Class _L_iIl Book._ ,'5 COPYRIGHT DEPOSm BARNES'S ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES TOLD IN BIOGRAPHIES BY JAMES BALDWIN >»io NEW YORK :• CINCINNATI •: CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY \oi\% Copyright, 1903, 1907, 1918, by AMEltlCAN BOOK COMPANY. Entered at SBtationeks' Hall, London BAKNE8 8 EL. W. p. 39 JUL H 1918 ©CI.A501137 -^VuO \ PREFACE A TEXT-BOOK of American history for beginners should aim to present a clear and somewhat comprehensive account of the chief influences that have shaped the destiny of our country and have given to it its preemi- nence among the nations of the earth. Educators are now quite generally agreed that this can be done in the most satisfactory manner through a series of biographies of the famous persons who have had most to do in con- nection with those influences. Men make history ; and the telling of history in stories of the lives of its makers has a quality of concreteness very attractive to children, who usually fail to be interested in chronological narra- tives wherein the personal element is less prominent. In this volume only such biographies are presented as are necessary to the continuity of the narrative as a whole. The story of no man's life is related merely because of the man, but because of its value as a link in our country's history. All the biographies in their order comprise a connected account of the discovery, settlement, and development of the United States. The plan of the 4 PREFACE work has made some repetitions necessary ; it has also obliged the omission of many details of secondary impor- tance, which the pupil will learn in his later studies of the subject. There is a sharp line of distinction between a story-book and a history, — and yet the latter should scarcely fail to be as entertaining as the former. The narrative of the struggles and triumphs of the makers of America, and of the series of events which have culmi- nated in the present commercial and political prosperity of our country, ought to be to young readers not only an interesting story, but an incentive to good citizenship and intelligent patriotism. To most American children a study of the "lives of great men" will scarcely fail to be a reminder that we also " can make our lives sublime." CONTENTS Christopher Columbus and the Discovery of America John Cabot and the Discovery of North America De Vaca and Coronado and the Exploration of the Southwest Ferdinand de Soto and the Spanish in the South Sir Francis Drake and the First English Voyage round the World Sir Walter Raleigh and the First English Colonists Pocahontas and the Settlement of Virginia Henry Hudson and the Dutch Settlement of New York . William Brewster and the Pilgrims of New England John Endicott and Puritan Life in New England Lord Baltimore and the Settlement of Maryland King Philip and the Indians of New England . Father Marquette and the French in North America Nathaniel Bacon and Life in Old Virginia William Penn and the Settlement of Pennsylvania . James Oglethorpe and the Settlement of Georgia Benjamin Franklin and the Progress of the Colonies Sir William Johnson and the French and Indian War George Washington and the War for Independence . 5 7 25 30 42 47 55 63 80 92 104 115 123 128 140 150 165 172 184 193 6 CONTENTS Daniel Boone and the Settlement of Kentucky George Rogers Clark and the Conquest of the Northwest Thomas Jefferson and the Founding of the Government . Eli Whitney and the Invention of the Cotton Gin . Robert Fulton and the Invention of the Steamboat . Andrew Jackson and the Progress of the Nation Samuel F. B. Morse and the Invention of the Telegraph . Henry Clay and the Compromises between the North and the South Robert E. Lee and the Uprising in the South . Abraham Lincoln and the Saving of the Union Ulysses S. Grant and the Great Civil War William McKinley and the Expansion of the Nation Later Administrations and the Beginning of the War with Germany ......... Biographical Notes Index .00....... PAGE 213 221 229 243 250 259 273 283 297 312 332 345 359 367 377 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE DISCOVERY OE AMERICA I. THE WAY TO INDIA This country in which we live was not always the same beautiful land that it is now. It was once a wild region of woods and swamps and savage mountains and lonely prairies. There were no pleasant farms nor busy towns. There were no roads, no schoolhouses, no mills, no churches. The only people who lived here were Indians. No one can tell how long the land might have remained wild and un- settled had it not been for a wise, brave man whose name was Christopher Columbus. Five hundred years ago the people of Europe had never heard of the continent which we call America. The wisest men among them had very little knowledge of the world. They knew a good deal about the countries which border the Mediterranean Sea. They knew something about Eng- land and Germany and Norway and even Iceland. A few travelers had visited Egypt and Arabia and Persia. But all the rest of the world was unknown. Trade with India. — For a great many years the mer- chants of Arabia and Persia had been in the habit of sending rare and costly goods to Europe, — silks, pearls, 7 8 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS spices, and jewels of gold and precious stones. They said that these things came from a very far country called India. They brought them across the great deserts on the backs of camels. At Constantinople, or at some place in western Asia, they sold them to traders who sent them in ships The world as known in Columbus's time across the Mediterranean to sell to the rich people in Europe. At one time nearly all the trade of this kind was carried to Venice and Genoa, two cities of Italy. The merchants of those cities became very rich, and the cities themselves became very powerful. THE WAY TO INDIA 9 The Turks. — Then, from unknown regions beyond the Caspian Sea, there came a warlike people called Turks. They overran all western Asia, they conquered Constanti- nople, and made themselves masters of the region in which their descendants live to this day. They held the sea- ports, the desert ways, and the mountain passes through which the trade of India had hitherto been brought. How now could the wealthy people of Europe obtain the silks and spices and jewels which they prized so highly ? The traders who supplied them must, if pos- sible, find some other way to India, — some way that was not held by the dreaded Tiu-ks. Seeking a new way to India. — It was known that India borders on the Indian Ocean which lies east of Africa. Why not send ships through the Red Sea and into this ocean? Ships from the Mediterranean could not reach the Red Sea, for there was then no canal across the isthmus of Suez as there is to-day. Why not, then, send ships around Africa ? That is just what many men were thinking of ; but nobody knew the way. No ship had ever ventured so far south. The sea captains of Venice and Genoa were bold enough on the Mediterranean ; but they did not dare to go far out upon the ocean. They were afraid to sail their vessels upon strange waters. Sailing around Africa. — In the little country of Portu- gal, in the southwest corner of Europe, many people were interested in trying to find the way to India. Ship after ship was sent out to see how far the west coast of Africa 10 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS extended. Each went a little farther than the one before it, but all were very cautious. The sea was unknown, and it was believed to be full of dreadful things. Year after year went by, and still no one had learned whether the long coast ever came to an end, or whether there was any way at all by which to reach the Indian Ocean. " We shall never get to India by going around Africa," said many. n. WHAT COLUMBUS BELIEVED Just at that time Christopher Columbus came forward and said : " Even if we could reach India by sailing around Africa, it would be a very long voyage. I think there is a much better and shorter way." Who was Christopher Columbus ? — Columbus was an Italian sailor then living in Portugal. He was born in Genoa, a famous seaport of Italy. He knew a great deal about the sea. When a boy he had spent many a day on the wharfs, watching the ships coming and going. He had listened to many a wonderful story of India; Christopher Columbus WHAT COLUMBUS BELIEVED 11 and he had rnade up his mind that when he became a man he would visit that country of gold and spices. When he was fourteen he became a sailor. He after- wards visited all the great seaports on the Mediterranean. He sailed down the African coast as far as tlie boldest cap- tain in Portugal dared to go. He lived for a time on one of the Madeira islands, and studied the ocean. He sailed to the Far North, to the frozen shores of Iceland. Then for a while he made his home in Portugal, where he busied himself making maps and charts. Columbus in Portugal. — There were few men who knew more about the world than he. There was not a bolder sailor in Europe. And so, when he said, '' I think there is a better way to reach India than by sailing around Africa," he was asked to explain what he meant. "Well," he answered, "the world, as our wisest men agree, is round. It is round like an apple or a globe. On one side of it are Europe and Africa. Adjoining them, but reaching far over upon the other side, is Asia. The land, in fact, goes much more than halfway round the globe of the earth. The ocean, although broad, is like a vast river dividing the land on the east from the land on the west. On this shore is Europe, on that is Asia. To reach India, we have but to cross over. My plan, then, is to sail west instead of east." People thought the plan a strange one. Some laughed, and said it was very foolish. But Columbus explained it so well that a few of the wiser men believed in it. The king of Portugal. — Columbus explained his ideas 12 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS to the king of Portugal. Then he said : " If you will supply me with ships and sailors, I will make a voyage across the Atlantic. I will make known this new way to India. I ask only a fair share of the honor and profits that may be gained by the voyage." The king was more than half persuaded. He thought that the scheme might be worth trying. But he wanted all the honor and profits for himself. So he sent out a ship secretly, to sail as far into the ocean as it could. But sailors at that time were afraid to venture to any great distance from the shore. They called the Atlantic the " Sea of Darkness." They believed that, as they sailed westward, they would encounter many dread- ful dangers ; that storms were raging there all the time ; and that there was no farther shore. Therefore the king's ship soon came back. The cap- tain said that he had seen nothing but storm-tossed waves and a wilderness of waters. Columbus in Spain. — When Columbus found that the king of Portugal would not help him, he went to Spain. He would ask Ferdinand and Isabella, the king and queen of that country, to give him the means to try his scheme. He took his little son Diego with him. One evening, weary from long walking, he came to a small convent near the town of P^los. He knocked at the gate, and asked for a drink of water and a bite of bread for poor Diego. The prior of the convent saw the two travelers, and knew from their looks that they were no common beggars. He invited them to come in and WHAT COLUMBUS BELIEVED 13 " He invited them to come in " rest. He talked witli Colum- bus, and found that he was a man of much intelligence. He listened while his guest explained his ideas about the world and his plan for discovering a new way to India. Encouragement. — Columbus told the prior his whole story. He told why he had left Portugal, how he had hoped to induce Ferdinand and Isabella to help him, and how nobody in Spain would listen to him. The king was busy carrying on a great war. The queen was not inter- ested in his plan. People laughed when he tried to explain his ideas. He was discouraged. 14 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS "Cheer up, my friend/' said the good prior. "Per- severe, aud you will yet succeed. I myself will help yoUc I will use my influence with the queen. She will hsten to me, for I was once her confessor." Perseverance. — Columbus did persevere. But it was yet a long time before he succeeded. Several years passed by, — years of disappointment and sore trials, — and then, just as he was getting ready to leave Spain, the queen was persuaded to favor his project. The king also agreed to give him the help that he asked. Three ships were made ready. Two of these, the JSfina and the Finta, were very small and had no decks. The other, the Santa Maria, was a little larger ; it was chosen by Columbus as his flagship. in. THE FIRST VOYAGE One morning in midsummer the little fleet sailed away from the harbor of Palos. The sailors scarcely expected ever to return. They wept as the land faded from sight. Most of them had been forced to go. The smaller ships, too, had been seized upon by the king's orders and taken without the leave of their owners. The voyage was a long one. The sailors begged to be allowed to turn back. They even threatened the life of their commander. But Columbus was determined not to give up. He stood on the deck of the Santa Maria and watched for signs of land. At length a green branch from a tree was seen floating in the water. Surely, land could not be far away. Then THE FIRST VOYAGE 15 some little birds, of a kind that live along the seashor^e^ hovered around tlie ships. Surely, land was near at hand. At length, one night, a light was seen far over the water. It moved as if it were a torch being carried from place to Columbus went on shore with some of his men place. When morning broke, the ships were near a pleas- ant island, green with trees and grass. How glad the sailors must have been ! The landing. — Columbus, dressed in scarlet and gold, went on shore with some of his men. All knelt upon the beach and thanked God for bringing them in safety across the dreaded sea. They planted a cross in the sand. They unfurled the banner of Spain. Columbus named the island " San Salvador," and took possession of it for 16 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS the king and queen, Ferdinand and Isabella. It was one of the group which we now know as the Bahamas. Indians. — Soon from among the trees strange men and women and children came shyly to look at the strangers. Columbus believed that he was on one of the islands of India, and so he called the people Indians. They were copper-colored ; they had long, black hair and were finely formed ; they seemed gentle and timid ; they believed that the white men were beings come down from the sky to bless the earth. It was on the 12th day of October, 1492, that Colum- bus landed on San Salvador. It was the first land seen on this side of the ocean ; and it is common for us to say that America was discovered on that day. But Columbus thought that he was near the eastern coast of Asia. Other discoveries. — Columbus sailed onward, hoping to reach the mainland, perhaps of India, perhaps of China, perhaps of Japan. He passed near many beautiful islands. He discovered Cuba and then sailed eastward, along its northern shore. Everywhere he was delighted with the pleasant land, the trees, the flowers, the fruits, the people. The natives — the Indians — were peaceable and kind, the air was mild, the sea was calm. Never was there a happier voyage than that first cruise among the islands which we now call the West Indies. But when the voyagers reached Haiti, misfortunes befell them. The Santa Maria was driven ashore in a storm and wrecked. The captain of the Pinta had already disobeyed orders and sailed away. Columbus was left with THE FIRST VOYAGE 17 only the little Nina. He decided then that it was best to return to Spain and tell the story of his discoveries. The homeward voyage was a hard one. Fierce storms threatened to overwhelm the tiny vessel. Scarcely a man hoped to see Spain again. Columbus wrote on a piece of parchment an account of his discoveries. He put the\ " The king and queen sent for Columbus " parchment in a cask, which he sealed and threw over- board. He thought that if the Nina should be lost, per- haps some day the cask would drift to shore and be picked up, the parchment would be found and read, and the world would know of what he had done. But the ship weathered the storms, and, after many BARNES'S EL .—2 18 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS weeks, sailed proudly into the harbor of Palos. What rejoicing there was that day ! The khig and queen sent for Columbus. They had him sit beside them and tell all about his voyage. They looked at the strange things he had brought from the islands beyond the sea. They honored him in every way they could. A happy man was Columbus. IV. THE SECOND VOYAGE In a few months everything was ready for another voyage. Seventeen ships sailed from Spain with fifteen hundred men on board. This time there was no weeping as the land disappeared ; but there were songs of joy and hope. All expected soon to reach the shores of India. They expected to visit the rich cities of the East ; to load their vessels with gold and pearls and fine silks ; and to return home carrying great wealth with them. The voyage was a pleasant one. The first land seen was a mountainous island which Columbus called Dominica. Then he sailed northwesterly, cruising among what are now known as the Lesser Antilles. He discovered Porto Rico, which the natives called Boriquen, and finally reached Haiti, where he had stopped on his first voyage. In Haiti the sky was as blue, the sea was as calm, the land was as beautiful as before. But the Spaniards with Columbus were dissatisfied and unhappy. They dis- covered no rich cities there. They saw no treasure houses filled with gold. The people whom they found were naked savages. Was this the India of tlieir hopes ? THE SECOND VOYAGE 19 A colony was formed. A town was laid out and named Isabella, after the queen. Twelve ships sailed back to Spain to bring other colonists and more supplies. Explor- ing parties were sent out to look for gold. Further discoveries. — Columbus left the colony in' charge of his brother and sailed away in three small SCALE OF MILES 100 200 300 400 500 600 *C^ The lands discovered by Columbus •^ are shown in solid black. ^ Isabella "^ ^ ,^ ^Jila PORTO RICO ^^(boriquen) HAITI ^--'-'^^;.;. ^ % DOMINICA The West Indies — showing the discoveries of Columbus vessels to make f mother discoveries. He coasted along the south shore of Cuba, thinking it was the mainland of Asia. Then changing his course he came to another large island which the natives called Jamaica. Discouragement. — At length he returned to Haiti. 20 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS Everything there was in confusion. The men in the colony were angry because they had not found more mines of gold. They blamed Columbus for all their dis- appointments. Some had already gone back to Spain to make complaints against him. Others demanded that he should take them home at once. He could not quiet them ; he could not control them. He was obliged to yield to their clamors. Two hun- dred homesick men were crowded into two little vessels, and with them Columbus sailed back to Spain. They were nearly three months in crossing the ocean. This time there were no great rejoicings over the return of Columbus. But the king and queen were kind to him, and promised to furnish ships for another voyage. V. THE SAD END The third voyage. — Nearly two years passed. Then Columbus sailed again for the new lands he had discovered in the West. His course was farther south than before. After a long, hard voyage he discovered the coast of South America near the mouth of the Orinoco JRiver. This was the first time he had seen the mainland, tte thought that it was a part of Asia. He followed the shore westward for some distance, and- then, changing his course, sailed to Haiti. In Haiti. — He found the colony there in even a worse condition than when he had left it. The men were quar- reling and fighting. It was hard for him to restore order. He did not dare to go away to make further discoveries. THE SAD END 21 For two weary years he stayed in Haiti trying to establish a peaceful, prosperous settlement. But his enemies were all the time carrying bad reports back to Spain. Almost everybody turned against him. The king listened to the complaints that were made, and at last sent out a man to be gov- ernor of Haiti instead of Columbus. Columbus sent home. . — When the new gov- ernor arrived in Haiti he caused Columbus to be arrested. He accused him of inciting the In- dians against the Span- iards. He chained him with iron fetters and sent him to Spain. The people of Spain w^ere ashamed and angry when they saw the great discoverer brought home in chains. The queen ordered that his fetters should be taken off at once. With tears in her eyes she received him in her own palace. Columbus, broken-hearted, threw himself at her feet and sobbed aloud. The fourth voyage. — In the meanwhile many ships of Spain were crossing the sea, and other men were making He chained him with iron fetters 22 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS discoveries in the New World, as it was called, which Columbus had made known. It was a long time before he was permitted to make another voyage. At length, with four vessels, he again crossed the ocean. When he arrived off the coast of Haiti a dreadful hurricane was beginning to blow ; but the governor would not let him come into the harbor. His ships, however, found shelter in a secluded cove. The Spanish fleet which was just starting to Spain was destroyed by the storm. Twenty vessels or more went to the bottom, and with one of them the governor himself. Columbus sailed onward toward the west. He discov- ered the coast of Central America, and landed on the isthmus of Panama. He little dreamed that only a few miles beyond were the shores of a great ocean which no European had ever seen. He still believed that he was on the coast of Asia. Misfortunes now came thick and fast. Many of his men were killed by Indians. His ships were caught in a storm and driven to Jamaica, where they were wrecked. Columbus and his men stayed a whole year on that wild island, until vessels from Haiti came to their rescue. Broken in health and sick with disappointment the great discoverer returned to Spain. Queen Isabella was then on her death-bed. With her Columbus lost his best friend. His enemies were more numerous than before. America. — About this time a noted explorer whose name was Americiis Vespucius was making a voyage along the coast of Brazil. This man like Columbus was an Italian. He was then in the service ot" the king of THE SAD END 23 Portugal, although he had twice sailed in Spanish ships across the ocean. Unlike most other explorers of the time, his thoughts were not all on gold. He took pleasure in examining the forests, the streams, and the moun- tains of the strange new lands which he visited. When he returned home he wrote a letter to a friend, giving a pleasing account of what he had seen. The 1502 "He took pleasure in examining the forests, the streams, and the mountains" letter was read by many people, and at last was prmted. Then some one said : " Why not give a name to those won- derful countries which Americus Vespucius has so pleas- antly described ? What is to hinder us from calling it America, or the land of Americus ? " Others approved this idea; and thus the name America was applied, first to 24 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS what is now Brazil and finally to the whole new world on this side of the Atlantic. Death of the great discoverer. — Columbus made no more voyages. He lived about eighteen months after returning from his last voyage. He was almost alone, sick and in poverty. At length, on the 20th day of May, 1506, he died. Very few people knew of his death, or cared when they heard about it ; but later his body was laid in a fine tomb at Seville. The casket in which he was placed was afterwards removed to Haiti, then it was taken to Cuba, and a few years ago it was carried back to Spain. REVIEW How long has America been known to the people of Europe ? With what country did the merchants of Europe wish to carry on trade ? Why ? Why was it so difficult to bring merchandise from India? How did ships from Portugal attempt to reach India? What did Columbus think was a better way ? What did others think of his plan ? Why ? Why was he so long in getting ready to sail across the ocean ? Who finally helped him ? What land did he first discover, and when ? What land did he think he had dis- covered ? How did the people of Spain receive him when he returned from his first voyage ? Why was his second voyage a dis- appointment ? What part of the mainland of America did Columbus first reach ? On which of his voyages did he first see the coast of North America? Why was this continent called America? Why was it called a new world ? JOHN CABOT AND THE DISCOVERY OF NORTH AMERICA I. A DARING SEA CAPTAIN John Cabot, like Columbus, was born in Genoa, Italy. For all that we know, he and Columbus may have been schoolboys together at the same school. At about the time that Columbus was first telling his plans to the king of Portugal, Cabot was living in Venice. He was a mer- chant and sea captain. His ships sailed to the ports at the farther end of the Mediterranean Sea and brought back goods from Syria and other distant lands. Merchandise from India. — Once when he was in one of these ports, he saw a long train of camels that had just arrived from Arabia. The animals were loaded with rich spices which they had brought across the deserts. " Where did those spices come from ? " asked Cabot. " They came from India," was the answer, " and they have been many months on the way." This set him to thinking. Was there not some easier and shorter route by which the merchandise of India could be brought to Europe? Columbus and the king of Portugal were trying to solve the same question. Cabot in England. — About two years before Columbus made his first voyage, John Cabot left Venice and went 26 26 JOHN CABOT with his family to England. He settled in Bristol, which was then the most important of all the English seaports. Ships from Bristol often went on long voyages to Nor- way and Iceland, and some sailed even to Spain and the Mediterranean Sea. Cabot soon became known as the most daring of all the merchant captains of Bristol. Within twelve months after settling at that port, he sent some ships far out into the Atlantic to search for an island which was said to lie somewhere southwest of Ireland. This was a year before Columbus sailed from Spain. Cabot's ships ventured farther out into the ocean than any others had gone, but they did not discover any land. NORTH AMERICA DISCOVERED 27 By the king's leave. — When the news was told in Eng- land that Columbus had really sailed across the Atlantic, and had reached what he believed to be India, the mer- chants and sailors of Bristol were greatly excited. John Cabot resolved that he also would discover new lands ; and King Henry of England very graciously gave him leave " to sail to the east, west, or north, with five ships carrying the English flag, to seek and discover all the islands, countries, regions, or provinces of pagans in what- ever part of the world." He was not to sail south lest he should make trouble with Spain. Cabot sails from Bristol. — One thing and then another delayed him. It was not until four years after the return of Columbus from his first voyage that Cabot was ready to sail. He had but one ship, called the Mattheiv. With him went his son Sebastian, a young man probably not more than twenty years of age. It was early in May when he sailed from Bristol, and his course was straight west, across the Atlantic. II. NORTH AMERICA DISCOVERED A strange coast. — The sea was rough and the voyage was tedious and long, but at the end of six weeks a strange, rocky coast was discovered. It was a pai't of North America, probably the coast of Labrador. Although the season was almost midsummer, the shore seemed bare and desolate. The Matthew sailed along within sight of it for nearly nine hundred miles. Cabot landed now and then and took possession of the country in the name of 28 JOHN CABOT the king of England. But he found no such beautiful and interesting things as Columbus had discovered farther south. At length he caused the Matthew to be turned about, and before the end of July the little vessel and its crew were safe home in Bristol harbor. Columbus was just then preparing to make his third voyage. The Grand Admiral. — Cabot hastened to London and reported to the king that he had discovered the coast of China. Henry was so highly pleased that he gave the brave captain a present of £10 in gold (as much now as $200 in our money), and settled a pension on him for the rest of his life. Cabot himself was the hero of the hour. He dressed himself in silk robes, and was called the Grand Admiral of England ; and whenever he walked out in Bristol or London, the people ran after him in crowds, like madmen. The second voyage. — Early the next spring Cabot started on another voyage. He believed that if he should sail a little farther south than before, he would discover the rich island of Cipango, or Japan, about which many wonderful stories were afloat. He followed the eastern coast of our country from Maine to Cape Cod and per- haps much farther. But he saw no signs of the wealth and splendor which were said to exist in Japan and India. There were neither cities nor towns nor orchards nor fields. Everywhere there were dense woods, in which wild animals and a few savage men had their homes. It was not a very promising country ; but Cabot, as on his former voyage, took possession of the coast for his NORTH AMERICA DISCOVERED 29 master, the king of England. This it was that gave to England, in after years, the right to claim the larger part of North America as her own. We hear no more of John Cabot. — Just when Cabot's ships returned to Bristol from this second voyage, we do not know. Indeed, it is supposed by some that he himself died before reaching home ; for we do not hear of him again. His son Sebastian became the greatest sea captain of his time, and was for several years in the service of the king of Spain. But it was a long, long time before English ships again visited the wild and wooded shores of North America. REVIEW Name three Italians who had much to do with the discovery of our country. Why was John Cabot so deeply interested in discov- ering a short way to India ? Which saw the mainland of America first, Cabot or Columbus ? What countries did Cabot hope to dis- cover ? Why was he not better pleased with his discoveries ? What claim did England make on account of his discoveries ? What was the name of John Cabot's son ? What did he become ? DE YACA AND CORONADO AND THE EXPLORATION OF THE SOUTHWEST I. SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS Further explorations by the Spanish. — One ship after another followed in the track of Columbus across the Atlantic Ocean. Multitudes of Spanish adventurers has- Voyages of Columbus, Cabot, Vespucius, and Magellan tened to seek wealth and fame in the strange, new, western world. They explored the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, and made settlements in Haiti and Cuba. Soon also they formed a small colony at Darien on the neck of land which we call the Isthmus of Panama. 30 SPANISH DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS 31 Balboa. — One of these adventurers, whose name was Balboa, crossed the isthmus, and was the first of white men to see the vast ocean now known as the Pacific. Wading out from the beach as far as he could go, he raised his sword in air and declared that he took possession of the great water and of all the lands adjoining it in the name of his master, the king of Spain. The Spanish on the Pacific. — Spain now laid claim not only to the greater part of America, but to the Pacific Ocean and all the islands that might be discovered in it. Ships of Spain soon found their way across it, and visited / the shores of India, . i which were thou- sands of miles farther away than Columbus had imagined. A Spanish fleet, led by a famous navigator called Magellan, was , „ - A Spanish ship of that time the hrst to make that long voyage. Magellan himself was killed on one of the Philippine Islands; but one of his vessels, the Victoria, sailed on, entirely round the world, and at last came back safe to Spain. For more than fifty years only Spanish ships were allowed to sail on the Pacific. Spanish trading vessels brought to Panama the rich merchandise of the Philippine 32 DE VACA AND COHONADO Islands and tlie Far East. Other vessels brought to the same place the gold and silver that had been taken from the mines of Peru, in South America. All these treasures were then carried across the isthmus and loaded upon still other Spanish ships, which carried them to Spain. The gold seekers. — The Spanish adventurers who flocked to America seemed to have but one thought, and that was to gather treasures and heap up gold and silver to be sent home to Spain. They robbed and enslaved and killed the poor natives, only to enrich themselves and to add to the wealth and power of the Spanish king. Florida. — One of these adventurers was Ponce de Leon. He was the first Spanish governor of Porto Rico and be- came very rich by robbing and oppressing the natives of that island. Having heard of a fountain which was said to make every one young who bathed in its waters, he set out in search of it. Although he failed to find it, he dis- covered a beautiful country which he named Florida. This discovery gave to the Spanish king the excuse to claim all the country north of the Gulf of Mexico. Mexico. — West of the Gulf of Mexico the Spaniards dis- covered a wonderful country, the people of which were quite different from any others that were known. These people were called Aztecs. They lived in well-made houses, and wore clothing of cotton cloth variously colored. They had beautiful gardens and farms, and fine public roads, and villages and cities, and strange temples and treasure- houses filled with gold. Hernando Cortes, a Spanish soldier of great courage and perseverance, set out with a CABEZA DE VACA 33 small army to conquer this country. After nearly three years of cruel fighting he succeeded. The rich native kingdom of Mexico, with its treasures of gold, became the prey of the destroying Spaniard. This conquest of Mexico was the greatest achievement that had yet been made by the Spanish in America. The mines of Mexico proved to be the richest in the world, and for three hundred years that country remained the most important of all the possessions of Spain. II. CABEZA DE VACA The Spanish in Mexico. — There was great excitement in Spain when the story of the conquest of Mexico first became known there. The Spanish people believed that since one such rich kingdom had been found in America there must be many others ; and more than one plan was formed for discovering and conquering them. Soon the greater part of Mexico was overrun by eager gold hunters, and few were the Aztec treasures that were not seized and sent to Spain. Strangers in camp. — About fifteen years after the con- quest some Spanish soldiers at a small village in the western part of Mexico were astonished to see four wild- looking creatures coming out of the forest and approaching their camp. These creatures had the form of men, but they appeared more savage than any of the natives of that country. One was as black as ink ; the other three had skins like those of white men bronzed by the sun and the wind. The little clothing which they wore was made Barnes's el. — 3 34 DE VACA AND CORONADO of the skins of wild animals. They were gaunt and thin^ as though long unused to nourishing food. Wanderers for eight years. — As they approached the camp their leader, who was taller and better-looking than the rest, called out to the soldiers in very good Spanish "' Ah, what happiness!' he cried ' and saluted them as friends. " Ah, what happiness," he cried, '' to meet with countrymen once more ! " The soldiers were now still more astonished. They gathered around their strange visitors and inquired who they were and how they had happened to come there as though dropped from the clouds. " We are Spaniards," was the answer, " and for eight years w^e have been wan- dering among wild men and wild beasts without once see- ing the faces of friends." CABEZA DE VACA 35 The leader tells his story. — " My name is Cabeza de Vaca," said the leader of the four, " and I belong to one of the noblest families in Spain. The two white men who are with me are also Spaniards of good birth. The black man is Stephen, a negro servant who has shared in all our toils and privations." Then, while his listeners sat wondering, he told the story of his misfortunes and of his long wanderings in unknown lands. It was, in substance, as follows : Narvaez. — Narvaez, a Spanish officer who had done some brave things in Cuba, had formed a plan for invad- ing Florida and for subduing the many rich kingdoms which it was supposed to contain. The king gave him permission to carry out this plan, and four hundred of the noblest young men in Spain enlisted in his service. Cabeza de Vaca was the treasurer of the expedition ; and every man felt sure of outdoing Cortes and of sending home shiploads of gold, the plunder of savage kingdoms. The company landed on the coast of Florida, and pushed northward through the trackless forest to a point somewhere in the present state of Georgia. But no gold did they find; and they were so hard pressed by savage foes that they were glad to return to the coast. Their ships had disappeared. They therefore built some rude boats in which they hoped to find their way to some Spanish station on the coast of Mexico. But storms arose ; the boats were wrecked ; Narvaez and nearly all of his company perished. Shipwreck and captivity. — A few of the men were cast 36 DE VACA AND CORONADO ashore at some point on the coast of Texas. Among these was Cabeza de Vaca. They were made prisoners and enslaved by a tribe of savage Indians. After much suffer- ing and toil, Cabeza and his three companions escaped, only to be captured by another tribe. Then followed months of peril and privation. They were carried from one place to another, through the tangled forests and over the boundless grassy plains of the Southwest. They made friends with their masters and gained their freedom. They became medicine men, and traveled from tribe to tribe, pretending to heal the sick, which caused the sav- ages to regard them with awe. A long journey. — Their course was always toward the west, for they hoped that thus they would at last reach some Spanish settlement in Mexico. They crossed the Rio Grande and visited some parts of New Mexico. They traversed desert plains, and climbed rugged mountains, and followed deep canons — always looking westward. And at List, after hardships too many to be related, they were gladdened by the sight of the banner of Spain floatr ing over the little camp of soldiers near the shores of the western sea. They had traveled more than four thousand miles, much of the way along the southern borders of what is now the United States. They had seen the mouth of the Mississippi where it pours its flood of waters into the Gulf. They had been the first of white men to land on the shores of Texas, and the first to traverse the great plains of the Southwest. They have been called the first pathfinders across the North American continent. THE SEARCH FOR THE SEVEN CITIES 37 m. THE SEARCH FOR THE SEVEN CITIES In the presence of the viceroy. — Cabeza de Vaca and his companions were soon taken to the city of Mexico, and their story was repeated to the viceroy, as the Spanish ruler of the country was called. The viceroy questioned Cabeza eagerly about what he had seen and heard. " Did you not find any treasures ? " he asked, " and did you not visit any of those rich kingdoms which are said to excel even Mexico in wealth ? " " We ourselves saw no treasures," answered Cabeza, "for we were intent upon escaping with our lives. Neither did we visit any rich kingdoms ; but I am confi- dent that there are such at some distance farther north. In fact, the natives told us many stories of strong cities where the houses are built of marble and the doorposts are ornamented with precious stones." The viceroy was much excited by this report, for vague accounts had already come to his notice of seven rich cities far to the north which were said to excel in splendor anything that had hitherto been discovered in America. He was anxious to find those cities and to conquer them for Spain. The journey of Fray Marcos. — Cabeza de Yaca was anxious to return home and had no wish to please the viceroy by going in search of the seven cities. But Ste- phen, the negro who had shared his adventures, was willing to act as guide through the regions which they had trav- ersed ; and a monk, commonly called Fray Marcos, under- 38 DE VACA AND CORONADO took with the negro's aid to discover the rich kingdoms of the north. The monk and the negro, with a few Indians as helpers, set out on their errand, and the viceroy and his friends began to prepare for great events. Several weeks passed and then Fray Marcos returned. He reported that his negro guide had been killed by the natives of one of the cities, but he himself had seen every- thing from the summit of a hill. There were indeed, he said, seven cities, all at no great distance from one an- other, and their splendor and wealth surpassed the most extravagant, dreams. Francisco de Coronado. — The viceroy decided to send out an expedition at once to conquer these cities and take possession of their treasures. He chose Francisco de Coro- nado, a young officer of great promise, to be the leader of the expedition ; and an army of several hundred Spaniards and Mexican Indians was soon in readiness for the march. Coronado, although but thirty years old, was already well known for his courage and dashing energy, and not only the viceroy of Mexico, but the king of Spain had great faith in his ability as a commander. With high hopes and eager expectation, he mustered his army at the same village in western Mexico where Cabeza de Vaca had made his strange appearance four years before. On a pleasant morning in April the march was begun. The little army passed northward not far from the shores of the Gulf of California. Then it crossed the desert plains of Arizona, and arrived at last in the country of the seven cities. THE SEARCH FOR THE SEVEN CITIES 39 The cities found. — But oh, the disappointment ! Instead of the busy centers of life and trade which Coronado had expected to see, he found only the half-ruined villages of Moqui Indians. Instead of marble palaces and golden temples, he found only mud-walled houses which contained nothing worth carrying away. In the account of the place A Moqui village which he sent back to Mexico he said that the people wore clothing of cotton cloth which they wove for themselves ; that they had fields of Indian corn upon which they de- pended for food ; and that their villages bore no resemblance to the splendid cities which Fray Marcos had described. Quivira. — The Indians told him that there was a great city called Quivira farther on, and that if he persevered in his march he wDuld surely reach it. He therefore 40 DE VACA AND CORONADO went on, turning now toward the east. He traversed New Mexico, crossed the Rio Grande, and turned north- ward to the great plains of Kansas. Millions of bisons, or American buffaloes, roamed at will in that region, and Coronado \Vas the first of white men to describe them. Three hundred leagues from the Rio Grande he arrived at Quivira, the city of which he was in search. But it was merely a collection of wretched huts, inhabited by a few Indians whose only occu- pation was hunting buf- faloes. Spaniards' picture of a buffalo The end of the long march. — Coronado was not yet ready to despair. The golden country of his hopes seemed always to be a little farther on, a little farther on ; but he was determined to find it. With such of his followers as were still able to keep up with him, he marched onward across the plains until he reached, as some suppose, the Missouri River at about the spot where Kansas City now stands. Then, wholly discouraged, he turned and rode back toward Mexico. He had penetrated into the very heart of the continent ; he had been the first to lead an exploring party over the mountain ridges of the South- west, the first to describe the vast prairies of Kansas, the first to visit those regions which now form the central portion ct our country. THE SEARCH FOR THE SEVEN CITIES 41 Two sad stories. — Of what afterward befell Coronado there are two stories. One relates that while he was still a long way from Mexico he fell suddenly from his horse. When his companions raised him from the ground they found that his reason was gone. Toil and anxiety had so worn upon him that he had become a madman. The other story, which is probably the true one, says that he led his men safe back to Mexico, where he gave to the viceroy a true account of his adventures. The viceroy was angry because of his failure to discover or bring back any treasures for Spain. He dismissed Coronado from his presence, and the young officer retired to his country home, where he died of a broken heart. REVIEW By whom was the Pacific Ocean discovered ? Who was the first to sail across it ? What part of the world was claimed by Spain ? For what purpose did Spanish adventurers come to America? What was the most important conquest made by the Spanish? To what part of North America was the name Florida applied ? Why were the Spanish so anxious to conquer Florida ? Through what part of our country did Cabeza de Vaca pass ? Why did Fray Marcos give such glowing and incorrect accounts of his discoveries ? Through what parts of our country did Coronado pass ? Did his explorations lead to any valuable results ? FERDINAND DE SOTO AND THE SPANISH IN THE SOUTH Preparations for the conquest of Florida. — Ferdinand ie Soto was a bold, ambitious officer who had already made himself famous by the doing of daring deeds in South America. The story of Cabeza de Vaca had led him to believe that there were indeed rich countries abounding in gold in the region known to the Spaniards by the general name of Florida. This region included all of the continent this side of Mexico and the Gulf; and more than one Spanish adventurer was anxious to risk life and fortune in its exploration. De Soto declared that with a few hundred men he could subdue the entire coun- try and conquer for Spain even greater treasures than had been obtained from Mexico. The king was pleased with his boasting, and made him governor of Cuba, with authority to overrun and plunder whatever kingdoms he might discover in the neighboring region of Florida. On a May morning, in the same year that Coronado was preparing for his tour in search of the Seven Cities, De Soto sailed from Cuba, intent on the conquest of Florida. He had nearly six hundred followers, — gentle- men dressed in doublets of silk, priests in their black 42 THE SPANISH IN THE SOUTH 43 A Spanish soldier robes, soldiers, mechanics, and serving men. There were also two hundred horses, a drove of hogs to supply pork for the men, and a number of savage bloodhounds to be used in chasing the Indians. The start. — De Soto and his little army landed on the west coast of Florida at a point somewhere on Tampa Bay. The ships were sent back to Cuba, and the Spaniards began a toilsome march through the forests. From tbe Indians they had heard vague stories of a land of gold and pearls far to the northeast, and thither they turned their course. They could move but very slowly, for often they were obliged to cut their way through the thick underbrush, to swim deep, sluggish rivers, or to go long distances around impassable swamps. Then also they were obliged to be always on their guard against savage foes ; for De Soto was very cruel to the Indians, and those whom he might have won by kindness soon became his bitter enemies. On the Savannah. — After months of toil the Spaniards came at length to the broad and beautiful river now known as the Savannah. There they discovered an Indian village with pleasant homes, and a people far more civi- lized than the savage tribes they had hitherto met. The ruler of this village and of the country around it was a 44 FERDINAND DE SOTO young Indian princess who welcomed De Soto with much show of friendship. She presented him with a neck- lace of pearls of great value, and commanded that half the houses in the village should be given up to his fol- lowers, who should be treated as the honored guests of her people. This kindness of the Indian princess was repaid by treachery. The Spaniards tore down the houses in search of treasures, and robbed even the graves of the natives in order to find the pearls that had been buried with the dead. And finally, when they left the place, De Soto carried the princess with him as a prisoner. Happily, while passing through a thick wood, she escaped from her guards, and the Spaniards never saw her again. The terrible march. — The explorers now marched to- w^ards the west, seeking always for gold, and plundering and destroying the Indian villages that were in their way. Bloody battles were fought, and thousands of the poor natives were killed or enslaved. The Spaniards lost their provisions, their horses, their arms. Many were ready to abandon the expedition and try to make their way back to the seashore; but De Soto would not listen to them. He had set his heart upon discovering and conquering a rich empire, and he was determined to succeed. And so they traveled onward through the country where now are the states of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Month after month they toiled through the never ending forest, suffering from hunger and sickness and many privations, but never ceasing their search for gold. THE SPANISH IN THE SOUTH 45 On the banks of the Mississippi. — At length, weary with the long and dreadful march, they came one day to the banks of a river much larger than any they had ever seen before. At the place where they stood it was a mile and a half wide, and the flood of waters which rolled past them was truly wonderful to behold. It was the river which the Indians called Missipi (Mississippi), or the Father of Waters. De Soto had probably heard of it before, for it was not unknown to the Spanish. More than twenty years earlier than this, Pineda, a sailor from Spain, had discovered it and sailed his ship into one of its broad mouths. Afterwards, Cabeza de Vaca and his companions having tried to enter it with their boat were carried far out into the Gulf by the force of its mighty current. De Soto caused a huge wooden cross to be erected upon the bank of the river, and while the priests chanted hymns and offered prayers, his soldiers humbly knelt and thanked God that their lives had been spared amid the thousand perils of the wilderness. Death of De Soto. — The Spaniards were delayed a month on the eastern side of the Mississippi, for they were obliged to build boats in which to carry themselves and their horses across the broad stream. When at length all were safely over they set out again, still determined upon the finding of gold. Northward they marched, and then westward an unknown distance until the hearts of all began to fail and their tireless leader himself became sick with a deadly fever. Then they returned to the banks of the great river, and there De Soto died. His followers. 