiana, which 
 was purchased of France, and belongs to the United States in 
 full dominion ; in the language of the Constitution, Missouri is 
 
 1 J. Q. Adams, Memoirs, Vol. IV, p. 522. Of this speech, Rufus King 
 himself, writing to J. A. King, said . . . "today [I] delivered my opinions 
 to the Senate ; with what effect I cannot say, but if I satisfied nobody 
 else, / may say to yoti, that I satisfied myself. The cause is desperate in 
 the Senate, and my object was, by taking a bold position, and defending 
 it with some vigor and much fconfidence, to encourage & hold up others 
 who were languid & discouraged. I shall be greatly misrepresented, but 
 correct in my principles and able as I think to defend them and protect 
 myself, this little warfare will give me no concern. Every new speech 
 becomes the material of another, and the end and issue of the debate 
 are beyond conjecture." — Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, 
 ed. C. R. King, Vol. VI, p. 269. 
 
 2 In his Autobiography (Vol. I, p. 60) John A. Dix says : " I was so 
 fortunate as to hear the two speeches which, on opposite sides of the 
 [Missouri] question, were considered the most able . . . those of Mr. 
 Pinkney of Maryland against the prohibition, and Rufus King of New 
 York in favor of it. It would be difficult to conceive a greater contrast 
 than in the oratory of the two Senators. Mr. King's was calm, dignified, 
 argumentative, forcible and at times fervid. Mr. Pinkney's was impas- 
 sioned, fiery and sometimes bordering on violence, but sustained through- 
 out with surpassing logical power." 
 
296 Slavery and the West 
 
 their territory or property, and is subject like other territories 
 of the United States, to the regulations and temporary govern- 
 ment, which has been, or shall be prescribed by Congress. The 
 clause of the Constitution which grants this power to Congress, 
 is so comprehensive and unambiguous, and its purpose so mani- 
 fest, that commentary will not render the power, or the object 
 of its establishment, more explicit or plain. 
 
 The Constitution further provides that " new States may be 
 admitted by Congress into this Union." As this power is con- 
 ferred without limitation, the time, terms, and circumstances of 
 the admission of new States, are referred to the discretion of 
 Congress; which may admit new States, but are not obliged 
 to do so — of right no new State can demand admission into 
 the Union, unless such demand be founded on some previous 
 engagement of the United States. . . . 
 
 The question respecting slavery in the old thirteen States 
 had been decided and setded before the adoption of the Con- 
 stitution, which grants no power to Congress to interfere with, 
 or to change what had been so previously settled. The slave 
 States, therefore, are free to continue or to abolish slavery. . . . 
 The Constitution contains no express provision respecting slavery 
 in a new State that may be admitted into the Union ; every 
 regulation upon this subject belongs to the power whose con- 
 sent is necessary to the formation and admission of new States 
 into the Union. Congress may, therefore, make it a condition 
 of the admission of a new State, that slavery shall be forever 
 prohibited within the same. . . . 
 
 It is further objected that the article of the act of admission 
 into the Union, by which slavery should be excluded from 
 Missouri, would be nugatory, as the new State in virtue of its 
 sovereignty would be at liberty to revoke its consent, and annul 
 the article by which slavery is excluded. 
 
 Such revocation would be contrary to the obligations of good 
 faith, which enjoins the observance of our engagements ; it 
 would be repugnant to the principles on which government 
 itself is founded. . . . Sovereigns, like individuals, are bound 
 by their engagements, and have no moral power to break them. 
 Treaties between nations repose on this principle. If a new 
 
The Gathering Cloud 297 
 
 State can revoke and annul an article concluded between itself 
 and the United States, by which slavery is excluded from it, it 
 may revoke and annul any other article of the compact ; it may, 
 for example, annul the article respecting public lands, arid in 
 virtue of its sovereignty, assume the right to tax and to sell 
 the lands of the United States. There is yet a more satisfactory 
 answer to this objection. The judicial power of the United 
 States is coextensive with their legislative power. . . . Should' 
 the new State rescind any of the articles of compact contained 
 in the act of admission into the Union . . . and should [it] pass 
 a law authorizing slavery the judiciary of the United States on 
 proper application, would immediately deliver from bondage, 
 any person retained as a slave in said State. . . . 
 
 If Congress possess the power to exclude slavery from Mis- 
 souri, it still remains to be shown that they ought to do so. 
 The examination of this branch of the subject, for obvious 
 reasons, is attended with peculiar difficulty, and cannot be 
 made without passing over arguments which, to some of us, 
 might appear to be decisive, but the use of which, in this place, 
 would call up feelings, the influence of which would disturb, if 
 not defeat, the impartial consideration of the subject. Slavery, 
 unhappily, exists within the United States. Enlightened men, 
 in the States where it is permitted, and everywhere out of them, 
 regret its existence among us, and seek for the means of limit- 
 ing and of mitigating it . . . The laws and customs of the 
 States in which slavery has existed for so long a period, must 
 have had their influence on the opinions and habits of the citi- 
 zens, which ought not to be disregarded on the present 
 
 1 How little regard the " leaders of federalism " (chief among whom 
 at this time was King himself) had in the eyes of Southerners for the 
 peculiar difficulty of the slavery question is shown by Jefferson's com- 
 plaint in a letter to Charles Pinckney, September 30, 1820: "They are 
 wasting Jeremiads on the miseries of slavery, as if we were advocates 
 for it. Sincerity in their declamations should direct their efforts to the 
 true point of difficulty, and unite their counsels with ours in devising 
 some reasonable and practicable plan of getting rid of it." — Writ- 
 ings of Thomas Jefferson, ed. P. L. Ford, Vol. X, p. 162. Perhaps the 
 sagest reflections on the Missouri struggle are those expressed by 
 
298 Slavery and the West 
 
 The territory of Missouri is beyond our ancient limits, and 
 the inquiry whether slavery shall exist there, is open to many 
 of the arguments that might be employed, had slavery never 
 existed within the United States. It is a question of no ordinary 
 importance. Freedom and slavery are the parties which stand 
 this day before the Senate; and upon its decision the empire 
 of the one or the other will be established in the new State 
 which we are about to admit into the Union. 
 
 If slavery be permitted in Missouri . . . what hope can be 
 entertained that it will ever be prohibited in any of the new 
 States that will be formed in the immense region west of the 
 Mississippi ? Will the coextensive establishment of slavery and 
 of new States throughout this region, lessen the dangers of 
 domestic insurrection, or of foreign aggression ? Will this 
 manner of executing the great trust of admitting new States 
 into the Union, contribute to assimilate our manners and usages, 
 to increase our mutual affection and confidence, and to establish 
 that equality of benefits and burdens which constitutes the true 
 basis of our strength and union ? Will the militia of the nation, 
 which must furnish our soldiers and seamen, increase as slaves 
 increase ? . . . There are limits within which our federal system 
 must stop ; no one has supposed that it could be indefinitely 
 extended. We are now about to pass our original boundary ; 
 if this can be done without affecting the principles of our free 
 governments, it can be accomplished only by the most vigilant 
 
 Hezekiah Niles of Baltimore, in his Register of weekly events, Decem- 
 ber 23, 1820: "The people of those sections of the country in which 
 there are few or no slaves or persons of color, very imperfectly appre- 
 ciate the wants, necessities or general principles of others differently 
 situated [that is, slave-holders]. Collectively the latter deprecate slavery 
 as severely as the former, and dread its increase — but individual cupidity 
 and rashness acts against the common sentiment, in the hope that an 
 event which everybody believes must happen, may not happen in their 
 day. . . . That the slave population will, at some certain period, cause 
 the most horrible catastrophe, cannot be doubted — those who possess 
 them [slaves] act defensively in behalf of all that is nearest and dearest 
 to them, when they endeavor to acquire all the strength and influence 
 to meet that period which they can ; and hence the political and civil 
 opposition of these to the restriction which was proposed to be laid on 
 Missouri." — H. Niles, The Weekly Register, Vol. XIX, p. 265. 
 
The Gathering Cloud 299 
 
 attention to plant, cherish, and sustain the principles of liberty 
 in the new States that may be formed beyond our ancient 
 limits. . . . 
 
 Four days later William Pinkney of Maryland delivered 
 a speech of three hours' length in reply to King : 
 
 Sir, it was but the other day that we were forbidden (properly 
 forbidden, I am sure, for the prohibition came from you) to 
 assume that there existed any intention to impose a prospective 
 restraint on the domestic legislation of Missouri. . . « We are 
 now, however, permitted to know that it is determined by a 
 sort of political surgery to amputate one of the limbs of its 
 local sovereignty, and thus mangled and disparaged, and thus 
 only, to receive it into the bosom of the Constitution. It is now 
 avowed that while Maine is to be ushered into the Union with 
 every possible demonstration of studious reverence on our part 
 . . . this ill-conditioned upstart of the West, this obscure found- 
 ling of the wilderness, that was but yesterday the hunting ground 
 of the savage, is to find her way into the American family as 
 she can, with a humiliating badge of remediless inferiority 
 patched upon her garments, . . . with a brand upon her fore- 
 head to tell the story of her territorial vassalage, and to per- 
 petuate the memory of her evil propensities, . . . with the iron 
 collar of servitude about her neck, instead of the civic crown 
 of republican freedom upon her brows. . . . 
 
 I am told that you have the power to establish this odious 
 and revolting distinction, and I am referred for the proofs of 
 that power to various parts of the Constitution. . . . The clause 
 of the Constitution which relates to the admission of new States 
 is in these words : " The Congress may admit new States into 
 this Union " &c, and the advocates for restriction maintain that 
 the use of the word may imports discretion to admit or reject*, 
 and that in this discretion is wrapped up another — that of pre- 
 scribing the terms and conditions of admission in case you are 
 willing to admit. Cuius est dare eius est disponere} . . . 
 
 1 " He who has the power to grant has also the power to make the 
 terms of the grant." 
 
300 Slavery and the West 
 
 I think I may assume that if such a power be anything but 
 nominal, it is much more than adequate to the present object ; 
 that it is a power of vast expansion, to which human sagacity 
 can assign no reasonable limits ; that it is a capacious reservoir 
 of authority, from which you may take, in all time to come, as 
 occasion may serve, the means of oppression as well as of bene- 
 faction. . . . Sir, it is a wilderness of powers, of which fancy, in 
 her happiest mood, is unable to perceive the far-distant and 
 shadowy boundary. ... By the aid of such a power, skilfully 
 employed, you may '' bridge your way " over the Hellespont that 
 separates State legislation from that of Congress ; and you may 
 do so for pretty much the same purpose with which Xerxes 
 once bridged his way across the Hellespont that separates Asia 
 from Europe. He did so, in the language of Milton, "the liber- 
 ties of Greece to yoke." You may do so for the analogous pur- 
 pose of subjugating and reducing the sovereignties of States, as 
 your taste or convenience may suggest, and fashioning them to 
 your imperial will. . . . 
 
 " New States may be admitted by Congress into this Union." 
 What is that Union ? A confederation of States equal in sov- 
 ereignty, capable of everything which the Constitution does not 
 forbid or authorize Congress to forbid. ... By acceding to it, 
 the new State is placed on the same footing with the original 
 States. It accedes for the same purpose, that is, protection of 
 its unsurrendered sovereignty. If it comes in shorn of its beams 
 — crippled and disparaged beyond the original States, it is not 
 into the original Union that it comes. For it is a different sort 
 of Union. The first Union was ifiter pares ; this is a Union be- 
 tween disparates^ between giants and a dwarf, between power 
 and feebleness, between full proportioned sovereignties and a 
 miserable image of power. . . . You cannot make the Union, as 
 to the new State, what it is not as to the old ; for then it is not 
 this U7iion that you open for entrance of a new party. . . . 
 
 If I am told that, by the bill relative to Missouri, you do 
 not legislate upon a new State, I answer that you do. . . . 
 You legislate in the shape of terms and conditions prospec- 
 tively; and you so legislate upon it that when it comes into the 
 Union it is bound by a contract degrading and diminishing its 
 
The Gathering Cloud 301 
 
 sovereignty. ... Is the right to hold slaves a right which Massa- 
 chusetts enjoys? If it is, Massachusetts is under this Union 
 in a different character from Missouri. The compact of the 
 union for it is different from the same compact of union for 
 Missouri. ... To admit or not is for you to decide. Admission 
 once conceded, it follows as a corollary that you must take the 
 new State as an equal companion with its fellows. ... 
 
 The Abolitionists ' 
 
 While statesmen were arguing in Congress on the right 73. a report 
 of the central government to restrict the spread of slavery, l^ ^ ^"^' 
 and abolitionists were clamoring for immediate and uncom- [2551 
 pensated emancipation, a practical, but, as it proved, pitiably 
 inadequate, attempt was being made to relieve the situation in 
 the South by the transportation of free negroes and manu- 
 mitted slaves to the colony of Liberia on the western coast 
 of Africa. Following a suggestion made as early as 1781 
 by Thomas Jefferson,^ and repeatedly endorsed by state 
 
 1 In his Notes on Virginia (ed. 1787, pp. 228-229), Jefferson out- 
 lines some desirable changes in the Constitution of the State, among 
 which are the following : " To emancipate all slaves born after passing the 
 act . . . and further directing that they should continue with their par- 
 ents to a certain age, then be brought up, at the public expence, to till- 
 age, arts, or sciences, according to their geniusses, till the females 
 should be eighteen, and the males twenty-one years of age, when they 
 should be colonized to such place as the circumstances of the time should 
 render most proper, sending them out with arms, implements of house- 
 hold, and of the handicraft arts, seeds, pairs of the useful domestic 
 animals, &c., to declare them a free and independant people, and to 
 extend to them our alliance and protection, till they shall have acquired 
 strength. ... It will probably be asked, Why not retain and incorporate 
 the blacks into the State ? . . . Deep rooted prejudices entertained by 
 the whites ; ten thousand recollections, by the blacks, of the injuries 
 they have sustained ; new provocations ; the real distinctions which 
 nature has made ; and many other circumstances, will divide us into 
 parties, and produce convulsions which will probably never end but in 
 the extermination of the one or the other race." 
 
302 Slavery and the West 
 
 legislatures both North and South, the American Coloniza- 
 tion Society was formed at Washington, early in 1 8 1 7 ; 
 and on March 3, 18 19, President Monroe signed a bill 
 which authorized him ''to make such regulations and ar- 
 rangements as he may deem expedient for the safe-keeping, 
 support, and removal beyond the limits of the United 
 States, of all such negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color 
 as may be delivered and brought within their jurisdiction ;i 
 and to appoint a proper person or persons residing on the 
 coast of Africa as agent or agents for receiving the negroes. 
 . . ." An appropriation of ;^ 100,000 was made for carry- 
 ing out the act of Congress. With the aid of the Coloni- 
 zation Society, the ship Elisabeth was chartered and a 
 company of eighty-six negroes from various states embarked 
 for Africa in the brave attempt to turn the tide of negro 
 migration, which for two hundred years had flowed to the 
 shores of the western world. The Elizabeth sailed from 
 New York harbor on the 6th of February, 1820, five days 
 before John Ouincy Adams '' went up to the Capitol and 
 heard Mr. King" on the Missouri question. After two dis- 
 couraging years of danger and disease, which read like the 
 early history of Jamestown or Plymouth, the little colony 
 was established. As a political experiment of self-govern- 
 ment among a small population of picked negroes the 
 
 1 This refers to " recaptured Africans," or negroes confiscated by 
 the government for being illegally landed at Southern ports. The act 
 of 1807 had imposed fines of $20,000 for equipping a slave vessel, $5000 
 for transporting negroes to the United States to be sold as slaves, and 
 $800 for purchasing any such negro as a slave. Still many slaves were 
 imported, and often sold under conditions making it profitable for the 
 owner to have landed them and paid the fine. The student will gain 
 some idea of why the Southerner was willing to support almost any 
 scheme for the removal of the free negroes, by reading the exciting 
 story of Denmark Vesey in the Atlantic Monthly, Vol. VII, pp. 728-744. 
 
The Gathering Cloud 303 
 
 Republic of Liberia has considerable interest ; but its influ- 
 ence on the slavery problem or the race question in the 
 South has been imperceptible. Dr. Richard Randall, agent 
 of the Society, submitted the following report : 
 
 Monrovia/ Dec. 28, 1828 
 To the Board of Managers of the American Colonization 
 Society^ Washington City. 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 ... I am much pleased with the climate, location, fertility, 
 and population of Liberia. The climate is at this season most 
 delightful. It is not very warm during the day, and at night it 
 is cool enough to sleep with comfort under a blanket. Though 
 this is considered the sickly season, we have but little disease, 
 and none of an alarming character. ... I consider the town of 
 Monrovia quite as healthy as any of our southern cities. . . . 
 
 The location of Monrovia is the most delightful that can be 
 imagined. Since the woods have been cleared away on the south 
 side of the peninsula, our town is in full view from the ocean, 
 and has really a most imposing appearance. . . . Whatever be 
 the final success of our colonizing operations, nothing but some 
 most unfortunate disaster can prevent this becoming one of the 
 most important commercial cities on the African coast. . . . Most 
 of the settlers have good houses, and all of them have flourishing 
 plantations of rice, cassaba, plantains, and potatoes, with many 
 other fruits and vegetables. . . . The lands on both sides of 
 Stocton Creek are of the very best quality ; being a rich, light 
 alluvion, equal in every respect to the best lands on the southern 
 rivers of the United States. . . . 
 
 If I had under my direction an armed vessel, with 40 men, 
 principally black sailors from the United States, I could pledge 
 myself that the slave-trade should not be carried on in the neigh- 
 borhood of this Colony. From all I can learn here, I am induced 
 
 1 The names of Liberia (" free state ") and its capital Monrovia (after 
 President Monroe) were both suggested by Robert Harper of Maryland, 
 an enthusiastic supporter of the Colonization Society, in 1824. After 
 the Civil War broke out, the United States recognized the Republic of 
 Liberia (1862). 
 
304 Slavery and the West 
 
 to believe that the slave-trade is now carried on ... to a greater 
 extent than it has been for many years. . . . The slavers are 
 generally fitted out in the island of Cuba, or Brazil, and land 
 their cargoes, and establish factories [headquarters] for the col- 
 lection of slaves, at some convenient spot, whilst the vessels 
 cruise off and on with perfect impunity from the English, French, 
 and other cruizers, who cannot capture them, unless they have 
 the slaves actually on board ; and as soon as the coast is clear, 
 and while the wind is fair, they get their slaves on board, and 
 being generally fast sailers, they defy all pursuers. . . . 
 
 The Colonists, I find, are much alarmed at the idea of incens- 
 ing these people, who are so powerful, lest they should injure 
 them by cutting up their commerce on this coast. It will be 
 recollected by the Society, that there has been no American 
 vessel cruising on this coast for many years. The Ontario stopped 
 here a short time last year, and the Shark, which is now here, 
 is only authorized to delay for the reception of my despatches 
 to the Navy Department. I hope the Board will urge upon the 
 Government the necessity of keeping a vessel on this coast. I 
 will pledge my medical reputation, that it can be done with but 
 little risk from disease, if proper precautions are used. . . . The 
 activity of our squadron during the last two or three years has 
 driven the pirates entirely from the West Indies, and the Gulph 
 of Mexico, and we have every reason to believe, that the same 
 set are now engaged on this coast in the double capacity of 
 pirates and slavers. . . . 
 
 The trade of this place is now very considerable, and is becom- 
 ing greater every day. . . . Besides six or eight smaller decked 
 vessels, we now have belonging to the Colony two large schooners, 
 the one above 30, the other above 40 tons, employed in the coast- 
 ing trade. I have enclosed certified statements of the exports 
 from this place during the year 1828, by two of our principal 
 commission merchants. I have not yet been able to get state- 
 ments from the others, but presume that the whole may be 
 estimated at 60 or $70,000. . . . 
 
 Emigrants from the Southern States should arrive at Liberia 
 in November, December, or January ; so as to have the whole 
 of the dry season to build their houses, clear their lands, and 
 
The Gathering Cloud 305 
 
 plant their crops, by the commencement of the rainy season. 
 From the North, they should leave the United States early in 
 the summer, so as to have several months of the cool season to 
 get accustomed to the climate. Mechanics should bring the im- 
 plements of their trades, and those who are to farm should have 
 axes, hatchets, hoes, spades, and short strong cutlasses, to cut 
 away the bushes. All should have a supply of clothing, for at 
 least two years, and a few small, light cooking utensils. No family 
 to be sent out without having a good proportion of strong young 
 men and women. . . . Mechanics, such as carpenters, masons, 
 shoe-makers, and boat-builders, are much in demand. A half- 
 dozen of the latter could get constant employment and good 
 wages. Men or women who can give instruction in reading and 
 writing will be invaluable. . . . 
 
 I have the honor to be. 
 
 Gentlemen, respectfully 
 
 Your Ob't Servant, 
 Richard Randall, Colonial Agent 
 
 The following extracts are chosen out of a great number 74. The 
 of statutes, resolutions, petitions, and controversies which institutSn" 
 fill the fateful decade opened by the debates on the Missouri [259] 
 Compromise, to illustrate how suddenly and seriously the 
 South realized the import of the interference of the national 
 government with slavery, and recoiled from the touch of 
 "Northern meddlers" (abolitionists, restrictionists, colo- 
 nizers) on what she was willing herself to confess was a 
 social sore in her body — the ''peculiar institution" of 
 slavery. 1 " Practically every one in the South," says Profes- 
 sor Callender, " was impressed by the dangers that would 
 arise from liberating the slaves and leaving them as a part 
 
 of Southern society This fact was not sufficient to make 
 
 all Sowth^rner^ pro-slavery, in the sense that they regarded 
 
 1 The student must bear in mind that the irritation between North 
 and South was still further aggravated in the decade 1820-30 by the 
 bitter tariff controversy. See above, No. 66, especially p. 261, note. 
 
3o6 Slavery and the West 
 
 slavery as a good in itself ; . . . but it was quite sufficient 
 to make them anti-abolition, and to keep them so for an 
 indefinite period." ^ 
 
 (a) 
 
 FROM A MESSAGE OF GOVERNOR J. L. WILSON TO THE 
 LEGISLATURE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, DECEMBER 1, 1824 
 
 . . . There should be a spirit of concert and of action among 
 the slave-holding states, and a determined resistance to any vio- 
 lation of their local institutions. The crisis seems to have arrived 
 when we are called upon to protect ourselves. The president 
 of the United States and his law adviser, so far from resisting 
 the efforts of a foreign ministry, appear to be disposed, by an 
 argument drawn from the overwhelming powers of the general 
 government, to make us the passive instruments of a policy, at 
 war, not only with our interests, but destructive also of our 
 national existence.^ The evils of slavery have been visited upon 
 us by the cupidity of those who are now the champions of uni- 
 versal emancipation.^ A firm determination to resist, at the 
 threshold, every invasion of our domestic tranquillity, and to 
 preserve our sovereignty and independence as a state, is earnestly 
 recommended; and if an appeal to the first principles of the right 
 of self-government be disregarded, and reason be successfully 
 combatted by sophistry and error, there would be more glory in 
 forming a rampart with our bodies on the confines of our territory, 
 than to be the victims of a successful [slave] rebellion, or the 
 slaves of a great consolidated government. 
 
 1 G. S. Callender, Selections from the Economic History of the United 
 States, 1765-1860, p. 739. 
 
 '■^ This sentence refers to a controversy over an act passed by South 
 Carohna early in 1823, authorizing the seizure and imprisonment of free 
 negroes brought into the ports of the state as a part of the crew of any 
 foreign vessel. Stratford Canning, the British Minister at Washington, 
 protested, and Attorney-General Wirt handed Secretary Adams his 
 opinion that the act of South Carolina, infringing the right of Congress 
 to " regulate commerce with foreign nations," was void. The documents 
 are in Niles' Register, Vol. XXVII, pp. 261-264. 
 
 3 Referring to the interests of the New England merchants and rum- 
 distillers in the slave trade in colonial times. 
 
The Gathering Cloud 307 
 
 (b) 
 
 FROM A MESSAGE OF GOVERNOR TROUP TO THE 
 LEGISLATURE OF GEORGIA, MAY 23, 1825 
 
 Since your last meeting, our feelings have been again out- 
 raged by officious and impertinent intermeddlings with our 
 domestic concerns.^ . . . Soon, very soon, therefore, the United 
 States Government, discarding the mask, will openly lend itself 
 to a combination of fanatics for the destruction of everything 
 valuable in the Southern country ; one movement of the Con- 
 gress unresisted by you, and all is lost. Temporize no longer — 
 make known your resolution that this subject [slavery] shall 
 not be touched by them, but at their peril ; but for its sacred 
 guaranty by the Constitution, we never would have become par- 
 ties to that instrument. ... If this matter [slavery] be an evil, 
 it is our own — if it be a sin, we can implore the forgiveness of 
 it — to remove it we ask not even their sympathy or assistance. 
 ... I entreat you, therefore, most earnestly, now that it is not 
 too late, to step forth, and having exhausted the argument, to 
 stand by your arms. 
 
 RESOLUTION OF THE LEGISLATURE OF GEORGIA, 
 DECEMBER 28, 1827 
 
 . . . Your committee cannot avoid reprobating the cold- 
 blooded selfishness, or unthinking zeal, which actuates many of 
 our fellow-citizens in other states, to an interference with our 
 local concerns and domestic relations, totally unwarranted either 
 by humanity or by constitutional right. Such interference is 
 becoming every day more determined and more alarming. It 
 commenced with a few unthinking zealots, who formed them- 
 selves into abolition societies ; was seized upon by more cunning 
 and designing men for political purposes ; and is now supported 
 
 1 Referring to a bill proposed in the Senate, February 18, 1825, by 
 Rufus King, for the application of funds received from the sale of pub- 
 lic lands to the purchase of slaves from their masters and their coloni- 
 zation, along with free negroes, in the settlement of Liberia. 
 
3o8 Slavery and the West 
 
 by more than one of the States. . . . The result of such inter- 
 ference, if persevered in, is awful and inevitable. The people 
 of Georgia know and feel strongly the advantages of the federal 
 Union. As members of that Union they are proud of its great- 
 ness — as children born under that Union, they love it with 
 filial affection — as parties of that Union, they will ever defend 
 it from foes, internal or external ; but they cannot and will not, 
 even for the preservation of that Union, permit their rights to 
 be assailed — they will not permit their property to be rendered 
 worthless — - they will not permit their country to be made waste 
 and desolate, " by those who come among us under the cloak 
 of a time-serving and hypocritical benevolence." . . . How, then, 
 is this evil to be remedied t Only by a firm and determined 
 union of the people and the States of the South, declaring 
 through their legislative bodies, in a voice which must be heard, 
 that they are ready and willing to make any sacrifice rather 
 than submit longer to such ruinous interference ; and warning 
 their enemies that they are unwittingly preparing a mine, which 
 once exploded, will lay our much-loved country in one common 
 ruin. Your committee hope that such a calamity is yet far 
 distant, and that there is still remaining in the Congress of 
 the Union sufficient discretion, intelligence, and patriotism to 
 avert it altogether. With that hope, they deem it unnecessary 
 now to do more than recommend the adoption of the following 
 resolutions : 
 
 Resolved^ by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
 State of Georgia^ in General Assembly met, That the Congress of 
 the United States have no constitutional power to appropriate mOneys 
 to aid the American Colonization Society, or for objects to effect 
 which that Society was established.^ ... 
 
 1 Nothing could show more strikingly the progress of the spirit of ap- 
 prehension in the South in the decade following the Missouri Compro- 
 mise than the comparison of this resolution with the commendation, 
 ten years earlier, of the objects of the American Colonization Society, in 
 an editorial in the influential Georgia Jo it rn at (January I, 1817) : " If the 
 Government [of the United States] will find means of conveying out of 
 the country such slaves as may be emancipated," it concludes, "and 
 would likewise purchase annually a certain number ... for transporta- 
 tion, it is believed our black population would soon become harmless, 
 
The^ Gathering Cloud 309 
 
 id) 
 
 RESOLUTION OF THE LEGISLATURE OF 
 SOUTH CAROLINA 
 
 . . . Should Congress claim the power to discuss and take a 
 vote upon any question connected with domestic slavery of the 
 Southern States, it is not for your committee to prescribe what 
 course ought to be adopted to counteract the evil and danger- 
 ous tendency of public discussions of this nature. The minds of 
 our citizens are already made up that if such discussion apper- 
 tain as a matter of right to Congress, it will be neither more nor 
 less than the commencement of a system by which the peculiar 
 policy of South Carolina, upon which is predicated her resources 
 and her prosperity, will be shaken to its very foundation. In the 
 opinion of your committee, there is nothing in the catalogue of 
 human ills which may not be preferred to that state of affairs in 
 which the slaves of our state shall be encouraged to look for any 
 melioration of their condition to any other body than the Legis- 
 lature of South Carolina. Your committee forbear to dwell on 
 this subject. It is a subject on which no subject of South Carolina 
 needs instruction. One common feeling inspires us all with a firm 
 determination not to submit to a species of legislation which 
 would light up such fires of intestine commotion in our borders 
 as ultimately to consume our country. 
 
 The distinguished French scholar and statesman Alexis 
 de Tocqueville, who visited America in 1 8 3 1 , wrote sym- 
 pathetically of the dilemma with which the South believed 
 itself to be face to face — namely, the maintenance of 
 slavery or the ruin of society. 
 
 I am obliged to confess that I do not regard the abolition of 
 slavery as a means of warding off the struggle of the two races 
 
 if not extinct. To the importance of such an object, the expense will 
 bear no comparison ; and a more favorable period than the present for 
 its accomplishment can scarcely be expected." — A Documentary His- 
 tory of American Industrial Society, Vol. H, ed. U. B. Phillips, p. 158. 
 
3i6 Slavery and the Wesi 
 
 in the Southern States. The Negroes may long remain slaves 
 ', Without complaining ; but if they are once raised to the level of 
 freemen, they will soon revolt at being deprived of almost all 
 their civil rights ; and, as they cannot become the equals of the 
 \vhites, they will speedily show themselves as enemies. In the 
 ■ North, everything facilitated the emancipation of the slaves ; 
 ai^ slavery was abolished without rendering the free Negroes 
 formidable, since their number was too small for them ever to 
 claim their rights. But such is not the case in the South. The 
 question of slavery was a commercial and manufacturing ques- 
 tion for the slave-owners in the North ; for those of the South, 
 it is a question of life and death. God forbid that I should seek 
 to justify the principle of Negro slavery, as has been done by 
 some American writers ! I say only, that all the countries which 
 formerly adopted that execrable principle are not equally able 
 to abandon it at the present time. 
 
 When I contemplate the condition of the South, I can only 
 discover two modes of action for the white inhabitants of those 
 States ; viz. either to emancipate the Negroes, and to inter- 
 mingle with them, or, remaining isolated from them, to* keep 
 them in slavery as long as possible. All intermediate measures 
 seem to me likely to terminate, and that shortly, in the most 
 horrible of civil wars, and perhaps in the extirpation of one or 
 the other of the two races. Such is the view which the Amer- 
 icans of the South take of the question, and they act consist- 
 ently with it. As they are determined not to mingle with the 
 Negroes, they refuse to emancipate them. 
 
 Not that the inhabitants of the South regard slavery as neces- 
 sary to the wealth of the planter ; on this point many of them 
 agree with their Northern countrymen, in freely admitting that 
 slavery is prejudicial to their interests ; but they are convinced 
 that the removal of this evil would peril their own existence. 
 . . . Hence arises a singular contrast; the more the utility of 
 slavery is contested, the more firmly it is established in the laws ; 
 and whilst its principle is gradually abolished in the North, that 
 self-same principle gives rise to more and more vigorous conse- 
 quences in the South. 
 
The Gathering Cloud • 31 1 
 
 If it be impossible to anticipate a period at which the Ameri- 
 cans of the South will mingle their blood with that of the Negroes, 
 can they allow their slaves to beconie free without compromising r^, 
 their own security ? And if they are obliged to keep that race 
 in bondage in order to save their own families, may they not be 
 excused for availing themselves of the means best adapted to 
 that end ? The events which are taking place in the Southern 
 States appear to me to be at once the most horrible and the 
 most natural results of slavery. When I see the order of nature 
 overthrown, and when I hear the cry of humanity in its vain 
 struggle against the laws, my indignation does not light upon 
 the men of our own time who are the instruments of these 
 outrages ; but I reserve my execration for those who, after a 
 thousand years of freedom, brought back slavery into the world 
 once more. 
 
 Whatever may be the efforts of the Americans of the South 
 to maintain slavery, they will not always succeed. Slavery, now 
 confined to a single tract of the civilized earth, attacked by Chris- 
 tianity as unjust, and by political economy as prejudicial, and 
 now contrasted with democratic liberty and the intelligence of 
 our age, cannot survive. By the act of the master, or by the 
 will of the slave, it will cease ; and in either case, great calamities 
 may be expected to ensue. If liberty be refused to the Negroes 
 of the South, they will, in the end, forcibly seize it for themselves ; 
 if it be given, they will, erelong, abuse it.^ 
 
 1 This entire passage shows how futile it is for a historian, even if 
 he have the genius of a De Tocqueville, to indulge in prophecy, and 
 especially to prophesy in dilemmas. The negro was set at liberty neither 
 by the act of the master nor by the will of the slave ; he probably desired 
 freedom as little, on the whole, as he has abused it ; and as for the 
 fundamental dilemma on which the whole discussion of De Tocqueville 
 rests — slavery or amalgamation — the two races have lived side by side 
 for half a century without prejudice to the integrity and supremacy of 
 the whites. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 TEXAS 
 
 The *' Reoccupation " of Oregon and the 
 '' Reannexation " OF Texas 
 
 One of the chief reasons for the negotiation, in April, 
 1 844, by Calhoun, of the treaty for the annexation of Texas ^ 
 was the alleged interference of England with that republic, 
 especially in the interests of the abolition of slavery. The 
 following extracts from a London newspaper of August 19, 
 1843, and the correspondence between Calhoun and the 
 British minister at Washington, Richard Packenham, show 
 the grounds for Southern apprehension : 
 
 Texas. — In the House of Lords, on Friday, the 1 8"" August, 
 Lord Brougham introduced the subject of Texas and Texan 
 slavery in the following manner: 
 
 Lord Brougham said that, seeing his noble friend at the 
 head of the Foreign Department^ in his place, he wished to 
 obtain some information from him relative to a State of great 
 interest at the present time, namely, Texas. That countr}^ was 
 in a state of independence, de facto ^ but its independence had 
 never been acknowledged by Mexico, the State from which it 
 was torn by the events of the revolution. He was aware that 
 its independence had been so far acknowledged by this country 
 [England] that we had a treaty with it. 
 
 The importance of Texas could not be under[over] rated. 
 It was a country of the greatest capabilities, and was in extent 
 
 1 For the fate of the treaty see Muzzey, An American History, p, 272. 
 
 2 Lord Aberdeen, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the 
 cabinet of Sir Robert Peel. 
 
 312 
 
Texas 3 1 3 
 
 fully as large as France. It possessed a soil of the finest and 
 most fertile character, and it was capable of producing nearly 
 all tropical produce, and its climate was of the most healthy 
 character. It had access to the Gulf of Mexico through the 
 River Mississippi, with which it communicated by means of the 
 Red River. . . . He was grieved to learn that not less than one 
 fourth of the population, or 25,000 persons, were in a state 
 of slavery. This point led him to the foundation of the question 
 which he wished to put to his noble friend. There was very little 
 or no. slave trade carried on with Texas from Africa, directly ; 
 but a large number of slaves were constantly being sent over- 
 land to that country. Although the larger part of the land in 
 Texas was well adapted for white labor, and therefore for free 
 cultivation, still the people of that country, by some strange in- 
 fatuation, or by some inordinate love of immediate gain, preferred 
 slave labor to free labor. As all access to the African slave mar- 
 ket was shut out to them, their market for slaves was the United 
 States, from whence they obtained a large supply of negro slaves. 
 . . . This made him irresistibly anxious for the abolition of slavery 
 in Texas : for if it were abolished there, not only would that 
 country be cultivated by free and white labor, but it would put 
 a stop to the habit of breeding slaves for the Texan market. . . . 
 He therefore looked forward most anxiously to the abolition of 
 slavery in Texas, as he was convinced that it would ultimately 
 end in the abolition of slavery throughout the whole of America. 
 He knew that the Texans would do much, as regarded the aboli- 
 tion of slavery, if Mexico could be induced to recognize their 
 independence. If therefore by our good offices we could get the 
 Mexican government to acknowledge the independence of Texas, 
 he would suggest a hope that it might terminate in the abolition 
 of slavery in Texas, and ultimately the whole of the Southern 
 States of America. . . . 
 
 The Earl of Aberdeen, in reply, said that he could state that 
 not only had this country acknowledged the independence of 
 Texas, but also that we had a treaty of commerce and a treaty 
 for the abolition of the slave trade with that power. ... He was 
 unable to say that there was an immediate prospect of obtaining 
 the recognition of the independence of Texas on the part of 
 
3 1 4 Slavery and the West 
 
 Mexico but ... an armistice had been established between the 
 two powers ; and he hoped that this would lead to the absolute 
 acknowledgement of the independence of Texas by Mexico. . . . 
 He was sure that he need hardly say that no one was more 
 anxious than himself to see the abolition of slavery in Texas ; 
 and if he could not produce papers or give further information, 
 it did not arise from indifference. . . . He could assure his noble 
 friend that, by means of urging the negotiations, as well as by 
 every other means in their power. Her Majesty's ministers would 
 press this matter. 
 
 Lord Brougham observed that nothing could be more satis- 
 factory than the statement of his noble friend, which would be 
 received with joy by all who were favorable to the object of the 
 anti-slavery societies. 
 
 Somewhat disturbed by this report, and other indications 
 of British solicitude for the condition of Texas, ^ our minis- 
 ter in England, Edward Everett, told Lord Aberdeen that 
 " he must not be surprised at the interest taken in the 
 subject by the United States, when he remembered that 
 Texas and the United States were border countries, and 
 the necessary effect of the abolition in Texas, on slavery 
 as existing in the Union." Our State Department was 
 less bland. Secretary Upshur opened negotiations in 
 October, 1843, with Texas, looking toward a treaty of an- 
 nexation, and, on Upshur's death (February, 1844), his 
 
 1 Two months before this interpellation in the House of Lords a 
 delegation of Americans (mostly from New England), attending a con- 
 vention in London, waited on Lord Aberdeen to propose that the British 
 government make a loan, based on the security of the public lands in 
 Texas, for the purchase of the slaves in the state. Aberdeen stated to 
 Everett that " he gave them no countenance whatever," but yet that 
 he "informed them that, by every proper means of influence" he would 
 encourage the abolition of slavery, and that he " had recommended the 
 Mexican Government to interest itself in the matter." The influence of 
 England in Mexico was very strong (see J. O. Adams, Memoirs, Vol. XI, 
 PP-340. 347» 35'. 355)- 
 
Texas 3 1 5 
 
 successor, Calhoun, completed the work. Meanwhile Eng- 
 land was protesting her innocence of any plan of aggression 
 in Texas. On February 26, 1844, Packenham submitted 
 to our Secretary of State the following paper from Lord 
 Aberdeen, dated December 26, 1843 : 
 
 Sir: — As much agitation appears to have prevailed of late 
 in the United States relative to the designs which Great Britain 
 is supposed to entertain with regard to the Republic of Texas, 
 Her Majesty's government deem it expedient to take measures 
 for stopping at once the misrepresentations which have been 
 circulated, and the errors into which the Government of the 
 United States seems to have fallen on the subject of the policy 
 of Great Britain with respect to Texas. That policy is clear and 
 simple, and may be stated in a few words. 
 
 Great Britain has recognized the independence of Texas, and, 
 having done so, she is desirous of seeing that independence 
 finally and formally established, and generally recognized, espe- 
 cially by Mexico. . . . But we have no occult design, either with 
 reference to any particular influence which we might seek to 
 establish in Mexico, or even with reference to slavery which now 
 exists, and which we desire to see abolished in Texas. 
 
 With regard to the latter point, it must be and is well known, 
 both to the United States and to the whole world, that Great 
 Britain desires, and is constantly exerting herself to procure, 
 the general abolition of slavery throughout the world. But 
 the means which she has adopted, and will continue to adopt, 
 for this humane and virtuous purpose, are open and undis- 
 guised. She will do nothing secretly or underhand. She desires 
 that her motives may be generally understood, and her acts 
 seen by all. 
 
 With regard to Texas, we avow that we wish to see slavery 
 abolished there, as elsewhere ; and we should rejoice if the rec- 
 ognition of that country by the Mexican Government should be 
 accompanied on the part of Texas by an engagement to abolish 
 slavery eventually, and under proper conditions, throughout the 
 Republic. . . . 
 
3 1 6 Slavery and the West 
 
 The British Government, as the United States well know, 
 have never sought in any way to stir up disaffection or excite 
 ment of any kind in the slave-holding States of the Americai;/ 
 Union. ... To that wise and just policy we shall continue to 
 adhere ; and the Governments of the slave-holding States may 
 be assured that, although we shall not desist from those open 
 and honest efforts which we have constantly made for procuring 
 the abolition of slavery throughout the world, we shall neither 
 openly nor secretly resort to any measures which can tend to 
 disturb their internal tranquillity, or thereby affect the prosperity 
 of the American Union. 
 
 You will communicate this despatch to the United States 
 
 Secretary of State, and, if he should desire it, you will leave a 
 
 copy of it with him. T am etr . , , 
 
 ^^ ^ ^"^' ^^^' Aberdeen 
 
 Calhoun's reply to this frank note of disclaimer was not 
 made until the treaty for the annexation of Texas was 
 signed and ready to submit to the Senate (April 12). 
 Then under date of April 18, 1844, he writes to acknowl- 
 edge Aberdeen's communication : 
 
 . . . The undersigned is directed by the President to inform 
 the Right Honorable Mr. Packenham, that, while he regards 
 with pleasure the disavowal of Lord Aberdeen of any intention 
 on the part of Her Majesty's Government " to resort to any 
 measures, either openly or secretly, which can tend to disturb 
 the internal tranquillity of the slaveholding States, and thereby 
 affect the tranquillity of this Union," he at the same time re- 
 gards with deep concern the avowal, for the first time made to 
 this government, '' that Great Britain desires and is constantly 
 exerting herself to procure the general abolition of slavery 
 throughout the world." 
 
 So long as Great Britain confined her policy to the abolition 
 of slavery in her own possessions and colonies, no other country 
 had a right to complain. It belonged to her exclusively to deter- 
 mine, according to her own views of policy, whether it should 
 be done or not. But when she goes beyond, and avows it as 
 
Texas 3 1 7 
 
 her settled policy, and the object of her constant exertions, to 
 abolish it throughout the world, she makes it the duty of all 
 other countries, whose safety or prosperity may be endangered 
 by her policy, to adopt such measures as they may deem 
 necessary for their protection. 
 
 It is with still deeper concern that the President regards the 
 avowal of Lord Aberdeen of the desire of Great Britain to see 
 slavery abolished in Texas, and, as he infers, is endeavoring 
 through her diplomacy, to accomplish it, by making the abolition 
 of slavery one of the conditions on which Mexico should ac- 
 knowledge her independence. It has confirmed his previous im- 
 pressions as to the policy of Great Britain in reference to Texas, 
 and made it his duty to examine with much care and solicitude 
 what would be its effects on the prosperity and safety of the 
 United States, should she succeed in her endeavors. ... It is 
 sufficient to say that the consummation of the avowed object 
 of her wishes in reference to Texas would be followed by hos- 
 tile feelings and relations between that country and the United 
 States, which could not fail to place her [Texas] under the influ- 
 ence and control of Great Britain. This, from the geographical 
 position of Texas, would expose the weakest and most vulner- 
 able portion of our frontier to inroads, and place in the power 
 of Great Britain the most efficient means of effecting in the 
 neighboring States of the Union what she avows to be her desire 
 to do in all countries where slavery exists. . . . 
 
 It is well known that Texas has long desired to be annexed 
 to this Union ; that her people, at the time of the adoption of 
 her Constitution, expressed, by an almost unanimous vote,^ her 
 desire to that effect : and that she has never ceased to desire it, 
 as the most certain means of promoting her safety and pros- 
 perity. The United States have heretofore declined to meet her 
 wishes ; but the time has now arrived when they can no longer 
 refuse.^ . . . Nor are they in any way responsible for the cir- 
 cumstances which have imposed this obligation on them. They 
 
 1 There were but ninety-three votes cast against annexation by the 
 people of Texas in 1836. 
 
 2 The student will remember that the treaty of annexation was 
 already signed when Calhoun sent this letter. 
 
318 
 
 Slavery and the West 
 
 had no agency in bringing about the state of things which has 
 terminated in the separation of Texas from Mexico.^ It was the 
 Spanish Government and Mexico herself which invited and 
 offered high inducements to our citizens to colonize Texas. . . . 
 It is true, the United States, at an early period, recognized the 
 independence of Texas ; but in doing so they but acted in con- 
 formity with an established principle to recognize the Govern- 
 ment de facto. . . . 
 
 J. C. Calhoun 
 
 The presidential campaign of 1844 turned wholly on 
 the issue of Texas, the logical candidates in each party 
 writing letters on the subject which cost the one (Van 
 Buren, Democrat) the nomination, and the other (Henry 
 Clay, Whig) the election .2 When the country seemed to 
 indorse the policy of annexation, by the election of Polk 
 in November, the free-soilers made a desperate but un- 
 availing fight to avert what they considered the greatest 
 calamity that had threatened the nation since its birth. 
 Joshua Giddings, elected to Congress in 1838 as its first 
 abolitionist member, spoke as follows in the House, 
 January 22, 1845 : 
 
 . . . The President in his message says, that " the annexation 
 of Texas to the United States will give Mexico no just cause of 
 offence." ^ We are all conscious that a state of war now exists 
 
 1 Van Buren, in his letter on Texas, April 20, 1844, says : " Nothing 
 is either more true or more extensively known than that Texas was 
 wrested from Mexico, and her independence established, through the 
 instrumentality of citizens of the United States." Niles'' Register, Vol. 
 LXVI, p. 156. 
 
 2 The letters of Clay and Van Buren may be found in Niles'' Register, 
 Vol. LXVI, pp. 152-157. 
 
 3 In his annual message of December 3, 1844, President Tyler said : 
 " Mexico has no just ground of displeasure against this government 
 or people for the negotiation of the treaty [that is, Calhoun's treaty of 
 April 12, 1844]. What interest of hers was affected by the treaty.'* She 
 was despoiled of nothing, since Texas was forever lost to her. The 
 
Texas 319 
 
 between Texas and Mexico. By entering into the proposed 
 union with Texas, we shall become obligated to defend her. 
 And when the armies of Mexico invade Texas, we must of course 
 send our army and navy to repel such invasion. This interfer- 
 ence will constitute us the aggressors. We shall thus make the 
 war of Texas our war ; and our sons will be liable to march to 
 that country to fight the battles of Texas, to shed their blood, 
 and leave their bones to whiten upon her plains, in order that 
 slavery may continue and the slave-trade flourish.^ . . . 
 
 During the late political campaign, in some of the slave- 
 breeding States these objects were eloquently urged. . . . This 
 same object of maintaining the slave-trade was avowed in the 
 other end of this capitol by a distinguished Senator [Mr. 
 M^Duffie, of South Carolina], who, after stating the increase 
 of slaves in the Southern States, remarked : 
 
 " Now if we shall annex Texas, it will operate as a safety-valve 
 to let off this superabundant slave population from among us." 
 
 And the same doctrine was advanced on this floor by gentle- 
 men from the slave States who boldly avowed that " slavery 
 must be maintained in Texas, or it must cease to exist in the 
 United States." . . . 
 
 I will detain the committee for a moment, by calling their 
 attention to the peculiar attitude in which we, as a nation, are 
 now placed before the civilized world. England has abolished 
 slavery in her dominions. France is already moving upon that 
 subject, and Denmark has taken the incipient steps for setting 
 
 independence of Texas was recognized by several of the leading powers 
 of the earth. She was free to treat, free to adopt her own line of policy, 
 free to take the course she believed was best calculated to secure her 
 happiness." — J. D. Richardson, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 
 Vol. IV, p. 342. 
 
 1 The abolitionists maintained that the sole object of the annexation 
 of Texas was the extension of the slave area. The fact that many pro- 
 slavery men voted against Calhoun's treaty of annexation disproves this 
 view. James Russell Lowell in his stirring poem, " The Present Crisis," 
 which was inspired by the annexation policy of 1844, expresses the view 
 
 " Slavery, the earth-bom Cyclops, fellest of the giant brood . . . 
 Famished in his self-made desert, blinded by our purer day. 
 Gropes in yet wiblasied regions for his miserable prey," 
 
320 Slavery and the West 
 
 her slaves free. So palpable are, the turpitude and disgrace of 
 holding slaves, that even semi-barbarous nations are, at this day, 
 lustrating themselves from its moral contagion. The Bey of 
 Tripoli, in his decree prohibiting the slave-trade, which our 
 honorable Secretary of State [Calhoun] is so anxious to main- 
 tain, declared that he did it " for the honor of man and the 
 glory of God." But while the Bey of Tripoli and the Pacha of 
 Egypt are extending the enjoyment of civil liberty, this govern- 
 ment is openly engaged in endeavoring to extend the institution 
 of slavery. . . . 
 
 Our representatives in 1776 declared the right of man to the 
 enjoyment of his liberty to be self-evident, while our Executive 
 in 1844 declares the progress of human liberty in a neighboring 
 government to be highly dangerous to our prosperity. Of all the 
 civilized nations of the earth, ours alone now stands as the 
 advocate of negro slavery. The spectacle is humiliating. . . . 
 
 Our honorable Secretary of State urges upon Mr. King 
 [United States minister at Paris] and the French government 
 that the abolition of slavery " has diminished the exports of the 
 British West India Islands " ; and he infers that it would have 
 the same effect in this country, if our States were to follow their 
 example in respect to emancipation. Now, Sir, the argument is 
 not legitimate. It places pecuniary profit in the scale against the 
 natural rights of man, and gives preponderance to the former. 
 Go to the thief who lives and thrives by his midnight larcenies ; 
 remonstrate with him ; tell him that the property of his neighbors 
 0/ right belongs to them, and that he ought not feloniously to 
 take it, — he may turn round, and, in the language of our honor- 
 able Secretary, say to you, that were he to adopt your ideas of 
 justice, and cease his thefts, " his exports would be diminished." 
 . . . His excuse would not mitigate his crimes ; nay, it would 
 aggravate his guilt. So with our Secretary's argument. If slavery 
 be opposed to the natural rights of men ; if it be a self-evident 
 truth that " man is born free," . . . then it is a crime for us to 
 rob him of his God-given rights, although it may thereby " in- 
 crease our exports." . . . 
 
 General Jackson and others say that it is necessary that we 
 should have Texas as a means of national defence. I reply that 
 
Texas 321 
 
 every addition of Slave territory renders us weaker, and places 
 a heavier burden on the free States. This extending slavery at 
 the expense of our fre;e States, is what the honorable Secretary 
 regards as economy. If Southern gentlemen regard it in that 
 light, I may be permitted to assure them that we of the North 
 look upon its economical bearings as altogether unfavorable to 
 our interests. We are bound by the Constitution to defend the 
 Southern States in case of invasion, or of domestic violence. 
 That stipulation we will perform to the letter ; but there we 
 stop — we go no further. We will not take upon ourselves any 
 obligation to protect the slaveholders of Texas. . . . 
 
 The pecuniary bearings of slavery were well illustrated in the 
 Florida War, which was commenced and prosecuted in order to 
 recapture the fugitive slaves who had sought an asylum in that 
 territory.^ It was carried on for seven years, at an expenditure 
 of forty million dollars, and some hundreds of lives, in order to' 
 capture and return to their owners some five hundred slaves; 
 making each slave cost the nation about eighty thousand dollars^ 
 mostly taken from the pockets of Northern freemen. This is the 
 economy of slavery. Sir, I object to placing ourselves in a situ- 
 ation to be called upon to catch the runaway slaves of Texas. 
 If this be economy, may Heaven save us from its extension. . . . 
 
 Gendemen here become pathetic upon the sufferings to which 
 the people of Texas have been subjected during their war with 
 Mexico. They speak in melting terms of the predatory warfare 
 heretofore carried on against Texas, and they ask the people of 
 our free States to relieve them from Mexican barbarity. Why, 
 Sir, there is more human suffering in this city every year by 
 reason of the slave-trade, than has been endured by the whole 
 people of Texas during their entire revolution of eight years. 
 The consumption of human life attendant and consequent upon 
 the slave-trade in this district^ is greater every year than it has 
 been in Texas during any period of their war with Mexico. It 
 should be borne in mind that this slave trade is authorized and 
 maintained by act of Congress^ which the advocates of annexation 
 
 1 This was but one of several causes of the Florida War. See Muzzey, 
 An American History, pp. 201-205. 
 
322 Slavery and the West 
 
 refuse to repeal. . . . Gentlemen on this floor, whose hearts are " 
 unmoved by all the suffering of the slave population here, and 
 by all the blood that is annually shed in this district, become 
 eloquent upon the sufferings endured by the people of Texas. 
 They are willing to spend the national treasure, and pour out 
 American blood to protect the Texans, while they will authorize 
 by law all those crimes and outrages and all the violence and 
 bloodshed attendant upon the slave-trade in this district. Indeed, 
 they are striving to extend and perpetuate those crimes in Texas, 
 under the plea of " extcjiding the area of freedom.''^ . . . 
 
 The momentous questions of Liberty and Slavery are now 
 before the people of this nation. They have been forced upon 
 us by the slave-holders of the South. Northern men cannot, will 
 not, shrink from the discussion. They have become the great 
 absorbing topics in this hall, in most of our State legislatures, 
 land by the people of the United States generally. Public indig- 
 nation at these attempts to involve us in the crimes and dis- 
 grace of slavery, is already awakened. It is rolling forward with 
 an irresistible force ; which, ere long, will redeem and purify the 
 people of the North from the crimes and the corroding influence 
 of that blood-stained institution. The car of universal liberty is 
 moving ; it has acquired a momentum that cannot be stopped ; 
 and those who throw themselves before it, in order to obstruct 
 its progress, will be crushed beneath its resistless power. 
 
 77. Benton's Probably no other claim of our government was ever 
 
 "Fifty-four- based on a weaker foundation, urged with more vociferous 
 
 Forties," pretensions, or abandoned with more complacent haste, 
 
 * than the claim of the Democratic platform of 1844 to " the 
 
 whole of Oregon" up to parallel 54° 40'.^ Thomas H. 
 
 1 The plain facts of the case were these : by the treaty of 18 19 Spain's 
 claims to the north on the Pacific coast were limited to 42° ; by treaties 
 of 1824 and 1825 Russia's claims to the south on the Pacific coast were 
 limited to 54° 40'. The region between 42° and 54° 40' was occupied 
 jointly by Great Britain and the United States, first for ten years, by 
 treaty of 1818, then for an indefinite period, by treaty of 1827. The 
 latter treaty might be broken after 1828, by either nation's giving the 
 other twelve months' notice. Although there were occasional proposals 
 
Texas 323 
 
 Benton, whom we have already seen urging the occu- 
 pation of the Columbia valley in 1825 (see No. 65, p. 258), 
 championed the adoption of the forty-ninth parallel as the 
 just boundary line as against the claims of the '* Fifty- 
 four- Forties," in a two days' speech in the Senate, May 22 
 and May 25, 1846. 
 
 Mr. President, The bill before the Senate proposes to 
 extend the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the United States 
 over all our territories west of the Rocky Mountains, without 
 saying what is the extent and what are the limits of this ter- 
 ritory. This is wrong, in my opinion. We ought to define the 
 limits within which our agents are to do such acts as this 
 bill contemplates. . . . My object will be to show, if I can, 
 the true extent and nature of our territorial claims beyond 
 'the Rocky Mountains, with a view to just and wise decisions ; 
 and in doing so, I shall endeavor to act upon the great maxim, 
 " Ask nothing but what is right — submit to nothing that is 
 wrong." ... 
 
 It has been assumed for two years, and the assumption has 
 been made the cause of all the Oregon excitement in the country, 
 that we have a dividing line with Russia, made so by the con- 
 vention of 1824, along the parallel of 54° 40', from the sea to 
 the Rocky Mountains, up to which our title is good. This is a 
 great mistake. . . . The documents will prove that, so far as 
 54° 40', from the sea to the mountains, was ever proposed 
 
 to end the joint occupation and fix a boundary line (at ^(f or 51°) be- 
 tween the British and American shares of Oregon (such a proposal 
 being made by Benton as early as 1828), still it was not until April 27, 
 1846, that a joint resolution of Congress gave President Polk the author- 
 ity to notify England of the termination of the treaty of 1827 ; and that 
 resolution was passed solely with the view to enforcing our arbitrary 
 claim to parallel 54° 40'. The claim of the United States to 54° 40' was 
 first asserted by Tyler in his annual message of December 2, 1843 
 (Richardson, Messages and Papers, Vol. IV, p. 258), was taken up 
 into the Democratic platform of 1844 (Stanwood, History of the Presi- 
 dency, p. 215), and was reechoed, in what Lord Russell called " a blus- 
 tering announcement," in Polk's Inaugural Address of March 4, 1845 
 (Richardson, Messages and Papers, Vol. IV, p. 381). 
 
324 Slavery and the West 
 
 as a northern boundary for any power, it was proposed by us 
 for the British, and not for ourselves. . . . 
 
 Here is a despatch from Mr. Rush, our Minister in London, 
 to Mr. Adams, Secretary of State, dated December 19, 1823: 
 " I at once unfolded to him [Mr. Canning, foreign minister in 
 Lord Liverpool's cabinet] the proposals of my Government, 
 which were: i. That as regarded the country lying between 
 the Stony [Rocky] Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, Great 
 Britain, the United States, and Russia should jointly enter into 
 a convention ... by which the whole of that country westward 
 of the Stony Mountains, with all its waters, would be free and 
 open to the citizens and subjects of the three Powers ... for 
 the term of ten years. 2. That the United States were willing 
 to stipulate to make no settlements north of 51°, . . . provided 
 Great Britain stipulated to make none south of 51° or north of 
 55°, and Russia to make none south of 55°." Here is the 
 offer, in most explicit terms in 1823, to make 55° (which was 
 in fact 54° 40') the northern boundary of Great Britain. . . . 
 
 Yet that makes no difference in the philosophy of our Fifty- 
 four-Forties. . . . Their notion is that we go jam up to 54° 40', 
 and the Russians come jam down to the same line, leaving no 
 place for the British Lion to put down a paw, although that 
 paw should be no bigger than the sole of the dove's foot which 
 sought a resting place from Noah's ark. This must seem a 
 little strange to British statesmen, who do not grow so fast as 
 to leave all knowledge behind them. They remember that Mr. 
 Monroe and his Cabinet — the President and the Cabinet who 
 acquired the Spanish title [18 19] under which we now propose 
 to squeeze them out of the continent — actually offered them 
 six [?] degrees of latitude in that very place ; and they will 
 certainly want reasons for this so much compression now, 
 where we offered them so much expansion then. These reasons 
 cannot be given. There is no boundary at 54° 40'; and so far 
 as we proposed to make it one, it was for the British, and not 
 for ourselves.^ And so ends this redoubtable line, up to which 
 
 1 It is noteworthy that Canning, in rejecting the "tripartite con- 
 vention " proposed by Rush, objected not to being confined to 50° at 
 the south, but to being confined to 55'^ at the north. In other words 
 
Texas 325 
 
 all true patriots were to march ! and marching, fight ! and fight- 
 ing, die ! if need be ! singing all the while with Horace — 
 Dulce et decoru7n est pro patrid inori 
 (Sweet and decent it is to die for one's country). 
 
 And this is the end of that great line ! all gone — vanished — 
 evaporated into thin air — and the place where it was not to be 
 found. Oh ! mountain that was delivered of a mouse, thy name 
 shall henceforth be fifty-four forty ! And thus, Mr. President, 
 I trust I have exploded one of the errors into which the public 
 mind has been led, and which it is necessary to get rid of before 
 we can find the right place for our Oregon boundaries. 
 
 I proceed to another of the same family — the dogma of the 
 unity and indivisibility of the Oregon title, and its resulting 
 corollary of all or none. It is assumed by the ^^ friends of 
 Oregon " to be all one title, all the way from 42" up to 54° 40' 
 — no break in it ; and consequently " all or none " is the only 
 logical solution which our claim to it can receive. Well, this 
 may be brave and patriotic, but is it wise and true ? And can 
 we, with clear consciences, and without regard to consequences, 
 pass a law upon that principle, and send our agents there to 
 execute it ? These are the questions which present themselves 
 to my mind, and in answering which I wish to keep before my 
 eyes the first half of the great maxim — ask nothing but what is 
 right. I answer, then, that our title to what is called all Oregon 
 is not one, but several ; that it consists of parts, and is good for 
 part and bad for part; and that nothing just or wise can be 
 determined in relation to it without separating these parts into 
 their proper divisions and giving to each division the separate 
 consideration and judgment which belongs to it. Thus the title 
 to the Columbia River and its valley was complete before the 
 claim to Frazer's River and its valley began; and the claim to 
 the islands and coasts rests upon a different state of facts, and 
 a different principle of national law, from that which applies to 
 the Continent. . . . 
 
 Great Britain refused to let us fix her boundary with Russia at 55° 
 (54° 40'). We were now claimirig (in 1844) that 54° 40' was our bound- 
 ary with Russia. See Canning's dispatch (Rush to Adams) quoted in 
 Congressio7ial Globe, 29th Congress, ist session, p. 852. 
 
326 Slavery and the West 
 
 The valley of the Columbia is ours ; ours by discovery, by 
 settlement, and by the treaty of Utrecht ! And has too often 
 been so admitted by Great Britain, to admit of her disputing it 
 now. I do not plead our title to that great country. I did that 
 twenty years ago, when there were few to repeat or applaud 
 what I said [see No. 65, p. 259]. I pass over the ground which 
 I trod so long ago, and which has been again so much trodden 
 of late, and take up the question at a fresh place — the admis- 
 sions of Great Britain ! and show that she is con[ex]cluded by 
 her own acts and words from ever setting up any claim to the 
 river and valley of the Columbia, or to any part of the territory 
 south of the 49th degree. . . . 
 
 Up to that line, if it becomes necessary, I am willing to fight; 
 but before fighting I want to talk — to talk understanding^, 
 with a knowledge of the subject. ... It is not new talk with 
 me. Twenty-eight years ago, I wrote what I now speak. Eight- 
 een years ago, and when I had already been eight years a 
 member of this body, I submitted a resolution in relation to 
 this Oregon question, which I have seen no reason to retract 
 or modify since that time, and which may stand for the text of 
 my speech this day. It was in these words. . . . 
 
 " Resolved^ That it is expedient for the government of the 
 United States to treat with his Brittanic Majesty, in reference 
 to their claims and boundaries, west of the Rocky Mountains, 
 upon the basis of a separation of interests, and the establish- 
 ment of the 49th degree of north latitude as a permanent bound- 
 ary between them, in the shortest possible time." 
 
 It was in the session of 1827-28, and before the ratification of 
 the second partnership convention ^ — the one we are now deter- 
 mined to get rid of even at the price of war — and with the view 
 of preventing the ratification of that convention, that this resolu- 
 tion was submitted. It presented my view of the settlement of 
 this question, namely, no partnerships, the immediate establish- 
 ment of a boundary, and the 49th parallel for that boundary. . . . 
 
 It is the line of all the American statesmen, without exception, 
 twenty and forty years ago. It was the line of Mr. Canning in 
 
 1 See p. 322, note. 
 
Texas 327 
 
 1823. It is the line for the rejection of which by Mr. Packenham, 
 without reference to his Government, Sir Robert Peel has lately, 
 and publicly, in the face of the world, expressed regret.^ It is 
 
 ^ The gist of the intricate Oregon negotiations is as follows : In the 
 summer of 1844 (in spite of the " re-occupation " plank in the Demo- 
 cratic platform) Calhoun was corresponding with Packenham to secure 
 the settlement of the Oregon boundary at 49°. The English rejected 
 the terms, desiring the Columbia valley. Again, in July, 1845, Secretary 
 of State Buchanan offered the boundary line of 49% and again Packenham 
 rudely rejected it, "without reference to his government." Buchanan 
 then (August 30, 1845) withdrew the offer of 49°. As the Mexican trouble 
 deepened, both the United States and England wished to avoid a clash of 
 arms in Oregon. Sir Robert Peel, the British prime minister, expressed 
 his regret for Packenham's hasty refusal, and several influential English 
 newspapers spoke with favor of the line 49°. Finally (June 6, 1846) 
 Buchanan received from the British minister a project for a treaty 
 dividing Oregon at 49° ; and Polk, after securing a favorable opinion 
 on it from the Senate, concluded the bargain. In spite of Polk's " bluster- 
 ing announcement" in his inaugural address, claiming the whole of 
 Oregon to 54° 40', there are many indications in his Diary (see intro- 
 duction to No. 78, p. 328) that he was at heart in favor of compromising 
 on the line 49°. First, on October 24, 1845, he submitted to Benton (a 
 well-known and determined advocate of 49°) the correspondence be- 
 tween Buchanan and Packenham, and told Benton that he had " reluc- 
 tantly yielded his assent" to Bucharian to make the offer of July, 1845 
 (Diary, Vol. I, p. 69). Second, on December 9 he told Buchanan, who 
 was anxious to settle with England on the line of 49°, that if the 
 British government made the offer he " would consider what action it 
 might be proper to take"; and that "he did not desire war" (Diary, 
 Vol. I, p. 120). Third, on December 27 he secured from his cabinet 
 the unanimous opinion that " if Mr. Packenham offered the 49° or a 
 proposition equivalent to it," he should refer the offer to the Senate 
 (Diary, Vol. I, p. 147). Fourth, on February 24, 1846, he listened to 
 the plan of a group of Southern senators to bring forward a resolu- 
 tion asking him to compromise the Oregon question, and resented the 
 threat of Senator Allen, a fifty-four-forty man, that if he compromised 
 on Oregon he would injure his chances for reelection in 1848 (Diary, 
 Vol. I, pp. 246, 248). Fifth, on April 9 he promised Benton, who called 
 with a British map on which parallel 49° was marked with dotted lines, 
 that he would submit to the Senate any proposal from England to re- 
 new negotiations (Diary, Vol. I, p. 324). Sixth, finally, on May 3, he 
 told Benton — the avowed champion of 49° — that " he would be grati- 
 fied" if he would "take the matter in hand and press the Oregon 
 jurisdiction bill through the Senate" (Diary, Vol. I, p. 377). 
 
328 
 
 Slavery and the West 
 
 a line which we have never presented as an ultimatum ; which 
 we have often proposed gently, and which the British have as 
 often gently shoved aside. . . . But now all this gentle and de- 
 lusive work is done with. The joint use is to terminate — events 
 advance — and the question must be settled now by reason and 
 judgment, or it will soon settle itself by chance and arms. Forty- 
 nine is the right line with me ; and acting upon the second half 
 of the great maxim : Submit to nothing wrong I I shall submit 
 to no invasion or encroachment upon that line. ... It is the 
 line of rights which gives to us the Olympic district and its 
 invaluable waters, and secures to us the river and valley of the 
 Columbia. It is the fighting line of the United States. The 
 Union can be rallied on that line ! 
 
 The Mexican War 
 
 On August 25, 1845, President Polk had a conversation 
 in his cabinet with his Secretary of State, James Buchanan, 
 on the Oregon question. ''This conversation," says Polk 
 in his *' Diary," just a year later, "was of so important a 
 character, that I deemed it proper on the same evening to 
 reduce the substance of it to writing. ... It was this cir- 
 cumstance which first suggested to me the idea, if not the 
 necessity, of keeping a journal or diary of events and trans- 
 actions which might occur during my Presidency. I resolved 
 to do so and accordingly procured a blank book for that 
 purpose on the very next day, in which I have every day 
 since noted whatever occurred that I deemed of interest." ^ 
 The diary, filling twenty-five "blank books," and covering 
 the period from August 26, 1845, to June 2, 1849, was 
 kept in possession of the Polk family until 1901,2 when it 
 
 1 The Diary of James K. Polk, ed. M. M. Quaife, Vol. II, p. loi. 
 
 ^ Mrs. Polk lent the manuscript to the historian George Bancroft, who 
 had a typewritten transcript made of it, which has been quite widely 
 used, and which, on Bancroft's death, went to the Lenox Library in 
 
Texas . 329 
 
 was purchased by the Chicago Historical Society, by whom 
 it was pubUshed, with notes by M. M. Quaife, in four 
 volumes, in 19 10. We select some passages touching 
 the Mexican War : 
 
 Friday, 29'^ August, 1845 — The President called a special 
 meeting of the Cabinet at 12 O'clock, all the members present 
 except Mr. Mason. The President brought up for consideration 
 our relations with Mexico, and the threatened invasion of Texas 
 with [by] that power. He submitted the following propositions 
 which were unanimously agreed to as follows, viz.^ If Mexico 
 should declare War or actual hostilities should be commenced by 
 that power, orders to be issued to Gen'l Taylor to attack and 
 drive her back across the Del Norte [Rio Grande]. . . . Gen'l 
 Taylor to be vested with discretionary authority to pursue the 
 Mexican army to the West of the Del Norte, and take Matamoras 
 or any other Spanish Post West of that River, but not to pene- 
 trate any great distance into the interior of Mexican territory. . . . 
 
 Tuesday, 16^'' September, 1845. — Despatches were read from 
 D' Parrott, the confidential agent of the U.S. in Mexico, giving 
 an account of another threatened Revolution. . . . He gives it 
 as his opinion that there will be no declaration of war against 
 the U.S. and no invasion of Texas. . . . He is also of the opinion 
 that the Government is desirous to re-establish Diplomatic rela- 
 tions with the U. States, and that a Minister from the U.S. would 
 be received. . . . The President, in consultation with the Cabinet, 
 agreed that the Hon. John Slidell of New Orleans . . . should be 
 tendered the mission. . . . One great object of the mission, as 
 stated by the President, would be to adjust a permanent boundary 
 between Mexico and the U. States, and that in doing this the 
 Minister would be instructed to purchase for a pecuniary con- 
 sideration Upper California and New Mexico. He said that a 
 better boundary would be the Del Norte [Rio Grande] from its 
 mouth to the Passo [El Paso] in latitude about 32° North, and 
 
 New York. The diary is the most detailed record of a presidential ad- 
 ministration in our history, exceeding in fullness even the " Memoirs " 
 of John Quincy Adams during the years of his presidency. 
 
330 Slavery and the West 
 
 thence West to the Pacific Ocean.^ ... He supposed it might 
 be had for fifteen or twenty millions, but he was ready to pay 
 forty millions for it, if it could not be had for less. In these 
 views the Cabinet agreed with the President unanimously. 
 
 Monday, lo*^ November, 1845 — . . . At ten O'clock p.m., 
 ... I signed the Commission of the Hon. John Slidell as Envoy 
 Extraordinary & Minister Plenipotentiary to Mexico. . . . 
 
 Tuesday, 13*'' January, 1846 — There was a regular meeting 
 of the Cabinet today. . . . Despatches from Mexico which had 
 been received last evening were read and considered. Some other 
 public matters not important were also considered.^ . . . 
 
 Tuesday, 7*'' April, 1846 — A despatch was received by last 
 night's mail from our consul at Vera Cruz, which renders it 
 
 1 Let the student compare the actual southwestern boundary of the 
 United States with this proposal of Polk's. The entry quoted is signifi- 
 cant as showing the resolve of the administration to have California and 
 New Mexico, even at the expense of $40,000,000, over six months before 
 the Mexican War began. 
 
 2 This brief, colorless entry was made on the evening of the day of 
 Polk's most fateful move in connection with the Mexican affair. In his 
 war message to Congress, May 11, 1846, Polk says, "On the 13th of 
 January last, instructions were issued to the General (Taylor) in command 
 of these troops to occupy the left bank of the Del Norte " (Richardson, 
 Messages and Papers, Vol. IV, p. 440). This occupation in arms of the 
 region between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, which was in dispute 
 between Texas and Mexico, was a cause of war in the eyes of Mexico. 
 Polk maintained that the " despatches from Mexico " which rendered 
 this move necessary were rumors of Mexican preparations for the in- 
 vasion of Texas (see hig war message) ; but the Whig opponents of 
 armed intervention scouted the idea. Representative Alexander H. 
 Stephens said in the House, June 16, 1846 : " My first proposition is that 
 the immediate cause of hostilities between our army and the Mexican 
 forces was the advance movement from Corpus Christi on the Nueces 
 River, to Matamoras on the Rio Grande or Del Norte. . . . The President 
 had no right, no power, legally, to order the military occupation of the 
 disputed territory on the Rio Grande without authority from Congress 
 . . . the question of boundary (was) to be settled and adjusted (by the 
 resolution for annexing Texas) between this Government and Mexico, 
 by negotiation, a?td not by arfns. . . . Congress can alone constitutionally 
 draw the sword for any purpose " (Cleveland, Alexander H. Stephens, 
 pp. 304, 316). Stephens dubbed the President, for his specious argu- 
 ments, " Polk the Mendacious." 
 
Texas 3 3 1 
 
 probable that Mr. Slidell, our Minister to Mexico will not be re- 
 ceived by that Government, & will return to the U. States. The 
 despatch was read & I stated that in the event Mr. Slidell was 
 not accredited, and returned to the U.S., my opinion was that 
 I should make a communication to Congress recommending 
 that Legislative measures be adopted, to take the remedies for 
 the injuries and wrongs we had suffered into our own hands. . . . 
 
 Tuesday, 28*'' April, 1846 — . . . The Mexican question was 
 next discussed, & it was the unanimous opinion of the Cabinet 
 that a message should be sent to Congress laying the whole sub- 
 ject before them and recommending that measures be adopted 
 to take redress into our own hands for the aggravated wrongs 
 done to our citizens in their persons and property by Mexico.^ 
 I requested Mr. Buchanan to prepare from the archives of the 
 Department of State a succinct history of these wrongs as the 
 basis of a message to Congress, at his earliest convenience. . . . 
 
 Sunday, 2>'^ May, 1846 — . . . Col. Benton called this eve- 
 ning. . . . He expressed a decided aversion to a war with Mexico 
 if it could be avoided consistently with the honour of the country. 
 I told him we had ample cause of War, but that I was anxious 
 to avoid it if it could be done honourably and consistently with 
 the interests of our injured citizens. I told him I would delay 
 at all events until the arrival of Mr. Slidell, who was expected 
 daily, but that I could not permit Congress to adjourn without 
 bringing the subject before that body. 
 
 Friday, 8'^ May, 1846 — ... the Hon. John Slidell, late U.S. 
 Minister to Mexico, called in company with the Secretary of 
 State. . . . Mr. Slidell's opinion was that but one course towards 
 Mexico was left to the U.S. and that was to take the redress of 
 the wrongs and injuries which we had so long borne from Mexico 
 into our own hands, and to act with promptness and energy. 
 
 Saturday, (f" May, 1846 — The Cabinet held a regular meet- 
 ing today ; all the members present. I brought up the Mexican 
 question. . . . The subject was very fully discussed. All agreed 
 that if the Mexican forces at Matamoras committed any act of 
 
 1 Four days before this entry the Mexicans had attacked the Ameri- 
 cans on the northern bank of the Rio Grande. See entry under May 9. 
 
332 Slavery and the West 
 
 hostility on Gen'l Taylor's forces I should immediately send a 
 message to Congress recommending an immediate declaration 
 of War. I stated to the Cabinet that up to this time, as they 
 knew, we had heard of no open act of aggression by the Mexican 
 army, but that the danger was imminent that such acts would be 
 committed. ... I then propounded the distinct question to the 
 Cabinet and took their opinions individually, whether I should 
 make a message to Congress on tuesday [1], and whether in that 
 message I should recommend a declaration of War against 
 Mexico. All except the Secretary of the Navy [Bancroft] gave 
 their advice in the affirmative. Mr. Bancroft dissented, but said 
 if any act of hostility should be committed by the Mexican forces 
 he was then in favor of immediate war. Mr. Buchanan said he 
 would feel better satisfied in his course if the Mexican forces had 
 or should commit any act of hostility, but that as matters stood 
 we had ample cause of war against Mexico, and he gave his 
 assent to the measure. It was agreed that the Message should 
 be prepared, and submitted to the Cabinet in their meeting on 
 tuesday. . . . The Cabinet adjourned about 2 O'Clock p.m. . . . 
 About 6 O'clock p.m. Gen'l R. Jones, the Adjutant General of 
 the army, called and handed to me despatches received from 
 General Taylor by the Southern mail which had just arrived, 
 giving information that a part of the Mexican army had crossed 
 [to] the Del Norte and attacked and killed and captured two 
 companies of dragoons of Gen'l Taylor's army, consisting of 
 63 officers & men. The despatch also stated that he had on that 
 day [26th April] ^ made a requisition on the Governors of Texas 
 
 1 This was two days after the Mexicans' attack which Polk reports 
 in his war message to Congress as follows : " The Mexican forces at 
 Matamoras assumed a belligerent attitude, and on the 12th of April 
 General Ampudia, then in command, notified General Taylor to break 
 up his camp within twenty-four hours and to retire beyond the Nueces 
 River, and, in the event of his failure to comply with these demands, 
 announced that arms, and arms alone, must decide the question. But no 
 open act of hostility was committed until the 24th of April. On that day 
 General Arista, who had succeeded to the command of the Mexican 
 forces, communicated to General Taylor that he considered hostilities 
 commenced, and should prosecute them." A party of dragoons of 63 men 
 and officers were on the same day dispatched from the American camp 
 
Texas . 333 
 
 and Louisiana for four regiments each. ... I immediately sum- 
 moned the Cabinet to meet at 7^ O'Clock this evening. The 
 Cabinet accordingly assembled at that hour, all the members 
 present. . . . The Cabinet were unanimously of the opinion, and 
 it was so agreed, that a message should be sent to Congress on 
 Monday, laying all the information in my possession before them 
 and recommending vigorous & prompt measure[s] to enable the 
 Executive to prosecute the War. . . . Mr. Senator Houston, 
 Hon. Barkley Martin, & several other members of Congress 
 called in the course of the evening & were greatly excited, at the 
 news brought by the Southern mail from the army. They all 
 approved the steps which had been taken by the administration, 
 and were all of opinion that war with Mexico should now be 
 prosecuted with vigor. The Cabinet adjourned about 10 O'Clock, 
 & I commenced my message ; Mr. Bancroft and Mr. Buchanan, 
 the latter of whom had prepared a history of our cause of com- 
 plaint against Mexico, agreed to assist me in preparing the 
 message. . . . 
 
