^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^s^^^^^^ VOLUTION Of FMPIRi N11ED State ^ X^::m ^:«^ •} 4!^C > ig'iS':: MARYMRMELE Class Book BEQUEST OF ALBERT ADSIT CLEMONS (Not available for exchange) ij/^j-^^^^^ PT 'i^/7L C^Wc With the Compliments of the Author THE EYOLUTION OF AN EMPIRE A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE UNITED STATES BY MARY PLATT PARMELE W Author of " France,*^ " Germany," "England; ** WJio? When? What?" NEW YORK WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON 59 Fifth Avenue 1896 All Rights Reserved .1 Published and Copyrighted, 1896, BY WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON, 59 Fifth Ave., New York City. Bequest Albert Adsit demons Aug. 24, 1938 {Not available for exciiaiigo) THB MARTIN PRESS 40 W. 13TH ST. NEW YORK PREFACE. With the growing complexity of life and events, it is becoming an impossible task for the memory to carry the increasing burden of details; and even if it succeeds in performing this feat, it is at the exj)ense of a clear and intelligent comprehension of the meaning of the whole. We may suc- ceed in reducing the mental structure to a mere store-house. But if in achieving this the mind has lost the power to grasp, and to combine, its acquisitions have been dearly purchased. To coiwpreliend is higher than to remem- her. The emphasis has long rested on the wrong word, and it is time it should be re- moved. In the meantime we load upon weak young shoulders, burdens we carry lightly because they have been the gradual accumulation of more years than our children have lived. PREFACE. We expect tliem to master the intricate details of a History, — its wars, its politics — its heroes, its tangled web of incident and of cause and effect; nothing must be neglect- ed, no date, no circumstance however trivial. And what is the result? An in- telligent, eager boy or girl, — confused, be- wildered in a labyrinth of unfamiliar names and events, fails to grasp the main lines, and — '^does not like history.^'' And if the same method be pursued in other branches, he "Jias no taste for study. ' ' Why ? Simply because he has been studying, — not with a thinking mind, but with one overtaxed faculty. Memory^ intended to be the humble handmaiden of the higher faculties, has been enthroned. Of what use to know that Charles I. was beheaded in 1649, unless one understands the forces Avhich led to this event ? In other words, the maximum of mental energy should be directed to the great lines of ten- dency, which make for righteousness and justice and human freedom. The names of the battles fought in work- ing out the grand design, the lists of heroes and of dates should be subordinated, and if the memory be insufficient, may be carried PREFACE. in the pocket. The study of history pursued in this way has a moral basis. There is an innate sense of justice and hatred of oi)pres- sion in the mind of the young. By appeal- ing to that, education has the quickening inhuences of the heart and of symj)athy, and the life of a Nation is studied as a Human Drama. The History of America should be an in- spiration, not a task. It ought to be known in its grand simple lines by every child in the Nation in words which would only lill two such pages as these. Let it be so ac- quired first in its utmost brevity, tlien enlarged, and enlarged again and again, gradually aj)proaching to a nearer view of the multiplicity of detail. Pleased at finding new truths whicli fit precisely into those already familiar, there will be no difficulty in keeping alive the in- terest nor in remembering. It will be graft- ing on to the living, not on to the dead. This volume is much too long to do justice to the theory upon which it is written. There are no apologies offered for omissions, but rather regrets that circumstances com- pelled the introduction of details whicli con- fuse the simplicity of the narrative. It may PREFACE. serve, however, to point tlie v^^ay to what, it seems to the writer, must be the method of the future To the general reader it is offered as a short and simple story of the great Empire in the Western Hemisphere. New York, M. P. July 6, 1896. CONTENTS. Chapter I. PAGE The Age of Discovery —Easier Route to India the Problem of the Age— Prevailiug Beliefs Regarding the Earth and Universe — Christopher Columbus.. 1 Chapter II. The Council at Salamanca— Columbus at Rabida — Ferdinand and Isabella Consent to Equip a Fleet. 10 Chapter III. Voyage from Palos on the "Sea of Darkness" — Arrival at San Salvador— The Triumph — Sorrows and Death of the Discoverer — Amerigo Vespucci. 19 Chapter IV. The "New World" an Old World— Its Prehistoric Races — Conjectures Regarding Origin of Aztecs, Incas and Mound Builders — The North American Indians — Discoveries of The Cabots— Balboa — Magellan — Verazzani — Cartier — De Soto — Cabrillo — Frobisher — Sir Francis Drake — Founding of St. Augustine 27 CONTENTS. Chapter V. Sir "Walter Raleigh's Attempts at Colonization— Be- ginning of Colonial Life in America — The London Company— Settling of Jamestown— John Smith- Negro Slavery Planted in America— Massacre by Indians — Dissolution of London Company — Bacon's Rebellion _ _ 38 Chapter VI. French Colonization and Discoveries in the North — Henry Hudson Ascends "Manhattan" River — Foundation of the Dutch Claim in America — Persecution of Puritans in England— Transforma- tion of Northeast portion of Virginia into New England— New Plymouth Company— Arrival of Mayflower— Hardships Endured— Form of Gov- ernment—Massachusetts Bay Company — New Colony at Salem - First Thanksgiving Dinner- Harvard College— Roger Williams Banished— Beginnings of Rhode Island— Maine— New Hamp- shire — Connecticut _ 43 Chapter VII. The Dutch in the New Netherlands— New Amsterdam —Duke of York Takes Possession of Territory Claimed by Holland -New York— The Jerseys— Delaware— Maryland— The Carolinas— Pennsyl- vania— Georgia -Oglethorpe's Experiment 59 Chapter VIII. French Dominion Extending in America— Louisiana- King William's War -Queen Anne's War— King George's War— Navigation Act Massachusetts Defiant— Sir Edmund Andros— The Charter Oak —The Beginnings of Patriotism 68 COI^TENTS. Chapter IX. PAGE Colonial Governments — Prevailing Social and Intellec- tual Conditions — Negro Slavery — Indentured Ap- prentices - 75 Chapter X. The Ohio Company — Governor Dinwiddie and George Washington — General Braddock's Defeat— Dis- persing of the French Acadians — British Vic- tories — Quebec — Treaty at Paris 81 Chapter XI. Colonists Asked to Pay for a War in Their Behalf ! — The Stamp Act — Rebellion — Patrick Henry — Franklin — William Pitt — Stamp Act Repealed — Another Tax upon Glass, Paper and Tea— The Authority of Parliament — Constitutional Rights — Firm Attitude of Colonists— Cheap Tea— Its Fate — Port of Boston Closed— General Gage — Whigs — Tories 88 Chapter XII. First Colonial Congress — Effect of Its Action in Eng- land — Pitt and Franklin in the House of Commons — Authority of King to be Maintained 99 Chapter XIII. Preparation for War — Lexington — Paul Revere — Second Continental Congress -Howe, Clinton and Burgoyne Arrive — Bunker Hill — Washington in Command — British in Charleston Harbor — Moul- trie at Sullivan's Island — Kentucky — Washing- ton's Management Criticised— British Evacuate Boston 105 CONTENTS. Chapter XIV. Declaration of Independence — Hessian Mercenaries — Washington's Army in Eetreat— Discouragement —Crossing the Delaware— Victories at Trenton and Princeton — Winter at Morristown — La Fayette— Philadelphia Occupied by the British— Burgoyne's Defeat and Surrender— Washington at Valley Forge — Overtures from Great Britain- French Alliance— Continental Money— Benedict Arnold— Andr^ and Hale 115 Chapter XV. Surrender of Cornwallis — Independence of United States Acknowledged by Great Britain— Treaty at Versailles — An Infant Republic — Constitution Adopted— Form of Government— George Wash- ington, First President 127 Chapter XVI. National Debt— Financial Management of Alexander Hamilton — French Revolution — Jay's Treaty 138 Chapter XVII. Federalists and Republicans — War of Opinions — The Cotton Gin— John Adams President— Alien and Sedition Laws— Thomas Jefferson President 141 Chapter XVIII. Death of Washington— Purchase of Louisiana- French Spoliation Claims— Tripoli Bombarded— War Between France and England — Milan and Berlin Decrees— Right of Search — Aaron Burr — Death of Hamilton— First Steamboat 149 COXTENTS. ClIArTER XIX. PAGE Territorial Development — Life in the Interior — Tecumseli and the Indian Confederacy — Tippe- canoe — War of 1812 — H\ill Surrenders Detroit — Naval Victories 158 Chapter XX. Indians' Last Struggle for their Continent — Massacre by British Allies — General Harrison — Lawrence — Battle of Lake Erie — Proctor's Defeat by Harrison — Death of Tecumseh — Battle of Plattsburg — Waterloo — Admiral Cockburn — Burning of Wash- ington — Andrew Jackson — Battle of New Orleans — Treaty of Peace — James Monroe President ..... 1G8 ClIArTER XXI. Florida purchased — Missouri Compromise — Monroe Doctrine— Erie Canal — Jolm Quincy Adams — La Fayette's Visit 177 Chapter XXII. The Tariff — Andrew Jackson President — Nullification — Clay Compromise— The National Bank — Delu- sive Prosperity — Martin Van Burcn Elected — Financial Ruin — Removal of Indians to Reserva- tions— Seminole War — Sub Treasury Bill — Will- iam Henry Harrison's Inauguration — Ashburton Treaty 185 Chapter XXIII. Death of President Harrison — John Tyler — Dorr's Rebellion — The Mormons — Texan Independence — Proposed Annexation— Magnetic Telegraph — James K. Polk Elected — Sentiment at the North — CONTENTS. PAGE Growth — First Locomotive — Mexican Boundary Question — "War with IMexico — Victories— City of Mexico occupied — Capture of California. 195 CilAPTEK XXIV. Territory Ceded by Mexico — Treaty Concerning North western Boundary — Wihiiot Proviso — President Taylor's Inauguration and Death — Millard Fill- more — Compromise of 1850— Fugitive Slave Law — Franklin Pierce — Uncle Tom's Cabin — Develop- ment 206 Chapter XXV. Republican Party — James Buchanan Elected — Dred Scott Decision — Kansas a Free State — John Brown at Harper's Ferry 217 Chapter XXVI. Conditions North and South— Abraham Lincoln Elec- ted — Secession — A Southern Confederacy — Fort Sumter_ _ 225 Chapter XXVII. Call for Troops — Battle of Bull Run — Contrabands — Mason and Slidell — Merrimac and Monitor— Far- ragut's Designs— U. S. Grant— Fort Donelson— Victories 235 Chapter XXVIII. Gen. Robert E. Lee— Battles before Richmond— Call for 600,000 more Troops— Farragut's Ascent of the Mississippi— Antietam— Lincoln's offer of Gradual Emancipation— Slavery to Exist no more 245 CONTENTS. Chapter XXIX. PAGE Chancellorsville — Gettysburg — Vicksburg — Lookout Mountain— Grant in Command — The Wilderness — Sherman's March — Atlanta — Savannah — Grant's Advance on Richmond — Thomas destroys Hood's Army — Richmond occupied — Lee's Surrender — Peace — Assassination of Lincoln — Army dis- banded—National Clemency — Maximilian in Mex- ico 256 Chapter XXX. Reconstruction— Civil Rights Bill — President Im- peached — General Pardon — Conditions — The Paci- fic Road — Grant Elected President — Financial Panic — Arbitration and Alabama Claims 268 Chapter XXXI. The Centennial — International Exhibition — Hayes President — James Garfield — His Assassination — Chester Alan Arthur— The Tariff— James G. Blaine — The New West— Silver an Issue— Trusts — Tendency to Life in Cities — Spiritual Forces at Work — The Future and the Hope of America 282 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. CHAPTER I. The light which illumines the Fifteenth Century, is the light of geographical dis- covery. It was an age when men's minds were strangely stirred with a desire to extend the frontiers of knowledge regarding the World they inhabited, — and Portugal was the centre of this new enthusiasm. The shores of the Mediterranean and the lands extending east and north had long been sufficient for humanity. But in the fulness of time there had come an expansion, a con- scious need of more space. That land known by the all-embracing name of India^ had been for ages the treas- ure-house of the World. The nations of antiquity, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Assyri- ans and Arabians, had each in turn fattened 2 HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. upon its inexhaustible products. In 1275 A.D. Marco Polo, a Venetian traveller, wrote dazzling descriptions of what his eyes had seen in this mysterious land. It was teem- ing with treasures which Europe must and would have. But its gold, ivory, costly silks, shawls, perfumes, spices, and all its priceless products, must be carried to the Eed Sea by caravan, — thence on the backs of camels across the desert to the Nile, — whence they were transported through Egypt, and finally conveyed in ''Argosies, with portly sail," to the Merchant of Venice, Genoa and Florence. These three cities were the gates through which this opulent stream flowed into Europe. They had grown into rich and powerful States by means of this lucrative commerce, so that India had become but another name for fabulous success. A quicker and a cheaper route to India, — was the problem of the age. The nation which should solve it, would divert this golden tide of prosperity from the Italian Kepublics to its own shores. Such was the magnet, which was drawing men's minds, and such the attraction which gave to maritime discovery a practical aim, HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 3 and compelling purpose; the nations all vy- ing with each other in first reaching the prize. Prince Henry of Portugal conceived the idea that by following the coast of Africa, an opening might be found through which ships could pass to the other side; or, — fail- ing in that, that the Continent might be circumnavigated. FeAV symjiathized with a scheme so daring as this last, for would they not have to pass through the torrid zone ? which was, as every one knew, a region of fires and of heat so fierce, that the very waters boiled. And besides, had not Pto- lemy said that the African Continent ex- tended down to the southern extremity of the earth? — and that it there was joined to its Asiatic sister, standing an everlasting barrier to ships ? But Prince Henry's adventurous little crafts crex^t cautiously farther and farther down the coast. The equator was at last passed and divested of its fanciful terrors. Portugal became the acknowledged leader in discovery. Its importance increased and it arose to the first rank among the King- doms of Europe. Prince Henry' s dream was realized, but long after his death, when in 4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 1500 A.D. Yasco de Gam a rounded tlie Cape of Good Hope, and India was readied by an ocean pathway. Before tliis event, wliile Portuguese ships were still groping cautiously down the African coast, an obscure man was conceiv- ing a new and daring solution of the problem. The Atlantic ocean, or as they called it ' 'Sea of Darkness," stretched away towards the west, an untravelled waste. The sun went down upon a region of awful mystery. None so hardy as to attempt to find out its secrets. The maps and charts of that day pictured hideous monsters guarding this region of horrors. One represented the bony, gnarled hand of Satan, rising out of the waters ready to seize ships which should pass those limits upon the Sea of Darkness. So the expanding life within was pressing outward, through a mass of superstition and of misconception. A few daring thinkers in ancient times had said that the Earth was a sphere. But practical and reasonable men knew the folly of a theory which would compel our antipodes ' ' to walk upon their heads with their feet dangling in the air," in a land where the ' ' snow, hail and rain fell up- wards. ' ' So this foolish belief hid away from HISTORY OF THE U>sITED STATES. 5 condemnation and ridicule, lurking in dark places, while ordinary and sensible people rested content with an illimitable plane, bounded by a limitless ocean. While there might have been some diver- sity of opinion regarding the shape of the World, upon another and more important matter all were agreed. The earth was the centre of the universe, around which re- volved the Sun, Moon, planets and constel- lations. It is amazing and indeed appalling to con- template the enormous expenditure of intel- lectual power and even of genius, in con- structing a system which should bring all the observed phenomena of the Universe into harmony with — one stupendous error ! Did the movements of the stars seem to conflict with the geocentric fact, it was explained by a marvellously constructed system of what were called epicycles^ which safely bridged every difficulty. Ptolemy had elaborated this system in the year 150 a.d., based upon the teachings of Hipparchus, two centuries earlier. Later astronomers had made additions to it, until it had become an ingenius accretion of scien- tific subterfuges, and so difficult to compre- 6 HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. hend that there is little wonder the intellects of the time grew preternaturally sharpened in mastering its intricacies. In the latter part of the Fifteenth Century it was still venerated, after having been for thirteen lumdred years a lamp to the stumbling feet of poor humanity. There was at that time living in Prus- sia, a boy at whose touch fifty years later this venerable pile would crumble to ashes. Coi^ernicus died in 1543, leaving to the world the strangest legacy ever known. (His work was published after his death that same year.) When he placed the Sun in the centre of our solar system, and sent the usurping earth into the humble orbit of a satellite, everything fell into place as if by magic. There was no need of epicycle^ nor of ingenious casuistry to exj)lain a theory which proved itself every hour in a way convincing and irresistible. But at the time we are now considering, this illumination had not come. In this twilight of knowledge streaked with a few rays of the coming dawn, CHRISTOPHER COL UMB US, a Genoese mariner, naviga- tor and adventurer, was led by circumstances to Portugal. The current enthusiasm awoke HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 7 answering vibrations in his soul. Cosmo- graphical study had been his passion from his childhood. Every physical theory of antiquity, every ascertained truth was fa- miliar to him. He pondered over old charts and "as he mused the lire burned." The conviction grew upon him that the earth was a sphere: — and in that case the way to the east w^as by the west! By taking a course due west, a ship must inevitably come soon ui)on the eastern shores of that fabled land described by Marco Polo. The way to India, lay not across the Con- tinent of Asia — nor around that of Africa — but through the few hundreds of leagues of ocean, which without doubt on its eastern side washed the shores of Tartary. As he dwelt upon this new and startling conception, it grew into noon-day clearness. To his ardent mind it w^as not conjecture, but fact. Enthusiastic, imaginative, in- tensely religious, the predestined discoverer of an unknown world consecrated his life to the realizing of his dream, and solemnly dedicated the boundless wealth it must bring him, to the recovering of the Holy Sepul- chre ! 8 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. It was a strange mixture of truth and error. He little imagined that on the other side of that waste of ocean there lay a great sleeping world, its head pillowed on the eternal Arctic snows, its feet in the Southern Pacific, 9, 000 miles away. That while Egyp- tian, Greek, and Roman civilizations had come and gone, it had peacefully slept. When Europe in its barbaric infancy had listened to the Divine message of Christ, it had not stirred. Nor yet, as she grew old and wrinkled and seamed and scarred with iniquity, was the long sleep broken. If, as is believed, the Northmen came in the year 1000 A.D. (led by Leif, the son of Eric) and dwelt for a few years ujjon the vine-clad shores of ISTarragansett- Bay, there was no thrill of awakening life in the slumbering Continent. But now, the time had come. The cruel, wicked old world deluged with tears and blood was not to be the scene of humanity' s highest development. There has been a curious significance in some ex)och-making names, — Michael An- gelo — Raphael — Leonardo da Vinci — Napo- leon — are strangely suggestive; and to this list may be added — Christopher Columbus, HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 9 ChristopJier, with its Divine suggestion, and Columho — the dove, — sent out over the waste of water to discover a new world which perhaps shall survive the wreck of the old. CHAPTER II. Theee are many names linked with discov- ery, whicli shine as beacon-lights in history. But what gives to that of Cliristo'plier Co- Iwnbus such unique splendor, is not alone the grandeur of what he accomplished, but — the fact that it was based upon a precon- ceived theory, perfectly true in principle. He did not sail blindly out into that Sea of Darkness impelled by love of adventure, and then come unexpectedly upon a Conti- nent. The man of action achieved by heroic endeavor what the man of thought had first planned in the closet. His penetrating ge- nius had the power to grasp and combine the phenomena of the external world, and to draw from them conclusions far-reaching and true. These conclusions once grasped remained in his mind rock-ribbed realities, upon which storms of discouragement, per- secution, and ridicule, beat for years in vain. The making of maps seems not to have HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 11 been a bad sort of occniDation in that age of geographical enthusiasm ; for we hear of Vespucius, x>aying $500 for a map of the world; and a curiously inaccurate thing it must have been, with no Cape of Good Hoj)e, and no American Continent. This was the occupation by which Colum- bus earned a scanty living in Lisbon, while the growing thought was taking possession of him, and the fire was kindling in his soul. It is quite x)robable that a friendship was commenced at tliis time between the two men whose names were destined to be for- ever so strangely associated. There is contagion in a splendid enthusi- asm. His own absolute belief in his project compelled people to listen to Columbus, and even bridged the gulf between him and the throne of Spain. Ferdinand smiled indul- gently as he listened to plans for bestowing wealth and kingdoms. The prize was allur- ing. A quick route to India would bring enormous reward. He felt almost temx)ted to venture sometliing in such a lottery. The chance had been lost to Genoa and to Portu- gal, but it might be offered to them again. Genoa's prosi)erity was rudely menaced by all these efforts to reach India by sea; — and 12 HISTOKY OF THE UIsTITED STATES. Portugal was ambitious to keep her place in the lead of discovery. All these things passed through the unimpassioned mind of Ferdinand as he coolly weighed the visionary promises of the Genoese. But Isabella's soul was deeply stirred by the eloquence of this enthusiast, who talked of carrying the Holy Faith into the darkened east. To win the Great Khan of Tartary to the Cross, was worth venturing much. Talavera, the Queen's father confessor, warily urged that she take advice before act- ing in a matter so important. At his sugges- tion a Junta or Council of Cosmographers was invited to meet and listen to what Columbus had to say, and then to determine whether his plan was worth considering. To the childlike Columbus it seemed, when summoned to meet the learned Council at Salamanca, (I486,) that the end was at hand. He had but to exj^lain, in order to convince. He looked with eager confidence into the faces of cosmographers, astronomers, and learned prelates, as he disclosed his project, and the convincing truths upon which it was based. Talavera — his evil genius then and always — presided over their deliberations. They listened to this visionary adventurer, HISTOKY OF THE Ui^^ITED STATES. 13 who talked so lightly of overthrowing the beliefs of centuries. Generations of men wise in nautical science had preceded him. Was it probable they could have overlooked such a truth, if it was a trutli? A new thought, if it be revolutionary, is an insult to the learning of a thousand years. He was guilty not so much of building up a new be- lief, — as of tearing down the old. " Even admitting the earth to be round" said one, "in that case the ships could never return. For in coming back, would they not have to climb all the way uj) a hill ? And what winds could enable them to do that?" The fathers of the Cliurch were cited, and scriptures quoted in proof that the earth is a plane ; Columbus saw he was in danger not alone of defeat, but even of charges of heresy. The Junta decided that ''- the project loas vain and impossihle.^^ Ferdinand, who had never been in sympathy with it, now dis- missed it; and even Isabella realized she must abandon a dream, against which science and religion joined hands. But Columbus was not without advocates. A small minority of the Council believed in 14 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. him. He rallied from this defeat. His elo^ quence, his lofty enthusiasm for carrying the Cross into heathen Cathay (northern part of China) had an irresistible charm for Isabella. Hope revived, and then came the war with the Moors, which swept him and his project into oblivion; Columbus waiting patiently for the fresh consideration prom- ised, after tlie war should have concluded. But, alas for those who put their trust in Princes ! When peace came, the treasury was drained, and the cool, calculating Fer- dinand, was in no mood to equip a fleet, for "this pauper pilot, promising rich realms." Seven years had thus been spent in vain ef- fort. Columbus' hair had whitened, his step had grown slow and faltering. The few who had shared his enthusiasm had grown cold. Poverty and defeat are poor advocates of a waning cause. People looked pityingly af- ter him, children touched their foreheads and smiled as he passed slowly on the street. But his intrepid soul knew no defeat. He was planning fresh efforts. He would aban- don this land which for seven years had lured him with false hopes. Genoa had declined the undertaking. Portugal had deceived him with promises, HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 15 then basely using his own charts and plans, had secretly sent out a ship to test their truth. Spain had stolen from him iive of the best years of his waning life. He had sent his brotlier three years ago to con- fer with Henry YII of England, and Bar- tholomew (who had been captured by i3i- rates) had not been heard from since. To France sliould be offered the glory of this enterprise! History affords few pictures as striking as this old man, humiliated by unpaid bills for food and clothing, footsore, weary, knock- ing at the gate of the Monastery at Rabida, and asking for bread and shelter ; the humble package he carried, containing at that moment the key to wealth immeasurable — charts and plans which within a year would bestow a Hemisjyltere ! This hour of deepest defeat saved him to Spain. It is part of this strange romance, that the prior of the Monastery, had been before Talavera the Father Confessor to Isa- bella; — a man loved and revered by her. They talked far into the night. His interest growing more and more profound in the story of Columbus, whom he implored to wait; to abide patiently with him while he 16 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. acquainted the Queen with his purpose of leaving Spain. The prior wrote to Isabella — representing the pity and the shame of permitting such an opportunity to be enjoyed by France. Columbus waited at Rabida while letters passed and repassed. Hopes were fanned into life, only to be extinguished again, and then to be rekindled. Finally he mounted his mule and turned his face resolutely toward France. At this very moment the generous Queen had re- solved. She would equip the expedition herself. " The enterprise is mine," she said proudly. ''I undertake it for Castile! — " A royal messenger was dispatched to over- take Columbus, inviting him to come to the Court, and sending an ample sum to meet the expense of his journey and outfit. Did they expect him to come as an humble suppliant, ready to make any concession for royal favor ? If so they were mistaken. Un- daunted by misfortunes, — with a lofty faith in what he had to confer, Columbus named his conditions, proudly and firmly. He must be made Admiral of the seas, and Viceroy of the lands he is about to discover. He must have one-tenth of the profits of the expedition HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 17 —and these honors and privileges must be forever hereditary in his family. Spanish Grandees listened indignantly to these arrogant demands from a half- crazy foreign adventurer, in thread-bare coat. Negotiations were broken off, Columbus proudly refusing to abate his conditions one jot again turned his face toward Prance. But others beside Talavera were counsel- ing the King and Queen. They urged the folly of allowing such an opportunity to be lost to Spain, and to go to France; while the 64,000 dollars required to equij) the Heet, was, after all, a triHe, compared with, the possible results. (The force of this reason- ing was proved a generation later, when the one surviving ship of Magellan' s expedition returned laden with si^ices from Molucca, which when sold realized a sum sufficient to pay the whole cost of the expedition and to leave a handsome profit besides.) And as for the honors, if he did not succeed he would not wear them; and if he did, — he deserved them. Isabella glad to be sustained dispatched another messenger to recall Columbus, and again he returned; this time, to be invested 18 HISTORY OF THE TTNITED STATES. with all tlie honors and clothed with all the authority he had claimed. As Columbus journeyed toward Palos, he bore with him strange credentials — letters addressed to Kublai-Kahn and other oriental Kings (the names left in blank) telling these yet-undiscovered-potentates, of the affec- tion entertained for them by their Spanish Majesties, their joy at their peace and pros- perity, and asking them to receive Christo- pher Columbus, whom they sent to deliver this message of love. A delicious bit of diplomatic fiction which is strange reading in the light of this closing Nineteenth Cen- tury. CHAPTER III. The most memorable voyage ever made was commenced and ended on Friday. In about thirty-six days, was accomplished what Columbus had been nearly twenty years in projecting. "^ On the 3d of August 1492, the three caravels, Santa-Maria, Pinta, and Nina, sailed from Palos. One hundred and twen- ty men who had with difficulty been per- suaded to venture upon a voyage so hazard- ous and unprecedented, bade farewell to weeping friends. Never were seas so peaceful, nor skies so friendly; yet as they were carried farther and farther into the unknown, vague terrors possessed them. Hitherto ships had kept near to the land. But even the gentle winds seemed to carry them now with a fatal facility, as if drawing them into a region from whence there was no return; and when * See Chronology, in Supplement. 20 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. the magnetic needle no longer pointed to the north star, a phenomenon now perfectly understood, Columbus was obliged to in- vent explanations for what seemed even to himself sinister and unaccountable. Whether his impatient and mutinous fol- lowers would really have thrown him into the sea after the thirty-third day, it is im- possible to say. But the floating branch of thorn with fresh berries, was a blessed mes- senger of hope; quickly confirmed by birds flying toward the southwest. These birds altered the course of history. Had Columbus followed his own unerring instincts, and steadily kept his course due west, as he intended to do, the little fleet would have come directly upon the coast of Florida, and Sj)anish dominion from the first would have been established uxoon the Continent of North America. It was his yielding his own judgment to others and following the birds to the south- west, which prevented him from being the first to reach the Western Continent, and which led him instead into the broken surface of that archipelago in the western ocean, which was thereafter the basis of Spanish Dominion in the new World. HISTORY OF THE Ui^ITED STATES. 21 But Columbus did not dream it was a ''New World," upon which he planted the cross and the colors of Spain on that October morning, 1492. He supposed of course it was the Asiatic coast; and the dark-skinned natives who furtively and timorously watch- ed the dazzling beings who had come down to them from the skies, these he naturally called, Indians. He had little doubt they would soon aid him in finding his way to the great populous cities which must be near. Marco Polo's book was his guide in this new and strange region, which he soon dis- covered was not the mainland. In Cuba, the largest of the Islands, he joy- fully recognized the Cipango^ or Japan^ of that book of marvels; and when in the soft melodious speech of the natives he heard the word "Cubanaca/2," (meaning beyond Cuba) he was sure that the great " Kublai-Klian " dwelt in the region to which they pointed, and he should soon see him face to face, and deliver his letter from the King and Queen! His winged imagination had flown over a great Continent, and then over 9000 miles of ocean beyond. One-half the circumference of the globe lay between him and Japan. 'SZ HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. But if the round world was greater than he knew, so was his discovery ! Once the first thread has spanned the abyss, it is easy to send after it cords, — and then cables, — and finally iron pathways. Columbus had spanned the gulf of darkness and ignorance; — and now it would require daring, but no genius, for Yespucius, and the Cabots, Balboas and Magellans to fol- low, and then to strengthen and extend the bridge for the feet of the nations to tread. It would be pleasant to tell of rewards rich and ample — of generous recognition by the Nation and of grateful Sovereigns load- ing him with honors, and only sunset-splen- dors after a troubled day. But the history of heroes, is not written in that way. Great souls do not float down life's stream upon beds of flowery ease; and Columbus must be greatest of all, if greatness be measured by sorrows. Envy, — suspicion, — malice, — vindictive hate, — cruel misrepresentation, — all that these can inflict were his to bear. Unrea- sonable and rapacious followers demanding immediate realization of extravagant hopes, which too they must obtain without effort. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 23 Highly wrought expectation in Spain which must not be disappointed. A gentle, help- less native race, whom he believed he had a God-given mission to save, and yet from whom he must exact toil and tribute to meet the expectations of his Sov- ereigns, and whom he was helpless to pro- tect from the cruel civilization he had brought to their shores. No gentler savages ever idled in the sun. Unconscious of evil as they were of toil, seemingly exemj^t in their Paradise from the universal curse. Timid as fawns, con- fiding as children, equally unconscious of the value of the gems they wore on their naked persons, and of the fierce cupidity they excited. But tliey were to learn their cruel lesson quickly. Soon we hear them ]3laintively asking these superior beings, — ''when they are going back to their home in the skies? " In four years a third of this gentle race had perished. One of them when offered consolation by a priest as he was dying, asked if there were any Span- iards in his Heaven; and when told there were, said — then he would rather go to Hell. A few words linger in our speech as me- morials of this hapless race. 24 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Hamac. — A net stretched across poles in which they slept. Urican. — The fierce tempests which swept their islands. Tahaco. — The weed they smoked, and Caniba. — A word used in speaking of their man-eating neighbors, the Caribs. If those Caravels had brought to our shores such men as came over in the May- flower 128 years later, the slumbering Con- tinent would have had a different awaken- ing. The contrasting results of planting mce and mrtue in virgin soil, were never before so obvious. Both have borne and are still bearing, abundant and convincing- harvests. It may be expecting too much of one man, that he should be equally great as discoverer, — law-giver, and ruler of a Province. Colum- bus may not always have acted with perfect wisdom. But he did not deserve to be the victim of mutinies, treacheries and consi)ira- cies, to have every misfortune in the Colony laid to his charge ; enemies in Spain eagerly sj)reading misrepresentations from the West Indies, undermining him in public estima- tion and with his Sovereigns. To a man con- scious of his own lofty aims what greater HISTOKY OF THE UJTITED STATES. 25 suffering could be inflicted? There is ter- rible vitality in slander. The dragons-teeth sown at that time have borne harvests ever since. Even as late as his fourth Centen- nial in 1892, there was fresh effort to de- tract from the glory of his name and achievement. There was a brief triumph when Columbus returned and was received by his Sovereigns under a golden canopy and with royal hon- ors ; its recollection only to be obliterated by another return, a few years later, loaded with irons like a common criminal. In vain did royal hands remove the manacles, and try to soothe his outraged spirit. The iron had entered into his soul. He could never forget the ignominy which had been ]3ut upon him, and kept the chains to be placed in his coffin as a memorial of a grateful country. There was a sublimity in his misfortunes which matched the magnitude of his work. A Homer well-fed and laurel-crowned, would be a less heroic figure, than a Homer blind and begging bread. And so there is a tragic grandeur in Columbus, dying in poverty and neglect at Valladolid (May 20th, 1506) unconscious of his magnificent gift to the 26 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. world, and believing he had outlived his fame. If his dying eyes fixed on those cruel chains hanging upon the wall, could have had prophetic vision of a grand pageant in New York Harbor four centuries hence, when all the nations of Europe were as- sembled to pay homage to his name, if he could have beheld the " White City by the Lake" that evanescent creation of genius which sprang into existence as if by Magi- cian's Wand to do him honor, he would have seen that the final verdict of the world is just. Amerigo Vespucci, a friend and comrade of Columbus, guided by the great navigator's own maps and charts visited the South American coast in 1499 — (one year after Columbus). He wrote a fascinating descrip- tion of what he saw. Authorship is not often too richly rewarded. One Waldsee- Muller, a German geographer, seems to have placed these unearned and unsought honors upon the Florentine writer, by suggesting that the new land be named after him. And so it is, that millions of people pay Yespu- cius undeserved tribute, every hour, in call- ing themselves Americans. CHAPTER lY. The wall of mystery encircling the West- ern Continent had been broken down, and little streams of European civilization began to press in here and there, increasing in vol- ume, and destined in time to inundate the land. The New World which was now to be brought out of its hiding place, was in fact, a very Old World. It bore hoary secrets in its bosom, which have ever since baffled the curi- osity of man. At the time of its discovery, it contained two races, with anomalous but developed social and political systems. The Aztecs occupied a vast empire in Mexico, stretching from ocean to ocean, in the south- ern extremity of North America, and the "Children of the Sun" in Peru, the land of the Incas, another empire nearly as large on the western coast of South America. Mildness and ferocity, refinements and bar- barities were strangely mingled in both. 28 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Temples blazing with gold and jewels were shambles, where thousands of human vic- tims were yearly sacrificed to their deities by a people singularly gentle and peaceful in their instincts, and simple and just in their government and laws. Amid incon- gruous refinements, fruits, flowers, perfumes and joyous outbursts of song and dance, the^ victim was bound to the sacrificial stone, his breast cut open, his heart torn out, and bleeding and almost palpitating, devoured by the worshippers. But the existence of the rudiments of as- tronomy, knowledge of the cause of eclipses, the construction of the sun-dial, and divi- sions of time, identical with those in the east, all pointed to some remote connection with the early civilizations of Asia. Researches have shown that the "Tol- tecs," — a race immediately preceding the Az- tecs, — had a civilization of a higher type than they, and that in proportion Avith the in- crease in antiquity, there is corresponding advance in character of remains. This is ground for believing that there was a highly developed people at a time immeasurably remote, upon whom were superimposed the sombre cruelties of lower races. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 29 That these people should have possessed astronomical knowledge sufficiently accurate to estimate the length of the year to an in- appreciable fraction is as accountable, as that sculptured elephants should be found upon their temples; an animal which has never existed in the Western Hemisphere. For a man in solitary confinement from in- fancy, to evolve a knoAvledge of arbitrary systems and customs, would be no less of a miracle, and would lead us to believe he must at some time, and in some way, have held communication witli tlie outside world. The tradition of the sudden subsidence of ''Atlantis" in the west, was hoary with age when related to Plato by the Egyptian priests. Whether the Azores fire really the mountain peaks of that drowned Continent, which once bridged the distance between the east and west, — or, whether by natural process of evolution an isolated race by law of nature came to use the same arbitrary di- visions of time, symbols, ritual, — developing upon lines identical with the nations in the east, are the two extreme theories with which speculation is still busy. In North America, stretching from the 30 HISTORY OF THE UJ^ITED STATES. Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, are evi- dences of a civilization shrouded in still deeper mystery; a race so remote in time that excepting vast earthworks, — those most indestructible forms of architecture, — its traces are almost effaced. These parallelo- grams, squares, pyramids, rearing their heads some of them ninety feet high, and extending many of them over acres and some over even miles of territory, are silent and mysterious as the Sphinx. A huge ser- pent to-day winds through Ohio in graceful curves for 1000 feet, its open jaws about to swallow an egg-shaped figure 364 feet long. For what purpose millions of men toiled for centuries upon these strange structures baf- fles conjecture. But their construction shows a knowledge of principles which gives evidence of a people highly developed in some respects, while beautiful designs in vases and utensils tell of advanced concep- tions in art. The North American Indian, who wan- dered careless and incurious over these vast graves of a prehistoric race, belonged to a time comparatively recent, and had not one instinct in common with his predecessors. The Mound-Builders, the Aztecs, and the HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. 