^1 
 
 .0 ^ - 
 
 
 
 
 

AN 
 
 ELEMENTARY HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNITED STATES 
 
 BY 
 
 ALLEN C. THOMAS, A.M. 
 
 II 
 
 PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN HAVERFORD COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA 
 AUTHOR OF " A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES," ETC. 
 
 D. C. HEATH & COMPANY 
 
 BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 
 
Copyright, 1900 and 191 7 
 By D. C. Heath & Co. 
 
 IF7 
 
 SEP -8 1317 
 
 ^ 
 
 ©CU470970 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 It is the aim of this work to set forth the main facts of 
 American History, particularly the earlier periods, in such 
 a way as to attract and interest pupils of the earlier gram- 
 mar grades. 
 
 It is now very generally acknowledged that history is 
 best approached through biography. Personal incident 
 is more attractive to every one, and especially to children, 
 than any narrative of events can possibly be. Most of the 
 book, therefore, has been given to biographical sketches of 
 representative makers of the nation. 
 
 Effort has been made to choose those men who would 
 best illustrate the most important phases of national growth. 
 Some of these phases are : the difficulties and dangers of 
 exploration, and how they were overcome by earnestness 
 and perseverance ; the risks and hardships of settlement, 
 and how they were met and conquered ; the independence 
 and patriotism of the colonists, and how they triumphed ; 
 the effect of environment upon character; the develop- 
 ment of the people in politics and government and in 
 social life; and the progress of invention and its effect 
 upon national development. 
 
 It has not been thought advisable to break the conti- 
 nuity of the narrative by dividing the text into sections, or 
 to insert many dates or foot-notes, or to add analyses and 
 appendices. At the end of each chapter an Outline is 
 given to summarize what has been said, and a few ques- 
 
 iii 
 
IV 
 
 Preface, 
 
 tions added in the line of suggestion. Each teacher will 
 use questions adapted to the age of the pupils and the 
 circumstances of the occasion. 
 
 The main idea in illustrating the book has been to give 
 the most authentic representations possible of the man, 
 the place, or the thing described, so as to round out and 
 complete the mental impression gained from the text. A 
 few illustrations which may be called imaginative have 
 been admitted ; these are chiefly after paintings, based 
 upon authentic knowledge and information, or which are 
 among our national heirlooms. 
 
 The maps have been made as simple as possible, and 
 sometimes purely diagrammatic in character ; and, for the 
 sake of clearness, only such details given in them as are 
 called for by the story. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER t>AGB 
 
 I. Old-Time Ideas ..... i 
 
 II. Columbus 7 
 
 III. The Cabots c . 26 
 
 IV. De Soto and Other Explorers . . . .31 
 V. Drake and Raleigh .... o . 40 
 
 VI. Virginia and Captain John Smith ... 50 
 VII. Henry Hudson . . . . . . .62 
 
 VIII. The Pilgrims . 67 
 
 IX. The Puritans 85 
 
 X. Lord Baltimore and Maryland .... 92 
 
 XI. King Philip's War 95 
 
 XII. Peter Stuyvesant and New Netherland . . 102 
 
 XIII. Father Marquette and La Salle . . .111 
 
 XIV. Nathaniel Bacon 117 
 
 XV. William Penn 123 
 
 XVI. Oglethorpe and Georgia 133 
 
 XVII. Life in New England and Middle Colonies 
 
 before the Revolution 139 
 
 XVIII. Benjamin Franklin 150 
 
 XIX. George Washington. — The French and Indian 
 
 War 168 
 
 XX. The Revolution 187 
 
 V 
 
vi Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XXI. Daniel Boone 219 
 
 XXII. Thomas Jefferson 232 
 
 XXIII. Lewis and Clark 241 
 
 XXIV. Zebulon M. Pike 248 
 
 XXV. Early Inventors (Fitch, Fulton, Whitney) . 253 
 
 XXVI. Andrew Jackson. — Tecumseh. — TheWarof 1812 265 
 XXVII. Canals, Railroads, Telegraphs, and Other In- 
 ventions 277 
 
 XXVIII. Oregon. — Whitman's Ride 290 
 
 XXIX. Texas. — Mexican War. — California . . 299 
 
 XXX. Abraham Lincoln 306 
 
 XXXI. The Civil War 318 
 
 XXXII. The United States in Recent Years . . 329 
 
LIST OF MAPS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The World, showing the Possessions of the United States 
 
 Page 2 of Cover 
 
 TOSCANELLI'S MAP, 1 474 I 
 
 Trade Routes to the East 5 
 
 The World as known to Columbus 6 
 
 Columbus's Route to the West 14 
 
 The Globe of Ulpius, 1542 31 
 
 Spanish Explorations 38 
 
 Coast of Virginia in the Time of Raleigh 40 
 
 Virginia in Early Days 50 
 
 Henry Hudson's Voyages 63 
 
 The Land of the Pilgrims and Puritans 84 
 
 French Explorations 112 
 
 Route of Braddock's Expedition 177 
 
 The Colonies in 1776: Northern Section 197 
 
 The Colonies in 1776: Southern Section 203 
 
 The United States after the Revolution 217 
 
 Boone's Trail 224 
 
 Lewis and Clarke's Route 244 
 
 Pike's Route 251 
 
 Whitman's Ride 293 
 
 The Territorial Growth of the United States .... 330 
 
 The United StateSj, 1900 Pc^e 3 of Cover 
 
TosCANELLi's Map, 1474. 
 An old-time idea of the sea route to the East. 
 
 An Elementary History of the 
 United States. 
 
 OLD-TIME IDEAS. 
 
 There were many wise men and famous scholars 
 in Europe four hundred and fifty years ago. But 
 even the wisest of them did not know that beyond 
 the Atlantic Ocean — the Sea of Darkness, as it was 
 called — lay avast continent in which not one white 
 man lived. 
 
 Many strange stories were told of wonders far 
 away; tales of beautiful islands, and of enchanted 
 fountains that would bring back youth to the 
 aged; of seas which were always covered with 
 
2 History of the United States 
 
 mists and darkness or in which horrible monsters 
 Hved. No one had ever seen any of these things, 
 but many beUeved that the stories were true. 
 
 Quite as wonderful were the books which had 
 been written and the tales which had been told by 
 overland travellers to the East. Men knew so little 
 about distant lands and seas that they were ready 
 to believe almost any strange story. When Marco 
 Polo wrote in his book of travels that one of the 
 palaces in Cipango ^ was roofed with fine gold, 
 and that all the pavements of the palace and the 
 floors of its chambers were entirely of gold, in 
 plates like slabs of stone, a good two fingers thick, 
 and that the windows were also of gold, men 
 were very ready to believe him. 
 
 But when the author of " Mandeville's Travels " 
 said that in his opinion the world was round and 
 not flat, men laughed at the idea. Such a notion 
 might do very well, they said, for some foolish 
 geographer or map designer, but any practical man 
 might know that the people on the other side of 
 the world would surely fall off if it were round. 
 The author of this book certainly told some incredi- 
 ble stories, but this true thing which he did say was 
 thouo^ht to be the most incredible of all. 
 
 Spices and jewels, silks and rich goods, came in 
 those days from India, but the journey then was 
 much longer and far more dangerous than it is now. 
 
 1 Cipango was the old name for Japan. 
 
Old-Time Ideas. 3 
 
 Caravans crossed the deserts to the Mediterranean 
 Sea, bringing goods to be sent over the water in 
 ships, or carried over the mountains to the countries 
 of Europe. 
 
 Caravan crossing the Desert. 
 
 To go by land was a journey of several months, 
 and traders were likely to meet robbers and ene- 
 mies on the way. Of these robbers and enemies 
 none were feared so much as the rough and lawless 
 Turks. So when the Turks captured the great 
 
History of the United States. 
 
 commercial city of Constantinople, in 1453, trade 
 with India was brought almost to a standstill, and 
 the European nations became very eager to find a 
 new way to the East. 
 
 How to get to India was a question discussed in 
 every seaport of Europe. We, of course, should 
 
 think at once of sailing 
 round Africa ; but at that 
 time men thought that 
 Africa stretched so far to 
 the south that they could 
 not pass it. 
 
 There was one man, 
 Prince Henry of Portu- 
 gal, who thought differ- 
 ently. He was a learned 
 man and a good sailor. 
 He fitted out some ships, 
 and sent them south to 
 try to find India in that 
 way. But his sailors 
 were afraid to sail far 
 Though they came very near what is now 
 the Cape of Good Hope, they did not quite reach 
 it; so Prince Henry never knew that his views 
 were correct. 
 
 One of the chief seaports in Europe was Genoa, 
 in Italy. Here came ships from all the countries 
 on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. In its 
 
 Prince Henry the Navigator. 
 
 From a contemporary manuscript in the 
 National Library at Paris. It represents 
 him in mourning for his brother. 
 
 enough 
 
Old-Time Ideas. 5 
 
 streets were seen men of every nation, and strange 
 languages were heard on every side. 
 
 Pirates, or corsairs, might be seen talking with 
 merchants and scholars ; for in those days it was not 
 thought wrong for private citizens to attack and to 
 seize the ships of another country, and corsairs 
 
 L-^ / c^ a EXPLANATION: 
 
 ! 
 
 /\\ \ f> ' — Trade Route controlled by Venue | 
 
 \ r^rXy 1 ♦♦♦♦♦♦Trade Route controlled by 
 lc» ^~t/ ^ —Middle Route 
 
 Genoa 
 
 
 J^^-~sr''^^ \ > -+-■ t— De Gama's Route 
 
 - ^ 
 
 ^..-°^ 
 
 qO Ut^vC^'X, -n^^onstautiuople***,^ (-^ iV-i 
 
 
 ^, {^;^«>>'J^^V^^V.!l'll^Eag,lu,l '**..,, 
 
 .^^^'■^ 
 
 ^-^Cr;^^ ^^'^,-.. .' /"'^-N 
 
 C ■ 
 
 
 
 EGYPT \\ ^13^ 
 
 
 W'^'''^ y'N ^^"^ \ ,^-^ 
 
 
 A F K I 0-a\^" /^ \ \iNDiA>^ 
 
 \S 
 
 / JKniAKyrxOCEANiix/^ 
 
 \ / g^ EQUATOR 
 
 ^ 
 
 Trade Routes to the East. 
 
 were not ashamed of their calling. Many of the 
 pirates were very rich; all of them could relate 
 marvellous adventures, and we may fancy how eager 
 the Genoese boys were to hear these tales of hair- 
 breadth escapes, of sea-fights, and of great prizes 
 captured. 
 
History of the United States. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 Four hundred years ago no one knew of America. 
 Monsters were thought to live in the far-off seas, and 
 enchanted islands were beyond the mists. Men laughed 
 at the idea that the world was round. Rich goods from 
 India were brought overland. The Turks interfered with 
 this trade. How to get to India by sea was the great 
 question. 
 
 What did the men of old times think of the ocean and its 
 islands ? 
 
 Tell what Marco Polo wrote in his book. 
 
 What were some of the stories that Sir John Mandeville told .? 
 
 What kind of goods came from India? 
 
 How were they brought? 
 
 What is said of Prince Henry? 
 
 M AP OF TH E WORLD AS KN OWN TO C OLUMBUS 
 Esf 1= ig UNKNOWN I I KMOWH 
 
COLUMBUS. 
 
 About the mid- 
 dle of the fifteenth 
 century, a bright, in- 
 dustrious boy named 
 Christopher Colum- 
 bus was living in 
 Genoa. His father 
 was a woolcomber, 
 and it is likely that 
 he was poor. 
 
 Columbus went to 
 sea when he was 
 about fourteen years 
 old, for the sea tales 
 that he heard, and 
 the ships which he 
 saw, made him want 
 to be a sailor. 
 A sailor's life is a rough one at any time, but it 
 was a very rough life four hundred years ago. 
 Columbus probably sailed with some of the pirates, 
 and we suspect that he went ?t least once to the 
 coast of Guinea in Africa, to get negro slaves. 
 
 It is not at all unlikely that he also sailed far 
 
 7 
 
 From the bust in the Capitol at Rome. 
 
8 History of the United States. 
 
 north to Iceland. If he did, he heard the Norse 
 sailors tell of a far-off land which some of their 
 forefathers had visited many years before. This land 
 they called Vinland, on account of the quantity of 
 grapes found there. We do not know where this 
 land was, but it may have been our New England. 
 
 When Columbus was about twenty-six years old, 
 he went to live at Lisbon, in Portugal, where his 
 younger brother, Bartholomew, was engaged in the 
 business of making and selling maps. When on 
 shore Columbus also drew maps, and in this work 
 he was very skilful. 
 
 For some years he had been studying books which 
 told about the shape of the earth, and of the far-off 
 lands which Marco Polo, and Mandeville, and others 
 had visited. 
 
 In the library at Seville, in Spain, there is now a 
 book, on the pages of which are notes, in the hand- 
 writing of Columbus, which show how carefully he 
 read and studied. 
 
 When still quite young he had come to the con- 
 clusion that the earth is not flat,, but shaped like an 
 orange, so that to reach China and tiie island of 
 Cipango it was only necessary to sail directly west 
 from Spain. He was not the first man who believed 
 the earth to be round, for some of the old Greeks 
 and Romans as well as Sir John Mandeville had 
 thought so ; and, in one of the geographies which 
 Columbus had studied, the same view was taught. 
 
Columbus. 9 
 
 Now, there was living in Italy a great astronomer 
 named Toscanelli. He had been convinced by 
 what Marco Polo had written about the shape of 
 the earth, and he had drawn a map to show the 
 earth as he imagined it. He had sent this map to 
 King John of Portugal, at the same time urging 
 him to send an expedition westward. Hearing that 
 Columbus wished to visit the land of spices, Tos- 
 canelli wrote to him also. Columbus, thinkinor that 
 this would be a good time to carry out his plan, 
 asked King John for ships to sail westward across 
 the sea to seek for India and the east. He assured 
 the king that great riches and glory would come 
 to Portugal if this should be done. 
 
 King John hesitated, for Portugal was at war, 
 and the cost of such an undertaking would be great. 
 However, he called his council together, and asked 
 their advice. It is said that one of his council 
 advised that Columbus should be asked for the 
 plans of his proposed voyage, and that then the 
 king should secretly send a ship to follow the course 
 thus marked out. 
 
 The king seems to have followed this advice, 
 for he sent out a vessel, giving orders to the captain 
 to sail alons: the route Columbus had laid down. 
 The vessel had been at sea but a few days when 
 a great storm arose, and the sailors were so fright- 
 ened that they refused to go any further. The 
 captain ordered the ship to be turned back; and 
 
lo History of the United States. 
 
 the seamen laughed at the idea that the East could 
 be reached by sailing west. 
 
 When Columbus found out how basely the king 
 had treated him, he was very angry, and left Por- 
 tugal. He turned his steps toward Spain ; but it 
 was a poor time to seek help from Spain, The 
 plague, a terrible disease, had visited the country, 
 and thousands of persons had died from it. The 
 times were hard, and, above all, Ferdinand and Isa- 
 bella, the king and queen, for more than three 
 years had been at war with the Moors, trying to 
 drive them out of the country. 
 
 It is no wonder that but little attention was paid 
 to Columbus. He was put off again and again, but 
 still he followed the court as it was moved with the 
 army from place to place. He persevered for two 
 years ; then, weary of the long delay, he wrote to 
 the king of Portugal, asking leave to return. 
 
 Now that Columbus was thinking of going away, 
 the king and queen of Spain ordered a company 
 of learned men to be called together to hear what 
 he had to say for himselL But this meeting was 
 delayed, and Columbus was much cast down. 
 
 For two years Columbus lived as the guest of a 
 kind-hearted nobleman ; then he told his benefac- 
 tor that, sick of waiting, he was going to France, 
 to seek aid from the French kino:. His friend did 
 not wish Spain to lose the chance of gaining wealth 
 and glory, so he wrote to Queen Isabella in favor 
 of Columbus. 
 
Columbus. 
 
 II 
 
 The war against the Moors went on, and nearly 
 two years more passed by before Columbus could 
 get a hearing. At last his plans were laid before 
 some learned men. Most of these men ridi- 
 culed his ideas. But one Diego, a friar and the 
 
 Columbus explaining his Plan to the Monks of Burgos. 
 
 After the picture by F. M. Dumond. 
 
 tutor of one of the royal princes, believed that 
 Columbus was right, and persuaded the king and 
 queen not to refuse him, but to say that when the 
 war with the Moors was over they would see what 
 they could do for him. 
 
 The patience of Columbus was by this time quite 
 
12 History of the United States. 
 
 exhausted ; he had waited six long years, and yet 
 he seemed no nearer success than when he had 
 first come to Spain. He now made plans to go to 
 France. He was very poor; he had to travel on 
 foot, and to beg bread for himself and his little son 
 who was with him. 
 
 Just before he reached the port of Palos, where 
 he hoped to find a ship that would take him to 
 France, he called at a convent to ask for food. The 
 prior at the head of this convent was a learned man, 
 and much interested in geography. He was much 
 impressed by Columbus and he invited him to stay 
 at the convent and rest. 
 
 Now it happened that this monk had been the 
 confessor of Queen Isabella, and he determined to 
 try to induce her to aid Columbus. But first he 
 invited some of his friends to come and talk over 
 these new plans with the Italian stranger. One of 
 these men was a rich seaman and merchant, who 
 was so greatly moved by what Columbus said that 
 he offered to help fit out ships for such a voyage as 
 was proposed. This merchant's name was Pinzon. 
 
 This was the best news that Columbus had heard 
 for many a day. The prior went to see the queen, 
 and succeeded in gaining her good-will ; vShe not 
 only sent for Columbus, but also furnished him with 
 money, in order that he might return to the court. 
 
 Columbus reached the court in the midst of rejoic- 
 ings at the great victory over the Moors, and no 
 
Columbus. 
 
 one cared to listen to the wild stories of a foreign 
 seaman. He began to think that he was to fail 
 again ; but this time he was to have his chance, 
 for, as soon as the festivities were over, he was 
 brought into the presence of the queen. 
 
 Columbus asking the Aid of Queen Isabella. 
 
 After the picture of the Bohemian artist, Vaczlav Brozik. 
 
 Columbus was so sure of the riches he was to 
 find that he asked great rewards. He said that he 
 must be admiral and viceroy of the lands he should 
 discover, and also that he must have one tenth of all 
 the gold and silver that should be found. 
 
 This was a great deal to ask, and we need not 
 wonder that the queen hesitated ; but Columbus was 
 firm, and said he would leave Spain rather than yield. 
 
H 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 In fact, he mounted a mule and started off once 
 more for France. When his friends found that he 
 was determined to go, they were very sorry. They 
 told the queen that if he failed to find the Indies 
 the loss would not be very great, while if he found 
 them the gain would be vast. 
 
 So earnestly did they plead, that the queen con- 
 sented. A messenger overtook Columbus as he 
 
 > (> !{ T II r^ 
 
 A :>i i: u 1 1 
 
 TIC 
 
 Voyage of COL.UMBUS 
 
 OCJSAIf 
 
 Columbus's Route to the West. 
 
 was riding sadly away. At last the time had come 
 for which he had been waiting all these weary years. 
 It was ten weeks before three small vessels could 
 be made ready for the great experiment. It was 
 hard to find sailors who were willing to go on such 
 a dangerous voyage, for all were afraid of the un- 
 
Columbus. 
 
 IS 
 
 known seas. But on Friday, August 3, 1492, a little 
 before sunrise, the three small ships, or caravels, 
 as they were called, started from the port of Palos 
 in southern Spain. 
 
 The names of the caravels were Santa Maria, 
 Pinta, and Nina. Of these, the first was the larg- 
 
 COLUMBUS PARTING FROM FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. 
 Oapied from " De Bry's Voyages," a book of the i6th century. 
 
 est ; it was about sixty-five or seventy feet long, and 
 was the only one that had a full deck. The Santa 
 Maria was commanded by Columbus himself. 
 
 Just before sailing, Columbus and all his men 
 went to a church and asked the blessing of God 
 
1 6 History of the United States. 
 
 on their voyage. The vessels sailed first to the 
 Canary Islands, where it was found necessary to 
 refit the Pinta^ as the vessel proved to be leaky. 
 
 It was the 6th of September before the little 
 fleet started asrain. The course chosen was due 
 west. Head winds at first kept the vessels back, 
 and the story goes that the sailors, like those of the 
 Portuguese ships sent out by King John, rebelled, 
 saying that it was of no use to try to go any farther. 
 But Columbus was a very different man from the 
 Portuguese captain ; he would not turn back. Soon 
 a fair wind sprang up, and the ships went on. 
 
 It was not long before the sailors saw objects 
 which caused them to think that land could not be 
 very far off. They saw land birds ; and then great 
 quantities of seaweed, which usually is not found 
 except near some coast; then a live crab was seen; 
 then a piece of wood which had been carved, show- 
 ing man's work. But still the days went by and 
 they saw no land. 
 
 All this time the wind had been blowing steadily 
 from the east, and the sailors began to think that 
 they never should have a chance to get back. 
 Fortunately, just as they were about to rebel again, 
 the wind suddenly shifted ; now their fears were 
 dispelled, for they saw that the wind did sometimes 
 change. 
 
 One day a sailor called out " Land ! " We may 
 be sure that there was great excitement on the ves- 
 
Columbus. 
 
 17 
 
 sels when a gray shape was seen on the horizon ; 
 but the next day it proved to have been a cloud, 
 
 Columbus on Board his Ship. 
 
 Copied from " De Bry's Voyages," a book of the i6th century. 
 3 
 
1 8 History of the United States. 
 
 and the disappointment was very great. Though 
 they still saw many birds and quantities of seaweed, 
 and on one day some grass with roots, yet no land 
 was seen. In spite of the murmurs of the sailors, 
 Columbus kept his vessels headed due west. 
 
 As they anxiously watched the birds, it was 
 noticed that their flight was toward the southwest, 
 and after much persuasion the captain of the Pinta 
 prevailed upon Columbus to change his course so 
 as to follow the birds. Had he not done this the 
 little fleet would have come to the coast of what 
 is now the United States, and North America might 
 have become Spanish instead of English. 
 
 It came to be the thirty-fourth day since the 
 sailors had seen land, and that is a long time to 
 see nothing but sea and sky. Perhaps not one of 
 them had ever had such a long voyage before, and 
 we can well imagine that they were frightened. 
 But Columbus encouraged them, telling them what 
 riches would be theirs when India was reached» 
 
 On the evening of the very next day, Columbus 
 thought he saw a light moving in the distance. 
 That night all was excitement on board the vessels^ 
 Early the next day, Friday, October 12, 1492, 
 about two o'clock in the morning, Rodrigo de 
 Triana, a sailor on the Pinta, shouted " Land ! '* 
 This time there was no mistake about it It was 
 land indeed, and it seemed to be about six miles 
 away. 
 
Columbus. lo 
 
 When daylight came, boats were made ready, and 
 Columbus, the captains of the Pinta and the Nina, 
 and some of the sailors, with the royal standard of 
 Spain flung to the breeze, started for the shore of 
 what now was seen to be a small island. 
 
 When Columbus landed, he took possession of 
 the country in the name of Ferdinand and Isabella 
 of Spain, and all the little company fell on their 
 knees and gave thanks that they had been brought 
 safely over the sea to this beautiful land. 
 
 As they stood upon the shore, copper-colored 
 men and women met them. These people thought 
 that Columbus and his companions were gods, and 
 that the ships with their great white sails were huge 
 birds. As offerings to the strangers, the natives 
 brought fruits, balls of a kind of cotton thread, 
 bright colored parrots, javelins, and, among other 
 things, a few gold ornaments. Nothing, not even 
 the curious fruits and dark-skinned men, charmed 
 the Spaniards so much as the gold; for it was 
 chiefly in hope of finding gold that they had braved 
 the ocean's perils and crossed the unknown seas. 
 
 The natives gladly gave what they had brought, 
 in exchange for beads, red caps, little bells, and 
 cheap ornaments. They wore no clothes, but their 
 faces and bodies were painted with black, blue, red, 
 or such colors as they were able to get 
 
 The men and women were excellent swimmers, 
 and while the ships remained near the island they 
 
20 History of the United States. 
 
 would swim out to the vessels, bringing in their 
 hands various articles, which they hoped to ex- 
 change for beads or trinkets. The Spaniards could 
 not understand the language of the natives, but 
 managed to get a good deal of information by 
 means of signs. 
 
 .J 
 
 Landing of Columbus, early Morning, October 12, 1492. 
 
 After the picture by Dioscora Puebla, the Spanish artist. 
 
 Columbus called the island San Salvador. It 
 was one of the islands now known as the Bahamas, 
 but which one of the group nobody is quite certain. 
 Many believe it to be that one which is called 
 Watling's Island. 
 
 Columbus was so sure that he had reached India 
 
Columbus. 21 
 
 that he called the people Indians, and though it 
 was soon known that he was wrong, they are still 
 called Indians, and the islands are known as the 
 West Indies. 
 
 He did not stay very long at San Salvador, for 
 the natives had not much gold, and they told him 
 by signs that it came from a land still farther west. 
 Moreover, he had not seen any precious stones, nor 
 had he reached the cities about which Marco Polo 
 had written. So he continued his search. 
 
 For three months he sailed among the islands, 
 seeing never a town, but still believing that he had 
 come to India. 
 
 When he reached the coast of Cuba, he thought 
 first that it was the mainland, and then that it must 
 be the island of Cipango. He was also greatly dis- 
 appointed in the quantity of gold that he found 
 among the natives. 
 
 He was so much pleased with the island of Haiti, 
 however, that he determined to build a city there. 
 Through the carelessness of the pilot, the Santa 
 Maria was wrecked, but out of its timbers a fort 
 was built, to protect the little party of men that 
 was to remain. 
 
 On Friday, the 4th of January, 1493, the two 
 little vessels sailed for Spain. They met with terrible 
 storms, and more than once Columbus and his 
 men in the Niiia despaired of seeing their homes 
 again. The ships were separated, and Columbus, 
 
22 History of the United States. 
 
 fearing that the knowledge of his discovery would 
 be lost, wrote out an account of what he had seen, 
 wrapped in waxed cloth the sheets on which it was 
 written, and put the package into a barrel, which 
 was thrown overboard. If the ships were lost, there 
 would still be a chance for his discovery to become 
 known. 
 
 About the middle of February, the Nina reached 
 the Azores. These islands belonged to the Portu- 
 guese, and the officials took some of Columbus's 
 men as prisoners, and threatened Columbus him- 
 self. At length the men were set at liberty, and 
 the Nina was left to continue her voyage. After 
 touching at Lisbon, the ship entered the harbor of 
 Palos on Friday, the 15th of March, 1493. 
 
 As soon as it was known that Columbus had 
 come back, the bells were rung, the shops were 
 shut up, and a great procession went to the church, 
 to give public thanks for the success of the admiral. 
 
 In the midst of these rejoicings, the Pinta came 
 into the harbor. The captain of this ship was 
 greatly taken aback to find that Columbus was 
 ahead of him ; for he felt sure that the Nina had 
 gone down in some great storm, and he was about 
 to claim for himself the glory of having discovered 
 the new lands. 
 
 When the ship arrived, the king and queen were 
 at Barcelona, far away on the other side of their 
 kingdom ; and they sent for Columbus to come to 
 
Columbus. 
 
 ^3 
 
 them. The long journey was Hke a triumphal 
 march ; the people everywhere turned out to see 
 the hero pass, and to gaze at the Indians and the 
 strange things which he had brought with him. 
 
 A Caravel of Columbus, 
 
 After the reconstructed model exhibited at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893. 
 
 He had a truly royal welcome from the king and 
 queen. They raised him up when he would have 
 knelt, and made him sit while he told them what he 
 had seen and done. He showed them the natives 
 and the curiosities and the gold. 
 
24 History of the United States. 
 
 There was not much gold, but Columbus assured 
 their Majesties that, as the rich mines of Cathay and 
 Cipango could not be far from the islands, wealth 
 in abundance was within reach. 
 
 Columbus soon made ready to go on another 
 voyage, for he wished to see how the little colony 
 he had left was getting on, and he longed to sail 
 still farther, until he should come to Cathay and 
 Cipango. 
 
 Columbus made four voyages to the New World, 
 and passed through many hardships: he was ship- 
 wrecked; his men mutinied; he suffered much. 
 He sailed about the Caribbean Sea and discovered 
 South America and Central America ; but he never 
 saw the mainland of North America, or knew that 
 he had discovered a new world. 
 
 The Spanish colonists that came to the New World 
 were a rough set ; they did not want to work, for 
 when they left Spain they thought that gold and 
 silver could be had for the picking up. 
 
 Columbus was not a wise ruler, and his officers 
 were jealous of him. Complaints of his severity 
 and bad rule were brought back to Spain, and 
 the king and queen sent a man to see how true 
 these reports were. This man ordered Columbus 
 to be seized, and sent back to Spain in chains. 
 The chains were taken off as soon as he reached 
 Spain, and the man who had treated him so harshly 
 was punished; but Columbus was not restored to 
 
Columbus. 
 
 25 
 
 his old rank. He made his fourth voyage after this, 
 but died a poor man, and neglected by those for 
 whom he had done so much. 
 
 He was buried in Spain, but about forty years 
 later his body was carried to Haiti and interred in 
 the cathedral there. When, about two hundred 
 years later, that island was transferred to France, his 
 bones were taken up and carried in state to Havana 
 in Cuba. In 1898, when Spain was forced by the 
 United States to give up Cuba, the bones of the 
 great discoverer were carried back to Spain, and 
 placed in the cathedral at Seville, January, 1899.^ 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 In 1492, after many difficulties, Columbus set sail from 
 Palos, Spain, to find a direct way across the Atlantic Ocean 
 to India. After a voyage of more than a month he reached, 
 not India, but America. He never knew he had found a 
 new world. He died poor and neglected. 
 
 Tell the story of Columbus as a boy and as a sailor. 
 Tell what happened to him in Portugal ; in Spain. 
 How many ships did he have, and from what port did he start? 
 Tell the story of the voyage ; the landing. 
 What did the Spaniards wish to find more than anything else ? 
 Tell the story of the return voyage ; how Columbus was received 
 in Spain ; of his latter years and death. 
 
 ^ It is not at all unlikely that, through an error, the bones taken 
 to Cuba were those of Diego, the son of Columbus. So it m-ay be that 
 the ashes of the great explorer still rest in Haiti. 
 
THE CABOTS. 
 
 The news of the discoveries by Columbus quickly 
 spread through Europe. John Cabot, a native of 
 
 Venice, Italy, and his son 
 Sebastian were then living 
 in Bristol, England. They 
 were great sailors ; so, as 
 soon as they heard what 
 Columbus had done, they 
 
 Sebastian Cabot. 
 
 After the picture ascribed to Holbein. 
 
 also were eager to go on 
 a voyage of discovery, and 
 they fitted out a vessel in 
 which to sail to the west. 
 
 It was needful, in those 
 days, to get leave of the 
 king to go on such a voy- 
 age, for, unless a ship was under the protection of 
 a king, it might be treated as a pirate. Henry VII., 
 king of England, gladly gave them leave to go, and 
 to have the use of any lands they might find, pro- 
 vided he should be the acknowledged owner of the 
 lands. The king might very well do this, for the fit- 
 ting out of the expedition did not cost him a penny. 
 The Cabots set out in 1497 from Bristol, and were 
 gone about three months. Like Columbus they did 
 
 26 
 
The Cabots. 27 
 
 not find India, but, unlike him, they did find the 
 continent of North America. 
 
 It is thought that they reached the coast of Nova 
 Scotia and the island of Cape Breton. They went 
 on shore and took possession of the land in the 
 name of Henry VII. of England, and of Venice. 
 They saw no inhabitants, but found some snares 
 set for catching game, and a needle for making 
 nets ; these they carried off. 
 
 Their arrival in England caused great excite- 
 ment. John Cabot "dressed himself in silk," says 
 a man who was in England at that time ; " and the 
 English ran after him like mad, and called him 
 ' the great admiral.' " 
 
 John Cabot longed to make another voyage, and 
 the king, though he was miserly and disliked to 
 spend any more money than was absolutely neces- 
 sary, consented to help him. This was in 1498. 
 
 Little is known of this voyage except that he 
 had five ships. We are not sure that his son Se- 
 bastian went with him. But the story is that the 
 Cabots sailed first almost to Iceland, and then 
 toward Greenland. They went so far north that 
 they met with many icebergs and much floating 
 ice. 
 
 Feeling sure that India could not be in that 
 direction, they turned south. When near New- 
 foundland they saw " bears come down to the 
 shore and catch fish with their paws." " The sea 
 
28 History of the United States. 
 
 
 The Coast of Newfoundland in Winter 300 Years Ago. 
 
 After a drawing from nature by Lieut. A. Thompson, in " Bonnicastle's Newfoundland." 
 
The Cabots. 
 
 29 
 
 was so full of fish that the ships were hindered 
 in sailing " — at least, this is the story they 
 told. 
 
 The Cabots still kept on, ever sailing south, until, 
 it is supposed, they reached Chesapeake Bay, and 
 possibly the coast of what is now South Carolina. 
 On this voyage they became satisfied that these 
 shores were not those of India or of Asia, but of 
 " a new-found land, lying 
 somewhere between India 
 and Europe." But no gold 
 or silver, or jewels, or 
 silks, did they find. 
 
 The English were dis- 
 appointed, and, other mat- 
 ters taking their attention, 
 it was nearly a hundred 
 years before they thought 
 much of what John Cabot 
 and his son Sebastian had 
 done. Then they claimed 
 the lands which those 
 brave sailors had discovered, because the Cabots 
 had sailed under the English flag, and had taken 
 possession of the country, so many years before, in 
 the name of an English king. 
 
 An Italian sailor, Amerigo Vespucci, made several 
 voyages to the New World. The account which he 
 wrote was the first printed account of the new lands 
 
 Americus Vespucius. 
 
 After the picture attributed to Bronzino 
 in the Massachusetts Historical Society's 
 Gallery. 
 
30 History of the United States. 
 
 beyond the sea. From him the New World has been 
 called America.^ 
 
 Nunc vcro &hef partes Cintlatius luftrata/ 8C 
 
 alia quarta pats per Ameiicii Vcfpuriumc vt inft^ 
 
 -ioK q^^ntibus audietur>inucnta e(bquanon. video cut 
 
 Attics quis iure vetet ab Americo inucntorc lagads inge 
 
 nco ^ij viro Amcrigcn quafi Amerid.terram/fiue Ame 
 
 licam dicendamtcum 8C Europa 8C Afia a mulieri^ 
 
 bus fuafordta (int nomma.Eius fitu 8C gentis mo4 
 
 les exLbisbinisJ^eridnauigaoombus quf ieqaS 
 
 turliquideintelligidatur* 
 
 Fac-simile 
 
 Of that part of the page in the " Cosmographiae Introductio " (1507), by Martin Waldsee- 
 miiller, in which the name of America is proposed for the New World. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 In 1497 John Cabot and his son Sebastian set sail from 
 Bristol, England, and discovered the continent of North 
 America, and claimed it for England. They made a second 
 voyage, and sailed along the coast for many hundred miles. 
 The New World is called America from Amerigo Vespucci, 
 whose story was the first printed account of it. 
 
 Who were the Cabots? 
 
 From what country did they set sail? 
 
 Tell what they discovered. 
 
 Tell in whose name they took possession of the land. 
 
 Tell the* story of the Cabots' second voyage. 
 
 How did the New World come to be called America? 
 
 1 The Latin form of his name is Americus Vespucius. 
 
The Globe of Ulpius, 1543. 
 
 DE SOTO AND OTHER EXPLORERS. 
 
 In 1497, the same year in which the Cabots 
 made their first voyage, Vasco da Gama, who was 
 in the service of the king of Portugal, sailed along 
 the coast of Africa until he came to the Cape of 
 Good Hope. He did not stop, as others had done, 
 but went round it, crossed the Indian Ocean, and 
 reached a land which he found to be the true 
 India. 
 
32 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 Vasco da Gama. 
 
 The king of Calicut and other princes gave him 
 
 rich gifts of gold, jewels, 
 spices, and silks. After 
 nearly two years' absence 
 from Portugal, he re- 
 turned, bringing with him 
 these rich goods. It was 
 Portugal, after all, and not 
 Spain, that had discovered 
 the way to get to India 
 by sea. 
 
 The Spaniards con- 
 tinued to send out expedi- 
 tions to the New World. 
 One of the most famous of these was the enter- 
 prise of Ponce de Leon. 
 He had sailed once 
 with Columbus ; he had 
 passed through many 
 hardships in various coun- 
 tries; and he longed to 
 be young and strong 
 again. He believed in the 
 fabled fountains of youth, 
 one of which was sup- 
 posed to be situated not 
 far to the west of Cuba, 
 and he resolved to seek 
 
 ■ 
 
 El 
 
 
 H 
 
 toy 
 
 
 m 
 
 S 
 
 
 Ponce de Leon. 
 
 it 
 
 After an engraving in " Herrera." Edition 
 oi 1728. 
 
De Soto and Other Explorers. 33 
 
 He left Cuba in 1 5 1 3, and soon came to a land 
 which he named Florida. He found there beauti- 
 
 4-^ 
 
 WW'" ,0 
 
 Ponce de Leon and his men in 
 Florida. 
 
 Munro. The sceneiy is from nature. 
 
 ful trees and flowers, and rivers and streams, 
 but no fountain of health, though he searched far 
 and wide. Before long he left Florida. After 
 
34 History of the United States. 
 
 some years he came back, intending to estabHsh 
 a colony. 
 
 Soon after landing, his party was attacked by 
 Indians, and many of the Spaniards were killed, 
 De Leon himself receiving a wound from an arrow, 
 from which he died within a few weeks. 
 
 Another brave Spaniard was Hernando de Soto. 
 He, like so many others of his nation, set out in 
 
 search of gold and adven- 
 ture. He had been in 
 South America, but had 
 come back to Spain. Hear- 
 ing of the lands to the 
 north, which seemed to 
 promise so much, he sailed 
 again for the New World, 
 taking with him about six 
 hundred men. This was in 
 1538. 
 
 HERNANDO DE SOTO. ^c Soto wcnt first to 
 
 Florida, and, on landing, 
 began at once to seek for gold. Whenever the 
 Spaniards asked where gold could be found, the 
 Indians always- pointed toward the west ; there, 
 they said, was a land where it was summer most of 
 the year, and there, too, were great quantities of 
 gold ; so plenty was it that men even wore golden 
 shoes. 
 
 Such a land was just the place for which De Soto 
 
De Soto and Other Explorers. 35 
 
 and his companions were searching, and, with hearts 
 full of hope, they set out to find this land of sum- 
 mer and of gold. 
 
 They wandered about in Florida for months — now 
 pushing through forests and swamps, now crossing 
 rivers, and now getting lost in wildernesses of vines 
 and tangled thickets. Still the Indians pointed 
 
 A Scene on De Soto's Route. 
 
 From Charnay's " Ancient Cities of the New World." 
 
 west. Once De Soto's little army attacked an 
 Indian village, seized a hundred men and women, 
 and carried them off. The poor captives were 
 made slaves ; iron collars were clasped around their 
 necks, and all the work of grinding maize and carry- 
 ing the baggage was forced upon them. 
 
 De Soto and his companions were not discouraged 
 by their failure to find gold in Florida. On and on 
 
36 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 they went into the wilderness. They were hungry 
 and thirsty ; many were taken sick and died ; some- 
 times bands of Indians made fierce attacks upon 
 them ; but nothing could turn De Soto back. 
 
 For three years they wandered on, until they came 
 to a large stream, which the Indians called " The 
 
 De Soto's Discovery of the Mississippi, 1541. 
 
 After the picture by W. H. Powell, in the Capitol at Washington. 
 
 Great River," but which is now known as the 
 Mississippi. The water was muddy ; in the stream 
 were many trees and branches carried down by 
 the force of the current. It took the Spaniards 
 thirty days to build two barges on which to cross 
 the river. Still they went westward. 
 
De Soto and Other Explorers. 37 
 
 De Soto sickened and died. His illness and 
 death were kept secret, through fear that the Indians, 
 hearing of his death, would attack the little army. 
 Finding that the Indians suspected what had hap- 
 pened, and fearing that they would steal De Soto's 
 body, the Spaniards wrapped it in blankets weighted 
 with sand, and at midnight carried it in a canoe to 
 the middle of the great river, and sunk it in the 
 stream. 
 
 De Soto's followers had now utterly lost heart, 
 and longed to get back to their homes in Spain. 
 They dared not attempt to return by the path along 
 which they had come, but tried to find the nearest 
 way to Mexico. After going some distance they 
 lost all hope of being able to reach that country 
 overland, and returned to the Mississippi. 
 
 There they spent the winter. They determined 
 to build boats in which to float down the river to 
 its mouth, wherever that might be. There was only 
 one ship-carpenter to direct the work. They cut 
 down trees for the timbers ; they made nails out of 
 the chains with which they had bound the poor 
 Indian slaves ; they made sails out of some rude 
 cloth which they obtained from the Indians, and, 
 after weeks of hard work, they were ready to start 
 on their almost desperate voyage. 
 
 More than five years had gone by since they 
 had left Spain ; and now about three hundred, all 
 that remained of that brave band of six hundred 
 
38 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 Spanish adventurers, were embarking in these rude 
 boats and in a few small canoes. It was a sad, 
 weary, famishing company. 
 
 Their troubles were not ended, for on their voyage 
 they were attacked by hostile Indians, who sunk some 
 of their canoes, drowning twelve of their number. 
 
 i^Y 
 
 MAP ILLUSTRATING SPANISH EXPLORATIONS. 
 
 In fifty-two days they reached the Gulf of Mexico, 
 and learned that there was a Spanish settlement 
 not far off. When they reached the place they went 
 on shore, and, falling down, kissed the ground and 
 gave thanks to God for their deliverance. 
 
De Soto and Other Explorers. 39 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 Vasco da Gama, in 1497, sailed round the Cape of Good 
 Hope to India. Ponce de Leon sought the fountain of 
 youth in Florida. De Soto searched for gold in Florida 
 and the western wilderness. He discovered the Mississippi 
 River, died, and was buried in its stream. His followers 
 suffered great hardships. 
 
 Tell who found out the way by sea to India. 
 
 Tell the story of Ponce de Leon. 
 
 Tell the story of De Soto. 
 
 Describe his death and the hardships of his followers. 
 
DRAKE AND RALEIGH. 
 
 The English did not begin to think much about 
 the New World until some years after the great 
 Elizabeth came to the throne. 
 
 England had fought with Spain, and had been 
 victorious on land and sea. She had grown to be 
 
 COAST OF VIRGINIA IN THE TIME OP RALEIGH 
 
 a great seafaring nation. Her captains had sailed 
 to the West Indies and to South America, and had 
 captured many Spanish treasure ships. 
 
 The most daring of these captains was Francis 
 Drake. On one of his expeditions he landed on 
 the Isthmus of Panama, where from a tree-top he 
 saw, for the first time, the Pacific. He was filled 
 with longing to sail upon that ocean which no 
 Englishman had yet visited. He returned to Eng- 
 
Drake and Raleigh, 
 
 41 
 
 land, however, and it was not until four years later, 
 in 1577, that he set sail from Plymouth on his famous 
 voyage. He started with 
 five small vessels, well 
 armed and fitted out for a 
 long voyage. His chief 
 aim was plunder. He 
 sailed for the west coast 
 of South America, where 
 he hoped to get booty 
 from the Spanish settle- 
 ments, and to capture the 
 Spanish ships laden with 
 treasure from Peru. Queen 
 Elizabeth herself was a 
 partner in the venture. 
 
 His own vessel, the Pelican, passed safely through 
 the Strait of Magellan, and he re-named her the 
 Golden Hind ; the other vessels either were lost or 
 deserted him. He met severe storms, which drove 
 him far out of his course. When fine weather came, 
 he sailed to the north, touching at various places to 
 get supplies and plunder. 
 
 At Valparaiso, he and his men surprised and cap- 
 tured a Spanish ship, the Captain of the South, and 
 secured great booty. At another place they landed 
 and found a Spaniard sleeping with fourteen bars of 
 silver near him ; they seized the silver and left the 
 man asleep. 
 
 Sir Francis Drake. 
 
 From the original oil painting at Buckland 
 Abbey, England. 
 
42 History of the United States. 
 
 In the Straits of Magellan. 
 
 After the drawing by E. Whymper in Crawford's " Across the Pampas.' 
 
Drake and Raleigh. 43 
 
 Thus they went on, capturing vessels and secur- 
 ing treasure. Hearing that a richly laden ship had 
 recently sailed for Spain, they pursued and captured 
 it with little difficulty, as the captain had no idea 
 that an English ship was in the Pacific. On board 
 this vessel were many jewels and precious stones, 
 thirteen chests of silver coins, eighty pounds' weight 
 of gold, and twenty six tons of uncoined silver. It 
 was one of the richest prizes that had ever fallen 
 into the hands of a freebooter. 
 
 After this, Drake visited the coast of what is now 
 California and Oregon, calling it New Albion. He 
 then crossed the Pacific, rounded the Cape of Good 
 Hope, and, after three years' absence, reached Eng- 
 land in safety with all his plunder, being the first 
 Englishman to sail around the world. Queen Eliza- 
 beth received him with great favor, dined on board 
 the Golden Hind, and made Drake a knight. 
 
 Sir Walter Raleigh was at this time one of the 
 most noted men in England, and a great favorite 
 with the queen. He was indeed a gallant gentle- 
 man, a brave soldier, and a daring sailor. The 
 story goes that once, when he was a young man, he 
 had spread his richly embroidered cloak over a 
 muddy place in the road, so that Elizabeth might 
 not wet her royal feet, and that this act of gallantry 
 greatly pleased the queen. 
 
 It was not hard for Raleigh to gain the queen's 
 permission to send out two ships, chiefly at his own 
 
44 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 cost. The vessels reached what Is now Roanoke 
 Island, off the coast of North Carolina. This was 
 about ninety years after the voyage of the Cabots. 
 
 The explorers found a number of Indians who 
 were very friendly. When some of the men landed, 
 
 Spanish Treasure Ship. 
 
 After drawings in the English State papers sent home by an English spy. 
 
 the Indian chief sent them every day deer, fish, 
 melons, and the " corn of the country," which the 
 English said was " very fair, white, and well tasted." 
 As Raleigh had sent out the ships only to explore, 
 it was soon time to return. The explorers brought 
 
Drake and Raleigh. 
 
 45 
 
 back with them, among other things, buffalo and 
 deer skins, a bracelet of " pearls as big as peas," and 
 two of the natives. 
 
 When Raleigh heard the report of this expedition, 
 he named the land Virginia, in honor of Elizabeth, 
 who liked to be 
 known as the 
 Virgin Queen. 
 After this voyage 
 he styled himself 
 "Walter Raleigh, 
 soldier, lord, and 
 governor of Vir- 
 ginia." 
 
 Raleigh sent 
 out, the next 
 year, 1585, about 
 one hundred col- 
 onists to settle 
 on Roanoke Isl- 
 and. These colo- 
 nists had a hard 
 time. Like so 
 
 many others of the early days, they had gone out to 
 the new country in the expectation of having an 
 easier life than they had led at home; but they knew 
 neither how to work nor how to adapt themselves 
 to their surroundings. 
 
 When the great captain. Sir Francis Drake, 
 
 Sir Walter Raleigh. 
 
 After the picture in the collection of the Duchess ot 
 Dorset. 
 
46 History of the United States. 
 
 stopped at the island on his way home from the 
 West Indies, though it was only about a year since 
 Raleigh's colonists had left England, they were eager 
 to go back with him. Drake tried to persuade them 
 to remain, but a great storm arose, and leaving 
 everything they hurried on board Drake's ships, 
 which set sail for home. 
 