 Monday, 11'^ May, 1846 — . . . At 12 O'Clock I sent my 
 message to Congress.-^ It was a day of great anxiety with me. 
 Between 5 & 6 O'Clock p.m. Mr. Slidell, U.S. Minister to Mexico, 
 called and informed me that the Ho. Repts. [House of Repre- 
 sentatives] had passed a Bill carrying out all the recommendations 
 of the message by a vote of 173 ayes to 14 noes, and that the 
 Senate had adjourned after a debate, without coming to any 
 decision. . . . 
 
 Tuesday 12^'' May, 1846 — ... At 7 O'Clock p.m. my Private 
 Secretary returned from the Capitol and announced to me that 
 the Bill which had passed the Ho. Repts. on yesterday, making 
 a formal declaration of War against Mexico, had passed the 
 Senate by a vote of 42 ayes to 2 noes, with some immaterial 
 
 up the Rio del Norte, on its left bank, to ascertain whether the Mexican 
 troops had crossed, or were preparing to cross the river, " became en- 
 tangled with a large body of these troops, and, after a short affair, in 
 which some sixteen were killed and wounded, appear to have been sur- 
 rounded and compelled to surrender." — Richardson, Messages and 
 Papers of the Presidents, Vol. IV, p. 440. 
 
 1 The war message is in Richardson, Messages and Papers, Vol. IV, 
 pp. 437-443 ; Polk's proclamation of war, in facsimile, ibid. p. 470. 
 
334 . Slavery and the West 
 
 amendments in its details. He represented to me that the debate 
 in the Senate today was most animated and thrilling, and that 
 Mr. Calhoun who spoke in opposition to the Bill, but finally did 
 not vote, had suffered much in the discussion.^ ... At 8^ 
 O'clock P.M. I learned that the House had concurred in the 
 amendment of the Senate to the Bill, so that when the Bill is 
 signed by the President War will be declared against Mexico. . . . 
 Wednesday, 13*^ May, 1846 — A very large number of visi- 
 tors called on me this morning, consisting of Senators, Repre- 
 sentatives, citizens & strangers. ... All approved my acts. 
 Many members of Congress, especially from the Western States, 
 desired that volunteers under the law should be accepted from 
 their respective States. ... I appointed a special meeting of the 
 Cabinet at 7^ p.m. Mr. Buchanan read the draft of a despatch 
 which he had prepared to our Ministers at London, Paris, & 
 other Foreign Courts, announcing the declaration of War against 
 Mexico, with a statement of the causes and objects of the War. . . . 
 Among other things Mr. Buchanan had stated that our object 
 was not to dismember Mexico or to make conquests, and that 
 the Del Norte was the boundary to which we claimed ; or rather 
 that in going to war we did not do so with a view to acquire 
 either California or New Mexico or any other portion of the 
 Mexican territory. I told Mr. Buchanan that I thought such a 
 declaration to Foreign Governments unnecessary and improper ; 
 that the causes of the war as set forth in my message to Con- 
 gress and the accompanying documents were altogether satis- 
 factory. I told him that though we had not gone to war for 
 conquest, yet it was clear that in making peace we would, if 
 practicable, obtain California and such other portion of the 
 Mexican territory as would be sufficient to indemnify our claim- 
 ants on Mexico, and to defray the expenses of the war which 
 that power by her long continued wrongs and injuries had forced 
 us to wage. I told him it was well known that the Mexican 
 Government had no other means of indemnifying us. 
 
 1 The Debates in the Senate are reported in the Coiigressioiuil Globe, 
 29th Congress, ist session, pp. 804 ff. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE COMPROMISE OF 1850 
 
 The New Territory 
 
 Aiiri sacra fames I Never was Vergil's phrase, "the 79. The 
 cursed hunger for gold," better illustrated than in the g°g HI/ 
 rush of the '' Forty-niners " to California, and never was [286] 
 the hunger so quickly and so amply satisfied. Six weeks' 
 digging often yielded nuggets and gold dust to the value 
 of ten thousand dollars. The following extracts from the 
 diary of the Reverend Walter Colton of Philadelphia, a 
 chaplain in the United States navy, who spent the years 
 1 846-1 849 as alcalde (judge) of the Californian town of 
 Monterey, portray the excitement of the gold days : 
 
 Monday, May 29 [1848]. Our town was startled out of its 
 quiet dreams today, by the announcement that gold had been 
 discovered on the American Fork. The men wondered and 
 talked, and the women too ; but neither believed. . . . 
 
 Monday, June 5. Another report reached us this morning 
 from the American Fork. The rumor ran, that several work- 
 men while excavating for a mill-race had thrown up little shin- 
 ing scales of a yellow ore that proved to be gold ; that an old 
 Sonorian, who had spent his life in gold mines, pronounced it 
 the genuine thing. Still the public incredulity remained. . . . 
 
 Monday, June 12. A straggler came in today from the Amer- 
 ican Fork, bringing a piece of yellow ore weighing an ounce. 
 The young dashed the dirt from their eyes, and the old from 
 their spectacles. One brought a spy-glass, another an iron ladle; 
 some wanted to melt it, others to hammer it, and a few were 
 
 335 
 
336 Slavery and the West 
 
 satisfied with smelling it . . . while a gentleman placed the speci- 
 men on the top of his gold-headed cane and held it up, chal- 
 lenging the sharpest eyes to detect a difference. But doubts 
 still hovered in the minds of the great mass. They could not 
 conceive that such a treasure could have lain there so long 
 undiscovered. The idea seemed to convict them of stupidity. 
 There is nothing of which a man is more tenacious than his 
 claims to sagacity. . . . 
 
 Tuesday, June 20. My messenger sent to the mines has re- 
 turned with specimens of the gold ; he dismounted in a sea of 
 upturned faces. As he drew forth the yellow lumps from his 
 pockets and passed them around among the eager crowd, the 
 doubts, which had lingered till now, fled. All admitted they were 
 gold, except one old man, who still persisted they were some 
 Yankee invention, got up to reconcile the people to the change 
 of flag. The excitement produced was intense ; and many were 
 soon busy in their hasty preparations for a departure to the mines. 
 The family who had kept house for me caught the moving in- 
 fection. Husband and wife were both packing up ; the black- 
 smith dropped his hammer, the carpenter his plane, the mason 
 his trowel, the farmer his sickle, the baker his loaf, the tapster his 
 bottle. All were off for the mines, some on horses, some on 
 carts, and some on crutches, and one went in a litter. An Amer- 
 ican woman, who had recently established a boarding house here, 
 pulled up stakes and was off before her lodgers had even time 
 to pay their bills. Debtors ran, of course, I have only a com- 
 munity of women left, and a gang of prisoners, with here and 
 there a soldier, who will give his captain the slip at the first 
 chance.^ I don't blame the fellow a whit ! seven dollars a month, 
 while others are making two or three hundred a day ! that is 
 too much for human nature to stand. 
 
 1 President Polk in his last annual message, December 5, 1848, said: 
 " Nearly the whole of the male population of the country [California] 
 have gone to the gold districts. Ships arriving at the coast are deserted 
 by their crews and their voyages suspended for want of sailors. Oar 
 commanding officer there entertains apprehensions that soldiers cannot 
 be kept in the public service without a large increase of pay. Deser- 
 tions in his command have been frequent." — Richardson, Messages 
 and Papers, Vol. IV, p. 636. 
 
The Compromise of 1 8^0 337 
 
 Tuesday, July 18. Another bag of gold from the mines, and 
 another spasm in the community. It was brought down by a 
 sailor from Yuba river, and contains 136 ounces. It is the 
 most beautiful gold that has appeared in the market ; it looks 
 like the yellow scales of the dolphin, passing through his rain- 
 bow hues at death. My carpenters at work on the school-house, 
 on seeing it, threw down their saws and planes, shouldered their 
 picks, and are off for the Yuba. Three seamen ran from the 
 Warren, forfeiting their four years' pay ; and a whole platoon 
 of soldiers from the fort left only their colors behind.^ 
 
 Thursday, Aug. 16. Four citizens of Monterey are just in 
 from the gold mines on Feather River, where they worked in 
 company with three others. They employed about thirty wild 
 Indians, who are attached to the rancho owned by one of the 
 party. They worked precisely seven weeks and three days, and 
 have divided $76,844 — nearly $it,ooo to each. . . . 
 
 Tuesday, Aug. 28. The gold mines have upset all social and 
 domestic arrangements in Monterey ; the master has become 
 his own servant, and the servant his own lord. . . . Out on this 
 yellow dust ! it is worse than the cinders which buried Pompeii, 
 for there, high and low shared the same fate ! . 
 
 Monday, Oct. 2. [After a horseback journey of over 150 
 miles from Monterey to the gold fields] I went among the gold- 
 diggers ; found a half a dozen at the bottom of the ravine, tear- 
 ing up the bogs and up to their knees in mud. Beneath these 
 bogs lay a bed of clay, sprinkled in spots with gold. . . . Not 
 having much relish for the bogs and mud, I procured a light 
 
 1 " San Francisco became almost deserted by man. Stores were 
 closed, places of business vacated, houses left tenantless. ... In May 
 the Californian and in June the Star ceased to be published. Type- 
 setters, pressmen, and printer's devil had all gone. The Town Council 
 held no sittings. The Church was closed. The Alcalde was nowhere to 
 be found, and every ship that came was deserted by her crew almost as 
 soon as she dropped anchor. . , . The whole country from San Fran- 
 cisco to Los Angeles . . . resounded with the sordid cry of Gold ! Gold ! 
 Gold ! while fields were left half tilled, houses half built, and every in- 
 dustry save the manufacture of picks and shovels was neglected." — 
 J. B. McMaster, History of the People of the United States, Vol. VII, 
 P .S86. 
 
338 Slavery a7id the West 
 
 crowbar and went to splitting the slate rocks which project into 
 the ravine. I found between the layers, which were not per- 
 fectly closed, particles of gold, resembling in shape the small 
 and delicate scales of a fish. These were easily scraped from 
 the slate by a hunter's knife, and readily separated in the wash- 
 bowl from all foreign substances. . . . There are about se\4enty 
 persons at work in this ravine, and all within a few yards of 
 each other. They average about one ounce [worth about $20] 
 per diem each. They who get less are discontented, and they 
 who get more are not satisfied. Every day brings in some fresh 
 report of richer discoveries in some quarter not far remote, and 
 the diggers are consequently kept in a state of feverish excite- 
 ment. . . . Such is human nature ; and a miserable thing it is, 
 too, especially when touched with the gold fever. . . . 
 
 Monday, Oct. 16. I encountered this morning in the person 
 of a Welshman, a pretty marked specimen of the gold-digger. 
 He stood some six feet eight in his shoes, with giant limbs and 
 frame. A leather strap fastened his coarse trousers above his 
 hips, and confined the flowing bunt of his flannel shirt. A 
 broad-rimmed hat sheltered his brawny features, while his un- 
 shorn beard and hair flowed in tangled confusion to his waist. 
 To his back was lashed a blanket and a bag of provisions ; on 
 one shoulder rested a huge crowbar, to which were hung a gold- 
 washer and a skillet ; on the other rested a rifle, a spade, a pick, 
 from which dangled a cup and a pair of heavy shoes. He recog- 
 nized me as the magistrate who had once arrested him for a 
 breach of the peace. " Well, Senor Alcalde," said he, " I am 
 glad to see you in these diggings. You had some trouble with 
 me in Monterey ; I was on a burster [drunk] ; you did your 
 duty, and I respect you for it ; and now let me settle the differ- 
 ence between us with a bit of gold : it shall be the first I strike 
 under this bog." . . . He struck a layer of clay : " Here she 
 comes," he ejaculated, and turned out a piece of gold that would 
 weigh an ounce or more. " There," said he, " Senor Alcalde, 
 accept that; and when you reach home . . . have a bracelet 
 made of it for your good lady." He continued to dig around 
 the same place, but during the Jiour I remained with him, found 
 no other piece of gold — not a particle. 
 
The Compromise of 1 8^0 339 
 
 The story of the discovery of the first particles of gold 
 by James A. Marshall, a native of New Jersey, who was 
 in the employ of a wealthy Swiss-American named Sutter, 
 who had lumber mills near the present site of Sacramento 
 City, is thus told by Sutter himself : 
 
 I was sitting one afternoon, just after my siesta, engaged 
 bye-the-bye in writing a letter to a relation of mine at Lucerne, 
 when I was interrupted by Mr. Marshall — a gentleman with 
 whom I had frequent business relations — bursting hurriedly 
 into the room. From the unusual agitation in his manner I im- 
 agined that something serious had occurred, and, as we involun- 
 tarily do in this part of the world, I at once glanced to see if 
 my rifle was in its proper place. You must know that the mere 
 appearance of Mr. Marshall at that moment in the fort was 
 quite enough to surprise me, as he had, but two days before, 
 left the place to make some alterations in a mill for sawing pine 
 planks, which he had just run up for me, some miles higher up 
 the Americanos [American Fork]. When he had recovered him- 
 self a little, he told me that however great my surprise might 
 be at his unexpected reappearance, it would be much greater 
 when I heard the intelligence he had come to bring me. *' In- 
 telligence," he added, " which, if properly profited by, would 
 put both of us in possession of unheard-of wealth — millions 
 and millions of dollars, in fact." I frankly own, when I heard 
 this I thought something had touched Marshall's brain, when 
 suddenly all my misgivings were put an end to by his flinging 
 on the table a handful of scales of pure virgin gold. I was fairly 
 thunderstruck and asked him to explain what all this meant, 
 when he went on to say, that according to my instructions, he 
 had thrown the mill-wheel out of gear, to let the whole body of 
 the water in the dam find a passage through the tail-race, which 
 was previously too narrow for the water to run off in sufficient 
 quantity. ... By this alteration the narrow channel was con- 
 siderably enlarged, and a mass of sand and gravel carried off 
 by the force of the torrent. Early in the morning after this took 
 place, he — Mr. Marshall — was walking along the left bank of 
 
340 Slavery and the West 
 
 the stream, when he perceived something which he at first took 
 for a piece of opal — a clear, transparent stone, very common 
 here — glittering on one of the spots laid bare by the sudden 
 crumbling away of the bank. He paid no attention to this ; but 
 while he was giving directions to the workmen, having observed 
 several similar glittering fragments, his curiosity was so far ex- 
 cited, that he stooped down and picked one of them up. " Do 
 you know," said Marshall to me, " I positively debated within 
 myself two or three times, whether I should take the trouble to 
 oend my back to pick up one of the pieces, and had decided on 
 not doing so, when, further on, another glittering morsel caught 
 my eye — the largest of the pieces now before you. . . ." He 
 then gathered some twenty or thirty similar pieces. . . . He 
 mounted his horse and rode down to me as fast as it would 
 carry him, with the news. ... I eagerly inquired if he had shown 
 the gold to the work-people at the mill, and was glad to hear that 
 he had not spoken to a single person about it. " We agreed," said 
 the captain smiling, '^not to mention the circumstance to anyone, 
 and arranged to set off early the next day for the mill. On our 
 arrival, just before sun-down, we poked the sand about in various 
 places, and before long succeeded in collecting between us more 
 than an ounce of gold, mixed up with a good deal of sand. . . . 
 On our return to the mill we were astonished by the work-people 
 coming up to us in a body, and showing us small flakes of gold. . . . 
 Marshall tried to laugh the matter off with them, and to persuade 
 them that what they had found was only some shining mineral 
 of trifling value ; but one of the Indians, who had worked at the 
 gold mine in the neighborhood of La Paz, in Lower California, 
 cried out orof oro! We were disappointed enough, and supposed 
 the work-people had been watching our movements, although we 
 had taken every precaution against being observed by them." 
 
 The Omnibus Bill 
 
 Probably no other speech ever delivered in the halls of 
 Congress has stirred the moral feelings of our country 
 more deeply or contributed more effectively to the passage 
 
The Compromise of 1 8^0 34 1 
 
 of a great piece of legislation ^ than the famous seventh-of- so. icha- 
 March speech of Daniel Webster on the compromise fs°the'^^*" 
 measures of 1850. The corridors, galleries, antechambers, gio^^y?"). 
 and even the floor of the Senate were packed with a throng 1850 ' 
 eager to hear the foremost American orator on the foremost [289] 
 issue in American politics, when Webster began : 
 
 Mr. President, — I wish to speak today, not as a Massa- 
 chusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as an American, and 
 a member of the Senate of the United States. . . . The im- 
 prisoned winds are let loose. The East, the North, and the 
 stormy South combine to throw the whole sea into commotion, 
 to toss its billows to the skies, and disclose its profoundest 
 depths. I do not affect to regard myself, Mr. President, as hold- 
 ing or as fit to hold the helm in this combat with the political 
 elements, but I have a duty to perform, and I mean to perform 
 it with fidelity, not without a sense of existing dangers, but not 
 without hope. I have a part to act, not for my own security and 
 safety, for I am looking out for no fragment upon which to float 
 away from the wreck, if wreck there must be, but for the good 
 of the whole and the preservation of all. ... I speak today for 
 the preservation of the Union. " Hear me for my cause. . . ." ^ 
 
 1 " Henry Clay had thrown himself into the breach [with his com- 
 promise measures] but he was powerless without some efficient aid from 
 the North. The leading Southern Whigs, such as Magnum and Badger 
 and Dawson, rallied upon Mr, Webster, seized upon him, stuck to him, 
 and finally brought him up to the mark. His speech on the seventh of 
 March gave a new impulse to the compromise movement, and the whole 
 country felt that the danger was substantially past," — New York Herald, 
 April 13, 1852. 
 
 2 Webster realized that his plea for the compromise would cause him 
 unpopularity. In the dedication of his speech to the people of Massachu- 
 setts he wrote : His ego gratiora dictu alia esse scio; sed me vera pro gratis 
 loqui, etsi meum ingeniicm non jnoneret, necessitas cogit. Vellem. equidem 
 vobis placere ; sed multo malo vos salvos esse, qualimmqtie erga me animo 
 futuri estis [" I am aware that sentiments different from these would 
 please you better ; but the crisis compels me to prefer truth to com- 
 plaisance, and thereto wins the consent of my whole nature. I confess 
 that I should prefer to please you ; but much more do I desire to see 
 you saved, let it cost me what it will in your good opinion "]. 
 
342 Slavery and the West , 
 
 Now as to California and New Mexico, I hold slavery to be 
 excluded from those territories by a law even superior to that 
 which admits and sanctions it in Texas. I mean the law of 
 nature, of physical geography, the law of the formation of the 
 earth. That law settles forever, with a strength beyond all terms 
 of human enactment, that slavery cannot exist in California or 
 New Mexico. . . . They are composed of vast ridges of moun- 
 tains, of great height, with broken ridges and deep valleys. The 
 sides of these mountains are entirely barren ; their tops capped 
 by perennial snow. . . . There are some narrow strips of tilla- 
 ble land on the borders of the rivers ; but the rivers themselves 
 dry up before the midsummer is gone. \11 that the people can 
 do in that region is to raise some little articles, some little wheat 
 for their tortillas [flour cakes], and that by irrigation. And who 
 expects to see a hundred black men cultivating tobacco, corn, 
 cotton, rice, or anything else, on lands in New Mexico, made 
 fertile only by irrigation ? 
 
 I look upon it, therefore, as a fixed fact . . . that both Cali- 
 fornia and New Mexico are destined to be free, so far as they 
 are settled at all, which, I believe, in regard to New Mexico, will 
 be but partially for a great length of time ; free by the arrange- 
 ment of things ordained by the Power above us. . . . And I will 
 say further, that if a resolution or bill were now before us to pro- 
 vide a territorial government for New Mexico, I would not vote 
 to put any prohibition into it whatever ... I would not take 
 pains uselessly to reaffirm an ordinance of nature, nor to reenact 
 the will of God. I would put in no Wilmot Proviso for the mere 
 purpose of a taunt or a reproach. I would put into it no evidence 
 of the votes of a superior [stronger] power, exercised for no pur- 
 pose but to wound the pride, whether a just and rational pride, 
 or an irrational pride, of the citizens of the Southern States. . . . 
 
 Sir, wherever there is a substantive good to be done, wher- 
 ever there is a foot of land to be prevented from becoming 
 slave territory, I am ready to assert the principle of the exclusion 
 of slavery. I am pledged to it from the year 1837 ; I have been 
 pledged to it again and again ^ ; and I will perform those pledges ; 
 
 ^ For Webster's position in 1837 see Muzzey, An American History, 
 p. 271. In a speech in the Senate, August 12, 1848, on the exclusion of 
 
The Compromise of 1 8^0 343 
 
 but I will not do a thing unnecessarily that wounds the feelings 
 of others, or that does discredit to my own understanding. . . . 
 Mr. President, in the excited times in which we live, there is 
 found to exist a state of crimination and recrimination between 
 the North and South. There are lists of grievances produced by 
 each ; and those grievances, real or supposed, alienate the minds 
 of one portion of the country from the other, exasperate the feel- 
 ings, and subdue the sense of fraternal affection^, patriotic love, 
 and mutual regard. ... I hear with distress and anguish the 
 word " secession " ; especially when it falls from the lips of those 
 who are patriotic, and known to the country and known all 
 over the world for their political services. Secession ! Peaceable 
 secession ! Sir, your eyes and mine are never destined to see 
 that miracle I The dismemberment of this vast country without 
 convulsion ! The breaking up of the fountains of the great deep 
 without ruffling the surface ! . . . Sir, he who sees these States 
 now revolving in harmony around a common center, and expects 
 to see them quit their places and fly off without convulsion, may 
 look the next hour to see the heavenly bodies rush from their 
 spheres, and jostle against each other in the realms of space, 
 without causing the wreck of the universe. . . . No, Sir! No, 
 Sir ! I will not state what might produce the disruption of the 
 Union ; but. Sir, I see as plainly as the sun in heaven what that 
 disruption itself must produce ; I see that it must produce war, 
 and such a war as I will not describe, in its twofold character. 
 . . . No, Sir ! There will be no secession ! Gentlemen are not 
 serious when they talk of secession. 
 
 slavery from the territories, Webster said : " . . . The prevailing motives 
 with the North for agreeing to the recognition [by the Constitution] of 
 slavery in the Southern States . . . rested upon the supposition that no 
 acquisition of territory would be made to form new States on the south- 
 ern frontier of this country, either by cession or conquest. ... I have 
 said that I shall consent to no extension of the area of slavery upon this 
 continent, nor to any increase of slave representation in the other House 
 of Congress. I have now stated my reasons for my conduct and my 
 vote. We of the North have already gone, in this respect, far beyond 
 all that any Southern man could have expected, or did expect, at the 
 time of the adoption of the Constitution." — Writings and Speeches of 
 Daniel Webster, National Edition, Vol. X, pp. 37, 43. 
 
344 Slavery and the West 
 
 Never did there devolve on any generation of men higher 
 trusts than now devolve upon us, for the preservation of this 
 Constitution and the harmony and peace of all who are destined 
 to live under it. Let us make our generation one of the strongest 
 and brightest links in that golden chain which is destined, I fondly 
 believe, to grapple the people of all the States to this Constitu- 
 tion for ages to come. We have a great, popular, constitutional 
 government, guarded by law and by judicature, and defended by 
 the affections of the whole people. No monarchical throne presses 
 these States together, no iron chain of military power encircles 
 them ; they live and stand under a government popular in its 
 form, representative in its character, founded upon principles of 
 equality, and so constructed, we hope, as to last forever. In all 
 its history it has been beneficent ; it has trodden down no man's 
 liberty ; it has crushed no State. Its daily respiration is liberty 
 and patriotism ; its yet youthful veins are full of enterprise, 
 courage, and honorable love of glory and renown. Large before, 
 the country has now, by recent events, become vastly larger. 
 This republic now extends, with a vast breadth, across the whole 
 continent. The two great seas of the world wash the one and 
 the other shore. We realize on a mighty scale the beautiful de- 
 scription of the ornamental border of the buckler of Achilles : — 
 
 Now, the broad shield complete, the artist crowned 
 With his last hand, and poured the ocean round ; 
 In living silver seemed the waves to roll. 
 And beat the buckler's verge, and bound the whole. 
 
 In spite of his magnificent eloquence Webster could 
 not commend his compromise policy to his Massachusetts 
 constituency. A member of the legislature called him "a 
 recreant son of Massachusetts, who misrepresented her in 
 the senate." Theodore Parker compared him to Benedict 
 Arnold, and declared later, in a sermon, that " not a hun- 
 dred prominent men in all New England acceded to the 
 speech." A mass meeting in Faneuil Hall, " the cradle of 
 Liberty," passed resolutions of censure on the speech. And 
 
The Compromise of j 8^0 345 
 
 John Greenleaf Whittier, the abolitionist poet, following the 
 example of the stern Hebrew prophets, baptized Webster 
 with the significant name Ichabod (" where is the glory?"). 
 
 So fallen ! so lost ! the light withdrawn 
 
 Which once he wore ! 
 The glory from his grey hairs gone 
 
 Forevermore ! 
 
 Revile him not — the Tempter hath 
 
 A snare for all ; 
 And pitying tears, not scorn and wrath 
 
 Befit his fall ! 
 
 Oh ! dumb be passion's stormy rage, 
 
 When he who might 
 Have lighted up and led his age 
 
 Falls back in night. 
 
 Scorn ! Would the angels laugh, to mark 
 
 A bright soul driven, 
 Fiend-goaded, down the endless dark. 
 
 From hope and heaven ! 
 
 Let not the land once proud of him 
 
 Insult him now. 
 Nor brand with deeper shame his dim. 
 
 Dishonored brow. 
 
 But let its humbled sons, instead, 
 
 From sea to lake, 
 A long lament, as for the dead, 
 
 In sadness make. 
 
 Of all we loved and honored, naught 
 
 Save power remains — 
 A fallen angel's pride of thought, 
 
 Still strong in chains. 
 
346 Slavery and the West 
 
 All else is gone ; from those great eyes 
 
 The soul has fled : 
 When faith is lost, when honor dies, 
 
 The man is dead ! 
 
 Then, pay the reverence of old days 
 
 To his dead fame ; 
 Walk backward, with averted gaze, 
 
 And hide the shame ! 
 
 The Four Years' Truce 
 
 81. These- When Daniel Webster exclaimed: "No, Sir! There 
 menrof^8<o" ^iH be no scccssion ! Gentlemen are not serious when 
 [292] they talk of secession " he was indulging in the extrava- 
 gant optimism of the orator. On the very day before he 
 delivered his speech, the legislature of the state of Mis- 
 ■ sissippi sent out the following long-premeditated call for 
 a Southern convention to be held at Nashville, Tennessee, 
 to consider the feasibility of remaining longer in the Union. ^ 
 
 We have arrived at a period in the political existence of our 
 country, when the fears of the patriot and philanthropist may 
 well be excited, lest the noblest fabric of constitutional govern- 
 ment on earth may, ere long, be laid in ruins by the element of 
 discord, engendered by an unholy lust for power, and the fell 
 spirit of fanaticism [abolitionists] acting upon the minds of our 
 bretheren of the non-slave-holding States. . . . The fact can no 
 longer be disguised, that our bretheren of the free States, so- 
 called, disregarding the compromises of the Constitution — com- 
 promises without which it would never have received the sanction 
 
 1 Daniel Webster knew of the projected convention, and in the 
 same seventh-of-March speech said : " wSir, I hear that there is to be a con- 
 vention held at Nashville " ; and gave solemn warning to " any persons 
 who [shall] meet at Nashville for the purpose of concerting measures 
 for the overthrow of this Union, over the bones of Andrew Jackson ! " 
 — Writings and Speeches of Daniel Webster, Vol. X, p. 95. 
 
The Compromise of 1 8^0 347 
 
 of the slave-holding States, are determined to pursue towards 
 those States a course of policy, and to adopt a system of legis- 
 lation by Congress, destructive of their best rights and most 
 cherished domestic institutions. In vain have the citizens of the 
 Slave States appealed to their bretheren of the free States in a 
 spirit of brotherly love and devotion to that Constitution framed 
 by our fathers and cemented by their blood. . . . The spirit of 
 forbearance and concession, which has been for more than thirty 
 years manifested and acted upon by the slave-holding States, 
 has but strengthened the determination of their Northern breth- 
 eren, to fasten upon them a system of legislation in regard to 
 their peculiar domestic institutions . . . fatal in its effects. . . . 
 
 Slavery as it exists in the Southern States ... is not a moral 
 or political evil, but an element of prosperity and happiness both 
 to the master and slave. 
 
 Abolish slavery, and you convert the fair and blooming fields 
 of the South into barren heaths ; their high-souled and chivalrous 
 proprietors into abject dependents — and the now happy and 
 contented slaves into squalid and degraded objects of misery 
 and wretchedness ! 
 
 The Southern States have remonstrated and forborne, until 
 forbearance is no longer a virtue. The time has arrived when, 
 if they hope to preserve their existence as equal members of 
 the Confederacy, . . . they must prepare to act — to act with 
 resolution, firmness, and unity of purpose, trusting to the right- 
 eousness of their cause, and the protection of the Almighty 
 Ruler of the destinies of nations, who ever looks benignently 
 upon the exertions of those who contend for the prerogatives 
 of freemen ; therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Mississippi, 
 
 That they cordially approve of the action of the Southern State 
 Convention held at the city of Jackson [Mississippi] on the first 
 Monday of October, 1849, and adopt the following resolutions 
 of said body. . . . 
 
 [Then follow thirteen resolutions protesting against any at- 
 tempt to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia or to exclude 
 it from the land ceded by Mexico in 1848 ; and declaring their 
 
348 Slavery a?id the West 
 
 purpose " to stand by their Sister States of the South in what- 
 ever course of action may be determined."] 
 
 This movement for the vigorous assertion of Southern 
 rights did not originate in Mississippi. On the meeting 
 of Congress immediately after the election of Taylor 
 (December, 1848), a caucus of sixty-nine Southern repre- 
 sentatives and senators met and issued an address to their 
 states urging the solid resistance of the South to any at- 
 tempt of the administration to force the Wilmot Proviso 
 on the new territory. John C. Calhoun, the author of the 
 address, was the leader of this movement for a Southern 
 party, transcending the old dividing lines of Whig and 
 Democrat. The following extracts are from Calhoun's 
 correspondence : 
 
 {a) 
 
 TO C. S. TARPLEY OF MISSISSIPPI, JULY 9, 1849 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I am greatly obliged to you for a copy of the proceeds of 
 your meeting. I have read it with a great deal of pleasure. 
 You ask me for my opinion as to the course which should be 
 adopted by the State Convention in October next. I have de- 
 layed answering your letter until this time, that I might more 
 fully notice the developments at the North before I gave it. 
 They are more and more adverse to us every day. There has 
 not been a single occurrence since the rising [adjournment] of 
 Congress, which does not indicate on the part of the North 
 a fixed determination to push the abolition question to the 
 last extreme. 
 
 In my opinion there is but one thing that holds out the 
 promise of saving both ourselves and the Union, and that is 
 a Southern Convention ; and that, if much longer delayed, 
 cannot. It ought to have been held this fall, and ought not 
 to be delayed beyond another year. All our movements ought 
 to look to that result. For that purpose every Southern State 
 
The Compromise of 1 8^0 349 
 
 ought to be organized with a central committee, and one in 
 each county. Ours [South Carolina] is already. It is indispen- 
 sable to produce concert and prompt action. In the mean time, 
 firm and resolute resolutions ought to be adopted by yours, and 
 such meetings as may take place before the assembling of the 
 Legislatures in the fall. They, when they meet, ought to take 
 up the subject in the most solemn and impressive manner. 
 
 The great object of a Southern Convention should be to put 
 forth, in a solemn manner, the subject of our grievances, in an 
 address to the other States, and to admonish them, in a solemn 
 manner, as to the consequences which must follow, if they 
 should not be redressed, and to take measures preparatory to 
 it, in case they should not be. The call should be addressed to 
 all those who are desirous to save the Union and our institutions, 
 and who, in the alternative, should it be forced upon us, of sub- 
 mission or dissolving the partnership, would prefer the latter. 
 
 No State could better take the lead in this great ^^/^servative 
 movement than yours. It is destined to be the greatest of suf- 
 ferers if the Abolitionists should succeed ; and I am not certain 
 but by the time your convention meets, or at furthest your 
 Legislature, the time will have come to make the call. 
 With great respect, I am etc. 
 
 John C. Calhoun 
 
 (^) 
 
 TO JAMES H. HAMMOND,! FEBRUARY 14, 1849- 
 
 ^ DECEMBER 7, 1849 
 
 MY DEAR Sir : 
 
 ... I enclosed you a copy of our Address, which I hope you 
 have received, and that it meets your approbation. I trust it 
 will do something to Unite the South, and to prepare our people 
 to meet and repel effectually and forever the aggressions of the 
 North. . . . Now is the time to vindicate our rights. We ought 
 rather than to yield an inch, take any alternative, even if it 
 should be disunion, and I trust that such will be the deter- 
 mination of the South. 
 
 1 Governor of South Carolina 1842-1844 and United States senator 
 1857-1860; an ardent advocate of negro slavery as the "mud-sill" on 
 which the edifice of civilisation rested. 
 
350 Slavery and the West 
 
 My dear Sir: 
 
 I would regard the failure of the Convention, called by Mis^ 
 sissippi, to meet, from the want of endorsement by the other 
 Southern States to be a great if not fatal misfortune.^ It would 
 be difficult to make another effort to rally, and the North would 
 consider it as conclusive evidence of our division or indifference 
 to our fate. The moment is critical. Events may now be con- 
 trolled ; but it will be difBcult, if not impossible to control their 
 course hereafter. This is destined to be no ordinary session.^ 
 We shall need the backing of our constituents : and the most 
 effectual we can have would be the endorsement by the other 
 Southern States of the Mississippi Call. . . . 
 
 FROM JAMES H. HAMMOND, MARCH 5, 1850 
 
 My dear Sir : 
 
 I am greatly rejoiced to hear of your improved health and 
 by the Telegraph that you were in the senate day before yester- 
 day. ... If I may judge of your views by the three or four 
 sentences which the Telegraph devotes to your speech on Mon- 
 day,^ I should regard your retirement at this moment as a 
 peculiar calamity to the South. ... I have no sort of faith with 
 any Constitutional Compacts with the North. She never has 
 
 1 Nine Southern states heeded the Mississippi call, and sent one hun- 
 dred and seventy-five delegates to Nashville in June, 1850, who published 
 a strong set of resolutions and adjourned till the end of the session of 
 Congress, meanwhile inviting all the Southern states to complete their 
 delegations. But when the second session met (November, 1850), Presi- 
 dent Taylor was dead, the danger of the Northern Whigs forcing the 
 Wilmot Proviso through was over, the compromise measures had 
 passed Congress, and the Southern Whigs were already at work en- 
 couraging Union sentiment in the South on the basis of the com- 
 promise. Only seventy members attended the Nashville meeting, where 
 they affirmed the right of a state to secede from the Union, and called 
 for a general congress of Southern states. 
 
 ^ The 31st Congress, which met in December, 1849. ^^^ Muzzey, 
 An American History, p. 287. 
 
 3 Calhoun's famous fourth-of- March speech on the Compromise of 
 1850. See Muzzey, An American History, p. 289. 
 
The Compromise of 1 8^0 35 ^ 
 
 regarded them and never will. On mere Legislative Compro- 
 mises I look with horror. They are the apples of Hippomenes 
 cast behind him in the race. Our only safety is in equality of 
 Power. We must divide the territory so as forever to retain 
 that equality in the Senate at least, and in doing so we should 
 count Delaware with the North. She is no Southern or Slave 
 State, I would infinitely prefer disunion to anything the least 
 short of this — and I would rather have it I believe anyhow 
 for fear of future Clays, Bentons, Houstons and Bells. If the 
 North will not consent to this [division of territory] I think we 
 should not have another word to say, but kick them out of the 
 Capitol and set it on fire. We must act now and decisively. We 
 will be in a clear minority when California comes in, and in 
 twenty or thirty years there will be ten more free States West 
 of the Mississippi and ten more North of the St. Lawrence and 
 the Lakes. England would gladly surrender Canada to us now, 
 if she had a decent pretext that would serve her pride. Long be- 
 fore the North gets this vast accession of strength she will ride 
 over us rough shod, proclaim freedom or something equivalent 
 
 to it to our Slaves, and reduce us to the condition of Hayti 
 
 Do write me as fully as you can. I think the Atlantic and 
 Gulf States are by an immense majority ready for anything, 
 and less patient than their leaders. Six months has produced 
 an immense change and it is going on rapidly. If the leaders 
 will only lead^ neither they nor we have anything to fear. 
 
 Yours Sincerely, 
 
 J. H. Hammond 
 
 The six months following Hammond's letter saw 
 another '* immense change " in the South. The tide of 
 disunion sentiment, which was at its full in the early 
 summer of 1850, began to recede. The death of Presi- 
 dent Taylor in July and the passage of the compromise 
 measures in September gave the Union men of the South 
 a basis on which to make a final appeal for harmony. 
 Although Governor Quitman of Mississippi and Governor 
 Seabrook of South Carolina were still in favor of a policy 
 
352 Slavery and the West 
 
 of defiance and separation, i the other states of the South 
 accepted the compromise. Georgia led the way with her 
 great trio of Unionist congressmen — Toombs, Cobb, and 
 Stephens — and the ''Georgia Platform" adopted by a 
 vote of 237 to 19, in December, 1850, was quite generally 
 indorsed by the slaveholding states. 
 
 ... To the end, therefore that the position of this State may 
 be clearly apprehended by her confederates of the South and 
 of the North, and that she may be blameless of all future 
 consequences, 
 
 Be it resolved by the people of Georgia in Conve?ition assembled, 
 
 First: That we hold the American Union secondary in im- 
 portance only to the rights and principles which it was designed 
 to perpetuate. ... 
 
 Secondly : That if the thirteen original parties to the contract 
 bordering on the Atlantic, in the narrow belt, while their separate 
 interests were in embryo, their peculiar tendencies scarcely devel- 
 oped, their revolutionary trials and triumphs still green in memory, 
 found Union impossible without compromise, the thirty-one of 
 this day may well yield somewhat, in the conflict of opinion and 
 policy, to preserve that Union which has extended the sway of 
 republican government over a vast wilderness, to another ocean, 
 and proportionally advanced civilization and national greatness. 
 
 Thirdly : That in this spirit, the State of Georgia has maturely 
 considered the action of Congress embracing a series of meas- 
 ures [the compromise acts of September, 1850] . . . and while 
 she does not wholly approve, will abide by it as a permanent 
 adjustment of this sectional controversy. . . . 
 
 1 South Carolina went far. Her governor (Seabrook), in his message 
 of November 26, asserted the right of secession, and declared that the 
 time had arrived " to resume the exercise of the powers of self- 
 protection." The legislature recommended the convocation of a meet- 
 ing of delegates of the Southern states, with full powers to act on the 
 question of secession, provided for a state convention to assemble at 
 the governor's call for the same purpose, and appropriated ^350,000 for 
 the defense of the state (December 20, 1850. Compare the events of 
 December 20, i860). 
 
The Compromise of 1 8^0 353 
 
 Fifthly : That it is the deliberate opinion of this Convention 
 that upon the faithful execution of the Fugitive Slave Law by 
 the proper authorities depends the preservation of our much 
 loved Union. 
 
 The follov^ing remarkably impudent document, advising 82. The 
 the virtual robbery of Cuba from Spain, is a joint report -^i^l^^^ octo^° 
 sent to our State Department by three United States minis- ^®^ }^^ ^^54 
 ters at European courts. The ministers had been appointed ^^^^ 
 by President Pierce, with an eye to facilitating the acquisi- 
 tion of Cuba and so extending the slave area of the South. ^ 
 They were : for England, James Buchanan, who as Secre- 
 tary of State under Polk had offered Spain $100,000,000 
 for the island ; for Spain, Pierre Soule, who believed in 
 simply taking Cuba by force ; and, for France, John Y. 
 Mason, whose only very determined political conviction 
 was hatred for the abolitionists. Our Secretary of State, 
 Marcy, disowned the preposterous language of the Mani- 
 festo, and instructed its chief author, Soule, that there 
 should be no attempt to coerce Spain to part with Cuba. 
 Soule's resignation closed the incident. 
 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, Oct. 18, 1854 
 Sir : — 
 
 The undersigned, in compliance with the wish expressed by 
 the President in several confidential despatches you have ad- 
 dressed to us, respectively, to that effect, have met in confer- 
 ence, first at Ostend in Belgium, on the 9*^, lo'*", and 1 1**" instant, 
 and then at Aix-la-Chapelle in Prussia, on the days next follow- 
 ing, up to the date hereof. 
 
 There has been a full and unreserved interchange of views 
 and sentiments between us, which we are most happy to inform 
 
 1 Buchanan had written to President-elect Pierce in December, 1852 : 
 " Should you desire to acquire Cuba, the choice of suitable ministers 
 to Spain, Naples, England, and France will be very important." — 
 Curtis, Life of James Buchanan, Vol. II, p. 73. 
 
354 Slavery and the West 
 
 you has resulted in a cordial coincidence of opinion on the grave 
 and important subjects committed to our consideration. 
 
 We have arrived at the conclusion, and are thoroughly con- 
 vinced, that an immediate and earnest effort ought to be made 
 by the government of the United States to purchase Cuba from 
 Spain at any price for which it can be obtained, not exceeding 
 the sum of $ . . . . 
 
 The natural and main outlet to the products of this entire 
 population [the Mississippi valley], the highway of their direct 
 intercourse with the Atlantic and Pacific States, can never be 
 secure, but must ever be endangered whilst Cuba is a depend- 
 ency of a distant power in whose possession it has proved to 
 be a source of constant annoyance and embarrassment to their 
 interests. 
 
 Indeed, the Union can never enjoy repose, nor possess reli- 
 able security, as long as Cuba is not embraced within its bound- 
 aries. Its immediate acquisition by our government is of 
 paramount importance, and we cannot doubt but that it is a 
 consummation devoutly wished for by its inhabitants. 
 
 The intercourse which its proximity to our coasts begets and 
 encourages between them and the citizens of the United States, 
 has, in the progress of time, so united their interests and blended 
 their fortunes that they look now upon each other as if they 
 were one people and had but one destiny. Considerations exist 
 which render delay in the acquisition of this island exceedingly 
 dangerous to the United States. 
 
 The system of immigration and labor lately organized within 
 its limits, and the tyranny and oppression which characterize its 
 immediate rulers, threaten an insurrection at every moment 
 which may result in direful consequences to the American 
 people. Cuba has thus become to us an unceasing danger, 
 and a permanent cause of anxiety and alarm. ^ . . . 
 
 1 The fear of the emancipation of the negroes in Cuba and their 
 rising in force against the whites to make a " black repubHc," as in 
 Haiti, was ever before the minds of the slaveholder in the Southern 
 states. Soule in a speech in January, 1853, had quoted Lord Palmerston, 
 the British foreign secretary, that " if the negro population of Cuba 
 were rendered free, that fact would create a most powerful element of 
 
TJie Compromise of 1 8^0 355 
 
 Should Spain reject the present golden opportunity [of the 
 offer for Cuba] for developing her resources, and removing her 
 financial embarrassments, it may never return again. 
 
 Cuba in its palmiest days, never yielded her exchequer, after 
 deducting the expenses of its government, a clear annual income 
 of more than a million and a half of dollars. . . . Under no 
 probable circumstances can Cuba ever yield to Spain one per- 
 cent, on the large amount which the United States are willing 
 to pay for its acquisition. But Spain is in imminent danger of 
 losing Cuba, without remuneration. . . . 
 
 We know that the President is justly inflexible in his deter- 
 mination to execute the neutrality laws ; but should the Cubans 
 themselves rise in revolt against the oppression which they suffer, 
 no human power could prevent citizens of the United States 
 and liberal minded men of other countries from rushing to their 
 assistance. Besides, the present is an age of adventure, in which 
 daring and restless spirits abound in every portion of the world. 
 
 It is not improbable, then, that Cuba may be wrested from 
 Spain by a successful revolution ; and in that event she will lose 
 both the island and the price which we are now willing to pay 
 for it ; a price far beyond what was ever paid by one people to 
 another for any province. . . . 
 
 But if Spain, dead to the voice of her own interest, and actu- 
 ated by stubborn pride and a false sense of honor, should refuse 
 to sell Cuba to the United States, then the question will arise, 
 What ought to be the course of the American government 
 under such circumstances ? Self-preservation is the first law 
 of nature with States as well as with individuals. . . . The 
 United States have never acquired a foot of territory except 
 by fair purchase or, as in the case of Texas, upon the free and 
 voluntary application of the people of that independent State, 
 who desired to blend their destinies with our own. . . . 
 
 Our past history forbids that we should acquire the island of 
 Cuba without the consent of Spain, unless justified by the great 
 law of self-preservation. . . . 
 
 resistance to any scheme for annexing Cuba to the United States, 
 where slavery exists." — Congressional Globe,, 32d Congress, 2d session, 
 Vol. XXVII, p. 118. 
 
356 Slavery and the West 
 
 After we shall have offered Spain a price for Cuba far be- 
 yond its present value, and this shall have been refused, it will 
 then be time to consider the question. Does Cuba, in the pos- 
 session of Spain, seriously endanger our internal peace and the 
 existence of our cherished Union ? 
 
 Should this question be answered in the affirmative, then, by 
 every law, human and divine, we shall be justified in wresting 
 it from Spain, if we possess the power; and this upon the very 
 same principle that would justify an individual in tearing down 
 the burning house of his neighbor if there were no other means 
 of preventing the flames from destroying his own home. . . . 
 
 We should be recreant to our duty, be unworthy of our gal- 
 lant forefathers, and commit base treason against our posterity, 
 should we permit Cuba to be Africanized and become a second 
 San Domingo, with all its attendant horrors to the white race, 
 and suffer the flames to extend to our neighboring shores, 
 seriously to endanger or actually to consume the fair fabric of 
 our Union. . . . 
 
 Our recommendations, now submitted, are dictated by the 
 firm belief that the cession of Cuba to the United States, with 
 stipulations as beneficial to Spain as those suggested, is the 
 only effective mode of settling all past differences and of secur- 
 ing the two countries against future collisions. 
 
 We have already witnessed the happy result for both coun- 
 tries which followed a similar arrangement in regard to Florida. 
 Yours, very respectfully 
 
 James Buchanan 
 J. Y. Mason 
 Pierre Soule 
 
 Hon. W"\ Marcy, Secretary of State 
 
PART VI. THE CRISIS OF DISUNION 
 
PART VI. THE CRISIS OF 
 DISUNION 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 APPROACHING THE CRISIS 
 
 The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the 
 Formation of the Republican Party 
 
 The cession of vast regions to the United States by 83. The 
 Mexico in 1848 gave rise to a most absorbing problem in ?"q^uatter 
 our political history, namely, the competency of Congress sovereignty," 
 
 1 1 • 1 December 24, 
 
 or the general government to control slavery m the ter- 1847 
 ritories. Between the extreme free-soil doctrine of the [302] 
 Wilmot Proviso^ and the extreme Southern rights doc- 
 trine of the Calhoun-Rhett-Davis school,^ the compromise 
 principle of " squatter sovereignty " was reached. It was 
 
 1 Moved by Wilmot 0/ Pennsylvania, in the House, August 8, 1846, 
 as an amendment to a bill to appropriate $2,000,000 to the President's 
 use in purchasing a peace from Mexico : " Provided, That, as an ex- 
 press and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any territory from 
 the Republic of Mexico . . . neither slavery nor involuntary servitude 
 shall ever exist in any part of said territory." — Congressional Globe, 
 29th Congress, ist session, p. 12 17. 
 
 2 Briefly this doctrine was that the territories were the property of 
 the states and not of the general government. The states had not re- 
 linquished their co-sovereignty over the territories by allowing Con- 
 gress to make " needful rules and regulations " for them (Constitution, 
 Art. IV, Sect. Ill, par. 2) ; and in taking their slaves into the terri- 
 tories the Southerners were but " exercising a common right over a com- 
 mon property." Otherwise sovereignty over all the territories would 
 be vested in only zpart of the states, namely, the majority in Congress. 
 See, for Calhoun's resolutions and Rhett's speech, Congressional Globe, 
 29th Congress, 2(f session, p. 455, and Appendix, pp. 244-246. 
 
 359 
 
360 The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 the principle applied in 1850 to Utah and New Mexico, 
 and extended by Douglas in 1854 to Kansas and Nebraska; 
 it was the issue on which the Republican party was formed 
 in 1854; it was the topic of the great Lincoln-Douglas 
 debates of 1858, and of innumerable other controversies 
 in the press and the pulpit, in the halls of legislation, and 
 in the market place, '' until debate was silenced by the more 
 eloquent bombardment of Sumter." The following letter 
 from Lewis Cass, a prominent aspirant for presidential 
 honors in 1848, to Mr. A. O. P. Nicholson of Tennes- 
 see, is the first clear announcement of the doctrine of 
 squatter sovereignty.^ 
 
 The theory of our government presupposes that its various 
 members have reserved to themselves the regulation of all sub- 
 jects relating to what may be termed their internal police. They 
 are sovereign within their boundaries, except in those cases 
 where they have surrendered to the General Government a por- 
 tion of their rights, in order to give effect to the objects of the 
 Union. [See the Preamble to the Constitution.] . . . 
 
 Local institutions, if I may so speak, whether they have refer- 
 ence to slavery or to any other relations, domestic or private, 
 are left to local authority. . . . Congress has no right to say 
 there shall be slavery in New York, or that there shall be no 
 slavery in Georgia ; nor is there any human power, but the 
 people of those States respectively, which can change the rela- 
 tion existing therein ; and they can say, if they will, " We will 
 have slavery in the former, and we will abolish it in the latter." 
 
 In various respects, the Territories differ from the States. 
 Some of their rights are inchoate, and they do not possess the 
 peculiar attributes of sovereignty. Their relation to the General 
 
 1 The principle had already been recognized in the joint resolution 
 for the admission of Texas, March i, 1845: "And such states as may 
 be formed out of that portion of said territory [Texas] lying south of 
 36° 30' north latitude . . . shall be admitted to the Union with or with- 
 out slavery, as the people of each State asking admission may desire.'' 
 — United States Statutes at Large, Vol. V, p. 798. 
 
Approaching the Crisis 361 
 
 Government is very imperfectly defined by the Constitution; 
 and it will be found, upon examination, that in that instrument 
 the only grant of power concerning them is conveyed in the 
 phrase, " Congress shall have the power to dispose of and make 
 all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory and. 
 other property belonging to the United States." Certainly this 
 phraseology is very loose, if it designed to include in the grant 
 the whole power of legislation over persons, as well as things. 
 . . . The lives and persons of our citizens, with the vast variety of 
 objects connected with them, cannot be controlled by an author- 
 ity which is merely called into existence for the purpose of mak- 
 ing rules and regidatiotis for the disposition and management of 
 property. ... If the relation of master and servant may be 
 regulated or annihilated ... so may the relation of husband and 
 wife, of parent and child, and of any other condition which our 
 institutions and the habits of our society recognize. . . . 
 
 Such, it appears to me, would be the construction put upon 
 this provision of the Constitution, were this question now first 
 presented for consideration. . . . Certain it is that the principle 
 of interference should not be carried beyond the necessary im- 
 plication, which produces it. It should be limited to the creation 
 of proper governments for new countries, acquired or settled, 
 and to the necessary provisions for their eventual admission to 
 the Union ; leaving, in the mean time, to the people inhabiting 
 them, to regulate their internal concerns in their own way. They 
 are just as capable of doing so as the people of the States ; and 
 they can do so, at any rate, as soon as their political independ- 
 ence is recognized by their admission into the Union. During 
 this temporary condition [as territories], it is hardly expedient 
 to call into exercise a doubtful and invidious authority [of pro- 
 hibiting slavery] which questions the intelligence of a respecta- 
 ble portion of our citizens ... an authority which would give 
 Congress a despotic power, uncontrolled by the Constitution, 
 over most important sections of our common country. . . . 
 
 When the authors of the "Georgia platform" concluded 84. Fugitive 
 with timid confidence that '' upon the faithful execution of 
 
 ^ [305] 
 
 the Fugitive Slave Law by the proper authorities " would 
 
362 The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 depend " the preservation of our much-loved Union " (see 
 No. 81, p. 353), they put their finger on the critical point 
 in the compromise measures. ^ The number of fugitives 
 from Southern plantations was inconsiderable,^ but the 
 spread of a sentiment of sympathy for them through the 
 North, and of a disposition to repeal or evade the law com- 
 pelling their return, stirred a spirit of reproachful indigna- 
 tion on both sides of Mason and Dixon's line. The temper 
 of the South is well reflected in the following report of a 
 committee of the legislature of Virginia in 1849 : 
 
 . . . Look at the actual state of things in the sixtieth year of 
 the Constitution ! It is simply and undeniably this : That the 
 South is wholly without the benefit of that solemn constitutional 
 guaranty which was so sacredly pledged to it at the formation 
 of this Union. . . . No citizen of the South can pass the frontier 
 of a non-slaveholding State and there exercise his undoubted 
 constitutional right of seizing his fugitive slave, with a view to 
 take him before a judicial officer and there prove his right of 
 ownership, without imminent danger of being prosecuted crimi- 
 nally as a kidnapper, or being sued in a civil action for false 
 
 1 In the very month in which the Georgia platform was adopted 
 (December, 1850), Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave, before a large 
 audience at Rochester, New York, said : " Most of those who are pres- 
 ent will have observed that leading men in this country have been 
 putting forth their skill to secure quiet to the nation. A system of 
 measures to promote this object was adopted a few months ago in Con- 
 gress. The result of those measures is known. Instead of quiet, they 
 have produced alarm; instead of peace, they have brought us war; and 
 so it must ever be. While this nation is guilty of the enslavement of 
 3,000,000 innocent men and women, it is as idle to think of having a 
 sound and lasting peace, as it is to think there is no God to take cog- 
 nizance of the affairs of men." — Frederick Douglass, Lectures on 
 American Slavery (a pamphlet, p. i6, Buffalo, 1851). 
 
 2 " The number of fugitives who escaped into the free States annu- 
 ally did not exceed one thousand. The number of arrests of fugitives, 
 of which an account was had, from the passage of the 1850 law to the 
 middle of 1856 was only two hundred." — J. F. Rhodes, History of the 
 United States from the Compromise of 1850, Vol. II, p. 76. 
 
Approaching the Crisis 363 
 
 imprisonment — imprisoned himself for want of bail, and sub- 
 jected in his defence to an expense exceeding the whole value of 
 the property claimed, or finally of being mobbed or being put to 
 death in a street fight by insane fanatics or brutal ruffians. In 
 short, the condition of things is, that at this day very few of the 
 owners of fugitive slaves have the hardihood to pass the frontier 
 of a non-slaveholding state and exercise their undoubted, adjudi- 
 cated constitutional right of seizing the fugitive. In such a con- 
 juncture as this, the committee would be false to their duty — 
 they would be false to their country, if they did not give utter- 
 ance to their deliberate conviction, that the continuance of this 
 state of things cannot be, and ought not to be much longer 
 endured by the South — be the consequences what they may. 
 
 In such a diseased state of opinion as prevails in the non- 
 slaveholding states on the subject of Southern slavery, it may 
 well be imagined what the character of their local legislation 
 must be. Yet it is deemed by the committee their duty to pre- 
 sent before the country the actual state of that legislation, that 
 the people of this commonwealth and of the entire South may 
 see how rapid and complete has been its transition from a fra- 
 ternal interest in our welfare to a rank and embittered hostility 
 to our institutions. [Then follows a review of the Personal Lib- 
 erty Acts passed from 1843 to 1848 by the states of Vermont, 
 Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania.] 
 
 But this disgusting and revolting exhibition of faithless and 
 unconstitutional legislation must now be brought to a close. It 
 may be sufficient to remark that the same embittered feeling 
 against the rights of the slaveholder, with more or less of in- 
 tensity, now marks, almost without exception, the legislation of 
 every non-slaveholding state of this Union. So far therefore as 
 our rights depend upon the aid and cooperation of state officers 
 and state legislation, we are wholly without remedy or relief. 
 
 Kidnapers of slaves drove a lucrative trade in some 
 parts of the South. The following account of the chase 
 and capture of a slave stealer is from the Atlanta Daily 
 Intelligencer of January 22, 185 1 : 
 
364 The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 Overhauled : Those absconding negroes, accompanied by 
 a white man (referred to in this paper of the 2'^ inst.) were over- 
 hauled by their owners, Messrs. Calhoun and Storey, after a hot 
 and spirited chase through Alabama, Tenn., & Ky. The white 
 fellow proved to be a young man named Howard from N. Caro- 
 lina, who had been working in our town during some portion 
 of the past year at the carpenter's trade. At Decatur, Alabama, 
 he sold one of the boys, pocketed the money and provided himself 
 with a pass to join him and the other boy at Tuscumbia. Learn- 
 ing, however, in the mean time that he was being hotly pursued,^ 
 Howard abandoned the boy and made tracks for his own safety 
 in the direction of Illinois, through Tenn. & Ky. By the aid of 
 the Telegraph, the progress of the villain was cut short off at 
 Smithland, Ky., near the mouth of the Cumberland, within a 
 few hundred yards of the State of 111. He is now in jail, sub- 
 ject to the requisition of the Executive of this State — all done 
 too, without the owners of the negroes ever seeing the scoun- 
 drel, or being within hundreds of miles of him. We wish the 
 young man a speedy retreat within our penitentiary, and plenty 
 of good hard work, and hard usage for his pains of endeavoring 
 to defraud honest men out of their property. The owners 
 returned to this place, with their negroes on Tuesday last. 
 
 One slave of exceptional intellectual powers, in whose 
 veins ran white blood, escaped from his master at Balti- 
 more, in September, 1838. This man was Frederick 
 
 1 How hot the pursuit of an absconding negro might be is illustrated 
 by the following advertisement from a Louisiana newspaper, November 
 26, 1847 : " The subscriber, Hving on Carroway Lake, on Hoe's Bayou, 
 in Carrol Parish, sixteen miles on the road leading from Bayou Mason 
 to Lake Providence, is ready with a pack of dogs to hunt runaway 
 negroes at any time. These dogs are well trained and known through- 
 out the Parish. Letters addressed to me at Providence will secure im- 
 mediate attention. My terms are five dollars per day for hunting the 
 trails, whether the negro is caught or not. When a twelve hours' trail 
 is shown, and the negro not taken, no charge is made. For taking 
 a negro $25.00, and no charge made for hunting. James H. Hall." 
 — Quoted by McMaster, History of the People of the United States, 
 Vol. VII, p. 242, note. 
 
Approaching the Crisis 365 
 
 Douglass (18 1 7-1 895), abolitionist, orator, newspaper edi- 
 tor, Republican politician, European traveler, and lifelong 
 champion of the rights of the colored man in all parts of 
 the world. Douglass gives the following account of his 
 escape from slavery: 
 
 My means of escape were provided for me by the very men 
 who were making laws to hold and bind me more securely in 
 slavery. It was the custom in the State of Maryland to require 
 of the free colored people to have what were called " free 
 papers." This instrument they were required to re^ew very 
 often, and by charging a fee for this writing, considerable sums 
 from time to time were collected by the State. In these papers 
 the name, age, color, height and form of the free man were de- 
 scribed, together with any scars or other marks upon his person 
 which could assist in his identification. This device of slavehold- 
 ing ingenuity, like other devices of wickedness, in some measure 
 defeated itself — since more than one man could- be found to 
 answer the same general description. Hence many slaves could 
 escape by personating the owner of one set of papers ; and this 
 was often done as follows : A slave nearly or sufficiently an- 
 swering the description set forth in the papers, would borrow 
 or hire them until he could by their means escape to a free state, 
 and then, by mail or otherwise, return them to the owner. The 
 operation was a hazardous one for the lender as well as the bor- 
 rower. A failure on the part of the fugitive to send back the 
 papers would imperil his benefactor, and the discovery of the 
 papers in the possession of the wrong man would imperil both 
 the fugitive and his friend. It was therefore an act of supreme 
 trust on the part of a freeman of color thus to put in jeopardy 
 his own liberty that another might be free. . . . 
 
 I had one friend — a sailor — who owned a sailor's protec- 
 tion . . . describing his person and certifying to the fact that he 
 was a free American sailor. . . . The protection did not, when 
 in my hands, describe its bearer very accurately. Indeed, it 
 called for a man much darker than myself, and close examina- 
 tion of it would have caused my arrest at the start. In order to 
 
366 The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 avoid this fatal scrutiny on the part of the railroad official, I had 
 arranged with Isaac Rolls, a hackman, to bring my baggage to 
 the train just on the moment of starting, and jumped upon the 
 car myself when the train was already in motion. Had I gone 
 into the station and offered to purchase a ticket, I should have been 
 instantly and carefully examined, and undoubtedly arrested. . . . 
 
 In my clothing I was rigged out in sailor style. I had on a 
 red shirt and a tarpaulin hat and black cravat, tied in sailor 
 fashion, carelessly and loosely about my neck. My knowledge 
 of ships and sailors' talk came much to my assistance, for I knew 
 a ship from stem to stem and from keelson to cross-trees, and 
 could talk sailor like an " old salt." On sped the train, and I 
 was well on the way to Havre de Grace before the conductor 
 came into the negro car to collect tickets and examine the papers 
 of his black passengers. My whole future depended upon the 
 decision of this conductor. ... "I suppose you have your free 
 papers?" [he observed]. To which I answered: "No, sir; I 
 never carry my free papers to sea with me." " But you have 
 something to show that you are a free man, have you not ? " 
 " Yes, sir," I answered ; " I have a paper with the American 
 eagle on it, that will carry me round the world." With this I 
 drew from my deep sailor's pocket my seaman's protection, as 
 before described. The merest glance at the paper satisfied him, 
 and he took my fare and went on about his business. . . . Though 
 much relieved, I realized that I was still in great danger : I was 
 still in Maryland and subject to arrest at any moment. I saw 
 on the train several persons who would have known me in any 
 other clothes, and I feared they might recognize me, even in my 
 sailor's " rig," and report me to the conductor. . . . 
 
 Though I was not a murderer fleeing from justice, I felt, 
 perhaps, quite as miserable as such a criminal . . . Minutes were 
 hours, and hours were days during this part of my flight. After 
 Maryland I was to pass through Delaware — another slave State, 
 
 where slave catchers generally awaited their prey The border 
 
 lines between slavery and freedom were the dangerous ones for 
 the fugitives. The heart of no fox or deer, with hungry hounds 
 on his trail in full chase, could have beaten more anxiously or 
 noisily than mine did from the time I left Baltimore till I reached 
 
Approaching the Crisis 367 
 
 Philadelphia. ... A German blacksmith, whom I knew very well, 
 was on the train with me, and looked at me very intently [on 
 the ferry over the Susquehanna River]. I really believe he knew 
 me, but had no heart to betray me. At any rate, he saw me 
 escaping and held his peace. 
 
 The last point of imminent danger, and the one I dreaded 
 most, was Wilmington. Here we left the train, and took the 
 steamboat for Philadelphia. In making the change I again ap- 
 prehended arrest, but no one disturbed me, and I was soon on 
 the broad and beautiful Delaware, speeding away to the Quaker 
 City. On reaching Philadelphia in the afternoon I inquired of 
 a colored man how I could get on to New York. He directed 
 me to the Willow St. depot, and thither I went, taking the train 
 that night. I reached New York Tuesday morning, having com- 
 pleted the journey in less than twenty-four hours. Such is briefly 
 the manner of my escape from slavery — and the end of my 
 experience as a slave. Other chapters will tell the story of my 
 life as a freeman. 
 
 '' A House Divided against Itself " 
 
 On the afternoon of December 4, 1855, the newsboys 85. The 
 on Broadway were hawking an '' extra " of the New York Legislature" 
 
 Herald, on the '' Great War in Kansas." of Kansas, 
 
 1855 
 
 CALL FROM THE GOVERNOR FOR UNITED 
 
 STATES TROOPS 
 
 By Telegraph 
 
 Accounts from Kansas state that Governor Shannon has 
 telegraphed to the President concerning the present condition 
 of affairs in that Territory. He says that one thousand men 
 have arrived in Lawrence, and rescued a prisoner from the 
 sheriff of Douglas County, and burned some houses and other 
 property. He asks the President to order out the troops at Fort 
 Leavenworth to aid in the execution of the laws. 
 
 Douglas Brewerton, an old companion of Kit Carson on 
 his Rocky Mountain travels, bought a copy of the " extra," 
 
 [309] 
 
368 The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 read the dispatch, and hastened to the Herald office to 
 offer his services as special correspondent from Kansas. 
 Arrived on the scene, Brewerton secured the following 
 account of the origin of the disorder from James Chris- 
 tian, a moderate proslavery man from Kentucky, who was 
 filling a county clerkship in the territory. 
 
 The true cause of these Kansas troubles was not an arrest 
 by the Sheriff under the Territorial law ; it had its origin far back 
 in the halls of Congress, when the Nebraska and Kansas bills 
 were passed, when the Missouri Compromise was declared null 
 and void, and ultra men boasted in our Legislative Assemblies, 
 that if they could not defeat these bills in one way they would 
 in another, and returned to their homes to organize " Emigrant 
 Aid Societies " and "Kansas Leagues," with the avowed intention 
 of defeating the Kansas Bill, by Abolitionizing the Territory. 
 This was thtjirst wrong, and it aroused the indignation of the 
 " Fire Eaters " of Western Missouri. . . . 
 
 When the first election in Kansas [for delegate] came on 
 [November, 1854], these gentlemen called out the pro-slavery 
 forces and marched their men into our Territory to cast their votes 
 for Whitfield. This was done to counteract the influence of the 
 Boston Aid Societies and Kansas Leagues, already alluded to. 
 This might have been all well or ill enough, if the evil had stopped 
 here, as the Free Soilers, when they came in, ruled it with a high 
 hand ; in many instances treating the Pro-Slavery and Western 
 settlers with the grossest injustice, by driving them from their 
 improvements, or cutting their timber before their eyes, at the 
 same time bidding them defiance, as they [the Yankees] '' had 
 the power and meant to take the country." This it was that 
 prompted the Pro-Slavery and Western men to seek protection 
 from their friends in Missouri, who, to do them justice, were as 
 zealous in giving assistance as they were prompt to ask it. Things 
 were in this condition when the spring elections came on for 
 members of the Council and House of Representatives. This 
 took place on the 30^'' of March, 1855, and the people of Missouri, 
 delighted with their success at the fall election, came in with 
 
Approaching the Crisis 369 
 
 renewed vigor to the Kansas ballot-boxes, bringing with them 
 an ample supply of their favorite institutions — bowie-knives^ 
 pistols, and whisky — to the great terror of the Yankees. . . . 
 
 Upon the morning of the 30'^ of March, a clear sunshiny day, 
 the voters of Lawrence District began assembling about the door 
 of the polls, which was held in a small log shanty, situated upon 
 the outskirts of the city of Lawrence. In the meantime, the in- 
 vading army of Missouri voters, who had arrived the day before, 
 to the number of some eight or nine hundred men, were encamped 
 in the vicinity of the polls. At 9 a.m., the hour appointed for 
 the opening of the polls, the Missourians, well armed, walked 
 down to the one-horse shanty, before alluded to. Their leader 
 Young then took the oath required by the judges of election. 
 To avoid the rush, and prevent unnecessary crowding, the Mis- 
 sourians then formed a line some hundred yards in length on 
 either side of the shanty window, in which the voters were to 
 deposit their ballots. Through this alley-way the voters passed 
 in ; but as the living stream was for some time continuous, and 
 a retreat through the lane impossible, it became necessary to 
 adopt some plan by which to get rid of the voter after he had 
 been polled. This was no easy matter ; but, as a happy expe- 
 dient, it was at length determined to hoist each polled man upon 
 the roof of the shanty, where he seized hold of the shingles and 
 thus assisted himself over until he had gained the other side, from 
 whence a second jump brought him in safety to the ground, leav- 
 ing him at liberty to supply the place of some friend who had 
 not yet voted. Thus the vote polled in the Lawrence District was 
 upward of one thousand, of which two hundred and twenty-five 
 were Free Soil and the balance Pro-Slavery. . . . 
 
 This Legislature — styled Bogus, by the Free-Soil party — 
 met, in accordance with the Governor's proclamation, at Pawnee, 
 a paper city on the extreme verge of civilization, with no house 
 to shelter them from the inclemency of the weather. I was 
 present, and shall never forget the first meeting of the Kansas 
 Legislature ; it was a most novel sight to see grave councilmen 
 and brilliant orators of the House of Representatives cooking 
 their food by the side of a log, or sleeping on a buffalo-robe in 
 the open air, with the broad canopy of heaven for a covering. 
 
370 The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 During the meeting of the Legislature at Pawnee, we had 
 several severe showers, and it was amusing enough to behold 
 these Romuluses of Kansas, as they scampered, with their beds 
 upon their backs — like an Irish pedlar — to some new houses 
 which boasted neither window nor door, and kept out but illy 
 the pelting storm. There were but two things in abundance at 
 Pawnee — rocky mounds and highly rectified whisky. 
 
 Being fairly drowned out, the Legislature finally adjourned to 
 Shawnee Mission, whereupon the Governor vetoed the Bill: 
 this was \h& final rupture between the Governor and the Legis- 
 lature ; then came the tug of war. Both parties from this mo- 
 ment broke out into open hostility. The Governor and his 
 Free-Soil friends repudiated the Legislature and its acts, and 
 bid defiance to both ; they spoke of it as the Missouri Bogus 
 Legislation. The Legislature, on their part, were not slow to 
 retaliate ; they racked their ingenuity to insult and aggravate 
 the Free-Soil party, and if possible widen the breach between 
 the two contending y^^//^//j-, for I can scarcely dignify with the 
 name of party those who condescend to such a petty warfare as 
 exists between the Kansas agitators. The Legislature, in the 
 first place, memorialized President Pierce to remove Governor 
 Reeder, which was done. . . . They then attempted to padlock 
 the mouths of the Free-Soilers by preventing their expressing 
 an opinion as to the right of individuals to hold slaves in Kansas 
 Territory. Their next move was to appoint officers to put this 
 padlock on, or in other words, to execute their laws, and as 
 most of the members lived in Missouri, it was no very singular 
 thing that they had friends to reward in that State, who were 
 patriotic enough to " move into Kansas " if they could get an 
 office there ; this several of them did, and accordingly came into 
 the Territory with their commissions in their pockets. In due 
 time the Legislature closed this, their labor of love, and returned 
 to the bosom of their families, with their well earned pay in 
 their pockets, with which to improve their farms in Jackson and 
 other counties of Missouri. . . . 
 
 Colonel John Scott, city attorney of St. Joseph, Missouri, 
 was one of the "invaders" of Kansas. He voted at the 
 
Approaching the Crisis 371 
 
 elections of 1854 and 1855, In his testimony before the 
 House committee of three, which was sent to Kansas in ^ 
 1856, he said : 
 
 I was present at the election of March 30, 1855 in Burr Oak 
 precinct in the 1 4*^ district, in this Territory. I saw many Mis- • 
 sourians there. There had been a good deal of talk about the 
 settlement of Kansas, in the interference of eastern people in 
 the settlement of that territory, since the passage of the Kansas- 
 Nebraska bill. It was but a short time after the passage of that 
 act that we learned through the papers about the forming of a 
 society in the east for the purpose of promoting the settlement 
 of Kansas Territory, with the view of making it a free State. . . . 
 
 [The Missourians] were excited upon that subject, and have 
 been ever since. This rumor and excitement extended all over 
 the State, and more particularly in the borders. . . . The people 
 of the south have always thought they have always been inter- 
 fered with by the north, and the people of Missouri considered 
 this the most open and bold movement the northern and eastern 
 societies ever made. . . . 
 
 Immediately preceding the election [1855], and even before 
 the opening of navigation, we had rumors that hundreds of 
 eastern people were in St. Louis, waiting for the navigation of 
 the river to be opened, that they might get up to the Territory 
 in time for the election, and the truth of these rumors was es- 
 tablished by the accounts steamboat officers afterwards brought 
 up of the emigrants they had landed at different places in and 
 near the Territory, who had no families, and very little property, 
 except little oil cloth carpet sacks. . . . 
 
 It was determined by the Missourians that if the eastern 
 emigrants were allowed to vote, we would vote also, or we 
 would destroy the poll books and break up the elections ; and 
 the determination is that eastern people shall not be allowed to 
 interfere and control the domestic institutions of Kansas, if the 
 Union is dissolved in preventing it, though we are willing that 
 all honest, well-meaning settlers shall come and be admitted to 
 all the equality of other citizens. . . . The avowed object of mak- 
 ing a free State by persons living remote from the Territor)', 
 
372 The Crisis of Disunio7t 
 
 and having no interest in it, and the raising of money and means 
 for that purpose, is the obnoxious feature of these emigrant aid 
 societies. ... I think it is a new thing for free States to get up 
 societies for making free States out of Territories. . . . 
 
 I think it is the general expression, and I know it is the 
 ardent hope of every man in Missouri that I have heard express 
 himself, that if the north would cease operating by these socie- 
 ties, Missouri would also cease to use those she has established. 
 All that Missourians asked was that the principles of the Kansas- 
 Nebraska Act should be carried out, and the actual settlers of 
 the Territory allowed to manage their own domestic institutions 
 for themselves. 
 
 The press, of course, North and South, abounded in 
 violent and defiant comment on the Kansas situation. A 
 typical editorial from the New York Tribune of May 14, 
 1855, says : 
 
 It is abundantly demonstrated, from what we have published 
 on the Kansas election, that a more stupendous fraud was never 
 perpetrated since the invention of the ballot-box. The crew 
 who will assemble under the title of the Kansas Territorial 
 Legislature, by virtue of this outrage, will be a body of men to 
 whose acts no more respect will be due, and should no more be 
 entitled to the weight of authority, than a Legislature chosen 
 by a tribe of wandering Arabs, who should pitch their tents and 
 extemporize an election on the prairies of that Territory. . . . 
 
 We are not prepared either to say to what these proceedings 
 are likely to lead. They seem, however, pregnant with the seeds 
 of great good or evil. They sound in our ears like the distant 
 roar of the coming tempest. Events of startling character and 
 magnitude may stand in fearful proximity behind that dim and 
 shadowy veil which divides the present from the future. There 
 is Kansas. Her territory is free soil. It was never stained by 
 the tread of a slave. Her plains never echoed to the lash of 
 the slave-driver's whip, nor the groans of the enchained bond- 
 men. The millions of the free States have thundered out the 
 
Approaching the C^'isis 373 
 
 declaration that they never shall. On one side, the slave power 
 has risen in its might and declared its purpose to subjugate 
 that Territory, and plant slavery there in defiance of the North. 
 ... It has armed its myrmidons, marshalled and sent them 
 forth to execute its purposes. . . . The appeal is now made 
 to arms. By the sword, they declare, shall Kansas be gained ' 
 to slavery. . . . The first step taken has been to put beneath 
 their heel the real residents and occupants of the soil. The 
 next is to depose the Governor, and pronounce another in his 
 place. A third is to declare war against all who dare oppose 
 their plans. . . . 
 
 On the other [side] stands a little band of the sons of free- 
 dom, just now borne down by numbers, but resolute in purpose, 
 and ready to do their part in repelling the barbarian invaders. 
 The question is whether they are to be seconded by the people 
 of the North. Is there a genuine spirit of freedom in the country, 
 ready to do something against the atrocious strides of the slave 
 power to continental dominion ? Are there those who are will- 
 ing to migrate to Kansas to aid in maintaining the freedom of 
 Kansas at the cost of such perils as may arise ? Do the northern 
 people mean that Kansas shall be free ? If they do, that is 
 enough. The force that shall drive out hordes of land pirates 
 who have made their descent upon Kansas will not be long in 
 forming. Swayed and inspired by the sentiments of freedom, 
 they will scatter its enemies like chaff. ... If it be otherwise, 
 their degradation is unspeakable, and they are fit only to live 
 as the slaves of slaves. 
 