31 " Children of the Sun," give evidence of a common origin. They were toilers, and have left the impress of a tremendous purpose and industry in the lands where they dwelt; whereas the Indian leaves no more trace of occupation in the country through which he roams than do the elk and buffalo on the plains, or the deer in tlie forests. While the Mound-Builders must have been num- bered by millions, the North American Indi- ans who succeeded them were but a handful; not more than 200,000, or the contents of a city like Detroit, emptied into the vast soli- tudes east of the Mississippi. The West Indies and adjacent tropical lands, on the contrary, were when found densely popu- lated with the native race. Such was the Continent barring the way to India, and upon whose threshold the ra- pacious Spaniard was liercely hunting for gold and pearls. The treasure already flowing into Sjoain, was only a golden promise of what lay be- yond this obstructing land. Other nations were eager to share the fruits of a discovery they had refused to aid. England, never far behind in such enter- prise, was first in the field; Henry YII send- 32 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. ing out j)roniptly an expedition in charge of John Cahot, a Yenetian mariner. He wise- ly conjectured that on a round world, a northern course must be the shorter one. Sailing from Bristol for Cathay in 1497, he came unexpectedly upon the coast of New- foundland, and was the unconscious discov- erer of the Continent of America. (One year earlier than Columbus landed in South America — 1498. ) While the Cabots, father and son, were searching the Northern coast for straits which would carry them to the east through the west, Spain was not idle. Ponce ds Leon in search of the fabled spring of youth, had come upon a llowery coast on Easter Sunday, — '' Fascua Flori- da^^^ — and gave the picturesque name Flori- da to the peninsula (1512). Balboa had crossed the isthmus of Darien and dramatically claimed the then nameless ocean for Spain (1513). Magellan still searching for an open water- way through the land, found it — (1520) — but too far away to be of much use to commerce. He christened the Pacific Ocean — and then as he lay dead in the Phillipine Islands, slain by savages, — abundant honors were at- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 33 tached to his name, for being the first to cir- cumnavigate the globe. That sumptuous Monarch Francis I asked ''what sort of compact have Spain and Eng- land with the Almighty, that they should divide the earth between them?" Verazzani^ a Florentine mariner offered his services to France, and with a single ca- ravel, the "Dolphin," crossed the ocean reaching the coast where Wilmington now stands. The little "Dolphin" bearing this first Italian to our shores sailed into New York Harbor 1524. He j)ronounced it "the good- liest place his eyes had ever rested on," — a sentiment echoed since by a million (more or less) of his countrymen. We hear he had also a favorable oiDinion of Newport^ which has also been shared by many Europeans. Cartier^ in 1534, explored the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the river of that name as far as the Island which he named Mont-real^ — Royal-Mount: — and planting the colors of Francis I, — he called the land "New France." Spain in the meanwhile was penetrating farther and farther into the west. Nothing in the annals of the world exceeds her 34 HISTOKY OF THE Ui^ITED STATES. cruelties in Mexico and Peru ; the Monte- zumas in 1521 under Cortez^ and the Incas in 1532 under Pizarro, perishing in her grasp. Fernando de Soto who had been trained in cruelty under Cortez in Peru, received a commission from Charles V to go in search of the ''Seven Cities of Cibola." He led a glittering host into the dense forests where now are the plantations of northern Missis- sippi, and when instead of great potentates and sumptuous cities, forlorn Indians came out of native wigwams, oifering corn, they killed them in disappointment and rage. At the point where Memphis stands the King of Elvers was first seen by European eyes. There too De Soto died, and his hopes and ambitions were buried in the turbid waters he had discovered. (1541.) One of his followers, Menendez returned, to found the town of St. Augustine, — (1565). At the same time that Admiral Coligny's colony of Huguenot refugees was living its brief life at Port Royal, upon what is now the South Carolina coast. Cabrillo^ another of Cortez' s comrades, fol- lowed the direction up the Pacific coast in- dicated by the Mexicans as a region of gold. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 35 Their feet unconsciously trod that El-Do- rado of three centuries later which would have satisfied their wildest dream, naming it California^ after a Kingdom in a Spanish romance then popular. So, — striving to get through or around the land, — experimenting like curious and ad- venturous ants, these pioneers of an invading host had pierced the Continent at countless points, still believing it was the Asiatic coast. Europe was disheartened by the immensity of the barriers. Martin Frobisher^ in 1576, went in search of a northwest passage to India. He rejjorted the finding of gold as he threaded his way through the icebergs and frozen islands of the Northern sea, and revived the waning interest. Bir Francis DraJce, who in 1579 had sailed far up the western coast of the north- ern continent, discovered a new and easier way of getting treasure from the west. Dur- ing the war between Spain and England (1588) he waylaid and captured ships laden with riches wrung from the Montezumas and the Incas, and found it a much more profit- able kind of gold-hunting than sifting the sands of frozen Arctic seas. It is a curious fact that the country which 36 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. contributed most largely to the discovery of tlie New World, never owned a foot of its territory. Italy gave Columbus and Vespu- cius to Spain, the Cahots to England, and Yerrazani to France, and neither territory, treasure nor renown were her reward; while even the privilege of bestowing a name upon the new Continent was by a strange freak of fortune accorded to Germany. CHAPTER V. A CENTURY after tlie Discovery, the Con- tinent of North America was claimed by three nations. The Spanish Claim, under the names of Florida and Neio Mexico^ extended from ocean to ocean, and then north indefinitely. The French Claim, under the names of Acadia and New France^ extended as far south as Philadelphia and thence indefi- nitely southwest and west. The English Claim, between the 34tli and 45th parallels of latitude, had also an indefi- nite extension, but only toward the setting- sun; the western portion being known as Neio Albion^ and the eastern Yirgiiiia. So long as this basket work af interlacing claims existed only upon paper, it made little diiference. But the time was coming when the great solitary sjDaces would be occuj^ied, and many struggles would be required to adjust conflicting lines. Sir Walter Raleigh^ in 1584, obtained from 38 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Queen Elizabeth a x)atent for a large terri- tory, with a view to permanent settlement, instead of random expeditions in search of treasure. The idea of being proprietor of a l^rincely domain, with numerous tenantry yielding not alone revenue, but allegiance, appealed to the picturesque imagination of the courtly adventurer, by whom the new land was christened Virginia in honor of the Virgin Queen. The two colonies which he successively planted on the Island of Roanoke had a brief existence of suffering, starvation and tragedy. In live years there was an En- glish graveyard, but not an English town upon the American continent. Raleigh had spent $200,000 of his private fortune in an experiment of which can be recorded two results. The unfortunate set- tlers had discovered a plant with tuberous root (the potato; which " when boiled had a goodly taste;" and the tabaco of the na- tive Indians in the West Indies, became known to Europeans ; a plant which was destined to serve " Virginia" in an ex- traordinary manner in her early existence. Unable himself to realize his dream, Ral- eigh stimulated others to attempt it. Gos- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 39 nold in 1602 landed at Cape Cod, and found in Buzzard's Bay, the ideal home of the next settlement, while others returned from va- rious other points on the coast with various extravagant accounts of their advantages. So the interest was kept alive and at last attracted the attention of the King. The seed sown by Raleigh was to ripen and bear fruit ; — but not for him. He, the brilliant, sagacious statesman, the accomplished schol- ar and writer, his mind tilled with com- prehensive plans for his age, was uj)on a mere jDretext to be thrown into prison by a vain, pedantic, narrow-minded king; (James 1\ there to languish for sixteen years before the long-suspended axe should fall. In 1618, — while men were still living who had helped to destroy the Spanish Armada, (1588) — the head of the most-variously gifted man in England was given as an offer- ing to the friendshij) of S]3ain! The first attempt at colonization had been under the auspices of an absentee Proprie- tor. Now a larger exj^eriment was to be tried under the protection of the crown. In the year 1607, Colonial life in America commenced. 40 HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. In 1606, James I issued charters to two trading Companies, called respectively the London Company, and The Plymouth Com- pany ; the former privileged to occupy Southern Virginia, and the latter Northern Virginia; or in other words, all the coast line between Labrador and the 34th parallel of latitude, (a little north of Charleston) excepting, — a small neutral strip to be re- served between the two Companies ; neither of which was to approach within 100 miles of the other. This Charter was worthy of the King who granted it. No less generous instrument, nor one less calculated to invite self-respect- ing men could have been devised for an en- terprise which required every virtue. For the privilege of occupying a wilder- ness, subduing its forests, and meeting the perils and hardshij)s of pioneer life among savages, Englishmen were to abandon every political right they had enjoyed at home, to be subject to the arbitrary control of a com- mercial body in London, which was in turn to be controlled by the King. They were to have no voice or influence in the manage- ment of their own affairs. The King was to receive one-fifth of all the gold and silver HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. 41 obtained, and for five years every man was to labor for a common fund. Such was the first Government framed for the land which was to be the abode of liberty. Men must have been wretched indeed to accept such conditions. So it is not sur- prising that the three little ships which sailed into Chesapeake Bay in 1607, brought, with few exceptions, men of desperate for- tunes hunted out of England by miseries so great, they were glad to "fly to ills, they knew not of." It did not help matters that they were "gentlemen;" as some one says, "dissolute gallants, packed off to escape worse destinies at home, and more fitted to corrupt, than to found, a commonwealth." As they sailed up the river and as un- willing hands cleared the ground for their first settlement (both named after King James), it was gold, gold, always gold of which they were thinking — believing in every shining bit of yellow earth, they had found the beginning of boundless riches. The history of such an expedition might have been written in advance, but for the saving presence of one man, whose name has not been sufficiently honored for stemming 42 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. tlie tide of discord, folly, discouragement and even despair, and being in fact the first to plant tlie Anglo-Saxon race on this Con- tinent. John Smith is known to many peox)le as a man who owes his chief distinction to having his life romantically saved by an Indian Princess. He had come unscathed from a hundred perils in Europe and in the Orient; but he was more than a hero of romantic ad- venture. By force of a tremendous ability he came quickly to the front, and by rare sagacity and firmness kept the unruly herd from destruction during those first years of unspeakable suifering in Jamestown. He discerned that the soil was the true gold- mine; and labor the indispensable condition for existence, and had the firmness to re- quire and to comi)el gentlemen to work. Amid his distracting duties this coura- geous, versatile, resourceful man found time to make a voyage of exploration ; sailing 3,000 miles in his little i^innace "Dis- covery. " He skirted the coast of Chesaj^eake Bay, and thence up the Potomac, passing the future home of Washington and the city bearing his name, as far as the falls of Georgetown. He did more than anyone HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 43 else to extend tlie bounds of geographical knowledge in this great unexplored tract ; the accuracy of which is attested by his mai:>s still extant. If anyone deserves to be called the ' ' Father of Virginia" it is this man, who when he returned to England fatally injured by an explosion of gunpowder, received no slight- est recognition from the Commercial Com- pany he had served. The London Company caring for nothing but quick and rich re- turns, profoundly irritated and disappoint- ed, saw nothing to commend. Some benefit came from this disappoint- ment. Many of the narrow-minded pro- jectors of the enterprise dropped out, and their places were gradually tilled with others who believed in a wiser and more liberal policy. There was from time to time an ex- tension of privileges, and when the settler no longer toiled for a common fund, and every man might be proprietor of a bit of land for his own use, an incentive for individual eifort was created. That clause in the Charter giving to the Crown one-fifth of the gold and silver, had the one advantage of luring men from the ruinous madness of gold-hunting toward 44 HISTOEY OF THE UKITED STATES. agriculturej wliicli was not subject to such tribute. The discovery of the value and facility of tobacco-culture (1614) was an e]30ch in the life of the wretched colonists. It brought the first throb of prosperity. When they found that this plant so easily cultivated brought sure and swift returns in things for which they had been suffering, that it could be used to pay debts and purchase comfort, planting took the place of thriftless gold- hunting. There was nothing which tobacco would not buy. Food, clothing, farming imple- ments, and even wives, were exchanged for the "weed," which became the recognized currency of that region for 150 years. Sending a cargo of English maidens as wives for the settlers also brought enormous benefit. The lonely planters gladly paid the 100 or 150 pounds of tobacco which was the price of purchase ; or — to state it in terms less barbarous, — the sum required to pay the cost of passage. Unhappily the year 1619 brought another and less beneficent gift to our shores. A cargo of Africans just from their native coast were purchased, and found so efficient HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 45 in tobacco-planting, that more were sent for, and the curse of negro-slavery was firmly rooted in American soil. With the formation of domestic ties, and other improved conditions, a stream com- posed of a better class had steadily set in from England. Instead of a little starving band in Jamestown, there were now planta- tions, and houses, and settlements ; still leading a struggling existence, none leaping to wealth by sudden bound, but with roots growing deeper and dee^Der in that soil, which is the basis of true prosperity. The colonists were controlled now by Gov- ernors appointed by the London Council, and were more or less miserable, according to the qualities of the men selected. There was cruelty, injustice, oppression, hardship, — but upon the whole a steady movement toward enlarged i^rivileges until 1621, — when Governor Yeardley invited two repre- sentatives from each of the eleven boroughs, called burgesses, to meet with him and the Council. AYitli this came into existence, — the first representative body in America. On account of real and fancied wrongs in 1622, the Indians made a preconcerted at- tack upon the scattered plantations, killing 46 HISTORY OF THE UJ^ITED STATES. on the same day 347 men, women and cliil- dren. In tlie long warfare which followed this tragedy, there was another massacre of 500 (1644), and by de^^redations and deser- tions, the Colony was reduced almost one- half. Such persistent calamities wore out the patience of the London Com.pany, which was dissolved, and Virginia became a Royal Province. As if in fear of its beconung too prosperous, England enforced the "JSTavi- gation Act," which comj^elled her and the other colonies then existing, to send all their exports to England, and also to procure from that country their imports; a policy which had an important subsequent history. Governor Berkeley at the same time was devoting himself to devising tyrannical re- strictions, for the submissive colonists, and when he arbitrarily refused to give adequate protection from the Indians at a time of great peril, a feeling of profound indigna- tion for the first time found expression. An outburst of fury was led by a young law- yer, Nathaniel Bacon. It resulted in the burning of Jamestown and driving away of Berkeley, 1676 — just one hundred years before another and greater rebellion. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 47 When Governor Berkeley later Avreaked Ms vengeance ui3on tliese men, Charles II said, "That old fool has taken more lives in that naked country, than I for the murder of my father." CHAPTER yi. During the first fourteen years of bitter experiences in Southern Virginia there had been little desire to make settlements under the Charter of the Plymouth Company^ in the north. The French in Acadia had crept farther into the interior. GJiamplain in 1608, had established a trading-post at Que- hec^ and the year following, had given his name to the beautiful lake he exi)lored. In the same year (1609) Henry Hudson an English navigator, bearing a commission from the Dutch East India Company 'Ho find an easier route to Asia^''^ upon his little ship ''Half -Moon" sailed into New York Harbor, past Manhattan Island, into the river now bearing his name. As he gazed wonderingly at the Palisades, and as he threaded his way through the Highlands and under the shadow of the Catskills he hoped he had found the long-sought waterway to India. Then in disappointment at the nar- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 49 rowing stream, he was off and away again to the icebergs and frozen north, in Fro- bisher's footsteps, leaving his name upon the great ice-bound bay through which he sailed. Hudson's exploration of the beautiful ^'Manhattan" river and of the adjacent coasts, was seized as a pretext for Coloniza- tion by Holland, which, defying the priority of Cabot's discovery (115 years earlier) gave to a territory extending from Delaware Bay, to Cape Cod, the name " New Netherlands.'''' Whether this was as England thought a lawless intrusion, or whether as Holland con- tended England had forfeited her claim to the Continent, by not having exercised it for more than a hundred years, may still be an unsettled question. At all events this 'in- trusion," brought to our shores an element, without which our civilization would be im- poverished indeed. No part of Europe could have contributed such stability, such equi- librium, and such simple instincts, for free- dom and justice as streamed from the Netherlands during those fifty-five years of Dutch occupation. A land which was to be so plentifully sprinkled with Celtic sand, had need of just such sub-stratum of tena- 50 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. cious clay from Holland at its foundation! — In 1613, a thriving trading-post was estab- lished on Manhattan Island which the Dutch called Neio Amsterdam, and another on the site of Albany was named Orange. James, that " Divinely Appointed " King who ''could do no wrong" had been en- gaged in " harrying out of the land " the stub- born ministers who refused to wear surplices, and to bow to the cross, and Holland had be- come an asylum for persecuted Nonconform- ists. To many of these it seemed that a home of their own in that wilderness across the ocean, would be a blessed refuge. The old Plymouth Company in England, was superseded by a new one, receiving from King James a New Charter (1620) in Avhich for the first time, the territory lying between the 40th and 48th degrees of lati- tude was called " Neio England:' Hence- forth the name Virginia disappears from the region indicated. After the reorganiza- tion of the old company, it bestowed its first grant, upon a band of men calling themselves the New Plymouth Coinpany. One hundred and twenty souls embarked on HISTORY OF THE Ui^ITED STATES. 51 the ship "Mayflower" and arrived the 21st of December 1620, at a point on the American coast which they named Plymouth. Hitherto no European had ever come to the New World for any purpose but gain. It was in search of treasure, that the Span- iards carried blight and desolation into the South and West. It was for gold — or its equivalent — that the French, the Dutch and the Anglo-Saxons in Southern Virginia were enduring hardship. The Pilgrims came for something more precious than gold or pearls. They expected toil and suffering, and sacrifices. It was the price they were willing to pay, for what was beyond price. Through the aw^ful experiences of that first winter on a bleak coast, struggling with cold, mortal disease and death, they never complained. With grim fortitude they dug graves in the frozen earth for one-half their number. It seems impossible that these men be- longed to the same race as the first Anglo- Saxon band at Jamestown, whom they re- sembled as little, — as they did the men who sailed on the three caravels from Palos. They represented all the manhood which had wrung freedom from British tyranny 52 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. tlirough. centuries of resistance. Tliey were tlie fruit of every struggle from King John to Oliver Cromwell. This fruit, — acrid, bitter, unlovely to the taste sometimes, had at its core — Righteousness^ the most precious seed ever planted in American soil. The Pilgrims had a charter, not from the Crown, but from the parent company in England, permitting them to choose their own Governor. He was elected by universal suffrage, (which for a time meant less than 100 votes ! ) and for eighteen years the whole body of male population constituted the Legislature, until increase, and diffusion over larger territory, led to a representative system. The augmenting bitterness against the Puritans in England and the peaceful ex- periences of the Pilgrims in America, turned the hearts of many more to that refuge. In 1629 another grant was bestowed upon a trading Corporation, calling itself the '^Massachusetts Bay Company ^ Many valuable men, with their families flocked to Salem, the "City of Peace," under the leadership of John Endicott. It is often the case that undue severity to the first-born is followed by extreme indul- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 53 gence to the next. Certainly the Puritan child was no favorite with the Mother Coun- try; but she was treated with an indulgence strongly contrasting with the restrictions and severity which had been shown to her older sister in South Virginia. The reason is not far to seek. James had hated the Puritans, and would gladly have banished the whole of them. Charles, too much of a gentleman to hate anyone, thoroughly dis- liked them, and would have rejoiced to rid his Kingdom entirely of its most trouble- some element. Then too, England owmed a vast unimproved country. What better use could be made of these turbulent psalm- singing Puritans, than to have them hew dow^n the forests and oj)en up the resources of her American possessions, upon which the French were encroaching, and the Dutch trespassing \ But experience in South Virginia had shown that Colonies will not thrive under tyranny. So when Governor Winthrop in 1630 joined the band at Salem with 1,000 recruits, he also brought a charter more in- dulgent even, than the one possessed by the Pilgrims. They, might elect their ow^n Gov- ernors and officers, a General Assembly of 54 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. their own choosing had supreme authority, and the meeting of the Council was trans- ferred from London to Salem. Although in "goode hearte," Winthrop found the Colony in famishing condition, uncomplainingly subsisting upon shell-hsh and acorns. A day was apj)oiiited for fast- ing and prayer; which prayer was heard in advance. The arrival of a ship from Eng- land loaded with ample provisions, convert- ed the fast into a feast, which Americans have commemorated ever since in bleak No- vember. The first Thanksgiving dinner w^as in 1631. It is not strange that with such expulsive agencies at w^ork in England, and such at- tractive ones in America, the solitudes were filling up. Something like civilization be- gan to appear. Hearth-fires were burning in Chaiiestown, (1629,) Boston, (1630,) Cam- bridgeport, Roxbury, and settlements form- ing at more distant points, and an old man, John Harvard^ was revolving in his mind the plan of leaving by his will £400, for ""the support of a schoale or Colledge^^^ (1637). In ten years, 20,000 people had joined the Colonists. If Righteousness^ be indispensable in the HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 55 foundation of a state, other qualities are also needed in its administration and devel- opment. The Puritans did not understand that there are other tyrannies besides those of Kings and Parliaments ; and that the most odious of all, is tyranny in matters of religious belief. It was their misfortune to be a community without conflict from diver- sity of ojnnion. In 1634, Roger Williams^ for maintaining that "No one sliould be compelled to sux)port a form of worship con- trary to his will or belief," was tried by the General Court, and a sentence of exile pro- nounced upon him. In order to escape being transported to England, this first apostle of intellectual freedom, fled into the wilderness and en- dured a winter of cruel exposure, being sheltered at last by the Narragansett Indi- ans. They gave to him a large tract of terri- tory, which he gratefully called Providence. This he resolved to make a refuge for all who were j)ersecuted for opinion' s sake, and Rhode Island, the smallest of the thirteen States, was built upon a foundation deeper and wider — with one exception — than any of them. Mrs. Hutchinson, leader of a strange fanatical sect, was the first to seek this ref- 56 HISTORY OF THE UI^ITED STATES. uge. She also suffered banishment, and with a band of followers joined Williams, while many others suffering like persecu- tions started forlorn settlements in New Hampshire or sought refuge in neighboring Colonies. The Hogging and even executing of Qua- kers twenty years later, and the torturing, hanging and burning of seventy-five people accused of witchcraft between 1645 and 1690, concludes the sorriest chapter in the history of New England. All the water in Charles River could not wash those bloodstains from Boston Common, and Salem the "City of Peace," will be forever associated with one of the most revolting episodes in history. Fleeing from x)ersecution themselves, they were the most relentless of persecutors. The Reformation of which these men and deeds were the intense and bitter fruit, — was des- tined to liberate, not to enchain men's con- sciences. A democratic form of government is the safest, not because the individual units are to be trusted; but precisely because they are not. Twelve men are wiser than one, and perhaps the verdict of one hundred would be more just than that of twelve. It is in the HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 57 general average of a large number of contrast- ing minds and characters tliat we escape harm from unbalanced individual traits. In New England there were no contrasting views. They were all of one mind and one heart. The Puritans were abnormally developed on the side of righteousness. They needed a thousand such men as AVilliams, and were to have them too. New England, founded in religious tyranny, w^as by the saving law of reaction to become the nursery of intellec- tual freedom in America. A large tract obtained by Fernando Gor- ges and John Mason, 1623, which they di- vided (1629) and named respectively, Maine and New Hampshire (the latter containing the future State of Vermont,) had few set- tlers. Forlorn and harassed by the Indians, these struggling Colonies crept under the protection of the vigorous Massachusetts Bay Colony, and virtually belonged to it. The more inviting region of the Connecti- cut Valley began to be colonized under a grant obtained by the Lords Say and Brooke, — 1631. — Regardless of the pretended Dutch claim it w^as noAv rapidly settling, and was the first to adopt a written Constitution. 58 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Jolm Wintlirop, son of the first Governor of Massacliusetts, was first Governor of Con- necticut. This was the destination of Oliver Crom- well, Pym, and John Hampden, when King Charles recalled the ship bearing them away, and thereby sealed liis own fate. It is inter- esting to think upon what might have been the eif ect of such a dominating personality as Cromwell's. Certainly his influence would not have been confined within the nascent Colony of Connecticut, and there might have been a different history, and perhaps even another map, of New England. Faint outlines of the future States were becoming visible. In 1643 for mutual pro- tection and benefit, Massachusetts, Ply- mouth and the two Connecticut Colonies, (New Haven and Saybrook) formed a union called The United Colonies of New Eng- land^ foreshadowing a greater Confederation which was to come. Rhode Island would have liked to join the Confederacy, but was too much of a culprit to be admitted, and those stern Puritans no doubt felt a nnld pleasure in making her feel the weight of her transgression. CHAPTER yil. Meanaviiile for more tlian fifty years there had been steadily setting in from Hol- land a stream of Dutch virtue and thrift, which extended south into Jersey, and up the Hudson river toward Albany. The Dutch Republic offered free passage to mechanics, and to men of wealth, large tracts of land if they would at their own expense bring 50 or more men to settle them, calling these proprietors "Patroons," or patrons of the Manor. Governors api^ointed at Holland resided at New Amsterdam, and had their peace-loving souls sorely tried by Swedes on the Delaware, English on the Connecticut, and Indians everywhere. But it was a thriving and happy little community, which occupied the Southern ex- tremity of Manhattan Island, composed at that time of about 1,000 souls; or a popula- tion as large as one of the great office build- ings now standing on the same site. 60 HISTORY OF THE tJKITED STATES. As Governor Peter Stuyvesant sat in liis doorway, looking out upon the bay, the little island where the Statue of Liberty was to stand and upon the grey outline of Staten Island heights beyond, he complacently smoked his pipe and thrilled the souls of the Knickerbockers with the oft-told tale of his bloodless victory over the Swedes; who had in fact quite as sound a title to the Delaware shores as had the Dutch. But in 1664 Charles II gave to his brother James, Duke of York, the territory claimed by the Dutch. When the squadron of four English ships entered New York Harbor, the valiant Stuyvesant, perhaps wdth some doubts as to the validity of the Dutch claim, discreetly surrendered without resistance. New Amsterdam, (already containing a goodly number of Englishmen from Hol- land,) became New York, and Fort Orange was changed to Albany. James, content with the portion named in his honor, gave what is known as New Jer- sey, with its Swedish Colony, planted by Gustavus Adolphus, to his friends. Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, and later ceded the portion called Delaware, to William Penn, to be joined to Pennsylvania. History of the u:n^ited states. Gl Sir Pliilii3 Carteret, brother of Sir George, the Proprietor, was the first Royal Governor of New Jersey. He married the daughter of a wealthy patentee on Long Island. This led to a large immigration of Puritan set- tlers from her home and the founding of a town, which in honor of Lady Elizabeth Carteret was ud^vn^^ Elizabetlitomn^ and was the first settlement in New Jersey. For the benefit of those ladies desiring a share in public affairs it should be men- tioned, that this Colonial Dame, in the ab- sence of her husband in England, w^as au- thorized to sign papers for him. And the early records of New Jersey now show Acts bearing the signature of Elizabeth Carteret. "Virginia" the name which once stood for all the English possessions from Labra- dor to Florida w^as gradually shrinking into more modest dimensions^. New England had first been hewn out of the Mother Colony; then the New Netherlands reduced it still more. In 1634 Charles I gave to Lord Bal- timore the territory extending from the mouth of the Delaware, to the mouth of the Potomac and an irregular tract which the proprietor called Maryland, still farther en croached upon the diminishing State, which 63 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. made ineffectual resistance in what is known as tlie "Clayborne Rebellion." Every political revolution in the Mother Country, left corresponding record on the shores of America. As the persecution of Puritans had colonized New England, now the persecution of the Catholics under Crom- wellian rule stimulated Lord Baltimore to find asylum for them in Maryland. But no intolerance stains the memory of this en- lightened colonizer, who was catholic in the broadest sense. Going beyond Roger Will- iams in liberality, he did not restrict his invitation to Christians, but invited all of whatever belief, or unbelief, to come to this, the first real home of intellectual freedom in Europe or America. His liberality was ungratefully repaid. Fleeing protestants accepted the invitation in such numbers that they were finally able to exclude the catholics from power, and even to drive Lord Baltimore out of his own colony; the contest continuing with varying results, until the Revolution. There was another dismemberment of Vir- ginia in 1663— when that lavish King, Char- les II, probably having dined well, gave to eight of his friends, a tract extend- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 63 ing from the Savannah River to the Poto- mac. As this like the other colonies had an indefinite extension west, it will be seen that the claim covered not far from a million square miles. It is not often that so con- siderable a slice of our x)lanet lies within the gift of one man ! The grateful Lords named their colony Carolina in honor of Charles; then in con- sultation with John Locke the philosopher, proceeded to frame what they called a ' ' Grand Model ' ' for its Government. Frederick of Prussia once said ^'if he had a Province to punish, he would give it to philosophers to govern." This "Grand Model" was a sort of beneficent feudalism in which a 23icturesque and i)rosperous ten- antry xjaid willing tribute to a picturesque and ideal titled class. In a land of log-cabins instead of baronial castles, where settlers could have more land than they needed without rent these fanci- ful devices came quickly to grief. Governments are created, not on paper, but on the soil out of which they grow. The planting of virtues, of intelligence and re- finements by refugee Huguenots, and the planting of rice, in her low-lying coast-lands, 64 HISTORY OF THE UN'ITED STATES. by imported Africans, were the chief agen cies in developing South Carolina — or Car- teret Colony as it was called — while North Carolina, or Albemarle Colony, was partially settled by Virginians at the time it was carved from the parent State. Charleston Avas founded in 1680. The mulberry, and the olive, the quaint old gardens with trimmed shrubbery, and the French names on the narrow streets, — all these tell to-day, of the gentle and cultured people who were driven out of France by Louis the Fourteenth. While Puritans and Catholics were alter- nately persecuted and persecutors, the Qua- kers were in all places, and at all times, hunted out of every land. William Penn, a young man of wealth and aristocratic connections in England, to the dismay of his family resolved to cast his lot in with the unpopular sect. His father had a claim* against the Crown, — Charles II, who never found it convenient to pay such debts in money, was glad to set- tle this one by giving a tract of land lying west of the Delaware River to William who desired it as refuge for the Quakers, HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 65 Penn's perfect justice in dealing with the Indians insured peace ; and his generous tolerant spirit and wise administration brought speedy prosperity to the Colony ; which he called Sylvania, and which his Royal patron insisted should be Pe?i7isjl- vania. In 1683, in the midst of a dense forest the deer were startled by the sound of the wood- man's axe; and the foundations of a city laid, which its founder named PJiiladel- pJiia, (brotherly love). No settlement in America had such rax)id growth. In one year it had 100 homes, and in three years had left New Amsterdam far behind. The last born of the original colonies came into existence in 1732. A year still more signally honored by the birth of George Washington. The laws of England bore heavily upon debtors, and English prisons were tilled with men wrecked in fortune and in hope. James Oglethorpe conceived the idea of making a refuge for this unhappy class, and obtained from George II a tract of land "in trust for the poor," which he called 66 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Georgia. This territory was carved out of South Carolina, that Colony willingly giv- ing consent for the sake of the protection of an intermediate colony between her and the Spanish in Florida, by whom she was con- stantly harassed. Oglethorpe's refuge for distressed human- ity was quickly colonized, and his plans put into operation. Slavery, now existing in all the other colonies, was to be excluded ; and also rum, and wealth, — and poverty. Ex- cluding wealth was not difficult ; but in a community where unnatural restrictions were placed upon industry, and where a common ownershii) of land took away in- centive for industry, poverty was less easily abolished. The generous and kindly ex- periment languished for twenty years. Silk- culture which was to be the industry of this Utopia was unprofitable, and in 1752 the dream of legislating human misery out of existence, was abandoned. Georgia was surrendered to the King, and with restric- tions removed entered upon a new and com- mon-place career, taking her chlinces in the usual struggle with the infirmities of human- ity. The generous OgiethoriDe returned to England ; but not before he had led his. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 67 Colonists in a war with his Spanish neigh- bors, thus realizing South Carolina's hope of finding a bulwark in Georgia. CHAPTER yill. While the English Colonies were thus de- veloping, French dominion in America was extending; Jesuit Missions, trading-posts, and forts— always in combination — creeping along the shores of Lake Ontario, and to- ward the south and west ; another similar movement starting from the Gulf of Mexico to meet it, until between Montreal and New Orleans there was a chain of forts, more than sixty in number. New Orleans had been founded in the year 1718, under the direction of the famous Mis- sissippi Company organized by John Law, and the French were firmly established about the mouth of the Great River. It was to her Jesuit priests, those marvel- lous pioneers in discovery, that France was most indebted in America. Marquette ex- plored the Mississippi from Prairie-du- Chien to the Arkansas River, (1673,) and La Salle, from thence, to its mouth in 1682, HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 69 claiming tlie vast region drained by it for the Grand Monarcli, and in lionor of liim, calling it Louisiana. It was not tlie policy of France to occupy this great expanse of territory. It was not her aim to found a nation, but to make a distant possession commercially valuable, and to bring new streams of revenue into her perennially drained Treasury. By ingratiating themselves with the Indi- ans, winning their confidence, and even con- verting some to the religion of the Cross, priests and traders alike insinuated them- selves by degrees into the wilderness, estab- lishing an influence which strengthened the flimsy forts at long intervals, and secured savage allies instead of enemies. The English colonies, which as we have seen had been created one after another by internal conditions in the Mother Country, were equally sensitive now to disturbance in her foreign relations. A war between England and Spain, or France, had its im- mediate response in a conflict with Spanish Florida on the south, or the French Prov- inces on the north; so in 1689, when James II threw himself into the arms of Louis XI V, 70 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. and William and Mary ascended his dis- honored throne and war was declared be- tween France and England, it produced for eight years a corresponding conflict, between the Englisli and French in Canada. One midwinter night in 1690, there oc- curred one of those horrid tragedies which stain the images of history. The people in Schenectady were peacefully sleeping be- hind their palisades, defended as they be- lieved by miles of imj^enetrable snowdrifts, when they were surprised by the French and their savage allies. In less than a half hour from the moment they were awakened by that hideous war-whoop, sixty men, wo- men, and children were tomaliawked, while a remnant was fleeing, almost without cloth- ing over the ice and snow to Albany, (17 miles distant,) and others less fortunate were being dragged into captivity. New England had been made familiar with Indian barbarities by long exiDerience and by King Phillip' s war in 1675. She knew what it was to flght ambuscaded savages who never came into the open field. In sub- duing them, she had at last simply hunted them like Avild animals, — the only tactics possible in such a warfare. HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. 71 Thoroughly aroused by the atrocity at Schenectady, all the northern colonies met in council at New York, and had their first training in united action. Precious blood was spilled in ineffectual attacks upon Que- bec, and other strongholds, until the "Peace of Ryswick" (1697) closed the war, leaving bitterness, — but no territorial changes. This known as "King William's War," was quickly followed (1702) by another equally fruitless — ' ' Queen A nne' s War ' ' — which for eleven years desolated miles of frontier, and countless liearts and homes. As this was a war against both France and Spain, South Carolina was at the same time struggling with Florida, the Si^anish colony on her border. The "Treaty of Utrecht" (1713) brought x>eace, and the cession of Acadia to England, — that name being changed to JVova Scolia. King George's war (1744-1748) was the last of these rebounds from European collisions. After four years the Fortress of Louishurg on Breton Island, — the only fruit of the con- test, — was by the terms of peace restored to France. Within sixty years there had been twenty-three years of war. Thousands of heroic men slept in their graves, a young 72 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. civilization had been drained and impeded, — and tlie boundaries remained nnclianged. The Navigation Act so odious to Virginia in 1660, Avas even more intolerable in Massa- chusetts, which unmolested from the first by Royal interference, and with control of her own Council, had enjoyed almost the free- dom of a young Republic. When it became evident that a measure so detestable was really to be enforced, indignation rose high, and there was rebellion in the air. In 1684, in open defiance of the act, trade with the West Indies was carried on by Mas- sachusetts. The punishment was swift and severe. Her Charter was annulled, 1684. She was declared a Royal Province, and for three years Sir Edmund Andros, Royal Gov- ernor, carried things with a high hand, and played the insolent tyrant, in New York, the Jerseys, and all the New England States. The dethroning of his Master James II in 1689, rid the northern colonies of this detes- ted presence, and under Sir William Pliipps the old liberties of Massachusetts to some extent returned, and her Cliarter, that most precious x)ossession was restored. One of Connecticut's most treasured tra- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 73 ditioHS is that of the spiriting away of her Charter when Governor Andros "glittering with scarlet and lace," entered the Assem- bly and demanded it. The lights were sud- denly extingnished, and when relighted, the paper had disappeared, — and for three years it reposed in the hollow of a great tree known ever after as the '' Charter Oak." Although Massachusetts had her Charter, the irritating presence of Royal Governors, and a series of aggressions which disclosed a deliberate j)<^li^y in the Mother Country, was engendering a bitterness deep and wide. Duties were imposed upon things carried from one colony to another; and not alone was their commerce to be restricted, but their industry actually to be stilled. The colonies must not make anything which would compete with English manu- factures, and in order to enforce this, no one was allowed to employ more than two ap- X)\^entices. As William Pitt indignantly de- clared later, " she had not the right to manu- facture so much as a nail for a horse-shoe." Massachusetts was created in revolt. Her very birth was a struggle out of English tyr- anny. There was resistance and rebellion in her blood. Virginia on the other hand, 74 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. with small reason for gratitude to England, having received little good and much evil at her hand, was still E-oyalist to the core She had denounced the murder of King Charles, and exulted over the Restoration of his son. When Massachusetts was chosen as a refuge by the Regicides, she had shel- tered the adherents of Charles. Yet even she viewed with dismay, these assaults upon the prosperity of the colonies. The history of many years was a story simply of encroachments ui3on one side and revolt upon the other. Royal Governors, enforcing tyrannical measures, in perpetual wrangle with Assemblies, standing for the rights and liberties of the Colonists. So, while the wars on their borders were a training in endurance and heroism, and in united action, the suffering of common wrongs was establishing a bond of sympa- thy between people of widely differing creeds and character, and was a training school for patriotism; a word of small sig- nificance then, — but destined to express something strong enough to create a Nation, and to be the very breath of that nation's life in the future — by which it exists even now, from day to day. CHAPTER IX. By all the canons of superstition, Amer- ica was doomed to failure. Not alone was the voyage for its discovery begun and ended on Friday^ but — thirteen states laid the foun- dation for the great empire in the west; two omens not yet justified by results. In the middle of the Eighteenth Century the vast wooded continent had a narrow border of civilization on its Atlantic coast, composed of thirteen colonies, extending from Acadia (Nova Scotia) to Florida, and containing something less than two million souls. It seems impossible now that less than the population of a city like New York emptied into such an expanse of territory could occui)y so large a space in history, and it emj)hasizes the diminishing importance of individuals in our changed conditions. Almost all of Europe was represented in these Colonies. There were Dutch in New York ; Swedes and Finns in New Jersey, "76 HISTORY OF THE UI^ITED STATES. and Delaware; Germans in Pennsylvania; Scotch in the Carolinas and New Jer- sey; French in South Carolina and Irish si)rinkled throughout the entire mass — which Avas yet Anglo Saxon to its core. The colonies existed under three kinds of Government — Chaeter, Proprietary and Royal. Charter; — Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Proprietary : — Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Royal: — New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. There were populous cities in which old world customs prevailed to a great extent. There were six colleges ; Harvard, (1636) William and Mary, Yale, Princeton, Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, and King's, or Columbia College ; founded respectively in the order named. There was in New England a philosophical Divine (Jonathan Edwards) writing upon profound metaphysical and theological X^roblems, — and in Philadeli)liia, which with its 25,000 inhabitants led the cities, another ]3hilosopher who had just arrested the atten- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 77 tion of Earox)e by a tract upon electricity and of whom the future encyclopedias were to say, "Franklin attracted more notice in Europe than either Rousseau or Vol- taire ; ■ ' and of whom William Pitt would say in Parliament, ''He ranks with Newton and is not only an honor to England, but to human nature." This versatile philosopher and practical man of affairs was at the time we are con- sidering, (1754) organizing a Postal Service for use in all the colonies ; and striving by precept and example to keep out the incom- ing tide of thrif tlessness and extravagance. Social distinctions were rigidly enforced. While the Colonial gentleman was resplen- dent in satin, velvet, gold lace, and ruffles, the working man must wear leather and linsey-woolsey, and his wife and daughters gowns of green baize. Only the gentry might use the prefix Mr. and Mrs. The rest must be addressed as Goodman and Good- wife. In Democratic New England, although plain living and high thinking prevailed, there was still a stately social life, tempered by Puritanism but with class distinctions no less rigid than elsewhere.. 