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 COPYRIGHT DEPOSrr. 
 
OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 
 THE UNITED STATES 
 
 BY 
 
 EVA MARCH TAPPAN, Ph.D. 
 
 Author of " England'' s Story" " Old Ballads in Prose" 
 
 " In the Days of Alfred the Great, " etc. 
 
 Editor of " The Children'' s Hour." 
 
 BOSTON, NEW YORK, AND CHICAGO 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 
 
 %\t KiijergiUe ^xzm, CambriUffe 
 
LIBRARY of C0N6HESS, 
 
 Two OeplM Receivttc 
 
 JAN 1M908 
 
 Oopyn^ni. tn<r> 
 
 OUSS-^^ XXc. No, 
 COPY 8. 
 
 I 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. Columbus shows the Way to America . 
 
 II. The Early Followers of Columbus 
 
 III. The Early Attempts to make Settlements . 
 
 IV. The Indians and their Ways .... 
 V. Virginia, the First Permanent English Colony 
 
 VI. Plymouth, the First Colony in New England . 
 VII. The Massachusetts Bay Colony 
 VIII. Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Con 
 
 necticut . 
 
 IX. Early Customs of New England . 
 X. New York, Delaware, and New Jersey 
 XI. Pennsylvania and Maryland 
 XII. The Carolinas and Georgia 
 
 XIII. The French Explorations in America 
 
 XIV. The Struggle with the French 
 XV. The Times before the Revolution 
 
 XVI. The First Two Years of the Revolution 
 XVII. The Latter Part op the Revolution . 
 XVIII. The Years of Weakness .... 
 XIX. The Westward Growth of the Country 
 XX. Trouble arises over Slavery . 
 
 XXI. The Civil War 
 
 XXII. Events since the Civil War . 
 XXIII. Supplementary Chapter 
 
 1 
 13 
 24 
 34 
 42 
 52 
 61 
 
 70 
 83 
 88 
 99 
 109 
 114 
 119 
 129 
 141 
 154 
 168 
 183 
 197 
 208 
 229 
 249 
 
 Atknowledgment is dim to General James Grant Wilson, the Lenox Library, Messrs. S. P. Avery, 
 Jr., Walter Bailey Ellis, George A. Clough, Grover Flint, Charles Scribner's Sons, and The Century 
 Co. for permission to reproduce illustratioua. < 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1902 AND 190! 
 BY EVA MARCH TAPPAN 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 D 
 
 (VV 
 
 oM 
 
 ^ 
 
IMPORTANT DATES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 1492 Columbus discovers America. 
 
 1497 First voyage of Cabot to America. 
 
 1497 Vespucius sails to America. 
 
 1513 Ponce de Leon visits Florida. 
 
 1522 Magellan's ships sail around the world. 
 
 1534 Cartier explores the St. Lawrence. 
 
 1542 De Soto discovers the Mississippi. 
 
 1565 First town in the United States founded at St. Augustine. 
 
 1607 Virginia, the first English colony in America, settled at James- 
 
 town. 
 
 1608 Champlain founds Quebec. 
 
 1609 Hudson explores the Hudson River. 
 
 1614 New York first settled on Manhattan Island. 
 
 1617 New Jersey first settled at Bergen. 
 
 1619 First legislative assembly in America. 
 
 1619 Negro slavery introduced into America. 
 
 1620 Massachusetts first settled at Plymouth. 
 1623 New Hampshire first settled at Dover. 
 1625 Maine first settled at Pemaqiiid Point. 
 1630 Boston founded. 
 
 1634 Maryland first settled at St. Mary's. 
 
 1636 Rhode Island first settled at Providence. 
 
 1636 Connecticut first settled at Hartford. 
 
 1638 Pequot War. 
 
 1638 Delaware first settled at Wilmington. 
 
 1663 North Carolina first settled near Albemarle Sound. 
 
 1670 South Carolina first settled near Charleston. 
 
 1673 Marquette and Joliet explore the Mississippi. 
 
vi IMPORTANT DATES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 1675 King Philip's War. 
 
 1682 La Salle explores the Mississippi. 
 
 1682 Pennsylvania first settled at Philadelphia. 
 
 1690 AVitchcraft excitement in Massachusetts. 
 
 1733 Georgia first settled at Savannah. 
 
 1745 Capture of Louisburg. 
 
 1759 Capture of Quebec and end of French power in America. 
 
 1765 The Stamp Act. 
 
 1773 The Boston Tea-party. 
 
 1774 First Continental Congress. 
 
 1775 April 19. Battle of Lexington and beginning of the Revolution. 
 
 1775 June 17. Battle of Bunker Hill. 
 
 1776 July 4. Declaration of Indej)endence. 
 1778 Clark saves the Northwest. 
 
 1781 Surrender of Cornwallis and close of the Revolutiou 
 
 1787 Framing of the Constitution. 
 
 1789 AV^ashington becomes first president 
 
 1793 Invention of the cotton-gin. 
 
 1803 The Louisiana Purchase. 
 
 1804 Suppression of the Barbary pirates. 
 1812-1815 War with England. 
 
 1820 Missouri Compromise. 
 
 1825 Opening , of the Erie Canal. 
 
 1844 Invention of the telegraph. 
 
 1846 War with Mexico. 
 
 1846 Settlement of the Oregon boundary. 
 
 1848 Mexican cession. 
 
 1848 Discovery of gold in California. 
 
 1850 Compromise of 1850. 
 
 1861 Capture of Fort Sumter and beginning of Civil War, 
 
 1862 Battle between INIonitor and Merrimac. 
 
 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. 
 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. 
 
 1865 Surrender of Lee and close of Civil War. 
 
 1866 The Atlantic cable laid. 
 
IMPORTANT DATES IN AMERICAN HISTORY vii 
 
 1867 Purchase of Alaska. 
 
 1869 Completion of the Union Pacific Raih'oad: 
 
 1876 Centennial Exposition. 
 
 1893 Columbian Exposition. 
 
 1898 War with Spain. 
 
 1898 Annexation of the Hawaiian Islands. 
 
 1899 Annexation of Porto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines- 
 
 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 George Washington . 
 
 1789-1797 
 
 John Adams . . . 
 
 1797-1801 
 
 Thomas Jefferson 
 
 1801-1809 
 
 James Madison . . 
 
 1809-1817 
 
 James Monroe . . 
 
 1817-1825 
 
 John Quincy Adams 
 
 1825-1829 
 
 Andrew Jackson . . 
 
 1829-1837 
 
 Martin Van Buren . 
 
 1837-1841 
 
 William Henry Harrisoi 
 
 1 1841 
 
 John Tyler .... 
 
 1841-1845 
 
 James K. Polk . . . 
 
 1845-1849 
 
 Zachary Taylor . . 
 
 1849-18.50 
 
 Millard Fillmore . . 
 
 185U-1853 
 
 Franklin Piei'ce . 
 James Buchanan . 
 Abraham Lincoln . 
 Andrew Johnson . 
 Ulysses S. Grant . 
 Rutherford B. Hayes 
 James A. Garfield 
 Chester A. Arthur 
 Grover Cleveland . 
 Benjamin Harrison 
 Grover Cleveland . 
 William McKiuley 
 Theodore Roosevelt 
 
 1853 
 1857- 
 1861- 
 1865- 
 1869- 
 1877- 
 1881 
 1881- 
 1885- 
 1889- 
 1893 
 1897- 
 1901- 
 
 1857 
 1861 
 
 1865 
 1869 
 
 1877 
 1881 
 
 1885 
 1889 
 1898 
 1897 
 1901 
 
OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 COLUMBUS SHOWS THE WAY TO AMERICA 
 
 If a group of schoolboys had been talking about their geo- 
 graphy lessons four hundred years ago, one would perhaps have 
 said : — 
 
 " Our teacher tells us that the world is flat. The land is in the Early ideas 
 centre, the ocean flows all around, and if any one should sail to ° ^ ^°'^ 
 the edge of the world, he would fall off." 
 
 Then another boy would have said : — 
 
 " Our teacher told us that many learned men beheve the earth 
 is round ; and he says a few of them think that if a ship should 
 go through the Straits 
 of Gibraltar and sail 
 west across the Atlan- 
 tic Ocean far enough, it 
 would come to India." 
 
 "But no ship could 
 ever do that," another 
 boy would have ob- 
 jected. " The Atlantic 
 Ocean is the Sea of 
 Darkness, and' every- 
 body knows that the farther you go from the land, the darker it The Sea of 
 becomes. There are thick, black fogs. In one place the sun is ^^ "^^^ 
 so hot that the water boils, and it might be hot enough to burn 
 
 r>ANGEKS OF THE SEA OF DARKNESS 
 ( From a sixteenth century illustration) 
 
OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 A NORWEGIAN SHIP 
 
 Trade with 
 Asia 
 
 the ship. The waves are as high as mountains, and there 
 
 are mermaids and horrible demons. A monstrous 
 
 bird flies over the water, strong enough to carry 
 
 oft" a great ship and all the sailors ; and worse 
 
 than that, tSatan sometimes stretches up a 
 
 great black hand as big as a cliff and draws 
 
 a ship down under the sea." 
 
 These stories of the dangers of the ocean 
 were not fairy-tales told to amuse children ; 
 they were what most men really believed. 
 It is no wonder, then, that when the 
 people of Genoa in Italy were asked 
 to furnish funds for sending a ship 
 across the Atlantic to India, they 
 looked upon the plan as a wild and 
 hopeless scheme. It is probable that five 
 hundred years before this time some hardy mariners of Norway 
 and Sweden sailed south from the settlement that they had made 
 in Greenland, and even tried to found a colony in Massachusetts ; 
 "but there is little reason to think that any one in Italy knew 
 of their voyages. 
 
 It w^as one of the citizens of Genoa ^^iio had asked for this 
 money, a man named Christopher Columbus. He was born in 
 Genoa, and all through his boyhood he had seen ships coming 
 into the harbor and unloading rich cargoes of spices, pearls, per- 
 fumes, silks, ivory, and fine Cashmere shawls. These luxuries 
 were brought from eastern Asia, or the Indies, as people then 
 called that country. The journey was long and hard, for the 
 goods had to be taken on the backs of camels across great tracts 
 of land to the eastern shore of the Black Sea. Then they were 
 put on board ships and carried past Constantinople and over the 
 Mediterranean to Genoa 
 
COLUMBUS SHOWS THE WAY 
 
 CARAVAN TKAVEL IN ASIA 
 
 Columbus went to sea when he was fourteen, and three or four 
 
 yrears later there were few rich cargoes from the Indies unloaded Why this 
 
 it the wharves of Genoa. The reason was that the Greeks had ^^ 
 
 ost Constantinople to the Turks, and the Turks would not allow 
 
 :;he Genoese vessels to 
 
 pass through the Bos- 
 
 phorus. 
 Columbus did not 
 
 believe half the 
 
 stories that were 
 
 bold about the 
 
 iangers of the 
 
 Sea of Darkness, 
 
 md he reasoned : 
 
 'If the earth is 
 
 L'ound, we can sail across the Atlantic to the very coast of Asia, Columbus's 
 
 Mid that would be a much easier journey than to go by the Black '"^^soning 
 
 Sea." He thought that it would be an exceedingly short way, 
 for even the learned men who believed that the world 
 was round thought it only half as large as it really 
 is. He had studied and read and thought, and he 
 felt sure that he was right. 
 
 Only a rich city or a king could provide money 
 for such an expedition. Genoa had refused, but 
 
 Portugal had long been interested in finding an 
 
 easier way to India, and therefore Columbus went 
 to see the king of Portugal. The royal advisers 
 called the plan a foolish notion, but the king was 
 half convinced that Columbus was in the right, 
 and he said : " My advisers do not believe that 
 
 your plan is possible, but I should like to borrow your maps and 
 
 look into the matter for myself." 
 
 COLUMBUS'S 
 ARMOR 
 
 (Now in Madrid) 
 
OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The maps were lent most willingly, for Columbus thought that 
 
 The king of at last he had found a friend. After a while a ship sailed in from 
 
 Portusfll 
 
 deceives ^^^ west, and it became known that to make sure of the glory and 
 
 Columbus gain for himself the king had sent out a vessel secretly. It went 
 
 Columbus 
 goes to 
 Spain 
 
 40 20 
 
 THE MAP COLUMBUS USED 
 
 but a Uttle way, however, because the captain was afraid of the 
 high waves of the Atlantic. 
 
 Columbus was so angry at this trickery that he took his little 
 son Diego and went to Spain. King Ferdinand and Queen Isa- 
 bella were on the Spanish throne, and to them Columbus appealed. 
 Ferdinand called a council of wise men and asked them to decide 
 whether these new ideas were reasonable or not. Now that so 
 much more is known about the earth, some of the arguments 
 brought forward by these learned councilors seem so foolish that 
 it is hard to believe they were really in earnest. One asked : 
 " How can there be people on the other side of the earth ? Do 
 they hang on by their feet ? Do the trees grow down and does 
 the rain fall up ? " Another was willing to admit that the world 
 was round. "But if you should go to the other side," said he, 
 "how could you ever sail uj) hill and return?" 
 
 For several years Columbus waited. Spain was at war, and all 
 the king would say was that he would consider the matter later. 
 
COLUMBUS SHOWS THE WAY 
 
 eople laughed at the wild dream of this persistent stranger. Delay and 
 
 he children in the streets pointed their fingers at him and whis- ment"'^^^^' 
 
 ;red, " Look ! there 's the crazy man who thinks he can cross the 
 
 3a of Darkness ! " Columbus had some reason to hope for aid 
 
 om France, and he had sent his brother to England to ask for 
 
 jlp. He determined to leave Spain. 
 
 One morning a man with gray hair and keen blue eyes stood 
 
 jfore the convent of La Rabida near Palos and asked for food Columbus at 
 
 r his little son. The prior of this convent was a learned man who P' ^ 
 
 as especially interested in geography. He noticed the stranger 
 
 , the gate and began to talk with him. When he found what a 
 
 onderf ul plan he had in mind — for the stranger was Columbus 
 
 mself — the prior wrote to Queen Isabella and pleaded for her 
 
 d. He told her what glory such a discovery would bring to 
 
 oain and how much wealth would pour in from the trade with 
 
 le Indies. She became greatly interested, but a difficulty arose. 
 
 -THE REAL POSITION OF THE CONTINENTS 
 
 olumbus demanded the title of admiral, the right to rule over 
 
 le lands that he should discover, and one tenth of all gains that 
 
 iglit be made. 
 
 The Spanish courtiers were jealous that an unknown man, a 
 
 reigner, should dream of having so much power, and although Jealousy of 
 
 3 was ready to risk his life, one of them said to him sneeringly : courtiers 
 
6 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 '* You have nothing to lose if you fail, and you make sure of your 
 title, whether you accomplish anything or not. You 're a shrewd 
 man." 
 Columbus was not selfish, but he felt that he had a right to 
 Isabella aids share in whatever gain might come from his years of study and 
 thought. Moreover, he needed a large sum of money to carry out 
 
 
 (The pan t 
 
 a plan of his for rescuing from the Turks, who ruled in the Holy 
 Land, the tomb in which Christ was said to have been buried, and 
 he declared that he would rather seek for the aid of France than 
 yield a single point. The enthusiasm of Queen Isabella was 
 aroused. " I 'will undertake the enterprise for my own crown of 
 Castile," she declared, " and I will pledge my jewels to raise the 
 necessary funds." 
 
 Then there was a bustle of preparation. For some misdemeanor 
 
 Preparations the town of Palos had been required to provide two ships, well 
 
 manned and armed, to serve the king for one year. The order 
 
 was given that these two ships should be at Columbus's disposal. 
 
 The sailors of the town were terrified at the thought of such a 
 
 for the 
 voyage 
 
COLUMBUS SHOWS THE WAY 
 
 journey. Some hid themselves, and others ran away. At last 
 two brothers, wealthy shipowners, offered to go on the fearful 
 voyage, and also to furnish one vessel. 
 
 After this some sailors volunteered, others were forced to go, 
 and one morning in August the three small vessels, the Pinta, Columbus 
 the Niiia, and the Santa Maria, set out from Palos to cross the 
 unknoAvn ocean. The rudder of the Pinta broke, and a visit had 
 to be made to the Canary Islands to repair it. Then word came 
 that three Portuguese vessels 
 had been seen off the coast 
 waiting to capture Columbus. 
 That matter was easily ar- 
 ranged, for he slipped past them 
 directly out into the open ocean, 
 knowing well that no Portu- 
 guese ships would dare to fol- 
 low into the Sea of Darkness. 
 
 The farther they went, the 
 more frightened became the 
 Spanish sailors. They wept 
 and lamented, saying that never 
 agam should they see their 
 homes and their friends. Every- 
 thing alarmed them. The mast 
 of a vessel floated by, and this 
 they took as a sure sign that 
 they would be wrecked. They 
 saw a meteor, and they were 
 
 certain that it was a bad omen. The wind blew steadily from the 
 east, and the discouraged mariners wondered how they could ever 
 make theii' way home. They found themselves in the midst of 
 the great masses of seaweed that we call the Sargasso Sea, and 
 
 The fears of 
 the sailors 
 
 QUEEN ISABELLA 
 (After a picture in Madrid) 
 
8 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 THE SANTA JIAKIA 
 (Columbus's own ship) 
 
 then the sailors talked about quicksands and the dangers of run- 
 ning aground. The needle of the compass no longer pointed 
 directly to the north star. That was worst of all, for 
 they thought they had lost their way. They were 
 so angry with the admiral that they even 
 planned to throw him overboard. 
 
 Columbus was very patient with them. He 
 sounded many times to convince them that 
 there was plenty of water below the weeds 
 of the Sargasso Sea. He made up the best 
 explanation that he could of the needle's 
 failure to point to the north star, and he 
 told them of the wonderful countries that 
 they would soon see, the home of spices and 
 perfumes, of gold and jewels. He told them 
 how much land they would own and what 
 great lords they would become, and so day after day he led 
 them on. 
 
 Flocks of birds began to fly past, nearly all going to the south- 
 west, and the course of the sliips was changed to fol- 
 low their flight, in the hope that they were going to 
 Signs of land the land. Fresh-water weeds were seen and a 
 branch of thorn with berries on it. At last a 
 piece of wood was picked up that some one 
 had carved. Then the sailors were almost as 
 eager as their leader to find the unknown 
 country, and one after another began to de- 
 clare that he could see land, and to claim the 
 reward promised by Ferdinand and Isabella 
 to him who should first discover the farther shore. Columbus 
 increased the reward by the offer of a velvet doublet, but there 
 were so many of these false alarms that he declared no man 
 
 AN EARLY COMPASS 
 
COLUMBUS SHOWS THE WAY 
 
 9 
 
 who shouted "" Land ! " should receive the reward unless land was 
 [liscovered within three days after the time when it had been 
 announced. 
 
 It seems only right that the great discovery should have been 
 made by the admiral himself, and so it was, for one evening as he Land at last 
 stood gazing into the west, he was sure that he saw a light that 
 
 COLUMBUS'S ROUTE 
 (From Winsor's Columbus) 
 
 noved up and down as if some one was carrying a torch in his 
 iiand. Early the next morning, October 12, 1492, the land was 
 n full view. Columbus put on his rich scarlet robes, took the 
 foyal banner in his hand, and was rowed to the shore. What a 
 jhore it was! The water was clear as crystal, the sand was 
 iazzlingly white, there were strange trees and fruits, unknown 
 flowers, birds of most brilliant plumage, and, strangest of all, 
 ?reat numbers of copper-colored natives, who at first hid behind 
 3rees, but soon gathered around the Spaniards, gazing with rev- 
 erent curiosity upon their white skins, their steel armor, their 
 ^•Httering weapons, and especially upon the admiral in his scarlet 
 Iress. 
 
 The Spaniards knelt down and kissed the ground. They rose 
 md chanted the Te Deum. Then Columbus unfurled his banner Landing of 
 md formally claimed the land for Spain. He named the island Columbus 
 San Salvador, or Holy Saviour. It was one of the Bahamas, no 
 Dne knows which one, but many think that it was the one now 
 
10 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 THE LANDING OF COLUMBUS 
 (From Vanderlyn's painting in the Capitol at Washington) 
 
 The return 
 to Spain 
 
 knowTi as Watling's Island. The natives he called Indians, be- 
 cause he supposed that he was on the coast of India. He asked 
 the Indians where Cipango, or Japan, was, and they pointed to 
 the south, for they thought that he meant some mountains with 
 nearly the same name. They told him of " great water " to the 
 westward, and he supposed they meant the Indian Ocean. 
 
 The Indians had a tradition that some day white men would 
 come down from the skies to visit them. They were overjoyed 
 that the heavenly visitors, whom they thought the Spaniards to 
 be, had come in their time, and when Columbus asked some of 
 them to go to Spain with him, they were delighted. Such a recep- 
 tion as the successful voyager had when he returned to Spain I 
 There was a triumphal procession Avith soldiers and music and 
 banjiers and gorgeous robes to escort Columbus to the king and 
 
COLUMBUS SHOWS THE WAY 
 
 11 
 
 (lueen. He knelt before them, but Isabella begged him to rise 
 tind seat himself — a rare honor in the Spanish court — and tell 
 them all about his voyage and his discoveries. What a wonderful 
 tale it must have been ! 
 
 There is a story that at a dinner in honor of Columbus not long 
 [ifter tliis reception a jealous courtier asked hun: — 
 
 " If you had not sailed to the Indies, don't you suppose there 
 ire other men in Spain who would have made the voyage ? " 
 
 Instead of answering, Columbus held up an egg and asked if Columbus 
 Liny one present could make it stand on end. No one succeeded, 
 
 until he took the egg, broke the end slightly, and in that way was 
 able to make it stand. 
 
 " Any one could do that," muttered the envious courtier. 
 
 " Yes," said the admiral quietly, " after I have shown the way." 
 
 That was the work of Columbus, to " show the way." He made 
 three other voyages, visiting more of the Bahama 
 Islands and the West Indies, and sailing along 
 Central America, Panama, and the northern coast 
 of South America. He tried to govern a colony 
 of turbulent Spaniards in the New World, but 
 he failed, and his enemies reported such mali- 
 cious stories of him that a new governor was 
 appointed for the colony. He put the great admi- 
 ral in chains and sent liim back to Spain. The 
 captain of the vessel would gladly have removed 
 the fetters, but Columbus said : " No, the rulers 
 of Spain have put chains upon me, and they alone 
 shall take them off. So long as I live I will keep 
 these chains, and they shall be buried with me." 
 
 Ferdinand and Isabella were indignant at such 
 treatment of so great a man, and there was no 
 delay in striking off the chains. Y'et sovereigns 
 
 shows the 
 way 
 
 SOUTH AMERICAN 
 INDIAN, Har 
 
 (From the earliest 
 picture) 
 
12 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 and kingdom were alike disappointed. Columbus had crossed the 
 ocean, but he had discovered no gold; and although he was so 
 sure that the islands were off the coast of India 
 that he called them the Indies, no great oriental 
 cities had been found, and there seemed no reason 
 to expect any great wealth to come from the new 
 lands. He fell into loneliness and suffering. The 
 queen died, and he was friendless. Again the chil- 
 dren in the streets pointed their lingers at him, the 
 '"' admiral of the lands of deceit and disappohit- 
 ment," as they called him. He died neglected and 
 forgotten. Seven years after his death. King Fer- 
 dinand built him a handsome tomb, but it would 
 have been better to treat liim kindly when he was 
 ahve. 
 
 Columbus was a great man, neither because he 
 
 was the first. to sail across an unknown sea, nor 
 
 because he thought the world was round, for a 
 
 Why Colum- wise man named Aristotle believed that eighteen hundred years 
 
 before Columbus's time ; he was great because he knew what was 
 
 true, and was ready to risk his life for truth's sake. 
 