 The famous case of Dred Scott, Plaintiff in Error vs. 86. The 
 John F. A . Sandford fills two hundred and forty pages in ^^^\ *^1 
 the Reports of cases argued before the Supreme Court of decision, 
 the United States. The possibility of reconciling the Court's 1857 * 
 elaborate decision with the doctrine of squatter sovereignty [313] 
 was the general subject of the great series of debates be- 
 tween Lincoln and Douglas for the Illinois senatorship in 
 the summer of 1858. A year later Lincoln referring to 
 
374 '^^^^ Crisis of Disunion 
 
 those debates in a speech at Columbus, Ohio, said : "What 
 is that Dred Scott decision ? Judge Douglas labors to show 
 that it is one thing, while I think it is altogether different. 
 It is a long opinion, but it is all embodied in this short 
 statement : The Constitution of the United States forbids 
 Congress to deprive a nia7i of his property , without due 
 process of law ; the right of property in slaves is dis- 
 tinctly and expressly affi'rmed in that Constitution ; there- 
 fore if Congress shall ^mdertake to say that a mans 
 slave is no longer his slave^ when he crosses a certain 
 line into a Territory, that is depriving him of his prop- 
 erty without d7ie process of lazv, cuid is ujicofistitutional. 
 There is the whole Dred Scott decision." ^ The text of 
 the opinion of the Court on this question, as delivered by 
 Chief Justice Taney, reads as follows : 
 
 . . . The words " people of the United States " [Preamble 
 to the Constitution] and " citizens " are synonymous terms, and 
 mean the same thing. They both describe the political body 
 who, according to our Republican institutions, form the sover- 
 eignty, and who hold the power and conduct the Government 
 through their representatives. . . . The question before us is, 
 whether the class of persons described in the plea [negroes] 
 compose a portion of this people, and are constituent members 
 of this sovereignty .? We think that they are not, and that they 
 are not included, and were not intended to be included, under 
 the word " citizens " in the Constitution, and can therefore claim 
 none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides 
 for and secures to citizens of the United States. On the con- 
 trary, they were at that time considered as a subordinate and 
 inferior class of beings, who had been subjugated by the domi- 
 nant race, and, whether emancipated or not, yet remained sub- 
 ject to their authority, and had no rights or privileges but such 
 
 ^ Political Debates between Lincoln and Douglas, Columbus, i860, 
 p. 251. 
 
Approaching the Crisis 375 
 
 as those who held the power and the Government might choose 
 to grant them. . . . 
 
 It is difficult at this day to realize the state of public opinion in 
 relation to that unfortunate race, which prevailed in the civilized 
 and enlightened portions of the world at the time of the Declara- 
 tion of Independence, and when the Constitution of the United 
 States was framed and adopted. But the public history of every 
 European nation displays it in a manner too plain to be mistaken. 
 
 They had for more than a century before been regarded as 
 beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate 
 with the white race, either in social or political relations ; and 
 so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was 
 bound to respect ; and that the negro might justly and lawfully 
 be reduced to slavery for his benefit. He was bought and sold 
 and treated as an ordinary article of merchandise and traffic, 
 whenever a profit could be made by it. . . . 
 
 The opinion thus entertained and acted upon in England was 
 naturally impressed upon the Colonies they founded on this side 
 of the Atlantic. And, according, a negro of the African race 
 was regarded by them as an article of property, and held and 
 bought and sold as such in every one of the thirteen Colonies 
 which united in the Declaration of Independence and after- 
 wards formed the Constitution of the United States. . . . 
 
 The Territory being a part of the United States, the Govern- 
 ment and the citizen both enter it under the authority of the 
 Constitution, with their respective rights defined and marked 
 out ; and the Federal Government can exercise no power over 
 his person or property beyond^ what that instrument confers, 
 nor lawfully deny any right which it has reserved. . . . And if 
 the Constitution recognizes the right of property of the master 
 in a slave, and makes no distinction between that description of 
 property and other property owned by a citizen, no tribunal, 
 acting under the authority of the United States, whether it be 
 legislative, executive, or judicial, has a right to draw such a 
 distinction. . . . 
 
 Now, as we have already said in an earlier part of this opin- 
 ion, . . . the right of property in a slave is distinctly and ex- 
 pressly affirmed in the Constitution. The right to traffic in it, 
 
376 The Crisis of Disiuiion 
 
 like an ordinary article of merchandise and property, was guar- 
 antied to the citizens of the United States, in every State that 
 might desire it, for twenty years.^ And the Government in 
 express terms is pledged to protect it in all future time, if the 
 slave escapes from his owner.^ This is done in plain words, too 
 plain to be misunderstood. And no word can be found in the 
 Constitution which gives Congress a greater power over slave 
 property . . . than property of any other description. 
 
 Upon these considerations, it is the opinion of the Court that 
 the act of Congress^ which prohibited a citizen from holding 
 and owning property of this kind in the Territory of the United 
 States north of the line therein mentioned [36° 30'], is not war- 
 ranted by the Constitution, and is therefore void ; * and that 
 neither Dred Scott himself, nor any of his family, were made 
 free by being carried into this territory. Even if they had been 
 carried there by the owner, with the intention of becoming a 
 permanent resident. . . . 
 
 But there is another point in the case which depends on State 
 power and State law. And it contended, on the part of the 
 plaintiff, that he is made free by being taken to Rock Island in 
 the State of Illinois independently of his residence in the territory 
 of the United States ; and being so made free, he was not again 
 reduced to a state of slavery by being brought back to Missouri. 
 
 Our notice on this part of the case will be very brief : for the 
 principle on which it depends was decided in this court, upon 
 much consideration, in the case of Strader et al. v. Graham, 
 reported in 10*^ Howard, 82. In that case, the slaves had been 
 taken from Kentucky to Ohio, with the consent of the owner, 
 and afterwards brought back to Kentucky. And this court held 
 
 1 Constitution, Art. I, Sect. IX, par. i. 
 
 2 Constitution, Art. IV, Sect. II, par. 3. 
 
 3 The Missouri Compromise Act of 1820. 
 
 * This is the first instance in our history of an act of Congress, not 
 bearing on the judiciary itself, being declared null and void by the 
 Supreme Court. The Constitution nowhere gives the Supreme Court 
 this power. In this part of its decision the Court sanctioned the legislative 
 repeal of the Missouri Compromise Act by the terms of the Kansas- 
 Nebraska Act of 1854. It denied Congress the power of legislating on 
 slavery in any territory of the United States. 
 
Approaching the Cf'isis 377 
 
 that their status or condition, as free or slave, depended upon 
 the laws of Kentucky when they were brought back into that 
 State, and not of Ohio ; and that this court had no jurisdiction 
 to revise the judgment of a State court upon its own laws. . . . 
 So in this case. As Scott was a slave when taken into the State 
 of Illinois by his owner, and was held there as such and brought 
 back in that character, his status, as free or slave, depended on 
 the laws of Missouri, and not of Illinois.-^ . . . 
 
 Upon the whole, therefore, it is the judgment of this Court, 
 that it appears by the record before us that the plaintiff in error 
 is not a citizen of Missouri, in the sense in which that word is used 
 in the Constitution ; and that the Circuit Court of the United 
 States, for that reason had no jurisdiction in the case, and could 
 give no judgment upon it. Its judgment for the defendant must, 
 consequently, be reversed, and a mandate issued, directing the 
 suit to be dismissed [that is, left to the Missouri state court] for 
 want of jurisdiction. 
 
 1 This part of the decision completed the guaranty of the slaveholder 
 by allowing him to travel where he would with his slave property with- 
 out thereby impairing his property rights in it. The advance in South- 
 ern claims may be seen by comparing this decision with the words of 
 Alexander H. Stephens nine years earlier (August 7, 1848): "If my 
 slave escapes and gets into a free State, the Constitution secures me the 
 right of pursuing and retaking him [Art. IV, Sect. II, par. 2] ; but if I 
 voluntarily take my Slave into a State where slavery by law is pro- 
 hibited, I have no right to 7-etake hi?n ; he becomes free. N'o man will ques- 
 tion this." — Congressional Globe, 30th Congress, ist session, Appendix, 
 p. 1 105. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 SECESSION 
 
 The Election of Abraham Lincoln 
 
 87. The On February 27, i860, Abraham Lincoln, a distin- 
 
 standaX" guished lawyer of Illinois, already widely known for his 
 1860-1861 brilliant debates with Judge Douglas, and enthusiastically 
 [322] boomed for the presidential nomination by the Repub- 
 licans of the West, made his first speech before an Eastern 
 audience in the great hall of the Cooper Institute in New 
 York City. It was the clearest and most forceful exposi- 
 tion of Republican principles made since the foundation 
 of the party, and answered the extreme proslavery resolu- 
 tions introduced in the Senate by Jefferson Davis, on 
 February 2} After showing that the '' Fathers " had no 
 idea that the Constitution limited the Federal govern- 
 ment in the control of slavery in the Federal territory, 
 and warning the South against precipitate action, Lincoln 
 concludes : 
 
 A few words now to Republicans. It is exceedingly desirable 
 that all parts of this great Confederacy shall be at peace and 
 harmony one with another. Let us Republicans do our part to 
 have it so. Even though much provoked, let us do nothing 
 through passion and ill temper. Even though the Southern 
 people will not so much as listen to us, let us calmly consider 
 
 1 See Muzzey, An American History, pp. 322-323. Horace Greeley 
 said of this speech in 1868 : " I do not hesitate to pronounce it the very 
 best political address to which I ever listened — and I have heard some 
 of Webster's grandest." — Century Magaziiie, July, 1891, p. 373. 
 
 378' 
 
Secession \ 379 
 
 their demands, and yield to them, if, in our deliberate view of 
 our duty, we possibly can. . . . Let us determine, ii we can, 
 what will satisfy them. 
 
 Will they be satisfied if the Territories be unconditionally 
 surrendered to them .? We know they will not. In all their 
 present complaints against us the Territories are scarcely men- 
 tioned. Invasions and insurrections are all the rage now.^ Will 
 it satisfy them if, in the future, we have nothing to do with 
 invasions and insurrections ? We know it will not. We so know, 
 because we know we never had anything to do with invasions 
 and insurrections, and yet this total abstaining does not exempt 
 us from the charge and the denunciation. 
 
 The question recurs. What will satisfy them ? Simply this : 
 we must not only let them alone, but we must, somehow, con- 
 vince them that we do let them alone. This, we know by experi- 
 ence, is no easy task. We have been so trying to convince them 
 from the very beginning of our organization, but with no success. 
 . . . Alike unavailing to convince them is the fact that they have 
 never detected a man of us- in any attempt to disturb them. 
 
 These natural and apparently adequate means all failing, what 
 will convince them? This, and this only: cease to call slavery 
 wrong,- and join them in calling it right. And this must be done 
 thoroughly, done in acts as well as in words. Silence will not be 
 tolerated ; we must place ourselves avowedly with them. Senator 
 Douglas' new sedition law must be enacted and enforced, sup- 
 pressing all declarations that slavery is wrong, whether made in 
 politics, in presses, in pulpits, or in private. We must arrest and 
 return their fugitive slaves with greedy pleasure. We must pull 
 down our free-State constitutions. The whole atmosphere must 
 be disinfected from all taint of opposition to slavery before they 
 will cease to believe that all their troubles proceed from us. 
 
 I am quite aware they do not state their case precisely in this 
 way. Most of them would probably say to us, " Let us alone, 
 do nothing to us, and say what you please about slavery." But 
 we do let them alone — have never disturbed them ; so that, 
 after all, it is what we say that dissatisfies them. . . . 
 
 ^ Referring to John Brown's " raid " of the previous autumn. See 
 Muzzey, An American History, pp. 321-322. 
 
380 The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 I am also aware that they have not yet, in terms, demanded 
 the overthrow of our free-State constitutions. . . . [But] demand- 
 ing what they do, and for the reason they do, they can volun- 
 tarily stop nowhere short of this consummation.^ Holding as 
 they do that slavery is morally right, and socially elevating, they 
 cannot cease to demand a full national recognition of it, as a 
 legal right and a social blessing. 
 
 Nor can we justifiably withhold this on any ground, save our 
 conviction that slavery is wrong. If slavery is right, all words, 
 acts, laws, and constitutions against it are themselves wrong, and 
 should be silenced and swept away. If it is right, we cannot 
 justly object to its nationality — its universality ! if it is wrong, 
 they cannot justly insist on its extension — its enlargement. All 
 they ask we could readily grant, if we thought slavery right; 
 all we ask they could as readily grant, if they thought it wrong. 
 Their thinking it right, and our thinking it wrong, is the precise 
 fact upon which depends the whole controversy. . . . Can we 
 cast our votes with their view and against our own t In view 
 of our moral, social, and political responsibilities, can we do this ? 
 
 Wrong as we think slavery is, we can yet afford to let slavery 
 alone where it is, because that much is due to the necessity arising 
 from its actual presence in the nation ; but can we, while our 
 votes will prevent it, allow it to spread into the national Terri- 
 tories, and to overrun us here in the free States ? If our sense 
 of duty forbids this, then let us stand by our duty, fearlessly and 
 effectively. Let us be diverted by none of those sophistical con- 
 trivances wherewith we are so industriously plied and belabored, 
 contrivances such as groping for some middle ground between 
 the right and the wrong, vain as the search for -a man who should 
 
 1 In a speech at Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858, accepting the 
 nomination for the United States senatorship, Lincoln had expressed 
 the idea thus : " ' A house divided against itself cannot stand.' I beUeve 
 this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. 
 I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house 
 to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all 
 one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest 
 the further spread of it ... or its advocates will push it forward till it 
 shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as 
 well as South." — Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, Vol- II, p. 137. 
 
Secession \ 381 
 
 be neither a living man nor a dead man, such a policy^f " don't 
 care," on a question about which all true men do car6, such as 
 Union appeals beseeching true Union men to yield to Disunion ; 
 reversing the divine rule, and calling not the sinners but the 
 righteous to repentance ; such as invocations to Washington, 
 imploring men to unsay what Washington said and to undo 
 what Washington did. 
 
 Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations 
 against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to 
 the Government nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith 
 that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare 
 to do our duty as we understand it. 
 
 Between the Cooper Institute speech and the first in- 
 augural address (from which the following extract is taken) 
 events had moved rapidly. Lincoln had been nominated 
 and elected, South Carolina and six of her sister states of 
 the South had seceded from the Union, a Confederate 
 government had been organized, and the batteries in 
 Charleston harbor had fired on the Star of the West 
 bearing supplies to Fort Sumter under the American flag. 
 Lincoln's magnificent plea for calm deliberation and patient 
 hope of harmony came too late. 
 
 ELLOW-ClTIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES : 
 
 . . . Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the 
 Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Adminis- 
 tration their property and their peace and personal security are 
 to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause 
 for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the 
 contrary has all the while existed and been open to their inspec- 
 tion. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who 
 now addresses you. I do but quote from one of these speeches 
 when I declare that " I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, 
 to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where 
 it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have 
 no inclination to do so." . . . I now reiterate these sentiments. 
 
 <^ 
 
382 The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 ... I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with 
 the Constitution and the laws, can be given will cheerfully be 
 given to all the States, when lawfully demanded, for whatever 
 cause — as cheerfully to one section as to another. . . . 
 
 I hold that in contemplation of universal law and of the Con- 
 stitution, the Union of these States is perpetual. . . . The Union 
 is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by 
 the Articles of Association in 1774. It was matured and con- 
 tinued by the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was 
 further matured, and the faith of all the then thirteen States 
 expressly plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by 
 the Articles of Confederation in 1778. And finally, in 1787, 
 one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the 
 Constitution was "^"^ to form a more perfect Union" 
 
 But if destruction of the Union by one or by a part only of 
 the States be lawfully possible, then the Union is less perfect 
 than before the Constitution, having lost the vital element of 
 perpetuity. . . . 
 
 It follows from these views that no State upon its ov/n mere 
 motion can lawfully get out of the Union ; that resolves and ordi- 
 nances to that effect are legally void, and that acts of violence within 
 any State or States against the authority of the United States are 
 insurrectionary or revolutionary according to circumstances. 
 
 I therefore consider that in view of the Constitution and the 
 laws, the Union is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability 
 I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins on 
 me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the 
 States. . . . 
 
 In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence, and 
 there shall be none unless it be forced 'upon the national 
 authority. . . . 
 
 That there are persons in one section or another who seek to 
 destroy the Union at all events and are glad of any pretext to 
 do it, I will neither affirm nor deny ^ ; but if there be such, I 
 
 1 Lincoln might have affirmed it with perfect truth. Only two days 
 before he made this inaugural address Senator Wigfall of Texas made 
 the following remarks in the United States Senate: "This Federal Gov- 
 ernment is dead. . . . BeUeving — no, sir, not believing, but knowing — 
 
Secessio7i \ 383 
 
 need address no word to them. To those, however, who really 
 love the Union may I not speak ? . . . \ 
 
 Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannotVremove 
 our respective sections from each other nor build an impassable 
 wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorcM and 
 go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other, but 
 the different parts of our country cannot do this. They cannot 
 but remain face to face, and intercourse, either amicable or hos- 
 tile, must continue between them. Is it possible then to make 
 that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory after 
 separation than befoi'e} Can aliens make treaties easier than 
 friends can make laws .''... 
 
 This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who 
 inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Gov- 
 ernment, they can exercise their constitutio7ial right of amending 
 it, or their rez>ohitio?iary right to dismember and overthrow it. 
 . . . The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the 
 people, and they have conferred none upon him to fix terms for 
 the separation of the States. . . . His duty is to administer the 
 present Government as it came to his hands and to transmit it 
 unimpaired by him to his successor. . . . 
 
 Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate 
 justice of the people ? Is there any better or equal hope in the 
 world ? . . . 
 
 By the frame of the Government under which we live this 
 same people have wisely given their public servants but little 
 power for mischief, and have with equal wisdom provided for 
 
 that this Union is djssolved, never, never to be reconstructed on any 
 terms — not if you were to hand us blank paper, and ask us to write a 
 Constitution, would we ever again be confederated with you. . . . Our 
 objection to living in this Union is . . . that you wholly and utterly mis- 
 apprehend the form of government. You deny the sovereignty of the 
 States ; you deny the right of self-government in the people ; you insist 
 upon negro equality ; your people interfere impertinently with our in- 
 stitutions and attempt to subvert them ; you publish newspapers ; you 
 deliver lectures ; you print pamphlets, and you send them among us, 
 first to excite our slaves to insurrection against their masters, and next 
 to array one class of citizens against the other." — Congressional Globe, 
 36th Congress, 2d session, pp. 1 399-1 400. 
 
384 TJie Crisis of Distinion 
 
 the return of that little to their own hands at very short in- 
 tervals. While the people retain their virtue and vigilence no 
 Administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can 
 very seriously injure the Government in the short space of 
 four rears. 
 
 My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this 
 whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. If 
 there be an object to hwTy any of you in hx)t haste to a step 
 which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frus- 
 trated by taking time ; but no good object can be frustrated by 
 it. Such of you as are now dissatisfied still have the old Con- 
 stitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your 
 own framing under it ; while the new Administration will have 
 no immediate power, if it would, to change either. If it were 
 admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side in the 
 dispute, still there is no single good reason for precipitate ac- 
 tion. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance 
 on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land are still 
 competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty. 
 
 In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in 
 mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government 
 will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being 
 yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in 
 heaven to destroy the Government, while /shall have the most 
 solemn one to " preserve, protect, and defend " it. 
 
 I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We 
 must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it 
 must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of 
 memory, stretching from every battle-field, and every patriot 
 grave, to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad 
 land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, 
 as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature, gt Jiu. 
 
 88. The Murat Halstead, a distinguished journalist, made the 
 
 Chicago con- ,, . . ^ , . ,, . , ^ ^ 
 
 vention, Circuit ot the conventions in the summer of i860, as 
 
 May 16-18, correspondent for the Cincinnati Conmtercial. Later in 
 
 ,3241 the year he compiled, from his own lively letters and the 
 
Secession \ 385 
 
 official reports, a " History of the National Politrbl Con- 
 ventions of the Current Presidential Campaign." \)i the 
 exciting scenes which attended the nomination of Abraham 
 Lincoln he writes : 
 
 The crowd this evening is becoming prodigious. The Fre- 
 mont House is so crammed that it is with much difficulty peo- 
 ple get about in it from one room to another. Near fifteen 
 hundred people will sleep in it tonight. The principal lions in 
 this house are Horace Greeley and Frank P. Blair, Sen. The 
 way Greeley is stared at as he shuffles about, looking as inno- 
 cent as ever, is itself a sight. Whenever he appears there is a 
 crowd gaping at him, and if he stops to talk a minute with some 
 one who wishes to consult him as the oracle, the crowd becomes 
 dense as possible, and there is the most eager desire to hear the 
 words of wisdom that are supposed to fall on such occasions. . . . 
 
 The city of Chicago is attending to this Convention in magnif- 
 icent style. It is a great place for large hotels, and all have 
 their capacity for accommodation tested. The great feature is 
 the Wigwam^ erected within the past month, expressly for the 
 use of the Convention, by the Republicans of Chicago, at a cost 
 of seven thousand dollars. It is a small edition of the New 
 York Crystal Palace, built of boards, and will hold ten thou- 
 sand persons comfortably, and is admirable for its acoustic 
 excellence. An ordinary voice can be heard through the whole 
 structure with ease. . . . 
 
 The current of Universal twaddle this morning is that " Old 
 Abe " will be the nominee. . . . The badges of different candi- 
 dates are making their appearance, and a good many of the 
 dunces of the occasion go abouf duly labelled. I saw an old 
 man this morning with a woodcut of Edward Bates pasted out- 
 side his hat. The Seward men have a badge of silk with his 
 likeness and name, and some wag pinned one of them to Horace 
 Greeley's back yesterday.^ . . . The hour for the meeting of the 
 
 1 Greeley, the very influential editor of the Neju York Tribune, was 
 bitterly opposed to Seward. He favored the nomination of Edward Bates 
 of Missouri. Still, the Seward forces were so well organized and espe- 
 cially so well supplied with funds, that it seemed the night before the 
 
/ 
 
 386 . The Crisis of Distinion 
 
 I 
 
 Convention approaches, and the agitation of the city is exceed- 
 ingly g^eat. Vast as the Wigwam is, not one fifth of those who 
 would be glad to get inside can be accommodated. . . . 
 
 Horace Greeley and Eli Thayer have agreed upon the follow- 
 ing resolution, which Greeley is at work to make one of the 
 planks of the platform : " Resolved, That holding liberty to be 
 the natural birthright of every human being, we maintain that 
 slavery can only exist where it has been previously established 
 by laws constitutionally enacted ; and we are inflexibly opposed 
 to its establishment in the Territories by legislative, executive or 
 judicial intervention. ..." 
 
 When the Convention was called to order [the third day], 
 breathless attention was given the proceedings. There was not 
 a space a foot square in the Wigwam unoccupied. There were 
 tens of thousands still outside. ... Mr. Evarts of New York 
 nominated Mr. Seward, Mr. Judd of Illinois nominated Mr. Lin- 
 coln . . . the only names that produced " tremendous applause " 
 were those of Seward and Lincoln. Everybody felt that the 
 fight was between them, and yelled accordingly. . . . 
 
 The division of the first vote ^ caused a fall in Seward stock. 
 It was seen that Lincoln, Cameron, and Bates had the strength 
 to defeat Seward, and it was known that the greater part of the 
 Chase vote would go to Lincoln. . . . 
 
 The Convention proceeded to a second ballot. ... On this 
 ballot Lincoln gained seventy-nine votes! Seward had 184^ 
 votes ; Lincoln 181.... It now dawned upon the multitude, 
 that the presumption entertained the night before, that the Sew- 
 ard men would have everything their own way, was a mistake 
 
 While this [third] ballot was taken amid excitement that tested 
 the nerves, ... it was whispered about — "Lincoln's the coming 
 
 balloting as though the New Yorker would be chosen. Greeley tele- 
 graphed to the Tribune at 11.40 p.m.: "My conclusion from all I can 
 gather tonight is that the opposition to Gov. Seward cannot concentrate 
 on any candidate, and that he will be nominated. — H. G." — J. F. Rhodes, 
 History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850, Vol. II, 
 p. 465. 
 
 1 The vote was: Seward 173^, Lincoln 102, Cameron 50^, Chase 49, 
 Bates 48, with scattering votes for seven other candidates. 
 
Secession \ 387 
 
 man ; he will be nominated this ballot" When the rollV States 
 and Territories had been called, I had ceased to give att4tion to 
 any votes but those for Lincoln, and had his vote addeaup as 
 it was given. The number of votes necessary to a choicAwere 
 233, and I saw under my pencil as the Lincoln columAwas 
 completed, the figures 231^ — only a vote and a half to Vive 
 him the nomination. ... In about ten ticks of a watch, Canter 
 of Ohio was up. . , . He said : " I rise, Mr. Chairman, to an- 
 nounce the change of four votes of Ohio from Mr. Chase to 
 Mr. Lincoln. The deed was done. The nerves of the thousands, 
 which through hours of suspense had been subjected to terrible 
 tension, relaxed, and as the deep breaths of relief were taken, 
 there was a noise in the Wig7i>a?n like the rush of a great wind, 
 in the van of a storm — and in another breath, the storm was 
 there. There were thousands cheering with the energy of 
 insanity. ... 
 
 The fact of the Convention was the defeat of Seward rather 
 than the nomination of Lincoln. It was the triumph of a 
 presumption of availability over preeminence in intellect and 
 unrivalled fame — a success of the ruder qualities of manhood 
 and the more homely attributes of popularity over the arts 
 of a consummate politician, and the splendor of accomplished 
 statesmanship.^ 
 
 Now that the business of the Convention was transacted, 
 we had the usual stump speeches, and complimentary reso- 
 lutions. . . . The city was wild with delight. The '* Old Abe " 
 men formed processions, and bore rails through the streets. . . . 
 A hundred guns were fired from the top of the Tremont House. 
 The Chicago Press and Tribune office was illuminated. That 
 paper says : " On each side of the counting-room door stood a 
 
 1 One enthusiastic Lincoln man went shouting through the Tremont 
 House : " Talk of your money, and bring on your bullies with you 
 [Seward's marchers] ! the immortal principles of the everlasting people 
 are with Abe Lincoln, by — ! " The Southern politicians were disgusted 
 and exasperated by Lincoln's nomination. Senator Wigfall sneered in 
 the Senate at the " ex-rail-splitter, ex-grocery-keeper, ex-flatboat cap- 
 tain, and ex-Abolitionist-lecturer." — Congressional Globe, 36th Congress, 
 2d session, p. 1400. 
 
[326] 
 
 -ft=; 388 The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 llr rail ^ut of the three thousand split by 'honest Old Abe' 
 
 thirty years ago on the Sangamon River bottoms. On the 
 inside were two more, brilliantly hung with tapers. 
 
 I eft the city on the night train on the Fort Wayne and 
 
 Chii^ago road. The train consisted of eleven cars, every seat 
 
 ' ful' and people standing in the aisles and corners. ... At every 
 
 ^tation where there was a village until after two o'clock there 
 
 /were tar barrels burning, drums beating, boys carrying rails ; 
 
 / and guns, great and small, banging away. 
 
 89. A South- Honorable Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, later 
 foTunion'^^ Vice President of the Confederacy, was the last of the 
 November 14, distinguished Southern statesmen to give up hope for the 
 peaceful adjustment of the differences between North and 
 South. In a speech before the Georgia legislature, a 
 week after Lincoln's election, he said : 
 
 . . . The first question that presents itself is. Shall the people 
 of Georgia secede from the Union in consequence of the election 
 of Mr. Lincoln to the Presidency of the United States t My 
 countrymen, I tell you frankly, candidly, and earnestly, that I 
 do not think they ought. In my judgment, the election of no 
 man, constitutionally chosen to that high office, is sufficient 
 cause to justify any State to separate from the Union. It 
 ought to stand by and aid still in maintaining the Constitution 
 of the country. ... If all our hopes are to be blasted, if the 
 Republic is to go down, let us be found to the last moment 
 standing on the deck with the Constitution of the United States 
 waving over our heads. Let the fanatics of the North break the 
 Constitution, if such is their fell purpose. Let the responsibility 
 be with them. . . . We went into the election with this people. 
 The result was different f ro^ what we wished ; but the election 
 has been constitutionally held. Were we to make a point of re- 
 sistance to the Government, and go out of the Union merely on 
 that account, the record would be made up hereafter against us. 
 
 But it is said Mr. IJncoln's policy and principles are against 
 the Constitution, and that, if he carries them out, it will be de- 
 structive of our rights. Let us not anticipate a threatened evil. 
 
Secession \ 389 
 
 If he violates the Constitution, then will come our time\ act. 
 I do not anticipate that Mr. Lincoln will do anything toVopard 
 our safety or security, whatever may be his spirit to do\; for 
 he is bound by the Constitutional checks which are tfr^>vn 
 around him, which at this time render him powerless to doS\\:' 
 great mischief. This shows the wisdom of our system. T^ 
 President of the United States is no Emperor — no DictatoK, 
 He is clothed with no absolute power. He can do nothing' 
 unless he is backed by power in Congress. The House of 
 Representatives is largely in a majority against him. . . . The 
 gains in the Democratic party in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New 
 Jersey, New York, Indiana, and other States . . . have been 
 enough to make a majority of near thirty in the next House 
 against Mr. Lincoln. . . . 
 
 In the Senate he will also be powerless. There will be a 
 majority of four against him. . . . Mr. Lincoln cannot appoint 
 an officer without the consent of the Senate, he cannot form a 
 Cabinet without the same consent. . . . Why then, I say, should 
 we disrupt the ties of this Union, when his hands are tied — 
 when he can do nothing against us .? 
 
 My honorable friend who addressed you last night [Mr. 
 Toombs]^ and to whom I listened with the profoundest attention, 
 
 1 Senator Robert Toombs, a Union man in 1S50, had given up hope 
 of preserving the Union. He went back to Washington in December, 
 i860, but after the failure of the Crittenden amendments he telegraphed 
 to the citizens of Georgia, December 23, i860 : " I came here to secure 
 your constitutional rights or to demonstrate to you that you can get no 
 guarantees for these rights from your Northern confederates. The 
 whole subject was referred to a committee of 13 in the Senate yes- 
 terday. I was appointed ... I submitted propositions which . . . 
 were all treated with derision or contempt. . . . The committee is con- 
 trolled by Black Republicans, your enemies, who only seek to amuse 
 you with delusive hope until your election [to a state convention] in 
 order that you may defeat the friends of secession. ... I tell you upon 
 the faith of a true man, that all further looking to the North for security 
 for your constitutional rights in this Union ought to be instantly aban- 
 doned. . . . Secession by the 4th of March next should be thundered 
 from the ballot-box by the unanimous voice of Georgia." — U. B. Phillips, 
 Correspondence of Toombs, Stephens, and Cobb, Annual Report of 
 the American Historical Association, 191 1, Vol. H, p. 525. 
 
390 The Crisis of Distmion 
 
 asks if 'Ve would submit to Black Republican rule ? I say to 
 you aid to him, as a Georgian, I never would submit to any 
 Blac) Republican aggression upon our Constitutional rights . . . ; 
 an^ if they cannot be maintained in the Union standing on the 
 Georgia Platform [see No. 8i, p. 352], where I have stood from 
 tie time of its adoption, I would be in favor of disrupting every 
 tie which binds the States together. I will have equality for 
 Georgia, and for the citizens of Georgia, in this Union, or I will 
 look for new safeguards elsewhere. This is my position. The 
 only question now is. Can this be secured in the Union ? . . . In 
 my judgment, it may yet be. . . . 
 
 My countrymen, I am not of those who believe this Union 
 has been a curse up to this time. True men, men of integrity, 
 entertain different views from me on this subject. . . . Nor will 
 I undertake to say that this Government of our Fathers is per- 
 fect. There is nothing perfect in this world of human origin. . . . 
 But that this Government of our Fathers, with all its defects, 
 comes nearer the objects of all good governments than any other 
 on the face of the earth, is my settled conviction. . . . 
 
 When I look around and see our prosperity in everything — 
 agriculture, commerce, art, science, and every department of 
 progress physical, mental, and moral — certainly in the face of 
 such an exhibition, if we can, without the loss of power or any 
 essential right or interest, remain in the Union, it is our duty to 
 ourselves and posterity to do so. . . . 
 
 Should Georgia determine to go out of the Union ... I 
 shall bow to the will of her people. Their cause is my cause, 
 and their destiny is my destiny ; and I trust this will be the ulti- 
 mate course of all. The greatest curse that can befall a free 
 people is civil war. . . . 
 
 I am for exhausting all that v patriotism demands, before 
 taking the last step. I would invite, therefore, South Carolina 
 to a conference. I would ask the same of all the other Southern 
 States, so that if the evil has got beyond our control, which God 
 in his mercy grant may not be the case, we may not be divided 
 among ourselves. ... In this way, our sister Southern States 
 can be induced to act with us ; and I have but little doubt that 
 the States of New York, and Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and the 
 
Secession \ ^g i 
 
 other Western States, will compel their Legislatures \ recede 
 from their hostile attitude. . . . 
 
 I am, as you clearly perceive, for maintaining the U)i^n as 
 it is, if possible. I will exhaust every means thus to ma^^iin 
 it with an equality in it. My position, then, in conclusio\.is 
 for the maintenance of the honor, the rights, the equality, 
 security, and the glory of my native State in the Union, if pos 
 sible. But if all this fails, we shall at least have the satisfaction^ 
 of knowing that we have done our duty, and all that patriotism 
 could require. 
 
 The Southern Confederacy 
 
 That each succeeding census marked the increasing 9o. "The 
 preponderance of population in the free states, with their JJ^h ?^ jan- 
 correspondingly increasing majorities in the presidential "^n^* ^^^^ 
 electoral columns and the House of Representatives, was f^^®^ 
 the ultimate offense of the North in the eyes of the South. 
 It was also a ''crime of the North," in the eyes of stern 
 antislavery men, that the nerveless administration at Wash- 
 ington should encourage a statesman of Georgia to " have 
 but little doubt that the States of New York, and Pennsyl- 
 vania, and Ohio, and the other Western States would 
 compel their Legislatures to recede from their hostile 
 attitude " toward slavery. In an article in the Atlantic 
 Monthly for January, 1861, James Russell Lowell scourges 
 Buchanan with scorpions for his subserviency to the slavery 
 interests. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan seems to have no opinion, or, if he has one 
 it is a halting between two, a bat-like cross of sparrow and 
 mouse, that gives timidity its choice between flight and skulk- 
 ing. . . . Mr. Buchanan, by his training in a system of politics 
 without a parallel for intrigue, personality, and partisanship, 
 would have unfitted himself from taking a statesmanlike view 
 of anything, even if he had ever been capable of it. . . . We 
 
2Q2 The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 could -"t ^^^^ expected from him a Message^ around which 
 the s'^^tj ^^^ intelligence and the character of the country 
 wou'. have rallied. But he might have saved himself from the 
 evi'iame of being the first of our Presidents who could never 
 f(;>get himself into a feeling of the dignity of the place he 
 rxupied. He has always seemed to consider the Presidency 
 as a retaining-fee paid him by the slavery-propagandists, and 
 his Message to the present Congress looks like the last juice- 
 less squeeze of the orange which the South is tossing con- 
 temptuously away. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan admits as real the assumed wrongs of the 
 South Carolina revolutionists, and even, if we understand him, 
 allows that they are great enough to justify revolution. But 
 he advises the secessionists to pause and try what can be done 
 by negotiation. . . . 
 
 In 1832, General Jackson bluntly called the South Carolina 
 doctrines treason, and the country sustained him. That they 
 are not characterized in the same way now does not prove any 
 difference in the thing, but only in the times and the men. 
 They are none the less treason because James Buchanan is less 
 than Andrew Jackson, but they are all the more dangerous. . . . 
 The subservience on the question of Slavery, which has 
 hitherto characterized both the great parties of the country, 
 has strengthened the hands of the extremists at the South, and 
 has enabled them to get control of public opinion there by 
 fostering false notions of Southern superiority and Northern 
 want of principle. We have done so much to make them be- 
 lieve in their importance to us, and given them so little occasion 
 
 1 Referring to Buchanan's last annual message of December 4, i860, 
 in which, after saying : " The framers of this government never intended 
 to implant in its bosom the seeds of its own destruction," and, " Seces- 
 sion is neither more nor less than revolution," the President goes on to 
 comfort the South by the doctrine that Congress had no power under 
 the Constitution to compel a State to remain in the Union. Seward in a 
 letter to his wife, December 5, summed up the case with humorous 
 indignation : " The message shows conclusively that it is the duty of 
 the President to execute the laws — unless somebody opposes him ; and 
 that no State has a right to go out of the Union — unless it wants to." 
 — F. W. Seward, Life of Seward, Vol. II, p. 480. 
 
Secession 
 
 393 
 
 even to suspect our importance to them, that we ha\+.g^yg^t 
 them to regard themselves as the natural rulers of the \,ntrv 
 and to look upon the Union as a favor granted to our weiwg 
 whose withdrawal would be our ruin. Accordingly, they '^ye 
 grown more and more exacting, till at length the hack pd|. 
 cians of the Free States have become so imbued with the notic* 
 of yielding, and so incapable of believing in any principle oi 
 action higher than temporary expedients to carry an election^ 
 . . . that Mr. Buchanan gravely proposes that the Republican 
 party should pacify South Carolina by surrendering the very 
 creed that called it into existence. . . . Worse than this, when 
 the Free States, by overwhelming majorities have just expressed 
 their conviction that slavery, as the creature of local law, can 
 claim no legitimate extension beyond the limits of that law, he 
 asks their consent to denationalize freedom and to nationalize 
 slavery by an amendment of the Federal Constitution that shall 
 make the local law of the Slave States paramount throughout 
 the Union. Mr. Buchanan would stay the yellow fever by 
 abolishing the quarantine hospital and planting a good virulent 
 case or two in every village in the land. 
 
 We do not underestimate the gravity of the present crisis, 
 and we agree that nothing should be done to exasperate it; 
 but if the people of the Free States have been taught anything 
 by the repeated lessons of bitter experience, it has been that 
 submission is not the seed of conciliation, but of contempt and 
 encroachment. The wolf never goes for mutton to the mastiff. 
 It is quite time that it should be understood that freedom is 
 also an institution deserving some attention in a Model Republic, 
 that a decline in stocks is more tolerable and more transcient 
 than one in public spirit, and that material prosperity was never 
 known to abide long in a country that had lost its political 
 morality. The fault of the Free States in the eyes of the South 
 is not one that can be atoned for by any yielding of special 
 points here and there. Their offence is that they are free, and 
 that their habits and prepossessions are those of Freedom. 
 Their crime is the census of i860. Their increase in numbers, 
 wealth, and power is a standing aggression. It would not be 
 enough to please the Southern States that we should stop 
 
7gA The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 askir them to abolish Slavery — what they demand of us is 
 not'f'ig less than that we should abolish the spirit of the age. 
 0)<' very thoughts are a menace. It is not the North, but the 
 c;^th, that forever agitates the question of Slavery. ... It is 
 tie stars in their courses that fight against their system, and 
 ^'- .J ^ there are those who propose to make everything comfortable 
 
 by Act of Congress. . . . 
 
 A dissolution of the Union would be a terrible thing, but 
 not so terrible as an acquiescence in the theory that Property 
 is the only interest that binds men together in society, and that 
 its protection is the highest object of human government. . . . 
 
 It is time that the South should learn, if they do not begin 
 to suspect it already, that the difficulty of the Slavery question 
 is slavery itself — nothing more, nothing less. It is time that 
 the North should learn that it has nothing left to compromise 
 but the rest of its self-respect. Nothing will satisfy the ex- 
 tremists at the South short of a reduction of the Free States 
 to a mere police for the protection of an institution whose 
 danger increases at an equal pace with its wealth. . . . The 
 greatest danger of disunion would spring from a want of self- 
 possession and spirit in the Free States. 
 
 91. Seces- In response to many letters from his fellovi^ citizens of 
 
 tmcation and" Georgia, Honorable Howell Cobb, Secretary of the Treas- 
 its accom- ^ry under Buchanan, published a pamphlet of sixteen pages 
 December,' in December, i860, entitled, '' Letter of Hon. Howell Cobb 
 to the People of Georgia on the Present Condition of the 
 Country." In it he answers the specific question, Does 
 the election of Lincoln to the Presidency, in the usual 
 and constitutional mode, justify the Southern States in 
 dissolving the Union } After a severe arraignment of the 
 Black Republican party, he concludes : 
 
 What are the facts to justify the hope that the Black Re- 
 publicans will recede from their well defined position of hostility 
 to the South and her institutions ? Are they to be found in the 
 two millions of voters who have deliberately declared in favor 
 
 i860 
 
 [3301 
 
Secession 
 
 \ ^^^ 
 of these doctrines by their support of Lincoln? Is 
 based upon the fact that an overwhelming majority\ f* 
 people of every Northern State save one^ cast their vov 
 the Black Republican candidate? Is it drawn from the^ 
 that on the fourth of March next the chair of Washingtoi 
 to be filled by a man who hates the institution of slavery 
 much as any other abolitionist, and who has not only declare( 
 but used all the powers of his intellect to prove that our slaves 
 are our equals and that all laws which hold otherwise are vio- 
 lative of the Declaration of Independence and at war with the 
 law of God — a man who is indebted for his present election 
 to the Presidency alone to his abolition sentiments — and who 
 stands pledged to the doctrine of the " irrepressible conflict," 
 and indeed claims to be its first advocate ? Or shall we look 
 for this hope in the whispered intimation that when secure in 
 his office, Lincoln will prove faithless to the principles of his 
 party and false to his own pledges, or in his emphatic declara- 
 tion of May 1859, that he would oppose the lowering of the 
 Republican standard by a hair's breadth^ or in the public an- 
 nouncement made by Senator Trumbull of Illinois, since the 
 election, /// the preseiice of Mr. Lincoln, that he, Lincoln, Would 
 " maintain and carry forward the principles on which he was 
 elected^' at the same time holding up the military power of the 
 United States as the instrumentality to enforce obedience to 
 the incoming abolition administration, should any Southern State 
 secede from the Union ; or in the prospect of a more efficient 
 execution of the fugitive slave law, when the marshall's offices 
 in all the Northern States shall have been filled with Lincoln's 
 abolition appointees ; or in the refusal of Vermont, since the 
 election of Lincoln, by the decisive vote of more than two to 
 one in her Legislature, to repeal the Personal Liberty Bill of 
 
 1 That is, New Jersey, in which Douglas received three electoral 
 votes. The statement is a gross exaggeration. " Overwhelming majori- 
 ties" can hardly be spoken of in the light of the following figures: in 
 New York, Lincoln 362,646, Douglas 312,510; in Illinois, Lincoln 
 172,161, Douglas 160,215; in Indiana, Lincoln 139,033, Douglas, 115,509; 
 in New Hampshire, Lincoln 37,519, Douglas 25,881 ; in California, 
 Lincoln 39,173, Douglas 38,516. 
 
The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 , tate ... or shall we be pointed to the defiant tones of 
 , iph which fill the whole Northern air with the wild shouts 
 ^oy and thanksgiving that the days of slavery are numbered, 
 id the hour draws nigh when the " higher law " and " hatred 
 jf slavery and slaveholders " shall be substituted for " the Con- 
 stitution " and the spirit of former brotherhood ; or to the cold 
 irony which speaks through their press of the " inconvenience " 
 of negro insurrections, arson, and murder which may result in 
 the South from the election of Lincoln. . . . 
 
 I refer to one other source upon which the South is asked 
 to rely, and will then close the argument. We are expected, in 
 view of all these facts, to rely for our safety and protection 
 upon an uncertain and at best trembling majority in the two 
 Houses of Congress, and told, with an earnest appeal for further 
 delay, that with a majority in Congress against him Lincoln is 
 powerless to do us harm.^ ... It is true that without a majority 
 in Congress Lincoln will not be able to carry out at present all 
 the aggressive measures of his party. But let me ask if that 
 feeble and constantly-decreasing majority in Congress against 
 him can arrest that tide of popular sentiment at the North 
 against slavery, which, sweeping down all barriers of truth, 
 justice, and constitutional duty, has borne Mr. Lincoln into the 
 presidential chair? Can that Congressional majority, faint and 
 feeble as it is known to be, repeal the unconstitutional legisla- 
 tion of those ten nullifying States of the North ? ^ Can it restore 
 the lost equality of the Southern States ? . . . Can it control the 
 power and patronage of President Lincoln ? . . . Can it exercise 
 its power in one single act of legislation in our favor without 
 the concurrence of Lincoln ? . . . True but over-anxious friends of 
 Union at the North, faithful but over-confiding men of the South, 
 may catch at this Congressional majority straw, but it will only 
 be to grasp and sink with it. 
 
 The facts and considerations which I have endeavored to 
 bring to your view present the propriety of resistance on the 
 
 1 See the argument of Alexander H. Stephens in his speech of No- 
 vember 14, i860 (No. 89, p. 388). 
 
 2 That is, the Northern states which by their Personal Liberty bills 
 had " nullified " the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. 
 
Secession 
 
 397 
 
 part of the South to the election of Lincoln in a very A x^ 
 light from the mere question of resisting the election of a\ • 
 dent who has been chosen in the usual and constitutional 
 It is not simply that a comparatively obscure abolitionist, 
 hates the institutions of the South, has been elected Presided 
 . . . that the South contemplates resistance even to disunioi^ 
 Wounded honor might tolerate the outrage until by another^ 
 vote of the people the nuisance could be abated. But the elec- 
 tion of Mr. Lincoln involves far higher considerations. It brings 
 to the South the solemn judgment of a majority of the people 
 of everf Northern State — with a solitary exception — in favor 
 of doctrines and principles violative of her constitutional rights, 
 humiliating to her pride, destructive of her equality in the Union, 
 and fraught with the greatest danger to the peace and safety 
 of her people. It can be regarded in no other light than a declara- 
 tion of the purpose and intention of the North to continue, with 
 the power of the Federal Government, the war already com- 
 menced by the ten nullifying States of the North upon the institu- 
 tion of slavery and the constitutional rights of the South. . . . 
 
 The issue must now be met, or forever abandoned. Equality 
 and safety in the Union are at an end ; and it only remains to 
 be seen whether our manhood is equal to the task of asserting 
 and maintaining independence out of it. The Union formed by 
 our Fathers was one of equality, justice, and fraternity. On the 
 fourth of March it will be supplanted by a Union of sectionalism 
 and hatred. . . . Black Republicanism has buried brotherhood in 
 the same grave with the Constitution. We are no longer " breth- 
 ren dwelling together in unity." The ruling spirits of the North 
 are Black Republicans — and between them and the people of 
 the South there is no other feeling than that of bitter and in- 
 tense hatred. Aliens in heart, no power on earth can keep them 
 united. Nothing now holds us together but the cold formalities 
 of a broken and violated Constitution. Heaven has pronounced 
 the decree of divorce, and it will be accepted by the South as 
 the only solution which gives to her a promise of future peace 
 and safety. ... 
 
 Fellow-citizens of Georgia, I have endeavored to place before 
 you the facts of the case in plain and unimpassioned language. . . . 
 
^Qc, The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 Q^.ie 4*^ of March 1861, the Government will pass into the 
 1 Js of the Abolitionists. It will then cease to have the slightest 
 im either upon your confidence or your loyalty ; and, in my 
 onest judgment, each hour that Georgia remains thereafter a 
 member of the Union will be an hour of degradation, to be 
 followed by certain and speedy ruin. I entertain no doubt of 
 either your right or duty to secede from the Union. Arouse, 
 then, all your manhood for the great work before you, and be 
 prepared on that day to announce and maintain your independ- 
 ence out of the Union, for you will never again have equality 
 and justice in it. Identified with you in heart, feeling,' and in- 
 terest, I return to share in whatever destiny the future has in 
 store for our State and ourselves. 
 
 Two days after writing the above letter, Secretary Cobb 
 put his resignation in President Buchanan's hands. 
 
 Washington City, Dec. 8, i860 
 
 My dear Sir : A sense of duty to the State of Georgia 
 requires me to take a step which makes it proper that I should 
 no longer continue to be a member of your Cabinet. 
 
 In the troubles of the country consequent upon the late 
 Presidential Election, the honor and safety of my State are in- 
 volved. Her people so regard it, and in their opinion I fully 
 concur. They are engaged in a struggle where the issue is life 
 or death. My friends ask for my views and counsel. Not to 
 respond would be degrading to myself and unjust to them. I 
 have accordingly prepared, and must now issue to them, an ad- 
 dress which contains the calm and solemn convictions of my 
 heart and judgment. . . . 
 
 For nearly four years I have been associated with you as one 
 of your Cabinet officers, and during that period nothing has oc- 
 curred to mar, even for a moment, our personal and official 
 relations. In the policy and measures of your Administration I 
 have cordially concurred, and shall ever feel proud of the hum- 
 ble place which my name may occupy in its history. If your 
 wise counsels and patriotic warnings had been heeded by your 
 countrymen, the fourth of March next would have found our 
 
Secession 
 
 '399 
 
 country happy, prosperous, and united. That this will\, 
 so is no fault of yours. 
 
 The evil has now passed beyond control, and must be\ 
 by each and all of us under our responsibility to God and 
 country. If, as I believe, history will have to record yours 
 the last administration of our present Union, it will also place 
 side by side with the purest and ablest of those that preceded it. 
 
 With the kindest regards for yourself and the members of 
 your Cabinet, with whom I have been so pleasantly associated. 
 
 On December 20, i860, the convention which had 
 been assembled in South Carolina, on the news of Lin- 
 coln's election, by a unanimous vote of its one hundred 
 and sixty-nine members adopted the following ordinance : 
 
 TO DISSOLVE THE UNION BETWEEN THE STATE OF 
 SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE OTHER STATES UNITED 
 WITH HER UNDER THE COMPACT ENTITLED "THE 
 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" 
 
 We, the people of the State of South Cm'olina, in Cofivention 
 assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared a?id 
 ordaified 
 
 That the ordinance adopted by us in Convention, on the 
 twenty-third day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
 seven hundred and eighty-eight, whereby the Constitution of the 
 United States of America was ratified, and also all Acts and 
 parts of Acts of the General Assembly of this State, ratifying 
 amendments of the said Constitution, are hereby repealed ; and 
 that the Union now subsisting between South Carolina and the 
 other States, under the name of the " United States of America " 
 is hereby dissolved.^ 
 
 1 Accompanying the ordinance, was issued (December 24) a Declara- 
 tion of Catises, in which the state, " having resumed her separate and 
 equal place among nations," deemed it due to herself and the other 
 states of the Union to declare the causes of separation. After accusing 
 the Northern states of a steady course of policy for twenty-five years, 
 destructive of constitutional government, the Declaration concludes by 
 
The Crisis of Disunion 
 40 
 
 le subsequent ordinances of secession were more 
 ^liled than the single paragraph of the South Carolina 
 invention. The following ordinance of Alabama, adopted 
 January 11, 1861, is unique in its specific mention of the 
 election of Lincoln as the cause of secession, as well as in 
 its invitation to all the other slaveholding states, whether 
 they had seceded or not, to meet in a convention for 
 " securing concerted and harmonious action " : 
 
 Whereas^ the election of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal 
 Hamlin to the offices of President and Vice President of the 
 United States of America, by a sectional party, avowedly hos- 
 tile to the domestic institutions and to the peace and security 
 of the people of the State of Alabama, preceded by many and 
 dangerous infractions of the Constitution of the United States 
 by many of the States and people of the Northern section, is 
 a political wrong of so insulting and menacing a character as 
 to justify the people of the State of Alabama in the adoption 
 of prompt and decided measures for their future peace and 
 security: Therefore 
 
 Be it declared and ordained by the people of the State of Ala- 
 bama i?i cofiventio?i assembled^ That the State of Alabama now 
 withdraws, and is withdrawn, from the Union known as " the 
 United States of America," and henceforth ceases to be one of the 
 said United States, and is, and of right ought to be, a sovereign 
 and independent State. 
 
 Sec. 2 . Be it further declared and ordai^ied by the people of the 
 State of Alabama iii conve?ition assefnbled, That all the powers 
 over the territory of said State, and over the people thereof, 
 heretofore delegated to the Government of the United States 
 of America be, and they are hereby, withdrawn from said 
 
 an appeal to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of the 
 conduct of the convention, and the unequivocal announcement of the 
 independence of South Carolina, " with full power to levy war, con- 
 clude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other 
 acts and things which independent States may of right do." Printed in 
 American History Leaflets, ed. Hart and Channing, No. 12, pp. 3-9. 
 
Secession 
 
 yoi 
 
 Government, and are hereby resumed and vested in the 
 of the State of Alabama. 
 
 And as it is the desire and purpose of the State of Alabj 
 to meet the slaveholding States of the South who may appro\ 
 such purpose, in order to frame a provisional as well as a 
 manent government, upon the principles of the Constitution of^ 
 the United States 
 
 Be it resolved by the people of Alabama in Conve?ttion assent- \ 
 bled, That the people of the States of Delaware, Maryland, 
 Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, 
 Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, 
 and Missouri, be, and are hereby, invited to meet the people of 
 the State of Alabama, by their delegates, in convention, on the 
 4**" day of February, a.d. i86i, at the city of Montgomery, in 
 the State of Alabama, for the purpose of consulting with each 
 other as to the most effectual mode of securing concerted and 
 harmonious action in whatever measures may be deemed most 
 desirable for our common peace and security. 
 
 And be it further resolved, That the President of this conven- 
 tion be, and is hereby, instructed to transmit forthwith a copy 
 of the foregoing preamble, ordinance, and resolutions, to the 
 Governors of the several States named in said resolutions. 
 
 Done by the people of the State of Alabama, in convention 
 assembled, at Montgomery, on this, the ii"" day of January, 
 A.D. 1861. 
 
 The Fall of Fort Sumter 
 
 Captain Abner Doubleday, from whose vivid narrative 92. The 
 the following extract is taken, was second in command to ^^^^ t^- 
 Major Robert Anderson in the Httle garrison at Fort Sum- t^r, April 12- 
 ter. It was Doubleday who conducted the transfer of 
 
 Anderson's force from Fort Moultrie on the mainland to 
 Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, on December 16, 
 i860 ; ^ it was he who fired the first gun from the parapet 
 
 1 Anderson's dispatch to Colonel Cooper, adjutant general, dated 
 from Fort Sumter, December i6, i860, 8 p.m.: "Colonel: I have the 
 honor to report that I have just completed, by the blessing of God, the 
 
 [333] 
 
The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 j^mter in reply to Beauregard's bombardment ; and it 
 p he who after the surrender led the garrison out with 
 ^e honors of war, the flag flying, and the band playing 
 ' Yankee Doodle." 
 
 The enemy's batteries on Sullivan's Island were so placed as 
 to fire directly into the officers' quarters at Fort Sumter; and 
 as our rooms would necessarily become untenable, we vacated 
 them, and chose points that were more secure. . . . About 4 a.m. 
 on the 12''' [of April] I was awakened by some one groping 
 about my room in the dark and calling out my name. It proved 
 to be Anderson who came to announce to me that he had just 
 received a dispatch from Beauregard,^ dated 3.20 a.m., to the 
 effect that he should fire upon us in an hour. . . . 
 
 As soon as the outline of our fort could be distinguished, the 
 enemy carried out their programme. ... In a moment the fir- 
 ing burst forth in one continuous roar, and large patches of both 
 the exterior and interior masonry began to crumble and fall in 
 all directions.^ The place where I was had been used for the 
 
 removal to this fort of all my garrison, except the surgeon, four non- 
 commissioned officers, and seven men. We have one year's supply of 
 hospital stores and about four months' supply of provisions for my com- 
 mand. I left orders to have all the guns at Fort Moultrie spiked, and 
 the carriages of the 32-pounders, which are old, destroyed. I have sent 
 orders to Captain P'oster, who remains at Fort Moultrie, to destroy all 
 the ammunition which he cannot send over. The step which I have 
 taken was, in my opinion, necessary to prevent the effusion of blood." 
 — Quoted by S. W. Crawford, The Genesis of the Civil War, p. 106. 
 
 1 Dispatch of Colonel Chestnut and Captain Lee to Major Ander- 
 son, dated April 12, 1861, 3.30 a.m. : " Sir: By authority of Brigadier- 
 General Beauregard, commanding the provisional forces of the 
 Confederate States, we have the honor to notify you that he will open 
 the fire of his batteries on Fort Sumter in one hour from this time." 
 The Genesis of the Civil War, p. 426. 
 
 2 S. W. Crawford, surgeon general of the garrison, gives the follow- 
 ing picture of the opening of the fire : '' The sea was calm, and the night 
 still under the bright starlight, when at 4.30 a.m. the sound of a mortar 
 from a battery at Fort Johnson broke upon the stillness. It was the 
 signal to the batteries around to open fire. The shell, fired by Capt. 
 George St. James, who commanded the battery, rose high in air, and 
 
Secession 
 
 manufacture of cartridges, and there was still a good _ 
 powder there, some packed and some loose. A shell soon 
 near the ventilator, and a puff of dense smoke entered the r^ 
 giving me a strong impression that there would be an immedil 
 explosion. Fortunately, no sparks had penetrated inside. 
 
 Nineteen batteries were now hammering at us, and the ball^ 
 and shells from the ten-inch columbiads,^ accompanied by shells 
 from the thirteen-inch mortars which constantly bombarded us, 
 made us feel as if the war had commenced in earnest. 
 
 When it was broad daylight, I went down to breakfast. I 
 found the officers already assembled at one of the long tables 
 in the mess-hall. Our party were calm, and even somewhat 
 merry. . . . Our meal was not very sumptuous. It consisted 
 of pork and water, but D' Crawford triumphantly brought forth 
 a little farina, which he had found in a corner of the hospital. 
 
 When this frugal repast was over, my company was told off in 
 three details for firing purposes, to be relieved afterward by Sey- 
 mour's company. As I was the ranking officer, I took the first 
 detachment, and marched them to the casemates, which looked 
 out upon the powerful iron-clad battery of Cummings Point. 
 
 In aiming the first gun fired against the rebellion I had no 
 feeling of self-reproach, for I fully believed that the contest was 
 inevitable and was not of our seeking. The United States was 
 called upon not only to defend its sovereignty, but its right to 
 exist as a nation. The only alternative was to submit to a 
 powerful oligarchy who were determined to make freedom for- 
 ever subordinate to slavery. To me it was simply a contest, 
 politically speaking, as to whether virtue or vice should rule. . . . 
 
 curving in its course, burst almost directly over the fort. A silence 
 followed for a few moments, when a gun opened from the Ironclad 
 battery on Cummings Point. Hardly had the echo of this opening gun 
 died upon the air, when the mortars nearest to the fort opened their fire, 
 which was at once followed by others in the neighborhood, and in suc- 
 cession by the batteries around, until the fort was ' surrounded by a 
 circle of fire.'" — The Genesis of the Civil War, p. 427. 
 
 1 The columbiad was a cast iron smooth-bore cannon from which 
 both shells and solid shot were fired. It was used extensively in the 
 War of 18 1 2, but was already old-fashioned at the opening of the 
 Civil War. 
 
The Crisis of Diszmio7t 
 
 The firing continued all day, without any special incident of 
 .iportance, and without our making much impression on the 
 enemy's works. They had a great advantage over us, as their 
 fire was concentrated on the fort, which was in the center of the 
 circle, while ours was diffused over the circumference. Their 
 missiles were exceedingly destructive to the upper exposed por- 
 tion of the work, but no essential injury was done to the lower 
 casemates which sheltered us. 
 
 Some of these shells, however, set the officers' quarters on 
 fire three times ; but the flames were promptly extinguished. . . . 
 
 On the morning of the 13*'', we took our breakfast — or, 
 rather, our pork and water — at the usual hour, and marched the 
 men to the guns when the meal was over. From 4 to 6 J a.m. 
 the enemy's fire was very spirited. From 7 to 8 a.m. a rain- 
 storm came on, and there was a lull in the cannonading. About 
 8 A.M. the officers' quarters were ignited. . . . The fire was put 
 out ; but at 10 a.m. a mortar shell passed through the roof, and 
 lodged in the flooring of the second story, where it burst, and 
 started the flames afresh. This, too, was extinguished ; but the 
 hot shot soon followed each other so rapidly that it was impossi- 
 ble for us to contend with them any longer. It became evident 
 that the entire block, being built with wooden partitions, floors, 
 and roofing, must be consumed, and that the magazine, containing 
 300 barrels of powder, would be endangered. . . . 
 
 While the officers exerted themselves with axes to tear down 
 and cut away all woodwork in the vicinity, the soldiers were 
 rolling barrels of powder out to more sheltered spots, and were 
 covering them with wet blankets. . . . We only succeeded in 
 getting out some 96 barrels of powder, and then we were 
 obliged to close the massive copper door. . . . 
 
 By 1 1 A.M. the conflagration was terrible and disastrous. One 
 fifth of the fort was on fire, and the wind drove the smoke in 
 dense masses into the angle where we all had taken refuge. It 
 seemed impossible to escape suffocation. Some lay down close 
 to the ground, with handkerchiefs over their mouths, and others 
 posted themselves near the embrasures, where the smoke was 
 somewhat lessened by the draught of air. Everyone suffered 
 severely. I crawled out on one of these openings and sat on the 
 
Secession \ 
 
 outer edge ; but Ripley [a Charleston gunner] made it li\ 
 me there with his case-shot, which spattered all around 
 not a slight change of wind taken place, the result might \^ 
 been fatal to most of us. . . . \ 
 
 The scene at this time was really terrific. The roaring any 
 crackling of the flames, the dense masses of whirling smoke, the 
 bursting of the enemy's shells, and our own which were explod- 
 ing in the burning rooms, the crashing of the shot and the sound 
 of masonry falling in every direction, made the fort a pande- 
 monium. When at last nothing was left of the building but the 
 blackened walls and smoldering embers, it became painfully 
 evident that an immense amount of damage had been done. 
 There was a tower at each angle of the fort. One of these, 
 containing great quantities of shells, upon which we had relied, 
 was almost completely shattered by successive explosions. The 
 massive wooden gates, studded with iron nails, were burned, 
 and the wall built behind them was now a mere heap of debris, 
 so that the main entrance was wide open for an assaulting party. 
 The sally-ports were in similar condition, and the numerous 
 windows on the gorge side, which had been planked up, had 
 now become all open entrances. 
 
 About 12.48 P.M. the end of the flagstaff was shot down, 
 and the flag fell. It had previously been hanging by one halliard, 
 the other having been cut by a piece of shell. The exultation 
 of the enemy however was short-lived. Peter Hart found a 
 spar in the fort which answered very well as a temporary flag- 
 staff. He nailed the flag to this, and raised it triumphantly by 
 nailing and tying the pole firmly to a pile of gun-carriages on 
 the parapet. This was gallantly done, without undue haste, 
 under Seymour's supervision, though the enemy concentrated 
 all their fire upon the spot to prevent Hart from carrying out 
 his intention. . . . 
 
 About 2 P.M. Senator Wigfall [of Texas] in company with 
 W. Gourdin Young of Charleston, unexpectedly made his 
 appearance at one of the embrasures, having crossed over from 
 Morris Island in a small boat, rowed by negroes. He had seen 
 the flag come down, and supposed that we had surrendered in 
 consequence of the burning of the quarters. . . . Wigfall, in 
 
% 
 
 The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 auregard's name, offered Anderson his own terms, which 
 
 ere, the evacuation of the fort, with permission to salute our 
 
 lag, and to march out with the honors of war, with our arms 
 
 and private baggage, leaving all other war material behind. . . . 
 
 When Beauregard received notice that Anderson was willing 
 to ratify the terms agreed on, he sent over another boat con- 
 taining Colonel Miles [and others] to arrange the details of the 
 evacuation. . . . Our arrangements were few and simple, but 
 the rebels made extensive preparations for the event, in order to 
 give it the greatest eclat, and gain from it as much prestige as 
 possible. The population of the surrounding country poured 
 into Charleston in vast multitudes, to witness the humiliation of 
 the United States flag. . . . 
 
 The next morning, Sunday, the 1 4''', we were up early, pack- 
 ing our baggage in readiness to go on board the transport. The 
 time having arrived, I made preparations, by order of Major 
 Anderson, to fire a national salute to the flag. . . . The salute 
 being over, the Confederate troops marched in to occupy the 
 fort. . . . Anderson directed me to form the men on the parade- 
 ground, assume command, and march them on board the trans- 
 port. I told him I should prefer to leave the fort with the flag 
 flying, and the drums beating Yankee Doodle, and he authorized 
 me to do so. As soon as our tattered flag came down, and the 
 silken banner made by the ladies of Charleston was run up, 
 tremendous shouts of applause were heard from the vast multi- 
 tude of spectators ; and all the vessels and steamers, with one 
 accord, made for the fort. . . . 
 
 As we went aboard the Isabel^ with drums beating the 
 national air, all eyes were fixed on us. . . . It was an hour of 
 triumph for the originators of secession in South Carolina, and 
 no doubt it seemed to them the culmination of all their hopes ; 
 but could they have seen into the future with the eye of proph- 
 ecy, their joy might have been turned into mourning. . . . 
 
 My story is nearly done. We soon reached the Baltic, and 
 were received with great sympathy and feeling by the army and 
 navy officers present. . . . We arrived in New York on the 19*'', 
 and were received with unbounded enthusiasm. All the passing 
 steamers saluted us with their steam-whistles and bells, and 
 
Secession 
 
 cheer after cheer went up from the ferry-boats and vessO 
 the harbor. . . . The principal city papers, the Tribime, 7}^ 
 Herald, and Evening Post, gave us a hearty welcome. Foi 
 long time the enthusiasm in New York remained undiminishec 
 It was impossible for us to venture into the main streets without 
 being ridden on the shoulders of men, and torn to pieces by 
 hand-shaking. ... It seemed as if every one of note called to 
 express his devotion to the cause of the Union, and his sympathy 
 with us, who had been its humble representatives amidst the 
 perils of the first conflict of the war. 
 
/y 
 
 [343] 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 The Opposing Forces 
 
 9 War The following proclamations and laws show how the 
 
 ;om April government at Washington met the outbreak of the Civil 
 to August, War. They include {a) President Lincoln's call for 75,000 
 volunteer troops on the day following the fall of Fort 
 Sumter (April 15); (b) the President's declaration of a 
 blockade of the coast of the seceded states (April 19) ; 
 (c) the authorization of a national loan by Congress in 
 extra session (July 17); {d) a resolution of Congress 
 declaring the purpose of the war (July 22) ; and {e) an 
 act to confiscate the property, including slaves, which was 
 used to further the insurrection (August 6). 
 
 (a) 
 
 Whereas the laws of the United States have been, for some 
 time past, and now are opposed, and the execution thereof 
 obstructed, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, 
 Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, by combinations too 
 powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial 
 proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by law : 
 
 Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United 
 States, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution 
 and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do call 
 forth the militia of the several States of the Union, to the aggre- 
 gate number of seventy-five thousand, in order to suppress said 
 combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed. 
 
 408 
 
The Civil War 
 
 The details for this object will be immediately communic^ 
 to the State authorities through the War Department. 
 
 I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid th\ 
 effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence 
 our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government; 
 arid to redress wrongs already long enough endured. 
 
 I deem it proper to say that the first service assigned to the 
 forces hereby called forth will probably be to repossess the forts, 
 places, and property which have been seized from the Union; 
 and in every event the utmost care will be observed, consistently 
 with the objects aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any destruc- 
 tion of, or interference with property, or any disturbance of 
 peaceful citizens in any part of the country. 
 
 And I hereby command the persons composing the com- 
 binations aforesaid to disperse, and retire peaceably to their 
 respective abodes within twenty days from this date. 
 
 Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents 
 an extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power 
 in me vested by the Constitution, convene both Houses of Con- 
 gress. Senators and Representatives are therefore summoned 
 to assemble at their respective chambers at twelve o'clock, noon, 
 on Thursday, the fourth day of July next, then and there to 
 consider and determine such measures as, in their wisdom, the 
 public safety and interest may seem to demand. 
 
 In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused 
 
 the seal of the United States to be affixed. 
 
 Done at the city of Washington, this fifteenth day of April, 
 
 P ^ in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
 
 '- ■ *-■ sixty one, and of the Independence of the United States 
 
 the eighty-fifth. , -r . , 
 
 Abraham Lmcoln 
 
 By the President 
 
 William H. Seward, Secretary of State 
 
 (*) 
 
 Whereas an insurrection against the Government of the 
 United States has broken out in the States of South Carolina, 
 Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, 
 
J The Crisis of Dis7iiiion 
 
 lid the laws of the United States for the collection of the 
 revenue cannot be effectually executed therein conformably to 
 that provision of the Constitution which requires duties to be 
 uniform throughout the United States : 
 
 And whereas a combination of persons, engaged in such insur- 
 rection, have threatened to grant pretended letters of marque to au- 
 thorize the bearers thereof to commit assaults on the lives, vessels, 
 and property of good citizens of the country lawfully engaged in 
 commerce on the high seas, and in waters of the United States . . . 
 
 Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United 
 States, with a view to the same purposes before mentioned, and 
 to the protection of the public peace, and the lives and property 
 of quiet and orderly citizens pursuing their lawful occupations, 
 until Congress shall have assembled and deliberated on the said 
 unlawful proceedings, or until the same shall have ceased, have 
 further deemed it advisable to set on foot a blockade of the 
 ports within the States aforesaid, in pursuance of the laws of 
 the United States and of the laws of nations in such case pro- 
 vided. For this purpose a competent force will be posted so as 
 to prevent entrance and exit of vessels from the ports aforesaid. 
 If, therefore, with a view to violate such blockade, a vessel shall 
 approach, or shall attempt to leave either of the said ports, she 
 will be duly warned by the commander of one of the blockading 
 vessels, who will indorse on her register the fact and date of 
 such warning, and if the same vessel shall again attempt to 
 enter or leave the blockaded port, she will be captured and 
 sent to the nearest convenient port, for such proceedings against 
 her and her cargo as prize, as may be deemed advisable. 
 
 And I hereby proclairn and declare that if any person, under 
 the pretended authority of the said States, or under any other 
 pretence, shall molest a vessel of the United States, or the per- 
 sons or cargo on board of her, such person will be held amena- 
 ble to the laws of the United States for the prevention and 
 punishment of piracy. . . . 
 
 In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused 
 the seal of the United States to be aflfixed. 
 
 1 )one . . . this nineteenth day of April etc. ... 
 
 Abraham Lincoln 
 
The Civil War 
 
 w 
 
 Be it enacted . . . That the Secretary of the Treasury bv 
 and he is hereby, authorized to borrow on the credit of the 
 United States, within twelve months from the passage of this 
 act, a sum not exceeding two hundred and fifty millions of dol- 
 lars, or so much thereof as he may deem necessary for the pub- 
 lic service, for which he is authorized to issue coupon bonds, or 
 registered bonds, or treasury notes, in such proportion of each 
 as he may deem advisable ; the bonds to bear interest not ex- 
 ceeding seven per centum per annum, payable semi-annually, 
 irredeemable for twenty years, and after that period redeemable 
 at the pleasure of the United States ; and the treasury notes to 
 be of any denomination fixed by the Secretary of the Treasury, 
 not less than fifty dollars, and to be payable three years after 
 date, with interest at the rate of seven and three tenths per 
 centum per annum,^ payable semi-annually. And the Secretary 
 of the Treasury may also issue in exchange for coin, and as 
 part of the above loan, or may pay for salaries or other dues 
 from the United States, treasury notes of a less denomination 
 than fifty dollars, not bearing interest, but payable on demand 
 by the Assistant Treasurers of the United States at Philadel- 
 phia, New York, or Boston . . . provided that no treasury notes 
 shall be issued of a less denomination than ten dollars, and that 
 the whole amount of treasury notes, not bearing interest, issued 
 under the authority of this act, shall not exceed fifty millions 
 of dollars, . . . 
 
 And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury 
 may, if he deem it advisable, negotiate any portion of said loan, 
 not exceeding one hundred millions of dollars, in any foreign 
 country and payable at any designated place either in the United 
 States or in Europe. . . . 
 
 And be it further enacted, That the faith of the United States 
 is hereby solemnly pledged for the payment of the interest and 
 redemption of the principal of the loan authorized by this act 
 
 Approved, July 17, 1861. 
 
 1 The peculiar figure of 7.3 per cent was adopted for the convenient 
 reason that it made the interest on the $50 note exactly a cent a day. 
 
1 The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 {d) 
 
 Resolved . . . That the present deplorable Civil War has been 
 forced upon the country by the disunionists of the southern 
 States, now in arms against the constitutional government, and 
 in arms around the capital; that in this national emergency, 
 Congress, banishing all feelings of mere passion or resentment, 
 will recollect only its duty to the whole country ; that this war 
 is not waged on their part in any spirit of oppression, or for 
 any purpose of conquest or subjugation, or purpose of over- 
 throwing or interfering with the rights or established institutions 
 of those States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of 
 the Constitution, and to preserve the Union with all the dig- 
 nity, equality, and rights of the several States unimpaired ; and 
 that as soon as these objects are accomplished the war ought 
 to cease. 
 
 Be it enacted . . . That if, during the present or any future 
 insurrection against the Government of the United States, after 
 the President of the United States shall have declared, by 
 proclamation, that the laws of the United States are opposed, 
 and the execution thereof obstructed, by combinations too 
 powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial 
 proceedings, or by the power vested in the marshals by law, 
 any person or persons, his, her, or their agent, attorney, or em- 
 ploye shall purchase or acquire, sell or give, any property of 
 whatsoever kind or description, with intent to use or employ 
 the same, or suffer the same to be used or employed, in aiding, 
 abetting, or promoting such insurrection or resistance to the laws, 
 or any person or persons engaged therein ; or if any person or 
 persons, being the owner or owners of any such property, shall 
 knowingly use or employ, or consent to the use or employment 
 of the same as aforesaid, all such property is hereby declared to 
 be lawful subject of prize and capture wherever found ; and it 
 shall be the duty of the President of the United States to cause 
 the same to be seized, confiscated, and condemned. . . . 
 
 And be it further enacted, That the Attorney-General or any 
 district attorney of the United States in which said property may 
 
The Civil War i^^. ' 
 
 at the time be, may institute the proceedings of condemnatioiJ 
 and in such case they shall be wholly for the benefit of the Unitea 
 States; or any person may file an information with such attorney, 
 in which case the proceedings shall be for the use of such informer 
 and the United States in equal parts. \ 
 
 Afid be it further enacted, That whenever hereafter, during the 
 present insurrection against the Government of the United States, 
 any person claimed to be held to labor or service under the law 
 of any State, shall be required or permitted by the person to 
 whom such labor or service is claimed to be due, or by the law- 
 ful agent of such person, to take up arms against the United 
 States ... or to work or be employed in or upon any fort, navy 
 yard, dock, armory, ship, entrenchment, or in any military or 
 naval service whatsoever, against the Government and lawful 
 authority of the United States, then, and in every such case, the 
 person to whom such labor or service is claimed to be due shall 
 forfeit his claim to such labor, any law of the State or of the 
 United States to the contrary notwithstanding. And whenever 
 thereafter the person claiming such labor or service shall seek to 
 enforce his claim, it shall be a full and sufficient answer to such 
 claim that the person whose service or labor is claimed had been 
 employed in hostile service against the Government of the United 
 States, contrary to the provisions of this act.^ 
 
 Approved, August 6, 1861. 
 
 1 President Lincoln, who was determined at the beginning of the war 
 to adhere to his professed policy of preserving the Union rather than 
 freeing the slaves, and who was consequently very careful not to alienate 
 or offend the loyal slaveowners, signed this bill with reluctance. How- 
 ever, the actual confiscation of negroes had begun several months before. 
 As early as May 24, General B. F. Butler, commanding at Fortress 
 Monroe, in Virginia, had refused to deliver up to their owners negro 
 slaves who had come into the Union lines. His pretext was that, having 
 been employed in the construction of a confederate battery, the negroes 
 were " contraband of war," and he forthwith set them to work on the 
 Union entrenchments. Later in the year other commanders in the field 
 (Fremont, Hunter) took it upon themselves to declare the emancipation 
 of the slaves in their districts. 
 
The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 f49] 
 
 From Bull Run to Gettysburg 
 
 The relations of the Federal government and the court 
 of St. James were sorely strained during the Civil War by 
 the open sympathies of the governing classes and the in- 
 fluential journals of England with the Southern cause, and 
 by the remissness of the British ministry in allowing ships 
 to be built and launched in English yards for the purpose 
 of preying on Northern commerce. President Lincoln's 
 proclamation of the blockade of the Southern ports (see 
 No. 93 {b), p. 409) was a severe blow to British trade, ^ and 
 threatened to cripple British industry by shutting off the 
 supply of raw cotton for her mills.^ The queen's procla- 
 mation of neutrality of May 13, 1861, recognized the 
 secessionists as belligerents, whereas the administration at 
 Washington affected to regard them as traitors — even after 
 Bull Run and the beginning of an interchange of prisoners 
 
 1 Lord Lyons, the British minister at Washington, writing to his home 
 government of the proposed blockade, said : " CalHng it an enforcement 
 of the Revenue Laws appeared to me to increase the gravity of the 
 measure, for it placed the Foreign Powers in the dilemma of recognizing 
 the Southern Confederation, or of submitting to the interruption of their 
 Commerce." — Lord Newton, Lord Lyons, Vol. I, p. 33. 
 
 2 Punch, the London comic paper, summed up the dilemma between 
 ethics and profits thus : 
 
 Though with the North we sympathize, 
 
 It must not be forgotten 
 That with the South we Ve stronger ties 
 
 W^hich are composed of cotton, 
 Whereof our imports mount unto 
 
 A sum of many figures ; 
 And where would be our calico 
 
 Without the toil of niggers ? 
 
 Quoted by Rhodes, History of the United States since 1850, Vol. Ill, 
 p. 433. Seward wrote to his wife. May 17, 1861 : "Great Britain is in 
 great danger of sympathizing so much with the South, for the sake of 
 peace and cotton, as to drive us to make war against her as the ally of 
 the traitors." — Frederick Bancroft, Life of Seward, Vol. II, p. 575. 
 