 Only a few days after they had gone, a ship, 
 loaded with supplies which Raleigh had sent for 
 his infant colony, arrived and found no one. Two 
 weeks later, three more ships came, but of course 
 no trace could be found of the colonists. Sir Rich- 
 ard Grenville, the commander, wishing to hold the 
 place for the English, left fxfteen men, with provi- 
 sions enough to last them two years. 
 
 About a year later, a ship with more colonists 
 came to look after the little band Grenville had 
 left. When they landed they found no living per- 
 son, but only some human bones lying on the 
 ground. The houses which the first party had 
 built were still standing, but in the roofless huts, 
 melons were growing and wild deer were feeding. 
 
 Grenville had treated the natives with much harsh- 
 ness and there could be little doubt that the miss- 
 ing colonists had been murdered by the Indians, 
 whose first kindly welcome had been met so ungra- 
 ciously. * 
 
 Soon after the arrival of this new band, a little 
 girl was born on Roanoke Island, — -the first child 
 
Drake and Raleigh. 47 
 
 born in America of English parents. Her name was 
 Virginia Dare. Shortly after, the ships returned to 
 England, leaving the little colony to itself. 
 
 England was at war with Spain, who was mak- 
 ing every effort to crush her rival. Spain gathered 
 together a great fleet, which she was so sure could 
 never be beaten that she called it the " Invincible 
 Armada." 
 
 Raleigh, in common with all other Englishmen, 
 was now thinking of the defence of his country, and 
 could not send out any aid to the colony. But soon 
 the Armada, after being worsted by the English, 
 was scattered by a great storm, and the great danger 
 to England and English ships had passed away. 
 Vessels were again allowed by the government to 
 sail, and an expedition set out for Roanoke Island. 
 
 Three years had passed since anything had been 
 heard from the settlers. When the vessels reached 
 the place, the sailors blew with a trumpet and sang 
 some English songs, but they received no answer. 
 Not one of the colonists could be found. The 
 houses had been taken down, and the whole place 
 was desolate. 
 
 At last, on the trunk of a tree, the bark of which 
 had been stripped off, they saw carved, in clear, well- 
 formed letters, the word Croatoan ; that was the 
 only trace that was found of the former colonists. 
 All had disappeared, including the little Virginia 
 Dare, and to this day no one knows certainly what 
 
48 History of the United States. 
 
 became of them. It is most likely that for some 
 reason they moved to another island, called Croa- 
 toan. Here they doubtless had been attacked by the 
 Indians, when some were killed and the others taken 
 into captivity; for, many years after, stories were 
 told of pale-faced persons living among the Indians. 
 
 It was a hundred years after the discovery of the 
 New World, and still England had no permanent 
 colony in America. Raleigh had spent a large for- 
 tune in trying to settle colonies, only to be sadly 
 disappointed. But he was a man who put before 
 himself the motto, " Do all things with thy might," 
 so he tried again. 
 
 This time he sent out Bartholomew Gosnold to 
 seek for Nurembega, as New England was called. 
 Gosnold sailed northward, and landed on one of the 
 islands near the mouth of Buzzards Bay. Here, in 
 1602, he built a fort, but it was soon abandoned. 
 The name Elizabeth, which Gosnold gave to the 
 island in honor of the queen, a name now borne by 
 the whole group, is all that remains to tell of this 
 effort of Sir Walter Raleigh.^ 
 
 Sir Walter Raleigh's plans failed, but he was 
 after all the pioneer in English settlement. He is 
 remembered not only for his great perseverance, 
 but also because to him, more than to any other 
 person, Europe owes the early introduction of 
 potatoes and tobacco. 
 
 1 The island is now called Cuttyhimk. 
 
Drake and Raleigh. 49 
 
 Raleigh took the potatoes which one of his ves- 
 sels brought, and planted them in the fields of his 
 estate in Ireland. This was many years before the 
 efforts of a French king succeeded in making the 
 vegetable a popular one in Europe. 
 
 Raleigh, moreover, was the first to show Eng- 
 lishmen how the strange Indian plant tobacco was 
 used. It is said that his servant found him one day 
 smoking in his room, and threw a bucket of water 
 over him, thinking him to be on fire. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 England paid little attention to the New World for nearly 
 a century. In 1577 Drake started on his voyage to seek 
 plunder in the Pacific. He passed through the Straits of 
 Magellan. He had great success. Was the first English- 
 man to sail round the world. Sir Walter Raleigh's attempts 
 to colonize. Failed twice ; at Roanoke Island, at Elizabeth 
 Islands. Introduced potatoes and tobacco. 
 
 Tell the story of Drake's voyage ; its chief object. 
 
 Tell how far he sailed and how successful he was. 
 
 Tell the story of Raleigh's expeditions. 
 
 For whom did he name Virginia? 
 
 What plants did he introduce into Europe? 
 
VIRGINIA AND CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 
 
 Anglo-Saxons are not easily discouraged, and the 
 failures of some did not keep others from trying 
 their fortunes in the New World. There were 
 many things to attract: boundless forests of fine 
 trees; beautiful rivers and streams; wild animals 
 without number, some of them good for food, 
 others whose skins were valuable for their fur. 
 
 
 ^y ^ 
 
 1 
 
 V 
 
 ^'e.Chnrlcs 
 
 ■ ;-^^ 
 
 x_^ 
 
 x^^ 
 
 5|? 
 
 ^^ 
 
 . 
 
 
 - 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 \' 
 
 \ 
 
 
 \- 
 
 
 V 
 
 k 
 
 r^ ■ 
 
 V— ^ 
 
 ' ^^ 
 
 r>S^OANOKE=->— 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 V 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 _^Sb== 
 
 i| 
 
 VIRGINIA IN EARLY DAYS 
 
 There were fertile fields, many wild fruits, and rivers 
 and seas abounding with fish. Moreover, almost 
 every one felt sure that somewhere in this wonder- 
 ful country there must be an abundance of gold and 
 silver. 
 
 The hope of finding these precious metals was 
 
 50 
 
Virginia and Captain John Smith. 51 
 
 enough to make many willing to cross the ocean. 
 Crossing the ocean in those days meant more 
 than it does now, for the largest ships were small 
 compared with those of our day. The cabins were 
 small, close, and unhealthy ; the rigging and sails 
 were clumsy. There were no charts to guide the 
 captains, no lighthouses to warn of dangerous 
 shores, and no buoys to mark the rocks and shoals. 
 Men felt that they were taking their lives in their 
 hands when they started to cross the seas. 
 
 In the year 1606, two English companies were 
 formed, for the double purpose of trading with the 
 New World and of planting colonies in it. One was 
 called the London Company, because most of those 
 who belonged to it lived in or near London, and the 
 other was called the Plymouth Company, because 
 many of its members lived in or near Plymouth. 
 
 Efforts at settlement were now begun in earnest, 
 and, in the same year, the London Company sent 
 out three vessels with men who expected to stay in 
 the New World. Strange to say, they took no women 
 with them, just as if men could be contented to live 
 any length of time without wives, or could have real 
 homes without women. 
 
 It was a strange company. Of the one hundred 
 and five men, only twelve called themselves labor- 
 ers; about half said they were "gentlemen," which 
 meant that they neither knew how to work nor 
 wished to learn. There were four carpenters, only 
 
52 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 one blacksmith, one bricklayer, one tailor, one mason» 
 and two doctors. 
 
 The vessels left England in December, and it 
 was May, 1607, before they reached Chesapeake 
 Bay. The capes at its mouth they named Cape 
 Charles and Cape Henry, for two sons of the 
 king, and a point of land opposite the mouth of the 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ^''' ^A^ 
 
 } 
 
 Jamestown. 
 
 After the sketch made by Miss C. C. Hopley about 1857, showing the ruined church. 
 
 bay seemed so cheering after their long voyage that 
 they called it Point Comfort. A beautiful river they 
 called the James, after the king, and on its banks 
 they began to build a town which they named 
 Jamestown. * 
 
 Among the colonists there was a young man 
 who was called Captain John Smith. So many 
 
Virginia and Captain John Smith, 53 
 
 stories have been told about him that one hardly 
 knows what to believe. What we really know about 
 him shows that he was no common man, and, if 
 half that he says of himself is true, few men ever 
 had more surprising adventures. Many of his 
 stories are quite as strange as those of Sir John 
 Mandeville and Marco Polo. 
 
 Captain Smith tells us that he ran away from 
 home when he was a mere boy, that he became a 
 soldier, and afterward a sailor. He was ship- 
 wrecked ; he was 
 robbed ; at one 
 time he was 
 thrown into the 
 sea, because 
 those on board 
 the ship thought 
 that he had been 
 the cause of a 
 great storm- He 
 says that he 
 fought, single 
 handed, three 
 Turks, and cut 
 off their heads. 
 
 At another 
 time, he was 
 
 taken prisoner by the Turks, and sold as a slave. 
 He was then sent as a gift to a young Turkish lady, 
 
 Captain John Smith. 
 
 From the map in his " Description of New England.' 
 
54 History of the United States. 
 
 v/ho was attracted by his intelHgence, and much 
 moved by his misfortunes. Dreading lest her mother 
 should see that she was getting fond of her slave, 
 and fearful that he might be sold, she sent him to 
 her brother, who proved to be a very hard master. 
 He treated Smith cruelly, put an iron collar round 
 his neck, and set him to work beating out grain with 
 a club instead of a flail. 
 
 One day his master came along and struck him. 
 This made Smith so angry that he raised the club 
 he was using, and killed his master with it. Smith 
 knew that there was nothing to do but try to es- 
 cape, so he dressed himself in his master's clothes, 
 leaped on a horse, and rode off as fast as possible. 
 He managed to rid himself of his iron collar and to 
 reach Russia; and, after many wonderful adventures, 
 he came to England. 
 
 When Smith heard of the expedition about to 
 start for Virginia, he thought that this was just 
 the thing for him, so he joined the company that 
 was going out. But his adventures were not ended, 
 for on the voyage he was accused of mutiny, and 
 was put in irons until the vessel reached America. 
 
 As soon as the company landed. Smith claimed 
 the right to be tried ; a trial was granted, and he 
 was found innocent. No matter what happened 
 to him, Smith never seemed to be cast down ; his 
 energy and self-reliance were equal to every occa- 
 sion. 
 
Virginia and Captain John Smith. 55 
 
 Though he was only twenty-eight years old, fond 
 of telling marvellous stories, and certainly a good 
 deal of a boaster, he appears to have had more 
 common-sense than any one else in the company. 
 
 When the colonists arrived in America the 
 weather was pleasant, and they were In no hurry 
 to build houses, especially as that would be hard 
 work, which they did not like. When the summer 
 came, with Its heat, so much greater than that of 
 England, many were taken sick and died ; the 
 whole settlement, in _ 
 
 fact, was like a hos- 
 pital. When this 
 trouble was over, a 
 number of men con- 
 cluded to go back to 
 England, but, by en- 
 couraging some of 
 them and threatenine 
 others, Smith man- 
 aged to quiet their 
 discontent. 
 
 Food was scarce, 
 so Smith, with six or ,, ,. .„ , „ . , 
 
 Algonkin village of Pomeiock, on Albemarle 
 seven others set out sound, in 1585. After John Wyth, copied in 
 ' Morgah. 
 
 to try to get some 
 
 corn from the Indians. At first the Indians, know- 
 ing that the white men were hungry, offered only 
 a handful or so of the grain in exchange for the 
 
 Palisaded Indian Village. 
 
56 History of the United States. 
 
 articles which had been brought. Smith soon saw 
 that there was httle prospect of doing anything in 
 the way of trade, and told his men to fire their guns. 
 The noise and smoke frightened the Indians so 
 that they ran off as fast as they could. 
 
 After a while the Indians returned, and with 
 some difficulty an arrangement was made with 
 them by which, in exchange for beads, copper, and 
 hatchets, they brought the Englishmen venison, tur- 
 keys, wild fowl, and other articles of food. It was 
 lone since the settlers had had such a feast. 
 
 Men still thought that America was a narrow 
 country from east to west, and that there must be 
 somewhere a strait, or river, through which ships 
 might sail to India. Captain John Smith hoped 
 to find such a passage, and several times made 
 excursions around Chesapeake Bay in search of it. 
 
 At one time, with a party he explored the Chicka- 
 hominy River. He had some surprising adventures, 
 and was captured by the Indians. He should have 
 been killed, he says, had he not thought of his 
 pocket compass. The moving needle which the 
 Indians saw but could not touch, because of the 
 glass cover, astonished them so much that they 
 spared his life. But they did not let him go. He 
 was led to a village where many Indians, who 
 were gayly painted and strangely ornamented with 
 skins and feathers, danced around him, yelling and 
 screeching. 
 
Virginia and Captain John Smith. 57 
 
 He was then taken to a long hut and closely- 
 watched. He was given plenty of food, but he was 
 afraid to eat much, for he thought that they were 
 trying to make him fat before the time came to 
 kill and eat him. At last the principal chief de- 
 cided to put Smith to death. 
 
 As Smith tells the story in one of his books, 
 he was brought into a large hut, his head was 
 placed on " two great stones," 
 and the Indians had their 
 clubs raised to beat out his 
 brains, when the daughter of 
 the chief, a girl ten or twelve 
 years old, rushed out of the 
 crowd, took Smith's head in 
 her arms, laid her own upon 
 it, and thus saved his life. 
 
 This is Smith's own story, 
 but, as he said nothing about 
 this incident until several 
 
 VPnrc; Cihf^rWT^rA m^nv thinV From the famous portrait in Booton 
 
 years airerwara, many inmK Haii. Norfolk, England, painted 
 that it is one of the marvel- shortly before she died. 
 
 lous tales that he was so fond of telling. There is 
 no doubt, however, that Powhatan and Pocahontas 
 were real persons. Powhatan soon sent Smith back 
 to Jamestown. He found the colonists in a bad way, 
 and, had it not been for the corn which they got 
 from the Indians, much of which Smith says was 
 brought by Pocahontas, many must have starved. 
 
 Pocahontas. 
 
58 History of the United States. 
 
 Pocahontas was not only the means of supplying 
 the EngHsh with food, but more than once, when the 
 Indians were about to make attacks, she gave warn- 
 ing, and thus put the colonists on their guard. 
 
 Pocahontas afterward married John Rolfe, one 
 of the Englishmen. She visited England with her 
 husband, and, after being made much of, was about 
 to start on her return to America when she was 
 seized with smallpox and died. She left a little boy, 
 from whom several well-known Virginia families are 
 proud to trace their descent. 
 
 The settlers were by this time almost completely 
 discouraged, but soon more men arrived. These, 
 however, were of the same sort as the first ship-load. 
 Smith was now chosen president of the colony. 
 He made a rule that nobody should eat who did not 
 work. The so-called gentlemen did not like this 
 rule at all, but they were forced by the others to obey, 
 and, as long as Smith was at the head, affairs were 
 in better condition. He was almost the only one 
 of the early explorers who wasted no time in search- 
 ing for gold and silver, and who saw the necessity 
 of steady work. 
 
 In the spring of 1609, five hundred emigrants 
 from England arrived, among them some women 
 and children. Smith s rule seemed harsh, and he 
 became unpopular. He claimed to have suffered 
 some bodily injury; at any rate, he said he must 
 return to England to have his wound properly 
 
Virginia and Captain John Smith. 59 
 
 dressed. It is more likely that he was dissatisfied 
 with the condition of affairs in the colony, and took 
 advantage of a good excuse to get away. 
 
 After he left, affairs went on from bad to worse. 
 There was no one to take Smith's place in dealing 
 with the Indians, and they became very hostile. 
 No food could be had. Fishes abounded in the 
 
 Shores of the Sound, Roanoke Island. 
 
 After a sketch from nature. 
 
 rivers and bay, but only one man seems to have 
 thought it worth while to catch any. 
 
 In their desperation, the colonists ate all the 
 animals they had brought with them, not only their 
 dogs but also their horses. Then they ate rats, 
 mice, and snakes. By June, 1610, there were only 
 sixty men left of the five hundred of the year before. 
 
6o History of the United States. 
 
 Just when there seemed to be no hope, two Httle 
 vessels made their appearance. They were vessels 
 which had been built at the Bermuda Islands by a 
 crew shipwrecked on the way to Virginia. They 
 had plenty of provisions, which they had collected 
 on the islands, and so the lives of the colonists were 
 saved. 
 
 The settlers, however, thoroughly disheartened, 
 determined to leave Virginia, and try to reach New- 
 foundland, or some place where they might find a 
 way to get back to England. All had embarked in 
 the little vessels, and were actually sailing for the 
 mouth of the bay, when they met a ship bringing a 
 new governor for Virginia, and more colonists. So 
 they decided to turn back and begin life over again 
 in America. 
 
 The London Company's Virginia business was 
 poorly managed in England. Many persons had 
 invested money, and compjained that it was bring- 
 ing no return. As the lands and goods were held 
 in common by the colony, it soon came to pass that 
 the lazy ones left all the work for the industrious to 
 do, and many complaints came from the overworked 
 colonists. The governor was harsh, and very likely 
 unjust. In the colony there were few women ; and 
 real homes, without which a settlement cannot 
 become a permanent success, were unknown. 
 
 Many young women were persuaded to go out to 
 Virginia, the colonists paying their passage and 
 
Virginia and Captain John Smith. 6i 
 
 other expenses, and taking them for wives. As the 
 number of men was far greater than that of the 
 young women, the latter could do much as they 
 pleased. For thirteen years, this way of supplying 
 wives was kept up. 
 
 When there were homes in Virginia there was 
 no more talk of returning to England ; and as the 
 colonists, meantime, found a very profitable crop in 
 tobacco, they were more than willing to remain. 
 Then, too, children and young persons were grow- 
 ing up who had never known England, and who 
 loved the free life of the new country. 
 
 OUTLINE, 
 
 The hope of finding gold and silver made many cross 
 the ocean. In 1606 two English companies were formed 
 for trading and colonizing. The colonists were ill-fitted 
 for their life. They reached Virginia in 1607 and founded 
 Jamestown. Captain John Smith, the clearest-headed man. 
 His life. Story of the sufferings of the colonists, and what 
 he did to help them. Powhatan and Pocahontas. Further 
 history of the colony. 
 
 Tell what two companies were formed for colonizing America j 
 the kind of men who went out. 
 
 When did the ships reach Virginia, and what town did they 
 estabhsh ? 
 
 Give the story of Captain John Smith's life. 
 
 What did he do for the colony? 
 
 Tell the story of Pocahontas ; of the colonists after Smith left. 
 
HENRY HUDSON. 
 
 The Dutch, at the beginning of the seventeenth 
 century, were great sailors and traders. No country 
 in the world owned more ships than did Holland. 
 The Dutch had a large trade with the East Indies, 
 and longed for a shorter route to these regions. 
 They were of the opinion that such a route could 
 be discovered, either by sailing to the north of 
 Europe, or else by finding a passage through the 
 continent of North America. 
 
 They wanted a sea captain to take charge of an 
 exploring expedition, and they looked about for one 
 who had sailed in the northern and western seas. 
 Hearing of Henry Hudson, an English sailor who 
 had made some daring voyages, they sent for him. 
 
 Satisfied that he was the kind of man they wanted, 
 they gave him the command of a small ship called 
 the Half Moon, in which to search for the desired 
 *' Northwest Passage," or some other short route to 
 India. 
 
 Henry Hudson first sailed along the coast of 
 Norway, passing North Cape ; but he met with so 
 much ice that he had to turn back. This did not 
 discourage him. He had received from his friend, 
 
 62 
 
Henry Hudson. 
 
 63 
 
 Captain John Smith, a letter which said that there 
 was a strait north of Virginia which would lead to 
 the south seas. 
 
 Hudson turned his vessel westward across the 
 Atlantic, and, passing near Greenland, reached 
 the shores of Newfoundland. He then sailed to 
 
 Map to illustrate Henry Hudson's Voyages. 
 
 the south as far as Chesapeake Bay, but he saw 
 no strait. Turning north, he came to Delaware 
 Bay, but finding that this was not the passage of 
 which he was in search, he pushed on still further 
 north, scanning the shores very closely as he went. 
 At last he came to an opening in the coast, which 
 he thought must be the long-sought passage to 
 India. The waters of the stream were salt. Con- 
 
64 History of the United States. 
 
 vinced that this was the strait of which Captain 
 John Smith had written, Hudson, for a hundred 
 miles or more, sailed up the beautiful river which 
 now bears his name. 
 
 The Half Moon was often visited by Indians. 
 Around New York Bay and the lower part of the 
 river most of them were unfriendly, but there were 
 some w^ho came in canoes to exchange tobacco and 
 maize for knives and beads. At one time, twenty- 
 eight canoes full of men, women, and children were 
 around the Half Moon. 
 
 Hudson seized two Indians, intending to keep 
 them, but one day they slipped quietly out of one 
 of the port-holes of the vessel, dropped into the 
 water, and swam off. When they had gone some 
 distance they scornfully hailed the ship, making 
 fun of the sailors. 
 
 Farther up the river the natives were very 
 friendly, and brought tobacco, venison, and skins 
 to the strangers. Hudson went on shore and 
 visited an Indian chief, who made for him a great 
 feast of roast pigeons and roast dog. The chief 
 invited Hudson to stay all night, and broke his 
 arrows to show that he meant no harm to his vis- 
 itors. But Hudson thought that the cabin of the 
 Half Moon was a safer place in which to sleep 
 than the hut of an Indian chief. 
 
 Greatly to Hudson's disappointment, the river 
 now proved to be too shallow for his vessel, and he 
 
Henry Hudson. 
 
 65 
 
 was forced to give up all hope of reaching India 
 in that way. He -returned to England in Novem- 
 ber, 1609. He was not allowed to go to Holland, 
 but he sent a report of his failure. 
 
 He gave, however, such attractive accounts of 
 what he had seen, and especially of the furs which 
 
 
 — lt^ J 
 
 i^:^^ 
 
 "^^^^0 
 
 ,^^ 
 
 The "Half Moon" at the Highlands. 
 
 After the painting by T. Moran. 
 
 could be obtained from the Indians in exchange 
 for mere trifles, that the Dutch sent out men to 
 trade with the Indians. 
 
 Hudson now started on another voyage in search 
 of a northwest passage to India. He went far to 
 the north, and discovered the grreat bay which has 
 been named for him. He spent three months in 
 exploring the shores of this bay, and then, before 
 
66 History of the United States. 
 
 he could get away, his vessel was caught in the 
 ice, and was held fast for more than seven months. 
 
 Soon after the ice broke up, Hudson's men muti- 
 nied, and seizing him and his son and six other 
 men, who were sick or unfit to work, put them 
 into an open boat. They were given a little food, 
 some powder and shot, and then set adrift. One 
 other man joined the castaways of his own accord. 
 The little boat soon disappeared among the floating 
 ice. 
 
 The mutinous crew suffered extreme privations, 
 and many of them died. The survivors made their 
 way out of the ice after a time, and, having met a 
 ship which came to their assistance, finally reached 
 Ireland. As for Hudson and his eight companions, 
 nothing more was ever heard of them. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 The Dutch wished to find a passage to India and em- 
 ployed Henry Hudson. He sailed to Newfoundland, and 
 along the coast to Chesapeake Bay ; turned back and 
 discovered New York Bay and Hudson River ; returned 
 to Europe ; started on another voyage and discovered 
 Hudson's Bay, where he met his death. 
 
 Why did the Dutch employ Hudson? 
 
 Tell the story of his first voyage ; of his discoveries. 
 
 How did he meet his death? 
 
THE PILGRIMS. 
 
 Three hundred years ago it was commonly 
 thought that, men and women should worship God 
 in the way that the government of their country 
 thought best. If any one refused to do this, he was 
 punished : he might be made to pay a fine, his goods 
 might be taken away from him ; he might be sent 
 out of the country away from his home and friends, 
 and forbidden to come back ; he might even be sold 
 into slavery, or something very much like it. 
 
 It may be hard to believe that England treated 
 her own people thus, but even the great Queen 
 Elizabeth held that all men should conform; that is 
 to say, they should act alike in religious matters. 
 
 Now in England there were good men and 
 women who believed that there were many things 
 in the church services which ought to be given up, 
 in order that the worship of God might be more 
 simple, or pure, as they liked to say. Because these 
 people wished to purify the church service, they 
 came to be called " Puritans." 
 
 Others thought that the only thing to do was to 
 leave the church or separate from it, so that they 
 could worship as they thought right. Neither the 
 " Puritans " nor the " Separatists," as these latter 
 
 67 
 
68 History of the United States. 
 
 were called, believed that the king of the country 
 should be the head of the church. ^ 
 
 A little band of " Separatists " was accustomed to 
 meet at a small village, not far from the centre of 
 England, called Scrooby. They were watched day 
 and night, and some were seized and put into prison. 
 
 Sadly they came to see that, if they wished to 
 keep on in their way of worship and belief, they 
 should have to leave their homes and seek another 
 country in which to live. Hearing that in Holland 
 there was freedom of worship for all men, they 
 resolved to go there. 
 
 The very same year in which Captain John Smith 
 went to Virginia with the Jamestown colony, this 
 little band of men and women began their journey 
 to Holland. They hired a captain to take them in 
 his vessel across the North Sea. They were to 
 start from old Boston in Lincolnshire. 
 
 The captain did not meet them as he had prom- 
 ised, but kept them waiting a long time in uncer- 
 tainty. When he did come, he took them on board 
 the ship at night. Now they thought they were off 
 at last, but the captain had told the king's ofhcers 
 all about them, and before the ship put to sea, the 
 officers came on board, seized the would-be emi- 
 grants, put them into an open boat, and there 
 searched them in a very rough manner, to see if 
 they had any money. 
 
 Deprived of their money, books, and other goods, 
 
The Pilgrims. 
 
 69 
 
 the poor emigrants were then cast Into prison. 
 After a month or so, most of them were set free, 
 though others were detained still longer. 
 
 The next spring some of these " Separatists " 
 tried again to get away. This time they engaged a 
 Dutch captain to carry them to Holland. All was 
 
 A House in Leyden. 
 
 As it was in 1620. 
 
 going on well, a number of men were already on 
 board and hope was high in their hearts, when 
 some armed men were seen approaching the water- 
 side. As soon as the Dutch captain saw them, he 
 hoisted his sails and went off, parting husbands and 
 wives, parents and children. 
 
 It was a sad company on board the ship, but It 
 was a sadder company on the shore. Most of 
 those who were left were women and children, for 
 
70 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 the husbands and fathers had reached the shore first, 
 and many of them had gone on board the ship. 
 
 The English magistrates did not know what to 
 do with the women and children. These people 
 had no homes to which they could return ; they 
 could not well be sent to prison for wishing to 
 accompany their husbands and fathers; and so 
 
 after they had 
 been sent from 
 place to place, 
 the m a g i s- 
 strates were 
 glad to get rid 
 of them, and 
 allowed them 
 to go to Hol- 
 leyden. land as best 
 
 From a bird's-eye view dated 1670. The bell tower marks the spot fVipy rfi i P" h t 
 where John Robinson, the pilgrim's pastor, was buried. ■' & * 
 
 Here, some at 
 one time and some at another, they met with their 
 friends and loved ones. 
 
 The emigrants went first to Amsterdam, and then 
 to Leyden. After staying in Holland eleven or 
 twelve years, they began to talk of removing to 
 another country. The dreary life they led kept 
 others from joining them ; and many were growing 
 old. 
 
 It was bad for their children because of the 
 temptations which surrounded them, and because 
 
The Pilgrims. 71 
 
 they could not be educated as their parents had 
 been. The people among whom they lived spoke 
 a different language, and it was not to be expected 
 that boys and girls would grow up English boys 
 and girls in Holland. Lastly, these earnest exiles 
 longed to spread the Gospel in the far-off parts of 
 the world. 
 
 No country seemed to offer so many advantages 
 as did that part of America known as Virginia. 
 There they would be under the English rule ; there 
 only the English language would be spoken; and in 
 an English colony their children could grow up to 
 manhood and womanhood, knowing only English 
 customs and English home life. 
 
 It was true that their little flock had been com- 
 pelled to leave England, but they had some reason 
 for thinking that King James would grant them 
 liberty and freedom of religion in that far-off land. 
 It was a long time before anything could be ar- 
 ranged, but at length leave to plant a colony in 
 America was obtained from the London Company. 
 When the time came to go, only about one-third 
 of the members of the church at Leyden started, 
 for sufhcient money could not be raised to take 
 them all. 
 
 The Pilgrims, for such they felt themselves to be, 
 went first to Delfthaven, where their honored pas- 
 tor, John Robinson, took leave of them with a loving 
 farewell. They sailed to Southampton, and from 
 
n 
 
 History of the United States, 
 
 that place, August 5, 1620, two small vessels, the 
 Mayflower and the Speedwell, set sail with the little 
 band of emigrants. 
 
 Well might these men and women be called Pil- 
 grims. They had gone from England to Amster- 
 
 1^^^ 
 
 Model of the " Mayflower." 
 
 In the National Museum at Washington. 
 
 dam, from Amsterdam to Leyden, and now they 
 were on their way to wild and unknown lands 
 beyond the great ocean, hoping to find a place 
 where they might worship God as they thought 
 right, and where they might bring up their children 
 in His fear. 
 
 The two ships had not gone far, when the Speed- 
 
 I 
 
The Pilgrims. 
 
 73 
 
 well was found to be leaking so badly that both 
 vessels put back to Plymouth. The Speedwell was 
 left behind, and many of her passengers were crowded 
 into the Mayjlower, which set sail September 6. 
 
 It was a long and stormy voyage ; nevertheless 
 they held on their way. The Mayflower got far 
 
 
 Plymouth Bay in Midwinter 280 Years ago. 
 
 out of her course. The Pilgrims had expected to 
 land near the Hudson River, but the first land they 
 saw was Cape Cod. They went southward, but in 
 a few hours met with so many shoals and breakers 
 that they turned back, and took refuge near the end 
 of Cape Cod, in what is now known as Province- 
 town harbor. Here they cast anchor, November 
 II, 1620, 
 
74 History of the United States 
 
 There were one hundred and two passengers in 
 all. One had died on the voyage, but a child was 
 born before they landed, so the number was just 
 the same as when they started. 
 
 While the Mayflower was in the harbor and 
 
 SifkiyMr ^ly^J^m^^ 
 
 Autographs of the "Mayflower" Ph.grims. 
 
 before any one went on shore, the Pilgrims drew 
 up some rules by which to govern themselves. 
 
 This paper, called the Mayflower Compact, they 
 all signed, and then they chose John Carver to be 
 their governor for the first year. Here, then, in 
 the little cabin of the Mayflower, in the harbor of 
 Cape Cod, was " government of the people, by the 
 
The Pilgrims. 75 
 
 people, for the people," begun in America. It is 
 not likely that the Pilgrims at the time thought of 
 anything more than making rules to keep good 
 order among themselves. 
 
 It was clear that the sandy shore of a narrow 
 tongue of land was not the place on which to make 
 a settlement, and several small parties were sent out 
 to seek for some good landing-place. Meanwhile 
 many went on shore, the women to wash the clothes, 
 and the others to walk about on the solid ground. 
 
 A little exploring party set out in a boat under 
 the lead of Captain Myles Standish, a stout-hearted 
 soldier who had joined the Pilgrims because he 
 liked their ways, though he was not a church 
 member. After sailing some distance along the 
 coast, they came opposite a place which seemed to 
 be just what they wanted. As it was Sunday, they 
 rested all that day on an island. The next day, 
 December 21,^ 1620, they went across the harbor 
 and landed on a rock, now so well known as Plym- 
 outh Rock. 
 
 They found cleared land which had been used by 
 the Indians as corn-fields, a brook running at the 
 foot of the hill, and many springs of water. Very 
 near the shore were hills from the tops of which 
 they could see a great distance, and on which they 
 could plant cannon for their protection. 
 
 ^ December 21 is the correct date ; through an error December 22 is 
 usually celebrated as the anniversary. 
 
76 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 Captain John Smith had once visited the place; 
 on his map of New England he called it Plymouth, 
 and as old Plymouth was the port in England from 
 which they had sailed, the Pilgrims kept the name. 
 
 Myles St an dish 
 and his party went 
 back with the good 
 news, and before lonor 
 the Mayjioiver had 
 cast her anchor in 
 the harbor. The Pil- 
 grims chose a spot 
 under a high hill, 
 close to the shore, 
 for the site of their 
 village, and set to 
 work at once to build 
 small houses. 
 
 Many of the Pil- 
 grims were sick, 
 chiefly from the bad 
 food they were forced 
 to eat on the voyage, 
 
 From a photograph. The monument covers the spot anCl alSO irOm lUe WCt 
 on which tradition says the PUgrims landed. ^^^ ^j^^ CXpOSUrC thcy 
 
 had experienced after reaching Cape Cod. Not- 
 withstanding the mild weather, about half of their 
 number died during the winter, and their bodies 
 were buried on the hill just above the rock on 
 
 
 \ H, 
 
 'I I //I 
 
 Plymouth Rock. 
 
The Pilgrims. 
 
 77 
 
 which they had landed. The graves were levelled, 
 so that the Indians might not see how many had 
 died. 
 
 Part of the time there were only six or seven well 
 persons, but these spared no pains to help those who 
 were in need. William Brewster, their revered elder, 
 
 Pilgrim Fort and Meeting-house. 
 
 and Myles Standish, their captain, were two of the 
 most active. They attended to the sick, prepared 
 their food, washed their clothes, cut their firewood, 
 and performed cheerfully and willingly the most 
 humble services. 
 
 At length spring came. Early in March the 
 birds sang in the woods, the trees and shrubs began 
 to bud, and the poor Pilgrims felt that the worst oi 
 
78 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 Peregrine White's Inlaid 
 Cabinet. 
 
 In Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth. 
 
 their troubles were over. The Mayflower set sail 
 
 on her return voyage in April, 1621 ; but though 
 
 they had suffered so much, not one of the Pilgrims 
 
 wished to go back on her. 
 
 The Pilgrims had been 
 afraid of attacks by the Ind- 
 ians. The smoke of Indian 
 fires had been seen, and once 
 the tools of Myles Standish 
 and another man who had 
 been working in the woods 
 were stolen in their absence ; 
 but no attack had been made. 
 One day in March an Indian walked boldly into 
 
 the village, greatly alarming the colonists ; but they 
 
 were glad to hear him say in English, " Welcome ! " 
 
 He said his name was 
 
 Samoset, and that he had 
 
 learned a few words from 
 
 some English fishermen 
 
 whom he had met farther 
 
 north. He also told them 
 
 that a great pestilence had 
 
 rasred among^ the Indians in possession of the Connecticut his- 
 
 ^ ^ torical Society at Hartford. 
 
 about four years before, and 
 
 that most of those who had lived near the place 
 
 where the Pilgrims had landed were dead. 
 
 A few days later Samoset came again and 
 brought with him an Indian named Squanto, who, 
 
 Brewster's Sea Chest and 
 Standish's Iron Pot. 
 
The Pilgrims. 79 
 
 he said, was now the only survivor of the tribe 
 which once had Hved near Plymouth. He had been 
 carried away captive by some sailors, had been in 
 London, and had learned to speak English. He 
 came back to America, joining a tribe of Indians 
 who lived thirty or forty miles west of Plymouth. 
 Massasoit, the chief of this tribe, Squanto said, was 
 near by with sixty men, and would soon visit the 
 English. In about an hour Massasoit and his war- 
 riors showed themselves on the top 
 of a hill not far off. 
 
 At first the English were afraid 
 of the Indians, and the Indians 
 were afraid of the English ; but by 
 the help of Squanto the parties 
 came together, and a treaty of 
 peace and friendship was made platter and kettle 
 between Governor Carver and the ^^ myles standish. 
 
 chief, Massasoit, which was kept for more than fifty 
 years. 
 
 The Indians had their faces colored black, red, 
 and yellow. Some were ornamented with crosses 
 or other signs. Some were clothed in skins, and 
 some were without clothing. Massasoit's face was 
 painted red, and was well greased. He had a great 
 chain of white bone beads around his neck. Tied 
 to this chain was a bag of tobacco which he smoked 
 himself and offered to the English. 
 
 Squanto was much pleased with the Pilgrims, 
 
8o History of the United States. 
 
 and after a while came to live with them. He 
 showed them where fish and clams were plentiful, 
 and taught them to plant corn with two or three 
 dead fish in every hill to make the ground rich. 
 He also acted as their interpreter and guide. He 
 liked to make himself important; to frighten the 
 Indians he used to tell them that the English kept 
 the plague buried in their storehouse, and that 
 they could send it out against any one without 
 
 The Sword of Myles Standish. 
 
 In Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth. 
 
 stirring from their houses. On the whole, he was 
 a good friend to the Pilgrims, and when, after living 
 with them a little over a year, he died, there was 
 real sorrow in the colony. Before his death he 
 asked Governor Bradford to pray that he might go 
 to the Englishman's heaven. 
 
 After the first year's crops had been gathered in, 
 Governor Bradford and the Pilgrims had a public 
 Thanksgiving, the first in America. Massasoit, 
 who visited them at this time, joined them with his 
 
The Pilgrims. 
 
 8i 
 
 men, who brought five deer, and these with wild 
 turkeys, which the Pilgrims had already shot, made 
 a grand feast. For three days they feasted together; 
 the Pilgrims rejoiced over their harvest, thanked 
 God, and took courage. 
 
 When the hunting season had passed, want again 
 stared the Pilgrims in the face. Thirty-five settlers 
 
 Governor Carver's Chair. 
 
 In Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth. 
 
 The Chair of John Eliot, thb 
 Apostle to the Indians. 
 
 had come from England, but had brought no sup- 
 plies with them. These newcomers nearly doubled 
 the number of the little band, which was now far 
 too large for the small stock of provisions laid by 
 for the winter. 
 
 It was impossible to get much from the friendly 
 Indians. Each person, therefore, was given only 
 half the usual amount of food. The Indians, finding 
 out their weak condition, began to threaten them. 
 
82 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 Canonicus, the chief of the Narragansetts, sent a 
 messenger " with a bundle of arrows tied about 
 with a snakeskin, which their interpreter told 
 them was a threatening and a challenge." 
 
 The governor was not 
 frightened, but sent back 
 the snakeskin full of bul- 
 lets, telling the Indians 
 that if they would rather 
 have war than peace, they 
 might begin when they 
 would. Canonicus, the 
 chief, was so afraid of the 
 bullets that he sent them 
 back to Plymouth, and 
 made no attack. 
 
 There was abundance 
 of fish in the streams and 
 in the sea, but for lack of 
 nets and fishing tackle 
 few were caught. The 
 strongest men of the col- 
 ony were weak from hun- 
 ger, and were hardly able 
 through the springtime 
 and early summer the Pilgrims were almost starv- 
 ing, and it was not until the harvest came that they 
 were free from want. 
 
 Myles Standish was a brave man, ready to fight, 
 
 Pilgrim Monument at Plymouth. 
 
 " National Monument to the Forefathers. 
 Erected by a grateful people in remem- 
 brance of their labors, sacrifices, and 
 sufferings for the cause of civil and reli- 
 gious liberty." 
 
 to plant the crops. All 
 
The Pilgrims. 
 
 83 
 
 ready to go on dangerous journeys, and ready to 
 sail the stormy seas. He was, indeed, a most use- 
 ful man to the little community, for he not only 
 helped to protect the Pilgrims at Plymouth, but he 
 also went on trading expeditions to various parts 
 of the coast for furs 
 and even crossed the 
 ocean to buy supplies 
 for the colony, and to 
 look after its inter- 
 ests. 
 
 He lived to be an 
 old man and to have 
 the satisfaction of see- 
 ing the colony grow and flourish. For many years 
 his home was at Duxbury, on the opposite side of 
 the bay from Plymouth ; a hill which he owned is 
 still called "The Captain's Hill," and on it is a tall 
 monument in honor of the brave man. 
 
 The Myles Standish House at 
 Duxbury, 
 
 Built in 1666 by Alexander, Myles Standish's 
 eldest son. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 In order to gain liberty of worship, a band of " Sepa- 
 ratists " left England and. went to Holland. After about 
 twelve years they concluded to go to America. They 
 sailed in the Mayflower and reached Cape Cod December, 
 1620. They settled at Plymouth They suffered greatly 
 during the first winter, and more than half their number 
 died. Their captain was Myles Standish, a brave man. 
 They had little trouble from the Indians. 
 
84 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 Who were the Puritans? the Separatists? 
 Tell the story of the Separatists in England ; how they went to 
 Holland. 
 
 Why did they wish to go to America? 
 
 Tell the story of the voyage to America in the Mayflower. 
 
 Why were they called Pilgrims ? 
 
 Where did they land ? 
 
 Tell the story of their first winter in America. 
 
 Describe Myles Standish, and tell what he did. 
 
 Tell the story of Squanto ; of the first " Thanksgiving." 
 
 The Land of the Pilgrims and Puritans. 
 
THE PURITANS. 
 
 In 1630, just about ten years after the Pilgrims 
 had come to Plymouth, five or six ships sailed into 
 the harbor of Naumkeag, afterward known as 
 Salem. They brought two hundred Puritan colo- 
 nists. Everything was as different as possible from 
 the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. 
 
 It was in early summer. " Every hill and dale 
 and every island was full of gay woods and high 
 trees," and flowers were blossoming in abundance. 
 The very land seemed to welcome them. It was 
 the strongest company of emigrants that had yet 
 come to the New World. In the next year eight 
 hundred more arrived. 
 
 These men and women crossed the sea to make 
 for themselves homes ; they were willing to work, 
 and expected to work hard. Their purpose in com- 
 ing was to find a place where they could worship 
 God in the way which they thought right ; where 
 they could manage their affairs to suit themselves ; 
 where they could have their own laws ; where in new 
 homes it would be possible for every one to better 
 his condition. 
 
 More Puritans kept coming over to Salem, and 
 the surrounding country began to be settled. Some 
 
 85 
 
86 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 of the immigrants were not satisfied with Salem, 
 and looked about for a more attractive place. This 
 they found in Massachusetts Bay, on a peninsula 
 called by the Indians Shawmut, and by the Eng- 
 lishmen Tri-mountain, from the three hills upon it. 
 There was plenty of fresh water, and pasturage for 
 the cattle ; and, as it was connected with the main- 
 land by a narrow neck, it could easily be defended 
 in case of danger. 
 
 The settlers always retained a warm affection for 
 their old homes in England, and gave the names of 
 
 many English towns to 
 the new villages in Amer- 
 ica. So this new settle- 
 ment was soon named 
 Boston, after old Boston 
 in England, from which 
 place or its neighborhood 
 many of the colonists had 
 come. 
 
 The Puritan colony 
 was known as that of 
 Massachusetts Bay. Its 
 first resident governor 
 was John Winthrop, a 
 highly educated, wealthy gentleman, who emigrated 
 with his family from England to seek a home in the 
 New World. 
 
 The Puritans were a band of hard-working, God- 
 
 JOHN Winthrop. 
 
 After the original in the Massachusetts 
 Senate Chamber. 
 
The Puritans. 87 
 
 fearing folk. All worked ; those who were rich be- 
 cause they thought it was right, and those who were 
 poor because they did not wish to be dependent, and 
 because work was necessary for their support. They 
 began at once to lay out farms, and to plant the seed 
 which they had brought with them from England. 
 
 Governor Winthrop set a noble example. Re- 
 ligion was interwoven with his whole life. He 
 
 Pine Tree Shilling. 
 
 planted and traded, sowed and built, governed and 
 fought, loved wife and children and neighbors in 
 the fear of the Lord. He was sometimes narrow- 
 minded, and even bigoted, but this was due rather 
 to the nature of the times than to his own character, 
 which was better and broader than that of most pub- 
 lic men of his day. 
 
 He built and launched the first sea-going vessel 
 in New England. She was named the Blessing of 
 the Bay, and was the forerunner of the great fleet of 
 vessels which has done so much to make New Eng- 
 land rich and prosperous. 
 
 It seems very strange to us that the Puritans who 
 
88 History of the United States. 
 
 had left England to find a place where they might 
 have freedom for themselves were not willing to 
 give freedom to others. They wished to be let 
 alone by those who did not think as they did, but 
 they had no intention of letting others alone on the 
 same conditions. They were determined to have 
 the whole colony, as far as was possible, think in the 
 same way in religious and church matters. 
 
 Roger Williams, a young Englishman, arrived in 
 Massachusetts during the winter of 1631. After a 
 while he was chosen to be minister of the church at 
 Salem. Roger Williams believed in religious liberty 
 for every one. The Puritans believed in religious 
 liberty for themselves. Roger Williams believed 
 that laws should relate to a man's actions, and that 
 he should be free to think as he liked. The Puri- 
 tans believed that laws should be framed to punish 
 a man for thinking, or saying, as well as for doing 
 anything of which the colony disapproved. 
 
 Williams refused to agree with the Massachusetts 
 Puritans that religion was the chief business of the 
 civil magistrate. He refused to uphold a law com- 
 pelling every one to go to church. Soon he came 
 to be regarded as a very dangerous person, and was 
 told that it would be better for him to leave Salem. 
 Still he kept on boldly denouncing the colony. 
 
 When he said that the king of England had no 
 right to give the land of the Indians to the colo- 
 nists, the leading men of Boston and of the neigh- 
 
The Puritans. 89 
 
 boring towns thought it was high time to arrest him 
 and send him out of the country, as had been done 
 with other troublesome persons. 
 
 Hearing of this, WilHams made his escape into 
 the forest. The snow was on the ground, and it 
 was bitterly cold, but he pushed on until he reached 
 the home of Massasoit, the friend of the Pilgrims. 
 This chief received him very kindly and took care 
 of him for the rest of the winter. 
 
 In the spring, Williams began a settlement at 
 Seekonk, just within the territory of the Plymouth 
 Colony. Later, with five other men, he went farther 
 down the river; as they rowed along, some Indians 
 called out, " What cheer, ne-top ? " " How are you, 
 friend ? " Encouraged by this welcome the little 
 company turned the boat toward the shore and 
 landed on what is known as " Slate Rock." But 
 they embarked again, and rowed on until they 
 found an attractive place where there was a good 
 spring of water. 
 
 Williams determined to begin a settlement here. 
 He bought land of the friendly India.is, and dis- 
 tributed it among the settlers. He named the new 
 settlement *' Providence," on account, as he said, of 
 " God's providence to him in his distresses." 
 
 Here, for the first time in the world's history, was 
 there perfect liberty of thought. Roman Catholics 
 and Protestants, infidels and atheists, were all pro- 
 tected, and no man suffered for his opinions. 
 
go 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 Cradle and Chair of the Time of the 
 Puritans. 
 
 Settlers soon came and established themselves on 
 the island of Rhode Island, and the whole colony 
 was later known as Rhode Island 
 and Providence Plantations. The 
 Puritans looked upon it as a danger- 
 ous place, where heretics and lawless 
 persons took refuge ; but notwith- 
 standing this the colony flourished. 
 
 Roger Will- 
 iams, though 
 he had been 
 banished from 
 Massachusetts, 
 did not cher- 
 ish ill feeling 
 toward those who had caused him to leave his home 
 and seek another in the wilderness. Once he learned 
 
 that the Pequods, an 
 Indian tribe in what 
 is now Connecticut, 
 were doing their best 
 to persuade the Nar- 
 ragansett Indians to 
 join them in an at- 
 tack upon the white 
 settlers in Massachu- 
 setts. At the risk of his life, he w^ent to the council 
 of the Narragansetts, prevailed upon them to refuse 
 to join the Pequods, and thus saved Massachusetts 
 from the horrors of an Indian attack. 
 
 An Old House in Salem, Mass. 
 
