E 188 Ad2. \HW:^^m¥WWvW^. AMERICA OLONIAL HISTO R. L. ASHLEY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY AMERICAN COLONIAL HISTORY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., Limited LONDON • BOMBAY ■ CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. TORONTO AMERICAN COLONIAL HISTORY For Use in Secondary Schools BY ROSCOE LEWIS ASHLEY AUTHOR OF "THE AMERICAN FEDERAL STATE," "AMERICAN GOVERNMENT," "AMERICAN HISTORY," ETC. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1911 All rights reserved Copyright, 1907, By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and e'ectrotyped. Published June, 1907. Reprinted September, 1907; November, 1908; October, 1909; May, Oc- tober, 1910; July, 1911. Special edition published September, 1911. Norfaiooti ^rees J. S, Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. \ ^ Vs^ ^ V PREFACE This book contains Part I of Ashley's American History. Its purpose is to provide the necessary material for the study of American Colonial History in connection with the course in EngUsh History, as recommended by the Committee of Five on the Study of History in Secondary Schools. SUGGESTIONS On account of the limited time at the disposal of high school pupils, the marginal references have been selected with care. Most of them will be found in the average public library, and a fair proportion in the ordinary high school library. Many of the groups of marginal refer- ences can be used for topics to supplement the lists given at the ends of the chapters. The following lists of books will probably be found most useful in connection with this text. As duplicates are always more useful for class use than even a large number of titles, a large high school library would probably con- tain a much larger number of books from the first and second lists than from the third. I. A SMALL LIBRARY One or more copies of each of the following: — Cambridge Modern History, Vol. VII. COMAN, Industrial History of the United States. MacDonald, Select Documents of United States History {i']']6-iS6l') ^ Burgess, Middle Period. Dodge, Bird^s Eye Viezv of the Civil War. Hart (ed.), American History told by Contemporaries, Vol. IV. American History Leaflets, Nos. 4, 5, 23, 30. II. A MEDIUM-SIZED LIBRARY Selected from the books given above and the following: — Epochs of American History, 3 volumes. Channing and Hart, Guide to American History. MacDonald, Select Charters Illustrative of American History. MacDonald, Select Statutes of United States History. The American Nation : — Bourne, Spain in America. Andrews, Colonial Self- Government. vii viii Suggestions Howard, Preliminaries of the Revolution, Van Tyne, The Americaji Revolution. McLaughlin, Confederation and the Constitution, Turner, Rise of the Nezu IVest. Hart, Abolition and Slavery. Channing, History of the United States, Vol. I. Parkman, Strtiggle for a Continent. FiSKE, Critical Period of American History. Ashley, American Federal State, Hart, Actual Government. Hart (ed.), American History told by Contemporaries, 4 volumes. A?nerican History Leaflets. Old South Leaflets. Dewey, Financial History of the United States. Foster, A Century of Afuerican Diplomacy. Johnston, American Political History, 2 volumes. Burgess, Middle Period. Burgess, Civil War and the Constitution, Vol. I. Stan wood. History of the Presidency. Andrews, The United States in our Own Time. Larned (ed.), History for Ready Reference, Vol. VI. Elson, History of the United States. in. A LARGE LIBRARY Selected from the books given above and the following : — WiNSOR, Narrative and Critical History of America, 8 volumes, * The American Nation, rest of the 27 volumes. *Fiske, 13 volumes on American history. *Semple, American History and its Geographic Conditions, Brigham, Geographic Lnfluences in American History, Ogg, Opening of the Mississippi. Eggleston, Beginners of a Nation. Frothingham, Rise of the Reptiblic. Lodge, Short History of the English Colonies. Doyle, English Colonies, 5 volumes. Johnston (Woodburn) (eds.), American Eloquence, 4 volumes. Roosevelt, Winning of the West, 4 volumes. ♦Taussig, Tariff History of the United States. Schouler, History of the United States ( 1 783-1865), 6 volumes. *McM aster, //zj/^ry of the People of the United States (1783- 1860) 7 volumes published. White, Money and Ba?iking. ♦Rhodes, Llistory of the United States since the Compromise of 18^0, 7 volumes. Snggestio7zs ix American Statesmen Series; especially volumes, on Franklin, ♦Wash- ington, *Hamilton, *Webster, *Clay, *Calhoun, Lincoln, Benton, Chase, Seward, and Blaine. American Cominonzvealth Series; especially volumes on Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Texas, Louisiana, and Kansas. Larned, History for Ready Reference, 6 volumes. *Sparks, Expansion of the United States. Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress. Cox, Three Decades of Federal Legislation. Burgess, Civil War and the Constitution, Vol. IL Johnson, War of Secession. Wood-Edmunds, Civil War in the United States. Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, 4 volumes. Burgess, Reconstruction and the Constitution. Foster, American Diplomacy in the Orietit. Johnson, American Railway Transportation. Those starred in this list should be included in list II if possible. CONTENTS PART I THE COLONIAL PERIOD (1492-1763) CHAPTER I CONDITIONS AFFECTING COLONIZATION IN AMERICA. 1-23 PAGE Introduction I Geographical Conditions : Geography and American colonization Climate and rainfall Natural resources ...... Geographical divisions of the United States Influence of geogi'aphy on English colonization Geographical advantages of the French colonies The North American Indian : The Indian tribes .... Life and character of the Indians General relations of Indians and Whites Help given to the English by the Indians Results of Indian wars Europe during the Fifteenth Century : 13. Connection between the history of Europe and America 14. Political Europe after 1450 15. Trade with the East before 1475 .... 16. Search for new sea routes to India .... 17. Summary 2 3 5' 7 8 10 17 18 19 20 21 CHAPTER II THE FIRST CENTURY (1492-1600). 24-39 The Discovery of a New World : 18. Preparation of Columbus 24 19. Columbus's first voyage ...••«. 25 xi xii Co7ttents SECTION PAGE 20. The Pope's division of the earth 26 21. Later voyages of Columbus ...... 27 22. The Cabots 28 23. Vespucius and the naming of America .... 29 24. The Pacific Ocean 30 Explorations in the United States (15 13-1543) : 25. Florida (1513-1536) 3° 26. The Southwest (1539-1543) 31 27. De Soto 32 28. Verrazano and Cartier 32 The Close of the Sixteenth Century : 29. The situation in Europe ....... 33 30. The French in Florida (i 562-1 565) 34 31. The English in the New World (i 562-1 583) . • • 35 32. The Ralegh colonies (i 584-1 590) 36 33. The results of the first century 37 CHAPTER III EARLY ENGLISH COLONIZATION (i6oc^i66o). 40-62 Virginia (1606-1625) : 34. The charter of 1606 ........ 40 35. The settlement at Jamestown ...... 41 36. The influence of tobacco culture ..... 42 37. The first Virginia assembly (1619) 43 38. Virginia becomes a royal province (1624) . ... 43 New England before 1628 : 39. The Plymouth Company and the Council for New England 44 40. The English Puritans 46 41. The Puritans and the English monarchs .... 47 42. The Pilgrim migrations 48 43. Early history of New Plymouth 48 Beginnings of Massachusetts Bay (i 628-1 636): 44. The Massachusetts Bay Company 49 45. King Charles and the Puritans 50 46. Character of the Massachusetts Bay colony . , .51 47. Political problems and dangers 52 48. Religious difficulties 53 Expansion in New England (1635-1645) : 49. Providence plantations and Rhode Island ... 54 50. The Connecticut Valley 55 Contents xiii SECTION PAGE 51. New Haven 56 52. Northern New England 57 53. The New England confederation (1643) .... 57 Maryland : 54. The charter of Maryland (1632) 59 55. The proprietor and the freeman 60 56. Religious toleration 60 57. Summary 61 58. 59- 60. 61. 62. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75- 76. 77- 78. 79. 80. CHAPTER IV LATER ENGLISH COLONIZATION (1660-1700). 63-85 Commercial situation of England about 1660 England and the Colonies (i 660-1 685) New York (i 609-1685) : The founding of New Netherland The province of New Netherland New Netherland and its neighbors . Conquest of New Netherland (1664) The English in New York (1664-1685) The Quaker Colonies : New Jersey and the Quakers Penn and his colony .... The government of Pennsylvania Boundaries of Pennsylvania The South after the Restoration (i 660-1 730 Misgovernment in Virginia ( 1 660-1 676) Bacon's rebellion (1676) . The Carolina charters (i 663-1 665) . Proprietary government in Carolina (1667-1729) New England (1655-1685) : Problems of New England ( 1 655-1 675) . King Philip's war (1675-1676) .... Massachusetts and the Crown (i 675-1 684) The Great Revolution (i 685-1 700) : The Dominion of New England .... The revolution of 1689 in England and New England Revolutionary movements in the Middle and Southern Colonies Results of the revolution in America The colonies in 1700 . 63 64 65 65 67 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 75 76 77 78 79 80 82 83 84 xiv Contents CHAPTER V RIVALRY OF FRENCH AND ENGLISH (1689-1763) 86-103 SECTION PAGE 81. Introduction 86 French Exploration and Settlement : 82. Founding of New France 86 ?>T,. Exploration of the West 88 84. Louisiana (i 699-1 720) 89 French and English Colonies (i 689-1 754) : 85. TheTreaty of Utrecht (1713) 89 86. Georgia 91 87. The English colonists and their governors ... 92 88. Government' of the French colonies .... 93 89. Preparation for the final conflict ..... 94 96 97 98, 99 100 Expulsion of the French (i 754-1 763) : The struggle for the upper Ohio valley . The situation in America and in Europe The first period of the war (i 754-1 757) . The second period of the war (1758-1760) The Peace of Paris (1763) Summary 95 95 97 98 99 lOI CHAPTER VI COLONIAL CONDITIONS (1750). 104-126 Population and Society : Number of the people 104 Classes of society 105 Indented servants ........ 106 vSlavery 106 Colonial life ......... 108 Occupations : loi. Agriculture no 102. Commerce and shipping . . . . . . .ill 103. Industry and labor . , . , . . . .112 104. Colonial currency . . 1 13 105. The professions . . . . , . . .114 Miscellaneous Conditions: 106. Colonial churches . . . . . . . • I15 107. Superstition . . . „ 116 Contents xv SECTION PACE io8. Crime . . . . , , , , ^ .117 109. Education uS no. Newspapers 120 111. Travel 121 112. Colonial Government . . . . , . . .122 113. Colonial Law ......... 123 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Indians. By MacNeil 12 Columbus 25 Caravel of Columbus 26 Sir Walter Raleigh 36 Captain John Smith 41 A Puritan. By St. Gaudens 51 Roger Williams 54 New York in the Seventeenth Century (New Amsterdam) . . 66 William Penn 70 Pine tree shilling 77 Champlain ........... 87 William Pitt 99 Fireplace in a colonial kitchen. From Mrs. Earle's " Home Life in Colonial Days" 108 A colonial hall. From Mrs. Earle's " Home Life in Colonial Days" 109 A colonial church 1 15 Pillory 117 Page from an old school book 118 Harvard College . . . . . . . . . .119 Conestoga wagon 121 MAPS AND DIAGRAMS Relief Map of the United States. By Howell . . opposite Isothermal Lines (United States and Europe) Average Rainfall in the United States Navigable Rivers and Portages of the United States . Location of the Principal Indian Families and Tribes . Europe, a.d. 1490 Trade Routes from Europe to the East Toscanelli's Map of the Occident .... Line of Demarkation (1494) . . . America (1515) (Schoener). Simplified from Wmsor's " Narra tive and Critical History of America " . America (1541) (Mercator). Simplified from Wmsor's " Amer Exploration and Settlements before 1600 Land Grants under Charter of 1606 .... Eastern North America (1621). From Dutch map in O'Cal laghan collection New England Settlements Boundaries of Pennsylvania North Atlantic Coast (1650- 1 695) {Colored) . . opposite Treaty of Utrecht; Territorial Changes (i 713) {Colored) '* Scene of the French and Indian War (i 754-1 759) Treaty of Paris; Territorial Changes (1763) {Colored) opposite Density of Population in English Colonies (1750) 4 5 IT 12 18 20 24 27 29 29 \ 37 40 45 58 13 82 90 97 100 104 § PART I THE COLONIAL PERIOD (1492-1763) CHAPTER I CONDITIONS AFFECTING COLONIZATION IN AMERICA I . Introduction. — Not many years ago the common What is opinion about history was expressed in the words, "happy ^'^^^^y'' is that people who have no history." To persons holding such a view, history was a record of wars and intrigues, of cruelty, misfortune, and destruction. This opinion of his- tory, common enough a generation ago, is held by few to-day, for we are beginning to realize that history is less a narrative of events than a record of progress — that it should not record the horrors of a nation's life but its achievements. It is hardly necessary to state that this must be quite as much a study of the means used to produce certain results, of the conditions which made possible and necessary certain achievements, as a description of the results themselves; for, after all, the purpose of studying history is not to learn facts, but to understand the causes and results of the great movements in the life of a people. This task is one of great interest and importance, but it Choice of presents many difficulties. We cannot, in a short time and topics in within a brief text, examine very much of the material to be j^j^^qj. found on this broad subject. We must therefore decide what phase or phases of history should receive special con- sideration, and then seek to concentrate our attention on those topics which mark most clearly the path we wish to follow. Since we cannot study all the phases of American develop- ment, we shall devote ourselves particularly to the develop- B I American History Two things to be noted. ment of the American nation — a subject that is political rather than social — and seek to discover how the American nation became what it is to-day. Many military events will be examined in the course of this study, for our wars have greatly influenced our national development. Commercial activities and social life will be considered to some extent, because without some knowledge of them we cannot under- stand certain changes in our country. In connection with each subject studied we should note two things : (i) what are the facts regarding the topic under consideration ? (2) how is this event connected with other events we have studied ? The first involves not only an act of memory but discrimination between the details that are more important and those that are insignificant; the second compels us to use the knowledge that we have gained in reasoning out the causes and results of the different move- ments. Three condi- Before taking up in a systematic way the record of Ameri- tions affecting can development, we must consider first three things that American j^^^^^ influenced our progress greatly, especially during our early years. One of these is the geography of the United States, which has influenced our history from the beginning and is now a factor of the first importance in determining the character of our life and occupations. The second deals with the original inhabitants, the Indians, whose influence during colonial times was very great, and the third with the situation in Europe at the time the continent was discovered. Four important geographical influences. Winsor (ed.), America, IV, x-xv. Geographical Conditions 2. Geography and American Colonization. — In all ages the geography of different countries has exerted a very great influence on their history. In the development of the United States we can study the influence of physical conditions as, step by step, the territory was explored and opened to settlement. The effect of topography, soil, and climate can be measured, because we have fairly full and exact information of every early attempt to gain a foothold Geographical Cofiditions 3 on this continent. During the colonial period, the geograph- ical characteristics which affected our history most were four in number: (i) The accessibihty of the new continent. Accessibility. Its position with reference to Europe, the character of its coast line, the extent of its water systems, and the navigabil- ity of its rivers aided exploration and settlement. (2) The possibility of a food supply. As no colony could continue Food supply. to exist if dependent on Europe or on other colonies for its food, it was necessary that grains and vegetables should be raised easily within the colony. Climate, rainfall, the character of the soil, and many other physiographical con- ditions affected this problem. (3) Its defensibility. The Defensibiiity. dangers to which a colony was exposed and the ease with which it might be defended were matters of the first impor- tance. If located in the heart of the country, scattered settle- ments were out of the question. The neighborhood of un- friendly European colonies was also to be avoided, and especial care was necessary to prevent the destruction of a colony through disease caused by extreme heat or cold or by the fevers all too common in the low marshy coastal belt. (4) Its general resources. Permanency depended on General the development of certain industries, which would not only resources, help the colonists to sustain life, but would produce articles which they could exchange for the necessaries that must be procured in Europe. The precious metals of Mexico and South America, the sugar and tobacco of Cuba, and the furs of New France explain the success of Spanish and French colonies. Topography and occupations account to a large extent also for the character of a colony. The com- pact little hamlets of New England could never have been developed in the broad fertile valleys of the South any more than the system of French trading posts could have been established in the narrow valleys of Massachusetts. After considering some of these physical conditions and the geo- graphical divisions of the United States, we shall note briefly how English and French colonization was affected by them. 3. Climate and Rainfall. — The climate of the United American History Temperature of the coast and interior. Winsor (ed.), America, IV, ii, vi. Farrand, Basis of A me?: History, 17-21. States, while on the whole temperate, presents many varia- tions. Two things that had a very great influence on our early history should be noted carefully, (i) The tempera- ture of the Atlantic slope and of the Mississippi basin is much lower than that of Europe in the same latitude, be- cause the warm waters of the Gulf Stream wash the shores of western Europe. (2) The winters in the northern half of the United States are very severe, especially in the interior which possesses to a marked degree the characteristics of a continental climate. The earliest American colonies were Isothermal Lines established below the latitude of Rome and the extreme cold was thus avoided, but most of the English colonists of the seventeenth century settled farther north and found themselves face to face with all the hardships and privations that a long winter would be likely to cause. In several cases the intense suffering led to the complete abandonment of the settlement. This very struggle for existence, however, seems to have benefited those who were courageous enough to attempt or hardy enough to endure the life north of the fortieth parallel. Geographical Conditions 5 The rainfall throughout the eastern half of the United Staito is sufficiently abundant to insure good crops without being so excessive as to prevent cultivation. It is heaviest on the Gulf slope, but almost as great along the Atlantic border. West of the Mississippi River the rainfall is less abundant and beyond the one hundred and fifth meridian is too light for the production of most crops. However, the great semi-arid plains of the West form one of the finest grazing regions in the world. Variations in rainfall. Shaler, United States, I, 15-20. 200 300 400J- B.'D.Strvoii.U.T. 75 Average Rainfall 4. Natural Resources. — These climatic conditions have made it possible for Europeans to live within the United States. They contributed very largely to the success of the early settlements, because of the ease with which a supply of food could be raised. Without maize or Indian corn many of the early colonies would have been complete failures. Being a native product of this continent, maize was found Shaler, ? .,1 -r. 1 -r T 1 1 United States, growmg wild to some extent. From the Indians who cul- Agricultural food supplies. Winsor (ed.), Atnerica, IV, xiii-xv. tivated it in a crude way, all early settlers secured supplies I, 25-27. American History Non agricul- tural foods. Commercial value of nat- ural resources. Influence of natural re- sources in re- cent history. by purchase or force, and it remained the chief food of the immigrants during the colonial period. This was largely due to the ease with which it was grown in half-cleared forests where wheat could not be raised, and to the abun- dance of the crop. As it is sensitive to the cold, it cannot be raised in the North, much to the loss of the colonists in that part of the continent. The early settlers depended a great deal on the pumpkins and squashes grown with the maize in the clearings. In the Great Lake basin wild rice was one of the chief foods for a large part of the population. Besides the agricultural productions on which the colonists depended, they used as food the immense supplies of fish and game. Colonization would have been very difficult, perhaps impossible, in New England and around the St. Lawrence, but for the fisheries, the cod particularly being a source of considerable wealth because exported in large quantities. Frontiersmen found it possible to sustain life on the flesh of the animals killed. Far more valuable to the early settlers was the vast trade in peltries which engaged the attention of a large percentage of the population in New France and New Netherland. This fur trade determined the location of almost all of the frontier towns, which were at the beginning little more than trading posts. In the South the greater productivity of the soil and the mildness of the climate made the question of food supply a less serious one, but the growth of tobacco in Virginia especially and the exportation of rice from the coast plantations aided greatly in the development of colonies in that section. The abundance of excellent timber along the coast furnished material for the construction of homes and stimulated industries like ship building. Although the dense forests interfered somewhat with agriculture, they were a valuable aid to the colonists in other ways, lumber being one of the chief exports of the English provinces. From this fragmentary account we can appreciate perhaps the influence of natural conditions on colonial development. We can understand also how the favorable agricultural Geographical Conditions 7 conditions in this country, coupled with its unexcelled Farrand, supply of coal, iron, copper, and other minerals, its numerous ^'^^'^ of Amer. rivers and excellent harbors, have made it possible for the winsor (ed.) United States to develop with amazing rapidity since the America, colonial period. 5. Geographical Divisions of the United States. — The General, topography of the United States is very interesting. On the winsor (ed.), east and the west are two great oceans, the narrower America, separating us from those European countries from which ^^' "^~^' almost all American settlers came. One half of the southern Farrand, border is a great arm of the sea, and nearly one third of the Basis of Amer. ^ •' History, 7-14. northern boundary is a system of lakes penetrating nearly one half of the distance to the Pacific. Two great systems of mountains divide the country into several distinct geograph- ical divisions. One, the Appalachian, running northeast and southwest, parallel with the Atlantic coast line, is low and comparatively narrow, with passes connecting the East with the West along the Mohawk, in Pennsylvania and at Cumberland Gap.^ The second, the Cordilleran system, averages one thousand miles across and is really a high table land fringed for the most part by high ranges on its eastern and western edges. East of the Appalachian system is the Atlantic slope, nar- Atlantic row and consequently rather steep at the north, giving that ^^°P^- section short, rapid rivers, with narrow valleys, and often Snaler, with numerous water falls; broader at the south, so that the united states country is more nearly level, the valleys therefore wider, 1.53-58, 61- and the rivers slower and navigable for a longer distance. ^' °9-74- Along the coast there are numerous bays and harbors, some of which are particularly fine. On the south Atlantic slope and on the eastern Gulf slope the coast is often marshy for a considerable distance inland. Between the great mountain systems lies the magnificent Mississippi Mississippi basin, the river and its tributaries comprising ^^^^"* ^ The highest peaks are but little over six thousand feet. There are two ranges separated from Pennsylvania and North Carolina by a broad, fertile valley. 8 Ainericaji Histoiy Shaler, United States, I, I02- 107, 127-130. Great Lake basin. Brigham, Geographic Influences, 105-114. Shaler, United States, I, 119-127. The Atlantic slope. Winsor (ed.), America, IV. xxiii-xxx. nine thousand miles of navigable streams more than three feet in depth, draining an area of about a million and a quarter square miles of the finest land on the globe. With a fertile soil and abundant rainfall, except in the West, a climate that is marked by short, hot summers, and in the North by long severe winters, the Mississippi basin is to-day the great- est agricultural region in the world. In colonial times comparatively little use could be made of these characteristics because it was not easily accessible before the days of steam. Mountain ranges shut it off from the Atlantic coast. Falls and rapids in the St. Lawrence basin practically closed that avenue of approach. Access by way of the lower Mississippi was precluded because of the river current and the swamps on either side which made the banks uninhabitable except in places for a long distance from the Gulf. Since the middle of the eighteenth century, however, the Mississippi valley has been the scene of many of the most important conflicts in our history, and it has furnished the issues for numerous great national contests. North of the eastern Mississippi basin and the Atlantic slope is the basin of the Great Lakes, covering a compara- tively small territory aside from the w^ater area. Since it was closed to the outside world for one half the year, when the St. Lawrence was frozen over, and was inaccessible directly because of the rapids in the St. Lawrence River and Niagara Falls, the upper St. Lawrence basin was prac- tically unoccupied during the colonial period. The lower St. Lawrence basin, which is open to sea-going ships as far as Montreal, w^as the seat of a thriving colony, supported in large part by the fur trade with the interior. 6. Influence of Geography on English Colonization. — All of the English colonies proper were confined to the Atlantic slope, w^hich offered many advantages to the settler. It was the most accessible part of the continent, being almost directly across from Europe ^ and offering shelter to the ^ On account of the prevailing west winds in the north temperate zone and eastward direction of the north Atlantic currents, however, most of the Geographical Conditions 9 pioneers because of its many harbors.' As far inland as the mountains the sloping character of the country, with the numerous short but navigable rivers, gave easy access to a region which was attractive and usually fertile. In the South the Atlantic slope was much broader than in the North. The valleys of Virginia and the Carolinas are broad and fertile. As the climate favored the growing of tobacco, rice, and cotton which can be raised most profitably on large plantations, a scattered agricultural population was in- evitable. In New EnglandAe stony clay soil of the narrow valleys was not well adapted for agriculture, w^hile the abundance of small but sheltered harbors made it desirable for the people to keep near the coast and give their attention to commerce. The middle section, in this as in most other respects, was a mean between the North and the South and partook of the characteristics of each. The magnificent har- bor of New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River and at the eastern extremity of the only low pass from the coast to the West, gave that location advantages over every other, and made it the natural commercial metropolis of the East. During the colonial period, however, there was little com- Communica- munication between New York and the interior because the *^°^ ^'^^ *^^ Iroquois controlled the Mohawk route and the French oc- cupied that part of the Great Lake basin beyond. Farther pa^rand south several passes permitted entrance to the Ohio valley. Basis of Amer. the key to the whole of that basin, the junction of the Al- History, 27-35. legheny and Monongahela, lying but a step beyond the last range of hills. Still farther south the great valley between the parallel ranges of the Appalachian mountains, and the gaps from that valley to the fertile region south of the Ohio River, made emigration to the West possible though not easy. The mountains were of special value to the colonies be- TheAppala- cause they could be crossed only with difficulty. They ^^/^" moan- afforded protection from attack from the interior and allowed early voyagers came by way of the Canaries and the West Indies, the trade winds blowing regularly from the east in that latitude. tarns. 10 American History Brigham, Geographic Influetices, 76-89. Semple, Amer. Hist, and its Geographic Conditions, 36-51- The great interior basins. Winsor (ed.), America, IV, xx-xxiii. Hold of the French on the interior. Farrand, Basis of Amer. History, 23-27. the English colonies to thrive in comparative peace, expand- ing with a natural and healthy growth into the foothills without danger of attack from their European rivals. The strength of the English colonies was to a great extent the result of compactness due partly to their agricultural and commercial pursuits, and in part also to the mountain barrier which confined them to the narrow sea border. 7. Geographical Advantages of the French Colonies. — The territory occupied by the French presented marked contrast to that of the English. France was fortunate enough to gain possession of the two great basins — those of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi — which apparently were the gateways to the interior of the continent. Ap- parently, for it was by no means easy, as we have noticed, to pass from the lower St. Lawrence to the four great lakes beyond Niagara Falls, or to ascend the Mississippi as far as either of its important branches. Had the French been in search of homes, they could not easily have established them- selves in the lower St. Lawrence on account of the cold and the sterility of the soil, or have founded extensive colonies in the lower Mississippi valley because of the swampy, malarial condition of the country. Neither could they have pene- trated to the interior by either route readily had they been accompanied by their families and encumbered with house- hold necessities. With the French, however, actual colonization was always subordinate to their real work of exploring, trading, and occupying the country. For this task their geographical position was of the highest value. From Montreal, a trader, with comparatively little difficulty, might reach the valley of the Ohio, the basin of the upper Great Lakes, the Missis- sippi and its many branches, and the entire system of water- ways northwest of Lake Superior, because short portages over comparatively level spaces connected the waters of the three great interior basins of the continent, which two cen- turies ago formed probably the richest fur-bearing region on the globe. Where the trader might go, the soldier could Geographical Conditions II follow. In time, for both commercial and military reasons, posts were established at the points where important water- ways or paths joined, giving the French control of the region to which these ways penetrated. The skill shown in the selection of these points is apparent from a glance at the map. Notice the position of Montreal, Fort Frontenac, Fort Duquesne, Detroit, Fort St. Marie, Fort St. Joseph, Fort 1 r^i^^^^uA^ C^^'^'jP^ e^ ;^ ^^ I ( ^'^"^^""l ) 11/ "V/^^T^S^ W^l c \ k^ m^ f .