Glass „_tVA.^__ Book..^B_L3^ COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT ( li il. .it '> — SIGi: . DtNCt. THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE A BOOK FOR THE FAMILY CIRCLE NARRATING BY SUBJECTS THE Progress and Achievements of Our Country From the Landing of Columbus to the Present Time INCLUDING A HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN OUR NEW ISLAND POSSESSIONS EDITED By HAMILTON W. MABIE, LLB., LIT D. Editor of "The Outlook." New York, "The Makers of Americi" Series, Etc. ASSISTED BY THE FOLLOWING EMINENT WRITERS FRANCIS NEWTON THORPE, Ph D., Col. MARSHAL H. BRIGHT, HON J. K. UPTON, HON. HENRY L. DAWES, COL. A. K. McCLURE, Pres. WM. W. BIRDSALL ani Others Illustrated with 4 Beautiful Lithograph Plates AND OVER 290 HALF-TONE AND WOOD CUT ENGRAVINGS THF Library of r:ONGRE98. NOV. ■•:■ 1901? borv 8 Cop^•RICHT, 1S90, WM. !•:. SCL'LL All, KlOHl-S UKSl RVKD f \n'^ EVERY (.HAPIER IN THIS VOLUME BEING ORIGINAL MATTER PREPARED EXPKESSM Fl>P;TJIJS work; >lUrtaVARNED NOT TO INFRINGE UPON OUR WPVRIGHT B> usiliJi>"*fii/ftb»"iiW M.vrrER-ttR" fiiE pictures, wuhout express permission. '^f ?>A 1 n^W' ■■^ ^ HAMILTON \V. MAMIE. LL.H..T,IT D. i riiN.NbVLVAMA .lilML, LOOKING TOWARD lUL oAPITOL, \VA;in.\oru.\. INTRODUCTION. T is four hundred years since Columbus caught his first glimpse of the western world, but it is only two hundred and seventy- five years since the work of making this continent habitable began. From Jamestown and from Plymouth the streams of exploration and colonization flow steadily westward and southv/ard, eatherins volume and momentum until they unite the great oceans and cover the continent. The story of this vast unfolding of life under new conditions is told in this volume by different pens, but with one controlling idea — to show how and by what means a great nation grew out of the few and scattered seeds of a small emigration from beyond the sea. The great English statesman, Burke, has said somewhere that to be a statesman one must not only master the different conditions and occupations of a people, but must so realize them through his imagination that he sees in them one unbroken life. This volume has been prepared in the hope that it will present the life of the American people so clearly, vividly and comprehensively that the unity and magnitude of that life will be more evident than they have ever been before. A great people in a great country has so many occupations, so many kinds of wealth, such differences of condition, that it loses at times the consciousness of its family ties and affections. There are so many kinds of Americans, they are vi THE STORY OF AMERICA. so widely scattered, and they are busy with such manifold interests, that the homestead is in great danger of being neglected by the children, and the sense of kinship is likely to be lost in the diversity of interests. We talk a great deal about our power but we do not realize it ; we cannot realize it until we understand what it is which gives us power. We use a grea' many figures to convey an impression of our acreage and crops ; but ft is the farmer, the mechanic and the merchant who are the real capital of the country. Their character, energy, intelligence, thrift and practical sagacity constitute our real wealth ; the wealth which is not subject to the fluctuations of the market or the untimely conditions of the weather. This volume tells the story of material growth as fully and more comprehensively than most books ; but it tells also the story of America as it is written in the life, character and habits of the American man and woman. To know the American you must know his ancestry and how he came where he now is ; that record is made here with a broad completeness which brings out the immense variety and volume of race force and character behind the people on this continent. To know the American you must know what religious, social and political influences shaped and moulded the lives of his forefathers ; those influences are all marked and traced here. To know the American of to-day you must know what experiences have befallen him on this side the ocean, how he has fared and what he has accomplished ; accordingly his history is fully spread out in these pages, and his explorations, settlements, wars, growth are told, not in detail but so as to cover the ground strongly and effectively. To know the American you must know what he is doing to-day ; where his work is and how he does it ; how he travels ; what inventions he uses ; what mechanical genius he displays ; what books he reads ; what church he attends ; what schools he maintains ; what his pleasures are ; and how he employs his wealth. This volume answers these questions. It is at once a history, a story, an encyclopaedia of national information, and a text-book of national character. It reports travels, describes settlements, gives account of wars, traces political ideas and growth, follows the lines of trade and of national prosperity, pictures what is going on in the shop, the office, the church, the school, the mine, the garden, the grain field, the home. It supplies the historic background of American life, and against this background it spreads out that life in broad, clear lines of growth and activity. It is the story of America, but it is still more the story of the American. Well- done or ill-done, it aims at nothing less than to show the American as he lives and works on the continent which he has conquered by sheer force of energy and intelligence. There is no romance so marvelous as this record of fact ; none so full of incident, adventure, heroism, and human vicissitude. From the voyages of the earHest Spanish, French, and English explorers to the inventions and discoveries INTRODUCTION. vii of Edison the story never fails of thrilling interest. It is a romance of humanity written by the hand of Providence on the clean, broad page of a new continent. It is a Bible for new illustration of the old laws of right and wrong which underlie all histon,/ ; but it is a modern version of The Arabian Nights for marvels and miracles of human skill and achievements. The building of Aladdin's palace was a small affair compared with the building of some of our States ; and the rubbing of Aladdin's lamp was but a faint burnishing compared with the glow of prosperity which hard work has brought out on the face of this continent. There is no romance so wonderful as the story of life told, not by novelists of varying degrees of skill, but by great multitudes of eager, ener- getic men and women. It is doubtful if any country has ever developed greater energy of spirit or greater variety of character than this ; and this is the chief reason why our history has such significance and such fruitage of achievement. To know this history is a duty and a delight. A man whose brave ancestors have carried the name he bears far, and made it a synonym for courage and honor, is rightly proud of his descent and gets from it a new impulse to bear as brave a part in his own day. Americans can honestly cherish such pride ; it is justified by what lies behind them. No man can be truly patriotic who does not know something of the nation to which he belongs, and of the country in which he lives. Such knowledge is a part of intelligent citizenship. In this country, where the government rests on the intelligence and virtue of the entire popula- tion, such a knowledge is a duty and a necessity. Men who reach eminence in their professions invariably have large ideas of those professions ; they know the history of the profession and the names of those who have advanced its influence and secured its honors. A man of business who takes the lead in his particular line of trade is uniformly distinguished by his superior knowledge of business problems and conditions. He studies his business in its large relations to the business of the country ; he looks at it with the eyes of a statesman. The intelligent American cannot be ignorant of the great history in which he has had so vital an interest, or of the life of his country to-day. Not to know these things is to miss a noble and inspiring landscape which we might see simply by the lifting up of the eyes. It is for the family that this volume was primarily prepared. America is pre-eminently the country of homes ; that is the country which, by its free institutions and its large social and industrial conditions, makes comfortable homes possible to its entire population. These homes are not only the sources of happiness and the nurseries of purity and prosperity ; they are also the schools of citizenship. From these schools are graduated year after year, in unbroken and never-ending classes, the men and women who continue and enlarge the work and the influence of the nation. The Bible has been and will viii THE STORY OF AMERICA. remain the great text-book in these schools ; but other books are needed, and this book aims to take its place as an indispensable book of instruction and entertainment. The history of a race is the best possible material for the educa- tion of the children of that race. We know this by instinct, and we act by instinct when we hold up constantly the lives and achievements of our great men as illustrations of honor, honesty and capacity. No teaching is so efiective ^as that which flows from persons and characters rather than from abstract principles and statements. Few boys care for patriotism as a quality of character, but every boy knows on the instant what patriotism means when the names of Washington and Lincoln arc spoken in his hearing. These great men render through character an even higher service than they render through sacrifice and action. They embody great virtues, they stand for great principles, they illustrate noble qualities. Being dead they still speak with voices whose range and power are denied to teachers who impart truth but do not li\e it on a great scale. Alfred the Great has been and still is one of the most persuasive and inspiring teachers England has ever had. His name brings instantly to mind the noblest traits of English manhood, the grandest type of English citizenship. To tell his story to a boy is to teach him the deepest lessons of life while he does not suspect anything more enduring than the entertainment of an hour. History is summed up in great men, and e\-ery virtue, ever)' \'ice, ever)' decisive popular movement is identified with or incarnated in some great man. The name of Washington is a most familiar name for truthfulness and integrity, that of Arnold for baseness and treachery, that of Jefferson for the democratic idea, the rule of the people. These names are always in the air because they have their general and enduring meanings ; and no man can estimate their educational value to the country. They are heard on every political platform, but they are heard still more frequenth' in the school room, and they are of more use there than most text-books. It was the custom among some nations of antiquity to repeat to each fresh generation the noble deeds of their ancestors, thus making history a great oral tradition, and turning it from a dead record into a living romance. Real educa- tion is not knowledge of books but knowledge of life, and books are useful only so far as they lead us to this kind of knowledge. \\'hat men have been and have done is the best material for the education which trains one in cour- age, honesty, and energy as well as in mental quickness and skill. The Athenian boys learned Homer by heart; the 'Tliad " and "Odyssey" took the place of the pile of books which the school-boy of to-day carries under his arm when he sets his "morning face" schoolward. In this way boys learned beaut)' and eloquence of speech, and imbibed the spirit of art while they were yet at their games. But they learned even greater things than these ; they grew up with the heroes of their race and took part in their great deeds. The bravest and IlSl TRODUCTION. ix most poetic things which their race had done were familiar and became dear to them while their natures were most receptive and responsive. The past was not dim and obscure to them as it is to too many Americans ; it was a living past, full of splendid figures and heroic deeds. To boys so bred in the very arms and at the very heart of their race it was a glorious privilege to be an Athenian ; to share in a noble history, to be a citizen of a beautiful city, to have the proud consciousness of such place and fame among men. It is not surpris> ing that as the result of such an education the small city of Athens produced more great men in all departments in the brief limits of a century than most other cides have bred in the long course of history. There was a vital, inspir- ing education behind that splendid flowering of art, literature, philosophy and statesmanship. The American boy and girl ought to have the same education. Too man} grow up with the most indefinite ideas of their own country. They do nol know what has been done here ; they do not even know how people live ir other parts of the broad land. They know something of their own commu nities, but they are ignorant of the greater community to which they belong The story of the countiy's birth and growth, of its struggles and achievements of its wonderfully diversified life, of its heroic men and noble women, ought tc be familiar to every boy and girl from earliest childhood. This knowledge ij the A B C of real education. It is to furnish this knowledge that this volume has been largely prepared. The home is never isolated and solitary ; it is ont of a great community of homes stretching across the continent. To get the best and the most out of its beautiful relations and its manifold opportunities each home must develop* the sense of kinship with other homes, and the con sciousness of common responsibility. Every child must fill a place in the nation and the world as well as in the home. He must know, therefore, whai the nation is and what it demands of him. He must feel the deep and wonder ful life, active and powerful over a whole continent, in which he shares and tc which he contributes. This is the age c ' community feeling ; the sense of brotherhood among men of all races has never before been so pervasive and so real. A famine on the banks of the Volga brings quick response from the prosperous fields about the Mississippi. Nothing that happens in the remotest corner of the world is with out interest. To know how the other half lives is not only a universal desire, but a universal duty. This volume not only makes the present acquainted witb the past and so gives its historic background, but it brings to each occupatior and profession the work and condition of every other occupation and profession, and it lays before each section of the country the aspects and habits of every other secdon. It is a nadonal book ; it describes the West to the East and the North to the South. It tells the merchant how the farmer lives ; it gives the X THE STORY OF AMERICA. mechanic a picture of the miner's life ; it furnishes the planter a glimpse of the herdsman. It unfolds a map of the whole country, not in the hard and fast lines of geography, but in the streaming, rushing life of an inmense and energetic people. It supplies a clear and comprehensive view of the (rovernment in all its functions of administration ; it describes the ereat cities : it follows and pictures the countless channels and instrumentalities of travel and commerce ; it delineates the work of the farmer, the mechanic, the miner, the merchant ; it has something to say about churches, colleges, schools, literature, charities. It is, in a word, a national chart, text-book, history and romance for the home. In the preparation of this volume we have Ind the assistance of a number of experienced writers specially qualified to present the subjects assigned to them. This co-operation of knowledge and work was not only necessitated by the magnitude and comprehensiveness of a book covering a period of four hun- dred years and embracing all the aspects, — historical, religious, industrial, social, and intellectual, — of the nation's life, but was deliberately chosen because it en- sured greater variety, interest, arKd thoroughness than any single author could give such a work. Its advanta^res were recocjnized as counterbalancinor the additional expense involved. We have, however, planned the entire work, and, with the exception of the chapters which are signed by their writers, have outlined anr> thoroughly revised every part we have not ourselves written, thus securir. unity of aim and purpose throughout. h.a.milton \v. m.\bie. Marshal H. Bright. ■/^ootL or US. /*1an OP War "= •Built- fo«- t/HiBiT «T- ^voHLO^■F»lR - >»/<»" LIST OF CHAPTERS AND SUBJECTS. INTRODUCTION, CHAPTER I. KINDINO THE NEW COUNTRY 21 DISCOVERY AND DISCOVERERS THE NORSEMEN — DID THEY DISCOVER AMERICA? THE EVIDENCE — CONCLUSIONS — COLUMBUS EARLY YEARS — CHARACTERS OF HIS TIME LEAVES ITALY FOR POR- TUGAL — HIS PLAN — SEES THE KING THE KING's INDIFFERENCE — VISITS SPAIN — A TRUE FRIEND — DISAPPOINTMENT AND DELAY FERDINAND HIS COOLNESS TO COLUMBUS'S PROJECT ISABELLA EXORBITANT TERMS — AT LAST SUCCESS — THE EXPEDITION FROM PALOS — MUTINY COLUMBUS's FIRMNESS — MISTAKEN SIGNS — LAND AT LAST A NEW WORLD FOUND — RETURNS TO SPAIN — VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES — HUMILIATION — HIS DEATH AT VALLADOLID. CHAPTER II. FOST-COLUMBIAN EXPLORERS AND DISCOVERERS, 49 COLUMBUS AND HIS DISCOVERIES — THEIR EFFECT — OTHER NATIONS AROUSED — THE CABOTS AND- LABRADOR — AMERICUS VESPUCIUS^THE NAME AMERICA — CANNIBALS AND THEIR SACRIFICES PINZON TURNS VOYAGER — HIS DISCOVERIES — DA GAMA DE CABRAL — BASTIDAS — DE LA COSA— PONCE DE LEON — HIS CAMPAIGN IN FLORIDA VERAZZANO — BALBOA HE DISCOVERS THE, PACIFIC — DAVILA — FERDINAND DE SOTO — ATTEMPTS TO CONQUER FLORIDA — A LONG MARCH- ONWARD TO THE FAR WEST — DE SOTO DISCOVERS THE MISSISSIPPI — DEATH AND BURIAL. CHAPTER III. SETTLING THE NEW COUNTRY .\. . . 69 8EGINNINGS OF IMMIGRATION — CONDITION OF EUROPE — FIRST ATTEMPT AT COLONIZATION- — THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR — FIRST ROANOKE COLONY WOMEN AND THE COLONISTS RALEIGH ASSIGNS HIS PATENT — ACADIE — THE VIRGINIA CHARTER — LAZINESS AND ILL FEELING — OBTAIN- ING A NEW CHARTER — THE POCAHONTAS MYTH — JOHN SMITH — HIS CHARACTER — THE PLY- MOUTH COLONY — A CRUEL WINTER — .MILES STANDISH — PICTURESQUE CHARTERS — MASSACHU- SETTS BAY COLONY INDIAN WARS BOUNDARY DISPUTES — TOWN MEETINGS — HENDRICK HUI>- SON NEW AMSTERDAM — PENN — THE FRIENDS RAPID SUCCESS OF THE QUAKERS. 2 XI :,i LIST OF CHAPTERS AXD SUBJECTS. CHAPTER IV. PACk IVIAKINQ THE NEW PEOPLE 89 ■HE colonists' new CONDHION — LAND AND LABOR — THE RICE SWAMPS OK CAROLINA — THE PLAN- TATION — THE FARM — FORCING A STAPLE — A MULBERRY-TREE LAW — MANOF.IAL RIGHTS IN VIR- GINIA — THE FEUDAL SYSTEM — THE ORIGIN OF THE VIRGINIA PARISH — THE COUNTY AND THE COURT — CASTE — THE AMERICAN BARON — WHITE TRASH — EQUALITY IN NEW ENGLAND — WHITE SLAVES — RELIGIOUS FREEDOM— CHARACTER OF THE PURITANS — EARLY HISTORIES OF MASSA- CHUSETTS — COTTON MATHER AND TIIK WITCHES — NEW VORK's AUTO DA Vt — SYMBOLISM — THE QUAKER AND THE PURITAN — A PROTEST AGAINST PERSECUTION — THE BLUE LAWS Til- HUDSON RIVER ESTATES — SCHOOLS NORTH AND SOUTH — THE SPREAD OF INTELLIGENCE. CHAPTER V. Ol.D COLONY IDA^VS A.ND "W^VS, 103 HOME AND .«OCIAI ^IFE — ISOL.\TION OF CO.MMUNITIES — THE TYPICAL PURITAN HOME — FRIENDLINESS AND REPRESSION — HOME INDUSTRIES — THE LOOM AND THE SPINNING WHEEL — HABITS OF THE PEOPLE — BOOKS AND READING — SCHOOL AND MEETING-HOUSE — MINISTER AND SQUIRE. CHAPTER VI. STORV OE THE BUCCANEERS -A.ND PIRA.TES, . . . 117 n3RTUGA — THE FIRST HO.ME OF THE BUCCANEERS — SPAIN JE.\LOUS OF THE FRENCH — THE CAPTURE OF A WAR-SHIP — CHARACTER OF THE BUCCANEERS — PIERRE FRANCOIS AND THE PE.\RL FISHERS A CHANGE OF B.\SE — PORTUGUES — SUPPOSED DEATH OF THE PIRATE — REJOICING OF THE SPAN- IARDS — BRAZILIANO — THE PROFLIGACY OF PORT ROYAL — D.WIs's STRATEGY DEFE.\T AND VEN- GEANCE OF LOLONOIS — WEALTH OF THE SPANISH AMERICAN CITIES — THE DEFENSE OF MERID.\ AN OLD SOLDIER OF FLANDERS — THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS — HENRY .MORGAN — HIS CAREER — THE TAKING OF PUERTO BELLO — ST. CATHERINE'S FALLS MARACAIBO AGAIN — ^THE SPANISH admiral's ULTIMATUM — HOW MORGAN ANSWERED IT — THEATRICAL CIVILITY — MORGAN APPROACHES PANAMA — IN SIGHT OF PANAMA — AN ARDUOUS BATTLE — RICH BOOTY TREACHERY OF MORilAN — OTHER PIRATES — KIDD — BLACKBEARD HOW KIDD GOT HIS COM.MISSION, ET"^. CHAPTER \TI. CUTTING LOOSE EROM EUROPE 133 OrjIOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS IN THE COLONIES — CHARTERS AND ASSEMBLIES TOWN MEETINGS IN NEW ENGLAND — COUNTIES AS UNITS IN THE SOUTH — MASSACHUSETTS ANI? VIRGINIA REPRE- SENTATIVE TYPES — bacon's REBELLION — ANDROS'S TYRANNY — UNITY IN ACTION FOR SELF- DEFENSE — KING Philip's war. the dutch and the Spaniards, louisburgh, port royal— WASHINGTON AND BR.\DDOCK — OVERTHROW OF THE FRENCH POWER IN AMERICA — THE ALBANY PLAN — NAVIGATION LAWS — THE STAMP ACT — NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION — TUK eOSl\iN .MASSACRE — BOSTON TEA PARTY — PORT BILL — FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. LIST OF CHAPTERS AND SUBJECTS. xiii CHAPTER VIII. , PACK THE WAR FOR IMDEPENDEXCE, 145 CHARACTER OF THE WAR — THE BRITISH PLAN OF CAMPAIGX BUNKER HILL TICONDEROGA — THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND HARLEM HEIGHTS — WASHING- TON'S CROSSING THE DELAWARE TRENTON AND PRINCETON —BURGOYNE'S EXPEDITION — SURRENDER OF BURGOYNE — HOWE AT PHILADELPHIA BATTLE OF GERMANTOWN — WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE — THE FRENCH ALLIANCE — MONiMOUTH COURT HOUSE — INVASION OF GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA — GATES's FAILURE — GREENE's STRATEGY — BENEDICT ARNOLD'S TREACH- ERY — PAUL JONES AND THE " SERAMIS " AT YORK.TOWN — WASHINGTON'S DECISIVE MOVE- SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS — INDEPENDENCE ACKNOWLEDGED. CHAPTER IX. STRUGQIvE EOR LIBERTY AWD GOVERXMENT, . . 173 BY FRANCIS NEWTON THORPE, PH.D., PROFESSOR OF SCHOOL OF AMERICAN HISTORY AND INSTI rUTlONS, UNIVEKSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. COLONIZ.^TION — SOME RESULTS — POPULAR RIGHTS NEW ENGLAND^THE STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY LIMITATIONS — THE ENGLISH IDEA — COLONL\L LEGISLATURES — THE MONEY QUESTION — GOVERN ING OUTSIDE OF CHARTER LIM1T.4TI0NS— TAX.\TION THOSE TEA CHESTS THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE CONFEDERATION — THE FRANCHISE — PROPERTY QUALIFICATION — THAT STAR OF EMPIRE — ITS WESTWARD COURSE — THEN AND NOW, ETC. CHAPTER X. RATHEINDERS AXD PIOMEERS, 199 DANIEL BOONE — A PICTURESQUE CHARACTER — W.^LKER — STEWART HOLDEN — MONCEY — FINLEY COOL — A FIRST VIEW OF KENTUCKY — THE BIVOUAC — A KENTUCKY FORT INDIAN CAPTURES — • D.-^VID CROCKETT — A FASC!N..\TING CAREER LEWIS AND CLARK — THEIR WESTWARD TRAVELS FREMONT KIT CARSON — ARCTIC EXPLORER.S — BEHRING — VAN WRANGEL ROSS PARRY SIR JOHN FRANKLIN — THE GRINNELL EXPEDITION — KANE — DR. HAYES — SCHWALKER THE BENNETT EXPEDITION CAPIAIN LONG — DEATH AND RESCUE. CHAPTER XI. RUSHING BACK THE BOUXDARIES 215 ORIGINAL LINES ORDER OF ADMISSION OF THE STATES — THE FRENCH CESSION THE SPANISH CESSIQN TEXAN ANNEXATION — MEXICAN CESSION RUSSIAN PURCHASE — THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS CHAPTER XII. THE SECOMD WAR FOR INDEREXDENCE, OR THE WAR OR 1812 231 MEANING OF THE W.\R — -ITS CAUSES — NEUTRAL RIGHTS — IMPRESSING AMERICAN SAILORS INSULTS AND OUTRAGES — THE "CHESAPEAKE" AND THE " LEOPARD " INJURY TO A.MERICAN C0S4 LIST OF CHAPTERS AXD SL'BJECTS. MERC*. — i*APER BLOCKADES — THE ORDERS IN COINCIL — EMBARGO AS RETALIATION OLT? NAVAl GLORY IN THIS WAR — FAILURE OF THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST CANADA — HILL's SURRENDER AT DETROIT — SPLENDID VICTORIES AT SEA — THE "CONSTITUTION AND THE " GUERRlfeRE " — THE "wasp" and THE "frolic" — OTHER SEA-DUELS AMERICAN PRIVATEERS — ON THE LAKES — perry's GRE.\T VICTORY — LAND OPERATIONS— BATTLE OF THE THAMES — WILKINSON'S FIASCO — THE "SHANNON" AND THE "CHESAPEAKE" — ENGLISH REINFORCEMENTS — LUNDY'S LANE AND PLATTSBURG — THE BURNING OF WASHINGTON — BALTIMORE SAVED — GENERAL JACKSON AT NEW ORLEANS THE TREATY OF PEACE — THE HARTFORD CONVENTION. CHAPTER XIII. PACa THE STORV OK THE IXDIA.X 247 OUR RELATIONS TO THE INDI.\N — PERIOD OF DISCOVERY — HOSPITALITY TO FIRST SETTLERS — ABUSE OF HOSPITAUTY — DlSTRl^ST AND WARFARE — COlONI.\L PERIOD — EARLY OLTBREAKS .AND MASSACRES — FRENCH A^D ENGLISH WARS — REVOLLTION.ARY WAR — INDIAN STRUGGLE FOR TERRI rORV. CHAPTER XIV. THE IXDIAX OK THE XIXETEEXTH CEXTURY. . . ;6i BY HON. HENRY L. DAWES, CHAIRMAN CVMMITTEK ON INDIAN APFAIKS, l'. S. SKNATB- MATION.U. PERIOD CONFLICT BETWEEN T\VO aVlLIZ.\TIONS — INDI.AN BUREAU— GOVERNMENT POUCY — TREATIES — RESERVATION PLAN — REMOV.U.S UNDER IT — INDIAN WARS — PL.\N OF CONCENTR.^- TION — DISTUKB.\NCE AND FIGHTING — PL-\N OF EDl'C\TION AND .\BSORPTION — ITS COMMENCE- MENT — PRESENT CONDITION OF INDIANS NATITIE OF EDUCATION .\ND RESLT.TS — lASiO IN SKVER.\LTY L.\W — MISS10N.\RY EFFORT — NECESSITY .\ND DLTY OF .\ESORPTION. CHAPTER XV. STORY OK THE XEGRO ^77 THE NEGRO IN .\MER1CA — THE FIRST CVRCO — BEGINNING OF THE SLWE TR.\FFIC — AS A LABORER — INCRE-\SK IN NU.MBERS — SUWERY : ITS DIFFERENT CH.\R.\CTER IN DIFFERENT STATES — POLlTIC\L DISTURBANCES — AGITATION AND AGITATORS — ^JOHN BROWN — WAR .0>D HOW IT SU.\NaPATED THE SL.\VE — THE FREE NEGRO. CHAPTER X\T. THE STORY OK THE CIVIL \VA.R . . . «j fnnmr-T — not exclusively a SOITHERN 1DE.\ — an irrepressible CONFUCT — coming EVENTS— UNCOLN — A NATION IN ARMS — SUMTER — ANDERSON — McCLRIl.AN — \nCTORY AND DEFE.\T— > MONITOR AND MERRIMAC — ANTIETAM — SHILOH — BUEU. — GR\NT — GEORGE H. THOMAS — ROSE- CRANS — Pv^RTEK SHERXLVN — SHERIDAN — LEE — GETT\-SBURC — A GRE-KT FIGHT — SHERMANS M.L\TTOX — LEE"S SURRENDER— FKOM WAR TO PE.\CE — KTC., ETC. 5 E. < ft rs y^ ^ ST' E.S 5..S -> =■= B J c = o < - i.'^ > ^< « Z ■£ v.s S I ii - i^i O £-» O " i = *- - ^ Q i= i z o 3 5^S LIST OF CHAPTERS AND SUBJECTS. xv CHAPTER XVII. PAGM SOIVIE KOROOTTEN LESSOXS OE THE WAR 317 BY ALEXANDER K. McCLURE, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR OP THE PHILADELPHIA TIMES. EMANCIPATION — RELUCTANCE OF THE NORTH TO FIGHT — ^FORT SUMTER FALSE ESTIMATES ON BOTH SIDES THE QUESTION OF THE RIGHT TO COERCE NAVAL WARFARE REVOLUTIONIZED— GLOOMIEST PERIOD OF THE WAR DEFEAT OF THE ATLANTA — BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG — LEE — ■ SHERMAN JACKSON — LINCOLN — GRANT, ETC. CHAPTER XVIII. OUR ELA.Q AX SEA • . . . 339 THE ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN NAVY— JOHN PAUL JONES AND HIS FAMOUS VICTORY — SIGHTS ON GUNS AND WHAT THEY DID — SUPPRESSING THE BARBARY PIRATES — OPENING JAPAN PORT ROYAL PASSING THE FORTS THE "MONITOR" AND " MERRIMAC " — IN MOBILE BAY — THE " KEARSARGE " AND THE "ALABAMA" NAVAL ARCHITECTURE REVOLUTIONIZED — THE SAMOAN HURRICANE — BUILDING A NEW NAVY. CHAPTER XIX. DIEEICULTIES WITH FOREIGX POWERS 361 PERPETUAL PEACE IMPOSSIBLE — THE BARBARY STATES — BUYING PEACE — UNCLE SAM AROUSED — THRASHES THE ALGERINE PIRATES — A SPLENDID VICTORY — KING BOMBA BROUGHT TO TERMS — AUSTRIA AND THE KOSZTA CASE — CAPTAIN INGRAHAM — HIS BRAVERY "DELIVER OR i'lL SINK you" — AUSTRIA YIELDS — THE PARAGUAYAN TROUBLE LOPEZ COMES TO TERMS THE CHILIAN IMBROGLIO — BALMACEDA THE INSULT TO THE UNITED ST.A.TES — AMERICAN SEAMEN ATTACKED MATTa's IMPUDENT LETTER BACKDOWN PEACE ALL's WELL THAT ENDS WELL, ETC. CHAPTER XX. ARCTIC ADVENTURERS 379 THE FATE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN — DR. KANE AND THE GRINNELL EXPEDITION — DR. HAYES DIS- COVERS GRINNELL LAND — THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN HALL — SCHW.\TKa's SEARCH FOR FRANKLIN RECORDS — THE JEANNETTE AND HER COMMANDER — DE LONG ON FLOATING ICE — DISCOVERS BENNETT ISLAND — WEYPRECHT's GREAT PLAN AND THE GREELY EXPEDITION LOCKWOOD'S FARTHEST NORTH. CHAPTER XXI. RELIGION UNDER NEW CONDITIONS, ...... 389 fBE OLD HEBREW COMMONWEALTH — WHEN LEADING SECTS ARRIVED — THEIR PRESENT NUMERICAL STRENGTH — CARDINAL F.^CTS IN RELIGIOUS HISTORY IN THE UNITED STATES — PHASES OF RELIGIOUS LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND — THE PURITAN MINISTER — HIS PREACHING — PURITAN MEET- ING HOUSES THE DUTCH " DOMINIE " — METHODIST CIRCUIT RIDER — GREAT PREACHERS: JONATHAN EDWARDS, THE ELDER — GEORGE WHITEFIELD — NATHANIEL EMMONS — LYMAN BEECHER HENRY WARD BEECHER — CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY — DENOMINATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS: FRIENDS — BAPTISTS — METHODISTS — CONGREG.\TIONALISTS — PRESBYTERIANS ROMAN CATHOLICS —UNITARIANS — MOR.MONS — CONCLUSION- xvi LJST OF CHAPTERS AND SUBJECTS CHAPTER XXII. TIIK I'LlOPLxEl UNDER NEW GONOITIONS 41S THE NKW IiKMOCRACY MANHOOD SUFFRAGE FEDERATION THE EVOLUTION OF POLITICS AND PARTIES THE FEDERALISTS HAMILTON DEMOCRATIC I'ARTV JEFFERSON WHIGS HENRY CLAY WEIiSTER CALHOUN ABOLITIONISTS THE REPUBLICAN PARTY LINCOLN INDEPEN- DENTS. ETC. CllAPTl'IR XXIII. GOLD AND SIKVER MINING 427 OPENING THE WAV TO CALIFORNI.V DISCOVERY OF GOLD MARSHAL AND SUTTER PROFITS ONE DOLLAR PER MINUTE SAN FRANCISCO WITH FIFTY HOUSF.S FIVE TIMES DESTROYED BY FIRE DISCOVERY OF SILVER IN 18o7 THE FATE OF EARLY MINERS MINING LIFE VIGILANCE COMMITTEES, ETC. CHAPTER XXIV. THE PROBLaEM c:)R our national, OURRENOY, . . 439 BY HON. JOHN SHERMAN, ITS UISTORV AND EVOLUTION. By J. K. Upton. WHAT IS MONEY? ITS EARLY FORMS ITS FUNCTIONS LEGAL TENDER CONSIDERED UNDER THREE FORMS ITS HISTORY DIVIDED INTO THREE PERIODS COLONIAL MONEY DEBASING THE COINAGE PAPER MONEY BI-MKTAI.ISM CONTINENTAL CURRENCY MONEY UNDER THE CONSTITUTION HAMILTON ON BI-METALISM REGULATION OF COINAGE MINTS PAPER MONEY OF THIS PERIOD THE CRASH OF 18051 THE NATIONAL BANK CRISIS OF 1818 THE PANIC OF 18S7 ISSUE OF GREENBACKS HANK NOTE.S RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS GOLD AT 103 CONTRACTION OF THE CURRENCY GREENBACKS AT PAR FOLLOWED BY UNPARALLELED PROSPERTY FUTURE CURRENCY OF THE COUNTRY. CHAPTER XXV. HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES 461 BY MISS ANNA L DAWES. THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT CONGRESS HOW COMPOSED DUTIES EXECUTIVE ELECTION OF PRESIDENT CABINET JUDICIARY POWERS OF SUPREME COURT FEDERAL SYSTEM RELA- TION OF STATES TO NATION THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF CITIZENS OF THE UNITED ST.'VTES. CHAPTER XXVI. OUR PRESIDENTS AND THEIR ADMINISTRATIONS. . 473 THE TWENTY. FOUR STATF.SMEN WHO HAVE OCCUPIED THE PRESIDENTIAL CHAIR BRIEF SKETCHES OF THEIR LIVES THE MEMORABLE EVENTS OF THEIR ADMINISTRATIONS THE IMPORTANT FACTS OF OUR POLITICAL. COMMERCIAL, AND SOCIAL HISTORY SINCE THE ADOPTION OF THE CON- STITUTION POLITICAL CHANGES HAWAIAN DIFFICULTY LABOR TROUBLES RECENT ELEC- TIONS THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. ETC., ETC. CONTENTS. xvii CHAPTER XXVII. SONIE OREAT AlVIERICAN INDUSTRIES. • - s FAGK IK THE ROCK-RIBBED HILLS BURIED TREASURES OF EARTH — RARE STONES VARIEGATED Mj»RPLES ■ — t;RANITES — HOW TO GET THE STONES OUT — A YOUNG INDUSTRY THE GREAT FLOUR MILLS — OLD-TIME MILLING THE NEW PROCESS — THE GREAT FLOUR MILLS OF THE WEST THEIR .VAST OUTPUTS, ETC. — THE GREAT OIL WELLS — A WONDERFUL INDlSfRY — MORE LIGHT — PETROLEUM — ITS HISTORY — DEVELOPMENT — GAS WELLS — THE GREAT PIPE LINES " GUSHERS ''• — SUGGESTIVE FIGURES, ETC. CHAPTER XXVIII. OUK W.A^R WITH SRAIN FOR CUBA'S KREEDOIvI, . . 57^ UNIVERSAL INTEREST IN THIS VVAR — OUR MOTIVES FOR IT — A HOLY WAR — BREAKING OFF DIPLOMAT^ RELATIONS WITH SPAIN — -CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS EXPEDITIONS ORGANIZED — BOMBARDMENT OF MATANZAS — BA I'TLE OF MANILA ''KEEP COOL AND OBEY ORDERS" — SPANISH AND AMERICAN VESSELS ENGAGED — DEWEy'S METHOD OF FIGHTING — CONGRESS' VOTE OF THANKS — THIS VICTORY IS Pl MONUMENT TO ITS HERO — FIRST AMERICAN LOSS OF LIFE — BOMBARDjMENT OF SAN JUAN. PORTO RICO — HUNTING THE SPANISH FLEET — BOTTLED UP IN SANTIAGO HARBOR COMMODORE SCHLEY BOMBARDS THE FORTIFICATIONS — ADMIRAL SAMPSON TAKES COMMAND HOBSON SINKS THE MERRIMAC — SECOND BO.MBARDMENT OF SANTIAGO — SHAFTEr's ARMY OF 15,000 MEN EMBARKS THE FOUR DAVs' FIGHT OF THE MARINES AT CAIMANERA THE LANDING OF SHAFTER's army — THE VICTORY OF THE ROITGH RIDERS — PREPARINf; FCR THE ATTACK UPON SANTIAGO — FIERCE BATTLES OF SAN JUAN AND EL CANEY — THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERa's FLEET — DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE NAVAL BATTLE OF JULY 3D FLIGH 1' OF REFUGEES FROM THE CITY — LAST BATTLE AND SURRENDER OF THE CITY — TAKING POSSESSION AND RAISING THE AMERICAN FLAG — GENERAL SHAFTER's ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE VICTORY — THE WAR IN PORTO RICO — THE CONQUEST OF THE PHILIPPINES — PEACE NEGOTIATIONS AND THE PROTOCOL — HOME-COMING OF OUR SOLDIERS. CHAPTER XXIX. OUR IMEW ROSSESSIONS, 605 The Hawaiian Islands, "the paradise of the pacific" — all climates together — STUPENDOUS and DELIGHTFUL SCENERY — HIGHEST VOLCANO IN THE WORLD — THE NATIVE HAWAIIAN — SUPERSTITIONS, ETC. — PRODUCTS AND COMMERCE HONOLULU. Cuba, the Child of Our Adoption, the doorway to America — discovery-^visits of COLUMBUS — SETTLEMENT AND CONQUEST BY THE SON OF COLU. VIRUS — SUBJUGATION, ENSLAVE- MENT AND ANNIHILATION OF THE ABORIGINES CAPTURE OF HAVANA BY THE ENGLISH — THE TEN years' WAR THE LAST GREAT STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM — WEYLEr's BRUTALITY- UNITED STATES INTERVENTION FUTURE OF THE ISLANDS RESOURCES — CITIES — CLIMATE, ETC. Beautiful Porto Rico, discovery by columbus — conquest — aborigines — sacking of san JUAN BY THE ENGLISH — HEALTHFULNESS, SIZE AND RESOURCES — CHIEF CITIES — CLIMATE. Ladrone Islands, discovery by magellan^5ize — topography — early inhabitants — con- quest BY THE SPANIARDS — CLIMATE — FLORA — CAPTURE BY THE CHARLESTON, JULY 4TH, 1898. The Philippine Islands, number of islands and their population — Magellan's voyage OF discovery — PIRATES — DUTCH AND SPANISH WARS— CAPTURE BY THE ENGLISH UPRISINGS OF THE NATIVES — MANNERS AND CUSTOMS — WILD TRIBES — THE CITY OF MANILA — ILO ILO ANT CEBU PRODUCTS AND RESOURCES ANIMALS CLIMATE EARTHQUAKES — VOLCANOES ANEW ERA. ■aAKON STBUBEN. GOV. AKIHUK ST. CLAIR. SRc V SAMUUt. A. OTIS KoGbK SHHKMAN. CHANCELLOR ROBGRT K. LIVINGSTON. GEORGE WASHINGTON. GOV. GEOKGK CLIN ION. CBNL HBNKY KKOft- WASHINGTON TAKING THE OATH AS PRESIDENT, APRIL 30, 1789, ON THE SITE OF THE PRESENT TREASURY BUILDING, WALL STREET, NEW YORK CITV. Virginia gave us this imperial man. Cast in the massive mould Of those htgh Although Ferdinand spices, and all other articles and merchan- dises, in whatever manner found, bought, bartered, or gained within his admiralty, the cost being first deducted. (4) That he, or his lieutenant, should be the sole judge in all causes and disputes arising out of traffic between those countries and Spain, pro\ ided the high admiral of Castile had similar iurisHiction in his district. COLUMBUS AND THE MESSENGER. FITTING OUT THE EXPEDITION-. 3.^ was opposed to the project, Isabella concluded to yield to Columbus his terms and agreed to advance the cost, 14,000 florins, about $7,000, from her own revenues, and so to Spain was saved the empire of a New World. On May 12 Columbus took leave of the king and queen to superintend the fitting out of the expedition at the port of Palos. The hour and the man had at last met, FITTING OUT THE EXPEDITION. What thoughts and apprehensions filled the heart and mind of Columbus as he at last saw the yearning desires of years about to be met, may be to some extent conceived ; they certainly cannot be expressed. Not a general at the head of his great army who, at a critical moment in battle, sees the enemy make the false move which insures him the victory, could feel more exultant than Columbus must have felt when he left the pres- ence of the Spanish Court, and, after seven years of weary and all but hopeless waiting at last saw the possibilities of the great unknown opening up before him, and beheld, in a vision to him as clear and radiant as the sun shining in the heavens, a New World extending its arms and welcoming him to her embrace. It would seem as if everything now conspired to atone for the disappointing past. His old tried friend, Perez, prior of the La Rabida monastery, near Palos, received him with open arms, and well he might, for had not his kind offices made success possible? And the authorities, as if to make good the disappointments of seven years, could not now do too much. All public officials, of all ranks and conditions in the maritime borders of Andalusia were commanded to furnish supplies and assistance of all kinds. Not only so, but as superstition and fear made ship owners reluctant to send their vessels on the expedition, the necessary ships and men were to be provided, if need be, by impressment, and it was in this way vessels and men were secured. In three months the expedition was ready to sail. The courage of Columbus in setting sail in untried waters becomes more evident when we consider the size of the ships comprising the little expedition. They were three in number ; the largest of them, the Santa Maria, was only ninety feet long, being about the size of our modern racing yachts. Her smaller consorts, the Pinta and the Nina, were little caravels, very like our fishing smacks, without any deck to keep the wr.ter out. The Santa Maria had four masts, of which two were square rigged, and two fitted with lateen sails like those CARAVELS OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. {After an engrazfing published in 1584.) 34 THE STORY OF AMERICA. used on the Nile boats ; this vessel Columbus commanded. Martin Alonzc Pinzon commanded the Pinta, and his brother, V'incente Yanez Pinzon, the Nina. The fleet was now all ready for sea ; but before setting sail Columbus and most of his officers and crew confessed to Friar Juan Perez, and partook of the Sacrament. Surely such an enterprise needed the blessing of heaven, if any did ! It was before sunrise on F'riday morning, August 3, 1492, that Columbus with 30 officers and adventurers and 90 seamen, in all 120 souls, set sail, "in the name of Christ," from behind the little island of Saltes. Those inclined to be superstitious regarding Friday will do well to note that it was on a Friday Columbus set sail from Palos ; it was on Friday, the 12th of October, that he landed in the New World ; on a Friday he set sail homeward ; on a Friday, agam, the 15th of February, 1493, land was sighted on his return to Furope, and that on Friday, the 1 5th of March, he returned to Palos. The story of that eventful trip has never ceased to charm the world, nor ever will so long as the triumphs of genius, the incentives of religion, and the achievements of courasre have interest for mankind. It was Columbus's intention to steer southwesterly for the Canary Islands, and thence to strike due west — due to misconception occasioned by the very incorrect maps of that period. On the third day out the Pinta's rudder was found to be disabled and the vessel leaking, caused, doubtless, by her owner, who did not wish his vessel to go, — the ship having been impressed — and thinkine to secure her return. Instead of this, Columbus continued on his course and decided to touch at the Canaries, which he reached on the 9th. Here he was detained for some weeks, till he learned from a friendly sail that three Portuguese war vessels had been seen hovering oft" the island Gomera, where he was taking in wood, water, and provisions. Apprehensive, and probably rightly so, that the object was to capture his fleet, Columbus lost no time in putting to sea. AND NOW FOR THE NEW WORLD. It was early morning on the 6th of September that Columbus again set sail, steering due west, on an unknown sea. He need fear no hostile fleets, and he was beyond the hindrance of plotting enemies on shore ; and yet so far from escaping trouble it seemed as if he had but plunged into deeper tribulations and trials than ever. As the last trace of land faded from view the hearts of the crews failed them. They were going they knew not where ; would they ever return ? Tears and loud lamentings followed, and Columbus and his officers had all they could do to calm the men. After leaving the Canaries the winds were light and baffling, but always from the East. On the nth of September, when about AN ASTRONOMIC DISCOVERY. 35 450 miles west of Ferro, they saw part of a mast floating by, which, from its size, appeared to have belonged to a vessel of about 120 tons burden. To the crew this meant the story of wreck ; why not pro- phetic of their own ? The discovery only jadded to their fears. And now a remark- able and unprecedented phenomenon pre- sented itself "As true as the needle to the pole" may be a pretty simile, but it is false in fact. For, on the 13th'. of September, at night" fall, Columbus, for the first time in all his experience, discovered that the needle did not point to the North star, but varied about half a point, or five and a half degrees to the northwest. As he gave the matter close attention Columbus found the variation THE ECLIPSE OF THE SUN, AS 1-REDU 1 LI; 36 THE STORY OF AMERICA. to increase with every clay's advance. This discovery, at first kept secret was early noticed by the pilots, and soon the news spread among the crews, exciting their alarm. If the compass was to lose its virtues, what was to becom« of them on a trackless sea? Columbus invented a theorv which was ing-enioua but failed wholly to allay the terror. He told them that the needle pointed to an exact point, but that the star Polaris revolved, and described a circle around the pole. Polaris docs revolve around a given point, but its apparent motion is slow, while the needle does not point to a definite fixed point. The true expla- nation of the needle variations — sometimes it fluctuates thirty or forty degrees — is to be found in the flowing of the electrical currents through the earth in different directions, upon which the sun seems to have an eftect. Columbus took observations of the sun every day, with an Astrolabe, and shrewdly kept two logs every day. One of these, prepared in secret, contained the true record of the daily advance ; the other, showing smaller progress, was for the crew, by which means they were kept in ignorance of the great distance they were from Spain. INDICATIONS OF L.'VND. On the 14th of September the voyagers discovered a water-wagtail and a heron hovering about the ships, signs which were taken as indicating the nearness of land, and which greatly rejoiced the sailors. On the night of the 15th a meteor fell within five lengths of the Sarrta Maria. On the i6th the ships entered the region of the trade winds ; with this propitious breeze, directly aft, the three vessels sailed gently but quickly over a tranquil sea, so that for many days not a sail was shifted. This balmy weather Columbus constantly refers to in his diary, and observes that "the air was so mild that it w-anted but the song of nightingales to make it like the month of April in Andalusia." On the iSth of September the sea, as Columbus tells us, was "as calm as the Guadalquiver at Seville." Air and sea alike continued to furnish evidences of life and indications of land, and Pinzon, on the Pinta, which, being the fastest sailer, generally kept the lead, assured the admiral that indications pointed to land the following dav. On the 19th, soundings were taken and no bottom found at two hundred fathoms. On the 20th, several birds visited the ships ; they were small song birds, showing they could not have come a very long distance ; all of which furnished cause for encouragement. But still discontent was growing. Gradually the minds of the men were becoming diseased through terror, even the calmness of the weather increasing their fears, for with such light winds, and from the east, too, how were they ever to get back ? However, as if to allay their feelings, the wind soon shifted to the southwest. A little after sunset on the 25th, Columbus and his officers were examining %( '/• *^ N,. ^ KING PHILIP'S WAR-DEATH OF THE KING NO'l'AlJLt: AUD1ENCI-. IN MARVLA.Nn I'l 111 \K t.liiRCSK Ko\, THE R)UN1)ER OF IHh "SOCIETY OF FRIENDS •' OR QUAKERS. INDICATIONS OF LAND. 39 their charts and discussing the probable location of the island Cipango,* which the admiral had placed on his map, when from the deck of the Pinta arose the cry of " Land ! Land ! " At once Columbus fell on his knees and gave thanks to Heaven. Martin Alonzo and his crew of the Pinta broke out into the "Gloria in Excelsis," in which the crew of the Santa Maria joined, while the men of the Nina scrambled up to the masthead and declared that they, too, saw land. At once Columbus ordered the course of the vessels to be changed toward the supposed land. In impatience the men waited for the dawn, and when the morning appeared, lo ! the insubstantial pageant had faded, the cloud-vision, for such it was, had vanished into thin air. The disappoint- ment was as keen as the enthusiasm had been intense ; silently they obeyed the admiral's order, and turned the prows of their vessels to the west again. A week passed, marked by further variations of the needle and flights of birds. The first day of October dawned with such amber weather as is comm^on on the Atlantic coast in the month of "mists and yellow fruitfulness." The pilot on Columbus's ship announced sorrowfully that they were then 520 leagues, or 1560 miles, from Ferro. He and the crew were little aware that they had accomplished 707 leagues, or nearly 2200 miles. And Columbus had a strong incentive for this deception ; for, had he not often told them that the length of his voyage would be 700 leagues ? — and had they known that this distance had already been made, what might they not have done ! On the 7th of October the Nina gave the signal for land, but instead of land, as they advanced the vision melted and their hopes were again dissipated. The ship had now made 750 leagues and no land appeared. Possibly he had made a mistake in his latitude ; and so it was that, observing birds flying to the southward, Columbus changed his course and followed the birds, recalling, as he says in his journal, that by following the flight of birds going to their nesting and feeding grounds the Portuguese had been so successful in their discoveries. On Monday, the 8th, the sea was calm, with fish sporting every- where in great abundance ; flocks of birds and wild ducks passed by. Tuesday and Wednesday there was a continual passage of birds. On the evening of this day, while the vessels were sailing close together, mutiny suddenly broke out. The men could trust to signs no longer. With cursing and imprecation * Cipango was an imaginative island based upon the incorrect cosmography of Toscanelli, whose map was accepted in Columbus's time as the most nearly correct chart of any extant. The Ptolemaic theory of 20,400 geographical miles as the Equatorial girth was accepted by Columbus, which lessened his degrees of latitude and shortened the distance he would have to sail to reach .•Ksia. The island Cipango was supposed to be over 1000 miles long, running north and south, and the distance pilaced at 52 degrees instead of the 230 degrees which actually separates the coast of Spain from the eastern coast of Asia. The island was placed in about the latitude of the tiulf of Mexico. 3 p & w 40 LAND, HO) they declared they would not run on to destruction, and insisted upon returning to Spain. Then Columbus showed the stuff he was made of. He and they, he said, were tlaert; to obey the commands of their Sovereigns ; they must fmd the Indies. With unruffled calmness he ordered the voyage continued. On Thursday, the nth, the spirit of mutiny gave way to a very different feeling, for the signs of the nearness of land multiplied rapidly. They saw a green fish known to feed on the rocks, then a branch with berries on it, evidently recently separated from a tree, floated by them, and above all, a rudely carved staff was seen. Once more gloom and mutiny gave way to sanguine expectation. All the indications pointing to land in the evening, the ships stood to the west, and Columbus, assembling his men, addressed them. He thought land might be made that night, and enjoined that a vigilant lookout be kept, and ordered a double watch set. He promised a silken doublet, in addition to the pension guaranteed by the Crown, to the one first seeing land. LAND, HO ! That night, the ever memorable night of Thursday, opening into the morning of Friday, the 12th of October, not a soul slept on any vessel. The sea was calm and a good breeze filled the sails, moving the ships along at twelve miles an hour ; they were on the eve of an event such as the world had never seen, could never see again. The musical rippling of the waves and the creaking of the cordage were all the sounds that were audible, for the birds had retired to rest. The hours passed slowly by. It was just past midnight when the admiral, with resdess eye, sought to penetrate the darkness. Then a far-off light came to his vision. Calling Guiterrez, a court officer, he also saw it. At two in the morning a gun from the Pinta, which led the other boats, gave notice that land was at last found. A New World had indeed been discovered. The hopes of years had attained their fruition. It was Rodrigo de Triana, a seaman, who first saw land — though, alas ! he received neither promised doublet nor pension. Friday, the 12th of October, 1492, corresponding to the 2ist of October, 1492, of the present calendar, was the ever memorable day. The morning light came, and, lifdng the veil that had concealed the supreme object of their hopes, revealed a low, beautiful island, not fifty miles long, and scarcely two leagues away. Columbus gave the signal to cast anchor and lower the boats, the men to carry arms. Dressed in a rich costume of scarlet, and bearing the royal standard, upon which was painted the image of the crucified Christ, he took the lead, followed by the other captains, Pinzon and Yanez. Columbus was the first to land ; and as soon as he touched the shore he fell down upon his knees and fervently kissed "the blessed ground" three times, returning thanks to God for the great favor bestowed upon him. The others followed his example ; and then, recognizing the Providence which had THE NEWLY FOUND LAND. 41 crowned his efforts with success, he gave the name of the Redeemer — San Salvador — to the discovered island, which was called by the natives " Guana- hani." ='= And now the crews, who but a few days previously had reviled and cursed Columbus, gathered around, asking pardon for their conduct and prom- ising complete submission in future. Columbus supposed at last he had reached the opulent land of the Indies, and so called the natives Indians. But it was an island, not a continent or an Asiatic empire, he had found; an island "very large and level, clad with the freshest trees, with much water in it, a vast lake in the middle, and no mountains." The natives dwelling on the island were found to be a well-proportioned people with fine bodies, simple in their habits and customs, friendly, though shy in manner, and they were perfectly naked. They thought the huge ships to be monsters risen from the sea or gods come down from heaven. Presents were exchanged with them, including gold bracelets worn by the natives. Inquiry was made as to where the gold came from. For answer the natives pointed by gestures to the southwest. Columbus tried to induce some of the natives to go with him and show where the land of gold was to be found. But this they refused to do; so on the next day (Sunday, the 14th), taking along by force seven natives, that he might instruct them in Spanish and make interpreters of them, he set sail to discover, if possible, where gold was to be had in such abundance, and which, he thought, must be Cipango. * It is simply impossible to say which one of that long stretch of islands, some 3000 ii» number, extending from the coast of Florida to Haiti, as if forming a breakwater for the island of Cuba, Guanahani is. Opinion greatly varies. San Salvador, or Cat Island, was in early favor ; Humboldt and Irving — the latter having the problem worked out for him by Captain A. S. Mackenzie. U. S. N. — favored that view. The objections are that it is not "a small island" as Columbus called it, and it does not answer to the description of having "a vast lake in the middle" as Columbus says of Guanahani in his journal. Navette advocates the Grand Turk Island which has the lake. Watling's Island was first advocated by Munoz and accepted by Captain Beecher, R. N., in 1856, and Oscar Perchel in 1858. Major, of the British Museum, has taken up with Watling's Island, as did Lieutenant J. B. Murdoch, U. S. N., after a careful examination in 1884. This view is accepted by C. A. Schott of the U. S. Coast Survey. On the other hand, Captain G. V. Fox, U. S. N. , in 1880, put forth an elaborate claim for Samana, based upon a very careful examination of the route as given in Columbus's journal. This claim, with careful consideration of other conditions, has been very carefully examined by Mr. Charles H. Rockwell, an astronomer, of Tarrytown, N. Y. Mr. Rockwell assents to Captain Fox's view, which he finds confinned by the course Columbus took in bringing his ship to land. He also traverses Captain Beecher's claim for Watling's Island, which he finds to he inconsistent with Columbus's narrative. As we have said, the problem is beset with difficulties, both as relates to the sailing course, and the extent and topography of the island ; and at the present time it appears to be well-nigh insoluble. Where the external conditions are met, the internal conditions, including the large lake, seem wanting ; the difficulties in the case seem to be irresistible. 42 THE STORY OF AMERICA. He was, of course, in the midst of the Bahama group, and did not have to sail far to discover an island. On the 15th he discovered the island Conception. On the third day he repeated the forms of hindiui^ and took possession, as he •did also on the i6th, when he discovered an island which he called Fernandina, known to be the island at present called Exuma. On the 19th another island was discovered, which Columbus named Isabella, and which he declared to be "the most beautiful of all the islands" he had seen. The breezes brought odors as spicy as those from Araby the Blest ; palm trees waved their frintjed banners to the wind, and flocks of parrots obscured the sky. It was a land where every prospect pleased and Nature bestowed her largesse, from no stinted hand. But no — it was not a land of gold. Leaving Isabella after a five days' sojourn, on Friday, the 26th of October, he entered the mouth of a beautiful river on the northeast terminus of the island of Cuba, where sky and sea seem to conspire to produce endless halcyon days, for the air was a continual balm and the sea bathes the grasses, which grow to the water's edge, whose tendrils and roots are undisturbed by the sweep of the tides. Upon the delights that came to Columbus in this new-found paradise we cannot dwell ; admiration and rapture mingled with the sensations that swept over the soul of the great navigator as he contemplated the virgin charms of a new world won by his valor. But the survey of succeeding events must be rapid. From the 2Sth of October till November 12th Columbus explored the island, skirting the shore in a westerly direction. He discovered during that time tobacco, of which he thought little, but which, singularly enough, proved more productive to the Spanish Crown than the gold which he sought but did not find. On the 20th of November Columbus was deserted by Martin Pinzon, whose ship, the Pinta, could outsail all the others. Martin would find gold for himself. This was a kind of treachery which too often marred the story of Spanish exploration in the New World. For two weeks after the Pinta's desertion Columbus skirted slowly along the coast of Cuba eastwardly till he doubled the cape. Had he only kept on what was now a westerly course he would have discovered Mexico. But it was not to be. Before sailing he lured on boartl six men, seven women, and three children, a proceeding which nothing can justify. Taking a southwesterly course, on Wednesday, December 5th, Columbus discovered Haiti and San Domingo, which he called Hispaniola, or Little Spain. The next day he discovered the island Tortuga, and at once returned to Haiti, exploring the island ; there, owing to disobedience of orders, on Christmas morning, between midnight and dawn, the Santa Maria was wrecked upon a sand-bank, near the present site of Port au Paix. A sorry Christmas for Columbus, indeed I The situation was now critical. The Pinta, with her mutinous commander COLUMBUS RETURNS TO SPAIN. 43 and crew, was gone ; the Santa Maria was a wreck. But one little vessel remained, the little, undecked Nina. Suppose she should be lost, too ? — how would Spain ever know of his grand discoveries ? Two things were necessary : he must at once set out on his return voyage, and some men must be left behind. The first thing he did was to build, on a bay now known as Caracola, a fort, using the timbers of the wrecked Santa Maria. In this he placed thirty- nine men. Nature would surely give them all the shelter and provision? they needed. COLUMBUS RETURNS TO SPAIN. It was not until Friday, January 4, 1493, that the weather was sufficiently favorable so that Columbus could hoist sail and stand out of the harbor of the Villa de Navidad, as he named the fort, because of his shipwreck, which occurred on the day of the Nativity. Two days later the ship Pinta was encoun- tered. Pinzon on the first opportunity boarded the Nina, and endeavored, but unsuccessfully, to explain his desertion and satisfy the admiral. The two vessels put into a harbor on the island of Cuba for repairs, and continued to sail along the coast, now and then making a harbor. On Wednesday, the r6th day of January, 1493, they bade farewell to the Queen of the Antilles, and then the prows of the Nina and the Pinta, the latter the slower sailer because of an unsound mast, were turned toward .Spain, 1450 leagues away. It is not possible within the limits of this chapter to follow Columbus from day to day as he sails a sea now turbulent and tempestuous, as if to show its other side, in marked contrast to the soft airs and smooth waters that had greeted the voyagers when their purpose held — "To sail beyond the sunset and the baths Of all the western stars." Nor can we follow with minuteness Columbus in his subsequent career. He had made the greatest discovery of his or any other age : he had found the New W^orld, and this, more than anything else, has to do with "The Story of America." It was on Friday, March 15, 1493, just seven months and twelve days aftei leaving Palos, that Columbus dropped anchor near the island of Saltes. It was not until the middle of April that he reached Barcelona, where the Spanish Court was sitting. As he journeyed to Court his procession was a most imposing one as it thronged the streets, his Indians leading the line, with birds of brilliant plumage, the skins of unknown animals, strange plants and orna ments from the persons of the dusky natives shimmering in the air. When he reached the Alcazar or palace of the Moorish Kings, where Ferdinand and Isabella were seated on thrones, the sovereigns rose and received him standing. Then they commanded him to sit, and learned from him the story of his discovery. Then and there the sovereigns confirmed all the dignities previously bestowed. 44 THE STORY OF AMERICA. The rejoicing over, the good news spread everywhere, and Columbus was the hero of the civilized world. I'^erdinand and Isabella at once addressed themselves to the task of preserving and extending their conquests, and a fleet oi seventeen vessels and fifteen hundred men was organized to prosecute further discovery. It was on September 25, 1493, that Columbus set sail with his fleet. On the 3d of November he sighted land, a small, mountainous island, which Columbus called Dominica, after Sunday, the day of discovery. Then agam they set sail, and in two weeks discovered several islands in the Caribbean waters. It was not till November 27th that Columbus arrived in the harbor of La Navidad. He fired a salute, but there was no response. On landing the next morning, he found the fortress gone to pieces and the tools scattered, with evidences of fire. Buried bodies were discovered — twelve corpses — those of white men. Of the forty who had been left there, not one was present to tell the tale. But all was soon revealed, and a harrowing, sorrowful tale it was. From a friendly chief Guacanagari — whom Columbus at first suspected of treachery, antl was never quite satisfied of his innocence — it was learned that mutiny, perfidy, and lust had aroused resentments and produced quarrels, resulting in a division into two parties, who, separating and wandering off", were easily overwhelmed by the superior numbers of the incensed natives. Having discovered the Windward Islands, Jamaica, and Porto Rico, he founded a new colony in Hispaniola (Haiti or San Domingo), which he named Isabella, in honor of his queen. The place had a finer harbor than the ill-fated port of the Nativity. He named his brother Bartolommeo lieutenant governor, to govern when he should be absent on his explorations. On February 2, 1494, Columbus sent back to Spain twelve caravels under the command of Antonio de Torres, retaining the other five for the use of the colony, with which he remained. The vessels carried specimens of gold and samples of the rarest and most notable plants. Besides these, the ships carried to Spain five hundred Indian prisoners, who, the admiral wrote, might be sold as slaves at Seville — an act which places an indelible stain upon the brilliant renown of the great admiral : that one inhuman act admits of no palliation whatever. Of the troubles that ensued it is impossible to give any account in detail. Men returning disappointed at not finding themselves enriched, complained of Columbus as a deceiver, and he was charged with cruelty, and, indeed, there was scarcely a crime that presumably was not laid at his door. Then troubles broke out in the colony ; the friar, incensed at Columbus, excommunicated him, and the admiral, in return, cut off his rations. Then the men, in the absence of Columbus, oft" on trips of exploration, gave way to rapine and passion, and the poor natives had no other means than flight to save their wives and daughters. Matters proceeded from bad to worse, the colony growing weaker through dissension. COLUMBUS SETS FORTH ON A THIRD EXPEDITION. 45 Finally four vessels from Spain arrived at Isabella, in October, 1495, laden with welcome supplies. These were in charge of Torres, who was accompanied by a royal commissioner, Aquado, who was empowered to make full investigation of the charo-es broueht arainst Columbus. It was evident to the admiral that he should take early occasion to return to Spain and make explanation to his sovereigns. Accordingly, in the spring of 1496, Columbus set sail for Cadiz, where he arrived on June 11, 1496. He was well received, and was successful in defending himself against the many charges and the clamor raised against him. Ships for a third voyage were promised him, but it was not cintil the late spring of 1498 that the expedition was ready for sailing. COLUMBUS SETS FORTH ON A THIRD EXPEDITION. On May 30, 1498, with six ships, carrying two hundred men, besides sailors, Columbus set out on his third expedition. Taking a more southerly course, Colum- bus discovered the mouth of the Orinoco, which he imagined to be the great river Gihon, men- tioned in the Bible (Genesis ii, 13) as the second river of Paradise; so sadly were our admiral's geo- graphy and topography awry ! Columbus also discovered the coast of Para and the islands of Trinidad, Margarita, and Cabaqu?,, and then bore away for Hispaniola. It was the old story told over again, with sickening disappointment. He found the colony was more disorganized than ever. For more than two years Columbus did his best to remedy the fortunes of the colony. At last an insurrection broke out. It was necessary to act promptly and decisively. Seven rineleaders were handed and five more were sentenced to death. At this time the whole colony was surprised by the arrival at St. Domingo of Francisco de Bobadilla, sent out by Ferdinand and Isabella as governor, and bearing authority to receive from Columbus the surrender of all fortresses and public property. Calumny had done its work ! Bobadilla then released the five -:3SSt HAYTIAN INDIAN GIRL SPINNING. 40 THE STORY OF AMERICA. men under sentence of death, and finally, when Columbus and Bartholo- mew arrived at St. Domingo, Bobadilla caused them both to be put in chains, to be sent to Spain. Seldom has a more touching, more cruel, more pathetic picture been presented in the world's sad history of cruelty and wrong : Shocked as the master of the ship was at the spectacle of Columbus in irons, he would have taken them oft", but Columbus would not allow it ; those bracelets should never come off but at the command of his .Sovereigns ! It was early in October, 1500, that the ships with the three prisoners, Columbus and '..'SA?^53e» COLUMimS IN IRONS. his brothers, Bartholomew and Diego, left Isabella. On the 25th of November, after an unusually comfortable passage, the vessels entered the harbor of Cadi/ The sight of the venerable form of Columbus in chains as he passed through the streets of Cadiz, where he had been greeted with all the applause of .1 conqueror, was more than the public would suffer. Long and loud were the indignant protests that voiced the popular feeling. The news of the state i^i affairs coming to Isabella, a messenger was dispatched with all haste to Cadiz commanding his instant release. When the poor broken-hearted admiral came into the queen's presence Isabella could not keep the tears back — while he, HIS LAST VOYAGE. 4; affected at the sight, threw himself at the feet of his sovereigns, his emotion bursting out in uncontrollable tears and sobs — and this was Columbus's reward for discovering a new world ! HIS LAST VOYAGE. The rest is soon told. The acts of the miserable creature, Bobadilla, were instantly disapproved, and he was recalled, but was drowned on his way home. Columbus, however, was not allowed to return to Hispaniola, but after two years' waiting sailed from Cadiz, May 9, 1502, with four vessels and a hundred and fifty men, to search for a passage through the sea now known as the Gulf of Mexico. It was the middle of June when Columbus touched at San Domingo, where he was not permitted to land. He set sail, and was dragged by the currents near Cuba. Here he reached the little island of Guanaja, opposite Honduras, and voyaged along the Mosquito coast, having discovered the mainland, of which he took possession. After suffering from famine and many other forms of hardship, he went to Jamaica and passed a terrible year upon that wild coast. In June, 1504, provision was made for returning to Spain, and on November 7th of that year, after a stormy voyage and narrow escape from shipwreck, Columbus landed at San Lucar de Barrameda, and made his way to Seville. He found himself without his best friend and pro- tector, for Isabella Vv-as then on her death-bed. Nineteen days later she breathed her last. Ferdinand would do nothing for him. A year and a half of poverty and disappointment followed, and then his kindliest friend. Death, came to his relief, and his sorrows were at an end. Columbus died on Ascension Day, May 20, 1506, at Valladolid, in the act of repeating, Pater, in maims tuas dcpono spiritiim meitm, — " Lord, into Thy hands I commit my spirit." Death did not end his voyages. His remains, first deposited in the Monastery of St. Francis, were transferred, in 15 13, to the Carthusian Monastery, of Las Cuevas. In 1536 his body, with that of his son, Diego, was removed to Hispa- niola and placed in the cathedral of San Domingo, where it is believed, and pretty nearly certain, they were recently discovered. There seems no sufficient evidence that they were ever taken to Havana. Thus passed away the greatest of all discoverers, a man noble in purpose, daring in action, not without serious faults, but one inspired by deep religious feeling, and whose character must be leniently measured by the spirit of the age in which he lived. He received from his country not even the reward of the flattering courtier, for he was deprived of the honors his due, and for which the royal word had gone forth ; and in the end, when the weight of years was upon him and there was nothing more he could discover, he was allowed by Ferdinand to die in poverty, "with no place to repair to e.xcept an inn." But if Ferdinand was not a royal giver Columbus was more than one. For the world will never 48 THE STORY OF AMERICA. forget the inscription that, for very shame, was placed upon a marble tomb over his remains — he was now seven years dead — and which reads : — , " A Castilla y a Leon Nuevo mundo dio Colon." To Castile and Leon Columbus gave a new world. As to the character of Columbus, there is wanting space here for consider- ing the subject at any length ; nor does it at all seem necessary. Time has given the great navigator a character for courage, daring, and endurance, which no modern historian can take from him — least of all can the statement, that the falsification of the record of his voyage was reprehensible, stand. It was no more reprehensible than the act of Washington in deceiving the enemy at Princeton : and in Columbus's case his foes were the scriptural ones "of his own household." Living in an age when buccaneering was honorable and piracy reputable, it will not do to gauge Columbus by the standard of our day. It is sufficient to say that he was great, in the fact that he put in practice what others had only dreamed of Aristotle was sure of the spheroidicity of the earth, and was certain that "strange lands" lay to the west: Columbus sailed Tind foicnd ; — he went, he saw, he conquered. And these pages cannot better be brought to a close than by quoting what one of the most thoughtful of recent poets, Arthur Hugh Clough, has expressed in his lines, prompted no doubt by his visit to this country : — " What if wise men had, as far back as Ptolemy, Judged that the earth like an orange was round. None of them ever said, ' Come along, follow me, Sail to the West and the East will be found ' Many a day before Ever they'd come ashore, From the ' San Salvador,' Sadder and wiser men. They'd have turned back again ; And that he did not, but did cross the sea, Is a pure wonder, I must sav, to me." M V\ B. CHAPTER II. F'OST-COIvUMBIAN EXPLORERS AND DISCOVERERS. SEBASTIAN CABOT. No SOONER had the news of the successful results achieved by Columbus reached Spain than it spread like wild-fire throueh the then civilized world. The three other orreat maritime powers — Portugal, England, and France — were especially aroused to discover, if possible, lands for them- selves. On the one side were Ferdinand and Isabella, who were determined to acquire and hold "the strange lands to the west," the possession of which had been guar- • anteed them by the Pope. On the other hand, there were the three other great powers, with whom desire of conquest and dominion ex- isted no less strongly than with Spain. These nations were resolved to do all that lay in their power to acquire dominion ; whatever difficulty might arise with Spain could be settled later. The first country to compete with Spain in western discovery was England, and the first one to follow in the footsteps of Columbus was John Cabot, who, ■with his son Sebastian, was destined to make important discoveries which would hand the name of Cabot down to history as surely as that of the great pioneer discoverer, Columbus, himself. It was as early as 1492 that Senor Puebla, then the Spanish Ambassador to the Court of England, wrote to his Sovereigns that "a person had come, like Columbus, to propose to the King of England an enterprise like that of the Indies." The Spanish King immediately instructed his minister that he should inform Henry VII. that the prior claims of Spain and Portugal would be inter- fered with if he commissioned any such adventurer. But the warning came too late. It is possible that the unsuccessful mission of Bartholomew Columbus to England, while the future Admiral was besieging the Spanish Court, may have been the means of arousing in John Cabot's mind a desire to test the truth of the new theory of a westward path to the Indies. When the accomplished feat of the first voyage to the West Indies fired the imagination of Europe and became the chief topic of interest among the maritime nations, even cool- 49 so THE STORY OF AMERICA. blooded England was measurably excited, and her parsimonious Kin^j yielded to the urgent prayers of a Genoese navigator, and authorized John Cabot and his three sons " to sail to the East, West, or North, with five ships, carrying the English llag, to seek and discover all the islands, countries, regions, or provinces of pagans in whatever part of the world." We do not learn that this generous permission to sail and discover unknown countries was accompanied by anything more than a meagre provision for carrying it out, although the King in return for the commission given and the single vessel equipped was to have one-fifth of the profits of the voyage. According to at least one authority, Cabot had a little fleet of three or four vessels fitted out by private enterprise, " wheryn dyvers merchaunts as well of London as Bristowe aventured goodes and sleight merchaundise wh departed from the West cuntrey in the begyninng of somer — ." We are only sure, however, of one vessel, the Matthews, which left Bristol in May of 1497. Choosing the most probable of several vague accounts of Cabot's course in starting out. we find the sturdy adventurer, with his son and eighteen followers, standing to the northward, after leaving die Irish coast, and then westerly into the unknown sea. The plan was that which Columbus followed, when he sailed from the Island of Ferro in the Canaries, of striking a certain parallel of latitude and sticking to it. The transatlantic liners of to-day call that "great-circle sailing." We have absolutely no record of the month or more spent upon the outward course. What strange experiences the Gulf Stream or the Labrador current presented to Cabot we can onl)' surmise. There were no summer isles and turquoise seas for him. Instead of the ?ong birds, the spicy breezes and silver sands that Columbus found, his less fortunate countryman came upon the forbidding coast of Labrador, bleak even in the summer time, where he saw no human beings. It was on the 24th of lune, 1497. that those on board of the Matthews unexpectedly caught sight of that strange, unknown land. They had no more notion than had Columbus of the magnitude of the discovery. This was to their appreciation no new world, but rather the extreme coast of the kingdom of the Grand Khan — a remote and desolate shore of India. Pnit their imagination peopled it with strange beings ; demons, griffins, antl all the uncouth creatures of media-val mythology dwelt there with the bear and the walrus. If the South was the scene of brighter illusions, of kingdoms where the rulers lived in golden halls and fountains which could confer upon the bather the gift of perpetual youth, the glamour and legend which the cold crags of the North conjured up were not less characteristic. Haunted islands and capes, where the clamor of men's voices were heard at night, were known to all the sailors and pilots that followed after the Cabots. lOHN SEBASTIAN CABOT. 51 The land that John Cabot first reached, wherever it was, he called "Terra Firma." There he planted the roya! standard of England, after which he seems to have sailed southward ; presumably to reverse the course by which he came over. Peter Martyr, in relating the wonders that Cabot discovered, recounts that "in the seas thereabouts he found so great multitudes of certain Bigge fishes much like unto Tunies (which the inhabitants called baccalaos) that they sometimes stayed his shippcs." Another writer stated that the ^3 " Beares also be as bold which will not spare at mid-day to take your fish before your face." Coasting probably for three hundred leagues, with the land to starboard, Cabot seems to have discovered New- foundland on the mainland side and to have passed througli the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Hi named several islands and prominent points, but the names are uncertain and the localities problematical. We only know that in his opinion England would no longer have to go to Iceland for her fish, and that he relied upon his crew to corroborate his state- ments when he returned to England, because his unsup- ported word would not have established the fact of his dis- coveries. Royalty is not al- ways liberal, despite the phrase "a royal giver" ; for we learn right here of the munificence of the English King, who gave this intrepid sailor and discoverer ten pounds as a reward for his labor, and afterwards added a yearly pension of twenty pounds, or ^100. There is something pathetic in this fragmentary story of the second continent-finder. The little spasm of approval and excitement which his success oct asioned soon died away, and even at its height was utterly inadeqnnte to the m.ignitude of his work. The simple sailor must have made as great a show as poj^sible upon the stipend granted by the CAUi-iT ON THE SHORES OF I.AIIKADOR. 52 THE STORY OF AMERICA. king, for we read in a letter of the Venetian, Pasqualigo, that " he is dressed in silk and the English run after him like a madman." A second voyage of John and Sebastian Cabot to discover the island of Cipango, — that illusory land that Columbus had so hopefully sought, — was- undertaken ; but a storm came up and one of the vessels was much damaged, finally seeking refuge in an Irish port. The others sailed into a fog of tradition- and mystery as dense as that which wrapped the new-found land. We read that the expedition returned and that Sebastian Cabot lived to engage in further adventures, but of his father we know nothing further, the supposition being that he died upon this second expedition. Whether the third traditional voyage of Sebastian Cabot in the fifteenth century is fact or fable is not known. His subsequent career was mainly in the service of other sovereigns. The profits of the second voyage of the Cabots were so meagre as to fail to arouse any enthusiasm ; they were so small, in fact, that almost all interest- died out in England. We read of one or two minor adventures, as those of Rut and Grube, the former of whom went to find the northern passage to Cathay, in which voyage his two ships encountered vast icebergs, by which one of them was lost and the other "durst go no further," and after visiting Cape Race returned to England. With these few exceptions England took no part in the great work of discovery, by which, little by little, with here an island and there a headland, now a river and then a bit of coast, the results of that great discovery were combined into that which came to be known, though not at first, as the New World. Yet Newfoundland was not deserted. Almost from the first the Breton, and Basque fishermen, hardy and adventurous, frequented its shores. The Isle- of Demons and other uncanny places in the new country were visited by fleets of French fishermen's boats, and plenteous cargoes of " Baccalois," or cod-fish, were taken eastward yearly for the Lenten market. AMERICUS VESPUCIUS AND HIS VOVAGES.' The year 1500 was one of extreme importance in the making of New World history. The Spanish and Portuguese had already settled their dispute over the division of territory, the Pope's decision, to which all good Catholics in that day yielded unhesitating obedience, having given to Spain all land dis- covered west of a certain meridian line, and to Portugal whatever lay to the eastward. In this way Portugal acquired her right to the Brazils ; and she also laid claim to Newfoundland. But the great element, time, had just begun tO' work. It was destined, under the ordering of Providence, that Spain and Portugal should make conquests, but not hold them. The Anglo-Saxon was only then a potentiality; his greatness was becoming recognized: he was yet to sweep the Atlantic, and, finally, setding on the stormy coast to the west, was AMERICUS VESPUCIUS AND HIS VOYAGES. S3 to lay the foundations of a great empire, which was to make it possible to tell the inspiring and unique Story of America. We now come to Americus Vespucius, who was, singularly enough, and through no scheming of his own, to give his name to a country that should rightly have borne the name Columbia. And he was to do this though he headed but one expedition. The story must necessarily be brief Vespucius was a Florentine — another conspicuous illustration of the facf that he was to discover even as Columbus had discovered, but Italy was to reap no benefit. He was, indeed, to sow the seed, but the strong arms of others were to reap the harvest. On the 9th day of March, 1451, Vespucius was born, in the city of Florence. Of a noble but not at all wealthy family, he received a liberal education, devoting himself to astronomy and cosmography. The fortunes of business took him to Seville, where he became the agent of the powerful Medici family. It was in 1490 that he became acquainted with Columbus, and was concerned in fitting out four caravels for voyages of dis- covery ; he took an active part in assisting Columbus in preparing for his second voyage. Vespucius makes the statement, which we are prepared to accept, that in 1497 he sailed, and probably as astronomer, with one of the numerous expeditions that the success of Columbus had called into existence, leaving Cadiz on the loth of May of that year. After twenty-seven days of sailing, the fleet, consisting of four vessels, reached "a coast which we thought to be that of a continent," traversing which they found themselves in "the finest harbor in the world." Just what that harbor is it is impossible to say. Some writers have placed it as far south as Campeachy Bay ; Chesapeake Bay has also been designated. Cape Charles being the point of entering. It is impossible, however, owing to Vespucius's loose manner of writing, to fix the place with any certainty. But he states that he doubled Cape Sable, the southernmost point on the peninsula of Florida. Vespucius tells us that while in "the finest harbor" mentioned the natives were very friendly, and implored the aid of the whites in an expedition against a fierce race of cannibals who had invaded at different times their coasts, carrying away human victims whom they sacrificed by the score. The island in question was one of the Bahamas, one hundred leagues away. The fleet accordingly bore away, the Spaniards being piloted by seven friendly Indians. The Spaniards arrived off an island called Iti, and landed. Here they encountered fierce cannibals, who fought bravely but unsuccess- fully against firearms. More than two hundred prisoners were made captive, seven of them being presented to the seven Indian guides. But nearly a year had passed since they had left Cadiz. The vessels were leaky ; it was time to return. Accordingly, leaving some point of the coast line of the United States, the fleet reached Cadiz on the 15th of October, 1498, with two hundred and AN ITIAN CANNIBAL CUIKF Ol-'FERINCJ A HUMAN SACKIKUl. In lllK. SITN. BOIV AMERICA CAME TO BE NAMED. 55 twenty-two cannibal prisoners as slaves, where they were well received and sold their slaves for a good sum. Still following Vespucius's statement, on the i6th of May, 1499, he started on a second voyage in a fleet of three ships, under Alonzo de Ojeda. In this voy- age Ojeda reached the coast of Brazil, and being compelled to turn to the north because of the strong equatorial current, they went as far as Cayenne, thence to Para, Maracaibo, and Cape de la Vela. They also touched at Saint Domingo. The expedition returned to Cadiz on the 8th of September, 1500. Three months later Yanez Pinzon, taking a like course, discovered the greatest river on the earth, the Amazon, as will be seen a little further on in this chapter. Ojeda just missed that discovery. A year later, for some reason dissatisfied with his position — and Vespucius seems to have passed at pleasure from one command to another — he entered the service of Emanuel, King of Portugal, and took part in an expedition to the coast of Brazil. He wrote a careful account of this voyage, which he addressed to some member of the Medici family, to whom, in 1504, he sent a fuller narrative of his expedition, which was published at Strasbourg. This gave him high reputation as a navigator and original discoverer. Under the command of Coelho, a Portuguese navigator, on either May loth or June loth, 1503, a little squadron, with Vespucius, left the Tagus to discover, if possible, Malacca somewhere on the South American coast ; but through mishap the fleet was separated, and Vespucius, with his own vessel, and later joined by another, proceeded to Bahia. Thence they sailed for Lisbon, arriving there, after about a year's absence, on the i8th of June, 1504. HOW AMERIC.\ CAME TO BE NAMED. In a letter written from Lisbon, in 1504, to Rene, Duke of Lorraine, Ves- pucius gives an account of four voyages to the Indies, and says that the first expedition in which he took part sailed from Cadiz May 20, 1497, and returned in October, 1498. This letter has provoked endless discussions among his- torians as to the first discovery of the mainland of America, and it has been charged against Vespucius that after his return from his first voyage to Brazil he prepared a chart, giving his own name to that part of the country. It is high time the name of Vespucius was rid of this stain. It seems to be established that at this time the Duke Rene, of Lorraine, a scholar, and one deeply inter- ested in the discoveries of the age, caused a map to be prepared for him by an energetic young student of geography, a young man named Waldsee-Muller, who innocently affixed the name America to the Brazil country. In this way the name became fixed, and was eventually taken up by others. It was not till nearly thirty years afterward — in 1535 — that the charge of discrediting Colum- bus by affixing his own name was brought, and most unjustly so, against Vespu 4 p & w 56 THE STORY OF AMERICA. cius. Latter-day opinion acquits Vespucius of this charge, and now with the fact established, at this time of our Cohimbian anniversary, it should no more be brought against the distinguished navigator, whose discoveries were important, if he did not accomplish all that was expected, and that through no fault of his. Vespucius died in Seville, Februarj' 2, 151 2 — six years after his predecessor, the first Admiral, had passed away. yaSez pinzon as a voyager. The first man of importance to sail after Ojeda and Vespucci was V^incent Yenez Pinzon, who with his brother Ariez Pinzon, built four caravels, little deck- less or half-decked yachts, with which he sailed from Palos in the month of December, 1499. Going further south than his predecessors, Pinzon bore away toward the coast of Brazil, his first land being discovered at a point eight degrees north of the equator, near where the town of Pernambuco was afterwards built : he was the first Spaniard to cross the equinoctial line. We read that he lost sight of the pole-star, a circumstance which must have alarmed his sailors. More wonderful still, — most miraculous it must have seemed, — was the findingr of a great flood of fresh water, at the Equator, out of sight of land, which induced the navigator to seek for a very large river, and he found it ! — for there was the mighty Amazon with its mouth a hundred miles wide and sending a great tide of fresh water a hundred miles out to sea. At their first landing Pinzon's sailors cut the names of their ships and of their sovereign on the trees and the rocks, while he took possession of the land in behalf of Spain. Here Pinzon seized some thirty Indians as slaves. The mighty Amazon, with its hundred-mile wide mouth, filled the explorers with wonder, as well it might. But the capturing of the Indians had created difficulties which endangered the safety of the fleet, so that Pinzon deemed it prudent to shorten his stay. Accordingly he set sail, and skirting along the coast discovered the Orinoco River and Trinidad ; after which they stood across to Hispaniola. A hurricane overtaking the little fleet nearly put an end to Pinzon's ad\enture, but he finally escaped with the loss of two of his vessels. With the others he returned to Spain, only to find that Diego de Lepe had sailed after him and returned before him, with a report of the continuance of the South American continent far to the southward. Rightly Da Gama has no place here, save as a discoverer in times of discovery. A skilled Portuguese mariner, he coasted the eastern shores of Africa and visited India. In a second voyage he became involved in hostilities with the towns of the Malabar coast. In 1499 he was made Admiral of the Indies, lie died at Cochin, India, Christmas Day. 1524. In 1499, the same year that the Pinzons and Lepe sailed, Pedro Alvarez de Cabral was commissioned by the Portuguese King, Emanuel, to follow \'^asco d? PORTUGAL IN THE FIELD. 57 Gama's course and establish a trading station on the Malabar coast. Gomez, for some reason unknown, sailed by the way of the Cape Verde Islands, and taking from thence a much more westerly course than he intended, came, quite by accident, upon the Continent that Pinzon and Lepe had so lately left. Probably the real cause of Cabral's deflection from his original course was to avoid the calms of the Guinea shore. He had no sooner made the strange land than he resolved to cruise along it, and concluded that this wonderful) coast was a continent. Despatching a ship home to Portugal with the news — - with Caspar de Lemos in com- mand — he pursued his voyage. When Pinzon returned, therefore, he not only found that Lepe had been there before, but ascertained that Portugal pressed its prior claim to the coast he had discov- ered, based on the Pope's edict as well as the voyage of Cabral. The King of Portugal, on receiv- ing Cabral's message, soon des- patched a fleet to discover new territory for his crown ; and Americus Vespucius, till then in the Spanish service, accepted his overtures and went with the ex- pedition. When Caspar de Lemos started for Portugal with the news of the discover}' of the southern continent, Cabral waited only a few days and then sailed southward. The result of this second part of his voyage was the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope. There the fleet, heretofore so successful, was overtaken by a terrific storm, in the course of which four of his vessels went down, among them being one which was commanded by the navigator Bar- tholomew Diaz. The name which Cabral gave to this new country was "Vera Cruz. The appellation by which it was afterwards known, of "Brazil" or "the Brazils," was taken from the dye wood found there ; an Arabic word being borrowed for the purpose. Columbus discovered the new world without knowing he had done so, although his work was in pursuance of carefully laid plans. Cabral however, like Vespucius off the North American coast, VASCO DA GAMA. (From the MSS. of Pedro Barretto de Resdiuda.) 58 THE STORY OF AMERICA. was aware from the first that the land he accidentally discovered was the main- land of a great continent. After his adventure at the Cape of Good Hope Cabral went as far as Hindostan and returned with laden ships, in which were immense quantities of spices, jewels and rare merchandise. " Verily," said Vespucius, who met him in the Cape Verde Islands upon his return voyage, " God has prospered King Emanuel." The same year [1500] that the Pinzons and Cabral sailed from their respective countries, Portugal sent the brothers Caspar and Miguel Cortereal on the first of a series of new expeditions to explore the Northwest. The papal line of demarcation between Spanish and Portuguese possessions was called Borgia's meridian, and the suspicion that Cabot's discoveries lay to the eastward of this was sufficient cause for an expedition from Lisbon. These were unfortunate voyages, for although the region already explored by the Cabots was revisited and the flag of Portugal planted in the chill domain of the griffins and demons of Breton fancy, yet the wild men and curiosities which they brought home were but a sorry exchange for the lives that they cost. From Caspar Cortereal's second voyage he never returned. Two of his ships came home, and when his brother Miguel went in search of him his flag-ship also was lost, with all on board. OTHER DISCOVERERS. Rodigero de Bastidas and John de la Cosa, sailing with two ships from Cadiz, in 1502, discovered the Gulf of Darien, which point Ojeda on his second voyage also touched, thence proceeding to the West Indies. Following these, after a number of smaller adventurers that tried their fortune upon the Atlantic, Juan de Solis and Vincent Yaiiez Pinzon sailed from the Port of Saville, six years later. They directed their two caravels toward the coast of Brazil, going to the thirty-fifth degree south latitude, where they discovered the Rio de la Plata, — the River of Silver, — which they at first called Paranaguaza. To them also is due the credit for the discover)^ of Yucatan, on this same voyage. De Solis was by some considered the very ablest navigator of his time, and his fame at last induced the King of Spain to appoint him to the commantl of two ships fitted out to discover a passage to the Spice Islands, or Moluccas, for which he sailed in October, five years after he and Pinzon had made the trip just alluded to. He returned to the la Plata River, which stream he entered in January, 15 16, but a tragic fate awaited him. Attempting to ascend the river and explore its banks, de Solis and a number ol his crew were surprised and overpowered l)y the savages, who with barbaric heartlessness roasted and ate the unfortunate Spaniards in the sight of their companions on the vessels. The survivors, sickened and terrified by such a spectacle, lost no time- in escaping from the land of these cannibals. They stopped only at Cape San Augustin, where they loaded their vessels with Brazil fuNCE DE LEON DISCOVERS FLORIDA. 59 wood, and made the best of their way back to Europe with the sad news. In the following year Charles V sent Cordova, with a command of 1 10 men in three caravels, into that distant but no longer dreaded West, which still had its rewards for the adventurer. Upon the shore of Yucatan, where he first landed, at Cape Catoche, the Spaniards saw with surprise people who in one respect differed very greatly from the natives who had so far been met with in the western voyages, inasmuch as they dressed in cotton and other fabrics, instead of going naked and painting their bodies. Not only in their dress but in their houses they exhibited signs of civilization that excited the wonder of Cordova and his men. PONCE DE LEON DISCOVERS FLORIDA. Six years had passed after the death of Columbus, when, in 1512, Juan Ponce de Leon sailed from Puerto Rico in a northerly direction and discovered the peninsula which the Admiral had so nearly found upon his first voyage. De Leon first sighted land at about the boundary line separating Florida from Georgia. Landing, he took possession in the name of his sovereign, calling the new country Florida ; for it was in April, when the Cherokee roses, the wild jessamine, and all the multitudinous blossoms of a Floridian spring-time were filling the air with their fragrance. The discoverer of this paradise returned to Spain, and, obtaining the governorship of the new coast, undertook to enter upon its possession. But the savages were otherwise minded. The followers of Ponce de Leon were hunted through the tangled growth of the luxuriant, forests or harassed in their defences behind the sand-dunes, till many of them had been killed, and their leader was glad to escape with the little remnant of his force. -So he re-embarked, abandoning the country ; but the Spaniards: claimed Florida from that day, in spite of a counter-claim which England presented in virtue of the discoveries of the Cabots. Later, in 1527, Pamphilo de Narvaes repeated Ponce de Leon's experiment, with a similar result. Then Ferdinand de Soto, who had been Governor of Cuba, obtained the title of Marquis of Florida, and, with nearly a thousand men and ten ships, he landed, in 1539, on the west coast of the peninsula. Five years later a little handful of broken, impoverished, beaten, disheartened Spaniards, less than a third of the number that had sailed so proudly to the :onquest of Florida, left its shores to the sole occupancy of the jealous natives who inhabited it. There was no perpetual "fountain of youth" there for de Soto, but ageing, weariness, and disaster instead. o o When Charles V, of Spain, was beginning to feel the benefit of the con- quest in the New World, and Cortez and the Spanish captains and adventurers were planting the standard of .Spain in rich territory, Francis the First, cf France, ::hafed at the necessitv of acknowledging the success of his rival. Francis was 6o THE STORY OF AMERICA. one of the most curious characters of European history, a combination of good and evil traits. Vanity, culture, sensibility to the influences of art and literature, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness distinjruished him. He was the friend of philosophers and of those who were far from being philosophers. From Florence came Verazzano, a navigator of repute who, unlike most of the new world-finders, was by birth a gentleman, descended from men who had been prominent in Florentine history. He was appointed to sail westward from Dieppe with four ships, in the year 1523, to seek a new passage to that Cathay which still lured the hopes of Christendom ; and in passing we may remark upon the curious irony of fortune which permitted Italy to lend to other nations the men who should win the greenest laurels as discoverers, when she herself was unable to claim a foot of territory in the new world. The beginning of Verazzano's voyage was puzzling enough. He had not proceeded far from Dieppe when a storm overtook him and he escaped with two of his vessels to Brittany ; thence he cruised against the Spaniards and finally, having but one vessel left out of the four with which he started, he set sail for the island of Madeira, and on the 17th of January, 1524, turned the prow of his caravel, the Dolphin, westward, to cross the Atlantic. After a passage of forty-five days, during which the strange experiences common to such an adventure were not lacking, he sighted a low shore where vast forests of pine and cypress rose from the sandy soil. This was not far from the present site of Wilmington, North Carolina. Among other things the Florentine noticed the presence of many fragrant plants " which yeeld most sweete savours farr from the shore." The savages who appeared on shore attracted the greatest attention from the voy- agers since they were not at all sure what their reception might be when they landed for the supply of water of which they stood in need. A boat approached as near as possible to the beach, when one of the sailors, taking some gifts as a propitiatory offering, jumped overboard and swam through the surf But as he neared the beach and saw the throng of screeching red men who awaited him his courage failed, and flinging his presents among them he endeavored to return ; but the savages succeeded in capturing him and returned to the sand, where in the sight of the terrified captive they built a great fire. Instead, how- ever, of cooking him, as he expected, they warm.ed and dried him, showed him every mark of affection, and then led him to the shore and let him go. At the next place they touched, the crew of the Dolphin showed their appreciation of the courtesy of the Indians by stealing one of their children. From the Carolinas Verazzano's course was northward along the coast, his first anchorage being in the bay of New York. Into that beautiful harbor, through the Narrows and under the green and tree-covered banks of Staten Lsland, he rowed, being met by numerous canoes filled with Indians who came out to welcome him. From New York the Dolphin followed the Long Island THE FkENCH visit NEW ENGLAND. 6i coast as far as Block Island, and from there to the harbor of Newport, where for fifteen days they rested, being entertained by two savage chiefs, who did all that lay in their power to dazzle the eyes of their white visitors with the signs of opu- lence, as evidenced by copper bracelets, wampum belts, the skins of wild beasts, etc. From here the little vessel steered along the New England coast, neither offi- cers nor seamen finding much to attract them. The Indians were suspicious and inhospitable, driving them back with shouts and showers of arrows when they ventured ashore in their boats. The seaboard of Maine was visited, and then the banks of Newfoundland, from which last point Verazzano, whose expedition was for us, perhaps, the most significant of all, sailed back for France, having explored the American coast from Hatteras to Newfoundland. In the following year Verazzano sailed again from France with a fleet, but no news of that expedition ever came back, and the mystery of its loss chilled the ardor for discovery in that country, so that for several years we hear of no further adventures to the new world. But in 1534 the persuasions of Admiral Chabot led to the issuing of a commission to Jacques Cartier, of St. Malo, who sailed from that port in the same year with two ships and one hundred and twenty-two men. He circumnavigated Newfoundland and explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and upon a second voyage sailed up the river of the same name for three hundred leagues, as far as the "great and swift Fall." On the site of Montreal he visited an Indian town. Having attempted the settlement for which he had been sent out, Cartier went back to France only to return with a larger expedition to Canada five years later. Haifa century of discovery and adventure had elapsed. The map-makers of Europe during that time were kept busy by the changes made necessary from fresh data requiring the readjustment of old lines. From Columbus to Verazzano and Cartier, the whole coast, with a few exceptions, had been discov- ered, from the stony crags of Labrador to the Cape of Good Hope. It only remained now for the round-up of this magnificent hunt, which was accom- plished by the intrepid Magellan, prince of navigators, who, first turning west- wardly across the Pacific found the true path to far-off Cathay, which the mighty Genoese had sought so patiently, so grandly, so mistakenly, among the isles of June and the pearl banks of the Caribbean Sea. More than ordinary romance and interest attend the story of Vasco Nunez de Balboa. His appearance in the story of Spanish conquest in America, if not dignified, is captivating to the imagination. Martin Fernandez de Enciso, the geographer, sailed from St. Domingo to go to the relief of the explorer, Ojeda, who was dying of famine at San Sebastian. Among the stores in his vessel was a cask which contained somethinof more valuable than the bread which it was invoiced as containing. When Enciso's ships had g'ot fairly out 62 STOKV OF AMERICA. to sea, Balboa crept out of his cask and presented himself to the commander, who could, after all, do nothing but scold, as it was then too late to return the fugitive to the creditors from whom he had taken that means ot escaping. There were some threats of putting the culprit ashore on a small desert island, but that was not done, or one of the most popular stories of the New World would have been unwritten. Hut by the time the expedition in search of Ojeda had been abandoned and the followers of Enciso, reinforced by the haggard remnant of Ojeda's force, had reached the Gulf of Uraba, Balboa was no inconsiderable figure in that company. When the building of Santa Maria del Darien had commenced and Enciso's temper provoked an insurrection, the stowaway, Balboa, was spoken of as his successor. The new-comers had encroached on the province ot Nicuesa, who had been given a province in Darien, of which he was Governor, at the same time that Ojeda was similarly favored by King Ferdinand. Some of them, therefore, were for giving their allegiance to that Governor. The matter was settled by giving Balboa charge till Nicuesa should come. Nicuesa, embittered by famine and all manner of hardship, was rejected by the men of Darien when he finally came to them, and, turning his poor little brigantine seaward, was never heard from again. The cruelty shown to him at this time was afterward charged upon Balboa, but he was cleared by the court. He, however, showed little kindness to the irate Enciso, who went home to Spain an avowed enemy, complaining bitterly of the treatment he had received at the hands of the stowaway, whom, doubtless, he regretted not having "marooned," /. e., cast on a desert island, when he had the chance. Balboa next explored Darien. He married a native princess, thus making the old chief Comogre, her father, his firm friend. The first evidence which the Spaniards had of the superior claims of the people of Central America to civil- ization was at Comogre's house, where " finely wrought floors and ceilings," a chapel occupied by ancestral mummies, and other signs of ease and leisure, appeared. But dearer than anything else was the sight of ornaments and flakes of virgin gold. This the .Spaniards, with their usual propensity, acquired, and marveled at the strange tales which were told them of a land further to the west- ward where the people made bowls and cups of the yellow metal. This was the first news they had received of the kingdom of Peru. Balboa sent the whole of the story and a fifth of the gold to Spain as Ferdinand's share, but the ship went down on the voyage. Its arrival at Court would have done more than anything else to check the legal proceedings which were being commenced against him at home. However, Balboa was appointed Captain-General of Darien by the Government of Hispaniola, which was some little comfort to him. STORY OF AMERICA. Balboa next advanced across the Isthmus to find "the great sea" ol hi. had heard. On the twenty- fifth of September, in i 5 1 3, after some trouble with the Indians, Vasco Nunez de Balboa stood where the poet Keats has made Cortez stand for some years past, on a peak in Darien, a mountain in the country of Ouarequa, and looked with the glad eyes ot a discoverer on the blue waters of the mighty Pa- 63 which cific Ocean, that till then had had no herald in the Eastern world. Having o' shortly after this gained the Pacific coast, Balboa returned to Darien with the news of his great dis- covery, which might have gained him the gratitude and reward it merited had not Pedrarias Davila suc- ceeded in gaining the royal ear, and with a band of cavaliers, lured to new fields BALBOA DISCOVERS THE PACIFIC. 64 STORY OF AMERICA. by the golden rumors of Peru, started for Darieii. By his commission Davila was Admiral and Governor; he was a leading figure on the Isthmus for sixteen years, and during that time committed so many crimes that the historian Oviedo computes that he would have to face two million souls at the judgment day! Oviedo, like the humane Las Casas, believed that the Indians possessed souls; and though we know how given the Spanish chroniclers were to exaggeration and even downright mendacity, still we cannot doubt that enough murders were committed during the governorship of Davila to make even the conscience of a Spaniard feel uncomfortable. With the cavaliers who came over with Davila were Oviedo, the historian already named, and Enciso, Balboa's old commander. The first thing that the jealous Davila did was to arrest Balboa on trumped-up charges, but they did not suffice to insure his conviction, and about this time the news of his great discoveries was beginning to turn the tide in Spain in his favor. It is to be said to Balboa's credit that he was very politic in his treatment of the Indians, using kindness where the new Governor practiced the utmost cruelty. As a result Balboa was regarded with friendly feelings and his rival hated — a condition of affairs that could not tail to engender jealousy and danger. The Spanish Bishop, who had come with the expedition, strove to patch up matters by suggesting a betrothal between Balboa and the daughter of the Governor. As the daughter was in Spain, and the alliance could not be con- summated for some time, Balboa consented, though we have no evidence that he really contemplated abandoning his beloved Indian wife. The proposed marriage was but one article in an important treaty, without which the younger man would have been crushed by the elder. Before long, however, Balboa again incurred the hatred of his enemy, and accepting a treacherous invitation to visit him, was arrested by his old comrade, Pizarro, and beheaded, at the age of forty-two, in the land with which his name and fame are indissolubly connected. It was just before his last quarrel with Davila, which resulted in his untimely end, that Balboa performed one of the most astonishing feats in Spanish-American annals ; having taken his ships apart, he transported them across the Sierras, and launched them on the Pacific. Ferdinand de Soto was born in Xeres, Spain, in 1500. We first meet with him, so far as American exploration is concerned, on accompanying his friend and patron Davila [previously referred to in the account of Balboa], on his expedition to Darien, of which Davila was Governor, and whose (offensive administration De Soto was the first to resist. Me supported Hernandez in Nicaragua in 1527, who perished by the hand of Davila for not obeying his instructions. Withdrawing from the service of Davila, in 152S he explored the coasts of Guatemala and Yucatan for 700 miles, in search of the strait which was supposed to connect the two oceans. In 1 532, by special request of Pizarro, he joined him in his enterprise of conquering Peru. He was present at the STORY OF AMERICA. ^S seizure of the Peruvian Inca, and took part in the massacre which followed, serving the usual apprenticeship in butchery which hardened the hearts and made callous the nerves of those who tollowed the Spanish conquerors: but we are told he condemned the murder of the Inca Alahualpa, as well he might ! — Prescott has pictured the infamy of this crime in indelible colors. ^" '537' ^^ Soto was appointed Governor of Cuba, and two years later he crossed the Gulf of Mexico to attempt the conquest of Florida at his own expense, believing it to be the richest provmce yet discovered. Anchoring m lampa Bay, May 25th, 1539, his '' f [ route was through a country made hos- ( V '^^^f^p^^ff'' "^''^ b> the violence of the Spanish in- (IK l:E M)1A »^^ vader, Navarez. It was fiehtino- '"if all the time, but it was not conquest. He continued to march northward, reaching, October i8th, 1540, the present site of Mobile, Alabama, and finally arriving at the mouth of the Savannah river. That country was then, as it is now, flat and sandy, its low forests of pine interspersed with cypress swamps and knolls where the live-oaks flourished. Frequent streams intersect portions of It. Traveling with such means as De Soto had at his disposal was very slow and troublesome. From the Savannah he turned inland, fighting the Indians at almost every step, and overcoming mighty obstacles. With nearly a third of 66 STORY OF AMERICA. his men slain or lost, after a winter spent on the Yazoo, and disappointment following disappointment as he searched in vain, in his westward course, for the cities of yold which he saw in glowing^ but illusory vision, after a year and a half of unparalleled hardships and constant marching, in April, 1542, he discovered the Mississippi, that mighty stream whose current (lows lor tour tliousaiul miles^ upon wliich the eyes of a white man had never before; rested. This he explored for a short distance above and below Chickasaw Bhiffs. Here his great career ended, for he died of malignant fever. To conceal his death from the Indians, his body was wrapped in a mande, and in the stillness of midnight was silently sunk in the middle of the stream. His soldiers pronounced his eulogy by griev- ing for their loss, while the priests chanted the first requiem ever heard on the waters of the Mississippi. WASHINGTON AND GOVERNOR DiNlVIDDIE 'I'hc tiuvcrnor explaining the difficult mi^'ion upon which lie wishes to send ih-; youn'^ man ui" i\vc:uy-oiie. 'Jhe sli.ry of that looo miles' journey to :ind from Kort Diiqucsnc through an unbroken forest in dead of winter, beset by savages, is one of tlie iny by Quakers was that which first drew Penn's attention to America. In drawing up the plans for his i)rojected State he did so in accordance with Quaker ideas, which in point of humanity were far in advance ol the times. The declaration that governments exist fi>r the sake of the 88 THE STORY OF AMERICA. governed, that the purpose of punishment is reformation, that justice to Indians as well as to white. men should be considered, were startling in their novelty. The success of this enterprise was instant and remarkable. In three years the colony numbered eight thousand people. The applications for land poured in and the affairs of the colonists were wisely administered, and before the death of her great founder, Pennsylvania was firmly established. Education was a matter of care from the very start in Philadelphia, although throughout the rest of the state it was neglected for many years. Indian troubles were scarcely known. The great blot on the scutcheon of the Quaker colony was the use of white slaves, for whom Philadelphia became the chief market in the new world. Not less remarkable than the unity of time which characterized the planting of several American settlements was the unity of race into which they all finally merged, with few and slight e.xceptions, so that in after years all of the various lines of development which have been indicated in this chapter should combine to form a more complete national life. Penn made a treaty with the Indians, and kept it ; and herein lies the secret of his success. If only all treaties had been kept, what bloodshed might not have been avoided ! CHAPTER IV. MAKINO THE ?w York ^tutd Cabinet of Natural history, Albany ) about their task in crude fashion. Thev recognized, for instance, quite wisely, that there is no more insidious enemy ot nappiness than vanity, which makes a man utterly miserable wjienever he is ignored and only uneasily pleased even when he is admired the most, but they tried to ■j^s^^^ eradicate vanity from the human heart not by planting something better in its place, but by such petty sumptuary' laws as prohibiting the,' wearing of lace. They simply attempted to cut off whatever might minister to vanity's indul- gence. Their chief reliance for improving the condition of the world was in a countless number of minute restrictions and self-limitations. The more law there is, however, the more there needs to be, for prohibit nine-pins and soon there will be a new game of ten-pins to prohibit also. So it was with the Puritans. Restriction was placed here and restriction was placed there, imtil restriction became constriction and grew intolerable. The children were never allowed to lose sight of parental regula- tions, the parents of township ordinances, the town of state laws. But it was in the number and pettiness of these laws, not any cruelty in them, which made them intolerable, for the humanity of New England's legislators is evinced in the fact that there were only ten crimes punish- able with death in New England when there were one hundred and si.xty in Old England. The New Englanders were swaddled, not chained. The best that was in them did not have full play, but it had more play than it could have had in any other country, e.xcept Great Britain and Holland. From the start New England was a country of homes. The typical New England dwelling was the work of several generations. It had begun perhaps as a solidly built but plain rectangular house of one story and two rooms. In one of them the good wife cooked the meals on the hearth — and simple cooking was never better done — laid the table, as meal-time ap[)roached, with the neat wooden bowls, plates, platters, and spoons and prmitive knives of the time, or, the meal over, received a neighbor dropping iJlTCH ll.jl.,L IN ALl.ANY, N. Y. (From an Old Prmt.) THE HOUSE AND THE HOME hrparis'f " Th ™'' 1 'f 'P' ''' "'"■^^^'' ^'"^^^'>^ ^^^^^ ^he rounds of hs pansh. Thiswas the hv.ng room, the centre of the family life The other room contamed two great bedsteads with their puffy feather-beds, while ouse^ld If th" T-r^' T'^''^ '" P^^^^"^^ ^' '^''^ ^h''^-" '" the household. If the family was large, a rude ladder led the way to a sleepinc.- place m the garret, the very spot for a boy with a romantic turn ^ ^ Slowly but faithfully the farmer added to the size and to the comforts of his home Uhat a place the hearth soon became! "In the wide firep L and over the mass.ve back-log, crane, jack, spit and pot-hook did substandal work TRIMITIVE MODE OF GRINDING CORN la the 1 r ?'■ '^^•^^-'^^"1^ ^"d fry-g-P-n in hospitable exercise." Here was the place for the ,ron, copper or brass andirons, often wrought into curious devices and rehg.ously kept bright and polished. In front of the fire wa th" ^eep off the cold. Th.s was the famous New England settle, makin. an inviting and cozy retreat for the parents in their brief rests from labor, orl^erhap fof lovers when the rest of the house was still. On each side of the hearth in lit of be ter seats were wooden blocks on which the children sat as they drew dose to the fire on wmter evenmgs to work or read by its blaze. Perhaps, in some corner of the room could be seen the brass warming-pan, which every' winter's evening JQJ5 THE STORY OF AMERICA. was filled with embers and carried to the sleeping chambers to give a temporary warmth to the great feather-beds. There was a place near at hand for the Low-shoes, whJe matchlocks, swords, pikes, halbert. and some pjeces o armor fixed against the wall showed that the farmer obeyed the to^^n ordinances and kept himself prepared against Indian raids. For like all frontiersmen, these farmers never felt secure. The Indians instigated by the French, and exasperated by the cheating and bullying Enghsh adve^nturers' who had crept into New England against the colonists will, w^e not only the cruelest of foes, they were the most treacherous of friends. T ley had pillaged and destroyed more than one secluded and unsuspec ing set le^ ment murdering, torturing, or carrying into captivity, as they pleased, the "^ ' " peaceful inhabitants. The big. vague rumors of such midnight raids exercised their uncanny spell over many a household as it gathered about the hearth of a winter's evening. There was the Deerfield massacre, for instance. Just before the dawn of a cold winter's night the Indians tell upon the fated village. They spent twenty-four hours in wanton destruction, slaughtered sixty help- less prisoners, and carried a hun- dred back with them for an eight weeks' cruel march to the north, during whichnineteen victims were murdered on the way and two were starved to death. Such was the story associated with the arms upon the wall ; but a happier stor>^ Id b the ears of corn, the crooknecks. the dried frmt. an the flitches :f Lon hang^g .cm tl.e bean, and ceding ^^^-,^2::^^ perpetual reminder of ^l-nksgiving Day^ f U.e l^r^^^ ^^^^^^^^_ Christmas objer^'^ ^ ^ ^^ ^y tl^Sl^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ,, ,,e "'" l1;^4 of art It as characteristic of the early New Englanders to ^"l !ch of little hini The housewife was rightfully proud of her sunple OLD FRENCH HOUSE. HOUSEHOLD INDUSTRIES. 109 which comes from a full appreciation of nature's wealth of gifts. They were lovers and cultivators of the wholesome fruits. It was a cViStom often observed in New England to give a favorite tree or bush a special and appropriate name, as a token of affection and so to make it seem the more companionable. The Puritan, indeed, had strong local affections and attachments. He found his pleasures in what came to his hand and made pleasures often out of the work he had to do. He provided little that was even amusement for his children, but this misfortune was alleviated by the abundant outlet for youthful energies which they found in the activities of the household. There was litde time which could be spent in mere amusement. The home was a hive of busy workers. The planting, cultivating and harvesdng of his crops consumed perhaps the smaller pordon of the farmer's time. Cattle raising for the West Indies and sheep growing took much of his attention. He was something of a lumberman, as well, and still more of a mechanic. Per- haps he bought iron rods and, when debarred from outdoor labor, hammered them into nails at the kitchen fireside. It was much more important, however, that he should have some skill at carpentry. Often too, he .carved out of wood his table dishes. In the diverse indus- tries of his house was the germ of many a nucleus factory. From his wife's busy loom came home- spun cloth for the family. In the kitchen were distilled her favorite remedies. The children of the family were not only kept busy ; they were kept thmking ; their inventive faculties were constantly on the alert. Hardly a week passed but a new device was needed. Early in the history of New England, to be sure, there were tanners who would keep half the skins they received and return the other half in leather, brickmakers, masons, carpenters, millers with very busy wind-mills, curriers, sawyers, smiths, fullers, malsters, shoe- makers, wheelwrights, weavers and other artisans to do the work of specialists in the community, yet the farmer did not a little for himself in every one of these trades. His home was an industrial community in and of itself The fisherman who dwelt upon the sea-coast needed quite as active and versatile a family as did his inland brother. He left them to build the boats, hoop the casks, forge the irons, and manage the many other industries pre- blLK-WI.NDING. {Facsimile 0/ a Picture in Edward li'iUiams s " Virginia Truly Valued.'