The Puritans. 91 
 
 Roger Williams was a robust and vigorous man ; 
 when he was seventy-three years old, he rowed him- 
 self in an open boat over thirty miles on Narragan- 
 sett Bay to hold a discussion with some Quakers at 
 Newport. He was a man of very decided opinions 
 and sometimes used strong language, but he never 
 persecuted any one. He was perhaps the first man 
 to proclaim entire civil and religious liberty. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 In 1630 two hundred Puritan colonists landed at Salem, 
 Massachusetts. They came to find homes and a place 
 where they could worship God as they wished. They were 
 hard-working, God-fearing people. The Puritans wished 
 everybody to think and act alike in religious matters. 
 Roger WiUiams believed that church and state should not 
 be joined together. He was threatened with arrest. He 
 fled into the wilderness, and founded Providence, where he 
 gave perfect liberty to thought and action. 
 
 Where did the Puritans land? 
 How many came the first year? 
 Why did they come ? 
 Describe the Puritans. 
 Describe John Winthrop. 
 Tell the story of Roger Williams. 
 
LORD BALTIMORE AND MARYLAND. 
 
 The Pilgrims and the Puritans were not the only 
 persons who wished to find a land where they could 
 worship God as they pleased. The Roman Catho- 
 lics were not allowed to have churches in England, 
 and were persecuted in various ways. 
 
 Among the wealthy English Roman Catholics 
 was Sir George Calvert, better known as Lord 
 Baltimore, the latter name coming from a small 
 town in southern L-eland. He was brought up a Pro- 
 testant, but became a Roman Catholic. He wished 
 to found a colony where his Catholic brethren would 
 be secure from interference. 
 
 In 162 1, Lord Baltimore, ignorant of the length 
 and coldness of the winters, founded a colony in 
 Newfoundland. Later he himself went out intend- 
 ing to remain, but the severity of the climate con- 
 vinced him that he must seek some warmer country 
 if his plans were to succeed. He went to Virginia 
 to see what could be done there ; but, as he was a 
 Catholic, the Virginians did not welcome him. He 
 next applied to the king, Charles L, who willingly 
 granted him lands on Chesapeake Bay north of the 
 river Potomac. The king named the colony Mary- 
 land after his queen, Henrietta Maria. 
 
 92 
 
Lord Baltimore and Maryland. 93 
 
 Sir George Calvert died before his charter was 
 ready, and the king gave it to Sir George's son, 
 Cecilius or Cecil, who became the second Lord 
 Baltimore. No one in the colonies had been given 
 such extensive powers. He was almost a monarch, 
 for he was required only to give the king two 
 Indian arrows every year, and one-fifth of any gold 
 and silver that might be 
 found, and to make no 
 laws contrary to the laws 
 of England. 
 
 The first band of colo- 
 nists, about two hundred 
 in number, under the lead- 
 ership of Leonard Cal- 
 vert, a younger brother of 
 Lord Baltimore, sailed 
 from England in two ves- 
 sels named the Ark and 
 the Dove, The company 
 reached the mouth of the 
 Potomac River in March, 
 
 1634, and landed on a small island. There they 
 cut down a tree, and made a cross which they set 
 up; then they kneeled before it, and gave thanks 
 for having been brought safely to their new home. 
 
 The colonists soon went over to the mainland. 
 They treated the Indians justly, buying land of 
 them and paying for it with axes, knives, and other 
 
 Cecilius Calvert, Lord 
 Baltimore. 
 
 After a portrait preserved in the British 
 Public Record Office. 
 
94 History of the United States. 
 
 articles pleasing to the natives. The Indians gave 
 up part of their village to the strangers and fur- 
 nished them with corn to plant. The colonists built 
 a little town which they called St. Mary's, because 
 they had landed on the day named in honor of the 
 Virgin Mary. 
 
 The laws made in Maryland were liberal, and for 
 years that colony was one of the freest places in the 
 world. Puritans and Episcopalians, Catholics and 
 Quakers, came to Maryland to find peaceful homes. 
 But even there infidels and Unitarians were alike 
 unwelcome, and could have no privileges 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 Lord Baltimore wished to found a colony for Roman 
 Catholics. He tried Newfoundland ; the climate was too 
 cold. King Charles granted him lands on Chesapeake 
 Bay. He named the colony Maryland. He died, but his 
 son Cecil carried out his plans. His laws were liberal, and, 
 except Rhode Island, Maryland was the freest of the early 
 colonies. 
 
 Tell how Lord Baltimore came to found a colony. 
 
 After whom was the colony named ? 
 
 How much power did Lord Baltimore have ? 
 
 Tell the story of the first band of colonists. 
 
 Was there perfect freedom for religion in Maryland ? 
 
KING PHILIP'S WAR. 
 
 Massasoit, the friend of the Pilgrims and of 
 Roger WilHams, had two sons, — Wamsutta, who 
 was called by the colonists 
 Alexander, and Metacomet, 
 who was called Philip or King 
 Philip. When Massasoit died, 
 Wamsutta became chief of the 
 tribe. The governor of Plym- 
 outh sent some soldiers to 
 bring Wamsutta to Plymouth 
 because it was reported that he 
 was thinking of making an at- 
 tack upon the English. Wam- 
 sutta was unfortunately taken 
 sick while at Plymouth. The 
 Indians thought that he had 
 been poisoned by the English, and as he died shortly 
 after his return, they became convinced that foul 
 work had been done. 
 
 From various causes the neighboring Indians 
 grew more and more hostile. They claimed with 
 some justice that the English made them drunk 
 and cheated them of land. They tried to arouse 
 other tribes to join them in attacking the English. 
 
 95 
 
 King Philip. 
 
 Belt and ornaments correctly 
 shown. 
 
g6 History of the United States. 
 
 At one time they found some Indians who had 
 warned their own EngHsh friends of the danger, 
 and they seized the traitors, as they called them, and 
 
 put them to death. 
 
 It was not long before there 
 was a war from which only a 
 few tribes held aloof. The 
 Indians fought after their own 
 fashion. An Indian would 
 creep from tree to tree until 
 he came within gunshot of a 
 white man, and then he would 
 shoot at him. When his vic- 
 tim fell, the Indian would rush 
 up to him, scalp him, and sud- 
 denly disappear. 
 
 Often the Indians would 
 attack the log-cabins of the 
 settlers at night, set them on 
 fire, and shoot or tomahawk 
 the inmates as they ran from 
 the burning houses. No one 
 who lived on the outskirts of 
 the settlements felt safe, night 
 or day. 
 The Indians frequently chose Sunday for their 
 attacks. Once the settlers of Hadley, Massachu- 
 setts, who were in their meeting-house, were startled 
 by an alarm of Indians. The men rushed out of 
 
 Indian Weapons. 
 
 After Catlin. 
 
King Philip's War, 
 
 97 
 
 the house, when a tall man with long gray hair and 
 beard made his appearance, and shouting to the 
 colonists, led them on against the foe. 
 
 The Indians were repulsed, and the old man van- 
 ished as suddenly as he had come. Many thought 
 he was sent from heaven to deliver them. He was 
 General Goffe, one of Oliver Cromwell's soldiers, 
 who had voted to condemn King Charles I. of Eng- 
 land to death, 
 and upon whose 
 head a price 
 was fixed. He 
 had taken ref- 
 uge in Amer- 
 ica with some 
 friends, and was 
 living in con- 
 cealment. He 
 saw the Indians 
 
 The Junkins' Garrison House. 
 
 Built against Indian attacks in 1640-45. Formerly on a hilltop 
 in Scotland Parish, York, Maine. It was burnt in June, 
 1889. After a painting by Susan Minot Lane. 
 
 commg, gave 
 
 the alarm, and led the defence with his old fire and 
 
 courage. 
 
 There were about a hundred towns in New Ensf- 
 land at this time. Of these, forty were attacked by 
 the Indians, and twelve were completely destroyed. 
 It was not until the colonists adopted the Indian 
 mode of fighting that they were successful. 
 
 We can hardly believe the stories of the cruelties 
 practised in this war, both by the Indians and by the 
 
98 History of the United States. 
 
 English. The colonists at one time attacked a fort 
 on Narragansett Bay. It was a log fort in the 
 midst of an almost impassable cedar swamp, and 
 the Indians had brought there a large number of 
 old men, women, and children. The Enghsh sur- 
 prised the fort, but the Indians made a brave de- 
 fence. More than two hundred of the whites were 
 killed, and about five times as many of the natives. 
 The colonists were so inflamed against the Indians 
 that they set fire to the wigwams, and many old 
 men, women, and children were burned to death. 
 Canonchet, the chief, was taken. He was offered his 
 life if he would make peace, but he refused, saying 
 when he was about to be put to death, " I like it 
 well ; I wish to die before my heart is soft or I say 
 anything unworthy of myself.'* 
 
 When the Indians attacked a settler's house or a 
 village, they would often carry off the women and 
 children captives, and many stories of hairbreadth 
 escapes and of dreadful cruelties were long told to 
 the New England boys and girls. 
 
 Philip found that, with all his efforts, the Indians 
 were steadily losing ground, and that his cause was 
 hopeless. He wandered from place to place, and 
 hid in swamps and forests. His wife and his young 
 son were captured and sold as slaves to the Bermuda 
 Islands; for death or slavery was the punishment 
 for Indians who had fought or had even taken 
 sides against the English. 
 
King Philip's War. 
 
 99 
 
 Philip wandered back to the neighborhood of his 
 old home near Mt. Hope on Narragansett Bay. He 
 was traced to a swamp, and was shot by an Indian 
 whose brother he had killed. 
 
 The hands and head of the great Indian warrior 
 were cut off; his head was sent to Plymouth, and 
 placed on a high pole where it remained exposed to 
 view for about twenty years. 
 It seems very strange to us 
 that the Pilgrims and Puri- 
 tans should have been so 
 harsh, but even in England 
 at that time the heads of 
 traitors and rebels were ex- 
 posed on Temple Bar, a 
 gate in London. 
 
 The power of the Ind- 
 ians was now broken, for 
 their best warriors had 
 been either killed or taken 
 prisoners, and King Philip's 
 War was the last great struggle with the natives in 
 New England. 
 
 Many of the colonists desired to civilize the red 
 men, and to convert them to the Christian religion. 
 One of the objects of the founding of Harvard Col- 
 lege was to educate Indian youth for the ministry. 
 
 John Eliot, a minister at Roxbury, near Boston, 
 was the most unwearied worker in this good cause. 
 
 John Eliot. 
 
 From a portrait in the family of the late 
 William Whiting. 
 

 lOO History of the United States. 
 
 He learned the language of some of the tribes in 
 order to teach them in their own tongue. He was 
 constant in visiting the Indian villages and preach- 
 ing to the natives. He once said, " I have not been 
 dry, night or day, from the third day of the week to 
 the sixth ; but so travel, at night 
 I pull off my boots, wring my stock- 
 ings, and so continue." 
 
 Eliot was very successful in his 
 work, and is said to have persuaded 
 more than three thousand Indians 
 to become Christians. But this was 
 not all. He translated the Bible into 
 the Indian language and had it 
 printed. Indian boys learned to 
 read in it, and were taught its 
 lessons. 
 These Indians are gone, their language has been 
 forgotten, and probably not more than one or two 
 persons are now able to read Eliot's Indian Bible. 
 The book itself is rarely met with, but copies may 
 be seen in some of the great public libraries. 
 
 mi;f?H(mmnfim»{mHmif» 
 
 Title Page of 
 Eliqt's Bible. 
 
 Reduced fac-simile. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 The Indians in New England, from various causes, be- 
 came hostile to the English. A terrible war followed ; 
 there were many atrocities. Philip, a son of Massasoit, 
 was the leader. He united the tribes against the English. 
 
King Philip's War. loi 
 
 He was at last shot, and the war came to an end. John 
 Eliot labored to convert the Indians to Christianity, and 
 translated the Bible into their language. 
 
 Tell who Alexander and Philip were. 
 Describe the Indian methods of warfare. 
 Tell the story of the attack on Hadley. 
 Tell the story of King Philip. 
 What did John Eliot do for the Indians? 
 
PETER STUYVESANT AND NEW NETHER- 
 LAND. 
 
 The first vessels sent to the river that Henry 
 Hudson had discovered brought back such good 
 reports of the country that the Dutch sent out more 
 ships, for they were very quick to seize any chance 
 for trade. Three vessels were sent in 1613. One 
 of them, having taken fire at Manhattan Island, was 
 burnt. Captain Adrien Block, her commander, at 
 once set his men to work to put up some log huts 
 in which to spend the winter. These were the 
 first houses built by Europeans where New York 
 City now stands. 
 
 While at Manhattan Island, Captain Block built 
 a small vessel, sailed through East River into 
 Long Island Sound, and discovered the island now 
 called by his name. Another captain sailed up the 
 Hudson River and established Fort Orange, a trad- 
 ing post near the place where Albany is now. 
 
 Ten years later, the Dutch West India Company 
 sent out a number of families to settle at Manhat- 
 tan, at Fort Orange, on Long Island, and even as 
 far as the Delaware River. The next year, 1624, 
 Peter Minuit, the director-general of the colony, 
 bought Manhattan Island from the Indians for 
 
Peter Stuyvesant and New Netherland. 103 
 
 about twenty-four dollars, and built Fort Amster- 
 dam ; this was the beginning of New Amsterdam, 
 afterward New York City. 
 
 Soon after this, some of the directors of the com- 
 pany bought large tracts of land along the Hudson 
 River, and sent out colonists as tenants. These 
 large landowners, who called themselves patroons, 
 became very wealthy and powerful. They lived on 
 their great es- 
 tates very much 
 as the old lords 
 used to do in 
 feudal times in 
 the Middle 
 Ages. In 1633, 
 the first school- 
 master came to 
 the colony, and the school of which he was the 
 first teacher is still flourishing, the oldest school 
 in the United States.^ 
 
 The colony was managed, however, not for the 
 good of the settlers, but for the benefit of the 
 Dutch Company. Among other things, the farm- 
 ers were not allowed to buy any furs from the 
 Indians, and the company tried to keep even the 
 patroons out of this profitable trade, but with small 
 success. 
 
 For a few years the Dutch treated the Indians 
 
 1 The Collegiate School of the Dutch Church, New York City. 
 
 Dutch Pleasure Wagon of the Olden Time. 
 
I04 History of the United States 
 
 well. It is true that some of the settlers sold them 
 guns and rum, and that the fur-traders cheated 
 them ; but, on the whole, the Indians were not 
 dissatisfied. Unfortunately, in 1637, the company 
 sent out William Kieft, as director. He had been 
 a merchant, and knew little or nothing about ruling 
 
 Early Dutch Costumes. 
 
 men. He could not be depended upon, for he did 
 not keep his word. He was obstinate, cruel, and 
 greedy of gain ; he treated the Indians very badly, 
 and in this way provoked them to make savage 
 attacks upon the settlers. 
 
 For two years there was a war in which the colo- 
 nists suffered greatly. The Indians would fire on 
 the boats passing by on the river ; they would attack 
 
Peter Stuyvesant and New Netherlands 105 
 
 men and women travelling on the roads ; they would 
 shoot the farmers as they worked in the fields. In- 
 deed, the farmers hardly dared to do the necessary 
 work for fear of being shot. Trade and commerce 
 came almost to a standstill, and the colony began to 
 suffer from hunger. Kieft now saw his mistake, and 
 was only too glad to make peace with the Indians. 
 
 After ten years of misrule, Kieft was removed. 
 The ship in which he was 
 returning to Holland was 
 wrecked in the English 
 Channel he was drowned, 
 and the fortune he was tak- 
 ing back went down with 
 him. 
 
 The Dutch Company 
 now chose Peter Stuyve- 
 sant to succeed Kieft as 
 director- general of New 
 Netherland. Stuyvesant 
 had been governor of Cura- 
 90a, in the West Indies, 
 and had lost one of his 
 legs from a wound in battle. He now stumped 
 around on a wooden leg, bound with silver bands. 
 He was hot-headed and easily made angry; he 
 was headstrong and used very hard words, but 
 had not a bad heart. He was brave, full of cour- 
 age, honest, and devoted to the interests of the com- 
 
 Peter Stuyvesant. 
 
 After the portrait from life in the pos- 
 session of the New York Historical 
 Society. 
 
io6 History of the United States. 
 
 pany which employed him. He had a high idea of 
 the position of a governor, and beheved that he 
 ought to have all the power in his own hands. 
 Once, when some one threatened to appeal to the 
 company, he said, " If he does, I will make him a 
 foot shorter, and send the pieces to Holland." But 
 he really had the good of the colony at heart, and, 
 when the colonists came to know him, there was 
 not much trouble. 
 
 The Swedes wished to have a share in America, 
 and had sent out a colony (1638) under Peter 
 Minuit, the same man who had bought Manhat- 
 tan Island for the Dutch. Minuit sailed up the 
 Delaware River, bought land from the Indians, 
 and, near the place where Wilmington, Delaware, 
 now stands, he built a fort, naming it Christina, after 
 the queen of Sweden. 
 
 The Dutch objected strongly to this, but Stuyve- 
 sant was too weak to prevent, it. A few years 
 later, however, Stuyvesant built a fort on the Dela- 
 ware, very near the Swedish settlement. This fort 
 the Swedes attacked and took. Stuyvesant, the 
 people of New Amsterdam, and the Dutch Com- 
 pany, were very angry when this news reached 
 them. As soon as possible Stuyvesant made an 
 attack upon the Swedes, and was successful in tak- 
 ing all their forts. This brought Swedish rule to 
 an end in America. 
 
 The Swedes were not the only enemies of the 
 
Peter Stuyvesant and New Netherland. 107 
 
 Dutch. The English settlers were increasing north 
 and south of New Netherland, and paid little atten- 
 tion to the Dutch boundaries. Stuyvesant made 
 several journeys to New England to defend his 
 rights, and secured as good terms as he could. But 
 the English settlers kept coming upon Dutch terri- 
 tory, and claimed nearly the whole of what is to-day 
 the state of New York. Many of them had come 
 to Long Island, and they disliked the Dutch rule. 
 Stuyvesant saw the danger to the colony, but could 
 do nothing, as the English outnumbered his men 
 so greatly. 
 
 One day in August, 1664, some English ships 
 came sailing into the bay. Troops were landed, 
 who took possession of Staten Island. Director 
 Stuyvesant put all able-bodied men to work to 
 repair the battery and to throw up fortifications ; 
 but the stock of powder was small, and the people 
 were not hearty in their support, for they preferred 
 to go under English rule rather than have the town 
 fired on and their property destroyed. In fact, not 
 a few were quite ready to change rulers. 
 
 NicoUs, the English commander, sent a letter 
 saying that, if the Dutch gave up, no one should 
 be hurt and that everything could go on as before, 
 except that the English flag must fiy over the town 
 and the English rule be acknowledged. The coun- 
 cil insisted that this letter should be read before the 
 people, but Stuyvesant refused, for he was sure that 
 
io8 History of the United States. 
 
 the people would wish to accept these terms. A 
 sharp dispute followed, and Stuyvesant, in a rage, 
 tore up the letter and threw the pieces on the floor. 
 The council broke up, but the members told the 
 people what terms the English had offered. Finally 
 Stuyvesant was forced to yield. The English landed, 
 
 The Stadthuys, New York, 1679. 
 After Brevoort's drawing. ("Stadthuys ' is Dutch for " statehouse.") 
 
 hoisted their flag, and New Netherland became New 
 York. 
 
 The Dutch Company sent for Stuyvesant to 
 come to Holland and explain why he had given up 
 their colony. He was able to do this satisfactorily, 
 for every one who had been on the spot knew that 
 he had held out until resistance was useless. When 
 
Peter Stuyvesant and New Netherland. 109 
 
 peace was made between England and Holland, 
 the English kept New York. 
 
 Nine years later (1673) there was another war 
 between England and Holland. One day some 
 Dutch ships sailed into the harbor, just as the 
 English ships had done, and found New York just 
 as unprepared as before. The fort and town sur- 
 rendered, and New York became Dutch again. 
 But the very next year peace was made, and New 
 York was given back to the English. 
 
 Peter Stuyvesant, after his return from Holland, 
 lived in peace and plenty at his " bowery," as the 
 Dutch called a farm; he died in 1682, when he 
 was about eighty years old. He was fond of fruit 
 and flowers ; one of the pear trees which he planted 
 stood over two hundred years, until 1867, when it 
 was blown down in a storm. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 The Dutch settled on Manhattan Island, 161 3. Peter 
 Minuit bought the island from the Indians for twenty-four 
 dollars. Patroons settled along the Hudson River, had 
 large estates, and became wealthy. Governor Kieft was a 
 very unwise ruler; he brought on an Indian war. Peter 
 Stuyvesant, a hot-headed but brave man, succeeded Kieft. 
 He was the last Dutch governor of New Netherland. The 
 Swedes settled on the Delaware River. The Dutch claimed 
 the land, and after a time conquered the Swedes. The 
 English, in 1664, took New Amsterdam without a struggle. 
 
no History of the United States. 
 
 The Dutch retook the town in 1673. When peace was 
 made, 1674, New Netherland was given to the EngHsh. 
 
 Give an account of Captain Block and his discoveries. 
 
 Tell the story of the founding of New Amsterdam. 
 
 Who were the patroons ? 
 
 Tell about Governor Kieft ; Peter Stuyvesant. 
 
 Tell about the Swedes. 
 
 Tell how New Netherland became New York. 
 
FATHER MARQUF:TTE AND LA SALLE. 
 
 For the most part, the EngHsh came to find 
 homes in the New World, and so did not eo far 
 away from the Atlantic coast, though they claimed 
 all the country to the South 
 Sea, as the Pacific Ocean was 
 then called. The French, on the 
 other hand, were great explorers. 
 
 Before the English settled 
 Plymouth or Salem, and before 
 Roger Williams founded Provi- 
 dence, or Lord Baltimore sent 
 out the Ark and the Dove, 
 French explorers, traders, and 
 Jesuit priests had followed the 
 course of the St. Lawrence 
 River; while Champlain had 
 chosen the site of Quebec, and 
 had discovered the beautiful 
 lake which bears his name. 
 
 About the time the English 
 colonists were fighting King 
 Philip, Father Marquette, a 
 French Jesuit priest, in com- 
 pany with Joliet, a fur trader, 
 
 III 
 
 James Marquette. 
 
 Who with Louis Joliet dis- 
 covered the Mississippi River 
 at Prairie du Chien, June 17, 
 1673." From the statue by 
 G. Trentenove, in the Rotunda 
 of the Capitol, Washington. 
 
TI2 History of the United States. 
 
 was pushing his way along the Great Lakes, and 
 searching for a great river, of which the Indians 
 had told him. 
 
 Map to illustrate French Explorations. 
 
 Marquette and Joliet took with them smoked 
 meat and Indian corn to eat; and beads, watches, 
 
Father Marquette and La Salle. 113 
 
 and many other articles to exchange with the 
 natives for food. They had five men to paddle 
 their canoes, but they carried no warlike weapons, 
 for their errand was a peaceful one ; Father Mar- 
 quette was a true missionary. 
 
 They launched their canoes on the Wisconsin 
 River, and after a week floated into the river of 
 which they had heard, and which they so greatly 
 desired to see. 
 
 Now and then, as they floated down the stream, 
 they saw many buffaloes on the banks, but it was 
 long before they saw any traces of Indians. After a 
 journey of hundreds of miles, they saw some foot- 
 prints in the mud, and, landing, followed the tracks 
 until they reached an Indian village, where the 
 people proved to be friendly. 
 
 The Frenchmen began their journey again, but 
 when they reached the mouth of the Arkansas 
 River, hearing from friendly Indians that there 
 were hostile tribes farther on, they turned back ; 
 yet they had gone far enough to be sure that the 
 great stream must empty Into the Gulf of Mexico. 
 Father Marquette, worn out by his long journeys 
 and the exposure, died on the shores of Lake 
 Michigan, not far from Sleeping Bear Point. 
 
 Another Frenchman, Robert Cavalier de La 
 Salle, was so moved by the accounts of Joliet and 
 others, and by the desire to Increase the empire of 
 France, that he resolved to go on with the explo- 
 
1 14 History of the United States. 
 
 rations which Father Marquette and Johet had 
 begun. He started in 1679, but was delayed by so 
 many mishaps that he did not reach the Mississippi 
 River for about two years. He took with him a 
 
 party of Indians and 
 Frenchmen, and marked 
 his course by building little 
 forts. 
 
 These men suffered from 
 hunger; they slept on the 
 open ground ; they would 
 watch by night and march 
 by day, loaded with bag- 
 gage, such as blankets, 
 clothing, kettles, hatchets, 
 guns, powder, lead, and 
 skins. Sometimes they 
 thrust their way through 
 thickets, sometimes climbed rocks covered with ice 
 and snow, sometimes waded whole days through 
 marshes where the water was waist deep, but they 
 kept on, and at last reached the Mississippi. 
 
 They continued their journey down the great 
 stream, until, early in April, 1682, they reached its 
 mouth. They were the first Europeans who had 
 made a continuous voyage from the upper part of 
 the mighty stream to its mouth. 
 
 Everywhere La Salle had claimed possession of 
 the land in the name of the French king, 
 
 Robert Cavalier Sieur de La 
 Salle. 
 
 After Margry's portrait. 
 
Father Marquette and La Salle. 115 
 
 Louis XIV., in honor of whom he called the 
 country Louisiana. Not far from the mouth of 
 the river he set up a column and a cross. On 
 the column he painted the name of France and 
 this inscription, " Louis the Great, King of France 
 and Navarre, reigns, April 9th, 1682." 
 
 La Salle returned to France ; two years later he 
 took part in an expedition to found a colony at the 
 mouth of the Mississippi. The commander of the 
 fleet went too far to the west, and then refused to sail 
 back in search of the river. He landed La Salle 
 and his companions on the coast of what is now 
 Texas, and left them to their fate. 
 
 La Salle encouraged his companions, and did all 
 that was possible to establish them securely. He 
 searched for the Mississippi River, but could not 
 find it. About two years had gone by, and nothing 
 had been heard from France. He now determined 
 to go overland to Canada and get help. 
 
 With one-half of the company, twenty in number, 
 he set out on his difficult and perilous journey 
 of two thousand miles. The men were poorly pro- 
 vided with clothing. They had to depend for food 
 upon what game they could find. There were no 
 roads, and their progress was very slow. Some of his 
 men rebelled. At length, at some unknown spot in 
 the vast wilderness of eastern Texas, this brave 
 and patriotic Frenchman was treacherously killed 
 by one of his followers. 
 
ii6 History of the United States. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 Father Marquette and Joliet explored the Mississippi 
 River as far as the Arkansas River. La Salle explored the 
 Great West. He and his party suffered great privations. 
 They sailed down the river to its mouth, claimed the great 
 territory for the French king, and called it Louisiana. 
 La Salle made a second expedition to the Mississippi. 
 He and his party suffered great hardships. He was killed 
 by one of his followers. 
 
 Tell the story of Marquette and Joliet. 
 
 Tell the story of La Salle's expedition. 
 
 What did he name the territory? 
 
 Tell the story of his second expedition ; of his death. 
 
NATHANIEL BACON. 
 
 While the New England colonies were fighting 
 with King Philip, the Virginians were compelled 
 to defend themselves against the southern Indians 
 The governor of Virginia at this time was Sir 
 William Berkeley. He was a harsh, severe ruler, 
 and had little sympathy with the people. He said 
 of Virginia, " I am thankful that there are no free 
 schools or printing-offices, and I hope that we shall 
 not have them these hundred years." 
 
 A traveller in Virginia, who went to see him in 
 1672, was asked by a Virginian if the governor had 
 called him " dog " or " rogue," and when the trav- 
 eller said " No," the Virginian returned, " Then you 
 found him in his best humor, for those are his usual 
 terms." 
 
 Virginia was suffering from severe laws and 
 heavy taxes imposed by the royal government. 
 Berkeley would do nothing to help the people, and 
 they were ready to rebel. When the Indians 
 attacked the frontier, the people appealed to the 
 governor for aid, but he refused. 
 
 It is said that he was making much money 
 from the fur trade with the Indians, and knew that if 
 he sent forces against them he should lose this prof- 
 
 117 
 
1 1 8 History of the United States. 
 
 liable business. Perhaps he was afraid that if the 
 people were armed they would turn against him, as 
 soon as the Indian troubles were settled. 
 
 When they found that the governor would not 
 aid them, the people themselves raised a force of 
 
 Bacon and Berkeley. 
 
 volunteers. They chose Nathaniel Bacon, a liberal 
 young Englishman, to be their leader, and marched 
 against the savages. Governor Berkeley proclaimed 
 Bacon and all who were with him rebels and trai- 
 tors ; but Bacon was so popular that the governor's 
 threats did not amount to much. 
 
 When Bacon returned from the frontier he found 
 himself the idol of the colony; he had also been 
 
Nathaniel Bacon. 119 
 
 ejected a member of the legislature, which the 
 governor had been forced to call. The governor 
 arrested him, but was compelled to set him free. 
 In this legislature, through Bacon's influence, good 
 laws were passed, and for years afterward they were 
 known as " Bacon's Laws." 
 
 Again the governor planned to arrest Bacon, but 
 he escaped, and gathering a force of several hundred 
 men, marched on Jamestown ; again the governor 
 yielded, and Bacon was appointed " general against 
 the Indians." 
 
 Two months later he was once more proclaimed 
 a rebel. Berkeley, finding that his course was not 
 approved by many of the Virginians, took refuge 
 in what he supposed was the most loyal part 
 of the colony, but, to his disappointment, the people 
 would hear nothing against Bacon. He then fled 
 to the eastern shore of Virginia, across Chesapeake 
 Bay. Here the governor was able to collect a force 
 of a few hundred men and some vessels, and, com- 
 ing back, took possession of Jamestown. 
 
 Bacon was returning from a successful Indian 
 campaign, and had discharged most of his men ; 
 but when he heard that Berkeley held Jamestown, 
 he decided to attack him. Men and women along 
 the road brought food and drink to refresh his little 
 army, and the women cried out, " General, if you 
 need help, send for us ! " 
 
 Bacon very soon did find a way to make women 
 
I20 History of the United States. 
 
 helpful. The peninsula on which Jamestown was 
 built was connected with the mainland by a very 
 narrow isthmus. Bacon occupied this neck of land, 
 and in order to fortify it in safety, seized the wives 
 and daughters of some of Berkeley's men, and sent 
 one of them into Jamestown " to inform her own 
 and other husbands that he meant to place their 
 
 wives in the fore 
 
 ~^y-^--'^^r--'^^ i^^^^^^^^ front of his men 
 
 who were to throw 
 up the earth- 
 works." 
 
 Notwithstand- 
 ing this warning, 
 Berkeley ordered 
 an attack. His 
 men were re- 
 pulsed, and then, 
 sure enough, the women were " exhibited to the view 
 of their husbands and friends in the town, upon the 
 top of the small work, where Bacon caused them to 
 tarry till he had finished his defence." Of course 
 they proved to be an ample protection. 
 
 The governor now gave up the town and retreated 
 with his men to the vessels. When it was learned 
 that Berkeley had stolen away in the night. Bacon 
 marched into the town and ordered the place to 
 be burnt, so that " the rogues should harbor there 
 no more." His orders were obeyed. Nothing 
 
 Bacon Quarter Branch. 
 
 Where Bacon had a plantation near the falls of the James 
 
Nathaniel Bacon I2i 
 
 remains of this earliest English town In America 
 except the ruined tower of the old brick church. 
 
 Bacon was now in control of Virginia, but he was 
 worn out by excitement, fatigue, and exposure in 
 the swamps ; before long he fell sick and died. 
 Some of his friends, fearful that his body might be 
 taken up and hung in chains, either buried it in some 
 place still unknown, or sunk it in the river. With 
 Bacon's death the rebellion ended. 
 
 Berkeley regained power, and hanged twenty- 
 three of Bacon's followers as rebels. King Charles, 
 when he heard of this, said, " That old fool has 
 hanged more men in that naked country than I 
 have done for the murder of my father." 
 
 Bacon had not lived in vain. Berkeley was re- 
 moved by the king, and sailed for England amid 
 the rejoicings of the people, who celebrated his 
 departure with firing of cannon and blazing of bon- 
 fires. The king for whom he had done so much 
 refused to see him, and he died In disgrace In less 
 than a year after Bacon's death. No royal governor 
 dared again to oppress the Virginians as Berkeley 
 had done. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 Sir William Berkeley, the governor of Virginia, was a 
 harsh man and a severe ruler. The people chose Nathaniel 
 Bacon to lead them against the Indians. Bacon was very- 
 popular. Through his influence good laws were passed. 
 
122 History of the United States. 
 
 Bacon was the leader of a rebellion against the governor. 
 He was successful, but died of disease. Berkeley was at 
 last removed by the king. 
 
 Describe Sir William Berkeley. 
 
 Tell about Nathaniel Bacon, and how the governor treated him. 
 
 Tell how Bacon attacked Jamestown ; his death. 
 
 What was done to Berkeley ? 
 
WILLIAM PENN. 
 
 About the time that La Salle set out for Canada 
 (1682) on his journey to explore the Mississippi 
 River, and secure a great empire for France, a very- 
 different plan was being arranged in England. It 
 was for the settlement of a new English colony, 
 where there should be no war, where the people 
 should make their own laws, where there should be 
 political and religious 
 liberty, and where the 
 Indians should be treated 
 justly. The man who 
 devised this plan and 
 wished to carry it out was 
 William Penn. He was 
 at this time about thirty- 
 seven years old. His 
 father had been a very 
 successful captain in the 
 English navy, and had 
 been rewarded by being 
 made an admiral. He 
 had been on terms of friendship with King 
 Charles II. and with his brother James, the Duke of 
 York. 
 
 William Penn. 
 
 At the age of 22. After the portrait attrib- 
 uted to Sir Peter Leiy, 
 
 J23 
 
124 History of the United States, 
 
 _ ill to (V9 ynCi ijxvv ^omvn" 
 
 rtn>pl*'y Cftcnuf g^nlS a T-crhttna> g^vt^ttvoy 1 
 
 Fac-simile of Part 
 OF THE Royal 
 Deed given to 
 
 Penn. 
 
 Admiral Penn was a rich man, 
 and had educated his son as other 
 wealthy young Englishmen were 
 educated ; that is to say, to be skil- 
 ful in athletic games, to fence well, 
 and to be a fine and courtly gentle- 
 man. To finish his education, Will- 
 iam had been sent to Oxford. 
 
 We can imagine the father's dis- 
 pleasure when he heard that his 
 son was thinking of becoming a 
 Quaker. The admiral was of such 
 hasty temper that, when he found 
 his son would not change his views, 
 he flogged the young man and 
 turned him out of doors. 
 
 After a while, at the entreaty of 
 Penn's mother, the young man was 
 allowed to come back. For more 
 
William Penn. 
 
 125 
 
 
 
 i>.«>ct3 'a.iS~^ 
 
 
 than two years, Admiral Penn tried in 
 every possible way to make his son 
 leave the Quakers. He flogged him 
 again, he sent him away on a foreign 
 tour, he reasoned with him, he threat- 
 ened him, but in vain ; a Quaker young 
 Penn would be. It is pleasant to know 
 that Admiral Penn, at last, became 
 reconciled to his son. 
 
 Admiral Penn left to his son a large 
 estate and a claim on the English 
 crown for money lent to the king, 
 amounting to about sixteen thousand 
 pounds sterling. Penn begged the 
 king to give him lands in America in 
 payment of this debt. Charles II., 
 who was always short of money, gladly consented to 
 pay his debt in this way. He granted to Penn a 
 large tract west of the Delaware River and north 
 
126 History of the United States. 
 
 A brief Accouoc of the 
 
 Lately Gnmted by the 
 
 KING. 
 
 Uadcrtlie GREAT 
 
 Seal of England, 
 
 TO 
 
 WILLIAM PENN 
 
 AND HIS 
 
 Heirs and Affigns. 
 
 Sfince (by the good Providence of Cod, and che Favour of the K'tn£) a 
 Country in Amtric» i& fallen to my Lot> 1 thought it not Irfs my 
 Duty» then my Honed IntercfV, to give fomc publick notice of Jt to 
 the World, that thofe of our own or other Nations, that arc inclin'd 
 toTranfport Themrelves or Famihes beyond the Seas, may find ano- 
 ther Country added to their Choice ; that if they fhali happen to like 
 the Place, Conditions, and Government, (fo far as the prcfcnt Infancy of things 
 vrill allow vs any prorpeO^ ihey maya if they pleafe. fix with me in the Pro- 
 vince, hcreafterdcfcribcd. 
 
 I. The KING'S *fitk to thU Cdumryhef on- ht gr anted tt. 
 It is the Jh» Ctmum, or Lav^ of Nations, that what ever Wafte, or uncuf- 
 ced Country, is the Difcovcry of any Princi^ it is ihe right of that Prince, that 
 was at the Charge of the Difcovery : Now this Province is a Member of that 
 part of Amtrica, which the King oXEngUndi Anceftors have been at the Charge 
 of Difcovcring, and which chcy and he hive taken great care to preferve ani 
 Improve. 
 
 ILWilliani 
 
William Penn. 
 
 127 
 
 of Maryland, and insisted on calling it Pennsylvania, 
 after Admiral Penn. 
 
 William Penn at once began to prepare a form 
 of government for his new province. He wished 
 the people of Pennsylvania to be a " free, sober, 
 and industrious people," and " to be governed by 
 laws of their own making." 
 
 
 ^^^n> ^<rw^ 
 
 n i-hyyoTveAi ^ fooutoT 
 
 i(77h 
 
 X 
 
 
 Seal and Signature to the Frame of Government. 
 
 So anxious was he to do what was best for all, 
 that he called his plan, " An holy experiment." He 
 wished his province to be a place of refuge for the 
 persecuted, and especially for the Quakers, who had 
 suffered very much. At one time, several thousand 
 Quakers in England, were in prison simply because 
 they insisted on worshipping God as they thought 
 right. 
 
 Before his plans were completed Penn sent a letter 
 
128 History of the United States. 
 
 to the Indians to let them know his kindly feeling 
 toward them. Though the king had given him all 
 the country, yet Penn would allow no land to be 
 settled until it had been bought from the natives. 
 He made just laws, in which the rights of the 
 Indians were carefully looked after. 
 
 In 1682, Penn himself came over with a number 
 of emigrants, in the ship Welcome, On the voy- 
 age, smallpox broke out among the passengers 
 and the wealthy proprietor of Pennsylvania himself 
 helped to nurse the sick. 
 
 He was received with great rejoicing by the colo- 
 nists. He had already directed that a city should 
 be begun, which he called Philadelphia, the " City 
 of Brotherly Love." Some of the settlers came to 
 Philadelphia before their homes were ready for 
 them ; and while the houses were building, they 
 lived in caves along the banks of the Delaware 
 River. 
 
 One of Penn's first acts was to meet the Indians 
 and assure them of his love and regard for them, and 
 his desire that they and the people of Pennsylvania 
 should always live together as neighbors and friends. 
 
 On his visits to the tribes they would give him 
 a warm welcome. Once he found the Indians en- 
 gaged in running, jumping, and other sports. He 
 had been very fond of such games in his youth, and 
 though he was now nearly forty years old, he was 
 lithe and active; so he ran and jumped with the 
 
William Penn. 
 
 129 
 
 rest, and actually beat them all, to the great delight 
 of the Indians. 
 
 He often met the Indians, and made treaties with 
 them. Some of these were to show good-will, and 
 some for the purchase of land. One of these meet- 
 
 The Treaty Elm, Philadelphia. 
 
 From an old print. 
 
 ings was held under a great elm tree near Phila- 
 delphia. William Penn wore a sky-blue sash tied 
 around his waist, but he had no sword or gun, or any- 
 thing more war-like in his hand than a roll of paper. 
 The Indians, seeing that he was unarmed, threw 
 down their bows and arrows, and seated themselves 
 10 
 
130 History of the United States. 
 
 on the ground. Penn then told them that he and his 
 friends wished to live in peace and friendship with 
 the Indians, that it was not their custom to fight, 
 and so they had come unarmed. 
 
 The principal chief of the Indians replied that the 
 Indians and the English must live in love as long as 
 the sun and moon should endure. It is said that 
 the Indians gave Penn a belt of wampum as a mark 
 of friendship. There is a wampum belt in Phila- 
 
 Wampum Belt. 
 
 delphia, having on it the figures of two men 
 shaking hands, which was given to Penn on this or a 
 similar occasion. Of this treaty, Voltaire, the great 
 Frenchman, said " It was never sworn to and 
 never broken." 
 
 There was no trouble between the Indians and 
 the Pennsylvanians, and not a drop of Quaker blood 
 was knowingly shed by an Indian. For many years 
 there was no war of any kind in Pennsylvania. 
 
 Penn went back to England after two or three 
 years; in 1699, he returned to Pennsylvania expect- 
 ing to end his days in America, but he was forced to 
 go again to England to protect his rights. He was 
 arrested on a false charge of debt, brought by his 
 
William Penn. 131 
 
 agent who had cheated him shamefully. Penn, rather 
 than pay what he knew was unjust, went to prison. 
 His friends, after a time, secured his release, but his 
 health was broken down, and he died in 1 7 1 8, leav- 
 ing a name greatly renowned and respected. 
 
 The First Town Hall and Court House, Philadelphia. 
 
 Pennsylvania was so free, and its soil so fertile, 
 that large numbers of colonists were attracted to it. 
 It soon became one of the richest and most popu- 
 lous of the colonies. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 William Penn, a wealthy young Englishman, joined the 
 Quakers, His father was greatly displeased. William 
 
132 History of the United States. 
 
 Penn inherited large property. To pay him a debt King 
 Charles gave him Pennsylvania. Penn founded a colony 
 where justice was to be the law. The colony was to be a 
 refuge for all the oppressed, but especially for the Quakers. 
 Penn bought land of the Indians, treated them justly, and 
 for years there was no trouble with the Indians. Penn 
 returned to England. Pennsylvania became one of the 
 richest of the colonies. 
 
 Tell the story of William Penn as a young man. 
 
 How did he get Pennsylvania? 
 
 What did he call his plan of government? 
 
 What great city did he found ? 
 
 How did he treat the Indians? 
 
 Tell the story of the treaty. 
 
OGLETHORPE AND GEORGIA. 
 
 The Cabots had claimed the Atlantic coast of 
 North America for England in 1497, but it was not 
 until 1607, more than a hundred years later, that 
 Jamestown, the first successful English colony, was 
 settled. It was another 
 hundred years and more, 
 before Georgia, the thir- 
 teenth and last English 
 colony, was established in 
 
 The story of this colony 
 is different from that of 
 any of the others. The 
 settlement was due entirely 
 to one man. General James 
 Edward Oglethorpe. He 
 was an Englishman who 
 had seen much of life. He had fought under the 
 great Duke of Marlborough against Louis XIV. of 
 France, and had fought against the Turks ; in his 
 younger days, he had seen many wonderful adven- 
 tures, but unlike Captain John Smith, he never 
 wished to talk about them. 
 
 A hundred and fifty years ago it was a very com- 
 
 133 
 
 James Edward Oglethorpe. 
 
 After the painting by Ravenet, 
 
134 History of the United States. 
 
 men thing, both in England and elsewhere, to send 
 to prison one who could not pay his debts. A man 
 might be imprisoned for owing even a shilling. 
 And sometimes a debtor would spend years in prison 
 because he could not pay a small sum. There was 
 much suffering on account of this hard law: 
 
 It happened that one of Oglethorpe's friends was 
 sent to prison for debt, and suffered so much while 
 there from the poor food, bad air, and hard treat- 
 ment, that he died. This called Oglethorpe's 
 attention to the great number of men in debtor's 
 prisons. He found also that those in prison were not 
 the only sufferers, for their families were deprived 
 of support. 
 
 He began to exert himself on behalf of the suffer- 
 ers, and after much labor succeeded in getting Par- 
 liament to modify the laws. He was also able to 
 secure liberty for several hundred debtors. But 
 this was not all. He knew that many of these 
 unfortunate persons, even if set free, could get no 
 work in England ; and the idea came into his mind 
 that in the New World they could start afresh with 
 some hope of success. 
 
 After careful thought, he applied to King George 
 for some land in America to found a colony. The 
 king granted him a tract of land south of the 
 Savannah River, 
 
 Oglethorpe named the colony Georgia, in honor 
 of the king. It was intended not only for those 
 
Oglethorpe and Georgia, 
 
 135 
 
 who were unable to pay their debts, but also for 
 those who were oppressed, and especially for perse- 
 cuted Protestants. Oglethorpe would not take the 
 rule himself, but all power was given to a board of 
 trustees. 
 
 Many persons in England were interested in the 
 plan, and gave money to carry it into effect. Ogle- 
 
 A View of Savannah, Georgia. 
 
 From a print published in London in 1741, and humbly inscribed to 
 General Oglethorpe. 
 
 thorpe himself took out over one hundred emi- 
 grants, who reached Georgia in 1733. Oglethorpe 
 chose the site of the city of Savannah, and laid out 
 its plan. Like William Penn, he bought the land 
 from the Indians, who for a long time remained 
 very friendly. Once some of the Indiaub gave 
 Oglethorpe a buffalo skin, on the inside of which 
 
136 History of the United States. 
 
 were painted an eagle's head and some feathers. 
 " The feathers," they said, " are soft, and stand for 
 love ; and the skin is warm, and means protection ; 
 so love and protect us." 
 
 Oglethorpe lived a whole year in a tent, doing all 
 that he could to help the colonists. He would not 
 allow any rum in the colony, nor would he have 
 any slaves. 
 
 He knew that industry is necessary for success, 
 and, finding that mulberry trees would grow in 
 Georgia, he sent to Europe for silk worms, which 
 feed upon mulberry leaves, hoping that Georgia 
 would become a great silk-producing country ; but 
 the business did not pay very well, and after some 
 years it was given up. 
 
 The Spaniards in Florida were angry because of 
 the settlement of Georgia, claiming that the colony 
 was upon Spanish territory ; and they prepared for 
 war. Oglethorpe, who was an old soldier, was not 
 afraid of the Spaniards, and defeated them so com- 
 pletely that there was no trouble for a long time. 
 
 The news that Georgia was a place for the op- 
 pressed soon spread over Europe, and Moravians 
 and Lutherans from the Continent, and Highland- 
 ers from Scotland, came over to the settlement. The 
 colony promised well, but some of the laws which 
 Oglethorpe and the trustees had made for the bene- 
 fit of the colonists were not popular. 
 
 Their neighbors in the Carolinas and in the 
 
Oglethorpe and Georgia. 137 
 
 other colonies had slaves, and these colonists wished 
 to have slaves ; the rum trade also was very profita- 
 ble, and they longed for a share in the business. 
 They did not like the restrictions thrown around 
 them, and one by one these had to be given up. 
 Slaves were introduced before many years, and the 
 rum trade was begun. 
 
 One great reason why the colony did not at first 
 prosper was that the colonists were not enterprising 
 men. Many of them had fallen into trouble in Eng- 
 land and had become debtors because they had not 
 the knack of getting on in the world ; and moving 
 to Georgia had not changed their characters. 
 
 The trustees, after twenty years' trial, gave up 
 their charter to the king, and Georgia became a 
 royal colony, in its laws and form of government 
 resembling the other colonies. More emigrants 
 came, and gradually Georgia entered on a prosper- 
 ous career. 
 
 Oglethorpe spent ten years or more in the col- 
 ony, and then went back to England. He lived to 
 see the independence of the United States. Some 
 one who saw him in 1 784 wrote, " Even then he 
 was the finest figure of a man you ever saw ; but 
 very, very old ; the flesh on his face like parchment." 
 He died the next year, 1785, the last of the original 
 English colonizers and one of the best. 
 
138 History of the United States. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 General Oglethorpe, moved by the hardships of pris- 
 oners for debt, founded Georgia. This was the last of the 
 English colonies to be established. He invited the op- 
 pressed of all nations. He gained no profit for himself. 
 Laws were made for the good of the people, but they did 
 not Uke them. The colony was not prosperous for a long 
 time. 
 