The Civil War 4^5\ 
 
 of war.i So the forcible removal of Messrs. Mason and 
 Slidell from the British steamer Tretit, applauded en- 
 thusiastically by the majority of the President's cabinet, 
 the members of Congress, and the general public of the 
 North, appeared to the British government as the last act 
 in a policy of deliberate infraction of their neutral rights. 
 The people of England were aflame with indignation.^ 
 Eight thousand troops were dispatched to Canada, and 
 war between the United States and England seemed immi- 
 nent as the Christmas season of 1861 approached. Lord 
 Lyons, the British minister at Washington, wrote to his 
 chief, Lord John Russell, foreign minister in Lord 
 Palmerston's cabinet : 
 
 Washington, Nov. 22, 1861 
 
 I have all along been expecting some such blow as the cap- 
 ture on board the Tre7it. Turn out how it may, it must I fear 
 produce an effect on public opinion in both countries which will 
 go far to disconcert all my peaceful plans and hopes. I am so 
 worn out with the never-ending labor of keeping things smooth, 
 under the discouragement of the doubt whether by so doing I 
 am not after all only leading these people to believe that they 
 may go all lengths with us with impunity that I am sometimes 
 
 1 Even as late as the autumn of 1861 Seward maintained that any 
 communication between a foreign government and the Confederate 
 government at Richmond was an offense to the United States (Lord 
 Newton, Lord Lyons, Vol. I, p. 53). As there was no government but 
 the Confederate below Mason and Dixon's line, this meant that England 
 and other foreign nations were to have no tribunal to which to appeal 
 to safeguard the lives and property of their citizens living in eleven 
 great states of the South. 
 
 2 An American living in London wrote to Mr. Seward two days after 
 the arrival of the news of the Trent episode (November 29) : " There never 
 was within memory such a burst of feeling as has been created by the 
 news of the boarding of the ITrent^. The people are frantic with rage, 
 and were the country polled, I fear that 999 men out of a thousand would 
 declare for immediate war. Lord Palmerston cannot resist the impulse 
 if he would." — War Records, Series H, Vol. TI, p. 1107. 
 
/ 6 The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 /lalf tempted to wish that the worst may have come already. 
 However, I do not allow this feeling to influence my conduct, 
 and I have done nothing which can in the least interfere with 
 any course which you may take concerning the affair of the Trent. 
 
 If the effect on the people and Government of this country 
 were the only thing to be considered, it would be a case for an 
 extreme measure one way or the other. If the capture be 
 unjustifiable we should ask for the immediate release of the 
 prisoners, promptly, imperatively, with a determination to act at 
 once, if the demand were refused. If, on the other hand, the 
 capture be justifiable, we should at once say so, and declare that 
 we have no complaint to make on the subject. Even so, we 
 should not escape the evil of encouraging the Americans in the 
 belief that we shall bear anything from them. For they have 
 made up their minds that they have insulted us, although the 
 fear of the consequences prevents their giving vent to their ex- 
 ultation. . . . While maintaining entire reserve on the question 
 itself, I have avoided any demonstration of ill-humor. My object 
 has been, on the one hand, not to prevent the Government being 
 led by its present apprehensions to take some conciliatory step, 
 and on the other hand, not to put H.[er] M.[ajesty's] Govern- 
 ment or myself in an awkward position, if it should after all 
 appear that we should not be right to make the affair a serious 
 ground of complaint. 
 
 Congress will meet on December 2"^^, which will not diminish 
 the difficulty of managing matters here. It is supposed that 
 General M^Clellan will be obliged to attempt some forward 
 movement, in order that he and the Government [cabinet] 
 may be able to meet the fiery legislators. . . . 
 
 On November 27th news of the boarding of the Trent 
 reached England, and on the 30th the British cabinet 
 drew up a dispatch declaring that the neutral rights of 
 Great Britain had been violated, demanding that the act 
 be disavowed and the prisoners set free, and instructing 
 Lord Lyons to leave Washington should the government 
 refuse to comply with these demands. When the dispatch 
 
The Civil War 417 
 
 was submitted to the queen and her royal consort, Prince 
 Albert, the latter (then on his deathbed) suggested severar\ 
 modifications and mitigations of its peremptory tone, such 
 as the omission of the phrase '' wanton insult " and of the 
 imperative mood and the threat to terminate diplomatic 
 relations. The revised draft read, in its important parts : 
 
 ... Her Majesty's Government, bearing in mind the friendly 
 relations which have long subsisted between Great Britain and 
 the United States, are willing to believe that the United States's 
 naval officer who committed this aggression was not acting in 
 compliance with any authority from his Government, or that if 
 he conceived himself to be so authorized, he greatly misunder- 
 stood the instructions which he had received. 
 
 For the Govemment of the United States must be fully aware 
 that the British Government could not allow such an affront 
 to the national honour to pass without full reparation, and her 
 Majesty's Government are unwilling to believe that it could be 
 the de) berate intention of the Government of the United States 
 unnecessarily to force into discussion between the two Govern- 
 ments a question of so grave a character, and with regard to 
 which the whole British nation would be sure to entertain such 
 unanimity of feeling. 
 
 Her Majesty's Government, therefore, trust that when this 
 matter shall have been brought under the consideration of the 
 Govemment of the United States, that Government will, of its 
 own accord, offer to the British Government such redress as 
 alone would satisfy the British nation, namely, the liberation of 
 the four gentlemen, and their delivery to your Lordship, in order 
 that they may again be placed under British protection, and a 
 suitable apology for the aggression which has been committed. 
 
 Should these terms not be offered by Mr. Seward, you will 
 propose them to him. 
 
 John Bright, the distinguished liberal statesman, and 
 member of parliament from Rochdale, near Manchester, 
 though himself a large cotton manufacturer, was the most 
 
4i8 The Crisis of Disnnion 
 
 constant and ardent friend of the North in the Uttle group 
 of Union sympathizers among the pubHc men of England. 
 He was a regular correspondent of Charles Sumner, chair- 
 man of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations/ to 
 whom he wrote in the Trent crisis as follows : 
 
 Reform Club, London, Nov. 29, 186 1 
 Dear Mr. Sumner, — 
 
 I am here for a few days, where some excitement is caused 
 by recent incidents growing out of your unhappy troubles. . . . 
 The Southern Commissioners have been taken from an English 
 ship. This has made a great sensation here, and the ignorant 
 and passionate, and '' Rule Britannia " class are angry and 
 insolent as usual.^ 
 
 1 Bright's letters were read to Lincoln and Seward, and sometimes 
 to the whole cabinet in regular session. After Lincoln's death Bright 
 wrote in his diary : " I have had no direct communication from the late 
 President, but my letters to Mr. Charles Sumner, as well as those from 
 Mr. Cobden, were frequently read by him, and he sent me, through Mr. 
 Sumner, in his own handwriting, a draft resolution which he suggested 
 as likely to be useful if adopted at public meetings held in this country 
 in favor of the North. It referred to the question of slavery, and the 
 impossibility of our recognizing a new state based on the foundation of 
 human bondage." — G. M. Trevelyan, Life of John Bright, p. 303 (with 
 half-tone facsimile of Lincoln's autograph draft). 
 
 2 An example of the " Rule Britannia " insolence appeared in the 
 Alorning Chronicle the day before Mr. Bright wrote. " Abraham Lin- 
 coln," said the editorial, " whose accession to power was generally wel- 
 comed on this side of the Atlantic, has proved himself a feeble, confused, 
 and little-minded mediocrity; Mr. Seward, the firebrand at his elbow, 
 is exerting himself to provoke a quarrel with all Europe, in that spirit 
 of senseless egotism, which induces the Americans, with their dwarf 
 fleet and shapeless mass of incoherent squads, which they call an army, 
 to fancy themselves the equals of France by land, and of Great Britain 
 by sea. If the Federal States could be rid of these two mischief-makers, 
 it might yet redeem itself in the sight of the world ; but while they 
 stagger on at the head of affairs, their only chance of fame consists in 
 the probability that the navies of England will blow out of the water 
 their blockading squadrons, and teach them how to respect the flag of 
 a mightier supremacy beyond the Atlantic." — Quoted in Massachusetts 
 Historical Society Proceedings, 19U-1912, Vol. XLV, p. 147. 
 
. The Civil War \ 
 
 The Ministers meet at this moment on the case. The\ 
 officers say that your war steamer might have taken the despatch^ 
 or the ship itself into one of your ports for adjudication ; bu\\ 
 that to take the Commissioners was unlawful, inasmuch as it is \ 
 not permitted for an officer of a ship of war finally to decide 
 on the right of capture. That duty belongs to a regularly con- 
 stituted Court. In fact you have done too little or too much. 
 Had you taken the ship, the law would not have been broken ; 
 but having taken only the men you are in the wrong. . . . 
 
 I hope our Government will take a moderate and forbearing 
 course, and that yours will do the same. 1 am sure you will do 
 what you can to smooth any irritation which may exist with you, 
 and you have great power. 
 
 I may learn something more this way, for I shall probably 
 see some Minister later in the day, and I am to dine with Mr. 
 Adams [United States minister to England] at seven o'clock. . . . 
 I hope to do some service for both countries on Wednesday 
 next. . . . 
 
 There is a feeling among our Ministers that Mr. Seward is 
 not so friendly in his transactions with them as they could wish. 
 I hope this is not so. . . . 
 
 Rochdale, December 5, 1861 
 Dear Mr. Sumner, — 
 
 The excitement here has been and is great, and it is fed, as 
 usual, by newspapers whose writers seem to imagine a cause of 
 war discovered to be something like " treasure trove." I am not 
 informed of the nature of the dispatch of our Government beyond 
 what appears in our Papers, and I know not how far its tone 
 is moderate or otherwise. ... If I were Minister or President 
 in your country, I would write the most complete answer the 
 case is capable of, and in a friendly and courteous tone, send 
 it to this country. I would say that if after this, your view of 
 the case is not accepted, you are ready to refer the matter to 
 any Sovereign, or two Sovereigns, or Governments of Europe, 
 or to any other eligible tribunal, and to abide by the decision. . . . 
 ,. I think you may do this with perfect honor, and you would 
 make it impossible for the people of England to support our 
 Government in any hostile steps against you. In fact, I think 
 
jO The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 a course so moderate and just would bring over to your side a 
 large amount of opinion here that has been poisoned and misled 
 by the Times and Other journals since your troubles began. . . . 
 
 I need not tell you, who are much better acquainted with mod- 
 em history than,! am, that Nations drift into wars, as we drifted 
 into the late war with Russia [1854] often thro' the want of a reso- 
 lute hand at some moment early in the quarrel. So now, a coura- 
 geous stroke, not of arms but of moral action, may save you and us. 
 I suppose the act of Captain Wilkes was not directly authorized 
 by your Government ; if so, the difficulty will be smaller. . . . 
 
 It is comji^pn here to say that your Government cannot resist 
 the mob violence with which it' is surrounded. I do not believe 
 this. . . . Your Congress is Just meeting, and your Foreign 
 Relations Committee and your Senate will have this matter in 
 hand, if )rpu^deat with it so wisely as to put our Government 
 in the w^on^ in the sight of all moderate men here, you will not 
 only avoid the perils now menacing, but you will secure an amount 
 of friendly sympathy here ^^ch hitherto unhappily has not been 
 given you A . . Don't '^q^temper in any of your statesmen to 
 turn his judgment. W^^^tit foreign war I look to the restora- 
 tion of your Union. '^^^ no advantage to the enemies of your 
 Republic here, and you will be all right again by and bye. . . . 
 
 Rochdale, December 7, 1861 
 Dear Mr. Sumner — 
 
 I write a few lines more for the steamer at Cork tomorrow. 
 There is more calmness here in the public mind . . . but I fear 
 the military and naval demonstrations of our Government point 
 to trouble, and I am not sure that it would grieve certain parties 
 here if any decent excuse could be found for a quarrel with you. 
 You know the instinct of aristocracy and of powerful military 
 services, and an ignorant people is easily led astray on questions 
 foreign to their usual modes of thought. . . . 
 
 At all hazards you must not let this matter grow to a war 
 with England, even if you are right and we are wrong. War 
 will be fatal to your idea of restoring the Union and we know 
 not what may survive its evil influences. I am not now con- 
 sidering its effects here — they may be serious enough, but I 
 
The Civil 
 
 am looking alone to your great couf, the hope of freedoin 
 and humanity, and I implore you not any feeling that nothing 
 can be conceded, and that England arrogant and seeking a 
 quarrel, to play the game of everinemy of your country. 
 Nations in great crises and di^ci^s have often done that 
 which in their prosperous and pov^ful hour they.^puld not 
 have done, and they have don/ it litBput humiliation or dis- 
 grace. You may disappoint yiUr (\eAes by the moderation 
 and reasonableness of your /)nduct, |.nd every honest and 
 good man in England will aj 
 fire-eaters in the wrong, and 
 your Government. 
 
 aud yoi wisdom. Put all the 
 rope wil admire the sagacity of 
 
 \ 
 
 Dear Mr. Sumner, 
 
 Your letter of the 23 
 month. It showed such evi 
 
 Rochda^, January 
 
 1862 
 
 ■'"^ of this 
 
 reached Ine on the 7' 
 ces of ar^iety on your part that 
 it made me intensely anxioii, and' I w$ not prepared for the 
 tidings of the following day,which anno need the settlement of 
 the question which w?.c^ 'vQimain causeof immediate danger. 
 I need not tell you how l/m-h I rejoice, br how much I admire 
 the dignity and tact with wlich the matfer has been dealt with 
 in the despatch of your Government. The war-mongers here 
 are baffled for the time, and T cannot bit believe that a more 
 healthy opinion is gradually ejitending itilf on all matters con- 
 nected with your great struggle. , \ 
 
 Sarah Morgan Dawson was the daughter of Thomas G. 95 Pen ^ 
 
 o : ou • 1 ■ pictures 0:1 
 
 Morgan, a district judge of Louisiana. , She was a giri in ^^^ ^^r 
 her late teens when the war br6ke outA^ ^he kept a diary [354-357 
 of the eventful days from March 9. J862, to the end of the ^^^j 
 
 1 The dispatch of the British go\/i-nment (see p. 417) was pre- 
 sented by Lord Lyons to Seward on/December 19. Eight days later 
 Seward's reply was received at the British embassy. It was a long and 
 labored document, but the gist of it /as in these few lines : " The four 
 persons in question [Mason and S)/dell, and their secretaries] are now 
 held in military custody at Fort barren in the State of Massachusetts. 
 They will be cheerfully liberatecf. Your Lordship will please indicate a 
 time and place for receiving them." — Senate Executive Documents, 
 37th Congress, 2d session, Vol. IV, No. 8, p. 13. 
 
/ 
 
 4^2 J Crisis of Disunion 
 
 war. On her deathfew years ago at Versailles, France, 
 her son Warringtonawson published the diary (191 3). 
 The passages here t.«n from it illustrate the proud spirit 
 of the Southern woni and the trials to which they were 
 subjected in the invas^ of their homes. 
 
 April 26, 1862 
 There is no word 1 i\^ Eglish language that can express 
 the state in which weare and ave been these last three days. 
 Day before yesterdaynews caie early in the morning of three 
 of the enemy's boatspassing le Forts,^ and then the excite- 
 ment began. It incrased rapicy on hearing of the sinking of 
 eight of our gunboat in the egagement, the capture of the 
 Forts, and last night f the bunng of the wharves and cotton 
 in the city while the ^ankees wee taking possession. ... We 
 went this a.m. to see le cotton hrning — a sight never before 
 witnessed, and probafcy never agan to be seen. Wagons, drays, 
 everything that could be driven or i\^ -\ were loaded with the 
 bales and taken a few quares hsickttbf^l burned on the common. 
 Negroes were runnin,^ around, cut:ng them open, piling them 
 up, and setting them afire. All vere as busy as though their 
 salvation depended ondisappointiiig the Yankees. Later Charles 
 sent for us to come to the river and see him fire a flat-boat 
 loaded with the precious material for which the Yankees are 
 
 risking their bodies! and souls The flat-boat was piled with 
 
 as many bales as rl could hold without sinking. Most of them 
 were cut open, whie negroes stove in the heads of barrels of 
 alcohol, whiskey, etcmd dashed bucketsful over the cotton. . . . 
 The cotton floated dowA the Mississippi one sheet of living flame, 
 even in the sunlight. An incredible amount of property has 
 been destroyed today, but no one begrudges it. . . . 
 
 1 This refers to Farragut's exploit in running past the forts of Jack- 
 son and St. Philip below New Oreans, April 23, 1862 (see Muzzey, An 
 American History, p. 446). The capture of the forts left New Orleans 
 and the river above, as far as Port Hudson, open to Federal attack. 
 Baton Rouge, the home of the Morgans, lay in this region, some eighty 
 miles north of New Orleans. 
 
The Civil Wl 
 
 423' 
 
 May 9 
 
 Our lawful (?) owners have arrived ,st. About sunset day 
 before yesterday, the Iroquois ancho here and a graceful 
 young Federal stepped ashore carryin Yankee flag over his 
 shoulder, and asked the way to the Tar's office. I like the 
 style 1 If we girls of Baton Rouge haeen at the landing in- 
 stead of the men, that Yankee would ^r have insulted us by 
 flying his flag in our faces! We woulave opposed his land- 
 ing except und^r a flag of truce ; bu le men let him alone, 
 and he even found a poor Dutchman Uing to show him the 
 road. . . . Last evening came the der d : the town must be 
 surrendered immediately ; the Federal i must be raised ; they 
 would grant the same terms they grad New Orleans. Jolly 
 terms those were 1 . . . This morning ey are landing at the 
 Garrison. . . . ''All devices, signs, fs of the Confederacy 
 shall be suppressed." So says Picayu Butler. Good! I de- 
 vote all my red, white, and blue silk to s manufacture of Con- 
 federate flags. As so(!;vi;' a^ one is coni:ated I make another, 
 until my ribbon is exh^uj^fed, when I ill sport a duster eni- 
 blazoned in high colors : '''*Hurra ! foilhe bonny blue flag ! " 
 Henceforth I wear one pinned to my bobm ; the man who says 
 take it off will have to pull it off for himJlf ; the man who dares 
 attempt it — well ! a pistol in my pockethlls up the gap. I am 
 capable too. ... \ \ / 
 
 \ \ / May 17 
 
 Four days ago the Yankees lefi us, to at^ck Vicksburg, leav- 
 ing their flag flying in the Garrisin with(/t a man to guard it, 
 and with the understanding that ^the t(^n would be held re- 
 sponsible for it. It was intended ior a trap; and it succeeded. 
 For night before last it was torn c^wi and pulled to pieces. . . . 
 
 Now they will be back in a fei days and will execute their 
 threat of shelling the town /hey say the women and chil- 
 dren must be removed, these gu/illas. Where, please ? Charlie 
 says we must go up to Greenwel/ And have the house pillaged. 
 For Butler has decreed that /o unoccupied house shall be 
 respected. 
 
424 
 
 / 
 
 Crisis of Disunion 
 
 May 27 
 
 The cry is '' Hor Greenwell." We are hourly expecting 
 two regiments of \ees to occupy the Garrison, and some 
 1500 of our men aiA^aiting them a little way off, so the fight 
 seems inevitable. . .), my dear Home ! How can I help but 
 cry at leaving you frer ? For if this fight occurs, never again 
 shall I pass the threld of this house where we have been so 
 happy and so sad. . 
 
 May 30. Greenwell 
 
 After all our trialnd tribulations, here we are at last, and 
 no limbs lost! Wed;day the 28'^ — a day to be forever re- 
 membered — I was fking up my traveling desk when I heard 
 Lilly's voice downsts, crying as she ran in — she had been 
 out shopping— "M Castle has killed a Federal officer on a 
 ship, and they are gcg to shell" — Baftgf went a cannon at 
 the word, and that w all our warning. 
 
 Mother had just cae in and wa-^ytfTa^f down, but sprang to 
 her feet and added h: screams tc thtf general confusion. . . . 
 1 he firing continued :hey must hav 3 fired a half a dozen times 
 before we could coa mother off. . . . I heard Miriam plead, 
 argue, msist, commad her to run. ... As we stood in the 
 door, four or five shds sailed over our heads at the same time, 
 seemmg to make apo-fect corkscrew of the air— for it sounded 
 
 as though it went i^ circles I stayed to lock the door with 
 
 this new music in ^y ears. We reached the back gate that was 
 on the street when-mother shell passed us, and Miriam jumped 
 behind the fence for.rotecticn. We had gone only half a square 
 when Dr. Castleton lagged us to take another street, as they 
 were firing up that one. We took his advice, but found our new 
 street worse than the olcL, f«r the shells seemed to whisde their 
 strange songs with redoub\el vigor. The height of my ambition 
 was now attained. I had he.rd Jimmy laugh about the singular 
 sensation produced by the rifi- balls spinning around one's head ; 
 and here I heard the same jeculiar sound, ran the same risk, 
 and was equal to the rest of the boys ; for was not I in the 
 midst of flying shells, in the mddle of a bombardment? I think 
 I was rather proud of it. . . . 
 
The Civil Wa 
 
 Three miles from the town we beg 
 tives. Hundreds of women and child] 
 
 425 
 
 overtake the fugi- 
 were walking along, 
 
 some bareiieaded and all in costumes. Itle girls of twelve or 
 
 d to one I knew, and 
 n't know ; she would 
 
 fourteen were wandering on alone. I 
 asked her where her mother was : she 
 
 walk on till she found out White i black were all mixed 
 
 together, and were as confidential as th^h related. 
 
 It was a heart-rending scene. Won searching for their 
 babies along the road where they had m lost; others sittmg 
 in the dust crying and wringing their nds ; for by this time 
 we had not an idea but what Baton R(5e was either in ashes 
 or being plundered, and we had saved thing. . . . 
 
 linton, Jan. 4, 1863 
 
 One just from Baton Rouge tells i that my presentiment 
 about our house is verified : Yankees 3 inhabit it, a Yankee 
 
 colonel and his wife And a strangeand a Yankee occupies 
 
 our father's place at the table where hipresided for thirty-one 
 years. And the old lai-np thit lighted upG many eager, laughing 
 faces around the dear old .^aple night afir night — the old lamp 
 has passed into the hands of stranger^vho neither know nor 
 care for its history. \ 
 
 The following account of Picket's charge is from 
 Lieutenant General James L^ngstred, wto was intrusted 
 by General Lee with the command rf the assaulting 
 column on the third and las^ day of/the great fight at 
 Gettysburg. / 
 
 The plan of assault was as follows : Our artillery was to be 
 massed in a wood from which Pickett was to charge, and it was 
 to pour a continuous fire on the dn>itery. Under cover of this 
 fire, and supported by it, PickettMs to charge. General E. P. 
 Alexander ... was given charg^f the artillery. The arrange- 
 ments were completed about o/e o'clock. General Alexander 
 had arranged that a battery off^even ii-pound howitzers with 
 fresh horses and full caissons,/svere to charge with Pickett at 
 the head of his line, but GenerJ Pendleton, from whom the guns 
 
426 e Crisis of Disti7iion ^ 
 
 had been borrowececalled them just before the charge was 
 made, and thus deged this wise plan. 
 
 Never was I so c-essed as on that day. I felt that my men 
 were to be sacrificemd that I should have to order them to 
 make a hopeless che. I had instructed General Alexander, 
 being unwilling to tr myself with the entire responsibility, to 
 carefully observe thtTect of the fire on the enemy, and when 
 it began to tell to nc^ Pickett to begin the assault. I was so 
 much impressed withe hopelessness of the charge that I wrote 
 the following note tGeneral Alexander : " If the artillery fire 
 does not have the eft to drive off the enemy or greatly de- 
 moralize him, so as tmake our efforts pretty certain, I would 
 prefer that you shoulnot advise General Pickett to make the 
 charge. I shall rely great deal on your judgment to deter- 
 mine the matter, and all expect you to let Pickett know when 
 the moment offers." 
 
 To my note the g(eral replied as follows : " I will only be 
 able to judge the effecof our fire uo6n^ f/^e enemy by his return 
 fire, for his infantry is)ut little exposed +cO view, and the smoke 
 will obscure the wholefteld. If, as y mfer from your note, there 
 IS an alternative to thi attack, it should be carefully considered 
 before opening our fis, for it wiU take all the artillery ammu- 
 nition we have left to est this one thoroughly, and if the result 
 IS unfavorable, we wll have none left for another effort, and 
 even if this is entirely successful it can only be so at a very 
 bloody cost." 
 
 I still desired to i^ve my men, and felt that if the artillery did 
 not produce the desred effect I would be justified in holding 
 Pickett off.^^I wrote his note to Colonel Walton at exactly 
 1.30 P.M. : ' Let the b.tteries open. Order great precision in 
 firing. If the batteries it the peach-orchard cannot be used 
 against the point we inte^.d attacking, let them open on the 
 enemy at Rocky Hill." 
 
 The cannonading which opened along both lines was grand. 
 In a few moments a courier bought a note to General Pickett 
 (who was standing near me) from Alexander, which, after 
 reading, he handed to me. Ii was as follows : '' If you are 
 coming at all you must come it once, or I cannot give you 
 
The Civil War 427 
 
 proper support ; but the enemy's fire has not slackened at all ; 
 at least eighteen guns are still firing from the cemetery itself." 
 
 After I had read the note Pickett said to me, " General, shall 
 I advance ? " My feelings had so overcome me that I would not 
 speak for fear of betraying my want of confidence to him. I 
 bowed affirmation and turned to mount my horse. Pickett 
 immediately said : '' I shall lead my division forward, sir." I 
 spurred my horse to the wood where Alexander was stationed 
 with artillery. When I reached him he told me of the disap- 
 pearance of the seven guns which were to have led the charge 
 with Pickett, and that his ammunition was so low that he could 
 not properly support the charge. I at once ordered him to stop 
 Pickett until the ammunition had been replenished. He in- 
 formed me that he had no ammunition with which to replenish. 
 I then saw that there was no help for it, and that Pickett must 
 advance under his orders. 
 
 He swept past our artillery in splendid style and the men 
 marched steadily and compactly down the slope. As they started 
 up the ridge over one hundred cannon from the breastworks of 
 the Federals hurled a rain of cannister, grape, and shell down 
 upon them. They still pressed on until half-way up the slope, 
 when the crest of the hill was lit with a solid sheet of flame as 
 the masses of infantry rose and fired. When the smoke cleared 
 away Pickett's division was gone. Nearly two-thirds of his men 
 lay dead on the field, and the survivors were sullenly retreating 
 down the hill. Mortal man could not have stood that fire. In 
 half an hour the contested field was cleared, and the battle of 
 Gettysburg was over. 
 
 John S. Wise, the son of Brigadier General Governor 
 Henry A. Wise of Virginia, was fourteen years old when 
 the war broke out. By dint of much begging he got his 
 father's consent to enter the Virginia Military Institute at 
 Lexington ("the West Point of the Confederacy"), and 
 in June, 1864, he joined his father's brigade at Petersburg. 
 Thirty-five years later he wrote of his experiences with 
 the defenders of Richmond. 
 
428 ' The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 Much of the month of July we passed in the trenches. 
 Father was in command at Petersburg, and Colonel J. T. Goode 
 commanded the brigade. . . . Our left was about a hundred 
 yards south of a bastion known as Elliott's salient. 
 
 Life in the trenches was indescribably monotonous and 
 uncomfortable. In time of sunshine the reflected heat from the 
 new red-clay embankments was intense, and unrelieved by shade 
 or breeze ; and in wet weather one was ankle-deep in tough, cling- 
 ing mud. The incessant shelling and picket-firing made extreme 
 caution necessary in moving about ; and each day, almost each 
 hour, added to the list of casualties. The opposing lines were 
 not over two hundred yards apart, and the distance between the 
 rifle pits was about one hundred yards. Both sides had attained 
 accurate marksmanship, which they practised with merciless 
 activity in picking off men. . . . 
 
 The men resorted to many expedients to secure some degree 
 of comfort and protection. They learned to burrow like conies. 
 Into the sides of the trenches and transverses they went with 
 bayonet and tin cups to secure shade ana protection from rain. 
 Soon, such was their proficiency that, at sultry midday or dur- 
 ing a rainfall, one might look up or down the trenches without 
 seeing anybody but the sentinel. At the sound of the drum, the 
 heads of the soldiers would pop up and out of the earth, as if 
 they had been prairie-dogs or gophers. Still many lives were 
 lost by the indifference to danger which is begotten by living 
 constantly in its presence. . . . 
 
 A man, because he had not been hit, would soon come to 
 regard himself as invulnerable. The fact that his comrades had 
 been killed or wounded appeared to make little impression upon 
 him. Past immunity had made him so confident that he would 
 walk coolly over the same exposed ground where somebody 
 else had been shot the day before. The '' spat," '' whiz," " zip," 
 of hostile bullets would not even make him quicken his pace. 
 Mayhap he would take his short pipe out of his mouth and yell 
 defiantly, '' Ah-h — Yank — yer — kain't — shoot," and go on his 
 way tempting fate, until a bullet struck him and he was dead 
 or maimed for life. . . . 
 
The Civil War 429 
 
 When our troops first manned the lines, the things most 
 dreaded were the great mortar shells. They were particularly- 
 terrible at night. Their parabolas through the air were watched 
 with intense apprehension, and their explosion seemed to threaten 
 annihilation. Within a week they had ceased to occasion any 
 other feeling among the men than a desire to secure their frag- 
 ments. There was little chance of a shell's falling upon the men, 
 for they could see it and get out of the way. Unless it did 
 actually strike some one in its descent, the earth was so tun- 
 nelled and pitted that it was apt to fall into some depression, 
 where its fragments would be stopped and rendered harmless 
 by surrounding walls of dirt. Iron was becoming scarce. As 
 inducement to collecting scrap-iron for our cannon foundries, 
 furloughs were offered, a day for so many pounds collected. 
 Thus, gathering fragments of shell became an active industry 
 among the troops. So keen was their quest that sometimes 
 they would start towards the point where a mortar-shell fell 
 even before it exploded. 
 
 Such was life in the trenches before Petersburg. Looking 
 back at it now, one wonders that everybody was not killed, or 
 did not die from exposure. But, at the time, no man there per- 
 sonally expected to be killed, and there was something — nobody 
 can define what it was — which made the experience by no 
 means so horrible as it now seems. ... 
 
 About day-break, July 30, the mine was exploded. ... It 
 consisted of a shaft 5 1 o f t. long, with lateral galleries under our 
 works T^?i and 37 feet long respectively; in these, 320 kegs of 
 powder, containing 25 pounds each- — in all 8000 pounds — 
 were placed, and preliminary to the explosion, 81 heavy guns 
 and mortars and over 80 light guns of the Union army were 
 brought to bear on the position to be mined and attacked. . . . 
 The fuse of the mine was lighted about 3.30 a.m. The ragged 
 remnant of the Confederate army still left before Petersburg 
 enjoyed unusual repose that night, for the firing along the lines 
 had almost ceased. A long delay ensued. After waiting for 
 more than an hour for the explosion, two Union soldiers, at the 
 risk of their lives, crawled into the gallery of the mine and found 
 
430 ^^^^ Crisis of Disunion 
 
 the fuse had failed ; they relit it and returned. . . . the Confed- 
 erate infantrymen and cannoneers at the doomed salient slept 
 on, as the fuse sparkled and sputtered inch by inch towards the 
 four tons of gunpowder which were to rend with the violence 
 of an earthquake the spot on which they were resting. 
 
 " There she goes ! " exclaimed one of the watchers. The 
 ground trembled for an instant; an immense mass of earth, 
 cannon, timbers, human beings, and smoke shot skyward, paused 
 for an instant in mid-air, illumined by the flash of the explosion ; 
 and, bursting asunder, fell back into and around the smoking 
 pit. The dense cloud of smoke drifted off, tinged by the first 
 faint rays of sun-rise ; a silence like that of death succeeded the 
 tremendous report. Nearly 300 Confederates were buried in 
 the debris of the crater ; their comrades on either side adjacent 
 to the fatal spot fled from a sight so much resembling the day 
 of judgment. ... At least 300 yards of our lines were deserted 
 by their defenders, and left at the mercy of the assaulting col- 
 umns. Beyond that breach not a Confederate infantryman 
 stood to dispute their passage into the heart of Petersburg. 
 A prompt advance in force, a gallant dash, not into the crater, 
 but around it and 300 yards beyond it, would have crowned the 
 great explosion with a victory worthy of its grandeur. From 
 the eminence where Blandford Church and cemetery stood, in 
 the rear of the mine. Grant's forces might, within ten minutes 
 after the mine was sprung, have looked backward upon the 
 Confederates, stunned, paralyzed, and separated ; and, looking 
 forward, they might have seen the coveted city [Richmond] 
 undefended and at their mercy. 
 
 The Triumph of the North 
 
 96. Change The difference in tone between the two following 
 tunes of «ie extracts from the messages of Jefferson Davis shows 
 Confederacy, the effect of the Union victories of the summer and 
 
 April-Decem- /^ 1 • 1 1 
 
 ber, 1863 autumn of 1863 (Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Chattanooga) on 
 
 [358] the confidence of the South. The first extract is from 
 
 an address "to the People of the Confederate States," on 
 
The Civil War 431 
 
 April 10, 1863, urging them to comply with a resolu- 
 tion of the Confederate Congress that they should cease 
 planting tobacco and cotton in anticipation of an early 
 termination of the war, and devote their land to food 
 crops. The second is from President Davis's message of 
 December 7, 1863, to the Confederate Congress. 
 
 {a) 
 
 . . . We have reached the close of the second year of the 
 war, and may point with just pride to the history of our young 
 Confederacy. Alone, unaided, we have met and overthrown the 
 most formidable combination of naval and military armaments 
 that the lust of conquest ever gathered together for the subju- 
 gation of a free people. We began this struggle without a single 
 gun afloat, while the resources of our enemy enabled them to 
 gather fleets which, according to their official list published in 
 August last, consisted of 427 vessels, measuring 340,036 tons, 
 and carrying 3,268 guns. Yet we have captured, sunk, or 
 destroyed a number of these vessels. ... To oppose invad- 
 ing forces composed of levies which have already exceeded 
 1,300,000 men, we had no resources but the unconquerable 
 valor of a people determined to be free, and we were so desti- 
 tute of military supplies that tens of thousands of our citizens 
 were reluctantly refused admission into the service from our in- 
 ability to provide them with arms, while for many months some 
 of our important strongholds owed their safety chiefly to a care- 
 ful concealment of the fact that we were without a supply of 
 powder for our cannon. Your devotion and patriotism have 
 triumphed over all these obstacles and called into existence the 
 munitions of war, the clothing, and the subsistence which have 
 enabled our soldiers to illustrate their valor on numerous battle- 
 fields, and to inflict crushing defeats on successive armies, each 
 of which an arrogant foe fondly believed to be invincible. 
 
 The contrast between our past and present condition is well 
 calculated to inspire full confidence in the triumph of our arms. 
 At no previous period of the war have our forces been so 
 numerous, so well-organized, so thoroughly disciplined, armed, 
 
432 The Crisis of Distmion 
 
 and equipped as at present. The season of high water, on 
 which our enemies relied to enable their fleets of gunboats to 
 penetrate into our country and devastate our homes, is fast 
 passing away ; yet our strongholds on the Mississippi still bid 
 defiance to the foe,^ and months of costly preparations for their 
 reduction have been spent in vain. Disaster has been the result 
 of their every effort to turn or to storm Vicksburg and Port 
 Hudson. . . . Within a few weeks the falling waters and the 
 increasing heat of summer will complete their discomfiture and 
 compel their baffled and defeated forces to the abandonment of 
 expeditions on which was based their chief hope of success in 
 effecting our subjugation. We must not forget, however, that 
 the war is not yet ended, and that we are still confronted by 
 powerful armies and threatened by numerous fleets ; and that 
 the Government which controls these fleets and armies is driven 
 to the most desperate efforts to effect the unholy purposes in 
 which it has been thus far defeated. It will use its utmost 
 energy to arrest the impending doom, so fully merited by the 
 atrocities it has committed, the savage barbarities which it has 
 encouraged, and the crowning infamy of its attempt to excite a 
 servile population to the massacre of our wives, our daughters, 
 and our helpless children. . . . 
 
 Your country, therefore, appeals to you to lay aside all 
 thought of gain, and to devote yourselves to securing your 
 liberties, without which those gains would be valueless. . . . 
 
 Let us all unite in the performance of our duty, each in his 
 sphere, and with concerted, persistent, and well-directed effort 
 there seems Jittle reason to doubt that ... we shall maintain the 
 sovereignty and independence of these Confederate States, and 
 transmit to our posterity the heritage bequeathed to us by our 
 ^^^hers. Jefferson Davis 
 
 Executive Office, Richmond 
 April ID, 1863. 
 
 ^ President Davis refers to the two strongholds of Vicksburg and 
 Port Hudson on the Mississippi that were left to the Confederates after 
 Grant and Foote from the North and Farragut from the South had won 
 back all but about one hundred and twenty-five miles of the river for 
 the Union. 
 
The Civil War 433 
 
 {b) 
 Richmond Va. Dec. 7, 1863 
 To THE Senate and House of Representatives of the 
 Confederate States : 
 
 The necessity for legislative action arising out of the impor- 
 tant events that have marked the interval since your adjourn- 
 ment, and my desire to have the aid of your counsel on other 
 matters of grave public interest, render your presence at this 
 time more than ordinarily welcome. . . . 
 
 Grave reverses befell our arms soon after your departure 
 from Richmond. Early in June [July] our strongholds at Vicks- 
 burg and Port Hudson, together with their entire garrisons, 
 capitulated to the combined land and naval forces of the enemy. 
 The important interior position of Jackson next fell into their 
 temporary possession. Our unsuccessful assault upon the post at 
 Helena was followed at a later period by the invasion of Arkan- 
 sas, and the retreat of our army from Little Rock gave to the 
 enemy the control of the important valley in which it is situated. 
 
 The resolute spirit of the people soon rose superior to the 
 temporary despondency naturally resulting from these reverses. 
 The gallant troops, so ably commanded in the States beyond the 
 Mississippi, inflicted repeated defeats on the invading armies in 
 Louisiana and on the coast of Texas. Detachments of troops 
 and active bodies of partisans kept up so effective a war on the 
 Mississippi River as practically to destroy its value as an avenue 
 of commerce. . . . 
 
 The able commander [Lee] who conducted the campaign in 
 Virginia determined to meet the threatened advance on Rich- 
 mond, for which the enemy had made long and costly prepara- 
 tions, by forcing their armies to cross the Potomac and fight in 
 defence of their own capital and homes. Transferring the battle- 
 field to their own soil, he succeeded in compelling their rapid 
 retreat from Virginia, and in the hard-fought battle of Gettys- 
 burg inflicted such severity of punishment as disabled them 
 from an early renewal of the campaign as originally projected.^ 
 
 1 The disappointment of Lincoln and the war office in Washington 
 over Meade's failure to follow up his defeat of Lee at Gettysburg was 
 
434 The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 Unfortunately the communications on which our general relied 
 for receiving his supplies of munitions were so interrupted by 
 extraordinary floods, which so swelled the Potomac as to render 
 impassable the fords by which his advance had been made, and 
 he was thus forced to a withdrawal, which was conducted with 
 deliberation after securing large trains of captured supplies, and 
 with constant and unaccepted tender of battle. . . . 
 
 The hope last year entertained of an early termination of the 
 war has not been realized. Could carnage have satisfied the 
 appetite of our enemy for the destruction of human life, or grief 
 have appeased their wanton desire to inflict human suffering, 
 there has been bloodshed enough on both sides, and two lands 
 have been sufficiently darkened by the weeds of mourning to 
 induce a disposition for peace. 
 
 If unanimity in a people could dispel delusion, it has been 
 displayed too unmistakably not to have silenced the pretense 
 that the Southern States were merely disturbed by a factious 
 insurrection, and it must have long since been admitted that they 
 were but exercising their reserved right to modify their own 
 Government in such manner as would best secure their own 
 happiness. But these considerations have been powerless to allay 
 the unchristian hate of those who, long accustomed to draw large 
 profits from a union with us, cannot control the rage excited by 
 the conviction that they have by their own folly destroyed the 
 richest sources of their prosperity. They refuse even to listen 
 to proposals for the only peace possible between us — a peace 
 which, recognizing the impassable gulf which divides us, may 
 leave the two peoples separately to recover from injuries inflicted 
 
 intense. On reading Meade's remark after the victory, of " driving the 
 invader from our soil," Lincoln said with impatience : " Will our generals 
 never get that idea out of their heads ? The whole country is our soil." 
 — Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, Vol. VII, pp. 278-281. On 
 July 14 Lincoln wrote to Meade (but never signed or sent the letter) : 
 " I do not believe you appreciate the magnitude of the misfortune 
 involved in Lee's escape. He was within your easy grasp, and to have 
 closed upon him would, in connection with our other late successes, 
 have ended the war. As it is the war will be prolonged indefinitely. . . . 
 Your golden opportunity is gone, and I am distressed immeasurably 
 because of it." 
 
The Civil War 435 
 
 on both by the causeless war now waged against us. Having 
 begun the war in direct violation of their Constitution, which 
 forbade the attempt to coerce a State, they have been hardened 
 by crime until they no longer attempt to veil their purpose to 
 destroy the institutions and subvert the sovereignty and inde- 
 pendence of these States. We now know that the only reliable 
 hope for peace is in the vigor of our resistance, while the cessa- 
 tion of their hostility is only to be expected from the pressure 
 of their necessities. 
 
 The patriotism of the people has proved equal to every 
 sacrifice demanded by their country's need. We have been 
 united as a people never were united under like circumstances 
 before. God has blessed us with success disproportionate to our 
 means, and under his divine favor our labors must at last be 
 crowned with the reward due to men who have given all they 
 possessed to the righteous defense of their inalienable rights, 
 their homes, and their altars. Jefferson Davis 
 
 On three occasions a trio of '' ambassadors " from the 97. a Con- 
 South sought to treat with the United States govern- embassy, 
 ment at Washington. First, immediately after the secession February 3, 
 ordinance, in December, i860, the "sovereign state" of 
 South Carolina sent three gentlemen (Barnwell, Adams, 
 and Orr) to President Buchanan to negotiate for the de- 
 livery of the forts and other real estate held by the Federal 
 government in South Carolina. Second, in March, 1861, 
 soon after the formation of the Confederate government at 
 Montgomery, President Davis, according to Article VI 
 of the provisional Constitution, appointed a commission 
 (Roman of Louisiana, Crawford of Georgia, Forsythe of 
 Alabama) " to negotiate friendly relations and to settle all 
 questions of disagreement between the Confederate States 
 and their late confederates of the United States in relation 
 to public property and the public debt." Neither of the 
 embassies succeeded in obtaining recognition from the 
 
436 The Crisis of Distmion 
 
 authorities in Washington. Toward the end of the war, 
 on the assurance of a favorable reception from President 
 Lincoln, a third commission was appointed by President 
 Davis, consisting of Vice President Stephens, Judge Camp- 
 bell, and Senator Hunter, to discuss the possibilities of 
 peace. Stephens tells the story of their embassy as follows : 
 
 The interview took place in the Saloon of the steamer on 
 board of which were Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward, and which 
 lay at anchor near Fortress Monroe. The Commissioners were 
 conducted into the Saloon first. Soon after, Mr. Lincoln and 
 Mr. Seward entered. After usual salutations on the part of 
 those who were previously acquainted, and introductions of the 
 others who had never met before, conversation was immediately 
 opened by the revival of reminiscences and associations of 
 former days. 
 
 This was commenced by myself addressing Mr. Lincoln, and 
 alluding to some of the incidents of our Congressional acquaint- 
 ance — especially the part we had acted together in effecting 
 the election of General Taylor in 1848. To my remarks he 
 responded in a cheerful and cordial manner, as if the remem- 
 brance of those times, and our connection with the incidents 
 referred to, had awakened in him an agreeable train of reflec- 
 tions. . . . With this introduction I said in substance : " Well, 
 Mr. President, is there no way of putting an end to the present 
 trouble, and bringing about a restoration of the general good 
 feeling and harmony then existing between the different States 
 and Sections of the country ? . . ." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln in reply said in substance that there was but 
 one way that he knew of, and that was, for those who were 
 resisting the laws of the Union to cease that resistance. All 
 the trouble came from an armed resistance against the National 
 Authority. 
 
 '' But," said I, " is there no other question that might divert the 
 attention of both Parties for a time from the questions involved 
 in their present strife, until the passions on both sides might 
 cool. ... I allude, of course to Mexico, and what is called the 
 
The Civil War 437 
 
 Monroe Doctrine — the principles of which are directly involved 
 in the contest now waging there." ^ 
 
 Mr. Lincoln replied with considerable earnestness, that he could 
 entertain no proposition for ceasing active military operations, 
 which was not based upon a pledge first given, for the ultimate 
 restoration of the Union. . . . These pointed and emphatic re- 
 sponses seemed to put an end to the Conference on the subject 
 contemplated in our Mission, as we had no authority to give any 
 such pledge, even if we had been inclined to do so, nor was it 
 expected that any such would really be required to be given.^ . . . 
 
 Judge Campbell then inquired in what way the settlement 
 for a restoration of the Union was to be made. Supposing the 
 Confederate States should consent to the general terms as stated 
 by Mr. Lincoln, how would the re-establishment of the National 
 Authority take place ? . . . 
 
 Mr. Lincoln replied : " By disbanding their armies and per- 
 mitting the National Authorities to resume their functions." 
 
 Mr. Seward interposed and said, that Mr. Lincoln could not 
 express himself more clearly or forcibly in reference to this 
 question, than he had done in his message to Congress in 
 December before, and referred specially to . . . these words : 
 '' In stating a single condition of peace, I mean simply to say 
 that war will cease on the part of the government whenever it 
 shall have ceased on the part of those who began it." ^ . . . 
 
 1 On Emperor Napoleon Ill's attempt to establish a French empire 
 in Mexico during our Civil War see Muzzey, An American History, 
 p. 395. Francis P. Blair, Senior, had visited his personal friend. Presi- 
 dent Davis, in Richmond, shortly before the Hampton Roads Confer- 
 ence, and made this suggestion of utilizing the Mexican situation to 
 sink the hostility between North and South. President Lincoln, how- 
 ever, had explicitly refused to authorize such a suggestion. 
 
 2 In his instruction to the commissioners Davis spoke of " securing 
 peace to the tivo countries," while Lincoln insisted on dealing with "our 
 common country." " Had not the desire of the commissioners been so 
 strong as to induce them to strain their instructions . . . and had not 
 Lincoln waived form for substance, Davis' quibble about words would 
 have prevented the meeting." — Rhodes, History of the United States, 
 1850-1877, Vol. V, p. 68. 
 
 3 See Richardson, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Vol. VI, 
 pp. 254-255. 
 
43^ TJie Crisis of Disunion 
 
 I asked Mr. Lincoln what would be the status of that portion 
 of the Slave population in the Confederate States which had 
 not then become free under his Proclamation. . . . Mr. Lincoln 
 said that was a judicial question. How the courts would decide 
 it he did not know, and could give no answer. His own opinion 
 was, that as the Proclamation was a war measure^ and would 
 have effect only from its being an exercise of the war power, 
 as soon as the war ceased it would be inoperative for the future. 
 It would be held to apply only to such slaves as had come under 
 its operation while it was in active exercise. This was his in- 
 dividual opinion, but the courts might decide the other way, 
 and hold that it effectually emancipated all the Slaves in the 
 States to which it applied at the time. So far as he was con- 
 cerned, he should leave it to the courts to decide. He never 
 would change or modify the terms of the Proclamation in the 
 slightest particular. ... 
 
 Mr. Seward said that there were only about 200,000 slaves 
 who, up to that time, had come under the actual operation of 
 the Proclamation, and who were then in the enjoyment of their 
 freedom under it. . . . Mr. Seward also said that it might be 
 proper to state to us that Congress, a day or two before, had 
 proposed a Constitutional Amendment [the XIHth] for the 
 immediate abolition of Slavery throughout the United States, 
 which he produced and read to us from a newspaper. He said 
 this was done as a war measure. If the war were then to cease 
 it would probably not be adopted by a number of States suffi- 
 cient to make it part of the Constitution. . . . The whole num- 
 ber of States being thirty-six, any ten of them could defeat the 
 proposed amendment. 
 
 I inquired how this matter could be adjusted, without some 
 understanding as to what position the Confederate States would 
 occupy towards the others, if they were then to abandon the 
 war. Would they be admitted to representation in Congress ? 
 
 Mr. Lincoln very promptly replied, that his own individual 
 opinion was, that they ought to be. He also thought they would 
 be ; but he could not enter into any stipulation on the subject. 
 His own opinion was, that when the resistance ceased, and 
 the National Authority was recognized, the States would be 
 
The Civil War 439 
 
 immediately restored to their practical relations to the Union 
 ... he persisted in asserting that he could not enter into any 
 agreement upon this subject, or upon any other matters of that 
 sort, with parties in arms against the Government. 
 
 Mr. Hunter interposed, and in illustration of the propriety 
 of the Executive entering into agreements with persons in arms 
 against the acknowledged rightful public authority, referred to 
 repeated instances of this character between Charles I of England 
 and the people in arms against him. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln in reply to this said : " I do not profess to be 
 posted in history. On all such matters I will turn you over to 
 Seward. All I distinctly recollect about the case of Charles I, 
 is, that he lost his head in the end. ..." 
 
 After pausing for some time, his head rather bent down, as 
 if in deep reflection, while all were silent, he rose up and used 
 these words, almost, if not quite, identical : 
 
 '' Stephens, if I were in Georgia, and entertained the senti- 
 ments I do — though I suppose I should not be permitted to 
 stay there long with them ; but if I resided in Georgia, with 
 my present sentiments, I '11 tell you what I would do, if I were 
 in your place : I would go home and get the Governor of the 
 State to call the Legislature together, and get them to recall 
 all the State troops from the war ; elect Senators and Members 
 to Congress, and ratify this Constitutional Amendment pro- 
 spectively^ so as to take effect — say in five years. Such a 
 ratification would be valid in my opinion. . . . Whatever may 
 have been the views^ of your people before the war, they must 
 be convinced now that Slavery is doomed. It cannot last long 
 in any event, and the best course, it seems to me, for your 
 public men to pursue, would be to adopt such a policy as will 
 avoid, as far as possible, the evils of immediate emancipation. 
 This would be my course, if I were in your place. ..." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln said that so far as the Confiscation Acts, and 
 other penal acts, were concerned, their enforcement was left 
 entirely with him, and on that point he was perfectly willing to 
 be full and explicit, and on his assurance perfect reliance might 
 be placed. He should exercise the power of the Executive with 
 the utmost liberality. He went on to say that he would be 
 
440 The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 willing to be taxed to remunerate the Southern people for their 
 slaves. He believed the people of the North were as responsible 
 for slavery as the people of the South, and if the war should 
 then cease, with the voluntary abolition of Slavery by the States, 
 he should be in favor, individually, of the Government paying 
 a fair indemnity for the loss to the owners. He said he be- 
 lieved this feeling had an extensive existence at the North. He 
 knew some who were in favor of an appropriation as high as 
 $400,000,000 for this purpose. . . . 
 
 Mr. Seward said that the Northern people were weary of the 
 war. They desired peace and a restoration of harmony, and he 
 believed they would be willing to pay as an indemnity for the 
 slaves, what would be required to continue the war, but stated 
 no amount. . . . 
 
 I then said : " I wish, Mr. President, you would re-consider 
 the subject of an Armistice on the basis which has been sug- 
 gested. Great questions, as well as vast interests, are involved 
 in it. If upon so doing, you shall change your mind, you can 
 make it known through the Military." 
 
 " Well," said he, as he was taking my hand for a farewell 
 leave, and with a peculiar manner very characteristic of him : 
 " Well, Stephens, I will re-consider it, but I do not think my 
 mind will change, but I will re-consider." 
 
 The two parties then took formal and friendly leave of each 
 other, Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward withdrawing first from the 
 Saloon together. Col. Babcock, our escort, soon came in to 
 conduct us back to the steamer on which we came. 
 
 98. The sur- In his report to Secretary of War Stanton, dated at 
 
 Appomattox, Washington, July 22, 1865, General Grant included the 
 
 April 9, 1865 foHowing correspondence between himself and General Lee 
 
 [3701 regarding the surrender of the army of Virginia. After 
 
 the fall of Petersburg had made the surrender of Richmond 
 
 inevitable, Lee, rejecting the advice of some of his officers 
 
 to take to the mountains in western Virginia and wage 
 
 guerrilla warfare, was surrounded by the Union cavalry at 
 
 Appomattox. His correspondence with Grant follows : ^ 
 
The Civil War 44 1 
 
 GRANT TO LEE 
 
 _ April 7, 1 861: 
 
 General:— ^ ' ^ 
 
 The result of the last week must convince you of the hope- 
 lessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern 
 Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my 
 duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion 
 of blood, by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the 
 Confederate States army known as the Army of Northern 
 Virginia. U^ S. Grant, Lieutenant-General 
 
 LEE TO GRANT 
 
 April* 7, 1865 
 General : — 
 
 I have received your note of this date. Though not enter- 
 taining the opinion you express on the hopelessness of further 
 resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, I 
 reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and 
 therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms 
 you will offer on condition of its surrender. 
 
 R. E. Lee, General 
 
 GRANT TO LEE 
 
 April 8, 1865 
 General : — 
 
 Your note of last evening, in reply to mine of same date, 
 asking conditions on which I will accept the surrender of the 
 Army of Northern Virginia, is just received. In reply, I would 
 say that peace being my great desire, there is but one condition 
 I would insist upon — namely. That the men and officers sur- 
 rendered shall be disqualified for taking up arms again against 
 the Government of the United States until properly exchanged. 
 I will meet you, or will designate officers to meet any officers 
 you may name for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to 
 you, for the purpose of arranging definitely the terms upon 
 which the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia will 
 be received. U g^ Grant, Lieutenant-General 
 
442 The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 Lee still hesitated. But when Sheridan on the evening 
 of April 8 captured twenty-five Confederate field guns at 
 Appomattox Station and seized four trainloads of supplies 
 for the Confederate army, and on the next morning Gen- 
 eral Ord reached Appomattox and threw his army corps 
 against the Confederates, who were desperately attempt- 
 ing to fight their way out of the cordon of Union cavalry, 
 Lee sent the white flag, and asked for the interview to 
 arrange terms of surrender. Grant describes the scene 
 in his '* Memoirs." 
 
 When I had left camp that morning [April 9] I had not 
 expected so soon the result that was then taking place, and 
 consequently was in rough garb. I was without a sword, as I 
 usually was when on horseback on the field, and wore a soldier's 
 blouse for a coat, with the shoulder straps of my rank to indicate 
 to the army who I was. When I went into the house I found 
 General Lee. We greeted each other, and after shaking hands 
 took our seats. I had my staff with me, a good portion of whom 
 were in the room during the whole of the interview. 
 
 What General Lee's feelings were I do not know. As he 
 was a man of much dignity, with an impassible face, it was im- 
 possible to say whether he felt inwardly glad that the end had 
 finally come, or felt sad over the result and was too manly to 
 show it. . . . I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the 
 downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and had 
 suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, 
 one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for 
 which there was the least excuse. I do not question, however, 
 the sincerity of the great mass of those who were opposed to us. 
 
 General Lee was dressed in a full uniform which was entirely 
 new, and was wearing a sword of considerable value, very likely 
 the sword which had been presented by the State of Virginia. . . . 
 
 We soon fell into a conversation about old army times [in the 
 Mexican War]. He remarked that he remembered me very well 
 in the old army. . . . Our conversation grew so pleasant that I 
 
The Civil War 443 
 
 almost forgot the object of our meeting . . . when General Lee 
 again interrupted the course of the conversation by suggesting 
 that the terms I proposed to give his army ought to be written 
 out. I called to General Parker, Secretary on my staff, for writ- 
 ing materials, and commenced writing out the following terms : 
 
 Appomattox C. H., Va. 
 
 Gen. R.E.Lee, Ap'l 9th 1865 
 
 Comd'g C.S.A. 
 
 Gen : In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 
 8tli inst., I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of N. Va. 
 on the following terms, to wit : Rolls of all the officers and men to 
 be made in duplicate. One copy to be given to an officer designated 
 by me, the other to be retained by such officer or officers as you may 
 designate. The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up 
 arms against the Government of the United States until properly 
 exchanged, and each company or regimental commander sign a like 
 parole for the men of their commands. The arms, artillery and 
 public property to be parked and stacked, and turned over to the 
 officer appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the 
 side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage. This 
 done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to their homes, 
 not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe 
 their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside. 
 
 Very respectfully 
 
 U. S. Grant 
 Lt. Gen. 
 
 ... I then said to him that I thought this would be about the 
 last battle of the war — • I sincerely hoped so ; and I said further 
 I took it that most of the men in the ranks were small farmers. 
 The whole country had been so raided by the two armies that 
 it was doubtful whether they would be able to put in a crop to 
 carry themselves and their families through the next winter 
 without the aid of the horses they were then riding. The United 
 States did not want them, and I would therefore instruct the 
 officers I left behind to receive the paroles of his troops to let 
 every man of the Confederate army who claimed to own a horse 
 or mule take the animal to his home. Lee remarked again that 
 this would have a happy effect. He then sat down and wrote 
 out the following letter : 
 
444 rJie Crisis of Distmion 
 
 Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia 
 
 April 9, 1865 
 General : — 
 
 I received your letter of this date containing the terms of the 
 surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia as proposed by you. As 
 they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of 
 the 8th inst., they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the 
 proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect. 
 
 R. E. Lee, General 
 
 While duplicates of the two letters were being made, the 
 Union Generals present were severally presented to General 
 Lee. 
 
 The much talked of surrendering of Lee's sword and my 
 handing it back, this and much more that has been said about 
 it is pijrest romance. . . . 
 
 General Lee, after all was completed, and before taking his 
 leave, remarked that his army was in a very bad condition for 
 want of food, and that they were without forage ; that his men 
 had been living for some days on parched com exclusively, and 
 that he would have to ask me for rations and forage. I told him 
 " certainly," and asked for how many men he wanted rations. 
 His answer was " about twenty-five thousand " : and I authorized 
 him to send his own commissary and quartermaster to Appo- 
 mattox Station, two or three miles away, where he could have, 
 out of the trains we had stopped, all the provisions wanted. . . . 
 
 When news of the surrender first reached our lines our men 
 commenced firing a salute of a hundred guns in honor of the 
 victory. I at once sent word, however, to have it stopped. The 
 Confederates were now our prisoners, and we did not want to 
 exult over their downfall. . . . 
 
 I suggested to General Lee that there was not a man in the 
 Confederacy whose influence with the soldiery and the whole 
 people was as great as his, and that if he would now advise the 
 surrender of all the armies I had no doubt his advice would be 
 followed with alacrity.^ But Lee said, that he could not do that 
 
 1 This testimony to Lee's influence is corroborated by John S. Wise 
 of Virginia, a second lieutenant in the Confederate army at the close 
 of the war : " Certain it is that the Confederacy contained no other man 
 
The Civil War 445 
 
 without consulting the President first. I knew that there w.as 
 no use urging him to do anything against his ideas of what was 
 right. 
 
 When Lee and I separated he went back to his lines and I 
 returned to the house of Mr. M'^Lean. Here the officers of 
 both armies came in great numbers, and seemed to enjoy the 
 meeting as much as though they had been friends separated for 
 a long time while fighting battles under the same flag. 
 
 Walt Whitman, the American '' poet of democracy," 99. Poetical 
 offered his services as voluntary nurse to the soldiers in AbrahlL*^ 
 the hospitals in Washington during the Civil War. The ^^°coin 
 assassination of President Lincoln called forth no nobler f^^^^ 
 tribute than the famous elegy from Whitman's pen : 
 
 O Captain ! My Captain ! our fearful trip is done, 
 The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won, 
 The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, 
 While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring 5 
 
 But O heart ! heart ! heart ! 
 
 O the bleeding drops of red, 
 
 Where on the deck my Captain lies, 
 
 Fallen cold and dead ! 
 
 O Captain ! my Captain ! rise up and hear the bells ; 
 
 Rise up — for you the flag is flung — for you the bugle trills, 
 
 For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths — for you the shores 
 
 a-crowding. 
 For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning ; 
 
 like Robert E. Lee. When he said that the career of the Confederacy 
 was ended ; that the hope of an independent government must be aban- 
 doned . . . and that the duty of the future was to abandon the dream of 
 a confederacy and render a new and cheerful allegiance to a reunited 
 government — his utterances were accepted as true as Holy Writ. No 
 other human being on earth, no other earthly power, could have pro- 
 duced such acquiescence, or have compelled such prompt acceptance 
 of that final and irreversible judgment." — J. S. Wise, The End of an 
 Era, p. 344. 
 
44^ The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 Here Captain ! dear father ! 
 This arm beneath your head ! 
 It is some dream that on the deck, 
 You 've fallen cold and dead. 
 
 My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still, 
 My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will, 
 The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done, 
 From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won ; 
 
 Exult O Shores, and ring O bells ! 
 
 But I with mournful tread, 
 
 Walk the deck my Captain lies, 
 
 Fallen cold and dead. 
 
 The following verses by Tom Taylor appeared in the 
 London Punch of May 6, 1865, accompanied by a cartoon 
 of John Tenniel's, representing Britannia placing a wreath 
 on Columbia's bier. The verses are especially significant 
 because Lincoln had been unmercifully caricatured in 
 Punch » 
 
 You lay a wreath on murdered Lincoln's bier, 
 You, who with mocking pencil wont to trace. 
 Broad for the self-complacent British sneer. 
 His length of shambling limb, his furrow'd face. 
 
 His gaunt, gnarl'd hands, his unkempt, bristling hair, 
 
 His garb uncouth, his bearing ill at ease. 
 
 His lack of all we prize as debonnair. 
 
 Of power or will to shine, or art to please ; 
 
 You, whose smart pen back'd up the pencil's laugh, 
 Judging each step as though the way were plain ; 
 Reckless, so could it point its paragraph, 
 Of chief's perplexity, or people's pain, — 
 
 Beside this corpse, that bears for winding-sheet 
 The Stars and Stripes he liv'd to rear anew, 
 
The Civil War 447 
 
 Between the mourners at his head and feet, 
 Say, scurrile jester, is there room for you ? 
 
 Yes : he had lived to shame me from my sneer, 
 To lame my pencil and confute my pen ; 
 To make me own this hind of princes peer, 
 This rail-splitter a true-bom king of men. 
 
 My shallow judgment I had learn'd to rue, 
 
 Noting how to occasion's height he rose ; 
 
 How his quaint wit made home-truth seem more true; 
 
 How, iron-like, his temper grew by blows ; 
 
 How humble, yet how hopeful he could be ; 
 How in good fortune and in ill the same ; 
 Nor bitter in success, nor boastful he. 
 Thirsty for gold, nor feverish for fame. 
 
 He went about his work — such work as few 
 Ever had laid on head and heart and hand — 
 As one who knows, where there 's a task to do, 
 Man's honest will must Heaven's good grace command. 
 
 A felon hand, between the goal and him, 
 Reach 'd from behind his back, a trigger press'd — 
 And those perplex'd and patient eyes were dim, 
 Those gaunt, long-laboring limbs were laid to rest. 
 
 The words of mercy were upon his lips, 
 Forgiveness in his heart and on his pen. 
 When this vile murderer brought swift eclipse 
 To thoughts of peace on earth, good will to men. 
 
 The Old World and the New, from sea to sea. 
 Utter one voice of sympathy and shame. 
 Sore heart, so stopped when it at last beat high 1 
 Sad life, cut short just as its triumph came .' 
 
44^ The Crisis of Disunion 
 
 In his beautiful ode recited at the meeting at Harvard 
 College, July 21, 1865, in commemoration of the Harvard 
 men who fell in the war, James Russell Lowell has these 
 lines on Lincoln : 
 
 To front a lie in arms and not to yield, 
 
 This shows, methinks, God's plan 
 
 And measure of a stalwart man, 
 
 Limbed like the old heroic breeds, 
 
 Who stands self-poised on manhood's solid earthy 
 
 Not forced to frame excuses for his birth, 
 
 Fed from within with all the strength he needs. 
 
 Such was he, our Martyr-Chief, 
 
 Whom late the Nation he had led, 
 
 With ashes on her head, 
 
 Wept with the passion of an angry grief : 
 
 Forgive me, if from present things I turn 
 
 To speak what in my heart will beat and burn, 
 
 And hang my wreath on his world-honored urn. 
 
 Nature, they say, doth dote, 
 
 And cannot make a man 
 
 Save on some worn-out plan 
 
 Repeating us by rote : 
 For him her Old- World moulds aside she threw, 
 And choosing sweet clay from the breast 
 
 Of the unexhausted West, 
 With stuff untainted shaped a hero new, 
 Wise, steadfast in the strength of God, and true. 
 
 His was no lonely mountain-peak of mind, 
 
 Thrusting to thin air o'er our cloudy bars, 
 
 A sea-mark now, now lost in vapors blind ; 
 
 Broad prairie rather, genial, level-lined, 
 
 Fruitful and friendly for all human kind, 
 
 Yet also nigh to heaven and loved of loftiest stars. 
 
The Civil War 449 
 
 He knew to bide his time, 
 
 And can his fame abide, 
 Still patient in his simple faith sublime, 
 
 Till the wise years decide. 
 Great captains, with their guns and drums, 
 
 Disturb our judgment for the hour, 
 
 But at last silence comes ; 
 These all are gone, and, standing like a tower, 
 
 Our children shall behold his fame. 
 
 The kindly-earnest, brave, fore-seeing man. 
 Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame. 
 New birth of our new soil, the first American. 
 
 Our final selection is the tribute paid by Edwin Mark= 
 ham in his line^' entitled '' Lincoln " : 
 
 When the Norn-Mother saw the Whirlwind Hoyr, 
 
 Greatening and darkening as it hurried on, 
 
 She bent ;the strenuous heavens and came down 
 
 To make a man to meet the mortal need. 
 
 She took the tried clay of the common road— - 
 
 Clay warm yet with the genial heat of Earth, Iv ■ 
 
 Dashed through it all a strain of prophecy ; 
 
 Then mixed a laughter with the serious stuff. 
 
 It was a stuff to wear for centuries, 
 
 A man that matched the mountains, and compelled 
 
 The stars to look our way and honor us. 
 
 The color of the ground was in him, the red earth ; 
 
 The tang and odor of the primal things — 
 
 The rectitude and patience of the rocks ; 
 
 The gladness of the wind that shakes the corn ; 
 
 The courage of the bird that dares the sea ; 
 
 The justice of the rain that loves all leaves ; 
 
 The pity of the snow that hides all scars ; 
 
 The loving-kindness of the wayside well ; 
 
 The tolerance and equity of light 
 
 That gives as freely to the shrinking weed 
 
 As to the great oak flowing to the wind — 
 
W' 
 
 450 T/ie Crisis of Disunion 
 
 To the graves' low hill as to the Matterhorn 
 That shoulders out the sky. And so he came 
 From prairie cabin up to Capitol, 
 One fair Ideal led our chieftain on. 
 Forevermore he burned to do his deed 
 With the fine stroke and gesture of a king. 
 He built the rail-pile as he built the State, 
 Pouring his splendid strength through every blow, 
 The conscience of him testing every stroke 
 To make his deed the measure of a man. 
 
 So came the Captain with the mighty heart ; 
 And when the step of Earthquake shook the house 
 Wrenching the rafters from their ancient hold 
 He held the ridgepole up, and spiked again 
 The rafters of the Home. He held his place — 
 Held the long purpose like a growing tree — 
 Held on through blame and faltered not at praise^ 
 And when he fell in whirlwind, he went down 
 As when a kingly cedar green with boughs 
 Goes down with a great shout upon the hills, 
 And leaves a lonesome place against the sky. 
 
PART VII. THE POLITICAL AND IN- 
 DUSTRIAL HISTORY OF THE REPUB- 
 LIC SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 
 
PART VII. THE POLITICAL AND 
 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF THE 
 REPUBLIC SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 TWENTY YEARS OF REPUBLICAN SUPREMACY 
 
 Reconstruction 
 
 Among the Johnson papers in the Library of Congress at loo. A 
 Washington is the following letter of General Howell Cobb advice^tr^ ^ 
 of Georgia, Secretary of the Treasury under Buchanan, Presider 
 written at the request of Major General J. H. Wilson of recon 
 the Union army in Georgia, to be submitted to President *g^° 
 Johnson : 
 
 Macon, 14 June, 1865 
 Brevet Maj. Genl. J. H. Wilson 
 
 Com'ding &c. 
 
 Macon, Gr 
 General 
 
 In compliance with my promise I submit to ' 
 the views and suggestions which I had the hon*" 
 in our interview on yesterday. It is due to 
 I was a secessionist, and counseled the ^ 
 secede.^ When the adoption of that polio 
 it my duty to share in the privations o^. t. 
 ingly at the commencement of the conte.' 
 and declining all civil employment s, remr 
 
 1 See No. 91, p. 394, for Cobb's ad\'ice to 
 
 453 
 
;^^^||^ 
 
 
 454 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 I was an ardent supporter of the cause throughout the 
 struggle. Upon the surrender of General Johnston, I regarded 
 the contest at an end, and have since that time conformed my 
 actions to that conviction. . . . 
 
 The contest has ended in the subjugation of the South. The 
 parties stand toward each other in the relative position of con- 
 queror and conquered ; and the question for statesmen to decide, 
 is, the policy and duty of the respective parties. With regard to 
 the latter [the conquered South] the course is plainly marked 
 i^ out. ... A return to the peaceful and quiet employments of 
 ■^^life ; obedience to the constitution and laws of the United States ; 
 nd the faiti^ful discharge of all the duties and obligations im- 
 posed upon them by the new state of things, constitute their 
 plain and simple duty.^ .11 ..'^■^'^^ 
 
 In the adoption. jsfc^l^^l^l'rwhich the Government will 
 pursue towards the "people bt''the-;^uth, there are two mat- 
 ters which prenSit themselves for -ij^rimary and paramount 
 
 W ^ That the men of the'So^K wCr^ :3^^ ready to fulfill that duty 
 
 ■■■■ ^ we have ample testimonyl-Gea«r«Kiraiit, wI|d was sent South on a tour 
 
 \ ^. of inspection by Johnson, repot.te.din-B'eQ^ber, 1865 : "I am satisfied 
 
 * that the mass of thinking men of the Soi^^i^cept the present situation 
 
 ^ of affairs in good faith. The questio^^jmSh has hitherto divided the 
 
 ^^ntiment of the two sections — Slav€r]^pd State rights, or the right 
 
 ^ a State to secede from the Unio^;r^-i#hey regard as having been 
 
 *tled forever by the highest trib«*nal ;farms] that man can resort to. 
 
 My observations lead me to the conclusion that the citizens of the 
 
 •^rn States are anxious to returri'to self-government, within the 
 
 s soon as possible. ... It is to be regretted that there cannot 
 
 - commingling, at this time, between the citizens of the two 
 
 ■particularly of those entrusted with the law-making power" 
 
 ve Documents, 39th Congress, ist session, No. 2, p. 107). 
 
 '^ to a friend, September 7, 1865 : " Like yourself, I 
 
 ition of hostilities, advised all with whom I have 
 
 ■^ct, who come within the terms of the president's 
 
 V, May 29, 1865] to take the oath of allegiance, 
 
 tu.** amnesty offered. . . . The war being at an 
 
 naVi^l'ig laid down their arms, and the questions 
 
 n'd the Northern States having been decided, 
 
 " ty of e\^ery one to unite in the restoration of 
 
 ?tablishment of peace and harmony" (W. L. 
 
 listory of Reconstruction, Vol. I, p. 63). 
 
Twenty Years of Reptiblican Stipremacy 455 
 
 consideration, i'' the present condition of things in the South. 
 2""* the state of things it is desirable to produce, and the best 
 mode of doing it. . . . 
 
 The whole country [South] has been more or less devas- 
 tated. Their physical condition in the loss of property, and, the, 
 deprivation of the comforts of life ... is as bad as their worst 
 enemy could desire. . . . The abolition of slavery not only 
 deprives them of a large property, but revolutionizes the whole 
 system of agricultural labor, and must necessarily retard the 
 restoration of former prosperity. So completely has this insti- 
 tution been interwoven with the whole framework of society, 
 that its abolition involves a revision, and modification of almost 
 every page of the Statute books of the States where it has 
 existed.^ It is with a people, thus depressed in mind, seriously 
 injured in estate, and surrounded by embarrassing questions of 
 the greatest magnitude, that the Government has to deal . . . 
 
 The avowed object pi. the Government was to restore the 
 Union.^ The success!^ -terj^iination of the war has effected 
 that result, so far as filler resistance on the part of the South 
 is concerned. The people of the South, being prepared to con- 
 form to that result, a^^se for the restoration of the Union is 
 in the hands of the Go^pftient. - 
 
 Looking to the future interests, not only of the Southern 
 people, but of the whole country, it is desirable that the bitter 
 animosities . . . should be softened as much as possible ; and a 
 
 1 The laws passed to adjust the framework of society in the South 
 to the new conditions occasioned by the liberation of 4,000,000 slaves 
 were called the " black laws " or the " black codes " (see Muzzey, An 
 American History, pp. 383-384). They were used by the radicals of 
 the North in the campaign of 1866 against President Johnson's policy 
 of granting " home rule " to the Southern states. They never went 
 into force, for the Freedman's Bureau at first suspended them, and 
 then the " carpetbag governments " established by the Reconstruction 
 Act (see No. loi, p. 458) repealed them. Since the fall of the Recon- 
 struction Governments, however, the black codes have been virtually 
 reenacted in all the Southern states — prohibition of intermarriage, 
 distinct white and colored schools, "Jim Crow" cars, etc. A number 
 of interesting examples of the black codes may be found in W. L. 
 Fleming's Documentary History of Reconstruction, Vol. I, pp. 273-312. 
 
 2 See the Resolution of Congress of July 22, 1861, No. 93 [d), p. 412. 
 
456 History of the RcptLblic since the Civil War 
 
 devastated country restored ... to comparative prosperity. To 
 effect these results requires the exercise of virtues, which the 
 history of the World shows, are not often, if ever found, in 
 the hearts of the conquerors, magnanimity and generosity. The 
 World is sadly in need of such an example. Let the United 
 States furnish it. There never was a more fitting opportunity. 
 It will never be followed by more satisfactory results. . . . 
 
 I leave it for those who would counsel a different policy, to 
 foreshadow the effects of a contrary course. They may be able 
 to see, how more blood, and more suffering will sooner restore 
 kindlier feelings. I cannot. In the sufferings already endured, 
 and the privations of the present, there appears to me an ample 
 atonement, to satisfy the demands of those who would punish 
 the South for the past. For the security of the future no such 
 policy is required. 
 
 Giving to these general principles the form of practical 
 recommendations, I would say that all prosecutions and penal- 
 ties should cease against those who stand charged alone with 
 the offence of being parties to, and supporters of the Southern 
 cause. ... If I could make my voice heard in the councils of 
 the Government, I would seek to restore concord and good 
 feeling by extending it to those, from whom I asked it in re- 
 turn. ... No man will doubt that the man who is received 
 back into the Union, and feels that he has been subjected to no 
 severe penalty, and been required to submit to no humiliating 
 test, will make a truer and better citizen, than the one who feels 
 that his citizenship has been obtained by submitting to harsh and 
 degrading terms, which he was compelled to yield to, to secure 
 the rights he has acquired. . . . 
 
 By the abolition of slavery ... a state of things has been pro- 
 duced, well calculated to excite the most serious apprehensions 
 with the people of the South. I regard the result as unfortunate 
 both for the white and black. The institution of slavery, in 
 my judgment provided the best system of labor that could be 
 devised for the negro race. . . . You will find that our people are 
 fully prepared to conform to the new state of things [emanci- 
 pation] ; and will be disposed to pursue towards the negroes, a 
 course dictated by humanity and kindness. I take it for granted, 
 
Twenty Years of Republican Supremacy 457 
 
 that the future relations, between the negroes and their former 
 owners, like all other questions of domestic policy, will be under 
 the control and direction of the State Governments.^ . . . 
 
 I am fully conscious of the fact, that what I have said, 
 is subject to the criticism of proceeding from an interested 
 party. This is true. I am interested, deeply interested in 
 the question, not so much for myself, for I have no future, 
 but for my family, my friends, my countrymen. ... So is 
 
 1 In expecting to be allowed to solve their questions of " domestic 
 policy " after the war the Southerners were not asking an unreasonable 
 favor, according to the views of Abraham Lincoln. In his last cabinet 
 meeting Lincoln remarked: "We can't undertake to run State Govern- 
 ments in all these Southern States. Their people must do that, though 
 I reckon that at first they may do it badly" (F. W. Seward, Life of 
 Seward, Vol. Ill, p. 275). It was neither the Southern leaders nor 
 Andrew Johnson, under their sinister influence, that inaugurated the 
 idea of home rule for the South after the war — it was Abraham Lincoln. 
 The radicals at the North were indignant that Johnson should take into 
 his own hands the problem of Reconstruction, during the recess of Con- 
 gress, by issuing an amnesty proclamation and allowing governments to 
 set themselves up in the Southern states ; and were exasperated that 
 these measures of Johnson were winning for him the approbation of 
 moderate men in both sections. " Is there no way to arrest the insane 
 course of the President in reorganization .-' " wrote Thaddeus Stevens to 
 Sumner on the very day (June 14, 1865) that Cobb wrote his letter of 
 advice to the President. " If something is not done, the President will 
 be crowned king before Congress meets " (Works of Charles Sumner, 
 ed. G. F. Hoar, Vol. IX, p. 543). And Benjamin Wade of Ohio wrote 
 to Sumner (July 29) : "The President is pursuing and resolved to pursue 
 a course in regard to reconstruction that can result in nothing but con- 
 signing the great Union or Republican party, bound hand and foot to 
 the tender mercies of the rebels we have so lately conquered in the 
 field, and their copperhead alHes of the North " (Works of Charles 
 Sumner, Vol. IX, p. 480). Extreme radicals like Sumner, Wade, and 
 Chase had made up their minds before the close of the war that the 
 negro must be given the ballot in order to protect himself. Chase wrote 
 to Lincoln, from Baltimore, April 11, 1865: "As to the rebel States, 
 the easiest and safest way seems to me to be the enrollment of loyal 
 citizens without regard to complexion. . . . This you know has long been 
 my opinion. It is confirmed by observation more and more. ... It will 
 be hereafter counted equally a crime and a folly if the colored loyalists of 
 the rebel States are left to the control of restored rebels . . ." (War of the 
 Rebellion, Official Records, Series I, Vol. XLVII, Part III, pp. 427-428). 
 
