ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATE S Co{!yrightN"J ^ 7 / . J4 '3 COPYRIGHT DEf ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES BY WILBUR F. GORDY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, SPRINGFIELD, MASS ; AUTHOR OF "a HISTORY OP THE UNITED STATES FOR SCHOOLS," "AMERICAN LEADERS AND HEROES," "stories of AMERICAN EXPLORERS," AND "COLONIAL DAYS" WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON COPYRIGHT, 1909, 1913, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS (e)Cl.An54l22 U^) J PREFACE This little volume is written in response to an urgent demand from many school superintendents for a narra- tive history to be used in the fifth and sixth grades of the Elementary School. In preparing it, the aim has been to select subject-matter that will most fittingly illustrate the spirit, purpose, and life of the American people, and at the same time will come within the range of the child's understanding and appeal to his interest. Such an aim involves not only the selection of typical events, but also the use of simple material. The con- crete and the personal, therefore, everywhere receive emphasis. There has been a persistent effort to make leaders and patriots the centre of great movements and important situations. By getting a glimpse of these men as they appeared to their friends and acquaintances, and also some notion, even though slight, of their per- sonal qualities, the pupil through his sympathetic imagi- nation comes into vital touch with the life of the past. In fact, in a very real sense he shares in that life, and thus not only enlarges his experience but shapes his thought and fashions his ideals after the manner of the great and the good of bygone days. To strengthen the vital quality of the narrative special attention has been given to the daily life of the people, not forgetting the part played by the boys and the girls vi PREFACE of the time. Moreover, it is hoped that the simphcity of the language and the excellent maps and illustrations will aid the pupils in getting living pictures and will thus prove valuable features of the book. But something more than vivid pictures of past reality should result from the study of history, even by young people in the grades for which this narrative is written. Some exact knowledge of historical facts should be gained. With this object in view ''Things to Remember" may be used to advantage after the reading and study of every chapter. They give in a nutshell some of the most significant facts mentioned in the text. These slight summaries, if rightly used, will fix definitely many of the typical and important events outlined in the narrative. A few significant ''things" learned in this way will serve to give a quality to the pupil's knowledge which cannot result from a careless reading of ill-sorted facts, however interesting and colorful. The notes "To the Pupil " may be used to great advan- tage not only in testing his knowledge of the text, but also in stimulating his interest in men and events. The questions are not intended to cover all the facts in the text. They rather call attention to the more important ones and suggest other questions. They may be used in connection with the side topics to give variety to the recitation. Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon forming the important habit of locating every event on the map. Not only in preparing the lesson but also in reciting it maps should be brought constantly into use. Believing this, the author has taken special pains to see that the PREFACE vii maps of this book contain no useless matter. The aim has been to put into them that which will help the pupil to understand the meaning of the text. Equally important is discrimination in teaching the chronology of events. Many dates are placed in the text to give the pupil the proper sequence. But only a few, like 1492, 1607, 1620, July 4, 1776, and 1861-1865— dates which indicate great landmarks — need be learned with absolute accuracy. In conclusion, I wish to acknowledge my obligation to Mr. Alfred M. Hitchcock, of the Hartford High School, who has read the manuscript and made many valuable suggestions; and also to my wife, without whose interest and assistance this little volume would not have been written. Wilbur F. Gordy. Springfield, Mass., October 1, 1909. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGB I. The Discovery of Ajmerica 1 II. The Spaniards in the New World 11 III. The English in the New World 17 IV. Early Colonial Days in Virginia and Maryland . . 24 V. Early Colonial Days in New England .... 41 VI. Life IN New England in Early Colonial Days ... 66 VII. Early Colonial Days IN New York AND New Jersey . 73 Vni. Early Colonial Days in Pennsylvania and Delaware 83 IX. Early Colonial Days in the Carolinas and Georgia 89 X. The Indians 95 XL The French in North America 103 XIL The First Three Intercolonial Wars 113 XIII. The L.a^t French War 118 XrV. How England Brought on the Revolution . . . 133 XV. The Revolution in New England 144 XVI. The Struggle for Control of the Hudson River 155 XVIL The Struggle for Control of the Hudson River — Continued 161 XVIII. Victories IN THE North-west AND ON the Sea . . . 169 XIX. The War in the South 176 XX. Years of Trial and Danger 186 XXI. Early Days of the Republic 190 X CONTENTS CHAPTER PAOB XXII. The Mississippi Valley 195 XXIII. The War of 1812 .207 XXIV. Westward Migration 217 XXV.- The North and the South 222 XXVI. New Territory and New Inventions 227 XXVII. Slavery and Abolition 238 XXVIII. The Outbreak of the Civil War 244 XXIX. The BLOCieA.DE and War on the Sea 251 XXX. The Opening of the Mississippi River 259 XXXI. The War in the East 262 XXXII. The Last Year op the War 267 XXXIII. The New South 278 XXXIV. The New West 281 XXXV. The New Union 289 Table of States and Territories 306 Presidents of the United States 308 INDEX 309 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAQH Abraham Lincoln Frontispiece House Where Columbus Was Born 2 The Santa Maria 3 Columbus 4 The Landing of Columbus 5 Magellan's Fleet 9 Spanish Soldiers 12 De Soto's Discovery of the Mississippi 13 A Spanish Galleon or Treasure Ship of the Sixteenth Century ... 15 Old Spanish Gate at St. Augustine 16 Sebastian Cabot 18 The Great Harry, an English Ship of the Fifteenth Century ... 19 Sir Walter Raleigh 21 Queen Elizabeth 23 Jamestown in Early Days 26 John Smith 28 Smith's Determined Handling of the Indians 30 A Southern Planter 34 Slaves Loading Ships with Tobacco 35 Home of a Virginia Planter of the Colonial Period 36 George Calvert — Lord Baltimore 37 First Settlement in Maryland 40 The Mayflower 43 The Landing of the Pilgrims 45 Plymouth in Early Days 47 The Pilgrims Going to Church 48 A Pilgrim in Armor 49 Governor Winthrop 52 The Death of King Philip 55 Roger Williams in the Forest 57 Roger Williams Making a Settlement . 58 xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ' 7AOB Thomas Hooker and His Party 61 The First Church in Hartford 62 The Pequot Fort 63 A Two-Story Block-House 66 A Log Cabin 67 A Kitchen Fireplace 68 A Wooden Tankard 69 A Schoolhouse in Early Days 69 A Jack- Knife 69 A Spinning Wheel 70 A Foot Stove 70 The Ducking Stool 71 The Stocks 71 The Pillory 72 A Matchlock Gun 72 The Half Moon on the Hudson 74 Henry Hudson and the Indians 75 New Amsterdam in Early Days 70 The Dutch Trading with the Indians 77 A Dutch Soldier 78 A Patroon 80 William Penn 85 William Penn and the Indians 86 A Wampum Belt • 87 Rice 90 Indigo 90 A Mulberry Tree 91 James Oglethorpe 93 A Long House 96 An Indian Wigwam 96 Squaws Acting as Beasts of Burden 97 A Papoose on a Cradle Board 9? An Indian Chief ' 98 Moccasins 98 Indian Tomahawk , 98 Indians on the War Trail 99 The Birch Canoe 99 On a Portage 100 A Dugout 100 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii ?AGB Snow-Shoes 101 Indian Pipe 101 Indian Club 101 Indian Bow and Arrow 102 Champlain Fires the Fatal Gunshot 105 A Wood Ranger 106 Fur Traders Paddling Up-Stream 107 Marquette and Joliet on the Mississippi 108 La Salle at the Mouth of the Mississippi 110 La Salle's Death 112 The Attack on Schenectady 115 Hannah Dustin a Captive 116 The French Burying Leaden Plates 119 Washington Crossing the Alleghany River 122 The Expulsion of the Acadians 125 An English Soldier 126 General Wolfe 127 General Montcalm 128 A French Soldier 129 The Citadel— Quebec 130 The Charter Oak 133 A Stamp 134 William Pitt 136 George the Third 137 Old South Church 138 Samuel Adams 139 The Boston Tea Party 140 Patrick Henry 142 St. John's Church, Richmond 142 Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia 143 The Liberty Bell 143 A Minute Man 145 Paul Revere's Ride 146 Concord Bridge as It Is To-day 148 A Fowling Piece 148 John Hancock , , . . . . 149 John Hancock's Home 149 Prescott at Bunker Hill 150 Buuker Hill Monument ,.,..... .... 150 Xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGB The Washington Elm 151 Washington Taking Command of the Continental Army .... 151 British and Hessian Soldiers 152 Independence Hall, Philadelphia 152 Reading the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia .... 153 Nathan Hale 157 A Hessian Soldier 158 The Marquis de Lafayette ... 161 Robert Morris 162 Reading the Declaration of Independence to American Troops . . 163 Benjamin Franklin 164 A Printing Press 164 Old Bell Used in Camp at Valley Forge 165 Winter at Valley Forge 166 George Rogers Clark 171 Clark's Advance on Vincennes 172 John Paul Jones 173 The Fight Between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis . . . 174 Old Fort Putnam at West Point 178 The Capture of Andr6 179 Marion and His Men 181 General Nathaniel Greene 182 The Evacuation of Charleston by the British 183 The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis 184 A Continental Soldier 187 Washington Taking Leave of His Officers 188 Chair Used by Washington at His Inauguration 190 Mount Vernon, the Home of Washington 190 A Ferry-Boat 191 A Mail Stage-Coach 191 Alexander Hamilton 192 An Old-Time Mail-Carrier 192 The Cotton Gin 193 Thomas Jefferson 196 Monticello — the Home of Thomas Jefferson 196 APack-Horse 197 A Flatboat 197 Daniel Boone 198 Boonesboro 199 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xv PAGE AHand-MiU 200 Early Settlers 201 Lewis and Clark's Men Climbing the Rocky Mountains 205 The Impressment of American Seamen 208 The Constitution Making Her Escape from a British Fleet .... 209 Perry at the Battle of Lake Erie on His Way to the Niagara . . . 212 Fort McHenry 213 A Prairie Schooner 218 The Clermont , 219 A Passenger Canal-Boat 219 Locks on the Erie Canal 220 Slaves Picking Cotton 222 A Slave's Cabin 223 Henry Clay . 224 John C. Calhoun 224 Daniel Webster 225 Robert Y. Hayne 225 Andrew Jackson 223 An Early Locomotive 228 An Early Type of Car 228 An Early Railroad Train 229 The Savannah — the First Ocean Steamer 230 The Lusitania — a Modern Ocean Liner 231 The First Telegraph Instrument 232 A Reaper 233 Sutter's Mill 235 Crossing the Plains for California 236 At the Gold Mines 23G A Caravan Being Attacked by Indians 237 Escaping by the Underground Railroad 239 Lincoln's Birthplace 244 Lincoln as a Boatman 245 Jefferson Davis 247 Capitol Park, Richmond, Virginia, Showing Capitol ...... 248 A Confederate Flag 248 Ruins of Fort Sumter 249 A Blockade-Runner 253 The Sinking of the Alabama 254 The Merrimac 255 xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAQB The Monitor 256 A Confederate Soldier 259 General Robert E. Lee 2G4 Union Cavalry 2G5 United States Infantry Camp (150th Pa.) 266 General U. S. Grant 268 Military Telegraph Battery "Wagon 268 13-Inch Mortar Dictator in Front of Petersburg 269 Sherman Rallying the Troops at Cedar Creek 270 Railroad Bridge near Chattanooga 271 Thomas J. ("Stonewall") Jackson 272 Destroying the Railroad, Atlanta .... 273 The McLean House where Lee Surrendered . . . .... 275 Grand Review, 1865, Washington, D. C 273 A Steam Plough 283 A Harvester 283 A Steam Thrasher 284 The Pony Express 284 The Overland Coach 285 A Train on the Union Pacific »^ 286 Flume for Bringing Water down Mountain Side 287 Irrigating a Big Orchard in Arizona 287 The Great Eastern Laying the Atlantic Cable 289 At the Klondike INIines 290 The Statue of Liberty '. 292 Oklahoma Ave., Guthrie, April 24, 1889 295 Oklahoma Ave., Guthrie, May 10, 1899 295 Cubans Drilling at Tampa, Fla 296 The Battleship Maine Entering Havana Harbor 297 The Olympia 298 Rough Riders Just Before Leaving for Cuba 299 Surrender of Santiago 300 The Culfibra Cut, Panama Canal 302 The White House ..,,.' 304 LIST OF MAPS PAOB The First Voyage of Columbus, and Places of Interest in Connection with His Later Voyages 6 Routes Traversed by De Soto and De Leon 14 Raleigh's Various Colonies 22 Early Settlements in Virginia and Maryland 33 Early Settlements in New England 44 Early Settlements in New York and New Jersey 79 Early Settlements in Pennsylvania and Delaware 84 Early Settlements in the Carolinas and Georgia 89 English Colonies and French Claims in 1754 (Colored) 121 The French in the Ohio Valley 123 Quebec and Surroundings 127 Boston and Vicinity 147 The War in the Middle States 156 George Rogers Clark in the North-west 170 The War in the South 180 The United States in 1803, After the Louisiana Purchase (Colored) . 203 Lake Erie and Surroundings, in the Time of the War of 1812 . . . 211 Territory in Dispute between Texas and Mexico 234 The United States in 1861 (to show Free States, Seceding States, Slave States that Did Not Secede, and Territories) (Colored) . 246 Campaigns in the West 260 The Country Around Washington and Richmond 263 The Route of Sherman's March to the Sea 274 The West Indies 298 The Philippine Islands 301 The Territorial Growth of the United States (Colored) . . . , . 303 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAPTER I THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA It seems pretty certain that America was first reached by Europeans in the tenth or the eleventh century. At that time, according to the story told by Icelanders, hardy sailors from Norway came to Iceland and Greenland. It is supposed that some of these daring explorers reached America. Among them, we are told, was Leif L®!* ° ' . ' Ericsson Ericsson, who, in the year one thousand, with five hundred and Viniand and thirty men, touched upon the coast of Labrador. Sailing south, he landed probably somewhere on the New England coast, and spent the winter. Because of the many grape-vines which grew there, he called the country Viniand. In the spring he went back to Greenland with a load of timber. The following year Leif's brother sailed to Viniand, i° viniand where he passed two winters. In later years other Northmen visited the coast. But none remained long, for the natives were unfriendly and attacked them. Viniand was therefore soon forgotten. It was nearly five hundred years before the people of Europe again made voyages to that part of the world. They did so then under the pressure of a great need. For many hundred years Europe had carried on a large trade S^e FarEast with India and China. Merchants of Genoa, Venice, and ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The Turks capture Con- stantinople Da Gama finds the water route other ports in the Mediterranean Sea grew rich by this trade. They received from the Far East such luxuries as silks, gums, spices, ivory, and precious stones. All these things were brought by overland routes across Asia to the Mediterranean Sea, and thence by sailing vessels to the Western ports. But when, in 1453, the Turks captured Constantinople, these overland routes were closed to trade, and the Mediterranean was made unsafe by Turkish pirates. From that time onward Europe began to search for an ocean route to India, China, and Japan. It was natural that Portugal and Spain, which were then two of the most powerful countries in the world, should take the lead in finding this water route. For seventy years Portuguese sea captains slowly but surely made their way down the west coast of Africa. At last, in 1497, Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope, sailed on eastward to India and the Spice Islands, and having collected a rich cargo of silks, jewels, and spices, returned with it to Portugal. Thus the first water route to the Far East was found. But some years before Da Gama's voy- age another great seaman had tried to find a water route to -India by sailing west. This was Christopher Columbus. He failed, of course, to reach India, but in the path of his voyage he discovered the New World. Columbus was born in Genoa in 1436. From boyhood days he had taken great HOUSE WHERE COLUM- BUS WAS BORN THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA interest in geography, and when he grew up he became very skilful in making maps and charts. He was also fond of the sea. When about thirty-five years of age, he went c^^*^°u^®^ to live at Lisbon, Portugal. At this time he was a fine- and his ideas looking man. His tall form and noble face, his clear gray eyes, and his white hair faUing to his shoulders gave him a commanding presence, while his courteous manner made him pleasing to all he met. While in Lisbon he of course heard much about the Portuguese plan of reaching India and China by sailing around Africa. But he asked himself why these countries could not be reached by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean, for he believed, with many others of the time, that the world was round like a globe and that China was not more than three thou- sand miles west from Europe. If he could find such a short and easy trade route to the Far East, he would bring wealth to Europe and secure honor and fame for himself. He was so taken up with his great scheme that he dreamed of it day and night. His dreams seemed all the more real because of the reports of Marco Polo and other travellers about the wealth and splendor of the East. }^,°'"^^'tl!^ tRl6S 01 iQC These men had told wonderful tales of palaces roofed East with gold, of golden rivers, of fountains of youth, and of precious stones the like of which Europe had never seen. Fired by these accounts, Columbus determined to seek a THE SANTA MARIA ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Years of trial The Sea of Darkness new route. He was not the first man to believe that the world was round, but he was the first man to be willing to test his belief by venturing out upon an unknown sea. As he was poor, he had to get money before he oould carry out his plan. First he consulted the King of Portu- gal, who refused to aid him. Then he left Portugal and went to Spain to secure the support of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. As they were then engaged in war with the Moors, and were moving their camp from place to place, it was seven years before Columbus could get a hearing. These were years of trial to Columbus. Men laughed at him, and even boys in the street pointed the finger of scorn. Yet he did not give up hope, and at last the king and queen listened to him and agreed to give him help. But his difficulties were not over. . Sailors at that time called the Atlantic Ocean the Sea of Darkness. They believed it was full of dreadful monsters ready to seize both men and vessels. Besides, the ships of those days were small and lightly built. They were not strong enough to battle against heavy seas. So the king had to compel sailors to go with Columbus, and in some cases criminals were taken oijt of prison to make up his crews. Of the three caravels made ready, the Santa Maria, the Nina, and the Pinta, none was much larger than an ordinary fishing boat of to-day, and only one, the Santa Maria, which served as flag-ship, had a deck covering the entire hold of the vessel. COLUMBUS THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA With these three vessels and one hundred and twenty men Columbus set sail a half hour before sunrise on August 3, 1492. We may imagine with what joy he found himself at sea. Not so the sailors. They were overcome with The sailors '' overcome fear, and when they could no longer see land they wept with fear like children. As week after week passed by, this fear gave way to despair. From time to time, it is true, their hearts were gladdened by the sight of birds, for this made them think that land was near. Sometimes a shout of ''Land!" was heard. Then there was great excitement. But when that which their eyes had scanned melted away, they knew they had been looking at distant clouds. When the ships reached the belt of trade winds Columbus in ^ danger and the sailors were blown steadily farther away from home and the friends whom they expected never to see again, they were angry and despairing. They said Columbus was a *' crazy-brained dreamer, " and they plotted to throw him overboard. Columbus knew his hfe was in danger, but his courage did not fail. He still had faith that he would succeed. Finally, on October 11, a thorn branch with berries on it, a reed, and a carved stick came floating by. Then Signs of ° "^ land every heart was cheered, for these were sure signs of land. The sailors became alert. All were eager to catch a first THE LANDING OF COLUMBUS ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The landing of Coliunbus glimpse of land. About ten o'clock that night Columbus himself saw in the distance a moving light, and three or four hours later a sailor saw the shore, then four or five miles away. At early dawn next morning all the men went ashore. Columbus bore the royal standard. Weeping tears of ,^^* V<— :J=^-/ I ATLANTIC ■Ki. ^^pSfo I'ORTO RICO ' IIAiTl ^iff TRINIDAD I. O C B Ji^ IT U T II ^ ERICA ^W^w^ THE FIRST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS, AND PLACES OF INTEREST IN CONNECTION WITH HIS LATER VOYAGES joy, he knelt and took possession of the land in the name of the King and Queen of Spain. The sailors fell upon their knees before him, kissed his hands, and begged him to for- give them for their unkind thoughts during the voyage. Columbus had landed upon one of the Bahama Islands. He thought that he had reached the East Indies and there- fore he called the natives Indians. Continuing his voyage, he sailed along the coast of Cuba and Hayti. Landing here and there, he looked for the wonderful cities of Eastern Asia, but of course he looked in vain. Early in January the return voyage was made. When he arrived in Spain, he was called into the presence of the king and queen. They honored him by rising when he entered the room and by allowing him to sit in their THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA 7 presence. The poor sailor, the idle dreamer, was now looked upon as a great man. Men of noble birth were ready to join him on a second voyage, which he took a few months later. He sailed in September, 1493, this time with seventeen vessels and fifteen hundred men. But these followers were bitterly ^^^^^ voyages disappointed because they did not find the silks, spices, jewels, and other precious things which they sought. Through failure and jealousy they soon became enemies of Columbus, who now fell upon evil days. Yet he made two more voyages. In one he sailed along the northern coast of South America, and in the other along the eastern coast of Central America. Nowhere, however, did he find that which he sought. Columbus . . i,T p.,., in trouble All Spam was disappomted. Many lost faith m the great navigator. Some, jealous of his fame, laid plots to ruin him. Then his friend and protector. Queen Isabella, died and left him without support. In his loneliness and dis- couragement he fell sick and died of a broken heart, little dreaming that he had discovered a new world. A short time before Columbus discovered the American continent, Americus Vespucius, a Florentine then living in Spain, may have made a voyage to the New World. Americus In 1497, some have said, he was pilot on an expedition which reached the coast of South America. It is certain that during the next ten years he sailed many times. During these voyages, which were made in the employ- ment of Spain or of Portugal, he sailed along the coast of Brazil and other parts of South America. Vespucius teUs us that some of the Indians were un- friendly and shot arrows at the voyagers. Then at the 8 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF '^HE UNITED STATES The naming of the New World sound of the white men's guns they ran for Ufe. Some, he says, were cannibals. One great chief boasted that he The Indians jj^d eaten the bodies of three hundred human beings. But notwithstanding their unfriendly reception by the natives, the explorers were charmed with the birds of brilliant plumage, the gay-colored flowers, and the mag- nificent trees. They were even ready to believe, as they were told, that the natives lived in this strange land to the age of one hundred and fifty years. The good accounts that Vespucius wrote of what he saw attracted the attention of German geographers. For this reason and because one of them believed he was the first man to discover it, the New World was called America in his honor. As we have seen, Columbus believed that the earth was round like a globe, but none of his voyages proved it. The honor of furnishing that proof belongs to Ferdinand Magellan. He was a Portuguese who went with Da Gama on his voyage to India and the Spice Islands. Like Co- lumbus, he believed it possible to reach the land of silks and ivory by sailing west. His plan was to find a passage or strait in America through which he might sail, for it was now the common behef that America extended to the south pole. When he asked aid of his king and was re- fused, he entered the service of the Spanish king, and started on his famous voyage of discovery. With a fleet of five old vessels, manned by two hundred and eighty men, on September 20, 1519, he put to sea. Little did he know what troubles awaited him. Four days after the fleet left port a small vessel overtook the flag-ship with this message from the father of Magellan's Magellan's plan Magellan sails THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA MAGELLAN S FLEET wife: '*Be watchful. Some of your captains have said that if you give them trouble they will kill you." To make matters worse, a month of severe storms and scarcity of food and water bred a spirit of mutiny among the sullen ^0: sailors. It was nearly four months before the fleet reached the mouth of the La Plata River, and there Magellan spent three weeks in finding out that it was not a strait. During another two months he sailed along the coast of Patagonia in the midst of ceaseless and furious storms. But on the last day of March, six months after leaving the home port, he found a well-sheltered harbor, where he anchored. It is not strange that the sailors were disheartened. There was but httle bread and wine left, and no hope of getting more. They begged Magellan to return. He stubbornly refused. Then open mutiny broke out. But he sternly put it down. A little later one of the vessels was wrecked; yet even in the face of this discourage- ment, amid violent storms he pushed on. At length his fleet entered a passage of water which we The brave now call the Strait of Magellan. From this place one of the ships stole away for Spain. Again the sailors on the three remaining vessels pleaded to go home. Magellan's answer was, ''I will go on if I have to eat the leather off the ship's yards." Still heading westward, they began the long, weary Magellan's trials 10 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Famine and scurvy Magellan slain A great voyage A long search for a northwest passage voyage across the Pacific. The sailors suffered from famine and scurvy. Many died. The survivors kept alive only by eating the skins and leather bound about the great ropes of the ships. Thus were the words of Magellan made true. At last they came to the Philippine Islands. Upon landing they had a desperate fight with the natives and had to retreat to their boats. Their loss was heavy. Fearless, Magellan was, as always, the last in retreat. The natives pressed closely about him, bore him to the earth, and slew him. What were left of his men lifted anchor and steered their course homeward. It was still a long voyage. Not until September 6, 1522, nearly three years after leaving Spain, did they arrive at the home port. Only one vessel returned, manned by eighteen starving sailors, who looked like staggering skeletons. This was the greatest voyage that had ever been made. It proved beyond doubt that the earth was round. More- over, the question in men's minds whether the land dis- covered by Columbus was really the East Indies, as he supposed, was also answered. America, be3^ond any doubt, was a new continent. Other great sea captains now began to search for a passage through America to the South Sea, as they called the Pacific Ocean. Foj although Magellan had found a passage, it was so far south that the voyage through it to Asia was too long to be of advantage to trade. A route farther north was desired. If the New World was not very wide, a passage through it would make a short route to India, China, and Japan. For the next two hundred THE SPANIARDS IN THE NEW WORLD II years, therefore, navigators and explorers sought a north- west passage through North America as the shortest water route to the trade of eastern Asia. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. Bold sailors from Norway were the first Europeans to reach America (1000). 2. Christopher Columbus, in trying to find a water route to India by sailing westward, discovered America in 1492. 3. The New World was called America in honor of Amer- icus Vespucius. 4. Magellan by his voyage proved that America was a continent and that the earth was round like a globe. TO THE PUPIL 1. Tell in your own words what Leif Ericsson did. 2. Why did Spain and Portugal wish to find a water route to India, China, and Japan ? 3. Why did Coliunbus think he could reach these countries by sail- ing across the Atlantic ? 4. Imagine yourself with Coliunbus and tell what happened on his first voyage. 5. What was the great work of Columbus ? What do you admire about him ? 6. What did Magellan do ? What do you admire in him ? 7. It is a good plan for you to make constant use of your map. CHAPTER II THE SPANIARDS IN THE NEW WORLD When Columbus made his second voyage to the New World, the Spaniards who went with him were eager for the gold and precious stones which they expected to find. Some, also, were eager for adventure. Among these was Ponce ° . ° de Leon Ponce de Leon, who had been made governor of Porto Rico. 12 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The Fountain of Youth De Leon discovers Florida Narvaez in search of gold Eumor came to this aged soldier, whose health was somewhat broken, of a Fountain of Youth not far to the north. He was told that its waters would heal all his diseases and make him young again. Longing to drink at this magic source, he obtained permission from the king to explore and conquer the island where the fountain flowed. Sailing west from Porto Rico, in due time he reached land. This he named Florida from Pascua Florida, the Spanish name for Easter Sunday, the day on which he landed (1513). Of course the search was fruitless and he had to return home. But although he found no Fountain of Youth, he discovered the country and gave it a name. Several years later, while making a second attempt to find the foun- tain, De Leon was killed by the Indians. Still another Spaniard who sought for gold in the New World was Narvaez. With four hundred men he anchored in Tampa Bay on the west coast of Florida (1528). Marching inland with a company of three hundred men, he found, instead of gold, only a pathless wilderness and unfriendly Indians. The explorers suffered so for lack of food that they had to kill and eat their own horses. Disappoint- ed, they returned to the coast only to find their vessels gone. Il SPANISH SOLDIEBS THE SPANIARDS IN THE NEW WORLD 13 At last, having built more vessels, with a scant supply of food and water they set sail westward. But on reach- P^ . . . Spaniards ing the mouth of the Mississippi River they were ship- shipwrecked' wrecked. Two of their boats were destroyed and two '• others cast ashore. Only four of the company es- caped alive. These men travelled more than two thousand miles and at the end of eight years reached the Gulf of Cahfornia, where by good fortune they found themselves among friends, at a Spanish outpost. Another Spanish explor- er who was eager to gain wealth, glory, and power was Hernando de Soto. At his request the king grant- ed him permission to conquer and settle Florida. He had already been to the New World, and it was there- ^^ Soto's . . purpose fore easy for him to get followers. Six hundred men, some of them from noble famihes, eagerly joined his expedition. In 1539 the whole company, with two hundred and twenty-five horses, landed at Tampa Bay. Then their Jhe troubles began. The journey inland was full of terror, in trouble The Indians were unfriendly. But when the Spaniards begged their leader to return, De Soto's grim answer was, "I will not turn back until with my own eyes I have seen the poverty of this country." DE SOTO S DISCOVERT OF THE MISSISSIPPI 14 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES De Soto cruel to the Indians The Mississippi Death and burial of De Soto He was cruel to the Indians, He cared nothing for their sufferings. Some he put to death and others he enslaved. They hated him bitterly and took their revenge. They promised to conduct him to a place where gold was plentiful. Eagerly the white men followed.. They wandered many miles through pathless wilderness and suffered much from lack of food. Sometimes they had only berries, nuts, bear-oil, and wild honey. In the end they found a wild solitude. The Indians EOUTES TRAVERSED BY DE SOTO AND DE LEON hid deCPlved fhpm Their condition was pitiful. The men longed to return to home and friends, but De Soto was unyielding. "No," he said; ''we must go forward." At last they reached the banks of the Mississippi at a point where the river was more than a mile wide. After spending nearly a month in building boats, they crossed in safety. Then De Soto marched westerly. They found many Indian tribes, but still no gold. Finally hope died, and De Soto decided to go to the coast to build ships with which to send for aid. During the three years of struggle and suffering in the forest, he had lost two hundred and fifty men. Tired and spirit-worn, he soon fell sick himself, and a severe fever carried him off. His followers buried his body near the Indian village where they happened to be, but fearing to have the Indians know that their leader was dead, they THE SPANIARDS IN THE NEW WORLD 15 took it up 'again. Then wrapping it in blankets made heavy with sand, during the dark hours of night they lowered it into the black waters of the Mississippi. Thus' died De Soto, the discoverer of the greatest river of the continent. The Spaniards were so busy in their search for gold that they allowed the French to make the first settlement in Flor- ida. At this time all France was astir with the civil war between the Huguenots (French Prot- estants) and the Cathohcs. As the Catholics were getting the better of the Huguenots, Coligny, the great Huguenot leader, sought a refuge for his people in America. Accordingly, in 1562, he sent out a small colony to a place where Port Royal, South Carolina, now stands. But the settlers, not being the kind of men to meet the T^t^^^^^^ ' ° in Florida demands of a rough backwoods life, soon tired and sailed back to France. Two years later Coligny sent out another colony, which went to St. John's River, many miles south of the first colony. These men also were unfit for their task and were soon in need of food. They were saved from starving only by the coming of new colonists with fresh supplies. But this glimmer of light soon went out completely. The Spanish king was so angrj^ with the French for mak- A SPANISH GALLEON OR TREASURE SHIP OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 16 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The Span- iards in Florida ing homes on what he called Spanish soil that he sent a body of soldiers to destroy them. First the Spaniards built a fort. This was the beginning of St. Augustine, which is now the oldest town in the eastern part of the United States. Then they attacked the French settle- ment and brutally put to death at least seven hundred men, women, and children. A few only, perhaps a half dozen, escaped, and after pass- ing through many dangers, at last got back to France. I Hearing of this massacre, a French ',: leader fitted out, at his own expense^ §^IL'''J{ ^^ expedition for the purpose of punishing the Spaniards in Florida OLD SPANISH GATE AT ST. AUGUSTINE for their cruelty. He captured two forts and put to death nearly all the Spanish soldiers. As his force was not strong enough to attack St. Augustine, he returned to France in the following year, leaving the Spaniards in control. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. De Leon in searching for the Fountain of Youth discovered Florida (1513). 2. De Soto, who spent three years in looking for gold, discovered the Mississippi River (1542). 3. The Spaniards buiU a fort in Florida, whic^h was the beginning of St. Augustine (1565). TO THE PUPIL 1. What was De Leon looking for, and what did he find 7 2. Explain how De Soto and his followers suffered. THE ENGLISH IN THE NEW WORLD 17 3. What was the best thing De Soto did ? What do you think of him ? 4. Remember that Columbus discovered America in 1492, and that De Soto discovered the Mississippi about fifty years later. CHAPTER III THE ENGLISH IN THE NEW WORLD At the time when Columbus sailed on his first voyage of discovery, another sea captain was planning to sail westward in search of the Indies. This was John Cabot, a Venetian living in Bristol, England. He had travelled J^^^ ° Cabot much and had spent some time in Mecca, Arabia, where he had seen many caravans laden with spices. When he was told that they came from countries far away, he said to himself, ''They come from eastern Asia, and I can reach there by sailing west," After returning to England, he asked King Henry VII to let him go on a voyage of dis- covery. The king gave his consent. It was not until May, 1497, however, nearly five years after Columbus had first sailed, that Cabot stood out to sea. He went at the expense of some EngUsh Reaches '- ° the mam« merchants, with only one small vessel and eighteen men. land of Holding his course westerly, he landed on the coast of America Labrador. He was, therefore, the first navigator to reach the mainland of North America, for Columbus did not touch the continent until 1498. On Cabot's return to England he was called the Great Admiral. Honors were showered upon him, and the simple sea captain now dressed in handsome raiment, like the noted men of those times. The following year he and his son Sebastian, with 18 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES five or six vessels, made another expedition. They sailed along the coast of Nova Scotia and went as far south as what is now North Carolina. Upon these discoveries of the Cabots England later based her claims to the continent. For a teng time, however, the English thought very httle about the discovery, and America was regarded merely as a barrier blocking the way to Asia. They honored Cabot as a sea captain, yet his voyages meant httle to the people of that day, because he had not suc- ceeded in bringing home the merchan- dise of the East. It was nearly a hundred years before other Enghsh navigators crossed the Atlantic. Meantime Spain was growing rich from the mines of Mexico and Peru. Under the leadership of Cortez * and Pizarro, Spanish explorers had paid into the treasury of Spain gold and silver which would now be worth, as some think, five thousand million dollars. She was using this gold and silver to increase her power over other countries of Europe. As a Cathohc country she was at war for many years with the Netherlands, and later with England, both of which were Protestant countries. She even hoped to conquer England. With good reason, then. Englishmen hated Spain, and a wejl-known Enghsh sea captain, Francis Drake, made himself famous by capturing Spanish vessels loaded with SEBASTIAN CABOT * Cortez conquered Mexico in 1519-1521. 1531-1533. Pizarro conquered Peru in THE ENGLISH IN THE NEW WORLD 19 golden treasures, and by attacking Spanish settlements in various parts of the world. In 1576, aided by friends, Drake secured command of a Drake's rt en 1 • T r- 1 fleet in fleet of five ships, it was ntted out at great expense, violent and sailed early in November, 1577. The following ^ *^""^ August he entered the Strait of Magellan, For two weeks his vessels were tossed by violent storms, but finally made a safe passage, al- though a little later one deserted and another was lost. Before entering the strait he had already lost two others. His flag-ship only, the Golden Hind, now remained. With this single vessel, however, he bravely faced all danger and continued his voyage. Sailing northerly along the western coast of South America, after many weeks he made a harbor at or near what is now San Francisco. Indians in large numbers Drake and ° . the Indians flocked to the shore to give him welcome. They believed that he and his men were gods, and insisted upon putting a crown on his head and hanging chains of bone about his neck. This 'was all to show that they wished him for their king. After a brief visit he put to sea once more and, The second . voyage directing his course west and south, sailed around the around the Cape of Good Hope. Then heading northward he finally arrived in England in November, 1580, after a THE GREAT HARRY, AN ENGLISH SHIP OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY 20 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Raleigh and Gilbert Sir Walter Raleigh voyage of nearly three years. Francis Drake was thus the second navigator to sail around the world. Upon his return, Queen Elizabeth dined on board the Golden Hind, and there made a knight of the brave captain who had carried the English flag around the world. He was now called Sir Francis Drake. Another famous English sea captain was Walter Raleigh. Like other great English navigators of his time, he hated Spain and did much to weaken her power. He was also eager to find a northwest passage to China. In company with his half brother. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, he tried a new plan. In 1578 the two captains sailed with a colony for Newfoundland. They wished to plant a settlement there, and from that place to sail in search of a north- west passage to China. But on account of misfortunes at sea they never reached Newfoundland. A few years later Sir Humphrey Gilbert made another attempt. This also failed. In the mean time Raleigh had won the favor of Queen Elizabeth. She made him a knight and gave him costly gifts, even great estates. He lived now in much splendor. As a friend and follower of the queen, his dress was rich and dazzling. We may picture him as wearing a suit of silver armor glittering with precious stones, a hat with a pearl band and a black jewelled feather, and shoes tied with white ribbons and studded with gems. But in the midst of 'all his wealth and extravagant living, Raleigh's thoughts roamed over the sea. He still wished to plant a colony, for he believed that in this way the greatest good would come to England. The attempt at Newfoundland had failed, but he believed the country THE ENGLISH IN THE NEW WORLD 21 iust north of Florida would be more favorable. In 1584 Sends two " ' vessels to therefore, with the consent of Queen Elizabeth he fitted the New out, at his own expense, two vessels and sent them under trusty captains to find out what sort of country this was. These vessels landed on an island in Pamlico Sound. After looking about for six weeks the exploring party returned to England with such glowing accounts of the new country that Queen EUzabeth called it Virginia in honor of herself, the Virgin Queen. The next year Raleigh sent out to Vir- ginia seven vessels, with one hundred and eight settlers. Sir Richard Grenville, a famous seaman, was commander of the fleet, and Ralph Lane was governor of the colony. They landed at Roanoke Island, where they made a settlement. But instead of tilling the soil, they spent their time in hunting for gold. Their minds were so bent upon getting rich that they beheved the shell beads which the Indians wore were pearls, and the old idea of find- ing a northwest passage to India took possession of them. They listened eagerly, therefore, when the Indians said, ''The Roanoke River flows out of a fountain in a rock, and Raleigh's first colony this rock is so near the Pacific Ocean that in time of storm the waves dash over into the fountain. The river," they added, ''is near rich mines of gold and silver in a country containing a town with walls made of pearls." Lane and some of his men foolishly sailed up the Thefooiisb . ^ ^ settlers Roanoke m search of this wonderful land. They found, as usual, unfriendly tribes, and suffered so much from BIK WALTER RALEIOH 22 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The home- sick settlers Tobacco smoking in England Raleigh's second colony hunger that they had to kill their two dogs for food. Returning, they reached Roanoke Island barely in time to save their friends from being murdered by the Indians. By rare good fortune, Sir Francis Drake a little later anchored near the settlement, with a fleet of twenty-three vessels. He had come from the West Indies, where he had been plun- dering Spanish vessels and settlements. He agreed to let the home- sick settlers return to England on his fleet. They took with them no gold and silver, but carried other things of greater value. These were products of the soil — the whit^ potato, Indian corn, and tobacco. It soon became the fashion in England to smoke tobacco after the manner of the Indians, who drew in the smoke and blew it out through their nostrils. Although the practice was strongly opposed by the king, men and women of high station in England smoked because they thought tobacco was good for the health. Some English- men used pipes with bowls of walnut shells and stems of straw. Raleigh smoked a silver pipe. Although his first colony failed, Raleigh was willing to make a second attempt. Two years later, therefore, he sent over three ships with one hundred and fifty settlers, including seventeen women and eleven children. John White was the governor of the new colony. They RALEIGH S VARIODS COLONIES THE ENGLISH IN THE NEW WORLD 23 Raleigh's lost colony landed at Roanoke Island. Before long they were greatly in need of help, and begged White to return to England for provisions and more settlers. When he reached England, he found his countrymen were preparing to meet the attack of a great Spanish fleet called the Spanish Armada. As England needed for her defence all the ships and seamen she could muster, Raleigh was unable to send any help to his dis- tant colony. It was therefore almost three years before Governor White returned to Roan- oke. Then none of his friends could be found. Raleigh sent out five expeditions in search of them, but without success What became of the lost colony no one has ever learned. His desire to make a new England in America was so strong that in his attempts to plant a colony Raleigh had spent a sum which would now be equal to two millions What Pin TT Raleigh of dollars. He was unable to do more. His colony failed, taught tho but he taught the English that they should value ^^^^^ the New World not so much for gold and silver as for the homes they might build for themselves and their children. QUEEN ELIZABETII 24 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. John Cabot landed on the coast of Labrador (1497) one year before Columbus reached the mainland of the New World. 2. Francis Drake was the second navigator to sail around the world. 3. Sir Walter Raleigh planted two colonies in the New World (1585 and 1587), both of which failed. He taught the English to use the New World for building homes for themselves and their children. TO THE PUPIL 1. Remember that John Cabot discovered the mainland of the New World before Columbus did, and that upon this discovery England later claimed North America. 2. Why and in what way did Francis Drake try to injure Spain ? What important thing did he do ? 3. Explain in your own words why Sir Walter Raleigh's two colo- nies failed. What did he teach England ? What do you admire about him ? 4. Raleigh tried to plant his colonies about a hundred years after Columbus discovered America. 5. Are you tracing every event on the map ? CHAPTER IV EARLY COLONIAL DAYS IN VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND VIRGINIA The London About twentv vears after Sir Walter Raleigh's failure Compau}' to plant a colony, a body of merchants and rich men, called the London Company, decided to attempt a settle- ment in the New W^orld. Their expectation was that the colony, by discovcrino; gold and silver and by building up trade, would make them rich. EARLY DAYS IN VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND 25 As the king claimed that the land belonged to him, their first step was to get a charter. This was a parch- The ment containing a statement of just what land they should occupy and what they should be allowed to do. The king having granted a charter, the London Com- pany sent out one hundred and five settlers. They were not fit for the hardships of life in a new country. About half of them were ''gentlemen," or men who had not learned to work with their hands. There were no "^^jigj-g farmers among them, and no women, for they were not planning to build up homes. They were coming to America to pick up a fortune and then return to England to live at ease for the rest of their lives. The strange notions which the people of those times strange ^ ^ ^ notions had as to the wealth of the New World is shown in an old play in which one of the characters is made to speak as follows: ''I tell thee, gold is more plentiful there than copper is with us. Why, man, all their dripping pans are pure gold; all the prisoners they take are fettered in gold; and for rubies and diamonds they go forth on holidays and gather 'em by the sea-shore to hang on their children's coats and stick in their children's caps." With some such rosy expectation of their future the colonists set out from London on New Year's Day, 1607. They sailed in three frail vessels, with Captain Newport in A round- ^ 7 1 J. about voy command. Instead of heading straight across the ocean age as steamers do now, they first went southward to the Canary Islands, as Columbus did, and then westward to the West Indies, where they delayed for some time. This roundabout voyage took them four months. They had planned to land on Roanoke Island, but being 26 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Point Comfort JAMESTOWN IN EARLY DAYS ® Jamestown The scarcity of food driven out of their course by a storm they entered Chesapeake Bay, Here they found a quiet harbor and called it Point Comfort. After resting for a while, the voyagers passed on up the river, which they called the James, in honor of their king. This part of their journey was very pleasant, for it was in early IMay, The trees were in full bloom, and flowers of many colors covered the low banks (^f the river. About fifty miles from the mouth they chose a place to settle and called it Jamestown. After landing on May 13, their first business was to build a fort for defence against the Indians. Then they had to provide themselves dwellings. These were either log cabins with roofs of sage or bark, or tents made of old sails, or in some instances merely holes dug in the ground. Equally simple was their first church. Its reading desk was a board nailed to trees, its seats logs of wood, and its roof an old sailcloth stretched overhead. But hardly had the colonists settled before trouble began to press upon them. Their long voyage of four months had used up much of their food, yet Captain Newport, instead of returning to England for more, had gone first on an exploring expedition up the James River. By the time he left for England there was so little food that the settlers were put on short rations. Each man EARLY DAYS IN VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND 27 had daily only a pint of wheat or barley, and this was already spoiled. To add to their distress the Indians were unfriendly. Only a short time after the colonists reached Jamestown, two hundred Indians had attacked the settlement. In this encounter one white man was killed and eleven others wounded. The settlors, therefore, had to take sickness . and surfer- turns in doing sentinel duty, each man servmg every ing at third night. During the long hours of their watch they J^™^^ °^^ often lay upon the bare ground and, already weak from lack of food, many fell ill. Fever and other diseases, brought on by the intense heat and the damp air rising from swamps and marshes, soon thinned their- number. Said one, in writing of these trying times, ''Our men A sad story night and day (lay) groaning in every corner of the fort, most pitiful to hear. And if there w^ere any conscience in men, it would make their hearts to bleed to hear the pitiful murmurings and outcries of our sick men without relief, every night and day for the space of six weeks; some departing out of the world, many times three or four in a night." By the close of September nearly half of the settlers had died. All must have perished but for the bravery of John Smith. He was a young man, at this time twenty-eight years of age, who according to his own story had been the hero of many strange adventures. Twice he had J^^.'l , •^ ® ^ Smith's barely escaped death, once by robbers and again by drown- adventures ing. Three times he had fought with powerful Turkish captains, and each time killed his man. Whether or not these tales be true, we know that at this time his courage and bold leadership held the Virginia colony together. 