 Tell the story of Oglethorpe. 
 
 What suggested to him the founding of a colony? 
 
 Whom did he invite to his colony? 
 
 What was it called? 
 
 Why was it not successful? 
 
LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND AND THE MIDDLE 
 COLONIES BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 The colonists in New England had come from 
 England expecting to work, and they brought up 
 their children in the same way of thinking. No 
 idle persons were tolerated. 
 
 In the early days, there was continual fear of the 
 Indians in many parts of the country, and constant 
 watch had to be kept for these dreaded foes. This 
 fear led the people to live very much in villages, 
 rather than on plantations as in Virginia, or on large 
 farms as in Pennsylvania. 
 
 The attention of the colonists was early turned 
 to the sea, as the soil of New England is rocky and 
 not very fertile. Soon there were no better sailors 
 in the world than those of New England. Their 
 vessels went to the banks of Newfoundland for 
 codfish, and, besides this, a large and very profit- 
 able trade sprang up with the West Indies. The 
 vessels took • fish, lumber, and flour, and brought 
 back sugar, and especially molasses, out of which 
 rum was made. 
 
 The life of the people was simple and often severe. 
 This was shown most in their religion. W^e have 
 seen how the old Puritans were unwilling for others 
 
 139 
 
140 History of the United States. 
 
 to act or even to think differently from them in re- 
 gard to religious matters. This led the ministers 
 and the magistrates to persecute the Quakers and 
 others. Rhode Island alone of the New England 
 colonies never persecuted men on account of their 
 religion. 
 
 Female Costumes of 1776. 
 
 The minister, particularly in the earlier days, was 
 the most important man in the community. The 
 churches, or " meeting-houses," as they called them, 
 were built usually of wood, with lofty pulpits and 
 high-back pews. The meeting-house was not heated 
 in winter, and to keep warm the church-goers carried 
 from home hot stones or bricks, and, in later times, 
 small foot-stoves. Sermons were often two hours 
 long. The hymns and psalms were given out by the 
 
Life in New England. 141 
 
 minister or clerk, line by line, and sung by the whole 
 congregation. It was the duty of the tithing-man 
 to keep order in the meeting-house, and if boys and 
 girls went to sleep or misbehaved in meeting, they 
 would feel the rap of his stick on their heads. Men 
 
 A DAME School. 
 
 and women, if they fell asleep, were also waked up; 
 the men, by the tap of one end of the stick, and the 
 women, by the tickling of their faces with a fox- 
 tail, which hung from the other end of the stick. 
 Fines for misconduct in church were common, and 
 
142 History of the United States. 
 
 we are told of one girl who was fined five shillings 
 for laughing in meeting. 
 
 The value in which education was held is shown 
 by the founding of Harvard College in 1636 and 
 Yale College in 170 1. In most of the colonies 
 
 children were 
 
 compelled to go 
 to school. The 
 early school- 
 house, however, 
 was very differ- 
 ent from most of 
 those of to-day. 
 There were no 
 desks, and low 
 benches without 
 backs were the 
 only seats ; oiled 
 paper was used 
 in the windows 
 instead of glass, 
 and everything 
 was of the rud- 
 est description. 
 
 Any noise or 
 disorder was 
 severely punished, and the schoolmaster was almost 
 as much feared as the minister. The school books 
 were few ; the master or mistress set copies to teach 
 
 Thne Cuts 3own all 
 Boch great and fmail; 
 
 Made David feck Ms 
 Life. 
 
 WbaUs in ttie Sea 
 God's Voice obcy^ 
 
 Xerxes the great di3 
 
 die, 
 And lo mull you 8^ L 
 
 ToutJ? forward flips 
 Death loonclt -oips. 
 
 Zacbfus he 
 
 Did climb tfic Tret 
 
 Fac-simile of a Page from the 
 England Primer." 
 
 By permission of Dodd, Mead & Co. 
 
 New 
 
Life in New England. 
 
 143 
 
 writing, and examples in arithmetic to be worked out. 
 For about a hundred years, the " New England 
 Primer " was the chief text-book. From this little 
 book the boys and girls were taught their letters and 
 how to spell ; and from it they learned Bible texts 
 and hymns to repeat aloud. It had queer pictures, 
 with verses intended to teach some useful lesson. 
 Little besides reading, writing, and arithmetic was 
 taught. It was another duty of the tithing-man to 
 hunt up truants and bring them to school. 
 
 The dwelling-houses were generally built of wood. 
 The most important room was the kitchen ; in 
 winter this was the only warm room in the house. 
 In the kitchen was a yawning fireplace, large enough 
 to take in logs four 
 or five feet long. In 
 the fireplace was the 
 crane, from which 
 hung pot-hooks and 
 hangers to support the 
 pots and kettles over 
 the fire. Around the 
 hearth, during the long 
 winter evenings, was 
 gathered the family, the women spinning or weaving 
 or knitting, while the men rested after the day's work. 
 One or two tallow-dip candles gave all the light 
 except that which came from the fire. A tall clock 
 ticked in one corner; by it was a brass warming-pan 
 
 Tinder Box, Flint, and Steel. 
 
144 History of the United States. 
 
 with a long handle ; a weatherwise almanac hung 
 from a peg; bunches of herbs, to be used in times 
 of sickness, and strings of dried apples, dangled from 
 the ceiling; a tall dresser, with rows of plates and 
 pewter platters, was on one side of the room, while 
 wooden-seated chairs, a settle in the corner, and one 
 
 A New England Kitchen. 
 
 or two tables completed the furniture. There were 
 no matches : instead of them, a tinder-box, flint, and 
 steel were used to strike a light. 
 
 Life was not without amusement, for there were 
 apple-paring and quilting bees, corn-huskings, 
 house and barn raisings, and various gatherings 
 
Life in New England, 
 
 HS 
 
 at which the young men and young women and 
 the boys and girls had much fun. The great day 
 of the year was Thanksgiving Day, for Christmas 
 was not then observed in New England. Wed- 
 dings and funerals were very great occasions, and 
 old and young from all the country round would 
 come to attend them. 
 
 There were, of course, many fine mansions in 
 New England, and many persons lived in hand- 
 some style, but 
 the general way 
 of living was 
 much simpler 
 than in the other 
 colonies. 
 
 In New York 
 there were many 
 things which 
 showed the influ- 
 ence of the 
 Dutch. The pa- 
 troons along the 
 Hudson River, 
 with their 
 manor-houses and their extensive farms, lived like 
 noblemen. Their houses were large and finely orna- 
 mented ; the mantelpieces were carved and the fire- 
 places surrounded with tiles. There was usually a 
 large garden, carefully laid out with edges of box, 
 11 
 
 A Spinning Wheel. 
 
146 History of the United States. 
 
 and beds full of bright flowers. The lands of these 
 patroons were well cultivated, large herds of cattle 
 were in the fields, and great crops of hay, straw, 
 and other produce filled their barns. 
 
 The smaller Dutch farmers and their descendants 
 were industrious and thrifty ; their houses were mod- 
 els of neatness, and their wives were the best cooks 
 
 
 CoNESTOGA Wagon. 
 
 in America. They took life more easily than the New 
 Englanders, and gave more time to amusements. 
 
 Pennsylvania, settled by the Quakers and Ger- 
 mans, was perhaps the most prosperous of the 
 colonies. Here were, large farms of fertile and well- 
 cultivated land. The establishments of the Friends 
 were neat and well taken care of; the farms of the 
 
Life in New England. 147 
 
 Germans were easily recognized by the huge, well- 
 appointed barns and the small farm-houses. The 
 thrifty German knew that well-housed and well- 
 fed cattle give more milk, weigh heavier, and are 
 more profitable in every way. Wheat and corn, 
 straw and hay, went further and sold better when 
 kept from the weather ; so the barns were large, 
 well built, and kept in good repair. Here, too, 
 could be seen the Conestoga wagon, with its large 
 body shaped somewhat like a boat, the back 
 and front rising far above the axles, while the 
 whole wagon was covered with coarse cotton cloth 
 stretched over bent supports and gathered together 
 at each end. 
 
 The roads in all the colonies were bad. It took 
 a long time to go from place to place ; so every- 
 thing possible was made at home. Each village 
 had its blacksmith and its wheelwright, and mills 
 for grinding grain were placed on the. nearest 
 stream which had fall enough to give the necessary 
 power. Where there were no suitable streams, as 
 on Cape Cod, the island of Nantucket, and else- 
 where, quaint windmills were built, some of which 
 are still standing. 
 
 When possible, travellers went by water or on 
 horseback. Those who went by coach frequently 
 had to get down and drag the coach out of some 
 quagmire. In many places a ride of thirty miles was 
 considered a good day's journey. The fast coach, 
 
148 History of the United States. 
 
 known as the " Flying Machine," was advertised to 
 make tlie journey of ninety miles between New York 
 and Philadelphia in a day and a half ; while it took 
 five days to go the hundred miles between Phila- 
 delphia and Baltimore, and six days to go from 
 
 Boston to New York. 
 In many parts of 
 the country there was 
 no mail at all, and the 
 few letters which were 
 written were sent by 
 private hands. In 
 1775, it was thought 
 a great convenience 
 to have a weekly mail 
 between Boston and 
 Philadelphia, and to 
 receive answers to 
 letters from either city 
 within three weeks. 
 Life in the southern 
 colonies was quite different from that farther north. 
 This was due partly to the character of the country, 
 partly to the people, and partly to the number of 
 negro slaves. Some of the more prominent cir- 
 cumstances of southern life are noted in the chapter 
 on Washington. ^ 
 
 Toehe PUBLIC. 
 
 THE FLYING MACHINE, kept Dy 
 John Mercereau^ at the New Blazing-Star- Feny, 
 near New- York, fels off from Powles Hook every Mon* 
 day, Wednefday, and Friday Mornings, for Philadelphia, 
 and performs the Journey in a Day and a Half, for the 
 Summer Seafon, till the ift of November ; from that Time 
 to go twice a Week (ill the firft of May, when they 
 again perform it three Times a Week. When the Stages 
 go only twice aWcek, they fet off Mondays and Thurf- 
 days. The Waggons in Philadelphia fet out from the 
 Sign of the George, in Second flreet, the fame Morning. 
 The Paffengers are defired to crofs the Ferry the Evening 
 before, as the Stages muft fet off early the next Morning. 
 The Price foreach PafTengeris Twenty SM/ings, Proc and 
 Goods as ufual. Paffengers going Part of the Way to pay 
 in Proportion. 
 
 As the Propnetor has made fuch Improvements upon 
 the Machines, one of which is in Imitation oF a Coach, 
 he hopes to merit the Favour of the Publick. 
 
 JOHN MERCEREAU. 
 
 ^eirKrACauOe 777/ 
 
 'Flying Machine' 
 
 Advertisement. 
 
Life in New England. 149 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 The colonists in New England came to make homes. 
 There was great dread of the Indians. The soil being 
 poor, many of the colonists became seamen, and commerce 
 sprang up. The life of the people was simple, and often 
 severe. The minister was the most important man. Church 
 services were held in high esteem. Education was valued. 
 Harvard College was founded 1636, and Yale College 1701. 
 Only the elements of learning were taught in the schools. 
 Dwelling-houses were usually built of wood. 
 
 In New York the influence of the Dutch was seen. The 
 patroons lived like noblemen. The Dutch were good 
 farmers, and were very industrious and thrifty. 
 
 Pennsylvania was perhaps the most prosperous of all 
 the colonies. Roads in all the colonies were bad. It took 
 a long time to go from place to place. In many parts of 
 the country there were no mails. 
 
 Why did many of the New England colonists become sailors? 
 
 Describe the meeting-houses and the services. 
 
 What was done if any one misbehaved ? 
 
 Describe the schools. 
 
 Tell about the dwelling-houses and their furniture. 
 
 Tell about life in New York ; in Pennsylvania. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 
 
 Franklin's Birthplace. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin, the youngest son of his 
 parents, and of seventeen children the fifteenth, was 
 born in Boston, Massachusetts, 
 January 17, 1706. Josiah 
 Frankhn, his father, was stern, 
 and very independent and un- 
 yielding in his character. 
 
 When Benjamin was ten 
 years old, he was taken from 
 school, and put to work in his 
 father's shop, where soap and 
 tallow candles were made. It 
 was the boy's business to help in the boiling of the 
 soap, to put the wicks in the candle-moulds, and to 
 trim them. When not at work he used to play 
 about the wharves of Boston, which were near his 
 father's house, and he early learned to swim like 
 a duck and to row a boat, and he came to think 
 it would be a fine thing to go to sea. 
 
 Benjamin disliked his work so much that his 
 father, fearing his son would run away, looked 
 around to find some other trade for him. Taking 
 his son to walk with him. he visited joiners, braziers, 
 
 150 
 
Benjamin Franklin, 
 
 15 
 
 bricklayers, and turners at their work, to see if 
 Benjamin would be attracted to one of these trades. 
 But the boy did not like any of them. 
 
 From the time he could read, young Benjamin 
 had been very fond of books, and his father thought 
 
 Benjamin Franklin. 
 
 After the portrait by Duplessis, painted in 1783. 
 
 that he might make a good printer. Now James 
 Franklin, one of Benjamin's older brothers, had a 
 printing-office, and to his brother James, one of the 
 first printers in America, the lad was apprenticed. 
 So the boy had left school, had tried one trade, 
 
152 History of the United States. 
 
 and had started in another, before he was thirteen 
 years old. Benjamin Hked his new business very 
 much, and soon became an expert printer. 
 
 He now could see much of books, for his brother 
 dealt with booksellers, and Benjamin was able to 
 borrow many volumes, all of which he read eagerly, 
 sometimes sitting up most of the night in order to 
 finish one. All the money he was able to spare he 
 spent on books. 
 
 He begged his brother to give him half of what 
 his board cost, and to let him board himself. His 
 brother agreed to this. Benjamin now lived on the 
 simplest diet, eating no meat at all. While the 
 other printers were taking their time over their 
 dinner, he was reading. 
 
 He secretly wrote articles for the newspaper 
 printed by his brother, and slipped his essays, writ- 
 ten in a disguised hand, under the door of the shop. 
 Nobody suspected that the boy had written these 
 essays, but they were good enough to print, and 
 they were printed. 
 
 He was greatly amused to hear his brother talk- 
 ing about these articles, and wondering who could 
 have written them. When James Franklin found 
 out who was the author, he was both angry and 
 jealous. Benjamin was now and then flogged by 
 his brother, for a master hacl great power over his 
 apprentices in those days. 
 
 One day James Franklin published something in 
 
Benjamin Franklin. 153 
 
 his paper which displeased the government so much 
 that he was put into prison. Now, no apprentice 
 was allowed to carry on a business, and yet James 
 Franklin wished Benjamin to carry on the paper, 
 for otherwise it would be stopped. So Benjamin 
 was released from his apprenticeship, and the paper 
 was published in his name. The youth of sixteen 
 had actually become a newspaper publisher. 
 
 When James Franklin was released from prison 
 he took up his business again, but the brothers did 
 not get on together any better than before, and Ben- 
 jamin determined to leave his brother s employ. 
 
 Finding that he could not get any work in Bos- 
 ton, Benjamin made up his mind to run away. He 
 went on board a sloop bound for New York, where 
 he hoped to find employment. After a voyage of 
 three days he reached that town, but was unsuccess- 
 ful in finding work, and was advised to go on to 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 He took passage on a sloop to Amboy. The 
 weatherwas very stormy, and Franklin got thoroughly 
 wet. On reaching Amboy he started to walk across 
 New Jersey. It was raining, and soon his clothes 
 were spattered over with mud, so that he was a 
 most sorry-looking figure. But he persevered, and 
 on the third day reached Burlington. Here he 
 secured a place on a boat going to Philadelphia. 
 
 It was night before that town was reached, and 
 there were so few lights that the crew rowed past it 
 
154 History of the United States. 
 
 before they were aware. They went ashore, and 
 making a fire of some fence rails, spent the night on 
 the ground. 
 
 In the morning they rowed back to Philadelphia, 
 and landed at the foot of Market Street. Franklin 
 was without luggage, and he set foot in Phila- 
 delphia in muddy clothes and with his pockets 
 stuffed out with stockings and shirts. 
 
 He inquired for a baker's shop. When he found 
 one, he asked for three pennyworth of bread. " He 
 gave me," says Franklin, "three great puffy rolls. I 
 was surprised at the quantity, but took it, and, having 
 no room in my pockets, walked off with a roll under 
 each arm and eating the other. Thus I went up 
 Market Street as far as Fourth Street, passing by 
 the door of Mr. Read, my future wife's father ; when 
 she, standing at the door, saw me, and thought I 
 made, as I certainly did, a most awkward, ridiculous 
 appearance." 
 
 After eating his roll, he washed it down with a 
 draught of water from the river. The other two 
 rolls he gave to a woman. 
 
 He was tired and sleepy, and followed a number 
 of persons into what proved to be a Quaker meet- 
 ing-house, for it was Sunday morning. It happened 
 that no one preached that day, and Franklin, soothed 
 by the quiet, went to sleep, and was wakened only 
 by the Friends going out. " This," he says, " was 
 the first house I was in, or slept in, in Philadelphia." 
 
Benjamin Franklin. 155 
 
 Franklin soon found employment with a printer 
 named Keimer. There were only two printers in 
 Philadelphia in 1723, the year of Franklin's arrival, 
 and neither was a good workman. Franklin's superior 
 skill soon attracted notice, for Philadelphia was then 
 a small place. 
 
 One day Keimer was greatly surprised and 
 pleased to see Sir William Keith, the governor of 
 Pennsylvania, come into his office. However, it 
 was not Keimer but young Franklin that the gov- 
 ernor wished to see. 
 
 The governor was much pleased with Franklin, 
 and took him home to dinner; he even proposed 
 that the young man should set up in business for 
 himself, promising to give him the government 
 printing. But Franklin had no money to buy type 
 and presses, and he did not believe that his father 
 would help him. The governor said " He will, if I 
 write him a letter." It seemed too good a chance 
 to throw away, so Benjamin went back to Boston 
 to see his father. 
 
 Franklin had been remarkably successful. He 
 had been frugal and industrious, and he presented 
 a very different appearance from that of the runaway 
 youth of the previous year. " I had on," he says, " a 
 genteel new suit from head to foot, a watch, and 
 my pockets lined with near five pounds sterling in 
 silver." 
 
 The old Puritan father had no confidence in the 
 
156 History of the United States. 
 
 promises of the governor, nor did he think well of 
 "setting a boy up in business, who wanted yet 
 three years of being at man's estate." So Benja- 
 min got little besides good advice. 
 
 On his return to Philadelphia, the governor said, 
 " Since your father will not set you up, I will do it 
 myself." He advised Franklin to go to London 
 to buy his types and press, and promised to give 
 him letters of introduction and money drafts. 
 
 But the governor put off giving the letters and 
 drafts from day to day, until the very day of sail- 
 ing came ; then he promised that he would send 
 them on board at Newcastle. At the last moment, 
 a messenger from the governor did come with a 
 package, and the vessel set sail. When the pack- 
 age was opened on the voyage, nothing was found 
 for Franklin. Governor Keith had cheated the 
 young man. 
 
 Franklin found employment in London, at wages 
 more than enough to support him. His fellow- 
 printers were great beer drinkers. Franklin drank 
 nothing but water, and though he was ridiculed and 
 called the " water American," he persevered in his 
 practice, and proved that he was stronger than 
 those who drank so much beer. 
 
 His fondness for reading did not lessen, and he 
 now paid a second-hand bookseller for the privi- 
 lege of reading books from his stall. 
 
 Franklin did not like England very much; so 
 
Benjamin Franklin. 
 
 ^57 
 
 when, after a stay of eighteen months, he had an 
 opportunity to return, he gladly came back to Amer- 
 ica. He reached Philadelphia in October, 1756, and 
 found work with his old employer, Keimer. After 
 a while, the father of one of his companions in the 
 printing-office set up his son and Franklin in busi- 
 ness together. 
 
 Franklin was skilful, 
 industrious, and a good 
 manager; but his partner 
 took to drinking, and 
 soon the business fell 
 largely into Franklin's 
 hands. Some of his 
 friends, seeing his thrift 
 and industry, lent him 
 money to buy out his 
 partner, and Franklin 
 had now a printing-house 
 of his cwn. 
 
 Before this, the young 
 men had bought a news- 
 paper, the Pe7t7isylvan{a Gazetted Franklin im- 
 proved the paper so much that its circulation was 
 greatly increased. He was one of the first pub- 
 lishers to encourage frequent advertising. 
 
 He was shrewd as well as industrious. He says: 
 
 FRANKLIN'S Printing Press. 
 
 In the custody of the Smithsonian Institute. 
 
 1 This paper still exists ; it is now called the Saturday Evening 
 Post. 
 
158 History of the United States. 
 
 "In order to secure my credit and character as a 
 tradesman, I took care not only to be in reality 
 industrious and frugal, but to avoid all appearances 
 to the contrary. I dressed plainly; I was seen at 
 no places of idle diversion ; I never went out a-fish- 
 ing or shooting ; and, to show that I was not above 
 my business, I sometimes brought home the paper 
 
 I purchased at the stores, 
 through the streets on a 
 wheelbarrow." 
 
 He paid all his bills 
 promptly, a practice which 
 gained for him a well- 
 deserved reputation for in- 
 dustry and frugality. He 
 did his work well, and he 
 soon had all the business 
 he could attend to. 
 
 In 1730, he married Deb- 
 orah Read, the young 
 lady who had laughed at him on his first entrance 
 into Philadelphia. The marriage was a congenial 
 one, and they lived together more than forty years. 
 Deborah Franklin was a true helper to her hus- 
 band. She folded and stitched the pamphlets, 
 attended to the stationery shop, and did all the 
 housework. 
 
 Franklin's marriage steadied him, for, notwith- 
 standing his good sense and general industry, he 
 
 Franklin's Old Book Shop in 
 Philadelphia. 
 
Benjamin Franklin. 159 
 
 would now and then give way to temptations of 
 various kinds. But he was continually trying to 
 improve, and was always ready to help other per- 
 'Sons by giving good advice, if he could do no 
 more. 
 
 He knew that every household had an almanac, 
 and he resolved to publish one better than any 
 that had appeared. In 1732, when he was twenty- 
 six years old, he issued the first copy of " Poor 
 Richard s Almanac," which continued to be pub- 
 lished annually for twenty-five years. 
 
 The almanac professed to be edited by one Rich- 
 ard Saunders, but every one knew that Benjamin 
 Franklin was the real editor. It did not differ 
 much in plan from other almanacs except that every 
 number had, wise sayings scattered throughout the 
 calendar. 
 
 These sayings were full of homely wisdom, and 
 were such as to encourage thrift and industry. 
 Many of them have become proverbs, and it is 
 impossible to tell how much influence they have had 
 upon the American people. 
 
 Here are some of these wise and witty sayings: 
 " It is hard for an empty bag to stand upright." 
 " God helps them that help themselves." " Three 
 removes are as bad as a fire." " One to-day is 
 worth two to-morrows." 
 
 " Early to bed and early to rise 
 Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." 
 
i6o History of the United States. 
 
 As Franklin continued to prosper in his own 
 affairs he began to think of the pubhc welfare, 
 and the improvements he suggested or set on foot 
 are almost numberless. He succeeded in having 
 the streets of Philadelphia paved ; he organized the 
 first fire company to put out fires ; he started the 
 Philadelphia Library, the first public library in 
 
 America, and it is still 
 flourishing ; he started 
 also the American Philo- 
 sophical Society. 
 
 Wood was the fuel in 
 general use in Franklin's 
 time and there was great 
 waste in burning it in 
 the wide, open fireplaces 
 then common in the 
 houses. To lessen this 
 waste, Franklin invented 
 what he called the " Pennsylvania Fireplace." This 
 invention was a successful one, and the Franklin 
 fireplace, as it is now called, is still used. 
 
 To show the benefit of mineral fertilizers, " he 
 wrote in a field on the roadside, in large, broad 
 letters, with powdered plaster of Paris, ' This has 
 been plastered,' and soon the brilliant green of the 
 letters carried the lesson to every passer-by." 
 
 The scientific world was much interested in elec- 
 tricity, but nobody knew very much about it. A 
 
 Franklin's Model of the Pennsyl- 
 vania Fireplace. 
 
 Now owned by the American Philosophical 
 Society. 
 
Benjamin Franklin. i6i 
 
 friend in London sent Franklin some apparatus, 
 with which he experimented a great deal ; and, as 
 his custom was, he carefully noted down everything 
 he observed. 
 
 He became sure that lightning and electricity 
 are similar, and that thunder clouds are full of elec- 
 tricity. To prove that his opinion was correct, he 
 made a kite out of a silk handkerchief, and put a 
 piece of sharpened wire on the top of the kite. 
 The string of the kite was hemp, except where he 
 held it, and that part was silk. At the end of the 
 string was an iron key. 
 
 He felt sure that, if lightning and electricity were 
 the same thing, the iron wire would attract the elecv 
 tricity, which would then come down the string, and 
 if he touched the key there would be a spark, and 
 a shock of electricity. 
 
 He was so fearful that his experiment would fail, 
 that he took with him only his son, a young man 
 of twenty-two, and chose the night-time for his 
 experiment. He flew the kite, some thunder 
 clouds passed over it, and he touched the key, but 
 there was no spark. Just as he was beginning to 
 doubt his success, he saw the fibres of the string 
 rise up ; again he touched the key with his hand ; 
 he now saw a spark and received a shock. He 
 presently drew in his kite and went into the house, 
 satisfied that he had proved his case. 
 
 Franklin gained world-wide fame as a philosopher. 
 
 12 
 
1 62 History of the United States. 
 
 Yale and Harvard gave him the degree of master 
 of arts; he was elected a member of the Royal 
 Society in London, and later, three universities in 
 Great Britain gave him the honorary degree of doc- 
 tor of laws, so that he was thenceforth known as 
 Dr. Franklin. 
 
 He had been so successful in his business that 
 he practically retired at the age of forty-two, in- 
 tending to devote himself to study and research ; 
 but he was so useful a man that his fellow-citizens 
 would not allow him to remain in retirement. For 
 more than forty years longer, until old age pre- 
 vented, he was continuously in the service of his 
 country. 
 
 He was a member of the legislature ; he was 
 sent to treat with the Indians ; he was made post- 
 master-general of the colonies. When trouble 
 began between France and England, he was sent 
 to a convention at Albany, in 1754, and there pro- 
 posed a plan for the union of all the colonies in 
 America. 
 
 When the province of Pennsylvania needed 
 somebody to look after her interests in England, 
 Franklin was selected, and remained in England 
 five years. He had been at home scarcely two years 
 when he was sent a second time, and remained 
 nearly seven years. 
 
 England had fought with France in the New 
 World and had conquered, gaining all Canada. Eng- 
 
Benjamin Franklin. 163 
 
 land having found out during the conflict how rich 
 and how strong the colonies had become, resolved 
 to tax them. The money raised by taxation was 
 to be spent in America for the benefit of the colonies, 
 but the Americans objected to paying taxes which 
 they had no voice in imposing. 
 
 Franklin did all that he could to prevent the pas- 
 sage of the "Stamp Act," in 1765. After it was 
 passed, he hastened its repeal by testifying to the 
 determination of his countrymen never to pay the 
 tax. 
 
 Franklin returned home; and the day after his 
 arrival he was unanimously elected a member of 
 the Continental Congress. He- was on all the im- 
 portant committees. He helped to draw up the 
 Declaration of Independence, and signed it. 
 
 The United States greatly desired to get some of 
 the European countries to help them in their strug- 
 gle against England. What one of these would be 
 more likely to give aid than France, England's tra- 
 ditional enemy, that had so lately been compelled 
 to surrender Canada .f* 
 
 Who could be more suitable to send than Dr. 
 Franklin ? Everybody had heard of him ; he had 
 lived a number of years in England, and knew 
 the English well, while no one knew the Americans 
 better. Few could speak more intelligently on 
 the subject than he. So, at the age of seventy, a 
 period of life when many men would have excused 
 
164 History of the United States. 
 
 themselves, he went abroad again in behalf of his 
 country. 
 
 In nothing did Franklin show his good sense 
 more than in the simplicity of his dress and man- 
 ners. It was the fashion to wear very showy clothes; 
 he wore a brown suit, simply made ; it was the cus- 
 tom for gentlemen to wear wigs ; Franklin wore no 
 wig, but appeared in his own gray hair ; most gen- 
 tlemen wore swords ; Franklin wore no sword, and 
 his only weapon was a walking-stick. 
 
 He was enthusiastically received by the French 
 people, and, later, by the French government. In 
 time he was able to persuade France to send money 
 to America. He helped to make a treaty in which 
 France recognized the United States as an inde- 
 pendent power, and promised to send men and ships 
 to aid the new nation. 
 
 It is impossible to over-estimate the services of 
 Franklin to the United States at this period. When 
 the war came to an end, he was one of the three 
 men who arranged the treaty with England in which 
 the independence of the colonies was acknowl- 
 edged. 
 
 At last Franklin, now an old man in his eightieth 
 year, was released from public service. He suffered 
 much from gout and other ailments. When the 
 king of France learned that it was painful to Frank- 
 lin to ride in a carriage, the monarch sent one of the 
 queen's litters, in which the old doctor was carried. 
 
Benjamin Franklin. 
 
 165 
 
 by easy stages, to the seaport where he was to em- 
 bark. The king gave him his miniature portrait, 
 surrounded with four hundred diamonds. 
 
 
 .n^''^''''^i-?w^\ 
 
 Franklin's Grave. 
 
 A great crowd welcomed Franklin on his return 
 to Philadelphia. His health was much improved by 
 the sea voyage ; and now the citizens of Pennsylvania 
 
1 66 History of the United States. 
 
 elected him president of the state. He was re- 
 elected twice, and he would have been chosen for 
 the office a fourth time had he not positively refused 
 to be a candidate. 
 
 His last public service was as a member of the 
 convention which prepared the Constitution of the 
 United States. He lived to see Washington Presi- 
 dent, and the new government in successful opera- 
 tion. He died in 1790, and it is said that twenty 
 thousand persons were at his funeral. He is buried, 
 by the side of his wife, in the old churchyard, on 
 the corner of Fifth and Arch streets, Philadelphia. 
 A simple, flat stone marks their resting-place. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, 
 1706. He was taken from school when he was ten years 
 old and put in his father's soap and candle shop. He was 
 apprenticed to his brother, a printer, and became an excel- 
 lent printer. He ran away and went to Philadelphia. He 
 entered a printing-office. Went to London. Returned to 
 Philadelphia. Was thrifty and industrious. Did much 
 for the public welfare. Became one of the foremost 
 citizens of America. Helped to draw up the Declara- 
 tion of Independence. Was sent to represent the 
 United States at Paris. Discovered that electricity and 
 lightning were the same. He was of great service to his 
 country. 
 
Benjamin Franklin. 167 
 
 Tell the story of Franklin's youth; how he ran away from 
 Boston. 
 
 Tell the story of his journey to Philadelphia, and his arrival. 
 
 Tell the story of his early years in Philadelphia. 
 
 Tell how he gained a reputation for industry. 
 
 Describe " Poor Richard's Almanac." 
 
 What did he do for Philadelphia? 
 
 Tell the story of his kite experiment. 
 
 Tell how he served his state and country. 
 
 Tell about his service in France. 
 
 Give an account of his later years. 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON. — THE FRENCH AND 
 INDIAN WAR. 
 
 George Washington was born at Bridge's Creek, 
 in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on the 2 2d 
 of February, 1732. Augustine Washington, his 
 father, was an old-time Virginia planter, and lived 
 in an old-time Virginia house. The house was a 
 
 Birthplace of Washington. 
 
 The house is no longer standing; its site is marked by a monument 
 
 wooden one. It had four rooms on the ground 
 floor, and an attic with a long, sloping roof; and 
 there was a huge brick chimney at each end. 
 This house was burned down when George was 
 about three years old, and the family moved to 
 
 16S 
 
George Washington. 169 
 
 another plantation on the Rappahannock River, 
 nearly opposite Fredericksburg. Here the youth- 
 ful days of Washington were passed, and here, when 
 he was about eleven years old, the father died, leav- 
 ing his young family to the care of his widow, 
 Mary Washington. She was an able, sensible, strong- 
 willed woman, and admirably fulfilled her trust. 
 
 In the Virginia of those days, the roads were few 
 and bad. Most of the inhabitants lived near the 
 rivers, and for travelling used boats, or rode horse- 
 back. 
 
 There were no stage-coaches or other means for 
 public travel. The inns were few and uncomforta- 
 ble, but the planters were so hospitable that a 
 respectable traveller could always count on a warm 
 welcome in some private house; in return for his 
 entertainment, the hosts would count themselves 
 favored in being able to learn the news. 
 
 Such visitors were all the more welcome because 
 the mail came only once in two weeks from the 
 North, and was sent but once a month to the South. 
 There was no newspaper published in Virginia till 
 four years after Washington was born. 
 
 The life of a Virginia planter was, in many ways, 
 the life of an English nobleman. He was lord of 
 large estates; in the centre, or perhaps near the 
 river, was his mansion. Close by it were the various 
 out-buildings, the stables, and the negro quarters, 
 which looked like a little village. Surrounding this 
 
I70 History of the United States. 
 
 group of buildings were broad acres of grain, pas- 
 tures, meadow lands, and large fields of tobacco. 
 
 Almost every plantation bordered on a river and 
 had a landing or wharf. Here the vessels from 
 other parts of the colony and from different places 
 in America, but more often from England, would 
 come for tobacco, the great staple export of Vir- 
 
 A Southern Homestead. 
 
 From a photograph. 
 
 ginia. These vessels would bring for exchange 
 household goods and supplies of all kinds. The 
 arrival of such a vessel was a great event to those 
 who lived on a plantation. 
 
 The negro slaves formed fully half the popula- 
 tion, and were, on the whole, kindly treated ; there 
 were white servants also, who, in order to come to 
 the New World, had sold themselves for a term of 
 years. Others among the white servants were con- 
 victs, banished from England by the authorities. 
 
 There were in the colony a few traders, as well 
 
George Washington. 171 
 
 as some small farmers, whose great ambition was 
 to become large planters. The economical working- 
 man of New England and the thrifty mechanic of 
 the Middle Colonies were almost unknown in Vir- 
 ginia, and in the other southern colonies. Each 
 large planter had his own mechanics, the most intel- 
 ligent negro men being trained as blacksmiths, car- 
 penters, masons, etc. There were very few schools, 
 hardly any, in fact, deserving the name, and the Col- 
 lege of William and Mary at Williamsburg, founded 
 in 1692, had not prospered. The sons of the rich 
 planters were taught by the clergymen of the par- 
 ish, or by a tutor in the family, and were often sent 
 to England and educated at the great schools and 
 universities there. 
 
 Indeed, with almost no commerce, little trade 
 except in tobacco, and little legal business, there 
 was not much demand for education ; knowledge 
 of men and things was considered of more value 
 than knowledge of books. The Virginian of the 
 upper class was a hearty, athletic, independent 
 man. 
 
 Such a man, of course, could have no spur to lit- 
 erary ambition ; the distinction he sought was that 
 which came from serving in war or in politics. 
 The rich planters had much time on their hands, 
 and many of them devoted their leisure to fishing, 
 fox-hunting, horse-racing, and cock-fighting. 
 
 It was fortunate for Washington that he was a 
 
172 History of the United States. 
 
 younger son, and that he was in moderate circum- 
 stances during the early years of his Hfe. 
 
 He early went to an " old-field school," ^ taught by 
 the sexton of the parish, a man by the name of 
 Hobby. Washington, after his father's death, went 
 to live with his half-brother, Augustine, so that he 
 might go to a better school. He was taught no 
 other language than English, but his instruction in 
 arithmetic, geometry, and surveying was excellent. 
 He was a good student, and at the same time an 
 active, strong boy, fond of athletic games and very 
 successful in them. 
 
 While at school he had a great longing to go to 
 sea. He had often seen the ships with their cargoes 
 of foreign goods at the riverside, and had watched 
 them while they were being loaded with tobacco for 
 England, and he thought that life on shipboard 
 would be a fine thing. His mother had almost 
 yielded to his wish, but her brother advised so 
 strongly against the plan that it was given up, and 
 George returned to school. 
 
 He was a thoughtful lad. Before he was fifteen 
 years old he had copied out, in round and boyish 
 but beautifully regular handwriting, over one hun- 
 dred rules in regard to behavior and good morals. 
 There is no doubt that he tried to follow many of 
 them. " The chief thought that runs through all 
 
 ^ Schoolhouses were often built in fields which were so worn out by 
 continual crops that nothing could be grown in them 
 
George Washington. 
 
 173 
 
 these rules is to practise self-control, and, from what 
 we know of the boy and man, few have been more 
 successful in the practice of this virtue." 
 
 He left school at fifteen, and went to live with 
 his eldest half-brother, Lawrence, who had built a 
 fine house on high ground overlooking the Potomac 
 River. Lawrence had named the estate Mount 
 
 ^■■'-W'^^s'^''ft'^W2-- 
 
 Mount Vernon. 
 
 Vernon, after the English admiral under whom 
 he had served in Europe. 
 
 Lawrence Washington, the elder by fourteen 
 years, became warmly attached to his young brother. 
 Lawrence had married into the Fairfax family. 
 
 Lord Fairfax, who had inherited immense estates 
 in Virginia, came to live in the colony. He was 
 now about sixty years old. He was a well-educated 
 man, had seen much of the world, was a keen ob- 
 
174 History of the United States. 
 
 server, and altogether was a fine specimen of an 
 Enghsh nobleman. He, too, became very fond of 
 the earnest, active, thoughtful boy, and soon had 
 the opportunity to be of great service to him. 
 
 Nothing shows us the real George Washing- 
 ton so well as the fact that two men, who were 
 experienced in the world, enjoyed the companion- 
 ship of this youth of sixteen, and loved and trusted 
 him. 
 
 Lord Fairfax had vast estates in an almost untrod- 
 den wilderness beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains. 
 These lands had never been surveyed. To Wash- 
 ington Lord Fairfax intrusted the task of surveying 
 these estates and fixing their boundaries. 
 
 The lad of sixteen, in company with a brother-in- 
 law of Lawrence Washington and a few attendants, 
 started in the early spring of 1 748 on a trip up the 
 Shenandoah Valley. 
 
 They slept in tents, or in settlers' huts, or on the 
 ground under the open sky. They swam the rivers, 
 pushed through the forests, and climbed the moun- 
 tains. At one time they came upon a band of 
 Indians on the war-path, and watched one of their 
 wild war-dances around the camp-fire. 
 
 When Washington returned and showed his sur- 
 veys. Lord Fairfax was greatly pleased with the 
 clearness and accuracy with which the work had 
 been done, and secured for his young friend the 
 position of public surveyor. This was of great ad- 
 
George Washington. 175 
 
 vantage to Washington, for it gave him regular 
 work. 
 
 He followed this business for three years. It was 
 a rough life. He spent much time on the frontier, 
 where there were few settlements, and where the 
 danger from wild animals and unfriendly Indians was 
 great. The young man gained experience, and be- 
 came hardy, self-reliant, and able to foresee dangers 
 and to meet them. 
 
 Young as he was, he did his work well. His sur- 
 veys were accepted without hesitation, and were 
 never questioned afterward. 
 
 He thus describes his life in a letter to a friend : 
 *' Since you have received my letter of October last, 
 I have not slept above three or four times in a bed, 
 but, after walking a good way all the day, I have 
 lain down before the fire upon a little hay, straw, 
 fodder, or a bearskin, whichever was to be had, with 
 man, wife, and children, like dogs and cats; and 
 happy is he who gets the berth nearest the fire." 
 
 The health of Lawrence Washington having 
 failed, he went to Barbados, in the West Indies, 
 in the hope of being benefited, and took his brother 
 George with him. While on the trip George had 
 a serious attack of smallpox. On his recovery 
 the brothers returned to Virginia. Less than six 
 months later Lawrence Washington died, leaving 
 his brother George the guardian of his daughter, 
 and, in the event of her death, heir to his estates. 
 
176 History of the United States. 
 
 England and France were now beginning to 
 struggle for the possession of the New World. 
 The French, following the St Lawrence River 
 and the Great Lakes, had claimed for France all 
 the country south of those waters and west of the 
 Alleghanies. They had found how rich the Ohio 
 country was, and by making friends with the 
 Indians, and by building a chain of forts, they 
 expected to make good their claim. Virginia, also, 
 claimed most of this territory, saying that her 
 charter gave her all the country as far as the 
 Pacific Ocean. Pennsylvania claimed part of it as 
 a gift of King Charles to William Penn. Massa- 
 chusetts, Connecticut, and New York, also had 
 claims under their charters. 
 
 English settlers had made homes near the Alle- 
 ghanies; others had gone around the mountains 
 by passing through western New York. These 
 English settlers had no intention of living under 
 French rule on land which they believed to be 
 English by right. 
 
 Governor Dinwiddle of Virginia sent a mes- 
 senger to the French to warn them not to trespass 
 on Virginia land ; but the messenger was afraid 
 not only of the French but also of the Indians, 
 and turned back before he had come within a 
 hundred miles of the French forts. 
 
 The governor had to look for some bolder man. 
 He chose George Washington, who had lately been 
 
George Washington. 
 
 177 
 
 appointed a major in the mihtia. The governor 
 may have asked advice of Lord Fairfax, but it was 
 the faithfulness and energy of the young surveyor 
 that caused him to be chosen for this important 
 service. 
 
 Washington was not 
 quite twenty-two when 
 he set out on this peril- 
 ous journey. He had 
 as companions a skilled 
 backwoodsman, an old 
 Dutch soldier, and some 
 attendants. It was nec- 
 essary to go about five 
 hundred miles through 
 forests, over mountains, 
 and across rivers and 
 streams, for there were 
 no roads, except narrow 
 Indian trails which often 
 were lost in the wilder- 
 ness. 
 
 In due time the letter of the governor was deliv- 
 ered to the French commander. Of course the 
 Frenchman had no intention of giving up his forts or 
 the country to the English. But he wrote a polite 
 reply, and, while he was doing this, Washington 
 sketched the fort, and learned all he could about its 
 strength, its supplies, and the number of soldiers in it. 
 
 13 
 
 Route of Braddock's Expedition. 
 
178 History of the United States. 
 
 The journey back was more exciting than the 
 journey out. Washington and Gist, one of his 
 companions, went on ahead of the rest with an 
 Indian guide. The guide proved treacherous. They 
 caught him in the act of firing on them, and Gist 
 would have shot him, but Washington would not 
 consent, and he was allowed to escape. 
 
 Their horses gave out and were left behind, and 
 Washington and Gist went on afoot. The weather 
 was bitterly cold, for it was now the middle of a 
 stormy December. When they reached the Alle- 
 ghany River they had to make a raft in order to 
 get across. As Washington was trying to push the 
 raft through the water his pole was struck by a cake 
 of ice and he fell into the river, which was full of 
 floating ice. The water was deep, but the two men 
 managed to reach an island, on which they spent the 
 night with their clothes frozen stiff. 
 
 In the morning they walked to the shore on the 
 ice. They reached the settlements in safety, told 
 their story, and delivered the French commander's 
 letter. 
 
 It was now clear that the French intended to 
 stay where they were. In the following spring, the 
 governor sent out a small force, over which Wash- 
 ington was second in command. On this expedi- 
 tion, a few French soldiers were surprised, and some 
 of them were taken prisoners. By the death of his 
 superior officer, Washington came to be in com- 
 
George Washington. 
 
 179 
 
 mand, and built a small fort, which he named Fort 
 Necessity. 
 
 Here he was compelled to await an attack by the 
 French. His force was largely outnumbered by 
 the attacking party, his supply of powder and shot 
 
 British Footguard. 1745. 
 
 From Grant's " British Battles.' 
 
 French Soldier. 
 
 After a watercolor sketch in the Mas- 
 sachusetts Archives. Coat red, faced 
 blue, breeches blue. 
 
 was nearly gone, and when the French offered to 
 make terms he felt obliged to yield. The French 
 said that if the English would leave the country 
 and promise not to come back for a year they 
 might go. Washington was only too glad to accept 
 these honorable terms. 
 
i8o History of the United States. 
 
 By the next year England had concluded to 
 attack the French in earnest, and sent out forces 
 to join with the colonial troops in making a grand 
 effort to conquer the French. 
 
 A part of the plan was to attack the French 
 forts in the Ohio country. The officer in com- 
 mand of this expedition was General Edward Brad- 
 dock. He was a brave man, but he knew nothing 
 about fighting in the forests of America. He 
 thought that the French and Indians should be 
 fought as men fought in Europe. Franklin, in 
 Philadelphia, warned him against surprises and 
 the Indian's way of fighting, but Braddock said 
 to himself : " What can a plain citizen like Frank- 
 lin tell an old soldier like me about fighting ? " 
 
 Braddock heard of Washington's skill and experi- 
 ence, and offered him a position on his staff, which 
 was gladly accepted. The march was made slowly, 
 but with safety, until the troops came within a few 
 miles of Fort Duquesne, which the French had 
 built. Suddenly, musket shots were heard in front, 
 and yells and Indian war-whoops startled the British 
 troops. 
 
 Washington begged Braddock to order his sol- 
 diers into the woods, so that each man might get 
 behind a tree, and thus fight the Indians in their 
 own fashion. Braddock refused, for that was not, 
 in his opinion, the right way to fight. 
 
 The troops were soon panic-stricken by the 
 
George Washington, 
 
 i8i 
 
 shots and yells of an almost unseen foe; Brad- 
 dock was mortally wounded, and his men fled in 
 the wildest confusion. If it had not been for Wash- 
 ington and the Virginia militia, which the British 
 general had thought almost beneath contempt, the 
 rout would have been still worse. 
 
 . Washington, during the fight, did his best to 
 rally the troops; he aimed and fired a cannon 
 
 Braddock's Field. 
 
 himself; he w^as everywhere on the fatal field, ex- 
 posing himself regardless of danger. He had two 
 horses shot under him, and four bullets passed harm- 
 lessly through his clothes. The Indians thought 
 that he bore a charmed life. 
 
 He it was who gathered together what was left of 
 the army and conducted the retreat. Though this 
 expedition was such a failure, Washington came out 
 
1 82 History of the United States. 
 
 of it with a higher reputation than ever. He was 
 made commander of the Virginia forces, and for 
 three years guarded the frontier of the colony. 
 
 This expedition was only one incident of the war. 
 The conflict was also carried on in other parts of the 
 country. At last England appointed General James 
 Wolfe, a brave man and a skilful officer, to lead an 
 expedition against Quebec, the great stronghold of 
 
 the French. 
 
 Quebec was commanded 
 by the Marquis Montcalm, 
 one of the ablest of the 
 French officers. The town 
 stands on a high cliff ; it is 
 protected on three sides 
 by water ; on one side are 
 high rocks which seem well- 
 nigh inaccessible. 
 
 Wolfe almost despaired 
 of taking the town, but, 
 hearing of a path which 
 led up the cliff, he deter- 
 mined to make an attempt to scale the heights. 
 One dark night, he and his troops floated down 
 the river with the tide, and landed at the foot of 
 the cliffs. A few soldiers climbed the path ; they 
 surprised and captured the French sentinel at the 
 top before he could give the alarm. Soon Wolfe's 
 forces were on the heights, ready for the attack. 
 
 General James Wolfe. 
 
 After the print in Entick's " General 
 History of the Late War." 
 
George Washington. 
 
 83 
 
 Montcalm was amazed when he learned of Wolfe's 
 feat. In the battle which followed, both generals 
 were mortally wounded. As Wolfe fell, pierced by 
 a shot in his breast, he heard a cry : " They run ! 
 they run ! " " Who run ? " he asked. " The French," 
 was the reply. " Now God be praised, I die in 
 peace," he said, and died. Montcalm, struck down 
 
 Quebec in the Eighteenth Century. 
 