46 FERDINAND DE SOTO fearing lest the Indians should find his body and do it harm, resolved to bury it in the river. They inclosed it in a heavy casket hewn from the trunk of an evergreen oak, and at midnight carried it far out from the shore and silently dropped it into the stream. Escape of his followers. — Three years had passed since De Soto had first landed on the coast of Florida. Of all the proud company that had followed him then, nearly half had perished in the wilderness. Those who were still alive made haste to escape from the country in which they had found neither gold nor glory, but only suffering and disappointment. In rude boats, which they hewed from the trees by the river, they floated down the Mississippi to its mouth ; then following the winding coast westward, they at last arrived at a small Spanish settlement in Mexico. Half dead with hunger and exposure, and clothed in the skins of wild beasts, these men who had started out in fine array, with silk doublets and glittering arms, now fell empty-handed upon the beach, and gave thanks that their lives were still their own. REVIEW What induced De Soto to undertake the conquest of Florida ? Where is Tampa Bay ? Where is the Savannah River ? Why did the Spaniards repay the kindness of the natives with cruelty? Through what parts of our country did De Soto march ? Who was the first discoverer of the Mississippi ? Why did the Spanish claim all the country north, of the Gulf of Mexico ? What other nation also claimed a large part of the same region ? Did De Soto's expedition lead to any good results ? SIR FRANCIS DRAKE AND THE FIRST ENGLISH VOYAGE EOUND THE WORLD I. A BOLD YOUNG SAILOR A sailor boy. — In the south of England, on the shore of the English Channel, there is a famous old sea- port town called Plymouth. Here, about three hundred and fifty years ago, there lived a brave sailor lad whose name was Francis Drake. This boy loved the sea. His first home was the hulk of an old ship that lay on the beach by Plymouth harbor. The first sound that he re- membered was that of roaring winds and dashing waves. He liked to listen to the talk of sailors who had been to dis- tant ports. From them and from others he heard much about the Spanish ; how strong they were on the sea ; how their ships were all the time sailing back 47 Spanish ships of war 48 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE and forth, carrying the treasures of India and America to Spain; and how they claimed all the countries of the West, and even the Pacific Ocean, as their own. And as he listened, he grew angry with the thought that his own country, England, was so poor and weak, while Spain was so strong and great. "Some time," he said, clinching his fists, "I will show those proud Spaniards that the world does not all belong to them." And so, as he grew up, Francis Drake's mind was full of hatred for Spain and everything Spanish. But he was a good sailor, strong and trustworthy; and he had scarcely become a man before he had a ship of his own. For a time he made only short voyages to the ports along the English Channel. Then with his uncle, John Hawkins, who was a great sea captain, he sailed to the west coast of Africa, where he loaded his ship with captive negroes. What would he do with these negroes ? Slaves in America. — In the Spanish settlements in America there was a great demand for slaves. The Span- iards had at first tried to make slaves of the Indians ; but these would suffer death rather than submit to be driven by a master, and many thousands of them perished. Then it was found that negroes were better workers and more easy to control ; and therefore great numbers of black men were captured in Africa and carried to the West Indies and the Spanish Main, as the north coast of South America was called. The most of these captives were put to work in the mines, and kept there until they died. Their Span- A BOLD YOUNG SAILOR 49 ish masters found that it was cheaper to buy new slaves than to take care of the old ; hence, as I have said, there was always a demand for more and more negroes. The first English slave traders. — Francis Drake and Captain Hawkins sailed with their negroes across the *' He tried to capture the Spanish treasure house " Atlantic, hoping to sell them to the Spaniards. They were the first Englishmen who had attempted to do this ; for none but Spanish ships were permitted to trade with the Spanish settlements in America. They sailed boldly into a little seaport on the Spanish Main, and made their errand known. The miners and traders BAKNKS'S EL. 4 50 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE were very anxious to buy the slaves, but they were afraid to break the law by trading with Englishmen. After much trouble, however, the negroes were sold at a high price, and Drake and Hawkins were delighted with the prospect of going home with the gold and gems they had received. But before they could get out of the har- bor they were attacked by the Spaniards. Not being strong enough to resist, they were robbed of all their gains, and were glad enough to escape in their empty ships. They returned to England poorer than when they went away. This adventure caused Francis Drake to hate Spain and the Spaniards more than before. He made several other voyages to the West Indies and the Spanish Main« At one time he tried to capture the Spanish treasure house near Darien ; but just in the moment of victory he was severely wounded, his men were panic-stricken, and he was carried back to his ship. He was obliged to sail away empty-handed. II. THE FIRST ENGLISHMAN ON THE PACIFIC Drake sees the Pacific. — On another occasion Drake formed a plan to waylay a company of Spaniards that were carrying gold and silver across the isthmus. While wait- ing for this company on the highest ridge of the moun- tains, he one day climbed a tall tree and looked about him. On the south of him, seeming to be almost at his feet, he saw the mighty Pacific, just as Balboa had seen it seventy years before. No other Englishman had ever beheld that wonderful ocean. No ships save those of Spain THE FIRST ENGLISHMAN ON THE PACIFIC 51 had ever sailed upon it. The sight of the vast water, gleaming and sparkling in the sunlight, filled Drake with a great longing to know more about it. What right had Spain to keep it from all the other nations of the world ? And so the brave captain, while still in the tree, knelt among the branches and vowed that he would, some day, sail an English ship on that ocean. More than one company of treasure carriers fell into the hands of Drake and his men, and so much gold and silver was taken that only a part could be gotten to his ship. The rest had to be left behind. A bold voyage. — The next year, true to his vow, Drake did sail an English ship on the Pacific. He boldly passed through the Strait of Magellan ; and then on board of the vessel which he called the Golden Hind, he cruised along the western coast of South America. He plundered the Spanish towns by the shore, and captured several richly laden treasure ships. At length, when the Golden Hind was loaded with as much silver and gold as she could carry, Drake began to ask himself how he should get safely back to England. He could not return by the way he had come, for the Spaniards were now aroused, and Spanish war ships were watching for him by the Strait of Magellan. He there- fore sailed northward looking for some passage across or around North America through which he could sail to the Atlantic. But there was none. California. — Other men would have been in despair ; but Francis Drake never thought of failure. He explored 52 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE the coast of California, which he called New Albion, and took possession of the country in the name of Queen Elizabeth. In a sheltered bay, not far from where San Francisco now is, he spent several weeks, putting his ship in condition for a long voyage. Then he steered her " And made him a knight, then and there " straight out into the Pacific. If Spanish vessels could cross that vast ocean, surely the Golden Hind could do as much. Round the world. — And so, westward and ever west- ward, the brave little vessel sailed. She passed through wastes of unknown waters and among strange, savage islands, just as Magellan's ship had done, sixty years be- fore. She sailed through the seas south of the Philip- THE FIRST ENGLISHMAN ON THE PACIFIC 53 pines, then cruised among the Spice Islands and boldly entered the Indian Ocean. Finally she passed round the Cape of Good Hope and sped swiftly and safely home. As Magellan's ship, the Victoria, had been the first of all vessels to sail round the world, so Drake's Golden Hind was the first English ship to perform that hazardous feat. The voyage was indeed a wonderful one, and soon all England was talking about it. Drake knighted. — Queen Elizabeth was so well pleased that she visited Drake on his ship in Plymouth harbor, and made him a knight, then and there. From that day he was Sir Francis Drake, and everybody hon- ored him as the Englishman who had done most to humble the pride of Spain. The Golden Hind was kept with care for many years in memory of her wonderful voyage. When, at last, her hull began to decay, a chair was made from some of the timber ; and that chair may still be seen in the university at Oxford. Other exploits, — This was not the end of Drake's exploits. Five years later, with a great fleet of w^ar ships, he made another expedition against the Spanish in the West Indies. He attacked St. Augustine, a Spanish set- tlement in Florida, and sailed up our Atlantic coast as far as to Roanoke Island in North Carolina. Afterwards, Chair made from the "Golden Hind" 54 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE with a still stronger fleet, he attacked the Spaniards in their own seaport of Cadiz and destroyed many of their vessels. His last expedition was against Porto Bello on the Spanish Main ; but, before reaching the end of the voyage, he died on shipboard and was buried at sea. Why Drake is remembered. — Sir Francis Drake is honored in his own country because he was the first to make England's power felt on the sea. He is remem- bered by Americans because he was one of the first to turn the attention of the English people toward the great continent which John Cabot had discovered for them nearly a hundred years before. REVIEW Why were the Spanish unwilling that the ships of any other nation should sail on the Pacific ? How did they carry the goods and treasures of India to Spain ? Why did Francis Drake hate the Spanish ? Why did the Spaniards in America wish so many negro slaves ? Why did they not make slaves of the Indians ? What was the name of the first English ship that ever sailed on the Pacific ? What part of North America was discovered by Drake ? Why did he not return to England by way of the Strait of Magellan ? In what way were Drake's exploits of assistance to England ? In what way were they of importance to our own country ? SIR WALTER RALEIGH AND THE FIRST ENGLISH COLONISTS I. THE QUEEN'S FAVORITE A courtly act. — In England, in the days of Queen Elizabeth, there lived a noble young man whose name was Walter Raleigh. He was so brave and wise, and his manners were so courtly and kind, that he drew many friends to him and became the favorite of the rich and powerful who gathered at the court of the queen. One day as he was crossing a street in London, he saw the queen with her train of lords and ladies going down 1^0^ to the water side for a sail on the river. There had 1580 been a rain that morning, and across the queen's pathway there was an ugly puddle of mud too wide for her to step over. What was to be done ? While the queen hesitated, and her puzzled attendants were looking one at another, Walter Raleigh came up. He saw at a glance what the trouble was, and he acted at once. He wore a beautiful cloak of crimson velvet trimmed with gold and costly lace. This he took from his shoulders and spread upon the mud, so that the queen could step upon it and pass over without soiling her shoes. 55 56 SIR WALTER RALEIGH Raleigh a knight. — The act was done so gracefullj? that the queen was much pleased. In a few days she sent for young Raleigh, and when he had come to her palace she bade him kneel before her. Then with the fiat of his sword she struck him gently three times upon the shoulders and said, " Rise, Sir Walter Raleigh. It is thus "This he took from his shoulders and spread upon the mud" that we make thee a knight." And from that time, Sir Walter Raleigh was in high favor at the court of Elizabeth. Sir Humphrey Gilbert. — Just then there was much talk about the new continent of America and about the voyages which Sir Francis Drake had made to the Spanish Main and the Pacific. Many Englishmen were beginning THE QUEEN'S FAVORITE 57 to wonder whether the wild, unexplored land across the sea might not yet bring as much wealth to England as Mexico and the Indies had brought to Spain. "Why not send out a colony, and make an English settlement in America ? " asked Sir Humphrey Gilbert. This Sir Humphrey was a half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh, and he too had great influence with the queen. And so, about the time that Drake returned from his famous voyage round the world, permission was obtained from Elizabeth to found a colony in America. It was to be somewhere north of the Spanish province of Florida, and Sir Humphrey Gilbert was to be its governor. The first attempt at settlement. — Four ships were fitted out, and a number of men volunteered to go on them as colonists. Among these were carpenters and blacksmiths and wheelwrights and gardeners, and others intent on making themselves new homes in the great un- known land. The little fleet sailed, with Sir Humphrey as its cap- tain. But the sea was stormy, and the weather was cold ; and when the voyagers came in sight of land it was the bleak and rocky coast of Newfoundland. One of the ships turned back, and one was wrecked ; and when the others would have gone on to the mainland, a dreadful tempest drove them hither and thither, and all on board begged to be taken back to England. And so Sir Humphrey unwillingly gave orders to turn about and sail for home. The sea was full of huge icebergs floating down from the frozen North, the wind 58 SIR WALTER RALEIGH blew fearfully, and the waves seemed mountain high. "Do not fear," said Sir Humphrey to his companions; '' heaven is as near on the sea as on the land." And that night his ship went down. II. VIRGINIA Discovery of Carolina. — Very great was Sir Walter Raleigh's grief and disappointment ; but he did not despair. The next year he sent out other ships to sail along the Atlantic coast and find the best place for a colony. These ships took a more southerly course ; for their masters were unwilling to brave the stormy, icy seas in which Sir Humphrey had been over- w^helmed. At length they sighted the long, low coast of Carolina, and anchored somewhere in the shallow bay now called Albemarle Sound. The crews went ashore. They thought the land was the most beautiful in the w^orld. In the woods were giant trees of kinds unknown in England. There was great abundance of grapes and plums and other wild fruit, all to be had for the gathering. Game was plentiful, and the rivers and inlets were full of fish. The Indians were friendly ; and, what seemed the best of all, they told of a country not far away where gold and precious stones could be picked up without labor or trouble. Virginia. — The ships did not stay long in that charm- ing place. The captains were eager to carry the news back to England. When they told Sir Walter of the VIRGINIA 59 pleasant country they had found, and showed him the furs and other things they had brought home, he too was delighted. " I will plant an English colony there," he said ; and he named the whole country Virginia, in honor of Elizabeth the virgin queen. The second attempt at settlement. — Soon after this. Sir Walter sent out other ships with a number of men to form a settlement as he had planned. But these men did not find the country so beautiful; and when the ships left them and returned to England, they grew restless and discontented. They were rude to the Indians, and caused them to become unfriendly. They would not work, but spent their time wandering here and there in search of gold. At last their food was all gone ; the time for wild fruits was past ; they could find no game in the forest ; they could take no fish in the streams. They would have perished with hunger had not Sir Francis Drake chanced to sail along the coast with an English fleet. They told him of their distress, and begged him to carry them back to England ; and, as there was plenty of room on his ships, he consented to do so. Roots and leaves. — No doubt Sir Walter Raleigh was vexed and disappointed when his colonists returned with doleful tales of the sufferings they had endured in Vir- ginia. They had found no gold nor precious stones, and they brought only some roots and leaves which they told Raleigh were held in high esteem by the Indians. The roots were potatoes, the leaves were tobacco — both then 60 SIR WALTER RALEIGH first made known to Englishmen. Very worthless they must have seemed ; and yet such roots and such leaves afterwards added more to the wealth of the world than all the gold in the treasure houses of Spain. IIL THE LOST COLONY The third attempt at settlement. — In spite of all discouragements, Raleigh persevered in his plan of found- ing a settlement in Virginia. Three ships were made ready, and a hundred and fifty colonists were sent over, with Captain John White as their governor. Some of the men took their wives with them, and all were happy with the thought of making themselves homes in the strange new land beyond the sea. They landed on Roanoke Island, and laid out a town which they named the City of Raleigh. They put up a few little houses of logs and bark, and for a time were very busy and contented. Thus, on that lonely shore, with the untamed wilderness on every side, the first English homes in our country were begun. ^*v- \ She was named Virginia Dare THE LOST COLONY 61 Virginia Dare. — In one of these iiomes, only a few weeks after the landing, a baby ghl was born. She was the granddaughter of Captain White, and she was named Virginia Dare. We remember her because she was the first English child born in America. The colony disappears. — Before the end of summer, Captain White felt that he must return to England to get The only sign or message that was left behind" some needed supplies for his colony. He sailed away with his ships, and the settlers on Roanoke Island were left alone. A great war was going on between England and Spain, and Spanish skips were patrolling the sea. 62 SIR WALTER RALEIGH Three years passed before Captain White dared return to America ; and then very sad was his disappointment. He found the island of Roanoke deserted. The City of Raleigh was overgrown with weeds and shrubs. The houses were in ruins. The colony had disappeared. What became of the men and women and of little Virginia Dare, nobody knows. The only sign or message that was left behind was the word " Croatan," carved upon a tree. Did this mean that they had gone to a place of that name ? Captain White sought for them far and near, but no word or token of them could he discover. The search for the lost colony. — Sir Walter Raleigh would never believe that the colonists were dead, and he sent out more than one ship to sail up and down the coast in the hope of finding them. But he did not try to establish another settlement in Virginia. He had spent a large part of his fortune, and accomplished nothing. And yet he never ceased to believe that Virginia would soon become the home of a busy and happy people. REVIEW Of what country was Elizabeth the queen? When? What kind of man was Sir Walter Raleigh? Why did he wish to send an English colony to America? Why did the expedition of Sir Humphrey Gilbert prove a failure ? To what part of the coast of North America did Sir Walter next turn his attention ? Did not all this coast belong to Spain ? Why was it claimed by England ? What name did Raleigh give to all the eastern coast of our country ? Why did his first colony fail ? What valuable things did the colo- nists carry back to England ? Why did the second colony fail ? Why did Raleigh continue to seek for the lost colonists? POCAHONTAS AND THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA I. AN INDIAN PRINCESS A child of the forest. — Three hundred years ago, in that part of our country which we call Virginia, there hved a little Indian girl whose father w^as the head war-chief of a tribe called Powhatans. He was known as the Powhatan or '' king." The little girl was so lively and so fund of romping and playing that her father gave her the pet name of Pocahontas, which in his language meant about the same as " tom-boy." And that is the name by which she has always been known. Pocahontas, being the daugh- ter of a king, was therefore a princess. Her face was dark but handsome. Her hair was straight and very black. Her eyes were large and bright. Her body was lithe and slender. She was a true child of the forest. 63 A child of the forest " 64 POCAHONTAS Her dress was made for the most part of the skins of wild animals, prettily ornamented with beads and feathers and fringes. In her ears she wore rings of copper, and on one wrist she had a bracelet of the same metal. For shoes she had soft moccasins of deerskin, adorned with sweet- smelling grasses and the quills of porcupines. The mother of the little princess was dressed much in the same way. But her face and arms were tattooed with strange figures of beasts and birds and snakes; and she wore over her shoulders a mantle of deerskin embroidered with feathers and brightly colored grasses. Her father and his men were also clad in skins. On their heads they wore eagles' feathers. . Some wore broad rings of copper in I their ears. Others had, instead, small green and j^ellow snakes that twined around their necks and were used as pets. The Indian warriors smeared their faces and shoulders with red paint ; and he who made himself the most hideous was usually the most admired. The home of Pocahontas was a small village near the stream now called York River. The houses in this village were very oddly built of poles and the branches of trees. These were bent and fastened together, and covered over with mats and broad strips of bark. Some of the houses were more than a "The houses were oddly built " AN INDIAN PRINCESS 65 hundred feet long, and large enough for several families. In the middle of each there was a fireplace on the ground ; and over the fireplace was a large hole in the roof for the smoke to pass through. There was not much furniture in a house : mats, bas- kets, earthen pots, a stone mortar for pounding corn — and that was all. The floor was covered with twigs and leaves and sweet grass. At night the inmates slept around the fire, lying on mats and skins that were spread on soft bundles of twigs. How the Indians worked. — The men spent most of their time in fishing and hunting, or in going to war and fighting. All the hard work was done by the women and children. They made the mats and the clothing. They planted the corn and gathered it. They pounded it in mortars, and made bread of the meal. They carried wood from the forest ; they built the fires ; they cooked the food. All around the village there w^ere cleared fields where the women planted their corn. Here and there in the forest were other cleared places in which were the homes of one or more families of Indians. Where the city of Richmond now stands there was a village of ten or a dozen houses pleasantly built on a hill. This village, as well as the great river beside it, was called by the same name as the tribe, Powhatan. Fishing. — Pocahontas was her father's favorite child, and therefore she had her own way about many things. No doubt she was sometimes allowed to go fishing with Barnes's el. — 5 66 POCAHONTAS her uncle or cousins. They went m a clumsy boat that had been made from the trunk of a tree by burning one side of it out until it was shaped like a trough. Some of these boats were forty or fifty feet long. The men "A clumsy boat made from the trunk of a tree" fished with nets or with hooks. The nets were made of strong cords which the women had twisted from the inner bark of trees or from slender blades of grass. The hooks were made of small crooked bones, smoothed and sharp- ened until they served their purpose very well. The fishermen never failed to carry their bows and THE COMING OF THE WHITE MEN 67 arrows with them. They were always on the lookout for squirrels in the trees^ or for wild turkeys among the under- woods by the river. They kept a close watch for enemies, too ; for they never knew when some skulking fellow from an unfriendly tribe would be lying in wait to do them harm. How time passed. — March and April were the great fishing months. In May and June the women planted the fields, and there were many squirrels in the woods. In July and August, the children gathered wild berries, and some of the people hunted for crabs and oysters and turtles in the river and bay. In September and October the corn was ri]3e, and everybody had plenty to eat. But Indians are great wasters, and when winter came it often happened that there was very little to eat in the village. Then the young men went out hunting ; and, although they found plenty for themselves, they were not always ready to bring home game to the hungry women and children. n. THE COMING OF THE WHITE MEN The white strangers. — When Pocahontas was about ten years old, an alarming occurrence took place. Some of the men who had been hunting near the great river of the Powhatans reported that they had seen three huge boats with white wings coming up the stream. These vessels moved as if they were alive, for no paddles or oars were used to push them forward. When they reached a point about fifteen miles from the village, they stopped ; their wings were folded; and then the men who were on board went ashore. S8 POCAHONTAS Very strange men they seemed to the simple Indians. Their faces were pale, they wore long beards, they were dressed in odd-looking clothes. Instead of bows and arrows, they carried clumsy pieces of wood and metal from which they could at will send out flashes of light- ning and dreadful sounds like thunder. The Indians alarmed. — " Ah," said one of the older warriors, " now we shall indeed have to be on our guard. We have all heard about these white men, how treacherous and savage they are. Only a few years ago one of their great boats made its way up the Chesapeake. It came to land, and many of our people went to see and welcome the strangers. They gave the white men food, and were kind to them ; and how were they repaid ? " Some young men were enticed on board of the vessel. They were kept there against their will, and carried away, no one knows whither. We have heard, too, how children and women have been stolen, and how our people in many places have been robbed and abused by the men with pale faces. Would it not be better to drive them away and not allow them to get a foothold in our country ? " " Let us wait," said others, and among them the chief Powhatan; "let us not be hasty. And while we are kind to these strangers, we must not trust them too far." III. JAMESTOWN Ships from England. — The three white-winged boats which had made so great stir among the Indians, were ships from England. On board of them were one hun- JAMESTOWN 69 dred and five men who had come to Virginia to form a settlement. Tliey had been sent thither by a company of London merchants, and they hoped to find much gold and many precious stones in the new country. It was spring ; and as they sailed up the broad rivei of the Powhatans, they were delighted with everything they saw. The day was warm and clear. The air was fragrant with the odor of wild flowers. It seemed as though both earth and sky were welcoming the strangers to their new home. The new settlement. — They called the river the James, in honor of the English king. And the place which they chose for their settlement they called James- town. When they landed they set to work to build rude shelters of poles and bark and brush in which to live. They also put up a little fort in which to protect them- selves from the Indians, and they surrounded it with a high fence, or palisade, of logs set upright in the ground. Distress of the settlers. — As soon as the fort was finished the ships sailed back to England, leaving the settlers to take care of themselves. Many of these were not used to work. They had expected to do nothing but pick up gold and live at their ease, and they did not know how to provide themselves with food. Hence they had a very sorry time of it for several months. They had nothing to eat but a little boiled barley each day, and now and then a crab or a fish which they caught in the river. Many of them grew sick and died ; and to make matters still worse, those who 70 POCAHONTAS were well were always quarreling among themselves and lamenting that they were not back in England. Some Indians of an unknown tribe gave them a great deal of trouble, and sometimes shot their stone-tipped r "They had a very sorry time of it" arrows into the town. But the Powhatan Indians were more friendly. They often visited Jamestown, and some- times carried green corn and other food to the hungry settlers. John Smith. — One day the little princess, Pocahontas, went with some of her father's people to visit the white strangers at Jamestown. The Englishmen were very kind and took great pains to amuse her. She noticed that one of the men, whose name was John Smith, seemed to be the leader of the company. Although he was not their gov- CAPTIVITY OF JOHN SMITH 71 ernor, the men listened to what he said and generally followed his advice. His face was bearded, his eyes were keen and sparkling, his whole manner was that of one who was both brave and wise. Pocahontas admired him very much. It was he who did the trading with the Indians. He bought their corn, he dealt justly with them, and he would not permit the idle men of the colony to abuse them. IV. CAPTIVITY OF JOHN SMITH Exciting News. — A short time after this, exciting news was brought to the village where Pocahontas lived. The Englishman, Captain John Smith, had been taken captive. He was a prisoner in the hands of a band of Indians led by an uncle of Pocahontas. It had come about in this way. Captain Smith had gone out with some men in a boat to explore the country. After rowing some distance up one of the smaller rivers, he had left the boat and had gone on with two white men and two Indians in a canoe. Near a great marsh now called White Oak Swamp they landed. There the Indians attacked them, — for their chief, the uncle of Pocahontas, had never felt friendly toward the English. Smith's two companions were killed, and he himself was taken prisoner. The warriors wanted to put him to death. They tied him to a tree, and made ready to torture him by shooting and burning. But Smith was not afraid. He held up a round ivory pocket compass which he was in the habit of carrying. 72 , POCAHONTAS He showed the Indians how the needle always pointed to the north. He motioned toward the sun and the sky. With strange gestures he spoke of the moon and the stars. The chief began to believe that the white man was a wizard. He bade his warriors untie him and do him no harm. There should be no haste in putting him to death. For several days thereafter Smith was kept a close prisoner. The uncle of Pocahontas took him from village to village and showed him to all the warriors of the tribe. " Is this the white man who came here a few years ago and carried away some of our young men ? " he asked. "No," was the answer, "this is not the man. The white chief who did that wicked thing was tall, very tall ; but this man is short and heavy set." Before the great Powhatan. — Then the warriors car- ried their captive to the village where Pocahontas lived, and asked her father what should be done with him. The chief Powhatan received Smith in his great house. He was sitting on a bench by the fireplace, with a robe of raccoon skins thrown over his shoulders. Near him was his little daughter, eager to see the white man whom she had so much admired when in Jamestown. Around him stood two rows of grim warriors, and behind them were as many women with their faces painted red and their necks encircled with chains of white beads. When Smith was led into the room all the warriors and women shouted. One of the women brought him water to wash his hands, and another gave him a bunch CAPTIVITY OF JORN SMITH 73 of feathers, instead of a towel, to dry them. Then they made a feast for him, giving him all kinds of choice food. While he was eating, the chiefs and warriors held a grand council to decide what was to be done with him. Saved by Pocahontas. — At length the council was ended and two great stones were carried in and placed before the chief Powhatan. Several w^arriors then took hold of Smith and dragged him across the room. They laid his head on the stones, and with upraised clubs stood ready to beat out his brains. But, just as the great chief was about to speak the word, the princess Pocahontas threw herself down by the captive and laid her head upon his to save him from death. Her father's stern face grew kind. He could not refuse anything that his little daughter asked. He bade his warriors put away their clubs. He told Smith that he would spare his life. The Adoption. — Two days later Smith was adopted into the tribe. It was done in this way. He was taken to a large house in the midst of the woods, and left alone on a mat by the fire. For a little while there was scarcely a sound to be heard. Then suddenly the chief Powhatan The chief Powhatan 74 POCAHONTAS with a great band of warriors, all painted in the most hideous fashion, burst into the house with shouts and yells too frightful to describe. But when the savages saw that Smith was not afraid, they changed theh tone and told hiin that they would forever after be his friends and brothers. The chief Powhatan promised to give him a great tract "He was taken to a large house in the midst of the woods" of land on condition that he would go to Jamestown and send him two big guns and a grindstone. Return to Jamestown. — Twelve guides returned to Jamestown with Smith, and they were instructed to bring back the presents. At the fort Smith showed them two small cannon and a millstone. The savages tried to carry them but found them too heavy. Then Smith loaded one A NEW GOVERNOR 75 of the guns with small stones and discharged it into a tree that was coated with ice — for it was a cold day and there was sleet. The great noise that was made and the rat- tling of the ice from the tree so frightened the Indians that they ran into the woods and could scarcely be per- suaded to return. In the end, however, Smith gave them a number of trinkets and toys for the women and children — and doubtless a fine present for Pocahontas — and they went gladly back to their village. On that same day a ship arrived from England bring- ing many new settlers and a plentiful supply of food. Things began to have a more hopeful look ; and when the ship returned to England it carried a glowing account of the prosperity of the colony in Virginia. V. A NEW GOVERNOR The friend of the Englishmen. — Pocahontas often visited Jamestown, and she became known as the friend of the Englishmen. When they were in need of food she contrived to have corn carried to them. When the Indians grew restless, and threatened to destroy the little settle- ment, she sent warnings to Smith to be on his guard. Smith the president. — After a while Smith was chosen to be the president of the colony. He managed so wisely and well that Jamestown was soon an orderly and pros- perous place. Most of the men went to work with a will. They cleared ground for gardens and farms, and planted corn and garden vegetables. But in spite of all this there were still times of great scarcity and suffering. The 76 POCAHONTAS Indians could not be depended npon. The only one who never failed the colonists was Pocahontas. Lord Delaware. — The London merchants who had sent this colony to Virginia were much disappointed because no gold had been found in. that country. They had been at great expense in establishing the settlement and they did not believe that Captain Smith was managing things very well. They therefore asked and obtained from the king some new privileges for their colony, and Lord Delaware was sent out to be governor of Virginia. Smith returns to Eng- land. — About this time Smith met with a sad accident. Some powder exploded near him, and he was badly burned. His work in Virginia was finished, and as a ship was about to sail for England he embarked in it and returned home. Pocahontas was much grieved when she found that he had gone. But she still remained firmly attached to the English. Hard times. — For several years after Smith's depar- ture, the colony had much trouble. Tlie settlers mistreated the Indians, and the Indians became very unfriendly. Even the chief Powhatan began to plan how to destroy The beginnings of Virginia THE LADY REBECCA 77 the English. His people would sell no more corn to them. There was but little food in Jamestown. At times the settlers were in great distress, and many died of hunger. Some who ventured too far from the town were waylaid and killed by Indians. Some of the boldest ,and roughest seized a vessel that was in the river and sailed away to become pirates. Had not help come from England, the colony would have perished. I. THE LADY REBECCA A treacherous act. — Pocahontas was now grown up to womanhood. By pleading with her father, and by giving timely warning to the settlers, she had saved the colony from destruc- tion. Some of the English thought that if they could keep her with them as a prisoner, her father and his war- riors would not dare to do them harm. So they persuaded an old chief to betray her into their hands. They promised to give him a copper ket- tle if he would entice her on board of a ship that was moored in the river. The old chief wanted the kettle very much. He would do anything to get it. So he and his wife persuaded Pocahontas to go with them to look at something on the ship. Then the captain refused to let her go on shore again. Although the English were still kind to Pocahontas they would not let her go back to her people. They kept The Lady Rebecca (As ^^he appeared in England) 78 POCAHONTAS her as a prisoner for a whole year, and during that time her father did not dare to liarin them. A wedding. — At length an English gentleman, whose name was John Eolfe, fell in love with Pocahontas and wished to make her his wife. The chief Powhatan gave his "There was a great wedding at Jamestown" consent to the marriage, and there was a great wedding at Jamestown. Pocahontas was baptized at the little English church, and was given a new name, Rebecca. She was very happy with her English husband. The white people and red people were once more at peace and the colony prospered. THE LADY REBECCA YU In England. — Two years later, John Rolfe and his Indian wife w^ent to England, taking with them their baby boy. The Lady Rebecca, as Pocahontas was called, had readily learned the ways of the English, and now she appeared as a gentle and well-bred lady. She was honored as a princess, and was kindly received even in the palace of the king. One day to her great surprise she met her old acquaintance, John Smith. " Ah, my good friend," she said, " they told me in Virginia that you were dead." And she insisted that he should permit her, after the Indian fashion, to call him her father. Just as she was about to return to Virginia she was taken ill, and in a few days she died. Her little boy remained in England, where he w^as educated and grew up to be a fine gentleman. Her father, the chief Pow- hatan, did not live long after her death. The colony of Virginia grew rapidly and became much larger and stronger. But the Indians ceased to be friendly, and there was much trouble and bloodshed before the English vere altogether safe and happy in their new homes. REVIEW Describe how the Indians of Virginia lived. Why did they look dpon the white men with suspicion? How many ships and how many men came first to the James Eiver to form a settlement? Who was the leading man in this company ? What did most of the men expect to find in Virginia? What services did Pocahontas perform for the colony ? Why did the English wish to keep her as a prisoner ? Why was a new governor sent out to Virginia ? Why was not the colony more prosperous at first ? HENRY HUDSON AND THE DUTCH SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK I. SEEKING NEW ROUTES TO THE PACIFIC Henry Hudson was born in London at about the time that Drake was making his famous voyage round the world. The first talk that he heard, after he was old enough to understand, was about ships and merchandise and the wealth of the Indies. For his father and grandfather and uncles and cousins were engaged in trade with foreign countries, and the earnest wish of every London merchant was that a way might be opened for English ships to reach the Far East. It was the custom for the sons of these merchants to learn not only about the buying and selling of goods but also about the sailing and management of ships ; and so Henry Hudson, when yet a mere lad, was sent to sea. I :hink that he must have proved to be a better sailor than merchant, for nearly all his life thereafter, so far as we know, was spent on the water. The trade with India. — At that time Spain and Portugal controlled all the trade with India. Spain guarded the only approaches to the Pacific Ocean, and Portugal claimed that her ships alone had the right to sail 80 SEEKING NEW ROUTES TO THE PACIFIC 81 around the Cape of Good Hope. The other nations of Europe could not trade with the Far East, because all the known routes thither were closed against them. They were therefore very anxious to discover some new passage- way into the Pacific. The shortest way to India. — French ships sailed up the St. Lawrence River with the vain hope that through it they might reach the western ocean. English ships explored the coast far to the northward, to see if they might not get around the continent in that way. Then some one said, " The shortest line from England to China is one drawn right over the North Pole." And by looking at a globe you will see that he was not far from right. And so a company of merchants, among whom were kinsmen of Henry Hudson, resolved to send out a ship to see whether a northern route to India might not be discov- ered. They fitted up an old vessel, called the Hopeivell, and chose Hudson to be its captain. Trying to find a northern passage. — The course of the Hopeivell was set toward the north star. Day after day she sailed through wintry seas, until at last great fields of ice blocked her way and hemmed her in on every side. No other ship had ever gone so far north ; but the North Pole was still hundreds and hundreds of miles beyond. When Hudson saw that there was no way to pass through or around the mighty barriers of ice, he sadly gave up the enterprise and sailed back to England. "There is yet one other route to be tried,'' he said, Barnes's el. — 6 82 HENRY HUDSON " and that is to the northeast through the great sea that Hes north of Europe and Asia." Trying to find a northeast passage. — The next year, therefore, the merchants sent Hudson out to try this route. He sailed around the capes of Norway and to the frozen Again vast fields of ice stretched everywhere before him" island of Spitzbergen, which no other Englishman had seen. But again vast fields of ice stretched everywhere before him, threatening to crush his little vessel, and he was forced to return. He was not ready, however, to believe that his scheme was impossible. " By sailing in a slightly different direction," he said, "I think I may yet succeed." THE VOYAGE OF THE HALF MOON 83 II. THE VOYAGE OF THE HALF MOON In the service of the Dutch East India Company. — Just at that time some men in Holland were forming a trading association, known as the Dutch East India Company — a strong and rich company which exists to this very day. They were anxious and determined to carry on trade with India and China ; and they, too, wished to discover some undisputed passageway by water to those countries. They had heard of Hudson's daring voyages to the north, and they had great confidence in him as a sea captain. So they sent for him and employed him to make one more effort to find a northeast route to the Pacific. They sup- plied him with a little ship called the Half Moon, and in this he set sail with a crew of sixteen men. But this time the northern seas seemed even fuller of ice than before. The sailors were discontented and imruly ; they refused to obey their captain and demanded that he should turn back. A change of plan. — Hudson was unwilling to return to Holland and report that he had failed. He believed that in North America there was some unknown strait or sea stretching across the continent, and leading directly into the Pacific ; and he felt that he would be serving his em- ployers well if he could discover such a passageway. He therefore caused the Half Moons course to be changed, and sailed westward across the Atlantic. The voyage was a pleasant one, and by and by the low coast of Maryland was sighted. Hudson then sailed north- 84 HENRY HUDSON ward, looking into every bay and inlet to see whether it did not open into some passage across the continent. At length, one fine day in September, he entered the land- locked harbor now known as New York Bay, and found the noble river which has since been called bv his name. Food was served him in a red wooden bowl" Up the Hudson River. — As the Half Moon floated slowly past the place where the city of New York now stands, a few Indians stood among the trees on shore and watched the motions of her crew. As she passed on up the river, other savages came out in canoes to meet her. They were very friendly, and Hudson and THE VOYAGE OF THE HALF MOON 86 his men traded them knives and trinkets for corn and pumpkins and tobacco. At one place Hudson went on shore and visited a chief in his own bark house. A mat was spread upon the ground for him to sit upon, and food was served him in a red wooden bowl. Most of the Indians seemed very kind, and Hudson and his crew were delighted with everything they saw. End of the voyage. — The Half Moon sailed almost as far as to the place where Albany now stands. And then, as the river grew shallow and the water was all fresh, Hudson was couvinced that there was no passage that way to the Pacific. So he turned about and sailed for home. He had failed to do that which the Dutch East India Com- pany had sent him out to do ; but he could carry back good news of the discovery of a great river and a beautiful land in America. In Hudson Bay. — A few years after this, Hudson made another voyage to America. He had command of an Eng- lish ship, and his object was still to find a new route to the Pacific. He sailed far to the north along the bleak coasts of Labrador, and then entered the great bay that is now called by his name. There his ship was frozen fast in the ice and compelled to remain all winter. Very great were his sufferings and those of his crew. Their food failed. Hudson divided his last morsel with his men. But when spring opened and the ship was once more free the ungrateful wretches rebelled against him. They put him and five or six others into an open boat, and sent them adrift to perish in the ice-cold waters. 