28 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Better conditions in autumn Smith and PocahoutaF Pocahontas brings food to James- town When autumn came, conditions changed for the better. The cold weather put an end to the fever. Wild swans, geese, and ducks flocked to the rivers and streams, and fish became plentiful. The ripened corn was at hand to be made into bread. It was natural that the gold hunters should now wish to begin the search for the short passage to the Pacific Ocean, which they believed to be not far west from Jamestown. With John Smith as leader, nine white men and two Indian guides started up the Chickahominy River. But they had not gone far when Smith was cap- tured by Indians. He gives a glowing account of what happened to him dur- ing the next few weeks. After many adventures he was taken to the long house of the Indian chief, Powhatan. Here, after some talk about what they should do with him, the Indians decided to put him to death. But just as they were about to dash out his brains, Pocahontas, a little Indian girl about twelve years of age, fell upon him, and begged her father, Powhatan, to spare his life. This the Indian chief consented to do. When Smith returned to Jamestown after an absence of four weeks, he found the colonists without food. But that very day Captain Newport returned from England with fresh supplies and with one hundred and twenty new colonists. Moreover, Pocahontas, attended by a band of Indian braves, soon came to the settlement, bringing corn, venison, and wild fowl, as she now formed a habit of doing. JOHN SMITH EARLY DAYS IN VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND 29 The following summer Smith explored the Potomac Smith's • . „, IT-. TT -1 1 explorations River and various parts ot Chesapeake Bay. He sailed three thousand miles and made very accurate maps of the country. On his return to Jamestown in September (1608), he was made president of the council. Again Captain Newport was just arriving from England with supplies, and seventy new colonists. He reported that the London Company were not altogether pleased that the settlers had found no gold and silver. On hearing this, Smith was angry, for he felt that the company knew ?^**5'^ very little about the trials and troubles of the colony. Answer" When, therefore, Newport returned to England the fol- lowing November, Smith in his ''Rude Answer" said to the company, "We have sent you small quantities of tar, glass, soap ashes, and clapboards. When you send again, I beg you to let us have but thirty carpenters, husband- men, gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons, and diggers up of roots well provided, (rather) than a thousand of such as we have." Not many weeks after Smith became president a new danger threatened Jamestown. The Indians were again unfriendly. They began to realize, as the English in- creased in numbers, that the newcomers intended to re- main in the country for good. There were now two hun- dred " pale faces" in Jamestown, thriftless men who could not provide themselves with food. So the Indians planned f'"^*^ s^t^ ^ food from to starve them out. They refused to let them have any Indians corn, and began to ask them how long they intended to remain. It was clear to Smith that the settlers must take a brave stand. With a company of about forty armed Englishmen he went to Powhatan's village and demanded 30 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Smith's firm rule Smith re- turns to England corn. The guns were effective. He got the corn, and by his masterful handhng of the Indians prevented further trouble with them during his brief stay in the colony. It was well for Jamestown that Smith could also con- trol his own people, for, not long after he had forced corn from the Indians, a new cal- amity faced him. Swarms of rats, brought over in New- port's ships, ate up nearly all the food. When Smith heard of this he cried out, ''If we are not to starve, every man must turn to and lend a helping hand. You have made me 3'our leader, and you must obey me. He that will not work shall not eat." This law was strictly enforced. The shiftless set- tlers complained bitterly, but they joined together in cutting down trees, building houses, clearing up the land, and planting corn. As we should expect, the outlook of the colony at once began to brighten. Had Smith remained at Jamestown, no doubt everything would have gone well. But on account of an accident he had to go to England for medical treatment. When he left Jamestown, there were five hundred set- tlers. Besides a storehouse, there were fifty or sixty dwellings, all strongly defended by palisades of logs twelve to fifteen feet high. There were also twenty can- BMlTli S UETKHMINED HANDLING OF THE INDIANS EARLY DAYS IN VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND 31 non, three hundred muskets, with horses, cattle, sheep, goats, and hogs. This was a good beginning for a thrifty settlement. But he left behind no leader to take his place. Soon the Indians began to rob and plunder. They killed the hogs and shot down the settlers themselves. When cold weather set in, sickness and suffering were in every house, and sometimes there were several deaths in a single T^^ stary- ^ ing tune day. Before the end of winter the food was used up. To keep from starving, the people had to eat roots and herbs, and then their dogs and horses. Having consumed all these, they were driven to devouring the bodies of their own dead. At the close of that dreadful winter, called the ' ' starving time," barely sixty of the five hundred men were left alive. Early in the following Maj^, when two shiploads arrived from England, they found the settlers in Jamestown stag- gering from weakness and unable to do any work. As provisions were scarce, the entire number decided to sail ^°^^ ^«^a- 11 ware ar- back to England. But before they got out of the mouth rives of the James River they met Lord Delaware, the new governor, with three ships bearing men and supplies. Lord Delaware made wise laws and the colonists took hold in earnest. They built houses and forts, chopped down trees, and did whatever other work was needed. The colony began to prosper. But failing health forced Lord Delaware, the following gr Thomas year, to return to England, and Sir Thomas Dale was left in control of the colony. It was well that he was a stern ruler, for in a few months another company of emigrants, a quite worthless set, was sent out from England. He 32 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Dale's reform Another reform Rapid growth of the colony punished without mercy those who would not obey his severe laws. He flogged some, he branded others with hot irons, and he sentenced one man to death by starvation. He was cruel, but he brought about a much needed reform. Ever since the settlement of Jamestown, the colony had kept up the foolish plan of having a common storehouse. Into this every man put the product of his labor, and from it all had their needs supplied. The result was that thirty or forty men of energy did the work, while the rest would do nothing but eat, sleep, and waste their time. Dale's plan was to see that every man did his full share of the work. Each settler was to have three acres of land to himself, and was to turn into the common storehouse six bushels of corn a year. The rest of the crop was his own to be used as he pleased. The new plan worked well from the first. The shiftless had to labor or starve, and the thrifty kept for themselves what they earned. A true working spirit at once made itself felt in Virginia. Moreover, the culture of tobacco now yielded a large return for labor. Another reform brought encouragement. Up to this time, the settlers had no share in the management of the colony. But in 1619 a new charter was granted which allowed each settlement — there were now eleven in all — to send two delegates to a representative assembly to help make the laws. The government consisted of three parts: the Governor, the Council, and the Assembly. Now that each man could keep for himself what he earned and have a share in making the laws, a better class of settlers found their way to Virginia. Men with families were willing to bring their wives and children to EARLY DAYS IN VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND 33 the new land. Within a year from the time the colony began to make laws for themselves, the people increased in number from six hundred to four thousand. The same year that the colony received its new charter Wives for the settlers (1619), the London Company sent out ninety young women to become wives of the settlers. Each settler had to win the consent of the one he chose for his bride. When he had done so, he paid the Company one hundred and fifty pounds, which was the cost of her pas- sage from England. The planters had now many reasons for being contented. They were making money rapidly by raising tobacco, and were growing in strength by a steady increase in their numbers. By 1622 the settlements extended from the coast up the James River as far as the present site of Rich- mond, and five or six miles on either side of the river. In some places the settlers had put up blockhouses and strong palisades in order that they might better defend themselves against attacks. Yet they feared no attack. For years The settlers in 1622 EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND 34 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Opekan- kano's plot Indian at- tacks they had been hving on a footing of peace and good-will with the red men. The settlers freely visited the Indian villages, and the Indians freely visited the homes of the white men. But a change was about to take place. In 1618 Pow- hatan died, and his brother Opekankano became ruler. The new chief at once began secretly to plot the murder of all the white settlers in Virginia. In 1622 he had a good excuse for bringing his plot to a head. An Indian called ''Jack of the Feather" killed a settler, and in return' the settlers killed him. Opekankano told the Indians that the white men must be punished, and he appointed a day for the massacre. But the Indians continued to appear very friendly. Even on the day when the out- break took place they took game as pres- ents to the colonists and sat down as friends at their tables. At an hour agreed upon, furious Indian attacks were made throughout the Mrginia settlement, and before sunset on that day three hundred and forty-seven settlers had been slain. On many plan- tations all were murdered, and there was hardly a house- hold of which at least, one member was not killed. The w^hite men arose in their might, hunted down the Indians like wild beasts, and put them to death by hundreds. Having overcome the Indians, the colonists again took up the work of peace, which was mostly the culture of tobacco. As tobacco used ud the soil rapidly, it was A SOUTIIKRN PLANTKR EARLY DAYS IN VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND 35 necessar}^ for the planters to have large plantations. To J,^®^ "^^^g^g cultivate these they had to have many laborers. The supply of labor was increased by negro slaves brought over from Africa. The first of these arrived in 1619, when a Dutch ship anchored at Jamestown with twenty native Africans whom the planters bought. From time to time other slaves were brought into Vir- ginia and the other colonies, and the slave trade was for many years a recognized branch of lawful com- merce. Now that the set- tlers could ow^n their land, make their laws, secure a good supply of laborers, and get large profits from cul- tivating tobacco, they raised more and more of this crop every year. In fact they found that it paid better than anything else. Each planter tried to secure a plantation which faced upon some river, for there were many rivers in eastern Virginia. Thus he might have his own wharf where he '"^''^^rade could load his tobacco. If a vessel could not sail up to with Eng- the wharf, the tobacco w^as loaded on rafts and pushed SLAVES LOADING SHIPS WITH TOBACCO down stream. Sometimes hogsheads contammg the tobacco were rolled down to the landing over what were 36 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Only a few towns called ''rolling roads." Passing through the hogshead was an axle, and to this were fastened shafts by means of which an ox or a horse pulled the tobacco to the wharf. When the vessel which took the planter's tobacco to England returned, it brought household furniture, such as chairs and tables; cooking utensils, such as pots and kettles; farming implements, like axes, hoes, and ploughs; and clothing. In fact almost every- thing the planter need- ed for his house and for his plantation was brought from England by vessel to his wharf. Although the planters lived at long distances from each other, the many rivers and smaller streams made it easy for them to visit one another. But if they could not reach their neighbors by water, they were very likely to ride on horseback over bridle paths through the forest. As the people lived on plantations and traded almost wholly with England, there were few towns in Virginia, for centres of trade were not needed. HOME OF A VIRGINIA PLANTER OF THE COLONIAL PERIOD THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. The first settlement in Virginia was made at Jamestown in j[607. 2. John Smith bv his firmness and good sense in dealing with the Indians and with the settlers sa\ed the colony from ruin. 3. Dale's plan was to do away with the common storehouse. 4. EARLY DAYS IN VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND 37 In 1619 the first negro slaves were brought to Virginia. 5. The people lived mostly on plantations and grew tobacco. TO THE PUPIL 1. Why did the London Company wish to plant a colony in the New World ? What was a charter ? 2. What kind of men were the Jamestown settlers ? Describe their first dwellings and their church. Try to imagine yourself one of their number and explain how they suffered during the first summer. 3. What did Pocahontas do for John Smith and the colony ? 4. How did he save Jamestown from ruin ? What do you like about him ? 5. What excellent change did Dale bring about ? 6. Tell the story of the uprising of the Indians. 7. Why did nearly all the settlers live on plantations and raise to- bacco ? MARYLAND At the time when the Jamestown settlers were strug- gling with disease, famine, and the Indians, the Catholics in England were also having an unhappy experience. Some of them were fined and some thrown into prison because they refused to attend the services of the Church of England. One of their Lord Baitl- T -n 1 • more's number, Lord Baltimore, earn- colony estly wished to lead a body of men and women of his faith to a place where they could worship God in their own way without fear of punishment. He therefore asked the King of England, who was his friend, for a charter which would allow him to plant such a colony in an unsettled region north of the Potomac River. By the GEORGE CALVERT— LORD BALTIMORE 38 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The first settlers The landing of the settlers The first settlement The In- dians friendly king's request this colony was called Maryland, in honor of the queen, Henrietta Maria. In November, 1633, two vessels, the Ark and the Dove, stood out to sea. There were on board between two and three hundred settlers, twenty of whom were gentlemen and the rest laborers. They had with them a good supply of food and tools, which Lord Baltimore had provided at his own expense. After a voyage of about three months they reached Point Comfort, Virginia. Having rested for eight or nine days, they sailed north to the Potomac, and near its mouth they landed on a little wooded island. Here they planted a cross as a sign that the land was to be settled by a Christian people. To them it was a beautiful land. They were charmed with the strange trees, the wild grape- vines, the flocks of wild turkeys, and the bright-colored birds. The blue-jay, the scarlet tanager, and the oriole seemed like messengers of hope. Sailing on up the Potomac, they entered St. Mary's River. Here was a good harbor and they landed and made a settlement at St. Mary's. They found the Indians peaceful and friendly, and bought from them a tract of land which they paid for with axes, hoes, and cloth. ' These Indians seemed glad to have the white strangers dwell in their country. They had been so cruelly treated by a stronger tribe to, the north that perhaps they ex- pected the white men to aid them against their enemies. At all events, they let them have a part of their village, and one of their chiefs gave up his cabin to Father White to be used as a chapel. The Indian braves joined the white men in their work, and the squaws taught the white EARLY DAYS IN VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND 39 women how to make bread of pounded corn. When later the Indians brought wild turkeys and venison to the settlement, they received a fair price and often spent the night with the colonists. Although the Indians gave the settlers no trouble, the people of Virginia did. They were angry because the The people , T 1 , , -if • of Virginia Maryland settlers were occupymg land once given to angry them. They disliked, also, to have a Catholic colony for such close neighbors. But people of all Christian faiths found a welcome in Maryland, and they came not only from the Old World but from other colonies of the New World. Among them au°chds- were many Puritans who, before many years, formed a t^^° ^^^^hs •^ ' J y/ ' welcome powerful party. Then they turned against those who had been friendly to them, drove the Catholics out of office, and managed the affairs of the colony in their own way. The turmoil lasted for a period of years, but finally the Catholics again came into control of the colony and allowed all Christians to worship in their own way. In spite of these drawbacks Maryland grew and pros- pered. The climate was mild and healthful, the soil fertile, and game plentiful. In the forests were deer, p^o^spers°^ turkeys, and pigeons; in the streams swans, geese, and ducks; and in Chesapeake Bay oysters and crabs were abundant. As in Virginia, nearly all the people lived on plantations, most of which were connected by water. Travel was largely by means of boats and canoes, which were con- stantly going back and forth between the plantations. On land, travel was by horses. There were no carriages, people ^ Everybody rode, and although highways were few there travelled 40 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The plan- tation and trade with England No chance for towns to grow were plenty of bridle-paths through the forests. Yet so wild was the country and so dense were the forests that lonely travellers sometimes lost their way and had to spend the night in the woods. Strangers always found a ^^ , welcome in the set- "^'■^ tier's home; for at night, when the can- dles were lighted and the logs were blazing cheerfully in the open fireplace, they gave news of the outside world. The large planta- tions lay along the waterways afforded FIRST SETTLEMENT IN MARYLAND by rivers flowing into Chesapeake Bay. Ships brought to their doors wines, salt, fish, sugar, and such other things as were needed. In exchange for tables, chairs, china, linen, clothing, and other articles, the planters gave tobacco and corn. As in Virginia, from the inland plantations where the ships could not go, tobacco was brought to the river-front in casks over '^rolling roads." For the culture of tobacco much cheap labor was needed, and in Maryland, as in Virginia, this was supplied by slaves and indentured servants. This rural life offered no chance for towns to grow. St. Mary's, the capital, was the only town until near the close of the century. Even then it was a poor straggling settlement of some thirty small houses, most of which EARLY DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND 41 were built of logs, though a few of the better class were of brick. By this time, however, the little settlement planted among the wigwams of an Indian village had grown to a colony of from sixteen to twenty thousand. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. Maryland was settled by the Catholics (1634) under the leadership of Lord Baltimore. 2. Like the people of Virginia, the Maryland settlers lived mostly on plantations. TO THE PUPIL 1. Why did Lord Baltimore wish to plant a colony for Catholics in the New World ? Give an account of the first settlement of Mary- land. 2. What were the relations of these settlers to the Indians ? 3. Why were there so few towns in Maryland ? 4. Why did the planters of Virginia and Maryland need slaves ? 5. What do the following dates stand for : 1492, 1607, and 1634 ? CHAPTER V EARLY COLONIAL DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND PLYMOUTH Like the settlers of Maryland, the Plymouth colonists sought a place where they could worship God in their own way. They desired, moreover, to live where they could make laws which seemed best for themselves and their children. A few words will explain more fully why they were willing to leave their native land. To-day we go to whatever church we like. This was The Puri- not true of the people who lived three hundred years ago ; separatists for at that time the Enghsh king, James I, declared that 42 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The Separa- tists at Scrooby The Pil- grims Unhappy in Holland all his subjects must attend the services of the Church of England. But many disliked its forms of worship and wished to make them more simple, or to purify them. For this reason they were called Puritans. Others dis- liked the forms of worship and the doctrine so much that they wished to leave the church, or separate themselves from it. They were called Separatists. A few years after James became king, a number of the Separatists living in the village of Scrooby, England, made up their minds to form a church of their own. They used to meet for worship every week in the home of William Brewster, one of their members. When the king heard of this he was displeased. ' ' Since these men do not obey me," he declared, ''they must be punished." Some of them were thrown into prison and some were hanged. But the Separatists believed they were right, and bravely decided to leave their country and go to Holland, where they knew they would be allowed to worship God as they pleased. First they went to Amsterdam, then to Leyden, and at last to America by way of England. On account of their wanderings they were called Pilgrims. In Holland they worked so hard and were so honest that they won the respect and good will of the Dutch. Nevertheless they were not happy, for they could not bear to see their children growing up in Dutch ways and speaking the Dutch language. They longed to go to a new country where they could train their boys and girls to be English in language, manners, and habits. They decided, therefore, to seek homes in the New World. But, as is often true with us of to-day, it was easier to EARLY DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND 43 plan than to carry out. In the first place, King James was not willing that they should again live in a country under his rule, though at length he agreed not to disturb them in America if they gave him no trouble, second place, ready as they were to brave any danger, they were too poor to pay for their enterprise. But this difficulty too was overcome. They borrowed money, although on hard terms, and set sail from Delfthaven in In the Two diffi. culties THE "MAYFLOWER" the Speedwell for Plymouth, England. Here they found some friends who were to join them, and a small ship, the Mayflower, which had been hired in London. After some delay, they put to sea in the two small ships, but on account of a leak the Speedwell had to return. Finally, on September 6, 1620, with one hundred and two 'rj^®^^?y?se , of the "May- passengers, they set sail. Then followed a long and stormy flower" voyage. Not until Saturday, November 21, after being at sea sixty-four days, did the Pilgrims anchor safely in the harbor of what is now the village of Provincetown, Mass. 44 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Before landing, the men held a meeting in the ship's Two leaders cabin. After agreeing to make and obey such laws as should seem best for all, they ele(;ted John Carver gov- ernor and Miles Standish military leader. On shore again O EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN NEW ENGLAND On the following Momlay morning the men and the women went ashore. As the water was not deep enough to float the boats, the men had to wade for several rods EARLY DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND 45 THE LANDING OK THE PILGRIMS and carry the women in their arms. The weather was so cold that the men's clothing, wet from the ocean's spray, was soon covered with a coating of ice. In a short time fires were lighted, and all the women were engaged in boiling water and washing clothing, while the men stood ready with their muskets to ward off any attack that might come from wild animals or Indians. It did not take long to find out that Cape Cod was not a fit place for a settlement. Two weeks dragged by, while exploring parties went up and down the coast in a vain search for a better place. Meanwhile the Pilgrims suffered much discomfort. The boys and girls, of whom there were thirty-three in all, must have longed for the comfortable homes they had left in Holland. Two weeks drag by 46 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Although the \Yeather was bitter cold, without further delay ten picked men set out on a more extended search. Among them were Governor Carver, William Bradford, and Captain Miles Standish. They went in the shallop In search of brought with them in the Mayflower. At night they slept a settlement on shorc. With their cloaks wrapped about them and their feet turned toward a fire of blazing logs, all but the watchful sentinel lay down with no shelter but the great branches overhead. On the second morning, before light, some thirty or forty Indians made a sudden attack upon them. The colonists held their ground, and Captain Standish wounded the Indian leader. This caused the attacking party to beat a hasty retreat, dodging from tree to tree to avoid the deadly bullets. A furious This danger overcome, the searchers put out to sea storm • , , n 1 1 1 1 1 • 1 agam, but before the day was over they had to battle with a furious storm w^hich threatened to lash their frail boat to fragments. Hour after hour they struggled to keep afloat. About nightfall they found refuge on an island. The following Monday, December 21, a month after their arrival at Cape Cod, they found a place which pleased TJie landing them. That very day the whole company was brought in the Mayflower and landed. They named their settle- ment Plymouth after the English port from which they had sailed. In going ashore it is said they stepped on a rock which still remains in the harbor, and is called ''Plymouth Rock." ' In a short time all were busy, the men and boys chop- ping down trees and putting up log houses, and the women and girls attending to such household duties as washing clothes and cooking food. Within a few days EARLY DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND 47 cannon were placed on a hill near by as a defence against Indian attacks. Then a building twenty feet square was put up, for a common shelter and storehouse. To this 1^^ ^"sy begmnmg was added, m the course of the winter, a hos- builders pital, a. meeting-house, and seven houses to be used as private dwellings. These buildings, all rudely built of logs, were placed in two rows facing each other. Between them ran the village street, extending from is^ the fort on the hill to the harbor. During the first winter good food was very scarce. Once in a while a deer or a wild fowl brought down by a hunter's " "'" Food is gun supplied the luxury of meat; but bread made of ^^^^^^ wheat, rye, or barley was the ordinary diet. Instead of milk, tea, coffee, or chocolate, which we drink so freely to-day, the Pilgrims drank cold water. Too little food, and that of poor quality, lack of shelter from the severe winter cold, and many other hardships brought on much sickness. At one time only seven men Suffering ° ^ during the were well enough to care for the sick, and at another time first winter there was a death every day. During the first terrible winter just one-half of the settlers died. Yet in spite of all calamities, when in the spring the Mayflower returned to England not a Pilgrim would leave Plymouth. No doubt the Pilgrims were surprised that during the winter no Indians appeared at Plymouth. The first PLYMOUTH IN EARLY DAYS 48 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES THE PILGRIMS GOING TO CHDRCH " Welcome, English- men 1" Massasoit visits Plym- outh visit was sudden and unexpected. It was made one day in early spring by a dusky stranger named Samoset, who had learned a little English from fishermen. As he ap- proached and walked through the street, he surprised the Pilgrims with the friendly greeting, ''Welcome, Englishmen!" Samoset's visit was short, but he returned a week or so later and announced that he would soon be followed by Massasoit, a chief living at Mount Hope, some forty miles southwest of Plymouth. On ]\Iassasoit's arrival Captain Miles Standish and his little band of soldiers escorted him to an unfinished house. Here Governor Carv^er and the Indian chief smoked the pipe of peace and signed a treaty. But not all the neighboring Indians were so friendly as Massasoit. One day a Narragansett brave ran through EARLY DAYS IxM NEW ENGLAND 49 the street and threw into the governor's house a bunch of ^^aUenee" arrows tied up in a rattlesnake's skin. This was a chal- lenge to fight. The Pilgrims at once sent back the skin stuffed with powder and bullets. When the Narragansett chief saw how fearless the new settlers were, he changed his mind about making war. The Pilgrims thought it wise, however, to be prepared 2d^e and'the for attacks. So they surrounded Plymouth by a palisade blockhouse of logs ten to twelve feet high. They also built on ' ' Burial Hill," where the fort was, a large, square blockhouse, the lower part of which was used for a meeting-house. Here meetings of all kinds were held. On Sunday the Pil- grims made it a place of wor- ship; but when they wished to build a road or a bridge, they met here on week days and decided upon a plan, very much as we do in town meet- ings to-day. With the coming of summer they had an easier time, and on the arrival of autumn con- ditions were still better. For the corn and barley which they had planted yielded a good return, and ducks, geese, wild turkeys, and deer were plentiful. When Massasoit and ninety Indians came to visit Plymouth in the autumn, a three days' feast was A PILGRIM IN AKMOB 50 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The first Thanks- giving Success of the Pilgrims held. This was the first Thanksgiving ever celebrated in New England. But the Pilgrim men and women spent little time in feasting and none at all in merry-making. They had come to the New World heavily loaded with debt, and it was no easy matter for them to pay it off. Yet by trading with the Indians, by exporting fish, and by always working hard, they had freed themselves at the end of six years. Such people are bound to meet with success. Although they were poor in houses and lands, they were rich in strong will and high purpose. Their numbers grew slowly, however. At the end of four years the colony contained only one hundred and eighty persons and thirty-two houses. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. The Pilgrims made a settlement at Plymouth in 1620. 2. During the first winter they suflfered so much that half their num- ber died. 3. In the following autumn they celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day. TO THE PUPIL 1. Who were the Pilgrims and why were they so called ? Why did the Pilgrims first go to Holland and later to New England ? 2. In imagination go with the ten picked men who selected Ply- mouth as a place for settlement, and tell as fully as you can what happened. 3. Explain how the Pilgrims lived during that first winter. 4. What preparation did they make against Indian attacks ? 5. What is there about these Pilgrim men and women that you like ? EARLY DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND 51 MASSACHUSETTS BAT We have already seen that the Puritans did not Uke the Church of England because its forms of worship were not simple enough for them. For a long time, therefore, they The Puri- secretly held religious meetings of their own in private [o^ieave"*^^ houses, barns, and out-of-the-way places. Of course you England need not be told that the King of England was as ready to punish them for not going to the services of the Church of England as he had been to punish the Pilgrims. So, like the Pilgrims, they decided to leave Old England and go to a strange land across the Atlantic and form a new England. These Puritans were not poor like the Pilgrims. Many The of them were rich. Some belonged to families of high rank, and some had great learning. But, like the Pilgrims, they were quite willing to suffer if by sc doing they could secure a home where they might worship God in their own way. In 1628, therefore, some of their leaders, joining to- gether, bought from the Plymouth Company * a tract of land in America, and sent over a body of colonists, with John Endicott as leader, to what is now Salem. Two years later (1630) one thousand Puritans under John Winthrop followed and settled Boston, Charlestown, Dor- John Win- chester, and other towns near Boston. The company left his foUow- England in eleven vessels. Not lacking for money, they "^ brought with them horses, cattle, and various kinds of implements. Care had been taken to sail from England *The Plymouth Company (in England), like the London Company, had received from King James (1606) a charter which permitted them to plant colonies in America. 52 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The Salem colony The new life very hard in early spring so as to reach the new homes in time to get ready for winter. After a voyage of nearly nine weeks, Winthrop's ship cast anchor just outside of Salem Harbor. It was then about the middle of June. The sea was dotted with the shallops of fishermen, and upon landing the new- comers found ripe strawberries and also roses in full bloom. Although Winthrop and his followers were full of hope, their trials began at once. During the long voyage many had broken out with scurvy, and not a few were still sick with fever. They had expected that the colony at Salem would make ready for them, but instead they found that the colony was greatly in need. More than eighty had died the winter before, and many were still sick or too weak to work. Instead of fields planted with corn, it was soon learned that the Salem people had on hand hardly enough food to last two weeks, and no prospect of more. After the voyage, there was little to eat left on the ship. So one vessel, the Lion, was sent back to Eng- land for supplies. To those who had lived in ease in England the new life was very hard. The change of food did not agree with them. They did not like the corn bread. ''Bread was so very scarce," wrote one of their number, ''that some- times I thought the very crusts from my father's table would have been very sweet to me. When I could have meal and water and salt boiled together, it was so good who could wish for better?" Lack of good water and of proper shelter made many ill. Before December two hundred had died, but there were no bitter words of GOVERNOR WINTHROP EARLY DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND 53 complaining among those brave men. Their leader, John Winthrop, a man of strong and beautiful character, said he was not sorry he had come. Yet all must have been glad when the Lion returned from England early in February (1631), for by that time the supply of bread was nearly gone. When spring came, the colony was soon put on a firm footing. Then, we may be sure, the Puritans did not neglect the education of their boys and girls. Six years after John Winthrop and his colony reached New England, Harvard College had been founded at Cambridge (1636). ^he Puri- ^ . tai^s and Less than twelve years later a law had been made which education required that every town of fifty families should have a school for teaching children how to read and write, and that every town of one hundred families should have a grammar school of its own. So we may be sure that even during this first winter the education of the children re- ceived attention. But beyond all other things the Puritans valued their religion. They had come to New England to worship God as they pleased. They believed that it was best for them ThePuritans . . value their and their children that none except members of their religion church should have part in managing the affairs of the community. They also believed that every one should be compelled to attend the services of their church whether he agreed to the Puritan faith or not. Some among them did not fall in with such ideas. The Quakers give trouble Among these was Roger Williams, who, as we shall see a little later, gave the Puritans much trouble. The Quakers, too, were equally troublesome. They began to come to Massachusetts about twenty years after the first settlement, and did many things which the Puritans did 54 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES not like. Accordingly some were thrown into jail, some were whipped or fined, and still others were banished from the colony. The Puritans felt that they were entirely right in treat- ing the Quakers severely. "These people," they said^ ''can go elsewhere. There is plenty of room for them in Why they i]^q world, but there is not room enough in Massachusetts punished the '^ Quakers for them and us. We only wish to be let alone to manage our affairs as we think best," In their harsh treatment of Roger Williams, the Quakers, and others, the Puritans made many enemies. In later years some of these went back to England and told King Charles II that the people in Massachusetts were rebels, and were doing many things that the king The Puri- would not approve. They said, for instance, that the enemies Puritans in Massachusetts were coining money without the king's consent, and that they had furnished shelter to two of the judges who had sentenced his father to death. These reports so displeased the king that he took away the charter that had been granted to the Puritans. A few years later (1692), Massachusetts received another charter, in which Plymouth was included as a part of the Massachusetts colony, but they never received back again all of the rights they had lost. The Puritans had other troubles besides those which had to do with their religion. You will recall the meeting between Governor Carver and Massasoit in the early days at Plymouth and the treaty of peace they signed. During the life of Massasoit this treaty remained unbroken. When he died, in 1660, the people living in New England numbered something like fifty thousand whites and thirty thousand Indians. Philip, Massasoit's son, the EARLY DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND 55 new chief of the Wampanoags, saw that the white men Philip's; were getting possession of the red men's lands. He feared that in the end they would drive his people from their hunting grounds. Believing, therefore, that he was acting for the welfare of his race, he planned to destroy the white settlers. The war cloud broke upon the little village of Swansea, The war a group of forty houses not far from Phihp's home. In breaks June, 1675, while the people were , gathered in the meeting-house to pray that there might not be war, a band of Indians stole into the town, set fire to the houses, slew the people, and carried off much of their property. Three days later, soldiers from Boston drove Philip from his home at Mount Hope. In September, Deerfield and Hadley were attacked and the people massacred. During the spring of the follow- ing year (1676), the Plymouth colony was overrun by A hitter Indians, and houses in nearly all the towns were burned. Every man able to handle a musket was called into service. The strength of the red foe began to wane. Their fields were laid waste, and they suffered from lack of food. They began to lose courage, and not a few gave them- selves up. To close the campaign. Captain Church was put at the J^^JJP'^ head of a large force. From that time on Philip was hunted from one hiding place to another. Finally he THE DEATH OF KING PHILIP 56 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES tried to return to Mount Hope, the home of his childhood. He sought shelter in a swamp, which Captain Church and his men surrounded. Before he could escape, his camp was startled by the report of a musket. The hunted chief sprang to his feet and made a desperate effort to get away, but was shot dead. Results of Thus ended King Philijys War, which had done much the war " damage to the settlements. Of ninety towns in ^lassa- chusetts and Plymouth nearly half had been attacked and twelve or thirteen had been destroyed. Six hundred houses had been burned, and nearly a thousand men slain. But in central and southern New England the power of the Indians was forever broken. We hear of them again only in raids with the French on the northern frontier. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. In 1630, one thousand Puritans, with John Winthrop as leader, settled at Boston and other nearby towns. 2. Tlie Puritans punished the Quakers severely because they would not fall in with the Puritan ways of doing things. 3. King Philip, fearing the white men would drive the Indians from their hunting grounds, stirred up his people to war (1675). TO THE PUPIL 1. Why did the Puritans leave England for America ? In what ways did they differ from the Pilgrims ? When and where did they plant settlements ? 2. Tell what you can about the Puritans' trials during the first ■winter. 3. In what ways did the Puritans punish the Quakers, and why ? Do you think the Puritans were right in doing this ? Give reasons for your answer. 4. What were the causes and the results of King Philip's War } 5. Explain the following dates : 1607, 1620, and 1630. EARLY DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND 57 RHODE ISLAND That there were honest and brave men who did not approve the severe laws of the Puritans and stood ready to oppose them, we have already noted. One of these ^fy^ troublesome persons, Roger Williams, was himself a Puritan, and had left England because he did not like the way things were going there. For two years after his arrival in New England he lived Roger Wji- ^ ° hams and at Plymouth, where he became deeply interested in the his teaching Indians, and they learned to know him as their friend. Then he was made minister of the church at Salem, and there the trouble began. This young man, who has been described as ''lovely in his carriage, and as godly and zealous, having precious gifts," taught strange doc- trine and deeply offended some of his congregation. He said, for instance, ''You do not own the lands you are living on, for the King had no right to give away what never belonged to him. The Indians and only the Indians own them." Of course these words made enemies for the young preacher; but he did not stop there. He said further, ROGER WILLIAMS IN THE FOKliST 'You have no right to tax people to support a church 58 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES A trying journey to which they do not belong, nor to compel them to attend church services." The Puritans of Boston took the matter up. They were so aroused that they decided to banish Williams from the colony and send him to England. But he made his escape and fled for safety to the home of his Indian friend Massasoit. During his journey he had a hard time. It was mid- winter (January, 1636), and the snow was deep. But with pack on his back and staff in his hand he started for Mount Hope, where Massasoit lived. A compass was his only guide through the deep forest. To keep from freezing, he carried an axe to chop wood, and flint and steel to kindle ROGEU WILLIAMS MAKING A SETTLEMENT Providence fires. At night he slept sometimes in a hollow tree and sometimes under a cover- ing of brush. Finally he reached Mount Hope, and spent most of the winter in the wigwam of his dusky friend. In the spring Williams began to erect buildings at See- konk, nearby; but his friend Governor Winthrop sent him word that Seekonk was in the territory belonging to the ]\Iassachusetts colony. Pie therefore left this spot and in a frail canoe directed his course to another place where the Indians said there was a spring of good water. Here, with five or six friends, he made a settle- ment. They called it Providence in token of God's watchful care over them. EARLY DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND 59 Such was the beginning oi Rhode Island, a colony where every one, whatever his rehgion might be, was welcome. Men who had been treated severely in other ^^q^^q^^®" places on account of what they believed, were glad to go Rhode ,T Island to Rhode Island where they were allowed to worship as they pleased. The settlement, therefore, soon became prosperous. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. The Puritans banished Roger WilHams because he spoke boldly against the Puritan laws. 2. Rhode Island was settled by Roger Williams in 1636. Here no law interfered with a man's religion. TO THE PUPIL 1. Who was Roger Williams ? In what way did he make enemies of the Puritans in Massachusetts ? Do you think he was right or wrong in what he said against them, and why ? 2. Imagine yourself going with him when he made his escape, and tell all you can about the journey through the woods. 3. Where and when did he plant the first settlement of Rhode Island ? NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MAINE Two years after the Pilgrims landed (1622), the Plym- outh Company in England granted to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason the land lying between the Merrimac and the Kennebec Rivers. In the following ^over and . ^ Portsmouth years fishing stations were begun at Dover and Ports- mouth. The settlers made their living largely by cod fishing and by fur trading with the Indians. Later, Mason and Gorges divided the territory. Mason took the part west of the Piscataqua River, which he named New Hampshire after his own county of Hamp- Mason and Gorges divide the territory 60 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES shire in England. Gorges took the part east of the river, calhng it Maine, or mainland. Massachusetts claimed all of Maine, but to make the title secure she bought the entire territory for six thousand dollars. It continued to be a part of Massachusetts until 1820. New Hampshire remained for a long time under the protection of Massa- chusetts, but finally became a separate colony in 1741. THINGS TO REME:\IBER 1. In 1622, the Plymouth Company granted to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason land which they afterward divided between them and called New Hampshire and ]Maine. TO THE PUPIL 1. What was the beginning of New Hampshire ? Of Maine ? 2. When did each become a separate colony ? The Dutch in the Con- necticut Valley CONNECTICUT During the same year in which Roger Williams began the first settlement of Rhode Island (1636), Thomas Hooker, pastor of the church at Newton (Cambridge), led his congregation down to the Connecticut Valley. Why they left Massachusetts and why they went to Con- necticut may be told in a few words. Soon after the Puritans reached New England, they began to hear glowing reports of this beautiful valley and its fruitful soil. The Dutch were ahead of them, how- ever, in occupying the land. For some years before Hooker's party arrived, a Dutch fort had stood on the present site of Hartford. When traders from Plymouth EARLY DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND 61 sailed by this fort and erected a post six miles farther up the river, the Dutch thought it best to mnke their fort at Hartford stronger and also to build an additional one at the mouth of the river. But before they could carry out the second part of their plan, the Eng- lish had erected a fort at Saybrook. Around this fort a colony later grew up. At various times small parties of settlers from Massachusetts pushed through the forest to what is now Windsor and beyond Hartford to Wethersfield. But THOMAS HOOKER AND HIS PARTY the most important migration did not take place until the summer of 1636. his^fou'ow^* As has been said, Thomas Hooker was the leader of this ers decide to leave band. He beheved, like Roger Williams, that it was Massachu- wrong for the Puritans to keep all men except church members from voting and from taking part in making the laws. It was for that reason that he and the mem- bers of his congregation planned to leave Massachusetts and form a settlement in the Connecticut valley. About one hundred men, women, and children, there- fore, set out in June, driving one hundred and sixty head 62 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Srou^'h'^^h^ of cattle before them. With nothing but their compass woods to guide them, they travelled overland through the track- less forests for more than one hundred miles. Carrying their packs and their guns, they journeyed in this way for two weeks until they reached the place where Hartford now stands. A beautiful fhe bcauty of the region must have given the new- region "^ ° ° comers pleasure. For at this season the green meadows and rolling hills, and the broad river bordered with great oaks, elms, and tulip trees, made a charming setting for the wigwams of the Indians and the few log cabins of the settlers who had come before them. The year after Thomas Hooker's party reached Hart- ford, the young Connecticut colony had serious trouble The Pequots with the Pcquot Indians. This fierce and warlike tribe lived in the south-east part of what is now Connecticut. They were unfriendly not only to the white settlers but to all the surrounding tribes. attack the Soon they began to make life wretched for the colonists settlers i i i i- ^ ^ settled on the banks of the Connecticut. During the whole winter of 1636-1637, the feathered and painted Pequot braves captured parties going to and from work in and about the fort at Say brook. The follow- ing spring they attacked Wethersfield also, killing a number of people and '^ ' " 1 capturing two girls. The Connecticut THE FIRST CHURCH IN HARTFORD polouy promptly scut against the Pe- quots a party of ninety men under Captain Mason, who sailed down the river and into Long Island Sound. They were joined by seventy Mohegan Indians. <^^ EARLY DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND 63 After landing near Point Judith, Mason's company marched across the country until they were close to one of the two great Pequot forts. Near the present town of Stonington they camped for the night. Before daybreak next morning, while the Indians were still asleep, Mason The defeat and his men advanced slowly and silently. No sound came Pequots from the fort until the bark of an Indian dog broke the silence. This, however, did not wake the Indians, for they were still in heavy sleep when the English fired through the palisade. Then they ^ ..^J?;:, answered with a wild ' '''^'-'^^J^^^t^^S^^^^- yell. Although they fought bravely, it was in vain, for the white men set fire to the huts and surrounded the fort to prevent escape. It was a cruel death. From four to six hundred were burned alive, and only seven escaped. But by this defeat the power of the Pequots was broken for all time. In the autumn of the year following the Pequot War, The New John Davenport, a minister, and a body of Puritan set- colony tiers arrived at Boston. There they spent a few months, but, like Hooker and his congregation, they were not altogether pleased with the way their Massachusetts brethren managed public affairs. Wishing to go where they could worship and govern in their own way, they bade their friends farewell and sailed for the Connecticut coast. A settlement was made thirty miles west of the A settlement -^ made Connecticut River. There, in the spring of 1638, under THE PEQBOT FORT 64 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The New England Union The Con- necticut charter the leafy branches of a spreading oak, Davenport preached his first sermon. As in ^Massachusetts, none except church members were allowed to vote. There were no laws, but all agreed to live by the word of God. Such was the beginning of the New Haven colony. Although the Puritans in their new life in New England were free to live very much as they liked, they had their troubles. Many dangers surrounded them. The Dutch threatened them on the west, the French on the north, and the Indians on every side. So they decided to form what they called the New England Union, of which Massa- chusetts, Plymouth, New Haven, and Connecticut were members. These four colonies agreed to unite to help each other whenever their enemies should attack them. In order to strengthen themselves, the Connecticut colony bought out the Saybrook colony. Later, thinking to make their rights secure, they sent John Winthrop to England to try to get a charter (1662). Winthrop was a man of pleasing manners and easily made friends at court. He also bore with him a ring which had been given to his father by the father of the king. On this account King Charles II was very gracious and granted a charter by which Connecticut was given all the territory belonging to the Hartford, New Haven, and other settle- ments \vithin what is now Connecticut. The people liked the charter so well that they aftenvard made it their state constitution. It was not changed until 1818. There was but one short interval during this period when the colony was not governed according to the charter. That was when Sir Edmund Andros was made the royal governor of New England and New York EARLY DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND 65 (1687). He went to Hartford from Boston and de- manded the charter. There was much discussion, the talk lasting far into the evening. Suddenly, it is said, the lights were put out and the charter snatched from the table and hidden in the hollow of an oak tree. This tree was ever after called the Charter Oak. When candles were story of the 1- 1 ; 1 -ill 1 ,. IT-, . Charter Oak lighted agam, the charter was not to be found. For a tmie the colonists had to give up their rights and submit to Andros as their governor. But when he was sent to Eng- land, they went back to their old ways of governing. From the first the people of Connecticut, like the Puri- tans in Massachusetts, looked after the education of their children. In every town and village there was a ''scholar to their minister." Yale College was founded in 1701. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. In 1636, Thomas Hooker and a company of men and women settled Hartford, Connecticut. 