* Jbjo.) no THE STORY OF AMERICA. requisite to the complete outfit of a vessel for a ^onof and hazardous voyage. At an)- time they might be obliged to support themselves entirely or be thrown upon the town, for all fishing out at sea is a dangerous vocation, and whaling had its peculiar perils. Occasionally a boat and crew were sunk by the tremendous blows with which some great whale lashed the sea in his death agony. Now and then one of these tormented giants would turn madly upon his pursuers. Then, so says one careful historian, "he attacked boats, deliberately, crushing them like egg-shells, killing and destroying whatever his massive jaws seized in their horrid nip. His rage was as tremendous as his bulk ; when will brought a purpose to his movement, the art of man was no match for the erratic creature." One such fighting monster attacked the good ship "Essex," striking with his head just forward of her fore-chains. The ship, says the mate, "brought up as sud- denly and violently as if she had struck a rock, and trembled for a few seconds like a leaf." .She had already begun to settle when the whale came again, crashing with his head through her bows. There was bare time to provision and man the small boats before the vessel sank. The crew suffered from long exposure and severe privations, and only a part of them were ever saved. Such tales as this reached inland and attracted boyish lovers of adventure to the sea. There were other and different tales of the sea, as well, to allure them — tales of great wealth amassed in the India trade, of prizes captured from the French by audacious privateersmen, or of pirates, then scourging the sea, or, more boldly still, entering Boston harbor and squandering their ill-gotten gains at the Boston taverns. The ocean was then the place for the brave and the ambitious. It is a significant fact that probably the first book of original fiction ever published in New England was "The Algerine Captive," a story of a sailor's slavery among the Moors. Yet this story was long in coming. New England produced no fiction of its own and reprinted little of old England's until ten years after the close of the American Revolution. In the early farm- houses, the library consisted of two or three shelves of Puritan theoloo-v. As time went on Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, a few ecclesiastical and local histories, one or more records of witchcraft trials, and some doggerel verse from the New England poets were added to the dry and scant supply of reading. Vet the enterprising and imaginative reader, though a child, could ferret out not a few exciting episodes from such uninviting volumes as Josephus's " Histor)- of the Jews," or Rev. I\lr. Williams's record of Indian Captivity, while by 1720 a few of the more fortunate little ones had a p/inted copy of Mother Goose jingles for their amusement. But, although this was all the reading the farmer had — for the newspapers were wretched and were seldom seen fifty miles from Bos- ton — it must not be supposed that he underestimated the value of books. He read far more than the modern farmer does — indeed all he could afford to get and had the time for ; the clergy of the time often had substantial libraries of THE YOUNG LADY. II! one or two or even three hundred volumes ; while in the Revolutionary period, any young lady in a well-to-do family could easily obtain the best writings of Dryden, Pope, Addison, Swift, Thomson, and the other classic writers of the eighteenth century. -^itj U.Z* r Sail ta b^ hair i T -eajuj w Tjih ^^ athirf rt k.p?iit tl tnoTF tfmn ' " ATuw cf V Induitry of^ZidVirj trf Cajuiiia in making I>ams to stDp y Coursi of ^^it^uht , inorJtrts -form ajjrtatJ^k.i , about w. t^jr huild their Cavitations . To Xifttt this : thij/ iiil /aryi Trtej utih tiigirTe^th , in Jutk a manner ai to make them trome Crr/j ^ Ji^v* let, to iaj/j/JounJation of^S>am: thev makeJfortar, uvrk up, and -finish y trhole with arjat order anj. uvndiHult J>exterity. Xh* 3eaivrj hare tuv Jhwrs to yutr Xrod^^es , one to tht TiftXter artd th* other to thtX^tnd side ^Atcor3m^tBj:^rtnch.'i^ounts. NIAGARA AND THE BEAVER DAMS. (From Moll's "New and Ejcact Map." lyi}.) Indeed, the " young lady," as the feature of human society, was not alto- gether neglected, even in earlier times. To be sure, she could not dance with- out shocking most, if not all, of the community ; she could not act in church charades — for all dramatic exhibitions were forbidden by law ; but in the inter- I 12 THE STORY OF AMERICA. vals between her sewing- and her housekeeping cares, she played battledore and shuttlecock with her sister or friends, or practised the meeting-house tunes on the old-fashioned and quaint spinet or virginal. If she were so fortunate as to be born in the eighteenth century instead of the seventeenth, she was regularly escorted by her swain to the singing-school, which not only furnished training in psalmody, but was the occasion of much social companionship among the young people of the village, and of not a little match-makinij. These gatherings often started incidentally other intellectual interests besides those of music, and books were discussed and recommended. Here was FROZEN NIAGARA. the birth-place of the reading circle and the modern lecture system. Awkward and restrained as their society manners were, the Puritans were a social people jealously as they preserved their home-life, they joined quite as readily as do j modern farmers in general village pleasures. The barn raisings for men, the quilting-bees for women and the merry corn-huskings and house-warmings for both, were not the only social gatherings of young and old. Every ordination or installation of a new minister — it came seldom, to be sure, — was the occasion of feasting and a sociable assembling by the congregation. Training day was i another time when the township was agog with e.\citement. Every male citi- zen of the village, from the boy of si.xteen to the man of si.xty, was compelled on these occasions to shoulder his musket and march in the militia. An awkward SCHOOL AND MEETING HOUSE. 113 squad of amateur soldiers they were, as they paraded the village, complacent and valiant in fair weather, but bedraggled, crestfallen and wofully diminished in numbers in wet. Yet the women and children were proud of them and fol- lowed along the route. In honor of the occasion special booths were erected for the sale of gingerbread and harmless drinks to the onlookers. The tavern too was kept busy, for every settlement of any pretensions had a tavern, where the passing traveler might get refreshment for himself and his horse. Here the selectmen planned the village policy for the consideration of the town-meeting. Here too were held public debates between rival theological disputants, sitting over their mild spirituous beverages. Here too was disseminated the latest news from Boston and the old world. The two other public buildings of the place were the school-house and the meeting-house. As early as 1647, every Massachusetts village of fifty house- holders was required by state law to maintain a school, in w-hich the catechism and the rudiments of readinof, writino- and arithmetic should be taught, while every town which boasted a hundred householders was obliged to establish a grammar school. But New England was not dependent upon these schools alone for her education. Massachusetts and Connecticut each had its colleo-e, in which learned and often eminent men trained the more ambitious youth of the land. One hundred thousand graduates were among the early emigrants from^ England and mingled with the people, while in the first days of the church, th'i pulpits even in the smaller towns, were almost without exception filled with men accomplished in the best learning of the time. The church was the centre of the community's social and political life. Attendance on public worship was enforced, during many decades and in many places, by village ordinance. Church and state were curiously confused. Only cnurch members were allowed to vote at town-meetings, and the selectmen of the village assigned the seats to the congregation, according to the peculiar regulations of the town-meeting. Customs differed in different places. In some villages, just before service began, the men would file in on one side of the church and the women on the other, while the boys and girls, separated from each other as scrupulously, were uncomfortably fixed in the gallery, or placed on the gallery stairs, or on the steps leading Up to the pulpit. It was in one of these churches that the following ordinance was enforced : — "Ordered that all ye boys of ye town are and shall be appointed to sitt upon ye three pair of stairs in ye meeting-house on the Lord's day, and Wm. Lord is appointed to look to the boys yt sit upon ye pulpit stairs, and ye other stairs Reuben Guppy is to look to." In other meeting-houses, each household had a curious box pew of its own, fashioned according to the peculiar tastes of its occupants. The assignment of 114 THE STORY OF AMERICA. pew room in these places of worship was determined by the most careful class distinctions, for democratic as die Puritans were in their political institutions and commercial methods, each family jealously guarded whate\er aristocratic pre- tensions it might have inherited. To the plain seats in the galler)- were relegated the humbler members of the parish ; a few young couples had pews of their own set off for them there, while a special gallery was occasionally provided for , the negro slaves. There was no method of heating the edifice : to warm their feet the women had recourse to foot-stoves, carried to the meeting-house by the children or apprentices ; the men to the more primitive method of pinching th'Mr shins together. When the hour-glass in the pulpit had marked the passage of in hour and a half, the sermon usually came to a close, and the people in the I I CHAMPU\IN S FORTinED CAMP: THE FIRST HOl"SE ERECTED IN Ql-EBEC gallery descended and marched two abreast up one aisle and past the long pew which directly faced the pulpit and in which the elders and deacons sat. Here was the money-box, into which each person dropped his shilling or more, as the case might be, while the line was turning down the other aisle. There was an intermission of service at noon, when the people ate their luncheon in the adjacent school-house, where a wood-stove could be found, and discussed the village gossip and the public notices posted on the meeting- house door. In ever)- family the minister of the parish was received with an awe and reverence which seemed suitable not only to the dignit\- of his calling, but to the extreme gravity of his deportment and the impressive character of his learn- ing. In weight and authorit)' he was the peer of the village officials. Only the MINISTER AND SQUIRE. ^•5 squire, the appointee of the Crown, was his superior ; for he held his office as irepresentative of the Crown. If offenders did not pay the fines imposed upon them, this village dignitary could place them in the stocks, or order them to be iwhipped. Persons who lived disorderly. " misspending their precious time, he could send to work-house, to the stocks, or to the whipping-post, at his discre- tion. He could break open doors where liquors were concealed to defraud His Majest)''s excise. He could issue hue-and-cries for runaway servants and\ thieves. There are instances on record in which a justice of the peace issued COLONIAL NL\NS10N. RESIDENCE OF THE LATE WILLIAM BULL PRINGLE, ESQ., CHARLESTON, S. C. his vvarrant to arrest the town minister, about whose orthodoxy there were dis tressing rumors, and required him to be examined upon matters of doctrine and faith. But a more pleasing function of his office was to marry those who came to him for marriage, bringing the town clerk's certificate that their nuptial inter»- tions had been proclaimed at three religious meetings in the parish during the preceding fortnight." The Squire's office, however, was an English, not an American institution, and did not long survive on our soil. What was peculiar to New England public life was the town meeting, held in the parish church. Every freeman of the ii6 THE STORY OF AMERICA. township was obliged to attend it, under penalty of a fine. It distributed \n early days the land among the settlers ; it regulated, often according to com- munistic and often according to protectionist principles, the industries of the community ; and it repressed gay fashions and undue liberties in speech and deportment. Its representatives were the selectmen and town-clerk, and were held in high esteem, from the respect due to their office. Yet none of these dignitaries, much as they were held in awe, could per- manently suppress the instincts of youth for gayer fashions and happier times. It is impossible on any rational basis to explain the inconsistent Puritan standards of right and wrong amusements. The most conscientious of Puritans would go, merely out of curiosity, to a hanging, and see no harm in it, but he looked with grave suspicion on church chimes as a worldly frivolity. Feasting he encouraged and religious services he discouraged at a funeral. Marriage he made a secular function ; the franchise religious. To dancing he objected as improper and to card-playing as dangerous, but he saw no harm in kissing-games and lotteries. Finally the influence of the city proved too much for him. Boston customs were imitated in the provincial towns. Young and old indulged in the fashionable disfigurements of the day. The women wore black patches on their faces to set off their complexions and the men slashed the sleeves of their coats to show the fine quality of their underclothes, and even funeral services became occasions for display. Sumptuary laws were ignored or repealed. The country towns became social centres. By the time of the American Revolution, New England was already merging from Puritanism, with its virtues and limitations, into a new Americanism, with its new merits and its new defects. CHAPTER VI. THE BUCCANEERS AND PIRATES OE AJvIERICA. To the north of Cuba, between that island and the Great Bahama banks, is a navigable channel known as the old Bahama passage. Three centuries ago it had its day, a rich day, when freighted Spanish merchantmen and galleons, seeking in the new world the riches which impoverished Spain grasped so eagerly for, "dropped down with costly bales " from Cuba and the American coast, finding their way by the Caicos passage to the ocean. Between Cuba and Haiti, or Hispaniola, is what is known as " the windward passage," almost at the inter- section of which with the Bahama channel, at the north- west end of Haiti, is Tortuga del Mar — the sea tortoise. As it was described in the sixteenth century, so it is to-day — a wooded, rocky island, with few inhabitants and much game. Its only good harbor is on the south, and the blue water that surrounds it is as clear as a mountain spring- and deeper than the mountain itself. It covers the entrance to the little for- tified Haitian town of Port au Paix, with a strait ten miles wide between them. With its beauty of foliage, mild, sea-tempered, tropical climate, and advantage of position, nature evidently intended Tortuga for a little insular heaven, but man succeeded in making quite the reverse of it. On Tortuga the Buccaneers (formerly known as Boucaniers and Buccaniers) started and developed, till Spain rang with the terror and fame of their achievements, and throughout the ' Antilles and the Spanish Main they enacted one of the most terrific romances of history. Boucaning, from which we get Buccanier, originally meant to prepare beef in a peculiar way, by smoking ; and the Buccaneers were cow-boys, who were a part of the French settlement that had driven the Spanish owners from Tortuga. The horses and catde of the latter, running wild in large droves, afforded the material for their adventurous trade It was not long before these old-time " cowpunchers " became a separate and peculiar people, living much of their lives in camp, and returning to town only to dispose of their spoils and to commit untold debaucheries. Spain, in possession of Hispaniola, naturally was 117. ii3 THE STORY OF AMERICA. jealous of her interloping French neighbors. France disclaimed any responsi- bility for their acts, on the ground that she neither governed nor received tribute in Tortuga. Then the Spaniards tried to eject the Buccaneers, and only succeeded in incurring their undying enmity. At last a destruction of cattle drove the Frenchmen to more desperate adventures. The first departure was that of Pierre Le Grand, who, tired of the waning activity of the beef business, took a small vessel, and with twenty-eight men, cruised towards Caicos, with the purpose of surprising some Spanish merchant- man. Finally discovering a war vessel, instead of such game as he was in search of this Peter the Great approached to examine his prey more closely, and succeeded in exciting the suspicions of some of the Spaniards on board of the stranger, who told their captain that they believed the little vessel to be a pirate ; but the commander, who was vice-admiral of the Spanish fleet, laughed at their anxiety, replying that even if the Frenchman was near their own vessel's size they would have nothing to fear. Waiting till cover of evening, the Buccaneers approached so close to the Spaniard that they could not have withdrawn without discovery and suspicion. In order to insure success, Pierre made the pirates' chances desperate by scuttling his own vessel ; thereupon they closed with the man-of-war and boarded her with such adroitness and celerity that they succeeded in surprising the captain and some of his officers in the cabin, and, after a short struggle, shooting down those that opposed them, possessed themselves of the gun room. It was an easy but brilliant victory, an achievement that set the hot blood of the Tortuea Buccaneers in a sudden blaze, and freebooting on the high seas became at once a fashionable and much-followed profession. As for Pierre le Grand, the pioneer in piracy, he was content with his first venture, and, having taken his rich prize to France, remained there, never revisiting the Western W^orld. Doubtless the Spaniards passing Cape de Alvarez in their little tobacco boats, or hide-laden vessels from Havana, were surprised and, not pleasantly so, by the sudden appearance and activity of canoes and small boats manned with murderous Frenchmen from Tortuga. The Buccaneer w-as beginning his trade of piracy in a small way, ndustriously accumulating the capital with which to venture on greater enterprises. The small vessels he converted into little freebooting ships ; the small cargoes he took home and sold in Tortuga, till he had enough saved to equip them properly. When everything was ready, and agreements as to the share of each man had been entered into, and every man had chosen his side partner, who should share his good and evil fortune and stand by him in a fracas, the notice was given to assemble. Whereupon every pirate brought his powder and arms to the appointed place, and off they went. That was the fashion of it. As we would plan a little jaunt down the river, or across the DEEDS OF DARING. 119 lake, or up to the top of a mountain to see the moon rise, these jolly Buccaneers got ready and went a-pirating. Let us not be misled at the outset by a glamour of romance which time and a partial historian have thrown about the deeds of the buccaneers. No more utterly debased, bestial, merciless, and bloodthirsty set of fiends ever figured in history ; but it is no less true that their physical fearlessness led them to deeds tvhich, by their audacity and atrocity, set the world ringing with their fame. The first four great prizes were made within a month. Two of these were Spanish merchantmen and two were vessels loaded with plate at Campeche. Success so great, the proofs of which were at once brought to Tortuga, as to arouse the wildest enthusiasm. In a little time there were twenty vessels in the buccaneer fleet. Spain, disgusted at this new state of affairs, sent two men-of-war to guard her shipping. It is impossible to say how much more mischief might have been done had it not been for this precaution. As it was, the commerce of His Most Catholic Majesty suffered frightfully. A second Pierre, called Frangois, led a crew of twenty-six men in a little vessel against the pearl fleet, near the river De La Plata, where they lay at work under the protection of a gun-boat. The man-of-war was barely half a league away from the fleet, but Frangois resolved to attempt a swoop. He feigned to be a Spanish vessel coming up the coast from Maracaibo. On reaching the fleet he assaulted the vessel of the vice-admiral, of eight guns and sixty men, and forced a surrender. He then resolved to take the man-of-war. So he sunk his own boat and, compelling the Spaniards to assist him, set sail in the prize, with Spanish colors flying. Thinking that some of the sailors were trying to run away with what they had got, the man-of-war gave chase. This did not suit Francois at all. It is one thing to fight a surprised and unsuspecting enemy, and quite another to combat a foe that gready outweighs and outmeasures one's self when he is suspicious and advancing. Francois tried to get away. That he would have succeeded in escaping had his rigging stood, there is litde doubt. As it was the mainmast gave way under the sudden strain of canvas, and the freebooters were at the mercy of their enemy. On being overhauled Franijois and his men — twenty-two of whom could fight — made a fierce resistance, but were at length overcome, but only yielded on favorable terms, which were that they were to be put, uninjured, on shore, on free land. It is estimated that the booty which they obtained and lost that day was worth about 100,000 pistoles, or about $400,000. In course of time, and no very long time, Port Royal, In Jamaica, became the chief rendezvous for the pirates. On the harbor where Kingston now stands there is a litde town to remind one of the city that was engulfed by the great earthquake — a city said to be the wickedest in the world. Near Port Royal, upon the same harbor, is a landing by which one could go, and still 120 THE STOR y OF AMERICA. can, by a short cut of half a dozen miles, to the capital city, Santiago de la V'ega, now known as Spanish-Town. Near this landing there are large caverns and fissures of enormous depth, into which one may cast a stone and hear it bound and rebound, till the sound is lost in the distance. These caverns, tradition says, were the hiding places and silent accomplices in murder of the Buccaneers when they were hard pressed. Some are still supposed to contain vast treasure. Attracted great success by the of the Frenchmen, accessions from English, Portuguese, and Dutch mariners joined the ranks of those who preyed upon Spanish com- merce. Nearly always the buccaneers appear to have sailed under some semi- official letters of marque by the colonial granted (From thi Partrttit in " De Americiietnche Zee Root'ers.") Bartholomew Portu- gues, a man of cat-like cunning, courage, and ferocity, was among the first to arrive. He had been a noted desperado in the old world before he ventured his fortunes in the new. With a small vessel, about thirty men, and four small cannon, he attacked a large Spaniard runnmg from Maracaibo to Havana, and after being once repulsed succeeded in taking her. Her force of men was more than double his own, and her armament vastly larger, but she finally struck her Hag to the pirate, who had lost ten or twelve men. Being bothered by head winds, Portugues sailed for a cape on the west end of Cuba, to repair and take in supplies. Just as he rounded the cape, he ran into the midst of three large Spanish vessels, by whom he was taken. Shortly afterward a storm arose and separated the ships, but the one which bore the desperado put into Campeche, where he was recognized by some BRAZILIANO. 121 Spaniards who had suffered at his hands in other waters. He was condemned withou: trial, to be hung at daybreak, and for safe keeping was confined that night on the ship ; but having a friend "and accomplice near, he procured a knife, murdered his guard and escaped to land, floating on earthen wine jars, for he could not swim. Hiding in the woods for three days without food other than that the forest afforded, the pirate saw the parties sent in search of him. and afterward traveled nearly forty leagues, living on what he could glean on the shore, and exposed to" all the discomforts, which only those who have traveled in a tropical country can at all appreciate. On his journey he performed, it is said, a remarkable feat which illustrated his tenacity of purpose, and power of will. Coming to a considerable river and being unable to cross it by swimming, he shaped rude knives from some great nails which he found attached to a piece of wreckage on the shore, and with no other instrument, cut branches with which he constructed a sort of boat. When he reached Golfo Triste and found there others of his own kidney, he told them of his sufferings and adventures and begged a small boat and twenty men with which to return to Campeche. In the meantime the Spaniards, having supposed their foe dead, made a great rejoicing, which was summarily cut short by his unexpected return. In the dead of night he encountered the very vessel which had lately captured him, and from which he had escaped. She was lying in the mouth of the river. Softly the pirates steal across the starlit water, slipping from shadow to shadow along the shore, starting at the whistle of the duck or the hoarse cry of the flamingo, till they are in position to pounce upon their prey. Then a sudden dash, a few shots and groans, and Portugues is again the successful Buccaneer, the master of a rich prize. But he did not keep it long. He was wrecked on his way to Jamaica, and returned to that evil place as empty as when he started out, and although he engaged in several expeditions and made brilliant efforts to regain his advantages he never did so, but was always followed by the ill fortune he so richly deserved. Braziliano — a Dutchman, long resident in Brazil — had his share of notoriety. He won a rich prize or two and spent his money so recklessly that a fortune slipped through his fingers in three months. At this time Port Royal was so choicely wicked that only the quaint chronicler of three hundred years ago would dare to put in words the details of its debauchery, and only in the old fashioned style of that early day would the account be readable. Literally, wine flowed in the streets like water, was thrown over the persons of passers by, who were ordered, at the pistol mouth, to partake. Murder, lust, and drunkenness, in forms indescribably beyond all precedent or comparison, were the order of the. day. And this tremendous reputation for crime and 8 p & w 122 THE STORY OF AMERICA. debauchery, that is pre-eminent after the lapse of centuries, was won in less than half a generation. After a little the Spaniards, grown wary, were too well convoyed and armed to be easy conquests, and a new era was inaugurated. Lewis Scott was the first of the Buccaneers to attempt the adventures upon land which added so greatly to the fame of the freebooters. He attacked and almost destroyed the town of Campeche. His example incited the Dutchman, iMansvelt, who invaded Grenada, the island of St. Catherine, which he took, and which was for some time a pirate rendezvous, and Carthagena. Nor must we forget John Davis, whose fame is only second to that of Morgan himself. Davis was a Jamaican by birth. His first great exploit was the sack of Nicaragua. He had in all forty men, of whom he left ten to guard tlie vessel, and with the remainder, in three boats, approached the city. Sending a captive Indian slave in advance to murder the sentry, the party landed and went from house to house, knocking and entering, putting the in- mates to death and looting all they could lay their hands on. They pillaged tlie churches and took prisoners for ransom, escaping when the hue and cry was raised, and the uproar in the suddenly awakened city taught them that it was time to retreat. The Spaniards followed them to the seashore, but too late to recover their townsmen or treasure, though not too late to receive a warm parting salute from the guns of the pirate. The value of boot)' acquired on this raid is said to have exceeded $300,000 in gold, besides much plate and jewels — probably all told reaching $75,000 more. We next learn of Davis as die commander of a fleet of half a dozen or more pirate vessels, and among other adventures is that of the capture of St. Augustine, Florida. LOLOXOIS AND HIS .ADVENTURES. The plans and exploits of the pirates continued to grow in magnitude. Their vessels became fleets and their fleets almost navies. One of the great leaders was Lolonols, who began In the early days of buccaneering on Tortuga, and rose to be a freebooter of great prominence and reputation. The Gov. ernor of Tortuga, Monsieur de la Place, was so struck with his qualities that he j gave him his first ship. He so beset the Spaniards in her that it is said by his biographer that "the Spaniards, in his time, would rather die fighting than surrender, knowing they should have no mercy at his hands." He eained crreat wealth, but after awhile lost his ship on the coast of Cam- peche, where he and his crew, after escaping from the wreck, were beset and almost destroyed by the Spaniards. Lolonols himself being wounded, feigned death and was passed over by his foes. Afterwards escaping, by the aid of some negroes to whom he made great promises, the captain got back to Tor- tuga, and after some trouble succeeded in getting another vessel and crew. LOLONOIS AND HIS ADVENTURES. 123 With these he puc into the port of Cayos, and learning the channel from some captive fishermen, lay in wait for a vessel which the governor of Cuba sent to capture him. After nightfall, while the vessel lay at anchor, several boats approached her, and were hailed with the inquiry whether they had seen any pirates. The fishermen in the boat replied that they had not. But beside the fishermen were pirates, compelling them to answer so. Thereupon the boats drew nearer, and presently the Buccaneers assaulted, swarming up both sides of the great vessel and forced the Spaniards be- low hatches. From below decks they were ordered out one by one and deca- pitated at Lolonois' order. One man alone was saved, to bear a message back to the governor, to the effect that the pirate cap- tain would never spare any Spaniard thereafter, and hoped shortly to make an end of the governor himself While cruising in this ship, another vessel was taken near Maracaibo — a ship loaded with plate and merchandise. With this Lolonois returned to Tor- tuga to receive the con- gratulations and praise that usually await the suc- cessful. His next venture was with eight vessels, ten guns and nearly seven hundred men. His first prize was a ship of sixteen guns with fifty fighting men on board. She yielded after hot fighting .or three hours, the flag-ship of the pirate fleet having engaged her singly without assistance from the others. She contained, besides a rich cargo, a treasure of ovei fifty thousand pistoles, of $200,000 in value. Other prizes soon put the fleet in a position to attempt more extensive operations. The Gulf of Venezuela or Bay of Maracaibo, as it was called, afforded a {prom the Portrait in "De Aniericaensche Zee Roovers."') 124 THE STORY OF AMERICA. peculiarly tempting field for the freebooter, Lolonois. Its narrow channel, protected by the watch tower and fortress on the islands at its mouth, led to a lake near which the Spaniards had settled several towns and cities, whose wealth came to be quite disproportioned to their size or populations. Maracaibo, Gibralter, Merida — all had much to recommend them to the hungry pirate. One can hardly understand at first how so much silver and other valuable booty could have been gathered from the insignificant settlements of the Spanish Main ; but when we consider that from Peru and the Pacific settlements to the islands of the Caribbean there was almost constant communication, that the inhabitants of all were reaping the full advantage of being first in a rich treasure field, and that there were no banks, each man holding or hoarding his own gains and keeping his capital under his own roof, the myster)^ grows less. To Maracaibo Lolonois shaped his fleet's course. Arriving at the entrance, he landed and took the fort or earthworks by storm, in a fight which lasted for several hours, then, sailing through the passage, brought his whole fleet into the lake and towards Maracaibo, which lay about six leagues beyond. Becalmed in sight of the town, the inhabitants saw the fleet and had time to flee with much of their treasure towards Gibralter. But on the following day the invaders landed and Lolonois sent a company of men into the woods to follow the fugitives, whose houses, with stores of food and drink, stood open. By the time the search party returned with such prisoners and booty as they could recover, the remain- der of the crews were not of the soberest, as might be imagined. Then began one of those revolting scenes of cruelty and crime, the details of which we follow shudderingly. Men were tortured in every conceivable way, their limbs broken, their bodies mutilated, their most sacred feelings outraged, to force them to a confession of hidden riches. Many a poor wretch died under the torments inflicted, protesting with his dying breath that he could not reveal what he had never known. For fifteen days Maracaibo was occupied, till like a lemon whose juice is e.xhausted and the rind flung away, it was abandoned and the murderers proceeded towards Gibralter, which was a smaller town than Maracaibo, but in communication with Merida, to which place the pirates advanced last, after having treated Gibralter as they had Maracaibo. The governor of Merida, who had been a soldier in Flanders and who made no doubt that he could hold his own in a fight with the freebooters, barricaded the roads, felled trees in the passages through the swamps and planted batteries where they would be of most avail. Over these obstructions Lolonois and his men were obliged to fight their way step by step, now taking the woods and anon the road, but swearing with curses loud and deep that the Spaniards would have to pay for their discomfiture. It came near being a defeat for the buccaneers, as they were outnumbered and overmatched, and would probably have been totally destroyed, or at least have MORGAN, THE PRINCE OF BUCCANEERS. 125 escaped only with severe loss, but for a very old stratagem. Pretending to flee, they drew the enemy from one of his strongest batteries, and then turninor, overpowered and defeated him. After Merida had been taken and new cruelties devised for its sufferinof inhabitants the captors rested there four weeks, until the increasing death-rate among them warned them to escape from a climate to which their excesses made them easy victims. Sending parties then into the woods for those who had still preserved their lives there, the pirate captain demanded a ransom for the town, promising to burn it to the ground if 10,000 pistoles were not imme- diately forthcoming. Finally this sum was secured, but only after part of Merida had been consumed with fire. A similar ransom was extorted from the already exhausted Maracaibo as the fleet passed out of the gulf and then the buccaneers sailed away, having 260,000 pistoles in ready money and an immense booty in merchandise. It would be impossible and not very instructive to follow Lolonois through his further adventures. He sacked many cities, killed and tortured numberless Spaniards, won and wasted an almost countless treasure, and at last died a miserable death of lingering torture at the hands of some enraged Indians. Following Lolonois came Henry Morgan, the last and greatest of the Buccaneers, whose crimes and adventures have made him, in the popular conception a sort of nautical demi-god ; only second in fame to Sir Francis Drake, and much greater in exploits. Without question, Morgan was a remarkable man. A Welsh boy, sold for his passage to the New World, after the fashion of those days, he was a naval commander who belonged to no navy, a conqueror to whom conquest and pillage were equal terms, a genius in murder and robbery. He commanded at times many ships and hundreds of pirates, yet was one of those instrumental in putting down piracy. He was utterly lawless, yet always claimed that he sailed under commission from the Governor of Jamaica. He was knighted for one of his most outrageous acts of piracy at a time when the Governor who had given him his commission was in prison for doing so. He was Acting-Governor of the very island where most of the fruits of his lawlessness had been exhibited, and where he was said to have wisely maintained the laws. He became a planter of wealth and repute, and finally languished in an English prison for the crimes so long condoned. Certainly, romance need not seek further than this for material. One of Morgan's earliest exploits was the taking of Puerto Bello, in Costa Rica. This he effected partly by stratagem, causing the sentry to be seized and approaching the strong walls of the city under cover of darkness. He also managed to surprise the inmates of some religious houses, priests and nuns, whom he afterwards put forward as a defense to his soldiers when scaling 126 THE STORY OF AMERICA. ladders were brought into use. But never was a more obstinate defense made and never was Henry Morgan more nearly defeated than that day at Puerto Bello. The Spaniards fought with fury, the Governor especially showing no mercy and finally refusing all quarter, dying with his sword in his hand, cr^'ing that he would rather fall a soldier than live a coward. St. Catherine's Island was taken by Morgan, to be used as a pirate ren- dezvous, but the Governor of that place, while agreeing to capitulate before a blow had been struck, insisted on a sham battle to save his credit. To this Morgan good-naturedly acceded. Following the example cf Lolonois and others, he attacked ill-fated Maracaibo and put the inhabitants to torture worse than that which they had before suffered. We will not go into details, having already supped on horrors. More interesting is the account of the dilemma in which the buccaneer found himself upon seeking to leave the Gulf of Vene- zuela with his ships loaded with booty and prisoners. He had eight little vessels. He found opposing him several war ships in the narrow passage already so well guarded by the guns of the fortress on the island. The Admiral of the Spanish fleet sent a letter to Morgan telling him that he might be allowed to escape on condition of leaving all his plunder behind, but that other- wise he would be treated without mercy. The Buccaneer might have said, as General Sheridan is reported to have said on a much later occasion, " I am in a bottle and the enemy have the neck of it." However, he made a bold front and resolved to perish in fighting his way out rather than abandon his ill-gotten gains. By means of a fire ship, cunningly manned and armed Avith dummies, he managed to deceive and destroy the largest of the Spanish ships and then defeated the others. This accomplished, he waited for a favorable opportunity to pass the fort, the guns of which still pointed too ominously across the exit. The question was how to turn those guns the other way. Finally he hit upon a scheme. Sending boat after boat to the shore filled with men and return- ing apparently empty to the ships, but in reality with their crews lying covered in the bottoms, he deceived the .Spaniards into believing that he meditated a night attack on the fort from the landward side. In consequence all the great guns were turned that way, in expectation. Then the crafty captain stood out to sea, firing a salute of bullets, to which the disgusted garrison did not attempt to reply. When Morgan had reduced Puerto Bello he had a passage of arms with the Governor of Panama, who had come vainly to the relief of that place. A little bit of theatrical civility or courtesy took place at the time, the Governor sending a message to Morcran, to know bv what arms he had succeeded in overcoming so strong a fortress ; and the captain politely returning a pistol and bullets with a message to the effect that he would come for them in a year. THE STORY OF AMERICA. 12? After awhile Morgan went for that pistol. This was in 1670. Sending some vessels in advance, which took the town of Chagres, the leader presendy came and led them across the Isthmus, where they met with almost unbearable hardships on the march. It was the month of August. A little ami)- of twelve hundred men, with artillery and ammunition, pushed on foot across a country where men have since ridden and thought it hardship. They had no food ; the fatigue was great ; hostile Indians added their unwelcome addresses to the pangs of starvation ; yet the intrepid pirates kept on as though they expected in some way to be miracu- lously saved from the death that in different disguises peered at them from the ambushes along the way. One would suppose that their ardor would have been tamed ; but on the contrary, when they came in sight of Panama, these irrepressi- ble freebooters cheered and threw up their hats as though they had been out for a holiday. This was on the ninth or tenth day of the march. Almost within sight of the city they found food, which they devoured like wild beasts. They had one or two skirmishes, and at last were rejoiced to see a company of the Spaniards coming to meet them. These men, who were mounted, came near enough to call names and shout unpleasant things to them, but soon retired and left the way clear to the city. But Morgan, a schemer himself feared an ambuscade. He made a detour to avoid the batteries which he judged rightly, the enemy had put in the way. Then the Spaniards left BLACKBEARD, THE PIRATE. 128 KIDD AXD BLACKS EARD. these works and came to meet him. There were four reoriments of foot, a body of horse and a large number of wild bulls that were driven by Indians. There was something humorous in the idea of sendinof cattle a^rainst buccaneers ; but there was v .^Vi UIGCING FOR KIDD'S TREASl'RES. very little military judgment in tt, as the sequel showed. The bulls ran away. The Spanish forces, nearly if not quite three thousand strong, were vanquished after a sanguinar}* battle, and the THE STORY OF AMERICA. 129 city of Panama was taken and looted, after which Captain Morgan put it to the torch. Two churches, eight monasteries, two hundred warehouses, and a great number of residences were the prizes whicli tliis richest of American cities offered. They were all utterly stripped, and the usual tortures resorted to in order to extort confessions concerning the treasure which might possibly be hidden. People were burned alive, eyes dug out, ears and noses cut off, arms dislocated, and all imagined or unheard-of barbarities practiced. Then the greatest of all pirates and freebooters went away with a hundred and seventy beasts laden with precious metals and jewels and merchandise of value, besides six hundred prisoners. He made, when he reached the coast, a false division of spoils among his men, and escaping with the lion's share abjured piracy and became, as has been before said, a knight of Charles the Second's creation, and an exemplary planter and Governor of the island of Jamaica ! We have dwelt long, — too long, — with the Buccaneers. There Avere other pirates of a later time whose names are not less familiar, and one at least of the number whose fame is world wide. I mean Captain Kidd, who stood upon a sort of middle ground between the buccaneers and the marooners proper. Teach, or Blackbeard, made his headquarters among the Bahama Islands and was a past-master of claptrap. He created theatrical effects with burned brim- stone and paint, and not only tortured others but himself as well, giving us every reason to believe him an insane man. That he took and buried treasure at different points is certain, and probably the half of his villanies have never been told. But of Blackbeard and Avery and Roberts we can say very little ; they were roaring, ranting, raving pirates, per se. Their stories lack the flavor of courage and dash of romance that make us willing to endure the recital of the crimes of Morgan, Lolonois or the rest of the Buccaneers. But we may not leave Kidd so. Along every mile of Atlantic coast in the United States his money has been dreamed about and often searched for. The story of how he " Murdered William More And left him in his gore As he sailed," is part of our nursery' education. There were pirates troubling the shipping of the ven^ good Dutch-English town of New York long ago, and some very good and very rich merchants obtained a commission from Lord Bellamont for William Kidd to go out and look for pirates, which he did, and found one. It was a little hard on the respectable merchants aforementioned, that they should have been suspected by an envious world of sharing in the profits of the piratical voyage^ More was a gunner, or gunner's mate, whom Captain Kidd 13^ THE MAROO'NERS. put to death ; and it is one of the curious examples of the working of law that Kidd after his capture would have escaped under a general amnesty to pirates had he not been held on the charge of murder. He enjoyed the unenviable dis- tinction of being the one of very few pirates who have been hung. But, nevertheless, though the fame of Kidd and Morgan is so pre-eminent, there are others only second to them in renown — others whose names and deeds have also been chronicled by Captain Johnson, the famous historian of scoundreldom. Captain Bartholomew Roberts, for instance, if he may not have had the fortune to be so famous as the two above-mentioned worthies, yet, in his marvelous escapes and deeds of darine, he well deserves to stand upon the same pedestal of renown. And Captain Avery, though his his- tory is, perhaps, more apocryphal in its nature, nevertheless there is sufficient stamina of trust in the account of his exploits to grant him also a place with his more famous brothers, for the four together — Blackbeard. Kidd, Roberts, and Avery — form a galaxy the like of which is indeed hard to match in its own peculiar brilliancy. Through circumstances the hunter name of buccaneers was given to the seventeenth century pirates and freebooters ; the term " marooners " was bestowed upon those who followed the same trade in the century succeeding. The name has in itself a terrible significance. The dictionary tells us that to maroon is to put ashore as upon a desert island, and it was from this that the title was derived. These later pirates, the marooners, not being under the protection of the West Indian Governors, and having no such harbor for retreat as that, for instance, of Port Royal, were compelled to adopt some means for the disposal of prisoners captured with their prizes other than taking them into a friendly port CAPTAIN BARTHOLOMKW ROBERTS. THE STORY OF AMERICA. 131 Occasionally such unhappy captives were set adrift in the ship's boats — with or without provisions, as the case might be. A method of disposing of them, maybe more convenient, certainly more often used, was to set them ashore upon some desert coast or uninhabited island, with a supply of water perhaps, and perhaps a gun, a pinch of powder, and a few bullets — there to meet their fate, either in the slim chance of a passing vessel or more probably in death. Nor was marooning the fate alone of the wretched captives of their piracy ; Sometimes it was resorted to as a punishment among themselves. Many a mutinous pirate sailor and not a few pirate captains have been left to the horrors of such a fate, either to die under the shriveling glare of the tropical sun upon some naked sand-spit or to consume in the burning of a tropical fever amid the rank wilderness of mangroves upon some desert coast. Hence the name marooners. The Tudor sea-captains were little else than legalized pirates, and in them we may see that first small step that leads so quickly into the smooth down- ward path. The buccaneers, in their semi-legalized piracy, succeeded them as effect follows cause. Then, as the ultimate result, followed the marooners — fierce, bloody, rapacious, human wild beasts, lusting for blood and plunder, godless, lawless, the enemy of all men but their own wicked kind. Is there not a profitable lesson to be learned in the history of such a human extreme of evil — all the more wicked from being the rebound from civilization ? Even to this day imaginative fishermen and oystermen on Connecticut and Long Island shores occasionally see a phantom ship sailing, with all sail set, across some neck of land ; and more than one will tell how he started to dig tor a treasure, and was driven away by having the pirate vessel bear down upon him, which goes to show that once in awhile fiction is stranger than fact. CHAPTER VII. CUTTINO LOOSE FROM EUROPE. w/b^ro ONE SIXTH OFA SPANISH MUlUnallar.-oriheValiw thereof i^ GofdorSilver /a ^c given in. exchange at Treasury o£ VlRGIlVlA, Tursuant 1o ACT oj asse:mbx.y CNe '^^. \^^ JR^INIACURKENCYi THE causes which made possible the assertion ol American National Inde- pendence must be sought, not merely in the oppres- sive legislation which directly harried the colon- ists into revolt, but, back of that, in the political institutions they had evolved for themselves ; in the self-dependence made necessary by the distance and indifference of the mother country ; in the inherited instinct for self-government common to all of the English race ; in their ardor for commercial and territorial expansion, and in the occasional and temporary unity of action to which they were irom tims to time forced for mutual defense against a common enemy. When the strueele which ended in the Revolution began, the thirteen colonies were, as regards internal affairs, to all ends and purposes representative democracies. All of them elected legislatures, which made laws, laid taxes, levied troops, provided for grants, and formed a real government of the people by the people. Two of the colonies. Connecticut and Rhode Island, held charters which allowed them to choose their own Governors as well. So com- plete were these two charter-grants that when the Union was formed no change was needed in the political structure of the two States ; and, in fact, no change was made for many years. Massachusetts originally held an equally liberal charter, but was deprived of it by an arbitrary act of the Crown, as we shall see. Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Marj'land were still proprietar)' colonies, but through self-interest the nominal proprietors granted a large measure of self-government 133 134 THE STORY OF AMERICA. The other colonies had elective legislatures, but in each the Royal Governor had an absolute veto power over legislation. In all the bond to the English Crown was the charter or royal grant. Naturally, the colonists construed these grants very strictly, confining the power of the Governor to the closest legal construction of the charter, and assuming for themselves every power not specifically withheld. Above all, the colonists well understood the immense advantage that their power to grant or withhold supplies of money gave them. In reality, government in local matters practically rested with the Assemblies. The Royal Governor:; might, and did, fume and fret, complain to the English Government, and denounce their subjects as turbulent and obstinate, Imt they were met by passive resistance and. in more than one case, by actual force. Looking more closely into the political structure of the colonies, we find in New England, in full swing, the purest democracy the world has ever known, in the town-meeting system. In these town meetings every citizen had his right to speak and his vote, and the meeting assumed the fullest authority over all local matters, forming, also, the unit for legislative representation. In the Southern colonies the county took the place of the New England town as the political unit, but here, also, the democratic idea had taken strong hold. Massachusetts and Virginia were by far the most advanced examples of these two types of local government. As might naturally be e.xpected, therefore, we find them always in the lead in resenting arbitrary actions of the Royal Governors and of the Crown. They were not only the largest and oldest of the colonies, but their peoples were far the most homogeneous. In each the population was almost wholly English, and in large part was made up of the third and fourih generations of the original settlers. Differing as widely as possible in origin — the one people coming mainly from the Roundheads, the other largely from the Cavaliers ; differing widely, also, in social and religious matters and in habits — the one being austere and simple in life, the other almost aristocratic ; — yet each had unified, had become distinctly American, and was free from close dependence on the mother country. Massachusetts and \'irginia had also in common the bitter recollection of actual ::onflict with the royal authority. In \'irginia Bacon's Rebellion had left the seeds of discontent. It originated in the wish of the Virginia colonists to put down Intlian disturbances without waiting for the tardy action of the Governor. Nathaniel Bacon boldly led his neighbors to an attack on these Indians without due authority from Governor Berkeley,* who had promised him a commission, l)ut had failed in this and other promises of assistance to the distressed colonists. Berkeley forthwith proclaimed Bacon a rebel, and war on a small scale ensued and continued until the latter's sudden death. Massa- *See illustration on page 77. CUTTING LOOSE FROM EUROPE. 135 chusetts had a still more irritating memory in the Andros tyranny and the loss of her charter. When Charles the Second mounted the throne his re- sentment at the Puritan sympathies of New England led him to lend a willing ear to various complaints against the province ; his commissioners were re- fused recognition by the General Court of the colony, which " pleaded his Majesty's charter ;" the controversy became so intense that it is recorded that in 1 67 1 the colony was "almost on the brink of renouncing its dependence on the Crown ;" finally in 1684 the charter was declared forfeited by the Eng- lish Court of Chancery, and Sir Edmund Andros was sent out as " President of New England," a new and quite unconstitutional office. Connecticut, as. every school-boy knows, saved her charter by hiding it in the historic oak tree ; Massachusetts was less fortunate, and something very like anarchy followed until the news came of the beginning of the reign of William and Mary, when Sir Edmund was seized and thrown into prison, and an as- sembly of representatives at Boston provisionally resumed the old charter. In the end the colony was forced to accept a new charter by which a Royal Governor was granted a veto power. But Massachusetts never forgot her old and more perfect form of liberty, and never was as well disposed as before to the Crown. The colonies of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the Carolinas were in population comparatively mixed, were less unified ; and in them., therefore, we find, when the Revolution begins, a strong Tory element, which made their action uncertain and often reluctant. Generally speaking, the Royal Governors of the colonies were not in sympathy with the peoples ; they were usually arrogant, sometimes mere adventurers, often weak and vacil- ladng. Their quarrels with the Assemblies usually turned on grants of money. And here, even in early times, we find everywhere cropping up the principle which later was voiced in the watchword of the Revolution, " No taxation with- out representation." It has been said that this watchword was illogical ; that in point of fact not all people in England who were taxed were represented in Parliament, and that, on the other hand, the American colonies had no real wish for representation in Parliament. Both statements are true, but the representa- tion demanded by the Americans was that which they already had — that of their own legislatures. The idea was succinctly expressed as far back as 1728, when the Massachusetts General Court refused to grant a fixed salary for Gov- ernor Burnet "because it is the undoubted right of all Englishmen, by Magna Charta, to raise and dispose of money for the public service, of their own free accord without compulsion." And the converse of it was seen in Pennsylvania when, the Governor havincr refused his assent to a bill containing a scheme of taxation, the Assembly demanded his assent as a right. The doctrine, in short, was simply that money raised from the people should be expended by the 136 THE STORY OF AMERICA. people, that the Assemblies were the legal representatives of the people, and that they, and they only, could know what taxes the people could bear and how the sums thus raised could be expended to public advantage. The expression of this theory varied continually up to the Declaration of Independence, but its substance was consistently maintained. From the position that parliament had no right to interfere in internal taxation the colonies in the end advanced to the position that their allegiance was ^o the Crown ; that the parliament was in no sense an Imperial Parliament ; that the Crown stood for English rule over all British dominions ; but that while the laws of England were to be enacted by the English parliament, the laws of the American colonies were to be formulated by their own representatives in legislatures assembled. It was only as a last resort and when driven to extremity that the colonies threw off that loyal alle- giance to the Crown which they had held to be quite consistent with the main- tenance of this basic principle of their liberties. Let us look now for a moment at the imperfect and temporary union entered into from time to time by the colonists for mutual defense, and which in a way foreshadowed tlie greater and permanent union of the future. Along the coast the English power had become continuous ; the Dutch power at New Amsterdam had been swept away ; the Spaniards had been pushed back to the South ; the Indians and the French were held at bay on the West and North. In King Philip's War the New England colonies had combined to raise two thousand troops and had conquered by concerted action. In the early French and Indian wars military' operations had also been carried on in concert by the colonies with varying successes. Thus, the New England colonies and New York had captured Port Royal in 1690, and had even attempted an attack* on Quebec, and in 1 709 and 1 7 1 2 expeditions were planned against Canada and Acadia, in which the colonies united. Both of these latter comparative failures led, by the way, to the issue of paper money to cancel the heavy debts incurred. When Great Britain was at war with Spain the Southern colonies — Georgia, Carolina and Virginia — had also united in an unsuccessful expedition led by Oglethorpe against Florida. In King George's War the colonies planned and carried out almost without help from England the expedition by which the Freiich stronghold Louisburg was seized. Encouraged liy tliis notable triumph' of their four thousand troops, they projected the conquest of Canada — an under- taking so vast that it is not surprising that it was soon abandoned. But the most serious emergency arose when France and England were for a short time at peace, after the treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle (1748). The French plan of extension of territory in America was one of unbounded ambition and of unit)' of purpose. From New Orleans to Quebec the French had gradually erected a line of fortified posts along the course of the explorations of La Salle, joliet, Marquet and D'Iberville. Following their theory that the discoverers of 9p& w SIGNING THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDFPENDENCF.. 138 THE STORY OF AMERICA. a river were entitled to all the territory drained by it, they were occupying the iVIississippi valley and were moviny^ eastward toward the Alleghanies, thus draw- ing close round the English territory and threatening to invade it. Fortunately their line of outposts from Quebec to New Orleans was only as strong as its weakest part ; otherwise English supremacy on the Continent had been over- thrown. With their Indian allies the French were now face to face widi die pioneers of the colonies who were pressing westward, and who on their side were strengthened by the Indian alliance of the Six Nations. The Ohio Com- pany had been formed for the purpose of colonizing the valley of the Ohio River and to check the progress of the French eastward. It was believed that the territory of the company was infringed upon by French settlements, and George Washington, then a young surveyor, was sent by Governor Dinwiddle, of Virginia, to examine the actual condition of affairs on the frontier. The w'ily French gave him fair words but no satisfaction. In this, W'ashington's first ser- vice to the country, he showed on a small scale the calmness, firmness and cour- age that made him a few years later the hope and support of a nation. His report on the frontier situadon was so serious that the colonists determined on immediate war and Virginia called the other provinces to her aid. How to raise men and money was a serious question. It was to solve the difficulty of conducting the campaign that Benjamin I'Vanklin proposed, at a meeting of commissioners of the several colonies held at Albany, a plan of confederadon, commonly called the Albany Plan. It provided for a form of federal govern- ment which should not interfere with the internal affairs of any colony but should have supreme power in matters of mutual defense and in whatever concerned the colonies as a body. The Albany Plan included a President or Governor- General who should be appointed and paid by the King, and a Grand Council to be made up of delegates elected once in three years by the colonial legislatures. This scheme found favor neither with the Crown nor with the colonial assem- blies ; each party considered that too much power was given the other, and the colonies also objected to accepting taxes imposed upon them by a body in a sense foreign to each though composed of delegates from all. Yet the project is of immense interest and significance, historically, because it shows in what way men's minds were turning and how the leaven of National unit'^ wa'-, work- ing almost without the knowledge of the people themselves. The war that ensued was at first carried on in America alone, though afte» two years it became a part of the great Seven Years War between France and England (1755-63). At the outset the key of the territorial struggle lay at the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers, near where Pitts- burgh now stands. Here Washington was besieged in Fort Necessity and was compelled to capitulate by overwhelming forces, but under honorable con- ditions. The French still held Fort Du Ouesne, and against this Braddock's CUTTING LOOSE FROM EUROPE. 139 unfortunate expedition was directed. Now at last the colonists were dispos- sessed of their old idea of the invincibility of British troops. The regulars, disregarding the advice of the Americans, who understood Indian and French warfare, fell into an ambuscade and were all but cut to pieces. The lesson must have been a startling one to the untrained, half-armed provincial troops. As one writer has said, "The provincial who had stood his ground, firing from behind trees and stumps, while the regulars ran past hmi in headlong retreat, came home with a sense of his own innate superiority which was sure to bring its results." Thus and in many other ways throughout the war the Americans learned their own possibilities as soldiers on their own ground. The details of the war need not here be reviewed. With the great battle on the Plains of Abraham and the death of the heroic Wolfe and the not less intrepid Mont- calm, French dominion in the new world perished forever. It is well known that -^^ ^s a ^ ^.~- the mortification of the French statesmen was allayed by the astute reflection that the now undisputed power of Great Britain was likely to be but temporary. Said the Duke de Choiseul, " Well, so we are gone ; it will be Enorland's turn next." He saw — and other French statesmen pre- dicted the same thing — that the very fact that no external enemies threatened the provinces would bring them face to face with the mother country for the final struCTcrle. Indeed, the treaty of Paris was not even signed when the mutterings of the storm were heard. Now, thought England, was the time to enforce her dis- regarded authority ; now, thought the colonies, was the time to insist on their rights of expansion and of self-government. England's whole theor)- of the relation of colonies was radically wrong, though she held it in common with other great Powers. This theory was that the colony was merely a commercial dependency — a place where the mother country could extend its trade ; while by no means was the colony to be allowed to compete in trade at home or in the world's markets. To this end had been enacted years before the so-called Navi- gation Laws. By these Americans were forbidden to export their products to other countries than England, to buy the products of other countries except from English traders, to manufacture goods which could compete in the colonies with English importations (for instance, there was even a law against th^ making of hats), or to ship goods from colony to colony except in British MARTF.LLO TOWER ON THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM, WHERE WOLFE WAS KILLED. I40 THE STORY OF AMERICA. vessels ; while a hitjh protective tariff prevented the colonists fiom selling grain and other raw products to England. A peculiarly ingenious and an- noying repressive measure was that known as the Molasses Act, aimed to stop that extensive trade whicn consisted in taking dried fish to the French West Indies, receiving molasses in return, bringing it to New England, there turn- ing it into rum, and finally, taking the rum to Africa, where it was often traded for slaves, who in turn were usually sold again in the West Indies. The Mo- lasses Act insisted that the Yankee traders should carry their fish only to the British West Indies ; and as these islands did not wish the fish there was an end, theoretically, to a very profitable if not altogether moral system. In point of fact, all these laws had been constantly disregarded : smuggling and surreptitious trading were universal. But now it was suddenly attempted to enforce them, and that by the obnoxious Writs of Assistance — search warrants made out in blank, so that they could be filled out and used by any officer, against any person, at any time. This was quite contrary to the spirit of the English law, and met with such a sturdy resistance that, though the courts did not dare to declare the writs illegal, the practice was abandoned. James Otis, in pardcular, thundered against the Writs of Assistance (rather than to defend which he had thrown up his office as King's Prosecutor) in a speech at the utterance of which John Adams declared "the child. Independence, was born.'' Almost simultaneously with this excitement in Boston, Patrick Henry was delivering his maiden speech in X'irginia against the royal veto of a bill dimin- ishing the salaries of the clergy. He denounced any interference with \'irginia's law-making power, and boldly proclaimed that when a monarch so acted he " from being the father of his people degenerated into a tyrant, and forfeits all ritrhts to obedience." While yet the bickering about the old laws continued, a quite novel form of taxation was rushed through Parliament, "with less opposition than a turnpike bill." The .Stamp Act was indeed a firebrand such as its originators litde suspected. Great Britain had been at great expense during the recent wars, and naturally thought that the Colonies should bear their share of the cost. On their side, the Colonies maintained that they had done all that with their feeble means was possible. George III had lately (1760) mounted the throne. He was narrow-minded, obstinate, a thorough believer in kingly authority ; and, as he could not strive for personal supremacy by the means w-hich proved so fatal to Charles I, 4ie adopted the methods of wholesale political bribery, of continual intrigue, and of relendess partisan enmity to those who opposed him. It was because these opponents of his, or some of them, sympa- thized with America that he grew fixed in his determination to e.xact obedience. He hated the liberty-loving Colonists chiefly because he hated the New Whigs in England. His minister, Grenville, thought to please his royal master, and at 142 THE STORY OF AMERICA. the same time not to offend beyond endurance the Americans:, uy his invention of the Stamp Act. This ordered that in the Colonies all contracts, legal papers, wills, real-estate transfers, as well as newspapers, should be printed on stamped paper, or on paper to which stamps had been affixed. Coincident with it was passed a law ordering the colonial assemblies to support in various ways the royal troops which should be sent to them. So that this whole scheme proposed, first, to tax the Colonies illegally (as they held), then to send soldieis among OLD BUILDING AT BOSTON WHERE THE TEA-PLOT IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN HATCHED. them to enforce the tax, and, finally, to compel them to pay for the support of these very soldiers. No wonder that a storm of indignation raged from Maine, to Georgia. Grenville himself was amazed at the result. In Massachusetts! Samuel Adams declared that this was violating the liberty of self-government, to which subjects in America were entitled to the same extent as subjects inj Britain. Patrick Henry, in X'irginia, presented resolutions declaring that, "The" taxation of th^*. people by themselves or by persons chosen by themselves to CUTTING LOOSE FROM EUROPE. 14? represent them, who can only know what taxes the people are able to bear, is the distinguishing characteristic of British freedom," and that the General Assembly of Virginia, therefore, had the sole and exclusive right and power to lay taxes upon the inhabitants of the Colony. A congress of delegates from nine of the Colonies soon met at New York and set forth the same principle of Colonial rights in a petition to the Crown. No attempt was made by this Stamp Act Congress to do more than declare the feelings of the united Colonies. But it was a distinct advance in the direction of union. Meanwhile, the people at large showed a disposition to take the matter in their own hands, without regard to Parliament or Congress, or lawyers, or finespun theories of constitu- tional right. When the stamps arrived they were burned or thrown into the sea ; stamp officers were compelled to resign their offices ; mobs in a few cases injured the property of obnoxious persons; the "Sons of Liberty" formed themselves into clubs and warned all to " touch not the unclean thing " under penalty of mob law. When the time came for the Stamp Act to go into operation there were no stamp officers to enforce it. One of them has left it on record that when he rode into Hartford to deposit his resignation, with a thousand armed farmers at his heels, he felt "like Death on the pale horse with all hell following him." No doubt there were some acts of mob law at this time which a strict sense of justice could not approve, but, as Macaulay has said, "the cure for the evils of liberty is more liberty;" and so, in the end, it proved in this case. On May i6th, 1766, a Boston paper published what we should call to-day an "extra," in which, under the heading "Glorious News," it reported the arrival of a vessel belonging to John Hancock, with news of the repeal of the Stamp Act. Grenville's Ministry had fallen, and with it fell his measure. Rejoicings in London were, the paper stated, general. Ships in the river had displayed all their colors, and illuminations and bonfires were going on all over the city This shows how widespread at that time was the English sympathy for Ameri cans ; even during the war it was not wholly suppressed. The "extra" from which we have quoted ends its account by saying, "It is impossible to express the joy the town is now in, on receiving the above great, glorious, and import ant news. The bells in all the churches were immediately set a ringing, and we hear the day for a general rejoicing will be the beginning of next week." But even this change of front on the part of Parliament was accompanied by a gratuitous declaration to the eft'ect that it had the power " to bind the colonies and people of America in all cases whatsoever." Lord Rockingham's Ministry, which had repealed the futile and fruitless Stamp Act, lasted but a year ; it was followed by that of which the Duke of Grafton was nominally the head, but in which the unscrupulous and audacious Lord Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer was the real leader. He 1, 14 THE STORY OF AMERIC^. at once proposed and carried a law imposing on die American Colonies import taxes on glass, paper, painters' colors, lead and tea. To such laws as this, he ainninoly argued, the Colonies had often before submitted. In a way they sub- mitted to this also ; that is to say, they did not at lirst resist its constitutionality, but retorted by entering into "non-importation" agreements, by which they bound themselves as individuals not to purchase the taxed articles. Merchants who persisted in selling the obnoxious goods were boycotted, as we call it now, and found placards posted up in which it was demanded that — to quote one of these notices literally — "the Sons and Daughcers of Liberty would not buy any one thing of him, for in so doing they will bring Disgrace upon themselves and their Posterity, for ^f^rand ever. Amen." It was not denied that it was the intention to use the sums raised by these taxes to pay the salaries of the royal governors and of the colonial judges, and to maintain British troops in the colonies. This was emphatically subversive of free government. New York refused to make provision for troops quartered upon it, and only consented tardily and imperfectly when its legislature was, as a penalty, suspended by the Crown. Massachusetts threw all kinds of technical legal obstrucdons in the way of providing for the two British regiments which arrived at Boston. Pro- tests against the Townshend Act made in an orderly meeting in Boston were denounced in Great Britain as treasonable, and it was proposed that colonists guilty of such offenses should be brought to England and there tried for trea- son. If anything were needed to inflame still further the colonists' indignadon it was this. Massachusetts sent out a circular letter to other colonies asking diem to unite in petitions and remonstrances to the king ; this in turn was treated as also treasonable ; a disturbance caused by the seizure of a sloop be- longing to John Hancock for customs' offenses was magnified into a riot ; the dreaded act provitling for the trial of accused colonists in England was passed ; in every way the situation was becoming critical. The presence of the Bridsh troops in Boston was irritating in the extreme to the masses of the citizens ; quarreling between soldiers and citizens of the rougher class was constantly going on, and finally in March, 1770, a street brawl ended in the so-called Boston Massacre, when the troops, not without very great provocation, fired upon the citizens, killing five and wounding six. hVom that day the hearts of the common people were ready for armed resistance at any minute. Looking back on the " massacre " from the cool standpoint of history, it must be admitted that it was not quite the merciless and causeless act of brutality which it seemed then to the inflamed minds of the populace, but its influence at the dme was enormous. The year of the Boston Massacre saw also the accession of the subser\-ient Lord North as the Prime Minister and tool of George 111. With him began a new chapter in the attempt to enforce taxation without representation. The CUTTING LOOSE FROM EUROPE. 145. non-importation pledges were beginning to fall into disuse, and Lord North was led to hope that by removing all the taxes except that on tea the colonists would yield the point of principle involved. George 111 himself had said, " I am clear there must always be one tax to keep up the rigijt," and it was thought that the threepence per pound would be regarded as a trifle not worth fighting for. But the colonists were not fighting for money but for a principle ; and in 1772 it was found that the tea tax was yielding only ^400 a year, while it was costing over a million of dollars to collect it. A last cunning trick was attempted by Lord North ; he gave the East India Company a rebate on teas taken to America, -thus making it possible for the colonists to buy the tea with, the threepenny tax still on it and yet pay less than before the tax was laid. It is to the honor of our forefathers that the subterfuge was instantly detected and the new proposal resented as the deepest insult. Cargoes of tea were sent to Charleston, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. In the first city the tea was stored in damp cellars and purposely spoiled ; New York and Philadelphia refused to allow the tea to be landed ; Boston held her famous tea party ; and in still other ports the tea was burned. The destruction of the tea in Boston harbor was not one of those mob acts (like the brawl which led to the Boston Massacre, or the burning of the revenue schooner " Gaspe " in Rhode Island) which are the inevitable but regretabie accompaniments of a great popular movement ; it was rather a deliberate act, agreed on by the wisest leaders and carried out or sanctioned by the people at large. Thousands of sober citizens stood upon the shore and watched the party, disguised as Indians, who hurled the hated tea overboard ; so eminent a man as Samuel Adams led the party, and to this day no American has felt otherwise than proud of the significant and patriotic deed. Events now hurried rapidly one upon another. The British Parliament's reply to the Boston Tea Party was the Boston Port Bill, which absolutely forbade any trade in or out of the port. Simultaneously the charter of Massachusetts was changed so as to give the Crown almost unlimited power and to abolish town meetings, while it was made legal to quarter troops in Boston itself, and General Gage, the commander-in-chief of the British troops in the colonies, was made Governor of Massachusetts. This attack upon one of the colonies was regarded as a challenge to all. The system of correspondence committees, started locally in Massachusetts and extended, at Virginia's suggestion, betweer* the colonies, for counsel and mutual support, was made the means of calling together at Philadelphia the first Continental Congress (September 5th, 1774). In this all the colonies but Georgia were represented, and among the delegates were George Washington and Patrick Henry, of Virginia ; fohn and .Samuel Adams, of Massachusetts ; John Jay, of New York, and many others famous in our historical annals. This first reallv National Cong-ress was moderate but firm ,46 STORV OF AMERICA, xn its action. It drew up a declaration of riglits, wliich was a splendid recital of the wrongs complained of, prepared an address to the King, and adopted what was called the American Association, an agreement to prevent all importation from and exportation to Great Britain until justice was done; it adjourned with the expressed resolve to meet again, if necessary, the following year. England now considered the colonies as in open rebellion, and indeed they were, at least in arms ; Massachusetts alone had twenty thousand " minute men " ready to respond to the first call. And that call soon came. General Gage sent troops to the number of eight hundred to Concord, to destroy military stores there accumulated and to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, to be sent for trial as traitors to England. The events of that expedition are familiar to us all. Boston was at that time a city of 17,000 inhabitants, guarded by 3000 British regulars. The inhabitants had patiently waited for the troops to strike the first blow, until the latter attributed their inaction to cowardice. But this expedition to arrest the American leaders would bring matters to the long-waited- for crisis. On that night (April 18) Paul Revere, in company with Davies and Prescott, started with a message from Dr. Joseph Warren, one of the leading spirits in Boston. The message was flashed by a lantern across the Charles river; it was to tell the farmers and townsfolk that the hour for resistance was come. A handfid o( colonists collected on the Lexington Green were fired upon by the British, and eight or ten were killed ; the troops pressed on to Concord and seized the stores ; but their retreat to Lexington was one long; fight with the "embattled farmers" posted behind stone walls and trees and hidden in houses. When, reaching Lexington, the British were reinforced fronv Boston, they were so exhausted that a British writer says they laid down on the ground in the hollow square made by the fresh troops, " with their tongues hang- ing out of their mouths like those of dogs after a chase." Tlie British had los* two hundred and seventy-three men; the Americans one hundred and three.! Paul Revere's midnight ride had fulfilled its mission. The " shot heard round the world " had been fired. The war for independence had bej^^un MEKllNi; OK WASlDNlilON AND KCiCH A V.UtAl\ CHAPTER VIII. XHtD WA.R KOR INDEPENDENCE. We are so A WITTY foreitrner, watchincr the course of the American Revolution, wrote to Benjamin Franklin that Great Britain was undertaking the task "of catching two millions of people in a boundless desert with fifty thousand men." This was a crude and inaccurate way of putting it, but it expresses suc- cinctly the magnitude and difficulty of the campaign that lay before the British generals. When Parliament rather reluc- tandy authorized the raising of twenty-five thousand men for the war. Great Britain was still forced to obtain most of this number by subsidizing German mercenaries ""^ from the small principalities, who were indiscrimi- nately called Hessians by the colonists, and the em- ployment of whom did much to still further provoke bitterness of feeling. At one time in the Revolution ^^ Great Britain had over three hundred thousand men ^^.^— J: in arms, the world over, but of this number not more ^ ^tt than one-tenth could be sent to America. But the 9 greatest obstacle to British success lay in the fact ^ that the English leaders, military and civil, constantly 51 underrated the courage, endurance, and earnestness of their opponents. That raw militia could stand their ground against regulars was a hard lesson for o o o the British to learn ; that men from civil life could show such aptitude for strategy, as did Washington, Schuyler, and Greene, was a revelation to the profes- sional military men, the significance of which they grasped only when it was too late. Above all, the one thing that made the colonists the victors was the indomitable energy, self-renuncia- tion, and strategic ability of George Washington, accustomed to think of Washington's moral qualities, that it is only 149 THE MuNUMhNT UN BUNKKK. HILL, ISO THE STORY OF AMERICA. when we come close to the history of the war that we fully recognize how great was his military genius — a genius which justly entitles him to rank with the few truly great soldiers of his- tory, such as Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, and Von Moltke. Almost alone among the American gen- erals of the Revolution, he was al\va\s willing to subor- dinate his own personal glory to the final success of his deep laid and com- prehensive plans. Again and again he risked his standing with Congress, and ran the danger of being superseded by one or another jealous general of lower rank, rather than yield in a particle his de- liberate scheme of cam- paign. Others received the popular honors for bril- liant single movements while he waited and plan- ned for the final result. What the main lines of his strategy were we shall en- deavor to make clear in the following sketch : — When the news of the running fight from Con- cord to Lexington spread through the country, the militia hurried from every direction toward Boston. Israel Putnam literally left his plough in the field ; John Stark, with his sturdy New Hampshire volunteers, reached the spot in three days ; Nathaniel Greene headed fifteen hundred men from Rhode Island ; Benedict Arnold led a band WASHINGTON'S RECEPTION AT TRENTON 152 THE STORY OF AMERICA. of patriots from Connecticut ; the more distant colonies showed equal eager- ness to aid in the defense of American liberties. Congress displayed deep wisdom in appointing George Washington Commander in Chief, not only because of his personal ability and the trust all men hatl in him, but because it was politically an astute measure to choose the leader from some other State than Massachusetts. Rut before Washington could reach the Con- tinental forces, as they soon began to be called, the battle of Bunker Hill had been fought. And before that, even, Ethan Allen, with his Green Moun tain Boys, had seized Fort Ticondcroga "in the name of Jehovah and the Con- tinental Congress" — which Congress, by the way, showed momentarily some reluctance to sanction this first step of aggressive warfare. The occupation by Allen and Arnold of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, at the southern end of Lake Champlain, was of great military importance, both because of the large quantities of ammunition stored there, and because these places defended the line of the Hudson River valley against an attack from Canada. The battle of Bunker Hill, looked at from the strictly military point of view, was a blunder on both sides, astonishing as was its moral effect. The hill, properly named Breed's Hill, but to which the name of Bunker Hill is now forever attached, rises directly- back of Charlestown, on a peninsula con- nected with the main land by a narrow isthmus. The American forces seized ihis on the night of June i6th, 1775, and worked the night through intrenching themselves as well as they could. W^ith the morning came the British attack. The position might easily have been reduced by seizing the isthmus, and for this reason the Americans had hardly shown military sagacity in their occupation of the hill. But the British chose rather to storm the works from the front. Three times the flower of the English army in battle line swept up the hill ; twice they were swept back with terrible loss, repulsed by a fire which was reserved until they were close at hand ; the third time they seized the position, but only w-hen the Americans had exhausted their ammunition, and even then only after a severe hand to hand fight. ■ The British loss was over a thousand men ; the American loss about four hundred and fifty. When Washington heard of the battle he instantly asked if the New England militia had stood the fire of the British regulars, and when the whole story was told him he exclaimed, "The liberties of the country are safe." The spirit shown then and thereafter by our sturdy patriots is well illustrated by the story (chosen as the subject of one of our pictures) of the minister, who when in one battle there was a lack of wadding for the guns, brought out an armful of hymn books and exclaimed " Give them Watts, boys ! " The next clash of arms came from Canada. General Montgomery' led two thousand of the militia against Montreal, by way of Lake Champlain, and easily captured it (November 12, 1775). Thence he descended the Sl Lawrence to THE SIEGE OF BOSTON. 153 Quebec, where he joined forces with Benedict Arnold, who had brought twelve hundred men through the Maine wilderness, and the two Generals attacked the British stronghold of Quebec. The attempt was a failure ; Arnold was wounded, Montgomery was killed, and though the Americans fought gallantly they were driven back from Canada by "GIVE THEM WATTS, BOYS ! superior forces. Meanwhile the siege of Boston was syste- matically carried on by Wash- incrton, and in the of ■^^vcit- 1776 the American General gained a commanding position by seizing Don Chester Heights (which bore much the same relation to Boston on the South that Breed's Hill did on the North) and General Howe found himself forced to evacuate the city. He sailed with his whole force for Halifa.x, taking with him great numbers of American sym- pathizers with British rule, together with their property. 10 p & w 154 THE STORY OF AMERICA. The new Congress met at Philadelphia in May. During the first month of its sessions it became evident that there had been an immense advance in pub- lic opinion as to the real issue to be maintained. Several of the colonies had expressed a positive conviction that National independence must be demanded. Virginia had formally instructed her delegates to take that ground, and it was on the motion of Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, seconded by John Adams, of Massachusetts, that Congress proceeded to consider the resolution "That these (United colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent States ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved." This bold utterance was adopted on July 2d by all the colo- nies except New York. The opposition came mainly from Pennsylvania and New York, and was based, not on lack of patriotism, but on a feeling that the time for such an assertion had not yet come, that a stronger central government should first be established, and that attempts should be made to secure a for- eign alliance. It should be noticed that the strongest opponents of the measure, John Dickinson and Robert Morris, of Pennsylvania, were among the most patriotic supporters of the Union. To Robert Morris in particular, whose skill as a financier steered the young Nation through many a difficulty, the country owes a special debt of gratitude. The Declaration of Independence, formally adopted two days later, was written mainly by the pen of Thomas Jefferson. It is unique among State papers — a dignified though impassioned, a calm though eloquent, recital of injuries inflicted, demand for redress, and avowal of liberties to be maintained with the sword. Its adoption was hailed, the country through, as the birth of a new Nation. Never before has a country about to appeal to war to decide its fate put upon record so clear-toned and deliberate an assertion of its purposes and its reasons, and thus summoned the world and posterity to witness the justice and righteousness of its cause. Thus far in the war the engagements between the opposing forces had been of a detached kind — not related, that is, to any broad plan of attack or defense. Of the same nature also was the British expedition against South Carolina, led by Sir Henr)' Clinton and Lord Cornwallis. Their fleet attacked Charleston, but the fort was so bravely defended by Colonel Moultrie, from his palmetto-log fortifications on Sullivan's Island, that the fleet was forced to aban- don the attempt and to return to New York. But the British now saw that it was imperative to enter upon a distinct and extensive plan of campaign. That adopted was sagacious and logical ; its failure was due, not to any inherent defect in itself but to lack of persistency in adhering to it. Washington under- stood it thoroughly from the first, and bent all his energies to tempting the enemy to diverge from the main object in view. The plan, in brief was this : New York City was to be seized and held as a base of supplies and centre of THE BRITISH PLAN FEASIBLE. 155 operations ; from it a stretch of country to the west was to be occupied and held, thus cutting- oft" communication between New York and the New Eng-land States on the one side and Pennsylvania and the Southern States on the other. Meanwhile a force was to be pushed down from Canada to the head of the Hudson River, to be met by another force pushed northward up the Hudson. In this way New England would be practically surrounded, and it was thought that its colonies could be reduced one by one, while simultaneously or later an army could march southward upon Philadelphia. The plan was quite feasible, but probably at no time did the British have sufficient force to carry it out in detail. They wofully over-estimated, also, the assistance they might receive from the Tories in New York State. And they still more wofully under-esti- mated Washington's ability as a strategist in blocking their schemes. General Howe, who was now Commander-in-Chief of the British army, drew his forces to a head upon Staten Island, combining there the troops which had sailed from Boston to Halifax, with Clinton's forces which had failed at Charleston, and the Hessians newly arrived. In all he had over thirty thousand soldiers. Washington, who had transferred his headquarters from Boston to the vicinity of New York after the former city had been evacuated by the British, occupied the Brooklyn Heights with about twenty thousand poorly equipped and undrilled colonial troops. To hold that position against the larger forces of regulars seemed a hopeless task ; but every point was to be contested. In point of fact, only five thousand of the Americans were engaged in the battle of Long Island (August 27, 1776) against twenty thousand men brought by General Howe from Staten Island. The Americans were driven back after a hotly contested fight. Before Howe could follow up his victory Washington planned and e.xecuted one of those extraordinar)^ rapid movements which so often amazed his enemy ; in a single night he withdrew his entire army across the East River into New York in boats, moving so secretly and swiftly that the British first found out what had happened when they saw the deserted camps before them on the following morning. Drawing back through the city Washington made his next stand at Harlem Heights, occupying Fort Washing- ton on the east and Fort Lee on the west side of the Hudson, thus guarding the line of the river while prepared to move southward toward Philadelphia if occasion should require. In the battle of White Plains the Americans suffered a repulse, but much more dispiriting to Washington was the disarra igement of his plans caused by the interference of Congress. That over-prudf nt body sent special orders to General Greene, at Fort Washington, to hold it at all odds, while Washington had directed Greene to be ready on the first attack to fall back upon the main army in New jersey. The result was the capture of Fort Washington, with a loss of three thousand prisoners. To add to the misfortune, General Charles Lee, who commanded a wing of the American o X ^ O 1.. o ^ i ? ' 5 RECKONED WITHOUT HIS HOST. 15; army on the east side of the river, absohitely ignored Washington's orders to join him. Lee was a soldier of fortune, vain, ambitious, and volatile, and there is little doubt that his disobedience was due to his hope that Washington was irretrievably ruined and that he might succeed to the command. Gathering his scattered troops together as well as he could, Washington retreated through New Jersey, meeting everywhere with reports that the colonists were in despair, that many had given in their allegiance to the British, that Congress had fled to Baltimore, and that the war was looked on as almost over. In this crisis it was an actual piece of rare good fortune that Charles Lee should be captured bv soldiers while spending the night at a tavern away from his camp, for the result was that Lee's forces were free to join Washington's command, and at once did so. Altogether some six thousand men were left in the army, and were drawn into something like coherence on the other side of the Delaware River. General Howe announced that he had now nothing to do but wait the freezing of the Delaware, and then to cross over and "catch Washington and end the war." But he reckoned without his host. Choosing, as the best time for his bold and sudden movement, Christmas night, when revelry in the camp of the enemy might be hoped to make them careless, Washington crossed the river. Leading in person the division of twenty-five hundred men, which alone suc- ceeded in making the passage over the river, impeded as it was with great blocks of ice, he marched straight upon the Hessian outposts at Trenton and captured them with ease. Still his position was a most precarious one. Corn- wallis was at Princeton with the main British army, and marching directly upon the Americans, penned them up, as he thought, between Trenton and the Delaware. It is related that Cornwallis remarked, " At last we have run down the old fox, and we will bag him in the morning." But before morning came Washington had executed another surprising and decisive manoeuvre. Main- taining a great show of activity at his intrenchments, and keeping camp-fires, brightly burning, he noiselessly led the main body of his army round the flank of the British force and marched straight northward upon Princeton, capturing as he went the British rear guard on its way to Trenton, seizing the British, post of supplies at New Brunswick, and in the end securing a strong position. on the hills in Northern New Jersey, with Morristown as his headquarters.. There he could at last rest for a time, strengthen his army, and take advantage of the prestige which his recent operations had brought him. Let us turn our attention now to the situation further north. General Burgoyne had advanced southward from Canada through Lake Champlain and had easily captured Ticonderoga. His object was, of course, to advance in the same line to the south until he reached the Hudson River ; but this was a very different matter from what he had supposed it. General Schuyler was in com tsS THE STORY OF AMERICA. mand of the Americans, and showed the highest mihtary skill in opposing Bur- goyne's progress, cutting off his sup- plies antl harassing him generally. An expedition to assist Burgoyne had been \sent down the St. Lawrence to Lake Ontario, thence to march eastward to ^ the head of the Hudson, gathering aid .-. > SURRENDER OF BURGOYNE. a t Oriskan) the Tories anc British were defeated in a fiercely fough»- battle, in which a greater proportion SURRENDER OF GENERAL BURGOYNE. 159 of those engaged were killed than in any other battle of the war. Disheart- ened at this, and at the near approach of Benedict Arnold, St. Leger, who was at the head of the expedition, fled in confusion back to Canada. Meanwhile Burgoyne had sent out a detachment to gather supplies. This was utterly routed at Bennington by the Vermont farmers under General Stark. Through all the country round about the Americans were flocking to arms, their patriotism enforced by their horror at the atrocities committed by* Burgoyne's Indian allies and by the danger to their own homes. Practically, Burgoyne was surrounded, and though he fought bravely in the battles of Still- water (September 19, 1777) and Bemis's Heights (October 7th), he was over- matched. Ten days after the last-named battle he surrendered with all his forces to General Gates, who was now at the head of the American forces in that vicinity and thus received the nominal honor of the result, although it was really due rather to the skill and courage of General Schuyler and General Arnold. Almost six thousand soldiers laid down their arms, and the artillery, small arms, ammunition, clothing, and other military stores which fell into Gen- eral Gates's hands were immensely valuable. Almost greater than the prac- tical gain of this splendid triumph was that of the respect at once accorded throughout the world to American courage and military capacity. General Burgoyne had every right to lay the blame for the mortifying failure of his expedition upon Howe, who had totally failed to carry out his part of the plan of campaign. It was essential to the success of this plan that Howe should have pushed an army up the Hudson to support Burgoyne. In leaving this undone he committed the greatest blunder of the war. Why he. acted as he did was for a long while a mystery, but letters brought to light eighty years after the war was over show that he was strongly influenced by the traitorous arguments of his prisoner, Charles Lee, who for a time, at least, had decided to desert the American cause. While in this frame of mind he convinced Howe that there was plenty of time to move upon and seize Philadelphia and still come to Burgoyne's aid in season. Howe should have known Washington's methods better by this time. At first the British General attempted a march through New Jersey, but for nearly three weeks Washington blocked his movements, out-manoeuvred him in the fencing for advantage of position, and finally compelled him to withdraw, baft^ed, to New York. Though no fighting of consequence occurred in this period, it is, from the military standpoint, one of the most interesting of the entire war. The result was that Howe, unwilling to give up his original design, transported his army to the mouth of the Delaware by sea, then decided to make his attempt by way of Chesapeake Bay, and finally, after great delay, landed his forces at the head of that bay, fifty miles from Philadelphia. Washington interposed his arm.y between the enemy and the city and for several weeks delayed its inevitable l6o THE STORY OF AMERICA. capture. In the Battle of Brandywine the Americans put eleven thousand troops in the field against eighteen thousand of the British, and were defeated, though by no means routed (September ii, 1777). After Howe harJ seized the city he found it necessary to send part of his army to capture the forts on the Delaware River, and this gave the Americans the opportunity of An attack with evenly balanced forces. Unfortunately, the battle of Germantown was, by reason of a heavy fog, changed into a confused conflict, in which some Americaii regiments fired into others, and which ended in the retreat of our forces. Washington drew back and went into winter quarters at Valley Forge. Con gress, on the approach of the enemy, had fled to York. Howe had accomplished his immediate object, but at what a cost ! The possession of Philadelphia had not appreciably brought nearer the subjugation of the former colonies, while the opportunity to co-operate with Rurgoyne had been irretrievably lost, and, as we have seen, a great and notable triumph had been gained by the Americans in his surrender. The memorable winter which Washington spent at Valley Fcrge he often described as the darkest of his life. The course of the war had not been altogether discouraging, but he had to contend with the inaction of Congress, with cabals of envious rivals, and with the wretched lack of supplies and food. He writes to Congress that when he wished to draw up his troops to fight, the men were unable to stir on account of hunger, that 2898 men were unfit for duty because they were barefooted and half naked, that " for seven days past there has been little else than a famine in the camp." Meanwhile an intrigue to supersede Washington by Gates was on foot and nearly succeeded. The whole country also was suffering from the depreciated Continental currency and from the lack of power in the general government to lay taxes. What a contrast is there between Washington's position at this time and the e.nthusiasm with which the whole country flocked to honor him in the autumn ot the first year of his Presidency (1789), when he made a journey which was one long series of ovations. An idea of the character of these is given in the accom- panying picture of his reception at Trenton, where the date on the triumphal arch recalled that famous Christmas night when he outwitted the British. But encouragement from abroad was at hand. Perhaps the most im- portant result of Burgoyne's surrender was its influence in procuring us the French Alliance. Already a strong sympathy had been aroused for the Amer- ican cause in France. The nobility were influenced in no small degree by the sentimental and philosophical agitation for ideal liberty which preceded the brutal reality of the French R evolution. Lafayette, then a mere boy of eighteen, had fitted out a ship with supplies at his own expense, and had laid his services at Washington's command. Our Commissioners to France — John Adams, Arthur Lee, and Benjamin I'Vanklin — had labored night and CLINTON ABANDONS PHILADELPHIA. i6i day for the alliance. Franklin, in particular, had, by his shrewd and homely wit, his honesty of purpose and his high patriotism, made a profound im pression upon the French people. We read that on one occasion he was made to embrace the role of an Apostle of Liberty at an elegant fete where "the most beautiful of three hundred women was designated to go and place on the philosopher's white locks a crown of laurel, and to give the old man two kisses on his cheeks." Very "French" this, but not without its significance. But after all, the thing which turned the scale with the French Govern- ment was the partial success of our armies. France was only too willing, under favoring circumstances, to obtain its revenge upon Great Britain for many recent defeats and slights. So it was that in the beginning of 1778 the independence of the United States was recognized by France and a fleet was sent to our assistance. During the winter, meanwhile, the thirteen States had adopted in Congress articles of confederation and perpetual union, which were slowly and hesitatingly ratified by the legislatures of the several States. The news of the reinforcements on their way from France, led Sir Henry Clinton, who had now succeeded Howe in the chief command of the British, to abandon Philadelphia, and mass his forces at New York. This he did in June, 1778, sending part of the troops by sea and the rest northward, through New Jersey. Washington instantly broke camp, followed the enemy, and overtook him at Monmouth Court House. In the battle which followed the forces were equally balanced, each having about fifteen thousand men The American attack was entrusted to Charles Lee, who had been exchang-ed, and whose treachery was not suspected. Again Lee disobeyed orders, and directed a retreat at the critical minute of the fight. Had Washington not arrived, the retreat would have been a rout ; as it was he turned it into a victory, driving the British from their position, and gained the honors of the day. But had it not been for Lee, this victory might have easily been made a crushing and finsJ defeat for the British army. A court-martial held upon Lee's conduct expelled him from the army. Years later he died a disgraced man, though it is only in our time that the full extent of his dishonor has been understood. The scene of the most important military operations now changes from the Northern to the Southern States. But before speaking ^?f the campaign which ended with Cornwallis's surrender, we may characterize the fighting in the North, which went on in the latter half of the war, as desultory and unsystem- atic in its nature. The French fleet under Count d'Estaing was unable to cross the New York bar on account of the depth of draught of its greatest ships ; and for that reason the attempt to capture New York City was aban- doned. Its next attempt was to wrest Rhode Island from the British. This also was defeated, partly because of a storm at a critical moment, partly through a misunderstanding with the American allies. After these two failures, l63 THE STORY OF AMERICA. ./nrv. the French fleet sailed to the West Indies to injure British interests there. The assault on the fort at Stony Point by " Mad Anthony " Wayne has importance as a brilliant and thrilling episode, and was of value in streno^thening our position on the Hudson River. Al! along the border the Tories were incitintr the Indians to barbarous attacks. The most important and deplorable of these at- •osw*?- ./ . \V.\SHINGTOS REPROVING LEE AT MON.MOITH. tacks were those which ended in the massacres at W\'oming and Cherry \'alley. Reprisals for tliese atrocities were taken by General Sullivan's e.xpedi- tion, which defeated the Tories and Indians combined, near Elmira. with great slaughter. But all these events, like the British sudden attacks on the Connecticut ports of New Haven, BRITISH CONCESSIOX REPELLED. 163 Fairfield, and Norwalk, were, as we have said, rather detached episodes than related parts of a campaign. We should also note before entering upon the final chapter of the war, that Great Britain had politically receded from her position. Of her own accord she had offered to abrogate the offensive legislation which had provoked the colonies to war. But it was too late ; the proposition of peace commissioners sent to America to acknowledge the principle of taxation by colonial assemblies NEGKO VILLAGE IN GEORGIA. was not for a moment considered. The watchword of America was now Independence, and there was no disposition in any quarter to accept anything less than full recognition of the rights of the United States as a Nation. The second and last serious and concerted effort by the British to subjugate the American States had as its scene of operations our Southern territory^ At first it seemed to succeed. A long series of reverses to the cause of independ- ence were reported from Georgia and South Carolina. The plan formed by i64 THE STORY OF AMERICA. Sir Henry Clinton and Cornwallis was, in effect, to begin at the extreme South and overpower one State after another until the army held in reserve about New York could co-operate with that advancing victoriously from the South. Savannah had been captured in 1778, while General Lincoln, who commanded our forces, was twice defeated with great loss — once at Brier Creek, in an advance upon Savannah, when his lieutenant, General Ashe, was actually routed with very heavy loss ; and once when Savannah had b(;c-n invested by General Lincoln himself by land, while the French fleet under d'Estaing besieged the city by sea. In a short time Georgia was entirely occupied by the British. They were soon reinforced by Sir Henry Clinton in person, with an army, and the united forces moved upward into South Carolina with thirteen thousand men. Lincoln was driven into Charleston, was there besieged, and (May 12, 1780) was forced to surrender not only the city but his entire army. A desultory but brilliant guerrilla warfare was carried on at this time by the Southern militia and light cavalry under the dashing leadership of Francis Marion, " the Swamp Fox," and the partisan, Thomas Sumter. These men were privateers on horseback. Familiar with the tangled swamps and always well mounted, even though in rags themselves, they were the terror of the invaders. At the crack of their rifles the pickets of Cornwallis fled, leaving a score of dead behind. The dreaded cavalry of Tarleton often came back from their raids with many a saddle emptied by the invisible foes. They were here, they were everywhere. Their blows were swift and sure ; their vigilance sleepless. Tarleton had been sent by Cornwallis with a force of seven hundred cavalry to destroy a patriot force in North Carolina, under Bu- ford, which resulted in his utterly destroying about four hundred of the patriots at Waxhaw, the affair being more of a massacre than a battle. Thus the name of Tarleton came to be hated in the South as that of Benedict Arnold was in the North. He was dreaded for his celerity and cruelty. As illustrative of the spirit of the Southern colonists, we may be pardoned for the digression of the following anecdote. The fighting of Marion and his men was much like that of the wild Apaches of the southwest. When hotly pursued by the enemy his command would break up into small parties, and these as they were hard pressed would subdivide, until nearly every patriot was fleeing alone. There could be no successful pursuit, therefore, since the subdivision of the pursuing party weakened it too much. " We will give fifty pounds to get within reach of the scamp that galloped by here, just ahead of us," exclaimed a lieutenant of Tarleton's cavalry, as he and three other troopers drew up before a farmer, who was hoeing in the field by the roadside. The farmer looked up, leaned on his hoe, took off his old hat and mopping his forehead with his handkerchief looked at the angry soldier and said : — AN INTERESTING ANECDOTE I6S "Fifty pounds is a big lot of money." "So it is in these times, but we'll give it to you in gold, if you'll show ms where we can get : -^ a chance at the rebel ; did you see him ? " ; ■. "He was all alone, was he? And s*< TARLETON'S LIEUTENANT AND THE FARMER (JACK DAVIS). he was mounted on a black horse with a white star in his forehead, and he was going like a streak of lightning, wasn't he ?" l66 THE STORY OF AMERICA. " That's the fellow!" exclaimetl the ciuestioners, hoping they were about to get the knowledge they wanted. " It looked to me like Jack Davis, though he went by so fast that I couldn't get a square look at his face, but he was one of Marion's men, and if I ain't greatly mistaken it was Jack Davis himself " Then looking up at the four British horsemen, the farmer added, with a quizzical expression : — " I reckon that ere Jack Davis has hit you chaps pretty haril, ain't he ? " "Never mind about thai!' replied the lieutenant ; "what we want to know is where we can get a chance at him for just about five minutes." The farmer put his cotton handkerchief into his hat, which he now slowly replaced, and shook his head : "I don't think he's hiding round here," he said ; "wluMi he shot by Jack was going so fast that it didn't look as if he could stop under four or five miles. Strangers, I'd like powerful well to earn that fifty pounds, but I don't think you'll get a chance to squander it on me." After some further questioning, the lieutenant and his men wheeled their horses and trotted back toward the main body of Tarleton's cavalry. The farmer plied his hoe for several minutes, gradually working his way toward the stretch of woods some fifty yards from the roadside. Reaching the margin of the held, he stepped in among the trees, hastily took off his clothing, tied it up in a bundle, shoved it under a ilat rock from beneath which he drew a suit no better in quality, but showing a faint semblance to a uniform. Putting it on and then plunging still deeper into the woods, he soon reached a dimly-marked track, which he followed only a shc^rt distance, when a gentle whinney fell upon his ear. The next moment he vaulted on the back of a bony but blooded horse, marked by a beautiful star in his forehead. The satin skin of the steed shone as though he had been traveling hard, antl his rider allowed him to walk along the path for a couple of miles, when he entered an open space where, near a spring, rVancis Marion and fully two hundred men were encamped. They were eating, smoking anel chatting as though no such horror as war was known. You understanil, of course, that the farmer that leaned on his hoe by the roadside and talked to Tarleton's lieutenant about Jack Davis and his exploits was Jack Davis himself Marion antl his men had many stirring adventures. .A. British officer, sent to settle some business with Marion, was asked by him to stay to dinner Marion was always a charming gentleman, and the visitor accepted the fnvitation. but he was astonished to find that the meal consisted only of baked sweet potatoes served on bark. No apology was made, but the guest could not help asking his host whether that dinner was a specimen of his regular bill of fare. "It is," replied Marion, "except that to-day, in honor of your presence, we have more than the usual allowance." CAMPAIGN FN THE SOUTH. North Carolina was now in danger, and it was to be defended by overrated General Gates, whose campaign was marked by every in- .. #' ■» dication of military incapacity. His '" *- attacks were invariably made reck- lessly, and his positions were ill- chosen. At i 1 Camden he ' „.#^'*-^«J f - ^ 167 the ESCAPE OF BENEDICT ARNOLD. ""' ■^^ (sia^itrs-^ ^ ^ .,>, . ^^ ^^^^^ Utterly and disgracefully ^-^ . =-:P" defeated by Lord Cornwallis (August 16, 1780). It seemed now as if the British forces could easily hold the territory already won and could advance safely into Virginia. This was, indeed, one of the darkest periods in the history of our war, and even Washington was inclined to despair. j68 THE STORY OF AMERICA. To add to the feeling of despondency came the news of Benedict Arnold's infamous treachery. In the early part of the war he had served, not merely with credit but with the highest distinction. Ambitious and passionate by temper, he had justly been indignant at the slights put upon him by the promotion over his head of several officers who were far less entitled than he to such a reward. He had also, perhaps, been treated with undue severity in his trial by court- martial on charges relating to his accounts and matters of discipline. No doubt he was greatly intluenced by his marriage to a lady of great beauty, who was in intimate relations with many of the leading Tories. It is more than probable, still further, that he believed the cause of American independence could never be won. But neither explanations nor fancied wrongs in the least mitigate the baseness of his conduct. He deliberately planned to be put in command of West Point, with the distinct intention of handing it over to the British in return for thirty thousand dollars in money and a command in the British army. It was almost an accident that the emissary between Arnold and Clinton, Major Andre was captured by Paulding and his rough but incorruptible fellows. Andre's personal charm and youth created a feeling of sympathy for him, but it cannot be for a moment denied that he was justly tried and executed, in accor- dance with the law of nations. Had Arnold's attempt succeeded, it is more than likely that the blow dealt our cause would have been fatal. His subse- quent service in the British arm)' only deepened the feeling of loathing with which his name was heard by Americans ; while even his new allies distrusted and despised him, and at one time Cornwallis positively refused to act in concert with him. A bright and cheering contrast to this dark episode is that of the glorious victories at sea won by John Paul Jones, who not only devastated British com- merce, but, in a desperately fought naval battle, captured two British men-of-war. the "Serapis" and the "Countess of Scarborough," and carried the new American flag into foreign ports with the prestige of having swept everything before him on the high seas. Here was laid the foundation of that reputation for intrepidity and gallantry at sea which the American navy so well sustained in our second war with Great Britain. As the year 17S0 advanced, the campaign in the South began to assume a more favorable aspect. General Greene was placed in command of die American army and at once began a series of rapid and confusing movements, now attacking the enemy in front, now cutting off his communications in the rear, but always scheming for the advantage of position, and usually obtaining it. He was aided ably by "Light Horse Harry" Lee and by General Morgan. Even before his campaign began the British had suffered a serious defeat at King's Mountain, just over the line between North and South Carolina, where a bodv of southern and western backwoodsmen had cut to pieces and finally J THE END APPROACHING. 169 captured a British detachment of twelve hundred men. Greene followed up this victory by sending Morgan to attack one wing of Cornwallis's army at Cowpens, near by King's Mountain, where again a large body of the enemy were captured with a very slight loss on the part of the Americans. Less decisive was the battle of Guilford Court House (March 15, 1781), which was contested with great persistency and courage by both armies. At the end of the day the British held the field, but the position was too perilous for Corn wallis to maintain long, and he retreated forthwith to the coast. General Greene continued to seize one position after another, driving the scattered bodies of the British through South Carolina and finally meeting them face to face at Eutaw Springs, where another equally contested battle took place ; in which, as at Guilford, the British claimed the honors of the day, but which also resulted in their ultimately giving away before the Americans and intrenching themselves in Charleston. Now, indeed, the British were to move into Virginia, not as they had originally planned, but because the more southern States were no longer tenable. It seemed almost as if Greene were deliberately driving them northward, so that in the end they might lie between two American armies. But they made a strong stand at Yorktown, in which a small British army under Benedict Arnold was already in possession and had been opposed by Lafayette. Washington, who had been watching the course of events with the keen e)'e of the master strategist, saw that the time had come for a decisive blow. The French fieet was sent to the Chesapeake, and found little difficulty in re- ducing the British force and approaching Yorktown by sea. Washington's own army had been lying along the Hudson, centered at West Point, ready to meet any movement by Sir Henry Clinton's army at New York. Now Washington moved southward down the Hudson into the upper part of New Jersey. It was universally believed that he was about to attack the British at New York. Even his own officers shared this belief But with a rapidity that seems astonishing, and with the utmost skill in handling his forces, Washington led them swiftly on, still in the line toward the south, and before Clinton had grasped his inten- tion he was well on his way to Virginia. Cornwallis was now assailed both by land and by sea ; he occupied a peninsula, from which he could not escape except by forcing a road through Washington's united army of sixteen thousand men. The city of Yorktown was bombarded for three weeks. An American officer writes : "The whole peninsula trembles under the incessant thunderings of our infernal machines." General Rochambeau who had been placed in com- mand of the French forces in America, actively co-operated with Washington. The meeting of the two great commanders forms the subject of one of our illustrations. Good soldier and good general as Cornwallis was, escape was tmposslble. On October 19, 1781, he suffered the humiliation of a formal sur 11 p& w I/O THE SrORY OF AMERICA. rendi'r of his army of over seven thousand mcni, with two hundred and forty cannon, twenty-eiq;ht regimental standards, and vast (juantities of niiUtary stores and provisions. When Lord North, the Lnghsh MinisttT, heard of the surrender, we arc told, he paced the; tloor in deep distress, and cried, "O God, it is all over ! " And so it was, in fact. The cause of American inde])endence had practi- tically been won. Hostilities, it is true, continued in a feeble and half-hearted way, and it was not until September, 1783, that the Treaty of Peace secured by John Ja\-, ]o\\\\ Adams, ami Benjamin Franklin was actually signed — a treaty which was not only honorable to us, but which, in the frontier boundaries adopted, was more advantageous than even our French allies were inclined to approve, giving us as it did the territory westward to the Mississippi and southwanl to Morida. Great Britain as a nation had become heartily sick and tiretl of her attempt to coerce her former colonies. As the war progressed she had managed to involve herself in hostilities not only with France, but with Spain and Holland, and even with the native princes of India. Lord North's Ministry fell, the star of the younger Pitt arose into the ascendency, and George the Third's attempt to establish a purely personal rule at home and abroad was defeated beyond redemption. As we read of the scanty recognition given by the American States to the soldiers who had fought their battles ; as we learn that it was only Wash- ington's commanding influence that restrained these soldiers, half starved and half paid, from compelling that recognition from Congress by force ; as we perceive how many and serious were the problems of finance and of govern- ment distracting the State Legislatures ; as, in short, we see the political disintegration and chaotic condition of affairs in the newly born Nation, we recognize the fact that the struggle which had just ended so triumphantly was but the prelude to another, more peaceful but not less vital, struggle — rhat for the founding of a strong, coherent, and truly National Government. The latter struggle began before the Revolution was over and lasted until. In fjSj, by mutual concession and mutual compromise was formed the Constitution of the United States. £in: VIKW OF TU& CiUWTOU K.MH1NGT»>H CHAPTER IX. THE STRUGQLE KOR LIBERTY AND GOVERNIVIENT BEFORE AND AFTER THE REVOLUTION. BY FRANCIS NEWTON THORPE, Ph. D., Professor of American Constitutionai History, University of Pennsylvania, At the time of the colonization of America the land of Great Britain was controlled, if not owned, by not more than a hundred men, and political privileges were exercised by less than a thousand times as many. The principal rights of the masses were of a civil nature. The jury trial was an ancient right guaranteed by Magna Charta, but by the union of church and state, the thought and the activities of the English people were authoritatively uniform, and any departure from traditional belief, either in matters ecclesiastical or civil, was viewed with disapproval. But a people of so diversified a irenius for sjood government as are the people of Anglo-Saxon stock could not long remain subject to serious limitations on their prosperity. America was the opportunity for liberty, the first opportu- nity for the diversification of Anglo-Saxon energies, and for the realization of the iiopes of mankind. There is a uniformity in the development of human affairs. Agriculture is improved in means and methods by improvements in manufactures, and a larger concepdon of the nature of the State always finds response in the home comforts of the people. The opportunides of America caused greater comfort and happiness among the English people who stayed at home. Thr ':olonization of America by the English was after two systems, that of the 173 i-KAivci.s ^^,^v^ON THORPE, Ph.k. 174 THE STORY OF AMERICA. TTommercial enterprise, that of the religious undertaking : the commercial system was illustrated in the Virginia enterprise, the religious undertaking, in the New England. Sir Walter Raleigh had conceived of planting a colony in the Carolinas, but his colony, had it succeeded, would have been a repetition of an English shire, continuing the limitations on the common life, the limitations of property and condition incident to English life at the close of the sixteenth century'. Providence saved America for larsjer undertakinijs, and thousfh the ideas of Raleiorh were at the foundation of the first Virginia adventure, the charter of' 1606 gave larger privileges to the adventurers than had the charter to Raleigh or to Gilbert of nearly a quarter of a century before ; and the first adventure to Virginia demonstrated that a new age had come, for the conditions of Hfe in the wilderness would not permit the transplanting of the feudal system, and the enterprise failed because it lacked men and women who were willing to work and to make homes for themselves. The second charter of three years later gave larger inducements to embark in the undertaking, but little guarantee of privilege to individuals who might seek their fortunes in Virginia. It was yet two years before King James granted the third charter empowering the litde colony at Jamestown to enter upon the serious undertaking of local self-government. As s©on as the instincts of the Anglo-Saxon could have room in America for the exercise of those persistent ideas which make the glory of the race, the winning of American liberty was assured. A little Parliament was called in Virginia, and this assembly of a score of men began the long history of free legislation, which, in spite of many errors, has given expression to the wishes of millions of men in America who have toiled in its fields, worked in its fac- tories, instructed in its schools, directed its finances, controlled its trade, devel- oped its mines, and spread its institutions westward over the continent. But the first victor)' of liberty was in the forum, not in the field. The ancient and undoubted rights of the people of England gave to the inhabitants of each borough the right to representation in Parliament, and the plantations in Virginia, becoming the first shires of the New World, became also the first units of civil jurisdiction. The planters claimed and exercised the right to choose deputies to meet in General Court in the colony for the purpose of considering the wants of the various plantations, and particularly for the pur- pose of levying such taxes as might be required for the general welfare. The long struggle for liberty in America began when the House of Burgesses in X'irginia asserted and assumed its right to levy the taxes of the colony, to vote the supplies to the governor, and to control the financial affairs of the plantations. The New England settlements from Plymouth to Portland, following hard after the settlements in Virginia, began local government after the same model. BUNJAMIN FRANKLTN. 