 ' 1 ■-atuj.,^ 
 
 COLUMBUS 
 
 (From the statue in Fairmounl 
 
 Park, Philadelphia) 
 
 bus was 
 great 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 Four hundred years ago most peojile thought the Atlantic could not be 
 crossed. 
 
 New difficulties in getting goods from the Indies made Europeans wish to 
 find a shorter route to Eastern Asia. 
 
 Columbus believed that ships could reach Asia by sailing west. 
 
 In vain he appealed for aid to Genoa and to Portugal. Finally, Queen Isa- 
 bella became interested in his plan, and by the aid of Spain he set out 
 on the voyage. 
 
 October 12, 1492, he landed on one of the Bahamas, but because he thought 
 he was off the coast of India, he named the islands the West Indies. 
 
EARLY FOLLOWERS OF COLUMBUS 13 
 
 5pain was disappointed that he found neither gold nor cities. Columbus 
 died not knowing that he had discovered a new continent. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 describe Columbus and Diego at the gate of La Rabida. 
 
 Jive the conversation between Columbus and the prior. 
 
 Vhat Avould a frightened sailor have said to Columbus to try to persuade 
 
 him to return ? 
 Vhat would Columbus have answered ? 
 
 II 
 
 THE EARLY FOLLOWERS OF COLUMBUS 
 
 Now that Columbus had shown the way, others were ready to Voyages of 
 ollow, and within fifty years Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, ^^^ Cabots 
 englishmen, and Frenchmen visited different 
 »arts of the land across the sea. 
 
 An Italian merchant named John 
 ;Jabot was living in England when 
 yolumbus made his first voyage. He 
 v^as eager to cross the ocean, for he 
 onged, as he tells us, "to attempt 
 ome notable thing," The English 
 dug was much interested, but he 
 Lid not care to spend the neces 
 ary money. Moreover, he was 
 rying to arrange a marriage 
 )etween his ten-year-old son and 
 he little daughter of Ferdinand 
 ,nd Isabella, and the Spanish am- 
 )assador told him there wovdd be bnuLibH ship ot ihk bixihtniH centurt 
 
14 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 North 
 
 America 
 
 discovered 
 
 CABOT DESCRIBING HIS VOYAGE TO THE ENGLISH KING 
 (From an old engraving) 
 
 trouble with Spain if he should send out explorers. After a while, 
 however, he gave John Cabot the royal permission to cross the 
 ocean on condition that he received one fifth of the profits of the 
 enterprise. In 1497, just before Columbus went on his third voy- 
 age, John Cabot set sail. He is thought to have steered almost 
 directly west and to have been the first European to have a 
 glimpse of Xorth America, though whether he sighted land first at 
 Labrador, at Newfoundland, or at Cape Breton, no one can tell. 
 
 When he came home he was received in England with as much 
 rejoicing as Spain had made over Columbus. An Italian who was 
 living in England wrote to his friends in Italy, " Honors are 
 heaped upon Cabot, he is called Grand Admiral, he is dressed in 
 silk, and the English run after him like mad men." 
 
EARLY FOLLOWERS OF COLUMBUS 
 
 15 
 
 The next year Cabot and his son made another voyage and 
 cruised along the coast perhaps as far as South Carolina. These 
 explorations were mteresting, l)ut no cities were found and no 
 new opportunities for trade opened. England was disappointed, 
 and sent out no more expeditions for nearly eighty years. 
 
 The land across the sea was not forgotten, however. Another 
 Italian named Americus Vespucius sailed as a pilot, first in the Why our 
 service of Spain and then in that of Portugal. " What a thing nameZ *^ 
 it is to seek unkno^vn lands ! " he said. He followed down the America 
 eastern coast of South 
 America, and finally 
 went a long way east 
 of Cape Horn. When 
 he came home and told , 
 where he had been, 
 there was much ex- 
 citement. More than 
 fifteen hundred years 
 before this time a Span- 
 ish geographer had 
 taught that south of 
 Asia and Africa was a 
 great body of land. 
 People thought that 
 
 Columbus had found India, and now that Vespucius had discov- 
 ered a wide extent of country so far south of where Columbus had 
 been, they thought it must be this southern continent which no one 
 had visited, though most people believed it existed. In a little 
 oook on geography written soon after Vespucius's voyage it was 
 suggested that this land should be named for him. That is why 
 our country is named America ; but Columbus is not forgotten, 
 for in our songs it is almost always called Columbia. 
 
 THE IDEA OF A SOUTHERN CONTINENT 
 BEFORE VESPUCIUS'S TIME 
 
16 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Ponce de 
 Leon seeks 
 the Fountain 
 of Youth 
 
 Twelve years after the voyage of Vespucius, there was another 
 exi>edition, the story of whicli seems like a fairy-tale. It was led 
 by a wealthy Spanish nobleman named l*once de Leon, who had 
 been with Columbus on one of his voyages. Ilis 
 hair was growing white, and he longed to be a 
 young man again. There was an old story that 
 somewhere in Asia was a magical fountain whose 
 waters would make an old man young. 80 many 
 things were new and strange and mysterious in 
 tliose days that this seemed no more imp()ssil)le 
 than anything else ; and A\ht'n De Leon heard Spanish helmet 
 that the Indians declared there was such a fountain in their 
 land, he could not rest till he had tried to And it. 
 
 He had been living in Porto Rico as governor, and therefore the 
 Discovery of voyage to the mainland was a short one. lie landed on the coast 
 of Florida on Easter Sunday, and as the Spanish word for Easter 
 is " l*ascua Florida," or FloAvery Easter, he gave the name of 
 Florida to the new land. It -was a beautiful country, full of bright 
 green trees, and flowers of many colors. There were rivers and 
 lakes and springs. " Surely among all these," thought De Leon, 
 "we shall find the Fountain of Youth." However, though he 
 drank the water now of one and now of another, and hoped 
 at each draught that he would feel himself becoming stronger 
 and younger, nowhere did he find the magical fountain. Instead 
 of growing young in Florida, it was there that he met 
 his death, for the Spaniards had treated 
 the Indians so ))adly that they hated the 
 white people whose coming with Columbus 
 had been so welcome, and on De Leon's 
 second visit he died by an Indian arrow. 
 
 The year 1519 had come. Many different voyagers had sailed 
 to America. They had landed on islands, or had explored the 
 
 PISTOL OF 
 DE LEONS TIME 
 
EARLY FOLLOWERS OF COLUMBUS 
 
 17 
 
 oast for a little way, but few realized that a vast new continent 
 ly west of the Atlantic. Most people thought all this expanse of 
 md was connected with southeastern Asia, and that to the west 
 f it lay the cities with which Europe had traded. They hoped 
 tiere was some passage through this land which would give thein 
 short route to India. One man who was especially interested Magellan's 
 
 He was a warm- 
 
 idea of a 
 
 1 this idea was a Portuguese named Magellan, ^^v. „^^ .. „^.^- passage to 
 earted man, and it is quite possible that one reason why he India 
 dshed to cross the seas was because a dear friend of his was in 
 lie eastern Indies. 
 
 The king of Portugal refused to have anything to do with the 
 xpedition. Then Magellan asked, " Have I your 
 lajesty's permission to offer my services to some 
 ther monarch?" The king replied shortly, "Do 
 s you please," and would not allow Magellan to 
 iss his hand at parting. 
 
 Magellan did not wish to give up the 
 
 oyage, and he sailed in the service of 
 
 pain, though Spain and Portugal were 
 
 ot on the best of terms. He had five 
 
 liips, and the brother of his friend was 
 
 aptain of one of them. He went to the 
 
 astern coast of South America, and when 
 
 e came to the La Plata River, he felt al- 
 
 lost sure that this was the passage that 
 
 very one was hoping to find. He explored 
 
 tie stream for three hundred miles, but it 
 
 rew narrower and the water grew fresher. There was nothing He sails in 
 
 the service 
 3 do but to go back to the coast and try to find some other pas- qj Spain 
 
 age. He sailed to the south, keeping near the shore. There 
 
 rere fearful storms that ' strained and weakened the ships, no 
 
 ne knew what dangers were before them, and they were short 
 
 MAGELLAN 
 
18 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 He enters 
 the Pacific 
 Ocean 
 
 Across the 
 Pacific 
 
 of food. " Let us go home," pleaded the sailors. " Our ships are 
 weak, and we shall either be wrecked or else die of starvation." 
 " Never," answered the commander, " I will go on if I have to eat 
 the leather from the ship's yards." 
 
 On he went. The sailors rebehed. " He is only a foreigner," 
 said they, " and what better service could he render to the kmg of 
 Portugal than to lead a company of Spaniards to certain death?" 
 They even seized some of the ships, but ^lagellan found a way to 
 
 ROUTK OF MACELI.AS'S SHIPS 
 
 suppress the mutiny, and sailed on until he came to the strait 
 that bears his name. Through the strait he Avent, and behold, 
 a wide ocean stretched out before him ! This ocean seemed so 
 calm and peaceful after all the storms that he had been through 
 that he named it the Pacific. It is said that when he saw the 
 quiet water, he was "so glad thereof that for joy the tears fell 
 from his eyes." 
 
 The sailors were in despair, l)ut it A\'ould do no good to rebel, 
 for tliey were so far from vSpain tliat there was not nearly enough 
 food to last for a return voyage. The only course was to press on 
 in the hope that aid would be found somewhere in the wide ocean. 
 It was long before the help came, and they suffered so severely 
 from hunger that they actually did eat "the pieces of leather 
 
EARLY FOLLOWERS OF COLUMBUS 
 
 19 
 
 First voyage 
 around the 
 world 
 
 NATIVES 01 AI\OELLAN'S STRAITS 
 
 ^hich were folded about certain great ropes of the ship." At last 
 ley came to a group of islands where they could indeed buy 
 3me food, but the natives 
 roved to be so dishonest that 
 16 Spaniards called them 
 Ladrones," or thieves, and 
 he name has clung to the 
 diole group of islands. 
 
 Soon Magellan reached the 
 "hilippines, and there he was 
 illed in a fight with the na- 
 ives, but not before he had 
 let ships coming from the 
 .^est, and knew that his ves- 
 els could make the rest of the 
 3urney home through well-known waters. One of them did 
 liis, and in 1522 the first voyage around the world was com- 
 leted. 
 
 The name, New World, had often been used, but until this voy~ 
 ge of Magellan's was made, few thought that this New World The New 
 '^as a great double continent. Some supposed that what we call 
 rorth America was probably a group of islands, and that some- 
 'liere among these islands there was a passage through which 
 liips might sail to Japan without going as far south as Magellan 
 ad done. They spoke of this strait which they hoped to find as 
 lie " Northwest Passage," and one man after an- 
 ther went out hopefully in search of it. How 
 iscouraged these bold navigators would have 
 een if they had known that no such passage 
 .^ould be found until the middle of the nineteenth century, and 
 hat even then it would prove to be so far north as to have little 
 ractical value ! 
 
 PHILIPPINE CANOE 
 
20 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 In all these early voyages whoever landed on an unknown shore 
 
 unfurled his banner and claimed the land for the sovereign in 
 
 France is \\iiose service he had sailed. France began to feel that it was 
 
 the^New '" ^^'"*^ ^^^' ^^^^' ^^ have a share in these new countries, for even if 
 
 World there were no rich cities with which she could trade, there might 
 
 be gold mines and precious stones. There is a tradition that the 
 
 French King said : " Show me Father Adam's will that gives the 
 
 earth to Spain and Portugal and shuts out France." 
 
 Spanish voyagers had gone to South America and Mexico, and 
 
 from those countries gold 
 was pouring into Spain ; 
 but if the Xorthwest Pas- 
 sage could be discovered, 
 the nation that controlled 
 it need not envy Spain 
 her wealth, for trade 
 with the Indies would 
 be as valuable as a gold 
 mine. In 1584 a French- 
 man named Jacques Car- 
 tier went in search of 
 the passage. lie seems to 
 have thought that there 
 was a better chance of 
 finding it farther nortli, 
 for he sailed directly west 
 to Newfoundland, which 
 the Cabots had probably 
 first visited. He went 
 into a beautiful bay, but it was so warm that IVe could think of 
 no better name to give it than Bale des Chaleurs (Chaleur Bay), 
 or the bay of heat. In the usual fashion of the early explorers, 
 
 Jacques 
 Cartier 
 
 A MEXICAN INDIAN 
 
EARLY FOLLOWERS OF COLUMBUS 
 
 21 
 
 claimed the land for his king and set up a great wooden cross, 
 e natives had received him kindly, but when the cross was set 
 , the chief spoke as well as he could by signs and said : " Tliis 
 ny country, not yours. I am its king, not you." This made 
 difference to Cartier, for it never entered the 
 ads of these voyagers that the Indians had 
 J rights. He did not care to have trouble, 
 svever, and he thought it was quite unneces- 
 y to tell the truth to an Indian, so he 
 d: "That is nothing. The cross is 
 y a beacon to show sailors the way 
 your country." 
 
 iVhen once in the Saint Lawrence, 
 rtier hoped that he had found the 
 rthwest Passage, but just as it 
 i been with Magellan in the La 
 ita, so it was here, for the stream 
 !W narrower and the water fresher 
 ! farther they went. At last they 
 i to admit that this was not the 
 ssage so long desired. Cartier went 
 however, to an island in the river 
 ere Montreal now stands. Here was 
 ittle Indian village. Back of it was a high hill, and the view 
 m this hill was so beautiful that he named it Mont Real, or the 
 '■al mountain. To the river itself he gave the name Saint Law- 
 ice, because he had discovered it on Saint Lawrence's Day. 
 k few years later another great river, the Mississippi, was 
 ited. This discovery was made by De Soto, the Spanish gov- 
 lor of Cuba. He set out with a thousand men in nine shins. 
 I carried with him cattle, mules, horses, and also fierce blood- 
 iinds which were sometimes used to hunt the natives. It is 
 
 French 
 claim in 
 America 
 established 
 
 JACQUES CARTIER 
 
 The Saint 
 
 Lawrence 
 explored 
 
 De Soto's 
 expedition 
 
22 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The Missis- 
 sippi River 
 discovered 
 
 DE SOTO REACHINC THE MISSISSIPPI 
 (from Powell's picture in the Capitol at Washington) 
 
 no wonder that the Indians who had welcomed the Spaniards so 
 warmly became as savage as the invaders, and tortured every 
 Spaniard that fell into their hands. 
 
 De Soto had been told that if he went to the westward he would 
 find a land rich in gold, so to the west he made his way. He came 
 to the Mississippi River in 1541, but he found no gold. The In- 
 dians had become bitter enemies, two thirds of his thousand men 
 had died in the wilderness, and he decided to build two boats, 
 float down the river to the Gulf of Mexico, and then push on to 
 Cuba. Before the boats could be made, De Soto died. He was 
 so hated by the Indians that, for fear they should insult his grave, 
 his followers hollowed out the trunk of an oak and buried their 
 dead leader at midnight in the waters of the mighty stream that 
 he had discovered. 
 
EARLY FOLLOWERS OF COLUMBUS 23 
 
 Nearly fifty years had passed since the first voyage of Columbus. 
 Spain, England, Portugal, and France had all sent out explorers. Explorations 
 riie general course of the Spaniards and the Portuguese had been nations'*^"* 
 bo lands around the Gulf of Mexico and to the south of it. The 
 English had sailed to Newfoundland and Labrador. The French 
 liad explored the Saint Lawrence. Both English and French had 
 3xplored part of the eastern coast of North America* 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 Within fifty years after the voyage of Columbus : — 
 
 The Cabots visited the mainland of America. 
 
 Vespucius coasted along South America. 
 
 De Leon went to Florida. 
 
 Magellan's ship sailed around the world. 
 
 Cartier explored the Saint Lawrence. 
 
 De Soto discovered the Mississippi, 
 rhese voyages, together with that of Columbus, gave Spain, France, and 
 
 England claims to land in North America, 
 riiey proved : — ' 
 
 That the world was round. 
 
 That it was much larger than had been supposed. 
 
 That a continent lay between Europe and Asia. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 Write a conversation between two persons about the New World. 
 Describe Cartier's planting the cross at Chaleur Bay. 
 Describe the burial of De Soto. 
 
24 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 III 
 THE EARLY ATTEMPTS TO MAKE SETTLEMENTS 
 
 Claims of 
 France, Eng- 
 land, and 
 Spain 
 
 As has been said, it was 
 the custom for each ex- 
 plorer to take possession 
 for his king of whatever 
 land he visited. This is 
 why the F'rench claimed 
 the country about the 
 Saint Lawrence, the Eng- 
 lish claimed all between 
 INIame and Florida, and 
 the Spanish claimed Flor- 
 ida, Mexico, the West In- 
 dies, and South America. 
 There were no bounda- 
 ries between these terri- 
 tories, no one knew how 
 far west the continent extended, and each sovereign had a vague 
 idea that he had a right to all the land that was connected with 
 the place where his explorer was the first to land. 
 
 Fifty years after Columbus's death neither Spain, France, nor 
 England had settled on the mahiland of what is now the United 
 States. Different explorers had tried to found colonies, and even 
 on Columbus's first voyage some of his followers were so de- 
 lighted with the new country that they persuaded him to allow 
 them to remain there w hen he sailed for home. This colony failed. 
 
 OLD SPANISH GATEWAY AT ST. AUdUSTINE 
 
ATTEMPTS TO MAKE SETTLEMENTS 
 
 25 
 
 however, and so did all the others. The cliief reason was that the Why the 
 colonists had no thought of making their homes in the New ntes^failed 
 World. What they wanted was to fill their pockets with gold or 
 pearls or diamonds and then go back 
 to Europe to spend their money. 
 
 Filled with this idea, they paid little 
 attention to the character of the region 
 to which they were going. What the 
 soil was, and whether it was a good 
 place for a home, made little differ- 
 ence to them. So much treasure had 
 been found in America that men were 
 ready to believe that anything was of 
 value if it only came from across the 
 ocean. The caterpillars of Florida 
 they took for remarkably fine silk- 
 worms. Quartz crystals from near 
 Quebec they felt sure were diamonds, 
 and when a sea-captain carried home a black stone from the frozen 
 lands north of North America, he was immediately sent back across 
 the ocean for a cargo of black stones, for the wise men of Lon- 
 don declared that the specimen was full of gold. To colonists 
 with such ideas as these, it seemed absurd to 
 waste their time planting corn, when by 
 a little searching they could per- 
 haps discover a gold mine. This 
 is the chief reason why during the First perm a- 
 second fifty years after Columbus m^e^ntsTn^^' 
 discovered America only two per- the United 
 manent settlements were made in 
 what is now the United States. One was at Saint Augustine, in 
 Florida, which the Spanish founded in 1565. The other, also 
 Spanish, was at Santa Fe in New Mexico. 
 
 SPANIhll TREASURE SEEKER 
 (Showing the soldier's cuirass and halberd) 
 
 A SILKWORM 
 
 States 
 
26 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Sir Walter 
 Raleigh 
 
 Of the colonies that failed one was unlike the others. This 
 was founded by Sir Walter Raleigh, the best known Englishman 
 of his time. He was an admirable leader and a brave soldier, as 
 well as the author of some very good poetry and an interesting 
 history of the world. Whatever he undertook he did well, and 
 he always seemed to know just what to do. There is a story 
 that on6 day Queen Elizabeth wished to cross a piece of damp 
 ground. The attendants did not know how to save her Majesty 
 from settmg her royal foot in the mud, but, quick as thought, Sir 
 Walter spread his rich velvet mantle on the ground before her, 
 and the queen passed over safely. Whether this is true or not, 
 the warrior poet was a successful courtier, and Elizabeth was 
 inclined to grant whatever he asked. 
 
 He was greatly interested in the New World, and he had some 
 
 Its 
 
 ;i 
 
 M 
 
 L ^ >% .^_ i 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 ^■j^HS^H 
 
 m 
 
 BIUTHPLACR OF SIR WALTKK KAl.KKill AT HAYES IN DKVONSIMKE 
 
 ideas that were unlike those of most men of his time. Others 
 had thought that the chief value of America lay in the gold mines 
 that might be found there; Raleigh believed that if colonists 
 would form real settlements and cultivate the ground, their sow- 
 ing and reaping would be worth more than the vague chance of 
 
ATTEMPTS TO MAKE SETTLEMENTS 
 
 27 
 
 discovering a mine. Most men thought that if the Northwest Raleigh's 
 Passage could be found, Europe would become enormously rich about ^^ 
 from trade with Asia. Raleigh dreamed of America's becoming America 
 a second home of the Eiighsh nation. " And when the land is 
 fuU of English towns," he 
 thought, " what need will there 
 be of trading with Asia ? Will 
 not this American England give 
 us a market for our manufac- 
 tures?" 
 
 Raleigh was a rich man, and 
 he straightway sent out two 
 ships to explore the coast of 
 America. The next thing to 
 do was to mterest Queen Eliz- 
 abeth in the plan. A man 
 named Richard Hakluyt knew 
 more about America tlian any 
 one else, and Raleigh asked him 
 to write a book for her, telling 
 why it would be a good thmg 
 for England to have colonies in 
 
 the New World. Hakluyt gave queen Elizabeth 
 
 many reasons. He brought for- '^'""^ " ^"'*'"'* "" "^^ ^"^^" '^'^*°"" ^°"''"°"' 
 ward the hope that America would become a market for Eng- 
 lish manufactures. He declared that England w^ould soon have 
 neither food nor work for her people. It was becoming so much 
 more profitable to raise sheep than grain that large numbers of 
 English farmers were turning their farms into sheep pastures. 
 They no longer planted grain, and as one man could care for 
 many sheep, the men who had been working on farms had nothing 
 to do. It is no wonder that many people agreed with Hakluyt. 
 
 Reasons 
 for planting 
 colonies 
 
28 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Objections 
 to planting 
 colonies 
 
 QUEEN ELIZABETH'S COACH 
 
 Another strong reason was that England could weaken Spain by 
 having colonies m America. English vessels, he said, could easily 
 
 forth from these colonies and cap- 
 re Spanish treasure ships, as well 
 drive the Spaniards from the 
 ewfoimdland fishing gromids. 
 Spain would no longer receive 
 the vast amounts of gold 
 that had been coming to 
 her from her American pos- 
 sessions. "Then is there no 
 doubt," said Hakluyt, " but the Spanish empire falls to the ground, 
 and the Spanish king shall be left bare as ^sop's proud crow." 
 
 Elizabeth was much mterested in the plan, and on the return 
 of Raleigh's exploring vessels suggested that the land which they 
 had visited should be called Virginia in honor 
 of her, their virgin queen. When she was asked 
 to send out a colony, it was a different matter. 
 No doubt it would be a good thing to have 
 powerful settlements in America from which 
 vessels could be sent out to capture Spanish 
 ships, but it would be some years before 
 these settlements would be strong enough 
 to do anything of the kind, and in the 
 mean time England needed all her 
 money and all her ships to meet an 
 attack that was threatened by Spain. 
 
 Finally Raleigh sent out more than one 
 hundred emigrants at his own expense. The 
 queen had granted him a generous tract of land, for " \^irginia " 
 was to extend from Cape Fear to Halifax, and she had promised 
 that American colonists should have all the privileges of men born 
 
ATTEMPTS TO MAKE SETTLEMENTS 
 
 29 
 
 and living in England, and tliat they should make such laws as 
 they thought best. England claimed this vast area of land because 
 of the discoveries of the Cabots. Elizabeth said that Spanish 
 claims were nothing where Spain had no settlements, and as for 
 
 have, no one thought 
 went to Roanoke Is- Raleigh's 
 It failed utterly, '^^^^"y ^""" 
 was delayed. 
 
 any rights that the Indians might 
 of them at aU. In 1585 the colony 
 land, ofl: the coast of North Carolina. 
 The promised ship with provisions 
 the men were homesick, they pre- 
 ferred to search for gold rather than 
 to work, and the governor de- 
 clared that they talked too 
 nmch ! An English vessel 
 came to the island, and 
 they all went home. They 
 carried with them pota- 
 toes and tobacco, and from 
 that day to this, as has 
 been said, " the air of Eng- 
 land has never been free 
 from tobacco smoke." 
 