2. In 1636, the Pequot War broke out. The tribe was destroyed. 3. In 1638, New Haven was set- tled by John Davenport and a body of Puritans. TO THE PUPIL 1. Why did Thomas Hooker and his party leave Massachusetts ? Give a brief account of their journey. 2. How did the Pequot War begin ? What was the result of this war ? 3. What led to the settlement of New Haven ? 4. Tell the story of the Charter Oak. 5. Are you locating all events on the map ? 66 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAPTER VI LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND IN EARLY COLONIAL DAYS It may be interesting to take a glimpse at the manners and customs of the early New England pioneers. The liie village colonists settled mostly in villages, and one village was much like another. Near the centre stood the meeting- house, the block-house, the minis- ter's house, and the inn. For many years after the Puritans reached New England they used the meet- ing-house on Sunday for worship, and on week days for town meet- ings, in which they decided such matters as building roads and ATwo-sTouvBLocK-nocs. bridges. Later, as the villages grew larger, they built a town house for their town meetings. The block-house had two stories, the upper one pro- jecting over the lower. Its strong walls were of logs, pierced The block- ^^Y lKVf V ^ ^/^ come, the numbers increased rap- idly. This increase was due in ^f^^i^^^^^NJ^^IiJ part to the fact that the Dutch in New Netherland, like the Dutch in Holland, allowed people to worship as they pleased. ]\Ien of all creeds came, some from one country, some from another. It is thought that as many as eighteen languages were spoken by the newcomers. A DUTCH SOLDIER EARLY COLONIAL DAYS 79 Fifty years after the colony was founded its population was about ten thousand, sixteen hundred of whom lived in New Amsterdam. At this time New Amsterdam was New Am- sterdam confined to the southern part of Manhattan Island, south of the present Wall Street. The street got its name from a palisade which ex- tended from east to west and protected the town from attack on the north. In the palisade was a gate- way opening into a broad road, which is to-day the well- known Broadway of New York City. The log cabins of the early settlers had now given place to brick houses with red and blue tiles and gable ends facing the street. The large estates of the patroons lay along the Hudson Where and stretched far back into the country. Here and there along other streams were houses and villages. The people living in them could easily carry their goods and furs to New Amsterdam by means of boats. Here they bartered them. Instead of gold and silver money, in most cases wampum and beaver skins were used. Although the colony was now prosperous, it had its EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY the lived 80 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Trouble with the Swedes An English fleet in the harbor Why Eng- land coveted New Neth- erland trials. The Swedes, who had settled along the Delaware River, were troublesome neighbors. They had captured the Dutch fort there, ''because," they said, ''it is on our land." Finally Governor Stuyvesant, who was the last of the four Dutch governors, sailed up the Delaware with a large body of soldiers, captured the Swedish fort, and forced the Swedes to submit to the Dutch as masters of the country. But still greater troubles awaited the Dutch. They had never shown much fighting strength, and were now w-eaker than ever. For in meeting the expense of the expedition against the Swedes they had spent so much money that there was not enough left to enable them to resist an English fleet when, a few years later, it appeared in the harbor. The arrival of this fleet in 1664, and its demand that the Dutch should surrender, was a great surprise, for at this time f England and Holland were at peace. But the English covet- ed New Netherland for several reasons. In the first place, they wanted its cominercc, for the rising importance of Holland was injuring English trade. Then, too, New Netherland had the finest harbor on the Atlantic coast, and controlled the shortest highway (the Hudson River) to the Indian fur trade far inland. Finally, but not of least importance, A PATROON EARLY DAYS IN NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY 81 New Netherland lay as a wedge between the English colonies north and south. Therefore, after letting the Dutch remain in possession for fifty years, the Enghsh suddenly cried out, ''This country belongs to us, for the Cabots discovered it.'' Accordingly, in 1664, by command of the English King, a fleet of three vessels and four or five hundred men were sent to seize New Netherland. Although the town could offer only a slight resistance, ^j^^^J^J^' Governor Stuj^esant, grim old soldier, begged the people comes New not to yield. ''I would rather be carried to my grave," he cried, ''than surrender to the English." When his ad- visers reminded him that it was his duty to read the letter the English commander had written him, he angrily tore it into bits and threw them on the floor. Yet he was obhged to yield, and the English took possession. New Netherland was renamed New York and became an English colony. Under English rule the colony pros- The colony *= -^ ° r 1 prosperous pered and continued to grow. By the close of the cen- tury it numbered about twenty-five thousand people. The prevailing races were Dutch and English, but there were also many French Huguenots and Germans, and some Jews. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. In 1609, Henry Hudson discovered the Hudson River. 2. He won the good-will of the Indians for the Dutch. 3. Fort Amsterdam was built in 1614 by the Dutch. It was the beginning of New Amsterdam, afterward called New York. 4. The Dutch were so eager to trade that they would not build up settlements. So the Dutch West India Company offered large tracts of land to 82 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES all members of the Company who would take to New Xetherland fifty grown-up settlers. These large land-owners were called patroons. 5. New Netherland passed into the hands of the Eng- lish in 1664. It was then called New York. TO THE PUPIL 1. What was Henry Hudson looking for and what did he find ? 2. When and where did the Dutch first attempt to plant a colony ? 3. How did Henry Hudson and Peter Minuit win for the Dutch the good-will of the Indians ? 4. Explain the patroon system and its purpose. 5. Why did England wish to make New Netherland an English colony and when did she accomplish her purpose ? 6. Explain the following dates: 1607, 1609, 1620, 1664. NEW JERSEY The first When New Netherland passed into the hands of the English English, the Duke of York, who owned the land between emen ^^^ Hudson and the Delaware, sold it to his friends Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. The tract was named New Jersey after the island of Jersey, which Carteret had bravely defended for the king's father, Charles I, during the civil war in England. The first permanent English settlement was made at Elizabethtown in 1665. A good class The proprietors, as the owners were called, allowed the people to worship in their own way and to take a part in making the laws. Therefore a good class of settlers was attracted. Moreover, the Indians were so kindly treated that they gave no trouble. About ten years after its settlement, the province was divided into East and West Jersey, for many years known The Jerseys ^g i]^q Jerseys. Within the next few years, both the become ^ ^ New Jersey Jerseys wsre sold to a number of Quakers, among whom EARLY DAYS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE 83 was William Penn. Early in the next century, the pro- prietors sold all their claims to the English crown, and from that time the Jerseys were known again as New Jersey and were united to New York. In 1738, New Jersey became a royal colony — that is, a colony in which the king appointed the governor — and remained so until the Revolution. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. In 1664, the Duke of York sold what is now New Jersey to his friends, Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. 2. In New Jersey people were allowed to worship in their own way and take part in making the laws. TO THE PUPIL 1. When was the first settlement made in New Jersey? 2. Why was a good class of settlers glad to go to this colony? 3. Explain " the Jerseys." CHAPTER VIII EARLY COLONIAL DAYS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE PENNSYLVANIA William Penn's experience in connection with New Jersey made him think well of America as a place of refuge for the persecuted Quakers. Already in 1677 four Penn's ** holy ex— hundred had come out from England. Penn therefore periment'* planned to provide a place where people of every faith, but especially the Quakers, might be free to govern and to 84 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Pennsyl- vania Settlers on the banks of the Delaware worship according to their own ideas. To carry out his ''holy experiment," as he called it, he used his own private fortune. It happened in this way. The King, Charles II, owed Penn eighty thousand dollars. For a king who was fond of spending for pleas- ure, that was a large sum to pay at one time. So when Penn asked that the debt be cancelled by a grant of land in America, the good- natured Charles cheerfully deeded to him a large tract lying west of the Del- aware. It was named Pennsylvania, or Penn's Woods, in honor of Penn's father, who had won great honor in the king's service. During the first year after Penn received his grant (IGSl), about three thousand emigrants settled on the banks of the Delaware. In October of the following year Penn himself, bidding good-by to his wife and children in England, sailed for America in the ship Wel- come, with one hundred passengers. Most of these were Quakers who had been Penn's neighbors in England. After a two months' passage they landed at what is now Newcastle. Here they were welcomed with shouts of joy, not only from the Quakers but from the Swedes and EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE Philadel- phia laid out EARLY DAYS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE 85 Dutch who had settled in that region. From Newcastle Penn sailed up the Delaware River until he came to the mouth of the Schuylkill. Here, very soon a city was laid out and named Phila- delphia, City of Brotherly Love, to indicate the feehng which Penn wished the settlers to have for one another. The plan was simple. The land was mostly level, and the streets, which took their names from the trees of the forest cut down to make room for them, crossed each other at right angles. Settlers came in such large numbers that houses could not be built fast enough. Some of the newcomers, therefore, had to hve in caves dug in the river banks. The first houses, built of logs, were very simple, having only two rooms, The set- tier's liouses and no floor except the bare ground. But within three years, when the number of houses had increased to three hundred and fifty-seven, many were of boards and some of bright red brick. The city grew rapidly. Trade of all kinds prospered. Phiiadel- '^ ^ ^ I- ^ s- IT pljja^ grows Roads were laid out and bridges made. Vessels were rapidly built and factories started. The first mill was put up in 1683. In the same year a weekly post was begun, and a teacher who had taught in England twenty years opened a school. In another year or two the first printing press of the middle colonies was set up in Philadelphia. The rapid growth of Pennsylvania was partly due to the friendly feeling of the Indians. Their good-will had WILLIAM PENN 86 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES -<^ trea°'%ith ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ *^^ Start, when under the spreading branches the Indians of a large elm tree Penn smoked with them the pipe of peace. ''The friendship between you and me," he said, "I will not compare to a chain, for that might rust; nor to a tree, for the falling tree might break. We are the same as if one man's body were to be If ^^^/i^^^* h^ divided into two parts. We are all one flesh and blood." The Indians replied to Penn in words just as kindly as his own. Handing him a w^am- pum belt of peace, they said, ''We will live in love and peace with William Penn as long ae the sun and moon shall endure." By the terms of this treaty Penn paid the Indians for the land, even though he had already paid a large sum to the king. He gave them The terms of knivcs, kettles, axes, beads, and various other articles, the treaty . which were of more value to them than the w^iite man's money. Then, as always, he was kind and honest in his dealings with the men of the forest, and they in turn were friendly to him. 'rowth of Settlers from many countries flocked to Pennsylvania. Pennsyi- Besides English and Swedes, many came from Wales, Holland, and Germany. Trade and industry flourished. WILLIAM PENN AND THE INDIANS A WAMPDM BELT EARLY DAYS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE 87 People liked to settle in a country where there were wise laws, where they could worship as they pleased, and where by patient toil they could earn an honest and comfortable living. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. Pennsylvania was settled by the Quakers, or Friends, under William Penn. 2. Philadelphia was settled in 1682. 3. William Penn and the Quakers won the friendship of the Indians. 4. People flocked to Pennsylvania because they liked the wise laws and could worship as they pleased. TO THE PUPIL 1. Who was William Penn, and why did he wish to plant a settlement in America? 2. In what kind of dwellings did the settlers first live? 3. How did William Penn win the friendship of the Indians? 4. Why did settlers flock to Pennsylvania ? 5. Are you making use of your maps in preparing every lesson? DELAWARE In 1638 a number of Swedes and Finlanders landed near the present site of Wilmington, Delaware, and built a fort which they called Christina, in honor of their young queen. Later, the Swedes made settlements along the Delaware River as far as the site of Philadelphia. Their colony was called New Sweden. New But the Dutch claimed all this region as a part of New Netherland, and in 1655, as has already been stated, they 88 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES sailed up the Delaware, captured all the Swedish forts, and made New Sweden a part of New Netherland. Transfer of When, in 1664, the Eno;lish took New Netherland from Delaware ' i -r-, i- i • t to William the Dutch, Delaware became an English possession. In 1682, William Penn, wishing to secure a free outlet to the ocean, bought from the Duke of York this territory. Shortly after Penn's arrival, in October, 1682, the land was formally transferred to him in the presence of a large body of English, Dutch, and Swedes. First, the key of the fort was handed to him, then a piece of sod with a twig in it, and, lastly, a porringer filled with water from the river. These things indicated that the land was his, the forests, and the streams flowing through them. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. Delaware was settled by a body of Swedes and Finlanders near the present site of Wilmington (.1638). 2. William Penn bought what is now Delaware and made it a part of Pennsylvania (1682). TO THE PUPIL 1. When and where did the Swedes and Finlanders build a fort in Delaware? 2. What trouble arose between the Swedes and the Dutch over this region? 3. When and why did William Penn secure control of this terri- tory? Tell what ceremony took place when the land was formally transferred to him. I EARLY DAYS IN THE CAROLINAS AND GEORGIA 89 CHAPTER IX EARLY COLONIAL DAYS IN THE CAROLINAS AND GEORGIA THE CAROLINAS For many years after the settlement of Virginia and Maryland, a vast stretch of land lying between Virginia and Florida was unoccupied. In 1663, Charles II re- warded eight of his friends by granting them this territory, which was called Caro- lina in his honor, Caro- lus being the Latin for Charles. Emigrants from Virginia had already planted a small settlement on Albemarle Sound, giv- Carolina The Albemarle Colony EAKLY SETTLEMENTS IN THE CAROLINAS AND GEORGIA ing it the name of the Albemarle Colony. In 1670, the owners of Carolina sent from England, in three ships, a band of colonists who planted, near the present site of Charleston, the first permanent settlement of South Carolina. Besides English settlers there came, later, Huguenots from France and also Swiss, Germans, Scotch-Irish, and Scotch Highlanders. North Carolina was settled largely from Virginia. Indentured servants at the end of their term of service Settlement of South Carolina 90 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Products of North Car- Rice Eliza Lucas and indigo left Virginia for North Carolina because they found it easier to get land there. Most of the people in North Carolina lived on small farms, each farmer owning a few slaves. Corn and tobacco were raised. The vast forests of pine yielded lumber, tar, pitch, and turpentine, which became important articles of commerce and were sent to England to be used in ship-building. The settlers also owned large herds of hogs and cattle, which were branded and then allowed to run at will in the forests. At the end of seventy-five years (1729), after the settlement of North Carolina, no large towns had grown up. There were only little villages, the largest of which did not contain five hundred people. In each of these villages lived a few me- chanics and storekeepers, who sold the farmers and small planters whatever they needed in the way of supplies, household furniture, cooking utensils, and farming implements. In South Carolina the great tracts of swamp land were suited to rice culture.. In 1696, one of the settlers, having obtained some rice seed from a sea captain, planted it in his garden. From this small beginning the in- dustry grew rapidly. It was soon found that rice could be raised as well in the swamps of South Carolina as anywhere else in the world. in 1739, Eliza Lucas, a girl sixteen '''^"'° years of age, while managing her father's plantation dur- ing his absence from the colony, made an attempt to grow A MULBERRY TREE EARLY DAYS IN THE CAROLINAS AND GEORGIA 91 indigo. The first crop was destroyed by frost, and the second was cut down by worms, but the third was success- ful. Miss Lucas's father, who was in the West Indies, sent from there an expert to make indigo dye. But this expert purposely ruined the crop because he feared the trade of his own island would be injured if indigo should be produced in South Carolina. Miss Lucas did not give up, however, until she had succeeded in getting the dye made. In less than ten years two hundred thousand pounds of indigo dye were sent to England, where there was a great demand for it from woollen manufacturers, who used it in dyeing cloth a deep blue color, and were wiUing to pay a good price. In South Carolina, then, rice was the chief product, and indigo was second. As in Virginia, the large plantations lay along the coasts and on the banks of the rivers. Crops were floated to Charleston, where many of the planters hved in handsome residences. At Charleston Trade with ^ England the crops were bought by merchants and shipped to the West Indies and to England. From England came back almost every manufactured article the planters needed, including all kinds of household furniture and clothing. African slaves did most of the labor. While the people in the southern part of Carolina Carolina . ^ divided into were wealthy planters living on large estates and own- North and ing many slaves, those in the northern part were mostly oima small landowners working their own farms. Between the two settlements was a vast stretch of forest. So the people in the two groups knew very little of each 92 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES , other. They cared even less. Such being the case, it ' was natural that in time Carolina should be divided :• into two separate colonics, North CaroUna and South 1 Carolina. This took place in 1729. THINGS TO RE:\IEMBER 1 The first permanent settlement of South Carolina was made near the present site of Charleston (1G70). North Carolina was settled largely from Virginia. 2. jNIost of the settlers in North Carolina Uved on small farms, and owned only a few slaves, 3. The settlers in South Carolina were largely wealthy planters living on large estates and owning many slaves. 4. North Carolina and South Carolina became separate colonies in 1729. TO THE PUPIL 1. When was the first permanent settlement made in South Caro- lina ? 2. What were the occupations of the people living in North Caro- lina? 3. Why was rice so largely cultivated in South Carolina ? 4. Tell what you can about the efforts of Miss Lucas to grow indigo. What did the planters do with their crops of rice and indigo ? 5. When and why was Carolina divided into North Carolina and South Carolina ? Oglethorpe Poor debt- ors in Eng- lish prisons GEORGIA For a long time after emigrants from England had made their homes in the Carolinas, a large area between South Carolina and Florida remained unsettled. This region was finally colonized by James Oglethorpe, a brave soldier and wealthy member of Parliament . In Oglethorpe's day thousands of men and women were thrown into prison because they could not pay their EARLY DAYS IN THE CAROLINAS AND GEORGIA 93 debts. It is said that as many as four thousand a year were thus confined, and in many cases they never regained their freedom. Many of these poor debtors were honest, and not a few of them were well educated. But it some- times happened that on account of sickness they owed small sums which they could not pay. Oglethorpe's plan was to pay the debts of the most Oglethorpe's worthy of these and set them free if they would emigrate to America and begin Hfe over again. In carrying out his scheme he received aid from wealthy men and also from the Eng- lish government. Although his main pur- pose was to provide a home for honest debtors, he believed that it might be wise to plant a strong colony between South Carohna and the Spaniards in Florida, in order to ward off attacks from the Span- iards. He made a settlement at Savannah. To develop his colony he planned to opeil a trade in furs with the Creek Indians and to introduce silk culture, for he knew that there were many mulberry trees growing wild in Georgia. He was so successful in this last undertaking that in a few years a dress pattern of silk was sent to the Queen of England, and she wore a dress made from it. Oglethorpe's high purpose was plainly shown in the seal of the colony, on which was a Latin motto meaning, ''Not for self but for others." Like Penn, he treated the Indians fairly, and like him, also, he received fair treat- ment from them. Moreover, he sought only the good of the colonists. But they did not like his way of governing JAMES OGLETHORPE " Not for self but fot others " 94 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES them, for they had no share in making the laws. More- over, although each man was allowed to have fifty acres of land, he could not sell it nor rent it, nor could he divide it among his children. At his death his oldest son, if he had one, inherited it, but if he had no son the land went back to the trustees of the colony. Negro slaves were not allowed in the colony, for Ogle- thorpe wished only hard-working white men to live there. Nor was rum allowed. The settlers did not like these laws. They said that they needed rum, and that the climate was so warm that they must have negroes to do the work. At last the people had these laws changed, but many of the colonists were unwilling to work, and therefore Georgia did not prosper. At the end of twenty years (1753) the trustees to whom the King had granted the charter gave it up. Georgia then became a royal colony and remained so until the Revolution. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. Georgia was settled by James Oglethorpe as a place of ref- uge for honest debtors. He planted his first settlement (1733) at Savannah. 2. By fair treatment Oglethorpe won the friendship of the Indians. 3. At first the laws were very strict, but later they were changed to attract settlers. TO THE PUPIL 1. Why did Oglethorpe wish to plant a colony in America? When and where did he make the first settlement? 2. How did Oglethorpe treat the Indians? 3. What laws of Oglethorpe did the people oppose ? What was done about these laws? THE INDIANS 95 4. We have now studied fourteen colonies. They were divided into three groups : the Southern, the Middle, and the New England. The Southern colonies were Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia ; the Middle were New York, New Jersey, Penn- sylvania, and Delaware ; and the New England were Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, and New Hampshire. It would be wel' for you to learn these groups. 5. Explain the .following dates : 1492, 1607, 1609, 1620, 1681, 1733. CHAPTER X THE INDIANS As you will remember, it was Columbus who first called pf. •^ _ Indians the natives of the New World Indians. These people were divided into tribes, each of which had at least one chief. In their looks, dress, houses, and ways of living the various tribes were as much unlike each other as the English people are unlike the Spanish, the French, or the Dutch. But, as a rule, the Indians had straight black hair, small black eyes, high cheek bones, and a reddish brown color. In most of the tribes the men wore no hair except a scalp lock on the crown of the head. Before the coming of the white men the dress of the Indians was made largely of the skins of wild animals. Around the waist the men wore a belt. This held in place DresB a strip of skin a foot or more wide and several feet long, the ends of which hung down in front and behind. They also wore leggings and moccasins made of buckskin. As the moccasins had no soles, they were soft and noise- less, and were therefore better for the hunter than boots or shoes like ours. In sewing together the pieces of 96 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES fo. moccasins, the Indians used the small bone of a fish for a needle, and the sinews of a deer or some other animal for thread. Many of the Indians lived in small villages of a few hundred or even less. Some of the tribes dwelt in long ho\ises, many of which would accommodate twenty families each; others in wigwams which were occupied by single fam- ihes. A large part of men's work was to make war upon their enemies. In gettina: ready the war-dance was AN INDIAN CHIEF MOCCASINS INDIAN TOMAHAWK THE INDIANS 99 INDIANS ON THE WAR TRAIL an important ceremony. For this the braves decorated Jhe war. ^ ^ . dance their bodies with paint and feathers and formed in a circle about a painted post driven into the ground. Then at a signal, with hooting and yelling, they danced in a wild frenzy round and round while the boys ^ \^l^.^.. V/ and squaws beat time on drums. The war-dance was a good start-off for the trail, which they fol- lowed stealthily through the forest in single file. Then they would creep upon their enemies and surprise them. By this method they were pretty sure to kill and capture many more than they would lose themselves. Their special trophy of war was the The scalp- scalp-lock. This was the lock of hair left long upon the crown of the head while the rest was shaved. It was this lock which the warrior seized in scalping his victim. The number of scalp-locks which hung in his wig- wam told the story of his deeds and showed how great a warrior he was. The Indian moved about a good deal, and in making his way through dense forests he often took a path used by wild animals. But it was much easier for him to travel by THE BIRCH CANOE 100 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The canoe . >.%:>j* ^, The dugout The snow- shoe water, in a canoe. When he had to pass from one stream or lake to another, he carried the canoe on his shoulders. It was therefore best that it should be of light weight, and for this reason it was often made of bark. Light strips of wood were fastened together by tough roots of trees or by the sinews of animals. This framework was covered with pieces of bark, sewed together, some- times with long roots. The covering was made w^ater- tight by smearing the seams with pitch and grease. The largest of these canoes would sometimes carry fifty people. Another kind was not light. It was made b}' hollowing out the trunk of a huge tree. After cutting down the tree, which was done partly by burning and partly b}^ chopping with an axe made of stone, the Indian would burn out part of the trunk and then with stones or shells scoop ^ ^ > , 1 1. it into shape. Such a boat is called a dugout. When made from a giant log, it w^ould carry fifty or sixty warriors. ■t" ' , 4. 1 T 1 • *" DUGOUT In winter the Indian skimmed the rivers and forests on snow-shoes. These were two or three feet long and a foot or more wide, with curved sides tapering at the front and back. Tliej'- were ON A PORTAGE ■;)^^i^.jJik5>-^^ THE INDIANS 101 SNOW-SHOE3 light and strong, the frame being made often from the wood of maple and filled in with a net-work of sinews or strips of deer's hide. On them the Indian could travel forty miles a day. Their most important weapons were the bow and arrow and the tomahawk. The bow was made of bent wood, the string was the sinew of some animal, and the arrow^s were tipped with stone or flint. The tomahawks were of stone fastened to handles with thongs of hide. The dead were buried in various ways. Some- times the bodies were laid in graves, sometimes in stone sheds or huts, and sometimes in trees or on How they scaffolds where they would be safe from birds or beasts, dead Weapons, food, and drink were placed with the body, because the dead man^s spirit was supposed to need all these things in the other world, or as they called it, the Happy Hunting Grounds. The Indian's ways were greatly changed by his con- tact with the white men. Before they came, he lived very simply as a hunter. He had no sheep, horses, nor cows, his only domestic animal being the dog. How the At first he was afraid of horses, but soon learned changed to ride them with skill. The gun also made a t^^ Indian great difference in his life. It helped him to get his food and kill his enemies much more easily than with his old weapons, the bow and INDIAN CLDB arrow, the club, and the tomahawk. INDIAIS PIPE 102 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES But if the white man changed the Indian, so in his turn he fell into the ways of the Indian. When the early settler went out into the woods, he had to live very much like the Indian, and fight in true Indian fashion. He had to learn to follow the track of his foe and to con- ceal his own trail when he was going through the forest wilds. He dressed very much as the Indians and lived INDIAN- BOW AND AKROW in simple houses more or less like their wigwams. He fed largely on the flesh of wild animals, as the Indians did, and like them often suffered from hunger. Frequently, the Indians brought food to the needy settlers, and more than once in the early days kept them from starving. THINGS TO RE]\IEMBER 1. Columbus called the natives of America Indians because he thought he was in the East Indies. 2. The work of the Indian warrior was hunting, fishing, and making war upon his enemies. The squaw prepared the food, made the clothing, tended the vegetables, and took care of the children. 3. The snow-shoe and the canoe were used by the Indian for swift travel. 4. The club, the bow and arrow, and the tomahawk were his principal weapons. TO THE PUPIL 1. Tell as much as you can about the following topics: How the Indians looked ; their dress; their dwellings; the work of the men ; the work of the women. 2. "What sort of training did the Indian boy receive? 3. What was the Indian's method of warfare ? 4. What use did he make of the canoe and the snow-shoes ? THE FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 103 CHAPTER XI THE FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA Although little notice has been taken of French ex- plorers, the French were by no means idle in the work of settling the New World. In fact they were first among the people of Europe to plant a colony north of the boundaries of Mexico. As early as 1534,* the French King sent out Cartier to Cartier search for the north-west passage to China. This able seaman coasted along the shores of Newfoundland and Labrador, entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and returned to France with a full report of what he had seen. The following year he made sail again, this time passing up the St. Lawrence, which he believed to be the passage he was seeking. He landed at the little Indian village Cartier at of Stadacona, where Quebec now stands. The Indians of this village warned him to go no farther, '^for if you do," they declared, ''snow^s, tempests, and floating ice will destroy you." But Cartier refused to be turned from his purpose. He went up-stream in boats until he came to another Indian village, Hochelaga, on an island. It had fifty ^^^^^^^ ^* ^ ' . Montreal houses strongly defended by a palisade. To-day we call the place Montreal. 'When he landed with his crew, the squaws and children pressed about the pale-faced stran- gers and in wonder felt of their beards and touched their * Ten years before Cartier's first voyage, Verrazano, a French explorer, sailed along the coast of North America from North Carolina to Newfound- land (1524). 104 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The settle- ment of Quebec Champlain joins a war party On Lake Champlain faces. Then the warriors, squatting in a circle about the new-comers, had their sick chief brought to Cartier to be healed by his touch. To the steep hill behind the village Cartier gave the name Montreal, which means royal mountain. The Frenchmen then paddled their boats back to Quebec. There they spent a terrible winter, and the following spring went back to France. Five years later Cartier made a second attempt to plant a colony at Quebec, but failed. Nearly three-quarters of a century had passed before the French tried again. In 1608, the year following the settlement of Jamestown, a noted French explorer sailed to the New World. He hoped to find the north-west passage to China, but he began by planting a colony on the St. Lawrence River. This was Quebec, the first permanent French settlement in the New World. The founder has rightly been called the Father of New France. His name was Samuel de Champlain. The Indians about Quebec told Champlain of a great lake to the south. With the purpose of visiting this lake and at the same time making friends with the Indians, Champlain and two other Frenchmen joined a war party of sixty braves in a journey to the south (1609). Much of the way was by river, and we can easily imagine their twenty-four bark canoes, gliding smoothly over the surface of the water. ,The party had been travelling several days when late one evening, as Champlain and his Indian friends were paddling over the lake which now bears his name, they came upon a company of two hun- dred Iroquois warriors. THE FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 105 As the Iroquois were not willing to fight on the water, they put to shore. Early the next morning Champlain's war party landed. When the Iroquois advanced to the attack, one of the Frenchmen fired at three of their chiefs, and two of them fell dead. The Iroquois were amazed at the sound of the gun and at the death of their chiefs. But they bravely stood their ground. In a few min- utes the other two Frenchmen shot and killed other Indians. Then, in great fright, the Iroquois turned and fled. Champlain and the Iroquois Little did Champlain CHAMPLAIN FIRES THE FATAL GUNSHOT realize what this victory would cost. He had committed a serious blunder in making enemies of the Iroquois, as we shall see later. For many years after the founding of Quebec, the French colonists continued to come to the New World in small numbers. Some lived by cod-fishing, others by farming, but nearly everybody took a hand in the fur trade. Once a year a fair was held at Montreal, where French merchants offered the Indians knives, beads, and trinkets in exchange for beaver skins. A serious blunder The fur trade 106 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The wood rangers But the King's officers took advantage of the merchants by making them pay so much for permission to trade that there was httle profit in it. Some of the young men, therefore, took to the woods and traded without per- mission. This they did at great risk, for if caught they were whipped and branded with a hot iron. They were called coureurs cles hois, or wood rangers. Here and there along the Great Lakes and in the Missis- sippi Valley the traders built forts and trading posts, some of which stood where now are large cities. The most important trading centre was at Mackinac, on the Strait of Mackinac, between Lake Huron and Lake Superior. if/^,:,,^ ■fj^kAf./ii,^^ From this point the wood rangers went out by twos and threes and roamed for hundreds of miles through the forests in search of beaver skins, which they secured in part by trading with the Indians and in part by trap^ ping. They were on a friendly foot- ing with the Indians, and not only mingled freely with them but some- ® /^C/itSBHl^^!^ times married Indian women. These rugged hunters did much to win over to the French the good-will of the red men. Among the foremost French explor- ers were the Catholic priests. They came to the New World not to engage The Catholic in the fur trade nor to secure personal gain of any kind. They were eager to make Christians of the Indians. On their errands of mercy they went faithfully from village A WOOD RANGER missionaries THE FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 107 to village. In summer they glided over the rivers in canoes, and in winter they skimmed the surface of the snow on snow-shoes. In their zeal to do good, they braved many dangers and passed through many hard- ships. They suffered hunger and cold. Many were FUR TRADERS PADDLING UP-STREAM burned at the stake by ungrateful Indians, and some endured tortures too sickening to relate. Yet they never faltered in their high purpose to make the Indians better men. One of these brave, unselfish missionaries was Father flft^^^r Marquette Marquette. He came to Canada in 1666, fifty-eight years after Champlain made a settlement at Quebec. About five years after reaching the New World he built a small mission station on the north side of what we now call the Strait of Mackinac. While he was working here, Indian hunters brought him reports of a great river lying far to the west. Similar reports had come also to the ears of 108 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The explor- ing party Paddling down the Mississippi the governor of Canada, under whose authority Marquette was trying to make the Indians Christians. When, there- fore, the governor picked out Louis Johet as the right sort of man to go in search of the river, he chose Father Marquette also to join him. In May, 1673, the two men started on their journey, taking with them five other Frenchmen, each of whom was a trained woodsman. The seven explorers directed their course over the blue waters of Lake Michigan in two birch canoes, well supplied with smoked meat and Indian corn. Father Marquette, in his long black cassock, sat in one canoe, and Joliet, dressed in a hunting suit of buckskin, in another. The woodsmen wore buckskin cloth- ing and fur caps. Passing on to the head of Green Bay, the party entered Fox River, and on reaching an Indian town they asked for guides. With these they soon reached the Wisconsin River and moved on toward the Mississippi, which they discovered a week later. Paddling slowly down the Mississippi, at length they reached the mouth of the Arkansas. Here a company of young warriors, brandishing tomahawks and war clubs, rushed toward the shore and threatened to destroy them. But Marquette held high the pipe of peace, and the older In- dians, observing it, gave the Frenchmen a friendly greeting. MARQUETTE AND JOLIET ON THE MISSISSIPPI THE FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 109 Farther down the river they visited other Indian vil- lao;es, but the natives were not friendly. Fearing they Theexpior- '^ ' '' ^ *^ ers return might be killed by the red men or be captured by the Spaniards, the explorers decided not to go to the mouth of the river, for they had already learned that it flowed into the Gulf of Mexico and not into the Pacific Ocean. Turning their faces northward, therefore, they travelled toward Green Bay, where they arrived after an absence of four months and a iourney of more than twenty-five hundred miles The report made by Marquette and Joliet aroused the keenest interest in France. The French already had The French ^ and the control of the St. Lawrence and were eager to get control Mississippi of the Mississippi Valley. To secure this prize one of ^ ^^ the most noted of French explorers, La Salle, gave the best years of his life. When only twenty-three years of age (1666) he came to the New World to seek the north-west passage to China. He made many explorations in the vicinity of the Great ^f Salle's . . . . plans Lakes, but his keen mind and bold spirit had planned a larger work. He wished to do two things: first, to build trading posts on the Great Lakes and along the Mississippi River; and second, to plant a colony and fort at the mouth of that river. The trading posts would help him to carry on an extensive trade with the Indians, and the colony and fort would protect the traders. After careful preparation and much labor, in August, 1679, he launched on the Niagara River a small vessel, the Griffin. This was to bear him and his crew through the Lakes on their way to the Mississippi. After a stormy voyage they reached Green Bay in September. There he 110 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The " Griffin " A hard journey found awaiting him a cargo of furs which some of his men, sent in advance, had been collecting for many months. Loading the cargo on the Griffin he sent the vessel back to Niagara, for when sold in Canada, the furs were to provide money for the expenses of the jour- ney. While waiting for news of the Griffin, with fourteen men and four canoes, he skirted down the west side of the lake to the St. Joseph Ri\Tr. Here he built a fort and then went on to the Illi-- nois country where he built another fort. All this time he was waiting anxiously for news of the Grijjin. What became of it no one knows, for it was never heard from again. It was necessary, therefore, to build another vessel in which to explore the Mississippi. Leaving directions with his men, he started overland for Canada to get supplies for the vessel and the journey. With one Indian hunter and four Frenchmen, he set out on March 1, 1680. At times the thick undergrowth tore their clothing, and scratched their faces until they streamed with blood. Sometimes they had to wade through flooded lands up to their waists. Unable to bear these hardships, some of the weaker members of the party fell sick and thus de- LA SALLE AT THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI THE FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 111 layed the march. But at the end of sixty-five days they reached Canada. As soon as La Salle could look after his business affairs, he returned again to the mouth of the Illinois River. Here disappointment again awaited him, for the Illinois village where he had left his friends had been destroyed by the Iroquois. He could get no news of his friends nor of the vessel they were to build. He there- Another try- fore had to make still another trying journey to Canada to Canada for supplies. But all his desperate efforts to build a vessel failed, and he had to make the journey in canoes. In February, 1682, two and one-half years after launching the Griffin, with twenty-three Frenchmen and thirty-one Indians, he was finally gliding down the Mississippi River to its At the mouth. On reaching the Gulf he landed, and planted a Mississippi column bearing the arms of France. In the name of the French king he took possession of the whole vast extent of the Mississippi valley. He called it Louisiana in honor of Louis XIV. The first part of his plan, the building of forts and trading posts along his route, was fulfilled. For the col- La Saiie ony to be planted at the mouth of the Mississippi he re- France turned to France. There he secured the necessary men and sailed back to America in the summer of 1684. It was unfortunate that in landing he missed the mouth of the Mississippi. He anchored far to the west on the coast of what is now Texas. But at once he set about the build- J^® ^^^^ ^'" Texas ing of a fort. Then troubles came thick and fast. There were India"n attacks, lack of food, and sickness. Many died. All but the iron-willed La Salle were discouraged. 112 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES La Salle murdered For two years he battled with hardships, all the while looking for aid from France, but in vain. With the hope of saving his colony he decided to go to Canada for sup- plies. In Januar}^, 1687, with seventeen men and five horses he started on the long journey through the woods. - ^"c^Si-^ To his followers the outlook was hopeless from the first. Dread- ing the forests and caring little for their bold leader, they re- solved 10 get rid of him. So one morning in March (1087), as he came forward to speak, one of them shot him dead. Thus passed away one of the boldest and bravest of Fr(mch explorers. Although he did not do all that he wished, he had by a life of great hardship given France a strong claim to a large part of the American continent. LA SALLE S DEATH THINGS TO REiMEMBER 1. In 1535, Cartier, while in search of the north-west passajje to China, discovered the St. Lawrence River. 2. In 1608, Champlain planted the first permanent French settlement in the New World and called it Quebec. 3. By helping the Algonquins to defeat a body of Iroquois, Champlain made these powerful Indians enemies THE FIRST THREE INTERCOLONIAL WARS 113 of the French. 4. Father INIarquette and Louis Joliet explored the Mississippi River as far as the mouth of the Arkansas (1673). 5. La Salle's plan was to build trading posts on the shores of the Great Lakes and along the INIississippi River, and to plant a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. He reached the mouth of the Mississippi in 1682, and took possession of the country in the name of the French king. TO THE PUPIL 1. What was Car tier seeking and what did he discover ? When ? 2. What two important things did Champlain do ? What mistake did he make ? 3. What was the principal occupation of the French settlers ? 4. How far did Father Marquette's party go, and what did they explore ? 5. What two aims had La Salle ? How far did he succeed in carrying out these aims ? 6. Are you locating every event upon the map ? CHAPTER XII THE FIRST THREE INTERCOLONIAL WARS As Champlain had explored the St. Lawrence River, and Marquette and La Salle the Mississippi, France laid claim to all the land through which these two rivers and theii branches flowed. To make the claim good, the "^^^ French ^^^^^ forts French, as we have already noted, built forts and trading and trading stations throughout the region and used them as centres for trade. Here the wood rangers, who paddled over the rivers and The French 11 • 1-11 1 1 11 11 ^ °^®<^ ^'^ °"*' lakes in their bark canoes and wandered hundreds of let to the miles through the dark forests, brought the product of their chase. Here also the Indians bartered their furs 114 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES A long and bitter struggle The French method of fighting The attack on Schenec- tady for the white man's goods. As traffic grew, French traders felt an increasing need of an outlet to the sea; for much of the year the St. Lawrence was frozen, and the Mississippi was too far away. This outlet they hoped to secure by way of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. But the English, who were already in possession, would not let go their hold. The result was a long and bitter struggle in which the English and French colonies in America'took part. Hence the wars that were fought were called Intercolonial wars. It is not our purpose to give a full account of. these wars. We shall tell only a few incidents to show what kind of warfare was carried on between the English settlements scattered along the Atlantic coast and the French upon their borders. The French began the fighting. Their method was to stir up the Indians, who in the darkness of the night would steal through the silent forests and surprise the settlers. Set upon in this savage way, the white men could offer little defence. Many, with their wives and children, were slain like wild beasts. One of the attacks was made upon Schenectady (1690). Although this settlement had a stockade and a fort, it was not guarded against attack. No sentinels were on watch, and the gates were not closed. A little before midnight the party of French and Indians reached the fort. Quietly they ranged themselves inside the stockade. Then suddenly the war-whoop sounded and the red men fell upon their sleeping victims. In a few minutes the village was ablaze. Many were killed, and some were carried off as prisoners. The re^t, with httle clothing, fled THE FIRST THREE INTERCOLONIAL WARS 115 through a terrible snow storm to Albany, seventeen miles away. Twenty-five of these died from the effects of their journey. Many of the outlying settlements in New England were surprised by attacks of this kind, one of the boldest be- ing that on Haverhill, Massachusetts (1697). Forty vil- lagers were killed or captured and nine burned to death. Among the prisoners were Hannah Dustin, her little baby, and her nurse. The Indians killed the baby by dashing it against a tree, and forced the mother and her nurse to join them on their march toward Canada. After twelve hours the party came to a halt near Concord. There the two women were placed for the night in a wig- wam with two Indian families. While the Indians slept, the captive women and an English boy, also a captive, quietly arose, seized tomahawks, and killed all but two of the Indians. Those two were harmless. Then with the scalps of their ten victims, their guns and tomahawks, they escaped in a bark canoe to an English settlement on the Merrimac. At Deerfield, Massachusetts, occurred another sad in- cident (1704). Two hundred and fifty French and Indians captured the town, set fire to the dwellings, killed forty Hannah Dustin THE ATTACK ON SCHENECTADY The captives escape A sad inci- dent at Deerfield 116 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The capture of Louis- burg of the villagers, and marched one hundred and twelve captives through the winter snows to Canada. John Williams, the minister of the village, together with his wife and family, was among the captives. Mrs. Williams was too weak to keep up with the rest, and on the second day a cruel blow from a tomahawk put an end to her misery. Later on the heartless In- dians killed nine- teen others. But they spared the life of Mr. Will- iams and took him to Montreal, where he lived for two and one-half years as a captive. Many years afterward an- other war broke out between England and France (1744). The only event of that war which seems worth}^ of mention here is the capture of Louisburg, on Cape Breton Island. France had so strongly defended this fort that it was thought two hundred soldiers could hold it against five thousand. Yet it was taken. It was a place from which many French vessels went out for the purpose of injuring New England trading and fishing. New England colonists, therefore, especially the fishermen, were eager to set out HANNAH DU8TIN A CAPTIVE THE FIRST THREE INTERCOLONIAL WARS 117 for its capture. They were commanded by a New Eng- land merchant named Pepperell, and were joined by seven EngUsh ships of war. The success of the undertak- ing caused great joy among the colonists. Although for some time after the capture of Louisburg ^h^ English ^ ^ ^ . ^ colonies there was more or less fighting on the border, the English prosper colonies continued to prosper and to move westward. Owing to this movement, in a few years another war broke out, and this we will take up in the next chapter. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. The Intercolonial Wars were the result of a long and bitter struggle between France and England for control in America. 2. The method of the French was to stir up the Indians to steal upon the English at night and surprise them while they slept. 3. The outlying settlements of New England and New York suffered many savage attacks. TO THE PUPIL 1. Why did France lay claim to the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi Valleys? Why did England? 2. Why did the French need an outlet to the sea? 3. Why were the Intercolonial Wars so called? What was their leading cause? 4. In what way did the French make use of the Indians in these wars? 118 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAPTER XIII THE LAST FRENCH WAR In the Ohio VaUey The French oppose the English The French plant leaden plates We have seen how Champlain made the Iroquois enemies of the French. These Indians were so un- friendly that they kept the French from getting control of what is now central New York. But in spite of this opposition the French finally made their way across Lake Erie into the Ohio Valley, where they erected forts. About the same time English traders began to cross the mountains from Pennsylvania and Virginia. The French at once saw that they must either check the English movement or lose their own hold upon the Ohio and the rivers flowing into it. The governor of Canada therefore sent a body of French soldiers, Canadians, and Indians, to oppose the English. They filled twenty-three canoes and looked gay enough as they paddled their way to the Falls of Niagara. Here they landed and then, carrying their canoes above the falls, took up their journey again on Lake Erie. They landed a second time at the place where Portland now stands. Then by portage and the Alleghany River the company glided down into the Ohio. At the mouth of every important stream they nailed to some con- venient tree a tin plate stamped with the arms of France, and at the foot of the tree sunk a leaden plate, upon which was a written statement declaring that the French King owned the Ohio, all its branches, and all the lands drained by these rivers. THE LAST FRENCH WAR 119 The Ohio Company About the same time that the French were planting their leaden plates, the Enghsh King was granting per- mission to some English merchants to establish settle- ments in the Ohio Valley. They called themselves the Ohio Company. In a few years they had surveyed the land and sent English traders to occupy it. But the French drove the Eng- lish away and themselves began to establish trading posts throughout the region (1753). The governor of Virginia then sent a trusted messen- ger to the French command- er to ask by what author- ity he was occupying land which belonged to England. For this most important errand he chose a young Virginian, A trusted messenger George Washington.