458 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 every man who feels an interest in the future not of the South 
 only, but of the whole country. 
 
 101. The Re- The men prevailed who " counselled a different policy " 
 Act March 2, from that of complete amnesty and home rule for the 
 South advocated in General Cobb's letter. General Carl 
 Schurz, President Johnson's special commissioner to the 
 South to study political and social conditions there, reported 
 (December, 1865): "Treason does*, under existing cir- 
 cumstances, not appear odious in the South. The people 
 are not impressed with any sense of its criminality. . . . 
 There is as yet among the Southern people an utter 
 lack of national feeling." ^ The committee of fifteen ap- 
 pointed by Congress (December, 1865) "to inquire into 
 the condition of the States which formed the so-called 
 Confederate States of America, and report whether they 
 or any of them are entitled to be represented in either 
 House of Congress," reported in June, 1866, that it would 
 be "folly and madness" to permit "conquered enemies . . . 
 at their own pleasure and on their own terms, to participate 
 
 1 Senate Executive Documents, 39th Congress, ist session, Vol. I, 
 No. 2, p. 13. A good example of the defiant submission of the Southern 
 leaders is found in a letter of the gallant General Wade Hampton of 
 South Carolina to President Johnson (1866). "The South unequivocally 
 accepts the situation in which she is placed. . . . She intends to abide 
 by the laws of the land honestly . . . and to keep her word sacredly, and 
 I assert that the North has no right to demand more of her. You have 
 no right to ask or expect that she will at once profess unbounded love 
 to that Union from which for four years she tried to escape at the cost 
 of her best blood and all her treasure. Nor can you believe her to be 
 so unutterably hypocritical, so base, as to declare that the flag of the 
 Union has already usurped in her heart the place which has so long 
 been sacred to the ' Southern Cross.' The men at the South who make 
 such professions are renegades and traitors, and they will surely betray 
 you if you trust them. But the brave men who fought to the last in a 
 cause which they believed and still believe to have been a just one . . . 
 will prove true to their obligations." — Quoted by W. L. Fleming, 
 Documentary History of Reconstruction, Vol. 1, p. 66. 
 
Tiventy Years of Republican Supremacy 459 
 
 in making laws for their conquerors. . . . That before 
 allowing such representation, adequate security for future 
 peace and safety should be required ; that this can be 
 found only in such changes in the organic law as shall 
 determine the civil rights and privileges of all citizens in 
 all parts of the republic, . . . shall fix a stigma upon treason, 
 and protect the loyal people against future claims for the 
 expenses incurred in support of rebellion and for manu- 
 mitted slaves." 1 Relying on these reports and exasperated 
 by President Johnson's coarse attacks on them in public 
 speeches for their interference with his policy toward the 
 South, the leaders of the thirty-ninth Congress took the 
 matter of reconstruction wholly into their own hands and 
 undid the entire work of the "Johnson governments" by 
 the Reconstruction Act of March 2, 1867. 
 
 AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE MORE EFFICIENT 
 GOVERNMENT OF THE REBEL STATES 
 
 Whereas no legal State governments or adequate protection 
 for life or property now exists in the rebel States of Virginia, 
 North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, 
 Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas; and whereas it is 
 necessary that peace and good order should be enforced in said 
 States, until loyal republican State governments can be legally 
 established : Therefore 
 
 Be it €7iacted. . . . That said rebel States shall be divided into 
 military districts and made subject to the military authority of 
 the United States as hereinafter prescribed, and for that pur- 
 pose Virginia shall constitute the first district ; North Carolina 
 and South Carolina the second district ; Georgia, Alabama, and 
 Florida the third district ; Mississippi and Arkansas the fourth 
 district ; and Louisiana and Texas the fifth district ; 
 
 1 House Reports, 39th Congress, ist session, Vol. II, No. 30, 
 pp. xx-xxi. 
 
 « 
 
460 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 Sec. 2. . . . That it shall be the duty of the President to 
 assign to the command of each of said districts an officer of the 
 army, not below the rank of brigadier-general, and to detail a suffi- 
 cient military force to enable such officer to perform his duties and 
 enforce his authority within the district to which he is assigned. 
 
 Sec. 3. . . . That it shall be the duty of each of^cer assigned 
 as aforesaid, to protect all persons in their right of person and 
 property ; to suppress insurrection, disorder, and violence, and 
 to punish, or cause to be punished, all disturbers of the public 
 peace and criminals ; and to this end he may allow local civil 
 tribunals to take jurisdiction of and to try offenders, or, when in 
 his judgment it may be necessary for the trial of offenders, he 
 shall have power to organize military commissions or tribunals 
 for that purpose, and all interference under color of State 
 authority with the exercise of military authority under this act, 
 shall be null and void. 
 
 Sec. 4. . . . That all persons put under military arrest by 
 virtue of this act shall be tried without unnecessary delay, and no 
 cruel or unusual punishment shall be inflicted, and no sentence 
 . . . affecting the life or liberty of any person shall be executed 
 until it is approved by the officer in command of the district, and 
 ... no sentence of death under the provisions of this act shall 
 be carried into effect without the approval of the President. 
 
 Sec. 5. . . . That when the people of any one of said rebel 
 States shall have formed a constitution of government in con- 
 formity with the Constitution of the United States in all respects, 
 framed by a convention of delegates elected by the male citizens 
 of said State, twenty-one years old and upward, of whatever 
 race, color, or previous condition, who have been resident in 
 said State for one year previous to the day of such election, 
 except such as may be disfranchised for participation in the 
 rebellion, or for felony at common law, and when such consti- 
 tution shall provide that the elective franchise shall be enjoyed 
 by all such persons as have the qualifications herein stated 
 for electors of delegates, and when such constitution shall be 
 ratified by a majority of the persons voting on the question of 
 ratification who are qualified as electors for delegates, and when 
 such constitution shall have been submitted to Congress for 
 
Twenty Years of Republiean Supremacy 46 1 
 
 examination and approval, and Congress shall have approved 
 the same, and when said State, by a vote of its legislature elected 
 under said constitution, shall have adapted the amendment to 
 the Constitution of the United States, proposed by the thirty- 
 ninth Congress, and known as article fourteen, and when said 
 article shall have become part of the Constitution of the United 
 States, said State shall be declared entided to representation in 
 Congress, and senators and representatives shall be admitted 
 therefrom on their taking the oath prescribed by law, and then 
 and thereafter the preceding sections of this act shall be inoper- 
 ative in said State : Provided, That no person excluded from the 
 privilege of holding office by said proposed amendment to the 
 Constitution of the United States,^ shall be eligible to election as 
 a member of the convention to frame a constitution for any of 
 said rebel States, nor shall any such person rate for members 
 of such convention. . . . 
 
 Disqualified for office-holding by the Fourteenth Amend- 102. ku- 
 
 " ux tei 
 my, I 
 
 [388] 
 
 ment, disfranchised and subjected to the rule of the negro mony,*i87i 
 
 by the Reconstruction Act, the whites of the South re 
 sorted to extra-legal methods for maintaining their suprem- 
 acy. Secret societies under various names (Ku-Klux Klans, 
 Knights of the White Camelia, Pale Faces, Councils of 
 Safety, White Leagues, etc.) vi^ere founded in all the 
 states of the South to thwart the execution of the Recon- 
 struction Acts by terrorizing the negroes who had political 
 ambitions, and harrying the scalawag and the carpetbagger 
 out of Dixie. At the request of President Grant, Congress, 
 on April 20, 1871, passed the "Ku-Klux Act," to en- 
 force the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment ; and 
 a joint committee, composed of fourteen representatives 
 and seven senators, was appointed " to inquire into the 
 condition of the late insurrectionary States, so far as 
 
 1 The classes of persons disqualified are enumerated in Section 3 of 
 the Fourteenth Amendment. 
 
462 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 regards the execution of the laws and the safety of the 
 Hves and property of the citizens of the United States " 
 (see Amendment XIV, Sect. I). The report of the com- 
 mittee (February 19, 1872), with the testimony of witnesses 
 examined both in Washington and by a subcommittee in 
 the South, fills thirteen closely printed volumes, published 
 by the Government Printing Office. The following extracts 
 are from the testimony of General John B. Gordon ^ and 
 a negro, Scipio Eager, two of the one hundred and forty- 
 eight witnesses from the state of Georgia. 
 
 Washington D. C. July 27, i§7i 
 John B. Gordon, sworn and examined. 
 
 Question. The object we had in calling you as a witness was 
 to get from you if possible a general view of the condition of 
 the State of Georgia, to ascertain whether property and life are 
 protected there, whether any crimes have been committed by 
 disguised men. From your general knowledge of affairs in that 
 State, we desire you to tell us whatever will enable the committee 
 to understand fully the condition of affairs in Georgia. . . . 
 
 Ans7ver. ... I want to say very distinctly that our people 
 have not entertained animosity and bitterness toward the troops ; 
 our feelings are directed toward these camp-followers and men 
 who have come in our midst since the war — men without char- 
 acter and without intelligence, except a certain sort of shrewd- 
 ness by which they have been enabled to impose themselves 
 upon the negro and acquire gain, some of them very much gain, 
 out of the pittances they have been able to get out of the negro 
 one way and another. Some of them have gotten into office 
 from counties where they never were but once or twice during 
 
 1 Gordon was candidate for Governor of Georgia in 1868. He had 
 been a valuable officer in Lee's army, and was " in at the death " at 
 Appomattox. It was his reply to Lee's messenger on the morning of 
 April 9, 1865, "Tell General Lee that I have fought my corps to a 
 frazzle," that determined the Southern commander to surrender. Quoted 
 by J. F. Rhodes, History of the United States, Vol. V, p. 125. 
 
Twenty Years of Republican Supremacy 463 
 
 the whole canvass. ... I know of one or two members of the 
 legislature who never resided at all in the counties from which 
 they were sent, except a few days before the election. My 
 own impression, from what I have seen in Georgia, is that the 
 negroes, left free from this influence, would have been exceed- 
 ingly peaceable. The very kindliest relations exist between the 
 old masters and their former servants. . . . Our people have 
 no interest in driving these negroes out of the country. Their 
 interest is directly the reverse. We want them there. We oppose 
 their being carried away, even to Mississippi. . . . 
 
 I will state a fact which I think will be borne out by every 
 honest man in Georgia — that the negro today, before a jury 
 of Southern men in Georgia, has as fair a chance of justice as 
 a white man, if not a better chance. I believe this as firmly as 
 that I am sitting in this chair. . . . 
 
 Question. What do you know of any combinations in Georgia 
 known as . Ku-Klux, or by any other name, who have been 
 violating law ? 
 
 Ans7ver. I do not know anything about any Ku-Klux organ- 
 ization, as the papers talk about it . . . but I do know that an 
 organization did exist in Georgia at one time. I know that in 
 1868 ... I was approached and asked to attach myself to a 
 secret organization in Georgia. . . . The object of this organ- 
 ization was explained to me at the time; and I want to say 
 that I approved of it most heartily. . . . 
 
 Qiiestiofi. Tell us all about what that organization was. 
 
 Answer. The organization was simply this — nothing more or 
 nothing less : it was an organization, a brotherhood of property- 
 holders, the peaceable, law-abiding citizens of the State, for 
 self-protection. The instinct of self -protection, prompted that 
 organization ; the sense of insecurity and danger, particularly 
 in those neighborhoods where the negro population largely pre- 
 dominated. . . . We were afraid to have a public organization ; 
 because we supposed that it would be construed at once, by the 
 authorities at Washington, as an organization antagonistic to 
 the Government of the United States. . . . This organization, 
 I think, extended nearly all over the State. It was, I say, an 
 organization purely for self-defence. It had no more politics in 
 
464 History of the Republic sijice the Civil War 
 
 it than the organization of the Masons. . . . This society was 
 purely a police organization, to keep the peace, to prevent 
 disturbance in our State. . . . 
 
 Questiofi. You had no riding about at nights } 
 Answer. None on earth. I have no doubt that such things 
 have occurred in Georgia. It is notoriously stated . . . that dis- 
 guised parties have committed outrages in Georgia. . . . There 
 is not a good man in Georgia who does not deplore that thing 
 as much as any radical deplores it. When I use the term " radi- 
 cal," I do not mean to reflect upon the Republican party gener- 
 ally ; but in our State a republican is a very different sort of a 
 man from a republican generally in the Northern States. In 
 our State republicanism means nothing in the world but creat- 
 ing disturbance, riot, and animosity, and filching and plundering. 
 This is what it means in our State — nothing else. ... It strikes 
 me as the very highest commentary upon the law-abiding spirit 
 of the people of Georgia that such men as I could name — men 
 in high position who have plundered our people by the million 
 
 — still live and are countenanced upon the streets. . . . 
 
 I know that the general feeling at the North is that our people 
 are hostile to the Government of the United States. Upon that 
 point I wish to testify. ... I know very well that if the pro- 
 gramme which our people saw set on foot at Appomattox 
 Court-House [see No. 98, p. 442] had been carried out — if 
 our people had been met in the spirit which we believe existed 
 there among the officers and soldiers, from General Grant down 
 
 — we would have had no disturbance in the South. . . . Right 
 or wrong, it is the impression of the southern mind — it is the 
 conviction of my own mind, in which I am perfectly sincere and 
 honest — that we have not been met in the proper spirit. We 
 in Georgia do not believe that we have been allowed proper 
 credit for our honesty of purpose. ... To say to our people : 
 " You are unworthy to vote ; you cannot hoid office ; we are 
 unwilling to trust you ; you are not honest men ; your former 
 slaves are better fitted to administer the laws than you are ; " 
 this sort of dealing with us has emphatically alienated our people. 
 The burning of Adanta and all the devastation through Georgia 
 never created a tithe of the animosity that has been created by 
 
Twenty Years of Republican Supremacy 465 
 
 this sort of treatment of our people. Not that we wanted offices ; 
 that is not the point at all, though our people feel that it is an 
 outrage to say that the best men in our midst shall not hold 
 office. . . . We feel a sense of wrong as honorable men. We 
 do not think we have done anything in the dark. . . . We had 
 fought the contest out; we had been defeated; and we thought 
 that ought to be the last of it. That was the way we felt at the 
 South. By the course that has been pursued toward us since 
 the surrender we have been disappointed, and the feeling of 
 alienation among our people has in this way been increased 
 more than by any other one fact. In addition to that, we in 
 Georgia think that some of the most grievous outrages have been 
 inflicted upon our people by the military authorities sustained 
 by the Government, 
 
 Atlanta, Georgia, October 27, 187 1 
 SciPio Eager (colored), sworn and examined. 
 
 Question. What is your age, where were you born, and where 
 do you now live ? 
 
 A?iswer. I am about twenty-four or twenty-five years old, as 
 nigh as I can get at it ; I do not know my age exactly. I was 
 bom in Hancock County and I live in Washington County 
 when I am at home. 
 
 Q. Why did you leave ? / 
 
 A. Because the Ku-Klux were after me. 
 
 Q. Are the Ku-Klux in Washington County ? 
 
 A. Yes, sir ; there 's where my brother got killed. 
 
 Q. Did they do anything to you ? 
 
 A. Yes sir, they whipped me so bad that I never laid down 
 and rested for three weeks after they got through with me. . . . 
 
 Q. At what time did they go to your house ; in the day-time 
 or night-time ? 
 
 A. It was in the night. 
 
 Q. How many of them were there > 
 
 A. About a hundred, as near as I can get at it. I heard 
 some say who counted them that there were a hundred of them. 
 
 Q. How were they fixed up ? 
 
 A. They had uniforms on. 
 
 Q. Describe the uniform as well as you can. 
 
466 History of the Republic sificc the Civil War 
 
 A. Some of them had white, some had black ; they had all 
 sorts of colors.^ 
 
 Q. Did you know any of them ? 
 
 A. Yes sir, I knew some of them . . . three or four [names 
 follow]. 
 
 Q. Tell us what they did when they came to your house ; 
 give us a history of the transaction. 
 
 A. They came and got me first and tied my hands behind 
 me, and asked where was my other brother. ... I said, " Gentle- 
 men, what are you going to do with me .? " He said, " Never 
 mind, I will tell you what when I am through with you." They 
 said we never voted right. Mr. Alfred Harrison tried his best 
 to get us not to go to the election, but we would go to the 
 election, and we voted. . . . They carried me off into the woods, 
 about a mile from the house, while they killed my brother. I 
 kept questioning them : " What are you going to do with me ? 
 I have not done anything at all." They said, " Never mind, we 
 will tell you what we will do after we carry you off." They had 
 
 1 The costume of the Ku-Klux riders is described as follows : " A 
 long gown with loose flowing sleeves, with a hood in which the apertures 
 for the eyes, nose and mouth are trimmed with some red material. . . . 
 In some instances they have disguised their horses so that even they 
 should not be recognized. ... It is a large loose gown covering the 
 whole person quite closely, buttoned close around and reaching from 
 the head clear down to the floor, covering the feet and dragging on 
 the ground. It is made of bleached linen, starched and ironed, and 
 in the night, by moonlight, it glitters and rattles" (Statement of Joseph 
 Molden of North Carolina, quoted by Fleming, Documentary History 
 of Reconstruction, Vol. II, p. 364). "A trick of frequent perpetration 
 in the country was for a horseman, spectral and ghostly looking, to 
 stop before the cabin of some negro needing a wholesome impression 
 and call for a bucket of water. If a dipper or gourd was brought, it was 
 declined, and the bucket full of water demanded. As if consumed by 
 raging thirst the horseman grasped it and pressed it to his lips. He 
 held it there till every drop of the water was poured into a gum or 
 oiled sack concealed beneath the Ku-Klux robe. Then the empty 
 bucket was returned to the amazed negro with the remark : ' That 's 
 good. It's the first drink of water I've had since I was killed at 
 Shiloh.' Then a few words of counsel as to future behavior made an 
 impression not likely to be disregarded" (Lester and Wilson, The 
 Ku-Klux Klan, pp. 98-99). 
 
Tzventy Yeafs of Repiiblica7i Supremacy 467 
 
 killed a man last year over there. They carried me right through 
 to his grave, and told me they were going to kill me. . . . They 
 had their pistols at my face on both sides ; they were all around 
 me. I stopped talking and would not say anything. They all 
 got into a huddle, just like a swarm of bees. . . . After they 
 pulled their disguises off their faces, they came there and told 
 me that I was to be whipped. I thought it was all right, and 
 that it would be better to be whipped than to be killed like my 
 brother. In my brother's back I counted some hundred and 
 odd shots, bullets and buckshot holes. . . . 
 
 Q. Did they whip you over your clothes t 
 
 A. No, sir! . . . They took off every rag of clothes I had, 
 and laid me down on the ground, and some stood on my head 
 and some on my feet. I can't tell how many men whipped me 
 at once. They went out and got great big long brushes, as big 
 as these chair-posts, and .they whipped them all into frassels. 
 There are welts on me now. ... I tried to run, and some threw 
 rocks at me, and some said " Shoot him " ; but they did not. 
 
 Q. Did they get after you again ? 
 
 A. Yes, sir ; in July. . . . 
 
 Q. What did they do ? 
 
 A. They did n't catch me then. They came and searched my 
 house. They had dogs to search around, but they did n't catch me. 
 
 Q. What kind of dogs ? 
 
 A. What they call " nigger-hounds " ; such as they had in 
 the old slavery times ; Dudley had the dogs. 
 
 Q. Do they keep such dogs in your county now } 
 
 A. Yes, sir ; just on purpose for that business. . . . 
 
 Q. Are there many Ku-Klux up there ? 
 
 A. O yes, sir; you could see a hundred and fifty any time 
 before I came away from there. . . . 
 
 Q. Have any of those people been arrested or punished for 
 killing your brother or whipping you ? 
 
 A. No, sir ; I have been here since July, and I have been 
 around mighty near to every one of these offices, and I could 
 not do anything. . . . Mr. Harrison, the man who killed my 
 brother, he said it was no use to have anything done but to 
 have him buried. 
 
468 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 Q. What did you go to him for ? 
 
 A. I did not know what to do. I was just like a rabbit 
 when the dogs are after him ; I had to do anything I could to 
 try to save my life. 
 
 103. The 
 liberal Re- 
 publican 
 movement 
 of 1872 
 
 [3941 
 
 The Aftermath of the War 
 
 Toward the end of Grant's first term a group of " pro- 
 gressive " Republicans, disgusted with the official corrup- 
 tion, the harsh measures applied to the South, the military 
 autocracy, and the burdensome protective-tariff policy 
 which characterized the administration at Washington, 
 started "an independent movement that seemed to presage 
 a new era in American politics." ^ The call to arms was 
 sent out by a state convention,^ assembled at Jefferson 
 City, Missouri, January 24, 1872 : 
 
 Resolved, That we, the Liberal Republicans of Missouri, 
 faithful now, as we were in the dark days of civil war, to the 
 principles of true republicanism, by no act or word will en- 
 danger rightful sovereignty of the Union, emancipation,^ equal- 
 ity of civil rights,^ or enfranchisement.* To these established 
 facts, now embedded in the Constitution, we claim the loyalty 
 of all good citizens. 
 
 Resolved, That a true and lasting peace can come only from 
 such proposed reconciliation as enfranchisement has wrought in 
 this State,^ nor can those governments be pure or just in which 
 
 1 J. F. Rhodes, History of the United States, Vol. VI, p. 417. 
 
 2 By the Thirteenth Amendment. 
 
 3 By the Fourteenth Amendment, Sect. I. 
 
 4 By the Fifteenth Amendment. 
 
 ^ Missouri, by a combination of liberal Republicans and Democrats, 
 had just revised the harsh Constitution of 1865, which disfranchised 
 "rebel sympathizers." "The State [Missouri] had not seceded, but tens 
 of thousands of her people had joined the rebel ranks. To prevent them 
 from sharing in the government while fighting to overthrow it, these 
 alHes of the RebelHon had by an amendment to the State Constitution 
 been disquaUfied from exercising the right of citizenship." — James G. 
 Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress, Vol. II, p. 517. 
 
Twenty Years of Republican Supremacy 469 
 
 the tax-payers have no active part. We therefore demand, with 
 equal suffrage for all, complete amnesty for all, that the intelli- 
 gent and experienced of every State may be welcomed to active 
 service for the common welfare. 
 
 Resolved, That no form of taxation is just or wise which puts 
 needless burdens upon the people. We demand a genuine re- 
 form of the tariff, so that those duties shall be removed, which 
 in addition to the revenue yielded to the Treasury, involve in- 
 crease in the price of domestic products, and a consequent tax 
 for the benefit of favored interests. 
 
 Resolved, That the shameless abuse of government patronage 
 for the control of conventions and elections, whether in the in- 
 terests of an individual, a faction, or a party, with the conse- 
 quent corruption and demoralization of political life, demands a 
 thorough and genuine reform of public service. Those who 
 would suppress investigation forget that they owe a higher duty 
 to the country than to any party. . . . 
 
 Resolved, That local self-government with impartial suffrage, 
 will guard the rights of all citizens more securely than any cen- 
 tralized authority. It is time to stop the growing encroachment 
 of executive power, the use of coercion or bribery to ratify a 
 treaty, the packing of a Supreme Court to relieve rich corpora- 
 tions, the seating of members of Congress not elected by the 
 people, the resort to unconstitutional laws to cure Ku-Klux dis- 
 orders.^ . . . We demand for the individual the largest liberty 
 consistent with public order, for the State, self-government, 
 and for the nation, return to the methods of peace, and the 
 constitutional limitations of power. 
 
 Resolved, That true Republicanism makes it not the less our 
 duty to expose corruption, denounce usurpation of power, and 
 work for reforms necessary to the public welfare. The times 
 demand an uprising of honest citizens to sweep from power the 
 men who prostitute the name of an honored party to selfish in- 
 terests. We therefore invite all Republicans, who desire the 
 
 1 The student may find what acts of President Grant's first admin- 
 istration are referred to in this paragraph by consulting J. F. Rhodes, 
 History of the United States since 1850, Vol. VI, pp. 267 ff., 313 ff., 
 347 ff- 
 
470 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 reforms herein set forth, to meet in national mass convention at 
 the city of Cincinnati, on the first Wednesday of May next at 
 12m., there to take such action as our conviction of duty and 
 the pubhc exigency may require. 
 
 Of the convention that met at Cincinnati, May i, 1872, 
 in response to the above call, the correspondent of the 
 Nation (May 9) wrote: "I doubt whether a more respect- 
 able, honest, intellectual, public-spirited, body of men ever 
 got together for a similar purpose." The '* leader and 
 master-mind " of the movement was Carl Schurz, a Ger- 
 man refugee of 1848, who won great distinction in his 
 adopted land as general in the Civil War, United States 
 senator from Missouri, and Secretary of the Interior in 
 President Hayes's cabinet. Schurz was elected chairman of 
 the convention, and delivered an opening address ''unique 
 in the annals of political assemblies." ^ 
 
 Nobody can survey this vast and enthusiastic assembly, 
 gathered from all parts of the Republic, without an emotion of 
 astonishment and hope — astonishment considering the spon- 
 taneity of the impulse which has brought it together, and hope 
 considering the great purpose for which it has met. The Re- 
 public may well congratulate itself upon the fact that such a 
 meeting was possible. Look at the circumstances from which 
 it has sprung. We saw the American people just issued from 
 a great and successful struggle, and in the full pride of their 
 National strength, threatened with new evils and dangers of an 
 insidious nature, and the masses of the population apparently 
 not aware of them. We saw jobbery and corruption, stimulated 
 to unusual audacity by the opportunities of a protracted civil 
 war, invading the public service of the Government . . . and we 
 saw a public opinion most deplorably lenient in its judgment of 
 
 1 Bancroft and Dunning, " The Political Career of Carl Schurz," ap- 
 pendix to the Autobiography of Schurz, Vol. Ill, p. 343. For a polite 
 denunciation of Schurz by a political opponent, see Blaine, Twenty 
 Years of Congress, Vol. II, pp. 43S-440. 
 
Twenty Years of Republican Supremacy 471 
 
 public and private dishonesty. . . . We saw the Government in- 
 dulging in wanton disregard of the laws of the land, and resort- 
 ing to daring assumptions of unconstitutional power. . . . We 
 saw men in the highest places of the Republic employ their 
 power and opportunities for selfish advantage, thus stimulating 
 the demoralization of our political life, and by their conspicuous 
 example, and the loud chorus of partisan sycophancy, drown the 
 voice of honest criticism. We saw part of our common country 
 which had been convulsed by a disastrous rebellion, most griev- 
 ously suffering from the consequences of civil war ; and we saw 
 the haughty spirit of power refusing to lift up those who had 
 gone astray and were now suffering, by a policy of generous 
 conciliation and the statesmanship of common sense. We ob- 
 served this, and at the same time a reckless and a greedy party 
 spirit, in the name of a great organization, crowned with the 
 laurels of glorious achievements, striving to palliate or justify 
 these wrongs and abuses, to stifle the moral sense of the people, 
 and to drive them by a tyrannical party discipline not only to 
 submit to this for the present, but to perpetuate it, that the 
 political power of the country might be preserved in the hands 
 of those who possessed it. . . . 
 
 The question might well have been asked, Have the Ameri- 
 can people become so utterly indifferent to their true interests, 
 to their National harmony, to the purity of their political life, to 
 the integrity of their free institutions, to the very honor of the 
 American name, that they should permit themselves to be driven 
 like a flock of sheep by those who presume to lord it over them ? 
 That question has now found an answer. The virtue, the spirit 
 of independence, the love of liberty, the republican pride of the 
 American people are not dead yet and do not mean to die ; 
 and that answer is given in thunder-tones by the convention 
 of American freemen here assembled. . . . 
 
 We have a grand opportunity before us, grand and full of 
 promise. We can crush corruption in our public concerns ; we 
 can give the Republic a pure and honest Government ; we can 
 revive the authority of the laws ; we can restore to full value the 
 Constitutional safeguard of our liberties ; we can infuse a higher 
 moral spirit into our political life ; we can reanimate in the hearts 
 
4/2 History of tJic Republic since the Civil War 
 
 of the whole people of every section of the land a fraternal and 
 proud National feeling. We can do all this, but we can do it 
 only by throwing behind us the selfish spirit of political trade. 
 We obey the purest and loftiest inspirations of the popular 
 uprising which sent us here. . . . An uprising of the people such 
 as we behold will not occur every day, nor every year, for it 
 must spring from the spontaneous impulse of the popular mind. 
 Disappoint the high expectations brought forth by that spon- 
 taneous impulse, and you have not only lost a great opportunity, 
 but you have struck a blow at the confidence which the people 
 have in themselves, and for a long time popular reform move- 
 ments will not rise again under the weight of the discredit which 
 you will have brought upon them. . . . 
 
 Reform must become a farce in the hands of those who either 
 do not understand it or do not care for it. If you mean reform, 
 intr.ust the work to none but those who can understand it and 
 honestly do care, and care more for it than for their own personal 
 ends. ... I earnestly deprecate the cry we have heard so fre- 
 quently : " Anybody to beat Grant." There is something more 
 wanted than to beat Grant. Not anybody who might by cheap 
 popularity, or by astute bargains and combinations, or by all the 
 tricks of political wire-pulling, manage to scrape together votes 
 enough to be elected President. We do not merely want another, 
 but we want a better President than we now have. We do not 
 want a mere change of person in the Administration of the 
 Government; we want the overthrow of a pernicious system. . . . 
 We want a Government which the best people of this country 
 will be proud of. Not anybody can accomplish that, and, there- 
 fore, away with the cry : " Anybody to beat Grant " ; a cry too 
 paltry, too unworthy of the great enterprise in which we are 
 engaged. I do not struggle for the mere punishment of an 
 opponent, nor for a temporary lease of power. . . . 
 
 If we present men to the suffrages of the people whose char- 
 acter and names appeal to the loftiest instincts and aspirations 
 of the patriot-citizen, we shall have on our side . . . the conscience 
 of the Nation. If that be done success will be certain. Then 
 we can appeal to the minds and hearts, to the loftiest ambition 
 of the people, with these arguments and entreaties which spring 
 
Twenty Years of Republican Supremacy 473 
 
 only from a clear conviction of right Then shall we success- 
 fully overcome those prejudices which now confront us, and the 
 insidious accusation that this great Convention is a mere gath- 
 ering of disappointed and greedy politicians, will fall harmless 
 at our feet, for we shall have demonstrated by our action that 
 we were guided by the purest and most patriotic of motives. 
 
 Let us despise as unworthy of our cause the tricky manipu- 
 lations by which, to the detriment of the Republic, political bodies 
 have so frequently been controlled. Let us, in the face of the 
 great things to be accomplished, rise above all petty considera- 
 tions. Personal friendship and State pride are noble sentiments ; 
 but what is personal friendship, what is State pride, compared 
 with the great duty we owe to our common country, and the 
 awful responsibility resting upon our action as sensible men ? 
 We know that not every one of us can be gratified by the choice 
 of his favorite ; many of us will have to be disappointed ; ^ but 
 in this solemn hour our hearts should know but one favorite, 
 and that is the American Republic. 
 
 Pardon me for these words of warning and entreaty. I trust 
 nobody will consider them misplaced. I fervently hope the result 
 of our deliberations will show that they were not spoken in vain. 
 I know that they have sprung from the most anxious desire to 
 do what is best for our country, and thus I appeal to you with 
 all the fervor of anxious earnestness. We stand on the threshold 
 of a great victory, and victory will surely be ours if we deserve it. 
 
 Our case against Great Britain for damage done to 104. The 
 American shipping during the Civil War, by the Alabama '^ama^^e^* 
 and other cruisers built for the Confederate government humbug" 
 
 1 Schurz was destined himself to be bitterly disappointed when, the ' ^ ^ 
 very day after his noble speech, a political bargain was made by the 
 Gratz Brown forces of Missouri and the Greeley forces of New York to 
 keep Charles Francis Adams, our distinguished ex-minister to England, 
 out of the nomination. Schurz wrote to Greeley, May 6, " My whole heart 
 was and is in the cause I have so laboriously worked for, and it is with 
 a grief which I cannot express that I see a movement so hopefully be- 
 gun, so noble and so promising, dragged down to the level of an ordinary 
 political operation, and stripped of its moral power." — Writings of 
 Carl Schurz, ed. Frederick Bancroft, Vol. II, p. 367. 
 
474 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 in British ports, dragged on for seven years after the close 
 of the war. Even after the court of arbitration had met at 
 Geneva (December 15, 1871), proceedings threatened to 
 come to a standstill because of certain enormous ''indirect 
 claims " for damages, ^ asserted by the radical Republicans 
 in the United States. These claims were forcibly stated by 
 Charles Sumner of Massachusetts in a speech in the Senate, 
 April 13, 1869. 
 
 Close upon the outbreak of our troubles, little more than one 
 month after the bombardment of Fort Sumter, when the Rebel- 
 lion was still undeveloped . . . the country was startled by the 
 news that the British Government had intervened by a Procla- 
 mation which accorded belligerent rights to the Rebels. At the 
 early date when this was done, the Rebels were, as they remained 
 to the close, without ships on the ocean . . . and yet the conces- 
 sion was general, being applicable to the ocean and the land, so 
 that by British fiat they became ocean belligerents as well as land 
 belligerents. ... In the swiftness of this bestowal there was very 
 little consideration for a friendly power. . . . 
 
 Unfriendly in the precipitancy with which it was launched, 
 this concession was more unfriendly in its substance. It was the 
 first stage in the depredations on our commerce. Had it not been 
 made, no Rebel ship could have been built in England ; every 
 step in her building would have been piracy. Nor could any 
 munitions of war have been furnished. . . . The direct con- 
 sequence of this concession was to place the Rebels on an 
 equality with ourselves in all British markets. ... At one 
 
 1 For example, Earl Russell, foreign minister in the Palmerston 
 cabinet in 1862, who, by his own confession later, was responsible for 
 the departure of the Alabama from Liverpool, said in the House of Lords, 
 May 13, 1872: "Unless we are assured that no representative of Her 
 Majesty shall appear in a room on the table of which those menda- 
 cious Claims are lying, ... I shall certainly renew again and again my 
 motion. . . . The case appears to me to be one between the honour of the 
 Crown of this country and the election of General Grant as President of 
 the United States. For my part I prefer the honour of Her Majesty." 
 — Hansard, Parliamentary Debates, series 3, Vol. CCXI, pp. 646-647. 
 
Tiventy Years of Republican Sjipremacy 475 
 
 stroke they were transformed not only into belligerents, but into 
 customers. ... It was a proclamation of equality between the 
 National Government on the one side and the Rebels on the other, 
 and no plausible word can obscure this distinctive character. 
 
 Then came the building of the pirate ships, one after the other. 
 While the Alabama was still in the ship-yard it became apparent 
 that she was intended for the Rebels. Our Minister at London 
 and our Consul at Liverpool exerted themselves for her arrest 
 and detention. They were put off from day to day. On the 
 24"" July, 1862, Mr. Adams ''completed his evidence," accom- 
 panied by an opinion from the eminent barrister Mr. Collier, 
 afterward Solicitor-General, declaring the plain duty of the British 
 Government to stop her. Instead of acting promptly by the tele- 
 graph, five days were allowed to run out, when at last, too tardily, 
 the necessary order was despatched. Meanwhile the pirate ship 
 escaped from the port of Liverpool by a stratagem, and her 
 voyage began with music and frolic. . . . The pirate ship found 
 refuge in an obscure harbor of Wales, known as Moelfra Bay, 
 where she lay in British water from 7.30 p.m. July 29*^ to about 
 3.00 A.M. July 31^' . . . and during this time she was supplied 
 with men from the British steam-tug Hercules, which followed 
 her from Liverpool. . . . 
 
 The dedication of the ship to the Rebel service, from the very 
 laying of the keel, and the organization of her voyage, with 
 England as her naval base, from which she drew munitions of 
 war and men, made her departure as much a hostile expedition 
 as if she had sailed forth from Her Majesty's dock-yard. ... It 
 was in no just sense a commercial transaction, but an act of war. . . . 
 
 Individual losses may be estimated with reasonable accuracy. 
 Ships burnt or sunk with their cargoes may be counted and their 
 value determined ; but this leaves without recognition the vaster 
 damage to commerce driven from the ocean, and that other 
 damage, immense and infinite, caused by the prolongation of the 
 war, all of which may be called natio?ial in contradistinction to 
 individual. 
 
 Our national losses have frankly been conceded by eminent 
 Englishmen [Cobden, Bright, Forster], . . . How to authenticate 
 the extent of the national loss with reasonable certairity is not 
 
4/6 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 without difficulty ; but it cannot be doubted that such a loss 
 occurred. It is folly to question it. The loss may be seen in 
 various circumstances, as, in the rise of insurance on all American 
 vessels, the fate of the carrying trade, which was one of the great 
 resources of our country ; the diminution of our tonnage . . . 
 the falling off in our exports and imports, with due allowance 
 for our abnormal currency and the diversion of war. . . . 
 
 Beyond the actual loss in the national tonnage, there was 
 a further loss in the arrest of our natural increase in this 
 branch of industry, which an intelligent statistician puts at 59^ 
 annually, making in 1866 a total loss on this account of 
 1,384,953 tons, which must be added to the 1,229,035 tons 
 actually lost. The same statistician, after estimating the value 
 of a ton at $40 gold, . . . puts the sum-total of our national 
 loss on this account at $110,000,000. Of course this is only 
 an item in our bill. . . . 
 
 This is what I have to say at present on national losses 
 through the destruction of commerce. These are large enough ; 
 but there is another chapter, where they are far larger : I refer, 
 of course, to the national losses caused by the prolongation of 
 the war, and traceable directly to England. ... No candid 
 person who studies this eventful period can doubt that the 
 Rebellion was originally encouraged by hope of support from 
 England — that it was strengthened at once by the concession 
 of belligerent rights on the ocean — that it was fed to the end 
 by British supplies — that it was encouraged by every well- 
 stored British ship that was able to defy our blockade — that 
 it was quickened into frantic life with every report from the 
 British pirates, flaming anew with every burning ship. . . . Not 
 weeks nor months, but years, were added in this way to our 
 war, so full of cosdy sacrifice. . . . 
 
 The Rebellion was suppressed at a cost of more than $4,000,- 
 000,000. ... If through British intervention, the war was 
 doubled in duration, or in any way extended, as cannot be 
 doubted, then is England justly responsible for the additional 
 expenditure to which our country was doomed. . . . This plain 
 statement, without one word of exaggeration or aggravation, is 
 enough to exhibit the magnitude of the national losses, whether 
 
Twenty Years of Republican Supremacy . 477 
 
 from the destruction of our commerce, the prolongation of the 
 war, or the expense of the blockade.^ 
 
 President Grant, who later called the exorbitant claims 
 advanced by Sumner the " indirect damage humbug," 
 opened the way for a friendly renewal of the negotia- 
 tions by the following friendly passage in his Message of 
 December 5, 1870 : 
 
 I regret to say that no conclusion has been reached for the 
 adjustment of the claims against Great Britain, growing out of 
 the course adopted by that Government during the rebellion. 
 The Cabinet of London, so far as its views have been expressed, 
 does not appear to be willing to concede that Her Majesty's 
 Government was guilty of any negligence, or did or permitted 
 any act during the war by which the United States has just 
 cause of complaint. Our firm and unalterable convictions are 
 directly the reverse. I therefore recommend to Congress to 
 authorize the appointment of a commission to take proof of 
 the amount and the ownership of these several claims, on notice 
 to the representative of Her Majesty at Washington, and that 
 authority be given for the settlement of these claims by the 
 United States, so that the Government shall have the ownership 
 of the private claims as well as the responsible control of all 
 the demands against Great Britain. It cannot be necessary to 
 add that whenever Her Majesty's Government shall entertain 
 a desire for a full and friendly adjustment of these claims, the 
 United States will enter upon their consideration with an earnest 
 desire for a conclusion consistent with the honor and dignity of 
 both nations.^ 
 
 1 Sumner's bill against England was $15,000,000 for individual losses, 
 %\ 10,000,000 for the loss of our merchant marine, and $2,000,000,000 for 
 the prolongation of the war — a grand total of $2,125,000,000 ! 
 
 2 Grant's recommendation resulted in the appointment of a joint 
 high commission, which concluded the Treaty of Washington (1871), 
 by which the claims of the United States were referred to a tribunal at 
 Geneva. It was chiefly due to Charles Francis Adams, the American 
 member of the board of five arbitrators (and our minister to England 
 at the time of the "escape" of the Alabama), that the "indirect claims" 
 
47^ Histoty of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 The most remarkable proposal of the solution of the 
 difficulty with England over the Alabama claims came 
 from Senator Zachariah Chandler of Michigan, if we may 
 fully trust the account of his colleague, Senator W. M. 
 Stewart of Nevada, the knight-errant of the American 
 frontier democracy. 
 
 During the latter part of February, 1865, it became evident 
 that the Civil War was drawing to a close, and there was great 
 joy in Washington, and intense relief felt among the officers 
 at the helm of government when the surrender at Appomattox, 
 April 9, 1865, virtually terminated the frightful struggle. 
 
 England had wiped our commerce from the seas by building 
 the Alabama, the Florida, the Shenandoah, and other swift 
 privateers for the Confederates, which were let loose upon the 
 shipping of the United States. There is no doubt that this 
 country had ample cause for war with Great Britain, and there 
 was a strong undercurrent of sentiment in favor of it. 
 
 Senator Zach Chandler of Michigan was one of the leaders 
 of the Senate, and a man of wealth and patriotism. No Senator 
 contributed more in brains and action to assist the Union cause 
 than he. He wished to see the speedy restoration of the South- 
 ern States, and was anxious to smite the British Lion for the 
 destruction of our commerce. He inaugurated a movement 
 which secretly spread with great rapidity, and brought us almost 
 to a rupture with England. At that time our ships of trade had 
 been obliterated from every ocean, and the American flag, which 
 once had been carried by our fast sailing ships to every port, 
 had disappeared. We had no navy, but practically every harbor 
 was protected by the iron^clads, called Monitors, which had 
 been invented and built during the war. Our big sea-coast 
 cities were so thoroughly defended, therefore, that no foreign 
 enemy could have made a successful assault upon us by sea. . . . 
 
 were dropped and the negotiations conducted on the basis of what 
 Sumner called the personal losses ($15,000,000) only. The anxiety in 
 P^ngland over these critical negotiations at a most critical moment in 
 the history of Europe (the Franco-Prussian War) is reflected in John 
 Morley's Life of Gladstone, Vol. II, .chap. ix. 
 
Twenty Years of Reptiblican Supremacy 479 
 
 This started Senator Chandler thinking, and he evolved a 
 daring scheme. His bitterness against England seemed to in- 
 crease after the war had been terminated. One day he drew 
 me aside in the Senate cloak-room and unfolded his plan. 
 
 " I propose that we take an appeal to President Lincoln," 
 he said, " signed by influential men, to call an extra session of 
 Congress, and send 200,000 trained veterans into the British 
 possessions north of us; 100,000 picked troops from the Federal 
 Army, and the same number from the flower of Lee's army. I 
 have thought of this seriously for weeks, and I shall make every 
 effort to bring it about." He was intensely in earnest, and I 
 knew that he would back his plan up with all the brains and 
 energy at his command. 
 
 '' We have confronting us," he continued, " a great problem. 
 Our country is rent in twain. If we could march into Canada 
 an army composed of the men who have worn the gray side 
 by side with the men who have worn the blue to fight against 
 a common hereditary enemy, it would do much to heal the 
 wounds of the war, hasten reconstruction, and weld the North 
 and South together in a bond of friendship. 
 
 '' I believe from my knowledge of human nature that those 
 fellows who have been fighting each other for the past four 
 years would sail in and lick any army on the face of the globe, 
 and be glad, and proud, and anxious to do it. I believe that 
 100,000 of Grant's men and 100,000 of Lee's could whip any 
 army of twice the size on earth. . . . 
 
 " It would be impossible for England and the Canadians to 
 organize an armed force to meet the splendid army of veterans 
 we could throw across the border. England has a navy, of course, 
 but she can't do us any harm, because we have n't any commerce 
 to be injured, and our ports are impregnable." 
 
 It was Senator Chandler's idea, of course, that the United 
 States should seize Canada from Great Britain in payment 
 for the enormous losses inflicted on our commerce by British- 
 built vessels sold to the Confederate Government. He talked 
 this matter over with me many times. The prospect of ex- 
 tending our northern boundary to the North Pole pleased 
 him. ... At that time Alaska was about to be annexed, and 
 
480 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 it was realized that the British possessions in Canada would 
 come in handy. 
 
 Finally, so far had the plot progressed that thirty Senators 
 had been pledged to support it, and I attended many informal 
 caucuses at which the next steps to be taken were discussed. 
 
 Then, at almost the very instant the scheme was to be sprung 
 upon the country, and pressure brought to bear upon the Presi- 
 dent to secure his cooperation, Mr. Lincoln was assassinated. 
 This made the carrying out of the plan impossible. From the 
 very first day Johnson took the oath of office as President he 
 was at war with Congress, and the invasion of Canada never 
 materialized. Chandler's faith and enthusiasm in the scheme 
 won some of the best minds in the Senate to his proposition. 
 
 A New Industrial Age 
 
 The years immediately following the Civil War saw a 
 rapid increase in farm acreage and railroad mileage in the 
 [404] United States. The farmers, dependent on the railroads 
 for transporting their crops to the markets and shipping 
 centers of the East, watched with hostile jealousy the rising 
 schedule of freight rates, which the railroads maintained 
 was necessary to pay the current expenses of operation in 
 a thinly populated country and a fair rate of interest on 
 the enormous initial cost of the construction of the roads. 
 In March, 1869, Mr. H. C. Wheeler, a farmer of Illinois, 
 sent out the following call for a convention to be held at 
 Bloomington to consider the case against the railroads : 
 
 To the Farmers of the Northwest : Will you permit a working 
 farmer, whose entire interest is identified with yours, to address 
 to you a word of warning ? 
 
 A crisis in our affairs is approaching, and dangers threaten. 
 
 You are aware that the price of many of our leading staples 
 is so low that they cannot be transported to the markets of 
 Europe, or even to our own seaboard, and leave a margin for 
 profits, by reason of the excessive rates of transportation. 
 
Twenty Years of Republican Supremacy 481 
 
 During the War but little attention was given to the great 
 increase in the price of freights, as the price of produce was 
 proportionately high; but we look in vain for any abatement, 
 now that we are obliged to accept less than half the former 
 prices for much that we raise. 
 
 We look in vain for any diminution in the carrying rates, to 
 correspond with the rapidly declining prices of the means of 
 living, and of materials for constructing boats, cars, engines, and 
 tracks ; but on the other hand, we see a total ignoring of that 
 rule of reciprocity between the carrying and producing interests 
 which prevails in every other department of trade and commerce. 
 
 Does it not behoove us, then, to inquire earnestly how long 
 we can stand this descending scale on the one hand, and the 
 ascending on the other, and which party must inevitably and 
 speedily go to the wall .? 
 
 I by no means counsel hostility to the carrying interest — 
 it is one of the producer's best friends; but, like the fire that 
 cooks our food and warms our dwelling, it may also become the 
 hardest of masters. The fire fiend laughs as he escapes from 
 our control, and in an hour licks up and sweeps away the 
 accumulations of years of toil. 
 
 As we cherish the fire fiend, so we welcome the clangor of 
 the carrier fiend as he approaches our dwellings, opening up 
 communications with the busy marts of trade. But it needs no 
 great stretch of imagination to hear also the each ! each ! cachi- 
 nations of the carrier fiend as he speeds beyond our reach, and 
 leaving no alternative but compliance with his exorbitant demands. 
 
 Many of us are not aware of the gigantic proportions the 
 carrying interest is assuming. Less than forty years ago the 
 first railroad fire was kindled on this continent, [but] which now, 
 like a mighty conflagration, is crackling and roaring over every 
 prairie and through every mountain gorge. The first year pro- 
 duced fifteen miles ; the last, five thousand.^ 
 
 On the same mammoth scale goes on the work of organiza- 
 tion and direction. By the use of almost unlimited means it 
 enlists in its service the finest talents of the land as officers, 
 
 1 The total mileage, which was about 30,000 in i860, increased to 
 52,000 in 1870 and to 87,800 in 1880. 
 
482 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 attorneys, agents, and lobbyists ; gives free passes and splendid 
 entertainments to the representatives of the people; and even 
 transports whole legislatures into exceeding high mountains, 
 showing them the kingdoms of the world, with lavish promises 
 of reward for fealty and support; witness its land grants and 
 franchises ^ secured from the powers that be, such as no similar 
 interest ever acquired even in the Old World. . . . 
 
 I fancy I hear the response : " These things are so, but what 
 can we do ? " Rather, my friends, what can we not do ? What 
 power can withstand the combined and concentrated force of 
 the producing interest of this Republic ? But what avails our 
 strength if, like Polyphemus in the fable, we are unable to use 
 it for want of eyesight? or like a mighty army without disci- 
 pline, every man fighting on his own hook ? or worse, reposing 
 in fancied security while Delilahs of the enemy have well nigh 
 shorn away the last lock of strength ? In this respect we con- 
 stitute a solitary exception, every other interest having long 
 since protected itself by union and organization. 
 
 As a measure calculated to bring all interested, as it were, 
 within speaking distance, and as a stepping stone to an efficient 
 organization, I propose that the farmers of the great north-west 
 concentrate their efforts, power, and means, as the great trans- 
 portation companies have done theirs, and accomplish something 
 instead of frittering away their efforts in doing nothing. 
 
 ■ And to this end I suggest a convention of those opposed to 
 the present tendency to monopoly and extortionate charges by 
 our transportation companies, to meet at Bloomington, Illinois, 
 on the twentieth day of April next, for the purpose of discus- 
 sion, and the appointment of a committee to raise funds to be 
 expended in the employment of the highest order of legal talent, 
 to put in form of report and argument an exposition of the 
 rights, wrongs, interests, and injuries (with their remedies) of 
 
 1 Before the year 1872 our government had granted to the railroads 
 155,000,000 acres of public land — a tract equal to New England, New 
 York, and Pennsylvania combined. About $200,000,000 had been granted 
 as subsidies by state legislatures, besides private subscriptions to the 
 stocks and bonds of railway companies (cf; E. R. Johnson, American 
 Railway Transportation, p. 314). 
 
Twenty Years of Republican Supremacy 483 
 
 the producing masses of the north-west, and lay it before the 
 authorities of each state, and of the general government. Con- 
 gress is now in session, and the constitutional convention of 
 this state will then again be convened. Farmers, now is the 
 time for action ! 
 
 The meeting in response to this call was held in 
 Bloomington, Illinois, on April 20, 1869. It adopted 
 the following resolutions : 
 
 First, that the present rate of taxation and transportation are 
 unreasonable and oppressive and ought to be reduced. 
 
 Second, that our legal rights to transportation and market 
 ought to be clearly set forth and defined. 
 
 Third, that if there be no such remedy, measures should be 
 taken to secure one by appropriate legislation. 
 
 Fourth, that statistics should be collected and published to 
 show the relation of the north-west products to those of the 
 rest of the country. 
 
 Fifth, that nothing can be accomplished for the enforcement 
 of our rights and the redress of our wrongs without an efficient 
 organization on the well-known principles that give the great 
 corporations such tremendous power. 
 
 Sixth, that with honest pay for honest labor, and compensation 
 commensurate with great service, we can secure the assistance 
 and support of the highest order of learning, ability and skill. 
 
 Seventh, that this convention should appoint a commissioner 
 of agricultural and carrying statistics to prepare and publish, 
 with the aid of eminent counsel, a report of the products of 
 the north-west, the rights to market and transportation, and the 
 remedies available for existing wrongs, the expenses thereof to 
 be defrayed by subscription price for such report. 
 
 Kansas followed Illinois in the agitation for farmers' 
 rights against the railroads. Then other Western states 
 took up the cause. At a National Agricultural Congress 
 held at Indianapolis, May 28, 1873, the following resolu- 
 tions were adopted : 
 
484 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 Whereas, we recognize the railways of the country as an effec- 
 tual means of developing its agricultural resources, and as hav- 
 ing an interest, common and inseparable, with the country 
 through which they pass ; and, whereas, we have in times past 
 fostered and aided them by liberal charters and concessions, 
 made by public and private parties, and still desire to encourage 
 further development of the railway system ; therefore 
 
 Resolved, that a fair degree of reciprocity would suggest that 
 corporations having a common interest and public aid, should 
 in their turn endeavor to subserve the interest of the country 
 through which they pass, by charging fair rates of freights, and 
 by the equitable and just treatment of all localities along their 
 lines. 
 
 Resolved, that on the contrary railroad corporations in many 
 instances have been exorbitant in their charges, have discrimi- 
 nated unjustly between localities and have failed to respond 
 to the generous grants of powers and moneys that have been 
 given to them by our national and state governments. 
 
 Resolved, that the system adopted and now practiced in the 
 building of railroads, viz. : the soliciting of stock subscriptions 
 from individuals, corporations and countries . . . ; then requiring 
 the producer and the shipper to pay dividends on the fictitious 
 cost by charging excessive freight and passenger tariffs — oper- 
 ates most injuriously to the best interests of the farming class, 
 and calls loudly for reform and restraint by adequate legislation. 
 
 Resolved, that we recommend all farmers to withhold their 
 voices and their aid from railway corporations, unless it be fully 
 conceded and agreed that corporations so aided are subject to 
 regulation by the power incorporating them, and will not, after 
 receiving the advantages conferred by the public authority, claim 
 the immunities of a private corporation. . . . 
 
 Resolved, that a railway, being practically a monopoly, con- 
 trolling the transportation of nearly all the country through which 
 it passes ; and that as competition, except at a few points, can- 
 not be relied on to fix rates, therefore it becomes the duty of 
 the state to fix reasonable maximum rates, affording a fair re- 
 muneration to the transporter, and without being an onerous 
 charge to the producer and consumer. 
 
 i 
 
Twenty Years of Republican Supremacy 485 
 
 Resolved, that inasmuch as Belgium has succeeded in regu- 
 lating the rates upon railways by government lines, we ask an 
 investigation of the proposition to control the rates upon exist- 
 ing railways by trunk lines built and controlled by the state 
 authorities and run at fixed uniform and cheap rates. 
 
 Resolved, that the consolidation of parallel lines of railway is 
 contrary to public policy, and should be prohibited by law. 
 
 Resolved, that wherever a railway corporation owns or con- 
 trols a line or lines in two or more states, it is the right and duty 
 of the general government to regulate the rates of freight and 
 fare upon such lines, under the constitutional power to regulate 
 commerce between the states.^ 
 
 Resolved^ that we commend the thorough organization of the 
 farmers of the country in local, county, and state organizations, 
 for the purpose of reforming the great abuses and dealing out 
 equal and exact justice to all men. 
 
 The resumption of specie payment, or the pledge of 106. The re- 
 
 the United States to pay in coin at their full face value all gp^fe pay°- 
 
 the notes issued by the government during the stress of the ™e»t> ^869- 
 
 18*78 
 Civil War, was attended with grave embarrassments. The 
 
 debtor farmer communities of the West, who had done 
 
 1 Article I, Sect. VIII, par. 3. The general government had already be- 
 gun to notice this question of the control of the railroads. A few months 
 before the Indianapolis convention, President Grant, in his annual Mes- 
 sage of December 2, 1872, had written: "The attention of Congress 
 will be called during its present session to various enterprises for the 
 more certain and cheaper transportation of the constantly increasing 
 surplus of Western and Southern products to the Atlantic seaboard. 
 The subject is one that will force itself upon the legislative branch of 
 the Government sooner or later, and I suggest, therefore, that immedi- 
 ate steps be taken to gain all available information to ensure equable 
 and just legislation." — Richardson, Messages and Papers of the Presi- 
 dents, Vol. VII, p. 195. In spite of the opposition of the railways and 
 the insistence of their counsel that Congress had no power to meddle 
 with their affairs, a committee on railways and canals reported, through 
 its chairman, G. H. McCrary, in January, 1874, affirming the power of 
 Congress to regulate commerce between the states. The result of long 
 debates on the subject was the Interstate Commerce Act of February 4, 
 1887 (See Muzzey, An American History, p. 425). 
 
 [407] 
 
486 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 magnificent work in building up the nation's prosperity 
 after the war, had secured their loans, placed their mort- 
 gages, rated their land and property valuations, and regu- 
 lated their general business affairs on the basis of the value 
 of the paper currency. Suddenly to raise the currency 
 standard to the basis of the value of gold and silver coin 
 would mean a great hardship for them, for it would re- 
 quire them to pay their debts in a currency which had a 
 market value of only about three fourths of its face value. 
 John Sherman of Ohio, of the Senate committee on 
 finance, who wished to see the credit of the United States 
 fully maintained in the eyes of the gold-standard countries 
 of the world, and who eventually, as Secretary of the 
 Treasury in President Hayes's cabinet, accomplished the 
 full resumption of specie payments (January i, 1879), 
 gave voice to his misgivings of too hasty action in altering 
 the standard of our currency in the following speech in 
 the Senate, January 27, 1869 : 
 
 Mr. Sherman. Mr. President 
 
 Mr. Davis. ... I suggest to the honorable Senator that my 
 proposition be read with a view to his having it before him in 
 connection with the bill on which he proposes to speak. 
 
 The President pro tempore. The motion of the Senator from 
 Kentucky will be read if there be no objection. [The Chief 
 Clerk read the proposed motion, which was to . . . report a bill 
 embodying the substance of the following propositions 
 
 1°. Gold and silver coin is the measure of par established by 
 the world and adopted by the Constitution of the United States 
 for all property, values, debts, and other pecuniary liabilities 
 and the Government of the United States having, on the safe- 
 of the bonds which constitute the bulk of the national debt, e- 
 ceived greatly less, when measured by the par of gold and siVer, 
 than their nominal amount, said bonds should be discharge! by 
 the payment in coin of their value. . . . 
 
Twenty Year's of Republican Supremacy 487 
 
 2°. That all other debts and pecuniary liabilities created or 
 incurred since the issue of legal-tender notes, and which do not 
 express to be payable in gold or silver coin, were contemplated 
 and intended by the parties to be met and paid in currency ; and 
 on the general resumption of specie payments, such debts and 
 liabilities should be discharged by the payment in gold and silver 
 coin of their value. . . . 
 
 3°. That the annual expenditures of the Government should 
 be reduced wdthin the following general scale: for the civil 
 service $45,000,000 ; pensions and Indians $30,000,000 ; De- 
 partment of War $25,000,000; Navy Department $20,000,000; 
 contingencies and miscellaneous $10,000,000; and interest on 
 the public debt $50,000,000. And the whole surplus of the 
 revenue should be faithfully applied to the extinguishment of 
 the public debt. 
 
 4°. The taxes which are now so grievous a burden upon the 
 people of the United States should be reduced at least $100,- 
 000,000 annually . . . and a day within three years should be 
 named for the general resumption of specie payments.] 
 
 Mr. Sherman. Mr. President, I suppose it is expected of 
 me to state in general terms the reasons that influenced the 
 Committee on Finance to report this measure. ... 
 
 And in the first place it is but right to recall the embarrass- 
 ments of the Committee, not only from the intrinsic difficulties 
 of the subjects referred to us, but from the great diversity of 
 opinion that exists in all parts of the country as to the proper 
 measures to be adopted. . . . 
 
 In order to consider this measure properly we must have a clear 
 perception of what is sought to be accomplished. The object 
 we have in view is to appreciate our currency to the standard 
 of gold as rapidly as the public interest will allow. Our present 
 currency, or " lawful money," consists of notes of the United 
 States [greenbacks], and these are legal tender in payments of 
 all debts. Based upon them, and of equal value with them, is 
 a subsidiary currency of notes of national banks, and these are 
 redeemable in United States notes and receivable in payment 
 of taxes. We have also a form of demand notes, convertible at 
 the will of the holder into lawful money, called 3 % certificates. 
 
488 History of the Reptcblic since the Civil War 
 
 We have also a fractional paper currency which is convertible 
 into lawful money on demand. These four species of notes 
 compose the paper currency of the country, and the amount 
 of each is stated as follows : 
 
 United States notes (greenbacks) . . $356,021,073 
 
 National Bank notes 299,806,565 
 
 Three percent certificates 55,865,000 
 
 Fractional currency 34,215,715 
 
 In all $745,908,353 
 
 All this currency is by law at par. . . . But in truth and in fact 
 it is not at par in standard money of the world. One dollar of 
 it has only the same purchasing power as seventy-four cents 
 in gold. Gold, which is real money, not the representative of 
 money, but money itself, of intrinsic value, — gold is demon- 
 etized by the law, cannot be collected in the courts, and, like 
 cotton or wheat, is treated as a commodity whose value is 
 measured by what we call '' lawful money." 
 
 Now, it seems to me that the first step in our investigation 
 should be to abandon the attempt to reason from a false stand- 
 ard. We must, to begin with recognize the immutable law of 
 currency ; and that is, there is but one par, and that par is gold. 
 Since the earliest records of humanity gold and silver have been 
 employed as the equivalent for effecting exchanges. From Solon 
 to our day innumerable attempts have been made to substitute 
 something else as money, but in spite of all, gold and silver have 
 maintained their exclusive dominion as the money of mankind. . . . 
 
 No nation can permanently adopt a standard of value that 
 will not be controlled and regulated by the standard of gold. 
 No degree of isolation, no expedient of legislation, can save any 
 nation which maintains any intercourse with foreign nations from 
 the operation of this supreme law. Like the tides of the ocean, 
 or the movements of the planets, it is beyond our jurisdiction. . . . 
 It is utterly idle for a commercial people like the United States, 
 with a foreign commerce of $800,000,000 annually, with citi- 
 zens trading in every port of the world, and receiving annually 
 400,000 immigrants, to escape from the operation of this primary 
 law of trade. Different nations have tried various expedients to 
 
Twenty Years of Republic a7t Supremacy 489 
 
 evade it, and have always failed. For centuries gold and silver 
 coins were clipped and alloyed, but it only took more of them 
 to buy a certain commodity. In modem times paper money or 
 credit has been substituted for real money. Laws compelled the 
 people to take them as real money. As long as this money did 
 not exceed the amount of real money in the country it operated 
 well. It promoted exchanges and gave great activity to enter- 
 prises, and its nominal value was the same as its real value. But 
 when the paper money was increased, or the gold exported, the 
 paper money depreciated ; it had less purchasable power, prices 
 rose, and either the paper money became demonetized, was 
 rejected and repudiated, or the false standard was advanced 
 in value to the gold standard. ... 
 
 During our civil war, both the United States and the rebels 
 undertook to make paper not merely the representative of money, 
 but real money. The paper money of the rebels followed the 
 course of continental money and French assignafs. Ours, care- 
 fully limited in amount, supported by heavy taxes and by great 
 resources, is still called lawful money ; but after all its value is 
 daily measured by the gold standard. It is only the substitute 
 of money, to be paid at a future day, and is not real money. . . . 
 
 If then gold is the only true standard of money, why should 
 we not commence our financial measures by restoring it to its 
 place as the legal standard of money .? Why not allow our citi- 
 zens to base their future contracts on gold ? Why not enforce 
 these contracts in the courts as legal and valid ? . . . If this ques- 
 tion affected alone the Government of the United States, we 
 might resume specie payments very soon. . . . And if the burden 
 of resumption fell alone upon the national banks the task would 
 be an easy one. Their securities, deposited with the Treasurer 
 of the United States, are now nearly equal in gold to the amount 
 of their circulation. . . . 
 
 But the distress caused by an appreciation of the currency 
 falls mainly on the debtor class ; others suffer only by his in- 
 ability to pay. What does specie payment mean to a debtor ? It 
 means the payment of $135 where he has agreed to pay $100, 
 or, which is the same thing, the payment of $100 where he has 
 agreed to pay $74. Where he has purchased property and paid 
 
490 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 one fourth of it, it means the loss of the property ; it means the 
 addition of one fourth to all the currency debts in the United 
 States. A measure to require a debtor now to pay his debt in 
 gold, or in currency equivalent to gold requires him to pay 135 
 bushels of wheat when he agreed to pay 100, and if this appre- 
 ciation is extended through a period of three years, it requires 
 him to pay an interest of 12% in addition to the rate he has 
 agreed to pay. When we consider the enormous indebtedness 
 of a new country like ours, where capital is scarce and where 
 credit has been substituted in the place of capital, it presents a 
 difficulty that may well cause us to pause. We may see that the 
 chasm must be crossed, but it will make us wary of our foot- 
 steps. Good faith and public policy demand that we appreciate 
 our currency to gold, but in the process we must be careful that 
 bankruptcy, distress, and want do not fall upon our citizens who 
 have based their obligations upon your broken promises. The 
 debtors of this country include the active, enterprising, energetic 
 men in all the various employments of life. It is a serious propo- 
 sition to change their contracts so as in effect to require them 
 to pay one third more than they agreed to pay. They have not 
 paused in their business to study questions of political economy. 
 They have based their operations upon this money, which you 
 have declared to be lawful money. You may change its relative 
 value, but in doing so you should give them a reasonable oppor- 
 tunity to change their contracts so as to adapt them to the new 
 standards of value you may prescribe for them. . . . 
 
 Let no man deal with this question with the hasty impulse of 
 first impressions, for he will only illustrate his own folly. Let no 
 man be too confident of his own opinions until he has examined 
 those of others, and he will then find that many have travelled 
 this path before him ; but no man has yet found an easy road 
 to the resumption of specie payments. 
 
 Four years after the above speech in opposition to fix- 
 ing a definite date for the resumption of specie payment 
 Senator Sherman believed that the time had come when 
 immediate practical steps toward resumption could be 
 
Twenty Years of Republican Supremacy 491 
 
 taken without too great hardship to the debtor classes. In 
 a speech in the Senate on January 16, 1873, he com- 
 mitted himself to the resumption policy. 
 
 The restoration of our currency to a specie standard is an 
 object of primary importance. The present condition of our 
 currency governs and controls all other questions of political 
 economy, and until we make it conform to and be the equiva- 
 lent of money — of gold coin, the recognized standard of money 
 among all the civilized nations — we cannot rest upon a solid 
 basis for any kind of business or for public or private credit. 
 Every man now buys or sells upon a fluctuating standard of 
 measurement. Every man who borrows feels that he may be com- 
 pelled to pay in a different money than he receives. Every pro- 
 ducer feels that [in addition] to the uncertainty of supply and 
 demand he must also speculate on the uncertainty of the kind 
 and value of money with which he is to be paid. . . . The 
 people at large, while boasting of their restored credit, of vast 
 payments on their public debt, yet must feel that the public 
 debt, held by them in the form of United States notes, is less 
 valuable than gold, which it promises to pay; is less valuable 
 than any pther form of public debt. . . . 
 
 Again, all the existing laws authorizing United States notes 
 and bank notes are based on the theory of specie payments. 
 The notes were only issued, however, during war, under a sus- 
 pension of specie payments ; there was no medium of payment 
 except the public credit. . . . Ordinarily the functions of a 
 Government in furnishing money are limited to stamping on 
 gold and silver of a certain weight and fineness its intrinsic 
 value. Here its duty ends. But in war this process of coin- 
 ing did not meet the public necessities, and the United States 
 coined its credit into money. . . . This money is but another 
 form of public debt, a promise to pay specific quantities of 
 gold and silver. . . . 
 
 If, then, public faith, public policy, and the spirit of our laws 
 demand that our currency be restored to the specie standard, it 
 would seem that the only remaining inquiry should be, What 
 is the best way to resume ? But here we meet the objections 
 
492 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 of many business men, the most active and enterprising of our 
 people, who tell us that specie payments with them adds largely 
 to the burden of their debts. . . . Some tell us they are prepared 
 to meet the gradual approach to specie payments caused by the 
 increased business and credit of the country, while others tell us 
 that the country needs more currency; that its growth in popu- 
 lation, expansion in business and new enterprises, render an 
 increase of currency indispensable. The effect of any measure 
 upon the interests of active business men should be carefully 
 studied, but individual hardship is not sufficient reason for a 
 violation of public faith, or a disregard of the general interests 
 or policy of the whole country. . . . This argument of hardship 
 will apply forever. If we are controlled by it we can never pay 
 our promises. The lapse of time will not make it easier. Our 
 financial condition is now so strong that we can afford to do 
 right, and yet in such a way as to injure in the least possible 
 degree those who contracted debts on a currency basis. . . . 
 
 Again, a specie standard will also bring gold and silver coin 
 into actual use. The amount now hoarded has been variously 
 estimated, and, with that deposited in the Treasury and in circu- 
 lation in California, cannot be less than $200,000,000. ... I 
 therefore conclude that the fears of evil results from a specie 
 standard are greatly exaggerated ; that there will be no contrac- 
 tion of the currency, no disturbance of real values, no sus- 
 pension of business, but that our present United States and 
 bank notes will pass as usual in the ordinary exchanges of 
 life, measuring the value of all property . . . equal to the real 
 money of the world, and with no taint of dishonor or deprecia- 
 tion about it. . . . 
 
 A careful consideration of the whole subject leads me to the 
 conviction that the simplest and most expedient measure is to 
 declare by law that on and after the i^' day of January next 
 [1874] the United States will redeem its notes either with coin 
 or, at the option of the Secretary of the Treasury, with its bonds 
 of convenient denominations bearing five percent interest in 
 coin. • This will be a recognition by the United States of its 
 solemn pledge, made on March 18, 1868, that it will at the 
 earliest practicable period redeem its notes in coin. . . . 
 
Twenty Years of Republican Supremacy 493 
 
 It was not inconsistency in Senator Sherman that led 
 him, after opposing resumption of specie payments in 
 1869, to fix a date for resumption in 1873. He was 
 always theoretically in favor of the measure, only he be- 
 lieved that the time was not ripe for it at the earlier date.^ 
 The panic of 1873 ensued, and resumption was delayed 
 five years longer. When it was finally accomplished Sher- 
 man himself was Secretary of the Treasury. In order to 
 accumulate gold for the redemption of the greenbacks 
 he invited subscriptions to United States bonds. 
 
 Treasury Department 
 Washington, D.C., January 16, 1878 
 
 The Secretary of the Treasury hereby gives notice that, from 
 the 26''' instant, and until further notice, he will receive subscrip- 
 tions for the four percent funded loan of the United States, 
 in denominations as stated below, at par and accrued interest 
 in coin. 
 
 The bonds are redeemable July 1907, and bear interest, pay- 
 able quarterly, on the first day of January, April, July, and Octo- 
 ber, of each year, and are exempt from the payment of taxes or 
 duties to the United States, as well as from taxation in any form 
 by or under state, municipal, or local authority. 
 
 The subscriptions may be made for coupon bonds of $50, 
 $100, $500, and $1,000, and for registered bonds of $50, $100, 
 $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000. 
 
 Two percent of the purchase money must accompany the 
 subscription ; the remainder may be paid at the pleasure of the 
 
 1 He says in his " Recollections," for example : " At this time [1865] 
 there was a wide difference of opinion between Secretary McCulloch 
 and myself as to the financial policy of the government in respect to 
 the public debt and the currency. . . . Both of us were in favor of 
 specie payments, he by contraction, and I by the gradual advancement 
 of the credit and value of our currency to the specie standard. W^ith 
 him specie payment was the primary object. With me it was a second- 
 ary object, to follow the advancing credit of the government." — John 
 Sherman, Recollections, Vol. I, pp. 375-376. 
 
494 History of the Reptcblic since the Civil War 
 
 purchaser, either at the time of subscription, or thirty days there- 
 after, with interest on the amount of subscription, at the rate of 
 4% per annum, to date of payment. 
 
 Upon the receipt of full payment, the bonds will be trans- 
 mitted, free of charge, to the subscribers, and a commission of 
 one fourth of one per cent will be allowed upon the amount of 
 subscriptions, but no commission will be paid upon any single 
 subscription less than $i,ooo. 
 
 Forms of application will be furnished by the treasurer at 
 Washington, the assistant treasurers at Baltimore, Boston, 
 Chicago, Cincinnati, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, 
 St. Louis, and San Francisco, and by the national banks and 
 bankers generally. . . . 
 
 The interest on the registered bonds will be paid by check, 
 issued by the treasurer of the United States, to the order of the 
 holder, and mailed to his address. . . . 
 
 Payments for the bonds may be made in coin to the treas- 
 urer of the United States at Washington, or the assistant treas- 
 urers at Baltimore, Boston, etc. . . . 
 
 To promote the convenience of subscribers, the department 
 will also receive, in lieu of coin, called bonds of the United 
 States, coupons past due or maturing within thirty days, or gold 
 certificates issued under the act of March 3, 1863, and national 
 banks will be designated as depositories under the provisions of 
 section 5153, Revised Statutes of the United States, to receive 
 deposits on account of this loan, under regulations to be hereafter 
 prescribed. 
 
 John Sherman, Secretary of the Treasury 
 
 107. Blaine's On December 21, 1881, the Senate and the House 
 
 JarfieiVpeb- P^ssed resolutions for a memorial service for the martyred 
 
 •uary27, 1882 President, James A. Garfield, to be held in the Hall of 
 
 I^^o^l Representatives, February 27, 1882, to which were invited 
 
 the President, the ex-presidents, the cabinet officers, the 
 
 justices of the Supreme Court, the governors of states, 
 
Twenty Years of Republican Supremacy 495 
 
 the diplomatic corps, and prominent officers of the army 
 and navy.i Before this distinguished audience James G. 
 Blaine, the most brilliant orator of the House, pronounced 
 the eulogy on his late chief and dearest political friend. 
 
 Mr. President: For the second time in this generation the 
 great departments of the Government of the United States are as- 
 sembled in the Hall of Representatives to do honor to the memory 
 of a murdered President. Lincoln fell at the close of a mighty 
 struggle in which the passions of men had been deeply stirred. 
 The tragical termination of his great life added but another to 
 the lengthened succession of horrors which had marked so many 
 lintels with the blood of the first-born. Garfield was slain in a 
 day of peace, when brother had been reconciled to brother, and 
 when anger and hate had been banished from the land. . . . 
 
 Garfield's early opportunities for securing an education were 
 extremely limited, and yet were sufficient to develop in him an 
 intense desire to learn. He could read at three years of age, 
 and each winter he had the advantage of the district school. He 
 read all the books to be found within the circle of his acquaint- 
 ance ; some of them he got by heart. While yet in childhood 
 he was a constant student of the Bible, and became familiar 
 with its literature. The dignity and earnestness of his speech in 
 his maturer life gave evidence of this early training. At eighteen 
 years of age he was able to teach school, and thenceforward his 
 ambition was to obtain a college education. To this end he bent 
 all his efforts, working in the harvest field, at the carpenter's 
 bench, and, in the winter season, teaching the common schools 
 of the neighborhood. While thus laboriously occupied he found 
 time to prosecute his studies, and was so successful that at 
 twenty-two years of age he was able to enter the junior class at 
 Williams College, then under the presidency of the venerable 
 and honored Mark Hopkins. . . . 
 
 ^ On the beautiful engraved card of invitation appeared the signa- 
 tures of the chairmen of the Senate and House committees on the 
 mem.orial service : John Sherman for the Senate, and for the House 
 Wilham McKinley, Jr., destined himself thirty years later to fall as the 
 third presidential victim of the assassin's bullet. 
 
496 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 From his graduation at Williams onward, to the hour of his 
 tragic death, Garfield's career was eminent and exceptional. 
 Slowly working through his educational period, receiving his 
 diploma when he was twenty-four years of age, he seemed at 
 one bound to spring into conspicuous and brilliant success. 
 Within six years he was successively President of a College, 
 State Senator of Ohio, Major General of the Army of the 
 United States, and Representative elect to the National Con- 
 gress. A combination of honors so varied, so elevated, within 
 a period so brief, and to a man so young, is without precedent 
 or parallel in the history of the country. . . . 
 
 With possibly a single exception, Garfield was the youngest 
 member in the House when he entered, and was but seven 
 years from his college graduation. But he had not been in his 
 seat sixty days, before his ability was recognized and his place 
 conceded. He stepped to the front with the confidence of one 
 who belonged there. The House was crowded with strong 
 men of both parties ; . . . but among them all none grew so 
 rapidly, so firmly, as Garfield. As is said by Trevelyan of his 
 parliamentary hero [Fox], Garfield succeeded '' because all the 
 world in concert could not have kept him in the background, 
 and because when once in the front, he played his part with a 
 prompt intrepidity and a commanding ease that were but the 
 outward symptoms of the immense reserves of energy on which 
 it was in his power to draw." Indeed, the apparently reserved 
 force which Garfield possessed was one of his great character- 
 istics. He never did so well but that it seemed he could easily 
 have done better. He never expended so much strength but 
 that he appeared to be holding additional power at call. This 
 is one of the happiest and rarest distinctions of an effective 
 debater, and often counts for as much, in persuading an assem- 
 bly, as the eloquent and elaborate argument. . . . 
 
 His speeches are numerous, many of them brilliant, all of 
 them well studied, carefully phrased, and exhaustive of the sub- 
 ject under consideration. . . . Indeed, if no other authority 
 were accessible, his speeches in the House of Representatives 
 from December 1863 to June 1880 would give a well-connected 
 history and complete defense of the important legislation of 
 
Twenty Years of Republican Supremacy 497 
 
 the seventeen eventful years that constitute his parliamentary 
 life 
 
 Garfield's nomination to the Presidency, while not predicted 
 or anticipated, was not a surprise to the country. ... As a 
 candidate Garfield grew steadily in popular favor. . . . One 
 aspect of Garfield's candidacy was unprecedented. Never before, 
 in the history of partisan contests in this country, had a success- 
 ful Presidential candidate spoken freely on passing events and 
 current issues. To attempt anything of the kind seemed novel, 
 rash, and even desperate. The older class of voters recalled 
 the unfortunate Alabama letter in which Mr. Clay was supposed 
 to have signed his political death-warrant. . . . The younger 
 voters had seen Mr. Greeley in a series of vigorous and original 
 addresses preparing the pathway for his own defeat. Unmind- 
 ful of these warnings, unheeding the advice of friends, Garfield 
 spoke to large crowds as he journeyed to and from New York 
 in August, to a great multitude in that city, to delegations and 
 deputations of every kind that called at Mentor during the sum- 
 mer and autumn. With innumerable critics, watchful and eager 
 to catch a phrase that might be turned into odium or ridicule, 
 or a sentence that might be distorted to his own or his party's 
 injury, Garfield did not trip or halt in any one of his seventy 
 speeches. . . . 
 