 Two years later Ra- 
 leigh sent out a second 
 colony to the same 
 place, this time of men, wo- 
 men, and children. Not Spanish tkeasuki; .siur.s 
 long after they landed, there was born to the governor's daughter His second 
 a little girl, who was the first child born in America of EngUsh ^^ °^^ 
 parents. She was named Virginia Dare. No one knows what 
 became of this little American girl, for the governor had to return 
 to England ; and when three years later he was able to go back 
 to the colony, the little granddaughter and all the other colonists 
 
30 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 had disappeared. There is a tradition that some Indians were at 
 first kind to them, but afterwards murdered nearly all. It was 
 rumored that one young girl was among the few that the savages 
 spared, but whether it was the child Virgmia, no one can telL 
 lialeigh had not forgotten the colonists during those three 
 
 SPANISH ARMADA ATTACKED UY THE ENGLISH FLEET 
 (From an ancient tapestry in the House of Lords) 
 
 Why Raleigh years. He tried to send a vessel to them, but it was driven back 
 the "olon^st's ^^ ^^'^^^ ^^ ^^^ Spaniards. He tried again, but the English govern- 
 ment had need of every ship in the kingdom, and his vessel was 
 seized for the service of his country. This was in the famous 
 year 1588. Spain was determined to conquer England, and she 
 had fitted out a great fleet of warships. The Si)anish word for 
 fleet is "armada," and Spain was so sure that no other vessels 
 could resist her onslaught that she called the fleet the Invincible 
 Armada. This attack was not for money or possessions ; the king 
 of Spain meant to become also king of England. The whole land 
 was aroused. Every one who owned a vessel went out to fight 
 the Armada, and the end of the matter was that the Spanish 
 ships were so shattered by the English attacks and by storms 
 that not more than one half ever returned to Spain. 
 
ATTEMPTS TO MAKE SETTLEMENTS 
 
 31 
 
 mistress 
 seas 
 
 Before this time England had always been afraid of contests 
 with the Spaniards, for Spain was a rich and powerful country. 
 English vessels were so often captured by Spanish men-of-war 
 that even if English colonies had been planted in America, the 
 colonists could not have been sure of receiving food and supphes 
 from England ; but after the victory over the Armada, England England is 
 was " mistress of the seas " and could plant her colonies where qj "^'g 
 she would. Spain was thoroughly subdued and seldom ventured 
 to interfere. 
 
 This contest took place while Queen Elizabeth lived ; but when 
 she died, King James, the next sovereign, seemed to care for 
 nothing else so much as winning the friendship of Spain. Now 
 Spain hated Raleigh, not only because he had fought against the 
 Armada, but because he had tried to plant a colony 
 and to find a gold mine on what she claimed was 
 Spanish soil; and to please Spain this great man 
 was kept in prison for twelve years, and 
 finally executed on a false charge of trea- 
 son. Prisoner as he was, he never gave 
 up his interest in America. " I shall live 
 to see Virginia an English nation," he said, and he 
 did see the beginning of a new home for part of 
 the English people across the ocean. If he could 
 look upon America now, he would think that his 
 dream had come true, though it would surprise 
 Mm greatly that the colonies planted by English- 
 men were no longer under English rule. Amer- 
 icans should never forget Sir Walter Raleigh, for 
 he was one of the first men in the world to be- 
 lieve in the wonderful future that lay before our land. 
 
 In 1600 America had been known for one century. People 
 had by that time a fair idea of the shape of South America, but, 
 
 SPANISH GENTLEMAN OF 
 THE AlUIADA PERIOD 
 
32 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Ideas about although explorers had coasted along the eastern shores of North 
 mer- ^jjjgj.j(.r(^^ ^^j^^ q^^q along the western shores as far as what is now 
 
 ica in 1600 
 
 Search for 
 the North- 
 west Pas- 
 sage 
 
 SKKKIX(! TlIK NoKlHWEST l'AS8A(;E 
 (The Hudson Kiver explored during the search) 
 
 called Oregon, no one 
 had any notion of the 
 shape or size of the 
 northern half of the 
 New World. From 
 Florida to where New 
 York now stands might 
 be a solid mass of land, 
 they thought, extend- 
 ing to California, but 
 
 Canada and all the northwestern part of what is now the United 
 
 States many supposed to be one great sea broken by islands. 
 
 From Virginia across the land to this vast northern ocean they 
 
 tliought was perhaps one hundred miles. 
 
 Explorers hoped to find a strait throuuli this hnul, and when- 
 ever a mariner came to the A\idc 
 
 mouth of a river, he would say to 
 
 himself, "Surely I am the fortunate 
 
 man who has discovered the North- 
 west Passage." If he sailed up the 
 
 river, he found the water less salt 
 
 with every mile, and at last he would 
 
 turn his ships about and sail back, 
 
 saying, "The Northwest Passage 
 
 must lie farther north, or it may be 
 
 farther south." Never would he say 
 
 to himself, "There is no Northwest 
 
 Passage." 
 
 Although Raleigh saw farther into sassakhas 
 
 the futm-e of America than most other men, he was not the only 
 
ATTEMPTS TO MAKE SETTLEMENTS 33 
 
 one interested in tlie New World. Valuable woods and dyestuifs Increased 
 had been found; sassafras had been discovered, and sassafras was ^^Q ^^^ 
 the fashionable medicine of the day, the remedy that would cure World 
 all diseases. Merchants began to feel that there were as good 
 opportunities for gain in America as elsewhere in the world. 
 
 Other books than Hakluyt's were written to show that it was 
 worth while to plant colonies. One strong reason for making 
 settlements in America was that by founding colonies England 
 might have a larger share in the American 
 fisheries. Great quantities of fish were 
 caught off the shores of Newfoundland. 
 Many more Frenchmen than Englishmen 
 had taken advantage of this fact ; but if 
 only there were colonies near the fishing codfish 
 
 grounds, the English fishermen could be (The most important of the American fishes) 
 
 protected from their enemies, and the colonists could salt and 
 dry fish and have it ready to send home to England. 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 France, England, and Spain all claimed a share in the New World, but in 
 1600 there were only two permanent colonies, — Saint Augustine in 
 Florida, and Santa Fe in New Mexico. Both were Spanish. 
 
 Raleigh believed that America would become a second home of the English 
 nation. He planted two colonies on Roanoke Island, but both failed. 
 
 England's defeat of the Armada enabled her to plant colonies without fear 
 of Spain. 
 
 Ill 1600 the shape of North America was unknown. The continent was 
 thought to be much narrower than it is. It was also believed that a 
 passage led through it to the Pacific. 
 
 England was feeling interested in the Newfoundland fisheries, and mer- 
 chants were finding that there were opportunities for gain in the New 
 World. 
 
34 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 Raleigh writes a letter to Queen Elizabeth, asking for help to found a colony. 
 One of Raleigh's colonists writes a letter home describing tlie potato. 
 What became of little Virginia Dare ? 
 What Raleigh would think of America to-day. 
 
 IV 
 
 THE INDIANS AND THEIR WAYS 
 
 The differ- 
 ent Indian 
 tribes 
 
 ''#?^?4:?^: 
 
 Fon many centuries be- 
 fore Colmnbiis came to 
 .\merica the country was 
 inhabited by a copper- 
 colored people whom he 
 called Indians, because he 
 supposed that he was on 
 the coast of India. There 
 were many different 
 tribes, and each tribe had 
 a name, but for their race 
 J as a whole they had no 
 other name than a word 
 meaning "Men," or "Real 
 Men." 
 
 The Indians of the 
 nortliwest never had any 
 settled homes, but roamed about from place to place and lived 
 on fish and game. Those of the southwest lived in fortresses of 
 stone, often built four or five stories high up the face of a cliff, and 
 
 INDIAN liWELiJNU i -> iiu. .-<m m 
 
 (The Pueblo of Wolpi in Arizona) 
 
THE INDIANS AND THEIR WAYS 
 
 35 
 
 each of them large enough to make a dwelling for two or three 
 thousand persons. Those of the east, the ones with whom the 
 early English colonists had most to do, gathered into villages. 
 They lived partly by the chase, and partly on 
 some of the vegetables that are most easily 
 raised, — corn, beans, pumpkins, and squashes. 
 The Indians who dwelt in villages some- 
 times built long houses large enough for Long houses 
 
 many families, with a division for each family. ^"'^ ^'S- 
 
 •^ warns 
 
 Sometimes they made wigwams. For these 
 they drove poles into the ground in a circle 
 and fastened the tops together for a frame- 
 work. Then they spread over this 
 framework the bark of trees, or 
 skins fastened together with the 
 sinews of animals. Sometimes, like the 
 people who hved in England in the early 
 days, they wove slender twigs back and forth among the 
 poles. The fire was on the ground in the middle of the wig- 
 wam, and the smoke made its way out as best it could. 
 
 Each family had its own wigwam. The husband, or brave, 
 must protect his wife and children from their foes, and he 
 must procure whatever meat and fish were used. The wife, 
 or squaw, must provide the vegetables. She must not only 
 cook them, but she must plant the seed and give them what- 
 ever care was needed while they were growing. A brave 
 would work to make bows and arrows, but he would not hoe 
 the corn. If his family moved, he would stalk on ahead with 
 his weapons, while his wife followed as best she could with the 
 household goods. 
 
 This seems at the first glance like a most unfair division of 
 labor, but it must be remembered that when the brave fished, he 
 
 SQUAW CARRYING A 
 PAPOOSE 
 
 The Indian 
 family 
 
36 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The brave had something more to do than to bait his hook and drop it into 
 the water. He must make his hook before he could bait it, and 
 he must make his line from the fibrous bark of some tree. If he 
 needed a pole, he must cut it, not with a sharp steel hatchet, but 
 with a dull stone knife, and he nmst also make the knife. His 
 boat was either a birch-bark canoe, or a " dug-out," which was 
 hollowed out of the trunk of a tree. Making a boat, as well as 
 almost all other work that the Indians did, was long, slow, and 
 wearisome. 
 The household goods of the Indians were few. There was per- 
 
 haps a basket or two, some skins to sleep on, a l)owl made of clay 
 hardened in the fire, and not much else. If there was a baby, oi 
 The papoose papoose, in the household, it was not allowed to lie on the ground 
 or creep about as white babies do. An Indian mother would 
 have thought it very careless to treat her precious child in such 
 a fashion. The Indian baby was carefully wrapped in the softest 
 of skins and tied to a franiework of wicker or wood. Then bal)y 
 and framework were stood up in any safe place, or swimg to the 
 
THE INDIANS AND THEIR WAYS 
 
 37 
 
 branch of a tree, where the wind would rock the child better than 
 
 a cradle, and the bright green leaves, gleammg in the sunshine • 
 
 and waving in the breeze, were prettier playthings than 
 
 any that are found in the toyshops. The Indians of 
 
 to-day who have not adopted the ways of the white 
 
 people treat their children in the same manner, and 
 
 the babies always look contented and happy. 
 
 When the children grew older, the girls were 
 taught to do all the kinds of work that their 
 mothers did. They learned to make baskets and 
 pottery, to plant corn and cultivate it, and to cook in the 
 clay bowls. If they had only dishes of wood, they would fill 
 them with water and heat the water by dropping in hot stones. 
 In this way they could boil their meat and vegetables : or they 
 could broil the meat over the open fire and 
 roast the potatoes and squaches in the hot 
 ashes. They had no way of grinding corq, 
 but they pounded it into a coarse meal, 
 mixed it with water, and made cakes of it. 
 Making the clothes of the family did not re- 
 quire much time, for no one wore very many. Indian 
 A rudely woven garment of cotton or grass- '^^^^^'"S 
 cloth was enough for the summer, while 
 leggings of skin and a fur cloak were a 
 ^^// ^L^-iii^<i''^ ^\'L^ wardrobe for many winters. The Indian 
 "^^^ ^5- - ,^A\i^^^ women liked pretty things as well as white 
 women do, and they gave a great deal 
 of attention to the shoes of the family. 
 These shoes were called moccasins. They were made of soft, 
 thick deerskin, and were embroidered with porcupine quills and 
 tiny shells. It was partly because of this embroidery that the 
 Indians were so delighted when the colonists gave them beads, 
 
 TIIK INDIAN 
 BABY'S CRADLE 
 
 BOILING FOOD IN AN 
 EARTHEN POT 
 
38 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 for heads were easier to use than shells and of nnich more bril- 
 liant colors. 
 Weapons As the boys grew older, they were taught to do what their 
 
 fathers did. They learned not only to fish and shoot, 
 but to make their own fisliliooks of bits of T^one, and 
 their own bows of wood with the sinews of deer for 
 bow-strings. Tlie heads of the arrows were made of 
 stone, and the Indian boy must work patiently hour 
 after hour, chipping off a Uttle l)it of stone at each 
 blow, until he had brought the head to the proper 
 shape. Then it was bound fast to the wooden arrow. 
 He must make his knife by rubbing a bone on a rock 
 until it had an edge. The tomahawk was made of 
 stone, and that, too, was shaped and sharpened by 
 being rubbed on a rock until it slowly came to be of 
 the right form. 
 
 The Indian boys did not have an easy time by any 
 means. Even their games were not what we should 
 call play, for many of them were only tests to 
 see who could endure most. It is said that 
 one g-ame was played by the boys putting red- 
 hot coals under their arms. The boy who 
 dropped his coal first was laughed at and de- 
 tuDiAN wKAi'ONs gpiggj]^ wliilc tlic ouc wlio borc the pain long- 
 est was the hero of the day and was honored by the 
 boys and by their fathers. 
 
 As soon as the boy was old enough to become a war- fishhooks 
 
 The scalp- rior, his head was shaved, except for one long lock of 
 
 ^°^^ hair called the scalp-lock. When an Indian killed an enemy, he 
 
 always " scalped " him, that is, he cut off a round ])iece of the 
 
 skin of the scalp. This lock was left to make it convenient to 
 
 cut off the piece of skin and carry it away. An Indian would 
 
THE INDIANS AND THEIR WAYS 
 
 have thought it exceedmgly cowardly to remove his scalp-lock 
 before going to fight, and when he looked upon an enemy's, it 
 seemed to say, " Take me if you can." 
 
 Their fighting was carried on in quite a different fashion from 
 that of Europeans. The Indian had no idea of two lines of war- iVlethod of 
 riors facing each other and shooting till the men of one side had ' ^ 
 either fallen or run away. That would have seemed to him a 
 most ridiculous thing to do. The proper way to 
 fight, according to his ideas, was to shoot from 
 behind rocks and trees, or to come suddenly 
 upon his enemies with a horrible war-whoop, 
 perha])s m the middle of the night, and kill 
 them befoje they were fairly awake. 
 
 The Indians often tortured their prisoners, 
 but perhaps not wholly from the fiendish 
 delight, that some races have shown, in see- 
 ing the sufferings of others. To bear torture 
 without a groan was their test of a great man. 
 If the prisoner contrived to get the better of his captors by some 
 deed of bravery, they showed him all honor. Only a few years 
 ago, a young missionary won over a group of Indians in Dakota 
 by riding a " bucking " pony that they had not been able to man- 
 age. " After that," said he, " I could preach to them all day if I 
 chose, and they would listen to every word." 
 
 Each tribe had a chief, but all important questions were talked 
 over in a general council of the braves of the tribe. The records Wampum 
 of these councils were carefully kept, only the Indian way was 
 not by pen and paper, but by the use of small shells made into 
 beads and called wampum. Belts were made of this wampum, 
 and as shells of different colors were used, sometimes pictures of 
 men and animals were formed ; but even if there were no pictures, 
 the Indians could tell by the arrangement of the shells what had 
 
 AN INDIAN SCALP- 
 LOCK 
 
40 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 been done at a council, or what treaties had been made. This 
 vampum was not only a record, but the shells took the place 
 of money, and for some time even the colonists used them for 
 that purpose. After a while the Indians made their wampum of 
 beads, and a handful of beads was to a red man what 
 a handful of gold dollars is now to a white man. 
 With this in mind, the price paid for Rhode Island, 
 forty fathoms of wliite wamijum. does not seem so 
 ridiculously small. 
 
 The Indians thought that if they were brave 
 Religion warriors they would go to the "Happy Hunting 
 Grounds" when they died. That they might be 
 able to follow the chase in this world of happiness, 
 their weapons were usually buried with them, and 
 sometimes a dog was killed and laid at the feet of his dead 
 master. They are thought to have believed in one Great Spirit, 
 who was more powerful than all other gods, though they also 
 worshiped the sun. rain, wind, lightning, or anything else that could 
 help or harm them. They were honest and truthful with mem- 
 bers of their o^vn tribe, arid they had a great admiration for any 
 one among the wliites who kept his word witli them. Long after 
 
 the early colonial days, a 
 . -^ — _ ., man in Pennsylvania was 
 
 ^ ^^^v -'^^ INDIAN PIPE called among them He 
 
 \\ ''^ "^ that Tells the Truth ; " and even now the In- 
 j ^ £i' ^ ^. \ ^ans of Minnesota speak of the late Bishop 
 ( r ^ ^ AVliipple as " Straight Tongue," because he never 
 
 ' ^ broke his word to them. 
 
 In their dealings with the wlutes, they always remembered a 
 Treatment of kindness, though they never forgot to avenge an injury. Almost 
 bj'^the'^'^"^ all of the early explorers say that the Indians were at first gentle 
 whites and friendly. The wlutes looked down upon them as heathen. 
 
THE INDIANS AND THEIR WAYS 
 
 41 
 
 but it was often the Europeans that behaved like savages. Tlieir 
 treatment of the red men brought upon the colonists many of the 
 attacks that filled their lives with fear and suffering. If there 
 was any difficulty with the Indians, the whites would generally 
 stand by one another; and for this reason the Indians felt that 
 if one group of settlers had done them a wrong, they had a per- 
 fect right to avenge it on any other group. 
 
 Such were the people whom the early settlers in America had 
 to meet. If from the first coming of the dis- 
 coverers the red men had been treated with 
 kindness, taught and not despised, many a 
 story of suffering and bloodshed would have 
 been unwritten. To the Spanish founder of 
 Samt Augustine the Pope wrote: "Have a 
 care that you show not bad habits and vices 
 to the Indians, and so prevent them from be- 
 coming Christians." It is to be regretted that 
 this advice was not always followed. 
 
 The red men looked upon the first white 
 men that they saw as angels come do^vn 
 from the skies to counsel them and teach 
 them. It was a sad thing for them and for 
 the whole country that their first century of acquaintance with 
 Europeans should have often shown them the white man, not as 
 the kind teacher, but as the savage conqueror, ready for the sake 
 of gold to torture, enslave, and murder the people who had wel- 
 comed him and trusted him. 
 
 ■^^^ 
 
 
 THE WARinOK'S WAR DANCK 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 Columbus called the natives of America Indians, because he thought he 
 
 was on the coast of India. 
 The Indians that had settled homes lived in stone fortresses, in long houses, 
 
42 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 or in wigwams. Their food was vegetables, fisli, or tlie animals that 
 they shot. Their tools and weapons were made of stone or bone. Theii 
 boats were canoes or dug-outs. 
 
 The papoose was protected by a wooden framework. Tlie girls learned to 
 make household utensils, to cook, raise corn, and make the clothes of 
 the family. The boys learned to hunt, fish, and make their own 
 weapons. Their games were often tests of endurance. 
 
 The warrior always had a scalp-lock. He shot from behind locks and trees, 
 lie often tortured prisoners. 
 
 Wampum was used for money and for keeping the records of tlie tribe. 
 
 The Indians believed that after death they would live again. They remem- 
 bered a kindness, but never forgot an injury. They welcomed the first 
 white men as teachers come from the skies. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 An Indian boy tells a white boy how to build a wigwam. 
 An Indian girl tells how her mother cooks the dinner. 
 
 The Indians held a council about making war upon the whites ; what did 
 they say? 
 
 V 
 
 VIRGINIA, THE FIRST PERMANENT ENGLISH 
 COLONY 
 
 Plymouth 
 and London 
 Companies 
 
 Sir Walter Raleigh at last concluded that planting colonies 
 should be the work of a king or of a company of men, and he 
 gave up his claim to the American lands. While he was in prison, 
 two companies were formed to send colonists to Virginia. They 
 were named the Plymouth Company and the London Company. 
 King James gave to the Plymouth Company the land between 
 Nova Scotia and Long Island, and to the London Company, the 
 land between the Potomac and Cape Fear. From the Atlantic 
 
VIRGINIA 
 
 43 
 
 to the Pacific is about three thousand miles, but no one supposed 
 then that it was more than one or two hundred, and King James 
 declared that these grants were to extend from ocean to ocean. 
 The strip between the two claims was to belong to the company 
 that could colonize it first. The Plymouth Company did little 
 
 more than to coast along the 
 
 shore and trade with the In- 
 dians, but the London Com- The London 
 pany founded the first per- n?sTSk/ny 
 manent Engfish settlement m 
 America. 
 
 In 1607 the London Com- 
 pany sent out one hundred 
 and five men. Many promi- 
 nent persons m England were 
 interested in this colony, and 
 Hakluyt wrote them a long 
 letter of advice. He told 
 them to be kind to the " nat- 
 urals," as he called the In- 
 dians, but not to trust them. 
 An English poet wrote a poem Ideas of 
 about " Virginia, earth's only 
 paradise." In the plays of 
 the time there was much talk 
 about this marvelous country. One character says : — 
 
 ' I tell thee, gold is more plentiful there than copper is with 
 uSo . . . All the prisoners they take are fettered in gold ; and for 
 rubies and diamonds, they go forth on holidays and gather them 
 by the seashore to hang on their children's coats and stick in their 
 children's caps." 
 
 The little company sailed for America. Up the coast they 
 
 GRANTS TO THE LONDON AND 
 PLYMOUTH COMPANIES 
 
44 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 ENGLISH SOLDIKK OF 1603 
 
 Sickness 
 and other 
 troubles 
 
 went ; between two points of land, which tliey named Cape 
 Charles and Cape Henry in honor of the two sons of King 
 James; and up a river, which they named the 
 James River in honor of the king himself. On a 
 peninsula which extended into the stream they 
 decided to make their settlement. They called it 
 Jamestown. 
 
 Everythuig was against the colony. They had 
 thought more of defense than of good air, and 
 they had settled where it was damp and un- 
 healthy. The river water was not fit to drink. 
 They had so scanty a supply of food that one 
 pint of wormy 
 wheat and 
 barley a day 
 was all that could be allowed 
 to a man. Such a hot sum- 
 mer they had never known. 
 Fever broke out, and more 
 than half the company died. 
 