78 HISTOEY OF THE Ul^ITED STATES. New York City clung to its old Dutch customs, speech, and aristocratic traditions; while ujD the Hudson River were magnates like the Livingstons with great estates and tenantry and seigniorial rights similar to the "Patroons" near Albany, who kept up a stately imitation of a corresjoonding class in Europe ; and in New Jersey, there was a large farming class and peasantry. The social conditions in the Southern Col- onies were entirely different. Instead of numerous towns and a large intermediate industrial class there were great plantations. Each estate was a miniature principality. The slaves in separate quarters by themselves not only cultivated the land, but followed every trade and supplied the common needs of the small community, while the owners, exchanged stately visits and over their wine discussed the Colonial wars, the rights and wrongs of Virginia, legislation and customs in other Colonies, and the glories of dear old England. This aristocratic j)aternalism had an especial charm for English gentlemen, with their fondness for country life; and numbers of wealthy and influential men had joined the colony as its prosperity grew, bringing with them old-world habits and HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 79 customs. In South Carolina, there lingered the remains of the "Grand Model." The descendants of the "landgraves" and no- bles, kept up Manorial dignities on their plantations, with stables of blooded horses, packs of hunting dogs, and rolling to church in coach and six with outriders. European luxuries abounded, and hospitality was lav- ishly dispensed by the master, who with a colony of negroes to do his bidding consid- ered work degrading to a white man. Mary- land on account of its tobacco-culture and slave labor also belonged to this Planter Class, which was to exert such an important influence in the future. In the matter of negro slavery, in its be- ginnings the north was no less guilty, than the south. The northern colonies made use of it, precisely to the extent of its i^ower to serve and benefit them. Tliere is no reason to believe that with climate and soil ex- changed, they would have acted differently from the colonies uijon which the odium now rests. Righteous New England bought and sold its house-servants with no more qualms of conscience, than tlie Planters in Virginia and the Carolinas their field hands. There existed, at this period too, a sort of 80 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. wliite slavery of wliat were called "inden- tured apprentices, ' ' and ' ' bond-servants, ' ' poor waifs picked up or stolen in England, and bound for a number of years, during wliicli time tliey were whipped, cruelly treated, and bought and sold like slaves; and also another of captive Indians, taken during the Colonial or Indian Wars, and sold into perpetual slavery. A stream cannot rise higher than its source. So it would be unreasonable to ex- pect in the English Colonies more developed sensibilities than existed in England at a corresponding period. It was an age of se- verity untempered with mercy, and we must not wonder so much at the pillory, and the stocks and whipping posts, and hangings, — which belonged to the age, rather than to the Colonies which employed them. But it is interesting to observe that Pennsylvania, the one most merciful in its laws, was the quickest in growth and the first to reach prosperity. CHAPTER X. The time had arrived wlien the French and English claims for more than a century harmlessly overlapping each other on paper, must be determined upon the soil itself. To which nation belonged the greater part of an unoccupied continent, was a question now to be answered. The territory lying immediately west and north of Virginia was in 1754 covered with forest primeval. It had felt no touch of human industry since the Mound-Builders. A number of gentlemen in Virginia and in England believing that this region offered especial advantages for colonization, organ- ized a company for that purpose, which they called ''The Ohio Company." France on the alert, accepted this as a challenge. The French Commander in Can- ada immediately sent a force of 1,200 men to occupy the 600,000 acres, claimed by the fur- trading company. After conference with 82 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. other Governors, it was arranged tliat Gov- ernor Dinwiddie of Virginia, should send a ^'person of distinction" to inquire of the French Commandant, the reason for this in- vasion of British Territory. The person selected for this delicate mis- sion was a youth "ruddy" and " fair of countenance" a little more than 21 years old. We do not hear that he chose "five smooth stones" from the brook; but, though he knew it not, he had been selected from among his brethren to slay the giant of op- pression and — to rule over the peoiDle. George Washington returned with the haughty reply of General St. Pierre: — "He was there to protect French territory. All w^est of the Alleghanys belonged to France, and she would maintain her rights." War was declared. Not an echo of for- eign complications this time, but purely and simjjly a struggle for a continent. The French strengthened the defenses at the English trading-post, and named it Fort Du Quesne, while the colonies met in council and formed plans of action; each one offer- ing to raise and equip troops, — " provin- cials, "^which would act in concert with HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 83 the British "regulars." Their hearts were lired not akjue as Americans, but as Anglo- Saxons in conflict with the hereditary foe of England. The French were sure of pow- erful aid from tomahawks and scalping knives; Avhile England relied only upon the neutrality of the "Five Nations" on her northern border. In the following eight years there were 50,000 British troops on American soil. Not to protect the colonies, be it remembered,— but to maintain the territorial riglits of Great Britain in the western Continent. The plan of campaign was to move in three separate expeditions one toward Fort Du Quesne, another toward Fort Frontignac (on the St. Lawrence where Ogdensburg stands,) and another upon Crown Pointy on Lake Champlain. The beginning was inauspicious. General Braddock, disregarding the advice of young Colonel Washington, used precisely the same methods in his attack upon the French at Fort Du Quesne, that he would have em- ployed at Blenheim or Fontenoy. It was unbecoming in British soldiers to skulk be- hind trees. — As stubborn as he was coura- geous he felt contempt alike for "provinci- 84 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. al" allies, and Indian enemies. The result was what Washington had expected, a com- plete rout. General Braddock, — sixty-four of his officers, and half his command were killed. Indian atrocities were not the only ones in this war. During the first year, 1755, tlie English perx^etrated an act new and unparal- leled in the history of civilized nations. An expedition into Acadia, (Nova Scotia) suc- ceeded in capturing Louisburg, the French stronghold on Breton Island, and the whole region east of the Penobscot was reduced to British authority. Fearing to leave the seeds of rebellion in the conquered province, the English resorted to an effectual method of making tliem harmless. By artifice, sev- eral thousands of simple Acadians were as- sembled at one time, then forcibly driven on board ships waiting in the harbor for that purj)ose, and scattered as if by the winds of Heaven, throughout the length and breadth of the land. Longfellow's Evangel- ine is only a faint picture of the sorrows of husbands, mothers, children, lovers si3ending lives in hopeless and fruitless search for each other. For four years the English struggled to HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 85 break the line of connection between tlie St. Lawrence and the Mississippi and the French struggled to drive them back. Countless brave young Englishmen and colonists laid down their lives before Ticon- deroga, Fort William Henry, and every other stronghold ; and Frenchmen no less heroic, for whom hearts were aching and breaking in France, were lying dead on battle lields. By the year 1759, the end was drawing near. The English were in possession of Forts Du Quesne, Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and Niagara, and when General A¥olfe's intrepid soldiers clambered up the precipi- tous bluff and reached the "Heights of Abraham," Quebec, the Gibraltar of Ameri- ca, capitulated : Wolfe and Montcalm the two commanders, both lying dead, uncon- scious alike of victory or defeat. As the victorious army marched upon Montreal and gathered up the forts on the border, France formed an alliance with Spain, in hope that by a desperate effort she might recover her vanishing possessions. Spain had her own long-standing grievances with England, and had had frequent collis- ions with the colonies in her West Indies. This effort to prolong the war was quick- 86 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. ly met by England. A fleet was dispatclied, the City of Havana was captured, and several islands besides, — with the result of making both France and Spain willing to arrange as best they might for i^eace. The treaty was signed at Paris 1763. By its provisions Spain ceded to England, Florida, and every foot of territory she had claimed in North America. In exchange the King of Great Britain returned all he had conquered in the Island of Cuba, and a part of the adjacent Islands. France re- linquished her entire western possessions. She gave up to England all the territory lying on the east of the Mississippi, while to Spain she ceded New Orleans and all the territory west of the Mississippi. Thus ended an attempt to chain the Eng- lish colonies to a narrow strip on the coast of the Atlantic. France had lost an Empire, and the British flag floated from the Arctic Sea to the Gulf of Mexico. But all this was preparing the way for strange and unexpected events ; events which would inflict a severer blow upon England, than that which was now humbling France. England' s vassal was being trained to become her rival. She was learning the art of HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 87 War; becoming inured to hardship; and had discovered the methods and power of com- bined action ; while the thirst for revenge was leading to that anomalous act fifteen years later, — when a despotic French Sov- ereign, his own throne trembling with the spirit of freedom in the air, — lent his aid to the cause of liberty and independence. CHAPTEH XI. When England came to count the cost of lier great American Continent, slie resolved tliat the prosperous colonies should bear a goodly share of the burden incurred l)y a war in their behalf I There were exaggerated impressions of co- lonial prosperity in England. Some Amer- ican planters and families here and there were living in affluence ; and hospitalities shown to the English officers when serving in America, contributed to the delusion. Cities had vied with each other in entertain- ing them, and like Abimelech of old had felt a pride in displaying their riches to guests they desired to honor. The Prime Minister recommended that a revenue be raised from America to assist in paying for the late war in her defense, and in 1765 Parliament passed The Stanip Act. This Act imposed a tax upon paper, and de- clared that all legal documents, unless exe- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 89 cnted Hpon paper liaving a Government stamj), should be null and void. The colonists were stunned. They waited in silent consternation, at a loss how they should treat such a monstrous oppression. They were perfectly aware that the war was not undertaken in their behalf, but to main- tain the territorial rights of Great Britain. They had shared all its hardships and sacri- fices, had spilled precious blood without measure, and out of their scanty savings the people had contributed to defray the cost of equipping their own soldiers. The small prosperity which England wanted them to share with her, was of their own making. It had not been fostered by a mother's hand, but had grown in spite of her ty- rannical restrictions, and the almost ruin- ous policy she had relentlessly pursued toward them. And now, — a Parliament, in which they were unrepresented and over which they had no control, had devised a tax, far more odious than '' Ship-Money," for which their fathers had rent a Kingdom asunder ! Virginia, the most filial and royalist of all the colonies, was the first to declare her de- termination to resist the Act. Patrick Henry 90 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. broke the spell of silence, by introducing a set of resolutions into the legislature. In words of burning eloquence he voiced the unspoken indignation throughout the land. After fierce denunciation of the Act, he ex- claimed, " Caesar had his Brutus, — Charles the First his Cromwell, — and George the Third" — as he paused, a voice cried "Trea- son, Treason," — "may j)rofit by their ex- ample," concluded Henry, — adding — "If that be treason, make the most of it." The effect was electrical. The latent sparks kindled into flame leaping from col- ony to colony; and in that conflagration, — patriotism was born. All local differences were forgotten. Nine colonies met in a Council held in New York. The others being forbidden by their Gov- ernors to join them, sent assurances of their determination to unite with them in what- ever course was adopted. They pledged themselves to import no article of British manufacture until the Act was repealed. Domestic goods dearer and coarser were cheerfully exchanged for foreign luxuries, and lamb and mutton were abandoned as articles of food, in order to increase the supply of wool. Franklin wrote, " the sun HISTORY OF THE UiflTED STATES. 91 of liberty is set, we must light up the can- dles of industry and economy." It seems not to have occurred to the Brit- ish mind that the tax would be resisted. Englishmen might resist Kings, but not Par- liaments ! Besides the law was ingenious and enforced itself in the insecurity to x^roperty which would follow its non-observance. But the petitions, and remonstrances, and decla- rations, and even threats, produced astonish- ment. What! Shall we who have just humbled France and Si3ain be dictated to by our Colonies, planted by our care, nourished by our indulgence, and protected by our arms^ British Statesmanship was confounded. William Pitt said in the House of Commons, * ' I rejoice that America has resisted. Three million people so lost to virtue as tamely to give up their liberties, would be fit only for slaves." More important still, manufactur- ers and merchants saw ruin staring them in the face in the sudden withdrawal of their best customers. A blow aimed at i3rosperity is the most convincing of arguments. The Stamp Act was repealed 1766. The news was received in the Colonies with extravagant demonstrations of joy. 92 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. The bells were rung, there was thanksgiving in the Churches, homespun garments were given to the j)oor, and loyalty and affection returned. But after this first ebullition of gratitude, a careful reading of the Repeal disclosed, that it was "to avoid the inconveniences at- tending the collection of the revenue." The right of taxation by Parliament had not been abandoned, and might be asserted again. Almost before the echoes of the bells had. died away, another Act was passed, less oppressive in its conditions, but firmly reasserting the i^rinciple, and vindicating a policy which England had deliberately de- termined to follow. The small tax upon glass, paper and tea, would probably have been paid, but for the recent tension over the Stamp Act. But that had left a shai^Dly defined issue. The colo- nies would not be taxed by a body in which they were not represented. England by this last Act declared as firmly, that Parlia- ment had the dis]3uted right, and would en- force it. The colonies were not ignorant of English history. They knew that this Parliament, held so sacred in England, was the creation HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. 93 of just sucl\ resistance as theirs. It liad been clothed with such supreme authority, because of just such wrongs as this now at- tempted upon them. It had become greater than Kings, precisely to maintain the prin- ciple, that the people must not he taxed without their consent. This was the very central nerve of British freedom. Should they, — because they had come to a distant land, and with toil and hardship built up a young civilization, — should they for this, surrender the very principle that made them freemen? If they did, they were the sub- jects of subjects, — not the subjects of a King. It would have been well for England if she had left unbroken the relations with thirteen loyal colonies, disposed not to question the right of the Mother Country so long as they were treated fairly well. She made a grave mistake when she invited a searching into the title-deeds of her author- ity. An army of trained and acute intelli-^ gences were examining other matters be- sides taxation and representation. Some questioned whether tliere should be any taxing at all. By careful calculations it was demonstrated that by her monopoly of 94 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. tlieir trade, England every year wrung from the colonies a sum in excess of their share- of the public burden; and that taxation su- peradded to that, — with representation or without it, — reduced them to the condition of uncompensated slaves. And, what right had a body in which they were not repre- sented to make laws for them, any more than to tax them ! The more America read and reasoned, and talked, the more was she convinced. The vindication of her attitude and the argu- ments in sui^i^ort of her rights became famil- iar even to the children; and three millions of people were being educated in the princi- 13les of liberty, and the ignominy of aban- doning tliem. So while the question of "rights" had grown far beyond its original limits, Eng- land was startled by a declaration from eacli of the Assemblies, that not only had she not the right to tax, but not even to legislate for the colonies. This was in response to a cir cular letter sent by Massachusetts, that hot- bed of sedition, to the various legislatures. Massachusetts was called upon to rescind her resolutions and recall her letter, which she unequivocally refused to do. HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 95 The i^eoi^le had not only a clearer compre- hension of their rights than before, bnt a new consciousness of power. They had learned that by refusing to purchase British wares they could shake Britisli x>i"osperity to its centre. They returned to their home- sx)un; relighted "the candles of industry and economy. ' ' They would get along with- out glass, paper, and even — tea. Custom House officials had sinecures. There were no duties to collect, nor duties to perform, except that of spying upon sus- 1 pected persons and ships, in lioj^e of tlnding ' smuggled goods. The commissioner in Bos- ; ton made himself especially odious at a time when the temper of that town was not, to say the least, at its best. His house was assaulted by a jeering mob, his windows ; broken and some of his effects were burned i on Boston Common. In punishment for this, two regiments of British soldiers were marched into Boston and quartered uj)on the i people, 1768. New York refused to shelter ' and feed a similar body of troops sent to dis- j cipline her; and her legislature was at once dissolved. A collision took place in Bos- ton, between exasperated and exasperating troops, and an equally exasperated and 96 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. exasperating mob. Citizens were killed, causing fresli bitterness and rage. There were peace-makers on both sides of the Atlantic striving to heal the widening breach. — AVilliam Pitt (then in private life,) and Edmund Burke, by eloquence and argu- ment endeavoring to restrain offensive legis- lation in Parliament, and Franklin and others in America counselling moderation and only peaceful modes of obtaining redress. Royal Governors were everywhere striving to carry out obnoxious instructions. Assemblies everywhere protesting, and the colonists with unbroken front declaring they would I)ay no taxes, except at the bidding of their own Assemblies, that these bodies, stood in the same relation to them, as did the House of Commons, to the x)eople in England. In 1773, the tax was removed from every- thing but tea. By an arrangement with the East India Company this was to be brought direct from India to America; thus lessen- ing its cost so much, that with a tax of only three pence a pound, it would yield a reve- nue to the Government and yet be cheaj)er than ever before. It was a cunning bribe for America to accept the principle of taxa- tion in exchange for cheap tea. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 97 When the shijis arrived, Charleston stored her tea in damp cellars, and other ports refused to admit it at all. But the cargo designed for Boston, came consigned to personal friends of the Governor, and could not be excluded. A body of men dis- guised as Indians, boai'ded the ship at night, and emptied the tea into the harbor. The climax was reached. The port of Boston was closed by Act of Parliament. The colony of Massachusetts was placed un- der martial law, and General Gage, the offi- cer in command of the troops, took the place of the former Royal Governor. Busi- ness was suspended and suffering and dis- tress took the place of prosperity. The Virginia Assembly ap^Dointed a day of fasting, and denounced the act as one of intolerable oppression to a sister colony. In punishment for this her Legislature was immediately dissolved by the Governor. Patrick Henry' s impassioned words, ' ' give me liberty or give me death," became the watchword for men throughout the length and breadth of the land, who irrespective of minor differences, banded together and called themselves "Whigs," while those who failed to declare a sym^Dathy with the 98 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. uprising against tyranny, were as in Eng- land, known as "Tories.-' Military com- panies were formed and "minute men" were drilling from Maine to South Carolina. "The sons of liberty," which had been or- ganized in each of the colonies in the days of the Stamp Act, now drew into a closer union; and the thirteen colonies, — so di- verse in creeds, in tastes and in character, were fused by the white heat of patriotism. CHAPTER XII. In August, just four montlis after the closing of the port of Boston, delegates from all the colonies met at Philadelphia to de- termine upon a concerted plan of action. No men sitting in the British Parliament were more loyal subjects of Great Britain than those composing the First Colonial Congress. It was not a Revolutionary body. They came together not in the heat of pas- sion, with no thought of separation nor de- sire for independence, but simply as British subjects, calmly and lirmly, and with im- pressive dignity insisting upon the rights guaranteed them by the British Constitu- tion. They did not intend to examine with unfriendly eyes into the authority of the Mother Country. They were willing to abandon every point of controversy, except one. England might continue to enjoy the entire benefit of their prosperity ; she might absorb for herself the commercial advan- 100 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. tages of thirteen expanding colonies ; but, the rights of Englishmen in America must be as sacred as they would be in England. They must not be taxed without their con- sent. That power must be transferred to their own legislative bodies. Tliere must be no standing army in their land, except by consent of these same legislatures ; and, citizens must have the privilege of trial by their peers in their own realm, — and not be as was threatened, — dragged from their homes to be tried by juries of strangers in England. Certain Acts passed in the reign of his majesty George the Third, were declared to be unconstitutional, and would be resisted. A league Avas formed for non-importation — non-consumption — and non-exportation. The members of the Congress bound them- selves by all they held sacred, not to import, nor to consume foreign goods, nor to export their own, until their demands were met. Foreign merchants were to be warned to send no goods, and if sent,— they would be returned with packages unopened. The wearing of mourning for their dead was to be abandoned. Venders of merchan- dise were also instructed not to take advan- tage of the scarcity by raising prices. The HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 101 names of persons who should violate these restrictions were to be published. The proceedings of this Congress, and in- deed the creation of the Congress itself, fell as a thunderbolt in England, where an in- fatuated ministry and short-sighted King had believed they were dealing with a few troublesome malcontents in Massachusetts, and a factious minority here and there. They had always supposed they could rely upon the natural antagonisms between the colonies to prevent any permanent concerted action; and that local jealousies and aver- sions would always enable England to deal with them separately instead of collectively. But England did not comprehend the strange and unseen influence which was working upon tliese antagonistic particles. Virginia might have said to Massachusetts '*what am I to Hecuba, or Hecuba to me, that I should weep for her ? " But she did not. She rushed to her rescue, and felt the blow as if it were aimed at herself. The children of Puritan, Cavalier, and the Neth- erlands; Catholic, Calvinist and Quaker, rushed together by common imi^ulse, and acted as if inspired by one mind and pos- sessed of one soul. Merchants without hesi- 103 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. tation or regret, jDut beliind tliem the lioi^e of gain and accepted a total stop^Dage of business. Planters and farmers eagerly as- sented to letting their hard-earned harvests lie unsold. Pleasure-loving sons and daugh- ters, were willing to lay aside soft raiment and tempting food. And all these sacrifices were made at the bidding of a voluntary association of men, not invested with any legislative authority. The drastic measures of the King in clos- ing the port of Boston had not the approval of the whole of his people. Many prophe- sied a retaliatory course, such as had been provoked by the Stamp Act. So as a meas- ure of prudence Lord North thought it would be wise to have the impending elec- tion for new members of Parliament safely over, before receiving any news from Amer- ica, which might bring from the people a vote of censure. This worked well, and by the time the proceedings of the Colonial Congress arrived, tlie new Parliament was seated, constituted as before of upholders of the King and Ministry. The weight and influence of the members of the Colonial Congress, the dignity and firmness of its demands, and the declaration HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 103 of an inflexible purpose to suspend all com- mercial relations with England until these demands were met, produced a profound sensation. The repeal of a few Acts of Parliament was all that was needed to restore tranquil- lity. But to recede would be an admission that they had been wrong. The current was moving swifter and faster than they had ex- pected. It was in vain that the Great Earl of Chatham, (the elder Pitt) led the party of conciliation in the House of Commons, his plans for compromise were rudely received, and consigned to what was wittily called the ^'Committe of Oblivion;" in vain that Burke spake as man has rarely spoken in ancient or in modern times ; in vain that Franklin appeared before the bar of the House of Commons with ingenious conces- sions, and temperate statements, striving by gentle skill to draw the thunderbolt from the impending storm clouds. The witty satire of his pamphlet entitled ' ' Rules for reducing a Great Empire to a small one, ' ' was not for- gotten. The British lion may be prodded, but he must not be laughed at. Lord Sandwich, trembling with rage, i)ointed to the white haired peace maker saying: "There is the 104 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. man wlio is one of tlie bitterest and most mischievous enemies England ever knew." Argument was met by invective ; reason- ing by denunciation and insult. The record of those proceedings is unequaled for a dis- play of passion and prejudice and party spirit, combined with a singular ignorance, or else misconce]3tion, — of the real j)oints in dispute, and proclaims those legislators, sitting in the British Parliament in 1774, to have been utterly unlit to rule the destinies of three million intelligent Anglo Saxons on the other side of the globe. The Rubicon was passed. The House of Commons besought the King, in view of "the Rebellion now existing in the colonies " to take the most effectual measures for enforc- ing of obedience, and declared their fixed resolution, at the hazard of their lives and property, to stand by him in the mainten- ance of his authority. The peace makers had failed. There were larger and greater plans for America than any contemplated, even by her friends and advocates. CHAPTER XIII. The American Colonies were nnder no glamour regarding their own unfitness to undertake a conflict with the greatest mili- tary nation in Europe; a nation which had just humbled France and Spain in combina- tion. They had no army, no fortifications, nor military engineers — almost no arms or am- munition, nor means to get them. They were cut oil' by 3,000 miles of ocean from the sources of supply, and with British ships policing their harbors to prevent foreign importation of goods. They had no public treasury, no machinery for raising money, and the dependence of thirteen separate provinces upon England had made them un- familiar with the general finances of the country, or methods of reaching its re- sources. The revenues of England were immense. The drain upon her, caused by a war, would lOG HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. not be appreciably felt by a single individ- ual in the kingdom. In America, it would involve sacrifices for every human being, and ruin for thousands. But was there a man dismayed? — not though they knew it would cost lives and homes and the hoarded savings of years. Men were silently and secretly busy col- lecting and storing arms for an emergency, which might at any moment arrive. Gen- eral Gage learned that quite a large amount of military stores were concealed at Con- cord, and ordered 800 men to march there during the night of April 18th (1'755) and destroy them. Some such attempt had been apprehend- ed. By a preconcerted signal the neighbor- ing farmers were alarmed, and Paul Revere sped on his historic ride to awaken Charles- town and the hamlets by the way. " A hurry of hoofs in a village street, A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark Struck out by a steed fijing fearless and fleet: That was all ! And yet, through the gloom and the light, The fate of a nation was riding that night ; And the spark struck out by that steed, in its flight, Kindled the land into flame with its heat." HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. 107 The eight "minute men" killed at the dawn of that morning, April 19th, were the first martyrs to the cause of American liber- ty. The military stores had been destroyed, but at the cost of 300 British lives, — and of one British illusion. These Americans were not "cowards." It was an amazing display of naked valor, when that undisciplined, unofficered yeo- manry, each man firing when he saw fit without word of command, i3ut to flight troops equal in discipline to any in the world. As the news spread through the colonies, the country breathed freer. When Washington heard that the boys had not only "stood the fire of the Regulars," but reserved their own " till they saw the whites of the enemies' eyes," he exclaimed, "Then the liberties of the country are safe." A granite monument now marks the spot where the love of the colonies for their mother England was forever estranged. Cut into its base are Emerson's words : — ' ' Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world." When at the time appointed. May 10th, 1775, the Second Continental Congress as- 108 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. semblecl at Philadelphia, it found itself con- fronted witli a tremendous responsibility, and with no regularly constituted authority. It could advise, but not legislate. There was perfect unanimity as before. An attack upon Massachusetts was an attack upon the whole. The United Colonies of America were at war with Great Britain. Each one pledged itself to contribute troops for a Continental Army of 30,000 men. Two million dollars were also pledged for the maintenance of the war, to be contributed by the colonies upon vague promises of be- ing reimbursed at some future time. Side by side with these ]3reparations for a conflict, was a fresh Memorial to George the Third, expressing their continued desire to remain loyal subjects of Great Britain, and praying for a redress of grievances. Wash- ington sitting in this very Congress wrote to a friend that he "abhorred the idea of independence." Even Avhile these last efforts at j^eace were making in Congress, the flames were spread- ing. Many thousand fresh British troops were arriving in Boston under Generals Howe, Clinton, andBurgoyne, and Ethan Al- len with a handful of men was surprising the HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 109 garrison at Fort Ticonderoga wliich he claimed "in the name of Jehovah and the Continental Congress." The capture was made in ten minutes, without the loss of one life or limb, and an immense supply of can- non and war material warmed the courage of the people. The British discovered in the morning of the 17th of June (1775) that earthworks had been thrown up on the heights overlooking Boston, and General Howe was ordered with a force of 2,000 men to storm the work. Ac- customed to victories over French and S^rnn- ish legions, fighting only for a change of masters, the General supposed he had an easy task. The "embattled farmers" did not seem to him as impressive as to Emerson a century later. But when the sun went down, although he held the heights, he had been twice reinforced from Boston, and the battle of Bunker Hill was one of the emptiest, and costliest victories ever achieved. It would have been a defeat had not the powder of the colonists been ex- hausted. One-half of Howe's command was dead, including a disproportionate number of officers. The burning of Chaiiestown helped to 110 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. make tlie day, the most momentous in tlie history of the Colonies. It was the first real battle of the war, and had been fought in the light of five hundred burning homes, with a fury and yet a deliberate courage which astonished the British General. Gen- eral Gage wrote home " these rebels, are not the despicable rabble many suppose them to be." The hopes of the colonists from the very first gravitated toward one man — George Wash- ington. The liberties and the very existence of America are so intertwined with the name of Washington, it is impossible to conceive what would liave been its fate without him. When the Colonial Congress called into ex- istence a Continental Army, he alone was thought of as its Commander in Chief. Ever since his campaign in Ohio had termi- nated with the capture of Fort DuQuesne (1758) he had been enjoying a tranquil re- pose upon his estate at Mount Vernon. Great Britain had no more loyal, peace- loving subject than this man, to whom the very name of "independence" was ab- horrent. Still without hesitation he consented to lead an army against the Government he had HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Ill SO revered. He replied tliat lie felt unequal to the great trust — but would accept it, con- tinuing, in regard to tlie pay offered liim, — "I beg leave to assure Congress that no pecuniary consideration would tempt me to accept this arduous position. I wish to make no profit from it. I will keep an account of my expenses. Those I doubt not they will discharge. That is all I desire. ' ' The "army" of which he took command on the third of July 1775, was the brave, undisciplined host intrenched about Boston, without uniform o c drill. Each man brought his own musket, — if he had one, — and sub- sisted mainly upon food sent him from his own home. Not one of them believed that more tlian two or three months of service would be required, but that a determined show of resistance would bring a redress of grievances. Wlule the Commander in Chief was trying to organize an Army out of such material, the fires were spreading in remote parts. The brave Moultrie from his fort of pal- metto logs on Sullivan' s Island, was success- fully defending the harbor of Charleston from a British fleet ; and the heroic Mont- 112 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. gomery from New York was laying down Ms young life in an effort to capture Quebec. Royal Governors were everywhere abdica- ting and hiding on British ships from ex- asperated colonists ; and when the news was received that England was sending 45,000 more troops, and that of these 17,000 were Hessians hired from a German Principality for the subjection of her own colonists, every lingering sentiment of love and loyal- ty was extinguished. North Carolina, in advance of all the rest, passed at Charlotte, a set of resolutions renouncing allegiance to King and Parliament. It is strange to relate the birth of a new colony in these days of storm and stress. The meadow lands of the Kentucky river were purchased from the Cherokees, and foundations laid by the adventurous Daniel Boone for the first State west of the Alle- ghanies. A letter from Lord Howe addressed to " George Washington, Esq.," was returned by the Commander in Chief unopened, and when personally solicited to read it as it con- cerned "pardons," he calmly answered that "A pardon implied an offense. They had committed no offense, and hence desired no HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 113 pardons." There are two kinds of lieroism. The heroism which dares and achieves, and the one which waits. In the long winter be- fore Boston, the men impatient to get back to farms and homes, and the colonists eager for quick results, began to express their dis- satisfaction. Washington's motives were assailed. It was said he wished to prolong the war for the sake of wearing the honors of his command. He could have answered these calumnies in a moment, by telling the country that 2,000 of his men were without muskets, and there were deficiencies in sup- plies of all kinds which would make it disas- trous to move yet. But this would reveal his weakness to the enemy, and dampen the courage of the Americans. To rule his spirit was "greater than to take a city," — and he was silent. In March he was ready for an attack. But when General Howe saw the earth- works being thrown up, on Dorchester Heights, he evacuated Boston without an engagement. Washington aware that New York would be the destination of the British prepared to meet them there. On the 7th of June, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, oil ered a resolution in Con- 114 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. gress "that these United Colonies are, and of riglit ought to be, free and independent States." The resolution was adopted, and a •' Declaration of Independence" written by Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, was published to the world July the Fourth. It declared that in view of certain Acts, which it recited, " the United States of America, was absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown. ' ' CHAPTER Xiy. One week after the Declaration of Indepen- dence, Admiral Howe arrived in New York Harbor, with a powerful fleet. His brother was encamped u^Don Staten Island with 30,000 British and Hessians. Such was the force with which Washington was to con- tend, with his 7,000 raw recruits, scantily fed, clothed and armed. It is not strange that the history of the next five months was one of disaster and retreat. One point after another was occupied then evacuated, and left to the pursuing army; Long Island, Harlem Heights, White Plains, Fort Wash- ington, then across the river to Fort Lee and thence on toward Philadelj)hia through the Jerseys, already occupied by the Hessians. There was none of the elation attending victory, only unmitigated hardship. In De- cember the patriot army was a handful of ragged disheartened fugitives, many with- out shoes, leaving bloodstained footsteps on 116 niSTOUY OF THE UNITED STATES. the frozen ground. The British General scornfully smiled and said he only asked for a Corporal's guard to keep New Jersey. New York City was in the hands of the British, and many inhuential people there and elsewhere, had gone over to tlie victo- rious enemy, expressing penitence for dis- loyal sympathies. Washington had a dis- solving and expiring army on his hands, men half naked and hungry, impatient for their discharge, and recruiting for a new one under such disheartening circumstances was impossible. Many believed that a rash and ill-considered rebellion was nearing its end ; and that instead of glory, and liberty, and independence, history would have to relate the ignominious j)unishment of a few leaders who had mistaken passion and rest- lessness under restraint, for high-sounding virtues. But, suddenly there was a flash of light out of the darkness. — Christmas night, in a driving storm of sleet and snow, and amid drifting masses of ice, which threatened every minute to crush the boats, Washing- ton crossed the Delaware river, and surpris- ing the Hessians in the midst of their festi- vities at Trenton, captured 1,000 men with HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 117 the loss of but four of his own ; two killed and two frozen to death. Then before Corn- wallis could recover from his astonishment, they had moved swiftly and unexpectedly upon Princeton, routed the troops and by rapid marches the exhausted army was safe in winter quarters at Morristown. The effect was electrical. Courage, hope, and patriotism were revived. Instead of being reproached for incajDacity, as hitherto, Washington was called the Saviour of the army. But while his praises were resound- ing, he was striving by sux)erhuman effort to conceal the desperate condition of his command, shut up for the winter months in Morristown, men poorly clad, sullen and resentful on account of delayed payments, the inhabitants not too well pleased at hav- ing soldiers with smallpox quartered in their homes, sickness and death from unaccus- tomed exposure, and no hospital service. It would have seemed that such a Winter of discontent could not be exceeded. But it was. The end was far off. There were Win- ters yet to come, which made this seem al- most like luxury. We can only dimly realize what our liberties have cost. Even to-day 70,000,000 people do not contemplate 118 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. a Avar with Great Britain witliont alarm ; and liere were 3,000,000, sometliing more than the inhabitants of New York City, maintaining a war with that power, defend- ing territory at a hundred points from the St. Lawrence to the gulf. Can we wonder that the men were not well-clothed, nor well sheltered, nor armed, even after homes had been emptied of blankets and comforts which might be spared for tlie poor boys in the field ! But the Commander in Chief must not appeal to sympathies ; he must iji- spire, and spread the splendid contagion of hope. He must make the country and tlie enemy believe in his invincibility, and de- ploy his small forces so as to keep up the delusion regarding his strength. The brilliant victories by which Washing- ton had turned upon his pursuers attracted attention in Europe, as well as in America. It gave prestige to a waning cause. There were obvious reasons why France was pleased. Her pride had received a terrible wound in the loss of her American Empire. She would adore the man or nation which could humiliate England. Besides this, there was something new and strange in the air of France. There was a searching into HISTORY OF T.HE UNITED STATES. 