 From an old print. 
 
 by a bullet, said to the surgeon : " How long shall 
 I survive ? " " Ten or twelve hours, perhaps less," 
 was the reply. " So much the better ; I shall not 
 live to see the surrender of Quebec." In five days 
 the town surrendered. The war dragged on, but 
 France was conquered. 
 
 In the treaty of peace (1763), France gave up 
 
184 History of the United States. 
 
 to England all her possessions in America as far 
 as the Mississippi, except t\yo small islands near 
 Newfoundland, to be used as fishing, stations. All 
 the rest of the lands which she had claimed she 
 gave to Spain. 
 
 The English colonists now could settle where 
 they pleased in the Ohio country, without fear of 
 an enemy except the Indians. 
 
 When the French withdrew from the Ohio coun- 
 try, Washington had the pleasure of being with 
 the British forces when they took possession of 
 the smoking ruins of Fort Duquesne, which now 
 became Fort Pitt, and later, Pittsburg. 
 
 Before the close of the war, Washington was 
 married to a charming, wealthy young widow, 
 Martha Custis. His niece died, and he came int-o 
 possession of his brother's large estates, including 
 Mount Vernon, which was henceforth his home. 
 He was only twenty-seven years old, and yet he 
 was one of the foremost men of Virginia, admired 
 as her best soldier, and respected by all. 
 
 Whatever Washington did he did well. He 
 became the most successful planter in Virginia. 
 Of course, like all other rich men in the colony, he 
 had slaves, but they were contented, and he never 
 sold one of them. 
 
 As his surveys made in his youth were unques- 
 tioned, so now, when his name was seen on a barrel 
 or a bag of flour or on a hogshead of tobacco, every- 
 
George Washington. 185 
 
 body knew that the flour or tobacco was exactly 
 what it should be. 
 
 He was fond of outdoor exercise, and he often 
 went fox-hunting with his neighbors. For this 
 recreation he would dress in a blue coat, scarlet 
 waistcoat, buckskin breeches, and a velvet cap. 
 
 When a youth he is said to have thrown a stone 
 across the Rappahannock River, where nobody had 
 done it before and nobody has done it since. He 
 was six feet two inches tall, wore a number eleven 
 shoe, and his gloves had to be made especially for 
 him, his hands were so large. He kept his strength, 
 for, when he was forty, he threw an iron bar to an 
 almost incredible distance ; and when he was in the 
 Revolutionary Army he once picked up the poles 
 and canvas of his tent, and threw them into the 
 camp wagon with ease. This was usually the work 
 of two men. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 George Washington was the son of a Virginia planter. 
 He received a limited education. Became a skilled sur- 
 veyor. Was sent on important missions to the French. 
 Was aide to General Braddock during the French and 
 Indian War. The French were defeated, and England 
 gained the vast western country to the Mississippi River. 
 Whatever Washington did he did well. He was strong 
 and athletic. 
 
1 86 History of the United States. 
 
 When and where was George Washington born? 
 
 Describe the Virginia of those days. 
 
 Tell the story of Washington's school days. 
 
 Tell the story of his surveying trip in the Shenandoah Valley. 
 
 Describe the beginning of the conflict between England and 
 France in the New World. 
 
 Tell the story of Washington's expedition to the French fort. 
 
 Tell the story of Braddock's defeat. 
 
 Tell the story of the capture of Quebec. 
 
 Describe Washington's marriage, his personal character, his 
 bodily strength, and personal appearance. 
 
THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 During the French and Indian War the colonists 
 learned how strong they were. The war also made 
 them better acquainted with each other, because 
 the men of the middle and eastern colonies had 
 stood side by side in battle. Moreover it made 
 them feel that the French territory could not have 
 been won without their aid. It helped to unite the 
 colonies as nothing else had been able to do. It 
 showed them that they had common interests, and 
 even made some of them think that they could 
 get along without England. 
 
 They laid heavy taxes upon themselves, to pay the 
 expenses of their own troops, and did it willingly; 
 but when England began to tax them they objected. 
 
 They claimed that, as they were not represented 
 in the English Parliament, that body had no right 
 to tax them. Many of the people of England could 
 have made a similar claim, for Parliament was 
 elected by a small number of voters, and many 
 large towns were unrepresented. But the Ameri- 
 cans felt that, if their money was to be spent, they 
 should have some voice in deciding what should be 
 done with it 
 
 187 
 
1 88 History of the United States. 
 
 There were many Englishmen who thought that 
 the Americans were right. The EngHsh govern- 
 ment, however, thought differently, and in 1765 
 Parliament passed the Stamp Act, a law which 
 required all law papers, all agreements, all marriage 
 certificates, and many other papers, in order to be of 
 any use, to be written on paper which had a certain 
 value stamped upon it. These sheets of stamped 
 
 s: 
 
 O/tc 
 Penny] 
 
 Stamps used in 1765. 
 
 paper varied in value from one cent to sixty dollars, 
 or even more. 
 
 When the Americans heard of this plan of taxa- 
 tion they were very indignant. They refused to 
 buy any of the stamped paper, and no one dared to 
 keep it for sale. The English government could 
 not force the people to buy what they did not want, 
 and so the plan failed. Parliament now thought it 
 wise to repeal the law, but declared at the same 
 time that it was right to tax the colonies. There 
 was great joy in America and in England when the 
 
The Revolution. 
 
 189 
 
 repeal of the Stamp Act was known. The joy did 
 not last long, for Parliament soon found another 
 way to tax the colonists. It was said " The Ameri- 
 cans are very fond of tea. They cannot grow it in 
 America, and they will have to pay any tax we 
 
 Tha^hr, Oaatrii. 1165 THE *^^MB U?5 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA JOURNAL; 
 
 AN D 
 
 WEEKLY ADVEKTISER. 
 
 EXP IRl NCi; In Hopes of a RdkrrectioutoLlTE a^aio. 
 
 □ am forry to be 
 obliged to ac- 
 quaint my read- 
 ers that as the 
 Stamp Act is 
 feared to be obligatory 
 upon us after the Jirfi of 
 November ensumg (The 
 Fatal To-morrow), The 
 publifherofthis paper, un- 
 able to bear the Burthen, 
 has thought it expedient 
 to (top awhile, m order ta 
 
 deliberate, whether any 
 methods can be found to 
 elude the chams forged for 
 us, and efcape the infup- 
 portable f lavery, which it 
 is hoped, from the laft 
 repreientation now made 
 agamft that act, may be 
 effected. Mean while I 
 muft earneftly Requeft 
 every individual of my 
 Subfcribers, many of 
 whom have been long be- 
 
 hind Hand, that they 
 would immediately dif- 
 charge their refpective 
 Arrears, that I may be 
 able, not only to fupport 
 myfelf durmg the Inter- 
 val, but be better prepar- 
 ed to proceed again with 
 this Paper whenever an 
 opening for that purpofe 
 appears, which I hope 
 will bo foon. 
 WILLIAM BRADFORD. 
 
 A Colonial Newspaper. 
 
 A fac-simile about one-third the size of the originala 
 
 choose to put upon it." So a tax of threepence, 
 about six cents, was laid upon every pound of tea 
 that should be brought into America. 
 
 As soon as the Americans heard of this, they said, 
 *' We will not drink any tea that comes from Eng- 
 
190 History of the United States, 
 
 land into America." When vessels having tea on 
 board reached Boston they were ordered back, but 
 the British officers refused to let them sail. Then 
 one night a party of men, dressed as Indians, went 
 on board the ships, hoisted up from the holds of the 
 vessels more than three hundred chests of tea, broke 
 them open, and emptied the tea over the sides of the 
 
 1. fuijdiit 
 
 
 
 IP 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 =1 
 
 
 
 
 ^^^^m 
 
 ^^^^s 
 
 g 
 
 
 THE Boston Tea-partv, 
 
 From an old print. 
 
 ships into the water. This performance was called 
 " The Boston Tea-party." 
 
 When tea ships went to Philadelphia and New 
 York, the captains were not allowed to put the tea on 
 shore. At Charleston, South Carolina, the tea was 
 landed, but was stored in damp cellars, so that it soon 
 spoiled. At Annapolis, Maryland, the tea was burned 
 
The Revolution. 191 
 
 ' When the king and his ministers heard of these 
 acts of violence they were very angry. There were 
 only two courses for them to follow, — either to 
 repeal the law or to try to enforce obedience. 
 Naturally the government decided upon the latter. 
 Massachusetts was the most unruly colony, and 
 Parliament passed several laws to punish her. 
 One of the laws provided that no ships should 
 
 Charleston in 1780. 
 
 After a drawing by Leitch. 
 
 enter or leave Boston Harbor until the town should 
 make good the loss of the tea, and agree to obey 
 the laws. Another law took away several of the 
 privileges which had been given to Massachusetts 
 in her charter. This law was the worst of all, for, 
 if Parliament could change the charter of one 
 colony, it could change the charters of all, and the 
 liberty which had been given them would be at the 
 
192 History of the United States. 
 
 mercy of a government in which the colonists had 
 no representation. Another law gave the British 
 government the right to quarter troops on the 
 colonists.^ 
 
 When the news of these and other laws reached 
 America, the whole country was stirred up. Meet- 
 ings were held everywhere to protest against them. 
 
 Meanwhile the people of Boston began to suffer 
 from the closing of their port. Help came from all 
 over the country^ Charleston, South Carolina, sent 
 rice, New York sent wheat, and from other places 
 came various kinds of provisions and also money. 
 On the day on which the law was to go into effect 
 the bells were tolled and the houses were hung with 
 black. 
 
 In Virginia, Washington presided at a meeting 
 where it was resolved not to use anything British 
 until the rights of the colonists were restored. In 
 every one of the colonies such meetings were held, 
 and similar resolutions were passed. 
 
 Men and women wore homespun clothes, and 
 rather than use anything imported from England, 
 drank tea made of the leaves of raspberry or other 
 plants, such as sassafras or sage. 
 
 The British government had sent troops to Bos- 
 ton, and had placed them under the command of 
 General Gage, the military governor of Massachu- 
 
 ^ To quarter troops is to force the inhabitants to board soldiers in 
 their families. 
 
The Revolution. 
 
 193 
 
 setts. Already the colonies felt that the cause of 
 Massachusetts was the cause of all, and that it 
 would be well to consult together as to what was 
 best to be done. 
 
 All the colonies, except Georgia, whose governor 
 managed to prevent it, chose men to go to Phila- 
 delphia to meet and con- 
 sider the whole question. 
 This body was called the 
 Continental Congress. It 
 met in Carpenters' Hall, 
 September 5, 1774. 
 
 Each colony had chosen 
 some of its best men. 
 Massachusetts sent John 
 Adams and Samuel Adams; 
 Virginia, George Washing- 
 ton and Patrick Henry; 
 New York, John Jay; 
 Pennsylvania, John Dickinson; South Carolina, 
 John Rutledge. 
 
 The Congress prepared addresses setting forth 
 clearly the position of the colonies, and threatening 
 resistance if Parliament and the king did not yield. 
 It also advised that no British goods should be 
 imported or used. 
 
 All this had little or no effect on the king and his 
 ministers. They resolved to force the Americans 
 to submit. More British troops had been sent to 
 
 14 
 
 Samuel Adams. 
 
 After the portrait by Copley, in Boston 
 
 Museum of Fine Arts. 
 
194 History of the United States. 
 
 Boston, and it needed only some slight trouble to 
 bring on war. 
 
 The course followed by the king and the major- 
 ity in Parliament was opposed by some of the 
 ablest English legislators, such as Edmund Burke 
 
 and William Pitt, and also 
 many English citizens, but 
 without avail. 
 
 General Gage in Boston, 
 hearing that the Ameri- 
 cans had been collecting 
 powder, shot, and muskets 
 at Concord, about twenty 
 miles away, sent out se- 
 cretly a force of eight 
 hundred men to seize 
 the supplies. The Ameri- 
 cans decided to send Paul 
 Revere to warn the two 
 patriots, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, of the 
 danger. 
 
 Signal lanterns were hung out from the tower of 
 the old North Church in Boston, to show that the 
 soldiers were to cross the harbor, and soon alarm 
 bells and swift riders were waking the farmers and 
 minute-men.^ 
 
 As Paul Revere galloped along the road to Con- 
 
 ^ Minute-men : so-called because they were to be ready at a minute's 
 notice. 
 
 John Hancock. 
 
 After the portrait by Copley painted in 1774, 
 in Boston Museum of Fine Arts. 
 
The Revolution. 
 
 195 
 
 cord, some one called to him, " You are making too 
 much noise." " You'll have noise enough before long," 
 he shouted back ; " the regulars are coming out." 
 
 The regulars did come 
 out, and they found the 
 whole country roused and 
 ready for them. But noth- 
 ing was done until Lex- 
 ington was reached. There 
 the soldiers found a body of 
 minute-men drawn up on the- 
 green before the meeting- 
 house. The British officer 
 commanded the Americans 
 to disperse, but they stood 
 still. Then the officer ordered 
 his men to fire, and several 
 of the Americans were killed, 
 and others wounded. 
 
 The soldiers marched on to 
 Concord, where more Ameri- 
 cans were drawn up at a 
 bridge. Again there was fir- 
 ing. Then the British, hav- 
 ing destroyed some stores, 
 started on their return, and 
 all along the road from Concord to Boston they 
 were fired upon by the farmers and minute-men, 
 who were behind barns and houses and stone walls. 
 
 The Minute Man. 
 
 From the statue at Concord, Mass. 
 The inscription on the pedestal 
 reads: 
 
 " Here on the 19th of April, 1775, was 
 made the first forcible resistance to 
 British aggression. On the opposite 
 bank stood the American militia, 
 here stood the invading army, and 
 on this spot the first of the enemy 
 fell in the War of the Revolution, 
 which gave independence to these 
 United States. In gratitude to God 
 and in the love of freedom this 
 monument was erected a.d. 1836." 
 
196 History of the United States. 
 
 The battles of Lexington and Concord took place 
 on the 19th of April, 1775. This was the beginning 
 of the war between the colonies and the mother 
 country. 
 
 The Americans soon had an army encamped 
 before Boston, shutting General Gage and his sol- 
 diers within the city. He was not alarmed, for he 
 
 did not think that the 
 Yankee farmers would 
 really fight ; but he soon 
 saw his mistake. 
 
 The Americans heard 
 that he intended to take 
 Charlestown, a village 
 across the river from Bos- 
 k ton, and they resolved to 
 prevent it. They left Cam- 
 bridge in the evening of 
 Paul Revere. the 1 6th of Junc, marched 
 
 After the picture by Gilbert Stuart. ^^ ChadeStOWU, aud bcgan 
 
 at once to throw up fortifications of earth. 
 
 Early the next morning the British were amazed 
 to find a wall of earth on the hill. Twice they tried 
 to capture the works ; twice they were driven back 
 with great loss of life ; a third time they were suc- 
 cessful, for the powder of the Americans had given 
 out, and they were forced to retire. This battle is 
 known as the battle of Bunker Hill. Though the 
 Americans were defeated, it showed that the colo- 
 
The Revolution. 
 
 197 
 
 nists could stand up against the regular British 
 troops. The news of what had been done inspired 
 hope throughout the land. When Washington 
 heard of it he said " The liberties of the country 
 are safe." 
 
 The Colonies in 1776: Northern Section. 
 
 Meanwhile a second congress at Philadelphia had 
 seen that there must be war, and with one voice 
 appointed George Washington Commander-in-Chief 
 of the army. He accepted the difficult trust. Under 
 a great elm tree at Cambridge, Massachusetts, July 
 3, 1775, he formally took command. His head- 
 
198 History of the United States, 
 
 quarters were in the house so well known since as 
 the home of the poet Longfellow. 
 
 It was a strange looking army that Washington 
 found. Supplies were scarce, most of the men were 
 without uniforms, and they were wholly unused to 
 military order and discipline, and were for a long 
 time very unwilling to submit to necessary rules. 
 They were, however, intelligent men and brave 
 patriots. Out of such material as this was Wash- 
 ington's army made up, but with it he forced the 
 British, in March, 1776, to leave Boston! 
 
 Washington did not rest, but marched his army 
 to New York, where he knew an attack would be 
 made. He reached New York in time, but was 
 compelled to leave the city, as the British were 
 greatly superior in numbers to his forces. The 
 Americans were defeated on Long Island, and 
 Washington was forced to retreat across New Jersey 
 toward Philadelphia. 
 
 The retreating army was pursued by Lord Corn- 
 wallis, the British general, and had not Washing- 
 ton, with wise foresight, secured all the boats on 
 the Delaware River for miles above and below 
 Trenton, the British would have followed the 
 Americans into Pennsylvania. 
 
 In the meantime the Congress in Philadelphia 
 had decided that the colonies should declare their 
 independence of the mother country. On the 4th 
 of July, 1776, the delegates in Congress adopted 
 
The Revolution. 
 
 199 
 
200 History of the United States. 
 
 the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming the 
 thirteen colonies free and independent. The name 
 chosen for the new nation was the United States 
 of America. 
 
 Washington's retreat from New York, which 
 took place about six months after independence 
 had been declared, was most discouraging to the 
 
 
 %/kUk tUr^fyU. fCn^'to ^ td p jef^a^t^Jtdrry.. 
 
 Fac-simile of the First Two Paragraphs of the 
 Declaration of Independence. 
 
 army and to the whole country. Washington saw 
 that something must be done. He did not dare to 
 attack the whole British army, for it was very much 
 larger than his own. He resolved to attack part of 
 it. Trenton was held by Hessians, German troops 
 whom the English had hired to fight for them. 
 They were having a good time on Christmas night, 
 
The Revolution. 
 
 20I 
 
 1776. It was stormy, but that was just what Wash- 
 ington wished for. He had secretly collected a 
 number of boats, and before the Hessians dreamed 
 of what was coming, he crossed the river, seized 
 the town, took a thousand prisoners, and returned 
 to Pennsylvania. 
 
 A few days later, he again crossed the river, and 
 had a skirmish with Cornwallis, who had been 
 
 Table and Chair used at the signing of the Declaration of 
 Independence. 
 
 In Independence Hall, Philadelphia. 
 
 sent to attack him. The night following, Wash- 
 ington left his camp-fires burning, slipped past Corn- 
 wallis, and hastily marched upon Princeton. The 
 first that Cornwallis knew of Washington's where- 
 abouts was the booming of cannon behind him. 
 Of course, Cornwallis had to follow to protect his 
 supplies, and soon most of New Jersey was regained 
 by the Americans. 
 
202 History of the United States. 
 
 This was Washington's great campaign. It was 
 fought against great odds, and had it not been 
 successful, there is every reason to believe that the 
 Revolution would have failed. 
 
 The British next cast their eyes upon Philadel- 
 phia, but, being unwilling to meet Washington in 
 New Jersey, they sent their army around by sea to 
 
 Valley Forge. 
 
 Washington and Lafayette visiting the suffering army. After the painting by A. Gibert. 
 
 Chesapeake Bay. The troops were disembarked at 
 Elkton, near the head of the bay, and marched 
 toward Philadelphia. 
 
 Washington fought two battles to keep the city 
 from falling into the enemy's hands, but was de- 
 feated, and Philadelphia was taken. 
 
 The winter of 1777-78, a bitterly cold one, was 
 
The Revolution, 
 
 203 
 
 spent by Washington's army at Valley Forge on 
 the Schuylkill River, about twenty miles from Phil- 
 adelphia. The army suffered terribly from cold, 
 hunger, and want of supplies, but Washington did 
 not despair. 
 
 The Colonies in 1776: Southern Section. 
 
 While he had been fighting one army near Phila- 
 delphia, another British army under Burgoyne was 
 marching down from Canada. At Saratoga it was 
 beaten by the Americans under General Gates, and 
 Burgoyne and his army were made prisoners of war. 
 
 This great victory made the European nations 
 
204 History of the United States. 
 
 believe that the colonists were going to succeed after 
 all. Benjamin Franklin, before this, had been sent 
 to France to try to get the French king to help the 
 United States. French money had already been 
 sent secretly, but it was not until after the victory at 
 Saratoga that the French government made a treaty 
 with the new nation, and agreed openly to help the 
 United States in the struggle against England. 
 
 The British army soon left Philadelphia, for it was 
 feared that a French fleet might take New York, 
 which, as a better seaport, was of great value to the 
 English. The winter spent in Philadelphia had not 
 made the troops better soldiers, for, while the poor 
 fellows in the American army at Valley Forge had 
 been suffering from hunger and cold, the British 
 officers had been having a round of balls and amuse- 
 ments, and the soldiers, for the most part, had had 
 little fighting to do. Dr. Franklin said, " The British 
 have not taken Philadelphia, but the Philadelphians 
 have taken the British." Washington quickly fol- 
 lowed the enemy, and the armies were soon very 
 nearly in the positions they had held two years 
 before. 
 
 The United States had a very small navy, but the 
 officers and crews were brave and skilful. John Paul 
 Jones was the most celebrated of these officers. On 
 one expedition he sailed through the Irish Channel, 
 and in less than a month, destroyed four vessels, 
 seized a fort at Whitehaven, and burned the ship- 
 
The Revolution. 
 
 205 
 
 ping in the harbor. He also captured a prize, and 
 took it with him to France. 
 
 At another time, off Flamborough Head, on the 
 eastern coast of England, his ship Le Bonhomme 
 Richard, fought the British ship Serapis. The two 
 vessels came so close to each other, that Jones 
 lashed them together. A desperate conflict took 
 place. The Richard was so 
 much injured that the Eng- 
 lish captain called out " Have 
 you struck? " Jones shouted 
 back, " I have not yet begun 
 to fight.'* The Serapis sur- 
 rendered, but Jones's vessel 
 was so injured that he trans- 
 ferred to the prize everything 
 that was possible. He had 
 hardly done this when the 
 Bonhomme Richard sank. 
 These are only some of the 
 exploits of John Paul Jones. 
 
 Most of the naval warfare was carried on by priv- 
 ateers, that is to say, private vessels licensed to 
 make war on an enemy. There were several hun- 
 dred of these American privateers, and the damage 
 that they inflicted on British commerce was very 
 great. 
 
 The war dragged on. The English nation was 
 getting tired of a war of which so many of their 
 
 Paul Jones. 
 
 After the etching by A. Varen. 
 
2o6 History of the United States. 
 
 people disapproved, and in which there seemed Httle 
 prospect of final success. On the other hand, the 
 American army was so poorly supplied with food, 
 clothing, and arms, that Washington had a hard 
 time to keep his men together. 
 
 Congress failed to provide money with which to 
 buy supplies. Robert Morris, a patriotic citizen of 
 Pennsylvania, and a few others, helped greatly in 
 this trying time, by borrowing money to support the 
 
 starving troops. But for 
 this and the personal influ- 
 
 ence of Washington over 
 
 Device printed in Franklin's " Pennsyl 
 vania Gazette," 1754. 
 
 his army and officers, the 
 American army might have 
 disbanded. 
 
 About this time came an 
 event which caused much 
 uneasiness among the Amer- 
 icans. This was the treason of Benedict Arnold. 
 Arnold had taken an active and helpful part in an 
 expedition against Canada, and had fought bravely 
 at Saratoga, where he was severely wounded. In 
 1778 he was placed in command at Philadelphia. 
 While in that city he married the daughter of a 
 Tory, as those who sympathized with England were 
 called. He lived extravagantly and ran into debt; 
 he was accused of using the funds of the army. 
 He was tried and sentenced to be reprimanded by 
 Washington. Washington did this as mildly as 
 
The Revolution. 
 
 207 
 
 possible, and afterward gave him the command of 
 West Point, a fort which controlled the Hudson. 
 But Arnold s pride was touched. He opened corre- 
 spondence with Chnton, the British general in New 
 York, and agreed to surrender the fort to the 
 British. Major Andre, CHnton's agent in this 
 business, was captured while on his way back to 
 New York, and papers in Arnold's handwriting 
 were found upon his person. The plot was dis- 
 covered ; Andre was tried by courtmartial, and was 
 hanged as a spy. Arnold heard of Andre's capture 
 in time to escape. He was rewarded by the British 
 with money and the rank of brigadier-general. He 
 fought against his countrymen, and at the end of 
 the war went to England, but was everywhere re- 
 garded with contempt. 
 
 In the south, the English had an army so much 
 stronger than the American forces, that, notwith- 
 standing the skill and bravery of such officers as 
 Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, Andrew Pick- 
 ens, and William Washington, the Carolinas fell 
 under British control. Against Washington's 
 advice, Congress sent General Gates to command 
 the American army. Gates met Cornwallis at Cam- 
 den, South Carolina, and was very badly defeated. 
 Thinking all was lost, he jumped on his horse, and 
 never stopped in his flight until he had left the 
 battle-field seventy miles behind him. 
 
 Congress now was willing to take the advice of 
 
2o8 History of the United States. 
 
 Washington, and, in accordance with his sugges- 
 tion, General Nathanael Greene was sent to take 
 the place of Gates. Greene was the best officer, 
 next to Washington, in the Continental army. 
 Greene did not fight much, for his forces were weak, 
 but he managed to get the British army into such 
 an awkward situation that Cornwallis found it best 
 
 to leave the Carolinas; 
 so he marched into Vir- 
 ginia, and encamped on 
 the peninsula of York- 
 town. 
 
 Washington now saw 
 that the time had come 
 to make a great effort. 
 He therefore left the 
 neighborhood of New 
 York, with all the troops 
 that he could muster 
 and secretly and hastily 
 marched across New Jer- 
 sey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, to Elkton, Mary- 
 land. From this place he sent the greater part of 
 his troops by water to York River, Virginia. He 
 himself hurried thither by land, halting. for two days 
 at his beloved Mount Vernon, which he had not 
 seen for six years. ^ 
 
 Washington had persuaded the commander of 
 the French fleet to help the American army. Thus, 
 
 General Nathanael Greene. 
 
 From the paintinp by Charles Willson Peale 
 1783. 
 
The Revolution. 
 
 209 
 
21 o History of the United States. 
 
 shut in by sea and by land, Cornwallis was com- 
 pelled to surrender to the combined French and 
 American forces. It was a great victory, and every 
 one felt that it decided the war. 
 
 Though it was two years before peace was 
 declared, no battle of importance was fought after 
 Yorktown. The thirteen colonies had won their 
 
 The State-house, Annapolis. 
 
 From Scharf's " History of Maryland." 
 
 independence, and were recognized by the mother 
 country as the United States of America. 
 
 On the 20th of December, 1783, Washington 
 went to Annapolis, Maryland, where the Continen- 
 tal Congress was in session, to resign his commis- 
 sion as Commander-in-Chief of the American army. 
 There, in the hall of the old state-house, a building 
 which is still standing, he laid down the charge 
 he had accepted more than eight years before at 
 Philadelphia. 
 
The Revolution. 21 1 
 
 He said in his short address, " Having finished 
 the work assigned me, and bidding an affection- 
 ate farewell to this august body, under whose order 
 I have acted, I here offer my commission and take 
 leave of all employments of public life." He has- 
 tened to Mount Vernon, and again became a Virginia 
 planter. But his fellow-citizens did not let him 
 remain long in the quiet of home life. 
 
 Shortly before the end of the Revolutionary War 
 the states of the Union entered into an agreement 
 and adopted a set of rules known as the " Articles 
 of Confederation." These rules were intended to 
 govern the country, but they were faulty because 
 they did not give Congress any power to enforce 
 the laws. As Congress could not make people 
 pay their taxes, it soon had no money to pay the 
 debts of the nation, or even the regular expenses of 
 the government. It could not make treaties with 
 foreign nations, because it could not carry them out 
 after they were made. It could not keep up an 
 army or a navy, for it could not raise money to pay 
 the men, or to build vessels. 
 
 Each of the states wished to *do as it pleased 
 without regard to the others, and there was but 
 little national feeling. Congress could only ask 
 the states to supply money, and if any state did not 
 wish to do so. Congress was helpless. The nation 
 was in danger of being despised at home and ridi- 
 culed abroad. It was clear that something must be 
 

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 A Facsimile of Washington's Accounts kept during the Revolution. 
 
 From " Monuments of Washington's Patriotism." 
 212 
 
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 A Facsimile of Washington's Accounts kept during the Revolution. 
 
 From " Monuments of Washington's Patriotism." 
 213 
 
214 History of the United States. 
 
 done if the United States was to become a strong 
 nation or even to keep its independence. 
 
 At length, in 1787, the states chose a number of 
 their wisest men, among them George Washington, 
 Benjamin FrankHn, Alexander Hamilton, and James 
 Madison, to frame some better form of government 
 which could enforce its laws and be truly national. 
 
 After four months, they drew up the Constitution 
 of the United States of America. In the course of 
 a year, eleven of the states had adopted it, and it 
 became necessary to choose a President. There 
 was one man to whom all eyes turned, George Wash- 
 ington, and he was chosen unanimously. John 
 Adams was chosen Vice-President. 
 
 New York City was the place at which Congress 
 was sitting, and as there were no railroads or steam- 
 boats or telegraph in those days, a special mes- 
 senger was sent to tell Washington that he had been 
 elected the first President of the United States. 
 
 All the way from Mount Vernon, the roads along 
 which Washington travelled were lined with people 
 to see him and to cheer him as he passed. In 
 every village, men and women from the farms and 
 workshops crowded the streets to watch for his car- 
 riage ; and the ringing of bells and firing of guns 
 marked his coming and going. 
 
 Citizens of Baltimore went out to meet him and 
 escort him into the city, while booming of cannon 
 welcomed him. The governor of Pennsylvania, 
 
The Revolution. 
 
 215 
 
 with soldiers and citizens, met him at the state line 
 and escorted him to Philadelphia. 
 
 At Trenton, there was a grand arch of triumph, 
 
 Steuben. Gov. A. St. Clair. Sec'y S. A. Otis. Roger Sherman. Gov. E. Clinton 
 
 Chancellor R. R. Livingston. John Adams. Gen. Henry Knox 
 
 George Washington. 
 
 Washington taking the Oath as President, April 30, 1789. 
 
 and young girls went before him, strewing flowers in 
 his path, and singing songs of welcome. When he 
 reached Ellzabethtown, he embarked in a barge 
 manned by thirteen master-pilots dressed in white, 
 and was rowed by them to New York. He entered 
 
21 6 History of the United States. 
 
 the city to the sound of music, salutes of artillery, 
 and ten thousand shouts of welcome. 
 
 On the 30th of April, 1 789, he took the oath of 
 office on the balcony of Federal Hall, in the pres- 
 ence of a great multitude. The new government 
 had begun. 
 
 Washington was reelected in 1792. He died in 
 1 799 ; it was well said of him that he was " first in 
 war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his fel- 
 low-countrymen." 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 The English colonists learned their own strength dur- 
 ing the French and Indian War. They were not repre- 
 sented in the English Parliament, and objected to taxation 
 without representation. Parliament passed in 1765 the 
 Stamp Act. But it could not be enforced. The act was 
 repealed and a tax on tea imposed. Colonists refused to 
 receive tea or to pay the tax. Parliament passed several 
 acts to punish Massachusetts. The people all over the 
 country, sided with Massachusetts. 
 
 The action of the British brought on an appeal to 
 arms. Washington was appointed Commander-in-Chief. 
 The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of In- 
 dependence, July 4, 1776. After eight years of warfare, 
 the British acknowledged the independence of the colonies. 
 Washington resigned his commission 1783. The states 
 had adopted an agreement by which the country was to 
 be ruled, but it gave Congress no power to enforce its laws. 
 A convention drew up the Constitution which was adopted. 
 
The United States after the Revolution. 
 217 
 
21 8 History of the United States. 
 
 George Washington was unanimously chosen the first 
 president. The new government began on the 30th of 
 April, 1789. Washington died 1799. 
 
 What did the colonists learn from the French and Indian War? 
 
 Why did they claim that ParUament had no right to tax them? 
 
 What was the Stamp Act ? 
 
 Tell the story of the attempt to collect a tax upon tea. 
 
 Tell the story of Paul Revere, and of Concord and Lexington. 
 
 Describe the battle of Bunker Hill. 
 
 Describe Washington's campaign in the neighborhood of Bos- 
 ton ; New York. 
 
 Tell about the Declaration of Independence. 
 
 Tell the story of the surprise of Trenton ; of the New Jersey 
 campaign. 
 
 Describe the winter at Valley Forge. 
 
 What induced France to help the Americans? 
 
 Tell the story of John Paul Jones. 
 
 Describe the treachery of Arnold. 
 
 Tell the story of the war in the south; of the surrender of 
 Cornwallis. 
 
 Why were the Articles of Confederation unsatisfactory ? 
 
 How was the Constitution framed? 
 
 Who was the first president ? 
 
 Tell the story of Washington's journey to New York. 
 
 When did he take the oath of office? 
 
 When did he die ? 
 
DANIEL BOONE. 
 
 The English had gained Canada and all the 
 country between the Alleghanies and the Missis- 
 sippi River as a result of the great war with the 
 French. It was a wild country. Numerous bands 
 of Indians roamed from place to place in search of 
 game. There were buffaloes, elks, deer, and wild 
 turkeys. Among the wild animals to be dreaded 
 w^ere bears, wolves, panthers, rattlesnakes, and cop- 
 perheads. 
 
 There were vast forests tangled with underbrush 
 and thickets. The Indians claimed the land, but 
 the greater part of it was used as hunting grounds 
 by several tribes, and no one tribe could properly 
 say that the land was its own. 
 
 Up to 1763, the year in which peace w^as made 
 between England and France, very few Englishmen 
 had been in this western country. The land south 
 of the Ohio River was almost an unknown wilder- 
 ness. One of the first to cross the mountain ridges 
 which were the western boundary of the Atlantic 
 settlements was Daniel Boone. 
 
 Daniel Boone was born in Bucks County, Penn- 
 sylvania, in 1 734. His parents lived on the bank 
 
 2V9 
 
Z20 History of the United States. 
 
 of the Delaware River, in that part of Pennsylvania 
 which was still a wilderness. When the country 
 became more settled, and while Daniel was a small 
 boy, they moved to the valley of the Yadkin River in 
 North Carolina, on the outer edge of the settlements. 
 Daniel grew up to be a thorough backwoods- 
 man. He became skilful with his rifle ; he learned 
 
 the secrets of backwoods life, 
 and, with a wonderful accur- 
 acy, he could follow the trail 
 of man or animal. No one 
 could plough, hoe, or chop 
 down trees better than he; 
 and, like almost every active, 
 able frontiersman, he could 
 survey. 
 
 For more than sixty years 
 he was almost continually on 
 the frontier. He had very 
 little school-education, and 
 he never learned to spell. 
 Part of an old beech tree was shown at the Columbian 
 Exposition, in 1893, on which could still be traced 
 the words : " D. Boon cilled a bar on tree in the 
 year 1 760." ^ Like many others at that time, he 
 did not spell even his own name always in the 
 same way. 
 
 There were many backwoodsmen as skilful as 
 
 ^ D. Boon killed a bear on (this) tree in the year 176a 
 
 Daniel Boone. 
 
 After the painting by C. Harding. 
 
Daniel Boone. 22 1 
 
 Boone; there were many who passed through as 
 surprising adventures ; but, among men who often 
 gave way to intemperance, he was always sober; he 
 was patient, enduring, brave, daring when occasion 
 called for it, but prudent, and always modest. He 
 inspired confidence, and for this reason he was 
 employed on many enterprises. 
 
 He was able to make his skill and knowledge of 
 advantage to others. He said he was an instru- 
 ment ordained of God to settle the wilderness. He 
 had made a number of excursions into the lands 
 west of North Carolina, and had been greatly pleased 
 by the beautiful country and by the abundance of 
 game. 
 
 On the 1st of May, 1769, Boone, with five com- 
 panions, started from the Yadkin valley to " wander 
 through the wilderness of America in quest of the 
 country of Kentucky." 
 
 In about six weeks they reached the place for 
 which they had set out. It more than satisfied 
 their hopes. The country was full of game, and for 
 six months they enjoyed such hunting as they never 
 had known before. 
 
 In December they were attacked by Indians, and 
 Boone and one of his companions, named Stewart, 
 were captured. Showing as little anxiety or fear as 
 possible, they watched for a chance to escape, and 
 one night, after a feast, when the Indians were 
 asleep, Boone and Stewart succeeded in getting 
 
222 History of the United States. 
 
 away. When . they reached their old camp they 
 found it deserted, and with no trace of their former 
 companions. 
 
 Fortunately they soon fell in with two men who 
 had come from North Carolina, partly to search for 
 them, and partly to explore on their own account. 
 One of these men was " Squire " Boone, Daniel's 
 brother. Stewart was surprised and shot by an 
 Indian, and the comrade of "Squire" Boone became 
 so frightened that he returned home, leaving the 
 two brothers. They spent the winter in a wilder- 
 ness, where there was no other white man, and 
 then " Squire " Boone went back to the settled 
 country for supplies. 
 
 For several months Daniel Boone was entirely 
 alone in the great forest. He lived as the Indian 
 hunters lived. Day after day he carefully went 
 over the country, exploring it and gaining much 
 knowledge which served him well afterward. 
 
 All the time he had to keep the closest watch for 
 the Indians. Once he happened to look back, and 
 was startled to see some Indians following him. 
 He soon perceived that they had not seen him, but 
 were only following his trail. 
 
 He kept on, but though he went first this way 
 and then that way, hoping to deceive them, he 
 found that they were still on the trail. 
 
 Just as he was wondering what was best to do, 
 he came across a huge grape-vine hanging from the 
 
Daniel Boone. 223 
 
 higher branches of a tree. Boone had often swung 
 in grape-vines when a boy, and a bright thought 
 struck him. He quickly cut off the vine not far 
 from the ground, and then grasping it firmly 
 gave himself a good swing and jumped into the 
 air. As soon as he came to the ground he ran 
 off in a direction quite different from that in which 
 he had been going. When the Indians came up 
 they could find no trace of his footsteps, and after 
 a while they gave up the search. 
 
 The Indians wore soft moccasins, which made no 
 noise ; they could go through the forest without a 
 sound and would slip from tree to tree until they 
 were near enough to shoot their unsuspecting 
 enemy. They would imitate the cries of animals, 
 and particularly the gobble of the wild turkey. The 
 unwary hunter, who longed for a good supper or 
 breakfast, would follow the noise until he was 
 within reach of the Indian's rifle, when he would 
 be shot down. 
 
 Boone and many of his later companions soon 
 learned to know the cries of the animals so well 
 that they could not be deceived. They also learned 
 to surpass the Indian in his own woodcraft; the In- 
 dians feared them as much as they feared the Indians. 
 
 Others had been in Kentucky before, but to 
 Daniel Boone must be given the credit of leading 
 the first band of permanent settlers into that beau- 
 tiful country. 
 
224 History of the United States. 
 
 This undertaking was full of risk. It was very 
 different from the settlement of the Atlantic colo- 
 nies, which were gradually pushed farther and 
 farther into the wilderness. Kentucky was in the 
 midst of the forests, and two hundred miles from 
 the nearest settlements. 
 
 Boone's Trail. 
 
 The Indian title to the country between the 
 Kentucky and Cumberland rivers was bought of 
 the Indians, in 1775, by a land company, and 
 Daniel Boone was chosen to begin a settlement. 
 
 With thirty men he started, March 10, 1775, 
 from a point in East Tennessee near the present 
 boundary of North Carolina. For two hundred 
 miles they cut a path through the woods. It went 
 through the Cumberland Gap, across rivers and 
 streams which had to be forded, as there were no 
 
Daniel Boone. 225 
 
 bridges. This path was known as " Boone's Trail,** 
 and as the " Wilderness Road." Later, tens of 
 thousands of emigrants passed over this road on 
 their way to the West. 
 
 Early one morning, when Boone and his com- 
 pany had almost reached the end of their journey, 
 and were gathered around their camp-fires, they 
 were attacked by the Indians, and two of the thirty 
 were killed. The rest sprang up, seized their rifles, 
 and stood ready to defend themselves. The Indians 
 however, vanished as swiftly and as steathily as 
 they had appeared, leaving the rest of the party 
 unhurt. 
 
 In April the party reached the Kentucky River, 
 and began to build a little town or settlement, 
 which they called Boonesborough. Again they were 
 attacked by Indians. This time several of the set- 
 tlers were killed and scalped, and some of the sur- 
 vivors were so frightened that they returned to 
 Carolina. But others came to take their places. 
 
 The log cabins were built in straight lines with 
 the backs of the cabins toward the forest. The 
 spaces between the cabins were filled with high 
 stockades ; that is to say, high fences or palisades 
 made of heavy timbers driven into the ground. 
 There were strong wooden gates which were shut 
 at night or in time of danger. 
 
 The houses were built of logs, and had steep 
 roofs made of great clapboards. Wooden pins 
 
 16 
 
226 History of the United States, 
 
 served . for nails. There were loopholes through 
 which to watch the Indians and to fire upon them. 
 The settlers cleared some land for farms, but for 
 several years they lived in the stockade. It was a 
 brave and hardy race that peopled the western and 
 southern country. 
 
 When the danger from the Indians became less, 
 the settlers lived on their own land. The pioneer 
 
 farmer first built 
 his log cabin, and 
 then made his 
 clearing in the 
 forest by burning 
 the brush, cutting 
 down the small 
 trees, and girdling 
 the large ones.^ 
 
 Corn was plant- 
 ed . among the 
 stumps and dead 
 trees, and it was 
 a time of rejoicing when the ears were old enough 
 for roasting. When the corn was harvested, the 
 grains were broken into hominy, Indian fashion, 
 by being pounded in a hollow, wooden block. Wild 
 
 Boone's Fort. 
 
 From a drawing by Colonel Henderson in " Collins's 
 Historical Collections of Kentucky." 
 
 ^ To girdle a tree is to cut a groove around the trunk quite through 
 the bark. This prevents the sap from ascending, and the tree soon 
 dies. The absence of foliage on the dead trees allows the sun to reach 
 the corn and ripen it. 
 
Daniel Boone. 227 
 
 turkeys, venison, and bear meat made a change of 
 diet. In almost every home there was a spinning- 
 wheel, and instead of flax the women used the beaten 
 stalks of nettles. 
 
 In 1776 and 1777 the settlers were attacked again 
 and again by the Indians. One day Boone's daugh- 
 ter and two other girls went in a canoe on the river ; 
 suddenly five Indians seized them and carried them 
 off. As soon as Boone heard of this misfortune, he 
 and seven men went in pursuit. 
 
 The girls were badly frightened when captured, 
 and two, including Boone's daughter, gave up to 
 despair. The eldest of the three girls was sure that 
 their absence would soon be noticed and their trail 
 followed. So, to guide their rescuers, she broke off 
 twigs as they went along. The Indians saw her 
 doing this, and threatened to tomahawk her if she 
 did it again. Then she tore off little bits of her 
 dress and dropped them when she thought she 
 could do it without being seen. 
 
 The Indians kept the girls apart from each other, 
 and now and then made them walk in the brooks 
 to hide all marks of their path. 
 
 Boone started the very evening of the day they 
 were captured, and followed their trail so accurately 
 that he came up with the Indians in thirty-six 
 hours. 
 
 The Indians thought they were safe, and hav- 
 ing killed a young buffalo were about to cook it. 
 
228 History of the United States. 
 
 Boone gave no sign of his approach, but when near 
 enough he and a companion levelled their rifles and 
 killed two of the Indians. The three others sprang 
 up and ran off, leaving guns, tomahawks, scalping 
 knives, and their captives. The girls were unhurt, 
 and were escorted back in safety to their homes. 
 
 Daniel Boone himself did not always escape. At 
 one time he went with some companions to get salt 
 from a salt spring, or " salt-lick," as it was called, 
 and while he was out hunting, alone, a party of 
 about a hundred Indians came upon him, and 
 though he attempted to escape by running, he was 
 overtaken and captured. His captors did not hurt 
 him, but adopted him into their tribe, for the 
 Indians greatly admired his skill. 
 
 Boone quietly accepted his fate, and was appar- 
 ently cheerful and happy. He took part in the 
 games ; he shot at a mark with the Indians, but 
 was careful not to shoot so well as to excite their 
 envy. He showed no anxiety to be released lest he 
 might cause them to watch him more closely, for 
 the Indians did not quite trust him. 
 
 Every time he went out hunting they counted 
 his balls, and when he came back they looked to 
 see how much powder he had used. On one excur- 
 sion he found a body of warriors plotting to attack 
 Boonesborough. He now felt that he must attempt 
 to escape In order to warn his friends. One day he 
 went out on his morning's hunt as usual, but as soon 
 
Daniel Boone. 229 
 
 as he was out of sight of the Indians he started off 
 rapidly for Boonesborough, a hundred and sixty- 
 miles away. 
 
 His path lay through forests and swamps, and 
 across many rivers, among them the Ohio, which he 
 crossed by means of an old canoe he found among 
 the bushes on the banks. He lived upon a little 
 dried venison which he had managed to hide, for 
 until he crossed the Ohio he did not dare to shoot 
 any game or light a fire. 
 
 In less than five days he presented himself before 
 his friends at Boonesborough. They could hardly 
 believe their eyes, for all had given him up as dead. 
 Even his wife believed that he must have been killed, 
 and she had gone back to North Carolina. 
 
 Some weeks afterward, a force of over four hun- 
 dred Indians and a few Canadians appeared. There 
 were but fifty fighting men in the stockade. After 
 many attempts to get the little garrison to surren- 
 der, an attack was begun ; it was kept up for nine 
 days. The assailants tried to set fire to the fort; 
 they dug a mine, hoping to get under the stockade, 
 but the fort was ^near a river, and the muddy water 
 betrayed them. 
 
 The Indians did not dare at any time to come 
 very near, for the Kentuckians with their rifles 
 would shoot any one who came within range. The 
 women moulded the bullets, provided food, and 
 helped to keep watch. 
 
230 History of the United States, 
 
 After twelve days the attacking party went away. 
 The Kentuckians had two men killed, and four 
 wounded, while the Indians lost ten times as 
 many. 
 
 The little party of defenders had been sparing of 
 their powder and shot, but the besiegers had been 
 wasteful of theirs, for Boone says, " We picked up 
 
 Exterior. Interior. 
 
 A Pioneer Home in Kentucky. 
 
 one hundred and twenty-five pounds of bullets, 
 besides what stuck in the logs of our fort." 
 
 After this, Boone went to North Carolina and 
 brought back his wife and those of their children 
 she had taken with her. 
 
 Daniel Boone had many other adventures and 
 hairbreadth escapes. When the • population in- 
 creased, he moved to Missouri, about fifty miles 
 west of St. Louis. This he did not only because 
 game was scarce, but because he loved the freedom 
 of frontier life, and wished, as he said, " more elbow- 
 room." There he lived the rest of his life, dying in 
 his eighty-sixth year. 
 
Daniel Boone. 231 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 Up to 1763 the country west of the Alleghanies was 
 almost unknown to the English settlers. Daniel Boone 
 was one of the first to explore it. His first visit to Ken- 
 tucky was in 1764. He found the country even more attrac- 
 tive than he had expected. In 1775 he began to make a 
 settlement. The settlers had much trouble from the 
 Indians. Boone himself was captured, but succeeded in 
 escaping. Boone was an ideal backwoodsman. He died 
 in his eighty-sixth year. 
 
 Tell the story of Daniel Boone's early life. 
 
 Tell the story of Boone's first visit to Kentucky. 
 
 Tell how the Indians attacked their foes. 
 
 Tell the story of how Boone led a party of settlers into Ken- 
 tucky. 
 
 Describe how the settlers built their huts for defence. 
 
 Describe the settlers' manner of life. 
 
 Tell the story of the capture of Boone's daughter and her com- 
 panions. 
 