176 THE STORY OF AMERICA. The town-meeting was the local democracy which examined and discussed freely all matters of local interest. In the town-meeting assembled the free- men who wrote and spoke as they thought; elected "men of their own choos- ing," and made laws to please themselves ; chose both servants to execute and to administer the laws, and held their representatives responsible for their public service. But the local communities in New England, — the several towns, — soon applied the representative principle in government, and each town chose its deputies to meet with the deputies of other towns in General Assembly for the purpose of taking into consideration the affairs of the colony. The settlers in Salem and Boston, when they arrived with John \\'inthrop, had brought with them a Great Charter, transferring the gov- ernment from old England to Massachusetts, and there they enlarged the member- ship of the Company of Massachusetts Bay.and trans- formed the government into a representative republic. The inhabitants of Virginia had not authority' to elect their own governor, save for a short time during the days of the Commonwealth in England, but for more than half a century the people of Massachusetts chose all their public officers and instructed them at their pleasure. The immediate responsi- bility of the representative of the town to the townsmen was the fundamental notion in the New England idea of government. But the representative republic, the commonwealth, of New England, was not composed of freemen only, for there were many inhabitants of Massachu J setts who were excluded from participation in the political life of the colony. ■ During the half century of government under the old charter, the people of ~ Massachusetts comprised both church members and non-church members, THE LIBERTY BELL, AS E.\HIBITED AT THE NEW ORLEANS EXPOSITION. THE STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY. 17; but only the church members were eligible to public office. Persons dis- lenting from the congregational polity in church and state, persons not communicants in the orthodox establishment, were excluded from direct participation in the government ; they could not vote, they could not hold office, their children could not be baptized. When Charles II caused the forfeiture of the Massachusetts charter in 1684, although the liberty of Massachusetts seemed greatly endangered, yet a nearer approach to the definition of liberty was made ; for the careless King, in order to win approval of his procedure among the colonists, had already intimated his desire to enlarge the franchise in Massachusetts, and to open the privileges of freedom more liberally to the inhabitants of the colony. This proposition to enlarge the liberties of the inhabitants met with disfavor among the conservatives, and the voice of the established church in the colony was raised against the in- novation. In spite, however, of the limitations on the political rights of the inhabitants of Massachusetts, their civil rights were carefully guarded and freely exercised. It should be observed that throughout the history of America the ancient civil rights under Anglo-Saxon institutions have generally been carefully observed. The winning of liberty in America has been largely the liberty of exercising political rights, until it has become common to estimate all privileges in America by the standard of political freedom. VYe should not forget that there are other rights than those political ; there are moral, civil, and industrial rights, whose exercise is as important for the welfare of the citizen as is the exercise of rights political. The winning of civil independence is the glory of the barons of 1215 ; for It was impossible for them to win civil rights for themselves without winning civil rights for the whole nation, and the application of the principle for which they struggled was necessarily universal, so that the humble tenant of the landed estate must participate in the privileges of civil liberty. The New Eneland colonists, movincj westward and southwestward over the domain which we call New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, spread the customs of civil privilege and carried with them the constitution of government to which they had been accustomed. Williams, in Rhode Island, attempted a pure democracy, which in its early days was a tumultuous assem blage, but taught by experience became a happy and prosperous community. Connecticut, differing but slightly in its colonial ideas from those of Massachu- setts, was empowered by its liberal charter of 1663 to become almost an independent commonwealth. The whole spirit of the New England people in government was to exercise liberty in civil affairs and a qualified liberty in political affairs. The civil rights of the inhabitants of New England down to ^he time of the Revolution were quite uniform, but their political rights were 178 THE STORY OF AMERICA. determined by qualifications of property, of religious opinion, of sex, of age, and of residence. The old English idea of political right carried with it similar qualifications, and the conservative \'irginians, like the conservative people of New England, could not conceive of citizenship apart from a landed estate and established re- ligious opinions. Were we to use the language of our day we should say that die voter in colonial times was required, w^hether citizen of a northern or of a southern colony, to subscribe to a creed and to possess an acreage. At a time when land was to be had without cost, save of labor and cultivation, the qualifica- tion of real property was not a heavy burden, and so long as the earnest judg- ment of the majority of the inhabitants favored the supremacy of any ecclesiastical system, conformity to that system was equally easy ; but as soon as free investi- gation of the questions of church and state became the spirit of the age, there would necessarily follow modification in the requirements for citizenship, and the qualifications for an elector would necessarily change. In all the charters establishing colonial governments there was inserted a provision that the legislation permitted to the colonial Assemblies created by the charters should be as nearly as may be according to the laws of England. This provision recognized the necessity for a liberal interpretation of legislative grants to the colonial Assemblies. Isolated from the home government and left to themselves, the colonists learned the habits of self-government and they made most liberal interpretations of their charters. The House of Burgesses in \'ir- ginia and its successors throughout the land construed the privileges of legisla- tion practically as the admission of their independence, and colonial legislation was a departure from parliamentarj' control. The local American Assemblies, the colonial legislatures, were composed of two branches : the upper, consisting of the governor and his council ; the low-er, of the representatives, or delegates, from the counties or towns. The latter, after the manner of the English burgesses, the representatives of the counties and towns in the colony, took control of the taxing power in America. England, by her navigation laws, compelled the colonies to transport all their productions in English ships, manned by Englishmen and sailing to English ports ; no manufacturing was allowed in the colonies, and inter-colonial trade was discouraged. The immediate consequence of the navigation acts, which to the number of about thirty were passed from time to time in the British Parliament, was to keep the colonies in an agricultural condition, to strip thertv of eold and silver coin, and to leave them to their own devices to find substi- tiites for money ; for, unable to manufacture the articles they needed, they were obliged to buy these articles principally in England, and to pay for them either with the raw productions which they exported or with coin, and the exportation of coin from the colonies was relatively as great as the exportation of produce. ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 179 I So THE STORY OF AMERICA. Money is the instrument of exchange and the means of association ; th»* colonists were compelled to exchange, and to seek that economic association which is the assurance and the health of civil life. R£.\R VIKW OK IMiEri-NDKNCE HAIX, PHILADELPHIA. The people were constantly clamoring for more money and for the issuing of a circulating medium. Massachusetts, in the middle of the seventeenth century had set up a mint, which coined a small quantity of shillings ; but the- '» Ik ' ^'J^k^-X •' ISSUE OF PAPER MONEY. I'Si mint was a trespass upon the sovereign right of tlie king and had no legal standing in the kingdom. The colonists, therefore, soon entered upon the experiment of making substitutes for money. Paper money, in a great variety of forms, was issued by the colonial Assemblies, and the issues were made chiefly for local circulation. The paper money of New Jersey circulated in New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, and to a less amount as the distance from New Jersey increased. New England money was little known in the southern colonies, and the paper issues of the Carolinas were rarely seen in New York. There was no acquaintance, no public faith common to the colonies, and although sanguinary laws were made to maintain the value of paper issues, there is evidence that counterfeits were almost as common as the original bills. So long as the issue of paper money was limited, and the colony which is- sued it had perfect faith in its value, the issue circulated, though its value con- stantly tended to depreciate throughout the colony ; but there was no unit of measure, no fixed standard of values, and it was quite impossible to fix the value of the issue in one colony by that of any issue in another colony. By the time the American Revolution was passed, the over-issue of paper moneys was evident to all thoughtful people, but there was no production of gold or silver ; there was little export of commodities which brought in coin, and the Legislatures of the various States — for so the General Assemblies of the colonies had now become — were compelled to enter upon a course of legislation, having in view the maintenance of a truly valuable circulating medium. Another great question had meantime been brought forward : the relation of the local communities to the common or general government. As early as 1643 the New England colonies, comprising committees of "like membership in the church," had consolidated for the purpose of defense and general wel- fare, and the principle which led to the union was the principle which led to the "more perfect union" of a hundred and thirty years later. If any change should come over the colonies by which the people should become like minded, as were the inhabitants of the New England colonies in 1643, then a union of the people of the colonies could be made. One of the causes which led to the American Revolution was this latent but powerful tendency in the colonies toward a common understanding of their character, conditions, and wants. The local Assemblies of the colonies had assumed unto themselves gradu- ally what may be called the prerogatives of legislation. They enacted laws on the whole range of subjects political, industrial, social, and ecclesiastical. They did not hesitate to attempt to solve any of the questions which arose from time to time, and as they attempted the solution of the economic questions of the colonies, they departed further and further from the strict interpretation of their charters, and made laws less and less "as near as may be conformable to the laws of England." But the Assemblies were uniform in claiming and in exercis- 1 82 11 IE STORY OF AMERICA. ing the right of levying taxes. As tlclegates of the people, they assumed the exclusive right of distributing the hurden of the State upon the inhabitants. This assumption was never acknowledged by the King or by Parliament ; for it was an assumption whicii denied the sovereignty of the King, and the su- premaey of Parliununt in legislation, liie liberty to levy taxes was the greatest privilege in practical government clainud by the Americans of the colonial era, and th(> winning of colonial indeptiidenc^' was the victorv of freedom in taxation. While tlu- latent tendency in the colonies was inuloubleiUy toward union, it may be said ih.u there never existed colonies which exhibited stronger tendencies ♦^o diversity than the I'jiglish colonies in Ann-rica. The whole range of American life was toward individualism, and the freedom from those restrictions which- e\er characterize older communities favored the tendency. As the New England pt'ople went into thi' west, pl.mling ei\ il institutions in New York anil ai(.>ng the southern shores of the Great Lakes, the individualistic temlencies in religion, in politics, in education, antl invention strengthened with every w.u i- oi [copulation. As the X'irginians and the Carolinians passed • nt-r the mountains, they also were strengthened in their individualistic otions, and the founders o( Ki'utucky .uid o{ Tennessee, while following theii instincts aiul the customs of the tide-water region whence they came, enlarged upon their niHit>ns, and organi/.eil government uniler more liberal provisions than those which prevailed eastwanl over the mountains. While the continental troops were winning tlu- victories of the Revolution, the settlers in the State of I'ranklin were claiming iniiejiendence. It is an error tt) suppose that the people of the colonies were unanimous in demanding inilependence, or that the majority of them su|iported die idea or, it may be saitl, ever understood its true meaning. The thirteen Colonies entered upon the struggle at a time when the I'niti'd Kingtlom was unable to comi)el them to submit to the li-gislation of Parliament. England possessed no great soldiers who could direct her armies in .America ; the colonies were therefore free to convert all the advantages of their isolation into a stronsf self-defense. Colonial legislation had isolatetl them, the imperfect facilities in transportation isolatetl them, and the wiiole tendencies of colonial institu- tions strenglhenet.1 them in this isolation. The assumption of the taxing power by the Lower House in the several colonies, and its persistent exercise for more than a centun,' and a half neces- sarily brought Parliament and the local .\ssemblies into collision. The Navi- gation Acts and the Stamp Act were financial measures of Parliament for the purpose of raising an imperial revenue in the colonies. .\ clearer idea is gaineil of the reasons for the hostility against this Parlimentary measure when we reflect that no common taxing power was known to the colonists; the HKNRY CLAY. 1 84 THE STORY OF AMERICA. local Legislature of each colony was supreme within its jurisdiction ; a propcv sition for a continental power which could levy a tax for continental pur- poses had never been entertained by the colonists and they would have resented a proposition emanating- from among themselves for continental tax- ation quite as quickly as they resented the proposition in Parliament to levy a tax on tea. The continuous legislation of the local Assemblies had taught the Americans to believe that local interests were supreme. It can now be seen that the Stamp Act and the Tea Tax operated to compel the colonies toward the union which they would in all probability never have made of themselves without this external pressure. The throwing overboard of the tea in Boston harbor is a picturesque incident in American histor)', because it stands for the fundamental idea of American right — the right of the taxpayer to levy taxes through his represent- ative. As soon as Parliament closed the port of Boston, a latent tendency in American affairs was displayed in \arious parts of the country, and nowhere more clearly than in X'irginia, where Patrick Henry, in an address to the Con- vention of delegates, with vision enlarged bv the tendencv of affairs, declared the relations of the colonies to the home government. Petitions, remonstrances, supplications, and prostrations before the throne had been in vain; "the inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending." the privi- leges of independent colonial taxation and of choosing delegates to levy the taxes, could be preserved only by war ; "three millions of people armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country' as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us." For the first time Massachusetts and \'irginia were united in a common sense of danger, -and the danger consisted chiefly in the denial of the right of the local legisla- ture, chosen by qualified electors, to levy a tax, and the assumption of the exclusive right of the British Parliament to levy a continental tax directly, }gnoring the popular branch of the colonial Legislatures. From a consideration of colonial finances it seems clear that the Americans were not so unwilling to pay a trifling duty on tea, on legal papers, and on painters' material, as they were to admit the right of the British Parliament itself to levy the tax. Had the proposition to tax America embodied a provision that the tax should be levied by the local Legislatures, the American Revolution would have been long delayed. It cannot be said that the Americans would have accepted representation in Parliament as a compensation for the tax. The first Declaration of Rights, in 1 765, had settled that point. The American colonists were English subjects, and entitled to all the rights and liberties of natural born subjects within the kingdom of Great Britain, and. exercising the undoubted rights of Englishmen they insisted " that no tax be imposed on them but with THE CRITICAL PERIOD OF OUR HISTORY 185 their own consent, given personally or by their representatives," and " that the people of these colonies are not, and from their local circumstances cannot be, represented in the House of Commons in Great Britain," and "that the only representatives of the people of these colonies are persons chosen therein by themselves, and that no taxes ever have been or can be constitutionally imposed on them but by their respective Legislatures." All supplies to the crown were "the free gifts of the people." The claim of the Americans at that time might be illustrated if the people of the United States should now insist that the revenue for the National Government should be collected through the lower branch of the State Legislatures, but to make the illustration go on all fours we should have to suppose that the people of the several States were not represented and did not care to be represented in Congress. The objection to an imperial ta.x involved the whole issue of the war, for it involved the fundamental idea of government in America, the idea of represen- tative government. It was not representation of the Americans in the British parliament, it was the representation of the Americans in their own Legislatures. One of the tests of independence is the possession of the right to levy taxes ; if England withdrew her claim to levy a continental tax directly through Parlia- ment, the independence of the colonies was at once acknowledged. It is evident then that the question of taxation goes to the foundation of American institu- tions, and from the time of the calling of the House of Burgesses in 1619 unto the present hour, the definition of liberty in America has depended upon the use or the abuse of the taxing power. As soon as the Continental Congress attempted to levy a tax, it became unpopular. The time from the revolt against the stamp duties in 1775 to the inaugura- tion in 1 789 of the National Government under which we live has been called the critical period of American history. It was a period which displayed ell the inaptitude of the Americans for sound financiering. There is hardly an evil in finances that cannot be illustrated by some event in American affairs at that time. The Americans began the war without any preparation, they conducted it on credit, and at the end of fourteen years three millions of people were five hundred millions of dollars or more in debt. The exact amount will never be known. Congress and the State Legislatures issued paper currency in unlimited quantities and upon no security. The Americans were deceived themselves in believing that their products were essential to the welfare of Europe, and all European nations would speedily make overtures to them for the control of American commerce. It may be said that the Americans wholly over-estimated their importance in tlie world at that time ; they thought that to cut off England from American commerce would ruin England ; they thought that the bestowal of their commerce uoon France would enrich France so much 12 p & w 1 86 THE STORY OF AMERICA. that the French Kiny, for so Inestimable a pri\ileoe, could well afford to loan them, anil even to g-ive them, money. The doctrine of the rights of man ran riot in America. Paper currency became the infatuation of the day. It was thought that paper currency would meet all the demands for money, would win American independence. Even so practical a man as I'Vanklin, then in France, said: "This effect of paper cur- rency is not understood on this side the water ; and, indeed, the whole is a mystery even to the politicians, how we ha\c been able to continue a war four years without mone\', and how we could pay with paper that had no pre\iously fixed fund approfiriated specifically to redeem it. This currency, as we manage it, is a wontlerful machine : it performs its office when we issue it ; it pays and clothes troops and provides victuals and ammunition, and when we are obliged to issue a quantity excessive, it pays itself off by depreciation." If the taxing power is the most august power in government, the abuse of the taxing power is the most serious sin government can commit. No one will deny that the Americans are guilty of committing most grievous financial offenses during the critical period of their history. They abused liberty by demanding and by exercising the rights of nationality, and at the same time by neglecting or refusing to burden themselves with the taxation necessar}' to support nationality. It has long been the custom to describe the American Revolution as a righteous uprising of an abused people against a cruel despot ; we were taught in school that taxation without representation was tyranny, and that our fathers fought the war out on this broad principle. Much of this assumption is true, but it is also true that the winning of American independence w-as not complete until Americans had adequately provided for the wants of nationality by authorizing their representatives in State Legislatures and in the Congress of the I'nitcd States to support the dignitv' which libert)' had conferred, by an adecjuate system of common taxation. We now consider the American Revolu- tion as the introduction to American nationality. The hard necessities which brought the Americans to a consciousness of their obligations, led to the calling of the Constitutional Convention in Phila- delphia in 1787. If the liberty of self-government was won by the war, it was secured by the Constitution ; for the first effort toward a national government, the old Confederation, utterly failed, for lack of a Supreme Legislative, a Supreme Executive, and a Supreme judician,-. The government under the Articles of Confederation broke down wholly in its effort to collect money. This collapse of the Confetlcration emphasized the difference between the theory' and the admin- istration of government, for the articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence emanated from two committees appointed the same day: the report of one committee was the Declaration of Independence, which was DANIEL WEBSTElL. 187 1 88 THE STORY OF AMERICA. debated but little and universally adopted a few days after it was reported; the report of the other committee, the Articles of Confederation, was debated in Congress for more than a year and in the State Legislatures for nearly five years, and when at last adopted, it was foimd that the Articles were wholly inadequate for the wants of the people. The reason for the different fate of these two instruments is clear ; the Declaration formulated a theorj^ of gov- ernment, it created no officers, it called for no taxes, it stated in a pleasing form opinions common to thoughtful men in the country, it formulated a pleasing theory for the foundation of government. On the other hand the Articles attempted to provide for the administration of government, it estab- lished offices and it called for taxes, and necessarily provoked support and hostility ; for while men might agree as to the common theory of government in America, they speedily fell to differing about the methods of civil administration. The inability of the Congress of the Confederation to legislate under the provisions of the Articles compelled their amendment ; for while the exigencies of war had forced the colonies into closer union, — a " perpetual league of friend- ship," they had also learned additional lessons in the theory and administration of local government, for each of the colonies, with the exception of Connecticut and Rhode Island, had transformed colonial oovernment into trovcrnment under a constitution. The people had not looked to Congress as a central power, they considered it as a central committee of the States. The individualistic tendencies of the colonies strengthened when the colonies transformed them- selves into commonwealths. The struggle, which began between the thirteen colonies and the imperial Parliament, was now transformed into a struggle between two tendencies in America : the tendency toward sovereign commonwealths and the tendency toward nationality. The first commonwealth constitutions did not acknowledge the supreme authority of Congress ; there was yet lacking that essential bond between the people and their general government, the power of the general government to address itself directly to individuals. Interstate relations in 1787 were scarcely more perfect than they had been fifteen years before. The understanding of American affairs was more common, but intimate political association between the commonwealths was yet unknown. The liberty of nationality had not yet been won. A peculiar tendency in American affairs from their beg-inninof is seen in the succession of written constitutions, instru- ments peculiar to America. The commonwealths of the old Confederation demonstrated the necessity for a clearer definition of their relations to each other and of the association of the American people in nationality. A sense of the necessity for commercial integrity led to the calling of the Philadelphia Convention to amend the old Articles, but when the Convention assembled it was found that an adequate solution of the large problem ol Wh,ch had been K,.e„„y.,„.,„„H,!!''f'"'"'l''p''"*'"'"''^ °^ OLDHAM'S BOAT ■"■as the beginnini.- of th^ Pequot V\:,, '"'• ^""* "ncldeiu STRUGGLE BETWEEN NATIONAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS. 189 nationality compelled the abandonment of the idea of amending the Articles and the formulation of a new constitution. As the Convention proceeded to frame the Supreme Law of the land, it moved in accord with the whole tendency of American affairs, establishing a National Government upon the representative idea, organizing a tripartite government, a Supreme Executive, a Supreme Legislative, and a Supreme Judiciary. In the organization of the legislative department the representative idea was expressed in the Congress ; the LIpper House of which represented the commonwealths as corporations ; the Lower House representing the people as individuals. Liberty in America received a more perfect definition in this arrangement ; for had representation been based wholly on that which created the Senate or on that which created the House of Representatives, representation would not have been equitable. But the equities of representation were preserved by establishing two houses. In creating two houses, however, the peculiar power of the lower branch of the colonial Legislatures was con- tinued by giving to the national House of Representatives the sole power " to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, and to pay the debt, and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States." The complaint against the tea tax can never be raised against any tax levied by Congress, for the members of the House of Representatives are elected directly by the taxpayers, and the right of individual representation was forever secured. Not only does the National Constitution guarantee this individual immu- nity, — the right of representation, but it also guarantees all the civil rights now known to civilized society. The " rights of man " so frequently on the lips of Americans of the Revolutionary period are defined in our National Constitution, particularly in the amendments which forever warrant to the citizens of the United States all that range of constitutional liberty which assures the largest definition of civil life. Freedom of speech and of conscience, the right of jury trial, exemption from unreasonable searches and seizures, the reservation to the people of all powers not delegated by them, the sovereignty of freedom as universally declared in the abolition of slavery, and the exercise of the franchise, show how the definition of liberty has become more and more perfect in the United States during the century. But the people who were capable of receiving a National Constitution like our own would not long endure the constitutions of commonwealths which fixed unreasonable limits on the rights of citizens. The first State consti- tutions were less liberal in their provisions than the National Constitution ; nearly all of them limited the electorate in the commonwealth to a small body whose holdingr of real estate and whose relieious notions were in accord with the conservative ideas of the colonial time. At the time of the making of the National Constitution, the property required of an elector varied in the dif- I90 THE STORY OF AMERICA. ferent commonwealths. In New Jersey he must have property to the value of fifty pounds, in Maryland and the Carolinas an estate of fifty acres, in Delaw^are a freehold estate of known value, in Geori^ia an estate of ten dollars or follow a mechanic trade ; in New York, would he vote for a member of As-jembly he must possess p. freehold estate of twenty pounds, and if h« wouM vote for State Senator, it must be a hundred. Massachusetts required an elector to own a freehold estate worth sixty pounds or to possess an annual income of three pounils. Connecticut was satisfied that his estate was of the yearly value of seven dollars, and Rhode Island required him to own the value of one hundred and thirty-four dollars in land. Pennsylvania required him to be a freeholder, but New Hampshire and W-rmont were satisfied with the payment of a jwll-ta.x. The nunilier of electors was still further affected by the relit^ious opinions required of them. In New Jersey, in New Hampshire, in X'ermont, in Connecticut, and in South Carolina, no Roman Catholic could vote ; Mar)-land and Massa- chusetts allowed " those of the Christian religion " to exercise the franchise, but the "Christian religion" in Massachusetts was of the Congregational Chxrch. North Carolina required her electors to believe in the divine authority ol the Scriptures ; Delaware was satisfied with a belief in the Trinity ant! in the inspiration of the Bible ; Pennsylvania allowed those, otherwise qualified, tc vote w^ho believed " in one God, in the reward of good, and the punishment of evil, and in the inspiration of the Scriptures." In New York, in \'irginia, i:: Georgia, and in Rhode Island, the Protestant faith was predominant, but ? Roman Catholic, if a male resident, of the age of twenty -one years or over, could vote in Rhode Island. The property qualifications which limited the number of electors were higher for those who sought office. Would a man be governor of New Jersey or of South Cart)lina, his real and personal property must amount to ten thou- sand dollars ; in North Carolina to one thousand pounds ; in Georgfia an estate of two hundred and fifty pounds or of two hundred and fifty acres of land : in New Hamsphire of five hundred pounds : in Maryland often times as much, of which a thousand pounds must be of land ; in Delaware he must own real estate ; in New York it must be worth a hundred pounds ; in Rhode Island, one hundred and thirty-four dollars ; and in Massachusetts a thousand pounds. Connecticut required her candidate for governc^r to be qualified as an elector, as did New Hampshire, \'ermont, Pennsylvania, and \'irginia. In all the com> monwealths the candidate for office must possess the religious qualifications required of electors. From these things it followed that the suffrage in the Ignited States was limited when, after the winning of American independence, the Constitution of the United States was framed and the commonwealths had adopted their first JOHN C. CALHOUN. 191 192 THE STORY OF AMERICA. constitutions of government. It may be said that in 17S7 the countr)' was bankrupt. America was without credit, and that of a population of three niilHon souls, who, by cur present ratio, would represent six hundred thousand voters, less than one hundred and fifty thousand possessed the right to vote. AtVican slavery and property qualifications excluded above four hundred thousand men from the exercise of the franchise. It is evident then, at the time when American libertv was won, American liberty had only begun ; the offices of the country were in the possession of the tew, scarcely any provision existed for common education, the roads oi the country may be described as impassable, the means for transportation, trade, and commerce were feeble. If the struggle for liberty in America was not to be in vain, the people of the United States must address themselves directly to the payment of their debts, to the enlarge- ment of the franchise, to improvements in transportation, and to the creation, organization, and support of a national system of common taxation. It is these great changes which constitute the history of this country during the present century. By 1S30 the people had moved westward, passing over the Appalachian mountains whose forests had so long retarded the movements of population, and having reached the eastern edge of the great central prairie, they rapidly spread over the Northwest Territory, successively founding the five great com- monwealths which were created north of the river Ohio. This vast migration of not less than five millions of people carried westward the New England idea of government modified by the ideas prevailing in New Jersey, in Pennsylvania. and in New York. Along the highway w^iich extends from Boston to Chicago sprang up a cordon of thriving towns which have since become prosperous cities. The school-house, the church, and the printing-press were at the foundation of the civil structure. The forests of w-estern New \'ork, in the first decade of the century, were burned in order to clear the land, and from the ashes were made the pearlash or " salts," which, after great labor, were delivered in Canada or at Pittsburgh, and the silver money in payment was returned as taxes and for payment of the homestead. A generation later and the pine forests of New York were no longer burned, but among them were built innumerable mills which speedily transformed them into lumber which, floated down the Genesee, found an outlet in the Erie Canal, and a market in New York. The great canal of 1826 be- tAveen Albany and Buffalo brought the Northwest to the market of the Atlantic seaboard, and raised the value of land, of labor, Jind of all productions through- out the northern States. By this time too the children of the Old Dominion had passed over the mountains and had located plantations in Kentucky and in Missouri, and the territory south of the river Ohio had become a region of prosperous communities. SUFFRA GE Q UALIFICA TION. 193 About the time of the building of the Erie Canal, property qualifications had disappeared from nearly all the American commonwealths. It was in 1829, in the Convention of Virginia, called to frame a new Constitution for the people THE STATUE OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK HARBOR. {Presented to the United States by Bartholdi.) of that commonwealth, that one of the last debates in America discussed the retention of the property qualification. It was said in that Convention, by President Monroe, " My object is to confine the elective franchise to an interest in land ; to some interest of moderate value in the territory of the Common- 194 THE STORY OF AMERICA. wealth. What is our country ? Is it anything more than our territory : and why are we attached to it ? Is it not the eftect of our residence in it, either as the land of our nativity or the country of our choice, our adopted country ; and of our attachment to its institutions ? And what excites and is the best evidence of such attachment ? Some hold in the territory, which is some interest in the soil, something that we own, not as passengers or voyagers who have no prop erty m the State and nothing to bind them to it ; the object is to give firmness and permanency to our attachment, and these (the property qualihcation) are the best means by which it may be accomplished." The conservative opinions of the distinguished Monroe were supported by the Convention and the Constitution framed for Virginia at that time required of the elector that he should be a white male citizen of the Common- wealth, twenty-one years of age and upward, and possess "an estate of freehold in land of the value of twenty-five dollars." By the middle of the century public opinion had changed the provisions in the State Constitutions and abolished the property qualification of the elector : this limitation on citizenship disappeared about thirty years after the disappear- ance of the religious ualifications. From the introduction of government into the colonies these two qualifications had been intimately associated together. But liberty was not complete so long as the right to vote was limited to "free male white citizens." The history of the winning of universal suffrage is the history of the United States till the thirtieth of March, 1S70, when the right of citizens of the United States to vote, a right that cannot be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, was proclaimed in force by Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State in the administration of President Grant. With this provision inserted in the Constitution of the United States, all commonwealth constitutions at once, as subordinate to the Supreme Law of the land, were made to conform, and altiiough the National Constitution did not give the right to vote, it led practically to the admission of male persons of any race or color or from a previous condition of servitude to the body of the American electorate. Universal suffrage, against which earnest patriots like Monroe had at one time raised their voices, at last became the common condition of American political life. The struggle for liberty of 1776 was not ended as an effort to realize the "political rights of man " until 1870. Within recent years the Un-on has become a Union of forty-four States. The stream of population which has developed this Union has moved in three great currents. The northern current is from New England, New York, and Pennsyl- vania, along the line of the fort>'-second parallel. In the early years of the century this course was a convergence of smaller streams from various parts of New England at Albany, thence westward along the bridle path to Utica, Syracuse, WESTWARD STREAM OF POPULATION. 195 Rochester, Buffalo, Erie, Cleveland, and Chicago. The " main road " from Boston to Chicago is the original line of this current, which by reason of the increase in travel and transportation has been paralleled successively by the Erie Canal, by sail-boat and steam-boat lines on the Great Lakes, and later by several railroad lines ; the New York Central, the West Shore, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, the Canada Southern, and their connecting lines at Chicago, with the Trunk lines of the Northwest, have given to the entire northern half of the United States a uniform and distinct character in their customs and laws. The width of this northern stream is plainly marked by the northern boundary of the United States, and by the varying line of settlements on the southern edge, of which the principal are from Trenton, New Jersey, to Franklin in Pennsylvania ; Columbus, Ohio ; Indianapolis, Indiana ; Springfield, Illinois ; the southern boundary of Iowa, Kansas City, and thence westward in scattered settlements, including a portion of northern California, northern Oregon, and northern Washington. All the States within this area have been settled by people from the older eastern States, especially from New England, New York, Pennsyl- vania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The second current of population, which may be called the Virginia cu'-rent, moved westward and southwestward over the area extending from the Potomac river and the northern boundary of North Carolina on the east, and widening as it coursed westward to the Ohio river on the north, including the State of Missouri, the southern portion of Kansas and Colorado, and thence to the Pacific, excluding the greater part of northern California. The southern boundary of this stream extended from the Carolinas southwestward, but in- cluded the greater part of Georgia, Alabama, and the States and Territories directly west of the eighty-third meridian (Pittsburg) and from the thirty-first to the forty-first parallel. Within this area the States as settled have con- tributed to the population of the States immediately west of them, imparting uniformity to the government and institutions of the States and Territories within this zone of settlements. The third and more recent line of movement has been along the Atlantic seaboard, beginning at various ports on that line, but especially at ports re- ceiving large numbers of immigrants ; continuing from town to town along that line from Portland Maine, to New Orleans and the eastern towns of Florida, and also Galveston and Austin, Texas, and thence westward into the Territories of New Mexico and Arizona, into southern California, and thence northwest ward into Oregon, Washington and Montana. This line of the movement of population has been marked since 1865 and has been intensified and widened by the rapid construction of railroads. Along the northern or New England line of settlements have also moved the millions of immigrants from European countries in the corresponding latitude: 196 THE STORY OF AMERICA. from Germany, from Scandinavia, from Austria, from Russia, and from the British Isles. Along- the middle or \'irginia line moved a native population, chietly from the older southern States, which spent its force at the foot of the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. The X'irginia stream has been second in size to that of Xew Englan<.l. The recent coast stream has combined Northern and Southern and foreign elements, and reaching Washington and Montana by a backward tlow, it presents for the first time in our national history a meeting of northern and of southern elements north of the latitude of Kansas. With the westward movements of the millions of human beings who have occupied the North American continent have gone the institutions and constitu- tions of the east, modified in their iourney westward by the van,-ing conditions of the life of the people. The brief constitutions of 1776 have developed into extraordinar)- length by successive changes and ?idditions made by the more than seventy Constitutional Conventions which have been held west of the original thirteen States. These later constitutions resemble elaborate legal codes rather than brief statements of the fundamental ideas of government. But these constitutions, of which those of die Dakotas and of Montana and Washington are a type, e.xpress ver)' clearly the opinions of the American people in govern- ment at the present time. The earnest desire shown in them for an accurate definition of the theory and the administration of government proves how anxiously die people of this country at all times consider the interpretation of their liberties, and with what hesitation, it may be said, they delegate their powers in government to Legislatures, to judges, and to Governors. The struggle for liberty will never cease, for with the progress of civilization new definitions of die wants of the people are constantly fomiing in the mind. The whole movement of the American people in government, from the simple beginnings of representative government in \'irginia. when the little Parliament was called, to the present time, when nationalit)- is enthroned and might\- Com- monwealths are become the component parts of the " more perfect union," has been toward the slow but constant realization of the rights and liberties ot the people. Education, for which no Commonwealth made adequate provision a centur)' ago, is now tlie first care of the State. Easy and rapid transportation, wholly unknown to our fathers, is now a necessar\' condition of daily life. Trade has so prospered that "in the year 1S91 the loan and trust companies, the State savings and private banks loaned in personal securities alone two bill ions and sixty millions of dollars," and the accumulated wealth of the countrj' is sixty billions of dollars. Newspapers, magazines, books and pamphlets are now so numerous as to make it impossible to contain them all in one librar\-. and the American people have become the largest class of readers in the world. A century ago there were but six cities of more than eight thousand k THE CAPTURE OF MAJOR ANDRE 'Much synipalhy was felt in Anitrna tor Andre, but the justice of hi? being hung as a spy was never questioned, three captors, Paulding. Van Wart and Williams, were honored with medals and $200.00 a year each for life, and monunieuts were erected to their memories by our Goverumenl. 1 '■hi^ Bill- "I AM READY FOR ANY SERVICE THAT I CAN GIVE MY COUNTRY" 1 1798 our Government was about lo clcclarc war against FranLc. Congress appointed Washin^Um conimander-in-ch"*! of the American Army. The Secretary of War carried the commission in person lo Mi. Vernon. The old hrro, silting on his liorse in the harvest field, accepted in the above patriotic words MATERIAL GROWTH. 197 people in this country ; the number is now four hundred and forty-three. Three miUions of people have become seventy millions. The area of the original United States has expanded from eight hundred and thirty thousand square miles to four times that area. With expansion and growth and the ameliora- tion in the conditions of life, the earnest problems of government have been brought home to the people by the leaders in the State, by the clergy, by the teachers in schools and colleges, and by the press. But though we may be proud of these conquests, we are compelled in our last analysis of our institutions to return to a few fundamental notions of our government. We must continue the representative idea based upon the doc- trine of the equality of rights and exercised by representative assemblies founded on popular elections ; and after our most pleasing contemplation of the institutions of America, we must return to the people, the foundation of our government. Their wisdom and self-control, and these alone, will impart to our institutions that strength which insures their perpetuity. Francis Nfwton Thorpe- A PALM GROVE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, mskmi CHAPTER X. PA.THKINDERS AND PIONEERS. DANIEL BOONE. Boone's name was _ — ^ among the most prominenn I and his life one of the most ( excitinof as well as useful oi '^^%v., ' the early pioneers. His name is indissolubly con- r ^ ' .. gg g^K;;' nected with Kentucky. Boone's father emicrrated Irom Bucks County, Penn- [ ■ • sylvania, to North CaroHna ^^ when Daniel was a boy. Grown to manhood, here the future pioneer married Rebecca Bryan, their life beine such as was common in the backwoods settlements of that time. Boone like David Crockett, thought that when he had offered his broad hand and stou. heart to the girl of his choice he had given her property enough to start with. Household furniture was of such simple pattern as could be made with an axe and a saw, while clothes were homespun or shaped from the dressed skins of animals, and dyed by utilizing the butternut and goldenrod. The political troubles in North Carolina, the imposition of illegal fines and taxes, no doubt made many settlers besides the Boones anxious to escape to some more favored region. Boone had a forerunner, who was Dr. Thomas Walker, of Virginia. This gentleman, fired by hunters' accounts of Western lands, now the State of Ten- nessee, started in company with Colonels Woods, Patton, and Buchanan, and a number of hunters and others, on an exploring tour. To them are due the names of the Cumberland Mountains, Gap, and River, which with one single exception are the only names of purely English origin in earlier Tennessee geography. 199 20O THE STORY OF AMERICA. At that time Tennessee was claimed as part of Virginia, wliich State made grants of its territories. Twelve years later Dr. Walker again passed over Clinch and PoweH's Rivers and penetrated into what is now Kentucky. Others followed in his footsteps as far as Tennessee and some probably into Kentucky. That Daniel Boone was with one of these expeditions as far back as 1760 is considered to have been proven by the discovery of his name carved, with a date, upon an old tree near the stage road betsveen Jonesboro and Blountsville, in tht valley of Boone's Creek, which is a tributary of the Watauga. The legend mscribed on the tree runs thus : " D. BOON cilled a BAR on tree in THE year 1760." A MUSK-OX HINT. A hunter named John Finley penetrated into Kentucky some time after thi? and brought back marvelous accounts of the hunter's paradise he found there. Boone resolved to go into tliis new country. The preparations for his departure took time. Even homespun and deerskin had to be gotten ready; the necessan,' money for the maintenance of his family had to be provided ; and when, finally, all was ready, Boone shouldered his ritle and started with John Finley, John Steuart, Joseph Holden, James Moncey, and William Cool, to traverse a mountainous wilderness for several hundred miles. Our pioneer's physique at this time was perfect. He is described as being of full size, hardy, robust, and sinewy, with mild, hazel eyes. A FIRST VIEW OF KENTUCKY. 20 1 After numerous hardships, which we have not space to chronicle, the explorers finally stood on a mountain crest overlooking the fertile valleys watered by the Kentucky River. There were herds of buffalo and of deer in sight, and evidences of game were everywhere plenty. The country was luxuri- ant almost beyond description in its vegetation, and it seemed indeed, as Finley had described it, "a hunter's paradise." From the cane-brakes in the river bottoms to the forest trees that crowned the wooded hills, it appeared to be a land of peace and plenty. And yet this very territory had among the Indians f DANIEL BOONE AND HIS BROTHER IN " HUNTERS' PARADISE." name of ominous import ; it was called " The dark and bloody ground." No one tribe made these valleys their home, although they were claimed by the Cherokees ; but both Cherokee, Shawnee, and Chickasaw bands occasionally hunted over them, and they were the scene of many bloody feuds and forest encounters. Boone and his party encamped within view of all this beauty and wealth of nature, in a rock-cleft over which had fallen a giant tree. This camp from time to time they improved and enlarged, as it remained their headquarters during the succeeding sumimer and autumn. In all that time they roamed and 202 THE STORY OF AMERICA. hunted freely, finding abundance of game, exploring the country dioroughly, but meeting with none of the red men. In the autumn of 1 760 Boone and John Steuart one day left their companions and plunged into the forest for a little longer excursion than usual. One cannot but imagine what the scene must have been at that season of the year in the forest primeval. The rich luxuriance of vegetable life and the plentiful supply of game must have appealed strongly to the feelings of these hunters, whose sense of securit)' had not yet been disturbed by any encounters. Of all this domain the)' had literally been in peaceful possession until then. Suddenly the feeling of safety vvas rudely dissipated by the appearance of a band of Indians, who surprised Boone and Steuart so completely that resistance was out of the question, and they were taken prisoners. On the seventh night after the capture the Indians encamped in a cane-brake and built their fire. Perhaps the fatigue of a long march made them abate something of their customary caution ; at all events, as they slept by the fire, Boone, who was always on the alert, saw his opportunity to extricate himself from among them and escape. Refusing, however, to abandon his companion, although knowing that the risk of waking him was very great, as the slightest noise would alarm their captors, he went to where Steuart was sleeping, and taking hold of him, succeeded in rousing him without noise. By morning the hunters were far away on their return to camp, where they arrived without being overtaken, only to find that Finley and the others had disappeared. They were never hoard of again. Early in the next year Squire Boone, Daniel's brother, arrived with a companion. On their approach to camp they were sharply challenged, not being at once recognized ; but the meeting was naturally one of great rejoicing when the hermits found who their visitars were. Now, for the first time during his long banishment from home, Boone heard from his family, received messages from his wife, and learned how his boys were progressing with the little farm. It was not long after the arrival of Squire Boone that Boone and Steuart were again attacked by the Indians, and this time Steuart was killed. Following this, Squire Boone's companion strayed from camp and never returned. That left tlie two brothers entirely alone, and as ammunition was running low the later comer decided to return home and get the necessary supplies. We hardly know which to admire most, the courage of the man who would lace the perils of that return journey by himself or the fortitude of the other who remained alone in that wild country, infested by his enemies, where for three months he constantly shifted his camp to avoid discovery. From his own account of this part of his life we find, however, that those days which he passed alone in the wild woods of Kentucky, depending upon his own skill and vigilance, eluding his enemies and tracking his game, were far from being the least pleasant in his life. After BOONE'S ACCOUNT OF HIS EXPERIENCE. 20 ■? three months Squire Boone returned, and together the brothers pursued their calling once more, until hnally, with a very thorough knowledge of the country and its capabilities, Daniel Boone returned to his family in North Caro- lina, Boone's account of what he had seen, of the game, the fertility of the country, the beauty of the mountains and rivers, and of all that had so impressed his own imagination, is said to have set North Carolina on fire. Death of john steuart, roone's faifhuil ch.mi'anion. And now, while the discoverer is preparing for still another start, we may explain the purpose of these several expeditions. As we have said, Kentucky, — that is, the southern part of it, — nominally belonged to the Cherokee Indians., It was claimed by Virginia and North Carolina and afterwards by Tennessee. A noted character of the day, Colonel Henderson, with several other gentlemen, concerted a s'^heme for the purchase of all that country from the Cherokees and the foundipcr ->f an independent State or Republic, which should be called Transylvania. There is hardly a question that Boone's first expedition to 204 THE STORY OF AMERICA. Kentucky and long sojourn there was undertaken in the employ of C<'!onel Henderson and his Land Company. The second journey was unquestionably for the purpose of negotiating with the Cherokees, and making all the preliminary arrangements for the purchase of the tract. If his report of the nature of the land induced the formation of f:he Company, he was no less successful in conducting the second part of the business. When he had arranged terms with the Cherokees, Colonel Henderson joined him on the Watauga to conclude the bargain. There he met the Indians in solemn conclave, took part in their council, smoked the pipe, and paid in merchandise the purchase-money for Kentucky, receiving from the Indians a deed for the same. Colonization was next in order, and Boone undertook with a party to opei a road from the Holston River to the Kentucky River, and to erect statio/i3 o; forts. Gathering a party for the purpose, on April ist they succeeded, after c laborious march through the wilderness, in the course of which they lost sevcra' men, in arriving at the spot where Boonesborough now stands. There they fixed their camp and built the foundations for a fort. Near this place was 9 salt lick. A few days after the commencement of the fort another of the party was killed during an attack by Indians, but after that there was no disturbance for some time. This was the beginning of colonization in Kentucky. It was, of course, commenced under the impression that the Cherokee purchase was good, but the validit}' of the deed was at once denied by the Governor of North Carolina and also by the Government of Virginia as well as that of Tennessee. Each State, however, granted to the Land Company large tracts of land on the same territory, so that while unsuccessful in founding an Independent Republic, Colonel Henderson and his associates became very wealthy. For a long time those who were doing the actual work on the frontier, bearing the hardships and the brunt of battle, did not know that any question had been raised as to the validity of the title under the Indian purchase, and still supposed themselves to be ensfaired in the founding of a Commonwealth. A KENTUCKY FORT. A fort at that day meant a structure of a very primitive kind. Butler, in his History of Kentucky, says: "A fort in those times consisted of pieces of timber sharpened at the ends and firmly lodged in the ground. Rows of these pickets enclosed the desired space which embraced the cabins of the inhabitants. One or more block houses, of superior care and strength, commanding the sides of the ditch, completed the fortifications or stations, as they were called. Generally, the sides of the interior cabins formed the sides of the fort." About thirty or forty new settlers came to Boonesborough with Colonel Henderson, to whom Boone had written. So far the new-comers were all men. Before long, however, the leader returned for his own familv, and others, to the INDIAN CAPTURES. 205 number of twenty-six men, four women, and half a dozen boys and girls, accompanied him back through the Cumberland Gap. Before arriving at Boonesborough the little caravan separated, part of them settling at another point, where they built a fort of their own. Mrs. Boone and her daughters were the first white women to arrive at Boonesborough to settle there. Other settlers followed with new colonies, and these began to make Kentucky their home. One of the stations was called Harrod's Old Cabin ; another was Logan. Among the men of prominence were Simon Kenton, John Floyd, Colonel Richard Callaway, and other names that appear again and again in the early annals of the country. INDIAN CAPTURES. At the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, the Indians, excited by the British, greatly disturbed and harassed the new settlers, and many of the latter, becoming frightened or discouraged, abandoned the promised land and went back to North Carolina. In 1775 the setders still kept their faith in the Chero- kee purchase, and holding this view, took leases from the Company, established courts of justice, and, through a Convention or Congress which met at Boones- borough made laws and provided for a militia organization. This Convention was the first of its kind ever held in the West. Among the exciting episodes of the first years in Kentucky was the capture of one of Boone's daughters and two of Callaway's daughters by the Indians. The ;?ldest of these girls was about twenty and the youngest fourteen years of age. They were sitting in a canoe under the trees which overhung the opposite bank of the river. There they were surprised by the Indians and taken away before their friends at the Fort discovered their peril. This happened so near nightfall that pursuit was impossible, but in the morning Boone and Floyd started in pursuit. They surprised the Indians that day as they halted to cook, and killing one or two, drove the rest away. Feeling their own force too weak for pursuit, they were glad to return with the almost heart-broken girls. The account of this, affording, as it did, evidence of the renewed hostility of the savages, induced nearly three hundred people to return to their homes during the next few months. We cannot follow the fluctuatinof fortunes of the colonists or eive a detailed account, interesting as that would be, of the incidents of border warfare. For a long time Kentucky was not recognized as a free State, and its people not acknowledged as citizens. Virginia still made claim to the territory, and yet when General George Clark was sent as a Representative to the Virginia House his claim was rejected by that party. Failing to receive recognition, Clark labored to obtain the independence of Kentucky as a State. This he finally suc- ceeded in doing, in opposition to Colonel Henderson and others. The formation of Kentucky politically was first as a county of Virginia. It was the bulwark of 2o6 THE STORY OF AMERICA. Virginia during the Indian troubles, and General Clark was nicknamed the Hannibal of the West. In 1786 the Virginia Legislature enacted the necessary provisions for permitting Kentucky to assume the position of a separate State on condition that the United States would admit her to the sisterhood, which was accomplished June i, 1792. Daniel Boone lost all his Kentucky property through carelessness or ignor- ance of legal forms, and after the prosperity and growth of the new State was, fully assured he went to X'irginia to begin life over again. There he stayed until the accounts brought from Missouri of the rich land and good hunting there aroused his pioneer spirit once more, and he again emigrated to settle in Spanish territory. He made his home in the Femme Osage district, over which, before long, he became military commander with a commission from the Spanish gover- nor. Upon the acquisition of Missouri by the United States our backwoodsman again found himself stripped of his property. The Gov-ernment under which he had been lately serving had presented him with ten thousand arpents of land (an arpent is eighty-five one-hundredths of an acre) to which he had neglected to secure or record his tide. Through the intervention of the Kentucky Legisla- ture in the Congress of the United States by a strong memorial, Boone was finally put in legal possession of the land. Only once did the great Kentucky pioneer return to the country that he had explored an ' settled, where, according to his own account, he had lost so much. He says : " I may say that I have verified the words of the old Indian who signed Colonel Henderson's deed. Taking me by the hand at the delivery thereof, ' Brother,' he said, 'we have given you a fine land, but I believe you will have much difficulty in sctding it.' My footsteps have often been marked by blood, and therefore I can truly subscribe to its original name. Two darling sons and a brother have I lost by savage hands, which have also taken from me forty valuable horses and abundance of cattle. Many dark and sleepless nights have 1 been a companion for owls, separated from the cheerful society of men, scorched by the summer's sun^nd pinched by the winter's cold, an instrument to settle the wilderness." Boone's death occurred in 1820 at his home in Missouri. He was then in the eighty-si.xth year of his age. DAVID CROCKETT. David Crockett, who died the last of those who were defenders of the Alamo in Texas, is one of the picturesque figures in American history. David, or, as he is familiarly called, " Davy" Crockett was born in 1786, of Irish-American parent- age. His boyhood was spent in his father's cabin in Tennessee, from which he ran away, and, after various vicissitudes, took service with a Quaker, where he remained until his marriage. Then, after severa' years of hardship, he moved to DAVID CROCKETT. 207 the Elk River country, and when the Creek War broke out he was living near Winchester, Tennessee. He became well known as an Indian fighter, one of his earliest services being in 1S13, when at Beatty's Spring he was chosen by his captain to act as a scout with Major Gibson to go into the Creek country and re- connoitre. On the first day of his journey he lost the Major, but pushed on with five companions for sixty-five miles into the enemy's country, bringing back news of an important nature. The garrison was hastily fortified and General EXPLORING THE ECHO RIVER, MAMMOTH CAVE, KENTUCKY. Jackson summoned by express. We will not attempt to follow the details of this war. Crockett saw much vigorous fighting, was present at the burning of an Indian village (of the horrors of which he tells in his autobiography without the slightest apparent compunction), acted with Major Russell's "spies," and when he returned to his Tennessee home had quite a reputation as an Indian fighter. After the Creek War Crockett was one of those who tried to brintr order out 2oS HIE STORY OF AMERICA. of the chaotic state in which Tennessee society was at that time. His home was among a reckless set, aiul iho organization c>l a temporary government was impcratixe. Upon its formation Crockett was made Magistrate. Afterwards he oecamc a member of the Legislature, although one of his biographers states that at this time he could hardly read a newspaper. Later in life he showed the acquisition of more "book learning," and the best account of his life and adven- tures is found in the autobiography which he left. His early success as a politi- cian was due principally to his qualities of liumor, good storv-telling, hard sense, and true marksmanship with a ritle, a combination that is sure to win favor among backwoodsmen. Crockett served in Congress two terms, and won national reputation and popularity as one of the "half horse, half alligator" class. His career in Wash- ington was brought to an end by his quarrel with General Jackson, to whose party he had at first been an adherent. He then cast his lot with those who were battling for Texan independence, and died, as we have already noticed, with] Travis and Bowie, at the Alamo. Equally important with the exploration, settlement, and conquest of Ken- tucky and the Southwest were the expeditions of those who found a path through! the groat mountain divide and were the forerunners of those that should after-J wards settle the Pacihc slope. LEWIS AND CL.\RK. Among the earliest explorers of Rocky Mountain fame were Lewis and Clark, who, in 1S04, were sent to command the expedition in search of tlie head- waters of the Columbia River and to mark its course. General Clark was the brother of George R. Clark, of whom mention has been made in an earlier part of this chapter. The family were from \'irginia, but had become identified with the early history of Kentucky, and William Clark was known from his youth as an Indian fighter. At eighteen years of age he was made ensign, and in 1 792 became a lieutenant of infantry, being appointed in the following year adjutant and quartermaster. He served on the frontier until 1 796, when he resigned on account of ill health and went to reside in St. Louis. Seven years later President JetTerson oHered him the rank of second lieutenant of artillery, to assume with Merriwethor Lewis tlie command of the exploring expedition to the Cokunbia River. Lieutenant Lewis was also a \'irginian, whose first service had been in quelling the whiskey insurrection in Western rennsylvania, in 1794. Afterward entering the regular army he rose to the rank of captain, was then private secretary to President JetTerson, and so won the President's respect and favor by his superior qualities o{ mind that he was appointed to the scientific and general command of the expedition of which we have just spoken. THE SOUTH PASS. 209 Lewis and Clark left St. Louis in the summer of 1803. They eticamped for the winter on the bank of the Mississippi opposite the moutli of the Missouri River. The company included nine Kentuckians, who were used to Indian ways and frontier life, fourteen soldiers, /' two Canadian boatmen, an inter- preter, a hunter, and negro boat- man. Besides this, a corporal and guard with nine boatmen, were en- gaged to accom- pany the expedi- tion as far as the territory of the Mandans. The party carried with it the usual goods for trading with the Indians, looking glasses, beads, trinkets, hatchets, etc., and such pro- vision as were necessary for the sustenance of its members. While the greater part of the command em- barked in a fleet of three large canoes, the hun- ters and pack- horses paralleled their course along the shore. In this way, in the spring of 1804, the ascent of the Mississippi was commenced. In June the country of the Osages was reached, then the lands occupied by the Ottawa tribes, and finally, in the fall, the hunting grounds of the Sioux, Here the leaders of the expedition IIIE lAK WEbl— VhLLuWSTO.Nli NATIONAL I'ARK. 2IO THE STORY OF AMERICA. ordered cabins to be constructed, and camped for the winter among the Man- dans, in latitude 27° 21' north. They found in that country plenty of game, buffalo and deer beinof abundant ; but the weather was intensely cold and the expedition was hardly prepared for the severity of the climate, so that its mem- bers suffered greatl)'. In vXpril a fresh start was made and they ascended the Missouri, reaching the great falls by June. Here tliey named the tributary waters and ascended the Northernmost, which they called the Jefferson River, until further navigation was impossible ; then Captain Lewis with three companions left the expedi- tion ill camp and started out on foot toward the mountains, in search of the friendly Shoshone Indians, from whom he expected assistance in his projected journey across the mountains. A RIVER WHICH RAN TO THE WEST. On the twelfth of August he discovered the source of the Jefferson River in a defile of the Rocky Mountains and crossed the dividing ridge, upon the other side of which his eyes were gladdened by the discovery of a small rivulet which tlowcd toward the west. Here was proof irrefutable "that the great backbone of earth " had been passed. The intrepid explorer saw with joy that this litde stream danced out toward the setting sun — toward the Pacific Ocean. Meeting a force of Shoshones and persuading them to accompany him on his return to the main body of the expedition. Captain Lewis sought his companions once more. Captain Clark then went forward to determine their future course, and coming to the river which his companion had discovered he called it die Lewis River. A number of Indian horses were procured from their red-skinned friends and the explorers pushed on to the broad plains of the western slope. The latter part of their progress in the mountains had been slow and painlul, because ol the early fall of snow, Init the plains presented all the charm of early autumn. In October the Kaskaskia River was reached, and leaving the horses and whatever baggage could be dispensed with in charge of the Indians, the command embarked in canoes and descended to the Columbia River, upon the south bank ot which, four hundred miles from their starting point, they passed the second winter. Much of the return journey was a fight with hostile Indians, and the way was much more difficult than it had been found while advancing toward the West Lewis was wounded before reaching home, by the accidental discharge of a gun in the hands oi one of his force. Finally, after an absence of two years, the expedition returned, the leaders reaching Washington while Congress was in session, and grants of land were immediately made to them and to their subordinates. Captain Lewis was re- warded also with the governorship of Missouri. Clark was appointed briga- o z ;^ X z o > 2 o 212 THE STORY OF AMERICA. dier general lor the territory of ui)per Louisiana, and in 1S13 was appointed gov- ernor of Missouri, holding office till that territory became a state, after which he retired into private life till 1S22, when Mr. Monroe made him Superintendent of Indian Affairs, which office he successfully filled until his death. Lewis's end was a sad one. An inherited tendency to melancholia developed itself and led him, after a long and useful career, to take his own life. Of later, though not less fame, were the successors of Lewis and Clark in the e.xplora- tion of the Rocky Mountains and the plains beyond. We. refer to General Fremont and his famous scout, Kit Carson. It may be said without exatrcreration that in 00 all human probability the reputa- tion achieved by the young lieu- tenant and his subordinate in the South Pass was based upon a love adventure. When in 1840 General Fre- mont was a second lieutenant, he was called to Washington, and while there met and fell in love with Jessie, the daughter of Thomas IL Benton. Colonel Benton liked the young Lieu- tenant, but thought tliat a fifteen- year-old daughter was altogether too young to contract an engage- ment, and failing in other efforts, he is thought to have ])rocured the imperative order fiom the War Department which sent Fremont to e.xplore the Rocky Mountains. Colonel Benton's influence at that time was paramount in Washington. The duty assigned was finished by Lieutenant Fremont, perhaps more speedily than would have been the case under other circumstances, and upon his return the lovers were secretly married ; but the love for adventure and exploration had been fully kindled, and a plan was forming in the brain of the future Pathfinder to explore the whole Western countrj', to study its topography, facilities, etc. As a part of tins lliil lAK Wtal i..l'.\5KK, ^ tLLOUslO.Nt NAlKlNAL lAKK, IDAHO AND .MONTANA. GENERAL FREMONT. 213 general scheme he was ordered, at his own request, to make a geographical survey of the Rocky Mountains, especially the South Pass. While engaged in this work the explorer met Kit Carson, a professional hunter and trapper, who eip-ht lad been for years reeular ■fe"- }^ — ■" " "-& hunter for Bent's Fort. Fremont at once en- gaged him as hunter and scout. Many of those who are inclined to detract from the reputation belonging to the former have averred that the credit of the discoveries made was mainly due to Carson ; but a knowledge of the fact that barometric obser- vations, topographical data, and other scien- tific records beyond Carson's capacity were made, and not only so, but excited the admiration and at- tention of foreign as well as American au- thorities, shows such a charee to be with- out foundation. Yet the fame of the sub- sequent candidate for the Presidency will always be linked with fhat nf the hnmhlpr shawanoh, the ute chief who was sent to Washington in 1863 to treat ^hose with the united states government. companion wi knowledge of the frontier made so much success possible. Carson was sent to Washington as a bearer of dispatches in 1847, ^"^ there received an appointment as lieutenant in the United States Rifle Corps. He was 214 THE STORY OF AMERICA. afterward appointed Indian agent, a post for which his experience admirably fitted him. Of other Western explorers, discoverers, and pioneers we have not space to speak in this chapter. W'e have sketched the lives and deeds of a few of the more prominent only, indicating how the West was opened for the march of the millions that have come after. We honor the brave men who risked everything and sacrificed everything to open the way, and cannot but believe, in the words of Daniel Boone, that they were " instruments to settle the wilderness." ^';k«a!^ i ' ^^-^^ VOLCANIC RE. "S or ARIZONA. CHAPTER XL PUSHING BACK THE BOUNDARIES. HE definitive treaty of peace between England and the United ^^ States, signed at Paris, France, September 3d, 1 783, by the Duke i^^ T f^'^ °^ Manchester, and David Hartley, son of the great philosopher, "■ rW'^ accredited representatives of the King of Great Britain, was an ■i^ f '. exact transcript of the preliminary treaty which had been signed r ,^.j> in the same city, November 30th, 1782, by Richard Oswald, com- missioner for the English Ministry, and by Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and John Adams, the American commissioners. It was provided by that treaty that the boundary line of the United States should start at the moudi of the St. Croix River (named also the Passamaquoddy, and the Schoodic), which now divides the present State of Maine from British New Brunswick, nnd running to a point near Lake Madawaska in the highlands separating the Atlantic water-shed irom that of the St. Lawrence River, should follow those hiohlands to the Connecticut River and then descend the middle of that stream to the forty-fifth parallel of latitude; thence running westward and through the centre of the water communications of the Great Lakes to the Lake of the Woods, and thence to the source of the Mississippi, which was supposed to be west of this lake. This line was marked in red ink, by Oswald, on one of Mitchell'smapsof North America, in 1782, to serve as a memorandum establishing the precise meaning of the words used in the description. It ought to have been accurately fixed in its details, by surveys made upon the spot; but no commis- sioners were appointed for that purpose. The language relating to the nortlv- eastern portion of this northern boundary line contained some inaccuracies, which were revealed by later surveys, and the map used by Oswald was lost. Hence a further question arose between Great Britain and the United States, which was not settled until the Ashburton treaty in 1842. * The nominal boundaries of many of the colonies with which the King entered into treaty, declaring them to be * Critical Period of American History. By John Fiske. 1891, pp. 25, 26. 215 2l6 THE STORY OF AMERICA. "free, sovereign and independent States,"* as constituted by their charters, extended to the Pacific Ocean, but in practice they ceased at the Mississippi River. Beyond that river the sovereignty, by discover)-, settlement, and active exercise, was vested in the King of Spain. Here, therefore, was the western boundary Hne, at the Mississippi River. On the south the Spanish possessions ran east from that river, and tooi< in the lower portions of the present States of Mississippi and Alabama, with all the present State of Florida. The eastern line was the Adantic Ocean, starting from about the thirty-first parallel of latitude and running north and east to the St. Croix, the point of departure. GRANDE A\-ENUE. It requires effort for one to carry the conception of these facts in mind, and recall the actualides of our national existence and activity as shut within these lines ; — not to say to go behind them, and remember that there was then but very little United States to the west of the Alleghany Mountains. It is the aim of the present chapter to stimulate and aid this eflbrt, pointing out * New Hampshire ; Massachusetts Bay ; Rhode Island and Providence Plantations ; Connec- ticut ; New York ; New Jersey ; Pennsylvania; Delaware; Maryland; Virginia; North Carolina South Carolina , Georgia. ORDER OF ADMISSION OF THE STATES. 217 the successive increments by which the present domain of the country took on its vast proportions, opening to general apprehension the smipie truth of Berkeley's lines : — "Westward the course of Empire takes its wayj The four first acts already past, A fifth shall close the drama with the day ; Time's noblest offspring is the last." The following statements exhibit the ADMISSION OF STATES SINCE THE FClMATION OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT A. D. 1 789 IN THE ORDER OF TIME. A. D. Vermont, I79J- (Formed from portions cf New York and New Hampshire.) Kentucky, ... 1792. (Fonned from Territory ceded to United States by Virginia.) Tennessee, 1796. (Formed from Territory ceded to United States by the Carolinas.) Ohio 1802. (Formed from the Northwestern Territory.) Louisiana 1812. (Formed from the Louisiana Purchase.) Indiana 1S16. (Formed from the Nortliwestern Territory.) Mississippi 1817. (Formed from Territory ceded to United States by Georgia.) Illinois i8c8. (Fonned from the Northwestern Territory.) Alabama, 1S19. (Formed from Territory ceded to United States by Georgia.) Missouri, 1820. (Formed from Louisiana Purchase.) Maine 1S20. (Part of Colony of Massachusetts Bay from A. D. 1651.) Arkansas, 1836. (tbrmed from the Louisiana Purchase.) Michigan, 1837. (Formed t'rom the Northwestern Ten'itory.) Florida, 1S45 (Formed from Territory ceded by Spain, 1S19.) Texas, 1845. (Annexed by \ote of United States Congress.) Iowa 1846. (Formed from Louisiana Purchase.) Wisconsin 1848. (Formed from Northwestern Territory.^ 14 PS: W 2i8 THE STORY OF AMERICA. A. D, California 1850. (Formed from Territory accjuired from Mexico ) Minnesota 1858. (Formi'il from Louisiana Purcliase and Nortliwcsloni Territory.) Oregon, 185& (Claimed by United States by right of prior discovery.) Kansas, 1861. (Formed from Louisiana Purchase.) West V'irginia, 1863. (Formed after secession of Virginia, 1861.) Nevada 1864. (Formed from territory acquired from Mexico.) Nebraska 1867. (P'ormed from Louisiana Purchase.) Colorado 1871. (Formed from Territory acquired from Mexico, and from Louisiana Purchase.) Montana, 1889. (Formed from Louisiana Purchase.) Washington, 1889. (Claimed by United States by right of prior discovery.) Wyoming, 1889. (Formed from Louisiana Purchase.) North Dakota, 1889. (Formed from Louisiana Purchase.) South Dakota, 1889. (Formed from Louisiana Purchase.) Idaho 1890. (Formed from Louisiana Purchase.) Utah . . 1896. (Formed (rum Ternlory acquired from Mexico.) For the sake of completeness, let there be added to the foregoing, these statements concerning the TERRITORIES OF THE UNITED STATES IN 1897. District of Columbia (organized), 1791- (Ceded to the United Stales by Marj'Iand in 178S, and by Virginia in 1789; seat of United States Government located there, iSoo.) Indian Tkrritory (set apart), . . 1830. (Formed from Louisiana Purchase.) New Mexico (organized), 1S50. (Formed from Territory acquired from Mexico.) Arizona (organized) 1863. (Formed froin Territory acquired from Mexico.) Alaska (aciuired) 1867. (Purchased from Russia.) Oklahoma (organized) 1889. (Formed Ironi Indian Territory.) LINES OF NATIONAL GROWTH. 219 If we add to these statements that the forty-four States and seven Terri- tories which make the United States of to-day, comprise, in the aggregate, an area of 3,602,990 square miles, and were peopled, in 1S90, by 62,049,523 souls, we may have some adequate ground for a just contrast between the status of the country at the present time, and at the time when peace was made between King George III, of England, and our forefathers. For then it covered but 827,844 square miles, and had within it a population of say, 3,000,000 persons. We are to trace, in some detail, the successive acquisitions out of which that increase has been derived which differences the United States wherein we live, and the United States of America at the close of the Revolution of 1775-83. bKAL CATCHING IN ALASKA. It is, doubtless, within the knowledge of few readers outside the closer stu- dents of American history, that before that time the prescient mind of George Washington was grappling, in earnest, with one of the two questions more im- minent than others in the determination of that coming territorial expansion, the greatness and the nearness of which were both hidden from the vision of the men of that period. The first was the provision of lines of inter-communication between the whites who had settled in the Mississippi Valley, westw-ard of the Alleghanies, and the inhabitants of the original thirteen States. This was essen- tial in case the new setdements were to be permanendy held within the Union, and the attention of Washington had doubtless been occupied by its considera- tion, rather than by that of the second, upon which we shall speedily touch. For, 220 THE STORY OF AMERICA. in 17S4, a tour to Pittsburg, Pa., and a personal examination of the Alleghanies, had convinced him that by deepening the Potomac and the James Rivers, on the eastern side, and the headwaters of the Ohio River, on the other side of the Alleghenies, canal communication between the East and West would be practi- cable. Probably the scheme would have offered engineering difficulties almost insurmountable at that time. It had really gone so far, however, as incorporation, in both the States of Virginia and Maryland, when Washington reluctantly suffered himself to be drawn away from it by the voice of the whole countr)', to the Presidency of the Convention of i 787, and afterwards of the United States. It was reserved for other men to establish communications between these sections of the country, such in nature and in number as neither Washington or his contemporaries dreamed of Another essential, if the emigrants then settled in the Mississippi \'alley and those who should follow them, were to be retained in the Federal Union, was, plainly, that they should be relieved from existing Spanish restrictions upon the free navigation of the Mississippi River and its affluents. The auspicious settle- ment of this point was at hand, — nigher, indeed, than might have been looked for. It came with the acquirement by the United States, in the year 1803 of that which went into history under the name of "The Louisiana Purchase." It had been the fixed policy of Spain to exclude all foreign commerce from the Mississippi. Having had the ownership and control, since 1763, of the vast tract west of that stream, she had been so resolute in this purpose that in 17S0- 82 she refused to conclude a treaty with the United States, her main reason being that the United States Minister, John Jay, had then demanded the free naviga- tion of the river. So definite and so determined was her purpose that it was apparent that she designed to confine the area of the United States to the country east of the Alleghanies, using, for pretext, a proclamation which had been issued in 1763 by the King of Great Britain, in which he forbade his North American governors to grant lands west of the sources of the streams that fell into the Adantic Ocean. By the month of July, 17S5, the claims of Spain had been modified to the occupation of the Floridas, all the west bank of the Mississippi, — the east bank to a point considerably north of the present southerly boundar)' of the State of Mississippi, — and an exclusive navigation thence to the mouth of the river. Her insistence upon this exclusive navigation had been so strenuous that by a vote of seven Northern to five Southern States, the Congress of the American Confederation had, in August, 1786, withdrawn all demand upon Spain for any share in it. Indeed, before the 6th October of that year, John Jay, as Secretary of the Confederation for Foreign Affairs, had agreed with Spain upon an article by which this claim on the part of the Americans was totally withdrawn for twenty-five years, although it was not formally relinquished. But the remonstrances and in some cases the violence, of the rapidly THE FRENCH CESSION. 221 increasing American settlers in tlie valley east of the Mississippi grew to such frequency and to such proportions, that, in i 793, renewed, but still fruitless elTorts were made by the United States government to secure a treaty with Spain that should open the river and relieve the settlers. In the year 1795, the attempt was once more renewed, and Thomas Pinckney, the American envoy, then suc- ceeded in negotiating a treaty which stipulated that navigation of the said river (the Mississippi) from its source to the ocean was thereafter to be free to the subjects of the Spanish ruler, and to the citizens of the United States, and allowed these same citizens " to deposit their merchandise and effects in New Orleans, and to export them thence, without import or export duty, for a space of three years. The Spanish government promised, as well, that this permission should KAGLE GATE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG'S SCHOOL. be continued, if it was found, during the three years, that the arrangement was not prejudicial to Spanish interests ; or, if the arrangement should not be con- tinued, that His Majesty would assign to American citizens, "on another part of the banks of the Mississippi, an equivalent establishment." And with this the western United States people were fairly satisfied. Five years subsequent to this (1800), by the third article of a secret treaty between Spain and France, the former ceded to the latter the whole of the vast province of Louisiana, so-called, stretching from the source to the mouth of the Mississippi River, and thence westward to the Pacific Ocean. As the result of this cession, the United States were thenceforth to be hemmed in between France and England, the "two professional belligerents 222 THE STORY OF AMERICA. of Europe," — and toward the end of 1801 Napoleon Bonaparte, then at tho head of French affairs, sent from France a fleet and army intended to lake possession of New Orleans, although they were ostensibly to operate against St. Domingo. The excitement in the United States which naturally followed this cession was increased by a Spanish order (October, 1802) abrogating the right of deposit secured by the Pinckney treaty of 1795, without substituting any place for New Orleans, and a Pennsylvania Senator introduced resolu- tions into the United States Congress authorizing President Jefferson to call out 50,000 militia and occupy New Orleans. Instead of this, however. Congress appropriated ^2,000,000 for the purchase of that place, and (January, 1803) '^^"'^ President sent James Monroe to Paris as Minister Extraordinary, with discretionary powers, to cooperate with Robert R, Livingston, then United States Minister at the French Court, in the proposed purchase. A new war between France and England was on the eve of outbreak, and in that event the omnipotent navy of England would make Louisiana a more than useless possession to France. On the iith of April, Livingston was invited by Napoleon to make an offer for the whole of the vast territory. Monroe reached Paris on the 1 2th, and the- two Ministers decided to offer ^10,000,000. The price was finally fixed at $15,000,000, one-fourth of it to consist in the assumption by the United States, of $3,750,000 worth of claims by American citizens against France. The treaty for the purchase was signed by the American Ministers and by Barbe Marbois, for France, April 30th (1803). The news came upon Spain like a thunderbolt. She filed a protest agaiiist it, because of the fact (as is supposed) that a secret condition that France should not alienate Louisiana had accompanied the Spanish cession to France in 1800. But her protest did not avail, and at an early session of the United States Senate, called for the purpose by the President, the purchase was ratified by that body (October 19, 1803). The acquisition of Louisiana added 1,171,931 square miles to the United States, comprising Alabama and Mississippi south of parallel 31°; all Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Oregon, North and South Dakota, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Minnesota west of the Mississippi, and Kansas except the southwest part, south of the Arkansas ; Colorado and Wyom ing east of the Rocky Mountains, and the Indian Territory, with the Territory of Oklahoma. This purchase of the Louisiana Territory, first in order of time in the acquisition of land by the United States, was by far the largest of all that have succeeded it. The engraving, "The Banks of the Mississippi " (page 68), is ?, suggestion of the teeming commercial life, which, for many years past has grown in volume and importance along the sides of the great " Father of Waters " then brought within the national domain, and the picture of Great Salt Lake City, the capital of 77!^^ SPANISH CESSION. 223 Utah, gives a view of another noted feature in this territorial expansion, to which we add (page 198) a singularly graphic delineation of "The Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park," also within the limits of the purchase made in 1803. The second addition came to the country in 1819. On the 2 2d of February of that year the Spanish Minister at Washington signed a treaty, by which his GREAT SALT LAKE CITY. country ceded Florida, in area 59,268 square miles, to the United States in return for the payment by the latter country of the claims of American citizens against Spain, amounting to ^5,000,000. The ratification of this cession was obtained from the Spanish Home Government in 1821. The steps leading up to the acqui- sition may be stated in brief:- — At the formation of the United States Government, in 1789, Spain had 224 THE STORY OF AMERICA. possession of both Eastern and Western Florida, separated from each other by the river Appalachicola. These divisions of territory had been created by Great Britain in i 763, and the two, taken together, ran from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. The retrocession of the Louisiana Territory to France by Spain, in 1800, did not convey to the latter nation any portion of Western Florida, and in Spanish judgment all territory east of the Mississippi and west of the Perdido River w-as a part of Western Florida. She had, therefore, set up a custom-house at the mouth of the Alabama River, and levied heavy duties on goods to or from the upper country. The United States, however, after the purchase of the Louisiana Territory, in 1803, claimed that this purchase included the territory east of the Mississippi ■River as far as the Perdido, which is in our day the western boundary of the State of Florida; and in 18 10, after the overthrow of the Government in Spain, and when a part of the people in Western Florida had declared themselves inde- pendent of Spain and had assumed nationality. President Madison sent Governor Claiborne, of the United States Territory of (New) Orleans, into their country, with a sufficient force, and took possession of it, with the exception of the fort and city of Mobile. In 1S12, when Louisiana came into the Union as a State, her eastern boundary was fixed at the Pearl River, and what remained of Western Florida between the Pearl and the Perdido was annexed to the Mississippi Ter- ritory, General James Wilkinson, General-in-Chief of die United States Army, taking possession of Mobile in 1S13. This left only Eastern Florida, then stretching from the Perdido River to the Atlantic Ocean, under Spanish rule. Throughout these years the purpose had grown in the Southern States to gain that portion of Spanish dominion, as well as Western Florida, for the United States. January 15th and March 3d, iSii, the United States Congress passed, in secret, — and its action was not made known until 18 18, — acts which authorized the President of the United States to take "temporary possession" of East Florida. The Commissioners appointed under these acts, Matthews and Mitchell, both Georgians, had stirred up insurrection in the coveted territory, and when the President (Madison) refused to sustain them, the State of Georgia formally pronounced Florida needful to its own peace and welfare, and practically declared war on its private account. P)nt its expedition against Florida came to notiiing. In 1814, General Andrew Jackson, then in command of United States forces at Mobile, having, by a raid into Pensacola, driven out a British force which had setded there, restored the place to its Spanish authorities and retired. Four years after (18 18), during the Seminole War, annoyed by Spanish assistance given to the Indians, General Jackson again raided Eastern Florida, captured St. Marks and Pensacola, hung Arbuthnot and Ambrister. two Englishmen who had aided the Seminoles, as "oudaws and pirates." and again demonstrated the fact that Florida was at the mercy of the United States. It was this series of events which THE SPANISH CESSION. 225 led to the Spanish cession already noted. And by the treaty which secured that cession the United States gave up any claim to Texas and the River Rio Grande- f^'^'^^ - THE FOt'i*DERS OF LOS ANGELES, IS its western boundary. These questions of extending territory gave occasion for many debates in Congress. Did space admit, it were easy to show, in some 226 THE STORY OF AMERICA. detail, at what an early staj^c in his career, Andrew Jackson, one of tin- most picturesque characters in American history, displayed, in these events, his essen- tial peculiarities. His exploits in Florida had stamped upon them the same quali- ties which subse- quently tlistinyuishcd him. Hut attention must now be turned to the i\\\\\\ increase of United States boundaries, in 1S45, by the annexation of Texas to the United States by L^ n i t e d States Congressional votes (House, De- cember 1 6th ; Senate, December 2 2dV An admirable statement of the causes a nil methods by which this annexa- tion came about is to be found in the stand- ard " Cyclopaedia " of Mr. ]. j. Lalor,* and we shall condense it for our pages. " The inevitable result of the two previous an- nexations," it is de- clared, "was the an- nexation of Texas." Texas had been claimed by Spain. It had been one of the objects of Aaron * Cycloi)teclia of Political Science, Political Economy, .ind of the Political History of the United States. N. Y., iSSS. Vol. I, pp. 96, 97. ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 227 Burr's conspiracy in 1806. Durincj General Wilkinson's hasty preparations to defend New Orleans from that conspiracy, in October of that year, he had agreed with the Spanish commander upon the Sabine River as a provisional boundary between Spanish and American territory, and the treaty of 1819 (see ante) made this boundary permanent. When Mexico's revolt ad been a principal object of that war. GIANT TREK OF THE YOSEMITE VALLEY, IN CALIFORNIA. By the treat)' of Guadalupe ')*?> Hidalgo (Februar)-, 184S), the ter- ritory above named was added to the United States, the price fixed being $15,000,000, besides the as- sumption by the United States of ;p3, 250,000 in claims of American cidzens against Mexico. This territory, including that part of New Mexico east of the Rio Grande — which was claimed by Texas, and for which the United States afterward paid $10,000,000 to Texas, — added to the area of the country 545,783 square miles. Disputes which arose between the United States and Mexico during the next five years (1S48-1853) as to the present southern part of Arizona, the Mesilla \'alley, from the Gila River to Chihauhua, were such that a Mexican army was marched into it by Santa Anna, who had regained place and power, and preparations were begun RUSSIAN PURCHASE. 229 for a renewal of war. By a treaty negotiated with Mexico by General James Gadsden, of South CaroUna, in 1853, the United States obtained the disputed territory by paying ^10,000,000 to Mexico, and secured, as well, the right of the transit of United States troops, mails, and merchandise over the Isthmus of Tehuantcpec. By this annexation 45,535 square miles were added to the national domain. The accession of the Russian province of Alaska on the northwestern coast of North America, by purchase from that Empire, in the year 1867, was the sixth THE BENCHES OF THE FRASER RIVF.R, NEAR LILLOET, BRITISH COLUMBIA. and last " push " of the boundaries backward from their original limitations in 1783. Russia ceded die territory, — being all of the North American Conti- tinent west of the 141st degree of west longitude, together with a narrow strip between the Pacific Ocean and the British dominions; also, all the islands near the coast, and the Aleutian Archipelago, except Copper and Behring Islands on the coast of Kamschatka, — to the United States Government, for ^7,200,000. It added to our area 577,390 square miles. Its ownership had vested in Russia by reason of her claims to it through the right of discovery, and by the right of her possession of the opposite shores of Siberia and Alaska. She also laid claim 230 T/fE S TORY OF AMERICA. to llu> Northern Pacific as a sort of iiilaiul water. Of this latest addition to the area of llio country, it may be said accordino^ to statistics that it has already amply paiil for itself, more than once, from the proceeds of its fisheries, its fur trade, aiul more recently from its development of gold-bearintj cjuartz. The slrikinvv picture, " The Benches of the Fraser River," is an illustration of the possibilities of surface area in this region of North America, where one may travel for hundretls of miles, and fail to find a level spot large enough to make a place on whiih to plav a game o^ football. KlA.MilKK DISCOVKKIES. Init the .-l/iiskait Cold F'i/nh' of iSo; have set a new value — before un- dreamed o\ — iiiHMi this vast region. While it is generally understood that the territory strictU- known as the " K/ondiki' Dii;oini^s" are in Canada, yet some of its richest tributaries, such as Inirty Mile Creek throughout almost its entire length, and the headwaters of Si.xty Mile Creek, are in Alaska, and belong to the Uniteil States. It is believed that the whole of this Yukon country is rich in tin- jtreiious metal, and that ilu- next few years are destined to alter the face of the entire gold-bearing region of Alaska, the climate notwithstanding. Re- spectably built cities will take the place of the present rude towns of frontier huts. Great numbers of steamshi[is anil river boats have recently been engaged and built for that trade, and railways and telegraphs will inevitably bring that hitherto remote and unknown region, abounding in various mineral stores, witiiin easy reach of the outside world. Between the signing of the treaty of peace by George 111 and his English sid>iects and the North American colonies, by which signature their independence and sovereignty wire acknowledged, and that year of grace in which the present chapter has been penned, — the American Republic has more than quadrupled its area. The judgment of history, calmer and nearer to trutli than the utterances of past oi contemporary authority, may pronounce a just verdict ot disapproval upon the motives and methods which, in certain cases, made a pathway toward tliese vast augmentations, but it must always remain a source of gratification to an honest citizen that each square mile which has been added to our original boimilarii^s has been paid for at a valuation agreed on by the buyer and the seller. I le would be a bold prophet, indeed, who should assert that the limit of our nation. d expansion has been reached. However that may be, there has already been opened to the American people the opportunity for such good work for GihI and man, witiiin their own borders, as has not been placed before any other nation since tiie sun first shone upon the earth. Let the people of the United States rise to the level of their opportunity, and they will accomplish that for the benefit of mankind, which it has not yet been given to any otlier nation to perform. AWRENCE. War of 1812. CHAPTER XII. THE SECOND WAR KOR INDEPENDENCE, OR. THE WAR OE 1812. By their first war with Great Britain our forefathers asserted and maintained their right to independent national existence ; by thqir second war with Great Britain they claimed and obtained equal consideration in international affairs. The War of 1812 was not based on a single cause; it was rather undertaken from mixed motives — partly political, joartly conimer- ;■">;" cial, partly patriotic. It was always unpopular ■ with a great number of the American people ; it was far from logical in some of its positions ; it was perhaps precipitated by party clamor. But, despite all these facts, it remains true that this war established once for all the position of the United States as an equal power among the powers. The cause of the War of iSi2,which ap- pealed most strongly to the patriotic feelings of the common people (though the violation of the principle of the rights of neu- trals was the prime cause), was unquestionably the impressment by Great Britain of sailors from American ships. No doubt great numbers of English sailors- did desert from their naval vessels and take refuge in the easier service and better treatment of the American merchant ships. Great Britain was strain- ing every nerve to strengthen her already powerful navy, and the press-gang was constantly at work in English sea-ports. Once on board a British man-of- war, the irnpressed sailor was subject to overwork, bad rations, and the lash. That British sailors fought as gallandy as they did under this regime will always remain a wonder. But it is certain that they deserted in considerable numbers, 231 ANDREW JACKSON, THE HERO OF THE WAR OF 1812. 232 THE STORY OF AMERICA. and that they found in the rapidly-growing- commercial prosperity of our carry, ing trade a tempting chance of employment. Now, Great Britain, with a large contempt for the naval weakness of the United States, assumed, rather than claimed, the right to stop our merchant vessels on the high seas, to examine the crews, and to claim as her own any British sailors among them. This was bad enouch in itself but tlu' way in which the search was carried out was worse. Everj' form of insolence and overbearing was exhibited. The pretense of claim ing Briti.sh deserters covered what was sometimes barefaced and outrageous kidnaping of Americans. The British officers went so far as to lay the burden of proof of nationality in each case upon the sailor himself; if he were without papers proving his identity he was at once assumed to be a British subject. To such an extent was this insult to our flag carried that our Government had the record of about forty- five hundred cases of impressment from our ships between the years of 1803 and iSio; and when the War of 1S12 broke out the number of American sailors serving against their, will in British war vessels was variously computed to be from six to fourteen thousand. It is even -recorded that in some cases American ships were obliged to return home in the middjeof their voyages because their crews had been so diminished in number by the seizures made by British officers that they were too short-handed to proceed. In not a few cases these depredations led to bloodshed. The greatest outrage of all, and one which stirred the blood of Americans to the fighting point, was the capture of an Ameri- can war vessel, the "Chesapeake," by the British man-of-war, the "Leopard." The latter was by far the more powerful vessel, and the " Chesapeake " w^as quite unprepared for action ; nevertheless, her commander refused to accede to a demand that his crew be overhauled in search for British deserters. Thereupon the "Leopard" poured broadside after broadside into her until the flag was struck. Three Americans were killed and eighteen wounded ; four were taken away as alleged deserters; of these, three were afterwards returned, while in one case the charge was satisfactorily proved and the man was hanged. The whole affair was without the slightest justification under the law of nations and was in itself ample ground for war. Great Britain, however, in a quite ungrace- ful and tardy way, apologized and oftered reparation. This incident took place si.x years before the actual declaration of war. But the outrage rankled all that time, and nothing did more to fan the anti- British feeling which was already so strong in the rank and file, especially in the Democratic (or, as it was often called then. Republican) party. It was such deeds as this that led Henry Clay to exclaim, "Not content with seizing upon all our property which falls within her rapacious grasp, the personal rights of our countrymen — rights which must forever be sacred — are trampled on and violated by the impressment of our seamen. What are we to gain by war? What are we not to lose by peace.' Commerce, character, a nation's best treasure, honor! " "PAPER BLOCKADES." 233 The attack on American commerce was also a serious danger to peace. In the early years of the century Great Britain was at war not only with France, but with other European countries. Both Great Britain and France adopted in practice the most extreme theories of non-intercourse between neutral and hostile nations. It was the era of "paper blockades." In 1806 England, for instance, declared that eight hundred miles of the European coast were to be VIEW OF A COTTON-CHUTE. considered blockaded, whereupon Napoleon, not to be outdone, declared the entire Islands of Great Britain to be under blockade. Up to a certain point the interruption of the neutral trade relations between the countries of Europe was to the commercial advantage of America. Our carrying trade grew and pros- pered wonderfully. Much of this trade consisted in taking goods from the colo- nies of European nations, bringing them to the United States, then trans-ship- ping them and conveying them to the parent nation. This was allowable under 234 THE STORY OF AMERICA. the international law of the time, althouL^h the direct carrying of goods by the neutral ship from the colony to the parent nation (the latter, of course, being at war) was forbidden. But by her famous " Orders in Council " Great Britain ab- solutely forbade this system of trans-shipment as to nations with whom she was at war. American vessels engaged in this form of trade were seized and con- demned by English prize co.irts. Naturally, France followed Great Britain's example and even went further. Our merchants, who had actually been earning' double freights under the old system, now found that their commerce was wofully restricted. At first it was thought that the unfair restriction might be punished by retaliatory measures, and a quite illogical analogy was drawn from the effect produced on Great Britain before the Revolution by the refusal of the colonies to receive goods on which a tax had been imposed. So President Jefferson's Administration resorted to the most unwise measure that could be thought of — an absolute embargo on our own ships. This measure was passed in 1807, and its immediate result was to reduce the exports of the country from nearly fifty million dollars' worth to nine million dollars' wordi in a single year. This was evidently anything but profitable, and the act was changed so as to forbid only commercial intercourse with Great Britain and France and their colonies, with a proviso that the law should be abandoned as regards either of these countries which should repeal its objectionable decrees. The French Government moved in the matter first, but only conditionally. Our non-intercourse act, however, was after iSio in force only against Great Britain. That our claims of wrong were equally or nearly equally as great against France in this matter cannot be doubted. But the po[)ular feeling was stronger against Great Britain ; a war with England was popular with the mass of the Democrats ; and it was tlie refusal of England to finally accept our conditions which led to the declaration of war. By a curious chain of circumstances it happened, however, that between the time when Congress declared war (June iS, 1S12) and the date when the news of this declaration was received in England, the latter country had already revoked her famous "orders in council." In point of fact, President Madison w.is very reluctant to declare war, though the Federalists always took great pleasure in speaking o{ this as " Mr. Madison's war." The Federalists through- out considered the war unnecessary and the result of partisan feeling and un- reasonable prejudice. It is peculiarly grateful to American pride that this war, undertaken in defense of our maritime interests and to uphold the honor of our flag upon the high seas, resulted in a series of naval victories brilliant in the extreme. It was not, indeed, at first thought that this would be chiefly a naval war. Presi- dent Madison was at one time greatly inclined to keep strictly in port our war vessels ; but, happily, other counsels prevailed. The disparity between the Amer- ican and British navies was certainly disheartening. The I'nited States had OUR NAVAL GLORY IN THIS WAR. 235 seven or eight frigates and a few sloops, brigs, and gunboats, while the sails of England's navy whitened every sea, and her ships certainly outnumbered ours by fifty to one. On the other hand, her hands were tied to a great extent by the European wars of magnitude in which she was involved. She had to defend her commerce from formidable enemies in many seas, and could give but a small part of her naval strength to the new foe. That this new foe was despised by LOADING A COTTON STEAMER. the great power which claimed, not without reason, to be the mistress of the seas was not unnatural. But soon we find a lament raised in Parliament about the reverses, " which English officers and English sailors had not before been used to, and that from such a contemptible navy as that of America had always been held." The fact is that the restriction of our commerce had made it possible for our navy officers to take their pick of a remarkably fine body of native American seamen, naturally brave and intelligent, and thoroughly well trained in all sea J36 THE STORY OF AMERICA. manlike experiences. These men were in many instances filled with a spirit of resentment at British insolence, having either themselves been the victims of the aggressions which we have described, or having seen their friends compelled to submit to these insolent acts. The very smallness of our navy, too, was in a measure its strength ; the competition for active service among those bearing commissions was great, and there was never any trouble in finding officers of proved sagacity and courage. At the outset, however, the policy determined on by the Administration was not one of naval aggression. It was decided to attack England from her Canadian colonies. This plan of campaign, however reasonable it might seem to a strategist, failed wretchedly in execution. The first year of the war, so far as regards the land campaigns, showed nothing but reverses and fiascoes. There was a long and thinly settled border country, in which our slender forces struggled to hold their own against the barbarous Indian onslaughts, making futile expeditions across the border into Canada and resisting with some success the similar expeditions by the Canadian troops. It was one of the complaints which led to the war that the Indian tribes had been incited against our setders by the Canadian authorities and had been promised aid from Canada. It is certain that after war was declared English officers not only employed Indians as their allies, but in some instances, at least, paid bounties for the scalps of American settlers. The Indian war planned by Tecumseh had just been put down by General, afterward President, Harrison. No doubt Tecumseh was a man of more elevated ambition and more humane instincts than one often finds in an Indian chief. His hope to unite the tribes and to drive the whites out of his country has a certain nobility of purpose and breadth of view. But this scheme had failed, and the Indian warriors, still inflamed for war, were only too eager to assist the Canadian forces in a desultory but bloody border war. The strength of our campaign against Canada was dissipated in an attempt to hold Fort Wayne, Fort Harrison, and other garrisons against Indian attacks. Still more disappointing was the complete failure of the attempt, under the command of General Hull, to ad\ance from Detroit as an outpost, into Canada. He was easily driven back to Detroit, and wlicn the nation was confidently waiting to hear of a bold defense of that place it was startled by the news of Hull's surrender without firing a gun, and under circumstances which seemed to indicate either cowardice or treachery. Hull was, in fact, court-martialed, condemned to death, and only pardoned on account of his services in the war of 1776. The mortification that followed the land campaign of 181 2 was forgotten in joy at the splendid naval victories of that year. Pre-eminent among these was the famous sea-duel between the frigates '-Constitution" and "Guerriere." Every one knows of the glory of " Old Ironsides," and this, though the greatest, was only one of many victories by which the name of the "Constitution" THE ''CONSTITUTION" AND THE "GUERRIERE: 2i7 became the most famed and beloved of all that have been associated with Amer- ican ships. She was a fine frigate, carrying forty-four guns, and though English journals had ridiculed her as " a bunch of pine boards under a bit of striped bunting," it was not long before they were busily engaged in trying to prove \ \ that she was too large a vessel to be prop- erly called a frigate, and that she greatly out-classed her opponent in metal and | '*. vs£S:^- BURNING OF WASHIMGTON., men. It is true that the " Constitution " carried six more guns and a few more men than the " Guerriere," but, all allowances being made, her victory was yet a naval triumph of the first magnitude. Captain Isaac Hull, who commanded her, had just before the engage- ment proved his superior seamanship by escaping from a whole squadron of British vessels, out-sailing and out-manoeuvring them at every point. It was on August 19 when he 238 THE STORY OF AMERICA. descried the " Guerriere." Both vessels at once cleared for action and came toj^ether with the greatest easrerness on both sides for the engasfement. Thouorh the battle lasted but half an hour, it was one of the hottest in naval annals. At one time the " Constitution " was on fire, and both ships were soon seriously crippled by injury to their spars. Attempts to board each other were thwarted on both sides by the close fire of small arms. Here, as in later sea- fights of this war, the accuracy and skill of the American gunners were some thinqr marvelous. At the end of half an hour the "Guerriere" had lost both mainmast and foremast and lloated helplessly in the open sea. Her surrender was no discredit to her officers, as she was almost in a sinking condition. It was hopeless to attempt to tow her into port, and Captain Hull transferred his prisoners to his own vessel and set fire to his prize. In the fight the American frigate had only seven men killed and an equal number wounded, while the British vessel had as many as seventy-nine men killed or wounded. The con- duct of the American seamen was throuijhout rallant in the highest degree. Captain Hull put it on record that " From the smallest boy in the ship to the oldest seaman not a look of fear was seen. They all went into action giving dircc cheers and requesting to be laid close alongside the enemy." The effect of this victory in both America and England was extraordinary. English papers long refused to believe in the possibility of the well-proved facts, while in America the whole country joined in a triumphal shout of joy, and loaded well-deserved honors on vessel, captain, officers, and men. The chagrin of the English public at the une.