119 tlie title deeds of Governments — an out- reaching after freedom. — It was only "in the air," only an abstraction ; — but it pleased the French fancy to see a brave people across the sea, experimenting with liberty, — and at the same time dealing hard blows at Great Britain ! The Marquis de La Fayette, a French no- bleman, less than twenty years of age filled, with romantic ardor, fitted put a ship at his own expense, and bringing with him a num- ber of friends, placed his services at the disposal of America, for which he declined to receive any compensation. Three of his friends. Baron de Kalb, a German veteran, Count Pulaski and Thaddeus Kosciusko, two distinguished Polish patriots also en- tered the Colonial army. The plan of the English Campaign was for Burgoyne to press down from Canada while Cornwallis moved up the Hudson to make a Junction with his forces at Albany. The British fleet in the meantime was co-opera- ting on the coast, while Howe was moving on toward Philadelphia. In September 1777 Philadelphia was in the hands of the British. The battles of Brandy wine and Germantown having been vainly fought to prevent it. 120 HISTORY 0.F THE UNITED STATES. Burgoyne had captured Fort Ticonderoga, and had succeeded in reaching tlie head waters of the Hudson. There his progress was stopi^ed. At Bemis' Heights, — twenty- five miles from Albany he was defeated in two engagements, called the "battles of Stillwater." Retreat was cut off in every direction, and on the 16th of October 1777, he surrendered his entire army to General Gates. This was an enormous helj:) to the American cause. But it was only one of the heads of the hydra encompassing the colonies. Two months after Burgoyne' s surrender. Congress sent to the Colonies for ratification "Articles of Confederation," which were in fact a constitution authorizing Congress to carry on War, and to decide upon finan- cial and war measures. This gave some structure and firmness to a body Avhich had heretofore been only a patriotic association with advisory powers. In December Washington went into win- ter quarters at Valley Forge, from which point he could watch the movements about Philadelphia. While the royalists were feasting in that city, and revelling in com- forts, his men were in rude huts, without HISTORY or THE uj^ited states. 121 blankets for the niglit or clothes for the day; — often destitute of food, and cutting their naked feet in marches over ice and snow. Their situation was far more desperate than the year before at Morristown. To keep an army from falling to joieces under such cir- cumstances was sufficient test of fortitude, but Washington had to bear more. An in- trigue was set on foot by enemies to deface his reputation, and deprive him of his com- mand. It is pleasant to relate that this was met with such a storm of indignation that the instigators were obliged to hide from its wrath. While Washington was enduring this win- ter of deepest darkness at Valley Forge, the British Parliament was discussing concilia- tory measures. It had never dreamed of such prolonged resistance, and the surrender of Burgoyne had caused consternation. Lord North himself drafted a Bill, which speedily passed. It did not concede what America now demanded— indepen- dence, — but all that she had asked in the be- ginning of the war. Another result from the surrender was about to be realized. Franklin had long cherished the plan of an Alliance with 122 HISTORY OP THE U.XITED STATES. France. His reputation as a Philosopher, his tact and delightful social qualities made him a favorite in the French Capital. He was commissioned with two others Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee, to open negotiations with the Government of France upon this subject, which resulted February 6th, 1778 in a Treaty of Alliance between that country, and the Infant Republic. The fate of the strug- gle, and the future of America was deter- mined by the signing of that paper. The effect of the Alliance was immediate. The British evacuated Philadelphia in June, in order to concentrate their forces at New York, before the coming of a French fleet and armament. They were none too soon. In July the French flag was flying off the coast of Rhode Island. The northern States had hitherto been the principal theatre of the war, but in 1778 and 1779, it was carried on vigorously at the South. Savannah was captured December 29th (1778). The Carolinas were the chief object of this Southern invasion, and were ravaged until the surrender of Charleston, May 12, 1780, when royal authority was re- stored, and South Carolina was held by Brit- ish garrisons stationed at various points of HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 123 the State; Generals Marion, Sumter and Pickens struggling heroically to drive the intruders out. American privateers had joined the French cruisers on the coast, and one of the most desperate naval combats in history, was fought by John Paul Jones, in which he captured two English frigates and a fleet of merchantmen, and it is said, in six weeks took sixteen rich prizes for the States. French aid had enabled the Americans to prolong the struggle, but it had not brought the decisive victories which had been hoped. The country began to feel exhausted, and the depreciation of the bills of credit called Continental Money caused renewed dis- tress and alarm. Soldiers had not been paid for months, and were almost in revolt. Making money out of paper answered well for a time. When one million was gone, another could be created by the same legis- lative magic. But the time soon came when forty dollars were needed to represent the value of one, and when at last it needed six hundred dollars more than a year' s pay, to purchase a pair of shoes, the manufacture of money became an unpopular industry. 124 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. La Fayette, America's nntiring friend re- turned to France, and prevailed ux)on Louis Xyi to send more troops and money for the cause. Count de Rocliambeau arrived in July (1780) with another fleet and 6,000 troops. But the British fleet had also been reinforced, and there was a long and ineffec- tual struggle off the Rhode Island coast for possession of Newport. Through all these years of desperate trial and discouragement there had never been one traitor to the American cause. But the Summer of 1780 was marked by a disgrace- ful act committed by one of the most trusted and valued of the American Officers. Bene- dict Arnold on account of a supposed in- jury inflicted by the Commander in Chief, X)lanned in revenge an act of unmatched treachery. It was not done impulsively, but after fourteen months of shameless bar- gaining with the British. He asked to be put in Command of West Point, then the most important post in the country, control- ling as it did the Hudson. It was agreed with Clinton that the British should at- tack it in force, and Arnold would so man the defences that they must fall without a blow. HISTORY OP THE UNITED STATES. 125 The plot was discovered and Arnold es- caped, receiving liis reward, — from the British, a large sum of money and a com- mission as Brigadier General, and from his country, undying execration and contempt. The immediate punishment which should have been his, fell upon Major John Andre, the young and accomplished Adjutant of General Clinton. He was the bearer of the treasonable papers, and these were found hidden in his stocking when he was seized. A monument to Nathan Hale the boy martyr stands in New York City, and another a few miles above on the banks of the Hudson, marks the spot where Andre the spy was captured. Whether the boy, risking his life in carrying to Washington plans of British fortifications on Long Island, was more of a hero than the British officer conveying to General Clinton plans for the surrender of West Point, depends upon the point of view. Thousands of lives laid down in battle-fields, touch one's sym- pathies less to-day, than the deliberate mur- der of these two young soldiers by the rules of war. People stop in the busy street in New York and gaze with wet eyes at the 126 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. resolute, eager face of tlie boy whose arms are rudely tied behind him with ropes. But Andre the beautiful English youth, writing his pathetic farewell to his Mother and his betrothed in England, touches us no less deeply than Hale, — standing under the fatal rope, regretting that — "he had but one life to lose for his Country." CHAPTER XY. While the storm centre had moved to the Carolinas, it still raged in desultory manner at the north. The French fleet hovered about the coast of Rhode Island, always threatening and sometimes attacking. Clin- ton at New York, did little more than defend posts on the Hudson from cai3- ture, and send predatory expeditions into Connecticut. It was in one of these that Putnam made the famous dash down the stony declivity at Grreenwich. A British force had entered the town, ]Dli^ndered the houses and destroyed the salt works. Put- nam hastily got together a few men and field pieces, which he used with effect, until a charge compelled a retreat, and he putting spurs to his horse plunged down the preci- pice amidst a rain of balls. It was in this summer too that the tragedy occurred in the Yalley of Wyoming, in Pennsylvania, caused by the Indians in alliance with some 128 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Tories. In fact there Avere few places wliere there was peace or safety. The wonder is that such a frail, ragged mantle of defence stretched over such an expanse, held together at all. But it did. When it gave way in one place, it was mended again. The patch was not always seemly, but it served. The depreciation of the currency was the gravest danger, be- cause it threatened the entire fabric. When it required two hundred and fifty Continen- tal dollars to purchase what had once been obtained by one, it needed heroism not to despair. In 1781, General Greene had succeeded Gates and was pressing down toward the south, while the British army had a steady movement toward the north. The two storm clouds moved around and about each other, avoiding collision until at last both were hovering over Virginia. Cornwallis had fortified himself at York- town. An attack was planned by the com- bined French and American troops. A French fleet under de Grasse was silently moving toward the Chesapeake. Wash- ington by a pretended attack upon New York disarmed Clinton's suspicions and HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 129 was far on his way south with his army be- fore his destination was suspected. Before the British realized what was being done, Yorktown was invested, and Corn- wallis was liemmed in upon every side by a force double his own. No alternative re- mained. On October 19th, 1781, the British army was surrendered to Washington, — and the war was closed. Cities at the north were awakened in the night by the watchmen' s cry, ' ' Two o' clock and all is v»^ell. Lord Cornwallis is taken." A shout of exulting joy burst from Maine to Georgia. Congress marched in procession to Church to offer thanks to God, and a day of national thanksgiving was appointed. On the 3rd of November, 1783, the "Army of the United States ' ' was disbanded. George Washington bade an affectionate farewell to his soldiers and returned to Mount Vernon a private citizen of the country, whose liber- ties he had secured. A humiliated King was compelled to stand in the House of Lords and acknowledge the Independence of the "United States of America." Lord North is said to have re- ceived the news of the British surrender ' ' as a cannon ball in his breast." 130 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Voltaire says, " Put together all the cru- elties of centuries, and they will not equal the atrocities of a single campaign." A stubborn King and a short-sighted minister had sacriliced hundreds of millions of prop- erty, and one hundred thousand human lives; besides the wreck and ruin to hun- dreds of thousands more in health and hap- piness. In return for this Great Britain had lost her fairest possession. — The United States, had won Political Independence and was a new Nation upon the earth. By the terms of the treaty signed at Ver- sailles, the United States extended from the Atlantic to the Mississippi and from the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes to Florida. This territory was returned to Spain, which also held the territory west of the Mississippi river ceded to her by France in 1762. Ex- cept in the inadequate "Articles of Confed- eration ' ' there was no general government. Never had this country been in greater peril than in those first hours of its exist- ence. An infant Republic had been cast out upon the shores of time, naked, helpless, ex- hausted, unprotected by a form of govern- ment, and unprovided with any of the things needed for its continued existence, A single HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 131 mistake might be fatal. The necessity for union being removed, antagonisms and antip- athies revived. Each of the thirteen States began jealously to guard its own individual rights, and sovereignty. Washington said: "We were one nation yesterday, and are thirteen to-day. ' ' Who should bear the bur- den of the unpaid soldiery, and how should the money be raised, and the sort of union which might be devised to benefit, and not oppress; these were problems pressing for immediate solution. Whether it be true or not, that Washington "thrice refused the Kingly Crown," he certainly had too much nobility to barter away the very freedom for which he had witnessed such sacrifices. In 1787 Congress convened to decide upon a form of government. The British Consti- tution was made by circumstances, through a course of centuries. For the first time in the history of the World, a people through their representatives, were to create a form of Government for themselves. Not alone must the garment fit now, — but it must be capable of indefinite expansion to be worn in an unknown future. It called for not only wisdom, but prescience. It was a re- markable group of men over Avhich Wash- 133 HISTORY OF THE Ui^ITED STATES. ington presided in that Congress. But there must have been a higher wisdom than theirs guiding their counsels. The "Constitu- tion" adopted after discussion has been pro- nounced by Gladstone "The most wonder- ful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man." Washing- ton wrote of it: "It is a little short of a miracle. * -^ ^ It is provided with more checks and barriers against tyranny, than any Government hitherto instituted among mortals." There were two opposing currents of sen- timent in the Convention. One desired an indivisible Republic. The other wished to preserve the Sovereignty of the States, uniting them only for commerce and special purposes. In other words one i3arty desired a union^ and the other a league. These extreme views were harmonized and a union created, so firm and yet so fiexible, that it has withstood shocks and strain of which its creators never dreamed, and has easily embraced a growth which their wildest imaginings had never contemplated. By the plan finally adopted, two things were accomplished, which had seemed im- possibilities. A union was effected, perfect- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 133 ly firm and binding, which yet left each State in absolute control of its own affairs ; and a system of representation was devised which, while it did no injustice to the larger States, still gave even to Rhode Island and Delaware, equal dignity and importance with Virginia and New York. Each State had sovereign control of its local affairs, but to the Federal Government was committed the care of such matters as concerned the nation as a whole. The coin- age, postal service, Army and Navy, de- fenses and power of making war or alliances with foreign powers, belonged exclusively to the General Government. The Government was divided into three departments ; Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary. The Legislative or law-making power was vested in a Congress consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. Each State was entitled to two Senators, appointed by its own legislature, and a number of representatives in proportion to its population. These legislators were elect- ed by the voters of the State. The Executive power was intrusted to a President, chosen by electors from all the 134 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. States, for a term of four years. To liim was awarded tlie appointing of Ambassa- dors, Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and his own Cabinet, — subject to the ap- proval of the Senate. The Judicial power was bestowed upon a Supreme Court, and such inferior courts as Congress might create. Each of these branches was entirely dis- tinct from the other, and competent in itself, but all were under one supreme authority, — the authority of the Constitution. The British Constitution must be sought in thousands of statutes and decisions, made in the course of hundreds of years. The Constitution of the United States may be read in twenty minutes ; — but that bit of paper has been strong enough to hold a nation together for over a century, and although strained and bent by fierce storms of passion, it has remained the supreme law of the land to which Presidents, legis- lators, and judiciary must bow. It is the will of a sovereign people. Created by the people, it can only be changed by the people ; and the methods provided by it for effecting such changes, are so hedged with difficulties, that except in the greatest HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 135 emergency its permanence is assured. Its framers provided for subsequent changes by alloAving amendments. But these must have the consent of tioo-thirds of Congress^ and of a majority of three-fourths of the States. The Constitution was submitted to the States, and after discussion, more or less heated, was finally acce]3ted by one after another. In 1789, the first general election was held. The electors from tlie various States met, and George Washington was, without one dissenting voice, chosen first President of the United States, with John Adams as Vice-President. The journey to New York was a triumphal progress. Floral arches and shouts of welcome greeted him at every place by the way. Bands of music playing the ''President's March" (Hail Columbia) composed for the occasion. His path was flower-strewn by fair maidens clad in white, and Valley Forge must have seemed like a terrible and half -remembered dream. Upon the balcony of the Old Federal Hall in Wall Street, New York, the oath of office was administered by Chancellor Livingston. Congress had chosen Philadelphia for the 136 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. seat of Government for ten years ; after which time, it was to be removed to a tract of land ten miles square upon the Potomac, ceded by Maryland and Virginia for that purpose, called the District of Columbia. A city was laid out in this wilderness, its ambitious and picturesque design in daring contrast with its surroundings at that time. Hapx)ily the plan of Washington City, drawn by the young French engineer, was as capable of indelinite expansion as was the Government of the United States. Thirteen broad avenues radiating from green centres were named after the original States. On paper they were charming ; but in reality straggled off into woods and im- penetrable thickets. Now, in that unique and beautiful city there is an archipelago of green islets, from which stretch a legion of broad avenues, vainly striving to keej) pace with the growing number of Commonwealths whose names they bear. Three executive departments had been created by Congress ; the Department of Foreign Affairs (now State), of War and of Treasury. The heads of these departments were called Secretaries, and they with the Attorney General constituted the Cabinet. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 137 Wasliington' s Cabinet consisted of Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State, Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Knox, Secretary of War, and Edward Ran- dolph, Attorney General. John Jay was appointed Chief Justice of the United States. CHAPTER XYI. The matter of first and chief importance was to devise measures for paying the Na- tion' s debt and for creating a revenue. The Continental paper issued in the time of such distress, had been to a Large extent, sokl by starving veterans . for sums absurdly below its face value, and was now held by unscrup- ulous speculators who were eagerly hoping- for its redemption. Under these circum- stances there was a strong sentiment against assuming this burden at once, in addition to the other and more urgent debt which must be paid out of absolute penury. It was a severe test of public honor, and we tremble to think of the injury which might have been inflicted ui^on the credit of the country by this, its first act. But the new Nation was not to begin its existence by breaking X)romises. Congress decided that every dol- lar of Continental money must be redeemed at its full value. A Mint (1792) and a JSTa- niSTOllY OF THE UNITED STATES. 139 tional Bank (1791) were established at Pliil- adelpliia, and in order to create a revenue, taxes were imposed upon foreign goods and distilled liquors. It is to Alexander Hamilton that the coun- try is indebted for the creation of a sound financial fabric at that critical time. Daniel Webster said of him: "He smote the dry rock of National resources and streams of revenue burst forth. He touched the dead corpse of public credit, and it sprung upon its feet." Confidence in the stability and integrity of the Government was a foundation for the unlooked for prosperity which immediately sprung into life and verdure over the finan- cial ruin left by the war. One benefit had been wrought by those eight years of isola- tion and j)rivation. Compelled to supply their own needs, skill and invention were stimulated and the people everywhere had developed small industries. These under the new conditions grew and expanded, cre- ating at once a modest prosperity. In 1791, Vermont struggled out of the grasp of New Hampshire and New York, both of which States claimed her, and with Kentucky, was admitted to Statehood. The 140 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. relations with Great Britain were not yet amicable. She still held Niagara, Detroit, Mackinac and other JSTorthern posts, contra- ry to treaty arrangements. She claimed to have her own grievances in the non-payment of debts contracted before the war, and had not yet accepted the bitterness of defeat sufficiently to send an Ambas'sador to the New Republic. CHAPTER XVII. The first Cabinet unlike any that have ex- isted since, was divided in sentiment con- cerning the policy of America. A fierce storm of human passion was raging in France. Like our own Revolution, this was in the be- ginning a protest against taxation without representation. La Fayette one of its lead- ing spirits had imbibed his ideas of popular Government from this hemisphere. He it was who first urged upon Louis XVI the convoking of the States General. This sum- moning the people for conference was a vir- tual surrender of the right to tax them without their consent. It had not been done for a century and a half, and was resorted to by the wretched Louis only when all else had failed, and as a desperate measure, in hope of restoring tranquillity. Such was the Revolution in its incipiency. Could any American fail to sympathize with such a cause, when too that cause was in France ? 142 HIS'lORY OF THE UNITED STATES. La Fayette with confident enthusiasm sent the key of the Bastile to Wasliington, and the precious relic was reverently enclosed in a glass case at Mount Yernon. But there were terrible energies slumber- ing in the popular will in F'rance. The swollen current became too swift and awful to hear the restraining voice of leaders. The King was swept into the abyss, then the Queen, and an indiscriminate slaughter dis- graced the very name of freedom. While this tragedy was enacting in Paris, all France was in the throes of a Revolution, casting off the old time encrusted tyrannies. It was from seed wafted across the Atlantic from that vigorous young Republican tree in America that this vicious growth had come ! A Republic in Europe would be a menace to Kings. Austria and Prussia resolved to crush it in its beginnings and marched upon France, aided soon by Eng- land. It was a struggle for the principle of freedom in the very land which gave us ours. To whom should the country of La Fayette and of Rochambeau look for sym- pathy in such a cause, if not to America? At this very crisis John Jay was sent on a peaceful errand to London to try and ad- HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 343 just tlie causes of irritation wiiicli prevented the establishment of cordial relations be- tween America and Great Britain. Citizen Genet, the Minister from France to this country, taking it for granted that America would rush to the rescue of her rescuer, was most improi^erly engaged in recruiting in South Carolina for the French cause and fit- ting out privateers to capture British ves- sels. His recall was immediately requested by the President. In offering the olive branch to England, and refusing at the same time to aid the French cause, Washington outraged two of the most powerful sentiments of the coun- try; hatred of England, and love of France. The one act was "uniDatriotic," the other the ' ' basest ingratitude. ' ' One patriot said ' ' We have been guilty of idolatry, and punishment is pursuing us. It is high time we should have no other Gods save the One God." The cabinet and the nation were torn with fierce dissensions which resulted in the birth of two political parties. The Federalist j)arty ui^held the treaty, and the President, and was led by Hamilton and Adams. The Rei)ublican i:)arty opposed to the treaty and the Administration, was 144 HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. under tlie leadership of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. Other questions of policy clustered about the original cause of dis- pute which became a fierce war between two opposing principles, — the principle of cen- tralization and of individualism. Hamil- ton's policy was to increase the power at the centre, and Jefferson's to reduce it to the minimum and permit the freest possible expression to the voice of the people. Hamilton believed there was danger in the popular will, and that safety lay only in placing checks and safeguards, to restrain it. Jefferson believed the people were to be trusted, and that our liberties were safer with them than in the hands of the privi- leged few. The extreme of either of these conflicting principles, would have been ruin. Long after France and England had faded out of the dispute, the differences repre- sented by these two men, rent the country with the bitterest war of partisanship it has ever known; the one party calling Jeffer- son's the party of anarchy and the other Hamilton's the party of Monarchical sym- pathies and tyranny. Jefferson was to the Federalists a sympathizer with Marat, Robespierre, and the guillotine; a monster HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 145 who would put unrestricted power into tlie hands of the rabble. Hamilton to the Re- publicans was the aristocrat who would re- enslave them in a Monarchy. There can be no doubt that Washington's calmly maintaining neutrality at that time, was tlie highest statesmanship. But, it is also true that there was manifested a dan- gerous reaction toward tlie very shackles which had just by superhuman effort, been broken. The hereditary principle, — and a landed and privileged aristocracy — were ad- vocated in learned pamphlets by Adams. Hamilton openly declared that a limited Monarchy was the best form of Government, aiid^ the one toe must finally adopt. A sort of regal state invested the President's office, and surrounded his person with some of the dignity which doth hedge a king. Jefferson and Hamilton represented two ever present forces. The one which tends to individualism, and the other which strives to make the individual atom subject to the whole. Both forces are essential. One is life, and the other is order — and only in their perfect balance is there safety. It is the eternal battle between the centrij^etal and centrifugal in nature. The dominance 146 HISTORY OF THE UlS'ITED STATES. of the former tends to permanence and solidity and of the latter to a career brill- iant, but brief. Chinese civilization is the ultimate type of the one, and Greek civili- zation of the other. The ideal, is a blending of the two. Besides the war of opinions, there were during Washington's two administrations, a campaign against the Indians in the Wild- derness of Ohio ; a Kebellion against the taxing of whiskey in Pennsylvania, a hostile movement against Algiers, which opened the Mediterranean to American vessels ; a treaty with Si)ain, by which the free navi- gation of the lower Mississipj)i through her territory was secured, — and the State of Tennessee was admitted to the Union (1796\ An event bearing more directly upon the future of America than any of these was, the invention of the Cotton Gin in 1793 by Eli Whitney. While this agency for es- tablishing the dominion of cotton, and slave labor, was coming into existence, the first lirotest against slavery was being made in Congress by a society of Quakers, and a long- fought battle had commenced. Firmly refusing to accept a third term. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 147 Washington in 1797 retired to private life, tlie most venerated, and tlie most abused, — of the Presidents who have occupied the chair. For the first time there were two opposing candidates for the Presidency. John Adams Avas elected by a majority of two electoral votes over Jefferson. In retaliation for our having refused aid to France, the relations with that country had assumed a very serious aspect. The American flag was insulted, vessels cap- tured, and our envoys were refused an audience by the Directory. A war between the late allies seemed imminent, when Na- poleon became First Consul, and hostilities were averted. Party feeling was augmented by the course pursued by the Adams Administra- tion. Republicans who had expected a tyrannical usurpation of power, were not disappointed. ^'The Alien, and Sedition laws," were passed. Under the former the President could expel from the country any foreigner he deemed injurious to the United States, and under the latter, any one speak- ing injuriously of Congress or the President could be fined or imprisoned. 148 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. The next Presidential election was a pro- test against this usurpation. Thomas Jef- ferson succeeded John Adams in 1801 — witJi Aaron Burr as Yice-President. CHAPTER Xyill. George Washington passed away with his century. He was stricken suddenly with an affection of the windpipe, which terminated fatally after only a few hours of suffering, December 14, 1799. His remains were placed in the Mausoleum on his own grounds at Mount Vernon, which has for one hundred years been a Mecca for his countrymen. As the years pass the lustre of his name grows not dimmer, but brighter, and the lines of his form more heroic. In a character so symmetrical, distance was need- ed to realize its grandeur. The century which was closing with his life had brought nothing more pregnant with great results — than the career of George Washington. It was a period like the one through which Ave are now x^assing, full of reminiscence and fl7i de Steele sentiment. As we are looking 150 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. into tlie Twentietli Century, so tliey were X^eering witli strange wonder into that new Nineteenth Century they were about to enter. What would it bring? It was impossible that it should be so fraught with wonders as had been the Eighteenth, which had created a Nation out of disconnected fragments, — had captured the thunderbolts of Heaven, — and imprisoned steam for the uses of man ! Rivalling this achievement of Watts', Ark- wriglit had created a machine which super- seded the work of human hands in weaving, and its wood and iron fingers were impelled by steam instead of human energy ! Could any marvel in the Mneteenth Century exceed that? The Cotton Gin had so facilitated the pro- duction of cotton that acres might be planted where there was only one before, and the fleecy product requiring less labor than here- tofore — could be shipped to England for her looms and spindles. This meant prosperity; a sure market for America's most abundant harvest. More forests must be subdued and converted into more acres of cotton field. But shall we receive good and not evil at the hand of the Lord % Fate was weaving two threads from these mechanical devices, HISTORY OF THE UNITED STvVTES. 151 and tills industrial growth ; threads which would terribly complicate the tangled web of human existence in two nations. The factory system in England, and slave labor in America, were the unsightly children of the steam engine, the loom and the cotton gin. Jefferson's inauguration was at Wash- ington, the new capital of the nation, and the White House was exchanged for Monti- cello. The intense democratic sympathies of Jefferson were the more remarkable because of his aristocratic birth, and the wealth of gifts which had made him shine in the most distinguished European capitals. True to his ideals, he rode to his inauguration with- out state or attendants, tied his horse to the fence and entered the capitol to take his oath of office as if he Avere the humblest man in the land. There is no doubt that the simx^licity so studiously and consist- ently observed by him, did stem the tide of aristocratic usage which threatened at one time to lead Republican America far afield. And as the long continued Whig rule in England, established by long habit, the principle of freedom and the supremacy of 152 HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. Parliament, so six successive administra- tions of tlie party of Jefferson, established in America a corresponding sentiment wliicli extinguislied monarcliial and aristocratic tendencies. Some of Jefferson's theories, however, were modified by experience. He was com- pelled to admit that the Executive power must be firmly exercised if it would exist at all. In the purchase of Louisiana from Napoleon (1803), he believed he transcended the power of the Executive, but it was a concession of theory wisely made when he saw the benefit which must accrue from having full x)ossession of the Mississippi River. This territory which had been ceded to Spain in 1762, was retroceded to France in 1800 by the treaty of Madrid. The sum of $15,000,000 was x)aid by America to France for over one million square miles. In 1801 the United States brouglit a claim of $20,000,000 against France for damages to its shipping in the recent war between that country and Great Britain. Napoleon met this Avith a counter-claim very much greater in amount, for damages from the failure of the United States to keej) their treaty obligations with France. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 153 This was adjnsted at last by a mutual sur- render of claims and the United States assumed the obligations of France to the amount of $15,000,000 for the indemnifica- tion of its citizens. The French Spoliation Claims then took a rest of eighty-four years ! — during which generations came and went, and time's effacing fingers were busy with records and even memories of the past. In 1885 when the great-great-grandchildren of the original claimants were at last au- thorized to have the amount and validity of their claims passed upon by a court sitting for that purpose, it was a difficult matter to prove that they were not asking to be in- demnified for phantom ships loaded with phantom cargoes. The Barbary States in North Africa had an uncomfortable practice of cax^turing ves- sels from Christian nations and holding the crews until a ransom was paid. This liigli- handed piracy was recognized by European nations by the act of paying an annual tribute to the Bashaw of Trix)oli, in order to secure exemption from these attacks. The United States in its first years purchased the security of its vessels in the same abject fashion. Almost the first act of Jefferson's 154 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Administration, was the sending of a fleet instead of the annual tribute. Trij)oli was bombarded, and the Bashaw so friglitened, that he was glad to make peace on our terms. France and England were as usual at war, and America as usual suffered from the con- flict. England declared all vessels trading with France to be liable to confiscation; and Na- poleon in retaliation, issued the Berlin De- cree which prohibited the introduction of English goods into any j)ort of Europe by neutral nations, and following this the Mi- lan Decree, which declared that all vessels violating the Berlin Decree or submitting to search by Great Britain, should be confisca- ted. Each nation was in high-handed fashion using America to punish the other. But more odious still was the "Right of Search " asserted by Great Britain. By this she claimed the right of stopping American ves- sels on the high seas, to search for seamen of English birth; and when such right was maintained at the cannon's mouth, by firing into fleeing ships, Jefferson ordered all British vessels of war to leave the waters of HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 155 the United States, and interconrse with either England or France was forbidden by Con- gress, by what was known as the Embargo Act. (When the war was concluded France had captured 558 American vessels, England 917, and that country had also impressed 10,000 seamen in pursuance of the policy de- clared above.) Such offensive conduct in Great Britain gave increased strength to the Reiiublican party, which was born of anti-British senti- ment. In 1805 Jefferson was re-elected with George Clinton as Vice President, and after the conclusion of his second term, James Madison a Republican in entire sympathy witli his great iH^edecessor, was elected as his successor, with Elbridge Gerry Vice- President. The story of Aaron Burr is a sad one. He was one of the most captivating and brilliant men of this time. He and Alexander Ham- ilton were bitter rivals and political enemies. While he was Vice-President, in the heat of passion. Burr challenged Hamilton to light a duel. A few hours later the Elysian Fields at Hoboken were stained with Hamilton's life blood. Burr fled from the outburst of horror and grief. He was lost to sight in the 15 G HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Western Wilderness for a time, then there came a rumor that he was plotting to set uj) a separate Confederacy west of the Alleglie- nies. He was imprisoned and tried. The charge of treason was never substantiated, but he lived and died an outcast. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson who~ had been co-workers and friends in creating the union, were alienated by the bitterest political strife. The tournaments between Federalists and Kei^ublicans were really fought out in the persons of these two men. It was a sti^nge circumstance that they both died on the same day in 1826, and that day was July the Fourtli, and the semi-centen- nial of our Independence. They lived long enough to be assured of the solidity and strength of the structure they had planned, and to see the life of the peo^^le quickened by new and wonderful inventions, and thriv- ing industries, creating XDrosperity every- where. Woolen mills in New York (1809); rolling mills in Pittsburg (1813); and ma- chines superseding handwork in the making of clocks in Connecticut (1807). The Eigh- teenth Century had not exhausted the in- ventive genius of man. During Jefferson's second Administra- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 157 tion, people were langliing and jeering at Robert Fulton who expected to perform a miracle. The first experiment of his boat propielled by steam, was heralded in advance by the newspapers as ''The Failure of Ful- ton the Fanatic," which was more allitera- tive than proj)hetic. Strange to say this memorable voyage, like that of Colnmbus was also nndertaken on Friday. On Angust 4tli, 1807, the only steamboat in the world moved \v\) past the Palisades and the High- lands, on the bosom of the same stream where just two hundred years before, Henry Hudson was seeking for a passage to India, on the "Half-Moon;"— and in 1820, the hearts of Jeiferson and Adams were alike thrilled, by the voyage of the first steam- ship, "Savannah, ' ' across the Atlantic Ocean. But before this crowning marvel much was to happen. There was a great Western Wilderness to be subdued, and a continent to be prepared for a growing nation to occupy. CHAPTER XIX. A Map of the Territory West of the Alle- ghenies at the close of the Revolutionary period, looks like a picture of geological strata of varying thicknesses. As one some- times sees ice and snow lingering in shel- tered nooks in August, so the names Massa- chusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia lingered across these divisions until their gradual cession to the United States by the States named. As infancy is a necessary preparation for maturity, so territorial existence is the first step towards Statehood. But until this Statehood is attained the infant territory is wholly under the authority of the Federal Government. The course of development in America, was out of the vast and thinly oc- cupied spaces in the west first to create large territories, then to cut these down from time to time into smaller areas or ter- ritories, which when sufficiently developed were admitted as States. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 159 In 1800 the territory originally belonging to the Carolinas embraced between tlie Chattahoochie river and the Mississippi, was separated from Georgia nnder the name oi* the Mississippi Territory. It was not until the year 1817 that this was cut in two by a line drawn from the Tennessee river to the Gulf, creating the Territory of Alabama, lying between MississipiDi and the State of Georgia. In the year 1787, Virginia ceded to the United States all the territory north-west of this river. This was known as the North- west Territory. The subdivision of this immense tract commenced in 1800, A line was drawn from the mouth of the Kentucky river due north as far as Canada, and the portion on the west of the line Avas known as Indiana Ter- ritory. In 1802 Congress authorized the inhabi- tants of the eastern division of the North- west Territory to form a State and name it Ohio. In 1805 Indiana Territory was subdivided by a line drawn east from the southern ex- tremity of Lake Michigan, and tlie northern division was called Michigan Territory. 