 Some of these troubles 
 might have been avoided if 
 the colonists had been a dif- 
 ferent kind of men, but half 
 of them had no idea how to 
 work with their hands. Some 
 had come to see what adven- 
 tures they might meet with, 
 some to search for gold, and 
 some with the hope of winning glory and a royal reward by 
 finding the Northwest Passage. All these men needed houses, 
 and there were but four carpenters in the party. 
 
 lAl'T.VIN .KHIN SMIlll 
 
VIRGINIA 
 
 45 
 
 With sickness and hunger and helplessness there would have 
 been little hope for the colonists if there had not been among 
 their number one man, Captain John Smith, who knew what to 
 do. He wrote the story of his life, and it is full of adventures 
 almost as wonderful as those of Sindbad the Sailor. When he 
 came to Virgmia, he was only twenty-seven years of age, and in 
 those twenty-seven years he had served as a soldier m three or 
 four countries, and had been tossed into the sea as one whom a 
 company of self-right- 
 eous pilgrims thought 
 woidd bring them 
 bad luck. Three 
 times he had en- 
 gaged in single 
 combat with a Turk- 
 ish champion, while 
 two armies watched 
 the contest with de- 
 light. He was taken 
 prisoner by the Turks 
 and made to wear a 
 heavy iron collar. 
 He escaped to Rus- 
 sia, and finally made Ms way back to England just in time to 
 join the Virginia expedition. His story is a strange one, but in 
 those days of wild adventures it was not impossible for such 
 things to come to pass. 
 
 Some of the Indians about Jamestown were hostile, others were 
 inclined to be friendly. Smith contrived to compel the hostile 
 tribes and persuade the friendly ones to sell the colonists corn. 
 After a while he set out on an exploring trip up one of the rivers. 
 He was taken prisoner, but he showed the Indians his pocket- 
 
 Early adven- 
 tures of John 
 Smith 
 
 SMITH DEFEATS THE TURKISH CHAMPION 
 (From a rare print. The crescent and cross above distinguish 
 the Turk from the Christian) 
 
 John Smith 
 and the 
 Indians 
 
46 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 A GENTLEMAN OF IGIO 
 
 compass, and they hartlly dared to kill a man who had such a 
 wonderful article ; he might bring some terrible evil upon them. 
 After much discussion, however, it was decided 
 to run the risk. His head was laid upon a stone, 
 Pocahontas and the warriors were ready to strike, when Po- 
 cahontas, the Uttle daughter of the chief, 
 claimed the prisoner as hers, and his life was 
 saved. This is the story that Smith tells, 
 and there is no special reason for doubting it. 
 It was not uncommon among the Indians for 
 one of the tribe to rescue a prisoner in this 
 way. The chief, Powhatan, was perhaps a 
 little amused to see the child claiming the 
 rights of a grown person ; and then, too, he 
 was half afraid to put the man to death, and 
 it may be that he was glad to find a way to 
 
 avoid it. Powhatan told Smith that he was now a mem- 
 ber of their tribe and might go back to his white friends 
 whenever he chose. 
 
 On the day of Smith's return another shipload of men 
 arrived from England, but they would do nothing ex- 
 cept to search for gold. Before long some earth was 
 found that was full of bright yellow grains of metal. 
 " That is gold " they cried in delight, and the ship was 
 sent back across the ocean Avith what proved to be 
 worthless dirt. A third shipload of men came, but 
 they were like the others, — eager to search for gold, 
 and with no idea of doing any work. John Smith 
 A VIRGINIA INDIAN was uow govcmor of the colony, and he wrote to the 
 (Prom John Smith's map) Loudou Company : "Send us Init thirty carpenters, 
 husbandmen, gardeners, fishermen, blacksmitlis, masons, and dig- 
 gers up of trees' roots, rather than a thousand of such as we have." 
 
VIRGINIA 
 
 47 
 
 The third ship had also brought a letter from the Company. 
 The men who had paid for carrying the colonists to Virginia Three de- 
 thought it was time for them to receive some return from their company ^ 
 investment. Their demands seem like the three feats required of 
 the hero of a fairy-tale, for they said that the colonists must either 
 send them a great lump of gold, or discover the Northwest 
 Passage, or else fuid what had become of the English who had 
 disappeared from Roanoke Island nearly twenty years earlier. 
 "The Company are fools," said Governor Smith bluntly; but 
 probably the Company thought that they had asked no more than 
 was fair. They may have reasoned, " Where a substance so 
 nearly like gold is found, there must be gold not far away, 
 and it is mere idleness and laziness not to discover it." 
 
 What the colony would have done without the common 
 sense of John Smith is a question. The plan had been 
 that whatever money and food could be obtained should 
 be divided equally. The lazy ones knew that they would 
 fare as well whether they did any work or not, and so 
 they idled their time away. Governor Smith put an end 
 to that, and now if a man would not work six hours a 
 day, no food was given him ; and these idle gentlemen /i/- 
 had to learn to hoe corn and cut down trees. The 
 axes bUstered their fingers, and they seemed to fancy • -, n, 
 that the pain would be less if they swore about it. The / -^!' 
 governor had an account kept of their oaths, and at night indian corn 
 one can of cold water was poured down each man's sleeve for 
 every oath that he had uttered during the day. This punishment, 
 according to John Smith's '' History of Virginia," was so success- 
 ful that " a man would scarce hear an oath in a week." 
 
 The Indians began to see that the white men meant to stay in 
 America, and they were not pleased. Even Powhatan refused to Powhatan is 
 sell corn, but the child Pocahontas was friendly, and often the "" "^" ^ 
 
48 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 time 
 
 lives of the colonists \voiil(l li;ive been much haidei if she and hei 
 companions had not brought them corn and venison. 
 
 Three years passed. Governor Smith was badly injured by an 
 The starving accident and had to return to England. Then came a terrible 
 winter known as the " starving time," when the colonists suffered 
 so severely from cold and famine that in the spring only sixt> 
 Avere alive out of five hundred. " It is of no use to try to live in 
 Virghiia," said they. " We will make our way to Newfoundland 
 if we can, and then cross to England." They went aboard their 
 small boats and were far down the river when, behold, three 
 stately ships came into view, full of provisions. The colonists 
 turned back joyfully, and Jamestown was saved. 
 
 On board the vessel was a new governor aaIio ruled in much 
 the same way as John Smith. He gave every man a piece of land 
 and said, " You must work if you wish to eat." After a while 
 the settlers became more willing to work, for 
 they foimd that it paid better than searching for 
 gold. A far-seeing man named John Kolfe had be- 
 gun to raise tobacco. Smoking was now common 
 in England, and smokers would pay a large price 
 for Virginia tobacco, so before many years the 
 poor A'irginians were becoming the rich Mrghi- 
 ians. 
 
 One chapter of the liistory of the colony miglu 
 have come from a story-book. When the little 
 girl Pocahontas was about twenty years old, she 
 married the planter Jolm Kolfe, who took his 
 l)ride to England. The "Lady Kebekah," as she 
 AViKGiNiA PLANTi:it was tlicrc callcd, was received as a princess, the 
 daughter of a great king, for even then people in Europe could 
 not seem to understand that Powhatan was not a mighty sov- 
 ereign governing a nation, but a naked savage ruling over a 
 
 The Lady 
 Rebekah 
 
VIRGINIA 
 
 49 
 
 little tribe in the wilderness. John Smith went to see the tall, 
 handsome, dignified young woman, but when he addressed her as 
 " Lady Rebekah," she was grieved and said : " But you must call 
 me your child and let me call you father, just as we did m Vir- 
 ginia." 
 
 Powhatan sent several of his tribe to England with Pocahontas. 
 He was anxious to know how many people there were in the Counting the 
 distant land across the ocean, and to one of his men he gave a "^ '^ 
 bundle of little sticks, telling him to cut a notch every time he 
 met a white man. When the Indian landed in London, he took 
 
 JAME.STOWM IN 1C*2 
 (From an early Dutch account of Virginia) 
 
 one look at the crowds waiting to see the ship come in, grunted in 
 amazement, and threw away his bundle of sticks. 
 
 In 1619, when the settlement was twelve years old, three im- 
 portant events took place. The first was the arrival of a shipload A shipload of 
 of women. The London Company knew that unless the colonists ^°"^^" 
 had homes of their own, they would come back to England as 
 soon as they had made their fortunes. It w^as much better for 
 the Company to have permanent settlers than to have the land 
 cultivated first by one man and then by another, so they brought 
 over ninety respectable young women who were willing to live in 
 the new country. There was many a suitor for the hand of 
 
50 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 every girl. The oue whom she chose must pay the cost of her 
 passage, — one hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco, — and 
 soon there were ninety marriages and ninety homes. The coming 
 of these women and of those who followed them was what made 
 Virginia a permanent colony, for when the men had homes in the 
 new land, they were no Icjnger eager to make their way back to 
 the mother country. 
 
 In England no one was alloA\ed to tax the people except the 
 
 House of Commons, and mem- 
 The House ^^H^ "^ ^^^^^^^^^H ^^'^'^ of that body were not ap- 
 
 of Burgesses ^^^ ..^..^^^^^^^B pointed by the king, but were 
 
 chosen by the people. Thus 
 far Virginia had been ruled by 
 a governor appointed by the 
 London Company. The settlers 
 did not object to this, but they 
 said that there ought also to 
 be an assembly chosen by them, 
 just as members of the House 
 of Connnons were chosen by 
 the people of England, and that 
 only such an assembly should 
 have the right to tax them. 
 The London Company agreed, 
 and an assembly met, called the 
 House of Burgesses, or citizens. This was the beginning of self- 
 government in America, and was the second great event. A de- 
 mand for similar rights of taxation, made by the American colo- 
 nies a century and a half later, led to the Revolutionary War. 
 
 The third event was the beginning of slavery. The Virginians 
 wei'e cultivating great plantations of tobacco, and they needed 
 many laborers. It became the custom in England to send over 
 
 SLAVES AT WORK 
 
VIRGINIA 51 
 
 shiploads of criminals to serve the planters for a term of years. The begin- 
 Kidnappers would steal children and even grown persons, if they "laverv in 
 had no friends to make trouble, and sell them to the planters. America 
 Sometimes poor people who wished to come to America would sell 
 themselves, that is, they would agree to work a certain time for 
 any one who would pay their passage. Even this supply was 
 not enough, and in the year 1619 a Dutch ship brought twenty 
 negroes to Virginia from Africa and sold them as slaves. So 
 began that slavery which, two centuries later, had so much to do 
 with bringing about the great Civil War that came near making 
 our United States the divided states. 
 
 Thus in the same year an English colony first l)egan to be per- 
 manent, the" ideas that led to the Revolution were first manifested 
 m America, and the slavery which brought about the Civil War 
 made its first appearance. 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 In 1607 the first permanent English settlement was made at Jamestown in 
 Virginia by the London Company. 
 
 The colonists suffered greatly from sickness, scarcity of food, ignorance of 
 how to work, and unwillingness to labor. 
 
 By the wisdom of John Smith even the hostile Indians were induced to 
 furnish food, but after his return to England seven eighths of the colo- 
 nists died of starvation and cold. Only the arrival of ships with 
 supplies saved the colony. 
 
 The culture of tobacco was introduced. 
 
 In 1619 : — 
 
 Women came from England, and the colonists began to have homes. 
 The House of Burgesses, the fii-st representative assembly in Americaj 
 
 was established. 
 Negro slavery was introduced. 
 
52 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 Powhatan tells a friendly chief about Pocahontas's saving John Smith's 
 
 life. 
 John Smith's reply to the letter from the Company mentioned. 
 One of the colonists describes the punishment given to a profane person. 
 
 VI 
 
 PLYMOUTH, THE FIRST COLONY IN NEW 
 ENGLAND 
 
 In 1620 the first settlement in. New England was made at 
 
 First settle- Plymouth in Massachusetts. The Virginia colonists came to 
 
 Eneland America to make their fortunes; the Massachusetts colonists 
 
 came that they might be free to worship God in the way that 
 
 they believed would be most pleasing to him. 
 
 In those times most people thought that every 
 SBm MSk person in a country ought to belong to the same 
 
 ^^J aO church as the king, and to pay taxes for the sup- 
 
 port of that church. King James belonged to 
 the Episcopal Church, or Church of England, 
 and he declared that he would make all his svib- 
 jects attend it. Those who Avere not Episcopa- 
 lians were fined and imprisoned without mercy. 
 Among them were the Puritans and the Sepa- 
 ratists. " Puritans " was a nickname that was 
 given to those who said that they wished to 
 make the church purer. The name "Separa- 
 tists" was given to those who wished to leave 
 the church, and these were the people whom we 
 THE PILGRIM DRESS caU thc Pilgrim Fathers. 
 
PLYMOUTH 
 
 53 
 
 The king forbade them even to hold meetings at one another's ThePilgrims 
 houses, and whenever one of his ofiBcers found them doing this, f^^^d^ 
 they were either fined or imprisoned. They . knew that 
 in Holland men were free to attend whatever 
 church they chose, and they determined to go 
 to Holland to live. King James had said 
 that he would " harry out of the land " all 
 who would not attend his church, but 
 when the Separatists were ready to go, 
 his officers found out their plan and 
 arrested the whole company. They made 
 a second attempt, and a second time the 
 king's men discovered the plan. At 
 last they succeeded in making their 
 way to Holland. They were in a 
 strange land with a people whose cus- 
 toms and language were new, but 
 they were free. For a while they 
 were happy, but as their cliildren grew 
 older, the parents found that in spite of all that could be done, 
 the young folks were learning the ways of the children around 
 them and were talking m their language. 
 
 Badly as the English government had treated them, they still 
 
 wished to live under its rule, and they began to think of America. They decide 
 
 They talked about Guiana, but decided that it would be too warm. *P 8° f° 
 
 America 
 In Virginia the Episcopal Church was in power. John Smith had 
 
 explored the coast of New England and had given it its name, but 
 
 he had reported that it was exceedingly cold. They concluded 
 
 that the best place was somewhere between the Potomac and 
 
 Long Island. The London Company would gladly allow them to 
 
 settle on their land, but the king's permission must be gained. 
 
 When they asked King James for a charter, or written agree- 
 
 WINDMILL IN HOLLAND 
 
54 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 THE PILUKIMS' DEPAUTUnii I'KOM HOLLAND 
 (From an old Dutch painting) 
 
 The May- 
 flower sets 
 sail 
 
 The voyage 
 
 ment that they might settle in America, he said no, lie would i;ive 
 no charter, but they might go if they chose, and so long as they 
 behaved themselves no one should disturb them. 
 
 To England they went, and then set sail for America in two 
 vessels, the Speedwell and the Mayflower. The Speedwell sprang 
 a leak; and it is possible that the captain's report made the 
 injury greater than it was, for he had agreed not only to carry the 
 Pilgrims to America, but to remain there with them for a year, 
 and he was sorry for his bargain. Over one hundred passengers 
 crowded into the Mayflower. Nine weeks they were on the ocean. 
 There was an accident. Severe storms drove them out of their 
 course, and forced them to take refuge in Massachusetts Bay 
 instead of going farther south as they had planned. The land 
 about the bay belonged to the Plymouth Company, but the Pil- 
 grims knew that the Company would be only too glad to have 
 
PLYMOUTH 
 
 55 
 
 a settlement made on their territory, so they decided to stay 
 where they were. 
 
 Before they landed, they met in the cabin of the Mayflower and 
 wrote a paper promising to obey whatever laws should be made, in search of 
 After the paper had been signed,'a party went ashore to explore ^ home 
 the country and find a suitable place for their home. It was 
 November. The shores were barren, " of a wild and savage hue," 
 wrote one of the Pilgrims. No place fit for a settlement was 
 found. For many days they explored the coast. The captain and 
 the sailors grew more and more impatient. " Choose your place 
 soon," said the captain, " for I shall keep enough food to carry my 
 men to England." The sailors muttered, " We '11 put your goods 
 on shore and leave you." 
 
 Another party went out to explore. John Carver, the first 
 governor, William Bradford, the second, and the fiery Uttle 
 soldier, Miles Standish, were of this party. Such 
 troubles as they had! It was so cold that the 
 spray froze to their clothes. A heavy storm 
 began to rage, the rudder broke, and the mast 
 snapped into three pieces. At last they 
 reached land, but what land it was they 
 knew not, for night had come upon them. 
 They contrived to kindle a fire in the driving 
 rain, and waited for the morning. When morn- 
 ing came, the sun shone bright and clear. They 
 were on Clark's Island, and there they kept 
 their Sunday with prayer and singing, for great a^ was their need, 
 they would do no exploring on the Lord's Day. 
 
 Monday morning they sailed to the mainland, and went ashore 
 at a place that John Smith had named Plymouth, and that they Plymouth 
 now agreed to call Plymouth in remembrance of the English town '^"os^" 
 from which they had sailed. This was the best place that they 
 
 THE MAYFLOWER 
 (From the National Museum model) 
 
56 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 PLYMOUTH ROCK 
 
 had seen, and it did not take them long to go back to the ship and 
 report that they had decided upon a home. In Plymoutli there is 
 a rock which is carefully protected and 
 guarded, for people believe that on this 
 rock tlie explorers stepped ashore. De- 
 cember twenty-first, the day of their 
 landing, is called Forefathers' Day, and 
 is celebrated in their honor. There 
 was quite a number of children on 
 board, and after being crowded into the ship for so many weeks, 
 they must have been glad enough to go ashore. 
 
 There was no room to spare, even when they were on land, foi 
 after they had been in Plymouth all winter and all the followmg 
 summer, there were but seven houses. For a while they had only 
 one house into which they crowded their goods and as many 
 persons as possible. Some had to remain on the Mayflower for 
 several weeks. 
 The story of the wmter seems almost hke that of the starving 
 Hardships of time in Virginia, though the Pilgrims were somewhat better sup- 
 winter^* plied with food. One after another fell ill, and at one time only 
 six or seven were well enough to take any care of the others. 
 The minister, WiJUam Brewster, and the brave soldier, 
 Miles Stand ish, were the most tender nurses 
 that could be imagined; but in spite of their 
 care, more than half the company died m the 
 first three months, sometimes two or three 
 in a day. Before they left the Mayflower a 
 baby was born to Mrs. White, and was named 
 Peregrine from the Latin word peregrinus, 
 meaning a wanderer. Strangely enough, 
 this little child was one of the survivors of the hard winter. The 
 graves of those who died were leveled with the ground and sown 
 
 PILOUIM CRADLE 
 (It belonged to the PllgriiiiB' doctor) 
 
PLYMOUTH 
 
 57 
 
 with wheat, for Indians had been seen, and there was danger 
 that they would attack the little settlement if they knew how 
 many had died and how few were left to defend it. 
 
 One morning in the spring an Indian appeared who did not 
 skulk behind the trees like the others, but walked straight into Samoset and 
 the centre of the village and called out, " Welcome, Englishmen, ^quanto 
 Welcome ! " The Pilgrims must have felt very much pleased to 
 have a word of greeting in the strange land. The Indian's name 
 was Samoset. He had been among the fishermen farther north 
 and had learned a little EngUsh. It was only a very little, but he 
 
 made the Pilgrims under- 
 stand that he had a friend, 
 sTANDisH's SWORD Squauto, who had been car- 
 
 ried to England by one of the early explorers, and that Squanto 
 could speak English well. 
 
 Before long the Indian chief, Massasoit, came with a number of 
 attendants and Squanto for interpreter. Massasoit had dangerous Treaty with 
 enemies, —the Narragansetts, — and he wished to make a treaty 
 with the white people so that he might have aid if he was 
 attacked. The Pilgrims gave the chief and his attendants some 
 presents and feasted them. Then the two parties 
 made a solemn promise that they would assist each 
 other, and that if a member of either party injured 
 one of the other, he should be punished, whether he 
 was an Indian or a white man. This treaty was kept 
 for more than fifty years. 
 
 The Pilgrims did not waste their time searching 
 for gold; they cleared the land and planted corn. 
 Squanto showed them the Indian way of making sure 
 of a rich soil for the corn by putting a small fish into 
 each hill, and he taught them many other things that helped them 
 to hve in the new country. When the first autumn came, they 
 
 the Indians 
 
 WILLIAM BRADFORD'S 
 ARMCHAIR 
 
58 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 riLcuiMs (;oiX(; Vi) (;in-RCH 
 
 (From a painting by (J. 11. I'.ougliton) 
 
 The first were so happy at having a good harvest that Governor Bradford 
 
 Thanks- 
 giving appointed a day for Thanksgiving, and invited jMassasoit and 
 
 ninety of his men to a three-days' feast. 
 
 Not all the red men were as friendly as Massasoit. One day a 
 
 Narragansett Indian strode into Plymouth and asked for Squanto. 
 
 " He has gone fishing," was the reply. Then the Indian threw 
 
 down a queer looking object and stalked away. This proved to be 
 
 a rattlesnake's skin Avrapped around a bundle of arrows. There 
 
 was little difficulty in guessing what that meant. The Narragan- 
 
 setts were a large tribe, but it would not do for the little company 
 
 Trouble with of colonists to show that they were afraid, and Governor l^rad- 
 
 ford stuffed the snakeskin full of powder and bullets and sent it 
 
 back with the message, "If you want fighting, come whenever you 
 
 like, and we will give you enough of it." Ganonicus, chief of the 
 
 Narragansetts, kneAV that powder and l)ullets did much damage 
 
 in some mysterious way, and he was afraid to have the dangerous 
 
 things about. He contrived to have them taken away from his 
 
 lands, and for a long time there was no trouble with the Xarra- 
 
PLYMOUTH 
 
 59 
 
 gansetts. Other tribes threatened the colony, but the valiant 
 
 Miles Standish went out with his 
 
 " Great, invincible army, 
 Twelve men, all equipped, having each his rest and his matchlock," 
 
 and came back victorious. 
 
 Plymouth was live hundred miles from the nearest English 
 settlement, and three thousand miles from its king, but the colo- Town meet 
 nists seemed to get along very well without a king. Whenever '"^ 
 they needed to decide any important question, they held a meet- 
 ing to talk it over. Then they voted, and the matter was decided 
 as the greater number wished. This assembly was the beginning 
 of the New England town meetings of to-day. 
 
 In England there had often been such wild revelings on Christ- 
 mas and other church holidays that the Pilgruns had decided 
 to make no differ- 
 ence between these 
 days and others. 
 After a while, some 
 people joined the 
 Plymouth colony 
 who did not agree 
 with this decision ; 
 and on Christmas 
 morning, when the 
 governor called the 
 men out to work as 
 
 usual, they said it went against their consciences to work on Christmas in 
 Christmas Day. " Very well," said the governor, " no one shall Ply"io"th 
 force you to act against y|)ur consciences, and I will spare you 
 until you are better informed." At noon, the governor found 
 these men having a fine time playing ball and other games. He 
 stood looking at them a moment ; then he said, " It goes against 
 
 GOVERNOR BRADFORD DEFIES THE NARRAGANSETTS 
 
60 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 your consciences to work, but it goes against my conscience to 
 see you play while others work ; so if you wish to keep Christmas 
 
 as a church day, go to your own 
 houses." He took away their 
 ball, and they gave up their at- 
 tempt to celebrate Christmas. 
 Such were the Pilgrim con- 
 sciences. 
 The Pilgrims suffered almost 
 ^^ as much as the settlers of James- 
 town, but when trouble came to 
 Jamestown, the colonists would 
 say, " Let us go away. We shall never make our fortunes here." 
 Why the Pil- When trouble came to Plymouth, the Pilgrims would say, "We 
 la^y^^'^^ have come here to worship God in freedom, and lie will not for- 
 get us." This is why the Pilgrims Avere never discouraged, and 
 why they were happy in spite of all their hardships. 
 
 MILES STANDISH'S AKMV 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 Persecution in England drove the Pilgrims to Holland and then to America. 
 They founded a settlement at Plymouth, but more than half the colonists 
 
 died the first winter. 
 The neighboring Indians were friendly, and the white men were victorious 
 
 over the hostile tribes. 
 The Pilgrims cultivated the ground instead of searching for gold. 
 The New England town meeting originated in the Plymouth assembly for 
 
 the discussion of important questions. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 What the last body of explorers reported to the Pilgrims waiting on the 
 
 Mayflower. 
 The best way to celebrate Forefathers' Day. 
 One of the older children tells Peregrine "White about leaving England. 
 
THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY 
 
 61 
 
 VII 
 
 THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY 
 
 One day some Puritans were talking of what tlie Pilgrims 
 had done to find a home where they could worship God as they The Puritans 
 thought right. Some one suggested, "Would it not be well for planasettle- 
 us also to make a settlement in America?" The longer they 
 talked, the more interested they became in the plan. Then they 
 wrote to several of their Puritan friends in different parts of the 
 country, and a number of them agreed to 
 unite in forming a colony. 
 
 The Pilgrims were not rich people, and they 
 had been obUged to borrow money to carry 
 them to America, but many of the Puritans 
 were wealthy, and every year their party in 
 England was becoming stronger, fhey 
 formed the Massachusetts Bay Company 
 and bought of the Plymouth Company what 
 is now the greater part of Massachusetts. 
 They induced King Charles, son and suc- 
 cessor of King James, to give them a char- 
 ter, allowing them to make laws for the 
 colony. Only one year after the little com- 
 pany of friends had talked about America, 
 
 a shipload of Puritans were ready to cross the ocean. They 
 landed north of Boston, and settled at a place to which they gave Founding of 
 the name Salem. " Salem " is a Bible word meaning peace, and 
 they hoped that here they would find peace. 
 
 KING CHARLES I 
 
 Salem 
 
62 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The Com- 
 pany moves 
 to America 
 
 Puritans 
 with John 
 Winthrop 
 found 
 Boston 
 
 The Puritans in England were becoming more and more 
 troubled. King Charles meant to rule the country just as he 
 chose without the least regard to what any one else thought, and 
 he was so untruthful that no one could trust his promises. Some 
 people l)egan to fear that there would be war between those who 
 stood by the king and those who were against him. Ko one knew 
 how such a war might end. If the king should win, he would be 
 more opposed to the Puritans than ever ; but if they had flourish- 
 ing colonies in America, there 
 would be one place where they 
 could live in safety. In the 
 khig's charter not a word had 
 been said about where the Mas- 
 sachusetts Company should 
 hold their meetings. They 
 decided to hold them, not in 
 England, but beside Massa- 
 chusetts Bay. It is quite 
 possible that the king knew 
 nothing about their decision 
 until they had gone. Even 
 then, he did not object, and it 
 may be that he Avas glad to 
 have so many who did not 
 agree with him go out of the 
 country. 
 
 A little later the English 
 Puritans were pleased and encouraged, because John AN'inthrop, a 
 man whom they greatly respected, said that he would go to Amer- 
 ica. He was not only rich and Avell educated, but he was so AA-ise 
 that almost all who knew him felt that whatever he advised was 
 the best thing to do. He set out in 1630 \vith a great company of 
 
 '<sl "^ 
 
 TIIK NKW KNGLAND COAST SETTLEMENTS 
 
THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY 63 
 
 ARRIVAL OF THE WINTHROP COLONY IN BOSTON 
 •(From W. F. Halsall's iiainting) 
 
 nearly one thousand persons. They brought cattle, goats, pro- 
 visions, arms, tools, and farming implements. Several ships were 
 needed to carry so many people, and among them was the May- 
 flower, that had brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth, and had also 
 taken the settlers to Salem. Governor Winthrop and his party 
 decided to make their home where Boston now is. They called 
 the place Boston, because many of the colonists came from Boston 
 in England. 
 
 These people had been accustomed to living in comfort, and in 
 spite of all their careful preparations the first winter was almost Early hard- 
 as hard for them as it had been for the other colonists. Provi- ^ '^* 
 sions became scarce, and Governor Winthrop was obliged to 
 appeal to the Pilgrims for help. A generous supply of food came 
 from Plymouth. When that was gone, he asked the people of 
 Boston to spend a certain day in fasting and prayer that God 
 
64 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Content- 
 ment of the 
 Puritans 
 
 wiNTHRop err 
 
 (Given by Winthrop 
 
 to the First Churcli, 
 
 Koston) 
 
 Puritan 
 narrowness 
 
 would help thein. The help came, for a ship laden with pro- 
 visions sailed into the harbor, and instead of fasting, they kept a 
 day of thanksgiving. 
 
 The lives of the Puritans were hard, Init nevertheless Governor 
 Winthrop wrote to England that he had never felt more contented 
 than in Massachusetts. Another governor of the colony wrote 
 home to his Puritan friends that if they wished to make money, 
 Massachusetts was not the place for them ; but if they wished to 
 have plenty of wood to hm-n and to build their houses with, pure 
 air to breathe, good water to drmk, ground to plant, seas and 
 rivers to fish in, and if, above all, they wished to be free 
 to Avorship God as they thought right, all these good 
 things were waiting for them in Massachusetts. 
 
 (iovernor Winthrop was so honest and truthful in all 
 his dealings with the Indians that they called him " Single 
 Tongue," meaning that he never told two stories about 
 anything. He was always ready to do a kindness. It 
 was reported to him one day that a poor man was stealing 
 his wood, and he declared sternly, " I '11 soon put a stop 
 to that ; " but to the poor man he said, " Friend, I fear 
 that you have not wood enough for the winter. Help 
 yourself from my pile whenever you choose." Then he 
 went to his informer and said, " Did n't I tell you I would put a 
 stop to it ? Find him stealing if you can ! " 
 
 The great fault of the Puritans was that they could not under- 
 stand how any one else could be as earnest as they in wishing to 
 serve God and yet not go about it in the Puritan way. They had 
 borne a great deal for the sake of living as they believed right, 
 and they meant to govern the new land as they thought best, and 
 to allow no one to stay among them who did not agree with their 
 ideas. They had town meetings like those of the. Plymouth peo- 
 ple, but they would let only members of their church vote. 
 
THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY 
 
 65 
 
 The ship that brought them food when they were in such great 
 need brought also a talented young clergyman named Roger 
 Williams. He too wished to serve God, but he had some ideas 
 that seemed to the Puritans very wrong. He said that King 
 Charles had no right to give away the land of the Indians unless 
 they were wilhng. " What would the king say to that '? " whis- 
 pered the colonists to one another. " He might even take away 
 our charter." Still worse, Roger Williams de- ^ < 
 
 clared that it was not right to compel a man 
 
 t 
 to attend church or to pay for the support of > J 
 
 a church against his will. t 
 
 The Puritans did not wish to be obliged Ji: 
 to attend the Episcopal Church, but they 
 did wish to oblige wdioever came to 
 Boston to attend their church. It ^ 
 would not do to have such ideas as 
 Roger WiUiams's in their colony, 
 they thought, and they told him 
 that the following spring he must 
 leave Massachusetts. John Win- 
 throp contrived to send word to 
 him that they were intending to 
 send him back to England ; so 
 instead of waiting for spring, he 
 went away from the colony in 
 the bitterly cold weather. The first town house in hoston. 
 
 tale of his life in the forest in snow and storm will be told in the 
 story of the founding of Rhode Island. 
 
 To have their children grow up without good schools was some- 
 thing that the Puritans could not bear. At first the parents 
 taught their children at home as well as people who were so busy 
 could teach, but only five years after the settlement in the wilder- 
 
 Roger Wil- 
 Hams 
 
 Harvard 
 
 College 
 
 founded 
 
66 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 John Har- 
 vard 
 
 John Eliot 
 teaches the 
 Indians 
 
 ness was begun, a public school was opened in Boston. Many ot 
 the Puritans were graduates of English universities, and they 
 wished to make sure that Avhen their ministers died other educated 
 men would be ready to till the vacant places. They talked the 
 matter over in town meeting, and tiually, in 1G86, 
 they agreed to give four hundred pounds 
 to found a college. 
 
 .\t that time spending public money for 
 instruction was very unusual in Europe. 
 This generous appropriation shows how 
 nmch the Puritans cared for education. 
 'J'hey used to go to the college to hear the 
 boys declaim in Latin and in Greek, and 
 when one did especially w^ell, his father was 
 happy, and he would say to himself, " Per- 
 haps my son \\\\\ some day be a minister 
 and preach in our church." 
 
 A clergyman named John Harvard died 
 soon after the college was founded, and when his will w'as read 
 it was found that he had left his books and ]^ali his money to 
 the new school. The name " Harvard " w'as given in his honor. 
 There were other gifts. The state gave a year's rent of a ferry. 
 Plymouth and the other settlements that began to be scattered 
 through New England were ready to help, and once each family 
 gave a peck of corn or its value in wampum. A law was soon 
 made that in every Puritan village of fifty families there nuist 
 be a school ; and if there were one hundred families, a school- 
 master must be engaged wdio could prepare the boys of the town 
 for the university. 
 
 Another reason why the college was founded w^as that the 
 Indians might have an opportunity to be educated and to learn 
 Christianity. A clergyman named John Eliot was especially 
 
 JOHN HAUVAKI) 
 
 (Krom FreiK'li's statue in Canibrirtue) 
 
THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY 67 
 
 interested in them. He not only preached, but he translated the 
 Bible into their language. He did even more ; he lived in the 
 wigwams and taught the Indians as if they were his children, 
 and tried his best to answer all the questions that they asked. 
 Some of these questions were not easy. " If the soul is shut up 
 in iron," said they, " can it get out '? " Another question was, 
 "When you vote and make a man your governor, how do you 
 know that he will be a good governor ? " Another was, " Ought 
 a wise man to obey an unwise chief ? " 
 
 John Eliot was never weary of helping them in every way that 
 he could. He taught the women to spin, and he showed the men Progress of 
 better ways of tilling the ground. Many Indians learned to read ^ ^ " '^"^ 
 and write English, and finally one of them delighted the Puritans 
 by graduating at Harvard. 
 
 Life was growing a little easier for the settlers. There was 
 plenty of food, they had schools and a college, and they had 
 sent away Roger Williams, whose ideas about the church dif- 
 fered from their own. Their next trouble came from the 
 Quakers. The Quaker idea of what was right and what was 
 wrong sometimes differed greatly not only from the Puritan 
 idea, but from that of aU the other English people : for in- 
 stance, a Quaker would not take off his hat even to the kmg, 
 because he thought that to do so would be showing to man a 
 reverence which belonged to God alone. Other people thought 
 that this refusal showed scorn of the king's authority, and 
 the village of Boston was much alarmed when it was known 
 that a few Quakers had come from England. 
 
 These early Quakers were so diflterent from those of later 
 days, and even from tliose who lived in Boston soon after 
 
 ,, ,. Ji J. •. -J, ,1 • . , , QUAKER DKESS 
 
 these times, that it seems as if their minds must have been 
 unbalanced by the persecutions in England. They certainly 
 did strange things. One man forced his way into the court and 
 
OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The Quakers accused the judge of putting innocent men to death. Another 
 Puritans went into the church with a glass bottle in each hand, and in 
 the midst of the service broke the bottles before the people, and 
 cried, " Thus will the Lord break you all in pieces." 
 
 The Puritans banished them, but they refused to stay away, for 
 they said that they should obey God rather than man, and God 
 wished them to preach to the people of 3Iassacliusetts. Then they 
 were imprisoned or whipped or branded with hot irons. These 
 penalties were brutal, but they were less severe than those in- 
 flicted in England upon men who disobeyed the laws, 
 for while to-day a man is hanged only for wilful mur- 
 der or for treason, there were then m England two 
 hundred offenses for wliich one might lose his life. 
 B^inally, four Quakers who returned a second and even 
 a third time after being ordered to stay away were put 
 to death. The Puritans wrote to the king that these 
 four were hanged because they persisted in refusing to 
 obey the laws of the colony. This was true, but if the 
 Puritans had not been quite so sure that their belief 
 was the only right one, it may be that they would have 
 had more charity for the Quakers and would not have 
 k made such severe laws against them. 
 
 In 1675, almost twenty years after the coming of 
 the Quakers, there was a terrible war between In- 
 dians and colonists. Massasoit was always true to 
 the English, but after he was dead, his son, " King 
 Philip," as he was called, had different ideas. Many more white 
 King men had come, little villages were everywhere, and Philip felt 
 
 up s ar ^j_^^^ .^ ^^^ Enghsh were not driven out at once, the country 
 would be lost to the Indians. He persuaded other tribes to join 
 him, and they made fierce attacks upon one village after another 
 in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. In Massa- 
 
 THE PILLORY 
 (One of the Pnritan pun- 
 ishments) 
 
THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY 
 
 chusetts more than half the towns were either partly or wholly 
 destroyed. One thousand men and large numbers of women and 
 children were slain. 
 
 At last King Philip was besieged at Mount Hope in Rhode Death of 
 Island. One of his men advised him to surrender, but Philip was ^"^ "hilip 
 so angry that he struck the man dead in a moment. In 
 revenge, the dead man's brother crept away to the whitc!^, 
 and told them where to find his chief. Philip was slai 
 and his head was fastened to a pole and set up on th 
 green in Plymouth. After this war, southern New 
 England had no more trouble from the Indians. 
 
 When the Puritans had been in America more than 
 half a century, they became greatly alarmed, because 
 they believed that there were witches among them, 
 and witches were thought to be special friends of 
 Satan. Some nervous girls played various pranks, 
 and declared, probably more in fun than in 
 earnest, that they could not help it, for they 
 were "bewitched." When they saw that the 
 matter was taken seriously, it is very likely that 
 they became so excited that they could not con- 
 trol themselves, and began to believe their own stories. These Witchcraft 
 girls and others began to point out those who had bewitched 
 them, and before the colonists came to their senses, nineteen inno- 
 cent people had been hanged. 
 
 All over Europe people thought that there was such a thing as 
 witchcraft. A century before the Puritans crossed the ocean, five 
 himdred persons were put to death in three months on the charge 
 of being witches. Fifty years after this alarm in Massachusetts 
 a new law was made against them in England, and many people 
 were executed. 
 
 KING PHILU' 
 (After Paul Revere 's piiture) 
 
70 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 English Puritans formed the Massachusetts Bay Company to insure them 
 
 a refuge in time of persecution and a place for freedom of worship. 
 Under the leadership of John Winthrop they founded Boston in 1630. 
 They did not wish to have any one in the colony whose belief differed 
 
 from theirs ; therefore they drove away Roger Williams, and later the 
 
 Quakers. 
 Harvard College was founded in 1636 to educate both whites and Indians. 
 
 John Eliot did much good as a missionary to the Indians. 
 King Philip's ^Xnr in 1675 caused many deaths and was the last of the 
 
 Indian troubles in southern New England. 
 The Puritans executed nineteen persons for supposed witchcraft. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 A Puritan tells a friend why he wishes to go to New England.* 
 
 Tlie reply of the Pilgrims to Winthrop's appeal for food. 
 
 King Philip tells his men why he wishes to make war upon the whites. 
 
 VIII 
 
 MAINE, NEW HAMPSHIRE, RHODE ISLAND, AND 
 CONNECTICUT 
 
 MAINE AND NEW IIAMrSHIRE. 
 
 When the Indian Squanto, who was so good a friend to the 
 The kidnap- Pilgrims, was a young man, he Uved on the coast of what is now 
 E'"^ °[ called Afiiine. One day a ship came to anchor near the shore, and 
 
 the Indians paddled ont in their birch-hark canoes to see the white 
 men and sell furs to them. Squanto and four others were seized 
 and carried away across the ocean, for tlie captain thought that 
 after they had learned English they could be brought back and 
 
MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE 
 
 71 
 
 made to serve as interpreters when the white men ^vished to 
 trade. 
 
 It was an unpardonable crime. The only good thing about the 
 whole story was that these five Indians were very kindly treated Squanto in 
 in England. Squanto and two others were taken into the family t.ngiand 
 of Sir Ferdinand© Gorges, who was a friend of Sir Walter 
 Raleigh. Sir Ferdinando was only a few years older than the 
 Indians, and he was much interested in them. It was not long 
 before they could talk with him, and they told him so much about 
 their friends and their home, the clear air, the pure water, and 
 the great forests, that Sir Ferdinando and others began to be 
 eager to found a colony. 
 
 Sir Ferdinando had no trouble in finding sailors who would 
 go to Mame and bring back a 
 
 Attempts to 
 found a 
 colony in . 
 Maine 
 
 IHL BbiVKR 
 (An important New England fur-bearer) 
 
 cargo of fish or furs, but colo- 
 nizing was a different matter, 
 for the men who first tried 
 to make a settlement had re- 
 ported that the place was too 
 cold to live m. StiU he was 
 not discouraged. He sent out 
 ship after ship to fish and to 
 trade, and finally he persuaded one captain, who was also a phy- 
 sician, to spend the whiter near where Saco now stands. This 
 captam went home in the spring and said that the climate was 
 perfect, and that not one of his men had even had a headache. 
 
 A few years after John Smith returned to England from James- 
 town, he sailed as captain of one of Sir Ferdinando's vessels. John Smith 
 Sixteen men were ^vith liim who bad agreed to become colonists, ^^^'" 
 and with such a leader to help and advise them, it is probable 
 that they would have succeeded ; but wherever John Smith went, 
 he met with adventures, and so it was on this trip. England and 
 
72 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 France were at war, and a French vessel took the captain and his 
 sixteen men prisoners, and carried tliem to France. 
 
 Still Sir Ferdinando did not give up, He united with a brave, 
 resolute man, Captain John Mason, who had been in NcAvfound- 
 land and was not afraid of the cold weather of Maine. These two 
 men and others who joined with them published glowing descrip- 
 tions of the new country. They said the climate was the most 
 delightful in the world, the soil was so rich that generous har- 
 vests could be raised with Uttle work, the forests were full of 
 fur-bearing animals, and the great trees were the best timber 
 for ship-building that could be found. Besides all this, the 
 bays and the rivers were swarming with fish. 
 
 Colonists began to go to the new province, which was after- 
 wards named Maine, or the mamlaml. The colonies were 
 hardly more than fishing stations, and were 
 scattered about over the southwestern 
 ~:^. corner of what is now Maine, and the 
 eastern part of what is now New Hamp- 
 shire. It is probable that the first settle- 
 ment in ]\Iaine was made at Pemaquid 
 Point in 1625. This soon became a 
 busy place. Indians who nad furs to 
 sell came to Pemaquid, and ships came 
 from England not only to bring tools 
 THE OLD soLTTH meeting-house' and other things that the colonists 
 
 needed, but to carry back to England lumber and furs, and the 
 fish that had been caught and cured. The Pilgrims were culti- 
 vating corn, and they used to send boatloads of it to Pemaquid to 
 Dover and exchange for furs. The earliest settlements in New Hampshire 
 Portsmouth ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ Dover, 1623-1627, and at Portsmouth in 1631. 
 
 1 This brick structure, still standing, was erected in 1729 on the site of the 
 wooden building mentioned on page 73, of which there is no picture. 
 
MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE 
 
 73 
 
 After a while Sir Ferdinando and Captain Mason concluded to The colony 
 divide their land ; the former took Maine, and the latter took the '^'"^" 
 land to the west of the Piscataqua River. Captain Mason was 
 once governor of a town in Hampshire, England, and in memory 
 of this he named his land New Hampshire. How far west this 
 land extended was uncertain, and what is now called 
 Vermont was claimed at times by both New 
 Hampshire and New York. 
 
 In 1641 the few scattered settlements 
 in New Hampshire asked the protection 
 of the Massachusetts Bay colony. As 
 for Maine, after Su' Ferdinando died, his 
 grandson offered to sell the land to the 
 English king, Charles II. The king was a 
 little slow in giving his answer, but , 
 Massachusetts was quick, and before 
 Charles II. had decided whether he could 
 raise the money or not, Massachusetts 
 had bought tlie land and paid for it. The king was angry that Maine joined 
 a colony should dare to do such a thing as to buy land that he chJ^etts^" 
 wished to have, Boston wrote him a letter saying that she was 
 sorry to have displeased his Majesty, but she made no offer to 
 give back the purchase. One man in Boston wrote indignantly 
 to a friend in England that the king's letter was worth no more 
 in Massachusetts than an old London newspaper. 
 
 This was hardly true, but it was true that more than once 
 when the king had made a law which would injure the colony, 
 Massachusetts had quietly disobeyed it. More than that, the 
 Puritans would not allow the Episcopal Church in their colony, 
 and this did much to arouse the wrath of the king, Charles sent Massachu- 
 over and demanded their charter. The Puritans held a town hl?^charter 
 meeting in the Old South Meeting-House, and every man voted 
 
 BLOCKHOUSE IN MAINE 
 
 (Built near the junction of the Kennebec and 
 
 Sebastlcook rivers) 
 
74 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 not to return it. Then the king declared that whether the char- 
 ter was in England or in America, it should no longer hold good. 
 He planned to send over one of the most cruel, hard-hearted men 
 in England as governor ; but before this could be done, the kmg 
 died. The charter, however, no longer had any value. 
 New Hampshire had been made a " royal province," and now 
 New Hamp- the new king declared that Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Maine 
 Massachu- should form another. These colonies could no longer choose their 
 se"s royal own officers, but must be ruled by whatever governor the king 
 chose to send them. 
 
 provinces 
 
 BHODE ISLAND. 
 
 When Roger Williams was ordered to leave Massachusetts, the 
 court told him that he might remain 
 until spring. They thought that he 
 would keep still if they showed him so 
 much favor ; but instead of keeping still, 
 he preached oftener than ever. Then 
 the court said he must be taken to Eng- 
 land, and a boat was sent to Salem to 
 bring him to Boston. However, when 
 the officers landed in Salem, Koger Wil- 
 liams was nowhere to be found. Some 
 one had warned him secretly, and he had 
 slipped away. The one who warned 
 him was, as has been said, no less a man 
 than .fohn AVinthrop, and with the warn- 
 ing had come the advice to go to the 
 
 Indians altout Narragansett Bay, because that place was free 
 
 from any English claim. 
 
 It was a cold, snowy night when the message came, V)ut there 
 
 was no time to lose, so Koger Williams said good-by to his wife 
 
 FIRST MKICTINO-HOUSE IN SAI.KM 
 (Where Roger Williams is s;ii(l to have preaclieil) 
 
 Roger Wil- 
 liams leaves 
 Salem 
 
RHODE ISLAND 75 
 
 and children, took his staff, and went out bravely into the wilder- 
 ness. When he was an old man, he said he could " feel yet " the 
 winter snow of that journey. 
 
 For more than three months he lived in the forest. Sometimes 
 he had a guide, but oftener he found his way alone as best he His wander- 
 might. Sometimes he slept in a hollow tree; often he had no '"^® 
 fire. He had friends in the forest, however, for he had always 
 been kind to the Indians and had learned their language. They 
 were glad to repay his kindness, and when he came to the wig- 
 wam of Massasoit, there was a warm welcome awaiting him. 
 Canonicus, too, the fierce warrior who had sent to Plymouth the 
 bundle of arrows bound together with a rattlesnake's skin, gave 
 him tender greeting, and " loved him as a son." 
 
 Possibly Roger Williams had no thought of founding a colony. 
 He had always cared for the Indians, and now that the whites Providence 
 would not listen to him, perhaps he meant to live among the red °"" ^ 
 men and teach them. Five friends came to him from Massachu- 
 setts, however, and they paddled down the Providence River in 
 search of a place to settle. Some Indians saw them and called 
 out in friendly welcome, " What cheer ? What cheer ? " an old- 
 fashioned form of greeting that they had learned from the whites. 
 He ran ashore and had a little talk with these Indians. Prob- 
 ably they told him of a good place for his house, at the foot of 
 a hill near a spring of water. Tliis was in 1636, and was the 
 beginning of the city of Providence, so called because, as Roger 
 Williams said, it was by the providence of God that he had made 
 his way thither. 
 