^"^ ^M-t 1^ "^ fife BOflMAY ENG. CO, NY. ^r RIVERS AND PORTAGES OF THE UNITED STATES Heavy single lines show depth of i feet or more Double lines show portages Chartres, and New Orleans, and we cease to wonder why the French maintained a hold, slight to be sure, on the best part of the North American continent. The North American Indian 8. The Indian Tribes. — A second influence during colo- nial times, less important than physiography, but consider- able nevertheless, was that exerted by the native races. There were no early settlers that did not come into contact Farrand, with the red man, to be helped by him or hindered because Basis of Atner. Numbers, customs, and organization. of his hostility. These savage hunters were especially numerous along the heavily timbered Atlantic slope, within easy reach of the great supply of fish on the one hand and the animals of the forest on the other. Although they had History, 175- 12 American History Three great families. not reached a high degree of civilization, each tribe occupied a fairly definite territory which was rather extended because of the need of broad hunting grounds. Within the present limits of the United States, they numbered, at the beginning of the seven- teenth century, probably not more than a quarter million. Of the families en- countered by the French or English only three were particularly numer- ous or important, (i) Of these the Algonquins occupied much the largest territory, includ- ing most of the seacoast and the larger part of the upper basins of the Mis- sissippi and the Great Lakes. The tribes differed greatly from one another, those of the North and West being, as a rule, fiercer and more no- madic than their kins- men of the southeast, the Delawares of Penn- sylvania and the Pow- hatans of Virginia, for example. (2) The Iroquois family oc- cupied the basins of Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Mohawk valley, as well as a large dis- trict in the southern Indians MacNeil INDIAN FAMILIES ANU TKIBES (COLONIAL PERIOD) TJie Noi'th American Indian 13 Appalachian region. It included the ''Five Nations" of New York whose political organization, the most per- fect of any north of Mexico, enabled them to conquer all their neighbors, either Iroquois or Algonquins, so that they often controlled the territory as far south as the Kenawha and as far west as the Wabash. Of great ability and cour- age unusual even among Indians, the Iroquois have left an impress on our history that is out of all proportion to their number. (3) From the Atlantic to the Mississippi, and from the Tennessee River south to the Gulf of Mexico, dwelt the Muskhogean family, of which the most numerous, ablest, and most civilized tribe was that called Creek. 9. Life and Character of the Indians. — It is no part of Social our purpose to study the life and occupations of the Indian organization. except to appreciate his attitude toward the whites and un- derstand his influence on the colonization of America by P^rkman, struggle for Europeans. Livmg m villages that were often little more ^ continent, than headquarters for hunting expeditions and raids, the 460-464- Indians were not attached to the soil and removed their wigwams with ease. They found it difficult to fight success- Farrand, fully with the colonists, not alone because bows and arrows Histoty were no match for muskets, but because they were seldom 215-218, united. Each tribe had its own village and lived its own life 240-247- under chiefs who recognized no higher authority. This separateness prevented concerted movements, except when some great common danger united the tribes for a brief period. The character of the Indians has never been portrayed Stern better than by the master hand of Francis Parkman. He q^^^'^^^^. gives us this picture. "Nature has stamped the Indian with a hard and stern physiognomy. Ambition, revenge, envy, jealousy, are his ruling passions, and his cold tempera- mient is little exposed to those effeminate vices which are the bane of milder races. With him revenge is an overpower- ing instinct; nay, more, it is a point of honor and a duty. His pride sets all language at defiance. He loathes the thought of coercion, and few of his race have ever stooped 14 American History Indian trickiness. The race and civilization. Differences in Indian policy of the Spanish, French, and English. to discharge a menial office. A wild love of liberty, an utter intolerance of control, lie at the basis of his character, and fire his whole existence. . . . With him the love of glory kindles into a burning passion, and to allay its cravings, he will dare cold and famine, fire, tempest, torture, and death itself. "These generous traits are overcast by much that is dark, cold, and sinister, by sleepless distrust and rankling jealousy. Treacherous himself, he is always suspicious of treachery in others. Brave as he is, — and few of mankind are braver, — he will vent his passion by a secret stab rather than an open blow. His warfare is full of ambuscade and stratagem." ''Some races of men seem molded in wax, soft and melt- ing, at once plastic and feeble. Some races, like some metals, combine the greatest fiexibihty with the greatest strength. But the Indian is hewn out of a rock. You can rarely change the form without destruction of the substance. Races of inferior energy have possessed the power of expan- sion and assimilation to which he is a stranger, and it is this fixed and rigid quality which has proved his ruin. He will not learn the arts of civilization and he and his forest must perish together.'! 10. General Relations of Indians and Whites. — It was perhaps fortunate for the English that the Indian was inca- pable of civilization, for it prevented the mixing of the races. The Frenchmen tried intermarrying with the natives, adapt- ing themselves to the standards of the Indians; but the English, a colonizing race, failing to raise the Indian to a level somewhere near their own, treated them always as in- feriors. It was as impossible for the Englishman to make a boon companion of the Indian as it was for the Spaniard to respect his rights, so that both were obliged to suffer the loss of his help, which the Frenchman enjoyed. Yet in spite of the difference between the attitude of these three European races toward the red men, it was found that as a rule the Indians responded to the treatment they received. The old saying that an Indian never forgets and never The North American Indian 15 forgives is full of meaning in our early history. The Span iarcl found to his cost that his cruelty was repaid wiih usury. He dared not venture into the interior unless his errand was purely one of peace and good will toward men, and it was with difficulty that he maintained on the coast a hold whose military character showed how feeble it really w^as. The English experienced the result of both kindness and folly. Without the friendship of the Indians some settlements must have perished, and without their hatred others would have expanded with much greater rapidity. II. Help given to the English by the Indians. — The General help dependence of the whites on the Indians was especially g'^entoaiiof ^ the settlements marked in the early English settlements. Time after time, the settlers would have died of hunger but for the tood furnished by the natives. The first successful efforts of the colonists to raise a supply for themselves were but imitations of the crude Indian methods of agriculture. The Indians showed them how to plant maize in the half-cleared forests, how to fish through the ice, and how to trap game. They taught them to navigate the streams in birch-bark canoes. Clothing was made from skins after the Indian fashion. From the beginning the Indians exchanged valuable furs for trinkets, and the great development of the fur trade, which was a chief source of wealth in more than one American pos- session, was possible because the Indians brought so many pelts to the traders. Exploration of the interior would have been a very much slower process but for the use made of the numerous Indian trails and the help given by the Indian guides who led the way to the easiest portages. The Five Nations, or Six Nations as they became in 171 5, Aid given by exerted an exceptional influence on American history, the Six This was due to their location, their character, and their Nations. political organization. Occupying, as they did, the Mohawk valley and the territory south of Lake Ontario, they con- ^^^-^ o/Amer, trolled the southern route from the St. Lawrence River to History, the Great Lake basin and the Ohio valley, and the best route ^53-162. from the Atlantic coast into the interior. They became the i6 American History Failure of uprisings against the colonists. Eggleston, in Ceniioy, XXVI (1883), 697-704. Contests in the West after 1750- persistent enemies of the French, because the French leaders in the St. Lawrence valley found it necessary to ally them- selves with the Indians of their section, who w^re traditional foes of the Five Nations. This made it easy for the Dutch, and later the English, in New York, to gain and retain the friendship of this powerful confederacy. This friendship was exceedingly valuable to the English, because the Iro- quois prevented the French from gaining possession of the Mohawk and Ontario valleys and from making inroads on the English settlements during the colonial wars. It also gave the English their first real claim to the land beyond the mountains, for the Iroquois by treaty transferred to the colonists the rights which they enjoyed as conquerors of the territory a long distance to the south and west. 12. Results of Indian Wars. — Many of the other Indian tribes played an important part in the history of several colonies, although none of them exerted an influence equal to that of the "Six Nations" on the great struggle of Euro- peans for the possession of the continent. All of the Eng- lish colonies were undoubtedly more compact than they would have been without the danger of Indian attacks. Yet there was never an important contest between the settlers and the natives that was not won by the colonists. In every case the Indians were pushed back from the coast without great loss to the whites, and, in the case of one colony, Connecticut, the only tribe worthy of consideration was practically exterminated during the first five years of the colony. Later Indian uprisings like that of King Philip (§ 74) were just as disastrous to the natives. The Indians from the Alleghanies to the Mississippi pre- vented the rapid settlement of that region. From the time when the French surrendered to the English their claim to the Ohio valley and the basin of the Great Lakes (1763), it was necessary to establish boundary lines between the territory belonging to the Indians and that opened to settle- ment. In the terrible war known in history as the conspiracy of Pontiac (1763), during which the frontier suffered terri- The North American Indian 17 bly from Maryland to Lake Huron, the Indians were united against the immigrants. During Washington's adminis- tration as president, several armies were defeated until General Anthony Wayne won a decisive victory and left the northwest frontier safe once more. The final contests with the Indian tribes came about the time of the second war with Great Britain, when in 181 1 General W. H. Harrison quelled the uprising of all the northern Indians under Tecumseh, and in 1814 General Andrew Jackson destroyed the encampment of the Creeks in the South. With the re- moval of the Indians to the Indian Territory soon after 1830 and the occupation of Indian lands in the North (§ 271), the red man ceased to influence the history of the eastern United States. The Sioux and Apaches gave considerable trouble in the settlements of the West, but during the nine- teenth century Indian troubles were relatively insignificant. Europe during the Fifteenth Century 13. Connection between the History of Europe and Dependence America. — It is scarcely too much to say that, during the °^ America on 1 • 1 1 1 T r A • 1 Europe before three centuries which followed the discovery of America by ^^^^^ Columbus, the history of America was but a phase of Euro- pean history. If we wish to know why Columbus set out on his great voyage into unknown waters, why there was so much interest in exploring America, or why certain nations took part in colonizing movements, we must seek our answer in the history of the old world. The differences between the colonies of England and France, the final success of England in the struggle for possession of eastern North America, even the causes and results of both our wars with England, can be understood only when we know the situation in Europe during those years. It is not our desire to treat in this book the history of Europe during those formative centuries. Attention will be called at the proper places to the European events which exerted a direct influence on the development of this country. In these sections we shall consider briefly the situation in Europe during the fifteenth century, so that I8 Ame}ican History The separate nations (1450-1490). we may appreciate what Europe was like four or five hun- dred years ago, and know why America was discovered and settled in the way that it was. 14. Political Europe after 1450. — The Europe of the fifteenth century was essentially a modern Europe in its awakening tastes and desires, but a mediaeval Europe in the degree of its progress and development. The intellectual revival which became prominent after 1450, the renewed 10 J^ 20 BOBMAY CNG. CO , Europe a.d. 1490 interest in religious matters that followed in its wake, and the attempts to unite the little feudal dukedoms into which Europe was divided before 1400 were epoch-making move- ments that could not be completed in a few years. In the half century preceding the discovery of America, France had succeeded in unifying her different feudal provinces under comparatively powerful kings, and all of the little kingdoms of the Spanish peninsula, except Portugal, had been united under the joint rulers, Ferdinand and Isabella. But Spain was too much absorbed in subduing the nobility Europe during the Fifteenth Century 19 and driving the Moors from Granada to devote much at- tention to outside interests, and France was more interested in showy conquest than in soHd development. The rest of the European countries were still much as they had been. Little Portugal and the cities of Italy were the most enter- prising and successful states at that time. Germany was divided into so many petty states that she frittered away her power and failed to exercise the influence which her geo- graphical position and natural resources might have given her. England was still a second-rate power even among the undeveloped nations of that day. Her agriculture was crude, her manufactures and commerce undeveloped, and her kingdom rent by the feuds of nobles until the strong rule of the Tudors established a monarchy worthy of the name. In Italy the pope still claimed the right to exercise temporal power, and his spiritual power was as yet recognized throughout western Europe, although soon to be denied by all of the northern nations. 15. Trade with the East before 1475. — The intellectual Development sluggishness and commercial inactivity which were character- ^^ ^'^^^^ ''^^^^'" the crusades. istic of the middle ages were giving place in the fifteenth century to a renewed interest in learning, in industry, and in international commerce. The spirit of enterprise thus ^ . ' • ' ^ '- oj Atnerica, aroused expressed itself in no way more emphatically than i, 274-292. by a desire to trade with the East, for the crusades had given the first insight into the wealth that lay beyond Constanti- nople and Jerusalem. Marco Polo and other travelers had brought back such glowing accounts of China and India that even the mysteries which seemed to pervade that distant portion of the globe were no longer suflScient to frighten away the timid travelers and merchants. Venice and Genoa, which had created a merchant marine by building ships to carry soldiers to the Holy Land, built up a trade of considerable proportions during the following centuries. Three routes were used most in carrying on with Asia a The three large and flourishing business in spices, silks, precious metals, *^^^^ routes, and gems. One of these followed the Black and Caspian 20 American History Cheyney, Europea?t Backgroimd, 2.'2.-'2'J. The route around Africa. Fiske, Disc, of Afnerica, I- 316-334. seas, a second crossed Syria to the Euphrates, and the third used the Nile and the Red Sea, connecting them by caravan. With the capture of Constantinople by the Turks (1453) and the invasions of those fierce warriors into Syria and Egypt a little later, these routes were closed or made too dangerous for traveling, and trade disappeared; but neither the mer- chants who carried these precious articles nor the people of wealth who used them were willing to forego the desir- able and lucrative commerce with Asia. Effort was redoubled to find a new route to India. In this work the navigators trained by Genoa and Venice rendered valuable ser- vice in the employ of other countries, since the location of Venice and Genoa made it impossible for them to compete with the nations bordering on the Atlantic. 16. Search for New Sea Routes to India. — Two ways seemed possible to the school of navigators of that time: the one around Africa, the other directly west across the Atlantic. Under the rule of the able Prince Henry of Portu- gal, the coast of Africa and the islands to the west had been explored by the Portuguese, the belief being that the Atlantic and Indian oceans joined south of Africa, and that if the southernmost point of the African continent were rounded, India could be reached with little difficulty. This was finally proved to be true, but only after great delays. The Cape of Good Hope was discovered by Bartholomew Diaz as late as 1487, and India was first reached by Vasco da Gama in 1498. The route to the West did not attract the same amount of interest or effort because every one dreaded to risk the MAIN BOUTES TO THE EAST Europe diirmg the Fifteenth Century 21 dangers of the "sea of darkness." Many educated persons Ancient believed that the earth was spherical, but opinions as to its ^"^ mediaeval 1 1 . , 1 ,- 1 * 1 • T 1 -1 views of the size and the width of the Atlantic were exceedingly varied, sphericity of Most of the views in fact were borrowed from the ancients, the earth, many of whose writings, after centuries of oblivion, were published during the fifteenth century. As early as the Fiske, Disc. sixth century before Christ, the Pythagoreans believed in the ofAtnenca, sphericity of the earth. In the fourth century before Christ ^.^s-.^iSi Aristotle had held that the earth was round and expressed the opinion that there was probably only one sea between Spain and India. A century later Eratosthenes computed the circumference of the earth at twenty-five thousand two hundred geographical miles and thought that the distance from Europe west to Asia was so great that there might be one or two continents in this unknown region. The great Roman geographer, Ptolemy, came much nearer the fact, estimating the circumference at twenty thousand four hundred geographical miles. These views of the ancients were known during the middle ages or were republished during the fifteenth century. One of the most remarkable of these new books was a kind of encyclopedia of geographi- cal knowledge which was published in 1409 under the title of Imago Mimdi, and contained many of the Greek and Roman beliefs. A copy of this book was owned and care- fully studied by Christopher Columbus, who accepted the view that the earth was round. But Columbus believed it to be much smaller than it is and thought that the Atlantic Ocean was comparatively narrow. 17. Summary. — During colonial times three chief Geography, influences on our history were physiography, the Indians, and conditions in Europe. The moderate temperature and adequate rainfall adapted the Atlantic coast and the Missis- sippi basin particularly to the support of life. Cod and corn were used chiefly as food. The abundance of furs in the interior, and of silver in Mexico, and the ease with which tobacco was grown in Virginia, influenced greatly the per- manent settlement in each of those regions. Because of its 22 American History accessibility almost all of the early settlements were made on the Atlantic coast, England gaining control of the slope and estabhshing compact settlements on the harbors or in the narrow valleys of the North and plantations in the broader valleys of the South. The mountains hindered expansion into the interior, but prevented attacks by other nations or the Indians from behind. As the French desired trade, they gained a slight hold on the Mississippi and St. Lawrence valleys by occupying strategic points. The Indians. The Indians were friendly to most of the early colonists and helped them by giving them food and teaching them how to live in a wilderness. Their hostility at a later time was due either to the cruelty of the settlers or to the encroachments of the whites on their hunting grounds. Only one family, the Iro- quois, resisted the advance of the whites successfully. These warriors kept off the French and usually aided the Enghsh because the latter did not care to penetrate so far inland. Influence of Until after the Revolutionary War, American history was Europe. Y\\\{^ more than a phase of European history. At the time America was discovered, Europe was composed of partly united kingdoms like France or Spain or of decentralized feudal states like Germany. The only wealthy countries were those that had engaged in commerce since the crusades. Venice and Genoa were most prominent, but the closing of the eastern trade routes destroyed most of their trade. The future belonged to the nations bordering on the Atlantic, first to Spain and Portugal, which were already aroused to the possibilities of commerce, and later to the more slowly developing French, English, and Dutch nations. TOPIC The Iroquois Confederacy: Larned (ed.), "History for Ready Reference," I, pp. 89-92 ; Fiske, "Discovery of America," I, pp. 66- 77, II, pp. 530-531; Lee (ed.), "History of North America," II, pp. 143-153- STUDIES I. Western Europe and American exploration. (Semple, "Ameri- can History and its Geographic Conditions," pp. 1-18.) Conditions Affecting Colonization 23 2. Influence of the triangular shape of North America on its ex- ploration. (Cf. Fiske, "Discovery of America," II, Chapter XII.) 3. Fur trade and fisheries. (Weeden, "New England," I, pp. 129-135.) 4. The great Appalachian valley. (Scmple, "American History and its Geographic Conditions," pp. 54-61.) 5. The Hudson-Mohawk route. (Brigham, "Geographic In- fluences in American History," pp. 3-26.) 6. French use of portages. (Semple, "American History and its Geographic Conditions," pp. 27-31.) 7. Indian policy of French and English. (Parkman, " Struggle for a Continent," pp. 256-264.) 8. Indian warfare and captives. (Eggleston, Century, XXVI (18S3), pp. 704-718.) 9. Pontiac's conspiracy. (Parkman, "Struggle for a Continent," PP- 473-513-) 10. Consolidation of France. (Duruy,"Modern Times," pp. 8-26.) 11. Unification of Spain. (Cheyney, "European Background," pp. 81-96.) 12. Commerce of Venice. (Brown, "Venetian Republic" (Temple Primers), pp. 44-65, 75-81.) 13. Henry the Navigator. (Cheyney, "European Background," pp. 62-69.) QUESTIONS 1. Make an outline showing the character of the soil, tempera- ture, and rainfall of each of the following geographical divisions: lower St. Lawrence, upper St. Lawrence, north Atlantic slope, south Atlantic slope. Gulf region, central Mississippi basin. 2. Make a (companion) outline for the same divisions showing the accessibility, food supply, defensibility, and resources. 3. Mention some of the conflicts of national importance that have taken place in the Mississippi valley. What are some of the national issues furnished by the West ? 4. What was the influence of the Appalachian mountains on the expansion of the English colonies and the struggle for the interior? 5. Locate Niagara, Duquesne, Detroit, Ste. Marie, New Orleans. What waterways or trails did they control ? What portages ma de it easy to pass from the basin of the Great Lakes to that of the Missis- sippi ? 6. Would the task of colonizing America have been easier had there been no native races? 7. Cite at least eight instances before 1775 when events in Eng- land influenced American history. Trace the influence. Do the same with three events in America that influenced England. CHAPTER II THE FIRST CENTURY (1492-1600) English Rulers Henry VII (1485-1509) Henry VIII (1509-1547) Edward VI (i547-i553) Mary (1553-1558) Elizabeth (1558-1603) The Discovery of a New World Columbus 18. Preparation of Columbus. — Christopher Columbus in Portugal and ^^g j^Qj-n near Genoa, before the middle of the fifteenth ^^''^"' century. His parents were poor and he had comparatively few early advantages. Before reaching manhood he began Channing, United States, I, 14-20. TOSCANELLI'S MAP (Showing location of tlie Americas in clotteJ linesj his career as a sailor, spending part of his time when ashore studying navigation or geography and making maps. For several years he resided in Lisbon, the chief center of com- mercial activity in western Europe. While there he wrote to an Italian philosopher, ToscaneUi, asking him for infor- mation regarding a direct voyage to India. ToscaneUi 1492] The Discovery of a New World 25 replied, suggesting that Japan could be reached by sailing directly west, and inclosing a map according to which Japan was less than four thousand miles from Spain. Later Columbus asked the king of Portugal to aid him in making this voyage, but the monarch gave him no encouragement. Subsequently Colum- bus entered the service of Spain, endeavoring for several years to get governmental aid for his enterprise. But the times were unpropitious, for Ferdinand and Isa- bella WTre making a final effort to drive the Moors from the southern part of the peninsula. This was accomplished in 1492, and that same year they made an agree- ment to furnish the vessels for the expedition, to give Colum- bus absolute power as viceroy over the territories discovered, and to allow him one tenth of all the wealth obtained through his explorations. 19. Columbus's First Voyage. — On August 3, 1492, he set sail from Palos with three caravels, the largest of which was less than one hundred feet in length. After a delay at the Canary Islands, the little fleet started out into unknown waters. In midocean they encountered a vast mass of weeds now known as the ''Sargasso Sea." Going to the north of this, they proceeded westward, constantly finding indications of land. Great numbers of birds were seen, and as most of these proceeded southwest, Columbus was persuaded to change his course. In the early morning, October 12, land was sighted, and at daybreak Columbus landed on one of Bourne, Spain in A tn eric a, 8-19. Winsor (ed.), America, II, 1-9 Columbus Crossing the Atlantic. Hart, Contem- poraries, I, No. 17. Channing, United States^ I, 20-23. Bourne, Spain in America, 20-23. 26 American History [1492 A771. Histojy Leaflets, No. i. The return voyage. the easternmost of the Bahama Islands. Had he continued west, he would have been borne still farther north by the Gulf Stream and have reached the coast of the United States. After visiting several islands of the Bahamas, Columbus coasted along the shores of Cuba and reached San Domingo, where his largest vessel was wrecked and a garrison left. The return voyage was marked by a severe storm which Columbian Expositibn Model A Caravel Bourne, Spain in Ame?'ica, 23-28. Papal bull and treaty of Tordesillas.' Hart, Contem- poraries, I, No. 18. Bourne, Spain in America, 29-32. separated the vessels, but, after many experiences, both reached Palos on the same day, March 15, 1493. The Spanish monarchs received the discoverer with every mark of esteem and he was treated with almost royal honors. 20. The Pope's Division of the Earth. — As soon as Columbus returned to Spain, King Ferdinand sent at once to Rome and requested that Pope Alexander VI confirm his title to the lands discovered in the west. The pontiff accordingly issued a decree in which he proclaimed that Spain was entitled to the lands lying west of the meridian which was one hundred leagues west from any of the islands commonly called the Azores or Cape Verde. The right to heathen lands lying east of this line was confirmed to Por- tugal, whose claims to territories discovered in Africa had already been recognized by the Holy See. As Portugal was 1496] TJie Discovery of a New World 27 dissatisfied with this division of the globe, negotiations were begun at once with Spain which ended in the treaty of Tor- desillas, signed June 7, 1494. The Hne of demarcation was to be drawn three hundred and seventy leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. This line did not touch North America, but was not far east of the country discovered by the Cabots in 1497 (§ 22), so that in 1500 the Cortereal brothers explored the coasts of Newfoundland and Labra- dor with the hope that they might be claimed by Portugal. On the other hand, a large part of South America lay east of the line, and when in 1500 a Portuguese, Cabral, on his way to the Cape of Good Hope, accidentally sighted the coast of what is now Brazil, the way was open to the establishment of a Portuguese colony in the new world. On the other side of the world Portugal had an undisputed claim to most of the islands, but Spain gained pos- session of the Philippines before it was learned that they were located in Portugal's half of the globe. This papal division was ignored of course by many of the other nations. 21. Later Voyages of Columbus. — Columbus did not remain long in Spain after his first voyage, because of the danger that Portugal would send out a fleet to seize the lands which he had discovered. The equipment for the second voyage was a marked contrast to that of the first. A large fleet carried nearly fifteen hundred persons, among them many nobles in search of wealth. A number of the West India islands, including Porto Rico and Jamaica, were visited and a Spanish colony established on Hispaniola (San Domingo). Fiske, Disc, of America, I, 453-460. Influence of the division. Bourne, Spain in America, 63-66, 73-75. Second voyage. Larned (ed.) Ready Re/., I, 50-51- 2S American History [1496 Third voyage. Bourne, Spain in America, 46-53- Fiske, Disc, of America, I, 488-503. Fourth voyac Fiske, Disc, of America, I. 503-513- Voyages, 1497-1498. A7n. History Leaflets, No. 9. Charming, United States, I. 33-37- Bourne, Spain in America, 54-61. Old South Leaflets, No. 37. Columbus returned to Spain in 1496 and did not start on his third voyage until two years later. On this expedition he first saw the mainland of South America, near the mouth of the great Orinoco River. Soon after a special envoy was sent from Spain to investigate the charges of misgovernment which had been brought against Columbus as governor, and he was arrested without delay. On his return to Spain in chains, the monarchs disavowed the action of their repre- sentative, but Columbus never regained the authority thus taken from him. His fourth and last voyage in 1502 brought him to the coast of Central America, although he still believed he was off the coast of the Indies. His later years were full of bitterness, for he proved to be incompetent for the great task of gov- erning a colony, and being harsh in dealing with natives he made enemies who succeeded in stripping him of his honors. He died in 1506, obscure and neglected, without knowing that he had led the way to a new world, which was separated from Asia by an ocean larger than the Atlantic. 