86 HENRY HUDSON HI. NEW NETHERLAND A Dutch colony. — At that time the greatest traders in the world were the merchants of Holland. They were much pleased with the accounts which the crew of the Half Moon carried home concerning the river of Hudson. They called all the country New Netherland, and claimed that since it had been discovered by one of their vessels. "The Indians were quite willing to sell the island" it therefore belonged to Holland. Soon they sent over other ships to trade with the Indians ; and, five years later, a little trading house was built at the lower end of Manhattan Island. The Indians were quite willing to sell the island ; and when the traders offered them trinkets to the value of twenty-four dollars they gladly gave up all their claims to the land where now is the great city of New York. Trading posts and settlements were established at various places along the river and on Long Island. The NEW NETHERLAND 87 whole region between the Connecticut River and the Dela- ware was included in the Dutch colony of New Netherland. It embraced not only what is now the state of New York, but also all of New Jersey and a part of Con- necticut. New Amsterdam. — Around the trading post on Man- hattan Island a little village sprang up. A windmill was built for grinding corn ; and there was a brickyard, besides a blacksmith's shop and a brewery. There was also a little Dutch church ; and tower- ing above all was the trad- ing house and fort. The people called the village New Amsterdam in honor of the chief city of Holland. They built them- selves quaint houses, partly of wood and partly of black and yellow bricks. The houses had odd-looking gable roofs, and before the doors were little square " stoops," or platforms, just as in Holland. Inside, were fireplaces where huge logs of wood were burned in the winter time, — for in those days there were no stoves, and people had not learned to use coal. There were no carpets, but the floors were scoured white and covered every day with fresh, clean sand. Around each house 7 A T L A N T I C OCEAN SCALE OF MILES New Netherland 88 HENRY HUDSON there was a garden of vegetables and flowers, and near it was an orchard where apples and cherries grew. North of the village, where now are tall office buildings and wholesale stores, there were cornfields and a broad pasture where the cows of the villagers grazed. "The people sauntered out to the little park called Bowling Green" How the people lived. — The Dutch burghers, as the villagers were called, led a contented, easy life. They never seemed to be in a hm-ry, and were seldom much worried, except when the Indians threatened to do them harm. After their day's work was done the people of New Amsterdam sauntered out to the little park called Bowl- ing Green — the men to smoke, the women to talk, and the boys and girls to play. NEW NETHERLAND 89 At Christmas all had a jolly time. There were Christ^ mas trees for the children, and the tables were loaded with sweet-cakes and plum puddings and jellies, such as only the Dutch mothers knew how to make. And then at New Year s all the houses were open, and everybody called on everybody else, and the year was begun with good wishes and kind greetings. The Dutch governors. — In only one thing did the people of New Netherland seem to be very unfortunate, and that was in the governors who were sent over from Holland to rule them. One after another, there were four of these governors, and each seemed to be in some respects worse than the one that went before him. Claimed by the English. — At last, about fifty years after the first settlement of New Netherland, some En owlish ships sailed into the harbor at the mouth of the Hudson River. They had been sent by Charles H., the king of England, to demand by what right the Dutch had taken possession of that region. For did not the whole country belong to England by right of the discoveries which John Cabot had made nearly two hundred years before ? The Dutch could only reply by saying that they held it by reason of Henry Hudson's discovery ; and, to the English, that was no reason at all. End of Dutch rule. — The commander of the ships sent a letter to Peter Stuyvesant, who was the governor at that time, telling him to surrender New Amsterdam and all the neighboring country to the Englisli, who were the true owners. The governor stormed and scolded, and declared 90 HENRY HUDSON that he would never surrender. But the people had had enough of Dutch governors, and they believed that they would fare better and be happier under English rule. And so Stuyvesant was obliged to yield ; his soldiers marched out of the fort, and the English soldiers marched "The governor stormed and scolded in ; and he, himself, gave up his place to an English governor. New York. — All the country about the Hudson River — in fact the whole region hitherto claimed by the Dutch, became an English province, and was given by the king to his brother, the Duke of York. The town on Manhat- NEW NETHERLAND 91 tan Island was no longer called New Amsterdam, but New York ; and the same name was given to the country in the valley of the Hudson and its tributaries. ^Jm^ "^^^^ New York in Dutch times REVIEW Why were England and other nations so anxious to discover some new route to the Pacific Ocean ? In what directions and to what places were ships sent in order to search for some such route ? Why was Henry Hudson well qualified to lead expeditions for this purpose ? By what great trading company was he employed ? Where is the river that is called by his name ? Where is Manhat- tan Island ? For what purpose was the first settlement made on Manhattan Island ? What name was given to the settlement ? ^Vllat name was given to the country on both sides of the Hudson ? Why did the English take possession of the country ? What name did they give to the region about the Hudson River ? WILLIAM BREWSTER AND THE PILGRIMS OF NEW ENGLAND L THE SEPARATISTS William Brewster. — In the eastern part of England, on the old road from London to Scotland, there is a little village called Scrooby. Here, three hundred years ago, there lived a man whose name was William Brewster. He was the master of the post — or, as we should say, the postmaster. He did not have much mail to handle, for there were no newspapers at that time, and people did not write many letters. His chief duty was to provide travelers with horses and guides to conduct them to the next post ; and he kept an inn where strangers were lodged and entertained. The govern- ment paid him a salary of about two shillings a day, and his inn was in the great manor house of the arch- bishop of York. William Brewster was a man of importance in his neigh- borhood. He had studied at Cambridge University and had afterwards spent two years in Holland with one of the queen's officers. He was strong and brave and not afraid to speak his opinion. Many of the people in and about Scrooby looked up to him as their leader. 92 THE SEPARATISTS 93 SifH The Separatists. — Now, at that time the king of England wished to make everybody in his kingdom belong to the English Church, of which he was the head. But William Brewster said there were some things taught in that church of which he did not approve, and he wished to wor- ship God in the way which his conscience told him was right. Several of his neighbors were of the same opinion ; and so they met every Sunday in the large hall of the manor house, and formed a little church of their own. Their pastor was a goodly man whose name was John Robinson, and they chose William Brewster to be their ruling elder. They were called Separa- tists, because they had separated from the English Church. Persecution. — When it became known that the Separatists were holding meetings in the archbishop's manor house, the king's officers took steps at once to punish them. Brewster was put out of his office as post- He kept an inn where strangers were lodged and entertained " 94 WILLIAM BREWSTER master. His inn was taken from him, and he was sen- tenced to pay a heavy fine. Others of the Separatists were driven from their homes ; some were beaten, and some were put in prison. Brewster would not pay his fine ; and when the officers came to arrest him he could not be found. But from his hiding place he was doing all that he could to help his friends. Many of them were house- less and homeless, and there seemed to be no place in England where they could be safe from their enemies. Only one place of safety. — In all the world, at that time, there was but one country in which men were free to worship God as they chose. That country was Holland. William Brewster remembered what he had seen there dur- ing his visit several years before. " It is the only place," he said, " in which we can escape from persecution." The Separatists were anxious to go there ; but every seaport in England Avas shut against them. What should they do ? They could not go, they could not stay. Escape into Holland. — At length a Dutch sea captain offered to take them on board of his vessel at a lonely place far froui any town. As many of the men as could get into a small rowboat were taken out to the ship, while the women and children and some others waited on idiore. But hardly had the men reached the vessel, when a great mob of country people came rushing to the beach, and with clubs and stones attacked the helpless waiting ones. The Dutch captain hoisted sails and made all speed to Holland. Those who were left behind were beaten and driven from town to town and denied even the IN HOLLAND 95 shelter of a jail. The story of their sufferings soon be- came known in other parts of England. It touched the hearts of many, and even their enemies began to feel more kindly toward them. And so, at length, they were per- mitted to sail for Holland. They went, a few at a time and in different vessels. At Amsterdam they were soon rejoined by their elder, William Brewster. Settle at Leyden. — A few months later most of the company found homes at Leyden, not far from Amster- dam. They supported themselves by working in the mills and factories, and as soon as they were able, they built themselves a little church. IL IN HOLLAND The Pilgrims. — William Brewster had lost almost everything that he possessed. For a time he was obliged to earn his living by teaching English in Amsterdam. Then he set up a piinting press and printed religious books. And all this while he was active in the church at Leyden, and old and young looked up to him for guidance. As year after year went by, the band of exiles became very much dissatisfied. They could not think of Holland as their home. They could not bear the thought that their children should grow up to be Dutchmen of Hol- land instead of Englishmen. " We are but pilgrims in a strange land," they said. And from that time instead of being known as Separatists they were called Pilgrims. Why not go to America ? — At length, some one said : "Why not go' to America? There we may be a people 96 WILLIAM BREWSTER to ourselves, free to do as we wish and sure that our children will not forget the language of their fathers." The idea was a pleasing one, and they talked it over often. But to what part of America should they go ? They could not go to Virginia, for the colony at James- town — now twelve years old — had set up the English Church there. They did not want to settle with the Dutch on Manhattan Island — they might as well remain in Holland. But all the rest of the country from Florida to Canada was unsettled, and they might choose the place that seemed best. At last it was agreed that the region around Delaware Bay was the most desirable. The king's permission. — The next thing necessary was to get the king's permission. Two of the Pilgrims went over to London and laid the matter before him. " It is a good and honest notion," said King James ; " but by what business will you make profit out of it ?" " By fishing," answered John Carver. '' That is an honest trade," said James. But he would give them no formal permission to make the settlement. He kept putting them off for a whole year. Then he gave them to understand that the Pil- grims might go to America if they chose, and that if they behaved themselves no one should molest them. The Pilgrims were glad enough even of this. They began at once to get ready for their voyage. The departure. — It was decided that the pastor, John Robinson, with those who were the least able to endure the hardships of the voyage, should remain in Holland PLYMOUTH 97 till the colony^ was well established. The rest, under the care of Elder Brewster, John Carver, and William Bradford, embarked on a rickety old ship called the Speedwell, and on a day in July bade good-by to Hol- land. They sailed to Southampton in England. There another vessel, called the Mayflower, was waiting for them. At the last moment it was found that the Speedivell was too old and leaky to make the voyage. As many as possible were therefore crowded into the Mayflower, and the rest were left behind. There were many delays, and it was not until September that they finally set sail for America. III. PLYMOUTH Voyage of the ** Mayflower. ' ' — The Pilgrims were on the ocean for sixty-five days. A storm drove them far out of their course. When at last they sighted land it was the long, low coast of Cape Cod, hundreds of miles from the bay of Delaware which they had hoped to reach. They sailed around the northern point of the cape, and cast anchor in the harbor near where the village of Provincetown now stands. How glad those storm-tossed men and women must have been as they stood once more on solid ground ! The first thing they did was to full on their knees and thank God for bringing them safe '^ over the vast and furious ocean." Exploring the coast. — A soldier whose name was Miles Standish had come with the Pilgrims from Holland. He Barnes's el. — 7 98 WILLIAM BREWSTER now armed himself, and, taking a few mep with him, set out to explore the coast, and find a suitable spot for a settlement. Standish and his men saw a few Indians at a distance, and found some corn that had been hidden away in a kettle. They carried the corn back to the ship, and when planting time came used it for seed. It was the 21st of December' The landing at Plymouth. — A whole month was spent in looking for a place in which to make their future homes. At last they found a pleasant spot on the west shore of the bay, where there was a fine spring of fresh water. Captain John Smith had visited the same spot six or seven years before, and had named it Plymouth, after the famous old city of that name in England. The Pil- grims were very glad to find a resting place after their long voyage. THE INDIANS 99 It was the 21st of December when the first landing was made by the strongest and most venturesome of the men. The weather was cold. The winter had be- 1620 gun early. Very bleak and barren did the whole country appear. The houses. — The first house was a large one and was used as a common shelter and storehouse. Then other buildings — little cabins of logs and boards — were hastily put up. It was not until March that the women and children could go ashore. The first winter. — Very sad was that first winter in Plymouth. All suffered from exposure to the bitter weather. Their food was poor and scanty. They lacked the comforts of life. Is it any wonder that many grew sick and died ? Of the one hundred who came over in the Mayflower only fifty-one lived to see the warm, budding days of spring. But the great-hearted Elder Brewster comforted them as best he could ; he did not permit them to despair. " It is not with us," he said, " as with men whom small things can discourage." At one time all were sick except Brewster, Standish, and ^YQ others. John Carver, whom they had chosen as their first governor, died ; and William Bradford, a young man of great energy, was elected to take his place. IV. THE INDIANS Samoset. — One day early in spring, a naked Indian came out of the woods on the crest of the hill, and walked boldly down toward the little row of cabins. 100 WILLIAM BREWSTER " Welcome, Englishmen ! Welcome ! " he cried, as the men went out to meet him. He could not speak much English, but he told them his name was Samoset. He had learned a few words from some fishermen whom he had met far up the coast. The Pilgrims invited him into their houses and treated him so well —m 1 that he went awaj much pleased. Squanto. — 'A (^M Im^'i ' iSl-h. fi ^^^^ afterward '"" "^^ ' ^^ back, bringing another Indian with him. The name of the sec- ond Indian was Squanto. He had been stolen fifteen years before, by the captain of an English vessel, and had been taken to Europe. He had seen a good deal of the world and could talk well. He told the Pilgrims that many Indians had once lived in that neighborhood, and had had large fields of corn. But a dreadful pestilence had broken out among them, and nearly all had died. Massasoit. — Squanto and Samoset brought other Indians to visit the Pilgrims. One day they came with "One day they came with quite a large company" THE INDIANS 101 quite a large company ; and in front of them walked the head chief of the Wampanoags, a tribe to which all the red men of that region belonged. The name of the chief was Massasoit. He was dressed just as the other war- riors, except that he wore a string of white bone beads around his neck. His face was painted a dull red color, and his hair was so well oiled that Governor Bradford said he '^ looked greasily." But he was very dignified, and all his followers looked up to him with much respect. The council. — There were then seven houses in the village, and Massasoit was permitted to look into every one. Then in the largest house a solemn council was held. The chief was seated on a mat, with cushions around him. The governor and Elder Brewster and other leading Pilgrims sat in order before him. At the door a trumpet was blown and a drum was beaten, to let every one know that the council was begun. Miles Standish, with sword and gun, stood on guard before the house. The Indians were very much impressed by all this display. Speeches were made in the council. Promises of friend- ship were given on both sides. A treaty of peace was made which was kept by red men and white for more than fifty years. And then Massasoit with his warriors returned to his home not far from the shores of Narragansett Bay. The Narragansetts. — Beyond Massasoit' s country there was a strong tribe of Indians called Narragansetts. When they heard of the coming of the Pilgrims they were not at all pleased. So they sent to Plymouth a bundle of arrows wrapped in the skin of a rattlesnake. This was their way 102 WILLIAM BREWSTER of telling the Pilgrims that they did not like them and were going to fight them. But Governor Bradford was not to be frightened. He filled the snake's skin with powder and shot, and sent it back to the chief of the Narragansetts. It was his way of saying, " You may fight us with arrows, but we will fight you with guns." The Narragansetts understood him, and did not make any trouble for a long time. V. GROWTH OF THE COLONS The first summer. — All through the first summer the colony prospered. Their gardens provided them with vegetables in plenty. On the hillsides were wild berries, and in the thickets were grapes and red plums. The fields produced corn. In the woods wild turkeys and deer might be had for the taking. The streams and the shallow waters of the bay were full of fish. There was no longer any scarcity of food. The first thanksgiving. — After the harvest had been gathered, the Pilgrims decided to have a great feast as a sort of thanksgiving. Hunters were sent into the woods and brought back a great quantity of game. Massasoit and ninety of his warriors came to the feast, bringing five fine deer with them. For three days white men and red feasted and rejoiced together. It was a memorable thanksgiving, the first ever held in our country. Prosperity. — Soon other Pilgrims came over, and the colony grew in numbers and in strength. There were still many sore trials to be endured, but none like those GROWTH OF THE COLONY 103 of the first dreadful winter. For several years William Brewster was the man of most influence at Plymouth. He was the great-hearted minister and teacher to whom all looked for guidance and comfort. Had it not been for his wonderful courage and his strong common sense, it is not unlilvely that the colony would have perished at the out- set. He lived to see it strong and prosperous, and died at the ripe age of eighty-four. Relics at Plymouth. — If you should ever visit Plym- outh you will be shown there the sword and other curious articles that belonged to Elder Brewster and were brought by him from Holland. • You may see also the sword of Miles Standish, and Relics at Plymouth the cradle in which the first Pilgrim baby was put to sleep. And the rock will be pointed out to you on which the Pilgrims are supposed to have stepped when they came ashore from the Mayfloioer. REVIEW Who were the Separatists ? Why did they wish to go to Hol- land ? What other name was given them in Holland ? Who were the leading men among them ? Why did they become dissatisfied in Holland? To what part of America did they wish to come? Why did they not reach the place which they had intended to reach? Where did they decide to make their new home? Who was the first governor of the colony ? What position did Wil- liam Brewster hold among the Pilgrims ? Why were the Indians friendly to them? JOHN ENDICOTT A^D PURITAN LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND I. NAUMKEAG The New England coast. — When the Pilgrims first landed at Plymouth, all the country known as New- England was an unexplored land. The seacoast from Cape Cod to Maine was without a white inhabitant. But English traders were beginning to learn something about the products of both the land and the sea. Already ships were engaged in carrying furs, fish, and timber from the new country to various ports in England. Two men, Ferdinand Gorges and John Mason, soon afterwards formed a plan for establishing a colony far to the north of Plymouth. Both these men were inter- ested in the trade with the New England coast, and they believed that this trade could be much increased through such a colony. First settlement of New Hampshire. — They obtained a grant of all the land between the Merrimac River and the Kennebec, and sent out a shipload of fishermen and farmers to form a settlement. Some of the colonists went on shore at the mouth of the Piscataqua River, and founded Portsmouth. Others sailed a little farther up the 104 NAUMKEAG 105 river and settled at a place which they called Dover. Thus the colony afterwards known as New Hampshire had its beginning. This was less than two years after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. The Puritans. — The eyes of many people were now turned toward New England. Fishermen and others built their temporary huts at more than one point along the shore. Then a company of Puritans obtained a grant of land south of the.Merrimac and prepared to establish a strong colony there. There were many Puritans in England. They were much like the Pilgrims in their ways and beliefs ; and in order that they might have their own church and worship God as they chose, great num- bers of them were anxious to find new homes in America. Their first settlement. — The first that came settled at a place on Massachusetts Bay called by the Indians Naumkeag. There were already a few white people there, mostly fishermen. These were not well pleased when they saw the Puritans' ship come into their little harbor. " Who are you, and what do you want here ? " they cried from the shore. " We are a peace-loving people, and we have come to this land in order that we and our children may have that freedom which is denied us in England/' answered John Endicott, the leader of the Puritans. The men on shore were not yet satisfied, but declared that the Puritans should not land there. John Endicott reasoned kindly with them. " We have authority to come here," he said. " The king has granted to our com- 106 JOHN ENDICOTT pany all the land northward to the Merrimac River and southward to the stream called the Cliarles and westward even to the great sea. We have come in peace, and we would live here in peace with all men." Salem. — After some further talk the fishermen ceased their objections, and the Puritans were permitted to go ashore. There were only a few persons in this first ship- load and they were soon comfortably settled in their new homes. John Endicott was so much pleased with the happy ending of the trouble with the fishermen that he changed the name of the place to Salem, which is a Hebrew word meaning Peace. During the first winter there were not more than sixty people in Salem. But the next year others came, and some began to look for new places in which to make settlements. Other colonists. — Two years after the first landing, many shiploads of colonists arrived, and with them came their governor John Winthrop. A few of these stayed at Salem, but the greater number went elsewhere. Some settled at Charlestown, where there was a fine spring ; others went farther inland and built the first homes at Medford, Watertown, Cambridge, and elsewhere. Boston. — One day a boatload of young people, out for a pleasure trip, crossed the river from Charlestown to the peninsula of Shawmut where the city of Boston now stands. The first person to step ashore was a young woman named Anne Pollard. The place was so inviting, with its three hills and a fountain of pure water gushing out near the LIFE AMONG THE PURITANS 107 The first landing at Boston foot of one of them, that a fine account of it was car- ried to Salem. Before the end of summer a settlement was begun on the peninsula. Soon Governor Winthrop himself decided to make it his home. Many of the set- tlers had come from the old city of Boston in the eastern part of England, and the new village was therefore called by the same name. II. LIFE AMONG THE PURITANS Massachusetts Bay Colony. — All the settlements made by the Puritans on the grant of laud received from the king were united under one government known as the colony of Massachusetts Bay. The settlements increased very fast ; for there were thousands of Puritans in Eng- 108 JOHN ENDICOTT aumkeag (balem) O li.iilebtown P>os,ton C.Cod Q teLU land who were glad to escape from the tyranny of the king by coming to New England. Connecticut. — Soon some who had settled in the Massachusetts. Bay Colony began to grow restless, and decided to remove farther west. They y had heard of the beautiful river Con- necticut, and of the surprising richness of the land through which it flows, and they resolved to go thither. With their minister as their leader, and carrying their household goods with them, they made their way through the woods to the banks New England ^f ^l^g distant rivcr. There they formed several small settlements, and the new colony of Connecticut was founded. Other people came by water, and settled near the mouth of the river; and still others ventured as far west as New Haven, and established a colony there. The four colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven were composed of Puritans or of persons in sympathy with the Puritans ; and for better protection against the Indians they soon formed NANTUCKET '% 'Via ""''^'i'^ SCALE OF MILES LIFE AMONG THE PURITANS 109 a kind of friendly union, and called themselves the United Colonies of New England. In the course of time the Plymouth colony became a part of Massachusetts, and the New Haven colony was joined with that of Connecticut. The homes of the Puritans. — Some of the colonists, as Endicott and Winthrop, had been well-to-do in their old homes. Some were fine scholars and had been educated in the great English universities. In their new homes, how- ever, all lived very plainly and there were no luxuries of any kind. Sometimes food was scarce, and then rich and poor shared together and no one had more than another. The first houses were, for the most part, log buildings in which there were not many comforts. The furniture was very plain and there was but little of it. Everything was tidy and prim. All the cooking was done by a great fire- Tlie cooking was done by a great fireplace" 110 JOHN ENDICOTT place, for there were no such things as stoves in those days. In every house there were spinning wheels, and a reel for winding yarn, and a loom for weaving cloth; for all the clothing of the family was home-made. How the Puritans lived. — The Puritans thought life too serious to be wasted in idleness, and so everybody was busy, and there was work enough for all. The parents were solemn and strict, and the children were demure and quiet. There were few games or amusements of any sort, and there was seldom a holiday. Christmas came and passed without notice. The Puritan children had no Christmas tree, no Santa Claus, no Christmas presents. But they were quite happy without them. The Puritans at church. — On Sunday all went to church. It was held in a plain log meeting-house which was not warmed even in the coldest weather. The ser- mons and prayers were very long, and the only music was the singing of psalms. But everybody w^as obliged to. keep awake and listen, and there was always an oihcer present to keep the boys and girls in order. Sometimes when the Indians were troublesome, the men carried "In every house there were spinning wheels (iOVERNOR EMDTCOTT 111 Puritans going to church their guns to church, and a sentinel was stationed outside to give the alarm in case of danger. III. GOVERNOR ENDICOTT A stern magistrate. — John Endicott, the leader in the settlement at Salem, was for many years one of the foremost men in the colony. He was chosen governor fourteen times and deputy governor four times; and he was for several years the commander of the militia of the colony. Among all the Puritans he was one of the sternest and strictest. He disliked for any one to have opinions' different from his own. Once he cut the cross of St. George out of the English flag, because it reminded 112 JOHN ENDICOTT him of the emblem of the Catholic church. At another time, when he was sitting as a magistrate, he struck a man who had angered him, and for thus forgetting him- self he was fined forty shillings. Roger Williams. — Soon after the settlement of Salem there came to the colony a zealous young minister whose name was Roger Williams. He was nut afraid to speak his mind on any subject, and John Endicott became much attached to him. But many of the elders did not like him. He told them so many disagreeable truths that they at last decided to get rid of him. Endicott defended him with all his stern energy, and helped him to maintain his case for a while. It was not long, however, until his enemies prevailed. Endicott was imprisoned for befriend- ing him, and Williams was commanded to return to England. Rhode Island. — But he was determined to stay in America. Through midwinter snows he made his way to Narragansett Bay, where the great chief, Massasoit, received him kindly. In the spring the chiefs of the Narra- gansett s gave him land on which to build a home. Some of his friends from Salem joined him, and they began a new settlement which Williams called Providence. Soon afterwards another colony — the colony of Rhode Island — was founded, on the east shore of the bay. Many people who were dissatisfied with the ways of the Puritans came and made their homes where all were free to believe as they chose. In time the two colonies were united under the name of Rhode Island. GOVERNOR ENDICOTT 113 The Pequots. — Eight years after the first landing at Salem, Endicott led a company of a hundred fighting men against the Peqiiot Indians in southern Connecticut. These Indians had never done the Puritans any harm; but a band from Block Island had killed the captain of a coasting vessel, and the magistrates at Boston had re- solved to punish the whole tribe. They told Endicott to kill as many of the men as he could, but to spare the women and children. Endicott and his men sailed around the coast in five large boats. They landed first on Block Island, where they destroyed two villages and all the growing crops ; but the Indians had hidden themselves and could not be found. The avengers next sailed to the mainland, and at the spot where New London now stands they found another large village which they destroyed. And so they passed on along the coast, killing and burning and de- stroying in a most pitiless manner. In about a month they were safe back in Boston, telling of their exploits and receiving the thanks of the governor and magistrates. Can we wonder that after such cruel treatment as this the Pequots became the bitter enemies of the white people ? In a short time a war was begun which did not end until the Pequots were almost wholly destroyed. The Quakers. — It was while John Endicott was gov- ernor that some people called Quakers came from England to Boston. These people were peaceable and kind, and wished only to do good ; but they did not believe as the Puritans believed, and they would preach to the people in BARNKS'S EL. — 8 114 JOHN ENDICOTT the streets. Governor Endicott and his magistrates resolved to drive them out of the country. Some they imprisoned, some they whipped and banished, and four they put to death. Endicott* s services to Massachusetts. — But with all his harshness and narrowness, Endicott meant to do right. His aim at all times was to build up and strengthen the colony. The Puritans looked upon him as one of their ablest men and the fittest to lead them in subduing the wilderness. We can hardly doubt that much of the early prosperity of Massachusetts was due to him. He hved to be a very old man, and was governor of the colony at the time of his death. REVIEW Who were the Puritans ? Why did they wish to coine to America ? Where did the first Puritan colonists land ? Why was the place afterwards called Salem ? What other settlements were soon made ? Who was the first person to step ashore at the place where now is the city of Boston ? Why w^as that place selected for a settlement ? Why was the city of Boston so called ? Describe the manner of life among the New England Puritans. Why did the Puritan elders dislike Roger Williams ? Of what colony was he the founder? What reason can you give for John Endicott's friendship toward him? What place did John Endicott occupy in the colony of Massa- chusetts ? How often was he governor ? What was his character ? What was his treatment of the Indians? of the Quakers? What excuses can we make for his severity and narrowness? Name the colonies of New England. Which of these were settled and con- trolled by Puritans ? What colony was west of Connecticut and Massachusetts ? What colony was on the James River ? LORD BALTIMORE AND THE SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND I. SCHEMES OF COLONIZATION An unwelcome visitor at Jamestown. — One day, some- what more than twenty years after the first landing of the English in Virginia, a strange ship sailed up the James River and came to anchor just oft' the landing at James- town. It brought to the settlement au unwelcome visitor — a nobleman whose name was George Calvert, but who is known in history as Lord Baltimore. Who was Lord Baltimore ? — Lord Baltimore was a rich and influential Englishman. He had been an officer at the court of King James I. He was also a friend of the new king, Charles I., and had received many favors from him. He was a man of good judgment and excellent character. He was known to be kind-hearted and brave — a foe to oppressors and a friend to the poor. Why, then, was he not welcome at Jamestown ? He was a Catholic, and it was whispered that he intended to bring some Catholic colonists to Virginia. Loyalty of the Virginia colonists. — The people of Vir- ginia were all loyal supporters of the English Church; and therefore they did not like to have dealings with 115 116 LORD BALTIMORE Catholics or with Puritans. They were determined that neither the one nor the other should ever gain a foothold in their colony. But how were they to deal with a Catholic nobleman who was a favorite of the king and had, no doubt, come to Virginia by his permission ? The governor and his council were not long in finding out the facts of the case; for Lord Baltimore tried to hide nothing. Lord Baltimore's first colony. — The great ambition of Lord Baltimore's life had been to establish, somewhere in America, a colony in which men of all conditions and beliefs might find homes. With this purpose in view he had bought a large part of Newfoundland, and had sent out a number of men and women to form a settlement there ; he had caused houses to be built for his colonists, and a fine, large mansion to be put up for himself ; and then he had gone thither with his family, hoping to make his future home there. But very sad was his disappointment. The climate was the worst that could be thought of — snow and fog, snow and fog, throughout a great part of the year. The soil was no better — rocks and bogs, rocks and bogs, every- where. No colony, except one of fishermen, could ever exist in such a country. Lord Baltimore felt that he must find some other place in which to form his settle- ment. He knew that Virginia was of wide extent, and that much the greater part of it was unsettled and even unknown. He had, therefore, come direct from Newfoundland to see for himself whether there might SCHEMES OF COLONIZATION 117 not be room, either north or south of the James, for an independent colony. This account of his intentions was not pleasing to the Jamestown colonists. Had not Lord Baltimore been a person of consequence, it is likely that they would have gotten rid of him with- out ceremony. But since he was the king's friend, it was necessary to be cautious. Progress of the col- ony. — While the gov- ernor and his council were considering the matter, Lord Balti- more spent several days in looking about the country and finding out all that he could about its climate and resources. He learned that there were about five thousand people in the colony. The settlers for the most part lived on plan- tations that were scattered along the rivers at great distances apart. Where- ever he went, he saw tobacco either growing in the fields or being made ready for market. In the year that was just ending, 500,000 pounds of the fragrant leaves had been shipped to London. The colonists I cannot subscribe to that oath" 118 LORD BALTIMORE had ceased hoping to find gold, and all their talk was of tobacco. The oath of supremacy. — Lord Baltimore was soon asked to appear before the governor and council. The governor had been very friendly to him all along, but the councilors were determined to be rid of him. They said that he must take the oath of supremacy as was done by all other persons coming to the colony. Now this oath was an acknowledgment that tlie king of England was the supreme head of the Church, and no good Catholic could take it. ''1 cannot subscribe to that oath," said Baltimore, "for I acknowledge the Pope as my master in things spiritual. But King Charles knows that I am his loyal subject, and I will swear to support him always as the true and lawful head of our nation." ^' Well, then," answered the councilors, " since you refuse to comply with our laws, we must ask you to depart from Virginia without further delay." II. MARYLAND The new colony. — Three months later. Lord Baltimore was in London, telling the king about his voyage and ex- plaining all his plans for the future. King Charles listened graciously, and then told him that the northeastern portion of Virginia should be granted to him and his heirs for the colony which he proposed to found. The boundaries of the territory thus granted were clearly marked out. The king himself MARYLAND 119 chose a name for the new colony, saying that it should be called Terra Mariae, or (in English) Maryland, in honor of his queen, Henrietta Maria. Religious freedom in Maryland. — The charter which Lord Baltimore received made him the owner and ruler of all Maryland, and Maryland was declared to be a province of England. The only rental that was required was two Indian arrows to be given to the king during Easter week each year. Lord Baltimore's dearest wisli was that, in this colony, the per- SCALE OF MILES secuted of his own faith might find a safe refuge ; for at that time the Catholics in England were treated even more cruelly than the Puritans. But he declared that others also should be protected and be free to worship as they chose. All people were welcome to come to Maryland; it was "free soil for Christianity." Cecil Calvert. — Before everything could be made ready for sending settlers to Maryland, Lord Baltimore died. But his great plans did not die with him. His son Cecil Calvert, known as the second Lord Baltimore, took hold of matters and pushed them for- ward with great earnestness. Within the next year. Maryland and Virginia 120 LORD BALTIMORE two ships, with colonists, were ready to sail to the land of promise. ' Young Lord Baltimore was himself unable to go out at that time ; but he sent his brother, Leonard Calvert, who was to find a suitable place for the settle- ment and have the general management of the colony's affairs. The company included " very near twenty gen- tlemen of very good fashion, and three hun- dred laboring men well provided in all things." Nearly all were Catho- lics. St. Marys. —The place chosen for the first settlement was a pleasant spot on the bank of a broad inlet which opens into the Potomac, only a few miles from its mouth. From the Indians who lived there the colonists bought as much land as they wanted, paying for it with axes, hoes, and cloth. A guardhouse was built, and soon a little village sprang up around it. The name of St. Marys was given to the village, and the inlet was called St. Marys River. "The warriors taught the white men how to hunt deer" PROGRESS OF THE COLONY 121 The Indians proved to be very friendly. Their women showed the white housekeepers how to prepare corn meal, and how to bake cakes in the ashes. The warriors taught the white men how to hunt deer, and where to find wild fruits in their season. Corn was planted in the clearings ; cattle and bogs were brought in from Virginia ; there was no lack of food at St. Marys ; and there was no suffering among the colonists as there had been during the first years at Jamestown and at Plymouth. III. PROGRESS OF THE COLONY New settlements. — In a short time other settlers began to arrive in the colony, and plantations were opened in sev- eral places. The new province of Maryland seemed to be on the highroad to prosperity. But serious troubles were near at hand. Clayborne's rebellion. — The Virginia colonists were very angry when they learned that another colony had been planted on lands claimed by themselves. A Virginia trader whose name was Clayborne had built a trading sta- tion on an island in Chesapeake Bay, and he refused to obey the laws of Lord Baltimore. He even tried to persuade the Indians to destroy the settlement at St. Marys. He went to England and petitioned the king. He gave his aid to a rebel- lion against Leonard Calvert — a rebellion which came near ending in the overthrow of law and order in Maryland. But he was finally silenced and obliged to keep the peace. Trouble from the Puritans. — Some New England Puri- tans, who had been trying to preach their doctrines in 122 LORD BALTIMORE Virginia and had been roughly treated there, settled in Maryland at a place which they called Providence, but which is now known as Annapolis. They felt grieved that Catholics and Quakers should have freedom to worship God in their own way, and they tried hard to make trouble. But their efforts were in vain, and people of whatever religious belief were made welcome in the new colony. In spite of all opposition the colony grew stronger year by year, and plantations were opened in all parts of the province. Thirty years after the first landing at St. Marys there were sixteen thousand white people in Maryland. Towns and cities. — St. Marys was the capital of the province for a long time ; but it never became a place of great importance. Other towns better situated for com- merce sprang up at various places, and outstripped it in population and in trade. In 1694 the capital was removed to Annapolis where it still remains. It was not until nearly a hundred years after the death of Lord Baltimore that the noble city which bears his name was founded. REVIEW Why did Lord Baltimore wish to found a colony in America ? Why was he not welcome among the colonists at Jamestown ? What is meant by the oath of supremacy ? By whom was the name, Maryland, given to Lord Baltimore's colony? Why were the Vir- ginians jealous of the new colony? How did the Indians regard the early settlers in Maryland ? What was the first capital of the colony ? What was the second ? What city was named in honor of the founder of the colony ? KING PHILIP AND THE INDIANS OF NEW ENGLAND I. THE INDIANS OF NEW ENGLAND The sons