 The exile's wife and cliildren soon came to him. Governor 
 Winslow of Plymouth visited him and gave him a piece of gold. Growth of 
 The Puritans wished people to worship God in their way ; Roger colony 
 Williams wished every one that came to his colony to be free to 
 worship God in any way that he thought right. Before two years 
 
76 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Rhode 
 Island and 
 Providence 
 Plantations 
 
 The New 
 
 England 
 
 Confederacy 
 
 Rhode 
 Island asks 
 for a charter 
 
 had passed, many had come. He was m the country of the Narra- 
 gansetts, and Canonicus was glad to sell his friend what land he 
 wanted for a colony. 
 
 Among those who came from Massachusetts was a company 
 that meant to go farther south, but Roger Williams urged them 
 to stay near him, and Canonicus was willing to sell them the Isle 
 of lihodes, or Rhode Island. The two colonies made a kind of 
 agreement to help each other. That is why the 
 smallest state in the Union has the longest name, 
 for the name that must be used in legal documents 
 is " State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
 tions." 
 
 This tiny state was almost the only place in the 
 world where some one form of worship was not 
 favored. It is no wonder that people with all kinds 
 of ideas came to settle beside Narragansett Bay. It 
 has been said that "if a man had lost his religious 
 opinions, he might have been sure to find them again 
 in some village of Rhode Island." ^ 
 
 A few years later, Massachusetts, Plymouth, 
 Connecticut, and New Haven agreed to defend one 
 another if there was need. Rhode Island would 
 have been glad to join the league, but the others 
 said this could not be unless the colony would be- 
 come a part of either Massachusetts or Plymouth. Maine, too, 
 Avas shut out, because the laws of Maine favored the Episcopal 
 Church. 
 
 It seemed impossible for the little state to stand alone without 
 
 some protection, and the Rhode Islanders sent Roger Williams to 
 
 England to ask for a charter. The story of what he had done for 
 
 the Indians had gone before him, and the Enghsh government 
 
 1 Bancroft's HUtary of the United States. 
 
 I{0(JElt WILLIAMS 
 
 ( From the statue in 
 
 Providence) 
 
CONNECTICUT 77 
 
 willingly gave him a charter, allowing the Rhode Island colonists 
 freedom to make whatever laws they thought best and to choose 
 their own governor and other officers. Roger Williams crossed 
 the ocean again, happy in the news that he was bringing to the 
 colony. When he came to the bank of the river that flowed by 
 his house, he saw that the whole shore was lined with canoes, for 
 the people of Providence had all come out to welcome the man 
 whom they respected and loved. His canoe was placed in the 
 midst, and so they paddled to the farther shore. 
 
 It is no wonder that they welcomed him, for Roger Williams Roger Wil- 
 was one of the most lovable men that appear m all the colonial ^^^^^ ^ ^ ' 
 history. The Puritans had driven him into the wilderness, and 
 then had made him lose many thousand pounds by forbidding him 
 to send goods from the port of Boston to England, but even of 
 them he had not a hard word to say, and when the opportunity 
 came to do them a favor, he did it as eagerly as if they had been 
 his warmest friends. 
 
 COIfNECTICUT. 
 
 A colony that is only sixteen years of age seems hardly old 
 enough to begin to found other colonies, but tliis is just what English in- 
 Massachusetts did. Not long after the coming of the Puritans, on^the^Con-^ 
 the chief of the country along the Connecticut River had asked necticut 
 both Massachusetts and Plymouth to send Englishmen to settle 
 on his lands. Some of the colonists began to think of going there 
 to trade. It was an especially good place, for the Indians could 
 much more easily float down the stream with their canoes full of 
 furs than they could make their way through the forest and bring 
 the furs on their backs. 
 
 The Enghsh were not the only ones who saw that it was worth 
 while to get possession of this valuable river. The Dutch were Trouble with 
 settled in New York, and they had forts in New Jersey. They too lJ"tch 
 
78 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 wished to hold the Connecticut. The Plymouth people thought 
 that the Enghsh had a better right to the territory than the Dutch, 
 and a few of them set out for the mouth of the river. They 
 carried with them the frame of a house, and, although the Dutch 
 threatened to tire upon them from the fort at Hartford, kept on 
 up the river. When they were where Windsor now is, they set 
 up their house, and ht^gan to trade for furs as calmly as if there 
 
 was not a Dutchman 
 in the land. Others 
 came, the Dutch were 
 driven out, and in 
 Hartford, the very 
 place Avhere the Dutch 
 fort had stood, there 
 was soon a small com- 
 pany of Englishmen. 
 It was a hard whi- 
 J ter, and it may be 
 INDIAN FiK-TKADEiJs that rcport made the 
 
 Puritans de- sufferings of the settlers even worse than they really were, for 
 i^n ConnectU several hundred people who lived near Boston were thinking 
 cut about moving to Connecticut, and the other colonists did not wish 
 
 to have them leave Massachusetts. Those who wished to go said 
 that the toAAais in iNIassachusetts were so near together that there 
 was not pasture for their cattle. " But you have made a solemn 
 promise to support and aid our commonwealth," said the court. 
 " That is true," answered they, " but how better can we support 
 it than by keeping both the Dutch and the Enghsh who do 
 not think as we do from settling so near us ? " There was also 
 another reason for moving, but little was said about it. In the 
 Massachusetts colonies no one was allowed to vote who was not 
 a member of the Puritan church ; and most of the people who 
 
CONNECTICUT 
 
 79 
 
 established 
 
 wished to move to Connecticut thought that every man should 
 have a right to vote. At last the court agreed that they might go. 
 
 The first settlers were led by their pastor, Thomas Hooker, of 
 Cambridge. There were about one hundred in this company, and A forest 
 they must have had a delightful journey. It was June. The J°"'""^y 
 trees were green, and the flowers were in bloom. Through the 
 forest they went, making their beds of the boughs of trees, sleep- 
 ing under the stars, and waking to the singmg of birds. Two 
 weeks they spent on the journey, and it must have seemed al- 
 most like a picnic two weeks long. There was no fear of hun- 
 ger, for before them they drove one hundred and sixty cattle, 
 and there was sure to be plenty of milk, even if all other food 
 failed. 
 
 These were the people who in 1636 founded Hartford. Others Settlements 
 came, and within a few months AVethersfleld and Windsor were 
 settled by colonists from other to^vns near Bos- 
 ton. A few people had come to these places 
 before, but until 1636 there were not enough to 
 call their coming the fomiding of a town. 
 
 Three years later the three towns formed a 
 union and decided upon the laws that should 
 govern them. These laws allowed every man 
 to vote, whether he was a member of the church 
 or not. There was one thing that would cer- 
 tainly have aroused the king's wrath if he had 
 not been too busy to pay any attention to it, 
 and this was that these laws did not even 
 mention his Majesty. Evidently the Connecticut settlers thought 
 that they could manage their OAvn affairs without any help from 
 the king. 
 
 Before the colonists were fairly settled in their new home, there 
 was trouble with the Pequots. These Indians did not make any 
 
 FIRST MEETING-HOUSE IN 
 HARTFORD 
 
80 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 V ^M Ai(s.S(a q/H us E/T T S 
 
 Roger Wil- general attack, but they would come as near the settlement as 
 the Puritans ^^^^ dared, and seize one man or a small group of men and put 
 them to death, Roger Williams learned that the Pequots were 
 trying to persuade the Narragansetts to join them in making war 
 upon the whites. He did not stop to remember how Massachu- 
 setts had treated him, but without a moment's delay he sent 
 word to Governor Winthrop of the danger. He did much more 
 than to send a message. He knew that the Pequots would try 
 to persuade the Narragansetts to join them, and in wild, stormy 
 
 weather he paddled his canoe 
 across Narragansett Bay, and 
 went straight to the wigwam 
 of Canonicus. There stood the 
 Pequot messengers, and Ca- 
 nonicus was on the point of 
 yielding 
 
 They knew why Roger Wil- 
 liams had come. They glared 
 at liim angrily, and would have 
 killed him if they had dared. 
 Canonicus, too, would have 
 killed any other man who had 
 come so boldly into his wig- 
 coNNECTicuT VALLEY SETTLEMENTS waui ; but hc was vcry fond of 
 Roger Wilhams, and he listened closely to what he had to say. 
 It was several days before the chief would decide. Roger Wil- 
 liams talked, and the Pequots talked. When they lay down to 
 sleep at night, the white man hardly expected to be alive in the 
 morning. At last Canonicus told the Pequots that he would not 
 unite with them. 
 
 The Pequots decided to make war without help, and all through 
 the winter they put to death every colonist that they could seize. 
 
 In the wig- 
 wam of Ca- 
 nonicus 
 
CONNECTICUT 
 
 81 
 
 New Haven 
 
 Then Connecticut appealed to Massachusetts and Plymouth for The Pequot 
 help. Near where Stonmgton, Connecticut, now stands was a ^^ 
 Pequot village. Around it was a stout palisade, or fence of tree 
 
 trunks set close 
 
 together in the 
 
 jrt' ^ ground. There 
 
 MATCHLOCK AND REST ^^^^.g ^^^ ^^^ 
 
 openings, and those were very narrow. The colonists closed 
 them and threw lighted torches over the paUsades. The wig- 
 wams blazed, and out of seven hundred Pequots only five escaped. 
 For nearly forty years no Indians dared to attack the English. 
 
 One month after this terrible fight, New Haven was founded, 
 in 1638. Hartford had been settled by men who thought the Founding of 
 Bostonians were too strict. New Haven was settled by a com- 
 pany from England who feared that Boston was not strict enough. 
 This company was made up chiefly of wealthy merchants; and 
 just as the Reverend Thomas Hooker had led his church to Hart- 
 ford, so the Reverend John Dr.'^enport led his church to New 
 Haven. Boston would have been glad to have them stay in Mas- 
 sachusetts, but they had landed just after the banishment of 
 Roger Wilhams, when Boston 
 seemed to be full of new opinions, 
 and religious matters were being 
 discussed more freely than Dav- 
 enport thought was right; and 
 that is why he made his way 
 through the forest to Connecticut. 
 He paid the Indians ten coats for 
 a piece of land on the coast, and 
 there he founded New Haven. 
 
 Prom almost the first Connecticut had good schools, for these 
 people were as eager as those in Massachusetts for the education 
 
 A NEW ENGLAND STOCKADE 
 
82 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 f.ducation in of their children. 
 
 -Connecticut ^^^^ together to found a college 
 
 In 1700 ten men from the different settlements 
 
 Each laid a few books on a 
 
 I give these books for the founding of a college 
 
 This little pile of liooks was the beginning of 
 
 table and said, 
 in this colony." 
 Yale College. 
 
 The land about the river was rich, and there was plenty of 
 
 food. The laws were 
 strict, but no man was 
 persecuted for thinking 
 what he would on re- 
 hgious subjects. It 
 was a quiet, happy, 
 peaceful coimtry, and 
 later it was nicknamed 
 "The Land of Steady 
 Habits." 
 
 When IVfassachusetts, 
 Plymouth, and Mahie 
 were united as a royal 
 province, the first governor was determined to seize the charter 
 of Connecticut, and he went to Hartford with a company of sol- 
 diers to get possession of it. He and the Connecticut officials 
 discussed the matter all one afternoon. The governor would not 
 yield, and at last the charter was brought in and placed upon a 
 table. It grew dark and candles were lighted. Then, traditior 
 The Charter says, the candles were suddenly put out, and when they were 
 lighted again, no charter was to be seen. Long afterwards, Con- 
 necticut presented one Captain Wadsworth with a sum of money, 
 saying that he had cared for the charter " in a very troublesome 
 season." It is thought that he hid it in an oak-tree, and a tree in 
 Hartford which fell half a century ago was often pointed out as 
 the " Charter Oak " in which the charter was concealed. 
 
 HOUSE WHKKE YALE COLLEGE WAS FOUNDED . 
 (It was the home of Kev. Samuel Kussell, in Branforil, Conn.) 
 
 Oak 
 
EARLY CUSTOMS OF NEW ENGLAND 83 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 Maine and New Hampshire. The kidnapping of Squanto aroused the inter- 
 est of Sir Ferdinando Gorges in Maine. 
 
 Gorges and Mason made their first settlements at Pemaquid Point in Maine 
 and Portsmouth in New Hampshire. 
 
 Massachusetts bought Maine from Gorges, and Maine, Massachusetts Bay, 
 and Plymouth were united in one crown colony. 
 
 Rhode Island. Roger Williams, driven from Massachusetts, was befriended 
 by the Indians. He founded Providence in 1636, and gave religious 
 freedom to all who came. A company from Massachusetts settled 
 Rhode Island, and Williams obtained a charter from the king. 
 
 Connecticut. Wethersfield, Windsor, and Hartford were settled from 
 Massachusetts, in spite of the claims of the Dutch. 
 
 They were quiet, peaceful colonies, save for the war with the Pequots. 
 They established schools and Yale College. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 Squanto tells Sir Ferdinand about his capture. 
 
 Describe Roger Williams's setting cut into the forest. 
 
 Describe the Connecticut colonists traveling through the forest. 
 
 Describe the scene when Roger Williams entered the wigwam of Canonicus. 
 
 IX 
 EARLY CUSTOMS OF NEW ENGLAND 
 
 When a settler comes to a new land, liis first thought is to 
 make some l^ind of shelter for lihnself. Tlie first houses in New 
 England were built of logs, for wood was plenty and easy to 
 work. The chinks between the logs were filled with chips and 
 clay. Glass was expensive, and in the earliest days oiled paper 
 
84 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The first 
 houses in 
 New Eng- 
 land 
 
 was used for windows. Since wood was to be had for the cut- 
 ting, the fireplaces were made large enough for the great logs 
 that were brought in from the forest. There was plenty of heat, 
 but so large a share of it went up the chimney that people cannot 
 have been very comfortable, according to our ideas of comfort. 
 
 It was the custom to " bank up " the house for winter, that is, 
 to pile up a bank of earth around it to keep out the cold. 
 ^^ , Stoves were not used until long 
 
 after the Pilgrims came, and they 
 cannot have been very good, 
 .|Sj^ for one writer of those days 
 ,i<^^ said that he could hardly 
 
 keep his ink from freezing, 
 even when it was close 
 beside the stove. There 
 was no way of heating the 
 meeting-houses. Babies 
 only a few days old were 
 brought into these frigid 
 buildings to be baptized 
 with water in which the 
 ice had to be broken. Wo- 
 men sometimes carried 
 little foot-stoves, which cannot have given out much warmth ; and 
 there the people sat through the long sermons. They would have 
 thought themselves exceedingly wicked if any discomfort had 
 made them wish to go home. 
 
 In the house the important place was the kitchen. There was 
 The kitchen the great fireplace with its iron crane, a long arm that stretched 
 out over the fire and could be moved back and forth. " Pot- 
 hooks" were hung to this, and from these hung kettles. Tin 
 " bake-ovens," like small cupboards open at one side, were set up 
 
 AN EARLY SETTLER'S HOUSE 
 
EARLY CUSTOMS OF NEW ENGLAND 85 
 
 A FOOT-STOVE 
 
 before the fire, and iii them were baked biscuit ; or on liooks in- 
 side pieces of meat were fastened to roast. Strong hooks were 
 fixed into the beams that ran across the top of the room. 
 Poles were laid on these, and from them strings of dried 
 apples or pumpkin were suspended. Sometimes a chain 
 hung from these hooks in front of the fire and 
 held a turkey or a chicken to be roasted before 
 the blaze. "Brick ovens" were made after a 
 while. They were little brick caverns beside 
 the fireplaces. A fire was built in the oven, 
 and when it was well heated the coals were 
 raked out, and the beans and brown bread and chickens and pies 
 and cakes were put in to cook. 
 
 The early settlers had stools and benches, but few chairs. 
 They ate from wooden "" trenchers," or dishes made by hollowing Furniture 
 out pieces of wood. Miles Standish bequeathed twelve of these dishes 
 trenchers in his will. A trencher generally served for two per- 
 sons, and one large drinking cup was enough for a table. There 
 
 were no forks, for they 
 had hardly been intro- 
 duced into England, 
 but there were knives 
 and wooden or pewter 
 spoons. Pewter dishes 
 were looked upon as 
 elegance itself, and 
 even the poorest house- 
 keeper would not have 
 dared to risk the scorn 
 of her neighbors by 
 leaving her pewter un- 
 
 NEW ENGLAND KITCHEN ^ ^ 
 
 (Showing crane, brick oven, and beams in the ceiling) SCOUrcd. 
 
86 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Bedrooms 
 
 The parlor 
 
 The bedrooms were icy in the cold New England winters, and 
 it is no wonder that every household had its long-handled warm- 
 ing-pan. This was filled with coals, the cover was shut down, 
 and then the pan was drawn back and forth between the sheets. 
 Beds and pillows were valuable articles, and even so great a man 
 as the governor of a colony did not scorn to make a will that 
 bequeathed his daughter a feather bed and a bolster. 
 
 The parlor, or " best room," had no carpet until the later colo- 
 nial days, but both it and the kitchen had " sanded " floors ; that 
 is, sand was thrown upon the boards, and sometimes so carefully 
 . as to make almost a regular pattern. As soon as the 
 ^ colonists became at all comfortable, every house must have 
 a parlor, though it was rarely used except for weddings 
 and funerals and the minister's calls. In the sunmier the 
 parlor fireplace was filled with sprays of asparagus, or 
 sometimes witli laurel leaves. 
 
 In this parlor there was sure to be a corner cupboard, 
 a buffet, sometimes with glass doors ; and when the days 
 of china came, the rare bits were displayed in the upper part, 
 while in the closet below was often the " company cake " and 
 the home-made wine. If a member of the family had died, there 
 was a "mourning piece" on the wall. Tliis was the picture of a 
 gravestone whereon was written the person's name. A woman 
 weeping usually bent over the stone, and a drooping willow filled 
 one side of the picture, or canvas, for sometimes these ''pieces" 
 were worked on canvas with silk or worsted. 
 
 The home of the colonist was a real manufactory. There were 
 Home man- no "depaitment stores " in those days, and few of the settlers had 
 ufactures nmch ready money. Flax and wool were si)un and wt)ven and 
 dyed and made into clothes, all in a man's o^vn house. Stock- 
 ings and mittens were knit by hand, and hats were made of 
 home-braided straw. Soap was home-made. Butter and cheese 
 
 TINDEK UOX 
 
 (Showing curved steel, 
 
 box for tinder, and candle 
 
 in the cover) 
 
EARLY CUSTOMS OF NEW ENGLAND 87 
 
 FLAX WHEEL 
 
 wer« always made at home. To be called a " good butter-hand " 
 was a great honor. For lights, the first settlers had pine-knots. 
 There was no tallow in the earliest days, so candles were made 
 of the beautiful and sweet-smelling pale green 
 bayberry wax. 
 
 The men bore their part in these home manu- The Yankee 
 factures. In farming implements wood was used ^^^ ' " 
 wherever it could be employed, and in the long 
 evenings the jack-knives of the masculine part 
 of the family were kept busy whittling out teeth 
 for rakes, handles for hoes, reels for winding 
 yarn, wooden spoons and dishes, tubs, pails, 
 buckets, yokes, flails, snowshoes, skimmers, and handles for axes, 
 and numberless other things. The men made the brooms, some- 
 times of birch twigs and sometimes of hemlock branches. A 
 Yankee with his jack-knife could almost furnish a house and a 
 barn. 
 
 The children did their part of the work of the house. The 
 girls helped their mother, and the boys helped their father. If Self-reliance 
 the boys wished for playthings, they made them. If a boy must 
 have a basket, he made it of birch bark ; while for paint he used 
 elderberry or pigeon berry juice. A boy who grew up in this 
 way learned to depend upon himself, and to know what to do 
 if he found himself in any difficulty. 
 
 When the Revolutionary War broke out, these boys 
 had become men who were not afraid to try to do 
 thmgs they had never done before. They knew little 
 al)0ut military drill, but they could invent new ways 
 of making their attacks, and they could capture forts 
 in ways not laid down in the books. In some of the wool spinning wheel 
 little hamlets away from city life, the old customs lingered far 
 into this century. Many a man, not yet fifty years old, ate in his 
 
 of children 
 
88 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Effect of this boyhood dinners that were cooked m a brick oven, prepared 
 training u q^jjjg » qj. pieces of the hollow elder stem, to be wound on the 
 little "quilling wheel" with yarn for use in the shuttle of his 
 mother's loom, and set off for college in a suit of his mother's 
 spinning and weaving. These were the kind of boys who knew 
 an unearned diploma was not worth the parchment it was written 
 on, the kind of boys that the college and the country were proud 
 to possess. 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 The New England colonists lived in log houses, cooked before open fires, 
 had simple furniture and wooden or pewter dishes. 
 
 They manufactured most of their clothes, tools, and household utensils. 
 
 The children learned to be self-reliant, and their training showed in the 
 Revolutionary War. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 Describe an evening in a colonial kitchen. Tell what each member of the 
 
 family was doing. 
 Describe a cold day in a colonial house. 
 
 X 
 
 NEW YORK, DELAWARE, AND NEW JERSEY 
 
 About the time when the Pilgrims were planning to leave Eng- 
 Henry Hud- land and go to Holland, a company of English merchants were 
 making ready to send a ship to search, not for a Northwest Pas- 
 sage, but for a Northeast. They thought there might be a way 
 to sail north of Russia, and then south to eastern Asia. They 
 chose for the captain of their vessel a friend of John Smith, a 
 
 son 
 
NEW YORK, DELAWARE, NEW JERSEY 
 
 89 
 
 brave English sailor named Henry Hudson. He set out on the 
 voyage, but he had to come back and report that the ice kept him 
 from going to Asia. He had been " farthest north," how- 
 ever, and he found himself famous. 
 
 A Dutch company then induced him to com- 
 mand one of their ships. Again the ice pre 
 vented him from sailing farther to the north 
 east, but he made up his mind to go in search 
 of the Northwest Passage instead 
 of returning to Holland. He had 
 with him a letter from John Smith 
 saying that he believed the Passage 
 might be riot far north of Chesa- 
 peake Bay. One bright September 
 morning Hudson sailed into the 
 mouth of the river that is named 
 for him, though he spoke of it as 
 the " River of Mountains." Up the 
 stream went the little vessel, the 
 Half-Moon, but the water was more 
 and more fresh. Still he kept on, 
 until just beyond where Albany 
 now stands the stream began to 
 grow shallow. This was no North- 
 west Passage. 
 
 Hudson made another voyage to Hudson Bay and Hudson 
 Strait, this time for an English company. His crew rebelled, and Hudson's 
 finally turned him and a few others adrift in a small boat, and no ^^^^ voyage 
 one knows his fate. 
 
 Hudson had called the country about the "River of Moun- 
 tains" "as fair a land as can be trodden by the foot of man ;" 
 but the Dutch were more interested in the thought that the 
 
 THK HALF-MOON LEAViNG AMSTERDAM 
 
 (Showing the Weepers' Tower, where mariners tooli leave 
 
 of their friends) 
 
90 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Dutch 
 
 traders in 
 America 
 
 Beginnings 
 of New York 
 
 Settlers on 
 Manhattan 
 Island 
 
 North River — as they called the stream, smce the Delaware was 
 known as the South River — was convenient for the Indians to 
 float down with canoes full of furs. Furs could be bought for 
 beads, jack-knives, red cloth, and trinkets of various kinds, and 
 could be sold in Europe at a high price. It is no wonder that 
 Dutch traders hastened to send ships to America. 
 
 There must be forts to protect the traders, and in 1614 a fort 
 was built on Manhattan Island. That was the beginning of the 
 city of New York. Another name for Holland was the Nether- 
 lands, or the lower 
 lands ; and the Dutch 
 called their possessions 
 in America New Neth- 
 erland, just as John 
 Smith called the land 
 north of them New 
 England, and the 
 French named the 
 land that they claimed 
 New France. More 
 forts were built, and 
 one stood where Albany now is. One of the early writers called 
 it " a miserable little fort, built of logs." 
 