22. The Cabots were merchants of Bristol, England, at the time news was brought that Columbus had discovered land by saihng wxst. In 1496 John Cabot obtained from Henry VII a permit to sail westward. The permit was not used until the next year, and it was June 24, 1497, when the Cabots sighted land in the neighborhood of Newfoundland. Six weeks later they were back in England, where the king made a gift of £\o '' to hym that founde the newe isle." In 1498 a much larger expedition set out. The coast from Lab- rador to Cape Cod w^as explored, and many persons believe that the Cabots continued on their southern course until the capes off North Carolina were reached. No attempt was made to follow up these voyages, John Cabot probably having died and his son Sebastian having entered the service of Spain. But several generations later, when England desired to estab- lish a legal claim to the eastern part of North America, these voyages of discovery were deemed of the first impor- tance. I54I] The Discovery of a Neiv World 29 Voyages of Vespucius. Bourne, Spain in A7nerica, 84-96. Old South Leaflets, Nos. 34, 90. AMEKICA, 1515 (Frum Schoner's Globe) 23. Vespucius and the Naming of America. — Americus Vespucius, or Amerigo Vespucci, like Columbus and the Cabots, was an Italian. In 1504 he wrote a letter telling about " Four voyages " that he claimed to have made to the new world while in the employ of Spain. He reported that on the earliest of these (in 1497) he had discovered South America and that on his later voyages he had explored the coast of that region. Many modern investigators consider the claims of Vespucius ridiculous, but it is certain that they were believed by at least some of his contemporaries. Among these was Martin Waldseemiiller, a professor of geography at the college of Saint-Die in Lorraine. In 1507 WaldseemuUer published a pamphlet entitled Cosmogra- 99-103- phie Introductio, in which he suggested that the land in the southwest, which did not cor- respond to any islands on the maps existing before 1492, and which for several years had been known as Mondo Novo, should be called ''America." This name became quite common on maps of the time before it was learned that this southern region formed a continent connected with lands discovered by the Cabots and others at the North. When this connection was understood, the name America was applied naturally to the whole of the new world. First use of name America. Bourne, Spain in America, Winsor (ed.). America, II, 145-152. AMERICA. 1541 (From Meroator's Map) 30 American History [1513 Discovery of the Pacific, 1513- Channing, Ujiited States, I. 47-51- Magellan, voy- age around the globe. Channing, United States, I, 50-54- Ponce de Leon (1513-1521). Bourne, Spain in America, 133-136. Winsor (ed.), America, II, 232-236. 24. The Pacific Ocean. — Little was known yet about this new world, but in the decade beginning with 15 13 geographical knowledge of the uncivilized hemisphere was extended greatly. It was in the year 15 13 that Balboa, an adventurer and a rebel, in search of gold, crossed the Isth- mus of Panama and first beheld the waters of the Pacific, which he called the "South Sea," because the shore line runs east and west at this point. Six years later Fernando Magalhaens or Magellan, a Portuguese nobleman in the employ of Spain, started with five vessels to find a southwest passage through South America to the Indies. In this he succeeded, the strait which he discovered now bearing his name. With but two vessels he proceeded north a long distance, then changed his course to the northwest, and finally to the west, in order not to pass the Molucca or Spice Islands, of which he was in search and whose latitude he knew. After weeks on the quiet ocean, which he named the Pacific, he reached what is probably the Island of Guam, and soon after landed on the Philippines. Here Magellan lost his life, April 27, 1 52 1. The larger vessel was soon after captured by the Portuguese, but the smaller succeeded in reaching Spain after circumnavigating the globe — certainly one of the most marvelous voyages in history, and one which caused remarkable changes in the geographical ideas of the times. Explorations in the United States (15 13-1543) 25. Florida (1513-1536). — For thirty years the Spanish made repeated efforts to explore the southern part of the United States, rumors of gold constantly leading them into the interior. The first to show the way to Florida, a name applied for at least a century to the entire southeastern part of the United States, was Ponce de Leon, who was attracted by the reports of an excellent climate and prospects of wealth. In 1 5 13 he explored both the east and the west coast of the peninsula and in 1521 attempted a settlement which failed because of the hostility of the Indians. 1542] Explorations in the United States 31 In 1526 a much more pretentious settlement was attempted Ayiion's settie- by d'Ayllon. Over five hundred persons, including some "^^"* (1526). slaves, were taken to Chesapeake Bay, but the climate was ^jj^g^j. .^^ ^ so unhealthy that they lost their leader and more than one- America, half of their men within a year, and the enterprise was 11,238-241. abandoned. The next to search for wealth in Florida was de Narvaez, Narvaez and who landed near Tampa Bay in 1528. The last survivors Cabeza de of this ill-fated expedition were wrecked some months later on the coast of Texas, where they were held as prisoners ^y !^"5' / for several years. Under the lead of Cabeza de Vaca, who 1,62-67. had been employed as a "medicine man," four of them Winsor (ed.), escaped and crossed the plains and mountains to the Spanish '"^^^'^<^, 1 1 240-244. settlements on the Gulf of California, bringing with them oid South rumors of large quantities of gems and precious metals to Leaflets, the north of the countries they had traversed and arousing ii. N0.39. renewed interest in the exploration of the interior. 26. The Southwest (1539-1543). — To ascertain the truth Coronado's ex- of the reports that the ''Seven Cities of Cibola" were pos- pedition (1540- sessed of great wealth. Fray Marcos was sent ''to spy out the land." He failed to reach the cities, but brought back Hart, Contem- stories more wonderful than any that had yet been told, poraries, In a short time, Coronado at the head of three hundred ', ' ^'^' ' Channing, Spaniards, many of them mounted, and nearly a thousand United states, Indians, set out for Cibola (1540). The cities proved to be 1.74-84- nothing but the unattractive dwellings of Pueblos, but there i^o^me, Spain • 11 1 1 <• 1 1 r 1 1 1 ^"^ America, was said to be a great deal of gold farther north and east. 169-174. A force was dispatched to investigate a great canon to the Amer. Hist. west, — that of the Colorado, — and Coronado's little army Leaflets, then pushed on across the plateau and plains until Quivera was reached, probably in the present state of Kansas. They found immense herds of bison and trackless wastes, but no gold. In disappointment the Spaniards returned to Mexico. Among the many explorers who at this time were inter- coast of Cali- ested in the country north of the Spanish settlements was fomia. Cabrillo. Setting out in 1542 with two vessels, he and his 32 American History [1539 Hittell, 6«//- fornia,\,Tyj^. Explorations in the southeast (1539-1543)- Hart, Contem- poraries, I, No. 23. Charming, Utiited States, I, 67-72. Bourne, .'yi^z/w in America, 162--168. Winsor (ed.), Afnerica, II, 244-254. Verrazano's voyage (1524). Bourne, Spain in America, 143-145- Winsor (ed.), America, IV. 5^- Cartier's explo- rations and set- tlements (I535-I54I)- successor Ferrelo examined the western coast beyond Cape Mendocino with considerable care. Nothing came of this or of the other explorations in the West, and it was a half century before any permanent Spanish missions were estab- lished within the United States, and a still longer time before the region proved attractive to less unselfish settlers. 27. De Soto. — The last, and in some respects the greatest, of these early Spanish explorers in the United States was Fernando de Soto. Having served under the Pizarros when they conquered the country of the Incas, he was anxious to gain for himself fame and fortune in Florida, as Cortez had done in Mexico and the Pizarros in Peru. With a well- equipped force of nearly six hundred men and many horses, he landed at Tampa Bay during the summer of 1539. The Indians were treated with severity, the chief of each tribe visited being seized and held as hostage until provisions were forthcoming and his country had been crossed. For two years the Spaniards continued their search through the in- hospitable country without discovering traces of the wealth they sought and at length crossed the Mississippi. After further wanderings, broken and discouraged, Soto returned to the river to die (May, 1542). Nowhere had he found gold or signs of gold, and everywhere the Indians were fierce and hostile. Glad to escape from this land of dangers, the sur- vivors of Soto's party, after several attempts, succeeded in getting out of the Mississippi and reached the Mexican coast settlements. 28. Verrazano and Cartier. — Although far behind the Spanish in a desire to explore and colonize, the French were not entirely inactive. In 1524 the French sent out Verrazano, an Italian like many of the other navigators of that day, who visited the eastern coast of North America and explored from the capes of North Carolina to Newfound- land, probably entering New York harbor. Ten years later Cartier explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence, returning in 1535 and ascending the river. He penetrated as far as the large island just below the first series of rapids. 1560] Explorations in the United States 33 To the height on this island he gave the name Mont Real.^ Hart, Contem- No attempt was made to found a colony at this time, but in poraries, 1 540-1 54 1, he and an associate, Roberval, sought to settle on ' °* the banks of the St. Lawrence. Roberval failed to aid Cartier until the latter had abandoned his settlement, and ^'i"sor (ed.), the French hold on America after this time was represented jy 47.55. by a few fishermen's huts on the Atlantic coast. The Close of the Sixteenth Century 29. The Situation in Europe. — During the early part Spain, of the sixteenth century Spain had risen to the position of the first European power. Her king was ruler not only Schwili, Mod- of the Spanish peninsula, but of the Netherlands, the Sicilies, ^^^ Europe, and a large part of America. As he was in addition emperor of Germany, the rule of Charles V was in consequence one of unusual splendor. The immense riches of Mexico and Peru added greatly to this power of Spain, but could not continue to sustain it, for the successor of Charles, Philip II, followed an unwise policy which undermined the sources of national strength. Freedom of thought was crushed by the inquisition, the Netherlands were lost by an unwise religious policy, while the Jews and Moors, the industrial backbone of the nation, were driven from Spain. The decline of Spanish power became evident in the latter half of the sixteenth century, and, after the defeat of the Armada in 1588, was rapid and continuous, France was in no position during these years to accom- France, plish much at home or abroad. Torn with the strife between the Catholics and the Huguenots, governed nominally by the worthless sons of Henry II and ruled really by the faction which was temporarily in the ascendant, she followed no Robinson, fixed policy until the accession of the able Henry IV in 1589. ^^^^ ^'^^_ " England meanwhile under Elizabeth was quietly develop- England, ing her resources and settling her religious differences. As yet neither an industrial nor a commercial nation, and, * Mount Royal. 34 American History [1562 Robinson, Western Eu- rope, 458-463. Port Royal (1562). Channing, United States, I, 94-96. Fort Caroline. Menendez. Channing, United States, I, 96-100. Hart, Co7item- poraries, I, No. 36. Fiske, Disc, of America, 11,512-521. Bourne, Spain in America, 176-189. as an international power, inferior to Spain and France, she gave encouragement to the seamen of the southern coast who engaged in trade with the Spanish colonies, and aided merchants who desired to form an East India company to trade with the far East. Elizabeth in fact permitted Sir Francis Drake and others to capture Spanish merchantmen and treasure ships in time of peace, thus developing that irregular navy which in 1588 harassed and in the end de- stroyed the unwieldy Spanish Armada. With Spain's navy crippled, the Dutch seized upon the greater part of the carry- ing trade of Europe. 30. The French in Florida (1562-1565). — Under the auspices of the great Protestant leader. Gasper de Coligny, two settlements were attempted in the southern part of the United States in the land named Florida and claimed by the Spanish. The first of these was made in 1562 by Jean Ribaut at Port Royal, a little north of the Savannah River^ but the next year the colonists constructed a ship, abandoned the colony, and reached Europe after a terrible voyage. In 1564 a second settlement was started by Laudonniere on the river of May, now called the St. Johns, where they built a fort named Caroline in honor of their king, Charles IX. Most of the settlers were men of broken fortunes and adventurers. Untrained to labor and desiring only gold, they quarreled with one another and with the Indians, some of them at length turning pirates and betraying to the Span- ish the presence of the little colony. Meanwhile the settlers prepared to abandon the colony, but before they were ready to sail, two fleets arrived off the coast of Florida: the first, French, under Ribaut bringing relief; the second, Spanish, under Menendez, threatening destruction. Before Menen- dez, a man of great vigor and earnestness, heard of the French colony, he had been expecting to secure a grant of Florida and colonize that region . When he learned of the Protestant settlement, he applied to Philip II who helped him fit a great expedition for what they considered a crusade. Find- ing the French fort and fleet too strong to attack, he disem- 1583] The Close of the Sixteenth Century 35 barked his men and constructed a fort which he named St. Augustine (1565). The elements now favored him, for Ri- baut's fleet was scattered and his ships wrecked by a great storm. Menendez immediately marched overland through the swamps, attacked Fort Caroline, which was practically unpro- tected, and put the inhabitants to the sword. Three different parties from Ribaut's fleet who had been wrecked on the coast south of St. Augustine were obliged to throw themselves on Menendez's mercy. Most of them were foully slain. This ended the settlements of the French in the southern part of North America, for King Charles of France was not fond of the Huguenots and was completely under the domination of Philip, but it did not close the warfare between the French and the Spaniards, for two years later de Gourgues destroyed the Spanish forts in Florida and hanged the defenders. 31. The English m the New World (1562-1583). — Hawkins and Numerous Englishmen were interested in the new world Drake, because of its commercial possibilities. The earliest of these. Sir John Hawkins, engaged in the slave trade with the Channing, Spanish West Indies. On the third of these voyages his ^^^^^^^J^^^"' ships were attacked, treacherously he thought, by Spanish officials. With him on this trip was his cousin, Sir Francis , , . , ^ , . ,.. , • . r Fiske, C/rt' Vir. Drake, who from this time devoted his life to the injury of ^/^^^^ l^ is-2-'&. Spain. With the consent of Elizabeth, Drake raided the Spanish main and in 1577 sailed into the Pacific Ocean, where ^^^^ Contem- he captured treasure ships on the way from Peru to Panama, pomries, Continuing northward until turned back by the cold, he i.Nos. 29, 30. returned to a harbor near San Francisco bay, where he re- fitted his vessel. The western part of the continent he named New Albion, claiming it for England. Returning to England via the East Indies and Africa, he brought back reports which aroused new interest in finding a northwest passage to the East. Frobisher had already (1576) searched for a northwest The northwest passage and Davis made three voyages (1585-1587) for the Passage, same purpose. The most earnest advocate of settlement in northern America and of search for a way to Cathay was Sir 36 American History [1584 Woodward, British Etn- pire, 39-49, The first colony (1585)- Charming, United States, I, 124-128. Fiske, Old Vir- ginia, I, 3c^33. The " lost colony" (1587-1590)- Fiske, Old Vir- ginia, I, 35-39. Channing, United States, I, 128-133. Humphrey Gilbert, who tried to form a colony on Newfound- land in 1583. The attempt was abandoned and on the return voyage Gilbert's vessel foundered. 32. The Ralegh Colonies (1584-1590). — The next year Sir Walter Ralegh dispatched to America Captains Amadas and Barlow, with instructions to investigate and report the possibilities of colonization. So glowing was their report that Queen Elizabeth named the country Virginia in her own honor. The succeeding spring (1585) seven vessels set sail carrying over one hundred settlers, whose leader was Ralph Lane. They landed at Roanoke Island, off the coast of what is now North Carolina, but before the ships returned to England the commander of the fleet maltreated the natives, thus alienating tribes whose friendship would have been of the greatest value. As the colonists would not work, and could obtain no food from the now hostile Indians, they gladly took ad- vantage of the arrival of Sir Francis Drake and returned to England. Ralegh's devotion to his pet scheme led him to form a company which in 1587 sent out a new expedition carrying women as well as men. Their destination was Chesapeake Bay, but they repaired first to Roanoke, where they decided to remain. Governor White of this " City of Ralegh," as the colony was called, returned to England for help later in the summer, but the ships sent out w^ith supplies were used to prey upon Spanish commerce, with disastrous re- sults. Then came the Armada (1588) which called forth the naval strength of England. Another year was frittered away by the men to whom Ralegh, now impoverished, Sir Walter Ralegh i6oo] The First Centiuy 37 assigned his Virginia patent, and when in 1590 assistance arrived, no trace could be found of the '4ost colony." Thus inauspiciously did the English begin the colonization of the new world. 33. The Results of the First Century. — In the century following the discovery of America by Columbus the advance in geographical knowledge had been enormous. The shape of the earth had been proved beyond dispute and its size quite accurately ascertained. There was no longer a sea of darkness, but two immense oceans had been crossed ; in the case of the Atlantic, repeatedly. A new continent had been brought to light, of which to be sure little was known except the shore lines. Almost every part of the eastern Atlantic Discovery and exploration. AND o SETTLEMENTS <:> 20- DURINQ THE ^ SIXTEENTH CENTURY ^' .y European Settlementa X coast had been explored by Europeans and the western coast nearly as far north as the Oregon River had been ex- amined. The interior of the North American continent had been visited by but two leaders — Coronado and Soto — and the heart of the continent was little better known in 1600 than a half century earlier. Search had been stimu- lated, however, because of a desire to find a water passage colonization. 38 American History [1492- from the Atlantic to the Pacific which would make it pos- sible to sail from Europe west to Asia without going as far south as the Straits of Magellan. More than any other one cause, this desire led in the following century to the investi- gation of the waterways in the new world. Attempted South of the present limits of the United States, Portugal had established a colony and Spain had taken possession of several islands and many Indian countries. Within the United States the repeated attempts to form colonies had led to the establishment of but two permanent settlements — the insignificant Spanish fortifications at St. Augustine and the little frontier mission at Santa Fe. Considering the amount of money and effort expended, the results were dis- couraging indeed. In striking contrast to the Hmited ter- ritory occupied by Europeans at the close of the sixteenth century were the sweeping territorial claims of the rival nations. Spain asserted her right to a territory of continental extent. France claimed the northeastern coast and that part of the interior drained by the St. Lawrence River, and Eng- land asserted her right to the eastern part of North America, because of the Cabot discoveries, and to the western coast by virtue of Drake's exploration. TOPICS Columbus's Efforts to gain Help (1484-1492): Adams, "Columbus," pp. 34-73; Fiske, "Discovery of America," I, pp. 381- 385, 395-419- The Voyages of the Cabots: Winsor (ed.), "America," III, pp. 1-7; Fiske, "Discovery of America," II, pp. 1-16; Lee (ed.), "History of North America," I, pp. 297-309. Magellan's Voyage around the World: Bourne, "Spain in America," pp. 115-132; Winsor (ed.), "America," II, pp. 591-613; Fiske, " Discovery of America," II, 185-205. STUDIES 1. The character of Columbus (criticisms). (Winsor, "Colum- bus," pp. 499-512.) 2. Origin of the name "America." (Fiske, "Discovery of America," II, pp. 129-155.) i6oo] The First Century 39 3. Cortez in Mexico. (Fiske, "Discovery of America," II, pp. 245-293-) 4. The wanderings of Cabeza de Vaca. (Lummis, "Spanish Pioneers," pp. 101-116.) 5. Coronado's explorations. (Johnson, "Pioneer Spaniards," pp. 219-253.) 6. Spain's colonial policy. (Bourne, "Spain in America," pp. 202-219.) 7. Spain's American commercial policy. (Bourne, "Spain in America," pp. 282-298.) 8. Verrazano's voyage. ("Old South Leaflets," No. 17.) 9. Religious wars in France. (Duruy, "History of Modern Times," pp. 218-234.) 10. Destruction of the French colony in Florida (1565). (Park- man, "Struggle for a Continent," pp. 27-54.) 11. The English in the East (after 1580). (Woodward, "Expan- sion of the British Empire," pp. 69-85.) 12. Reasons for English colonization in America. (Hart (ed.), "Contemporaries," I, Nos. 44-46.) QUESTIONS 1. What was the significance of the first voyage of Columbus? 2. How did the discoveries of Vespucius and Magellan affect the geographical ideas of the times ? 3. What influences were most powerful in leading the Spanish to colonize ? What were the chief characteristics of Spain's colonial policy? Was Spain a successful colonizing nation? 4. Why did Soto fail, while Cortez and Pizarro succeeded ? Name several reasons why the Spanish failed to get a real foothold in the United States. 5. How do you account for the comparative inactivity of the French and English during the sixteenth century? CHAPTER III Virginia com- pany and its sub-companies. MacDonald, C/iarters, No.i. Channing, United States, I. 157-163. EARLY ENGLISH COLONIZATION (1600-1660) English Rulers Elizabeth (1558-1603) James I (1603-1625) Charles I (1625-1649) Commonwealth (1649-1660) Virginia (1606-162 5) 34. The Charter of 1606. — During the early years of the seventeenth century several voyages were made to the coast of Virginia by English seamen who brought back glowing reports of the country and its climate. As Ralegh had been imprisoned and his charter annulled by James I, a new com- pany was organized in 1606 for the purpose of making settlements in Virginia. To certain members of this Virginia company, residing in London and usually called the London company, was granted the land lying between parallels 34 and 38. The territory from 41° north to 45° was granted to members living in Plymouth, the right to occupy the middle strip from 38° to 41° being shared by both sub-companies, provided that neither settled within one hundred miles of the other. The Virginia company was permitted to coin money and to defend its possessions, while its colonists were to have all the rights enjoyed by Englishmen.^ ^ There was to be a resident council for the government of each of the two colonies established, and the general direction of the Virginia company's affairs in England was entrusted to a council appointed by the king. 40 LATSD GRANTS UNDER CHARTER or 1000 i6o7] Virginia 41 35. The Settlement at Jamestown. — In December, 1606, three vessels fitted out by the London company set sail for the new world with more than one hundred colonists. According to the custom of those days, they went by way of the Canaries and the West Indies and did not enter Chesapeake Bay until April, 1607. As a site for the new settlement, they desired a place not too near the coast which might be fortified easily against the Spaniards, who objected to English settlements on land which they claimed. A low peninsula half buried at high tide was selected, the name of Jamestown being given to the settlement, in honor of the king. Most of the settlers were ''gentlemen" unused to hard labor, so that the work of constructing homes and plant- ing crops progressed slowly. With summer came an epi- demic of fever, and within four months half of the colonists had perished. The councilors who had been sent over to govern the people proved in- efficient and quarreled with one another. Famine was averted by securing corn from the Indians and by sup- plies sent from England, but the communistic system, ac- cording to which all labored for the common store, did not encourage industry or thrift in a naturally shiftless set of men. The real leader of the party was John Smith. Although less than thirty years of age, Smith was a man of varied experiences and of considerable ability. Since coming to Virginia he had made friends with the Indians, and, in an open boat, had explored the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, making a map of the region which w^as remarkable for its accuracy. When he was elected president of the council, Captain John Smith The first year (1607). Eggleston, Be- giniiers of a Nation, 25-31. Channing, United States, I, 163-170. Tyler, England in America, 41-54. Hart, Contem- poraries, I, Nos, 61-63. Rule of John Smith. Tyler, England in America, 55-60. 42 American History [1609 Eggieston, Be- he reduced the colony to order, made the rule that those gmners, 31-40. ^}^^ ^j^ ^^^ work should not eat, and prevented starvation by securing food from the Indians through his skill and boldness. Charter of 1609. Smith's rule came to an end when a new charter was granted which changed the method of government and ex- MacDonald, tended the boundaries of the territory controlled by the Charters, London company. The new charter gave Virginia all the land for two hundred miles north and south of Point Comfort "up into the land, throughout from sea to sea, west and northwest." Because of the word ''northwest" Virginia Commercial afterward claimed the Territory in the interior of the conti- and social w^^Yii between the Ohio River and the Great Lakes (§ 90). results 36. The Influence of Tobacco Culture. — That Virginia survived its early difficulties was due in large part to the character of its first leaders, especially to John Smith and Governor Dale. Its real prosperity, however, begins with the cultivation and exportation of tobacco, for which the U-S., 55-57. soil and climate of the colony were particularly adapted. Small crops of tobacco had been raised by the Indians be- Channing, fore the white settlers came, but not until Dale had put an end to the communistic system were plantations started on which the raising of tobacco became a regular industry. King James was strongly opposed to the use of the "filthy weed," but the market for their productions was so good that the planters soon came to devote their energies almost ex- clusively to tobacco growing. Settlers of a better class were attracted to the colony by the possibility of large profits from a regular occupation, and the banks of the James River and the shores of Chesapeake Bay were soon lined with the homes of men engaged in raising tobacco. Later, in- ducements were offered to poorer people, who paid for their passage to the new world by several years of service on the plantations. A few negroes, first brought to Jamestown in 1619 in a Dutch man-of-war, were also employed at the more menial tasks. Gradually, as the plantations became larger and the field workers more numerous, the distinction Coman, Indus- trial Hist, of United States, I, 208-226. 1624] Virginia 43 between landowners and landless became more marked, the classes of society being almost as widely separated as in England. 37. The First Virginia Assembly (16 19). — In the years Preliminary immediately preceding 161 9, the affairs of the London ^^^"^s. company in England and of the Virginia colonists in America did not go smoothly. James I tried to dominate the affairs un^^Tst • s of the company by dictating the laws that should be made i, 196-199. and the officers that should be elected.^ The members of the company objected naturally, for, by the charter of 161 2, T^x^x, England they had acquired the right to hold meetings in London, ^^^ ^'^erica, transact general business, and govern the colony in America. As the company had not proved a financial success, the ma- jority of the stock in the London company had come into the hands of Puritans who were opposed to arbitrary govern- ment in England and in America. Since the governor of Virginia had aroused the wrath of the settlers by his un- just and tyrannical rule, the company, under the lead of Sir Edwin Sandys, decided that representatives of the people should meet with a new governor and his advisers and help them make the laws. Following his instructions. Governor Meeting of the Yeardley asked the freemen in each of eleven plantations, assembly, towns, or hundreds to elect two representatives, and on July ^^''*' ^°'^^^^^^- ' r- ' ^ ^ porartes, 30, 1619, twenty-two burgesses met with the governor's i^no. 65. councilors in the first legislature in America. Two years later the London company passed an ordinance providing for a regular government in Virginia consisting of a council, c hosen by the English stockholders, which should assist the governor, and a general assembly composed of the councilors and of burgesses elected by the freemen. In this way the popular government established in 1619 by the English Puritans was made permanent. 38. Virginia becomes a Royal Province (1624). — The End of the Puritan element in the London company not only advocated London com- ^ ■' ^ pany s rule. ^ King James opposed the political discussions at the meetings of the London company and objected to the criticisms of the crown by members of the company. 44 Ameiican History [1606 Cooke, vir- constitutional government for their Virginia colony, but under ginia, 129-133. ^YiQ{x wise guidance hundreds of th;ifty settlers were pur- suaded to try their fortunes in the new world. The colony had a new lease of life, its prosperity far exceeding that of any previous time. Its success aroused the enmity of the Indians and in 1622 a terrible massacre occurred, from which Virginia recovered with surprising rapidity. But Tyler, England ^j^jg uprising furnished the excuse desired by the king and ■in America, ? . , • -r-. i i r i Other enemies of the company m England for the over- throw of the company. This was accomplished in 1624 on flimsy pretexts, and Virginia became a royal province. No change was made, however, in the character of its colonial government, as Charles I, who came to the throne in 1625, desired to win the favor of his American subjects, and was willing to have assemblies that would provide money for the royal treasury. Hart, Contem- poraries, I, Nos. 66, 67. Si-92. New England before 1628 Plymouth company (1607). Tyler, England in America, 39-41- Council for New England (1620). MacDonald, C/iarlers, No. 4. 39. The Plymouth Company and the Council for New England. — The settlements in the northern grant made to men of Plymouth in the charter of 1606 had not prospered like those of the South. During that terrible summer of 1607 when the fate of Jamestown was yet doubtful, over one hundred colonists landed at the mouth of the Kennebec, but the extreme cold of the winter and the death of Sir John Popham, the chief justice of England and the ruling mem- ber of the Plymouth company, led to the abandonment of the enterprise. Nothing further was attempted until in 1620 the company was reorganized ^ and obtained from King James a patent to the land lying between parallels 40° and 48° and extend- ing from sea to sea, with a practical monopoly of the fisheries and fur trade. Various grants of land were made by the company to its members, but few settlements were made, even for purposes of trade, and the credit for establishing ^ It was now called the Council for New England. 1625] New EngliiJid before 1628 45 c^ ^/ 46 American History [1600 Eggleston, Beginners, 103-114. the first homes in New England belongs to some Separatists, usually called the Pilgrims, who located at Plymouth. Puritan policy. 