* He was barely twenty-one years of age at this time, yet he had won the confidence of the people by his honesty, courage, and ability. A brief glance at his early life may be of interest. Al- though the son of a wealthy planter, he was brought up simply, as all young people were in those days. The boys Boyhood of made him their leader because he was brave and truth- Washington ful and always stood for what was right. He was fond of sports and excelled in games requiring physical strength, such as running, leaping, and wrestling. He was a * Born February 22, 1732. THE FRENCH BURYING LEADEN PLATES 120 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES skilful horseman as well, and always enjoyed a good fox hunt. Love of sport and of woodland life led him to take tip surveying. When he was barely sixteen, his elderly friend, Lord Fairfax, sent him into the Shenandoah Valley to survey an immense tract of land. With one companion he went into this wild region and was so suc- The young cessful that soon afterward he was made public surveyor surveyor .... for Virginia. During the next three years he spent most of his time in the woods, thus becoming very familiar with frontier life. Its dangers and hardships made him fearless, patient, and self-reliant. These qualities, com- bined with his ability and uprightness of character, won the confidence of those in authority, and they turned to him now as a suitable person to undertake the dangerous errand to the Ohio country. In the autumn of 1753, Washington, accompanied by seven white men, started from Williamsburg. Through A dangerous thick forests and deep snows, often in the midst of heavy rain storms, they made their way across streams and over mountains. Sometimes they had not so much as an Indian trail or the path of a wild beast to guide them. Nearly two months had passed before they reached the French fort, which was about fifteen miles south of Lake Erie. On receiving from the French commander a sealed reply, Washington set out on his return. The horses being pretty well worn by their hard journey over the mountains, it seemed best to start on without them. He left behind, also, all of his companions except one trusty woodsman. Dressed like an Indian, and bearing on his back a pack containing his journal and papers, he threaded his way, 122 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Washing- ton's return homeward Fort Duquesne gun in hand, through the lonely forests. On a hastily built raft he crossed the swollen waters of the Alleghany River, which was wild with swirling blocks of ice. In mid-stream he slipped and fell into the raging flood. But regaining his foothold he finally reached the shore. Yet there he was in great discomfort, for although the night was very cola he dared not light a fire for fear of the Indians. This perilous journey continued for three or four weeks, but at last, after having been absent from home nearly three months, Washington arrived at Williamsburg. Here he gave to the gov- ernor the answer from the French, which stated plainly that they should remain where they were. This defiance was serious. No time was to be lost. At once a company of English workmen was sent to begin a fort at the forks of the Ohio, where now stands Pittsburg. In April, Washington himself, with the rank of lieutenant- colonel, marched with two companies of soldiers toward the disputed ground. But he had not gone far before he learned that the French had driven off the English and were themselves building a fort on the same spot. They called it Fort Duquesne. WASHINGTON CROSSING THE ALLEGHANY RIVER THE LAST FRENCH WAR 123 When Washington heard this news, he sent back for more troops and advanced to Great Meadows, Pennsyl- vania. Here he was attacked by a force of French twice his own numbers, and although his men fought bravely they were defeated. In January, 1755, England sent over two regiments of soldiers under command of General Braddock. They were to unite with the Virginia forces in getting control of the Ohio Valley. Braddock invited Washington to be- come a member of his staff. Prepara- tions for the march were made with diffi- culty as the colonies would not unite to protect their frontiers. It seemed impossible to secure food sup- plies and wagons. Braddock was in despair. Presently Benjamin Franklin, Postmaster-Gen- eral of Pennsylvania, secured from the farmers of his province one hundred and fifty wagons and a large number of horses. At length the march began. But it was the tenth of June before a force of two thousand started from Fort Cumberland, Maryland, on their tedious march for Fort Duquesne. The advance was so slow that by Washing- ton's advice Braddock selected twelve hundred picked At Great Meadows Benjamin Franklin aids General Braddock THE FRENCH IN THE OHIO VALLEY A tedious march 124 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES A battle in the forest Braddock's defeat Acadia men to press forward before the French could make their defences too strong. Even then the troops halted, as Wash- ington said, 'Ho level every mole-hill and to erect bridges over every brook, and were four days getting twelve miles." One day early in July, when Braddock's line of march was only eight miles from the French fort, a man dressed like an Indian was suddenly seen bounding along the pathway just ahead. When he caught sight of the Eng- lish army, he turned and waved his hat. At once the forest swarmed with French and Indians yelling the war- whoop. As suddenly the forest concealed them. Then, unseen, from behind trees the attacking foe shot down the English so rapidly that at last the soldiers broke ranks and ran. Washington was so weak from fever that he could hardly sit his horse. But he dashed from point to point trying to put courage into his men. Two horses were shot under him and four bullets tore through his clothing, but he was unhurt. It was a terrible defeat for Braddock's men. After fighting bravely for two hours, they threw away their guns and fled. Braddock himself received a mortal wound. W^ashington with great courage and ability managed the retreat, bringing off General Braddock, who was already dying. A large part of the army were killed. Such was the result of the first large movement of the last French war. The French were left in possession of the field. And for a period of about three years they con- tinued to control the Ohio Valley. In 1758 the English captured Fort Duquesne. During the j^ear of Braddock's defeat a sad event took place far to the north. This was the removal of the THE LAST FRENCH WAR 125 Acadians. Acadia was what we now call Nova Scotia. It was settled by the French early in the seventeenth century, but about one hundred years later it had been captured by the English. After the Acadians came under the control of England, The Aca- they showed clearly that they remained French at heart friendly to and unfriendly to England. Some of them even went so °^ ^° far as to join Indian war parties in robbing and murdering Eng- lish settlers near Halifax. They had not only declined to promise loyalty to England, but had re- fused to join the Eng- lish in making attacks upon the French or the Indians. In other words, they were not friends but enemies of England. It seemed, therefore, best to remove these disloyal people from Acadia and scatter them among the Enghsh colonies. Most of the Acadians under the English jfiag lived in the P^,. ^ ^ Acadians at Annapolis Valley. The removal of those hving near the Grand Pre Minas Basin was put into the hands of Lieutenant-Colonel Winslow. About the middle of August he landed with some three hundred men at the village of Grand Pre and THE EXPDLSION OF THE ACADIANS 126 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The removal of the Acadians began to carry out his plans. When all was ready, one afternoon in September, he called together the men of Grand Pre in the village church to hear the sad news of what awaited them. They were told that they must give up to the English crown everything they had except their money and their household goods, and that they them- selves must be taken from their homes in Acadia. But it was nearly four months before the needed boats and supplies could be made ready. Before the Acadians sailed away, their houses and barns were burned that they might not be of service to any who should escape the English and remain behind. Thus were six thousand Aca- dians forced to leave their homes and go as exiles into strange lands. They were carried to various Enghsh colonies all the way from Massachusetts to Georgia, Nowhere did they meet with a friendly welcome. Their experience was a sor- rowful one. The struggle in the last French war was not confined to the Ohio Valley and Acadia. The centre of the struggle was the St. Lawrence River and Quebec. In 1759 William Pitt, who was then at the head of affairs in England, resolved to carry, on the war against the French with renewed energy. He appointed William Pitt James Wolfc commander of the English army in Canada, and the successful ending of the war proved that the choice was a good one. AN ENGLISH SOLDIER THE LAST FRENCH WAR 127 GENERAL WOLB^ Wolfe had not the bearing of a soldier. Had you met James him you would have seen a tall and slender man, with narrow chest and long, thin limbs. His hair was red, his chin and his forehead receded, and his nose turned upward. If you had spoken with him, however, you would have for- gotten these features, for his beautiful eyes revealed a fearless spirit in strange contrast to his frail body. General Wolfe sailed from England in February, 1759, with more than eight thousand men. The following June his vessels anchored in the St. Lawrence about eight miles below Quebec. The city was so strongly defended that to capt- ure it seemed almost impossible. It stood on a rocky cliff Quebec strongly two hundred feet above the river, and the French general in defended command, Montcalm, had an army of sixteen thousand men. Wolfe made an attack, but met with a bloody repulse. July passed and little w^as done. Unable to make any headway, Wolfe grew anxious. His health was not equal to the strain. He fell ill with a severe fever and feared that he might not hve to capture the city. One day while standing with A discovery telescope in hand searching for a weak place in the defence, he caught sight of a pathway winding up the rugged heights north of the city. 'This," he said to himself, ''is a good place to land the army." Wolfe grow? anxious QUEBEC AND SURROUNDINGS 128 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Climbing the rocky steeps GENERAL MONTCALM Montcalm By September twelfth his plans were complete. At two o'clock on the following morning he began to move his troops. It was a clear, starlit night, yet dark enough to conceal the movements of the boats as they floated quietly down-stream. Soon a*'ter reaching the landing place, since known as Wolfe's Cove, twenty-four volunteers climbed the rocky steeps in silence. Having reached the top, they made a dash for the small French garrison and quickly overcame them. As soon as Wolfe was sure that the camp had been captured, he and his men began the ascent. It was a diffi- cult climb. Each soldier swung his mus- ket over his back, and then pulled him- self up by laying hold of trees and bushes. At daybreak Wolfe and his army of five thousand men were drawn up in line of battle on the heights above the river. Meanwhile Montcalm, who was on guard below the city, was anxious and sleepless. When early in the morn- ing he heard musket shots and firing of cannon, he mounted his black horse and galloped toward Quebec. A few minutes later he saw in the distance the British soldiers drawn up in scarlet ranks. ''This," he said, ''is serious business." At once he made ready to attack the English. By ten o'clock Wolfe saw the French advancing. They moved forward 'rapidly, shouting as they came. When they were within forty paces of the English lines, Wolfe gave the command "Fire!" The French fell by hundreds. In broken ranks they fled in great disorder. THE LAST FRENCH WAR 129 Wolfe dashed forward at the head of his troops. He Wolfe's heroic was struck three times, the last bullet bringing him to the death earth. A little later, as he lay dying, someone cried, ''They run; see how they run!" Wolfe, waking as from a deep sleep, said, ''Who run?" "The enemy, sir; egad, they give way everywhere." "Now," said Wolfe, as he breathed his last, "God be praised; I will die in peace." Montcalm also died a heroic death. He was shot Death of through the body and had to be supported as he rode from the field. When told that death was but a few hours \away, he cried out, "Thank God, I ^—ipr.. shall not live to see Quebec surrender ! " Five days later Quebec passed into the hands of the English. This meant the loss to France of all her possessions in North America except two httle islands used as fishing stations. When the war was brought to an end, in 1763, France gave up to Spain all the territory lying between the Results of Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, and also New Orleans. To the English she gave Canada and all the territory east of the Mississippi. Thus had the English gained control of the land which extended from the Alleghany Mountains to the Mississippi River and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Much of it was covered with forests where lived only wild animals and roving tribes of Indians. For more than one hundred years the French had been trading with A FRENCH SOLDIER 130 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The French these Indians and had won their friendship. Thev had and the Ind- ,. i • i t i- -n -, ians hved in the Indian villages and had given the Indians a welcome to their forts. They had also shown much bravery and courage in trying to make the Indians better men. For we must remember that the French missionary and the French trader worked together. The Indians had been glad to trade with the French. They were quite willing to exchange furs and food for fire-arms, powder, and ball. They also liked the trinkets which the traders brought for them to the trading posts. As they were so friendly to the French, they joined with them against the English. But when the French made over the territory to the Enghsh, the good-will of the Indians did not go with it. The Indians found the Enghsh very different from the French, for the English came as settlers, the French as traders. The English took the land which the Indians wished to keep and held back the fire-arms which the Indians wished to get. So they felt bitter toward the English, and this feeling led to Pontiac's War. In May, 1763, Pontiac planned an attack on all the Western forts now held by the English. He himself was to seize the fort at Detroit close by his summer home. Detroit was the largest and most important of all the The English and the Indians Pontiac's War THE LAST FRENCH WAR 131 settlements in the North-west. In this fort were nearly two hundred soldiers. At a meeting of the tribes which were to take part in Po°tiac ° ^ ^ urges the the war, Pontiac told the chiefs of the wrongs they had Indians to ris6 suffered from the English and urged them to rise in their might against ''those dogs dressed in red who have come to rob you of your hunting grounds and drive away your game." The chiefs were greatly stirred by Pontiac's burning words. At the end of the meeting all were eager to strike a blow against the hated English. Next, Pontiac sought a council with the English commander at Detroit. On Failure of . . Pontiac's the day appointed he and sixty warriors entered the fort, plot each with a gun hidden under his blanket. They ex- pected by one bold stroke to rid themselves of the whole garrison. But their plot was discovered, and, much ashamed, they marched out of the fort, pretending that they meant no harm. A few days later, however, Pontiac surrounded the fort and kept up the siege for six months. Meantime the war The war was raging around the smaller forts scattered at such • great distances that there was no communication between them. With scarcely an exception the garrisons in all these places were slain without warning. But the fort at Detroit was made so strong by reinforcements that Pontiac had to raise the siege. Although the uprising did not succeed, it was very Results of costly to the English settlements. Eight out of twelve forts were captured, their garrisons massacred, and many towns on the frontier were destroyed. But Pontiac's defeat was so complete that for many years the Indians 132 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES of that region gave the Enghsh no serious trouble. Six years after the war this able chief was murdered by an Indian. THINGS TO REIVIEMBER 1. When English traders began to cross the mountains and enter the Ohio Valley the French built forts and diove the.n away. The most important fort was Fort Duquesne. 2. An English army, under General Braddock, sent to capture Fort Duquesne, was badly defeated (1755). 3. The Acadians were removed from their homes and native land because they were not loyal to England. 4. An English army under General Wolfe captured Quebec in 1759. 5. At the close of the Last French War (1763), France lost all her territory in North America except two small islands. 6. The attempt of the English to settle the North-west brought about Pontiac's War. TO THE PUPIL 1. In what way did the French show that they claimed the Ohio Valley ? What did the Ohio Company do for the English ? 2. Tell what you can about the early life of George Washington. What do you like about him ? On what important journey was he sent? In imagination go with him, and tell what happened. 3. What were the purposes and the result of Braddock's expedition ? What part did Washington take in this battle ? 4. Why did the English remove the Acadians from their homes ? Do you think this was fair to them, and why ? 5. Why was Quebec important ? 6. In imagination join Wolfe on the night before the battle, and tell what happened up to the time when he reached the battlefield. 7. What did you admire in Wolfe? In Montcalm? 8. What caused Pontiac's War? 9. What was the result of 'this war? HOW ENGLAND BROUGHT ON THE REVOLUTION 133 CHAPTER XIV HOW ENGLAND BROUGHT ON THE REVO- LUTION As we have seen, whenever an English colony was planted in America it was by permission of the English king. In each case he gave the colonists a charter which The Char- ters told them how much land they should have and what rights they should enjoy in their new life. The charters which the various colonies received differed in many ways; but all were alike in granting that Eng- lishmen in America should have the same rights as free-born Englishmen in England. This being true, the people took an active part in governing themselves. Each colony had its own governor just as our States have now. Each colony had also a law-making The govern- •^ ° or, the body consisting of a Council and an Assembly. The Council, members of the Assembly were elected by the people. Assembly and without its consent no laws could be made and no taxes could be raised. This was according to the rights granted to the colonists in their charters. But in Virginia, in the course of time, a man was made sir Wiiiiam . Berkeley governor who tried to rob the people of their rights and govern in his own way. This was Sir William Berkeley. He cared httle about pleasing the colonists, but much THE CHARTER OAK 134 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES about winning the favor of the king. At last he made the people so angry that they rose up against him, and in the end he had to return to England. This uprising is known as Bacon's Rebellion. Not many years after this happened in Virginia, New- England had a similar experience. Sir Edmund Andros had been appointed, by the English king, governor of New England, New York, and New Jersey. Like Berkeley, he despised the lights of the people. He took away from the Assembly of Massachusetts its share in making the laws and lay- ing the taxes. All these matters he decided himself. He tried to rob Con- necticut of its charter, and in many ways made himself so hateful to the people that, like Berkeley, he had to return to England. These two governors followed the example of the Stuart kings, w^ho believed in personal rule. But the colonists in Virginia and Massachusetts loved freedom too much to be satisfied with the personal rule of either a governor or a king. Moreover, all the colonies felt that England, in passing certain laws called the Navigation Laws and Acts of Trade, was hard on them. One of the laws made it wrong for any colony to sell its products, such as tobacco, cotton, hides, and skins,to any country except England. As the colonists had to sell to English merchants, this meant that they must accept the prices offered by English merchants or not sell at all. Another law required the colonists to buy in England whatever European goods they needed, and to have HOW ENGLAND BROUGHT ON THE REVOLUTION 135 them brought over to A.merica in Endish vessels. Here Laws that " , ^ were hard on again the English merchant might set the price to suit the colonies himself, and so might the English ship owner. By still another law, England made it wrong to manufacture in the colonies any article that Englishmen could manu- facture in England. For example, the colonists were not allowed to manufacture cloth, or anything made of iron. All these laws were bad for the colonists. It was plain that the mother country was trying to make money out of them. As that was the usual way with the nations of Europe in those days, the colonists tried to make the best of it. There were, moreover, two reasons why they were the readier to do this. The first was that England protected them by her navy; and the second, that she did not strictly enforce the laws. Colo- Smuggling nial merchants, therefore, had been able to bulla up a secret trade with other countries and the colonies by smuggling, as it was called. As long as England allowed smuggling to go on, there was no serious trouble ; but when at the end of the last French war she found herself heavily in debt, she said, ^"ts of Assistance "Smugghng must stop." To help in bringing this about, custom-house officers were given Writs of Assistance, which allowed them at any time to enter a warehouse or a private dweUing and search for smuggled goods. Such goods when found were taken from the owner by force and sold as property belonging to the King. This seizing of property made the people very angry. At times the owners of warehouses made fast their doors and windows so that the officers could not enforce the act. It would have been well for the King if he had given 136 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES heed to this standing out against his authority. But he did not. He needed money to pay the debt caused by the last French war and to carry out certain new plans concerning the colonies. It was his purpose to send to America an army of from ten thousand to twenty thousand men to protect the land from the French and from Indian upris- ings like Pontiac's War. "Why should not the colonies pay a part of the ex- pense of maintaining this army?" he asked. Such a plan seemed to him entirely fair. To help raise that part of the money which the colonies should pay, England passed the Stamp Act (1765). This re- quired that stamps should be put upon all their newspapers and almanacs, and upon such legal papers as wills, and notes which men gave when they borrowed money. This tax, the King thought, would be fair, since it would fall upon all the colonies alike. Yet that very fact made them all the stronger in resisting it. For as it was laid upon them all, it thor- oughly aroused them all. They cared nothing about the amount of the tax. What they did care about was pay- ing money for the support of an English army which, as they believed, the King was sending to America to compel them to obey him. Their point of view was very different from the King's. "England did not wage the last French war," they said, "to protect us, but to protect her own trade. We have paid our share, and more than our share, in carrying on WILLIAM PITT HOW ENGLAND BROUGHT ON THE REVOLUTION 137 the French wars. We are still willing to do what is just. But we will not be taxed in this way." A wave of angry protest passed over the colonies. In ^he stamp Virginia, Patrick Henry made a powerful speech. He Congress said that the people of Virginia were not bound to obey any laws not made by themselves or by persons chosen to represent them. Massachusetts pro- posed that the colonies should work to- gether against the Stamp Act. In Octo- ber, therefore, delegates from most of the colonies met in New York and held what was called the Stamp Act Congress. At this meeting the colonies declared that they were willing to have George III as their King, but that they would not agree to pay taxes levied by Parliament. Among the people, bodies of men called Sons of Liberty were formed, to rouse public feeling against the act. In Boston, boxes of stamps were seized and either thrown The people . , , . oppose the mto the sea or burned. In JNiew York, stamps were seized stamp Act and locked up in the City Hall. Merchants agreed to im- port no more goods. Persons of wealth agreed to dress in homespun rather than buy English cloths. From Massachusetts to Georgia the country throbbed The people excited with excitement. On the day the Stamp Act went into operation, shops were closed, church bells were tolled, and flags were hung at half-mast as a sign that liberty was dead. British merchants were greatly alarmed. Many Eng- wniiam lishmen believed that the king had made a mistake, and that the Americans were right in refusing to be taxed GEORGE THE THIRD 138 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES New taxes The king's mistake without being represented in the body that taxed them. One of these, WiUiam Pitt, took up the cause of the colonists in Parliament. In an eloquent speech he said, "Sir, I rejoice that America has resisted. The Americans have been wronged ! They have been driven to madness by injustice!" So intense was the feeling in both countries, and the loss of trade so serious, that the following year (1766) the Stamp Act was repealed. Great was the rejoicing in the colonies. The people showed their joy by building huge bonfires. The merchants of London also were delighted. Nevertheless George III did not give up his plan. He insisted that the colonists should yield in one way or another to his will. Within a year after the repeal of the Stamp Act, Parliament carried out his wishes by passing another law taxing the colonists. This new law laid taxes on glass, lead, oils, paper, and tea. But the King was not a good reckoner. He was too narrow and dull-witted to foresee the result of his action. He should have known that the Ameri- cans would resist. They did resist. ''As long as these taxes are collected," they declared, ''we will import no goods from England." And they kept their word. Again the English merchants and manufacturers begged Parliament to repeal the law. It was hard for the King to refuse, but still he wished to have his way. Finally he said, "I agree that the taxes shall be taken OLD SOUTH CHURCH HOW ENGLAND BROUGHT ON THE REVOLUTION 139 SAMUEL ADAMS off all articles except tea; but we must keep the tax on tea in order to show that we have a right to tax the Ameri- cans, with or without their consent." Then he cunningly planned to make it possible for the Americans to buy their tea cheaper in their own ports than it could be bought in England. In this way he thought the Americans could be led to pay the tax and he would win his game. But he made a serious mistake, as we shall see. In due time cargoes of tea were sent to Philadelphia, New York, Charleston, and Boston. The people in New York and Philadelphia refused to let it be landed, and the people in Charleston stored it in damp cellars, where it spoiled. But in Boston the situation was not so easy to meet. For there Governor Hutchinson made a stubborn fight for King George, the outcome of which was the Boston Tea Party (1773). One quiet Sunday while the people were at church, the first of three vessels bringing tea from England arrived in the harbor. It was the Dartmouth. The un- welcome news soon spread. The people were greatly excited. Before night some of their leaders met and got a promise from the owner of the vessel that he would not land the cargo before Tuesday. On Monday morning five thousand indignant men held a meeting in and around the Old South Church and voted that the tea should not be landed, but should be sent back to England. The tax on tea Cargoes of tea sent to the colonies The tea arrives a Boston 140 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Samuel Adams A chance for landed, trcuble A large meeting Such was the beginning of a bitter struggle on the part of the people. Their leader was Samuel Adams, a man devoted to the public good. He was of medium size, with gray hair and keen gray eyes. He was poor. His only means of support, for himself and his family, was the small salary received as Clerk of the Massa- chusetts Assembly. Yet he gave his time and his strength freely to the cause of the people, and when the officers of the king tried to buy him, he spurned their offer. Under this masterful leader the people were willing to fight, if necessary, to prevent the landing of the tea. But with Governor Hutchinson stubbornly opposing them their task was by no means easy. According to the law, at the end of twenty days the tea, if not sent back to England, could be forcibly Here was a chance for trouble. The tea could not be sent back without a clearance from the clerk of customs or a pass from the governor, and since they were officers of the king, of course neither of them would give permission for the tea to be returned. The nineteenth day arrived. In the morning seven thousand angry men held a meeting in and around the Old South Church. They sent for the owner of the Dartmouth. When, on his arrival, he told them that the clerk of customs had refused to give him a clearance, they at once sent him to get a pass from the Governor. THE BOSTON TEA PARTY HOW ENGLAND BROUGHT ON THE REVOLUTION 141 Late in the afternoon another meeting was held to decide what should be done. It was dark, and the ^he owner of candles had been lighted when the owner of the Dartmouth the "Dart- returned. "The Governor refuses to give a pass/' he said returns to the excited men. At once an angry murmur arose. Then Samuel Adams, the presiding officer, quietly said, ''This meeting can do nothing more to save the country." At that moment, just outside the church a war-whoop was heard. From forty to fifty men, wearing blankets in Indian fashion and carrying hatchets in their hands, marched quickly down Milk Street to Griffin's Wharf. It The "Tea . . Party " was moonlight. Having set a guard, they quietly boarded the vessels, broke open the chests, and poured the tea into the harbor. It took them three hours. At the end of that time they had emptied three hundred and forty-two chests and had destroyed one hundred thousand dollars' worth of tea. King George was very angry. He demanded that the tea should be paid for. When the people refused, he punished Boston by closing its ports; that is, no vessel Boston and was allowed to sail into or out of the harbor. This did setts pun- great injury to trade and caused much distress. Nor did he stop here. He put Massachusetts under military rule, with General Gage as governor. More soldiers were sent to swell the number — several thousand — already in Boston. The new Governor dismissed the Colonial Assembly, declaring that the people should no longer make their own laws nor levy their own taxes. The colonists seemed to be living over again the days of Governor Andros. By thus making an example of Massachusetts, King George believed that he would frighten all the colonies. 142 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES PATRICK HENRT The colonies But he WES greatly mistaken. He could not frighten Massachusetts, and the other colonies all rallied to her support. Even far-away Georgia sent provisions to the town whose port was closed. In Virginia the royal Govern- or had but recently dismissed the Assembly because it ap- proved of the Boston Tea Party. But the indignant people called a convention of prominent men, which was held in St. John's Church, Richmond. Among Hemry^ them was a young man of strik- ing appearance — tall and thin, with small blue eyes and stooping shoulders. His name was Patrick Henry. At that time he was only a young lawyer, but later he became the orator of the Revolution. Some of his speeches have come down to us, and none is more famous than the one he made in Richmond on this occasion. Believing that war must come, he offered a resolution that Virginia should at once get ready. When many leading men stoutly opposed his reso- lution as hasty and un- wise, he spoke with great ST. JOHNS CHURCH, RICHMOND • e T 1- " 1 WHERE PATRICK HENRY SPOKE IN 1775 powcr itt tavoi 01 liis plan. HOW ENGLAND BROUGHT ON THE REVOLUTION 143 The last words of this fiery speech were, ''I know not what Liberty or course others may take; but as for me, give me hberty or give me death!" In about three weeks from the time this speech was dehvered the first gun of the Revolution was fired at Lexington. It was plain that England had made a mistake in trying to frighten the col- onies by punishing Boston. Instead of frightening them, she had bound them together in strongly opposing her. ''We must unite," was their cry. The out- come was the meet- "^ ing of the First , Continental Con- -^ CAKPENTER'S HALL, PHILADELPHIA gress m v'arpenter s where the continental congress Hall, Philadelphia ""'""'" (1775). These men went so far as The First J. 1 1 xi J ji 1 • 1 Continental to declare that the colonies not only Congre^ had a right to levy their own taxes, but also a right to govern them- selves. Before adjourning, they ap- pointed a day for a second Congress to meet in case the King should remain unjust to them. That Congress met May tenth the following year, and continued its meetings until the close of the Revolution. THE LIBERTY BELL THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. The charters which the various colonies received from the English King were aUke in granting that Englishmen in America should have the same rights as Englishmen in England. 2. The colonists objected to the Stamp tax because it was le\-ied by Parlia- 144 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES ment. It was repealed. 3. The colonists objected to other taxes levied by Parliament. All were repealed except the tax on tea. 4. When taxed tea was sent to Boston it was thrown into the harbor by the Boston Tea Party. 5. King George then punished Bos- ton by closing its ports and Massachusetts by dismissing its Colonial Assembly. 6. The colonists united to support Massachusetts by sending delegates to the First Continental Congress. TO THE PUPIL 1. What was a charter? In what respect were the charters alike? 2. Why did the colonists object to the Stamp Act? How did they bring about its repeal ? 3. Why did King George wish to tax the Americans? Why did he insist upon keeping a tax upon tea? What was the Boston Tea Party? 4. How did King George try to frighten Boston and Massachusetts? With what results ? 5. What do you think of George III? Of Samuel Adams? 01 Patrick Henry? 6. What new step did the First Continental Congress take ? CHAPTER XV THE REVOLUTION IN NEW ENGLAND When the Colonial Assembly in Massachusetts was dis- solved by General Gage, the members met in another place and called themselves the Provincial Congress. John Hancock was the president and Samuel Adams the leading spirit. Patrick Henry had said, ''We must fight," and this Congress believed that it was time to Minute men prepare. They organized a militia, therefore, and began to collect military stores, such as cannon, musket, powder, ball, and flour, at Concord. Everywhere companies were THE REVOLUTION IN NEW ENGLAND 145 Paul Revere formed called minute men. They were to be ready at a minute's notice to go wherever they might be needed. Gage knew pretty well what was happening, for British P® *Y^»» spies were going about getting information. He decided to send out a body of troops to capt- ure or destroy the stores at Concord. At the same time he planned to seize John Hancock and Samuel Adams, who were spending the night with friends at Lexington. The King had sent out orders to capture these two "rebels," as he called them, and send them to England. But Gage did not find the colonists napping. Thirty young men, with Paul Revere at their head, had been appointed to spy out what the British were doing. So when, on the evening of April eighteenth, certain strange movements of the British troops were reported to the patriot leaders, messengers were sent to spread the alarm. At eleven o'clock one of these messengers, Paul Revere, watching from the Charlestown shore, saw two lights gleam out from the belfry tower of the Old North Church Paul Re- . . . vere's nde as a signal that the British were crossing the Charles River. Quickly mounting his fleet horse, he sped along the Cambridge road toward Lexington. Two British officers tried to stop him, but he made his escape. Dash- ing down the road toward Medford, he gave the cry, "Up in arms! Up in arms! The Regulars are out! The Regulars are out!" A MINUTE MAN 146 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Paul Revere captured At Lexington The fight at the North bridge About midnight he reached the house where Hancock and Adams were sleeping. After arousing them and taking some food, he and two other horsemen who had joined him galloped on toward Concord. They had not gone far, however, before they were halted by four British patrols. Revere and one of his companions were capt- ured. The other horseman escaped and reached Concord in time to give the alarm. About four o'clock the next morning, April 19, 1775, the Ikitish advance reached Lex- ington. There they found sixty or seventy minute men drawn up on the village green, close by the meeting- PAUL REVERE'S RIDE , T->. , . ., -r-> -J- 1 house, ritcairn, the British commander, shouted to them, ''Disperse, ye villains — ye rebels, disperse!" But they stood their ground. The British fired and killed or wounded eighteen. Then they moved on to Concord. Here they cut down the liberty pole, emptied some barrels of flour, and spiked a few cannon. Meanwhile, at the North bridge, where the British had set a guard of two hundred soldiers, four hundred minute men had collected. At ten o'clock there was a fight in which a few men fell, some on either side. By this time bells were tolling and drums beating. ]\Iinute men were gathering from all directions. Each bore his musket, ready for action. THE REVOLUTION IN NEW ENGLAND 147 The whole country seemed to be in arms, and by twelve o'clock the British were forced to retreat. As the troops hurried on, they were attacked on every side. All along J"Jj^e?t"*^* the route, from behind trees, stone walls, barns, and large rocks, minute men poured their shot into the broken ranks. Trained to the use of the rifle, each man fought for himself as he dodged from tree to tree. It seemed to the British, now running in great disorder, that the Ameri- cans dropped from the clouds. The fleeing troops did not stop even to carry away their wounded, but left them lying by the roadside. At Lexington they met reinforcements. With a feeling of safety the tired soldiers, almost famished for food and half mad with thirst, now lay down upon the Green completely worn out. After resting about two hours, they again took up their retreat and did not stop until at sunset they reached Charlestown. Here the guns on the war vessels in ^ victory for ^ the Amen- Boston harbor protected them. British soldiers had been cans defeated by American farmers. The British had learned that the Americans were something more than a mob. On the other hand, the patriots were gaining confidence and courage. To them the victory was of untold value. •Sfe-j' BOSTON AND VICINITY 148 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The alarm spreads The Conti- nental Con- gress meets again After the battles of Lexington and Concord, minute men continued to pour in from every direction. The alarm had spread throughout New England. Within three days a body of six- teen thousand men was surrounding the British in Boston. While excitement was still surging around that town, an event of great importance was taking place in Philadelphia. Here the Continental Congress again met to consider what should be done. They acted with great wisdom, firmness, and foresight. John Hancock, the Massachusetts ' ' rebel," was made president, and as war had already begun and a commanding officer was necessary, George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental army. The army was not as yet mustered, though the troops around Boston were considered the beginning. Meanwhile British troops, commanded by General William Howe, had recently arrived, making an army of ten thousand men. Believing that they were about to occupy Bunker Hill, one of the heights of Charlestown, the Americans decided to get ahead of them. On the night CONCORD BRIDGE AS IT IS TO-DAY A FOWLING PIECE THE REVOLUTION IN NEW ENGLAND 149 JOHN HANCOCK preceding June seventeenth, therefore, about midnight, "^^^ ^^" twelve thousand Americans marched quietly from Cam- Breed's Hill bridge and began to throw up breastworks on Breed's Hill, which was nearer Boston than Bunker Hill. They worked hard all night, and by early morning had made good headway. The British were taken completely by surprise when they saw what had happened. They turned the fire of their war vessels upon the breastworks, but the Americans toiled on without stopping. General Howe, who had taken Gage's place in command of the British army, thought it would be easy to drive off the ''rebels." About three The Battle of o'clock in the afternoon he made an assault upon the American works. The attack- ing forces, burdened with heavy knapsacks, had to march through tall grass above their knees and climb many fences. Colonel Prescott, who was in command of the Ameri- cans, told his men not to fire too soon. ''Wait till you see ^^, the whites of their eyes," he said; ''wait till you can dis- tinguish one uniform from another." Twice the British soldiers, in their scarlet uniforms, climbed the slope of the hill, and twice the Americans ploughed great gaps in their ranks. At the third charge the Americans JOHN HANCOCK'S HOME 150 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES A moral vic- tory for the Americans Washington NKF.R HlLIi t^^^ retreated, for they had used up all their powder and ball. It was a victory for the British, but it was dearly bought ''Many such," said one critic, ''would have cost them their army." More- over, the Americans had won a moral victory. The news of the battle brought joy to every heart. When Wash- ington heard of it on his way to join the army, he asked, "Did the Americans stand fire?" "Yes," was the answer. "Then," said he, "the liberties of the country are safe^" On July third, Washington took command of his army under the famous elm tree still stand- ing in Cambridge near Harvard Uni- versity. His tall form and noble face made a perfect picture of manly strength and dignity. He wore a blue coat with buff facings, on each shoulder an epaulet, with a broad band of blue silk across his breast. On his head was a three-cor- nered hat with a cockade of liberty. He looked what he was, a high-bred gentle- man and fearless soldier. His army was one in name only. The men were brave and willing, but they were without uniforms, powder, cannon, i BUNKER HILL MONUMENT THE REVOLUTION IN NEW ENGLAND 151 THE WASHINGTON ELM, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. or other necessary supplies. However stout of heart, '^^^ Ameri- •^ ^^ ^ ' can army Washington could not, under these circumstances, lead an attack. But he managed to keep the British shut up in Boston all winter. Toward spring there arrived in camp some cannon and ammunition from Fort Ticonderoga, which Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold had capt- ured from the British the previous year. Washington then surprised the army in Boston b}^ fortifying Dor- chester Heights, which commanded Boston from the -^he British . leave Boston south. It was impossible for General Howe to ward off an attack, and since he could not drive the Americans away he had to leave Boston. He sailed for Halifax, and with him w^ent a thousand American loy- alists, or Tories, as they The Tories were called. These Tories were colonists who be- lieved that the mother country meant to be fair, and that she would in the end grant their wishes. They felt that it would be wiser for the colonies not to go to war, but to trust England's sense of justice. WASHINGTON TAKING COMMAND OF THE CONTI- NENTAL ARMY, CAMBRIDGE 152 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Many of the colonists are Tories The Hessians BRITISH AND HESSIAN SOLDIERS You would be surprised to know how many of the colonists were Tories at this time. Some of them were just as honest in their way of thinking as the patriots were. Others, perhaps, were more selfish and thought mainly of their own advantage. Many of them joined the British army. During the Revolution it is said that at least seventy thousand of them took up arms against their countrymen. Washington, Samuel Ad- ams, and the other patriot leaders felt very bitter toward them. But if there were many in the colonies w^ho went over to the side of England, so in England not a few took up the cause of the colonies. King George found that i^. many Englishmen ^^^g^ were unwilling to fight ^'^ -^ against the Americans, |i m some of w4iom were their kinsmen. As it was hard to get Eng- lish soldiers, the King hired German troops, independence hall, Philadelphia WHERE THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCS thirty thousand in all; was signed THE REVOLUTION m NEW ENGLAND 153 from Hesse Cassel, his German possession. These soldiers were called Hessians. Perhaps it is needless to say that the Americans were T^® . ^ "^ _ Americans indignant at this action of the King. Up to this time they indignant had been fighting only for their rights as free-born Eng- lishmen. Now they said, '^We are ready to cut ourselves READING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IN PHILADELPHIA loose from England. She is not a mother to us. She is our enemy." In the Continental Congress the matter was freely and earnestly discussed. The leaders felt that they should now take some definite action. So they appointed a The Decia- committee, two of whose members were Thomas Jefferson dependence and Benjamin Franklin, to draw up a Declaration of Independence. This was approved by the delegates from most of the colonies, but was not signed and given to the world until the following year, July 4, 1776. By passing the Declaration of Independence the Amer- 164 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The colonies icans declared to the world that they were no longer become , "^ *^ States JLnglish colonies ~ but were now thirteen independent States. THINGS TO REMEAIBER 1. General Gage sent out troops to capture John Hancock and Samuel Adams, at Lexington, and to destroy some military stores the colonists had collected at Concord. 2. Minute men attacked the EngUsh troops at Concord and drove them back in great dis- order to Boston. 3. The Continental Congress met a second time at Philadelphia and appointed George Washington commander of the American army. 4. In order to drive the British out of Boston the Americans fortified Breed's Hill. When the British attacked them, the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought. 5. On July 4, 1776, the members of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence. TO THE PUPIL 1. Why were British troops sent to Lexington and Concord? 2. Imagine yourself with Paul Revere, and tell what happened on the famous ride. 3. What was the result of the British expedition to Concord ? 4- What were the results of the Battle of Bunker Hill ? 5. What was the Declaration of Independence? When passed? 6. Who were the American Tories? THE CONTROL OF THE HUDSON RIVER 155 CHAPTER XVI THE STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF THE HUDSON RIVER After the British left Boston, there was very little more fighting in New England. The Middle States now became the centre of action. The British plan was to cut I'^e British off New England from the support of the other States, and this they hoped to do by seizing New York and the Hud- son River. Believing that Howe, when he left Boston, might sail directly for New York,Washington hastened to occupy that city. In order to keep it, he would have to hold Brookl}^! Heights. As things were, this was more than a difficult task. It was impossible. For the army was reduced in Washington number and much of it untrained. It was poorly supplied New York with arms and was short of food. Yet for many reasons it seemed best not to leave New York without making some effort to save it. Washington planted his defences, therefore, on Brooklyn Heights, with the expectation, not of driving off the British, but of making it a little harder for them to win a victory. It was several weeks after Howe left Boston before he arrived in New York harbor. Then his brother. Admiral Howe, who had been sent over with a fleet, joined him. With an army which outnumbered the Americans four to one, the British defeated them in what is known as the Battle of Long Island (1776). _ ^ Lo'nMnd But the British were too slow in taking advantage of their victory. While they were planning to make the 156 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Washington Americans prisoners, Washington with all his men escaped by boats across East River to New York. This was one of the most masteriy retreats of history. But even after he gained the New York side, Washing- ton was still in danger. The British soon oc- cupied the city, and he had to withdraw farther north. In order to know what was going on in the British camp, he needed some one to go as a spy within their lines. Such service would be at the risk of life, for no mercy is shown to spies. Wash- ington therefore asked for a volunteer, and Captain Nathan Hale, a young man only twenty years of age, offered to go. As a schoolmaster and in the character of an American Tory, he visited the British camps and learned very many things which would be of value to Washington. As he was about to return, however, he was recognized by a Tory cousin in the British service. Captured, and taken before General Howe, he was condemned, without trial, to be hanged as a spy at sunrise the next morning. Captain Nathan Hale THE WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES THE CONTROL OF THE HUDSON RIVER 157 During the night the brutal jailer refused to let his Nathan Hale prisoner have a chaplain or a Bible. The letters that spy Hale wrote to his mother and to the young woman he had expected to marry were torn to pieces before his eyes. But however cruel his fate, his spirit did not falter. At the last, when about to be hanged from the bough of an apple- tree, he said proudly, ''I only regret that I have but one hfe to lose for my country." Washington had need of such brave men as Nathan Hale, for his trials were many and his anxiety was great. The British troops, as we have noted, far outnumbered the Americans, and it was only his great wisdom in making plans and his skill in carrying them out that prevented serious defeat and even the loss of his entire army. While holding off the British in New York, he suffered a keen disappointment. He needed the support of his whole army. Yet some of his troops that had been separated from the main body to defend New York, failed to come when he summoned them. Nothing remained but to retreat across New Jer- The retreat sey toward Philadelphia, where Congress was sitting. New jersey The division of the army which had failed him was un- der the command of Charles Lee, who was on the east side of the Hudson at North Castle. Later, Washington again sent orders to Lee to come to his support. But Lee Charles Lee paid no heed. He was a queer man, not pleasing in ap- pearance or manner. Tall and lank in form, he was hollow-cheeked and loud-voiced, with an air of great NATHAN HALE 158 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES self-confidence. Worse than that, he was a traitor to Washington, for he wanted to become commander-in- chief himself. Meantime Washington, on his retreat, found it very- difficult to escape the British, who were in close pursuit. For nineteen days the chase continued, until finally Trenton was reached. During the march across New Jersey some of the soldiers were without shoes and left bloody footprints on the snow. Before his army reached the Delaware River, Washington had gathered boats for many miles up and down the stream, and thus managed to get his army across just in time to save it from the British. They were so close that, looking back, Washing- ton could see them on the opposite shore. His force now numbered only three thousand men. It was December. Cold weather was coming on. The soldiers were discouraged and wished to go home. Many people, fearing worse things, had given up hope, and were declaring themselves once more good subjects of King George. It looked as if the army would soon fall to pieces. General Howe was so sure of it that he took a A^acation and went to New York. But Washington still had courage. His hope did not fail. His power to hold on and his faith that the cause would win showed his greatness. And it was wefi, for before long the outlook began to brighten. Reinforced by seven regiments from the A HESSIAN SOLDIER north, whlch were no longer needed there, THE CONTROL OF THE HUDSON RIVER 159 Washington soon had about six thousand men. With this slender body he dared to make an attack. It was Christ- ^^ *^°^^ ^^^ •^ stormy mas, cold and stormy. A thousand Hessians, stationed Xmas across the river at Trenton, were celebrating the festiyities of the day. At three o'clock in the afternoon Washington, with twenty-four hundred picked men, was on his way to McConkey's Ferry. The night was extremely cold. A ^ ^°.