 Tell the story of Boone's own capture, and his escape; of the 
 Indian attack on the fort. 
 
THOMAS JEFFERSON. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson was born in Virginia in 1743. 
 His father, Peter Jefferson, had been one of the first 
 settlers of that part of the country. He was a rich 
 planter, and, like Washington, a land surveyor. 
 Peter Jefferson was a man of great force of charac- 
 ter. He was remarkable for his physical strength. 
 It was said that he could stand between two hogs- 
 heads of tobacco, each weighing about a thousand 
 pounds, and set them both upon end at once. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson inherited not only his father's 
 height and physical strength, but also his spirit of 
 sturdy self-reliance. He was an earnest and ener- 
 getic boy, putting his whole heart into whatever he 
 did. Above all things he hated sham and pretence. 
 
 At school he was so industrious that he was able 
 to enter an advanced class at William and Mary 
 College when he was only seventeen years old. At 
 college he is said to have studied from twelve to 
 fifteen hours a day. 
 
 He was graduated at the age of nineteen ; he was 
 familiar with Latin and Greek, knew some French 
 and Spanish, and was skilled in mathematics. He 
 was also able to write and speak clear, forcible, and 
 elegant English. 
 
 But with all his devotion to study, young Jeffer- 
 
 232 
 
Thomas Jefferson, 
 
 233 
 
 son did not neglect his physical education. He 
 excelled in every manly exercise, was, a good dancer, 
 and a famous rider. While at college his study 
 hours gave him little time for exercise, but every 
 
 Thomas Jefferson. 
 
 After the painting by Gilbert Stuart, 
 
 evening, at twilight, he used to run to a certain 
 stone and back again, — a distance of two miles. 
 
 After he left college he kept up his habit of hard 
 work, rising at five o'clock in the morning in winter, 
 and earlier in summer, so that he might have time 
 for study. 
 
234 History of the United States. 
 
 He was then six feet two inches tall ; straight as 
 an arrow, with sharp features, a ruddy complexion, 
 a delicate skin, red hair and large, deep-set, hazel 
 eyes. His manner was frank and cordial, full of 
 sympathy and confidence. Much of his success 
 
 Patrick Henry addressing the Virginia Assembly. 
 
 After the painting by A. Chappel. 
 
 was due to the buoyant, hopeful disposition which 
 was his through life. 
 
 He studied law and became a successful lawyer, 
 though he was never a good speaker. In 1 765, while 
 a law student at Williamsburg, then the capital of 
 Virginia, he went to hear a debate on the Stamp 
 Act, in the House of Burgesses. It was the day 
 that Patrick Henry made his famous speech against 
 
Thomas Jefferson. 235 
 
 the Act, in which he said, " Caesar had his Brutus ; 
 Charles the First his Cromwell ; and George the 
 Third " — Here, thinking that the orator was 
 about to suggest the death of the king, the Speaker 
 of the House and others cried out, " Treason, trea- 
 son ! " As soon as there was a pause, Patrick 
 Henry, fixing his eyes upon the Speaker, added, 
 " And George the Third may profit by their exam- 
 ple." 
 
 Ten years later, Jefferson was a member of the 
 Virginia convention. It was just before the battle 
 of Lexington. Patrick Henry now made another 
 famous speech, in which he said : " We must fight ! 
 I repeat it, sir, we must fight ! " and ending, " As 
 for me, give me liberty or give me death ! " Jeffer- 
 son never forgot these scenes. 
 
 At the age of thirty-two, Jefferson was sent as a 
 delegate to the Continental Congress at Philadel- 
 phia. A year later he was on the committee to 
 draw up the Declaration of Independence, and 
 that document is almost wholly his work. 
 
 From this time until he was an old man, Jeffer- 
 son was constantly in the public service. He was 
 the means of putting an end to a law in Virginia 
 which provided that land should be inherited only 
 by the eldest son of a family. The new law allowed 
 land to be divided among a man's children. 
 
 In many of the colonies there was a state church ; 
 that is, a church which everybody was taxed to sup- 
 
236 History of the United States. 
 
 port. Jefferson thought it very unjust that those 
 who were not members of that church or of any 
 church should be thus taxed. He persuaded the 
 legislature of Virginia to repeal this law, so that all 
 denominations should be treated alike. No state 
 now taxes for church support. 
 
 When Dr. Franklin asked to be allowed to 
 return home from France, Jefferson was appointed 
 his successor. " You replace Dr. Franklin, I hear," 
 said the French minister to him. " I succeed 
 him," replied Jefferson. " No one can replace 
 him." 
 
 Jefferson was five years in France ; then, while 
 on his way back to America, he was appointed 
 secretary of state by President Washington. 
 
 On his return to his home in Virginia, his negro 
 slaves were so glad to see him that they lifted him 
 out of his carriage, put him on their shoulders, and 
 carried him up the hill to his house. 
 
 Jefferson was chosen Vice-President in 1 796, and 
 President in 1801. He was reelected in 1804, and 
 so was President eight years. In 1800 th^ seat of 
 government was changed from Philadelphia to 
 Washington. 
 
 Though Jefferson's home life was famous for its 
 generous hospitality, he believed in simplicity of 
 manner rather than in luxury and display. Wash- 
 ington and John Adams had thought that, as the 
 President was the highest officer in the land, he 
 
Thomas Jefferson. 237 
 
 should observe the strictest formahty. Wash- 
 ington had driven about in a fine cream-colored 
 coach, with four and sometimes six horses. No 
 visitor could approach him without much ceremony. 
 When Congress met, Washington drove to the Cap- 
 itol with a great deal of pomp and parade, and read 
 his message in person. John Adams did the same. 
 
 Jefferson at his inauguration changed all this. 
 He came to the Capitol on foot, in his ordinary 
 dress, escorted by a body of militia artillery, and 
 accompanied by a few of his political friends. 
 
 He read his speech in the Senate chamber with 
 little or no ceremony. When the time came for an 
 annual message, he sent by a messenger a written 
 copy to Congress. This example has been followed 
 ever since 
 
 At the White House, the official residence of the 
 President, almost any one could see and converse 
 with Jefferson. On one occasion, a foreign minister 
 was received by Jefferson in a dressing-gown, and 
 a pair of old slippers. Since Jefferson's day, no 
 President has ventured to appear in anything but 
 citizen's dress, or to introduce very much formality 
 at the White House. 
 
 When Jefferson became President in 1801, the 
 western boundary of the United States was the 
 Mississippi River. Spain owned Florida, the land 
 around the mouth of the Mississippi, and all west of 
 the river. Citizens of what was then the western 
 
238 History of the United States. 
 
 part of the United States could not ship goods to 
 Europe, or receive them from Europe, except 
 through Spanish territory. 
 
 While the Americans were thinking what was 
 the best thing to do to get free navigation of the 
 Mississippi, Spain transferred Louisiana, as all 
 the land west of the river was called, to France. 
 Jefferson desired to buy from France a tract of 
 land at the mouth of the Mississippi, so that goods 
 for the United States could be landed. To accom- 
 plish this purpose, he sent envoys to France. 
 
 To the surprise of the American envoys, Na- 
 poleon, the ruler of France, offered to sell the whole 
 of Louisiana. They accepted his offer, and secured 
 the vast territory for the United States in 1803. 
 
 This purchase doubled the national possessions, 
 for it must be remembered that Louisiana then in- 
 cluded all the country between the Mississippi River 
 and the Rocky Mountains. The inhabitants of the 
 United States could now spread westward without 
 fear of a foreign enemy. 
 
 The purchase of Louisiana was the most impor- 
 tant event of Jefferson's term as President. It was 
 one of the most important events in American his- 
 tory. It was the first annexation to the territory of 
 the United States. 
 
 Jefferson's home was at Monticello, on the plan- 
 tation which he had inherited from his father. 
 Here he lived after his retirement from public life, 
 
Thomas Jefferson. 
 
 239 
 
 an object of affection to his household and to his 
 neighbors, and of interest to his countrymen and 
 to foreigners. Here he passed his dechning years, 
 and welcomed with lavish hospitality the many who 
 came to see him. 
 
 He was a kind and considerate master to his 
 slaves. He did not believe in slavery, and would 
 gladly have seen it banished from the country. 
 
 MONTICELLO. 
 The North Front. 
 
 He was much interested in education, and was 
 the founder of the University of Virginia, near Char- 
 lottesville. 
 
 Jefferson was much more of a politician than 
 Washington or Adams had been ; he was a good 
 party manager, and was the first President who 
 rewarded his political friends with public office. 
 
 He lived to be an old man, dying on the 4th 
 
240 History of the United States. 
 
 of July, 1826, just fifty years after the Declaration 
 of Independence was proclaimed. John Adams, 
 the second President of the United States, died on 
 the same day. These two men had done very 
 much to bring about the independence of the 
 United States, and they lived to see their country 
 become one of the great nations of the world. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson was the son of a Virginia planter. 
 He was born in 1743. He received a good education. He 
 graduated at William and Mary College. He \^as a law- 
 yer. He was sent to the Continental Congress and drafted 
 the Declaration of Independence. He was constantly in 
 public life. He was chosen Vice-President in 1796, and 
 President in 180I0 He believed in Democratic simplicity. 
 During his term of office Louisiana was bought from 
 France. 
 
 When and where was Thomas Jefferson born? 
 
 Tell the story of his college life. 
 
 Describe his personal appearance. 
 
 What celebrated document did he draw up ? 
 
 What ideas did he have in regard to luxury and display? 
 
 What was the most important event of his term as President? 
 
 Name some of his personal characteristics. 
 
 When did he die ? 
 
LEWIS AND CLARK. 
 
 Very soon after the Louisiana territory was 
 turned over to the United States, President Jeffer- 
 son sent out an expedition 
 to explore the country, for 
 it was almost unknown to 
 white men. 
 
 The party consisted of 
 thirty-four men, under the 
 lead of two captains, Meri- 
 wether Lewis and William 
 Clark. Both were from 
 Virginia, and familiar with 
 backwoods life. 
 
 They set out from St. 
 Louis in May, 1804. In 
 order to secure the good- 
 will of the Indians, they car- 
 ried with them, among 
 other things, beads, coats, 
 blankets, knives, and toma- 
 hawks. 
 
 They expected to live by hunting. Their orders 
 were to follow the Missouri River to its source; to 
 
 Meriwether Lewis in 
 Hunter's Dress. 
 
 After the drawing by St. Memin. 
 
 17 
 
 241 
 
242 History of the United States. 
 
 cross the Rocky Mountains, and follow the Columbia 
 River to its mouth. This river had been first seen 
 by Captain Robert Gray, of the American ship 
 Columbia in 1791.^ It was explored by him for 
 several miles, in the following year, and was named 
 after his ship, the Columbia, 
 
 It was a beautiful time of the year to start on 
 such a journey. All vegetation was fresh and green. 
 The explorers were much pleased with the country. 
 There were groves of hickory, walnut and cotton- 
 wood trees along the river, 
 and there was an abundance 
 of wild fruit. 
 
 It took them all the sum- 
 mer to reach the Platte 
 River. Here on the bluffs, 
 over the river, they held a 
 great council with Indians, 
 and named the place Coun- 
 cil Bluffs. 
 
 The Indians were friendly, 
 and there was little trouble 
 in dealing with them, be- 
 cause they were treated 
 fairly. They were greatly pleased with the presents 
 given them. 
 
 The party of explorers went on, following the 
 
 William Clark. 
 
 From Lewis and Clark's ''Travels." 
 
 1 Some authorities state that it had been previously discovered by the 
 Spaniards, in 1592. 
 
Lewis and Clark. 243 
 
 Missouri River until late in the autumn. Then, 
 having found a place where there was plenty of tim- 
 ber, they encamped and began to cut down trees 
 with which to build huts for their winter quarters. 
 
 As soon as the spring opened, they started again, 
 and by the latter part of April reached the mouth 
 of the Yellowstone River. They climbed some 
 bluffs, and saw spread before them the wide plains 
 watered by the Missouri and Yellowstone. Herds 
 of buffalo, deer, elk, and antelope could be seen, 
 and the wooded banks and irregular windings of the 
 rivers gave a pleasing variety to the picture. 
 
 The men resumed their march, and in a few weeks 
 saw a snow-covered range of mountains, stretching 
 north and south as far as the eye could see. These 
 they knew must be the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 One day Captain Lewis saw a mist in the distance. 
 When he came nearer he found it to be caused by 
 great falls in the river. For several miles the 
 Missouri rushes along over rocks and precipices, 
 through canons and narrow ways, now almost lost 
 to view, now coming into sight again. The boats 
 had to be drawn over the ground for miles, before 
 they could be launched again. Soon the explorers 
 found that these boats were not at all suited for the 
 stream in which they were to be used, and so others 
 were built out of trees which were cut down along 
 the banks of the river. 
 
 Before many days, the bed of the river became so 
 
244 History of the United States. 
 
 rocky and its current so swift that the men could 
 not use the boats. To add to their discouragement, 
 no Indian guide could be found, and it seemed im- 
 possible to go on through the trackless wilderness. 
 
 At last Captain Lewis set out alone, saying that 
 he would not return until he found a guide. He 
 kept on his solitary way until he came to a small 
 gap in the mountains, where there was just room 
 
 Lewis and Clark's Route. 
 
 enough between the river and the cliff for an Indian 
 trail. This he followed. 
 
 After suffering many hardships, Captain Lewis 
 reached an Indian village. The inhabitants could 
 not believe that he had crossed the mountains alone. 
 At length some of the Indians went back with him, 
 and, finding his story true, furnished guides and 
 horses for his party. 
 
Lewis and Clark. 245 
 
 The march was a difficult one ; sometimes the 
 little company could go only five miles in a whole 
 day. The path was often stony ; sometimes it led 
 along steep precipices ; sometimes through wild 
 canons. It was so difficult to find food that they 
 ate their broken-down horses. 
 
 Though the men were ragged, weary, footsore, 
 and half-starved, they kept on. After a while they 
 reached a river on which, their guides told them, 
 it would be safe to embark. So they built new 
 canoes, and began to descend the stream. As they 
 journeyed they came to a larger river, which they 
 called the Lewis ; and another river which joined 
 farther on, they called the Clark. Then they floated 
 into the Columbia itself. 
 
 They were delighted with the beautiful scenery and 
 the charming country through which they passed. It 
 took them a long time to descend the great river, but 
 the day of success came to them at last. 
 
 It was a rainy, foggy morning in the autumn ; 
 they could see only a short distance around them ; 
 once they stopped to get some food at an Indian 
 village on an island in the river. They started 
 again, and had not gone far from this village when 
 the fog lifted, and they " enjoyed the delightful 
 prospect of the ocean — that ocean, the object of all 
 their labors, the reward of all their anxieties." Soon 
 they heard the roaring of the breakers, and their 
 joy was complete. 
 
246 History of the United States. 
 
 It was now November, and far too late in the 
 season for them to think of crossing the mountains 
 again. So they chose a place in which to spend the 
 winter, and made ready for their stay. 
 
 During the winter they learned all that they 
 could about the country ; its minerals, trees, shrubs, 
 flowers, fruits, animals, fishes, birds, and even its 
 insects. 
 
 They found out how the Indians lived, what fish 
 and animals they caught, and what furs they had to 
 exchange. They wrote in a journal their adven- 
 tures and what they had learned, and it has made a 
 very interesting book. 
 
 They began their return journey in March, 1806, 
 and in the following September, two years and 
 four months after they had set out, they reached 
 St. Louis. 
 
 They had explored a large part of the Louisiana 
 territory, and had also discovered and explored a 
 great region beyond the Rocky Mountains. In 
 doing this they had helped the United States to 
 gain a title to a vast territory. 
 
 What they had to tell and what they had to show 
 created great wonder and interest. The knowledge 
 of their discovery spread over the land, and it was 
 soon understood that Louisiana was a far greater 
 acquisition than any one had ever imagined. 
 
Lewis and Clark. 247 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 President Jefferson, in 1804, sent Captains Lewis and 
 Clark to explore the territory of the Louisiana purchase. 
 They had many adventures. They discovered the Colum- 
 bia River and followed it to its mouth. The whole journey 
 took nearly two years and a half. 
 
 For what purpose did President Jefferson send out Lewis and 
 Clark? 
 
 Tell the story of their journey to the Yellowstone River. 
 Tell the story of their journey to the Columbia River. 
 Describe their first sight of the Pacific. 
 Of what value was their journey? 
 
ZEBULON M. PIKE. 
 
 While Lewis and Clark were exploring the coun- 
 try to the north, President Jefferson sent Lieuten- 
 ant Zebulon Pike to find out 
 the direction, the extent, and 
 the character of the Red 
 River and the Arkansas. 
 He was also, if possible, to 
 establish friendly relations 
 with the Indians. 
 
 Lieutenant Pike and his 
 party of twenty-four men 
 set out from St. Louis in 
 July, 1806. They went in 
 boats up the Osage River to 
 some Indian villages, where 
 they secured horses, and 
 then began their long overland journey. 
 
 On reaching the Arkansas River, the company 
 divided, part following down the river to the Mis- 
 sissippi, while Pike and the others went up the 
 stream to discover its source. 
 
 For about a month they ascended the river. 
 Now they found the stream very small, and Pike, 
 to gain some idea of the country, climbed a high 
 
 248 
 
 Z. M. Pike. 
 
 From an engraving by Gimbrede, in 
 '* The Analectic Magazine," 
 
Zebulon M. Pike. 
 
 249 
 
 Pike's Peak. 
 From the Garden of the Gods. 
 
250 History of the United States. 
 
 hill, with great toil, whence he saw the grand peak 
 which now bears his name, " Pike's Peak." 
 
 All who have stood on that peak have been deeply 
 impressed with the wonderful prospect spread out 
 before them. The air is so clear that one can see 
 a great distance in every direction. There is the 
 river winding along until it is lost in the horizon. 
 There are the great plains, where in Pike's day 
 thousands of buffaloes roved. 
 
 Winter now came on, the streams were all frozen, 
 and the trails were covered with snow. Pike and 
 his companions went hither and thither, not know- 
 ing which way to turn ; but, in spite of being almost 
 starved and half-frozen, they never lost heart. At 
 last Pike thought that they could not be veiy far 
 trom the Spanish town of Santa Fe. One of the 
 company volunteered to try to find it, and started 
 off. The others awaited the result. 
 
 One day, while Pike was out hunting for game, 
 he was greatly surprised to see two Spaniards come 
 riding up to him. They told him that he was 
 within two days' journey of Santa Fe, where his 
 comrade had already arrived. 
 
 Pike took the Spaniards to his camp without 
 any distrust, and treated them kindly. A few days 
 later a body of Spanish cavalry rode up, and took 
 Pike and his companions prisoners, informing them 
 that they were on Spanish territory, and would have 
 to explain their presence. 
 
Zebulon M. Pike. 
 
 251 
 
 The little body of Americans presented a sorry 
 appearance. Pike was wearing blue trousers, moc- 
 casins, a blanket coat, and a scarlet cap lined with 
 a fox skin. There was not a hat in the whole com- 
 pany, and the men had on well-worn shabby leather 
 leggins, coats, and breech-cloths. 
 
 The Spaniards finally became satisfied that Pike 
 had no wish to injure Spain, or to trespass on her 
 
 Pike's Route. 
 
 territory, and said that he and his men might return 
 to the United States. They were, however, for- 
 bidden to go back the way that they had come, and 
 were sent home throuQ:h Texas. 
 
 While they were at Santa Fe, Pike was told by an 
 American who was living there that he had found 
 gold along the Platte River. This was then thought 
 to be an idle story, but many years after, gold was 
 discovered where the old hunter said he had found it. 
 
2.52 History of the United States. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 While Lewis and Clark were to explore the north, 
 Lieutenant Pike and his party were sent to explore the 
 south. He discovered Pike's Peak. They were captured 
 by the Spaniards, but finally released. 
 
 For what purpose was Lieutenant Pike sent out? 
 Tell the story of his journey. 
 
EARLY INVENTORS, — JOHN FITCH, ROBERT 
 FULTON, ELI WHITNEY. 
 
 Long before a successful steamboat was built, 
 men had thought that steam could be used to pro- 
 pel boats through water. 
 
 One man proposed that steam should be used to 
 move a paddle, shaped somewhat like a duck's foot, 
 which would send the boat forward. 
 
 Two men, about the same time, one in France, 
 and James Rumsey in Virginia, thought that if 
 water was sucked in from the bow of a vessel, and 
 forced out at the stern, the boat would be pushed 
 forward. Rumsey tried this plan, and succeeded in 
 making a boat go at the rate of four miles an hour. 
 
 Neither the duck's foot nor the suction plan, how- 
 ever, worked well enough to come into practical use. 
 
 Meanwhile there was a man who thought of a 
 still better plan ; this was John Fitch. He was 
 born in Connecticut in 1743; he was fond of books 
 when a boy, but had little chance to study, for he 
 was allowed to attend school only a few weeks in 
 the year. When eleven years old he wished very 
 much to have a geography. His father would not give 
 him one, but allowed him to raise enough potatoes 
 to pay for the book. 
 
 253 
 
254 History of the United States. 
 
 When he was older, he became a watch and clock- 
 maker; then a button-maker; then a silversmith. 
 He was in the Revolutionary army at Valley Forge. 
 He afterward went to Kentucky and became a land 
 surveyor. 
 
 Once he started from Pittsburg on a flat-boat to 
 go to New Orleans ; but, before he had reached the 
 Mississippi, he and most of his companions were 
 captured by the Indians. The prisoners were 
 forced to carry their own cargo to the Indian villages, 
 Fitch was compelled to run the gantlet, and was 
 used cruelly in other ways. 
 
 His skill in making ornaments soon procured for 
 him kindly treatment ; after some months, he was 
 ransomed by a British officer at Detroit. By indus- 
 try he earned enough to pay for his ransom from the 
 Indians ; and after a long time he was exchanged as 
 a prisoner of war. 
 
 There came into his mind the Idea of a boat that 
 could be moved by steam, and from that time until 
 his death, he had this subject almost continually in 
 his thoughts. 
 
 After many difficulties, he had a boat built on 
 the Delaware River. Instead of paddle-wheels, there 
 were, on each side of the boat, six oars which were 
 moved by a small engine. 
 
 This steamboat he called the Perseverance. 
 It went at the rate of about seven miles an hour. 
 On the twelfth of October, 1788, it steamed from 
 
Early Inventors. 
 
 255 
 
 " Perseverance." 
 
 John Fitch's first steamboat, as seen on the Delaware in 
 1787; speed seven miles an hour. 
 
 Philadelphia to Burlington, twenty miles, in three 
 hours. This short voyage by steamer was the first 
 in history. The 
 working of this f^^i 
 boat was so ex- 
 pensive that the 
 Perseverance 
 failed to make 
 good her name. 
 Fitch visited 
 
 Europe to see what he could do there, but was 
 unsuccessful in accomplishing anything. He re- 
 turned to America, and went to Kentucky, where 
 
 he died in 1796. He 
 used to say that the time 
 would come when steam- 
 boats would sail reg- 
 ularly on the rivers, and 
 would cross the Atlantic 
 Ocean, but he was laughed 
 at and thought to be an 
 idle dreamer. 
 
 Another American was 
 more fortunate than Fitch 
 had been. This was Robert 
 Fulton, the son of an Irish 
 Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 
 He was not 
 
 Robert Fulton. 
 
 From D. C. Colden's " Life of Fulton.' 
 
 tailor, who lived near 
 
 Robert Fulton was born in 1765 
 
 fond of study when a boy, but he had a very in 
 
2 History of the United States. 
 
 ventive mind and was continually making experi- 
 ments. When he wished to have a pencil, he ham- 
 mered one out of lead ; when he wanted fireworks, 
 he made rockets of his own. He invented an air 
 gun ; he was fond of fishing, but did not like to 
 row the boat, so he invented a boat to be rowed by 
 paddles. 
 
 He was so skilful with his brush that he decided 
 to become an artist. When he was only seventeen, 
 he went to Philadelphia, and supported himself by 
 painting landscapes and portraits, and making draw- 
 ings of machinery. He saved enough money to buy 
 a farm for his mother, and then, when he was about 
 twenty-one, went to study art in Europe. 
 
 He remained in Europe many years. While 
 there his mind was turned to practical things. He 
 became skilled in engineering ; he designed aque- 
 ducts, bridges, canals, and other works. 
 
 He invented a boat that would move under water 
 and carry torpedoes to blow up war vessels. At 
 this time he was thinking of moving vessels by 
 steam. 
 
 While in France he built a boat to be moved by 
 steam, and everything was ready for the trial, whea 
 the weight of the machinery broke the boat in two, 
 and it sank. Fulton had the machinery raised out 
 of the water, and resolved to try again. He soon 
 had another boat made larger and stronger than the 
 first; and using the same machinery as before, he 
 
Early Inventors. 257 
 
 made another trial which was successful. But this 
 boat was only an experiment. 
 
 Fulton was so sure of success with larger vessels, 
 that he ordered the various parts of a steam engine 
 to be made. This work had to be done in Eng- 
 land, for at that time there were no manufactories in 
 America where they could be made. He shipped 
 the engine to America, for he intended his next 
 trial to be made in his own country. 
 
 While in Paris Fulton had formed a close friend- 
 ship with Robert R. Livingston, the American minis- 
 ter to France, a man of means and influence. It 
 was by Livingston's help that Fulton was enabled 
 to carry out his plan. 
 
 As soon as Fulton arrived in the United States, 
 he set about building a very much larger vessel 
 than he had yet attempted. He was laughed at 
 and ridiculed. His vessel was nicknamed Ful- 
 to7is Folly, and almost every one prophesied that 
 it would be a failure. 
 
 The vessel was finished in August, 1807. The 
 English engines had been put together and placed 
 in position. All was ready for the trial. A large 
 crowd gathered on the wharves in New York to 
 see what was going on, and to make sport of Fultoiis 
 Folly. Black smoke came out of the smoke-pipe, 
 the wheels turned and then stopped. The crowd 
 began to jeer, but the trouble with the engine was 
 remedied, the wheels again revolved, the vessel kept 
 
 IS 
 
258 History of the United States. 
 
 on, and the scoffing of the lookers-on was soon 
 changed to hurrahs. 
 
 The Clermont, as the little vessel was called in 
 honor of Livingston's home, soon went up the river 
 to Albany. The dense black smoke pouring out of 
 her smoke-pipe, the noise of her machinery, her 
 moving against wind, tide, and current, filled all 
 
 The "Clermont." 
 
 From Rergart's " Life of Fulton." 
 
 those who saw her with wonder. On her return 
 voyage, one man shouted, " See the sawmill going 
 down the river, working as it goes." Some were so 
 terrified when she passed them that they fell on 
 their knees, or ran away from the dreadful sight. 
 
 The Clermont made only five miles an hour, a 
 speed much less than that of Fitch's Persever- 
 ance ; but Fulton's paddle-wheels were far better 
 than Fitch's oars, and the boat could be run at 
 
Early Inventors. 259 
 
 much less cost. To Fulton belongs the credit of 
 inventing the first practical steamboat. 
 
 Fulton did not get much money for his great 
 invention, and died, in 18 15, a poor man. He is 
 buried in Trinity churchyard. New York City. 
 
 Before Fulton's death many steamboats were in 
 use. As early as 181 1, the New Orleans, was 
 launched at Pittsburg, and after a voyage of three 
 days reached Louisville. She went on to New 
 Orleans ; and in a few years many steamers were 
 plying upon the Mississippi and its tributaries. 
 
 In 181 9, the first steamer crossed the Atlantic 
 Ocean. This was the Savannah, which sailed 
 from Savannah, Georgia, for England. 
 
 From England she went to St. Petersburg, Rus- 
 sia, stopping at ports in Denmark and Sweden on 
 the way. 
 
 It should be stated, however, that she did not 
 steam all the time, but depended to a great extent 
 on her sails. In fact, her wheels were so arranged 
 that they could be unshipped and taken on board, 
 when not in use. 
 
 For a long time only paddle-wheels were used 
 as a means of helping the sails. The screw-pro- 
 peller, invented by John Ericsson, has taken the 
 place of side-wheels for ocean steamers, and now 
 the great ocean liners depend upon steam alone. 
 
 Cotton is one of the greatest crops now raised 
 in the United States; but in 1784 eight bags of 
 
26o History of the United States. 
 
 cotton, taken to Liverpool in an American ship, 
 were seized, because it was thought impossible 
 for America to raise so much/ 
 
 At the present time, millions of bales of cot- 
 ton are raised in America every year. This enor- 
 mous increase in the size of the crop is, to a great 
 extent, due to a single invention — that of Eli 
 
 Whitney. 
 
 Whitney was born in 
 Westboro, Massachu- 
 setts, in 1765. His 
 father was a farmer, and 
 more or less of a me- 
 chanic as well. As soon 
 as the son could handle 
 tools, he was always try- 
 ing to make something. 
 He made a very good 
 fiddle when he was only 
 twelve years old. When 
 his father, who was away 
 from home at the time, came back, he was not very 
 well pleased, and said, " Ah, I fear Eli will have to 
 take his portion in fiddles." 
 
 One Sunday morning, while the rest of the family 
 were at church, Eli took his father's watch to 
 
 J. Ericsson in 1861. 
 
 At the time he built the Monitor. From 
 W. C. Church's " Life of Ericsson." 
 
 *By the English law, at that time, ships were allowed to bring 
 in only such articles as were raised in the country to which the ship 
 belonged. 
 
Early Inventors. 
 
 261 
 
 pieces, and managed to get it together again 
 before the family returned. 
 
 In the time of the Revolutionary War, nails were 
 scarce and costly. Whitney asked his father to 
 give him some tools with which to make nails. He 
 made them by hammering them one by one out of 
 a bar of red-hot iron. These sold well until the 
 war came to an end, when it was no longer profit- 
 able to make nails in that 
 way. 
 
 All this time he was 
 working on the farm, and 
 also mending everything 
 that was brought to him 
 for repair, for he soon 
 gained the reputation of 
 being able to mend any- 
 thing. He did not neg- 
 lect study. As soon as 
 he was old enough, he ^li whitney. 
 
 taught in the village 
 
 school, and partly by his teaching and partly by 
 his mechanical work, he earned enough money to 
 go to Yale College, which he entered when he 
 was twenty-four. He studied well and took his 
 degree in 1792. 
 
 He engaged himself as tutor in a family in 
 Georgia. The citizens of the state of Georgia 
 were so grateful to General Nathanael Greene for 
 
262 History of the United States. 
 
 what he had done during the Revolution, In driving 
 the British from the South, that they gave him a 
 tract of land, not far from the city of Savannah. 
 When Whitney reached Georgia, he visited the 
 home of the Greenes, and while there he mended 
 an embroidery frame for Mrs. Greene so skilfully 
 that she was greatly pleased and much impressed 
 with his ability. 
 
 One day, when there was a company of gentlemen 
 present, the conversation turned upon cotton and 
 the difficulty of separating the cotton fibre from 
 the seeds. The wish was expressed that some 
 better and quicker way of accomplishing this hard 
 task could be discovered. Mrs. Greene, hearing 
 what was said, exclaimed, " Gentlemen, apply to 
 my young friend here, Mr. Whitney; he can do 
 anything ! '* 
 
 Whitney thought much about the matter, and 
 before very long he had invented what is called a 
 " cotton gin." ^ 
 
 He worked under great difficulties, for he had to 
 make his own tools, and draw his own wire. His 
 simple and ingenious machine, by means of teeth 
 and wires, separated the cotton fibre from the seeds. 
 It had taken one person a day to clean with the 
 fingers one or two pounds of cotton, while with the 
 aid of Whitney's gin the same person could clean 
 a hundred pounds. 
 
 1 Gin, the same as engine, a machine, 
 
Early Inventors. 
 
 263 
 
 The difficulty and expense of ridding cotton of 
 the numerous little seeds entangled in it had dis- 
 couraged planters from the general cultivation of 
 the cotton plant. Now that the fibre could be 
 separated cheaply, the plant began to be raised 
 extensively, and there was a great demand for negro 
 slaves to labor in the cotton fields. 
 
 The lower price of cotton led to the establish- 
 ment of many mills for the purpose of weaving the 
 fibre into cloth, the 
 price of which soon 
 fell so much that many 
 more persons could 
 buy it, and the demand 
 for cotton cloth be- 
 came very great. The 
 larger crops demanded 
 a larger number of 
 vessels to carry the 
 cotton to the Eastern 
 states and to Europe. There are few inventions 
 of man which have had more far-reaching effects 
 than this one of a Yankee schoolmaster. 
 
 Eli Whitney's invention was stolen . from him 
 while he was trying to secure a patent, and though 
 he received a good deal of money, it was all spent 
 in trying to defend his rights. He afterward 
 settled near New Haven, Connecticut, and manu- 
 factured firearms for the government, inventing 
 
 Whitney's Cotton Gin. 
 
 After the original model. 
 
264 History of the United States. 
 
 his own tools and machinery. In this undertaking 
 he was very successful, and he died a wealthy man. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 Various plans for propelling vessels through the water 
 by steam were proposed at different times. John Fitch 
 was the first who proposed a practicable steamboat, but 
 the cost of running it was too great. Robert Fulton de- 
 signed the first profitable steamboat. The Clermont went 
 from New York to Albany in 1807. The Savannah^ in 
 1 8 19, was the first steamer to cross the Atlantic. The 
 invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney increased enor- 
 mously the growth of cotton in the United States, and 
 affected many other interests. 
 
 Describe Rumsey's plan for a steamboat. 
 
 Tell the story of John Fitch and his experiments. 
 
 Tell the story of Robert Fulton's early life ; of his experiments 
 in Paris. 
 
 Tell the story of the Ckrmonf. 
 
 What steamer first crossed the Atlantic? When was it? 
 
 Who invented the propeller? 
 
 Tell the story of Whitney's early life. 
 
 Tell the story of the invention of the cotton gin. 
 
 What effect did the invention have upon the raising of cotton ? 
 Manufactures ? Commerce ? 
 
 Did Whitney profit much by his great invention ? 
 
ANDREW JACKSON.— TECUMSEH.— THE 
 WAR OF 1812. 
 
 Andrew Jackson was the son of a Scotch-Irish 
 immigrant, who settled in North Carolina, and who 
 died when he had been about two years in his new 
 home. He left a widow 
 and two sons. 
 
 Andrew Jackson was 
 born in 1767, soon after 
 the death of his father. 
 His mother, though not 
 destitute, was poor, and 
 her boys had few advan- 
 tages. Like many other 
 backwoods boys, they 
 went to a school kept in 
 a log-cabin in the pine 
 woods. Andrew was not 
 long at school, for those were the stirring times of 
 the Revolution. 
 
 The home of the family was in the line of 
 march of the British army. Andrew and his next 
 brother Robert, young as they were, took their 
 
 265 
 
 Andrew Jackson. 
 
 In 1830. Age 63. After the portrait by R. W. 
 Earl in the U. S. National Museum. 
 
266 History of the United States. 
 
 part in fighting the enemy ; and once, when Andrew 
 was about thirteen, they were both captured. 
 
 The troops had been marching in the mud, and 
 when the prisoners were brought to camp, a British 
 officer pulled off his boots, and, throwing them to 
 Andrew, ordered him in very rough language to 
 clean them. The boy refused, and the angry officer 
 struck him so sharply with his sword that he bore 
 the scars for the rest of his life. 
 
 Andrew's brother was treated in like manner, then 
 the boys were put in prison. Later they fell ill with 
 small-pox; their mother managed to get them ex- 
 changed ; but Robert soon died. The oldest brother, 
 Hugh, also a soldier, had died some time before. 
 
 Mrs. Jackson was full of pity for the American 
 prisoners confined at Charleston, more than a hun- 
 dred miles away. She went on horseback to visit 
 and help them. While at Charleston she con- 
 tracted the prison fever and died. Andrew, now 
 about fourteen years old, was left alone. 
 
 He made up his mind to learn a trade, choosing 
 that of a saddler ; but he soon found that it was 
 not suited to his active disposition, and gave it up. 
 He next tried keeping a country store, but he did 
 not like this much better ; then he studied law and 
 taught school. His law studies were not very deep 
 or extensive, but he was admitted to the bar. 
 Thinking that he should have more chance of suc- 
 cess in a new country, he went to what was then 
 
Andrew Jackson. 267 
 
 the frontier settlement of Tennessee. After some 
 years, he was made a judge. He was well acquainted 
 with the life and character of the people among 
 whom he lived, and tradition says, dispensed justice 
 in a fashion that was well suited to them. He had 
 a mind and a will of his own, and said and did pretty 
 much what he pleased. Everybody knew that he 
 meant exactly what he said, that he was afraid of 
 nobody, and that he would fight with any one who 
 dared to dispute with him. 
 
 In the year 1796, he was elected a member of 
 the House of Representatives at Washington. He 
 is described at this time as being tall and thin, hav- 
 ing long hair which often used to fall over his face, 
 and was worn behind in a cue tied up in an eelskin, 
 Later still he was sent to the Senate. He was so 
 accustomed to the rough ways of the backwoods 
 that the sober and sedate habits of the Senate were 
 very irksome to him. At times when something was 
 said that he did not like, he would get so angry that, 
 when he rose to reply, he would choke with rage 
 and have to sit down without saying anything. 
 He was glad to return to Tennessee, when the 
 time came for him to do so. 
 
 When the Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, and 
 Illinois regions became settled by the whites, the 
 Indians were forced to remove farther and farther 
 west. The more intelligent Indians saw that the 
 time would soon come when they would be driven 
 
268 History of the United States. 
 
 out of their lands. Most of the white men seemed 
 to think that the country belonged to them, and 
 that the Indians were intruders. 
 
 The settlers wished to own all the land. They 
 were willing to pay the Indians something for any 
 claim they might have ; but the Indian was com- 
 pelled to accept the white man's offer. It was 
 better that the white man should have the country ; 
 but too often he treated the Indian unjustly and 
 took advantage of his ignorance. 
 
 Tecumseh, an able Indian, and his brother, 
 called the Prophet, resolved, as King Philip had 
 done, to try to band together all the Indians, and 
 drive the white men back. Governor William Henry 
 Harrison, of Indiana territory, heard of this plan of 
 the Indians, and did his best to persuade them not 
 to go to war. Tecumseh, however, came with four 
 hundred Indian warriors to see Governor Harrison. 
 He recounted to the governor the wrongs of the 
 Indians, and told him that these wrongs would be 
 borne no longer. 
 
 When he had finished his speech, one of the 
 officers, pointing to the governor, said, "Your 
 father asks you to sit by him." Tecumseh replied 
 with disdain : " My father ! The sun is my father, 
 and the earth my mother; on her bosom will I 
 repose." He then seated himself on the ground. 
 
 The conference was of no avail. Tecumseh now 
 went to induce the southern Indians to join with 
 
Andrew Jackson. 269 
 
 him. He succeeded in persuading them to do so. 
 Before he returned to his own tribe, he gave his 
 alHes a bundle of sticks, telling them to throw away 
 one stick each day. When all were gone, it would 
 be time for them to attack the settlers, for by that 
 time he would have attacked the northern whites. 
 
 While Tecumseh was in the south, his brother, 
 the Prophet, gathered his forces and proposed to 
 fall upon the whites. General Harrison was familiar 
 with Indian customs, and learned what the Prophet 
 had in mind. He determined that, if there was to 
 be a war, he, and not the Indians, should choose 
 the time for beginning it. 
 
 He therefore collected some troops and marched 
 toward Tippecanoe,^ an Indian village, where many 
 warriors had gathered. 
 
 When the Prophet found out that troops were 
 near, he sent to Harrison, offering to make peace. 
 This was only to put the general off his guard. 
 The very next morning, about four o'clock, while it 
 was yet dark, the Indians attacked Harrison's men. 
 
 The first thing the sentinels heard was a terrible 
 war-whoop. The troops sprang to arms, and a 
 sharp battle was fought in the darkness. The 
 Indians were defeated, and their village was burned. 
 This battle was fought November 7, 181 1. General 
 Harrison after this was called " Tippecanoe." 
 
 Tecumseh was bitterly disappointed and cha- 
 * Tippecanoe was where Lafayette, Indiana, is now. 
 
270 History of the United States. 
 
 grined when he reached his old home and found 
 out what had happened. The War of 181 2 with 
 England soon began. He joined the British, and 
 was killed in battle. 
 
 England had been at war with France for a num- 
 ber of years. France, under Napoleon, had secured 
 control of a large part of Europe. England, in 
 order to injure France, proclaimed that no vessels 
 of any nation should trade with France or any 
 country ruled by France. Napoleon retorted by 
 issuing a decree that no vessel should trade with 
 England. As the United States had a good trade 
 with Europe, these laws hurt American commerce 
 very much. 
 
 The United States government tried in various 
 ways to induce England and France to change 
 these laws, but without success. 
 
 These were not the only grievances. England 
 had a large navy and needed many sailors. In 
 order to secure them, when a war vessel was in an 
 English port, naval officers would send men on 
 shore to seize any able-bodied men they could find, 
 and force them on board their vessel. This was 
 called " impressing sailors." 
 
 Of course it was much better to get men who 
 were already sailors. The British naval officers, 
 therefore, made it a practice to stop American 
 merchant ships when they met them, and seize 
 some of their men. They always claimed that such 
 
Andrew Jackson. 271 
 
 men were British citizens^ and could be rightfully 
 seized. 
 
 These officers were not at all careful to find out 
 whether a man had been born in England or not. 
 If they saw a fine-looking seaman, they would say, 
 " You must be an Englishman, we will take you." 
 The captains and crews of the merchant vessels 
 could do nothing but protest. 
 
 Thousands of Americans were thus seized. The 
 United States government would complain to the 
 British government; but there the matter usually 
 would end, for the British ministry thought that 
 the United States would not dare to do anything 
 more than complain. 
 
 At last, in 181 2, the United States declared war 
 against England. A great many persons in America 
 thought it very unwise to go to war. England had 
 about a thousand war vessels, while the United 
 States had but ten or twelve first-class vessels. 
 England's troops were numerous, well drilled, and 
 had had much experience. The troops of the 
 United States were few, poorly disciplined, and 
 unused to war. 
 
 Those who were for peace not only pointed 
 out these facts, but claimed that all matters in 
 dispute could be satisfactorily arranged without 
 
 ^ At that time all European nations held that a man was always a 
 citizen of the country in which he was born, no matter where he might 
 be, or to what country he might have emigrated. 
 
272 History of the United States. 
 
 fighting. It has since been seen that they were 
 probably right. 
 
 Though the American war-ships were few, they 
 were the very best of their class, and were manned 
 by the best sailors in the world. When a report 
 reached England that the Constitution, an American 
 frigate, had captured the Guerriere, a British frigate, 
 the English newspapers said that it could not be 
 true, for such a thing was impossible. But it was 
 true, nevertheless, and there were other American 
 victories as well. 
 
 On land the British were generally victorious, 
 though after a while the Americans were able to 
 Hold their own on the Canadian border. 
 
 The Americans had such a long coast line, and 
 so few vessels to defend it, that the British had 
 many opportunities to land a force in an unexpected 
 place. The British made several attacks on the 
 coast, the most important of which was on the 
 shores of Chesapeake Bay. 
 
 They captured Washington, and burnt the Capi- 
 tol, as well as other public buildings. During the 
 British bombardment of Fort Mc Henry, near Balti- 
 more, Francis Scott Key, a young American patriot, 
 was detained on one of their vessels. He was full 
 of fear lest the fort might be taken, and, while 
 watching the shot and shell through the long hours 
 of the night, he wrote, on the back of an old 
 letter, the poem " The Star-Spangled Banner," which 
 
Andrew Jackson. 
 
 273 
 
 afterward became a national song. The British were 
 compelled to retire without accomplishing their 
 object. 
 
 Before this time the Creek Indians in the south, 
 who had been excited by Tecumseh, had attacked 
 the whites. They seized Fort Mims, in which 
 four hundred men, women, and children had taken 
 refuge, and cruelly massacred all these captives, 
 even burning some of them to death. 
 
 Gold Medal presented by Congress to Andrew Jackson. 
 
 Andrew Jackson had been a general of militia, 
 and he now marched against these Indians and 
 defeated them. It was a war of extermination ; the 
 whites gave no quarter, but killed every prisoner. 
 
 This victory and other successes gave Andrew 
 Jackson a great reputation, and he was, in conse- 
 quence, placed in command of the southern army. 
 
 Jackson expected that the British would attack 
 New Orleans. He was right. Twelve thousand or 
 more English soldiers, the best in the English army, 
 
 19 
 
274 History of the United States. 
 
 had been sent to take this important place. Jack- 
 son made every effort to defend it. He released 
 the prisoners from the jails, and armed them; he 
 also armed the free negroes ; he made defences and 
 threw up earthworks ; then he waited for the attack. 
 
 The British made their assault, January 8, 1815. 
 A terrible battle followed. The British were 
 driven back, with their general killed, and a loss of 
 about two thousand men. The Americans lost less 
 than one hundred. 
 
 All this bravery on both sides and this loss of life 
 were for nothing, because a treaty of peace had al- 
 ready been signed in Europe. But there was no 
 telegraph, no railroad, no ocean steamship in those 
 days, and it was a long time before the sailing 
 vessels brought the news. 
 
 Strange to say, the impressment of sailors and 
 the restrictions on trade were not even named in 
 the treaty. France had been conquered. Eng- 
 land was at peace with European nations, and no 
 longer needed sailors. She had also learned that it 
 would not be wise to try to take them by force. 
 She had repealed the old laws restricting trade. 
 Her people were tired of war, and were eager for 
 peace. The people of the United States were also 
 quite ready to stop fighting, and welcomed the 
 news of the treaty with enthusiasm. 
 
 They now devoted themselves to the arts of 
 peace. Canals were constructed, roads were made, 
 
Andrew Jackson. 275 
 
 steamboats built, manufactures established, and 
 thousands of new fields planted with various crops. 
 For thirty years, with the exception of occasional 
 troubles with the Indians, the country was at peace 
 and prospered greatly. 
 
 Andrew Jackson was elected President of the 
 United States in 1828. He was the first man who 
 had risen from the poorest in the land to that high 
 office. He thought, and very many of his country- 
 men thought with him, that he represented the whole 
 people better than had any former President. 
 
 Jackson had been hot-tempered and self-willed as 
 a boy, and his disposition was not changed when 
 he became a man. He was honest in his inten- 
 tions, though often at fault in his judgment. 
 
 He thought that all his political friends should 
 be rewarded. Accordingly, he turned hundreds of 
 men out of the public offices, and replaced them 
 with those who had supported him in his campaign 
 for the presidency. 
 
 For about sixty years nearly every President fol- 
 lowed his example. Now, under what are called 
 the " Civil Service Rules," most of those who hold 
 office are kept in their positions as long as they do 
 their work well. 
 
 Andrew Jackson was elected President a second 
 time. He died in 1845. 
 
276 History of the United States. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 Andrew Jackson was born in 1767. His parents were 
 very poor. He took part in the Revolutionary War. He 
 removed to Tennessee, and became a prominent citizen. 
 Was sent to Congress. Was appointed general of militia, 
 and was actively engaged in the Indian wars, in which 
 Tecumseh, an Indian chief, was leader. Tecumseh was 
 one of the ablest of the Indians. The Indians were de- 
 feated at Tippecanoe by General William Henry Harrison. 
 
 The British impressed American sailors, passed severe 
 laws restricting trading, and refused to grant American 
 requests. War broke out between Great Britain and the 
 United States. The Americans were remarkably successful 
 in naval warfare, but suffered many reverses on land. Peace 
 was made, but before news of it reached America, General 
 Jackson repulsed a British attack upon New Orleans, and 
 won a great victory. Jackson was elected President in 
 1828, and reelected in 1832. He was honest, but prejudiced 
 and self-willed. He was a great believer in rewarding his 
 friends with public office. 
 