40. The English Puritans. — To understand the early history of New England, a knowledge of conditions and events in England under the first two Stuarts is quite as essential as any information regarding the doings of the early settlers, for the colonization of New England was due directly to the contest which took place between the Puritans and the Enghsh kings, James I and his son Charles I. The Puritans comprised a large and ever growing class of the English people who beheved that the Anglican church, which had been established by the Tudors in England at the time of the Reformation, retained too many of the old forms of the Roman Catholic church. They desired to purify the church of these ''papist" forms and to introduce among the people a higher standard of living. But they stood for more than religious reform. They advocated any scheme or plan that would lead to social or political betterment. It would be incorrect to imagine that they formed a sect with well-defined views, for the word "Puritan" three hundred years ago had a meaning but little more definite than that of "reformer" in our own time. In religious matters alone there was a vast difference between the moderate Puritan who favored a simplification of the church service, but who was nevertheless very much attached to the church, and the radical Puritan who had severed his connection with the estabhshed church in England and was known as a "Separat- ist." • Between these two extremes was the liberal Puritan, who desired to remain in the church but wished to introduce radical changes in the church service and to leave the control of all local ecclesiastical affairs, including the selection of a pastor, to the members of the congregation. In spite of their desire for reform, the Puritans were often narrow and the importance that they attached to forms is amazing to a person of the twentieth century. Their desire to raise the low moral standard of their time made them go to the other extreme. Their opposition to amuse- Three classes of Puritans. Puritan narrowness. i6o8] New England before 1628 47 ments was so rabid that we are tempted to believe the state- Eggieston, ment that they objected to the cruel sport of bear baiting, Begin77ers, less because it gave pain to the bear than because it afforded pleasure to the spectators. And yet, with all the narrow- ness which they so often showed, it may well be doubted whether any other political force has exerted as great an influence on America as that of the Puritans. 41. The Puritans and the English Monarchs. — During Under the reign of Elizabeth, all of those who did not conform to Elizabeth, the practices of the established church, frequently known as non-conformists, were treated with considerable severity. Tyler, Since the monarch was the head of the church and of the ^neTua ^^ state as well, those who refused to worship as the church 153-155. prescribed were thought to be guilty of disobedience Uttle less dangerous than treason. For this reason there was no religious toleration in England, and those who were unwilling to conform were punished. When the throne of England at the death of Elizabeth James I. was left to Tames VI of Scotland, there was a general feeling ^"^ ^^^ , ^ . 1 , . , , . , , Puritans. among the Puritans that they might obtain some ot the re- ligious reforms that they desired, since the established church of Scotland was controlled by the Puritans. James disap- ^Jf^-^^^^"' pointed the reformers very early in his reign, for in a religious 159-163. conference held at Hampton Court (1604) he showed very clearly that he believed thoroughly in his divine right to rule channing, both church and state. His experience with the Scotch United states church had not been especially pleasant and he took occasion ' ^'^^~^ ^' to oppose the Puritan requests because they would lead to a church system like that of Scotland, ''which agreeth as well ^ . •' 1-1 Puritan with a monarchy as God with the devil." In conclusion he devolution. said of the Puritans, "I shall make them conform them- selves, or I will harry them out of the land." This policy he followed with constantly increasing vigor, for the Puritan element was gaining in strength year by year. One of the earliest results of James's attitude was to drive from England many Separatist congregations which were no longer allowed to hold meetings, open or secret. Gardiner, 48 American History [1608 In Holland (1608-1618). Tyler, E?igland in America, 155-161. Hart, Contefn- poraries, I, Nos. 97-99. Amer. Hist. Leaflets, No. 29. Voyage to America (1620). Mayflower compact. MacDonald, Charters, ^o.^. Dangers (1620-1623). 42. The Pilgrim Migrations. — One of these Separatist churches had been organized in Nottinghamshire by William Brewster and John Robinson. Owing to the persecutions of James I, they fled in 1608 to Holland, the only country in Europe where religious differences were tolerated. Making Leyden their home, with many other refugees, they toiled for years without being able to earn more than a bare living. As the prospect was no brighter for the future, and their children were influenced by the easy-going Dutch ways, often intermarrying with the Dutch as they grew up, some of them came to the conclusion that their condition might be improved by emigrating to America. The Puritans were now in control of the Virginia company and from them these Separatists obtained liberal concessions and a grant of land in the northern part of Virginia. Lacking the money needed for so expensive a journey, they entered into an agreement with certain '^ merchant adventurers" of London by which all of the earnings of the colonists should remain joint prop- erty, and each adventurer who contributed ten pounds should, at the end of seven years, have an equal share with each colonist. After many difficulties, including the abandon- ment of one of their vessels which proved unseaworthy, the Pilgrims set sail in the Mayflower from Plymouth, Septem- ber 6, 1620. Two months later they came in sight of Cape Cod, and after six weeks of search for a suitable place for a settlement landed December 21 at a harbor which they cafled New Plymouth. 43. Early History of New Pl5miouth. — Being far to the north of the territory under the jurisdiction of the Virginia company, the men of the party met in the cabin of the Mayjiower and drew up a compact organizing themselves into a "civill body politick, for our [their] better ordering & pres- ervation," and promising "all due submission and obedi- ence" to the ''just& equalllawes" which they should enact from time to time. The first winter, although unusually mild for that section, brought terrible hardships and suffering. One half of the 1 691] New Ejigland before 1628 49 colony perished, but the rest kept bravely at their work, Tyler, being aided by a few others who came over from England ^^^s^andin or Holland. The Indians of the vicinity were friendly, a 161-167 ' permanent peace being made with their chief, Massasoit, which lasted until his death forty years later. When the chief of the more distant Narragansetts tried to intimidate them by sending a bundle of arrows tied with a rattlesnake's skin. Governor Bradford returned the skin filled with powder and ball. Soon after the Indian uprising in Virginia (1622), a threatened plot was nipped in the bud by the valiant cap- tain. Miles Standish. By this mixture of diplomacy and force, Plymouth became singularly free from difficulties with the red men. Even the honest, hard-working Pilgrims could not make End of a success of communism, and in 1624 an acre was assigned communism, to each person as his separate property. Where previously there had been continual danger of famine, now crops were abundant and a surplus remained for sale. Two years later money was borrowed from leading men of the colony, and the interests of the merchant adventurers were purchased for ;£i8oo. Plymouth obtained a land grant from the Council of New Government England in 1630 and was allowed to govern itself unmolested. ^^^^''^ ^^91- So few were its settlers that until 16^8 there was an annual Tyler, meeting of all the people of the colony, but after that year EngLnd in the example of Massachusetts was followed and a representa- America, tive assembly was held every year. Plymouth grew slowly, ^72-182. and in 1691 was joined to Massachusetts (§ 77). Beginnings of Massachusetts Bay (i 628-1 636) 44. The Massachusetts Bay Company. — North of the Organization colony of New Plymouth, a few pioneers began settlements ^^^ charter, during the years following 1620, making a precarious living usually in connection with the fisheries. One of these, ^'^^<^' ^^^ composed of several earnest and religious men from Dor- ^^ Chester, had prospered for a time, only to be practically abandoned later. But this Dorchester venture had awak- £ so American History [1628 Eggleston, Beginners, 199-209. MacDonald, Charters, ^o. Quarrels over political and religious questions. Robinson, Western Europe, 478-484. Coman and Kendall, England, 296-306. ened the interest of certain Puritan leaders at home, who believed that America offered the best opportunity for the estabHshment of churches using the simple form of worship which was their ideal. With this in view they obtained (1628) from the Council for New England a patent to the land lying between boundaries three miles north of the Merrimac River and three miles south of the Charles, and extending from sea to sea. A year later King Charles re- affirmed this land grant in a royal charter which created the corporation known as "the Governor and Company of the Mattachusetts Bay in Newe England," with the right to admit new members and to govern its territory, provided that it did not make laws contrary to those of England. The officers were to consist of a governor, a deputy governor, and eighteen assistants, elected yearly by the members of the corporation. No place was designated for the meetings of these officers or of the ''general courts" composed of all stockholders in the company, although all previous charters had such a provision. The omission was due probably to the desire of the incorporators to hold their meetings in either London or Dorchester, but there was nothing in the charter to prohibit the company from establishing its head- quarters in America. 45. King Charles and the Puritans. — The desire of the Puritans to have a colony in America was due in large part to friction with the king, Charles I, who had succeeded his father in 1625. Charles was a thorough believer in his divine right to rule England, and was less cautious and more obstinate than his father. The Puritan element now controlled the house of commons and forced the king in the Petition of Right (1628) to grant their political demands, but they were unable to obtain any religious concessions. Charles desired a high church ritual with greater uniformity throughout the realm. The commons insisted that a simpli- fied service should be used. The victory remained with Charles, for he had begun to make changes and dissolved parliament before the commons could do more than protest. 1630] Beginnings of Massachtisetts Bay 5 1 Charles then carried out his plans by enforcing through Archbishop Laud a ritual more elaborate than any used previously in the churches. But Charles's attempt to govern England without parliament (1629-1640) and in opposition to the wishes of a majority of his subjects, his extra-legal A Puritan ^^- Gaudens levies of ship money (1635), ^"^^ his attempt finally to force the English prayer book on the Scotch church (1637), al- though apparent evidence of his triumph over the Puritans, were in reality the chief causes of his final overthrow. 46. Character of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. — When the most prominent members of the Massachusetts Bay 52 American History [1630 The great migration (1630-1640). Hart, Contem- poraries, I, Nos. 105, 106. Fiske, New Etigland, 10 1- 104, 137-146- Eggleston, Beginners, 209-215. Charming, United States, I. 325-335- The colony acquires the company's charter. Channing, United States, I. 340-342. Contest between the ofificials and the people. Tyler, Enghvid in America, 201-204. Channing, United States, 1,342-351. Hart, Contem- poraries, I, No. 107. company left England in 1629, they decided to take the charter with them, intending to transact all their future business where no agent of the king might interrupt. The leading spirit in this movement was the new governor, John Winthrop, a man of exceptional scholarship and very noble character. Winthrop and about one thousand others embarked for their new home during the year 1630, the first of the eleven years of the "great Puritan migration," for during the time that Charles attempted to govern England without parliament, nearly twenty thousand men, women, and children were transported to the shores of New England. They did not come for religious freedom but w^ith the idea of establishing churches in which they might worship in the way which they preferred. The transfer of the charter, in itself a most remarkable event, was the beginning of political changes even more noteworthy. All church members in the colony were ad- mitted as members of the company. In this way the colony became identified with the company and gained all of the rights that the company had possessed, so that it now had the power, protected by the charter, to govern itself. This change was in fact completed before the king discovered that the charter of the company had been taken from Eng- land. 47. Political Problems and Dangers. — Some of the leaders of the Massachusetts Bay company wished to make all of the laws and do all of the governing. They persuaded the people to keep them in office without holding elections yearly as the charter directed. The people submitted until the officials began to levy a special tax for a stockade at the most exposed settlement. Then they insisted upon annual elections and the right of every member of the colony to attend the annual meeting and help make the laws. As it was found impossible for the men from distant settlements to leave their homes for this annual meeting, they began in 1634 to send representatives who helped the governor's assistants to make the laws. In 1644 a dispute over a stray 1636] Begijinmgs of Massachusetts Bay 53 pig led to the separation of the assistants and the represent- MacDonald, atives, thus organizing the first bicameral legislature in ^^^'ters, No. 17. America. The democratic faction protested against the \ powers which the officials still exercised by interpreting as they pleased the laws which were unwritten. The people demanded a bill of rights and a written code. In 1641 the officials yielded and passed a very complete and very liberal code of laws known as the Massachusetts Body of Liberties. The Massachusetts Bay company treated its neighbors Attempt so arbitrarily that some of them complained to the king. *^ revoke King Charles realized that the colony was governing itself in opposition to his wishes, so that steps were taken to revoke the charter. Preparations were made to defend the colony / ^^: , . ^ ^ •' Engla7id in against attack, but the king was too busy carrying out his America, policy at home to give the matter his attention. 204-209. 48. Religious Difficulties. — Quite as serious as the Religious threatened attacks made by England were the dangers poi'cy of arising in Massachusetts from religious differences. Mas- the colony. sachusetts was a distinctively Puritan commonwealth. The church was not only closely connected with the affairs ^ ^y* ^ . -' ■' Efigland in of State, it was the foundation on which the political and America, social organization rested. Partly for this reason, partly 210-212. because the Puritans w^re by nature intense, sincere, but narrow, and partly because every nation of that time except the Dutch loathed the idea of religious toleration, the govern- ment of Massachusetts exercised a very strict supervision of church affairs. Although themselves non-conformists with the established church in England, the Puritan emigrants followed toward the irregulars the policy of James I toward themselves. Those were banished who insisted on worship- ing according to the rites of the Anglican church or in other non-Puritan ways. The most famous of these early dissenters was Roger Roger Williams, an able, large-hearted but eccentric clergyman. ' ^^'^^' He wrote a pamphlet claiming that the king had no right to Fiske, New issue land patents, for all the land belonged to the Indians. Ettgland, Williams' crowning offence was the assertion that no magis- '^ ^ 54 American History [1636 Tyler, E7tgla7id in Ainerica, 212-218. Channing, United States, I, 362-368. Anne Hutchinson. Fiske, New England, 116-119. Eggleston, Beginners, 329-339. trate should exercis^any control in religious matters, such as enforcing Sunday laws or requiring an unconverted person to take an oath, which he considered a religious act, but that affairs of state should be separated from those of the church.^ He was tried (1635) and ordered to leave for England, but was permitted to make his way south, where he founded Providence (1636). Williams had exercised great influence, but had no large personal following, as was the case with Mrs. Anne Hutchin- son whose teachings in 1636 threatened to disrupt Massachu- setts. The entire population of Boston was divided into two hostile parties favorable or unfavorable to Mrs. Hutchin- son. The opponents of Mrs. Hutchinson finally triumphed and that lady with her followers was banished (1637). Some went north to New Hampshire, but the larger number settled on Rhode Island in Narragansett Bay. Religious policy. Channing, United States, I. 393-398. Hart, Contem- poraries, I, No. 115. Expansion in New England (163 5-1 645) 49. Providence Plantations and Rhode Island. — Settled by persons who had been driven from Massachusetts be- cause of their religious views. Providence and the Rhode Island towns were drawn together by bonds of sympathy, but remained politically separate until in 1644 Roger Williams obtained from a parliamentary commission a semi- charter by which the towns around Narragansett Bay were united and authorized to govern themselves. The policy of Providence from the beginning and of the united towns after 1644 was one of perfect religious liberty. Liberal Puritans were welcomed, but freedom of thought was per- ^ When supplying the pulpit at Salem, his extreme views gave offense. He was held responsible when one of his supporters, John Endicott, cut out from the British flag one arm of the cross which Roger Williams 1637] Expansion in New England 55 mitted to Catholics, Jews, Quakers, and atheists as well. Williams insisted that a man should be protected by the government without regard to his religious views. Through jhis influence Rhode Island became the first community in the modern world where there was perfect religious liberty. i Yet the earliest results of this policy were somewhat disas- jtrous. Not only those with real depth of religious feeling made Rhode Island their home, but many whose views on all I subjects were unusual. The colony grew but slowly, making up in the eccentricity Charter of \ of its people what it lacked in numbers. As the first semi- 1663. charter had been issued irregularly and did not define the i territorial limits of the colony, Charles II was persuaded in MacDonaid, ' 1663 to grant a charter which gave the people complete ^^^^^^^^ powers of self-government, subject to the one limitation that the laws conform as near as might be to the laws of England. Perfect religious freedom was permitted, so that no change was made in the policy of the colony. 50. The Connecticut Valley. — We have already noticed Settlement, (§ 47) the antagonism existing in Massachusetts between Dutch and those who favored an aristocratic government and those whose ideal was democratic. Although certain concessions were made to the liberals, several of the towns were still Channmg , United States^ dissatisfied, as they desired to abolish the religious quali- 1^398-404. fications for voting. Another cause of discontent existed in the sterility of the soil, which they had found unsuitable yK'^Vq, New for agriculture. Learning of the fertile Connecticut valley England, in the west, several hundred people set out in 1636. The ^23-133. Dutch had already built (1633) within the present limits of Hartford a fort which they did not abandon for several Eggleston, years. The mouth of the river was seized by the English, Jf^"^^^' who erected a fort, from which the Dutch made a half- hearted attempt to drive them. Their real foes were not the Dutch but the Pequod Indians, who ruled the territory Endicott declared was a symbol of popery. This act the magistrates felt might be construed in England as an insult, and they forced from Endicott an apology. 56 American History [1639 Constitution of 1639. Channing, United States, I, 404-407. MacDonald, Charters, No. 14. Johnston, Connecticut, 59-64. 75-79. Connecticut charter (1662). MacDonald, Charters, No. 24. Johnston, CoJinecticut, 167-173. Theocratic character. from the Hudson to Narragansett Bay with severity. Diffi- cuUies arose almost at the start, and were increased by savage actions on both sides. In 1637 the people resolved to put an end to these outrages. One of the Pequod camps west of Narragansett Bay was attacked by less than a hun- dred men under Mason and Underhill. The attack was a complete surprise, the wigwams were set on fire, and several hundred Indians slain. The remaining Pequods were relentlessly hunted out of the country, and for many years there was peace and prosperity. As the people of Connecticut were outside the jurisdiction of Massachusetts and unwilling to have that colony extend its authority over them, they met and drew up a set of fundamental laws for their government (1639). The con- stitution which was adopted in 1639 established a govern- ment similar to that of Massachusetts, with a governor, magistrates, and deputies, who looked after common inter- ests. Unlike Massachusetts, Connecticut did not restrict the privilege of voting to those who were church mem- bers, and she left with the towns a much more complete degree of self-government than had been enjoyed in the parent colony. This set of laws, remarkable for its democratic character, is still more remarkable because it is the first written constitution compiled by a people for their own government. This very liberal political system was recognized and con- tinued in the charter which Connecticut obtained from Charles II in 1662. The new colony, however, included not only the Connecticut valley settlements, but New Haven as well, and extended from the Pawtucket River to the Pacific. Under this charter, slightly modified when Connecticut became a state in 1776, the people lived until 1818. 51. New Haven. — Strangely enough the later colony and state of Connecticut was composed of two quite different elements: the Connecticut valley settlements, the most liberal, and the New Haven settlements, the most conserva- tive, of those made by the New England Puritans. The 1643] Expansion hi Nezu England 57 founders of New Haven desired to establish a town ruled Fiske, New according: to Scripture, which to them meant the Mosaic ^"S^^'^"^< code. Other towns were founded by their friends, and in 1643 these were united in much the same way as those of Tyler, England Connecticut under the constitution of 1639. In New Haven "'- ^"^^^'^'^^ only church members might vote, and the general court enacted rather searching laws regulating religious and other Channmg, —,, . 1 r 1 -r» 1 United States, matters. These were caricatured soon alter the Revolu- t ,^ ,^^ tionary War by a loyalist, Peters, whose book on the ''Blue Laws of Connecticut " was supposed for many years to be historically correct. 52. Northern New England. — A number of attempts Settlement, had been made to colonize the coast north of Massachusetts. Relations with Massachusetts. Several grants of land were issued by the Council for New England, notably that to Mason and Gorges. In 1629 ,..,,,. . ^ ^ , . , , Tyler, England these men divided their territory. Mason taking that between ^^^ America, theMerrimac and the Piscataqua, to which he now gave the 266-276, 279- name New Hampshire, and Gorges that from the Piscata- ^Si. qua to the Kennebec, a district known as Maine. Large sums were spent by both, but their settlements were little more than fishing hamlets. At the beginning of the Civil War in England, Massachusetts annexed the New Hamp- shire towns on the ground that her charter of 1629 gave her all territory east as well as west from a point three miles north of the source of the Merrimac River, but the towns were allowed to govern themselves and to send representa- tives to the general court of Massachusetts until in 1679 New Hampshire became a royal province. During the Commonwealth Massachusetts extended her jurisdiction over most of the towns in Maine also, and although obliged by a commission from England (1665) to relinquish her control temporarily, she reasserted her authority until Maine was purchased from the Gorges heirs by Massa- chusetts (1678). The territory east of the Kennebec River was granted to several court favorites, but was practically unoccupied because of the opposition of the French. 53. The New England Confederation (1643). — Between 58 American History [1643 Origin. Fiske^ New England, 155-158. Government. Fiske, New England, 158-161. Channing, United States, 1,415-420. several of these New England colonies there was a pro- nounced unity of feeling. Though representing different types of Puritan sentiment, the ideals in Massachusetts Bay, New Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven were much the same. Some of these colonies had acted together in more than one undertaking, but no formal union had been considered wise, perhaps for the reason that it would have made supervision by the royal government so much easier. In 1643, the Civil War in England removed this ob- stacle and these four little Puri- tan communities united to form the New England Confederation, chiefly for the pur- pose of better de- fense against the Dutch, the French, and the Indians. Maine, a settlement alien in its origin and customs, was not admitted, nor was heretical Rhode Island, which wished to join the league, its lack of stable government being assigned as the excuse for refusal. The Confederation carefully avoided interference with the local government of each of its members. Two commis- sioners were selected by each colony for the transaction of league matters. Any six of these had power to determine questions of peace or war, deciding how many men each colony was able to contribute for purposes of defense. Intercolonial disputes were to be settled by the commissioners. A sort of intercolonial citizenship was established and ser- vants or criminals escaping from one colony to another 1632] Maryland 59 were to be surrendered. The authority of the commissioners MacDonaid, Charters, No. 19. was more apparent than real, but the Confederation was of great value in dealing with both the Dutch and the Indians. The injustice done to Massachusetts, which was larger than the other three together, and the desire of that colony to manage the affairs of the Confederation, caused its decline, but it remained in existence until 1684. Maryland 54. The Charter of Maryland (1632). — While the A proprietary Puritan emigration to New England was taking place, a colony, colony of a new type was being founded in the region north of Virginia. The land was granted and the power to govern the colony assigned to a proprietor ^ who controlled the affairs of the colony in accordance with a charter given to him by the king. This proprietary form of government, although modified in many ways, was the one used after this time in the establishment of new English colonies in America. The founding of Maryland was due to the personal am- Calvert and his bition of George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, an enterprising charter. Catholic nobleman who had long enjoyed royal favor. He was anxious to establish in the new world a place of refuge MacDonaid. for Catholics and to buil'd up for his family a semi-feudal ^^ '^^ ' estate. Before his conversion to the faith of Rome, he had started a settlement on Newfoundland, which was soon ^. , ^,, ^^ Fiske, Ocd Vir- abandoned. He next tried Virginia, but the governors of ginia, i, 255- the colony would have none of him. He then obtained 256,261-274. from the king a charter which gave him title to the land from the Potomac to the fortieth parallel and from Delaware Bay Eggleston, to the meridian passing through the head waters of the Po- 221-2^6 tomac. Over this domain he was to exercise almost regal powers, sending to the king two arrows yearly as a recogni- tion of royal suzerainty. He was free from taxation by the authorities at home, which were not allowed to interfere in other ways with his government. With the consent of the freemen, he might make the laws, which should not be contrary to those of England. 6o America7i History [1635 Contest over the right to pro- pose laws. Channing, United States, 1,265-267. Browne, Maryland, 35-37.41-47. Religious classes. Law of 1649. MacDonald, Charters, No. 21. Eggleston, Beguiners, 242, 250-257. 55. The Proprietor and the Freeman. — Interest in the early history of Maryland centers around two things, the re- hgious conditions and the development of democratic in- stitutions. George Calvert died before the charter was granted and his work was undertaken by his eldest son, Cecil, who remained in England and exercised his functions as proprietor through a resident governor. Being at such a distance, he was unable to meet with the freemen for the purpose of making laws, and the earliest laws which he proposed for the colony were rejected by the first assembly of freemen (1635), who claimed that they had the right to propose laws. This claim was not accepted by the proprietor, who in turn rejected the laws suggested by the freemen. Matters remained in this chaotic state for four years, each side refusing to yield, but in 1639 Baltimore gave his consent to a very full and cumbersome code of laws enacted by the assembly, at the same time instructing his governor to claim the power of veto only. Calvert could well afford this concession, because his authority over the colony was very great, and the legislature was composed of councilors selected by himself as well as the freemen who represented the people or were summoned to the assembly by the pro- prietor. The later history of the colony is largely concerned with the attempt on the part of the freemen and of the pro- prietor to extend their legislative influence at the expense of the other. 56. Religious Toleration. — From the first the majority of the settlers in Maryland were Puritans, the proportion increasing with great rapidity during the closing years of the Civil War in England, especially when Virginia in 1648 drove many Puritans from its borders. As the proprietor could not establish Catholicism as a state religion, and would not permit an established church of any other faith, there had been little interference on account of religious beliefs during the early history of Maryland. Foreseeing that the Catholic majority in the legislature could not be maintained on account of the Puritan immigration, Baltimore proposed character of English settlements 1 660 J Maryland 61 to the freemen a law giving religious toleration, and at the same time sent over a Protestant governor. The legislature rejected Baltimore's law because it denied to the proprietary the right of initiation, but the next year (1649) passed a somewhat similar law. This famous "Toleration Act" pro- vided the death penalty for those who blasphemed or denied any person of the Trinity, but declared ''that noe person or persons . . . professing to beleive in Jesus Christ, shall from henceforth bee any waies troubled. Molested or dis- countenanced for or in respect of his or her religion." 