°S' , . anxious piercing wind was blowing, and the current was strong, night for Great blocks of ice threatened to dash their frail boats in pieces as they made their way from one bank to the other. Washington was fortunate in having oarsmen who had acquired their experience in the toilsome fisheries of the New England coast. Even so, it took the Marblehead fishermen ten long hours to row the entire force across the stream. It was half-past four in the morning when the last man was landed on the Trenton side of the Delaware. There was still a march of nine miles, and success de- pended upon surprising the Hessians. Those were anx- ious hours for Washington. When the troops reached Trenton, they found the The battle of . ^ J J Trenton Hessians asleep. Surprised, and tired out with their feasting, they fought badly. When the engagement ended, every Hessian had been either killed or captured. This was a turning point in the war. Washington had ^ turning ° . point in the changed defeat to victory. The Americans felt that war their cause was not hopeless. Cornwallis, who had said, ''The war is over; I will now return to England," de- cided to remain. A few days later he was marching against Washington with an overwhelming force. 160 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES At the close of January second, only a little creek separated the two armies. ''We shall bag the old fox to- morrow," said Cornwallis to one of his officers. But it was impossible for the British to guess what Washington The battle of would do, or to catch him napping. Wlien Cornwallis awoke the next morning, he heard the booming of cannon. This meant that Washington was fifteen or twenty miles in his rear. During the night the "old fox" had stolen around the British army, and defeated the rear guard at Princeton, while on its way to join Cornwallis. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. As a part of their plan to get control of the Hudson River the British captured New York City (177G). 2. Washington retreated through New Jersey and on Christmas day defeated the Hessians at Trenton (1776). 3. The American victory at Trenton was a turn- ing point in the war. TO THE PUPIL 1. Why did the British wish to get control of the Hudson River? 2. What kind of man was Charles Lee? In what way did he diso- bey Washington, and why? 3 In imagination go with George Washington in his retreat across New Jersey and in his attack upon Trenton, and tell what happened. THE CONTROL OF THE HUDSON RIVER 161 CHAPTER XVII THE STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF THE HUDSON RIVER— Continued After this victory at Princeton, Washington retired to winter quarters among the hills of Morristown. Here his position was too strong for the British to attack him. So they returned to New York. Hope once more glowed in the hearts of the patriots, and the war began to attract the notice of Europe. France was much pleased to see England receiving such hard blows. She began secretly to send money and arms to aid the patriots, and several young nobles came to fight in the arm}^ The one best known to us was Marquis de Lafayette who was at that time twenty years old. So enthu- siastic was he in his desire to help the Americans win their independence that he was willing to Lafayette leave his young wife and a life of wealth and ease at home. America When he met Washington, they at once were drawn to each other, and from then on their love was very much like that of father and son. Lafayette fought as bravely for the American cause as if he himself had been an American. This rift in the cloud, however, did not make everything bright. Washington was very much in need of money. Washington ^^ , - needs Congress had nothing with which to pay the army, and money THE MARQDI9 DE LAFAYETTE 162 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Robert Morris aids Washington KOBEHT MORKIS The British plan Burgoyne's troubles begin since the soldiers had to support their families, many of them had gone back to their homes. In this time of need Washington turned to a rich merchant and banker, Robert Morris, who lived in Philadelphia. This patriotic man hstened to Washing- ton's appeal, and early on New Year's morning went from house to house urging people to lend him hard cash. Having collected fifty thousand dollars, he sent it to Washington with this message: "Whatever I can do shall be done for the good of the service." Several times he came to Washington's aid in this way. For although money was as necessary as soldiers, the young States were slow in providing it. Morris's money, there- fore, offered ''for the good of the service," was just as important as the fighting on the battle-field. While the Americans were striving to get money and men for their army, the British were completing their plans to take the State of New York and get control of the Hudson. Three armies, one from the north, one from the west, and one from the south, were to meet at Albany on the Hudson, and with their united forces compel the Americans to surrender. We shall see how the plan worked out. In June, 1777, General Burgoyne began his invasion from the north. He started from Canada, and all went well until he reached the head of Lake Champlain. There his troubles began. He found himself in a wilder- ness of forest, which made j)r()gress slow and difficult. Instead of seeing American Tories flocking to join his THE CONTROL OF THE HUDSON RIVER 163 army, as he had expected, he found the people unfriendly. Instead of meeting the American commander, General Schuyler, in battle and defeating him, he had to stop and repair bridges that Schuyler had broken down and remove trees that he had felled across the way. When the British general finally reached the Hudson, he found himself in great need of horses to draw his cannon and of provisions to feed his men. He therefore sent a thousand Hessians to seize the horses, provisions, powder, and shot which he knew the Americans had col- lected at Bennington. But the Americans under Colonel Stark either killed or capt- ured nearly the whole force. The defeat was a severe blow to Burgoyne, and made help from the army in central New York all the more ur- gent. But this army, which consisted largely of American The Tories Tories and Indians, also disappointed him. When they in a panic were on their way to Albany, a report that a large Ameri- can army was near at hand so terrified them that they fled m a panic. Burgoyne 's position was fast growing desperate. His only hope was in Howe, who was expected to come up from New York. But where was he? Let us follow his movements. Colonel Stark at Bennington READING THE DECLARATION OF INDE- PENDENCE TO AMERICAN TROOPS 164 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Howe capt- ures Philadelphia BENJAMIN FRANKLIN Burgoyne's surrender and aid from France Early in the summer he had started from New York to march across New Jersey and capture Philadelphia. But with Washington in his way this route proved so difficult that he returned to New York and started again by another route. With a large fleet he sailed by way of Chesapeake Bay and landed at Elkton. From that point he moved on toward Philadelphia. Washington, how- ever, was waiting for him, and by fight- ing a losing battle was able to delay him many days. Although Ilowe captured the city, it was too late then for him to join Bur- goyne. By this time the army in the north was surrounded by Americans. Burgoyne could get no food for his army, and with no prospect of relief, after two hard fought battles, he had to surrender his whole force at Saratoga. This was a great victory for the Americans. It aided them in more ways than one. Not only did it strengthen hope at home, but it won confidence abroad. France had been watching closely to see whether the Americans were likely to succeed, before giving them open assistance. Now it seemed wise to do so even though such a course should lead to war with England. As we have already learned, she had been secretly helping the Ameri- A PRINTING PRES3 THE CONTROL OF THE HUDSON RIVER 165 cans before this time. Very soon after the Declaration of Benjamin •^ Franklin Independence was signed, Franklin and two other men had been sent over to seek aid from France. Like Robert Morris, Benjamin Franklin helped the Ameri- can cause quite as much in this way as if he had been a general on the battle-field. His life was an interesting one. He was a hard worker even from childhood, yet was always cheerful and light-hearted. He did many useful things, but the most wonderful was his proving that Hghtning is a discharge of electricity. This discovery made him famous. He was also well known through ''Poor Richard's Almanack," in which some of his wisest sayings appeared. This one probably you have heard: "Early to bed and early to rise, Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." OLD BELL USED JN CAMP AT VALLEY TORGE When he went to France to secure aid for the American cause, the French people welcomed him, giving feasts and parades in his honor, and displaying his picture in pubhc in France places. He must have been a quaint figure at the French Court, his plain hair and plain cloth coat contrasting strangely with the fashion and elegance about him. Yet this simple-hearted man, by his power over the French people, did very much to secure the aid which France gave us. As soon as England learned that France was to aid us, " Nothing she offered the Americans ever3^hing except indepen- dence" dence. But it was too late. Their answer was, "We 166 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Valley Forge will take nothing less than independence." And the war went on. Although the surrender of Burgoyne was a staggering blow to the British and a great uplift to the American cause, it did not at once help the condition of the American army. The sad story of \^alley Forge tells how the army suffered. Valley Forge was about twenty miles northwest of Phila- delphia, on the Schuylkill Ptiver. It lay in the wooded hills between the two British camps, one at New York and the other at Philadelphia. The army arrived here about the middle of December. In the midst of this forest and in spite of the hardships, before long a little village of log huts, with regular streets, sprang up. Valley Forge These huts the soldiers built with their own hands, although unprotected from the severe cold and without proper food. Sometimes they went days without bread, and as often as not without meat. ''For some days past," Washington wrote^ "there has been little less than famine in the camp. A part of the army has been a week without any kind of flesh, and the rest three or four days." Blankets were so scarce that many men had to sit up all night beside the fires to keep from freezing. Some- WINTER AT \AI.Ll:V FORGE The suffer ing at THE CONTROL OF THE HUDSON RIVER 167 times they went without fire, because the men had no shoes in which to go through the snow to chop the wood. Even straw to sleep on was lacking, and many fell ill from lying on the ground. So many oxen and horses starvation died from starvation that the men had to draw the carts American and wagons carrying provisions and firewood into camp. ^^"^^ But half naked and starved as these men were, they re- mained patient and loyal in the midst of their suffering. A beautiful story is told of Washington at this time. A beautiful '^ ® story of Borne down by heavy care, one day he sought the woods. Washington There on his knees, upon the frozen ground, he lifted his voice in earnest prayer. ''Friend Potts," a Quaker farmer, who happened to be passing the camp, heard him and was deeply moved. He went home and said to his wife, ''George Washington will succeed! George Wash- ington will succeed! The Americans will secure their independence!" "What makes thee think so, Isaac?" inquired his wife. "I have heard him pray, Hannah, out in the woods to-day, and the Lord will surely hear his prayer. He will, Hannah; thee may rest assured He will." While the Americans were having such a hard time, the The British . . ..... „,, in luxury British in Philadelphia were living in luxury. They were taken up so completely with pleasure and amusement that they gave little thought to their enemy. Thus the Americans were spared the trial of having to fight a battle in their distressing need. Washington himself, however, had a trial of his own Washington which his men could not share. Congress, holding its understood sessions far away from the battle-field, could not know what big things stood in his way. They wondered why 168 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES he did not win some great victory, as Gates had done in capturing Burgoyne. They did not know how large a part Washington had played in this capture. The friends of Gates in Congress, and some in the army, who bore a grudge against Washington, tried to put Gates forward and make him commander-in-chief. We have already seen how Charles Lee wished Washington to ^„?!^!f he defeated. Gates was no less anxious. He was a vain, against ' Washington weak, selfish man, and, hke Lee, tried to make others believe that Washington was not a fit person for his posi- tion. He knew how to flatter and humor others in order to secure his own ends. But Washington appeared all the greater in contrast with mean and petty spirits like these. He was calm and dignified, and in the end his triumph was complete. The plot failed and the men who planned it were disgraced. We should never forget how noble and brave George Wasliington was in these trying days. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. Burgoyne marched down from Canada to get control of the Hudson River. 2. Howe captured Philadelphia, but Burgoyne had to surrender his entire army at Saratoga (1777). 3. After Burgoyne's surrender, France helped the Americans openly, as she had already done secretly. 4. In the following winter the American army suffered great hardship at Valley Forge (1778). TO THE PUPIL 1. What did Robert Morris do' for his country? 2. What was Burgoyne trying to do? 3. What did France do for us after Burgoyne's surrender ? 4. In what way had Franklin helped the American cause in France ? 5. Tell all you can about the suffering of the Americans at Valley Forge. VICTORIES IN THE NORTH-WEST 169 CHAPTER XVIII VICTORIES IN THE NORTH-WEST AND ON THE SEA During the next two years (1778-1779) there were no great battles, for neither army was strong enough to do much fightino;. The weakness of the British was due to Weakness oi . . -^ . 1, T^ T c the British enemies m Europe, especially 1 ranee. It was a case or army ''when the cat's away the mice will play." For when France found that the war in America was likely to en- gage the British army for some time, she hastened to attack the British possessions in other parts of the world. In order to defend these places, Great Britain had to divide her armies and could not send as many regiments to America as she might otherwise have done. For several reasons the Americans were just as helpless. It was hard for them to get either men or supplies. The war had so broken in upon the life of the people that The Ameri- cans just as there was no way of earning money. Fishing, ship-build- helpless ing, and foreign trade were no longer possible, for there was no American navy to protect them against the British war vessels. So the two armies in New York did little except watch each other and protect their own defences. When the armies again took up active warfare, they were in the South. Meantime, however, there was fighting on the borders of the settlements and on the sea. In both these quarters Brave deeds brave deeds were done which were of great importance to the country. Let us glance first at the war on the border. 170 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES After the British failed in New England and on the Hudson, they were all the more anxious to keep control The of the country west of the Alleghanies. For this vast west of the region, stretching from the Alleghanies to the Mississippi, Aiieg anies ^^^ yalued on account of the trade in furs. And this trade, as you remember, put money into the pockets of Hamilton's plan GEORGE ROGERS CXARK IN THE NORTH-WXST the English merchants. The fertile soil of this Western country had already attracted settlers from the East. For several years they had been pressing over the border line and were slowly occupying the land. The British officer in command of the North-west was Colonel Hamilton. From his fort in Detroit he sent out orders to the Indians to attack the settlements through- out this region — to buri; the homes and to murder the people. When some of these Indian war parties crossed the Ohio and fell upon the settlements of Kentucky, they struck a blow that rebounded on their own heads and VICTORIES IN THE NORTH-WEST 171 quite upset the plans of Colonel Hamilton. For among George the pioneers who had gone from Virginia to Kentucky was ckrk ^ a young surveyor who believed something could be done to check the savages and drive out the British. This was George Rogers Clark. He was about twenty-five years old, straight and tall, with ruddy cheeks, light-colored hair, and keen blue eyes. He was a skilful woodsman and had been in some of the border warfare. In the summer of 1777 he sent out two young hunters as spies into the country north of the Ohio. Taking with him their reports, he made a journey of ^ six hundred and twenty miles over the Wilderness road to the capital at Will- iamsburg, and there laid his plan before Patrick Henry, the Governor of Virginia. The plan, which was to capture from the British the whole region north of the Ohio River, was received with favor; and Clark was made a colonel, with power to raise men and to gather supplies at Pittsburg. In May, with about one hundred and eighty men and a Clark's flotilla of boats, he started down the Ohio River to attack the British post at Kaskaskia, near the Mississippi. Tlie men rowed day and night, and on leaving their boats had to march more than one hundred miles across the prairies. When they arrived at Kaskaskia, they com- pletely surprised the British garrison and took possession of the town. Within a month after his arrival, Clark had taken possession of every post in the Illinois country. But about Christmas time, or later, word was brought / and GEORGE ROGERS CLARK his plan 172 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES to Clark that Hamilton had recaptured Vincennes. He at once set out upon one of the most daring advent- ures of the war. With only one hundred and seventy men he started on a march of more than two hundred miles. It was the first week in February. Winter was break- ing up. The prairies were covered with mud and ice. The CLARK S ADVANCE ON VINCENNES swollen rivers were overflowing their banks. Although baggage and supplies were ferried across the rivers, the men often had to march through the water. At times they were up to their chins, holding their muskets high over their heads. Their clothing froze upon them. Nor was this all. Provisions gave out, and they were several days without food. At last, at the end of sixteen days, they stood before the town of Vincennes and demanded its sur- VICTORIES IN THE NORTH-WEST 173 A masterful stroke render. Hamilton at first refused, but as he had no fighting force he had to give up the fort. He himself was sent a prisoner to Virginia. All the country north of the Ohio was now annexed to Virginia and called the County of lUinois. Clark had done a master- stroke which counted for much at the close of the war. While these events were taking place on the border, other events quite as important were happening on the sea. As you remember, be- fore the Revolution began the Ameri- cans had no need of a navy, for the English navy protected them. This does not mean that there were no ships, for ship-building had been one of the most profitable industries in New England. Nor does it mean that there were no seamen, for the men engaged in fisheries American ' ^ " cruisers and commerce on the sea were the best of their class. When the regular business of these men was interrupted by the war, many of them took up cruising against the enemy's ships, either in private vessels, called privateers, or in ships fitted out by their States. These cruisers did great injury to British commerce and captured many prizes. Their work was of great value, yet there was pressing need of a navy. Very soon after the war began, therefore, Congress ordered thirteen war vessels to be built. During the war others were added, and with the private cruisers the little navy did good work. It not only carried the American JOHN PAUL JONES The Ameri- can navy 174 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Copyright 1909, by Carlton T. Chapman THE FIGHT BETWEEN THE " BON HOMME RICHARD " AND THE " SERAPIS " flag into foreign waters and captured prizes, but it won battles. The most brilliant sea battle was that between the Bon Homme Richard (bo-nom' re-shdr') and the Serapis, which took place in the North Sea. Captain John Paul Jones was commander of the Richard, and Captain Pear- son of the SeiYipis. The Richard, the flag-ship of Captain Jones's little fleet, had been fitted out in France and was named after the Richard of ''Poor Richard's Almanack." This name was given in courtesy to Franklin, who was still in France, looking ^fter our interests at the French Court. The battle was fought in September, 1779. Jones, with his fleet of three war vessels, was sailing along the east coast of England. At noon on the twenty-third he VICTORIES ON THE SEA 175 sighted a fleet of forty-two merchantmen, guarded by two Enghsh ships of war. At once he decided to make an attack. The fight was mainly between his flag-ship and ^ e*^^iSi the English vessel Serapis. During the first hour, the ships American vessel got the worst of the fight and was ''leaking like a basket." ''Has your ship struck?" the English captain demanded. Jones replied, ''I have not yet begun to fight." As the British vessel came alongside of the ship, for a final encounter, he tied them together with his own hands. Then the fight continued. Soon both ships were leaking, and both were on fire. While they were still fighting, the a great "^ to &? naval battle ship's doctor of the Richard came to Jones and told him that his vessel was leaking so much that the wounded were afloat, and asked Jones to surrender. ''What, Doctor, would you have me strike to a drop of water? " he said. "Here, help me get this cannon over." With his own hands Jones fired the cannon with such effect that the English captain was forced to surrender. In its results, this was one of the greatest naval battles ever fought. It won respect for the fiag and strength- ened sympathy for the cause. Jones was showered with Jones a honors, and his name will always be known among naval heroes. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. George Rogers Clark with less than two hundred men con- quered and held all the territory in the North-west, which now includes Ohio, Indiana, and IlUnois (1779-1780). 2. John Paul Jones, the naval hero of the Revolution, won a victory over an English war vessel (1779) off the east coast of England. 176 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE PUPIL 1. Where was the fighting in 1775? In 1776 and 1777? 2. What was George Rogers Clark's plan ? 3. Go with him in imagination as he floats down the Ohio River and marches against Kaskaskia. Tell what happened. 4. Do the same with his march across the plains against Vincennes. What was the result of George Rogers Clark's work in the North-west ? What do you like about him ? 5. What did John Paul Jones do ? What do you think of him ? CHAPTER XIX THE WAR IN THE SOUTH The British ^s already noted, the British had failed, during the first four years of the war, to get control in the North. They had also lost their hold on the West, and had suffered losses at sea. From that time on their armies centred in the South. Their plan was to begin with Georgia and capture the States one by one. In the autumn of 1778 Clinton captured Savannah and overran the State of Georgia with his troops. Then of LhTcoLo^^ ^^ the spring of 1780 he took Charleston and made the American commander, General Lincoln, and his whole army, prisoners of war. The British thought the South would soon be at their feet, and Clinton sailed for New York, leaving General Cornwallis to finish the work so well begun. After the capture of Lincoln and his men, a second American army was sent to the South with General Gates as commander-in-chief. The force arrived in July, and in August a battle was fought with CornwalUs at Camden, THE WAR IN THE SOUTH 177 South Carolina. Gates was completely routed and his The battle of army cut to pieces. He fled from the field of battle in such confusion of mind that he did not stop until he was sixty miles away. That is the last we hear of him as a soldier in the Revolution, For the second time in one summer an American Southern army was swept away. The outlook for the ^^f^j^ patriot cause was indeed dark, and Cornwallis's task seemed an easy one. It looked as if the Americans were losing hold. Even Washington said, ''I have almost ceased to hope." Just at this most trying time, when help was so much needed, one who had been a strong supporter went over as a traitor to the enemy's camp. If his plan had suc- ceeded, he would have given the death-blow to the war for independence. The treason of Benedict Arnold forma one of the saddest stories of the war. This man was daring and fearless on the battle-field. In the first year of the war he had led an expedition against Quebec and had there been wounded. Later, by J^^S*^* his great bravery, he had done much to bring about the surrender of Burgoyne. At that time he had again received a wound. This kept him on the retired fist for several months. But after the British left Philadelphia (in 1778) he was put in command of that city. There he married a gay and beautiful young woman who was a member of a prominent Tory family. Extravagant living soon burdened him with a heavy debt. Some people declared that he was dishonest. This with other things came to the ears of Congress, and they refused to make him a major-general 178 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Arnold rest- less and discontented Arnold at West Point Andre and Arnold OLD FORT PUTNAM AT WEST POINT as he wished. More than that, Congress promoted over his head five junior officers. All these things made Arnold not only restless and dis- contented but bitter in his feeling toward Congress. He needed money. He longed for revenge. The British could satisfy his desire for both. They would not only pay him well, but would make him a general in the English army, if he would help them to get control of the Hudson. It was at this time that he turned traitor. On the plea that his wound unfitted him for active service, he asked that he might be put in command of the forces at West Point on the Hudson. Washington trusted him so en- tirely that the request was granted. At once Arnold began to carry out his plan of giving up the fort to the British (1780). The details were to be arranged with a young British officer. Major Andre, whom Clinton sent up from New York in the war vessel Vulture. Andre landed in the dark hours of the night. Arnold met him and, hidden in the shrubbery on the shore, the two men laid their plans. Before leaving New York, Andre had been told by General Clinton that he must not change his uniform, nor enter the American linos, nor take any papers from Arnold. All of these instructions he disobeyed. For THE WAR IN THE SOUTH 179 THE CAPTURE OF ANDRE morning came before all the plans were made. In order ^^^^^'^ that they might not be observed, Arnold invited Andre missteps to go with him to a house near by. This house was inside the American lines, although at the time Andre did not know it. That was his first misstep. Later in the day he took from Arnold some papers showing the plans of the fort. That was his second misstep. Then, at the close of the long interview, the day was so far advanced that the Vulture, for safety, had been obliged to drop down- stream. Andre therefore decided to return to New York by land. That made it necessary for him to change his uniform, for otherwise he could not hope to get through the American Hues. This was his third misstep. As he was galloping along the highway on the east side of the Hudson River, he was captured by three American militia- men and his papers discovered. When news of the capture reached Arnold, he and his wife were at breakfast with some American officers. Having read the note bearing the message, Arnold left the table and sent for Mrs. Arnold to come to her room. Then he said to her, ''I must fly instantly! My life depends on reaching the British lines without detection." This meant that he was a traitor. On hearing the words, Mrs. Arnold fell to the floor in a swoon. In a few minutes the traitor was dashing down the hillside in a frantic effort Arnold's escape 180 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Death of Arnold King's Mountain to reach the Vulture. The boat answered his signal of distress and he escaped. Andre was hanged as a spy. Benedict Arnold for his treason was made a general in the English army and paid thirty thousand dol- lars. After the war ended, he sailed for England, where he was despised and shunned by most of the people. Just before he died, many years later, he asked for his old uni- form, and cried out in sorrow and self- reproach, ''May God forgive me for ever putting on any other." Returning again to A TL A NTI C OCEAN MAP SHOWING THE WAR IN THE SOUTH the South, we observe that since the battle of Camden, Cornwallis had been resting his troops. No battles were fought. But just about the time of Arnold's treason, he was sending out divisions of his army to overrun and hold the Carolinas, as they had done in Georgia. One of these divisions met with an over- whelming defeat at King's Mountain (1780). Here the backwoodsmen from Kentucky and Tennessee destroyed a force of a thousand British. This was the beginning of better days. From now on, the prospects of the patriot cause in the South grew brighter. THE WAR IN THE SOUTH 181 It is interesting to note that about all the British force in the Battle of King's Mountain were American Tories, so that Americans were fighting against Americans. Friends fought against friends, and sometimes brothers against brothers. Much of the warfare in the South was of this kind. It was largely a civil war, and was called Partisan . ^ -^ ' warfare partisan wart are. One of the noted partisan leaders was Francis Marion. He organized what was known as Marion's Brigade. His force often numbered only a score of men and rarely F/aiicis , -^ Manon and more than seventy. These patriots, who fought without his men pay, were a strange looking body. They had no uniforms Their swords were made out of old saws from country saw-mills, their bullets from pew- ter mugs and dishes. They lived in swamps, under the open sky, and their only covering at night was the large trees that towered above them. Most of their work was to cut off the enemy's supplies and break up their recruiting parties. On one occasion Marion attacked a body of English who had one hundred and fifty prisoners, and set them all free. Sometimes he MARION AND HIS MEN 182 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Wretched condition of the Ameri- can army Morgan the Thunderbolt was less fortunate. But when his men were hard pressed they would separate and take to the woods, knowing well where to meet again. Such brave men kept up the spirit of the people. But they could not do the heavy work of the war. To drive out the British a good army was necessary, and above all a good general. Washington believed that General Nathaniel Greene was the man needed, and accordingly he was placed in command of the South- ern army (1780). When General Greene arrived in the Carolinas in early December, he found the force in a wretched condition. As at Valley Forge, tents and clothing were sadly lacking, and there was not food in camp to last three days. The men, of course, were cast down. They had suffered defeat, were without pay, and many were ill. But in a masterly way Greene soon won the confi- dence and good-will of officers and soldiers alike. Recruits came in, and after a few weeks the army was again in fighting condition. Greene separated his troops into two divisions, sending one north-east and the other south-west. The one moving south-west was under General Morgan, well called The Thunderbolt. He met the enemy at a place called the Cowpens (January, 1781). There with a small body of men he surrounded and captured a British force stronger than his own. He then hastened to join the main body under Greene, GENERAL NATHANIEL GREENE THE WAR IN THE SOUTH 183 Comwallis followed in hot pursuit. But Morgan escaped CornwaiUs '■ o J. chases the and the united Americans now led Cornwallis a chase. Americans The two armies were so close that the rear of the Ameri- cans and the advance of the British were much of the time in sight of each other, until Greene crossed the Dan River and was safe in Virginia. Cornwallis had been outmarched. With united forces and fresh recruits, Greene then turned upon Cornwallis and fought a losing battle at Guilford Court House. The British general was forced to Cornwallis , " . . forced to retreat to the coast in order to get supplies for his army, retreat He could do nothing more in the South and so decided to go to Virginia. When Cornwallis went north, Greene marched south. He captured Camden in May, and all of South Carolina fell again into the hands of the Ameri- cans. It was a wonderful campaign. THE EVACUATION OF CHARLESTON CY THE BRITISH, DEC. 14, 17S2 184 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES sl'IlUlnL'LK ui Luiaj cuii.\ w allis Surrender of Comwallis Meanwhile Washington was in camp near New York, where he was awaiting the approach of a French fleet, with the help of which he hoped to capture the English army in New York. But when he learned that the fleet was on its way to Virginia, he suddenly altered his plans and started for Yorktown. So secretly and swiftly did he proceed that he had almost reached Maryland before the British knew what was happening. Having joined his forces with those of Lafayette, who was already in Vir- ginia, with the aid of the French fleet he captured Corn- wallis and his entire army (1781). This brilliant victory w^as a great surprise to the whole country. It really ended the war. The glad news sped rapidly throughout the thirteen States. The people expressed their joy by huge bonfires and booming cannon, and the members of Congress, marching to church in a body, gave thanks to God for the success of the patriot cause. THE WAR IN THE SOUTH 185 King George had failed, and the American patriots had The Ameri- r> & y 1 cans win in- succeeded in winning their independence. By the Treaty dependence of Paris, in 1783, our country extended from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River and from the Great Lakes to Florida. Florida was ceded by England to Spain. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. After failing in New England and the Middle States, the Eng- lish tried to conquer the Southern States. They captured one American army under Lincoln in Charleston, and defeated another under Gates at Camden. 2. About this time Arnold turned traitor, and tried to put West Point into the hands of the British. 3. General Greene outgeneraled Cornwallis in the South. Leaving the Carolinas, Cornwallis marched to Yorktown. 4. The surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown brought the war to a close (1781). 5. By the Revolutionary War the Americans won their independence. TO THE PUPIL 1. What success did the British have in the early part of the fighting in the South? 2. What two reasons had Arnold for turning traitor against his country ? What do you think of him ? What mistakes did Andre make, and with what result ? 3. What kind of man was General Greene? In what ways did he manage his army well? 4. How was Cornwallis compelled to surrender ? 5. What was the great result of the Revolution ? 186 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAPTER XX power YEARS OF TRIAL AND DANGER During the Revolution, as we have seen, the army and navy were under the control of the Continental Congress. It appointed generals and tried to manage affairs for the best interests of all the thirteen States. But it had not enough pow^r, for it could not raise money by taxing the people. It could go to war with Congress has England or any other country, but it could not raise a not enough i m i f i i- dollar to build torts or to pay soldiers. As you will recall, the colonists took up arms against England because she tried to compel them to pay taxes not levied by their own law-making bodies. It is not surprising, then, that during the war they still refused to pay any taxes except those levied by their own States. The only kind of money Congress could get, aside from what it borrowed from foreign countries like Holland and France, and from rich Americans like Robert Morris, was paper promises which, as a governing body, it issued. These promises w^re called Continental currency. They were not worth much, for the people did not believe Con- gress could make them good. In the later years of the war Washington said that it took a wagon-load of Conti- nental currency to buy a wagon-load of provisions. In time it became quite worthless, for Congress steadily lost the respect and confidence of the people. While the war was going on, the sense of danger led the people to do things which they were unwilling to do Continental currency YEARS OF TRIAL AND DANGER 187 in times of peace. But at its close the separate States in u°ion^^^?°* many ways showed a petty, selfish spirit. They were ^eenthe hke thirteen members of a big family, each thinking of its own interest apart from the welfare of all. Although they had fought together for their independence, there was no feeling of union between them. This was made very plain by the trade laws. For instance, New York laid a duty on firewood coming from Connecti- cut, and on cheese, butter, chickens, and vegetables coming from New Jersey. Then Connecticut merchants agreed to do no more trading of any kind with New York; and New Jersey made New York pay eighteen hundred dollars a year for the use of some land on which New York had built a light-house. This same sort of trouble was going on between other States. There were quarrels about boundaries and land also. The most important of these was the dispute over the Northwest Territory, which George Rogers Clark and his J^eg^Terr^-' backwoodsmen had fought so hard to secure. Massachu- tory setts, Connecticut, and New York each claimed a part, and Virginia claimed about all of it. But finally these four States agreed that the Northwest Territory should belong to the country as a whole. In the midst of all these troubles Congress was helpless. But the people of the thirteen States knew that if they J^^/Jf^^* were to have a strong country, they must be united under union a strong government. They therefore sent some of their A CONTINENTAL SOLDIER 188 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Congress, the Presi- wisest men to a great meeting, or convention, held in In- dependence Hall in Philadelphia (1787), to work out a new plan. Among the men were George Washington, John Hancock, and Benjamin Franklin. They spent four months in preparing the new form of Courts"^ ^^^ government, which they called the Constitution. It pro- vided for three departments similar to the three that were in the States. There was to be a body to make the laws; this was Congress. There was to be some one to see that the laws were carried out; this was the President. There were to be bodies to explain to the people the meaning of the laws and to try cases aris- ing under them ; these were the courts. The highest of these was the Supreme Court. There were many trouble- some questions for the con- vention to decide. One was CorT ress ^^^ Cougrcss should be made up. The convention finally was made up agreed that each State should send two delegates to the Senate, but that in the House the number of representa- tives should depend upon the number of people in the State. There was trouble about some other matters also. One of these was the regulating of commerce. Some of WASHINGTON TAKING LEAVE OF HIS OFFICERS YEARS OF TRIAL AND DANGER 189 the slave-holding States feared that if Congress had this Congress power it would prevent the South from importing any commerce more slaves. All the States finally agreed, however, that Congress should regulate commerce and that slaves might be imported for twenty years longer. In course of time all of the thirteen States agreed to Ratifying the have the new plan of government for the country. This Constitution was called ratifying the Constitution. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. After the war there was little feeling of union between the States. 2. The Northwest Territory, which was claimed in part by several States, was given up by them and governed separately by Congress. 3. A new form of government was prepared in 1787. It was called the Constitution. 4. According to this Constitution our government has three parts. These are Congress, the President, and the Courts. TO THE PUPIL 1. In what way was Congress weak during the Revolution? 2. What trouble did the States have about commerce ? What about the Northwest Territory ? 3. What is the Constitution? According to the Constitution, what are the three parts of our government, and what does each part hav« to do? 190 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAPTER XXI Washington made President The stage- coach CH AIR USED BY WASHIN(iTON AT HIS INADGDRATION EARLY DAYS OF THE REPUBLIC When the time came for selecting a President, all eyes turned to George Washington. He was therefore elected and began his first term of four years in 1789. The people liked him so well that he was elected for a second term. So he was President for eight years. The first inauguration was at New York, which at that time was the cap- ital of the Nation. From 1790 to 1800 the seat of government was at Philadelphia. Since then it has been at Washington. The first inauguration of Washington was nearly two months later than it had been planned, because at that time travel was so slow. If to-day we wish to go from New York to Boston, we can make the entire journey, by express train, in five or six hours. But when Washington was President we should have travelled by stage coach and should have been at least six days on the way. There was much discomfort in this kind of travelling. At the close of a long day the coach stopped at an inn about ten o'clock at night. There the traveller alighted for a few MOUNT VERNON, THE HOME OF WASHINGTON EARLY DAYS OF THE REPUBLIC 191 A FERRY-BOAT hours' rest, but by four o'clock next morning he had started on another day's journey of eighteen hours. Another reason for the slow travel was that no bridges Ferries spanned the rivers. On the route from Boston to New York the stage coach ^ ^ ^ had to be ferried over at least eight rivers. In winter the crossing of the Hudson by ferry was often very dan- gerous, especially if the wind was high and the current swift and strong. Sometimes, also, great blocks of ice caught the ferry-boat in an ice-jam and held it in mid-stream for many hours. At other times a sud- den gust of wind might threaten to upset the boat, thus putting in danger the lives of the passengers. Slow travel Themail meant slow mail also. Postmen on horse-back car- ried the mail from Boston to New York twice a week in summer and once a week in winter. But outside of well travelled routes between cities, it would take the post riders five or six weeks to carry the mail as far as an ex- press train will now carry it in a few hours. 192 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Slow With the slow coaches and the slow mails, of course the C03.ch6S 3.11(1 slow mails people of any one State knew very little of what the people were doing in other States. To-day the express train, the tele- graph, and the telephone, keep us closely in touch with what is going on all over the country. But if in Washington's time the daily news was somewhat meager, problems of importance were not wanting to keep men thinking. The new Government had serious matters awaiting settlement. For advisers Washington had four dis- tinguished men, Alexander Hamil- ton, Thomas Jefferson, Henry These four formed the first ALEXANDER HAMILTON The cabinet The country's debts Knox, and John Randolph. President's cabinet. Alexander Hamilton was called the Secretary of the Treasury. It was his duty to form plans for raising money to pay not only the running expenses of the Government, but also the country's debts. These debts were many, for during the Revolution Con- gress had bor- rowed from foreign countries and from many private citizens of our own country. Everybody agreed that such debts should be paid. AN OLD-TIME MAIL-CAKRIER EARLY DAYS OF THE REPUBLIC 193 But Hamilton thought that the United States should pay- also the debts owed by the States. To this there was much opposition, though finally it was done. To raise the money with which to help pay off all these The tariff debts Congress levied certain taxes upon the people. Most important of these was a duty on goods com- ing from foreign coun- tries. The duty, or tax, was called a tariff. This method of raising funds is still in use. While these money problems were of great importance to the country, an event quite as large in its influence happened about the same time. This was the invention of the cotton-gin by Eli Whitney. He was a graduate of Yale college, who went South to be a tutor in the family of General Greene's widow. While there, he invented an embroidery frame for Mrs. eh Whitney Greene, which she valued greatly. One day while she cotton-gin was entertaining some planters at her home, they began to talk about the raising of cotton. One of her guests said that it did not pay well because so much time was needed to separate the seed from the fibre. He added that if a way could be found to do this work, the profit would be far greater. "Gentlemen," said Mrs. Greene, ''tell this to my young friend, Mr. Whitney. Verily, I believe he can make anything." As a result of this conversation. THE COTTON-GIN 194 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES in two or three months Mr. Whitney had invented the cotton-gin, although in so doing he had been obUged to make all his own tools (1793). The cotton-gin brought about great changes. By its use a slave could separate the seed from a thousand pounds of cotton in a day. Before the invention it had taken an entire day to separate the seed from a single pound. This of course meant that cotton could be sold for much less than before; hence there was a greater demand for it. It meant, also, that the labor of slaves was of more value than before; so there was a greater de- mand for slaves. In the same year that the cotton-gin was invented, France declared war against England. France felt that we should help her, since she had helped us in the Revolu- tion. But Washington thought that we had enough to attend to at home, and refused to send aid. This made France angry. Later, when John Adams became President (1797), French cruisers began to capture our vessels at sea. President Adams sent envoys to France to set things right. But the men in charge of affairs in France did not treat them with respect. ''The way to set things right," they said, ''is for the Americans to give us a large sum of money." To this insult the answer of the Americans was, "Millions for defence, but not one cent for tribute." This meant that to secure fair treatment we were willing to spend much at war, but that we were not willing to pay money for the friendship of France. We at once began to organize an army, and Washington was again appointed commander-in-chief. In a short time THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 195 our war vessels defeated and captured two French frigates. This made France see things in a different hght, and she stopped treating us as if we were her inferiors. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. The National Government agreed to pay not only its own debts but the debts of the separate States also. 2. A tariff, or tax, was laid upon goods coming from foreign countries. 3. A new in- vention, the cotton-gin, greatly increased the vahie of slaves and the demand for cotton. 4. France threatened war with this country because the United States would not assist her in war against England. When our war vessels defeated French war vessels, France then treated us with respect. TO THE PUPIL 1. What kind of debts did the new government decide to pay? 2. What was the tariff? 3. Tell some results of the invention of the cotton-gin. 4. Why did Washington think it unwise for our country to join France in her war with England? 5. How did France behave toward us and what did we do ? 6. Remember that Washington became President in 1789, and was President for two terms (1789-1797). 7. Explain the following dates: 1492, 1607, 1620, 1763, 1775-1783, 1789. CHAPTER XXII THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY In 1801 Thomas Jefferson, the writer of the Declara- Thomas Jefferson tion of Independence, became the third President of the United States. He did many things for the good of his country; but no service, perhaps, brought him greater honor than the part he played in the purchase of Louisiana. 196 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The back- woods- men Settlement north and south of the Ohio THOMAS JEFFERSON How he came to believe that the United States should gain control of this vast region will be better understood if we glance briefly at the life of the people who had settled west of the AUeghanies. We have already seen how bravely the backwoodsmen fought during the Revolution, not only at the Battle of King's Mountain, but under George Rogers Clark in the conquest of the North-west. Before the Revolution ended, such men as Boone, Robert- son, and Sevier had been leaders in making settlements in what is now Kentucky and Tennessee. After the Revolution, the number of settlements in- creased both north and south of the Ohio. But for several reasons this did not happen all at once. In the first place, many found the rough Hfe too hard, too, the Indians made trouble. They were angry because the set- tlers took away their hunting grounds. Fi- nally, the English at the lake posts, the French in the scattered French vil- lages, and the Spaniards in the South-west were all unfriendly, for they knew that the settlements would interfere with their trade. Both the red and the white foes, then, united to Then, [t — :r~:JA^ MONTI CELLO-^THE HOME OF THOMAS JEFFERSON THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 197 A PACK-HORSE drive back the Americans and keep the forest for the fur trade. During this period the settlers were constantly attacked by the Indians. The suffering and loss of life was so great that Kentucky came to be known as the ''dark and bloody ground." In the course of time, however, the Indians were over- come and the white foes fell away. Then along the banks of the Ohio and in the valleys of the smaller streams groups of log cabins sprang up and the frontier line was pushed gradually toward the Mississippi. In the South-west the pioneers were mainly backwoods- men from the States lying close to the mountains ; but ia the North-west there were many settlers from far-away New England. Men from Massachusetts and Connecticut ?