\;pected result of this sea battle was changed to amazement when one after another there followed no less than six combats of the same duel-like character, in which the American vessels were invariably victorious. The first was between our sloop, the "Wasp," and the English brig, the " Frolic," which was convoying a fleet of merchantmen. The fight was one of the most desperate in the war ; the two ships were brought so close together that their gunners could touch the sides of the opposing vessels with their rammers. Broadside after broadside was poured into the " Frolic " by the "Wasp," which obtained the superior position, but her sailors, unable to await the victory which was sure to come from the continued raking of the enemy's vessel, rushed upon her decks without orders and soon overpowered her. Again the British loss in killed and wounded was large ; that of tlie Ameri- cans very small. It in no wise detracted from the glory of this victory that both victor and prize were soon captured by a British man-of-war of immensely supe- rior strengUi. Following this action, Commodore Stephen Decatur, in our frigate, the " United States," attacked the " Macedonian," a British vessel of the same kind, and easily defeated her, bringing her into New York harbor on New Year's Day, 1 81 3, where he received an ovation equal to that offered Captain Hull. The same result followed the attack of the " Constitution," now under the command OTHER SEA-DUELS. 239 of Commodore Bain- "Java;" the latter had her about one hundred wound- that it was decided to blow tion" suffered so little that Ironsides," a name now been in every school-boy's resulted, in the great ma- jority of cases in the same way — in all unstinted praise was awarded by the bridge, upon the English captain and fifty men killed and ed, and was left such a wreck her up, while the " Consdtu- she was in sport dubbed " Old ennobled by a poem which has moiith. Other naval combats STATUE OF COMMODORE PERRY. whole world, even including England herself, to the admira- ble seamanship, the wonderful gunnery, and the constant per- sonal intrepitude of our naval forces. When the second year of the war closed our little navy «40 THE STORY OF AMERICA. had captured twenty-six war-ships, armed with 560 guns, while it had lost only seven ships, carrying 1 19 guns. But, if the highest honors of the war were thus won by our navy, the most serious injury materially to Great Britain was in the devastation of her commerce by American privateers. No less than two hundred and fifty of these sea guerrillas were afloat, and in the first year of the war they captured over three hundred merchant vessels, sometimes even attacking and overcoming the smaller class of war-ships. The privateers were usually schooners armed with a few small guns, but carrying one long cannon mounted on a swivel so that it could be turned to any point of the horizon, and tamiliarly known as Long Tom. Of course, the crews were influenced by greed as well as by patriotism. Privateering is a somewhat doubtful mode of warfare at the best ; but international law permits it : and though it is hard to dissociate from it a certain odor, as of legalized piracy, it is legitimate to this day. And surely if it were ever justifiable it was at that time. As Jefferson said, there were then tens of thousands of seamen forced by war from their natural means of support antl useless to their countr)' in any other w^ay, while by " licensing private armed vessels the whole naval force of the nation was truly brought to bear on the foe." The havoc wrouglit on British trade was widespread indeed ; altogether between fifteen hundred and two thousand prizes were taken by the privateers. To compute the value of these prizes is impossible, but some idea may be gained from the single fact that one privateer, the " Yankee," in a cruise of less than tw-o months captured five brigs and four schooners with cargoes valued at over half a million dollars. The men eniraired in this form of warfare were bold to recklessness, and their exploits have furnished many a tale to Ameri- can writers of romance. The naval combats thus far mentioned were almost always of single vessels. For battles of fleets w^e must turn from the salt water to the fresh, from the ocean to the great lakes. The control of the waters of Lake Erie, Lake Onta- rio, and Lake Champlain was obviously of vast importance, in view of the con- tinued land-fighting in die West and of the attempted invasion of Canada and the threatened counter-invasions. The British had the cfreat advantasje of beintj able to reach the lakes by the St. Lawrence, while our lake navies had to be con- structed after the war began. One such litde navy had been built at Presque Isle, now Erie, on Lake Erie. It comprised two brigs of twenty guns and sev- eral jchooners and gunboats. It must be remembered that evervthinvr but the lumber needed for the vessels had to be brought through the forests by land from the eastern seaports, and the mere problem of transportation was a serious one. When finished, the fleet was put in command of Oliver Hazard Perry. Watching his time (and, it is said, taking advantage of the carelessnesf of the PERRY'S GREAT VICTORY. 241 British commander in going on shore to dinner one Sunday, when he should have been watching Perry's movements), the American commander drew his fleet over the bar which had protected it while in harbor from the onslauglits of the British fleet. To get the brigs over this bar was a work of time and great difficulty; an attack at that hour by the British would certainly have ended in the total destruction of the fleet. Once accomplished, Perry, in his flagship, the " Lawrence," headed a fleet of ten vessels, fifty-five guns, and four hundred men. Opposed to him was Captain Barclay with six ships, sixty-five guns, and alst VIEW ON LAKE ONTARIO. about four hundred men. The British for several weeks avoided the conflict, but in the end were cornered and forced to fight. It was at the bemnnino- of this battle that Perry displayed the flag bearing Lawrence's famous dying words, " Don't give up the ship ! " No less famous is his dispatch announcing' the result in the words, "We have met the enemy and they are ours." The victory was indeed a complete and decisive one ; all six of the enemy's ships were captured, and their loss was nearly double that of Perry's forces. The complete control of Lake Erie was assured ; that of Lake Ontario had already been gained by Commodore Chauncey. 542 THE STORY OF AMERICA. Perry's memorable victory opened the way for important land operations by General Harrison, who now marched from Detroit with the design of invading Canada. He engaged with Proctor's mingled body of British troops and Indians, and by tlie Battle of the Tliamcs drove back the British from that part of Canada and restored matters to the position in which they stood before Hull's deplorable surrender of Detroit — and, indeed, of all Michigan — to the British. In this battle of the Thames the Indian chief, Tecumseh, fell, and about three kundred of the British and Indians were killed on the field. The hold of our enemies on the Indian tribes was greatly broken by this defeat. Previous to this the land cam- paigns had been marked by a succession of minor victories and defeats. In the West a force of Americans under General Winchester had been captured at the River Raisin ; and there took place an atrocious massacre of large numbers of prisoners by the Indians, who were quite beyond restraint from their white allies. On the other hand, the Americans had captured the city of York, now Toronto, though at the cost of their leader, General Pike, who, with two hundred of his men, was destroyed by the e.\plosion of a magazine. Fort George had also been captured by the Americans and an attack on .Sackett's Harbor had been gal- lantly repulsed. Following the battle of the Thames, extensive operations of an aggressive kind iiad been planned looking toward the capture of Montreal and the invasion of Canada by way of Lakes Ontario and Champlain. Un- happily, jealousy between the American Generals Wilkinson and Hampton resulted in a lack of concert in their military operations, and the e.\pcdilion was a complete fiasco. , One turns for consolation from the mortifying record of Wilkinson's ex- pedition to the story of the continuous successes which had accompanied the naval operations of 1813. Captain Lawrence, in the " Hornet," won a complete victory over the English brig " Peacock ;" our brig, the " Enterprise," captured the " Boxer," and other equally welcome victories were reported. One distinct defeat had marred the record — that of our fine brig, the "Chesapeake," com- manded by Captain Lawrence, which had been captured after one of the most hard-fought contests of the war by the British brig, the " Shannon." Lawrence himself fell mortally wounded, exclaiming as he was carried away, "Tell the men not to give up the ship but fight her till she sinks." It was a paraphrase of this exclamation which Perry used as a rallymg signal in the battle on Lake Erie. Despite his one defeat. Captain Lawrence's fame as a gallant seaman and high- minded patriot was untarnisiied, and his death was more deplored throughout the country than was the loss of his ship. In the latter part of the war England was enabled to send large reinforce- ments both to her army and navy engaged in the American campaigns. Events in Europe seemed in 18 14 to insure peace for at least a time. Napoleon's power was broken ; die Emperor himself was e.xiled at Elba ; and Great Britain at last LUNDY'S LANE AND PLATTSBURG. 243 had her hands free. But before die reinforcements reached this country, our army had won greater credit and had shown more miHtary skill by far than were evinced in its earlier operations. Along the line of the Niagara River active WEATHERSFORD AND GENERAL JACKSON. fighting had been going on. In the battle of Chippewa, the capture of Fort Erie the engagement at Lundy's Lane, and the defense of Fort Erie the troops, under the command of Winficld Scott and General Brown, had held their own, and more, against superior forces, and had won from British ofificers the admission that thev 244 THE STORY OF AMERICA. fought as well under fire as regular troops. More encouraging still was the total defeat of the plan of invasion from Canada undertaken by the now greatly strengthened British forces. These numbered twelve thousand men and were supported by a fleet on Lake Champlain. Their operations were directed against Plattsburg, and in the battle on the lake, usually called by the name of that town, the American flotilla under the command of Commodore Macdonough completely routed the British fleet. As a result the English army also beat a rapid and undignified retreat to Canada. This was the last important engagement to take place in the North. Meanwhile expeditions of considerable size were directed by the British against our principal Southern cities. One of these brought General Ross with five thousand men, chiefly the pick of the Duke of Wellington's army, into the Bay of Chesapeake. Nothing was more discreditable in the military strategy of our Administration than the fact that at this time Washington was left unprotected, though in evident danger. General Ross marched straight upon the Capital, easily defeated at Bladensburg an inferior force of raw militia — who yet fought with intrepidity for the most part — seized the city, and carried out his intention of destroying the public buildings and a great part of the town. Most of the public archives had been removed. Ross' conduct in the burninsf of Washington was probably within the limits of legitimate warfare but has been condemned as semi- barbarous by many writers. The achievement gave great joy to the English papers, but was really of less importance than was supposed. Washington at that time was a straggling town of only eight thousand inhabitants; its public buildings were not at all adequate to the demands of the future ; and an optimist might even consider the destruction of the old city as a public benefit, for it enabled Congress to adopt the plans which have since led to the making of perhaps the most beautiful city of the country. A similar attempt upon Baltimore was less successful. The people of that city made a brave defense and hastily threw up extensive fortifications. In the end the British fleet, after a severe bombardment of Fort McHenry, were driven off. The British Admiral had boasted that Fort McHenry would yield in a few hours ; and two days after, when its flag was stiil flying, Francis S. Key was in- spired by its sight to compose the " Star Spangled Banner." A still larger expedition ot British troops landed on the Louisiana coast and marched to the attack of New Orleans. Here General Andrew Jackson was in command. He had already distinguished himself in this war by putting down with a strong hand the hostile Creek Indians of the then Spanish territory of Florida, who had been incited by English envoys to warfare against our Southern settlers; and in April, 1814, William Weathersford, the half-breed chief, had surrendered in person to Jackson (see illustration). General Packenham, who commanded the five thousand British soldiers sent against THE HARTFORD CONVENTION. 245 New Orleans, expected as easy a victory as that of General Ross at Washington. But Jackson had summoned to his aid the stalwart frontiersmen of Kentucky and Tennessee — men used from boyhood to the rifle, and who made up what was in effect a splendid force of sharp-shooters. Both armies threw up rough fortifications ; General Jackson made great use for that purpose of cotton bales, Packenham employing the still less solid material of sugar barrels. Oddly enough, the final battle, and really the most Important of the war, took place after the treaty of peace between the two countries had already been signed. The British were repulsed again and again in persistent and gallant attacks on our fortifications. General Packenham himself was killed, together with many officers and seven hundred of his men. One British officer pushed to the top of our earthworks and demanded their surrender, whereupon he was smilingly asked to look behind him, and turning saw, as he afterward said, that the men he supposed to be supporting him " had vanished as if the earth had swallowed them up." The American losses were inconsiderable. The treaty of peace, signed at Ghent, December 24, 18 14, has been ridiculed because it contained no positive agreement as to many of the questions in dis- pute. Not a word did it say about the impressment of American sailors or the rights of neutral ships. Its chief stipulations were the mutual restoration of ter- ritory and the appointing of a commission to determine our northern boundary line. The truth is that both nations were tired of the war ; the circumstances that had led to England's aororressions no lonsfer existed ; both countries were suffering enormous commercial loss to no avail ; and, above all, the United States had emphatically justified by its deeds its claim to an equal place in the council of nations. Politically and materially, further warfare was illogical. If the two nations had understood each other better in the first place ; if Great Britain had treated our demands with courtesy and justice instead of insolence ; if, in short, international comit)- had taken the place of international ill-temper, the war might have been avoided altogether. Its undoubted benefits to us were incidental rather than direct. But though not formally recognized by treaty, the rights of American seamen and of American ships were in fact no longer infringed upon y Great Britain. One political outcome of the war must not be overlooked. The New Eng- land Federalists had opposed it from the beginning, had naturally fretted at their loss of commerce, and had bitterly upbraided the Democratic administration for currying popularity by a war carried on mainly at New England's expense. When in the latter days of the war New England ports were closed, Stonington bombarded, Castine in Maine seized, and serious depredations threatened ever}'- where along the northeastern coast, the Federalists complained that the adminis- tration taxed them for the war but did not protect them. The outcome of all this discontent was the Hartford Convention. In point of fact it was a quite 246 THE STORY OF AMERICA. harmless conference which proposed some constitutional amendments, protested against too great centralization of power, and urged the desirability of peace with honor. But the most absurd rumors were prevalent about its intentions ; a regi- ment of troops was actually sent to Hartford to anticipate treasonable outbreaks ; and for many years good Democrats religiously believed that there had been a plot to set up a monarchy in New England with the Duke of Kent as king. •^Harmless as it was, the Hartford Convention proved the death of the Federalist (party. Its mild debates were distorted into secret conclaves plotting treason, and, though the news of peace followed close upon it, the Convention was long an object of opprobrium and a political bugbear. A I'LyVNTER S HUUSE IN GEORGIA, OUR INDIAN PROBLEM. BY HONORABLE HENRY L. DAWES, Chairman Cornniillee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate. WITH HISTORICAL SKETCH BY ANNA L. DAWES CHAPTER XIII. The Story o\^ the Indian. CHAPTER XIV. The Indian ok the Nineteenth Century (Or Our Indian Pko&lem). CHAPTER XIII. A rilEYF.NNK. THE STORY OE TME INDIAN. T the time when our forefathers first landed on these shores, they found the Indian here. Whether at Ply- mouth or Jamestown, at the mouth of the Hudson or in Florida, their first welcome was from the red man. To him the country belonged, and from him the white man secured it, sometimes by form of purchase, some- times as conqueror, more often by the simpler process of taking possession as a settler. For the most part the Indian acquiesced at first. The white man and his ways were new and strange and somewhat fearful to the child of the forest, and it seemed best to propitiate so formidable an antagonist. But the early settlers were men of blood and iron, and both in theory and practice their tender mercies were cruel. On the part of the setders the Indian was everywhere so treated that friendship turned to enmity, and on both sides fear became an ally of hate. Now and then a leader, broader minded than his fellows, like Standish or John .Smith, met the red man with justice, and cemented bonds that stood the strain of battle : but at the beginning, as truly as to-day, the white settler coveted land and pushed the Indian off it that he might dwell thereon in peace. And it must be said that in the seventeenth century he violated no tradition, set 24? .s4» THE STORY OF AMERICA. himself against no law, human or divine, when he did this. Possession was still the rioht of the stronger, the world over, and the conquest of new countries the chief glory of king and commons alike. To flee away from oppression was the only refuge, and to oppressor as well as oppressed it seemed a natural resort. The country was broad enough for both, thought the white man. If the red man could not live with the new comers on the coast, let him fly to the fresh wilderness of the interior ; and so he did, year after year, until one day there was no more wilderness. Then the nation which in the nineteenth century still kept up the habits of the seven- teenth, found that the weapons of that old time were two-edged ; we could not conquer without fighting, nor oppress without revolt ; and we learned at last that a new day must have new deeds. Our early relations with the Indian may be roughly divided into different periods, covering the time from the first landing on our shores until somewhere about 1830; and then again into other periods, from that time until now. In the first or early chapter of our Indian experi- ences we find the period of discov- ery, when the savage met the new comer with wonder and welcome, and the invader plundered and enslaved the savage ; the colonial period, when the savage had grown wiser and more cunning and waited -■.■^^ for knowledge of the settler's pur- pose before treating with him, some- times living peaceably by his side, effort to drive him away, but always baffled, defeated and conquered ; and the national period, when the Indian was the accepted enemy of the young nation, or temporarily its ally ; but always their relations were those of fighting and destruction. From the year 1830 onward, we were dictating the terms of those relations and changing them to suit the mood of the hour. It is necessary, however, to first consider the early relations of the two peoples. OLD MISSION INDIAN OF or sometimes unitme m CALIFORNIA. the vam PERIOD OF DISCOVERY. 249 When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, in 1620, or Captain John Smith and his followers settled Jamestown, in 1607, they were by no means the first to hold relations with the red men. More than one hundred years had elapsed since Columbus, mistaking our shores for the East Indies, had named the wild inhabitants Indians. In that time one explorer after another had landed on our shores and had taken possession of one tract or another for himself or his king, and held it, or forgotten it, as the case might be. But whether French or English, Spanish or Dutch, these men were invariably met with kindness, hos- pitality, friendship ; and invariably they had returned cruelty. The Indians lived in scattered villages in much quiet and friendliness. Game, fish, a few simple vegetables, including maize and wild roots, made up their living. Hos. pitality to friend and stranger was a duty, and to refuse succor a crime. They were nowise anxious to take on the white man's ways, which seemed to them inferior in all that was manly. Nor was it much wonder, for the new comers deceived and cheated the simple Indian, or when occasion offered — some- times without — burned his villages, and hilled the inhabitants ; and never a ship sailed away from the new world without its quota of kidnapped red men, carried over seas for trophies and slaves. The .Spanish and Portuguese in the South, under Cortereal and Coronado and De Soto and others, the French and English in the north, under Cartier and Cabot and their companions, all came on the same search for gold, and all treated the Indian after the same fashion. When the year 1600 came in, it beheld a new era in America — the era of settlement — the day of homes and villages, and the new question arose whether the two races could live together in peace and quietness. All the experience of the past was against it in the long memory of the red man. In North Carolina, Sir Walter Raleigh's romantic experiment at colonizing Roanoke Island had come to nothing, and left behind it the memory of an unprovoked and treacherous massacre by the suspicious English. Yet notwithstanding this, the Indian still tried the vain experiment of kindness. When in 1607 a colony appeared at Jamestown, the great warrior Powhatan, whose realms had been invaded by the Carolina colony, " kindly entertained " the Englishmen, feeding them with bread and berries and fish, while his people danced for their entertainment. Shortly becoming convinced, how- ever, that the English occupation boded ill for his people, finding that "the rights of the Indian were little respected, and the English did not disdain to appropriate by conquest the soil, the cabins, and the granaries of the tribe of the Appomattox," Powhatan determined to protect his people, and strove in every way to dispossess the English. The skill and courage of the redoubtable Captain John .Smith were too much for him, and an outward peace was maintained, although with some difficulty, by that warrior. At one time Captain .Smith was himself taken prisoner and his life threatened, and 10 p& w 250 THE STORY OF AMERICA. the romantic story is told that his life was preserved by the Princess Pocahontas. It is more probable, however, that he owed his life to his native wit, althoiioh such a rescue had been the happy fate of a much earlier explorer years before. The beautiful Pocahontas married John Rolfe, and thus helped gready to bind together the colonists and the Indians. But even this outward kindliness was not of long duration, for the death of Powhatan was shortly followed by a dreadful massacre of the whites, and for twenty years both races in that region rivaled each other in destruction. In New England the story was much the same. Before the Pilgrims reached New England the Indians of Maine had suftered much, and the name of the Englishman was already feared and hated. Thus it was that a shower of arrows was the first welcome Massachusetts gave the white man. But a few months later an Indian, Samoset, walked into Plymouth, saying, "Welcome, Englishmen ! " and was the first of a group of famous red men who be- came the friends of the settlers, Squanto, Hobamok, Massasoit, Ca- nonicus, Uncas, Miantonomah. are names well known to New England annals, names of great warriors most of them, men who kept faith with their allies. But as time went on, ami the inevitable results of the new occupation appeared, the Indians grew more and more imwilling to give up their lands, and now and again made a brave stand for their own. Then occurred awful wars, bloody and terrible as only savage wars could be, complicated oftentimes by the jealousies and hereditary enmities of the different tribes. Thus if Miantonomah and the Narragansetts were friendly to the settler, Uncas and his Mohicans were their enemies. Early in sixteen hundred, Sassacus and the proud tribe of the Pequots made an unavailing attempt to destroy the invader, and were utterly extermi- nated. It is hard to tell which were the more barbarous, the colonists or the Indians ; alike they burned defenseless villages, alike they murdered women and children. Fifty years later one of tlie greatest of all the Indian warriors, l\ing TOMO-CHI-CHI AND HIS NEPHEW. IFrom a print a/ler the /atHtiuff by Witluim Veretst.) ABUSE OF HOSPITALITY. 251 Philip, made one more last effort for his country. For a year and a half he kept the English at bay, appearing and reappearing all over Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, fighting with musket and fire as well as with tomahawk and scalping-knife, brave beyond the teUing, and as cruel. The colonists suffered untold horrors, and the Indian endured still more, for in the end he saw his power depart and his race disappear from the soil he had loved so long. Meanwhile in New York and west of it, the great confederated tribes of the Iroquois or the "Six Nations " ruled over all the surrounding country. North- ward to Quebec, southward to Maryland, westward to Illinois and Michigan, tliey controlled the tributary tribes, and by their political ability, their courage AN OLD INDIAN FARM HOUSE. ^.nd their power, they daily established themselves more and more firmly. M«> hawks, Onondagas, Cayugas, Oneidas, Senecas and Tuscaroras, they foun«1cd a federation or league, and with an elaborate polity and much advancement in the arts of life, with strong towns and stockaded forts, they thought themselves invincible. The towns were well fortified, and their palisades prove(J sure de- fenses even against the dreaded powder and balls. For more than a hundred years the Iroquois fought the French in Canad^^, or defended themselves against the French invasions in New York. The fingers of a single hand will suffice for the victories of the white man, yet in the end the Iroquois were so weakened and decimated by Frontenac, that their power was broken. Partly they owed 25- THE STORY OF AMERICA. this result, however, to the extraordinary diplomatic ability of the chief of the Huroiis, their hereditary enemies, who with the skill of a Talleyrand so manipu- lated both I'Vench and Indians as to greatly prolong the war. In Pennsylvania alone was there peace. Coming over in the last half of the seventeenth century, William Penn brought with him Quaker principles and Quaker methods. For the tirst time in the history of our dealings with the aborigines we not only began with justice but maintained it. Penn bought the kind with much merchandise, and thereafter held the red man as of one blood, with the wliite man. There were neither wars nor massacres, and in the dark coiKiaiiir A.Mii.Ni; im. i.nuians. Story of the Indian this treaty shines with the ligiit of righteousness On the Pacific coast, too, was a brief brightness. There Sir IVancis Drake landed in the "fair and good bay " of San Francisco, in 1579, and so won the hearts of the natives that they made him king, and wept sore for his departure ; hut this was only an episode, and not the long test of daily contact which the Pennsyl- vania Quakers bore so serenely. Other and smaller points of light there were ; stars in the dark night. It was not until 1528 that any man remembered that these savages hail souls, but thereafter there were never wanting brave and holy priests who dared unknown dangers and endured all things to teach here THE COLONIAL DAYS. 253 and there a few. I-ranciscans, Dominicans, and Jesuits, equaled each other in labors and martyrdoms in Florida and New Mexico, while the story of the Jesuits in the North and West is the very romance of heroism. The grants under whicli the Protestant I^nglish took possession of their lands had much to say of th(= noble work of bringing civilization and Christianity to the "infidels and savages living in these parts," and Virginia early made some efforts to establish schools and induce "the children of those barbarians" to learn the "elements of literature " and " the Christian religion," but we hear little of practical results until the day when that apostle to the red men, John Eliot, first taught the Indians of Massachusetts and Connecticut. I-or thirty years he liURYING Till.: SACKI,U M.UMli-STlCKS IX THE OCEAN— A CURIOUS KlvLlGlOUS CEREMONY. hved among them and taught them to read, to work, to pray. He gave them a J5ibl.: ,n their own tongue, and amid labors many and perils more, he and his faithful follow.^-, Ihomas Mayhew, gathered from among those hunted and fighting savages six Indian churches, whose more than a thousand " praying Indians " once and again stood firm against fearfiil odds, and became a bulwark of safety to their pale-faced neighbors. While the colonists were growing strong in the North, and circumstances were speedily. to change the Indian problem, the red men of the .South were beginning a career unusual in our annals, since it continues in unbroken sequence unto this day. The Indian has gone from New England and the middle West ; 35^ THE STOR ) ' OF AMERICA . the irreat league of the Iroquois survives only in the legal privileges still accorded the poor rrinnants of the Six Nations; the warrior of the plams has hardly a link with Powhatan or Pontiac ; but the Cherokee and the Seminole are still Indian nations, and still treat with us and still keep to their proud isolation, as their forefathers did. Cherokees, Chickasaws. Seminoles, Creeks and Choctaws, in the early davs they spread over the South from the hills of Carolina to the plains of Texas. The Spaniards found them there and so did the French. 1 he Choctaws joined themselves to the I'rench to massacre and exterminate their neiohbors the splendid Nathez; the Chickasaws beat back the invading French- men allied with the Choctaws, and owned no masters. The Cherokees met the friendship of Gov. Oglethorpe in Georgia with like fidelity and fnendshii.,but met treachery and blood in the Carolinas with like treachery and blood, until much f^ahtino- and many troops were spent in conquering them. The Creeks and Seminoles kept proud state along the Ohio, in Georgia and in Morida, and during the vicissitudes of their northern brethern, their lives went on more nearly as of old than was possible in the North. The wars between France and England for the possession of the New World in America, brought about new conditions for the Indian. It is no longer conllicts between separate tribes and their white neighbors we have to consider, but battles which were part of a larger plan and attacks inspired from a different motive. The chronicle becomes no longer so much the story ot great chiefs, and struggles f6r tribal existence, but the Indians '"were tossed upon the bavonets of the contending parties, courted no allies, used as scourges and at all times disdained as equals." For nearly fifty years the trench and their allies, the Algonquin tribes, made constant and bloody forays all along the Encrlish frontier defended by the Iroquois. Through central New \ ork, Massa- chu'setts, southern New Hampshire and Maine, there was no rest to the settler At any moment the dreaded war-whoop might be heard, and an awful death awaited him. while worse captivity was the certain fate of the women and children The iamiliar story of Deerfield, Massachussets. was a twice-told tale all throu-h this wide and thickly-settled region. A remote little town, it was ,„arked for attack because of its unhappy possession of a church bell intended for an Indian village in Canada. To rescue this bell, the ever-ready Indians joined the French soldiers, and amidst the snows of February, the town was burned to the ground, and one hundred and twelve inhabitants all killed or carried in cruel captivity in the eight weeks' march through the deep snows and bitter cold to Canada. Death brought welcome release to many ot the party. Thus did the whole country suffer, and thus did the red man make his name feared above all things else. , • -i The varying fortune of France and England, constantly brought similar nuctuations to the peace of the New World, in the fifty years before the treaties FRENCH AND ENGLISH WARS. 255 o{ Utrecht and Aix la Chapelle ; but that famous peace scarcely more than altered the scene of the ficrhting on this side the water. English and French alike claimed the country west of the Alleghanies, and the French, with theii THE INDIAN'S DECLARATION OF WAR Indian allies, lost no time in asserting their claims and defending their rights. Then it was, that in the spring of 1754, one George Washington, the young adjutant general of the Virginia militia, scarcely come to his majority, won his •spurs in the unavailing campaign against Fort Duquesne. For more than five 2S6 THE STORY OF AMERICA. years the desultory war went on. Braddock's defeat was followed by many another French success, with its horrid accompaniment of savay;^e warfare. Under Montcalm still more of the Indians joined the I'rench, even the Iroquois uniting with the other tribes against the luiglish, and it was not until i 760, that Canada was finally surrendered io the Bridsh. At last the harassed colonists hoped for peace, and dreamed that the scalping knife was thrown away. Shortly enough it proved a vain dream. As the plantations and towns crowded the huntiuir unrounds farther and farther back, it " threw the Indian who had become possessed of habits modified by contact with the whites, upon the tribes living in the ancient manner, and bred tribal jealousies." The fierce struggle between French and English for the possession of the Mississippi Vallev, made a new opportunity, and once more a great warrior arose, determinetl to make a desperate effort to free his people from the white man. We have hardly given enough credit to the military capacity antl the genius for governing, of these great chiefs. They played French against English, Spanish against French, tribe against tribe ; they conspired, manipulatetl men and armies, fought or covenanted, with the skill and insight and courage of great commanders. What was known as " Pontiac's War" was in its inception and development a revolution worthy to rank with the great uprisings of the old world. The Indian is always and everywhere possessed of the genius of ruling. State-craft is his birthright equally with wood-craft. Pontiac, leader of the Ottawas, Ojibways, and Pottawatomies, inspired by the French to take revenge, and eager to free his people from the hated dominion of the English, dreamed a dream of patriotism. To more than usual ability in many directions, he joined the imperious will and high ambition which mark the conqueror. He had ever been victorious, and he planned on a given tlay to sweep away the forts and crowd the invader into the sea ; ami not without a sense of what he was undertaking, he proposed to do this by bringing back the French. AH along the Canadian frontier, and in Pennsylvania and Virginia as well, the war raged for more than three jears, before the great chief finally surrendered the hope he so cherished, and in 1 766 made a reluctant treaty with the English. The hundred years which closed with the end of the Colonial period had not been altogether without effort to civilize and Christianize the red heathen. In Pennsylvania and Ohio the Moravians had won the hearts and lives of the Delawares until their towns blossomed with peace and prosperity, and the lives of the people gave goodly witness to the faith they professed. Beset by hostile Indians and worse beset by hostile whites, three times they were driven — these Christian Indians — from their beautiful homes into a new wilderness, and practis- ing to the full the doctrine of love and forgiveness, these converted savages made no resistance. At last they were rewarded with the crown of martyrdom, when REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 257 at Gnaden Huten, without pretext, ninety unresisting and Christian Indians were slaughtered in cold blood by the white men, and no voice of man, woman or child was left to tell the tale. Such instances are in striking contrast with the just dealings of Penn in Pennsylvania. Among the Iroquois the Church of England, the Moravians again, and the Presbyterians made much progress in teaching the children and spreading religion throughout the tribes. P'rom one of their schools arose Hamilton College. In New England too, John Eliot had left worthy successors. The names of Brainard, Jonathan Edwards, Sergeant and PENN S RESIDENCE IN SECOND STREET, BELOW CHESTNUT STREET. Wheelock are known to us still by their labors and their success in teaching the ■Indian youth ; and from both sides the water came the money to carry on their work. It was the last named. Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, whose determination to start a boarding school for his wards resulted in the establishment of Dartmouth College, and among his pupils was the well known Chief of the Mohawks, Joseph Brant, who became such a figure in the Revolutionary War. When the Colonies finally rebelled against the Mother Country, in 1775, the English had learned much from the French and Indian war as to the military 258 THE STORY OF AMERICA. value of the alliance with the Indians. In one way or another they had suc- niE AlACHE CHIEFS, GERONIMO, NATCHEZ. ceeded in gaining the friendship of most of the tribes. The Iroquois confedera- tion was their natural ally, through its able chief, Joseph Brant, whose sister had INDIAN STRUGGLE FOR TERRITORY. 259 married the famous governor, Sir William Johnson ; and thus the border line was always open to the British. As the French had thrown the Indian upon the set- tlers in the past, so the English now set their savage allies upon the defenseless towns and unprotected forts. The tomahawk and scalping knife were again the recognized weapons of warfare, and throughout New York and even in Pennsyl- vania terror was again abroad. It was in this struggle that the famous Seneca, Red Jacket, fought with desperation, and opposed to the last the treaty which buried the hatchet, with such eloquence that twenty-five years later Lafayette still remembered his words. In the Northwest, the French influence happily pre- vailed to prevent the Indian defection to any great extent, but in Kentucky and West Virginia there was desperate fighting in a sort of guerrilla warfare be- tween the red braves and such backwoodsmen as Daniel Boone. In the South the warlike Creeks made haste to attack the whites, but met with short shrift. Meanwhile the Continental Congress had placed the affairs of the Indians in three departments, under direction of some of its most famous men, and even employed the Indians in its armies. But only an isolated few were actively on the side of the Colonists. The close of the Revolutionary War brought only a partial cessation of the Indian warfare. The red man was by no means disposed to give up his country without a struggle, and all throughout the interior, in what is now Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin, and along the Ohio River, there were constant outbreaks, and battles of great severity. The conflict in Indiana brought forward the services of a young Lieutenant, William Henry Harrison, who for many years had much to do with Indians, both as officer and as Governor of the new Indian Territory. In 181 1 appeared another of those great Indian chiefs whose abilities and influ- ence are well worth attention and study. Tecumseh, a mighty warrior of mixed Creek and Shawnee blood, once more dreamt the old dream of freeing his people. With eloquence and courage he urged them on, by skill he combined the tribes in a new alliance, and, encouraged by British influence, he looked forward to a great success. While he sought to draw the Southern Indians into his scheme, his brother rashly joined battle with General Harrison, and was utterly defeated in the fight which gained for Harrison the title of Old Tippecanoe. Disap- pointed and disheartened at this destruction of his life-work, Tecumseh threw all his great influence on the British side in the War of 1812, where he dealt much destruction to the United States troops. At Sandusky and Detroit and Chicago, and at other less important forts, the Indian power was severely felt ; at Terre Haute the young Captain Zachary Taylor met them with such courage and read- iness of resources that they were finally repulsed, but rarely did a similar good fortune befall our troops ; and it was more than a month after Commodore Perry won victory for us at Lake Erie, that Tecumseh himself was killed, and the twenty-five hundred Indians of his force were finally scattered in the great fight 26o THE STORY OF AMERICA. of the Thames River, where our troops were commanded by William Henry Harrison and Richard M. Johnson, afterward President and Vice-President of the United States. P^or a little time the Northwest had peace. But in the South the warfare was not over. Tecumseh had stirred up the Creeks and Seminoles against the whites, and throughout Alabama, Georgia, and Northern Florida the Creek War raged with all its horrid accompaniments until 1815 ; even the redoubtable Andrew Jackson could not conquer the brave Creeks until they were almost exterminated, and then a small remnant still remained in the swamps of Florida to be heard of at a later time. Thus ends a brief and hasty chronicle of the American Indians in the early days of our Nation. Thereafter they were a subject race, and a new policy was adopted in which we fixed the terms, and they, rebelling or accepting our de- cision as it might be, in the end could only submit. But as from the beginning so it has gone on until now ; as we pushed the frontier farther and farther back, at every stage the Indian made one more effort for his home and his hunting grounds. As in Massachusetts and Virginia, so in Dakota and New Mexico, Powhatan and King Philip and Sitting Bull and Geronimo have alike fought for their country and their people. Let us honor these patriots and not despise them. And we may well admire them also, for braver warriors, abler states- men, wiser rulers the world has seldom seen. Small was their field, cruel their code, savage their people, but in despair and difficulty they wrought great works. A pity it is that so many great names are forgotten, so many brave deeds unsung. Anna L. Dawes. CHAPTER XIV. THE INDIAN OK THE NINETEENTH CENTURV. Before the new Government of the United States was fully upon its feet it recognized the necessity and duty of caring for its Indian population. In 1775, a year before the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress divided the Indians into three Departments, Northern, Middle, and Southern, "ach under the care of three or more Commissioners, among whom we find no less personages than Oliver Wolcott, Philip Schuyler, Patrick Henry, and Ben- jamin Franklin. As early as 1832 the young nation found itself confronted with an Indian problem, and created a separate Bureau for the charge of the red men, and Inaugurated a policy in its treatment of them. Speaking in general, we have altered this policy three times. As a matter of fact, we have certainly altered its details, changed its plans, and adopted a new point of view as changing Adminis- trations have changed the administrators ot our Indian affairs. But in the large, diere have been three great steps in our Indian policy, and these have to some HUN. liK.R. ... i.Auts, (extent grown out of our changing condi- tions. The first plan was that of the reservations. Under that system, as the Indian land was wanted by the white population he was removed across the Mississippi and still further west, pushed step by step beyond and beyond ; and as time went on and the population fol- lowed hard after, he was confined to designated tracts. It was no matter that these tracts were absolutely guaranteed to him, he was still driven off them again and again as the farmer or the miner demanded the land. In time a new policy was attempted, or, rather, an old policy was revived, that of concentrating the 261 262 THE STORy OF AMERICA. whole body ot Indians in one State or Territory, but the obvious impossibility of that scheme soon wrought its own end. Less than twenty years ago the present plan took its place, that of education and eventual absorption. In 1830 the country seemed to stretch beyond any possible need of tlie young nation, lusty as it was, and the wide wiklcrness of the Rocky 'Mountains to furnish hunting grounds for all time. The Mississippi Valley and die Northwest were still unsettled and uneasy, and in the South the Five Nations were greatly in the way of their white neighbors, and the scheme of removing the red inhabitants beyond the Mississippi was begun. The first removals were, like the last, times of trouble and disturbance, and then, as now, there were two parties in the tribes, those who saw there was no way but submission, and those who indulged the fruitless dream of revolt. Thus the Sac and Fox tribe of Wisconsin was divided, and although Keokuk and one band went peaceably to their new home among the lowas, Black Hawk and his followers were slow to depart, and were removed by force. The Indian Department failed to furnish corn enough for the new settlement, and going to seek it among the Winnebagoes, the Indians came into collision with the Government. Thereafter ensued a series of misunder- standings, and consecjuent fights, and great alarm among the whites and the destruction of the Indians. The story is the same story, almost to details, that every year has seen from that day to this. I'Uder President Monroe several treaties were made with the Five Nations, by which, one after another, they ceded their Southern lands to the Government, and took in exchange the country now known as the Indian Territory. They were already far advanced in civilization, with leaders combining in blood and brain the Indian astuteness and the white man's experience and educa- tion, lohn Ross, a half-breed chief of the Cherokees, of extraordinary ability, brought about the removal under conditions more favorable than often occurred. He was bitterly opposed by fu.U half the Indians, and it was not without suf- ferings and losses of more than one kind that the great Soutlfern league was removed to the fair and fertile land they had chosen in the far-off West. It was owing to the sagacity of lohn Ross and his associates that this land was secured to them, as no other land has ever been secured to any Indian tribe. They hold it to-day by patent, as secure in the sight of the law as an old Dutch manor house or Virginia plantation, and all the learning of the highest tribunals has not yet found the way to evade or disregard (these solemn obligations. To these men, too, and to the missionaries who had long taught these tribes, do they owe an elaborate and effective civili- zation, and a governmental polity which preserves for them alone, among aU their red brethren, the title and the state of nadons. The Seminoles, who were of the Creek blood, were divided, some of them going west with their bredaren. TREATIES. 263 some of them, the larger part, remaining in Florida. With these, about four thousand in all, under Osceola, the Government fought a seven years' war, costing forty millions of dollars and untold lives. After like fashion have all our "re- movals " proceeded, and from like causes — the greed of the white man and the ferocity of the outraged Indian. It is useless and impossible to give the de- tails of all the various tribes that have been pushed about, hither and yon. In 1830 the East was already crowding toward the West, and every decade saw the frontier moved onward with giant strides. Everywhere the Indian was an undesirable neighbor, and when, in 1849, the discovery of gold began to create a new nation on the Pacific slope, a pressure began from that side also, and the intervening deserts became a thoroughfare for the pilgrims of fortune and the many lovers of adventure. From year to year the United States made fresh treaties with the innumerable tribes ; those in the East were gone already, those in the interior were following fast, and there had arisen the new necessity of dealing with those in the far West. One tribe after another would be planted on a reservation millions of acres in extent and apparently far beyond the home of civilization, and almost in a twelvemonth the settler would be upon its border demanding its broad acres. The reservations were altered, reduced, taken away altogether, at the pleasure of the Govern- ment, with little regard to the rights or wishes of the Indian. Usually this brought about fighting, and it produced a state of permanent discon- tent that wrought harm for both settler and savage. The Indian grew daily more and more treacherous and constantly more cruel. The white settler was daily in greater danger, and constantly more full of revenge. A new complication entered into the problem. The game was fast dis- appearing, and therewith the life of the Indian. It became necessary for the Government to furnish rations and clothes, lest he starve and freeze. Cheating was the rule and deception the every-day experience of these savages. In 1795 General Wayne gained the nickname of General To-morrow, .so slow was the Government to fulfill his promises ; and thus for more than a hundred years it has always been to-morrow for the Indian. Exasperated beyond endurance, he was ever ready to retaliate, and the horrors of an Indian war constantly hung' over the pioneer. During all this period we treated these Indians as if they were foreign nations, and made solemn treaties with them, agreeing to furni.sb PEDKll Pl.NO. I.Al-lU-AH-TSAI-LA. FORMERLY GOVERNOR OE 7.UNI FOR THIRTY YEARS, 264 THE STORY OF AMERICA. thcin rations or niarkiiiL; the reservation liounds. W'c have made more than a thousand of thrsc treaties, and lu'iicral SluMinan is the authority for the state- !n(-nt that we have hmken every one ourselves. Day by day the gluttonous iiUeness, the loss of hope and future, the sense of wrong, and the bitter feeling of contempt united to degrade the red man as well as to madden him. The fighting did not cease, for all the promises or the threats of the Government. Hut always, it is creilibly declared, the first cause of an Indian outbreak has been a wrong suffered. .And always, in these latter (.lays as in the earlier period, it lias meant one more effort on the part of the old warriors to regain ^^^_____ the power they saw slipping _ q ^xwA.y so fast. Both these causes entered into the awful Sioux War in Minnesota in 1S02. Suffering from pilcd-up wrongs, smarting under the loss of power, and conscious that the Civil War was their o]>portunity, a party of one hundred and fifty Sioux began the most horrid massacre of the last fifty years ; the begin- ning of a struggle which lasted more than a year, which was remarkable for the steadfast fidelity of the Christian Indians, to whose help and succor whole bodies oi white men owed their lives, bour years later, in 1866, the discover)^ of gold in Montana caused the inva- sion of the Sioux reservation, and Reil Cloui.1 set about defending it. Scarcely more than thirty years old, but no mean warrior, he fought the white man long and tlesperately and with the cunning iif iiis race. This outbreak was scarcely (juieted when another occurri'd. .\s was its wont, the Government forgot the promises of its treaty of peace, and a small banil of the Cheyennes retaliated with a raid upon their white neighbors. General .Sheriilan made this the occasion he was seeking for a war of extermination, ami in November, 1868, Lieutenant Custer fell upon Black Kettle's village and after a severe fight destroyetl the village, killing more than a hundred warriors aiul capturing half as many women and chiKlren. The next year General Sheriilan onlered the Sioux and Cheyennes off the KONlT'l., AN INDIAN CIUKK. PLAN Ol< CONCENTRATION. 265 hunting grounds the treaty had reserved to them, Imt these were the strongest and bravest of the tribes and they resisted the order. A list of heroes, Crook, Terry, Custer, Miles, and McKenzie, led our troops, and among the chiefs whom they met in a long and desperate struggle were Crazy Horse and Spotted Tail, notable warriors both. At the battle of the Big Horn, by some misunder'^tanding or mismanagement General Custer was left with only five companie.s to meet neaJy three thousand savage .Sioux. He fought desperately iinlil the last but he himself was killed, and so utterly was his command destroyed that not a single man was left alive. The attempt to remove the Modocs from California to C)regon in 1872 was the signal for a new war ; and a year or two afterward similar results followed when it was attempted to pusli the Nez Perces from the homes they had sought in Oregon to a new reservation in Idaho. This tribe under their famous leader, Chief Joseph, were hard to conquer. Their military organization, their civilized method of warfare, their courage and skill, were publicly complimented by (Jeneral .Sherman and General Howard and General Gibbons, who declared Chief Joseph to be one of the greatest of modern warriors. In 1877, discouraged at all our efforts to hold the Indians in check, it was determined by .Secretary .Schurz, then in charge of the Department of the Interior, to remove them all to the w(;stern part of the Indian Territory, where the Five Nations would cede the necessary land, and there create an Indian .State. Great trouble arose from the attempt to carry out this well-meant, but impossible, effort. A single story, the story of the Northern Cheyennes, will illustrate the wrongs the Indian suffered as well as those he inflicted. The Cheyennes, as has been seen, were a tribe of great warriors, some of them at home in the hills of the North, some in the hills of the .South. Cheyennes and Arapahoes, Kiowas and Comanches, were banded together in a close and common bond, and at first the friends of the Govern- ment, had become frequently its enemies, by reason of broken faith, cruel treatment, injustice, and downright wrong. That chronicle of misery, "A Century of Dishonor," contains forty pages of facts taken from the Government records, which relate the inexcusable and indefensible treatment of this triije by the Government and the vain effort for endurance of the Cheyennes, inter- spersed with frequent savage outbreaks when human nature could endure no longer. It includes the account of a massacre of helpless Indian womc^n and children under a flag of truce ; a war begun over ponies stolen from the Indians and sold in the open market by the whites in a land where the horse thief counts with the murderer ; another incited by rage against a trader who paid one-dollar bills for ten-dollar bills ; and tells of whole tracts of land seized without compensation by the United States itself The Northern Cheyennes had been taken by force to the Indian Territory, and in its awful heat, with 17 p & w 366 THE STORY OF AMERICA. scant and poor rations, a pestilence came on. Two thousand were sick at once, and many died because there was not medicine enough. At last three hundred braves, old men and young, with their women and children, broke away and, making a raid through Western Kansas, souglit their Nebraska home. This was not a mild and peaceable tribe. It was fierce and savage beyond most, and they were wild with long endured injustice and frantic with a nameless terror. Three times they drove back the troops w'ho were sent to face them, and, living by plunder, they made a red trail all through Kansas, until they were finally captured in Nebraska in December. They refused to go back to the Indian Territory, and the Department ordered them starved into submission. Food and fuel were taken from those imprisoned Indians. Four days they had neither food nor fire — and the mercury froze at Fort Robinson in that month ! And when at last two chiefs came out under a flag of truce, they were seized and imprisoned. Then pandemonium broke loose inside. The Indians broke up the useless stoves, and fought with the twisted iron. They brought out a few hidden arms, and howling like devils they rushed out into the night and the snow. Seven days later they were shot down like dogs. E.xperiences like this soon ended the attempt to gather together all our Indian wards, and w^e returned to the old plan of the reservations, but with little more certainty of peace than before. Again and again starvation was followed by fighting, nameless outrages upon the Indian by cruel outrages upon the white man. Whether Apaches under Geronimo in New Me.xico, or Sioux in Dakota, it was the old story over again. Thus with constant danger menacing the white settler from the infuriated and savage Indian, and constant outrage upon the red man by rapacious and cruel whites, the government found a new policy necessary. By a strange and unusual sequence of events this policy was inaugurated. In 1869 a sharp difference arose between the two Houses of Congress over the appropriations to pay for eleven treaties then just negotiated, and the session closed with no appropriation for the Indian service. The neces- sity for some measure was extreme ; the plan was devised of a bill, which was passed at an extra session, putting two millions of dollars in the hands of Presi- dent Grant, to be used as he saw fit, for the civilization and protection of the Indian. He immediately called to his aid a commission composed of nine phil- anthropic gentlemen to overlook the affairs of the Indian and advise him there- upon. This Commission served without salary and continues to this day its beneficent work. Another valuable measure resulted. At the next Congress a law was passed forbidding any more treaties with Indians, and thenceforth they became our wards, not our rivals. The war of 1876 had indirectly another beneficent result of most far-reach- ing consequences. Among the brave men who had fought the Cheyennes and Kiowas and Comanches, was Captain Richard H. Pratt, who was put in charge Lu .UK , ,.,\,,i mail. 268 THE SrORY OF AM URIC A. of thi; prisoners sent to Fort INlarion, Morida, as a punishment W'jrsc- than death. They were the wildest and fiercest of warriors, who had foui^ht long and desperately. On their lon^; way to the I'last they had killetl their guard, and repeatedly tried, one and another, to kill themselves. Hut Captain Pratt was a man of wontlerful executive ability, of splendid courage and great faith in Gotl antl man. By firmness and patience and v.'ondrous tact he gradually taught tiu-m to read and to work, antl when after three years the Government oflered tt) return them to their homes, twenty-three refused to go. Captain I'ratt ap])t'aled to the Ckivernment to continue their education, and General Arm- strong, with his undying faith in human beings as chiklren of one leather, and with his sublime enthusiasm for humanity, took most of them at Hampton Insti- tute', the rest being sent to the North umler the care of Bishop lluiuington of New York. In the end these men returned to their tribes Christian men, and with the seventy who returned directly from I'lorida, every one became a power for [)eace antl industry in his tribe. Out of this small beginning grew the great policy of Indian education, ami the long story of death and destruction began to change to the bright chronicle ot peace and education. What, then, is the condition of the Indian to-ilay ? In number there are scarcely more than two hundreil and forty thousand in the whole country. Of these less than one-fifth depend upon the Government for support. All told, they are less th.ui the inhabitants of Buffalo or Cleveland or Pittsburgh, but they are not dying out, the rather steailily increasing. They are divided and subilivided into multitudinous tribes of difterent characteristics and widely differ- ent degrees of civilization. .Some are Sioux — these are brave and able and intelligent ; they live in wigwams or tepees, and are dangerous and often hostile. Some are Zunis, .iml li\e in houses antl make beautiful pottery, and are mild and peaceable, antl tlo not tjuestion the ways of the Great Father at Washing- ton. Some are roving bands of Shoshones, dirty, ignorant, and shiftless — the tramps of their race — who are on every man's side at once. Some are Chilcats tTj- Klink.is, whose Alaskan homes offer new problems of new kinds for every day we know them. And some are Cherokees, living in tine houses, dressed in the latest fashion, and spentling their winters in Washington or Saint Louis. Yet these, antl many more oi many kintls, are all alike Iiulians. They have their /)wn gt>vernmrnts, their tiwn unwritten laws, their own customs. As a race they are neither worthless nor iKgraded. The Indian is not tinly brave, strong, able by inheritance antl practice tt) endure beyond belief but he is patient under wrong, ready and eager to learn, aiul willing to undergo much privation for that end ; usually affectionate in his family relations, grateful to a degree, pure and careful of the honor of his wife antl tlaughter ; and he is also patriotic to a fault. He has a great genius for government, and an unusual interest in it. He is full of maniv hcinor, antl he is supremely religious. His history and traditions are PRESENT CONDITION OF THE INDIAN. 269 but just now discovered, to the delii^ht and the surprise of scientific students. His (hilly life is a thing of elaborate ceremonial, and his national existence is as carefully regulated as our own, and by an intricate code. It is true that our failure to comprehend his character and our neglect to study his customs have bred many faults in him and have fostered much evil. Our treatment of him, nioreover, has produced and increased a hostility which has been manifcst(xl in savage methods for which we have had little mercy. But we have not always given the same admiration to warlike virtues when our enemy was an Inth.in that we have showered without stint upon ancient Ciaul or modern (iennan. The popular idea of the Indian not only misconceives his character, but to a large ISTER'S FKMl'J. des'i'ee his habits also. Even the wild(;st tribes liv(; for the most part in huts ot cabins made of logs, with two windows and a door. In the middle is a fire, sometimes with a stovepipe and sometimes without. 1 lere the food is cooked, mostly Slewed, in a kettle hung gypsy-fashion, f)r laid on stones over the fire. Around thi.5 fire, each in a particular place of his own, lies or sits the whole family. Sorn/'times the cooking is done out of doors, and in summer the close cabin is exchruiged for a tepee or tent. Here they live, night and day. At night a blanket is hung up, partitioning the tent f(jr tin; younger women, and if the family is very large, there are often two tents, in the smaller of which sleep the young girls in charge of an old woman. These tents or cabins are clustered 270 THE STORY OF AMERICA. close tocrether, and their inhabitants spend their days smoking, talking, eating, quarrelino-, as the case may be. Sometimes near them, sometimes miles away, is the agent's house and the Government buildings. These are usually a com niissary building where the food for the Indians is kept, a black.smith shop, the store of the trader, school buildings, and perhaps a saw-mill. To this place the Indians come week by week for their food. The amount and nature of the rations called for 1))- the different treaties vary greatl)- among different tribes, But everywhere the Indian has come into some sort of contact with the whites, and usually he makes some shift to adopt the white man's ways. A few are rich, some own houses, and almost universally, now. Government schools teach the children somethincr of the elements of learning as well as the indispensable English T h e immediate control of the reserva- tit)n Indian is in the hands of the agent, whose power is almost absolute, and, like all despotisms, is very good or intolerable, as the indi- vidual character of the man may be. The agencies are inspected from time to time by Inspectors, who report directly to the Com missioner [of Indian Affairs], who in his tvirn ij an officer of the Interior Depart- ment and responsible to the Secretary, who is. of course, amenable to the President. In each house of Congress is a committee having charge of all legislation relating to Indian Affairs. Besides these officials there is the Indian Commission already mentioned. The National Indian Rights Association andj the Women's National Indian Association are the unofficial and voluntary] guardians of the Imlian work. It is their task to spread correct information, tOj create intelligent interest, to -set in motion public and private forces which will! bring about legislation, and by public meetings and private labors to prevent wrongs aeainst the Indian, and to further good work for him of manv kinds. While the Indian Rights Association does the most public and official work forj the race and has large influence over legislation, the Women's Indian Associa- tion concerns itself more largely with \anous philanthropic efforts in behalf of tile individual, and thus the two bodies supplement each other. Hopeless and impossible as it seemed twenty years ago to absorb the INDIAN AGENCY. NATURE OF EDUCATION AND RESULTS. 271 Indian, to-day we see the process more than begun and in some cases half accom- plished ; and in this work the Government, philanthropy, education, religion, have all had their share, and so closely have these walked together that neither •can be set above or before the others. We began to realize, it is true, that our duty and our safety alike lay in educating these Indians, as early as 18 19, when Congress appro- priated ^10,000 for that purpose, and still earlier President Washington de- ■■--y^ fe -isiS ATTACK BY MODOCS ON THE PEACE COMMISSIONERS, APRIL II, 187J. clared to a deputation of Indians his" belief that industrial education was their greatest need ; but it is only within fifteen years that determined efforts have been made or adequate provision afforded. Beginning with ^10,000 in 1 8 19, we had reached only $20,000 in 1877 ; but the appropriation for 1891 for Indian education was $2,291,000. With this money we support thirteen i-jz THE STORY OF AMERICA. ^rcat iiulusirial training schools established at various convenient points, and live more are about to be added, in ilnni marly 5000 children are learning not only books, but all manner of industries, and are acUliuL;- to ci\ilization the train- ing of character. There are no less than seventy boarding schools on the vari- ous reservations teaching and training as many more of these children of the hills and plains, and half as many gather daily at the one hundred little day schools which dot the prairies, some of them appearing to the uninitiated to be miles away from any habitation. This does not include the more than thirty mission schools of the various Churches. But all together it is hoped that in the excellent Ciovernment schools now provided, in the splendid missionary semi- naries, and in the great centres of light like Hampton and Carlisle and Haskell Institute, we shall in 1S92 do something for the education of nearly or ipiite two-thirtls of all the 30,000 Indian children who can be reached with schools. The two great training schools at the East, Hampton and Carlisle, have proved object lessons for the white man as well as the Indian, and the opposi- tion they constantly encounter from those who do not believe that the red man can ever receive civilization is in some sort a proof of their value. In the main, they and all their kind have one end — the thorough and careful training in books and work and home life of the Indian boy ami girl, and their methods are much alike. Once a year the Superintendents or teachers of these schools go out among the Indians and bring back as many boys and girls as they can persuade the lathers and mothers to send. At first these children came in tlirt and filth, and with little or no ideas of any regular or useful life, but of late many of th<-ni have learned some beginnings of civilization in the day schools. They are taught luiglish first, and l)y degrees to make bread and sew and cook and wash and keep house if they are girls ; the trade of a printer, a blacksmith, a car- penter, etc., if they are boys. They study books, the boys are drilletl, and from kind, strong men and gentle, patient women they learn to respect work and even to love it, to turn their hands to any needed effort,, to adapt themselves to new situations, the meaning of civilization. It is charged that the Indian educated in these schools does not remain civilized, but shortly returns to his old habits and customs. Can an Indian boy or girl be so far civilized in five years, it is asked, that he will withstand all the forces, personal and social, striving to draw him back to the easy ways of bar- barism when he returns to his old associates ? A detailed e.xamination into the lives of three hundred and eighteen Indian students who have gone out from Hampton Institute has shown that only thirty-five have in any way disappointed the expectations of tluir friemls and teachers, and only twelve have failed altogether ; and the extraordinary test of the last Sioux war, in which only one of these students, and he a son-in-law of Sitting Bull, joined the hostiles, may well settle tiie (|uestion. LAND IN SEVERALTY LAW. ^7i With the passage of the Severalty Law, in 1887, a new era opened before the Indian. Under it, if he will, there is secured to him and each member of his family a homestead of eighty acres, inalienable and exempt from taxation for twenty-five years. With this homestead comes citizenshijj and all its privi- leges and immunities, obligations and op]>ortunities. All these are his, also, without allotment of any land in severalty, whenever he will abandon his tribe and take upon himself the ways of the white man. Nearly twenty thousand have already since the passage of this law taken their place in the citi- zenship of the nation. The transi- tion from a state of dependent wards, whose dwelling place and manner of life, whose food and raiment and very being, were controlled by another, into the independence and responsibilities of United States citizenship, has been so sudden, and in some cases without due prepara- tion for so great a change, as to prove a severe test of the manhood in the Indian. There have been failures, but they have been marvelously few, and this way out of barbarism to civilization is becoming plainer and surer every day. The providing of an inalienable liome for the Indian, and citizenship, with all that pertains to that royal title, to all who avail themselves of this grant, has brought along with it the necessity for new laws, almost a new code, for the government and protection of this race. Citizenship, provided in the Severalty Law, by its own force brought every one it reached at once into the same forum and under the same shield as every other citizen of the United States. It also defined and guarded the marriage relation and the descent of property, as well as other domestic relations, hitherto shadowy and but little regarded. But the reservation and wild Indian cannot appeal to this law for protection or assertion of his rights. It has been more difficult to bring him within the pale of legal enactment either for restraint or protection. Yet great progress has been made even here. The judicious expenditure of large GENERAL GEORGE CROOK. 274 THE STORY OF AMERICA. appropriations for the education of the Indian has dont; much to clear the way and make the bringing of this chiss of Inchaiis undtr the restraining and civiUzing inlluence of law. It has not always been possible, among savages, to do this in strict conformity with the normal methods pointed out in the Consti- tution which governs the States and civilized people, but methods have been adopted suited to the conditions of the several tribes, and best adapted to the maintenance of peace, the protection of person and piopert)', and the lesson of restraint which comes from familiarity with the administration of law in its various forms. This has been accomplished to a remarkable degree through the agency of the Indian himself An Indian police selected from the most trustworthy and efficient Indians, paid and uniformed by the Government, patrol the reservations, preserving the peace and enforcing an obser\'ance of law. A "Court of Indian Offenses," presided over by three discreet and influential Indians appointed by and under the constant supervision of the Secretary of the Interior, Xxy and punish those who are charged with the com- mission of minor offenses ; while in the matter of the more serious crimes of murder, arson, robbery, and the like, perpetrated either by or upon an Indian, the offender is by law to be tried and punished in all respects as if both parties were white men. In this way substantial security to person and property prevails upon the reservation. It has been said that religion and philanthrop)- and the Government have gone hand in hand in the work of educating the Indian to a new conception of manhood. Without the work done for him by the missionaries, no progress would have been possible. And if some of the work already described has been labeled philanthropic or legislative or educational, it has been as truly missionary work as any done on the frontier, and its motives and many times its methods have been the missionary zeal and the missionary teaching. Captain Pratt was by no means the first man who ever taught an Indian. The saintly Bishop Whipple had lived among the Minnesota Indians for years, and that other saint, Dr. Riggs, had given his life to the Dakotas long before, and a generation had passed since Samuel \\'ooster suffered in prison for teaching the Cherokees. The Congregationalists at Santee, at Hampton, the Episcopalian Bishop Hare's wonderful schools in Dakota, the Presbyterians in Nebraska and Alaska, the Unitarians among the Crows, the Friends with the Sacs and Foxes in the South, and each of these and others in many other places dotted all over the land, are teaching the Indians of the Great Father, of Him who is the light and life of the world, of the salvation and brotherhood of men ; and they are eager to hear it. Our duty and our interest go hand in hand and the pathway is becoming plainer every day. The irresisdble growth of the nation in the increase of its population demanding homes, in the reaching out after every element of wealth and power NECESSITY AND DUTY OF ABSORPTION. 275 lying within its utmost confines, is absorljint^', with everything else material, '.lie last unoccupied acre of the heritage of the Indian. .Shall it also absorb the race itself, and make it part of its citizenship and body politic? blither liiis, or what is left of the Indian race, two hundred and fifty thousand, must be soon turned out, a homeless, penniless band of wandering, savage tramps, the terror of the land. There is no alternative to -this outcome but absorption or extermina- tion. The latter being im[)ossible, the former alone is left us. We have' wisely accepted it, and the success which has thus far attended the undertaking to fit the race for absorption attests its wisdom. As an Indian of the old time ami character he is fast disappearing, and a new strain of blood, rela- tively slight and not void of good elements, is being safely injected into national citizenship. If the work be persisted in patiently and kindly it will soon be ended. But it cannot be accomplished by enactment alone, nor, without that, by educational or missionary effort. All these in harmonious endeavor, with self-supporting citizenship as the end in view, bent on the lift, will surely and speedily raise him from the low condition of helpless and aimless and worse than useless barbarism, to the plane where he can, according to the measure of an ever-increasing capacity, con- tribute to the wealth of citizenship in the land. This is no small labor lightly turned off. It is changing into civilized life the barbarism of centuries. The savage must be inspired with new thoughts and aspirations, and to make room for these the passions and tendencies of ages and generations must be driven out. It is not beginning with the tabula rasa of an infant, but with life born and bred a savage life. The infant is to be taught to walk, not only as a white man walks, but to shun the slippery ways toward which all its surround- ings, all its blood, and all the life which it inherits are drawing it. It is a great GENERAL CKOOK's AI'AUIlli liUIDE. 2/0 TtIR STORY OF AMERICA. •.I'liicrtakiiis;, ami will cost nuich in time and money ; but it is also a necessity, ami in the end will brino- full recompense. The Indian race is worthy of our deepest interest. Here is a people full of natural priile and bound toj^ether in a national fee'ing much strono^er than we ourselves know anythini^ about, crushed down oy the power of a Government which seems to them always their enemy but always professing to be their proti'ctor : full of despair that sees no hope in the future; perplexetl with the present, that st'rnis to their direct ways and simple thought to have no explana- tion, but is always in some manner to be full of sorrow ami trouble ; without occupation, with no one to understand their past or care for their heroes and their history ; shot down like dogs for disobeying law they do not comprehend, and execrated for the bravery that all men elsewhere are wont to admire ; losing at once their children and their customs ; these uncomprehended statesmen, these des[)ised knights, this people, who can find no common ground with their destroyers, ask of us at least to know who they are, what they want, why they are as they are, to see where the fault lies, to know wh.it it means when a war arises ; — to put ourselves in their place, and at least to p.iy attention. .\ tragedy of nations is going on in our mitlst and we sit calmly by, never giving it even the i<.lle attention of our leisure. Antl some of the woes of this tragedy are also , tlie birth-pangs of a new nation. If the sorrows of the past and the present do \ not affect us, let us at least sympathize with the hopes of the present and the future. We are given the unusual privilege to see a nation born in our midst. J Out of the darkness of the past, its ignorance, its custom-bound barbarism, its wild ami splemlid bravery of battle, a nation isi coming into the light, is begin- ning to know knowledge, to feel the freedom of life under law, to show the less splendid but all iiHiuiring bravery of the new manhood, the every-day fortitude of the r ew womanhood. CIIAlTI'.l^^ XV TMI-^ STOKY OK ThlK NI-CORO. When, over two hundred aiul seventy years ngo (it is 111 tloiibt whether the correct ihite is 1 619 or 1620) a fe'W ' •;<(| wretched negroes, some say ionrteen, some say twenty, were bartered for provisions by the crew of a Dutcli man- ol-war, then lying off the Viri^inia coast, it would have seemed iiicrecHble that in i 890 the negro population of tiie Southern States alone should almost reach a total of seven million souls. Alrican negroes had, indeed, be(Mi sold into slavery among ni, my nations lor perhaps three thousand years; but in its earlier periods slavery was rather the outcome of war than the deliberate subject of trade, and white captives no less than black were ruthlessly thrown into servitude. It has been esdmated that in historical times some forty million AiVicans have been enslaved. The Sjianiards found the Indian an intractable slave, and for the arduous labors of colonization soon began to make use of negro slaves, im[Jorting ■ them in great numbers and declaring that one negro was worth, as a human beast "of burden, four bidians. Soon the English ailventurers look u\> tlie traffic. It is to Sir John Hawkins, the ardent discoverer, that the English-speaking peoples owe their participation in the slave tradii. He has put it on record, as the result of one of his famous voyages, that he found "that negroes were very good mer- chandise in Hispaniola and might easily lie had on the coast of Guinea." For his early adventures of this kind he was roundly taken to task by Queen I'diza- beth. But tradition says that he boldly faced her with the argument that tin; Af- rlcanr. were an inferior race, and ended by convincing the Virgin Queen that the slave trade was not merely a lucrative but a perfectly philanthropic undertaking. lyS THE STORY OF AMERICA. Cntain it is tliat slu- acquicscrd in tutiiio sla\o tniiliiii;, while her successors, Charles 11 aiul |aines II, chartereil four slavi- tratliiii; companies and received a share in their profits. It is noteworthy that botli tireat iMitain and the United States recoi;ni/ed tlu" horrors o\ the slave trade as rei^ards the seizinij- and transportation from Afriea K^ti the unhappy negroes, lon^;" liefore thev could brin^ themselves to deal with the problem of slavery as a tlomestic institution. Of those horrors nothing can be said in e\a>ii^eration. They exist to-ilay in the mterior ot Africa, in no less terrible form than a hundred )ears aijo ; and the year I Sol has seen the Great Towers combining in the attempt to eraiiicate an evil of enormous anil j^rowin^' propiMtions. The peculiar atrocities atteiulinj; the expor- tation of slaves from Atrica to other countries have, however, happily become a thiui^ (^\ the p.ist. W'li.it those .itrocities were even in our day may be judoed from one <^'i many accounts i^iven by a no means squeamish or over sensitive sailor, Admiral 1 lobart. I le thus describes the appearance of a slaver just captured by a Hritish ship: " There were four hundrevl .uul sixty Africans on board, an*.! what a sioht it was ! The schooner had been eiohty-tive days at sea. They were short o\ w.iter and provisions; three distinct diseases — namely, small-pox. ophthalmia, and iliarrluva in its worst form — had broken out, while coming across, amon>; the poor, doomed wretches. On openin>;- the hold we saw a mass of arms. Ie>;s, and bodies, all crushed totjether. Many of the bodies to whom these limbs belonu;ed were dead or dyinj;. In fact, when we had made some sort of clearance amoui; them we found in that fearful hold eleven bodies lyin^ anuMii; the living;" freight. Water ! Water ! was the cry. Many of them as soon .is tree jumped inti^ the sea partly from the delirious state they were in. parilv bec.iuse thev had Ix^en told that if taken bv the EniiHsh diev would be tortured and eaten." The institution of slavery, introduced as we have seen into \'irpnia. s^rew at first verv sIowK-. IWenty-tive years after the first slaves were laiuled the neorii population of the colony was only three hundred. Uut the conditions of aoriculture and of climate were such, that once sl.i\ ery obtained a fair start, it spread with continually increasing- rapidity. We find the Colonial Assembly passiiij; oiu> after another a series of laws iletiniiis:;- the condition of the nci^ro slave more .ind more clearly, and more aiuI more pitilessly. Thus, a ilisiinctiori was soon m.ide between them and Indians held in senitude. It was enacted, " tliat all servants not beinj;- Christians imported into this colony by shipping, shall be slaves for their lives ; but what shall come by land shall sene. if boyes or girles until thirty years of age, if men or women twelve years and no longer." And before the end of the century a long series of laws so encompassed the nega^ with limitations and prohibitions, that he almost ceased to have any criminal or civil rights and became a mere personal chattel. In some of the Northern colonies slavery seemed to take root as readily BECrNNlNG OF THE SLAVE TRAFFIC. 279 and to llourish as rapidly as in the South. It was only after a considerable time that social and coninicrcial conditions arose which led to its gradual abandon- ment. In New York a mild type of negro slavery was introduced by the Dutch, The relation of master ami slave seems in the period of the Dutch rule, to have been free from great severity or cruelt)'. After the seizure of the government by the English, however, the institution was officially recognized and oxen encouraged. The slave trade yrew in ma^nitutle ; and h^-a ^ agam we find a series of oppres- ' sive laws forbidding the meet- ing of negroes together, laying down penalties for concealing slaves, and the like. In the early years of the eighteenth century fears of insurrection became prevalent, and these fears culminated in 1741 in the episode of the so-called Negro Plot. Verybrieflly stated, this |)lot grew out of a suci ession of fires supposed to have been the work of negro incendiaries. The most astonishing contradictions and self-inculpations 2So THE STORY OF AMERICA. are to bo found in the involveil mass of testimony taken at the difterent trials, It is certain tliat the perjury and incoherent accusations of these trials can only be equaled by those of the alleged witches at Salem, or of the famous Popish j)lot of Titus Oates. The result is summed up in the bare statement tliat in three months one hundred and fifty negroes were imprisoned, of whom fourteen were burned at the stake, eighteen hanged, and seventy-one tvere transported. Another result was the passing of even more stringent legislation, curtailing the rights and defining the legal status of the slave. When the Revolution broke out there were not less than fifteen thousand slaves in New York, a number greatl)- in excess of that held by any other Northern colony. Massachusetts, the home in later days of so many of the most eloquent abolition agitators, was from the very first, until after the war with Great Britain was well under way, a stronghold of slavery. The records of 1633 tell of the fright of Indians who saw a " Blackamoor " in a tree top whom they took for the de\il in person, but who turned out to be an escaped slave. A few years later the authorities of the colony officially recognized the institution. It is true that in 1645 the general court of Massachusetts ordered certain kidnapped negroes to be returned to their native country, but this was not because they were slaves but because their holders had stolen them away from other masters. Despite specious arguments to the contrary, it is certain that, to quote Chief Jusdce Parsons, " Slavery was introduced into Massachusetts soon after its first settlement, and was tolerated until the ratification of the present constitution in 1780." The curious may find in ancient Boston newspapers no lack of such advertisements as that, in 1728, of the sale of "two very likely negro girls" and of " A likely negro woman of about nineteen years and a child about seven months of age, to be sold together or apart." A Tory writer before the out- break of the Revolution, sneers at the Bostonians for their talk about freedom when they possessed two thousand negro slaves. Even Peter Faneuil, who built the famous " Cradle of Liberty," was himself at that very time, actively engaged in the sla\e trade. There is some truth in the once common taunt of the pro-slavery orators that the North imported slaves, the South only bought them. Certainly there was no more active centre of the slave trade than Bris- tol Bay, whence cargoes of rum and iron goods were sent to the African coast and exchanged for human cargoes. These slaves were, however, usually taken, not to Massachusetts, but to the West Indies or to \'irginia. One curious out- come of slaver)' in Massachusetts w-as that from the gross superstition of a negro slave, Tituba, first sprang the hideous delusions of the Salem witchcraft trials. The negro, it may be here noted, played a not insignificant part in Massachusetts Revolutionary annals. Of negro blood was Crispus Attucks, cne of die "martyrs" of the Boston riot; it was a negro whose shot killed the 18 p& w KXECUTING NEGROES IN NEW YQBK. 2Sj the isTORY OF AMERICA. Hritish Cicncral Pitcairn at Bunker llill ; and it was n noorro also wFio planned the attack viw Percy's supply train. As with New York and Massachusetts, so with the other colonies. Either slavery was introduced by greedy speculators from abroatl or it spread easily from ailjoin-no- colonies. In 1776 the slave populatit>n of the tlirteen colonies was almost exactly half a million, nine-tenths of whom w ere to be found in the Southern States. In the War of the Revolution the question of arming^ th(i neg;roes raised bitter opposition. In the end a comparatively few were enrolled; nnd it is admitted that they ser\ed faithfully and with courage. Rhode Island even formeil a regimeiit of blacks, ami at the siege of New|iort and afterwards nt Point's Bridge, New York, this body of soldiers fought not only without reproach but with positive heroism. With the delates preceding the adoption o{ the present Constitution of the l^niteil States the political problem of slavery as a national question began, lender the colonial system the responsibility for the tratVic might be charged, with some justice, to the mother cmmtry. But from the day when the Declaratiort of IndeiH MuU Mue asserted " Ih.it .ill men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Cre.iti>r with certain inalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happim-ss," the peoples of the new, self-governing States could not but have seen that with them lay the responsibility. There is ample evidence that the fixing of the popular mind on liberty as an ideal bore results immediately in arousing anti-slavery sentiment. Such sentiment existed in the South as well as in the North. Even North Carolina in i 7S6 declared the slave trade tif " evil consequences and highly impolitic." All the Northern States abolished slavery, beginning with X'ermont, in 1777 and ending with New Jersey in 1S04. It should be aikletl, however, that many oi the Northern slaves were not freed, but sold to the South. .\s we have already intimated, also, the ngi"icultural and commercial conditions in the North were such as to make slave labor less and less protilable, while in the South the social order of things, agricultural conditions, and the climate, were gradually making it seemingly indispensable. When the Constitutional debates began the trend of opinion seemed strongly against slavery. Many delegates thought that the evil would die out of itself t^ne thought the abolition of slavery already rapidly going on and soon to be completed, .\nother asserted that "slaver\'in time will not be a speck in our countrv. " Mr. jetVerson, on the other hand, in view of the retention of slaverv, tleclareil roiuully that he trembled for his country when he remem- bered that God was just. .\nd John Adams urged again and again that "every measure of prudence ought to be assumed for the eventual total extirpation of slavery from the Ihiited States." The obstinate States in the convention were South Carolina and Georijia. Their delegates declared that their States SLAniRY ESTABLISHED IN THE SOUTH. 283 would absolutely refuse ratification to the Constitution unl(!ss slavery were rcxo^^nized. The compromise sections fmally agreed upon avoided the use of the words slave and slavery but clearly recognized the institution and even gave the slave States the advantage of sending representatives to Congress on a basis of population determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, "three-fifths of all other persons." The other persons thus referred to were, it is needless to add, negro slaves. The entire dealing with the (piestion of slavery, at the framing of th(; Con- stitution, was a series of compromises. This is seen again in the postponement of forbidding the slave trade from abroad. Some of the .Southern .Stat(;s had alisolutely declined to listen to any proposition which would restrict their freedom of action in this matter, and they were yielded to so far that Congress was forbidden to make the traffic unlawful before the y(;ar 1S08. As that time ap- proached, President Jefferson urged Congress to withdraw the country from all " further participation in those violations of human rights which have so long been continued on the unoffending inhabitants of Africa." Such an act was at once adopted, and by it heavy fines were imposed on all persons fitting out vessels for the slave trade and also upon all actually engaged in the trade, while vessels so employed became absolutely forfeited. Twelve years later another act was passetl declaring the importation of slaves to be actual piracy. This latter law, however, was of little practical value, as it was not until 1861 that a conviction was obtained under it. Then, at last, when the whole slave question was about to be settled forever, a ship-master was convicted and hanged for piracy in New York for the crime of being engaged in the slave trade. In despite of all laws, however, the trade in slaves was continued secretly, and the profits were so enormous that the risks did not prevent continual attempts to smuggle slaves into the territory of the United States. The first quarter of a century of our history, after the adoption of the Con- stitution, was marked by comparative quietude in regard to the future of slavery. In the North, as we have seen, the institution died a natural death, but there was no disposition evinced in the Northern States to interfere with it in the South. The first great battle took place in 1820 over the so-called Missouri Compromise. Now, for the first time, the country was divided, sectionally and in a strictly political way, upon issues which involved the future policy of the United States as to the extension or restriction of slave territory. .State after State had been admitted into the Union, but there had been an alternation of slave and free .States, so that the political balance was not disturbed. Thu.s, Virginia was balanced by Kentucky, Tennesse-e by Ohio, Louisiana by Indiana, and Mississippi by Illinois. The last State admitted had bc;en Alabama, of course as a slaveholding State. Now it was proposed to admit Missouri, and, to still maintain the equality of political power, it was contended that slavery should be 2S4 THE STORY OF AMERICA. prohibited within her borders. But the slave power had by this time acquired great strength, and was deeply impressed with the necessity of establishing itself in the vast territory west of the Mississippi. The Southern States would not tolerate for a moment the proposed prohibition of slaver)' in the new State of Missouri. On the other hand, the Middle and Eastern States were beeinnino- o o to be aroused to the danger threatening public peace if slavery were to be allowed indefinite extension. They had believed that the Ordinance of 1787, adopted simultaneously with the Constitution, and which forbade slavery to be established in the territory northwest of the Ohio, had settled this question definitely. A fierce debate was waged through two sessions of Congress, and in the end it was agreed to withdraw the prohibition of slaxer)' in Missouri, but absolutely prohibit it forever in all the territory lying north of 36° 30' latitude. This was a compromise, satisfactory only because it seemed to dispose of the question of slavery in the territories once and forever. It was carried mainly by the great personal influence of Henry Clay. It did, indeed, dispose of slavery as a matter of national legislative discussion for thirty years. But this interval was distinctively the period of agitation. Anti-slavery sentiment of a mild t)'pe had long existed. The Quakers had, since Revolu- tionary times held anti-slavery doctrines, had released their own servants from bondage, and had disfellowshiped members who refused to concur in the sacri- fice. The very last public act of Benjamin Franklin was the framing of a memo- rial to Congress deprecating the existence of slavery in a free country. In New York the Manumission Society had been founded in 1785, with John Jay and Alexander Hamilton, in turn, as its presidents. But all the writing and speak- ing was directed against slavery as an institution and in a general way, and with no tone of aggression. Gradual emancipation or colonization were the only remedies suggested. It was with the founding of the "Liberator" by William Lloyd Garrison, in 1S31, that the era of aggressive abolitionism began. Garri- son and his society maintained that slavery was a sin against God and man ; that immediate emancipation was a duty ; that slave owners had no claim to compen- sation ; that all laws upholding slavery were, before God, null and \oid. Garri- son exclaimed : " I am in earnest. I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch. And I will be heard." His paper bore conspicu- ously the motto " No union with slaveholders." The Abolitionists were, in numbers, a feeble band ; as a party they never acquired strength, nor were their tenets adopted strictly by any i)olitical party : but they served the purpose of arousing the conscience of the nation. They were abused, vilified, mobbed, all but killed. Garrison was dragged through the streets of Boston with a rope around his neck — through those very streets which, in 1854, had their shops closed and hung in black, with flags Union down and a huge coffin suspended in mid-air, on the day when the fugitive slave, Anthony Burns, was marched through AGITATION AND AGITATORS. 285 them on his way back to his master, under a guard of nearly two thousand men. Mr. Garrison's society soon took the ground that the union of States with slavery retained was "an agreement with hell and a covenant with death," and openly advocated secession of the non-slaveholding States. On this issue the Abolitionists split into two branches, and those who threw off Garrison's lead maintained that there was power enough under the Constitution to do away with slavery. To the fierce invective and constant agitation ot Garrison were, in time, added the splendid oratory of Wendell Phillips, the economic arguments of Horace Greeley, the wise statesmanship of Charles Sumner, the fervia writ A COTTON FIELD IN GEORGIA. ings of Channing and Emerson, and the noble poetry of Whittier. All these and others, in varied ways and from different points of view, joined in educating the public opinion of the North to see that the permanent e.xistence of slavery was incompatible with that of a free Republic. In the South, meanwhile, the institution was intrenching itself more and more firmly. The invention of the cotton-gin and the beginning of the reign of Cotton as King made the great plantation system a seeming commercial neces- sity. From the deprecatory and half apologetic utterances of early Southern statesmen we come to IVIr. Calhoun's declaration that slavery "now preserves 286 THE STORY OF AMERICA. in quiet and security more than six and a half million human beingrs, and that it could not be destroyed without destroyino; the peace and prosperit)- of nearly half the States in tlie I'nii^n. " Tlie Abolitionists were regarded in the South with tlie bitterest hatred. Attempts were even made to compel the Northern States to silence the anti-slavery orators, to prohibit the circulation through the mail ot anti-slavery speeches, and to refuse a hearing- in Congress to anti-slavery petitions. The influence of the South was still dominant in the North. Though the feeling against slavery spread, there co-existed with it the belief that an open tpiarrel with the South meant commercial ruin : and the anti-sla\eiT senti- ment was also neutralized by the nobler feeling that the I'nion must be pre- served at all hazards, and that there was no constitutional mode of interfering with the slave system. The annexation of Texas was a distinct gain to the slave power, and the Mexican war was undertaken, said John Ouincy Adams, in order that " the slaveholding power in the dm ernment shall be secured and riveted." The actual condition of the neirro o\er whom such a strife was beine waoed differed materially in difierent parts of the South, and under masters of different character, in the same locality. It had its side of cruelty, oppression, and atrocity ; it had also its side of kindness on the part of master and of devotion on the part of slave. Its dark side has been made familiar to readers by such books as " Uncle Tom's Cabin," as Dickens' " American Notes," and as Edmund Kirk's "Among the Pines ;" its brighter side has been charmingly depicted in the stories of Thomas Nelson Page, of Joel Chandler Harris, and of Harry lulwards. On the great cotton plantations of Mississippi and Alabama the slave was often overtaxed and harshly treated : in the domestic life of \'irginia. on the other hand, he was as a rule most kindly used, and often a relation of deep affection sprang up between him and his master. Of insurrections, such as those not uncommon in the West Indies, only one of anv extent was ever planned in our slave territory — that of Nat Turner, in Southampton County, \'irginia — and that was instantly suppressed. With this state of public feeling North and South, it was with increased bitterness and increased sectionalism that the subject of slavery in new States was again debated in the Congress of 1S50. The Liberty Party, which held that slavery might be abolished under the Constitution, had been merged in die Free Soil Partv, whose cardinal principle was. "To secure free soil to a free people" without interfering with slaver)- in existing States, but insisting on its exclusion from territorv so far free. The proposed admission of California was not affected by the Missouri Compromise. Its status as a future free or slave State was the turning point of the famous debates in the Senate of 1S50. in which Webster. Calhoun. Douglas and Seward won fame — debates which have never been equalet.1 in our history in eloquence and acerbity. It was in the THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW. 287 ■course of these debates that Mr. Seward, while denying- that the Constitution recognized property in man, struck out his famous dictum, "There is a higher law than the Constitution." The end reached was a compromise which allowed California to settle for itself the question of slavery, forbade the slave trade in the District of Columbia, but enacted a strict fugitive slave law. To the Abolitionists this fugitive slave law, sustained in its most e.xtreme measures by the courts in the famous — or as they called it, infamous — Dred Scott case, was as fuel to fire. They defied it in every possible way. The Underground Rail-, way was the outcome of this defiance. By it a chain of secret stations was A NEUKO VIU.AHE IN ALAliAMA. -established, from one to the other of which the slave was gr.ided at night until at last he reached the Canada border. The most used of these routes in the East was from Baltimore to New York, thence north through New England; that most employed in the West was from Cincinnati to Detroit. It has been estimated that not fewer than thirty thousand slaves were thus assisted to freedom. Soon the struggle was changed to another part of the Western territory, now beginning to grow so rapidly as to demand the forming of new States. The Kansas-Nebraska J3ill introduced by Douglas was in effect the repeal of the 2SS THE STORY OF AMERICA. Missouri Compromise in that it left the question as to whether slavery should be carried into the new territories to the decision of the settlers themselves. As a Lonsequence immigration was directed by both the anti-slaver^' and the pro- slavery parties to Kansas, each determined on obtaining a majority to control the form of the proposed State Constitution. Then began a series of acts of violence which almost amounted to civil war. " Bleeding Kansas " became a phrase in almost every one's mouth. Border ruffians swaggered at the polls and attempted to drive out the assisted emigrants sent to Kansas by the Abolition societies. The result of the election of the Legislature on its face made Kansas a slave State, but a great part of the people refused to accept this result ; and a con^'ention was held at Topeka w-hich resolved that Kansas should be free even if the laws formed by the Legislature should have to be " resisted to a bloody issue." Prominent among the armed supporters of free State ideas in Kansas was Captain John Brown, a man whose watchword was at all times Action. "Talk," he said, "is a national institution ; but it does no good for the slave." He believed that slavery could only be coped with by armed force. His theory was that the \vay to make free men of slaves was for the slaves themselves to resist any attempt to coerce them by their masters. He was undoubtedly a fanatic in that he did not stop to measure probabilities or to take account of the written law. His attempt at Harper's Ferry was without reasonable hope, and as the intended beginning of a great military movement was a ridiculous fiasco. But there was that about the man that none could call ridiculous. Rash and unreasoning as his action seemed, he was yet, even by his enemies, recognized as a man of unswerving conscience, of high ideals, of deep belief in the brother- hood of mankind. His offense against law and peace was cheerfully paid for by his death and that of others near and dear to him. Almost no one at tbat tlay could be fouml to applaud his plot, but the incident had an effect on the minds of the people altogether out of proportion to its intrinsic character. More and more as time went on he became recognized as a pro-martyr of a cause which could be achieved only by the most complete self-sacrifice of individuals. Events of vast importance to the future of the negro in America now hurried fast upon each other's footsteps — the final settlement of the Kansas dispute by its becoming a free State ; the forming and rapid growth of the Republican party ; the division of the Democratic party into Northern and Southern factions ; the election of Abraham Lincoln ; the secession of South Carolina, and, finally, the greatest civil war the world has known. Though that war would never have been waged were it not for the negro, and though his fate was inevitably involved in its result, it must be remembered that it was not undertaken on his account. Before the struggle began Mr. Lincoln said : "If WAR AND NOW IT EMANCIPATED THE SLAVE. 289 there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to destroy or to save slavery." And the Northern press emphasized over and over again the fact that this was "a white man's war." But the logic of events is mexorable. It seems amazing now that Union generals should have been puzzled as to the question whether they ought in duty to return runaway slaves to their masters. General Butler settled the controversy by one happy phrase when he called the fugitives " contraband of war." Soon it was deemed right EARLY HOME OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, GENTRYVILLE, INDIANA. to use these contrabands, to employ the new-coined word, as the South W3.s using the negroes still in bondage, to aid in the non-fighting work of the army — on fortification, team driving, cooking, and so on. From this it was but a step, though a step not taken without much perturbation, to employ them as soldiers. At Vicksburg, at Fort Pillow, and in many another battle, the negro showed beyond dispute that he could fight for his liberty. No fiercer or braver charge was made in the war than that upon the parapet of Fort Wagner by Colonel Shaw's gallant colored regiment, the Massachusetts Fifty-fourth. In ^ thousand ways the negro figures in the history of the war. In its ipo THE STORY OF AMERICA. literature he cvcrj'whcre staiuls out picturesquely. I le sought the tiaj^ with the greatest avidity for freedom ; Hockirii^ in crowds, old men and young, women and children, sometimes with ciuaint odds and ends of personal belongings, often empty-handed, always enthusiastic and hopeful, almost always densely ignorant of the meaning of freedom and of self-support But while the negro showed this avidity for liberty, his conduct toward his old masters was often generous, and almost never did he seize the opportunity to inflict vengeance for his past wrongs. The eloquent Southern orator and writer, Henry W. Grady, .said : '" History has no parallel to the faith kept by the negro in the South during the war. Often five hundred negroes to a single white man, and yet through these dusky throngs the women and children walked in safety and the unprotected homes rested in peace. . . A thousand torches would have disbanded every Southern army, but not one was lighted." It was with conditions, and only after great hesitation, that the final step of emancipating the slaves was taken by President Lincoln in September, 1862. The proclamation was distinctly a war mt-asure, but its reception by the North and by the foreign powers and its immediate effect upon the contest were such that its expediency was at once recognized. Thereafter there was possible no question as to the personal freedom of the negro in the United States of America. With die Confederacy, slavery went down once and forever. In the so-called reconstruction period which followed, the negro suflered almost as much from the over-zeal of his political friends as from the prejudice of his old masters. A negro writer, who is a historian of his race, has declared that the Go\'ernment gave the negro the statute book when he should have had the spelling book ; that it placed him in the legislature when he ought to have been in the school house, and that, so to speak, "the heels were put where the brains ought to have been." A quarter of a centur)^ and more has passed since that turbulent period began, and if the negro has become less prominent as a political factor, all the more for that reason has he been advancing steadily though slowly in the requisites of citizenship. He has learned that he must, by force of circumstances, turn his attention, for the time at least, rather to educational, in- dustrial, and material progress than to political ambition. And the record of his advance on these lines is promising and hopeful. In Mississippi alone, for instance, the negroes own one-fifth of the entire property in the State. In all, the negroes of the South to-day possess two hundred and fifty million dollars' worth of property. Everywhere throughout the South white men and negroes may be found working together. At the beginning of the war the negro population of the coimtry was about four millions, to-day it is between seven and seven anil a-half millions ; in 1880, fifteen-sixteenths of the whole colored population belonged to the Southern States, and the census of 1890 shows that the proportion has not greatly changed THE FREE NEGRO. 291 This ratio in itself shows how absurdly trifling in results have been all the move- ments toward colonization or emigration to Northern States. The negro emphatically belongs to the Southern States, ami in them and by them his future must be determined. Another point decided conclusively by the census of 1890 is seen in the refutation of an idea based, indeed, on the census of 1880, but due in its origin to the very faulty census of 1870. This idea was that the colored population had increased much more rapidly in proportion than the white population. The new census shows, on the contrary, that the whites in the Southern States increased during the last decade nearly twice as rapidly as the negroes, or, as the census bulletin puts it, in increase of population, "the colored race has not held its own against the white man in a region where the climate and conditions are, of all those which the country affords, the best suited to its development." The promise of the negro race to-day is not so much in the development of men of exceptional talent, such as Frederick Douglas or Senator Bruce, as in the general spread of intelligence and knowledge. The Southern States have very generally given the negro equal educational opportunities with the whites, while the eagerness of the race to learn is shown in the recently ascertained fact that while the colored population has increased only twenty-seven per cent, the enrollment in the colored schools has increased one hundred and thirty-seven per cent. Fifty industrial schools are crowded by the colored youth of the South. Institutions of higher education, like the y\tlanta University, and Hampton Institute of Virginia, and Tuskcgee College, are doing admirable work in turning out hundreds of negroes fitted to educate their own race. Within a year or two honors and scholarships have been taken by half a dozen colored young men at Harvard, at Cornell, at Phillips Academy and at other Northern schools and colleges of the highest rank. The fact that a young negro, Mr. Morgan, was in 1890 elected by his classmates at Harvard as the class orator has a special significance. Vet there is greater significance, as a negro news- paper man writes, in the fact that the equatorial telescope now used by the Lawrence University of Wisconsin was made entirely by colored pupils in the School of Mechanical Arts of Nashville, Tenn. In other words, the Afro- American is finding his place as an intelligent worker, a property owner, and an independent citizen, rather than as an agitator, a politician or a race advocate. In religion, superstition and effusive sentiment are giving way to stricter morality. In educational matters, ambition for the high-sounding and the abstract is giving place to practical and industrial acquirements. It will be many years before the character of the negro, for centuries dwarfed and distorted by oppression and ignorance, reaches its normal growth, but that the race is now at last upon the right path and is being guided by the true principles cannot be doubted. 292 THE STORY OF AMERICA. Says one who has made an exceedingly thorough personal study of the subject in all the Southern States : " The evolution in the condition has kept pace with that of any other races, and I think has been even a little better. The same forces of evolution that have brought him to where he is now will bring him further. One thing is indisputable : the negro knows his destiny is in his own hands. He finds that his salvation is not through politics, but through indus- trial methods. STATUE OF WASHTOGTON IN THE GROUNDS OF THE STATE HOUSE, RICHMOND. THE TEACE COMMISSIONERS. Three comnus-sioners from the Confederacy suggesting terms of Peace to President Lincoln and Secretary Seward in Fortress Monroe, Jaruar>', 1S61;. CHAPTER XVI. THE STORY OF" THE CIVIL WAR. ^^^s^ ^ IT would be a mistake to suppose that secession sentiments originated and were exclusively maintained in the Southern States. Ideas of State sovereignty and of the consequent right of a State to withdraw from the ' Union, or at least to resist the acts and laws of Congress on adequate occasion, were held by many states- men in* the North as well as in the South. Thus the " Esse.x Junto," which had openly advocated a dis- solution of the Union and the for- mation of an Eastern Confederacy, were foremost in assembling a con- vention of the Federalists on De- cember 15, I S 14, at Hartford, Con- necticut, at which resolutions were passed recommending the State Legislatures to resist Congress in conscripting soldiers for carrying on the war then being waged against England. Threats of disunion were again heard in 1S21, but this time from the South, in case Missouri should be denied admission to the Union on account of her unwillingness to surrender the institution of slavery. Once more, in 1832, a South Carolina convention proceeded to declare the tariff of the United States null and void within her own borders ; but, owing^ to the decisive action of President Jackson, the State authorities did not venture into an actual collision with Congress. But the agitation in favor of disunion reached culmination under the aggressive efforts by the South to extend slavery into new Territories, and the determination by the North to confine it strictly within the States where it already existed. With the formation of anti-slavery societies in the North, the 2Q^ A SKIRMISHER. 294 THE STORY OF AMERICA. nomination of anti- slavery candidates for the Presidency from 1S40 onward, the passay;c of the "Wihiiot Proviso" in 1846, the repeal of the Missouri compromise in 1854, the Dred-Scott decision by the United States Supreme Court in 1857, the adoption of the Lecompton Constitution in Kansas in 1859, and the raid by John Brown at Harper's Ferry in 1859, it became painfully evident that Mr. Seward's prediction of an "irrepressible conflict" between the North and South on the subject of slavery was becoming, had already become, a reality. As to lohn Itnnvn's raid we have only to recount that on the i6th of Octo- ber, 1859, he took an armed force to Harper's Ferry, capturing- the arsenal and armory and killing the men on guard. He was then endeavoring to secure arms for operating against the South. He was, however, captured and executed December 2, 1859. The expedition, it is unnecessary to say, was foolhardy and wholly without justification, and Brown paid for his misguided zeal with his life. But it must be said of him that he was conscientious, and that by his reckless daring he helped to crystallize sentiment on both sides of the slavery question. The election in i860 of Abraham Lincoln as President, on the platform of resistance to all further extension of slaver)', was the signal for the previous disunion oratory and menaces to crystallize themselves into action. Seven States, in the following order, viz. : South Carolina, Mississippi. Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana", and Texas, seceded, and by a Congress held at Montgomery, Ala., February 4, 1861, formed a Confederacy with Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, as President, and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, as Vice- President. The reasons avowed for this perilous course were, "the refusal of fifteen of the States for years past to fulfill their constitutional obligations, and the election of a man to the high office of President of the United States whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery." After Mr. Lincoln's inauguration on March 4, 1861, the Confederacy was increased by the addition of \'irginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee ; Kentucky and Missouri, being divided in opinion, had representatives and armies in both sections. The eleven " Confederate States of America " took from the I'nion nearly one-half of its inhabited area, and a population of between five and six millions of whites and about four millions of slaves. Their entire force capable of 'active service numbered 600,000 men. The twenty-four States remaining loyal 'to the I'nion had a population of 20,000,000, and the army at the close of the war numbered 1,050,000 ; but as the majority of these were scattered on guard duty over a vast region, only 262,000 were in fighting activity. Whilst the North was more rich and powerfiil. it was, nevertheless, more inclined to peace. The South was of a military spirit, accustomed to weapons, and altogether eager for 296 THE STORY OF AMERICA. the fray. The soldiers of both sides were equally brave, resolute, heroic, and devoted to what they respectively deemed a patriotic cause. The Confederates had the advantage in the outset, because Mr. Floyd, the Secretary of War under President Buchanan, had dispersed the regular army, com- prising 16,402 officers and men, to distant parts of the country where they were not available, and had sent off the vessels of the navy to foreign stations. Many of the old army offi cers had passed over ate service, and vast quantit pons and ammunition ed from Northern to arsenals now in pos- the seceded States, the army at Indian- been surrendered on THE ARTS OF PEACE AND THE ART OF WAR. of wea- transferr- Southern session of A part of ola had February 18, 1861, by General Twiggs, to the Confederates and other soldiers guarding our Mexi- can and Indian fron- tiers were captured, besides several na- tional vessels and fortresses. The South was, in short, much better prepared for the great conflict, and during the first year the preponderance of success was in its favor. The Confederates opened the war on April i 2, 1861, by bombarding Fort Sumter, which had been occupied by Major Robert Anderson and a company of eighty men. This fort, McCLELLAN. 