57. Summary. — After a half century of successful Extent and colonization we find the English in possession of the Atlantic coast from the Kennebec nearly to the Hudson, and from the northern part of Chesapeake Bay to Cape Fear River. (1660). The intervening territory was occupied by the Dutch, who had lately conquered the tiny Swedish settlement on the Delaware. To the south, though separated by an extensive wilderness, were the Spanish, while but little closer neighbors on the north were the French. In 1660 the English settlers lived in eight distinct colonies, two of which, Massachusetts and Virginia, included more than one half of the total population. The emigration to the American provinces of England had been almost exclusively from the mother country, most of the settlers coming between the years 161 9 and 1640, although a large number of cavaliers sought Virginia when the fortunes of Charles I declined. As the majority of these settlers were hard-working, courageous men and women whom the dangers of the forest could not daunt nor the hardships of the frontier discourage, the future of the colonies was assured. With increasing prosperity and continued expansion, the Dutch settlements would of necessity have become less endurable, and the first oppor- tunity was therefore embraced to conquer them. TOPICS I. Virginia under the Commonwealth : Fiske, " Old Virginia," II, pp. 1-18: Doyle, "English Colonies," I, pp. 212-229; Bancroft, " United States." 62 American History 2. The Puritans: Ellis, in Winsor, "America," III, pp. 219-244; Palfrey, "New England," I, pp. 101-132; Osgood, in Political Science Quarterly, VI (1891), pp. 1-28, 201-231; Borgeaud, "De- mocracy in America." 3. Pilgrim Migrations: Fiske, "New England," pp. 71-82; Eggleston, " Beginners of a Nation," pp. 165-177; Channing, "United States," I, pp. 293-307. STUDIES 1. Agricultural difficulties and problems in early Virginia. (Bruce, "Economic History of Virginia," I, pp. 189-226.) 2. Smith in Virginia. ("American History Leaflets," No. 27.) 3. Virginia under Charles I. (Cooke, "Virginia," pp. 41-157.) 4. First weeks at Plymouth. (Bradford, " Plymouth Plantation.") 5. Early emigrants. (Hart (ed.), "Contemporaries," I, Nos. 55- 58.) 6. Winthrop's account of Massachusetts. (" American History Leaflets," No. 31.) 7. Earliest New England code of laws. ("American History Leaflets," No. 25.) • 8. Pequod War. (Doyle, "English Colonies," I, pp. 160-178.) 9. Roger Williams and his work. (Eggleston, "Beginners of a Nation," pp. 266-306.) 10. General character of the English colonies. (Mace, "Method in History," pp. 86-104.) 11. Charter land grants. (" American History Leaflets," No. 14.) QUESTIONS 1. What was the significance of the settlement at Jamestown (1607)? of that at Plymouth (1620)? of that at Salem (1628)? 2. Compare the Virginia charters of 1606^ 1609, and 161 2 as to territory and government. 3. What influence did tobacco have upon (a) the growth of Vir- ginia, {h) the social classes, (c) the establishment of the county systems of government, {d) the relations of Virginia to England (§ 36) ? 4. Did the Puritans believe in religious toleration ? How did the Puritan spirit show itself in the dealings of Massachusetts with Roger Williams and with England? Was their course justified? 5. In the contest between the aristocrats and the liberals in Mas- sachusetts between 1630 and 1641, which gained the greater vic- tories in determining the character (a) of the government, {h) of the suffrage, (c) of the code of laws ? 6. Define the term "charter." Give the distinction between a charter and a constitution. In what respects was the constitution of Connecticut different from the Massachusetts charter of 1629? CHAPTER IV LATER ENGLISH COLONIZATION (1660-1700) English Rulers Charles II (1660-1685) William III (16S9-1702) James II (1685-1688) and Mary (1689-1694) 58. Commercial Situation of England about 1660. — The English year 1660, during which the Stuarts were restored to their colonial and ,. ._-, 111-. <• commercial position as kings of England, marks the beginning of a new u^, epoch from the standpoint of the colonies. This was due to a larsre extent to the interest taken by the able advisers . , ° -^ Andrews, of Charles II, Clarendon and Shaftesbury, in the expansion col.Self-Gov't of the British domains, and the desire of those statesmen 5-i3- to bring the existing English colonies into closer and more satisfactory relations with the mother country. It was due in part also to the anxiety of England to compete with Holland, which had become the first commercial nation of Europe.^ Cromwell had sought to injure Dutch commercial supremacy by securing a law (1651) which compelled all English merchants to import and export goods in English ships only. This had led to a war with Holland in which the advantage remained with the English. This policy of British trade in British ships only was re- Early naviga- affirmed by the new Stuart government after the Restoration by the passage of the very important navigation act of 1660. Not only were England and the English possessions to allow only English or colonial vessels entrance to their ports, but ^^.^^ certain articles produced in the colonies, including sugar ^ The Dutch had not only gained extensive possessions in America, with the control of most of the East India trade, but in 1650 they controlled nine tenths of the carrying trade of England and practically a monopoly of that of continental nations. 63 tion acts. Andrews, Col. Self- Govt., 64 American History [i66q and tobacco, and known as "enumerated" goods, were to be shipped to England only. A few years later the colonies were required to purchase all goods from England direct, thus giving the English merchants a monopoly in selling Purpose and to them. The undoubted purpose of these acts of trade results of the ^^^^ ^^ destroy the commerce of the Dutch as far as possible, Navigation i i i • Acts. but they were made on the theory then m common use that colonies should aid the mother country by furnishing a market for her surplus products and by helping the home country to build up her industries. The ministers of Charles II probably desired to treat the colonies fairly, for colonial vessels were considered English ships and the colonies often obtained special commercial privileges. For example, Virginia tobacco had a monopoly of the English market, as tobacco growing was prohibited in England and the im- portation of tobacco from foreign countries was forbidden. Reorganization 59- England and the Colonies (1660-1685). — Dur- ing the quarter century following the Restoration, consid- erable progress was made in improving the colonial system of England. In 1660 there were only three regularly organized English colonies on the Atlantic coast. One of these, Virginia, was under the direct control of the crown; a second, Maryland, was governed by a proprietor whose relations to England were defined in a charter; the third, Massachusetts, was a self-governing charter colony w^hich had in more than one way refused to acknowledge the su- premacy of the English government. There were in addition settlements in Maine, New Plymouth, on Rhode Island, and at Providence, in Connecticut, and on the shores of Long Island Sound. ^ Soon after the Restoration, charters were granted (1662) to Connecticut, which now included New Haven, and (1663) to Rhode Island including Providence. Attempts were made also to bring Massachusetts into sub- mission, ending in the revocation of her charter of 1629 in the year 1684.^ ^ New Hampshire was included in Massachusetts from 1641 to 1679. 2 See §§ 73, 75. of colonies. 1685] Later English Colonization 65 Interest was shown in colonial expansion when Clarendon, Founding of Shaftesbury, and some associates prepared to settle the region "^^ colonies, south of Virginia (1663). In 1664 jealousy of the Dutch and desire to join the colonies of the North with those of the South led to the conquest of New Netherland. Six years later the enterprising Hudson Bay company was organized, and soon after 1680 the only unoccupied section of the coast north of the Savannah River was granted to William Penn. All of these changes were favorable to the increased authority of the home government, for these new colonies were directly controlled by members of the Stuart family or by court favorites. New York (1609-1685) 60. The Founding of New Netherland. — The Dutch Hudson, claim to the country between New England and Maryland The India was based on the explorations of Henry Hudson, followed by ^^"'P^"^^^' the subsequent occupation of the region by Dutch traders and by settlers sent out from Holland. Hudson was an ^, ^""/"5' ■' United States, Englishman in the employ of the Dutch East India company. \^ 438-446. While in search of a passage to the Pacific (1609) ^^ sailed up the river which now bears his name until fresh water Hart, Contejn- showed that it was not a channel connecting two oceans, poranes. He won the friendship of the Indians and within a few years ^X_^ jro^ icV a considerable fur trade was established with the Indians by the thrifty Dutch, but no attempt was made to settle the country until in 162 1 the Dutch West India company was created. By the charter of this company the government of the territory around the Delaware and Hudson rivers, as well as the fur trade of that section, was placed entirely in its hands. But the company took no interest in colonization, preferring to devote its entire attention to the establishment of trading posts and the development of the fur trade. 61. The Province of New Netherland. — In 1629 the Thepatroon West India company adopted a new policy and promised system. that any person who should send fifty adults to their American possessions should have lands fronting on either the Hudson 66 American History [1629 Channing, United States, I, 446-449. Fiske, Dutch and Quaker Cols. I, 133-140- or the Delaware, sixteen miles on one bank or eight miles on both and extending into the interior. This liberal do- main the patroon, as he was called, was to rule as a feudal lord, with power to make laws and hold court for the trial of offenses. All corn was to be ground at his mill and no one should hunt or fish on his domain without his consent. This feudal system appealed to many wealthier members of the company and large landed estates were established along the Hudson. Of these the most extensive was that of the Dutch governors. Channing, United States, 1,450-472. New Amsterdam Van Rensselaers, in which the custom of paying feudal rents persisted until the tenants rebelled about 1840 and gained the right to purchase their lands. Governors were sent out by the company to administer its affairs, which they did in a quite unsatisfactory manner. The early governors found it difficult to maintain the au- thority of the company against the patroons, who were practically independent within the limits of their patroon- ships. The people of the principal city. New Amsterdam, and in the rest of the colony protested also against the arbi- 1664] New York 6y trary rule of the governors, and demanded a share in the government. The last and the ablest of the Dutch gov- ernors, Stuyvesant, was forced to give New Amsterdam a • more liberal government with nine men to advise him, but he made more promises than reforms, and to the last the rule of the Dutch was narrow and arbitrary. 62. New Netherland and its Neighbors. — The location Relations with of New Netherland between jealous and comparatively *^^^ Indians, powerful English colonies and its proximity to the most powerful Indian tribe on the continent, the Iroquois, made Channing, its position one of no little difficulty. The Dutch avoided f"'^^'^ ^*f"' conflict with the Iroquois by preserving the friendship es- tablished with those Indians by Hudson. This afforded them protection from attack and benefited their trade in fur. Unwise treatment of the Indians near Manhattan Island, however, led to a disastrous war, in which most of the settlements near New Amsterdam were destroyed (1641- 1643)- On the south the Dutch came into collision with the Conquest of Swedes, who had made a few settlements on the shores of ^^^ Sweden Delaware Bay. The Dutch claimed the land and warned the Swedes to leave, but no action was taken before 1648, partly because of the governors' indifference and partly J^^^d^states because Sweden had aided Holland during the Thirty Years' i, 475-477. War which closed that year. After the Peace of Westphalia made all the nations guarantee the independence of Holland, the new governor, Stuyvesant, proceeded against the Swedes and in 1655 New Sweden was brought under Dutch rule. 63. Conquest of New Netherland (1664). — By the Eng- English mo- lish the Dutch had been considered intruders from the be- ^^''^^ ^""^ ^^'■'^ 1 T^ 1 1 1 . 1 1 . 1 • attempts. gmnmg, because England laid claim to the entire coast on the basis of the Cabot voyages. Aside from the feeling against Holland that sprang from commercial rivalry, England Andrews , . V ^ .rj fe Col. Self- Gov't, desired to seize the Dutch possessions for several reasons. 74-78. Dutch occupation of the region between the thriving prov- inces in New England and in^the South was not pleasing to her, their extensive fur trade was an object of envy, and the 6S American History [1650 Hart, Contem- poraries, I, No. 155. Fiske, Dutch and Quaker Cols. I, 248-269, Conquest and reconquest. Andrews, Col. Self- Gov't, 78-82, 89. Fiske, Dutch and Quaker Cols., I, 277-292. The people and their government. Andrews, Col. Self- Gov't, 82-100. Dutch gave offense by helping the colonies to evade the navigation acts. Before 1650 the Dutch had been driven from the valley of the Connecticut by the settlers near Hart- ford (§ 50), and several Enghsh settlements on Long Island had restricted their territory in that direction. When war broke out between England and Holland during the Com- monwealth, steps were taken toward conquering New Netherland, but peace was declared before the expedition was ready. A few years later, the English government decided to take the initiative against Holland by seizing her North American possessions. All of the territory from the Dela- ware to the Connecticut, and from the Kennebec to the St. Croix, was granted by the king to his brother James, the Duke of York. A fleet was dispatched to New Netherland under the command of four commissioners, who were also to bring Massachusetts to terms (§ 73). New Amsterdam surrendered at once because the citizens refused to fight, much to the disgust of the wrathy governor, Stuyvesant, and the rest of New Netherland surrendered without delay. Several years later, during another war between England and Holland, New Netherland was recaptured by the Dutch, but after a brief period was returned to the English by the Treaty of Westminster (1675). 64. The English in New York (1664-1685). — A large percentage of the inhabitants of New Netherland in 1664 were English, so that the transition from Dutch to English rule was not difficult. A great many laws in force in New England were introduced, but most of the Dutch practices also were recognized. The local government was reor- ganized so as to give the people a slightly greater share in its work, but the Duke of York would not allow an assembly to be called. Many of the English settlers demanded a representative government, the Puritans on Long Island being particularly insistent, but no action was taken until 1684. In that year the first assembly of the colony distin- guished itself by passing a charter of franchises and liberties' i68o] New York 69 which provided for reHgious toleration, allowed all free- holders to vote, and permitted no taxation without the con- sent of the people's representatives. This charter was ratified by the Duke of York, but was rejected by him later when, on the death of Charles II, he became king of England with the title of James II. In the year 1684 also Governor Dongan negotiated with the Iroquois a treaty which gained for the English the friendship and help of those able war- riors in the long contest with the French which began soon after. The Quaker Colonies 65. New Jersey and the Quakers. — Before the conquest The two of New Netherland, the Duke of York granted the territory Jerseys, between the Hudson and the Delaware to two of his favorites, Sir George Carteret and Sir John Berkeley. They were liberal Andrews, to the colonists, and the inhabitants, many of whom were ^^^' -^^^"^'^^^ ' ' -^ lOI-III. immigrants from New England, enjoyed a large degree of religious and political freedom, but they quarreled with the proprietors over the making of laws and the payment of land rents, and in 1674 Berkeley sold his share of New Jersey, the western half, to a Quaker who was probably acting for many others of his sect. The society of Friends, or Quakers, had been organized in The Quakers. England by George Fox just before the middle of the West jersey. seventeenth century. The Quakers believed that a person should be guided chiefly by his conscience and not by the Andrews, dictates of church or writings. For others as well as them- ^"^' ^^^/- Gov't, . 113-124. selves they claimed the right of worshipmg m the way they pleased, so that they were always in favor of religious tolera- tion. They advocated the doctrine of the fellowship of ^nd Quaker man and carried their belief in equality so far that they re- Cols., 11, 109- fused to remove their hats even in the presence of the king. ^^3. 140-147- Desiring to found in the new world a colony in which they might carry their principles into effect, the Quakers made settlements on the east bank of the Delaware and established an extremely liberal government which they were never able 70 American History [1680 Pennsylvania charter (1681). MacDonald, Charters, No. 38. Andrews, Col. Self- Gov' t^ 165-169, 175- 177. Fiske, Dutch and Quaker Cols., II, 114- 118, 147-153- Growth and inhabitants. to put into practice effectively. The success of the Quakers in gaining first West Jersey and later control of East Jersey was due principally to the interest and ability of William Penn. 66. Penn and His Colony. — Because Penn found it im- possible to carry out his ideas regarding society and govern- ment in New Jersey, he asked the king for a grant of land west of the Delaware River. As he was a man of high rank, the son of an admiral to whom Charles II was indebted in several ways, and a friend of James, Duke of York, he had no difficulty in obtaining from the king a charter which gave him a large terri- tory beyond the Dela- ware and made him proprietor of that region with the right to govern it, provided that all laws should be made with the con- sent of the freemen and sent to England for approval. Parliament, however, had the right to levy taxes within the colony and the proprietor was obliged to appoint an agent through whom the English government might exercise some control over the affairs of the province. It will be seen that the home government had profited by the rather bitter experience it had had with those colonies that refused to recognize its authority over them. Not only were Penn's religious views advanced, but he had long held political ideas which were extreme in the opinion of men of that time. His colony during its early years showed in marked degree the impress of his personality, and under William Penn I70I] The Quaker Colonies 71 his wise and able guidance, grew as no other had done. At the end of four years it contained eight thousand inhab- itants, and Philadelphia had become the third city on the continent. English Quakers came in large numbers, but there were numerous Englishmen of different denomina- tions, and many Swedes, Hollanders, Germans, Frenchmen, and Scotchmen. Most of these were attracted by the well- known liberal ideas of Penn and his promise of religious freedom and political rights. 67. The Government of Pennsylvania. — Penn did not disappoint his colonists, for as early as 1682 he issued a Frame of Government by which he shared with the people the powers of government granted to him as proprietor. At the same time he announced laws which assured a larger number of individual rights than were enjoyed then in any other colony in America. At first the government was com- posed of a governor and of two large unwieldy houses called the council and the assembly, both of which were elected by the freemen. All laws were proposed by the governor and council, the assembly having no authority except to ratify or reject bills under consideration. This cumbersome legislature did not work well, and in 1701 Penn gave the colony a new "Charter of Privileges." This reaffirmed religious liberty to all who believed in God, and declared that any one who believed in Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world was qualified to hold office. The charter provided that laws should be made by an assembly, and left the local government in th^ hands of the people. The charter might be amended by the governor and six sevenths of the assembly. Under it, until 1776, Pennsyl- vania and Delaware had separate legislatures, although ruled by the same governor. In his dealings with the Indians, Penn was just and fair. His famous treaty of 1682 under the "Penn elm" was said by Voltaire to be "the only treaty between savages and Christians that was never sworn to and that was never broken." Like Roger Williams and many other early Andrews, Col. Self Gov't, 189-191, and Greene, Pro- vincial Amer- ica, 230-234. Fiske, Dutch and Quaker Cols., II, 153- 158, 320-329. Early govern- ment. MacDonald, Charters, Nos. 40, 41, 44. Andrews, Col. Self- Gov't, 182-184, 191- 194. Winsor (ed.), America, III, 483-489. Charter of Privileges (1701). Macdonald, Charters, No. 46. Fiske, Quaker Cols. II, 309-311- Penn and the Indians. Hart, Contem- poraries, I, No. 162. 72 American History [1681 Fiske, Quaker Cols., II, 158-166. Colonial boundary disputes. Greene, Pro- vincial Amer- ica, 190-192. Penn's grant. Andrews Co I. Self- Govt., 171-175. Hinsdale, Old Northwest, 98-104, 108- iio. settlers his aim was to pay the red men a reasonable sum for the lands occupied. 68. Boundaries of Pennsylvania. — The exact boundaries of the land granted to Penn in his charter were long in dispute because his territory conflicted with that already granted to several of the other colonies. Pennsylvania was not alone in this heritage of boundary disputes because grants overlapped; but, as the latest of the northern colonies, her boundary difficulties affected more provinces than those of almost any other colony and may be considered in some degree typical of the boundary wars waged by most of the seventeenth-century pioneers. It would naturally be sup- posed that as late as 1681 the geography of the Delaware and Susquehanna regions would be known accurately, but such was not the case. Penn's grant was to extend 5° west from the Delaware River and 3° north and south along that river.^ Penn, having acquired Delaware in 1682 and having several settlements in Pennsylvania south of the fortieth parallel and desiring a port on Chesapeake Bay, argued that the "beginning" of the fortieth parallel, which, according to the charter, was the southern boundary of Pennsylvania, must have meant the southern boundary of the zone which was the fortieth from the equator, that is, parallel 39. This claim he could not establish, as the northern boundary of Maryland was 40° also, and it was not' until 1760 that the English government decided the con- troversy by locating the dividing line between the two colonies at 39° 42'. The boundary was surveyed by two skilled mathematicians. Mason and Dixon, from whom * Its southern boundary was a semicircular line drawn from twelve miles north and west of New Castle " unto the beginning of the fortieth degree of northern latitude and then by a straight line westward." The northern bc^ndary was the beginning of the three and fortieth degree of northern latitude. As the fortieth parallel had been given as the northern boundary of Maryland (§ 54), the expression, the "beginning" of the fortieth degree probably meant the same as the fortieth parallel of Balti- more's grant, but as a matter of fact, the fortieth parallel is much more than twelve miles north of New Castle, so that it would be impossible to survey such a line as Penn's southern limit called for. 760] The Quaker Colonies 73 it has since been known as "Mason and Dixon's Line," a name applied later to the boundary between the slave and the free states. On the north there was doubt about whether the boundary Northern was the forty-third or the forty-second parallel. New York, boundary dis wishing to retain as much territory as possible and unwilling to grant Pennsylvania any jurisdiction over the six Iroquois nations, contended with success for the lower boundary. When this bound- was decided putes. Hinsdale, Old Northwest, 110-119. North'ern/boundarv-ii^ir Tl 1 t / Jj Di luteti M \e« \ rk' I i \ 1 j n ■ ) ' ^ , (^ - , lioundarvseleoted liet Nc'Lk^IlT }i-, t > I K (. I N I V ary upon finally, there was no longer any conflict with Mas- sachusetts, which did not claim land south of 42°. The dispute with Con- necticut under her sea-to-sea charter involved an at- tempt on the part of Connecticut to settle the northern part of Pennsyl- vania, especially Wyoming valley, but the whole territory was assigned to Pennsylvania by the Congress of the Confederation soon after the Revolutionary War. The South after the Restoration (i 660-1 730) 69. Misgovemment in Virginia (1660-1676). — For several years during the Commonwealth the people of Vir- ginia attempted in an irregular way to govern themselves, but with the restoration of Charles II the old order was re- established. During the years following the Restoration, Sir William Berkeley was governor of Virginia. Of a despotic temper, he used his office to the personal advan- tage of himself and his royal master, appointing worthless BOLMiAlll DltsrLTLJs OF P_EA>SYLVANIi. Political griev- ances. Andrews, Col. Self- Gov'ts 207-214. 74 American History [1660 Doyle, Etig. Cols., I, 230-245. Economic grievances. Fiske, Old Vir- ginia,\l,^6-s^. Bacon and Berkeley. Larned (ed.), Ready Re/., V, 3632-3634. Andrews, Col. Self-Govt, 215-226. nobles to positions of importance and profit. To main- tain better his hold on the government, he kept in office the strongly royalist legislature elected during the excitement following the return of Charles II. For three years no elec- tion occurred in Virginia, the appointive system now being used exclusively for local offices. Meanwhile the electoral law was changed so as to exclude all but freeholders, a select class in a colony of plantations. Corruption and misrule held sway in both colonial and local affairs. The discontent due to these grievances was aggravated by the navigation act of 1660 which forbade the exportation of tobacco to any country but England (§ 58). Prices fell and hard times prevailed. As though this were not enough, Charles, in 1673, rented Virginia for thirty-one years to two of his favorites, Arlington and Culpepper, They received the right to make grants of land, hatd the absolute control of the important local offices, and appointed all pastors. Fortunately most of these privileges were surrendered in return for a duty on tobacco, showing that the patentees were chiefly interested in the revenue to be obtained from the colony. 70. Bacon's Rebellion (1676). — The discontent of the Virginians was brought to a head by Indian massacres on the frontier. Governor Berkeley had erected forts for the protection of the outlying settlements and refused to send troops or grant commissions to raise troops. Thereupon Nathaniel Bacon, a young and headstrong but able planter whose overseer had been murdered, gathered a force, and, defying Berkeley's orders, marched into the Indian country. The colony was now in great disorder and demanded a new election of burgesses. This was held, Bacon being among those chosen. The new legislature repealed the restrictive suffrage law and enacted other laws granting greater civil and political liberty. Bacon and Berkeley made their peace, which was broken soon, as neither had confidence in the other. During the civil strife that ensued, Jamestown was burned and Bacon died, the rebellion collapsing with charters. MacDonald, Charters, 1676] TJie South after the Restoration 75 his death. Berkeley, again supreme, hanged the leaders of the rebellion and secured the repeal of many liberal laws which had been passed in 1676.^ Unfortunately the rebel- lion deprived the colony of a very liberal charter which lacked only the king's signature at the beginning of the disturbance. 71. The Carolina Charters (1663-1665). — The interest Provisions taken in colonial matters during the years following the of the two Restoration is shown clearly in the early history of Carolina. Several of the most prominent courtiers, including Claren- don and Shaftesbury, obtained from Charles in 1663 a charter which made them proprietors of the land lying south nos. 26, 32. of Virginia and extending from sea to sea. Over this vast domain the absolute power of the proprietors was limited Andrews, only by the provision that the laws should be made with the Col. Seif-GovH consent of the freemen represented in an assembly and ^^o-^S • that "the faith, allegiance and sovereign domain" due to the crown should not be impaired. Perhaps the most notable clause of the charter was the one permitting the proprietors to grant perfect religious freedom to such of the loyal settlers as they desired — a clause of which we are glad to say advantage was taken. Two years later the limits of the colony were extended still further south and one half de- gree farther north, making the boundary between Virginia and the new colony of Carolina practically the same as the present southern boundary of Virginia. 72. Proprietary Govemment in Carolina (166 7- 1 72 9). — Locke's For the government of their Carolina province very elaborate Fundamental " Fundamental Constitutions " were drawn for the pro- (1559) prietors by the philosopher, John Locke. This cumber- some document provided for a feudal system in which the j^^^^j^o^aid chief landowners were the proprietors and nobles whom charters, they appointed. No land was to be sold after forty years, so No. 33. as to make this mediaeval system permanent. The govern- ment was to be in the hands of the proprietors and nobles, 1 King Charles II is reported to have said of Berkeley: "That old fool has hanged more men in that naked country than I have done for the murder of my father." 7(> American History [1655 Andrews, Col. Self- Govt, 139-141. Fiske, Old Virginia, II, 272-276, Social and political changes (1670-1729). Winsor (ed.), America, ¥.311-316, 322-327. although there was to be a parliament for members of which all freeholders owning estates of fifty acres might vote. A degree of religious liberty was permitted to churches of at least seven members, though not to separate individuals. It is needless to say that these constitutions never went into effect. The proprietors waited until the development of the colonies should warrant their use, but that time never came. The growth of Carolina was by no means rapid and few settlements were added in northern Carolina to those exist- ing when the proprietors received their patent. In southern CaroHna Charleston was founded in 1672 and a few other towns begun by the English. A large percentage of the inhabitants were Scotch highlanders and French Hu gue- nots drawn thither by the promise of religious freedom. Political liberty also was enjoyed to an unusual degree, for the people exerted a great influence in local government and their representatives chose part of the council or upper house of the legislature. The time came when the voters believed that the proprietors were selecting more than their share of the councilors. A rebellion followed (17 19), with an overwhelming victory for the people, who selected a governor and asked the king to accept South Carolina as a royal province, which he did. Ten years later all rights of the proprietors were extinguished by purchase. Quakers in Massachusetts (1655-1660). Hart, Contem- poraries, I, Nos. 140-142. Doyle, Eng. Cols., Ill, 100-114. Nev^ England (1655-1685) 73. Problems of New England (1655-1675). — During the later years of the Commonwealth the Puritan colonies had considerable trouble with the Quakers, who were driven out from England by harsh measures. Severe laws were made by the colonies in the New England Confederacy, particularly against those who returned after being sent away. Massachusetts in 1658 made it a capital offense for any Quaker to return to the colony. This law was op- posed by a large part of the population and when it was enforced by putting to death three Quakers, the protests 1675] New England after tJie Restoration yj were so loud that the law was changed. In fact after 1660 the colony was much more liberal in its treatment of non- Puritans than it had been before. Soon after Charles II came to the throne in 1660, he united New charters. the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven by giving a charter to the former, as New Haven had incurred the royal MacDonaid, displeasure by harboring judges who had condemned to Charters, death Charles I. Rhode Island and Providence also re- ° ' ^^ ^^' ceived a charter in 1663. A number of complaints had been made against Massa- Massachusetts chusetts at this time, because she had been domineering in ^"^1 the king her treatment of her weaker neighbors and on account of ° ^ '*^' her independent spirit. Under the ..