of Massasoit. — Among all the Indians in New England the colonists had no better friend than Mas- sasoit, the head chief of the Wampanoags. As we have already learned, it was he who made the first treaty with the Pilgrims at Plymouth ; and this treaty was faithfully kept as long as he lived. He had two sons, Wamsutta and Metacomet, and he was anxious that they also should live in friendship with the white men. One day he took them with him to Plymouth and called upon the governor. " I want these boys of mine to be like Englishmen," he said. " I want you to give them English names." The governor was pleased with the idea. To the elder he gave the name of Alexander, and to the younger that of Philip, in honor of two kings famous in the history of Greece. No doubt the boys were much impressed with what they saw at Plymouth ; and as time went on they learned very much about the ways of white men. What the Indians thought of the English. — There were a great many Indians in New England. Some were very 123 124 KING PHILIP ready to lay aside their savage habits and live and do much as their Puritan and Pilgrim neighbors. Others liked the wild freedom of the woods, and were not at all pleased when they saw villages and fields taking the place of their ^ ____^^ old hunting grounds. They hated the white people, and would gladly have driven them out of their country. John Eliot. — A good man whose name was John Eliot went among the Indians to preach. He translated C\i ' I "^ Jffl^HHIV ^^^ Bible into their lan- iy^j^.l i-^iyl0I^^^^^^H guage. He taught some of them to read. He persuaded many to live in villages and to work at farming or at some useful trade. Soon, two or three thousand had given up their old ways of living and were trying to adopt the ways of Englishmen. But Alexander and Philip and most of their tribe kept themselves in their forest homes, and preferred to hunt and fish and to live in the rude manner of their fathers. ' I want these boys of mine to t^e like Englishmen " KING PHILIP'S WAR 125 Alexander. — Massasoit lived to a great age, and died after being the friend of the white men for nearly fifty years. Then Alexander became chief in his stead, and for a short time everything went well as before. But there were many white men in the colonies who hated the Indians and wished to drive them out of the country and seize their lands. They had already destroyed the Pequots, and were at war with the Narragansetts ; and now they wished to stir up strife with the Wampanoags. One day some officers arrested Alexander, accusing him of plotting to help the Narragansetts. He was taken to Plymouth as a prisoner ; his proud spirit was broken by such treatment, and he became ill. The charge against him was found to be false, and he was set free. He started home, borne in a litter upon the shoulders of his men ; but before he was out of sight of Plymouth, he died. The Indians believed that he had been poisoned, and their feeling toward the colonists became very bitter. II. KING PHILIP'S WAR King Philip. — Philip now became the head chief of the Wampanoags. He was one of the noblest of his race, honest and wise, and desirous of peace. The English had such respect for him that they called him King Philip. Nevertheless, they always suspected and feared him. Per- haps they knew that the wrongs which they had inflicted upon his brother were such as he could never forget. Time and time again, he was accused of plotting against the colonists, but no one could prove that he was doing so. 126 KING PHILIP His people were becoming very restless; it was all he could do to restrain the in. The first hostile act. — At length, on a certain Sun- day, some of his young men plundered the town of Swansea, while the people were at church. They killed some of the people and acted in a most barbarous man- ner. The colonists were aroused to punish the evil-doers. A number were captured and sent to the West Indies The war begins. — Philip knew now that there was no longer any hope for peace. Either the white men must be driven from the country, or his own people would be de- stroyed. He, therefore, sent messengers to all the tribes from Connecticut to Maine, asking them to help him. Most of the three thousand village Indians, who had been KING PHILIP'S WAR 127 trying to learn the ways of white men, returned to the forest and joined their kinsmen. And then a terrible war began. Two dreadful years. — In every town the men united to defend the settlements from savage fury. The Indian: seemed to be everywhere, and no home was safe from at- tack. For two dreadful years the war conthiued. Twelve hundred houses were burned, and nearly six hundred white men were killed or made captives. There was hardly a family that did not suffer. As for the Indians, their losses were even greater. Whole tribes were wiped out or driven away from their lands. Death of Philip. — At last King Philip, through the treachery of one of his men, was killed. His followers were now left without a leader. They scattered here and there, vainly seeking places of safety. Some escaped into the great woods beyond the Connecticut River. Many were killed outright. Still others, and among them the wife and children of King Philip, were captured and sent to the West Indies to be sold as slaves. The power of the red men in the southern parts of New England was utterly broken. REVIEW Who was Massasoit, and what did he wish for his two sons ? For how many years did he live at peace with the white settlers of New England ? What service did John Eliot do for the Indians ? Why did not all of them listen to his teaching ? How did many of the Puritans regard and treat the Indians? What was the treatment of Alexander ? What was the cause of the war with King Philip ? How did it end? What was the character of Philip ? FATHER MARQUETTE AND THE FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA I. THE THREE CLAIMANTS Spain, England, and France. — Three great nations of Europe once claimed tlie country which is now called the United States. Spain claimed it because of the discoveries of Columbus and Ponce de Leon ; and all the region north of the Gulf of Mexico was known to the Spanish as Florida. England claimed it because John Cabot had been the first to see its eastern coast ; and Virginia and New England were the names which the English applied to its principal divisions. France also claimed it ; and to the French people the interior of North America was known as New France and Louisiana. The French claims. — The French, in the first place, claimed the whole of the valley of the St. Lawrence, because one of their countrymen, Jacques Cartier, had been the first to enter and explore that noble river. Then they claimed the southeastern part of our country, includ- ing South Carolina and Georgia and northern Florida, because French ships had been the first to explore the shores of that region. They called the country Carolina, after King Charles IX. of France, and tried to establish settlements at Port Royal and on the River St. John. 128 THE THREE CLAIMANTS 129 In Carolina and Florida. — The first settlement failed because the colonists were dissatisfied and had not the energy nor the will to make it successful. The second settlement was destroyed by some Spaniards who had just founded the colony of St. Augustine on the east coast of Florida. After this the French gave up their claims in the southeastern part of our country, but the Spanish strengthened their post at St. Augustine and held it for more than two hundred years. St. Augustine is to-day famous as the place of the first permanent settlement in the United States. On the St. Lawrence. — In the valley of the St. Lawrence River the French were more successful. They built a fort at Quebec at about the same time that the Dutch were first exploring the Hudson River. They afterwards estab- lished trading stations at Three Rivers and Montreal. They discovered, one by one, the Great Lakes, and their traders and trappers finally made their way as far west as the present states of Wisconsin and Minnesota. Rumors of a ''great water'' beyond the lakes. — The merchants of Europe had not yet given up the hope of finding a water passage across the continent. The Eng- lish expected to find the Pacific coast just a little way beyond the mountain ridge of the Alleghanies. The French hoped to reach it through the Great Lakes. In this hope they were encouraged by the Indians of the lakes, from whom they heard many a vague rumor of a " great water " still farther west, and of strange lands and peoples in the region of the setting sun. Barnes's el. — 9 130 FATHER MARQUETTE II. THE YOUNG MISSIONARY Jacques Marquette. — One summer there came to Quebec from Laon in France a young priest whose name was Jacques Marquette. He was twenty-nine years old, a fine scholar, and noted for his sweet and gentle manners. He had come to America to be a missionary among the Indians. He spent nearly two years in learn- ing the languages of the tribes about the lakes and in otherwise fitting him- self for the work he had undertaken. Then he started to the distant West. Sault Sainte Marie. — At the foot of the rapids near the outlet of Lake Superior he built a little bark chapel, and founded the mission of Sault Sainte Marie. The Chippewas, who lived there because of the good fishing in the rapids, listened gladly to his teaching ; but before he had made many converts he received orders from Quebec to give up the mission to another and go still farther west. A new mission. — On the shore of Chequamegon Bay, A bark chapel THE YOUNG MISSIONARY 131 in western Wisconsin, there was already a mission which another priest had estabhshed a year or two before. It was near the villages of some scattered bands of Hurons and Ottawas who had formerly lived in Canada. Mar- quette was assigned to this mission. Very few white men had ever gone so far into the interior of the conti- nent. South, west, north, for a thousand miles the coun- try was utterly unknown. Alone in this lonely place the yoimg priest gave all his time to the service of the miser- able savages around him. The Illinois. — One day there came to the mission a band of strange Indians who seemed to be gentler and more teachable than any Marquette had yet seen. They said that they were " Illinois," which in their language meant "men," and that they dwelt by the edge of a tree- less plain not far from a mighty water. They invited Marquette to visit them in their homes, and he assured them that, if it were ever possible, he would go and preach to them. Other Indians who came to the mission from time to time spoke also of a great water somewhere towards the south or west, but they knew so little about it that their words were hardly worth noticing. The mission destroyed. — Soon a great calamity befell the little mission. A band of Sioux warriors attacked the villages and destroyed them. They burned the chapel of the mission. They drove the Hurons and Ottawas into the forest. Father Marquette himself escaped with diffi- culty and made his way back to Sault Sainte Marie. Mackinac. — The terror-stricken Hurons, fleeing east- 132 FATHER MARQUETTE ward, came after a time to the point of land that juts out into the Strait of Mackinac from the north. There they paused, and finding themselves safe from the Sioux, they decided to go no farther. There were great quantities of fish in the strait, and life on its shores would be easy. "They drove the Hurons and Ottawas into the forest" As soon as Father Marquette learned that some of his people were at Mackinac he made haste to join them. He built a chapel close by the north shore of the strait and founded a new mission which he called St. Ignace. III. DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI Joliet. — In 1673, near the end of the year, there came a visitor to Father Marquette at his mission of St. Ignace. This visitor was Louis Joliet, a Canadian trader DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI 133 aud explorer, well kuowu as a man of enterprise and good judgment. He had been sent out by the governor of Canada to discover if possible the " great water " of the West, about which so many rumors had been heard. Joliet brought letters from the governor, asking Mar- quette to be his guide and companion, and to give him such aid as he could in carrying out the enterprise he had undertaken. Marquette was glad to do all that was in his power, and the two men spent the winter at the mission making plans and getting ready for the voyage. The start. — Early in the following spring Marquette and Joliet, with two canoes and five boatmen, started upon their perilous journey. They paddled along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, crossed Green Bay, and in due / '^>Mi^i-7^^. Penn's house in Philadelphia 162 WILLIAM PENN were made queen and king of England. Thei Penn's enemies accused him of plotting to bring James back, and although nothing could be proved against him he was several times shut up in prison. Once more in Pennsylvania. — About seventeen years after the first settlement at Philadelphia, Penn^sailed once more for America. He took his family with him, and ex- pected to stay in Pennsylvania during the rest of his life. He found his colony in a very flourishing condition. Phila- delphia was a busy, bustling little city. It was larger than New York, although only one fourth as old. Count- ing those in all the settlements, there were more than twenty thousand people in Pennsylvania. The governor's mansion. — At Pennsbury Manor on the Delaware, Governor Penn, as he was now called, had a fine country seat, and there he lived in the style of an English country gentleman. While, like other Quakers, he was plain of speech and simple in manners, he did not deny himself of the luxuries to which he had been accus- tomed in his father's house. In his spacious mansion there were many signs of wealth and good taste that were very uncommon in the colonics. There one might see costly tables of solid oak, damask table cloths and napkins, curtains and blankets of softest silk, and down- filled cushions covered with satin or plush and eiabroi- dered with the finest needlework. But in that fine mansion everybody that came was welcome. In the halls were long tables, kept always standing and ready to be loaded with food for the guests that might come. At one GOVERNOR PENN 163 time when an entertainment was given to the Indians, a table was put up under the poplar trees before the house, and a hundred roasted turkeys were served at a single meal. A man to be admired. — Governor Penn did not dress as plainly as the other Quakers. His clothes were made "Wf '! " f "^'1 W!f ' * : "' '^1*' ' ' 'If* *< '"rj§7\ "He treated all with the same gentleness and courtesy of rich materials, and they were cut and fitted with great care. His hat, although broad-brimmed, was not very dif- ferent from those worn by the gentlemen at King Charles's court. He liked fine wigs, and in a single year ordered four very costly ones from London. He was kind and friendly to rich and poor alike. All men, in his eyes, were equal, and he treated all with the same gentleness and courtesy. 164 WILLIAM PENN His last years. — But Penn was not permitted to stay long in his colony. His enemies at home were trying to pass a law depriving him of the right to govern Penn- sylvania. And so, to defend himself, he was obliged to return to England. He had been in America only about two years. Many troubles now beset him. He was defrauded of very much of his property in England. His money was gone. He was imprisoned nine months for debt. Disap- pointment and anxiety bore heavily upon him. His health failed. He at length retired to the quiet of his country home, but he never regained his strength. Sixteen years after his return to England he died. REVIEW • Who were the Quakers ? What were some of their peculiar beUefs and habits ? Why did not Admiral Penn wish his son Wil- liam to become one of them ? For what was the English government in debt to Penn ? Why was the debt not paid? What proposition did William Penn finally make to the king? What lands were granted to him in settlement of the debt ? Why did he wish to have control of such lands? What right had King Charles to these /lands ? Why did he call the region Pennsylvania ? How did Penn deal with the Indians? Why did the Indians have so much esteem for him ? Why did the colony prosper so well ? Of what did Penn's enemies accuse him ? In what respects did life in Penn sylvania differ from life in Massachusetts ? JAMES OGLETHORPE AND THE SETTLEMENT OF GEORGIA I. A FRIEND TO THE POOR Prisoners for debt. — In the days of William Penn and later it was a dangerous thing to go in debt, especially in England. If a person was unfortunate and could not pay at the promised time he was shut up in prison ; and if he had no friends who were willing to satisfy his cred- itors, he would be kept there probably as long as he lived. He was treated very badly in the jail, and was often obliged to stay in the same room with the vilest criminals. Many a poor man whose heart was gentle and good, was thus imprisoned and made to suffer great distress, not for any crime but because he had met with misfortune. Once, when the times were very hard, the prisons of London were crowded with such men. Their misery was such that it ougrht to have touched the hardest 1728 hearts ; but in those days very few people seemed to trouble themselves about the sufferings of others. James Oglethorpe. — It so happened, however, that there was in the city a rich country gentleman who was moved with pity when he heard about these poor prisoners. The name of this man was James Oglethorpe. He had 166 166 JAMES OGLETHORPE been a soldier in the king's army and had fought bravely in a great war that had but lately ended ; and upon his return home his friends had sent him to Parliament. He now visited the prisons in London and saw for him- self how cruelly the poor debtors were being treated. " I must do something to relieve them," he said. Oglethorpe's plan of relief. — But what could he do? He brought the matter before Parliament and succeeded in having many of the debtors set free. And yet this did not relieve them from distress. They had lost their homes ; there was no work for them to do ; they must beg or starve on the streets. Then he thought of a plan. In America there was room enough for every man to have a home ; the climate was mild, the soil was rich, any person with energy might earn a livelihood. Why not find a place in that new country where the poor debtors of England might make themselves homes ? Georgia. — George H. was the king of England at that time. When Oglethorpe explained his plans to him he was much pleased. He readily agreed to aid the kind enterprise by giving up to it all the unsettled region which lay between the English colony of South Carolina and the Spanish province of Florida. Oglethorpe and some of his friends were to hold the lands in trust for the poor people who should settle there ; and Oglethorpe was to be the governor of the colony. The new province was to be called Georgia, in honor of the king ; and Parliament voted to give a large sum of money to aid in founding the colony. A GLANCE BACKWARD 167 II. A GLANCE BACKWARD The Spanish in Georgia. — Oglethorpe without delay hastened to carry out his plans for the settlement of Georgia. The history of the region was no doubt well known to him. The English had all along claimed posses- sion of it on account of John Cabot's discovery. The claim, however, was early disputed by both Spain and France. Spain asserted that it was a part of Florida. Spanish adventurers had made more than one expedition into the territory. It was through Georgia that Narvaez, with Cabeza de Vaca and a company of noble young Spaniards, had marched to disappointment and defeat. It was Georgia and the Carolinas through southern Georgia that De Soto had led his band of gold seekers, his path marked everywhere by destruction and misery. The French in Georgia and Carolina. — The French had been the first to explore the coast of Georgia with care. Jean Ribaut, a Huguenot sea captain, discovered the St. 168 JAMES OGLETHORPE John's River, and gave names to many of the streams that enter the sea farther north. He called the country Caro- lina, in honor of Charles IX., the Frencli kinar : and, 1562 u ' ' as he viewed its rivers and forests, he declared it to be " the fairest, fruitfullest, and pleasantest of all the world." Where now is Port Royal, in South Carolina, he left a few colonists to hold the region for France. They built a fort there, but deserted it within a year, being unable to maintain themselves in that wilderness place. The English take possession. — For nearly a hundred years the country was neglected ; the long coast from Roanoke Island to the St. John's River was without a white inhabitant. Then King Charles II. of England granted the whole of Carolina, from Virginia to Florida, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, to eight wealthy men called lords-proprietors, who agreed to establish colonies there. They built a fort and founded a town at the mouth of the Ashley River, and named the place Charleston. This was the beginning of the English colony of Carolina. Many people were attracted to the new colony, and a number of settlements sprang up along the rivers and by the coast. The colonists were much dis- satisfied with the rule of the lords-proprietors, and at last succeeded in freeing themselves from their control. This occurred just at the time when Oglethorpe was beginning to form his plans for the relief of the Eng- lish poor. The king divided the country into two colonies, or royal provinces, North Carolina and South Carolina, and appointed a governor over each. GEORGIA 169 Conflicting claims. — Although the English claimed that the province of South Carolina extended to the St. John's River, no settlements had been made south of the Savannah. The Spanish also claimed all the country be- tween these rivers, but had made no efforts to colonize it. The time had come when the question of ownership must be settled. The nation that should be first to plant a colony in the disputed territory would be the most likely to make its title good. And this, perhaps, was the reason why King George consented so readily to the plan of colonization proposed by Oglethorpe. II. GEORGIA The first colonists. — Soon a ship was ready to sail with the first company of emigrants. Thirty families were on board, and Oglethorpe himself sailed with them. They had a prosperous voyage, and in January, 1733, reached the Savannah River. They landed and began at once to prepare themselves homes. Some set to work to clear the fields and make the land ready for planting; some were busy building houses; others marked out the streets of the town, which they named Savannah. " All worked with a will," wrote one. ''There were no idlers; even the boys and girls did their part." Thus the thirteenth and last of the English colonies in our country had its beginning. Other colonists. — Soon other settlers began to arrive. Many classes of people came ; for Oglethorpe had made it known that all who were oppressed in any way would be 170 JAMES OGLETHORPE welcome in his colony. There were not only poor Englishmen but Scotch Highlanders and Moravians and Bavarians and Jews and many others. Oglethorpe' s laws . — Oglethorpe tried to enforce good laws in his colony. One of these forbade negro slavery ; but, since slaves were held in all the other colonies in America, his people thought that this was a very hard law. Be- fore twenty years had passed they succeeded in doing away with it, and negroes were bought and sold in Georgia just as else- where. Very soon the men who had been most befriended by Oglethorpe turned against him. Although he had made it possible for them to have their own homes and to live in a free country, they were dissatisfied because he did not do more. They sent complaints about him to England, and tried to have him removed from his office of governor. "All worked with a will GEORGIA 171 The war with Spain. —Five or six years after the landing at Savannah a war broke out between England and Spain. Governor Oglethorpe mustered all the fighting men in Georgia and made an attack on St. Augustine in Florida. But the place was so strongly guarded that the Georgians were driven off and obliged to return home. A short time afterward a Spanish fleet sailed along the coast of Georgia, and a number of Spaniards came to land with the intention of overrunning the country. But Oglethorpe and his soldiers bravely withstood them, a bloody battle was fought, and the invaders were glad to return to their ships and sail away. End of a long life. — When the colony was eleven years old Oglethorpe left it and returned to England. Perhaps he was tired of trying to serve a thankless people, and besides this, his affairs at home required his attention. Although he never saw his colony again, he was always warmly interested in its welfare and ready to give it such aid as he could. He lived to be a very, very old man, — ninety-six years of age, — and was hale and hearty and joyful to the very end. REVIEW Name all the English colonies you have learned about in this book. With which of the colonies was Captain John Smith con- nected ? Which colony was settled by Pilgrims? by Puritans? by Roger Williams? by lords-proprietors? by Catholics? by Quakers? by the Dutch? What was the object of James Ogle- thorpe in founding the colony of Georgia? What classes of people were among the first settlers in Georgia? BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AJSTD THE PROGRESS OF THE COLONIES I. A STUDIOUS BOY Franklin's childhood. — Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on the 17th of January, 1706. His parents were poor people who lived in a humble home on Milk Street, and he was the youngest son in the family of seventeen children. His schools. — Little Benjamin learned to read almost as soon as he could talk. He was so bright and studious that his parents wished to educate him for the ministry. When he was eight years old, therefore, they sent him to the Latin School where boys were prepared for Harvard College. He learned very fast and soon made his way to the head of his class ; but his father had little money, and the cost of keeping him in school would be very great. His parents talked the matter over again, and the plan of educating him for a preacher was given up. Benjamin was taken out of the Latin School and sent to a cheaper place where he learned to write and to cal- culate — two things very necessary to one who was to fol- low a trade. When he was ten years old he was taken out of school altogether. Although so young, there were many things he could do, and his father needed his help. 172 A STUDIOUS BOY 173 His work. — Mr. Franklin was a candle maker, and for two year^ he kept Benjamin busy cutting wicks, molding candles, and waiting on customers. But the lad did not like the business. When he saw the ships come into the harbor with their cargoes of goods from strange lands beyond the sea, he thought that he would like above all things to be a sailor. But his father ob- jected to this and him in the more closely kept shop than ever. Then he turned his attention to books. His books. — There were no chil- dren's books in those days, and not much of anything that a boy at the present time would care to read. But Benja- min Franklin read all the books he could get hold of. Sometimes he would borrow a volume and sit up nearly all night reading it so as to return it promptly. When James Franklin, one of Benjamn}'i> brothers, set up a printing press in Boston, his father said, He was apprenticed to learn the printer's trade " 174 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN " Here is a chance for Benjamin. He is a lover of books. He shall learn to be a printer." And so, at the age of twelve years, the lad was apprenticed to his brother to learn the printer's trade. The newspaper that was issued from James Franklin's press was called the New England Courant. It was the fourth newspaper published in America. People thought that James Franklin was very foolish. One newspaper, they said, was enough for the entire country. In those days it was unsafe for a newspaper to criticise men who were in power. But the Courant was very outr spoken from the start. The magistrates, therefore, caused James Franklin to be imprisoned for a month ; and it was ordered that he should no longer publish the Courant. But in spite of this order, the paper was issued every week as before. It was printed, however, by Benjamin Franklin ; and for a long time thereafter it bore his name as editor and publisher. II. A TRIAL OF NEW FORTUNES Franklin leaves home. — James Franklin's temper was not improved by his month's imprisonment. He was always finding fault with his workmen, and sometimes he would beat young Benjamin unmercifully. The lad bore this ill treatment until he was seventeen years old, and then made up his mind to endure it no longer. He would go to some other place and look for work. But his brother warned the other printers in Boston not to employ him ; and so Benjamin decided to run away from home. A TRIAL OF NEW FORTUNES 175 He visits New York. — He sold his books to rai^e a little money, put his best clothes into a bundle^ and with- out bidding good-by to any one, took passage on a packet sloop tliat was just ready to sail from the harbor. Three days afterward he stepped ashore at New York. New York, when Franklin visited it, was a small town at the extreme southern end of Manhattan Island. The stockade, or wall, that had been built by the Dutch, might still be seen on its north side. Above Wall Street there New York as Franklin saw it were only a few outlying dwellings surrounded by vege- table gardens and cow pastures. William Bradford. — Young Franklin's first care was to find the shop of William Bradford, the official printer of the colony. Mr. Bradford had put up the first printing press in New York, and had published the first bound book. He received the boy very kindly, but told him that it was useless to look for work in New York. There was not a single newspaper in the place, and not enough printing was done to support the half dozen persons who were already engaged in the business. He advised Benjamin 176 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN to go to Philadelphia, where printing was more in de- mand. The boy reflected that Philadelphia was a hun- dred miles farther from home ; but, having set out to seek his fortune, he would not turn back. Franklin's journey across New Jersey. — There are two ways of going from New York to Philadelphia — one by sea, and the other by land across New Jersey. Since young Franklin had but little money he decided to take the shorter and cheaper route. The trip can now be made in less than two hours ; but there were no railroads at that time, nor would there be for more than a hundred years. There was not even a stagecoach anywhere in the colonies. Franklin walked from Perth Amboy, on the eastern coast of New Jersey, to Burlington on the Delaware. The only road was a rough bridle path through green woods and desolate clearings, and the boy trudged along for nearly three days before reaching Burlington. There he took a boat, and after passing a night on the Delaware, he arrived, early one Sunday morning, in Philadelphia. In Philadelphia. — As Franklin stepped ashore at the foot of Market Street, none who saw him could have guessed that he would one day be the greatest man in Pennsylvania. He was dressed in his working clothes ; his pockets were stuffed out with spare wearing apparel ; and all the money that he possessed was little more than a dollar. He had not a single friend. Yet he had within him those qualities of pluck and endurance that would have won success in almost any situation. Philadelphia was still a new place, for only f jrty years A SUCCESSFUL CAREER 1T7 had passed since Penn had established his colony there. It had as many inhabitants as New York, which was a good deal more than twice as old. It was almost as large as Boston, which had been settled nearly a hundred years. Seeking employment. — There were only two printing presses in the place. One was owned by Andrew Bradford, a son of Wil- liam Bradford of New York. The other was controlled by a man named Keimer. Mr. Bradford was the publisher of the Ameri- can Mercury, the only newspaper outside of Boston, and Franklin hoped that he might obtain work in his shop. He had no room, however, for another printer ; but he sent the young man to Mr. Keimer, who gave him employment. An old style printing press III. A SUCCESSFUL CAREER Deceived by the |,^overnor. — The pleasant manners and manly ways of Benjamin Franklin soon won for him many friends. William Keith, the governor, became much interested in him, and promised to set him up in a printing office of his own. Relying upon this promise, Franklin was persuaded to go to England to buy types, paper, and a press, on the governor's credit — for none of these things were made in America. BARNES'S £L. 12 178 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN The governor, however, proved to be a scoundrel. When Frankhn arrived in London he found himself deserted by his pretended patron, friendless, and without money. Returns to Philadelphia. — The strong common sense of the young man, together with his ability as a printer, carried him safely through every difficulty. He found employment in a printing shop and soon had both money and friends. Among the latter was an American merchant whose name was Denman. This gentleman persuaded Franklin to return with him to Philadelphia, and take a position in a store which he owned there. This appeared to be a turning point in the young man's life, and he was soon busy at work keeping books and measuring cloth and selling goods. Scarcely, however, was he well settled in his new business when his employer died. The store passed into other hands, and Franklin was again obliged to find work with his old friend Keimer. The ** Pennsylvania Gazette." — Soon after this a gentle- man, who had money to invest, proposed to go into the news- paper business, and asked Franklin to become his partner. Franklin consented, and became the editor and publisher of a new paper which he called the Pennsylvania Gazette. His services to the country. — As time passed, Frank- lin became known as one of the leading men in the Eng- lish colonies. He founded the first circulating library in America — the beginning of the present Public Library of Philadelphia. He established the University of Pennsyl- vania. He organized the first fire company in Phila- delphia, which was also the first in our country. By A SUCCESSFUL CAREER 179 many ingenious experiments, he learned more about elec- tricity than the world had ever known before. He became famous in foreign countries as* a philosopher and man of science. The universities of Oxford and Edin- burgh honored him by giving hini the degree of Doctor of Laws. Carrying the mail Postmaster general. — In 1753, when Dr. Franklin was forty-seven years old, he was made deputy postmaster general for the thirteen colonies. People were astonished when he proposed to have the mail carried regularly once every week between Philadelphia and Boston. At that time there were not seventy post offices in the whole coun- try. There are now more than seventy thousand. 180 BENJAMIN FRA.nKLIN The convention at Albany. — In the meanwnile the colonists were beginning to feel great alarm on account of the threatening manner of the Indians and French in the Northwest, and it was decided to send delegates to a convention in Albany, to talk the matter over and provide for the defense of the outlying settlements. Dr. Franklin was one of the delegates from Pennsylvania. He pre- sented a plan for the union of all the colonies, and it appeared so wise and practicable that the convention voted to have it adopted. But neither the English gov-' ernment nor the colonies themselves were willing to trj the experiment. The idea of union. -- The plan which Franklin proposed was much talked about, however ; and it set people to thinking. Why should not the colonies unite ? Instead of each standing alone, why should they not help one another? It was thus that Dr. Franklin first put into men's minds the idea of forming that union which is now known as the United States of America. Franklin's first mission to England. — The king of England and his counselors had but little regard for the American people. They made many unjust and oppres- sive laws, which were designed to enrich English politi- cians and merchants, without benefiting the colonists. At length the colony of Pennsylvania decided to send some one to England to advocate the cause of the people. Benjamin Franklin was the man chosen for that diffi- cult mission. He remained abroad five years, pleading in behalf of the colonists and winning much esteem A STATESMAN AND PATRIOT 181 both in England and in France. When he returned the colonial assembly publicly thanked him for his services to his country. IV. A STATESMAN AND PATRIOT The stamp Act. — Soon new troubles arose. The Eng- lish parliament passed a law for taxing the colonists by obliging them to buy stamped paper. No deed or note or other document was valid unless it was written on this paper, which must be bought of the government. This law, which is known in history as the Stamp Act, was opposed by the people with all their might. Franklin's second mis- sion to England. — Dr. Franklin had been at home scarcely two years when he was sent back to England to plead against this and other oppressive measures that were de- 1 • 1 Benjamin Franklin Signed to rob the colonists of their just rights. He stayed abroad, this time, for more than ten years, trying to induce the king to deal more liberally with the American people; but his work was in vain. 182 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN The Revolutionary War begins. — In May, 1775, Franklin returned to Philadelphia. The colonists could endure oppression no longer. A battle had just been fought at Lexington ; the war of the Revolution had begun. The Declaration of Independence. — A year later, dele- gates from all the colonies met in Philadelphia to make " At the court of the French king " plans for the carrying on of the war. These delegates in convention formed what is now known as the Con- tinental Consjress of America. A committee was appointed to prepare a declaration of independ- ence, and Benjamin Franklin was one of that com- mittee. On the 4th of July the declaration was adopted A STATESMAN AND PATRIOT 183 by Congress, and the thirteen colonies became the United States of America. Ambassador to France. — Not long after this, Dr. Franklin was sent to Paris to represent our country at the court of the French king. He soon succeeded in bringing about a treaty whereby France acknowledged the independence of the American states and ao;reed to 1777 ... . assist them in their war for liberty. He thus secured aid for our country in the time of its greatest need, and made it possible for the Americans to win the victory. Franklin's last services. — It was not until more than two years after the states had gained their freedom that he was able to return home ao-ain. He was then nearly eighty years old. The grateful people of his state could not do enough to prove their esteem for him, and in that same year they elected him president of Pennsylvania. The next year he was a delegate to the convention which formed our present Constitution. In 1790, Dr. Franklin died, honored by the entire country in whose service he had spent so many years of his life. His grave may still be seen in Philadelphia. REVIEW How long ago was Benjamin Franklin born ? What kind of books did children have to read then ? Why was Philadelphia the best place for an enterprising young man like Benjamin Franklin ? What plan did Dr. Franklin propose at the convention in Albany ? In what way did the king of England and his counselors oppress the American (colonists ? In what way was Dr. Franklin of great service to the colonies ? SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON AND THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR I. A MAN OF AFFAIRS William Johnson was about ten years younger than Benjamin Franklin. He was born in Ireland, and belona:ed to a rich and influential family. When 1738 he was about twenty-three years old he came to America to take charge of a large tract of land belonging to his uncle, who was an admiral in the British navy. The land was on the south side of the Mohawk River in New York. It was little more than a broad extent of woods inhabited by wild animals and roving Indians. Young Johnson expected to colonize this tract, to clear away the forest trees, and to found a great estate similar to those of the rich laud-holding gentlemen in England. Indian commissioner. — Johnson's first care was to make friends with the Indians. He began to trade with them on a large scale. He learned their language, hunted with them, lived with them, and welcomed them to his home on the Mohawk. By these means, and by always treating them justly, he gained their confidence. The Mohawk Indians adopted him into their tribe and gave him a name which meant, in English, "the man who has charge of affairs." The governor of the colony appointed 184 A MAN OF AFFAIRS 185 him commissioner among the Indians, and soon afterwards placed him in command of all the New York colonial militia for the defense of the frontier. The Iroquois. — The estate of which William Johnson had the management was on the border of the Indian country. Since the earliest times all that region which lies between the Mohawk River and Lake Ontario had been the home of a powerful confederacy of Indians called the Iroquois. In this confederacy there were at first five na- tions — Mohawks, Onondagas, Cayugas, Oneidas, Senecas. ^^"t^'i;;"'^" ^^^^.^a^^^ Long house of the Iroquois They were later joined by their kinsmen, the Tuscaroras, from North Carolina. The English then called them the Six Nations. Enemies of the French. — The Iroquois were bitter enemies of the French who were settled in Canada along the St. Lawrence River. The fear of these Indians had prevented the French from pushing southward at an early period and gaining a foothold in the valley of the Hudson. The Iroquois stood like a wall between the English colony of New York and any foes, whether white or red, that might invade it from the north. 