 Even if the settlers were protected by " miserable little forts," 
 many of them were making fortunes by trading in furs. This 
 was a good tiling for the traders, but the Dutch West India Com- 
 pany wished to have permanent settlements, and they began to 
 think of sending colonists to the Hudson. The Indians were de- 
 lighted to sell Manhattan Island for twenty-four dollars' worth of 
 beads, brass buttons, ribbons, and red cloth. The settlement 
 around the little fort was named New Amsterdam. The settlers 
 lived m log houses, one story high, with roofs made of bark. 
 
 FIRST VIEW OF NEW AMSTERDAM 
 (Sketched by a Dutch officer in l«3o) 
 
NEW YORK, DELAWARE, NEW JERSEY 91 
 
 DUTCH FLAG 
 
 People came from most of the countries of Europe. To buy 
 furs for beads and sell them for a generous amount of gold was 
 an easy way to make a fortune, and after making a fortune, the 
 next thing was to go back to Europe to spend it. The 
 Company discussed the matter, and concluded that farm- 
 ers who had been forbidden to deal in furs would be 
 the best settlers. There was rich land all along the 
 North River, but it paid so much better to trade in furs 
 than to manage a farm that the Company knew they 
 must make especially good offers to induce people to 
 remain farmers. They formed a plan that was entirely different ' 
 from anything that had been attempted in 
 America. 
 
 Long before this time it had been the cus- 
 tom in various countries of Europe for one Patroon sys- 
 man to hold a large amount of land, and to ^^"^ 
 allow other men to use such parts of it as 
 he chose. These men must work for him so 
 many days every year, and they could not 
 leave one man's land to work for some one 
 else. This custom had gone out of use in 
 Europe, but the Dutch Company thought it 
 might be introduced into America. They 
 offered to give sixteen miles of the Hudson 
 River shore with an indefinite amount of land 
 behind it to any member of the Company who 
 would bring fifty settlers to America. 
 
 The owner of this land was called a patroon, 
 or protector. He must clear the land, build houses and barns, 
 and provide cattle and tools. He was to receive as rent a part 
 of each crop. The colonists were to be free from paying taxes 
 for ten years, but they must agree to remain on his land for 
 
 SETTLEJIENTS ABOUT 
 THE HUDSON RIVER 
 
92 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 How New 
 Netherland 
 was gov- 
 erned 
 
 that time. The patroon held a court of his own, and had the 
 right to punish any one who broke his laws. Indeed, he could 
 do just about what he chose except to trade in furs. The Com- 
 pany would not give up that right to any one. 
 
 In the New England settlements most of the settlers had the 
 same ideas of what was good for the colony, and were ready to 
 give up their own wishes for the gain of all. It was not so in 
 New Netherland. The Dutch had come to make money, and in 
 their settlement, if a colonist was becoming rich, he did not care 
 much what became of the colony. In Massachusetts, even after 
 it became a royal province, every member of the church had a 
 vote, but New Netherland was ruled by governors sent over by 
 the Company. 
 
 Governor Stuyvesant, the last of these governors, was the best 
 \ of them, for though he meant to have 
 
 his own way, he was honest and kept 
 the colony in order. Just as Vir- 
 ginia had demanded a House of Bur- 
 gesses, so the people of New Nether- 
 land wished to elect a council of men 
 to tell what their taxes should be, and 
 to decide how the money should be 
 spent. Stuyvesant finally yielded so 
 far as to allow them to elect the 
 council, but the covmcilors had no 
 power, for he would pound on the 
 floor with his wooden leg and tell 
 them what was to be done — and it always was done. 
 Governor Stuyvesant had in New Amsterdam a great farm, or 
 The Bowery bowery, as it was called in Dutch. The lane leading to it was 
 Bowery Lane, and even* now the street that is where the lane 
 used to be is called the Bowery. Before New Amsterdam was 
 
 WALL STREET PALISADE FROM THE EAST 
 RIVER 
 
 and Wall 
 Street 
 
NEW YORK, DELAWARE, NEW JERSEY 93 
 
 thirty years old, a war broke out between England and Holland ; 
 and lest the English should invade the Dutch city. Governor 
 Stuyvesant built a stout wooden wall, twelve feet high, directly 
 across the island. Where this wall ran is now called Wall Street. 
 The Dutch had good reason to fear being driven away by the 
 English. Holland said, " We were first in the North River." Dutch and 
 England replied, " Yes, but an Englishman was captain of your ^i"f^s j^ 
 
 vessel; and what is more, John Cabot New Nether- 
 brought an English ship to America ^" 
 more than a century before you 
 
 NEW AMSTERDAM 
 (From a Dutch map published in ISX) 
 
 came." " True," retorted the Dutch, " but if our captain was an 
 Englishman, yours was an Italian. Moreover, it was your own 
 Queen Elizabeth who said that discovery of a land is nothing ; it 
 is colonizing that gives a right to the country. We have had men 
 here almost ever since Hudson's voyage was made, and the land 
 is ours." But the English said, " King James granted this land to 
 the London and the Plymouth Companies before Hudson crossed 
 the ocean. If Dutchmen come here to settle, we are willing ; but 
 they are on our land, and they are subjects of our king." 
 
 The matter was dropped for a time because the English king 
 and his people did not get along very well together and were too Swedes in 
 busy with their own quarrels to give much time to American Delaware 
 affairs. England left the Dutch in peace for a while, but trouble 
 was arising from another direction, and they could not make 
 butter and cheese and smoke their pipes in quiet very long. The 
 king of Sweden had been eager to found a colony in America that 
 
94 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 should be open to all Protestants. lie died before this could be 
 
 done, but in 1638 a company of " strong, industrious people " sailed 
 
 from Sweden to tlie Delaware lliver — or South River, as the 
 
 Dutch called it. Up the wide, beautiful stream they went until 
 
 they were where Wilmington now stands. There they built a 
 
 fort and named it Fort C-hristiana in honor of the Uttle girl, 
 
 twelve years old, wlio had become their queen. She 
 
 was much interested in the colony, and was glad 
 
 t have her father's plan carried out. Tliis was 
 
 tlie Ijeginning of the settlement of Delaware. 
 
 After a few years, a governor named Printz 
 was sent to rule the colony. He did not mean 
 that any craft should sail up the Delaware 
 River against his will; and when a vesse' 
 entered the stream, the sailors must anchor and 
 go on for six leagues in small boats to ask if the 
 governor would allow them to bring up the 
 ship. If his permission was not asked, he would lire upon the 
 vessel, no matter to what nation it belonged. 
 
 This was very annoying to the Dutch, for they had a little 
 settlement farther up the Delaware, opposite where Philadelphia 
 now stands, and to be obliged to ask the permission of a Swede 
 whenever they wished to sail up to their own people Avas rather 
 hard. They said dolefully that the 
 Swedish fort was " extremely well 
 supplied with cannons and men." 
 After a while the time came when 
 The Dutch Sweden was too busy making war in 
 
 Sn^n ^^^ Europe to defend her colony on tlie Delaware. The hot-headed 
 Governor StuyA^esant had borne about as much as he cared to 
 bear, and Governor Printz was greatly surprised one morning 
 to see seven Dutch ships come sailmg up his river without ask- 
 
 DUTCH TAXKAKL) 
 
 (Given to the first white girl born in New 
 
 Netlierland, on her marriage) 
 
 l>rTCH FLINTLOCK PISTOL 
 
 Sweden 
 
NEW YORK, DELAWARE, NEW JERSEY 95 
 
 ing liis permission. There were more men on board, armed and 
 ready to fight, ^lan there were in all the little Swedish settle- 
 ment, and Governor Printz had to surrender. So it was that the 
 Dutch became masters not only of New Netherland, but of New New Jersey 
 Sweden. In 1617, only three years after they built their fort on ^^"'^^ 
 Manhattan Island, they built one where Bergen stands, and this 
 was the first settlement in New Jersey. 
 
 So far, the Dutch had had matters their own way. They had 
 taken as much land as they chose, 
 and had conquered the Swedes 
 who would not live under their 
 ride, but now trouble was com- 
 ing upon them. An Eng- 
 lish fleet sailed into Mas- 
 sachusetts Bay, and the 
 Dutchmen of New Amster- 
 dam were greatly alarmed, 
 but Holland sent a mes- 
 sage, " There is nothing to 
 fear. They have only come to 
 oblige Massachusetts to admit 
 the Episcopal Church." There 
 were some Dutch warships 
 lying off New Amsterdam, but when this dispatch came. Gov- Trouble for 
 3rnor Stuyvesant allowed them to sail. The Dutch had made *^^ ^"**^^ 
 a treaty with the Iroquois, the chief tribe of Indians in that part 
 of the comitry, but some other red men were making trouble, 
 and the governor and most of his troops had gone up the Hudson 
 to quiet them. One hot August day a messenger dashed into 
 the camp. " The EngUsh ships ! " he cried. " They have left 
 Boston, and they are coming to Manhattan ! " 
 
 Governor Stuyvesant hurried to Manhattan, and the next day 
 
 THE STRAND, NOW WHITEHALL STREET, NEW YORK, 
 IN 1673 
 
 (The house at the head of the wharf was the first brick house 
 built in the town) 
 
96 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 England 
 claims New 
 Amsterdam 
 
 NicoUs's 
 letter 
 
 the men-of-war appeared. There were one thousand soldiers on 
 board, and there were six times as many guns as Fort Amsterdam 
 could show. Governor Winthrop came ashore and made it clear 
 to Governor Stuyvesant that the land had been granted to the 
 Massachusetts Bay Company, and must be surrendered. Stuy- 
 vesant would not yield, and at last Winthrop presented a letter 
 from the English commander, Richard Nicolls, whom the king 
 had appointed governor of the territory, and went back to the 
 ship. This letter promised that the Dutch might plant as many 
 
 colonies as tliey chose 
 and have all the privi- 
 leges of English colo- 
 nists, if they would sur- 
 render Manhattan. 
 
 " Let us read it to the 
 people," said the coun- 
 cilors. 
 
 " I won't," roared 
 
 Governor Stuyvesant, 
 
 thumping on the floor 
 
 with his wooden leg ; 
 
 and straightway he 
 
 tore the letter into bits. 
 
 The people heard 
 
 what he had done, and 
 
 STUYVESANT TEARS UP NicoLLS's LETTER thcy dcmaudcd to lieai 
 
 the letter. One of the councilors put the pieces together and read 
 
 it to them. 
 
 " The West India Company has done little for us," said one. 
 " Why should Ave lose our homes and our Uves to hold the land 
 for them ? " demanded another. 
 "We cannot hold the land if we would," declared a third. 
 
NEW YORK, DELAWARE, NEW JERSEY 97 
 
 " We have twenty guns and two hundred, and fifty men ; they 
 have one hundred and twenty guns and one thousand men." 
 
 Still Stuyvesant would not yield. The ships sailed mto the 
 North River, and the governor marched up the road at the head New Yort 
 of his men to prevent the troops from landing. The 
 citizens begged him not to fire. Women and chil- 
 dren crowded around him and pleaded with him not 
 to bring war upon them. He yielded, but he said, 
 " I 'd rather be carried to my grave." So it came 
 about that New Amsterdam was no longer a Dutch 
 town. It lost even its name, for the English king 
 gave the territory to his brother, the Duke of York, 
 and in 1664 New Amsterdam became New York. 
 
 Nicolls remained as governor. He was a just, kind- 
 hearted man, always ready to please the people. When 
 he was obHged to go back to England, the New York- 
 ers were as sorry as if they themselves had chosen 
 him for their governor. Honest, positive old Gov- 
 ernor Stuyvesant and this gentle, courteous Governor 
 Nicolls became warm friends. Stuyvesant lived on 
 his "bowery" on the East River, and the man whom he would 
 have fought to the death was one of his most welcome guests. 
 
 Governor Nicolls was much pleased with the northern part of 
 what is now New Jersey. He sent a colony there when he had Ne\y Jersey 
 been in New York only a few months, but before the colonists ^^^y 
 were fairly settled, he learned that the Duke of York had given 
 away the land to two noblemen. Lord Berkeley and Sir George 
 Carteret. " Hold on to your homes," said Governor Nicolls. " I 
 am going to England, and I will beg the duke not to give up the 
 land." 
 
 The visit was of no use, and one day in 1664 an English vessel 
 appeared in the harbor. The colonists stood in a group on the 
 
 A COMPANION OF 
 
 GOVERN OK NICOLLS 
 
 (Showing the costume 
 
 of the period) 
 
98 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Philip Car- 
 teret 
 
 river bank, not knowing whether they would be treated kindly or 
 driven harshly away from their settlement. A small boat was 
 rowed to the landmg, and a young man sprang ashore. Tradition 
 says that he had a hoe on his shoulder. lie mtroduced himself 
 as Phihp Carteret, a cousin of Sir George, and made a cordial 
 little speech to the settlers, saying that he was glad to find them 
 
 there, and he hoped they would 
 stay. He told them how much 
 land he would give them, and 
 promised that every man 
 might worship God as \m 
 thought right. 
 
 The colonists liked the 
 young man. They had built 
 four " clapboarded houses," 
 and, crowded as they were, 
 room was made for Philip and 
 his men. This is the way in 
 which the town of Ehzabeth 
 was begrni. The name was that of Sir George's wife. New Jer- 
 sey's name came from the island of Jersey, of which Sir George 
 Carteret had once been governor. 
 Not many years passed before Lord Berkeley sold his share of 
 The Quakers New Jersey to the Quakers. Some time afterwards they pur- 
 Je^sey^^ chased the share of the Carterets also. In 1702 East and West 
 Jersey were united and became a royal colony. 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 Henry Hudson, sailing for a Dutch company, discovered the Hudson River. 
 New York was first settled by the Dutch fur traders, and was called New 
 
 Amsterdam. Patroons received large estates along the Hudson. 
 England claimed the land because of Cabot's voyage, seized it, and gave to 
 
 both city and province the name New York. 
 
 i5lU\\L>\M & liOttLia aoL^i 
 
PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 99 
 
 Delaware was settled by the Swedes, and afterwards was seized in turn by 
 
 the Dutch and the English. 
 New Jersey was settled by the Dutch, then by colonists under Carteret and 
 
 Berkeley, then by Quakers. Finally it became a royal colony. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 Stuyvesant describes the surrender of New Amsterdam. 
 A patroon tries to persuade a man to come to America. 
 A talk between Governor Printz and some sailors who wished to go up the 
 Delaware. 
 
 XI 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA AND MARYLAND 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 Settlements had already been 
 made in New England, New York, The boy Wil- 
 and Delaware when the boy was 
 born who was to hold more land m 
 America than any other man had 
 ever received. His name was Wil- 
 liam Penn, and he was the son of 
 an admiral of the British navy. 
 AVhen the boy grew older, he was 
 very handsome. He was an excel- 
 lent scholar, and spoke five or six 
 languages. He was fond of out- 
 of-door sports, rode well, danced 
 well, was a good swordsman, and 
 a favorite wherever he went. 
 Admiral Penn was exceedingly proud of his brilliant son. He 
 
 WILLIAM PENN 
 (When twenty-two years old) 
 
 LOFC 
 
100 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 A quakp:r» 
 
 Penn will 
 not remove 
 his hat to 
 the king 
 
 Advanced 
 ideas of the 
 Quakers 
 
 sent him to Oxford University, and made many plans for his 
 career after he had graduated. By and by news 
 came to the admiral that the young man had 
 become a Quaker, and that he was getting into 
 trouble at the University because he thought it 
 was wrong to attend the church service and be- 
 cause he persisted in saying thee and thou instead 
 of you. The Quakers, or Friends, did not think 
 it right to speak to one person as you^ since 
 you is a plural pronoun, although by most peo- 
 ple it was thought as impertinent to say thou 
 to an older person as it would be to-day to 
 call him by his first name. 
 
 The admiral was angry and disappointed. 
 One thing that seemed especially shocking to 
 '^^K7efr„:e^rnTo^V'"'' him was his son's refusal to take off his hat, 
 even to the king. The king himself was not at all annoyed. He 
 thought this whim of young Penn's, as he called it, was very 
 amusing, and when the handsome young man stood before him, 
 hat on head, the king took off his own hat. " Friend Charles," 
 asked the Quaker, " why dost thou take off thy hat ? " " Wher- 
 ever I go," answered the king, with a sly twinkle in his eye, " it is 
 the custom for only one man to wear a hat." William Penn liked 
 a jest as well as any one, and he must have been amused at this 
 speech, but he continued to wear his hat. 
 
 In some important matters the Friends were wiser than the 
 rest of the world ; for instance, m England a man might be 
 hanged for stealing a loaf of bread, but the Friends believed that 
 it was far better to punish him in some other way than by taking 
 his life. In those days most people thought that insane persons 
 could be cured by beating and starving, but Penn believed in 
 1 From a portrait of Nicholas Wain iu Watson's Amuih vf Philadelphia. 
 
PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 101 
 
 having hospitals for them and treating them kindly. He thought 
 
 no one should be imprisoned for debt ; and, so far as is known, 
 
 he was the first man in the world to declare that criminals ought 
 
 to have work provided for them when they were imprisoned, and 
 
 not spend their time in idleness and in learning more of evil 
 
 from the other prisoners. Another idea of his, which was then Penn's own 
 
 almost unheard of, was that nations, instead of going to war when '*^^^^ 
 
 they disagreed, should let their rulers meet and act as a council 
 
 to settle any dispute. It is probable that many who were opposed 
 
 to the Quakers did not think so much of the difference of belief 
 
 in important affairs as of what seem to us very small matters, 
 
 such as refusing to take off the hat, and saying thee and thou. 
 
 There were Quakers in New Jersey, and for some time Penn 
 thought of founding a settlement in 
 America where his people could live in 
 peace and not be fined or beaten or im- 
 prisoned. Charles II. owed Admiral 
 Penn a large sum of money, and when 
 the admiral died, WiUiam Penn offered 
 to accept instead of the money a tract 
 of land in America. The king was glad 
 enough to escape from paying the debt. 
 He thought it very amusing that this 
 young Quaker would take wild forest 
 land instead of such a sum of money, 
 and it may be that there was a touch of 
 humor in the name which he gave it, 
 " Pennsylvania," or " Penn's Woodland," 
 though he declared that the name was 
 
 given in honor of the admiral. More amusing still did it seem to 
 the merry King Charles to send Quakers, who did not believe in 
 fighting, off among the savages. 
 
 OHAKLES 11 
 
102 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Phtladelphia 
 founded 
 
 " We shall have no fighting," said Penn, " we shall pay the 
 Indians for the land." 
 
 " I thought the land was mine," said the king, " Did n't our 
 ships discover it ? " 
 
 " If some Indians should come over here and discover England, 
 would the country be theirs ? " asked Penn. 
 
 " Oh good-by, good-by," said the king ; " but see to it that you 
 don't take to scalping." 
 
 There were to be just laws in Penn's colony and religious free- 
 dom. Sliip after ship sailed up the DelaAvare, full of colonists ; 
 three thousand came during the first year. Penn planned his 
 
 city with wide, straight streets, 
 and gave them the names of 
 forest trees. Some of these 
 names have been changed, but 
 there are still Chestnut, Wal- 
 nut, Spruce, Pine, and others. 
 The settlers at first lived not 
 oil the river bank, but in it, for 
 they (lug into the bluft" from the 
 side and top, spread turf and 
 branches over the cave for a 
 roof, and were not at all un- 
 comfortable. So it was that 
 Philadelphia was begun in 1682. 
 The name means the "city ot 
 THK MIDDLE COLONIES brothcrly love," and Penn in- 
 
 tended that people of different beliefs should have an oppor- 
 tunity to live there in peace. In a few weeks he asked the set- 
 tlers to meet him, and together they made laws for the colony. 
 
 Soon after I'enn's arrival the famous treaty with the Indians 
 was made. Penn feasted them, and they feasted him. They ran 
 
PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 103 
 
 and leaped to show what they could do. The governor watched Penn's 
 a little whUe, then he showed what he could do. When they jhe^i^dians 
 saw that he could leap as far and run as fast as they, they were 
 convmced that he was really a mighty man, and they 
 gladly made a treaty with him. The treaty 
 made by the Pilgrims with Massasoit was kept 
 for more than fifty years, but this famous treaty 
 of Penn's was faithfully observed for sixty years. 
 
 The Quakers paid the red men for the land that they 
 took, as the whites in New York and New England had 
 done ; but the Quakers were especially fortunate in 
 having around them, not fierce, warhke Indians like 
 those of the east, but tribes that had been completely 
 subdued by the fierce Iroquois, made to pay tribute, 
 and to call themselves cowards. Their conquerors 
 were friendly to the whites, and were ready to swoop 
 down upon the Indians of Pennsylvania if they harmed 
 the Quakers.^ 
 
 This was what gave Penn safety. But he had more 
 than safety : he had the friendship of the red men, and tliis he 
 won chiefly because he was one of the few white men who treated 
 them not as inferiors, but as equals, and because he was careful ' 
 to do by them as he would have liked them to do by him. Penn 
 stayed two years in America. He lived at first in a small cottage, 
 now in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, the bricks for which were 
 brought from England. He was finally obliged to return to Eng- 
 \an(J, and visited his " Woodland " but once more. 
 
 The city grew. Schools were opened when it was only one 
 year old, and — a new thing in those days — they were for girls Education 
 as well as boys. Children could be taught to read for four shil- 0*^3 Jfrs and 
 lings a term, and for eight sliillings they could learn reading, Puritans 
 ' Fiske's Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America. 
 
 PENN'S AUTOGRAPH 
 AND SEAL 
 
104 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Growth of 
 the city 
 
 writing, and arithmetic. The Quaker belief in regard to educa- 
 tion was quite different from that of the Puritans, Both were 
 eager to miderstand the Bible aright. The Puritans thought that 
 the more of a student a man was, the better chance he would 
 
 have of knowing just 
 what every verse in 
 the Bible meant. That 
 is why the Puritans 
 were so anxious to 
 found a college. The 
 (Quakers thought that 
 if one simply learned 
 to read, God would put 
 into his heart the mean- 
 ing of what was said in 
 the Bible. That is why 
 they did not think it was necessary to have a college, although 
 they wished their children to have a common school education. 
 
 Philadelphia grew rapidly and soon became the largest city in 
 the colonies, retaining that distinction for many years. Two years 
 after Penn's arrival the first printing press in the middle colonies 
 was established in Philadelphia. There, too, was published the 
 first daily paper in the United States. 
 
 PENN'S HUICK COTTAC.i; 
 (Formerly standing on the west side of Letitia Street) 
 
 English per- 
 secution of 
 Roman 
 Catholics 
 
 MARYLAND. 
 
 Maryland is a kind of link between the northern colonies and 
 those farther south. It was first settled in 1034, the very year in 
 which Roger Williams was having so hard a time in Massachu- 
 setts. The Roman Catholics in England were meeting even 
 greater troubles than his. If they refused to attend the Episcopal 
 Church, they were fined or imprisoned, or even tortured. Not a 
 word could they say about making the laws of the land, and they 
 
MARYLAND 
 
 105 
 
 could not even send their children away to school in Roman 
 Catholic countries. The queen was a Roman Catholic, but, 
 strangely enough, this fact only made life in England harder for 
 the members of her church. In order to marry her, Charles had 
 promised that the laws against those of her faith should not be 
 carried out. He had no power to bring this to pass, and while 
 the Roman Catholics were indignant that he did not succeed, the 
 Protestants were angry that he even made an attempt, and they 
 watched closely to make sure that the laws were enforced. 
 