-.v^u/ Commonwealth, e.g. she had coined ^"- m^^^^^ ''pine tree shillings," thus exercising f"^. '*^ "'"'^" ^-i— *a.«*^ a sovereign power, and in 1661 she had issued a declaration of rights. ' Nevertheless the charter of Massa- > _^ chusetts was confirmed by Charles ^>& in 1662, on condition that the , , , Pine Tree Shilling colony acknowledge the supremacy of England and grant to members of the Anglican church Andrews, freedom of worship and the right to vote on the same C""^- Self- Govt T J • 1 47~48, 70-72. terms as Puritans. In form Massachusetts complied with these requests which affected so deeply her religious and political policy, but no change was made in her relations with England, and, as her ministers alone registered those eligible to vote, members of the church of England did not often enjoy a share in the government. In 1664 the com- missioners who had charge of the expedition against New Netherland (§63) were instructed to investigate affairs in New England also. These men complained that Massa- chusetts was not fulfilling the conditions imposed by the king in 1662, but the home government was too much in- terested in other matters to correct her refractory colony until ten years later. 74. King Philip's War (1675-1676). — The constant en- 78 American History [1675 Events and results. Andrews, Col. Self- Gov't, Hart, Contem- poraries, I, Nos. 133,134. Larned (ed.), Ready Ref., Ill, 2310-2313, Complaints against Massachusetts. Andrews, Col. Self- Gov't, 256-262. croachments of the English settlers on the lands of the In- dians made collision inevitable. Under the lead of Philip, chief of the Wampanoags, these Indians agreed with other tribes to exterminate the whites. The first blow was struck in June, 1675, at Swansea in Plymouth, near the Rhode Island border. Other towns were burned and the inhabitants were slain, the war parties retiring before help could come from other settlements. After six months of this horrible border warfare a thousand men were sent against the stronghold of the Narragansetts, which was captured after severe loss and completely destroyed. From this time the warfare increased in bitterness on the one side and bar- barity on the other until in August, 1676, Philip was killed and the last Indian braves were hunted from their retreats. Many of the luckless survivors of this struggle, including women and children, were sent to the West Indies to be sold into slavery. By this pitiless course all danger from the red men was removed, but the colonies were left in an ex- hausted condition. Many of the towns had been entirely destroyed, hundreds of men had been killed, crops had been burned so that famine was narrowly averted, and trade had almost ceased. 75. Massachusetts and the Crown (1675-1684). — Mat- ters had now reached a crisis in the Bay colony. The in- difference of Massachusetts to the demands of the English government and her arrogance in her treatment of those with whom she had dealings, especially in New Hamp- shire and Maine, culminated in a series of complaints so serious that definite action was taken against Massachu- setts. Among the more serious charges were: (i) her dis- regard of the rights of the Mason and Gorges heirs along the coast to the north; (2) the failure to give political and re- ligious rights to non-Puritans in accordance with the requests of the king (1662) ; (3) the evasion of the acts of trade which forbade commerce with nations other than England; and (4) the general independent attitude of the colonists shown in their separate coinage of money, their refusal to allow 1685] New England after the Restoration 79 appeals from colonial courts to those of the king, and their neglect to send to England an agent through whom the colony might be controlled. The case of New Hampshire was settled by making the Revocation of colony a royal province. Massachusetts tried to end that *'^^ charter of Maine by purchasing the rights of the Gorges heirs, but as this was done without the knowledge or consent of King Charles, it aroused still greater feeling against Massachusetts. ^^^ seif-Govt During this period the business of the English government 262-265. in the colony was intrusted to Edward Randolph, an honest but exceedingly narrow man and a partisan of Massa- chusetts' enemies, who used his authority in such a way as to widen the breach between the mother country and the none too conciliatory Puritan leaders. Although Massa- chusetts, taking alarm at last, agreed to yield on every ques- tion, the king was in no mood for half measures and in 1684 the charter of the colony was annulled. At this time Charles had come very largely under the influence of Louis XIV of France, and was showing himself a monarch fond of abso- lute government. Not only did he deprive Massachusetts of her charter, with good reason it must be admitted, but he proceeded also against the charters of London and other English cities, and before his death prepared to annul the charters of the inoffensive colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut. The Great Revolution (i 685-1 700) 76. The Dominion of New England. — Before 1685 many Consolidation Enghsh merchants and officials had favored the consoli- ^^ ^^^ northern dation of the northern colonies under a single governor who could then govern them more perfectly in the interests of England. The death of Charles II in 1685 left the exe- ^^^ sei'f-GmJ't cution of this plan to James II who was more opposed to 265-272. popular government than his brother had been. Under the name of the Dominion of New England, James united Fiske, all the colonies from Acadia to the Delaware, naming Sir New Ertgiand, Edmund Andros as governor. The difficulty caused by ^ 7-272- 8o American History [1685 Doyle, Eng. Cols., Ill, 234-236, 242-249. Government of the Dominion. Doyle, Eng. Cols,, III, 234-239. Changes affecting church and society. Doyle, E?ig. Cols., Ill, 239-243. the existence of charters in Rhode Island and Connecticut was solved by demanding the surrender of those documents. Rhode Island agreed to submit and Connecticut did not hold out, although she failed to part with her charter, tradition asserting that when Andros sought to obtain it, the charter was spirited away and hidden in the "charter oak." Full and arbitrary instructions were issued to Andros by the king. The governor, who was a soldier rather than a politician, obeyed the letter of his instructions, carrying out the wishes of James with such care and so little tact that the period of his rule is often referred to as "the tyranny of Andros." During his term no popular assembly was called nor was any town allowed to hold town meetings except once a year. Laws were made and taxes levied by the governor and councilors appointed by Andros, being executed by agents of the governor. There were no courts except those held by judges whom the governor selected. No papers or books were printed unless they first received the approval of James's representatives. This arbitrary government was of course offensive to people who were sticklers for their political rights, but it caused even less opposition to the new administration than certain acts which affected religious prejudices and the rights of property. Preference was given now to the An- glican church and services were held according to the rites of the church of England in the Old South meeting hou^e. Marriages could be celebrated only by an Anglican clergy- man, and as there was but one in the colony all persons who wished to marry must journey to Boston, a trip as tedious as the service itself was distasteful. Many who held lands with titles in dispute were obliged to prove their rights at great cost, the impression being general that no one's land was safe from attack. Under these circumstances there was little wonder that in Massachusetts at least the caldron of revolution was on the point of boiling over. 77. The Revolution of 1689 in England and New Eng- land. — This happened when news was brought in April, 1 691] The Great Revolution 1689, that William of Orange had landed in England and Causes and that Tames had fled from the kingdom. During the three results m *' & & England. years of his reign James had incurred the displeasure and aroused the opposition of class after class of the population. His claim that he might suspend any law he pleased, coupled £,j^iand with his attempt to control the courts for his own benefit, his 500-514. open help to Cathohcs, and his utter disregard for the civil rights which the people had wrested from his father and brother, united the nation against him. So long as the people expected that at his death the crown would pass to his daughter, Mary, and her husband, his nephew, William of Orange, they remained passive, but when a prince was born who would probably be brought up a Catholic, a num- ber of leaders invited William to come to England and help them preserve their liberties. With the flight of James and the selection by the people's representatives of William and Mary as the rulers of England, the long contest between parliament and the king ended in the complete supremacy of the former. The principal results of the revolution were embodied in the Bill of Rights (1689) and in several supple- mentary acts. They assured the frequent meetings of par- liament, and control by that body of taxation, the army, and other important subjects; they guaranteed freedom of the press and religious toleration for all Protestants ; and they prevented the king from setting aside laws or removing judges at his pleasure. When news of James's flight reached Massachusetts, Reestabiish- the frigate in the harbor and all fortifications about Boston "^^"* o^ were seized, Andros and other officials were imprisoned, and government in a temporary government similar to that under the old New England, charter was established. There was no bloodshed, but the overthrow of the government of Andros was complete. MacDonaid, Rhode Island and Connecticut resumed the use of their ^^^^'^^''■^. No. 42. charters, which they had never surrendered, but Massa- chusetts did not have a regularly organized government until in 1691 a new charter of a semi-popular type was issued by William and Mary. To Massachusetts Bay Colony 82 American History [1691 Hart, Contetn- poraries, I, No. 136. Fiske, New England, Leisler's Rebellion. Andrews, Col. Self- Gov't, 283-287. Hart, Contem- poraries, I, No. 157. Results in Maryland. Andrews, Col. Self- Gov't, 79-283. Browne, Maryland, 147-156. were added Plymouth and the islands south of Plymouth, as well as the English provinces beginning with Maine eastward to Acadia, which was included. The people were allowed to resume the government of their towns by town meetings and were also permitted to elect an assembly, the assembly in turn choosing the governor's council. The governor, the lieutenant governor, and the secretary were appointed by the crown, as in New York and Virginia. Under this quite liberal charter Massachusetts was governed until her separation from Great Britain (1776). 78. Revolutionary Movements in the Middle and South- em Colonies. — In New York (the lower part of the Do- minion of New England) Andros's lieutenant, Nicholson, attempted to maintain his authority after news had been received that James had been driven from England, and that Andros was a prisoner at Boston. Taking advan- tage of this, the opponents of Nicholson, led by a merchant, Jacob Leisler, gained possession of the province. The new monarchs were proclaimed, an assembly was called, and for nearly two years the laws were administered by Leisler, whose authority was not recognized officially. When a governor was finally sent over, Leisler, now cordially hated by a large part of the population, yielded of necessity. He was tried on the charge of treason and condemned, being put to death when his successor, while intoxicated, was induced to sign his death warrant. This unwise and unjust ''judicial murder" involved the colony in serious internal dissensions. "Leisler's Rebellion," however, had shown the strength of the popular party and from that time New York enjoyed a fair degree of self-government. Maryland failed to proclaim the new monarchs because the messenger whom Baltimore had sent with instructions to recognize the new government died before reaching the colony. The anti-Catholic party took advantage of this neglect, captured the officials who favored Baltimore, and claimed the province for William and Mary. The monarchs decided to keep the government of Maryland in their own 1700] The Great Revolution 83 hands, although they did not interfere with the revenues or Doyle, land rights of Baltimore, but it was a quarter century be- ^^^' ^^^•^•• fore another and Protestant Lord Baltimore regained politi- cal control of the colony. 79. Results of the Revolution in America. — It will be Reestabiish- noted that the changes in America following the Revolu- "^*^"^ °^ ^^P''^- tion of 1680 were of the first magnitude. It will be noted ^ ^ , ^ ^ governments. also that they were not the results simply of the revolutionary movement in England, but of several minor revolutions in ^ ^ ' Greene, this country, which were due to causes exclusively American, Provincial although the expulsion of James furnished the occasion for America, the overthrow of arbitrary rule in the colonies. Through- ■^7-24- out the Dominion of New England the arbitrary govern- ment established by James was replaced by constitutional government. Connecticut and Rhode Island resumed the use of their old charters. Massachusetts secured less com- plete self-government than she had enjoyed before 1684, but in New York there was a great advance over the system in use at all former times. A second result of considerable importance was the failure of the scheme for the consolida- tion of the colonies. Union, even under the later kings, would have been injurious, for the colonies owed a very large amount of their experience in self-government and their numerous political privileges to their separateness. In some ways the reign of William III was not Colonial especially favorable to colonial liberty. The king expressly P^^^^jy °/ . , . , England and emphatically denied to the colonies the rights which ^^^^^ ^^g^^ the Bill of Rights guaranteed throughout the length and breadth of England. Religious toleration of all except ^^.^g^g^ Catholics was extended to the colonies, but if any colo- provincial nies enjoyed freedom of the press and the privilege of the America, writ of habeas corpus, it was because the charters of the ^°~^ '"^ colonies made it impossible for the monarch to control their policy in those matters. The increase of the power of par- liament due to the Revolution led to the reenactment of the old laws of trade and the passage of several laws prohibiting colonial manufactures (§ 120). During this period also 84 Amei'ican History [1700 the English government perfected means for controUing the colonies by establishing a permanent *' Board of Trade and Plantations" (1696), whose members were popularly called '^the Lords of Trade." This board gradually took charge of almost all matters referring to the colonies, including the right to decide all matters which had been adjudged in the highest court of any colony, if either party wished to appeal from the decision of the colonial court. 80. The Colonies in 1700. — It may be well to con- sider for a moment the changes in the extent of English territory and in the relation of the colonies to the mother country that had taken place in the last four decades of the seventeenth century. At the time of the Restoration there had been two well-defined groups of colonies, the New England group, extending as far north as the Kennebec, and the southern colonies, with their frontier settlements a short distance south of the James. By the conquest of New Neth- erland, England came into possession of the intervening territory and by settlements in Carolina had extended the frontier almost to the Savannah River. Although the settlers had continued to push into the interior, the frontier line was but little farther from the coast in 1700 than in 1660. Immigration from England had been fairly exten- sive and the population of the colonies, estimated at 60,000 in 1660, had become 250,000 in 1700. Before 1660 England had no colonial policy. Since the Restoration it had organized the colonies, brought many of them directly under the royal authority, and had created a board which had charge of all colonial affairs. It had passed numerous acts of trade which regulated the com- merce of the colonies, primarily in the interests of England, but not always to the disadvantage of the colonies. TOPICS I. The Beginning of Pennsylvania: Fiske, "Dutch and Quaker Colonies," II, pp. 147-167; Bancroft, "United States," I> 552-573; Winsor (ed.), "America," III, pp. 476-495. 1700] LateVj English Colonization 85 2. Boundary Difficulties of Pennsylvania: Hinsdale, "Old Northwest," 98-119; Fisher, "Making of Pennsylvania," pp. 318- 354- 3. Bacon's Rebellion: Fiske, "Old Virginia," pp. 45-107; Doyle, "English Colonies," I, pp. 230-257; Cooke, "Virginia," pp. 216-297. 4. King Philip's War: Bancroft, "United States," I, 382-394; Fiske, "New England," pp. 211-241; Doyle, "English Colonies," III, pp. 153-189. 5. Massachusetts and the Crown, during Reign of Charles II: Bancroft, "United States," I, 367-381,395-406; Doyle, "Col- onies," III, pp. 130-152, 190-208, 214-226; Palfrey, "New Eng- land," II, pp. 28-36, 56-63, 71-80, 210-260. STUDIES 1. Early navigation acts. (Winsor (ed.), "America," VI, pp. 5-10.) 2. The patroon system. (MacDonald, "Charters," No. 9.) 3. Wars of England and Holland. (Griffis, Motley's "Dutch Republic," pp. 832-847.) 4. Evolution of New York. (Janvier, "In Old New York.") 5. Early history of Wall Street. (Goodwin e/ a/, (eds.), "History of New York," I, pp. 77-118.) 6. Character of William Penn. 7. Overthrow of proprietary government in South Carolina. Doyle, *' English Colonies," I, 376-380. 8. Puritans and Anglicans after the revolution of 1689. (Greene, "Provincial America," pp. 83-105.) QUESTIONS I. What degree of self-government had the people of New Nether- land gained under Dutch rule? What were the lasting results of Dutch occupation? Compare the situation in New Netherland in 1663 with that in the South African Republic in 1898. ■ 2. Compare fully the powers of Penn as proprietor with those of Baltimore. In what respects was Pennsylvania at an early date more like the states of to-day than any of the other colonies ? 3. What were the real causes of Bacon's rebellion ? What were the results and the real significance of this movement ? 4. On what grounds might a colonial charter be amended? be revoked? Should Massachusetts have been allowed to retain her charter after 1664? Compare the complaints after 1660 with those after 1676. Were the latter more serious? 5. Compare the period 1618-1640 with that from 1660 to 1682 as to (a) interest in colonization, (6) causes of colonization, (c) number of colonies established, and {d) total settled area at close of the period. CHAPTER V RIVALRY OF FRENCH AND ENGLISH (1689-1763) French Kings English Rulers Henry IV (1589- 16 10) Louis XIII (1610-1643) Louis XIV (1643-1715) Louis XV (1715-1774) William III (1689-1702) Anne (1702-1714) George I (i 714-1727) George II (i 727-1 760) George III (i 760-1820) Wars between France and England. Seelye, Expatision of England, Chapter II. 81. Introduction. — The year 1689 is notable for the changes which it wrought in the internal development of England and the English colonies, but is almost as impor- tant in the intercolonial history of America, because it marks the beginning of a long conflict between the provinces of England and France in the new world. During the years from 1689 to 1750 the European wars in which these two countries engaged were accompanied naturally by military engagements in the colonies, although these were of minor significance. About 1750 began the real contest between the two powers for the control of the continent — a struggle short and really one-sided, which ended in the complete supremacy of the English and the expulsion of the French from North America. In this chapter we shall consider not only the more important events in the intercolonial wars and study the progress of both French and English colonies after 1689, but shall take up briefly also the earlier history of the interesting ventures of the French in America. French Exploration and Settlement France under 82. Founding of New France. — With the accession of Henry IV. Henry IV (1589), there came a new era of prosperity in France. Deadly civil and religious wars ceased, commerce 86 i6o8] French Exploration and Settlement S7 revived, and industry received new impetus. Interest in colonization kept pace with the development in other direc- tions, and several settlements were attempted in Acadia. One of these under the lead of De Monts was established at Port Royal (1604) and proved successful temporarily. Among the companions of De Monts was a young man of great energy and foresight, who believed that the St. Law- rence basin offered a better location for trading, exploration, and permanent settlement. This man, Samuel de Cham- plain, founded Quebec in 1608 and soon perceived that his only hope of holding the country and gain- ing the interior was to make friends with the Indians of the St. Law- rence valley. But the Algonquins living on the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa rivers, to- gether with the Huron Indians to the west, had for many years waged almost incessant war with the Five Nations of the Long House in central NewYork. The allies of Champlain persuaded him therefore to join them in expeditions against the Iroquois. The first of these in 1609 brought him to the shores of the lake now called by his name, where a single well-aimed shot from his arquebus put to flight the Mohawks who opposed him and brought upon the French the enmity of the most powerful Indian confederacy in North America. A few weeks after this momentous battle, Henry Hudson entertained some Mo- hawks at a point near the present city of Albany, only a little over one hundred miles away, and gained the goodwill of the Iroquois. Although he was responsible for this disas- trous hostility of the Iroquois to the French, Champlain deserves all the credit for the success of New France, for he Champlain Adams, French Nation^ 177-188. Champlain in the St. Law- rence valley (1608-1635). Hart, Contem- poraries, I, No. 39. Thwaites, France in America, 16-22 Parkman, Struggle for a Co?ttinent, 88-106, 120-124. 88 Americaii History [1629 Classes that extended French sway. Parkman, Struggle for a Continent, 130-134. 180-185. Early ex- plorers. La Salle. Fiske, Disc. of America, 11, 53-58. Hart, Contem- poraries, I, No. 43. took part in numerous exploring expeditions and kept the sickly little hamlet alive through his unflagging zeal and unwearied efforts. In 1629, however, Quebec was captured by the English with the help of some French Huguenots, and it was returned to France at the close of the war only through the influence of Richelieu, who had recently inter- ested himself in France's American possessions. In 1635 Champlain died and so little did New France prosper that a half century after Quebec was founded there were only about two thousand persons in the colony. 83. Exploration of the West. — The work of extending French influence in the West was carried on by three differ- ent classes: (i) the Jesuit missionaries who, before the middle of the seventeenth century, had established missions as far south as the Iroquois country, and as far west as Sault Ste. Marie; (2) the fur traders who found they could make greater profits by visiting the more distant tribes; and (3) the explorers who desired to extend the political sway of France rather than her religious or commercial interests. The earliest of western explorers, NicoUet, launched his canoe on a tributary of the Mississippi about 1640, but it was not until 1673 that Marquette and Joliet explored that river, which they descended as far as the Arkansas. The work of these men was completed by the greatest American explorer, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who proposed to gain possession of the whole interior and main- tain this hold by means of a chain of forts situated at strategic points. In spite of almost overwhelming odds and amid the greatest difficulties, he clung to his single purpose of making New France the strongest colony in America. His explora- tions began in 1669 with a trip via Lake Erie to the Ohio River. Ten years later he sought to explore the Mississippi to its mouth. After two futile expeditions filled with diffi- culties, his third expedition met with success and on April 9, 1682, La Salle planted the standard of France where the Mississippi River pours its vast volume into the Gulf of Mexico and claimed the whole territory drained by it for 1720] French Exploration and Settlement 89 Louis XIV. He next proceeded to France, told the king his plans, and asked permission to settle at the mouth of the Mississippi, to build a chain of forts from this point to the colony of Canada, and to drive out the Spaniards who claimed the country. An expedition was fitted out, but by accident came to Texas. Here La Salle was shot in 1687 by one of his own men. 84. Louisiana (1699-1720). — La Salle's plan was not Early abandoned, although nothing further was done until after settlement. the first intercolonial war. In 1699 a settlement was made at Biloxi, but it was abandoned, the colonists moving to Hart, c^^/^/w- Mobile in 1701. Both the English and the Spanish pro- nos. 109, lio. tested against this occupancy of the gulf region, the former on the ground that this land was covered by previous grants ^, . . ° Thwaites, made by English kings, the latter because of her discoveries Frajice in and explorations and her settlements in Florida and on the America, Mexican coast. The Spaniards had in fact occupied the ^^~ " best harbor on the coast, that of Pensacola, as early as 1606, ^ J ^ ^ Ogg, Missis- in the hope of preventing further French attempts at coloni- ^^p^\^ 169-204. zation. Louisiana did not grow rapidly, but in 17 18 New Orleans was founded and forts were placed at commanding Parkman, points on the Mississippi and Red rivers, so that all other Half Century, nations were effectively excluded from the Mississippi basin, ' ^ ~^^^' About this time attention was called to the Louisiana set- tlements by the speculations in the stock of the French Mississippi company under the manipulations of the Scotch- man, John Law. The bursting of the "Mississippi Bubble" did much in the end to injure the colony. French and English Colonies (1689-17 54) 85. The Treaty of Utrecht (1713). — Before the French Beginning of had gained a foothold at the mouth of the Mississippi, the *^^^ hundred colony of New France became engaged in two conflicts with (1689-1697). the English on the Atlantic coast. These wars were of Euro- pean origin, caused by differences between France and Eng- land. The first followed the Revolution of 1689 and the attempt made by Louis XIV to regain the throne of England 90 American History [1689 War of the Spanish Suc- cession (1702-17 13). Treaty of Utrecht (1713). MacDonald, Charters, No. 47. for James II. For the French, the contest in America was ably conducted by the most capable of a long line of able governors, the Count of Frontenac. At the close of the war the French retained the territory draining into the Hudson Bay and all lands occupied by them at the begin- ning of the conflict.^ But five years elapsed before the ambitions of France again involved that country in a European conflict,^ when Louis XIV sought to place upon the throne of Spain his grandson, Philip of Anjou, to whom the late Spanish king had left his scepter. The coalition against France was remarkably successful during the long war that followed, and in America the English colonists gained possession of territory in Acadia, Newfoundland, and farther north. The war was brought to a close in 17 13 by the Treaty of Utrecht. England was able to make peace on very favor- able terms because of her successes everywhere. She allowed Philip to retain his position, but only on condition that the two thrones of France and Spain should never be united. While France was permitted to keep Canada and Louisiana, England gained possession of the entire area draining into Hudson Bay, the whole of Newfoundland, and Acadia according to its most ancient limits. This last provision was to be a bone of contention for fifty years, as France wished to restrict England to the peninsula called Nova Scotia and England claimed Cape Breton Island and the mainland to the north and west as far as the St. Lawrence and the Penobscot. According to the treaty the French were allowed to catch fish off Newfoundland, with the privi- lege of drying their fish on parts of the island, the earHest attempt to regulate by treaty the rights of different nations in the fisheries.^ ^ The Treaty of Ryswick (1697) brought to a close this war, known in colonial history as King William's War. 2 In the colonies this war was called Queen Anne's War, in Europe it was known as the War of the Spanish Succession. ^ The treaty stated also that France should never molest the Five Nations "subject to the dominion of Great Britain." France of course 1750] French and English after i68g 91 86. Georgia. — The thirty years between the Treaty of Peaceful Utrecht and the third war between England and France was growth a period of expansion and development for both parties. ^^713-1744;- With both it was a time of preparation for the conflict which was to determine the possession of the continent, but the preparation of the French, carefully planned as it was, proved to be less perfect than the growth of the sturdy English colonies which were less conscious of the impending crisis and apparently did nothing to make ready for it. The two historical events of the period which particularly deserve attention were the settlement of Georgia and the conflicts between the governors and the assemblies in a majority of the colonies. Georgia was founded by James Edward Oglethorpe and Georgia several associates who desired to establish a colony in which (^731-1752). debtors might get a new start. They obtained from the king a charter to land from the Savannah to the Altamaha ^^'^^' Cohtem- 1 1 1 T^ •/- rm • 1 1 poraries, II, rivers and westward to the Pacific. 1 his was to be governed -^^^ by a council in which the people had no choice. The in- habitants, except Roman Catholics, were to have religious „ „ ' ^ ' ^ Greene, Pro- freedom and all were to enjoy the rights of Englishmen, vincial Amer- / TheTfustees of the colony sought to prevent the growth of i<^^^ 249-269. large plantations by forbidding negro slavery and restricting the amount of land held by one person. They expected 'to make great fortunes by producing raw silk and wines. Almost without exception, their plans came to naught. The settlers proved to be inefficient, save for a few bands that were not sent over by the trustees. Slaves were hired from the people of Carolina and later regular slavery was introduced, and the agricultural schemes of the founders entailed such losses that they were abandoned. The colony prospered after a fashion, but was so much exposed to Span- ish attacks and so greatly handicapped by its start that it did not develop at all rapidly. claimed that while these Indians might be subjects of England, the terri- tory of the Iroquois and of their tributary tribes was still free. England, however, claimed territorial as well as personal dominion. 