I E 301 .F54 Copy 2 ^ THE UNITED STATES BECAME A NATION,,,-, JOHN FISKE Glass JE.361 Rnnk .T54 _ HOW THE UNITED STATES BECAME A NATION fi^-/iy!yhf^JM'!y-y.'i'uM.^f/tiif-i.t>.ti-/',,-m/t.''r,^. HOW THE UNITED STATES BECAME A NATION BY JOHN FISKE With Illustrations mid 3Iap BOSTON, U.S.A. GINN «& COMPANY, PUBLISHEKS 1904 UBRARY of CONGResS Two Cooies ltec«tved JUL 19 190^ C»pyn^n( tntry CLASS O^ XAfc. No 9oyof COPv L CoPYRifJHT, 1887, 1904 By GINN & COMPANY L.301 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CONTENTS PAGE The Period of Weakness 5 Conditions of American progress. Hamilton's meas- ures. Whisky insurrection. Indian War. Rise of parties. "Citizen" Genet. Jay's treaty. Troubles with France. Alien and sedition laws. Kentucky and Vir- ginia resolutions. Death of Washington. Downfall of the Federalist party. The Louisiana Purchase. Ex- ploration of Oregon. The Tripolitan-War. Burr and Hamilton. Embargo. Second War with Great Britain 75 Strength of the Republicans. Declaration of war. Naval victories. The war in the Northwest. The war on the Lakes. The war in the South. Treaty of Ghent. The Rise of the Deaiocracy 107 "The era of good feeling." Florida. Monroe doc- trine. Growth of the nation. Growth of slavery. The Missouri Compromise. The young West. Whigs and Democrats. Tariffs. Nullification. A new era. The spoils system. Whigs come into power. Oregon and Texas. The Slave Power 151 War with Mexico. Wilmot Proviso. California. Effects of the Compromise. Kansas-Nebraska bill. The struggle for Kansas. Dred Scott. The crisis. viii Contents PAGE The Civil War 183 The North and South in 1860. Fort Sumter and Bull Kun. Affair of the Trent. Success in the West. Merrimac and Monitor. McClellan in Virginia. West- ern campaigns. Emancipation of the slaves. The great crisis of the war. Chattanooga. Combined operations under Grant. End of the war. Index 247 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Thomas Jefferson Frontispiece Photogravure after the crayon portrait by St. Memin, with autograph Expansion Map of the United States 4 Inauguration of Washington as President 9 From a History of United States published in 1820 Alexander Hamilton 12 After the miniature portrait by Robertson, with auto- graph Anthony Wayne 17 After the portrait sketch by Trumbull, with autograph Autograph of Genet 21 John Jay 22 After the portrait by Stuart, with autograph John Adams 25 After the portrait by Stuart, with autograph Autograph of Talleyrand 26 Truxtun Medal 27 Napoleon 29 After the portrait by Delaroche, with autograph George Washington 35 After the portrait by Stuart The Tomb of Washington 38 After an old sketch X Illustrations I'AUE Mount Vernon 40 From a print published in 1798 Autograph of Washington 42 Mrs. Washington 45 After the portrait by Stuart Mount Vernon 46 From a recent photograph Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 51 After the miniature portrait by Malbone, with auto- graph Thomas Jefferson 53 After the portrait by Stuart John Marshall 56 After the portrait by Inman, witli autograph Meriwether Lewis 59 After the portrait by Peale, with autograph William Clark 60 After the portrait by Peale, with autograph Meriwether Lewis 61 After the drawing by St. Memin Tripoli Medal 63 George Clinton 65 After the portrait by Ames, with autograph Aaron Burr QQ After the portrait by Stuart, with autograph Washington at the Beginning of the Last Century ... 70 From an early print Rufus King 70 After the portrait by Stuart, with autograph Illustrations xi PAGE James Madison 79 After the portrait by Stuart, with autograph DeWitt Clintou 80 After the portrait by Trumbull, with autograph Captain Isaac Hull 82 From the portrait published in the Analectlc Maga- zine, 1815 Bainbridge Medal 83 The Chesapeake and Shannon 84 From a print published in 1815 The Enterprise and Boxer 85 From a print published in 1815 The Constitution 87 From a print published in 1815 Engraved Title-Page for the Naval Monument .... 89 Published in 1815 celebrating the victories of the American navy William Hull 91 After the portrait by Stuart, with autograph Oliver H. Perry 93 After the portrait by Jarvis, with autograph Two Views of Perry's Victory 95 From prints published in 1815 Thomas Macdonough , . . 97 After the portrait by Jarvis, with autograph Andrew Jackson 99 After the portrait by Jarvis The Capitol at Washington after being burned by the British 100 From an old print xii Illustrations PAGE James Monroe lUt) After the portrait by Stuart, \Yilli autograph Robert Fulton Ill After the portrait by West, witli autograph Eli Whitney 113 After the portrait by King, with autograph The Locks at Lockport on the Eiie Canal 117 From prints published in 1838 Thomas H. Benton 121 After a daguerreotype, with autograph John Quiucy Adams 123 After tlie ijortrait by Durand, with autograph Henry Clay 125 After a daguerreotype, with autograph The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, 1831 129 Redrawn from an old sketch Daniel Webster 131 After a daguerreotype, with autograph William Lloyd Garrison 133 After a photograph, with autograph Andrew Jackson 137 After the drawing by Longacre, with autograph Martin Van Buren 130 After a photograph, with autograph William Henry Harrison 140 After the portrait by Lambdin, with autograph John Tyler 142 After a daguerreotype, with autograph Sam Houston 145 After a daguerreotype, with autograph Illustrations xiii PAGE James K. Polk 147 Afler the portrait by Healey, with autograph Winfield Scott 153 After the portrait by Weir, with autograph James Russell Lowell 155 After a photograph, with autograph Zachary Taylor 157 After a daguerreotype, with autograph Millard Fillmore ICO After a photograph, with autograph Harriet Beecher Stowe 101 After the drawing by Kichinond, with autograph Franklin Pierce 1G4 After the portrait by Healey, with autograph Stephen A. Douglas 107 After a photograph, with autograph Charles Sumner 170 After a photograph, with autograph James Buchanan 172 After a daguerreotype, with autograph John Brown . . 170 After a photograph, with autograph John C. Breckinridge . . 178 After a daguerreotype, with autograph Napoleon III 187 After the portrait by Winterhalter, with autograph Jefferson C. Davis 189 After a photograph, with autograph Alexander H. Stephens 192 After a photograph, with autograph xiv Illuistratloiis PAGE Abraham Lincoln 193 After a photograph, with autograph Fort Sumter after the Bombardment 195 After a photograph Montgomery, Alabama, February 8, 1861 196 From a contemporary print Confederate Capitol at Richmond 197 From a print George B. McClellan 199 After a photograph, with autograpli A. Sidney Johnston 204 After a photograph, with autograph Ulysses S. Grant 205 From a photograph, with autograph David G. Farragut ... 209 After a photograph, with autograph John Ericsson 211 After a photograph, with autograph John C. Fremont 213 After a photograph, with autograph Joseph E. Johnston . . 215 After a photograph, with autograph John Pope 217 After a photograph, with autograph Henry W. Halleck 219 After a photograph, witii autograph Don Carlos Buell 220 After a photograph, with autograph William S. Ro.secrans 221 After a photograph, with autograph Illustrations xv PAGE General Bragg 223 After a photograph Joseph Hooker 227 After a photograph, with autograph Tliomas J. Jackson (" Stonewall" Jackson) 229 After a photograph, with autograph George G. Meade 231 After a photograph, with autograph George H. Thomas 233 After a photograph, with autograph William T. Sherman 235 After a photograph, with autograph Robert E. Lee .237 After a photograph, with autograph General Hood 241 After a photograph Philip H. Sheridan 243 After a photograph, with autograph THE PERIOD OF WEAKNESS THE PERIOD OF WEAKNESS Couditions of American progress. Hamilton's measures. Whisky insurrection. Indian War. Kise of parties. "Cit- izen" Genet. Jay's treaty. Troubles with France. Alien and sedition laws. Kentucky and Virginia resolutions. Death of Washington. Downfall of the Federalist party. The Louisiana Purchase. E.xploration of Oregon. The Tripolitau War. Burr and Hamilton. Embargo. The nation over wliicli George Washington was called to preside in 1780 was a third-rate power, inferior in population and wealth to Holland, for example, and about on a level with Portugal or Denmark. The population, numbering less than four million, was thinly scattered throusrh the thirteen states between the Atlantic and the Alleghenies, beyond which mountainous barrier a few hardy pioneers were making the beginnings of Tennessee, Ken- tucky, and Ohio. Roads were few and bad, none of the great rivers were bridged, mails were irregular. There were few manufac- tures. There were many traders and merchant 6 How the United States became a Nation seamen in the coast towns of the north, but the great majority of the people were farmers who Hved on- tlie produce of their own estates and seldom undertook long journeys. Hence the different parts of the country knew very lit- tle about each other, and entertained absurd prejudices; and the sentiment of union be- tween the states was extremely weak. East of the Alleghenies the red man had ceased to be dangerous, but tales of Indian massacre still came from regions no more remote than Ohio and Georgia. By rare good fortune and consummate diplomacy the United States had secured, at the peace of 1783, all the terri- tory as far as the Mississippi river, but all the vast regions beyond, together with the important city of New Orleans at its mouth, belonged to Spain, the European power which most cordially hated us. The only other power which had possessions in North America was England, from which we had lately won our independence. The feeling entertained toward us in England was one of mortifica- tion and chagrin, accompanied by a hope that TJie Period of Weakness 7 our half-formed Union would fall in pieces and its separate states be driven by disaster to beg to be taken back into the British em- pire. The rest of Europe knew little about the United States and cared less. This country, however, which seemed so in- significant beside the great powers of Europe, contained within itself the germs of an indus- trial and political development far greater than anything the world had ever seen. The American population was settled upon a terri- tory much more than capable of supporting it. The natural resources of the country were so vast as to create a steady demand for labor far greater than ordinary increase of popula- tion could supply. This is still the case, and for a long time will continue to be the case. It is this simple economic fact which has always been at the bottom of the wonderful growth of the United States. But it was very necessary that the nation should be provided with such a government as would enable it to take full advantaere of this fact. It was necessary first, that the Federal government 8 IIoio the United States hecavie a Nation should be strong enough to preserve peace at home and make itself respected abroad ; secondly., that local self-government should be maintained in every part of the Union; thirdly, that there should be absolute free trade be- tween the states. These three great ends our Federal Constitution has secured. The requi- site strength in the central government was, indeed, not all actpiired in a moment. It took a second war with England in 1812-1815 to convince foreign nations that the American flag could not be insulted with impunity ; and it took the terrible Civil War of 18G1-18G5 to prove tliat (jiir government was too strong to be overthrown l)y the most formidable domes- tic combination that could possibly be brought against it. The result of both these wars has been to diminish the probable need for further wars on the part of the United States. In spite of these and other minor contests, our Federal Constitution for a century kept the American Union in such profound peace as was never seen before in any part of the earth since men began to live upon its surface. II!s?Air©i[nRi4TlTK^offTBT^ "WsiSiKnm'eircjis'.r *'" 1" ;': ' h-* B Inauguration of Washington as Pkesident From a print imblished in ltS2U 9 The Period of Weakness 11 Local self-government and free trade within the limits of the Union were not interfered with. As a result, we were able to profit largely by our natural advantages, so that the end of our first century of national exist- ence found us the strongest and richest nation in the world. For these blessings, in so far as they are partly the work of wise statesmanship, a large share of our gratitude is due to the adminis- tration of George Washington. The problem before that administration was to organize the government upon the lines laid down in the Constitution, so that its different departments would work smoothly together. This difficult work was so successfully accomplished that little change has been found necessary from that day to this. The success was mainly due to the organizing genius of Hamilton in the cabinet, assisted by the skill and tact of Madison as leading member of the House of Representatives. Though these great men were often opposed to each other in regard to special measures, their work all tended toward 12 How the United States became a Nation a common result. Hamilton, as Secretary of the Treasury, occupied the most important position in Washington's cabinet. The first thing to be done was to restore the credit of the United States, which had been completely The Period of Weakness 13 ruined during the Revolutionary War and the troubled years which followed it. Hamilton proposed three measures : first, that the gov- ernment should assume the foreign debt of the confederation, and pay it in full ; secondly, that the domestic debt, which seemed to have been virtually repudiated, should likewise be assumed and paid ; thirdly, that the debts of the separate states should also be assumed and paid by the Federal government. The first of these measures met with no opposi- tion. The second was opposed on the ground that it would only benefit speculators who had bought up United States securities at a dis- count ; but Hamilton's friends argued. Let us teach people who hold government securities hereafter not to sell them at a discount; and so the measure was carried. The third meas- ure met with violent opposition, for many peo- ple thought the Federal government had no legal power to assume a state debt. No doubt it was a somewhat heroic measure. There was a fierce and bitter fight over it, which at last was only settled by what in political 14 How the United States became a Nation slang is called " logrolling," or an exchange of favors. The site for a Federal capital was to be selected. The northern people generally wished to have it not farther south than the Delaware river, while the southerners were de- termined not to have it farther north than the Potomac. Jefferson, who was Washington's Secretary of State, was prominent in urging the southern view of this question, as well as in opposing the assumption of the state debts. The two controversies were settled by a bargain between Jefferson and Hamilton, in which the former withdrew his opposi- tion to assumption, while the latter used his influence with the Federalist party in favor of the Potomac as a site for the Federal capi- tal. The assumption of state debts was a master stroke of policy. All those persons to whom any state owed money were at once won over to the support of the Federal gov- ernment. There were many such persons, and many of them were wealthy and power- ful. All these now felt a common interest in upholding the national credit, which, through The Period of Weakness 15 these wise and vigorous measures of Hamil- ton, was soon completely restored. In order to carry out these measures, money was necessary, and this must be raised by Fed- eral taxation. There were two ways in which this could be done, either by internal taxes or by customhouse duties. The latter method was mainly resorted to, because it is more indirect, and while it takes vastly more money out of people's pockets, they are usually too dull to realize this as they would in the case of a direct tax. When a tax is wrapped up in the extra fifty cents paid to a merchant for a yard of foreign cloth, it is so effectually hidden that most people do not know it is there. Hence this method of taxation is dan- gerous ; it enables taxes to be laid for the benefit of greedy manufacturers, and thus furtively takes from the people vast sums of money which never get into the treasury. This sort of thing is called ''protection," which is so pleasing a word that it makes many peo- ple loath to see taxes reduced. In Hamilton's time these dangers were not so well understood 16 IIoic the United States became a Nation as they are now. But the most indirect and covert method of taxation was the one that must needs be adopted, because jjeople had not been used to paying taxes except to their t(jwn, county, and state governments, and wouhl be likely to rebel against taxes too directly demanded for the Federal treasury. An instance of this was furnished in 1794 by the tax on wliisky. Tlie settlers in the mountains of Pennsylvania and Virginia had long since found that it cost more to carry their corn and wheat to market tlian they could sell it for, and accordingly they dis- tilled it into whisky. When Congress now laid a tax upon whisky, they grumbled, and when the revenue officers called upon them, they refused to pay the tax and threatened to take up arms. It was necessary to show people that such proceedings would not be allowed ; and Washington summarily sup- pressed the insurrection by sending to the disaffected region an ami}' of sixteen thou- sand men, — a force so large as to make the mere idea of resistance ridiculous. The Period of Weakness 17 Then, as ordinarily, the western frontier was the scene of troubles with the Indians. This frontier was then near the Wabash river. In 1790 the red men won a great victory over General Harmar near the site of Fort Wayne, and in the following year they inflicted a terrible 18 How the United States became a Nation defeat upon General St. Clair near the head waters of the Wabash. They now tried to make a treaty which should exclude white settlers from tliis region. But in 1794, in a fierce battle near the site of Toledo, they were totally defeated by General Wayne, and were forced to make a treaty by which they were moved farther west. The divisions between political parties had now become strongly marked. People were first divided into two great national parties in the autumn of 1787, when the question was whether the Federal Constitution should be ratified by the states. These first parties were called Federalist and Anti-Federalist, names which explain themselves. The adoption of the Constitution was a decisive defeat for the Anti-Federalist party; the financial measures of Hamilton completed its destruction. Par- ties then became divided in the only sound and healthy way possible in a free country, namely, into those who wished to extend, and those w^ho wished to limit, the powers of government. Tlie former kept the name of The Period of Weakness 19 Federalists, the second received the name of Democratic-Republicans. They preferred to be called Republicans, while their enemies tried to call them Democrats, an epithet which was then supposed to convey a stigma. Until about 1825-1830 the correct name for this party is Republican ; after that time it is right to speak of it as the Democratic party. The reader must bear in mind the awkward fact that in American politics at the beginning of the century the name Republican meant ex- actly the opposite to wliat it means now. So far as the word goes, it might as well have been apphed to one party as the other; American party names have but little descriptive signifi- cance anyway. But at the outset the name Democrat really had a meaning. It was prop- erly applied to those who wished to increase the direct participation of the people in the gov- ernment, to abolish all remnants of privilege, and to extend the suffrage which at that time was more or less limited in all the states. The founder and greatest leader of the Republi- can party, Thomas Jefferson, was before all 20 IIoio the United States became a Nation men a Democrat. In the highest intellectual qualities he was inferior to Hamilton and Madison; but he excelled them in a certain generosity of intelligence which enabled him to see that no form of government can be suc- cessful in the long run, if it leaves any class of people with the feeling that they are forci- bly deprived of a share in the management of things. Jefferson's opponent, the leader of the Federalists, was Hamilton. Between the two parties Washington pursued a national policy of his own, though his sympathies were mainly with the Federalists. A fii-m hand and indomitable will like Washington's were needed at this time, for the foreign sympathies of our two parties were so strong that we were continually running the risk of getting dragged into war. Party quarrels were concerned even more with Euro- pean politics than with American affairs. The French Revolution broke out in the first year of Washington's first term (1780) ; by the second year of his second term it had reached its most frightful period. France and England The Period of Weakness 21 were now at Wcar. The Republicans realized the good in the French Revolution so far as to sympathize with it in spite of its horrors. The Federalists sympathized with England as the upholder of law and order in Europe. Party strife has never run so high, except just before our Civil War. The French expected us to help them in their war against England, and in 1793 AnTOGu.vi'H OF Genet they sent over a minister to the United States to persuade us to do so. This man, who was called " Citizen" Genet, behaved as if he owned the United States. He tried, without waiting for permission, to fit out privateers in American ports, and thus drag us into war with England. Many Republicans were disposed to uphold him in everything, but his insolence presently disgusted his own supporters. Washington