 Tell the story of Andrew Jackson's youth. 
 Describe his life in Tennessee. 
 Tell an anecdote to show his quickness of temper. 
 What led to a war with the Indians ? 
 Tell the story of Tecumseh. 
 What led to the War of 181 2 with Great Britain? 
 Give some account of the war. 
 Tell about the battle of New Orleans. 
 What kind of a man did Andrew Jackson make ? 
 What rule did he follow in making appointments to public 
 ofi&ce? 
 
CANALS, RAILROADS, TELEGRAPHS, AND 
 OTHER INVENTIONS. 
 
 The people of the United States learned from 
 the War of 1812 the necessity of better means of 
 travelling and of conveying goods from one part of 
 the country to another. 
 
 Except near the sea, or where there were bays, 
 rivers, or lakes, there was no better way to trans- 
 port goods than in wagons or on the backs of 
 horses or mules. For months in the year, the 
 roads throughout the country were so bad that it 
 was almost impossible to use them for hauling. 
 Even in summer, hauling was slow and costly. 
 
 While Jefferson was President, Congress appro- 
 priated money toward building a great national 
 road from Cumberland, Maryland, to the West 
 This road benefited only a part of the country, 
 helping chiefly the trade of Philadelphia and 
 Baltimore. 
 
 New York had a large trade along the coast and 
 on the Hudson River, but not with the interior 
 country. She wished to secure a part of this 
 inland trade. It was believed that a canal from 
 Lake Erie to the Hudson River would accomplish 
 this. 
 
 277 
 
278 History of the United States. 
 
 Many men, on the other hand, thought this proj- 
 ect a wild one. Even President Jefferson said: 
 " You talk of making a canal three hundred and fifty 
 miles long through the wilderness. It is a little 
 short of madness to think of it at this day." 
 
 Those men, however, who had the matter at 
 heart, persevered, and in 181 7 the canal was begun. 
 
 De Witt Clinton, a 
 prominent citizen of 
 the State of New 
 York, was greatly in- 
 terested in having 
 this canal made, and 
 perhaps it is not too 
 much to say that had 
 it not been for him 
 it might never have 
 been finished. 
 
 Like so many other 
 men who have made 
 great plans, Clinton was ridiculed, and the canal 
 was called " Clinton's Big Ditch." 
 
 The canal was, indeed, a stupendous work for the 
 times. It had to be carried by bridges over streams ; 
 ledges of rock had to be cut through, and where 
 there were long hills, or rapid descents, locks ^ were 
 
 ^ A canal lock is a part of the canal, confined within walls, and 
 having gates at each end. By means of these gates the level of the 
 water in the locks can be raised or lowered, and the boat rises or falls 
 with the water. 
 
 De Witt Clinton. 
 
 After the portrait by C. Ingham. 
 
Inventions, 
 
 279 
 
 necessary, by means of which canal boats could be 
 raised and lowered. 
 
 It took eight years to finish the great work. The 
 water was to be let in from Lake Erie on the 
 25th of October, 1825. To give notice to those 
 
 Locks on the Erie Canal. 
 
 As first constructed. 
 
 who lived along the banks of the canal and the 
 Hudson River, cannon were placed every five miles 
 from Buffalo to New York City. 
 
 When the gates were opened the first gun was 
 fired, then that at the next station, and so on. The 
 first one sounded at ten o'clock in the morning, and 
 
280 History of the United States. 
 
 one hour and a half later the last gun was fired five 
 hundred miles away, at New York. 
 
 As the first canal boat passed, gayly decorated 
 with flags and streamers, there was great rejoicing. 
 The travellers on it were received with cheers and 
 salutes, and when they reached New York City 
 there was a great celebration. 
 
 Entrance to the Erie Canal at Troy. 
 
 From an old print. 
 
 Governor Clinton emptied a cask, which had been 
 filled at Buffalo with the water of Lake Erie, into 
 New York Bay, thus representing the meeting of 
 the sea and the lakes through the Erie Canal. 
 
 The canal more than fulfilled the hopes of those 
 who planned it. It offered such an easy way to go 
 to the West that it helped wonderfully in develop- 
 ing that vast region. It brought so much grain and 
 
Inventions. 281 
 
 produce to New York that the trade of that city was 
 greatly increased, and it became the largest city in 
 America. Before the Erie Canal was constructed, 
 Philadelphia was larger than New York. 
 
 Other states built canals, but none was so success- 
 ful or so important as the Erie Canal. This want 
 of success was due partly to the character of the 
 country through which they passed, and partly to 
 the introduction of railroads. 
 
 Less than one hundred years ago the speediest 
 means of getting from place to place was by horses, 
 just as it was in the time of the Greeks and 
 Romans. 
 
 As soon as it was found that steam could be used 
 as a power for moving machinery, men at once 
 began to think about some way to make machinery 
 move ships, wagons, and carriages. 
 
 The steamboat has already been described. About 
 twenty years after Fulton's trial of the Clermont on 
 the Hudson River, George Stephenson, at Darling- 
 ton, England, made the first successful railroad loco- 
 motive. Stephenson had formerly been a laborer in 
 an English coal mine. 
 
 The first passenger railroad in America was the 
 Baltimore and Ohio, which was begun in 1828. 
 Soon there were others built in all parts of the 
 country, except the extreme west. 
 
 The railroad could be built almost anywhere. If 
 the hills were too high to be crossed, they could be 
 
282 History of the United States. 
 
 tunnelled, or if tunnelling was too costly, the rails 
 could be laid around the hills; streams could be 
 bridged, or passengers could be ferried over them. 
 Even swamps could be crossed by driving in piles 
 and building trestle work on which to lay the track. 
 This seems a matter of course to us now, but every- 
 thing was very 
 different seventy 
 years ago ; it is 
 hard to imag- 
 ine what a vast 
 change the rail- 
 road has made 
 in the condition 
 of the country. 
 
 Towns and vil- 
 lages sprang up 
 along the rail- 
 way, as they had formerly along the rivers. New 
 states were rapidly settled. The wheat, corn, oats, 
 and other crops of the farmer were easily and safely 
 carried to market, and woollen and cotton cloth, 
 manufactured articles generally, and all needed sup- 
 plies were brought back to him. 
 
 Railroads and canals are among the most impor- 
 tant bands which hold the country together. If it 
 were not for the easy means of communication 
 which they afford, the country would, doubtless, 
 long ago have been divided into two or more 
 independent nations. 
 
 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 1830. 
 
 From an old print. 
 
Inventions. 
 
 283 
 
 The telegraph is an Invention which followed not 
 many years after the railroad. It had long been 
 
 The First Train on the Camden and Amboy Railroad. 
 
 known that electricity could be carried along vari- 
 ous substances, and scientific men had thought that 
 messages might be conveyed by electricity ; but no 
 one had found a satis- 
 factory way of doing it. 
 Samuel F. B. Morse, 
 an American artist, be- 
 came much interested 
 in electricity and 
 magnetism. He had 
 heard of various at- 
 tempts to convey in- 
 telligence by means of 
 electricity, and while 
 on a voyage from 
 Europe to America, in 1832, he thought much about 
 the matter. Before he had reached America he 
 had made a drawing of an instrument which, with 
 
 Letter-carrier of the Olden Time. 
 
284 History of the United States. 
 
 the aid of wires, he thought would accomplish the 
 desired end. 
 
 Five years later he constructed an instrument with 
 which he was able by means of wires to send a mes- 
 sage for a short distance. Morse at once saw that 
 messages could be sent a great distance if wires 
 
 were properly arranged. 
 
 His invention was very 
 simple, and there was very 
 little about it that was origi- 
 nal. After it was described, 
 it seemed strange that 
 <^cientific men had not 
 thought of his method 
 b sf ore. 
 
 Morse, like almost all 
 inventors, had much to 
 contend with. He was 
 poor, and had it not been 
 for a young man, named 
 Alfred Vail, who persuaded his father to lend Morse 
 some money, it is quite possible that there would 
 have been failure after all. 
 
 Vail was an excellent mechanic, and helped very 
 much in the construction of the instruments. He 
 also secured for Morse a patent for the invention. 
 
 In order to bring his invention before the public, 
 Morse asked Congress, at Washington, to give thirty 
 thousand dollars- to be used in constructing a tele- 
 
 Samuel F. B. Morse. 
 
 From the last approved photograph. 
 
Inventions. 285 
 
 graph line between Baltimore and Washington, a 
 distance of forty miles. Some of the members of 
 Congress made all manner of sport of Morse's 
 project. One member proposed that the money 
 should be spent In making a railroad to the moon. 
 
 There seemed little prospect that the bill grant- 
 ing the money would be passed. The story Is told 
 that Morse, weary and heart-sick, sat hour after 
 hour in the gallery of the Senate Chamber, waiting 
 for his bill to come up before Congress adjourned. 
 When evening came, and there seemed no chance 
 for its passage, he went to his hotel utterly dis- 
 couraged, and prepared to leave for New York 
 early the next day, as his money was exhausted. 
 
 The next morning, while he was at breakfast, a 
 young lady came in and said, " I congratulate you." 
 " Upon what ? " said Morse, who was feeling very 
 blue. " On the passage of your bill." " Impossible." 
 "No," said she, "it was passed five minutes before 
 the adjournment." " Well," said Morse, "you shall 
 send the first message over the lines." 
 
 The line was constructed with the money thus 
 secured. When all was ready Morse kept his prom- 
 ise, and Miss Annie G. Ellsworth sent, at the sug- 
 gestion of her mother, the words, " What hath God 
 wrought!"^ This was on May 25, 1844. It was 
 not many years before there were telegraphs over 
 all civilized lands. 
 
 * Numbers xxiii. 23. 
 
286 History of the United States. 
 
 Morse and others showed very soon that wires, if 
 properly protected, could be laid under water, and 
 so rivers and streams proved no barrier. But this 
 was not all ; telegraph lines were to encircle the 
 earth ; the ocean must be crossed. 
 
 Cyrus W. Field, a wealthy New Yorker, was sure 
 that a cable of telegraph wires could be laid from 
 shore to shore of the Atlantic. Such an under- 
 taking would be very costly, and it was a long time 
 before a sufficient number of persons in Europe and 
 in America could be induced to subscribe to an 
 enterprise apparently so foolish. 
 
 Two attempts to lay a cable on the bottom of 
 the ocean were failures. But in 1858 a cable was 
 successfully laid, through which Queen Victoria and 
 President Buchanan exchanged messages of con- 
 gratulation. A number of other messages were also 
 sent, but, in less than a month, the wires ceased 
 to work. 
 
 It was harder than ever to get subscriptions for 
 a new cable ; but Mr. Field was indefatigable, and 
 crossed the Atlantic very many times in the inter- 
 est of the cable company. Finally he succeeded in 
 his efforts. 
 
 A new cable was made, and the Great Eastern 
 the largest vessel afloat, was chartered to lay it. 
 More than half had been laid when the cable 
 broke, and the end fell into the sea and was lost. 
 This was a very great disappointment. 
 
Inventions. 287 
 
 Even now Mr. Field and his companions were 
 not cast down. The next year a new cable was 
 successfully laid. Not only was this done, but the 
 lost cable was picked up from the bottom of the 
 ocean, another cable was spliced to it, and this one 
 also worked. This was in 1866. 
 
 Many other cables have been laid, connecting 
 America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceanica. Men 
 have become so accustomed to hearing the news of 
 
 The " Great Eastern " picking up the Cable of 1865. 
 
 the world every day, that it is hard to realize tha^ 
 this great invention is so recent. 
 
 It is largely by means of steamboats, railroads, 
 and telegraphs that our great Union is made possi- 
 ble ; the whole world, also, is bound closer together, 
 for through them men of different countries learn 
 to know each other better, and to see that all 
 nations have many interests in common. These 
 improved means of communication tend to make 
 
288 History of the United States 
 
 men value peace more highly. More than this, for 
 when difficulties arise between nations, it is much 
 easier to arrange matters now than when it took 
 three months, and sometimes longer, to get an 
 answer to a question. Had there been a cable 
 to England in 1812, very probably there would 
 have been no war at that time. 
 
 So we see that steamboats, railroads, and tele- 
 graphs are great helps in increasing civilization and 
 in making men wiser and better. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 After the War of 1 8 1 2 the people of the United States 
 turned their attention to domestic matters. Means of com- 
 munication between different parts of the country were 
 poor. Roads and canals were planned. The Erie Canal 
 was constructed and became a great benefit to New York. 
 Many other canals were planned. Railroads were intro- 
 duced about 1830. These greatly increased the develop- 
 ment of the country and helped to* bind different parts of 
 the Union together. The first practical telegraph was 
 invented by Morse. From a telegraph on land it was not 
 a long step to telegraphs under water called cables. These 
 now circle the globe. Steamboats, railroads, and telegraphs 
 are great helps in civilization. 
 
 How was trade carried on with the western country in early 
 days? 
 
 Tell the story of the building of the Erie Canal. Tell the story 
 of the opening of the Canal. 
 
Inventions. 289 
 
 When were railroads introduced into America? 
 What effect did canals and railroads have on the settlement of 
 the country? 
 
 Tell the story of the invention of the telegraph. 
 
 Tell the story of the first messages. 
 
 Tell the story of laying telegraphic cables under the ocean. 
 
 20 
 
OREGON. — WHITMAN'S RIDE. 
 
 The great West, particularly the Oregon country, 
 was thought by many able men in the United 
 States to be of little value. This opinion was held 
 for many years ; even Daniel Webster said : " What 
 do we want with the vast, worthless area, this 
 region of savages and wild beasts, of deserts, of 
 shifting sands and whirlwinds of dust, of cactus and 
 prairie dogs ? What can we hope to do with the 
 western coast . . . rockbound, cheerless, and unin- 
 viting, and not a harbor on it ? " Other men spoke 
 quite as strongly. 
 
 A few settlers from, the Eastern states, attracted 
 by the reports of Lewis and Clark, had gone to 
 Oregon and some of the churches had become 
 interested in the Indians, and had sent out mis- 
 sionaries in 1834 and 1836. One of these mission- 
 aries was Dr. Marcus Whitman, of the State of New 
 York; it was he who, in 1836, took the first wagon 
 across the Rocky Mountains — an undertaking 
 which had been said to be impossible. 
 
 290 
 
Oregon. 291 
 
 Dr. Whitman and his fellow-missionaries were 
 charmed with the beautiful forests, the fertile fields, 
 the mountains, and the rivers of that far western 
 land. They found that the English already had 
 fur-trading stations and some settlements in Ore- 
 gon; and Dr. Whitman became sure that it was 
 their purpose to gain possession of the land by 
 bringing as many settlers as possible into the coun- 
 try. He believed that the only way for the Ameri- 
 cans to keep Oregon was to bring in more settlers 
 than the English had done. 
 
 One day, while dining at an English station, he 
 witnessed the arrival of a messenger with the news 
 that a large colony of English settlers were coming. 
 A young Englishman in the company was so pleased 
 that he sprang to his feet, crying, " Hurrah for 
 Oregon ! America is too late. We have got the 
 country ! " 
 
 Dr. Whitman was convinced that his view was 
 correct. He saw also how important it was that 
 the English plan should be* known to the govern- 
 ment at Washington before any treaty should be 
 made with England, and that the urgent need of 
 inducing more American settlers to emigrate to 
 Oregon should be brought home to the American 
 people. 
 
 Dr. Whitman said nothing, but within twenty-four 
 hours he had left the station, and in less than three 
 days was on his way to the East. His journey and 
 
292 History of the United States. 
 
 its purpose were kept a profound secret. He 
 started on his long horseback ride, October 3, 
 1842. He was accompanied by a fellow-settler, 
 Amos L. Lovejoy, and by a guide. They had 
 three pack-mules. 
 
 By making a great effort, they reached Fort Hall 
 in eleven days, a ride of six hundred and forty 
 miles. This was an English fort, and was situated 
 in what is now the southeastern corner of Idaho. 
 
 The commander of the fort did all he could to 
 persuade Dr. Whitman to give up his purpose of 
 riding to St. Louis. He said that the snow was 
 twenty feet deep among the mountains ; that the 
 rivers could not be crossed ; that the Pawnee and 
 Sioux Indians were at war with each other, and that 
 it would be almost certain death to enter their 
 country. 
 
 The only effect that these words had upon Whit- 
 man was to make him follow a different route to the 
 East. 
 
 The little party found heavy snowdrifts and en- 
 countered terrible snowstorms. At one time the 
 guide refused to go any farther, and confessed that 
 he had lost his way. They sought to retrace their 
 steps to their last camp, but the snow had covered 
 their path. They had given themselves up for lost, 
 when one of the mules was seen to bend his ears 
 forward. The guide at once cried out, " This mule 
 will find the camp if he can live to reach it! " The 
 
Oregon. 
 
 ^93 
 
 reins were thrown upon the mule's neck, and he was 
 allowed to do as he pleased. 
 
 The mule seemed to understand what was wanted 
 of him, and starting off, went on through snowdrifts, 
 down precipitous paths, on and on, until he stopped 
 over a piece of ground nearly bare of snow. To 
 their amazement the men recognized the place as 
 the camping ground they had left early in the morn- 
 
 Whitman's Ride. 
 
 ing. A few embers were still glowing, and they 
 soon had a roaring fire. 
 
 Their guide now refused to stay with them, and 
 Whitman, in order to secure another one, was forced 
 to return to a trading-post which they had passed 
 days before. 
 
 When they reached Grand River, they found it 
 frozen, except in the middle of the stream. The 
 guide said, " It cannot be crossed." Dr. Whitman 
 replied, " It must be crossed." He took a pole with 
 
294 History of the United States. 
 
 him, compelled his horse to swim the open stream, 
 and then breaking the ice on the opposite shore 
 with his pole, helped his horse to get to the bank. 
 He soon had a good fire, and the rest of the party 
 also crossed the stream. 
 
 When their provisions gave out, they killed and 
 ate a dog which had followed them. At another 
 time they killed one of their mules, the meat of 
 which lasted them a number of days. 
 
 Once, when the time for camping came, there was 
 no fuel. On the opposite side of a stream near by 
 there was plenty of wood. The river was covered 
 with thin ice, hardly strong enough to bear a man. 
 Whitman took an axe, lay down on the ice, and 
 worked himself across. Having cut sufficient wood, 
 he returned in the same manner, pushing the wood 
 before him. In cutting the wood he split the handle 
 of his axe, but bound it together with a piece of deer 
 thong. That very night a thievish wolf, attracted 
 by the deer thong, carried off the axe, handle and 
 all. It was fortunate that this happened near the 
 end of their journey, for had such a loss happened 
 earlier it would have been a very serious matter. 
 
 When they reached Fort Bent, about a thousand 
 miles from St. Louis, Mr. Lovejoy was so worn out 
 that he remained behind, while Dr. Whitman went 
 on with a party just starting for the East. When 
 he arrived at St. Louis, in the latter part of Febru- 
 ary, he was rejoiced to hear that the Oregon ques- 
 
Oregon. 295 
 
 tion was not yet settled. " I am still in time," he 
 cried. He hastened on to Washington, which he 
 reached March 3, 1843. 
 
 No wonder that men and women stopped to look 
 at him as he walked about the streets. He wore 
 coarse fur garments, buckskin breeches, a buffalo- 
 skin coat with a hood, fur leggins, and boot moc- 
 casins — the same suit in which he had crossed the 
 plains. 
 
 He saw President Tyler, and Daniel Webster, 
 Secretary of State, and gave them such information 
 that there was no longer any talk of a boundary for 
 Oregon south of the forty-ninth parallel of latitude. 
 He published a pamphlet setting forth the advan- 
 tages of Oregon, and describing the way to reach it. 
 His companion in his adventurous ride, who had 
 followed him to St. Louis, also spread the notice 
 far and wide that Dr. Whitman and he would per- 
 sonally conduct a party of emigrants to Oregon. 
 
 A large number of emigrants started from St. 
 Louis. Dr. Whitman had been delayed, but over- 
 took them by the time they reached the Platte River. 
 The company consisted of about a thousand men, 
 women, and children, with about a hundred and 
 fifty emigrant wagons, each drawn by twelve oxen. 
 There were also more than a thousand horses and 
 cattle. 
 
 Day after day the long caravan toiled along. 
 When night came the wagons were ranged in a 
 
296 History of the United States. 
 
 circle, the teams unyoked and let loose to pasture. 
 Fires were lighted by which to cook the supper, 
 tents were pitched, sentinels were posted, and every- 
 thing was made ready for the night. 
 
 After supper the company would gather within the 
 circle of the wagons, the children would roll and 
 tumble on the ground in sport, some one would bring 
 out a violin or flute, and the young people would en- 
 joy a dance. The older persons would tell stories 
 of adventure, discuss the journey still before them, 
 or plan for their life in the far-away western land 
 for which they were bound. By ten o'clock all was 
 quiet, and nothing was to be heard but the " All's 
 well " of the sentinels, as they walked back and forth 
 on their night watch. 
 
 Early in the morning the caravan was on its way 
 again. Twenty miles was a good day's journey. 
 Late in September, 1843, the party reached its des- 
 tination on the Columbia River. No such band of 
 emigrants had ever been seen in Oregon before; no 
 such band had ever crossed the continent. 
 
 Dr. Whitman had done his work well. He had 
 carried news of the value of Oregon to the govern- 
 ment; he had spread truthful reports throughout the 
 land; he had brought back a large number of set- 
 tlers to confirm the claim of the United States: in 
 a word, he had saved Oregon for his country. He 
 had done this without receiving or expecting any 
 pecuniary reward. He believed that Oregon right- 
 
Oregon, 
 
 297 
 
 fully belonged to the United States, and that it 
 would be more prosperous under American rule. 
 His motives were patriotic and seem to have been 
 wholly unselfish. 
 
 Whitman returned to his station, and for the 
 next four years devoted himself to his missionary 
 
 Whitman Station. 
 
 Scene of the massacre. 
 
 work. Then the Indians, who, in some way, had 
 become stirred up against the missionaries, murdered 
 him, his wife, and thirteen others, and carried off 
 forty men, women, and children as captives. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 For many years the Great West was thought to be of 
 little value. Dr. Marcus Whitman went to the Oregon coun- 
 
298 History of the United States. 
 
 try as a missionary in 1836. He was greatly pleased with 
 the country. He feared that the English would gain it, 
 and he resolved that the government and people of the 
 United States should be informed of the worth of Oregon. 
 He rode on horseback to St. Louis on his way to Wash- 
 ington. It was a terrible winter ride. He led back a large 
 band of emigrants. He was, a few years later, killed by 
 Indians. 
 
 What was thought of the value of the great West ? 
 
 Who was Dr. Whitman ? 
 
 How did he think Oregon could be kept for the United States ? 
 
 Describe his ride to St. Louis. 
 
 How was he dressed ? 
 
 What did he accomplish? 
 
 Note. — Since the foregoing chapter was printed, it has been maintained 
 by some able students of American History that the chief object of Dr. Whit- 
 man's winter ride was not "to save Oregon," but business connected with the 
 Mission Station. It is also claimed that Dr. Whitman did not influence the 
 action of the United States government at Washington, As these questions 
 are still under discussion, the chapter has been left as originally printed. 
 
TEXAS. — MEXICAN WAR. — CALIFORNIA. 
 
 During the time of which we have been reading, 
 the country was steadily growing in wealth and 
 population. The settlement of the United States 
 was spreading farther and farther west. The 
 prairies were planted with corn and wheat, while 
 
 Chicago in 1820. 
 
 From an old print. 
 
 towns and cities grew up along the rivers and lakes 
 and on the lines of railways. 
 
 By 1846, the original number of states had been 
 doubled. States were formed west of the Missis- 
 sippi River, and in the North and the South. Such 
 were Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. 
 
 299 
 
300 History of the United States. 
 
 Southwest of the state of Louisiana there was a 
 great country belonging to Mexico, known as Texas. 
 Into this country American settlers began to 
 venture. They found it attractive and fertile, and 
 year by year more settlers came until there were 
 many Americans in Texas. 
 
 It was not an easy life for them. Some of the 
 Indians were hostile. The Mexicans, who had at 
 first invited Americans, became jealous; as descend- 
 ants of the Spaniards they were not much pleased 
 to see active Anglo-Saxons taking possession of the 
 best parts of their country. 
 
 Many of the Americans were pioneer settlers, 
 like those of the earlier days in Kentucky and 
 Tennessee. Others were persons who had not 
 been successful at home, and who hoped to do better 
 in a new country. Some were men who had found 
 Texas a safe refuge from their creditors, and a 
 few were fugitives from justice. Texas was in 
 those days truly a frontier country, resembling many 
 of the more eastern states in their early history. 
 
 The Mexican law forbade slavery, but notwith- 
 standing this, some of the settlers brought slaves 
 with them, calling them "servants." 
 
 In 1836, the Americans and some of the Mexicans 
 in Texas, declared their independence of Mexico, 
 and set up the republic of Texas. One of the 
 causes that led to the revolution was the refusal of 
 Mexico to establish free schools. 
 
Texas. — Mexican War. — California. 301 
 
 Before long Texas asked to be annexed to the 
 American Union as one of the states. This was very 
 natural, because Americans formed the greater 
 part of her population, and she was hardly strong 
 enough to sustain a government of her own. 
 
 There was great difference of opinion among 
 the people of the United States in regard to this 
 request. The Southern states wished to have 
 Texas in the Union, because many of the Texans 
 were Southerners, and because its admission would 
 increase the territory where slavery was allowed, 
 and so would increase the influence of slaveholders 
 in Congress. There were, of course, many people 
 in the South and in the North who favored the 
 annexation of Texas, and yet did not believe in 
 slavery. They were of the opinion that the annex- 
 ation would greatly benefit the United States. 
 
 The Northern states, as a whole, were opposed to 
 the annexation ; they did not wish to see the slave 
 territory of the Union any larger. They believed also 
 that the annexation would lead to a war with Mex- 
 ico, because Mexico had never acknowledged the 
 independence of Texas. 
 
 Texas was admitted into the Union in 1845; the 
 expected war followed, and Mexico was defeated. 
 In the treaty of peace Mexico ceded to the United 
 States, in exchange for a large sum of money, a 
 great tract of country, comprising what is now Cali- 
 fornia, Nevada, Utah, most of New Mexico, Ari- 
 zona, and part of Colorado. 
 
302 History of the United States. 
 
 In 1848, almost at the time when the treaty of 
 peace with Mexico was signed, gold was discovered 
 in California. As soon as the fact of this discovery 
 became known, men from all parts of the United 
 
 The Overland Route. 
 
 States hastened by sea and by land to the gold 
 fields. Some embarked in ships and went around 
 Cape Horn, a voyage of three or four months. 
 Some sailed to the Isthmus of Panama, and then, 
 crossing the country, took ships on the Pacific 
 
 A Californian Wagon Train. 
 
 After an old print. 
 
 Ocean. Some took the long journey overland, 
 across the great plains and over the mountains. 
 
 The overland route was the hardest journey of 
 all. The travellers could go only in wagons or on 
 horseback. They were exposed to hostile Ind- 
 
Texas. — Mexican War. — California. 303 
 
 ians and wild animals. They suffered much from 
 fatigue, hunger, and thirst. Long afterward their 
 path could be traced by the abandoned wagons, and 
 the whitened bones of the horses and cattle which 
 fell by the way, and even by the bones of some of 
 the poor travellers themselves. 
 
 View of San Francisco in 1847. 
 
 After a lithograph. With American ships in the harbor. 
 
 The recent discoveries of gold in the Klondike, 
 Canada, and at Cape Nome, Alaska, and the rush to 
 these new gold fields, have brought back to many 
 old persons the memory of the scenes of 1849. 
 
 By the end of the year 1849 there were more 
 than a hundred thousand persons in California. 
 Seldom had there been seen a greater mixture of 
 peoples; by far the greater number were Ameri- 
 
304 History of the United States. 
 
 cans, but there were also Indians, Mexicans, Peru- 
 vians, Europeans, and South Sea Islanders. All 
 these were working side by side in the search for 
 gold. 
 
 The California gold diggings proved to be among 
 the richest in the world, and many men became 
 very wealthy ; others returned to their homes poorer 
 than when they left them. 
 
 California became a state in 1850. In addition 
 to her mines, she has vast fields of grain, and thou- 
 sands of acres planted with fruit trees of all 
 kinds ; her fruit orchards and orange groves are 
 unsurpassed. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 Americans began to settle in Texas, which was part of 
 Mexico. In 1836 there were many Americans in that 
 country, and they declared themselves independent of 
 Mexico. Soon Texas asked to be annexed to the United 
 States. The North opposed annexation, and the South 
 approved. Texas was admitted to the Union, 1845. War 
 with Mexico followed. The United States acquired from 
 Mexico what is now California, Nevada, Utah, most of 
 New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado. Gold was discovered 
 in California 1848. There was a great rush to the gold 
 fields. California became a state, 1850. 
 
 How many states were there in the Union in 1846? 
 
 Where was Texas ? 
 
 What sort of men went there to settle? 
 
Texas. — Mexican War. — California. 305 
 
 When Texas wished to join the Union how did the people of 
 the North feel? 
 
 Those of the South? 
 
 When was Texas admitted to the Union? 
 
 What land did the United States acquire ? 
 
 When was gold discovered in California? 
 
 Tell how the seekers after gold reached California, 
 
 21 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 Among the early settlers in Kentucky was a man 
 named Abraham Lincoln, who had come there 
 about 1780. His ancestors were among the colo- 
 nists who settled near Plymouth, Massachusetts. 
 Some members of the family moved to New Jersey, 
 and later to Virginia and Pennsylvania (Berks 
 County). This Abraham Lincoln and his family 
 had long been friends of the Boones ; it was prob- 
 ably due to Daniel Boone that they had moved to 
 this new home. 
 
 They lived in a stockade, like the other settlers, 
 as the Indians were still to be feared. All went 
 well for eight years. Then, one day, while he and 
 his three sons were at work in a clearing, the father 
 was shot and killed by an Indian. This misfortune 
 appears to have broken up the family, and Thomas, 
 the youngest son, was left to shift for himself. 
 
 Thomas Lincoln was a carpenter, and was suc- 
 cessful enough to secure a farm by the time he was 
 twenty-five. He married Nancy Hanks in 1806. 
 The young couple were poor, but so were most 
 of the early settlers in the West. Their life was 
 rough, but it did not differ from that of other pio- 
 neers at the same period. Indeed, the life of the 
 
 306 
 
Abraham Lincoln. 307 
 
 Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 From a photograph taken in i860. 
 
308 History of the United States. 
 
 Lincolns can be taken as a fair example of that of 
 hundreds of others in the new settlements. 
 
 Their home was a rude log-cabin, containing only 
 one room, having but one door and no window. A 
 large chimney, made of sticks and clay, leaned 
 against the cabin, which, if it was like the ordinary 
 cabin of the early settler, had no floor but the earth. 
 The scanty furniture was of the rudest kind. The 
 
 table and chairs 
 were of boards, the 
 legs fastened into 
 auger holes. The 
 bedstead was of 
 poles, and was sup- 
 ?rSi'r-^^^^^ ported by the logs 
 
 House in which Abraham Lincoln of the hoUSC On One 
 
 side, and on the 
 other by stakes 
 driven into the earth floor. Most of the dishes were 
 wooden ; the spoons, knives, and forks were of iron. 
 
 In this cabin, situated in Hardin County,^ Ken- 
 tucky, Abraham Lincoln, the future President, was 
 born, February 12, 1809. 
 
 Abe, as he was called, was seven years old when 
 his father moved to the southwestern part of Indi- 
 ana. The country was thickly wooded, and, in 
 order to get to their new home, it was necessary to 
 cut a roadway through the forest. 
 
 1 Now La Rue County. 
 
 WAS BORN. 
 From a photograph of the reconstructed log-cabin. 
 
Abraham Lincoln. 309 
 
 When they had reached their destination, the 
 first thing to be done was to build a "half-faced 
 camp." This was a log hut with but three sides. 
 There were no doors, no windows, no floor but the 
 earth. It was, indeed, nothing but a shed. All 
 the cooking was done at a fire in front of the open 
 
 Log-cabin Furniture. 
 
 side of the hut. A buffalo skin was hung across 
 the front for protection in winter. 
 
 The family lived in this " half-faced camp " for a 
 year, and then a cabin, very much like the one they 
 had left In Kentucky, was built. This cabin had 
 a loft, and here, on a heap of leaves, young Abe 
 Lincoln slept. 
 
 The boy went to one of the rude "ABC schools " 
 whenever he had a chance ; but he used to say, in 
 
3IO History of the United States. 
 
 after years, that he was not at school more than a 
 year all together. 
 
 He was eager to learn, and at night would throw 
 branches of spice-wood bushes on the fire in order 
 to get more light, so that he could read and cipher. 
 He did his figuring on a wooden shovel, or smooth 
 board, with a charred stick. When the work was 
 done, he planed it off, and the board was ready for 
 use again. 
 
 Young Lincoln read every book that he could lay 
 his hands on. Books were scarce on the frontier, 
 and he had not much choice. Among them were 
 " Robinson Crusoe," Weems's " Life of Washing- 
 ton," a " History of the United States," " yEsop's 
 Fables," Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress," and the 
 Bible. Some of these he had to borrow. Once his 
 borrowed copy of Weems's " Washington " got wet, 
 and to pay for the book he shucked corn for three 
 days. 
 
 When he could get paper, he would copy long 
 extracts from what he read, using a pen made from 
 the feather of a wild fowl, and ink made from the 
 roots of briers. 
 
 When he was ploughing, and It was necessary to 
 give the horse a rest, he would pull out his book, 
 perch himself on the top of a "worm fence," and 
 read. He soon knew more than any of his com- 
 panions, and he learned to write an excellent hand. 
 
 His mother died when he was nine years old, and 
 
Abraham Lincoln, 
 
 3^1 
 
 her loss was a great one to the little boy. In about 
 a year his father married again. Lincoln's step- 
 mother was an able and energetic woman. She 
 encouraged him in all his efforts to read and to 
 study, and her stepson became very fond of her. 
 She said of him, many years afterward, " Abe was 
 a good boy — he never gave me a cross word or 
 look ... he was a dutiful son to me always." 
 
 A Mississippi Flat-boat. 
 
 If young Lincoln dressed like the boys around 
 him, he must have worn roughly tanned deerskin 
 trousers, a linsey-woolsey shirt, moccasins on his 
 feet, and a coonskin cap on his head. 
 
 He was early taught to swing the axe, to handle 
 the plough, to thresh the wheat with the flail, to carry 
 the grain to the mill, and to do all kinds of work 
 about the farm. Besides this, his father taught him 
 his own trade which was that of a carpenter. 
 
 He grew up an able-bodied, active young man. 
 
312 History of the United States. 
 
 He was six feet four inches tall, and of great strength. 
 " He could outwork, outlift, and outwrestle any 
 man he came in contact with." He was good- 
 natured, obliging, and, in fact, very popular. He 
 was fond of telling stories, all of which were to the 
 point and often very amusing. 
 
 When he was nineteen, he went to New Orleans 
 on a flat-boat as a " bow-hand." His business was 
 
 to work at the front oars. 
 The unwieldy flat-boats were 
 propelled by long sweeps, or 
 oars, each of which often re- 
 quired two men to handle 
 it. These boats were loaded 
 with farm produce, and with 
 their cargoes were sold on 
 A WORM Fence. reaching New Orleans. This 
 
 long voyage took weeks and sometimes months to ac- 
 complish. For this work on the flat-boat Lincoln 
 received eight dollars a month and his passage 
 back. 
 
 Soon after his return from New Orleans, his father 
 moved to Illinois. Young Lincoln drove the ox- 
 wagon in which the household goods were carried. 
 It was a two weeks' journey. 
 
 The family settled in central Illinois. Here 
 Abraham Lincoln helped to build the log-cabin 
 which was to be the new home, and with the aid of 
 a companion he split the rails to fence in the ten 
 
Abraham Lincoln. 313 
 
 acres which were to be planted with corn for the 
 first year's crop. 
 
 After seeing his father and his family settled, and 
 being now twenty-one years old, he " struck out 
 for himself." He had little or no money; and one 
 of the first things he did was to split rails to pay 
 for enough brown jeans to make him a pair of 
 trousers. 
 
 He took whatever employment offered. He 
 worked as a farm hand, as a rail-splitter, and as a 
 clerk in a country store. Once, late in the evening, 
 a woman came to buy half a pound of tea ; Lincoln 
 weighed it out correctly, as he thought, and gave it 
 to the woman, who paid him and went off. Next 
 morning he found that he had put a four-ounce 
 weight on the scales. He closed the shop and went 
 to deliver the amount of tea which was due the 
 woman. 
 
 Another time, in giving change, he made a mistake 
 of six and a quarter cents ; ^ the same evening, after 
 the store was closed, he walked three miles to return 
 the money. Such conduct soon won for him the 
 name of " Honest Abe." 
 
 When the trouble with the Indians, known as 
 the " Black Hawk War," arose, Lincoln joined the 
 
 ^A coin in common circulation at that time was the Spanish half- 
 real, worth six and a quarter cents. It bore different names in dif- 
 ferent places, as, "picayune," " fippeny bit," <' sixpence." It went 
 out of circulation during the Civil War. 
 
314 History of the United States. . 
 
 volunteers and was made captain of his company. 
 He was not called upon to take any very active 
 part, but his chief exploit was to save, at the risk 
 of his own life, an Indian who had wandered into 
 the soldiers' camp. 
 
 On his return, in 1832, Lincoln and another 
 young man entered into partnership and bought 
 out a country store. Lincoln's main object in life 
 was study rather than trading, and he trusted too 
 much to his partner, whom he supposed to be a 
 good business man. The young man, however, 
 turned out to be a worthless, dissipated fellow, and 
 it was not long before the business proved a failure. 
 Lincoln was now responsible for several hundred 
 dollars, which it took him years to pay. 
 
 In the meantime he had begun the study of law, 
 had mastered surveying, and had been appointed 
 village postmaster. 
 
 When he began to practise law, all who knew 
 him and really wanted justice were glad to employ 
 him, because they were sure that he was honest. 
 He never would say anything that he did not believe, 
 and if he was satisfied that a law case was unjust, 
 he would not defend it. 
 
 Once he was called upon to defend a youitg man 
 who was charged with committing murder. A wit- 
 ness, who was an enemy of the prisoner, declared 
 upon oath that he saw the murder committed on a 
 certain night by the light of the moon. Lincoln 
 
Abraham Lincoln. 315 
 
 asked him to repeat his statement, and after this 
 was done he pulled an almanac out of his pocket, 
 and showed that there was no moon visible on that 
 night. The accused was at once acquitted. Lin- 
 coln refused to take any fee in the case, because, 
 years before, he had been treated with great kind- 
 ness by the young man's mother. 
 
 In 1834, Lincoln was elected a member of the 
 state legislature. In order to take his seat, he 
 walked the entire distance to Vandalia, then the 
 state capital, about a hundred miles. In 1846, he 
 was elected a member of the United States Con- 
 gress ; in this position he distinguished himself by 
 opposing the Mexican War. A few years later 
 (1850) there w^ere great debates in Congress, and 
 discussions over the whole country as to whether 
 slavery should be allowed in the territories. Lincoln 
 spoke boldly against any increase of slave territory. 
 
 In 1858, he was a candidate for the position of 
 United States Senator, and sustained himself in 
 many debates in the state of Illinois with his oppo- 
 nent, Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln was not chosen, 
 but he gained for himself a wide reputation for abil- 
 ity, sound sense, and honesty of purpose. 
 
 In i860, Lincoln was invited to deliver a speech 
 in the largest hall in the city of New York. The 
 subject was, " Slavery in the United States." Few 
 political addresses have had such an effect, so clear, 
 so forcible, so convincing were his words. 
 
3i6 History of the United States. 
 
 It is not strange that when the convention of the 
 RepubHcan party met, soon after, to choose a can- 
 didate for President, Abraham Lincoln was nomi- 
 nated. He was elected; and the former backwoods 
 boy, rail-splitter, country storekeeper, surveyor, law- 
 yer, became President of the United States. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 The Lincoln family originally came from near Plymouth, 
 Massachusetts. They moved first to New Jersey, then 
 to Virginia, then to Pennsylvania, and then to Kentucky. 
 Thomas Lincoln lived in Hardin County, Kentucky. Here 
 Abraham Lincoln, his son, was born, February 12, 1809. 
 When he was seven years old his family moved to Indiana 
 and later to Illinois. They lived in a rude cabin like other 
 frontier families. Abraham Lincoln learned to cut down 
 trees, split rails, and to do all kinds of farm work. He 
 went to New Orleans on a flat-boat. He was a store- 
 keeper, postmaster, surveyor, and lawyer. He was called 
 " Honest Abe." He was chosen a member of the state 
 legislature, and of Congress. He was elected President 
 of the United States in i860. 
 
 Where did the Lincoln family originally come from ? 
 
 Describe the cabin of Thomas Lincoln. 
 
 Where was Abraham Lincoln born? 
 
 To what state did the family move when he was a little boy ? 
 
 In what sort of a hut did they live ? 
 
 How long did he attend school? 
 
 Tell how he taught himself. 
 
Abraham Lincoln. 317 
 
 Name some of the books he read. 
 
 Tell what his stepmother thought of him. 
 
 Tell how he was dressed ; what he learned to do ; how he went 
 to New Orleans. 
 
 What did he do when the family moved to Illinois? 
 
 Tell stories to show his honesty. 
 
 What was he called ? 
 
 Give an account of him as a storekeeper; as a lawyer. 
 
 To what positions did his fellow-citizens elect him ? 
 
 To what high position was he chosen by the people of the 
 United States? 
 
THE CIVIL WAR. 
 
 The great Civil War between the North and the 
 South began in 1861, soon after Abraham Lincoln 
 became President. There had been for a long time 
 much misunderstanding between the people of the 
 North and the people of the South ; this was partly 
 because they had been brought up very differently, 
 and partly because they knew but little of each 
 other. This want of knowledge on the part of 
 each was due to several causes, the most important 
 of which were the following : first, the main lines of 
 travel in the United States have always been east 
 and west ; men have gone in those directions rather 
 than north and south ; secondly, there were few rail- 
 roads in the South ; thirdly, the warm climate of the 
 South was not attractive to the men of the Middle 
 and Northern states ; lastly, the Southern system of 
 slavery was disliked by nearly all persons in the 
 free states, and many thought it sinful. 
 
 There were doubtless other reasons for this mis- 
 understanding, but these are the easiest to be seen. 
 
 The Southern people generally believed that slav- 
 ery was right; very many of the Northern people, 
 on the contrary, thought that it was wrong. The 
 Southern people also believed that negro slaves 
 
 318 
 
The Civil War. 319 
 
 were necessary for raising cotton and other crops; 
 they wished to take their slaves into the territories, 
 and to increase the number of states in which slav- 
 ery was permitted. The free states had become 
 the most populous and numerous ; this made the 
 slaveholders feel that it would not be long before 
 the Northern states would take some steps to re- 
 strict, perhaps even to abolish, slavery. 
 
 In the North, there was a political party the mem- 
 bers of which were called Abolitionists; they believed 
 that slavery should be abolished. As this party had 
 supported Abraham Lincoln, many prominent men 
 in the Southern states feared that Lincoln would 
 interfere with slavery. When Lincoln was elected, 
 they thought that the time had come for the slave 
 states to leave the Union, or to secede as it was 
 called. Before he was inaugurated, in 1861, seven 
 states had thus seceded and claimed to be out of 
 the Union.^ 
 
 These states formed themselves into a new gov- 
 ernment called " The Confederate States of Amet 
 ica." Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was chosen 
 President, and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia^ 
 Vice-President, of this confederation. 
 
 The great majority of the people of the Northern 
 states were of the opinion that no state had the 
 ri^ht to withdraw from the Union; they did not 
 
 1 These were South Carolina. Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Geor- 
 gia, Louisiana, and Texas. 
 
320 History of the United States! 
 
 believe that the Southern people meant what they 
 said, or that they would actually fight against the 
 Constitution and the flag under which they had 
 lived so long. 
 
 President Lincoln was very much misrepresented 
 in the South. He was careful to say that he did 
 
 The Capitol at Richmond. 
 
 not think that the Constitution allowed him to 
 interfere with slavery where it was legal, but he 
 was careful also to say that he did not believe that 
 a state could secede from the Union. He would 
 not recognize the Confederate states as a govern- 
 ment. 
 
The Civil War. 
 
 321 
 
 Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South 
 CaroHna, was one of the United States forts; it was 
 short of supplies, and the Southern authorities 
 refused to allow any supplies to reach it. In April, 
 1 86 1, the Confederates demanded the surrender of 
 Sumter ; the commander of the fort, Major Robert 
 
 Fort Sumter before the Bombardment. 
 
 Anderson, refused to yield. On the morning of 
 April 12th, the Confederate batteries began to fire 
 on the fort; the bombardment lasted thirty-two 
 hours, and ended with the surrender of the fort. 
 The garrison, about a hundred men all told, was 
 allowed to march out with all the honors of war. 
 Only one man had been killed, and he by accident. 
 This attack began the Civil War. 
 
 At once there was great excitement. North and 
 South. Troops were enlisted on each side, and 
 
322 History of the United States. 
 
 large armies were gathered. The Confederate gov- 
 ernment expected that all the Southern states 
 would join the new Confederacy, but only four 
 more did so, making eleven in all/ 
 
 The terrible conflict thus begun lasted four 
 years. The armies on each side fought bravely. 
 The people, both North and South, taxed them- 
 
 MONITOR AND MERRIMAC. 
 An incident of the Civil War. 
 
 selves heavily to carry on the war, and bore the 
 burden ungrudgingly. 
 
 There was great suffering on the battle-fields, in 
 the hospitals, and, saddest of all, in the military 
 prisons. Great battles were fought, and there were 
 many notable exploits on sea and land. There 
 were able generals in the Union army, such as 
 
 ^ These were Arkansas, North Carohna, Virginia, and Tennessee. 
 
The Civil War. 
 
 323 
 
 Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, Philip H. 
 Sheridan, and George H. Thomas. In the navy 
 such men as David G. Farragut, Andrew H. Foote, 
 and others, more than sustained the reputation of 
 the American naval officer. In the Confederate 
 army there were able generals as well : Robert E. 
 Lee, Joseph E.Johns- 
 ton, Thomas J. Jack- 
 son, commonly known 
 as "Stonewall" Jack- 
 son, and J. E. B. 
 Stuart. 
 
 The war was prin- 
 cipally carried on in 
 the Southern states. 
 The navy of the 
 Union blockaded^ the 
 ports of the Confed- 
 eracy, so that very 
 few ships could bring 
 in supplies or carry 
 out cotton to pay 
 for the goods which 
 were needed. 
 
 The armies of the 
 Union shut in the South on the land side so com- 
 pletely that the Southern people could get very few 
 supplies by land. Being shut in by land and sea, 
 * A port is blpckaded when no vessel is allowed to go in or come out. 
 
 Farragut in the Main Rigging. 
 
 An incident of the Civil War. After the picture by 
 William Page. 
 
324 History of the United States. 
 
 and having very few manufactories of any kind, the 
 people suffered greatly for many articles. Woollen 
 cloth, shoes, pins, needles, medicines, tea, coffee, 
 sugar, salt, and many other things were almost un- 
 obtainable. 
 
 Ulysses S. Grant. 
 
 From a photograph. 
 
 Dried herbs or leaves of various shrubs were 
 used instead of tea, roasted rye or wheat instead of 
 coffee. Men and women wore homespun gar- 
 ments, thorns served as pins, wall-paper, and indeed 
 every kind of paper which was blank on one side, 
 
The Civil War. 
 
 325 
 
 was made use of for writing and printing, and 
 many other ingenious devices took the place of 
 what had been considered necessary. The South- 
 ern people bore their privations courageously, 
 because they beHeved that they were right and 
 were fighting in defence of their homes. 
 