92 American History [1700 The colonies under the first Hanoverians. Victories of the assemblies over the gov- ernors. Thwaites, The Colotiies, ^§ 123-126. Greene, Pro- vincial Amer- ica, 194-200, 87. The English Colonists and their Governors. — Mean- while the older English colonies were growing more rapidly than at any previous time. Large numbers of immigrants, most of them of other nationalities than English, flocked to America. These new settlers, with the more adventurous of the native-born inhabitants, pressed into the interior. Commerce and industry were expanding with considerable rapidity, notwithstanding the laws which were made by the English government to control these occupations, for these laws were not enforced.^ Under the first two Han- overians the colonial governments were allowed by the authorities in England to do much as they pleased, and they pleased to run their own affairs. The principal obstacle in the way of their complete management of American affairs they found in the governors who were sent over to look after the interests of the crown, in the royal colonies, or of the proprietors, in the proprietary colonies. These gov- ernors were intrusted with powers so important that they often controlled the situation theoretically. But custom frequently prevented them from exercising these powers fully. There were often important men or interests to be consulted and a new governor was obliged to use his powers with caution. If, as was often the case, he was a pleasure- loving court favorite, he followed the line of least resistance, and yielded to the assembly (the lower house of the legis- lature, which was always elected by the people) most of its demands as the price of peace. By using this method, which was sneeringly called a process of ''bargain and sale," the assemblies in most of the colonies paid the governors' salaries and allowed them to perform their duties unham- pered only when the governors in turn kept their hands off the business of the assemblies. These contests between the governors and the assemblies were the most marked characteristic of English colonial history during the first half of the eighteenth century. The almost unvarying success of the assemblies left the colonies to a large extent See § 121. I750] French and English after i68g 93 self-governing and did much to give the colonial leaders confidence in their ability to protect themselves from inter- ference on the part of the home government or its repre- sentatives. 88. Government of the French Colonies. — The French colonies were governed very differently. No representative of the people had a share in making the laws. The king appointed directly all of the chief colonial officials. There was a governor who had control of military affairs, who executed the laws, who, in fact, had more influence than any one else in making the laws. These governors held office as a rule for a longer time than the governors in the English colonies and exercised powers that were immeas- urably greater. But every governor had at his elbow an official called an '^intendant,^^ who was appointed by the king to spy upon the governor and report to the king what the governor did. Naturally he acted as a check on that official, but this dual system resulted in constant misunder- standings and bickerings. The real legislative head of the French colonies was a superior council appointed by the king. This council made laws, established courts, and formed a final court of appeal. Such an absolute government of council, governor, and intendant made it possible for the French colonies to con- centrate all their strength in carrying on war and seizing territory, much to their advantage. But the French rule was not fitted to develop strong, populous, self-reliant colonies. The government established a paternalism which sought to aid the colonies, but which succeeded only in weakening them. Commercial monopolies interfered with individual enterprise, immigration was restricted by the ardor of the Jesuit priests who kept out Protestant settlers, while feudal estates and privileges placed barriers in the way of social progress. For the protection of the fine terri- torial domain that she had secured, France at the middle of the eighteenth century could muster only eighty thousand inhabitants, while the rival British possessions boasted Organization of the govern. Parkman, Struggle for a Continent, 169-173. Thwaites, France in America, 128-135. Results of the French colo- nial policy. Parkman, Struggle for a Continent, 314-318. Thwaites, France in America, 132-142. ^' 94 American History [^744 nearly a million and a quarter. Little wonder that the court of that pleasure-loving monarch, Louis XV, with its short- sighted, blundering policy in Europe, Asia, and America, was unable to retain its hold in America ! War of the 89. Preparation for the Final Conflict. — Great Britain Austrian Sue- ^^^ Spain had been at war for several years before the war (1744-1748). of the Austrian succession, which involved nearly every country of Europe, spread to America in 1744. Only one Fiske New important military event distinguished this third inter- France and colonial war. The great fortress of Louisburg on Cape New England, gj-eton Island, which commanded the entrance to the St. Lawrence and threatened the English colonies of Newfound- land and Acadia, was reduced by William Pepperell and a force of New England farmers and fishermen almost unaided by the British navy. Much to the indignation of the colo- nists, this advantage was lost by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), since Louisburg was returned to the French in ex- change for Dutch fortresses that they gave up. rench forts in As this treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was considered by all e West. parties a mere truce — a temporary lull in the storm — each side was busy making preparations for the real struggle to Parkman, foUow. France had already made considerable progress Coruinenix 6- ^^ ^^ occupatiou of the Wcst, having gained control of the 264, 297-300. principal avenues of communication by establishing forts at strategic points like Frontenac, Detroit, Sault Ste. Marie, Parkman '^^^ Chartres before 1720. When the English sought to Half Cetttury, secure a large share of the fur trade by building a trading 1.63-77- post at Oswego in 1722, the French tried by establishing forts at Crown Point and Niagara to gain control of Lake Champlain and to recover the trade they had lost on Lake Ontario. At the close of the third intercolonial war, the French governor of Canada strengthened the chain of forts from Montreal to New Orleans, and in order to gain the goodwill of the western Indians by impressing them with the power of the French, he buried leaden plates inscribed with the arms of France and the claim that France was the sole owner of the country west of the mountains. 1754] Expulsion of the French 95 Expulsion of the French (i 754-1 763) 90. The Struggle for the Upper Ohio Valley. — In 1753 French forts the French extended their system of forts to the valley of ^^^ Virginia the Allegheny River, with the intention of keeping the English from the upper Ohio region. The English had already secured from the Iroquois a claim to this territory, p^y^ries 11 but the first real interest in the country beyond the moun- Nos. 123-124. tains was developed in Virginia, which claimed that section as a part of the land grant in her charter of 1609 (§ 35). Grants of the land had been made to companies by Vir- ginia before 1750, and, when the French began building forts south of Lake Erie, Deputy Governor Dinwiddle of Vir- ginia sent George Washington, then a stalwart youth of twenty-one, to warn the French that they were trespassers. Acting on Washington's report, a force was dispatched Collision be- the next spring (1754), to occupy the rocky promontory tween the at the junction of the Allegheny and the Monongahela Washington. Rivers, which was the real '^ gateway of the West." Before their arrival the French descended the Allegheny in force, Parkman, drove away the traders who had a post at that point, and struggle /or a built a strong fort that they called Duquesne. A scouting ('"^^^"^^ > party from this fort was sent to watch the movements of the vanguard of the Virginia detachment under Washington ^iske, New and was attacked by him, all of the Frenchmen being killed ^^^ England, or captured. Of course this was an act of war, but both 269-276. France and England desired to maintain peace as long as possible, and it was two years before war was declared, praTtce in although waged during the interval in America and India. AtnerUa, After the first skirmish Washington was obliged to fall '^^-^^^ back, but later was himself captured with all of his troops by a French force much larger than his own. 91. The Situation in America and in Europe. — That an CompHcations actual battle between armed forces of the two countries of European did not lead at once to a break in their friendly relations was due to the state of European politics. The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle had seated Maria Theresa firmly upon the 96 American History [1754 Hassall, Bal- ance of Power, 224-240. Comparison of the combatants in America. Parkman, Struggle for a Contment, 314-328. Avenues of English attack. throne of Austria, after nearly a decade of fighting. So anxious was the whole of Europe for a respite, that not even the struggles between France and England in India, which had Continued after war ceased in Europe, proved sufficient cause for an open renewal of hostilities. But when affairs reached a crisis in India; when Austria and France united for the dismemberment of Prussia, with whom England was in sympathy ; when French and English vessels were scour- ing the seas for the merchantmen of the other; and when a half-dozen armies were actually fighting for America, the facts could no longer be ignored, and war was declared (1756). This "Seven Years' War," as it is called in Euro- pean history, exerted a greater influence on the destinies of both France and England than almost any other war in their history. The phase of it in which we are most inter- ested, the contest in America, best known as the "Old French and Indian War," decided the future of half a continent. For the first time both England and France were almost as much interested in the war outside of Europe as in the war on the continent, and each gave to her colonies all the forces that she could spare. In America the resources of the contestants were far from equal. The popula- tion of the English colonies was nearly fifteen times as large as that of the French provinces. On the other hand there were two highly centralized French provinces, in which a semi-military government could bring every able-bodied man into the field at short notice, and fourteen disconnected British colonies more or less jealous of one another, and practically without experience in acting together. Nothing but a great common danger could make the English colonies forget their differences, and the distrust shown by the as- semblies toward their governors made them unwilling to vote men and supplies for an army which might be directed by the governors. As the strength of the French was greatly disproportionate to the territory that they held, it was natural for them to await the attack of the English. The English in the mean- 1754] Expulsion of the FrencJi 97 time prepared for invasion along four principal avenues. First, they followed the seacoast and the St. Lawrence, using Boston and Halifax as the bases of operations. Then came the Champlain route, and the one through the Mo- hawk valley and Lake Ontario. Last of all was that lead- ing straight to the ground especially in dispute by way of Fort Duquesne. SCENE OP THE LAST FRENCH WAR BORMAY, n bany Congress (1754). Hart, Contem." poraries. No. 125. II. 92. The First Period of the War (i 754-1 757). — In order The Iroquois to secure the cooperation of the Indians west from Lake ^"^ ^^^ ^'- Champlain, the French had made repeated efforts to gain the friendship of the various tribes. So great was their success that even the Six Nations,^ which had remained neutral during the third intercolonial war, were brought under French influence. To counteract this impending danger, a congress was called to meet at Albany, New York (1754), for the purpose of renewing treaties with the Iro- quois. The Six Nations were persuaded easily not to cast in their lot with the French in the conflict that had begun already, but the congress proceeded to adopt a re- markable plan of military union for the colonies, which had 1 The Tuscaroras had joined the Five Nations in 1715. H Thwaites, France in America, 168-172. 98 Americari History [1754 Larned (ed.), Ready Re/., V, 317S-3178. French victories (1755-1757). Hart, Contein- poraries, II, Nos. 126-127. Parkman, Struggle for a Continent, 343-355. Campaigns of 1758. been proposed by Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania. It contemplated a president general appointed by the English king, who was to be commander in chief of the colonial army, and an assembly which was to have charge of all financial matters. This plan was disapproved in England as too democratic, and in the colonies because it centered too much power in the hands of a royal represent- ative. ' The first real campaign of the war was that of Braddock, who attempted with a force of provincials and regulars to capture Fort Duquesne (1755). His overwhelming defeat was all the more humiliating because of the numerical in- feriority of the French and Indians. The same year oc- curred the expulsion of the Acadians, a cruel act, justified on the ground of political and military necessity. While the English commanders remained inactive the next two years or wasted their time in vain demonstrations against the great fortress of Louisburg, the French general, Mont- calm, gained absolute control of Lakes Ontario and Cham- plain. The first period of the war had revealed the utter incapacity of most of the English commanders, while an almost uninterrupted series of French victories had extended still further the limits of the vast territory claimed by France. 93 . The Second Period of the War ( 1 758-1 760) . — When William Pitt became prime minister of England (1757) the tide turned. He immediately formed plans for the active prosecution of the war by sending to America a still larger number of troops, by arousing the colonists to active co- operation with the regular army, and by appointing compe- tent commanders. An expedition was fitted out to follow each route. Louisburg, Frontenac, and Fort Duquesne fell into the hands of the English, the first after a siege that was severe though short. The French line would have been cut up even more had it not been for the remoteness of Niagara and the presence of a skillful leader. Marquis de Montcalm, atTiconderoga. With his departure to defend ^7^3] Expulsion of the French 99 Quebec the next season (1759), Lake Champlain too became English. The great expedition of the year, and in fact of the war, Capture of was that against the city of Quebec. Occupying command- Q^e'^^'^ (1759). ing heights that were directly approachable from one side only, with mighty fortifications against which artillery thundered in vain, de- fended by a large army under the command of the ablest French gen- eral, Quebec seemed impregnable. For the capture of the city a fleet and an army were dispatched early in 1759 under James Wolfe, whose diseased frame housed an in- domitable spirit. After months of fruitless siege Wolfe was able to lead one half of his army by night to the plains of Abraham on the unprotected side of the city. Montcalm gave battle, in which both command- ers were killed, and a few days later the city surrendered. This glorious victory left to the French only Montreal, which was captured the next year, and the territory in the West. It really settled the fate of the French empire on the conti- nent of North America. John Fiske believed that ''the triumph of Wolfe marks the greatest turning point as yet discernible in modern history." 94. The Peace of Paris (1763). — For nearly three years after war ceased in America, the two countries con- tinued the great conflict elsewhere. During this interval Spain formed an alliance with France and assisted her in William Pitt Fiske, New France and JSIew Eftglandt 349-359- The situation in 1762. lOO Amei'ican History [1689 Provisions of the Treaty of Paris (1763). MacDonald, Charters, No. 54. Thwaites, France in America, Territory west of the Alleghany mountains. MacDonald, Charters, No. 55. the contest. But England continued to gain victories. She became mistress of the important island of Guadaloupe, as well as most of the other French possessions in the West Indies. Havana and part of Florida had fallen into her hands. As she had been the acknowledged ruler of India after the battle of Plassey (1757), she was not to be satis- fied with the territory for which she had fought, not even when Canada was included. The war had proved a colo- nial death struggle, from which France emerged with scarcely a trace of the magnificent possessions she had claimed at the beginning. In the Treaty of Paris (1763) all of the claims of France to the territory east of the Mississippi, except the little island on which New Orleans stands, were transferred to England.^ Only two little islets south of Newfoundland were kept for fishing stations, and they were never to be fortified. Eng- land's territory was rounded out by the exchange of Havana for the Spanish Floridas. Spain had already been com- pensated for her losses when France gave her the isle of Orleans and all Louisiana west of the Mississippi River. Many of the Indian tribes of the West protested against the transfer of their territory to English rule and united under Pontiac in one of the greatest Indian uprisings in history. Attacks were made on all the western forts and settlements from the Virginia frontier to the Great Lakes. As the colo- nial assemblies neglected or refused to furnish troops, regulars were sent to relieve the besieged garrisons, but the insurrection was not broken completely until 1765. Mean- while^ in order to appease the western Indians, George III issued a proclamation (1763) reserving the lands beyond the Alleghanies for the Indians and prohibiting the colo- nies from making grants of lands or settlements in that region. ^ France was allowed to retain either Guadaloupe or Canada. While Canada was poor and had been a source of continual expense, Guadaloupe was rich and had given substantial aid to the French treasury. So the chance of future dominion was sacrificed to present gain. 1763] Rivalry of French and English loi 95. Summary. — The French were not good colonizers Growth of and were hampered by the paternal attitude of their home ^'^^"chand government. Three colonies were founded in North America : colonies. Acadia south of the St. Lawrence, New France or Canada in the St. Lawrence basin, and Louisiana in the lower Mis- sissippi basin. French explorers, traders, and priests penetrated the interior, but France planted no colonies inland. She maintained a hold on the interior, however, by connecting Canada with Louisiana by a chain of forts at strategic points. Her great rival meanwhile was neg- lecting the eleven colonies which had been planted on the Atlantic coast during the seventeenth century. But the colonies prospered, large numbers of immigrants being received from Ireland, Scotland, France, and Germany as well as England. Their gain during the three quarters of a century following the revolution of 1688 was not only in population, commerce, and wealth, but in culture, self- reliance, and a greater desire for self-government. •With the expulsion of James II from England in 1689 intercolonial began the second ''hundred years' war" between France ^^^^ (1689- 1763). and Great Britain. The first four conflicts in this series, lasting until 1763, involved the colonies of these nations in America, and w^re accompanied by all the horrors of border Indian warfare. The first substantial gain was secured in the Treaty of Utrecht (17 13) by which England gained control of all Newfoundland, the territory drained into Hudson Bay, and Acadia with its ancient Hmits. The last war, begun in 1754, was a contest at the beginning for the control of the upper Ohio valley, but, when Pitt became prime minister in England, it became a struggle for supremacy in America which ended in the capture of Louisburg, Que- bec, and all other important French strongholds. At the close of the war France transferred her territory west of the Mississippi to her ally, Spain, and surrendered to the English Canada and the eastern Mississippi basin. Eng- land rounded out her possessions by acquiring from Spain both Floridas. 102 American History [1689 TOPICS 1. Champlain: Fiske, "New England and New France," pp. 39-42, 58-71, 80-93; Parkman, "Struggle for a Continent," pp. 83-124; Winsor (ed.), "America," V, pp. 103-130. 2. Capture of Quebec (1759) : Thwaites, " France in America," pp. 239-254; Sloane, "French War and Revolution," pp. 78-98; Parkman, "Struggle for a Continent," pp. 382-446. STUDIES 1. France under Henry IV. (Wakeman, "Ascendency of France," pp. 14-38.) 2. French search for a western passage. (Parkman, "Struggle for a Continent," pp. 107-113.) 3. Iroquois and the French. 4. Character of La Salle. (Parkman, "Struggle for a Continent," pp. 220-222.) 5. Early Indian attacks during the second intercolonial war. (Drake, " Border Wars of New England," 153-186.) 6. Acadia after 1713. (Parkman, "Montcalm and Wolfe," I, 90- 127.) 7. How the people controlled their governors. (Fisher, "True American Revolution," pp. 21-32.) 8. England and France in the eighteenth century, (Parkman, "Struggle for a Continent," pp. 301-313.) 9. Early colonial plans of union. (" American History Leaflets," No. 14.) 10. The contest over India. (Woodward, "Expansion of the British Empire," pp. 196-205.) 11. Montcalm. (Parkman, "Montcalm and Wolfe," I, pp. 356- 380.) QUESTIONS 1. Show how political changes in France influenced the course of events in the French colonies. Was the colonial policy of France wise? (Consider political, commercial, and religious regulations.) 2. Make an outline on the French in America, giving (a) method used to gain possession of the country, (&) three classes that extended French sway, (c) extent of French possessions (1650, 1710, 1755), {d) causes of French success, (e) causes of French failure. 3. Make a table showing the chief events during the three periods, 1600-1660, 1660-1700, 1700-1763, under the following heads: Eng- land, New England, middle colonies, southern colonies, the French and English, events of continental Europe. (Keep events of the same date on same horizontal line.) 1763] Rivalry of French and English 103 4. Compare the land claims of the two countries to the Ohio valley (1754). What had each done to explore or occupy that region before that date. 5. To what extent did the colonial wars create a spirit of unity among the colonies? Name several reasons why Franklin's plan of unity met with disapproval. 6. Was the expulsion of the Acadians necessary? Give reasons for your answer. Could it have been accomplished in a different way ? 7. Why might Fiske have believed that " the triumph of Wolfe marks the greatest turning point as yet discernible in modern his- tory"? CHAPTER VI Population of the sections. Race elements of the population. Thwaites, Colonies, 97, 180-181, 220-222. Greene, Provincial America, 228-236. Lodge, Eng. Colonies, 66, '22']-'2'2g, 406-409. COLONIAL CONDITIONS (1750) Population and Society 96. Number of the People. — At the middle of the eigh- teenth century the population of the thirteen colonies that afterward united to form the United States was probably less than a million and a quarter, distributed fairly evenly between the three sections, New England, the Middle colonies, and the South. The most populous of all the colonies was Vir- ginia, with Massachusetts and Pennsylvania occupy- ing second and third places. With the exception of about three hundred thousand ne- groes all of the inhabitants were white, but perhaps not more than three fourths of these were of English de- scent. The New England colonies were settled almost exclusively by English Puri- tans and Virginia had few Density of Population (1750) white inhabitants in the eastern part who were not English. A large percentage were of that sturdy yeoman stock which has been the backbone of the English race for several centuries. A few came from the higher social ranks but some were the dregs of English society. Among the non-English peoples, 104 175°] Population and Society 105 the Scotch-Irish predominated, large numbers of that in- tense and inteUigent race having emigrated from the north of Ireland during the first half of the eighteenth century. Most of these Scotch-Irish settled in the interior, along the foothills of Pennsylvania and the Carolinas particularly. Aside from the English Puritans, this race has furnished the largest number and most influential of our public men. Many Huguenot families emigrated to America after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. ^ larger pro- portion of these desirable citizens settled in South Caro- lina than in any other colony. In the middle colonies there was a larger number of foreigners than elsewhere, for not only were the Scotch and French numerous in that section, but there were also the original Dutch and Swedish settlers, besides a great number of German settlers who are known best as ''Pennsylvania Dutch." Probably one quarter of all the colonists were of nationalities other than English. 97. Classes of Society. — In all the colonies there was social classes. a marked distinction between the social classes, least pro- nounced in Pennsylvania and New England, most notice- Thwaites able in South Carolina. In the North, the aristocracy was Colonies, one based to a great extent on family, but men often attained ^^ 42, 93- social standing by exceptional learning or unusual business success. In the South, family and the possession of landed Lodge, estates counted for most. The middle class of independent _„ 327-329 farmers or merchants was largest in New England, for in 445-448. that section there were few dependents and practically no slaves. In Pennsylvania also the middle class was very numerous, although there was the greatest difference be- tween the prosperous farmer of the eastern valleys and the rough ignorant frontiersman of the interior. In most of the other colonies the middle class was comparatively small. As a rule these people of the colonies were rough, kind- character hearted, industrious, and frugal. Their manners were often o^ ^^^ people, crude, and their ideas on social and political subjects un- developed, but their courage was never open to question, Wilson, and their love of liberty unquenchable. Although they ^'''^'^"Ston, io6 American History [1750 Two kinds of indented servants. Andrews, Col. Self- Gov't, Lodge, Evg. Colonies, 69-71, 125-126. Eggleston, in Century, XXVIII (1884), 853- 856. Treatment of indented servants. Eggleston, in Century, XXVIII (1884), 856- Blacks in the North and the South. drank overmuch and often engaged in pastimes that do not appeal to a more highly organized people, they rarely had distorted views of right and wrong. 98. Indented Servants. — There existed in all of the English provinces a class of white servants who were bound to their masters for a term of years. Of these there were two distinct kinds — one consisting of convicts who were sent to America to serve their sentences, and the other '^indented" servants who bound themselves to work for a period of five years, usually, in payment of their passage to the new world. Many of those belonging to the second class were worthy, hardworking, but unfortunate individuals who secured farms of their own after the expiration of their terms of service, and became valuable citizens. The ma- jority of the ''indented" servants, however, were indolent and shiftless, so that an immense number of ne'er-do-wells were imposed on the colonies, especially from New York to North Carolina. Still more burdensome were the re- leased convicts whose lawlessness and viciousness were a menace to the peace and order of the colonies. During the terms of service these servants were con- trolled absolutely and often treated harshly by their masters. Attempts to escape were punished severely, and added to the time of servitude. In some colonies a second attempt was punishable by branding on the cheek and a third at- tempt by death if desired by the master. Frequently the condition of these servants was much better than might be expected, comparing favorably with that of farm hands in England. Sometimes convicts who were political exiles occupied clerical or business positions of importance. 99. Slavery. — African slavery existed in New Nether- land and in the South almost from the beginning. It never attained prominence in New England, for the occupations of the people and later a growing sentiment against human bondage prevented its development. The few slaves, as in most of the other northern colonies, were house servants who were treated usually with a great deal of consideration. 1750] Population and Society 107 From Pennsylvania south, the blacks were, of course, very Coman, hidus^ much more numerous, in Virginia nearly equaling the whites ^^^^^ ^^^^•' in number, and in South Carolina forming about three "^^ fifths of the population. All of the menial domestic duties were performed by slaves, but in Maryland and Virginia most of the blacks were employed as field hands on the large tobacco plantations, while in the extreme South the work in the rice fields was done by bands of fierce, ignorant slaves, under cruel overseers. During the seventeenth century white servants were pre- Laws regard- f erred to African slaves, in almost all of the colonies, and the ^"^ slaves. laws regarding slaves were comparatively lenient. Later, with the development of slavery and attempted insurrections, Eggleston, m laws of great severity were passed. Slaves were not allowed xxviii to leave their plantations without permission and might be (1884), 86i- put to death if they attempted to escape or injured their ^^5- masters. Meetings of slaves were forbidden and their quarters were searched frequently for hidden arms. Inter- Lodge, marriage between whites and blacks was forbidden under ^ "^ ^ °^^^^' very heavy penalties. Many legal obstacles were placed in the way of emancipation. These laws were not enforced in Maryland and Virginia, for most of the blacks in those colonies were native born, living their entire lives on a single plantation, and consequently known personally to the mas- ter and mistress. As a rule they were well fed, well clothed, and treated humanely. In the South, on the contrary, there was little difference Enforcement between the letter and the spirit of the law. Many of the of slave laws in blacks were barbarous Africans, trapped by slave dealers go^th. and brought to America by Spanish or New England slave traders. On the rice or indigo plantations little attempt Lodge, was made to civilize them. Slaves were cheap and their Eng. Colonies, labor so profitable that it was more economical to work them ^ ^"^ ^' hard and buy new slaves when they were worn out than to spare them. Small wonder was it that the badly treated blacks hated their masters and overseers and were kept in subjection by an iron rule. io8 American History [1750 The cities. Eggleston, in Centuty, XXIX (1885), 873- 881. 100. Colonial Life. — Although nearly all of the people lived within one hundred miles of the seacoast, there were only four places that deserved to be called cities — Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and Charleston — and compara- tively few large towns. Boston and New York were the centers of a thriving commerce. In Charleston lived most of the planters of South Carolina who found life unendur- A Colonial Kitchen Lodge, Eng. Colonies, 103, 237-240, 258-262, 333- 337. 451-461. able on the hot, swampy plantations. These cities and some of the towns were compact little burgs, not overclean, with narrow winding streets — except Philadelphia — numerous small shops, and well-built houses usually of brick and stone. Few of the inhabitants were wealthy, but the majority were in fair circumstances. Few of the streets were patrolled or lighted at night, there was no uniform water supply or proper sanitation. Most of the houses had several bal- conies, and were backed if not surrounded by attractive gardens. Some of them were comfortably furnished with chairs, tables, and draperies purchased abroad. I750] Population and Society 109 In the country the log cabins which had been the rule everywhere in the early days were to be found only on the frontier or in the poorer districts. With the advent of the sawmill, they had been replaced by frame houses of several rooms which were rude structures tied together with wooden pins, for iron was scarce. The doors were hung on leather hinges and fortunate indeed was the farmer who substituted glass brought from England for the oiled paper which was Life in the country. Earle, Home Life in Colo- nial Days, 4-16, 12.