sternly checked his proceedings, and at length 22 IIoiv the United States became a Nation complained of him to the French govern- ment, which thought it best to recall him. In 1795 Washington had one of his hardest trials. Since the peace of 1783 England had treated us as shabbily as she knew how. She The Period of Weakness 23 still held Detroit and other frontier forts, in disregard of the treaty, and it was believed that the British commandants had secretly helped the Indians on the Wabash. British war ships, moreover, were in the habit of im- pressing American seamen and seizing Amer- ican ships bound to or from French ports. War might easily grow out of this, and to prevent such a calamity Washington sent John Jay on a special mission to England. Jay negotiated a treaty which only partially secured the American claims, but Washing- ton's government wisely adopted it as prefer- able to war. There was great excitement everywhere ; Hamilton was stoned on the street, and scurrilous newspapers heaped abuse upon Washington, calling him "the stepfather of his country." As Washington refused to be a candidate for a third term, the election of 1796 was warmly contested by the two parties. John Adams, the Federalist candidate, was elected over Jefferson, who, according to the rule at that time, became Vice President, as second 24 How the United States became a Nation on tlie list. This was an unwise rule, since under it the deatli of the President might reverse the result of the election. The ad- ministration of John Adams was chiefly occu- pied with disputes with France. The French were indignant at our attitude of neutral- ity, and treated us with intolerable insolence. Under Washington's administration, Gouver- neur Morris, a Federalist, had been for some time minister to France, but as he was greatly disliked by tlie gang of anarchists that then misruled that country, Washington had re- called him and sent James Monroe, a Repub- lican, in his place. Monroe was instructed to try to reconcile the French to Jay's treaty, but instead of this he encouraged them to hope that the treaty would not be ratified. Washington accordingly recalled him and sent Cotesworth Pinckney, a Federalist, in his place. The French government were so enraged at the ratification of Jay's treaty that they would not allow Pinckney to stay in Paris, and at the same time decrees were passed discriminating against American commerce. The Period of Weakness 25 The first act of Mr. Adams was to call an extra session of Congress to consider how war with France was to be avoided. A spe- cial commission was sent to Paris, but the government theye would not receive the com- missioners. Prince Talleyrand had the im- pudence to send secret emissaries to them to demand a large sum of money as blackmail, 26 How the United States became a Nation to be paid to several members of the French government on condition of their stopping the outrages upon American commerce. The indignant envoys sent home to America an account of this infamous proposal, and Mr. Adams laid the dispatches before Congress, substituting the letters X. Y. Z. for the names of Talleyrand's emissaries. Hence these papers have ever since been known as the Amtoguaph of Talleyrand " X. Y. Z. dispatches." They were published, and aroused intense excitement on both sides of the- Atlantic. The United States pre- pared for war. For the moment the Repub- lican party seemed overwhelmed. From all quarters went up the war cry, " Millions for defense; not one cent for tribute." A few excellent frigates were built ; an army was raised, and Washington was placed in com- mand with the rank of lieutenant general. It was during this excitement that the song The Period of Weakness 27 Truxtun Medal of " Hail Columbia " was published. For about a year there was really war with France, though it was never declared. In February, 1799, Captain Truxtun, in the frigate Con- stellation, defeated and captured the French frigate L'Insurgente near the island of St. Christopher. In February, 1800, the same gallant officer in a desperate battle destroyed the frigate La Vengeance, which was much his superior in strength of armament. The French, seeing our warlike attitude, had already, early in 1799, grown somewhat more civil. Talleyrand tried to disavow the X.Y.Z. affair, and made conciliatory overtures to Vans Murray, the American minister at The 28 Hoio the United States became a Nation Hague. President Adams wisely decided to meet tbe Freucli governmeut halfway, and accordingly, in spite of the fiercely warlike temper of the Federalist party, he appointed Vans Murray minister to France, and sent over two commissioners to aid him in adjusting the difficulties. When these envoys reached Paris, they found Napoleon Bonaparte at the head of the government, and succeeded in settling everything amicably. The course of John Adams, in resisting popular clamor and mak- ing peace with France, deserves our highest praise. It was one of the noblest actions of his life, but it prevented his reelection to the presidency. For a long time there had been intense jealousy and dislike between Adams and the other great Federalist leader, Hamil- ton ; and on the occasion of the French mission these antagonisms bore fruit in a quarrel be- tween Mr. Adams and his cabinet, and presently in a split in the Federalist party. Another affair contributed largely to the downfall of the Federalist party. In 1798, during the height of the popular fury against ■ l^fl ^M ^H ^^^^^1 ^^^^Pr ^^^^Bvn^^^^^^^^^^^^^^l ^^^^H ^^F- /iTA'^^fsi^^^^^^^l^^^^^^^^^^^l ^^^^^H ^^^^^^H i ^m|l^^^^^^l ^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^P ^^^^^■px' ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H ^^■p ' wjj^^^^^^^^H ^^^V' Hr ' ^^H^^JHH^^^^^^H ^^^ iHk jflHHli^l 29 Tlie Period of Weakness 31 France, the Federalists in Congress presumed too much upon their strength, and passed the famous alien and sedition acts. By the first of these acts aliens were rendered liable to summary banishment from the United States at the sole discretion of the President ; and any alien who should venture to return from such banishment was liable to imprisonment for life. By the sedition act, any scandalous or malicious writing against the President or Congress was liable to be dealt with in the United States courts and punished by fine and imprisonment. This act was unconstitu- tional, for it was an infringement upon free- dom of the press ; and both acts aroused more widespread indignation than any others that have ever passed in Congress. From the southern Republicans the alien and sedition laws called forth a vigorous remonstrance. A series of resolutions, drawn up by Madison, was adopted in 1798 by the Legislature of Virginia, and a similar series, still more pronounced in character, and drawn up by Jefferson, was adopted in the same 32 How the United States became a Nation year by the Legislature of Kentucky. The Virgmia resolutions asserted with truth that, in adopting the Federal Constitution, the states had surrendered only a limited portion of their powers ; and went on to declare that, when- ever the Federal government should exceed its constitutional authority, it was the busi- ness of the state governments to interfere and pronounce such action unconstitutional. Accordingly, by these resolutions, Virginia declared the alien and sedition laws uncon- stitutional, and invited the other states to join in the. declaration. Not meeting with a favorable response, Virginia renewed these resolutions the next year. There was nothing necessarily seditious, or tending toward secession, in the Virginia res- olutions ; but the attitude assumed in them was uncalled for on the part of any state, inasmuch as there existed, in the Federal Su- preme Cornet, a tribunal competent to decide upon the constitutionality of acts of Congress. But tlie Kentucky resolutions went further. They declared that our Federal Constitution The Period of Weakness 33 was a compact to which the several states were the one party and the Federal government was the other, and each party must decide for itself as to when the compact was infringed, and as to the proper remedy to be adopted. When the resolutions were repeated in 1799, a clause was added which went still further and mentioned "nullification" as the suitable remedy, and one which any state might em- ploy. This was venturing upon dangerous ground ; for if it were once admitted that a state might take it upon itself to prevent the execution of a United States law within its own borders, a long step Avould be made toward admitting the right of secession. In after times secessionists often appealed to the Kentucky resolutions ; but their doctrine was never generally admitted, tliough different states, north and south, under the influence of strong excitement, seemed at times ready to act upon it. When appointed to command the army, July 3, 1798, Washington accepted the com- mission upon the express understanding that 34 HoiD the United States became a Nation he was not to be called into the field until an emergency should arise which should require his presence. During the following year he continued to superintend from a distance the concerns of the army, as his ample and minute correspondence manifests ; and he was at the same time earnestly endeavoring to bring the affairs of his rural domain into order. A six- teen years' absence from home, with short intervals, had deranged them considerably, so that it required all the time he could spare from the usual occupations of life to bring them into tune again. It was a period of incessant activity and toil, therefore, both mental and bodily. He was for hours in his study occupied with his pen, and for hours on horseback, riding the rounds of his extensive estate, visiting the various farms, and super- intending and directing the works in opera- tion. All this he did with unfailing vigor, though now in his sixty-seventh year. Occasional reports of the sanguinary con- flict that was going on in Europe would reach him in the quiet groves of Mount Venion and Geokge Washington AlttT the painting by Stuart oo Tke Period of Weakness 37 awaken his solicitude. "A more destructive sword," said lie, "was never drawn, at least in modern times, than this war has produced. It is time to sheathe it and give peace to mankind." A private letter written to the Secretary of War bespeaks his apprehensions: " I have for some time past viewed the politi- cal concerns of the United States with an anxious and painful eye. They appear to me to be moving by hasty strides to a crisis ; but in what it will result, that Being who sees, foresees, and directs all things, alone can tell. The vessel is afloat, or very nearly so, and considering myself as a passenger only, I shall trust to the mariners (whose duty it is to watch) to steer it into a safe port." Winter had set in, December, 1799, with occasional wind and rain and frost, yet Wash- ington still kept up his active round of in- door and outdoor occupations, as his diary records. He was in full liealth and vigor, dined out occasionally, and had frequent guests at Mount Vernon, and, as usual, was part of every day in the saddle, going the 38 How the United States became a Nation rounds of his estate, and, in his mihtary phraseology, "visiting the outposts." He had recently walked with his favorite nephew, Lawrence Lewis, about the grounds, showing the improvements he intended to The Tomb of Washington After an old sketch make, and had especially pointed out the spot where he purposed building a new family tomb, the old one being damaged by the roots of trees which had overgrown it and caused it to leak. "This change," said he, "I shall make the first of all, for I may require it before the rest." The Period of Weakness 39 " When I parted from him," adds Lewis, " he stood on tlie steps of the front door, where he took leave of myself and another. ... It was a bright frosty morning ; he had taken his usnal ride, and the clear, healthy flnsh on his cheek and his sprightly manner brought the remark from both of us that we had never seen the general look so well. I have sometimes thought him decidedly the handsomest man I ever saw ; and when in a lively mood, so full of pleasantry, so agree- able to all with whom he associated, that I could hardly realize he was the same Wash- ington whose dignity awed all who approached him." For some time past Washington had been occupied in digesting a complete system on which his estate was to be managed for several succeeding years, specifying the culti- vation of the several farms, with tables desig- nating the rotations of the crops. It occupied thirty folio pages, and was executed with that clearness and method which characterized all his business papers. This was finished on the 40 Hold the United States became a Nation 10th of December, and was accompanied by a letter of tliat date to his manacrer or steward. It is a vahiable document, showing the sound- ness and vigor of his intellect at this advanced stage of life, and the love of order that reigned Mount Vernon From a print publishetl in 1798 throughout his affairs. "My greatest anxiety," said he, on a previous occasion, " is to have all these concerns in such a clear and distinct form, that no reproach may attach itself to me when I have taken my departure for the land of spirits." It was evident, however, The Period of Weakness 41 that full of health and vigor, he looked for- ward to his long-cherished hope, — the enjoy- ment of a serene old age in this home of his heart. According to his diary, the morning on which these voluminous instructions to his steward were dated was clear and calm, but the after- noon was lowering. The next day (lltli), he notes that there was wind and rain, and " at niglit a large circle round the moon.'''' The morning of the 12th was overcast. That morning he wrote to Hamilton, heartily ap- proving of a i^lan for a military academy, which the latter had submitted to the Secre- tary of War. About ten o'clock he mounted his horse and rode out as usual to make the rounds of his estate. The ominous ring round the moon, which he had observed on the pre- ceding night, proved a fatal portent. "About one o'clock," he notes, " it began to snow, soon after to hail, and then turned to a settled cold rain." Having on an overcoat, he con- tinued his ride without regarding the weather, and did not return to the house until after 42 How the United States hecame a Nation three. His secretary, Tobias Lear, approached him with letters to be franked, that they might be taken to the post office in the even- ing. Washington franked the letters, but observed that the weather was too bad to send a servant out with them. Mr. Lear per- ceived that snow was hanging from his hair, and expressed fears that he had got wet ; but he replied, No, that his greatcoat had Autograph of Washington kept him dry. As dinner had been waiting for him he sat down without changing his clothes. ''In the evening," writes his secre- tary, ''he appeared as well as usual." On the following morning the snow was three inches deep and still falling, which pre- vented him from taking his usual ride. He complained of a sore throat, and had evidently taken cold the day before. In the afternoon the weather cleared up, and he went out on Tlie Period of Weakness 43 the grounds between the house and the river to mark some trees which were to be cut down. A hoarseness which had hung about him through the day grew worse towards night, but he made light of it. He was very cheerful in the evening as he sat in the parlor with Mrs. Washington and Mr. Lear, amusing himself with the papers which had been brought from the post office. When he met with anything interesting or entertaining, he would read it aloud as well as his hoarseness would permit, or he lis- tened and made occasional comments while Mr. Lear read the debates of the Virginia Assembly. On retiring to bed, Mr. Lear sug- gested that he should take something to re- lieve the cold. ''No," replied he ; "you know I never take anything for a cold. Let it go as it came." In the night he was taken extremely ill with ague and difficulty of breathing. Be- tween two and three o'clock in the morning he awoke Mrs. Washington, who would have risen to call a servant; but he would not 44 Hoiv the United Slates became a Nation permit her, lest she should take cold. At day- break, when the servant woman entered to make a lire, she was sent to call Mr. Lear. He found the general breathing with difficulty, and hardly able to utter a word intelligibly. His old friend, Dr. Craik, soon arrived, and two other physicians were called in. Various remedies were tried, but without avail. In the course of tlie afternoon he appeared to be in great pain and distress from the difficulty of breathing, and frequently changed his pos- ture. Between five and six o'clock he was assisted to sit up in his bed. " I feel I am going," said he ; '' I thank you for your atten- tions, but I pray you will take no more trouble about me ; let me go oif (piietly ; I cannot last long." Between ten and eleven o'clock he expired without a struggle or a sigli. On opening his will, which he had handed to Mrs. Washington shortly before death, it was found to have been carefully drawn up by himself in the preceding July ; and by an act in conformity with his whole career, one The Period of Weakness 45 of its first provisions directed the emancipa- tion of liis slaves on the decease of his wife. It had long been hi^ earnest wish that the slaves held by him in his own right should receive their freedom during his life, but he had found it would be attended with insuper- Mrs. Washington able difficulties on account of their intermix- ture by marriage with the " dower negroes," whom it was not in his power to manumit under the tenure by wliich they were held. With provident benignity he also made pro- vision in his will for such as were to receive their freedom under this device, but who, from age, bodily infirmities, or infancy, might be 46 HoLv the United States hecmne a Natiori unable to support themselves, and he expressly forbade, under any pretense whatsoever, the sale or transportation out of Virginia of any slave of whom he might die possessed. Though born and educated a slaveholder, this Mount Vernon From a recent photograph was all in consonance with feelings, senti- ments, and principles which he had long en- tertained. In a letter to Mr. John Mercer, in September, 1786, he writes: "I never mean, unless some particular circumstances should The Period of Weakness 47 compel me to it, to possess another slave by purchase, it being among my first wishes to see some plan adopted by which slavery in this country may be abolished by law." And eleven years afterwards, in August, 1797, he writes to his nephew, Lawrence Lewis, in a letter which we have had in our hands, " I wish from my soul that the Legislature of this state could see the policy of a gradual abolition of slavery. It might prevent much future mischief." A deep sorrow spread over the nation on hearing that Washington was no more. Con- gress, which was in session, immediately ad- journed for the day. The next morning it was resolved that the Speaker's chair be shrouded with black; that the members and officers of the House wear black during the session; and that a joint committee of both houses be appointed to consider the most suitable man- ner of doing honor to the memory of the man " first in war, first in j^eace, and first in the hearts of his fellow-citizens." Pub- lic testimonials of grief and reverence were 48 How the United States became a Nation displayed in every part of the Union. Nor were these sentiments confined to the United States. When the news of Washington's death reached England, Lord Bridport, who had com- mand of a British fleet of nearly sixty sail of the line, lying at Torhay, lowered his flag half-mast, every ship following the example ; and Bonaparte, First Consnl of France, on announcing his death to the army, ordered that Ijlack crape should be suspended from all the standards and flags throughout the public service for ten days. The character of Washington may want some of those poetical elements which dazzle and delight the multitude, but it possessed fewer inequalities and a rarer union of vir- tues than perhaps ever fell to the lot of any other man, — prudence, firmness, sagacity, moderation, an overruling judgment, an im- movable justice, courage that never faltered, patience that never wearied, truth that dis- dained all artifice, magnanimity without al- loy. It seems as if Providence had endowed him in a preeminent degree with the qualities The Period of Weakness 49 requisite to fit him for the high destiny he was called upon to fulfill, — to conduct a momentous revolution which was to form an era in the history of the world, and to inaugu- rate a new and untried government, which, to use his own words, was to lay the founda- tion " for the enjoyment of much purer civil liberty and greater public happiness than have hitherto been the portion of mankind." The fame of Washington stands apart from every other in history, shining Avith a truer luster and a more benignant glory. With us his memory remains a national property, where all sympathies throughout our widely extended and diversified empire meet in unison. Under all dissensions and amid all the storms of party his precepts and example speak to us from the grave with a paternal appeal ; and his name — by all revered — forms a univer- sal tie of Ijrotherhood, — a watchword of our Union. "■ It will be the duty of the historian and the sage of all nations," writes the eminent British statesman, Lord Brougham, '' to let 50 HoiD the United States became a Nation no occasion pass of commemorating this illus- trious man ; and until time shall be no more, will a test of the progress which our race has made in wisdom and virtue, be derived from the veneration paid to the immortal name of Washington." By the spring of 1800 it became apparent that the Republicans were steadily gaining ground. In April the New York state elec- tion went against the Federalists. Soon after this the President dismissed some of his cab- inet ofhcers who were too friendly to Hamilton, and the break in the Federalist party became irreparaljle. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney was the second choice of that party for President, and the Hamiltonians tried to divert votes to him from Adams. The election was very close. Of the electoral votes seventy-three were for Jefferson, seventy-three for Aaron Burr, sixty- five for Adams, sixty-four for Pinckney, and one for Jay. As there was no name highest on the list, it was left to the House of Repre- sentatives to decide between the two highest candidates. Intrigues followed. Some of the The Period of Weakness 51 Federalists wished to elect Burr instead of their archenemy Jefferson ; but Hamilton used all his influence against such a scheme, and at last, on February 17, 1801, Jefferson was elected by the House. In another fortnight 52 How the United States became a Nation the government would have been left with- out any executive head. There were fears of anarchy and threats of civil war. To provide against the recurrence of such a difficulty, the twelfth amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1804, changed the method of con- ducting presidential elections to that which has ever since been employed. The inauguration of Jefferson was the first that took place in the city of Washington, whither the Federal government had been removed from Philadelphia in 1800. The national capital, which is now fast becoming one of the finest cities in the world, was then a wretched village in the woods. Mau}^ of the Federalists believed that the election of Jefferson would entail speedy ruin upon the country ; but such fears proved groundless, as usual. His first administration was marked by national prosperity. It coincided with the only interval of peace between England and France during the Napoleonic period, and for the moment we were unmolested by those powers. There was no serious change in the Thomas Jefferson After the painting by Stuart 53 The Period of Weakness 55 administration of our government. Jeffer- son pardoned those persons who had been im- prisoned under the alien and sedition laws, and the Republican House of Representatives impeached Judge Chase of Maryland for alleo-ed harshness in conducting; trials under those laws ; but he was acquitted Ijy a Repulj- lican Senate. Very few removals from office were made for political reasons. The Supreme Court, under the lead of Chief Justice John Marsliall, remained Federalist in complexion, and during the next quarter of a century did work of imperishable renown in strengthening and interpreting the Constitution. The Re- publicans had become reconciled to many Federalist ideas which at first they had con- demned, and now that the government was in their own hands they were not so jealous of its powers. This was shown in what w\as incomparably the greatest event of Jefferson's administra- tion. The population of the United States was rapidly increasing and was begiiming to pour into the Mississippi A'alley. In 1802 5G IIow the United States became a Nation the state of Ohio was admitted into the Union ; Mississippi and Indiana were already organized as territories • and a growing interest was felt in the western country. It was now learned that France had just acquired by treaty from Spain the territory of Louisiana, The Period of Weakness 57 so that the mouth of the Mississippi river and all the vast region to the west of it as far as the Rocky mountains had passed into the hands of an active and aa^ffressive Euro- pean power. Napoleon had, indeed, acquired this territory with a vague intention of re- gain iug the ascendency in America, which France had lost in the Seven Years' War; but in 180;] the prospect of renewed war with Euglaud made liini change his mind. Witli her control of Canada and her superior fleet England might easily wrest from his grasp the two ends of the Mississippi river and defeat his schemes. It seemed better to put Louisiana out of England's reach by sell- ing it to the United States ; and accordingly Jefferson found no difficulty in buying it of Napoleon for fifteen million dollars. By this great stroke the area of the United States was more than doubled. Before 18()3 it was 827,844 square miles ; Jefferson's purchase added to it about 900,000 square miles, out of which have since been formed the states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, 58 How the United States became a Nation Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Mon- tana, and Wyoming ; also Indian Territory and Oklahoma, and a great jmrt of the states of Minnesota and Colorado. The effect of this great acquisition of territory, by such an active and prosperous people as the Americans, was to insure tliem the ultimate control of the continent without the need of any foreign warfare worth mentioning. It presently set us free for an indefinite length of time from European complications ; but, on the other hand, it added new and formidable features to the rivalry between the free states and the slave states. In making this purchase, which was des- tined to exercise such profound influence upon the history of the United States, Jeffer- son did not pretend that he had constitutional authority for what he was doing. The act was so clearly for the public good that he assumed the responsibility, trusting that a new constitutional amendment would justify it ; but he was so completely upheld by pub- lic sentiment that no such elaborate step was TJie Period of Weakness 59 thought necessary ; the universal acquiescence was enough. As an expander of American dominion, Jefferson did not stop here. The region beyond G^:jeypT^'-^i-^ the Rocky mountains and north of California was then quite unexplored. In 1804 Jeffer- son sent an expedition under captains Meri- wether Lewis and William Clark, which 60 How the United States hecame a Nation explored the valley of the Columbia river as far as the Pacific ocean, and thus gave us a title to Oregon, though many years elapsed before we took possession. The Barbary states on the Mediterranean coast of Africa had been for more than four centuries a nuisance to the civilized world. Their pirate cruisers swarmed upon tlie high ittWv.^ v-";ft;vfrwV*yy.V'\f', MiiRiwETiiKR Lewis From a print in the AiialiCtif Mar,a-iw (ISI.n) reproducing the drawing by St. Merain, which belonged to Captain Clark The Period of Weakness 63 seas and robbed the merchant ships of all nations. Important captives they held for ransom, and all others they sold into hope- less slavery. Enropean war ships often pun- ished them, but were unable to put down the Tripoli Medal evil ; and the greatest nations had tried to bribe them to keep the peace by paying black- mail. The United States had at first felt obliged to adopt this humiliating policy, but at length our patience was exhausted. A small fleet was sent to the Mediterranean 64 How the United States became a Nation and bombarded Tripoli. After a desultory warfare extending over two years Tripoli sued for peace ; and, the British navy presently fol- lowing our example, a few years more saw the end of this abominable nuisance. Tlie popularity of Jefferson's administration was shown in the elections of 1804. When he was nominated for reelection, George Clinton was nominated with him for the vice presi- dency, instead of Burr, who in 1801 had shown too much readiness to intriu;ue with Federalists. Cotesworth Pinckney and Rufus King were the Federalist candidates. The election was not a close one like the election of 1800. Out of 176 electoral votes the Fed- eralists received only 14, and in both houses of Congress the Republican majority was over- whelming. After the nominations, but before the election, the country was shocked by a dreadful tragedy. The disappointed Burr had tried, with Federalist help, to succeed Clinton as governor of New York, but was defeated. Here, as before in 1801, Hamilton had used his influence against him, and now, in a fit of The Period of Weakness 65 desperation, Burr determined to get rid of this enemy. He contrived, in July, 1804, to force Hamilton into a duel, in which the latter ^vas slain. The mourning of the country over the loss of this great man was intense, and the w^retched Burr found that his public career was ruined. After a wild attempt to set up 66 How the United States hecayne a Nation ^^/^^^^^ a government for himself in the Mississippi valley, he was arrested and tried for treason, and though acquitted for want of sufficiently definite evidence, he became an outcast from society. The Period of Weakness 67 Jefferson's second administration was the beginning of a stormy period which ended in war. Under Washington and Adams we had with difficulty been kept from getting drawn into the world-wide struggle between England and France. Now that strife was renewed on such a gigantic scale as to force the whole civilized world to take sides. With his famous Berlin and Milan decrees, Napoleon sought to prevent neutral vessels from entering British harbors, while England replied with decrees, known as orders in council, forbidding neutral vessels to enter the harbors of any nation in league with Napoleon or under his leadership. The United States, as a prominent maritime neutral nation, had obtained a large share of the carrying trade, and these decrees wrought great injury to American commerce. If an American vessel touched at almost any port of continental Europe, the first British cruiser that came along deemed her its lawful prey ; if she touched at a British port, then she might expect to be seized by the next French craft she should meet. The two greatest 68 HoiD the United States became a Nation naval powers in the world were thus united in a wholesale robbery of American ships and American merchandise. But England did us most harm, because she had more war ships and more privateers than France. In another respect England possessed a peculiar power of annoying us. She claimed and exercised the right of stopping the vessels of other nations and forcibly taking from them any seamen who appeared to be British subjects, in order to compel them to serve in the British navy. Such a claim on the part of France would annoy Americans but little, for no one was likely to mistake an American for a Frenchman. But to distinguish an American from an Englishman was not so easy, and con- sequently a great many citizens of the United States were impressed into the British service. The Revolutionary feeling of hostility to Great Britain, which had begun before 1800 to di- minish in intensity, was revived and strength- ened by these outrages. In 1807 the British frigate Leopard, of fifty guns, close to the coast of Virginia, fired upon the American Tlie Period of Weakness 69 frigate Chesaj)ealce, of thirty-eight guns, and killed or wounded more than twenty men. The American ship, being not even prepared for action, hauled down her flag, and was boarded by the British, who seized four of the crew and carried them off to Halifax. One of these, who was a British subject, was hanged as a deserter ; the other three were condemned to death and then reprieved on condition of entering the British service. At the news of this dastardly outrage the whole country Avas thrown into such excite- ment as had not been witnessed since the battle of Lexington. A cabinet meeting was held at Washington, measures were taken for procuring military stores and strengthening our coast defenses, and the states were called upon for one hundred thousand men. But the British government avoided war for the moment by sending a special envoy to Wash- ington to chaffer and procrastinate. The act of the Leopard was disavowed, but there was no willingness shown to make reparation. Feeling unprepared for war, the United States 70 How the United States became a Nation government had recourse to an exceedingly stupid and dangerous measure. It hoped to browbeat England and France by depriving them of our trade, and accordingly in 1807 Washington at the Beoinning of the Last Century From an early print there was passed the " embargo act," which forbade any vessel to set out from the United States for any foreign port. This wonderful piece of legislation did more harm to Amer- ican commerce than all the cruisers of France and England could do ; while as a means of TJie Period of Weakness 71 bringing either of tliese adversaries to reason it was quite useless. England, indeed, seemed rather to enjoy it, for while it diminished her commercial dealings with America, it increased her share in the general carrying trade of the world. In America the distress was felt most severely in New England, and, as usual in those days, whenever any part of the country felt dissatisfied with the policy of the Federal government, threats of secession were heard. In 1809 the embargo was repealed, and the "non-intercourse act " took its place. This act prohibited trade with England and France so long as their obnoxious measures should be kept in force, but it allowed trade with all other countries. It was as ineffectual as the embargo, but did not do quite so much harm to American commerce. The close of Jeffer- son's presidency was thus a season of national humiliation. In twenty years our great states- men had done a wonderful work in creating a government able to make itself respected at home ; but it was still too weak, in a mili- tary sense, to make itself respected abroad. SECOND WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN SECOND WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN Strength of the Republicans. Declaration of war. Naval victories. The war in the Northwest. The war on the Lakes. The war in the South. The treaty of Ghent. This humiliating situation of the United States was not due to any fault of Jefferson or his party, and in the election of 1808 they won another great victory, though not quite so decisive as in 1804. The Federalist can- didates were the same as before, Charles Cotes- worth Pinckney and Rufus King; and now they obtained forty-seven of the one hundred and seventy-six electoral votes. James Mad- ison, who had been Secretary of State since 1801, was elected President, and George Clin- ton was reelected to the vice presidency. Madison was a political thinker of the highest order, and had done more than any other man toward constructing our Federal Con- stitution. He had been a leading Federal- ist, though more moderate than Hamilton or 75 76 Hoio the United States heccmie a Nation Adams, but had soon taken sides with the Repiibhcans. But his intelligence was too lAyLlA/J A-vn-Y^? broad to allow him to be a mere man of party; he was never an out-and-out Repub- lican like Jefferson. By 1804 many of the Second War with Great Britain 77 most intelligent Federalists had gone over to the Republicans ; and the more rigid-minded men who were left, especially in New England, made the party more and more narrow and sectional, and at length brought it into gen- eral discredit. The most notable defection from the Federalist party was that of John Quincy Adams, about the time of the embargo. In 1810 Congress repealed the non-inter- course act, which as a measure of intimida- tion had accomplished nothing. Congress now sought to use the threat of non-intercourse as a sort of bribe. It informed England and France that if either nation would repeal its obnoxious edicts, the non-intercourse act would be revived against the other. Napo- leon, who was as eminent for lying as for figliting, tlien informed the United States that he revoked the Berlin and Milan decrees as far as American ships were concerned. At the same time he gave secret orders by which the decrees were to be practically enforced as harshly as ever. But the lie served its purpose. Congress revived the 78 How the United States became a Natioji non-intercourse act against Great Britain alone, and in 1811 hostilities actually began on sea and land. On sea the American frigate President had an encounter with the British sloop Little Belt, and nearly knocked her to pieces without suffering any damage. On land Tecumseh and his warriors, attacking our northwestern settlements with British assistance, were defeated at Tippecanoe by General Harrison. The growing war feeling was shown in the election of Henry Clay of Kentucky as Speaker of the House of Repre- sentatives, while on the floor of the House the leadership fell to John Caldwell Calhoun of South Carolina, and in the Senate to Wil- liam Crawford of Georgia. Mr. Madison was nominated for a second term on condition of adopting the war policy; and on June 18, 1812, war against Great Britain was formally declared. Five days later the British govern- ment revoked its orders in council ; but this concession came too late. The Americans had lost all patience, and probably nothing short of an abandonment of the right of Second War ivith Great Britain 79 search on Great Britain's part conld have prevented the war. The Federalists of New England, however, still opposed the war, and of the members of Congress who voted for it, three fourths were from the South and West. That this Federalist opposition was somewhat factious would appear from the presidential campaign. The Federalists were 80 Hoiv the United States hecame a Nation too weak to nominate a candidate for the presidency, and Mr. Madison's only competitor was DeWitt Clinton of New York, who had Z^e^//z ^/^^.^z-^^iZ^ . been nominated by a section of the Repub- licans as likely to prove a more efficient war magistrate than Madison. Most of the Second War with Great Britain 81 Federalists now supported Clinton in a coa- lition which, as usual in such cases, proved disastrous to both sides. Of two hundred and eighteen electoral votes Madison received one hundred and twenty-eight, and was elected; the Federalists fell more than ever into dis- favor, and Clinton's career was henceforth restricted to his own state. The election showed that the war was popular. It had been made so by a series of naval victories which astonished everybody. On the 13th of August the frigate Essex, under command of Captain Porter, captured the sloop Alert, after a fight of eight minutes, without losing a man. On the 19th the frig- ate Constitution, under command of Captain Hull, after a half hour's fight in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, captured the frigate Giierriere. The American ship had fourteen men killed and wounded, and was ready for action again in a couple of hours ; the British sloop lost one hundred men, her three masts with all her rigging were shot away, and her hull was so badly damaged that she could not be carried 82 Hoiv the United States became a Nation off as a prize. On the 13tli of October the sloop Wasp, Captain Jones, captured the sloop Frolic in a desperate fight off Cape Hatteras. On the 25th the frigate United States, Captain Decatur, captured the frigate Macedonian off Captain Isaac Hill the island of Madeira after a fight of an hour and a half. The British ship lost one hundred and six men, was totally dismasted, and had nearly a hundred shot holes in her hull, but was brought away to America ; Decatur's ship lost only twelve men, and was quite uninjured. Second War ivith Great Britain 83 Bainbridge Medal These remarkable victories continued. On the 29th of December the Constitution, Cap- tain Bainbridge, in a two hours' fight off the coast of Brazil, knocked to pieces the frigate Java, which lost two hundred and thirty men and had to be destroyed. On the 24th of February, 1813, off the coast of Guiana, the sloop Hornet, Captain Lawrence, destroyed the brig Peacock, which sank before her crew could be removed. The Hornet's rigging was much injured, but she lost only four men. To appreciate the force of these facts, we need to remember that during the preceding twenty years of almost continuous warfare with France and her allies, in hundreds of 84 IIuw the United States heccmie a Natioti The "Chesapeake" and "Shannon" From a print published in 18I.i such single combats, the British navy had lost but five ships. Now in six fights against American vessels within a single year the British had been shockingly defeated every time. The explanation was to be found partly in the superiority of our shipbuilding, partly in the superiority of our gun prac- tice and the better discipline of our crews. One of the British captains won success by training his men after the American method. On the 1st of June, 1813, the British frigate Shannon, Captain Broke, captured the Amer- ican frigate ChesajKaJ^e in a severe battle near Boston harbor. The Americans lost Second War with Great Britain 85 The ''Enterprise" and ''Boxer" From a print publisht-d in lsl.