160 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. In 1809 tliere was another subdivision on tlie line of the AV abash river extending to Canada, and the portion west of this line was called Illinois Territory. In 1811, the southern extremity of the vast tract purchased from Napoleon was admitted to the Union, and the name Louisi- ana bestowed upon it. We are apt to think of the land acquired by purchase from France as the x^ortion now known by the name of Louisiana. The truth is however that the territory trans- ferred at that time for $15,000,000 was larger than all before x>ossessed by the United States. Twelve large States and Territories (most of them greatly exceeding the largest of the eastern States in size) were carved out of the French Province of Louisiana; viz.: Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minne- sota, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Montana, Dakota, Wyoming, and Indian Territory. Napoleon realized a great x)rospective value in this empire, and he bestowed it upon us, not because he loved America, but because he hated England. He said "I have given England a rival that will humble her pride." As early as 1790, and 1791, Kentucky and HISTORY OF THE UKlTEl) STATES. 10 1 Tennessee liad been admitted to Statehood. The former was ceded by Virginia and tlie latter by North Carolina to the United States. The occupying of these two States was part of a great movement westward. It was a sluggish wave which crept gradually toward the Mississipiu. The settlers would embark from Pittsburg or Wheeling, or from the Allegheny River in New York State, upon great flat-bottomed boats, or rafts put roughly together. On these with their household stuff, they floated down stream until they reached the desired point, then broke up the raft and construc- ted cabins for shelter with the lumber. The people in this interior country were shut out from the world. They lived in a rude primitive fashion, supplying their ow^n needs in the roughest way. Was a cradle needed for the baby, a log hollowed out, and filled with moss, served well enough for the infant settler. Did mtima need a cup of tea, an in- fusion of sassafras root sufficed. The one badge of civilization never for a moment lost sight of was the rifle. That might be need- ed at any moment to i:)rotect mothers an.Z children from the tomahawk and scalping knife. 162 HISTUliY OF THE UNITED STATES. Their produce had to go in one direction, — the way of the stream. — It was floated on rafts hundreds of miles down the Oliio, and thence down the Mississippi to JN'ew Orleans, requiring four months for the transit, and many more for the return against the river current. The result of this was, that the people had no dealings whatever with the At- lantic States. Their face was set toward New Orleans which was their commercial goal. They were nourished by the Mississipx^i Val- ley, and were fast growing into a diiferent type of civilization. They felt small alle- giance to the Union, and cared little for the Constitution, except as they might need it to protect them from the Indians. It was this great region, of settlers, hun- ters, and restless adventurers, and the terri- tory ceded by the French beyond, which was the field of Aaron Burr's intriguing and treasonable ambition. His daring imagination saw another em- pire in the west, where he might j^lay the role of an Alexander or a NaiDoleon. In 1808, just after James Madison had succeeded to the Presidency the Indians in the northwest, under the leadershij) of Tecumseh, a Shawnee Chief, formed a con- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 163 federacy. It was composed of the various interior tribes and was intended by a great combined movement to drive the white race back over the Ohio river. They did not understand the jDOwer of an advancing civili- zation, nor the futility of trying to keep back the tides with a broom. Greneral William Henry Harrison who had been appointed Governor of the new territory of Indiana was i)laced in command of the trooi^s, and marched with 900 men to the Indian encami^ment at Tij^pecanoe. Tecumseh was in the south, directing other movements in the campaign, and his brother "the Prophet," who spake and acted by in- spiration, was in charge. He was insj^ired at this time to talk of peace and submission, and to request a parley the next morning. This was granted and the army went into camx3 for the night in a beautiful grove ; at day-break they found the long grass was alive with crouching, creeping savages. There was a war whoop, and a rush upon the camp. The soldiers led by Harrison made a furious charge and the Indians were driven like deer before them. The rout was so complete that the war upon white civili- zation suddenly ceased. 164 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. There was every reason to believe that this hostile movement of the red men was incited by the British, who hovered about the frontier while their ships were harass- ing our merchant marine, and searching for British born seamen who were sailing under the American hag. The country was aroused. The right of search, so insolently insisted upon, must be resisted at whatever cost, and our commerce on the seas must be unmolested. The Federalists urged peaceful measures, but if a war must be declared, it should be against France as well as England, on account of depredations committed by her as outra- geous as those of Great Britain. "Weak as we are" said Henry Clay of Kentucky "we can fight England and France both if neces- sary." In congress and in the country at large a war of opinion raged ; the name of England being a red flag to exasperated Republicans, and that of France, to the Federalists. "In your zeal to serve your French Master" shouted the Federalist, "you would embroil us in a fratricidal strife with people of our own blood." "In your cringing devotion to your English Mas- ters," retorted the E,epublican "you would HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 165 have us make war upon the nation to which we owe our very existence." The Republicans were in the majority, and their counsels prevailed. June 19th, 1812, a proclamation was issued declaring war against Great Britain. Measures were at once taken to increase the small regular army of 10,000 to 35,000 men, and there was a call for 100,000 militia for the defence of the frontier and sea-coast. The lack of properly trained officers led to the appoint- ment of a permanent board of professors at the West Point Military Academy, which had ten years before been created on a very small scale. The beginning of the conflict was disas- trous. Tecumseh with his braves was with the British. His time had come. With these great allies he could avenge Tippe- canoe, and would yet reclaim the land of his fathers for his people. Lying way be- yond hundreds of miles of impenetrable forests was Detroit, a little town of 500 in- habitants, chiefly French Canadians. Will- iam Hull, Governor of Michigan Territory was in command of the garrison at that point. He led his command over the river to attack the British in Canada. But, when 166 HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. news came tliat Fort Mackinac was captured and that a force of Indians and British were on their way to Detroit, he was apparently panicstricken and returned quickly for shelter, pursued by the British. General Brock planted batteries opposite the Fort at Detroit, but to the dismay of his own offi- cers, the Commanding Officer attempted no defence, and the following day, entered upon negotiations for a surrender of fort, garrison, and territory. An event so dis- graceful, when victory was confidently ex- pected, was received with amazement and indignation throughout the land. General Hull was court martialed and sentenced to be shot ; but was saved by the clemency of the President. Another disaster quickly followed this at the Niagara Frontier, where General Ste- phen Van Rensselaer, in another attempt ux)on Canada was rex)ulsed with a heavy loss, and he also surrendered to the British. England was the acknowledged mistress of the seas. To defeat her there was the thing least expected by America, and there was a strange historic justice in our hum- bling her on the very element where Ameri- ca's rights had been violated. A series of HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 167 brilliant naval victories followed these liu- miliating defeats on land. Porter in the frigate Essex captured the British sloop of v^ar Alert. Hull on the frigate Constitution destroyed the frigate Guerriere oif the coast of Massachusetts and burned her to the waters edge. Decatur cruising in south- ern waters at the same time was destroying the British frigate Macedonian ; and in the same year off the coast of Brazil, the vic- torious Constitution, commanded by Bain- bridge, captured the frigate Java. Before the close of the year, three hundred x)rizes had been taken by American War Ships and by privateers, which were avenging past wrongs by x)reying upon British Com- merce in every sea. CHAPTER XX. Eaely in the year 1813, the Emperor of Russia offered his services as a peace-maker between the two nations. Albert Gallatin, James A. Bayard and John Quincy Adams were sent to Russia to treat with a similar commission which should be appointed by Great Britain. But that nation refusing to accept any such mediation, they returned to America. England had her hands full in the conflict she was waging with Napoleon, and might not have undertaken this war upon a rival commerce, but for the Confederation of In- dian tribes under Tecumseh, She counted largely upon the revengeful foe in our rear, ravaging from the Great Lakes to the Gulf. These hapless Indians, always cruel, some- times treacherous, were fighting in despera- tion for a cause more sacred to them than ours to us. America had taken up the sword in defense of one of her rights, tliey for all HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 169 of theirs, and for their very existence. Boa- dicea in England and Hermann in Germany, inspiring their people by one supreme effort to expel the Romans, were no more patriots and heroes, than was Tecumseh. The heart must be callous indeed, which can fail to be touched by sight of these children of the forest, making a last stand against the inva- sion of the land of their fathers, and in naked helplessness destined to be driven at the point of the bayonet almost into the Pa- cific. Tribes before hostile to each other, sprang together with a common purpose as did the colonies in the Revolution, and with a blind fury, struck wherever they had a chance from Michigan to Alabama. So while England was engaged in ' ' laying- waste our entire seaboard ' ' as she threatened, the task would be made easier by a ravaging foe in the interior. General Harrison was in command of the army of the west. General Dearborn of the army of the centre, about the Niagara fron- tier,.and General A¥ade Hampton with head- quarters at Plattsburg, was in charge of the army of the north. As in the revohition, the possession of the lakes and northern water- ways was the first object sought. ,170 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. The British had invoked the aid of cruel allies. General Winchester was forced to surrender his command at Frenchtown near Detroit early in 1813. General Proctor promised safety to his prisoners and then marched away leaving tliem at the mercy of ruthless savages. Scarcely a man survived to tell the awful story, and all of Kentucky and Ohio were plunged in mourning for live hundred of the bravest and best of their youth. Two months after this tragedy, General Proctor saw the hero of Tippecanoe ap- proaching with an inadequate force, but which at the War Office in Washington had seemed quite sufficient. The British Gener- al saw his opportunity. "Summon all your Indians," said he to Tecumseli. "We will drive the Americans beyond the Ohio, and you shall have Michi- gan forever." Harrison intrenched his small force with- in Fort Meigs, which he had built the year before. For five days shot and sliell rained upon them. When Proctor sent a flag sum- moning him to surrender he replied: "Not while I have the honor to command." Re- inforcements came and the fort was saved. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 171 The name of James Lawrence stands high in the roll of honor. He commanded the frigate Chesapeake, which was challenged by the British tlag-shi]3 Shannon. He lost his ship and his life, but his dying words were an inspiration to future victories. Commodore Perry's hag-shix) in the great Naval l)attle on Lake Erie, was called the " Lawrence," and from its masthead floated the consecrated words, ' ' Don' t give up the ship." Excepting the Naval victories, the cam- paign had been a dispiriting one. There was a strong anti-war party from the begin- ning. Wherever Federalist sentiment pre- vailed, every ol^struction to the prosecution of the war was put in the way, Massachu- setts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island re- fused to raise militia, even for the i)rotection of tlieir own sea-board, Connecticut, yield- ing, however, to the persuasion of cannon at last, when New London was stormed and burned. In the absence of victories there seemed danger that the Presidential election Avould be a vote of censure to the war party. But Madison was re-elected, and entered upon a second term in 1813. 172 IIPSTOTIY OF THE UNITED STATES. The Great Lakes Avere controlled by the British, who also possessed Michigan and threatened Ohio. Commodore Oliver H. Perry, only twenty-seven years old, was com- missioned to dispute that control. He had first to create his ships from the forests of Ohio, and then man them as he could, by sailors brought overland in stage coaches. On the lOth of Sejitember, 1813, he captured the entire British Heet on Lake Erie. The Americans had captured single frigates and sloops of war, but never before, an entire Squadron. The victory was swiftly followed up by Harrison. He crossed into Canada and pur- sued the retreating enemy, whom he over- took at the river Thames. Nearly all of Proctor's command was captured. Tecum- seh the heroic leader of his jieople, was killed, and the Indian Confederacy was for- ever buried in its grave. General Harrison wearied with long ser- vice, resigned his commission and left three young Generals, Brown, Scott and Ripley, to follow up these successes. They made a res- olute attack upon Canada toward the east. General W infield Scott gained a brilliant vic- tory at Chii^pewa (July 5, 1814) and another HISTOliy OF THE UNITED STATES. T,S within sonncl of Magara Falls at Lnndy's Lane; and when Commodore MacDonongh annihilated the British fleet on Lake Cham- plain, at the same time that Macomb, was driving back an army of 12,000 veterans at Plattsburg, (September 11, 1814,) the British power in the north was broken. But six months earlier than this, another battle had been fought on a larger stage. Napoleon had met his Waterloo. He was safely at Elba, and the English had plenty of troops now with which to reinforce their army in America. Battle ships were swarm- ing all along the Atlantic Coast, so that the lamps in the light-houses were extinguished as being of use only to the enemy. Towns were captured all the way from Maine to the Chesapeake. Admiral Cockburn with his fleet was hovering about the coast of the Car- olinas, Maryland, Virginia and the Chesa- peake more like a pirate and a plunderer than an honorable warrior. The people seem to have been paralyzed by the audacity of his marauding approach to the Cax^ital City of the Nation, and to have ofi'ered little or no resistance. It was an easy matter for Major Ross in August, 1814, to land in Maryland with 5,000 17'4 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. men and march into Washington; then to set the torch to the Capitol, White House, all the public and most of the private build- ings. The smouldering embers of the Con- gressional Library, the blackened walls of the Capitol and White House, were the strong- est argument yet used to destroy opposition to the war. Massachusetts, and other New England States forgot they had gone almost to the verge of rebellion in their resistance to war measures, and laid the charge of in- capacity and apathy upon the Government in its prosecution. There was ringing of bells and rejoicing in London when the news arrived of the burning of Washington, Tlie London Times said "That ill-organized association (the American Republic) is on the eve of disso- lution, and the world is speedily to be de- livered of the mischievous example of a government founded on democratic rebel- lion." Admiral Cockburn in America, considered a barbarian and a marauder, was in England a hero "' sa7is peur et sans reprochey The burning of the Capital was a ''splendid achievement." Far reaching was the effect of this humili- ation. A hostility toward England was HISTOKY or THE Ui^ITED STATES. 175 aroused, and a sense of injury created, wliicli years could not efface. If the vic- tories at Lake Erie and Plattsburg had shaken the party in oi)X)osition to the war, the burning of the Caj^ital of the nation al- most swept it out of existence. The man who was to avenge these injuries had been in training many months in Ala- bama, where by address and courage he had broken the power of the Creeks, a remnant of Tecumseh's Confederacy. Learning that a British Squadron was on its way to New Orleans, Andrew Jackson, (a Tennessee frontiersman) was placed in charge of its defense. The result shows how well he per- formed the duty assigned him. On the 8th of January, he received the attack of 12,000 British troo^^s, fresh from Napoleonic wars. So thorough had been the General's prepara- tion, that after the victory, two thousand, six hundred British soldiers lay dead in the trenches before the City, and the American loss was, — seven men killed, and six wounded ! Had there been telegraphic cables in those days, this slaughter might have been si)ared. A treaty of j)eace had been signed at Ghent two weeks before the Battle of New Orleans, 176 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. So ended the war of 1812. An infant na- tion had been torn and rent by the conllict, its commerce annihilated, its industries para- lyzed, its treasury emptied, a national debt of 127 million dollars created, and a lack of unanimity developed which made the name of '' United States" seem a mockery. In comj)ensation for this the Republic had es- tablished a solidity of reputation abroad which years of commercial and industrial prosperity could not have attained. Europe realized that beyond the Atlantic was a people whose rights could not be safely trampled upon. The Federalist party was so broken by the events of the last four years that there was small opposition to the Republican candi« date in 1816. James Monroe was almost unanimously elected President and Daniel D. Tompkins Vice-President. In that same year Indiana became the Nineteenth State in the Union. CHAPTER XXI. After the accession of President Monroe, party strife, upon tlie old lines, subsided, and in an "era of good feeling," all united to build uj:) the prosperity which had been shattered by the war, and to heal the ugly scars it had left. One utterance in the President's inaugural address is significant, and contains the germ of the policy of " Protection," which was to be one of the great issues of the future. He says "Our manufactures will require the systematic and fostering care of the gov- ernment." In the second year of this administration, Florida was ceded to the United States by Spain for the sum of 5,000,000 dollars. Five new States were admitted in five successive years. Mississippi (1817); Illinois (1818); Alabama (1819); Maine (1820); and Missouri (1821). Missouri was a i^ortion of the French pur- 178 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. chase, and was organized as a territory in 1812. The admission of this State was at- tended by a storm of conflicting oinnions upon a subject which was to be the burning one for forty years. Slavery had for a long time ceased to exist at the north. When the Northwest Terri- tory was organized in 1787, the first step was taken toward limiting its extension. Congress by a unanimous vote prohibited its existence in that Territory. In 1807 the importation of slaves was prohibited, and the traffic declared to be piracy. One northern State after another had emanci- pated its slaves, until the Institution was confined witliin the borders of those States which were dependent upon slave labor for the maintenance of their industries. Mis- souri on account of its geographical position came naturally witliin this category. The northern States in Congress, however, in their desire to check the extension of what they considered an evil, insisted that Mis- souri should be admitted only on condition of its being a free State. The war of opinion was at last settled by a compromise. It Avas agreed that Missouii should come in as a slave State, but that HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. 179 thereafter, slavery should be forever prohib- ited in all other Territory west of the Miss- issippi, and north of parallel 36^ 30'.— This is known as the "Missouri Com- promise." Its ablest and most eloquent ad- vocate was Henry Clay of Kentucky. An- other event in this Administration was far reaching in its consequences, and largely occupies public attention to-day in two con- tinents. President Monroe in his Annual Message to Congress in 1823 uttered these words. "European powers must not extend their political systems to any portion of the American Continent." This utterance which has become famous under the name of the " Monroe Doctrine," was caused by an attempt then making by three allied European powers to restore to Spain some of her South American Pro- vinces. The principle of " Divine Right" had been rudely shaken in Europe by a suc- cessful Republic across the sea, and by a desperate attempt to erect one in France. In 1815, there was a concerted effort to re- habilitate this revered principle by a syste- matic attack upon free Institutions in the s-erm. Russia, Austria, and Prussia, 180 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. formed what they called a " Holy Alliance " for this purpose. In 1823, the activities of this Sacred Alliance, were transferred to this hemisphere, where some forlorn South American States had struggled out of the grasp of Spain. This threatened action in behalf of Spain was viewed with displeasure by England as well as Americn, and Cannin;^ lier Prime Minister proposed an alliance witli tlie United States to resist it. But the doctrine of non-intervention hekl by President Mon- roe, precluded English intervention, even for so righteous a purpose as this; and lie proclaimed his view in those words which have become historic. *' The Monroe Doctrine " is not a principle of international law. It was not an au- thoi'itative utterance. It was moj-ely the expression of one man's opinion, at the time of an impending crisis. But so firmly has this unwritten law become established in the minds of the people, that in 1896, more than seventy years later. Congress declared it to be a vital principle of American policy. While men's minds were thus agitated over matters political, they were uncon- scious of the undeveloped riches of their HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 181 own land. The existence of Petroleum in small quantities had been known to some of the earliest settlers, but it was in 1820, that the oil springs were iirst discovered in Ohio. In Pennsylvania, the first colonists found a shining black stone in such abundance that they used it to fill in their roads ; little dreaming that this was the fuel of the future. Bryant had not then apostrophized "Dark Anthracite! that reddenest on my hearth." The very name Anthracite was unknown. With the coming of steam, fuel was to be a matter of supreme importance in the nation's economy. What should they do in that distant day, when the forests were laid low? They were unconsciously living over a supply of fuel practically in- exhaustible, with energy enough stored in its veins, to run the machinery of the world. The President and Vice-President had been re-elected without opi)osition in 1821. In 1825, the sixth President was inaugura- ted, and the tenth Administration com- menced. John Quincy Adams, son of the second President, was chosen for the great office, and John C. Calhoun for Vice-Presi- dent. 182 HISTORY OF THE UITITED STATES. During President Monroe's Administra- tion, a bill proposing to connect the Hudson and the great Lakes was drafted by Judge Jonas Piatt of New York State. As he was a prominent member of the Federalist par- ty, then in the minority, lie asked his friend De Witt Clinton to introduce and father the measure, in order to secure its popular- ity. On October 26th, 1826, this first great public work was thrown open to the Nation, with great ceremony. Cannon were placed at intervals from the Hudson River to Buf- falo. W hen the first report was heard, it was taken up by the next in the chain, and so on to the end ; the message conveyed by this primitive telegraph taking just twenty min- utes to reach Buffalo. It needed a venturesome and far-seeing mind to realize the importance of such an immense undertaking, at a time when much of the territory through which it would pass, was virgin forest, and the region beyond al- most a wilderness. This was the year in which those two Nestors of the Republic, Jefferson and Adams, passed away, just fifty years from the day they had signed the Declaration of Independence. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 183 The Nation had two distinguished guests at this time, the Baron Yon Humboldt, and Marquis de La Fayette. Alexander Yon Humboldt had ascended the Andes, and stood upon the cloud-capi3ed peaks where European foot had never trod before, measur- ing their mighty proportions and sounding the depths of burning volcanoes. Out of this vast accession to human knowledge, he had just given to the world a new revelation of science in "Kosmos." This epoch-mak- ing book represented the Natural World as a Unit. It grasi^ed all its diversities and complexities as one consistent existence. But the presence of La Fayette stirred deep wells of feeling in the heart of the Nation. It was like the conclusion of a fairy tale when the armed knight who had rushed to our rescue in the Revolution, returned to our shores almost at the time of our semi- centennial (1825). La Fayette' s progress through the twenty- four States was one prolonged ovation. Towns were garlanded at his approach, white haired men wept and clasped him in their arms, and white robed maidens scattered flowers in his path. It was a spontaneous 184 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. outpouring of adoring gratitude from tlie IN'ation, in which the Government joined. La Fayette shed reverent tears at the tomb of Washington, laid the corner stone of Bun- ker Hill Monument, and was conveyed back to France in a National frigate, named in honor of his first battle the "Brandy- CHAPTER XXII. As the privations during the war of the revolution had left a crop of small and thriv- ing industries in the infant States, so the war of 1812 and the Embargo Act, in catting them off from foreign sui3]Dlies, had stimu- lated home manufactures which vrerc mov- ing with the added momentum of steam and machinery. There were many new forces at vrork. It was a period of transition. The country v,^as passing from a simple to a more complex condition. From having been exclusively agricultural, it had gradually deveioxied large manufacturing interests, which were geographically separated from the agricul- tural interests. Legislation favorable to the one was claimed to be an oppression to the other. Ever since President Monroe had urged a ••systematic fostering of our manufacturing interests," there had been a steady increase in duties on foreign goods, 186 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. unnoticed at first, so long as it seemed for the sake of revenue needed to pay a large National debt. But as the idea of '^ Pro- tection" to northern industries developed, it was met by an angry opposition. Why should the Southern States pay a higher price for goods, in order to protect north- ern industries ? There had been no great issues to divide the people since the war of 1812 — but the era of good feeling was about to end. Two political parties came into existence with the tariff as the main issue. The old Republi- cans took the name of Democrats, and the party in favor of protection and high tariff were called Wliigs. They were the lineal successors of the old Republicans and Fed- eralists, with the same general tendencies as before, upon which was engrafted the new tariff issue, and the two parties loved each other no more than in the old days of Jeffer- son and Hamilton. The political storm was brewing during the Administration of John Quincy Adams, and began to manifest its hidden energies over the tariff bill of 1828. This policy of a high tariff which was known as the American System, had for its advocates and sponsors HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 187 two of the greatest men in the i3olitical his- tory of the country, Henry Chiy, then Secre- tary of State, and Daniel Webster. The op- position was led by one scarcely less distin- guished,— John C. Calhoun of South Carolina at that time Vice-President of the United States. It must indeed have been an era of millennial good feeling when John Quincy Adams and John C. Calhoun, were unequal- ly yoked together. John Quincy Adams was the most accom- plished scholar who had ever occupied the Presidential chair. He was perfectly versed in diplomatic usage, a linguist, a polished man of the world and of letters. His succes- sor was signally deficient in all these quali- ties. Andrew Jackson, who was President of the United States through one of its most critical periods, from 1829 to 1837, was a frontiersman at a time when rifles were more in demand than books. He was without education or early advantages. But he had convictions and the courage which belonged to them; and the Battle of New Orleans tells whether or not he had energy and ability in times of emergency, and whether he was a foe to be trifled with. He took possession of his great office with 188 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. characteristic energy. He removed every one who had opposed his election, putting his political friends and adherents in their places. Whether he was the anthor of the phrase ''To the victors belong the spoils," or not, he was the creator of the system ex- pressed by it. It was a stormy administration from be- ginning to end. But it was vigorous and patriotic. The party of the President was opposed to devoting public revenue to in- ternal improvements, and vetoes rained thick and fast upon congressional appropri- ations, which he believed to be unconstitu- tional and inexpedient. In 1832 a convention met in South Caro- lina. The tariff law recently enacted was pronounced "null and void" and "not binding upon the citizens of the State." They declared that any measure of force by the United States Goverment for the purpose of levying duties on the commerce of South Carolina, would justify that State in regard- ing itself as no longer a part of the Union. This was the " Ordinance of Nullification.'' The view of State sovereignty held by John C. Calhoun and embodied in this ordi- nance was not a new one. It was the logi- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 189 cal outcome of decentralization unchecked by the opposing force. Several States had resisted tlie tie which bound them to the Federal Government, notably some of the New England States during the war of 1812. But none had ever gone so far as to threaten secession by a formal declaration. It was " The little rift within the lute That by and by might make its music mute." But the man for the emergency was at the helm. When Jackson heard this lirst at- tempt upon the life of the Nation he ex- claimed "By the Eternal ! — The Union must and shall be preserved ! Where is Scott T' The tariff measure was not the measure of his own party ; but he declared his intention of carrying it out to the letter ; and that he should treat all armed resistance, as ' ' Trea- son against the United States. ^^ South Carolina saw that the Government was des- perately in earnest. The matter was finally adjusted by what was known as the "Clay Compromise," which conceded a gradual diminution of the tariff. One of the most memorable debates in the history of Congress was during this contro- versy with Senator Hayne on the one side 190 HISTORY OE THE UNITED STATES. and Daniel Webster on the other, well called the "Battle of the Giants." President Jackson's financial policy was no less vigorous than his treatment of Nulli- fication. The Charter of the National Banlc, created during Washington' s administration had expired in 1811. In 1816 a new bank was incorporated in its place called The Bank of the United States. The charter of the second Bank expired in 1836. President Jackson took this occasion, to express his disapproval of having public moneys used in that way. When the Act was j)assed to re- charter the bank, (1832) he vetoed it, and the Institution expired with its charter. He then proceeded, against the advice of his Cabinet, to remove the public funds from the vaults of the bank, and distribute them among the various State Banks, which lent the money on easy terms to the peo- 23le. The country was flooded with paper money. Under this delusive stimulus business re- vived, and an era of apparent prosperity set in. Men plunged into wild speculation. Villages and cities were laid out by hundreds. Great works were projected. Foreign immi- grants, and native born citizens from the HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. 191 eastern States, streamed into tlie fertile lands of the North-west. In the midst of this rainbow tinted dream, Martin Yan Buren the late Vice-President was elected President of the United States (1837) with Richard M. Johnson as Vice President. Scarcely was the inauguration over, when the storm burst. Within two months, New York merchants alone had failed to the amount of 100,000,000 dollars, and New Or- leans to half that sum. Every part of the country shared the general ruin. Banks failed, public works and manufactures ceased, hundreds of thousands of people were thrown out of employment, eight States were bankrupt, and even the general government had to ask for indulgence in making payments. The States, excepting Mississippi and Florida, ultimately paid their debts in full ; but it was long before American bonds were regarded without sus- picion in the money markets of Europe. Michigan joined the Union in 1837 and the removal of Indian tribes to reservations west of the Mississippi was carried on during this administration. The Creeks, Chero- kees, Kansas and Osages, who were still 192 HISTOUY OF THE UNITED STATES. lingering in States and Territories, consented finally to give up their homes and to receive in exchange tracts of specified extent within certain limits ; the Government promising to stock them liberally with cattle and other needful things, and to pay a considerable annuity for a specified number of years. And so these forlorn remnants of Tecumseh's Confederation commenced their involuntary migration toward the Pacific. The Winnebagos in Wisconsin, and the Sacs and Foxes in Illinois, after agreeing to sell their lands to the Government stub- bornly refused to move, and under the Chief, Black Hawk made a long resistance to the troops. Finally, however, they ex- changed their lands for tracts west of the Mississippi, and an annuity in money and supplies. The Seminoles in Florida were more ob- stinate. For seven years they fought in impenetrable marshes, whose noxious vapors destroyed more lives than Indian arrows. Not until 1842 was the war ended by Generals Scott and Taylor. It had cost thousands of lives and 30,000,000 dollars. The most important measure during Pres- ident Van Buren's administration was an HISTOKY OF THE UKITED STATES. 193 ^ Act requiring public money to be kept not in banks, but in the treasury at Washing- ton, or in the sub-treasuries in other cities, and also requiring banks to secure their operations by depositing funds with the Government. This sub-treasury bill was a very unpop- ular measure, and it defeated the Presi- dent's re-election; but experience has proved its wisdom. Its effect vv^as beneficial from the first. A wholesome condition quickly set in, and in time prosperity and confidence returned. Excepting the four years of John Quincy Adams' administration the Democrats had been in power for forty years. But now it was considered the party of financial failure. In 1836 the Government was not alone out of debt, but had a surplus of 37,000,000 dol- lars. In 1837 the country was a financial ruin. This was attributed to President Jackson's arbitrary and abrupt change in the financial system of the country, followed by a demand, at a time when such a measure was inexpedient, that payments for public lands be made in coin — called the " Specie Circular." Accordingly, the party in favor of the 194 HISTORY OP THE Ui^ITED STATES. United States Bank, and of a liigli tariff, elected its candidate ; General William Henry Harrison was placed in the Presi- dency by the Whigs in 1841, and John Tyler was Vice-President. Two other matters had ruffled the sur- face of affairs during the Yan Buren admin- istration. A rebellion against G-reat Britian broke out in Canada, but was quickly sup- pressed when the determined neutrality of the United States became apparent. The other matter was a boundary dispute on our northeast frontier between Maine and ISTew Brunswick. General Scott was sent to the scene of trouble, but the matter was peace- fully arranged by a treaty negotiated in 1842 by Lord Ashburton on the one side, and Daniel Webster on the other. The Northeastern boundary line was fixed as it has since remained and the Eight of Search was formally renounced by Lord Ashburton on the part of Great Britain. CHAPTER XXIII. President Harrison died just one month from the day of his inauguration. This was a severe blow to the Whig party. The Presidential campaign had been one of tlie most exciting the country had ever known. Harrison' s birth allied him to all that was finest and best in the colonial era, while his long familiarity with frontier life, put him in close touch with the vigorous race of men of the later period whose life he had shared. Added to this were his splendid military achievements in the war of 1812, and politi- cal record since. He was a glorious stand- ard bearer for the party which had so long been excluded from joower and the ''Log Cabin" and "Tippecanoe" carried him on a great wave of popularity into the White House, — only to die. John Tyler was President of the United States. To their bitter disappointment, the Whigs found their hard won victory was an 19 G HISTORY OF THE Ul^ITED STATES. empty one. The man who by cruel accident represented their party at the head of the Nation, was not a whig in sentiment. He twice vetoed a Bill for the re-establishment of the United States Bank, the very issue upon which the campaign had been fought, and his entire term was spent in a wrangle with the party which elected him. A disturbance in Rhode Island known as Dow's Rebellion occurred at this time, over proposed changes in the Constitution ; and in New York State there was an uprising of what were known as the Anti-renters. Men who had leased lands from large-landed pro- prietors, the Livingstons, Van Rensselaers and others formed a combination to resist the collection of rent. The rioters were subdued by the Military, and the matter was finally adjusted by the courts sustaining the rights of the proprietors. The new religious sect called the Mormons were also a cause of trouble at this time. Joseph Smith a man living in Palmyra, New York, had claimed to have a supernatu- ral revelation by which he was directed to a spot where he found golden plates covered with inscriptions. By supernatural aid he translated them and wrote the "Book of HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 197 Mormon," said to be the history of a pre- historic race which once had occux)ied this Continent. This book did not supersede the Bible, but only modestly supplemented it, with the j)leasing dogma that their Chief or Prophet, receives direct inspiration from God, and that the practice of Polygamy is not only approved but commanded by Di- vine authority. This cult had a rapid and phenomenal growth, and Jose^Dh Smith and his disciples soon had a city of several thou- sand inhabitants in Illinois. The people of Illinois determined to rid themselves of this abomination. Joseph Smith was mysteri- ously killed (1844), and the City of ISTauvoo destroyed, (1846), the Mormons taking temporary refuge in Iowa, until their new Prophet Brigham Young, was inspired to lead them across the Rocky Mountains to Salt Lake, where they thereafter remained undisturbed in their own territory. In Mexico there existed a poor imitation of the North American Republic of which Santa Anna was President. The part north of the Rio Grande known as Texas had been settled largely by people from the United States, and in 1835, the Texans on account of grievances refused allegiance to Santa 198 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Anna's authority and set up an independent Republic with Samuel Houston as President. Santa Anna invaded the territory with a large army, and was met by a Texan force under the command of Houston. After a struggle the Mexicans w^ere defeated, and among the prisoners was Santa Anna, who purchased his liberty by ordering the invad- ing army to retire beyond tlie Rio Grande, and by acknowledging the independence of Texas. After ten years of independent ex- istence, this State asked to be admitted to the Union. This created the great party issue for the next Presidential campaign. Texas on ac- count of its geographical i^osition would be a slave territory, and would be an enormous accession to the power of the party desiring its extension. Mr. Calhoun frankly admit- ted that the purpose of annexing Texas was to ' ' extend the dominion of slavery, and to secure its perpetual duration." The North- ern statesmen as frankly declared that for that very reason they should oppose it. The issue of slavery was thus sharply defined making a line of cleavage between the North and South, and the Tariif as a party ques- tion was for twenty years submerged by the HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 199 more tumultous strife over the slavery ques- tion. ' Something was about to happen betore which the annexation of Texas, and the rise or fall of parties dwindles into insignificance. A new force was coming into the life of tlie nation with results incalculable in their magnitude. Humanity passed into a new epoch when it drew upon the invisible crea- tion for the practical uses of man. The Magnetic Telegraph invented and brought to its final completeness by Prof. S. F. B. Morse, makes the dividing line between things old and new. The first telegraphic line was built between Baltimore and Washington with 80,000 dol- lars appropriated by Congress for that pur- pose. The first words uttered by the tele- graph were "What hath God wrought!" but the first public message sent, was the news of James K. Polk's nomination for President. People incredulous of news brought in such strange fashion, waited to be assured in the usual w^ay. In the campaign conducted upon this is- sue Henry Clay was candidate of the Whig party, and James K. Polk of Tennessee of the Democratic. The question of the ad- 200 HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. mission of Texas was decided by the tri- iimpli of the Democratic candidate. It was admitted as a State December 1845, before his inauguration. The last act of President Tyler was the signing of a bill for the admission of two more States to the Union, Florida and Iowa. Things are never in reality as distinctly classified and as cleanly separated as they seem in their narration. Within the grand divisions of x)ublic sentiment, there are al- ways diverse sub-divisions, and the preva- lence of an anti-slavery sentiment in the Northern States was in spite of the fact, that there was a large body of people who did not share it. It had its battle ground at the North as well as at the South and has yet. " But comet-like and adding flame to flame, The priests of the New Evangel came." When the young William Lloyd Garrison started his paper The Liberator^ in 1831, and for long after that in the days of the *' Anti-slavery society," the word ^'aboli- tionist ' ' was a term of reproach the bravest shrank' from. At the same time in 1831, none felt ashamed of the judge and jury in Connecticut, who sent a young girl to jail HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 201 for teaching colored girls to read and write ; then burned her house after first mobbing it with stones, axes, and crowbars. Such moral turpitude as well as such stupidity makes one pause, and ask if this Anglo- Saxon race in America be after all deserving of the high destiny predicted for it ? But Divine patience is greater than human. The seed dropped by heroic men in unprom- ising soil germinated and bore abundant fruit. In 1830 there began an effort to check an- other evil which was blighting homes and breaking hearts throughout the land. The Anglo-Saxon is a drinking as well as a fight- ing animal, and New Englanders consumed a goodly quantity of their own rum, and the people in Pennsylvania and North Carolina their own corn whiskey; and port, and brandy were an indispensable part of hospi- tality everywhere. Drinking in fact was not considered a vice, and when John Pierpont preached in Massachusetts against selling rum, there was a storm of indignation before which he went down. He was tried by an Ecclesiastical Court and compelled to leave his pulx)it. In 1840 the Washingtoliian Temperance Society was formed, and it 202 HISTORY OF THE UXITED STATES. proved another New Evangel, wliicli swept over the hind rescuing and purifying. It seems a very simple time as we look back upon it, but to the ^eoiAe then, it was full of bewildering novelty. Stevenson's hazardous experiment of having coaches on iron rails dravvni by steam engines had been successfully tried in England, and in 1828, it was repeated in America. Railroads run- ning short distances had been in use for a year. They were a great advance in trans- portation, enabling horses to draw heavier loads with less eifort, but in 1830 Peter Cooper's Locomotive, the lirst in America, was run on the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- road, and in 1831, regular trips were made between Albany and Schenectady in this new and daring fashion. Illuminating gas had been introduced in some of the larger cities, and by this new illuminant men read European dispatches only fourteen days old, brought by Ocean Steamers. — They lighted their gas with lucifer matches made by steam and machinery (1834), and used pins manufactured by the same magic (1831), which some enthusiast said would also soon supersede hand work in sewing ! When we read of John Jacob Astor laying HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 203 the foundations for a colossal fortune in Astoria, Oregon (1811).