 Garfield's ambition for the success of his Administration was 
 high. With strong caution and conservatism in his nature, he 
 was in no danger of attempting rash experiments or of resort- 
 ing to the empiricism of statesmanship. But he believed that 
 renewed and closer attention should be given to the questions 
 affecting the material interests and commercial prospects of 
 fifty millions of people. ... He believed with equal confidence 
 that an essential forerunner to a new era of national progress 
 must be a feeling of contentment in every section of the Union, 
 and a generous belief that the benefits and burdens of govern- 
 ment would be common to all. Himself a conspicuous illustra- 
 tion of what ability and ambition may do under Republican 
 institutions, he loved his country with a passion of patriotic 
 devotion, and every waking thought was given to her advance- 
 ment. He was an American in all his aspirations, and he looked 
 
49^ History of the Republic since the Civil V/ar 
 
 to the destiny and influence of the United States with the philo- 
 sophic composure of Jefferson, and the demonstrative confidence 
 of John Adams. . . . 
 
 On the morning of Saturday, July second, the President was 
 a contented and happy man — not in an ordinary degree, but 
 joyfully, almost boyishly happy. On the way to the railroad 
 station, to which he drove slowly, in conscious enjoyment of the 
 beautiful morning, with an unwonted sense of leisure and a 
 keen anticipation of pleasure, his talk was all in the grateful 
 and gratulatory vein. He felt that after four months of trial 
 his Administration was strong in its grasp of affairs, strong in 
 popular favor, and destined to grow stronger ; that grave diffi- 
 culties confronting him at his inauguration had been safely 
 passed ; that trouble lay behind and not before him. . . . No 
 foreboding of evil haunted him ; no slightest premonition of 
 danger clouded his sky.^ His terrible fate was upon him in an 
 instant. One moment he stood erect, strong, confident in the 
 years stretching out peacefully before him. The next, he lay 
 wounded, bleeding, helpless, doomed to weary weeks of torture, 
 to silence, and the grave. 
 
 Great in life, he was surpassingly great in death. For no 
 cause, in the very frenzy of wantonness and wickedness, by the 
 red hand of murder, he was thrust from the full tide of this 
 world's interests, from its hopes, its aspirations, its victories, 
 into the visible presence of death — and he did not quail. . . . 
 Before him, desolation and great darkness ! And his soul was 
 not shaken. His countrymen were thrilled with instant, pro- 
 found, and universal sympathy. Masterful, in his mortal weak- 
 ness, he became the center of the nation's love, enshrined in 
 the prayers of a world. But all the love and all the sympathy 
 
 1 A certain Mr. Hudson of Detroit had warned John Sherman of 
 plans for the president-elect's assassination in November, 1880. Gar- 
 field, on hearing the warning, replied to Sherman : " I do not think 
 there is any serious danger in the direction to which he refers, though 
 I am receiving what I suppose to be the usual number of threatening 
 letters on that subject. Assassination can no more be guarded against 
 than death by lightning, and it is best not to worry about either." — 
 E. B. Andrews, The Last Quarter Century in the United States, 
 Vol. I, p. 329. 
 
Twenty Years of Republican Supremacy 499 
 
 could not share with him his suffering. He trod the wine-press 
 alone. With unfaltering front he faced death. With unfailing 
 tenderness he took leave of life. Above the demoniac hiss of 
 the assassin's bullet he heard the voice of God. With simple 
 resignation he bowed to the divine decree. 
 
 As the end drew near, his early craving for the sea returned. 
 The stately mansion of power had been to him the weary hos- 
 pital of pain, and he begged to be taken from its prison walls, 
 from its oppressive, stifling air, from its homelessness and its 
 hopelessness. Gently, silently, the love of a great people bore 
 the pale sufferer to the longed-for healing of the sea, to live or 
 to die, as God should will, within sight of its heaving billows, 
 within sound of its manifold voices. With wan, fevered face 
 tenderly lifted to the cooling breeze, he looked out wistfully 
 upon the ocean's changing wonders ; on its far sails, whitening 
 in the morning light; on its restless waves, rolling shoreward to 
 break and die beneath the noonday sun ; on the red clouds of 
 evening arching low to the horizon ; on the serene and shining 
 pathway of the stars. Let us think that his dying eyes read a 
 mystic meaning which only the rapt and parting soul may know. 
 Let us believe that in the silence of the receding world he heard 
 the great waves breaking on a farther shore, and felt already 
 upon his wasted brow the breath of the eternal morning. 
 
 Less than a year after the assassination of President 108. The 
 Garfield a Senate committee made the following report ^^^ ^^®' 
 on the disgraceful condition of our civil service under [41 jj 
 the long-continued reign of the '' spoils system," which 
 Theodore Roosevelt later declared to be " the most potent 
 of all the forces tending to bring about the degradation 
 of our politics." ^ 
 
 The growth of our country from 350,000 square miles to 
 4,000,000, the increase of population from 3,000,000 to 50,- 
 000,000, the addition of twenty-five states, imperial in size and 
 
 1 Theodore Roosevelt, American Ideals and Other Essays (No. VII), 
 p. 134, reprinted from Scribner's Magazine, August, 1895. 
 
500 Histo7y of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 capabilities, have caused a corresponding development of the 
 machinery and faculties of the government. In the beginning 
 — even so late as 1801 — there were 906 post-offices; now 
 there are 44,848. Then there were 69 custom-houses; now 
 there are 135. Then our ministers to foreign countries were 
 4 ; now they are 33. Then our consuls were 63 ; now they 
 are 728. Then less than 1000 men sufficed to administer the 
 government; now more than 100,000 are needed. Then one 
 man might personally know, appoint on their merits, supervise 
 the performance of their duties, and for sufficient cause remove 
 all officers ; now no single human being, however great his in- 
 telligence, discrimination, industry, endurance, devotion, even if 
 relieved of every other duty, can possibly, unaided, select and 
 retain in official station those best fitted to discharge the many 
 and varied and delicate functions of the government. 
 
 It has come to pass that the work of paying political debts 
 and discharging political obligations, of rewarding personal 
 friends and punishing personal foes, is the first to confront 
 each President on assuming the duties of his office, and is ever 
 present with him even to the last moment of his official term, 
 giving him no rest and little time for the transaction of other 
 business, or for the study of any higher or grander problems of 
 statesmanship. He is compelled to give daily audience to those 
 who personally seek place or to the army of those who back 
 them. He is to do what some predecessor of his has left un- 
 done, or to undo what others before him have done ; to put 
 this man up and that man down, as the system of political 
 rewards and punishments shall seem to him to demand. . . . 
 
 The office of Chief Magistrate has undergone in practice a 
 radical change. The President of the Republic created by the 
 Constitution in the beginning, and the Chief Magistrate of today, 
 are two entirely different public functionaries. There has grown 
 up such a perversion of the duties of that high office, such a 
 prostitution of it to ends unworthy of the great idea of its 
 creation, imposing burdens so grievous, and so degrading of 
 all the faculties and functions becoming its occupant, that a 
 change has already come in the character of the government 
 itself, which, if not corrected, will be permanent and disastrous. 
 
Tzventy Years of Republican Supremacy 501 
 
 Thus hampered and beset, the Chief Magistrate of this nation 
 wears out his term and his life in the petty services of party, 
 and in the bestowal of the favors its ascendency commands. 
 He gives daily audience to beggars for place, and sits in judg- 
 ment upon the party claims of contestants. 
 
 The Executive Mansion is besieged, if not sacked, and its 
 corridors and chambers are crowded every day with the ever- 
 changing but never-ending throng. Every Chief Magistrate, 
 since the evil has grown to its present proportions, has cried out 
 for deliverance. Physical endurance, even, is taxed beyond its 
 power. More than one President is believed to have lost his life 
 from this cause. The spectacle exhibited of the Chief Magistrate 
 of this great nation, feeding, like a keeper, his flock, the hungry, 
 clamorous, crowding, jostling multitude which daily gathers 
 around the dispenser of patronage, is humiliating to the patriotic 
 citizen interested alone in national progress and grandeur. . . . 
 
 The malign influence of political domination in appointments 
 to office is wide-spread, and reaches out from the President 
 himself to all possible means of approach to the appointing 
 power. It poisons the very air we breathe. No Congressman 
 in accord with the dispenser of power can wholly escape it. It 
 is ever present. When he awakes in the morning it is at his 
 door, and when he retires at night it haunts his chamber. It 
 goes before him, it follows after him, and it meets him on the 
 way. It levies contributions on all the relationships of a Con- 
 gressman's life, summons kinship and friendship and interest 
 to its aid, and imposes on him a work which is never finished 
 and from which there is no release. Time is consumed, strength 
 is exhausted, the mind is absorbed, and the vital forces of the 
 legislator, mental as well as physical, are spent in the never- 
 ending struggle for offices. 
 
 In his first message to Congress, December 6, 1881, 
 President Arthur, repeating the language of his letter of 
 acceptance of the vice presidency, urged that '' original 
 appointments should be based upon ascertained fitness," 
 that ''the term of office should be stable," and that "the 
 
502 Historyi of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 investigation of all complaints and the punishment of all 
 official misconduct should be prompt and thorough." ^ 
 While distrusting competitive examinations as the sole 
 test of a candidate's fitness for office, he nevertheless 
 promised that *' if Congress should deem it advisable at 
 the present session to establish competitive tests for ad- 
 mission to the service," he would give the measure his 
 ''earnest support."^ On the very same day Senator 
 George H. Pendleton of Ohio introduced a bill for the 
 reform of the civil service, which was finally passed 
 through the House and signed by President Arthur in 
 January, 1883. 
 
 Be it eftacted . . . That the President is authorized to appoint, 
 by and with the advice of the Senate, three persons, not more 
 than two of whom shall be adherents of the same party, as 
 Civil Service Commissioners, and said three commissioners shall 
 constitute the United States Civil Service Commission. . . . 
 
 Sec. 2. That it shall be the duty of said commissioners : 
 
 First. To aid the President, as he may request, in preparing 
 suitable rules for carrying this act into effect, and when said 
 rules shall have been promulgated it shall be the duty of all 
 officers of the United States in the departments and offices to 
 which any such rules may relate to aid, in all proper ways, in 
 carrying said rules . . . into effect. 
 
 Second. And, among other things, said rules shall provide 
 and declare, as nearly as the conditions of good administration 
 will warrant, as follows : 
 
 First, for open, competitive examinations for testing the fit- 
 ness of applicants for the public service now classified or to be 
 classified hereunder. . . . 
 
 Second, that all the offices, places, and employments so ar- 
 ranged or to be arranged in classes shall be filled by selections 
 
 ^ Richardson, ed. Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Vol. VI 11, 
 p. 60. 
 
 2 Ibid. p. 63. 
 
Tiventy Years of Republican Supremacy 503 
 
 according to grade from among those graded highest as the 
 results of such competitive examinations. 
 
 Third, appointments to the public service aforesaid in the 
 departments at Washington shall be apportioned among the 
 several States and Territories and the District of Columbia 
 upon the basis of population as ascertained at the last pre- 
 ceding census. . . . 
 
 Fourth, that there shall be a period of probation before any 
 absolute appointment or employment aforesaid. 
 
 Plfth, that no person in the public service is for that reason 
 under any obligations to contribute to any political fund, or to 
 render any political service, and that he will not be removed or 
 otherwise prejudiced for refusing to do so. 
 
 Sixth, that no person in said service has any right to use his 
 official authority or influence to coerce the political action of any 
 person or body. . . . 
 
 Third. Said Commission shall, subject to the rules that may 
 be made by the President, make regulations for and have control 
 of, such examinations, and, through its members or the examin- 
 ers, it shall supervise and preserve the records of the same. . . . 
 
 Fifth. Said Commission shall make an annual report to the 
 President for transmission to Congress, showing . . . any sug- 
 gestions it may approve for the more effectual accomplishment 
 of the purposes of this act. [Sees. 3-5 provide for details of 
 holding examinations, and for punishment by fines not exceed- 
 ing $1000 or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, for 
 falsifying the results of such examinations.] 
 
 Sec. 6. That within sixty days after the passage of this act, 
 it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury ... to 
 arrange in classes the several clerks and persons employed by 
 the collector, naval officer, surveyor, and appraisers ... at their 
 respective offices in each customs district where the whole num- 
 ber of such clerks and persons shall be all together as many 
 as fifty. And thereafter, from time to time, on the direction of 
 the President, the Secretary shall make the like classification or 
 arrangement of clerks ... in any other customs district. . . . 
 
 Within said sixty days, it shall be the duty of the Postmaster 
 General ... to separately arrange in classes the several clerks 
 
504 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 etc. ... at each postoffice, or under any Postmaster of the United 
 States, where the whole number of said clerks and persons shall 
 together amount to as many as fifty. . . . 
 
 Sec. 7. That after the expiration of six months from the 
 passage of this act no officer or clerk shall be appointed . . . 
 until he has passed an examination, or is shown to be specially 
 exempted. . . . 
 
 Sec. 8. That no person habitually using intoxicating beverages 
 to excess shall be appointed to or retained in any office, appoint- 
 ment, or employment to which the provisions of this act are 
 applicable. ... 
 
 Sec. 10. That no recommendation of any person who shall 
 apply for office or place under the provisions of this act which 
 may be; given by any senator or member of the House of 
 Representatives, except as to the character or residence of 
 the applicant, shall be received or considered by any person 
 concerned in making any examination or appointment under 
 this act. 
 
 Sec. II. That no Senator, or Representative, or Territorial 
 Delegate of the Congress . . . and no executive, judicial, military, 
 or naval officer of the United States . . . shall directly or indirectly 
 solicit or receive . . . any assessment, subscription, or contribu- 
 tion for any political purpose whatever, from any officer, clerk, 
 or employee of the United States. . . . 
 
 Sec. 13. That no officer or employee of the United States 
 mentioned in this act shall discharge, or promote, or degrade, 
 or in any manner change the official rank or compensation of 
 any other officer or employee . . . for giving or withholding or 
 neglecting to make any contribution of money or other valuable 
 thing on account of or to be applied to the promotion of any 
 political object whatever. 
 
 Sec. 15. That any person who shall be guilty of violating 
 any provision of the four foregoing sections shall be deemed 
 guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, on conviction thereof, be 
 punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or by 
 imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or by such 
 fine and imprisonment both, in the discretion of the court. 
 
 Approved^ January sixteenth 1883. 
 
Twenty Years of Republican Supremacy 505 
 
 The Democratic convention which was to nominate 109. The 
 Grover Cleveland on its second ballot met at Chicago, platform and 
 July 8, 1884. On the next day it adopted as its platform candidate, 
 the following scathing denunciation of the Republican 
 party : 
 
 The Democratic party of the Union, through its represen- 
 tatives in national convention assembled, recognizes that, as the 
 nation grows older, new issues are born of time and progress, 
 and old issues perish ; but the fundamental principles of the 
 Democracy, approved by the united voice of the people, remain, 
 and ever will remain, as the best and only security for the 
 continuance of free government. The preservation of personal 
 rights ; the equality of all citizens before the law ; the reserved 
 rights of the States ; and the supremacy of the federal govern- 
 ment within the limits of the Constitution, will ever form the 
 true basis of our liberties, and can never be surrendered without 
 destroying that balance of rights and powers which enables a 
 continent to be developed in peace, and social order to be main- 
 tained by means of local self-government. But it is indispensable 
 for the practical application and enforcement of these funda- 
 mental principles that the government should not always be 
 controlled by one political party. Frequent change of adminis- 
 tration is as necessary as constant recurrence to the popular 
 will. Otherwise, abuses grow, and the government, instead of 
 being carried on for the general welfare, becomes an instrumen- 
 tality for imposing heavy burdens on the many who are governed, 
 for the benefit of the few who govern. Public servants thus 
 become arbitrary rulers. This is now the condition of the country ; 
 hence a change is demanded. 
 
 The Republican party, so far as principle is concerned, is a 
 reminiscence. In practice it is an organization for enriching those 
 who control its machinery. The frauds and jobbery which have 
 been brought to light in every department of the government 
 are sufficient to have called for reform within the Republican 
 party. Yet those in authority, made reckless by the long pos- 
 session of power, have succumbed to its corrupting influence, 
 and have placed in nomination a ticket [Blaine and Logan] 
 
5o6 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 against which the independent portion of the party are in open 
 revolt. Therefore a change is demanded. Such a change was 
 alike necessary in 1876, but the will of the people was then 
 defeated by a fraud which can never be forgotten nor condoned. 
 Again, in 1880, the change demanded by the people was de- 
 feated by the lavish use of money contributed by unscrupulous 
 contractors and shameless jobbers, who had bargained for un- 
 lawful profits or high office. The Republican party, during its 
 legal, its stolen, and its bought tenures of power, has steadily 
 decayed in moral character and political capacity. Its platform 
 promises are now a list of its past failures. It demands the 
 restoration of our navy ; it has squandered hundreds of millions 
 to create a navy that does not exist. It calls upon Congress to 
 remove the burdens under which American shipping has been 
 depressed ; it imposed and has continued those burdens. It pro- 
 fesses the policy of reserving the public lands for small holdings' 
 by actual settlers; it has given away the people's heritage, till 
 now a few railroads and non-resident aliens, individual and cor- 
 porate, possess a larger area than that of all our farms between 
 the two seas. It professes a preference for free institutions ; it 
 organized and tried to legalize a control of state elections by 
 federal troops. It professes a desire to elevate labor; it subjected 
 American workingmen to the competition of convict and imported 
 contract labor. It professes gratitude to all who were disabled 
 or died in the war, leaving widows or orphans ; it left to a 
 Democratic House of Representatives the first effort to equalize 
 both bounties and pensions. It professes a pledge to correct the 
 irregularities of our tariff ; it created and has continued them. 
 Its own tariff commission confessed the need of more than twenty 
 per cent, reduction ; its Congress gave a reduction of less than 
 four per cent. It professes the protection of American manu- 
 factures ; it has subjected them to an increasing flood of manu- 
 factured goods and a hopeless competition with manufacturing 
 nations, not one of which taxes raw materials. It professes to 
 protect all American industries ; it has impoverished many, to 
 subsidize a few. It professes the protection of American labor ; 
 it has depleted the returns of American agriculture, an industry 
 followed by half our people. It professes the equality of all men 
 
Twenty Years of Republican Supremacy 507 
 
 before the law, attempting to fix the status of colored citizens ; 
 the acts of its Congress were overset by the decisions of its 
 courts. It '* accepts anew the duty of leading in the work of 
 progress and reform " ; its caught criminals are permitted to 
 escape through contrived delays or actual connivance in the 
 prosecution. Honeycombed with corruption, outbreaking ex- 
 posures no longer shock its moral sense. Its honest members, 
 its independent journals, no longer maintain a successful con- 
 test for authority in its canvasses or a veto upon bad nominations. 
 That change is necessary is proved by an existing surplus of 
 more than $100,000,000, which has yearly been collected from 
 a suffering people. Unnecessary taxation is unjust taxation. 
 We denounce the Republican party for having failed to relieve 
 the people from crushing war taxes, which have paralyzed busi- 
 ness, crippled industry, and deprived labor of employment and 
 of just reward. 
 
 The Democracy pledges itself to purify the administration from 
 corruption, to restore economy, to revive respect for the law, and 
 to reduce taxation to the lowest limit consistent with due regard 
 to the faith of the nation to its creditors and pensioners. . . . 
 
 [Here follow the usual " planks " in favor of economy, 
 honest money, equality, a free ballot, civil-service reform, 
 free labor, fair sales of public lands, internal improvements, 
 and a merchant marine.] 
 
 With this statement of the hopes, principles, and purposes 
 of the Democratic party, the great issue of reform and change 
 in the administration is submitted to the people in calm confi- 
 dence that the popular voice will announce in favor of new 
 men, and new and more favorable conditions for the growth 
 of industry, the extension of trade, the employment and due 
 reward of labor and capital, and the general welfare of the 
 whole country. 
 
 The week after Cleveland's nomination at Chicago The 
 Nation published the following editorial appreciation of 
 the candidate : 
 
5o8 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 The nomination of Grover Cleveland by the Democratic 
 Convention makes the way perfectly plain and simple for all 
 friends of good government who are for any reason dissatisfied 
 with the Republican candidate. This time the Democrats have 
 made no mistake. If Cleveland had no other claim to the confi- 
 dence and support of those to whom parties are simply the 
 means of promoting the national welfare, he would have a strong 
 one in the character of the opposition he encountered in the 
 Convention. As General Bragg finely and happily said in second- 
 ing his nomination — " We love him most of all for the enemies 
 he has made." The hostility of Tammany and Butler, and in 
 fact of whatever is basest and most demagogic in his own party, 
 is of itself a tribute of which any public man might well be proud. 
 
 But he is by no means dependent on this negative kind of 
 testimony. The enmity of corrupt intriguers might mean after 
 all simply that his intentions were good, and that they merely 
 feared that he would, if put in power, fail to answer their pur- 
 pose. Cleveland has happily something far stronger than the 
 promise of a strong character to commend him to the suffrages 
 of good men of all parties. He is a tried administrator. One of 
 the Blaine organs in its great agony has tried to relieve itself by 
 calling him "a man destitute of experience." Of one kind of 
 experience — experience in political trickery and manipulation, 
 and in the art of making money for himself and his friends out 
 of politics — he is indeed destitute. But the present extraordinary 
 political crisis is due to the profound and growing popular belief 
 that this kind of experience is too common among our statesmen, 
 and that the Republican candidate in particular is too rich in it 
 either for his own or his country's good. Of the kind of experi- 
 ence which the present situation in national affairs most impera- 
 tively calls for, experience in administration, Cleveland has more 
 than anyone who has entered the White House since i860, more 
 than any man whom either party has nominated within that pe- 
 riod, except Seymour and Tilden — more than Lincoln, more than 
 Grant, more than Hayes, more than Garfield, more than Arthur. 
 
 He laid at the start the best of all foundations for American 
 statesmanship by becoming a good lawyer. He began his execu- 
 tive career by being a good county sheriff. He was next intrusted 
 
Twenty Years of Republican Supremacy 509 
 
 with the administration of a great city [Buffalo] — as severe a 
 test of a man's capacity in dealing with men and affairs as any 
 American in our time can undergo. In both offices he gave 
 boundless satisfaction to his fellow-citizens of both parties. His 
 nomination for the Governorship of this State came in due course, 
 and at a crisis in State affairs which very closely resembled that 
 which we are now witnessing in national affairs. His election by 
 an unprecedented majority is now an old story. It was the be- 
 ginning of a revolution. It was the first thorough fright the tricky 
 and jobbing element in politics ever received here. It for the 
 first time in the experience of such politicians gave reform an 
 air of reality. But it might, had Cleveland proved a weak or 
 incompetent man, have turned out a very bad blow for pure 
 politics. 
 
 Luckily, he justified all the expectations and even all the hopes 
 of those who voted for him. No friend of good government who, 
 in disregard of party ties, cast his vote for him, has had reason 
 to regret it for one moment. We owe to his vigorous support a 
 large number of reformatory measures which people in this State 
 for forty years had sighed for with little more expectation of 
 seeing them enacted than of seeing the Millennium. In other 
 words, he has arrested the growth of political despair among 
 large numbers both of young and old voters in this State. His 
 Messages, too, have been models of sound common sense and 
 penetrating sagacity clothed in the terse and vigorous English 
 which shows that there is a man and not a windy phrasemonger 
 behind the pen. Though last, not least, his best work has been 
 done in utter disregard of the hostility of that element in his own 
 party which for so many years has been an object of mingled 
 hate and fear to the best part of the American people. He is 
 m truth a Democrat of the better age of the Democratic party, 
 when it was a party of simplicity and economy, and might almost 
 have put its platform into the golden rule of giving every man 
 his due, minding your own business, and asking nothing of 
 government but light taxes and security in the field and by 
 the fireside. No one who has entered the White House for 
 half a century, except Lincoln in his second term, has offered 
 reformers such solid guarantees that as President he will do 
 
5 I o History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 his own thinking, and be his own master in the things which 
 pertain to the Presidency. . . . 
 
 The true question for a voter to ask himself about a Presiden- 
 tial candidate, especially in crises like the present, . . . are, In what 
 way will he probably behave in the sphere of Presidential duties ? 
 What kind of nominations to office will he send to the Senate ? 
 What considerations are likely to prevail with him in making re- 
 movals ? What sort of men are likely to surround him and be 
 listened to by him at the White House ? What is likely to be his 
 attitude toward the moral and intellectual currents of the day, 
 and toward the upward movements in American politics and 
 society ? How does he feel about money and rich men, and about 
 the money-making enterprises which are the great snare and 
 temptation of modern life ? Has he the sobriety of judgment, 
 the steadiness of temper, the maturity of character and the patient 
 deliberativeness which high places and great cares imperatively 
 call for ? Is he a sound and prudent man of business, and has 
 he a keen eye for the remoter consequences of legislation ? Will 
 he deal with foreign nations with the quiet and manly self-respect 
 which becomes the representative of an industrious commercial 
 people, among whom swashbucklers and military adventurers 
 are despised or unknown ? 
 
 These questions can, we believe, be answered as regards 
 Mr. Cleveland in a way with which every friend of good govern- 
 ment may be fully satisfied, and we commend him especially to 
 the younger voters all over the country who long for a better 
 era in politics, as a man to be trusted and worked for. Even 
 those whose Republican traditions are most deeply rooted may 
 rest assured that they can render no better service to the party 
 they have long loved and supported than by securing his triumph. 
 For this time a Democratic victory will arrest peremptorily, and, 
 we believe, finally, the insolence and hopefulness of the corrupt 
 and freebooting element among Republicans, which has found 
 its final expression in the Blaine nomination, and has at last 
 destroyed that dream of " reform within the party " which has 
 for so many years sustained the patience of tens of thousands 
 of its best members. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 THE CLEVELAND DEMOCRACY 
 
 A People's President 
 
 There is no more conspicuous example of President no. The 
 Cleveland's courageous fidelity to the avowed principles g^" oT^iss? 
 of the Democratic party or of his patriotic indifference to [4211 
 his own political preferment than his third annual mes- 
 sage, of December 6, 1887, devoted entirely to the dis- 
 cussion of the reduction of the tariff. 
 
 Washington, December 6, 1887 
 
 To THE Congress of the United States: 
 
 You are confronted at the threshold of your legislative duties 
 with a condition of the national finances which imperatively 
 demands immediate and careful consideration. 
 
 The amount of money annually exacted, through the oper- 
 ation of present laws, from the industries and necessities of the 
 people largely exceeds the sum necessary to meet the expenses 
 of the Government. 
 
 When we consider that the theory of our institutions guaran- 
 tees to every citizen the full enjoyment of all the fruits of his 
 industry and enterprise, with only such deduction as may be his 
 share toward the careful and economical maintenance of the 
 Government which protects him, it is plain that the exaction of 
 more than this is indefensible extortion and a culpable betrayal 
 of American fairness and justice. This wrong, inflicted upon 
 those who bear the burden of national taxation, like other 
 wrongs, multiplies a brood of evil consequences. The public 
 Treasury, which should only exist as a conduit conveying the 
 people's tribute to its legitimate objects of expenditure, becomes 
 
 5" 
 
512 History of the Repnblic since the Civil War 
 
 a hoarding place for money needlessly withdrawn from trade and 
 the people's use, thus crippling our national energies, suspending 
 our country's development, preventing investment in productive 
 enterprise, threatening financial disturbance, and inviting schemes 
 of public plunder. ... 
 
 On the 30*'' day of June, 1885, the excess of revenues 
 over public expenditures, after complying with the annual 
 requirements of the sinking-fund act, was $17,859,735.84; 
 during the year ending June 30, 1886, such excess amounted 
 to $49,405,545.20, and during the year ending June 30, 1887, 
 it reached the sum of $55,567,849.54 . . . the excess for the 
 present year amounting on the first day of December to 
 $55,258,701.19, and estimated to reach the sum of $113,000,000 
 on the 30*^ of June next, . . . will swell the surplus in the 
 Treasury to $140,000,000. . . . 
 
 I have deemed it my duty to thus bring to the knowledge of 
 my countrymen, as well as to the attention of their represen- 
 tatives charged with the responsibility of legislative relief, the 
 gravity of our financial situation. ... If disaster results from 
 the continued inaction of Congress, the responsibility must rest 
 where it belongs. . . . 
 
 Our scheme of taxation, by means of which this needless sur- 
 plus is taken from the people and put into the public Treasury, 
 consists of a tariff or duty levied upon importations from abroad 
 and internal revenue taxes levied upon the consumption of to- 
 bacco and spirituous and malt liquors. It must be conceded that 
 none of the things subjected to internal revenue taxation are, 
 strictly speaking, necessaries. There appears to be no just com- 
 plaint of this taxation by the consumers of these articles, and 
 there seems to be nothing so well able to bear the burden with- 
 out hardship to any portion of the people. 
 
 But our present tariff laws, the vicious, inequitable, and 
 illogical source of unnecessary taxation, ought to be at once 
 revised and amended. These laws, as their primary and plain 
 effect, raise the price to consumers of all articles imported and 
 subject to duty, by precisely the sum paid for such duties. Thus 
 the amount of duty measures the tax paid by those who pur- 
 chase for use those imported articles. Many of these things, 
 
The Cleveland Democracy 5 1 3 
 
 however, are raised or manufactured in our own country, and 
 the duties now levied upon foreign goods and products are 
 called protection to these home manufacturers, because they 
 render it possible for those of our people who are manufac- 
 turers to make these taxed articles and sell them for a price 
 equal to that demanded for the imported goods that have paid 
 customs duty. So it happens that while comparatively a few 
 use the imported articles, millions of our people . . . purchase 
 and use things of the same kind made in this country, and pay 
 therefor nearly or quite the same enhanced price which the duty 
 adds to the imported articles. . . . 
 
 It is not proposed to entirely relieve the country of this tax- 
 ation. It must be extensively continued as the source of the 
 Government's income ; and in a readjustment of our tariff the 
 interests of American labor engaged in manufacture should be 
 carefully considered, as well as the preservation of our manu- 
 factures. . . . But this existence should not mean a condition 
 which, without regard to the public welfare, must always insure 
 the realization of immense profits instead of moderately profit- 
 able returns. As the volume and diversity of our national activ- 
 ities increase, new recruits are added to those who desire a 
 continuation of the advantages which they conceive the present 
 system of tariff taxation directly affords them. So stubbornly 
 have all efforts to reform the present condition been resisted by 
 those of our fellow-citizens thus engaged that they can hardly 
 complain of the suspicion, entertained to a certain extent, that 
 there exists an organized combination all along the line to main- 
 tain their advantage. . . . 
 
 In speaking of the increased cost to the consumer of our 
 home manufactures resulting from a duty laid upon imported 
 articles of the same description, the fact is not overlooked that 
 competition among our domestic producers sometimes has the 
 effect of keeping the price of their products below the highest 
 limit allowed by such duty. But it is notorious that this com- 
 petition is too often strangled by combinations quite prevalent 
 at this time, and frequently called trusts, which have for their 
 object the regulation of the supply and price of commodities 
 made and sold by members of the combination. The people 
 
5 1 4 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 can hardly hope for any consideration in the operation of these 
 selfish schemes. 
 
 If, however, in the absence of such combination, a healthy 
 and free competition reduces the price of any particular dutiable 
 article of home production below the limit which it might other- 
 wise reach under our tariff laws, and if with such reduced price 
 its manufacture continues to thrive, it is entirely evident that 
 one thing has been discovered which should be carefully scruti- 
 nized in an effort to reduce taxation. 
 
 The necessity of combination to maintain the price 'of any 
 commodity to the tariff point furnishes proof that some one is 
 willing to accept lower prices for such commodity and that such 
 prices are remunerative. The lower prices produced by compe- 
 tition prove, the same thing. Thus where either of these con- 
 ditions exists a case would seem to be presented for an easy 
 reduction of taxation. ... 
 
 The difficulty attending a wise and fair revision of our tariff 
 laws is not underestimated. It will require on the part of the 
 Congress great labor and care, and especially a broad and 
 national contemplation of the subject and a patriotic disregard 
 of such local and selfish claims as are unreasonable and reckless 
 of the welfare of the entire country. . . . The taxation of luxu- 
 ries presents no features of hardship ; but the necessaries of 
 life used and consumed by all the people, the duty upon which 
 adds to the cost of living in every home, should be greatly 
 cheapened. . . . 
 
 Our progress toward a wise conclusion will not be improved 
 by dwelling upon the theories of protection and free trade. This 
 savors too much of bandying epithets. It is a condition which 
 confronts us, not a theory. The question of free trade is 
 absolutely irrelevant, and the persistent claim made in certain 
 quarters that all the efforts to relieve the people from unjust 
 and unnecessary taxation are schemes of so-called free traders, 
 is mischievous and far removed from any consideration for the 
 public good. 
 
 The simple and plain duty which we owe the people is to 
 reduce taxation to the necessary expenses of an economical 
 operation of the Government and to restore to the business of 
 
The Cleveland Democracy 5 1 5 
 
 the country the money which we hold in the Treasury through 
 the possession of governmental powers. These things can and 
 should be done with safety to all our industries, without danger 
 to the opportunity for remunerative labor which our workingmen 
 need, and with benefit to them and all our people by cheapen- 
 ing their means of subsistence and increasing the measure of 
 their comforts. . . . 
 
 I am so much impressed with the paramount importance 
 of the subject to which this communication has thus far been 
 devoted that I shall forego the addition of any other topic, and 
 only urge upon your immediate consideration the " state of the 
 Union " as shown in the present condition of our Treasury and 
 our general fiscal situation, upon which every element of our 
 safety and prosperity depends. . . . ^^^^^^ Cleveland 
 
 Blaine was in Paris when Cleveland's message appeared. 
 He was immediately visited by the London correspondent 
 of the Neiv York Tribune and dictated the following in- 
 terview, which was cabled to America and published in the 
 Tribune of December 8, 1 887. It is often called "" Blaine's 
 Paris Message." 
 
 " I have been reading an abstract of the President's mes- 
 sage, and have been especially interested in the comments of the 
 London papers. Those papers all assume to declare the mes- 
 sage is a free trade manifesto and evidently are anticipating an 
 enlarged market for English fabrics in the United States as a 
 consequence of the President's recommendations. Perhaps that 
 fact stamped the character of the message more clearly than 
 any words of mine can." 
 
 " You don't mean actual free trade without duty ? " queried 
 the reporter. 
 
 " No," replied Mr. Blaine, " nor do the London papers mean 
 that. They simply mean that the President has recommended 
 what in the United States is known as a revenue tariff, rejecting 
 the protective features as an object, and not even permitting 
 protection to result freely as an incident to revenue duties. . . . 
 
5 1 6 History of tJic Republic since the Civil War 
 
 I mean that for the first time in the history of the United States 
 the President recommends retaining the internal tax in order 
 that the tariff may be forced down even below the fair revenue 
 standard."' . . . 
 
 " Do you think if the President's recommendations were 
 adopted it would increase our export trade ? " 
 
 " Possibly in some few articles of peculiar construction it might, 
 but it would increase our import trade ten-fold as much in the 
 great staple fabrics, in woolen and cotton goods, in iron, in 
 steel, in all the thousand and one shapes in which they are 
 wrought. How are we to export staple fabrics to the markets 
 of Europe unless we make them cheaper than they do in Eu- 
 rope, and how are we to manufacture them cheaper than they 
 do in Europe unless we get cheaper labor than they have in 
 Europe ? " 
 
 "Then you think that the question of labor underlies the 
 whole subject ? " 
 
 " Of course it does. It is, in fact, the entire question. When- 
 ever we can force carpenters, masons, ironworkers and mechanics 
 in every department to work as cheaply and live as poorly in the 
 United States as similar workmen in Europe, we can, of course, 
 manufacture as cheaply as they do in England and France. 
 But I am totally opposed to a policy that would entail such 
 results. To attempt it is equivalent to a social and financial 
 revolution, one that would bring untold distress." 
 
 " Yes, but might not the great farming class be benefited by 
 importing articles from Europe instead of buying them at higher 
 prices at home ? " 
 
 " The moment," answered Mr. Blaine, " you begin to import 
 freely from Europe you drive our own workmen from mechan- 
 ical and manufacturing pursuits. In the same proportion they 
 become tillers of the soil, increasing steadily the agricultural 
 product and decreasing steadily the large home demand which 
 is constantly enlarging as home manufactures enlarge. That, of 
 course, works great injury to the farmer, glutting the market 
 with his products and tending constantly to lower prices." 
 
 " Yes, but the foreign demand for farm products would be 
 increased in like ratio, would it not ? " 
 
The Cleveland Democracy 517 
 
 " Even suppose it were," said Mr. Blaine, " how do you know 
 the source from which it will be supplied ? The tendency in 
 Russia today and in the Asiatic possessions of England is toward 
 a large increase of the grain supply, the grain being raised by the 
 cheapest possible labor. Manufacturing countries will buy their 
 breadstuffs where they can get them cheapest, and the enlarg- 
 ing of the home market for the American farmer being checked, 
 he would search in vain for one of the same value. His foreign 
 sales are already checked by the great competition abroad. There 
 never was a time when the increase of a large home market was 
 so valuable to him. The best proof is that the farmers are pros- 
 perous in proportion to the nearness of manufacturing centers, 
 and a protective tariff tends to spread manufactures." . . . 
 
 " But what about the existing surplus ? " 
 
 " The abstract of the message I have seen," replied Mr. Blaine, 
 " contains no reference to that point. I therefore make no com- 
 ment further than to endorse Mr. Fred. Grant's remark that a 
 surplus is always much easier to handle than a deficit. . . . 
 
 " The President's recommendation enacted into a law would 
 result as did an experiment in draining of a man who wished 
 to turn a swamp into a productive field. He dug a drain to a 
 neighboring river, but it happened, unfortunately, that the level 
 of the river was higher than the level of the swamp. The con- 
 sequence need not be told. A parallel would be found when 
 the President's policy in attempting to open a channel for an 
 increase of exports should simply succeed in making way for a 
 deluging inflow of fabrics to the destruction of home industry. 
 ... It is not our foreign trade that has caused the wonderful 
 growth and expansion of the Republic. It is the vast domestic 
 trade between thirty-eight States and eight Territories, with 
 their population of perhaps 62,000,000 today. The whole 
 amount of our export and import trade together has never, 
 I think, reached $1,900,000,000 in any one year. Our in- 
 ternal home trade on 130,000 miles of railroad, along 15,000 
 miles of ocean co^t, over the five great lakes, and along 
 20,000 miles of navigable rivers, reaches the enormous annual 
 aggregate of more than $40,000,000,000, and perhaps this 
 year $50,000,000,000. 
 
[429] 
 
 5 1 8 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 '' It is into this illimitable trade, even now in its infancy, and 
 destined to attain a magnitude not dreamed of twenty years ago, 
 that the Europeans are struggling to enter. It is the heritage 
 of the American people, of their children and of their children's 
 children. It gives an absolutely free trade over a territory nearly 
 as large as all Europe, and the profit is all our own. , . . Presi- 
 dent Cleveland now plainly proposes a policy that will admit 
 Europe to a share in this trade." 
 
 '' What must be the marked and general effect of the Presi- 
 dent's message ? " 
 
 '' It will bring the country where it ought to be brought — to 
 a full and fair contest on the question of protection. The Presi- 
 dent himself makes it the one issue by presenting no other in 
 his message. I think it well to have the question settled. The 
 Democratic party in power is a standing menace to the indus- 
 trial prosperity of the country. That menace should be removed 
 or the policy it foreshadows should be made certain. Nothing is 
 so mischievous to business as uncertainty, nothing so paralyzing 
 as doubt." 
 
 A Billion-Dollar Country 
 
 The most distinguished citizen of the South in the gen- 
 eration following the Civil War was Henry W. Grady of 
 Atlanta, Georgia. Gifted with rare oratorical power, con- 
 structive statesmanship, and generous sympathies, he 
 devoted his great talents to the encouragement of the 
 South in the development of its material resources and 
 the cultivation of a broad national spirit. " He was the 
 leader of the New South, and died in the great work of 
 impressing its marvellous growth and national aspirations 
 upon the willing ear of the North." ^ He also impressed 
 
 1 Remark of Chauncey M. Depew at a dinner of the New England 
 Society of New York, December 23, 1889, on the reception of a tele- 
 gram announcing the death of Grady. The reference in Depew's re- 
 mark is to a visit made to Boston by (Irady, only a few days before 
 his death, to address the Merchants' Association — a visit in which he 
 
The Clevelatid Democracy 5 1 9 
 
 these ideas on the minds of the South, most eloquently, 
 perhaps, in a speech at a state fair at Dallas, Texas, 
 October 26, 1887, from which the following passages 
 are taken : 
 
 What of the South 's industrial problem ? There is a figure 
 with which history has dealt lightly, but that, standing pathetic 
 and heroic in the genesis of our new growth, has interested me 
 greatly — our soldier farmer of '65. What chance had he for 
 the future as he wandered amid his empty barns, his stock, 
 labor, and implements gone — gathered up the fragments of his 
 wreck — urging kindly his borrowed mule — paying sixty per 
 cent, for all that he bought, and buying all on credit — his crop 
 mortgaged before it was planted — his children in want, his 
 neighborhood in chaos — working under new conditions and 
 retrieving every error by a costly year — plodding all day down 
 the furrow, hopeless and adrift, save when at night he went 
 back to his broken home, where his wife, cheerful even then, 
 renewed his courage, while she ministered to him in loving ten- 
 derness. Who would have thought . . . that he would in twenty 
 years, having carried these burdens uncomplainingly, make a 
 crop of $800,000,000 ? Yet this he has done, and from his 
 bounty the South has rebuilded her cities, and recouped her 
 losses. While we exult in his splendid achievement, let us take 
 account of his standing. . . . 
 
 With amazing rapidity [the South] has moved away from the 
 one crop idea that was once her curse. In 1880 she was 
 esteemed prosperous. Since that time she has added 393,000,- 
 000 bushels to her grain crops, and 182,000,000 head to her 
 live stock. This has not lost one bale of her cotton crop, which, 
 on the contrary, has increased nearly 200,000 bales. With 
 equal swiftness she has moved away from the folly of shipping 
 out her ore at $2 a ton and buying it back in implements from 
 $20 to $100 per ton; her cotton at 10 cents a pound, and 
 
 contracted a fatal case of pneumonia. " New York mingles her tears with . 
 those of his kindred," continued Depew, " and offers to his memory ai 
 tribute of her profoundest admiration." — J. C. Harris, The Life of 
 Henry W. Grady, p. 624. 
 
5 20 History of the Reptiblic since the Civil War 
 
 buying it back in cloth at 20 to 80 cents per pound ; her timber 
 at $8 per thousand [feet] and buying it back in furniture at ten 
 to twenty times as much. In the past eight years $250,000,000 
 have been invested in new shops and factories in her States ; 
 225,000 are now working who eight years ago were idle or 
 worked elsewhere, and these added $227,000,000 to the value 
 of her raw material — more than half the value of her cotton. 
 Add to this the value of her increased grain crops and stock, 
 and in the past eight years she has grown in her fields or created 
 in her shops manufactures more than the value of her cotton 
 crop. The incoming tide has begun to rise. Every train brings 
 manufacturers from the East and West seeking to establish 
 themselves or their sons near the raw material and in this 
 growing market. Let the fullness of the tide roll in. 
 
 It will not exhaust our materials, nor shall we glut our 
 markets. When the growing demand of our Southern market, 
 feeding on its own growth, is met, we shall find new markets 
 for the South. We buy from Brazil $50,000,000 worth of 
 goods, and sell her $8,500,000. England buys on $29,000,000, 
 and sells her $35,000,000. Of $65,000,000 in cotton goods 
 bought by Central and South America, over $50,000,000 went 
 to England. Of $331,000,000 sent abroad by the southern half 
 of our hemisphere, England secures over half, although we buy 
 from that section nearly twice as much as England. Our neigh- 
 bors to the south need every article we make ; we need nearly 
 everything they produce. Less than 2,500 miles of road must 
 be built to bind by rail the two American continents. When this 
 is done, and even before, we shall find exhaustless markets to 
 the South. . . . 
 
 The South, under the rapid diversification of crops and diver- 
 sification of industries, is thrilling with new life. As this new 
 prosperity comes to us, it will bring no sweeter thought to me, 
 and to you, my countrymen, I am sure, than that it adds not 
 only to the comfort and happiness of our neighbors, but that it 
 makes broader the glory and deeper the majesty, and more 
 enduring the strength, of the Union which reigns supreme in 
 our hearts. In this republic of ours is lodged the hope of free 
 government on earth. . . • Let us — once estranged and thereby 
 
The Cleveland Democracy 521 
 
 closer bound — let us soar above all provincial pride and find 
 our deeper inspirations in gathering the fullest sheaves into the 
 harvest and standing the staunchest and most devoted of its 
 sons as it lights the path and makes clear the way through 
 which all the people of this earth shall come in God's appointed 
 time. . . . 
 
 The South needs her sons today more than when she sum- 
 moned them to the forum to maintain her political supremacy, 
 more than when the bugle called them to the field to defend 
 issues put to the arbitrament of the sword. Her old body is 
 instinct with appeal calling on us to come and give her fuller inde- 
 pendence than she has ever sought in field or forum. It is ours 
 to show that as she prospered with slaves, she shall prosper still 
 more with freemen ; ours to see that from the lists she entered 
 in poverty she shall emerge in prosperity ; ours to carry the 
 transcending traditions of the old South from which none of us 
 can in honor or in reverence depart, unstained and unbroken 
 into the new. Shall we fail ? Shall the blood of the old South 
 — the best strain that ever uplifted human endeavor — that ran 
 like water at duty's call and never stained where it touched — 
 shall this blood that pours into our veins through a century 
 luminous with achievement, for the first time falter and be 
 driven back from irresolute heat, when the old South, that left 
 us a better heritage in manliness and courage than in broad 
 and rich acres, calls us to settle problems t . . . 
 
 I see a South, the home of fifty millions of people, who rise 
 up every day to call from blessed cities, vast hives of industry 
 and of thrift ; her countrysides the treasures from which their 
 resources are drawn ; her streams vocal with whirring spindles ; 
 her valleys tranquil in the white and gold of the harvest ; her 
 mountains showering down the music of bells, as her slow- 
 moving flocks and herds go forth from their folds ; her rulers 
 honest and her people loving, and her homes happy and their 
 hearthstones bright, and their waters still, and their pastures 
 green, and her conscience clear ; her wealth diffused and poor 
 houses empty. . . . Peace and sobriety walking hand in hand 
 through her borders ; honor in her homes ; uprightness in her 
 midst; plenty in her fields; straight and simple faith in the 
 
522 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 hearts of her sons and daughters ; her two races walking to- 
 gether in peace and contentment ; sunshine everywhere and all 
 the time, and night falling on her generally as from the wings 
 of the unseen dove. 
 
 The New York Times of Sunday, March 31, i! 
 published the following dispatch from Rear Admiral Kim- 
 March 15-16, berlev in Samoa, sent via Aukland and London : 
 1889 ^ ' 
 
 [434] Hurricane at Apia, March 15. Every vessel in harbor on 
 
 shore except English man-of-war Calliope which got to sea. 
 Trefiton and Vandalia total losses. Nipsic beached ; rudder 
 gone ; may be saved ; chances against it. . . . Vandalia lost 
 four officers and thirty-nine men ; Nipsic lost seven men ; all 
 saved from Tre?ifon. . . . German losses ninety-six. Important 
 to send three hundred men home at once. Shall I charter 
 steamer? Can charter in Aukland. . . . Fuller accounts by 
 
 "^ail- Kimberly 
 
 Three years later this terrible calamity was described by 
 the greatest living writer of narrative prose, Robert Louis 
 Stevenson, in his '' Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa." 
 
 By the second week in March, three American ships were in 
 Apia bay — the Nipsic, the Vandalia, and the Trcfiton, carrying 
 the flag of Rear-Admiral Kimberley ; three German — the Adler, 
 the Eber^ and the Olga\ and one British, — the Calliope, Captain 
 Kane. Six merchantmen, ranging from twenty-five up to five 
 hundred tons, and a number of small craft, further encumbered 
 the anchorage. ... In this overcrowding of ships in an open 
 entry of the reef, even the eye of a landsman could spy danger ; 
 and Captain-Lieutenant Wallis of the Eher openly blamed and 
 lamented, not many hours before the catastrophe, their helpless 
 posture. Temper once more triumphed. The army of Mataafa 
 still hung immanent behind the town ; the German quarter was 
 still daily garrisoned with fifty sailors from the squadron ; what 
 was yet more influential, Germany and the [United] States, at 
 least in Apia bay, were on the brink of war, viewed each other 
 
The Cleveland Democracy 523 
 
 with looks of hatred, and scarce observed the letter of civility. 
 On the day of the admiral's arrival, Knapp [the German consul 
 in Samoa] failed to call on him, and on the morrow called on 
 him while he was on shore. The slight was remarked and 
 resented, and the two squadrons clung the more obstinately to 
 their dangerous station. 
 
 On the \z^^ the barometer fell to 29°. 11 by 2 p.m. This 
 was a moment when every sail in port should have escaped. 
 Kimberley, who flew the only broad pennant, should certainly 
 have led the way ; he clung, instead, to his moorings, and the 
 Germans doggedly followed his example : semibelligerents, daring 
 each other and the violence of heaven. . . . The night closed 
 black, with sheets of rain. By midnight it blew a gale ; and by 
 the morning watch, a tempest. . . . 
 
 Day came about six, and presented to those on shore a seiz- 
 ing and terrific spectacle. In the pressure of the squalls, the 
 bay was obscured as if by midnight, but between them a great 
 part of it was clearly if darkly visible amid driving mist and 
 rain. The wind blew into the harbor mouth. . . . Seas that 
 might have awakened surprise and terror in the midst of the 
 Atlantic, ranged bodily and (it seemed to observers) almost 
 without diminution into the belly of that flask-shaped harbor; 
 and the war ships were alternately buried from view in the 
 trough, or seen standing on end against the breast of billows. 
 
 The Trenton at daylight still maintained her position in the 
 neck of the bottle. But five of the remaining ships tossed, 
 already close to the bottom, in a perilous and helpless crowd ; 
 threating to ruin each other as they tossed ; threatened with a 
 common and imminent destruction on the reefs. Three had 
 been already in collision ; the Olga was injured in the quarter ; 
 the Adler had lost her bowsprit ; the Nipsic had lost her smoke- 
 stack, and was making steam with difficulty, maintaining her 
 fire with barrels of pork, and the smoke and sparks pouring 
 along the level of the deck. . . . The Eber had dragged anchors 
 with the rest; her injured screw disabled her from steaming 
 vigorously up ; and a little before day, she had struck the front 
 of the coral, come off, struck again, and gone down stem fore- 
 most, oversetting as she went, into the gaping hollow of the 
 
.524 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 reef. Of her whole complement of nearly eighty, four souls 
 were cast alive on the beach ; and the bodies of the remainder 
 were, by the voluminous outpouring of the flooded streams, 
 scoured at last from the harbor, and strewed naked on the 
 seaboard of the island. . . . 
 
 Three ships still hung on the next margin of destruction, 
 steaming desperately to their moorings, dashed helplessly to- 
 gether. The Calliope was the nearest in ; she had the Vandalia 
 close on her port side and a little ahead, the Olga close a-star- 
 board, the reef under her keel ; and steaming and veering on 
 her cables, the unhappy ship fenced with her three dangers. . . . 
 The one possibility of escape was to go out. If the engines 
 should stand, if they should have power to drive the ship against 
 wind and sea, if she should answer the helm, if the wheel, 
 rudder, and gear should hold out, and if they were favored with 
 a clear blink of weather in which to see and avoid the outer 
 reef — there, and there only, were safety. Upon this catalogue 
 of " ifs " Kane staked his all. He signalled to the engineer for 
 every pound of steam — and at that moment (I am told) much 
 of the machinery was already red hot. . . . For a time the Cal- 
 liope lay stationary; then gradually drew ahead. The highest 
 speed claimed for her that day is of one sea-mile an hour. . . . 
 As she thus crept seaward, she buried bow and stern alternately 
 under the billows. 
 
 In the fairway of the entrance, the flagship Trenton still held 
 on. Her rudder was broken, her wheel carried away ; within 
 she was flooded. . . . She had just made the signal " fires ex- 
 tinguished,"" and lay helpless, awaiting the inevitable end. Be- 
 tween this melancholy hulk and the external reef, Kane must 
 find a path. Steering within fifty yards of the reef . . . and her 
 foreyard passing on the other hand over the Tretiton^s quarter as 
 she rolled, the Calliope sheered between the rival dangers, came 
 to the wind triumphantly, and was once more pointed for the 
 sea and safety. Not often in naval history was there a moment 
 of more sickening peril, and it was dignified by one of those in- 
 cidents that reconcile the chronicler with his otherwise abhorrent 
 task. From the doomed flagship, the Americans hailed the suc- 
 cess of the English with a cheer. It was led by the old Admiral 
 
The Cleveland Democraey 525 
 
 in person, rang out over the storm with a holiday vigor, and vv^as 
 answered by the Calliopes with an emotion easily conceived. 
 The ship of their kinsfolk was almost the last external object 
 seen from the Calliope for hours ; immediately after, the mists 
 closed about her till the niorrow. She was safe at sea again — 
 una de tnultis. . . . 
 
 The morning of the 17"' displayed a scene of devastation 
 rarely equalled ; the Adler high and dry, the Olga and Nipsic 
 beached, the Tre?iton partly piled on the Vandalia and herself 
 sunk to the gun-deck ; no sail afloat ; and the beach heaped 
 high with the debris of ships and the wreck of mountain forests. 
 . . . Thus, in what seemed the very article of war, and within 
 the duration of a single day, the sword arm of each of the two 
 angry powers was broken ; their formidable ships reduced to 
 junk ; their disciplined hundreds to a horde of castaways, fed 
 with difficulty, and the fear of whose misconduct marred the 
 sleep of their commanders. Both paused aghast ; both had time 
 to recognize that not the whole Samoan Archipelago was worth 
 the loss in men and costly ships already suffered. The so-called 
 hurricane of March 16 made thus a marking epoch in world- 
 history ; directly, and at once, it brought about the congress and 
 treaty of Berlin ; ^ indirectly, and by a process still continuing, it 
 founded the modem navy of the [United] States. Coming years 
 and other historians will declare the influence of that. 
 
 Although the "formidable" and "costly" ships wrecked 
 at Apia were only unarmored cruisers of from 1375 to 
 3900 tons, their loss was sufficient to cripple our navy. 
 Under the title "The Naval Catastrophe" an editorial in 
 the New York Times of March 31, 1889, said : 
 
 Another lesson which the Americans may well take to heart 
 is the duty of increasing their navy with all possible dispatch. 
 
 1 For the congress see Muzzey, An American History, p. 434. The 
 tripartite government lasted through ten stormy years, until, in Decem- 
 ber, 1899, the British withdrew entirely from Samoa and left Germany 
 and the United States to divide the islands. We took the island of Tu- 
 tuila, which contained Pango-Pango, the best harbor in the archipelago. 
 
526 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 The Germans can replace their shattered ships without great 
 exertion and with comparatively little delay. . . . The United 
 States will have great difficulty in recruiting its naval forces 
 in Apia and taking off the shipwrecked crews. At Panama a 
 vessel cannot be spared : at San Francisco there is not a ship 
 available for the service. There are three antiquated vessels in 
 the Asiatic squadron, one new dispatch boat, the Dolphin^ and the 
 Palos, which is hardly better than a tow-boat. In this emergency 
 the only resource is to send some of these venerable relics from 
 China to Hawaii, and leave those important stations bare. Such a 
 situation is humiliating to American pride. The movement for 
 providing the country with a well-equipped modem navy ought 
 to receive a powerful impulse from the Samoan catastrophe. 
 
 Problems of Cleveland's Second Term 
 
 The most serious industrial struggle in the history of 
 our country, and the only one in which the troops of the 
 United States have been called upon to fire on United 
 States citizens, was the great railroad strike in Chicago in 
 1894, arising out of the conflict over wages in the Pull- 
 man Palace Car Company. On the day set by the Amer- 
 ican Railway Union for refusing to handle trains to which 
 Pullman cars were attached, unless the Pullman Company 
 agreed to arbitration with its employees ^ (June 26, 1894), 
 the following statement of its position was published by 
 the company in the Chicago Herald: 
 
 1 On July 26, 1894, President Cleveland appointed a commission of 
 three men to investigate the causes of the strike. In his testimony be- 
 fore the commission George M. Pullman, president of the company, 
 said: " Of course there are matters which are proper subjects of arbitra- 
 tion . . . but as to whether a fact which I know to be true, is true or not, 
 I could not agree to submit to arbitration. The question as to whether 
 the shops at Pullman should be continuously operated at a loss or not, 
 is one which it was impossible for the company, as a matter of princi- 
 ple, to submit to the opinion of any third party." — W. J. Ashley, The 
 Railroad Strike of 1894, p. 3. Cambridge, 1895. 
 
The Cleveland Democracy 527 
 
 In view of the proposed attempt of the American Railway 
 Union to interfere with public travel on railway lines using 
 Pullman cars, in consequence of a controversy as to the wages 
 of employes of the manufacturing department of the company, 
 the Pullman company requests the publication of the following 
 statement of the facts, in the face of which the attempt is to 
 be made. 
 
 In the first week of May last, there were employed in the 
 car manufacturing department at Pullman, III, about 3100 
 persons. On May 7^'' a committee of the workmen had an 
 interview by arrangement with Mr. Wickes, vice-president, at 
 which the principal subject of discussion related to wages. . . . 
 The absolute necessity of the last reduction in wages, under 
 the existing condition of the business of car manufacturing, 
 had been explained to the committee, and they were insisting 
 upon a restoration of the wage scale of the first half of 1893, 
 when Mr. Pullman entered the room and addressed the com- 
 mittee, speaking in substance as follows : 
 
 At the commencemenL of the very serious depression last year 
 we were employing at Pullman 5816 men, and paying out in wages 
 there $305,000 a month. Negotiations with intending purchasers of 
 railway equipment that were then pending for new work were stopped 
 by them, orders already given by others were canceled, and we were 
 obliged to lay off, as you are aware, a large number of men in every 
 department, so that by November i, 1893, there were only about 
 2000 men in all departments. ... I realized the necessity for the 
 most strenuous exertions to procure work immediately . . . and, with 
 lower prices upon all materials, I personally undertook the work of 
 the lettings of cars, and by making lower bids than other manufac- 
 turers, I secured work enough to gradually increase our force from 
 2000 up to about 4200, the number employed, according to the April 
 pay-rolls, in all capacities at Pullman. 
 
 This result has not been accomplished merely by reduction in 
 wages, but the company has borne its full share by eliminating from 
 its estimates the use of capital and machinery, and in many cases 
 going even below that and taking work at considerable loss, notably 
 the fifty-five Long Island cars, which was the first large order of 
 passenger cars let since the great depression, and which was sought 
 for by practically all the leading car-builders in the country. My 
 
528 History of tJic Republic since the Civil War 
 
 anxiety to secure that order, so as to put as many men at work as 
 possible, was such that I put in a bid at more than $300 per car less 
 than the actual cost to the company. The three hundred stock cars 
 built for the Northwestern Road and the two hundred and fifty 
 refrigerator cars now under construction for the same company, will 
 result in a loss of at least $12 per car, and the twenty-five cars just 
 built for the Lake Street Elevated Road show a loss of $79 per car. 
 I mention these particulars so that you may understand what the 
 company has done for the mutual interest and to secure for the people 
 at Pullman and vicinity the benefit of the disbursement of the large 
 sums of money involved in these and similar contracts. ... I can 
 only assure you that if this company now restores the wages of the 
 first half of 1893, as you have asked, it would be a most unfortunate 
 thing for the men, because there is less than sixty days of contract 
 work in sight in the shops under all orders, and there is absolutely 
 no possibility, in the present condition of affairs throughout the coun- 
 try, of getting any more orders for work at prices measured by the 
 wages of May, 1893. Under such a scale the works would necessa- 
 rily close down and the great majority of the employes be put in 
 idleness, a contingency I am using my best efforts to avoid. 
 
 To further benefit the people of Pullman and vicinity, we con- 
 centrated all the work that we command at that point, by closing our 
 Detroit shops entirely, and laying off a large number of men at our 
 other repair shops, and gave to Pullman the repair of all cars that 
 could be taken care of there. 
 
 Also for the further benefit of our people at Pullman, we have 
 carried on a large system of internal improvements, having expended 
 nearly $160,000 since August last in work, which, under normal con- 
 ditions, would have been spread over one or two years. The policy 
 would be to continue this class of work to as great an extent as pos- 
 sible, provided, of course, the Pullman men show a proper apprecia- 
 tion of the situation by doing whatever they can to help themselves 
 to tide over the hard times which are so seriously felt in every part 
 of the country. . . . 
 
 At a meeting of the local committee held during the night of 
 May 10 a strike was decided upon, and accordingly the next 
 day about 2500 of the employes quit their work, leaving about 
 600 at work, of whom very few were skilled workmen. As it 
 was found impracticable to keep the shops in operation with 
 a force thus diminished and disorganized, the next day those 
 
The Cleveland Democracy 529 
 
 remaining were necessarily laid off, and no work has since been 
 done in the shops. 
 
 The pay-rolls at the time amounted to about $7,000 a day, 
 and were reduced $5,500 by the strike, so that during the period 
 of a little more than six weeks which has elapsed the employes 
 who quit their work have deprived themselves and their com- 
 rades of earnings of more than $200,000. . . . 
 
 While deploring the possibility of annoyance to the public by 
 the threats of irresponsible organizations to interrupt the orderly 
 ministration to the comfort of travelers on railway lines aggre- 
 gating 125,000 miles in length, the Pullman company can do 
 no more than explain its situation to the public. It has two 
 separate branches of business, essentially distinct from each 
 other. One is to provide sleeping cars, which are delivered by 
 it under contract to the various railway companies, to be run by 
 them on their lines as a part of their trains for the carriage of 
 passengers, over the movements of which this company has no 
 control. . . . The other, and a distinct branch of the business 
 of the Pullman company, is the manufacture of sleeping cars 
 for the above-mentioned use of railway companies, and the 
 manufacture for sale to railway companies of freight cars and 
 ordinary passenger cars, and of street cars, and this business is 
 almost at a standstill throughout the United States. 
 
 The business of manufacturing cars for sale gives employment 
 to about yo'}^, of the shop employes. The manufacture of sleep- 
 ing cars for use by the railway companies under contract gives 
 employment to about 15'}^ of the shop employes. . . . 
 
 It is now threatened by the American Railway Union officials 
 that railway companies using Pullman sleeping cars shall be 
 compelled to deprive their passengers of sleeping-car accommo- 
 dations, unless the Pullman company will agree to submit to 
 arbitration the question as to whether or not it shall open its 
 manufacturing shops at Pullman and operate them under a 
 scale of wages which would cause a daily loss to it of one-fourth 
 the wages paid. 
 
 The economic aspect of the strike, however, was not 
 the only one, nor perhaps even the chief one. Early in 
 
5 30 History of the Republic siiice the Civil War 
 
 July, after the mob in Chicago had begun the destruction 
 of railroad property, President Cleveland, in accordance 
 with the authority given him by the laws of the United 
 States, 1 ordered federal troops to the scene of action to 
 preserve order. The controversy which arose between 
 President Cleveland and Governor Altgeld of Illinois over 
 this procedure is described by the former in his article, 
 ''The Government in the Chicago Strike of 1894": 
 
 I must not fail to mention here as part of the history of this 
 perplexing affair, a'contribution made by the governor of Illinois 
 to its annoyances. This official not only refused to regard the 
 riotous disturbances within the borders of his State as a suffi- 
 cient cause for an application to the Federal Government for its 
 protection " against domestic violence " under the mandate of 
 the Constitution,^ but he actually protested against the presence 
 of Federal troops sent into the State upon the General Gov- 
 ernment's own initiative and for the purpose of defending itself 
 in the exercise of its well-defined legitimate functions. 
 
 On the 5*^ day of July, twenty-four hours after our soldiers 
 had been brought into the city of Chicago, pursuant to the 
 order of July 3^, I received a long despatch from Governor 
 Altgeld, beginning as follows : 
 
 1 am advised that you have ordered Federal troops to go into serv- 
 ice in the State of Illinois. Surely the facts have not been correcdy 
 
 1 Section 5298 of the Revised Statutes of the United States reads : 
 " Whenever, by reason of unlawful obstructions, combinations or as- 
 semblages of persons, or rebellion against the authority of the United 
 States, it shall become impracticable in the judgment of the President 
 to enforce, by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, the laws of 
 the United States within any State or Territory, it shall be lawful for 
 the President to call forth the militia of any or all of the States, and to 
 employ such parts of the land or naval forces of the United States as 
 he may deem necessary to enforce the faithful execution of the laws of 
 the United States, or to suppress such rebellion, in whatever State or 
 Territory thereof the laws of the United States may be forcibly oppressed 
 or the execution thereof be forcibly obstructed." 
 
 2 Constitution, Article IV, sect. IV. 
 
The Cleveland Democracy 531 
 
 presented to you in this case or you would not have taken the step ; 
 for it is entirely unnecessary, and, as it seems to me, unjustifiable. 
 Waiving all question of courtesy, I will say that the State of Illinois 
 is not only able to take care of itself, but it stands ready today to fur- 
 nish the Federal Government any assistance it may need elsewhere. 
 
 This opening sentence was followed by a lengthy statement 
 vvhich so far missed actual conditions as to appear irrelevant 
 and, in some parts, absolutely frivolous. This remarkable des- 
 patch closed with the following words : 
 
 As Governor of the State of Illinois, I protest against this and 
 ask the immediate withdrawal of Federal troops from active duty in 
 this State. Should the situation at any time get so serious that we 
 cannot control it with State forces, we will promptly and freely ask 
 for Federal assistance ; but until such time I protest with all due 
 deference against this uncalled-for reflecdon upon our people, and 
 again ask for the immediate withdrawal of these troops. 
 
 Immediately upon receipt of this communication, I sent to 
 Governor Altgeld the following reply: 
 
 Federal troops were sent to Chicago in strict accordance with the 
 Constitution and the laws of the United States, upon the demand of 
 the Post-Office Department that obstructions of the mails should be 
 removed, and upon the representation of the judicial officers of the 
 United States that process of the Federal courts could not be executed 
 through ordinary means, and upon abundant proof that conspiracies 
 existed against commerce between the States. To meet these condi- 
 tions, which are clearly within the province of Federal authority, the 
 presence of Federal troops in the city of Chicago was deemed not 
 only proper but necessary ; and there has been no intention of thereby 
 interfering with the plain duty of the local authorities to preserve the 
 peace of the city. 
 
 In response to this the governor, evidently unwilling to allow 
 the matter at issue between us to rest without a renewal of argu- 
 ment and protest, at once addressed to me another long tel- 
 egraphic communication, evidently intended to be more severely 
 accusatory and insistent than its predecessor. Its general tenor 
 may be inferred from the opening words : 
 
532 His tor)' of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 Your answer to my protest involves some startling conclusions, 
 and ignores and evades the question at issue — that is, that the prin- 
 ciple of local fundamental self-government is just as fundamental in 
 our institutions as is that of Federal supremacy. You calmly assume 
 that the Executive has the legal right to order Federal troops into 
 any community of the United States in the first instance, wherever 
 there is the slightest disturbance, and that he can do this without 
 any regard to the question as to whether the community is able to 
 and ready to enforce the law itself. 
 
 After a rather dreary discussion of the importance of preserv- 
 ing the rights of the States, and a presentation of the dangers 
 to constitutional government that lurked in the course that had 
 been pursued by the general Government, this communication 
 closed as follows : 
 
 Inasmuch as the Federal troops can do nothing but what the State 
 troops can do there, and believing that the State is amply able to 
 take care of the situation and to enforce the law, and believing that 
 the ordering out of the Federal troops was unwarranted, I again ask 
 their withdrawal. 
 
 I confess that my patience was somewhat strained when I 
 quickly sent the following despatch in reply to this communication : 
 
 Executive Mansion 
 
 Washington D.C., July 6, 1894 
 
 While I am still persuaded that I have neither transcended my 
 
 authority nor duty in the emergency that confronts us, it seems to 
 
 me that in this hour of danger and public distress, discussion may 
 
 well give way to active efforts on the part of all in authority to restore 
 
 obedience to law and to protect life and property. 
 
 Grover Cleveland 
 Hon. John P. Altgeld 
 
 Governor of Illinois 
 
 This closed a discussion which in its net results demonstrated 
 how far one's disposition and inclination will lead him astray in 
 the field of argument. 
 
 Early in June, 1895, Richard Olney of Massachusetts 
 succeeded W. Q. Gresham as Secretary of State in Cleve- 
 land's cabinet, and, at the President's suggestion, prepared 
 
TJic Cleveland Democracy 533 
 
 an energetic statement of our claim to compel Great Britain, 114. Twist- 
 in the name of the Monroe Doctrine, to arbitrate its long- Jgf i^Q^.g 
 standing; dispute with Venezuela over the boundary of tail : the 
 
 '=> ^ ^ -' Venezuela 
 
 British Guiana. Olney s message, dated at Washington, affair, 1895 
 July 20, 1895, was delivered by Ambassador Bayard to [444] 
 Lord Salisbury, the British prime minister, on August 7. 
 After outlining the history of the boundary dispute since 
 1 840, Secretary Olney continues : 
 
 The important features of the existing situation, as shown 
 by the foregoing recital, may be briefly stated : — 
 
 1. The title to territory of indefinite but confessedly very 
 large extent is in dispute between Great Britain on the one hand 
 and the South American Republic of Venezuela on the other. 
 
 2. The disparity in strength of the claimants is such that 
 Venezuela can hope to establish her claim only through peace- 
 ful methods — through an agreement with her adversary either 
 upon the subject itself or upon an arbitration. 
 
 3. The controversy with varying claims on the part of Great 
 Britain has existed for more than a half-a-century, during which 
 period many earnest and persistent efforts of Venezuela to 
 establish a boundary by agreement have proved unsuccessful. 
 
 4. The futility of the endeavor to obtain a conventional line 
 being recognized, Venezuela, for a quarter of a century, has 
 asked and striven for arbitration. 
 
 5. Great Britain however has always and continuously re- 
 fused, and still refuses, to arbitrate except upon the condition 
 of a renunciation of a large part of the Venezuelan claim, and 
 of a concession to herself of a large share of the territory in 
 controversy. 
 
 6. By the frequent interposition of its good offices at the in- 
 stance of Venezuela, by constantly urging and promoting the 
 restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries, by 
 pressing for arbitration of the disputed boundary, by offering 
 to act as arbitrator, by expressing its grave concern whenever 
 new alleged instances of British aggression of Venezuelan terri- 
 tory have been brought to its notice, the Government of the 
 
534 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 United States has made it clear to Great Britain and to the 
 world that the controversy is one in which both its honor and 
 its interests are involved, and the continuance of which it 
 cannot regard with indifference. . . . 
 
 Those charged with the interests of the United States are 
 now forced to determine exactly what those interests are and 
 what course of action they require ... to decide to what extent, 
 if any, the United States may and should intervene in a con- 
 troversy between and primarily concerning only Great Britain 
 and Venezuela, and to decide how far it is bound to see that 
 the integrity of Venezuelan territory is not impaired by the 
 pretensions of its powerful antagonist. . . . 
 
 The Monroe doctrine . . . does not establish any general 
 Protectorate by the United States over other American States. 
 It does not relieve any American State from its obligations as 
 fixed by international law nor prevent any European power 
 directly interested from enforcing such obligations or from in- 
 flicting merited punishment for the breach of them. . . . The 
 rule in question has but a single purpose and object. It is that 
 no European power or combination of European powers shall 
 forcibly deprive an American State of the right and power of 
 self-government and of shaping for itself its own political for- 
 tunes and destinies. . . . 
 
 It is manifest that if a rule has been openly and uniformly 
 declared and acted upon by the Executive Branch of the Gov- 
 ernment for more than seventy years without express repudia- 
 tion by Congress, it must be conclusively presumed to have its 
 sanction. ... It rests upon facts and principles that are both 
 intelligible and incontrovertible. . . . Europe, as Washington 
 observed, has a set of primary interests which are peculiar to 
 herself. America is not interested in them, and ought not to be 
 vexed or complicated with them. Each great European power, 
 for instance, today maintains enormous armies and fleets in 
 self-defence, and for protection against any other European 
 Power or Powers. What have the United States of America 
 to do with that condition of things, or why should they be im- 
 poverished by wars or preparations for wars with whose causes 
 or results they can have no direct concern ? . . . 
 
The Cleveland Democracy 535 
 
 The people of the United States have learned in the school of 
 experience to what extent the relations of States to each other de- 
 pend not upon sentiment nor principle, but upon selfish interest. 
 They will not soon forget that in their hour of distress all their 
 anxieties and burdens were aggravated by the possibility of dem- 
 onstrations against their national life on the part of Powers with 
 whom they had long maintained the most harmonious relations 
 
 Today the United States is practically sovereign on this con- 
 tinent, and its fiat is law upon the subjects to which it confines 
 its interposition. Why.? ... It is because, in addition to all 
 other grounds, its infinite resources combined with its isolated 
 position render it master of the situation and practically invul- 
 nerable as against any or all other powers. . . . The advantages 
 of this superiority are at once imperilled if the principle be 
 admitted that European powers may convert American States 
 into colonies or provinces of their own. . . . 
 
 The territory which Great Britain insists shall be ceded to 
 her as a condition of arbitrating her claim to other territory has 
 never been admitted to belong to her. It has always and con- 
 sistently been claimed by Venezuela. Upon what principle — 
 except her feebleness as a nation — is she to be denied the right 
 of having the claim heard and passed upon by an impartial Tri- 
 bunal ? No reason or shadow of reason appears in all the volu- 
 minous literature of the subject. " It is to be so because I will it 
 to be so " seems to be the only justification Great Britain offers 
 
 In these circumstances, the duty of the President appears to 
 him unmistakable and imperative. Great Britain's assertion of 
 a title to the disputed territory, combined with her refusal to 
 have that title investigated, being a substantial appropriation 
 of that territory to her own use, not to protest . . . would be to 
 ignore an established policy [the Monroe Doctrine] with which 
 the honor and welfare of this country are closely identified. 
 While the measures necessary or proper for the vindication of 
 that policy are to be determined by another branch of the Gov- 
 ernment,^ it is clearly for the Executive to leave nothing undone 
 which may tend to render such determination unnecessary. 
 
 1 A veiled threat of war, in reference to the powers of Congress, 
 enumerated in Article I, Sect. VIII, par. 10-13, of the Constitution. 
 
'53^ History of the Republic since tJic Civil War 
 
 You are instructed, therefore, to present the foregoing views 
 to Lord Salisbury. . . . They call for a definite decision upon the 
 point whether Great Britain will consent or will decline to sub- 
 mit the Venezuelan boundary question in its entirety to impar- 
 tial arbitration. It is the earnest hope of the President that the 
 conclusion will be on the side of arbitration. ... If he is to be 
 disappointed in that hope, however — a result not to be antici- 
 pated, and in his judgment calculated to greatly embarrass the 
 future relations between this country and Great Britain — it is 
 his wish to be made acquainted with the fact at such early date 
 as will enable him to lay the whole subject before Congress in 
 
 his next Annual Message, 
 
 I am etc. 
 
 Richard Olney 
 
 The reply to Olney's message was sent by Lord Salis- 
 bury to Sir Julian Pauncefote, British ambassador at 
 Washington, on November 26, 1895, too late to furnish 
 President Cleveland with material for his annual message 
 to Congress the first week in December. The British 
 premier's note was a polite but firm rejection of Olney's 
 claims. In the course of the dispatch Lord Salisbury 
 said: 
 
 The contentions set forth by Mr. Olney . . . are represented 
 by him as being an application of the political maxims which 
 are well known in American discussion under the name of the 
 Monroe doctrine. As far as I am aware, this doctrine has never 
 been before advanced on behalf of the United States in any 
 written communication addressed to the Government of another 
 nation ; but it has been generally adopted and assumed as true 
 by many eminent writers and politicians in the United States. 
 . . . But during the period that has elapsed since the Message 
 of President Monroe was delivered in 1823, the doctrine has 
 undergone a very notable development, and the aspect which it 
 now presents in the hands of Mr. Olney differs widely from its 
 character when it first issued from the pen of its author. . . . 
 The dangers which were apprehended by President Monroe 
 
The Cle'-o eland Democracy 537 
 
 have no relation to the state of things in which we live at the 
 present day. There is no danger of any Holy Alliance imposing 
 its system upon any portion of the American Continent, and 
 there is no danger of any European State treating any part of 
 the American Continent as a fit object for European coloniza- 
 tion. . . . Great Britain is imposing no '' system " upon Vene- 
 zuela, and is not concerning herself in any way with the nature 
 of the political institutions under which the Venezuelans may 
 prefer to live. But the British Empire and the Republic of 
 Venezuela are neighbors, and they have differed for some time 
 past, and continue to differ, as to the line by which their domin- 
 ions are separated. It is a controversy with which the United 
 States have no apparent practical concern. . . . 
 