> one hundred and forty-eight men. and the British eighty-three ; the Chesapeake suffered more damage than her antagonist, though the disparity was less than in the case of the American victories above mentioned. The extreme jubilation in England served as an index to the chagrin which had been caused by the six successive defeats. On the 14th of August the American brig Argus was cap- tured in the British Channel by the brig Pel- ican, and for a moment it might have seemed as if the spell of American success was broken. But a few weeks later Lieutenant Burrows in the brig Enterjjrise captured the brig Boxer 86 How the United States hecame a Nation off Portland, Maine. In the spring Captain Porter in the frigate Essex had sailed around Cape Horn into the Pacific ocean, where he made a famous cruise and did immense dam- age to British commerce. In March, 1814, he was attacked in the harbor of Valparaiso by two British frigates, the Phmhe and the Cherub, and after the bloodiest fight of the war the Essex surrendered. In April, 1814, the Amer- ican sloop Peacock captured the brig Ejjervier off the coast of Florida ; in May the Wasp captured the sloop Peindeer, and in Septem- ber the sloop Avon, both actions taking place in the British channel. In both there was the same prodigious disparity of loss as in earlier fights. The Reindeer and the Avon were completely destroyed, one losing sixty- five men, the other one hundred ; while in the former action the Wasjis loss was twenty- six, in the latter only three. On the 20th of February, 1815, the Constitution, now commanded by Captain Stewart, capped the climax by capturing the frigate Cyane and the sloop Levant in an action of forty Second War^ with Great Britain 87 The " Constitution " From a print published about 181.5 minutes near the island of Madeira. The two British ships together were barely a match in strength for the Constitution, but were very skillfully handled ; and the victory of " Old Ironsides " was as brilliant as any recorded in naval annals. A few weeks later the Hornet captured the brig Penguin off the Cape of Good Hope, and in the Indian ocean the Peacock closed the long tale of victory by overcoming the weaker Nautilus. These 88 Hoio the United States hecayne a Nation last three victories occurred after peace had been declared. Thus out of sixteen sea combats with approximately equal forces the Americans had been victorious in thirteen. The record of our privateers was not less remarkable. During the war we took about seventeen hundred British vessels, while the British took about an equal number from us. Con- sidering that the American navy in 1812 consisted of about a dozen ships, while the British navy numbered more than a thousand, and that the Americans had not a single line- of-battle ship afloat, these results might well be called marvelous. No other nation has ever won such laurels in contending against the "mistress of the seas." The moral effect upon Europe was prodigious. Henceforth the United States ceased to be regarded as a nation that could be insulted with impunity. Except for the moral effect of these splendid sea fights, the United States gained compara- tively little by the war. On land the offen- sive operations of the army were feeble and Engraved Title-Page for the " Naval Monument (a book published in 1815 celebrating the victories of the American navy) 89 Second War ivith Great Bi'itain 91 ineffectual. The army was small and poorly trained, and too much under the control of politicians. Hence we began with defeats. The military object of the Americans was to ^^- }^c.a^ invade Canada and conquer it if possible. The military object of the British was to invade the United States and either detach a portion of our northwestern territory or secure positions which might prove valuable in bargaining for terms of peace. The most 92 Hoiv the United States became a Nation important frontier town, Detroit, was held by William Hull, governor of the Michigan ter- ritory, a gallant veteran of the Revolutionary War. When war was declared he marched into Canada, but was driven back to Detroit by a superior force under General Brock. After a short siege Hull was obliged to sur- render the town, thus throwing open to the enemy the whole region northwest of Ohio. In the fit of unreasoning rage and disappoint- ment caused by this grave disaster, Hull was tried by a court-martial and sentenced to death, but was pardoned by Mr. Madison on account of past services. Subsequent research has shown that the verdict was grossly un- just; and the reputation of this brave but unfortunate man is now redeemed. In Octo- ber a small force crossed Niagara river and foolishly attacked the British in their strong position on Queenstown Heights; it was de- feated with heavy loss. Harrison, who had succeeded to the command in the Northwest, now attempted to recover Detroit; but his advanced guard under General Winchester Second War tvith Great Britain 93 was defeated at the river Raisin on the 22d of January, 1813, by the British and Indians under General Proctor, and all the prison- ers were cruelly massacred by the Indians. 6^9^f. Harrison was then driven back to Fort Meigs by Proctor, who besieged him there, but un- successfully. During the summer of 1813 both British and Americans were busily engaged in build- ing fleets with which to control Lake Erie. On the 10th of September the two fleets met 94 How the United States became a Nation in battle, the British commanded by Com- modore Barclay, the Americans by Commo- dore Perry. The forces were nearly equal. The battle, won by magnificent skill and dar- ing on the part of the American commander, ended in the surrender of the whole British fleet and turned the scale of war in the North- west. Ferried across the lake by Perry's fleet, Harrison's army now entered Canada and in- flicted a crushing defeat upon Proctor at the river Thames (October 5). This was a severe blow to the Indians also, for their famous leader, Tecumseh, was killed. As a conse- quence of the victories of Perry and Harri- son, the Americans recovered Detroit and the British were driven from our northwestern territory. Next summer the Americans again invaded Canada under command of an excellent gen- eral, Jacob Brown, with whom served an officer presently to become famous, — Winfield Scott. They crossed the Niagara river and de- feated the British in four well-fought battles, at Chippewa (July 5), Lundy's Lane (July 25), Second War with Great Britain 95 ■'j'fi^^ '*^ .SKCO.M) viKW OK Com; i'i;kky's ^■l(•TOln'. Two Views of Perky's Victory From prints published in 1815 and Fort Erie (August 15 and September 17) ; but in spite of these successes they obtained no secure foothold in Canada and retreated across the river before cold weather. While these things were going on the British were 96 How the United States became a Nation planning an invasion of northeastern New York by the route which Carleton and Burgoyne had followed. To this end it was necessary to gain control of Lake Champlain, as Carleton had done in 1776. Fleets were built, as on Lake Erie the year before, and on the 11th of September a decisive battle was fought not far from Valcour Island where Arnold had maintained such a heroic struggle. The British fleet was annihilated by Commo- dore Macdonough, and the British enterprise was abandoned. But while this attempt upon New York was a failure, the British succeeded in seizing the unoccupied wilds of Maine east of the Penobscot river, and thus creatino; a panic in New England. The repjion west of Geors^ia and south of the Tennessee river was then a wilderness with no important towns except Natchez and Mobile. The principal military power in it was that of the Creek Indians, who took the occasion to attack the frontier settlements, and in August, 1813, began with a terrible massacre at Fort Mimms near Mobile. This 97 Second War ivith Great Britain 99 brought upon the scene the formidable Ten- nessee militia commanded by Andrew Jack- son, who as a youth had served under Thomas Sumter in the Revolutionary War. After a Andrew Jackson After the portrait by Jarvis made in 1815 bloody campaign of seven months Jackson had completely subdued the Creeks and was ready to cope with a very different sort of enemy. In March, 1814, Napoleon was dethroned and sent to Elba, and thus some of Wellington's 100 Hoiv the United States became a Nation finest troops were detached for service in America. In August some five thousand of these veterans landed in Chesapeake Bay, took the defenseless city of Washington, and burned the public buildings there, which was not much to their credit. They then attempted The Capitol at Washington after being burned BY THE British From an old print Baltimore, but were defeated, and retired from the scene to take part in a more serious enterjDrise. This expedition against Washing- ton was designed chiefly for insult ; the expe- dition ao-ainst New Orleans was desis-ned to inflict deadly injury. It was intended to make a permanent conquest of the lower Mississippi, Second War ivith Great Britain 101 and to secure for Great Britain the western bank of the river. In December the British army of twelve thousand men under Sir Ed- ward Pakenham landed below New Orleans. To oppose these veterans of the peninsula, Jackson had six thousand militia of that sturdy race whose fathers had vanquished Ferguson at Kings Mountain and whose chil- dren so nearly vanquished Grant at Shiloh. He awaited the enemy in an intrenched posi- tion, where, on the 8th of January, 1815, Pakenham was unwise enough to try to over- whelm him by a direct assault. In less than half an hour the British were in full retreat, leaving Pakenham and twenty-six hundred men behind them killed or wounded ; the American loss was eight killed and thirteen wounded. The disparity of loss is perhaps unparalleled in history. News traveled so slowly in those days that the victory of New Orleans, like the last three naval victories, occurred after peace had been made. From the first the war had been un- popular in New England. Our victories on 102 How the United States became a Nation the sea made little difference in the vast naval force of Great Britain, which was able to blockade our whole Atlantic coast. Now that Napoleon was out of the way it would be necessary for the United States to fight single- handed with Great Britain. In view of these things, and provoked by the invasion of Maine, the Federalists of New England held a convention at Hartford in December, 1814, to discuss the situation of affairs and decide upon the proper course to be pursued. As there was much secrecy in the proceedings, a suspicion was aroused that the purpose of the convention was to break up the Union and form a separate New England confederacy. This suspicion completed the political ruin of the Federalist party. What might have come from the Hartford convention we do not know, for on the 24th of December the treaty of peace was signed at Ghent. The treaty left things apparently just as they had been before the war, for England did not explicitly renounce the right of search and impressment. But in spite of this it had Second War ivlth Great Britain 103 been made evident that European nations could no longer regard the United States as a weak nation wliich might be insulted with impunity. Partly for this reason, and partly because of the long European peace which followed, the British claim to the right of search and impressment was no longer exer- cised, and at length in 1856 was expressly renounced. THE RISE OF THE DEMOCRACY 105 THE RISE OF THE DEMOCRACY The era of good feeling. Florida. Monroe doctrine. Growth of the nation. Growth of slavery. The Missouri Com- promise. The young West. Whigs and Democrats. Tariffs. Nullification. A new era. The spoils system. Whigs come into power. Oregon and Texas. Ill the presidential election of 1816 the Federalist candidate, Rufus King, received only thirty-four electoral votes, against one hundred and eighty-seven for the Republi- can candidate, James Monroe. In 1820, when Monroe was nominated for a second term, the Federalists put no candidate into the field, and Monroe's election was practically unanimous ; for form's sake one of the elec- tors voted for John Quincy Adams, so that no other President might share with Wash- ington the glory of an election absolutely unanimous. The two parties had now acqui- esced in each other's measures, and all, save a few malcontents, called themselves Repub- licans. The end of the war was the end of 107 108 How the Umted States became a Nation the political issues which had divided parties since 1789, and some little time was required for new issues to define themselves ; so that the period of Monroe's administrations has been called "the era of good feeling." In point of fact, however, it was by no means a time of millennial happiness. The changed attitude of the United States toward European powers was illustrated in two events of this period. The Seminole Indians, aided by the Spanish authorities in Florida, molested our southern frontier until General Jackson invaded that territory' in order to put an end to the nuisance. Though Jackson's rough measures were not fully sus- tained by the United States, yet resistance on the part of Spain was so hopeless that she consented to sell Florida to the United States for five million dollars ; and a treaty to this effect was made in 1819. About this time the revolt of Mexico and the Spanish colonies in South America had made consideraljlo progress, and it seemed likely that the ''Holy Alliance" of Austria, The Rise of the Democracy 109 Prussia, and Russia would interfere to assist Spain in subduing her colonies. To check such a movement, Mr. Monroe declared, in a message to Congress in 1823, that the United Z^^^^^^^iJ-'^-'^^ ^^5"^^ States regarded the continents of North and ,South America as no longer open to coloniza- tion, and would resent an attempt on the part of any European nation to reduce any 110 IIoiD the United States became a Nation independent American nation to the condition of a colony. In this bold declaration the United States had the full sympathy of Eng- land, and it proved effectual. The attitude of mind implied in such a declaration showed that our period of national weakness was felt to have come to an end. Since the time of Washington the growth of the United States had been remarkable indeed. The population now numbered nearly ten million; the public revenue had increased from five million dollars to twenty-five million dollars. New states Avere formed with sur- prising rapidity, as the obstacles to migration were removed. The chief obstacles had been the hostility of the Indians and the difficulty of getting from place to place. During the late war the Indian powder had been broken by Harrison in the north and by Jackson in the south. In 1807 Robert Fulton had in- vented the steamboat. In 1811 a steamboat was launched on the Ohio river at Pittsburg, and presently such nimble craft were plying on all the western rivers, carrying settlers The Rise of the Democracy 111 and traders, farm produce and household utensils. This gave an immense impetus to the western migration. After Ohio had been admitted to the Union in 1802, ten years had elapsed before the next state, Louisiana, was 112 Hoiv the United States became a Nation added. But in six years after the war a new state was added every year: Indiana in 181G, Mississippi in 1817, Illinois in 1818, Alabama in 1819, Maine in 1820, Missouri in 1821. The admission of the last-named state was a portentous event, for it suddenly brought the slavery question into the foreground. Before the Revolution all the colonies had negro slaves, but north of Maryland these slaves were few in number and of no very great value as property. Hence they were soon emancipated in all the northern states except Delaware. At the close of the eight- eenth century there was a strong antislavery feeling even in Virginia and North Carolina, and it was generally supposed that slavery would gradually become extinct without mak- ing serious political trouble. The only states strongly in favor of slavery were South Caro- lina and Georgia, where the cultivation of rice and indigo seemed to make negro labor indis- pensable. But at about that time the in- ventions of the steam engine, the spinning machine, and the power loom had combined The Rise of the Democracy 113 to set up the giant manufactories of England, and there was thus suddenly created a great demand for cotton. In 1793 Eli Whitney, a 114 How the Umted States became a Nation Connecticut schoolmaster living in Georgia, invented the famous cotton gin, an instrument so simple that slaves could use it, and which enabled cotton to be cleaned and got ready for market with astonishing speed. Hitherto very little cotton had been grown in South Carolina and Georgia, but now cotton growing became very profitable, and there was a great demand for negro slaves. In 1808, according to a provision of the Federal Constitution, the importation of slaves from Africa was pro- hibited by law, so that henceforth cotton planters could only obtain slaves by buying them in such border states as Virginia and Kentucky. This made the raising of negroes so profitable to the tobacco planters of the border states that antislavery sentiments soon died out among them, and the way was pre- pared for uniting all the slave states into a solid South opposed to a solid North. Hence- forth there was no likelihood that slavery would die a natural death. On the contrary, the policy of the slaveholders became ex- tremely aggressive and sought new territory The Rise of the Democracy \\b in which to introduce this barbcirous system of labor and Ijiiild up new states to maintain and extend their authority in the Federal Union. It was not until the westward migration had crossed the Mississippi river and entered upon the vast Louisiana territory which Jef- ferson had added to the national domain that the conflict began. A kind of compromise had been kept up from the beginning by ad- mitting a free state and a slave state by turns, so as to balance each other in Congress. Thus Vermont had been counterbalanced by Kentucky, Tennessee by Ohio, Louisiana by Indiana, Mississippi by Illinois. In like man- ner Alabama, in 1819, was naturally counter- balanced in the following year by Maine ; but as Missouri was also knocking at the door of Congress, the southern members now refused to admit Maine until the northern members should consent to admit Missouri as a slave state. The discussion was the most important that had come up since the adoption of the Constitution; for it involved the whole ques- tion of the power of the government to allow 116 How the United States became a Nation or prohibit slavery in the national domain. It was settled in 1820 by the famous Missouri Compromise, effected chiefly by the efforts of Henry Clay. Missouri was admitted as a slave state, but it was agreed that slavery should be prohibited in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase north of the parallel of 36° 30'. In other words, the slaveholders gained their point by promising "not to do so any more"; and, like most such promises, it was kept till an occasion arose for break- ing it. That occasion did not arise for more than thirty years, and it was not until the latter part of this interval that the question of slavery again became uppermost in national politics. It was the extension of national territory or the admission of new states that brousrht up the slavery question. Several years now elapsed before the national area or the num- ber of states was increased. Enough country was already covered to answer the needs of the people until better means of communi- cation were devised. The most important M^ ^ , 1831 Rt'diawn from an old sketch South Carolina an opportunity to repeal her ordinance of nullification. About 1830 the United States was enter- ing upon an era of more rapid progress than had ever been witnessed before. The era was quite as remarkable for the civilized world as a whole. In 1830 the first American railroad was put in operation, and by 1840 nearly all the chief cities east of the Alleghenies were connected by rail, and the system was rapidly 130 How the United States became a Nation extending itself in the West. The effect of rail- roads was especially great in America, where the ordinary roads have always been very bad as compared with those of Europe. Their effect in hastening the growth of our western country by and by surpassed that which had been wrought by steamboats. In 1836 John Ericsson invented the screw propeller, which required much less fuel than the paddle wheel ; and two years afterward steamships began to make regular trips across the Atlantic. Pres- ently this set up the vast emigration of labor- ers from Europe, which has been going on ever since. Our cities began to lose their vil- lage-like appearance; in 1830 New York had a population of rather more than two hundred thousand. Agricultural machines began to be invented ; friction matches came into use ; an- thracite coal came in to aid both manufactures and locomotion ; and in 1836 the Patent Ofhce had so much to do that it was made a distinct bureau. At the same time our methods of education and our newspapers were improved, and American literature began to attract the llie Rise of the Democracy 131 world's attention. Before 1830, Bryant, Irv- ing, and Cooper had become distinguished ; in the decade after 1830, Longfellow, Whittier, Hawthorne, Holmes, Bancroft, and Prescott appeared on the scene, soon to be followed by Emerson. In this period Daniel Webster, already famous for many years, was at the height of his wonderful power. He was prob- ably the greatest orator that ever lived, after Demosthenes and Chatham, and as a master of the English language he was superior to Chatham. His magnificent speeches, the most 132 HoiD the United States became a Nation impressive passages from which were made fa- miliar to every sclioolboy, contributed greatly to raise the love of the Union into a roman- tic sentiment for which people would fight as desperately as ever cavalier fought in defense of his king. In this way Webster rendered incalculable service, and not a bit too soon. For humanitarian movements were beginning to mark this new era ; and along with prison reform and temperance societies came the abo- litionists, with their assaults upon negro slav- ery, bravely led in the press by William Lloyd Garrison, in Congress by John Quincy Adams, who in 1831 was elected to the House of Representatives, where he stayed till his death in 1848. The southern members tried to smother the discussion of the subject of slav- ery, but Adams could not be silenced, and in 1836 he w^ent so far as to enunciate the doc- trine upon which Mr. Lincoln afterward rested his proclamation of emancipation. Some of the changes which marked this new era were by no means changes for the better. Hitherto all our presidents, taken cy/l &M.o-nM^^(r7\y' 133 I'he Rise of the Democracy 135 from the two oldest states, Massachusetts and Virginia, had been men of aristocratic type, with well-trained minds and polished man- ners, like European statesmen ; and all ex- cept Monroe had been men of extraordinary ability. In Jackson, the first President from beyond the Alleghenies, the idol of the rough pioneer West, we had a very different type of man. There was immense native energy, with little training ; downright honesty