-1'], 52-75- A Colonial Hal almost universal outside of the towns. In most of the farm- houses the spacious kitchen was the most attractive room. At one end was a great fireplace with large pots and kettles suspended from a horizontal rod — for stoves were prac- tically unknown in 1750. There was a large dining-table and a few rude chairs or benches. Around the glowing fire the family gathered at night, and the kitchen was fre- quently the scene of jolly neighborhood gatherings. The loneliness of country life was relieved by occasional house raisings and by frequent quilting bees and corn huskings. In a few districts in rural New England, along the Hud- son, and from the Delaware to the Carolina border, the country homes of the landed gentry were very fine examples Lodge, Eng. Colonies, 76-82, 248-252, 329- 331, 448-451. Country homes of the gentry. no American History [1750 Difficulties in preparing the land. Winsor (ed.), Atnerica, IV, Intro. Agricultural products and exports. Co man, Indus- trial Hist., 47-60. Eggleston, in Century, XXVII (1884), 435-442. of the beautiful type of architecture which we call colonial. These were seen at their best on the broad tobacco planta- tions of Virginia. There the spacious "halls," ever open to visitors, with the numerous barns and other farm build- ings and rows of slave cabins, formed miniature colonies in themselves. Occupations loi. Agriculture. — Most of the colonists depended on agriculture for their support. At first each colony sought to raise simply the necessaries of life — a supply of food which would keep them from starving. Conditions were not especially favorable for agriculture at the begin- ning, because of the dense forests. The task of clearing the land was so arduous that the early settlers contented themselves with the Indian method of girdling the trees so that they died. Corn and pumpkins were then planted among the lifeless trunks. In New England, further diffi- culties were added by the stones with which the prehistoric glaciers had sown the land. The fight with the wilder- ness was long and intense. In the northern colonies all of the farms were small, as the narrow valleys precluded cultivation on a large scale. Great care was necessary to insure even moderate crops, except in the valley of the Connecticut. There were very few communities in New England that raised articles for export. In the middle section a surplus supply of v/heat was grown, so that wheat and flour were shipped to the West Indies and Europe. In Maryland and Virginia agriculture absorbed the entire attention of the people. This was due to the profitableness of the tobacco industry, for at different times the planters neglected food supplies in their mad desire to gain wealth by raising tobacco to be sold abroad. It was necessary to make laws compelling every planter to devote a certain area to corn. Even with this restraint, the over-production of tobacco caused a great decline in the price. After the passage of the Navigation Act, which 175°] Occupations . m ' forbade the sending of tobacco to other countries than Eng- land, the price became still lower, but the raising of tobacco remained the chief source of wealth in those colonies until the revolution. South Carolina made a specialty of rice during the eighteenth century, and indigo was produced in large quantities after 1745. Some cotton also was grown in the low lands along the coast. 102. Commerce and Shipping. — The colonies were de- Restrictions on pendent on England for many manufactured articles. At coio"'^^ ti'^^e the beginning it was impossible to produce these things in America, and after 1660 the home government aimed to Coman, indus- prohibit manufacturing in the colonies, at the same time _g compelling the colonists to purchase everything they needed from England rather than from her continental rivals. Since the commercial laws of England were not enforced strictly, the colonies enjoyed a large though legally forbidden trade with the West Indian possessions of France and Spain and with Holland, France, and other European countries.^ From the northern ports a comparatively large trade was General carried on, especially with England and the British West exports and Indies. It is estimated that salted cod and mackerel ""P^'^ worth ;£2 50,000 were exported annually from New England. Large quantities of lumber and dried fish were sent to the .^-^i^^]^" "^ West Indies every year, where they were exchanged for 75-77. molasses, from which was distilled rum that was in turn exported. Nevertheless, the imports of New England were four times as great as its exports. In Virginia and North Carolina, owing to the lack of towns and harbors, the skippers of the small sailing vessels ascended the numer- ous rivers of those colonies, exchanging their fine cloths and other articles at each plantation for the products of the country. A large part of the shipping was in the hands of New Shipbuilding Englanders, since the colonists were allowed by the navi- ^"'^ shipping, gation acts to trade on the same terms as native-born Eng- lishmen. Shipbuilding had become an important indus- ^ On the laws of trade, see §§ 119-121. 112 American History [1750 Wright, Indus- trial Evolution ^/ a 5., 28-42. Piracy. Hart, Cofi tem- poraries, II, No. 85. Colonial manufactures. Com an, hidus- trial Hist., 62, 72. try in the northern colonies, as lumber was cheap, and the vessels built in the New England shipyards were superior to those constructed in Europe. The fisheries formed a training school of the best kind for a race of hardy, daring sailors who gained a reputation in later naval wars. Prob- ably one half of the population in New England depended on the sea for a living. Commerce in colonial times was attended by dangers that no longer exist. There was always risk of capture by privateers of unfriendly nations. Pirates were numerous, successful, and often unpunished. At one time North Carolina harbored a great many, at another New York and Newport gained an unpleasant reputation for giving them aid. The government sought to suppress piracy, sending out privateers to capture them. Among those commissioned to destroy pirate ships was the notorious Captain Kidd, who turned pirate as soon as he was out of sight of land, but afterward suffered death for his crimes. In spite of harsh measures, regular commerce was not free from perils of this nature until comparatively late in the eighteenth century, and many passengers and crews were obliged to "walk the plank." 103. Industry and Labor. — The colonies were in no true sense manufacturing communities, A new country is not well adapted for those industries which require a large supply of raw materials and an abundance of labor. Because of the lack of laborers and the higher wages paid in America, it was cheaper to ship the raw materials to Eng- land and purchase the finished products from the mother country. Yet there was a large amount of manufacturing done in the colonies on a small scale. Practically all of the household furniture was made at home. Almost every family had its spinning wheel and hand loom. Few of the colonists used anything but the coarse "linen" made from the hemp and flax that they prepared, or dressed in anything but homespun woolen clothes, but the wealthier farmers or merchants imported their broadcloth and their 175°] Occupations 113 hats. The building of ships was undoubtedly the fore- most industry of the colonies, three hundred and eighty- nine being constructed in a single year.^ Many of these were built for English owners, or were sold abroad later with their cargoes. Although the hours of labor were very long, and the wages Condition of paid, two or three shillings a day for skilled labor, seem '^^o""- ridiculously small, the laborer in the colonies was undoubt- edly better paid and better treated than in any part of Wright. Indus- Europe. The agricultural laborer was free to self his labor ^^''^^ ^-^'^^''^^^«. ^ _ 104- I 14. to the one who would pay the most for it, instead of being tied to a certain farm, as in most countries across the At- lantic. The man w^ho wished to learn a trade served a shorter apprenticeship, and was freer in every way than a fellow workman in England. There were numerous at- tempts during colonial times to regulate the price of wages or of commodities, in the interest usually of those wealthier classes which controlled the government, but these proved ineffective. 104. Colonial Currency. — Most of the colonial business Commodities consisted simply in the exchange of one commodity for an- ^^ money, other. Corn, sheep, and cattle were the ordinary media of exchange in several colonies, the value of a sheep in shil- lings often being designated by law. This enabled debtors to pay their creditors in the poorest animals they owned. In Virginia and Maryland, tobacco w^as used as currency, articles being purchased and wages paid in tobacco. As the people bought abroad more than they were able to Colonial coins, sell it was impossible to secure or retain any large quantity of gold or silver. Most of the silver coins in circulation were Dewey, Finan- dollars or smaller coins bearing a Spanish stamp, which dal Hist, of had been obtained in trade with the West Indies. Almost " " ^^~^^' every colony placed a different valuation on the Spanish dollar. In one colony it was considered worth five Eng- Hsh shillings, in another six, in another eight. This natu- rally added confusion to the existing m_onetary difficulties. ^ 1769, the only year for which full statistics are available. 114 American History [1750 Paper money. Co man, Indus- trial Hist., 83-86. Hart, Contein- poraries, II.Nos. 88, 8c Medicine, teaching, and the laws. Greene, Pro- vincial Atner- ica, 317-319. Lodge, Eng. Colonies, 232, 236-237. The ministry. Massachusetts was the first colony to attempt a solution of the currency problem by issuing paper money, but other colonies were not slow to follow this apparently easy method of paying private and public debts.^ New York and Penn- sylvania were more careful than the other colonies to pro- vide a safe system of redeeming this paper, thus escaping the evils of depreciation and business depression that fol- lowed in the other colonies. In several colonies so-called "banks" were allowed to issue paper money, with results disastrous to all but the promoters of the scheme. A large part of the paper money in circulation became worth less than fifteen per cent of its face value. Interference with business was so great that at length parliament forbade (1751) the issue of paper money in New England and (1763) extended the prohibition to all of the colonies. 105. The Professions. — Very few persons were trained carefully for professional work. There were in 1750 but four colleges, most of which had been founded with an idea of fitting men for the ministry, but there w^ere no theological seminaries or other professional schools. Consequently few physicians were to be found in the colonies, and of these the majority were men of little learning and less skill. Medi- cine as practiced was neither an art nor a science. Most of the teachers were either clergymen who gave part of their attention to private classes or incompetent individuals who had failed of success in other occupations. Although few men devoted their attention exclusively to the law, most educated men in the colonies were versed in the law and were prepared to argue cases if necessary. Pennsylvania alone furnished many able lawyers for other colonies, and the saying "as smart as a Philadelphia lawyer" became almost a proverb. As more care was taken in preparing clergymen for their work than with the other professions, the Congregational colonial minister was the best educated, and probably the ^ Before 1750, all of the colonies except Virginia and Georgia had issued bills of credit. 1750] Occupations 115 ablest man in his community. Looked up to for his char- Lodge, acter and learning, his influence enabled him to direct ^"S- Colonies, public opinion and settle private controversies. Many of '^^3-425- the men appointed to livings in the Anglican church in America as in England were ignorant and corrupt, although the pastors of most independent churches and of regular parishes were men of high moral character. Miscellaneous Conditions 106. Colonial Churches. — In most of the colonies there Puritan was a church supported at public expense, the union of churches. 425-434- A Colonial Church church and state being common. In the New England Lodge, colonies, except Rhode Island, the Congregational church -^j^* <^'^^^^^^-^' had been established by law, all other denominations being excluded so far as possible from erecting buildings or even holding services. The Sabbath was observed very rigidly. No one traveled except to church, cooking was avoided, and the day given over to religious worship. Attendance at ii6 Ameficaji History [1750 Anglicans and dissenters. Andrews, CoL Self- Gov't, 304-311- Eggleston, in Century, XXVI (1883), 107- I 16. Superstition in custom and law. Lodge, Eng. Colonies, 253-254. 434-436. church service was compulsory, absence being punished by fine or the stocks. The services were always long and sometimes tedious, the hourglass being turned once during the "long" prayer, and usually twice during the sermon. The straight-backed uncushioned seats did not make it easier for the attendants to listen to the long, dry arguments or fierce declamation on future punishment, especially in winter when the meeting houses were unheated and even footstoves were considered effeminate. Puritan austerity could scarcely devise harsher means of mortifying the flesh, or better tests for self-control and endurance. South of New England the Anglican church had been established by law except in Pennsylvania, but church attendance was irregular and very little attempt was made to prevent dissenters from holding services of their own, although Catholics had churches in Pennsylvania only. In South Carolina, western Virginia, and Pennsylvania, the Presbyterians were numerous, while Rhode Island was controlled by the Baptists. In Rhode Island and Pennsyl- vania alone was there anything like real religious liberty. 107. Superstition. — Superstition was much more com- mon in the seventeenth century than it is at present. This was due not simply to the greater ignorance of that day, but particularly to the survival of beliefs in signs and in the exist- ence of evil spirits, witches, the evil eye, and other evidences of Satan's control of mortals. These beliefs were much less common in England than on the continent, and less common here than in England, although the non-English immigrants were very superstitious.^ This superstition not only influenced the habits of the people, but also affected their laws. Only once did superstitious fear lead to a wholesale pun- ishment of witches. This was in the terrible witchcraft ^ There are a few isolated instances of witches being put to death in the colonies before 1692 and after the witchcraft episode. In England and on the continent hundreds of thousands of witches were condemned to death, five hundred being burned in a single year in the city of Geneva. I750] Miscellaneous Conditions 117 delusion at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. The epidemic started when a number of "afflicted children," under the morbid training of some ignorant colored servants, accused eccentric people in the village of having bewitched them. A special court was organized for the trial of these cases, and persons were condemned on absurd testimony by con- servative judges like Samuel Sewell. Excitement ran so high that many people accused their enemies of witchcraft, and no one could condemn the so-called trials without danger of being considered a witch. ^ After several women of unusual standing and virtue had been accused, the eyes of the people wereopened;not, however, until a number of per- sons had been put to death. 108. Crime. — The death penalty was used much more commonly in colonial times than at present.^ In one colony, Pennsylvania, an attempt was made at the beginning to abolish it except for mur- der, but so great a departure from the customs of the times was abandoned after a few years. In Massa- PlLLORY The Salem witchcraft delusion. Greene, Provincial America, 25-29. Fiske, Neis) France and New England. Methods of punishing offenders. 1 A common way of deciding whether a woman was a witch was to cast her into the water. If she failed to sink, she was proved to be a witch. 2 In England during the seventeenth century over one hundred crimes were punishable by death, the number increasing instead of diminishing during the eighteenth century. Frequently juries would acquit a man where the evidence showed him guilty, because they were unwilling to punish him by death for a minor offense. Ii8 American History [1750 chusetts, as we noticed (§ 73), Quakers who had been banished, but insisted on returning, were hanged. Yet executions were not common in colonial times, although so many offenses were punishable by death. In fact, in all well-settled communities, crime was by no means general. On many frontiers, and in a few older sections, there was considerable lawlessness. Imprisonment was Man andHorse^ Mad Bull. A Horse drinking. Boy in danger. Children should be careful not to provoke a bull, or get over into the field where one is. Alas ! for that lit- tle boy that is running with all his might : see hi& hat flying behind him, ana the mad bull close at his heels. Page from an Old School Book used comparatively little as a punishment and the prisons were few in number and of a low order. In a conspicuous place in each town stood the whipping post, at which run- away slaves and criminals were lashed upon bare backs, and the stocks and pillory, in which offenders were locked for from one to four hours, the pain of their cramped position being augmented by the jeers of the spectators and the mud thrown by rowdies. Ducking stools were used occasionally for scolding wives even in the eighteenth century. Grammar ICQ. Education. — Outside of New England there was practically no public education, but east of the Hudson almost every town boasted a grammar school and practi- schools. 750] Miscellaneous Conditions 119 cally every county had a Latin school which prepared stu- dents for college. To the Puritans, ability to read the Bible was a necessary part of the preparation for life. Except in parts of Rhode Island and on the Maine frontier no ilhterate persons could be found in New England at the middle of the eighteenth century. The middle colonies paid com- paratively little attention to education, although there were First Harvard Hall Governor's Coach First Stoughton Massachusetts Hall Harvard College a few excellent private schools in New York, Philadelphia, and a few other large towns. South of Mason and Dixon's line education was systematically neglected. The oft- quoted comment of Governor Berkeley, in which he thanked God that there were no free schools or printing presses in Virginia, expressed the sentiment of the ruling class. Tutors were employed by some of the wealthier planters, and a few sons of prominent families in Virginia and South Carolina were sent to England for a college education. The most famous and the most influential of the early Colonial colleges was that established at Cambridge in 1636, and ^° ^^^^* named after John Harvard; William and Mary college and the government Wright, hidus- tria I Evolution , 120 Amertcan History [1750 Greene, was founded in Virginia, just before the close of the seven- Provincial teenth century, and Yale College at New Haven in 1701. 304-311.' About the middle of the eighteenth century renewed inter- est in higher education led to the establishment of three colleges in the middle colonies: Kings (afterward Colum- bia) in New York, Princeton in New Jersey, and the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia. The latter, through the influence of Benjamin Franklin, developed rapidly, gaining a reputation for its standing and for the number of its courses and students within a few years. Newspapers 1 10. Newspapers. — New England established its pri- macy in literary enterprise and attainments as in other lines, although it must be admitted that there was very little printing and less literature in the colonies before 1750. No newspaper was published in this country prior to 1704, 63-69. when the Boston News Letter was started. At the middle of the century there were less than a dozen newspapers printed in all of the colonies, none being published daily. The attitude of the government toward the printers was by no means favorable. No books or pamphlets could be printed without a special license. When an attempt was made in Boston (1690) to start a newspaper called Public Occurrences, it was suppressed. The Zenger Real freedom of the press was not recognized until after case (1736). ^}^g famous Zenger case had been decided in New York in 1736. Zenger was the publisher of the New York Weekly Hart, Contem- Journal. In a controversy between the governor of the n N^^"^^' colony, Cosby, and the president of the colonial council, Zenger supported the president. Van Dom, and was in con- sequence imprisoned and tried for libel. His lawyer, Andrew Hamilton of Philadelphia, argued that Zenger had ])ublished only facts and claimed that his client had the right to state the truth so long as it was not done maliciously. Influenced by his reasoning and eloquence, the jury found Zenger not guilty. This verdict had a wholesome influence not alone in New York, but throughout the colonies, in free- ing the press from the tyranny of the government. I750] Miscellaneous Cojiditions 121 III. Travel. — As most of the settlements were near the seacoast or on rivers, it was possible at first to travel from town to town or from plantation to plantation by water. Birch bark or "dugout" canoes were used on the rivers, sailing vessels on the ocean. As the colonies developed, travel by land became unavoidable. Until roads were constructed, Indian trails and bridle paths served the settlers, most of whom were obliged to journey on foot. Later the highways were improved, and horses were more numerous, Travel in an early day. Earle, Home Life, 325-332. Hart, Contem- poraries, II, No. 80. CoNESTOGA Wagon so that comparatively few of the planters or their families ever traveled except by boat or on horseback. Roads were still few, however, and bridges almost unknown, the nu- merous rivers being forded at convenient points. Settlers in the North rode to church, usually with their wives on a pillion, or cushion, behind them. The eighteenth century saw considerable improvement in the colonial highways and in the methods of travel. Roads connected all of the towjis of importance but were few and poor in colonies with few villages. The use of two-wheeled chaises had replaced horseback riding to quite an extent in the North, although they were less common in Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas. Coaches were kept by most of the wealthy families, who put on considerable style with Roads, coaches, and wagons, eighteenth century. Eggleston, in Century, XXX (1885), 387-389- 122 America7t History [1750 Earle, Home Life, 335-344- Irregular stage lines. Mail service. Earle, Home Life, 332-335- Democratic character of the local government. Hart, Forma- tion of Union, §6. Lee (ed.), N. America, VI, 66-72. their liveried coachmen and outriders. The roads were primi- tive, however, and comparatively little used for the transpor- tation of merchandise. Most articles were carried on pack- horses, but in Pennsylvania commodious farm wagons, known as Conestoga wagons, were coming into extensive use. Before 1750 there were no regular stage coaches in the colonies. Stages were run between certain towns regularly in the summer, and at irregular intervals throughout the year, connecting the larger cities. A journey by stage from Boston to New York took a week and was an exceedingly uncomfortable trip. From three in the morning until nine at night the lumbering vehicle jolted its passengers over the rough roads, leaving them a few hours' fitful slumber in the none too comfortable beds of the wayside taverns. The smaller streams were forded, the larger crossed by ferry, sometimes in detachments. When the stage stuck in the mud, the passengers were obliged to alight and put their shoulders to the wheel. There was no mail service worthy of the name before 1750. The mails were irregular, costly, and unsatisfactory. When a postrider had enough letters to justify a trip, he set out, carrying numerous parcels on his own account.-^ The mail was left at some public house to be hauled over by every comer until claimed and paid for by the person to whom it was addressed. 112. Colonial Government. —The governments of the American colonies were notable as being far more demo- cratic than any others then in existence. This was true especially of the local governments in the northern and middle colonies. In New England every town was governed by a town meeting composed of all voters in that town, and by officials chosen by popular election in those town meetings. In New York most of the town officials were chosen by the people, although much of the work of governing was done by county officials appointed by the governor. Pennsyl- vania chose her own county officials. In Virginia and the ^ Only letters could be sent by government post. 175°] Miscellaneous Conditions 123 South there were no officials for districts smaller than the county and these officers were selected by the governor, so that the people had little share directly in their local govern- ment. In every colony there was an assembly chosen by the Central voters. This assembly, together with a '' council," made government of the laws subject to the approval of the governor. It also controlled almost exclusively the raising of money by taxa- tion. The council was selected by the governor in all but ^^^^ Govt, three colonies,^ and as the governor was himself chosen by hk 112-115. the people in only two colonies, there was in theory very Httle popular colonial government, although in fact the Lee (ed.), people's influence over the governor was very great.^ In yj _^ ' two colonies the governors were selected by the proprietors, in two they were elected by the people, and for the others were appointed by the king. Courts of justice existed in every colony, but no judge of colonial times was chosen directly by the people, even in the two little democracies of Connecticut and Rhode Island. The suffrage laws of the colonies, although narrow from Suffrage laws, our point of view, were exceedingly liberal when compared Hart, Contem- with those of foreign countries. Every landowner with poraries, property of a certain value in the North, or of a certain size in the South, was allowed to vote. It is true this excluded about ninety-five per cent of the population, but many who could not vote on colonial affairs were allowed to take part in local government. 113. Colonial Law. — Although the laws varied con- English siderably from colony to colony, there was a uniformity J=°^|^°" that is remarkable considering the differences between the America, people and the occupations of the various sections. All of the colonies had transplanted the English system of common law with such modifications as the peculiar conditions in each colony required. Many of the laws made by the colonial legislatures were merely reenact- ments of English statutes. In fact, the laws were few ^ See Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. ^ See § B>'j. 124 Americajt History [1750 Land laws of the colonies. Coman, Indus- trial Hist., 32-38. Eggleston, in Century, XXVIII (1884). 848-852, Inheritance laws. in comparison with the volume of state legislation at the present time. The system of land laws in use in America illustrates how the English system was modified to meet colonial needs. Land was considered the property of the king, the name real estate, or royal estate, emphasizing this fact. The king made grants of land to companies and individuals, so that in America the legislature of the charter colonies or the proprietor of the proprietary colonies had the right to regrant land, and in the royal colonies the governor, as the direct representative of the king, had the right. Grants were made to individuals with a lavishness^that amounted to recklessness, for land was plentiful and cost the grantor little or nothing. Not only were large estates numerous, but the number of small landowners was very great, as most heads of families owned their own farms. Because so many people owned land, and because speculation in land was common even in colonial times, the slow and cum- bersome English system of transferring land was altered so that it was easy to sell or buy real estate. The American inheritance laws were borrowed from England except in the Puritan and Quaker colonies. Else- where the estates or farms descended to the eldest son, because primogeniture was recognized in New York and the South. In New England, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey a double share went to the eldest son, but the other children, including the daughters, had an equal share in the property of the father when he died without making a will. TOPICS Colonial Manufactures: Coman, "Industrial History of the United States," pp. 62-72; Wright, "Industrial Evolution of the United States," pp. 23-60, 80-103; Beer, "Commercial Policy of England toward the American Colonies," 66-90. Colonial Paper Money: Dewey, "Financial History of the United States," pp. 21-30; White, "Money and Banking," 103- 114; Sumner, "History of American Currency," 14-43; Bullock, "Monetary History of the United States," I, Chapter IV. 75o] Colonial Conditions 125 STUDIES 1. Conditions in Germany that led to emigration to America. (Bittinger, "Germans in Colonial Times," pp. 11-24.) 2. German redemptioners. (Bittinger, "Germans in Colonial Times," pp. 215-229.) 3. Maryland society in the seventeenth century. (Browne, ''Maryland," pp. 157-183.) 4. Life in Virginia two centuries ago. (Fiske, "Old Virginia," II, pp. 174-269.) 5. Conditions in the English colonies (1688). (Andrews, "Co- lonial Self-Government," pp. 293-304.) 6. The true Captain Kidd. (Champlain, in Harper's Magazine, 106 (1902), pp. 27-36.) 7. Meat and drink in colonial times. (Earle, "Home Life in Colonial Days," pp. 142-165.) 8. Dress of the colonists. (Earle, "Home Life in Colonial Days," pp. 281-299; Eggleston, in Century, XXIX (1885), pp. 882-892.) 9. The colonial theater. (Eggleston, in Century, XXX (1885), pp. 403-407.) 10. Church and meeting house before the Revolution. (Eggles- ton in Century, XXXIII (1887), pp. 901-912.) 11. Sunday in the colonies. (Earle, "Home Life in Colonial Days," pp. 364-3S7.) 12. American prose (i 701-1764). (Trent, "American Litera- ture," pp. 98-130.) 13. The colonial governor. (Hart (ed.), "Contemporaries," Nos. 54-60.) 14. Local government in the southern colonies, (Fiske, "Civil Government," pp. 71-78.) 15. Middle colonies in colonial times. (Lee (ed.), "North America," VI, pp. 29-39.) QUESTIONS 1. Show how physical conditions, climate, and rainfall affected slavery in the North, in Virginia, and in South Carolina. What advantage did the South derive from slavery? 2. To what extent were the colonies alike in 1750 ? Why did they remain isolated ? What was the result of their separateness on their dealings with Great Britain ? 3. What are the chief differences between the houses, food, dress, and manner of living in 1 750 and to-day ? Name several conveniences that are now considered necessaries which were unknown in 1750. 4. Explain why England and the colonies each took the course 126 American History \MS^ they did in reference to paper money? Was paper money necessary? What influence did it have on the opening of new lands, commerce, on business in general ? 5. Note the important changes, political, legal, social, and indus- trial, that have taken place in America in the last century and a half. 6. In what respect had the colonists more or less political liberty than the English? 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