^ of Harper Brothers Publishing House (1817), of a Manhattan Gas Company in New York (1823), an Adams Express Company (1840), and of Webster's Dictionary (1841), we realize that we are the vestibule of the present. In addition to the annexation of Texas as a cause of dispute with Mexico, there was an unsettled boundary question, as to whether the Rio Grande or the river Nueces to the north of it, was tlie frontier line of Texas. General Zachary Taylor was sent in 1846 to occupy the disputed territory lying between the two rivers. The battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palm a were fouglit and won, and the Mexicans were driven across the Rio Grande, Taylor following them and capturing the city of Monterey. (September 1846). So precisely what the Whigs had predicted had happened. In consequence of the an- nexation of Texas, the United States was at war with Mexico. It was a costly price which must be paid for a State wliicli one- half of the country did not desire, but on the contrary, believed it was a misfortune to possess, even as a free gift. But unpopu- 204 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. lar as it was, tlie war must be maintained with vigor. The brave Taylor and his men must be reinforced. One hundred thousand men volunteered and a campaign was ar- ranged on a comprehensive scale. The ' ' Ar- my of the West" under General Stei^hen W. Kearney was to invade 'New Mexico ''The Army of the Centre" under General Wool to move from San Antonio toward General Taylor' s force, which was known as the "Army of occupation." It took less than two years for these three invading streams to accomplish their task. General Taylor's work was finished after he had driven Santa Anna's demoralized force before him at the capture of Buena Vista, February 22d, 1847. From that time there was an unbroken chain of victories for the army of General Scott. Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Cherubusco, Molino del E-ey and Chapultepec, were only gates passed in a triumphal march, to the city of Mexico. The castle of Chapultepec on a high jutting rock commanding the city, was its last de- fense. When that fell, September 13th, 1847 before General Worth' s furious attack, the vanquished Santa Anna fled, and in a few hours, the giant peak of Popocatepetl HISTORY OF THE Ui^ITED STATES. 205 looked down upon a strange siglit. The stars and stripes were floating over the palace of the Montezumas ! What had commenced as a flght over a question of boundary had expanded into a war of conquest. While in the south, Mexico was helpless in the grasj) of Scott, Kearney's army had invaded and held New Mexico and California. No one suspected the golden treasure con- cealed under the green garb of California which was captured from the Mexicans by Captain John C. Fremont aided by Commo- dores Sloat and Stockton with an adventur- ous band of his own, before the arrival of Kearney's regular forces. He had been de- tailed to discover a new route to Oregon. His band of sixty engineers was attacked by the Mexicans in California, so the athletic young Captain stopped en route to Oregon, and with the aid of Commodores Sloat and Stockton, freed the State from Mexican authority. CHAPTER XXIY. In the treaty of peace concluded February 2d, 1848, a vast expanse of territory was ceded to tlie United States composed of Up- per California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and I^ew Mexico. For this the United States agreed to pay 15,000,000 dollars and to as- sume the debts due to American citizens on account of unsettled claims against the Mexican Government. As those great cyclonic storms starting in the distant south-east are caught in the swing of the earth's rotation and carried to the north-west, so the storm of political par- ties was in the grasp of a great movement which was destined to carry the dominion of the Republic to the Pacific coast. The triumph of the democratic measure of an- nexation, resulted in an expansion not dreamed of by either Whig or Democrat. HISTORY OF THE UN^lTED STATES. 207 At the time Mr. Polk became Chief Magis- trate there was another nnsettled question which threatened serious trouble. Great Britain claimed the region called Oregon, extending from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. The first settlement in Oregon was in 1811 by the American Fur Company, near the mouth of the Columbia River. It was named Astoria after John Jacob Astor the founder of the Company, and was within the disputed territory. The adjustment of the rival claims of the two countries was peacefully settled in 1846 by a treaty, which established the present boundary between the possessions of the United States and Great Britain. From the great region thus conceded Oregon Territory was organized in 1848, out of which later, the States of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho were formed. The United States had now attained its full territorial growth. It had at a bound, — in less than one administration, — acquired as much territory west of the Mississippi, as it before possessed east of it. Men had difficulty in adjusting their ideas to such a sudden expansion, and there were not a few who believed it was a calamity, and some 208 HISTORY OF THE tJKlTED STATES. wlio even bewailed the fact tliat we had ever overstepped the natural boundary of the Mississippi River. The question of the extension of Slavery reaj)peared. Here would be not alone Texas, but a legion of other States below the line indicated by the Missouri Compro- mise. Something must be done to check the preponderating inhuence this would give to the party of the South. David Wilmot, a representative in Con- gress from Pennsylvania, introduced a prop- osition known as the " Wilmot Proviso," by which slavery was to be excluded from all the territory recently acquired from Mexico. The " Proviso " was defeated, but a new political party formed about the pro- posed measure called the " Free Soil Party," which in the next Presidential campaign was led during a brief existence by Martin Van Buren. In 1848 there were three Presidential candidates in the field. General Taylor was the candidate of the Whigs, and on account of his rugged and admirable personal qualities, and his recent military achievements, he was like Harrison carried by a great wave of popularity into the White House, — there like Harrison to HISTORY OF THE U^TED STATES. 209 die, before lie had fairly entered upon the great responsibilities of his office. Millard Fillmore the Vice-President now became President and was inaugurated the day after General Taylor's death, July 10, 1850. Scarcely was the treaty with Mexico signed when the unsuspected riches of California were revealed. Gold was dis- covered in 1848. The report sped around the world, and from every country poured a throng of excited adventurers into the new territory, which in 1850 became a State. San Francisco from a drowsy Spanish Mis- sion, and a village of mud cabins, became in a year a busy toAvn of 15,000 eager inhabi- tants, many of them daring, reckless, and capable of any crime. A Vigilance Com- mittee composed of men of character and determination in 1851 brought order out of the pandemonium, so that California, which had been created as if by a cataclysm, soon became as peaceful and well ordered as the older States. When California petitioned to be admit- ted to the Union as a free State, the smoul- dering fires leaped into flame. The political situation had never been as critical. ]S"ow 210 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Congress was confronted with the question of admitting slavery into the recently ac- quired territory. The South, under the leadershij) of John C. Calhoun demanded that the territory acquired by the blood and treasure of the whole Union, be opened to all the people alike with their property, in- cluding slaves. The North while it had no disposition to molest the institution where it existed, was resolved to oppose its ex- tension to a territory then free, and also demanded that slavery be abolished in the District of Columbia. Another cause of exasperation at the South was the harboring of fugitives from slavery by abolitionists in the North ; whom they also accused of luring slaves from their masters and inciting revolt. The bitterness caused by this, was far more intense, than that produced by the question of extension. John C. Calhoun urged the people to accept no compromise and many talived Ojoenly of Secession and of a Southern Confeder- acy. Such was the condition when President Taylor died and President Fillmore replaced him. The Union seemed on the verge of disruption, and the question of admitting HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 211 California as a free State, was the brand which lighted the fires of controversy in Congress. Millard Fillmore had two colossal supports at this time. Henry Clay the "Great Pacificator" was himself a slave holder, but opposed to the extension of slavery into free territory. He was using all the magic of his ingenuity and eloquence to bring about a peaceful solution, and was seconded in these efforts by Daniel Webster, who was then Secretary of State. One thing which had further complicated the situation, was that Texas claimed the Territory of New Mexico, and the right to plant the insti- tution there under the protection of her own Constitution. The famous Compromise of 1850, was finally agreed upon, it provided : — 1st. — For the admission of California as a free State. 2nd.— Texas was to receive $10,000,000 and to relinquish her claim upon New Mexico. 3rd. — The States which should be formed out of the newly acquired Territory should have slaves or not as they themselves should elect. 4th. — A "Fugitive Slave Law" was to be 212 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. enacted which should enable masters to re- cover escaping slaves from free States. It was over this Fugitive Slave Law that the fire of dissension burned fiercest and hottest at the IN orth. Daniel Webster lent all the weight of his power and eloquence in support of the measure. He claimed that under the Constitution the Southern States had a right to hold property in slaves, and that to aid in their escape was an invasion of those rights. By some he was branded as a traitor to the principles of his party. " Humanity it- self cried out against the enormity of it. Should the people at the ISTorth become sleuth hounds in running down human beings escaping from cruel bondage?" Others maintained that it was the highest statesmanship, in opposition to his own personal symiDathies, upon Constitutional grounds, to maintain the property rights of the South. The party of Conciliation carried the day, and the danger of disruption was for a time averted. During the administration of President Fillmore, there was a filibustering attempt upon Cuba, for the purpose of its annexation HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 213 to the United States. It ended in defeat and in the execution of Lopez the leader at Havana, 1851. As the compromise bill was not a party measure, but equally supported by Whigs and Democrats (only opposed by the Free Soil party) there was not much excitement over the next Presidential campaign. Franklin Pierce the Democratic candidate was elected by a majority over General Scott, the nominee of the Whig party, and entered upon the duties of his position March 4th, 1853. When this administration began, there were three vacant places. Three towering personalities had disappeared which would never be replaced. Calhoun died in 1850, and Clay and Webster in 1852. Never again would the South have a leader with the genius of John C. Calhoun, to defend its political system. Never again would the principles of the party of the North be up- held with an eloquence like Webster's, rival- ing the highest models in antiquity; nor have in its Councils a man possessing such magical influence over friends and enemies, nor one so skilled in devising measures for calming storms of political passion as Clay. 214 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Happily it seemed as if in a new era of good feeling, these great leaders would not be so much missed. But these were only the halcyon days preceding another storm. In 1854 it broke forth anew. Stephen A. Douglas introduced a bill for the organiza- tion of two new territories to be called Kan- sas and Nebraska, and leaving the question of slavery to be determined in each territory by its inhabitants. As these territories would lie in great part above the line agreed upon by the Missouri Compromise, this would be virtually a repeal of that measure, which was supposed to have settled the mat- ter for all time. In spite of strenuous oppo- sition the bill passed. This was held at the north to be a shame- ful breach of contract. Now — the only thing to be done, was to fill the territory with peo- ple who did not want slavery — to be met by a similar effort from the South to fill it with people who did. A race to these ends was commenced. Trains of emigrants were sent from the North to secure the State for free- dom, and were met by similar trains pouring in from the South, resolved to take posses- sion of it for slavery. Armed bands of pro- slavery men crossed over from Missouri and HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 215 took possession of the jdoIIs, and were re- sisted by armed anti-slavery men fighting to get their votes into the ballot boxes. Houses were pillaged and burnt, men murdered in cold blood and for several years Kansas was a pandemonium. While these things were liappening in the West, and while i^ublic sentiment at the North was from time to time being shocked by the pursuit and capture of fugitive slaves, under the action of the new law, a very mod- est little book was being eagerly read in every house in the land. Among the im- portant factors in an approaching National crisis, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" cannot be for- gotten. It was one of the consx3icuous forces at work at that time. But the life of the country is not in its politics. Expansion was going on in arts and industries, and larger and freer concep- tions were coming into the spiritual and in- tellectual life of the people. Two epoch- making works were being read and discussed, "Vestiges of Creation," and "Footprints of the Creator," by Hugh Miller. Geologists were tapping the rocky foundations of the 216 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. earth and turning over new leaves in that indestructible book. The six creative days were taking on a new interpretation. The churches saw the foundations of religion threatened in the discrediting of the Mosaic narrative. Emerson' s philosophical Essays were awakening new ideals and Hawthorne's strangely subtle romances had X3ut a new grace and life into a literature which was already enriched by a Cooper and a Bryant and an Irving. Industrial arts had so far progressed that a Palace of glass and iron was built in New York City, and in 1853 an International In- dustrial Exhibition Avas held there. Rail- roads were extending in all directions ; and noAv there were plans for connecting the rich Pacilic coast with the east. Although many thought the scheme fantastic and absurd, Congress ordered surveys to be made. Five different routes were explored in 1854-65, and the difficulties to be overcome were ascertained. CHAPTER XXV. The Whig party liacl no longer any reason for existing. The United States Bank, — the tariff, — and internal improvements, — were all swallowed up in the slavery ques- tion. There had been in 1853, a short lived attempt to make the exclusion of foreigners from office, — and to some extent from citi- zenship, — a rallying principle for a new party, called the American, or Know Noth- ing party. But it had failed. In 1854 the Republican Party was organ- ized upon the one princijile of, resistance to the extension of the slave holding inter- ests. It was composed of most of the Whigs, all the Free Soilers, and the moderate Democrats. John C. Fremont, was chosen as its first candidate in 1856 in opposition to James Buchanan. The Demo- cratic candidate was elected, and James Buchanan on the 4th of March, 1857, was made President of the United States. One would be led far astray who sup- 218 HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. posed that the Republican party organized in 1854, had the same blood in its veins as the Republican party of Jefferson. Repub- licans and Democrats are the political suc- cessors of Federalists and Republicans. The party of Hamilton, the Federalist, — became first the Whig party, — and finally the Republican. The party of Jefferson, the old Republican party, was in time called the Democratic, by which name it is known to-day. The issues have changed many times, but the abiding tendencies are the same as in the days of Jefferson and Hamilton. The one tends toward centralization and the other toward individualism. The inspiring princi]3le of the one secures organization, permanence and solidity, the other con- tributes the inspiration and the vital cur- rents for which the organization exists. Other issues have sometimes obscured these tendencies, which still have remained the general characteristics of the two great political divisions. Early in 1857, the case of a negro named Dred Scott came before the Supreme Court. He pleaded for freedom on the ground that his master had taken him into a free State. HISTORY OF THE UIS^ITED STATES. 219 This was regarded as a test case, and the de- cision was awaited with profound anxiety. The Court decided that the ordinance of 1787, prohibiting slavery in the ''Territory of the North-west," and the Missouri Com- promise of 1820, excluding it north of a cer- tain line, were both alike unconstitutional. It held that an African whose ancestors had been slaves, had no rights under the Con- stitution^ and that masters might take their slaves, as they would any other property, into any State in the Union, without forfeit- ing their right of ownership. The North stood appalled before this de- cision. It declared that the highest court in the land, from wliicli there was no appeal, had removed tlie last barrier to the exten- sion of slavery, and had "nationalized" what was before only a local institution. As a counter move, several States passed "Personal Liberty" bills, which secured to fugitives from slavery, the right of trial by In the meantime in spite of legislation, and Supreme Court decisions, and the ob- vious leanings of the President, the South was losing ground. California, that great war-prize which they had confidently ex- 220 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. pected to reinforce their strength in Con- gress, was represented there as a free State ; and now, Kansas, for which they had so desperately struggled, for the same purpose, was inundated by such a stream from the North that it would be impossible, by fair means, or by violence even, to fasten slavery upon the Territory. The fruits of their victories were slipping from their grasp ; and there were no more States with which to offset those yet to be made out of north- ern Territories. It had been the practice, hitherto, when a free State was admitted, at the same time as a peace offering to offset it by the admission of a slave State. Now, Minnesota (1858) and Oregon (1859) swelled the number of free States to twenty-one. While the South had fifteen, which number it could never exceed. The political re- sources for the conflict were exhausted. Angry men began to think of other means and measures. Just at this critical period something oc- curred which was like dropping a match into a powder magazine. John Brown's at- tempt with twenty-three men to liberate the slaves of Maryland and Virginia (Harper's Ferry 1859) and thence to cause a general up- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 221 rising of 4,000,000 slaves in tlie South, was the dream of a madman, who believed he was a divinely ai)pointed liberator. His death upon the scaffold placed him among the martyrs, and Wendell Phillips, looking down into the open coffin, upon his calm majestic face said, — "He has abolished slavery." The South embittered, unreasonable, sus- picious, would not be convinced that this was not part of a deep laid movement at the North. There was deepening antagonism almost aversion at the South, and a divided sentiment at the North. Amid these distracting currents, the north- ern branch of the Democratic party itself separated into two factions : the extremists, Avho adhered most strongly to the South, and those opposed to the recent measures relating to the extension of slavery. Men realized that the campaign which was to occur at a time when feeling was under such high tension, would be the most critical the country had ever known. Stephen Douglas and John C. Brecken- ridge led the two Democratic factions, and Abraham Lincoln was the candidate of the Republican party. 222 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. The region of compromises was jpassed. The South had gone beyond the reach of the allurements and blandishments of politi- cians. The magic of Clay's influence would have been powerless, nor could a cohort of angels have allayed the passions aroused. The two sections diverged at the first funda- mental principle. The South believed the State was paramount to the Union ; the North that the Union was supreme over the State. But unthinking people who cared little for constitutional subtleties, merely saw a people at the ISTorth whom they had been taught to believe were their inferiors in valor and in other personal qualities, in- cessantly meddling with their domestic con- cerns, and insolently invading and trami^ling upon their rights in property. Their pros- perity, their civilization, their very exist- ence from day to day, was built upon slavery. It fed and clothed and sheltered them, and was intertwined with every fiber of their being from the cradle to the grave. The whole policy of the North had for years been a war upon their most sacred rights, and upon the corner-stone of their civilization. The colonists in 1783 did not more passion- ately believe in the righteousness of their HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 223 cause, nor more sedulously instruct tlieir children in tlie duty of its defense. The sentiment at the North was far differ- ent. There was no such great stake. They were struggling — not for self-preservation, but for a principle. That principle was to them a vital and a sacred one — but they de- fended it with more of solemnity than fury. Defeat would mean for them the introduc- tion of a virus which they considered de- structive — not the tearing down of their whole social fabric. They could well be calm. But, if in time, another danger threatened — if the life of the Union — sacred beyond that of any institution — if that should be ever really imperilled, then they too might be warmed to the white-heat of passion. It is well always to bear in mind that it was climate and soil, after all, which created such antagonistic conceptions, and that if New England and Pennsylvania and Ohio had been favorable to the growth of cotton and rice and tobacco, if the northern States had gradually become enmeshed and en- tangled in slavery, familiarized with its cruelties, and in love with its kindly fea- tures, if their fortunes, and the future of 224 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. their children had depended upon its con- tinuance, they too might have fought for its preservation. Their ministers might have found authority in the Bible for its exist- ence, and mothers might heroically have surrendered sons in its defense. The War of the Rebellion was born of patriotism, sincere and heroic, but a patriotism which unhappily had its roots in a principle false and vicious at its core. It was the principle of State Sovereignty^ inculcated and power- fully and ingeniously advocated by John C. Calhoun, which led a brave people astray in their political conceptions. CHAPTER XXyi. Aisr immense tide of immigration from the old world set in after the famine in Ireland in 1847, and had continued ever since with constantly increasing volume. This stream of humanity poured into the great West, where towns and cities sprang into exist- ence with phenomenal rapidity. Everywhere in the North there was growth and activity. The census of 1860 showed that the manu- factures in one year had amounted to 2,000,- 000,000 dollars. Common schools, normal schools, colleges were everywhere instruct- ing the people, and bringing up the average level of intelligence. There were schools for professional and special instruction, a Military Academy at West Point, a Naval Academy at Annapolis, and the Smithsonian Institution at Washington for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." Science, literature, art and culture were promoted by societies, lyceums, lectures, all filling the air with stimulating infiuences. 226 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. The South in its agriculture had the most fruitful source of National and individual prosperity ; but very different conditions prevailed. The tide of immigration did not flow into the slave States. The scanty pop- ulation in the rural districts had few schools. Labor was considered degrading to white men, and a large class known as "poor whites," was in a condition of ignorance, misery and depravity, below that of the slave. That remorseless truthteller, — the census, — showed that the South was grow- ing enfeebled in wealth, — in population, — and in Congressional strength, and in Elec- toral votes. This meant dissolution, — unless it could be arrested. "Cotton is King" was adopted as their motto of defiance. If Lincoln was elected, they would forever end this strife. They Avould sever themselves from the Union, and be a separate and distinct people. With their cotton, and their slave labor and with English mills eager to consume all they could produce, they would be a rich and a homo- geneous nation. The North realized the gravity of the sit- uation. On account of the division in the Democratic party, Lincoln's election was HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 227 probable, and it soon became evident that preparations were in progress for carrying ont the threat of violently sundering the tie, if it could not be broken peacefully. Just at this crisis President Buchanan sent a message to Congress urging changes in the Constitution, which should embody the re- cent decision of the Supreme Court, and he declared, that unless this act of justice were done, the Southern States would he justified in Rewlutionary resistance to tlie Govern- ment. It was evident that the man at the helm would never keep the shi]3 from going on the rocks. Who would do it ? Washington was the headquarters of the conspiracy. The Cabinet was chiefly composed of the leaders of the movement. Congress and the public offices were filled with consx)irators. The small army largely officered by Southerners was scattered on the distant frontiers, and the navy in distant seas. A great part of the cannon, rifles and military stores were in Southern forts and arsenals. Some of the more conservative leaders ad- vised a general convention of the Southern States, before taking final action. But South Carolina, hot for secession, would not 228 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. take the chances of a retrograde movement. This fiery standard bearer led the way in this as in everything. Abraham Lincoln was elected in November 1860. On Decem- ber 20, 1860, South Carolina passed an ordi- nance of secession, and was quickly folloAved by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana. Delegates from these six States met in convention at Montgomery, Alabama, Febru- ary 4, 1861. They organized a government under the name of the Confederate States of America^ and elected Jefferson Davis of MississipxDi, President, and Alexander H. Stevens of Georgia, Vice-President. Members of Congress from the South and three members of the Cabinet resigned and returned to their own homes, there to plot treason against the Government. Officers in the Army and Navy believing they owed allegiance to their native States rather than to the Union, resigned by scores. There were rumors of intended assassina- tion and Lincoln guarded by an armed force, passed to his inauguration through a land silent in the hush of expectancy. But men did not think there would be war. Nothing had been done yet which might not be un- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 2'^9 coercion" was on every one's lips. Statesmen were trying to devise measures wliicli would propitiate, and so careful were they to do nothing which would cause irritation that the long con- tested State of Kansas came on tip-toe into the Union without one word about slavery. Lincoln had been a few days in his office, v/hen overtures for a peaceful separation were received from the "Confederacy," these were without hesitation rejected. In reply to this, the States in rebellion seized the forts, arsenals, mints and Nation- al property of every description within their borders; and in addition the entire army of the frontier with all its equipments, — revenue-cutters, custom-houses and sub- treasuries were turned over to the Confeder- acy. All moving smoothly on grooves well oiled by officers of the late Cabinet ! — There remained in the possession of the United States only Fort Sumter in Charleston Har- bor, and Fort Pickens on the coast of Florida, which latter its gallant young com- mander. Lieutenant Slemmer, refused to turn over at the command of his superior officer. 230 HISTORY OP THE UKITED STATES. Still tlie liusli was not broken at the ;N"orth. It was audacious, — dastardly, — but it was not war. A liigli spirited and exas- perated people were carrying tilings with a high hand, but they would not go beyond that. It could all be smoothed out again, when the paroxysm of passion was over. There was not a man in the south who when it came to the point, would raise his hand against the United States. So all hoped, and many believed on April 11th, but on April 15th, Fort Sumter was a ruin, and President Lincoln had issued a call for 75,000 troops to defend the Govern- ment from an armed rebellion in the South. Eighty-six years had elapsed since the Declaration of Independence, and seventy- two since the beginning of National life in America. Never in the history of the world had the planting of a new nation been attended by such results. The eyes of Christendom were fastened upon the experiment of a govern- ment for the people by the people. It seemed as if the American Nation had dis- covered the long sought secret of combining HISTORY OF THE UN"ITED STATES. 231 strength at tlie centre, with unlimited op- portunity for the individual. There had been two great foreign wars, — Indian Wars, — internal dissensions and con- vulsions, — but nothing had arrested the vitalizing currents which swiftly carried life and development into every form of activity, and by a new sort of alchemy converted calamity into a higher prosperity, and quickly blended inflowing streams of foreign population with the homogeneous mass. Tlie framers of the Constitution had never dreamed of tlie enormous strain to which it would be subjected ; but that marvelous in- strument had proved sufficient to hold to- gether the most swiftly expanding nation the world had ever seen. Political i3arties had struggled over it, the South had stretch- ed it in one way, and the North in another, it had been twisted and bent, — but not broken. Now it was to be seen whether it would bear the strain of civil war, — such a war as the world had not known in nineteen hundred years. The North was throbbing with an adoring- patriotism for a government which had achieved so much. In the South, this sort of patriotism was 232 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. dead, — or dying; and in its place was a ]3atriotism insx)ired by love of State, and devotion to an institution from which sprang a local prosperity. They were weaned from the mother they had once loved, and im- patient to destroy the Union they had helped to create. The 12th of April 1861 is a dark day in the National Calendar. In the grey dawn of that morning the first cannon ball from a Confederate battery struck Fort Sumter. There was no more wavering or indecision in Washington. While the walls of Sumter were crumbling under the fierce rain of shot and shell from nineteen rebel batteries, the North was solidifying into an adamantine unit}^ Men forgot whether they were whigs or democrats, and only knew that they were patriots^ as they listened to the echoes of those guns in Charleston Harbor, where seventy men were defending a beleaguered fort against seven thousand. Not until his barracks were set on fire by shells, and his exhausted garrison was half blinded and suffocated in the casemates did the brave Anderson capitulate. The fort was a ruin. But it had done a splendid work for the cause of the Union. No argument had ever HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 233 been so convincing and eloquent, as was tliat riddled flag, brought north by Major An- derson. When President Lincoln on April 15th called for 75,000 troops for three months' service, the ISTorth rose as one man. In less than thirty-six hours troops were pouring into AVashington. The sudden shock of war precipitated an immediate decision in the doubtful States. The whole success of the movement depend- ed upon their action. If Virginia, Mary- land and Tennessee should fail them, their cause was lost. But, one after another four States were swept into the fatal current, Vir- ginia first, quickly followed by Arkansas, North Carolina and then Tennessee. Al- though the disloyal sentiment was strong in the remaining border States, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri, it was met by a still stronger loyal sentiment. In spite of efforts to carry them over the brink, the tide of secession was stayed at their frontiers. In AVestern Virginia there also prevailed a loyal sentiment sufficient to make them act independently of the seced- ing State. The fragment broken off from the parent State in this convulsion was ad- 234 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. mitted into the Union in 1861, under tlie name of West Virginia. Had Maryland gone into the Confederacy, the difficulties and dangers for the l^orth would have been enormously increased. Washington was the first point of attack and of defense. Had the Confederate flag early in the war waved over the Capital of the Union, there might have been a recognition of the Confederacy abroad, which would have brought about a different issue. As it was, even with Maryland as a safe highway for the passage of troops, that danger was narrowly escaped. The Capital of the Confederacy was re- moved to Richmond, and "On to Rich- mond" was the answering cry to ''On to Washington." General Scott, the veteran leader was in command of the Union forces, and General Beauregard of the Confederate. Both armies were hovering about the Poto- mac, making silent and deadly prei3aration for a life and death struggle between broth- ers, the one for the preservation and per- petuation of slavery, the other for the j) re- servation and perpetuation of the Union. CHAPTER XXYII. No one realized the horrible magnitnde of the struggle about to commence. William H. Seward, then Secretary of State, pre- dicted that it could not last more than ninety days. The South, on the other hand, be- lieved that if her sympathizers at the North did not paralyze the government by their opposition, as she hoped and believed they would, France and England would quickly combine to put an end to a war which would cut off the cotton supply from their facto- ries. Although the South had no means for producing or procuring any more, she had captured sufficient military stores and equip- ments to last for a long time. But she had captured something better than military stores. The Northern army had scarcely enough officers remaining to command it ; and as for the navy, when President Lincoln proclaimed the rebel ports in a state of blockade (April 19th), there was only one 236 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. war steamer on the Atlantic coast, and not an armed vessel on tlie Mississippi or any of its brandies. The border States which had not seceded were to a great extent, in secret, if not in avowed rebellion. The troops on their way to Washington were attacked in Baltimore by an angry mob. April 19th, 1861, Avas the anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, where the first blood in the war of the Rebellion was shed. By a singular co- incidence, the first blood shed in the war of the rebellion, eighty- six years later, was on that day ; and in two weeks more, disloyal men in Missouri had turned over to the Con- federacy all the military and pecuniary re- sources of that State, and Harper's Ferry and the Navy Yard at Norfolk had been seized, owing to intrigues from within the Federal lines. The country, in response to a call for 75,000 men, had sent 300,000, and yet no- thing was done — there seemed no effort to check the spreading rebellion. The peo]3le at the North heard of nothing but disaster, encroachment and loss. Tlie rebels, on the other hand, grew richer and stronger and better organized every day. HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. 237 It sometimes requires more heroism to wait than to act. General McDowell knew better than they the difficulties to be over- come in meeting General Beauregard, who had taken up his position at Manassas Junc- tion on Bull Run Creek, a few miles south of Washington. On July 21st McDowell yielded to the pressure from behind, and opened upon the Confederates. So furious was the attack that the rebels were driven back. It looked as if it might fare badly vdth them. But they were rallied by General T. J. Jackson, who, as some one said, "stood like a stone- wall," and was ever after known as Stone- wall Jackson. Behind this Stone- wall the rebel army stood its ground until reinforce- ments arrived under Kirby Smith, and Early. The Union army, under a deadly cross-lire, was then forced back in disorder. As they reached the bridge in the rear, a bursting shell, among the teamster's Avagons and an overturned caisson, choked the en- trance to the bridge. Cannon were aban- doned, horsemen plunged madly through the struggling mass, and a retreat became a panic-stricken rout of fugitives fleeing back to Washington. 238 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. So ended the first general engagement of the Rebellion. It was a humiliating defeat. But it served the North better tlian a vic- tory. The South had always believed the task would be easy. The j^eople at the Nortli were shop-keepers, not fighters. In over- confidence, it relaxed its exertions. The North, with desperate earnestness, set about the work of organization and preparation. Congress voted 500,000,000 dollars and 500,- 000 more men. To General McClellan was as- signed the task of organizing an army out of raw recruits, men fresh from counting houses and fields, more used to the pen and the plow than to the musket. General Benjamin F. Butler in command at Fortress Monroe, early in the war created a phrase and a policy which had an impor- tant subsequent history. Some fugitive slaves fied to him for protection, imploring him to free them. He had not the authority to do tJiat. But he ingeniously decided that tlieir return to their masters would be an aid to the Rebellion and hence he pronounced them "Contraband of War." Spades were put into their hands to help the Union cause and the " Contraband " thereafter played a large part in the conflict. It was a unique HISTORY QF THE UNITED STATES. 239 feature of this War that the South could send all its male population to the front, and yet have several million slaves at work, producing food to support their ar- mies and their homes. This was one of the many sources of strength which enabled them for a time to maintain the struggle with such ease and success, that France and England accorded them Belligerent Rights. It was a great point gained for the Con- federacy to be thus placed on an equal foot- ing with the United States. The hope of foreign aid or perhaps even of intervention, ran high. Two commissioners, Messrs. Mason and Slidell were appointed to go to Europe (if they could get there), and to use their personal persuasions in inducing a recogni- tion of the Confederacy by France and Eng- land. Captain Wilkes of the U. S. Navy overtook the British Mail Steamer Trent, on which they had embarked, and the two Commissioners were brought back prisoners to the United States. England probably forgot the 10,000 seamen she had taken from American vessels, when she sternly demanded the release of the two Southern Commission- ers. But President Lincoln said ' ' we fought England in 1812, for doing just what Captain 240 HISTORY OF THE Ui^ITED STATES. Wilkes lias done." The act was repudiated by the Government, and the prisoners per- mitted to return to their homes. The United States was building ships and converting a paper blockade into a real one. It soon had a fleet of several hundred war vessels on the ocean, and on the Western rivers. The Confederacy also was not idle, and had succeeded in buying and building a number of ships in Great Britain, which were darting hither and thither, and chasing the United States flag off the coast. Later the Alabama joined this Confederate fleet, and its depredations led to an historic reck- oning at the end of the war. When the Norfolk IS'avy Yard was seized at the beginning of the war, one of the prizes was the ship Merrimac. The Con- federates covered her with a double plating of iron, and she was converted into a float- ing fort, which did tremendous damage to the wooden ships of the enemy at the mouth of the James River near Fortress Monroe. The Cumberland and the Congress were sunk by her March 8, 1862. She returned the next day to finish the destruction of the Northern fleet preparatory to going up the Potomac to storm and reduce the Capital. HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. 241 With the Confederate Hag flying in Wash- ington — would come recognition from abroad, — a raising of the blockade, — and the end of the war. It was a very ingenious chain, and looked as if its links might hold. But there was one factor which had not entered into the plan. A strange little craft suddenly appeared on the scene, looking "like a cheese-box on a raft." This was the new iron Monitor (the creation of Ericsson's fer- tile brain), commanded by Captain Worden. The floating fort became a helpless wreck before this new incarnation of destruction, and more Monitors were speedily added to the Northern fleet. At the beginning of 1861, a Federal Army of more than 500,000 men was confronted by an almost equal number of Confederates along a line extending from the Potomac to Kansas. There were small wars within a greater war all along this line. In Missouri and Kansas there was a Civil War within a Civil AVar, for the control of those rent and divided States. In Kentucky and Tennessee there was a fierce struggle for control of the Mississippi and its branches. In West Vir- ginia General Rosecrans was co-operating ^42 HISTORY OF THE Ui^ITED STATES. with and protecting McClellan's great force which was cautiously advancing upon Kich- mond. At the mouth of the Mississippi another movement was being inaugurated. That river was the great artery which carried a life current to the heart of the Confedera- cy. Its control was perhaps the most vital thing in the war. Seventy-live miles below New Orleans stood tw^o strong forts on op- posite sides of the river, and just below them two iron chains were stretched across, mak- ing the approach of ships seemingly impos- sible, while to make assurance doubly sure, there w^ere stationed above the forts fifteen armed vessels, two of them iron clad and in- vincible as the Merrimac. It would be an act of strange hardihood to try to pass these defenses. But two men were on their way from Fortress Monroe, who were going to make the attempt. Captain Farragut of the Navy with a fleet of fifty wooden ves- sels, and General Butler with a force of 15,000 men. Farragut' s plan was, with the aid of Commander Porter' s mortar boats, to break through the chains, — silence the forts, — conquer the Confederate fleet — and take the City of New Orleans. HISTORY OF THE Ui^ITED STATES. 