of pur- pose, with a very feeble grasp of the higher problems of statecraft. Jackson was a man of violent measures and made many mistakes. His greatest mistake was the use of govern- ment offices as rewards for his friends and adherents. Heretofore the civil service had been practically independent of politics, as it is to-day in England. There had been but one instance of a great party overthrow ; that was in the election of 1800. Jefferson's fol- lowers then wished him to turn Federalist postmasters and collectors out of office, and put Republicans in their places ; but he had been too wise to do so. In 1829 Jackson 136 HoiD the United States became a Nation introduced into national politics the principle of " rotation in office," by which government officials were liable to be turned out every fourth year, not for any misconduct, but simply to make room for Ijungry applicants belonging to the opposite party. Jackson was not the inventor of this system. It had already been tried in state politics, and brought to something like perfection in New York. It was a New York politician, William Marcy, who first used the phrase, " To the victors belong the spoils," thereby implying that a public office is not a public trust but a bit of plunder, and that the services of an officer paid by the people are due, not to the people, but to a party or a party chief. The author of the phrase doubtless never supposed that he was making one of the most infamous remarks recorded in history ; and the honest Jackson would probably have been greatly surprised if he had been allowed a glimpse of the future, and seen that he was intro- ducing a gigantic system of knavery and cor- ruption which within forty years would grow The Rise of the Democracy 137 into the most serious of tlie evils threatening the continuance of our free government. Jackson made another mistake, which was trivial compared with the adoption of the spoils system, but which created much more disturbance at the time. His antipathy to the National Bank led him not only, in 1832, 138 HoiD the United States hecame a Nation to veto the bill for the renewal of its charter, but in the following year to withdraw the public money deposited in the bank, and dis- tribute it among various state banks. This violent measure led to a series of events which in 1837 culminated in the most dis- tressing commercial panic that had ever been known in America. Martin Van Buren, of New York, was then President, having been elected in 1836 over the western soldier, Harrison. Van Buren belonged to Jackson's wing of the Democratic party, in tlie ranks of which a schism was appearing between the nullifiers and the men who were devoted to the Union. He was what would now be known as a " machine politician," but of the more honorable sort.. His administration was a fairly able one. In the course of it one phase of the National Bank question reached a satisfactory solution in the so-called sub- treasury system, which, after some vicissi- tudes, was finally established in 1846, and is still in force. By this system the public rev- enues are not deposited in any bank, but are The Rise of the Democracy 139 paid over on demand to the treasury depart- ment by the collectors, who are required to give bonds for the proper discharge of their duty. The establishment of this system was ^^^^^^^^V?^ creditable to Van Buren's administration, but the panic of 1837 caused so much distress as to make many people wish for a change in the government. Turning to their own uses the same kind of popular sentiment which 140 How the United States hecame a Nation had elected Jackson, the Whigs nominated again the plain soldier, Harrison, who had lived in a log cabin and had hard cider on his table. In the famous " hard-cider cam- paign" of 1840 Harrison won a sweeping victory, getting two hundred and thirty-four electoral votes to Van Buren's sixty. The Whigs had a majority in both houses of Con- gress. But the managers of the party had made a mistake such as has since recurred in American politics. For Vice President The Rise of the Democracy 141 they had nominated a Democrat, John Tyler, of Virginia, in the hope of getting votes from those Democrats who were dissatisfied with Jackson and Van Buren. Just one month after Harrison's inauguration he died, and Tyler became President. By this unexpected event the Whigs lost the fruits of their vic- tory. The President was able, by his vetoes, to defeat their measures, and thus their at- tempts to undo the work of Jackson and Van Buren, as regards the National Bank, ended in failure. Under Tyler's administration, questions of foreign policy, involving chances of war, again came into the foreground ; but they were very different questions from those which had occupied our attention in the begin- ning of the century, and the mere statement of them gives a vivid impression of the enor- mous growth of the United States since the War of 1812. The northwestern corner of North America, down to the parallel of 54° 40', now known as the territory of Alaska, was then a kind of appendage to Siberia, 142 How the United States became a Nation and belonged to Russia. The region between Russian America and California, known as Oregon, was claimed by the United States, on the ground of the discoveries of Lewis and Clark. But Great Britain also had claims cJ^y^i^ upon this region, and since 1818 it had been subject to the joint occupation of Great Brit- ain and the United States. But by 1842 the American stream of westward migration, crossing the Rocky mountains, had poured The Rise of the Democracy 143 into Oregon, and it began to be a question how this vast territory should be divided. The Americans claimed everything, and the Democrats went into the next presidential campaign with the alliterative war cry, " Fifty- four forty or fight " ; but popular interest in the question was not strong enough to sustain this bold policy. Great western statesmen like Benton appreciated the importance of Oregon much better than great eastern states- men like Webster ; but none were fully alive to its importance, and the southerners, rep- resented by Calhoun, felt little interest in a territory which seemed quite unavailable for the making of slave states. Accordingly, in 1846 the matter was compromised with Great Britain, and the territory was divided at the forty-ninth parallel, all above that line being British, all below American. If the feeling of national solidarity in the United States had been nearly as strong as it is to-day, we should probably have insisted upon our claim to the whole; in which case we should now, since our purchase of Alaska from Russia, 144 IIoiD the United States hecmne a Nation possess the whole Pacific coast north of Mex- ico to Bering strait. It is perhaps to be regretted that such a bold policy was not pursued in 1846. It had many chances of success, for our available military strength, all things considered, was then probably not inferior to that of Great Britain. Very different was the popular feeling Avith regard to Texas. That magnificent country, greater in extent than any country of Europe except Russia, had been settled by emigrants from the United States, and in 1835 had rebelled against Mexican rule. In 1836 the American General Houston had defeated the Mexican General Santa Anna in the decisive battle of San Jacinto and won the independ- ence of Texas. After this the slaveholders of the southern states wished to annex Texas to the Union. Lying south of the parallel of 63° 30', it might become a slave state, and it was hoped that it might hereafter be divided into several states, so as to maintain the weight of the southerners in the United States Senate. After the admission of Arkansas in 1836, and The Rise of the Democracy 145 Michigan to balance it in 1837, the South had no more room for expansion unless it should acquire new territory; whereas the North had still a vast space westward at its command. 146 IIoiD the United States hecame a Nation It seemed likely that the North would pres- ently gain a steady majority in the Senate; and in the House of Representatives, where strength depended on population, the North was constantly gaining, partly because the institution of slavery prevented the South from sharing in the advantages of the emi- gration from Europe, and partly for other reasons connected with the inferiority of slave labor to free labor. It was therefore probable that before long the North would come to control the action of Congress, and might then try to abolish slavery. This was a natural dread on the part of the South, and the abolitionist agitation tended to strengthen and exasperate it. The only safeguard for the South seemed to be the acquisition of fresh territory, and thus the annexation of Texas came now to furnish the burning ques- tion in politics and to array the northern and southern states against each other in a con- test for supremacy which could only be settled by an appeal to arms. In the presidential election of 1844 the Democratic candidate The Rise of the Deynocracy 147 was James K. Polk of Tennessee and the Whig candidate was Henry Clay; and there was a third nomination which determined the result of the election. The abolitionists had put forward James Birney as a presidential candidate in 1840, but had got very few votes ; they now put him forward again. The contest was close. The success of the Whigs seemed probable until the weakness of Clay's moral fiber ruined it, — a lesson for American politicians, by which too few have 148 How the United States hecanie a Nation had the good sense to profit. In the idle hope of catching Democratic votes, he published a letter favoring the annexation of Texas at some future time. This device met the fail- ure which ought to follow all such flimsy maneuvers. It won no Democratic votes for Clay, but angered a great many antislaver}- Whigs, who threw away their votes upon Birney and thus carried the state of New York over to Polk and elected him President. It was the most closely contested election in our history except those of 1800, 1876, and 1884. THE SLAVE POWER 149 THE SLAVE POWER War with Mexico. Wilniot Proviso. California. Effects of the Compromise. Kansas -Nebraska bill. The struggle for Kansas. Dred Scott. The crisis. The Democratic party thus remstated was quite different from the Democratic party which had elected Jackson and Van Buren. Its policy was now shaped mainly by the followers of Calhoun, the representatives of slavery and nullification, though the latter political heresy was not likely to assert itself so long as they could control the Federal government. With the election of Polk the North and South are finally arrayed in oppo- sition to each other ; the question as to slav- ery comes to the front, and stays there until the Civil War. In 1845 Texas was admitted to the Union, with the understanding that it might here- after be divided so as to make several slave states. Mexico was offended, but no occasion 151 152 How the United States heccmie a Nation for war arose until it was furnished Ijy Ijound- ary troubles due to that peculiar craving for territory which at this moment possessed the minds of the slaveholders. The boundary be- tween Texas and Mexico was a matter of dispute, and early in 1846 Mr. Polk ordered General Taylor to march in and take posses- sion of the disputed territory. This action was resented by Mexico and led to a war, which lasted nearly eighteen months. In the course of it California was conquered by Fre- mont, New Mexico by Kearney, and the north- ern portion of Mexico by Taylor; while Scott, landing at Vera Cruz, advanced and captured the city of Mexico. The United States sol- diers vanquished the Mexicans wherever they found them and wliatsoever the disparity of numbers. Thus at Buena Vista, February 22, 1847, Taylor routed a Mexican army outnum- bering him more than four to one ; and some of the exploits of Doniphan in his march to Chihuahua remind us of the Greeks at Cimaxa or Arbela. Many incidents of the war were quite romantic, and it is interesting to the The Slave Power 153 student of history as having been the school in which most of the great generals of our Civil War were trained to their work. In February, 1848, a treaty was made in which 154 How the United States became a Nation Mexico gave up to the United States a territory almost as extensive as that which Jefferson had obtained from Napoleon. It brought the map of the United States very nearly to what it is to-day, except for the acquisition of Alaska. This immense acquisition of territory was a most fortunate event for everybody concerned in it ; but its immediate effect upon our poli- tics was far more disturbing than anything which had occurred since 1820. The antislav- ery party looked upon the war with strong disfavor, and their sentiments found expres- sion in the most remarkable political poems of modern times, the first series of Bigloiv Pa2)ers by James Russell Lowell. There was a renewal of the sectional strife which had been quieted for a time by the Missouri Com- promise. Slavery had been prohibited in the new territory by Mexican law, and the North wished to have this prohibition kept in force, but the South would not consent. To some the simplest solution seemed to be to prolong the Missouri Compromise line from the Rocky mountains to the Pacific, but neither party The Slave Power 155 was willing to give up so much to the other. Opposition to slavery had greatly increased at the North since 1820, and this had naturally increased the obstinacy of the South, so that it was becoming difficult to make compromises. 156 How the United States hecmne a Nation In 1846 David Wilmot, a Democratic member of Congress from Pennsylvania, laid down the principle npon which, though not adopted at the time, the North was destined finally to take its stand and march to victory. By the famous Wilmot Proviso slavery was to be for- ever prohibited in the whole of the territory acquired from Mexico. The proviso was not adopted in Congress, but in 1848 it called into existence the Free-soil party, formed by the union of antislavery Democrats and Whigs with the abolitionists. This party nominated Martin Van Buren for President and Charles Francis Adams for Vice President. The Dem- ocrats nominated Lewis Cass of Michigan, and the Whigs nominated the military hero, Taylor; and neither of these two parties dared in its platform to say a word about the one burning question of the day, — the question of slavery in the new territory. The Free- soilers decided the election by drawing from the Democratic vote in New York, and so Taylor became President. Taylor was by far the ablest of the Presidents between Jackson Tlie tSlave Poioer 157 and Lincoln. He was brave, honest, and shrewd ; and though a Louisiana slave owner, he was unflinching in his devotion to the Union. He received warm support from the ^^-^- great Missouri senator, Thomas Benton, the most eminent in ability of the Jacksonian Democrats. The political struggle during Taylor's administration related chiefly to the admission of California as a state in the Union. 158 How the United States hecame a Nation Hitherto the westward migration had gone on at a steady pace, filUng up one area after another as it went along. In 1846 Iowa was admitted to the Union, tlie first free state west of the Mississippi ; in 1848 the admis- sion of Wisconsin at last filled up the region east of that river ; and the two states served as a counterweight in the Senate to Florida and Texas. Now the immigration took a sudden leap to the Pacific coast. In 1848 gold was discovered in California and people rushed thither from all points of the compass in quest of sudden riches. Within a year the population had become large enough to en- title it to admission to the Union, and there was need of a strong government to hold in check the numerous ruffians who had flocked in along with honest people. In 1849 the people of California agreed upon a state con- stitution forbidding slavery and applied for admission to the Union. The southern mem- bers of Congress hotly opposed this, and threats of secession began to be heard. The controversy went on for a year, until it was The Slave Power 159 settled by a group of compromise measures devised by Clay, who thirty years before had succeeded so well with his Missouri Com- promise. It was now agreed that California should be admitted as a free state; and in return for this concession the northern mem- bers consented to a very stringent law for the arrest by United States officers of fugitive slaves in the northern states. The region be- tween California and Texas was to be organ- ized into two territories, — Utah (including Nevada) and New Mexico (including Arizona); and the question whether slavery should be allowed in these territories was postponed. Before these measures had become law Mr. Taylor, who, supported by Benton, had taken strong ground against the threats of seces- sion, suddenly died, and the Vice President, Millard Fillmore, became President. Mr. Fill- more, like his two successors, belonged to the class of politicians whom the southerners called " doughfaces," — men who were ready to make almost any concessions to the slave power for the sake of avoiding strife. 160 IIoio the United States became a Nation Instead of bringing quiet, as the Missouri Compromise had done, the Compromise of 1850 was the prelude to more bitter and deadly strife. The cruelties attending the execution of the fugitive slave law aroused fierce indignation at the North, and presently produced a book which had an enormous sale, and was translated into almost all the literary languages of the world. Uncle Touts Cabin, by Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, was a story y'^-r^.^i:^^^^ 161 The Slave roiver 163 written to show what negro slavery really was. The book was written in a wonderful spirit of fairness, rather understating than exaggerating the evils of slavery, and it car- ried all the more conviction for that reason. Its influence in strengthening the antislavery feeling at the North must have been incalcu- lably great. Further service was done in the same direction by the bold speeches and lec- tures of two famous Boston orators, the lawyer Wendell Phillips and the minister Theodore Parker. At the same time the political atti- tude of the extreme abolitionists was very unwise. Some of them called the Federal Constitution a " covenant with hell," because it permitted slavery, and seemed ready to see the Union broken up rather than submit to the demands of the South. Many anti- slavery Whigs, without going to such lengths, became disgusted with their party for approv- ing the late compromises, and abstained from voting at the next election. The Whigs having triumphed in 1848 with one of the two chief heroes of the Mexican War, now nominated 164 HoiD the United States became a Nation the other, General Scott, The Democrats nomi- nated Franklin Pierce, a northern "dough- face"; and the Free-soilers nominated John Hale, much the ablest of the three candidates. There were two hundred and fifty-four electoral votes for Pierce and only forty-two for Scott, and this crushing defeat put an end to the Whig party. Its two great leaders, Webster and Clay, had just been removed by death. They were succeeded by such men as Sumner, The Slave Poicer 165 Seward, and Chase, declared enemies of slav- ery. Calhoun had also died, and a person of much smaller caliber, Jefferson Davis, suc- ceeded him as leader of the slaveholders. The slave power was now at its wits' end for new territory in which to extend itself. The stars in their courses had begun to fight against it. The admission of California gave the North a preponderance in the Senate; the wonderful grow^th of the northwestern states, in which the influence of New England ideas was steadily increasing, was giving it a pre- ponderance in the lower house ; and a time was likely to arrive when the South could no longer depend upon the aid of '*■ doughface " presidents. It seemed necessary at once to get a new slave state to balance California, but the available land south of 36° 30' was all used up. West of Arkansas lay the Indian Territory, while it was a long way across Texas to New Mexico ; and on these lines the westward movement of white men was likely to advance too slowly. The impatience of the slave power vented itself but imperfectly 166 How the United States hecavie a Nation in secret and illegal filibustering expeditions against Cuba and some of the states of Cen- tral America. It was hoped that Cuba might be conquered and annexed as a slave state; but all these wild schemes failed, and Spain could not be persuaded to sell Cuba. A more practicable scheme seemed to be to get control of the territory lying west of Missouri and Iowa, and introduce slavery there. This land lay to the north of 36° 30', and was therefore forever to be free soil, according to the terms of the Missouri Compromise. But with the aid of northern '' doughfaces " the South might hope to obtain the repeal of that celebrated compact; and now once more its wishes were gratified, so far as mere legislation could go, but it soon became apparent that it was only sowing the wind to reap the whirlwind. The needed northern leader was found in Stephen Douglas, an Illinois Democrat, who hoped to become President. He maintained that the Compromise of 1850, by leaving the slavery question undetermined in New Mexico and Utah, had virtually repealed the Missouri The Slave Power 167 Compromise, and made it necessary to leave that question undetermined in the Kansas- Nebraska territory. There was no strict logic in this doctrine; for Kansas-Nebraska, being part of the Louisiana Purchase, was covered 168 IIoio the United States became a Nation by the Missouri Compromise, whereas New Mexico-Utah lay wholly outside the area con- templated in that agreement. But in the stress of political emergencies it is apt to fare ill with strict logic. In 1854 the Kansas- Nebraska bill was passed, reopening the slav- ery question in the lands west of Missouri and Iowa. This was substantially a repeal