297 although fiercely pounded by cannon balls and shells and set on fire several times, was gallantly held for two days, when it was obliged to surrender ; but its brave defenders were allowed to march out saluting the old flag, and to depart tor the North without being regarded as prisoners of war. The attack on Sumter created the wildest excitement throughout the entire land, and it opened the eyes of the North to the amazing fact of a civil war. A wave of patriotism, as mighty as it was sudden, swept over the United States. President Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 volunteers for three months, and soon after another call for 64,000 men for the army and 18,000 for the navy, to serve during the war. The need for these calls was urgent enough. On April 20th the Confederates easily captured the great Norfolk Navy Yard, with three or four national vessels, including the frigate " Merri- mac," which subsequently wrought such fearful havoc at Hampton Roads, 2000 cannon, besides small arms, munitions, and stores of immense value, all of which were given up without a shot in defense. The arsenal at Harper's Ferry, with millions of dollars' worth of arms and ammunition, was also in their possession ; and before the end of April 35,000 of their soldiers were already in the field, whilst 10,000 of these were rapidly marching northward. General R. E. Lee had been appointed Commander-in-chief of the army and navy of Virginia, and the 6th Regiment of Massachusetts militia had been savagely mobbed in the streets of Baltimore whilst going to the protection of Washington. A Unionist attack on the Confederates at Big Bethel, Va., was repulsed, "but the Confederates were driven out of Western Virginia by General G. B. McClellan. Then came, on July 21, the engagement at Bull Run, known also as that of Manassas Junction, one of the most significant battles of the war. General Irwin McDowell, acting under instructions of General Scott, marched against the Confederate army under General Beauregard, and in the outset met with encouraging success ; but just as the Unionists imagined the victory theirs they were vigorously pressed by reinforcements that had come hurriedly up from Winchester under the leadership of General Johnston ; and being ex- hausted from twelve hours of marching and fighting under a sultry sun, they began a retreat which was soon turned into a panic, attended with wild disorder and demoralization. Had the Confederates, among whom at the close of the day was President Davis himself only known the extent of their triumph, they might have followed it and possibly have seized Washington. About 30,000 men fought on each side. The Confederate loss was 378 killed, 1489 wounded, and 30 missing. The Unionists lost 481 killed, loi i wounded, and 1460 missing, with 20 cannon and large quantities of small arms. From this moment it was understood that the struggle would be terrible, and that it might be long, not to say doubtful. Congress, then in extra session, authorized th^- enlistment of 500,000 men and the raising of $500,000,000. TQ 1' & w 298 THE STORY OF AMERICA. Many of the States displayed intense patriotism, New York and Pennsylvania, for example, appropriating each 1^3,000,000, whilst Massachusetts and other New England States sent regiments fully equipped into the field. General McClellan was summoned to reorganize and discipline the multitudes of raw recruits that were thrown suddenly on his hands. His abihty and thoroughness were of immense value in preparing them for their subsequent effective service, and he was soon after made Commander-in-chief in place of General Scott, retired. The South was also laboring with tremendous zeal and energy in the endeavor to enlist 400,000 men. FORT MOULTRIE, CHARLESTON, WITH FORT SUMTER IN THE DISTANCE. Early in August the death of General Nathaniel Lyon whilst attacking the Confederate General Ben. McCulloch at Wilson's Creek, and the retreat of his army, threw all Southern Missouri into the hands of the enemy. A few days after, General Buder took Forts Hatteras and Clark, with 700 prisoners, 1000 muskets, and other stores. But victories alternated, for now General Sterling Price surrounded and captured the Unionist Colonel Mulligan and his Irish brigade of 27S0, at Lexington, Mo. Worse, however, than this was the neaf annihilation, October 21st, of a Unionist force of 1700 under General C. P. Stone and Colonel E. D. Baker at Ball's Bluff. The noble Baker and 300 of the men VICTORY AND DEFEAT. 299 were slain and over 500 taken prisoners. Ten days later Commodore S. F. Dupont, aided by General T. W. Sherman with 10,000 men, reduced the Confederate forts on Hilton Head and Phillips' Island and seized the adjacent Sea Islands. General Fremont, unable to find and engage the Confederate General Price in the West, was relieved of his command of 30,000 men ; but General U. S. Grant, by capturing the Confederate camp at Belmont, Mo., checked the advance of General Jeff. Thompson. On the next day, November 8th, occurred a memorable event which imperiled the peaceful relations between BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING. tne United States and Great Britain. Captain Wilkes of the United States frigate, "San Jacinto," compelled the British mail steamer, "Trent," to give up two of her passengers, the Confederate Commissioners, Mason and Slidell, who were on their way respectively to England and France in the interest of the South. A foreign war might have resulted had not Mr. William H. Seward, the astute Secretary of State, promptly disavowed the act and returned the Commissioners to English keeping. General E. O. C. Ord, commanding the Third Pennsylvania Brigade, gained a victory on December 20th at Dranesville over the Confederate 300 THE STORY OF AMERICA. brigade of General J. E. B. Stuart, who lost 230 soldiers, and durinor the same month General Pope reported the capture of 2500 prisoners in Central Missouri, with the loss of only 100 men ; but 1000 of these were taken by Colonel Jeff. C. Davis by surprising the Confederate camp at Milford. The year 1862 was marked by a series of bloody encounters. It opened with a Union army of 450,000 against a Confederate army of 350,000. The fighting began at Mill Spring, in .Southern Kentucky, on January 19th, witn an assault by the Confederates led by General V. K. Zollicofier, acting under General G. B. Crittenden. They were routed by General George H. Thomas, Zollicofier being killed and Crittenden flying across the Cumberland River, leaving ten guns and 1500 horses. This victory stirred the heart of the nation, and brought at once into brilliant prominence the great soldier and noble character whose greatnes blazed out like a sun at the close of the war. Another blow was soon struck. Brigadier General Grant, with 15,000 troops, supported by Commodore A. H. Foote with seven gunboats, reduced Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and took its commander. General L. Tilgliixian, prisoner, but could not prevent the greater portion of the garrison fx"om escaping to Fort Donelson, twelve miles to the east. This stronghold, com- manding the navigation of the Cumberland River and containing 15,000 defenders under General J. B. Floyd, was regarded as impregnable. It fell, however, on February i6th, under a combined attack of Grant and Foote, surrendering 12,000 men and 40 cannon. Generals Floyd and Buckner, with a few of their command, managed to escape across the river by night, and General N. B. Forrest, with 800 cavalry, also got away. This splendid achievement threw Nashville and all Northern Tennessee into possession of the Unionists, and caused the immediate evacuation of the Confederate camp at Bowling Green, Kentucky. In the East, about the same time. General Burnside and Commodore Goldsborough, with 1 1,500 men on 31 steamboats, captured, with a loss of 300, Roanoke Island, N. C, and 2500 Confederates. On March 14th they carried New Bern by assault, losing 600 but taking 2 steamboats, 69 cannon, and 500 prisoners ; and next they seized Fort Macon, with its garrison of 500 and stores. But the Unionist Generals Reno and I'oster w-ere repulsed, respectively, at South Mills and Goldsborough. One of the most notable of naval engagements took place on March 8th and 9th, when the Confederate ironclad, " X'irginia," known better by her original name, the " Merrimac," steamed out from Norfolk attended by two gunboats. .She plunged her iron ram into the Union frigate, "Cumberland," causing her to sink and to carry down part of her crew;. she blew up the " Congress," another Union frigate, destroying more than half of her ■crew of 434, drove the frigate " Lawrence " under the guns of Fortress Monroe, and bombarded until dusk with terrific energy, aided also by her gunboats, the I STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR. 3or Union steam frigate "Minnesota," which had got aground. She seemed destined on the next day to work immeasurable and unimpeded havoc. But, providentially, during the night the Union "Monitor," looking like "a cheese box on a raft," which had been built by Captain Ericsson and was commanded with consummate skill by Lieutenant J. L. Worden, steamed into the roadstead on her trial trip from New York. When, therefore, the " Merrimac " approached for new conquests the following morning her surprise was tremendous upon meeting such a strange craft. An unwonted and dramatic naval duel now ANTIETAM BRIDGE. occurred, from which the Confederate ram retired badly crippled and was soon-, afterward blown up to prevent her being captured. The "Monitor" was,, unfortunately, lost some months afterward, in a storm off Hatteras. The smoke had not vanished from Hampton Roads before news came of an assault at Pea Ridge by from 16,000 to 18,000 Confederates, including 5000' Indians, under General E. Van Dorn, on 10,500 Unionists under General S. R. Curtis, supported by Generals Asboth and Sigel. After three days of severe fighting, in which 1351 Unionists fell, the Confederates fled with precipitation. 302 THE STORY OF AMERICA. leaving Generals B. McCulloch and Mcintosh dead and having Generals Price and Slack among their wounded. General McClellan having raised his 200,000 or more men to a high degree of efficiency, transferred considerably more than half of them to Fortress Monroe for the purpose of advancing on Richmond by way of the peninsula between the York and James Rivers. He left General Banks with 7000 soldiers to guard the Virginia Valley. This force, at that time under the command of General James Shields, because Banks had gone temporarily to Washington, was fiercely assailed* at Kernstown by "Stonewall" Jackson at the head of 4000 men. Jackson was repulsed with a loss of 1000, whilst Shields lost 600. McClellan's advance was checked for a month by Confederate batteries at Warwick Creek and again at Williamsburg by General Magruder's works. Here General Hooker's division fought well for nine hours with heavy losses. Magruder, flanked by Hancock, whose two brigades fought bravely, was obliged to retreat, leaving 700 of his wounded. The Unionists lost altogether 2228, whilst the Confederates lost not quite so many. In the meantime, on April 6th, General Grant, with an army of 40,000, was surprised at Pittsburg Landing by 50,000 Confederates under General A. S. Johnson. General Grant, instead of being with his troops, was on a boat near Savannah, seven miles below. The Union forces were completely surprised. No intrenchments or earthworks of any kind had been erected — there were no abattis. The Union forces, surprised, were rapidly driven back with heavy loss in guns, killed, wounded, and prisoners, from Shiloh Church to the bluffs of the Tennessee, under which thousands of demoralized men took refuge. General Albert S. Johnson had been killed in the midst of the battle and General Beauregard succeeded to the command. Had General Johnson been alive the result might have been different ; but Beauregard was in command, and he missed the one opportunity of his life in resting on his arms when he should have pressed the enemy to the river and forced a surrender. But relief was at hand, and under a leader who was a master general on the field. Sunday night General Don Carlos Buell arrived on the scene with a part of the Army of the Ohio. Moving General Nelson's division across the Tennessee in boats, he had them in position by seven o'clock in the evening, ready for the onset in the morning. Two more divisions were crossed early in the morning. At seven o'clock the attack was begun. General Buell leading his troops in person and General Grant advancing with his troops, yesterday overwhelmed by defeat, to-day hopeful and confident. The result is well known. Buell's fresh troops, handled in a masterly manner, were irresistible. By four o'clock the enemy lost all they had gained and were in full retreat, and the day was won. General Buell receiving unstinted praise for his victory. The U'nion loss was 1735 killed, 7882 wounded, and 3956 missing; total, 13,573- BATTLE OF rH.>,c, LI ORSV ,u E JACK.ON . AT.ACK ON TH. K,.„T VV, 104 THE STORY OF AMERICA. The C\)iitc(.lcnilcs' loss was 1728 killed, 8012 wounded, 957 missing; total, 10,699. About the same date General Pope and Commodore Foote captured Island No. 10, with 6700 Confederates imder Brigadier General Makall ; and soon after Memphis surrendered to the Unionists, and on April iith I*'ort Pulaski fell before a l>ombardment by General O. A. Gilmore. This same month was notable for naval victories. Admiral Farragut with a lleet of forty-seven armed vessels and 310 guns stonneil the Confederate Forts St. Phili[) and Jackson, destroyed various fire-rafts antl gunboats, and after a series of brilliant actions compelled the Confederate General Lovell with 3000 defenders to withdraw from New Orleans, leaving it to be occupied by 15,000 Unionists under General Butler. In tlu- words of another, this "was a contest between iron hearts in wooden vessels, and iron clads with iron beaks, and the iron hearts prevailed." McClellan's army — a part of which had been thrown across the Chicka- hominy — was savagely attacked on May 28th, at Fair Oaks, by General Joseph 1'".. lohnston, now Coiiiniander-in chief of the Confederate forces. Although Johnston was badly woimded and his troops after a day of hard fighting were obligetl to retire, yet the I'nion loss was 3739, including five colonels killed and seven yenerals wounded. McClellan was now reinforced imtil he had altogether J 56,828 men, of whom i 15,162 were in good condition for eftective service. Noth- ing, however, was accomplished until General Lee, who had succeeded the dis- abletl Johnston, forced the fighting on June 26th that led to six horrible battles on as many successive days, known as those of Oak Grove, Mechanicsville, Gaines's Mills. Savage Station, White Oak .Swamp, and Malvern lliU. In the last one the Confeilerates were signally defeated by McClellan with a loss of 10.000, while the Union loss was about 5000. During those six battles the Union loss was 1582 killed, 7709 wounded, ami 5958 missing, making a total of 15,249. The Confederate loss was perhaps double : General Grifhth and three colonels killed. Nevertheless, McClellan's campaign was unsuccessful ; Richmond was not taken ; aiul bv onkr of the President he retreated to the Potomac. General Halleck now became Commander-in-chief and a vigorous campaign was opened bv the Unionist General Pope. He was met in several stubbornly fought actions by the Confederates under Generals Lee, Jackson, and Long- street, and was badly routed. * In this bloody affair, known as the second battle of Bull Run, the Unionists lost 25,000, including 9000 prisoners; the Con- * In accounting for his defeat General Pope attempted to fix the blame upon General Fitz John Porter, a very able and successful commander, charging that he failed to support him, and a court- martial convened in the heat of the discussion cashiered the General. But later, in deference to public opinion, the case was rco^xMicd, the previous mijust verdict w.is set aside, and General Porter's good name wxs cleared, his conduct being fully justified — an acquittal in entire accord with the riper second thought of public oi>inion. 5^^ m^' PICKETT'S CHARCF AT r,RTTY.=;P.nRr. LEE. 30s federates lost 15.000. General Lee, on September 8th, invaded Maryland, where at South Mountain he was worsted by McClellan, who lost heavily of his own men, but took 1 500 prisoners. A few days later Harper's Ferry, with 11,583 Unionists, 73 gvuis, and immense quantities of war munitions, was surrendered to .Stonewall Jackson. McClellan, with 80,000 men at- tacked Lee, posted with 70,000 on a ridge facing Antie- tam Creek. This determined battle ended in Lee's de- feat and retreat. McClellan lost 2010 men killed, 9416 wounded, and 1043 missing ; a total of 12,469. Lee lost 1842 killed, 9399 wounded, and 2292 missing ; to- tal 13.533- This is regarded as the bloodiest day in the history of America. There is little doubt that had Mc- Clellan followed up his magnificent victory he could have entered Rich- mond. Here was his mistake ; but this did not justify the Government in retiring him as it did. Surely McClellan's great victory entided him to the further command ; but the opposldon, especially that of Secretary Stanton, was coo powerful, and he was retired. General Burnside, having succeeded McClellan, assailed Lee at Fredericks burg, December 13th, but was disastrously beaten. His loss was 1152 killed. GENERA!. ROBERT EDMUND LEE. 3o6 THE STORY OF AMERICA. 9101 wounded, 3234 missing; total, 13,771. The Confederate loss was about 5CKX>. General Burnside was relieved in favor of General Hooker in January, 1863, who — having received reinforcements until his army amounted to 100,000 infantry, 13,000 cavalry, and 10,000 artillery — assumed the offensive against Lee on May 2d, 1863, at Chancellorsville, but was terribly defeated. He lost 17,197 man. His defeat was due to a brilliant rear and llank movement executed by Stonewall Jackson, who thus demolished the Eleventh Corps but was himself slain. Jackson's death might well be regarded as an irreparable disaster to the Confederate cause. Lee, with nearly 100,000 men, again marched northward, taking 4000 prisoners at Winchester. He was overtaken, July 1st, by the Union army, numberintr 100,000, now under the command of General Georee G. Meade, at Gettysburg ; where a gallant and bloody battle was fought, lasting three days and ending in a great victory for the Unionists. One of the features of the battle was a gallant charge of Pickett's Confederate Brigade, when they faced a battery of 100 guns and were nearly annihilated. But it was all American bravery. They lost 2834 killed, 13,709 wounded, 6643 missing; total, 23,186. The total Confederate loss was 36,000. Had Meade known the extent of his triumph he might have followed and destroyed the retreating Lee, whose army :in this campaign dwindled from 100,000 to 40,000. On the same memorable day, July 3d, \'icksburg, after having resisted many and determined assaults, and after finding its defenders on the south surprised and beaten in detail by Grant's army aided by Commodore Porter's naval operations, surrendered, closing a campaign in which Grant had taken 37,000 prisoners, with arms antl munitions for 60,000 men. His own loss was 943 killed, 7095 wounded, and 537 missing; a total of 8515. These two notable victories were the turning points in the war. Meantime, in the West the war had been pursued during the year with varying fortunes. The Confederate General Forrest had captured 1500 men at Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Kirby Smith had captured 5000 Unionists at Richmond, Ky. ; General Bragg had captured 4000 prisoners at Mumfordsville, Tenn. ; Generals McCook and Rousseau, having attacked the enemy without the orders of General Buell, antl thinking, as General Buell said, to win a victory without his assistance, were defeated by General Bragg at Perryville, whose loss was 2300 : our loss was 4340. General Rosecrans, with a loss of 782, whipped the Confederate General Price, at luka, Miss., whose loss w-as 1000 men. Rose- crans repulsed again the Confederates on September 1 7th at Corinth, inflicting a loss of 1423 killed and taking 2248 prisoners. His own loss was 2359 men. A brigade of 2000 L'nionists was captured by John Morgan. A campaign of 46,910 men under Rosecrans culminated in the battle of Stone River, January 2d, 1863, against Bragg, who was beaten and forced to retreat. The Unionist 3o8 THE STORY OF AMERICA. losses were 1533 killed, 7245 wounded, 2800 missing; a total of 11,578, Bragg"s loss was 9000 killed and wounded and over locx) missing. The Con federate Van Dorn surprised and took prisoners 2000 men at Holly Springs, and at the same time took $4,000,000 worth of stores. General Sherman was repulsed at Chickasaw Bayou with a loss of 2000 men ; but General J. A. Mc- Clernand reduced Fort Hindman, capturing 5000 prisoners and 17 guns, while his loss was only 977. Colonel Grierson made a famous raid with 1700 cavalry to Baton Rouge, cutting Confederate communications and taking 500 prisoners. At Milliken's Bend the Unionist General Dennis, having 1400, repelled an attack of the Confederate General H. McCulloch, the loss on either side being 500. At Helena, Arkansas, the Unionist General B. M. Prentiss, with 4000, also repulsed General Holmes with 3646, of whom 1636 were lost. The Con- federate raider. Morgan, with a mounted force of 4000 men, invaded Ohio, July 7th, but was caught by gunboats and obliged to surrender. General Burnside, early in September, at Cumberland Gap, captured General Frazier with fourteen guns and 2000 men. Then came, on September 19th, the great battle of Chickamauga, between Rosecrans and Thomas with 35,000 men on one side, and Bragg and Longstreet with about the same number on the other side. Longstreet annihilated Rosecrans' right wing ; but Thomas by his firmness and skill saved the day. The Confederates lost 18,000, while the Union loss was 1644 killed, 9262 wounded, 4945 missing ; total, 15,581. Our army fell back on Chattanooga. Longstreet's attempt, Nov. 28th, to dislodge Burnside from Knox- ville resulted in his own loss of Soo and retreat. The Unionists lost 100 men. On September 2 2d to 24th the forces of General George H. Thomas, rein- forced by General Sherman, under the command of Grant, assaulted Bragg's army on Mission Ridge, facing Chattanooga. General Sherman crossed the Tennessee to attempt a flank movement but was repulsed. General Hooker moved up Lookout Mountain and drove the Confederates before him, capturing men and guns. Then General G. H. Thomas, in accordance with his original plan of battle, moved his army by the front directly up the heights of Mission Ridge, assailing the enemy in the ver)' teeth of his batteries. The fight was desperate, but Thomas's forces won, driving the enemy, making many prisoners and capturing many guns. The Union losses were 757 killed, 4529 wounded. 330 missing ; total, 5616. There were 6142 prisoners captured from the enemy. During this time Charleston, which had inaugurated the Rebellion, pluckily resisted all attempts to take it. For example, her defenders beat back 6000 Unionists with a loss of 574 men at Secessionville June i6th. Again, they dis- abled two of the blockading gunboats on January ist, 1863 ; again, they forced nine bombarding iron-clads under Commodore Dupont to retire ; again, they repulsed from Fort Wagner a storming party under General Gilmore, inflicting a loss of 1500, while their loss was but 100 men ; again, while obliged to evacuate A GREAT FIGHT. 309 Fort Wagner, leaving 18 guns there, and seven guns in Battery Gregg, they re- pulsed the Unionists' attempt to scale Fort Sumter and slew 200 men. Nor did the Unionists fare better in Florida. They lost under General T. Seymour 2000 of his 6000 troops at ( )lustee, ^ where the Confederates lost but 730 men. The l^iionists again lost 1600 out of 2000 men under Gen. RETREAT OF LEE's ARMY. Wessels at Plymouth, North Caro- ina, when the Confed- erate General Hoke's loss was but 300 men. In the Southwest, however, the Unionists' cause had gained con- siderable advantages un- der General Banks, having a command of 30,000 men. Aided by Commodore Farragut, at Alexandria, La., he drove General R. Taylor and captured 2000 prisoners, several steam- boats, and 22 guns. His assault, however, on Port Hudson, in June, was re- pelled with a loss of 2000 3IO THE STORY OF AMERICA. men, while the Confederates lost but 300 men. But Port I hidson, as it was about to be cannonaded by the ounboats set free by the fall of Xicksbury;, was surren- ck-red, July 6th, h\,' the Confederate General Gardener, with his garrison of 6408 men. Banks' effective force had been reduced to 10,000. His total captures during the campaign were 10,584 men, jt^ guns, and 6000 small arms. But Brashear City had some days belore been surprised and captured by General R. Taylor (Confederate) with a Union loss of 1000 men and 10 guns. The Unionist General Dudley lost near Donaldsonville 300 prisoners, and again, the Unionist General Franklin with a ileet and 4000 men was repelled with a loss of two gun- boats, 13 guns, and 250 men, by less than that number within the fort at Sabine Pass, and at Teche Bayou the 67th huliana Regiment was captured entire. Ihe Red River expeditions in March and April, 1864, toward Shreveport under General Banks, from New Orleans, with a force of 40,000, antl under General Steel, from Little Rock, with 12,000, were disastrous failures. The former had to retreat with a loss of about 5000, and the latter was also beaten back with a loss of 2200; but at Jenkins P'erry he repulsed the Confederate attack led by General Kirby Smith, with a loss of 2300. In August of this year {1864) Commodore Farragut executed one of the fiercest and most heroic naval combats on record. I laving lashed himself to the mast of the Hartford, he advanced with a ileet of 14 wooden steamers and gunboats and four iron-clad monitors against I'orts Morgan and Gaines, at the entrance of Mobile Bay. He ran the bows of his wooden vessels full speed against the rebel iron-clad Tennessee, gaining a notable victory, which endeil in the fall of the forts and the city of Mobile. General Grant was appointed Commander-in-chief of all the I'nion armies on March i, 1864. Having sent Sherman to conduct a campaign in the West, he himself, on Ma)- 4 and 5, crossed the Rapidan for a direct southerly advance to Richmond. A campaign of 43 days followed, in which more than 100,000 men, frequently reinforced, were engaged on either side. He was met by Lee in the Wilderness, where, after two days of terrible slaughter, the battle ended without decided advantage to either side. Among the Unionists, General J. S. Wads- worth was killed and seven generals were wounded, the entire loss amount- ing to 20,000 men. The Confederates lost Sooo men, with Longstreet badly wounded. Finding Lee's position impregnable. Grant aiivanc cd by a tlank movement to Spottsylvania Court House. Here, on May iith, Hancock, by a desperate assault, captured Generals Johnson and H. H. Stewart, with 3000 men and 30 guns, while Lee himself barely escaped. But no fighting, however desperate, could carry Lee's works. Sheridan with his cavalry now made a dashing raid toward Richmonil. He fought the Confederate cavalry, killed their General, H. E. B. Stuart, antl returned, having suffered little damage, to Grant. General A GREAT FIGHT. j,, Butler with 30,000 men steamed up the James River and seized City Point with the view of seizing Petersburg. He was, however, too slow, and in a fight with Beauregard, near Proctor's Creek, lost 4000 men, while the Confederates lost but 3000. General Grant reached. May 17th, the North Anna, where he .rained some advantage, but as Lee was strongly intrenched, he moved on again to Cold Harbor. Here an assault on Lee ended with a Union loss of 1705 killed 0072 wounded and 2406 missing. Sheridan again raided Lee's rear, tore up rail- roads, and burnt stores, and after having lost 735 men he returned to Grant with 370 prisoners. Grant now pressed on toward the James River ; assaults were KNIKANCE TO GETTYSIiURG CEMETERY. made on Petersburg with a loss of many killed and 5000 prisoners "1 he attack b! he TI ^— Confederate loss of ,000. A series of gallant U -s eftli'ber"" '^hus Hancock assailed Railro d Tl 7°"^' '"""^ 5°°° '"^"- W^---" -i-d the Weldon Kailrocd, at the expense of 4450, while the Confederates lost but loo Han cocks attempt to seize Ream's Station ended in his being drtn back^.d 312 THE STORY OF AMERICA. losinij 2400 men. Warren grasped the Squirrel Level Road at a cost of 2500 men. Butler, however, took Port Harrison, with 115 guns, but failed to take Fort Gilmore after a loss of 300. The Confederates, attempting to retake Fort Harrison, were beaten back with a heavy loss. The Union cavalry under Gen- eral Kautz advanced within live miles of Richmond, but were driven back with a loss of 9 guns and 500 men. Hancock tried to turn the Confederate tlank and took 1000 prisoners, but had to retire with a loss of 1500. Thus this campaign of 1864 closed with a loss in the aggregate of 87,387 men from the Army of the Potomac. In West Virginia Sigel was routed at New Market by J. C. Breckinridge with a loss of six guns and 700 men. Hunter, succeeding Sigel, beat the Con- federates, June 8th, at Piedmont, killing General Jones and taking 1500 men, but was himself with 20,000 men, soon after beaten at Lynchburg, and forced to a disastrous retreat over the Alleghanies to the Potomac. This opened the way for the Confederate, Early, with 20,000 veterans, to march northward. With a loss of but 600 he defeated General Lew Wallace near Frederick, killing and capturing 2000 men. After threatening Baltimore and Washington he retreated South with 2300 captured horses and 5000 catde. He also defeated at Winchester General Crook, whose loss was 1200. Shortly after the Unionist General Averill defeated B. F. Johnson's cavalry and took 500 prisoners. Not long after, on September 19, 1864, Early, after a brilliant attack by Sheridan at Winchester, was routed, losing 6000 men, while the Unionists lost 1000 less. At Fisher's Hill Sheridan again routed him, taking 16 guns and 1 100 prisoners ; at Cedar Creek, while Sheridan was absent at Washington, Early made a sudden and determined assault, throwing the Unionists into a panic- stricken mob, capturing 24 guns and 1 200 prisoners. Sheridan, by his famous ride of twenty miles, met his beaten army. He reorganized it, inspired it to make a general and magnificent attack, and won a great victory, recapturing his 24 guns, taking 23 more, and 1500 prisoners. The loss on either side was about 3000. In the Southwest General Sturgis (Union) with 12,000 men routed General Forrest at Guntown, Miss., killing and capturing 4000. In East Tennessee the Confederate raider Morgan captured 1600 Unionists at Licking River, but was himself soon after chased away with a loss of half his force. During these operations General Sherman advanced (May 18, 1864) with 100.000 men from Chattanooga. He was stubbornly resisted by General J. E. Johnston with an army of 54,000. At Kenesaw Mountain Sherman lost 3000 men while the Confederates lost 442. He, however, kept flanking and fighting the Confed- erates until he reached Atlanta, during which two months the enemy had lost 14,200 men; but reinforcements kept tneir numbers up to 51,000. Dunng SHERMAN'S MARCH. 313 these movements the Confederate General Polk, who on accepting his commis- sion in the army had not resigned his position as a Bishop of the Protestant Plpiscopal Church, was killed by a cannon ball while reconnoitring on Pine Mountain, a few miles north of Marietta. Hood succeeded Johnston, and qjmed a heavy blow at Thomas, on Sherman's right, losing 4000 and inflicting LONGSTREET REPORTING AT BRAGG'S HEADcJUARTERS. a loss of but 1500. On the 22d occurred another great battle in which McPherson, a very superior Union general, was killed, and 4000 Unionists were lost. The Confederate loss was, however, not less than 8000. General Stoneman whilst raiding Hood's rear was captured, with 1000 of his cavalry. Hood, after suffering a heavy repulse by Logan, and another at Jonesboro by Howard, in the latter of which he lost 2000, and still another by J. C, 20 p&w 314 THE STORY OF AMERICA. Davis, when Jonesboro and many guns and prisoners wer»- calcen tiotv him, retreated eastward, leaving Atlanta, September ist, to the Union victors Being reinforced, iiowever, so as to have about 55,000 troops, he returned ioi an invasion of Tennessee. At Franklin, November 30Lh, he made a desperatt onset against Schofield, and was baffled, at an expense of 4500 mea to himselt and of 2320 to the Union. At Nashville, to which he laid siege, he was struck by Thomas, December 15th, with great skill and determination durmg a twc days' battle, and broken to pieces, having lost more than 13,000, besides seventy two pieces of artillery. The Union loss was 10,000 during the campaign. In November and December Sherman at the head of 65,500, including the cavalry protection of Kilpatrick, executed his famous march to the sea, i.e., from Atlanta to Savannah. His reward was 167 guns and 1328 prisoners and a demoralized South. The Confederate General Hardee, who had already evacuated Savan nah, was obliged by a new advance of Sherman northward, I-'ebruary ■ 865. to evacuate Charleston also, with 12,000 men. A cavalrj^ engagement cook place near the north line of South Carolina, between Kilpatrick and Wade Hampton, in which the former was surprised, but the l-itter finally beat hmi Near Fayetteville, North Carolina, March 15th, he was attecked without success by Hardee, now acting under Joseph Johnston, having 40,000 men under hi- command ; and three days after at Bentonville by Johnston himself. Sherm^ lost 1643, but forced Johnston to retire, leaving 267 dead and 1625 prisonei'- and wounded. Fort Fisher, that protected the blockade runners at Wilmington, N. C, wa> bombarded by Commodore Porter and carried by assault by General A. H. Terry, January 16, 1865. This victor)', purchased at a cost of 410 killed and 536 wounded, threw into the Union hands i6g guns and 2083 prisoners. And Wilmington itself fell about one month later, under an attack by Schofield. General James H. Wilson, with 15,000 cavalry from the armies of Grant and Thomas, routed General Forrest at Selma, Ala., April 2d, capturing 22 guns and 2700 prisoners and burning 125,000 bales of cotton. Soon after, he captured at Columbus, Ga., 52 guns and 1200 prisoners, besides burning a gunboat, 250 cars, and 115,000 cotton bales. He took Fort Tyler by assault. but ceased operations at Macon, Ga., because by that time the rebellion was crushed. General Grant resumed operations February 6, 1865, when he repulsed at Hatcher's Run, at a cost of 2000 troops, the Confederates, who lost 1000. General Sheridan with 10,000 cavalry routed Early, on March 2d, from Waynes- boro, taking 11 guns and 1600 prisoners, and joined Grant at Petersburg after having passed entirely around Lee's army. An attack by Lee against Fort Stedman was repelled with a loss of 2500 to the Unionists and 4500 to the Confederates. LEE'S SURRENDER. 315 Grant, fearing that Lee might attempt to evacuate Richmond, threw Warren's corps and Sheridan's cavalry to the southwest of Petersburg. Warren, after having his divisions broken by Lee but re-formed by the aid of Griffin, united with Sheridan, who had b-en foiled the day before, April ist, at Five Forks. Warren and Sheridan no^v charged the Confederates' works, which were taken, along with 5000 prisoners, a" general assault was made by the Union army at daylight, April 2d, when Ord's Corps (Union) carried Forts Gregg and Alexander by storm. A. P. Hill, a brilliant Confederate general, was shot dead. That night Lee evacuated Richmond, burning his warehouses filled with stores. General Weitzel, at 6 a.m. Apnl 3d, entered the city with his men and was soon followed by. President Lincoln. Petersburg was at the same time abandoned. Lee halted his army, now dwindled to 35,000 men, at Amelia Court House. Grant rapidly pursued. Ewell was severed from Lee's rear and became one among 6000 prisoners. Lee heroically pushed on to Appomatto.x Court House, where his flight was intercepted by Sherman marching from the South. Lee was inclined to renew the fighting against Sherman, but his weary and famished army stood no chance against the fearful odds around them. And Lee, to prevent further useless bloodshed, surrendered his army to Grant on April 9, 1865, within three days of four years after the rebellion had been opened by the bombardment of Fort Sumter. Bell ringing, triumphant salutes, and boundless joy throughout the United States hailed thiJevent as the close of the war. Johnston surrendered his army to Sherman at Raleigh, N. C, April 26th, and Dick Taylor his, to Canby at Citronville, Ala., May 4th. The terms of the surrender were magnanimous : " Each officer and man was allowed to return to his home, not to be disturbed by the United States authority so long as they observed their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside." Jefferson Davis, the president of the now destroyed Confederacy, fled from Richmond at the time of its evacuation. Attended at first with a cavalry escort of 2000, which soon dwindled mostly away, he was making his way toward the coast, with his family and "a few faithful followers " when he was captured near Irwinsville, Georgia. After an imprisonment of two years in Fortress Monroe.. he was released, and allowed to live without molestation, mourning the lost cause, until he died, December 6, 1889. The Union soldiers numbered during the war 2,666,999, of which 294,266. were drafted, the rest being volunteers. The deaths on the field or from wounds amounted to 5221 officers and 90,868 men, while 2321 officers 182,329 men died from disease or accident. The Confederate armies enrolled were 600,000 men, of whom they lost more than one-half. The Confederate cruisers, the "Alabama," '-Florida," "Georgia," "Sumter," and "Tallahassee," most of 316 THE STOkY of AMERICA. Avhich were fitted out in British ports, well nij^h destroyed American commerce. The "Alabama," commanded by Raphael Semmes, went down off the French coast, June 19, 1S64, in a memorable action with the U. S. S. " Kearsarge," commanded by Captain \\''inslow. The greatest act of Abraham Lincoln was his Emancipation Proclamation, issued January i, 1S63, giving fi-eedom to 4,000,000 of slaves. And so ended the great internecine conflict, which has made us a strong, consolidated, free nation, never again, let us hope, to be given over to fraternal strife. ^^##^^it ^&]mM}j^^sJ^^. ^fMi Ll.NCOL.N S CJRAVK. CHAPTER XVII. SOME ROROOTTEN LESSONS OE THE WAR. Bv COLONEL A. K. McCLURE, Editor and Proprietor o/ the Pkiladelplaa Times. Before all those who more or less actively participated in the civil oi military events of our Civil War shall have passed away, it might be well to crystallize into history some of its forgotten lessons. The young student of to-day, who must turn to history for all knowledge of the dark" days of the bloodiest civil war of modern times, can be easily and fully informed as to all important political events and the many battles which were fought between the blue and the gray. But there are many facts and incidents connected with the origin and prosecution of that memo- rable conflict which have no place in the annals of history, but which exercised a very great, and at times a controlling, influence in shaping the policy of the Government, and even in deciding the issues of the war itself It is to some of these apparently forgotten lessons of the great conflict 1 propose to give a chapter that I hope may be entertaining and instructive. When we turn aside from the beaten historical paths to explore the forgotten issues and movements of more than thirty years ago, we are startled at the magnitude of questions in those days which seem now to be accepted as incapable of controversy. The student of to-day only sees the fact that the issues between slavery and freedom were natural and irrepress.be, and that in such a contest, with a vast preponderance of numbers wealth, and physical and moral power, there could be but one result from such a struggle ; but there are few to-day who have knowledcre of the intrenched power of slavery, not only in our commercial cities, but throughout COLONEL A. K. MCCLURE. T. I 7 3^3 THE STORY OF AMERfCA. the whole business interests of the country, and it will doubtless surprise many readers when they are told that even as late as September, 1S62, when the war had been in progress for nearly two years, scores of thousands of thoroughly loyal supporters of the Government in every State shuddered at the idea of Emancipation. It will be ecjually sur- prising to the students of American history to-day to learn that the great mass of the people of both sections of the country were so profoundly interested in THK SWAMP ANOEI. BATTERY BOMBARDING CHARLESTON. averting fraternal conflict that only the madness of the secession leaders forced the North to unite in the support of the war by wantonly firing upon the starving and helpless garrison of Fort Sumter when its peaceable surrender could have been accomplished within a few hours thereafter. So general and deep-seated was the aversion to war in the North, that had the Government RELUCTANCE OF THE NORTH TO FIGHT. 3,9 commenced Hostilities, even after the capture of the national forts and arsenals which had been seized by the insurgents, the North would have been hope- lessly divided on the question of supporting the Government. While it is probable that the slavery issue would have culminated in civil war some time during the present century, I feel entirely warranted in assuming GENERAL SHERIDAN TURNING DEFEAT INTO VICTORY AT CEDAR CREEK that the sectional conflict begun in 1861 would not have reached an appeal to the sword but for the fact that both sections mutually believed the other incapa- ble of accepting civil war. Had the Northern and Southern people understood each other then as well as they understood each other after the soldiers of the blue and gray had exhibited their matchless heroism on so many battlefields, the election and inauguration of Abraham Lincoln as President would not have 330 THE STORY OF AMERICA. precipitated war. Civil war had been tlireatened by alarmists and agitators in and out of Congress for many years, and many of the Southern leaders grew offensively arrogant in discussing sectional issues during the debates in Con- gress, for several years before the election of Lincoln. It was not uncommon for Northern men to be taunted as cowards because they refused to accept the code of honor, and finally, when the secession of States began, it was the almost universal belief throughout the South that the Northern people were mere money getters, and incapable of heroic action even in defense of their convictions. The South assumed that the North would not fight, because it was believed that the Northern people were so averse to fighting that they w'ould submit even to dissolution of the government rather than risk their lives for its defense. On the other hand, the Northern people believed the Southerners to be led by bombasts who would take pause in their aggressive actions w'henever compelled to face the fearful realities of actual war. 1 have never forgotten an incident that occurred in a party caucus in the Pennsylvania Legislature, held on the night after the surrender of Sumter. I was then a Senator and in political accord with the majority of both branches of the Legislature that heartily sustained President Lincoln. The occasion was so grave that the caucus met in secret session, and the first half dozen speeches ridiculed the idea of actual war, because the Southern people were bombasts and cowards, and some of the speakers boldly declared that the Northern women could sweep away to the South of the Potomac, with their brooms, these blatant warriors. Having studied the situation both North and South, as Chair- man of the Military Committee of the Senate, 1 ventured to correct the errone^ ous impressions created by the speakers, saying that the Southerners were of our own blood and lineaofe, had shared all our heroism in the achievements of the past, and that if we should become involved in civil war, it would be one of the most desperate and bloody wars of history. My declaration that the South would fight as heroically as the North was hissed from every section of the caucus. How fearfully true my statements and predictions were, was soon attested on the many battlefields, from the first Rull Run to Appomattox. No one then could have believed that the South would marshal and maintain an army of half a million men, to display the highest measure of heroism and sacrifice to overthrow the noblest government of the earth, and none could then have believed that the Northern people would furnish and maintain more than a million men during four long years of the bloodiest conflict, as the price of the perpetuity' of the Republic. Had we known each other better then ; had we known that the soldiers of both the North and the South would make Grecian and Roman story pale before their heroism in fraternal conflict, 1 doubt not that the Civil War begun in i86i would have been postponed for a future generation. The first gun fired against Sumter, on the i2th of April, i86i, sounded THE FIRST OVERT ACTS. 321 the death knell of the Southern Confederacy and of slavery ; and had the first gun of the war been fired by Major Anderson, the commander of Fort Sumter, against any of the Confederate batteries erected to bombard him and his little command, the North would have ^ been divided on the vital issue of supporting the ^ Government, and even j' revolution tf^k^ ni the North would have bcc n more )|IL7''iI BW; tiii^^BVIHik'^iB' ^^^k."' ^'^"^" possible Mr Lmcoln was iittiltiaSSiyW^^w '^■k l^V ^^ inauL,''uiated on the 4th o*" March and from that time until the bombardment of Sumter the provisional Confederate Govern- ment, then located at Montgomery, Ala- bama, committed acts of war against the National Government, by seizing forts and arsenals, and by erecting batteries at Charleston, within range of Major Anderson's guns, to make his fort defenseless. With all these preparation.'; for war on the part of the South, begun during the last three months of DEATH OF GENERAL POLK. 322 THE STORY OF AMERICA. Buchanan's Administration and continued after Lincoln's inauguration, the Government was entirely helpless to defend its forts and property. The forts could not be reinforced because the small standing army at that day was utterly unequal to the task. Nine important forts in six Southern States were garrisoned by but a handful of men, without supplies in case of siege, or means of defense in case of assault from batteries whose construction could not be impeded, as to fire upon them would have been an act of war. The Govern* ment was not only unable to man its forts and defend them and the arsenals of the South, but neither President Buchanan nor President Lincoln dared to call for an increase of the army. Had either of them done so, it would have been an open menace of war to coerce the rebellious States back into the Union ; it would have inflamed the South into precipitating the conflict, and would not have been sustained by the people in the North. Thus was the Government utterly helpless to hinder preparations for war by the new Confederacy. Many of the ablest and most patriotic men of both parties of the North doubted the right of the Government to coerce a State by the bayonet, and had either Buchanan or Lincoln called for an increase of the army, or attempted to recapture forts and arsenals seized by the South, it would have been regarded as needlessly hastening a conflict that all hoped could be avoided. It was the midsummer madness of the Southern Confed- eracy in precipitating the war by firing upon the star\'ed and feeble garrison of Sumier that obliterated the issue of "coercion," and that practically united the North in sustaining the Government in an aggressive war policy. So entirely were we unprepared for war, that the President had no authority to call out troops, even after Sumter had been fired upon, and the President's proclamation summoning 75,000 volunteers for three months' service had to be legalized by subsequent act of Congress. The discussion of the propriety or impropriety of war was summarily ended when war was actually declared by the Charleston batteries hurling their hot shot into Sumter ; and from that day until the sur- render of the Confederate armies, after the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of lives and countless treasure, the North was inspired by its patriotism to prosecute the war until the Rebellion should be overthrown and the authority of the Government established in every State of the Union. Had the Confederate Government been content to hold the forts and arsenals it had seized without bloodshed, and waited for the General Govern- ment to precipitate war, the conflict would have been indefinitely postponed and the Confederacy would have become so strong by the passive assent of the Government to its establishment that its overthrow might have been impossible. Certain it is that if President Lincoln had opened the war by firing upon the Southern forces, except in defense of assailed Government troops, he could not have commanded anything approaching a united support from the Northern JOHN ERICSSON. 324 THE STORY OF AMERICA. people ; he would have been fearfully censured as having wantonly engaged in a great war over issues that might have been adjusted peaceably by patience; and none can now assume to say what would have been the issue of such a con- flict with the North bitterly divided because of a sectional war precipitated by the aggressive action of the Government. It was the first gun fired against Sumter that crystallized the North, that gave Lincoln the power to summon patriotic armies to defend the Republic, and that assured, in the fullness of time the utter overthrow of the Confederacy and the re-establishment of the great American Republic without the blot of slavery upon its escutcheon. The naval warfare of the world was revolutionized in a single day by the battle between the " Merrimac " and the " Monitor " at Fortress Monroe, on the 9th of March, 1862. It was the most sudden and startling revolution ever attained in methods of warfare, and it was a revelation to every nation of the earth. The United States steam frigate " Merrimac " was set on fire at the Gosport Navy Yard at the outbreak of the war, when hastily abandoned by the Federal navy officers. It was burned to the water's edge and sunk, but soon after the Confederates raised the hull, which was not seriously damaged, and its engines in yet reasonably good condition, and they hurriedly under- took the then original conception of converting it into an iron clad. A powerful prow of cast iron was attached to its stem, a few feet under water, and projecting sufficiently to enable it to break in the side of any wooden vessel. A low wooden roof two feet thick was built at an incline of about 36 degrees, and this was plated with double iron armor, making a four-inch iron plating. Under this protection were mounted two broadside batteries of four guns each, and a gun at the stem and stern. The Government was soon advised of the raising of the hull of the "Merrimac," and without having detailed information on the subject, knew that a povverful iron-clad was being constructed. A board of naval officers had been selected b)- the Government to consider the various suggestions for the construction of iron-clad vessels, and although, as a rule, naval officers had little faith in the e.xperiment. Congress coerced them into action by the appropriation of half a million dollars for the work. The Naval Board recommended a trial of three of the most acceptable plans presented, and they were put under contract. Among those who pressed the adoption of light iron-clads, capable of penetrating our shallow harbors, rivers, and bayous, was John Ericsson. He was a Swede by birth, but had long been an American citizen, and exhibited uncommon genius and scientific attainments in engineering. The vessel he proposed to build was to be only 127 feet in length, 27 feet in width, and 1 2 feet deep, to be covered by a flat deck rising only one or two feet above water. The only armament of die vessel was to be a revolving turret, about m^"! ill l» §01- mm Jill M;/Pf ill!! mm s ■\iv: mw »>■ lift 326 THE STORY OF AMERICA. 20 feet in diameter and nine feet hi.i;h, made of plated \vrou<:jht iron aggre gating eight inches in thickness, with two eleven-inch Dahlgren guns. The guns were so constructed that they could be fired as the turret revolved, and the port-hole would be closed immediately after firing. The size of the " Merrimac " was well known to the Government to be quite double the length and breadth of the " Monitor," but it had the disatlvantage of requiring nearly tlouble the depth of water in which to manceuvre it. Various sensational reports were received from time to time of the progress made on th<' " Merrimac,'" ihc, name of wiiich was changed by the Confederates to "Virginia," antl as we had only wooden hulls at Fortress Monroe to resist it, great solicitude was felt for the safety of the fleet and the maintenance of the blockade. While the Government hurried the construction of the new iron-clads to the utmost, little faith was felt that such fragile vessels as the " Monitor " could cope with so powerful an engine of war as the " Merrimac." The most formidable vessels of the navy, including the " Minnesota," the twin ship of the original "Merrimac," the "St. Lawrence," the "Roanoke," the " Congress," and the "Cumberland," were all there waiting the advent of the " Merrimac." On Saturday, the 8th of March, the "Merrimac" appeared at the mouth of the F.lizabeth River and steamed directly for the I'cderal fleet. All the vessels slipped cable and started to enter the contlict, but the heavier ships soon ran aground and became helpless. The " Merrimac " hurried on, and after firinor a broadside at the ' Conofress," crashed into the sides of the "Cumber- lar^d," whose brave men fired broadside after broadside at their assailant only to see their balls glance from its mailed roof An immense hole had been broken into the hull by the prow of the " Merrimac," and in a very few minutes the " Cumberlantl " sank in fifty feet of water, her last gun being fired when the water had reached its muzzle, and the whole gallant crew went to the bottom with their flag still ilying from the masthead. The "Merrimac" then turned upon the " Congress." It was compelled to flee from such a hopeless struggle, and was finally grounded near the shore ; but the " Merrimac," selecting a position where her guns could rakt- her antagonist, after a bloody fight of more than an hour, with the commander killetl and the ship on fire, the "Congress" struck her flag, and was soon blown up by the explosion of her magazine. ,Most fortunatt'ly for the Federal fleet, the "Merrimac" had not started out on its work of destruction until aftir midday. Its iron prow had been broken in breachinir the "Cumberland," and after the fierce broatlsides it had received from the "Congress" and the "Cumberland," with the other vessels firing repeatedly during the hand-to-hand conllict, the "Merrimac" was content to withdraw for the day, and anchored for the night under the Confederate shore batteries on Sewall's Point. ADVENT OF THE " MOXlTORr 327 The night of March 8th was probably the gloomiest period of the war. It was well known at Fortress Monroe and at Washington that the " Merrimac" would resume its work on the following day, and it was equally well known that there were neither vessels nor batteries to offer any serious resistance to its work. With the fleet destroyed ant the blockade raised, not only Washing- ton, but even New York, might be at the mercy of this new and invincible engine of war. There did not seem to be even a sil- ver lining to the dark cloud that hung over the Union cause ; but deliverance came most unexpectedly, as .some time during the night the little "Moni- tor" was seen, by the light of the yet burning "Congress," towed into the waters of Hampton Roads. It was viewed with con- tempt by the naval officers and described as "a raft with a cheese bo.x on top of it " ; but Lieutenant Worden, who commanded the little iron-clad, after being advised of the situation, boldly took his position, after midnight, near the still helpless " Minnesota," thu challenging the whole fury of the "Merrimac" upon the "Monitor." On Sunday morning, the 9th of March, the Merrimac" sailed out defiantly to complete its work of destruction and thus make itself master of the capital, of New York. and. presumably, end fhe Richmond campaign then contem- MOIST WEATHER AT IllK FI'ing all before it along the coast, the Confederates were active elsewhere. Their swift, armed cruisers, fitted out I z i ftiiiliii:ia/ii^'.'w/M r *< ■< n ■^ > *— z n «-< H Q 3 > y. 5 % 'Si ►J y. V. n 5< C I^te \ 5^M^ nn^ »_ 1 •H^iis ■ . f I I i > a 1 i o 5 « 5 '-5 ^5 > i! "' 2.Ji 2"" o5 B- (Da.*' o St- *" J3 Q - "^ M — O*- — « < z^ 3 5-; z o = < £5 S .2 5 . - <■ _ 0-0 O a^-J} u ^g L. Iff •" t oo U J' I- ^ n t-o o a — o o THE UNITED STATES PEACE COMMISSIONERS OF THE SPANISH WAR Apiwinlcd Stplcmhir 0. 1898 M.t Spanish Conimbsioners at Paris Octol.ir 1st. Treaty ,.f IVa..: Manc.l by iht CoHH missioBcrs m Pam.Decenibec lotfa. Ratified by the United Stales Senate at \Va>h'irgt;.n, Icl.rn'ary 6, iSyj. CHAPTER XIX. DIKKICULXIES WlTlrl FOREIGN POWERS. On a bright spring- morning, the date, April 30, 17S9, amid the booming of cannon, the plaudits of the multi- tude, and the general rejoicing of the people of the whole country, Washing- ton had been inaugurated President of the United States. Tiiat day saw one of the most significant events accorn- plished in the history of the world ; for there in the city of New York, where the inauguration took place, a nation was born in a day. The old Confeder- acy was gone : the new nation stood forth " like a giant ready to run a race." And what a race it has run since that time history has told. The United States was destined to prove no exception to the course marked out by all other nations and enjoy perpetual peace. The fact is, the seeds of conflict were already sown and were destined to bear fruit, both in civil and foreign war. JAMES MONROE, AUTHOR OF "THE MONROE DOCTRINE' THE DIFFICULTY WITH THE BAREARY STATES. If the reader will look at any map of Africa he will see on the northern coast, defining the southern limits of the Mediterranean, four States, Morocco. Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli, running east and west a distance of 1800 miles. These powers had for centuries maintained a state of semi-independency by paying tribute to Turkey. But this did not suit Algeria, the strongest and most warlike of the North African States; and in the year 17 10 the natives overthrew the rule of the Turkish Pasha, expelled him from the country, and united his office to that of the Dey. The Dey thus governed the country by means of a Divan or Council of State chosen from the principal civic function- aries. The Algerians, with the other " Barbary States," as the piratical States were called, defied the Powers of Europe. France alone successfully resisted 23 p & w i6l 302 THE SrORV OF AMERICA. these depredations, but only partially, for after she had repeatedly chastised the Algerians, the strongest of the northern piratical States, and had induced the Dey to sign a treaty of peace, they would bide their time, and after a time return to their bloody work. It was Algiers which was destined to force the United States to resort to arms in the defense of its persecuted countrymen ; the result is a matter of history. The truth is, this conllict was no less irrepressible than that greater conflict which a century later deluged the land in blood. For, before the Constitution had been adopted, two American vessels flying the flag of thirteen stripes and only thirteen stars, instead of the forty-four which now form our national con- stellation, while sailing the Mediterranean had fallen a prey to the swift, heavily armed Algerian cruisers. The vessels were confiscated and the crews, to the number of twenty-one persons, had been held for ransom, for which an enormous sum was demanded. . This sum our Government had been unwilling to pay, as to do so would be to establish a precedent not only with Algeria, but with Tunis, Tripoli, and Morocco as well, for each of these African piratical States was in league with the others, and all had to be separately conciliated. But, after all, what else could the Government do? The country had no navy. It could not untlertake in improvised ships to go forth and fight the swift, heavily armed cruisers of the African pirates — States so strong that the commercial nations were glad to win exemption from their depredations by annual payments. Why not, then, ransom these American captives by the payment of money and construct a navy sufificiently strong to resist their en- croachments in the future? This feeling on the part of the Government was shared by the people of the country, and so it was. Congress finally authorized the building of six frigates, and by another act empowered President Washing- ton to borrow a million of dollars for purchasing peace. Eventually the money was paid to all the four Powers, and it was hoped all difficulty was at an end. The work of constructing the new war-ships was pushed with expedition, and as will be seen, it was well that it was so. We are now brought to the year 1800. Tripoli, angry at not receiving as much money as was paid to Algiers, declared war against the United States ; but now circumstances had changed for the better. For our new navy, a small but most efficient one, was completetl, and a squadron consisting of the frigates "Essex," Captain Painbridge, the "Philadelphia," tlie "President," and the schooner " Experiment," was in Mediterranean waters. Two Tripolitan cruisers lying at Gibraltar on the watch for American vessels, were blockaded by the " Philadeljihia." Cruising off Tripoli the " Experiment" fell in with a Tripolitan cruiser of fourteen guns, and after three hours' hard fighting captured her. The Tripolitans lost twenty killed and thirty wounded ; this brilliant result had a marked effect in quieting the turlnilmt pirates. A SPLENDID VICTORY. 363 But peace was not yet assured. In 181 5, while this country was at war with England, the Dey of Algiers unceremoniously dismissed the American Consul and declared war against the Unitcil States ; and all because he had not received the articles demanded under the tribute treaty. This time the Government was well prepared for the issue. The population of the country had increased to over eight millions. 'V\\v. military spirit of the nadon had been aroused by the war with Great Britain, ending in the splentlid victory at New Orleans under General Jackson. Besides this, the navy had been increased and made far more effective. The Administration, A KAII.ROAl) HATTERY. with Madison at its head, decided to submit to no further extortions from the Mediterranean pirates, and the President sent in a forcible message to Congress on the subject, taking high American ground. The result was a prompt acceptance of the Algerian declaration of war. Events succeeded each other in rapid succession. Ships new and old were at once htted out. On May 15, 1815, Decatur sailed from New York to the Mediterranean. His squadron comprised the frigates "Guerriere," " Macedonian," and " Constellation," the new sloop of war " Ontario," and four brigs and two schooners in addition. On June 17, the second day after entering the Mediterranean, Decatuf 36, THE STORY OF AMERICA. captured the largest frigate in the Algerian navy, having forty-four guns. The next day an AU^erian brig was taken, and in less than two weeks after his first capture Decatur, with his entire scjuadron, appeared off Algiers. The end had come ! The Dey's courage, like that of Bob Acres, oozed out at his fingers' ends. The terrified Uey sued for peace, which Decatur compelled him to sign on the quarter-deck of the " Guerriere." In this treaty it was agreed by the Dey to surrender all prisoners, pay a heavy indemnity, and renounce all tribute from .'\merica in the future. Decatur also secured indemnity from Tunis and Tripoli for American vessels captured under the guns of their forts by British cruisers during the late war. This ended at once and forever the payment of tribute to the piratical States of North Africa. All Europe, as well as our own country, rang with the splendid achievements of our navy ; and surely the stars and stripes had never before floated more proudly fron: the mast-head of an American vessel, and they , are flying as proudly to-day. KING BOMBA BROUGHT TO TERMS. It was seventeen years later, in 1832, under the administration of General Jackson, that one of the most interesting cases of difficulty with a foreign power arose. As with Algeria and Tripoli, so now, our navy was resorted to for the purpose of e.\acting reparation. This time the trouble was with Italy, or rather that part of Italy known at that time as the Kingdom of Naples, which had been wrested from .Spain by Napoleon, who placed successively his brother Joseph and Murat, Prince, Marshal of France, and brother-in-law of Napoleon, on the throne of Naples and the two .Sicilies. During the years 1809-12 the Neapolitan •Government under Joseph and Murat successively had confiscated numerous American .ships with their cargoes. The total amount of the American claims against Naples, as filed in the State Department, when Jackson's Administration assumed control, was ;^ 1,734, 994. They were held hy various insurance com- panies and by citizens, principally of Baltimore. Demands for the payment of these claims had from time to time been made by our Government, but Naples had always refused to settle them. Jackson and his Cabinet took a decided stand, and determined that the Neapolitan Government, then in the hands of Ferdinand II — subsequently nick- named Bomba because of his cruelties — should make due reparation for the losses sustained by American citizens. The Hon. John Nelson, of Frederick, Maryland, was appointed Minister to Naples and ordered to insist upon a settlement. Commodore Daniel Patterson, "=' who aided in the defense of New =•= Daniel T. Patterson was born on Long Island, New York, March 6, 1786; was appointed midshipman in the navy, 1800 ; was attached to the frigate " Philadeli)hia" when she ran upon a reef near Tripoli ; was captured and a prisoner until 1805 ; was made lieutenant in 1807 and KING BOMB A BROUGHT TO TERMS. 365 Orleans in 18 15, was put in command of the Mediterranean squadron and ordered to cooperate with Minister Nelson in enforcing his demands. But Naples persisted in her refusal to render satisfaction, and a warlike demonstra- tion was decided upon, the whole matter being placed, under instructions, in the hands of Commodore Patterson. * The entire force at his command consisted of three fifty-gun frigates and three twenty-gun corvettes. So as not to precipitate matters too hastily, the plan was for three vessels to appear in the Neapolitan waters, one at a time, and UNITED STATES MILITARY TELEGRAPH WAGON. instructions were given accordingly. The " Brandywine," with Minister Nelsoir on board, went first. Mr. Nelson repeated the demands for a settlement, and they were refused : there was nothing in the appearance of a Yankee envoy and a single ship to trouble King Bomba and his little kingdom. The " Brandy- master-commandant in 1813. In 1814 he won great credit as commander of naval forces at New- Orleans, and received the thanks of Congress. He commanded the flotilla which destroyed the fort and defenses of Lafitte, the pirate. He was made captain in 1815 ; Navy Commissioner, 1828 f* 1832, and commanded the Mediterranean Squadron, 1S32-1S35. He died on August 15, 1839, being then in command of the Washington Navy Yard. 366 THE STORY OF AMERICA. wine " cast anchor in the harbor and thr humbled Envoy waited patiently foi a few days. Then another American Hag appeared on the horizon, and the frigate " United States " floated into the harbor and came to anchor. Mr. Nelson repeated his demands, and they were again refused. l'~our days slipped away, and the stars and stripes again appeared off the harbor. King Bomba, looking out from his palace windows, saw the fifty-gun frigate "Concord" sail into the harbor and drop her anchor. Then unmistakable signs of uneasiness began to show themselves. Forts were repaired, troops drilled, and more cannon mounted on the coast. The demands were reiterated, but the Neapolitan Government still refuseil. Two days later another war-ship made her way into the harbor. It was the "John Adams." When the fifth ship sailed gallandy in, the Bourbon Government seemed almost on the point of yielding ; but three days later Mr. Nelson sent word home that he was still unable to collect the bill. But the end was not yet. Three days later, and the si.xth sail showed itself on the blue waters of the peerless bay. It was the handwriting on the wall for King Bomba, and his Government announced that they would accede to the American demands. The negotiations were promptly resumed and speedily closed, the payment of the principal in installments with interest being guaranteed. Pending negotiations, from August 28 to September 1 3 the entire squadron remained in the Bay of Naples, and then the ships sailed away and separated. So, happily and bloodlessly, ended a difficulty which at one time threatened most serious results. AUSTRI.\ .VND TIIK KOSZTA CASE. Another demonstration, less imposing in numbers but quite as spirited, and, indeed, more intensely dramatic, occurred at Smyrna in 1853, when Captain Dun- can N. Ingraham, with a single sloop-of-war, trained his broadsides on a fleet of Austrian war-ships in the harbor. The episode was a most thrilling one, and "The Story of America " would indeed be incomplete were so dramatic an affair left unrecorded on its pages. And this is the record : — When the revolution of Hungary' against Austria was put down, Kossuth, Koszta. and other leading revolutionists fled to Smyrna, and the Turkish Gov- ernment, after long negotiations, refused to give them up. Koszta soon after came to the United States, and in July, 1852, declared under oath his intention of becoming an American citizen. lie resided in New York city a year and eleven months. The next year Koszta went to Smyrna on business, where he remained for a time undisturbed. He had so inflamed the Austrian Government against him, however that a plot was formed to capture him. On June 21, 1853, while he was seated on the Marina, a public resort in Smyrna, a band of Greek mercen- aries, hired by the Austrian Consul, seized him and carried him off to an Austrian ship-of-war, the Huzzar, then lying in the harbor. On board the vessel CAPTAIN INGRAHAM. 367 Archduke John, brother of the ?2mperor, was said to be in command. Koszta was put in irons and treated as a criminal. The next day an American sloop-of war, tlie 'St. Louis," commanded by Capt. Duncan N. higraham, * sailed into the harbor. Learn- ing what had happened, Capt. '' Ingraham immediately sent on board the "Huzzar" and courteously asked permission to see Koszta. His request was granted, and Captain Ingraham assured himself that Koszta was entitled to the protection of the Ameri- can flag. He demanded Koszta' s release of the Aus- trian commander. When it was refused he communi- cated with the nearest United .States official. Consul Brown, at Constantinople. While he was waiting for an answer six Austrian war-ships sailed * Duncan Nathaniel Ingraham was born December 6, 1802, at Charleston, South Carolina. He entered the United States Navy in iSi2as midshipman, and became a captain September 14, 1855. In March, 1856, lie was appointed Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hy- drography of the Navy Department, a position which he held until South Carolina passed her ordinance of secession in i860. He then resigned his commission in the navy and took service under the Confederate States. »n which he rose to the rank of ("ommodore. He died in 1891. 36S THE STORY OT AMERICA. _ int(> ihe harbor and came to aiuhor in positions near the " Huzzar." On June 29th, before Ca[)tain Ini^rahain hail received any answer from the American Consul, he noticed unusual siy;ns of activity on board the " 1 luzzar," and before \o\\<^ she beij^an to ^et under way. The American Captain made up his mind immediately, lie put the ".St. Louis" strai.L,dit in the "lluzzar's" course and cleared his j^uns for action. The "1 luzzar" hove to, and Captain Ingraham went on board and demantl(Hl the nicanini;- of the " Huzzar's " action. "We propose to sail for home," replied the Austrian. "The Consul has ordered us to take our prisoner to Austria." " \'ou will pardon me," said Captain Inj^rahaiu, " but if you attempt to leave this port with that .American on board I shall be ct)mpill(d to resort to extreme measures." The Austrian glanced arouml at the llert of .Austrian war-ships and the single .Xmcric.ui sloop-of-war. Then he smiled pleasantly, and intimated that the " I luzzar" would ilo as she pleasi-d. Captain Ingraham bowetl antl returned to the "St. Louis." He had no sooner reachetl her deck than he called out : " Clear the guns for action ! " The .Archduke of Austria saw the batteries of the "St. Louis" turned on him, and he realized that he was in the wrong. The " 1 luzzar" was put about and sailed back to her old anchorage. Word was sent to Captain Ingraham that the Austrian woulil await the arrival of the note from !\Ir. Hrown. The Consul's note, which came on July ist, commended Cajnain Ingraham's course and advised him to take whatever action he thought the situation demanded. At eight o'clock on the morning of July 2tl, Captain Ingraham sent a note to the commander of the "Huzzar," formally demanding the release of Mr. Koszta. Unless the prisoner was delivered on board the "St. Louis" before four o'clock the next afternoon, Captain Ingraham would take him from the Austrians by force. The Archduke sent back a formal refu.sal. At eight o'clock the next morning Captain Ingraham once more ordered the decks cleared for action and trained his batteries on the " Huzzar." The seven Austrian war vessels cleared their decks and put their men at the guns. At ten o'clock an Austrian officer came to Captain Ingraham and began to temporize. Cajjtain Ingraham refused to listen to him. " To avt)id the worst," he said, " I will agree to let the man be delivered to the I'rench Consul at Smyrna until you have opportunity to communicate with your Government. lUit he must be delivered there, or I will take him. I have stated the time." At twelve o'clock a boat left the " Huzzar" with Koszta in it, and an houi later the French Consul sent word that Koszta was in his keeping. Then several of the Austrian war-vessels sailed out of the harbor. Long negotiations AUSTRIA YIELDS. 369' between the two Governments followeil, and in the end Austria admitted that the United States was in the nL,dit, ami apologized. Scarcely had the plaudits which i^reeted Captain Ingraham's intrepid course died away, when, the next year, another occasion arose where our Government was ohlioed to resort to the force of arms. This time Nicaragua was the country involved. Early in June, 1854, after repeated but unsuccessful attempts at a setdement had been made by the! United States, our Government — Franklin Pierce was then President — determined to secure a settlement by appeal to arms. Various outrages, it was the contention of our Government, had been committed on the persons antl property of American citizens dwelling in^ Nicaragua. The repeated demands for redress were not complied with. Peaceful negotiations having failed, in June, 1854, with the sloop-of-war "Cyanc," was ordered to .San Juan, or Greytown, which lies on the Moscjuito to insist on favorable Commander H oil ins, proceed to the town of coast of Nicaragua, and action from the Nica- raguan Government. Captain Hollins came to anchor off the coast and phuH-d his de- mands before the authorities. He waited patiently for a response, but no satis- factory one was offered him. After waiting in vain for a number of days he made a final appeal and then proceeded to carry out instructions. On the morning of July 13th he directed his batteries' on the town of San Juan and opened fire. Until four o'clock in the afternoon the cannon poured out broadsides as fast as they could be loaded. By that time the greater part of the town had been destroyed. Then a party of marines was put on shore, and they completed the destruction of the place by burning the houses. A lieutenant of the British navy commanding a small vessel of war was in the harbor at the time. Englantl claimed a species of protectorate over the settle' ment, and the British officer raised violent protest against the action taken by America's representative. Captain Hollins, however, paid no attention to the interference and carried out his instructions. The United States Government I.ATF.ST MODEL OK GATLINC MKLD GUN. 37° THE STORY OF AMERICA. later sustained Captain Hollins in evcrythinij that he did, and England thereupon thought best to let the matter drop. In this they were unquestionably wise. At this time the United States seems to have entered upon a period of international conflict. For no sooner had the difficulties with Austria and Nicaragua been adjusted, than another war-cloud appeared on the horizon. Here again but a year from the last conflict had elapsed, for in 1855 an offense was committed against the United States by Paraguay. We now have to go back three years. In 1852 Captain Thomas J. Page,'"' commanding a small light-draught steamer, the "Water Witch," by direction of his Government started for South America to explore the river La Plata and its large tributaries, with a view to opening up commercial intercourse between the United States and the interior States of South America. We have said the expedition was ordered by our Government ; it also remains to be noted that the expedition was undertaken with the full consent and approbation of the countries having jurisdiction over those waters. Slowly, but surely, the little steamer pushed her way up the river, making soundings and charting the river as she proceeded. All went well until February i, 1855, when the first sign of trouble appeared. It was a lovely day in early summer — the summer begins in February in that latitude — and nothing appeared to indicate the slightest disturbance. The little "Water Witch" was quietly steaming up the River Parana, which forms the northern boundary of the State of Corrientes, separating it from Paraguay, when suddenly, without a moment's warning, a battery from Fort Itaparu, on the Paraguayan shore, opened fire upon the little steamer, immediately killing one of her crew who at that time was at the wheel. The "Water Witch" was not fitted for hostilities ; least of all could it assume the risk of attempting to run the batteries of the fort. Accordingly, Captain Page put the steamer about, and was soon out of range. It should here be explained that at that time President Carlos A. Lopez was the autocratic ruler of Paraguay, and that he had previously received Captain Page with every assurance of friendship. A few months previous, however, Lopez had been antagonized by the United States Consul at Ascencion, w^ho, in addition to his official position, acted as agent for an American mercantile company, of which Lopez disapproved and went so far as to break up the business of the company. He also issued a decree forbidding foreign vessels of war from navigating the Parana or any of the waters bounding Paraguay, which he clearly had no right to do, as half the stream belonged to the State bordering on the other side. * Thomas Jefferson Page was born in Virginia in 1815. He entered the navy as midshipman in October, 1827, and was promoted to a lieutenancy in June, 1S33. In September, 1855, he became a commander. In 1861, his State having: passed the ordinance of secession, he resigned from the United States Navy, joining that of the Confederate States, where he attained the rank of Commodore. THE PARAGUAYAN TROUBLE. 371 Captain Page, finding it impracticable to prosecute his exploration any further, at once returned to the United States, giving the Washington authori- ties a detailed account of the occurrence. It was claimed by our Government that the "Water Witch" was not subject to the jurisdiction of Paraguay, as the channel was the equal property of the Argentine Republic. It was further claimed that even if she were within the jurisdiction of Paraguay she was not properly a vessel of war, but a Government boat employed for scientific pur- poses. And even were the vessel suoposed to be a war vessel, it was contended that it was a gross violation of international right and courtesy to fire shot at the vessel of a friendly power without first resorting to more peaceful means. At that time William L. Marcy, one of the foremost statesmen of his day, was Secretary of State. Mr. Marcy at once wrote a strong letter to the Paraguayan Government, stating the facts of the case, declaring that the action of Paraguay in EIGHT-INCH GUN AND CARRIAGE OF THE "BALTIMORE. {Built at the li'ashiftgton Navy-Yard. 0/ Atnerican SteeL) firing upon the " Water Witch " would not be submitted to, and demanding ample apology and compensation. All efforts in this direction, however, proved fruit- less. Lopez refused to give any reparation ; and not only so, but declared no American vessel would be allowed to ascend the Parana for the purpose indicated. The event, as it became known, aroused not a little excitement ; and while there were some who "deprecated a resort to extreme measures" — a euphemistic phrase frequently resorted to by those who would neither resent an insult nor take umbrage at an intended offense — the general sentiment of the country was decidedly manifested in favor of an assertion of our rights in the premises Accordingly, President Pierce sent a message to Congress stating that a peace ful adjustment of the difficulty was impossible, and asking that he be authorized to send such a naval force to Paraguay as would compel her arbitrary ruler to give the full satisfaction demanded. To this request Congress promptly and almost unanimously gave assent, and one of the strongest naval expeditions ever fitted out by the United States up 372 THE STORY OF AMERICA. to that time was ordered to assemble at the mouth of La Plata River. The fleet was a most imposing one and comprised nineteen vessels, seven of which were steamers specially chartered for the purpose, as our largest war vessels were of too deep draught to ascend La Plata and Parana. The entire squad- ron carried 200 guns and 2500 men, and was commanded by Flag Officer^ afterward Rear Ailmiral, .Shubrick,* one of the oldest officers of our navy, and one of the most gallant men that ever trod a quarter deck. Mag Officer Shu- brick was accompanied by United States Commissioner Bowlin, to whom was intrusted negotiations for the settlement of the difficulty. Three years and eleven months had now passed since the "Water Witch " was fired upon, and President Buchanan had succeeded Franklin Pierce. The winter of 1859 was just closing in at the North ; the streams were closed by ice, and the lakes were ice-bound, Init the palm trees at the South were displaying their fresh green leaves, like so many fringed banners, in the warm tropical air when the United States scjuadron assembled at Montevideo [Montevideo]. As has been said, the force was an imposing one. There were two United States frigates, the "Sabine" and the " St. Lawrence;" two sloops-of-war, the " Falmouth " and the " Preble ; " three brigs, the " Bainbridge." the " Dolphin," and the " Perry ;" six steamers especially armed for the occasion, the " Memphis," the " Cale- donia," the "Atlanta," the "Southern Star," the " Westernport," the " M. W. Chapin," and the " Metacomet ; " two armed storeships, the "Supply" and the ''Release; " the revenue steamer, "Harriet Lane;" and, lastly, the little "Water Witch" herself no longer defenseless, but all in fighting trim for hds- tilities. On the 25th of January, 1859, within just one week of four years from the firing upon the " Water Witch," the squadron got under way and came to anchor off Ascencion, the capital of Paraguay. Meanwhile President Urquiza, of the Argentine Republic, who had offered his services to mediate the diffi- culty, had arrived at Ascencion in advance of the squadron. The negotiations were reopened, and Commissioner Bowlin made his demand for instant repara- tion. All this time Flag Officer Shubrick was not idle. With such of our vessels as were capable of ascending the river, taking them through the diffi- culties created by the currents, shoals, antl santl bars of the river, he brought ♦William Branford Shubrick was one of the most illustrious men whose name has appeared on the roll of United States naval officers. He was born in 1790; appointed midshipman United States Navy June 20, 1S06 ; joined the sloop-of-war "Wasp" 181 2; a year later was transferred to the frigate "Constellation:" aided in the capture of the British vessels " Cyane " and " Levant ; " and in 1815 was awarded a sword by his native State. In 1820 was made commander ; in 1829 commanded the "Lexington; " in 1846 commanded the Pacific squadron, and filled various prominent positions extending over a period of sixty-one years, till May 12, 1876, whe» he died. LOPEZ COMES TO TERMS. 373 them to a chosen position, where they made ready in case of necessity to open fire. The force within striking distance of Paraguay consisted of 1740 men, besides the oHicers, and 78 guns, including 23 nine-inch shell guns- and one shell gun of eleven inches. Ships and guns proved to be very strong arguments with Lopez. It did not take the Dictator-President long to see that the United States meant business, and that the time for trithng had passed and the time for serious work had indeed begun. President Lopez's cerebral processes worked with remarkable and encouraging celerity. By February 5th, within less than two weeks of the starting of the squadron from Montevideo, Commissioner Bowlin's demands were all acceded to. Ample apologies were made for firing on the " Water ONE OF THE " MIANTUNUMAH S FOUR TEN-INCH BREEl-H-LoADING RIFLES. Witch " and pecuniary compensation was given to the family of the sailor who had been killed. In addition to this, a new commercial treaty was made between the two countries, and cordial relations were fully restored between the two governments. When the squadron returned the Secretary of the Navy expressed the satisfaction of the government and the country in the follow- ing terms : — "To the zeal, energy, discretion, and courteous and gallant bearing of Flag-officer Shubrick and the officers under his command, in conducting an expedition far into the interior of a remote country, encountering not only great physical difficulties, but the fears, api)rehensions and prejudices of numerous States; and to the good conduct of the brave men under his command, is the country largely indebted, not only for the success of the enterprise, but for the friendly feeling towards the United States which now prevails in all that part of South America." 374 THE- STORY OF AMERICA. To such a happy and peaceful conclusion were our difficulties with Paraguay finally brought. A period of thirty years elapsed before any serious difficulty occurred with any foreign powers. It was in 1891 that a serious difficulty threatened to disrupt our relations with Chili and possibly involve the United States in war with that power. Happily the matter reached a peaceful settlement. In January, 1891, civil war broke out in Chili, the cause of which was a contest between the legislative branch of the government and the e.xecutive, for the control of affairs. The President of Chili, General Balmaceda, beofan to assert authority which the legislature, or " the Congressionalists," as the opposing party was called, resisted as unconstitutional and oppressive, and they accord- ingly proceeded to interfere with Balmaceda's Cabinet in its efforts to carry out the despotic will of the executive. Finally matters came to a point where appeal to arms was necessary. On the 9th of January the Congressional party took possession of the greater part of the Chilian fleet, the navy being in hearty sympathy with the Congression- alists, and the guns of the war-ships were turned against Balmaceda, Valparaiso, the capital, and other ports being blockaded by the ships. For a time Balma- ceda maintained control of the capital and the southern part of the country. The key to the position was Valparaiso, which was strongly fortified, Balma- ceda's army being massed there and placed at available points. At last the Congressionalists determined to attack Balmaceda at his capital, and on August 2 1 st landed every available fighting man at their disposal at Concon, about ten miles north of Valparaiso. They were attacked by the Dic- tator on the 2 2d, there being twenty thousand men on each side. The Dictator had the worst of it. Then he rallied his shattered forces, and made his last stand at Placillo, close to Valparaiso, on the 28th. The battle was hot, the car- nage fearful ; neither side asked or received quarter. The magazine rifles, with which the revolutionists were armed, did wonders. The odds were against Balmaceda ; both his generals quarreled in face of the enemy ; the army marched against the foe divided and demoralized. In the last battle both Balmaceda's generals were killed. The valor and the superior tactics of General Canto, leader of the Congressional army won the day. Balmaceda fled and eventually com mitted suicide, and the Congressionalists entered the capital in triumph. Several incidents meantime had conspired, during the progress of this war, to rouse the animosity of the stronger party in Chili against the United States. Before the Congressionalists' triumph the steamship Itata, loaded with American arms and ammunition for Chili, sailed from San Francisco, and as this was a violation of the neutrality laws, a United States war vessel pursued her to the harbor of Iquique, where she surrendered. Then other troubles arose. Our minister at Valparaiso, Mr. Egan, was charged by the Congressionalists, now AMERICAN SEAMEN ATTACKED. 375 in power, with disregarding international law in allowing the American Legation to become an asylum for the adherents of Balmaceda. Subsequently these refugees were permitted to go aboard American vessels and sail away. Then Admiral Brown, of the United States squadron, was, in Chili's opinion, guilty of having acted as a spy upon the movements of the Congressionalists' fleet at Ouinteros, and of brinmno;- intelligence of its movements to Bal- maceda at Valparaiso. This, however, the Admiral stoutly denied. AN ATTACK UPON AMERICAN SEAMEN. The strong popular feeling of dislike which was engendered by this news culminated on the 1 6th of October, in an attack upon American seamen by a mob in the streets of the Chilian capital. Captain Schley, com- mander of the United States cruiser, B a 1 1 i- more, had griven shore- leave to a hundred and UNITED STATES 12-INCH BREECH-LOADING MORTAR, OR HOWITZER. seventeen petty officers and seamen, some of whom, when they had been on shore for several hours, were set upon by Chilians. They took refuge in a street car from which, however, they were soon driven and mercilessly beaten, and a subordinate officer named Riggen fell, apparently lifeless. The American sailors, according to Captain Schley's testimony, were sober and conducting themselves with propriety when the attack was made. They were not armed, even their knives having been taken from them before they left the vessel. The assault upon those in the street car seemed to be only a signal for a general uprising ; and a mob which is variously estimated at from one thousand to two thousand people attacked our sailors with such fury that in a little while these men, whom no investigation could find guilty of any breach of the peace were fleeing for their lives before an overwhelming crowd, among which were ? 376 THE STORY OF AMERICA. number of the police of V'alparaiso. In this atiVay eighteen sailors were stabbed, several dying from their wounds. Of course, the United States Government at once communicated with the Chilian authorities on the subject, expressing an intention to investigate the occurrence fully. The first reply made to the American Government by Signor Matta, the Chilian Minister of Foreign Affairs, was to the effect that Chili would not allow anything to interfere with her own official investigation. An examination of all the facts was made on our part. It was careful and thorough, and showed that our flag had been insulted in the persons of American seamen. Yet, while the Chilian Court of Inquiry could present no extenuating facts, that country refused at first to offer apology or reparation for the affront. In the course of the correspondence Minister Matta sent a note of instruc- tion to Mr. Montt, Chilian representative at Washington, in which he used most offensive terms in relation to the United States, and directed that the letter be given to the press for publication. After waiting for a long time for the result of the investigation at \'alpa- raiso, and finding that, although no excuse or palliation had been found for the outrage, yet the Chilian authorities seemed reluctant to offer apology, the Presi- dent of the United States, in a message to Congress, made an extended state- ment of the various incidents of the case and its legal aspect, and stated that on the 2 1 St of January he had caused a peremptory communication to be presented to the Chilian Government, by the American Minister at Santiago, in which severance of diplomatic relations was threatened if our demands for satisfac- tion, which included the withdrawal of Mr. Matta's insulting note, were not complied witli. At the time that this message was delivered no reply had been sent to this note. Mr. Harrison's statement of the legal aspect of the case, upon which the final settlement of the difficulty was based was, that the presence of a war-ship of any nation in a port belonging to a friendly power is by virtue of a general invitation which nations are held to extend to each other ; that Commander Schley was invited, with his officers and crew, to enjoy the hospitalit}' of \'alpa- raiso ; that while no claim that an attack wliich an individual sailor may be subjected to raises an international question, yet where the resident population assault sailors of another country's war vessels, as at \'alparaiso, animated by an animosity against the government to which they belong, that government must show the same enquiry and jealousy as though the representatives or flag of the nation had been attacked ; because the sailors are there by the order of their government. Fmally an ultimatum was sent from the State Department at Washington, on the 25th, to Minister Egan, and was by him transmitted to the proper Chilian authorities. It demanded the retraction of Mr. Matta's note and suit MATTA'S IMPUDENT LETTER. 2,77 able ,'ipology and reparation for the insult and injury sustained by the United States. On the 28th of January, 1892, a dispatch from Chili was received, in which the demands of our Government were fully acceded to, the offensive letter was withdrawn and regret was expressed for the trouble. In his relation to this particular case Minister Egan's conduct received the entire approval of his Government. While the United States looked for a peaceful solution of this annoying international episode, the proper preparations were made for a less desirable HAUl'ER b htRRY. outcome. Our naval force was put in as efficient a condition as possible, and the vessels which were then in the navy yard were gotten ready for service with all expedition. If the Chilian war-scare did nothing else, it aroused a whole- some interest in naval matters throughout the whole of the United States, and by focusing attention upon the needs of this branch of the public service, showed at once how helpless we might become in the event of a war with any first-class power. We can thank Chili that to-day the United States Navy, while far from being what it should be, is in a better condition than at any time in our history. 24 p & w 37« DIFFICULTIES WITH FOREIGN POWERS. MONROE DOCTRINE. When the great Napoleon was overthrown, France, Russia, Prussia and Austria formed an aUiance for preserving the "balance of power" and for sup- pressing revolutions within one another's dominions. This was at the time the Spanish Soutli American colonies were in revolt, and there was a strong suspicion that the alliance intended to unite in their reduction. George Canning, the English Secretary of State, proposed to our country that we should unite with England in preventing such an outrage against civilization. It was a momentous question, and President Monroe consulted with Jefferson, Madison, Calhoun, and John Quincy Adams, the Secretary of State, before making answer. The decision being reached, President Monroe embodied in his annual message to Congress in December, 1823, a clause which formulated what has ever since been known as the " Monroe Doctrine." It was written by John Quincy Adams, and, re- ferring to the intervention of the allied Powers, said that we "should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety ; " and further, " that the American conti- nents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European Powers." BEHRING SEA TROUBLE. Since the purchase of Alaska it has been difficult to come to an agreement with England upon the water territory over which the United States has jurisdic- tion, to prevent the hunters from slaughtering the animals out of season (from May 1st to July ist), and to exclude Canadian fishermen from American waters. We maintained that the islands we acquired with Alaska pushed our borders ifar out into the ocean, and gave us authority to claim Behring Sea as inland, but this was ruled against us by a " Fisheries Commission " appointed by the gov- ernments of the United States and Great Britain to decide that question, and to setde claims against fishermen sealing in the waters of the neighboring nation ALASKA DISPUTE. It is the Southerly branch of Alaska which presents serious difficulties between the United States and Great Britam. When the United States bought Alaska from Russia it was stipulated that the Southerly boundry be thirty miles from the coast until the line reaches the 141st meridian. So far as the line can be definitely fixed, it begins at the southernmost point of Prince of Wales Island. The treaty signed on January 30th, 1897, applies only to that of the 141st meridian in the northerly part of Alaska. Until a treaty determining where the coast is from which the thirty mile strip is measured, it is felt that the most difficult questions are still unsettled. The main point involved is whether the boundry is to be measured from the mainland or from the outer fringe of islands along the coast. It is a repetition of the old contest over a closed sea, or mare clausum, which broucrhton the dispute referred to the Fisheries Commission. CHAPTER XX. ARCTIC ADVENTURERS. the earliest adventurers who first brought the news of Polar seas and Arctic cold to the wonder seeking world of Europe we have not the space to speak. Neither can we dwell upon the trials and triumphs of the adventurous Cabots, devoted Cor- tereals, Frobisher, Willoughby, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Barentz, Hudson or Baffin, who have all associated their names with the frozen regions of the North. Behring and the Russian explorers. Van Wrangel and Anjou, have written their records in the illimitable solitudes of ice. British heroes, Ross and Parry, Buchan and Franklin, as well as other later but not less noble Englishmen! have shown to what lengths men may go when actuated by the call of duty or the summons of a great idea. But with Frenchman, Hollander, Russian or Englishman we must have little to do in this chapter. Sir John Franklin sailed from the Thames on his last voyage on the 9th of May, 1845. His two ships, the " Erebus " and "Terror," were provisioned for three years. On the 26th of July of that year they were seen by a whaler, moored to an iceberg, waiting for an opening in the ice field to advance into Baffin s Bay ; they were then two hundred and ten miles from the entrance to Lancaster sound. Towards the close of 1847 an.xiety in England beo-an to grow concernmg the fate of the gallant Franklin and his comma'nd, and shordy three relief or search expeditions were sent out by the British government to try to obtam news of him. These were unsuccessful but were followed by others, some fitted up by private individuals and some by the government. Lady Frankhn did much to keep the search alive, but to no purpose. » THE FATE OF .^IR JOHN FRANKLIN. The fate of the intrepid Englishman was only known after years of careful search, and was learned little by little, hints and clues being fitted together till the oudine of the pitiful story of disaster and failure could be read. From the time that the " Erebus" and " Terror" entered the narrow seas ov^' 379 38o THE SrJRY OF AMERICA. which the tj^rim sentinel bergs stood guard till the latter vessel was nipped in the grinding floe, the peril was unremitting. No sadder sight can we imagine than the lonely graves that mark the desolate shores of Beechy Island ; no more disappointing search than that for the lost records has ever been made. Such men as Ross, Richardson, Collinson, Rae, Killett and McClure, in these unsuccessful efforts, added lustre to the Anglo-Saxon name. The English expeditions, though coming short of success, were not entirely ■without result. Captains Austin and Penny discovered Franklin's winter quar-' ters on Beechy Island, in the winter of 1S45-46, but found no clue to his direction upon breaking camp. 1 )r. Rae brought home tidings also, and even discovered and obtained from the Esquimo, a number of Franklin relics. It is a noteworthy fact that Franklin added more to the world's knowledge of Arctic lands and seas by his death than he could have accomplished by his life, since a large proportion of the work done in that direction in the last half century has been in the course of efforts to discover the records of his last voyage. DR. K.\NE AND THE GRINNEI.L EXrEDITION. The first of American explorers to join in the Franklin search was Elisha Kent Kane. His vessel, the "Advance," of 120 tons, was fitted up at the expense of Henry Grinnell and George Peabody, first in 1S50. He reached Beechy Island and assisted in the search for Franklin records at the camp already mentioned, but returned without wintering. Later, in 1833, Dr. Kane once more sailed for .Smith's Sound, from New York. It was on the last day of May that he left and .August found him ice-locked in .Smith's Sound, in 78°45' North, only about seventeen miles from the entrance. He wintered in Van Renssellaer Harbor. Though greatly hampered by sickness and want his party made a number of discoveries, that of the Humboldt Glacier being one of these. Traveling parties and even single individuals made excursions from the brig, and among these we must mention Morton, Pr. Kane's steward, who crossed the glacier with a dog team. After a second winter in the now unseaworthy brig, a winter that tried the souls of the brave litde party that was sheltered there, — when cold, hunger and scurvy failed to subdue the indomitable courage and cheerfulness of the leader or his men, — the vessel that had come to be so much Mike home to them was abandoned to her fate and a masterly retreat commenced. With sledges and boats Dr. Kane conducted his command, the well helping the sick. Only one man died on the way to the Danish setdement of Upernevic, the most northerly habitation of civilized man in the world. All the records and instruments were saved, though the perilous journey led over pack and tloe, glacier and hummock ice. Lieutenant Hartstene was sent in search of Dr. Kane's party, but reached \'an Renssellaer harbor too late, overtaking the explorer, however, on !Ty^-% W} ,KA SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 2. THE "EREBUS" AND "TERROR" ENTERING THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 3. WINTER QUARTERS IN 1845-6. 4. THE "EREBUS" AND "TERROR" AMONG ICEBERGS. 5. " TERROR " NIPPED IN THE ICE. 581 FRANKLINS THE 382 THE STORY OF AMERICA. his return trip. Kane's expedition, though not a success so far as the finding of Franklin was concerned, was yet of great benefit to science, since he added new lands to oeography, ami completer physical observations than any explorer had previously done ; besitles this his valuable notes of the Etah Esquimo have been of benefit to all succeeding travelers in the frozen North. PR. II AVFS DISCOVERS GRINXELL I..\Nn. D. J. J. Hayes, Kane's surgeon, was the first white man to put foot on Grinnell Land. During one part of the sojourn in \'an Renssellaer Bay, K.-VNt. AMI lili ^oMl'ANJONi IN IIILIK. VUjjtL. Hayes took a party, and started southward to Upernevic, which, however, he did not reach, and finally returned, almost dead with fatigue, exposure, and hunger, to his chief, who received him with great kindness, though die attempt to leave the main party was unauthorized. Later, lL\yes led a separate expedition to die Arctic regions, sailing from Boston for Smith's Sound, in the schooner " United States," in July of i860. THE CREW OF THE "JEANNETTE" LEAVING IN BOATS. 384 THE STORY OF AMERICA. Following up the line of research commenced by Dr. Kane, he proceeded to Port Foulke, where he wintered in 78° 17' North Lat. One of his most note- worthy exploits was crossing Smith's Sound in sledges. Another remarkable American explorer was Charles Hall, of Cincinnati, whose first voyage was made in i860. He was a man of humble origin, who had made his own way and devoted himself, his money, and his intellect to the search for P'ranklin, with the purest enthusiasm. His first find was the stone house built by Martin Frobisher on the Countess of Warwick Island. Hall's second expedition was the one most generally known. Begun in 1864, it lasted until 1869, and by the exercise of patience, endurance, and pertinacity seldom equaled, the searcher finally was rejoiced to find the line of Franklin's retreat at Todd's Island and Peffer River, on the south coast of King William Land. Then he learned from the Esquimo the sad story of the wreck of one of the vessels, and that seven bodies were buried at Todd's Island. He brought home the bones of one, supposed to be Lieutenant le Vescount. THE DEATH OF CAPT.UN HALL. Again, in 1871, Hall made his third and, as it proved, his last voyage in the " Polaris." He penetrated 250 miles to the northward of Smith's Sound and was ice-locked on the 30th of August of that year in 82° 16' North. The following winter he spent at a spot called Thank God Bay, a degree further south than his farthest point. While the "Polaris" was ice-locked there. Hall suddenly died and the captain, Budington, prepared to abandon her. While his preparations were being made, and during the time that some of the party were out upon the ice with a quantity of provisions, the vessel broke away, and those upon the ice made one of the most remarkable journeys on record, being rescued only after they had drifted two thousand miles on the floe. While these voyages were being made, Robert Brown, Captain Nares, Nordenskiold, Sir Henry Gore, Booth, Markham, and many other noted foreigners were adding to their fame in the Frigid Zone. Nordenskiold discovered the Northeast passage, that had been the dream of Navigators for more than three centuries. In 1879 Lieutenant Schwatka headed an expedition from the United States, his object being_ to explore thoroughly the west coast of King William's Land in search of Franklin's records. He wintered in Hudson Bay, near Chesterfield inlet. This expedition was from the outset remarkable for one fact, that it was the first that had subsisted upon the game of the country. The traveling was all by land, or rather ice. and was accomplished without regard to weather or temperature. From the winter camp, overland for the estuary of the great Fish River, Schwatka started in the early spring of 1S79, 386 THE STOKV OF AMIiKICA. with only one month's provisions. The complete record of this expedition, as told by Mr. Gilder, the second in command, is full of interest. The search over the jjjround where the survivors of the Franklin party had been traced was minute. Escjuimo witnesses were examined, and every cairn, every heap of stones was scrutinized, till at length the inevitable conclusion was forced upon them that the Franklin records were lost forever. Durino- the search the grave of an ofticer of the "Terror" was discovered and identified by the clothing and trinkets. This was Lieutenant Irving, the third officer of the ill-fated vessel. THE "JEANNETTe" AND HER COMMANDER. The "Jeannette" left San Francisco on July 8, 1879, with Captain De Long in command. Her crew numbered thirty-three men. She was put into the ice pack in two months from the time of her departure and frozen in before the end of November. For two years her people supported the hardships and deprivations of Arctic winters, and at last, in June, 1S81, the "Jeannette" sank. Then began a long, perilous and ill-fated retreat, of which the interesting record is to be found in the journal of the unfortunate Commander. It is a story of heroic endeavors to cross the ice fields, from the time when the loaded boats left the sinking "Jeannette " to the hour when the hanil of the WTiter could no longer hold his pencil. In many respects the narrative of cold and fog, of refractory dogs, broken sledges, sudden immersions and disastrous losses is much like those of other explorers of the Frozen Zone. But its pathos is deeper, because its record of unwavering courage and manliness is sq. abundant. Vet sometimes De Long uttered a note of regret, as when he 'Wrttes, on July 4, '81: "Our flags are flying in honor of the day, though to me it is a blue one. Three years ago to-day, at Havre, the 'Jeannette' was christened, and many pleasant things were said and anticipations formed, all of which have gone down with the ship. I did not think then that three years afterwards would see us all out on the ice with nothing accomplished and a story of a lost ship to come back to our well- wishers at home. My duty to those who came with me is to see them safely back, and to devote all my mind and strength to that end. '^ * * I must endeavor to look my misfortune in the face and to learn what its application may be. It will be hard, however, to be known hereafter as a man who under- took a polar expedition and sunk his ship in the seventy-seventh parallel." But the " nothing accomplished" was changed to rejoicing on the 29th of that same month, when, after a most critical journey over rough and broken ice, battling almost constantlv with an impenetrable fog, he used a piece of floe ice for a ferr)- boat and from this strange craft landed on the shore of an island hitherto undiscovered. In the journal he records his address to the men ol his command. THE GREELY EXPEDITION. 1^7 " I have to announce to you that this island, toward which we have been struggling for more than two weeks, is newly discovered land. I therefore take possession of it in the name of the President of the U. S., and name it Bennett Island." Upon the Northern coast of the mainland of Siberia, after untold hardships, De Long landed and then perished. , The "Jeannette" expedition was planned and financially backed by James Gordon Bennett, but it had been adopted and made national by an Act of Con- gress, so that the obligation to find and rescue, if possible, those who had' survived the sinking of the vessel was imperative. After the separation of the boats, which occurred before reaching the mainland, Lieutenant Melville with part of the crew reached Irkutsch, and as soon as practicable he set out in search of De Lono;. On March 23,1883, the body of the latter, to- gether with two of his men, was found. They had perished from starvation. Two steamers w e re sent in search of the " [eannette " party from the United States; one of these, the "Rodgers," un- der Lieutenant Berry, was burned in her winter quarters north of Wrangell Land, after doing excellent work in exploration, having reached the highest point ever attained on that meridian. One of the officers, Mr. Gilder, made a hazardous home journey through Siberia. A suggestion was made, in 1875, by Lieutenant Weyprecht, a German, to establish an international system of polar stations for synchronous meteorological and magnetic observations and records. Weyprecht died too soon to see his plan carried into effect, but, later, eight nations agreed to follow it, and among these was our own. On June 14, 1881. the Lady Franklin Bay expedition, usually known as the Greely expedition, sailed from Baltimore by way of St. John's, Newfoundland, for Smith's Sound. Lieutenant Greely was in command, and second to him was the lamented Lieutenant Lockwood, while Dr. Pavey was the physician of the A KUNERAI. IN HIE AKCTIi: REGIONS. 388 THE STORY OF AMERICA. party. They proceeded with a lull corps of nn-n, on the steamer " Protean," to Lady Franklin Hay, where, rtndini^ the season exceptionally favorable, a house was built, in which they stored two years' provisions. The threat and fatal mistake of the Government in regard to this expedition was tiic failure to provide an intermediate supply station wiiich couKl be visited by vessels from the South, and to whicli the voyagers might retreat in case of iuhhI. I'rom the start two regular sets of observations were made and the scientific work of the party, which was preserved through all the subsequent disasters and hazards, was pertectly successful. History does not present a more heroic story than that of the continuance of the work of observation, when disease and famine had reduced the strength of the i)arty so that the living were not able always to bury the dead, and the gaunt, haggard forms of the survivors staggered to their work till the last vestige of strength had utterly failed. The soldier who stands to his gun through the hot climax of some terrific battle does not achieve such a triumphant mastery over defeat as did the heroes of Cape Sabine. At first all went well. Some brilliant work was done. Dr. Pavey with one companion made a northward excursion that will be ever memorable, and tew inembers of the command failed to distinguish themselves by pluck, endurance and devoti'd fidelity to comrades. Put the crowning success of the expedition, so far as the work of exploration went, was made by Lieutenant Lockwood. He made a journey along tlie north coast of Greenland, establishing new lines upon that hitherto unchartered waste, and then, turning his sledges north- ward still fiirther, reached a small island in 83° 24' N. where he unfurled the glorious stars and stripes in the highest latitude until then reached by a human being. Dr. Nansen, a Norwegian, in 1895, left his boat the " Fram " bound in the ice. and by canoe, on April 7th, reached latitude 86° 14' N. within 225 miles of the Pole, and nearly 200 miles beyond the point reached by Lockwood in 18S2. After the return of Lockwood and Prainanl with their part>', great hard- ships overtook the Greely command In the summer of 1SS3 the expected help di(.l not arrive, relieving vessels failing to reach diem. Falling back upon Cape Sabine in Smith's Sound, which they reached in August of 1SS3, they subsisted for a little while upon the stores left there by Sir George Xares and then began to give way to that most dreadful enemy, famine. When at length the steamers "Thetis" antl " Pear" arrived and the gallant commander Schley completed the long attempted rescue, only Lieutenant Greely and six companions were left alive, anti these were helplessly awaiting the death they had faced so long. Reverently the American reads the recor^l of their daring and suffering, and pays the tribute of admiration both to the few survivors and the many for whom the relief came too late. PLACES OF WORSHIP IN NEW YORK IN 1742. i.Luiherau. ». French. 3, Trinity. 4. New Dutch. 5. Old Dutch. 6. Prcabyteriau. 7. BaptJi>t. 8. Quaker 9 Syoagi CHAPTKR XXI. RELIGION UNDER NEW CONDITIONS. ^^ "^ HE physical and social conditions by which the early settlers of this '*^i; country were environed after reaching- it were hardly more diverse from those to which they had been accustomed than were the new conditions of their religious life. The tendency of their sur- roundings, however clear or vague to their apprehension, was, it is now evident, toward the development of an order of things in their communides akin to, if not identical with, the primitive Hebrew commonwealth. Absolute equality of religious relations among the individuals of the nation was a cardinal principle in the genius ot that common- wealth, but the conception of the principle, along with any grasp of what it involved, had lapsed from the minds of most men in Europe before the discovery of America, — where, as is [ilain enough in our day, it is ultimately to have such illustration as the world has not yet seen. The seeds for its growdi came to these shores with some of the settlers, and a survey of facts will emphasize the statement. Protestant Episcopalianism, known in America prior to the American Revolu- tion as die "Church of England," was established in Virginia as early as 1686, its first rector in America being the Rev. Robert Hunt .Sir Huniijhrey Gilbert, of England (i 539-1583), was the first direct his atiendon to this country from religious considerations, and when ihc Virginia Company obtained its charter one of its articles provided for the "preaching of the true Word and tiie praise of God," not only in the American colonies, but as far as possible among the savages bordering upon them. The Rev. Mr. Whitaker succeeded Rector Hunt, and was denominated the "Aposde of Virginia." He was the first Protestant who baptized an Indian con i rt, and that convert was Pocahontas, daughter of the Chief, Powhatan. In 1787 the American Episcopal Church became independent of the English, antl assumed the name of The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, — Rev. Dr. Wi)'>am White, of Philadelphia, 389 390 THE SrORY OF AMERICA. Pa., and Rev. Dr. Samuel Provost, of New York city, its first bishops,* being conse cratctl as such by the Archbishop of Canterbury, at Lambeth Palace the archicpiscopal residence in London, EnglanLl, February 4, of that year. Next in order of time came hither the English Pilgrims, Puritans, and Congrvgationaiisfs. Tluir story is well known. The Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, in the present State of Massachusetts, and held their first religous services on Sabbath, December 22, 1620, the number of their churches in the world at that date, which can now be identified, being not more than five or six. In 1629 a church was organized at Salem, Mass., one at Charlestown, in 1630; another at Duxbury, in 1632, and others still, soon after, in Connec- ticut. By the census of 1890 the num- ber of Congregational organizations in the United States was 4857, with church property in the denomination valued at $43,243,962, and a member- ship of 5 1 1 , 1 98 persons. Thin.1 in order of arrival were the Lutherans, the earliest settlement of the denomination being made by emi- grants from Holland to New York soon after the first establishment of the Dutch in that city, in 1621. They did not enjoy the services of a pastor of their own faith until after the colony fell into the hands of the English in 1 664. In 1 63S emigrants from Sweden founded a Lutheran church at the present Wilmington, Del. In iS90the Lutheran Communion in the United States had 8427 organizations or con- gregations, with 6559 ciuirch edifices ; its church property was valued at $34,218,234, and its communicants numbered 1,199,514. The first of the American Reformed Protestant Dutch churches (known since 1S67 as The First Reformed Church in America) was gathered in New York city in 1628. The minister was Rev. Jonas Michaelius, and the Dutch language was exclusively used in their churches until 1764, when Rev. Archibald Laidlie, a Scotch minister from Flushing, in Holland, connected himself with the BlBl.E BROUGHT OVER IN THE " MAYFLOWER " IN I'lLCRlM lIAll., NKW ri.YMOlMll. * The consecration of Bishop Samuel Seabury by Episcopal bishops at .Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1784, was lor " the churches of the Episcopal persuasion in Connecticut, in North America." NUMERfCAL STRENGTH OF THE SECTS. 