186 SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON The power of the Iroquois. — The war parties of the Iroquois wandered as far west as to the prairies of Illinois ; and they were known and feared by all the Indian tribes from the Great Lakes to the Ohio River. It was of the utmost importance that they should con- tinue friendly to the English, and it became William Johnson's duty to see that nothing disturbed that friend- ship. By his wise management he gained a greater influ- ence over them than any other white man ever possessed. XL THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR English and French. — For many years there had been a growing jealousy between the English colonists and the French. The English fur traders in * New York and Pennsylvania were anxious to extend their business among the Indians of the Northwest, but were prevented by the French, who claimed all that region as their own. The colonists of Virginia had but lately learned of the beauty and fertility of the Ohio Valley. They had always thought of this region as belonging to Virginia ; but the French had been the first to occupy it. The English at last began to trespass upon the terri- tories claimed by the French ; and the French prepared to defend their possessions, and tried to persuade the Indi- ans to help them against the English colonists. The English colonists alarmed. — To the thinking men of both nations it was plain that serious trouble was at hand. The English colonists from New Hampshire to Vir- ginia were alarmed, and some of the colonies appointed THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 187 1754 delegates to a convention to make plans for protection in case of war. The convention was held at Albany, probably because of its nearness to the Iroquois, whose friendship it was so necessary to keep. The convention at Albany. — William Johnson was one of the delegates from New York. He explained to the con- vention his views as to the best methods of pre- venting the French from gaining any influence over the Iroquois ; and so wise and judicious were his plans that Ben- jamin Franklin publicly thanked him for his speech and asked that a copy of it should be sent to each of the thir- teen colonial govern- ments. The war for the possession of the Ohio Valley and the Northwest was already beginning ; and the Iroquois remained faith- ful to the English. Johnson a major general. — Early in the following year, Johnson was invited to go to Alexandria in Virginia to confer with General Braddock, who was about to march Benjamin Franklin thanked him for his speech " 188 SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON against the French and Indians on the Ohio. Braddock was a self -conceited man. He did not ask for advice about the manner of carrying on the war ; he would not listen to any man's opinion. But he appointed William Johnson to the command of an expedition against the French on the New York frontier, and gave him the rank of major general in the king's army. Braddock' s defeat. — A few weeks after returning to the north, General Johnson learned that Braddock' s grand army of British resrulars had met some French and Indians 1 7^*1 near the forks of the Ohio, that a terrible battle had taken place, that Braddock had been killed, and that his forces had been defeated and driven back to Virginia. This was discouraging news, but it was for General Johnson to redeem the English cause and turn the tide of war. Lake George. — With a body of armed men from New York and New England he hastened to meet a French force that was threatening the colony by way of Lake Champlain. He pushed through the dense woods about the headwaters of the Hudson, and late in August pitched his camp on the south shore of a magnificent body of water which the French had named Lac Saint Sacrament. As Gen- eral Johnson stood admiring the beauty of the lake he declared that it should be rechristened. " It shall be named Lake George," he said, " not only in honor of his Majesty, the king, but to assert his dominion here." And Lake George it has ever since been called. A battle with the French. — A few days later the colonial forces were attacked by the French army and a THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 189 desperate battle was fought. The raw soldiers of New York and New England, however, proved to be more than a match for the French regulars. General John- son was wounded early in the fight; but the French commander was taken prisoner, and his army was utterly routed. Sir William Johnson. — After this the colonists felt for a time as though they were quite secure from the French in Lake George Canada. The credit for the victory seems really to have belonged to General Lyman, who conducted the battle after Johnson was wounded. But, for some reason, Gen- eral Johnson was everywhere praised as the hero who had avenged the defeat of Braddock and saved the English colonies. The British parliament voted him a 190 SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON gift equal to twenty-five thousand dollars in our money ; and two months later he was made a baronet of Great Britain and became Sir William Johnson. A long war. — It is no part of our purpose to follow Sir William Johnson through the long war that was fought for the possession of the West. Nor is it necessary to name the great men who took part in that war, or to de- scribe the campaigns, the victories, the defeats, the various maneuvers by land and sea. Sir William Johnson's influ- ence over the Iroquois was such that no temptations which the French might put in their way could make them un- friendly to the English ; and this had very much to do in deciding the outcome of the war. Quebec and Montreal. — The war had been going on for five years when the British under General Wolfe attacked Quebec. A desperate battle was fought outside of the walls of that city, and the French under General Montcalm were defeated. This was the deathblow to the cause of France in America. A few months later. Sir William Johnson was one of the officers to receive the surrender of Montreal and with it the whole of Canada. Results of the war. — France had lost everything. At the treaty of peace that was signed some time afterwards, she gave up to Great Britain not only Canada but 1 ly^o CD X o the Great Lakes and all the region between the Mississippi River and the Alleghany Mountains. The country west of the Mississippi was given to Spain. The king of France had no longer any possessions in North America. • THE LORD OF KINGSLAND 191 III. THE LOKD OF KINGSLAND A great landholder. — Sir William Johnson was well rewarded for his services in the war. Besides the money that had been given him by the British parliament, he received a grant of one hundred thousand acres of land in the Mohawk Valley. He soon after- wards went to live on this estate, which was long known as Kings- land. He induced many enterprising men to make their homes there ; he laid out the village of Johnstown, which he named after himself; he built in it a courthouse, a church, and an inn ; he supplied the villagers with lum- ber from his own mill ; he established a free school for the village children ; and he took a fatherly interest in the welfare of every white person or Indian within his reach. Johnson Hall. — Not far from the village he built for himself a noble mansion which he called " Johnson Hall." He lived in the style of a feudal lord ' 192 SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON There for the rest of his life he lived in the style of a feudal lordj surrounded by his tenants and his Indian dependants. He took great pride in the management of his estate ; he experimented with the best grains and the finest fruit trees ; he was the first in that, region to raise sheep and fine breeds of cattle and horses. Inspired by his example, the white settlers took much pride in rais- ing good crops and in improving their farms. Even many of the Indians left off their savage ways and became excellent farmers. To the end of his life Sir "William was superintendent of the Iroquois and other northern Indians ; and it is said that his death was caused by a cold, brought on while making a speech at an Indian council on a very warm day. He died ten montlis before the beginning of the Revo- lutionary War, being nearly sixty years of age. REVIEW Who were the Iroquois Indians and where did they live ? What important part did they perform in the history of our coun- try ? What was the secret of Sir William Johnson's influence over them ? What was the cause of the French and Indian War ? Tell about the convention at Albany. Tell about Braddock's defeat. Why was Sir William Johnson regarded so highly by the British government ? What was the result of the French and Indian War ? GEORGE WASHINGTON AND THE WAR FOR I:^IDEi^ENDENCE I. WHEN WASHINGTON WAS YOUNG Childhood and Youth. — George Washington was born in Virginia a little more than a year before General Ogle- thorpe and his first colonists landed in Georgia. Virginia had then been settled about a hundred and twenty-five years. It was not only the oldest but the richest of the English colonies in America, and it had more inhabitants than any other. George Washington's father owned at least three large plantations. One of these was on the banks of the Poto- mac, nearly forty miles above its mouth ; another was farther up the river, at a place then called Hunting Creek, but since known as Mount Vernon ; the third was on the Rappahannock River, nearly opposite the town of Freder- icksburg. It was in a quaint old house on the first of these plantations that George Washington was born, on the 22d of February, 1732. Much of his childhood was spent at the Rappahannock home, and there, when George was eleven years old, his father died. During his youth he lived at Mount Vernon with his elder brother Lawrence, who had inherited nearly all of their father's estate. Barnes's el. — 13 193 194 GEORGE WASHINGTON The boy surveyor. — A wealthy Englishman, whose name was Sir Thomas Fairfax, had become the owner of more than five million acres of the choicest forest lands in Virginia. His vast estate mcluded the whole of the beautiful valley of the Shenandoah, besides much of the country about the headwaters of the Potomac. He was anxious to have a portion of his domain settled and improved. In looking about to find some one to ex- * plore his lands along the Shenandoah, he was attracted to young George Washington, whom he had met at Mount Vernon, and whom he knew to be both brave and trust- worthy. Washington was at that time only sixteen years of age, but he had already learned most of the things necessary for a young Virginian to know, and he had had some experience as a surveyor. When Sir Thomas Fairfax asked him to undertake an expedition beyond the Blue Ridge, and offered to The boy surveyor WHEN WASHINGTON WAS YOUNG 195 pay him well for his services, he willingly undertook the difficult task. Western pioneers. — The results of young Washington's trip into the wilderness were very pleasing to his employer. He brought back such glowing accounts of the " Far West " — which was then no farther than the Shenandoah Valley — that Sir Thomas decided to make his own home in that region. He therefore became a " western pioneer " and built himself a fine mansion in the wilderness, not far from the present site of Winchester. He invited colonists to come and settle on his lands, and soon there were many small farms and peaceful homes all up and down the valley. The people who came were mostly of a sturdy, self-reliant class, who owned few if any slaves ; and they had no wish to establish great plantations as there were in other parts of Virginia. They did so well that still others were persuaded to come ; and many per- sons began to feel interested in western lands. The Ohio Country. — About this time wonderful stories were being told in Virginia about a fertile region still farther west. This region was beyond the last ridge of the Alleghanies, and was called the " Ohio Coimtry," from the name of the noble river by which it was watered. It was claimed by the French, because they had discovered and partly explored it; but Virginia had also a claim upon it, because it was included in the charter which King James I. had given to the colony a hundred and forty years before. A few hunters and traders, who had ventured by stealth into that country, had returned with 196 GEORGE WASHINGTON the most glowing accounts of its beauty and fertility. Many people were now beginning to look westward and to feel that Virginia should do something to rescue that fair region from French control. The Ohio Company. — Finally some Virginian plant- ers and English gentlemen formed a company to explore the Ohio Country and to establish forts and settlements there. This company was called the Ohio Company. Lawrence Washington was one of its managers. King George II. granted to these gentlemen a large tract of land to be chosen in any part of the Ohio Valley that seemed to them the most desirable. They were required to build a fort and to settle a hundred families of colonists near it. If they failed to do this within seven years, the land should be given back to the king. II. THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR A young major. — No one doubted that the French would object to the settlement of an English colony upon lands which France claimed as her own. Governor Din- widdle of Virginia was therefore urged to keep the colonial militia always ready for any trouble that might occur ; and Lawrence Washington induced him to appoint his brother George to the post of adjutant, with title of major. Major Washington was only nineteen years old at the time of his appointment ; but he soon became known as one of the most promising soldiers in the colony. The French begin to build forts. — Before the Ohio Company had done more than send out an explorer to find THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 197 a good place for their colony, word was brought that the French had begun to build a line of forts along the Ohio River. The object of these forts was to prevent the Eng- lish from getting into the country. Governor Dinwiddie therefore decided to send a message to the French com- mander warning him not to trespass upon lands belonging to Virginia. He chose Major George Washington to carry that message. A perilous journey. — With three white hunters, two Indians, and a guide, young Washington set out on a perilous journey through the mountainous country about the headwaters of the Ohio. Far up the Allegheny River, at a place called Venango, he found the first outpost of the French. There he met some of the French officers, who told him that they intended to hold the Ohio Valley in spite of all that the English might do. The message delivered. — At Fort le Boeuf, several miles farther, the French commandant welcomed Wash- ington with much show of kindness. He read the message from Gov- ernor Dinwiddie, and two days later gave his answer. He said that he would forward the message to his supe- rior, the governor of Canada ; but as for the Ohio Valley, he had been instructed to keep the English out of it, and he expected to do so. Fort le Boeuf 198 GEORGE WASHINGTON A safe return. — Three weeks later, Washington was back in Virginia. He gave a full account of what he had seen on his journey, and repeated what the French officers had said. His story convinced Governor Dinwid- die that the only way to gain possession of the western lands was to fight for them. Washington promoted. — The governor was not long in making up his mind. To reward young Washington for his gallant services he promoted him to the office of lieuten- ant colonel ; and preparations were at once begun for the struggle which everybody knew was sure to come. Fort Necessity. — Colonel Washington, with a hundred and fifty men, marched over the mountains to establish an English post on the Ohio. In June they arrived at a place called Great Meadows, a few miles from the Monon- gahela River. Washington's first act was to throw up some breastworks, which he afterwards called Fort Necessity. His second was to surprise a party of thirty-two French- men, of whom ten were killed and all the rest, except one, made prisoners. Before he could complete his fort he was attacked by a strong force of French and Indians, and after an att-day fight compelled to surrender. War. — This was on the 4th of July, 1754. It was the beginning of the long and bloody struggle known in history as the French and Indian War. Washington, with the remnant of his army, was permitted to return to Virginia. The French retired to the forks of the Ohio, where Pitts- burg now stands, and there intrenched themselves in a stout little fortification which they called Fort Duquesne. THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 199 Braddock. — Early in the following year General Brad- dock a-rrived from England at the head of a fine British army. The general boasted that nothing would be easier than to drive the French out of America and utterly subdue their Indian allies. Through the influence of Governor Dinwiddle and others he gave Wash- ington a place on his staff as aid-de-camp ; but he had little faith iu the Virginia soldiers, and was too proud and self- willed to listen to advice from any one. The march of the regulars. — The British regulars in their fine red uniforms made a grand appearance as the army marched over the wooded slopes of the Alleghanies. The colonial troops who followed them, dressed in plain homespun, seemed very commonplace and useless when compared with them. The army moved very slowly, and in July arrived at a spot within seven miles of Fort Duquesne. There, while passing through a wooded ravine, it was attacked by unseen foes. The battle. — The woods rang with the cries of savage men. The red-coated soldiers knew not where to fire, or how to protect themselves. They huddled together like sheep and were shot mercilessly down. General Braddock, while trying to rally them, was himself mortally wounded. The Virginia militiamen took to the trees and fought the Indians after their own method. Colonel Washington rode hither and thither, trying his best to save the day. Four bullets passed through his coat; two horses were shot under him ; yet he came out of the dreadful fray unhurt. 200 GEORGE WASHINGTON The retreat. — At last the order was given to retreat. The retreat soon became a wild flight, and, had it not been for Washington's cool courage, it would have ended in a panic. Four days after the battle, General Braddock died ; and the remnant of the army hurried back to the eastern settlements. Progress of the war. — The people of Virginia were fearful lest the French and Indians should follow up their victory and overrun the settlements beyond the Blue Ridge. A regiment of a thousand men was hastily raised to aid the soldiers already in the field ; and George Wash- ington was made commander of all the forces of the colony and intrusted with its defense. The war, however, scarcely touched the borders of Vir- ginia. Most of the fighting was done in the north — in New York and in Canad;i ; and Washington and his Vir- ginians saw but little active service. In our account of Sir William Johnson we have already learned how the great struggle ended, and how the French were at length driven from the possessions which they had claimed. m. THE TYRANNY OF ENGLAND Washington at Mount Vernon. — Several months before the end of the war, Washington resigned his commission and retired to Mount Vernon. His brother Lawrence had died some time before, and now the fine estate was his own. Not long after this he was married to Mrs. Martha Cnstis, a handsome widow, who also was the owner of large estates. Washington was now one of the richest men in THE TYRANNY OF ENGLAND 201 George and Martha Washington Virginia. He was elected member "f - of the House of Burgesses, and thus became one of the lawmakers for the colony. For many years he lived the quiet life of a country gentle- man, overseeing the work on his plantations, hunting foxes with his sport-loving neighbors, and going down to Williamsburg every winter to help make the laws in the House of Burgesses. The colonies oppressed. — In the meanwhile the colonists from New Hampshire to Georgia were becoming every day more and more dissatistied with the way in 202 GEORGE WASHINGTON which they were ruled by the English king and Parlia- ment. They were forbidden to trade with any country but England ; to build factories for the making of cloth "A shipload of tea was thrown into the harbor" or other goods ; to manufacture tools and machinery from their own iron. They were taxed without their consent. Parliament had passed the Stamp Act, and put a tax on tea and other articles which the colonists could get only from England. The Boston Tea Party. — At Boston a shipload of tea was thrown into the harbor by the excited colonists, who declared that, rather than pay the tax, they would have THE TYRANNY OF ENGLAND 208 no tea in the counti}-. Then the king, to punish them, ordered that no ship should be permitted to enter or leave the harbor ; and to enforce this order he sent over a body of English soldiers to be fed and lodged in the people's houses. A convention called. — The colonists revered the king, but they were not willing to have all their liberties taken away. They said that Parliament had no right to tax them without their consent. Finally it was agreed that each colony should send delegates to a convention to be Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia held in Philadelphia, to decide upon the wisest course to pursue. George Washington was one of the delegates He had already spoken his opinions in roni Virginia. 204 GEORGE WASHINGTON the House of Burgesses. " If necessary," he said, " I will raise a thousand men, subsist them at my own expense, and march them to the relief of Boston." The First Continental Congress. — The delegates met at Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia, and organized what has since been known as the First Continental Congress of America. They were in session fifty-one days, dis- cussing the means by which the colonists might preserve their liberties. At last it was decided to send an address to the king to remind him of the rights of the people, and to petition him to do away with the laws that were so oppressive to the colonies. When Washington returned to Mount Yernon, he knew, as well as any man could know, that serious work would soon be required of every patriot in the land. IV. THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR The first battle. — Matters grew worse at Boston. The soldiers who were quartered there grew more and more abusive. The colonists were becoming desperate. " These people ought to have their houses knocked about their ears and destroyed," said one of the king's officers. Then on the 19th of April, several hundred soldiers were sent to Concord, a few miles from Boston, to seize some powder that was stored there. As they were 177fi passing through Lexington on their way, they met a company of colonists and there was a sharp and bloody fight. This fight, which is called the battle of Lexington, was the beginning of the Revolutionary War. THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 205 The Second Continental Congress. — Washington was again on his way to Philadelphia, where another conven- tion of delegates was to meet. Three weeks after the fight at Lexington, the Second Continental Congress began its work. The delegates were ready now to do some- thing more than petition. Brave men were flocking toward Boston to help its people defend themselves from the king's soldiers. War was actually going on, and the Congress mnst provide for it. Commander in chief of the colonial army. — On the 15th of June, on motion of John Adams of Massachusetts, George Washington was chosen to be commander in chief of the colonial army. He at once entered upon the work that had been intrusted to him. He entered upon it, not for profit nor for honor, but because he believed that he ought thus to serve his country and his fellow-men. At Boston. — Two weeks after his appointment he rode into Cambridge, near Boston, and took formal command of the army. It was but a small force, poorly clothed and poorly armed ; but every man had the love of country in his heart. And so well did Washington manage affairs, and so hard did he press the king's soldiers in Boston, that before the beginning of another summer they were glad to sail away from the town which they had so long oppressed. The Declaration of Independence. — On the 4th of the following July the Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. The colonies were now no longer colonies, but states; and, as they were joined together to defend their liberties, they were called United 206 GEORGE WASHINGTON States. Washington and his army, instead of fighting merely to do away with oppressive laws, were now to fight for the independence of the country. Progress and end of the war. — We cannot here de- scribe the marches and retreats, the victories and defeats, the sufferings and triumphs, of the patriot army during the long contest that followed. The struggle was ended in October, 1781, when the English general, Cornwallis, at York town, Virginia, surrendered his army to Washington. Nearly two years more passed by, and then a treaty of peace was signed, and England acknowledged the inde- pendence of our country. Washington resigns his commission. — As soon as peace was assured, Washington resigned his commission as com- mander in chief. Some men suggested that he should make himself king of the United States; but the great man would not listen to them. " If you have any regard for your country or respect for me," he said, " banish those thoughts and never again speak of them." V. BUILDING THE NATION Thirteen nations. — At the close of the Revolutionary War people did not think of the United States as one un- divided nation. They thought of the states as thirteen little nations, each making its own laws and having its own selfish little aims. They were united only so far as was necessary for common defense. There was no presi- dent to stand at the head of the government. The Con- gress might make laws, but it could not enforce them. BUILDING THE NATION 20T It It might declare war, but it could not raise an army might contract debts, but it had no way of paying them. Wise men soon saw that such a government could not continue long. They saw, too, that without a strong gov- ernment the states would be in no better condition than when they were subject to the Iving, Room where the Constitutional Convention met The Constitutional Convention. — Four years after the treaty of peace, therefore, another convention met in Philadelphia to decide what must be done to save the country from ruin. Delegates from twelve of the states were present. George Washington was the president of '208 GEORGE WASHINGTON the convention, and no man's words had greater weight than his. "Let iis raise," he said, "a standard to which the wise and honest may repair. The result is in the hand of God." This convention did a most wonderful work. It devised a plan of government called the Constitution, in accord- ance with which our country has since been governed. Our first President. — The new constitution made it necessary for the people to choose electors to elect a Presi- dent who should be the chief ruler, or executive officer, of the country. An elec- tion was held, and when the electoral votes Avere counted, it was found that every one had been cast for George Washington. On the 30th of April, 1789, he was inaugurated at Federal Hall in New York. During the first year New York was the capital of the United States, and then the seat of gov- ernment was removed to Philadelphia. Arrangements were made, however, that in the year 1800 it should be established permanently at the place, by the Potomac River, which Washington himself should select. This place is now known as the city of Washington. Our first President BUILDING THE NATION ^09 Washington landing at New York just before his inauguration Elected for a second term. — The duties which Wash- ington was called upon to perform as President of the United States were both difficult and perplexing. He was to bring order out of disorder ; he was to put a new gov- ernment into operation. But so well did he perform his great task, and so well did he meet the expectations of the people, that at the end of four years he was unani- mously elected to serve a second term. We cannot so much as mention all the difficult problems which he was required to solve. There were troubles enough both at home and abroad, — troubles with the Indians, with England, with France, with jealous poli- BARNES'S EL. 14 210 GEORGE WASHINGTON ticians, with dishonest officials, — but in the midst of them all, Washington stood steadfast, wise, serene, con- scious that the right would prevail. His Farewell Address. — People began to talk of elect- ing him for a third term. They could not think of any other man so able to govern the nation as he. But he declared that he had served the country long enough. There were others, he said, who would manage its affairs both wisely and well. And so, when about to retire to private life, he published a Farewell Address which is so full of patriotic wisdom that every American can still study it with profit. " Beware of attacks upon the Constitution. Beware of those who love their party better than their country. Promote education. Observe justice. Treat with good faith all nations. Be united — keep united.'" These, in effect, are some of the things that he said. John Adams. ■ — The new President was John Adams of Massachusetts. He was one of the stanchest of patriots. He had been one of the prime movers in bringing on and supporting the Revolutionary War. He was one of the makers of the Declaration of Independence. He had been Vice President of the United States during the eight years of Washington's administration. Trouble with France. — Scarcely had Washington re- tired to enjoy the quiet of private life at Mount Vernon when a new trouble arose. France was at war with Great Britain, and her rulers wished that the United States should help her. When they failed to bring this about by BUILDING THE NATION 211 persuasion, they tried other means. Our officers were abused, our government was insulted. Congress and Presi- dent Adams at once took steps to defend the honor of the nation. Preparations were made for war, and Wash- ington was called from his retirement to be again the commander in chief of the American army. Washington's room at Mount Vernon Peace prevails. — Fortunately, however, the war did not come. When the French saw that the people of the United States were ready to fight for the honor of their country, as they had already fought for its liberty, their manner changed. They ceased their abuse, and all ill- feeling was forgotten. The American army was dis- banded ; and Washington again went back to his home at Mount Vernon. 212 GEORGE WASHINGTON Washington's work was done A few months later, on the 14th of December, 1799, he died from the effects of a cold. He had lived not quite sixty-eight years. No other American has been so generally admired and esteemed. " First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his fellow-citizens," he will always be regarded as the greatest man that our country has produced. REVIEW Where and when was George Washington born ? Why was Virginia then the most important of the colonies ? How was trade carried on with England ? What nation claimed all the country west of the Alleghanies ? What did the men of Virginia think of this claim ? Tor what purpose did the Ohio Company wish to make a settlement on the Ohio Eiver? Why was Washington sent on his perilous journey to Fort le Boeuf ? Why was Braddock with his army sent across the Alleghanies ? Of what war was this the be- ginning? What were the causes of this war? Why were the colonists dissatisfied with the English king and Parliament ? When did the First Continental Congress meet, and what did it do? When and where was the first battle of the Eevolution fought ? When did the Second Continental Congress meet, and what did it do ? When was the Declaration of Independence made? How long did the Revolutionary War continue? Where and when was the last battle fought? What services did Washington perform during the war? What kind of government did the United States have at the close of the war ? When was the Constitution of the United States adopted ? What was the object of the Constitution? When was Washington inaugurated first President of the United States ? What were some of the difficult things he had to do ? Why would he not be elected for the third time? What advice did he give in his FarewelJ Address? DANIEL BOONE AND THE SETTLEMENT OF KENTUCKY I. THE YOUNG HUNTER In Pennsylvania. — Daniel Boone was born in Pennsyl- vania a few miles north of Philadelphia. In front of his father's log cabin flowed the Delaware River; be- hind it were the wild woods, stretching so far to the west and the north that no man could tell where they ended. Daniel took but little interest in the river, but he loved the forest. As soon as he was strong enough to hold a rifle he learned to shoot. His eye was so keen and his hand was so steady that he 213 214 DANIEL BOONE never failed to hit the mark. Before he was ten years old he was a famous hunter. He would shoulder his gun and go out alone, far into the tangled woods, in search of game. He never lost his way, and was never afraid of anything. None of the older hunters were so successful as he, and he kept the family table well supplied with venison. Now and then he would bring down a bear or even a panther ; and while he was pleased with his success he never boasted of his skill. The forest seemed to be his natural home, and there he spent the greater part of his time. In North Carolina. — When Daniel was about fourteen years old his father decided to remove to North Carolina. It was a long, hard journey of seven hundred miles, and the family traveled all the way on horseback and on foot ; for there were no roads then. The new home was on the banks of the Yadkin River, in the very heart of the forest. It was just the place for a hunter. A little log cabin was built, some small fields were cleared, and the family settled down to a happy and contented life. Marriage. — Six or seven years passed. Other families came and made their homes on the Yadkin. The woods were being cut away, and the hunting was not so good as before. Daniel Boone was a tall, strong young man now, famous for miles around as the best hunter in that part of the country. He thought it was time for him to have a home of his own. So he asked a neighbor's pretty daughter to be his wife. She consented, and they were married. THE COUNTRY BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS 215 The backwoods home. — Daniel Boone had nothing but his rifle and an ax. But what more coidd he ' want ? He went far into the woods, out of sight and hearing of all his neighbors, and there built his own house. He built it of unhewn logs and covered it with strips of bark. At one end he made a big fireplace of stones and clay. Blocks of wood served as chairs ; the broad, smooth top of another made a serviceable table. A heap of furs would make a fine bed. The level ground, well swept, was good enough for a floor. No window was needed ; and as for the door, what could be better than a bearskin hung over the opening to keep out the wind and the rain ? Life in the forest. — To this humble home Daniel Boone took his bride ; and I doubt if there was ever a nnich happier home-coming. A pot and skillet, and a few pewter dishes, made the furnishing of the house com- plete. As for food, there was no reason to be anxious about that. Daniel's rifle was sure to secure plenty of game for meat. Corn meal was easily obtained for bread ; the brook furnished water to drink. King and queen never lived happier than young Mr. and Mrs. Boone. II. THE COUNTRY BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS The western country. — It was not long, however, until many new settlers came into the neighborhood. Game was no longer plentiful. Then Boone began to grow restless. From the door of his cabin he could see, far to the west, the dim, blue outlines of mountains rising like a wall to conceal some new, unknown world 216 DANIEL BOONE They were the Blue Kidge Mountains, and beyond them were other ranges of unknown number and extent. Among the settlers on the Yadkin there was, no doubt, much talk about these mountains, but most that was said was mere guesswork. Very few white men had ever crossed them, and people had strange ideas about the region on the other side of them. As Daniel Boone gazed at them from his cabin door he wondered whether good hunting grounds were not there. Kentucky. — One day a hunter came to his cabin and told him a tale which made him more restless than ever. This hunter had just returned from a trip on the other side of the distant western mountains. He said that the country was the most beautiful in the world, and that it was full of game of all sorts. No Indians lived there ; but it was the common hunting ground of many tribes. They called it Kentucky, or ''the dark and bloody ground," because of the many fierce battles that had been fought there by rival bands of Indian hunters. The hunters. — Daniel Boone made up his mind to go at once to this new-found region beyond the mountains. Six other hunters agreed to go with him. It was on the first day of May, 1769, that he bade his wife and children good-by and started on his long and perilous journey. Five weeks later he stood with his companions, on a summit of the Cumberland Mountains, and viewed for the first time the beautiful region now known as Kentucky. All that had been told him of its forests and streams and wild game was true. The hunters built a log camp near the THE COUNTRY BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS 217 banks of the Red River of Kentucky, and there they remained for seven months, making long excursions into the forest and living an easy, half-savage life. Early in the winter Boone and one of his companions were sur- prised and made prisoners by a band of strolling Indians. "He stood on a summit of the Cumberland Mountains At the end of a week they escaped ; but when they re- turned to their camp they found it in ruins. The other five men were never again heard of, and there is little doubt that they perished at the hands of the Indians. When Boone returned to his home on the Yadkin he gave a glowing account of the new country of Kentucky, of its beautiful scenery, its rivers and mountains, its fertile soil, and its abundant game. The story was told from house to house and was soon known in many parts of Carolina and Virginia ; and many people became eager to emigrate to the rich, wild region beyond the mountains. 218 DANIEL BOONE III. KENTUCKY Boonesboro. — Boone soon went back to the West. He built a strong fort of logs on the left bank of the Kentucky River and named the place Boonesboro. Thither he con- ducted his wife and family and about thirty of his neigh- bors who were anx- ious to try their fortunes in the new country. Thus the foundations were laid for the noble commonwealth of Kentucky. Captured by Indians. — There w^as constant danger from prowling bands of Indians who did not like this intrusion of white men upon their hunting grounds. Daniel Boone had many adventures among them, and many narrow escapes. At one time he was captured by a large band and taken to the Indian town of Old Chilli- cothe, nearly two hundred miles north of Boonesboro. The Indians liked him so well that they adopted him into their tribe. They permitted him to do very much as he pleased, but kept a close watch over him to pre- vent his escape. He pretended to be pleased with their company. He joined them in their sports, and went He built a strong fort of logs KENTUCKY 219 hunting with them, and was almost as much of an In- dian as any of them. The escape. — Thus several months were passed in cap- tivity. One day he learned that the Indians were plan- ning to send a war party into Kentucky to capture and destroy Boonesboro. That night while the Indians were sleeping he stole away from the town and made his way homeward through the woods. He traveled one hundred and sixty miles in four days, and at last arrived safe at home. His friends had all given him up as dead, '*'*siil| -Z^" At one time he was captured" and his wife not hoping to see him again had returned with his children to her father's house on the Yadkin. The Indians soon attacked the fort; but Boone and his men resisted them bravely and drove them away. 220 DANIEL BOONE The settlement of Kentucky. — Soon after this, Boone went back to North Carolina to be with his family ; but before long he brought them again to Boonesboro, where they remained several years. The Indians were still very troublesome, and life in the backwoods was full of peril. But in spite of all this, numbers of people from Virginia and the Carolinas pushed their way over the mountains and began making themselves new homes in Kentucky. Little settlements sprang up here and there, and pioneers built their cabins and hewed out little clearings in many lone places in the heart of the woods. Boone goes farther west. — In 1792 Kentucky became a state. It was no longer a great hunting ground. Much of the woods had been cut down, the game had been killed or driven away, it was no place for a hunter like Daniel Boone. When he was sixty years old he left the state for which he had done so much and removed to Missouri, which was still a wild, unsettled country. There he lived, hale and hearty, until he was a very old man. His passion for hunting clung to him to the end of his life, and his chief enjoyment was in roam- ing through the woods with his rifle on his shoulder. 'REVIEW Which of the colonies claimed the country on both sides of the Ohio ? Why did this region remain so long unknown ? Why did Kentucky seem so attractive to Daniel Boone ? Why is he sometimes called the founder of Kentucky ? GEORGE ROGERS CLARK AND THE CONQUEST OF THE NORTHWEST •I. THE PRIME RIFLEMEN OF KENTUCKY Kentucky a part of Virginia. — Virginia claimed that Kentucky was a part of her own territory. It was included in the grant which the king of England had Virginia, Kentucky, and the Northwest made to that colony far back in the time of John Smith' and the early days at Jamestown. When the Revolution- ary War began, the backwoodsmen of Kentucky remained loyal to Virginia. They joined hands with their brothers 221 222 GEORGE ROGERS CLARK along the distant Potomac and by the James River, and all united in declaring themselves independent of England. As the war went on, however, it was found that Vir- ginia had enough to do to guard her own shores and send her share of troops to serve in the patriot army of Wash- ington. She could spare neither men nor money for the protection of her western lands. If danger should threaten her colony of Kentucky she could give it but little aid. Indians and British. — The British were not long in finding this out. General Hamilton, the British com- mander at Detroit, formed a plan to harass and destroy the settlements in Kentucky, and thus conquer all the country west of the Alleghanies. He encouraged the Indians to fight for the British, and sent their war parties across the Ohio to murder the settlers and to de- stroy their homes. Bands of these savjiges would appear suddenly before the cabins of the settlers, shoot and scalp the men, burn the buildings, and carry the women and children into captivity. It seemed for a while as though every settlement in Kentucky would be blotted out. George Rogers Clark. — Among the friends of Daniel Boone there was a young surveyor whose name was George Rogers Clark. He had but lately come from Virginia; but, as the troubles increased in Kentucky, he soon showed himself to be so wise and brave that the pioneers began 'to look up to him as a leader. For protection against the Indians they formed themselves into a company of militiamen called " the prime riflemen of Kentucky," and elected Clark as their captain. THE PRIME RIFLEMEN OF KENTUCKY 223 The Kentucky riflemen were among the bravest fighters in the country, and they knew all about Indian methods of warfare. But their store of powder was being rapidly used up, and they were but poorly prepared for war. They there- fore decided to send Captain Clark to Virginia, to tell the governor how things stood, and, if possible, obtain some help. "Bands of these savages would suddenly appear" Patrick Henry was the governor. He listened with much attention to Clark's story of the distress and alarm among the border settlements, but he regretted that it was impossible to give them any aid — Virginia was hard pressed to take care of herself. Captain Clark would not be put off; he would not listen to excuses. 224 GEORGE ROGERS CLARK " A country that is not worth protecting is not worth claiming," he said. He pleaded his case so well that the governor gave him five hundred pounds of powder, and promised still further aid when it was needed. II. THE CONQUEST OE ILLINOIS More trouble. — When Clark returned to Kentucky he found that the Indians were more troublesome than ever. Band after band crossed the Ohio, being urged on by the promise of reward from the British commander. They skulked through the forest, and appeared suddenly where they were least expected. They killed, they burned, they destroyed without mercy. Outside of the strongest forts no life was safe. Clark's plan. — George Eogers Clark saw that the only way to meet the danger was to strike at its source. He therefore decided upon a plan which he thought would save not only Kentucky, but also the whole of the Northwest for the new state of Virginia. He would march into the enemy's country, and, by capturing the British posts there, he would so overawe the Indian tribes that they would cease their murderous work. His plan approved. — He hurried back to Virginia. The governor listened with pleasure to his plans ; gave him money and a commission as colonel in the army of Virginia; and authorized him to raise seven companies of volunteers for the invasion of Illinois. The object of the expedition was to be kept secret until the little army was well on its way. THE CONQUEST OF ILLINOIS 225 The march into Illinois. — Colonel Clark was unable to raise so many companies ; but he was soon at the head of a force of nearly two hundred backwoodsmen who were ready to follow him upon any enterprise, no matter how difficult or dangerous. The little army floated down the Ohio from Pittsburg to a point nearly opposite the mouth of the Tennessee River. Then it marched on foot through an uninhabited country, for a hundred and thirty miles, to the town of Kaskaskia near the Mississippi. Kaskaskia was one of the oldest and most important of the French settlements in the West. Its inhabitants were still French, although it was the chief post of the British in the Illinois country. No one had supposed that it would ever be at- tacked by the Ameri- cans, and hence it was protected by only a handful of men under a French officer in the service of the British. The French settlements captured. — It was night when Colonel Clark and his men reached the village. No ■^^W S/Mj^ffm^ ' '^ 1 'l«\ja|By ^1'<«i'~ f^if^l^p^aB (^^^^P^wl^ii^^^^H Mt''"lllriH HIHI^^H ^HJI^^H ^^^H "Go on with your fun " Barnes's el. 15 226 GEORGE ROGERS CLARK sentinel was on guard, and Clark made his way to the fort. As he pushed open the door he saw the soldiers and their friends engaged in a dance. The alarm was given by an Indian who was lying on the floor, but Clark coolly stepped into the room and said : '^ Go on with your fun. But remember that you are now dancing under the flag of Virginia instead of that of England." The garrison surrendered at once. The French people received the backwoods riflemen with delight. It was an easy matter after the fall of Kaskaskia to take possession of the other French settle- ments in Illinois, none of which was far distant. Two men were also sent to Vincennes on the Wabash to receive the surrender of that place. Vincennes. — When General Hamilton at Detroit heard of the manner in which Colonel Clark had invaded the Illinois country, he at once prepared to march out and recover what had been lost. At the head of several hun- dred British soldiers. Frenchmen, and Indians, he de- scended the Wabash River and retook Vincennes, finding in the fort there only the two soldiers who had taken possession of it for Colonel Clark. As it was then the beginning of winter he decided to remain in Vincennes until spring. He expected to strengthen the place, and when the weather grew milder march against the Vir- ginians at Kaskaskia. Hamilton surrenders. — But Colonel Clark was not the man to wait to be attacked. As soon as he heard that Hamilton was so near, he began to make ready to meet THE CONQUEST OF ILLINOIS 227 him. While it was still midwinter he led his little army over the flooded and half-frozen prairies of Illinois, crossed the Wabash, and before his presence was suspected, made a determined attack upon the British in their fort at Vin- cennes. General Hamilton had felt so secure in his winter quarters that he had permitted most of his soldiers and his Colonel Clark was not the man to wait Indian allies to return to Detroit. He was unprepared for a siege ; and he was so completely surprised by the attack, that he surrendered without making more than the faintest show of resistance. The county of Illinois. — All the country north of the Ohio w^as now in possession of the Virginians. The legislature of Virginia organized it into the county of 228 GEORGE ROGERS CLARK Illinois, with Kaskaskia as its capital, and appointed a governor to have control of its public affairs. The Indians hastened to make treaties of peace, and no more savage raids were made into the settlements be- yond the Ohio. George Rogers Clark had not only saved Kentucky, but he had conquered the whole of the Northwest for the United States. Had it not been for his courage and good management the Ohio River might have remained the southern boundary line of Canada, and England might to this day have kept possession of the Great Lakes and all the rich country adjoining them. REVIEW Why did Virginia claim Kentucky as a part of her territory ? Why could she not help the settlers there during the Revolution ? Why did the British wish to destroy the settlements ? Why did Captain Clark wish to capture the British posts in Illinois and on the Wabash ? If he had not succeeded, what might have been the result ? THOMAS JEFFERSON * AND THE FOUNDING OF THE GOVERNMENT I. "TREASON!" Two young patriots. — You have already read about the Stamp Act and the tax on tea, which caused so much commotion in the colonies. At the time when all the country was stirred up by these things there were two young men at Williamsburg, Virginia, who were fearless in their defiance of the king. One of these was Thomas Jefferson, a student at the College of William and Mary — a tall, slender youth with sandy hair and hazel eyes, and a powerful mind. The other was Patrick Henry, a lawyer, who was a great orator and could make fine speeches, although he knew but little law. He was sev- eral years older than Jefferson, and at that time was a member of the House of Burgesses. A famous speech. — As Jefferson stood at the door of the capitol at Williamsburg one morning, he heard Henry deliver the most daring speech that had yet been made upon the tyrannical acts of the king and his par- liament.. The orator was speaking to the rich burgesses of Virginia, and he held his audience spellbound while he told of the injustice of taxing a people without their consent. Then, as he brought his speech to a close, 229 230 THOMAS JEFFERSON^ he reached the climax : " Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First had his Croinwell, and George the Third — " and here he was interrupted by cries of '' Treason ! treason ! " from the listening burgesses. The speaker waited a mo- ment for silence, and then finished his sentence — " George the Third may profit by their example." Treason! treason! We may imagine what influence such speeches must have had upon the mind of the young student, Jefferson. In truth, however, no speeches were needed to arouse his patriotic zeal. All through the troubles which led up to the Revolutionary War he was among the foremost in defend- ing the American colonists. HOW THE COLONIES BECAME STATES 231 Jefferson in the Continental Congress. — When the Sec- ond Continental Congress met in Philadelphia^ Jefferson was there as one of the delegates from Virginia. At first there were few of the members who ventured to speak in favor of making the colonies independent. The aim of most was to induce the king and Parliament to change the laws so as to give to the people their just rights as loyal subjects of England. But their '' repeated petitions were answered only by repeated injury," and they at last saw that the only thing to be done was to rebel against the king's authority and to refuse to obey his laws. II. HOW THE COLONIES BECAME STATES The Declaration of Independence. — At length the time for action came. Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, offered a resolution asserting that '^ these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states." This was the first step, and the next was to appoint a committee to prepare a declaration of inde- pendence. Thomas Jefferson was one of the committee, and it fell to his lot to write the declaration. In it he set forth the reasons which obliged the colonies to rebel. It was because of the tyranny of the king, he said. What had the king done? — Every act of oppression was clearly stated in the Declaration. The king had refused to make good laws for the colonies. He would not permit the colonies to make good laws for themselves. 