of the Missouri Compromise. It was a great and alarming concession to the slave power. Douglas and his followers intended it to in- sure peace, but its immediate consequence was the great Civil AVar. For according to Douglas' doctrine, which was known as " squatter sovereignty," it was now to be left to the settlers in Kansas and Nebraska whether they would have slavery or not. It w^as a plausible doctrine because it appealed to that strong love of local self- government which has always been one of the soundest political instincts of the Ameri- can people. But its practical result was to create a furious rivalry between North and South as to which should get settlers enough TJie Slave Power 169 into Kansas to secure a majority of popular votes there. The issue, thus clearly defined, at once wrought a new division between polit- ical parties. In the autumn of 1854 all the northern men who were opposed to the exten- sion of slavery, whatever their former party names might have been, combined together under the name of "Anti-Nebraska Men," and succeeded in electing a majority of the House of Representatives. Soon afterward they took the name of Republicans, and be- cause of their alleged fondness for negroes, their scornful opponents called them " Black Republicans." The course of westward migration now be- came determined by political reasons. Anti- slavery societies subscribed money to hasten immigration into Kansas, while Missouri and Arkansas poured in a gang of border ruffians to make life insecure for northern immigrants and deter them from coming. The plains of Kansas soon became the scene of wholesale robbery and murder. The preliminary phase of the Civil War had begun. A state of war 170 How the United States became a Nation existed in Kansas till 1858, when the tide of northern immigration had become so strong as to sweep away all obstacles and to decide that slavery should be forbidden there. Mean- while the debates in Congress had grown so The Slave Power 171 fierce as to end in personal violence. In 1856 Charles Sumner made a speech which exas- perated the slaveholders ; and shortly after- ward Preston Brooks, a representative from South Carolina, sought out Sumner while he was writing at his desk in the senate chamber, and beat him over the head with a stout cane until he had nearly killed him. An attempt was made to have Brooks expelled from Con- gress, but it failed of the requisite two-thirds vote. Brooks then resigned his seat and ap- pealed to his constituents, who reelected him to Congress by an almost unanimous vote, while many southern newspapers loudly ap- plauded his conduct. In the presidential campaign of 1856 the Democrats nominated a northern " dou2:h- face," James Buchanan, and indorsed the prin- ciple of squatter sovereignty ; the Republicans nominated the western explorer Fremont, and asserted the right and duty of Congress to prohibit slavery in the territories, thus plant- ing themselves upon the ground of the Wilmot Proviso. A small remnant of " doughface " 172 HoiD the United States became a Nation Whigs nominated Fillmore, and tried to turn attention away from the great question at issue by protesting against the too hasty natural- ization of foreign-born citizens. Buchanan obtained one hundred and seventy-four electo- ral votes, Fremont one hundred and fourteen, and Fillmore eight. The large Republican vote showed that the northern people were at last awakening to the danger, and it astonished and The Slave Fower 173 alarmed the South. The secessionist feeling was diligently encouraged by southern leaders who had political ends to subserve by it. The slave power became more aggressive than ever. The renewal of the African slave trade, which had been forbidden since 1808, was demanded ; and without waiting for the question to be settled, the infamous traffic was resumed on a considerable scale and with scarcely any attempt at concealment. In the summer and autumn of 1857 the English fleet which watched the African coast, charged with the duty of suppressing the slave trade, captured twenty-two vessels engaged in this business, and all but one of these were Amer- ican. By 1860 the trade had assumed large proportions, and was openly advertised in the southern newspapers. Not satisfied with this, the slaveholders strove to enlist the power of the Federal government in actively protecting their baneful institution. The principle of squatter sovereignty had not served their purpose, for they could not compete with the North in sending settlers to Kansas, and in 174 How the United States became a Nation the struggle there they were already getting worsted. They accordingly threw squatter sovereignty to the winds and demanded that the Federal government should protect slavery in all the territories. The question was brought to the test in a case which was decided in the Supreme Court in 1857. Dred Scott, a slave who had been taken by his owner from Mis- souri into free territory, brought suit to obtain his freedom. Of the nine judges of the Su- preme Court, five were slaveholders and some of the others were doughfaces. When the case was at last brought before them, it was decided that, according to the Constitution, slaves were not persons but property, and that slave owners could migrate from one part of the Union to another and take their negroes with them, just as they could take their horses and cows, or the bank notes in their waistcoat pockets. Two of the judges, Benjamin Curtis of Massachusetts and John McLean of Ohio, delivered dissenting opinions. The revival of the African slave trade at- tracted little notice at the time^ in comparison The Slave Power 175 with the Dred Scott decision. The effect of the two, taken together, would have been to drown the whole Union in a deluge of bar- barism, to blight the growth of the Ameri- can people both materially and morally, and to make us a nuisance in the eyes of the civilized world. The northern people refused to accept the verdict of the Supreme Court, and the northern Democrats, led by Douglas, became unwilling to cooperate any longer with the Democrats of the South. Some of them drifted into the Republican party, others tried to maintain the already effete principle of squatter sovereignty ; but nearly all were driven to the unwelcome conclusion that the day of compromises was gone. Thus North and South were at last definitely arrayed against each other, and the air was full of dismal forebodings of war. In the autumn of 1859 a blow was struck, slight enough in itself, but prophetic of the coming storm. John Brown, a Connecticut man of the old Puritan type, had been an antislavery leader in the Kansas fights. Now with fanatical 176 Hoiv the United States became a Nation fervor he made up his mind to inaugurate a crusade against the slave power. With a handful of followers he attacked the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, in the hope of getting arms and setting up in the wild mountains of that neighborhood an asylum for fugitive slaves. He was, of course, captured and put The Slave Power 177 to death, but his daring act sounded the key- note of the approaching conflict. For that very reason he got at the moment but little sympathy in the North, where the Republican majority, content with the moderate policy of excluding slavery from the territories, were very unwilling to be considered allies of the extreme abolitionists, whom they regarded as distm'bers of the peace. In the presidential election of 1860 there were four candidates. The southern Demo- crats had separated from the northern Dem- ocrats, the Whig doughfaces were not yet extinct, while the Republicans were daily waxing in strength. The Republicans nom- inated Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, and de- clared that the Federal government must for- bid slavery in the territories. The southern Democrats nominated John Breckenridge of Kentucky, and declared that the Federal gov- ernment must protect slavery in the terri- tories. These two parties had the courage of their convictions ; the others shuffled, but in different ways. 178 How the United States became a Nation The northern Democrats, in nominating Douglas, took their stand upon a principle, though it was one that had already been proved inadequate; they left the question of slavery in each territory to be decided by the people who should settle in the territory ; The Slave Power' 179 but in order to catch southern votes, they made a concession similar to that which Clay had made in 1844, and vaguely announced themselves as willing to submit to the decision of the Supreme Court. Tliis weakness, in presence of the Dred Scott verdict, gained them no votes at the South, where they could not outbid Breckenridge, and it lost them many votes at the North. The still surviving remnant of doughface Whigs nominated John Bell of Tennessee, and declared themselves in favor of ''the Constitution, the Union, and the enforcement of the laws," — a phrase which might mean almost anything. These good people were so afraid of war that they would fain keep the peace by shutting their eyes and persuading themselves that the terrible slavery question did not really exist, and that all would go well if men would only be good and kind to one another. In the electoral college Lincoln obtained one hundred and eighty votes, Breckenridge seventy-two. Bell thirty-nine, and Douglas 180 Hoio the United States became a Nation twelve. The popular vote for Douglas was very large, but it was not so distributed as to gain a majority in any state except Mis- souri ; besides the nine electoral votes of that state he obtained three in New Jersey. The result of the election was a decisive victorv for the Republicans. Its significance was far- reaching. It not only meant the overthrow of the Dred Scott doctrine and squatter sover- eignty, but it even went back of the Missouri Compromise, and put an immediate stop to the extension of slavery into the territories. It said not a word about the abolition of slav- ery in states where it already existed, but it meant that hereafter free labor was to have enormous room for expansion, while slave labor was to have none. THE CIVIL WAR 181 THE CIVIL WAR The North and South in 18(30. Fort Sumter and Bull Run. Affair of the Trent. Success in the West. Merrimac and Monitor. McClellan in Virginia. Western campaigns. Emancipation of the slaves. The great crisis of the war. Chattanooga. Combined operations under Grant. End of the war. The year of Lincoln's election was the cen- sus year in which the population of the United States first showed itself greater than that of its mother country. In 1776 the population of Great Britain and Ireland was about 8,000,000, and that of the United States about 3,000,000. In 1860 the population of Great Britain and Ireland was about 29,000,000, and that of the United States was over 31,000,000. The agricultural products of the United States far surpassed in volume those of any other coun- try, and in merchant shipping we were second only to Great Britain, — a fact curious and sad to contemplate now, when our idiotic 183 184 Hoio the United /States became a Nation navigation laws have succeeded in nearly destroying our merchant marine. Between 1830 and 1860 the growth of American civ- ilization had been prodigious in all directions, — in facilities of travel and exchange, in home comforts, in manufactures, in literature and art, and, above all, in that awakening of moral sense which enabled us to jjass un- scathed through the terrible ordeal of the next four years. In all this material and moral progress the South had by far the smaller share; not be- cause of any natural inferiority in the people, but simply because of the curse of slavery, which blighted everything within its reach. Where labor was held in disrespect, as the mark of an inferior caste, immigration would not come ; railroads, commerce, and manufac- tures would not thrive ; ideas from other parts of the modern world were not kindly received ; and the advance of civilization was accordingly checked. In 1860, besides their 4,000,000 negro slaves, the seceding states had a white population of about 4,000,000 with which to The Civil War 185 contend against 23,000,000 at the North ; and this enormous disj)arity was further increased by the still greater superiority of the North in material resources. The struggle of the South for four years against such odds showed of what heroic stuff its people were made ; ]jut they had also one great military advan- tage which went far toward neutralizing these odds. To win their independence it was not necessary for them to conquer the North or any part, of it, but only to defend their own frontier; whereas, on the contrary, for the North to succeed, it was necessary for its armies to effect a military occupation of the whole vast southern country, and this was in some resj)ects a greater military task than had ever been undertaken by any civilized government. In planning secession the southern leaders realized how great this military advantage was, and they counted upon tlu-ee other ad- vantages, which, however, they failed to obtain. If they could have won these three other advantages, they might have succeeded 186 Hov) the United States became a Nation in establishing their independence. First, they expected that all the slave states would join in the secession movement, which was far from being tlie case. Secondly, they hoped that northern Democrats would offer such opposition to the Republican administration as to paralyze its action. In this they were sadly disappointed. As soon as it came to war, the great majority of northern Demo- crats loyally supported the government ; and the party of obstructionists, known as '' Peace Democrats," and nicknamed "copperheads," was too small to do much harm. Tliirdly, the southern leaders hoped to get aid from England and France. They believed that the English manufactories were so dependent upon their cotton that the English govern- ment would not allow their coast to be block- aded. ''Cotton is king," they said. Then the French emperor. Napoleon III, had designs upon Mexico that were incompatible with the Monroe doctrine, and he would be glad to see the power of the United States divided. In these hopes, too, they were disappointed. TJie Civil War 187 Napoleon was desirous of recognizing the in- dependence of the South, but unwilling to take such a step, save in concert with England, and he was unable to persuade England. • In the latter country there was much difference of sentiment, the working people mainly sym- pathizing with the North, and fashionable 188 IIoiv the United States became a Nation society with the South; but in spite of great suffering from scarcity of cotton, the govern- ment could not, without glaring inconsistency, while suppressing the African slave trade with one hand, lend support to the principal slave power on earth with the other. The most it could do was to wink at the departure of a few blockade runners and privateers from British ports. As soon as the election of 1860 showed that the slave power could no longer control the policy of the Federal Union, the state of South Carolina called a convention, which on the 20th December passed its ordinance of seces- sion. Other states in which the secessionist party was not quite so strong now thought it necessary to stand by South Carolina, and in the course of January, 1861, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas passed ordinances of secession. The other slave states still held aloof, political opin- ions being much divided. In general their people disapproved of secession, but did not recognize the right of the Federal government The Civil War 191 to defend itself by making war against the rebellion in a seceding state. This doctrine found expression in the annual message of President Buchanan, and his feeble attitude encouraged the seceders to believe that by a brave show of force they might succeed in effecting their purpose without war. In Feb- ruary, 1861, delegates from six of the seced- ing states met at Montgomery in Alabama, organized a government known as the " Con- federate States of America," adopted a consti- tution, and chose Jefferson Davis for President and Alexander Stephens of Georgia for Vice President. Their term of office was to be six years. Many United States forts and arsenals were seized, but a few, and more par- ticularly Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor, held out. The South Carolinians prepared to attack Fort Sumter, and succeeded in prevent- ing Buchanan's government from sending sup- plies thither. When Mr. Lincoln succeeded to office he sent a fleet to aid Fort Sumter ; and as soon as the South Carolinians heard of this they fired upon the fortress and captured it 192 Hoiv the United States hecmne a Nation without bloodshed. This event aroused fierce excitement throughout the North, for it showed people what they had hitherto been extremely unwilling to believe, — that the South was eM^u^ ready to fight, and could not be curbed with- out war. April 15, two days after the fall of Fort Sumter, the President called for 75,000 troops to put down the rebellion, and the Li!ii"ir, "' I, im. "V.',l ' 'i'v|l,i I ,1 , '1* ,,!ii ;.' ■, . ;"l.| iliili||,,i'iiii'fl'f'ii'?if''f:''i^''Mj 11'' ' '','.' Illl , '-'iffi'Mi,:.'?;;;! "^im^ ' r'1,1'1 iIIjIIIIiIn",.','!. , ,1 i' I'l' '.i.l'll' 193 The Civil War 195 Fort Sumter after the Bombakd-ment From a photograph response was so hearty that within two months 200,000 men were under arms. The first blood was shed on the 19th, the anniversary of the battle of Lexington, when a Massachusetts regi- ment, hurrying to the defense of the Federal capital, was fired upon by a mob in Baltimore. Many people in the border states were en- raged by Mr. Lincoln's call for troops. The governors of Arkansas, Tennessee, North Caro- lina, and Virginia refused to obey, and those 196 IIow the United States became a Nation states seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy, but not with their full force. The people of the Allegheny mountains were loyal to the Union ; in eastern Tennessee they Montgomery, Alabama, February 8, 1861 From a contemporary print aided the Federals as far as possible ; in Vir- ginia they seceded from their own state, and formed a new government, known as the state of West Virginia, which was afterward The Civil War 197 admitted into the Union. Even thus curtailed, the accession of Virginia to the Confederacy increased its military strength enormously. Its capital was at once removed from Mont- gomery up to Richmond, and it became much Confederate Capitol at Richmond From a print easier to threaten Washington or to invade the North. Virginia was, besides, the great- est and richest of the slave states, and fur- nished the southern army with its ablest lead- ers, many of whom — such as Lee, Johnston, 198 HoiD the United States hecame a Nation Jackson, and Ewell — were opposed to seces- sion, but thought it right to govern their own course by that of their state. Immense consequences now hung upon the action of the other three border states. Mis- souri was the most powerful slave state ex- cept Virginia, and the geographical position of Missouri, Kentucky, and Maryland was of incalculable military importance. If these three states had joined the Confederacy, they might have turned the scale in its favor. Maryland remained firm through the stead- fast loyalty of her governor and the presence of Federal troops. In Kentucky and Missouri, where the governments were disloyal, the sit- uation soon became stormy and doubtful. The first campaign east of the Mississippi was in West Virginia, from which the Con- federate troops were driven in July by Gen- eral McClellan. At the same time popular impatience prevailed upon General Scott to allow a premature and imprudent advance towards Richmond. On July 21 General McDowell had nearly accomplished the defeat The Civil War 199 of General Joseph Johnston in the battle of Bull Run, when fresh southern troops from the Shenandoah valley arrived upon the scene, and the Federals were put to flight. Until 200 Hoio the United States hecame a Nation this new arrival the forces were about equally matched in numbers. Some five thousand men were killed and wounded, so that it was the bloodiest battle that had yet been fought in America by white men; but its only military significance was that it made the South over- confident, while it nerved the North to greater efforts. Until the following spring there were no important operations in the East, except that Port Royal and a few other places on the coast were captured and held as convenient stations for the blockading fleet. The blockade was soon made eifective along the whole length of the southern coast from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, an achievement which most people had thought impossible. The command of the Army of the Potomac was given to McClellan immediately after Bull Run, and in November he succeeded Scott as commander in chief of the Federal armies. He showed great skill in organizing the army, which, under his training, became an excellent instrument of warfare. Toward the end of the year we came near getting into serious trouble with Great Britain. The Civil War 2f)l Two southern gentlemen, Mason and Sliclell, were sent out by the Confederacy as commis- sioners to England and France to seek aid from those powers. They ran the blockade, and at Havana took passage for England in the Tre)it, a British steamer. Some distance out the Trent was overhauled by an American war vessel under Captain Wilkes, and the two Confederate agents were taken out and car- ried to Boston harbor, where they were impris- oned in Fort Warren. This was an exercise of the right of search which the United States government had always condemned, and to put an end to which it had gone to war with Great Britain in 1812. The right had been relinquished by Great Britain in 1856. It was impossible for the United States to uphold the act of Captain Wilkes without deserting the principles which it had always