243 While arranging for this desperate move- ment a fearful struggle Avas going on in Kentucky and Tennessee for control of the upper Mississippi, and to get access to the Gulf States, in co-operation with the move- ment from the South. It was a struggle of giants for a great stake. The Confederates expected to hurl such an overpowering weight against the Northern line, that they would break through, and Kentucky — lost to them by other means, — would be theirs by conquest. A name was about to emerge from com- parative obscurity, which was to rival those of the great military leaders in history. Gfeneral Halleck ordered General U.S. Grant to attack Fort Henry on the Tennessee river near Cairo, Illinois. This fort was taken by Commander Foote before Grant reached there, so he moved on Fort Donelson, a few miles above. There the battle raged for three days ; then — General Buckner asked Grant what terms he would grant him if he gave up the fort. The answer was,— "No terms except an immediate and unconditional sur- render." The first great victory of the war was won (February 16th, 1862). Large quantities of arms were captured and 15,000 244 HISTORY OF THE UlTITED STATES. prisoners. The surrender of Nashville fol- lowed, and Kentucky and Tennessee were in the hands of the army of the Union. General Grant followed this victory up swiftly ; — he moved up the Tennessee to Pittsburg Landing (or Shiloli) on the con- lines of Alabama. There was a horrible slaughter of 25,000 men — among whom was one of the greatest and best of the Southern leaders — General Johnston. The victory was as complete as at Fort Donelson, and followed the next day by another at Island Number Ten on the Mississippi. These sledge hammer blows succeeding each other in such quick succession, accomplished more than had been done since the opening of the war, nearly one year before. Now the Mis- sissippi River was opened to the Union ves- sels as far as Yicksburg. CHAPTER XXYIII. The first year of the war would liave closed in gloom at the North but for the rapid events just related, the taking of New Orleans, and the destruction of the Merri- mac which occurred at nearly the same time. At the East the year had been one of preparation and organization. Nothing of great moment had been accomplished. There had been struggles here and there ; engage- ments which were sometimes victories, and more often defeats. The most hopeful realized that the situation was grave, if not alarming. The war had assumed enormous proportions, and had developed an extraor- dinary strength in the rebellious States. Southern sympathizers at the North swarmed out of hiding places and were outspoken in disloyalty. They pointed in derision at McClellan's inactive army mak- ing an "advance" upon Richmond which never advanced. 246 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. But suddenly all had been changed. In- stead of a Confederate army moving irresist- ibly into Illinois and Indiana, with the rich cornfields of Kentucky feeding their victori- ous army, they were driven from their strongholds about the Mississippi and that river was opened to Yicksburg. Gfrant's army was in the Gulf States burrowing into the heart and centre of the Confederacy. By October (1861) General Rosecrans had driven Rebellion out of West Virginia, and Fremont and Halleck in Missouri, had forced the tide of disloyalty back over towards the Arkansas border. These things can be quickly told, but in their accomplishment there had been des- perate encounters, and Northern and South- ern blood had mingled in awful profusion on both sides. There were deeds of splen- did daring and heroism, — for the cause of disloyalty no less than for that of loyalty. Priceless lives were thrown away as if of no value, — compared with the caj^ture of a cornfield or a barren hillside! — It is a sicken- ing story in its details, and can only be en- dured by keeping in view its animating purpose, and what might have been had the Avar not been fought. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 247 A Federal Navy liad come into existence, with nia,gical swiftness, large enough to guard the wiiole Atlantic and Gulf Coast ; —a thing which European States had said could not be done ; — and when the first year of the war closed, it had become practically a vast siege. The South was completely cut off from supplies unless blockade runners could evade the vigilant police of the Fede- ral shii3s. A few Confederate vessels had slijDped away to sea, and were ravaging the coast as privateers, inflicting great damage on Federal shipping, and if unable to get back home with their prizes, they would find a refuge in foreign ports, and there bide their time. There was a desperation in the Southern cause which was an enormous stimulant to valor. They had no ship yards, — no roll- ing mills, — they had not an army of skilled mechanics working for them out of resources almost inexhaustible, — but they had an en- thusiasm and a unanimity unmatched at the North. They had officers trained at West Point who were masters of the art of war and of strategy, and a Commander in Chief, who was not only a great military leader, but a man with ideal personal quali- 248 HISTORY OF THE UI^ITED STATES. ties, who invested the cause abroad with dignity and Avith a semblance of justice. When General Robert E. Lee in June 1862, took command of the Confederate forces, things began to move as if at the touch of a master hand. He sent Stonewall Jackson to West Virginia. While Banks was being driven back to the Potomac and McClellan had lost the support of Mc- Dowell's 40,000 troops, Lee sent the dashing Stuart with a body of Cavalry to the rear of McClellan' s army there to tear up railroads, burn carloads of i^rovisions, or do anything destructive that came in his way, while he, — the Commander in Chief, under cover of these diversions, planned for the long de- layed conflict with McClellan' s army. By July the flght was on. What was known as the "Seven Days' Battle," raged furiously outside of Richmond, but without any decisive result. Over 15,000 men were slaughtered on each side. Lee had captured guns and prisoners, and the Union army had been able to look for seven days on the dis- tant spires of the Confederate capital. That was all that was gained. The two exhausted armies retreated for rest, the one to the James river, and the other to the Potomac. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 249 -While these battles were in progress, President Lincoln called for 600,000 more troops. It began to be a question with some, whether the loyalty at the North would hold out under such a prolonged strain. Even its immense population be- gan to be drained. Some there were whose hearts were heavy with apprehension. What if after all this frightful effusion of blood — they should fail ! Would it not be better to let the seceding States go ? Was any end worth such horrible human sacri- fice ? — Half the families in the land were mourning for precious dead. — Rachels weeping for their children, who could not be comforted. But the heart of the country was undismayed. — Men, even with eyes blinded with tears, could see that the life of the Nation was more precious than the life of her sons. On April 24th, three months before this fruitless struggle in front of Eichmond, Commodore Farragut carried out his care- fully prepared plan by one of the greatest feats of daring in history. In what was a literal rain of fire, he severed the chains across the Mississippi — sailed boldly past the two forts — destroyed twelve out of the 250 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. thirteen gunboats and ironclads, — and as he advanced upon New Orleans, General Butler took military possession of the City, with its blazing stores of cotton and ships, which had been fired by the rebels when they saw the city was lost. Farragut pressed on up the river, captured Natchez and Baton Rouge, then passing the guns of Yicksburg he joined the Union fleet above. Now the great artery would be lost to the Confeder- acy, unless they could hold their two re- maining forts — at Yicksburg, and Port Hud- son. It was the month after, in March 1862, that the little Monitor destroyed the Merri- mac in Hampton Roads. These were des- perate blows upon the life of the Confeder- acy, but her great strength centred about Richmond — and she relied upon Lee's abil- ity to turn the tide by an aggressive move- ment which should capture Washington, reclaim Maryland, and might even land the war in the very laj) of the Northern States, and make them sue for terms. In August Lee crossed the Potomac into Maryland, followed by McClellan's army. Stonewall Jackson in co-operation with him captured Harper' s Ferry with its arsenal and 12,000 prisoners. HISTORY OF THE Ul^ITED STATES. 251 The long delayed struggle was at hand. These were days fraught with eager hoj^e at the South, and grave fears at the North. On the 17th of September, in the beautiful Valley of Antietam, the collision came. For fourteen hours the mountains echoed with the roar of 600 cannon and mortars. If angels ever weep for humanity, they must have done so that night, when 25,000 men, — a few hours before in the full tide of manhood and strength, were dead or wound- ed on the battlefield, lying in ranks "like swaths of grass cut down by the scythe." Neither had gained a victory, but Lee's advance was checked and he returned to Virginia. As the year 1862 was dying, Burn side in an attempt to advance upon Richmond was defeated at Fredericksburg, and driven back toward Washington, and General Rosecrans in Tennessee was waging a con- flict with the Confederate Greneral Bragg with only some slight advantage gained. In spite of the staggering blows in Ken- tucky and Tennessee, and in New Orleans, all was inconclusive and whatever the end was to be, it was far off. While the army and navy were achieving 252 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. tlieir great victories in tlie early part of 1862, the President and Congress were con- sidering ways of grappling with the institu- tion for which the war was being fought. An Act was passed in March by which the principle, upon which the Republican party was formed in 1854, was made a Statute. Slavery was prohibited now and forever in the territories of the United States. By another Act, it was abolished in the District of Columbia, and compensation provided for the slave-owners. Yery soon after this President Lincoln rec- ommended an Act which Congress adopted and passed, on April 2d. It was an oifer to any State — those in insurrection or the bor- der States — to co-operate in a plan for a gradual abolition of slavery within its bor- ders — and offering to give such State " suffi- cient pecuniary aid to compensate for the inconveniences, public and private, produced by such change of system." When this offer was made it seemed i)er- fectly clear to those making it that slavery was eventually doomed. It was not expected that any but the border States would enter- tain the offer. But it was made in good faith to all, and was an opportunity gra- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 253 ciousiy offered to the States in rebellion to lay down their arms, and in a plan of gradual emancipation to receive about $400 for each slave. This measure was not a bribe for peace, from a people fearful of the result. Had it been made in 1861, it might have been so con- strued. But it was in the hour of victory, and when the end seemed assured which would place the disposing of the entire ques- tion of slavery in the hands of the Federal Government. It was made with an earnest desire to deal fairly with the South and with scrupulous regard for its rights. The logic of events was proving that the destruction of slavery was not far off, and yet President Lincoln was willing to reimburse the slave- owners for a calamity they had brought upon themselves. We look in vain for an example of more magnanimous statesmanship. It was not accepted even by the border States. So en- tangled was their social and x)olitical life with slavery, they could not contemplate an existence without it, and would not believe it was doomed. As the year wore on, the end of the con- flict seemed further off than it had one year 254 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. before. There was no less determination, but there were fewer to respond to calls for troops. Those most eager had gone first to the front, and now — bounties had to be of- fered, — and the time was not far off when men would have to be drafted, and under comj)ul- sion go themselves or send substitutes to the war. What enabled the rebellious States to force such sacrifices upon their country was the very thing for which they had created the war. It was those millions of slaves toiling for them and feeding them, which left the whole male population free to fight the North. Without their slaves they could not have carried on the conflict for one day. A sad-faced, peace-loving man sat in the White House, brooding upon these things. With calm and even justice he was arriving at a decision, one of the most momentous in the history of the Country — and even of the world. As a measure of military necessity he resolved — to free the slaves in America. Five days after the awful slaughter at Antietam (September 22, 1862), he issued a proclamation which was to go into effect on January 1, 1863, after which time " all per- sons in the United States held as slaves should he thenceforward and forever free.'' ^ HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. ^55 Thus by a single stroke of the pen, between three and four millions of human beings were given that most natural of all rights, — the ownership of themselves ; and America was freed from the one disfiguring blot upon her civilization. An Amendment to the Constitution sub- sequently confirmed the act of the executive. There were no more contrabands. Fugitives from slave and border States were all free- men now, and rapidly enlisted in colored regiments which had already done good ser- vice in the war. Of course the great body of negroes were unconscious of the change in their condition, and went on toiling as if they were not freemen. But it gave a new aspect to defeat in the Confederacy. More than a thousand million dollars worth of so- called property, had been declared non- existent. Before, the North had been fight- ing to restore the Union as it was : — now, it was to restore a Union in Avhich slavery did not, and never could, exist. CHAPTER XXIX. In the spring of 1863 General Hooker made an advance upon Richmond. At Chancel- lorsville he was met by General Lee and Stonewall Jackson, and defeated after a two days' battle (May 2, and 3, 1863). This vic- tory was dearly bought by the Confederates. Stonewall Jackson was accidentally shot by his oAvn men. He was a rock of defense to the Confederacy, and they could have better afforded to have lost Chancellorsville, and saved their great General. One month later, Lee made his second attempt to carry the war across the border. His plan was to march through Pennsylva- nia to Harrisburg and thence to Philadel- phia. At Gettysburg he was met by General Meade. There took i)lace the most decisive and x)erhax)s the most destructive of all the battles of this terrible war. It lasted three days and was fought by the Confederates with magnificent bravery. When shot and HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 257 shell ploughed through their ranks, as they made their last desperate charge, they never faltered, and only after their army was broken into fragments did they confess that they were defeated. Nearly 50,000 brave men were dead ; (almost as many as were swal- lowed up in Lisbon in 1755 !) the blue and grey mingled on the battle field in awful confusion. Lee had failed, and was never to make the attempt again. At the very hour that Lee was retreating (July 3, 1863) another desperate struggle was being decided at Yicksburg. For seven weeks Grant and Sherman with 70,000 men had been besieging that city, where women and children were hiding from bursting shells in caves dug in the earth. When even the ' ' mule steaks ' ' gave out and there was scarcely a cracker a day, with which to feed the inhabitants, they gave up, simply be- cause human nature could endure no more. Yicksburg was surrendered July 4, 1863. This was a war of unprecedented magni- tudes, in the extent of territory involved, and in the number of men engaged. The surrender at Yicksburg was on the same co- lossal scale. Fifteen Generals, 31,000 men and 172 cannon were turned over to Grant 258 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. and Sherman — the greatest surrender of men and material that had then ever been made in war, and only surpassed since by the capture of Metz and Paris by the Ger- mans. Five days later Port Hudson was taken and the great river ran unvexed from its source to its mouth. Grant and Sherman then turned to the aid of Rosecrans' army, which had been driven out of Chattanooga. The Confed- erates held that beautiful valley and also Lookout Mountain, the green and rocky pyramid which commands it like a natural fortress. From its pinnacle one looks out upon a surging, tumbling mass of clouds, until they melt under the sun' s rays and disclose the Tennessee River, winding like a silver rib- bon into the grey distance. General Hooker charged up the steep, rugged sides of Lookout Mountain. For two days in K'ovemberthe "battle above the clouds" was being fought. The Confeder- ates were driven from the natural strong- hold, and Grant, Sherman, Thomas and Hooker then forced them back into Georgia. The unresting Sherman dashed on across HISTORY OF THE Ui^ITED STATES. 259 Mississippi like the embodied spirit of de- struction. Hailroads disappeared, rails were ripped lip and broken, bridges burnt, ma- cliine shops and locomotives destroyed, and every means for reaching him at Chatta- nooga was swept away as if by a tornado, and as he rested from this, he and Grant were planning a concerted movement upon Ilichmond-7^0^^ by way of the Potomac ! March 2, 1864, General U. S. Grant was assigned to the chief command of all the armies of the Union. Hitherto there had been little concert of action and a conse- quent loss of the full benefit which might have been derived from great victories. Now all the National forces were to move in obedience to one single will, toward the accomplishment of a single purpose. The Confederates had two chief centres ot power. Lee near the Rappahannock guard- ed Richmond and the country south of it. Johnston at Dalton, Northern Georgia, held the country south and east of that point. The plan arranged for what was to be the last campaign of the war was for Grant to move on Lee and capture Richmond ; for Sherman to march the same day on John- ston, and having disposed of him, to push 260 HISTORY OF THE UI^ITED STATES. Ms way on to the sea, thus cutting the Con- federacy directly in two. There is a desolate region in Western Virginia known as ''the Wilderness." On May 4th, at the threshold of that Wilder- ness, and sitting on a log, Grant pencilled a telegram to Sherman at Chattanooga. It was an order to move. At almost the same time, the march toward the sea, and the one through the Wilderness commenced, mov- ing irresistibly as fate on the concerted lines. Nothing but the path of a cyclone could equal the desolation left in the track of that march through Georgia. But no path of cyclone ever extended sixty miles wide and three hundred miles long, as did this great footprint of Sherman's army; 300 miles of railroad destroyed, the rails twisted and broken beyond repair, 60,000 men marching in four solid columns, with a cloud of caval- ry and skirmishers in front, — leaving the country as clean and as bare of food, as would an army of African ants. In vain did Johnston try by masterly strategy among the woods and mountains to arrest the advance. — In vain did Hood hurl his forces upon him as he neared Atlanta. Out- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 261 generaled and cut off from supplies, Hood destroyed what he could of the mills and foundries which had been so precious to the Confederacy, and abandoned the city. Sherman had not come to Atlanta for rest. He burned the city, and then com- menced the real "March to the sea." In vain did Jefferson Davis try to lure him back. He ordered that Georgia should be abandoned and the troops be concentrated in an attack upon Thomas at Nashville, be- lieving Sherman would turn to his rescue. But Sherman knew well what stuff there was in that "Rock of Chickamauga" and believed in Thomas' ability to take care of himself. By the middle of November he had cut all the railroads and telegraph lines con- necting him with the north, then— he and his army disappeared from view as com- pletely as if the earth had swallowed them up During those four silent weeks he was pressing forward, just as before, four col- umns abreast, cutting a clean swath 60 miles wide, from. Atlanta, to Savannah. Railroads, —provisions,— everything that was not root- ed to the earth, disappeared before him, and several thousands of negroes were clinging to 262 HISTORY OF THE UI^ITED STATES. the skirts of " Massa Sherman's " army. In less than a month from the day he left At- lanta, he had stormed and taken Fort Mc- Allister, guarding the approach to Savan- nah, — and nine days later he sent the fol- lowing dispatch to President Lincoln. •• December, 22, 1864. To His Excellency, President Lincohi, Washington, D. C. : I beg to present you as a Christmas gift, the City of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and about 20,000 bales of cotton. W. T. Sherman." In the meantime Grant had been moving toward Richmond, overriding obstacles, lighting awful battles by the way, which cost the Union Army alone 60,000 men. At Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864, it is said, 10,000 of his men fell in twenty minutes. Five hundred men a minute ! — Yet on he moved. The Confederates with a desperate bravery hurled their battalions at him, but could no more arrest or deflect his course than that of a glacier. In the meantime, Farragut (August 5, 1864), had taken possession of the harbor of Mobile, thus closing that port against sup- plies from abroad, and Thomas at Nashville on December 15th and 16tli had torn Hood's HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 263 army into shreds. In July, Burnside liad undermined the fortifications at Petersburg. But that explosion only dug a gigantic grave for his men, who fell into the hands of Lee's army when they entered the city. In September Sheridan and Early were struggling in the Shenandoah Valley. There it was, that Sheridan made his famous "ride" of twenty miles, to turn back a re- treating army, and converted defeat into victory. The Confederacy was rent and torn now at every point. Eleven States were dwindling to three. It was evident that a miracle could scarcely save it. Sherman with his host was sweeping North, fighting battles, capturing cities and in March was conferring with Grant at the James River, ( March 27, 1865). The end was not far off. On April 2, 1865, Grant captured Petersburg, Lee retreated from Richmond, — Jefferson Davis escaped — and on April B, the army of the North was in Richmond and the flag of the United States was flying over the Capital of an ex- tinct Confederacy. At Appomattox Court House, on April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered a famished and ex- 564 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. hausted army to Grant. The only condi- tions demanded were, — that tlie men should lay down their arms and return to their homes. Those who had horses were permitted to take them; for as Grant said, "they would need them for the ploughing. ' ' Then th e vic- torious General ordered 25,000 rations of food for Lee's starving soldiers. And so ended the great War of the Rebellion, Thousands of millions of dollars and a million of lives. North and South, had been expended. There was mourning in almost every household in the land for some one gone. The South, Avhich had borne the hardship and the horror of the struggle, w'.';h invading armies destroying her homes, devouring her substance, and scattering hei treasures, was impoverished, embittered and seemingly forever estranged from her sistera at the North, who had suffered none of these things. Was anything worth such a price % One must realize the superior imi3ortance of National to individual life, in order to answer that question. Two things which would have been fatal to the life of the na- tion had been destroyed — Slavery and the principle of Secession were forever aban- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 265 doned. Compromises and the efforts of peace-makers had only delayed a mortal struggle which had to come. The surgeon's knife is not pleasant, but it is sometimes re- membered with gratitude. The echoes of the rejoicings at the North fell upon broken and bitter hearts in the South, sitting in their ruined homes, slaves, fortunes, hopes, everything swept away, for a Cause to them as sacred as ours, and which in their strangely misguided hearts awoke a more passionate and personal devotion. President Lincoln had entered upon his second term, with Andrew Johnson as Vice- President, a few weeks before the surrender of Lee. He appointed the 14th of April as a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving at the advent of peace, which was to be appropriately celebrated by replacing Anderson' s tattered Hag at Fort Sumter, just four years from the day of its surrender. On the morning of the 15th the telegraph bore terrrible news. The President had been assassinated at Ford' s Theatre the night before. Horror and lamentation replaced rejoicings. The half-crazed man who com- mitted ihe deed, had, with a few conspira- 266 HISTORY OF THE UIsTITED STATES. tors, planned the death of all the Cabinet at the same time, and after that — we know not what. It is to be hoped and believed that no one of any character or importance was concerned in the plot. But it was a martyrdom, and coming so swiftly upon the conclusion of the war, and the end he had so helped to consummate, it was dramatically linked with all that had preceded it, and was the tragic climax of a great Epic. Andrew Johnson was now the head of the nation, upon whom was to fall the diffi- cult and delicate task of its reconstruction. First, an army of over a million men was to be disbanded. It was a strange si3ectacle when this great host was gathered in Wash- ington in May, 1865, and the Armies of the "East" and of the "West," in a column over thirty miles long, marched down the broad avenue from the White House to the Capi- tol. It required two days for this stream of sun-burnt veterans to pass in review with their tattered battle-flags festooned with flowers. A still stranger and a grander sight was it to see this great host quietly absorbed again into the Nation, without one act of lawless- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 267 ness, and still more, to look in vain for one vindictive measure toward the leaders who had brought such unmeasured calamity upon the country. Jefferson Davis was captured May 11, and for two years imj)risoned at Fortress Monroe, awaiting a trial for treason, which was never to take place. Only one life was demanded at the close of the Rebellion. A Swiss named Wirz, who had perpetrated awful cruelties upon prisoners at Andersonville was tried and executed at Washington. Punishment fell with awful swiftness upon four who were implicated in the assassina- tion of the President. They were hung in Washington after a fair trial. Booth the perpetrator had been shot by his pursuers. Russia was the only European Govern- ment which had manifested sympathy with the United States during the assault u^Don her life. Both England and France viewed the struggle in the light of their own inter- ests and personal ends. England was out- spoken in her preference for the Confederate Cause, and had no tears for a Republic she believed was going to pieces on the rocks of disunion. Napoleon III had believed it was a good time to plant the 268 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. America, while the people had no time to talk about the "Monroe Doctrine." He placed the unfortunate Austrian Archduke Maximilian upon the tottering Mexican Throne. But Union victories and a firm remonstrance from Washington, sent the French armies flying back over the sea, and Maximilian fell into the hands of the Mexi- can liberals who did not want him, and was shot, leaving his poor crazed wife who still survives, the sole wreck from that ill starred enterprise, built upon a Southern Confed- eracy. CHAPTER XXX. The Government was now confronted with a situation for which there was no prece- dent, — and one which demanded statesman- ship of a high and original order. The genius of a Clay and of a Lincoln com- bined might not have been adequate for its needs. The Southern States had been conquered. What was to be done with them ? Were they still in the Union or out of it? Were they to be ruled as conquered territory, or were they to take their places as States as before? If the theory upon which the war was fought was true, — if secession was impossible, and the ordinances passed were "null and void," they were still members ol the Federal Union, and entitled to send their Represen- tatives to Congress, and delegates to the Electoral College, and to have an equal voice with the victorious North in shaping the 270 - HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. results of a great war of their own making, and in wliicli they had been defeated. This was an obvious impossibility. If the country could have had at this critical time the influence of that great- hearted man with "malice toward none and charity for all," if it could have had the guidance of Lincoln's simple, conservative wisdom, a better way might have been found out of the labyrinth. But Andrew Johnson had no such genius. He had not the delicacy of touch needed for "binding up the Nation's wounds." He was obsti- nate and quarrelsome. He had his own plan for reconstruction, and spent his whole term in an unseemly wrangle with Congress be- cause they would not consent to it. He issued a Proclamation of pardon with few exceptions, to all tho people of the Southern States, on condition of an oath to support the Constitution and the Union. This oath was taken by the majority of the people, who also bound themselves to accept the Thirteenth Amendment, prohibiting slavery. Thus far the President and his Congress were in accord. But he went far- ther. He appointed Provisional Governors in the Seceding States, and by December HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 271 Governments had been organized and Rep- resentatives and Senators from all the States except Texas, were knocking at the door of Congress. The President declared they should come in, and Congress declared they should not. The Proclamations and Orders of the President were treated as of no value. Con- gress claimed that it alone had the power to prescribe the conditions for the admission of the Seceded States, and that they should not be admitted until something had been done to protect the negroes in their newly acquired liberty. It then j)assed a bill mak- ing the recent slaves citizens, with the full protection granted under the laws of the United States. (Civil Rights Bill.) The President vetoed this, as he did every other bill with similar intent. He believed in leaving the South to deal alone with this and all questions relating to the negro and reconstruction. Congress incensed, passed two bills over his veto; and also another and more com- prehensive one, by which the South was divided into Districts, each of which was to be under a Military Governor. A Four- teenth Amendment to the Constitution was 272 HISTOEY OF THE U]S"ITED STATES. offered to the States for ratification, which embodied the provisions of the Civil Rights Bill. Tennessee was the only State which con- sented to accei3t this condition. The other ten refused to ratify the amendment, and a bill was passed placing them under Military rule. The freedmen were given the right to vote, and that right was denied to all who had been in rebellion against the Union. All these measures were passed over the President's veto. Had the States accepted the Fourteenth Amendment (as they all did finally), there might possibly have been a more conservative and a wiser policy in deal- ing with these very delicate questions. The enfranchisement of the negro, and disfranchisement of almost the entire white population, placed the Grovernment of the Southern States in the hands of a people as unfit for such a task, as the imagination of man could conceive ; and the years of disor- der which followed, certainly did not justify its wisdom. The North had a right to make its own terms with a conquered people, and the South had to accept this as a part of the terrible punishment for its folly. But we cannot help thinking that the genius of the HISTORY OF THE UI^ITED STATES. 273 wise and gentle Lincoln would liave found some other solution of the difficult question w^hicli would have spared three years of dis- graceful misrule. If it had not been for the bitterness engendered by President John- son's advocacy of an unwise clemency, it is probable that a more conservative course might have been pursued. The breach between the President and Congress widened, and finally, a bill was passed over his veto, making it illegal for the President to remove any Civil Officer^ without the consent of the Senate. The President in defiance of this bill dismissed Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. He was impeached, and tried before the Bar of the Senate, Chief Justice Chase presiding. The trial lasted two months. A vote of two-thirds of the Senate was required for his condemnation. Just one vote was lack- ing and the President was acquitted. On Christmas 1868, a full and uncondi- tional pardon was issued to all persons who had taken part in the War of the Rebellion. The Southern States could now fight their own battle at the polls with their enfran- chised slaves, if they would accept the con- ditions for their return. 274 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Other things besides reconstruction had been occupying the people's thoughts for the last four years. The enormous War debt of nearly 3,000 million dollars was diminishing, and when Russian America was offered to the Govern- ment for the trifling sum of a little over seven million dollars, it was purchased at once. Some laughed at the idea of paying anything for what they called the " Refrig- erator of the United States." But the furs, forests and lisli of Alaska, and perhaps its gold, were cheaply purchased by a sum which was spent every four, and sometimes every two days to carry on a war with our brothers, (during the last year). There were no deep wounds to heal at the North. Fortunes instead of being shattered, were augmented by a condition of remark- able prosperity. A steel pathway stretch- ing to the Pacific Coast was completed May 10th, 1869. But a stranger pathway had been made under the sea, and on Friday, July 27, 1866, there was instantaneous communication between the two continents. Fate again tried to entangle and defeat an adventurous enterprise, by sending the first message, on that ill omened day, Friday ; HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 275 but with no more success than in the case of Columbus, and Fulton. From that hour to this, communication has never once been interrupted. There was stupendous growth in these two events. When America could talk with Europe as if face to face, and when the dis- tant Pacific Coast was brought as near as New York was to Boston in the time of the revolution, we had entered upon a different period, for which old methods would not answer. The life of the Nation was intensi- fied and quickened, and we began to move with a momentum which was to lead to a bewildering speed. When business men and merchants knew in an hour, of things happening in London and Paris, and when the money market changed from moment to moment with changing conditions abroad, business took on a new character. The door of opportunity was opened wider. Founda- tions for great enterprises and fortunes were being laid. The Pacific Road crossed nine mountain ranges, climbing and descending over 8,000 feet. We cannot wonder that it was con- sidered a triumph over nature. And at last the road to India was by way of America ! 276 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. The shortest route to its teas, spices and silks was — not through the open channel so eagerly sought by the old navigators — but on a shining steel pathway from New York to San Francisco, by which the treasures of the Indies may be reached in a little over a month. Columbus was right — the way to the east was by the west ! But more important still, the new Pacific railroad carried thousands of emigrants cheaply and quickly to the Far West, and a wilderness given up to wild beasts and sav- ages was to be subdued. Where had been only barren solitudes there were to be homes and waving grain-fields, and industry, and finally — great, prosperous and growing States, rich in natural resources, and in hu- man energy for their development. In the Presidential election of 1868, General Ulysses S. Grant, the nominee of the Repub- lican party, defeated the Dem^ocratic candi- date Horatio Seymour. Virginia, Mississippi and Texas had not yet accepted the Four- teenth Amendment, and did not participate in the election. All the other Southern States were represented in the Electoral College. The election of the great military leader HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 277 who had helped to crush the Kebellion, was an endorsement b}^ the country of the policy of reconstruction pursued by Congress. On March 30, 1870, the representatives of Texas, the last of all the seceded States, re- sumed their seats in Congress, and "an in- destructible union of indestructible States," was (it is to be hoped) for all time assured. The Thirteenth, the Fourteenth, and the Fifteenth Amendments, had at last been severally ratified by the States and were firmly imbedded in the Constitution. The first made the negro free^ the second made him a citizen, and the last made him a voter. Legislation had done all within its power to start a race helpless and ignorant as infants, upon a new career of freedom. The South possessing little more than its people and its land, also started at the same time, upon its strangely altered career. — Their magnificent valor in the field was known, — but no one suspected the capacity for quiet heroism existing in the Southern people. With an indomitable courage they set to work to restore their prosperity. The ]3atient industry, the skill developed in fingers unused to toil, are beyond praise. If bitterness lingered in the hearts of some, who 278 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. can wonder ! Shonld we not rather wonder that so many were able in so short a time to accept the sweeping consequences of their defeat. And we rejoice in knowing that the highest intelligence of the land soon recognized that an ultimate benefit to them- selves was secured in the removal of the blight of slavery. There commenced immediately after the war was closed an extensive emigration of Northern people into the South, who carried capital, energy and enterprise where it was sorely needed. Unhappily at the same time there were many unprincipled adventurers who saw an opportunity of ]Dlundering these defenseless States by manipulating and con- trolling their politics through the negro. It was trial enough for men of education and intelligence to see their own slaves, who did not even know the letters of the alphabet, sitting in their legislatures, making their laws. But, when these became the mere tools of thieves and plunderers, prepared to carry off everything left in the dismantled States, we cannot wonder that the people resorted to violence rather than endure it. This was also a misfortune to the South, on account of the indiscriminate bitterness it HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 279 created against the Northern people, which resulted in driving away men of character and influence, and what it needed still more — capital — with which to build up its waste places. There was a surplus of capital and energy which was unhappily diverted from the South at this critical time. The North knew the secret of prosperity. By the year 1871 200,000,000 dollars had been paid on the National debt, and in a dec- ade its manufacturing interests had doubled in value. A fire in Chicago in 1871 wiped out another 200,000,000 dollars, without any- thing more than a temporary inconvenience to 100,000 homeless people, who were soon building a city greater and fairer than the old. Another fire in Boston in 1872, wiped out 80,000,000 dollars more, with results almost as surprising ; and. as if in proof of the fact that there are epidemics in calamity, there were during the same years vast confiagra- tions in the forests of the North-west, con- suming millions in property in lumber and villages, driving thousands of people before them, who perished by the way, or were driven into lakes and rivers. New York City had no fire, but some- thing quite as costly. It was discovered 280 HISTORY OF THE UKITED STATES. that a political ring had for years been rob- bing it of incredible amounts. The perpe- trators were punished and the city i3urilied by a general overturning of its administra- tion (1873). All these calamities were lightly borne. But, — prosperity has its perils. The success of the first Pacific Road led to the building of another and another. Multitudes put their savings into these enterprises which were supposed to be quick roads to fortune. But as in almost all other kinds of pro- duction, the roads had outrun the needs of the community. The great banking house holding the securities of the Northern Pacific Road failed, then another and another, and there was a panic, (1873) like those of 1837, and 1857. This was perhaps a wholesome discipline. People instead of madly chasing fortunes, were glad to earn their bread by simple industry. In the second year of Grant's administra- tion, there was another war-cloud in sight. The refusal of England to pay for the dam- ages to American shipping caused by the Alabama, and other Confederate Cruisers, produced a very bitter feeling. The adjustment of this question it is to be HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 381 hoped inaugurated the coming era, when war shall be no more. A High Commission composed of Statesmen and Jurists from both countries met at Washington, and de- termined to submit the questions in dispute between England and America to Arbitra- tion. A board of Arbitrators met at Geneva, Switzerland, and awarded the United States 15,500,000 dollars for what is known as the Alabama claim. The difficulty regarding the North-west boundary was similarly submitted to the Emperor of Germany, with a decision favor- able to the United States. The decisions themselves are of small moment, compared with the fact, that we have entered upon an era when international disputes instead of being settled by flying at each others' throats like infuriated ani- mals, will be quietly arranged in drawing- rooms, by intelligence and character, the best the world can afford. Philosophers predict a time when Moral forces, instead of physical ones, shall govern the world. The establishment of the prin- ciple of Arbitration is the longest step yet made toward this millennial time. The prin- 282 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. ciple lias gained in favor and in strength since 1872. Peace societies are everywhere preaching its blessed Evangel. It is said that the skulls of men slain in wars, would girdle the earth live times. But the Peace Societies organized by women alone, have in 1896 com^oleted another girdle of the white wings of peace, which encircle the earth. They have an organization ex- tending to every country on the globe, and are represented by delegates at the Great Peace Parliament, held annually in Europe. Is it not easy to recognize in this, the ger- minating of one of those "moral forces," which are to govern the world of the future ? As was to be expected. General Grant ruled the country with a strong hand. Federal troops were freely used to put down disorders at the South growing out of the unhappy political conditions there. This led to a division of sentiment at the North. For the coming Presidential election, Horace Greeley was chosen as the standard bearer of the party desiring a more indulgent policy. But the tender, peace loving Jour- nalist was defeated, and in 1873, President Grant, entered upon his second term. CHAPTER XXXI. The Centennial of the Nation was at hand. Pre]3aration was made to celebrate it by a great Art and Industrial Exhibition at Philadelphia. ' ' Peace hath her victories not less renowned than war." — This ex- hibition was a memorable display of vic- tories achieved by human ingenuity over inanimate nature. Mind was asserting its ascendency over matter. And it was the American mind, which had outrun all others in this competitive display of inventions in the Palace of Industry. It was American genius which made the scene dazzling with electric lights, and it was American genius which had created the Telephone. Strange to say, it was American genius which tirst captured Electricity, and then almost made the new force its own ; stamping itself upon it in ways which have altered the character and methods of civilization. Herbert Spencer says that in the matter of practical invention the American Nation is 284 nis'i'ORY OF the united states. far beyond any other. Bat a mncli stronger statement is due to tlie fact that if it were not for Frstiiklin^ Morse^ Edison and Bell^ the whole face and character of the world's methods would be changed. It is easy to say that others would inevitably have done what they did — that their inventions were in the air, and minds everywhere were about to grasp them. But the fact remains, that these men first made practical working- realities out of those nebulous possibilities. And Europe, however much she may try, cannot throw off her burden of indebtedness to American genius for something which has aifected civilization more powerfully and more subtly than any previous contribution, not excepting the use of steam. But the electric lights shone upon other things besides inventions. European Na- tions had contributed beautiful creations in Art work. America discovered that in matters of taste she had been ignorant, crude, and almost semi-barbarous. People returned to their homes with new concep- tions of harmony in color, form, and arrange- ments. Out of a craze for decoration and an ill-digested sestheticism which immedi- ately set in, there was finally to emerge cor- HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 28j rect standards in taste, and a fine sense of the Art of Beauty. The Centennial brought into strong relief that most important economic fact, that since 1776 we had passed through an In- dustrial Revolution. What brawn and muscle used to do, in a leisurely and small way, was being done by iron and steel with lightning swiftness, on an immense scale. The helpless infant of a century ago, had grown to be a young giant with tremendous power for good, — or for evil — no one could proiDliecy which, — nor whither these changed conditions, moving with such accelerated speed, were carrying us. When the physical forces seem to over- whelm us, we can only cling more closely to the spiritual ones. Happily the Centennial year showed a corresponding growth in the higher life. Men were more merciful; cruelty once unobserved, was abhorrent; Societies for the protection of children and even of animals, and Institutions and Asy- lums for the alleviation of every kind of human misery abounded. Men felt greater responsibility for the condition of others. The tie of human brotherhood was stronger. Higher conceptions of religion prevailed, 286 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. and if there was infidelity and skepticism, much of it was leading into a new and fuller understanding of infinite truths. All these evidences of expansion would have seemed in 1776, as marvellous as that a little fringe of territory on the Atlantic bor- der had extended to the Pacific Ocean, and that fifteen States had become thirty-eight, with territory waiting to be carved into more. In 1876 the Republican party nominated Rutherford B. Hayes, for President and Samuel J. Tilden was the candidate of the Democratic party. Both parties claimed the victory. The matter was referred to an Electoral Commission which decided that Hayes received one more Electoral vote than Tilden. He was therefore inaugurated in 1877. President Hayes commenced a policy of conciliation towards the South, by with- drawing all the troops from the Southern States. It is said that the "Annals of the happy are brief." — Fortunately, there is little to relate of this administration, except the railroad riots, which assumed alarming proportions in 1877. James A. Garfield was elected in 1880 over the democratic candidate General Winfield S. Hancock. HISTORY OF THE tr]S^ITED STATES. 