232 THOMAS JEFFERSON Independence Hall, Philadelphia. - The place where Congress met He had kept a standing army in the colonies in times of peace, and had obliged the colonists to feed and lodge the soldiers. He had forbidden the colonies to trade with other parts of the world. He had taxed them without their consent. He had taken away their charters, and was waging war against them. He had plundered their seas, ravaged their coasts, burnt their towns, and destroyed the lives of many people. He had incited the Indians to make war upon the border settlements. OUR COUNTRY INDEPENDENT 233 He had refused to listen to the petitions which the colonists had humbly presented him. The king a tyrant. — Such, in substance, were some of the things which Jeiferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence. The king who is guilty of such acts, he added, is a tyrant, and unfit to be the ruler of a free people. And then, at the close of the Declaration he asserted that the time had come for the setting up of a new government — a government founded upon the prin- ciple that all men are created equal, and have rights which no power can justly take away from them.. The colonies become states. — The Declaration, as I have said, was written by Jefferson. It was slightly revised by Adams and Franklin, and was reported to Congress on the 2d of July. On that day and the next, it was carefully examined and discussed. Then, on the 4th of July, 1776, it was agreed to, and was signed by John Hancock, the president of the Congress. From that moment the thirteen colonies were no longer colonies, but independent states. III. OUR COUNTRY INDEPENDENT Governor of Virginia. — Mr, Jefferson soon withdrew from Congress and returned to Virginia ; for he believed that one of the best ways to serve his country was to serve his native state. For three years he was one of the most active members of the Virginia House of Delegates, as the House of Burgesses was then called. He proposed many wise laws for the new state, and helped the people to 234 THOMAS JEFFERSON provide means for her defense. In 1779, he was chosen governor of Virginia. Perilous times. — It was the most trying period in the war of the Revolution. British soldiers had invaded Vir- ginia ; British ships were blockading her harbors ; the patriots were hard beset on every hand. But Jefferson proved to be a wise and able governor. In the North, through the skill and perseverance of Washington, the tide of war had been turned. Through the efforts of Benjamin Franklin, the king of France had been induced to help the states in their struggle against Great Britain. The Marquis de Lafayette, a young French nobleman, had come to America and was one of Washing- ton's strongest helpers. In the South, the partisan leaders, Marion and Sumter, had given the British much trouble and were doing good service to the cause of freedom. General Greene, with the patriots of the Carolinas, dealt the enemy more than one stunnine: blow. At last Washino^ton marched 1781 into Virginia and with the help of his French allies defeated Cornwallis at Yorktown and forced him to sur- render the British army. And thus the long war of the Revolution was brought to an end. IV. MANY PATRIOTIC SERVICES The treaty of peace. — Jefferson's term of office, as gov- ernor of Virginia, expired in the same year that the war was ended. He retired to his country home, Monticello, where he busied himself in looking after his plantation, MANY PATRIOTIC SERVICES 235 nursing his sick wife, cand attending to the education of his children. But the country needed his services ; and two years Utter he was again in Philadelphia as one of Virginia's delegates to the Continental Congress. He took his seat there in time to vote in favor of the treaty of peace with Great Britain. By that treaty our country Monticello was assured of the independence claimed in the Declara- tion which Jefferson had written seven years before. The Northwest Territory. — The vast region north of the Ohio, which George Rogers Clark had rescued from the British, was still unsettled. The most of it was claimed by Virginia and, as we have seen, was included in the new county of Illinois. Many persons thought it was not right that this great territory should be con- trolled by a single state. Thomas Jefferson was of the 236 THOMAS JEFFERSON same opinion, and Virginia at last decided to give up her claims. Her deed of gift of the great Northwest was pre- sented to Congress by Jefferson himself. A wise law. — Jefferson was also one of a committee appointed to prepare a plan of government for the North- west Territory, as it was called. No doubt it was he who suggested the wise provisions that were afterwards made for the support of public schools in that part of our country. By these provisions, one square mile of land in every thirty-six was given for the education of the children. Minister to France. — But Jefferson did not remain long in Congress. Before a year had passed, he was appointed United States minister to France. He re- mained abroad for five years. When he returned, the new Constitution had been adopted, and George Washing- ton was just beginning his first term as President of the United States. Secretary of State. — Jefferson had hoped to be sent back to France, but Washington wished him to become a member of his cabinet as Secretary of State. The nation was then in its infancy and it was very necessary that the wisest men should be at the head of its affairs. Next to Jefferson in the President's cabinet was Alexander Ham- ilton of New York, who was Secretary of the Treasury. Henry Knox of Massachusetts was Secretary of War, and Edmund Randolph of Virginia was Attorney-general. These four were the only members of the first cabinet. Jefferson and Hamilton could never agree upon public questions. Jefferson was in favor of intrusting all ma.tters AN IMPORTANT PURCHASE 237 of government to the people of the states ; Hamilton wanted a strong central government, and was afraid of giving too much power to the people. Two political par- ties were formed. Of one of these, called the Federal party, Hamilton was the leader. Of the other, called tlie Democratic-Republican party, Jefferson was the founder. The two men at last became bitter enemies ; and Jefferson, after nearly four years of service, was glad to give up his place in the cabinet and retire once more to the quiet of Monticello. But he was still the leader of the Democratic-Repub- lican party — an organization which was later known, and is still known, as the Democratic party. When Wash- ington refused to be elected for a third term, Jefferson allowed himself to become his party's candidate for the presidency. The candidate of the Federal party was John Adams of Massachusetts. Adams was elected, and Jefferson having received the next highest number of votes was chosen Vice President. v. AN IMPORTANT PURCHASE The third President of the United States. — Four years later, Jefferson's party triumphed and he became the third President of the United States. It is said, although the story is disputed, that upon the day of his inauguration he rode on horseback to the capitol, hitched his horse 1801 to a post, and walked unattended into the senate chamber. He was a citizen of the United States, called to direct its public affairs, and he refused all marks of atten- 238 THOMAS jp:fferson tion that would not have been paid to him as a private person. He had the greatest confidence in the repubhc. " Some honest men/' he said, " fear that a repubhcan government is not strong enough. I believe it, on the contrary, the strongest on earth." "He rode on horseback to the capitol' Louisiana. — The United States, as at the close of the Revolution, was still bounded on the west by the Mis- sissippi. The country beyond that river belonged to France, having been given up to her by Spain only a short time before. It was called Louisiana. Nobody knew its AN IMPORTANT PURCHASE 239 exact extent. Nobody knew what were its resources, or what might be its future vahie, for only portions of it had been explored. But France needed money, and Napoleon Bonaparte, who was at the head of French affairs, offered to sell the entire region to the United States. 1803 The Louisiana purchase The purchase of Louisiana. — President Jefferson had already sent James Monroe to Paris, with full power to do what he believed best. A bargain was soon made. For the sum of fifteen million dollars the vast territory of Louisiana was given up to the United States. Our country's boundaries were thus extended to the Rocky Mountains, and its area was more than doubled. Jefferson reelected. — The people were well pleased with the way in which Jefferson conducted the affairs of 240 THOMAS JEFFERSON the government, and when his term was about to expire they reelected him by a much larger vote than he had received be lore. VI. SHIPS EMBARGOED Trouble with England and France. — During Jefferson's second term as President, there was much trouble with foreign nations. Great Britain and France were again at war, and every effort was made by them to force the United States to take sides in the quarrel. British ships over- hauled American vessels at sea, and even within sight of American harbors, under pretense of searching for sailors who had deserted from the British navy. American sail- ors wei'e forcibly taken from their own ships and made to serve on British men-of-war. The British government forbade our merchants to sell or buy in French ports, and our trading vessels were stopped at sea and searched for French goods. France, on the other hand, was also overbearing and unjust. Many American vessels were seized in French ports, and French ships were sent out to prevent any trade between our country and England. The embargo. — It would seem that nothing but war could remedy these abuses ; but Jefferson adopted another plan. " Our passion," he said, " is peace." Since other nations denied to the United States the freedom of the seas, he thought that the best way to punish them and secure justice was for the United States to abandon the seas. He therefore placed an embargo on all our shipping in SHIPS EMBARGOED 241 American waters — that is, no American vessel was permitted to leave port for foreign lands. It was thought that Great Britain, rather than lose her trade with this country, would agree to make amends for the injuries which she had inflicted. A great mistake. — But the embargo caused far greater harm to the American people than to the English. Busi- ness came to a stand- still. Merchants closed their doors. Wages stopped. The prices of all kinds of produce went down. Every in- dustry was threatened with ruin. And be- "Sailors were forcibly taken from our ships" sides all this, the British were just as abusive as before. James Madison becomes President. — The embargo was continued until the last day of Jefferson's second term ; but he himself saw that it was a great mistake. In 1809 he was succeeded by James Madison, his friend and fellow- BARNES^S EL. 16 242 THOMAS JEFFERSON Virginian. It was tlien plain to almost every person that a war with Great Britain must surely come. Jefferson again at Monticello. — Jefferson retired again to Monticello. He had served his country almost continu- ously for more than forty years. During the remainder of his life he was busj^with plans for the education of the young and for the doing of good to mankind. His most important work was the founding of the University of Virginia. He lived to see the opening of that institu- tion with bright prospects for its success. The end of a useful life. — In the following year, just fifty years to the day from the adoption of his Declaration of Independence, he died. He was buried in his own grounds at Monticello, and on his tombstone was en- graved the epitajjh which he himself had composed : " Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Statute of Viro:inia for Relig;ious Freedom, and Father of the Uni- versity of Virginia." REVIEW What important part did Jefferson take in establishing the inde- pendence of the colonies ? Of what did the Declaration of Independ- ence accuse the king of England ? Name some of the patriotic services of Thomas Jefferson. On what questions did Jefferson and Hamilton differ ? What great addition did Jefferson make to the territor}^ of the United States ? How ? What is meant by an embargo ? Why did Jefferson place an embargo on the shipping in American ports ? What was the last important act of Jefferson's life? ELI WHITNEY AND THE INVENTION OF THE COTTON GIN I. AMBITION AND PERSEVERANCE Childhood. — When the Declaration of Independence was made, Eli Whitney was about ten years old. His home was on a farm near the village of Westboro in Massa- chusetts. He did not go to school very much when a child, neither did he have many I books to read. His father wished him to be a farmer like him- self, and did not think it necessary for him to have an education. An inquisitive boy. — Bat Eli was not satis- fied with this. He was always anxious to learn, and he wished to know how everything was made. Once when he was a very little lad he took all the wheels out of his father's watch in order to see how they were made and 243 -=*^?-s.- An inquisitive boy 244 ELI WHITNEY how they were put together. His father was at church at the time, but when he returned home the watch was hanging in its place and ticking away as though no one had touched it. The child had put every wheel back just where it belonged, and it was not till a long while after- ward that he told his father what he had done. The shop. — Mr. Whitney, like most farmers at that time, had a shop of his own where he made little articles for the house and mended his wagons and plows and other farming implements. The tools in this shop were a source of great delight to Eli, and before he was ten years old he could handle them as well as any one. He could make anything that was needed about the house or farm. Making nails. — During the Revolutionary War the price of all kinds of iron goods was very high. Even nails were scarce and costly. '' Why not make nails in our shop and sell them ? " said Eli Whitney. " It would be a more profitable business than hoeing and plowing." His father thought so too, and the boy set up a forge and went to work. All nails at that time were made by hand; and the ringing of Eli's hammer on his father's anvil was heard from morning till night. There was a good demand for nails ; and Eli Whitney's were of the best quajity and brought a high price. Going to college. — One day, after the Revolutionary War was over, he surprised his father by saying that he was going to college. Mr. Whitney did not think that an education was of much use to a working man, and he would have been pleased if his son had been content to be AMBITION AND PERSEVERANCE 245 a nail-maker all his life. For three years Eli studied hard to prepare himself for college, and during all that time he kept on working. Then with his small earnings he went to New Haven and passed the examinations for entrance into Yale: Working his way. — It was very hard for him to get money enough to carry him through college. But he was not ashamed to work. He did little jobs of carpentering and mending at odd hours, and during vacation he taught a small country school. The professors and students had great respect for him, for they saw that he was a young man who would make his mark in the world. A law student. — He still retained his love for tools and machinery, but he did not wish to be a mechanic. He therefore decided to become a lawyer. But how should he support himself while studying law ? While he was thinking of this question, a letter was received from Savannah, Georgia, saying that a teacher was wanted in a certain private school in that city. He might have the position if he wished it. Here then was his opportunity. He would go to Savannah, accept the place, study law while teaching, and earn money enough to give him a start in his profession. Disappointment. — The journey to Georgia was a very long and tiresome one in those days. When Whitney finally reached Savannah he met only disappointment. The school was not what it had been represented, and the salary was not sufficient to pay his board. What should he do? 246 ELI WHITNEY II. THE COTTON GIN A friend indeed. — At Mulberry Grove, on the Savan- nah River, there lived at that time a wealthy and accom- plished lady whose name was Mrs. Greene. She was the widow of General Nathanael Greene, one of the ablest and most famous officers in the Revolutionary War. She had made the acquaintance of young Whitney on the boat which had brought both of them from New York, and she was pleased w^th his intelligence and attractive manners. '' Come to Mulberry Grove," she said, " and study law under my roof. You shall be welcome to stay as long as you please." And so to Mulberry Grove he went. ^^^m^^'^^mmmm A cotton field Cotton. — At that time there were no great cotton plantations in the South as there are now. The climate and the soil were just what was needed for the growing THE COTTON GIN 247 of cotton, and large crops might have been raised. But the planters could not make it profitable. When the cotton is taken from the plant it contains a great many seeds which must be picked out before it can be sent to "It would require a great many slaves" market. There was no way to do this but by hand. A slave with nimble fingers could clean only one pound of cotton in a day. It would require a great many slaves to prepare a large crop for market. "If some person would only invent a machine for picking out the seeds," said a planter to Mrs. Greene, " cotton would soon become the most profitable thing in the South." 248 ELI WHITNEY " Mr. Whitney, my young friend from Massachusetts, will make such a machine," said Mrs. Greene. " He can make anything he tries." And so the matter was explained to Mr. Whitney. " Yes, I tliink I can make such a machine," he said. Making the cotton gin. — Mr. Whitney had never seen raw cotton, nor had he seen any cotton seeds. But some cotton with the seeds in it was obtained and he began to experiment with it. There were many difficul- ties in his way. He had to make his own tools before he could begin work on his macliine. Months passed before the model for his first machine was completed. No one was permitted to see it except Mrs. Greene and the man- ager of her plantation. But there was much talk about it among the neighboring planters ; and one night the shop was broken into and the model was stolen. Defending the patent. — It was necessary, of course, to make a new model ; but before it could be finished the men who had stolen the first were making machines and claiming them as their own invention. At length, how- ever, the work was completed, and Eli Whitney exhibited his cotton gin, as it was called, to the planters around Savannah. By its use one man could clean more cotton in a day than a hundred men could clean by hand, and the cleaning was also better done. Everybody saw the advantage of such a machine, and the planters all through the South began to raise larger crops of cotton. But other men came forward with similar machines, and tried to prove that Mr. Whitney was not the inventor of THE COTTON GIN 249 A modern cotton gin the cotton gin. He was obliged to go to law to defend himself ; and at one time he had no fewer than sixty law- suits in the courts. Finally, after many vexations and misfortunes, he found that he would never receive much profit from the gin, and he decided to give his attention to other things. At New Haven, Con- necticut, he built a large shop for the manufac- ture of firearms ; and in this he was so sue-, cessful that he soon acquired a very large fortune. He was the first person to make firearms by improved machinery ; and his shop became the model for all the great arsenals that were afterwards built in this country. Justice at last. — Eli Whitney died at the age of sixty years. But it is pleasant to know that before his death all the world was ready to acknowledge his claims as the in- ventor of the cotton gin ; and as long as our country exists his name will be honored as that of one of its greatest benefactors. REVIEW Why was not cotton-raising as profitable in the South at the close of the Revolution as it is now? Why did other men wish to rob Whitney of his invention? What effect did the invention of the cotton gin liave upon the wealth of the South? Why ? ROBERT FULTON AND THE INVENTION OF THE STEAMBOAT I. AN INGENIOUS BOY The birth of an idea. — At about the time that young Eli Whitney was setting up his forge and getting ready to hammer nails on his father's anvil, two other boys of nearly the same age as himself were fishing in the Conestoga River in Pennsylvania. They were in a heavy, flat-bottomed boat, which they moved from place to place by means of a pole. This was done by standing in the stern of the boat and pushing on the pole, one end of which was thrust to the bottom of the stream. It was hard work and slow work, and the boys were sometimes very tired with lifting the pole and then pushing it down again. " Some time," said the younger lad, " I intend to make a boat that will go faster and easier than this." " That is just like you, Robert Fulton," said the other, whose name was Christopher. " You are always making things, or planning to make them." " Just wait till I come back from my aunt's," answered Robert. The young machinist. — The next day Robert went on a visit to his aunt, while Christopher remained at a farm- house near the river for a few more days of fishing. 260 i AN INGENIOUS BOY 261 At his aunt's Robert's first care was to get hold of some tools. Then he found a place in the attic which he could use as a shop ; and after that, but little was seen of him. He spent his time in whittling, hammering, sawing, and tinkering, and told his secret to nobody. When his visit was ended, and he went to say good-by to his aunt, he gave her a little toy boat which had a tiny paddle-wheel on each side. " Keep this boat, aunt, till I come again," he said. When he returned to the Conestoga he found his friend still there, fishing from the old flat-bottomed boat. " I have studied it all out, Christopher," he said. The paddle-wheel boat. — For the next two or three days the boys spent their time on shore, making a pair of paddle-wheels. First, two sticks of equal length were fastened together at the middle, so that they stood at right ano:les to each other. Then to the four ends of the sticks the boys nailed flat pieces of boards to serve ns paddles. Two paddle-wheels of this kind were made, one for each side of the boat. They were connected by a long iron rod which crossed the boat from side to side. The rod was bent in the middle so as to form a crank. The trial trip. — When all was ready, the boys made a trial trip with their boat. They found that the paddles were a great improvement over the pole. " She goes all right," said Christopher ; " but how are we to guide her ? " " That is an easy matter," said Robert Fulton ; and he rigged an oar at the stern to serve as a rudder. They were able then to make the boat go where they wished. 252 ROBERT FULTON " Quicksilver Bob." — Robert Fulton was in one respect like Eli Whitney — he was always busy looking into things and making things. He was fond of making experiments. At one time he bought some quicksilver at the village store, and his school- ^^-Or.XlJs^'C^^Iir^ mates were very curious to know what he was go- ing to do with it. " The boys made a trial trip " But in answer to all their ques- tions he merely shook his head, and they never learned what sort of experiment he was trying. From that time, how- ever, he was known among his intimate friends as "Quicksilver Bob." It was not a bad nickname for a person so restless and busy as he. II. PAINTER AND INVENTOR Robert Fulton's home was in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. During the Revolutionary War he took great interest in the gun shops in the village ; for guns, like nails, were then made by hand, and almost every blacksmith was also a gunsmith. Boy as he was, Robert knew more than most men about the science of gun-making. He could tell just how far a certain charge of powder wonld carry a ball ; and he made many plans for the improvement of firearms. PAINTER AND INVENTOR 253 An artist. — But Robert did not spend all his time in the shops. He was a lover of beautiful pictures, and he knew as much about drawing as about tools and machin- ery. It was his wish to become a great artist. When he was seventeen years old he went to Philadelphia to receive instruction in art. There he became acquainted with Benjamin Franklin, and there he spent three years studying and painting. He painted miniature portraits and landscapes ; and his work was so highly praised that his friends advised him to go to Europe for further study. In London. — He was not quite twenty-one when he went to London. There the great painter Benjamin West received him into his house and gave him instruction in his chosen art. He stayed in England several years ; bat his active nature would not permit him to devote all his time to the painting of pictures. He took an interest in the busy affairs of the world, and was never so happy as when '• making things or planning to make them." He invented a double-inclined plane for raising and lowering canal boats from one level to another. He patented a mill for sawing marble, a dredging machine, a spinning machine, and other useful and curious things. There were few busie. men in England than this young artist from America. In Paris. — In 1794 he went to Paris, where he painted the first panorama ever seen in France. He then began to make experiments with torpedoes to be used in war for the blowing up of vessels at sea. He also invented a boat for sailing under the water. But neither of these schemes proved to be very successful. 254 ROBERT FULTON The first steamboats. — At that time people had not learned to make much use of steam. A few clumsy engines had been made, but they were very cumbersome and of but little value. There were no steam cars, no great steam mills, and no steamboats in all the world. Ships and boats were moved by the wind, and a voy- age of only a few miles often occupied several days. While Robert Fulton was in England, several men at different places w^ere trying to find some method of mov- ing boats by means of steam. John Stevens, at Hoboken, New Jersey, built a boat which was propelled by steam and traveled five miles an hour ; but it was looked upon rather as a curiosity than as something useful. At Phila- ^^ delphia, a man named _ " ' ' -- John Fitch made a boat with paddles, which was driven by steam at the rate of eight miles an hour. But for some „. . , ^ reason this boat did not John Fitch's boat prove successful and was abandoned. Other men spent much time and money in trying to make similar inventions, and not one succeeded. People laughed at them and said that it was folly to think of making steam drive a boat or indeed anything else. In the meanwhile Robert Fulton was studying the same thing. No doubt he remembered the paddles which he had made so long before for the fishing-boat on THE CLERMONT 255 the Conestoga. If he could put a steam engine in his boat and make it turn the paddle-wheels, why might not steam navigation be made successful ? Experiments. — There was in Paris at that time a wealthy American whose name was Robert R. Livingston. He was much interested in steamboats, and believed that the time was coming when they would be in general use. He urged Mr. Fulton to build a boat as an experiment, and promised to pay a large part of the expense. If the experiment was successful he would secure from the New York legislature a grant of the sole right to use steam- boats on the water courses of that state. III. THE CLERMONT Further experiments. — Thus encouraged, Robert Ful- ton went earnestly to work. A boat was soon built and launched upon the Seine ; but it was so top-heavy that it sank. Another boat was built with more care, and the old machinery was put into it. A trial trip was made ; but the vessel moved so slowly and uncertainly that it seemed to be a failure. Mr. Fulton was not the man to be discouraged. " We shall try again," he said. He decided that the next trial must be made in the United States. He therefore ordered an engine to be built in London ; and when it was finished he sailed with it for New York. "Fulton^s Folly." — For the next few months Fulton was busy superintending the building of his boat. His former failures and the failures of other men had taught 256 ROBERT FULTON him many valuable lessons. People laughed at him and said that he liad lost his senses. They called his boat " Fulton's Folly," and declared that it was impossible to build a steam vessel that would ever be of any use. Mr. Fulton listened to their talk and went on with his work. The " Clermont.*' — At last, in the summer of 1807, the boat was finished and the engine was put in place. The vessel was' 130 feet long and 16| feet wide. It had been built with the greatest care throughout. It was named the Clermont, after Mr. Livingston's country home ou the Hudson. It was a strange-looking craft, not much like the modern steamboats which are now seen daily on all our large rivers and lakes. Mr. Livingston said that it looked " like a backwoods sawmill mounted on a scow and set on fire." The trial trip. — The 11th of August was the day set for the trial trip. The boat was to steam up the Hudson River, and if possible go as far as to Albany. Few even of Mr. Fulton's friends believed that it would sail far out of sight of the pier from which it started. But the trip was successful in every way. The voyage to Albany was made in thirty-two hours, and without any serious mishap. The return to New York was accom- plished in thirty hours. There was no longer any doubt The " Clermont THE CLERMONT 257 as to whether boats could be propelled by steam. After that the Clermont made three trips regularly every week between New York and Albany. Opposition. — The owners of the sailing vessels on the Hudson were very jealous of the new boat. The}^ tried in every way to prevent the full success of Mr. Fulton's enterprise. They disputed his claim to the invention, and said that he had stolen his ideas from other men. They even tried to wreck the Clermont by running their own clumsy vessels against her, and breaking off the wheels. Steamboats and steamships. — But in spite of this opposition Mr. Fulton persevered. The Clermont, as a passenger boat, became very popular, and soon it was found necessary to build others like her. In a few years the voyage to Albany w^as made in eighteen hours instead of thirty-two. Soon steamboats were in use on all our inland waters. Twelve years after the trial trip of the Clermont, the first steamship voyage was made across the Atlantic. The vessel which accomplished this was the Savannah, of Savannah, Georgia. The voyage is now made in about six days, but it then occupied twenty-two days. Other inventions. — With the invention of the steam- boat Mr. Fulton accomplished the great work of his life. BARNKS'S EL. — 17 A modern steamboat 258 ROBERT FULTON "The voyage is now made in about six days" But he was not content to stop with that. He still took great interest in the invention of torpedoes for use in naval warfare. He planned and built the first steam war- ship in this country — a vessel carrying forty-four guns. The War of 1812 came to a close, however, before this ship could be tested, and it was never used. In 1815, when only fifty years old, Robert Fulton died. His name, like that of Eli Whitney, will always be remembered as that of one of the world's great benefactors. REVIEW How did people travel from place to place in Washington's time? How were goods carried? Make a list of inventions that have been made within the last hundred years. Name some things, now in everyday use, which were unknown in the time of Washing- ton. What influence did the perfection of the steamboat have upon travel and commerce ? ANDREW JACKSON AND THE PROGRESS OF THE NATION I. A SELF-MADE MAN A determined young rebel. — In one of the last years of the Revolutionary War, a band of British soldiers in South Carolina was sent out to capture some troublesome patriots, who were in the neighborhood of Waxhaw Creek. After a good deal of difficulty and some sharp fighting, they succeeded in bringing in a few backwoodsmen who were known to be determined rebels. Among these prisoners were two boys, Andrew Jackson, aged thirteen, and his brother Robert, who was a little older. "Desperate young fellows these are," said one of the British officers, " but we shall soon tame them ; " and he ordered Andrew to clean and polish his boots. The slender, pale-faced boy drew himself up proudly and answered, " Sir, I am a prisoner of war, and demand to be treated as such." " Indeed ! " cried the officer. " We shall soon see what you are. Down with you, and do my bidding ! " The boy's eyes blazed with fury as he answered, " I am an American, and will not be the slave of any Britisher that breathes." 2(50 ANDREW JACKSON The angry officer struck at him with his sword. Andrew parried the blow, but received a severe cut on his arm. To the end of his hfe the scar from that wound continued to nourish his hatred toward the British. Reading law. — Rob- ert Jackson died while in the British prison pen ; and Andrew, when he was finally given his freedom, found himself alone in the world, and obliged to make his own way as best he could. He worked for a short time in a saddler's shop in Charleston, but that trade was not agreeable to one of his restless nature. He had learned, in some unexplained way, to read and write ; and so he tried school teaching for a little while. The next thing heard of him, he was in Salisbury, North Carolina, trying to read law in the office of a noted judge whose name was John McNairy. Appointed to office. — He did not learn much law, but he was shrewd and self-confident, and had good judgment. I am an American THE NEW STATE OF TENNESSEE 261 And so, through the influence of his friend McNairy, he was appointed public prosecutor for the western district of North Carolina. He was then only twenty-one years of age. n. THE NEW STATE OF TENNESSEE At Nashville. — The western district of North Carolina comprised all the region now known as Tennessee. It was a wild country with only a few scattered settlements of white people. The inhabitants were for the most part rough backwoodsmen, who disliked the restraints of civil- ized life, and cared but little for the laws. Many were idle and thriftless. Drunken brawls were common. There were quarrels which set whole neighborhoods at odds, and often ended in bloodshed. To be public prosecutor required courage rather than scholarship, and Andrew Jackson proved himself well fitted for the position. He settled at Nashville, which was then merely a collection of log huts, and without fear or favor began to perform his duty. District attorney. — In the following spring Washing- ton was inaugurated first President of the United States ; and very soon afterward word came to Nashville that North Carolina had ceded her western district to the general government. Congress had formed a code of laws for the Southwest Territory, as the region was then called, and Andrew Jackson had been retained in his office with the title of district attorney. Movement to form a new state. — Three years later Congress admitted Kentucky into the Union, and imme- diately the people of the Southwest Territory began to 262 ANDREW JACKSON wonder why they too could not form themselves into a sovereign state on an equal footing with the others. The matter was discussed by the pioneers at all their neighbor- hood meetings, and finally a convention was called at Knoxville to form a state constitution. Tennessee. — On a day in midwinter, 1796, a number of backwoodsmen, with hunting knives in their belts and rifles in their hands, met together in the little log court- house at Knoxville to lay the foundations of a great commonwealth. The district attorney, Andrew Jackson, was the man of most influence in that convention; and it was through his suggestion that the name of Tennessee was selected for the new state. A constitution was soon agreed upon, and messengers were sent to Philadelphia to lay it before Congress. The admission of Tennessee was opposed by Alexander Hamilton and the Federal party on the ground that it was not wise to permit the ruflian pioneers of the West to send representatives to Congress. But the Democratic- Republicans under the guidance of Thomas Jefferson declared that every man, even though a backwoodsman, was entitled to his share in the government of the coun- try ; and the new state was admitted. Jackson in Congress. — When Congress met at Phila- delphia in the following December, Andrew Jackson appeared as the first representative from Tennessee. He was then thirty years old, and had never before been in the company of cultured people. He was tall and lank, *^with long locks of hair hanging over his face, and EVENTS IN THE WEST 263 a cue down his back tied in eel-skin." He was dressed in coarse homespun, and his manners were those of a backwoodsman. The time came, in after years, when he not only dressed as a gentleman but practiced all the courtly graces known to those who move in the most refined society. III. EVENTS IN THE WEST Senator, judge, and general. ^ Andrew Jackson did not take much part in the discussions of Congress ; and when he later became a senator from his state, he failed to attract much atten- tion. He soon grew tired of public life and returned to Tennessee, where he engaged in business as a trader, — buying produce from his neighbors and shipping it down the Mississippi to New Orleans. Although he knew very little law, yet his reputation as district attorney was such that he easily secured an appointment as judge of the supreme court of Ten- nessee. He had never had any mili- tary training, yet his dauntless daring was so well known that he was soon afterwards chosen major general of the state's militia. Growth of the country. — In the meanwhile the coun- try was increasing rapidly in wealth and power. The great territory of Louisiana had been purchased from Tall and lank" 264 ANDREW JACKSON France. Ohio had been admitted into the Union. New lands in the West were being opened for settlement. Tecumseh. — There were still many Indians in the country east of the Mississippi, and these were a source of constant anxiety to the people in the border settle- ments. A Shawnee warrior named Tecumseh conceived the plan of uniting all the Indian nations into one con- federacy for the purpose of making a decided stand against the white men. He stirred up the tribes north of the Ohio, and then made a visit to the South to en- list the aid of the Creeks in Alabama. The battle of Tippecanoe. — While he was absent in the South, his warriors in Indiana Territory became so troublesome that William Henry Harrison, the governor of the territory, led out an armed force against them. On a day in November, 1811, he met a strong band of Indians at Tippecanoe, near the site of the present city of Lafayette. They attacked him and were so badly beaten that all the tribes were glad to sue for peace. When Tecumseh returned to Indiana and learned what had happened, he fled to Canada. But his '^^^y.^ "He stirred up the tribes north of the Ohio" THE WAR OF 1812 265 visit to the Creeks had its influence, and those Indians soon afterwards began to burn and destroy the border settlements south of Tennessee. IV. THE WAR OF 1812 War declared. — During all this time the troubles with the British, which had begun while Jefferson was Presi- dent, grew worse and worse. At last they became unbearable; and on the IQtli of June, 1812, Congress declared war against Great Britain. At. first the Americans met with many losses. Detroit was surrendered without striking a blow ; one skirmish after another ended in defeat ; and later the city of Wash- ington was captured and burned. But on the sea our sailors proved themselves to be more than a match for the boastful British ; and of seventeen important sea fights the Americans were victors in all but four. Captain Oliver H, Perry, with a few clumsy vessels, fought the British on Lake Erie and destroyed their fleet ; and General Harrison defeated the British army in Canada and retook Detroit. The Creek War. — In the meanwhile Andrew Jackson — late major general of Tennessee militia, but now major general in the army of the United States — was busy defending the southern borders. He marched against the Creeks, and in a campaign of seven months gave them such a severe punishment that they dared not make any further trouble. He even carried the war into Florida, which still belonged to Spain, and captured Pensacola, where some British troops had been landed. 266 ANDREW JACKSON New Orleans. — Toward the end of the year 1814, he learned that a strong British force had sailed to the Gulf of Mexico, with the intention of attacking New Orleans. He at once put his own little army in order and marched with all possible speed toward the threatened city. He arrived there several days before the British landed, and with all his rare energy began to provide for defense. He caused intrenchments to be made and breastworks to be thrown up ; and he was everywhere present to see that all things were quickly and properly done. His enthusiasm 1815 "The battle was one of the most remarkable ever known" inspired his men and spread like contagion from company to company ; and when, on the Stli of January, the British made a grand assault upon his works, every- thing was in readiness to receive them. A famous victory. — The battle that followed was one of the most remarkable ever known. The British were repulsed with a loss of more than two thousand men. AN ACTIVE POLITICIAN 267 Jackson's loss was only seven killed and six wounded. It was, indeed, a famous victory. Peace. — Had there been a telegraphic cable between Europe and America at that time, the battle of New Orleans would not have occurred. A treaty of peace had been signed at Ghent in Hol- land two weeks before ; but news traveled very slowly in those days, and it was a month later be- fore General Jackson learned what had been done.. The long and dis- tressing struggle, commonly known as the War of 1812, was at an end. Through it the United States won the respect of her enemies and gained a place of Ijonor among the world's great nations. American sailors were never more to be in- sulted upon the high seas. V. *AN ACTIVE POLITICIAN A bold maneuver. — General Jackson was the acknowl- edged hero of the war. Some time after its close he was sent to Georgia to quell an uprising of the Seminole Indians in that state. Suspecting that the Spanish were giving aid and encouragement to the red men, he marched boldly into Florida and took possession of the fort at St. Marks. Monument in New Orleans to com- memorate the battle 268 ANDREW JACKSOJSr Purchase of Florida. — This was a daring thing to do, and might have caused war between our country and Spain. But the Spanish king was already planning to sell Florida to the United States. President James Mon- roe, who succeeded James Madison in 1817, offered five million dollars for the province, to be paid to citizens 1819 X ' ± of the United States who had claims against Spain. The Spanish government after a good deal of delay accepted the offer and Florida became a part of the United States. The first governor. — General Jackson was appointed the first American governor of Florida. That region was then little more than a wilderness of marshes and tangled forests, with but few settlements within her borders. The only towns were St. Augustine on the east and Pensacola on the west, and the inhabitants of these were Spaniards. The Hermitage. — Jackson did not care to remain long in the new territory after there was no further need of fighting. He soon returned to Tennessee and retired to his home, called the Hermitage, near Nashville. Great changes had taken place in the West since Andrew Jackson first crossed the mountains to become public prose- cutor for the western district of North Carolina. Since then eleven new states had been added to the Union — Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, and Missouri — and of these all but two were west of the Alleghanies. The forests and wild prairies had in large part given way to fertile farms. Busy villages had sprung up; and pleasant AN ACTIVE POLITICIAN 269 homes and schoolbouses and churches had taken the place of Indian wigwams and squatters' cabins and frontier trading posts. Steamboats plied up and down the larger rivers, bringing trade to the very doors of the prosperous farmers and planters. Already the great West was begin- 1 w M 1 1 ^^&.,^j%r A *^^^'^"^^S 1 ^^¥ ' '^ ^■1 ■^n 1 H ^B iifi^ 1 WKm H^^^a i m^ P tm np ^Lri'^' HE 1 ti- ^ a:^M ^^ ^ iUubtriiiLuUiu^i ,_^ ^^^^^ i af^Tj^rsafe ^M ^Bh 1 The Hermitage ning to rival the Atlantic slope both in political importance and in the wealth and intelligence of its people. Presidential candidates. — Hitherto all the presidents had been men from the Atlantic states. Four of the five who served during the first thirty-six years of our country's history, were citizens of Virginia. The people beyond the Alleghanies began to feel that the time had come for the 270 ANDREW JACKSON West to assert itself. The next President, they said, must represent the new and growing West. Election of John Quincy Adams. — Since his victory at New Orleans, General Jackson had been the most popular man in the country ; but another western man, Henry Clay of Kentucky, had proved himself to be one of the most accomplished statesmen of the time. Both men had hosts of friends, and it seemed to the people of the West that one of them must surely be chosen. But there were other candidates in the field, for the East and the South had each its favorite. The result was that not one of the candidates received a majority of electoral votes. It therefore became necessary for the House of Representatives to choose the President, and the choice fell upon John Quincy Adams. VI. THE SEVENTH PRESIDENT *^Not fit to be President.