391 Dutch Church, was invited to New York, and there commenced services '1.1 the EngHsh ton<,fue. The returns of the eleventh (1890) United States census give the Reformed Dutch Church in th(' country 572 organizations; value of church property, )ji 1 0,340, 159 ; members, 92,970. The history of the Roman Catholic Clmrch in the United States properly begins with the settlement of Maryland by a colony of Catholics and Protestants, under the auspices of Lord Hallimore. These pt'ojjle located at St. Mary's, Md., in 1634. In 1890 this denomination of Christians had within the limits of the United States 10,221 organizations or congregations, 8766 houses of worship,, valued at jj^i 18,381,516, and 6,250,045 communicants. The Associated Baptists followed next, Rev. Roger Williams, who had been, assistant preacher to the Congregational Church at .Salem, Mass., going to the present Providence, R. I., after his final banishment from the Massachusetts Colony (1635), '1''"^ forming there the first Baptist church in America, in 1639. A second Baptist church organization was effected at Newport, R. I., in 1644. As early as 1640 Irish Presbyterians came to this country, but accredited historians of the denomination are chary of statement as to the time of the organization of the earliest Presbyterian Church in America. Authority, how- ever, establishes the fact that in 1683 Rev. Francis Mackemie came from the North of Ireland and began to gather the people at Rehoboth, in Maryland, and elsewhere, into Presbyterian churches, the first Presbytery being formed of seven, ministers, at Philadelphia, Pa., in 1705. The church at Jamaica, L. I., organized in 1662, claims to have been Presbyterian in polity at the date of its formation. The organizations of the Presbyterian Church in the United States in 1890 are reported from the Census Office as 6717; value of church property as 174,445,200; members, 788,224. Methodist Episcopal classes in America were founded by Philip ICmbury, — . the first in New York city, in 1766. The earliest Methodist preaching-place was. dedicated on John .Street in that city, in 1 768. Two years later the first Metho- dist church edifice in Philadelphia, Pa., was built. December 25, 1784, at Baltimore, Md., si.xty Methodist clergymen met in General Conference and formally constituted The Methodist Episcopal Clmrch in the Utiited States. This body of Christians had in the United States, by the census of 1890, 25,863. organizations; church property valued at jji86,7 18,808, and 2,229,281 members. Concerning each of these sects, which have been the most prominent of :hooe in the United States, — although in a qualified sense as to some of them, — and, in general, of all immigrants who have come to the United States or its Territories, two things of cardinal importance are to be observed in any adequate view of the subject of this chapter. The first is, that they came to Ami-rica from countries where the union of Church and State, the possession and use of power witiiin the Church by the civil trovernment, and the allowance 392 THE STORY OF AMERICA. to the State of mat power within the Church, by the Church itself, in return for benefits received, — with the more or less frequent and large use of power •n civil affairs by the Church itself — prevailed in greater or in less degree. Another fact not to be lost sight of is that most of them came, and come in our day, from lands where they had always felt the dominant authority of a hierarchy or priesthood, in things spiritual, and not seldom in things secular, as an element the activity of which was unremitting. It has well been said that only in the Jnitcd States of America has the experiment ever been tried (and it began here ivith the coming of the early setders) of applying Christianity to man and to society without the intervention of the State, and with a continually lessening power, among the clergy, of imposing their will either upon the Church or upon individuals within the Church. This has made the history of the Christian Church within the United States, more emphatically, of course, in some regions than in others, — but yet within all regions, — a history with such peculiarities as these: " i. its history is not the record of the conversion of a new people, but •of the transplanting of old races, already Christianized, to a new theatre, com- paratively untrammeled by institutions and traditions ; 2. independence of the civil power; 3. the voluntary principle applied to the support of religious insti- j m tutions ; 4. moral and ecclesiastical, but ;;;^^;^;;^p;j;;;;:^ not civil power the means of retaining the CHURCH SPIKES OF NKw YORK IN .746. Hiembers of auy communion ; 5. develop- ment of the Christian Church in its prac- tical and moral aspects rather than in its theoretical and theological ; 6. stricter discipline in the churches than is practicable when Church and State are one ; 7. increase of the churches to a considerable extent throucrh revivals of religfion atlier than bv the natural growth of children in an establishment ; 8. excessive multiplication of sects and division on questions of moral reform." * Such has been the tendency of things in this section of the New World from the outset of its setdement by the whites, and if any of the American ■colonies, for instance that of die Massachusetts Bay, founded their social fabric on the theory of uniting Church and State, or, to speak with precision, by making the Church the State, the attempt was abortive, and in its issue sustained the statements now made. It will assuredly prove interesting to observe the working of these new conditions in certain outer aspects of religious lite and e.xperience. Those aspects were not, indeed, directly or solely the fruit of the conditions to which we have referred. Many other conditions conspired with these to produce them, such as the antecedent experience of the settlers in Europe, the '.i.ntamed Nature that was around them, the perils and exposure incident to pioneer * Professor Henry B. Smith: Tables of Church History. PHASES OF RELIGIOUS LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND. 393 life, aggravated by the proximity, and often by the hostility, of the Indians, lords of the soil before the seventeenth century. But a prime fact in this connection is that in large portions of the country the resultant of the influences that moulded the religious life of the early setders was to impart to its spirit a quality of grimness that was almost sombre. This was especially true of the New England setdements, although it is not true to the extent which has ordinarily been alleged. But it existed in New England beyond any other part of the^ colonies, and the confirmation of the statement is not far to find in more than one direction. As this appeared in the social life of New England communities, one may come near toward gauging it by the influence it had upon the observance of the Sabbath. Very much has been said concerning what have been styled the " blue laws" of the New Haven Colony, founded in 1638, and the three that follow have been most bitterly ridiculed : — " No one shall travel, cook victuals, make beds, sweep house, cut hair, or shave on the Sabbith Day. " No woman shall kiss her child on the Sabbath or fasting day. " No one shall ride on tiie Sabbath Day, or walk in his garden, or elsewhere, except reverently to and from meeting." But since these '• laws," so-called, had no existence in any New England code, colonial or other, but are merely citations from a " General History of Connecticut," printed in England, in 1781, by the Rev. Samuel A. Peters, some- time Tory rector of the Episcopal churches at Hartford and at Hebron, in that Colony, after he had been forced to fly from America to England, in which work he poured out the vials of his wrath upon the land from which he had taken his departure, it does not seem worth one's while to dwell upon them. It is not, however, to be gainsaid that among the Puritans in early New England the personal conduct of cidzens upon the Sabbath was subject to judicial supervision and animadversion, to such a degree that the suggesdon of its imitadon in our day would be almost universally regarded as imperdnence. This was so not only in Connecticut and Massachusetts, but in other New England Provinces and States. In New London, Connecdcut, during the latter part of the seventeenth century, we find that a " wicked* fisherman " was prose- cuted before the Court and fined for catching fish on the "Lord's Day," while another was fined 20 s. for sailing a boat on the same day. In 1670, at the same place, two lovers, John Lewis and Sarah Chapman, were tried for sitdng together on the " Lord's Day" under an apple tree in Goodman Chapman's orchard, an act not violently unnatural, and surely, in itself considered, without harm. In Plymouth, Massachusetts, a man was sharply whipped for shooting fowl on Sunday ; another man was fined for carrying home a grist of corn on the " Lord's Day," and the miller who allowed him to take it was also fined. Elizabeth 25 p & w 394 THE STORY Ot AMERICA. Eddy, of die same town, was fined, in 1652, "ten shillings for wringing and hanging out clodies." A, Plymoudi, Massachusetts, man, for attending to his tar-pits on die Sabbath, was set in the stocks. James Watt, in 1685, was publicly reproved "for writing a note about common business on the Lord's Day, ^', least in the evening someivhat too soon." A Plymouth, Massachusetts, man, .vho drove a yoke of oxen, was " presented " before the Court, as was also anoiiier offender who drove some cows a short distance " without need " on the Sr -bath. In Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1646, Aquila Chase and his wife were . resented and fined for gathering peas from their garden on the Sabbath, but jpon investigation thcj fines were remitted, and the offenders were only admon- ished. In Wareham, Massachusetts, in 1772, William Estis acknowledged himself guilty of " racking hay on the Lord's Day" and was fined ten shillings; and in 1774 another Wareham citizen, "for a breach of the Sabbath in puling apples," was fined five shillings. A Dunstable, Massachusetts, soldier, for "wetting a piece of an old hat to put in his shoe " to protect his foot, — for doing this piece of heavy work on the " Lord's Day " was fined, and paid, forty shillings. And Captain Kemble, of Boston, Massachusetts, was, in 1656, set for two hours in the town stocks, for his " lewd and unseemly behavior," which consisted in kissing his wiU-, " publicquely," on the Sabbath Day, upon the doorstep of his house, when he Iiad just returned from a voyage and absence of three years. Similar citations might be multiplied, but this topic may be dismissed by a quotation from another author, who says, truly : " The legislation thrown about the Sabbath was in confirmation of the public opinion regarding its sanctity. The harsher aspects of this observance have been sufficiendy dwelt on in our histories; the effect upon character has been less considered, but the elevation of one day out of the tyranny of work, the resolute facing of eternal mysteries, and the with- drawal into a half-brooding, half-active state of mind, must have had a powerful effect upon llie imagination and conscience. The " meeting-house " was no holy building, but the Sabbath Day was a holy day, and was the most comprehensive symbol of the Puritan faith. It was what the altar is in the Catholic Church, the holy of holies, about which the whole movement of religious worship gathered. Whatever disturbed the profound stillness of the day was seized on by the law as sacrilegious ; and never, perhaps, has there been a religion which succeeded so completely in investing time with the sacredness which elsewhere had been appropriated by place. Even the approach to the Sabbath was guarded? and the custom of the observance of Saturday evening appears to have been derived from the backward influence of the day. as the release upon Sunday evening appears to have been a concession to the flesh, which would otherwise have rebelled. Rev. Dr. Horace Bushntll, in his " Age of Homespun," tells of his own experi- ence in boyhood, when he was refused a load of apples which he had gone to buy THE PURITAN MINISTER. 395 on Saturday afternoon, because the farmer, on consulting the sun, decided that he could not measure out the fruit before the strict Sabbath began ! '^ A strong factor, not only in enforcing this observance of the Sabbath, but in fashioning the whole religious character and life of the New England Colonists, was the Puritan minister. The reach of his influence, and the extcMit to which it was employed by the Puritan minister, take on a grotesque air to modern contemplation, — earnest, pure and noble men, as most of the ministers certainly were, zealous tor every enterprise that they believed would promote the common weal, however toilsome, or involving whatever degree of self-sacrifice. Thus, one minister felt it necessary to reprove a money-making parishioner who had stored and was holding in reserve (with the hope of higher prices) a large quantity of corn, which was sadly needed for consumption in the town. The parson preached from the appropriate text, Provci-bs xi, 26: " He that withholdeth his corn, the people shall curse him ; but blessings shall be upon the head of him that selleth it." As the minister grew warmer in his explanation and application of the text, SOME liUSTON SFIKES. I75S. 9 the money-seeking corn-storer defiantly and unregenerately sat up, stiff and unmoved, until at last, the preacher, provoked out of prudence and patience, roared out, " Colonel Ingraham, Colonel Ingraham ! you know I mean you ; why don't you hang down your head ? " -j- That, as a class, the Puritan ministers were autocrats in the community, and that they never hesitated to show their authority, in any manner, in the pulpit, and not seldom elsewhere, is plain from a slight knowledge of facts. If any evil-doer, moreover, incredulous of their position, set himself to try conclusions with them, he came off second best in the encounter. In Sandwich, Mass., a man was publicly whipped for speaking deridingly of God's word and ordinances as taught by the Sandwich minister. Mistress Oliver was forced to stand, in public, with a cleft stick on her tongue, for " reproaching the Elders." At New Haven, Conn., a man was severely whipped and fined for declaring that he ^ H. E. Scudder's "Noah Webster," in series "American Men of Letters," pp. 30, 31. t Cited from "The Sabbath in Puritan New England," by Alice Morse Earle, p. 313. 396 THE STORY OF AMERICA. received no profit from the minister's sermons. A terrible shock was given to the Windham, Conn., Church, in 1729, by the "vile and slanderous expressions" of one unregenerate Windhamite, who said, "I had rather hear my dog bark, than Mr. Bellamy preach." He was warned that he would be "shaken off and given up ;" and terrified at the prospect of so dire a fate, he read a confession of his sorrow and repentance, and promised to " keep a guard over his tongue," and also to listen to Mr. Bellamy's preaching, which may have been a still more difficult task In 1631, Philip Ratcliffe, for "speaking against the churches " had his ears cut off, was whipped and banished.* The reverence entertained for the ministers, which gave them their author- ity, is evidenced by the whimsical epithets and descriptions which were freely applied to the parsons. They were called "holy-heavenly," "sweet-affecting," ^'soul-ravishing," "heaven-piercing," "angel-rivaling," "subtle," " irrefragible," "angelical," " septemfiuous," "holy-savored," "princely," "soul-appetizing," "full of antic tastes" (meaning having the tastes of an antiquary), "God- bearing," etc. Withal, however, many of the Puritan clerg)' were men of cheery dispo- sitions. Nor did they always hold themselves from the humanities, the hilarities, and the sports of their people. The best cider in Massachusetts, — that which trought the highest price, — was known as the Arminian cider, because the minister who furnished it in the market was suspected of having Arminian tendencies. A very telling compliment to the cider of one of the first New England ministers is thus recorded : " Mr. Whiting had a score of apple-trees, from which he made delicious cyder. And it hath been said yt an Indyan once x>ming to hys house, and Mistress Whiting giving him a drynk of ye cyder, he did sett down ye pot and say yt Adam and Eve were rightly damned for eating j'e appills in ye Garden of Eden ; they should have made them into cyder." Of so much account were the barrels of cider, and so highly prized were they by the ministers, that one honest soul did not hesitate to thank the Lord, in the pulpit, for the "many barrels of cider vouchsafed to us this year."f The Puritan clergyman ordinarily served his Hock for very small pecuniary compensation. In 1630, the First Court of Massachusetts set the amount of the minister's annual stipend to be ^20, or £2,0, according to the wealth of the community, and made it a public charge. A large portion of the salaries in early parishes being paid in corn and labor, the amounts were established by fixed rates upon the inhabitants ; and the amount of land owned and cultivated by each church-member was considered in reckoning his assessment. These amounts were called "voluntary contributions." If, however, any citizen refused * Cited from "The Sabbath in Puritan New England," by Alice Morse Earle, pp. 259, 260. t Loc. cil., pp. 287, 288. THE PURITAN MINISTER'S PREACHING. 397 to contribute, he was taxed; and if he refused to pay his church-tax, he could be fir.ed, imprisoned, or pilloried. It may be said of the Puritan minister, as we leave him, that with all his traits, he was usually at or near the bottom of every good enterprise where his lot was cast. Patient, self-denying, determined, sincere, he did his work in his day. He has passed from among men, but it is a question worthy of thought, — how many men has he left behind him his equals in the apprehension and discharge of human obligation according to the best standards of duty? One cannot err in distinctly recognizing the influence of his preaching upon the relio-ious life of his time. Alike its matter and style moulded thought and con- duct. Biblical, clear, pungent as it certainly was. in by far the greater number of cases, its disproportionate emphasis of the doctrines of Divine Sovereignty and God's Election of Grace, made the piety of its hearers, in multitudes of instances, take on a se- verity of aspect which it is to be hoped, in greater or in less degree mis- represented the practi- cal Christian faith that was in them. Many ci- tations could be presen- ted to show the quality of the preaching which produced this. We quote two. Rev.Thomas Hook- er ( 1 586-1 647), pastor of the first church at Hartford, Connecticut, was doubtless one of the wisest and ablest of New England Puritan ministers, but in making the point that the conversion of a human soul to Christ is a great and difficult thing, he averred "it is not a litde mercey that will serve the turn The Lord will make all crack before thou shalt find mercey." So he argued on the necessity of a clear view of his.. own sinfulness, if a man is to be saved, in the following language : '' As suppose any soul here present were to behold the damned in hell, and if the Lord should give thee a little peepe-hole into hell, that thou didst see the horror of those damned souls, and thy heart begins to shake in consideration thereof; then propound this to thy owne heart what pains the damned in hell doe endure for sinne, and thy heart will quake and shake at it ; the least sinne that ever thou didst commit, though thou makest a light matter of it, is a greater evill than the paines of the damned in hell, setting aside their sinne ; all the torments in^ THE FIRST FRIENDS MEETING HuUSE, UL'KllNGKiN, NEW JEKbtV. 398 THE STORY OF AMERICA. hell are not so great an evil as the least sinne is ; men begin to shrink at this, i'nd loathe to go down to hell and to be in endless torments." And his son-in- law, Rev. Thomas Shepard, of Newtown, Massachusetts, put the matter thus, in his "Sincere Convert:" "Jesus Christ is not got with a wet finger It is T tough work, a wonderful hard matter to be saved." And again : " ' Tis a thousand to one if ever thou bee one of that small number whom God hath picked out to escape this wrath to come." Something akin to the unloveliness of spirit which manifested itself as being in part, at least, the result of inordinate preaching on the doctrines which have been named, was reflected, in the earlier colonial days, by their church edifices, or "meeting-houses," as the Puritans preferred to call them. Doubtless they built them in given cases, perhaps in most cases, as well as was possible, at the time, and with emphasis, it may be said that the impulse which led to their construc- tion was worthy of all praise, but nothing can be conceived more bald and ugly than many of these structures, of which the earliest and most primitive type was a simple, square log-house, with clay-filled chinks, surmounted by steep roofs, thatched with long straw or grass, and often with only the beaten earth for a floor. The second form or type of New England church architecture was a square wooden building, usually unpainted, covered with a truncated pyramidal roof, — surmounted, if the church could afford that, with a belfry or turret contain- ino- a bell. The third form of the meetinsf-house was that of which the ''Old South," at Boston, Massachusetts, was a model. This has too many representa- tives in the New England States at the present day, to need any description. In the stage of New England life which followed its first phase, these buildings were usually placed upon the hill-tops, and some of the hills were so steep, especially in one Connecticut parish, that church attendants could not ride down on horseback, but were forced to scramble down, leading their horses, and to mount from a horse-block at the foot of the hill. These early churches were destitute of shade; curtains and window-blinds were unknown, and they often had grotesque decorations, — grinning wolves' heads nailed under the windows and by the side of the door, while splashes of blood, which had dripped from the severed necks, reddened the logs beneath, — the meeting-house being the place where these ornaments were to be fastened up to secure the bounty given for hunting and slaying them. Around the meeting-house, upon the " green," stood the stocks, the vv-liipping-post, the pillory and cage, and on the weekly lecture-days, the stocks and pillory were often occupied by convicted wrong-doers. And hard-by were to be seen the "Sabbath- Day Houses," in which small buildings the families of the Puritans took refreshment at noon on the Lord's Day, and in the winters warmsd themselves by the fires that had no place in the icy houses of worship ; — the boy>, in some parishes, the meanwhile, listening to Biblical E.xpositions, or to the reading of another sermon to keep them quiet during the " nooning." THE REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH. 399 All this was far away from the Old World surroundings in which many of the settlers had worshiped, and far away, too, from any tendency to aesthetic culture ; but let it not be forgotten that in these homely places the men and women met for Christian services, who, with others, laid broad and deep the foundations alike of civil and religious freedom on this continent. With limitations, a picture somewhat similar to that of the New England Puritan clerg>'man might truthfully be drawn concerning the clergy of the Reformed D^utch Church in the United States. Although the Dutch came to America for purposes of trade, their West India Company having been chartered COLONIAL Ml 111 V, EPHRATA, LANCASTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. in Holland in 162 1, and although it was the Company itself which formally established the Church of Holland in America, and promised themselves to maintain ministers (no call upon a minister being valid unless endorsed by the Company), the staunch convictions of the Dutch clergy made themselves felt by their people as an element of power for their spiritual development. Thirteen Dutch ministers came out to New Amsterdam (New York) prior to the surrender of that colony to England in 1664, and there were, at that date, eleven Dutch churches in America, served by seven clergymen. If by reason of the facts already stated, the Dutch minister fell in any measure below his New England 400 THE STORY OF AMERICA. clerical brother in the possession and exercise of personal authority, it was by reason of the same facts, in part, that his remove from the ordinary life of the community was less pronounced, and his familiarity with all classes more inti- mate. Historically, the tlavor of a Dutch "Dominie's" social and ministerial relations to his people has in it something- of especial attractiveness to one keen to apprehend, and broad enough to appreciate it, and the churches of that com munion, if they do not form in our day one of the largest religious denomina tions, have, as yet, "kept the 'ancient' faith" in its purity, —always the exponents of soundness in doctrine and in life. I'ar different, in the outward conditions of his work, from those which have surrounded nearly all other Protestant clergymen in tiie United States, was the early experience of the Methodist minister, but the effect of his ministry has not been less potent, and has been more far-reaching than that of many other clergy- men, covering with benign results widespread regions of the countr)-. His direct errand, it was long since understood, has been, as the phrase goes, to the masses in the community, and the ecclesiastical system through which its founder in America sought to discharge that errand has been found to be adapted to its end in a remarkable degree. It was Francis Asbury (i 745-1816) who brought it to our shores, from England. He had learned it from John Wesley. And one does not go aside from the trutii who reckons the " circuit riding " feature of the system to have been the life-blood of its power, for many years at least, after the establishment of Methodism in this country. Its essence lay in the setting apart of definite portions of country for steady visitation by the Rider, who was the preacher for that region, and his constant travel through his circuit, for the purpose of holding preaching services whenever and wherever he could get a hearing. It is a somewhat curious fact that when he came to the colonies from England, in 1771, Asbury found the very few Methodist preachers who were here disinclined to circuit labor. But he knew its working in England and in Wales by far too well to desist from the attempt to establish it. Always making him- self a practical circuit-rider, whatever his relations to a given church, he traveled thousands of miles each year after his appointment to the Bishopric, in labors and in exposure a measure of which it is far easier to conceive of than it would be to experience, in the performance of his duties. He succeeded in fastening the circuit system upon the polity of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States, and the records of its working and results in the newer portions of the country, at the hands of Peter Cartwright and his compeers, are among the most alluring and stimulating in all religious history. "Riders" were from the new converts to Christ, thrust "at once into circuit work, trained for their careers by assiduous study of the Bible, by the exercise of prayer, and by actual experience of continuous preaching, which was prosecuted, with little or no intermission, from Sunday morning until tlie next Sunday night, not seldom to the METHODIST CIRCUIT RIDER. 401 extent of three sermons each day and evening. The Ridei met his Presiding Elder and his fellow-preachers of other circuits, at fixed season ~>, to make ~iid to hear reports of work, and, once a year, to receive or hear of n >w appointments ; he left behind him in almost every place where he got a hearing Mcthodfst "Class," ST. I'AIKICK^ I ATHtliRAL. wnich kept the embers of religious faith and service more or less actively in glow until he came again The matter and the method of his preaching were, for the most part, intended and adapted to move "the unconverted." His speech was utterly without "enticing words of man's wisdom," nor was the " fear ol 402 THE STORY OF AMERICA. man" at any time before his eyes in such degree as to rule him. In this last respect, if ever upon earth servants of Christ spoke "not as pleasing men, but God, who trieth the hearts," that was their way of speech. Generally these preach- ers met their "lions by the way." For the most part, the worldly-wise in society scorned them; "lewd fellows of the baser sort" not only despised, but perse- cuted them, not infrequently to the extent of personal violence. Forbearing, however, to the verge of unlimited patience, the "Rider" endured their opposition with but little attempt at resistance ; although the instances are not wanting in which, if goaded to the quick, he demonstrated his standing in the Church Mill- tant by encountering the adversary upon his own ground and thrashing him by the arm of physical force. More than once in such case the adversary was afterwards found at the Rider's meetings, and was there led to the adoption of his faith and to entry upon his own kindred career. The work of these circuit preachers, moreover, was successful, tried by the most rigid standards. They did that which was given them to do with effectiveness, bringing men and women, from all classes, into the kingdom of Christ, and planting Methodist churches in every part of the land. That this work was performed with litde pecuniary remuneration to the " Riders," * is a matter of secondary moment, save as it witnessed to the fervid zeal of those who wrought it. An American author, Edward Eggleston, in his book, "The Circuit Rider," has painted the facts of this Christian ministry in such guise as not only conserves them, but invests the record of this labor with graphic interest. In cursorily tracing the more prominent of the influences and agencies that have determined religious spirit and history in this country, inquiry as to individuals who have had especial part in its development, is alike pertinent and rewarding. Among men of the former generations who contributed to this, in the pulpit, and through the press, discriminating judgment long ago fixed upon Jonathan Edwards, the elder (i 703-1 758), as the greatest of all, in more directions than one. Whether Edwards be viewed as preacher, meta- physician, or theologian, his was a mind the equal of which has not often been given to the world. And this may be said, whether estimate be taken of his mental resources, as they were displayed in the work of his life, or rating be had of the influence his writings now exert in America and elsewhere. Extraordinary indeed must have been the preaching quality of a man about whose sermons it has lately been said, — " the traditions still linger in New England of the effect they produced. One man has recorded that as he listened to him discoursing of the Day of Judgment he fully anticipated that the dreadful day would begin when the sermon should come * .\sbury's salary as Bishop was never more than J64 per annum, and J15 to J20 in cash, for the ^me period, was a fair stipend for the " Rider." GEORGE WHITEFIELD. 403 to an end ! " He was the greatest preacher of his age. It is only at rare intervals that a man endowed with such a power appears. His effectiveness did not lie in voice or gesture. He was accustomed to lean, it is said, upon one arm, fastening his eyes upon some distant point in the meeting-house. But beneath the quiet manner were the fires of a volcano. His gravity of character, his profundity of spiritual insight, his intense realism, as if the ideal were the, only real, his burning devotion, his vivid imagination, his masterful will, these entered into his sermons. He was like some organ of vast capacity, whose strongest stops or combinations should never have been drawn. The account has been left to us of the impression he produced in the little village of Enfield, in Connecticut, where he went to preach one Sunday morning, in the month of July, 1741. The congregation had assembled in its usual mood, with no special interest or e.xpectation. The effect of the sermon was as if some supernatural apparition had frightened the people beyond control. They were convulsed in tears of agony and distress. Amid the tears and outcries, the preacher pauses, bidding them to be quiet, in order that he may be heard. This was the sermon which, if New England has forgiven, it has never been able to forget. Its title was, " Sinners in the hands of an angry God." The te.xt was a weird passage from the book of Deuteronomy: — "their feet shall slide in due time."* Of the American ministry of George Whitefield (i 714-1770) it is unneces- sary to speak in detail. Born in England, he made seven visits to the American colonies, and the results of his Evangelistic tours were shared by the Congre- gational, the Presbyterian, and the Baptist churches, from Massachusetts to Georgia. He early became Calvinistic in his views, and association with Calvinistic divines in America deepened his convictions. His repute as perhaps the most marvelous and persuasive of modern pulpit orators fixes his place in religious history. His intense energy and devotion to his work were attested by the fact that he preached his last sermon at Exeter, N. H., although then ill, the day before he died. A friend remarked to him that he was more fit to go to bed than to preach. " Yes," said he ; then pausing, he added, "Lord, Jesus, I am weary in Thy work, but not of it." An immense audience gathered to hear him. At first he labored ; but soon all his faculties respondexd for a last great effort, and he held the multitude spellbound for two hours. He proceeded to Newburyport the same day. In the evening as he took his candle to go to bed, many who were gathered in the hall tempted him to an e.xhortation, which continued until the candle burned out in the socket. The next morning he was dead. His latest, and perhaps his best biographer is T\erman : " Life of George Whitefield," London, 1876, 2 vols. Nathaniel Emmons, of Massachusetts (i 745-1 840), was another of die lights * Jonathan Edwards: By A. V. G. Allen. Boston, 1890, pp. 126, 127. 404 THE STORY OF AMERICA. of the New England Ministry. Botli by his preaching and by his writings i:fX)n theology, he did much to shape the religious thought of his own and of succeed- ing time in New England. To these sources of his power is to be added his effective work as a private instructor of men for the ministry. His house at Franklin, in his native State, was a seminary, anrr ainuim. All the Presbyterian churches of the country are understood to hold, in doctrine, to the supreme headship of Jesus Christ ; involving submission to Hia ROMAN CATHOLICS. 409 .w contained in the Christian Scriptures as the only rule of practice ; the parity f the ministry, as ambassadors of the Supreme Head of the Church ; participa- on of the people in the government of the Church through officers chosen by lem ; the unity of the Church involving an authoritative control, not by indi idual, but by representative courts. In its General Assembly (Northern) of S90, a movement was inaugurated for the revision of its doctrinal standards, lokine toward softening some of their more riofid Calvinistic features, but the. olity and the spirit of this body of Christian believers is strongly adverse to aste in changes that have any bearing upon fundamentals in faith and practice. This Church has been, and is to day, the consistent and persistent advocatu id promoter of Christian Missions in America and over the world, and the body f its membership has always been found, as it may be found to-day, among the lost intelligent and influential men and women in the land. Their zeal and iifort for the public welfare is always awake, and is always put forth alike for le establishment and the upholding of piety, righteousness, and good order in le State. Outward development in the Protestant Episcopal churches of the United tates has gone forward, of late years, in a swift ratio of increase, which promises ell for the future of this, the oldest of the Protestant bodies in America. The ew era in its growth and extension dates from 1835, when it awoke to the riportance of domestic missions, enlarging and reconstituting its Missionary oard. In the light of recent occurrences it may be questioned whether loyalty ) its doctrinal system be as emphatically insisted upon, as at some periods in the ast, but the doctrinal flux and reflux which appears in some dioceses may be bserved in other communions of Christians, and has ordinarily been a feature f general ecclesiastical development throughout the world's history. Its •omestic and Foreign Missionary Society was founded in 1820, and missions re now sustained by it in Mexico, Africa, China, and Japan. There are some venty-five colleges and theological seminaries. Of the Roman Catholic organization in this country, — with this peculiarity, lat, among all bodies of American Christians, it alone acknowledges the spiritual sadship of an official not only a foreigner by birth, but permanently resident broad, — it is correct to say that the fundamental doctrine of its system is the hurch, so defined as to identify it with the visible church, distinguished by the overnment of the hierarchy or priesthood, and the administration of the sacra- lents. The Church, moreover is infallible. Therefore, Holy Scripture and tra- ition are put by it upon the same level. Through the Church, among true 'atholics, men gain a " sense " for truth, and hence in the Church men under- :and the Scriptures and the truth, as is impossible without. The Bible thus ecomes but a portion of the complex of Church teaching, which bears with it the uthority of God. In doctrine, the Roman Church teaches that justification o( '2il p .^ V! ^Q THE STORY OF AMERICA. sinners Is the making men righteous, not declaring them to be SO ; justification by faith being rejected, and _ - :-?.. the necessity of good works to salvation being emphasized. The sacra- ments of the Church, more- over, are the means of the conferment of divine grace, and "always and THE RECANTATION OF JUDGB SEWALL. to all convey the grace," when they are administered. The Unitarian school of religious thought has been known in the United States, as elsewhere, for its opposition to Trinitarianism (popu- larly known as the doctrine of three persons in one God) in the steady assertion UNITARIANS. 411 and maintenance of the unity of the Divine existence. Rev. Dr. Joseph Priestley (1773-1804), one of its earlier and abler advocates, came to Philadelphia from England in 1792. The general form of doctrine which he preached, rested, in his contention, upon the basis of the Holy Scriptures as an inspired and final authority, but its interpretations of religion were greatly influenced by the philosophy of John Locke (i 632-1 704). Before Priestley reached this country, however, the first Episcopal church in New England (at Boston, Mass.), had become the first distinctively Unitarian church in America — Rev. James Freeman (1759-1835), the first minister in the United States who assumed the Unitarian name, being ordained their Rector in November, i 787. Under him all reference to the Trinity was struck out from the book of Common Prayer. When Rev. Henry Ware, of Hingham, Mass., a decided Arminian and Unitarian, was elected (1805) to the HoUis Professorship of Divinity at Harvard College, Mass., controversy broke out in New England, which was prosecuted with vigor for many years. Rev. Dr. William. Ellery Channing (i 780-1 842) was the most distinguished leader and representative of Unitarianism in this discussion. Under his guidance the rational and ethical movement which he urged had a theology based upon a free interpretation of the New Testament, accepting the Bible as inspired in a special sense, and appealing to miracles in attestadon of the claims of Christianity. Semi-Arian views of the nature and rank of Jesus prevailed. The doctrine of the Trinity was treated as metaphysical speculation. The Evangelical theory of the Atonement was exchanged for one exhibiting the moral example of Jesus. Later on, the dogma of everlasting punishment was abandoned. Under the diffusion of German thought, the rise of transcendentalism and the influence of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1S03-18S2) and Theodore Parker (18 10-1860), Unitarian- ism has passed through important transitions, having ceased to appeal primarily to the Scripture text, and recognizing the Bible rather as a body of sacred literature. "It turns less to tradidon and more to the individual reason and conscience; it has ceased to refer to miracles for the evidence of Christianity. Truth, it affirms, furnishes its own verification. Arian views of Jesus have gradually given place to those distinctly humanitarian. Sympathetic in its attitude toward science, Unitarianism was among the first forms of Christianity to welcome the philosophy of evoludon. It has been hospitable to studies in comparative mythology and comparative religion. Under these influences there is perhaps more uniformity of doctrine and belief among Unitarians to-day than ever before. Christianity is regarded less as a special revelation from God and more as a manifestation of the one great religion."* The American Unitarian Association was organized at Boston, Mass., in 1825. The next, bearing disdnctively the Unitarian name, was the Western Unitarian Conference, organized at Cincinnati, O., in 1852. The * S. J. Barrows in "Concise Dictionary of Religious Knowledge," p. 934. 412 THE STORY OF AMERICA. National Conference of Unitarian and other Christian churches was formed in New York city in 1865. Since the close of the Civil War (1861-65) no less than thirty conferences of churches of this denomination have been established in the country, and fifteen other organizations — educational, philanthropic, or missionary in character, — making nearly fifty associations which have sprung from the cooperative work of Unitarian churches (of which there are now about four hundred in the United States) in the last twenty-five years. There is a denomi- national theological school at Meadville, Pa. It is confidently asserted that the " Book of Mormon," the basis of "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints," in the Territory of Utah, where the Mormons settled in 1847, 'S- "^^ it^s authorship, the production of some divine of the "Disciple" persuasion — an adherent of Mr. Alexander Campbell, founder of the " Campbellltes," who was born in Ireland in 1778 and died in West Virginia (U. S. A.) in 1866. But all authorities agree that loseph Smith, of New York (1805-1844), Mormon founder and prophet, obtained possession of the book, September 22, 1827. The doctrine and covenants of this organization are to be found in the third Sacred Book of the Mormon Church. The marvels of its propagandism in various parts of the world have never been surpassed. Their results have demonstrated, among other things, however, that little can be accomplished by Mormon missionaries except in Protestant countries. England, Wales, Scotland, British India, Ceylon, British Guiana, the Cape of Good Hope, the West Indies, Canada, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Malta, Gibraltar, France, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Scandinavia, Ireland, Italy, SwitzerlantI, Mexico, Chili, China and Siam, the Sandwich Islands, the Society Islands, and Jerusalem have all been the theatres for the labors of the courageous preachers of this sect. Its comparatively recent dismissal of the doctrine of polygamy from its revelations of the Divine Will, be it reality or pretense, strengthens the hope that this Protestant cancer is to be eliminated from the American body politic at no distant day. The population of the Territory, in 1S90, was 207,905, and the Governor of Utah is authority for the statement that the proportion between Mormon and Gentile voters in the Territory was five to seven. This Gentile preponderance is another element which goes toward the solution of the Mormon problem. The " Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints," which had its first conference in 1852, and now has headquarters, with a large publishing house, at Lamoni, la., which at that conference disowned the leadership of the Mormon officials in Utah, must also help toward this issue. In 1890 it had a total membership in the United States of 21,773, in thirty-six States and three Territories, including that of Utah. It accepts three books as of divine origin : " First, the Bible; second, the Book of Mormon ; third, the Book of Covenants. The latter consists of the revelations given to the Church in the present century as a guide in church government. The Book of Mormon is CONCLUSION. 413 accepted as a history of the ancient inhabitants of America and the revelation given them by God, beginning at a period 2000 years before Christ and continu- ing until 400 years after Christ. In doctrine they adhere to the Trinity, to the atonement by Jesus Christ, to the resurrection of the dead, to the second coming of Christ, and to the Eternal Judgment, believing that each individual will receive reward or punishment, in strict measure, according to the good or evil deeds done in life. They hold that men are to be saved by faith in God and Christ, by forsaking sin, by immersion for the remission of sin, and by the laying on of hands. They believe that revelations of God are still given by the Holy Spirit for the guidance of the Church, and that the gifts, blessings, and powers of the Holy Spirit in Bible times are continual. Their order of church government is such as they find authority for in the New Testament, and such as they under- stand that the apostolic Church observed. It includes the presidency, consisting, when full, of three persons, which is given jurisdiction over the whole Church as its chief presiding authority ; twelve apostles, whose special duty is to take charge of all missionary work abroad ; one or more quorums of seventy, who are set apart from the body of elders and assist the apostles ; high priests who have charge over States and districts ; priests or pastors, teachers and deacons and bishops, of whom three are set at the head of the business affairs of the Church. Other bishops and agents assist in collecting the tithes. As to marriage, they believe that it is ordained of God, and that there should be but one companion for man or woman in wedlock, until the contract is broken by death or trans- gression. They characterize the doctrine of polygamy, or plural wi^'es, as an abomination." * The reader who has carefully weighed the statements of this chapter must conclude that the ofrowth of relicrious life which has marked the first two and a half centuries of history in the United States compels its own recognition by the student of that history, as imperatively as does the advance- ment of the country in any feature of its development. If, in the nature of the case, its successive phases have had less instant, and at times less startling impressiveness, they have not been the less real, less influential, or less susceptible of estimate. Religious sentiment, not to say religious principle, has a deeper hold upon the American people, to-day, than it has ever had. The Churches that are its exponents hold still more and wider power, and are always to be reckoned with in the administration of public affairs. The time has passed, if it ever existed, when public men in the United States venture, by policy or by measure, to affront, for long, this religious sense of their constituents. It is in place to add that, besides the growing persuasion of that absolute equality of * From the Bulletin of Church Statistics, U. S. Census of 1890. 414 THE STORY OF AMER/CA. religious relations ainong individuals in the nation which was a principle in the genius of the old Hebrew Commonwealth, the three most significant aspects of American religious development, is at present the accelerating progress of our Christian Churches toward catholicity of spirit, — their steadily awakening zeal in eflort for the welfiire of the poorer classes in society, — and the organized agency of woman in the reliijious and benevolent activities which are the charm and glory of our civilization. PASSOVKR SUPPER, AS OBSERVFIl IIY THE JFWS Ilf NFW YORK IN 1S92. CHAPTER XXII. THE IPEORLE UNDER. NEW CONDITIONS. f' ' ~ f ODERN democracy is often looked upon as something peculiarly secular, unreligious, or even irreligious in its origin. In truth, however, it has its origin in religious aspirations quite as much as modern art, or architecture, or literature. To the ^ theology of Calvin, the founder of the Republic of Geneva, ^ grafted upon the sturdy independence of English and Scotch middle classes, our American democracy owes its birth. James I well appreciated that the principles of uncompromising Protestantism were as incompatible with monarchy as with the hierarchy which they swept aside. Each man by this theology was brought into direct personal responsibility to his God, without the intervention of priest, bishop, or Pope, and without any allegiance to his king except so far as it agreed with his allegiance ■to the King of kings. Macaulay has struck this note of Puritan republicanism when he says that the Puritans regarded themselves as " Kings by the right of an earlier creation ; priests by the interposition of an Almighty hand." As John Fiske says, James Stuart always treasured up in his memory the day when a Puritan preacher caught him by the .sleeve and called him " God's silly vassal." "A Scotch Presbytery," he cried, "agreed as well with monarchy as ■God and the Devil. Then Jack and Tom and Will and Dick shall meet, and at their pleasure censure me and my council and all our proceedings ! " But the democracy which was founded in New England as the logical outcome of the religious principles for which the Puritans left Old England was not democracy as we know it to-day. The Puritans for the most part believed in divinely appointed rulers as much as the monarchs against whom they rebelled ; but the divinely appointed rulers were the " elect of God "— those who believed as they did, and joined with their organizations to establish His kingdom on earth. For this reason we find the Massachusetts Colony as early as 163 1 decided that "No man shall be admitted to the freedom of this body politic but such as are members of some of the churches within the limits -of the same." The government, in short, was simply a democratic theocracy, and 416 THE STORY OF AMERICA. as the colony grew in numbers, the power came to be lodged in the hands of the minority. There were, however, among the clergy of Massachusetts men who believed in democracy as we understand it to-day. Alexander Johnson in his history of Connecticut says with truth that Thomas Hooker, who led from Massachusetts into Connecticut the colony which established itself at Hartford, laid down the principle upon which the American nation long generations after was to be established. When Governor Winlhrop, in a letter to Hooker, defended the restriction of the suffrage on the ground that "the best part is always the least, and of that best part the wiser part is always the lesser," the learned and generous-hearted pastor replied: "In matters which concern the common good, a general council, chosen by all to transact business which concerns all, I conceive most suitable to rule, and most safe for relief of the whole." The principles of our republicanism were never better stated until Lincoln In his oration at Gettysburg made his appeal that this nation might be consecrated anew in the fulfillment of its mission, and that government " from the people, for the people, by the people," might not perish from the earth. Both Hooker and Lincoln had a supreme belief in the wisdom of the plain people in much of the matters which affect their own lives. The rank and file of the people have the surest instinct as to what will benefit or injure the rank and file of the people, and when upon them is placed the responsibility of determining what their government shall be, they are educated for self-government. In the colony which Thomas Hooker founded upon these principles there was found at the time of the Revolution more political wisdom, more genius for self-govern- ment, and more devotion to the patriotic cause than in any other of the thirteen colonies. At the time of the Revolution, however, there was another democracy besides that of New England, w'hich enabled the colonics successfully to resist the Government of George IIL It was the democracy of the planters of the South. The democracy of the Southern colonies was not like that in New England, the democracy of collective self-government, but the democracy ol individual self-government, or, rather, of individual self-assertion. In fact, it would hardly be too much to say that many of the V^irginia planters who espoused so warmly and fought so bravely in the cause of liberty were not inspired by the spirit of democracy at all, but rather by the spirit of an aristocracy which could brook no control. These Southern planters were the aristocrats of the American Revolution. In New York city, and even in Boston and Philadelphia, the wealthiest merchants were strongly Tory in their sympathies. In New York it was aflirmed by General Greene that two-thirds of the land belonged to men in sympathy with the English antl out of sympathy with their fellow country- men. In these cities it was the plain people and the poorer classes who furnished most of the uncompromising patriots, but in the South men of fortune risked 4i8 THE STORY OF AMERICA. their fortunes in the cause of independence. These men were slave owners, ^nd the habit of master)' made them fiercely rebellious when George III .attempted in any way to tyrannize over them. Many of them were the descendants of the English nobility, and as such they acknowledged no superiors. Naturally, then, in the struggle for liberty they furnished the leaders of ihe colonists, both North and South, and the agricultural classes, whether rich or poor, were naturally on the side of self-government, for their isolation had from the first compelled them to be self-governing. Such, then, was American democracy at the outbreak of the Revolution. It had but one fundamental weakness — there was no external bond of union between the colonies to enable them to act in concert and vigorously. This was the point at which the democracies of ancient Greece had broken down, pnd the democracies of America seemed for a time in peril of sharing their fate. Each colony had been independent of its neighbors, and united with them only throueh their common allemance to Great Britain. It must be remembered that in those days it was a seven days' journey from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, ^vithin the same Commonwealth, so that parts of a single colony were more widely separated than Massachusetts and California are to-day. There was but little commerce between them, and not for half a century were the Iron ties of the railroads to begin to join them together. That colonies thus separated should have been able to join together and act as unitedly as they did, brings out better than anything else in history the superiority of the political genius of the Anglo-Saxon race to that of the ancient Greeks. Our colonists were able to look beyond their own neighborhoods, their own colonies, and see the common tie of common liberty and common interests which bound them together from Maine to Georgia. It was this tie of federation, which centuries of experience had ingrained upon the English-speaking peoples, which enabled the American colonists to wia against a power far greater in comparison with their own than that with which. Philip of Macedon destroyed the republics of Southern Greece. Even during the War, however, the National spirit was not strongly enough developed to compel the individual colonies to bear the taxation necessary for the support of our armies. It was for this reason that the issuing of paper money was almost the one resource of the Continental Congress. When the War was over and the sense of common danoer no longer held the colonies together, the American Nation seemed almost to have ceased to exist. The enactments of the Federal Congress were simply recommendations which each colony could accept or not as it pleased, and it rarely pleased. The evils due to diis disintegration have generally been exaggerated in our popular histories, for the reason that our greatest weakness was at the point at which all other radons concentrated their greatest strength. The National army was reduced THE NECESSITY OF FEDERATION. 419 to a corporal's guard, the National navy to nothing. Foreign powers refus'M tc? enter into treaties with us, because there was no central authority to which all of the States were bound to be subservient. When, however, we turn to the condition of the people in the various States, the prosperit)' of agriculture, and the growth of cities, there was no such National decay as the outer emblems of National power seemed to indicate. It was for this reason that when the Fed- eral Constitution was proposed so large a part of the people in most of the States were slow to accept it. Its acceptance, however, was inevitable. With- DUliL liKlWEEN BURR AND HAMILTON. out it we would not only have failed to preserve a solid front toward other nations, but were in danger of internal complications and even wars among ourselves. The different States had begun to enact legislation antagonisdc to each other, and this of course always called forth prompt retaliation. The City^ of New York had already enacted that the farmers of Connecticut and New< Jersey could, not bring supplies into the New York market without the payment of a ta.x upon -them, and the market boats from what is now Jersey City had to pay entrance, fees and obtain clearances at the Custom House, just like ships 420 THE STORY OF AMERICA. from London and Hamburg. Connecticut firewood could not be delivered to the householder in New York without the payment of a heavy duty. New Jersey and Connecticut were quick to resent the injustice and the injury, and the business men of New London agreed, under penalty of $250 for the first offence, not to send any goods whatever into New York for a period of one year ; while New jersey gave vent to its indignation by levying a tax of $1800 upon a small patch of ground on Sandy Hook on which the City of New York had built a light-house. Such bickerings as these were certain soon to have destroyed National spirit and to have resulted in giving us thirteen nations mstead of one, and thirteen more or less hostile to each other and helpless in the presence of a foreign enemy. There was again danger that the democracies of this country would fall as did the democracies of Greece, but finally, through the sense of unity which came from a common mother country, common environment, common institutions, and now a common history, aided by the Anglo-Saxon genius for co-operation, a union was established under the Federal Constitution. The first half century of our political history consisted rather in the devel- opment of the political rights of the individual citizen than of the loyalty which all owed to the American nation. Nothing is so difficult as to keep in mind that the government of the colonies at the close of the Revolution was not what it is to-day, and that democracy as we know it was regarded as the dream of theorists. Some of the members of the Federal Convention deeply distrusted the common people. Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, declared that "The people do not want suffrage, but arc the dupes of pretended patriots," and those who were at all in sympathy with him prevented, as they imagined, the election of the President by the people themselves, and did prevent the election of the United States Senators by the people. Some of them were even opposed to the election of the House of Representatives directly by the people, but fortu- nately, even Hamilton sided with Madison and Mason, when they urged that our House of Commons ought to have at heart the rights and interests of every class of people, and be bound, by the manner of their election, to be the repre- sentatives of every class of people. But by " every class of people " the framers of the Constitution from the more conservative of the States meant simply every class of freeholders. In Virginia none could vote except those who owned fifty acres of land. In New York, to vote for Governor or State Senator, a freehold worth $250 clear of mortgage was necessary, and to vote for Assemblymen a freehold of $50 or the payment of a yearly rent of $10 was necessary. Even Thomas Jefferson^ who was the democratic philosopher of the Revolutionary period, did not strenuously insist that the suffrage must be universal, and it was not for a half century that it became universal, even among the whites. In the State of New York these restrictions existed until the adoption of the Constitution of 1821, THE QUESTION OF SUFFRAGE. 421 and even this Constitution merely reduced the privileges of land owners. Old Chancellor Kent, the author of " Kent's Commentaries," declared in this Convention that he would not "bow before the idol of universal suffrage," the theory which he said had " been regarded with terror by the wise men of every age," and whenever tried had brought "corruption, injustice, violence, and tyranny." "If universal suffrage were adopted," he declared, "posterity would deplore in sackcloth and ashes the delusion of the day." The horrors of the French Revolution were always held up by conservatives to show that the EXECUTION OF HETHERINGTON AND BRACE AT THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE COMMITTEE, CALLED '• FORT VIGILANCE." fHiis building wa^ also called " Fort Gunnybags," from the material of the breastworks in fron* of sentinels, and the alarm bell of the committee.] On the roof were cahr,4a «mA people could not be trusted, and the learned author of the " Commentaries," which every lawyer has pored over, saw in prophetic vision that, if universal suffrage should be adopted, "The radicals of England, with the force of that mighty engine, would sweep away the property, the laws, and the people of that island like a deluge." Not until between 1840 and 1850 did universal suffrage among the whites come to be accepted in the older States. During the first half century of our history it was the Democratic party, the party of Jefferson, which was on the side of these e.xtensions of popular rights. 423 THE STORY OF AMERICA. The principle of this party was that each State ought to legislate for itself, with the least possible control from the central government ; that each locality ought to have its freedom of local government extended ; and that each individuaE should be self-governing, with the same rights and privileges for all. As regards, foreign afl'airs, it was characterized by a "passion for peace," and an abiding- hostility toward a costly army and navy. Jefferson believed that the way tcs avoid wars, and the way to be strong, should war become inevitable, was by the Mevotion of the people to productive industry, and not by burdening them to rival the powers of Europe in the strength of their armaments. In the year 1800, the party which rallied to his support — then called the Republican party, but generally spoken of as the Democratic party — triumphed over the Federalists. In New England alone ditl Federalism remain strong at the close of Jefferson's first administration. In that section the calvinistic clergy, who had done so much for the establishment of American democracy, fought fiercely against its e.\tension. Jefferson's followers demanded the separation of Church and State and the abolition of the religious qualifications for office holding, which were then almost as general as property qualifications. He was known to be in sympathy with the French revolution, and was therefore denounced as a Jacobin, both in religion and in politics. We cannot wonder, therefore, that in the section in which the clergy were the real rulers, Jeffersonian democracy was regarded with hatred and contempt. Vermont alone, among the New England States, was from the first thoroughly democratic, and this was because in Vermont there was no established aristocracy, either of education or wealth. In Connecticut, which under clerical leadership had once been the stronghold' of advanced democracy, we find President Dwight expressing a common sentiment, not only of the clergy but of the educated classes generally, when he declared that "the great object of Jacobinism, both in its political and moral revolution, is to destroy every trace of civilization in the world." " In the triumpiiof Jeffersonianism," he said, "we have now reached a consummation of democratic blessings ; we have a country governed by blockheads and knaves." But the ideas which in New England were at first received only by the poor and the ignorant, were in the very air which Americans breathed. The new States which were organized at the West were aggressively democratic from the outset. In the Northwest Territory the inequalities against which Jeffersonian democracy protested never gained a foothold. In this, which was made a State during Jefferson's first administration, the union of Church and State was not thought of and no religious qualification whatever for the office of Governor was exacted. Property qualifications were almost as completely set aside. While in some of the older States the Governor had to possess ^5000, and even ;^ 10,000, Ohio's Governor was simply required to be a resident and an PRIMOGENITURE ABROGATED. 423 owner of land. As regards inheritances, the English law of primogeniture which remained unaltered in some of the older States, and in New England generally took the form of a double portion to the oldest son, was completely Mi»n i i ii i iiiii y i HMiiy||^i Wt T i it)g l T ' n5' ' !St ' " ' i|WtWiiffw ii r Tp ■■' ' ■*"* ' ja||!»lg1 W 'fri ' A LABOR STRIKE. set aside, and all children of the same parents became entitled to the same rights. That Ohio thus led the way in the democratic advance was due to the fact that its constitution was framed when these ideas had already become 424 THE STORY OF AMERICA. ascendant in the hearts of the people, and the faihire of the clergy of New England was due to their trying to keep alive institutions which were the off- spring of another age, and could not long survive it. For its distrust of the new democracy New lingland Federalism paid heavily in the isolation, defeat, and destruction which shortly awaited it. When the new democratic administration hatl fully reduced Federal taxation and shown its capacity for government, the more liberal-minded of the Federalists went over to the Democrats. Even Massachusetts gave a majority for Jefferson in 1804, and when the extreme Federalists became more extreme through the loss of their Liberal contingent, and called the Hartford Convention, in 1808, Federalism died of its own excesses. The policy of the Democratic Adminis- tration toward England may not have been wise, but the proposal of secession in order to resist it made Federalism almost synonymous with toryism and disloyalty. For a number of years after the war of 1S12, there was really only one political party in the United States. In 1824, when the contest was so close between Jackson, Adams and Clay, each of these contestants was a "Democratic Republican," and it would have been hard to tell what questions of policy divided their followers, though Jackson's followers, as a fule, cared most for the extension of the political rights of the poorer classes, and cared least for the policy of protection which the war had made an important issue by cutting off commerce, and thus calling into being extensive manufactur- ing interests. That the followers of Clay tinally voted for Adams may have been due to sympathy upon this question of the tariff. In 182S something akin to party lines were drawn upon the (]uestion of the National Bank, and the victory of Jackson provoked the hostility of the masses toward that institution, which certainly enriched its stockholders to such an extent as to make them a favored class. The Tariff Act, passed in 1828, made the tariff ques'uon hence- forth the dividing question in our national politics until slavery took its place. Most of the absolute free-traders were supporters of Jackson, but when South Carolina passed its Nullification Act as a protest against the "tariff of abomi- nations," as it was called. President Jackson promptly declared that "the Union must and shall be preserved." and forced the recalcitrant State to renew its allegiance to the National Government. By the end of Jackson's adminis- tration there were again two distinct parties in the United States — the one advocatins./ a high tariff and extensive National improvements by the Federal Government, and the other advocating a low tariff and the restriction of National expenditures to the lowest possible limit. The former party — the Whig — was, of course, in favor of a literal construction of the Constitution and the extension of powers to the National Government, while the latter advocated " strict construction" and "State risrhts." THE EVOLUTION OF POLITICS AND PARTIES. 425 Jackson belonged to the latter party, and in 1836 was able to transfer the succession to Van Buren. But in 1840 the Whigs swept the country, electing Harrison and Tyler, after the most picturesque campaign ever fought in America. All the financial ills from which the country was suffering were for the time attributed to Van Buren's economic policy, and his alleged extrava* gance at the White House enabled the Whigs to arouse the enthusiasm of the poor for their candidate, who lived in a log cabin, and drank hard cider. During the ne.xt four years, however, there was a reaction, and in 1844 Polk '/ ,^ was elected upon the plat- form on which Van Buren had stood. AUlilTRATlON. is true that in Pennsylvania the Democratic campaign cry was, " Polk, Dallas and the tariff of '42," which was a high tariff but in most of the country Democracy meant "Free trade and Sailors' rights." From this time on, the Whig party grew weaker and the Democratic party stronger. It is true that the Whigs elected General Taylor in 1848. The 426 THE STORY OF AMERICA. revenue tariff law passed by the Democrats in 1846 was not changed until the still lower tariff of 1857 was enacted. In 1852 the Whig party was hardly stronger than the old Federalist party at the close of Jefferson's first term. But just as the Democratic party, became able to boast of its strength a new party came into being which adopted the principles of the free-soil wing of the old Democratic party, and in its second national campaign elected Abraham Lincoln to the presidency. In this readjustment of parties the pro-slavery Whigs went over to the Democrats and the anti-slavery Democrats went ovei to the Republicans. The bolting Democrats claimed, with truth, to follow the principles of their party from the time of Jefferson down, but the party as a whole followed the interests of its most powerful element instead of the princi- ples of its founder. In the States from Ohio west, where upon economic questions the Democratic party had swept everything by increasing majorities since 1840, the bolting element was so great that all of these States were landed in the Republican column. One great Church — the Methodist — which before had been, as a rule, Democratic in politics now became soHdly Republican. THE TEOPLe's P.\RTY. In the Presidential campaign of 1S92 and 1896 a new party, known as the People's Party, came into prominence. The principles distinguishing it from the old Democratic and Republican parties are its demand for a money issued by the general Government only, without the intervention of banks of issue; the free and unrestricted coinage of silver and gold at the ratio of 16 to i, regardless of foreign nations. It demands that the Government, in payment of its obliga- tions, shall use its option as to the kind of lawful money in which they are to be paid. It demands a graduated income tax ; and that the Government .should own and operate the railroads and telegraph lines in the interests of the people. Its general tendency is to favor what is known as " Paternalism in government." Tliis party found its chief strength among the farmers, who believed it possible and rinht for the Government to pass laws to suppress "trusts" and monopo- lies, and also to favor the agricultural and laboring classes. The history of American politics up to the time of the introduction of the new economic questions by the labor unions in the East, and the farmer's unions in the West and .South, has been the history of the gradual e.xtension of political rights. The P'ederalist party gave us the Constitution ; the old Demo cratic party gave us white manhood suffrage ; the Republican party gave us universal suffrage. The glory of America's past is that she has been continu- ally progressing ; that she has proven to the world the capacity of the whole people for self-government. CHAPTER XXIII. QOLD AND SILVER MININQ. 1 The explorations of Lieutenant Fre- mont made the possession of California a point most worth fighting for in the war with Mexico. The methods by which we obtained it were not entirely consistent with our boasted character as the most just and peace-loving nation of the world ; but the part played in it by the American pioneers who settled in California exhibits our strongest na- tional traits, both good and bad, in a scene half-heroic, half-comic, which will never be forgotten. In the words of Dr. Semple, one of their leaders, they " bor- ^^3^ rowed" supplies on the faith of the Bear- flag Government, assured that " their children in generations yet to come will look back with pleasure upon the com- -.>^^ mencement of a revolution carried on ^ by their fathers upon principles high and holy as the laws of eternal justice." Another of the leaders of the revolu- tionists crowded the citizens of the cap- tured town of Sonora between the four walls of their "calaboose," and there read to them a proclamation explaining that "though he had for the moment deprived them of the liberty which is the right and privilege of all good and just men, it was only that they might become acquainted with his unalterable purpose to establish a government based upon the common rights of all men." All their proceedings, however, were brimful of the American spirit, and showed how the pioneers, though far outnumbered by the Spaniards, were inspired by a purpose which made them more than a match for the organized forces in guard of the Mexican province. The conquest of 427 ADY FOR THE TRAIL. 4-18 Tllli STOKY OF AM/iR/CA. California in this war simply prevented the peaceful annexation of the territory to our nation a year or so later. The American pioneers who poured in and developed the country had the mi^ht and the right to govern it, and the nation gainetl nothing which its ciiiklren prize by violating its best instincts in acting the part of a bully towartl our weaker Southern neighbor. With the dis.' cover)- ot gold, how- ever, California suddenly became a theatre toward which the eyes of the whole world were turned. The discovery was inatle by James Wilson Marshal, in January, 1848. Marshal had been employed to con- struct a mill on the estate of a hundred S(|uare miles which Ceneral John A. Sutter had received a^ a grant from the Spanish Govern- ment. Sutter's demesne had been the centre of the American colonies in California. Gen- eral Sutter himself, a Swiss by birth, was a generous- minded visionary, w ho had shown himself so hospitable to all .\nu ricm immigrants, that he had attained to a certain pre-eminence in the aftairs of the Territory, and was looked upon by many as a great and heroic figure, l^p to the time of the discovery ot gold upon his land, his fortunes had steadily mounted upward; from that time they went down, down. Marshal was an American by birth, born in a country town 11, \K1M. VI' t'M>l-.K I I KKlSrS. DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 429 in New Jersey. He, too, was a courageous and kindly visionary, though some- times he was aroused from his accustomed dreaminess into fierce action. His fortunes also became worse after his great discovery, and during his later life he was somewhat embittered by what he believed to be the injustice and neglect of his countrymen. "The enterprising energy of which the orators and editors of California's early golden days boasted so much, as belonging to Yankeedom," he wrote in 1857, "was not national but individual. Of the profits derived from the enterprise, it stands thus : Yankeedom, $600,000,000 ; myself, individually, 1^000,000,000. Ask the records of the country for the reason why. They will answer ; I need not. Were I an Englishman, and had made my discovery on English soil, the case would have been difterent." l*"or this last statement Mar- shal had some reason, for the discoverer of gold in Australia, whom Marshal claimed to have directed thither, received from the British Government, $25,000, and from the Australian Government, $50,000, while Marsha! received nothing. So much for the discoverer. Now for the discovery. It took place on the afternoon of the 24th of January, just after Sutter's mill had been completed, and Marshal and his men had made a perilous fight for two weeks to keep tlie dam from being destroyed by the heavy rains which iiad set in. In this contest with the water Marshal had exhibited a courage which made him half deserve the accidental fame that came through the finding of the gold. When his men were exhibitin<7 to some amazed Indians the workings of tiieir new saw-mill, Marshal was inspecting the lower end of the mill-race. He came back witii the quiet remark, " Boys, I believe I have found a gold mine." He moved off to his cabin, went back to the race, and then acrain returned to his men, directin<* them early in the morning to shut down the head-gate and see what would come of it. Tlie next morning the men did as they were told, and presently Marshal came back looking wonderfully pleased, carrying in his arms his old white hat, in the top of whose crown, sure enough, lay llakes and grains of the precious metal. Comparing these pieces with a gold coin otie of the men happened to have in his pocket, they saw that the coin was a little lighter in color, and rightly attributed this to the presence of the alloy. Then all the men hurried down the race, and were soon engrossed in picking gold from the seams and crevices laid bare by the shutting down of the head-gate. In the midst of theil" excitement doubt would sometimes arise, and some of the metal was thrown into vinegar and some boiled in the soap-kettle, to see if it stood these tests. Then Marshal went off to General Sutter, and feverish with excitement, told him of what had come to light. When he returned to the men he said, "O boys, it's the pure stuff! I and the old Cap went into a room and locked ourselves up, and we were half a day trying it, and tlie regulars there wondered what the devil was up. They thought perhaps I had found quicksilver, as the woman did down toward Monterey. Well, we compared it with the encyclopedia, and it 43° THE STORY OF AMERICA. agreed with it ; we tried aqua fortis, but it would have nothing to do with it Then we weighed it in water ; we took scales with silver coins in one side, balanced with the dust in the other, and gently let them down into a basin of ■water ; and the gold went down, and the silver came up. That told the story, what it was." That did tell the story, and though Sutter tried to keep the story a secret until all the work in connection with the mills had been finished, the story would not keep. A Swiss teamster learned it from a woman who did some of the cooking about the mill, received a little of the gold, spent it for liquor at the nearest store, and then the fame of the discovery swiftly flew to the ends of the earth. Gen- era! Sutter had l)een right in his endeavor to keep the discovery se- cret as long as was within his power, for no sooner did the gold hunters' invasion set in than it became impossi ble for him to get men to work the mill which he had constructed. The invaders carried things with a high hand, and ended by setting aside his title to his land and establishing the claims which they had made upon it. Never was money made with anything like such rapidity. Nearly every ravine contained gold in some quantity or other. Nobody waited to get machinery to begin work. Knives, picks, shovel-s, sticks, tin pans, wooden bowls, wicker baskets, were the only implements needed for scraping the rocky beds, sifting the sand, or washing the dirt for the gold. A letter in the New York Jotii-nal of Comincrcc, toward the end of August, says of the hunt for gold : "At present the people are running over the country and picking it out of the earth here and there, just as dogs and hogs let loose in the forest would root up ground-nuts. Some get even ten ounces a day, and the least active one or two. They make most who employ the wild Indians to hunt it for them. There is one man who has sixty THE ST.UICK, THE RUSH FOR THE GOLD FIELD. 43 « Indians under his employ. His profits are a dollar a minute. The wild Indians know nothing of its value, and wonder what the pale-faces want to do with it, and they will give an ounce of it for the same weight of coin silver or a thimbleful of glass beads or a glass of grog, and white men, themselves, often give an ounce of it, which is worth in our mint $i8 or more, for a bottle of brandy, a bottle of soda powders, or a plug of tobacco." This newspaper writer had indeed some of the Munchausen qualities that his fellow craftsmen have nowadays, and his opportunities for exaggeration were increased by the remoteness of the scene and the inaccessibility of accurate information. California in those days was another part of the world. The journey to it overland took weeks, and even months, and was full of perils of starvation in case of storm and drought, and perils of slaughter if camps of hostile Indians were encountered. When things went well the life was pleasant enough, and Is still most picturesque to look back upon. The buffalo hunts, the meetings with Indians, the kindling of the camp-fires at the centre of the great circle of wagons drawn up so as to form a bulwark against attack and a corral for the cattle, the story-telling in the light of these camp-fires — all present a picture which men will love to dwell upon so long as the memory of the Argonauts survives. But there were many times when the scenes were those of heart-sickening desolation. The attacks of the Indians were less horrible than attacks of hunger and disease which set in when the emigrant, train reached a territory where the grass had been consumed, or lost theii cattle in the terrible snow storms of the Sierras. The journey by sea was hardly safer and was far less glorious. Every ship for California was loaded down with emigrants packed together as closely as so much baggage. Ships with a capacity for five hundred would crowd in fifteen hundred. The passage money was from $300 to $600. Often the ships were unseaworthy, often packed with coal in such a way that fires broke out. Against these dangers the passengers could not provide themselves and could not fight. The companies that were able to get their ships back again simply coined money, but it was no easy matter in those days to get a ship out of San Francisco harbor. The crews would instantly desert for the mines, and the wharves were lined with rotting vessels. The vessels which did make the return voyage were compelled to pay the California rate of wages. One ship in which the com- mander, engaged at New York, received $250 a month, had to pay on return ^500 a month to the negro cook. San Francisco in these days was the strangest place in the world. In February, 1848, it had hardly more than fifty houses ; in August it contained five hundred, and had a large population that was not housed. A pamphlet written in the fall of that year says : " From eight to ten thousand inhabitants may be afloat in the streets of San Francisco ; many live in shanties, many in 43= THE STORY OF AMERICA. tents, and many the best way they can." The best building in the town was the Parker House, an ordinary frame structure, a part of which was rented to gamblers for )jt,6o,ooo a year. Even a higher sum than this was said, by Bayard Taylor, to have been paid. The accommodation was fearful. The worst that can be said of bad hotels may here be imagined. The pasteboard houses, hastily put up, were rented at far more than the cost of tiieir construction, for every one ligured that the land was as valuable as if it had been solid gold, A correspondent of the New York Evenntg Post, in November, 1849, pictures in this way the land owners in San l*"rancisco : " The people of San Francisco are mad, stark mad. A dozen times, in my work of the last four weeks, have I been taken by the arm by some of the millionaires — so they call themselves, I call them mad- men — of San Francisco, looking wondrously dirty and out-at-elbows for men of such magnificent pre- tensions. They have dragged me about through the mud and filth almost up to my middle, from one pine-box to another, called man- sions, hotels, banks and stores, as it may please the imagination, and have told me, with a sincerity that would have done credit to a Bed- lamite, that these splendid struc tures were theirs, and they, the fortunate proprietors, were worth from three to four hundred thou- sand dollars a year each. There must be nearly two thousand houses besides the tents, which are still spread in numbers. . . , And what do you suppose to be the value, the yearly rental, of this card-house city? Not less, it is said, than twelve millions of dollars, and tiiis with a population of about twelve thousand. New York, with its five hundred thousand inhabitants, does not give a rental o'' much more than this, if as much." The greater part of this city was five times destroyed by fire in the first three years of its existence, but the people, with a hopefulness and energy which nothing could put down or burn up, would set to work and rebuild it, almost as quickly as the (lames had swept it away. Everybody worked. The poorest THi; CKAliLE. THE UNEARTHING OF SILVER. 433 man received unheard-of wages, and the richest man was obliged to do most things for himself. When business of every sort was speculative to a degree so close akin to gambling, it is not strange that gambling itself took possession of the people and half frenzied them with its excitements. Physical insanity was a frequent result of the moral insanity of the community. There were few women in California, and most of these were of the worst sort. As a consequence, the men with no homes to go to in the evenings went into the gambling saloons, where they stayed till late at night. According to some descriptions, everj'body gambled, but, as Royce points out in his admirable " History of California," the same men who talk half-boastfully of the recklessness and universality of the gambling, within the next breath speak with great fervor of the strength and genuineness of the religious life which soon showed itself in the community. There is no doubt that the forces for good as well as for evil were strong from the outset, and as the community grew older the i'orces for good kept growing stronger. More and more wives from the East had joined their husbands, and the young women who came from the East among the emigrants were married almost immediately on their arrival. Many a hotel keeper who engaged a servant girl at |i200 a month, was disgusted to find that she married and left him before the month was over. With the introduction of family life came a return to saner moral conditions, and by 1853 the old distempered social order began to be spoken of as a thing of the past. The great discovery of silver took place about ten years after the discovery of gold. In 1857 Allen and Hosea Grosch, two educated and serious-minded young men, from Reading, Pennsylvania, came upon the rich vein of silver aftervv'ard famous as "The Great Bonanza." These discoverers were even less fortunate than those who found gold in California. Before they could get together the capital necessary for the development of this mine, one of them struck a pick into his foot and died from blood-poisoning, while the other was caught in a terrible snow storm, and died as the result of the freezing of his legs, which he would not have amputated. These young men left papers describing their discovery in their cabin, which was placed in the charge of Henry C. T. Comstock. The descriptions were not explicit enough to deter- mine the exact location, but Comstock remained in the canon keeping watch upon the prospectors. During this time, by his constant watchfulness for a great discovery, he obtained the title of "Old Pancake" among the miners, because, as Wright narrates in his "Great Bonanza," "Even as he stirred his pancake batter it is said he kept one eye on the head of some distant peak, and was lost in speculation in regard to the wealth of gold and silver that might rest somewhere beneath its rocky crest." At last on the loth of June, 1859, two prospectors named McLaughlin and O'Riley came upon a stratum of 434 THE STORY OF AMERICA. strange-looking earth, the nature of which they did not understand. Comstock, who was immediately on the spot, exclaimed, "You've struck it, boys!" An arrangement was at once made to buy off the owners of the claims on which the vein was located. Three of the four owners were bought off for fifty dollars OOLD-WASHINC. IN CALIKORNIA. apiece ; the fourth sold at some higher figure to another miner named Winters, who obtained some inkling of the value of the claim. A firm was formed, consisting of Comstock, McLaughlin, O' Riley, Winters, and a man named Penrod, who had been one of Comstock's two partners in IMMEXSE DEVELOPMENT. 435 the ownership of a spring necessary to the working- of a mine. A third owner of this spring, called "Old Virginia," for whom Virginia City was named, was persuaded to sell his interest for an old blind horse. The new firm began the mining of silver on what came to be called the " Comstock lode." Very soon, however, they sold out to men of larger capital, who in turn sold to Mackay and Fair, famous the world over among America's millionaires. The subsequent fortunes of i\\v. firm which Comstock formed are interesting to follow, as they again illustrate the fate which came upon most of the men who brought to light th(; hidden mineral treasures of the Western territory. Com- stock sold his interest for ;)i, 11,000, became a merchant in Carson City, married the deserting wife of a Mormon, was soon in his turn deserted by her, failed in his business adventure, and ended his life by suicide. McLaughlin sold his interest at $3500, soon spent what he received, and afterward became a cook in a mine in California. Penrod and Winters were also soon poor men, while O' Riley, the last to sell, engaged in stock gambling with the ;fi40,ooo he received, was soon forced to resort to pick and pan for a living, and ended his lift; in a private asylum. The great fortunes, as has been said, were made by the later comers. Those who bought the mine from the original firm lost most that they made in litigation. Senator .Stewart used to receive annually as much as $200,000 in fees as the principal attorney of some of the Comstock companies. He estimated the cost of litigation up to January, 1866, at $10,000,000. When the Comstock mines finally came into the hands of I'^air, Mackay, and (^'Hrien, scientific methods were introduced, and the stock of the " Consolidated Virginia " rapidly rose from $85 a share in January, 1874, to $700 a share in January, 1875. The shares in another mine in the same lode rose to a like figure, and the two together had a market value of $160,000,000. During five years these mines pro(.luced over $100,000,000 worth of silver. After 1878 their product fell gradually, and the price of the stock went down. Bancroft, in his " 1 listory of Nevada," says that down to January i, 1881, $306,000,000 worth of silver bullion was extracted from the Comstock lode. Yet he doubts whether that mountain of silver has proven a permanent advantage to Nevada. The wealth which came from her mines, he says, was to a large degree squandered by gamblers in New York antl Paris, and used for purposes of political bribery and social corruption in Virginia City and .San l-nincisco. The wealth that e.xists in Nevada to-day has come from improvements made by the people who came and developed the farms, made the roads, established the systems of irrigation, and built the stores, the factories, and the homes. With the introduction of scientific mining, requiring mills and machinery costing vast sums of money, the wage system took the place of the free and independent mining of the earlier days. It is true that the mine laborers still remained their own masters, by organizing as workmen were never organized 436 THE STORY OF AMERICA. before, and compelling mine owners, for years, to pay four dollars a day as the minimum day's wages. But the mining life which came in with the wage system is the orderly life of to-day, not essentially different from that of Eastern com- munities. The life in the mining camps, to which all romances go back, was the life that prevailed when every laborer was his own capitalist, and every capitalist his own laborer. Never were so many men from so many places suddenly AT WORK IN THE SILVER MINES OF NEVADA. thrown together, as in California in '48 and '49. What came afterward in Nevada, and later still in Colorado, was like it in kind but not in degree. The Californians of the early days were without law, and thousands of miles away from established tribunals. Every man was a law imto himself, except when the community, as a whole, became aroused, and constituted itself a tribunal. The Territory was indeed nominallv organized, but to wait for the regular process of law was to grant immunity to crime. The character of " miners' ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 437 justice " may be illustrated by some of the scenes at Sonora, where gold was first discovered. Here there had been law and order previous to the miners' invasion, but with the invasion demoralization set in. In the fall of '48 the newcomers, following the Mexican fashion, elected two Alcaldes, but when one of the storekeepers at the settlement killed a man in a fight, both the officers promptly resigned rather than run the risk of arresting the homicide. Another storekeeper, however, called the people together to take action. This storekeeper was promptly elected Alcalde, and it was decided that one Alcalde was enough. A Prosecuting Attorney was likewise required, but no one was ready to take the office, and each person nominated promptly declined and nominated some one else. Finally the energetic storekeeper was obliged to accept this office also. The meeting succeeded in finding a second man to take the office of Sheriff. The offender was arrested, a jury impaneled, and the trial begun. The prisoner, on being brought in court, was requested to lay his arms on the table, and did so. On this table stood a plentiful supply of brandy and water, to which everybody in the court-room helped himself at pleasure. The trial, however, proceeded with much attempt at legal form, and presently the Judge arose and began a plea for the prosecution. "Hold on, Brannan," said the prisoner, "you are the Judge." "I know it," replied that official, "and I am Prosecuting Attorney, too." He went on with his speech, and ended it by an appeal to himself as Judge in connection with the jury. When he had finished, the prisoner, after helping himself to a glass of brandy, made an able speech in his own defense. Night came on and the jury scattered without bringing in a verdict. The prisoner was admitted to bail, because there was no prison to put him in. The next day the jury met, but disagreed about the verdict. A new trial was held and the prisoner acquitted. In most of the mining camps the administration of justice fell into the hands of the Vigilance Committees. A great many wild stories have been written about the trials they held, and storj' writers have been fond of depicting scenes where a higher form of justice was carried out than the conventional trials in older communities permit. There were, indeed, occasions when sudden and powerful appeals to the emotions of the Committee produced sudden and good effects, but as a rule the hearts of the Committee were no more open than their reasons. That they had assembled at all usually meant that there had been an accumula- tion of wrongs unpunished, and the gathered indignation of the community vented itself upon the single individual who happened to be brought to trial. Miners' justice was indeed far better than lynch law. As Shinn has pointed out in his book on " Mining Camps ": " Lynch law is carried out at night by a transient mob, which keeps no records, conceals the names of its ministers, and is in its essence disorderly. Miners' justice, on the other hand, was executed in broad daylight, by men well known, who gave the prisoner a hearing, and kept a careful record 438 THE STORY OF AMERICA. of their doings." Yet, in spite of this, the assembling of the Committee was so irregular, its constituency so doubtful, its verdicts either so ferocious or so inadequate, or both — as when the favorite penalty of flogging and banishment was imposed — that the establishment of regular tribunals was in every respect an important gain to the mining communities. This change took place about the time that scientific mining was introduced, with regular pay for regular \rork. Before that time California, both as regards the rewards of labor and the punish- ment of crime, had seemed a world ruled by chance. WASHINGTON'S GRAVE. CHAPTER XXIV. The Problem of Our National Currency, BY HON. J HN SHERNIAN, Ex-Secretary of the Treasury. \^^9^ Its History and Evolution. By HON. J. K. UPTON, First Assistant Secretary of Treasury under S/ierman^ U'indom, and Folger. Money, as used to effect the exchange of commodities, is the oreates!! labor-saving machine ever invented by man. Without money wealth might exist, but it would bring to the possessor but few comforts. This commercial contrivance is, however, of no recent origin, for we read that in the days of the Patriarchs Abraham used money to pay for the cave of Machpelah, in which to bury his dead. The story of that trans action is a significant one, showing at what an early date mankind adopted the use of money. Abraham was at the head of a nomadic tribe encamped among the simple people of Hebron, who looked upon him as a mighty prince. Upon the death of his wife he naturally desired to give her a sepulture worthy of his rank and position. Word was therefore sent out that he wished to purchase a lot of ground for such a purpose, preferring the cave of Machpelah, for which he would pay a proper amount of money. Ephron, the owner of the cave, declared that it was worth four hundred shekels of silver, and Abraham therefore weighed them out to him, as •' current money among the merchants," and in return received his title to the cave, the boundaries and transfer duly witnessed, 439 HON lOHN SHERMAN. 440 THE STORY OF AMERICA. In this transaction are found in effect all the form and methods employed for a like transaction to-day, except that the weighing; of the money at the time of the transfer is obviated by the metal having been previously converted into disks of known and uniform weight. But for the geiu-ral use of money to eflect such changes of property Ephron could hardly have found terms in which to express the value of his cave, and Abraham could hardly have paid for it, unless Ephron would have accepted therefor a portion of his flocks, which, though valuable to Abraham, might not have been needed by Ephron, and he might have found trouble in exchanging them for what he did need, as only for "current money" would the merchants surely part with their goods. That silver, out of all the products of the earth and sea, had alrcad)- been selected for use as mone\', is especially cretlitable to the commercial acuteness of these ancient people. A search of three tliousand years since made has founil no better commodity for that purpose, hi recent years it has been supplemented by the use of gold, a metal possessing for money most of the qualities of silver, antl its higher value in relation to its weight renders it more serviceable, perhaps, in transactions involving large amounts. Upon one or the other of these metals the commercial exchanges of the world have been effected for centuries, and in the terms of their weight all values of property have come to be e.xpressed. When we say an article is worth so many dollars, pounds, or francs, we only mean that it can be exchanged for so many pieces of gold or silver, the weight of the pieces being known, fixed, and uniform. The experiment of using other commodities for mone)- has, however, often been tried. At different times and in various places, hand-made nails, the shells of clams, tail feathers of birds, skins of animals, cattle, corn and tobacco, and nearly all the products of the field and the chase have been used as money, but their tendency to decay or their inability to withstand the attrition of circulatitMi have soon rendered them worthless, though in some cases they servetl well the exigencies which brought them into such use. Promises to pay certain specified amounts of money on demand have also been issued in recent years for money, both by the State and by private corporations, and though only of paper, have served a valuable auxiliary as long as the promises were promptly redeemed in money. The ancients had none of this so-called paper money, perhaps because they had no paper, but they closely approximated the use of representative money when they cut out from the skin of an animal an irregularly outlined piece and paid it out at the value of the skin itself with the understanding that the holder could at any time obtain the skin therefor, provided that upon presentation for that purpose the piece was found to fit the hole from which it was taken. The use of checks in business, the offsetting of credits against each other THE FUNCTIONS OF MONEY. 441 through the agency of banks and clearing-houses in the centres of trade, have to a certain extent, relieved money from a portion ol its duties ; but fmancial transactions of every kind are based upon a money standard, and resulting balances paid only by money itself. The natural functions of money, of whatever character it consists, are, therefore, to aid in the transfer of property from one party to another, and to furnish a common standard in which all values may be expressed. The State, however, not content with using money for the simple purpose mentioned, has brought it into politics and clothed it with a new function by which it can satisfy a contract with less than the amount called for, or with new kind of money not contemplated in the contract. This extraordinary endowment is known as the legal-tender quality, and it is only effective when backed by the power of the State. Under this illogical and uiuiatural acquisi- tion forced upon it by law, money springs into prominence as a political factor and begins to have a history, or rather to create one. From this new legal-tender function three projects have sprung by which money, heretofore an impartial factor in the transfer of property, becomes an aggressive agent by which the most sacred rights of a man to his own accumulations have been destroyed. These projects may be classified as follows: — 1st. To retain the name of the coin, but to take from it a portion of its value, the reduced piece to be equally available in payment of a debt, known as debasinof the coinafje. 2d. To issue paper promises-to-pay, of certain amounts, the issae to be a full satisfaction for all debts to the amount of its face, known as inflation. 3d. To substitute, at a rate fixed by law, one metal for another, and to give the creditor the option of paying his debts in either, known as bi-metalism. A monetary history of any country is mainly but a recount of the operations of money as a legal tender, for money left to natural laws has no history, no more than has the ceaseless flow of a river or the rise and fall of the tide. In the days of Abraham, with no legal-tender quality, money did its work silently and faithfully, unrestricted by legislation, and we know of its existence only incidentally. To the laws of this country that have intervened to check and misdirect its operations is due the history which this article will relate. Debasing the Coinage. — The early settlers of this country, coming from England, were accustomed to reckon values in pounds, shillings, and pence, and to use the shillings of that country as current money. These pieces have a history worthy to be related : William I, the Norman King, placed in the Tower a bar of silver \\ fine, containing 3/j! of an ounce troy more than the troy pound of 5760 grains, and declared it to be the standard, both of weights and 28 p & vv 442 THE STORY OF AMERICA. values, for his newly acquired realm. As a standard of value, this Tower pound was divided into 240 parts, each part to be known as a penny, and for many years only pennies were coined ; but as trade increased, out of the pound were coined twenty pieces known as shillings, each necessarily containing twelve pence. As a standard of weight, the same pound was also divided into 240 parts, each part to be known as a pennyweight, being of the same weight as a (penny ; but for some reason the relation of weight and value was then aban- doned, and the pound was divided into twelve parts, to be known as ounces, each part, of course, containing twenty pennyweights. This ingenious and admirable combination of the two standards was ftot permitted to continue long, for Edward III, finding his crown debts pressing, directed that twenty-two shillings be coined from a pound instead of twenty, and by making the new pieces a legal tender for the same purposes as those pre- viously issued he cheated his creditors out of two shillings on every pound of debt, as the new pieces had no value in the market except what their tveight for bullion gave them. The successors of this monarch repeatedly worked this silent and sleek scheme for replenishing their depleted coffers at the expense of thrir debtors, until Queen Elizabeth by royal proclamation declared that out of the troy pound, which Henry VIII had substituted for the Tower pound, there should be coined sixty-two of these pieces. By this time the shilling contained only about one- third of its original amount of silver, and even the dunderheaded Englishmen began to see there was cheating somewhere around the board, and that royalty alone was winning the stakes. So a great clamor was raised, and since then no debasement of the full legal-tender coins has taken place in Merrie England. The colonists, who brought these pieces with them to this country, were doubtless familiar with this process of debasing coins and the gain that would come therefrom to the State, for as early as 1652 the Massachusetts Colony set up a mint and commenced the coinage of shilling pieces avowedly containing but ten pence worth of silver. The mint master, however, took fifteen pence out of every twenty shillings coined, and then the English Mint declared the silver in the coins was not of an even weight or fineness, and so the pieces circu- lated at twenty-five per cent, discount, though, being a legal tender at their face value, they were worth par in payment of debt. These shillings, however, became the standard by which values were reckoned from that time on, though but few were coined, and those were hoarded or shipped abroad, notwithstanding such shipment was forbidden by severe penalties, for there existed in the colonies a cheaper way of paying debts than that afforded even by debased coins. Clam shells, cattle, corn, and beaver had been made legal tender, and the principle laid down by Sir Thomas Gresham, of Queen Elizabeth's time, that no two currencies of unequal value would circulate together — the poorer driving out DEBASED COINAGE. 443 the better — was the secret of the deportation of the coin. To protect the Treasury against the operations of this law, in 1658 it was ordered that taxes should not be paid in "lank cattle." Of clam shells, also, it was found that only the broken and lustreless ones remained in circulation — the poorer currency driving out the better, whether of cattle or of clam shells. At this opportune moment the Spanish pillar silver dollar, brought to this country mainly by buccaneers, began to circulate throughout the colonies, with its " pieces of eight," or reals. This dollar was a stranger in a strange land, and had nothing to recommend it to favor except that it bore the device of a nation whose commercial integrity had never been questioned. But the colonists reckoned i:^^'iJ.J.:i:,^ XW'^ ''-fcd/f^i^f^^'. THE UNITED STATES MINT, NEW ORLEANS. in shillings and pence, and the relation in value between the strange piece and a shilling must necessarily be fixed in some way. The English Mint declared the piece contained four shillings and six pence of sterling silver, and this became the established rate in South Carolina, but the Massachusetts Colony declared it contained six shillings, and of the shillings of that colony this was about right. Virginia adopted the same rating. New York declared that the piece contained eight shillings, though that colony never had a shilling piece of any kind, and nowhere in the world was there one of that value. Pennsylvania, for no reason stated, said it contained seven shillings and six pence, while Maryland adopted the rating of New York. Thus in New England and Virginia the real became a "nine pence," in New York and Maryland a shilling, and in Pennsylvania it 444 THE STORY OF AMERICA. was called eleven pence, or "levy ; " and by these names it was known for nearly two centuries. The dollar havins^r taken the place of the pound in reckonings, to a certain extent, it was subdivided into shillings and pence f(ir purposes of accounts, those being the lower denominations in use, and accordingly in \ irginia and New England accounts were kept frequently in dollars and 72ds ; in New York and Maryland in dollars and 96ths ; in Pennsylvania in dollars and goths, as seen in the Treasury books of the Confederation, while in South Carolina they were kept in dollars and 34ths, for in every case a shilling still contained twelve pence, and these fractional divisions of the dollar represented the number of pence the several colonies alleged this piece contained. The accounts of Washington as he traveled from Mount Vernon to Boston, filed in the Treasury, show the changes rendered necessary in the reckonings as he passed through the several States, sometimes the local pound, sometimes the dollar, being the unit, but in the end the distinguished traveler reduced the cur- rencies to one standard and determined how much was due him in Spanish dollars and reals, a feat in computation for which the P^ather of his Country has never received due credit. Of course, these diverse valuations of the shilling gave to the pounds cor- responding variations in values, and as trade was mainly with the mother coun- try, e.xchanges were conducted with endless confusions in the reckonings. Had the colonists kept the pound sterling for their unit, used the English shillings and pence for their coins, as they were accustomed, all these complications would have been avoided. But contracts were out calling for shillings, and the finding of more shillings in a dollar by law than existed in fact defrauded the cred- itor to that extent of his just dues, the result if not the purpose of the legal- tender quality given these coins, whose existence even was to a certain extent fictitious. The use of silver as a circulating medium was, however, soon aban- doned for paper issues. Paper Money. — The Massachusetts Colony was the first to issue paper money. In 1690, to satisfy the claims of her soldiers who had been on an expe- dition to Canada and came back without booty, 7000 pounds were issued, but being made receivable in payment of taxes, did not suffer great depreciation, tliough according to Sumner the soldiers disposed of it at 2,0 P^'' cent, discount. Other limited issues followed in anticipation of taxes, but in 1709, to pay for another expedition against Canada, 50,000 pounds were issued. Other colonies joined in the expedition and all issued paper to pay expenses. The issues were made a legal tender and the acceptance of the notes enforced from time to time by stringent enactments. Notwithstanding this, they continued to depreciate. Industries at first stimulated lagged, and a great demand arising for additional issues to make business brisk, the colonial governments or their chartered banks issued bills upon almost any pretext, — as in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, A DUAL STANDARD. 445 upon real estate mortgages, family silver, and other securities. In the latter State interest was made payable in flax and hemp, to encourage those industries, but very few of its loans were ever paid, and the tides to lands fell into inextric- able confusion. New loans were issued by the colonies with which to pay off the old ones, until the issues of the Massachusetts Colony were depreciated to II for I, at which rate the notes were redeemed. The notes of other colonies were also retired upon various scales until 1751, when Parliament prohibited, in most of the colonies, the further issue of legal-tender notes. The depreciated bills out of the way, silver returned, and even some gold appeared in circulation, also brought in by buccaneers. Bi-Metalism. — The colonists tried a great many commodities for a standard of value, but only twice did they undertake to have two standards in circulation at once, their values to be kept equal by the force of law. Exploring parties of the Massachusetts Colony found on the shores of Long Island a partially civilized community of Indians. Some of them living along the shores were engaged in polishing the shell of the clam and of the periwinkle, which they traded off for ornaments at a pretty well established rate. The shells were called Peag, and they served every purpose of money among the simple natives. One black shell was about equal to two white ones, but in the absence of any law fixing a parity of value both shells circulated, each for what it was worth, the white at about six, the black about three for a penny. The colonists, however, made Peag a legal tender for twelve pence, and im- mediately their deterioration commenced — lusterless and half polished shells being as good as any in payment of debt. Again the law came to its rescue, and, in 1648, provided that only such Peag as was unbroken and of good color should pass as money. A little later it provided that Peag should be a legal tender for forty shillings, the white at eight, the black at six for a penny. Peag was now not only a legal tender in payment of debt in a modest way, but a fixed relation was established between the value of the white and the black shells. The law did all it could to extend the circulation of these shells, but Peag was perverse, and, just as great results were expected from it, it wholly disappeared from circulation, having become so utterly worthless nobody would accept it, doubtless somewhat to the surprise of the " Bi-Shellists," whose faith in the efficacy of a double standard seemed unbounded. The next colonial experiment of the kind was in 1762. The gold which followed in the channels of the depreciated paper, as above mentioned, circu- lated at its own value and was very useful, but it soon attracted *the attention of the General Court of Massachusetts, and with the declared purpose to facilitate trade, this court, in that year, made gold a legal tender at two and a half pence silver per grain. At this rating gold was the cheaper metal for paying debts, and, in conformity with the Gresham law, silver promptly dis- ^6 THE STORY OF AMERICA. appeared from circulation, leaving gold to circulate alone. The colonists were surprised at the result and were at a loss to know what caused it, but silver would not return to associate with gold on the terms fixed by law, and the colonists had to get along as best they could for a few years, when the necessi- ties of war brought about other forms of currency. In September, 1774, the first Congress of the colonies assembled in Philadelphia with a view to obtain a redress of grievances, not a separation from the mother country. It was composed of delegates from every colony, and had no clearly defined powers. The conflict at Lexington, in April, 1775, while this Congress was holding its second session, dispelled all hopes of a pacific settlement of the difficulties, and preparations for war were promptly begun. To meet expenses money was necessary, but this body had no power to levy a tax. The members, however, were accustomed to the issue of bills as a substitute for money, and to such issue they naturally turned. On the loth of May, 1775, an act was passed authorizing the issue of $3,000,000 on the faith of the "Continent," by which the bills became known as Continental money. They were in form as follows : — CONTINENTAL CURRENCY. No Dollars. This bill entitles the bearer to receive Spanish milled dollars, or the value thereof in gold or silver, according to the resolutions of the Congress held at Philadelphia, on the loth day of May, A. D. 1775. Nothing appears on the face of the bill as to its redemption, but the law imposed upon the several colonies the duty to redeem the issue within three years, at a stated amount for each, based upon its population. This was probably as far as this Congress had power to go, but the several colonies, instead of levying a tax to meet the redemption of the notes, set up their own printing presses and entered into competition with each other and Congress in the issue of additional notes of their own. Within a year Congress, having issued $9,000,000 of its notes, and their value depreciating, took prompt and harsh measures to force their circulation and maintain their value, imposing severe penalties upon any one refusing to accept them at par in exchange for commodities. In 1777 the colonies, at the urgent request of Congress, stopped their issues, but not until they had put into circulation about $210,000,000. The exact amount was never known, the issue having been so hurried that no count of it was made. How far they ever went in contracting or redeeming their issues it is impossible to discover. Of the Continental issues the limit of $200,000,000 was reached in 1779. of which $65,500,000 were issued the year CONTINENTAL CURRENCY. 447 prvivious. This was the good-sized straw which broke the back of the patient cancel. The next year the notes were worth only two cents on the dollar. practically disappearing from '///"//'WMlik circulations In Philadelphia they were then used for wall paper, and a dog covered with tar, stuck full of the bills, was chased through the streets amid the jeers of the crowd. The utter lack of value in these notes gave rise to the expression, " Not worth a Continental." t THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE For the ruinous policy pursued, the local colonial governments alone were re- sponsible. To meet the expenses of the war they would neither levy a tax themselves nor authorize their Congress to do so. That in the end the bills were repudiated does not signify that the war to that extent cost the 448 Tim STORY OF AMERICA. colonies nothingr. The amount of the depreciation was only a form of a tax paiil by every one in proportion to the amount of money he held and the time he held it, thus imposing upon the officers and soldiers who fought the battles, and upon their families, the patriotic and the helpless, the main cost of the war, leaving to the Tories, and those who stayed at home, comparative exoni]ition from its burdens. But the forced issue of such legal-tender bills worked more than pecuniary hardship. Says a prominent writer of tlie period: "We have suffered more from this cause (paper money) than from any othet cause or calamity. It has killed more men, pervaded and corrupted the choicest interests of our country more, and done more injustice than even the arms and artifices of our enemy." This paper being out of the way, specie flowed in to take its place, and there was soon no stringency in the circulation. But the itching for paper money was not cured, and in 17S1 the Bank of North America was chartered in Philadelphia, with authority to issue notes with which to purchase rations for the army. The notes were redeemable at sight in the Spanish dollars, antl though their redemption was maintained, the people were cautious and slow in taking them. In Rhode Island 100,000 pounds legal tenders were issued on land mortgages. The notes immediately depreciated, endless litigation ensued, and in October, 1789. the depreciation was fixed by law at eighteen for one, but at that rate the debtors were allowed to pay in produce. This ended paper money schemes under the Confederation. Initiatory steps were meanwhile taken toward the establishment of a Mint, that the country might have a distinctive coinage of its own. In 17S5 Congress adopted the Spanish dollar as the unit of value, a function it was then performing in many cases by common consent, and the following year declared that it contained of pure silver 375.64 grains. The decimal system was also required in accounts. At the same time the coinage of a ten dollar gold piece, containing 246.268 grains, was authorized — making in law one of weight in gold equal in value to 15.253 of silver, while in the market the ratio was one to 14.S9. Why silver should thus have been undervalued when its use was so generally popular and universal does not appear, but the adoption of the Constitution prevented further steps from being taken under this law. Bi-Mctalism. — The new Constitution was adopted March 4, i 7S9. One of its provisions gave Congress the power to coin money and regulate its value. Alexander Hamilton was called to the Treasury', and to him Congress referred the subject for investigation and report. In response he urged that both silver and golil be coined for depositors in unlimited amounts, one pound in weight in gold to be equal to fifteen pounds in silver for coins. He urged a dollar for the unit to contain either 371 '4 grains of pure silver or 243,^ grains of pure gold, the introduction of the decimal system in accounts, and the coinage of halves, m-METALISM. 449 quarters, and dimes in silver of proportionate weight. Hamilton believed, or at least hoped, that with the relation established both metals would circulate together, though he admitted that if the relation should not prove to be the market one, only the cheaper metal would remain in circulation. Jefferson believed the ratio of one to fifteen to be the proper one, and urged its adoption. The recommendations of Hamilton were soon incorporated into a law, a Mint was established, and coins struck as contemplated. In the market one of gold proved worth nearer 153^ of silver, and, following Gresham's law, only silver coins remained in circulation. Gold coins were hoarded or shipped abroad. But the new silver dollars soon met with competition. The clipped and worn Spanish pieces, having been made a legal tender, entered into circulation and in turn drove out the new silver coins, so that all the output of the Mint was mainly for exportation. To prevent the shipment of silver the Mint gave preference to coining fractional pieces, thus exhausting its capacity upon as little silver in value as possible. In 1805 only 321 dollar pieces were coined, and on May i, 1806, President Jefferson, through James Madison, Secretary of State, sent an order to Robert Patterson, Director of the Mint, "That all the silver to be coined at the Mint shall be of small denomination, so that the value of the largest pieces shall not exceed one-half dollar." The coinage thus entirely suspended was not resumed for thirty years. As a result the country had only bank issues and the light-weight foreign coins, and could not understand why it had to put up with such a poor currency. The Mints were open for the coinage of gold and for the fractional silver, and a large number of pieces were being struck, but none of them found their way into circulation. The Democratic party, headed by Mr. Benton, then a Senator from Missouri, determined to increase the ratio between the two metals with the hope of retaining gold. So an act was passed in 1834 reducing the weight of the gold coins about seven percent. The gold dollar now contained 23.22 grains, making the ratio between the two metals about one to sixteen. It now turned out that silver was the undervalued metal, and even had there been no cheaper foreign coins in existence, it would have fled the country, leaving the gold alone for circulation. But the light-weight foreign coins and depreciated bank-bills circulated freely, and little was seen of either silver or gold coins of this country. The Real pieces became so worn that in every transaction a dispute arose as to whether the pillars could be seen, until somebody scratched an X on the piece, when it passed as a dime, and was over-valued at that. To correct this evil, in 1853 Congress directed a reduction in the weight of the fractional silver pieces, forbade the Mint to coin them for depositors, and directed their 450 THE STORY OF AMERICA. coinaj^e to be made only on Government account, and to be issued at their face value only in exchantjc for orold coins or silver dollars. In 1857 the Spanish and Mexican tlollars and the Real pieces were authorized to be redeemed at the Mint at a little above their bullion value, — they no longer to be legal tender These latter pieces immediately disappeared, ami the bright, new dimes, quarters, and halves, fresh from the Mint, took their places. The bank issues being now well under control, gold coin also began t circulate. Gold pieces for larger transactions, silver pieces for smaller ones, made a very satisfactory currency. The Government received and paid out no other money on public account until 1862, v.hen coin was again largely forced out of circulation by the legal-tender greenbacks. The opening up of new silver mines in the West, however, brought considerable silver to the Mints for coinage into dollars, but not for circulation, — the bullion in a dollar being worth about $1.05, — but for exportation at its bullion value. About this time a revision of the mint laws was made by officials of the Treasury Department, and a bill prepared at the Treasury, after several years of delay, passed Congress and received the approval of the President, February 12, 1873. To aid the producers of silver bullion in finding a market for their product, authority was given to the mint for the manufacture of silver disks or bars, to bear the stamp of the government as a guaranty of their weight and fineness, the depositor to pay the e.xpense of their manutacture ; and the coinage of the former silver dollars was no longer authorized. Under this authority coins were manufactured, known as trade dollars, each one seven and one-half grains greater in weight than the other silver dollars. The scheme proved a success, and a large number were manufactured and sent abroad. In China they were used as a circulating medium, creating a special market in which there was little or no competition. Germany, however, having determined to adopt the gold standard, redeemed its enormous issues of silver pieces, melted them down, and thus brought into the market, at once, over 7,000,000 pounds of silver. Large discoveries of the metal were also made in Nevada, and silver became greatly depreciated in the markets of the world. Had not the coinage of the silver dollars been prohibited by the Act of 1873, ^^e silver dollar would again, under the Gresham law, have taken its place as the unit in our currency, driving gold from circulation, and, regardless of its depreciation, would have been a legal tender for even pre* existing contracts. An outcry therefore arose, that in the prohibition of the silver dollar the debtor class had been greatly wronged, although very few of that class, or oi any other, had ever seen or expected to see a silver dollar in circulation. Upon the assembling of Congress in 1S77. a determined effort was made to restore the silver dollar to free circulation, and a bill to that effect, know n as PAPER MONEY. 