 The Government of the United States . . . lay down that the 
 doctrine of President Monroe . . . confers on them the right of 
 demanding that when a European Power has a frontier differ- 
 ence with a South American community, the European Power 
 shall consent to refer that controversy to arbitration ; and Mr. 
 Olney states that unless Her Majesty's Government accede to 
 this demand, it will " greatly embarrass the future relations 
 between Great Britain and the United States." 
 
 Whatever may be the authority of the doctrine laid down by 
 President Monroe, there is nothing in his language to show that 
 he ever thought of claiming this novel prerogative for the United 
 States. . . . [Arbitration] has proved itself valuable in many 
 cases ; but it is not free from defects. ... It is not always easy to 
 find an Arbitrator who is competent, and who at the same time 
 is wholly free from bias; and the task of insuring compliance 
 with the Award when it is made is not exempt from difficulty. . . . 
 
 In the remarks which I have made, I have argued on the 
 theory that the Monroe doctrine in itself is sound. I must not, 
 however, be understood as expressing any acceptance of it on 
 the part of Her Majesty's Government. It must always be 
 mentioned with respect, on account of the distinguished states- 
 man to whom it is due, and the great nation who have generally 
 adopted it. But international law is founded on the general con- 
 sent of nations; no statesman, however eminent, and no nation, 
 however powerful, are competent to insert into the code of 
 
538 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 international law a novel principle. . . . The United States have 
 a right, like any other nation, to interpose in any controversy 
 by which their own interests are affected ; they are the judge 
 whether those interests are touched, and in what measure they 
 should be sustained. But their rights are in no way strengthened 
 or extended by the fact that the controversy affects some territory 
 which is called American. . . . The Government of the United 
 States is not entitled to affirm as a universal proposition, with 
 reference to a number of independent States for whose conduct 
 it assumes no responsibility, that its interests are necessarily 
 concerned in whatever may befall those States simply because 
 they are situated in the Western Hemisphere. . . . 
 
 President Cleveland sent Olney's dispatch and Lord 
 Salisbury's reply to Congress on December 17, 1895, ac- 
 companied by a vigorous message, which was hailed with 
 enthusiasm by half the nation as a brave assertion of our 
 national honor, and deplored by the other half as a piece 
 of blustering jingoism, whose only effect would be to 
 raise a horrid war cloud to spoil the bright holiday season. 
 After stating Lord Salisbury's position on the Monroe 
 Doctrine, Cleveland said : 
 
 Without attempting extended argument in reply to these posi- 
 tions, it may not be amiss to suggest that the doctrine upon 
 which we stand is strong and sound, because its enforcement 
 is important to our peace and safety as a nation, and is essential 
 to the integrity of our free institutions and the tranquil mainte- 
 nance of our distinctive form of government. It was intended 
 to apply to every stage of our national life, and cannot become 
 obsolete while our Republic endures. If the balance of power 
 is justly a cause for jealous anxiety among the governments of 
 the Old World and a subject for our absolute non-interference, 
 none the less is the observance of the Monroe Doctrine of vital 
 concern to our people and their Government. . . . 
 
 It will be seen from the correspondence herewith submitted 
 that this proposition [of arbitration] has been declined by the 
 
The Clevela7id Democracy 5 39 
 
 British Government upon grounds which in the circumstances 
 seem to me to be far from satisfactory. It is deeply disappoint- 
 ing that such an appeal, actuated by the most friendly feelings 
 towards both nations directly concerned, addressed to the sense 
 of justice and to the magnanimity of one of the great powers 
 of the world, and touching its relations to one comparatively 
 weak and small, should have produced no better results. 
 
 The course to be pursued by this Government in view of the 
 present condition does not appear to admit of serious doubt. 
 Having labored faithfully for many years to induce Great Britain 
 to submit their dispute to impartial arbitration, and having been 
 finally apprised of her refusal to do so, nothing remains but to 
 accept the situation, to recognize its plain requirements, and deal 
 with it accordingly. . . o Assuming that the attitude of Venezuela 
 will remain unchanged, the dispute has reached such a stage as 
 to make it now incumbent upon the United States to take 
 measures to determine with sufficient certainty for its justifica- 
 tion what is the true divisional line between the Republic of 
 Venezuela and British Guiana. The inquiry to that end should, 
 of course, be conducted carefully and judicially ; and due weight 
 should be given to all available evidence, records, and facts in 
 support of the claims of both parties.^ . . . 
 
 When such report is made and accepted, it will, in my opinion, 
 be the duty of the United States to resist by every means in its 
 power, as a wilful aggression upon its rights and interests, the 
 appropriation by Great Britain of any lands or the exercise of 
 governmental jurisdiction over any territory which after investi- 
 gation we have determined of right belongs to Venezuela. 
 
 In making these recommendations I am fully alive to the 
 responsibility incurred, and keenly realize all the consequences 
 that may follow. 
 
 1 am, nevertheless, firm in my conviction that while it is 
 a grievous thing to contemplate the two great English-speaking 
 
 1 In accordance with the president's recommendation, Congress 
 passed a law on December 21, authorizing the appointment of a com- 
 mission to investigate the true boundary line and appropriating $100,000 
 for the expenses of the commission. For the work of the commission 
 see Muzzey, An American History, p. 445. 
 
540 History of tJic Republic since the Civil War 
 
 peoples of the world as being otherwise than friendly competitors 
 in the onward march of civilization, and strenuous and worthy 
 rivals in all the arts of peace, there is no calamity which a great 
 nation can invite which equals that which follows a supine 
 submission to wrong and injustice, and the consequent loss of 
 national self-respect and honor, beneath which are shielded and 
 defended a people's safety and greatness. 
 
 We conclude this section v^ith two comments of the 
 British press on the message just quoted, the first {a) from 
 The Saturday Review (weekly) of December 21, 1895 ; 
 the second {b) from The National Review (monthly) of 
 January, 1896. 
 
 (a) 
 
 President Cleveland's second Message to Congress, in answer 
 to Lord Salisbury, is handled in another column as a fair speci- 
 men of '' American Election Literature." We wish to draw 
 attention here to the fact that Lord Salisbury's answer to 
 Mr. Secretary Olney was not only not provocative, but emi- 
 nently conciliatory. Lord Salisbury went so far as to accept the 
 Monroe Doctrine in exactly the form in which, according to 
 Mr. Goldwin Smith, it is held by the majority of Americans ; 
 he expressed his full agreement in the view " that any disturb- 
 ance of the existing territorial distribution in the Western hemi- 
 sphere by any fresh acquisition on the part of any European 
 State would be a highly inexpedient change." It has been 
 admitted by several of the more serious American journals,^ 
 that President Cleveland's Message in reply is not only unjusti- 
 fiably arrogant, but hostile in tone to a degree almost without 
 precedent in diplomatic communications. 
 
 .The truth of the matter is that President Cleveland, having 
 at length realized that his tariff-policy had cost the Democratic 
 party New Jersey and Kentucky, resolved to win the support 
 of the Irish and Jingoes in the United States by twisting the 
 
 1 Notably the Evening Post, the New York World, the New York 
 Herald, and the Boston Herald. 
 
The Cleveland Democracy 541 
 
 British lion's tail. Unluckily the Republican Senators drew him 
 into a declaration of " spirited foreign policy " six months too 
 soon. His Message is already being ridiculed with impartial 
 criticism. The London Stock Exchange has shown an exact 
 and humorous appreciation of the situation by telegraphing to 
 the New York Stock Exchange its hope that in the event of 
 hostilities between the two countries the British warships would 
 not have their movements interfered with by irresponsible ex- 
 cursion steamers issuing from New York and other ports. The 
 New York Exchange, we understand, has replied to the effect 
 that they hope that our warships are better than our yachts.^ 
 In fine, the sensible people on both sides of the water have 
 recognized that President Cleveland has played Dogberry to no 
 purpose. He has written himself down an ass, and that is about 
 all he has accomplished. 
 
 (*) 
 
 It is unnecessary to say that the dominating event of the past 
 month has been President Cleveland's stupefying effort to plunge 
 the two great branches of the Anglo-Saxon race into a bloody 
 war. At the time of writing it is uncertain whether he will 
 succeed or not ; now-a-days we find ourselves one moment in 
 a tornado of sensational excitement, and the next in an almost 
 enervating calm ; and it may be that by the time these pages 
 are in the reader's hands, affairs will have resumed a compara- 
 tively normal condition and the Americans will have recovered 
 their sense of proportion. On the other hand it is just conceiv- 
 able that Mr. Cleveland might strike a popular chord of hatred 
 to England. The people of whom he is the official mouthpiece 
 may be weary of peace and progress, and, having selected 
 something " cheap " to run into, are prepared to embark on 
 an adventure against the British Empire. In any case a grave 
 situation has been created, and with all the goodwill in the 
 world — and we have not as a nation been unmindful of our 
 kinship to the American people, from whom we have pocketed 
 
 1 Referring to the repeated attempts of the British yachts to "lift" 
 the American cup in the races in New York Bay. 
 
542 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 affronts that we should not have tolerated at the hands of any 
 other country, and which none of the older members of the 
 company of nations would offer one another unless war were 
 intended — the incident, if it retains the modest dimensions of 
 an "incident," cannot but affect the cordiality of our future 
 relations with the United States. . . . 
 
 For the moment it is irrelevant to examine the merits of the 
 dispute ; let us assume that Venezuela is right on every point, 
 and that the colony's [Guiana's] claim is a spurious one, which 
 Lord Salisbury has adduced untenable arguments to support. 
 Still the amenities of international intercourse among civilized 
 nations are held to preclude recourse to public menace until 
 every form of diplomatic expostulation has been exhausted. The 
 disheartening aspect of this document to all who labor to 
 strengthen the ties between English-speaking peoples lies in the 
 fact that a popularity-seeking President of great experience in 
 gauging the opinion of his countrymen, should think it worth 
 while to read the United States out of the comity of nations in 
 order to obtain the anti-English vote. 
 
 The chief issue before the National Democratic Nomi- 
 nating Convention of 1 896 at Chicago was the free coinage 
 of silver at the ratio of 16 to i. The majority report on 
 the platform favored the measure, but a strong minority 
 report, supporting the single gold standard was ably 
 supported by Senator Hill of New York, Senator Vilas 
 of Wisconsin, and ex-Governor Russell of Massachusetts. 
 The debate was closed by the Honorable William J. Bryan 
 of Nebraska, with an ardent speech in favor of free silver, 
 which won him the Democratic nomination for the presi- 
 dency and brought him into the prominent position in Amer- 
 ican politics which he has occupied now for twenty years. 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemp:n of the Convention : 
 
 I would be presumptuous, indeed, to present myself against 
 the distinguished gentlemen to whom you have listened if this 
 
The Cleveland Democracy 543 
 
 were a mere measuring of abilities ; but this is not a contest 
 between persons. The humblest citizen in all the land, when 
 clad in the armor of a tighteous cause, is stronger than all the 
 hosts of error. I come to speak to you in defense of a cause as 
 holy as the cause of liberty — the cause of humanity. 
 
 With a zeal approaching the zeal which inspired the crusaders 
 who followed Peter the Hermit, our silver Democrats went forth 
 from victory to victory until they are now assembled, not to 
 discuss, not to debate, but to enter up the judgment already 
 rendered by the plain people of this country. . . . 
 
 When you (turning to the gold delegates) come before us 
 and tell us that we are about to disturb your business interests, 
 we reply that you have disturbed our business interests by your 
 course. We say to you that you have made the definition of a 
 business man too limited in its application. The man who is 
 employed for wages is as much a business man as his employer ; 
 the attorney in a country town is as much a business man as 
 the corporation counsel in a great metropolis ; the merchant 
 at the cross-roads store is as much a business man as the mer- 
 chant of New York ; the farmer who goes forth in the morn- 
 ing and toils all day — who begins in the spring and toils all 
 summer — and who by the application of brain and muscle to 
 the natural resources of the country creates wealth, is as much 
 a business man as the man who goes upon the board of trade 
 and bets upon the price of grain ; the miners who go down a 
 thousand feet into the earth, or climb two thousand feet upon 
 the cliffs, and bring forth from their hiding places the precious 
 metals to be poured into the channels of trade are as much 
 business men as the few financial magnates who, in a back 
 "room, corner the money of the world. We come to speak for 
 this broader class of business men. . . . 
 
 We do not come as aggressors. Our war is not a war of con- 
 quest ; we are fighting in the defense of our homes, our families, 
 and posterity. We have petitioned, and our petitions have been 
 scorned ; we have entreated, and our entreaties have been dis- 
 regarded ; we have begged, and they have mocked when our 
 calamity came. We beg no longer; we entreat no more; we. 
 petition no more. We defy them. . . . 
 
544 Histojy of tJic Republic since the Civil War 
 
 We say in our platform that we believe that the right to coin 
 and issue money is a function of our government. We believe 
 it. We believe that it is a part of sovereignty, and that it can 
 no more with safety be delegated to private individuals than , . . 
 the power to make penal statutes or levy taxes. Mr. Jefferson, 
 who was once regarded as good Democratic authority, seems to 
 have differed in opinion from the gentleman [Senator Vilas] who 
 has addressed us on the part of the minority. Those who are 
 opposed to this proposition tell us that the issue of paper money 
 is a function of the bank, and that the Government ought to go 
 out of the banking business. I stand with Jefferson rather than 
 with them, and tell them, as he did, that the issue of money is 
 a function of government, and that the banks ought to go out 
 of the governing business. . . . 
 
 And now, my friends, let me come to the paramount issue. 
 If they ask us why it is that we say more on the money ques- 
 tion than we say upon the tariff question, I reply that, if pro- 
 tection has slain its thousands, the gold standard has slain its 
 tens of thousands. If they ask us why we do not embody in 
 our platform all the things that we believe in, we reply that 
 when we have restored the money of the Constitution all other 
 necessary reforms will be possible ; but that until this is done 
 there is no other reform that can be accomplished. . . . 
 
 Mr. Carlisle said in 1878 that this was a struggle between 
 " the idle holders of idle capital " and " the struggling masses 
 who produce the wealth and pay the taxes of the country " ; 
 and, my friends, the question we are to decide is : Upon which 
 side will the Democratic party fight ? . . . That is the question 
 which the party must answer first, and then it must be answered 
 by each individual hereafter. The sympathies of the Democratic 
 party, as shown by the platform, are on the side of the struggling 
 masses who have ever been the foundation of the Democratic 
 party. There are two ideas of government. There are those 
 who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do 
 prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below. 
 'I'he Democratic idea, however, has been that if you legislate to 
 make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way 
 up through every class which rests upon them. 
 
The Cleveland Democracy 545 
 
 You come to us and tell us that the great cities are in favor 
 of the gold standard ; we reply that the great cities rest upon 
 our broad and fertile prairies. Bum down your cities and leave 
 our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic ; 
 but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of 
 every city in the country. 
 
 My friends, we declare that this nation is able to legislate for 
 its own people on every question, without waiting for the aid 
 or consent of any other nation on earth ; and upon that issue 
 we expect to carry every State in the Union. I shall not slander 
 the inhabitants of the fair State of Massachusetts nor the in- 
 habitants of the State of New York by saying that, when they 
 are confronted with the proposition, they will declare that this 
 nation is not able to attend to its own business. It is the issue 
 of 1776 over again. Our ancestors, when but three millions in 
 number, had the courage to declare their .political independence 
 of every other nation ; shall we, their descendants, when we 
 have grown to seventy millions, declare that we are less inde- 
 pendent than our forefathers ? No, my friends, that will never 
 be the verdict of our people. Therefore we care not upon what 
 lines the battle is fought. If they say bimetallism is good, but 
 that we cannot have it until other nations help us, we reply 
 that, instead of having a gold standard because England has, we 
 will restore bimetallism, and then let England have bimetallism 
 because the United States has it. If they dare to come out in 
 the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing, 
 we will fight them to the uttermost. Having behind us the pro- 
 ducing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the 
 commercial interests, the laboring interests, and the toilers every- 
 where, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by say- 
 ing to them : You shall not press down upon the brow of labor 
 this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a 
 cross of gold 1 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 ENTERING THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 
 
 The Spanish War and the Philippines 
 
 116. The The Spanish War of 1898 and the consequent subjuga- 
 
 impwlSsm tion of the Philippine Islands were, in the opinion of a 
 [458] great many people in our country, prompted by an un- 
 worthy desire to extend our markets and an unholy zeal 
 to depart from the principles of the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence and ape imperialistic Britain in dominating the 
 '' inferior races " of the Orient. In an editorial entitled 
 "At the Bar of History," the Nation of July 4, 1901, 
 maintained that President McKinley had weakly allowed 
 .Congress to bully him into an unjust war. 
 
 After keeping us for more than three years in the dark, the 
 Administration has at last deigned to publish the diplomatic 
 correspondence leading up to the war with Spain. ^ This was 
 at first promised in connection with the President's war mes- 
 sage of April II, 1898 ; but on second thought, it was stated, 
 Mr. McKinley determined that it would not be '' prudent " to 
 give out the documents at that time. As we read them now, it 
 is easy to agree that it would have been a piece of terrible im- 
 prudence to give them to the world then, since they prove that 
 the war was needless. This tardy publication of the dispatches 
 makes it impossible to deny what, in fact, Minister Woodford, 
 Senator Hoar, and Hon. George S. Boutwell openly asserted 
 in 1898, that there would have been no war but for the violence 
 of Congress and the weakness of tlie President. 
 
 1 House Documents, 55th Congress, 3d session, Vol. I, No. i, 
 President's Message and Foreign Relations, 1898, pp. 558-1085. 
 
 546 
 
Entei'ing the Twe7itieth Centtiry 547 
 
 From the official correspondence we learn the truth of the 
 statement made by Mr. Boutelle in explanation of his vote 
 against the war — namely, that " Spain had conceded nearly every 
 one of our demands, and seemed plainly disposed to meet them 
 all," so that, but for the insane fury of Congress, before which 
 Mr. McKinley fell terrorized, we should, as Minister Woodford 
 said publicly in Boston in October, 1898, have seen the Spanish 
 flag leave Cuba " without the firing of a shot or the loss of a life." 
 
 The proof is very simple. It lies on the face of the dispatches. 
 Passing by all the preliminaries, we find Secretary [of State] 
 Day, on March 27, 1898, telegraphing instructions to Minister 
 Woodford [at Madrid] to make three demands: 
 
 " First, Armistice until Oct. i. Negotiations meantime look- 
 ing for peace between Spain and insurgents through friendly 
 offices of President United States. 
 
 Second, Immediate revocation of reconcentrado order.^ . . . 
 Add, if possible. 
 
 Third, If terms of peace not satisfactorily settled by Octo- 
 ber I , President of the United States to be final arbiter between 
 Spain and insurgents. . . ." ^ 
 
 Now, what followed ? On March 3 1 the reconcentrado order 
 was revoked and a special credit of 3,000,000 pesetas put at the 
 disposal of Governor-General Blanco to care for the homeless 
 Cubans. There was our demand number two promptly complied 
 with. The offer to concede demand number one was cabled by 
 
 1 This famous order, converting a large part of Cuba into a camp, was 
 issued by General Valeriano Weyler, from Havana, February 16, 1896. 
 
 Article I. All inhabitants of the district of . . . and the provinces of . . . 
 will have to concentrate in places which are the headquarters of a division . . . 
 within eight days of the publication of this proclamation in the municipalities. 
 
 Article II. To travel in the country in the radius covered by the columns 
 in operation, it is absolutely indispensable to have a pass. . . . Any one lacking 
 this will be detained and sent to headquarters of divisions or brigades, and thence 
 to Havana, at my disposition, by the first possible means. 
 
 Article III. All owners of commercial establishments in the countr}' dis- 
 tricts will vacate them. . . . 
 
 Article IV. All passes hitherto issued become null and void. — Senate 
 Documents, Vol. XXV, 56th Congress, 2d session, Part VII, p. 883. 
 
 2 House Documents, 55th Congress, 3d session. Vol. I, No. i, 
 pp. 711-712. 
 
54^. History of tJic Republic since the Civil War 
 
 Minister Woodford on April 5. It is the critical dispatch of the 
 whole volume, and its suppression till now certainly shows an 
 extraordinary degree of " prudence," and possibly something 
 else, in the President. We publish it in full, and we ask for it 
 the careful attention of those clergymen and church people who 
 were driving Congress on to war. 
 
 " Should the Queen proclaim the following before 1 2 o'clock 
 noon of Wednesday, April 6, will you sustain the Queen, and 
 can you prevent hostile action by Congress .? 
 
 At the request of the Holy Father^ i?t this Passion Week, and 
 in the name of Christ, I proclaim immediate and unconditional 
 suspension of hostilities in the Island of Cuba. This suspetision 
 is to become immediately effective, so soon as accepted by the in- 
 surge?its in that island, and is to continue for the space of six 
 months, to the ^^'' day of October, i8g8. I do this to give ti?nefor 
 passions to cease, and in the sincere hope and belief that, duri?ig 
 this suspensio7i, permaiient a7id honorable peace may be obtai7ied 
 betivee7i the J7isular Gover7iment of Cuba a7id those of 7ny sub- 
 jects in that isla7id zvho are 7iow in rebellion agai7ist the authority 
 of Spai7i. ... 
 
 Please read this in the light of all my previous telegrams and 
 letters. I believe that this means peace, which the sober judg- 
 ment of our people will approve long before next November, 
 and which must be approved at the bar of final history. ... I 
 dare not reject this last chance for peace. I will show your reply 
 to the Queen in person, and I believe that you will approve this 
 last conscientious effort for peace." ^ 
 
 What could be more moving, more pathetic, more like an un- 
 expected messenger of peace to be greeted with devout thank- 
 fulness by all Christian hearts? But how did McKinley greet it.-* 
 Why, he telegraphed Minister Woodford that he " highly appre- 
 ciated the Queen's desire for peace," but that he could not " as- 
 sume to influence the action of the American Congress." Yet, 
 if an armistice were offered, he would " communicate that fact 
 to Congress." '^ Yes, but how did he communicate it ? Did he 
 cite a syllable of the pious and exalted language of the Queen ? 
 
 1 House Documents, loc. cit. p. 734. '^ Ibid. p. 735. 
 
 i 
 
E7itering the Twentieth Century 549 
 
 Did he explain how the venerable head of the Catholic Church 
 had exerted himself to prevent a wicked war? No, he simply 
 added a couple of vague and cold paragraphs at the very end 
 of his message. . . . 
 
 Yesterday, and since the preparation of the foregoing message, 
 official information was received by me that the latest decree of the 
 Queen Regent of Spain directs Gen, Blanco, in order to prepare and 
 facilitate peace, to proclaim a suspension of hostilities, the duration 
 and details of which have not yet been communicated to me. 
 
 This fact, with every other pertinent consideration, will, I am 
 sure, have your just and careful attention in the solemn deliberations 
 upon which you are about to enter. If this measure attains a suc- 
 cessful result, then our aspirations as a Christian, peace-loving people 
 will be realized. If it fails, it will be only another justification for 
 our contemplated action.^ 
 
 Congress, of course, paid not the slightest attention to this 
 perfunctory tail-end of a message, all the previous trend and 
 argument of which made for war. What the President should 
 have done was to throw away the message which he had pre- 
 pared, face the altered situation with an altered policy, and go 
 boldly to Congress and the country with Woodford's dispatch, 
 including the Queen's elevated proclamation. . . . He could have 
 made peace certain. But, alas, the " stop-watch " of Congress 
 was held on him, he had promised his alarmed and excited 
 fellow-partisans to send in a war message and not let the Demo- 
 crats win an advantage, and so " this last conscientious effort 
 for peace," as Minister Woodford called it, this grandest oppor- 
 tunity that ever came to a Christian President, was miserably 
 neglected, and the war ensued. . . . 
 
 Dewey's splendid victory in Manila Bay on May i, 
 1898, and the occupation of Manila by the American 
 troops on August 13, put an end to Spain's power in 
 the Philippines. Dewey telegraphed to the Secretary of 
 the Navy, October 14, 1898, as follows : 
 
 ^ J. D. Richardson, ed. Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 
 Vol. X, p. 150. 
 
550 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 It is important that the disposition of the Philippine Islands 
 should be decided as soon as possible and a strong government 
 established. . . . General anarchy prevails without the limits of 
 the city and bay of Manila. Strongly probable that islands to 
 the South v^ill fall into the same state soon. . . . The natives 
 appear unable to govern. Dewey ^ 
 
 Secretary Hay communicated this telegram to the five^ 
 American peace commissioners at Paris. On October 25 
 the commissioners telegraphed to Secretary Hay their 
 opinions concerning the retention of the Philippines. 
 Three of the commissioners were for holding all the 
 islands ; the chairman, Mr. Day, would hold Luzon 
 alone ; and Senator Gray of Delaware was opposed to 
 holding any of the islands. Senator Gray said : 
 
 The undersigned cannot agree that it is wise to take Philip- 
 pines in whole or in part. To do so would be to reverse ac- 
 cepted continental policy of country, declared and acted upon 
 throughout our history. Propinquity governs case of Cuba and 
 Puerto Rico. Policy proposed introduces us into European poli- 
 tics and the entangling alliances against which Washington and 
 all American statesmen have protested. It will make necessary 
 a navy equal to the largest of powers, a greatly increased mili- 
 tary establishment, immense sums for fortifications and harbors, 
 multiplied occasions for dangerous complications with foreign 
 nations, and increase burdens of taxation. Will receive in com- 
 pensation no outlet for American labor in labor market already 
 overcrowded and cheap, no area for homes for American citi- 
 zens — climate and social conditions demoralizing to character 
 of American youth. New and disturbing questions introduced 
 into our politics, church question menacing. On the whole, 
 instead of indemnity — injury. Undersigned cannot agree that 
 any obligation incurred to insurgents is paramount to our mani- 
 fest interests. Attacked Manila as part of legitimate war against 
 Spain. If we had captured Cadiz and Carlists had helped us, 
 
 1 House Documents, 55th Congress, 3d session, Vol. I, No. i, p. 928. 
 
Entering the Tzvcntieth Ccntniy 551 
 
 we should not owe duty to stay by them at close of war. On 
 contrary, interest and duty would require us to abandon both 
 Manila and Cadiz. No place for colonial administration or 
 government of subject people in American system. 
 
 So much from standpoint of interest. But even conceding 
 all benefits claimed for annexation, we thereby abandon the in- 
 finitely greater benefit to accrue from acting the part of a great, 
 powerful, and Christian nation ; we exchange the moral gran- 
 deur and strength to be gained by keeping our word to nations 
 of the world and by exhibiting a magnanimity and moderation 
 in the hour of victory that became the advanced civilization we 
 claim, for doubtful material advantages and shameful stepping 
 down from high moral position boastfully assumed. We should 
 set example in these respects, not follow in the selfish and vul- 
 gar greed for territory which Europe has inherited from mediae- 
 val times. Our declaration of war upon Spain was accompanied 
 by a solemn and deliberate declaration of our purpose. Now 
 that we have achieved all and more than our object, let us simply 
 keep our word. ... At the very least, let us adhere to Presi- 
 dent's instructions, and if conditions require the keeping of 
 Luzon forego the material advantages claimed in annexing other 
 islands — above all, let us not make a mockery of the injunction 
 contained in those instructions, where, after stating that '' we 
 took up arms only in obedience to the dictates of humanity and 
 in the fulfillment of high public and moral obligations," and that 
 " we had no design of aggrandizement and no ambition of con- 
 quest," the President, among other things, eloquently says: "It 
 is my earnest wish that the United States in making peace 
 should follow the same high rule of conduct which guided it in 
 facing war. It should be as scrupulous and magnanimous in the 
 concluding settlement as it was just and human in its original 
 action." This and more, of which I earnestly ask a reperusal, 
 binds my conscience and governs my action. 
 
 [Signed] George Gray 
 
 The most scathing condemnation of the imperialistic 
 policy was voiced by Mr. Moorfield Storey, a distinguished 
 Boston lav^yer, President of the American Bar Association 
 
552 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 and later President of the Anti- Imperialist League, in a 
 speech before the Bar Association of South Carolina at 
 Columbia, June i6, 1903, entitled, ''What shall we do 
 with our Dependencies ? " 
 
 Our country today exercises absolute power over more than 
 10,000,000 of human beings — Filipinos, Porto Ricans, Hawai- 
 ians — twice as many as the whole population of the United 
 States a century ago. Our dominion has been established with- 
 out consulting them, and against such resistance as they could 
 make. They are not American citizens, nor are they likely to 
 become such. They are governed by the President and Congress, 
 but they have no voice in the choice of either. They have no 
 recognized rights under our Constitution ; and if the President 
 by executive order or Congress by statute has granted to them 
 any of the rights secured by the Constitution to all American 
 citizens, they are merely privileges, which may be recalled at 
 pleasure by a new order or a new statute. ... In a word, no 
 part of the government under which they live derives its powers 
 from their consent. They are merely subjects of the United 
 States, as absolutely without political rights as if they were 
 subjects of Spain.^ 
 
 The question which now confronts the American people, 
 never to be setded " till it is settled right," is whether these 
 conditions shall continue. What shall be our permanent policy 
 toward these dependent peoples 1 No more important question 
 ever engaged our attention ; and we should consider it carefully 
 and dispassionately, as Americans, and not as Republicans or 
 Democrats, for we must all suffer alike the consequences of any 
 mistake. . . . Above all, we must dare to look truth in the face. 
 We gain nothing by deceiving ourselves. We cannot change the 
 facts by refusing to see or hear them, nor will any misrepresen- 
 tation of ours bend the laws which govern mankind and attach 
 to our actions their inevitable consequences. If we cannot 
 
 1 The grant of a national assembly to the Philippines a few years after 
 Mr. Storey's address somewhat modified the conditions which he con- 
 demns here so absolutely. See Muzzey, An American History, p. 459. 
 
Entering the Twentieth Ce?itury 553 
 
 justify what we have done and what we propose, let us at least 
 be brave enough to admit it. . . . 
 
 Disguise it as we will, the claim of one people that it is 
 superior to and therefore entitled to rule another rests upon no 
 better moral foundation than the heathen maxim, '* Might makes 
 right." ... If we concede that a civilized nation has the right 
 to govern any people who are unfit to govern themselves, who 
 shall decide that such unfitness exists ? Can the decision safely 
 be left to the stronger nation ? Shall it be made by men who 
 know nothing of the weaker people, who have never visited 
 their country, who do not understand their language, their 
 traditions, their character, or their needs 1 Shall it be made 
 without hearing their representatives and learning all they can 
 tell about their countrymen .? Can we be sure that the judgment 
 of the strong is not affected by appeals to national vanity, by 
 apostrophes to the flag, by hopes of commercial advantage, 
 by dreams of world power, by the exigencies of party politics, 
 by personal ambitions . . . ? 
 
 By what standards is inferiority to be measured ? . . . Does 
 it not seem the height of presumption for us, in our ignorance, 
 to claim that brown men are necessarily our inferiors, or that 
 Asiatics, whose ideas govern the moral world, cannot govern 
 themselves 1 Said James Russell Lowell : '' When the moral 
 vision of a man becomes perverted enough to persuade him 
 that he is superior to his fellow, he is in reality looking up at 
 him from an immeasurable distance beneath." 
 
 Let us proceed to a more important inquiry. If our new 
 subjects cannot give themselves what we think a good govern- 
 ment, are we likely to give them a better? Or ia President 
 Schurman right in saying, " Any decent government of the 
 Filipinos by the Filipinos is better than the best possible gov- 
 ernment of Filipinos by Americans." Let us consider this 
 question, bearing in mind certain fundamental principles. 
 
 First. Every government should exist solely for the benefit 
 of the governed. . . . 
 
 Second. The object of every government should be to edu- 
 cate, develop, and elevate the people . . . not to develop mines, 
 
5 54 History of tJic Repithlic since the Civil War 
 
 increase commerce, and add to the world's wealth without regard 
 to the people. 
 
 Third. In order to develop a people, their rulers must under- 
 stand them and believe in them. ... If a ruler feels contempt 
 for his subjects, there is a mutual repulsion. . . . 
 
 Finally. Human experience has amply proved that no man 
 can safely be trusted with absolute power. The struggle of 
 men for freedom has ever been an attempt to create '' a gov- 
 ernment of laws, and not of men." . . . 
 
 But we are confidently told that we have succeeded already. 
 . . . Let us concede the triumph of our arms ; but where shall 
 we look for the triumph of our principles and our laws ? . . . 
 We have destroyed a large part of the Filipino people. General 
 Bell said that in two years before May, 1901, '' one sixth of the 
 natives of Luzon have either been killed or had died of dengue 
 fever." . . . We have laid waste their fields, we have destroyed 
 both crops and cultivators, we have burned villages and towns, 
 leaving the people homeless, we have adopted the reconcentra- 
 tion policy of General Weyler, and have borrowed mediaeval 
 tortures from Spain, in order to aid our policy of conquest. . . . 
 We found 7,000,000 of people friendly and prosperous. We 
 have reduced them to straits like these. We have destroyed 
 more Filipino life and property in four years than Spain in her 
 centuries of rule. Is this success ? 
 
 We have sent to the islands nearly 125,000 of our citizens, 
 many of whom have been killed, many more disabled by wounds 
 and disease, many made insane, and a very large number so 
 demoralized as to regard torture, reconcentration, and the 
 slaughter of prisoners and non-combatants as right ! Is this 
 
 success 
 
 We have spent hundreds of millions, drawn from the taxes 
 of the people, on this war : and the end is not yet. ... Is this 
 success ? 
 
 We have stricken down the first republican government ever 
 established in Asia, and have turned millions of cordial friends 
 into bitter enemies. Is this success .? 
 
 Finally, we have abandoned the ideals and principles of 
 liberty which we have cherished from our birth, and have 
 
Entering the Twentieth Century 555 
 
 adopted the principles and practices of tyranny, which we have 
 always condemned. Again I ask, Is this success ? 
 
 We have proved abundantly the truth of Lincoln's words : 
 " No man 's good enough to govern another without that other's 
 consent." . . . 
 
 What do we gain .? Commercial expansion. If the whole 
 commerce of the Orient were offered us at such a price, had 
 we the right to pay it ? . . . 
 
 No, our policy has not succeeded. It has failed, and its failure 
 is written in blood on every fold of the flag which we loved to 
 call '' the flag of the free." It is written on the fresh graves, 
 the ruined homes, and the barren fields of the conquered islands. 
 It is written in the sullen hearts of the Filipinos, who cannot but 
 remember our cruelties, and, in the President's own words, '' will 
 for centuries remain alien and hostile to the conquerors." It is 
 written also in the hardened hearts of our countrymen, who 
 have forgotten their ideals and have learned to tolerate and to 
 approve what they have always execrated. . . . 
 
 When Guizot asked Lowell how long our republic would last, 
 he replied, '' As long as the ideas of the men who founded it 
 continue dominant." . . . We cannot destroy the ideals of the 
 nation ; we cannot insist that the Declaration of Independence 
 is wrong ; we cannot govern millions of men outside the Con- 
 stitution ; we cannot hold a single Filipino, like Mabini, a pris- 
 oner without trial or sentence, — and hope to preserve in full 
 strength that faith in the equal rights of man which is the soul 
 of this nation. . . . 
 
 The time will come, if this republic is to endure, when an 
 overwhelming public sentiment will make itself felt, and we shall 
 do what every true American in his heart would like to have his 
 country do — give the Filipinos their freedom, and thus regain 
 that^proud position among the nations of the world which we 
 have lost, the moral leadership of mankind, becoming again . . . 
 the great nation . . . beneath whose flag, wherever it floats in 
 this wide world, there is no room for a subject, but a sure refuge 
 for every man who desires that freedom which is the birthright 
 of every human being. 
 
556 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 The Roosevelt Policies 
 
 117. The The following text of the convention of 1903 between 
 
 Variiu"^*"' the United States and the new Republic of Panama for 
 Treaty, the construction of a ship canal through the Isthmus is 
 
 November 18, 
 
 1903 taken from W. M. Malloy's " Treaties, Conventions, In- 
 
 [475] ternational Acts, Protocols, and Agreements between the 
 United States and Other Powers," a compilation, in two 
 large volumes, made in accordance with a resolution of 
 the Senate, January 18, 1909. The Hay-Bunau-Varilla 
 Treaty was ratified and proclaimed in February, 1904. In 
 May, 1904, the '' dirt began to fly " at Panama. Almost ex- 
 actly ten years later the first ship passed through the Canal. 
 
 The United States of America and the Republic of Panama 
 being desirous to insure the construction of a ship canal across 
 the Isthmus of Panama to connect the Atlantic and Pacific 
 Oceans, and the Congress of the United States of America 
 having passed an act approved June 28, 1902, in furtherance 
 of that object, by which the President of the United States is 
 authorized to acquire within a reasonable time the control of the 
 necessary territory of the Republic of Colombia, and the sov- 
 ereignty of such territory being actually vested in the Republic 
 of Panama, the high contracting parties have resolved for 
 that purpose to conclude a convention and have accordingly 
 appointed as their plenipotentiaries, — 
 
 The President of the United States, John Hay, Secretary of 
 State, and 
 
 The Government of the Republic of Panama, Philippe Bunau- 
 Varilla, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of 
 the Republic of Panama, thereunto especially empowered by 
 said government : who after communicating with each other 
 their respective full powers, found to be in good and due form, 
 have agreed upon and concluded the following articles. 
 
 Article I. The United States guarantees and will maintain 
 the independence of the Republic of Panama. 
 
Entering the Twentieth Cejittay 557 
 
 Article II. The Republic of Panama grants to the United 
 States in perpetuity the use, occupation and control of a zone 
 of land and land under water for the construction, maintenance, 
 operation, sanitation and protection of said Canal, of the width 
 of ten miles extending to the distance of five miles on each side 
 of the center line of the route of Canal to be constructed . . . 
 with the proviso that the cities of Panama and Colon and the 
 harbors adjacent to said cities . . . shall not be included within 
 this grant [see Article VII] 
 
 Article V. The Republic of Panama grants to the United 
 States in perpetuity a monopoly for the construction, mainte- 
 nance, and operation of any system of communication by means 
 of canal or railroad across its territory between the Caribbean 
 Sea and the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 Article VI. The grants herein contained shall in no manner 
 invalidate the titles or rights of private landholders or owners 
 of private property in the said zone. . . . All damages caused 
 to the owners of private lands or private property of any kind 
 by reason of the grants contained in this treaty or by reason of 
 the operations of the United States . . . shall be appraised and 
 settled by a joint Commission appointed by the governments 
 of the United States and the Republic of Panama, whose deci- 
 sions as to such damages shall be final, and whose awards as to 
 such damages shall be paid solely by the United States. . . . The 
 appraisal of such private lands and private property and the 
 assessment of damages to them shall be based upon their value 
 before the date of this convention. 
 
 Article VII. The Republic of Panama grants to the United 
 States within the limits of the cities of Panama and Colon and 
 their adjacent harbors and within the territory adjacent thereto 
 the right to acquire by purchase or by the exercise of the right 
 of eminent domain, any lands, buildings, water rights or other 
 properties necessary and convenient for the construction ... of 
 the Canal, and of any works of sanitation, such as the collection 
 and disposition of sewage and the distribution of water in the 
 said cities of Panama and Colon. ... All such works of sanita- 
 tion , . . shall be made at the expense of the United States, and 
 the Government of the United States . . . shall be authorized to 
 
558 History of the Republic sinee the Civil War 
 
 impose and collect water rates and sewerage rates which shall 
 be sufficient to provide for the payment of interest and the 
 amortization of the principal of the cost of said works within a 
 period of fifty years, and upon the expiration of said term of 
 fifty years the system of sewers and water works shall revert 
 to and become the properties of the cities of Panama and Colon 
 respectively. . . . The Republic of Panama agrees that the cities 
 of Panama and Colon shall comply in perpetuity with the sani- 
 tary ordinances whether of a preventive or curative character 
 prescribed by the United States, . . . 
 
 Article IX. The United States agrees that the ports at 
 either entrance of the Canal and the waters thereof, and the 
 Republic of Panama agrees that the towns of Panama and 
 Colon shall be free for all time, so that there shall not be im- 
 posed or collected custom house tolls, tonnage ... or taxes of 
 any kind upon any vessel using or passing through the Canal 
 . . . except such tolls and charges as may be imposed by the 
 United States for the use of the Canal. . . . The United States 
 shall have the right to make use of the towns and harbors of 
 Panama and Colon as places of anchorage, and for making re- 
 pairs, for loading, unloading, depositing, or transshipping cargoes 
 either in transit or destined for the service of the Canal. . » . 
 
 Article X. The Republic of Panama agrees that there shall 
 not be imposed any taxes national, municipal, departmental or 
 of any other class upon the Canal ... or railroad and auxiliary 
 works, or their officers or employees situated within the cities 
 of Panama and Colon. . . . 
 
 Article XI. The United States agrees that the official dis- 
 patches of the Government of the Republic of Panama shall be 
 transmitted over any telegraph and telephone lines established 
 for Canal purposes and used for public and private business at 
 rates not higher than those required from officials in the service 
 of the United States. . . . 
 
 Article XIV. As the price or compensation for the rights, 
 powers and privileges granted in this convention by the Repub- 
 lic of Panama . . . the Government of the United States agrees 
 to pay to the Republic of Panama the sum of ten million dollars 
 ($10,000,000) in gold coin of the United States on the exchange 
 
Elite ring the Tzventieth Century 559 
 
 of the ratification of this convention and also an annual pay- 
 ment during the life of this convention of two hundred and fifty 
 thousand dollars ($250,000) in like gold coin, beginning nine 
 years after the date aforesaid. . . . 
 
 . Article XVI. The two Governments shall make adequate 
 provision by future agreement for the pursuit, capture, imprison- 
 ment, detention, and delivery within said zone and auxiliary lands 
 to the authorities of the Republic of Panama of persons charged 
 with the commitment of crimes, felonies or misdemeanors with- 
 out said zone [and vice versa]. . . } 
 
 Article XVIII. The Canal, when constructed, and the en- 
 trances thereto shall be neutral in perpetuity, and shall be opened 
 upon the terms provided for by Section I of Article III ... of 
 the treaty entered into by the Governments of the United States 
 and Great Britain on November 18, 1901.^ 
 
 Article XIX. The Government of the Republic of Panama 
 shall have the right to transport over the Canal its vessels and 
 its troops and munitions of war in such vessels at all times 
 without paying charges of any kind. . . . 
 
 Article XXIII. If it should become necessary at any time 
 to employ armed forces for the safety or protection of the 
 Canal . . . the United States shall have the right, at all times 
 and in its discretion, to use its police and its land and naval 
 forces or to establish fortifications for these purposes. . . . 
 
 1 An extradition treaty in twelve articles was concluded May 25, 
 1904, between W. W. Russell, our charge d'affaires in Panama, and 
 Tomas Arias, secretary of the Panama government. It may be found 
 in Malloy's "Treaties, Conventions," etc., Vol. II, pp. 1357-1361. 
 
 '^ The Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, rescinding the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty 
 of 1850. The section in question reads : " The Canal shall be free and 
 open to the vessels of commerce and of war of all nations observing 
 these Rules, on terms of entire equality, so that there shall be no dis- 
 crimination against any such nation, or its citizens or subjects, in 
 respect of the conditions or charges of traffic or otherwise. Such con- 
 ditions and charges of traffic shall be just and equitable " (Malloy, Trea- 
 ties . . . and Agreements between the United States and Other Powers, 
 Vol. I, p. 783). It was in obedience to what he believed our pledged 
 duty in this section that President Wilson secured from Congress in 
 1914 the repeal of the law of 191 2 exempting United States vessels 
 from toll charges when using the Canal in their coasting trade. 
 
S6o History of the Republic si7ice the Civil War 
 
 Article XXVI. This convention when signed by the Pleni- 
 potentiaries of the Contracting Parties shall be ratified by the 
 respective Governments and the ratifications shall be exchanged 
 at Washington at the earliest date possible. . . . 
 
 Done at the city of Washington the iS'*^ day of November 
 in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and three. 
 
 John Hay [seal] 
 P. Bunau-Varilla [seal] 
 
 118. Roose- As early as March, 1891, Congress had passed a Con- 
 to the gov-^ servation Act authorizing the President to withdraw from 
 ernors, entry for public sale such tracts of forest lands as he saw 
 
 May 13, 1908 •' ^ 
 
 J .- , fit, and Harrison, Cleveland, and McKinley had all availed 
 themselves to some extent of this authorization. But 
 Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to interest him- 
 self heartily and continuously in the policy of the conserva- 
 tion of our national resources. Addressing the Society of 
 American Foresters on March 26, 1903, he said : 
 
 Your attention must be directed to the preservation of the 
 forests, not as an end in itself, but as a means of preserving 
 the prosperity of the Nation. ... In the arid regions of the 
 West agriculture depends first of all upon the available water 
 supply. In such a region forest protection alone can maintain 
 the stream flow necessary for irrigation, and can prevent the 
 great and destructive floods so ruinous to communities farther 
 down the same streams.^ 
 
 A little later he appointed an Inland Waterways Commis- 
 sion at the suggestion of Gifford Pinchot, chief of the 
 National Forest Service. While engaged on a trip of inspiec- 
 tion down the Mississippi River, from St. Paul to Memphis, 
 October 1-4, 1907, this commission conceived the plan 
 which was expressed to the President in the following letter : 
 
 1 Proceedings of a Conference of Governors in the White House, 
 1908, p. V, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1909. 
 
Entering the Tzventietk Century 56 1 
 
 Oct. 3, 1907 
 
 The President 
 
 On board the U.S. Steamer Mississippi. 
 
 Sir : In the course of inquiries made under your direction 
 " that the Inland Waterways Commission shall consider the 
 relations of the streams to the use of all the great permanent 
 natural resources and their conservation for the making and 
 maintenance of prosperous homes," the members of the Com- 
 mission have been led to feel that it would be desirable to hold 
 a Conference on the general subject of the conservation of the 
 natural resources of the Nation. Among the reasons for such 
 a Conference are the following : 
 
 1. Hitherto our National policy has been one of almost un- 
 restricted disposal of natural resources, and this in more lavish 
 measure than in any other nation in the world's history; and 
 this policy of the Federal Government has been shared by 
 the constituent States. Three consequences have ensued : First, 
 unprecedented consumption of natural resources; second, ex- 
 haustion of these resources to the extent that a large part of 
 our available public lands have passed into great estates or cor- 
 porate interests, our forests are so depleted as to multiply the 
 cost of forest products, and our supplies of coal and iron ore 
 are so far reduced as to enhance prices ; and third, unequalled 
 opportunity for private monopoly, to the extent that both the 
 Federal and the State sovereignties have been compelled to 
 enact laws for the protection of the People. 
 
 2. We are of the opinion that the time has come for consid- 
 ering the policy of conserving these material resources on which 
 the permanent prosperity of our country and the equal oppor- 
 tunity of all our People must depend ; we are also of opinion 
 that the policy of conservation is so marked an advance on that 
 policy adopted at the outset of our National career as to 
 demand the consideration of both Federal and State sponsors 
 for the welfare of the People. 
 
 3. We are of opinion that the Conference may best be held 
 in the National Capital next winter, and that the conferees should 
 comprise the Governors of all our States and Territories, a 
 limited number of delegates to be appointed by each Governor, 
 
562 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 and representatives from leading organizations of both State 
 and National scope, engaged in dealing with National resources 
 or with practical questions relating thereto. 
 
 We have the honor to ask that in case you concur in our 
 view you call such a Conference. 
 
 Respectfully submitted 
 
 Theodore E. Burton, Chairman 
 W. J. McGee, Secretary 
 
 The President, in heartiest accord with the proposition, 
 invited the governors of the states, each accompanied by 
 three select citizens, to meet with the senators and repre- 
 sentatives of the sixtieth Congress, the justices of the 
 Supreme Court, and the members of the cabinet at the 
 White House, May 13-15, 1908, to discuss the best method 
 of conserving our national resources. The governors of 
 thirty-eight states and territories, with their companions, 
 and over a hundred specially invited guests attended the 
 conference. President Roosevelt delivered the following 
 speech at the opening session, May 13, 1908 : 
 
 Governors of the Several States, and Gentlemen : 
 
 I welcome you to this Conference at the White House. You 
 have come hither at my request, so that we may join together 
 to consider the question of the conservation and use of the 
 great fundamental sources of wealth of this Nation. 
 
 So vital is this question, that for the first time in our history 
 the chief executive officers of the States separately, and of the 
 States together forming the Nation, have met to consider it. It 
 is the chief material question that confronts us, second only — 
 and second always — to the great fundamental questions of 
 morality. . . . 
 
 This Conference on the conservation of natural resources is 
 in effect a meeting of the representatives of all the people of 
 the United States called to consider the weightiest problem now 
 before the Nation ; and the occasion for the meeting lies in the 
 fact that the natural resources of our country are in danger of 
 
Entering the TwentietJi Century 563 
 
 exhaustion if we permit the old wasteful methods of exploiting 
 them longer to continue. . . . 
 
 In the development, the use, and therefore the exhaustion of 
 certain of the natural resources, the progress has been more 
 rapid in the last century and a quarter than during all preceding 
 time of which we have record. 
 
 When the founders of this nation met at Independence Hall 
 in Philadelphia the conditions of commerce had not fundamen- 
 tally changed from what they were when the Phoenician keels 
 first furrowed the lonely waters of the Mediterranean. . . . Min- 
 ing was carried on fundamentally as it had been carried on by 
 the Pharaohs in the countries adjacent to the Red Sea. ... In 
 1776 the wares of the merchants of Boston, of Charleston, like 
 the wares of the merchants of Nineveh and Sidon, if they went 
 by water, were carried by boats propelled by sails or oars ; if 
 they went by land, were carried in wagons drawn by beasts of 
 draft or in packs on the backs of beasts of burden. ... In 
 Washington's time anthracite coal was known only as a useless 
 black stone ; and the great fields of bituminous coal were undis- 
 covered. . . . But a few small iron deposits had been found in 
 this country, and the use of iron by our countrymen was very 
 small. . . . The forests were regarded chiefly as obstructions to 
 settlement and cultivation. The man who cut down a tree was 
 held to have conferred a service on his fellows. ... It is almost 
 impossible for us in this day to realize how little our Revolu- 
 tionary ancestors knew of the great store of natural resources 
 whose discovery and use have been such vital factors in the 
 growth and greatness ofi this Nation, and how little they needed 
 to take from this store in order to satisfy their needs. 
 
 Since then our knowledge and use of the present territory 
 of the United States have increased a hundred-fold. . . . Our 
 growth has been due to the rapid development, and alas that it 
 should be said ! to the rapid destruction, of our natural resources. 
 Nature has supplied to us in the United States, and still sup- 
 plies to us, more kinds of resources in a more lavish degree 
 than has ever been the case at any other time or with any other 
 people. Our position in the world has been attained by the 
 extent and thoroughness of the control we have achieved over 
 
564 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 nature ; but we are more, and not less, dependent upon what 
 she furnishes than at any previous time of history since the 
 days of primitive man. . . . We want to take action that will 
 prevent the advent of a woodless age, and defer as long as 
 possible the advent of an ironless age. . . . 
 
 This Nation began with the belief that its landed possessions 
 were illimitable and capable of supporting all the people who 
 might care to make our country their home ; but already the 
 limit of unsettled land is in sight, and indeed but little land fitted 
 for agriculture now remains unoccupied save what can be re- 
 claimed by irrigation and drainage — a subject with which this 
 Conference is partly to deal. We began with an unapproached 
 heritage of forests : more than half of the timber is gone. We 
 began with coal fields more extensive than those of any other 
 nation and with iron ores regarded as inexhaustible, and many 
 experts now declare that the end of both iron and coal is 
 in sight. 
 
 The mere increase in our consumption of coal during 1907 
 over 1906 exceeded the total consumption in 1876, the Centen- 
 nial year . . . and we thought we were pretty busy people even 
 then. The enormous stores of mineral oil and gas are largely 
 gone. . . . Our natural waterways are not gone, but they have 
 been so injured by neglect . . . that there is less navigation on 
 them now than there was fifty years ago. Finally, we began 
 with soils of unexampled fertility, and we have so impoverished 
 them by injudicious use and by failing to check erosion, that 
 their crop-producing power is diminishing instead of increasing. 
 In a word, we have thoughtlessly, and to a large degree un- 
 necessarily, diminished the resources upon which not only our 
 prosperity but the prosperity of our children and our children's 
 children must always depend. . . . 
 
 The natural resources I have enumerated can be divided into 
 two sharply distinguished classes accordingly as they are or are 
 not capable of renewal. Mines if used must necessarily be 
 exhausted. The minerals do not and cannot renew themselves. 
 Therefore in dealing with the coal, the oil, the gas, the iron, the 
 metals generally, all that we can do is to try to see that they 
 are wisely used. The exhaustion is certain to come in time. 
 
Entering the Twentieth Century 565 
 
 We can trust that it will be deferred long enough to enable the 
 extraordinarily inventive genius of our people to devise means 
 and methods for more or less adequately replacing what is lost ; 
 but the exhaustion is sure to come. 
 
 The second class of resources consists of those which can 
 not only be used in such manner as to leave them undiminished 
 for our children, but can actually be improved by wise use. The 
 soil, the forests, the waterways come in this category. Every 
 one knows that a really good farmer leaves his farm more valu- 
 able at the end of his life than it was when he first took hold 
 of it. So with the waterways. So with the forests. . . . 
 
 Neither the primitive man nor the pioneer was aware of any 
 duty to posterity in dealing with the renewable resources. When 
 the American settler felled the forests, he felt that there was 
 plenty of forest left for the sons who came after him. When he 
 exhausted the soil of his farm, he felt that his son could go West 
 and take up another. . . . When the soil-wash from the farmer's 
 field choked the neighboring river, the only thought was to use 
 the railway rather than the boats to move produce and supplies. 
 That was so up to the generation that preceded ours. 
 
 Now all this is changed. On the average the son of the 
 farmer of today must make his living on his father's farm. There 
 is no difficulty in doing this if the father will exercise wisdom. 
 No wise use of a farm exhausts its fertility. So with the forests. 
 We are on the verge of a timber famine in this country, and it 
 is unpardonable for the Nation or the States to permit any fur- 
 ther cutting of our timber save in accordance with a system 
 which will provide that the next generation shall see the timber 
 increased instead of diminished. . . . 
 
 We can, moreover, add enormous tracts of the most valuable 
 possible agricultural land to the national domain by irrigation in 
 the arid and semi-arid regions, and by drainage of great tracts 
 of swamp land in the humid regions. We can enormously in- 
 crease our transportation facilities by the canalization of our 
 rivers so as to complete a great system of waterways on the 
 Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf coasts and in the Mississippi Valley, 
 from the Great Plains to the Alleghenies and from the northern 
 lakes to the mouth of the mighty Father of Waters. But all these 
 
566 History of tJic Republic siitce the Civil Wai' 
 
 various uses of our natural resources are so closely connected 
 that they should be coordinated and should be treated as part of 
 one coherent plan and not in haphazard and piece-meal fashion. . . . 
 
 We are coming to recognize as never before the right of the 
 Nation to guard its own future in the essential matter of natural 
 resources. In the past we have admitted the right of the indi- 
 vidual to injure the future of the Republic for his own present 
 profit. In fact there has been a good deal of a demand for un- 
 restricted individualism. . . . The time has come for a change. 
 As a people we have the right and the duty ... to protect our- 
 selves and our children against the wasteful development of our 
 natural resources, whether that waste is caused by the actual 
 destruction of such resources or by making them impossible of 
 development hereafter. . . . 
 
 Finally, let us remember that the conservation of our natural 
 resources, though the gravest problem of today, is yet but part 
 of another and greater problem to which this Nation is not yet 
 awake, but to which it will awake in time, and with which it 
 must hereafter grapple if it is to live — the problem of national 
 efficiency, the patriotic duty of assuring the safety and continu- 
 ance of the Nation. When the People of the United States 
 consciously undertake to raise themselves as citizens, and the 
 Nation and the States in their several spheres, to the highest 
 pitch of excellence in private. State, and national life, and to do 
 this because it is the first of all the duties of true patriotism, then 
 and not till then the future of this Nation, in quality and in time, 
 will be assured. 
 
 The Return of the Democrats 
 
 An Industrial Commission of eighteen members was 
 appointed by act of Congress, June i8, 1898, "to investi- 
 gate questions pertaining to immigration, to labor, to agri- 
 [4801 culture, to manufacturing, to business, and to report to 
 Congress and suggest such legislation as it may deem best 
 upon these subjects." On December 4, 1901, the commis- 
 sion submitted to Congress a report of a thousand pages 
 
Entering the Tzventieth Century 567 
 
 » 
 
 on industrial corporations, chiefly composed of the testi- 
 mony of officers of the trusts before the commission. 
 From a summary of the evidence prefixed to the report 
 the following paragraphs are taken : 
 
 It is clearly the opinion of most of those associated with in- 
 dustrial combinations that the chief cause of their formation has 
 been excessive competition. Naturally all business men desire 
 to make profits, and they find their profits falling off first through 
 the pressure of lowering prices of their competitors. The de- 
 sire to lessen too vigorous competition naturally brings them 
 together. . . , 
 
 One or two of the witnesses considered the protective tariff 
 as the chief cause of the trusts. They urged that high tariff 
 duties, by shutting out foreign competition, make it easrer for 
 our manufacturers to combine to control prices, and they think 
 that the experience of the last few years justifies the assertion. 
 Likewise, they say, through the high profits that come from 
 the exclusion of foreign competition by the tariff, capital has 
 been attracted into industries here to so great an extent and 
 with the expectation of so high profits, that home competition 
 has been unduly stimulated, thereby leading to the formation 
 of combinations. 
 
 Some other witnesses believe that the tariff, while not the 
 most important cause, has, nevertheless, some influence toward 
 encouraging combinations ; while one witness, Mr. LaTaste, be- 
 lieves that the monopoly of natural opportunities, under our 
 present system of taxation, is to be considered the fundamental 
 cause. 
 
 Nearly all of the witnesses who have considered excessive com- 
 petition as the chief cause do not agree that the tariff is to be 
 looked on as a cause, nor as a rule do they concede that those 
 engaged in the organization of combinations have any intention 
 of securing a complete monopoly. It is, of course, true that the 
 restriction of competition is a step towards monopoly, but com- 
 petition has not been suppressed entirely, and they do not be- 
 lieve that monopoly has been or can be secured. In most cases 
 they would deny that a monopoly was in any respect desirable 
 
568 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 In case of the newer combinations in the United States ^ it 
 has been found that practically all the important ones are put 
 into the form of a single large corporation. In many cases the 
 new corporation buys the individual plants which it seems de- 
 sirable to combine and thus becomes a single owner of all the 
 establishments. In other cases, and this is perhaps true espe- 
 cially with reference to the largest combinations, the stock of 
 the constituent members is all bought by the single unifying 
 company. The constituent companies then retain their organiza- 
 tion intact, being controlled simply by the central corporation, 
 as a stockholder, which can elect directors and officers at will 
 and thus guide the management absolutely. . , . 
 
 It is quite a general custom for a syndicate to be organized 
 of individuals, bankers and others, who furnish whatever cash 
 may be needed to purchase the different plants entering the 
 combination, and who agree to take a certain proportion, if not 
 all, of the new stock which is not taken by the vendors of the 
 plants and by the public. . . . 
 
 Several of the combinations which the Industrial Commission 
 has been lately considering are able to control a very large por- 
 tion of the entire output of the country, so that they have, per- 
 haps, the power to effect [affect] prices. The National Cordage 
 Company soon after its formation controlled probably from 60 to 
 70 per cent of the entire business. . . . The American Smelting 
 and Refining Company before the union with the Guggenheimers 
 controlled about 85 per cent of the entire smelting business of 
 the country. Since that combination it has substantially all the 
 trade. . . . The Pittsburg Coal Company controls the bulk of 
 the lake trade in coal, although there is a litde competition from 
 southern Ohio and western Virginia. It is so situated that it 
 can practically dictate the prices in its entire market. The United 
 States Steel Corporation is made up of companies engaged in 
 various lines of business, from mining to finishing the higher 
 grades of steel. It is probable that at the present time it 
 
 1 That is, the trusts formed since the Republican victory of 1896 and 
 the Spanish War : rubber, cordage, plate glass, wall paper, tobacco, 
 sugar refining, smelting, oil, steel and iron, copper, thread, baking 
 powder, coal, starch, biscuit, chemicals, leather, whiskey, asphalt, etc. 
 
Entering the TwentietJi Ce7itnr)> 569 
 
 controls between 65 and 75 per cent of the steel industry in the 
 United States. . . . The International Paper Company produces, 
 probably, at the present time about 1,300 tons per day out of 
 an entire output for the United States of over 2,000 tons per 
 day of news print paper. . . . Mr. Pitcairn, president of the 
 Pittsburg Plate Glass Company, says that that combination pro- 
 duces about 72^ per cent of the plate glass product of this 
 country. . . . The National Starch Company has also a large 
 percentage of control, amounting to probably more than 90 per 
 cent of the box starch used and a very large percentage of starch 
 of other kinds. . . . Certain local companies, such as the Brook- 
 lyn Union Gas Company, being natural monopolies, have abso- 
 lute control of the markets, but their prices are determined to 
 a considerable extent by legislation. . . . 
 
 Speaking generally, the witnesses have been of the opinion 
 that the effect of the combinations has been to increase wages, 
 or, at any rate, that during the last two or three years under the 
 combinations the wages have been somewhat higher than they 
 had been before. It is acknowledged in many of these cases 
 that this increase has been due to the prosperous condition of 
 the country and to the fact that there has been a strong demand 
 for labor. In most cases in the iron and steel manufacture, as 
 well as in several other of the most important industries, the 
 wages are arranged after consultation with the labor unions or 
 with committees representing the employees, and a scale is agreed 
 upon, in many cases this being a sliding scale dependent upon 
 the price of the product. . . . 
 
 Most of the witnesses have recognized that there are certain 
 disadvantages connected with most combinations. . . . Mr. Holt 
 is of the opinion that the trusts form a very corrupting influence 
 in politics, largely owing to the fact that they are protected by 
 the tariff, and in consequence have found it advisable to send 
 agents to Congress to dictate tariff legislation. He thinks also 
 that they deceive the public regarding the nature of the business 
 and of the business of the country through juggling with prices 
 and statistics. Mr. Hillyer, as well as some other witnesses, 
 thinks that the aggregation of power brought about through 
 combination is a dangerous element and a menace to the political 
 
570 History of the Republic siiice the Civil War 
 
 independence of the people. Mr. Spalding endorses this opinion. 
 He believes that it is natural for men to charge all that they can 
 get. The combinations also, in his opinion, diminish individual 
 effort and deprive the individual of the opportunity of rising. . . . 
 
 Of the later witnesses that have been heard, the larger num- 
 ber are of the opinion that comparatively few, if any, legislative 
 remedies are needed. The witnesses whose inclinations are 
 strongly toward free trade are of the opinion that the removal 
 of the tariff on goods controlled by combinations would be the 
 best . . . remedy. Most of the manufacturers object to having 
 the tariff interfered with. . . . 
 
 More of the witnesses think that something could be gained 
 in the way of greater publicity regarding the business of the 
 combinations. For example, Mr. Campbell thinks that corpora- 
 tions whose stock is sold to the public on exchanges should be 
 under Governmental control. He would be willing to have the 
 regulation go even further than a mere publicity of accounts. 
 Mr. White believes that the State has the right to say how the 
 combinations should be regulated, and thinks it possible that 
 some tax might ultimately be placed on what would be con- 
 sidered excessive earnings, the actual earnings to be found out 
 by a complete system of Governmental inspection of accounts 
 
 Some of the witnesses speak distinctly against even any spe- 
 cial degree of publicity. Mr. Schwab, for example, thinks that 
 . . . though the stockholders are entitled to certain statements, 
 even those should be somewhat limited. . . . Mr. Gunton ad- 
 vises that, if possible, the combinations be put under a national 
 charter. . . . Mr. Hillyer ^ thinks that the Sherman law [of 1890] 
 should be rigidly enforced, and that the tariff should be removed ; 
 that there should be Government ownership so far as municipal 
 combinations are concerned ; and, if necessary, the Government 
 should itself ultimately go into the business of manufacturing 
 the products manufactured by the trusts. He would be ready 
 now to have the United States Government control the railroads, 
 telegraphs, and long-distance telephones. . . . 
 
 ^ Messrs. Hillyer and Spalding were lawyers of Atlanta, Georgia, 
 summoned to give testimony before the Industrial Commission. They 
 were both hostile to the trusts. 
 
Entering the Tiventieth Century 571 
 
 Mr. Spalding thinks that the trusts are a national question ; 
 the remedy must be a national one. He believes that it is prac- 
 ticable to enact national legislation which will forbid any trust 
 to put down prices so as to destroy competition or to put them 
 up to a point of extortion. . . . He thinks that trusts might be 
 abolished by Congress by a law similar to that which broke up 
 the lottery business. They might be forbidden to use the mails 
 or be forbidden to ship their products across State lines. If a 
 trust should build a plant in every State to supply the wants 
 in that State in order to evade the above-mentioned law, that 
 would do away with many of the offensive features of the combi- 
 nations. The trusts should certainly give publicity to their oper- 
 ations, and he would favor any methods of dealing with them 
 which could constitutionally be adopted, either under the power 
 to regulate interstate commerce or under the taxing power. 
 
 One week after his inauguration, President Wilson 120. Wii- 
 made the following statement : '' One of the chief objects can'po^cy of 
 of my administration will be to cultivate the friendship "Watchful 
 
 . Waiting" 
 
 and deserve the confidence of our sister republics of 
 
 . [493] 
 
 Central and South America, and to promote m every 
 proper and honorable way the interests which are com- 
 mon to the peoples of the two continents." Some of the 
 difficulties which he met in applying this principle to 
 the distressing situation in Mexico are illustrated in the 
 following extracts. On August 27, 191 3, the President 
 addressed Congress on the Mexican anarchy : 
 
 Gentlemen of the Congress, it is clearly my duty to lay before 
 you, very fully and without reservation, the facts concerning our 
 present relations with the Republic of Mexico. The deplorable 
 posture of affairs in Mexico I need not describe, but I deem it 
 my duty to speak very frankly of what this Government has 
 done and should seek to do in fulfillment of its obligations to 
 Mexico herself, as a friend and neighbor, and to American citi- 
 zens whose lives and vital interests are daily affected by the 
 distressing conditions beyond our southern border. . . . The 
 
5/2 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 peace, prosperity, and contentment of Mexico mean more, much 
 more, to us than merely an enlarged field for our commerce and 
 enterprise. They mean an enlargement of the field of self- 
 government and the realization of the hopes and rights of 
 a nation with whose best aspirations, so long suppressed and 
 disappointed, we deeply sympathize. . . . We have waited many 
 months, months full of peril and anxiety, for the conditions there 
 to improve, and they have not improved. They have grown 
 worse, rather. . . . The prospect of the pacification of the 
 country, even by arms, has seemed to grow more and more 
 remote ; and its pacification by the authorities at the capital is 
 evidently impossible by any other means than force. . . . War 
 and disorder, devastation and confusion, seem to threaten to 
 become the settled fortune of the distracted country. As friends 
 we could wait no longer for a solution which every week 
 seemed further away. It was our duty at least to volunteer 
 our good offices. . . . 
 
 Accordingly, I took the liberty of sending the Hon. John Lind, 
 formerly go\^ernor of Minnesota, as my personal spokesman 
 and representative, to the City of Mexico, with the following 
 instructions : 
 
 After expressions of the good will of this country, the 
 instructions continue : 
 
 The present situation in Mexico is incompatible with the ful- 
 fillment of international obligations on the part of Mexico, with 
 the civilized development of Mexico herself, and with the main- 
 tenance of tolerable political and economic conditions in Central 
 America. It is upon no common occasion, therefore, that the 
 United States offers her counsel and assistance. All America 
 cries out for a settlement. 
 
 A satisfactory settlement seems to us to be conditioned on 
 
 {a) An immediate cessation of fighting throughout Mexico, 
 a definite armistice solemnly entered into and scrupulously 
 observed. 
 
 ip) Security given for an early and free election in which all 
 will agree to take part. 
 
Entering the TiventietJi Centnry 573 
 
 {c) The consent of Gen. Huerta to bind himself not to be a 
 candidate for election as President of the Republic at this election. 
 
 {d) The agreement of all parties to abide by the results of 
 the election and cooperate in the most loyal way in organizing 
 and supporting the new administration. 
 
 The Government of the United States will be glad to play 
 any part in this settlement or its carrying out which it can play 
 honorably and consistently with international right. It pledges 
 itself to recognize and in every way possible and proper to assist 
 the administration chosen and set up in Mexico in the way and 
 on the conditions suggested. . . . 
 
 Can Mexico give the civilized world a satisfactory reason for 
 rejecting our good offices? If Mexico can suggest any better 
 way in which to show our friendship, serve the people of Mexico, 
 and meet our international obligations, we are more than willing 
 to consider the suggestion. 
 
 Not only did the government of General Huerta " reject 
 our good offices," but it committed acts against American 
 sailors which led President Wilson to substitute a show of 
 force for the diplomacy of persuasion. On April 20, 19 14, 
 he addressed the Congress as follows : 
 
 It is my duty to call your attention to a situation which has 
 arisen in our dealings with Gen. Victoriano Huerta at Mexico 
 City which calls for action, and to ask your advice and coopera- 
 tion in acting upon it. On the 9^^ of April a paymaster of the 
 U.S.S. DoIphi7i landed at the Iturbide Bridge landing at Tam- 
 pico with a whaleboat and boat's crew to take off certain supplies 
 needed by his ship, and while engaged in loading the boat 
 was arrested by an officer and squad of men of the army of 
 Gen. Huerta. Neither paymaster nor any one of the boat's crew 
 was armed. Two of the men were in the boat when the arrest 
 took place, and were obliged to leave it and submit to be taken 
 into custody, notwithstanding the fact that the boat carried, both 
 at her bow and at her stern, the flag of the United States. The 
 officer who made the arrest was proceeding up one of the streets 
 of the town with his prisoners when met by an officer of higher 
 
574 History of the Repjtblic since the Civil War 
 
 authority, who ordered him to return to the landing and await 
 orders ; and within an hour and a half from the time of the 
 arrest orders were received from the commander of the Huertista 
 forces at Tampico for the release of the paymaster and his men. 
 The release was followed by apologies from the commander 
 and later by an expression of regret by Gen. Huerta himself. 
 Gen. Huerta urged that martial law obtained at the time at 
 Tampico ; that orders had been issued that no one should be 
 allowed to land at the Iturbide Bridge ; that our sailors had no 
 right to land there. Our naval commanders at the port had not 
 been notified of any such prohibition ; and, even if they had 
 been, the only justifiable course open to the local authorities 
 would have been to request the paymaster and his crew to with- 
 draw and to lodge a protest with the commanding officer of 
 the fleet. Admiral Mayo regarded the arrest as so serious an 
 affront that he was not satisfied with the apologies offered, but 
 demanded that the flag of the United States be saluted with 
 special ceremony by the military commander of the port. 
 
 The incident cannot be regarded as a trivial one, especially 
 as two of the men arrested were taken from the boat itself — 
 that is to say, from the territory of the United States — but had 
 it stood by itself it might have been attributed to the ignorance 
 or arrogance of a single officer. Unfortunately, it was not an 
 isolated case. A series of incidents have recently occurred which 
 cannot but create the impression that the representatives of 
 Gen. Huerta were willing to go out of their way to show disre- 
 gard for the dignity and rights of this Government, and felt per- 
 fectly safe in doing what they pleased. ... So far as I can 
 learn, such wrongs and annoyances have been suffered to occur 
 only against representatives of the United States. ... I felt it 
 my duty, therefore, to sustain Admiral Mayo in the whole of his 
 demand, and to insist that the flag of the United States should 
 be saluted in such a way as to indicate a new spirit and attitude 
 on the part of the Huertistas. 
 
 Such a salute Gen. Huerta has refused, and I have come to 
 ask your approval and support in the course I now purpose 
 to pursue . . . that I should use the armed forces of the United 
 States in such ways and to such an extent as may be necessary 
 
Entemtg the TwentietJi Century 575 
 
 to obtain from Gen. Huerta and his adherents the fullest recog- 
 nition of the rights and dignity of the United States, even amidst 
 the distressing conditions now obtaining in Mexico. 
 
 There can in what we do be no thought of aggression or 
 selfish aggrandizement. We seek to maintain the dignity and 
 authority of the United States only because we wish always to 
 keep our great influence unimpaired for the uses of liberty, both 
 in the United States and wherever else it may be employed for 
 the benefit of mankind. 
 
 The seizure of the custom-house at Vera Cruz by a 
 detachment of U. S. marines and the mediation of the 
 ABC powers caused Huerta to resign ; but the civil war 
 continued unabated in Mexico between Carranza and Villa. 
 We withdrew our troops from Vera Cruz in the autumn 
 of 19 14, but were forced to send a punitive expedition 
 across the border in the early spring of 19 16 to pursue 
 the bandit Villa, who had raided the town of Columbus, 
 New Mexico. To guard against the misinterpretation of 
 this departure from his policy of ''watchful waiting" as 
 an act of war against Mexico, President Wilson issued the 
 following statement on March 25, 1916 : 
 
 I feel that it is most desirable to impress upon both our own 
 people and the people of Mexico the fact that the expedition is 
 simply a necessary punitive measure, aimed solely at the elim- 
 ination of the marauders who raided Columbus and who infest 
 an unprotected district near the border, which they use as a base 
 in making attacks upon the lives and property of our citizens 
 within our own territory. It is the purpose of our commanders 
 to cooperate in every possible way with the forces of General 
 Carranza in removing this cause of irritation to both Govern- 
 ments, and retire from Mexican territory so soon as that object 
 is accomplished. 
 
 It is my duty to warn the people of the United States that 
 there are persons all along the border who are actively engaged 
 in originating and giving as wide currency as they can to rumors 
 
5 T^ History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 of the most sensational and disturbing sort, which are wholly 
 unjustified by the facts. The object of this traffic in falsehood 
 is obvious. It is to create intolerable friction between the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States and the de facto [Carranza] Govern- 
 ment of Mexico for the purpose of bringing about intervention 
 in the interest of certain American owners of Mexican properties. 
 This object cannot be attained so long as sane and honorable 
 men are in control of this Government, but very serious con- 
 ditions may be created, unnecessary bloodshed may result, and 
 the relations between the two republics may be very much 
 embarrassed. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 AMERICA AND THE WORLD WAR 
 
 Neutrality 
 
 On February 4, 191 5, the German government traced 121. The 
 a war zone around the British Isles and warned neutral ^/the Tor- 
 vessels not to enter it. On February 3, 191 7, the American P®^^ 
 government broke off diplomatic relations with Germany — 1^^^^ 
 the prelude to the war which was declared a few weeks 
 later. During this period of two full years President 
 Wilson labored through diplomatic communications to 
 secure from Germany respect for the lives of Americans 
 traveling on the high seas. Six days after the publication 
 of the war-zone order Secretary of State Bryan dispatched 
 the following note to the German government : 
 
 It is of course not necessary to remind the German Govern- 
 ment that the sole right of a belligerent in dealing with neutral 
 vessels on the high seas is limited to visit and search, unless 
 a blockade is proclaimed and effectively maintained, which this 
 Government does not understand to be proposed in this case. 
 To declare or exercise a right to attack and destroy any vessel 
 entering a prescribed area of the high seas without first certainly 
 determining its belligerent nationality and the contraband char- 
 acter of its cargo would be an act so unprecedented in naval 
 warfare that this Government is reluctant to believe that the 
 Imperial Government of Germany in this case contemplates 
 it as possible. . . . 
 
 If the commanders of German vessels of war should act upon 
 the presumption that the flag of the United States was not being 
 used in good faith, and should destroy on the high seas an 
 
 577 
 
57S History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 American vessel or the lives of American citizens, it would be 
 difficult for the Government of the United States to view the 
 act in any other light than as an indefensible violation of neutral 
 rights, which it would be very hard indeed to reconcile with the 
 friendly relations now so happily subsisting between the two 
 Governments. 
 
 If such a deplorable situation should arise, the Imperial 
 German Government can readily appreciate that the Govern- 
 ment of the United States would be constrained to hold the 
 Imperial German Government to a strict accountability for such 
 acts of their naval authorities and to take any steps it might be 
 necessary to take to safeguard American lives and property 
 and to secure to American citizens the full enjoyment of their 
 acknowledged rights on the high seas. 
 
 When more than lOO American lives were lost in the 
 destruction of the British liner Liisitania by a German 
 torpedo, on May 7, 191 5, there began a lively interchange 
 of notes between Washington and Berlin. The first Liisi- 
 tania note, dispatched by Secretary of State Bryan on 
 May 13, reads in part : 
 
 Manifestly submarines cannot be used against merchantmen, 
 as the last few weeks have shown, without an inevitable violation 
 of many sacred principles of justice and humanity. American 
 citizens act within their indisputable rights in taking their ships 
 and in traveling wherever their legitimate business calls them 
 upon the high seas, and exercise those rights in what should be 
 the well-justified confidence that their lives will not be endangered 
 by acts done in clear violation of universally acknowledged inter- 
 national obligations, and certainly in the confidence that their 
 own Government will sustain them in the exercise of their rights. 
 
 There was recently published in the newspapers of the 
 United States ... a formal warning, purporting to come from 
 the Imperial German embassy at Washington, addressed to the 
 people of the United States, and stating, in effect, that any 
 citizen of the United States who exercised his right of free travel 
 upon the seas would do so at his peril if his journey should take 
 
America and the World War 579 
 
 him within the zone of waters within which the Imperial German 
 Navy was using submarines against the commerce of Great 
 Britain and PYance. ... I do not refer to this for the purpose 
 of calling the attention of the Imperial German Government 
 at this time to the surprising irregularity of a communication 
 from the Imperial German embassy at Washington addressed 
 to the people of the United States through the newspapers, but 
 only for the purpose of pointing out that no warning that an 
 unlawful and inhumane act will be committed can possibly be 
 accepted as an excuse or palliation for that act or as an abate- 
 ment of the responsibility for its commission. , . . 
 