*' — Jackson had very modestly said, •' I can command troops in my rough way, but I am not fit to be President." Yet he was much disappointed by his defeat; and by way of revenge, he made some serious charges against both Adams and Clay which, to his discredit, were as untrue as they were unkind. Jackson successful at last. — When the time for another presidential election came round, Jackson was again named as a candidate. His admirers united in his support, and he was elected. On the 4th of March, 1829, he was inau- gurated the seventh President of the United States. The tariff. — Of the many acts of President Jackson's THE SEVENTH PRESIDENT 271 administration the most important was that relating to what is known as the nullification act of South Caro- lina. Congress had passed a law putting a high tariff or tax on woolen cloths and certain other manufactured goods brought into the United States from foreign coun- tries. The object of the law was to protect American manufacturers, and one of its results was to increase the price at which all such goods were sold. But there were no manufactures in tlie South ; and the southern people did not think it right to be obliged to pay taxes on imported goods. They claimed that the law was made for the bene- fit of northern manufacturers, and that it was an act of great injustice to the South. The nullification act. — Finally the people of South Carolina met in convention and declared that, so far as their state was concerned, the law was null and void, and would not be obeyed ; and they asserted that if any attempt was made to enforce it in any of the ports of South Caro- lina she would secede from, or go out of, the Union. " The Union must be preserved." — It was supposed that since President Jackson was himself a native of Carolina, and since he had been elected chiefly by southern votes, he would be friendly to the nullifiers. On the contrary, he issued a proclamation declaring that "the laws of the United States must be executed." " The Union must and shall be preserved," he said ; and then, to show that he was in earnest, he sent to Charleston two ships and a body of troops under General Scott with orders to quell the first motion toward rebellion. At about the same time. 272 ANDREW JACKSON Henry Clay came forward and proposed a compromise measure which was so satisfactory to all parties that the South Carolinians ceased their opposition to the hated law. Andrew Jackson served two terms, or eight years, as President of the United States. His faults were many, his mistakes not a few ; and yet scarcely any other Presi- dent since Washington ever won so high a place in the esteem and admiration of his fellow-citizens. At tlie close of his administration he said, " I leave this great people happy and prosperous." He lived for eight years in peaceful retirement at the Hermitage, and died on the 8th of June, 1845, at the ripe age of seventy-eight. REVIEW What qualities in Andrew Jackson's character enabled him to become a great man ? Tell what you know about early times in Tennessee. Describe Andrew Jackson's appearance when he first entered Congress. Why did Tecum seh attempt to form a confed- eracy of Indians? What were the causes of the War of 1812? What part did Andrew Jackson take in that war ? Tell about the battle of New Orleans. Who were the candidates for the presidency in 1824 ? How was John Quincy Adams elected ? Why did the people of the South object to the tariff law ? What stand did Jack- son take when South Carolina threatened to secede from the Union ? Why was Jackson so popular a President ? SAMUEL F. B. MORSE AND THE mVENTlOiST OF THE TELEGRAPH I. SCHOOL AND COLLEGE His childhood. — Samuel Finley Breese Morse was born in Charlestovvn, Massachusetts. At the time of his birth George Washington had been President of the United States just two years lacking two days. Andrew Jackson was then serving his first term as district attorney in the backwoods of Tennessee ; Eli Whitney was working his way through Yale College ; and Robert Fulton was paint- ing pictures in London and drawing plans for new in- ventions. Mr. Morse, the father of Finley, as the lad was called, was the pastor of the Congregational Church in Charles- town. He was a man of much influence. He was also a great scholar and wrote the first geography of any note ever published in this country. At school. — Little Finley was sent to school almost as soon as he could walk. He learned very fast, and took great delight in drawing pictures, which was against the rules of the school. BARNES'S EL. — 18 273 274 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE Preparing for college. — When he was seven years old he was sent to Andover to attend the famous Phillips Acad- emy there and be prepared for college. He was a dili- gent student and, for so young a lad, was very thoughtful. He liked to read about great men, and one of his favorite books was Plutarch's " Lives." At fifteen he entered Yale College. The first electrical experiment. — It was while in col- lege that Finley Morse first became interested in electricity. Very little was known about it at that time. Franklin had made several experiments and had published some pamphlets on the subject. He had discovered that lightning and thunder are caused by electricity, and he had suggested the lightning-rod. But nobody sup- posed that electricity could ever be made of any prac- tical use. The instructor in natural philosophy at Yale was Pro- fessor Day. He had a very crude, old-fashioned electrical machine which would throw out sparks and produce a slight current of electricity. Once a year, when his class reached the short chapter on electricity in the college text- book, he would bring out this machine to ilUistrate the two or three things then known about that strange force which has since become of so much importance in the world's work. " Now, boys," he would say, " we will try a few experiments." All the boys joined hands and stood up in a circle. The electrical machine was set to going. The boy nearest A SUCCESSFUL ARTIST 275 to it presented his knuckles. Instantly there was a slight flash, and every boy felt a strange, half-painful shock pass throuy^h his arms. The last boy felt the shock at precisely the same moment as the first boy. The electricity had passed through the entire circle in no time at all. But few of the boys cared to make any further in- vestigation of the sub- ject. The whole thing was strange and interesting, but of what use was it ? What is electricity ? — Finley Morse, however, was much impressed by the experiment. " What is electric- ity ? " he asked himself. " It is a force, for it jerked every arm through which it passed. It acts instantane- ously, and therefore it must travel very rapidly. Being a force, why can it not be controlled and made to perform some kind of useful work ? " All the boys joined hands II. A SUCCESSFUL ARTIST Making miniatures. — Interesting as electricity appeared to be, young Morse gave it but little more attention. All his spare time was given to painting, and his chief ambi- tion was to become a good artist. During his last year in college he was very busy making portraits. " My price 276 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE is five dollars for a miniature on ivory," he wrote home to his mother, "and I have engaged two or three at tiiat price. My price for profiles is one dollar, and everybody is willing to engage me at that price." A trip to England. — About a year after graduating from college, Finley Morse decided to go to England, where he would have better opportunities to study art. The voy- age was very long and tiresome, for no steamship had yet crossed the Atlantic. The first thing that Morse did after landing was to write a letter to his parents at home. " I only wish," he said, " that you had this letter now to relieve your minds from anxiety. ... I wish that in an instant I could communicate the information. But three thousand miles are not passed over in an instant." Little did he dream that an invention of his own would sometime make it possible to send news instantly from London to New York. An art student. — He remained four years in London painting pictures and studying under Benjamin West, with whom Robert Fulton had also studied. A large painting called " The Dying Hercules," which he made at that time, was praised very highly by the art critics of England. A portrait painter. — When twenty-four years of age he returned to America and set up a studio in Boston. People liked to come and look at his beautiful pictures, but they did not care to buy of him or to give him work to do. Soon all his money was gone, and he was obliged to go from village to village in New England, painting portraits for those who wished them. No one had yet learned how YEARS OF EXPERIMENT 277 to make photographs, and so he found mnch work to do. Tlien he settled for a while in Charleston, South Carolina, and afterwards m New York, giving most of his time to the painting of portraits. HI. YEARS OF EXPERIMENT A change of purpose. — Mr. Morse was more than forty years old before the idea of making an electric telegraph took hold of him and caused him to give up his chosen profession. He had been in Paris and was returning home on the packet ship Sully. On board the same ship was a young student of natural science, who had been visiting in Europe. " I spent some time," said the student, " with Ampere, the great electrician, and I saw him perform some wonder- ful experiments with the electro-magnet." " What is that ? " asked Mr. Morse. ^' It is a bar of soft iron surrounded by a coil of copper wire. By sending a current of electricity through the wire, the bar is made a magnet ; and as long as the current continues it has all the properties of any other magnet. But as soon as the current ceases, it loses these properties." " Suppose a very long wire is used, does that make any difference in the strength or speed of the current ? " " It does not. Dr. Franklin proved by experiment that electricity passes in an instant through any known length of wire." " If that is the case I see no reason why some means cannot be discovered whereby news can be carried by 278 SAMUEL P. B. MORSE electricity. And if it can be carried ten miles, why not carry it around the world ? " The telegraph. — From that moment, Mr. Morse devoted all his spare time and energy to the invention of the electric telegraph. Even before the ship Sully reached New York, he drew a rough plan of a telegraphic instru- ment in some respects like the instruments now in use. He also studied out the signs to be used as an alphabet. The perfecting of the instrument for sending and receiv- ing messages would require much study, and to this his attention was chiefly given. Experimenting. - — The first thing to be done after land- ing in New York was to find a place to work. He fitted up a little garret room at the corner of Beekman and Nassau streets, and began the making of models and the trying of experiments. There he lived alone for several months. He did his own cooking, wore shabby clothes, and was seldom seen even by his brothers and most intimate friends. Professor in the University of New York. — But he could not live and carry on his experiments without money ; and he soon found it necessary to earn something by the prac- tice of his art. Through the influence of his friends he was appointed professor of the arts of design in the University of New York. The httle down-town shop was given up, and he established himself in rooms on the third floor of the university building overlooking Washington Square. There, while not engaged in the duties of his professorship, he continued his experiments. SUCCESS AT LAST 279 The first telegraphic machine. — In September, 1837, Mr. Morse invited tlie professors of tlie University, besides others who were interested in his work, to come and see wdiat he was able to do with his invention. Seven- teen hundred feet of wire had been stretched around his rooms, and through this several messages were sent. —,, ... An early telegraphic machine Ihe receivmg mstrument was so made that the words were written — in telegraphic symbols — on a long strip of paper. The machine was of course very imperfect and crude, but it did all that was claimed for it. IV. SUCCESS AT LAST Delays. — Mr. Morse at once applied for a patent on his invention, and he petitioned Congress to aid him in building a line of telegraph. After this there were many vexatious delays. Money was needed to carry on the work, and but few men were willing to take any risks in an enterprise about which they understood so little. To send messages over a wire without also sending the paper upon which they were written, seemed to most people utterly impossible. Years of discouragement and poverty followed. It was not until March, 1843, that Congress at length consented to grant thirty thousand dollars for the construction of a trial line between Baltimore and Washington. •280 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE The distance from Washington to Baltimore is about forty miles, and work was begun at the Washington end. About half of the line was finished, when a convention of Whigs met in Baltimore for the purpose of nominating a candidate for the presidency of the United States. Mr. Morse resolved to test the practical value of his telegraph. The convention chose Henry Clay as its candidate. The news was at once carried by railroad train to the nearest point that had been reached by the telegraph line. From that point it was sent over the wires to Washington. The train went onward, and at length also arrived in Washing- ton. What was the surprise of the passengers to find that the news of Clay's nomination had reached the city nearly an hour before ! This was the first real news message ever transmitted by electric telegraph. The first message. — A few weeks later the line was finished, and on the 24th of May, 1844, it was ready for operation. Mr. Morse and his friends met in the cham- ber of the supreme court of the United States to celebrate its formal opening. Miss Annie G. Ellsworth, of Wash- ington, had been the first to tell Mr. Morse of the action of Congress in granting him the aid which he had asked for; and to her was given the honor of choosing the words for the first message. They were these : " What hath God wrought ? " The strip of paper on which the characters were printed by the telegraphic instrument may still be seen in the Athenaeum at Hartford, Connecticut. First earnings of the telegraph. — There was no longer any question about the successful working of the tele- SUCCESS AT LASl 281 graph ; but people did not at once appreciate its usefulness. During the first year the line was controlled by the post office department at Washington. One cent was charged for every four letters or characters in messages transmitted to Baltimore. The receipts during the first four days Laying the Atlantic cable were only one cent ; during the next four they amounted to something over three dollars. Mr. Morse offered to sell his telegraph to the govern- ment. But Congress refused to give the hundred thousand dollars which he required for it. A private company called the Magnetic Telegraph Company then obtained control of it, and soon there were telegraphs in all parts of our 282 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE country. Other persons tried to invent machines better than Morse's ; they infringed upon his patents ; they did all that they could to deprive him of both the honor and the profit which belonged to him as the inventor of the telegraph. In the end, however, he triumphed over all opposition. The Atlantic cable. — In 1858, when Professor Morse was sixty-seven years old, the first telegraphic cable was laid across the Atlantic Ocean. Only about four hundred messages were sent by this cable, and then it ceased to work. Eight years later another cable was laid. It was twenty-three hundred miles in length and weighed forty thousand tons. Since that time it has been possible at any time to send messages instantaneously from our coun- try to almost any city in Europe. There are now several ocean cables all in working condition. Samuel Finley Breese Morse lived to be more than eighty years of age. He died honored by all the world as one of the greatest inventors of the times. REVIEW Name some of the useful ways in which electricity is now em- ployed. Who first discovered that lightning and thunder are caused by electricity ? When Samuel F. B. Morse was in college, how long a time was required for news to come from London to New York ? What battle would never have been fought had there been an ocean telegraph cable at that time? What first caused Mr. Morse to believe in the possibility of an electric telegraph ? If there were no telegraph lines now, would it be possible to carry on business as at present ? Why ? Why is Samuel F. B. Morse to be considered as one of the great benefactors of our country ? HENRY CLAY Al^D THE COMPEOMISES BETWEEN THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH I. THE MILL BOY OF THE SLASHES The schoolhouse. — In Hanover County, Virginia, there is a marshy district, which on account of its many swamps is known as the " Slashes." Here there stood during Revo- lutionary times a little log schoolhouse which had neither floor nor ceiling nor any windows. At one end of it there was a wide door which was never closed ; at the other there was a huge fireplace made of stones and burnt clay. Between the door and the fireplace there were three or four long, narrow benches, without backs, where the boys sat and hummed aloud their lessons in spelling and read- ing. Except a stool for the teacher, and a shelf or two on the wall, there was no other furniture. Outside of the little building everything was dismal and bare — desolate bogs and lonely farms and a landscape devoid of beauty. Henry Clay. — ^^ Among the children of the Slashes who attended school at that poor place there was a thin-faced, light-haired, barefooted little fellow, whose name was Henry Clay. This child was six years old when the treaty of peace was made, which gave to the American colonies their liberty. His father was dead. His mother was very 283 284 HENRY CLAY The children of the Slashes at school poor. He was the fifth in a family of seven httle children. There was a charm in the looks and manners of the lad which no one could ever withstand ; it attracted respect and love wherever he went. That same charm remained with him through life and was the secret of his wonderful influence over his fellow-men. Going to mill. — Little Henry was so bright and quick that at the end of a few weeks he had learned to read, and write, and cipher " as far as Practice." The schoolmaster could teach him no more. The rest of his childhood was spent on his mother's farm, plowing, and hoeing, and doing ATTORNEY AND STATESMAN 285 the thousand things that farmer boys must do. He never attended another school. Years afterward the neighbors told how he would rise at daybreak and ride to the mill for his mother ; a bag of corn was thrown across his pony's back, and upon this he would sit, his bare legs dangling on either side. People saw him so often plodding along the boggy road that they came to know him as the " Mill Boy of the Slashes " ; and this name in later life became one of his proudest titles. II. ATTORNEY AND STATESMAN At Richmond. — When Henry Clay was fourteen years old he left the farm and went to Richmond. There he found work for a few weeks as errand boy in a drug store. A-bout that time his .mother married again and his step- father secured a place for him as copying clerk in the office of the Chancery Court. He was only fifteen, and to be employed in such a place he must have been a good writer and a boy of much promise. His odd appearance. — The other clerks stared at him in amusement when he first entered the office. He was very slender and tall, with long, straight hair combeu smoothly over his ears. He wore a suit of " pepper- and-salt" homespun. His wide shirt collar was stiffly starched; his coat tails stood out behind him. He had every appearance of a country greenhorn. Becomes an attorney. ~ But that nameless charm which he possessed won the immediate friendship of all in the office. His handwriting attracted the attention 286 HENRY CLAY of Chancellor Wythe, who had been the teacher of Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Wythe told him what books to read, and encouraged him to study law. Young Clay soon became acquainted with several distinguished men ; he studied diligently, and before [:\ he was twenty years old he was licensed as ^^a^^^^^ .^feSt ^^ attorney. He then '■" ^' '.A ' ' - i. jI^W^^ removed to Lexington, Kentucky, and began the practice of his pro- ^■^mjJ^:Ui^^'W '^ Y "-m. fession. At Lexington. — He was successful from the "The Mill Boy of the Slashes" ^^^^^ jj^ ^^^^^ ^^ once to take an active part in politics, and when only twenty-six years old was elected to the state legislature. Before he had quite completed his thirtieth year he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate. The term soon came to an end, and he was again elected to the state legislature. ' In Congress. — Two years later, at the beginning of President Madison's administration, Mr. Clay took his seat for the second time in the United States Senate. From that day until the end of his life he was one of the fore- most men in the councils of the nation ; and as a member either of the Senate or of the House of Representatives his voice was heard on all the important questions that claimed the attention of the government. SLAVERY 287 The War of 1812. — When President Madison in 1812 hesitated as to the best course to pursue with Great Britain, it was Henry Clay who urged war. It was the only way, he said, by which our country could maintain its honor and secure a lasting peace. And when the people began to despair because of early losses and disasters in that war, it was Henry Clay who went about making great speeches and inspiring every heart with patriotism. At the close of the war he was one of the commissioners who signed the treaty of peace. A great question. — Six years later, when Clay was speaker of the House of Representatives, a question of vast importance came before Congress. It was a question which for the time threatened to break up the Union and destroy the very life of the nation. Then it was that Henry Clay came forward as a peacemaker and performed the first of many friendly acts which gave him the title of the Great Pacificator. To understand this we must trace briefly the history of the cause of long disagree- ments between the North and the South. III. SLAVERY Slavery was at the bottom of the trouble. Slaves, as you have already learned, were brought into this country at the time of the earliest settlements. They were at first held in all the colonies, as well in the North as in the South. While the people generally accepted slavery as they found it, there were some who feared that in the end it would bring about evil results. 288 ' HENRY CLAY At the close of the Revolution slavery existed in every state. In the Northern states, however, beginning with New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, it was gradually abol- ished. It was abolished, not so much because the peoph pitied the slaves, but because slave labor was less profit- able than free labor. Washington, Jefferson, and other founders of the nation saw clearly the evils of slavery, and wished that it could be entirely done away with. The Northwest Territory. — When the region north of the Ohio River became a territory of the United States, Congress adopted an ordinance, or general law, in which it was declared that slavery should never be permitted in that part of our country. The states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, which were formed from that territory, were therefore free states from the beginning. The Ohio River was the boundary line be- tween freedom and slavery. Cotton and slavery. — After the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney, cotton-raising became the chief in- dustry of the South. It was believed that only negroes could do the hard work on the great plantations. Every year slaves became more and more valuable. The senti- ment in the South against slavery became weaker and weaker as slave labor became more profitable. Virginia and Kentucky, in which but little cotton could be raised, became great slave-producing states, sending a constant stream of negroes to the slave markets of the more south- ern states. To the people of the South slavery was a source ol SLAVERY 289 prosperity and wealth ; it was but natural that they should wish to strengthen and defend it. South and North. — When the Constitution of the United States was adopted there were seven Northern states and six Southern states. Virginia, a Southern state, had a larger number of inhabitants than any other. The senators and representatives in Congress, therefore, were about equally divided — half from the South and half from the North. The idea grew that this equality should always be preserved. Many men failed to think of our country as a great nation, every part of which was inter- ested in the w^ elf are of every other part. They thought of it as composed of many states, or little nations, leagued together for protection. They thought of these states as comprising two groups or sections — the South and the North; and, since the South had slavery and the North had it not, it was supposed that the interests of the two sections were different and that each was all the time try- ing to get some advantage over the other. Thus jeal- ousies sprang up, and whenever one section seemed to be getting more than its equal share in the government there were threats from some of the states in the other section to secede, or withdraw, from the Union. The admission of new states. — It was the constant care of patriotic statesmen on both sides to keep the two sections as nearly equal as possible. The first new state admitted to the Union was Vermont, a free state ; but the balance was preserved by soon afterward admitting Ken- tucky, a slave state. Next, Tennessee, a slave state, was Barnes's el. — 19 290 , HENRY CLAY followed by Ohio, a free state. Then Louisiana was offset with Indiana, and Mississippi with Illinois. In 1819 Alabama was admitted. There were then eleven slave states and eleven free states, and each section had twenty- two senators in the United States Congress. IV. THE FIRST GREAT COMPROMISE The question about Missouri. — The time was at hand for the admission of two more states, Maine and Mis- souri. Of course Maine would be free ; but how about Missouri ? No other state had yet been formed entirely west of the Mississippi ; and no boundary line between freedom and slavery had been established in the region ac- quired through the Louisiana Purchase. If Missouri should be admitted with slavery there would be as many slave states as free states ; if she should be admitted without it the free states would have a decided majority in Congress. Henry Clay as a peacemaker. — There were many hot discussions in Congress. There were threats, both from southern men and from northern men, of breaking up the Union in case the matter should be decided contrary to their wishes. Then Henry Clay, in his masterly way, came forward as the peacemaker. " It is impossible," he said, "for both sections to have all that is desired. Let each, therefore, give up a little to the other, and let us preserve this Union of the states." And then he advo- cated a plan that had been proposed by the Senate for the settlement of the dispute — the plan since known as the Missouri Compromise. THE SECOND GREAT COMPROMISE 291 The Missouri Compromise. — The compromise provided that Missouri should come into the Union as a slave state: this was to satisfy the South. On the other hand it declared that all i:he rest of the Louisiana Pur- chase north of the line that forms the southern boundary of Missouri should forever be free : this was to appease the North. The compromise seemed so fair to both par- ties that it was adopted. It proved to be a great victory for the South. The slaveholding power was triumphant, and for the next thirty years it controlled Congress and most other branches of the government. V. THE SECOND GREAT COMPROMISE Clay and the presidency. — Henry Clay was now acknowledged to be the leading statesman of the West. The people of his own state idolized him. In the halls of Congress he had but two equals, Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. We have already learned how, in 1824, Clay was nominated for the presidency, and how he failed to be elected. For the next twenty years he lived in con- stant expectancy of being President. He would have been the choice of a large portion of the people. He was probably the ablest man among all the candidates for that high position. But he had incurred the hatred of Andrew Jackson, the popular hero of the time; he was opposed by jealous politicians in his own party ; and he, therefore, never gained the prize that seemed often within his reach. Another man would have felt the dis- 292 HENRY CLAY appointment keenly, but Mr. Clay said : " I would rather be riurht than President." The second great compromise. — In the story of Andrew Jackson it has been told how the state of South Carolina tried to nullify the laws of Congress, and how she was ready, in case of opposition, to withdraw from the Union. It was President Jackson who said, "The Union must and shall be preserved ; " but any use of force on his Clay's home in Kentucky part would very likely have brought on a bloody and dis- astrous war. It was Henry Clay who preserved the Union by coming forward at the right time and proposing a com- promise by which the tariff law was made less hateful to the South. Thus, for the second time, he acted as peace- maker between the sections. The growth of slavery. — Every year the country in- creased in prosperity. As the cotton planters of the South grew wealthier and wealthier, their plantations were made THE THIRD GREAT COMPROMISE 298 larger, and more and more slaves were required to work them. The demand for cotton became greater with each passing year. More lands were needed, and more territory in which slave labor would be profitable. This, together with the desire to preserve the power of the South in Con- gress, led to the admission into the Union of Texas, which had been a part of Mexico. The Mexican War. — This brought on a war with Mexico. It was a disastrous war for Mexico ; for at its end she was obliged to give up a large portion of her territory to the United States. The lands thus added to our country included California, Nevada, Utah, most of New Mexico and Arizona, and a part of Colorado and Wyoming. Hopes of the South. — At that time the only inhabitants of those territories were Indians and a few Mexicans, and the region was for the most part unknown and unexplored. But it was hoped that in due time settlers would be attracted thither, and if slave states could be formed there, the power of the South would be much increased. VI. THE THIRD GREAT COMPROMISE Gold in California. — Very soon after the close of the war some Americans discovered gold in California. As soon as the news reached the Atlantic states there was an excitement such as has never since been known. Great numbers of men, especially in the North, left their homes and hastened to go to the golden West. Some went in ships around South America ; some shortened the voyage by crossing the isthmus of Panama ; some went in wagons 294 HENRY CLAY and on foot across the great plains and the mountainous regions beyond. Go which way they would it was a toil- some and perilous journey of many months ; for as yet there were no roads to the Pacific Coast. Most of these men were accustomed to labor; they had no slaves and Territory gained by the Mexican War they wanted none ; they hoped to get great wealth quickly and easily from the gold mines of California. The South disappointed. — Now the line which the Mis- souri Compromise had named as dividing freedom and slavery did not extend through the territory gained by the Mexican War. Had it done so, a large portion of California would have been south of that line. The slave- holders of the South claimed, however, that it belonged to that part of the country which had been assigned to their THE THIRD GREAT COMPROMISE 295 section. They expected that California would become a slave state. What was their astonishment when they learned that the men of California had organized a free-state gov- ernment and were asking for admission into the Union ! The cause of disagreement. — This was in 1850. Ever since the Missouri Compromise was made, the balance of power between the two sections had been well kept. There were now fifteen free states and fifteen slave states. The mere admission of California as a free state would not disturb the balance much ; but the South claimed that it would violate the spirit of the Missouri Compromise and give the North a great advantage. The question was before Congress for ten months. Again there were open threats of breaking up the Union. The whole country was full of excitement. The nation seemed drifting to destruction. The Compromise of 1850. — Then Henry Clay came forward for the third time as a peacemaker, and for the third time he saved the Union. The compromise which he advocated is known in history as the " Compromise of 1850." It provided among other things that California should be a free state and that there should be no more slave markets in the District of Columbia ; these were con- cessions to the North, On the other hand, slavery was not to be prohibited in any of the other territories taken from Mexico, and a very severe law — known as the Fugi- tive Slave Law — was to be enacted requiring runaway slaves in the North to be returned to their masters ; these were concessions to the South. 296 HENRY CLAY The slavery question supposed to be settled. — The meas- ure was debated in Congress for many days. Daniel Web- ster, in supporting it, made the last great speech of his life. John C. Calhoun, too feeble to read his own speech against the compromise, was carried from the Senate chamber to his deathbed. Congress finally voted to adopt the plan, and men of both sections felt relieved that the crisis was past. "This settles the slavery question forever," they said. "We shall have no more disputes about it." This was Henry Clay's last great work. — Clay was already in feeble health. In December, 1851, he took his seat in the Senate for the last time. Before the end of the following June the Great Pacificator was dead. REVIEW What was there in the character of Henry Clay that enabled him to become a great man ? What was Clay's course with reference to the War of 1812 ? Why ? Tell what you know about slavery in the colony of Virginia; in the colony of Georgia. Why was slavery abolished in the North ? What invention caused slaveholding to become very profitable in the South ? How many slave states and how many free states were there when the Constitution was adopted ? Why did politicians desire to keep the number of slave states and free states about equal ? Why did the South wish Missouri to be a slave state ? Why did the North object ? What compromise did Henry Clay propose ? What was the cause of Henry Clay's great popularity ? Why was he never elected President ? What other two compromises did he propose ? When was gold discovered in California? Why was Henry Clay called the Great Pacificator? What two other famous statesmen are often compared with him ? ROBERT E. LEE AND THE UPRISING IN THE SOUTH I. THE BEGINNING OF A FAMOUS CAREER Light Horse Harry Lee. — Among the personal friends whom George Washington welcomed to his home at Mount Vernon none was more loved and trusted than Henry Lee "A famous corps of dragoons, the finest in the American army " of Virginia. During the Revolutionary War, Lee was the commander of a famous corps of dragoons, the finest in the American army. This fact, coupled with his known fearlessness in the face of danger, gave him the familiar 297 298 ROBERT E. LEE name of "Light Horse Harry." After the war he was prominent in that great company of Virginia statesmen which numbered among its members Washington, Jeffer- son, Madison, Monroe, Patrick Henry, and Chief Justice Marshall. His address on Washington. — Henry Lee was twice chosen governor of his state, and in 1799 was elected to Congress. On the death of Washington he was appointed to deliver the funeral address. It was in this address that he first uttered those words about Washington which all Americans like to quote : " First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his fellow-citizens." Birth of Robert E. Lee. — At the close of his term in Congress, General Henry Lee retired to his home in West- moreland County. There he occupied himself with the ^ oversight of his large plan- "^^ f'^>//' ^ .^% tation and his numerous =^ ^^^^ c^.^. u . slaves, and with the gener- ous entertainment of his many friends; and there, within sight of the bhth- place of Washington, his youngest son, Robert Ed- ward, was born on the 19th of January, 1807. The childhood home of Robert E. Lee was a stately brick mansion, from the towers of which one might watch the vessels sailing up and down the Potomac. The rooms were large, the ceilings were lofty, and all the '^*^ Lee's childhood home i^r'^c' I. THE BEGINNING OF A FAMOUS CAREER 299 furnishings were rich and massive. A child in such a house could want for nothing. There were black servants to wait upon him ; there were books and pictures and pleasant companions to provide for his amusement ; there were all the comforts and delights that wealth could give. And yet Robert Lee was not brought up as a spoiled child. His father's example taught him to be self-reliant and brave, and above all, loyal to his native Virginia. His mother's precepts led him always to love and prac- tice truth, morality, and religion. At West Point. — While he was still a small boy the family removed to Alexandria, just opposite the new city of Washington. He soon afterwards became a pupil in the Alexandria Academy and afterwards entered a famous private school in the same town, where he was prepared for college. At eighteen he decided to follow the profession in which his father had won distinction, the profession of arms. He therefore entered the Military Academy at West Point, from which in due time he graduated, the second in his class. He was made a lieutenant and soon afterward a captain in the Engineer Corps of the United States army. An officer of the government. — The United States, however, w^as then at peace with all the world ; and it was not until Lee was nearly forty years old that any- thing occurred to call him into active military service. In the meanwhile he was occupied in looking after the building of forts and arsenals, and in the dull routine of a soldier's life in times of peace. But when the Mexican 300 ROBERT E. LEE Cadets at West Point in the time of Robert E. Lee War began he was assigned to duty as chief engineer of the army, and was one of the first to be sent to the border. 11. THE MEXICAN WAR Mexico and Texas. — The Mexican War was caused by the annexation of Texas to the United States. All the country west of the present state of Louisiana had once belonged to Spain., In 1820, the people of Mexico became independent of Spain and set up a government of their own. Texas was a territory of Mexico. It was a wild region of prairies and woodlands, with scarcely any inhabitants. Settlement of Texas. — The Mexicans did not seem to think that Texas was worth settling. But a country so fertile and promising could not long be hidden from THE MEXICAN WAR 301 Americans. Moses Austin, a Connecticut Yankee, obtained from the Mexican government several grants of land near the very center of the territory. His son Stephen founded a number of American settlements on these grants. Other Americans came from the South and the West. Cotton planters came with their slaves, and opened great planta- tions in the river valleys. Men from Tennessee and the more northern states found this region an ideal place for stock-raising. Rough characters, vagabonds, and fugitives from justice flocked to Texas, where they could live with- out fear of the law. Texas a republic. — The better class of Americans in Texas saw that a strong government was needed to restrain the lawless men who had come among them. Without such a government neither life nor property was secure. But they felt that Mexico could never give them such a government. For this and other reasons, they organized a revolution and, under the leadership of Sam Houston, of Tennessee, gained their independence and set up the new republic of Texas. Annexation to the United States. — This was in 1836. The Texans hoped that their country would very soon become a part of the United States ; for the little republic was not strong enough to hold its own against any of the great nations of the world. But Martin Van Buren, who succeeded Andrew Jackson as President, was opposed to its annexation ; the matter was put off from year to year ; and it was not until the presidential election in 1844, that the question was decided. At that election James K. Polk, 302 ROBERT E. LEE of Tennessee, was chosen President with the understand- ing that he was in favor of the annexation of Texas. The Whigs with Henry Clay at their head were opposed to the measure, partly because they foresaw that it would make trouble between our country and Mexico. The planters of the South favored it, because Texas was well ^rJ^y/^A " SCALE OF MILES ^ ^^^ ■" f*^ ■^^^4 100 200 300 400 500 ^^ |^' ■•■..."V \ Map showing Texas and Mexican boundary suited for cotton-raising, and if it should come into the Union as a slave state it would strengthen the power of the slaveholders. The dispute about boundaries. — Texas was accordingly brought into the Union, and one of the first things to do was to decide the location of its western boundary. Mexico said that it should be the Nueces River ; the United States said that it should be the Rio Grande. The 1845 THE MEXICAN WAR 303 country between these rivers was without inhabitants ; it was so wild and barren that no one thought it could ever be colonized; and yet neither Mexico nor the United States would consent to give it up. Beginning of the war. — President Polk sent an army under General Zachary Taylor to occupy the east bank of the Rio Grande. A Mexican army crossed the river. Two battles were fought, and the Mexicans were driven back with great loss. There was now no way to settle the question but by war. Lee in Mexico. — Captain Lee with his corps of engi- neers was sent first to the Rio Grande ; but his stay there was short. Another American army under General Win- field Scott was dispatched by way of Vera Cruz to capture the city of Mexico, and Lee was assigned to a place on General Scott's staff. Becomes a colonel. — We cannot follow him through all the fortunes of this war. It is enough to say that he distinguished himself more than once by his excellent judgment and his cool, determined courage. Although war was his profession, he was shocked by its barbarities. He wrote home to his boys, "You have no idea what a horrible sight a battlefield is." And yet he performed his duty bravely, desiring to put an end to the conflict as soon as possible. He was promoted and made a colonel in the army ; and at the close of the war General Scott declared that "his own success in Mexico was largely due to the skill, valor, and undaunted cour- age of Robert E, Lee." 304 ROBERT E. LEE Results of the Mexican War. — By this war the United States wrested from Mexico not only the disputed strip of land between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, but all .that region now composing Utah, Nevada, and California, and most of New Mexico and Arizona, besides a part of Color'ado and Wyoming. General Taylor, as one of the heroes of that war, was nominated by the Whigs for the presidency of the United States, and in 1848 was elected. III. THE GREAT CRISIS Another period of peace. — During the next twelve years, Colonel Lee, as a military officer, served the country Lee's home at Arlington, near Alexandria in various capacities, — as chief of engineers, as superin- tendent of the Military Academy at West Point, and as cavalry officer. THE GREAT CRISIS 305 John Brown. — There was a class of persons in the North who hated slavery and wished to have it abolished at any cost. These persons were called abolitionists. In 1859, one of them, whose name was John Brown, formed a desperate plan for freeing the negroes of the South. His project was to furnish them with arms from the United States arsenals, and to urge them to win their freedom by the slaughter of their masters and the de- struction of the slave power in the South. With a few follow^ers he captured the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, in Virginia ; but the slaves upon whom he relied to carry out his project made no effort to join him. Lee at Harpers Ferry. — Colonel Lee, who was then at home on furlough, was ordered to hasten with a battalion of marines to Harpers Ferry, to repel what was reported to be an invasion of Virginia by the North. The marines besieged John Brown and his men in the engine house of the arsenal. Those of the raiders who were not killed outright were soon made prisoners. John Brown was tried, convicted, and hanged. Alarm in the South. — The people of the slave states were greatly alarmed by this attempt to bring about a negro insurrection. Wild rumors were set afloat concern- ing the intentions of the abolitionists in the North. Gov- ernor Wise, of Virginia, called for volunteers to defend the state from invasion, and numbers of excited men from all sections hastened to join the Virginian army. In the meanwhile, Colonel Lee returned to his regular duties and was soon with his own army corps, then stationed in Texas. Barnes's el. — 20 306 ROBERT E. LEE Misunderstandings. — When the time came for the next presidential election, there was great excitement in both the North and the South, all ,^rowin^ out i860 of the question of slavery. The people of each section misunderstood those of the other. The majority of those living in the South saw no wrong in slavery. It Harpers Ferry had come down to them from their fathers ; it had existed in their states since the earliest settlements. Their modes of life, their business, their social habits, were all influ- enced by it. They believed that it would be impossible to live without it. Recent events had persuaded them that the people of the North were determined to deprive them THE CIVIL WAR 307 of their slaves, to trample on their rights as citizens of the United States, and to rob them of their liberties. Election of Lincoln. — The result of the election made their fears still stronger. The man who had received the majority of electoral votes was Abraham Lincoln, of Illi- nois — a man unknown in the South, but who was said there to favor all kinds of harsh measures. The southern people feared that he would treat them unjustly and restrict slavery within the narrowest possible limits. Secession of the States. — The political leaders of the South were already prepared for this event. Some of them wanted to found a great southern republic, in which slavery should be one of the chief features ; and they hoped to include in that republic not only the states of the South, but the territories won from Mexico, and even Mexico herself. Before the electoral votes were counted, South Carolina seceded from the Union. Other states, one after another, followed her lead. Within a few months a new govern- ment called the Confederate States of America was 1861 set up with Jefferson Davis of Mississippi as its President. This confederation finally included eleven southern states : South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Ala- bama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, North Caro- lina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. IV. THE CIVIL WAR Lee and slavery. — Colonel Lee saw that nothing could now prevent a war between the states, and no man re- gretted it more than he. He returned to his home near 308 ROBERT E. LEE Alexandria, to await the progress of events. " I cannot imagine a greater calamity," he said, " than the dissolution of the Union." He declared that if he were the owner of all the negroes in the South, he would gladly yield them up for the preservation of peace. In fact, he did not approve of slavery. He had already freed the slaves that he had inherited from his father. The first shot. — The war began in April, 1861, by the troops of South Carolina firing upon Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. A few days later Virginia joined the seceding states. Robert E. Lee had now to decide whether he would take part against his native state, his relatives, and his friends, or whether he would retire from the service of his country and be loyal to the South. States' rights. — We have already learned that some of the founders of our government held to the idea that this coimtry was not a single strong nation, made up of many states, but that it consisted of several small nations leagued together for the common welfare. They claimed that each of these small nations, or states, was an independ- ent commonwealth and might withdraw from the Union whenever its people thought best. In the North this idea gradually gave place to the present idea of one great gov- ernment. But in the South no such change of opinion took place. To a South Carolinian, South Carolina was his country, and he owed allegiance to her first of all. It was so in all the southern states ; and the right of a state to act independently of any other power was not disputed This is known as the doctrine of States' Rights. THE CIVIL WAR ^09 Lee loyal to Virginia. — Robert E. Lee had been taught as a child to be loyal to Virginia. When he grew to manhood he did not suffer his devotion to the United States to overshadow that loyalty. And so, when Virginia joined the Confederacy, he felt that he must resign his commission in the army and remain faithful to his state. Made commander of the army of Virginia. — He was appointed major general of the military forces of Virginia, and was asked to lead them in a war against the Union which he would so gladly have helped to preserve. He accepted the appoint- ment. " Trusting in Al- mighty God and an approv- ing conscience," he said, ^' I devote myself to the service of my native state, in whose behalf alone will I ever again draw my sword." The war which was then beginning continued for four years. It was in many respects the most remarkable war ever known. To follow its course through those dis- tressing years, to name the great men who became conspicu- ous on this side or that, to describe in detail the various conflicts on land and sea, is not the purpose of this book. You will read of these in the larger histories. Robert E. Lee 310 ROBERT E. LEE Commander of the Confederate forces. — On the 13th of March, 1862, General Lee was appointed commander in chief of all the forces of the Confederate States. For three years he devoted all his energies to the great but hopeless task which he had undertaken, leaving nothing undone that could be done for the success of the southern cause. Surrender of the Confederate army. — At length, in April, 1865, at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia, Lee surrendered his army to General U. S. Grant, the com- mander of the Union forces ; and on that day the last hope of the Confederacy expired. " My men," said Lee to his soldiers, " we have fought through the war together ; I have done my best for you ; my heart is too full to say more." Results of the war. — The southern soldiers, " in faded, tattered uniforms, shoeless and weatherbeaten, but proud as when they first rushed to battle, returned to desolate fields, homes in some cases in ashes, blight, blast, and want on every side." The terrible war had cost nearly a million of lives, besides countless millions of treasure. Slavery was destroyed. The South had lost its political power. The Union had been preserved. The question as to whether the United States is one great nation or a group of small nations was forever settled. General Lee retired to a quiet home near the Rapidan River in Virginia. He had been a soldier, in one capacity or another, for forty years. He was now for the first time a private citizen. THE CIVIL WAR 311 Lee's writing table His last services. — He was not to remain long in retirement. Before the end of the year he was chosen president of Wasliington Col- lege at Lexington, Virginia. The remaining energies of his life were given to the upbuilding of that institution and to the promotion of edu- cation in the South. He died on the 12th of October, 1870. The singular uprightness of his character, no less than his grand abilities as com- mander, won for him the admiration of the North and the loving veneration of the South. To the people of Virginia his name and that of Washington will ever be linked together as of the two most illustrious citizens of their state. REVIEW Give an account of Henry Lee. V^hat were the causes of the war with Mexico ? Who was President of the United States during that war ? What did Colonel Lee think of the barbarities of war ? What was the result of the war with Mexico ? Why was John Brown's plan for freeing the slaves not a wise one? What effect did his act have upon the people of the South ? What did the southern people think that Abraham Lincoln would try to do ? Name the states that seceded from the Union. What did Colonel Lee think of the dissolution of the Union ? Why did he accept service as commander of the army of Virginia? What were the results of the Civil War ? What great question was settled by it ? ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE SAVING OF THE UNION I. A BOY OF THE WEST His birth. — Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky c on the 12th of February, 1809. At that time Thomas Jefferson was just closing his second term as President of the United States. Robert E. Lee was then a child two years of age, being brought up in the midst of wealth and luxury in his father's mansion by the Potomac. His childhood. — The parents of Abraham Lincoln were very poor. The home in which he was born was of the humblest sort, lacking even the commonest comforts. His childhood was not unlike the childhood of others brought up in the midst of poverty in the early West. He grew to be a very strong boy, able when quite young to do the work of a man. His mind was as active and strong as his body. He learned to read when a small child, his mother being his best teacher. The schools which he attended were of the poorest kind ; and all his school- days put together would not make a twelve-month. In Indiana. — When he was about eight years old his parents moved to Spencer County, Indiana. It was then scarcely a year since Indiana had become a state. Land could be bought very cheap, and Abraham's father thought 312 A EOT OF THE WEST 313 that life would be easier there than in Kentucky. But it required a great deal of hard work to open a farm in the midst of the woods. There were trees to be cut down, logs and brushwood to be burned, stumps and roots to be grubbed up, fences to be built, fields to be plowed ; and in all this work Abraham Lincoln, boy though he was, was his father's best helper. Life in the backwoods. — The family lived as did most pioneer families in the backwoods of Indiana. Their bread was made of corn meal, their meat was chiefly the flesh of wild game from the woods. Pewter plates and wooden trenchers were used on the table. The drinking cups were of tin. There was no stove, and all the cooking was done on the hearth of the big fireplace. Young Abraham dressed like other boys of his age in the backwoods. On his head he wore a cap made from the skin of a squirrel or a raccoon. Instead of trousers of cloth, he wore buckskin breeches the legs of which were several inches too short. His. shirt was of deerskin in winter and of homespun tow in summer. Stockings he never wore until he was a grown-up man. His shoes were of heavy cowskin and were worn only on Sundays and in very cold weather. No one who saw the lad in his uncouth apparel would have dreamed that he would become one of the most famous men in the world's history. His education. — Perhaps the great secret of his suc- cess in life lay in the fact that in whatever position he was placed he always did his best. He was not satis- fied with the scanty instruction he received at school, and 314 ABRAHAM LINCOLN therefore he set about educating himself. Although books were scarce and hard to obtain, he read every one that he could get hold of. After working hard all day he would sit up late into the night, reading by the flick- ering light of a wood fire on the hearth of his father's cabin. He borrowed every book that he could hear of in the neighborhood. His ideal hero. — One book that made a great impres- sion upon him was Weems's " Life of Washington." He read the story many times. He carried it with him to the field and read it in the intervals of work. Washington was his ideal hero, the one great man whom he admired above all others. Why could not he model his own life after that of the Father of his Country ? Why could not he also be a doer of noble deeds and a benefactor of man- kind ? He might never be President, but he could make himself worthy of that great honor. n. EARLY MANHOOD In Illinois. — In the summer after Abraham Lincoln's twenty-first birthday his father sold the farm in Indiana, and the whole family removed to Illinois. They settled on a tract of wild prairie land near the town of Decatur and began the making of a new home. Abraham stayed with the family until they were well settled again; he helped his father fence his land and plant his first crop of corn. Then he went out to win his way in the world. All kinds of work. — He did not hesitate to do any kind of labor that came in his way. He split rails and EARLY MANHOOD 315 built fences ; lie piloted a fiatboat down the Mississippi ; he served as clerk and manager of a little store in the village of New Salem near Springfield. No matter what he undertook to do he always did it honestly and well. Indians in Illinois. — Illinois ^vas still very thinly settled. Most of the people lived in the middle section. In the northern and southern parts there were broad stretches of wild prairie lands and timber groves where no habitation had yet been built. In the Eock River val- ley in the northwest corner of the state, a tribe of Indians called the Sacs had lived for nearly a century. Re- cently, however, the United States govern- ment had bought their lands, and they had been removed to a reservation west of the Mississippi. But the Sacs did not like their new homes, and longed to go back to the hunting grounds of their fathers. Black Hawk's war. — In 1832, under the leadership of a warrior called Black Hawk, a number of the Sacs re- " He served as clerk and manager of a little store" 316 ABRAHAM LINCOLN crossed the Mississippi. They came, they said, to plant corn in their old cornfields ; but they soon began killing the white settlers and burning their homes. The news of these savage acts caused great alarm throughout the state, and the governor called for volunteers to help drive the Indians back across the Mississippi. "They soon began killing the white settlers" Captain Lincoln. — Among the young men who re- sponded to tliis call was Abraham Lincoln. His company elected him captain — an honor which was more gratifying to him than any other that he ever received. The Indians, however, had already suffered a crushing defeat, and Captain Lincoln's company arrived in the Rock River region too late to have any share in the figliting. In a IN POLITICS 317 few weeks the war came to an end, the state volunteers were mustered out, and Lincoln returned to New Salem. Reading law. — Since boyhood it had been Lincoln's ambition to become a lawyer ; and now, while earning his living by doing whatever came in his way, he devoted all liis spare time to the study of law. He bought a second- hand copy of Blackstone's Commentaries at auction, and studied it so diligently that in a few weeks he had mastered all its most important contents. He got possession of an old form-book, and spent his evenings drawing up con- tracts, deeds, and other kinds of legal documents. Soon he began to practice law in a small way before justices of the peace and country juries. In the legislature. — The people of his district were so pleased with his energy and good common sense that they chose him to represent them in the state legislature ; and so well did he answer their expectations that they con- tinued to reelect him until he had served eight years. In the meanwhile he removed to Springfield, where he became established as a lawyer with a small but increasing practice. III. IN POLITICS Whigs and Democrats. — In politics at that time everj man was either a Democrat or a Whig. The Democratic party was in most respects the same as the old Democratic- Republican party of which Thomas Jefferson was the founder. The Whig party was a new one composed of those who were dissatisfied with the President, Andrew Jackson. The first leaders of the Whig party were Daniel Webster, 318 ABRAHAM LINCOLN Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun, three of the ablest statesmen ever known in our country. These three men held very opposite opinions on many questions, and were united only in their opposition to the Democratic party. Abraham Lincoln was a Whig and a great admirer of Henry Clay, and he soon became a leader of his party in Illinois. An exciting campaign. — The presidential campaign of 1840 was one of the most famous in our history. The Democratic candidate was Martin Van Buren, who had succeeded Andrew Jackson in 1837 and was then nearing the end of his term as President. The Whig candidate was William Henry Harrison, famous as having been the first governor of Indiana Territory, and as having defeated the Indians at Tippecanoe. John Tyler of Virginia was nomi- nated on the same ticket for Vice President. The log cabin. — Some Democrats had spoken sneer- ingly of General Harrison as being the candidate of the West, where people lived in log cabins and drank hard cider. The Whigs at once adopted the log cabin as the emblem of their party. In every city and town and village, wherever that party held a political meeting, a log cabin was exhibited. On one side of the low door a coonskin was nailed to the logs ; on the other stood a barrel of cider. The rallying cry of the party was '^ Tippecanoe and Tyler too!" For weeks before the election, business of all kinds was at a standstill. Farmers left their plows, merchants closed their doors, everybody joined in the excitement of the campaign. IN POLITICS 319 At the election the Whigs were the victors, and Gen- eral Harrison was elected President. Scarcely, however, had he taken his place in the White House before he fell ill, and just one month after his inauguration he died. John Tyler, who as Vice President succeeded him, JtL •"'^- - '.'•^f--:?*' "g^Hp: l\\)^ Jl X^ m^^^' ■•',. •=>- i^i**-**, "it.i "^^^ 0^|pg3B^BMB«>7^«f ^4^ ^ 4|^H BHpfc '§4"^-;^ j-i-,;Ti-,g^ ^^^^^ \/W-mtiu -~r '^ ^''Nni J^^^l vi^^^3^K^ ^kPiN Wl^l^Xk^'mi^^^^m l^MlfJiMlM Mifeik \w&^^^^Ki^VJ^^«^f jst" x^ ^^K ^B MniwLJ SjB' i^H^V j^HHk & ' "raifl ^BPJH SHMfr M'"- m^'^^S^mSSm PTtI^ ^ A jf -.jifl^^HB^^*^"' wtZ wJL l«'^/lt , -t' . jPrrTgjSJHB^Bfrl IHf^ w~J|^^ iKiSai j,^*" J— »|2B'*^^c3Rr ?' .!^ Hp2. w*t^9LjliiH i'-j; esT ^B ., •"II. .8BwWEy*'^i flT^^ RA^M^Ss^^^ / H[|'-^SEIkIP»l ^ -:- rA ''v-^ ' « ...K^fc^'v-^'- W^^^^^ ms^^^^ "A log cabin was exhibited" did not follow out the wishes of the party to whom he owed his election. There was soon an open quarrel between the President and the Whig members of Con- gress, and it appeared as though their late victory had been in vain. Annexation of Texas. — During Tyler's administration the question of the annexation of Texas came before the country for solution. It was answered at the next general 320 ABRAHAM LINCOLN election by the choice of James K. Polk as President. Polk was the candidate of the Democratic party, and he was pledged to the admission of Texas. The Whig candidate was Henry Clay, and to him Abraham Lincoln gave his earnest support. IV. CONGRESSMAN AND LAWYER Lincoln in Congress. — Abraham Lincoln was now so well known as a political leader that he was sent to Con- gress as the representative of his district. He was the only Whig from Ulinois. In Congress there were then many notable men. Among those in the House was John Quincy Adams, who had been the sixth President of the United States. Among those in the Senate were Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, and Jefferson Davis of Mississippi. His opinions about slavery. — Although Mr. Lincoln did not distinguish himself in Congress, he was more active than is usual with new members. He made sev- eral speeches, and proposed a bill for the gradual abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. He believed that slavery was harmful to the nation ; and while he did not think it could be wholly done away with, yet he wished ho prevent its becoming a still greater evil. He returns to the practice of law. — In 1848 the Whig party was again victorious and Zachary Taylor, one of the heroes of the Mexican War, was elected to the presidency. When Mr. Lincoln's term in Congress expired he hoped that his services to the party would be recognized and KANSAS AND NEBRASKA 321 that the President would appoint him to some public office. But in this he was disappointed. He therefore returned to Springfield, and for the next eight years devoted himself quietly to the practice of law. The Free Soil party. — At about this time a new political party w^as formed called the Free Soil party. Its rallying cry was "No more slave states and no slave territories." It began with but few members, but was soon joined by many Whigs and northern Democrats who were opposed to the spread of slavery. Soon after this the great discussion began concerning the admission of California as a free state. As we have already learned, it was brought to an end through the efforts of Henry Clay, and the famous Compromise of 1850 was adopted. In the meanwhile President Taylor died, and Millard Fillmore, the Vice President, succeeded him as the thirteenth President. Election of President Pierce. — In 1852 a new Presi- dent was to be chosen. The Whigs proposed another hero of the Mexican War, General Winfield Scott. The Demo- crats named Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire. Abra- ham Lincoln did all that he could to secure the success of the Whigs. But Mr. Pierce was elected. V. KANSAS AND NEBRASKA West of the states of Missouri and Iowa was a bound- less extent of prairie land — fertile plains, where bands of wild Indians and immense herds of buffaloes roamed at will. The War Department of the United States Barnes's el. — 21 322 ABRAHAM LINCOLN Slave states and free states in 1852 suggested that all that splendid region should be ceded to the Indians to be held by them and used as hunting grounds " as long as the grass should grow." Stephen A. Douglas, a Democratic senator from Illinoisj proposed another plan. He proposed that it should be divided into territories, each with some form of govern- ment, and that people in theietates should be encouraged to buy lands and make their homes there. Then at once arose the same old troublesome question as to whether slavery should be admitted into such territories. Slavery in the territories. — The North said that that question had been settled by the Missouri Compro- mise ; that the entire region was north of the line fixed upon by that compromise, and therefore no slavery should KANSAS AND NEBRASKA S2'6 exist there. The South repHed that California, a part of which is farther south than that line, had been made a free state, contrary to the spirit of the Missouri Com- promise, and consequently the compromise was null and void : since the South had conceded Cahfornia to the North, why should not the North concede some part of these western territories to the South ? Kansas-Nebraska. — Henry Clay, the Great Pacificator, was dead, and there was no one to propose a new compro- mise. But Stephen A. Douglas conceived the plan of leaving the whole matter to the people who should settle in the territories. " The people are the sovereigns," he said. Through his influence, therefore, a bill was passed by Congress which provided for the organization of a large portion of the wild western country into two terri- tories, Kansas and Nebraska. The bill further declared that the Missouri Compromise was void, and that the people in each territory should decide whether it should become a slave state or a free state. War in Kansas. — The excitement throughout the coun- try became intense. From New England and other northern states great numbers of emigrants hurried to Kansas in order to give their votes for freedom. From Missouri and the South almost as many southern men rushed into the same territory in order to use their influ- ence for slavery. Very soon there was actual war between the " free-state " men and the " pro-slave " men in the ter- ritory. Thinking people in all parts of the country saw that a great crisis was at hand. 324 ABRAHAM LINCOLN The Republican party. — At this time a new political party was organized. It was composed of the old Free Soil party together with such Whigs and Democrats as were opposed to the further extension of slavery. It was called the Republican party, and in Illinois Abraham Lincoln was one of ' its most influential leaders. The Democrats triumphant. — In June, 1856, the Re- publican party nominated John C. Fremont for President. But it was not strong enough to carry the election that year. Stephen A. Douglas had hoped to be the nominee of the Democratic party ; but his course in proposing the Kansas-Nebraska bill had caused many of his friends to desert him. He failed in his ambition, and James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, was nominated and elected the fifteenth President of the United States. VI. LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS A famous debate. — Stephen A. Douglas had served two terms in the Senate of the United States and was a candi- • date for reelection to a third term. The Republi- cans of Illinois selected Abraham Lincoln as their candidate for the same position. The part which Douglas had taken in reopening the troublesome question of slavery in the territories had made him many enemies, and he found it necessary to defend himself before the people of his state. Lincoln challenged him to debate in public the great questions of the day. Douglas accepted the challenge, and the two men canvassed the state together, making speeches in many places. LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS 325 Some points in the debate. — "I believe," said Mr. Lincoln, " that this government cannot endure perma- nently half slave and half free. It will become all one thing or all the other." " I care not," said Mr. Douglas, " whether slavery is voted in or out of the territories. Slavery is an existing fact, and wherever climate and other conditions make slave property desirable, there a slave law will be enacted." Mr. Lincoln answered him by reference to the Declara- tion of Independence. " The signers of that declaration said that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with the right to life, liberty, and the pur- suit of happiness. ... I beseech you, do not destroy that immortal emblem of humanity, the Declaration of Independence." The result. — The two candidates went from town to town, debating the great question before crowds of inter- ested listeners. Their speeches were printed, and people in all parts of the country read them. Mr. Douglas was already famous as a leader of the Democratic party, and it was quite generally believed that he would be the next Presi- dent. But who was this man Lincoln, who so boldly answered his arguments and more than once defeated him in debate ? Outside of Illinois his name had scarcely been heard. Douglas, as most people expected, was returned to the Senate. Lincoln, although defeated, had made himself known throughout the North as a man of great talents and strong convictions. 326 ABRAHAM LINCOLN Vn. THE SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT In i860 there were four candidates for the presidency. The Democratic party was divided, and while one branch nominated Stephen A. Douglas, the other, which repre- sented the dissatisfied slaveholders of the South, named John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky. The Union party, which included those of the Whigs who wished to say nothing about slavery, nominated John Bell of Tennessee. The Republican party nominated Abraham Lincoln. The campaign was carried on with much vigor; but the Democrats, being divided, could hope for nothing but defeat. Lincoln was elected. The people of the South, as we have already seen, were alarmed by the results of this election. One state after another seceded from the Union. The Confederate States of America was organized. Inauguration. — When Lincoln was inaugurated he said to the southern people : "- In your hands, my dissatisfied countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. Your government will not assail you. You can have no con- flict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have The sixteenth President THE SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT 327 no oath registered in heaven to destroy the governnient ; while I shall have the most solemn one to protect and defend it." The seceding states demanded that our government should give up all the forts, arsenals, and other public buildings within their hmits. President Lincoln answered that no state could withdraw from the Union without the consent of the people of the United States, and that there- fore the states of the South were still parts of this country and were not entitled to any portion of the public property of the general government. The seceded states then began to take possession of the southern forts by force. War begins. — In April a demand was made for the surrender of Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor. When this demand was refused, the fort was hred upon and captured l)y soldiers of South Carolina. This was the beginning of the war. President Lincoln issued a call for seventy-hve thousand volunteers to serve in the army for three months ; and both sides prepared for the contest. At first it was thought that the war would be very brief. Its object was neither to defend nor to destroy slavery, although slavery had been its real cause. Presi- dent Lincoln and the people of the North were deter- mined to preserve the Union. The people of the South with Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, were equally determined to defend the rights of their native states and to set up an independent government of their own. The northern soldiers boasted that it would be only a " bef ore-break fast affair " to force the secessionists 328 ABRAHAM LINCOLN to beg for peace. The southern volunteers declared that the " Yankees " would not fight, and that one Confederate in arms would be a match for five northern soldiers. But as the war went on, both parties found that they had engaged in a terrible conflict, and all boasting ceased. Lincoln's object. — The antislavery people urged Lin- coln to declare the slaves free. '' Why not strike at the root of the trouble ?" they asked. He answered, ^'My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slaves, I would do it. If I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it. If I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that." The Emancipation Proclamation. — At last, however, when he found that the Union could not otherwise be saved, he made up his mind to take the decisive step. On New Year's Day, 1863, he issued a proclamation declaring that the slaves, in all the states or parts of states then in rebellion, should be set at liberty. By this proclamation freedom was declared to more than two mil- lions of colored people in the South. It was the first actual movement toward the ending of human bondage in the United States. But slavery was not finally done away with until the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution more than two years afterward. The war went on. — There were calls for more men and more men, until nearly a million soldiers were engaged on each side. The conflict was the most tremendous the THE SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT 329 world has ever known. It reached a turning point, how- ever, in the defeat of Lee's army at Gettysburg in July, that same year; and then the cause of the Confederate States began to wane. The resources of the South were gradually exhausted. Slowly, very slowly, the forces that Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet were battling for the Union gained one point of advantage after another until victory was assured. Lincoln reelected. — At the close of Mr. Lincoln's first term he was again elected. The war was then almost ended, but he did not boast of what had been done. He said, ^^ With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in • to 1865 830 ABRAHAM LINCOLN bind up the nation's wounds ; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and last- ing peace among ourselves and with all nations." Peace. — On the 9th of April the Confederate army under General Lee surrendered to General Grant, and the war was at an end. Abraham Lincoln's work was done. Five days later, on the evening of Good Friday, while attending a play at a theater in Washington, he was shot by an assassin. Kind arms carried him to a View of the battlefield of Gettysburg private house near by ; but no skill could save his life. At twenty minutes past seven, on the morning of the 15th, he died. The whole nation wept for him. He had even won the affections of the people of the South ; and they, as well as their late foe& m the North, bowed themselves in THE SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT 331 grief. Other nations joined in mourning for the great man who had passed away. Never in the world had there been such sincere and universal manifestations of sorrow. REVIEW Compare the boyhood of Lincoln with that of Washington. Name some of the qualities of his character which made it possible for him to become a great man. What famous men were at one time the leaders of the Whig party ? Tell about the famous campaign of 1840. Name in order all the presidents from Washington to Wil- liam H. Harrison. What great question was settled by the election of Polk in 1844 ? Which party was victorious in 1848, and who was elected President ? What was the rallying cry of the Free Soil party ? What principle did Stephen A. Douglas advocate ? Why were the people of the North opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska bill ? What were the causes of the troubles in Kansas ? Name in order all the Presidents from William H. Harrison to Lincoln. Why did the southern states secede from the Union ? When did President Lincoln issue his first call for soldiers ? Why did not Lincoln try to destroy slavery at once ? Did his emancipation proclamation set all the slaves free ? Why not ? What was the turning point in the Civil War ? When did the war come to an end ? What did the South lose by it ? ULYSSES S. GRANT AND THE GREAT CIVIL WAR I. PREPARATION FOR A GREAT CAREER United States Military Academy. — At West Point on the Hudson River is one of the most famous schools in America. It is called the United States Military Acad- emy and is maintained by our government for the purpose of training young men in the art of war. Many of the most distinguished soldiers of our country were educated there. General Robert E. Lee, as we have already learned, was once the superintendent of the Academy. The students are called cadets. Each congressional dis- trict in the United States may send two young men to the Academy, but these must be chosen and recommended by the congressman of the district. The course of study is by no means easy ; but every cadet who finishes it and graduates receives a commission, usually as a lieutenant, in the United States army. Cadet U. S. Grant. — In 1839 a young man from Ohio whose name was Hiram Ulysses Grant was admitted into the Academy. Through some mistake he was enrolled as Ulysses Simpson Grant, and by that name he was always known thereafter. He was only seventeen years of age PREPARATION FOR A GREAT CAREER 3b3 at the time of his entrance, and not a very ambitious stu- dent. During his four years' stay at the Academy he stood well in mathematics and was the best horseman at West Point ; but otherwise he did nothing to distinguish him- self. When he gradu- ated he stood a little below the middle of his class. In Texas. — At the age of twenty-three young Grant received his commission as second lieutenant in the army of the United States. Very soon afterward he was sent with his regiment to Texas. That was in 1845, just before the beginning of the Mex- ican War. General Taylor was already in the neighborhood of the Rio Grande, prepared to prevent the Mexicans from gaining a foothold on the east side of that river. In Mexico. — The war began almost immediately. Lieutenant Grant was 'in several of the earlier battles. At Monterey, where the Americans gained a great victory, he distinguished himself for bravery. His regiment was soon sent to Vera Cruz to join General Scott in his march The best horseman at West Point" 334 ULYSSES S. GRANT to the city of Mexico. The army was obliged to fight its way across the country, and Lieutenant Grant had his courage tested many times. But he acquitted himself so well that he received the personal thanks of his superior officers, and was promoted to be first lieutenant. Major Robert E. Lee, of Virginia, who was one of General Scott's aids in that famous march, made specia'l mention of him in his report. " Lieutenant Grant," he wrote, " behaved with distinguished gallantry." Captain Grant. — After the capture of the city of Mexico by our troops there was not much more fighting to be done. Grant's regiment remained there until peace was declared and the army was withdrawn. During the next six or seven years the young lieutenant was stationed at various places. He was now on the Gulf coast, now by the Great Lakes, and finally in California and Oregon. In 1853, when he was thirty-one years old, he became the captain of his company, but a year later he resigned his commission and settled on a farm in Missouri. Failures in business. — Captain Grant knew nothing about farming, and at the end of a year he found him- self deeply in debt. He gave up the farm and went to St. Louis. There seemed to be nothing that the man could do. After trying various ways of making a living, and succeeding in none, he went to Galena, Illinois, and became a clerk in a leather store v^hich his father owned there. His salary for the first year was to be only $800. He entered upon his new work only a few weeks before the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for the presidency. THE FIRST YEARS OF THE WAR 335 n. THE FIRST YEARS OF THE WAR The volunteers. — When Fort Sumter was fired upon by the soldiers of tlie South, and President Lincoln issued his call for seventy-five thousand volunteers, the whole country was aroused. In every city and village throughout the North men hastened to obey the call. In the town of Galena a company was quickly formed. Cap- tain Grant gave up his place in the leather store in order to drill the vol- unteers and get them ready for service. " The United States," he said, " edu- cated me for the army. As a soldier I have served my country through one war, and I am ready now to serve her through another." In Missouri. — The governor of Illi- nois gave him a commission as colonel of the Twenty-first Regiment of that state. Little time could be taken for preparation. The regiment was at once ordered to Missouri to guard the railroads and prevent an uprising among the slave- holders. Colonel Grant drilled his men while marching. He was always on the move. He left nothing undone; he did nothing by halves. His ability as a military leader soon became known to his superiors. He was made brigadier general, and was placed in command of all the Union forces in southeastern Missouri. Union volunteer 1861 336 ULYSSES S. GRANT First victories. — The Confederates were already mov- ing toward Missouri and Kentucky, with the intention of winning both of these states to the southern cause. They began to fortify the islands in the Mississippi, and stretched a line of defenses eastward across Tennessee. Gen- eral Grant saw that he must drive them from these positions before they had time to strengthen them with more troops and other fortifi- cations. His movements were so rapid that the Confederates could do but little to resist him. One strong position after another was taken by his army. The southern leaders, instead of marching their forces farther north, were obliged to defend the ground which they had already won. " Unconditional surrender." — Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland River, covered the approach to Nashville and central Tennessee. It was held by more than twenty thousand Confederate soldiers. Grant saw that until this point should be taken and held by Union forces it would be hard to gain any further advantages in that direction. He therefore lost no time in marching against it. He besieged Fort Donelson, and for three days the battle raged fiercely around it. General Buckner, who had been with Grant in Mexico when both Confederate volunteer THE FIRST YEARS OF THE WAR 337 were young men, was in command of the fort. He knew that he was contending with a person of uncommon pluck and perseverance. He asked for terms of surrender. General Grant's answer was short and decided : " No terms other than an unconditional and immediate sur- render can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works." Buckner surrendered without delay. This was the first important victory that the Union armies had gained. The plans of the Confederates were thwarted ; their lines of defenses were broken. The name of " Unconditional Surrender " Grant at once became fa- mous throughout the country, and the victorious hero was rewarded by being made major general of volunteers. Other successes. — The capture of Fort Donelson was followed by other victories. At Corinth, Mississippi, and at other important points, terrible battles were fought. General Grant was made commander of the department of the Tennessee, with headquarters at Corinth. Union troops and gunboats moved down the Mississippi, captur- ing every place of importance north of Vicksburg. Com- modore Farragut had seized the forts at the mouth of the great river, had ascended to New Orleans, and after bom- barding that city, had received its surrender. Vicksburg. — General Grant understood what great advantage it would be to the Union cause if he could gain complete control of the Mississippi. The Confederacy would then be cut into two parts and its power greatly weakened. He therefore marched against Vicksburg, one of the last of the Confederate strongholds on the river. BABNES'S EL. — 22 838 ULYSSES S. GRANT The city stands on a high bluff overlooking the stream, and it was so strongly fortified that it seemed safe from any attack. Other men would have been daunted by the difficul- ties which lay in the way, but General Grant persevered. After months of labor and disappointment he at length In the trenches at Vicksburg succeeded m surrounding the city with his forces. Supplies were cut off from those within. The Confederate soldiers were unable to escape. Finally, on the 4th of July, 1863, the place was surrendered unconditionally. Chattanooga. — It was plain now that of all the Union generals in the West, Ulysses S. Grant was the ablest, as he had been the most successful. He was therefore pro- THE LAST YEARS OF THE WAR 339 moted to the command of the mihtary division of the Mississippi, which really included all the United States forces west of the Alleghanies. His next great victory was won at Chattanooga. There, after a long and deter- mined struggle, the Confederate lines were broken and the army was forced to withdraw from the state. m. THE LAST YEARS OF THE WAR Promoted. — Congress gave to Grant the title of lieutenant general, and ordered that a gold medal should be presented to him in commemoration of his great achievements. Soon afterward, President Lincoln gave him a commission to be commander of all the armies of the United States. General Sherman took charge of affairs in the West, while Grant at the head of the army of the Potomac marched against Lee and his army in Virginia. Pluck and perseverance. — The last battles, while at- tempting to reach Richmond, were among the most terrible in the war. The loss of life was very great on both sides, and the Union army met with many checks and discour- agements. Men with less determination than Grant said that he had undertaken too much, and that he ought to give it up and try some other plan. But he answered, " I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." Sherman's march. — It did take all summer, and all winter too, but the dauntless commander would not give up. General Sherman, having dispersed the Confederates in the West, began a great march from the mountains to the sea. Through Georgia and the Carolinas he led his 340 ULYSSES S, GRANT victorious army, burning bridges and tearing up railroads as he went. A strip of country sixty miles wide was laid waste, and everything that could be of any use to the Confederate cause was destroyed. The South had no more resources with which to carry on the war. The end of the terrible struggle was at hand. The surrender of Lee. — On the night of the 2d of April, 1865, General Lee with his army left Richmond Farmhouse where surrender was arranged and began a hasty retreat toward the southwest. Grant followed. The Confederates were overtaken and sur- rounded near Appomattox Courthouse. They were no longer able to make any resistance. On the 9th of April the two generals met at a farm- house to arrange for the surrender. The terms were soon agreed upon. General Grant made them as easy as he could. The men who had fought so long and lost all for their beloved South were not held as prisoners. They RECONSTRUCTION 341 were permitted to go to their homes on the promise never again to bear arms against the United States. Those who had horses were allowed to keep them. " They will need the poor beasts to help th^.n or their farms," said Grant. In every word and act he tried to s^ are the feelings of his fallen foes. Thus the great war between the states came to an end. IV. RECONSTRUCTION Troublesome questions. — Upon the death of Abraham Lincoln^ Andrew Johnson, the Vice President, became President of the United States. Although the war was ended, the great problems to which it had given rise were yet to be adjusted. What was to be done with the states that had seceded from the Union ? Were they still states, and should they be permitted to resume their former places in the Union and send representatives and senators to Congress ? President Johnson, like Lincoln, held that no state could withdraw from the Union without the consent of the people of the United States. The southern states, he said, were therefore still in the Union, notwithstanding their acts of secession, and, this being so, they were en- titled to representation. Congress, he argued, could not impose laws upon such of the southern people as had remained loyal to the U.nion unless those people were given an opportunity to share in the making of such laws. Congress and the President. — But Congress decided differently. It declared that the states by their own acts 342 ULYSSES S. GRANT had lost their rights in the Union, and that they should not be restored to their former places nntil they had com- plied with certain conditions. There was thus a disa- greement between the President and Congress, and this soon deepened into a bitter quarrel. The House of Repre- sentatives passed a resolution for the impeachment of the President and his removal from office ; but when he was tried before the Senate he was not convicted. What the states were required to do. — What were the conditions which Congress imposed upon the southern states ? The most important were these : They must agree that no part of the debts incurred by the Confed- erate States should ever be paid by the United States ; and they must accept certain amendments to the Consti- tution, one prohibiting slavery in every part of the United States, and another giving to the negroes the same public privileges as white people. Slavery. — But had not Abraham Lincoln already put an end to slavery ? He had not. His famous proclamation had given freedom to those slaves only who were within the regions actually in rebellion on the 1st of January, 18G3. It did not forbid the people of the South from afterward acquiring and holding slaves. It did not apply in any way to the slaves in the loyal states of Delaware, Mary- land, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Missom-i, nor to those in some other parts of the South where the authority of the Union had been restored. Slavery was not fully and finally abolished until the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution went into force on the 18th of December, 1865. THE END OF A GREAT CAREER 343 V. THE END OF A GREAT CAREER President Grant. — At the close of the war General Grant was the most popular man in the country. The people of the North could not do enough to show their appreciation of the man who had led the Union armies to victory and had conquered a lasting peace for the country. When the time drew near for another presidential elec- tion the Republican party nominated him as their can- didate. He was elected by a very large majority, and on the 4th of March, 1869, was inauo-urated as the eisrhteentli ^ . ^ The eighteenth President President of the United States. Prosperity. — As. time went on, the affairs of the country improved. The jealousies of the North and the South began to disappear. Prosperity smiled on all the land. President Grant served his people so well during his first term that he was reelected. His second term was equally successful, and there were many who insisted that he should be chosen a third time. He was not again nominated, however, but was succeeded in 1877 by Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio. The end. — After the close of his second term General 344 ULYSSES S. GRANT Grant made a tour round the world. He visited many of the most important countries in Europe and Asia, and was received with great honor by their rulers. When he returned to America he settled in New York, where he lived for some time like any other private citizen. But his last years were clouded with trou- ble. Much of the fortune which he had acquired while in public life was lost through the dishonesty of men in whom he had confided. He had trouble with his throat, and this At length on the Grant's tomb in Riverside Park developed into an incurable disease. 23d of July, 1885, he died. His body now rests in a magnificent tomb in Riverside Park by the banks of the Hudson. His memory will ever be honored by the grateful people of a united country. REVIEW Why does the United States maintain the Military Academy at West Point? Name two famous men who were educated there. When did the civil war begin ? What were its causes ? What were the most important victories gained by General Grant in the West ? Why was the control of the Mississippi River so important to the Confederates ? What was one of the chief results of the war ? WILLIAM McKINLEY AND THE EXPANSION OF THE NATION I. FROM PRIVATE TO MAJOR At the sparrow Inn. — One evening in June, 1861, an excited company of men and boys was gathered at the Sparrow Inn, in the little village of Poland, Ohio. Every countenance wore a serious, determined look, showing that the meeting was for no idle purpose. One man who seemed to be well known to all arose and made a speech. " Our country's flag has been shot at," he said. " It has been trailed in the dust by those who should defend it, dishonored by those who ought to cherish and love it. Who will be the first to volunteer to defend it ? " The volunteers. — Among the company present there was very little hesitation. One by one, men and grown-up boys went forward and pledged themselves to give the next three years of their lives to their country. Almost the first was a slim, gray-eyed youth of nineteen, who gave his name as William McKinley, Jr. Everybody knew young McKinley. He was at that time a clerk in the village post office. He was a teacher in the Methodist Sunday School. He had been a pupil in the academy at Poland, and he had the reputation of being a great student. 346 346 WILLIAM McKINLEY With the rest who had pledged themselves that night, young McKinley went without delay to Columbus, and was there formally enlisted as a private in the Twenty-third Regiment of Ohio volunteers. One of the officers in that regiment was Rutherford B. Hayes, who, sixteen years later, became the nineteenth President of the United States. The Twenty-third Ohio was one of the most famous regi- ments in the war ; and when Mr. Hayes was advanced to Formally enlisted as a private its command he selected William McKinley to be a mem- ber of his staff. Before the end of a year McKinley received his first actual promotion by being chosen com- missary sergeant for his company. Other promotions FROM rRIYATE 10 MAJOR 347 t :^' *'- « l^lfc TO^K^^P'j!; '■-■ '^, 'f*s' pw--^ -i.^^gH Bffl^^^^^ / 1% ^^^' ,«j^ ^1 ^^»#.