4';i the Bland bill, passed the House, but was so changed in the Senate that the Treasury was authorized to purchase not less than ;^2, 000,000 nor more than J(i4,ooo,ooo worth of silver bullion monthly, at the best rate obtainable, and to coin it into dollars for which certificates might be issued, the dollars to remain 5n the Treasury untouched to meet their redemption upon presentation ; and thus amended the bill became a law, February 28, 1878. The provisions of this act, however, did not prove satisfactory, anci in 1890 another concession wajs made to the advocates of the unlimited coinage of the silver dollar by authoru!> ing the Government to purchase, at the best rates obtainable, 4,500,000 ounces of silver every month and to issue silver certificates thereon for the amount of the purchase, the metal to be coined into silver dollars only as needed for the redemption of the certificates issued. Under these two acts there have been issued about $400,000,000 of silver dollars, of which about |56o,C)00,ooo are in circulation, the remainder are in the Treasury, held to meet the certificates which have been issued thereon, and purchases of bullion are being made every month as required. The price of silver bullion has, however, constantly depreciated until the metal in a silver dollar can be purchased in the market for 70 cents in gold, and the prospect of a parity of value between the two metals, at the present ratio of I to 16, seems as far off as ever. The enforced purchase of such an enormous amount of silver every month, and the issue of certificates thereon for circulation, must cease some day. The amount of money needed for circulation must be left to the necessity of business, not to an act of Congress. Until that time monetarv questions, in one form or another, will continue to vex the halls of legislatioi, and to needlessly disturb the prosperity of the country. Paper Money. — The Constitution of 1 789 provided that no State should emit bills of credit, make anything legal tender but gold and silver, or change the terms of a pre-existing contract. Consequently, the power to issue paper money, if existing anywhere in the country, was lodged in the general government. As a result, in 1 790, Hamilton recommended to Congress the establish ment of a National Bank, with authority to issue $10,000,000 of bills legally receivable in payment of public dues, and an act for that purpose was promptly approved, but not without grave doubts of the power of the govern, ment to grant such a charter. The bank, gaining public confidence, its notes circulated at par and were accepted as readily in private transactions as though made a legal tender for that purpose. The States, stripped of their power to emit bills directly, also resorted to issues of banks organized under their charters. These bills were always redeemable at sight by the bank issuing them. Not being a legal tender, 453 THE STORY OF AMERICA. the notes had only a commercial value, but a bank in good standing was enabled to keep more or less of them in circulation in its immediate vicinity, and usually maintaining but small reserve, reaped much profit from this use of its credit. Away from their home, however, the bills were subjected to vaiying rates of discount, sometimes as high as fifty per cent., and specula- tion in them kept business feverish and unsettled. The temptation to profit by such issues led to endless schemes to impose upon the public worthless bills, and these issues became known, in time, as wild-cat currency. In 1809 a crash came, and none too soon, for even in iNew England, where such issues were best guarded, one bank had out more than $500,000 in bills with only $84 in specie to meet their redemption, and others were about as weak. Great loss ensued from the panic, and more rigorous restrictive legislation for future issues was enacted, at least in that section. The issues of the National Bank were kept at par, but its charter expiring in 181 1, the bank was unable to obtain a renewal ; the intluence of the bank in restricting the depreciated issues of the state banks had been too salutary to suit the demands of those who wanted money plenty, regardless of its value. Tlie National Bank out of the way, the mania for bank issues began to develop in the Middle and Western States. In 1814 all the banks outside of New England suspended paying specie for bills. No excuse for the suspension is apparent, except the war then going on with England. With the returi* of peace, however, came additional issues of bank paper, and for a while apparent prosperity prevailed. The unequal value of the notes in different sections of the country some- what embarrassed exchanges, but it was thought that in time, when the people were accustomed to such conditions, the difficulties would vanish. In 181 4 Pennsyl- vania chartered 41 banks, and in the year following, Kentucky 40 more, their capital aggregating $27,000,000 with little or no restriction as to the issue of notes. This period was considered by many as the golden age of the W'est, but most of the banks failed within a year or two, and their enormous issues became worthless. In 1818 twenty thousand persons in Philadelphia were begging employment. Business was at a stand-still and property was unsalable at any price. The National Bank, which had obtained a renewal of its charter in 1816, for twenty years, suspended specie payments with other banks. The depreciated issues drove all the coin from the West into New England, which, having a comparatively stable standartl and circulation, soon absorbed pretty much all the trade of the country, for even clipped and light-weight foreign coins, were infinitely preferable to such bank issues. But the demand for bank issues was renewed throughout the country, and again there could be but one result. In 1837 another crash came. Even the New York and J VI LD- CA T CURRENCY. 453 Massachusetts country banks, comparatively conservative, were issuing notes at the rate of twenty-five to After this explosion came of President Jackson, by ury thereafter received of public dues. Fortu- have been for the welfare public Treasury and every from the outset treated issues in the same way, upon specie alone for circulation, of which there was at all times enough for one of specie reserve. tne famous specie order wnich the public Treas- only specie in payment nate indeed would it ot the country if the individual had all the bank \( j\\X ^s, ^^^ depended the purpose or the deficiency could have been promptly sup- A RAID ON A BANK. pl't"^! by thc Mlut, whlch was coining silver for exportation. Bank notes, generally at par, continued to furnish the circulation of the country, however, till the outbreak of the Rebelhon, with only a brief disturbance 454 THE STORY OF AMERICA. In 1857, but it must be remembered they were at par only in the vicinity of their issue. In 1 86 1 Congress met in special session to find the Capitol a military camp. An army had been called to the field to suppress the uprising of the South, threatening the very existence of the Government. To meet pressing needs the Treasury was authorized to issue $60,000,000 of notes payable on demand and receivable for public dues. They circulated at par but were looked upon with suspicion. However, they tided over the financial difficulties of the summer, but upon the assembling of Congress in regular session, in the December following, it was evident that measures more efficient must be taken to meet the rapidly increasing expenses of the Government. A bill was, therefore, pre- sented in the House authorizing the issue of $ 1 50,000,000 of notes for circulation, to be a legal tender in payment of all debts, public and private, except for customs dues and interest on public debt. The measure was received with consternation and alarm even by the best friends of the new Republican administration, but it became a law February 25, 1862, notwithstanding the opposition of such Republicans as Justin S. Morrill, Roscoe Conkling and William Pitt Fessenden, and of the entire Democratic party. The notes became known as leeal tenders or greenbacks. No time for their redemption was fixed, but they were convertible at par into six per cent, gold-bearing interest bonds, authorized by the same act. Before their issue the banks had suspended pay- ment of specie for notes and the new bills soon became the standard of values as well as the unit of accounts. The courts held their issue constitutional and their tender sufficient for the payment of even a pre-existing obligation calling for dollars, though only specie dollars existed when the contract was made. Their convertibility into bonds, as stated, checked somewhat their immediate depreciation, but new issues followed, and when in 1863 the right to convert them into interest-bearing bonds ceased, the notes were worth in coin only sixt>'-five. Their limit of issue was fixed at $450,000,000 ; that of fractional pieces convertible into legal tenders at $50,000,000. Another new form of paper issues was also authorized. In 1863 an act was passed by the central government, supplemented by another act in 1864, under which banks might be organized, and upon furnishing the Treasurer of the United States with bonds of the Government to a limited extent they would be entitled to receive therefor circulating notes equal in amount to ninety per cent, of the bonds furnished. A tax of ten per cent, per annum was subse- quently imposed upon the issues of the State banks, to take effect July i, 1865, avowedly for the purpose of driving them from circulation. These notes were receivable for government dues to the same extent as the legal tenders, into which they were convertible at par. Consequently these two classes of notes maintained a uniformity of value, though much below that LEGAL-TENDER GREENBACKS. 455 of specie, and fluctuating daily in comparison with that standard, destroyed all stability in values, stimulating speculation, not only in gold itself, but in stocks, cotton, grain, and other farm products, until the machinery of exchange was little better than a wheel of fortune. Certain interest-bearino- oblig-ations of the Government were also made legal tender, and their use as a bank reserve liberated to that extent an equal amount of the legal tenders for circulation, thus further inflating the already excessive issues. In 1865, at the close of the rebellion, there were outstanding, of all paper issues, 5^983,000,000, having a coin value of $692,000,000, gold being worth in paper about 141. At the instance of Hon. Hugh McCulloch, then Secretary of the Treasury, Congress, in April, 1866, authorized the retirement of $10,000,- 000 of legal tenders within six months, and thereafter not more than $4,000,000 per month. By force of taxation the State issues disappeared, and the interest- bearing obligations as they matured were converted into long-time bonds. These steps tended to reduce the volume of paper circulation, notwith- standing the increase of national bank issues, but on June 30, 1866, gold was quoted at 150. The aggregate circulation, however, continued to gradually diminish in amount, and in March, 1869, the question having arisen as to the currency in which the bonds and notes were payable, the faith of the Nation was pledged to pay all interest-bearing obligations in coin, unless by the terms of their issue it had been expressly provided that they might be paid in lawful money, and also that at the earliest practicable date the legal tender notes should be paid in coin. Still, on June 30, 1869, there was outstanding of paper issues $756,000,000, the authority for further retirement of the legal tenders having been suspended in 1868, leaving these notes in circulation, $356,000,000. Gold was then quoted at 137. In the fall of 1874 a stringency in the money market, caused by the financial panic of the previous year, led to the reissue of these notes to $383,000,000, which amount was fixed by law as their limit. To Congress the country now turned for relief from the long unsettled value of its currency. An act, therefore, prepared by a caucus of Republican Senators, of which Hon. John Sherman was Chairman, passed both Houses as a strictly party measure, and was approved January 14, 1875. It provided for the coinage of fractional silver coins and the redemption therein of the fractional notes, for the unlimited circulation of National Bank notes, and for the retirement of legal tenders to the extent of eighty per cent, of any such increase, until only $300,000,000 should remain in circulation, and for the redemption of the notes in coin at the Sub-Treasury in New York, on and after January i, 1879. To carry into effect these provisions, the Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to use any available cash in the Treasury and to issue at par any of 456 THE STORY OF AMERICA. the bonds authorized by the refunding acts of 1870 and 1871, and to apply the proceeds to the purpose of such redemption. For several years the expediency of retaining these notes as part of the permanent circulation of the country had been much discussed, and upon the question as to their disposition after redemption no unanimity of views was reached in the caucus framing the measure, so the matter was purposely left open for future legislation. In March, 1877, Mr. Sherman, to whom had been intrusted the explanation and advocacy of the bill in the Senate, was called to the Treasury. He found the fractional notes had been largely redeemed in silver, and that the retirement of the legal tenders consequent upon the increase of the bank circulation was in satisfactory progress, but that no coin had been accumulated with which to redeem the notes on January i, 1879. Gold was quoted at 106. Through an arrangement with certain bankers who were then purchasing the Government bonds for refunding, the Secretary promptly sold for resumption $15,000,000 of four and one-half per cent, bonds at par, and later in the sum- mer $25,000,000 additional of four per cents, at par, the first issue of bonds since the war bearing so low a rate of interest. But a series of adverse circumstances operated against additional sales of these bonds, and all further steps toward secur- ing a fund for resumption were suspended. Gold was now at 103. The continual advance in the value of the money standard had embarrassed to a certain extent the debtor class, and an outcry against a further enhancement of its value ■was very pronounced. Upon the assembling of Congress in December, thirteen bills were introduced the first day for the repeal of the resumption act, and one of them passed the House and lacked but two votes of passing the Senate. In every direction the outlook was discouraging for the friends of the measure, but the Secretary announced to Congress and the country that unless the law ■was repealed he should certainly comply with its provisions and redeem the notes as required by law, on and after January i, 1879. The law was not repealed, but an act was passed forbidding the retirement of the notes beyond the existing amount, $346,681,016, and requiring their reissue after redemption, thus settling a much debated policy. In April, 1878, the Secretary went to New York and sold $50,000,000 of four and one-half per cents, at loi net, thus securing in all $90,500,000 in gold coin for redemption. With this, and an estimated amount of about $40,000,000 surplus cash in the Treasury, he believed he could easily redeem all the notes presented for that purpose. Notwithstanding the ample preparations, the premium on gold did not disappear until December 15th. The istdayof January was Sunday, and no business was transacted. On the following day no little anxiety was felt at the Treasury, but in the evening came a dispatch showing more gold for notes than notes for gold had been presented. The THE CURRENCY OF THE FUTURE. 45; crisis had passed and resumption was accomplished. An era of enterprise and prosperity set in, unparalleled in modern history. Within the next ten years following- the taxable wealth of the country increased about ^780,000,000, an amount considerably greater than the total of such wealth in 1850, as shown by the returns of the Seventh Census. The issue limit of these notes still remains unchanged, the redeemability of them in coin unquestioned, and the resumption fund untouched. Meanwhile the issues of the national banks have been greatly reduced, the high price of the collateral bonds rendering their continuance unprofitable to the banks. The experiment of maintaining at par an issue of Government notes, based upon a reasonable reserve in specie and further secured by a pledge of the faith of the Nation, has proved a success in furnishing a part of the currency of the country. The plan will likely attract attention throughout the civilized world, for the circulation of no countiy is upon an entirely satisfactory basis. At present a no more economical or satisfactory form of currency exists than these notes of the United States. Deprived of their legal-tender quality when not redeemable at par with coin, as are the bank notes of England, which quality alone can ever make them harmful, but which may prove useful as long as their redeemability is maintained, the notes which have already survived the exigencies that brought them into existence may prove the money of the future. HON. JOHN SHERMAN ON THE CURRENCY OF THE FUTURE. The above article was prepared by Mr. Upton upon the recommendation of Senator John Sherman, whose hand has shaped the financial legislation of the country for the last quarter of a century, and upon its being submitted to him he stated that he found it very interesting and deserving of wide circulation, as no other measure before Congress could compare with that of the currency in its effects upon the business interests of the country ; that it affected every man, woman, and child in our broad land, the rich with his investments, the poor with his labor. At the same time he made the following statement of his views as to the future currency of the country. The employment of either silver or gold for general purposes of circu* lation is growing relatively less every year, in all civilized nations. The use of checks in transferring credits from one party to another, the employment of clearinof-houses in commercial centres to offset the checks agfainst each other, to save the labor and risk of individual collections, and lastly, the employment of paper notes payable on demand in specie, in lieu of actual 29 p& w 458 THE STORY OF AMERICA. specie itself, are modern inventions for facilitating exchanges, and they are the ofreatest labor-savine machines ever brought to human aid. Their use is not yet fully understood or appreciated, but they are rapidly revolutionizing all methods of exchanges, and this country cannot refuse to recognize their superiority over the clumsy machinery of the last century. The expansion of the use of checks and clearing-houses may be left to the education which our rapidly increasing commerce affords. As to the issue of paper notes, It is generally admitted that the metals should be supplemented by some kind of credit money, to avoid absorbing too much of the actual wealth of the country in the machinery of circulation, and the question arises, under what authority, in what manner, and to what extent these issues shall be made. The commerce between the several States is of enormous and unrestricted amount, and demands the issue to be uniform in value throughout the country. The policy of removing the tax upon the issue of State banks, and allowing variegated bills of that character, at best never at par, except in the immediate vicinity of their issue, to again flood the country, meets with little favor in any section. There is, also, a general feeling that when the option on the four per cent, bonds expires, the Government should not issue in their place bonds of a lower rate on which national banks may continue their circulation. If there is any gain in issuing notes, there is a demand, not without justice, that it should be shared in by all the citizens of the Republic, not exclusively by the holders of State or National bank stocks. To purchase gold or silver bullion and to issue certificates thereon, dollar for dollar, would not obviate the great objection to a large part of the present circulation, viz.: the useless storing away of too much of the wealth of the country in the vaults of the Treasury, a policy, however safe it may be, which is expensive, as taking out of productive enterprises a needless amount of capital. The employment of the greenback currency as part of the paper currency since 1879, based upon about thirty per cent, of gold coin or bullion, and the pledge of the faith of the nation to its maintenance at par, has proved satisfactory and economical. By its issue the Government has had the use of $246,000,000, the excess of the issue over the reserve, for thirteen years, with no charge except the insignificant appropriation for the manufacture of new notes to take the place of those worn or mutilated. Had the greenbacks been converted at that tkne into four per cent, bonds and other forms of currency substituted as demanded by many high in authority, the Government would already have paid on such bonds to date about $125,000,000 in interest. At present there is outstanding of silver certificates. Treasury notes, gold certificates, and national bank notes $770,000,000, and the querj* arises, why cannot the issue of the green- backs be gradually extended so as to take the place of these issues, a reserve A UNIFORM MEDIUM. 459 in specie to be maintained equal to ^ of the entire paper circulation, and the faith of the nation to be pledged to keep the notes at par by the sale of bonds, the proceeds to be applied to such maintenance whenever necessary. For thirteen years greenbacks have maintained a specie value, nobody desiring coin for the notes as soon as it was known it could be had upon demand, and there is no reason to suppose that a parity of value cannot be maintained for all the paper circulation, though sustained in part only by the pledged faith of the nation. The amount of circulation needed can be determined only by the necessities of business, but with the privileges of redemption at sight an ovei issue of paper would not long remain. The metallic reserve might with safety consist of one-half of gold and one-half of silver, the latter at its market value, and the notes be redeemed either in gold or its equivalent in silver, under such regulations as may be deemed necessary to keep them at par and to give no advantage to either metal. Any loss the Government might sustain therefrom by a depreciation in the value of either metal would probably be made more than good from the profit in issuing the remaining one-third part of the notes upon the credit of the country as represented by bonds, of which the Secretary should have unquestioned power to sell a sufficient amount at his discretion. A circulation issued by the General Government and thus secured would be uniform in value throughout the country; its notes, alike in design, would soon become well known and much preferred to the many kinds now in circulation, of which each has a different appearance, a different basis of redemption, and of debt-paying power. Such a policy is nothing new. It is only the extension of one already tried and which has proved successful, and which can be easily expanded to afford all the circulation which the rapidly growing needs of the country may require. HKNKY \V MINOKKI.I.OW. 400 CHAPTER XXXI. HOW ^?VE5 GOVERN OURSELVES. BY MISS ANNA L. DAWES, Author of Life of Sumner, etc. The Government of the United States is unique in three respects : It is the larsfest and most successful de- mocracy that has ever existed, it is a federal system, and it has a written Constitution. Perhaps it may be called unique in its methods also, for no> other government is made up of three separate and yet equal branches, each in some sense the Government, but all necessary to any complete action of the nation ; and still again those de- partments, the Legislative, the Execu- tive, and the Judiciary, have each their own peculiar and distinctive features. Legislation is representative and not democratic. The Executive has not only the duty of executing the laws, but a power of veto over them, and the Supreme Court stands alone in all the world in its place and importance. The Government of the United States, in the expressive phrase of Abraham Lincoln, is "A government by the people, of the people, and for the people."' It is often claimed that England is more democratic in fact, Germany more at- tentive to the needs of the people ; but Briton and German alike hold that power comes from the throne and its reserved rights remain with the throne. But every American believes that power comes from the people, the Executive is in some sense an agent, and the reserved rights remain with the people. The difference is not only fundamental, but there result from it doctrines and relations which run through all our system and our methods as well. No amount of super- ficial flexibility, as in England, or of temporary advantage, as in Germany, can at all compensate for this great and far-reaching distinction, this confidence in and dependence upon the people. Again, we have two kinds of law — that made by Congress as the needs of the time require, law which may be altered according to 461 nil. CAl'ITOL AT WA^IIIM.lnN, 462 THE STORY OF AMERICA. occasion, and the great permanent Constitution, which only the people and the States acting together can alter, and that after long and careful process, and to which all other law must conform. This Constitution is truly enough the bulwark of our liberties ; no sudden whims or changing passions can deprive us of the fundamental rights guaranteed by it ; the storm of battle has proved it strong enough to stand against all assaults, and the stress of unequaled growth has shown it broad enough for all demands. It seems, indeed, as if a superhuman 'wisiom was given to the forefathers. Molded by Hamilton, and Franklin, and the Adamses, and Madison, and Ellsworth, and many another great man, it drew its inspiration from French philosophers and Dutch methods, and the mingled love and hate for English practice. The government of a little Baptist church in Pennsylvania, and the Connecticut town-meeting, and the conflicting interests of different sections, and many other elements entered in to make th s great instrument what it is. Lender it we have lived for one hundred years, aiid have stretched our boundaries from one ocean to the other, from the frozen seas of the Arctic Circle to the tropical waters of the Gulf We have endured three wars, and are grown so strong that the great governments of Europe hesitate to encounter us, and sit by our side in equal honor ; we have be- cor le sixty million people, and our riches are matched with imperial treasuries, but our doors are ever open to the laborer and we give him all opportunity, until he shall stand at the top if it pleases him. Side by side the rich and the poor, the learned and the unlearned, die chief among us and the least of all, hold the great gift of governing, and we count them each a man ; and the whole great and (jlorious structure rests on the firm and endurintr rock of the Constitution. The Government is carried on, according to the terms of this Constitution and under its provisions, by three great branches : Congress, which makes the laws ; the Judiciary, which interprets these laws and decides whether they agree with the Constitution ; and the Executive, which carries them out. And since this is a government of the people. Congress, which represents the people and expresses their will, is the centre around which the whole government turns. Congress is composed of two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives is elected every two years, and each member of it represents somewhat more than 150,000 people. Each State sends as many Congressmen as are necessary' to represent its whole population, being divided into districts containing each a population of 1 50,000, from among which the members of Congress are chosen. The requirement that the representative shall live within the State is an important distinction between our system and that of England. An English district or borough may elect a member of Parliament from any part of the nation, and thus it is believed the House of Commons will be composed of the best men In the country ; but it is our purpose to have every part of the country represented, and, therefore, HOW CONGRESS IS COMPOSED. 463 by an unwritten law, never disregarded, we require that each Congressman shall reside in the district which chooses him. Thus, so far as possible, every man in the country is represented. It must always be remembered, however, that the government of the United States is not a pure democracy, but a republic. It is first and foremost a representative government. In every possible way endeavor is made that each man shall be represented, but he must act through a representative. The short term of service insures that these representatives shall reflect the changing will of the people, and furnishes a remedy for all unjust or foolish action. He shows an entire ignorance of our system who complains of the tyranny of government in the United States. The House of Representatives is its chief governing power, and, remade as it is by the people themselves once in two years, it is constantly controlled by the will of the people. This very fact, the fact that the House of Representatives can be altered so readily and always will reflect every passing change of public sentiment, made it necessary and highly desirable to add some more permanent element to Congress. For this, among other reasons, a Senate was created. Senators are elected once in si.x years, and represent the people of a whole State. Thus, because he is more permanent, and because he is chosen by a larger constituency, a senator represents the more stable elements of political thought, not so much the passing feeling of the moment, but the deep underlying opinions and wishes of a large number of people. Moreover, as the Senate is so arranged that only one senator from a State is elected at a time, and only one-third of the senators go out of office on any given year, it becomes in some sense a stable body, and acts as a check upon the excitements and lack of wisdom natural to such a body as the House. Still another reason, and that of great importance, marks the value of the Senate to the people. It is, in fact, more necessary to the preservation of our system than the House itself The senators represent the States directly, and each State has two senators, no more and no less. This places each State on an equal footing with every other, a result obviously an important element in our political system, and of the greatest practical importance to our liberties. By reason of this provision in our Constitution, Delaware or Rhode Island are of equal power in the Senate with Texas or New York, furnishing m check upon the unregulated control of any one section. If the Senate, like the House, i^Meas- JAMES G. ULAINE, EX-SECRETARY OF STATE. 464 THE STORY OF AMERICA. represented the population and not the States, shortly enough Congress would be controlled by the great cities, or, perhaps, by the great States. The tyranny of New York or Chicago would be replaced by the tyranny of California or Texas. The immense mass of their people would always control the country, and we should be at the mercy of a practical monarchy. The equal power of the small States in the Senate goes far to prevent this result and to preserve the rule of the whole people, an actual as well as a nominal democracy. The Senate is altogether necessary to the country, and he is a false friend who would persuade the country to undermine it or destroy its relations to the States by making it a popular body. So thoroughly was this understood by the men who made the Constitution that a unique provision was inserted forbid- ding any amendment which should deprive the States of their equal representa- tion in the Senate without their own consent, practically a prohibition of such an amendment. Congress has power to raise funds for our necessities by taxes, to borrow money, if necessary, to establish postal facilities, to coin or print our money, to regulate our foreign affairs, to make war, to control many other matters, and to make all the laws relative to these concerns. It requires both houses of Congress to pass the laws that govern us. A bill originates in the House or the Senate, according to its nature, is debated and passed by that body, sent to the other, debated and passed by that, and then sent to the President, who signs it, and thereby it becomes a law. If any of these conditions fail it falls to the ground. Either branch can refuse to pass a measure, and the President may refuse to sign, or veto it. But in this latter case, since the will of the people is the supreme power, the vetoed bill may be passed again, over the head of the President, as the phrase goes, if two-thirds of each house of Congress can be thereafter induced to vote for it. All bills for fur- nishing money must originate in the House of Representatives, that the people, by controlling the purse strings, may still more thoroughly control the Government. The Senate, on the other hand, has the power to consider and pass upon our treaties, and has also the duty of confirming or refusing all appointments of any importance. ; The officers of the House of Representatives are a Speaker, elected from among its members, who presides over its deliberations, a Clerk, a Sergeant-at- Arms, a Doorkeeper, and several smaller officers necessary to carry on its business. The Senate is presided over by the Vice-President of the United States, and in his absence by one of the senators, chosen by themselves for that duty, and known as the President pro tempore. This body has also a Clerk and Sergeant at-Arms and minor officials. The business of Congress is largely done by its committees, which consider all important subjects before they are bcx)ught to the attention of either house. These committees are appointed by DUTIES OF THE CONGRESS. 465 th\5 vSpeake/ In the House of Representatives, and in the Senate are selected by a committee of the senators. Each Congress lasts for two years, although not in session all oi the time. Congress meets in the Capitol at Washington on the first Monday in December of every year. The first year the session lasts until both houses can agree to adjourn, thus giving time for free and ample discus- sion of every subject. These "long sessions" usually continue until July or August, and sometimes until October. On the alternate years Congress is directed by the Constitution to adjourn on the fourth day of March, thus pre* SENATE CHAMBER. venting the attempt to make any one Congress permanent. All Congressmen are paid a salary, in order that poor men may have an equal chance with the rich. This salary is $5000 for both senators and representatives, except in the case of the Speaker and President of the Senate, who each of them receive $8000. No religious tests are allowed, and any man may belong to either house who is a citizen of the United States, who resides in the State which elects him, and who is of suitable age, twenty-five years in the House and thirty years In the Senate. When the laws are made they must be carried out ; and this is the busi- 4fi'^ THE STORY OF AMERICA. iiess of the Executive department of the Government, a co-equal branch with the Les:fislativc department. The President is the chief executive officer of tha nation, and as such is properly the chief personage and principal officer in the land. It is no i/.istakc to style him the " chief ruler" of the United States, for, although the people are our only rulers, they do this ruling through and by means of the President and Congress, and thus depute him to rule over them for the time being. The President is only in a limited sense the agent of the people, but he is their chosen, although temporary, ruler, who is to carr)' out their laws. The President and Vice-President are chosen once in four years and elected HOUSE OF REPRKSENTATIVES. by the people, who vote by States and not directly as a nation. The citizens of each State vote for a body of men called electors, equal in number to their Coneressmen, who in turn choose the President a few weeks later. As a matter of fact, their choice is always known beforehand, as they are elected on the dis- tinct understanding o*" their preference. Although the method is somewhat clumsy, the principle is most necessary. In all our affairs, so (ar '~ oossible, we must contmue to act by States. It is only thus that our fedenxf sy>, ^m can be preserved, and in that lies our safety and success. The qualifications for President are that he shall be a native-born .Ameri- can, who has resided in die country for fourteen years, and who is thirty-five DUTIES OF THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 467 yea*-s old. He is inaugurated with much pomp and ceremony on the fourth of March, every four years, and resides at the Executive Mansion, or White House, in Washington, during his term of office. He is paid a salary of $50,000, that he may keep up a suitable state and dignity as our chief ruler. If he is guilty of treason, or other " high crimes and misdemeanors," of such importance that his continuance in office is dangerous to our liberties, he may be impeached by the House of Representatives, tried by the Senate, and, if found guilty, deposed, in which case his office would fall to the Vice-President, An effort was made to impeach President Johnson in 1866, but there being no adequate ground for such action, he was acquitted. TIIK VVIIITL HOUSK -MAIN liNIKANCE. The duties of the Executive department are mostly connected with the administration of the laws. The President is Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, and he also represents the nation in matters connected with foreign governments. To that end he sends out foreign ministers to other govern^ ments, and consuls, to conduct our business affairs in foreign ports. A large body of foreign ministers sent from other countries for a similar purpose reside at Washington, and throughout our cities are scattered foreign consuls for the transaction of commercial business. The President is assisted in his duties by a body of advisers, known as the gg THE STORY OF AMERICA. Cabinet. This consists of eight officers of great importance, of his own selec- tion and appointment, each of whom has control of affairs of the Government in his particular department. The Secretary of State conducts oui foreign rela- tions ; the Secretary of the Treasury our financial affairs ; the Secretary of War is over our armies ; the Attorney General is the law officer of the Government ; the Postmaster General superintends the postal service ; the Secretary of the Navy commands our navy ; the Secretary of the Interior is concerned with patents, the Indians, the public lands, and many other important matters ; and the Secretary of Agriculture promotes the farming interests of the country. Each of these Secretaries has his office in Washington, where he attends to the enormous business of his department. Under him are an immense number of officers and clerks, all appointed either by the President or the head of the department, to carry on the business of Government. Each department is divided into bureaus, and much of the work is of the highest value and importance. In case of the death or inability of the President, the duties of his office devolve upon the Vice-President, and after him would fall to the Cabinet succes- sively, in the order already named. But should any member of the Cabinet be obliged to take this office, he would fill it only until a new election could be held. We have had a long and remarkable list of Presidents, beginning with Georee Washinofton himself There have been in all twentv-three different Presi- dents, by a curious coincidence covering twenty-four terms, and distributed among various political pardes. Many of them were men of extraordinary ability. They have been strangely representative, some, like Washington and the Adamses being men of the aristocratic class, while others, like Jackson, and Lin- coln, and Garfield, were proud of their origin from among the poorest of the people. Twice the descendant of a President has filled that high place — John Quincy Adams being the son of John Adams, and Benjamin Harrison the grand- son of Wm. Henry Harrison. Two Presidents have brought beautiful and charm- ing brides to the White House during their term of office — President Tyler, wha married Miss Julia Gardner, and President Cleveland, who married Miss Frances Folsom. Many times the people have delighted to honor the heroes of our wars. As one epoch after another passed in our history the laurels of war were placed upon the heads of Washington, of Andrew Jackson, of Wm. Henry Harrison, of Taylor, of Grant, and Hayes, and Garfield, and the second Harrison. Many different States have claimed the honor of the Presidency, but we have never yet had an Executive from the great Western States. Several Presidents have been re-elected, but by an unwritten law no man ever serves but two terms. Four have died in office, two of them, Lincoln and Garfield, having beer* assassinated. There have been many great men and many wise men in this office, but among them all there are three who stand out beyond their fellows* POWERS OF THE SUPREME COURT. 469 creators of history — George Washington, who founded the Republic ; Abraham Lincoln, the greatest of all our great men in any time, and Ulysses S. Grant, the chief among our generals. An elaborate system of courts make up our national judiciary, and secure to the citizens protection and justice. In some respects the most extraordinary feature of our Government is the Supreme Court, which is unique in its power and importance. It is the business of this tribunal to construe the laws, to decide whether they agree with the Constitution, to settle any question as to SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE. whether the Constitution has been violated in deed, to decide upon suits between the States and the nation, and to determine legal questions between this and other countries. It is co-ordinate with Congress and the Executive, and yet the highest power in the land, for both bow to its decisions. Law and justice are preserved in its keeping, lest either of the other two great branches of the Government usurp the power, or transcend the Constitution. Any law the constitutionality of which is questioned, may be brought before this court, and its decision is final, confirming it against all opposition, or making it null ^^o THE STORY OF AMERICA. and void, and thus of no effect whatever. This court consists of nine judges, or justices as they are called, appointed for life or good behavior, by the President, and confirmed by the Senate. They are paid $10,000 a year, with a pension after they become too old for longer service. The head of the court, or the Chief Justice, administers the oath to the President on his inauguration, and many times stands ne.xt him in rank and position. Certainly no nobler illus- tration of the might and majesty of law can be given than this court, adjusting the affairs of the nation itself, to which President and people alike bow, in token that righteousness and justice are greater than power. No account of our Government would be in any sense complete, nor indeed would it be intelligible, that did not take into account our Federal system. The whole country is divided into States, and each State is a separate and dis- tinct government, having control of its local affairs, and responsible to its own people. In all those larger affairs which concern the whole country, it joins with its fellows in the general Government, but the power of this general Government comes from the States. The States are not given more or less power by the United States, but the States give more or less power to the United States and reserve the other rights to themselves. The United States, however, has supreme control over all matters relating to the nation, and will not allow any State to infringe upon the rights or jeopardize the safety of any other. For that reason it will not permit any State or States to secede, because the cooperation of them all is necessary to the safety of the Union. W' e are States united into a nation, but we are a nation, one and indissoluble. The histor)' of the country makes plain these relations. Thirteen colonies, settled by different peoples of different origins and for widely diflerent reasons, joined each other for the sake of common safety and national prosperity. Practical necessity and political wisdom alike dictated that local affairs should continue under the control of each colony or State, while matters of general interest were decided by the whole acting together. To this end each colony gave up to the nation its general rights but reserved the power over its internal affairs. It is this federal system which makes it possible for a democratic government to rule such an immense country, and it is only this. Therefore, while we are careful to retain the supreme control to the general Government, we must more and more relegate sectional concerns, however large and import- ant, to the States ; and we must guard against the centralizing of our affairs in the hands of the national Government, however much to our temporary advan- tage it may be. In the nature of the case we cannot govern territory of such enormous e.xtent, with so various a population and such varying interest, by democratic methods unless we keep strictly to the federal idea. It is our only safety. Each State has a Governor, Legislature, and Supreme Court of its own ; RELATION OF STATES TO THE NATION. ^^r the Governor, Legislature, and, in some States, the Supreme Court, being elected by its own people. Different States require different qualifications in their voters ; in some a man must be able to read and write ; in some be pos- sessed of certain property ; in one there is no distinction between men and women ; and various other requirements are found in the different States. Whatever makes a man a voter in his own State allows him to vote in that State in national elections also. The term of office of State officers varies greatly, some States holding their Legislatures annually, and some biennially ; some Governors being elected for one year and some for longer terms. In all these, its own affairs, the State is supreme. Each has its own courts, under its Supreme Court, for the further- ance of justice. Local affairs also are very variously administered, by townships, counties, parishes, and other subdivisions, many of them very ancient, and in like manner cities are governed in different ways. All this diversity in unity serves to make one homogeneous nation of this heterogeneous multitude of sixty million people. The original thirteen States, little as they dreamed of the great territory over which the flag of the United States floats so proudly to-day, had no narrow idea of a nation, and provided for its expansion even better than they knew. The common land belonging to the nation, and as yet largely unsettled, is held by the common Government, in Territories. These are governed by officers appointed by the President, and are subject to United States laws only. Their own Legislatures arrange their local affairs, and each sends a delegate to Con- gress to look after its interests, but the law does not allow him to vote. As soon as any Territory contains a population large enough, Congress admits it to the Union as a State, with all the rights and privileges of its older sisters, the President proclaims that fact to the world, and a new commonwealth is added to the sisterhood, marked by the new star in the flag we honor. Thus one after another we have already seen thirty-one new States added to that little band of thirteen, some of them great and rich realms many times as large as the whole nation at its beg-innine. The United States is indeed a land of the free, and its ereat written charter, the Constitution, itself protects the freedom of her citizens. The right to wor- ship God as he will, the right to assemble when and where he will, freedom of speech and press, and of petition, the right to keep and bear arms — all these great gifts the United States gives to every person in all her broad borders. Nor is this enough ; she preserves his house inviolate from search and seizure, and everywhere in all his relations throws the shield of the law over his person and possessions. If indeed he be accused of crime, she makes certain that he shall have justice, for by the right to a trial by jury and by many other careful provisions she protects both his person and property, and in the last and greatest articles 4/2 THE STORY OF AMERICA. of her great Magna Charta — articles for which she spent blood and treasure beyond the telling — she forbids all slavery within all her borders, and guarantees to every citizen his right to vote without regard to " race, color, or previous condition of servitude." For this is the duty which the United States asks of every man-child within her borders, to help her govern herself This is his proud privilege — to choose her officers, to control her policy, to sustain her laws, and through his representatives to make them ; to develop the Nation, and govern her. This is what it is to vote in the United States of America. Ill", K r. I ' i\ I 1 r.i\. CHAPTER XXVI. OUR PRESIDENTS. HEN the office of President was to be filled for the first time, grave problems were to be solved. The hardship and suffering of the struggle for independence were yet present in the minds of all men ; the weakness and failure of the Government instituted by the Articles of Confederation had compelled an attempt "to form a more perfect Union;" the eyes of the civilized world were upon the struggling people, and to men who had not an abiding faith in the prin- ciples for which the battles of the Revolution had been fought, it seemed that the experiment of popular Government was to end in early, complete, and appropriate catastrophe. In such circumstances it was well that the public needs were so great and so immediate as to make men willing to forget their differences and consider measures for the common good ; and particularly was it well for the future of our country, that there was one man upon whom all could agree as uniting the wisdom, the moderation, the experience, the dignity necessary to the first President of the United States. George Washington was the only man ever unanimously elected President. Of his personal history and of his character, enough has been said in another place. He undertook the duties of the Chief Magistracy with a deep sense of their importance, and their difficulty, but with the courage and devotion which characterized all his conduct. He selected for his Cabinet men of widely different political views, but men whose names were not new to Americans, men whose past services justified the belief that they would find means of leading Ate country out of its present difficulties, and of setting the affairs of tht^ ■Government on a sure foundation. Jefferson, Hamilton, Knox and Randolph, mig-ht well be trusted to concert wise measures. Washington's second election was, like the first, without opposition, and for four years more he continued to guide the affairs of State. A national bank had been established early in his first term, and also the Philadelphia Mint, and the currency of the country was now on a fairly satisfactory basis ; a census had 30 P. w 473 r-' ■ ia ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^r - ''n^^^^H ^^^■^^ ■ M ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HB - ill!^^^^^^^^l ^A ' 'i^^^l ^^^^^^^^^^^^K^vHHV j^^^^^^^l^^l^^^^^^^l ^HL ' ^ \^^^M ^^^^^^^^^^^K^'jr^?7 '^B^^^H^^H^^^^^^^I ^^^\ ''-■% .. '/j^H ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Er ^ ^^S^^^^^l ^M^ 1 JH^^^^^^H ^^Hk-'W^ 'jiilH ^B) H ^■^^kn9^!<^^ ' i^^^H ^^^^^^H 1 i ^^^1 ^^^^^^^^^^^Hb^^^^^^^B, s.^ R^jHv ^J^^^B^^^^^^^I 1 ^^^^^^^^1 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ -Xs'^y (S^^^^^^^ISI^^^I p 1 ii^^^^^r ~i IB^"" i 1 1 GEORGE WASHINGTON >73»-'7'J T^uo Ttrmt, 1809-1817. JAMES MONROE. 479 (fence with which his countrymen universally regarded him. In his inaugural a^ddress he took as a symbol of the enduring character of the Union, the foundation of the Capitol, near whicli he stood to deliver the address, and which had survived the ruins of the beautiful building recently burnt by the British. So popular was IVesident Monroe, and so wisely did he administer the affairs of State that on his re-election there was no opposing candidate, and he lacked but one of a unanimous vote in the electoral college. This vote was cast for John Ouincy Adams, simply in order " that no later mortal should stand in Washington's shoes " in being unanimously elected. Monroe's two terms comprise an eventful period in our history ; the Government pensioned its Revolutionary sol- diers and their widows, spending in all sixty-five million dollars in this noble work ; Florida was purchased from Spain ; the Na- tional Road was begun at Cum- berland, Md., finally to extend as far as Illinois, and to be of inestimable service in the open- ing and development of the West ; but the subject which took the deepest hold upon the minds of the people was that of the extension of slavery. Follow- ing the "Era of Good Feeling" ushered in by Monroe's adminis- tration, came a serious division in public feeling as to whethe slavery should be permitted in the northern part of the territory west of the Mississippi. The question arose so suddenly and was so fiercely debated that Jefferson declared that it terrified him, "like a fire-bell in the night," and he feared serious trouble between the States, the actual outbreak of which was postponed, by a scries of compromises, for a period of forty years. Henry Clay's Missouri Compromise quieted the quarrel for some twenty-five years. President Monroe is perhaps most widely renowned as the author of the " Monroe Doctrine " — that no European nation has a right to interfere with the affairs of any American State — a doctrine to which our Government has steadily JAMES MONROE. 1758-1831. THvu Terms, 1817-1825. 48o THE STORY OF AMERICA. adhered. It is interesting to note that the man who had served his country so well in the high position of its Chief Magistrate was willing, after the close of his second term, to accept so humble a post as that of Justice of the Peace, and so continue a public servant ; but it is sad to relate that Mr. Monroe's great generosity and public spirit left him, in his old age, embarrassed by debt, and necessitated the giving up of his residence at Oak Hill, in Virginia, to end his days in tlu- home of a son-in-law, in New York. The "Era of Good Feeling" had left no organized national parties in politics, antl there were four candidates voted for to succeed Monroe. This resultetl in there being no ma- jorit)' in the electoral college, and the final choice was therefore made by the House of Repre- sentatives, John Ouincy Adams thus becoming the sixth Presi- dent. He was, perhaps, as well equipped for the position, at least in breadth of information, knowl- edge of state-craft, and experi- ence in political affairs, as any man who has ever filled it. At the age of fifteen he was secre- tary to the Minister to Russia ; after graduating at Harvard, and practicing law for a few years, he became United States Minister at the Hague, and afterwards at Berlin, St. Petersburg and Lon- don ; he had represented Massa- • chusettes in the National Senate, and during the Presidency of Mr. Monroe he had been Secretary %{ State. His administration was not marked by any measure of national importance, but is notable as the era in which a number of projects for the promotion of commercial intercourse met with the success they deserved. We have already mentioned the National Road. It was no more impor- tant than the Erie Canal, "Clinton's Big Ditch," as it was derisively called, which was opened in 1825; and the experiments with "steam wagons" resulted, in 1828, in the opening of a line of railroad which now forms part of the Baltimore & Ohio system. The first spadeful of earth was turned by the venerable Charles Carroll, of CarroUton, the only survivor of the signers of the JOHN QUmCT ADAMS. Ont TtrfH, 1825-1829. ANDREW JACKSON. 481 Declaration of Independence, who remarked in so doing, that he considered this among the most important acts of his Hfe, " second only to that of signing the Declaration of Independence, if second to that." It is also to be noted that this era marks the beginning of that social move« ment, which in less than seventy years has resulted in so marked a change ia the views of Americans regarding the use of intoxicants. Andrew Jackson, the seventh President, was the first who was not a citizen cither of Massachusetts or Virginia. He was also the first who was not already known to his countrymen as a distinguished statesman. He was exceedingly popular, however, owing to his military services and to his ener- getic, honest and fearless, though headstrong, character. He had led a strange and eventful life. In his boyhood he had known ah the hardships and privations of absolute poverty ; at the age of fourteen he was a prisoner of war, and nearly starved by his British captors. He studied law and emigrated from North Caro- lina to Tennessee. After that territory became a State he rep- resented it in Congress, and for a short time in the Senate. He was continually involved in quar- rels, fought several duels and made many bitter enemies as well as many warm friends. His success in leading the Tennessee militia against the Indians gained for him the reputation which caused his appointment to command in the Southwest near the close of the war of 181 2, and his brilliant defence of New Orleans gave "Old Hickory" a place in the hearts of his countrymen which resulted in their electing him to succeed John Quincy Adams as President, and his ability and integrity were so manifest that he was re-elected in 1832 by the electoral votes of all the States except seven. No period of our history is more interesting than the eight years of Jackson's administration. He was the first President to dismiss large numbers of officials in order to replace them by his own partisans. The anti-slavery ANDREW JACKSON. 1767-1S45. Two Terms, 1829-1837. 482 THE STORY OF AMERICA. movement took definite shape during this time, and William Lloyd Garrison began the publication of the famous Liberator, and American literature had its beginnings. At this time came the first serious danger of a rupture between the States. It grew out of the tariff legislation, which South Carolina, under the lead of John C. Calhoun, undertook to nullify. The payment of the duties was refused, but the President sent General Scott to Charleston to enforce the law, and under ihe advice of Henry Clay a new and more satisfactory tariff was adopted. This difficulty and Jackson's determined opposition to the United States Bank, his fight against it, resulting in its destruction, are the events of this administration which pro- duced the most marked and last- ing effect upon our national his- tory'. After the close of his second term he lived in retire- ment at his home, the famous "Hermitage," near Nashville, until his death, eight years later. Martin Van Buren had hardly entered upon the duties of the presidency when the great panic of 1837 occurred. It re- sulted from a variety of causes, among which may be mentioned the great number of worthless banks which sprang up after the discontinuance of the United States Bank ; the prevalence of ■wild speculation, particularly in land, and the action of the Government in demanding that One good effect of this great Treasury of the United States, MARTm VAN BtntBN. 1782-1862. Onf Term, 1837-1841, t.ie banks should repay its deposits in coin, public calamity was the establishment of a independent of any bank or system of banks. It was during this administration that the Mormons formed their setdement m Nauvoo, Illinois, and in 1840 a regular line of steamships was established between Liverpool and Boston. Mr. Van Buren was a native of New York, had served his State in various offces of trust, including that of Governor, had been its Representative in the United States Senate, had been Minister to England, Secretary of State during WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON— JOHN TYLER. 483 fnost of Jackson's first administration, and Vice-President during his second. He continued, for several years after the close of his terms as President, to take an active part in politics, and in 1848 he was the candidate of the anti- slavery Democrats, or "Free Democracy," for President, after which he took no part in public affairs, though he lived at his native place, in Columbia County, New York, until nearly the middle of the war of the Rebellion. For forty years the Democrats had retained control of the national government, but the administration of Van Buren had not been popular, and the change in public sentiment was so great that in the election of 1 840 he was defeated by General William Henry Harrison, who had been the unsuccessful candi- date four years before. The political campaign was the most exciting that had yet occurred ; the enthusiasm for the Whig candidate was very great, and the " Logf-cabin and Hard Cider " campaign will be long remem- bered. The character of the suc- cessful candidate justified high expectations of his administra- tion. Left at an early age to depend upon himself, he had entered the army and won dis- tinction under General Wayne, in the Indian wars ; he had been long identified with the develop- ment of what is now Indiana and Ohio ; had represented Ohio in the United States Senate, and filled several other offices of more or less note, and was living, when elected, on his farm, not far from Cincinnati. He made a judicious selection of Cabinet officers, but within a month after his ina iguration, and before any definite line of policy had been established, he died, after a very brief illness, probably caused by the fatigue and excitement of his inauguration. John Tyler was the first Vice President of the United States to become President. He had been made the Whig candidate largely from motives of policy, as he had been an active Democrat, and as a member of that party had beeji elected Governor of Virginia, and had represented that State in the 37 WILLIAM HMJRY HARRISON. i7?3-i84i. One Month, 1841. 484 THE STORY OF AMERICA. United States Senate, He had, however, been opposed to both Jackson and Va» Buren, and had for some time been acting with the Whigs. He soon quarreled, however, with the Whig Congress, the subject of contention being the proposed revival of the United States Bank. This quarrel continued throughout the Presidential term, to the great hindrance of public business. Two events which marked a new era, the one in our methods of communication, the other in the relief of human suffering, took place during this time ; they were the invention of the electric telegraph, and the use of ether in surgery. The events of greatest political importance were the settlement, by the Ashburton treaty, of a troublesome dispute with Great Britain, concerning the northeastern boundary of the United States, and just at the close of Tyler's administration, the annexation of Texas. The latter was a step which had for some time been under discus- sion, it being advocated by the South as a pro-slavery measure, and opposed by the and-slavery party. Texas had made itself independent of Mexico, and asked to be annexed to the United States, a request which was thus finally granted. Mr. Tyler returned to private life at the close of his Presidential term, and took little part in public affairs until the breaking out of the Civil War. At the time of his death he was a member of the Confederate Congress. The Democrats were again successful in 1844, and on March 4th, 1845, James K. Polk became the eleventh President. He was a native of North Carolina, but in boyhood had removed with his father to Tennessee. He was well educated, and was unusually successful in his profession of the law. He was for fourteen years a member of Congress and was Speaker of the House for five consecutive sessions. On his declining a re-election to Congress he was made Governor of Tennessee, and as a candidate for the Presidency in 1844 was successful in uniting the warring factions of the Democrats. He came to the Presidency at a critical time. The annexation of Texas had JOHN TYLBR. One Partial Term, 1841-1845. ZACHARY TAYLOR. 485 involved the country in difficulties with Mexico, and the question of the northern boundary west of the Rocky Mountains threatened to interrupt the cordial relations between the United States and England. The latter question was settled by accepting the parallel of forty-nine degrees of north latitude, thus making the boundary continuous with that east of the mountains, but the trouble with Mexico culminated in war, which resulted, in less than two years, in the complete conquest of that country. California and New Mexico were ceded to the United States on the payment of fifteen millions of dollars and the assumption of certain debts of Mexico. It was just at this time that gold was discovered in California, and the wonderful emigration to that territory began. Mr. Polk survived his Presidential term only some three months. The pendulum of popular fevor had again swung over to the side of the Whigs, and their candidate was elected the twelfth President. General Zachary Tay- lor had grown up amid the pri- vation and difficulties of frontier life in Kentucky. By the in- fluence of Madison, the then Secretary of State, who was a relative of the family, he received an appointment as lieutenant in the United .'States army, and served with great distinction in the Indian wars which then ha- rassed our frontiers. At the time of the annexation of Texas he was in command of the army in the Southwest, with the rank of Brigadier-General. His management of affairs during the time which preceded the Mexican War was marked by great discretion, and his brilliant conduct of the opening campaign brought him great popularity and led to his nomination for the Presidency by the Whigs, to the great chagrin of some of the leaders of the party, who saw in his success the disappointment of their own ambition, and who distrusted a candidate who had no experience in legislative or executive affairs. This distrust, however, has not been shared by the majority of the people, either in the case of General Taylor, or of other Presidential JA3HES KNOX POLK. 1795-1849. One Term, 1845-1849. 486 THE STORY OF AMERICA. candidates of purely military renown, and such a candidate has usually been sure of success. The question of the extension of slavery was aL^ain being fiercely agitated, and seemed once more likely to disrupt the country. General Taylor lived only some si.xteen months after his inauguration, dying before the heat of the debate in Congress had abated. The X'ice-President who by the tlcath of General Taylor came to be the Chief Magistrate of the country, was Millard iMJlmore, of New York. He was an admirable type of the American citizen, owing this high position to his own attainments, and to his own un- lided exertions. He received no pecuniaiy assistance after his fourteenth year, except a small K)an, which he punctually repaid. With exceedingly little previous education, he began, at the age of nineteen, the study of law, which he prosecuted under the lost adverse circumstances, but > successfully as to place him in the front rank of the lawyers of the State of New York. He was for several terms a member of the lower house of Congress, where he distinguished himself as a wise, prudent, honest legis- lator. He was Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means which framed the tariff of 1842, anil although he claimed no originality for the principles on which it was based, he is justly ,intitled to be considered its author. His Presidential term is chielly remembered by the debate in Congress or» the extension of slavery in the territory gained by the Mexican War, resulting in the adoption of the compromise measures proposed by Henry Clay, including the Inigitive Slave Law. This law, which gave the owners of runaway slaves the right to call on all citizens to assist in arresting and restoring them to their owners, was exceedingly unpopular in the North, and did much to prevent Mr. Fillmore's renomination, and to increase anti-slavery sentiment in the North. •ACUAKY TATLOR, 1784-1850. Ont Partial Ttrm, 1S40-1650. FRANKLIN PIERCE. 487 Mrs. Stowe's famous story, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," was published in 1852, and had a great influence in hastening the impending conflict. At the close of his term Mr. Fillmore retired to Buffalo, where he resided until his death, in 1874. Again the Whigs were retired from control of the national government; and a Democratic President elected. F"ranklin Pierce had been a life-long resident of New Hampshire. He was a graduate of Bowdoin College, was widely known as an able and successful lawyer, and though his name is not especially connected with any great measure, he had represented his State in both Houses of Congress. He expressed in his inaugural ad- dress the belief that all ques- tions concerning slavery should be considered settled by the compromise measures of 1850, and the hope that " no sectional or ambitious, or fanatical excite ment mitrht attain threaten the durability of our institutions or obscure the light of our pros- perity." Among the notable events of his administration may be mentioned the international ex- hibition in the "Crystal Palace" in New York, in 1853, in which the pre-eminence of Americans in the invention of labor-saving machinery was manifested ; the expedition of Commodore Perry to Japan, which resulted in open- ing to American commerce the ports of that interesting countiy, which no foreigners had previously been allowed to enter ; and the adjustment of a dispute with Mexico concerning the western portion of the boundary between the two countries, resulting in the purchase by the United States of a considerable district, included in the present territories of Arizona and New Mexico. But the facts which chiefly characterize this administration concern the irrepressible conflict about slavery. The Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 repealed the Missouri Compromise, and made the question of slavery in all the Territories optional with the people of the Territories, as had been done by the Compromise of 1850, for the MILLARD FILLMORE, 1800-1S74. One Partial Term, 1850-1853. 4S8 THE STORY OF AMERICA. territory acquired from Mexico. The passage of this law led to much ill- fceliiii^ and to great efforts by both Northern abolitionists and Southern slaveholders to encourage the emigration of their sympathizers to Kansas, in order to govern the decision in regard to slavery. The strife of these opposing parties became so serious as to result in much bloodshed, and from 1854 to 1S59 that territory deserved the name of " Bleeding Kansas," and during much of that time it was in a state of civil war. Mr. Pierce took no prominent part in public affairs after his retirement from the Presidency. The Whig party had now finally disappeared, and in the election of 1856 the Democrats were once more successful. James Buchanan was a Pennsyl- vania lawyer, a graduate of Dickinson College, and so promi- nent in his profession that his name appears in the " Pennsyl- vania Reports" between 181 2 and 1 83 1 more frequently than that of any other lawyer. He had served ten years in Congress, had represented his country as Minister to Russia and to Eng- land, and as Secretary of State under President Polk had been called upon to adjust questions of the gravest and most delicate character. At the opening of his Ad- ministration the public strife was greatly allayed by the general confidence in the ability and the high patriotism of the President; but the announcement of the " Dred Scott Decision," which had been deferred so as not to give new cause for excitement during a Presidential campaign, stirred the nation to a degree before unknown. This decision declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, and therefore void, that Congress had no right to forbid the carrying of slaves into any State or Territory, and opened all the Free States to at least a temporary establishment of slavery. This was the beginning of the end of the contest. The attempt of John Brown, a citizen of Kansas, with about twenty men, to liberate the slaves in Virginia, their seizure of the Government buildings at Harper's KK ANK! !\ I'llKcK, l3o4-iSoS. One Term, 1853-1857. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 4«9 Ferry, their capture, and the hangin^f of the leader, with six ot his men, only hastened the final conl^ict. A great business panic occurred in 1S57, and the discovery of silver in Nevada and Colorado the following year; the no less important discovery of petroleum and natural gas in Pennsylvania occurred in 1859. After the Presidential election of 1S60 it became evident that the South would not quietly submit to tlie defeat which they had received, and South Carolina, followed by six other Southern States, adopted " ordinances of seces- sion," assuming to dissolve their union with the other States, and declaring themselves free and independent nations. The President took no action to prevent secession, and most of the forts, arsenals, and other national property with- in these States were seized. Mr. Buchanan retired to private life at the close of his term as Presi- dent. Of all the men, since Wash- ington, who have been Presi- dents of the United States, Abra- ham Lincoln holds the largest share in the affections of the people. His lowly origin, his early poverty and privation, the never-failing kindness with which throughout his life he met all classes of men, and the homely and genial wit which enlivened his discussion of grave matters of State as well as his casual and friendly conversation, gave him a place in the hearts of the common people not held by any othef American, while his unequaled knoulfdge of men, his ability to cope with unforeseen difficuldes, his lofty purpose and perfect honesty, together with his practical good sense, not only brought him the respect and esteem of all who came to know him, but place him among the greatest statesmen, not ot America alone, but of all countries in all times. Born and reared in the backwoods, with nothing in his surroundings tc stimulate ambition, chopping wood and splitting rails, learning to read from the spelling-book and the Bible, sitting up half the night to read Pilgrim's Progress 31 P. w. J.4ME.S BUCHANAN. 17Q1-1868. 4CJO THE STORY OF AMERICA. and /Esop's Fables " by the blaze of the logs his own axe had split," he came to manhood with little education, but with perfect health and gigantic strength. At the age of twenty-five he took up the study of law, and early began to take part in tlu: local political movements. He had represented his district in Congress, but at the time of his nomination for President had little reputation outside of Illinois. He came to the Presidency amid a multitude of adverse circumstanceal With seven States already seceded, the border States apparently ready to follow, with the capital surrounded by a hostile population, and without the confidence of the leaders of his own party, his would indeed seem a difficult task. His first measures were intended to convince the people of the South, if they were willing to be convinced, that he had no hostile intention, but at the same time that he proposed to "preserve, protect, and defend" the Union and to main- tain the rights and the authority of the Government. The story of the War of the Rebellion cannot be told here. It is a story the like of which forms part of the history of no other nation — the story of a war engaging at one time 1,700,000 men, the war debt of the North, representing but a part of the cost of the war, amounting to ^3,000,000,000, and the expense frequently exceed- ing f;3, 500,000 a day. Aside from the essentially military features of the war, the most notable event of Mr. Lincoln's Administration was the freeing of the slaves, which was done as a war measure, by the Emancipation Proclamation, Januar}' i, 1863, thus finally, after the expiration of nearly a hundred years, making good in our country the words of the Declaration of Independence, that "all men are cre- ated equal." It can be truthfully said that President Lincoln carried the administration of the Government in this troublous time, not only as a load upon his brain, but as a burden in his heart ; a united country was the object of all his efforts, and when, only a month after his second inauguration, he was assassinated by a misguided and mistaken Southern sympathizer, the bullet of the murderer removed as true a friend as the South possessed. The war was already at an end, and had Abraham Lincoln lived to rebuild and reconstruct the Union he had saved, many of the difficulties of the era of reconstruction might have been avoided — difficulties whose evil effects have not yet disappeared from our national politics. No fact in our history demonstrates more fully the perfection of our system of government and the hold which it has upon the confidence of our people than the quiet change of Chief Magistrates at the close of a Presidential term. Four times in our history this change has been caused by death, and now, when the beloved President had been assassinated, when the whole country was excited and alarmed, when grave questions were pending and matters of the ABRAHAM T.INCOT,N. 1809-1865. 1\iM-Tirt>u {Died in OMce), 1861-1(6$. 49-' A9^ THE STORY OF AMERICA. utmost delicacy rc(n;ir(icl adjustment, the Vice-President quietly assumed the office, and the routine of government proceeded as before. Andrew Johnson was a native of North CaroHna. He was the son of poor parents, and, learning the tailor's trade, he earned his living for a number of \'ears as a Journeyman. He taught himself to read, and after emigrating to Tennessee he learned from his wife to write and cipher. He represented his district for several terms in Congress, and was chosen United States Senator in 1857. He was nominated for \'ice-lVesident by the Republicans in 1S64. mainly to invite votes from the opposite party, as until the war he had been a consistent Democrat. Unfortu- nately, he differed with the lead- ing Republicans in Congress on the question of the manner in which the States lately in rebel- lion were to resume their places in the Government, and the difference grew into a violent quarrel, which lasted till the close of his term, and resulted, in 1868, in the impeachment of the President by Congress. He was acquitted, however, the vote in the Senate lacking one of the j' two-thirds necessary to con\ict. The chief political events of the Administration were the read- mission of six of the seceded States and the adoption of three amendments to the Constitution — the Thirteenth, abolishing slavery; the P^ourteenth, making the negro a citizen, and the Fifteenth, giving him the right to vote. (See Chapter on Negro.) During this time, also, the Government began the payment of the war debt, the first Atlantic cable wa-^ laid, and Alaska was added 10 our national domain. 'Phe success which had attended the Union armies after they passed under 1 the command of General Ulysses S. Grant made him the popular idol, and obvi- ously the most available candidate for President. He was a native of Ohio, a j graduate of West Point, and had served in the Mexican War, where he was I promoted for meritorious conduct in batde. At the opening of the Civil War ANllUKW ;OMNS0\. 1808-1875. Onr Parli.il Term, 1865-1869. ULVSSES S/.UPSON CRANT. 493 \\(: raised a company of wiliiiili-rrs in Illinois, of whirh State ho was then a citizen, was soon nuitle a brigadier general, and Iroin that point the story of Ids life is a part of the history of the war. C'lCneral Cirant was the reciiDicnt of honors from forei'^n rnli'rs ami ooN'orn- meats such as have been bestoweil n|)on no other American rresidt'nl. 1 1 is fanu: as a treneral was recoo-nized throughout the world, anti although he had no experience in civil affairs, he had the tact to call into his Cabinet men ot gri'at ability, and while he may have been sometimi-s mishnl b)- designing men, his Administration was so popular that he was re-elected by a greatly-increased majorilN', and indeed might have; been chosen for a third term had not the public feeling been found so strongly opposed to violating the custom inaugurated by Wash- ington of giving to no President more than two terms of ofiice. Diu-ing these two terms the first Pacific railway was completed ; representatives from all the re- maining seceded States were admitted to Congress ; a treaty was concluded with England providing for the arbitration of the Alabama and other claims, which seemed at one time likely to involve the two countries in war; tlu' great lu'es in Chicago and Boston destroyed man\- mil- lions of property ; a panic of almost unprecedented severity occurred (1873), '^'"'^^ ^^''*^ Cen- tennial Exhibition took place at Philadelphia. After the close of his term as President, General Grant made a totir of the world, being everywhere received with the greatest honor, altiT which he resided in New York until acttacked by the disease which ended his life on Mt. MacGregor, in 1S85. It has frequently happened that when several rival leaders of the same political party have been candidates for President, the Presidential Convention has fountl it wisest to nominate some less prominent man, thus avoiding the loss which might i\'sult from the choice of t-itlier of llu; mon; conspicuous aspirants for the office, and the consc(|iient offtnse to the supporters of the la.N'ssi s siMi'soN (;rant. iSaa— 1885. Tivc Tttms, 18S9— 1S77 494 THE STORY OF AMERICA. others. This was the case when a successor to General Grant was to be chosen. While Rutherford B. Hayes had been a Brigadier-general in the Union army, and had twice been elected Governor of Ohio, he was by no means conspicuous as a national leader. There was great dissatisfaction with the course of the men who had obtained control of the political machinery of the Republican part)', and the election depended on the counting of the electoral votes of Louisiana and Florida. To settle the legality of these votes, the famous I-Ilectoral Commission was appointed by Congress, and decided in favor of General Hayes as against his competitor, Samuel J. Tilden. The. quiet and peaceful solution of this dispute is one of the greatest triumphs of our system of Government. The Republican party had been in office for four Presidential terms, had success- fully conducted the affairs of the nation during the trying and dangerous periods of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Many of the measures which had been during this time adopted as a part of our system had been consistently and strenuously op- posed by the Democrats. Under these circumstances the Repub- licans viewed the possible ac- cession to power of the Demo- cratic party with a degree of alarm, which has since proved to be unjustifiable. Each party claimed, and probably believed, that its candidate had been elected, and each was disposed to insist on its rights under the Constitution. Such a dispute in a country where men's passions are less under the control of their reason, would inevitably have led to civil war. The two Houses of Congress were of different politics, and their agreement upon what seemed an equitable method of adjusting the dispute, together with the acquiescence of all parties in the decision of the tribunal thus created, make it a remarkable instance of the adaptability of our institutions, and go far to justify the most complete faith in their permanence. General Hayes was a successful lawyer, a Ufelong citizen of Ohio, and while his administration gave great offense to RUTHKRFORD BIKCHAKD HAYES. Ont Ttrm, 1877-1881. /AMES AJBRAM GARFIELD. 495 many political leaders, it was generally satisfactory to the people. At the close of his term he retired to his native State. The chief events of his Presidency were : his withdrawal of troops from the South, thus leaving the people of that section to settle their own questions in their own way ; the great railroad and coal strikes, during which United States troops had to be employed to suppress violence at Pittsburgh, and the resumption of specie payments, in 1879. (See Chapter on Finance.) I The twentieth President was likewise a citizen of Ohio. The early life of James A. Garfield was somewhat similar tn that of Abraham Lincoln. He had, however, the advantage of early contact with cultivated people, and while he at one time drove mules upon the tow-path ot a canal, and paid for his tuition by acting as janitor of the school- house, he had opportunities tor education of which he availed himself to the utmost, paying h.s own way through school ani. finally graduating at Williams College. At the opening of the war he entered the Union army, and was promoted, for his servi- ces at the battle of Chickamauga, to the rank of Major-general. He left the army to enter Con- gress, where he took a leading part, and was chosen Senator for Ohio, but before taking his seat was elected President. He surrounded himself with able advisers, and high hopes were entertained of a notably successful Administration, when he was shot by a disappointed office-seeker, dying after two months of suffering, during which the public sympathy was excited to an extraordinary degree and was manifested in every possible way. The single event for which the few months of his Presidency are remarkable IS the quarrel between the President and Senator Conkling, of New York, as to some of the Federal appointments in that State. The Senator from New York resigned, and the difficulty was not adjusted at the time of the Presidents death. JAMES ARRAM GARFIELD. 1831-1881. One Partial lerm, 1881. 496 THE STORY OF AMERICA. The Vice-President elected with Garfield was Chester A. Arthur, of New York. He was not widely known outside his own State before his nomination, and he was made the candidate in order to retain the favor of a large portion of the Republican party in New York which had advocated the claims of another candidate, and it was feared would not otherwise assist in the election of Garfield. Mr. Arthur had great experience as a political manager, but little knowl- edge of the manner in which die Government is conducted ; but he proved a careful, conscientious President, and the country was well satisfied with his administradon. As he had been an adherent of the political faction with which President Garfield, at the time of his assassination, was at war, he was placed in an ex- ceedingly delicate position, and grave fears were entertained by many people that backward steps would be taken ; but the new President extricated himself from his difficulties with a dignity and a tact which astonished even those who knew him best, and which gained for him the respect of the entire country. Durintr the term of President Arthur, Congress passed the Civil Service Act, providing for the appointment of subordinate em- ployees of the Government on the basis of merit rather than that of political influence ; the completion of the great East River Bridge united the cities of New York and Brooklyn, and the immense growth and prosperity of the New South justified the brightest anticipations for the future of that section. Mr. Arthur died in New York a few months after the close of his term. The Republican party had now held control of the Government for twenty- five years, and Grover Cleveland was the first Democradc President since Buchanan. Although a native of New Jersey, he has been since boyhood a citizen of New York. He began the study of law in Buffalo at the age of eighteen, and early took an acdve part in politics. Having filled several loca) CHI-:STER ALAN ARTHUR. 1S30-18S6. One Partial Ttrm, 1881-1885. GROVER CLAVELANV— BENJAMIN HARRISON 497 offices, he was. in 1882, elected Governor of the State by a phenomenal ma- jority, and in 1SS4 was the successful candidate for rrcsiucul. The transfer of the Government from the hands of one political party to its opponent resulted in no disturbance to the business or social relations of the people, and although a large number of office-holders were replaced bv men of the opposite political faith, the business of the Government went on as before. During Cleveland's administration laws were enacted providing for the succession to the Presidency of the various members of the Cabinet in case oi the death or disability of the President and Vice-President ; laying down rules for the count- ing of the electoral votes, thus supplying the strange deficiency ^| of the Constitution in this re- spect; regulating inter-State com- merce, and forbidding Chinese laborers to emigrate to this ^^ country. Events of great im- portance were the extended labor strikes, which occurred in 18S6, K^s^ and the Anarchist riot in Chicago in May of that year. Although his administration had been very satisfactory to the country at large, Mr. Cleveland failed of re-election, the principal ques tion at issue being that of a protective tariff He left Wash- ington to take up the practice of law in New York city. Mr. Cleveland was suc- ceeded by General Benjamin Harrison, who secured 233 electoral votes to 1 ". cast for Mr. Cleveland. Mr. Harrison is the grandson of the ninth Presiden. and the great-grandson of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independ ence. He is a native of Ohio, is well educated, and was for many years one f>f the leading lawyers of Indiana. He entered the Union army in 1862, and was promoted until, near the close of the war, he reached the rank of Brigadier- general. He was made a United States Senator in 1880, and came to the Presidency well equipped for the discharge of its duties. During his four years of sc-^'ce many p'^'-ed events took place which STEPHFN GROVER CLEVELANIX, J'irst £ertn, i&85-ib89; Second Term^ i893->'^7. 498 THE STORY OF AMERICA. promise to have great weight in moulding the future of the country. A Con- gress of the American RepubHcs met in Washington, in 1889, and devised measures which resulted in bringing about a closer commercial union between the Americas; six new States were also added to the Union. The tariff laws were revised and clauses added granting to such nations as offer us reciprocal advantages free admission for certain of their exports. Several new vessels were built giving us a new and efficient navy ; the longstanding difficulty with England concerning seal fishing in Behring Sea was adjusted by a treaty. providing for arbitration, and an- noying difficulties with Germany, Italy and Chili were happily settled. The Presidential campaign of 1892 was remarkable in several respects. The leading candi- dates, ex-President Cleveland and President Harrison, were both men of the highest character and integritj-, each of whom had served the country with notable ability as President for a term of four years. The people were, there- fore, so well acquainted with the candidates that personalities en- tered little into the campaign, and the canvass was conducted with less popular enthusiasm and ex- citement than ever before. The question most largely discussed was that of the McKinley tariff, but other important questions, such as the free coinage of silver and the revival of State banks, entered largely into the discussion, and had much to do with influencing the result, especially in the Western States, where party lines were very largely broken up. The result of the election was almost a political revolution ex-President Cleveland being elected by an overwhelming majority of 382,956 popular, and 132 electoral votes. The Populists also polled a very large vote. The result of the election was -generally accepted as a condemnation of the McKinley tariff. For the first time in thirty years the Democratic party had full possession of all branches of the government. iitWJAMl.N IIAKKISON, ■S33 One Term, 1889-1893. CLEVELAND'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 499 The whole of President Cleveland's second administration was threatening and stormy. One of the first difficulties presented itself in the Hawaiian Question. Early in the year 1893, by a successful revolution, without bloodshed, the native Queen, Liliuokalani, of the Sandwich Islands, was forced to abdicate and a provisional government established, the chief officers of which were Ameri- cans by birth or parentage. A proposition for annexation was made by them to the United States, and a treaty looking to that end was negotiated under the administration oi President Harrison, and sent to the Senate for ratification. On President Cleveland's accession to office, he was convinced that the revo- lution had been accomplished by the active aid of the American minister and troops, and thereupon made a demand that the Queen should be restored. The provisional government of Hawaii, however, declined to comply, and Congress took no measures to restore the monarchy. In the spring and summer of 1893 ^^ country experienced an unexpected and remarkable stringency in the money market, which was largely attributed to the operations of what is known as the "Sherman Law," by which the Govern- ment was compelled to purchase four and one-half million ounces of silver every month. President Cleveland shared the prevailing sentiment as to the cause of the stringency and called an extra session of Congress to meet early in August, for the purpose of repealing the purchasing clause of the " Sherman Law." This appeared to bring some relief in the way of restoring confidence in the east but the west was displeased, the country had already suffered so greatly from the general depression of trade and the withdrawal of credits that a panic was inevitable. Many banks failed and " hard times " prevailed. In July, 1894, The American Railway Union, an organization of railway employees, ordered a general strike on all roads running Pullman cars, resulting in a great conflict between capital and labor. Railroad tracks entering Chicago were torn up, and cars, freight and property were destroyed. President Cleve- land finally sent troops of the regular army to quell the riot. The state elections in the autumn of 1S94 brought another political revolu- tion, changing the House of Representatives elected in 1S92, from 219 Demo- crats and 127 Republicans to 100 Democrats and 245 Republicans in 1894. Mr. Cleveland's course in relation to Cuba while generally unpopular was in accordance with the principles of non-interference promulgated by Washington, and, no doubt kept us out of a destructive and expensive war with Spain. His bold stand in the defense of the " Monroe Doctrine," which was being disre- garded by England in the dispute over the Venezuelan boundaries, led to the signing of the " Treaty of Arbitration " by the governments of the United States and Great Britain. This has been pronounced by men who speak with calm judgment the greatest event of the century, marking perhaps more than any «;oo PRESIDENT Mc KIN LEY. other the progress of civilization, and the growing supremacy of the Anglo Saxon race. The campaign of 1896 was the most remarkable and hotly contested cam- paign in the history of our nation. Both the old parties — Democratic and Repub- lican — were seriously divided over the financial question. Old issues were lari^ely buried and the great batde was fought upon the question of a Bimetallic or a Single Gold Standard as a basis for our national currency. The Democrats favored the free and unlimited coinage of both silver and gold, at a ratio of six- teen to one, and an immediate establishment of a bimetallic standard. The '-- Republicans favored the mainten- ance of the e.xisting Gold stand- ard, at least until International Bimetallism might be effected. William McKinley of Ohio was nominated for President, and Garret A. Hobart of New Jersey for Vice-President by the Repub- lican Convention. The Demo- crats nominated William J. Bryan of Nebraska for President, and Arthur Sewall of Maine for the \'ice-Presidency. The Populist Party and the " Silver Wing " of the Republican Party endorsed Mr. Bryan's nomination and jrava him their support, the Populists substituting Thomas E. Watson (if Georgia for Vice-President. The Gold Standard Democrats met in convention and put out a special ticket headed by Gen- erals Palmer of Illinois and Buckner of Kentucky. But there is little doubt that more old-time Democrats cast their ballots for McKinley and Hobart than voted the Palmer and Buckner ticket. The result was the largest popular vote, by nearly two millions, ever cast in the country and Mr. McKinley's election by a plurality of 630,745 popular votes and 96 electoral votes over Mr. Bryan. On March 4th, 1S97, President McKinley was inaugurated in the presence of an immense assemblage. He immediately called an e.xtra session of Con- gress, which convened March 15th, 1897. Tiiis Congress passed the Dingley Tariff Bill increasing the duties on imports. On December ist Congress met in regular session. His wise administration during the Spanish-American War established him in the front rank of livintr statesmen. WILLIAM .\kklNLtY 1843 One Term, i&y; CHAPTER XXViJ. SOIvIE GREAT AIVIERICAN INDUSTRIES. Marble is, of all stones used for building- or sculpture, the best known and the most anciently used. The earliest records of human architecture tell of its employment. The Egyptians used it before they built the Pyramids. The temples and palaces of Greece were built of it; and it was the boast of an Emperor that he had found Rome brick and had left it marble. From Mount Pente- licus and from the Isle of Paros came the snowy stone of which the Parthenon and its fellow-gems of architecture were built, and in which were wrought the masterpieces of Phidias and Praxi- teles, while the artists of Rome sought their sup- plies at Carrara, on the Gull of Spezzia. It is a far cry from Mount Pentelicus to Otter Creek. Yet the fame of the former for this beautiful stone is rapidly being transferred to the latter. The hills that border that humble stream in Central Vermont are green without, as their name implies. But within they have been found to have hearts of snowy marble, rivaling that of Italy and Greece in purity and texture. A considerable quantity of it is perfectly suited to the finest statuary work, while the amount available for architectural purposes is practically inexhaustible. This Rutland County marble, for which Vermont is famous, is of the age of the Trenton limestone of New York, and forms a huge layer, 2000 feet thick, underlying hundreds of square miles of country. Not all portions of the layer, however, are valuable. Where it crops out at the surface of the ground, or nearly reaches it, the upper part, for a depth of from ten to fifty feet, is worthless, because of the action of the weather. At West Rutland the vein of perfectly pure statuary marble, rivaling that of Paros and Carrara, is only four feet thick. But there are fifty feet more of superb clouded and colored marble for architectural use. At Sutherland Falls the vein of building marble is seventy-five feet thick, and at Pittsford it is more than six hundred feet thick, with scarcely a seam or a flaw. Other less valuable deposits of marble, white, 501 502 THE STORY OF AMERICA. clouded, or colored, are found at Lee, Mass., Tuckahoe and Sing Sing, N. Y., Louisa County, \'a., and other places in the Appalachian Mountain belt. At Shoreham, Vt., and Glen's P'alls, N. Y., black marble is found. Burlington, \'t., furnishes the beauti- ful variegated " Winoo- ski " marble. Pnit the mountains of Tennessee are the chief source of this last-named kind, yielding seemingly end- less quantities of fme- textured stone, colored in every imaginable hue and tint, and veined and streaked and mottled in the most bewilderingly beautiful manner. So it came to pass that when the hardy Green Mountain farmer found his fields becoming sterile and unprofitable, he looked below the sur- face, and there found a richer and surer harvest than ever had appeared above. And while on the Gulf of Spezzia the qiiarrymen clung to the primitive methods of work, slow, laborious, and wasteful, the New Englanders utilized in quarrying the latest devices of Yankee ingenuity. The first thing to do is to clear away the sur- face rock, which heat and cold and other conditions have partially decomposed and rendered worthless. This is largely done by blasting, great care beino- exercised to use light charges, acting upward, so as not to injure the sound IN THK QUARRY. (i4 MArbU Quarry in I'frmamt.) NO IV TO GET THE STONES OUT. 503 marble below. After this "cap-rock" is thus removed and a "sound" floor secured there is no more blasting. The stone is too valuable to be shattered into useless fragments. Instead of gunpowder, steam-power is used. There are two kinds of "channeling machines " in use. One drives a set of chisels, the other a series of drills. Both effect the same purpose, the cutting of straight, narrow, parallel channels in the marble floor, five or six feet deep and perhaps the same distance apart. Other channels are then cut at right angles to the first, dividing the floor into squares. One of these huge blocks is next broken loose, by means of wedges, and lifted out. Into the cavity thus formed a workman gets down, and directs a drill or set of chisels horizontally against the bases of the other blocks, which are thus one by one cut off — "gadding," the work is called — and lifted out. When all are removed, a fresh "floor" is presented and the "channelinvr machines " are set at work again, cutting their deep, narrow tren- ches and dividing the "floor" into another series of blocks. The cost of thus cutting marble and raising it from the quarry is from seventy-five cents to a dollar the cubic foot. These huge cubes of marble are taken from the quarry to the mill, to be cut into smaller blocks or .slabs for building purposes. The cutting is done by means of gangs of horizontal saws, made of soft iron and having no teeth, but being fed with sand and water. They are operated by steam SLUICE-GATE. 504 THE STORY OF AMERICA. or water-power. The polishincr of the blocks and slabs is also clone by power. The pieces of marble are placed in a "rubbing-bed" and ground and polished with sand and emery by a rubber, which works on them with either a rotary or a to-antl-fro motion. Pieces ot marble of extraordinary size, lor monolithic columns, obelisks, etc., are cut and fashioned in the same way. Much of the tluting and other carving on ornamental stonework is done by machinery in the mills. Sometimes hand -carving is done there also, and sometimes it is left until the stones are actually in place in the structure of which they are to form a part. The American marble industry is a comparatively young one. It began about burning of some of the surface marble, at West Rutland, for lime. Then a lew tombstones were cut. After a dozen years systematic quarrying was begun ; but it was difficult to persuade the public that Vermont marble was as good as that imported from Eurojie. That it is as good, if not better, is, however, now amply established, and the quarrying of it has become a mammoth industry. Where once were barren sheep-pastures, worth a few dollars an acre, are now vast and increasing caverns, with snowy walls, from which busy rr,ircrt nARRKL-HOIST AND TUNNEL THROUGH THF. WASHIl'IRN MILL. OLD-TIME MILLING. 505 armed with steel and steam have taken milHons of dollars worth of stone, enough of it, and good enough, to have built all Athens in the age of Pericles. "The old order changeth, giving place to new." But only the means are new, and not the ends. Before history began, bread was the staff of life, and in the Stone Age the grain of the field was ground into meal for food. Among the earliest im- plements of human in- genuity were the two "Stones between which ilization of troops was promptly begun and rapidly ])ushed. Meantime our naval ve.«.sels were actively cruising around the Island of Cuba, expecting the appearance of the Spanish fleet. THE BOMBARDMENT OF SAN JUAN. 517 On May 11th the gunboat Wilmington, revenue-ciitti-r Hudson, and the torpedo-boat Winslow entered Cardenas Bay, Cuba, to attack the defenses and three small Sj)anis]i giinhoats tliat had taken refuge in the harbor. The Window being of light draft took the lead, and when within eigiit hundred yards of the fort was fired upon with disastrous effect, being sti-uck eighteen times and ren- dered helpless. For more than an hour the frail little crnl't was at the mercy of the enemy's batteries. The revenue-cutter TLidsoii (juickly answered her signal of distress by coming to the rescue, and as she was in the act of drawing the disabled boat away a shell from the enemy burst on the Wins/oiv's deck, killing three of her crew outright and wounding niiiny more. lOiisiuii Worth CAMP SCENE AT CHICKAMAUGA. Bagley, of the Winsloic, who had recently entered active service, was one of the killed. He was the first officer who lost his life in the war. The same shell badly wounded Lieutenant Bernadou, Commander of the boat. The Hudson, amidst a rain of fire from the Spanish gunboats and fortifications, succeeded in towing the Winslow to Key West, where the bodies of the dead were prepared for Ijuriid and the vessel was placed in repair. On May 12th the First Infantry landed near Port Cabanas, Cuba, with sujiplies for the insurgents, which they succeeded in delivering after a skirmish with the Spanish troops. This was the first land engagement of the war. On the same date Admiral Sampson's squadron arrived at San Juan, Porto RicO; whither it had gone in the expectation of meeting with Admiral Cervera's 5i3 THE SrAyiSH-AMEIilCAX WAR. fleet, which had sailed westward from the Cape Vertle Islands on April 29th, alter Portugal's dechiration of neutrality. The Spanish Heet, however, did not materialize, and Admiral Sampson, whik- on the ground, coneluded it would be well to draw the fire of the forts that lie might at least judge of their strength and eHieiencv, if indeed he slmuld not render them incapable of assisting the Sl)anisli fleet in the event of its resorting to tliis port at a later ju'riod. Aceord- in^lv, Sampson bond^arded the batteries defending San Juan, inilicting much dama»''e and sustainini; a loss of two men killed and six woundetl. The loss of the enemy is not known. The American war-ships sustained only trivial in- juries, l)ut after the engagement it could be plainly seen that one end of Morro Castle was in ruins. The Cabras Island fort was silenced and the San Carlos battery was damaged. No shots were aimed at the city by the American fleet. Deeming it unnecessary to wait for the Spanish war-ships in the vicinity of San Juan, Sam^ison withdrew his squadron and sailed westward in the hope of finding Cervera's fleet, winch was dodging about the Caribbean Sea. Fii-st it was heard of at the French island, ^Martinique, whence after a short stay it sailed westward. Two days later it halted at the Dutch island, Curayoa, for coal and supplies. After leaving this point it was again lost sight of. Then began the chase of Commodore Schley and Admiral Sampson to catch the fugitive. Schley, with his Hying scpiadron, sailed from Key West around the western end of Cuba, ami Sampson kept guard over the Windward and other jiassages to the east of the island. It was expected that one or the other of these fleets would ennmnlcr tlie Spaniard on the open sea, but in this they were mis- taken. Cervera was not making his way to the Mexican shore on the west, as some said, nor was he seeking to slip through one of the passages into the Atlantic and sail home to Spain, nor attack Connnodore Watson's hlockatling vessels before Havana, according to other expert opinions expressed and widely published. For many days the hunt of the war-ships went on like a fox-chase. On May 23d Connnodore Schley blockaded Cienfuegos, supposing that Cervera was inside the harbor, but on the 24th he discovered his n)istake and sailed to Santiago, where he lay l)efore the entrance to the harbor for three days, not know- ing whether or not the Spaniard was inside. On May 28th it was positively dis- covered that he had Cervera bottled uj) in the narrow harbor of Santiago. He had been there since the V.Hh, and had landed 800 men, 20,000 Mauser rifles, a great supply of ammunition, and four great guns for the defense of the city. OPER.\TIONS .\G.A.INST S.\NTI.\GO. On May 31st Commodore Schley opened fire on the fortifications at the mouth of the harbor, which lasted for alxmt half an hour. This was for the purpose of discovering the location and strength of the batteries, some of which OPERATIONS AGAINST SANTIAGO. 519 were concealed, and in this he was completely successful. Two of the batteries were silenced, and the flagship of the Spaniards, which took ])art in the engage- ment, was damaged. The Americans received no injury to vessels and no loss of men. On June 1st Admiral Sampson arrived before Santiago, and relieved Connnodore Schley of the chief command of the forces, then consisting of six- teen war-shijjs. Admiral Sampson, naturally a cautious commander, suffered great appre- hension lest Cervera might slip out of the harbor and escape during the dark- ness of the night or the progress of a storm, which would comj)el the blockading fleet to stand far off" shore. There was a point in the channel wide enough for only one war-ship to pass at a time, and if this could be rendered im- passable Cervera's doom would be sealed. How to reach and close this passage was the difiicult problem to be solved. On either shore of the narrow channel stood frowning forts with cannon, and there were other fortifications to be passed before it could be reached. Young Lieutenant Richmond Pearson Hobson, a naval engineer, had attached himself to Ad- miral Sampson's flagshiji, Ne^u York, just before it sailed from Key West, and it was this young man of less than thirty years who solved the pro- blem for Admiral Sampson by a plan all his own, which he executed with a heroic daring that finds perhaps no parall(4 in all naval history. At three o'clock A. M., June 3d, in company with seven volunteers fi-om iheNeiv York and other ships, he took the United States collier 3Iemmac, a large vessel wjth 600 tons of coal on board, and started with the purpose of sinking it in the channel. The chances were ten to one that the batteries from the forts would sink the vessel Ijefore it could reach the narrow neck, and the chances were hai-dly one in one hundred that any of the men on board the collier would come out of this daring attempt alive. The ship had hardly started when the forts opened fire, and amid the thunder of artillery and a rain of steel and bursting shells the boat with its eight brave heroes held on its way, as steadily as if they knew not their danger. The channel was reached, HICHMOND PEARSON HOBSON. 530 THE SPANmi-AMKlilt'AN WAR. and the boat turned stniiglit across the channel. Tlie sea-doors were opened anil torpedoes exploded by the intrepid crew, siiddiij; the vessel almost instantly- near the position desired. As the ship went down the men, with sitle-arnis Itnckled on, took to a small boat, and, escape being impossible, they surrendered to the iiicinv. It seems scarcely less than a miracle that any of the eight men escaped, yet the fact remained that not one of them was seriously injured. The Spaniards were so impressed with this act of bravery anil heroism that they treatfa. But the honor of making the first landing on Cuban sitil belongs to the marines. It was on .June the lOtli, a few days before the army of General Shafter sailed from Tampa, that a landing was effected by Colonel Huntington's six hundred marines at Caimanera. (Juantanamo Ray, some distance east of Santiago. The ol)ject of this landing was twofold : first, to secure a place where our war-ships could safely take on coal from colliers, and, second, to unite if pos- sible with the insurgents in harassing the Spaniards until General Shafter's army could arrive. Furthermore, Guantanamo Bay furnished the American ships a safe har])or in case of storm. In the whole history of the war few more thrilling passages are to be SECOND BONBARDMENT OF SANTIAGO. .^21 found than the record of this brave band's achievements, 'i'lie ])1;ic'L' of hnuling was a low, round, bush-covered hill on the eastern side of the hay. On the crest of the hill was a small clearing occupied by an advance post of the Spanish army. When the marines landed and began to climb the hill, the enemy, with little resistance, retreated to the woods, and tlie marines were soon occupying the cleared space abandoned by them. They liad scarcely begun to compliment themselves on their easy victory when they discovered that the retreat had only been a snare to lure them into the open space, while unfor- tunately all around the clearing the woods grew thick, and their unprotected position was also overlooked by a range of higher iiills covered witli a dense undergrowth. Thus the Spanish were able under cover of the bushes to creep close up to our forces, and they soon began to fire upon them from the higher ground of the wooded range. The marines replied vigorously to the fire of their hidden foe, and thus con- tinued their hit-and-nuss engagement for a period of four days and niglits, with only occasional intermissions. Perhaps the poor marksmanship of the Spaniards is to be thanked for the fact that they were not utterly anni- hilated. On the fourth day the Sjian- ish gave up the contest and al)au- doned the field. Major Henry C. Cochrane, second in command, states that he slept oidy an hour and a half in the four days, and that many of his men became so exhausted that they fell asleep stand- ing on their feet with their rifles in their hands. It is remarkable that during the four days the Americans lost only six killed and about twenty wounded. The Spaniards suffered a loss several times as great, fifteen of them having been found by the Americans dead on the field. It is not known how many they carried away or how many were wounded. MAJOR-GENEBAL FITZHUGH LEE. THE LANDING OF SHAFTER S ARMY. On June 13th troops began to leave Tampa and Kev West for operations against Santiago, and on June 20th the trans2)orts bearing them arrived off that 33 P- W. 522 THE Sl'AXlSll-AMERICAN WAR. ritv. Two days latiT ( iciu'ial Sliaftcr lamled his army of 10,000 soldiers at haiijuiri, a .short tlistaiK'c oast of tlic ciitraiu'o to tlie harl)()r, with the h)s* of only two iiR'ii, and iht'V by arcidciit. ik'ibrf the i-oiniiiy; of tlie troops the Spanish liad I'vacnatcd the viUagf of Daiquiri, which is a little inland from the iincliorage l)e:iii:i- llic saiiu" iiniiif, and scl lire to the town, blowing up two ma<;azines and destroying the railroad round-iiouse containing several locomotives. As the transports neared the landing-place Sampson's ships opened fire upon Jura<"-ua, en"agin'4 all ihe forts for about six miles to the west. This was done to distract the alieiiiinii and that by the last shot from the Spanish fort, killing one man and wounding eight others, seriously damaging the ship. REAR-ADMIRAL WILLIAM T. -SAMl'SON. THE VICTORY OF TH K KolGH RIDEKS. On June 24th tJie force inider (Jeneral Shatter reached Juragua, and the battle by land was now really to liegin. It was about ten miles out from San- tiago, at a point known as La C^uasina. The country was covered with high grass and chaparral, and in this and on the wooded liills a strong force of THE VICTORY OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. 523 Spaniards was hid-.len. Lieutenant-Colonel Rooseveli'.s Rough Riders, tech- nically known as the First Volunteer Cavalry, under conmuiiid of Colonel Wood, were in thw light, and it is to their bravery and dasli that the glory of the day chielly b'jlongs. Troops under eoiumand of Cieneral Young had been sent out in advance, with the Rougli Riders on his Haulc. There were about 3,200 of the cavalry in all, including the Rough Riders and the First and Tenth Regulars. They encountered a body of two thousand Spaniards in a thicket, wlioni they fought thsmounted. The vohiiiteers were especially eager for the figlit, and, perhaps due somewhat to their own imprudence, were led into an ambuscade, as perfect as was ever planned by an Indian. The main body of the Spaniai'ds was posted on a hill approached by two heavily wooded slopes and fortilied by two blockhouses, flanked liy intreneh- ments of stones and fallen trees. At the bottom of these hills run two roads, along one of which the Rough Riders marched, and along the other eight troops of the Eighth and Tenth Cavalry, under General Young. These roads are little more than gul- lies, very narrow, and at phu^s al- most impassable. Nearly half a mile separated Roosevelt's men from the Regulars, and it was in these trails that the battle began. For an hour they held their position in the midst of an unseen force, which poured a perfect hail of bullets upon them from in front and on both sides. At length, seeing that their only way of escape was by dashing boldly at the hidden foe, Colonel Wood took command on the right of his column of Rough Riders, jilaeing Lieutenant- Colonel Roosevelt at the left, and thus, with a i-ousing yell, they led their soldiers^ in a rushing charge before which the Spaniards iled from the liills and the vic- torious assailants took the blockhouses. The Americans had sixteen killed and fifty-two wounded, forty-two of the casualties occurring to the Rough Riders and twenty-six among the Regulars. It is estimated that the Spanish killed were nearly or quite one hundred. Thirty-seven were found by the Americans dead THEODORE liOObKVELT. 50 524 THE SPAXr.'^If-A.VFh'rCAN U'Ah'. oil llie ground. They had carried oil" their wounded, and douhtloss thought they had taken most ol' the killed away also. I'UKI'AUINfi FOR Tin; ASSAULT UPO.V SANTIAGO. The vietorv of tlie Rough Riders and the Regulars at La Quasina, though so dearly hoiighl, slinudaled the soldiers of the whole army with the spirit of war and the desire for an op{)ortunily to join in the eonquest. They had not long to wait. The ailvanee u^ion Santiago was vigorously jtroseeuted on the land side, while the ships stood guard over the eiitrap|)ed iSjianish Admiral Cervera in the harbor, and, anon, shelled every fort that uianifested signs of aetivily. ( )ii .Iuih> "Jotli, Hevilla, within sight of Santiago, was taken hy General ChalVee, and an advance upon the eily was j)laiined to he made in three eoluinns hy way of Altares, Firmeza, and Juragua. General Garcia with o,U00 Gul)au insurgents had placed himself some time before at the command of the American leader. On the -Stii of dune another large expedition of trooi)s was hmded, so that the entire Ibrce under General Shatter, including the Cul)an allies, mini- bered over 22,0()() lighting men. The eneiuy fell back at all points until the right ol' the American coluniri was within three miles of Santiago, and hy the end of June the two armies had wcll-deiined positions. The Spanish intrenchnients extended around the city, being kept at a distance of about three and one-half miles fVom the corporation limits. The tri'iiches were occupied by al>out 12,000 Spanish soldiers, and there were .some good fortifications along the line. It was the policy of (ieneial Shal'ter to distribute his forces so as to face this entire line as nearly as possible. A week was consumed, after the lauding was comph'ted, in making these arrangements and in .sending forward the artillery, during wdiich time the battle of La (Juasina, referred to, and other skirmishes and engagements occurred. Meantime the ships of Admiral Samp- son hail dragged u|) the cables and connected them by tap-wires with Shafter's head(iuartcrs, thus establishing communication directly with Washington from the scene of battle. THE RATTLES OF SAN JUAN AND EL CANEY. The attack began July 1st, involving the whole line, but the main struggle occurred ()|)posite tlie left centre of the column on the heights of San Juan, and the next greatest engagement was on the right of the American line at the little town of El Caney. The.se two point.s are several miles apart, the city of San- tiago occupying very nearly the apex of a triangle of which a line connecting these two positions would form the base. John R. Church thus described the battles of July 1st ami 2d : THE RATTLES OF SAN JUAN AND EL CWEV. 525 "El Caney was taken by GeuL'ral Lawlon'.s iiu'ii at'lcr a sharp conlusL and severe loss on both sides. Here as every whei'e there were; blockhonses and trenches to be carried in the tace of" a hot lire iVoiu Manser ritlcs, ;nid the rifles were well served. The jungle must disturb the aim seriously, tor our men did not suffer severely while under its cover, but in crossing clearings the ra})id fire of the repeating rifles told with deadly effect. Thc^ object of the attack on El Caney was to crush the Spanish lines at a point wi-.w liic city and allow us to gain a high hill from which the place could be bombarded if necessary. In all of this we were entirely successful. The engagement began at ().4() a. m., and by 4 o'clock the Spaniai'ds were forced to abandon the place and retreat toward their lines nearer the city. The fight was opened by Caj)ron's battery, at a range of 2,400 yards, and the troops engaged wei'c Chaffee's brigade, the Seventh, Twelfth, and Seventeenth Infantry, who movecl on Caney from the east; Colonel Miles' brigade of the First, Fourth, and Twenty-fifth Infantry, operating from the south; while Ludlow's brigade, containing the Eighth and Twenty-second Infantry and Second Massachusetts, made a detour to attack from the southwest. The Si)anish force is thought lo have been 1,500 to 2,000 strong. It certainly fought our men for nine hours, but of course had the advantage of a fort and strong intrenchments. "The operations of our centre were calculated lo cut the comnnniications of Santiago with El IMorrn and pei-niit our forces to advance to the bay, and the principal effort of General jjinares, the Spanish commander in the field, seems to have been to defeat this movement. He had furtifietl San Juan strongly, throwing up on it intrenchments that in the hands of a more determined force would have been impregnable. "The battle of San Juan was opened by Grimes' battery, to which the enemy replied with sliraj)nell. The cavalry, dismounted, supported by Haw- kins' brigade, advanced u|) the valley from the hill of El J*o/,o, forded several streams, where they lost heavily, and deployed at the foot of the series of hills known as San Juan un clfcei ; and General Shafter, largely on this account, had about despaire(l of taking the city, with the force at his command. In fact, he went so fai- on the nini'iiing of July od as to telegraph Washington that his losses had l)een greatly umlerestimated. that he met with stronger resistance than he had anticipated, and was .seriously considering falling back to a jiosition five miles to the rear to await reinforcements. He was also anxious for an interview with Adiniial Sampson. The fleet had been shelling the enemy during the two days' fight, but it was necessary that the navy and army have a clearer under- standing; and at 8.30 o'clock on Sunday morning Admiral Sampson with his flagship New York steamed eastward for the purpose of conferring with the general. General Miles telegraphed General Shafter, in response to his request to hold his ])osition, that he would be with him in a week with strong reinforce- ments; and he ]>romptly started two expeditions, aggregating over 0,000 men, THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVER.VS FLEET. 