 McLean's House, Appomattox Courthouse. 
 
 In which General Lee surrendered to General Grant, 9th April, 1865. From a photograph. 
 
 This system of blockade and of cutting off sup- 
 plies was part of the plan of the Union government 
 to bring the South to terms. Without such meas- 
 ures the Union forces could hardly have succeeded. 
 
 Thousfh the Northern and Western states were 
 almost wholly free from the presence of contending 
 armies and the ravages of war, thousands of homes 
 were made desolate by the loss of husbands, sons, 
 
326 History of the United States. 
 
 and brothers, who had patriotically left all to save 
 the Union. 
 
 Many terrible battles were fought with an appall- 
 ing loss of life. At last the South became exhausted. 
 The armies of the Union advanced steadily until at 
 length Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, 
 
 The Grant Monument, New York. 
 
 From a photograph. 
 
 was occupied by Union troops. A few days later, 
 General Lee surrendered his army to General Grant 
 at Appomattox, Virginia. The war was over. 
 
 This war put an end to slavery in the United 
 States, and now there is probably no one who would 
 really wish it back. The war made the people of 
 
The Civil War. 
 
 327 
 
 the North and South respect each other. It showed 
 that the American people are just as brave, just as 
 patriotic, just as self-sacrificing, as they ever were. 
 The union of the states was preserved, and it was 
 shown that no state could withdraw from the Union. 
 
 On April 14, 1865, 
 only four days after 
 Lee's surrender. Pres- 
 ident Lincoln was 
 shot by an assassin, 
 and the rejoicing over 
 the coming of peace 
 was changed to the 
 deepest mourning. 
 The whole coun- 
 try had come to re- 
 gard Abraham Lin- 
 coln as worthy of the 
 highest confidence ; 
 he had inspired such 
 admiration and affec- 
 tion as had been given to no one except Washing- 
 ton. His loss was mourned over the whole world as 
 that of a devoted patriot, and a good and great man. 
 
 Robert E. Lee. 
 
 From a photograph in 1862. 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 The great Civil War began in 1861. The people of 
 the North and the people of the South did not understand 
 each other. The Southern people thought slavery was 
 
328 History of the United States. 
 
 right; the Northern people, that it was wrong. The 
 Southern people thought that a state could leave the 
 Union if it wished ; the Northern people did not believe 
 in secession, as it was called. Seven Southern states 
 seceded and formed The Confederate States of America; 
 four other states joined them later. Fort Sumter, in 
 Charleston Harbor, was bombarded. This began the con- 
 flict. The war lasted four years. It was carried on chiefly 
 in the South. The people of the South suffered much 
 from the blockade of their ports which cut off all supplies. 
 There were many terrible battles and great loss of life 
 on each side. The South was compelled to give up the 
 struggle. The war put an end to slavery, and showed 
 that no state could leave the Union. On April 14, 1865, 
 President Lincoln was shot by an assassin. His loss was 
 mourned over the whole world. 
 
 Tell why the people of the North and the people of the South 
 did not understand each other better. 
 
 How did the people of the South look upon slavery? 
 
 How did the people of the North look upon it ? 
 
 Why did the people of the South wish to leave the Union ? 
 
 How many states seceded ? 
 
 What name did the seceding states take? 
 
 How did the people of the North look upon secession? 
 
 What did President Lincoln say ? 
 
 Tell about the bombardment of Fort Sumter. 
 
 How long did the war last? 
 
 Name some of the generals and naval officers. 
 
 Tell what effect the blockade had on the people of the South. 
 
 What questions did the war settle ? 
 
 What sad event took place at the close of the war? 
 
 How was President Lincoln regarded by all men? 
 
THE UNITED STATES IN RECENT YEARS. 
 
 The country soon after the Civil War settled 
 back into peaceful life. In the South the people 
 had lost nearly everything, and many of them had 
 to make a fresh start in life. The state and local 
 governments had to be reorganized and many diffi- 
 cult questions settled. But, as the years went on, 
 the South prospered greatly. She has grown larger 
 crops of cotton than ever before ; railroads have 
 been constructed, mines have been opened, and new 
 maaufactories have been established. 
 
 In Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida 
 great quantities of fruits and early vegetables are 
 raised, which find a ready market in the cities of 
 the North and West. 
 
 The whole country has steadily increased in popu- 
 lation, wealth, and prosperity, notwithstanding times 
 of depression in business. 
 
 The United States bought the great Louisiana 
 territory in 1803; later, in 1S19, she bought Florida; 
 later still Texas was annexed, the Mexican Cession 
 gained, and Oregon secured. Another large addi- 
 tion of territory was made in 1867, when Alaska 
 was purchased from Russia. This great territory 
 does not touch the resjt of the United States at any 
 
 329 
 
3^ 
 
The United States in Recent Years. 331 
 
 point. Except along the coast the winters are very 
 cold, and there is much ice and snow. There are 
 high mountains, and large glaciers, some of which 
 reach to the sea; from these, huge pieces of ice 
 break off and fall into the sea, forming icebergs. 
 Many fur-bearing animals are still to be found in 
 Alaska, and the islands in Bering Sea have been 
 the resort of thousands of seals, but the rapacity of 
 the seal hunters has nearly destroyed the herds. 
 Alaska is rich in mineral wealth. Gold was dis- 
 covered in the Klondike region in 1898. Alaska 
 is of very much greater value than any one thought 
 possible when it was bought. 
 
 The building of railroads has been one of the 
 most striking features of the development of the 
 United States. 
 
 Men felt that unless there was some quick and 
 easy way to get from the extreme East to the ex- 
 treme West there would be little to bind the people 
 of the East and the West together. This feeling 
 helped to bring about the construction of the Pacific 
 Railroads. Congress made liberal grants of land and 
 money, and the work of building the Pacific Rail- 
 way was begun during the Civil War. The road 
 was started from both the east and the west. On 
 the loth of May, 1869, the two construction parties 
 met at Promontory Point, Utah. The last rail was 
 fastened with a gold spike from California, a silver 
 one from Nevada, and an iron one from Arizona. 
 
332 History of the United States. 
 
 Two engines, one from the east and one from the 
 west, blew their whistles loud and long, and touched 
 each other to show that the great roadway from the 
 Atlantic to the Pacific was completed. Other 
 Pacific railroads have been constructed since, and 
 crossing the continent has become a simple and 
 easy matter. 
 
 View on the Union Pacific Railroad, Colorado. 
 
 From, a photograph. 
 
 The wonderful prosperity and development of the 
 great American republic have been due in part to 
 great natural advantages, but these alone would not 
 have brought success, had there not been on the 
 part of the people earnestness, frugality, an indepen- 
 dent, self-reliant spirit, and a sturdy love of conquer- 
 ing difficulties. 
 
 After more than thirty years of peace the United 
 States became involved in a war with Spain in 1898. 
 
The United States in Recent Years, 
 
 333 
 
 It was the first conflict with a European power since 
 1815. For years Spain had misgoverned Cuba. 
 From time to time 
 the Cubans re- 
 belled, but were 
 either put down 
 or were quieted 
 with promises of 
 better treatment. 
 Stories of Spanish 
 cruelties, and con- 
 stant injury to the 
 valuable trade of 
 the United States 
 with Cuba, made 
 the Americans 
 sympathize warm- 
 ly with the Cubans. 
 
 In the winter of 
 1898 the United 
 States government sent the battleship Maine to 
 Havana to protect American interests. On February 
 15 she was blown up and sunk with more than two 
 hundred and fifty of her crew. This occurrence 
 hastened the declaration of war, the purpose of which 
 was to free the Cubans from the rule of Spain. 
 
 The first blow of the war was dealt in the Far 
 East, where Spain held the Philippine Islands. Com- 
 modore George Dewey, with a fleet, entered the 
 
 William McKinley. 
 
 Elected President in 1896 and 1900. 
 Photographed by Rockwood. 
 
334 History of the Ignited States. 
 
 harbor of Manila, May i, 1898, and destroyed the 
 Spanish fleet without the loss of a single one of 
 his own men. 
 
 Meanwhile, Cuba was blockaded by American 
 vessels, and when the Spanish fleet which had come 
 to defend Cuba ventured .out of the harbor of 
 
 Santiago, it, too, was de- 
 stroyed. American forces 
 had been landed in Cuba, 
 battles had been fought, and 
 the city of Santiago given 
 up by the Spaniards. An 
 army had also been sent to 
 Porto Rico, another West 
 Indian island governed by 
 Spain. Spain now felt that 
 it was useless to prolong 
 the struggle ; fighting was 
 stopped, and later, terms of 
 peace were agreed upon. Spain gave up all claim 
 to Cuba, and ceded Porto Rico and Guam, a small 
 island in the Pacific, to the United States ; she also 
 surrendered the Philippine Islands, for which the 
 United States agreed to pay $20,000,000. The 
 war lasted one hundred and fourteen days. 
 
 Meanwhile, in July, 1898, the Hawaiian Islands 
 had been annexed to the United States, and, in 
 December, 1899, by agreement with Great Britain 
 and Germany, the American government gained 
 
 George Dewey. 
 
 From a photograph taken in 1899, 
 
The United States in Recent Years. 335 
 
 Tutuila and some near-by islands of the Samoan 
 group in the South Pacific. 
 
 President McKinley had been re-elected President 
 in 1900, and Theodore Roosevelt had been chosen 
 Vice-President. In the spring and summer of 1901 
 a notable exposition was held at Buffalo, New York. 
 The most remarkable display was that of the many 
 applications of electricity to the useful arts. Presi- 
 dent McKinley visited the exposition in September, 
 and, while there, was shot by an assassin. One 
 week later the President died, September 14, 1901. 
 
 President McKinley was greatly beloved, and he 
 was mourned by thousands. The Vice-President, 
 Theodore Roosevelt, now 
 became President. 
 
 The United States 
 governed Cuba from the 
 close of the Spanish War 
 to May, 1902, when the 
 new Republic of Cuba 
 was set up, and the 
 United States left Cuba 
 to be ruled by her own 
 people. 
 
 In the autumn of 1902 
 occurred one of the 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt. 
 
 greatest labor strikes m 
 
 the history of America. The miners of anthracite, 
 
 or hard coal, in Pennsylvania stopped work or 
 
336 History of the United States. 
 
 " struck," as people commonly say, asking for higher 
 wages and greater privileges. For a time it seemed 
 as if it would not be possible to get hard coal at any 
 price, and there was a prospect of great hardship 
 during the approaching winter. In October Presi- 
 dent Roosevelt appealed to the miners and mine 
 owners to submit their differences to the judgment 
 of a few fair-minded men. This was' agreed to, work 
 was resumed, and in the spring the commission, as 
 it was called, gave its decision. It granted some of 
 the demands of each party. 
 
 The United States having possession of the 
 Hawaiian Islands and the Philippines, it was im- 
 portant to be able to communicate directly with 
 these islands by telegraph. A cable was, therefore, 
 laid under the Pacific Ocean, and on July 4, 1903, 
 the line was ready for use. This is one of the long- 
 est single lines of cable in the world. 
 
 If a ship was to go all the way by sea from the 
 Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast of the United 
 States, it must sail southward along the east coast 
 of South America, go through the Straits of Magel- 
 lan or round Cape Horn, — both very dangerous 
 passages, — and then sail northward along the west 
 coast of South America; altogether a voyage of 
 many thousand miles. A canal large enough for 
 ships, cut through the Isthmus of Panama, which 
 joins North and South America, would make this 
 long and' perilous voyage unnecessary. Though 
 
The United States in Recent Years. 337 
 
 the isthmus is in reality only about thirty miles 
 across at the narrowest point, the hot climate, the 
 high mountains, the rivers, and the rough country 
 make the construction of such a canal very difficult. 
 The French, in 1879, began to dig a canal through 
 the isthmus. After spending millions of dollars, 
 the company failed, and the work was stopped. The 
 French company agreed to sell all its property and 
 
 Map of the Route of the Panama Canal. 
 
 rights in the canal to the United States, and Con- 
 gress authorized the President to pay $ 40,000,000 
 for the property. In 1903 a treaty was made with 
 the little Republic of Panama, by which the United 
 States was given control of a strip of land, about 
 ten miles wide, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in 
 which the canal was to be built. This strip is 
 called the Canal Zone. 
 
 The United States soon began the work, which 
 had gone far enough by August, 1914, to allow ves- 
 sels to pass from one ocean to the other. During 
 
338 History of the United States. 
 
 
 the first eleven months eleven hundred vessels had 
 passed through the canal. In the autumn of 191 5 
 heavy slides of earth into the canal took place, which 
 obstructed navigation for several months. 
 
 One of the most wonderful inventions of late 
 years is that of wireless telegraphy, which has proved 
 to be especially useful for conveying messages on 
 the sea. By its means vessels in distress have been 
 able to call for help from other vessels or from the 
 land, and lives and ships have been saved which 
 otherwise would most likely have been lost. Other 
 
 inventions which have been 
 brought to a high degree 
 of* efficiency are the aero- 
 planes, or flying machines, 
 and the zeppelins. The 
 flying machines were first 
 made practical by the broth- 
 ers Orville and Wilbur 
 Wrio-ht of Ohio. The first 
 really successful flight was 
 made by them in 1903. 
 The zeppelin is an inven- 
 tion of a German, Count 
 Zeppelin. It is a car sup- 
 ported by large balloons. Both these machines have 
 been extensively used in the great European War 
 beginning in 1914. 
 
 In 1904 a grand exposition was held at St. Louis, 
 
 An Aeroplane. 
 
The United States in Recent Years. 
 
 339 
 
 Missouri, in commemoration of the Louisiana Pur- 
 chase, 1803. In extent, in the beauty of the build- 
 ings, and in the variety of exhibits, it was one of the 
 most remarkable of all the expositions. In 1904, 
 also, an election for President took place, and Theo- 
 dore Roosevelt was chosen by the largest majority 
 of the popular vote that any President has received. 
 
 On April 18, 19, 1906, there was a great earth- 
 quake in California which laid a large part of San 
 Francisco in ruins, causing great loss of property. 
 
 December 16, 1907, a fleet of sixteen United 
 States battleships left 
 Hampton Roads, Vir- 
 ginia, for a tour around 
 the world by way of 
 South America, Straits 
 of Magellan, California, 
 Hawaii, New Zealand, 
 Australia, Japan, Phil- 
 ippine Islands, India, 
 Suez Canal, and Gibral- 
 tar. The fleet excited 
 much interest, and was 
 everywhere received 
 with great cordiality. 
 The long voyage was 
 
 safely ended at Hampton Roads, February 21, 1909, 
 and the next day the fleet was reviewed with great 
 ceremony by President Roosevelt. 
 
 William H. Taft. 
 
340 History of the United States. 
 
 William H. Taft, who had been judge of a United 
 States Court, governor of the Philippines, Secretary 
 of War, and had been entrusted with several impor- 
 tant missions, was elected President by a large 
 majority in 1908 to succeed Theodore Roosevelt. 
 
 Next to the discovery of a northwest passage to 
 India, which Hudson (see page 65) and many others 
 had long sought for, the great desire of northern 
 explorers "was to reach the North Pole. Explorer 
 after explorer from America, England, Sweden, Italy, 
 and other countries had made the attempt, but failed. 
 The accounts of the various efforts are full of stories 
 of perils from ice floes, cold, hunger, and disease. 
 In no field of exploration have greater energy, per- 
 severance, courage, and endurance been shown. 
 
 Commander Robert E. Peary, of the United 
 States Navy, after several failures, finally, on April 
 6, 1909, reached the North Pole, thus securing for 
 America this long-coveted honor. The last four 
 hundred and seventy-five miles of his journey were 
 over sea ice, and it was made in sledges drawn by 
 dogs. The party at the last consisted of Peary, four 
 men, forty dogs, and five sledges. He found no 
 animal or other kind of life. Nothing was seen but 
 a waste of ice. 
 
 The three hundredth anniversary of the discovery 
 of the Hudson River by Henry Hudson (see page 
 63) was celebrated late in September, 1909. At 
 the same time was celebrated the one hundredth 
 
The United States in Recent Years. 341 
 
 anniversary (though 1907 was the exact year) of the 
 beginning of steam navigation by Robert Fulton 
 (see page 257). The Dutch nation presented a 
 repHca of the Half Moon, and manned it with 
 Dutch officers and crew. A repHca of the Cler- 
 fnont was prepared, and these two tiny vessels were 
 the chief objects of attention in the great procession 
 — nearly forty miles long — of all sorts of vessels. 
 The celebration, consisting also of military parades, 
 historical pageants, and other sights, lasted for sev- 
 eral days. On the evening of the last day beacon 
 lights were burned along 
 the Hudson River from 
 New York to Albany, a dis- 
 tance of one hundred and 
 forty miles. 
 
 In 191 2 an election of a 
 President was held. Wood- 
 row Wilson of New Jersey, 
 a Democrat, was chosen. 
 He had been president of 
 Princeton University and 
 governor of New Jersey. 
 He entered upon his term 
 of ofHce March 4, 191 3. 
 For the first time in many 
 
 years the President and both Houses of Congress 
 were Democratic. 
 
 In 191 5 the Panama-Pacific exhibition to cele- 
 
 WooDROW Wilson. 
 
342 History of the United States. 
 
 brate the opening of the Panama Canal was held at 
 San Francisco. Though it was not so much an 
 international affair as was hoped, it was a great suc- 
 cess and was distinguished for the beauty of its 
 buildings and grounds. Another fine exhibition — 
 the Panama-California — was held at San Diego, 
 California, in 191 5-1 916, to show the resources and 
 opportunities of the far Western States. 
 
 Before President Wilson entered upon office, af- 
 fairs in Mexico were greatly disturbed, and in 19 14 
 it was thought advisable to send a naval expedition 
 to protect American citizens and property. The 
 American forces took the Mexican seaport of Vera 
 Cruz, held it for several months, and then withdrew 
 from Mexico. Mexican affairs continued to be in 
 confusion. In 191 5, Carranza, one of the Mexican 
 leaders, having had more success than others, was 
 recognized by the United States as President de 
 facto} A civil war broke out between Carranza 
 and his supporters and General Villa, a claimant for 
 the Mexican presidency. Owing to the treatment 
 of American citizens in Mexico, some of whom were 
 killed, and on account of raids into American terri- 
 tory, the American Government sent, in May, 19 16, 
 troops to protect the border, and also a small army 
 into Mexico itself Early in 191 7, as the Carranza 
 Government seemed to be maintaining its authority, 
 the United States troops were withdrawn from 
 
 1 De facto, that is, holding an office in fact, though it may not be 
 legally. 
 
The United States in Recent Years. 343 
 
 Mexico, and also most of the troops from along the 
 border. At an election in March, 191 7, Carranza 
 was chosen President of Mexico. 
 
 In the presidential election of 1916 Wilson and 
 Marshall were 'again the candidates of the Demo- 
 cratic party, while Charles E. Hughes and Charles 
 W. Fairbanks were the candidates of the Republi- 
 can party. Wilson and Marshall were reelected, 
 and President Wilson began his second term 
 March 4, 191 7. 
 
 In February, 191 7, a bill was passed by Congress 
 giving full citizenship to the inhabitants of Porto 
 Rico. This was an act of tardy justice. The in- 
 crease in material prosperity, the advancement in 
 education and other matters in Porto Rico since its 
 acquisition by the United States has been great. 
 
 In August, 1 9 14, a great European war broke 
 out between Germany and Austria on the one hand, 
 and Servia, France, Russia, Belgium, and Great 
 Britain on the other. To these, before long, were 
 added Turkey and Bulgaria on the side of Germany 
 and Austria, and Japan and Italy on the side of the 
 others. Still later, Rumania and Portugal joined 
 those fighting against Germany and her allies. 
 Thus all the great nations of Europe were at war 
 as well as some nations in the East. 
 
 The desire of the United States to remain neutral 
 was earnest, but she had a hard part to play owing 
 chiefly to the refusal of the warring nations, called 
 
344 History of the United States. 
 
 " belligerents," to observe what had hitherto been 
 considered the rules of international law. 
 
 The decision to remain neutral was rudely shaken 
 when a German submarine/ or " U-boat," as they are 
 often called, without notice torpedoed the great 
 Atlantic steamer, Lusitania, sinking the vessel with 
 a loss of nearly twelve hundred lives, including many 
 women and children. Notwithstanding the remon- 
 strances of the United States from time to time, 
 Germany persisted in her course of unrestricted 
 submarine warfare, and in addition claimed to have 
 the right to exclude all vessels of every nation and 
 kind from certain portions of the open seas. 
 
 At last, on April 6, 191 7, the United States Con- 
 gress passed a resolution declaring " that the state 
 of war between the United States and the Imperial 
 German Government, which has thus been thrust 
 upon the United States is hereby formally declared." 
 This action placed the United States alongside of 
 the nations fighting against Germany and her allies. 
 In thus declaring war. President Wilson said, " Our 
 object now ... is to vindicate the principles of 
 peace and justice in the life of the world against 
 selfish and autocratic power and to set up among 
 the really free and self-governed peoples of the world 
 such a concert of purpose and action as will hence- 
 
 ^ " Submarine," a vessel which can be propelled under water. One 
 of the earliest constructed was that by Robert Fulton (see page 256). 
 " U-boat," so called from its class in the official lists of the German navy. 
 
The United States in Recent Years. 345 
 
 forth insure the observance of those principles." 
 Never before in the history of the world has there 
 been such a conflict, for practically the whole civil- 
 ized world, with the exception of a few of the smaller 
 nations, is involved. Congress immediately set 
 about taking measures to enlist the men and to pro- 
 vide the enormous funds needed to meet the cost of 
 America's share in the conflict. 
 
 There had been several efforts made to secure for 
 the United States the islands known as the Danish 
 West Indies, but these efforts had failed owing to 
 objections sometimes on the part of Denmark, some- 
 times on the part of the United States Senate. 
 Owing to the opening of the Panama Canal, and to 
 the Great War, the value of these islands as a base 
 for naval operations became greatly increased. 
 Recognizing how serious a menace to the canal 
 their possession by an enemy might be, a treaty for 
 their sale to the United States was, in 19 16, finally 
 ratified by the United States Senate, confirmed by 
 Denmark, and approved by the inhabitants of the 
 islands. The large sum of $25,000,000 was paid to 
 Denmark, and the United States took formal pos- 
 session, March 31, 191 7. In accordance with the 
 wish of the inhabitants, the official name will be the 
 
 Virgin Islands." ^ 
 
 1 The islands were discovered by Columbus in 1493. The group 
 numbers about fifty, but only St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas are 
 of any importance. Their area is about one hundred and thirty-eight 
 
346 History of the United States. 
 
 The thirteenth census of the United States was 
 taken in 1910, and the population was found to 
 be nearly 92,000,000 exclusive of Alaska and the 
 other possessions of the nation. If all the posses- 
 sions of the United States be included, the total 
 population would be more than 101,000,000. This 
 makes the United States the fourth power in the 
 world ; China, the British Empire, and the Russian 
 Empire only surpassing her.^ 
 
 OUTLINE. 
 
 After the Civil War the country settled back into peace- 
 ful occupations. The South began a new career of pros- 
 perity. Alaska was bought in 1867. It is rich in mineral 
 wealth. The railroad has been of the greatest help in the 
 settlement of the whole country ; it has been a means of 
 uniting the East and West. Natural advantages joined 
 with the earnestness and self-reliant spirit of the Anglo- 
 Saxon race have been the means of developing this great 
 country. War with Spain broke out in 1898. Spain mis- 
 governed Cuba. The people of the United States sym- 
 pathized with the Cubans. The Maine was sent to Havana, 
 and was blown up. After a short war Spain sued for 
 peace. The United States acquired Porto Rico, the Phil- 
 ippines, Guam, and assumed temporary control of Cuba. 
 The United States in 1898 annexed the Hawaiian Islands 
 
 square miles and their population numbers about 33,000, mostly negroes 
 or persons of negro descent. English is the language chiefly spoken. 
 The harbor of St. Thomas is one of the finest in the West Indies. 
 ^ In 1917 the total population has been estimated at 113,000,000. 
 
The United States in Recent Years. 
 
 347 
 
 and in 1899 Tutuila. President McKinley was shot at the 
 Buffalo Exposition and died September 14, 1901. Theo- 
 dore Roosevelt, Vice-President, became President. Great 
 strike of the anthracite coal miners, 1902. Panama Canal 
 opened in August, 19 14. Wireless telegraphy. Flying 
 machines. St. Louis Exposition, 1904. Election of Presi- 
 dent Roosevelt. His inauguration, 1905. Earthquake in 
 CaUfornia, April, 1906. Trip of American battleships 
 around the world. William H. Taft elected President, 1908. 
 Commodore Robert E. Peary reaches the North Pole, 1909. 
 Hudson-Fulton celebration. New York, 1909. Election of 
 President Wilson, 1912. His inauguration, 1913. All 
 branches of the Government Democratic. Panama-Cali- 
 fornia and Panama-Pacific Exhibitions, 191 5, 1916. Disturb- 
 ances in Mexico. Carranza and Villa claim the presidency. 
 United States sends troops to Mexico. Troops withdrawn, 
 19 1 7. Carranza elected President of Mexico, 191 7. Wil- 
 son reelected, 1916. Porto Ricans given citizenship, 191 7. 
 Great European War begins, August, 1914. United States 
 as a neutral. Sinking of the Ltisitania. United States 
 enters the war April 6, 191 7. Purchase of the Danish 
 West Indies or Virgin Islands. Thirteenth Census, 1910. 
 
 Tell about the prosperity of the South after the Civil War. 
 
 Describe Alaska. 
 
 Tell about the Pacific railroads. 
 
 Tell how it is that the United States has been so prosperous. 
 
 Tell about the cause of the war with Spain. 
 
 What did the United States acquire as a result of the war ? 
 
 Tell about the death of President McKinley. 
 
 Who succeeded President McKinley ? 
 
 Tell about the Pacific Cable. 
 
 Tell about the coal miners' strike. 
 
 Tell about the Panama Canal. 
 
348 History of the United States. 
 
 What three remarkable inventions were made early in the 
 twentieth century ? 
 
 Describe the St. Louis Exposition. 
 
 What was remarkable about the election of President Roose- 
 velt? 
 
 Tell about the earthquake in California. 
 
 Describe the trip of the United States battleships. 
 
 Who was elected President after Theodore Roosevelt ? 
 
 Describe the Hudson-Fulton celebration. 
 
 Who first reached the North Pole ? 
 
 Who was elected President after Taft ? 
 
 Where, and in honor of what events, were two great exhibi- 
 tions held in 1915, 1916? 
 
 Why did the United States send a naval expedition to Mexico ? 
 
 Name some of the events happening during the Mexican 
 troubles. 
 
 Who was elected President of the United States in 1916 ? 
 
 Name the great nations involved in the Great European War. 
 
 What position did the United States try to keep ? 
 
 What event stirred the people of the United States ? 
 
 Why did the United States at last enter the war ? 
 
 To what people did the United States give citizenship ? 
 
 Describe the acquisition of the Virgin Islands. 
 
 What was the population of the United States and its posses- 
 sions in 19 10 ? At what was it estimated in 1917 ? 
 
Ind 
 
 ex, 
 
 Abolitionists, 319. 
 
 Alaska, 329. 
 
 America, discovered by Columbus, 18. 
 
 origin of name, 30. 
 Americus Vespucius. See Vespucci. 
 Andre, Major, 207. 
 Arnold, Benedict, treason of, 206. 
 Articles of Confederation, 211. 
 
 Bacon, Nathaniel, 118-121. 
 Baltimore, first Lord, in Newfound- 
 land, 92. 
 
 granted land on the Chesapeake, 92. 
 
 his powers, 93. 
 
 dies, 93. 
 Baltimore, second Lord, 93. 
 
 sends out colonists, 93. 
 
 makes liberal laws, 94. 
 Berkeley, Sir William, 117-121. 
 Boone, Daniel, 219-230. 
 
 his character, 220. 
 
 explores Kentucky, 221-225. 
 
 settles in Kentucky, 224. 
 
 adventures, 227-230. 
 
 dies, 230. 
 Boston, founded, 86. 
 
 evacuated by British, 198. 
 
 tea party, 190. 
 Braddock's defeat, 180-182. 
 Bunker Hill, battle of, 196. 
 
 Cables (ocean telegraphs), 286. 
 Cabot, John and Sebastian, 26-29. 
 discover the continent of North 
 America, 27. 
 California, 301-304. 
 Calvert, George and Cecilius. See 
 Baltimore, Lord. 
 
 Calvert, Leonard, 93. 
 Canals, 278. 
 Canonicus, 82. 
 
 Cipango, an old name for Japan, 2, 
 Civil War, 318-327. 
 Clark, William, 241. 
 Clinton, De Witt, 278. 
 Columbia River discovered by Gray, 
 242. 
 
 discovered by Lewis and Clark, 245, 
 Columbus, 7-25. 
 
 early life, 7. 
 
 plans for reaching India and Japan, 8. 
 
 in Portugal, 9. 
 
 in Spain, 10-15. 
 
 his voyage, 15-22. 
 
 discovers America, 18. 
 
 reception in Spain, 23. 
 
 his other voyages, 24. 
 
 as a ruler, 24. 
 
 put in chains, 24. 
 
 his death, 25. 
 Concord, battle of, 195. 
 Confederate states of America, 319, 
 
 322. 
 Congress. See Continental Congress. 
 Constitution framed, 214. 
 Continental Congress, the First, 193. 
 
 Second, 197. 
 
 appoints Washington Commander- 
 in-chief, 197. 
 
 declares independence, 198. 
 Cornwallis, Lord, in the Revolution 
 
 198, 201, 207, 208. 
 Cotton gin, 262. 
 Cuba, 334-336. 
 
 United States assumes control of, 
 
 349 
 
350 
 
 Index*. 
 
 Da Gama. See Gama. 
 
 Dare, Virginia, 47. 
 
 Davis, Jefferson, 319. 
 
 Declaration of Independence, 198, 
 
 199. 
 De Leon, Ponce, 32. 
 
 discovers Florida, 33. 
 De Soto, Hernando, 34-37. 
 
 goes to Florida, 34. 
 
 discovers the Mississippi, 36. 
 
 death, 37. 
 Devv^ey, George, 335. 
 Drake, Sir Francis, 40-43. 
 
 in the Pacific, 41-43. 
 
 sails round the vi^orld, 43. 
 Dutch, in New Netherland, 101-109. 
 
 influence in New York, 145. 
 
 Eliot, John, 99. 
 
 England, and the colonies, 187-194. 
 
 War of Revolution, 194-21 1. 
 
 War of 1812, 270-274. 
 English explorers, 40-61. 
 Ericsson, John, invents steam pro- 
 peller, 259. 
 Erie Canal, 278-280. 
 
 Field, Cyrus W., 286. 
 Fitch, John, 253-255. 
 
 early life, 253. 
 
 invents steamboat, 254. 
 Florida, discovered, ^^. 
 Franklin, Benjamin, 150-166. 
 
 early life, 150-154. 
 
 as a printer, 155-158. 
 
 marriage, 158. 
 
 "Poor Richard's Almanac," 159. 
 
 inventions and discoveries, 160- 
 162. 
 
 public life, 162-166. 
 
 death, 166. 
 French, the, aid America, 204. 
 
 at Yorktown, 208. 
 French and Indian War, 176-184. 
 French explorers, 111-115. 
 
 Frontier life, 225-227, 308-312. 
 Fulton, Robert, 255-259. 
 
 early life, 255. 
 
 invents steamboat, 256. 
 
 Gage, General, 192-196. 
 Gama, Vasco da, 31. 
 
 reaches India, 31. 
 Gates, General, at Saratoga, 203. 
 
 at Camden, 207. 
 Genoa, 4, 7. 
 Georgia, founded, 134. 
 
 origin of n.ime, 134. 
 
 becomes a royal colony, 137. 
 Germans in Pennsylvania, 147. 
 Gold in California, 302. 
 Gosnold, Bartholomew, 48. 
 Grant, Ulysses S., 323-326. 
 Greene, Nathanael, 208. 
 Guam, island of, ceded, 336. 
 
 Hadley, Indian attack upon, 96. 
 Harvard College founded, 142. 
 Hawaii annexed to United States, 
 
 336. 
 Henry, Prince of Portugal, 4. 
 Hessians, 200. 
 Hudson, Henry, 62-66. 
 
 employed by the Dutch, 62. 
 
 discovers Hudson River, 63-64. 
 
 discovers Hudson Bay, 65. 
 
 death, 66, 
 
 Impressment of sailors, 270. 
 India, new routes to, sought, 4. 
 
 See also Columbus, Cabots, Hudson, 
 Da Gama. 
 Indians : 
 
 methods of fighting, 96-98, 223. 
 
 King Philip's War, 95-99. 
 
 troubles with the Dutch, 104. 
 
 and William Penn, 128-130. 
 
 Tecumseh, 268. 
 Inventors, early, 253-264. 
 Isabella, Queen, 10, 12. 
 
Index. 
 
 351 
 
 Jackson, Andrew, 265-275. 
 
 early life, 265-267. 
 
 congressman and senator, 267. 
 
 at New Orleans, 273. 
 
 President, 275. 
 
 dies, 275. 
 Jamestown, Virginia, founded, 52. 
 
 attacked and destroyed, 119-121, 
 Jefferson, Thomas, 232-240. 
 
 early life, 232-235. 
 
 and the Declaration of Indepen- 
 dence, 235. 
 
 minister to France, 236. 
 
 Vice-President, 236. 
 
 President, 236-237. 
 
 dies, 239. 
 Joliet, 111-113. 
 Jones, John Paul, 204. 
 
 Kentucky, explored and settled, 221- 
 
 227. 
 Kiefc, William, 104. 
 King Philip. See Philip. 
 King Philip's War, 95-99. 
 
 La Salle, 11 3-1 15. 
 
 Lee, Robert E., 323, 326, 327. 
 
 Lewis and Clark explorations, 241- 
 
 246. 
 Lewis, Meriwether, 241. 
 Lexington, battle of, 195. 
 Lincoln, Abraham, 306-316, 
 
 early life, 306-314. 
 
 President, 316. 
 
 and slavery, 320. 
 
 and secession, 320. 
 
 assassinated, 327. 
 Louisiana, origin of name, 1 15. 
 
 bought from France, 238. 
 
 Maine blown up, 334. 
 Mandeville, Sir John, 2. 
 Manhattan Island, 102. 
 Manila, battle of, 335. 
 Marquette, Father, 111-113. 
 
 discovers the Mississippi, 113. 
 Maryland, founded, 92-94. 
 
 origin of name, 92. 
 Massachusetts, settlement of, 67-83, 
 85-91. 
 
 treatment of, by England, 191. 
 Massasoit, 79, 80, 89, 95. 
 Mayflower y the, 72. 
 Mayflower Compact, 74, 
 Mexican War, 301. 
 Minute-men, 194, 195. 
 Mississippi River, discovered by De 
 Soto, 36. 
 
 discovered by Marquette, 113. 
 
 explored by La Salle, 1 14. 
 Montcalm, the Marquis, 182, 183. 
 Morris, Robert, 206. 
 Morse, S. F. B., 283-285. 
 Mount Vernon, 173. 
 
 Napoleon, 270. 
 
 Navy in the Revolution, 204. 
 
 in War of 1812, 272. 
 New England, life in, 139-145. 
 "New England Primer," 142. 
 New Netherland, 102-109. 
 
 founded, 102. 
 
 seized by the English, 107. 
 New York. 
 
 See also New Netherland. 
 
 founded, 102, 103. 
 New Orleans, defended by Jackson, 
 274. 
 
 Ocean cables, 286. 
 
 Oglethorpe, General Jas. E., 133-137. 
 
 founds Georgia, 134. 
 Oregon, 290-297. 
 
 Pacific railroads, 33 1. 
 Patroons, 103, 145. 
 Penn, William, 123-131. 
 
 granted Pennsylvania, 125. 
 
 founds Philadelphia, 128. 
 
 treatment of the Indians, 128. 
 
352 
 
 Index. 
 
 treaty with Indians, 1 29. 
 
 his "holy experiment," 127. 
 Pennsylvania, origin of name, 127. 
 
 life in, 146. 
 Philadelphia, founded, 128. 
 
 taken by the British, 202. 
 
 British army at, 204. 
 Philip, son of Massasoit, 95-99. 
 
 leader in Indian war, 98. 
 Philippine Islands acquired, 336. 
 Pike, Zebulon, M., 248-252. 
 
 discovers Pike's Peak, 248. 
 Pilgrims, 67-83. 
 
 leave England, 68. 
 
 in Holland, 70-71. 
 
 sail for America, 72. 
 
 reach Cape Cod, 73. 
 
 land at Plymouth, 75. 
 
 life in New England, 76-83. 
 Pitt, Fort (Pittsburg), 184. 
 Pocahontas, 57, 58. 
 Polo, Marco, 2. 
 
 "Poor Richard's Almanac," 159. 
 Porto Rico ceded to United States, 
 
 Potato introduced by Raleigh, 49. 
 Powhatan, 57. 
 Providence founded, 89. 
 Puritans, 85-91. 
 
 meaning of the name, 67. 
 
 settle at Salem, 85. 
 
 their character, 86-88. 
 
 Quebec, taken by Wolfe, 182. 
 
 Railroads, 281. 
 
 first passengers, 281. 
 
 influence on the country, 281, 287, 
 
 Raleigh, Sir Walter, 43-49. 
 
 Sends out exploring expedition to 
 
 America, 44. 
 ill success with colonies, 45-48. 
 introduces the potato and tobacco, 
 
 49. 
 
 Revere, Paul, 194. 
 
 Revolution, the American, 1 87-21 1. 
 
 in New England, 192-198. 
 
 in Middle states, 198-202. 
 
 in the South, 207-211. 
 Rhode Island settled, 90. 
 Roanoke Island, 44. 
 
 colony on, 45-48. 
 Rumsey, James, his boat, 253. 
 
 Samoan Islands, ■^^'j. 
 Samoset, an Indian, 78. 
 Santiago, 335. 
 Saratoga, battle of, 203. 
 School, oldest in U. S., 103. 
 Schools in New England, 142. 
 Separatists, meaning of the name, 67. 
 Smith, Captain John, 52-59. 
 
 his adventures in Europe, 53. 
 
 goes to Virginia, 54. 
 
 his adventures in Virginia, 54-59. 
 South, the, in the Civil War, 323-327. 
 
 in recent years, 329. 
 Southern colonies, life in, 148, 169- 
 
 171. 
 Spain, war with, 334-336. 
 Spanish explorers, 31-38. 
 Squanto, an Indian, 78-80. 
 Stamp Act, 188. 
 Standish Myles, 77, 82, 83. 
 " Star-Spangled Banner " written, 272. 
 Steamboat, invention of, 253-259. 
 
 Rumsey's, 253. 
 
 Fitch's, 254. 
 
 Fulton's, 256-259. 
 
 first ocean, 259. 
 Stuyvesant, Peter, 105-109. 
 Sumter, Fort, 321. 
 Swedes in America, 106. 
 
 Taxation by England, 
 Tea tax, 189. 
 Tecumseh, 267-269. 
 Telegraphs, 283-288. 
 Morse's, 284. 
 
 187. 
 
Index, 
 
 353 
 
 Texas, 3CX), 301. 
 
 Thanksgiving Day, the first in America, 
 
 80. 
 Tippecanoe, battle of, 269. 
 Tobacco introduced by Raleigh, 49. 
 Trade routes to India, 2-4. 
 Travelling in colonial times, 147, 169. 
 Trenton, battle of, 200. 
 Tutuila acquired, 337. 
 
 United States, the union established, 
 200. 
 Articles of Confederation, 211. 
 Constitution adopted, 214. 
 constitutional government begun, 
 
 216. 
 in recent years, 329-337. 
 annexations, 329, 336. 
 University of Virginia founded, 239. 
 
 Valley Forge, American army at, 203. 
 Vespucci, Amerigo, 29, 
 Virginia, why so called, 45. 
 
 early settlement of, 50-61. 
 
 under Sir William Berkeley, 117- 
 121. 
 
 Bacon's rebellion, 118-121. 
 
 life in, 169-171. 
 
 Wamsutta, son of Massasoit, 95. 
 War between the states. See Civil War. 
 War of 181 2, 270-274. 
 
 Washington, George, 168-185. 
 
 early life, 168-173. 
 
 in the French war, 176-182. 
 
 Braddock's defeat, 180. 
 
 marries, 184. 
 
 personal characteristics, 185. 
 
 Commander-in-chief, 197. 
 
 crosses the Delaware, 201. 
 
 at Yorktown, 208-210. 
 
 resigns commission, 211. 
 
 President, 214-216. 
 
 dies, 216. 
 Washington City, becomes the capital, 
 236. 
 
 taken by the British, 272. 
 Whitman, Dr. Marcus, 290-297. 
 
 his ride, 291-295. 
 
 his death, 297. 
 Whitney, Eli, 260-264. 
 
 early life, 260. 
 
 invents cotton gin, 262. 
 William and Mary, College of, 1 71. 
 Williams, Roger, 88-91. 
 
 his opinions, 88. 
 
 settles Providence, 89. 
 
 grants perfect religious freedom, 89. 
 
 friend of the Indians, 90. 
 Winthrop, John, 87-88. 
 
 a typical Puritan, 87. 
 Wolfe, General James, 182. 
 
 Yale College founded, 142. 
 Yorktown surrender, 208-210. 
 
a as in fat, 
 
 a as in fate. 
 a as in far. 
 a as in ask. 
 
 Key to Pronunciation, 
 
 e as in met. 
 e as in meet. 
 ^ as in her. 
 i as in pin. 
 
 I as in pine. 
 as in not. 
 ^ as in note. 
 as in ?uove. 
 
 t as in nan. 
 u as in tub. 
 ii as in mute, 
 u as in pull. 
 
 The dot under any vowel, thus a, indicates its abbreviation and hghtening 
 without loss of its distinctive quality. The double dot under any vowel, thus 
 a, indicates that it takes the short u sound of but, pun. 
 
 th as in thin th as in then ' denotes the syllable accented. 
 
 354 
 
Pronouncing Vocabulary. 
 
 /feop, e'sop 
 Andre, an'dra or an'dri 
 Annapolis, a-nap'6-lis 
 Appomattox, ap-o-mat'oks 
 Arkansas, ar'kan-sa. 
 Armada, ar-ma'da 
 Azores, a-zora' 
 
 Bahamas, ba-ha'maz 
 
 Barbados, bar-ba'doz 
 
 Barcelona, bar-se-l6'na 
 
 Berkeley, Sir W., berk'li or bark'li 
 
 Bonhomme, Richard, bo-nom', re-shar' 
 
 Boonesborough, bons-bur'o 
 
 Brevoort, bre-viirt' 
 
 Bronzino, bron-ze'no 
 
 Burgoyne, ber-goin' 
 
 C*licut, kal'i-kut 
 Canonchet, ka-non'chat 
 Canonicus, ka-non'i-kus 
 Cape Breton, brit'on or bre-ton' 
 Caribbean, kar-i-be'an 
 Cathay, ka-tha' 
 Charlottesville, shar'lots-vil 
 Chesapeake, ches'a-pek 
 Chickahominy, chik-a-hom'i-ni 
 Cipango, si-pang'go 
 Conestoga, kon-es-to'ga 
 Cosmographiae Introductio, kos-mo- 
 
 graf e-i in-tro-diik'teo 
 Croatoan, kro-a-to'an 
 Curacao, ko-ra-sa'o 
 Custro, kos-tro' 
 
 Da Gama, Vasco, da-ga-ma', vas-c6' 
 De Bry, de-bre' 
 
 Delftshaven, delfts-ha'ven 
 
 De Soto, tlernando, da so'to 
 
 Diego, de-a'go 
 
 Dioscora Puebla, de-os'ko-ra pu-eb'16 
 
 Duplessis, du-ple-se' 
 
 Duquesne, dii-kan' 
 
 Ericsson, er'ik-son 
 
 Flamborough, flam'bur-6 
 
 Genoa, jen'9-a 
 Gibert, zhe-bare 
 Gist, jist 
 Goffe, gof 
 Guam, gwam 
 Guerriere, gar'ryar 
 
 Haiti, ha'ti 
 Hawaii, ha-wl'e 
 Holbein, hol'bin 
 
 Joliet, zho-lya' 
 
 Keimer, kim-er 
 Keith, Sir W., keth 
 Kieft, keft 
 
 Ladrones, la-dron'es 
 Lafayette, la-fa-yet' 
 La Rue, la ru 
 La Salle, la sal 
 Leyden, ll'den 
 Louisiana, 16-e-zi-an'a 
 
 Magellan, ma-jel'an 
 Mandeville, man'dg-vil 
 
 355 
 
356 
 
 Pronouncing Vocabulary, 
 
 Marlborough, marl'bur-o 
 Marquette, mar-ket' 
 Massasoit, mas'a-soit 
 Meriwether, mer-e-we'thet 
 Metacomet, met-a'ko-met 
 Minuit, Peter, min'u-it 
 Montcalm, mont-kam' 
 Monticello, mon-te-sel'lo 
 Moravians, mo-ra'vi-anz 
 
 Nantucket, nan-tuk'et 
 Narragansett, nar-a-gan'set 
 Naumkeag, nom'keg 
 Navarre, na-var' 
 Nina, nen'ya 
 Norumbega, no-rum-be 'g^ 
 
 Oceanica, o-se-an'i-ka 
 
 Oglethorpe, o'gl-thorp 
 Osage, 6's§j 
 
 Palos, pa-l6s' 
 
 Panama, pa-na-ma! 
 
 Pequod, pe-kwod 
 
 Peregrine, per'e-grin 
 
 Pinta, pan'ta 
 
 Platte, plat 
 
 Pocahontas, po-ka-hon'tas 
 
 Polo, Marco, po'lo, mar-c6' 
 
 Pomeiock, pom'e-ok 
 
 Ponce de Leon, pon'tha da-la-on' 
 
 Potomac, po-to'mak 
 
 Powhatan, pou-ha-tan' 
 
 Raleigh, Sir W., ra'li 
 Rappahannock, rap-a-han'ok 
 Roanoake, ro-a-nok' 
 Rodrigo de Triana, rod-re-go 
 tre-a'na 
 
 de 
 
 Samoan, sa-mo'an 
 San Salvador, san sal-va-dor* 
 Santa Fe, san'ta fa 
 Santa Maria, san'ta ma-re'a 
 Santiago, san-te-a'go 
 Saratoga, sar-a-to'ga 
 Savannah, sa-van'a 
 Schuylkill, skol'kil' 
 Sebastian, se-bas'tian 
 Seekonk, se'konk 
 Serapis, se ra'pis 
 Seville, sev'il 
 Shawmut, sha-miit' 
 Shenandoah, shen-an-do'^ 
 Squanto, skwan'to 
 Stadthuys, stat'hTs 
 Steuben, sti'ben 
 Stuyvesant, sti've-sant 
 
 Tecumseh, te-kum'se 
 Tippecanoe, tip'e-ka-no^ 
 Toscanelli, tos-ka-nel'le 
 Tutuila, tu-tii'i-la 
 
 Ulpius, ul'pi-us 
 
 Vaczlav, Brozik, vak'slav bro'sik 
 Valparaiso, val-pa-ri's6 
 Vespucci, Amerigo, ves-po'che a-me» 
 re 'go 
 
 Waldseemuller, valt'za-miil-ler 
 Wamsutta, wam-sut'ta 
 Williamsburg, wil'yamz-berg 
 
 Yadkin, yad'kin 
 
 Zebulon, zeb'u-lgn 
 
THE WALSH-SUZZALLO ARITHMETICS 
 
 By John H. Walsh 
 
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 Professor in Teachers College, Columbia University 
 
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