^"^^^ ^ ^ ^ from New made the first settlement in Ohio at Marietta. As the England men of the West soon played a large part in the history of the country, we should know how they hved and worked from day to day. The pioneers came mostly by two routes. One was ., o ^ the Wilderness Road -'1^^^"jr"'^^'^"^^^s^^-_ from Virginia, and the Two routes = =^^'^-^-— — -^*'~ ,, xu /^u- to the West other was the Ohio River. More people went by the river route than overland, for it was much easier to float goods than to carry them over rough roads. But the dan- ger from Indians was about as great in one case as the A FLATBOAT 198 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The flatboat The stock- ade fort Inside of a log cabin other. Groups of families would go together. If they followed the road, they went on horseback, with pack- horses loaded down, and driving their herds and flocks. Sometimes it took three or four days to go from western North Carolina to Kentucky; sometimes six or eight. In going by river they used, as a rule, fiatboats. These were of all sizes and carried heavy loads. Usually they were twelve feet wide and forty feet long, and were steered by long oars or sweeps. If the current w^as not strong enough to move them in this way, the boats were rowed by the sweeps. Arriving at their journey's end, the settlers first built a stockade fort. This was square or oblong, and made of timbers, twelve feet or more in length, set upright and close together in the ground. The timbers were sharpened at the top, and the palisade was pierced here and there with loop- holes. At each corner of the fort stood a block-house, and in the middle of one side was a strong gate which could be heavily barred. Within and along one side were several log huts. There were also provision sheds, and often a central block-house. Having provided a fort, the pioneers would then set about building huts in the clearing. For when not in the fort each family had a log hut of its own. These huts were very simple, with rude furnishings. If in imagination we should enter Daniel Boone's cabin, for instance, we should find a ladder against the wall. This was the stairway by which the children reached the DANIEL BOONE THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 199 BOONESBORO loft where they slept. Glancing around, we should see the scanty family wardrobe hanging from pegs driven into the wall. Perhaps upon a rough board supported by four wooden legs would be spread the family meal, and about it would be a few rough chairs. Among the stumps still standing around the house melons and potatoes would be growing, but more corn than anything else, for the settlers depended mainly upon corn for food. When the woodsman was hunt- ing game or following the war trail, parched corn was sometimes his only food; and this he carried in his pocket or in a leather wallet. Even though they were not in sight, we should know there were utensils for grinding corn into meal and beat- ing it into hominy, for every cabin had its hand-mill and its mortar as well as its rifle and its hoe. In nearly every cottage, also, the hand-loom and the spinning-wheel were to be found. The tools and utensils were simple and made by the woodsman himself. If you had been a boy living in Kentucky in those early days, you would have found much to enjoy. To be sure, you would have gone to school in a log hut, and you would have sat on wooden benches. You would have studied httle but reading, writing, and ciphering. But you would have learned in the woods many things not learned in school to-day, You would have been able The settler and corn The hand- mill, the hand-loom, and the spinning- wheel The pioneer boy 200 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Dress of the backwoods- man to imitate the notes and calls of birds and wild animals. You would have known how to set traps and how to shoot with a rifle; for bear meat and venison, wild tur- kej^s and pigeons were much Hked for food. One of your tasks would have been to catch fish in the neighboring streams. When twelve years old, you would have become a fort soldier, with a port-hole assigned to you in case of attack. You would have received careful training, also, in follow- ing Indian trails and in concealing your own when on the war path. It would have been necessary for you to know all these things in order to protect yourself against your red foes in the forest. In dress, when you had grown up, you would have appeared much like an Indian. You might have worn, like Daniel Boone, a fur cap, a fringed hunting shirt, and leggings and moccasins, all made of the skins of wild animals. Abraham Lincoln often dressed in this way when he was a youth. You might have worn, besides, a belt about the waist from which would hang a toma- hawk and a scalping knife. When new arrivals took up their home in the settle- ment, all the neighbors joined to help build the log hut. After getting together and chopping down trees, it was their custom to have A HAND-MILL. THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 201 a log rolling, as it was called. Then followed the house ^°g Jous? * raising, when the logs, notched at the ends to form the raisings comers, were placed one upon another to make the walls. When the roof, the single door, and one window were added, the house was complete. Oiled or greased paper filled the opening for the window. The house-warming that came after the house was built gave zest to the labor, and when it was time to gather in the har- vest, other amusements, such as corn huskings and quilting par- ties, helped to make life cheerful. At all these gatherings there was much amusement. The young men had trials of strength, such as racing, leaping, wrestling, and lifting barrels of flour, and there was an abundance of fun, frohc, fiddhng, and dancing. From one stockade fort to another there were forest Forest trails trails. The mode of travel between the forts was by horseback, and the means of transportation by the pack- horse. By the time Jefferson became President, many pioneers had already settled west of the Alleghany Mountains. As Where the we have noted, they lived mostly along the Ohio and the lived streams flowing into it from the north and from the south. But there were more people in the upland valleys of the Kentucky and Tennessee Rivers than elsewhere. EARLY SETTLERS Amuse- ments 202 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES These lands were very fertile, and the people very prosperous. Their harvests were so abundant that they Trade with needed a market in which to sell what they could not use. coast They also were in want of manufactured goods and other things which they could not produce among themselves. It had been their custom after the harvests were gathered to load their pack-horses with furs and make long jour- neys to the Atlantic coast. Here they exchanged the furs for salt and other supplies. Such a journey took many weeks. They would even drive their cattle over the mountains and along the forest trails to cities in the East, and bring back simple household goods. But the Western people could send none of their bulky produce across the mountains, because it cost too much Trade with to move it in that way. Such produce as corn meal, flour, pork, and lumber had to go on rafts or flatboats down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans. Here the cargo and the boat were sold, or the cargo sold and transferred to ocean vessels. Thus the Mississippi River, being the only outlet for this heavy produce, was very necessary to the prosperity of the West. But at this time Spain owned New Orleans and all the Spanish land about the mouth of the Mississippi. Presently the make Spanish officers at New Orleans began to make trouble. They threatened to prevent the Westerners from sending their produce to that port. This threat created great alarm. Wild plans were proposed to force an outlet. y But before anything was done news came that Napoleon, who was then at the head of affairs in France, had forced X Spain to give up Louisiana to France. ^^=^ This alarmed the Westerners still more. It was bad ic Y 204 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The Westerners alarmed The purchase of Louisiana Jefferson's plan for an exploring party enough for a weak country like Spain to be in control of Louisiana. It was much worse for France, the greatest military power in the world at that time, to own it. Jefferson saw this clearly. He well knew that Napoleon was planning to establish garrisons and colonies in Louis- iana. So he sent James Monroe to France to aid in secur- ing New Orleans and a stretch of territory in Louisiana lying on the east bank of the Mississippi. By getting that territory the Americans would own the entire east bank of the river and could then control their own trade. When Monroe reached France, he found that Napoleon was not only willing to sell to the United States what they wanted, but wished them to buy much more. For Napoleon was at that time about to engage in war with England and needed money. Besides, he was afraid that Louisiana might fall into the hands of England. So he sold the whole of Louisiana territory for fifteen million dollars. You must remember that Louisiana at that time was a very large stretch of country. It included all the region from Canada to what is now Texas, and between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. In fact, it was larger than all the rest of the territory which up to that time had been called the United States. Previous to the purchase of Louisiana, Jefferson had sent to Congress a message in which he recommended that an exploring party should be sent tc the Pacific Ocean. He wished them to find a path across the conti- nent from the Mississippi to the Pacific, and to make a careful examination of the route. Captain Meriwether Lewis, who was Jefferson's private secretary at that time, and William Clark, the younger brother of the THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 205 famous back-woodsman George Rogers Clark, were put in command. About the middle of May, 1804, Lewis and Clark's ^ewh and_ historic journey across the continent began. They started toric iourney from St. Louis and travelled in boats toward the head- waters of the Missouri River. After spend- ing the winter with the Mandan Indians, the party, which by that time included thirty men, continued their journey until in August they reached the source of the river high up in the Rocky Mountains. Here they procured horses from the Indians to carry them over to the head-waters of the Columbia. For nearly a month they travelled through the dense, dark forests, over steep mountain sides, and through rag- ing torrents. Both men and beasts were chilled by the icy waters. Sometimes they met with storms of sleet and snow, and sometimes with oppressive heat. Food was scanty, and there was so much suffering that it brought on illness among the men. But at length, in October, they ^Jj^JJ^ ^^ embarked on the smooth waters of what is now called the the Pacific Lewis River, a branch of the Columbia. Here they glided along for ten days, when they reached the Columbia. Three weeks later they arrived on the Pacific coast. LEWIS AND CLARK'S MEN CLIMBING THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 206 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Jufpose"'^ The long-sought North-west Passage had been found. achieved Jefferson's purpose was achieved. The highway across the continent had become an estabUshed fact, and all that was left to do was to carry the news of the great discovery back to the East. Returning, the party arrived at St. Louis on September 23, 1806, about two years and four months after starting. THINGS TO REIMEMBER 1. After the Revolution many settlers went west of the Alleghany Mountains and made their homes both north and south of the Ohio River. 2. In going West there were two routes of travel, one over- land by the Wilderness Road, and the other down the Ohio River on flatboats. 3. The trade of the West was mostly by way of the Mississippi River. 4. Jefferson purchased Louisiana from France in 1803. 5. In 1804, Jefferson sent an exploring party north-west across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. TO THE PUPIL 1. John Adams was the second President (one term, 1797-1801), and Thomas Jefferson the third (two terms, 1801-1809). 2. Explain the two routes which emigrants used in going to the West. 3. Describe the stockade fort and the settlers' homes. 4. Imagine yourself a pioneer boy, and tell something of your life. 5. Why did the men in the West wish to get control of the eastern bank of the Mississippi River? 6. How did we secure Louisiana ? What was the Louisiana Pur- chase ? 7. Why did Jefferson send an expedition across the continent ? THE WAR OF 1812 207 CHAPTER XXIII THE WAR OF 1812 Leaving for a time the Louisiana country, our interest centres in troubles which the United States was having with England and France. We find that the war between those countries is still going on, and that it has very much disturbed our prosperity. Both nations were trying to destroy each other's commerce. In order to do this Laws passed by England passed laws to prevent other countries from England trading with France, and France passed laws to prevent other countries from trading with England. This was bad for our commerce, which at that time was large. If an American ship-owner sent a vessel to a French port or the port of a country friendly to France, the England and vessel with its cargo was likely to be seized by an English jure our " cruiser and sold. If he sent a vessel to England, a French commerce cruiser might capture it. Hundreds of our vessels and their cargoes w^ere so captured and sold, and the loss to American merchants and ship-owners was many millions of dollars. This made the people indignant, especially the people of New England, who were largely engaged in commerce. But as the United States had no navy, she could not go to war. Hoping to force England and France to change their The Em- laws, Congress passed what was called the Embargo Act. ^^^^^ ^^^ This put an end to all our trade with foreign countries. Jefferson thought that England and France would suffer so much through loss of trade that they would soon repeal their hateful laws. 208 ELEMENTARY fflSTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The Em- bargo Act hurts us The " right of search " Attack upon the "Chesa- peake" But the Embargo Act hurt us more than it did any one else. It kept all our vessels in the home harbors, and this made idle many thousand sailors. For under this law, New England could send no goods to foreign countries, nor could the South export its tobacco. Such a clamor was raised that after a year of trial the act was repealed. England gave us another serious cause for complaint when she insisted upon what she called the "right of search." Many English sailors were de- serting to American vessels be- cause they were better treated by American captains and received more pay. England claimed the right to search our vessels for such deserters. In doing so she claimed that if a man was once an Englishman he was always an Englishman, meaning that an English sailor could never become an American citizen. When she searched American vessels, therefore, she took off all English deserters, and many times she seized Americans, too, if they looked like Englishmen, and forced them into her service. This high-handed proceeding enraged the Americans. A climax was reached when the British war-vessel Leopard openly attacked the American war-vessel Chesapeake, which was just out of the navy yard and not ready for THE IMPRESSMENT OF AMERICAN SEAMEN THE WAR OF 1812 209 THE " CONSTITUTION " MAKING HER ESCAPE FROM A BRITISH FLEET battle. The officers of the Leopard boarded her and took off four sailors, three of whom were Americans. This action aroused intense excitement. The people demanded war. Madison,* who was then President, was a man of peace. He disliked war quite as much as Jefferson did. But it seemed as if war were the only way of stopping the unjust Reason for treatment we were receiving from England and France. England Many Americans believed there was quite as much reason why we should go to war with France as with England, for France had been seizing our ships and making our sailors prisoners. But as President Madison and his party were more unfriendly to England than to France, war was de- clared against England. At that time w^e had a smj^ll army and a navy of only twelve war-vessels. England's * James Madison was President for two terms (1S09-1S17). 210 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES An exciting chase The " Con- stitution " and the "Guerriere" " Old Iron- sides " navy had a thousand. It was plain that much of the fighting would be on sea, for it was injury to our com- merce and the unjust treatment of our sailors that brought on the war. Yet our little navy went bravely out, to fight the ''Mistress of the Seas," as England was called at that time. War was declared in 1812. About a month later our strongest vessel, the Constitution, was sighted one day by five English ships off the coast of Nantucket. At once began one of the most exciting chases in naval his- tory. It continued for two days and three nights, but by the skilful handling of his vessel. Captain Isaac Hull, of the Constitution, made his escape. About a month later still, when Captain Hull sailed out from Boston, he fell in with the Guerriere east of lialifax. For an hour the two ships fought at long range, each trying to get the advantage in position. The deadly part of the battle did not begin until they were within pistol shot of each other. Captain Hull coolly paced the deck. Although his men were eager to fire, he would not give the order until they were within forty yards of the British ship, Then the American fire was so rapid and so ac- curate that in less than thirty minutes the Guerriere was in almost a sinking condition. It was a brilliant victory, and throughout the land there was great rejoicing. When Captain Hull reached Boston a little later, the people of that city were wild with excitement. Congress voted fifty thousand dollars to the officers and men, and a gold medal to Captain Hull. In many other battles the Constitution fought so successfully that it came to be called ''Old Ironsides." THE WAR OF 1812 211 Within eight months after the beginning of the war there were five single ship encounters, in every one of which the British vessel was captured. This brought joy Success of to the Americans, but came as a shock to the people of can navy ' England. At once ships were sent over in large numbers to blockade our ports; that is, to prevent the American war-vessels from getting to sea. This gave a new turn to affairs, for it shut up most of our war- ves- sels in the harbors of Boston, New London, and New York. _ ^ _^ _^ But the honor of the t' ' '^ ^'" '" ^^i ^^'"^""^^ II Privateers MAP OF LAKE ERIE AND SURROUNDINGS IN TIME OF WAR OF 1812 flag during the later years of the war was looked after by privateers. These small vessels could strike quickly and get away. There were many upon the sea. They flitted in and out of British harbors, capturing many prizes, and astounded British merchants by their boldness. During the war they took about fourteen hundred prizes. Meanwhile the fighting on land was not so favorable to the Americans. At the beginning of the conflict it had been thought wise to invade Canada. For many people The v^ar m believed that only in this way could the Northwest west be protected against the Indians who, under the Indian chief Tecumseh, had been making savage attacks on the frontier. It was supposed that they were incited by the Enghsh in Canada. American armies had therefore been sent against Canada in the Northwest, but were unsuc- cessful. Wifliam Hull, an uncle of Captain Isaac Hull of 212 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Perry and his work Perry's •victory PERKY AT THK DATTLE OF LAKE ERIE ON HIS WAT TO THE "NIAGARA" the frigate Constitution, had, during the first year of the war, surrendered Detroit and the vast territory of Mich- igan to the British. About the same time Fort Dear- born, now Chicago, was captured and the whole Northwest was in peril. But the following year, by a brilliant victory on Lake Erie, the Americans were able to regain this territory. The officer in command was a young man. Captain Oliver H. Perry, who had been sent from Newport to Lake Erie to take charge of a fleet that was being built there. With it he was to attack the British squadron on the lake. After a hard journey through snow and ice, he arrived about the last of March. But there was so much to do before his fleet was ready that the battle did not occur until September. As it was, most of the ships were built of green timber, cut on the shores of the lake, and officers and men were untrained in naval warfare. On September 10, 1813, the two fleets met. The American flag-ship was the Lawrence, on the flag of which were the words, '^ Don't give up the ship." For two hours after the battle began, all the vessels of the British fleet poured their fire into the Lawrence. Her guns were dismounted, and all her crew except Captain Perry and eight of his men were either killed or wounded. But THE WAR OF i8i2 213 FORT M IIENKl Perry, jumping into a rowboat with his twelve-year-old brother and four seamen, started for the Niagara, a vessel which thus far had taken little part in the battle. At once the British ships all turned their guns upon the rowboat. A shot crashed through the little craft, and one oar was splintered, but Perry and his men reached the Niagara in safety. Then he ran up his flag and signalled for close action. In less than a half-hour the whole British fleet surrendered to him. Standing on the deck of the Niagara, Perry wrote on the back of an old letter this despatch to General Harrison, who was then in command of the Northwest: ''We have met the enemy and they are ours." It was an important victory, as it gave the United States command of the northern lakes. It was also the ^° ^,?^}^f. English fleet first time in English history that an entire English fleet surrenders had surrendered to an enemy. The following month the British were defeated in a land battle near Lake Erie and Lake Michigan, and the entire Northwest fell into the hands of the Americans. The next year (1814), Napoleon having been defeated, England was able to send more soldiers to America. Her plan now was to attack the forts on the northern England's frontier, to capture Washington and Baltimore on the ^^^'^ eastern coast, and to take New Orleans on the Mississippi River, all at about the same time. 214 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The capture of Wash- ington Star The Spangled Banner " In the North the British armies failed.* but a British fleet sailed up the Potomac and defeated the American army near Washington. Entering the city, they burned the White House and nearly all of the pubhc buildings. Mrs. Madison, the President's wife, had to flee from the city. It is pleasant to know of her that she would not leave the White House until she had made safe from Brit- ish insult the portrait of Washington which hung in the East Room. From Washington the British went to Baltimore and made an unsuccessful attempt to capture it. Near the city was Fort McHenry. It was while the British fleet was bombarding this fort that Francis Scott Key wrote the ''Star Spangled Banner." This is the story of the poem which we know so well in song : When the British were near Washington, they captured an American planter, who was a friend of the poet. Wishing to secure the re- lease of his friend, Key gained permission to visit the British fleet. There he was compelled to wait until the bombardment was over, and by the ''rockets' red glare" he watched during the long hours of the night to see if the flag "was still there"; that is, if it still floated over the fort. Out of these moments of anxious suspense the *'Star Spangled Banner" had its birth. The British failed to capture the city because of the stout defence of Fort McHenry and of the citizens of Baltimore. The next point of attack was New Orleans. With its capture the British hoped to get control of the lower part * On Lake Champlain Commodore McDonough, in command of an American fleet, defeated an English fleet stronger than his own. THE WAR OF 1812 216 of the Mississippi River and a large part of the Louisiana Purchase. Andrew Jackson was sent to defend the city. He had already put down the Indians in the Southwest, whom the British had been urging to attack the Americans, and had proved himself a good general. To him there was keen relish in drawing his sword against the British, Andrew for since the days of the Revolution he had hated them. At that time, while still a boy, he was made a prisoner of war and was harshly treated, A British officer or- dered him one day to clean his muddy boots. The fiery youth flashed back, ''Sir, I am your prisoner, not your slave, and as such I refuse to do the work of a slave." Angry at this reply, the British officer struck the boy a cruel blow, the scar and the bitter memories of which he carried through life. Although when he reached New Orleans Jackson was so weak from a recent illness that he could scarcely ride his horse, he at once took up the work with energy, and of^Jr^^"^® inspired his men with his own faith. The British were Orleans overconfident. As at Bunker Hill, they held the Amer- icans in contempt. They did not yet know what kind of men they were fighting. For seventy hours before the battle began Andrew Jackson did not sleep, so busy was he in making preparations. On the morning of the attack two brave assaults were made, but the enemy were driven back with heavy loss. The action was brief. In twenty- five minutes the British had lost two thousand men and were ready to retire without having captured New Or- leans (January 8, 1815). The country was wild with joy over this victory. But it is sad to reflect that the loss of life was not neces- 216 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES sary. If there had been an Atlantic cable at that time, the battle would not have been fought. For already, two weeks before the battle, a treaty of peace had been signed. Results of Iq ^y^q treaty nothing was said about injury to our commerce or the impressment of our seamen. But there was no need. England has never been unjust to us in these ways since that time. She and the rest of the world were now ready to treat us with respect. We had fought the Revolution to win our independence from England. We fought the War of 1812 to win our independence from Europe. THINGS TO REIMEjMBER 1. England and France, while at war with each other, did great injury to American trade. To bring about better conditions. Congress passed the Embargo Act, but it hurt American trade far more than it hurt that of England or France. 2. England made the Americans so angry by searching their vessels and seizing their seamen that war was declared against England (1812). 3. Captain Perry captured an entire British fleet on Lake Erie. 4. General Jackson defeated the British at New Orleans in the last battle of the war. 5. As we had fought the Revolution to win our independ- ence from England, so we fought the War of 1812 to win our inde- pendence from Europe. TO THE PUPIL 1. In what ways did England and France injure American commerce ? 2. Why was the Embargo Act passed, and with what results ? 3. How did England's impressment of American seamen affect our people ? 4. Compare the size of the American navy with that of the English. Why was the "Constitution" called " Old Ironsides "? 5. What victories were won by Captain Perry and General Jackson ? How did each inspire his men? 6. What did the Americans secure by the War of 1812? 7. Are you locating all events upon the map ? WESTWARD MIGRATION 217 CHAPTER XXIV WESTWARD MIGRATION After the War of 1812 the stream of migration from the East to the West steadily increased. Thousands of men were ready to go out into the Western ]ands and begin Ufe anew. There were several reasons for this, go wSt"*^ In the first place, many disbanded soldiers were seeking occupation. Then there were many who had been en- gaged in trade and had been thrown out of work by the war. Many, too, who were prosperous in the East hoped to become more so in the West. And added to all these was a large body from across the sea, for emigrants from foreign countries had already begun to arrive in large numbers. All were drawn by the great promise of the West, and as time passed their progress was made easier by improved means of travel. For a time those who journeyed westward had to follow the Indian trail with packhorse and wagon if they went by land, or use the flatboat if they travelled by water, just as the earlier settlers did. Either way was slow at best, and the flatboat was of no use except in floating downstream. The great need, both for travel and for trade, was a boat which would not be dependent upon wind or current. The first to invent and bring into ^^Ji^"^ ^ Fulton practical use a craft of this kind was Robert Fulton, who in 1807, after many trials, built a successful steamboat. The first trip of the Clermont, as the new boat was called, was made on the Hudson River, from New York 218 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES A PRAUUE SCHOONER and the "Clermont' City to Albany. It was an exciting event. Crowds gathered upon the banks to see what would happen. Most people were looking for failure. Some thought Ful- ton a crazy-brained fellow. When the signal was given to start, the boat moved slowly and then stopped. We can almost hear the ''I told you so" from the unbelieving ones. But they spoke too soon. After a little adjustment of machinery, the Clermont moved slowly and steadily along. As it steamed proudly up the river, the clanking machinery, the great sparks of fire from burning wood, and the volumes of dense black smoke made the boat seem to some people a sea monster. It is said that sailors on the river were so frightened at its approach that they jumped from their boats and swam ashore. But in spite of the terror it caused, the trial trip was successful. In thirty-two hours the Clermont steamed WESTWARD MIGRATION 219 Steam- boats on the riv- ers and lakes THE " CLERMONT" from New York to Albany, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles. This was but the beginning of the use of steam-driven craft on the rivers and lakes of our country. In 1811 the first steamboat west of the Alle- ghany Mountains started from Pittsburg down the Ohio, and a few years later similar craft were in use on the Great Lakes. But while they made the rivers and lakes easy routes of travel, steamboats were not always convenient. New highways were needed, and these were supplied by public roads, of which there were many. The most important J^^. . was the National Road, built by the United States Road Government. It was eighty feet wide and was paved with stone and covered with gravel. By 1820 it extended from Cumberland on the Potomac to Wheeling on the Ohio. This smooth and solid roadway made transporta- tion not only much easier but much cheaper. It was the intention of the Government to ex- tend it to the Mis- sissippi River. But before this could be done, something better took its place, and that was the railroad. Another kind of highway which proved to be of untold A PASSENGER CANAL-BOAT 220 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The Erie Canal s'sK?sa*':;.'?v value to both the East and the West was the canal, con- necting rivers and waterways. Of greatest importance was the Erie Canal, begun in 1817. By many it was called 'Tlinton's Ditch," after Governor De Witt Clinton, to whom we are in- debted for the building of it. These people said that Clinton would bankrupt the State, for the canal cost a large sum. But he did not stop on account of criticism, and in 1825 the under- taking was finished. It was a great triumph for Clinton and a proud day for the State. When the work was com- pleted, the news was signalled from Buffalo to New York in a novel way. At intervals of five miles cannon were stationed. AVhen the report from the first cannon was heard, the second cannon was fired, and so the news went booming eastward till, in an hour and a half, it reached New York. Clinton himself journeyed to New York in the canal- boat Seneca Chief. This was drawn by four gray horses on the tow-path beside the canal. As the boat passed quietly along, people thronged the banks to do honor to the occasion. When the Seneca Chief reached New York City, Governor Clinton, standing on deck, Kfted a gilded keg filled with water from Lake Erie, and poured WESTWARD MIGRATION 221 it into the harbor. As he did so, he prayed that ''the God of the heaven and the earth" would smile with favor upon the work and make it useful to the human race. What he wished came true. Trade between the East and the West grew rapidly. Before the canal was dug, ^^^^^ °l^^ it had cost ten dollars to carry a barrel of flour from Erie Canal Buffalo to Albany. To carry it by the canal now costs but thirty cents. While the Erie Canal was of great service in binding together the East and the West, ocean steamship lines brought our people more closely in touch with other countries. The first ocean steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean steamships was the Savannah (1819). In 1838 two English steam- ships sailed from England to New York, and two years later, such ships began to sail at stated times between New York and Liverpool, just as they do now. This was the beginning of the well-known Cunard Line. A few years before this time (1834), the McCormick reaping machine came into use. This greatly aided the The reaping ^ ^ . , „ machine farmers of the West and elsewhere, because it made farm work not only much easier but also much cheaper. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. Westward migration was aided greatly by the use of the steam- boat. The first successful steamboat was Fulton's Clermont, which in 1807 began to make regular trips from New York to Albany. 2. The National Road, which extended westward from Cumberland, ]\Iaryland, made transportation of men and goods much easier and much cheaper than it had been before. 3. The Erie Canal, extending from Albany to Buffalo, greatly increased westward migration (1825). 222 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE PUPIL J. How did the steamboat, the National Road, and the Erie Canat help the country? 2. Commit to memory the names of the Presidents up to 1825. See table on page 308. Growth of the West CHAPTER XXV THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH All these improved means of travel and transportation caused the people to go in greater numbers from the East to the West. There was a steady stream of settlers pouring across the Alleghany Mountains into the valley of the Mississippi. Already, before the new century opened, there were so many people in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio that these settlements had been admitted to the Union as States, and now other Territories were asking for admission. Among them was Missouri. The admission of Missouri was the occasion of a great discus- sion in Con- gress, and in fact all over the country. It brought for- ward a subject which could no longer be thrust aside, the subject of slavery. ^4 '.- ■■* s-^^ s^M" SLAVES PICKING COTTON THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH 223 A slave's cabin You remember that according to the Constitution slaves could be imported until 1808. Even in those early years there were many for and against slavery. But piysion of Missouri was in the about Louisiana Territoiy, and while there was no law against slaveiy in that region, many people wished that there might be one. The division of feel- ing was mostl}' be- tween the North and the South. About this time Maine also applied for admission to the Union. As IVIaine would come into the Union as a free State, the South was all the more eager that Missouri ^jg^^j^j should be a slave State, because they wished to keep the Compromise number of slave States ec^ual to the number of free States. Feeling ran high betw^een the two sections. Henr^^ Clay, a great orator and a representative in Congress, urged the Northern and Southern people to come to an agreement. In doing so each side, of course, had to give up something. The North said, "We will consent to have Missouri come in as a slave State if all the rest of the Louisiana Purchase lying north and west of Missouri shall be forever free." The South agreed. This was called the Missouri Com- promise (1820). Another cause of ill feeling between the North and the p^^^^^^^^^ South was the tariff. During the time of the Embargo Tariff and the AVar of 1812, trade with foreign countries, you 224 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES HENRY CLAY Rice, cotton, sugar, and tobacco in the South South Car- olina and the high tariff remember, had l^een cut off. At that time mills and factories were started to make the things which could not be brought from Europe. These factories were mostly in New England. After the war was over and England began flooding the United States with cheap goods, there was danger that the new factories would he put out of business because they could not sell as cheaply as England. Congress therefore put a high tax on the foreign goods com- ing in at our harbors (1828), As its purpose was to protect the new man- ufactures against the sale of English goods, it was known as a protective tariff. But the people in the South made their living almost entirely by raising rice, cotton, sugar, and tobacco. They kept slaves to cultivate these crops and could make more money in this way than by manufacturing. Moreover, the cheap clothing from England was just what they needed for their slaves. As time went on, therefore, they objected more and more strongly to the tariff. Matters came to such a pass that finally Senator Calhoun, of South Carolina, said, "This high tariff is unfair because it helps the Northern manufacturer, but hurts the Southern planter. It JOHN C. CALHOUN THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH 225 DANIEL WEBSTER makes the North rich, but it makes us poor." ''If this tariff law is allowed to stand," he and other South Car- olina people declared, "we will nullify it." This meant that they would not allow it to be enforced in South Carolina. Then Congress had a word to say. Daniel Webster was at that time senator from Massachusetts. He made it clear that Congress passed the tariff law for the whole country. If the Supreme Court decided that Congress had the power to pass such a law, the matter was settled. South Carolina and every other State must submit to this and eveiy other law which Congress should make. The people of South Carolina answered, "We will not submit to such an un- just law. If there is an attempt made to enforce it. South Carolina will secede." The right of a State to secede from the Union was well established in the minds of the people of the North, as well as of the South. As early as 1798 Jefferson and Madison had held that the States had a right to nullify- any act of Congress which was not just and fair to their citizens. This view had been held also by the people of Massachusetts who had claimed the right of What Daniel Webster said What the people of South Caro- lina said EGBERT Y. HAYNB secession. 226 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Daniel Webster and the Union Andrew Jackson and the Union Andrew Jackson Then Daniel Webster declared that the Union stood first and the State second. His deep love for the Union is best shown in his speeches. The most famous of these is his ''Reply to Hayne." Hayne had said that the State was first and the Union second. So powerful were his arguments that many people questioned whether even Daniel Webster could answer them. But Webster did answer them. In a speech of four hours he held his listen- ers spellbound, and made it clear that the Union was su- preme over the States. When the news came that South Carolina had threat- ened to disobey the tariff law and to use force to prevent its being carried out, the President of the United States, Andrew Jackson,* was very angry. "The Union," he said, ' ' must and shall be preserved . ' ' Troops were speedily sent to South Carolina, and the State withdrew her opposition. But the trouble between the two sections was settled only by the gradual lowering of the duties. Andrew Jackson was just the man to meet this trying situation. He had courage, and every one knew he would be fearless in doing what he thought was right. He also loved his country. The people, therefore, trusted him and looked to him as their leader. ANDREW JACKSON THINGS "TO REMEiMBER 1. The people of South Carolina said the high tariff was unfair, and that it should not be carried out in that State. 2. Daniel Web- *Andrew Jackson was President two terms (1829-1837). NEW TERRITORY AND NEW INVENTIONS 227 ster said that every State should obey any law which Congress passes for the whole country. 3. At last the trouble was settled by the gradual lowering of the duties. TO THE PUPIL 1. What was the Missouri Compromise? 2. Why did Calhoun and the people of South Carolina think the high tariff unfair to the South? 3. What was Hayne's idea of the Union ? What was Webster's ? 4. What did President Jackson do when South Carolina threatened to secede? CHAPTER XXVI NEW TERRITORY AND NEW INVENTIONS While these disputes were going on over the admission of new States and over the tariff, another trouble was brewing in the South. This was over the boundary between the United States and Florida. You remember that at the close of the Revolution Florida passed into the hands of Spain. Now Spain was never very friendly to the people of the South and South- '^^J^^'y^ . west. During the War of 1812 she had allowed England to station troops in Florida and arm the Seminole Indians so that they could make war upon the Americans. More- over, many slaves from Georgia and Alabama escaped into Florida and made their homes among the Indians. From time to time their owners followed them in an attempt to get them back, but the Spaniards gave no help. Altogether the people dwelling in Florida were a lawless set, and to protect the Southern border from their attacks Jackson, at that time an officer in the army, was sent down to Georgia. From Georgia he marched over the 228 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The purchase of Florida The Monroe Doctrine ■ w>- AN KARLY LOCOMOTIVE border into Florida, captured two Spanish garrisons, and put American troops into the forts. In fact, he acted as if the United States were making war upon Spain, This caused more or less trouble, but the result was good, for Spain decided to sell Florida to the United States for five million dollars (1819). A little later we had further troubles with Spain which resulted in the is- sue of the famous Monroe Doctrine. Mexico and other Spanish provinces in America rose against Spain just as we rose against England at the time of our Revolution. Spain was too weak to overcome them. So one by one they set up governments of their own, as we did when we passed our Declaration of In- dependence. Spain appealed to several European countries to help her enforce her authority over these Spanish-American States, But the United States was opposed to any inter- ference. We said, in effect, "Hands off!" In a mes- sage to Congress, President Monroe asserted these three things: (1) ''We will take no part in the wars of Europe; (2) the countries of Europe are not to plant any more colonies in America; (3) if these same countries are to keep the friendship of the United States, they must not oppress any American country or seek in any other way to inter- AN EARLY TYPE OF CAR NEW TERRITORY AND NEW INVENTIONS 229 AN EARLY RAILROAD TRAIN fere with its independence," This was called the Monroe Doctrine because it first appeared in this formal way in a message which President Monroe* sent to Congress. This period, so eventful in the making of laws, was also very ,^^ active in producing new inventions. Fore- most among these was .»>«ww^|W/4 the railroad. We had found ways of using steam power to drive boats against the wind and tide on the rivers and lakes of our country. But we had not found a way of using steam power to transport people and their goods overland. This was finally brought about by the use of the railroad. The first passenger railroad in the-United States was the Baltimore and Ohio, which was begun in 1828.t In the early days the rails were of wood, covered with a thin The begin- strip of iron to protect the wood from wear. As late as raSfoaV^^ the Civil War rails of this kind were in use in some places. The first cross-ties were of stone, but later on wooden ties took their place. The railroad was first used in England in the mines, and when there was talk of making use of it in this country some people objected, for they thought the demand for horses would be less and that stage- drivers would be thrown out of work. But, once begun, the railroads rapidly grew in favor. As early as 1833, people who were coming from the West to attend President * James Monroe was president two terms (1817-1825). fThis was aunng the presidency of John Quincy Adams (1825-1829). 230 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The loco- motive and its train ' h^t/-"^ Jackson's second inauguration left the National Road at Frederick, Maryland. There they entered a train of six cars, each accommodating sixteen persons, and each drawn by horses. Thus they journeyed to Baltimore. In the autumn of that year a railroad was opened be- tween New York and Philadelphia. '*^; At first horses were used to draw the train, but by the end of the year steam carriages, which went at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, were in- troduced. The locomotives were small, and two or more were started off together, each drawing its own little train of cars. Beliind the locomotive was a car which was a mere platform, with a row of benches seating perhaps forty passengers inside of an open railing. Then followed four or five cars look- ing very much like stage-coaches. Each of these had three compartments, with doors on each side. The last car was a high, open-railed van, in which the baggage of the whole train was heaped up and covered with oilcloth. In 1833 there were scarcely three hundred and eighty miles of railroad in the United States. Now there are over two hundred thousand. A way had been found to carry people and their goods easily, rapidly, and cheaply over long distances. Another THE " SAVANNAH " THE FIRST OCEAN STEAMER NEW TERRITORY AND NEW INVENTIONS 231 THE "lUSITANIA" A MODERN OCEAN LINER wonderful invention made it possible to flash thought thousands of miles in a second of time. This was achieved through the inventive genius of S. F. B, Morse. For twelve long years the needy inventor had worked at this problem. Sometimes he almost starved. So meagre was his food that he bought it at night that his friends might not know how poorly he fared. Of course people believed the idea of the telegraph was rank folly. So also had they thought of the work of Fulton and of other great inventors. But, nevertheless, by 1844 a telegraph line, extending from Baltimore to Washington, was in use. On the day appointed for trial Morse, seated with a party of friends in the Supreme Court Chamber at Washington, sent to a friend in Baltimore the first message: ^'What hath God wrought!" At once this same message was sent back A wonderful invention A hard struggle Morse in- vents the telegraph 232 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Why we claimed the Oregon Country • The Northwest boundary line The " Oregon Country" by the friend, as proof that the experiment was successful. This was the beginning of a wonderful system of sending messages, by which all parts of the world are now held in a close interchange of thought. In the same year that the telegraph came into use, serious trouble arose over the north-west boundary line between Canada and the United States. England claimed all the region west of the Rocky Mount- ains as far south as the Columbia River. We claimed as far north as Alaska. We made our claim THE FIRST TELEGRAPH INSTRUMENT because Americans discovered the Columbia River and explored it and had planted a trading post out there. Moreover, a year before the excitement about the bound- ary began, a thousand pioneers had journeyed more than two thousand miles to the Oregon Country and made a settlement. Excitement grew with the discussion. In the autumn of 1844, when Polk was the Democratic candidate for President, the cry of the Democrats was ''54-40 or fight!" By this they meant to say, ''Unless England agrees to let our north-west boundary extend as far north as Alaska, we shall make war upon her." But there was no war, for each country was willing to give up a part of its claim. The trouble was settled by making our North-west bound- ary what it is to-day. The part of the country under dispute was then called the "Oregon Country." It included what is now NEW TERRITORY AND NEW INVENTIONS 233 the states of Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. The country lying south of the Oregon Country and west of the Rockies was called California and belonged to Mexico. While we were settling our northern boundary with J^e " Lone England, we were having other trouble in the Southwest. Many Americans, mostly from the Southern States, had A REAPER settled in Texas, which was then a part of Mexico. In the course of time the Texans rose against Mexico, and after some fighting, declared their independence. They set up a republic of their own and called themselves the ''Lone Star State." As a great many of the Texans were Americans, they wished Texas to be annexed to the United States. The slave-holders especially desired this because Texas was in The annex- the south and was large enough to make four or five slave Texas States. For the same reason the Northern people op- posed the annexation. Moreover, they believed that it would cause a war with Mexico, for that country did not acknowledge the independence of Texas. Meanwhile the southern boundary line of Texas was in A boundary) dispute. Texas claimed that it was one river * and Mexico *Rio Grande (Re' o gran' da). 234 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The Ameri- cans win every battle that it was another.* Between these two rivers lay a re» gion one hundred miles in width. While the dispute was still unsettled, President Polk f sent General Taylor with an army to occupy the disputed territory. The Mexi- cans at once attacked him and thus brought on the Mexican War. Although the Mexi- cans were brave, the Americans won every battle. Finally Gen- eral Scott captured Vera Cruz and, march- ing across the mount- ains, took the City of Mexico. While this was going on, other American troops got control of California. After two years of fighting, a treaty of peace was signed by which Mexico gave to the United States not only all the land that Texas claimed but much more besides, including California and New Mexico. In return the United States paid over eighteen million dollars. { On the same day on which the treaty of peace was signed (February 2, 1848), gold was discovered in Call- ♦Nueces (Nwa ses). t James K. Polk was President one term (1845-1849). t This amount included claims of American citizens against Mexico to the amount of about $3,500,000. THE TERRITORY IN DISPUTE BETWEEN TEXAS AND MEXICO NEW TERRITORY AND NEW INVENTIONS 235 SUTTEB S MILL " To the diggings!'* fomia. Captain Sutter, a Swiss immigrant living near The discov- the site of the present city of Sacramento, was having a ^^^ °* ^°^^ saw-mill built up the river at some distance from his home. One day a workman discovered in the mill-race some bright yellow particles, ^^, the largest of which were about the size of grains of wheat. On testing them. Captain Sutter found that they were gold. It was impossible to keep the news from spreading. '^Gold! Gold! Gold!" seemed to ring through the air all the neighboring country men started in rush for the gold fields. Houses were left half built, fields half ploughed. "To the diggings!" was the watch- word. From the coast to the mountains, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, settlements were abandoned. Even the vessels that came into the harbor of San Fran- cisco were deserted by their crews. Sailors and captains were wild in their desire to dig for gold. Within four months from the first discovery, four thousand men were living in the neighborhood of Sacra- mento. The sudden coming together of so many people High cost of , . . supphes and made it difficult to get supplies, and they rose in value, tools Tools of many kinds sold for large prices. Pickaxes, crow- bars, and spades cost from ten to fifty dollars apiece. Bowls, trays, dishes, and even warming-pans were eagerly sought, because they could be used in washing gold. From mad 236 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES AT THE GOLD MINE8 Three ways of reaching California How the gold-seekers travelled People in the East did not learn of the discovery until late in the year, for news still travelled slowly. But when it arrived, men of every class — farmers, mechanics, lawyers, doctors, and even ministers, started West. The journey might be made in three ways. One was by sailing- vessels around Cape Horn. This route took from five to seven months. Another way was to sail from some Eastern port to the Isthmus of Panama, and from there take ship for San Francisco. The third route was overland, from what is now St. Joseph, Missouri, and required three or four months. This could not be taken until spring, and some who were unwilling to wait started at once by the water routes. Men were so eager to go that often they joined together to buy an outfit of oxen, mules, wagons, and provisions. They travelled in ^ covered wagons ^g,. called ''prairie "^ schooners," while ""^ their goods fol- lowed in pedlers' CROSSING THE PLAINS FOR CALIFORNIA carts. Out on the plains they frequently missed their way, for there was no travelled road. A compass was as necessary as if they were on the ocean. NEW TERRITORY AND NEW INVENTIONS 237 A CARAVAN BEING ATTACKED BY INDIANS Travelling thus by day, and camping by night near a stream, if they could find one, they suffered much on the journey. Disease overtook them. Four thousand died from cholera during that first year, and many more from Suffering on " '' ^ ^ the journey lack of suitable food. In some cases they had to kill their mules for food, and sometimes they lived on rattlesnakes. The scattered bones of mules, horses, and even of men marked the trail; for in their frantic desire to reach the diggings, the men would not always stop to bury their dead. When the gold region was reached, tents, wigwams, bark in tj^e ° ° J ; o ; ^ gQjjj region huts, and brush arbors served as shelter. The men did their own cooking, washing, and mending, and food was at famine prices. A woman or a child was a rare sight in all that eager throng. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1 . The first passenger railroad in the United States was begun in Bahimore in 1828. It was the beginning of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. 2. The first telegraph line, extending from Balti- more to Washington, was put into use in 1844. 3. The Mexican 238 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES War was the outcome of a dispute over boundary lines and the annexation of Texas. INIexico was badly defeated and was obliged to give us much of her territory. 4. Gold was discovered in Cali- fornia in 184S. TO THE PUPIL 1. Explain how the railroads have helped the country. How has the telegraph been of service to the people? 2. What trouble arose between Texas and Mexico? What were the causes and the results of the Mexican War ? 