527 which reached Santiago on the Sth and 10th respectively, in time lo witness the closing engagements and surrender of the city. But foi'tune again favored our cause and completely changed the situation, unexpectedly to the American com- manders of the land and naval forces. It was on Sunday morning, July od, just before Sampsun landed to meet Shafter, that Admiral Cervera, in obedience to connnands from his home government, endeavored to run his fleet past the blockndiug squadnni of the Americaxis, with the result that all of his ships were desti'oyed, nearly ,")()() of his men killed and wounded, and himself and about 1,000 cttliers were made prisoners. This naval engagement was one of the most dramatic and terrible in all the history of conflict upon the seas, and, as it was really the beginning of the end of what j)romised to be a long and terrible struggle, it was undoubtedly the most important battle of the war. It had been just one month, to a day, sincte Hobson sunk the Jllcrrl- mac at the harbor's mouth to keep Cervera in, and for nearly one month and a half the fleets of Schley and Samjoson had lain, like watch-dogs before the gate, without for one mo- ment relaxing their vigilance. The quiet of Sunday morning brooded over the scene. Even the winds seemed resting from their labors and the sea lay smooth as glass. For two days before, Julv 1st and 2d, the fleets , , , ,",11 n no, . REAR-ADMIRAL WINFIELD SCOTT SCHLEY. had bombarded the torts or Santiago for the fourth time, and all the ships, except the Oregon, had steam down so low as to allow them a speed of only five knots an hour. At half-past nine o'clock the bugler sounded the call to qunrters, and tlie Jackies ap]ieared on deck rigged in their cleanest clothes for their regular Sunday insjiection. On board the Texas the devout Captain Philip had sounded the trum]U't-call to re- ligious services. In an instant a line of smoke was seen coming out of the harbor by the watch on the Iowa, and from that vessel's ynrd a signal was run up — "The enemy is escaping to the westward." Simultaneously, from her bridge a six-pounder boomed on the still air to draw the attention of the other 528 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. ships to her fluttering signal. On every vessel white masses were seen scram- hling forward. Jat-kies and firemen tumbled over one another rushing to their stations. OfHcei-s jumped into the turrets through manholes, dressed in their best unilbrms, ami captains rushed to their conning towers. There was no time to waste — scarcely enough to get the battle-hatches screwed on tight. Jingle, jingle, went the signal-bells in the engine-rooms, and "Steam! Steam!" the cap- tains cried thi'ougli the tubes. Far below decks, in 125 to loO degrees of heat, naked men shoveled in tlie black coal and forced drafts were put on. One minute after the Iowa tired her signal-gun she was moving toward the harbor. Fnun under the Castle of Morro came Admiral Cervera's flagship, the Infanta Maria Teresa, followed by her sister armored cruisers, Almirante Oqucndo and Vizcaya — so much alike that they could not be distinguished at any distance. There was also the splendid Cristobal Colon, and after them all the two magnificent torpedo destroyers, Pluton and Furor. The Teresa opened fire as she sighted the American vessels, as did all of her companions, and the forts from the heights belched forth at the same time. Countless geysers around our slowly approaching battle-ships showed where the Spanish shells exploded in the water. The Americans replied. The battle was on, but at a long range of two or three miles, so that the secondary batteries could not be called into use ; but thirteen-inch shells from the Oregon and Indiana and the twelve-inch shells from the Texas and Iowa were churning up the water around the enemy. At this juncture it seemed impossible for the Americans to head off the Spanish cruisers from passing the western point, hv they had come out of the harbor at a speed of thirteen and one-half knots an hour, for which the blockading fleet was not prepared. But Admiral Sampson's instructions were simple and well understood — "Should the enemy come out, close in and head him off" — and every ship was now endeavoring to obey that standing command while they piled on coal and steamed up. Meanwhile, from the rapidly approaching Nexv York the signal fluttered — "Close into the mouth of the harbor and engage the enemy; " but the admiral was too far away, or the men were too busy to see this signal, which they were, nevertheless, obeying to the letter. It was not until the leading Spanish cruiser had almost reached the western point of the bay, and when it was evident that Cervera was leading his entire fleet in one direction, that the battle connnenced in its fury. The loxva and the Oregon headed straight for the shore, intending to ram if possible one or more of the Spaniards. The Indiana and the Texas were following, and the Brooklyn, in the endeavor to cut off the advance ship, was headed straight for the western point. The little unprotected Gloucester steamed right across the harbor mouth and engaged the Oqucndo at closer range than any of the other DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA's FLEET. 529 ships, at the same time firing on the Furor and Pluton, wliich were rapidly apjjroaching. It then became apparent that the Oregon and Iowa could not ram, and that the Brooklyn could not head them off, as she had hoped, and, turning in a parallel course with them, a running nght ensued. Broadside after broadside came fast with terrific slaughter. The rapid-fire guns of the loioa nearest the Teresa enveloped the former vessel in a mantle of smoke and flame. She was followed by the Oregon, Indiana, Texas, and Brooklyn, all pouring a rain of red-hot steel and exploding shell into the fleeing cruisers as they passed along in their desjjerate effort to escape. The Furor and Pluton dashed like mad colts for the Brooklyn, and Comnid- dore Schley signaled — "Repel tor- pedo-destroyers." All the heavy ships turned their guns upon the little monsters. It was short woik. Clouds of black smoke rising iVdin their thin sides showed how seriously they suffered as they floundered in the sea. The Brooklyn and Oregon dashed on after the cruisers, i'nl- lowed by the other big ships, leaving the Furor and Pluton to the Glou- cester, hoping the New York, which was coming in the distance, would arrive in time to help her out if she needed it. The firing from the main and second batteries of all the bat- tle-ships — Oregon, Iowa, Texas, and also the Brooklyn — was tui'iied upon the Vizcaya, Teresa, and Oquendo witli such terrific broadsides and accuracy of aim that the Spaniards were driven from their guns I'epeatedly; but the officers gave the men liquor and drove them back, beating and sometimes shooting down those who weakened, without mercy; but under the terrific fire of the Americans the poor wretches were again driven away or fell mangled l)y their guns or stunned from the concussions of the missiles on the sides of their ships. Presently flames and smoke burst out from the Teresa and the Oquendo. The fire leaped from the por^.-holes ; and amid the din of battle and above it all rose the wild cheers of the Americans as both these si)lendid ships slowly reeled REAK-ADMIBAL JOHN C. WATSON. Commander of the Blockndiiig Fket at Ilavnmi. 530 THE SPANISH- AMERICAN WAR. like' .Iniiikiii iiu-ii iiiul headed for the shore. "They are on fire! We've finished tliem," shouted the gunners. Down came the Spanisli fiags. The news went all over the sh\[)^ — it being comniantk'd In- Commodore Schley to keep every- one informed, even those far below in the fire-rooms — and from engineers and fircnu'n in the hot bowels of the great leviathans to the men in the fighting-tops the welkin rang until the old ships reverberated with exuberant cheers. This was 10.20 a. m. Previously, the two tor2)edo boats had gone down, and only two dozen of their 140 men survived, these liaving been picked up by the (Uoucesler, which plucky little unprotected "dare-devil," not content with the destruction she had courtctl and escaped only as one of the unexplainable mysteries of Spanish gunnery, was coming up to join the chase after bigger game; and it was to T^ieutenant Wainwright, her commander, that Admiral Cervera surrendered. The Maine ivas avenged. (Lieutenant Wainwright was executive officer on ihat ill-fated vessel when she was bknvn up February 15th.) Cervera was wounded, hatless, antl almost naked when he was taken on board the Gloucester. Lieutenant Wainwright cordially saluted him and grasped him by the hand, saying, "I congratulate you. Admiral Cervera, upon as gallant a fight as was ever made upon the sea." He placed his cabin at the service of Cervera and his' officers, while his surgeon dressed their wounds and his men did all they could for their comfort — Wainwright supplying the admiral with clothing. Cervera was overcome with emotion, and the face of the old gray- bearded warrior was suffused in tears. The Iowa and Indiana came up soon after the Gloucester and assisted in the rescue of the drowning S]Kiniards from the Oquendo and Teresa, after which they all hurried on after the vanishing Brookhjn and Orec/on, which were pursuing the Vizcaya and Colon, the only two remaining vessels of Cervera's splendid fleet. From pursuer and pursued the smoke rose in volumes and the booming guns over the waters sang the song of destruction. \\\ twenty-four tninutes after the sinking of the Teresa and Oquendo, the Vizcaya, riddled by the Oregon's great shells and burning fiercely, hauled down her flag and headed for the shore, where she hung upon the rocks. In a dying •effort she had tried to ram the Brooklyn, but the fire of the big cruiser was too hot for her. The Texas and the little Vixen were seen to be about a mile to the rear, and the Vizcaya was left to them and the Iowa, the latter staying by her finally, while the Texas and Vixen followed on. It looked like a forlorn hope to catch the Colon. 8he was four and one- half miles away. But the Brooklyn and the Oregon were running like express trains, and tin- Texas sped after the fugitives with all her might. The chase la.sted two hours. Firing ceased, and every power of the ship and the nerve of commodore, captains, anrotocol, to be sent to Spain for her approval. Two days later, the 12th inst., the French ambassador was authorized to sign the protocol for Spain, and the signatures PEACE NEGOTIATIONS AND THE PROTOCOL. 541 were affixed the same afternoon at the White House (M. Camboii signing for Spain and Secretary Day for the United States), in tlie presence of President McKinley and the cliief assistants of the Department of State. The six main points covered by the protocol were as follows : " 1. That Spain will relinquish all claim of sovereignty over and title to Cuba. " 2. That Porto Rico and other Spanish islands in the West Indies, and an island in the Ladrones, to be selected by the United States, shall be ceded to the latter. "3. That the United States will occupy and hold the city, bay, and harbor of Manila, pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace which shall determine the control, disposition, and government of the Philippines. " 4. That Cuba, Porto Rico, and other Spanish islands in the West Indies shall be immediately evacuated, and that conimissioiiers, to be appointed within ten dayp, shall, within thirty days from the signing of the protocol, meet at Havana and San Juan, respectively, to arrange and execute the details of the evacuation. " f5. That the United States and Sjiain will each appoint not more than five commissioners to negotiate and conclude a treaty of peace. The commissioners are to meet at Paris not later than October 1st. " 6. On the signing of the protocol, hostilities will be suspended and notice to that effect be given as soon as jiossible by each government to the com- manders of its military and naval forces." On the very same afternoon President McKinley issued a proclamation announcing on the part of the United States a suspension of hostilities, and over the wires the word went ringing throughout the length and breadth of the land and under the ocean that peace was restored. The cable from Hong Kong to Manila, however, had not been repaired for use since Dewey had cut it in May,; consequently it was several days before tidings could reach General IMerritt and Admiral Dewey; and meantime the battle of Manila, which occurred on the 13th, was fought. On August lyth President McKinley named commissioners to adjust the Spanish evacuation of Cuba and Porto Rico, in accordance with the terms of the protocol. Rear-Admiral Wm. T. Sampson, Senator Matthew C. Butler, and' Major-General James F. Wade were appointed for Cuba, and Rear-Admirall W. S. Schley, Brigadier-General Wm. W. Gordon, and Major-General John R. Brooke for Porto Rico. In due time Spain announced her commissioners, and, as agreed, they met in September and the arrangements for evacuation were speedily completed and carried out. President McKinley appointed as the National Peace Commission, Secre- 542 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. taiy of State Win. R. Day, Senator Cushnian K. Davis of Minnesota, Senator \\n\. P. Fi-ye of Maine, Senatoi' George Gray of Delaware, and Mr. Wliitelaw Reid of New York. Secretary Day resigned his State portfolio September Kith, in which he was succeeded by Colonel John Hay, former Ambassador to Eng- hmd. With ex-Secretary Day at their head the Americans sailed from New York, September 17th, met the Spanish Commissioners at Paris, France, as agreed, and arranged the details of the final peace between the two nations. Thus ended the Spanish-American War. HOME-COMING OF OUR SOLDIERS. After Spain's virtual acceptance of the terms of peace contained in Presi- dent McKinley's note of July 30th, it was deemed unnecessary to keep all the forces unoccupied in the fever districts of Cuba and the unsanitary canijis of our own country; consequently the next day after receipts of Spain's message of August 2d, on August 3d, the home-coming was inaugurated by ordering all cavalry under General Shafter at Santiago to be transported to Montauk Point, Long Island, and on the 6th instant transports sailed bearing those who were to come north. These were followed rapidly by others from Santiago, and later by about half the forces from Porto Rico under General Miles, and others from the various camps, so that by the end of September, 1808, nearly half of the great army of 268,000 men had been mustered out of service or sent home on furlough. It is a matter of universal regret that so many of our brave volunteers died of neglect in camps and on transports, and that fever, malaria, and exposure carried several times the number to their graves as were sent there by Spanish bullets. Severe criticisms have been lodged against the War Depart- ment for both lack of efficiency and neglect in caring for the comfort, health, and life of those who went forward at their country's call. However, it nuist be remembered that the War Department undertook and accomplished a herculean task, and it could not be expected, starting with a regular force of less than 30,000 men, that an army of a quarter of a Tnillion could be built up out of volunteers who had to be collected, trained, clothed, equipped, and provisioned, and a war waged and won on two sides of the globe, in a little over three months, without much suffering and many mistakes. THE TREATY OF PEACE. December 10, 1898, was one of the most eventful days in the past decade — one fraught with great interest to the world, and involving the destiny of more than 10,(XX),000 of ])eople. At nine o'clock on the evening of that day the commissioners of the United States and those of Spain met for the last time, THE TREATY OF PEACE. 543 after about eleven weeks of" deliberation, in the niagniticent apartments of the foreign ministry at the French capital, and signed the Treaty of Peace, which finally marked the end of the Spanish-American War. This treaty transformed the political geography of the world by establish- ing the United States' authority in both hemispheres, and also in the tropics, where it had never before extended. It, furthermore, brought under our dominion and obligated us for the government of strange and widely isolated peoples, who have little or no knowledge of liberty and government as measured by the American standards. In this new assumption of responsibility America essayed a difficult problem, the solving of whicli involved results that could not fail to influence the destiny of our nation and the future history of the whole world. On January 3, 1899, the Hon. John Hay, Secretary of State, delivered the Treaty of Peace to President McKinley, who, on January 4th, foi'warded the same to the Senate of the United States with a view to its ratification. Below will be found the complete text of the treaty as submitted by the President. Article I. — Spain relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over and title to Cuba. And as the island is, upon its evacuation by Spain, to be occupied by the United States, the United States will, 80 long as such occupation shall last, assume and discharge the obligations that may under international law result from the fact of its occupation, for the protection of life and property. Article II. — Spain cedes to the United States the island of Porto Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies, and the island the peaceful possession of property of all kinds, of provinces, municipalities, public or private esUiblishments, ecclesiastical or civic bodies, or any other associations having legal capacity to acijuire and possess property in the aforesaid territories renounced or ceded, or of private individuals, of whatsoever nation- ality such individuak may be. The aforesaid rellnqtiishment or cession, as the case may be, includes all documents exclusively referring to the sovereignty relinquished or ceded that may exist in the archives of the Peninsula. Where any document in Buch archives only in part relates to said sovereignly, a copy of such part will be furnisher of Spain in resj>ect of documents in the archives of the islands above referred to. Id the aforesaid relinquishment or cession, as the case may be, are also inclu le 1 such rights as the Crown of Spain and its authorities |K)ssess in resjjeet of the otlicial archives and records, executive as well as judicial, in the islanils above referred to, which relate to suid islands or the rights and property of their inliabitants. Such archives and records shall be carefully preserved, and private per- sons shall, without eci to which there is no recourse or right of revenue under the Spanish law shall be deemed to be final, and shall be executed in roism and bravery, and de- feated the rebels repeatetlly, capturing strongholds one after the other, and, in fact, driving everything resistlessly before them. The fighting w'as of the sharpest kind, and our troops had many killed and wounded, though that of the enemv was tenfold greater. All such struggles, however, when American valor and skill are arrayed on one side, can have but one result ; and, animated bv our sense of duty, which demanded that a firm, equitable, and just government should be es- tablished in the Philippines, this be- iielicent purpose was certain to be at- tained in tlu' vuil. On xMarch 3, 1899, President McKinley nominated Rcar-Admiral Cxcorge Dewey to the rank of full ad- miral, his commission to date from March 2d, and the Senate immediately and unanimously confirme«l the nomination, which had been so richly earned. This hero, as moilest as he is great, remained in the Philippines to complete his herculean task, instead of seizing the first opportunity to return home and receive the overwhelming honors which his countrymen were eagerly waiting to show him. Finally, when his vast work was virtually completed and his health showed evidence of the terrific and long-continued strain to which it had been subjected, he turned over his command, liy direction of the government, to Rear- Admiral Watson, and, proceetling by a leisurely course, reached home in the sum- MAJOR-QENEHAL ELWELL S. OTIS. DEWEY AND THE ''OLYMPIA." 547 mer of 1899. Tlie honors showered upon him by his grateful and adniiriug •countrymen proved not only his clear title to the foremost rank among the greatest naval heroes of ancient and modern times, but attested the truth that the United States is not ungrateful, and that there is no reward too exalted for her to bestow upon those who have worthily won it. ADMIRAL DEWEY'S FLAGSHIP THE "OLYMPIA." OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. CHAPTER XXIX. THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS "THE PARADISE OK THE PACIEIC." Annexed to the United States by Act of Congress only 7, 1S9S. The American flag hoisted over the islands August 12, 1898. NATIVE GRASS HOUSE, HAWAII. The annexatiou of the Ha- waiian Islands to the United States, liy a jiiint vote of Con- gress, July 7, 1898, marks a new era in the history of our country. It practically sounded the death- knell of the conservative doctrine of non-expansion beyond our own natural physical boundaiies. The only precedent approaching this act, in our history, is the annex- ation of Texas. The Louisiana Territory, Florida, and Alaska were acquired by purchase; California, New Mexico, and a part of CoUorado were obtained by cession from Mexico; Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Idaho by treaty with Great Britain. Texas alone was annexed. The fact, however, that it was a republic is the only circumstance which makes its case analogous to that of Hawaii. Texas lay between two large nations, and was obliged to seek union with one of them. It was within our own continent and inhabited largely by oui- own people. Hawaii marks our 'first advance into foreign lands, and ranges America for the first time among the nations whose policy is that of expansion, by territorial extensions, over the globe. Hawaii is called the " Paradise of the Pacific," and there is little doubt that *5&1 •Thi.s incliiiles full-])a£re i'.lustrations nut , levuun.y number, il. 5S:! OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. its climate, fertility and healthfulness justify the naino. It is one of the few- spots upon earth where one can almost, to use a slang phrase, " touch the button " and obtain any kind of weather he desires. Mark Twain's suggestion to those who go to these islands to find a congenial clinu' is about as practical as it is huiiKirous — " Select your climate, mark your thermometer at the temperature desired, and climb until the mercury stops there." Everyone who visits Hawaii is eiiarmed with the country, and never forgets its novelty, stupendous and delightful scenery, clear atmosphere, gorgeous sunlight, and profusion of fruits and llowers. " No alien land in all the world," writes Mr. Clemens, "could so longingly and beseechingly haunt me, sleeping and waking, through half a life-time, as- that has done. Other things leave me, but that abides. Other things change, but that remains the same. For me its balmy airs are always blowing ; its summer seas flash in the sun ; the pulsing of its surf beats in my ear ; I can see- its garlanded crags, its leaping cascades, its jilumy palms drowsing by the shore, its remote summits floating like islands above the cloud rack ; I can feel the spirit of its woodland solitudes ; I can hear the splash of its brooks ; in my nostrils still lives the breath of flowers that perished twenty years ago." DISCOVERY AND LOCATION. Captain Cook discovered the islands in January, 1778, and named them the Sandwich Islands, after Lord Sandwich ; but the native name, Hawaii, is more generally used. There is good evidence that Juan Gaetano, in the year 1555 — 223 years before Cook's visit — landed upon their shores. Old Spanish charts and the traditions of the natives bear out this theory, but they were not matle known to the world until Cook visited them. It is popularly believed that the original inhabitants of Hawaii came from New Zealand, though that island is some 4,000 miles southwest of them. The physical appearance of tSe people is very similar, and their languages are so much alike that a native Ha- waiian and a native New Zealander, meeting for the first time, can carry on a conversation. Their ideas of the Deity and some of their religious customs are nearly the same. That the islands have been peopled for a long time is proven by tiie fact that human bones are found under lava beds and coral reefs where geologists declare they have lain for at least thirteen hundred years. There are eight inhabited islands in the archipelago, Hawaii, Maui, Kahoo- lawi, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai, and Niihau, comprising an area of G,700 square miles, a little less than that of the State of New Jersey, and about five hundred miles greater than the combined areas of Rhode Island and Connecti- cut. They extend from northwest to southeast, over a distance of about 380 miles, the several islands being separated by channels varying in width from OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. 583 six to sixty miles. Tiiey lie entirely within the tropics, not far from a direct line between San Francisco and Jajaan, 2,080 miles from San Francisco, which, is nearer to them than any other point of land, except one of the Carolines. The largest and most southern island is Hawaii, which has given its name to the group. THE HIGHEST AND LARGEST VOLCANOES, The entire archipelago is of volcanic origin, hut there are no active craters EAISING THE AMERICAN FLAG IN HONOLULU, AUGUST 12, 1898. The cut in the comer shows the Royal Palace formerly occupied by the Hawaiian Kings. to be found at the present time, except two, on the island of Hawaii. ^launa Loa is the highest volcano in the world, being nearly 14,000 feet above the sea. It has an immense crater ; but, while it still sends forth smoke and has a lake of molten lava at the bottom, there have been no eruptions for a number of years. Kilauea, the largest active volcano on the globe, is about sixteen miles from Mauna Loa, on one of its foothills, 4,000 feet above the sea, and is in a constant state of activity. Its last great eruption (xx-urred in 1804. This vol- cano was described by the missionary Ellis in the year 1823, and hundreds of tourists visit it everv vear. Its crater is nine miles in circumference and several 584 OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. Iiiuulifd feel deep. Under the coiuluct of competent guides the tourists uescenu luio llie crater and walk over the cool lava in places, while near thcni the hot ilanie and molten lava are spouting to the height of hundreds of feet. The largest e.\tinct volcano in the archipelago is on the island of Maui, the liottom of the crater measuring sixteen square miles. All of ilu'sc stujuMidous volcanic mountains rise so gently on tlie western side that hor-cmcn easily ride to their summits. INIIAIilT.VXTS OF TlIK ISLA.N'DS. When Cook visited Hawaii, he found the islands inhabited, according to his estimate, by 400,- 000 natives. Forty years later when the census was taken there were 142,000. These diminished one-half during the nextfifty years, and the native population of the islands in 1897 was only 31,019. The total population by the last census, when the islands became a part of the United States, was 109,020, made up, in addition to the natives mentioned, of 24,407 Japanese, 21,010 Chinese, 12,191 Portuguese, and 3,086 Americans. The remainder were half-castes from foreign intermarriage with the natives, together with a small representation from England, (Jermany, and other European countries. That the original Hawaiians must soon become extinct as a pure race is evident, though they have never been persecuted or maltreated. They aie a handsome, strong-looking people, with a rich dark complexion, jet black eyes, wavy hair, full voluptuous lips, and teeth of snowy whiteuoss ; l)ut tlioy are constitutionally weak, easily contract and quickly succumb to disease, and the oidy hope of perpetuating their blood seems to lie in mi.\ing it by intermarriage with other races. OLD TIMES IN' HAWAII. Prior t(^ 179."), all the islands had separate kings, but in that and the HULA DANCIMG GIKLS, HA"WAII. OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. 585 - following year the great king of Hawaii, Kamehameha, with cannon that he procured from Vancouver's ships, assaulted and subjugated all the surrounding kings, and since that time the islands have been under one government. Pre- vious to this, the natives had been at war, according to their traditions, for three hundred years. The fierceness of their hand-to-hand conflicts, as described by their historians, has probably not been surpassed by those of any other people in the world. The four descendants of Kamehameha reigned until 1872, when the last of his line died childless. A new king was elected, who died within a year, and another was then elected by the people. It was to this last line that Queen Liliuokalani belonged, and she was deposed by the revolution of 1893, led by the American and European residents upon the islands. These patriots set up a provisional government and made repeated application for admission to the United States, the tender of the islands being finally accepted by a joint vote of Congress on July 7, 1898, since which time the Hawaiian Islands have been a part of our country. The manners and customs of the native Hawaiians are most interesting, but space forbids a description of them here. Their religion was a gross form of idolatry, with many gods. Human sacrifice was freely jjracticed. They deified dead chiefs and worshiped their bones. The great king, Kamehameha I., though an idolater, was a most progressive monarch, and invited Vancouver, who went there in 1794, taking swine, cattle, sheep, and horses, together with oranges and other valuable plants, to bring over teachers and missionaries to teach his people " the white man's religion." THE WORK OF AMERICAN MISSIONARIES. But it was not until 1820, after the death of the great king, that the first missionaries arrived, and they came from America. The year previous, in 1819, Kamehameha II. had destroyed many of the temples and idols and for- bidden idol worship in the islands ; consequently, when the missionaries arrived they beheld the unprecedented spectacle of a nation without a religion. The natives were rapidly converted to Christianity. It was these American mis- sionaries who first reduced the Hawaiian language to writing, established schools and taught the natives. As a result of their work, the Hawaiians are the most generally educated people, in the elementary sense, in the world. There is hardly a person in the islands, above the age of eight years, who cannot read and write. In spite of education, however, many of the ancient superstitions still exist, and some of the old stone temples are yet standing. What the United States will do with these heathen temples remains to be seen. The natives re- vere them as relics of their savage history, and as such they may be preserved. Aside from the horrors of superstitions, the Hawaiians lead a happy life, 00 p & w 586 OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. lull of amusements of various kinds on the land and water — ibr Hawaiian men, women and children live much of their time in the water. Infants are often taught the art of swimming hefore they can walk. The surf riding or swimming of the natives astonished Captain Cook more ilian any of their re- markable ])erfi)rmances. The time selected was when a storm was tossing the waves high and the surf was furious. Then the men and women would dive through the surf, with narrow boards about nine inches wide and eight feet long, and, CHURCH IN HONOLULU, HAAVAIIAN ISLANDS. Built of Iftva sione. Seating capacity about S'"*'. swimming a mile or more out to sea, mount on the crest of a huge billow, and sitting, kneeling or standing, with wild gesticulations, ride over the waves and breakers like gods or demons of the storm. Tliis practice has now ceased to be inthdged in. But the swimming of the Kanaka boys, who Hock around incoming steamers, and dive after and catch coins which tourists throw into the water, like so many ducks diving after corn, shows what a degree of perfec- tion tlie natatorial art has attained amonij the luitive llawaiians. Sletb'inff down the mountain sides, boxing, and tournament riding are other po])ular OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. 587 amusements ; and, with the excej^tion of boxing, the women compete with the men in the amusements. PRODUCTS AND COMMERCE. Sugar is kins in Hawaii as wheat is in the Northwest. In 1890 there were 19,000 hiborers — nearly one-fifth of the total population — engaged on sugar plantations. Ten tons to the acre have been raised on the richest lands. The average is over four tons per acre, but it requires from eigliteen to twenty months for a crop to mature. Rice growing is also an important industry. It is raised in marsh lands, and nearly all the labor is done by Chinese, though they do not own the land. Coffee is hajipily well suited to the soil that is un- fitted for sugar and rice, and the Hawaiian coffee is particularly fine, combining the strength of the Java with a delicate fiavor of its own. Diversified farming is coming more into vogue. Fruit raising will un- doubtedly become one of the most important branches when fast steamers are provided for its transportation. Sheep and cattle raising nuist also prove profit- able, since the animals require little feeding and need no housing. " Almost all kinds of vegetables and fruits can be raised, many of those belonging to the temperate zones thriving on the elevated mountain slopes. Fruit is abundant; the guava grows wild in all the islands, and were the manu- facture of jelly made from it carried on, on a large scale, the product could doubtless be exported with profit. Both bananas and pineapples are prolific, and there are many fruits and vegetables, which as yet have been raised only for local trade, which would, if cultivated for export, bring in rich returns. " Of the total exports from the Hawaiian Islands in 1895, the United States received 99.04 per cent., and in the same year 79.04 per cent, of the imports to the islands were from the United States. The total value of the sugar sent to the United States in 1896 was $14,932,010 ; of rice, $194,903 ; of coffee, $45,444 ; and of bananas, $121,273." THE CHIEF CITY. Honolulu, the capital city, is to Hawaii what Havana is to Cuba, or better, what Manila is to the Philippine Islands. Here are concentrated the business, political and social forces that control the life and progress of the entire archi- pelago. This city of 30,000 inhabitants is situated on the south coast of Oahu, and extends up the Nuuanu Valley. It is well provided with street-car lines — which also run to a bathing resort four miles outside the city — a telephone sys- tem, electric lights, numerous stores, churches and schools, a librarv of over 10,000 volumes, and frequent steam communication with San Francisco. There are papers published in the English, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Japanese, and 52 588 OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. Chinese languages, and a railroad is being built, of which thirty miles along the coast are already completed. Honolulu has also a well-equipped fire department and i)ublic water-works. The residence portions of the city are well laid out, the houses, many of which are very handsome, being surrounded by gardens kept green throughout the year. The climate is mild and even, and the city is a delightful and a beautiful jilace of residence. Hawaii is peculiarly an agricul- tuinl country, and Honolulu gains its importance solely as a distributing centre SLJllAJ! lAl\t: 1'1-A.N I'A I'lDN, HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. About one-fiflli of the euurc' iH)[..ulaUou is cngugfU m siigur culture. The uvuruge product is about three tous \^t acre. or depot of supplies. Warehouses, lumber yards, and commercial houses abound, but there is a singular absence of mills and factories and productive esta]>lishments. There are no metals or minerals, or as yet, textile plants cr food plants, whose manufacture is undertaken in this unique city. The Hawaiian Islands are, without question, on the threshold of a great industrial era, fraught with most potent results to the prosperity and develop- ment of tliat land. Its climate is delightful and healthful, and its soil so fertile tliat it will ea.sily support 5,UUU,000 i)eoj)le. CUBA, "THE CHILD OK OUR ADOPTION." Although Cuba is not a part or a possession of the United States, it has since the war with Spain, in 1898, come under the protection of this government, and is, therefore, entitled to a place in this volume. In the hand of Providence, this island became the doorway to Amer- ica. It was here that Columbus landed, October 28, 1492. True, he touched earlier at one of the smaller islands to the north ; but it was merely a halting before pushing on to Cuba. " Juana " Columbus called the island, in honor of Isabella's infant son. Afterward it was successively known as Fernandina, Santiago, and Ave Maria ; but the simple natives, who were there to the number of 350,000, called it Cooba, and this name prevailed over the Spanish titles, as the island has finally prevailed over Spanish domination, and it has come under the protection of America with its Indian name, slightly changed to Cuba, remaining as the sole and only heritage we have of the simple aborigines who have utterly perished from the face of the earth under Spanish cruelty. In 1494 Columbus visited Cuba a second time, and once again in 1502. In 1511 Diego Columbus, the son of the great discoverer, with a colony of between three and four hundred Spaniards, came, and in 1514 he founded the towns of Santiago and Trinidad. Five years later, in 1519, the present capital Havana, or Habana, was founded. The French reduced the city in 1538, practically 589 TOMB OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS IN THE CATHEDRAL AT HAVANA. The ashes of the great discoverer were removed from this tomb to Spain in December, 1S98. ^^„ CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." •Jeniolisliing the whole town. Uiider tlit t^ovcrnor, De Soto, it was rebuilt and forliiied, tlio famous Morro Castle and the Punta, which are still standing, being built at that early date. THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS. The natives, whom Columl)us found in Cuba, were agreeable in feature, and so amiable in disposition that they welcomed the white man with ojien arms, and, besiiles contributing food, readily gave up their treasures to please the Spaniards. Unlike the warlike cannibal tribes of the Lesser Antilles, known as the Caribs,. they lived in comparative jieace with one another, and had a religion which rec- ognized the Supreme Being. Columbus held several conferences with these simple natives, who numbered, according to his estimate, from 850,000 to half a million souls, and his associations and dealings with them on his first visit were always friendly and of a mutually ]>leasing nature. But when he returned to Spain he left soldiers, who brutally maltreated them, until the natives rose in revolt and exterminated every white man. Kvcn Columbus himself, in 1494, had to light the Indians at the landing-place. A salubrious climate, a fertile soil, and simple wants rendered it unneces- sary for the native to do hard work ; and although it is well proven that he did mine copper and traded in it with the mound builders of Florida, yet the native was not accustomed to arduous toil, and rebelled against it. This, j)erha])s, was unfortunate, for the perpetuity of his race at that time dej)ended upon this very quality. The Spanish " friend " who came to the island was incapable of work. He neither would nor could, under his ethics of self-resjiect, abase himself to labor, so he proceeded to enslave the native to labor for him. The Cuban re- belled, and Hcd before the su]ierior Sjianish weapons from the coasts to the mountain fastnesses of the interior. EXTERMINATION OF THE NATH'ES. Then began that cruel and long-continued war of extermination, of which history has recorded the most shocking details. The conquest was begun under Diego Columbus, the son of the great discoverer. The merciless Velasquez was his general, and the frightful cruelties which he inaugurated upon the simple natives have been contiiuied for nearly four hundred years by his successors in the island, though the annihilation of the aboriginal tribes themselves was a brief and bloody work. Velasquez rode them down and trampled them — regardless of age or sex — under the iron hoofs of his war-horses, slashed them with swords, devas- tated their villages, and bore them away into slavery. The Cuban had no weapons ; the mountain ftistnessos could not hide him from his relentless jnir- Buer. African slaves, who were brought to the island in Spanish ships, were CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." 591 armed and forced by their musters to chase the natives, and not a forest or moun- tain top was a place of refuge for these doomed cliikh'en of the soil. One histo- rian declares: "There is little doubt that before loGO the whole of this native population had disajipeared from the island. They were so completely extermi- nated that it is doubtful if the blood of their race was even remotely preserved in the mixed classes who followed African and Chinese introduction." A PERIOD OF REST. For nearly two hundred years after the extermination of the natives, Cuba MAGNIFICENT INDIAN STATUE IN THE PKADO, HAVANA, caillA. rested without a struggle in the arms of Spain. The early settlers engaged al- most wholly in pastoral pursuits. Tobacco was indigenous to the soil, and in 1580 the Cuban planters began its culture. Later, sugar-cane was imported from the Canaries, and found to be a fruitfid and profitable crop. The beginning of the culture of sugar demanded more laborers, and the importation of additional slaves was the result. In 1717, Spain attempted to make a monopoly of the to- bacco culture, and the first Cuban revolt occurred. In 1723 a second uprising took place, because of an oppressive government ; but these early revolts against tyranny were insignificant as compared with those of the last half-century. 593 CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." In 1762, the city of Havana was captured by the English, with an expedi- tion commanded by Lord Albemarle, but his fighting troops were principally Americans under the immediate command of" Generals Pliineas Lyman and Israel Putnam of Ilevolutionary fame. The story of Putnam's command in this war is thrilling and sad. After first suffering shijiwreck and many hardships in reaching the island, they lay before Havana, where Spanish bullets and fever al- most annihilated the whole command. Scarcely more than one in fifty lived to return to America. By the Treaty of Paris, 1703, Cuba was unfortunately re-- stored to Spain, and it was afterward that her troubles with the " JNIother Coun- try," as Spain affectionately called herself to all her provinces, began. The hand of oppression for one and a quarter centuries relaxed not its grasp, and year by year grew heavier and more galling. DISCONTENT AND INSUKRECTIONS. Some of the most prolific seeds of modern revolutions may be said to have been sown when the African slave trade assumed important proportions, in 1791. About the same time began a large importation of Chinese coolies, for which Cuba paid a bounty of $400 apiece to the importer. These coolies bound themselves to the Spaniards for eight years, for which they were paid $4.00 per month as wages. The new influx of labor and the coming of Las Casas as Captain-General to Cuba, in 1790, mark the beginning of Cuba's great period of prosperity. This enterprising ruler introduced numerous public improvements, established botanical gardens and schools of agriculture, with a view to develop- ing and increasing Cuba's resources and commercial importance. Owing to his wise administration, Cuba prospered and remained undisturbed for a long while. An insurrection occurred among the slaves in 1812, which was promptly put down with characteristic cruelty, and the blacks remained "good niggers" for a third of a century. By the year 1844, the slave trade with Cuba had grown to enormous proportions. In that year alone, statistics tell us, 10,000 slaves were landed from Africa upon the island. Another wild and fanatical insurrection occurred the same year among them, which, as before, ended in failure. Seventy- eight (if the rebels were shot, and many otlierwise punished. By 1850, the slaves had so nuiltiplied and the importation had been so large that the census showed there were nearly o(K),000 on the island. Meantime, in 1823 and 1827, insurrections were attempted on tfie part of the Creoles (descendants of Spanish and French settlers) and other free Cubans. They failed, and the blood of the martyrs was seed in the ground. Revolutionist and enslaved insurrectionist gradually drifted together. They had a common cause — to struggle for freedom against oppression. The bondsman was little or no vorse off than the Creoles, Chinese coolies, and free negroes — all native-born CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." 593 Cubans were shut out from the enjoyment of true citizenship. They must do the work and pay the tribute, but Spaniards, born in Spain, were alone allowed to hold office of profit or trust under the government ; and they looked with in- expressible contempt upon the rest of the population, and, with the backing of the army, preserved their domination in spite of their in- ferior numbers. The governor-gen- eral was appointed j- from Spain and held office from three to five years, [_ and was expected to steal or extort him- self rich in that time. It is said not ® n e governor-gen- eral ever failed to do so. THE TE!f years' ■VrK^i«Si:T»»-'< '«■' K<|l«'!liJAJ«i. "'IS! WAK. The first Ions and determined struggle of the op- pressed people of Cuba for liberty be- gan in 1868. In that year a revolu- tion broke out in Spain, and the patriots seized the opportunity, while the mother country was occupied at home, for an heroic effort to liberate themselves. They rose first at Yara, in the district of Bayamo, and on October 10th of that year made a dec- laration of independence. Eight days later the city of Bayamo was taken by the- patriots, and early in November they defeated a force sent against them from Santi- ago. The majority of the South American republics hastened to recognize the DARING ATTACK BY THE PATRIOTS OP CUBA UPON A FORT NEAR VUEIjTAS. 554 CUBA. -THE CHILD OF OFR ADOPTinS." Cuhnns as belligerents ; Imt — though they held tlieir own in oiK-nilhi wart'are against the Spanish forces for ten years, fighting in the forests anil bravely resisting all tlie I'llorts of Spain to subdue them — there was not one great power in liif world willing to extend to the patriots the recognition of belligerent rights. 'I'lu' iTucltv ot' llie S2)aniards toward the soUliers they caj>tured, and to all in- haiiitants who sympathized with the patriots' cause, was equaled only by the courage, fortitude, and exalted patriotism which animated their victims. The following instances, .selected from scores that might be cited, are given in the fc>])aniards' own words, translated, verbatim, into English: SPANISH TESTIMONY OF HORRORS PRACTICED. Jacob Rivocoba, under date of September 4, 18*JG, writes: "We captured seventeen, thirteen of whom were shot outright; on dying they shouted, ' Hurrah for free Cuba! hurrah for independence!' A mulatto said, ' Hurrah for Cespedes ! ' On the following day we killed a Cuban otlicer and another man. Among the thirteen that we shot the first day were found three sons and their father ; the fother witnessed the execution of his sons with- out even changing color, and when his turn came he said he died for the inde- jicndence of his country. On coming back we brought along with us three carts filled with women and children, the families of those we had shot ; and they asked us to shoot them, because they would rather die than live among Spaniards." Pedro Fardon, another officer, who entered entirely into the spirit of the service he honored, writes on September 22, 18G9 : " Not a single Cuban will remain in this island, because we shoot all those we find in the fields, on the farms, and in every hovel." And, again, on the same day, the same officer sends the following good news to his old father : " AVe do not leave a creature alive where we pass, be it man or animal. If wo find cows, we kill them ; if horses, ditto ; if hogs, ditto ; men, women, or children, ditto ; as to the houses, we burn them : so every one receives his due — the men in balls, the animals in bayonet-thrusts. The island will remain a desert." These atrocities were perpetrated not alone by the common soldier. In fact, the above reports come from men who were officers in the Spanish army, and they show that such actions were approved iiy tlie highest authority. A well-authenticated account assures us that General Count Balmaceda himself went on one occasion to the home of a patriot family, Mora by name, to arrest or kill the patriots he had heard were stopping there; but, finding the men all CUBA, "THE CHILD OF QUE ADOPTION." 595 absent, he wreaked his vengeance and thirst for blood by butchering the two Mora sisters and burning the house over their bodies. PEACE AND FAIR PROMISES. At Last, Spain, seeing that slie couhl neither induce the Cubans to surrender nor draw them into a decisive battle ; and hnding, furtlierniore, that her army of 200,000 men was likely to be annihilated by death, disease, ;ind patriot bullets, made overtures, which, by promising many privileges to the people that they had not before enjoyed, effected a peace. As a result of this war, slavery was abolished in the island ; but Spain's promises for fair and equitable government were repudiated, and the civil powers became more extortionate and severe than ever. This war laid a heavy debt upon Spain, and Cuba was taxed inordinately. The people soon saw that they had been duped. The world looked upon Cuba and Spain as at peace. To the outsider the surface was placid, but underneath " the wpters were troubled." Such heroic spirits as Generals Calixto Garcia, Jose Marti, Antonio Maceo, and Maximo Gomez, leadei's in the ten years' struggle, still lived, though scattered far apart, and in their hearts bore a load of righteous wrath against their treacherous foe. While such men lived and such conditions existed another conflict was inevitable. THE LAST GREAT STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM. It was on February 24, 1895, that the last revolution of the Cuban patriots began. Spain had heard the mutterings of the coming storm, and hoped to stay it by visiting with severe punishment every Cuban susjjected of patriotic affiliations. Antonio Maceo, a mulatto, but a man of fortune and education, a veteran of the ten years' war, and a Cuban by birth, was banished to San Domingo. There were other exiles in Key West, New York, and elsewhere. Jose Marti was the leading spirit in forming the Cuban Junta in New York and organizing revolutionary clubs among Cubans everywhei-e. Antonio Maceo was the first of the old leaders in the field. He went secretly to Cuba and began organizing the insur- rectionists, and when war was declared the flag of the new republic, bearing a lone white star in a red field, was flung to the breeze. Captain-General Calleja square miles (a little larger than the State of Ohio); and includ- ing the Isle of Pines and other small points around its entire length, number- ing in all some 1,200, there are 47,278 square miles altogether iu Cuba and be- longing to it. The island is intersected by broken ranges of mountains, which gradually increase in height from west to east, where they reach an elevation of nearly 8,000 feet. The central and western portions of the island are the most fertile, while the principal mineral deposits are in the mountains of the eastern end. In Matanzas and other central provinces, the well-drained, gently slop- ing plains, diversified by low, forest-clad hills, are especially adapted to sugar culture, and the country under normal conditions presents the appearance of vast fields of cane. The western portion of the island is also mountainous, but the elevations are not great, and in the valleys and along the fertile slopes of this district is produced the greater part of the tobacco for which the island is famous. FERTILITY OF SOIL AND ITS PRODUCTS. The soil of the whole island seems well-nigh inexhaustible. Except in to- bacco culture, fertilizers are never used. In the sugar districts are found old cane- fields that have produced annual crops for a hundred years without 2)erceptible impoverishment of the soil. Besides sugar and tobacco, the island yields Indian corn, rice, manioc (the plant from which tapioca is prepared), oranges, bananas, pineapples, mangoes, guava, and all other tropical fruits, with many of those be- longing to the temperate zone. Raw sugar, molasses, and tobacco are the chief products, and, with fruits, nuts, and unmanufactured woods, form the bulk of exports, though coffee culture, formerly active, is now being revived, and its fine quality iiulieates that it must in time become one of the most imj^oitant jjroducts of the island. As a sugar country, Cuba takes first rank in the world. Mr. Gallon, the English Consul, in his report to his government iu 1897 upon this Cuban crop, declared : "Of the other cane-sugar countries of the world, Java is the only one which comes within 50 per cent, of the amount of sugar produced annually in Cuba in normal times, and Java and the Hawaiian Islands are the only ones which are so generally advanced in the process of manufacture." Our own Consul, Hyatt, in his report of February, 1897, expresses the belief that Cuba is equal to supplying the entire demands of the whole western hemisphere with sugar — a market for 4,000,000 tons or more, and requiring a crop four times as large as the island luis ever yet produced. Those who regard this statement as extravagant should remember that Cuba, although founded and settled more CUBA, "THE CHILI) OF OUR ADOPTION." 6oi than fifty years before the United States, has nearly 14,000,000 acres of un- cleared primeval forest-land, and is caj^able of easily supporting a populatioa more than ten times that of the present. In fact, the Island of Java, not so rich as Cuba, and of very nearly the same area, with less tillable land, has over 22,000,000 inhabitants as against Cuba's — perhaps at this time — not more than 1,200,000 souls. MINERAL AND TIMBER KESOURCES. The mineral resources of Cuba are second in importance to its agricultural products. Gold and silver are not believed to exist in paying quantities, but its most valuable mineral, copper, seems to be almost inexhaustible. The iron and manganese mines, in the vicinity of Santiago, are of great importance, the ores being rated among the finest in the world. Deposits of asphalt and min- eral oils are also found. The third resource of Cuba in importance is its forest product. Its millions of acres of unbroken woodlands are rich in valuable hard woods, suitable for the finest cabinet-work and ship-building, and also furnish many excellent dye woods. Mahogany, cedar, rosewood, and ebony abound. The palm, of which there are thirty-odd species found in the island, is one of the most characteristic and valuable of Cuban trees. CITIES AND COMMERCE. The commerce of Cuba has been great in the past, but Spanish laws made it expensive and oppressive to the Cubans. Its location and resources, with wise government, assure to the island an enormous trade in the future. There are already four cities of marked importance to the commercial world : Havana with a population of 250,000, Santiago with 71,000, Matanzas with 29,000, and Cienfuegos with 30,000, are all seaport cities with excellent harbors, and all do a large exporting business. Add to these Cardenas with 25,000, Trini- dad with 18,000, Manzanillo with 10,000, and Guantanamo and Baracoa, each with 7,000 inhabitants, we have an array of ten cities such as few strictly fiirming countries of like size possess. Aside from cigar and cigarette making, there is little manufactui-ing in Cuba; but fruit canneries, sugar refine- ries, and various manufacturing industries for the consumption of native products will rapidly folbw in the steps of good government. Hence, in the field of manufacturing this island offers excellent inducements to capital, SEASONS AND CLIMATE. Like all tropical countries, Cuba has but two seasons, the wet and the dry. The former extends from May to October, June, July, and August being the most rainy months. The dry season lasts from November to May. This fact 36 p & w 6o2 CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." must go far toward making the island more and more popular as a winter health resort. The interior of the island is mountainous, and always pleasantly cool at night, while on the highlands the heat in the day is less oppressive than in New York and Pennsylvania iluring the hottest summer weather; consequently, when once yellow fever, which now ravages the coasts of the island on account of its defective sanitation, is extirpated, as it doubtless will be under the new order of things, Cuba will become the seat of many winter homes for wealthy residents of tlic Uiiitod States. Even in the summer, the temperature seldom rises above i-ftjjj A VOLANTE. THE TYPICAL CUBAN CONVEYANCE. 90°, while the average for the year is 77°. At no place, except in the extreme mountainous altitude, is it ever cold enough for frost. THE EVACUATION OF HAVANA. The complete transfer of authority in the island of Cuba from Spain to the United States took place on Sunday, January 1, 1899. At noon on that day Captain-General Castellanos and staff met the representatives of the United States in the hall of his palace, and with due foi-mality and marked Spanish courtesy, in the name of the King and Queen Regent of Spain, delivered possession of CUBA, "THE CHILD OF QUE ADOPTION." 603 Cuba to General Wade, head of the American Evacuation Committee, and he in turn transferred the same to General Brooke, who had been appointed by Presi- dent McKinley as Military Governor of the Division of Cuba. No unpleasant incident marred the occasion. General Castellanos spoke with evident yet be- coming emotion on so imjiortant an occasion. Three Cuban generals were pre- sent, who, at General Castellanos' request, were presented to him, and the Span- iard said, with marked grace and evident sincerity, " I am sorry, gentlemen, that we are enemies, being of tlie same blood;" to which one of the Cuban patriots SMTKANCE TO THE PUBLIC GKOUNDS, HAVANA, CUBA. courteously responded, with commendable charity, "We fought only for Cuba, and now that she is free we are no longer enemies." The formal transfer had scarcely taken place within the palace hall when the flag of Spain was lowered from Morro Castle, Cabanas Fortress, and all the public buildings, and the stars and stripes instantly arose in its place on the flag- poles of these old and historic buildings. As its graceful folds floated gently out upon the breeze, the crowds from the streets cheered, the band played the most appropriate of all airs, while voices in many plnces in the throng, catching up the tune, sang the inspiring words of the " Star-Spangled Banner." 53 BEAUTIFUL PORTO RICO. It was in November of the year l-iDo, on his second voyage to the New World, that Cohimbus landed upon a strange island in quest of water for his ships. He found it in abundance, and called the place Aquadilla — the water- ing place. As he had done at Cuba the year before, the great discoverer held pleasant confer- ences with the natives, and with due ceremony took possession of the island for his benefactors and sovereigns — Ferdinand and Isa- bella of Sjiain. From that day until it was ceded to the United States in 1898, as a result of the Spanish-American War, Porto Rico remained one of the most attractive and valuable of Spain's West Indian possessions. Tiie simple and friendly natives gladly welcomed their Spanish invaders, who, with the same i)romptness which was manifested in Cuba, proceeded to enslave and exterminate them. In 1510, Ponce de Leon founded the first settle- ment on the site of the jnesent village of Puerto Yiejo. The next year the noted invader founded San Juan, the present capital of the island. One of the most interesting sights of this old city to-day is the Casa Blanca, built at that period as the palatial residence of Ponce de Leon. It was there, perhaps, after he had finished his conquest of the island, that this famous old Spaniard listened to the wonderful story of the natives, who served him as slaves, concerning the mysterious country over the se;i which had hidden in its forests a fountain wherein an old man might ])lunge and be restored to all the vigor of youth. It was there and thus, perhaps, while sitting at leisure in his palace, that de 604 A MARKET GIRL, PORTO RICO. BEAUTIFUL PORTO RICO. 605 Leon planned the voyage in search of that " fountain of youth " whieh resulted ill the discovery and exploration of Florida. ANCIENT INHABITANTS. As to the number of natives in Porto Rico when the Spaniards came old chroniclers differ. Some say there were 500,000, others 300,000. It is all surmise. Probably the latter figure is an over-estimate, for Cuba, more than ten times as large, was not thought to contain more than half a million inhabit- ants at most. A detailed account of their manners and customs was wi'itten by one of the early Spaniards, and part of it is translated by the British Consul, Mr. Bidwell, in his Consular Report of 1880. Some of the statements in this old book are most peculiar and interesting. Within the last forty years archae- ologists have discovered many stone axes, spear-heads and knives, stone and clay images, and pieces of earthenware made by the aboriginal Porto Ricans, and these are preserved in the Smithsonian Institute at Washington, in Berlin, and elsewhere. It is curious that none of these remains had been found prior to 1856. On the banks of the Rio Grande there still stands, also, a rude stone monument, with strange designs carved upon its surface. From the earliest times, the island, with its rich produce and commerce, ■was the prey of robbers. The fierce cannibal Caribs fi-om the south made expeditions to it before the white men came ; and for many decades after the Spanish conquest it suffered attacks fi-om pirates by sea and brigands upon land, who found easy hiding within its deep forests. ATTACKS AND INVASIONS BY FOREIGN FORCES. In 1595, San Juan was sacked by the English under "Drake, and again, three years later, by the Duke of Cumberland. In 1615, Baldwin Heinrich, a Dutchman, lost his life in an attack upon the governor's castle, and several of his ships were destroyed by a hurricane. The English failed to capture it, fifty-three years later ; and Abercrombie tried it again in 1797, but had to give up the undertaking after a three days' siege. It was one hundred and one years after Abercrombie's siege before another hostile fleet appeared before and bombnrded San Juan. That was done by Admiral Sampson, INIay 12, 1898, with the United States squadi-on of modern iron-clad battleships and cruisers. In this engagement IMorro Castle, which, though impregnable a hundred years before, was unable to withstand modern guns, and was in a large part reduced to ruins. General Nelson A. Miles landed his United States troops on the island in July, 1898, and on the 12th of August, before he completed his conquest, hos- tilities were closed by the protocol of peace, and amid the rejoicing of the natives 6o6 BEAUTIFUL rORTO RICO. " Beautiful Porto Rico " became a province of the United States. The one and only atteni])t the Porto Picans ever made to tlirow off the Spanish yoke was in 1820 ; but conditions for hiding from the soldiers were not so good as the Cubans enjoyed in their large ishmd, and Siwinish sui)remacy was completely re-established by 1823. THE ISLAND AND ITS POPULATION. Porto Pico is at once the most healthful and most densely populated island of the "West Indies. It is almost rectangular in form — 100 miles long and 36 broad. Its total area is about 3,600 square miles — a little larg(>r than the com- bined areas of iihode laland and Delaware. Its population, unlike tliat of Cuba, THE CUSTOr.: . : Mi; .'> HICO. AFTER THE HAISING OF THE AMEliR'AX 1'1,AU BV GENEHAL MILES. has greatly increased within the last fifty years. In 1830. it numbered 310,000; in 1887, 813,937 — about 220 people to the square mile, a density which few States of the Union can equal. About half of its population are negroes or niulattoes, who were introduced by the Spaniards as slaves in the 16th and 17th centuries. Among the people of Enropenn origin tlie most numerous are the Spaniards, with inany Germans, Swedes, Danes, Russians, Frenchmen, Chuetos (descend- BEAUTIFUL PORTO RICO. 607 ants from the Moorish Jews), and natives of the Canary Islands. There are also a number of Chinese, while the Gibaros, or small land-holders and day- laborers of the country districts, are a curious old Spanish cross with the abo- riginal Indian blood. In this class the aborigines are more fortunate than the original Cubans in having even a trace of their blood preserved. The island is said to be capable of easily supjDorting three times its present population, the soil is so universally fertile and its resources are so well diver- eitied. Though droughts occur in certain parts of the island, it is all extremely well watered, by more than one thousand streams, enumerated on the maps, and the dry sections have a system of irrigation which may be operated very effect- ually and with little expense. Of the 1,300 streams, forty-seven are consider- able rivers. TIMBER IN ABUNDANCE AND VARIETY. Forests still cover all the elevated parts of the hill country of the interior, the inhabitants living mostly along the coast. The main need to set the interior teeming with a thrifty and healthy population is a system of good roads. The interior, with the exception of a few extensive savannas, is one vast expanse of rounded hills, covered with such rich soil that they may be cultivated to their summits. At present these forests are accessible only by mule tracks. " The timber of the island," says our official report, " comprises more than five hun- dred varieties of trees, and in the more elevated regions the vegetation of the temperate zones is not unknown. On the hills is found a luxuriant and diver- sified vegetation, tree-ferns and mountain palms being abundant. At a lower level grow many varieties of trees noted for their useful woods, such as the ma- hogany, cedar, walnut, and laurel. The mammee, guaiacum, and copal, besides other trees and shrubs valuable for their gum, flourish in all parts of tlie island. The coffee tree and sugar cane, both of which grow well at an altitude of a thou- sand feet or more, were introduced into the island — the former from Martinique in 1722, the latter from the Canaries, through Santo Domingo. Tobacco grows easily in the lowlands, while maize, pineapples, bananas, etc., are all prolific. The banana and plantain bear fruit within ten months after jjlanting, and, like the cocoa palm, live through an ordinary lifetime." MINERALS AND MINING. "The mineral resources of the island," says our consul in his report, "have been very little developed, the only mineral industry of any importance being the salt works situated at Guanica, Salinas, and Cabo Eojo. Sulphides of copper and magnetic oxides of iron are found in large quantities, and formerly gold to a considerable extent was found in many of the streams. At jiresent the natives still wash out nuggets by the crude process in use in the time of Ponce de Leon. 6oS BEAUTIFUL PORTO RICO. Marblo, Ciirhonatc's, lignite, and anibor are al-so iivesent in varying quantities, luul liut springs ami niiuerul waters occur, the best knowu oues beiug at Coumo, near Santa Isabel." C»>MMKKCE. The eonmieree of Porto Eieo aniounted, in 189G, to $30,()24,120, exceeding the records of all previous years ; the increase, no doubt, being largely due to the unsettled condition of Cuba. The value of the exports for the same year was, for the first time for more than a decade, slight- ly in excess of that of the imports ; the former being valued at $18,341,430, the latter at $18,282,690. The chief exports from the isl- and arc agricultural pro- ducts. The principal ar- ticles are sugar, coffee, molasses, and tobacco; while rice, wheat, flour, and manufactured articles are among the chief im- jiorts. The value of the sugar and molasses export- ed to the United States during the ten years from 1888 to 1807 made up 95 per cent, of the total value of the exports to that country. Fruits, nuts, and spices are also exported to a small extent. Of the non-agricultural exports the uK^st important are perfumery and cosmetics; chemicals, drugs, and dyes ; uumaiuifactured wood, and salt. The loading article of import from the United States is wheat flour. Corn and meal, bread, biseuit, meats, dairy jn-oilucts. wood and its manufactures, iron. steel, etc., are also imported. CITIIS AND TOWN'S. San Juan, the capital, is situated on an island off the northern coast of the -\ A 1 1 \ 1-, IS 1'. L 1j 1 ri'i; I'u mix'. BEAUTIFUL PORTO RICO. 609 mainland, with which it is now connected by the San Antonio bridge. Tlie city is a perfect specimen of a walled and fortified town, with Morro Castle crowning the })roinontory at the western extremity of the island. The popnlation, iuclnding the inhabitants of Marina, aiul Piierta de Tierra, as well as those within the city walls, was estimated in 18'JG at 30,000, and consists largely of negroes and of mixed races. Owing to the lack of a good water snpply, and the general unsan- itary conditions which prevail, the city is unhealthy. The houses are all of two stories, the poorer inhabitants occupying the ground floor, while those better off THE MARKET PLACE, PONCE, PORTO RICO. live above them. There is no running water in the city, the iidiabitants being dependent for their sujjply upon the rainfall which is caught on the flat roofs of the houses and stored in cisterns, and in dry seasons the supply is entirely exhausted. The city is built upon clay mixed with lime packed hard and im- pervious to water. Its manufactures are of small importance. The city of Ponce, with a population of 37,500, and in commercial import- ance the second city of Porto Ilieo, is situated two miles from the coast in the southern part of the island. AVith an ample water supply conveyed to the city by an aqueduct it is, perhajis, the healthiest town on the island. Playa, its port, having a population of 5,000, is connected with it by a fine road. 6io BEAUTIFUL PORTO RICO. The town of Arecibo, with a popidation of from 6,000 to 7,000, is situ- ated on tlie iiorthera coast of Porto llico, and is the port for a district of some 30,000 iniiabitauts. CLIMATE. The climate of the island, though hot and humid, is healthful, except in marshy districts and in cities where sanitiiry rules are neglected. Yellow fever selddui occurs, and when it does it is contined to the unsanitary towns and their surroundings, never appearing far from the coasts. The thermometer does not fall below 50° or rise above 90°. The heat is not so great as at Santiago, though the latter is one and a half degrees further north. As in Cuba, there are but two seasons, the rainy and the dry, the former lasting from July to December, the latter from January to the close of June. The delightful, dry and salubrious atmosphere of midwinter and spring, with its general healthfulness, promises to bring this island into prominence both as a resort for invalids and for homes to those who would escape the rigors of northern winters. Porto Rico is an ideal lazy man's country, and the overworked American will, undoubtedly, come to make it more and more his Mecca for rest and recu- peration. Even the interior feels the soft, salt air from the ocean. The people are kind-hearted, " easy-going," hospitable, and fond of amusement. Every environment conduces to the dismission of all worriment, to rest, sleep, and a happy-go-lucky state of mind. THK PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. " Most bounteous hero in licr sea-girt lands, Nature stretches forth her hands, And walks on gold and silver, and knows her power increased, Nor fears the tyrant longer — ' Our Lady of the Kast. ' " — Stoddard. The most important, and by far the most inter- esting, as well as the least known of America's new j)ossessions, gained by her war with Spain, are the Philippine Islands. Com- paratively few Americans have ever set foot ujjon that far-away and semi-civilized land, the possession of which enables America to say with England, "The sun never sets upon our flag." The Philippines lie al- most exactly on the other side of the globe from us. Aj)proximately speaking, our noonday is their mid- night; our sunset is their sunrise. There are some 1,200 of these islands, 400 of ^ wliicli are inliabited or capa- ble of supporting a popu- lation; they cover about 125,000 square miles ; they lie in the tropica, seas, generally speaking, from five to eighteen degrees north latitude, and are bounded by the China Sea on the west and the Pacific Ocean on the east ; they are about 7,000 miles .-outhwest from San Francisco, a little over GOO southeast from Hong Kong, China, and about 6ii FILIPlJNiOa Ui' TUiiJ aAVAGK TRIBES. 6l2 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. l.OrK. almost due north from Australia ; tlicy contain between 5,000,000 and 8,000,000 inhabitants, about one-third of whom had prior to Dewey's victory, May 1, 1898, acknowledged Spanish sovereignty to the extent of paying regular tribute to the Si)anish crown; the remainder are bound together in tribes under independent native princes or Mohammedan rulers. Perhaps 2,500,000 all told have become nominal Catholics in religion. The rest are Mohammedans and idohiters. There are no Protestant ehurehes in the islands. THE STORY OF DISCOVERY. It was twenty-nine years after Columbus discovered America that Magellan saw the Philippines, the largest archipelago in the world, in lo21. The voyage of Magel- lan was much longer and scarcely less heroic than that of the discoverer of America. Having been provided with a fleet by the Spanish king with which to search for spice islands, but secretly deter- mined to sail round the world, he set out with five vessels on August 10, 1519, crossed the Atlantic to America, and skirted the eastern coast south- ward in the hope of finding •-nine western passage into the racifie, which, a few years revicius, had been discovered by Balboa. It was a year and two months to a day from the time he left Spain until he reached the southern point of the mainland of South America and passetl through the straight which has gince borne his name. On the way, one of his vessels deserted; another was wrecked in a storm. When he passed through the Straight of Magellan he had remaining but three of his original five ships, and they were the first European vessels that ever breasted the waves of the mighty western ocean. Once upon the unknown but placid sea — which he named the Pacific — the bold navisjator steered straight to the NATIVE HUNTERS. PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 613 northwest. Five months later, about March 1st, he discovered the Ladrone Islands — which name Magellan gave to the group on account of tlie thieving propensities of the natives — the word Ladrone meaning robber. After a short stay at the islands, he steered southwest, landing on the north coast of Mindanao, the second largest island of the Philippines. The natives were friendly and offered to pilot Magellan to the island of Cebu, which lay to the north, and which they reported to be very rich. After taking possession of Mindanao in the name of his king, the discoverer proceeded to Cebu, where he made such demonstrations and gave such descrij^tions of the glory and power of Spain that he easily formed a treaty with the king of the island, who swore allegiance to his new-found master and had himself and chief advisers baptized in the Catholic faith. Magellan then joined the king in his war against some of the neighboring ]iowers, and on April 25, 1521, was killed in a skirmish. The spot where he fell is now marked by a monument. FIRST CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE GLOBE. Trouble soon arose between Magellan's sailors and their new-found allies. The Spaniards were invited to a banquet, and twenty-seven of them wei'e treach- erously slain. The remainder, fearing for their lives, escaped in their ships and sailed for home. It was soon discovered that they had too few men to manage the three vessels, and one of them was destroyed. The other two proceeded on their voyage and discovered the spice island of Tidor, where they loaded with spices ; but a few days later one of the vessels sprang a leak and went down with her freight and crew. The other, after many hardships, reached Spain, thus completing the first circumnavigation of the globe. SECOND EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES. In 1555, Philip II. came to the Spanish throne and determined to send another expedition to the East Indies. His religious zeal inspired him to con- quer and christianize the islands. To shorten the long and dangerous voyage, he decided to prej^are and start with five ships from the coast of Mexico. Miguel Lopez de Legaspi led the expedition, consisting of four hundred soldiers and sailors and six Augustine monks. In due time the expedition landed at Cebu. The formidable appearance of the ships awed the natives, and on April 27, 1565 — forty years after Magellan's remnant had fled from the island — Legaspi landed and took possession. In honor of the Spanish king the archi- pelago was given the name of the Philippine Islands. In 1570 Ligaspi sent his grandson, Salcedo, to subdue the island of Luzon, the northernmost and the largest of the Philippine group. He landed near the present site of Manila. The trustful natives readily agreed to accept the Spanish 6i4 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. king as their master, and to jKiy Irilmti'. ISuoli sliglit tribal resistances as were ofl'ered were quickly subdued. The next year Legaspi went to Manila to visit his i;randsoM ; and, seeing the importance of the situation and its fine harbor, declareil that city the capital of the whole archipelago and the king of !Sj)ain the sovereign of all the islands. Acconlingly, he moved his headquarters to that point, built houses and fortifications, and within a year had the city well organ- ized, when he dieil, leaving Salcedo as his successor in command. It is remark- able how much these two men accomjdished with so small a force ; but they (lid it not so much by arms as by cajoling and deceiv- ing the sim])le natives. Furthermore, they allowed the conquered people to be governed by their own chiefs in their own way, so long as they paid a liberal tribute to the Span- ish crown. STRUGGLES FOR SUPREM- ACY. The history of the Philijipines has been mo- notonous from their dis- covery until the present, a monotony broken at times l)y periods of adventures in which jManila has gen- erally been the central scene. About 1580, Lima- hong, a Chinese pirate, took the city with an armed fleet of sixty-two vessels, bearing 4,(XX) men and 1,500 women. They met with stulil)orn resistance. Init succeeded in scaling the walls and entering the city. Tiie Spanish forces were driven into a Ibrt. which the Chinese stormed. A bloody hand-to-hand conflict followed, and the Chinese were finally repulsed. Early in the seventeenth century the Dutch attempted to obtain possession of the Philippines. Tliey captured scores of Spanish merchantmen and treasure PUlijiePINE WARKIOKS. THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 615 ships. Many naval engagements followed, the details of which read like the thrilling records of buccaneers and pirates, rather than the wars between two civil powers. Finally, after half a century of warfare, the Dutch were deci- sively beaten, and abandoned their efforts to capture the Spanish islands, much to the disadvantage of the Filipinos, for the islands of Java, Sumatra, and other Dutch possessions to the south of the Philippines have been remarkably pros- perous under the mild rule of the Netherlands. MANILA TAKEN BY THE ENGLISH. In 1662, the Chinese planned a revolution against the Spanish authorities.. The governor heard of it, and a general massacre of the Mongolians followed. It was even planned to destroy every Chinaman on the islands, and they were in a fair way to do it, when, at length, the Spaniards bethought themselves that by so doing they would practically depopulate the islands of tradesmen and mechanics. Accordingly, they offered pardon to those who would surrender and swear allegiance. A century later, England sent a fleet under Admiral Cornish, with General Draper commanding the troops, against Manila. After a desperate battle the city fell, and the terms of surrender incorporated provis- ions for free trade, freedom of speech, and, best of all, freedom in religion to the inhabitants of the islands, and required Spain to pay England about $4,000,000 indemnity. By the Peace of Paris, in 1763, however, the war between England and Spain was terminated, and one of the conditions was that Spain should retain the sovereignty of the Philippines. The English troops were withdrawn, and the unfortunate islands were again placed (as Cuba was by the same treaty) under the domination of their tyrannical mistress, and remained under Spanish rule from that time until the Americans freed them in 1898. UPRISINGS OF THE NATIVES. In nearly all the uprisings of the natives, the tyranny of the church, as con- ducted by the friars and jiriests, was tlie cause. Such was the case in 1622, in 1649, and in 1660. The occasion of the revolt of 1744 is a fair example of the pro- vocations leading to all. A Jesuit priest ordered all liis parishioners arrested as criminals when they failed to attend mass. One of the unfortunates died, and the priest denied him rights of burial, ordering that his body be thrown upon, the ground and left to rot in the sun before his dwelling. The brother of the man in his exasperation organized a mob, captured tlie priest, killed him, and exposed his body for four days. Thus was formed the nucleus of a rebel army. The insfj^gents in their mountain fastnesses gained their independence- and maintained it for thirty-five years, until they secured from Spain a promise of the expulsion of the Jesuit priests from the colony. 6i6 THE riTILlPPINE ISLANDS. Other revolutions followed in 1823, 1827, and 1844, but all were sup- pressed. In 1872, the most forniidable outbreak up to that time occurred at Cavite. Hatred of the Spanish friars was the cause of tliis uprising also. Spain had promised in the Council of Trent to prohibit friars from holding parishes. The promises were never carried out, and tlie friars grew continually richer and more jiowerful and oppressive. Had the plan of the insurgents not been l)alkcd by a mistaken signal, no doubt they would have destroyed the A NATU il RESIDENCE IN THE SUBUHBS OP MANILA. Every cottnRe. however liiimble, is surrouiuled by tr eities of Iloilo and Cehu, making sliort exenrsions into ihc eountry I'rom those points, and then return, tluidcing they have seen the Philippines. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sui'h travelers no more see the Philippine Islaiuls than Columbus explored Anieriea. Vavw near the eoast there are savages who are almost as ignorant as A TvricAi, Moiio vii-i-Aai:;. ^outhekn pniLirriicK islands. their brethren in tl>e interior. Mr. Stevens tells us that only " thirty miles from Manila is a raee of dwart's that go without elothes, wear kneo-braeelets of hoivehair. and resneet nothinu; but the iunsrle in which thev live.'' The prini'ipal native ptvples are of Malayan origin. Of these, to the north of Manila an» the Igorrotos ; in the islands south of Luzon are the civilized Visiiyas, and below ihein in Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago are the tierce Moros, who originally came from the island of PormH\ settling in the Philippines a short time betore the 8|ninish discovery. They are Mohammevlans in religion, and as t'anatical and as fearU^ss tightei-s? as the Turks tliemselves. For three hundreil THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 619 years the S})ani;ir(ls have been llglitiiig ihese savages, ami while they have overcome them in nearly all the coast towns, they have expended, it is said, upward of flOO,000,000 and sacrificed more than one hnridred thousand lives \\\ doing so. THE WARLIKE MOllOS. The fierce Moro warriors keep the Spanish settlers along their coasts in a constant state of alarm, and the visitor to the towns feels as if he were at an Indian outpost in early American history, because of the constant state of appre- hension that jircvails. lAirtunately, however, the Moros along the coast have learned to distinguish between the Spaniard and the Englishman or American, and through them the generosity of the Englcse, as they call all Anglo-Saxons, has spread to their brethren in the interior. Therefore, American and English explorers have been enabled to go into sections where the Spanish friars and monks, who have been jiractically the only Spanish exploroi's, would meet with certain death. The Mohauimedaii fanaticism of the Moros, and that of the Catholic friars and Jesuits, absolutely refuse compromise. The Negritos (little Negroes) and the Mangyans are the principal repre- sentatives of the aboriginal iidiabitants before the Malayan tribes came. There are supposed to be, collectively, about 1,000,000 of them, and they are almost as destitute of clothing and as uncivilized as the savages whom Columbus found in America, and far more degenerate and loathsome in habits. THE CITY OF MANILA. The Island of Luzon, on which the city of Manila stands, is about as large as the State of New York, its area being variously estimated at from 43,000 to 47,000 square smiles. It is the largest island in the Philippine group, com- prising perhaps one-third of the area of the entire archipelago. Its inhabit- ants are the most civilized, and its territory the most thoroughly explored. The city of Manila is the metropolis of the Philippines. The population of the city proi)er and its environs is considered to be some .300,000 souls, of whom 200,(X)0 are natives, 40,000 full-blooded Chinese, .50,000 Cliinese half-castes, 5,000 Span- ish, mostly soldiers, 4,000 Spanish half-castes, and 300 white foreigners other than Sj)aniards. Mr. Joseph Earle Stevens, already referred to, who repre- sented the only American lirni in the city of ^lauila, under Spanisii rule (which finally had to turn its business over to the English and leave the island a few years since), informs us that lie and thr(>e others were the only representa- tives of the United States in Manila as late as 1893. The city is built on a beautiful bay from twenty-five to thirty miles across, and on both shores of the Pasig River. On (he right bank of the river, going up from the bay, is the old walled town, and around the walls are the weedy 54 620 THE rillLlPPINE ISLANDS. moats or ditches. The heavy giiiirf and iVowuiiig caiiiniii from the walls suggest a troubled past. Tiiisold city is built in triangular I'orni, about a luile on each side, ;ind is rcgartled as vei-y unhealthtul, for the walls both kec.'p out the breeze and Keep in the fui:l air and odors. The j)rincipal buildings in the old part of the city are the cathedral, many parish cliurches, a few schoolhouses, and the oilicial buildings. The population in the walleil city is given at 20,000. Up to a few years ago, no foreigner was permitted to sleep Avithin its walls on account of the Spaniards' lear of a conspiracy. A bridge across the Pasig connects old BRIDGE OVER THE PASIG HIVER. This bridge connects the old walled city on one side of the river with the new unwalled city on the other. Sea-going vessels ascend the river up to the bridce. IManila with the new or unwalled city, where nearly all of the business is done and the native and foreisrn residents live. EARTHQUAKES AXD TYPHOONS. It does not take one long to exhaust the sights of Manila, if the people, who are always interesting, are excepted. Aside from the cathedral and a few of the churches, the buildings of tlie city are anything but imposing. In fact, there is little encouragement to construct fine edifices because of the danger from earthquakes and typhoons. It is said that not a year passes withour. a number of slight eartlupiake shocks, and very serious ones have occurred. In THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 621 1645 nearly all of the public buiUliiigs were wrecked and 600 persons killed. A very destructive earthquake was that ot" 1863, when 400 ])eople were killed, 2,000 wounded, and 46 public buildings and 1,100 private houses were badly injured or completely destroyed. In 1874 eartlu^uakes wei-e again vei-y numer- ous throughout the islands, shocks being felt at intervals in certain sections for several weeks. But the most violent convulsion of modern times occurred in 1880 when even greater destruction than in 1863 visited Manila and other A POPULAR STREET CONVEYANCE. As elsewhere, carriages and street cars are useii in Manila, but there are hundreds of the above *' native cabs,'" for carrying single persons short distances, and tliey are liberally patronized. towns of Luzon. Consequently there are very few buildings to be found more than two stories high ; and the heavy tile roofs formerly in use have, for the most part, been replaced by lighter coverings of galvanized iron. These light roofs, however, are in constant danger of being stripped off by the typhoons, terrible storms which come with a, twisting motion as if rising from the earth or the sea, fairly pulling everything detachable after them. Masts of ships and roofs of houses are frequently carried by these hurricanes 622 THE riULWriNE ISLANDS. miles distant. The better to resist the typhoons, most of the light native houses arc built on bamboo poles, which allow the wind to pass freely under them, and sway anil bend in the storm like u tree; whereas, if they were set solidly on the tearth, they would be lifted up bodily and carried away. Glass windows being too frail to resist the shaking of the earthquakes and the typhoons, small, trans- lueent oyster shells are used instead. The light thus admitted resembles that passiug through grountl-glass, or, rather, stainetl glass, for the coloring in the shells imparts a mellow tinted ratliance like the windows of a cathedral. MANILA AS A BUSINESS CENTER. The streets of IManila are wretchedly paved or not paved at all, and as late as 1893 were lighted by kerosene lamps or by wicks suspended in dishes of cocoanut oil. Lately an electric plant has been introduced, and ])arts of the city are lighted in this manner. There are two lines of street cars in Manila. The motive power for a car is a single small pony, and foreigner marvel to see one of those little animals drawing thirty-odd people. The retail trade and petty banking of Manila is almost entirely in the hands of the half-castes and Chinese, and many of them have grown immensely wealthy. There are only about three hundred Eurojieans in business in the whole Philippine group, and they conduct the bulk of the importing and ex- porting trade. ^lanila contains a number of large cigar and cigarette facto- ries, one of which employs 10,(X)0 hands. There is also a sugar refinery, a steam rice mill, and a rope factory worked partly by men and partly by oxen, a Spanish brewery and a German cement factory, a Swiss umbrella factory and a Swiss hat factory. The single cotton mill, in which $200,000 of English capital is invested, runs 6,000 spindles. The statistics of 1897 show that the whole trade of Manila comprised only forty-five Spanish, nineteen German, and seventeen English firms, with six Swiss brokers and two French storekeejiers having large establishments. One of the most profitable businesses is said to be that of selling chea]i jewelry to the na- tives. Breastpins which dealers buy in Europe ibr twelve cents each are readily sold for from 01 -oO to S'-.(X) each to the simple Filipinos. Almost every- thing that is manufactured abroad has a fine prospective market in the Philip- pines, when the condition of the people permits them to buy. A certain charm attaches to many specimens of native handiwork. The women weave exquisitely beautiful fabrics from the fiber of plants. The floors of Manila houses are admired bv all foreigners. Thev are made of hard wood and jxilished with l)anai)a leaves and greasy cloths until they shine brightly and give an aspect of cool airiness to the room. THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 623 Any kind of amusement is pupular witli the Filipinos — with so much leisure on tlieir hands — provided it does not retpiire too great exertion on their part. They are fond of the theatre, anil, up to a tew years ago, bulltigliting was a favorite pastime; but the most prominent of modern anuisements for the natives and half-castes is cocklighting. It is said that every native has his fighting cock, which is reared and trained witli tlie greatest care until he sliows suflficieut skill to entitle him to an entrance into the public cockpit where A WEDDING PROCESSION. As in Asiatic countries, weddings in the Philippines are occasions of great ceremony. No marriage would be considered "in style " without a gorgeous procession. he will fight for a prize. The chickens occupy the family residence, roosting overhead; and, in case o*f fire, it is said that the game "rooster" is saved before the babies. Professor Worcester tells an amusing story of the annoyance of the crowing cocks above his head in the morning and the devices and tricks he and his companions employed to quiet them. The Manila lottery is another insti- tution which intensely excites the sluggi.sh native, and takes from him the money which he does not lose on the cockfights. Under the United States Government this lottery will, no doubt, be abolished in time. It formerly 62.[ THE FHILIPPJyE ISLAXDS. iK'longod to tlio S|mni:?h Goveruun-'iit, aud Spain derived au auuual profit o£ half a million doUai-s from it. CiKNKKAL (.O-MMiavCK OF THE I'lllLirPIXES. It is hardlv neeesssarv, so lar as; tlio commercial workl is concerned, to men- tion any other locality outside of the city of Manila. To commerce, this city ^whosetotal imports in 18V»7 were only $10,(XK),tXX) and its exports $L'0,aK\lXX)) is tJie I'hilippiiie Islands. Its present meagre foreign trade rejiresents only au average j)urchase of about one dollar per inhabitant, and an average side of two dollars yvv inhabitant for the largest archipelago in the world, and one of the richest in soil and natural resources. The bulk of these exports were hemp, sugar, aud tobacco ; ami, strange as it may seem, the United States received 41 per cent, of her hemp and o<"> jxm' cent, of her sugar for the year 1807, notwith- standing the tact that we had not one commercial firm doing business in that Avholc vast domain. The city of lloilo is on the southern coast of the fertile island of Panay, and, next to Manila, the chief port of the Philippines. It has an excellent harbor, and the surrounding country is very jnoductive, having extensive j)lan- tations of sugar, rice, and tobacco. The population of lloilo is oidy 12,tXX>, but theiv are a few larger towns in the district, of which it is the seaport. Though tlie city at springtides is covei-eil with water, it is said to be a very healthful place, and n\uch cooler than !Manila. The other open port, Cebu, on the eastern coast of the island of the same mune, is a well-built town, and has a population of about 13,000. From this point the bulk of the hemp for export comes. OEXEKAL CHAl^ACTER OF THE ISLANDS. It is imjx^ssible to sptnik of the other islands in detail. Seven of the group averasrt' larwr than the State of New Jei-sev : Luzon is as extensive as Ohio, ^lindanao ei|uals Indiana ; and. as we have stated before, about four hundred of them ai-o inhabitable, and. like Java, Borneo, and the Spice Islands, all are rich in natural resonnvs. They are of a volcanic origin, and may In? descril)ed in general as rugged and mountainous. The ctxists of most of the islands are deeply indenttnl by the sea, and the larger ones are well watereil by streams, the months of which at!brd goo*.! harboi-s. Many of the mountainous parts alHHuid in minerals. Mr. Karuph. President of the Philippine Mineral Syndicate, in May, 1808, adilrt^l(' deposits are close to deep water. 1 know of no other part of the world, tlu' Alaskan Tread- well nnnes alone exee[)led, whore jniy ore is i'ound within a lew hundred yards of the anchorage of sea-going vessels." In addition to gold, iron, copper, lead,, snlphur, and other nuncruls are found, antl are helieved to exist in paying quan- tities. The inunerous mineral springs attest their presence in almost every part of the pi-incipai islands. DRYING SUGAR. Large pans oontaiiiiiig the sugnr arc set in the sun to evii|i(iriiie ilu- innisluic. No renning or elaiifylng maehinery has been introilueod lutii Uie I'liiUppine Islaniis. FORESTS AM) 'riMl{i;il. The forest products of the islands are perhaps of greatei- value than their mineral resources. Timber not only exists in almost exhan.stless quantity, but — considering the whole group, winch extends nearly a thousand miles from north to south — in unprecedented diversity, embracing sixty varieties of the most valuable woods, several of which are so hard that they cannot be cut with ordinary saws, some so heavy that they sink in water, and two or three so dura- ble as to afford ground for the claim that they outlast iron and steel whea 6:5 THE PJTTT.TPriNE ISLANDS. placed ill tlu' u;n)uiul or uiuk-r water. Severul of these woods are unknown else- where, and. ahogether, they are adniirably mhcd for various decorative purposes and for the iiiauui'aeture of line iniplenienls ami furniture. Here also are pepper, einnauiou, wax, and gums of various sorts, cloves, tea, and vanilla, while all tropical fruit*:, such as cocoanuts, bananas, lemons, limes. THE STKANQE WAGONS OF ALBAY. The ciglily-odd different tribes who iiihnbit ttie Ptiitippinos Imve YftrjinK dialocts, maimers, and customs. The peculiar house- roofed wagons, shown in the above illustration, are found in only one locality. oranges of several varietie,^, pineapples, citrons, bread-fruits, custard apples, pawpaws, and mangroves flourish, and most of them grow wild, though, of course, they are not equal to the cultivated fruit. There are fifty-odd varieties of the banana in the ardiipelago. from the midget, which makes but a single mouthful, to the huge fruit eighteen inches long. There seems to be no limit to ^vhich tropical fruits and farm products can be cultivated THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. ' 627 The animal and bird life of the Philippines offer a field of interesting re- search to naturalists. There are no important cai-nivorous animals. A small wild-cat and two species of civet-cats constitute about all that belong to tliat class. The house-cats of the Philippines have curicnis fish-hook crooks in the ends of their tails. There are several s])ecies of tleer in tiie archipelago. Hogs run wild in large numbers. The large water buffalo {carabao) has been do- mesticated and is the chief beast of burden with tlu; natives. The ti)iiarau is another small species of buffalo, very wild and entirely untamable ; and, though numerous in certain places, is hard to find, and when brought to bay dies fighting. Birds abound in all of the islands ; nearly six hundred species have been found, over fifty of which exist nowhere else in the world. One of these si)ecies builds a nest which is highly prized by Chinese epicures as an article of diet. Prof. AV'orcester tells us " the best quality of them sometimes bring ni(Ji-e than their weight in gold." Crocodiles are numerous in fresh-water lakes and streams, attaining enormous size, and in certain places causing much loss of life among stock and men as well. Snakes also abound, and some of them are very venomous. Cobras are found in the southern islands. Pythons are numerous, some of the smaller sizes being sold in the towns and kept in houses to catch rats, at which they are said to be more expert than house-cats. All the domestic animals, aside from the carabao, have been introduced from abroad. Cattle are extensively raised, and in some of the islands run wild. The horses are a small Spanish breed, but are very strong and have great en- durance. Large Eurojiean horses do not stand the climate well. CLIMATE, VOLCANOES, ETC. The mean annual temperature of Manila is 80'^ F. The thermometer seldom rises above 100° or falls below G0° anywhei-e in the archipelago. There is no month in the year during which it does not rise as high as 91°. January and December are the coldest months, the average temperature being 70° to 73°. May is the warmest, the average being 84°. April is the next warmest, with an average of 83°; but the weather is generally very moist and humid, which makes the heat more trying. The three winter months have cool nights. Malaria is prevalent, but contagious diseases are comparatively few. Yellow fever and cholera are seldom heard of. The Philippines are the home of many volcanoes, a number of them still active. Mayon, in the island of Luzon, is one of the most remarkable volcanic mountains on the globe. It is a perfect cone, rising to the height of 8,900 feet, and is in constant activity ; its latest destructive eruption took place in 1888. Apo, in the island of Mindanao, 10,312 feet high, is the largest of the Philippine 628 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. volcanoes. Next is Canloon in Nojjros, wliicli I'ises 8,102 feet above the sea. Taal is in a lake, with a hriglit of !HK) llrl, ami is imtownrtliy as being the lowest volcano in iho world. 'To those not accustonieil to volcanoes, these great tire- spontiii<; iiionntains, which are but prominent representatives of many lesser ones in llic ishimls, yccm to be an ever-present danger to the inhabitants; but the natives anil those who live there manifest- little or no fear of them. In fact, they rather pride thcmst'lvcs in their possession of suidi lenifyini;- neighbors. Such is an oulliiie vii'w of the Philippine Archi[)elago of the ])resent day. A new era has o|H'ned n|> in the history of that wonderful land with its libera- tion from the Spanish yoUe. The dense ignorance and semi-savage barbarities ■which exist there must not be expected to yield too rapidly to the touch of human kindness and brotherly love with which the Christian world will now visit those semi-civilized and untamed children of nature. Nevertheless, western civilization and western progress will undoubtedly work mighty changes in the lives of those people, in the development of that country, during the first quarter of the twentieth century, which ushers in the dawn of its freedom. THE BATTLK OF MANILA. In all the annals of naval warfare there is no engagement, terminating in 80 signal a victory with so little damage to the victors, as that which made the name of tJeorge Dewey immortal on the memorable Sunday moining of May 1, 181)8, in Manila l>ay. The world knows the story of that battle, for it has been told hundreds of times in the thousamls of newspapers and magazines and scores of i)ooks throughout the civilized world. But few, perhaps, who peruse these pages have read the simple details of the fight as narrated by that most modest of men, Admiral Dewey himself. AVe cannot better close this chapter on the Philippines than by inserting Admiral Dewey's official report of the battle which wrested the Filipinos from Spanish tyranny and placed nearly ten millions of oppressed people under the protecting care of the United States. ADMIUAL DKWliV's STORY OF MANILA. "United States Flagship Olympia, Cavite, May 4, 1898. "The squadron left Mirs Bay on April 'JTth, arrived off Bolinao on the morning of April oOth, and. finding no vessels there, proceeded down the coast and arrived off the entrance to Manila Bay on the same afternoon. The Boston and the Concord were sent to reconnoitre Port Subic. A thorough search was made of the port by the Boston and the Concord, but the Spanish fleet was not found. Entered the south channel at 11:30 p. :m., steaming in column at eight knots. After half the squadron had passed, a batteiy on the south side of the channel ojiened fire, none of the shots taking effect. The THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 629 Boston and McCulloch rcturnetl the lire. The squadron proceeded across the bay at slow speed and arrived off Manihi at daybreak, and was lired upon at 5:15 A. M. l)y three batteries at Manila and two near Cavite, and by the Spanish fleet anchoretl in an approximately east and west line across the mouth of liakor Bay, with their left in shoal water in Canacao Bay. " The squadron then proceeded to the attack, the flagship 01ym2")ia, under my personal direction, leading, followed at a distance by the Baltimore, Raleigh, Petrel, Concord, and Boston in the order named, which formation was main- tained throughout the action. The squadi'on opened fire at 5:41 A. M. While advancing to the attack two mines were exploded ahead of the flagship, too far to be effective. The squadron maintained a continuous and precise fire at ranges varying from 5,000 to 2,000 yards, countermarching in a line approximately parallel to that of the Sjtanish fleet. The enemy's fire was vigorous, but gene- rally ineflective. Early in the engagement two launches ])ut out towai-d the Olympia with the apparent intention of using torpedoes. One was sunk and the other disabled by our fire and beached before they were able to fire their torpedoes. "At seven a. m. the Spanish flagship lleina Cristina made a desperate attempt to leave the line and come out to engage at short i-ange, but was received with such a galling fire, the entire battery of the Olympia being concentrated upon her, that she was barely able to return to the shelter of the point. The fires started in her by our shells at the time were not extinguished until she sank. The three batteries at Manila had ke})t up a continuous lire from the beginning of the engagement, which fire was not returned by my squadron. The first of these batteries was situated on the south mole-head at the entrance of the Basis River, tlie second on the south position of the walled city of Manila, and the third at Molate, about one-half mile further south. At this point I sent a mes- sage to the Governor-General to the effect that if the batteries did not cease firing the city would be shelled. This had the effect of silencing them. "At 7:35 A. M. I ceased firing and withdrew the squadron for breakfast. At 11:1() I returned to the attack. By this time the Spanish flagship and almost all the Spanish fleet were in flames. At 12:30 the squadron ceased firing, the batteries being silenced and tlie ships sunk, burned, and deserted. "At 12:40 the squadron returned and ancliored off Manila, the Petrel being left behind to complete the destruction of the smaller gunlioats, which were behind the point of Cavite. This duty was performed by Commander E. P. Wood in the most expeditious and complete manner possible. The Spanish lost the following vessels: Sunk, Rcinn Cristina, Castilla, Don Antonio de Ulloa; burned, Don Juan de Austria. Isla de Luzon, Tsla de Cu))a, Genei-al Lezo, Mar- 630 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. qiiis del Duero, El Correo, Velasco, ami Isla lie Mindanao (transport) ; captured, Kapido and Hercules (tugs), and several small launches. " [ am unable to obtain complete accounts of the enemy's killed and wounded, but believe their losses to be very heavy. The Keina Cristina alone had 150 killed, including the captain, and ninety wounded. I am happy to report that the damage done to the squailron under my command was inconsid- erable. There were none killed and only seven men in the squadron were sligiitly wounded. Several of the vessels were struck and even penetrated, but the damage was of the slightest, and the squadron is in as good condition now as before the battle. " I beg to state to the department that I doubt if any commander-in-chief was ever served by more loyal, eflicient, and gallant captains than tho.se of the squadron now under my command. Captain Frank "Wildes, commanding the Boston, volunteered to remain in command of his vessel, although his relief arrived before leaving Hong Kong. Assistant Surgeon Kindelberger, of the Olympia, and Gunner J. C. Evans, of the Boston, also volunteered to remain, after orders detaching them had arrived. The conduct of my personal staff was excellent. Commander B. P. Lamberton, chief of staff, was a volunteer for that position, and gave me most efficient aid. Lieutenant Brumby, Flag Lieutenant, and Ensign E. P. Scott, aide, performed their duties as signal officers in a highly creditable manner; Caldwell, Flag Secretary, volunteered for and was assigned to a sub-division of the five-inch battery. Mr. J. L. Stickney, formerly an officer in the United States Navy, and now correspondent for the New York Herald, volunteered for duty as my aide, ami rendered valuable service. I desire especially to mention the coolness of Lieutenant C. G. Calkins, the navigator of the Olympia, who came under my personal observation, being on the bridge with me throughout the entire action, and giving the ranges to the guns with an accuracy that was proven by the excellence of the firing. " On May 2d, the day following the engagement, the squadron again went to Cavite, where it remains. On the 3d the military forces evacuated the Cavite arsenal, which was taken possession of by a landing 2^'irty. On the same day the Raleigh and the Baltimore secured the surrender of the batteries on Cor- regidor Island, paroling the garrison and destroying the guns. On the morning of May 4th, the transport INIanila, which had been aground in Bakor Bay, was towed off and made a j^rize." THE LADRONE, OR IVIARIANA ISLANDS. "How very fair they must have seemed When first they darkened on the deep, Like all the wandering seamen dreamed, When land rose lovely on Lis sleep." — Landon. It was a welcome sight to Magellan and his crew when, one day in March, nearly 400 years ago, they beheld the verdant and beautifully sloping hills of the Ladrone Islands. Eighteen weary months before they had sailed from the coast of Spain, and all that time, first to the southwest and then to the north- west, they had followed the setting sun. Theirs were the first vessels manned by white men that had ever plowed the trackless Pacific; and this was the first land ever seen by white men within that unknown ocean. It was a pitiable crew on those three small, weather-beaten ships, who drew, that March morning, toward the coast of the present island of Guam, which is now a possession of the United States. Hunger and thirst had driven them ta the verge of madness. They had eaten even the leather thongs from their sail fastenings, and only a small mug of water per day was the portion of drink for a man. "Land! Land!! " It was a glad cry from the watch aloft. There were palm trees, cocoanuts, green grass, tropical fruits, an abundance of fresh water, and — though naked — a curious and friendly people. No wonder Magellan paused to rest himself and his sailors. Those little islands have never been of much value, and never can be. Sev- enteen of them stretching in a row about six hundred miles from north to south, and their total area, including their islets and reefs, is variously estimated at from 400 to 560 square miles. Hence, there is but about one-fourth more terri- tory on the whole seventeen islands combined than is included within the cor- porate limits of the city of Greater New York. A broad channel divides the Ladrones into two groups. The northern group consists of ten islets, without inhabitants ; the southern group has seven islands, four of which are inhabited. The largest island, Ouahan, known to us as Guam, ceded to us by Spain, was taken by our warship Charleston on July 4, 1898. This island contains the only town in the colony. Its full Spanish name is San Ignaeio de Agafia. It is the capital of the archiiDelago, and con- tains more than half of the whole population. THE NATIVE INHABITANTS. When first visited by Europeans, the archipelago contained from 40,000 to 60,000 souls, represented by two distinct classes, the nobles and the people, be- tween whom marriage, and even contact, were forbidden. But the Spanish con- 631 (^y- TlIK LAPROXE L'iLAXDS. quost soon emletl this distinction by roducing all alike to servitude. For J? long tinio after 8]>aiiisli otrupation, tlio nativo.s coniplaiiu'd and linallyrobelleaagauist the oppros^ivo uiea-suros of tlieir rulers; but by the end of llie seventeenth century they ceased their resistance, and it was founil by a census that fully half of them had perished or escaped in their canoes to the Caroline Islands, and tliat two- thirds of their one hundred and eighty villages had fallen to ruins. Then came an epidemic which swept away nearly all the natives of Guam ; and the island of Tinian (one of the group) was depopulated and its inhabitants brought to Ouam. Nearlv all the new arrivals soon died. In the vear 1700, a census showed NATIVE HOUSE AND P.\LMS, I.AIMKIXF ISLANDS. a total of only l.(>o4 inhabitants left in all the islands, and the Spaniards repojv ulated them by bringing Tag-als from the Philippines. These, mixed with the remaining natives and Spaniards, have steadily increased. The ]iopulation of the islands in 1800 was estimated at about 9SX\\ The people are generally lacking in energy, loose in morals, and miserably ytoor. Their education has been seriously neglected. Their religion is Catholic, no Protestant missions having been encourageil — we might say, not allowed — there or in the Philip- pines or the Carolines. TOlVr.KAl^HY. CLIMATE. ETC. The islanils of the northern grouj> are mountainous, the altitudes reachiuji THE LADRONE ISLANDS. 633 from li,600 to 2,700 feet. There are evidences of volcanoes all over the archi- pelago, and some mountains contain small craters and cones not yet extinct. The climate of the Ladroues, though humid, is salubrious, and the heat, being tem- pered by the trade winds, is milder than in the Philippines. The yearly aver- age temperature of Guam is 81°. Streams are everywhere copious — though the clearing of the land has (limiiiished their size of late years. The original flora consists generally of Asiatic plants, l>ut nuicli has been introduced from the Philippines and other sources. Cocoanuts, palms, tlie bread tree, and tropical trees and plants generally, thrive. Tlie large fruit bat whicli alxiunds in the Philippines is indigenous to the Ladrones, and, despite its objectionable odor, is a principal article of food. Swine and oxen are allowed to run wild, and are hunted when needed. There are only a few species of birds; even insects are rare; and the reptiles are rep- resented by several kinds of lizards and a single species of serpent. Ko domes- tic animals were known in the islands until introduced by the S[>aniards. AVIien the United States steamship Charleston opened fire on the little city of Agafia, July 4, 1898, the })eople had not heard of the war, and the governor said he thought " the noble Americans were saluting " him, and was " deeply humiliated because he had no powder to return their salute." It was an easy, bloodless victory. The governoi- and his soldiers were carried to Manila as prisoners, and an American garrison of a few men left to take charge of lhi« new American territory in the Pacific. 38 p & w COXCLUSIOX. Thus at the close of the nineteenth centuiy, tlie Greater United States assumes its appointed place among tlie foremost nations of the workl, and stands on the thresliold of achievements whose grandeur no man dare attempt to prophesy. We pause, awed, grateful, and j)rofuuntlly imj>ressed, when we recad the mightv events, the amazing progress, and the wonderful advancements in discovery, science, art, literature, ami all that tends to the guod uf mankind that are certain to give the twentieth century a pre-eminence above all the years that have gone before. The new era of our country has opened. The United States enters on the first stage of the transformatiun from an isolated commonwealth into an out- reaching power with dependencies in both hemispheres. We can no longer hold an attitude of aloofness from the rest of the world. With vulneral)le points in our outlving possessions, we must make ready to defend them nut only by force of arms l>iu by diplomatic skill. Entangling alliances as heretofore will be avoideil, and the conditions, complications, and policies of foreign powers must in the future possess a practical importance for us. The oriiiinal thirteen States have exixuided into fortv-five, embracin<>; the vast area between the two oceans and extending from the British possessions to the Gulf of Mexico. To them has now been added our colonial territory, so vast in extent that, like the IJritish Empire, the sun never sets on (Uir dominions. AVhere a hundred vears as:o were uulv a few scattered villaoes and towns, imperial cities now raise their heads. Thousands of square miles of forest and t;olitude have given place to cultivated farms, to factories, and workshops that hum with the wheels of industry. The Patent Office issues 40,000 patents each year. We have three cities with more than a million ]iopulation apiece, and twenty-live with a |)opulation ranging from a hundred thousand to half a mil- lion. Greater Xew York is the second city in the world, and, if its present rate of growth continues, it will surpass London before the middle of the coming century. Our population has grown from o.OOO.OOO at the close of the Revolu- tion to 7"),0(M),()(>0. When Andrew Jackson became President there was not a mile of railroad in the United States. To-day our mileage exceeds that of all the countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, and the emjdoyes, con- nected directly or indirectly with rail-oads in the United States, number almost a nullion persons. The half-dozen crude newspapers of the Revolution have expanded into more than '20,(XX\ whose daily news is gathered from every quarter of the globe. The total yearly issue is more than three billions. No country can approach the advancements we have made in invention, in discovery, in science, in art, in education and in all the civilizing agencies of mau' 634 CONCLUSION. 635 kind. Volumes would be required to name our achievements in these lines. Our material property has been or is equally wonderful. When the Civil War closed, our public debt was nearly $3,000,000,000. On December 1, 1898, it was 11,036,000,000. Most of the leading nations have great debts, but the United States is the only one which is steadily decreasing its debt and at the same time enormously increasing its resources. The debt of Great Britain is now about $87 per capita, that of France $115, of Holland $100, of Italy $75, and of the United States less than $15, with the security increasing all the time. Let the thoughtful reader note these striking facts. European nations generally, and some South American nations also, have been compelled to resort to various methods of taxation to supply the sums needed for ordinary govern- mental expenses, to meet the interest on the existing debt, to provide resources for new expenditures, buildings, armament, subsidies, and various public works.- Eng- land has an income tax and many stamp taxes, a house tax, and collects some 20 per cent, of its revenue from direct taxation. France has a tobacco monopoly, regis- tration taxes, stamp taxes, tax on windows, and innumerable local taxes, one being the octroi, or tax on goods entering cities. In addition to an income tax, and many stamp taxes, Austria derives a good deal of its public revenue from lotteries. Italy goes still further with her tobacco monopoly, house tax, income tax, salt tax, octroi duties, stamp taxes, and heavy legacy and registration taxes. In the United States, however, the public revenues have been provided for and all public expenses met, and the national debt reduced beside, without recourse to any direct taxation. We have no government monopolies, and the Treasury maintains a healthful condition from the receipts of customs and internal revenue payments. Thus with the spirit of fraternity between all sections of the Union stronger than ever before, with the spirit of patriotism more deeply imbedded and all-per- vadmg, with our moral, educational, and material prosperity and progress greater than any time in our past history, and never equaled by any nation, since the annals of mankind began— we face the future, bravely resolved to meet all requirements, responsibilities, and duties as become men whose motto is IN GOD IS OUR TRUST. The Mid.