maintained. Mr. Lincoln therefore promptly disavowed the act and surrendered the prisoners, although such a course was made needlessly difficult for him by the blustering behavior of the British government, which had immediately begun 202 Hoio the United States became a Nation to threaten war and get troops ready to send to Canada. In Missouri the secessionist party was very strong, and controlled the state government ; but it was completely defeated by the boldness and sagacity of Francis Blair and Nathaniel Lyon, who in May and June, 1861, overturned the government and set up a loyal one in its place. The prompt action of these two men saved Missouri to the Union. After a brief career of victoi-y Lyon was defeated and killed, August 10, in a severe battle at Wil- son's Creek. The Confederates gained little from their slight success and their hold grew weaker, until, in March, 1862, they were thor- oughly and decisively defeated at Pea Ridge, in Arkansas, by General Curtis. Meanwhile in Kentucky the state govern- ment had begun by trying to maintain an impossible attitude of neutrality, but the Union sentiment grew stronger and stronger, until in September the Confederate general, Polk, invaded Kentucky and occupied the •bluffs at Columbus, blocking the descent of The Civil War 203 the Mississippi river. Kentucky now declared for the Union, and General Grant entered the state from Illinois and anticij^ated Polk in securing the mouths of the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, two great streams which were to serve as military highways by which the Union armies were to penetrate into the heart of the Confederac}'. This was for Grant the beginning of a long and successful, though fiercely contested, advance. The Confederates had set up a defensive line from Columbus on the Mississippi river to Cumberland Gap in the Alleghenies, and placed in command of it Sidney Johnston, an officer of high reputation. His headquarters were at Bowling Green, and he was confronted by a Federal army under General Buell. This was the middle one of the three great Federal armies and came to be known as the Army of the Cumberland. The center of the Confederate line was at Forts Henry and Donelson, strongholds in- tended to bar the ascent of the two great riv- ers. This center was confronted by Grant with troops w^hicli presently formed the w^estern 204 How the United States became a Nation one of the three great Federal armies and was known as the Army of the Tennessee. The right of the Confederate hne was at Millspring, and in January it was thoroughly defeated by the extreme left division of Buell's army under General Thomas. In February, aided by the river fleet, Grant captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, taking fifteen thousand pris- oners and breaking through the center of the Confederate line. Johnston and Polk were 205 The Civil }Var 207 now obliged to retreat for fear of being cut off. Kentucky was secured to tlie Union and the greater part of Tennessee recovered. Andrew Johnson was appointed mihtary gov- ernor of the state. The Confederates set up their second defen- sive line along the railroad from Memphis to Chattanooga and began massing their forces on this line at Corinth. The armies of Grant and Buell advanced to attack them there. Both these armies were now moving under the direc- tions of General Halleck, who was intending to come from St. Louis and take command in the field. Before he arrived there was a great battle. Grant w^as at Pittsburg Landing on the west bank of the Tennessee river, about twenty miles from Corinth, awaiting the ar- rival of Buell's army. Johnston moved to attack and crush him there before the junc- tion of the armies could be effected. There ensued on April 6 and 7 the battle of Shiloh, in which nearly one hundred thousand men were en2i;ag:ed, and lost one fourth of their number in killed and wounded. Johnston, 208 IIow the United States hecame a Nation who was one of the slain, came near effect- ing his purpose, but Grant's resistance was stubborn, and at the close of the first day three divisions of Buell's army came upon the scene, so that next day the Confederates were defeated. This battle decided the fate of Corinth, which, however, did not fall for several weeks, because the incapable Halleck now took command of the Federals. While these things were going on the Fed- eral fleet under Farragut captured New Orleans and laid open the Mississippi river up to Vicks- burg; and the river fleet, at first with the aid of a small army under Pope, captured Island Number 10 and then annihilated the Confed- erate river fleet at Memphis. The fall of that city and of Corinth broke down the second Confederate line of defense and laid open Vicksburg on the one hand and Chattanooga on the other to the attack of the Federals. Thus the first year of active warfare in the West, from June, 1861, to June, 1862, was an almost unbroken career of victory for the Federal armies. To complete the conquest of the The Civil War 209 Mississippi it was necessary to take Vicksburg, and its outpost, Port Hudson, which between ^<^^r^J& them commanded the mouth of the Red river, and thus kept open the communications of 210 Hoiv the United States hecaine a Nation the eastern part of the Confederacy with its states of Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. To take VickslDurg would lop off these states and inflict an irreparable damage upon the fighting power of the Confederacy. While this object was so important, it was scarcely less important for the Federals to hold Chattanooga, and thus open the way into Georgia, while preventing the Confederates from recovering any of the lost ground in Tennessee. But Halleck was un- equal to the situation; and while he failed to seize Vicksl)urg, which the Confederates soon made one of the most formidable strongholds in the world, he also failed to seize Chattanooga. The great river fights at New Orleans and Memphis showed that one of the Confeder- acy's chief sources of weakness lay in its naval inferiority; but before these fights it had seemed for a moment as if it might be going to become formidable on the water after all. The Confederates took the United States frigate Merrimac at Norfolk Navy Yard, and transformed her into an ironclad ram with sloping sides and huge iron beak. The United Tlie Civil War 211 States had in Hampton Roads a fleet of five of tlie finest wooden war sliips in the world. On the 8th of March, 1862, this fleet was wretchedly defeated by the Merrimac. Their shot bounded harmlessly from her sides, while she sank one of the ships with her beak and might very likely have sunk them all had not darkness stopped the fight. But John Erics- son, the inventor of the screw propeller, had 212 How ihe United States became a Nation lately completed his invention of the turret ship; and a few hours after the Merrimacs victory, the first vessel of this class, the famous Monitor, appeared in Hampton Roads. Next day she had an obstinate fight with the Merii- mac and compelled her to retire from the scene, though she could not destroy her. The imme- diate effect of this naval battle was to render antiquated all the most recently built ships then existing in all the navies of the world. The naval superiority of the North was no more interrupted, and Federal fleets sup- ported by small armies went on seizing the chief harbors on the southern coast until by the end of the war they possessed them all. The eastern campaigns were not so success- ful as the western, partly because the Confed- erate generals were much abler as compared with their antagonists, partly because military affairs were too much mixed up with politics. In advancing upon Richmond, McClellan thought it wisest to start by sea and proceed up the bank of the James river; but the gov- ernment wished him to march directly across Tlie Civil War 213 Virginia, in order to keep his army always interposed between the enemy and Washing- ton. McClellan's objection to this course was that the natnre of the country offered the enemy a series of immensely strong defensive lines which could be carried only at a terrible 214 How tlie United States became a Nation cost of life. He was at length allowed to follow the James river route, but his plan was hampered in a way that ruined it with- out protecting Washington. Part of his army under McDowell was sent by the direct route to Fredericksljurg, and in order to keep his right wing within cooperating distance of it, he was obliged to move, not close by the James river, but by the Chickahominy, with his base of supplies on the York river. Small Union forces under Banks and Fremont were also kept in and about the Shenandoah valley. These arrangements were liable to prove very disastrous if turned to account by skillful ad- versaries. McClellan justly complained that his plans were so interfered with as never to have left him a fair chance. At the same time he seems to have been very far indeed from making the best use of the opportunities within his reach. At first the Confederates kept him a month besieging Yorktown, which they then abandoned, and retired into the neighborhood of Richmond. In advancing, the need for keeping his right wing thrown The Civil War 215 out toward McDowell brought McClellan into an awkward position astride of the Chicka- hominy river, which by a sudden rise nearly severed the two halves of the army. At the end of May the Confederates pounced upon 216 How the United States hecame a Nation one half at Fair Oaks, and in a hard-f ought battle it barely saved itself. Joseph Johnston was here wounded and his place was taken by Robert Lee, who at once called back the famous " Stonewall " Jackson from the Shen- andoah valley. Jackson had totally defeated the forces there and created such a panic in Washington that McDowell's force was with- drawn for the defense of the capital. McClel- lan now decided to change his base from the York river to the James and thus secure a much better position. But before he had effected the change Jackson .had returned from the Shenandoah, and the united Con- federate army hurled itself upon McClellan in the hope of crushing him while making the change. After seven days of hard fight- ing, June 26 to July 1, with a loss of fifteen thousand men on each side, Lee was driven off and McClellan reached the James river, in a position Avhere he was more dangerous to Richmond than before. Meanwhile the scattered forces between Washington and Richmond were put in The Civil War 217 command of John Pope, against whom Lee presently sent Jackson. Now Halleck, who had been brought to Washington and made commander in chief, stupidly played into the enemy's hands by removing McClellan's army from the vicinity of Richmond and bringing it around by sea to unite with Pope. Lee's 218 How the Umted States hecame a Nation hands being left quite free by this clumsy movement, he forthwith joined Jackson and inflicted an ignominious defeat upon Pope at Bull Run, August 20. The capital was threat- ened ; the country wild with excitement. To screen Pope, charges of misconduct and dis- obedience were brought against one of his ablest officers, Fitz John Porter, who was found guilty and dismissed from the army. The charges were afterward proved to have been groundless, and after a quarter of a cen- tury, in spite of the shameful resistance of political partisans, General Porter was restored to his rank in the army. After the overthrow of Pope, the Confed- erates pushed on into Maryland, and McClellan again commanded the Federals. At Antietam, on the 17th of September, a great battle was fought between 40,000 Confederates under Lee and 60,000 Federals under McClellan, who had about 25,000 more troops unused. Each side lost about 12,500 men, and at the end the advantage was slightly with the Federals. Lee retreated slowly into Virginia, The Civil War 219 followed by McClellan, who was blamed for not accomplishing more. Early in November he was superseded by Burnside, who accom- plished still less. In June, 1862, the great Union force at Corinth was divided, Buell's army marching eastward to seize Chattanooga, while Grant's remained about Corinth till it should be ready 220 How the U)iited States hecavie a Nation to start for Vicksburg. The campaign was so badly managed by Halleck that the Con- federates, under Bragg, seized Chattanooga be- fore Buell's arrival, and were thus enabled to bring such pressure to bear in that direc- tion that heavy reenforcements had to be sent from Grant to Buell. Thus weakened, Grant was unable to advance for several months. Meanwhile, Bragg took advantage of his The Civil War 221 superior position to strike across Tennessee and invade Kentucky in two columns, one directed against Buell's base at Louisville, the other one moving through Cumberland Gap toward A^ ^y^^^ Cincinnati. This bold movement, occurring simultaneously with Lee's invasion of Mary- land, served to alarm the North, but the Con- federates failed to recover any of the ground 222 How the United States became a Nation they had lost. Buell's movements were made with great skill, and after a bloody and inde- cisive battle between parts of the armies at Perryville, October 8, Bragg retreated through Cumberland Gap and made his way back to Chattanooga. While these things were going on, the Con- federate army in Mississippi, under Van Dorn, made a desperate attempt to tm-n Grant's left wing at Corinth, so as to force him back down the Tennessee river. That wing was com- manded by Rosecrans, who defeated the Con- federates at luka, September 19, and Corinth, October 3 and 4, and foiled their scheme. Soon after this Rosecrans superseded Buell in the command of the Army of the Cumberland. Bragg had advanced to Murfreesboro, and at Stone river, near that town, a battle occurred, December 31 to January 2, in which 40,000 men were engaged on each side, and each lost more than 10,000. Bragg was obliged to retreat to Tullahoma ; but the battle decided nothing except that it is very hard for Americans to defeat Americans, — a point that was fully The Civil War 223 illustrated in the course of this war. By this time Grant had begun his first movement against Vicksburg, and met with his first repulse ; his communications were cut in his General Bragg rear, and his ablest lieutenant, Sherman, was defeated, December 29, in an assault upon the bluffs north of the town. Since the South had brought on this war in defense of slavery, the abolitionist 224 HoiD the United States became a Nation • sentiment had grown very rapidly at the North, and it had now become supported by the military needs of the hour. The summer's events had shown that the war was not likely soon to be ended ; and there was some fear lest England, through distress from the scar- city of cotton, should join with France in an attempt to bring it prematurely to a close. It was also the clear dictate of common sense that in wagiug such a terrible and costly war the earliest opportunity should be taken of striking at the cause of the war ; other- wise victory, even when won, could not be final, but the seeds of future disease would be left in the body politic. The part which Mr. Lincoln played at this crisis was that of a bold and farsighted statesman, and entitles him to rank by the side of Washington in the grateful memories of the American peo- ple. The Constitution gave, him no author- ity to abolish slavery, but there was a broad principle of military law that did. In 1836 John Quincy Adams had declared in Congress that, if ever the slave states should become The Civil War 225 the theater of war, the government might interfere with shivery in any way that mih- tary policy might suggest. Again, in his speech of April 14, 1842, he said, in words of prophetic clearness : " Whether the war be civil, servile, or foreign, I lay this down as the law of nations : I say that the military authority takes for the time the place of all municipal institutions, slavery among the rest. Under that state of things, so far from its being true that the states where slavery exists have the exclusive management of the subject, not only the President of the United States, but the commander of the army, has power to order the universal emancipation of slaves." It was upon this theory that Mr. Lincoln acted. In announcing it, he seized the favorable moment when the tide of south- ern invasion had begun to roll back from Maryland and Kentucky, and on September 22, 1862, issued a preliminary proclamation to the effect that on the following New Year's Day, in all such states as had not by that time returned to their allegiance, the slaves 226 IIow the United States became a Nation should be henceforth and forever free. This did not affect the slaves in the loyal border states, who were left to be set free by other measures ; but it practically settled the ques- tion that the reestablishment of the author- ity of the United States government would be attended by the final abolition of slavery. For a moment it seemed as if the proclama- tion had weakened the Republican vote, but it really added incalculable strength to the administration ; and as for foreign interven- tion, it made it almost impossible, owing to Great Britain's attitude toward slavery. The first half of the year 1863 was a gloomy time, for it was not enough that the Fed- eral government should hold its own; it must make progress, and no progress seemed to be made. Grant found himself bafHed all winter by the almost insoluble problem how to in- vest Vicksburg. In May, in one of the most brilliant campaigns recorded in history, he won five battles and laid close siege to that stronghold ; but the full measure of his suc- cess was not yet reached, and the people were The Civil War 227 disheartened by defeat in other quarters. In middle Tennessee, Bragg and Rosecrans held each other in check till the middle of June. In Vhginia the incompetent Burnside had been terribly defeated by Lee at Fredericksburg, December 13, with a loss of more than 12,000 men. He was superseded by Joseph Hooker, 228 HoiD the United States hecame a Nation from whose cadmirable conduct in subordinate positions great hopes were now entertained. But at Chancellorsville, May 1 to 4, Lee won the most brilliant of all his victories. With 45,000 men, against Hooker's 90,000, he suc- ceeded in maintaining a superiority of num- bers at each contested point, until he forced his adversary from the field. Lee's loss was 12,000; Hooker's was 1G,000 ; but the Con- federates also lost " Stonewall " Jackson, a disaster so great as to balance the victory. Lee now played a grand but desperate game, and, turning Hooker's right flank, pushed on through the western part of Mary- land into Pennsylvania, so as to threaten Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. There was intense alarm at the North. The Army of the Potomac was moved northward to cover the cities just mentioned, and Hooker was superseded in the command by Meade. The two armies came into collision at Gettys- burg, where in a tremendous battle, July 1 to 3, Meade at length succeeded in defeat- ing Lee. About 82,000 Federals and 74,000 £ i Hp ^ 1 ^ip J IE ^bHm ^■1 //^-^^ ("Stonewall" Jackson) 229 Tlie Civil War 231 Confederates were engaged ; the loss of the former was 24,000 ; of the latter, 30,000. That is, out of 156,000 men the loss was 54,000, or more than one third ; so that the battle of Gettysburg was one of the greatest of modern times. It marked the turning point of the Civil War, but it was not in itself a deci- sive victory, like Blenheim or Waterloo. Lee moved slowly back to his old position on the Rapidan, where he and Meade held each other in check until the following spring. 232 HoiD the United States hecame a Nation On the next day after Gettysburg a much more decisive triumph was won by Grant in the capture of Vicksburg with its whole army of defense, nearly thirty-two thousand strong. This was the heaviest blow that had yet been dealt to the Confederacy; its whole western zone was now virtually conquered, and it became possible to concentrate greater forces asrainst its middle and eastern zones. The news of Gettysburg and Vicksburg made the Fourth of July, 18G3, a day of rejoicing at the North, albeit of mourning in thousands of bereaved homes. The next note of victory was sounded on Thanksgiving Day. Late in June Rosecrans began a series of skillful movements aQ[;ainst Brasrg, wdiich caused him to fall back into Chattanooga. Early in September, by moving against his communications, Rosecrans forced him to evacuate that place ; but in maneuvering among the mountains the Union general suddenly discovered that he had misinter- preted his adversary's movements and thus had dangerously extended his own lines. The CivU War 233 While thereupon engaged in concentrating his forces upon Chattanooga, he was attacked by Bragg, who had meanAvhile been heavily reenforced from Virginia. A terrible battle was fought September 19 and 20, in Chicka- mauga valley, between 55,000 Federals and 70,000 Confederates, in which each side lost one third of its number. After an extraordi- nary series of mishaps had led to the total rout of the Federal right wing, the army was saved by the magnificent skill and bravery of 234 How the United States became a Nation Thomas, who commanded on the left. Rose- crans occupied Chattanooga, but in sucli a plight that he seemed in danger of losing it and his army also. He was besieged by Bragg, who occupied the strong positions of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, commanding the town. In October Rose- crans was superseded l)y Thomas, and Grant was put in command of all the armies be- tween the Mississippi and the Alleghenies. Reenforcements under Hooker were sent from Virginia, and Sherman came up from Vicks- burg with a large part of the Army of Ten- nessee. In the brilliant battle of Chattanooga, November 24 and 25, the Confederates were totally defeated, and Grant won another prize of scarcely less value than Vicksburg. The area of the Confederacy was now virtually cut down to the four states of Georgia, the Caro- linas, and Virginia. In March, 1864, Grant superseded Halleck as commander in chief, with the rank of lieu- tenant general. Grant now gave his personal supervision to the Army of the Potomac, while The Cwil War 235 retaining Meade in immediate command. After the battle of Chattanooga the defeated Confederates had retired to Dalton, in Georgia, where Bragg was superseded by Jolmston. The Union anny opposed to Johnston was commanded by Sherman, and early in May a simultaneous forward movement was begun in Georgia and in Virginia. Grant had won his great victories at Vicks- burg and Chattanooga not by hard pounding 236 HoiD the United States became a Nation so much as by skillful strategy. Twice at Vicksburg he had tried the hammering process without success. In Virginia, having an immense superiority in numbers (122,000 against 62,000), he at first tried to crush Lee by simple hammering. In pursuing the direct route through Fredericksburg to Richmond, he encountered a series of strong defensive positions of which Lee availed himself with consummate skill. In assaulting these posi- tions, Grant generally failed ; but his supe- riority in numbers enabled him to operate against Lee's right flank and slowly push him back to the Chickahominy. After a month of this terrible warfare, including the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and Cold Harbor, Grant had lost sixty-four thousand men, or more than the whole army witli which Lee started. Having now reached the Chickahominy, and finding it impossible to break through Lee's lines of defense. Grant changed his plan of campaign and swung round upon Petersburg to operate against the southern communications of Richmond. finm, MF , •! If villi , {ii,|ii{l,,ii „ ' II , !"l|'i « .11' .i|,'.''ii , ', V'l I 1; I J'l ii'i!,iy If I- yii'i ■■ ,H- ,'i| fl '.'Ill |M"i«''| II « ■ ilU, III II I I ■■ ■ II ■ |||||!i 11' ' V i|'i7'iMill'|ii 1"'" ,1 !'