3. How was gold discovered in California? In what ways did people from the East reach the gold mines? Explain some of the troubles they had to meet on the journey overland. CHAPTER XXVII SLAVERY AND ABOLITION A bitter dispute The Com- promise of 1850 People flocked by thousands to the gold lands, so that in two years California asked for admission to the Union. The old question then came to the front: ''Shall the territory which we got from Mexico be slave or free?" The North said it must be free ; the South said it must be slave. The dispute between the sections again became bitter. Once more there were threats from the Southern States that they would go out of the Union, and again the peace- maker, Henry Clay, found a way to settle the trouble. "Let California come in as a free State," he said. This pleased the North. "Let the people in all the rest of the territory which we got 'from Mexico decide for them- selves whether they shall have slavery or freedom." This pleased the South. He also said, "When slaves run away from the South into the Northern States, they shaU SLAVERY AND ABOLITION 239 ESCAPING BY THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD be returned to their masters; an^^ when Northern people are called upon to help to capture them, they shall do so." This was called the Compromise of 1850.* Of course, neither the North nor the South was pleased with it; yet it seemed the best v/ay out of the difficulty. The law-makers, however, had promised more than the people of the North were wilhng to fulfil. In fact, some of them not only would not try to catch the runaway slaves, but would help them to escape. They had been doing so for many years. The means by which they passed the slaves along to a place of safety was the Underground Railroad. No screech of whistle announced the arrival of its trains. The Under- Travel was by night, and the signal of approach a gentle Kikoad tap on the door. The house of a. friend was the station, and the station keeper a Northern man ready to help the runaway to make his escape. On reaching a station, the negro was fed and was allowed to rest until the following night. Then he went on to the next station. It is said that between 1830 and 1860 thirty thousand runaway slaves escaped to Canada by means of the Underground Railroad. Of course, this made the South very angry. During all these years the North was increasing rapidly in population, while the South remained about the same. The South felt that if slavery was to prosper they must * In 1849-1853 Zachary Taylor was President for one year, four months, and Millard Fillmore for two years, eight months. 240 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Different ideas about slavery Douglas and slavery The Kansas settlers have more slave States. The North and South had different ideas about slaver5\ They were hke two sides in a great game that could not agree upon the rules. Each side knew that the one having the greater number of people and of States would win the game. Therefore each was always on the watch to see that the other got no advantage in that wa}'. A new plan for the South was now brought forward. Stephen A. Douglas, a leader of the Democratic party, was its champion. He declared that Congress was wrong when, in 1820, it made all the territoiy north and WTst of the Missouri forever free. His plan was that Kansas and Nebraska, which included all of the Louisiana Purchase north and west of the Missouri, should be made into two territories, and that they should decide for themselves whether or not they should have slaves. There was a hot discussion. Many opposed the bill, but Congress passed it (1854).* The result was a civil war in Kansas. Many people who did not like slaveiy at once began to make a strong effort to have Kansas enter the Union as a free State. Emigrant-aid societies were formed in the North for the purpose of sending men to Kansas to vote for freedom. It was partly with this purpose that the emigrants whom these societies helped left their homes and took the long journey to the territoiy where there was so much excitement. Of course the Southern leaders were just as eager to fill Kansas with men who would cast their votes for slavery. Both sides fought savagely. The slave-State men called the Northerners Black Republicans, and the free-State * Franklin Pierce was now President (1853-57). SLAVERY AND ABOLITION 241 men called the Southerners Border Ruffians. On elec- civil War tion day many men from Missouri, across the southern ^^^^^^^^^ border, would come from their own State and unfairly cast their vote for slavery. First one side and then the other got control. For three years the struggle continued. But in 1858 the antislavery men were victorious. Kan- sas was admitted to the Union as a free State m 1861. The South was losing ground. But about this time the Supreme Court aided its cause by a famous decision. This was known as the Dred Scott Decision (1857). Dred P^ Dred . Scott Scott was a slave whose master, an army surgeon, took him Decision from Missouri into Illinois, and afterward into Minnesota Territory. Later they returned to Missouri, and there Dred Scott demanded his freedom. He declared that because he had lived in a free State he was a free man. But the Supreme Court of the United States decided that Dred Scott was a slave even though his master took him into a free State, because he was nothing more than a piece of property, just like a horse or an>i:hing else that a man could take with him w^here he chose. The Dred Scott Decision created great excitement in the North, for it meant that slave-owners could take their slaves into free States all over the Union. Of late years the feeling against slavery had been grow- ing stronger in the North. There w^ere now thousands who believed that it should be done away with forever, wiiiiam They were called Abolitionists. Most prominent among Gamson them was William Lloyd Garrison. Twenty A'ears and more before this time, he had published (1831) a paper called The Liberator, in which he told his beliefs about slavery. He said: "It is a sin against God and a crime 242 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Mobbed in Boston John Brown's plan John Brown's raid against man." "All the slaves should be set free at once." The Southerners were horrified at his teaching and offered a reward for Garrison's capture. Many people in the North also disliked his views. "We can't do away with slavery/' they said, "and this talk may break up the Union. Better to have slavery in part of the Union than to have no Union at all." Feeling rose so high that Gar- rison was mobbed in the streets of Boston (1835). His clothing was torn from his body, and if the police had not come to his rescue he would have been killed. One of the strongest of the Abolitionists was John Brown, a man of iron will, fearless, and religious. He had ])een in Kansas during the struggle there between the free-State and the sla"\'e-State men, and had fought hard against slaveiy. It was his firm belief that it should be ended, and that God was using him to help end it. He thought that with a small Ijody of brave men he might hold some strong position in the mountains as a rallying place, and from this centre sally forth and set free slaves on the near-by plantations and arm them. It seemed as if it would be an easy matter to feed them by seizing food belonging to their masters. Thus he hoped in time to make the Southern planters feel that slaver}^ was unsafe, and that it would l)e best to do away with it altogether. The stoiy of John Brown's raid we can tell here only in a very brief way. Five negroes and fifteen white men made up the little band that on a Sunday night in October, 1859,* attacked the State Arsenal at Haiper's Feriy, Virginia. They * James Buchanan was now President (1857-1861). SLAVERY AND ABOLITION 243 expected to capture muskets and ammunition and escape to the mountains, but, instead, they themselves were captured. Brown was tried for murder and treason, was convicted, and hanged. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. By the compromise of 1850 it was agreed that California should enter the Union as a free State. 2. By a law passed by Congress the people in Kansas were to decide for themselves whether they should have slaves or not. The result was that Kansas came in as a free State. 3. In the Dred Scott Decision the Supreme Court decided that a master could carry his slave into free States. 4. John Brown's Raid was an attack upon Harper's Ferry (1859). Its object was to frighten slave-holders into setting their slaves free. TO THE PUPIL 1. What agreement did the North and South make when California was admitted into the Union? 2. What was the Underground Railroad? 3. What did John Brown try to do at Harper's Ferry, and what was the result? 4. Name in order the Presidents from Andrew Jackson to James Buchanan. (See page 308.) 244 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CHAPTER XXVIII THE OUTBREAK OF THE CIVIL WAR In the midst of all this excitement over slavery, Abra- ham Lincoln was elected President of the United States (1860). This remarkable man was born February 12, 1809, in a Kentucky log cabin. When he was seven years old, the Early life of family removed to Indiana and staked out a farm about Lhicoin" fifteen miles north of the Ohio River. There the boy w^orked daily from morning till night, helping his father. They had first to clear a field for corn planting. Then they built a rough log cabin which was w^ithout chimney or fireplace and entirely open on one side. Here the fam- ily lived for a year before the fourth side was added. The house consisted of but a sin- gle room with a loft above, and at first was without windows or floor. The home-made tables and chairs were of split logs with the fiat side upward. The loft, in which Abraham slept on a pile of dry leaves, was reached by means of pegs driven into the wall. In those days, you will remember, life in the Western settlements was simple. Even the school building was a log cabin with the earth' for a floor, and for windows small holes covered with greased paper instead of glass. In such a school house Lincoln was taught reading, writing, and a little ciphering, Lincoln at school UNCOLN S BIRTHPLACE THE OUTBREAK OF THE CIVIL WAR 245 But in all his childhood he went to school less than a year. During some of the time he had to walk four and one-half miles. The few books that he had he thoroughly studied, and from them he wrote out on paper the parts he liked. If there was no paper, and usually there was none, he wrote on boards, using charcoal for a pencil. Sometimes at night, as he lay stretched by the fireside, he ciphered out his sums on ^ .* : ^ -. the whitewood shovel, and when he had covered the surface he would shave it off with his knife and start over again. At seventeen he was six feet four inches in height and was a giant in strength. Tall and dark, dressed in coarse homespun shirt, with deerskin trousers several inches too short for him, he was a typical backwoodsman of those days. Everybody liked him, for he was always good-natured and fond of telling stories. Lincoln had often watched the boats on the river, and had often wondered where they were going. Eager to know more about the life of which he had dreamed, he made up his mind to become a boatman. He was hun- gry for knowledge, and with the same earnest purpose with which he had absorbed the great thoughts of the few books he had read, he now set out to learn about the life on the river and along its banks. As soon as he could, he found employment on a flatboat that carried corn, hogs, hay, and other farm produce down to New Orleans. LINCOLN AS A BOATMAN Young Lincoln a giant in strength 246 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Lincoln not an abolitionist In spite of his scant learning, Lincoln was a good public speaker; for he thought clearly and convinced those who Honest Abe heard him of his honesty. Early in life he was called Honest Abe, and he grew up to be a sincere, true- hearted man whom everybody trusted. His motto seemed always to be, " I will find out the right thing to do, and then I will tiy to do it in the right way." This was the man whom the Repulilicans elected President of the United States at a time when the countiy needed a strong, firm leader. Such Abraham Lincoln proved to be. But when the South learned that Lincoln had been elected, they were alarmed. For the Republicans had become so earnest in their opposition to slaveiy that the South saw little difference between them and the Aboli- tionists. William Lloyd Garrison, John Brown, and Aljraham Lincoln were to their minds veiy much alike. But in this they were mistaken. Garrison and Brown wanted slavery abolished at once. Lincoln took no such ground. What he said was, "Let us have no more slave States, but let us not interfere with slavery where it is." South Carolina, however, did not seem to think that Lincoln and the Republicans meant what they said. You will remember that the people of South Carolina threatened to secede when the high-tariff law was passed. Now they said, "Slavery is not safe with such a man as Abraham Lincoln for President. The only thing for us to do is to go out of the Union." So in a few weeks after Lincoln's election that was what South Carolina did (December 20, 1860). South Caro- lina secedes THE OUTBREAK OF THE CIVIL WAR 247 Within six weeks from the time South Carohna seceded, the six other cotton States — Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas — followed her example. Secession of About the same time (February fourth) a new govern- slave states ment was organized under the name of the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis was chosen president and Alexander H. Stephens vice-pres- ident. These seven cotton States hoped that they would be joined by the other eight slave States, but only four of these eight seceded. They were Virginia, North Carolina, Ten- nessee, and Arkansas. The other four — Missouri, Kentucky, Delaware, and Maryland — ^were called the ''border States" because they bordered upon the Northern States which did not secede. Richmond, Virginia, was later made the Confederate capital. The Confederates pulled down the national flag, the -^^^b**? stars and stripes, and raised one of their own, the stars and bars. It had a blue union which at first contained seven white stars and later eleven, each one to represent- a seceded State. It also had three broad stripes, the central one being white and the other two red. The Confederate States at once began to seize upon all the national property within their borders, such as forts, custom-houses, post-offices, and light-houses. Although Lincoln was elected in November, he did not take office until the fourth of March. Meantime the South rapidly prepared for war. James Buchanan, who was JEFFERSON DAVIS 248 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Buchanan seems helpless Buchanan weak Attack on Fort Sumter CAPITOL PARK, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, SHOWING CAPITOL then President (1857-LS61), seemed helpless. Veiy dif- ferent he was from Andrew Jackson, who was President when South Carolina passed the Nullification Act in 1832. You remember that he at once sent down troops to pre-* vent the State from cariying out its threat. Buchanan was weak. He said, "No State has a right to secede; neither has the Union a right to prevent a State from seceding." Such a balancing left no weight in the scale for the Union. So the seceded States were allowed to go their own way until Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated, on March 4, 1861. We might say of this period, as was said of the Revolution when Washing- ton was retreating across New Jersey, '^ These were the days that tried men's souls." Wlien Lincoln became President, there were a few forts in the seceded States that the Confederates had not seized. Among them was Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. A small force of less than one hundred men, under the command of Major Anderson, occupied it. As they were nmch in need of food, Lincoln prepared at once to send them provisions. A CONFEDERATE FLAG THE OUTBREAK OF THE CIVIL WAR 249 Thereupon the Confederates decided to attack the fort with several thousand troops. Before the Union fleet could arrive, in the early morning of April twelfth, the firing began and continued for thirty-four hours. HUINS or FORT SUMTER At last the wooden barracks were set on fire by hot shot. The flames spread beyond control. The heat and smoke drove the men in the garrison to He flat on the Surrender . of Fort ground, with wet cloths over their mouths, to keep from Sumter suffocating. With food and powder almost gone, and flag mast shot away, the garrison had to surrender. The Con- federates, admiring the courage of this handful of men, allowed them to retire from the fort, bearing their arms. Just before leaving, they fired a salute of fifty guns and marched out with colors flying and the band playing '^Yankee Doodle." The firing upon Fort Sumter startled the nation. It The nation 1 1 • • r -r. • 1 X • 1 11 1 startled was the begmnmg of war. President Lincoln called 250 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Bull Run Battle of Bull Run II Results of the battle for seventy-five thousand soldiers and declared that the South was under blockade. Both the North and the South began rapidly to organize armies, although the North believed that the war would be short. General McDowell was at the head of the Union army, which was gathering in and about Washington. The Confederate army, under Beauregard, was stationed at Bull Run, about thirty-five miles south of Washington. Being on a railroad. Bull Run was a good centre for sup- phes and troops, and within easy striking distance of Washington. McDowell moved first. Although not ready for bat- tle, he attacked the Confederates and drove them back. But in the midst of their retreat news came that the Con- federates had been reinforced. This brought panic to the Union army. A stampede followed which soon became a rout. Men fled for their fives. Teamsters cut their traces and rode away on their horses. Soldiers flung aside their muskets and knapsacks. The army became a mob. This defeat was a great blow to the Union. Gloom settled over the North. President Lincoln suffered keenly, for he was expecting victory. But the North was nerved to greater energy. It was clear now that the great strug- gle could be settled only by war. The day following the battle, Congress voted to raise an army of five hun- dred thousand men. The South, however, was overcon- fident. Many Southern soldiers began to return to their homes. They seemed to think the war was over. But that was a great mistake. THE BLOCKADE AND WAR ON THE SEA 251 THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. Abraham Lincoln said, "Let us have no more slave States, but let us not interfere with slavery where it is." 2. The seven cotton States seceded first. They were followed later by Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. The other four slave States did not secede. 3. The attack on Fort Sumter by the Confederates was the first outbreak of the war. 4. The Union army, under General McDowell, was defeated at the Battle of Bull Run (1861). TO THE PUPIL 1. Tell what you can about Abraham Lmcoln's boyhood. 2. How many slave States were there? Which of them did not secede ? 3. In what way did President Buchanan (1857-1861) show his weakness ? 4. Why did the Confederates attack Fort Sumter and with what results ? 5. With what results was the Battle of Bull Run fought ? CHAPTER XXIX THE BLOCKADE AND WAR ON THE SEA The Union plan of the war was soon worked out. It included three things: first, the blockade of the South- ern ports; second, the opening of the Mississippi; third, the capture of Richmond. By blockading the Southern ports the South would be cut off from the rest of the world. You remember that Purpose of before the war the Southern people were engaged largely ade in raising cotton, rice, sugar, and tobacco. For manu- factured goods they depended upon the North and upon Europe, especially England. Every yard of cloth, every 252 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES England's need of cotton Difficulty of blockading the Southern ports Running the blockade pair of shoes, all their carpenters' tools, their wagons, har- nesses, saddles, and even nails, the Southern States got outside their own borders. They themselves could supply only their bread and their meat. Railroad iron and loco- motives, telegraph wire, and even spades for the army to use in digging their trenches came from outside. The blockade, therefore, if successful, might be a very powerful weapon in carrying on the war and, as we shall see later, in defeating the South. But at the beginning of the war the South took a more cheerful view of the blockade, for she believed that England would interfere. Many thousand people who worked in English factories where Southern cotton was made into cloth would be thrown out of work if they could not get the cotton. The South believed that if the North should blockade the Southern ports so that cotton could not be sent to England, England would put an end to the blockade by helping the South. It was very difficult for the Union vessels to close all the Southern ports, including Richmond, Wilmington, Charles- ton, Savannah, and Mobile. These, as you will see by looking at your map, were scattered over a long coast- line, a distance of more than a thousand miles. There were not enough vessels in the Union navy to guard closely all of this coast at one time. Therefore blockade-runners often slipped in and out of some of these ports, taking away cotton and bringing back the manufactured goods of which the South stood in such deep need. These blockade-runners were long and low and painted a dull color. They would run the blockade on dark and rainy nights; that is, slip in between the Union vessels THE BLOCKADE AND WAR ON THE SEA 253 that did not stand very close together. Often they were captured, but the profits from the trade were so high that many were wihing to take the risk of being caught. Early in the war, this irregular traffic brought us into trouble with England. A blockade-runner had escaped from a Southern port with two envoys, John Mason and John Slidell, who were on their way to secure aid from A BLOCKADE-RUNNER Blockade- runners The "Trent Affair" England and France. When they reached Havana, they took passage on the British mail steamer Trent. This vessel was overhauled later by a Union vessel, and Mason and Slidell were captured and taken to Fort Warren in Boston Harbor. The Northern people greatly rejoiced at this capture. They acted as if a victory had been won. But England was angry and demanded that the men should be returned. There might have been war, but Abraham Lincoln knew that the act was wrong and wisely ordered Mason and Slidell to be given up. He declared that their capture was neither authorized nor approved by the United States Government. This incident, which was called the ''Trent Affair," made bad feehng between our country and England. The "Ala- bama" 254 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The people of the North felt that England would not have been so prompt to threaten war if she had not been in sympathy with the South. If any doubt as to English s}Tnpathy remained, it promptly vanished when in less than a year she al- lowed the Alabama, a vessel intended for breaking the blockade, to be built at Liverpool. Our minister to England at that time, Charles Francis Adams, warned the THE SINKING OF THE ALABAMA British Government that the vessel, then called the *'290," was intended for the Confederate service. But they allowed her to escape on her trial trip, and to receive coal and ammunition at the Azores from a British steamer. Th fact, the vessel was ' manned by English sailors and sometimes sailed under the English flag. Her mission was to capture the trading vessels of the United States, and in this she was successful. She took THE "mERRIMAC" THE BLOCKADE AND WAR ON THE SEA 255 during the war over sixty, their value being over seven million dollars. After the war was closed, we insisted The that England should pay damages for allowing the claims Alabama and other cruisers to sail from her ports. These damages were known as the Alabama Claims. England settled them by paying fifteen million dollars. In attempting to break the blockade, the South had '^}^^ "Mer- runac " made (1862) another notable effort. At the beginning of the war, when the Norfolk Navy-yard was given up by the Government, the Merri- mac, then the strongest ves- sel in the navy, was sunk to prevent her falling into the hands of the South. The Confederates, however, raised the Merrimac, and finding her machinery little injured, made her into an iron-clad frigate. On her hull they built a sloping roof of strong timbers and covered it with iron plates four inches thick. The eaves extended two feet below the surface of the water, so that the enemy's balls would glance off without doing injury. Ten powerful guns and an iron ram completed the armament of the frigate. On Saturday, March eighth, the Merrimac steamed slowly out of the docks of Norfolk. Near the mouth of the James River were five wooden ships, the most powerful Attacks the c 1 TT • n . » Union fleet 01 the Union navy. Steammg for the Cumberland, the Merrimac rammed her with such force that she made a hole big enough for several men to crawl into side by side. The water rushed in, and the vessel began to sink. The captain of the Merrimac demanded the surrender of the 25G ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The " Merri- mac," the " Cumber- land," and the "Congress " Feeling in the North The " Mon- itor " THE MONITOR Cumberland. Her officer replied, ''Never! I will sink alongside." For half an hour the Merrimac continued to pour broad- sides into the sinking ship, whose crew fought steadily and gallantly. Their shot made no more impression upon the Merrimac than so many grains of wheat. The Cumherlami continued to fire until the cannon touched the water and then went down with her colors flying. The Merrimac next turned her attention to the Congress and fired hot shot into her until she was set on fire. After spending several hours destroying these vessels, she steamed back toward the harbor, expecting to com- plete her work the following day. That night the South rejoiced in the confidence of victory. The Northern people were stunned by the great calamity. They imagined that the Merrimac would ad- vance and capture Washington, New York, and Phila- delphia, in fact all the great seaports. They believed she would break the blockade, and that the victory of the South would be complete. The next morning, a beautiful Sunday, the Merrimac started out again, this time to destroy the Minnesota, which had run aground the day before. As she steamed slowly toward her victim, a new and strange-looking craft made its appearance. The Confederates were aware that a new iron-clad vessel was being built in the New York Navy-yard, and they said, ''That is the Monitor. She looks like a cheese box on a raft." This very well described the Monitor, which was about one-quarter the THE BLOCKADE AND WAR ON THE SEA 257 size of the Merrimac. The '^ cheese box" was a revolving turret which had two powerful guns pointing in the same direction from one of its sides, and her deck was so nearly level with the water that the waves swept over it. And now began one of the strangest battles in the history of the world. The heavy cannon-balls that each vessel fired made almost no impression on the iron-clad ^ strange surface of the other. At one time during the action the commander of the Merrimac asked one of his men why they were not firing. "Our powder is very pre- cious/' was the answer, *^and after two hours' firing I find I can do her about as much damage by snapping my thumb at her every two minutes and a half." Several times during the struggle the Merrimac tried to ram the Monitor, but the Monitor was too quick for her. It took the Merrimac thirty-five minutes to turn around, ^^^ ^*s outcome while the Monitor could go quickly about the Merrimac, which she did, searching for a weak spot. This was hard to find, and at the end of about four hours Captain Worden of the Monitor received a wound which delayed the action and the Merrimac withdrew. Neither iron- clad had gained anything, and neither seemed to wish to continue the struggle. The Merrimac had failed to break the blockade. The sturdy little Monitor had saved the Union. This battle brought about a change in the navies of the world. The days of wooden war-ships had ended. The blockade continued to do its work, and long before Results of the close of the war it was impossible for the South to get even such necessaries as shoes, copper, and medicines. Their principal food was bacon and hard corn-bread. 258 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Jefferson Davis had said at the beginning of the war, "Cotton is king." By that he meant that when the k£?"°° *^ blockade should cut off the cotton from the EngUsh fac- tories, the people of England would cry out for the war to be stopped. The blockade did result in closing many of the cotton factories in northern England. But by that time the workmen had found that the struggle was be- tween slavery and freedom. Therefore even when they and their families were almost starving for lack of food that cotton could supply, they prayed for the success of the Union. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. The Union plan of the war was as follows: (1) To blockade the Southern ports, (2) open the Mississippi, and (3) capture Richmond. 2. The Monitor prevented the Merrimac from break- ing the blockade at the mouth of the James River (1862). 3. The Southern cruiser Alabama, built in England, destroyed many Northern vessels. After the war England paid the United States fifteen million dollars for the damage done by the Alabama and other cruisers. TO THE PUPIL 1. What was the Union plan of the war ? 2. Who were Mason and Slidell, and what happened to them ? Why was it important that the Union navy should blockade the South ? 3. What was the " Alabama," and how did she injure the Union ? 4. How did the "Monitor" save the Union? THE OPENING OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER 259 CHAPTER XXX THE OPENING OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER The blockade, however successful, could not com- pletely cut off the South from the rest of the world. In order to do that it was necessary not only to close the The control Southern seaports but to get control of the Mississippi, sissippi By so doing, the Union could divide the seceded States and keep them from getting food and other supplies from places west of the Mississippi and from Europe by way of Mexico and Texas. Accordingly, with that purpose in view, a campaign was planned. A strong line of forts which the Con- federates held in Kentucky and Tennessee helped to guard the Mississippi on the east. In 1862, General Grant marched ^ confederate soldier upon the two most important of these forts. One was Fort Henry, on the Tennessee, and the Capture of other was Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland. With the and Don-° aid of Foote's gun-boats he took them both. When the ^^^°° Confederates at Fort Donelson asked Grant on what terms he would receive their surrender, he made the famous reply, ''No terms other than an unconditional and immediate surrender." After that he was called "Unconditional Surrender Grant." With the capture of these forts, the Confederates were obliged to leave Kentucky, and they gathered their forces farther south. The Union armies followed and took their 260 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Battle of Shiloh stand near them. A great battle was fought at Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, where Grant defeated the Southern army. After these losses, the Confederate strongholds on the Mississippi, as far south as Vicksburg, fell one by one into the hands of the Union troops. Not long after this, Commodore Farragut with a fleet of nearly fifty wooden vessels sailed up the Mississippi Capture of New Orleans Ci^PUOOIN THE MAP SHOWING THE CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST for the purpose of capturing New Orleans. The city was defended by two forts which stood opposite each other some distance down the river. There were also two great chains stretched across the river on the hulks of old vessels. Above the forts was a strong fleet and a number of flre-rafts. After bombarding the forts for six days, Farragut decided to run by them at night. He cut the chains and started up the river. The forts fired upon him, and fire-rafts with burning cotton and pine wood THE OPENING OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER 261 floated down upon his fleet. But he passed bravely for- ward and captured the city. The next year General Grant, having tried for many months to capture Vicksburg from the north, advanced upon it from the south. For seven weeks he laid siege to Grant capN the city. During that time the people of Vicksburg had vicksburg to live in caves dug along the banks of the river and in the hillsides of the city. The suffering was intense. People were almost starved. Meal sold for one hundred and forty dollars a bushel (Confederate money), flour for five dollars a pound, molasses for from ten to twelve dollars a gallon, and beef for from two to two and one-half dollars per pound. In fact, before the end of the siege the people were without beef, and they began to eat mule flesh and rats. On July 4, 1863, Vicksburg surrendered to Grant. Four or five days later the last stronghold on the The Union ^ ^ ^ controls the Mississippi, Port Hudson, fell into the hands of the Mississippi Union army. The Mississippi was now in control of the Union. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. In order to cut off the South from the rest of the world and to divide the seceded States into two sections, it was necessary for the Union to get control of the Mississippi. 2. In 1862, General Grant, with the aid of Foote's gun-boats, captured Forts Henry and Donelson; and Commodore Farragut captured New Orleans. 3. In 1863, after a long siege, Vicksburg surrendered to General Grant on July 4, the day after the Battle of Gettysburg (p. 265). 262 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE PUPIL 1. Why did the Union wish to get control of the Mississippi ? 2. What forts and what city did the Union troops capture in 1862 ? What place in 1863? 3. Notice that Vicksburg fell into the hands of the Union the day after Lee's defeat at Gettysburg. 4. It is important that you locate on the map all places mentioned in the text. CHAPTER XXXI THE WAR IN THE EAST While the armies in the West were so successful, those in the East were losing battle after battle. The defeat at Bull Run had made it clear that something more than McCieiian men was needed to make a good army. The men had to Army of the know how to fight. General McClellan, who had been otomac winning battles in West Virginia, was therefore put in command of the army about Washington, which was called the Army of the Potomac, and he began to drill the men thoroughly. The result in the course of a few months was a splendidly trained body of brave soldiers. With them it seemed possible now to capture Rich- mond, and that, you remember, was a part of the Union Vln sight of plan of the war. Sailing down the Potomac, McClellan landed at Fortress Monroe. After fighting many battles, he approached so close to Richmond that the soldiers could see the spires of the churches. But he was unable to capture the city and had to retreat to the James River. During this retreat, which lasted a week, were fought what were known as the ''Seven Days' Battles." THE WAR IN THE EAST 263 At the time of this retreac, General Robert E. Lee was at the head of the Confederate army. He was now fifty- five years old, of tall and commanding presence. More- over, he was a true man, simple and sincere in all his dealings with others. His never-faihng desire was to do what was right. He did not wish Virginia, his native THE COUNTRY AROUND WASHINGTON AND RICHMOND Robert E. Lee State, to secede, but he felt that if she should secede he must go with her. He could not take up arms against ^^^L^/*^ the State he loved so well. When, therefore, at the beginning of the war Lincoln had offered him the com- mand of the Union army, he resigned his commission, although the step caused him great sorrow and a severe struggle. 264 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Lee's letter to his sister Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Lincoln's •ourpose In a letter to a sister living in Baltimore he wrote, "With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. I know you will blame me, but you must think as kindly of me as you can, and believe that I have endeavored to do what I thought right." After drawing his sword in behalf of the Confederate cause he soon became the most prominent gen- eral in the Confederate armies. Lee knew that while McClellan was moving on Richmond, President Lin- coln was afraid that Washington might be captured. Lee himself feared that a large body of troops under McDowell would be sent from Wash- ington to join McClellan. He therefore had sent ''Stone- wall" Jackson down the Shenandoah Valley to threaten Washington and thus prevent McDowell from coming to help ]\IcClellan. Having thus saved Richmond, Lee marched north into Maryland, where he hoped that the people would rise up and join him. That they did not W'as a keen disappointment, and after losing a hard- fought battle at Antietam (September, 1862) he had to retreat to Virginia. It was about this time that President Lincoln took a long step toward bringing the war to a close. When he became President, he had said that he had no power to do away with slavery. Although he did not mean to GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE THE WAR IN THE EAST 265 tion interfere with it where it was, he did not want any more slave States. "My great purpose/' he said, "is to save the Union and not to destroy slavery." Up to the present the purpose of the war had been to save the Union. But as time passed it became clear to Lincoln that the The Eman- slaves, by remaining on the plantations and producing proci^a- food for the Southern soldiers, were a great aid to the Southern cause. He therefore determined, as Commander-in-Chief of the Union army, to set the slaves free in all ter- ritory whose people were fighting against the Union. The famous State paper in which Lincoln set this forth is called the Emancipation Procla- mation. This was a very important State paper and had many striking results, of which we need here mention only one. Up to this time the war had been fought to save the Union. After this time it was fought not only to save the Union, l^ut to do away with slavery. Early in the same year (1863) Lee decided that he would again invade the North. Since the battle of Antietam, he had won two great victories over the Union army in The battle Virginia. He now thought a great victoiy north of the JuS^"^^' Potomac might lead to the capture of Philadelphia and Washington, and thus put an end to the war. Marching into Pennsylvania, he met the Union army under General Meade at the little town of Gettysburg, near the southern UNION CAVALRY 266 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES U. S. INFANTRY CAMP. (150tH PA.) MARCH, 1863 border of the State. There for three days the bloodiest battle of the war and one of the greatest battles of all history took place. Lee was defeated with frightful loss and had to retreat to Virginia. For a second time a Confederate army had failed to Doom of the get a foothold north of the Potomac. The flower of the Southern ^ , . . cause Southern army had perished, and all hope of winnmg a victory in the North was forever past. This defeat was emphasized by the surrender of Vicksburg, which oc- curred on the following day (July fourth). From now on the Southern cause was doomed. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. General McClellan advanced upon Richmond (1862). To prevent McDowell's troops from joining McClellan, Lee sent Jack- son to threaten Washington. 2. After INIcClellan's failure to THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 267 capture Richmond, Lee marched into Maryland. Here he was de- feated in the Battle of Antietam. 3. On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. 4. In 1863, Lee marched north a second time and was defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg. TO THE PUPIL X. How did McClellan approach Richmond? 2. What kind of man was General Lee ? 3. Why did he send Jackson down the Shenandoah Valley to threaten Washington ? Did his plan succeed ? 4. What was the result of Lee's invasion of Maryland ? 5. Why did Lee march north of the Potomac a second time in 1863? What battle was fought, and which side gained the victory ? 6. What was the Emancipation Proclamation, and why did President Lincoln issue it ? CHAPTER XXXII THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR After Gettysburg there were no great battles in the East until the following spring. Meantime the hero of Vicksburg, General Grant, had been adding to his reputa- Grant made tion by other victories in the West, and in March, 1864, oe^nerTi^"*' he was appointed by President Lincoln to be Lieutenant- General of the army. This meant that he was put in command of all the Union armies of the East and the West. In giving him his commission President Lincoln said, ''As the country herein trusts you, so under God it will sustain you." Before following the movements of the campaign, let us take a glimpse of Grant, who was one of the greatest generals that the Civil War produced. He was neither impressive in figure nor military in bearing, being only five feet eight inches tall, and with stooping shoulders. 268 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES A glimpse of Ulysses S. Grant The two watchwords GENERAL D. S. GRANT But he had a quiet dignity which gave him poise. He never grew excited even in the heat of battle, but kept himself cool and collected, ready for the severest ordeal that he might have to face. Although not robust in health, he showed great endurance on the battle-field. His qualities of heart and mind bore the test which the most critical year of the war now placed upon him. At this time the Confederates had two large armies in the field. One of them, under General Lee, was defending Richmond. The other, under General Joseph E. Johnston, was in Ten- nessee to defend that part of the Confederacy. General Grant's plan was to send General Sherman, in whom he had great confidence, against Johnston, with orders to capture Atlanta, which was now the workshop and storehouse of the Confederacy. For himself. Grant planned to march against Lee and capture Richmond. The two great watch- words were, ''On to Richmond," and "On to Atlanta." MILITARY T) I.l ill.'APH HvrTKRY WAGON, HEADQUARTERS AHMY OF POTOMAC, NEAR PETERSBDRG, JUNE, 1864 THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 269 Grant and Lee Early in May, 1864, both Grant and Sherman began their campaigns. In marching against Richmond, Grant chose the overland route from Washington. The roads were The ad- bad, and the wooded land was crossed by many streams. Richmond Progress was slow and difficult. The first battle, which was fought in the Wilderness, lasted three days. Much of the time the woods were so gloomy and the under- brush so thick that the men could not -see the enemy twenty feet away. This kind of fighting was dis- couraging, and the loss of life very great; but Gr.ant said, ''I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." It did take all summer. There were other battles, and the fighting was desperate. Lee held his ground so stub- bornly that Grant could not take Richmond from the north. Hoping to take it from the south he started for Petersburg, but before he arrived Lee had occupied the place (July). Grant then began a nine months' siege of Petersburg. Hoping to draw Grant away from the vicinity of Rich- mond, Lee now planned to threaten Washington. He sent General Early, as he had before sent '' Stonewall" Jackson, to raid the Shenandoah Valley and capture the Union capital. Early led his army within plain sight of Wash- 13-INCH MORTAR "DICTATOR" IN FRONT OF PETERSBURG, SEPTEMBER 1, 1864 Early's raid 270 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Sheridan in the Shenan- doah " Sheridan's ride " ington, and in a few hours might have captured the city. But he waited until the following day, and by that time troops had arrived from Grant's army. It was then too late. Once more Washington was safe. Since the capital had been twice threatened from the direction of the Shenandoah, it seemed wise to guard against another attempt. Grant therefore sent General ''Phil" Sheridan to lay waste this storehouse of the Confederates. He knew that by this expedition he could not only protect Washington but deal a blow to the Confederate army by destroying their food sup- ply. This would bring the war nearer to a close and in the end save human life. Sheridan entered the val- ley, destroyed large quanti- ties of supphes, and after some fighting went into camp in October on the north side of Cedar Creek. A few days later he was called to Washington. Returning on the eighteenth, he stayed overnight at Winchester. About six o'clock the next morning a picket on duty reported that cannon were firing in the direction of Cedar Creek. At first Sheridan paid little attention. Then he began to be disturbed. He writes, ''I tried to go to sleep BUERIDAN RALLYING THE TROOPS AT CEDAR CREEK THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 271 again, but grew so restless that I could not and soon got up and dressed myself." He ate his breakfast and then, Cedar Creek mounting his coal-black steed, started on his famous ride for the battle-field of Cedar Creek, fourteen miles away. As he rode forward, he could hear the booming of cannon. Then he saw his army in full retreat, and fugitives told him that a battle had been fought and everything lost. With two aides and twenty men Sheridan dashed for- BAILROAD BRIDGE NEAR CHATTANOOGA, BDILT BY DNION SOLDIERS FROM TIMBI K ( OT ON SIDES OP MOUNTAIN ward to the front. As soon as his men caught sight of him, with cheers they shouldered their muskets and faced about. Sheridan brought order out of confusion, and in Sheridan Ciid.ii&r6S the battle that followed, drove Early's army from the defeat into field in utter rout. "Sheridan's Ride" had changed de- "^^^^°^^ feat into victory. While these events were happening in Virginia, the armies farther south were also active. Starting from 272 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF TFIE UNITED STATES Sherman captures Atlanta " From Atlanta to the sea " Lincoln's Christmas present Chattanooga in Tennessee, Sherman was crowding John- ston toward Atlanta as Grant had been crowding Lee toward Richmond. In order to get his supphes, he held his march close to the railroad. To hinder Sherman's army as much as possible, the Confederates sent wrecking parties to its rear to tear up the railroads. But so quickly were they rebuilt that the Confederates used to say, ''Sherman must cany a railroad on his back." His advance was slow but steady, and on September second he captured Atlanta. This capture was of great importance, for during the war the city had become the centre of many mills and factories and had furnished the Confederate army with weapons, ammunition, and other sup- plies. After burning all the storehouses and factories that might be of use to the Confederacy, and cutting telegraph communica- tion with the North, Sherman started on his famous march "from Atlanta to the sea." His army marched in four columns, covering a belt of territoiy sixty miles wide. His puipose was to weaken the Confederate army by destroying their supplies and their railroads. In his advance he tore up three hundred miles of rail- road and destroyed vast quantities of cotton, food, and military stores. He captured Savannah, which made only a slight resistance, on December twenty-first. His message to President Lincoln was as follows: "I beg to present you as a Christmas present the city of Savannah 'P'l0''k^' THOMAS J. ("stonewall") JACKSON THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 273 with one hundred and fifty guns and plenty of ammuni- tion, and also about twenty-five thousand bales of cot- ton." This was glorious news to the man who was bearino; Glorious , » . news upon his mind and heart the burdens of the nation. The North greatly rejoiced. But the South was crushed under the weight of a lost cause. DESTROYING THE RAILROAD, ATLANTA After staying at Savannah for a few weeks, Sherman started (February 1, 1865) on his march north to capture Johnston, or to join Grant in an attempt to capture Lee. Sherman It was a long, tiying march, through many swamps and nSSward over muddy roads. Often it was necessary to build a corduroy road by laying tree trunks side by side. Some- times the mud was almost knee-deep, and shoes were lost Lee retreats 274 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES in marching through the mire. But with torn clothing, and often without hats, the troops pushed forward. The hope of joining the army under Grant made their trials seem light. In the mean time where was Grant? He was pressing so hard upon the Confederate army that Lee had to leave Richmond and move rapidly westward to escape his Lee's sur- render MAP SHOWING THE ROUTE OF SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA pursuers. For a week Grant closely followed Lee whose troops were almost starving on a diet of parched corn and green shoots of trees. To escape capture many deserted and sought their homes. Finally Lee, knowing that his cause was hopeless, de- cided that the time had come to give up the struggle. A meeting with Grant was arranged. The two generals met on Sunday morning, April ninth, in a house standing in the little village of Appomattox Court House. Grant writes in his ''Personal Memoirs": ''I was without a THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 275 sword, as I usually was when on horseback on the field, and wore a soldier's blouse for a coat, with the shoulder- straps of my rank to indicate to the army who I was. . . . General Lee was dressed in a full uniform, which was entirely new, and was wearing a sword of considerable value — very likely the sword which had been presented by the State of Virginia. ... In my rough travelling suit, the uniform of a private with the stripes of a lieutenant-general, I must have contrasted very strangely with a man so handsomely dressed, six feet high, and of faultless form." The result of the inter- view was the surrender of General Lee and his army. At this time General Grant showed clearly his great kindness of heart and his delicate feeling. He issued orders that all Grant's kindness to the Confederates who owned horses and mules should be the Confed- allowed to take them home. ^'They will need them for the spring ploughing," he said. He also had abundant food at once sent to the hungry Confederate soldiers. Lee's surrender meant the end of the war,* a war that had cost the nation thousands of men and millions of dollars. But it had two striking results : It preserved the Union, for it was now clear that no State could secede at will ; and it put an end to slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation set free only those slaves in the States at ■'The war was brought to a close by the surrender of Johnston to Sheiv man near Raleigh, North Carolina (April 26, 1865). THE MCLEAN HOUSE WHERE LEE SURRENDERED 276 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Results of the war Assassina- tion of Lin- coln war with the Union, but after the war the Thirteenth Amendment set all the slaves free in all the Union for all time. These were the benefits purchased by the terrible sacrifice of life. If we count those who were slain on the field of battle and those who died from wounds, disease, and suffering in wretched pris- ons, the loss of men was equal to seven hundred a day during the four years of the war. When it was over, a wave of intense relief swept over the country. In many homes were glad re- unions, in others saddened mem- ories. But at least a united nation was cause for renewed hope and a patriotism which in time was to bind all sections into closer union. But in the midst of a general rejoicing a great sorrow fell upon the nation. On the evening of April fourteenth, five days after Lee's surrender, Abraham Lincoln was attending a theatre in Washington. As he was sitting in GRAND REVIEW, 1865, WASHINGTON, D. C. GENERAL LOGAN AND STAFF THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR 277 his box, a half-crazed actor silently entered, and creeping up behind the President, shot him through the head. The actor then leaped upon the stage, rushed across it, and during the great excitement of the audience made his escape.* Throughout the long hours of that gloomy night friends of the dying man watched tenderly by his bed- side. When, early on the following morning, Lincoln's spirit took its flight, Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War, whispered, '^Now he belongs to the ages." One of the "Now he greatest men in all history had passed away and left the the°ages " nation in mourning. But his noble example and his un- selfish devotion to a great cause will always be remem- bered by his grateful countrymen. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. Unable to capture Richmond from the north, Grant attacked it from the south (1864). 2. In order to draw Grant's army from Richmond, Early threatened Washington (1864). 3. Sheridan laid waste the Shenandoah Valley and won a great victory at the battle of Cedar Creek (1864). 4. Sherman captured Atlanta and Savannah (1864). 5. Lee surrendered to Grant in the spring of 1865. 6. The Civil War preserved the Union and put an end to slavery. TO THE PUPIL 1. "What were the two Union watchwords in 1864, and what did they mean? 2. What kind of man was Grant ? What do you admire in him ? 3. Just how and why did Lee threaten Washington again as he had done when McClellan was advancing upon Richmond in 1862? Did Lee's plan succeed the second time? * Later he was hunted down and shot. 278 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 4. What two cities did Sherman capture? What else did he do in Georgia? 5. When and where did Lee surrender? Tell as well as you ran what took place. 6. Name two important results of the Civil War. 7. Remember that this war began in 1861 and ended in 1865. What wars do the following dates stand for: 1756-1763, 1775-1783, 1812- 1814, 1845-1846? CHAPTER XXXIII THE NEW SOUTH Two questions Two points of view After President Lincoln was assassinated, Vice- President Andrew Johnson became the head of the nation (1865-1869). New problems faced him, and his task was a hard one. Two questions above all others demanded attention: "How shall we treat the negroes?"