287 On the morning of July 2, 1881, only four months after his inauguration he was shot, by a man of unbalanced mind, who was a disappointed office seeker. The wounded President hovered for weeks between life and death. But the skill of surgery and the prayers of the nation were all unavailing. He died September 19, at Long Branch, New Jersey. Chester Alan Arthur, the Vice-President, was now President of the United States. The tragic death of President Garfield, led to the creation of a Civil Service Commission, which was intended in the first j)lace simply to relieve the President of the great press- ure from applicants for office. The appli- cations were to be made thereafter to the Com- mision, which would recommend the most fit- ting to the President. But this Commission lias grown far beyond its original purpose. The changes of the South in the twenty years since the war were manifested by an Industrial Exliibition at New Orleans in 1884. What had once been a purely agricul- tural country, now had thousands of manu- facturing and mining enterprises. Chatta- nooga, Atlanta, Birmingham were threaten- ing to rival the North with their cotton 288 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. mills, and their iron mills. The Southern States were throbbing with life and industry, and rejoicing in their own emancipation from the paralysis of slavery. There were no more war issues to divide the political parties, but they had been re- placed by the older issue of the tariff. James G. Blaine, a man of commanding influence and ability, had become a promi- nent leader of the Republican party, and a X)owerful advocate of Protection. In 1883, he was nominated for President in opposi- tion to Grover Cleveland, the Democratic candidate. The Rex)ublican party had con- trolled the policy of the country for twenty- four years. But now it was to pass into other hands. Mr. Blaine was defeated, and Grover Cleveland, March 4, 1885, was made President of the United States. The centre of population was rapidly moving toward the Pacific. By 1885 four new States had joined the Union, and before 1896 there were to be seven more; with four vast territories still waiting to be absorbed — Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Alaska. The New West, gridironed with steel roads, with steel bridges spanning its rivers HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 289 and its ravines, with crowded and busy cities, and schools and libraries and colleges, and with its inexhaustible mines, and its wheat fields and its cattle on a thousand hills, — presents a picture of possibilities which the mind cannot grasp. With the develoi^ment of its resources, a new issue has been coming into the politics of the Country, which threatens to over- shadow the tariff as a cause of strife. In 1870 there was a general European movement toward substituting a single gold standard for the double standard of gold and silver. In 1873, America came into line with what the rest of the world was doing, by an Act of Congress discontinuing the coining of silver dollars. The dropping of the silver dollar excited little attention at the time, because no one's interests were affected by it. But almost immediately American silver mines began to yield enor- mously greater quantities of the shining metal. Immense fortunes were made, and colossal interests depended upon the remon- etization of silver. Thus was created a burning question having no relation what- ever to pre-existing party issues. The ques- tion of North and South long ago dead, had 290 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. been succeeded by that of the tariff. Now it seems as if the silver question would in time absorb and overshadow that, and that the line of cleavage may be — not between the North and South, as before — but an irregu- lar line, dividing the interests springing from the New West from those of the rest of the country. There are no precedents to guide in the administration of affairs in America. There are at work such immense forces, material, industrial and commercial, and upon a scale of magnitude so great, that a new danger is colossal in proportion. Such a danger has arisen in what are known as Trusts. In the ebb and flow from the centrix)etal to the centrifugal tendencies, we are now passing through a period of centralizing forces. A few years ago there set in an era of com- bination. Men doing business on a small scale found it was advantageous instead of wasting money and energy in comiDetitions and rivalries, to combine, and work together with a common interest in one organization. The economic advantages were so obvious that the idea spread to all departments of industry, and even Railroads and Telegraph HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 291 lines united in great systems. The object of this was presumably to lessen the cost of production, and to give cheaper goods and ^ fares to the people. But when the people discovered that it was a part of the new method to regulate the price of goods and of fares, and not to permit them to derive any such advantages from it, when they found that a few men in control of the or- ganization decided what they should pay for their flour, their coal, and nearly all that they consumed, the feeling against Trusts grew bitter, and strong enough to form a new element in party strife. The war against Trusts is at its foundation a revolt against the tyranny of wealth, and is nearly allied to that other, and yet un- solved problem, — how to adjust the relations of labor and capital with perfect justice to both. The constant inflowing of an ignorant untrained foreign population, increases the difficulty by bringing at the same time a stream of inflammable and dangerous ele- ments, men to whom revolution means op- portunity. The idea of Combination, has reached the laboring men as well as the Capitalists. They have their Unions, and Orders, and their hope lies in a wise and 292 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. temperate leadership, which will keep them from destroying the sources of their own prosperity. In no country in the world does the working man have such rewards and advantages as here, where the movement of wages is upward and the hours of toil down- ward. A very striking illustration of the mod- ern tendency to combination is found in the fact, that one quarter of the people of the United States live in cities. This gives an opportunity for a few men to control the interests of the many, with frequent and flagrant abuse of such a great trust. At the time of writing, it seems probable that several contiguous cities occupying an im- mense area will be gathered into a ' ' Greater New York." It remains to be seen whether a plan of government can be devised to pro- tect such enormous interests and to prevent the abuse of such an opportunity for politi- cal ends; and it is interesting to observe that the first question which arises, is the old one which rent the country in the days of Jefferson and Hamilton; that is, — whether the power shall be at the centre, holding all closely under one head, or difi'used among many heads in a Federation of Cities. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 293 These are some of the dangers which, threaten the i3eace of America in this clos- ing Nineteenth Century. They demand ripe judgment, a fine sense of justice, and lor^e ; in other words, to be dealt with in the spirit of an enlightened Christianity, and not that of a money-getting paganism. Then — and not till then— will they cease to vex us. Happily these problems are to be solved, not by indimdiials, but by the people; and in no land is there so high an average of in- telligent thinking upon so wide a range of subjects as in America, where education is as free as air, and where no spot is beyond the irrigating streams of literature, current and standard, and where the door of oppor- tunity swings open wide for such as care to ascend into the higher Avalks of intellectual endeavor. It is not to the thinking of the cultured few that America owes her great debt of gratitude, but to the average think- ing of the whole body of its people, to which the cultured many contribute. That, in fact, is the great experiment which is being tried. Hitherto the cultured few have framed institutions for ^favored few. But that is not the way of the future! Now, political doctrinaires in easy chairs, or politicians in 294 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. caucus may frame tariff legislation or what- ever else tliey will; but if the practical sense of the peojDle rejects it, in less than four years it is swept out of existence. These larger problems in a larger life can never be solved except by a corresponding growth in those moral forces which are to control humanity in its higher and final condition. There are abundant signs that such forces are accumulating. The Salva- tion Army has swept through the land with a spiritual baptism, reclaiming outcasts, carrying light and hope into the lowest and darkest stratum of society. Another movement has rapidly developed a centre of spiritual force of unprecedented intensity. The Christian Endeavor Society starting fifteen years ago as a grain of mus- tard seed, has become a great Banyan tree. It has dropped its branches and taken root in every place in the land. No organization has ever evinced such splendid vitality as this, with its mighty host of youths and maidens, bound together only by a common sympathy and a common desire for a higher Christian citizenship. Religion and Money have been the factors in the development of America, no less than HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 295 in England. In other words, it lias been created by two forces, the one material, and the other spiritual. It has seemed as if the phenomenal material growth had outrun the spiritual. But, America was founded in Righteousness. Almost every one of its colonies was the outgrowth of a passionate spiritual craving. From its infancy in 1776 to its stormy young manhood in 1861, it has seemed to be in the keeping of Angels, miraculously guarding, guiding and saving, and with a swiftly upward course, amazing its friends and disappointing its enemies. We must and we do believe in its great destiny; — yet with fear and trembling. A distinguished English critic, (Mr. Bryce) looking at us with cool, unpreju- diced eyes has recently said, — "The masses of America seem likely to constitute one- half of civilized mankind. There are those now living who may see before they die two hundred, and fifty millions of men dwelling between the Atlantic and the Pacific^ obeying the same government.''' That means, — that on this majestic conti- nent there is to be the greatest civilization this world has ever seen. When we reflect that this race will also possess a dominion over 296 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. nature and over universal forces never be- fore attained, an empire is pictured before wliicli Greek, Roman, English and all European civilizations dwindle to insignifi- cance ! If there are some who think America prosaic and commonplace, and who are looking longingly across the ocean or into antiquity for their ideals, we can only say they have a heritage which is too large for them. They do not comprehend what it is to have a part in the greatest experiment yet tried by the human race. Every individual in the nation should feel a personal responsibility in fanning the flame of patriotism. — Love binds, — indifference loosens, and hatred disintegrates. Patriot- ism is loTie^ and we all know its power to bind. It has bound together a Continent which had been rent in twain, leaving scarcely a scar. Let mothers teach their sons and daugh- ters 'patriotism. In this land of ours that word has a deeper and more sacred signifi- cance than ever before ; for it expresses the hope not alone of Americans — but of Hu- manity. CHRONOLOGY. i440— Columbus born. 14:86^Council at Salamanca. llOS—Aug. 3— Columbus sailed from Palos. Sept. 6— Sailed from Canary Islands on the " Sea of Darkness." Oct. 12-Planted the Cross on Island of San Sal- vador. Oct. 28— Discovered Cuba. 1493— Returned to Spain. 14:97-Cabots discover Continent of North America. 14.98_Columbus discovers Continent of South America. 1499— Amerigo Vespucci landed on South American coast. 1506— Columbus died. 1512— Ponce de Leon landed on coast of Florida. 1513 -Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean. 1520— Magellan discovered Patagonia and entered Straits now bearing his name. 1521 — Mexicans surrendered to Cortez. 1524— Verazzani explored coast of North America naming it New France. 1532— Pizarro conquered Peru. 1534— Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence and claimed the continent for France. 1541— De Soto discovered the Mississippi River. 298 HISTOKY OF THE UJ^ITED STATES. 1553— Entire ludian population had become extinct in Cuba on account of cruelty of the Spaniards. 1562 — Admiral Coligny's colony of Huguenots landed in Florida. 1563 — Negro slavery introduced into West Indies by Sir John Hawkins. 1565— St. Augustine founded. 1576 — Frobisher explored the coast of Labrador and found gold. 1579— Sir Francis Drake sailed through the Straits of Magellan and up the coast to the region of eternal snow. 1584 — Sir Walter Raleigh attempted colonization at Roanoke, Virginia. 1602 — Gosnold discovered Martha's Vineyard (Mass). 1603 — Champlain ascended St. Lawrence River to Mon- treal. 1606 — Charter granted by King James I to London Com- pany and Plymouth Company. 1607 — Jamestown founded. 1609 — Champlain discovered lake bearing his name. Henry Hudson discovered the river bearing his name and claimed the territory for the Dutch. 1614 — New York and Albany settled by the Dutch. Tobacco culture commenced in Virginia. 1619— African slaves brought to Virginia — Negro Slavery in America commenced. Cargo of wives sold to settlers in Virginia. 1620 — Dec. 21 — The Mayflower arrived in Cape Cod har- bor. 1621 — Virginia Bourgesses met with the council. The first representative body in America. 1622 — Indian massacre at Jamestown. 1625 — Charles I ascended the throne of England. 1626— Manhattan Island bought of the Indians. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 299 1629— Charter given to settlers under Endicott—" Massa- chusetts Bay Co." 1630— Boston, Cambridge, Dorchester and Roxbury founded. 1634~Maryland settled by colony under Lord Baltimore. 1035— Roger Williams banished from Massachusetts. 163«— Rhode Island founded by Williams. 1037— Harvard College founded. 1639— First Printing Press in America, Cambridge, Mass. 1010— Montrt al founded. 1615— First trial for witchcraft. 1619— Charles I, King of England beheaded. 1651— Navigation Act passed restricting the commerce of the colonies. 1655— Stuyvesant captured Swedish settlement in Dela- ware. 1659— Four Quakers executed on Boston common. 1660— Restoration of Charles II in England. English Navigation Act enforced. 1663— The Carolinas granted to Lord Clarendon and friends by Charles II. 1666-75— Marquette explored the Mississippi River. 1075— King Philip's War. 1676— Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia. 1677— The colony of Maine purchased by Massachusetts from Gorges, grandson of founder. 1679-87— La Salle traversed Great Lakes and descended the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. 1680— Charleston founded. 1681— Pennsylvania granted to William Penn. 1683— Philadelphia founded. 1687— James II dethroned in England. 1689— William and Mary Succeed to British Throne. Sir Edmund Andros seized in Boston -Imprisoned and sent back to England. 300 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 1G89-97— King William's War. 1691 — Acadians dispersed by British. 1695 — Rice first introduced into Carolina from Africa. 1 700 — Lead mines discovered at Dubuque, Iowa. 1701 — Detroit founded. Yale College founded. 1702-13— Queen Anne's War. 1715 — New Orleans founded. 1720 — Tea introduced into New England. 1721 — Inoculation for smallpox introduced into New Eng- land. 1725 — First Newspaper in New York. 1732— Tobacco and corn made legal tender in Maryland. Birth of George Washington. Georgia founded by Oglethorpe 1733 — Savannah founded. 1736-7 — Wesley preached in Georgia. 1 740 — First stove invented by Franklin. An iron fire-place. 1741 — Vitus Behring, a Russian, discovered Alaska. 1 744-18— King George's War. 1746— War between England and France waged in the Colonies. 1750—" Ohio Company " chartered. 1753 — George Washington bore dispatches to French Commander on the Ohio River. 1754— King's College (Columbia) founded in New York. 1755 — Earthquake at Lisbon. Braddock defeated at Fort Du Quesne. 1758 — Louisburg taken by the British, 1 759 -' Quebec surrendered. 1763 — France surrendered all her possessions in North America, East of the Mississippi River to Great Britain. 1764 — Right to tax the American Colonies voted by the House of Commons. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 301 1765 — Stamp Act passed. A Congress convened at New York and protested against the Act. 1 766 — Franklin examined before the House of Commons. Stamp Act repealed. First stage route between Providence and Boston. 1767 — Tax laid on paper, glass and tea. 1769— House of Burgesses, Virginia, dissolved by the Governor. 1770 — Riot in Boston put down by British troops. 1773 — Cargo of Tea thrown into the Harbor of Boston by citizens. 1774— Port of Boston closed and town under military government. First Continental Congress. 1775— First Society for Abolition of Slavery in Phila- delphia, Benjamin Franklin, President. April 19 — Battle of Lexington. Washington appointed Commander-in- Chief of Army. June 17— Battle of Bunker Hill. Benjamin Franklin appointed first Postmaster-General. 1776 — July 4 — American Colonies declared their Inde- pendence, Sept. 15— Americans evacuated New York. Sept. 16.— Battle of Harlem Plains. Oct. 28— Battle of White Plains, N. Y. Nov. 16, 18— Fort Washington taken by the British. Dec. 26— Battle of Trenton. 1777--Jan. 3— Battle of Princeton. July 31 — La Fayette arrived from France with troops and supplies. Sept. 11 — Battle of Brandy wine. Sept. 19— Battle of Stillwater. 302 HISTOKY OF THE UNITED STATES. 1777 — Sept. 26 — Howe takes possession of Philadelphia. Oct. 7 — Battle at Saratoga. Oct. 17— Surrender of Burgoyne. Washington at Valley Forge. 1778 — Capt. Cook explored the coast of Alaska. 1 778 — Franklin Dean and Lee appointed commissioners to court of France. Conciliatory overtures from Lord North. Treaty of alliance with France. 1 7 79 — Coal first used in America by a blacksmith in Penn- sylvania. 1 780 — Charleston besieged by the British. May 12 — Surrender of American Army at Charles- ton to Gen. Clinton. May 19— "Dark Day "in New England. Myste- rious darkness for fifteen hours. Sept. 23 — Benedict Arnold's treason. Oct. 2 — Major Andre hung. Dec. 2 — Greene took command of Southern Army. Jan. 17— Battle of the Cowpens. 1781 — Aug. 14 — American and French allied armies march from the Hudson to Virginia. Oct. 6 —Bombardment of Yorktown. Oct. 19 -Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. 1782 — Watts perfected the steam engine. Nov. 30 — Treaty of Peace signed at Paris. 1783 — Oct. 18 — Proclamation for disbanding the Army. Nov. 25 — New York evacuated by the British. 1785 — Thomas Jefferson sent as minister to France. John Adams minister to London. 1786— First-cotton mill (Mass.). 1787 — Shay's Rebellion in Massachusetts. Organization of North-west Territory, The Constitution sent to the States for approval. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 303 1788 — Iron bridges invented by Thomas Paine — Suggested by the construction of a spider's web. 1789 — March 4 — First Congress under the Constitution as- sembled at New York. Congress passed first Tariff Bill. French revolution. April 30— Inauguration of George Washington. 1 790 — Death of Benjamin Franklin. 1791— United States Bank chartered. Vermont admitted to the Union. 1792 — Kentucky admitted to the Union. 1 793 — Washington inaugurated a second time. Cotton-Gin invented. Execution of Louis XVI. 1794 — Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania. 1796 — Tennessee admitted to the Union. 1797 — Inauguration of John Adams. Commercial Advertiser established in New York. 1799— First Teachers' Association. Russian-American Fur Company organized. Dec. 14 — George Washington died. 1800 — Washington became seat of Government. 1801 — Thomas Jefferson made President. Evening Post established in New York. 1802 — Academy of Fine Arts founded in New York, First Public Library. First patents issued. 1803— Fleet bombarded Tripoli. First effort to teach deaf-mutes. Purchase of Louisiana. 1804 — Duel between Hamilton and Burr. Bonaparte Emperor of France. British insulted the American flag. Ice became an article of Commerce. 304 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 1806— May 16 — "British Orders in Council" declared Coast of Europe in state of blockade. Nov. 21— Bonaparte's "Berlin Decree" forbade introduction of British goods into any part of Europe by neutral nations. 1807— British vessels excluded from American ports. Aaron Burr tried for high- treason. First coast survey ordered. Slave trade declared to be piracy. Wooden clocks made by machinery in Connec- ticut. Dec. 17 — Bonaparte's "Milan Decree," Confiscating Vessels Violating the "Ber- lin Decree," Dec. 22— "Embargo Act " by the U. S. preventing vessels from sailing for foreign ports. First steamboat (Clermont). 1808 — Slave trade abolished in United States. March 1 — Embargo Act repealed. James Madison made President. 1811 — Battle of Tippecanoe. 1812 — June 18 — War declared with Great Britain. June 23 — " British Orders in Council " repealed. Aug. 15 — Surrender of Hull at Detroit. Aug. 19 — Capture of British frigate Guerriere by the Constitution. Capture of frigate Macedonian by Decatur, 1813 — Massacre of prisoners at Frenchtown by Indians. First rolling-mills at Pittsburg. First stereotyping. Sept. 10 — Perry captured British fleet on Lake Erie. 1814 — May 5 — Oswego taken by British. Aug. 25 — Washington burned. Abdication of Bonaparte. First steel plates for engraving. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 305 1815 — Jan. 8— Battle of New Orleans. Feb. 17— Treaty of Ghent ratified by the President. Battle of Waterloo. War with Algiers. 1817 — James Monroe made President. Erie Canal commenced. Publishing house of Harper & Bros, founded. 1818— Corner stone of present United States Capitol laid. Illinois admitted to the Union. 1819 — First steamer crossed the Atlantic. Alabama admitted to the Union. 1820 — Missouri Compromise. Purchase of Florida from Spain. Petroleum discovered in Ohio. 1821 — Lithography first introduced. Missouri admitted to the Union. 1822 — First cotton mill built in Lowell, Mass. Gas introduced into Boston. 1-^23— "The Monroe Doctrine," — a principle enunciated by President Monroe in his message. First gas company formed in New York. 1824 — Pens first made by machinery. Congress passed a Tariff Bill to protect cotton manufactures. Arrival of La Fayette. 1825 — First overland journey to California. John Quincy Adams made President. Opening of the Erie Canal. First piano manufactured in the United States. 1826 — Semi-centennial of American Independence. July 4— John Adams died. July 4 — Thomas Jefferson died. 1827 — First Railroad operated by horse power. 1828 — Congress passed a protective Tariff. First locomotive used by Del. & Hudson Canal Co. 306 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 1829 — Andrew Jackson made President. Daniel Webster's great speech in defense of the Constitution. 1830 — South Carolina asserts principle of "States Rights." Beginnings of Mormonism. Great debate between Hayne and Webster in the U. S. Senate. First locomotive built in the United States, by Peter Cooper. 1831 — "The Liberator," — An anti-slavery paper started by William Lloyd Garrison. 1832 — A new protective Tariff. South Carolina threatened secession. University of New York organized. Electro-Magnetic Telegraph invented by S. F. B. Morse. 1833 — Henry Clay's " Compromise" adopted. Removal of Indian Tribes beyond the Mississippi. 1836 — Colt's revolver invented. 1837 — Michigan admitted to the Union. Express business first organized by Wm. T. Harnden. Accession of Queen Victoria. 1838 — United States Bank suspended specie payment, followed by great panic. 1839 — Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber. 184:0 — First steam fire engine by Ericsson. Sub-Treasury Bill passed. First temperance society. Adams Express Company founded. 1841 — William Henry Harrison became President. April 4 — President Harrison died. April 6 — President Tyler inaugurated. Webster's Dictionary published. Sub Treasury Bill repealed. I HISTORY OF THE UJiTITED STATES. 307 1841 — Bankruptcy Act passed. New York Tribune established by Horace Greeley. 1842— Dorr's rebellion in Rhode Island. Lucifer Matches first made by machinery. Ashburton Treaty defining North-eastern boundary. Fremont's first expedition to Kocky Mountains and discovery of the ' ' South Pass. " 1843 — "Millerites" were looking for the "end of the world." 1844— First Treaty with China. First message sent by telegraph. Mormon war in Illinois. Murder of Joseph Smith. 1845 — Lake Superior copper mines opened. Texas admitted to the Union. Inauguration of James K. Polk. Florida admitted to the Union. Naval School at Annapolis opened. War with Mexico commenced. Birth of "Free Soil" Party. Gun-cotton invented. Ether first used as an anaesthetic. 1846 — Surrender of Monterey. Iowa admitted to the Union. 1847 — Sept. 14 — American Army took possession of City of Mexico. "Spirit rappings" first heard at Rochester. 1848 — John Quincy Adams stricken with paralysis on the floor of Congress. Treaty with Mexico ceding immense territory. Gold discovered in California. Wisconsin admitted to the Union. Missouri Compromise repealed. Corner stone of Washington Monument laid. 1849 — President Taylor inaugurated. 308 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 1850 — "Uncle Tom's Cabin" published. Death of John C. Calhoun. Passage of Fugitive Slave Law. July 9 — Death of President Taylor. Inauguration of Millard Fillmore. California admitted by the Union. 1851 — Louis Kossuth visited America. California under a "Vigilance Committee." Coup d'etat of Louis Napoleon. ! 1852— Death of Clay. Death of Webster. Trade opened with Japan in Consequence of Com- modore Perry's expedition. 1853 — International Industrial Exhibition in New York. Franklin Pierce inaugurated President. Exploration for Pacific Railroad. "Children's Aid Society" founded in New York by C. L. Brace. 1854 — Kansas and Nebraska Bill passed. 1855 — Completion of Niagara suspension bridge. United States Court of Claims established. 1856 — Ocean telegraph projected. Type-setting machine invented by Alden, Republican Party nominated Fremont, its first candidate. First sub marine communication. 1857 — James Buchanan inaugurated President. Dred Scott decision. Financial crash. Great religious revival. Kansas admitted to the Union, 1858 — Minnesota admitted to the Union. 1859— Oregon admitted to the Union. First oil-well in Pennsylvania. Oct. 16 — John Brown's capture of Harper's Ferry. HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 309 1859— Dec. 3.— John Brown was hung. I860— Tour of the Prince of Wales through the United States. Nov. 6 — Election of Abraham Lincoln to Presi- dency. Dec. 20 — Secession of South Carolina. Dec. 39— Major Anderson transferred his command from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter. 1861— Jan. 7— Florida passed an Ordinance of Secession. Jan. 9— Mississippi passed an Ordinance of Seces- sion. Jan. 11 — Alabama passed an Ordinance of Seces- sion. Jan. 19 — Georgia passed an Ordinance of Secession. Jan. 25— Louisiana passed an Ordinance of Seces- sion. "Star of the West" fired into by South Carolina troops. Feb. 1 — Texas joined seceding States. Feb. 4 — A League formed called Confederate States of America. Feb. 14— Jefferson Davis made President of the Confederacy. West Virginia admitted to the Union. March 4 — President Lincoln inaugurated. April 12 — Sumter bombarded. April 15 — Lincoln called for troops. April 17 — Virginia seceded. April 19— Troops fired upon and killed by mob in Baltimore. May 22— General Butler declared slaves "Contra- band of War." July 21— Battle of " Bull Run." Nov. 7 — Capture of Mason and Slidell. 1862 — Massacre by Sioux in Minnesota. 310 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 1862 — Feb. 16 — Fort Donelson surrendered. March 8— Cumberland and Congress destroyed by Rebel ram Merrimac. March 9 — Merrimac disabled by the Monitor. April IG— Slavery abolished in District of Columbia. April 24 — Farragut ran the batteries on the Missis- sippi River. Surrender of New Orleans. May 10— r'urrender of Norfolk. June 6— Surrender of Memphis. June 19 — Slavery abolished in all the Territories. July 1 — Lincoln calls for 600,000 more troops. July 8 — Surrender of Port Hudson. Lee withdrew his troops to Richmond. Sept. 16-17— Battle of Antietam. Sept. 22 — Emancipation proclamation issued. Jan. 1— Emancipation took effect. 1863— July 1-4— Battle of Gettysburg. July 4 — Surrender of Vicksburg. July 10 — Maximilian declared Emperor of Mexico. July 13-15— Draft-riot in 'New York. Sept. 19-20— Battle of Chickamauga. Oct. 17— President called for 300,000 more troops. Nov. 24 — Battle of Chattanooga. 1864 — Gen. Grant placed in command of the Union Armies. March 15 — President called for 200,000 more men to be drafted. May 4 — Grant's Army crossed the Rapidan. May 5 — Battle of the Wilderness. May 19 — Death of Nathaniel Hawthorne. June 12 — Maximilian entered City of Mexico. Aug. 31— Atlanta evacuated. Nov. 16 — Sherman's march to the sea commenced. Oct. 19—" Sheridan's ride." HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 311 1864: — Dec. 6 — Thirteenth amendment to constitution passed abolishing slavery. Dec. 15-16 — Hood's defeat. Dec. 22 — Sherman takes possession ot Savannah. 1865 — Feb. 17 — Columbia, South Carolina, surrendered. Feb. 18— Charleston, South Carolina, surrendered April 2 — Jefferson Davis fled from Richmond. April 3— Fall of Richmond. April 9 — Surrender of Lee. April 14 — Assassination of Lincoln. April 25 — Capture of Wilkes Booth. May 11 — Capture of Jefferson Davis. May 23-24 — Grand review of Union Armies at Washington. July 7 — Hanging of four of Booth's accomplices. 1866— June 8 — Fourteenth amendment passed. Aug. — Mississippi declared the Ordinance of Se- cession null and void. Sept. 14 — Alabama declared the Ordinance of Se- cession null and void. Sept. 15 — South Carolina declared t!ie Ordinance of Secession null and void. Sept. 23 —North Carolina declared the Ordinance of Secession null and void. Oct. 25— Florida declared the Ordinance of Seces- sion null and void. Nov. 10 — Wirz executed in Washington. Dec. 4 — Georgia nullitied the Ordinance of Seces- sion. Civil rights bill passed. 1867— Mr. Peabody gave 2,100,000 dollars for education at the South. Alaska ceded to the United States. June 19 — Execution of Maximilian in Mexico. 1868 — President Johnson impeached. 312 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 1869 — President Johnson tried for high crimes and mis- demeanors. Passage of the fifteenth amendment. Inauguration of Gen. Grant. May 10 -Pacific railroad completed. June 15-20 — Peace Jubilee in Boston. 1870 — Death of Admiral Farragut. Death of Gen. Robt. E. Lee, 1871 — Burning of Chicago. Conflagrations in the North-west lumber regions. Death of Maj.-Gen. Anderson. 1872— Great fire in Boston. Alabama claims decided by arbitration. 1873 — April 1 — Wreck of the ocean steamer Atlantic, 535 lives lost. Silver demonetized in United States. Great financial crash. Modoc massacre. Gen. Canby murdered. 1875 — Great Revivals under Moody and Sankey. Telephone invented by Bell. 1876 — Amnesty bill passed. Massacre of Gen. Custer and his company by Indians. Centennial Exi-osition. 1877 — Railroad and labor strikes. Rutherford B. Hayes made President. 1878 — Edison's phonograph invented. Gray's telephone invented. 1881 — James A. Garfield made President. Sept. 19 — President Garfield died. Sept. 21 — Chester Alan Arthur inaugurated Presi- dent. 1885 — President Cleveland inaugurated. 1889 — Benjamin Harrison made President. Ig93 — Grover Cleveland again became President of the United States. MARY PARMELE'S WORKS. Evolution of Empire Series, FRANCE, GERMANY, ENGLAND. Price, Cloth, each 60 cts. ; by mail, 75 cts. These little books are not a series of names and dates, as is the case with most of the " condensed " histories. Mrs. Parmele has given in a charming manner, and with all the captivation of an interesting novel, a clear view of the march of events in the evolution of these empires. Others to follow. WHO? WHEN? and WHAT? BIRjyS-EYE VIEW OF CIVILIZATION. 1250 TO 1850. Authors, Inventors, Discoverers, Artists and Musicians. Absolutely indispensable to students or teachers of Literature and History. PRICE, 50 CENTS. Charts Mounted on Muslin for Walls, 75 Cents. WM. BEVERLEY HARISON, 59 Fiftli Aye,, N. Y. Klemm's Relief ... . . . Practice Maps. LIST OF MAPS. Small Size. North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Holy Land, New England, Middle Atlantic, South Atlantic and East Central States. (9-|xll inches.) Others to follow. Price, per 100, plain, $5.00 ; waterproof, $10.00 " dozen, " .75; " 1.35 A few old edition, North America and Holy Land, will be sold at 20^ less until disposed of. Large Size. United States, Roman Empire, British Isles, South America. (About 11x16 in.) Western Europe, North America, Asia. (About 13x14 inches.) Price, per 100, plain, $10.00 ; waterproof, $15.00 " " dozen, • 1.35; '' 3.00 Old edition, United States, at 20^ less until dis- posed of. Above maps will be delivered to any address at prices named. WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON, School and College Text Books, No. 59 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. THE CELEBRATED "ONE PIECE" ADJUSTABLE BOOK COVER. (Patented U, S., Canada and England.) Is made of an extra heavy strong manilla paper, self -sealing and easily adjustable to all sizes of school or library books. Being in one piece, it has no joints on back or sides to come apart. It will remain in place even when unsealed, and can therefore be used without danger of its coming off if by chance it is improperly sealed. The sides form pockets inside the cover suitable for the library card, or with school or college books for memoranda or notes. All exposed edges are of double thickness and almost impossible to be torn. The edges of the book covered cannot touch the shelf. For absolute protection—simplicity of design — durability and all necessary qualifications for a per- fect cover, the ''One Piece'' cover is unequalled. Mr. Boyd, Secretary of the Board of Home Mis- sion of the Presbyterian Church, says of these covers that they are '■^ the otily practical covers he has ever seen. No. 1. Fits all ordinary sizes. Price, per 100 $1 50 No. 2. Extra large size for bound magazines, etc. Price, per 100 2 50 No. 3. Extra large size for large geographies. Price, per 100 3 50 FOR BOARDS OF EDUCATION. Covers of '^Cross Fibre '^ paper, tintearable by children, warranted to wear one year at least. No. 1. For arithmetics, readers, spellers, and all smaller school books. Per 100, $1.50 ; per 1,000 $12 50 No. 2. For small geographies. Per 100, >= $2.50 ; per 1,000 20 00 No. 3. For large geographies. Per 100, $3.50 ; per 1,000 30 00 Sent postpaid upon receipt of price to all parts United States or Canada. Sample sent upon receipt of 2c. stamp. For sale by all booksellers. WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON, School Books and School Supphes, 69 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. Pocket Pedagogical library. A SERIES OF NECESSARY TEACHERS' HANDBOOKS PUBLISHED IN A CONVENIENT POCKET FORM. No. I. Education in its Physical Relations. By William Jolly, F.R.S.E., F.G.S. 25 cents. " A series of rapid suggestions addressed to earnest practical educators." i_From Preface.) Inspector Jolly discusses in a practical way such questions as Ventilation — Desks — General Attitudes of Children — Music — Class Drill — Cleanliness — Physical Exercises, etc. No. 2. Physiology of Writing. By Dr. Javal, - - - - 25 cents. The authorized report of Commission appointed by the French Government to examine into and report upon Vertical Writing. Contains very valuable suggestions. No. 3. Upright versus Sloping Writing. By John Jackson, - - 10 cents. Author of the Standard Vertical Writing System. An inquiry into the respective merits of Sloping and Upright or Vertical Writing. No. 4. The Teaching of Geography and \}sQ of Relief Maps. From Guyot's Teacher's Guide. 25 cents. Guyot's Teacher's Guide has been considered by teachers the best book of suggestions in geography ever made. This little book is an abridgement of the larger work and is designed es- pecially to assist in the modern method of teaching and use of relief maps. WM. BEVERLEY HARISON, 59 Fifth Ave., N. Y. Books on Vertical Penmanship. By JOHN JACKSON, F. E. I. S., M. C. P. Theory and Practice of Handwriting, - $1.25 Vertical vs. Sloping Writing, - . . .10 New Style Vertical Writing Copy Books, 10 numbers, per doz., .96 Harison's Vertical Penmanship Pads, per doz. . 96 "The Theory and Practice of (Vertical) Handwriting-. This is probably the most comprehensive work on penmanship that has appeared since the revival of vertical writing set in. It comprises an elaborate presentation of the claims cf this writing, with a history of its former use and its revival, and instructions for teaching it. No teacher who desires to be in complete touch with the foremost educational thinkers of the day can afford to pass it by unread." — Edward G. Ward, Associate Superintendent of Schools, Brooklyn, N. Y., in Educational Review , Novejnber, i8g^'. Javal's Physiology of Writing (Report of the French Commission) - - - 25 cents. Harison's Vertical Writing Pens. No. 7 Fine. - - No. 2. Medium. F»er C^ross, F»ost-F»aici, - ^l.OO. (Sam//e Dozen lOc.) With a smooth, carefully finished point— every pen war- ranted perfect. These pens cost as much or more than any other school pens— try them and see why! IM. BEVERLEY HARISON, 69 Fifth Avenue, Nev YorL IN THE STORY LAND, A New Boole for the Kindergarten, the ScJwoI, the Home, and the Sunday- ScJiool. By HARRIETT LINCOLN COOLIDGE. Contains a series of original and instructive stories, in simple language, for little children. At the request of many mothers and teachers these Stories are now published. This book is especially suitable for Stipple mentary Heading in connection with Nature Lessojis. SOME OF THE STORIES ARE : Little Helen's New Year's Wish. — Little Black Fairy, (Coal). — Mother Willow and Her Friends. — The Discontented Raindrop. — Maidie's Easter Monday. — Little Red Cap, (Squirrel). — The Violet and Nutshell. — The Rose Club. — How the Fairies Came, (Rainbow Colors). — Dear Little Brownie, (Chestnut). — Little Yellow and His Brothers and. Sisters, (Maple leaf). — Jack Frost and His Fairies. — Harry's Thanksgiving Fairy. — Mother Spruce and Her Babies, (Christmas tree). — Kittie Winks and Bunnie Brown. Nos. 1 , 2, and 3, (boards) 25c. each. The three numbers bound in one volume (cloth) 75c., mailed post-paid. WM. BEVERLEY HARISOH, 59 Fifth Ave., N. Y. ^^^ See Opposite Page. Copyright, 1895, by W. B. Habison. SIMPLE LESSONS IN THE STUDY OF NATURE For tJie Use of Pupils. By ISABELLA G-. OAKLEY. Illustrated. Price, 75 cents, postpaid. The author offers the novelty of a question book, with answers withheld until observation and experi- ment suggest them ; thus a sort of inductive lesson- book with the object in the foreground and the teacher behind the scenes. The topics are of sufficient interest to children, to induce them to puzzle out the conclusions which the lessons imply. The persevering curiosity with which they take their toys to pieces to see how they work, proves they have some ability to follow up Nature in her work. These lessons are real, all having been worked out inductively by little children under the instruction of the author, (an experienced teacher,) and by the novel mode of presenting them as questions to be studied with the object in hand, she has sought to relieve the teacher's work and to refrain from doing the pupil's thinking. The questions found in his own book, in periods assigned for preparing lessons, arouse and guide the child's curiosity, and prepare him to become the intelligent questioner when the delightful lesson time arrives. CONTENTS : Feathers. — Shells. — The Spinal Column. — Limbs of Some Animals. — Hands and Feet. — Eyes and Ears. — Teeth. — Animal Society. — Food for Young Plants. — Grass and Plants Like Grass. — Budding and Falling Leaves. — Bark. — Some Experiments in Combustion. — Summaries. WM. BEVERLEY HARISON, 59 Fifth Ave., N. Y. KATHARINE T. PRESCOTT'S FAMOUS BAS-RELIEFS WASHINGTON— Just issued. Longfellow, Emerson, Lincoln, Whittier, and other celebrated men to be issued shortly. Size of casts, 12x16 inches. Reproductions in durable composition will be delivered to any address, upon receipt of $1.00. Limited edition of 100 signed copies, mounted in cabinet frames of oak and gold, $10.00 each. WILLIAM BEVERLEY HAKISON, No. 59 Fiftli .A^venaae, NEW YORK. I t ^ l-'^^^^^^oSs? 011447 575