.|l!li! .Ii ' J'l;'},iii'i)';l Ill, "''k^ 1 1;' i ';';,:; I ^% iiff 'I'lii'iii'ij' V!:»i! Hi':' ■^^ '*••* i II. 'I i|iiiiiiiii W''J':'Mm\ I ' , I 1 (fiWlil'i, I'jiiii'ii'i'' I'll I'll II .1 I I' I ■ ' /?. '1,1'i'i, i I ' r ,"'' II, III I I 1' ii'ii'|iM|J if«ii""iii'iii'i!"il) ') ■'^l"f'''' I'Uliii 1 \\ ii'i|i|,lii; 1 ,1" i"|ii"'"| ( ^ I, i|, ''!'''l1l''|l'l'l'll'l'i'l I ir 237 The Civil War 239 Here Lee succeeded in holding bim at bay for nine montbs, with forces constantly weak- ening. Grant's losses could be repaired, but Lee's could not. The North, indeed, was still rich and flour- ishing, while the Confederacy was at the end of its resources- The food supply from the West was cut off, clothes and tools were giv- ing out, and the blockade was stricter than ever. Farragut's great victory in Mobile bay closed up that entrance in August, while on the ocean the chief Confederate cruisers were captured. One of these cases, the destruction of the famous Alabama in June by the Kear- sarge, off the coast of France, was especially interesting, as the Alahama was British-built and manned by British seamen and gunners, and the contest seemed to teach a similar lesson to those of 1812. The guns of the Kearsarge sent her to tlie bottom in an hour. Sherman's campaign in Georgia revealed the exhausted condition of the Confederacy. He advanced from Chattanooo;a with 100.000 men against Johnston's weaker force of 75,000, 240 Hoiv tlie United States heeame a Nation and by a series of skillful flank movements pushed him back upon Atlanta after three bat- tles, — at Resaca, Dallas, and Kenesaw Moun- tain, — in which the Federals lost altogether about 14,000 men and the Confederates about 11,000. Johnston's conduct had been ex- tremely skillful, but he was now removed from command. His successor. Hood, believed in hard blows, and soon received some in two fierce sorties from Atlanta, July 22 and 28, in which he lost 13,000 men to Sherman's 4000. On September 2 Sherman took Atlanta. Hood now made a fatal mistake. He moved north- westward by Tuscumbia and Florence into mid- dle Tennessee, thinking that Sherman would follow him. But instead Sherman divided his army, sending back part of it under Thomas to deal with Hood, while he himself prepared to continue his advance through Georgia. Hood, moving northw^ard, was first defeated at Franklin, November 30, with heavy loss, by Schofield. Then Hood encountered Thomas in a great battle at Nashville, December 15 and 16. Hood had about 44,000 men, Thomas The Civil War 241 ]0 _ General Hood about 56,000. The Federals lost about 3000 men ; the Confederates were totally defeated, with a loss of 15,000, and in the pursuit which followed, their army ceased to exist. Of all the battles fought in the course of the war, this was the most completely a victory. Mean- while Sherman started from Atlanta about the middle of November, with 60,000 men marched unopposed through Georgia to the seacoast, and captured Savannah December 21. Throughout the North congratulations over 242 How the United States became a Nation these remarkable campaigns mingled with the Christmas greetings. The foregoing survey shows the Union arms as having advanced from the beginning with remarkable steadiness and rapidity toward the overthrow of the Confederacy; but very few people were able to see this until after it was all over. These four years seemed very long while they were passing, and as people were always hoping for a colossal blow which would at once end the war, they failed to take ac- count of the steady progress which was really being made. Besides this, the operations near Washington naturally assumed more promi- nence in people's eyes than the western opera- tions, and here the prolonged resistance of Lee served further to confuse the popular estimate of passing events. Lee's defensive warfare was one of the most wonderful things in history, and imposed upon people's imagina- tions till they were almost ready to forget that even he could not hold out indefinitely, without a Confederacy behind him. Even in the summer of 1864 Lee was able to alarm Jlie Civil War 243 the government at Washington by sending the gallant Early on an expedition down the Shenandoah valley, like that which Jackson had conducted two years before. In a very f/j"/^^ ^a^^^ able and romantic campaign Sheridan com- pletely defeated Early ; but the impression produced upon the northern mind w^as great. In the nominatinoj conventions held in the 244 HoiD the United States became a Nation course of the summer, between the battle of Spottsylvania and Sherman's capture of At- lanta, the Republicans nominated Lincoln for reelection; but some radical Republicans, who condemned his measures as too feeble, nom- inated Fremont, and the Democrats, with scarcely less absurdity, in nominating McClel- lan, demanded that peace should be made on the ground that the war was a failure. Before the election Fremont withdrew his name. McClellan obtained twenty-one electoral votes from New Jersey, Delaware, and Kentucky; the two hundred and twelve votes of the other states not in rebellion were given to Lincoln. Early in 1865 the Confederacy fell so sud- denly that it seemed like the collapse of a bubble. The year opened auspiciously with Schofield's capture of Wilmington, the last Confederate port except Charleston, which fell as soon as Sherman's northward march began. He advanced through the Carolinas, partly over the same route taken by Cornwallis in 1781. From various quarters Johnston con- trived to gather forty thousand men to oppose The Civil War 245 him, but was defeated near Goldsborough, March 19. By this time Lee had made up his mind to abandon Petersburg and Rich- mond, move by way of Danville, and eifect a junction with Johnston. To prevent such a concentration of forces Grant moved Sheri- dan southwesterly to Five Forks, upon Lee's right or southern flank. Here Sheridan in the last battle of the war secured his position. To avoid being outflanked Lee was forced to lengthen his line, already too weak ; and now Grant with a hundred thousand men broke through it. The Confederate government fled from Richmond, and Lee, driven westward, was headed off at Appomattox Courthouse, where on April 9 he surrendered his army, now reduced to twenty-six thousand men. A fortnight later Johnston surrendered to Sherman and the war was ended. Never was an overthrow more complete and final than that of the Confederacy, and never had soldiers fought more gallantly than those who were now surrendered. All were at once set free on parole, and no dismal executions for 246 How the United States became a Nation treason were allowed to sully the glorious triumph of the United States. The public rejoicings were clouded by the death of the wise and gentle Lincoln, struck down in the moment of victory by the hand of a wretched assassin. His name will forever be remem- bered side by side with the name of Wash- ington; for he was in many ways the second founder of the United States. The work of unparalleled glory begun by Washington — of founding a nation so peaceful and so mighty that, through its own peaceful development, it might by and by sow broadcast over the world the seeds of permanent peace among men — was brouo:ht to its next stasre of com- pletion by Lincoln. So long as the chief source of contention remained, the future might well seem doubtful. The work of 1770 first came to full fruition in 1865; and when this is duly considered, it reveals the moral grandeur of American history and sug- gests lessons which we shall all do well to learn. INDEX Abolitionists, 132 Adams, Charles Francis, 156 Adams, John, 28, 28 Adams, John Quincy, 77, 107; elected President, 122 ; elect- ed to the House of Repre- sentatives, 132 ; opinions of, on slavery, 224 African slave ti-ade, renewal of, 173 Alabama, 239 Alabama admitted to the Union, 112 Alaska, 141 Alien and sedition acts, 31 Antietam, battle of, 218 Anti-Federalists, 18 "Anti-Nebraska Men," 169 Appomattox Courthouse, 245 Argus, 85 Arkansas admitted to the Union, 119 Army of the Cumberland, 203 Army of the Potomac, 200, 228 Army of the Tennessee, 204 Atlanta, 240 Bainbridge, Captain, 83 Baltimore, 100, 195 Bancroft, George, 131 Banks, General, 214 Barclay, Commodore, 94 Battle of Antietam, 218; Bu- ena Vista, 152 ; Bull Run (1st), 199; Bull Run (2d), 218; Chancellorsville, 228; Chattanooga, 234 ; Chicka- mauga, 233 ; Chippewa, 94 ; Cold Harbor, 236 ; Corinth, 222 ; Dallas, 240; Fair Oaks, 216; Five Forks, 245; Fort Erie, 95; Franklin, 240; Fredericksburg, 227 ; Get- tysburg, 228; Goldsborough, 245; Kenesaw Mountain, 240; Lundy's Lane, 94; Murfreesboro, 222 ; Nash- ville, 240 ; Pea Ridge, 202 ; Perryville, 222; Resaca, 240; San Jacinto, 144; Seven Days', 216; Shiloh, 207; Spottsylvania, 236 ; Stone River, 222 ; Tippecanoe, 78 ; Wilderness, 236; "Wilson's Creek, 202 Bell, John, 179 Benton, Thomas, 121, 157 Berlin and Milan decrees, 67,77 Blglow Papers, 154 Birney, James, 147 247 248 How tlie United States hecame a Nation Blair, Francis, 202 Blockade in the Civil War, 200, 239 Bonaparte, Napoleon, 28, 48, 57, 77, 99 Bragg, 220, 227, 232; super- seded by Johnston, 235 Breckenridge, John, 177 Brock, General, 92 Broke, Captain, 84 Brooks, Preston, 171 Brougham, Lord, 50 Brown, Jacob, 94 Brown, John, 175 Bryant, William Cullen, 131 Buchanan, elected President, 172 ; attitude of, toward secession, 191 Buell, General, 203, 207, 219; superseded by Rosecrans, 222 Buena Vista, 152 Bull Run, 199, 218 Burnside, supersedes McClel- lan, 219; defeated at Fred- ericksburg, 227 ; superseded by Hooker, 227 Burr, Aaron, 50, 64, 99 ; duel of, with Hamilton, 65 ; tried for treason, 66 Burrows, Lieutenant, 85 Calhoun, J. C, 78, 143, 151 California, 152, 158 ; admitted to the Union, 159 Canada, invasion of, 92, 94 Cass, Louis, 156 Chancellorsville, battle of, 228 Charleston, 244 Chase, 165 Chase, Judge, 55 Chattanooga, 208, 220, 234 Chesapeake, 69, 84 Chickamauga valley, 233 Chihuahua, 152 Chippewa, battle of, 94 Clay, Henry, elected Speaker of the House, 78 ; author of Missouri Compromise, 110; candidate for President, 122 ; candidate a second time, 147 ; death of, 164 Clinton, De Witt, 80 Clinton, George, Vice Presi- dent, 64 ; reelected, 75 Cold Harbor, battle of, 236 Compromise of 1850, 159, 166 Compromise Tariff, 129 Condition of America in 1789, 5 Condition of the South in 1860, 184 Confederacy, collapse of, 244 "Confederate States of Amer- ica," 191 Constellation , 27 Constitution, 81, 83, 86 Constitution adopted, 18 ; twelfth amendment to, 52 Cooper, James Fenimore, 131 "Copperheads," 186 Corinth, 208 ; battle of, 222 Cotton gin, invention of, 114 Crawford, William, 78, 122 Index 249 Creek Indians, 96 Cuba, 166 Cui'tis, Benjamin, 174 Curtis, General, 202 Dallas, 240 Davis, Jefferson, 165 ; cliosen President of the Confeder- ate States, 191 Decatur, 82 Democrats, 19, 123 Detroit, 23, 92, 94 Doniphan, 152 "Doughfaces," 159 Douglas, Stephen, 166, 175, 178 Dred Scott case, 174 Early, General, 243 Emancipation, 225 Embargo act, 70 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 131 Emigration, 130 End of the Civil War, 245 England, trouble with, 67, 200 Enterprise, 85 " Era of good feelhig," 108 Ericsson, John, 130, 211 Erie canal, 119 Essex, 81, 86 Ewell, General, 198 Explorations of Lewis and Clark, 59, 142 Eair Oaks, battle of, 216 Earragut, 208 Federal Constitution, 8 Federalists, 18 "Fifty-four forty or fight," 143 Filibustering expeditions, 166 Fillmore, Millard, becomes President, 159 Five Forks, battle of, 245 Florida sold to United States, 108 Fort Donelson, 203, 204 Fort Erie, battle of, 95 Fort Henry, 203, 204 Fort Meigs, 93 Fort Mimms, massacre at, 96 Fort Sumter, 191 Fort Wayne, 73 France, trouble with, 24 Franklin, battle of, 240 Fredericksburg, battle of, 227 Free-soil party, 156 Fremont, conquers California, 152; nominated for Presi- dent, 171; in the Shenan- doah valley, 214 ; nominated for President, 244 French Revolution, 20 Fugitive slave law, 159 Fulton, Robert, 110 Garrison, William Lloyd, 132 Genet, "Citizen," 21 Gettysburg, battle of, 228 Gold discovered in California, 158 Goldsborough, battle of, 245 250 HoiD the United States became a Nation Grant, in Kentucky, 203 ; in Tennessee, 204 ; at Shiloh, 207 ; near Corinth, 219 ; bril- liant campaign of, 220 ; cap- tures Vicksburg, 232 ; super- sedes Halleck, 234 ; advances on Richmond, 236 ; at Appo- mattox, 245 Guerrlere, 81 " Hail Columbia," 27 Hale, John, 164 Halleck, General, 207, 208, 210, 217 ; superseded b^ Grant, 234 Hamilton, Alexander, Secre- tary of the Treasury, 11, 12 ; financial measures of, 13, 18 ; leader of the Federalists, 20 ; stoned on the street, 23 ; dislike between Adams and, 28 ; duel of, with Burr, 65 Hampton Roads, 212 Harmar, General, 17 Harper's Ferry, 176 Harrison, General, 78, 92, 94 ; elected President, 140; death of, 141 Hartford Convention, 102 Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 131 Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 131 " Holy Alliance," 108 Hood supersedes Bragg, 240 Hooker, Joseph, supersedes Burnside, 227 ; superseded by Meade, 228 Hornet, 83, 87 Houston, General, 144 Hull, Isaac, 81 Hull, William, 92 Illinois admitted to the Union, 112 Impressment of American sea- men, 23, 68, 103 Indian Territory, 165 Indiana admitted to the Union, 112 Indians, trouble with, 17, 96, 108 Iowa admitted to the Union, 158 Irving, Washington, 131 Island Number 10, 208 luka, 222 Jackson, Andrew, subdues the Creeks, 99 ; defeats the Brit- ish at New Orleans, 101 ; con- quers the Seminoles, 108; popular hero of the West, 121, 135; candidate for President, 122 ; elected Pres- ident, 123 ; character of, 135 Jackson, "Stonewall," 198, 216, 217; death of, 228 Jay's treaty, 23, 24 Jefferson, Thomas, Secretary of State, 14 ; leader of Re- publican party, 19 ; becomes Vice President, 23 ; elected President, 51 , inauguration Index 251 of, 52 ; second administra- tion of, 64 Johnson, Andrew, appointed military governor of Ten- nessee, 207 Johnston, Joseph, 197, 199, 216; supersedes Bragg, 235 ; superseded by Hood, 240; defeated near Goldsbor- ough, 245 ; surrenders, 245 Johnston, Sidney, 203, 204, 207 Jones, Paul, 82 Kansas-Nebraska bill, 168 Kearney, 152 Kearsarge, 239 Kenesaw Mountain, 240 Kentucky secured to the Union, 207 Kentucky and Virginia reso- lutions, 32 King, Kufus, 04, 75, 107 Lawrence, Captain, 83 Lear, Tobias, 42 Lee, Robert E., 197, 216; at Bull Run, 218 ; at Antietam, 218 ; invades Maryland, 221 ; at Chancellorsville, 228; de- feated at Gettysburg, 228; in the Wilderness, 236; militai-y skill of, 242 ; sur- renders, 245 Lewis, Lawrence, 38, 47 Lewis and Clark expedition, 59, 142 Lincoln, Abraham, elected President, 179; sends fleet to Sumter, 191; calls for troops, 192 ; as a statesman, 224; issues preliminary proclamation of emancipa- tion, 225 ; reelected, 244 ; death of, 246 Literature, growth of, 131 Longfellow, Henry Wads- worth, 131 Louisiana admitted to the Union, 111 Louisiana Purchase, 57 Lowell, James Russell, 154 Lundy's Lane, battle of, 94 Lyon, Nathaniel, 202 McClellan, drives Confeder- ates from West Virginia, 198 ; supersedes Scott, 200 ; advances on Richmond, 212 ; in Seven Days' battles, 216; at Antietam, 218; superseded by Burns id e, 219; nominated for Presi- dent, 244 Macdonough, Commodore, 96 McDowell, 198, 214, 216 McLean, John, 174 Madison elected President, 75 ; reelected, 81 ; pardons Hull, 92 Maine admitted to the Union, 112 Marcy, William, 136 252 How the United States became a Nation Marshall, Chief Justice, 55 Mason and Slidell, 201 Massacre at Fort Mimms, 9G Meade supersedes Hooker, 228 Memphis, 208 Merrimac, 210 Mexican War, 152 Michigan, 92 ; admitted to the Union, 119 Mississippi admitted to the Union, 112 Missouri, admitted to the Union, 112; saved to the Union, 202 Missouri Compromise, 116 Monit)r, 212 Monroe, James, minister to France, 24 ; elected Presi- dent, 107 ; reelected, 107 Monroe doctrine, 109 Morris, Gouverneur, 24 Murfreesboro, battle of, 222 Napoleon Bonaparte, 28, 48, 57, 77, 99 Napoleon III, 186 Nashville, battle of, 240 National Bank, 124, 137, 138, 141 "National Republicans," 123 Naval victories, 81 Navy, American, in 1812, 88 New Mexico, 152, 159 New Orleans, expedition against, 100 ; captured by Farragut, 208 New York, 119 Non-intercourse act, 71 ; re- pealed, 77 Nullification, 33, 128 Ohio admitted to the Union, 56 Old Ironsides, 87 Orders in council, 67; revoked, 78 Oregon, 60, 142 Pakenham, Sir Edward, 101 Panic, commercial, 138 Parker, Theodore, 163 Parties, rise of, 18 Pea Ridge, battle of, 202 Peace Democrats, 186 Peacock, 86, 87 Peacock (British brig), 83 Perry, Commodore, 94 Perryville, battle of, 222 Petersburg, 236 Phillips, Wendell, 163 Pierce, Franklin, elected Presi- dent, 164 Pinckney, Cotesworth, 24, 50, 64, 75 Polk, General, 202, 204 Polk, James K., 147; elected President, 148 Pope, General, 208, 217; de- feated at Bull Run, 218 Population of United States in 1860, 183 Port Royal, 200 Porter, Captain, 81, 86 Index 253 Porter, Fitz John, General, 218 Prescott, W. H., 131 President, 78 Privateers, American, 88 Proctor, General, 93, 94 Protection, policy of, 15, 124 Queenstown Heights, 92 Railroad, first American, 129 Keform movements, 132 Republicans, 19, 107, 121, 169, 180 Resaca, battle of, 240 Richmond, capital of the Con- federate States, 197 ; aban- doned by Confederate gov- ernment, 245 Right of search, 68, 78, 103, 201 Rosecrans, supersedes Buell, 222 ; in Tennessee, 227 ; at Chattanooga, 232 ; super- seded by Thomas, 234 Rotation in office, 136 St. Clair, General, 18 San Jacinto, battle of, 144 Santa Anna, 144 Savannah, 241 Schofield, General, 240, 244 Scott, General Winfield, 94, 152, 164, 198 Screw propeller, 130 Secession, threatened, 71; ordinances of, 188 Seminole Indian troubles, 108 Seward, 165 Shannon, 84 Shenandoah valley, 216, 243 Sheridan, General, 243 Sherman, General, 223, 234, 235, 239 ; march of, to the sea, 241; northward march of, 244 Shiloh, battle of, 207 Slave trade, 173 Slavery, growth of, 112 ; oppo- sition to, 155 Slidell, 201 South, condition of , In 1 860, 1 84 Spoils system, 136 Spottsylvania, battle of, 236 Squatter sovereignty, 168 State debts, assumption of, 14 Steamboat, invention of, 110 Stephens, Alexander, 191 Stewart, Captain, 86 Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 60 Subtreasury system, 138 Sumner, Charles, 164 ; attack on, 171 Sumter, Fort, 191 Supreme Court, 32, 55 Talleyrand, 25, 27 Tariff, 124, 128 Taxation of whisky, 16 Taylor, General, 152; elected President, 156 ; death of, 159 Tecumseh, attacks northwest- ern settlements, 78 ; death of, 94 254 IIoiD the United States became a Nation Texas, 144 ; admitted to the Union, 151 Thomas, General, 204 ; super- sedes Rosecrans, 234 ; at Nashville, 240 Tippecanoe, battle of, 78 Treaty, of Ghent, 102; with Mexico, 154 Trent, 201 Tripolitan War, 60 Troops called for by President Lincoln, 192 Truxtun, Captain, 27 Twelfth amendment, 52 Tyler becomes President, 141 Uncle Tom's Cab'.n, 160 United States, 82 United States, conditions in, in 1789, 5; growth of, 110, 129, 142, 183 Utah, 159 Valcour Island, 96 Van Buren, Martin, elected President, 138 ; second nom- ination, 156 Van Dorn, 222 Vans Murray. 27 Vicksburg, 208, 210 ; captured by Grant, 232 War with Mexico, 152 Washington, George, 11 ; sup- presses insurrection, 16; national policy of, 20 ; re- fuses a third term, 23 ; ap- pointed to the command of army, 26 ; at Mount Vernon, 34 ; death of, 44 ; character of, 48 Washington, selected as capi- tal, 14 ; condition of, in 1801, 52 ; public buildings burned at, 100 Wasp, 82, 86 Wayne, General, 18 Webster, Daniel, 131, 104 West, the young, 120; migra- tion to the, 119, 142, 158, 169 West Virginia, 196 Whigs, 124, 164 Whisky insurrection, 16 Whitney, Eli, 113 Whittier, John Greenleaf, 131 Wilderness, battle of the, 236 Wilkes, Captain, 201 Wilmington, 244 Wilmot Proviso, 156, 171 Wilson's Creek, battle of, 202 Winchester, General, 92 Wisconsin admitted to the Union, 158 Wabash river, 17, 23 War of 1812, declaration of, 78 ; opposition to, 79 X.Y.Z. dispatches, 26 Yorktown, 214 OPYDELTIOCAT.DIV "'L. ?9 1904 *l 23 1904 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 011 802 202 6 lmi;ili:ili!l m,!!! 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