- "How shall we treat the Confederate leaders?" In settling these questions President Johnson took one point of view and Congress another. The President saw it in this way: The Confederate States never had any right to secede from the Union, and therefore, having laid down their arms, they were still members of the Union. But to make sure they would do what was right, he would have them promise certain things. The most im- portant was that they should agree to set the negroes free. As each State should give its word it could send members to Congress. ' But this was what Congress said: "Before the Confederate States can send members to Congress, they must give the negroes, now freemen, aU the rights under the law that white men have." THE NEW SOUTH 279 At once a quarrel arose between the President and A quarrel ^ . between the Congress. Johnson at last broke a law which he said President Congress had no right to pass. For this he was put on congress trial because, as his enemies in Congress declared, ''A man who breaks the laws of the land is not fit to be President." But Johnson was found not guilty and was allowed to serve out his term. Congress, however, had its way in passing laws which gave the negroes the right to vote, and which took away from Confederate leaders the power of voting. This meant The negroes that leading men in the South could have no voice in south making laws, while the most ignorant freedmen could. Of course, the Southern people stoutly opposed these meas- ures, and tried to prevent the negroes from voting. When they could not persuade or bribe them to stay away from the polls, they would sometimes frighten or whip them, and in the worst cases even murder negro leaders. On the other hand, the negroes were joined by two classes of white men. Some came from the North and were called carpet-baggers, and others were of the Bad laws South and were called scalawags. For the most part taxes the negroes were under the control of these white leaders, many of whom seemed to care very httle for the public good. These men were seeking mere personal power and wealth. There was great disorder. Bad laws were passed, and heavy taxes were laid. Many State debts were made very large. But after a few years the Confederate leaders were given the right to vote. They at once got control of affairs, and things were soon in much better condition. Schools were estabhshed for the negroes, and it is hoped 280 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Gloomy outlook for the South The Hew South New Orleans The New Orleans Cotton Centennial that education will make the freedmen able to take care of themselves. The great disorder was not the only evil in the South. Her wealth was gone. Most of her strong men had fallen in battle. The country had been laid waste by Union armies, and plantations had become worthless because there were no laborers to work them. Trade, of course, had fallen off. The outlook was indeed gloomy. But energy, courage, and faith in what they could do soon made things better. Old conditions passed away, and there slowly arose a New South. Where once had been only plantations of cotton, rice, sugar, and tobacco, factories were humming with many industries and cities ■were busy with trade. In the stretch of country where southern Tennessee, northern Georgia, and northern Alabama lie, iron and coal have been mined in vast quantities. From the forests near by much lumber has been taken for building. Railroads have increased. The war destroyed the few railroads that the South then had, but now many miles of railroad cross the country in all directions. New Orleans is an example of the change that has been brought about in the South. Before the war the city was mostly engaged in export trade. Now it contains many factories as well. Here was held in 1884 a cotton centennial in memory of the first shipment of cotton from New Orleans one hundred years before. The exhibition was also intended to show the growth of this vast industry. Although before the war slaves were thought necessary to cultivate cotton, twenty years after the war nearly twice as much cotton THE NEW WEST 281 was raised as in 1860. To-day there are many large cotton factories in the South, besides not a few other industries. As with New Orleans, so with other parts of the South. Each State in developing its own resources is adding to the general prosperity of the whole country. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. At first Congress said the Confederate States could not send members to Congress until they gave the freedmen all the rights under the law that white men have. 2. Later Congress said the negroes should be allowed to vote, but the Confederate leaders should not. 3. For a while there was great disorder in the South, but in a few years this section began to prosper and is rapidly growing in industry and wealth. TO THE PUPIL 1. What did President Andrew Johnson (1865-1869) say the Con- federate States should do before sending members to Congress? 2. What did Congress say these States should do? 3. What laws did Congress pass? 4. What serious troubles arose in the South? 5. Can you point out any ways in which the New South of to-day differs from the South which had slavery before the war ? CHAPTER XXXIV THE NEW WEST At the beginning of the Civil War the people of the The people . . of the West West had been divided on the question of slavery, but they did not approve of secession and so took an active part in fighting for the Union. President Lincoln and General Grant were both from the West, and so also 282 ELEMENTARY fflSTORY OF THE UNITED STATES were some of the most successful fighting regiments. After the war the influence of the West continued to grow in the affairs of the nation. This was largely due to the great increase in population, for in the period following the war migration moved west- Why people ward in a great tide. People went West because the soil went West ^^^g g^^j ^^j^^ ^ living could be made easily. The new railroads acted like magnets in drawing people to the broad prairie land now open for settlement. Many short railroads had been built before the war; but between 1860 and 1870 their mileage nearly doubled, and during the same period the great lines which now span the continent were begun. Unlike the pioneers of Kentucky and Tennessee, the settlers in the prairie region, which lay west of the State of Ohio and north of the Ohio River, did not have to clear Fertile and dense forests before they could cultivate the land. This cheap land '' treeless country was so fertile that crops could be raised without much labor. Moreover, it could be had almost for the asking. After 1841 small quantities were sold to actual settlers for about one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre. This was very cheap. But in 1862, by the Homestead Bill, Congress made it possible to get one hundred and sixty acres of land for from five to ten dollars. Thousands of men then went from the East with their families and took up farms. Thousands of immigrants also came from across the sea, for about this time steamships began to offer them cheap, and easy passage. As the years passed, the invention of machinery driven by steam did much to hasten the growth. On the large farms west of the Mississippi, some of them containing many square miles, steam-driven machinery was used to THE NEW WEST 283 A STEAM PLOUGH plough the land. Steam harvesters cut the grain, gathered steam- it into bundles, and tied the bundles with twine. Then machinery followed steam thrashers to thrash out the wheat. With all this machinery so much wheat and corn was raised that it could not all be used in the West. Then the railroads which had carried the farmers to the fields carried their grain to Eastern markets. Another part of the West — a wide belt stretching west- ward to the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains — is arid land. It includes parts of Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, The arid Montana, 'Wyoming and Colorado. Although the rain- the cowboys fall here is too Hght to grow corn and wheat, these dry plains support great herds of sheep and cattle, and supply us with a large part of our beef. Sometimes thousands of cattle feed on vast unfenced regions. The men who look after them are called cowboys. They ride their ponies with great skill as they roam over the prairie. With their broad-brimmed hats, leather overalls, and long boots, and with pistols and hunting knives at their sides, they present a striking ap- pearance. Still farther west, beyond these plains, is a region rich in minerals. About years after the discovery of gold in California, some miners found rich deposits of gold in what was then a part of Kansas. To-day we call it Colorado, and the place where the mines were A HARVESTER ten Gold mines at Leadville 284 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The Pony Express The post riders A STEAM THRASHER discovered, Leadville. People flocked to Leadville as they had flocked to Sacramento in 1848, and around this new centre towns and cities began to grow up. This was before the railroads were built. In order to keep in touch with the East these settlers in the Far West established, in 1860, a Pony Express, between Denver and Leavenworth. By this route, afterv\^ard extend- ed to Sacramento, letters and newspapers were carried two hundred and fifty miles a day. The stations were about twenty-five miles apart. Horsemen would ride with desperate speed, hastily mount- ing a fresh horse at each station. At every fourth sta- tion a fresh horseman was waiting in his saddle. Eagerly snatching the mail pouch as it arrived, he galloped forward. Daily, in all sorts of weather, and in peril from Indians and highway robbers, these well-armed horsemen carried important mail. The names of many of the post riders are familiar in the history of the .-^■^^ plains, but the one best known ^J-' to us is that of William F. Cody, the famous Buffalo Bill. For both newspapers afid letters tissue paper was used, since light weight meant swift travel. The Pony Express filled an important gap in joining the East with the West, and the story of its adventures is THE PONY EXPRESS THE NEW WEST 285 a romantic one. But it lasted only about a year and a A telegraph half and then gave place to the telegraph, for which it had th? «mti-^ marked the way. In October, 1860, a telegraph Une ^^^^ across the continent was completed, and messages could be sent from ocean to ocean. It had taken six months to build the line from Omaha to the Pacific coast, but then all important news such as had been carried by Pony Express was flashed over the country by telegraph. At the same time, also, the overland coach was started. This carried not only news- papers and letters but passen- gers and freight as well. Trav- elling, however, was not such as it is to-day. The wayfarer was beset with many dangers, chief of which were from Indians and highway robbers. Coaches were frequently attacked, and each man had to defend himself as best he could with pistol or musket. The Indians had a peculiar method of making an at- tack. While at some distance away they would begin to circle about the coach. Clinging to the necks of their ponies and keeping them between their own bodies and the coach, they would ride at great speed, all the while shooting at the passengers. The stage-driver, meantime, would be driving, at break-neck speed, the six mules which pulled his stage. Sometimes he escaped, but often the encounter ended in murder and plunder. In a very few years the overland coach was followed by the Union Pacific Railroad. In 1862 the plan was made THE OVERLAND COACH The over- land coach 286 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The Union Pacific Railroad The Mormons A TRAIN ON THE UNION PACIFIC to build from San Francisco eastward and from Leaven- worth westward to Ogden. But it was not until 1869 that the railroad was open for travel. On the day when the two lines were joined, the news was at once tele- graphed over the United States. This was the first of the great Pacific railways. Now six others span the continent, and to these, with the vast ^ web of connecting roads, is due the rapid growth of the great West. Wherever the mesh has spread, cities and towns have sprung up as by magic. The frontier has disappeared. The West is in daily touch with the East. One of the largest communities of the Far West through which the new railway passed was Salt Lake City. It was settled by a religious people who desired to five in their own way and to worship God according to their own ideas. They called themselves Latter Day Saints, but are better known as Mormons. Their founder was Joseph Smith, In 1839 they went from the East to Illinois and built the town of Nauvoo ; but they had trouble with some of the people in that State, who mobbed them and killed their leader. Then they decided to find another place where they could live as they chose. Under Brigham Young, their new leader, some seventeen thousand of them mi- grated across the desert plains to the Utah Valley and founded Salt Lake City (1847). THE NEW WEST 287 IRRIGATING A BIG ORCHARD IN ARIZONA The Mormons were hard- working and thrifty people, and soon changed the desert region about them into fertile country. With great labor they moistened the dry, hard soil by flooding it with water. This was done by turning the mountain streams and rivers into ditches dug for the purpose. This way of watering the soil is called irrigation. There are wide regions in the Far West which, before irrigation the Mormons went out there, were regarded as desert wastes. But when it was found that a small stream would make the soil very fertile, the water was brought down from the mountains and carried over the land. Most of the streams in these dry regions are small. They are not 288 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Reservoirs, canals, and pipes Where irrigation is used fed by rainfall but by melting snows, and it so happens that the snows melt at the time when the water is least needed by the farmers. A system of reservoirs, canals, and pipes has therefore come into use. In this way the water is stored, later to be brought to the farms and distributed at the time when it is needed. The supply pipe sometimes passes along the sides of the mountains for many miles. Sometimes it has to be carried over valleys and ravines by means of trestle- work. Besides mountain streams, rivers and wells are also used in supplying water to the arid lands. Irrigation has been used extensively in California, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. The orange industry in California depends entirely upon irrigation, and in Utah and Wyoming the farmers depend very largely upon it. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. As land was very cheap in the West emigrants went out there in large numbers. 2. The Pony Express, soon followed by the stage-coach, was established in 1860 between Denver and Leaven- worth. 3. In 1869, the Union Pacific Railroad was finished. 4. The Mormons, with Brigham Young as leader, migrated from Illinois to Utah (1847). 5. Irrigation has been largely used in California, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. TO THE PUPIL 1. In what ways did the prairies and cheap land increase westward migration ? 2. Tell something about the dress and work of the cowboys. 3. Give an account of the Pony Express and the stage-coach. When was the Union Pacific Railroad finished? 4. Who were the Mormons and what important thing did they do in Utah ? Explain irrigation. 5. Name in order the Presidents who preceded Andrew Johnson. THE NEW UNION 289 CHAPTER XXXV THE NEW UNION While the many changes which we have been noting were making a New South and a New West, equally im- portant changes all over the country were making a New Union. The different sections as never before were being knit together by common interests and common aims. It would take many pages to tell a complete story of the New Union. We shall mention only a few of the most striking events that belong to the country as a whole. Prominent among these was the lay- ing of the Atlantic cable. For many years men had been trying to invent a means The two '' '' J G continents of carrying thought across the ocean, as the telegraph joined carried it over land. But until 1858 all efforts to join the two continents failed. In that year a cable was laid between Newfoundland and Ireland. Two vessels, one belonging to the United States and the other to England, and each bearing a separate section of the cable, met in mid-ocean. There the two ends were The Atlantic spliced, and the vessels returned. The one reached New- foundland the same day the other reached Ireland, and there was no break in the cable. The Queen of England sent this message to the President of the United States: ''Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth and good- THE "great eastern" LAYING THE ATLANTIC CABLS 290 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The Pacific cable AT THE KLONDIKE MINES The cable has a large influence upon trade The pur- chase of Alaska will to men." In less than a month, however, the cable failed to work, and the world had to wait until 1866 before it was finally successful. Ten lines now cross the North Atlantic, and in 1903 a Pacific line was opened. It extends from San Francisco to Hawaii and from there to Manila. From Manila it goes on to Hongkong. On July fourth Pres- ident Roosevelt sent the first message. It took four minutes to flash this message around the world, a distance of twenty-five thousand miles. The cable has had a large influence upon trade, for it brings the great markets of the world within speaking dis- tance of each other, and every day many exchanges are made. The peoples of distant lands, also, are brought into closer sympathy; for by means of the cable daily papers are able to tell us, within a few hours, all that is taking place elsewhere. The year after the successful laying of the first cable (1867), an addition of great value was made to our ter- ritory. This was Alaska, which the United States bought from Russia for seven million two hundred thousand dollars. Many people thought at that time that the pur- chase was unwise. Some said, ''The country is bare and worthless"; others, ''Its products are only icebergs and polar bears"; still others, "Its only vegetation is mosses." But all were mistaken. Alaska has paid for itself many THE NEW UNION 291 times over. The seal fur trade alone has been worth every year more than a third of its cost. Besides seals there are extensive salmon and cod fisheries, large pine and cedar forests, and mines of coal and iron. Of still greater value are the rich gold mines in the Klondike J^g gi°J" region discovered within recent years. Nobody now mines questions that Alaska has added much to the wealth of the United States. But aside from increase of territory after the war, the country grew fast in many ways. This was made plain by the Centennial Exhibition, held in 1876 * at Philadel- phia in honor of the one-hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It presented in a marked The Centennial degree the vast wealth of the country and the advance Exhibition made in methods of living and working all over the world. Many useful inventions were exliibited. Two of the most wonderful were the telephone and the apphca- tion of electricity to hghting purposes. Thirty-three foreign nations sent exhibits. Among ^°5?JF them were many objects of beauty which awakened a love of beauty in the American people. Thus far the Americans had been largely taken up with useful things. From this time forward they paid more attention to the beautiful. The buildings occupied two hundred and eighty-five acres, and they numbered nearly two hundred. Thou- A large sands of people from different parts of the country and from beyond the sea went daily to the Fair grounds all through the summer and autumn. In this way friendly interests were aroused and much good was done. * Ulysses S. Grant was then President (1869-1877). 292 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The Statue of Liberty The feeling of the brotherhood of nations which was fostered by the Centennial was emphasized ten years later by a gift from the people of France to this country. A statue of Liberty Enlightening the World was given as a sign of the good-will and friendship between France and our country. The statue stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. It is much higher than the average church steeple, and holds aloft in its huge hand a light which can be seen for many miles over the water. This torch of liberty seemed to the French a fitting symbol of what America had done for the world. When the statue arrived, it was received with great ceremony and rejoicing. Large choruses sang the "Mar- seillaise," the French national hjnnn, and ''Hail, Columbia," one of the national airs of America. But as there is no sunshine without rr THE STATUK OF UBERTY The shoot- ing of Garfield shadow, so the history of these last few years had its darker side. We cannot explain the troubles in full, but bitter quarrels had sprung up over appoint- ments to office. In 1881 the President, James A. Gar- field,* had to disappoint many office-seekers. One of these disappointed men shot the President in a railway station in Washington just as he was about to start on a journey. For many weeks, while the nation watched in anxious suspense, Garfield lingered between fife and death. He died September nineteenth. * James A. Garfield was inaugurated President in 1881. Chester A. Arthur became President (1881-1885). After his death THE NEW UNION 293 This assassination impressed the people with the evils of the Spoils System, as it had been called since Andrew Jackson's time. When Jackson became President, he J^^ spoUs System rewarded those who had helped to elect him, by giving them positions under the Government. The result was that men were given work in the custom-houses, post- offices, and elsewhere, not because they could do the work well, but because they had helped to elect the President. This was bad; for besides getting untrained men into office, much time was wasted by frequent changes, and the work could not be done so well. There had been some civii-service effort to correct the evil before President Garfield's assas- ^^*°'™ sination. Now the people were made to tliink the matter over more seriously. The result was a reform in the civil service. A body of able men was appointed to examine and find out those who were best fitted to fill the offices. By degrees the reform has been extended imtil now it af- fects the greater number of Government positions. Another law passed about this time is of general in- terest. It is the Chinese Exclusion Act.* We have al- ready spoken of the milhons of immigrants who were The Chinese continually coming to our Eastern ports. In the last ^JJ^^sion half of the century many others began to arrive on the Pacific coast from China. They did not come to stay. They had no thought of ever becoming citizens. More- over, they lived so cheaply and meanly that they could afford to work for much lower wages than American working men could. For these reasons there was a de- *Grover Cleveland was President (1885-1889). Later he served the people again as President (1S93-1897). 294 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES The Indian reservation Removal of the Indians Oklahoma opened to settlement mand, especially from the people of California and the other Pacific States, that the Chinese should be kept out of the country. In 1888 Congress yielded to this demand by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act. From whichever direction settlers came there seemed to be constant movement. Soon they began to look about for more room. Many white men had turned with eager eyes to a large and fertile region in Indian Terri- tory which had for many years been occupied by Ind- ians and negroes. These white men claimed that they could make a better use of the land than the Indians. Perhaps this was true. But the removal of the Indians from Oklahoma was not looked upon with favor in all quarters, for this land had been set apart for them many years before. During the time when Jackson was President nearly all the tribes lying south of the Ohio and east of the Missis- sippi were removed to this great reservation, and were paid for the land which they gave up. They also were given every year a sum of money with which to buy food, and muskets to hunt with. But finally Congress bargained with the Indians and they gave up the land. Then the President, Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893), appointed a day (April 22, 1889) when this territory, wiiich was to be called Oklahoma, should be opened for settlement. Before the day arrived, five times as many men as there was land for stood ready to rush into the new Territory. The woods and valleys were full of set- tlers. At the sound of the bugle call at noon, there was a wild rush. It is said that one man ran six miles in sixty minutes and fell down exhausted on his claim. THE NEW UNION 295 Before night of that day ten thousand people had set- tled in Guthrie, which was already laid out in streets. By the end of the year Oklahoma held sixty thousand people. By 1907 the population had so increased that Oklahoma was admitted to the Union as a State. The nation was growing so fast in numbers and in OKLAHOMA AVE., GUTHRIE, APRIL 24, 1889 - i ' '•■- i- ^ Fair OKLAHOMA AVE., GUTHRIE, MAY 10, 1889 wealth that another exposition was planned to show what progress had been made in the last twenty years. This The World's World's Fair was held in Chicago in 1893. It was to celebrate the four-hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus. The Fair was much more imposing than the Centennial. It covered more ground, and the buildings were larger. Together they formed 296 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 'Spain and the New World Uprising of the Cubans ^^ff^^A^ ^W^^^ • \. \ t . •■ what was called the "White City." It was very beautiful by day, and at night the brilliant electric lights made it seem like fairjdand. The World's Fair recalled the early connection between Spain and the New World through the explorations of Christopher Columbus. As you remember, by reason of his discoveries and those of other Spanish explorers, Spain once laid claim to a good part of North and South America. From time to time she lost one part after an- other until noth- ing was left but some islands of the West Indies. Most important of these was Cuba. Spain ruled Cuba so cruelly that the Cuban people tried many times to secure their independence. In 1895 they made a final attempt. To put down the uprising Spain laid waste a large part of the island. She also burned the homes of the people who were not fighting, and penned up thousands in places where there was nothing for them to do and little for them to eat. This harsh and cruel treatment aroused the people of the United States. The excitement caused by the war was much increased by the blowing up of the Maine, an American battle-ship which was in the harbor of Havana to protect American rights. This explosion, which killed two hundred and CUBANS DKILLING AT TAMPA. FLA. THE NEW UNION 297 Bixty-six of the ship's officers and crew, occurred on the The blowing night of February fifteenth (1898). Americans beheved •♦Maine" it was caused by a Spanish torpedo, and their anger toward Spain was greater than ever before. They insisted that the Cuban war should stop, and demanded that Spain should leave Cuba. On April twenty-first, less than THE BATTLE-SHIP ENTERING HAVANA HARBOR ten weeks after the blowing up of the Maine, the Span- ish American war began.* The Cuban ports were at once blockaded by a fleet under Admiral Sampson. Commodore Dewey, then in com- mand of the American fleet at Hongkong, China, was Dewey's ordered to capture or destroy the Spanish fleet guarding Manila the Philippine Islands. Early in the morning of May first, Dewey reached Manila. Before the sun had set he had utterly destroyed the Spanish fleet of ten war vessels without losing a single man. He could have captured the city, but his force was not large enough to hold it. * William McKinley was President (1897-1901). 29S ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Cervera*s fleet at Santiago Cervera's fleet destroyed THE OLTMPIA Later, when General Merritt arrived with fifteen thousand men, Manila soon fell into the hands of the Americans. It was expected that the Spanish fleet under Admiral Cervera would attack some of our Atlantic ports or try to break tlie blockade about Cuba. But soon it was learned that he was in the harbor of Santiago, on the southern coast of Cuba. At once an American fleet was stationed outside the harbor to prevent the Spanish admiral's escape. Fearing that he might attempt to steal out on a dark, rainy night, a small number of sailors tried to sink the colher Merrimac across the narrow outlet of the harbor. But they did not wholly succeed. As soon as possible an army under General Shafter was sent to unite with Admiral Sampson and his fleet in the capture of San- tiago. On July first and second the regu- lars and the Roosevelt Rough Riders, after a desperate struggle, took the stronghold of Santiago. This made certain the capture of the town itself and of the Spanish army. Cervera therefore made a desperate at- tempt to break through the American fleet, but his effort THE WEST INDIES THE NEW UNION 299 failed completely. In a few hours all of his war vessels were driven ashore or sunk. Thus for a second time an entire Spanish fleet was destroyed. Only one American was killed. Helpless and without hope, Spain was now willing to Results of make peace. On February 6, 1899, a treaty was signed. *^® ^" By this treaty Spain agreed to give up all claim to Cuba and the other West India Islands. She ceded to the United States Porto Rico and Guam, a little island in the Ladrones. She also ceded the Philippine Islands to us for twenty million dollars. In connection with the Philippine Islands may be mentioned another group in the Pacific, namely, the Hawaiian Islands, The which soon after the war with Spain were annexed to islands the United States. For several years the people of these ^°°®^® islands had wished to join the United States, but many Americans objected. The time now seemed favorable, as Hawaii made a very convenient stopping place for our ships on the way to the Philippines. In 1900 it became a Territory of the United States. This annexation took place while William McKinley was President. Six months after his second term began he met a tragic death. On September 6, 1901, while he HOUGH RIDERS JUST BEFORE LEAVING FOR CUBA Assassina- tion of McKinley 300 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES was receiving a throng of people at the Pan-American Exposition, at Buffalo, an assassin shot him with a pistol concealed under a handkerchief. This was the third time in about thirty-six years the nation had been made to mourn for a murdered President.* The assassin, a Po- lish anarchist, was executed for his crime. Our presence in the Philippine Islands gave us an inter- SUKRIJNDER OF SANTIAGO ; RAISING THE AMERICAN FLAG ON THE PALACE est in the affairs of the Far East deeper than we had ever felt before. This interest led to great results for both Secretary China and the rest of the world. There had been a war Hay and the . • -ion- break-up of between Japan and China in 1894, and at its close m IbUo some of the great European countries desired to get con- trol of parts of China. ,Each country wished to secure a large section in which to build up its own trade. With * On the death of INIcKinlcv, Theodore Roosevelt became I^resident (1901-1909). William H. Taft was inaugurated on March 4, 1909. THE NEW UNION 301 fc/rmosa THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS SOUTH CHINA SEA « PALAWAN I. A' O each nation the purpose was to shut out from its own section the rest of the world, unless a high price was paid for the privilege of trading. Mr. Hay, then our Secretary of State, persuaded France, Germany, Russia, and other European countries to agree to let all the world trade freely with all parts of China. This did much to prevent the break-up of China, which otherwise might have occurred. Another event of great importance to the world as a whole was the building of the Panama Canal. This was begun in 1904. In building it pur people did not wish to share the ownership or control with any other country. A treaty, *' "^ ' THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS therefore, was made be- tween the United States and Panama by which we The Panama secured a belt of land ten miles wide stretching across the Isthmus. Here the canal was soon begun, and a/ large body of men are still at work on it. It will cost hundreds of millions of dollars and will take several years to build. But when it is completed our ships will save many miles of sea voyage in reaching the Pacific. The East will trade more easily with the West, and the commerce of the world will be increased. Quite different from this great work of engineering was ^.„, aVLU SEA The pres- ervation of our natural resources 302 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES a meeting in the White House at Washington that oc- curred on May 23, 1908. Yet it was one of the greatest events since the Civil War. By invitation of the Presi- dent of the United States many national and State leaders came together to consider the preservation of our natural resources, such as water, forests, soil, fuel, and minerals. As a people we ha\'e been very wasteful of these natural THE CDLEBRA CUT, PANAMA CANAL sources of wealth. This is especially true of our forests, and they are of great value because they largely control the flow of water in rivers. They act like sponges by holding water in the ground and preventing it from running off too rapidly. Where there are no forests, not only does the water escape, but it carries off valuable soil. This is another important kind of natural wealth because it feeds all kinds of vegetation, and that in turn feeds man. We have been wasteful, also, of our fuel—wood, coal, oil, and gas — and of our mineral supplies, such as iron. 304 ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES True patriotism copper, gold, and silver. It was most fitting, then, that this convention should call the attention of the people throughout the country to the pressing need of preventing all this waste. Upon preservmg these natural resources the material wealth of the na- tion depends, and we should do our duty in regard to them. But we have other kinds of wealth which we must not neg- lect. These are the mental and the moral power of the people. It is very important that the men, the women, the boys, and the girls of our country shall be strong in body, mind, and good-will toward others, for these qual- ities arc the foundation upon which our free government is built. Over this kind of wealth we have personal con- trol, and each for himself can add the priceless gift of loyal service to the nation. This is true patriotism. THE WHITE HOUSE THINGS TO REMEMBER 1. The Atlantic Cable was put into successful use in 1866; the Pacific Cable in 1903. 2. Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867. 3. The Centennial Exhibition was celebrated at Phila- delphia in 1870. 4. The Columbian Exposition was held in Chicago in 1893. 5. The leading cause of the Spanish-American ■war (1898) was the oppression of the Cubans by Spain. At the close of the war Spain gave up all claim to Cuba and Porto Rico and ceded the Philippine Islands to the United States. 6. The United States took up the building of the Panama Canal in 1904. THE NEW UNION 305 TO THE PUPIL 1. What is the Atlantic Cable ? The Pacific Cable ? Of what use are they to the world ? 2. Why did the Cubans rise against Spain? Name some important results of the war. 3. Trace on the map the various additions of territory that have been made to our country. 4. In what way did Secretary Hay help China? 5. How will the Panama Canal be of use to the people of this country ? 6. Name the five kinds of natural resources. Why should we try to save them by making a proper use of them ? 7. Beginning with Washington, name in order all of our Presidents. 8. In what ways did George Washington and Abraham Lincoln serve their country? How can you serve yours? TABLE OF STATES AND TERRITORIES Area in Date of Square No. Name Admission Miles 1. Delaware* 1787 2,050 2. Pennsylvania 1787 45,215 3. New Jersey 1787 7,815 4. Georgia 1788 59,475 5. Connecticut 1788 4,990 6. Massachusetts 1788 8,315 7. Maryland 1788 12,210 8. South Carolina 1788 30,570 9. New Hampshire 1788 9,305 10. Virginia 1788 42,450 11. New York 1788 49,170 12. North Carolina ' . . . . 1789 52,250 13. Rhode Island 1790 1,250 14. Vermont 1791 9,565 15. Kentucky 1792 40,400 16. Tennessee 1796 42,050 17. Ohio 1802 41,060 18. Louisiana 1812 48,720 19. Indiana 1816 36,350 20. Mississippi 1817 46,810 21. Illinois 1818 56,650 22. Alabama 1819 52,250 23. Maine 1820 33,040 24. Missouri 1821 69,415 25. Arkansas 1836 53,850 26. Michigan 1837 58,915 27. Florida 1845 58,680 28. Texas 1845 265,780 29. Iowa ; 1846 56,025 30. Wisconsin 1848 56,040 31. California 1850 158,360 *The dates opposite the first thirteen — the "Original Thirteen" — in- dicate the year when the States ratified the Constitution. 306 TABLE OF STATES AND TERRITORIES 307 Area in Date op Square No. Name Admission Miles 32. Minnesota 1858 83,365 33. Oregon , . . . . 1859 96,030 34. Kansas 1861 82,080 35. West Virginia 1863 24,780 36. Nevada 1864 110,700 37. Nebraska 1867 77,510 38. Colorado 1876 103,925 39. North Dakota 1889 70,795 40. South Dakota 1889 77,650 41. Montana 1889 146,080 42. Washington 1889 69,180 43. Idaho 1890 84,800 44. Wyoming 1890 97,890 45. Utah 1896 84,970 46. Oklahoma 1907 39,030 47. New Mexico 1912 122,580 48. Arizona 1912 113,020 Alaska 577,390 Indian Territory 31,400 District of Columbia 70 Hawaii o o . 6,100 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES President Term of Office George Washington 2 terms; 1789-1797. John Adams 1 term; 1797-1801. Thomas Jefferson 2 terms; 1801-1809. James Madison 2 terms; 1809-1817 James Monroe 2 terms; 1817-1825. John Quincy Adams ..... 1 term; 1825-1829. Andrew Jackson 2 terms; 1829-1837. Martin Van Buren 1 term; 1837-1841. William Henry Harrison .... 1 month; 1841. John Tyler 3 yrs. 11 mos.; 1841-1845. James Knox Polk 1 term; 1845-1849. Zachary Taylor 1 yr. 4 mos.; 1849, 1850. Millard Fillmore 2 yrs. 8 mos.; 1850-1853. Franklin Pierce . 1 term; 1853-1857. James Buchanan 1 term; 1857-1861. Abraham Lincoln ....... 1 term and 6 wks. ; 1861-1865. Andrew Johnson 3 yrs. 10 mos. 15 days; 1865-1869. Ulysses Simpson Grant 2 terms; 18G9-1877. Rutherford Burchard Hayes ... 1 term; 1877-1881. James Abram Garfield 6 mos. 15 days; 1881. Chester Alan Arthur 3 yrs. 5 mos. 15 days; 1881-1885. Grover Cleveland 1 term; 1885-1889. Benjamin Harrison 1 term; 1889-1893. Grover Cleveland 1 term; 1893-1897. William McKinley 1 term, mos. 10 days; 1S97-190L Theodore Roosevelt .1 term, 3 yrs. 5 mos. 20 days. William Howard Taft 1 term; 1909-1913. Woodro%v Wilson Serving. 308 INDEX Abolition, Slavery and, 238 Abolitionists, 241, 242 Acadians, removal of, 125, 126 Acts of Trade, 134 Adams, Charles Francis, 254 Adams, John, President, 194, 308 Adams, John Quincy, President, 229, 308 Adams, Samuel, 139-141, 144, 145 Alabama, Confederate cruiser, 254 Alaska, purchase of, 290 Albany, founded, 76 Algonquin Indians, 77 Allen, Ethan, 157 Amsterdam, New, 42, 75, 76, 79 Anderson, Major, 248 Andre (an-dra'), John, 178-180 Andros, Sir Edmund, 64, 65, 134 Annapolis Valley, 125 Antietam, battle of, 264 Appomattox Court House, Lee sur- renders at, 274 Armada, Spanish, 23 Arnold, Benedict, 151, 177-180 Arthur, Chester A., President, 292 Asia, European trade with, 2, 6, 11 Atlanta, captured, 272 Atlantic cable, 289 Backwoodsman, 196, 200 Bacon's rebellion, 134 Baltimore, Lord, 37 Baltimore attacked by the British, 214 Beauregard, General, 250 Bennington, battle of, 163 Berkeley, Sir William, 133 Blockade-runners, 252, 253 Blockades, in war of 1812, 211; purpose of, in Civil War, 251-258 Block-house, 66 Bo7i Homme Richard (bo-nom re- shar'), 174-175 Boone, Daniel, 198, 200 Border States, 247 Boston settled, 51; evacuated by the British, 151 Boston Tea party, 139-141 Braddock, General, 123, 124 Bradford, William, 46 Brewster, William, 42 Brown, John, at Harper's Ferry, 242 Buchanan (bu-kan'an), James, President, 242, 248, 308 Bull Run, battle of, 250 Bunker Hill, battle of, 148-150 Burgoyne (ber-goin'). General, his invasion, 162-164; his surrender, 164 Cabinet, the President's, 192 Cable, Atlantic, 289; Pacific, 290 Cabot, John, 17, 18 Cabot, Sebastian, 17, 18 Calhoun, John C, and nullification, 225 Cambridge, 53 Camden, battle of, 176, 183 Canary Islands, 25 Carpet-baggers, 279 Carteret, Sir George, 82 Cartier (kar-tya'), 103 Carver, John, 44, 54 Catholic missionaries, 106-108 Catholics, 37, 39 Cedar Creek, 270 Centennial Exhibition, 291 Cervera, Admiral, 298 Champlain (sham-plan^), 104, 105 Charles II, 54, 84, 89 309 310 INDEX Charleston, 89, 91, 139 Charter Oak, 65, 133 Charters, 25, 32, 37, 54, 64, 75, 133 Chesapeake Bay, 26, 39, 40, 74 Chesapeake, Leopard fires upon, 208 Chicago, 212 China, break-up of, 300, 301 Christina, Fort, 87 Chinese Exchision Act, 293 Church, Captain, 55 Church of England, 42, 51 Civil service reform, 293 Civil War, 244-276 Clark, George Rogers, in the North- west, 171-173 Clark, William, 204 Clay, Henry, 224 Clermont, 218 Cleveland, G rover. President, 293 Clinton, De Witt, and Erie Canal, 220, 221 Clinton, General, 176 Coach, overland, 285 Coligny (ko-len'-ye), 15 Colonies, groups of, 95; become States, 154 Columbia River, 205 Columbus, Christopher, 2-7 Compromise, Missouri, 223; of 1850, 238, 239 Concord, battle of, 146, 147 Confederate States of America, organization of, 247 Congress, Continental, first meeting of, 143; second meeting of, 148; has little power, 186 Congress, destroyed, 256 Congress, U. S., 188 Connecticut, 60-65 Constitution of the United States, 188, 189 Constitution captures the Guerriere, 210 Continental army, 148 Continental currency, 186 Cornwallis, General, 159, 160, 176, 183, 184 Cortez conquers Mexico, 18 Cotton, export, England's need of, 252, 258 Cotton-gin, invention of, 193, 194 Cowboys, 283 Cowpens, battle of, 182 Cuba, uprising of, 296-299 Cumberland destroyed by the Merri- mac, 250 Cumberland, 219 Da Gama, Vasco, 2 Dale, Sir Thomas, 31, 32 Davenport, John, 63 Davis, Jefferson, 247 Declaration of Independence, 153 Deerfield, attack upon, 115 Delaware, 87, 88 Delaware, Lord, 31 De Leon (dli la-6n'), 11, 12 De Soto (so'to), discovers the Missis- sippi, 13-15 Detroit, 130, 131, 170 Dewey, Admiral, 297 Donelson, Fort, 259 Dorchester Heights, 151 Douglas, Stephen A., 240 Drake, Sir Francis, 18-20, 22 Dred Scott decision, 241 Du Quesne (du kan'), Fort, 60, 61, 73-81 Dustin, Hannah, 115 Dutch, 35, 60, 75-82, 87 Dutch West India Company, 73, 75, 77 Early, General, his raid in the Shenandoah, 269 Elizabeth, Queen, 20 Emancipation Proclamation, 265, 275 Embargo Act, 207 Emigrant aid societies, 240 Endicott, John, 51 England, impresses American sea- men, 208; injures American com- merce, 207; and the Civil War, 254 Ericsson, Leif, 1 INDEX 311 Erie Canal, 220 Erie, Lake, battle of, 212, 213 Farragut, Commodore, captures New Orleans, 260 Ferries, 191 Fillmore, Millard, President, 239, 308 Flatboat, 197, 198 Florida, purchase of, ceded to Spain, 185, 227, 228, 306 Foote, Commodore, 259 France, struggle with England for control of America, 103-132; aids the Americans, 164; at war with England, 207; injures American commerce, 207 Franklin, Benjamin, 123, 153, 165 French, the forts, 15, 16 French War, last, 118-129 Fulton, Robert, 217, 218 Fur trade, 77, 93, 105, 106 Gage, General, 144, 145 Garfield, James A., President, 292, 308 Garrison, William Lloyd, 241; mobbed in Boston, 242 Gates, General, 168, 176, 177 George III, 135-139, 185 Georgia, early historj^, 92-94 Gettysburg, battle of, 265 Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 20 Gold, discovery of, in California, 235 Gorges, Sir Fernando, 59-60 Grand Pre, 125 Grant, L'lysses S., at Fort Donelson, 259; at Vicksburg, 261; made Lieutenant-General, 267; in cam- paigns about Richmond, 269; captures Lee's army, 274; Presi- dent, 291, 308 Great Meadows, 123 Greene, General, 182, 183 Grenville, Sir Richard, 21 Grifjin, 109, 111 Guerriere (gar-ryar), captured, 210 Guilford Court House, battle of, 183 Hale, Nathan, 156, 157 Half Moon, 74 Hamilton, Alexander, 192, 193 Hamilton, Colonel, 170-173 Hancock, John, 144, 145, 148 Harrison, Benjamin, President, 294 Harrison, General, President, 213 Hartford, 61, 62 Harvard College, 53 Haverhill, attack upon, 115 Hawaii (ha-wi'e), 299 Hayes, Rutherford B., President, 292 Hayne, Robert Y., 226 Henry, Fort, capture of, 259 Henry, Patrick, 142, 143 Hessians, 152, 153 Holland, 42, 45, 75, SO Homestead Bill, 282 Hooker, Thomas, 61, 62 Howe, General, 148, 149, 155, 164 Hudson, Henry, 73-75 Hudson River, 74 Huguenots (hii'ge-nots), 15, 16 Hull, Captain Isaac, 210 Hull, William, 211 Illinois, 171, 173, 306 Impressment of American seamen, 216 Indentured servants, 35, 40, 89 Independence of the United States, 153 Indian Reservation, 294 Indian Territory, 294, 306 Indians, 48, 49, 74, 76, 86, 95-102 Intercolonial wars, 113-132 Ironsides, Old, 210 Iroquois (ir-6-kwoi') Indians, 76, 77; and Champlain, 104; enemies of French, 105 Irrigation, 287, 288 Jackson, Andrew, President, at BATTLE OF NeW OrLEANS, 215, 226; in Florida, 227; spoils sys- tem, 293; removal of Indians, 294; President, 308 312 INDEX Jackson, Thomas. J. ("Stonewall"), in the Shenandoah, 204 James I, 41, 42 Jamestown, settlement of, 26-29 Jefferson, Thomas, President, 153, 192, 195, 204-206, 308 Johnson, Andrew, President, 278, 308 Johnston, Gen. Joseph E., 268 Joliet (zho-lyaO, 108, 109 Jones, John Paul, 173-175 KANSAS, CIVIL WAR IN, 240 Kaskaskia (kas-kas'ki-ii), 171 Kentucky, 170, 190 Key, Francis Scott, 214 King Philip's War, 54-56 King's Mountain, battle of, 180 Klondike, 291 Knox, Henry, 192 La Fayette (la fa-yet'), 161, 184 Lake Erie, Perry's victory on, 212 La Salle (Hi siil'), explores the Missis- sippi, 109-112 Last French War, 118-129 Latter Day Saints, 286 Leadville, 284 Lee, Charles, 157, 158, 168 Lee, Robert E., 263; at Antietam, 264; at Gettysburg, 205: in cam- paigns of 1804 and 1805, 209, 274; his surrender, 274, 275 Leopard fires upon Chesapeake, 208 Lewis and Clark's Expedition, 204- 200 Lewis, Meriwether, 204 Lexington, battle of, 146 Liberty, statue of, 292 Lincoln, Abraham, President, 244; assassinated, 270, 308 Lincoln, General, 170 London Company, 24, 25, 33 "Lone Star State," 233 Long Island, battle of, 155 Louisburg, capture of, 110 Louisiana Purchase, HI, 202-204 Lucas, Eliza, 90 McClellan, George B., 262 McCormick reaping-machine, 221 McDonough (mak-don'o). Commo- dore, 214 McDowell, General, 250, 264 McHenry. Fort, 214 McKinley, William, President, 297, 300, 308 Madison, James, President, 209, 308 Magellan (ma-jel'an), voyage of, 8- 10 Mails, 191 Maine, 59, 60, 300 Maine, battleship, 296, 297 Manhattan Island, 76 Manila, 297 Marietta, 197 Marion, Francis, 181 Marquette (mar-ket'), Father, 107- 109 Maryland, 37-41, 306 Mason and Slidell seized on the Trent, 253 Massachusetts, 51-56, 306 Massasoit (mas-a-soitO, 48, 49, 54 Alayjioiocr, the, 43 Meade, George G., 265 Merrimac, Confederate ironclad, 255, 257 Merritt, General, 298 Mexican War, 234 Middle Colonies, 95 Minuit, Peter, Governor, 76 Mississippi River, 14 Missouri, 223, 306 Missouri Compromise, 223 Monitor, Union ironclad, 256, 257 Monroe Doctrine, 228, 229 Monroe, Fortress, 202 Monroe, James, 204; President, 229, 308 Montcalm, General, 127-129 Montreal (mont-re-al'), 104 Morgan, General, 182, 183 Mormons, 286, 287 Morris, Robert, 162 Morristown, 1(51 Morse, Samuel F. B., 231 INDEX 313 Napoleon, 202, 204 Narvaez (nair-va-eth'), explores Florida, 12, 13 National Road, 219 Natural resources, preservation of, 302 Nauvoo, 286 Navigation Laws, 134, 135 Navy, United States, in the Revo- lution, 173; in War of 1812, 211; in Civil War, 251 Negroes, 35, 37 New Amsterdam, 75, 79 New England, 66-73 New England Union, 64 New Hampshire, 59, 60, 306 New Haven, 63 New Jersey, 82, S3, 158, 306 New Netherland, 73-81; becomes New York, 81 New Orleans, battle of, 215; capture of, 260; cotton centennial, 280 Newport, Captain, 25, 28, 29 New York, 73-81 New York City, tea ships, 139; Washington inaugurated, 190 Norfolk, Navy Yard, 255 North Carolina, early history of, 89-92, 306 Northmen, 1 Northwest boundary line, 232 Northwest Passage, 10, 11 Northwest Territory, conflicting claims to, 187 Nullification, 225 Ocean steamships, 221 Oglethorpe (o'gl-thorp), James, 92-94 Ohio, valley, 118, 119, 123, 124; river, 122, 170, 197, 219 Ohio Company, 119 Oklahoma (ok-la-ho'ma), opened to settlement, 294, 295 Old Ironsides, 210 Old South Church, 139-141 Opekankano, 34 Oregon Country, 232 Pacific cable, 290 Pacific railroads, 286 Pack-horse, 197 Panama Canal, 301 Paris, Treaty of, 185 Partisan warfare in the South, 181 Patroons in New Netherland, 78 Pearson, Captain, 174 Penn, William, 83-88 Pennsylvania, 83-87, 306 Pepperell, Colonel, 117 Pequot Indians (Pe' kwot), 62, 63 Perry, Oliver H., 212, 213 Philadelphia, 85 Philip, King, war of, 54-56 Philippine Islands, 297, 299, 300 Pierce, Franklin, President, 240, 308 Pilgrims, go to Holland, 42; aims and character of, 50; voyage to America, 43; settle at Plymouth, 46; relations with the Indians, 48, 49 Pitt, WiUiam, 126, 136-138 Pittsburg Landing, battle of, 260 Pizarro (pi-za'ro), conquers Peru, 18 Plymouth, 41-50 Plymouth Company, 51 Pocahontas (po-ka-hon'-tas), 284 Polk, James Knox, President, 232, 234 Polo, Marco, 3 Pontiac's War, 130-132 Pony Express, 284 " Poor Richard's Almanack," 165 Potomac, Army of, 262 Powhatan (pow-ha-tan'), 28, 29 Prescott, Colonel, 149 Presidents, list of, 308 Princeton, battle of, 159, 160 Privateering, in Revolution, 173; in W^ar of 1812, 211 Protective tariff, 193, 223, 224 Providence, R. I., 58 Provincial Congress, 144 Puritans, 42, 51; settlements, 51, 52; persecute the Quakers, 53, 54; have trouble with England, 54; boys and girls, 69, 70 314 INDEX Quakers, 53, 82, 83 Quebec, 104; capture of, by Wolfe, 129 Railroads, 229, 230, 282; Union Pacific, 285; underground, 239 Raleigh (raw'ly). Sir Walter, 20; colonies, 21-23 Randolph, John, 192 Republicans, 240 Revere, Paul, 145, 14G Revolution, American, causes of, 133-185 Rhode Island, 57-59, 306 Richmond, Confederate capital, 247 Right of search claimed by Eng- land, 208 Roanoke Island, 21, 25 Roosevelt, Tlioodore, 290; Rough Rider, 298; President, 300 Rough Riders, 298 St. Augustine (a gus-ten), IG St. Lawrence River, 103 St. Louis, 205, 206 St. Mary's, settlement at, 38 Salem, 52 Salt Lake City^286 Samoset (sam'o-set), 4 Sampson, Admiral, 297, 298 Santiago, 298 Savannah, settled, 93; captured, 273 Saybrook, 01 Schenectady (ske-nek'-ta-di), attack upon, 114 Schuyler (ski'-ler). General, 163 Scott, General, 234 Scrooby, England, 42 Search, right of, 208 Secession of South Carolina, 246; of the remaining cotton Sta'tes, 247; of Virginia, North Caro- lina, Tennessee, and Arkansas, 247 Separatists, 42 Serapis (sera'pis), 174, 175 Shafter, General, 298 Shenandoah Valley, Jackson in, 264; Early in, 269; Sheridan in 270 Sheridan, Gen. "Phil," 270 Sherman, Gen. William T., 268; captures Atlanta, 272; his "March to the Sea," 272, 273 Shiloh, battle of, 200 Slavery, in Virginia, 35; cotton-gin and, 193, 194; in the North and the South, 240 Slaves, runaway, 239 Slidell (sir-del'), seized on the Trent, 253 Smith, Captain John, 27-30 Smith, Joseph, 280 Sons of Liberty, 137 South, the New, 278, 280 South Carolina, 89-92; objects to the high tariff, 224; secedes, 247, 300 Southern colonies, 95 Spaniards destroy Huguenot settle- ments, 10 Speedwell, 43 Spoils system, 293 Stage-coach, 190 Stamp Act, 130; Stamp Act Con- gress, 137; repeal of, 138 Standish, Miles, 44, 40, 48 "Star-spangled Banner," 214 Stark, John, 103 States, when admitted to the LTnion, 306-307 Steamboat, Fulton's first, 217; launciied on the Ohio Jiiver, 219 Stephens, Alexander H., 247 Stockade fort, 198 Stuyvesant (sti've-sant). Governor, 80 Sumter, Fort, Confederates capture, 248, 249 Sutter, Captain, 235 Swedes, settlement made by, 80, 87 Taft, William Howard, Presi- dent, 300, 3()S Tarifl", 193, 224, 225 INDEX 315 Taxation of the colonies, 133; under Congress, 186; under the Constitution, 192 Taylor, Zachary, President, 239, 308 Tea, tax on. 139-141 Tecumseh (te-kum'se), 211 Telegraph, 285 Telephone, 291 ' Tennessee, settled, 196 Territories, list of, 307 Texas, annexation of, 233 Thanksgiving, 50 Thirteenth Amendment, 276 Tobacco, 22, 32, 34-36 Tories, 151, 152 Travel, modes of, 72 Treaty, at close of last French war, 129; at close of Revolution, 185; at close of War of 1812, 216 Trent affair, 253 Trenton, battle of, 159, 160 Tyler, John, President, 308 Underground Railroad, 239 Union Pacific Railroad, 285 Union, the New, 289 Utah, 307 Valley Forge, suffering at, 166, 167 Van Buren, Martin, President, 308 Verrazano (ver'rat-sa-no), 103 Vespucius, Americus, 7, 8 Vicksburg, stronghold on the Missis- sippi, 260; capture of, 261 Vincennes, 172 Vinland, 1 Virginia, named, 21; early history of, 24-37; and the Northwest Territory, 187, 307 War of 1812, 207-216 Washington, D. C, made the na- tional capital, 190; captured by the British, 214; Civil War, 250, 269, 270 Washington, George, his journey to the French forts, 119-120; at Great Meadows, 122; with Brad- dock, 123, 124; takes command of the American army, 150; in the Revolution, 150-185; Presi- dent, 190-192 Webster, Daniel, and the Union, 226 West, the New, 281; migrations to, 196, 217, 282 Wheeling, 219 White, John, 22 Whitney, Eli, invents cotton-gin, 193, 194 Williams, John, 116 Williams, Roger, 57, 58 Winchester, 270 Winslow, Lieutenant-Colonel, 125 Winthrop, John, 51-53 Wolfe, General, captures Quebec, 126-129 Wood rangers, 106 World's Columbian Exposition, 295 Writs of Assistance, 135 Yale College, 65 Yorktown, Cornwallis surrenders at, 184 Young, Brigham, 286 Alu 2'd 1913 iJ 011 446 738 8 OKLAHOMA Contract Price, 50 Cents Exchange Price, 25 Cents The price marlced hereon is fixed by the State and any deviation therefrom should be reported to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 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