 Expressions of regret and offers of reparation in case of the 
 destruction of neutral ships sunk by mistake, while they may 
 satisfy international obligations, if no loss of life results, cannot 
 justify or excuse a practice the natural and necessary effect of 
 which is to subject neutral nations and neutral persons to new 
 and immeasurable risks. 
 
 The Imperial German Government will not expect the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States to omit any word or any act neces- 
 sary to the performance of its sacred duty of maintaining the 
 rights of the United States and its citizens and of safeguarding 
 their free exercise and enjoyment. 
 
 The German reply of May 28-June i, 191 5, while 
 expressing regret that American lives were lost, neverthe- 
 less justified the sinking of the Lnsitania on the ground 
 that she was virtually a war-vessel, carried on the list of 
 the British navy, equipped with masked guns, and trans- 
 porting thousands of cases of munitions, together with 
 Canadian troops. In its second Lnsitania note to the 
 German government the administration at Washington 
 said (June 9, 191 5) : 
 
 Whatever may be the contentions of the Imperial German 
 Government regarding the carriage of contraband of war on 
 board the Lusitaiiia or regarding the explosion of that material 
 by the torpedo, it need only be said that in the view of this 
 
580 History of tJie Republic since the Civil War 
 
 Government these contentions are irrelevant to the question of 
 the legality of the methods used by the German naval authorities 
 in sinking the vessel. . . . 
 
 Whatever be the other facts regarding the Lusitania, the 
 principal fact is that a great steamer, primarily and chiefly a con- 
 veyance for passengers, and carrying more than a thousand 
 souls who had no part or lot in the conduct of the war, was 
 torpedoed and sunk without so much as a challenge or a warn- 
 ing, and that men, women, and children were sent to their death 
 in circumstances unparalleled in modern warfare. . . • . The Gov- 
 ernment of the United States is contending for something much 
 greater than mere rights of property or privileges of commerce. 
 It is contending for nothing less high and sacred than the rights of 
 humanity, which every government honors itself in respecting. 
 . . . Only her actual resistance to capture or refusal to stop when 
 ordered to do so for the purpose of visit could have afforded the 
 commander of the submarine any justification for so much as 
 putting the lives of those on board the ship in jeopardy. . . . 
 
 The Government of the United States cannot admit that the 
 proclamation of a war zone from which neutral ships have been 
 warned to keep away may be made to operate as in any degree 
 an abbreviation of the rights either of American shipmasters or 
 of American citizens bound on lawful errands as passengers on 
 merchant ships of belligerent nationality. . . . The Government 
 of the United States therefore deems it reasonable to expect 
 that the Imperial German Government will adopt the measures 
 necessary to put these principles into practice in respect of the 
 safeguarding of American lives and American ships, and asks 
 for assurances that this will be done. 
 
 In spite of this note and still a third Lusitania note, 
 in July, the German government refused to disavow the 
 act of the submarine commander or offer reparation for 
 the American lives lost. Things were in this tense situ- 
 ation when the loss of American lives in the torpedoing 
 of the British Channel steamer Sussex on March 24, 19 16, 
 brought an ultimatum from our government : 
 
America and the World War 581 
 
 The Government of the United States has been very patient. 
 At every stage of this distressing experience of tragedy after 
 tragedy it has sought to be governed by the most thoughtful 
 consideration of the extraordinary circumstances of an unprece- 
 dented war and to be guided by sentiments of very genuine 
 friendship for the people and Government of Germany. It 
 has accepted the successive explanations and assurances of the 
 Imperial Government as of course given in entire sincerity and 
 good faith, and has hoped, even against hope, that it would 
 prove to be possible for the Imperial Government so to order 
 and control the acts of its naval commanders as to square its 
 policy with the recognized principles of humanity as embodied 
 in the law of nations. It has made every allowance for un- 
 precedented conditions, and has been willing to wait until the 
 facts became unmistakable and were susceptible of only one 
 interpretation. 
 
 It now owes it to a just regard for its own rights to say to 
 the Imperial Government that that time has come. ... If it is 
 still the purpose of the Imperial Government to prosecute 
 relentless and indiscriminate warfare against vessels of com- 
 merce by the use of submarines . . . the Government of the 
 United States is at last forced to the conclusion that there is 
 but one course that it can pursue. Unless the Imperial Govern- 
 ment should now immediately declare and effect an abandonment 
 of its present methods of submarine warfare against passenger 
 and freight-carrying vessels, the Government of the United States 
 can have no choice but to sever diplomatic relations with the 
 German Empire altogether. This action the Government of the 
 United States contemplates with the greatest reluctance but feels 
 constrained to take in behalf of humanity and the rights of 
 neutral nations. 
 
 At the beginning of February, 19 17, the German 122. Presi- 
 government, in spite of the Sussex Pledge, resumed its fccepts^the* 
 policy of indiscriminate and ruthless submarine warfare, gage of 
 We severed diplomatic relations with Germany on Febru- 
 ary 3, and on April 2 President Wilson appeared before 
 
582 History of tJic Republic since the Civil War 
 
 Congress to recommend war. After reviewing the situation 
 of the past two years he said : 
 
 With a profound sense of the solemn and even tragical char- 
 acter of the step I am taking, and of the grave responsibilities 
 which it involves, but in unhesitating obedience to what I deem 
 my constitutional duty, I advise that the Congress declare the 
 recent course of the Imperial German Government to be in fact 
 nothing less than war against the Government and people of the 
 United States ; that it formally accept the status of belligerent 
 which has thus been thrust upon it ; and that it take immediate 
 steps not only to put the country in a more thorough state 
 of defense but also to exert all its power and employ all its 
 resources to bring the Government of the German Empire to 
 terms and end the war. 
 
 What this will involve is clear. It will involve the utmost 
 practicable cooperation in counsel and action with the govern- 
 ments now at war with Germany, and, as incident to that, the 
 extension to those governments of the most liberal financial 
 credits. ... It will involve the organization and mobilization of 
 all the material resources of the country to supply the materials 
 of war. ... It will involve the immediate addition to the armed 
 forces of the United States ... at least five hundred thousand 
 men, who should, in my opinion, be chosen on the principle of 
 universal liability to service. . . . 
 
 Neutrality is no longer feasible or desirable where the peace 
 of the world is involved and the freedom of its peoples, and the 
 menace to that peace and freedom lies in the existence of auto- 
 cratic governments backed by organized force which is controlled 
 wholly by their will, not by the will of their people. We have 
 seen the last of neutrality in such circumstances. We are at the 
 beginning of an age in which it will be insisted that the same 
 standards of conduct and of responsibility for wrong done shall 
 ■ ^ be observed among nations and their governments that are 
 
 If! observed among the individual citizens of civilized states. 
 
 We have no quarrel with the German people. We have no 
 feeling towards them but one of sympathy and friendship. It 
 was not upon their impulse that their Government acted in 
 
America and the World War 583 
 
 entering this war. It was not with their previous knowledge 
 or approval. . . . 
 
 One of the things that has served to convince us that the 
 Prussian autocracy was not and never could be our friend is 
 that from the very outset of the present war it has filled our 
 unsuspecting communities and even our offices of government 
 with spies, and set criminal intrigues everywhere afoot against 
 our national unity of counsel, our peace within and without, our 
 industries and our commerce. . . . We are now about to accept 
 gage of battle with this natural foe to liberty and shall, if neces- 
 sary, spend the whole force of the nation to check and nullify 
 its pretensions and its power. . . . The world must be made 
 safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested 
 foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. 
 We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities 
 for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we 
 shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the 
 rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have 
 been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations 
 can make them. ... 
 
 It is a distressing and oppressive duty, Gentlemen of the 
 Congress, which I have performed in thus addressing, you. 
 There are, it may be, many months of fiery trial and sacrifice 
 ahead of us." It is' a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful 
 people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, 
 civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is 
 more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which 
 we have always carried nearest our hearts — for democracy, for 
 the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their 
 own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, 
 for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples 
 as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world 
 itself at last free. To such a task we can dedicate our lives and 
 our fortunes, everything that we are and everything that we have, 
 with the pride of those who know that the day has come when 
 America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the 
 principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which 
 she has treasured. God helping her, she can do no other. 
 
584 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 Participation 
 
 123. The The following description of the first major operation 
 
 st^Mu^ef ** ^^ ^^^ American army on European soil, the reduction of 
 
 [521] the St. Mihiel salient, September 12-15, 1918, is taken 
 
 from General Pershing's report to the Secretary of War, 
 
 dated September i, 1919: 
 
 At Bourbon on July 24 there was a conference of all the 
 Commanders-in-Chief for the purpose of considering Allied 
 operations. Each presented proposals for the employment of 
 the armies under his command. ... As the first operation of 
 the American Army, the reduction of the salient of St. Mihiel 
 was to be undertaken as soon as the necessary troops and mate- 
 rial could be made available. On account of the swampy nature 
 of the country it was especially important that the movement 
 be undertaken and finished before the fall rains should begin, 
 which was usually about the middle of September. . . . 
 
 The force of American soldiers in France at that moment 
 was sufficient to carry out this offensive, but they were dis- 
 persed along the front from Switzerland to the Channel. ... To 
 assemble combat divisions and service troops and undertake a 
 major operation within the short period available and with staffs 
 so recently organized, was an extremely difficult task. Our defi- 
 ciencies in Artillery, Aviation, and special troops, caused by the 
 shipment of an undue proportion of Infantry and Machine Guns 
 during the summer, were largely met by the French. 
 
 The reduction of the St. Mihiel salient was important, as it 
 would prevent the enemy from interrupting traffic on the Paris- 
 Nancy Railroad by artillery fire and would free the railroad lead- 
 ing north through St. Mihiel to Verdun. It would also provide 
 us with an advantageous base of departure for an attack against 
 the Metz-Sedan Railroad system which was vital to the German 
 armies west of Verdun, and against the Briey Iron Basin which 
 was necessary for the production of German armament and 
 munitions. ... As the part to be taken by the Second French 
 Army would be closely related to the attack of the First 
 
America and the Wo7id War 585 
 
 American Army, Gen. Petain placed all the French troops 
 involved under my personal command. 
 
 By August 30, the concentration of the scattered divisions, 
 corps, and army troops, of the quantities of supplies and muni- 
 tions required, and the necessary construction of light railways 
 and roads, were well under way. . . . 
 
 On the night of September 1 1 , the troops of the First Army 
 were deployed in position. On the southern face of the salient 
 was the First Corps, Maj. Gen. Liggett commanding, with the 
 Eighty-second, Ninetieth, Fifth, and Second Divisions in line, 
 extending from the Moselle westward. [Then follows the dis- 
 position of the divisions under Generals Dickmann, Cameron, 
 and Blandlat.] . . . The French independent air force was at 
 my disposal, which, together with the British bombing squadrons 
 and our own air forces, gave us the largest assembly of aviation 
 that had ever been engaged in one operation. Our heavy guns 
 were able to reach Metz and to interfere seriously with German 
 rail movements. 
 
 At dawn on September 12, after four hours of violent artil- 
 lery fire of preparation, and accompanied by small tanks, the 
 Infantry of the First and Fourth Corps advanced. The Infantry 
 of the Fifth Corps began its advance at 8 a. m. The operation 
 was carried out with entire precision. Just after daylight on 
 September 13, elements of the First and Twenty-sixth Divisions 
 made a junction near Hattonchatel and Vignuelles, 18 kilo- 
 meters north-east of St. Mihiel. The rapidity with which our 
 divisions advanced overwhelmed the enemy, and all objectives 
 were reached by the afternoon of September 13. The enemy 
 had apparently started to withdraw some of his troops from the 
 tip of the salient on the eve of our attack, but had been un- 
 able to carry it through. We captured nearly 16,000 prisoners, 
 443 guns, and large stores of materials and supplies. The 
 energy and swiftness with which these operations were carried 
 out enabled us to smother opposition to such an extent that we 
 suffered less than 7000 casualties during the actual period of 
 the advance. ... 
 
 The material results of the victory achieved were very impor- 
 tant. An American Army was an accomplished fact, and the 
 
586 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 enemy had felt its power. No form of propaganda could over- 
 come the depressing effect on the morale of the enemy of this 
 demonstration of our ability to organize a large American force 
 and drive it successfully through his defenses. It gave our 
 troops implicit confidence in their superiority and raised their 
 morale to the highest pitch. For the first time wire entangle- 
 ments ceased to be regarded as impassable barriers, and open- 
 warfare training, which had been so ardently insisted upon, 
 proved to be the correct doctrine. Our divisions concluded the 
 attack with such small losses and in such high spirits that with- 
 out the usual rest they were immediately available for employ- 
 ment in heavy fighting in a new theater of operations. The 
 strength of the First Army in this battle totaled approximately 
 500,000 men, of whom about 70,000 were French. 
 
 Problems of Peace 
 
 124. Labor The World War was not simply a contest between the 
 Central Powers and the Entente Allies. It was also a con- 
 
 [530] 
 
 flict between two political ideals, autocracy and democracy. 
 Since the war it has been realized more keenly than ever 
 before that political democracy is a mere sham unless it 
 works towards greater industrial democracy. The peculiarly 
 important situation and demands of labor after the war are 
 illustrated in the following extracts. The first is from an 
 address of Basil Manly at the 46th National Conference 
 of Social Work, at Atlantic City, in June, 1919 : 
 
 We are about to enter a period of the most acute industrial 
 unrest and the most bitter industrial controversy that the Amer- 
 ican nation has ever known. Unless effective and radical steps 
 are taken to bring about a better understanding between capital 
 and labor and to establish an equitable basis for orderly industrial 
 progress we are certain to see within the next year strikes and 
 mass movements of labor beside which all previous American 
 strikes will pale into insignificance. ... 
 
America and the World War 587 
 
 Those who regard the American industrial situation with com- 
 placency ignore both the psychology of the workers and the 
 compelling facts. The workers of the allied world have been 
 told that they were engaged in a war for democracy, that out 
 of the ruins of the war would arise a new and more beautiful 
 world. They are asking now, " Where is that democracy for 
 which we fought ? When are we to enter into this new world 
 with its greater regard for the rights of the common man ? " 
 They see no change for the better, but they find themselves in 
 conditions in many respects worse than those against which we 
 protested before we entered the war. The masses of the people 
 are being rapidly disillusioned, and when the people lose their 
 illusions there is danger ahead. They have seen the prices of 
 nearly every commodity, including rents, advance so far beyond 
 the increases which they have secured in their weekly wages 
 since the beginning of the war that they are now actually able to 
 buy less of the necessities of life than before the war began. . . . 
 
 But it is not merely that the cost of living is high and beyond 
 the capacity of the wage-earner's pocketbook. This might be 
 endured with some degree of patience and fortitude if the people 
 who toiled believed that no one was profiting from their neces- 
 sities, and that all were bearing the burden alike. But they have 
 seen with their own eyes and heard with their own ears of the 
 unconscionable profiteering of American corporations during the 
 war and they know that the same profiteering is now continu- 
 ing unabated. I have just completed a study of the earnings 
 of eighty-two representative American corporations, a record 
 of whose profits is available for each ye'ar from 191 1 through 
 19 18. . . . A compilation of these figures shows that the 
 same eighty-two corporations which, in the pre-war years, had 
 an average net income of $325,000,000, had net incomes in 
 19 1 6 amounting to more than $1,000,000,000, in 19 17 of 
 $975,000,000, and in 19 18 of $736,000,000. This is after the 
 deduction of every dollar of State and Federal taxes, and of every 
 conceivable charge which these companies could devise for re- 
 ducing and concealing their apparent profits.^ This is profiteering 
 
 1 The Federal Trade Commission reported the following facts on 
 profiteering to the Senate, June 29, 1918. The net income of the United 
 
588 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 with a vengeance, and the profiteers may well tremble lest the 
 people avenge themselves for this shameless exploitation during 
 a period of the nation's greatest necessity. . . . 
 
 Wise men know also that the labor movement has greatly 
 increased its strength in recent years. At least 2,000,000 men 
 have been added to the ranks of organized labor in America 
 during the war. A million have been organized on the railways 
 alone. . . . American labor is more conscious than ever of its 
 power and of its rights. It will demand the abolition of age-old 
 injustices. Labor has been in the harness for untold centuries. 
 The harness has become heavy and galling, but labor does not 
 now ask that the harness be lightened or that the share of oats 
 and hay be enlarged. Labor now demands the right to climb 
 into the driver's seat and help control the machinery which draws 
 the lumbering chariot of modern industry. 
 
 On April 28, 19 19, the following clauses on labor, pro- 
 posed by the Commission on International Labor Legisla- 
 tion, were adopted by the Plenary Session of the Peace Con- 
 ference at Versailles to be inserted in the Treaty of Peace. 
 
 The High Contracting Parties, recognizing that the well-being, 
 physical, moral, and intellectual, of industrial wage-earners is of 
 supreme international importance, have framed a permanent 
 machinery associated with that of the League of Nations to 
 further this great end. They recognize that difference of climate, 
 habits, and customs of economic opportunity and industrial tra- 
 dition make strict uniformity in the conditions of labor difficult 
 of immediate attainment. But, holding as they do, that labor 
 
 States Steel Corporation, before deducting income and excess-profits 
 taxes, was $478,204,343 in 1917, as against $294,026,564 in 1916 and 
 $97,967,962 in 191 5. The profit in lumber was $4.83 per 1000 board feet 
 in 1917, as against $2.11 in 1916. Four great meat-packing houses 
 whose average pre-war profit was $19,000,000 earned excess profits over 
 the pre-war periods of $36,000,000 in 1916 and $68,000,000 in 1917. 
 One leather company reported profits of $945>o5i.37 in 191 5 and 
 $3,576,544.27 in 1917. A list of highly padded salaries to advisers, 
 auditors, secretaries, etc., is appended. See Senate Document No. 259, 
 65th Congress, 2d Session. 
 
America and the World War 589 
 
 should not be regarded merely as an article of commerce, they 
 think that there are methods and principles for the ratifica- 
 tion of labor conditions which all industrial communities should 
 endeavor to apply so far as their special circumstances will permit. 
 
 Among these methods and principles, the following seem . . . 
 to be of special and urgent importance : 
 
 i^^ The guiding principle above enunciated that labor should 
 not be regarded merely as a commodity or article of commerce. 
 
 2^ The right of association for all lawful purposes by the 
 employed as well as by the employers. 
 
 3^ The payment to the employed of a wage adequate to 
 maintain a reasonable standard of life as this is understood in 
 their time and country. 
 
 4'h The adoption of an eight-hour day or a forty-eight-hour 
 week as the standard to be aimed at where it has not already 
 been obtained. 
 
 5^*^ The adoption of a weekly rest of at least twenty-four 
 hours which should include Sunday whenever practicable. 
 
 6^^^ The abolition of child labor and the imposition of such 
 limitations on the labor of young persons as shall permit the 
 continuation of their education and assure their proper physical 
 development. 
 
 y*"^ The principle that men and women should receive equal 
 remuneration for work of equal value. 
 
 8^*^ The standard set by law in each country with respect to 
 the conditions of labor should have due regard to the equitable 
 economic treatment of all workers lawfully resident therein. 
 
 9'*^ Each state should make provision for a system of inspec- 
 tion in which women should take part in order to insure the 
 enforcement of the laws and regulations for the protection of 
 the employed. 
 
 Without claiming that these methods and principles are either 
 complete or final, the High Contracting Parties are of opinion 
 that they are well fitted to guide the policy of the League of 
 Nations and that if adopted by the industrial communities who 
 are members of the League and safeguarded in practice by 
 an adequate system of such inspection they will confer lasting 
 benefits on the wage-earner of the world. 
 
590 History of the Republic since the Civil War 
 
 In his message to Congress of May 20, 19 19, President 
 Wilson said : 
 
 The question which stands at the front of all others in every 
 country amidst the present great awakening is the question of 
 labor ; and perhaps I can speak of it with as great advantage 
 while engrossed in the consideration of interests which affect all 
 countries alike as I could at home amidst the interests which 
 naturally most affect my thought, because they are the interests 
 of our own people.^ 
 
 By the question of labor I do not mean the question of 
 efficient industrial production, the question of how labor is to 
 be obtained and made effective in the great process of sustaining 
 populations and winning success amidst commercial and indus- 
 trial rivalries. I mean that much greater and more vital ques- 
 tion. How are the men and women who do the daily labor of the 
 world to obtain progressive improvement in the conditions of 
 their labor, to be made happier, and to be served better by the 
 communities and the industries which their labor sustains and 
 advances ? How are they to be given their right advantages as 
 citizens and human beings ? 
 
 We cannot go any further in our present direction. We have 
 already gone too far. We cannot live our right life as a nation 
 or achieve our proper success as an industrial community if 
 capital and labor are to continue to be antagonistic instead of 
 being partners ; if they are to continue to distrust one another 
 and contrive how they can get the better of one another, or 
 what perhaps amounts to the same thing, calculate by what 
 form and degree of coercion they can manage to extort on the 
 one hand work enough to make enterprise profitable, on the 
 other, justice and fair treatment enough to make life tolerable. 
 The bad road has turned out a blind alley. It is no thoroughfare 
 to real prosperity. We must find another, leading in another 
 direction and to a very different destination. It must lead not 
 merely to accommodation, but also to a genuine cooperation 
 
 1 President Wilson was at Paris in the midst of the peace conference 
 when he sent this message to Congress, which he had called in extra 
 session for May 19, 1919. 
 
 J 
 
America and the World War 591 
 
 and partnership based upon a real community of interest and 
 participation in control. . . . 
 
 Labor legislation lies, of course, chiefly with the States ; but 
 the new spirit and method of organization which must be effected 
 are not to be brought about by legislation so much as by the 
 common counsel and voluntary cooperation of capitalist, man- 
 ager, and workman. Legislation can go only a very little way 
 in commanding what shall be done. . . . Those who really 
 desire a new relationship between capital and labor can readily 
 find a way to bring it about ; and perhaps Federal legislation 
 can help more than State legislation could. 
 
 The object of all reform in this essential matter must be the 
 genuine democratization of industry, based upon a full recog- 
 nition of the right of those who work, in whatever rank, to par- 
 ticipate in some organic way in every decision which directly 
 affects their welfare or the part they are to play in industry. 
 Some positive legislation is practicable. 
 
 The Congress has already shown the way to one reform which 
 should be world wide, by establishing the eight-hour day as the 
 standard day in every field of labor over which it can exercise 
 control. It has sought to find the way to prevent child labor, 
 and will, I hope and believe, presently find it. It has served the 
 whole community by leading the way in developing the means 
 of preserving and safeguarding life and health in dangerous 
 industries. It can now help in the difficult task of giving a new 
 form and spirit to industrial organization. . . . 
 
 Agencies of international counsel and suggestion are presently 
 to be created in connection with the League of Nations in this 
 very field [see preceding extract] ; but it is national action and 
 the enlightened policy of individuals, corporations, and societies 
 within each nation that must bring about the actual reforms. 
 The members of the committees on labor in the two houses 
 will hardly need suggestions from me as to what means they 
 shall seek to make the Federal Government the agent of the 
 whole nation in pointing out, and, if need be, guiding the process 
 of reorganization and reform. 
 
INDEX 
 
 ABC Powers, 575 
 Aberdeen, Lord, 312 f. 
 Abolitionists, 301 f., 318 f., 319 n., 
 
 395' 398 
 
 Aceldama, ^;^ n. 
 
 Achilles, shield of, 344 
 
 Adams, Charles Francis, 419, 
 473 r»., 475' 477 n. 2 
 
 Adams,John, I38n.; envoy in Paris, 
 147 n. ; minister to England, 
 16711.2; vice president, 190; 
 president, 200 n., 201 ; rebukes 
 French Directory, 202 n. 2, 203 ; 
 congratulates son, 258 ; referred 
 to, 498 
 
 Adams, John Quincy, 247 ; ulti- 
 matum to Spain, 249 n. ; on 
 Jackson's conduct, 249 n. ; 
 " Memoirs," 249 n., 255 f., 276 n., 
 294!., 295 n., 314 n., 329 n.; 
 referred to, 306 n. 2, 324, 325 n. 
 
 Adams, Samuel, 1 20 f. 
 
 Adelantado, 15 
 
 Alabama, 400?., 435 
 
 Alabama^ the, 473 f., 478 
 
 Alaska, 480 
 
 Albany, 51, 90, 92 f., 95 
 
 Albany plan of union, the, 94 f. 
 
 Albert, Prince, 417 
 
 Alexander, General E. P., 425 f. 
 
 Alexander, James, 95, 98 
 
 Alexander of Neckam, 5 
 
 Alien and Sedition Acts, 205, 207 
 
 Almon, John, 123 n. 
 
 Altgeld, Governor J. P., 530 f. 
 
 Ambrose, Saint, 4, 87 n. 2 
 
 Amendments : Thirteenth, 438 f., 
 468 n. 2 ; Fourteenth, 460 f., 
 461 n., 468 n. 3 ; Fifteenth, 468 
 n. 4 
 
 American army in France, 584 f. 
 
 American Colonization Society, 
 302 f., 308 n. 
 
 Anderson, Major Robert. 401 f. 
 
 Andros, Sir Edmund, 46 f., 48, 50 
 
 Angouleme, Duke of, 252 n. 
 
 Annapolis, 172 
 
 Anti-imperialists, 552 f. 
 
 Apia, 522 f. 
 
 Appomattox, 440 f., 462 n., 464, 
 
 478 
 Arkansas, 15 
 Arnold, Benedict, 344 
 Arthur, Chester A., 501 f., 508 
 Articles of Confederation, 125 n., 
 
 168 and n., 172 and n., 181, 196, 
 
 382 
 Assignats, 489 
 Astoria, 260 
 Athens, 3 
 Atlanta, 464 f., 518 
 Augustine, Saint, 2>7 n. 2 
 
 Bacon, Francis, 236 
 
 Bacon, Nathaniel, 30 f. 
 
 Baltimore, 243, 286, 365 f. 
 
 Bancroft, George, 328 n. 2, 332 f. 
 
 Bank, National, 245, 267 
 
 Barbados, 49 
 
 Barlow, Joel, 204 f. 
 
 Barron, James, 224, 227 
 
 Bates, Edward, 385 f. and n. 
 
 Baton Rouge, 422 n., 423, 425 
 
 Bayard, James, 533 
 
 Beauregard, General P. G. J., 402, 
 406 
 
 Bede, the Venerable, 5 
 
 Benton, Thomas H., on Oregon, 
 259 f. ; on expunging resolution, 
 269 n. ; attack of, on 54° 40', 
 322 f. ; confers with Polk, 327 n., 
 
 331 
 Berkeley, Admiral, 226 n. 
 Berkeley, Governor William, 28,31 
 Berlin, 525 and n. 
 Bermudas, 144 
 
 593 
 
594 
 
 Index 
 
 Bernard, Governor Francis, 124 
 
 Berwick on Tweed, 73 f. 
 
 " Black codes," the, 455 n. 
 
 Blaine, James G., 468 n. 5, 470 n.; 
 tribute to Garfield, 494 f. ; nom- 
 inated in 1884, 505' 510 ; on 
 Cleveland's message of 1887, 
 515 f. 
 
 Blair, Francis P., 385 
 
 Blair, Montgomery, 437 n. 
 
 Block, Adrian, 52 n. 
 
 Blockade, proclamation of, 410 
 
 Blount, Thomas, 225 
 
 Boston, England, 39 
 
 Boston, Mass., 48?., 114, 212, 240, 
 
 282,283,411,563 
 Boutwell, George S., 546 
 Bowman, Captain Joseph, 148 f., 
 
 153 
 Bradford, Governor William, 34, 
 
 55 
 Bradshawe, John, 27 
 Bragg, General Braxton, 508 
 Brazil, 304 
 
 Breckenridge, J. C, 209 
 Brewerton, Douglas, 367 
 Brewster, William, 35 
 Bright, John, 417 f., 418 n., 475 
 Brougham, Lord, 312, 314 
 Brown, B. Gratz, 473 n. 
 Brown, John, 379 n. 
 Brownists, 34 n. 
 Bryan, William J., 542 f., 577 f. 
 Bryce, James, 265 
 Buchanan, James, Secretary of 
 
 State, 327 n., 328, 331, 334; 
 
 minister to England, 353 f., 356; 
 
 president, 391 f., 394, 398, 435, 
 
 453 
 Buffalo, 509 
 Bull Run, 414 
 
 Bunau-Varilla, Philippe, 556, 560 
 Burgesses, House of, 24, 27, 32, 
 
 123, 153 
 Burgoyne, General John, 143 
 Burke, Edmund, 134 n. 
 Burnaby, Reverend Andrew, 74, 
 
 77 f- 
 Burton, Thomas E., 562 
 Butler, General B. F., 413 n., 423, 
 
 508 
 Byrd, Colonel William, 99 n. 
 
 Cadiz, 550 f. 
 
 Cahokia, 149 
 
 Calhoun, John C, in election of 
 1824, 255; on tariff of 1828, 
 261 f.; negotiates over Texas, 
 312, 315 f., 318 n. 3, 319 n. ; on 
 Mexican war, 334 ; on Wilmot 
 Proviso, 348 ; on slavery, 348 f ., 
 350 n. 3 
 
 Calhoun-Davis theory, 359 and n. 2 
 
 California, 330, 334 f., 342, 395 n., 
 492 
 
 Callender, Guy S., 305, 306 n. 
 
 Cambridge, England, 24, 39 
 
 Cambridge, Mass., 82 f., 130, 133, 
 138 
 
 Camden, Lord Chancellor, 121 n. 
 
 Cameron, Simon, 386 and n. 
 
 Canada, 88 n., 92, 107, 259, 351, 
 
 415' 479 
 Canning, George, 260, 324 and n., 
 
 325 
 Canning, Stratford, 306 n. 2 
 Cape Cod, 37, 57 f. 
 Cape Diamond, 104 
 Cape of Eleven Thousand Virgins, 
 
 12 
 Cape of Good Hope, 14, 220 
 Cape Henry, 226 
 Cape Horn, 212, 220 
 Cape Verde Islands, 14 
 " Capitulations," the, 6 
 Carlisle, John G., 544 
 Carmarthen, Lord, 167 n. 2 
 Carranza, General, 574 f. 
 Carrington, Colonel Edward, 195 
 Carson, Kit, 367 
 Cass, I>ewis, 360 
 Cathay, 7 
 
 Chandler, Senator Zachariah, 478 f . 
 Charles I, king of England, 28 n., . 
 
 43, 49' 439 
 Charles H, king of England, 27 f., 
 
 38 n., 42 f., 46 f., 49, 66 f., 88 and 
 
 n. 3, 95 n. 
 Charleston, S. C, 275, 281 n., 
 
 401 f., 563 
 Charlestown, Mass., 82 f. 
 Chase, Salmon P., 386 and n., 387, 
 
 457 n- 
 Chase, Samuel, 246 n. 
 Chattanooga, 430 
 
Index 
 
 595 
 
 Chesapeake Bay, 26, 33, 224 f. 
 
 Chicago, 329, 384, 505, 507, 526 f., 
 542 
 
 Child labor, 287, 571 f., 579 
 
 China, 9, 13, 22 
 
 Cincinnati, 237, 470 
 
 Cincinnatus, 173 
 
 Circular Letter, the, 114, i2of. 
 
 Civil-service reform, 499 f. 
 
 Civil War, the, 156, 303 n., 403 n., 
 408 f., 480, 485 
 
 Clark, George Rogers, 148 f., 218 n. 
 
 Clay,Henry, onWar of 1812, 227f.; 
 in election of 1824, 255 f. ; criti- 
 cizes Jackson, 267 f. ; letter on 
 Texas, 318 and n. 2, 497 ; his 
 Compromise of 1850, 341 n. 
 
 Claybourne, William, 26 
 
 Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, 559 n. 2 
 
 Cleveland, Grover, nominated in 
 1884, 505, 507 ; tribute to, 508 ; on 
 tariff, 511 f.; in Pullman strike, 
 526 f. ; in Venezuela, 532 f. ; on 
 conservation, 560 
 
 Cobb, Howell, 352, 394 f., 398 f., 
 
 ' 453' 457 n., 458 
 
 Cobden, Richard, 418 n., 475 
 
 Colbert, 86 and n. 
 
 Colon, 557 f. 
 
 Colonies, American, 72 f., 77 f., 
 inf., 164 
 
 Colton, Reverend Walter, 335 
 
 Columbia, S. C, 278 
 
 Columbia River and valley, 212 
 and n., 259 f., 323 f. 
 
 Columbus, 4 f., 9 f., 22 
 
 Columbus, DiegO; 9 
 
 Columbus, New Mexico, 574 
 
 " Commemoration Ode," the, 448 
 
 "Common Sense," 138 
 
 Commonwealth, the English, 26 
 
 Concord, Mass., 129 and n., 132 
 
 Confiscation Acts, 412 
 
 Connecticut, 53, 58 n. 2, 123 
 
 Conservation, 560 f. 
 
 Constitution of the United States, 
 recommended by Hamilton, 
 168 f., 171 n. 2 and 3; framed, 
 172 f.; opinion of Franklin on, 
 175 f. ; sent to states, 176; objec- 
 tions to, 177 f., 180, 186; opin- 
 ions of Jefferson and Hamilton 
 
 on, 192 f. ; violated, 206 f.; ex- 
 pounded by Marshall, 243 f. ; 
 expounded by Calhoun, 262 f. ; 
 expounded by Jackson, 266 f.; 
 expounded by Webster, 273 f. ; 
 expounded by legislature of 
 South Carolina, 277 f. ; ex- 
 pounded by Nashville con- 
 vention, 346 f. ; expounded by 
 Lincoln, 382 f.; expounded by 
 Davis, 435; and slavery, 296 f., 
 360 f., 374, 378, 388 f- ; and Su- 
 preme Court, 376 n. 2 
 
 Constitutional convention, 172 f., 
 176, 178 n. 
 
 Continental Congress, 115 
 
 Conway, M. D., 138 and n. 
 
 Cooper, Thomas, 261 n. 
 
 Cooper Institute speech, 378, 381 
 
 Corbett, Thomas, 224 
 
 Cornwallis, General Charles, 153 f. 
 
 Cotton, John, 39 f. 
 
 Coxe, Tench, i66f., 168 n. 
 
 Crawford, General S. W., 402 n., 
 
 403 
 Crawford, WiUiam H., 255 f. 
 Crittenden, Senator J. J., 389 n. 
 Cromwell, Oliver, 26 f. 
 Cromwell, Richard, 27 
 Cuba, 16, 304, 353 f., 547 U 550 
 Currency, 486 f., 542 f. 
 Cutler, Manasseh, 187 
 
 Danckaerts, Jasper, 82 
 
 Dash, Mistress, 187 f. 
 
 Davis, Jefferson, 378, 430!, 436 f., 
 
 437 n. 
 Dawson, Sarah M., 421 f. 
 Day, William R., 550 
 Deane, Silas, 118, 142, 144 
 Decatur, Captain Stephen, 225 
 Declaration of Independence, 115, 
 
 180, 375, 382, 395' 555 
 Declaratory Act, the, 120 
 " Democracy in America," 265 
 Denonville, governor of Canada, 
 
 88 f. 
 Depew, Chauncey M., 518 n. 
 De Soto, i5f. 
 
 De Tocqueville, Alexis, 265, 309 f. 
 Dewey, Admiral George, 549 f. 
 Dickens, Charles, 237 n. 
 
596 
 
 Index 
 
 Dickinson, John, 120, 125 and n., 
 
 133 and n. 
 Dinwiddie, Governor Robert, 99 f. 
 
 102, 104 and n. 
 Directory, French, 200 f., 205 
 " Discourse on Western Planting," 
 
 21 f. 
 District of Columbia, 347, 503, 
 
 571 
 Dix, John A., 295 n. 2 
 Dongan, Governor Thomas, 87 f. 
 Doubleday, Abner, 401 
 Douglas, Stephen A., 360, 374, 
 
 378, 395 n. 
 Douglass, Frederick, 362 n., 365 
 Drake, Sir Francis, 18 
 Dred Scott Decision, 373 f. 
 Duane, James, 168 
 Dudley, Thomas, 38 
 Dunster, Henry, 81, 82 n. 
 Dutch, 51 f., 55 f. 
 
 Eager, Scipio, 462, 465 
 Elizabeth, queen of England, 18 f. 
 Elvas, gentleman of, 1 5 
 Emancipation Proclamation, 438 
 Embargo, 227 
 Emigrant Aid Society, 368 
 Endicott, John, 38 
 Erving, George W., 247, 249 
 Essex, 18 
 
 Evarts, William M., 386 
 Everatt, Edward, 314 and n. 
 " Exposition and Protest," the, 
 261 f. 
 
 Faneuil Hall, 344 
 Farewell Address, the, 140 n. 
 Farmers and railroads, 480 f. 
 Farragut, Admiral David G., 422 n. 
 Federalists, 183 f., 197 f., 205 
 Ferdinand I, king of Spain, 7 
 Ferdinand VH, king of Spain, 
 
 252 n. 
 " Fifty-four-Forty," 322 f. 
 Filipinos, 522 f. 
 Finland, 74 
 Fleming, W. L., 454 n , 455 n., 
 
 458 n., 466 n. 
 Florida, 15, 246 f., 293, 321 and n. 
 P'oote, Andrew H., 432 n. 
 YoxX. Crevecoeur, 86 
 
 Fort Frontenac, 86 n., 90 n. 
 
 Fort Good Hope, 57 f. 
 
 Fort Jackson, 422 n. 
 
 Fort Leavenworth, 367 
 
 Fort Moultrie, 401 
 
 Fort Nassau, 52 n. 2 
 
 Fort Orange, 51 
 
 Fort Pitt, 186 
 
 Fort St. PhiHp, 422 n. 
 
 Fort Sumter, 381, 401 f., 408, 472 
 
 Fort Warren, 421 f. 
 
 Fortress Monroe, 413 n., 436 
 
 Fourteenth Amendment, 461 and 
 n., 462 
 
 France, treaty with, 1 18, 140, 141 f., 
 165; Jefferson in, 192, 196; war 
 with Austria and Prussia, 196 n., 
 199; in American Revolution, 
 197 ; our obligation to, 198 f . ; 
 rebuked by Adams, 202 n. 2,- 2 1 1 ; 
 sells us Louisiana, 214, 218 f.; 
 war with England, 222 ; aggres- 
 sions on our commerce, 222 f., 
 227 f. ; invades Spain, 252 n.; 
 abolishes slavery in colonies, 
 319 f.; American army in, 584 f- 
 
 Frankfort, 69 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin, 94; on Stamp 
 Act, 118 f.; on Hillsborough, 
 124, 129 n.; agent in London, 
 131 ; recommends Lafayette, 
 142 ; negotiations with France, 
 142 n., 144, 147 and n., 148, 167; 
 character, 174; address to con- 
 vention, I75f. ; on opportunities 
 in America, 183 f. ; referred to, 
 236 
 
 Frazier, John, 100 f. 
 
 Free-Soil party, 369 f. 
 
 Freedman's Bureau, 455 n. 
 
 Freneau, Philip, 195 
 
 Frobisher, Martin, 18 
 
 Fugitive Slave Law, 353, 361, 396 n. 
 
 Fugitive slaves, 362 and n. 2, 363 f., 
 377 n. 
 
 Fulham Palace, 34 
 
 Gabote (Cabot), Sebastian, 21 f. 
 Gadsden, Christopher, 133 n. 
 Gage, General Thomas, 128 
 Garfield, James A., 494 £., 508 
 Geneva, 474 f., 477 n. 
 
Index 
 
 597 
 
 George II, king of England, 135 
 George III, king of England, in, 
 
 i33f., 138, 158 
 Georgia, 15, 137, 173,294,307,352, 
 
 388, 391, 394f.,435,45in., 462 n., 
 
 463 f., 518, 574 f. 
 " Georgia platform," the, 352 f., 
 
 361, 362 n., 390 
 Gerard, C. A., 144 f. 
 Germantown, 71 
 Germany, in Samoa, 522 f. ; our 
 
 diplomatic relations with, 577 f. 
 Gerry, Elbridge, 177, 201 f. 
 Gettysburg, 425 f., 430, 433 and n. 
 Gibbons vs. Ogden, 243 
 Gibraltar, Strait of, 3 
 Giddings, Joshua, 318 
 Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 19 f. 
 Gist, Christopher, 103 
 (iold seekers, 335 f. 
 Gordon, General John B., 462 
 
 and n. 
 C}ordon, William, 128 and n. 
 Governor's Island, 54, 61 
 Grady, Henry W., 518 and n. 
 Granada, 6 f. 
 Grant, Fred D., 517 
 Grant, General U. S., in Civil War, 
 
 432 n., 440 f. ; on tour of South, 
 
 454 n., 461, 464 ; president, 468, 
 
 469 n., 472, 474 n., 477 and n., 
 
 479, 485 and n., 508 
 Gray, Captain Robert, 212, 214, 
 
 259 f. 
 Gray, Senator George, 550 f. 
 Greece, 300 
 Greeley, Horace, 378 n., 385 f., 
 
 473 n- 497 
 Greenbacks, 487 f. 
 Greene, General ]^tothanael, 155 
 Grenville, George, in, ii8f., 127, 
 
 133 
 Gresham, Walter Q., 532 
 Guanaham, 7 
 Guiana, British, 539, 542 
 Gulf of Mexico, 17, 304, 313 
 
 Habeas Corpus, 47 
 
 Hakluyt, Richard, 15, 18, 20 f. 
 
 Half-King, the, 100 f. 
 
 Hall, Captain Basil, 238 f. and n. 
 
 Ualstead, Murat, 384 
 
 Hamilton, Alexander, plea for 
 
 constitution, 168 f.; character, 
 
 173 f.; financial measures, 192 
 
 and n. ; opinion of Jefferson, 
 
 194 f. 
 Hamilton, Governor Henry, 194 f., 
 
 275, 277 
 Hamilton, John, 225 
 Hamlin, Hannibal, 400 
 Hammond, James H., 394 f. 
 
 and n. 
 Hampton, General Wade, 458 n. 
 Hampton Roads, 224 f., 435 f. 
 Hancock, Governor John, 137, 
 
 143, 212 
 Hanover, House of, 112 
 Harrisburg Convention, 255 
 Harrison, Benjamin, 560 
 Harrisse, Henri, 5 
 Hartford, Conn., 57, 59, 60 
 Harvard, John, 80 
 Harvard College, 80 f., 276 n., 
 
 448 
 Havana, 547 n. 
 Hawkins, John, 18 
 Hawkins, Richard, 18 
 Hay, John, 550, 556, 560 
 Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, 556 f. 
 Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, 559 n. 2 
 Hayes, R. B., 470, 486 
 Hayne, Senator Robert Y., 272 
 Hayti, 8 n., 351, 354 n. 
 Henry, Patrick, 133 n., 178, 210, 
 
 211 n. 
 Henry IV, king of France, 106 
 Hercules, Pillars of, 3 f. 
 Hill, Governor David B., 542 
 Hillsborough, Lord, 123 f. 
 Hoar, Senator George F., 546 
 Holdernesse, Lord, 99 
 Holland, 24, 34 f., 54, 60 
 Holy Alliance, 253 n. 2, 537 
 Hopkins, Mark, 495 
 Hopkins, Stephen, 115 f. 
 Houston, D. F., 270 and n. 
 Hudson Bay, 98 
 Hudson River, 51 and n. 
 Huerta, General Victoriano, 573 f. 
 Humphreys, Colonel, 189 
 Hutchinson, Anne, 38 n. 
 Hutchinson, Governor Thomas, 
 
 38 f., ii4f. 
 
598 
 
 Index 
 
 "Ichabod," 345 
 
 Illinois, 86, 376 f., 380 n., 395 n., 
 480 f.. 530 f. 
 
 Imperialism, 546 f. 
 
 Income Tax of 19 13, 171 n. 
 
 Independence of the colonies : 
 arguments for, 138 f.; unfavor- 
 able view of, 165 f. 
 
 Indiana, 395 n., 571 
 
 Indianapolis, 484 
 
 Indies, 7, 9, 15, 157 
 
 Industrial Commission, 556 f. 
 
 Inland Waterways Commission, 
 560 f. 
 
 Interstate Commerce Act, 485 n. 
 
 Ireland, 19, 25, 73 f. 
 
 Iroquois, 88, 93, 98 
 
 Isabella, queen of Spain, 10 
 
 Jackson, Andrew, commander in 
 Indian campaigns, 246 f. ; candi- 
 date for president, 256 f.; char- 
 acter, 265 f.; censured by Senate, 
 267 f.; and slavery, 275 f.; opin- 
 ion on Texas, 320 ; referred to, 
 346 n., 392 
 
 Jackson, Miss., 347, 433 
 
 Jacobins, French, 200 
 
 James I, king of England, 34 n., 
 
 . 37> 43 
 
 James II, king of England, 46, 
 48 n., 60, 88 
 
 James River, 31 
 
 Jamestown, Va., 15, 24 f., 31 f., 302 
 
 Java, 13 
 
 Jay, John, 133 n., 147 n., 171 n.3, 
 172 n. 
 
 Jay Treaty, 200 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, 30 ; on petition 
 to George III, 133 n. ; minister 
 at Paris, 178 n. 2 ; plan for gov- 
 ernment of West, 180 f.; Sec- 
 retary of State, 192 f., 197 n., 
 199; on Kentucky Resolutions, 
 206, 209; as president, 210 n., 
 212 f., 218 and n., 221, 227; 
 policy, 243, 245, 2460., 259 n.; 
 on slavery, 297 n., 301 n. ; 
 referred to, 498, 544 
 
 Jeffreys, Thomas, 106 
 
 Jerusalem, 33 n. 
 
 Jogues, Isaac, 50 f. 
 
 Johnson, Andrew, 453, 454 n., 455 
 
 n., 457 n., 458 f., 460 
 "Johnson Governments," 459 
 Johnston, General Joseph E., 454 
 Juana (Cuba), 7 
 Judas, 33 n. 
 
 Kalm, Peter, 74, 75 f. 
 
 Kansas, 360, 367 f., 369 f., 371 f., 
 
 484 
 Kansas-Nebraska Act, 371 f., 376 
 
 n.4 
 Kaskaskia, 149 
 Kemble, Fanny, 278 f., 280 
 Kentucky, 252, 376 f., 486, 540 
 Kentucky resolutions, 206 
 Kieft, Director William, 51, 59 
 Kimberley, Rear Admiral, 522 
 King, Rufus, 258, 294 f., 307 n., 
 
 320 
 King Philip's War, 82 n. 
 Kingston, 90 n. 
 
 Knights of the White Camelia, 461 
 Knox, General Henry, 189 
 Knox, Captain John, 104 
 Ku-Klux Act, 461 
 Ku-Klux Klans, 461 f., 469 
 
 La Barre, Governor, 87 f. 
 
 Labor and the World War, 586 f. 
 
 Lafayette, Marquis de, 141 f. 
 
 La FoUette, Robert M., 576 and n. 
 
 La Salle, Rene Robert Cavelier 
 
 de, 85 f., 102 
 Laurens, Henry, 146 
 Lawrence, Kans., 367, 369 
 League of Nations, 588 f. 
 Lear, Tobias, 188 
 Le Clercq, Father, 85 
 Lee, Arthur, 418, 144 
 Lee, Richard Henry, 178 
 Lee, Robert E., 425, 430, 433 and 
 
 n., 454 n., 462 n., 479 
 Leipzig, 69 
 
 Leopard, the, 224, 226 f. 
 Lewis and Clark expedition, 2 18 f., 
 
 221 n., 259 f. 
 Lexington, Mass., 128 f., 131 f. 
 Lexington, Va., 427 
 Liberal Republicans, 4^)8 f. 
 Liberia, 301 f., 307 n. 
 Liggett, Major-General, 585 
 
Index 
 
 599 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, on Dred Scott, 
 
 373 f. ; Cooper Institute speech, 
 378f. ; Springfield speech, 380 n. ; 
 election, 381 ; inaugural, 381 f . ; 
 nomination, 3S5 f. ; effect of 
 election, 388 f., 394 ; policy as 
 president, 400, 408, 410, 413 n., 
 414, 418 n., 433 n., 436 f. ; assas- 
 sination, 445 f., 480; views on 
 Reconstruction, 457 n., 477 ; re- 
 ferred to, 495, 508 f., 555 
 
 Lincoln-Douglas debate, 360, 373, 
 
 374 n., 378 
 Lind, John, 572 
 Liverpool, 254, 279 n., 475 
 Liverpool, Lord, 324 
 Livingston, Edward, 215 
 Livingston, Robert R., 189 
 Lisbon, 1 1 , 
 
 London, 33, 34, 65, 128, 254 
 London Company, 37 
 Long Island, 54, 59, 6r 
 Longstreet, General James, 423 
 Lords Commissioners of Trade, 
 
 95 n- 
 Los Angeles, 337 n. 
 Louis XIV, king of France, 88 n., 
 
 91 n. 
 Louis XVI, king of France, 143 f. 
 Louisburg, 105 
 Louisiana, 214 f., 216 f., 241, 260, 
 
 295, 421, 433, 435 
 Lowell, James Russell, 319 n., 391, 
 
 448, 553' 555 
 Lowell, Mass., 283 
 Loyalists, i 53 f . 
 Lit si tan ia notes, 577 f. 
 Luzerne, 147 n. 
 Luzon, 550, 554 
 Lyons, Lord, 414 n., 415 and n., 
 
 416, 421 n. 
 
 McClellan, General George B.,4i6» 
 McCrary, G. 11., 485 n. 
 McCulloch, Hugh, 493 n. 
 McCulloch 7'.f. Maryland, 243 
 McDuffie, Senator George, 270 f., 
 
 319 
 McGee, W. J., 562 
 McKenzie, Sir Alexander, 259 f. 
 McKinley, William, 49511., 546 f., 
 
 560 
 
 Maclay, Senator William, i9of. 
 McMaster, J. B., 186, 282 f., 337 n. 
 Madison, James, 174, i78n.2, 194 f., 
 
 206, 209 f., 222 n., 223 f., 227, 
 
 229 f. 
 Madrid, 247 
 Magellan, 11,13 
 Maine, 299 
 Maluco, 14 
 Manhattan, 51, 63 
 Manila Bay, 549 f. 
 Manly, Basil, 586 
 Marcy, William L., 353, 356 
 Mardoch ap Owen, 22 
 Marietta, Ohio, 186 
 Markham, Edwin, 449 
 Marryat, Captain, 239 and n. 
 Marshall, James A., 339 f. 
 Marshall, John, 201 f., 243 
 Martin vs. Hunter's Lessee, 243 
 " Martin Chuzzlewit," 237 n. 
 Martineau, Harriet, 239 n., 280 f . 
 Maryland, 31, 77, 90, 92, 168, 245, 
 
 367 
 Mayo, Admiral, 574 
 Mason, George, 178 f. 
 Mason, John Y., 353, 356, 415, 
 
 421 n. 
 Mason and Dixon's line, 362 
 Massachusetts, 34, 38, 42 f., 46, 
 
 58 n. 2, 114, 120 f., 123, 124 f., 
 
 128, 301, 344, 421 n., 532, 545 
 Matamoras, 330 n., 331, 332 n. 
 Matan, 13 
 
 Mather, Reverend Cotton, 40 f. 
 Mather, Reverend Increase, 48 
 ]\Iayflo7ve7% the, 34, 37 
 Meade, General George B., 433 n. 
 " Medea," the, 3 
 Melampus, the, 225 f. 
 Membre, Father, 85 
 Memphis, Tenn., 16 n. 
 Metz, 584 f. 
 Mexico, 313 f., 318 and n. 2, 321, 
 
 328 f., 436, 442, 571 f- 
 Michigan, 85 f., 282, 476 
 Milan, 4 
 
 Milton, John, 140, 300 
 Mississippi, 347, 348 f., 461 
 Mississippi River, i 5, 85 f., 148 f., 
 
 219 n., 221, 237, 241 f., 260, 282, 
 
 560, 565 
 
6oo 
 
 Index 
 
 Missouri, 295, 368 f., 376 f., 468 
 and n., 470, 473 n. 
 
 Missouri Compromise, 294 f., 305, 
 30711., 359, 368, 376 n 3 and 4 
 
 Missouri River, 86, 218 f. 
 
 Moires, William, 153 
 
 Monckton, General Robert, 104 f. 
 
 Monroe, James, 178, 200 and n., 
 251 f., 302, 303 n., 324 
 
 Monroe Doctrine, 140 n., 246 f., 
 251 f., 437, 533 
 
 Monrovia, 303 and n. 
 
 Montcalm, Marquis de, 106 
 
 Monterey, Calif., 335, 337 f. 
 
 Montesquieu, 72 
 
 Montgomery, Ala,, 401, 435 
 
 Morris, Robert, 171 n. 3 
 
 Moscoso, Luis de, 16 f. 
 
 Mount Vernon, 172 
 
 Mozambique, 14 
 
 Muhlenberg, Major, 239 
 
 Muzzey, D. S., " American His- 
 tory," 91 n., 134 n., 142 n., 167 n., 
 192 n., 312 n., 321 n., 342 n., 
 350 n., 378 n., 379 n., 422 n., 
 437 n., 455 n., 485 n., 5^5 "•' 
 539 n., 552 n. 
 
 Napoleon Bonaparte, 228 f. 
 
 Napoleon III, 437 n. 
 
 Narrows, the, 54 n. 2, 61 n. 
 
 Nashville, Tenn., 346, 350 n. 
 
 Navigation Act of 1660, 72 f. 
 
 Nebraska, 360 
 
 Necker, Jacques, 165 
 
 Netherlands, 19 
 
 Neutrality proclamation, 197 f. 
 
 Nevada, 478 
 
 New Amsterdam, 51 f., 62 
 
 New Castle, 69, 70 n. 
 
 New England, 34 f., 37 f., 52 f., 
 
 59 f., 66 
 New England Confederation, 58 n. 2 
 " New England's First Fruits," 80 
 Newfoundland, 98 
 New France, 50, 75 f., 85, 91, 
 
 98 f. 
 New Hampshire, 138 n., 395 n. 
 New Haven, 58 
 New Holland, 51, 58 
 New Jersey, 123, 278, 282, 395 n., 
 
 540 
 
 New Mexico, 330, 334, 342, 360 
 New Netherland, 51, 59, 60 f . 
 New Orleans, 241 f., 422 n., 423 
 New York City, 50 f., 138, 237, 
 239 f-' 243' 278, 280, 283 f., 366, 
 378, 406 f., 411, 497, 518 n. 
 New York Colony, 46, 50, 87 f., 98 
 New York State, 390 f., 395 n., 
 
 545 
 Niagara, 90 
 Nicolls, Richard, 61 
 Non-intercourse acts, 227 
 Norfolk, Va., 225 
 Norumbega, 22, 23 
 Nova Scotia, 98, 157 
 Nullification, 208, 265 f., 277 
 Nyack, 61 n. 
 
 Occomack, 33 
 
 Odell, Jonathan, 157 
 
 Oglethorpe, James, 291 
 
 Ohio, 376 f., 387, 390 f., 486, 496, 
 
 502 
 Ohio Company, 103, 104 n., 186, 
 
 204 
 Ohio River and valley, 99 f., 242 f. 
 "Olive branch" petition, 134 n. 2 
 Olney, Richard, 532 f. 
 Omnibus bill, 340 f. 
 Onis, Don Luis de, 247 f. 
 Orders in Council, 228 
 Ordinance of 1787, 180 and n. 
 Ordway, John, 221 f. and n. 
 Oregon, 212 n., 258 f., 322 f. 
 Ostend Manifesto, 353 f. 
 Oxford, Lord, 30 
 Oxford University, 84 n. 
 Oyster Bay, 55, 59 
 
 Pacific Ocean, 12, 220, 260 
 Packenham, Richard, 312, 31 5 f., 
 
 327 and n. 
 .Paine, 138 f. and n. 
 Palmerston, Lord, 354 n., 415 and 
 
 n., 474 n. 
 Panama, 556, 557, 580 
 Pango-Pango, 525 n. 
 Panuco, 17 
 
 Paris, 21, 144, 201, 515 
 Parker, Captain John, 131 f. 
 Parker, Theodore, 344 
 Parkman, Francis, 87 n. 3 
 
Index 
 
 60 1 
 
 Parliament, 27, 72, 11 r f., 119 f., 
 
 134 n. 
 Pastorius, Francis Daniel, 69 f. 
 Pauncefote, Sir Julian, 536 
 Pawnee, 369 f. 
 Peace Conference at Versaillcr-, 
 
 588 f. 
 Peel, Sir Robert, 312 n., 327 and n. 
 Pendleton, George H., 502 f. 
 Penn, Richard, 133 
 Penn, William, 65, 66, 67 f., 69 f. 
 Pennsylvania, 67 f., 69, 95, 118, 
 
 125, 390 f. 
 Pensacola, 250 f. 
 Peoria, 86 
 Pershing, General J. J., report of, 
 
 584 f. 
 Personal Liberty Acts, 363, 395, 
 
 396 n. 
 Peter the Great, 173 
 Petersburg, 427 f. 
 Philadelphia, 70, 167, 172, 190, 
 
 195, 200, 237, 240, 242, 278, 280, 
 
 282f., 335, 336, 411 
 PhiUp II, king of Spain, 22, 35 n. 
 Philippine Islands, 546, 549 f. 
 Pickering, Thomas, 202 
 Pickett, General George E., 425 f. 
 Pierce, Franklin H., 353, 370 
 Pierce, Major William, 173 
 Pigapheta, Anthoyne, 11, 14 
 Pilgrims, the, 34 
 Pinchot, Gifford, 560 
 Pinckney, Charles, 297 n. 
 Pinckney, Charles C, 201 f. 
 Pinkney, William, 295, 299 f. 
 Pitcairn, Major John, I29f. 
 Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, 
 
 106, 121 n., 260 
 Plains of Abraham, 104 
 Plymouth, 34 f., 55 f., 58 n. 2, 302 
 Polk, James K., 318, 323 n., 327 n., 
 
 328 f., 332n., 333n-336n., 353 
 Port Hudson, 422 n., 432 n., 433 
 Portuguese, 14, 15, 21 
 Pory, John, 24 f. 
 Pownall, Governor Thomas, in, 
 
 114 
 " Present Crisis," the, 319 n. 
 PricCv Reverend Richard, 163 
 Princeton College, 157 
 Privy Council, 119 
 
 Profits in World War, 5S7 f. 
 Proprietary Colonies, 50 f. 
 Proud, Robert, 63 and n. 
 Ptolemy, 3 
 Puerto Rico, 550 
 Pulci, 4 
 
 Pullman strike, 526 f. 
 l^urchas, Samuel, 18 
 Puritans, 34 n., 37 f. 
 
 Quaife, M. M., 328 n., 329 
 
 Quakers, 63 f ., 78 
 
 Quebec, 104 f. 
 
 Quincy, Josiah, 83 
 
 Quitman, Governor John A., 351 
 
 Railroads, 278 f.; 480 f., 485 n., 
 
 526 f. 
 Raleigh, Sir Walter, 18, 21 
 Randall, Richard, 303 f. 
 Randolph, Edmund, 177 
 Randolph, Edward, 48 n , 49 
 Rasieres, Isaac de, 55 
 Reconcentrado Order, 547 and n. 
 Reconstruction 453 f., 455 n., 458 f., 
 
 461 
 Reeder, Governor Andrew H., 
 
 370 
 RepubHcan party, 360, 378, 381, 
 
 385 f., 394 f., 397, 464, 468 f. 
 
 474, 480 f., 505 f., 581 
 Restoration of 1660, 28, 39, 42, 72 
 Resumption of specie payment, 
 
 485 f. 
 Revolution, American, 63, 141, 
 
 148 f., 163 f., 197 
 Revolution, the " Glorious," 46, 49 
 Richmond, Va., 427, 430, 433 
 Rio Grande River, 329 f. 
 Robertson, James, 155 n., 209 
 Robinson, John, 34 f., 36 f. 
 Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, Duke 
 
 of, 187 
 Rockingham, Marquis of, 121 n. 
 Rocky Mountains, 260, 323 £., 367 
 Rome, 22, 169 n. 
 Roosevelt, Theodore, 499 and n., 
 
 556 f., 562 f. 
 Rush, Richard, 324, 325 n. 
 Russell, Lord John, 323 n., 415, 
 
 474 n. 
 Russell, Governor William E., 542 
 
6o2 
 
 Index 
 
 Russell, W. W., 559 n. 
 
 Russia, 73, 252, 322 n., 323 f., 420 
 
 St. Augustine, Fla., 248 
 
 St. Joseph, Mo., 370 
 
 St. Lawrence, 21 
 
 St. Marks, Fla., 250 f. 
 
 St. Mihiel, 584 f. 
 
 Salisbury, Lord, 533 f. 
 
 Samoa, 522 f. 
 
 Sandford, J. F. A., 373 
 
 San Domingo, 356 
 
 San Francisco, 337 n. 
 
 San Lucar, 14 
 
 San Salvador, 7 
 
 Santangel, Luis de, 7 
 
 Saybrook Point, 58 
 
 Schurman, J. G., 553 
 
 Schurz, Carl, 458, 470 and n., 473 n. 
 
 Scott, Dred, 373 f., 376 f. 
 
 Scott, Colonel John, 370 
 
 Seabrook, Governor, 351, 352 n. 
 
 Secession, 343, 346 f., 352 n., 381 f., 
 391 f., 394 f., 399, 400 f. 
 
 Seminole War, 249 f. 
 
 Seneca, Roman philosopher, 3 
 
 Separatists, 34 
 
 Seventh-of-March speech, 341 f. 
 
 Seville, 11, 14 
 
 Seward, William H., 385 and n., 
 386 f., 392 n., 409,414 n. 2, 415 n., 
 417,419 
 
 Seymour, Governor Horatio, 508 
 
 Shakespeare, 236 
 
 Shannon, Governor, 367 
 
 Shawnee Mission, 370 
 
 Shelburne, Lord, 121 n. 
 
 Sheridan, Philip H., 442 
 
 Sherman, John, 486 f., 495, 498 n. 
 
 Shirley, Governor William, 83 
 
 Sillery, 105 
 
 Slavery,criticizedby Burnaby, 77f.; 
 defined by McDuffie, 271 ; in col- 
 onies, 291 f . ; and the Missouri 
 Compromise, 290 f.; attempts 
 to colonize negroes, 301 f. ; im- 
 port trade after 1808, 302; the 
 " peculiar institution," 305 f. ; in 
 legislatures of South, 306 f. ; 
 judged by De Tocqueville, 
 309 f ., 3 1 1 ; in Texas, 3 1 3, 3 1 4 n. ; 
 condemned by Giddings, 318 f.; 
 
 condemned by Lowell, 319 n., 
 392 n. ; approved by Nashville 
 Convention, 347 f. ; squatter sov- 
 ereignty doctrine, 360 f. ; fugi- 
 tives from, 362 f. ; in Kansas, 
 368 f. ; in Dred Scott decis- 
 ion, 374 f. ; in territories, 379 f. ; 
 and Union commanders, 413 n.; 
 discussed at Hampton Roads, 
 438 f. ; effect of abolition, 454 f. 
 
 Slidell, John, 329 f., 41 5, 421 n. 
 
 Smith, Goldwin, 540 
 
 Smith, Robert, 225 
 
 Smith, Sydney, 235 
 
 Socinians, 64 
 
 Sons of Liberty, 156 
 
 Soule, Pierre, 353, 354 n., 356 
 
 South Carolina, 200 f., 223 f., 27of., 
 273. 275 f-' 277 f., 306 and n., 
 309' 349. 351 n-' 381, 397' 399 "•» 
 435 f- 
 
 Spain, 6, 140, 246, 249 n., 252, 259, 
 260, 353 f., 546, 550 f. 
 
 Spanola (Hispaniola), 8 
 
 Specie payment, 485 f. 
 
 Springfield, 111., 380 n. 
 
 " Squatter sovereignty," 359 f. 
 
 Stamp Act, 1 1 1, 114, 1 18 f., 1 20 f., 
 
 133 
 Stanton, Edwin M., 440 
 Staten Island, 542 n. 2 
 Steamboat, 253 f. 
 Stephens, Alexander H., 330 n. 2, 
 
 352' yil n., 388 f., 396 n., 436 f- 
 Stephenson, George, 279 n. 
 Stevens, Thaddeus, 457 n. 
 Stevenson, Robert Louis, 522 f. 
 Stewart, Senator William M., 478 
 Storey, Moorfield, 551, 552 n. 
 Story, Joseph, 243 
 Strabo, 3 
 
 Stuarts, 42, 46, 72, 87, 91 n. 
 Stuyvesant, Peter, 55, 59, 61, 62 
 Sumner, Charles, 418 f., 457 n., 
 
 474 f-' 477 n. i 
 Supreme Court, 243 f., 273 n., 373, 
 
 376 n. 4, 467, 494, 562 
 Susquehanna, 77 
 Sussex pledge, 580 f. 
 Sutter, John A., 339 
 Swedes, 55, 69 n. 
 Swift, Dean Jonathan, 117 
 
hide: 
 
 603 
 
 Taft, William H.. 576 f. 
 
 Talleyrand, 202 f. 
 
 Tammany Hall, 508 
 
 Tampico, 573 f. 
 
 Taney, Roger K., 374 
 
 Tariff, 260 f., 270 f., 276 f., 305 n. 
 
 51 If., 566 f. 
 Tarpley, C. S., 348 f. 
 Taxation, ii7f., i7of., 193 f.,263 f. 
 
 271 f., 487, 51 if., 550 
 Taylor, Tom, 446 
 Taylor, Zachary, 329 f., 348, 350 n. 
 
 35I' 436 
 Tenniel, John, 446 
 Texas, 258, 312 f., 314, 317 and n. 
 
 318 f., 360 n., 519 
 Thayer, Eli, 3S6 
 Thomas, Jesse B., 255 
 Thule, 4 
 
 Tilden, Samuel J., 508 
 Timor, 13, 14 
 Tonty, Henri de, 85 f. 
 Tooke, Home, lagn. 
 Toombis, Robert, 352, 3S9 and n. 
 Tories, i53f., i56f., i58f. 
 Tower, Charlemagne, Jr., 141 f. 
 Townshend Acts, 114, 120, 126 
 Trades Unions, 283 f. 
 Treaty of Washington, 477 n. 
 Trent affair, 414 f. 
 Trescott, William H., 200 n. 
 TroUope, Anthony, 237 
 Trollope, Mrs. F. M., 237 f. 
 Troup, George M., 307 
 Trumbull, Senator Lyman, 395 
 Trusts, 566 f . 
 
 Tryon, Governor William, 138 
 Tucker, Dean Josiah, 165 f. 
 Turkey, 25, 139 
 Tutuila, 525 n. 
 Tuyl, Baron, 258 
 Tyler, John, 318 n. 3, 323 n. 
 
 Upshur, Abel P., 314 
 
 Usher, John, 49 
 
 Utah, 360 
 
 Utrecht, Treaty of, 98, 326 
 
 Valladolid, 10 
 Van Braam, Jacob, 99 
 Van Buren, 317 and n. 
 Vane, Sir Harry, 38 n. 
 
 Vasa, Gustavus, 173 
 
 Vaudreuil, Marquis de, 107 
 
 Venantius Fortunatus, 87 n. 
 
 Venezuela, 533 f. 
 
 Vera Cruz, 330, 574 
 
 Verdun, 584 
 
 Vergennes, Comte de, 142 n., 145, 
 
 147 
 
 Versailles, Treaty of, 588 f. 
 
 Verzin (Brazil), 1 1 
 
 Vicksburg, 423, 430, 432 n., 433 
 
 Vilas, Senator W. F., 542 f. 
 
 Villa, General Francisco, 575 
 
 Vincennes, 148 f. 
 
 Virginia, 15, 24f., 26f., 28, 31, 37, 
 53, 90, 92, 99 f., 123, 178 and n., 
 205 f., 362, 427, 433, 440 f. 
 
 Wabash, the, 148 
 
 Wade, Benjamin, 457 n. 
 
 Wales, 73 f. 
 
 " War-hawks," the, 229 
 
 Warren, Joseph, 132 
 
 War Zone of 191 5,. 577 
 
 Washington, George, to Franklin, 
 94 ; visits French forts, 98 f. ; 
 Journal of, 99 f. ; fight with Junon- 
 ville, 104 n. ; commands conti- 
 nental army, 133, i38;denounces 
 Loyalists, 106; denounced by 
 Loyalists, i 58 f . ; on Revolution, 
 163; in Constitutional Conven- 
 tion, 167; character, 169 n. 2, 
 173 ; signs Constitution, 177 ; as 
 president, 188 f., 191, 192, 197 f., 
 200 ; commander in French war, 
 204; appeals to Henry, 210 f.; 
 letter to Gray, 212,214; referred 
 to, 236, 381, 395 
 
 Washington, Treaty of, 477 n. 2 
 
 Washington's Farewell Address, 
 140 n., 143 
 
 " Watchful waiting," 571 f. 
 
 Watertown, Mass., 130 f. 
 
 Webster, Daniel, reply to Hayne, 
 272 f.; seventh-of-March speech, 
 341 f . ; to Massachusetts, 341 n.; 
 on slavery, 342 n. ; on secession, 
 343, 346 and n., 379 n. 
 
 Weyler, General Valeriano, 547 n., 
 
 554 
 Wheeler, H. C, 480 
 
6o4 
 
 Index 
 
 Whitefield, Reverend George, 84 n. 
 Whiting, Samuel, 39 
 Whitman, Walt, 445 
 Whittier, John Greenleaf, 345 
 Wigfall, Senator, 383 n., 387 n., 
 
 405 
 Wilkes, Captain Charles, 420 
 William III, king of England, 48 n., 
 
 91 n., 95 n. 
 William of Orange (theSilent), 35 n. 
 Williams College, 495 f. 
 Wills Creek, 100, 103 
 Wilmot Proviso, 342, 348, 350 n,, 
 
 359 and n. 
 Wilson, James, 133 n., 175 
 Wilson, General J. H., 453 
 Wilson, Governor J. L., 306 
 Wil=on, Woodrow, 559 n. 2 ; and 
 
 Mexico, 571 f. ; and Germany, 
 
 577 f-> 581 ; message on labor, 
 
 590 f. ; at peace conference, 
 590 n. 
 
 Winsor, Justin, 6 
 
 Winthrop, John, governor of Con- 
 necticut, 53 
 
 Winthrop, John, governor of Mas- 
 sachusetts, 38 
 
 Wirt, William R., 306 n. 2 
 
 Wise, Henry A., 427 
 
 Wise, John S., 427, 444 n. 
 
 Woodford, Stuart L., 546 f. 
 
 Wolfe, General James, 104 f. 
 
 XYZ affair, 200 f. 
 
 Yeardley, Sir George, 24 
 York River, 31 
 Yorktown, 147, I53f. 
 
 Zamal (Samar), 13 
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS 
 
AN AMERICAN HISTORY IN THE 
 SPIRIT OF TODAY 
 
 The Revised Edition of Muzzey's "American History" is of im- 
 portance in that it marks the bringing to date of a book which for a 
 number of years has been more widely used than any other American 
 history for high-school and college classes. It is the product of that 
 rare combination of qualities, — sound scholarship, a discriminating 
 sense of historical value and proportion, and a strong, vivid style that 
 makes history as interesting as a storybook. It presents the facts of 
 our history in a lively and continuous narrative without prejudice or 
 favor, and it is distinctly modern in tone and outlook. 
 
 Features of this book are its emphasis on the westward-moving 
 frontier as the most constant and potent force in our history and 
 the unusually large amount of space devoted to the history of our 
 country since the Civil War. Special emphasis is placed on political 
 development and on those factors in our national growth which are 
 most vital from the standpoint of today. 
 
 Professor Muzzey shows in the trends of yesterday the early devel- 
 opment of our national problems of today. The events of the World 
 War and the period since the armistice are treated with the author's 
 usual keen sense of proportion. The text is brought down to 1920, 
 
 By DAVID SAVILLE MUZZEY, Columbia University 
 ^ + 537 + xlvi pages, illustrated. 
 
 READINGS IN AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 One hundred and twenty-five selections, comprising extracts from 
 state papers, private journals and letters, and early chronicles, the 
 speeches and writings of public men, and newspaper narrative and 
 comment. A unique feature is the frequent presentation of several 
 extracts on a single topic. 
 
 Edited by DAVID SAVILLE MUZZEY 
 xxvii 4- 594 pages. 
 
 GINN AND COMPANY Publishers 
 
REFERENCE BOOKS IN 
 HISTORY 
 
 Abbott : Roman Political Institutions 
 
 Asser : Life of King Alfred 
 
 Brigham : From Trail to Railway through the Appalachians 
 
 Brigham : Geographic Influences in American History 
 
 Callender : Economic History of the United States, 1765-1860 
 
 Cannon : Reading References for English History 
 
 Channing, Hart, and Turner: Guide to the Study and Reading 
 
 of American History (Revised and Augmented Edition) 
 Cheyney : Readings in English History 
 Dealey : Growth of American State Constitutions 
 Fess : History of Political Theory and Party Organization in the 
 
 United States 
 Hayes : British Social Politics 
 Hitchcock : The Louisiana Purchase 
 Keller: Colonization 
 Muzzey : Readings in American History 
 Myers : History as Past Ethics 
 Priest: Germany since 1740 
 
 Reinsch : Readings on American Federal Government 
 Reinsch : Readings on American State Government 
 Richardson, Ford, Durfee, and Lutz : Syllabus of Continental 
 
 European History (Revised Edition) 
 Riggs : Studies in United States History 
 Robinson : Readings in European History, Volume I 
 
 Volume II 
 
 Abridged Edition 
 Robinson and Beard : Readings in Modern European History 
 
 Volume I 
 
 Volume II 
 Thallon : Readings in Greek History 
 Tuell and Hatch : Selected Readings in English History 
 Webster: General History of Commerce (Revised Edition) 
 
 GINN AND COMPANY Publishers 
 
GUIDE TO THE STUDY AND READ- 
 ING OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 (Revised and Augmented Edition) 
 
 By Edward Channing, Albert Bushnell Hart, and Frederick 
 Jackson Turner, Harvard University 
 
 i2mo, cloth, xvi + 650 pages 
 
 In the revision of this standard manual for teachers and librarians, 
 the authors have made substantial additions to the original material 
 and have brought the bibliographies down to date. The arrangement 
 adopted in the previous edition has been retained and differentiates 
 three main fields of information : Parts I and III, suggestions on the 
 reading and teaching of history; Part II, select lists of books and 
 other materials, classified under bibliographical aids, general works, 
 geography, sources, and illustrative works ; and Parts IV-V, one 
 hundred eighty topics in American history with specif^ references. 
 
 Parts IV-V have been enlarged to include Western and other 
 sectional developments, social and economic history in general, and 
 historical developments from the Civil War down to the present. 
 The scholarship and accuracy of the Guide make it invaluable. 
 
 READING REFERENCES FOR 
 ENGLISH HISTORY 
 
 By Henry Lewin Cannon, Leland Stanford Junior University 
 i2mo, cloth, 559 pages 
 
 Exact references to some two thousand of the most useful and 
 accessible works on English history will be found in this book. The 
 plan of the work includes : first, a bibliography of all the books 
 referred to; second, topics with specific references covering the whole 
 field of English history, chronologically divided into sections, with 
 special sections for colonial history. Each section contains references 
 to accessible sources, to modern works of a nature especially suitable 
 for high-school students, and to modern works of a more advanced 
 character; a summary of subtopics; and bibliographical references 
 to facilitate further reading. Two appendixes give references to 
 historical fiction and to poetry. 
 
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A NEW HISTORY SERIES 
 
 By James Harvey Robinson and 
 ^ James Henry Breasted 
 
 The old saying that " a book reflects its maker's personality " 
 was never applied with greater truth than in the case of these new 
 histories by James Harvey Robinson and James Henry Breasted. 
 Never before has a course of this scope been offered for high schools 
 which, in addition to those essential qualities demanded of a text- 
 book, possessed in so large a measure such attractiveness of style, 
 such grasp of historical perspective, such farseeing breadth of vision 
 and scholarly thoroughness as is found in these two volumes for 
 high schools. 
 
 ANCIENT TIMES 
 
 By James Henry Breasted. xx + 742 pages 
 
 For the first year of high-school history. In subject matter as well 
 as in style the author's constant aim has been to make this book simple 
 enough to be put into the hands of first-year classes. It is nevertheless 
 planned to stimulate and interest all pupils of high-school age. The 
 book aims to present the career of man from the Early Stone Age to 
 the break-up of the Roman Empire in a connected story of expanding 
 life and civilization. The story is always as graphic and picturesque 
 as it is scholarly, and is enriched at every point by the results of the 
 most recent excavations and discoveries. The elaborate system of 
 maps and the full illustrative material, comprising eight full-page color 
 plates and over three hundred black-and-white cuts, set a new standard 
 for textbook illustration. 
 
 MEDIEVAL AND MODERN TIMES 
 
 By James Harvey Rohinson. xii + 790 + xxxi pages 
 
 '* Medieval and Modern Times," for the second year of high school, 
 which covers the history of western Europe from the fall of the Roman 
 Empire to the present, has been revised to bring the narrative down to 
 the close of the Great War. It places emphasis on the conditions and 
 institutions which characterized the life of their times rather than upon 
 events. Thus the student, instead of retaining a confused memory of 
 names and dates, is given a general knowledge of world history invalu- 
 able to him in interpreting the preseftt. The exceptional full-page 
 plates and colored illustrations and the multitude of cuts from draw- 
 ings and rare photographs parallel the text in power to visualize the 
 scene and to interest the student. 
 
 103 a 
 
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