 In England there was a wise, clear-sighted nobleman called Lord Balti- 
 Lord Baltimore. He had been a member of Parliament, and he ^coLnv "^ 
 was a friend of King Charles. This nobleman had become a Ro- 
 man Catholic, and just as the Puritans wished to 
 found a colony where they could be free to worship 
 as they would, so Lord Baltimore wished to found one 
 where Roman Catholics could have their church. He 
 asked the king for some land north of Virginia, and 
 Charles was more than ready to grant the request. 
 This gift would please the Roman Catholics, 
 the Protestants would not object to their op- 
 ponents leaving the country, and the only ones 
 displeased would be the colonists in Virginia, 
 ^vho were too far away to make any trouble. 
 
 Lord Baltimore could appoint his own judges, 
 have his own form of worship, and make very 
 nearly what laws he chose. The only claim that 
 King Charles made upon the proprietor was that 
 one fifth of all gold and silver mined should be- 
 long to the crown, and that two Indian arrows should be pre- The inde- 
 sented to him every year, to show that the land was under the Maryland " 
 Enghsh rule. The queen's name Avas Henrietta Maria, and in 
 her honor the tract was to be called Maryland. 
 
 CECILIUS CALVERT. SKCOND 
 LOUD BALTIlMOliK 
 
106 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 founded 
 
 Just as the papers for this grant were to be made out, Lord 
 St Mary's is Baltimore died, but his son went on with the plan, and carried 
 out his father's ideas. Soon three hundred colonists went to 
 Maryland. A few were rich, and all were well supplied wdth 
 what would be needed in a new country. Some were Roman 
 Catholics, but many were Protestants, for it was known that men 
 were to attend whatever church they chose. The emigrants came 
 to land on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay. The ship was 
 the largest that the Indians had ever seen, and they sent messen- 
 gers about to say, " A canoe as large as an island has brought as 
 many men as there are trees in the woods." " Where did a tree 
 grow that was large enough to make it of ? " they asked, for they 
 thought it was made of a single trunk like a dug-out. For " axes, 
 hatchets, hoes, and some yards of cloth," the chief sold the wliites 
 a piece of land at the mouth of the Potomac, and there in 1634 
 was founded Saint Mary's, the first settlement in Maryland. 
 Some wigwams were on this land, and in 
 one of these was held the first Roman Cath- 
 olic service in that part of the world. This 
 Indian hut is sometimes spoken of as the 
 " Wigwam Church." 
 
 The governor called the colonists to a 
 
 meeting, and together they made laws for 
 
 The most famous one of these laws declared 
 
 A BALTIMORE SIXPENCE 
 (Issued by Lord Baltimore in 1G62) 
 
 Religious 
 freedom 
 
 the settlement. 
 
 that no one who believed in Jesus Christ should be interfered 
 with in his worship. Rhode Island Avas not founded till two 
 years later, so such libei-ality was something entirely new in 
 America, and it was almost unknown i;i Europe. Roman Catho- 
 lics came to the colony, of course, and Quakers came ; and finally 
 some Puritans came who had not been happy in Virginia, and 
 they founded Annapolis. 
 The great business of Maryland was raising tobacco. This 
 
MARYLAND 
 
 107 
 
 DOUGHOEEGAN MANOR IN MARYLAND 
 
 work paid so well that people did little else ; and while the New Why Mary. 
 ..,.,.11 ., ,,- land had no 
 Englanders were spmnmg and weaving and sawing and whittling, manufac- 
 
 the people of Maryland were rolling their hogsheads of tobacco tures 
 to the w^harves, and sending them to England to buy whatever 
 they needed to wear and to use in their houses. With whole 
 forests at hand, the Marylanders made nothing for themselves, 
 but sent the wood to England to be manufactured into tables, 
 stools, bowls, and brooms, and brought back to them. 
 
 People living on large plantations cannot have their houses 
 near together, and this is the chief reason why there were so few Reason for 
 towns in Maryland even after many settlers had come. Each ^q^^^ 
 plantation, however, was like a little town in itself. There were 
 wide fields of tobacco all around, cabins for the workmen, a 
 chapel, storehouses, and in the centre of all the great, comfortable 
 house of the owner of the plantation. In these rather lonely 
 places, the people at the " great house " were always glad to wel- 
 come guests. The homes of the planters " are free for all to come 
 and go," said one who knew them well. 
 
108 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Puritan re 
 bellion 
 
 In a short time there were troubles in Maryland, which arose 
 chiefly because the Virginians did not msh to have a colony so 
 near. Some years later a rebellion broke out among the Puritans 
 against the governor. They were especially ungrateful because, 
 as was said, Lord Baltimore had given them the same rights that 
 he had given to the people of his owti church. The Puritans 
 were in power in England, and the man who w^as then Lord Balti- 
 more was declared to have no claim upon Maryland. 
 
 A few years later- his rights were restored, and for thirty years 
 every man went to church Avhere he pleased. Then the king 
 government ^qq^ h^q government into his own hands, and the Roman Catho- 
 lics were obliged to pay forty pounds of tobacco apiece every year 
 to help support the Episcopal Church. Finally a Protestant de- 
 scendant of the founder was appointed governor, and his family 
 held the province mitil the Revolution. 
 
 Changes of 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 The Quaker, William Peiiu, obtained a grant of laud in America and 
 founded Philadelphia. People of all kinds of belief came to enjoy 
 religious freedom. The city soon became the largest in the colonies. 
 
 Maryland was founded by Lord Baltimore as a place of refuge for Roman 
 Catholics who were persecuted in England. 
 
 Religious freedom was given to all who chose to come. 
 
 Maryland had few manufactures because tobacco-raising paid so well that 
 people bought whatever was needed, and few towns because each man 
 ■wished to have a large plantation for raising tobacco. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 A Quaker boy describes his cave in the banks of the Delaware. 
 Penn tells the Indians of his wish to be on good terms -with them. 
 One Indian tells another about the coming of the great ship. 
 
NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA 
 
 109 
 
 XII 
 THE CAROLINAS AND GEORGIA 
 
 the Caroli- 
 
 — .-yc-^.L^.,R g'^ j .-^-n^.;.^.:': Ai; 
 
 NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 The father of Charles II. treated his people so badly that finally 
 he was tried and put to death. For eleven years there was no The_grant of 
 king in England, and then Charles II. was set upon the throne. ^^^ 
 The men who had helped him 
 to secure his father's crown 
 expected to be rewarded, but 
 Charles preferred to spend his 
 money in amusing himself. The 
 cheapest thing to do was to give 
 them some land in America, and 
 this he did. To a company of 
 eight he gave the land between 
 Virginia and Saint Augustine. 
 Like the other grants, this terri- 
 tory was to extend to the west 
 as far as the Pacific. 
 
 Carolina was not all wilder- map of the carolikas and Georgia 
 ness, for a few farmers had come from Virginia and settled near Albemarle 
 Albemarle Somid, not far from Roanoke Island, where Raleigh 
 had tried to begin his " second home " for the English nation. In 
 1663 the Company gave the little group of houses the name of 
 Albemarle. This was the first permanent settlement in North 
 Carolina. 
 
 The first settlement in South Carolina was made in 1670, near 
 
uo 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 nots 
 
 Charleston where Charleston now stands, by English emigrants whom the 
 Company sent over. Just as Jamestown had been named in 
 honor of Khig James, so this settlement was nanu-d in honor of 
 King Charles II. 
 
 South Carolina was especially fortunate in the Huguenot, or 
 the Hugue- French Protestant, emigrants wlio came to the new colony in the 
 early days. The king of France declared that they should not 
 have a church of their own in France, and that if they tried to 
 emigrate, they should be hanged. Those who came to America 
 had to steal away by night and abandon their homes and other 
 property, but when they reached the New World, every colony 
 had a welcome for them. Massachusetts gladly gave them land 
 and money. They were valuable colonists, for they understood 
 various kinds of manufactures, and, more than that, they w^ere 
 brave, upright, mtelligent peoi)le, a prize for any nation. 
 
 In England a learned man named Jolni Locke -wrote a body 
 
 of laws for Carolina. 
 There were laws for 
 everything that could 
 be thought of from the 
 punishment of crimes 
 to the oversight of chil- 
 dren'sgames. Therewas 
 to be a certain number 
 of noblemen, each own- 
 ing a certain amount of 
 
 ENTRANCE TO CHAUt.i;>TnN HMM'.nK ^.^^^^^_ ^j^^^.^ ^^.^^.^ .^j^^ 
 
 to be tenants, who rented land, l)ut could never ))uy it. They 
 must do whatever the nobleman bade, and they must not leave 
 his land without permission. The Company were so delighted 
 with this body of huvs that they called it the " Grand Model," and 
 declared that it would stand forever. In reality, it never stood 
 
 The Grand 
 Model 
 
GEORGIA 
 
 111 
 
 at all, for the settlers refused to be ruled in any such fashion, and 
 insisted upon buying land and makuig laws for themselves. 
 North Carolina had vast forests of pines, and the chief occupa- 
 tion of the colonists was cutting timber and making tar The chief 
 and turpentme. South Carolina had great tracts of 
 swampy land, and as soon as it was found that rice 
 would grow on it, the raising of rice became the princi- 
 pal work. Long before the Revolutionary War, it was 
 discovered that indigo would flourish in South Carolina, 
 and that paid so well that indigo raising then became 
 the leacUng industry. It was not easy for white people 
 to work in the swamps, and negro slaves were brought 
 from Africa. The occupations of the two parts of Caro- Division of 
 
 lina were so unlike and the first settlements so far apart, that 
 what one portion of the country wanted was often quite different 
 from what the other required. The 
 result of this was that the territory 
 was finally divided into two parts, 
 North and South Carolma. 
 
 , GEORGIA, 
 
 r 
 
 There used to be a law in England 
 that men who could not pay their 
 debts should be put into prison. In 
 prison they must stay unless some 
 one paid for them, for there they had 
 no way of earnmg money. Indeed, 
 they had little food unless their 
 friends gave it to them or they could 
 beg it from those who passed by. 
 Many of these " poor debtors " were honest men who had run in 
 debt because of sickness. Some were even well educated. 
 
 the Caroli- 
 
 Poor debtors 
 
 GENERAL JAMES OttLETHOKPE 
 (From a print in the British Museum) 
 
112 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Oglethorpe 
 plans to help 
 them 
 
 Why he 
 chose Geor- 
 gia 
 
 The settle- 
 ment of 
 Georgia 
 
 The prisons of England were in a wretched condition, and Par- 
 liament appointed General James Oglethorpe to visit them and 
 report what reforms ought to be made. General Oglethorpe was 
 a kind-hearted man, and after he had seen the sufferings of these 
 people, he could not rest until he had planned some way to relieve 
 them. This is what he planned. He would pay their debts, set 
 them free, and then carry them and their families to America, and 
 give them a chance to try again. 
 
 Many rich men helped, the English government helped, and it 
 was only a year before a ship set sail with more than one hundred 
 liberated prisoners and their families on board as emigrants. They 
 were to form a settlement between Charleston and Saint Augus- 
 tine, for Oglethorpe was a good general as well as a kind, gener- 
 ous man, and he knew that Charleston would welcome a strong 
 settlement to the south as a protection against the Spaniards, 
 ' ": and that the two colo- 
 
 nies could stand mor( 
 firmly together than 
 either alone. The tract 
 of land given to him 
 " in trust for the poor '' 
 was called Georgia, for 
 then King George 11. 
 was on the throne. 
 
 The first settlement 
 was made at Savannah 
 in 1733. Not many 
 years before this time, 
 
 
 
 i^^- 
 
 . N \ii IN irti 
 
 the Spaniards of Florida had aroused the Indians to attack South 
 Carolina, and that colony was delighted to have these new neigh- 
 bors and allies. She gave them cattle, goats, hogs, and rice, besides 
 sending some negroes with them to help build the houses. South 
 
GEORGIA 
 
 113 
 
 Carolina was not disappointed in the help that she expected to 
 receive from the new colony, for General Oglethorpe led an expe- 
 dition against the Spaniards, and after that there was no trouble 
 from them. 
 
 Oglethorpe had expected to be able to make wine and olive oil, Silk-raising 
 and to produce large quantities of silk, for mulberry-trees, 
 on whose leaves the silkworms feed, grew wild in Geor^ 
 When the colony was two years old, the founder made 
 a visit to England, and carried with him eight pounds 
 of Georgia silk, which was made into a dress for 
 the queen. Silk-raising was not a success, however, 
 one reason being that the raising of rice and indigo 
 paid much better. 
 
 Oglethorpe and his friends were to make the 
 laws for the colonies for twenty-one years ; but 
 after a Httle while the settlers were not contented 
 to be ruled by others. There were two reasons why 
 they felt that they had a right to complain. One was 
 that no rum could be brought into the colony, and the 
 second was that slavery Avas not allowed. The colonists 
 said that men needed rum in that climate, and that besides, 
 they ought to have it to sell to the West Indies. The 
 cUmate, it was maintained, required the use of negroes, for the 
 settlers said they must have workmen who could endure the heat 
 better than white men. 
 
 The founder and his friends finally granted their requests. 
 Twenty years after the colony was founded, the province was Georgia is 
 given up to the king, and until the Revolution it was ruled by a fheTin ^ ^° 
 governor whom he appointed. Georgia was the last of the thirteen 
 English colonies that united, only a century and a half after the 
 first one was founded, to free themselves from Great Britain. 
 
 HRANCH OF OLIVE 
 
114 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 The Caroliiias were granted to several men as a reward for serving tlie 
 king. Among their most vahiable colonists were the Huguenots. 
 
 The chief industry in the northern part was the manufacture of tar and 
 turpentine ; in the southern, the raising of rice and indigo. The wants 
 of the two colonies were so unlike that the province was finally di- 
 vided. 
 
 General Oglethorpe founded Georgia as a home for " poor debtors." 
 
 The settlers were not satisfied with the government of the colony, and at 
 last it was given up to the king. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 General Oglethorpe tells Parliament about the "poor debtors." 
 One of the prisoners writes his wife about Oglethorpe's offer. 
 
 XIII 
 THE FRENCH EXPLORATIONS IN AMERICA 
 
 A FEW years before Jamestown was settled, 
 there was in France a brave young sailor who 
 had become a soldier for the time, and was 
 helping to fight some of the French king's 
 l)attles. His name was Champlain, and he 
 would liavebeen much sur])rised if any one 
 had told him that some day a lake in America 
 would be named after him. 
 
 When the fighting was over, he asked the 
 [PLAIN'S picTUKE OF QUEBEC klug's pcrmission to go to America to search 
 
 IN 1C13 ox- 
 
 for the Northwest Passage. He explored 
 the Saint Lawrence, and on its north shore he noted a rocky pro- 
 
FRENCH EXPLORATIONS 
 
 115 
 
 montory. " That is the very place for a town," he thought. " The The found- 
 river is narrow here, and a fort with a few men could keep any Quebec 
 number of ships from coming up the stream." In 1608 he founded 
 a colony on that very spot, and named it Quebec from the Indian 
 word quebec, a narrow place. 
 
 The Iroquois, the fiercest and most savage of all the Indian 
 tribes, lived in what is now the State of New York, and one day 
 the friendly Indians who were north of the Samt Lawrence came 
 to Champlain to beg for his aid against these Iroquois, who were 
 their deadly foes. Champlain agreed to help them. The white 
 men and the red men 
 feasted and smoked and 
 made speeches. Then 
 they paddled up the 
 river and into Lake 
 Champlain. If they had 
 been one month later 
 and had gone a little 
 farther south, they 
 might have met Henry 
 Hudson and his Dutch- 
 men sailing up the Hud- 
 son. All the men that they thought of meeting were the Iroquois, Champlain 
 and soon the Iroquois came. Champlain's guns won the day, and j^oquo^s 
 there was no limit to the devotion of the Indians. To show their 
 affection and gratitude, they gave him the bleeding head of one 
 of their enemies and asked him to present it to his sovereign. 
 This little battle between a few red men in the woods with some 
 white men helping one side was an important event in American 
 history, for ever after this the Iroquois hated the French and 
 were ready to help the English. That is why the French did 
 not venture to found any colonies in New York, although they 
 
 A JESUIT EXPLORER 
 
116 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The Jesuits 
 
 explored to the westward, up the Samt Lawrence and about the 
 Great Lakes. They claimed all the land that is drained by the 
 river, and called it New France. 
 
 The first explorers were Roman Catholic priests called Jesuits. 
 Champlam said that he would rather convert an Indian than 
 found an empire, and this was the spirit of these priests. Among 
 the hostile Indians they suffered fearful tortures. They were 
 beaten, they were burned, their fingers were cut off with shells 
 joint by joint, and they were put to death in all the agonizing 
 ways that could be invented. Still, even after the Dutch had 
 ransomed one and sent him home, he made his way back again to 
 preach to his tormentors. One Jesuit, when pursued by Iroquois, 
 might easily have made his escape, but hastened back to terrible 
 sufferings because he remembered that some of his Indian con- 
 verts had not yet been baptized. In all the liistory of America, 
 there are no heroes more brave, more earnest, and 
 more unselfish than these l)lack-robed missionaries 
 of the wilderness. 
 
 Another class of people who did much to bring the 
 
 French and the Indians together were the coureurs de bois, 
 
 or forest rangers. The king's officers demanded so nmch 
 
 of the profit on furs that many young men went into the 
 
 ^\ilderness and traded without the royal permission. 
 
 Whenever one was caught, he was severely punished ; 
 
 therefore, they went farther and farther away from the 
 
 ^ ^ settlements. Often they married Indian women. 
 
 Nearly all the English looked down upon the In- 
 
 1 1 K 1)1 Hoi^ dians, but the French treated them as equals, and 
 
 could go among them in safety far from any settlement of whites. 
 
 After a while the French heard that beyond their forts and 
 
 missions there was a great river which the Indians called the 
 
 Mississippi, or "father of waters." Marquette, a Jesuit priest. 
 
FRENCH EXPLORATIONS 
 
 117 
 
 was eager to go clown this stream to preach to new tribes of Marquette 
 
 Indians, and Joliet, a fur- trader, was ready to go with him. The down the* ^° 
 
 friendly Indians begged them not to go. They said that the Mississippi 
 
 distant tribes were fierce and cruel, and that the river was full 
 
 of "monsters that devour both men and canoes." 
 
 Nevertheless, the priest and the explorer and five of 
 
 their friends floated down the Wisconsin and into 
 
 the Mississippi. The Indians met them kindly, and 
 
 one tribe, the Illinois, begged that the white men 
 
 would come back and live among them. They went 
 
 below the mouth of the Arkansas, far enough to be 
 
 almost sure that the great river did not flow into 
 
 the Gulf of California, as had been thought, and 
 
 then they paddled their way back up the Mississippi. 
 
 Marquette was exhausted' by the hard journey, but 
 as soon as he was strong enough he went to visit 
 the Illinois. He preached to them and founded a 
 mission. On his way back to the Great Lakes, he 
 died on the bank of the river that is named for him. 
 
 To find where the Mississippi emptied was the 
 work of La Salle, another brave French explorer. 
 Nothing could make this resolute man falter. He 
 built a sailing vessel; it was wrecked. A French 
 ship bringing him money was lost. He built a fort ; 
 the garrison revolted. He made friends of the Illinois ; but when La Salle 
 he came to their village a second time, it had been burned, and mouth of ^he 
 the heads of his Indian allies were put up on poles. Three times Mississippi 
 he started on his expedition ; twice he failed. The third time, in 
 the bitterly cold winter of 1682, he came to the Mississippi. It 
 was full of floating ice, but the dauntless man never thought of 
 giving up the voyage. Down the stream he made his way. At 
 the mouth of the river he set up a great wooden cross, on which 
 
 MARQUETTE 
 ( From the statue in the 
 Capitol at Washington) 
 
118 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 Death of 
 La Salle 
 
 he nailed the arms of France, and took possession in the name of 
 King Louis XIV. of all the land drained by the Mississippi and 
 
 its branches. In honor of the 
 king, he named the territory 
 Louisiana. 
 
 He knew that it was of little 
 use to claim the land unless he 
 planted colonies and built forts. 
 The king gave him four ships 
 that he might found a colony at 
 the mouth of the Mississippi, but 
 the pilot made a mistake and sailed to the coast of Texas. There 
 they built a fort, but many of the men died and the rest quar- 
 reled. Finally, La Salle set out for Canada to find help. On the 
 way he was shot by one of his own men. So died one of the 
 bravest and most resolute of all the explorers of the New World. 
 
 SETTLEMENT AT THE MOUTH OF THE 
 MISSISSIPPI IN me 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 Champlain explored the Saint Lawrence and founded Quebec ; therefore 
 
 France claimed Canada. 
 He sided with the Canadian Indians against the Iroquois ; and, because of 
 
 their enmity, although the French planted colonies to the west, they 
 
 founded none in New York. 
 Marquette, Joliet, and La Salle explored the Mississippi ; therefore France 
 
 claimed the land drained by that river. She named it Louisiana. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 A Jesuit tells his friends about his life in America. 
 An Indian tells Marquette about the Mississippi. 
 La Salle describes his journey down the Mississippi. 
 
THE STRUGGLE WITH THE FRENCH 
 
 119 
 
 XIV 
 THE STRUGGLE WITH THE FRENCH 
 
 A FEW years after all the colonies except Georgia had been 
 founded, war broke out between England and France. Both na- Who should 
 tions were beginning to see that it was worth while to hold land ^ifg'^p- 
 in America, and that to destroy one of the enemy's settlements 
 counted for more than to capture one of the enemy's warships. 
 
 ^^ 
 
 1 ^' 
 
 H*f 
 
 / 
 
 ^^. ' 
 
 
 •^ i 
 
 >5 
 
 
 50 100 150 200 250 
 
 FRENCH FUONTIER IN THE NOIiTH 
 
 This is why there was fighting between the French and English 
 colonies. 
 
 In this struggle the colonies that could be most easily reached 
 from Canada suffered most. One of the first to be attacked was Schenectady 
 Schenectady in New York. The settlers had so little thought of ^"^^''^'^ 
 danger that in jest they had put up two snow men at the gates for 
 
120 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Hannah 
 
 Dustan's 
 
 adventures 
 
 Burning of 
 Deerfield 
 
 sentinels. In the night, through the storm and the darkness, the 
 French and Indians went silently past the watchmen of snow. 
 Not a sound was heard. Suddenly came the terrible warwhoop, 
 and in two hours men, women, and children were slain or carried 
 away as prisoners. 
 Another raid was made upon a few farmhouses near Haver- 
 hill, Massachusetts. A sick wo- 
 man named Hannah Dustan 
 Avas dragged away with her 
 nurse. With the Indians was 
 a boy captured at Worcester 
 l(mg before who had learned 
 to speak their language. " They 
 said that by and by we should 
 have to run the gauntlet," 
 whispered the boy to Mrs. 
 Dustan. " Running the gaunt- 
 let" meant running between 
 two rows of men, each man 
 striking at the captive as he 
 THE CAPTURE OF HANNAH DUSTAN passcd. "Find out whcrc to 
 strike if one would kill at a blow," whispered Mrs. Dustan. That 
 night they camped on an island in the Merrimack just above Con- 
 cord, New Hampshire. The two women and the boy each took 
 a tomahawk, and, gliding silently from one sleeping Indian to 
 another, struck the fatal blow. With ten Indian scalps to prove 
 the deed, they made their way back to their friends. 
 
 A few years later an attack was made upon Deerfield, Massa- 
 chusetts. It was burned and a large number of captives taken 
 on the long march to Canada. Many of them died on the way, or 
 were killed by the savages because they could not travel over the 
 snow and ice as fast as the others. One Uttle Deerfield girl finally 
 
THE STRUGGLE WITH THE FRENCH 
 
 121 
 
 married an Indian. Years afterwards, she and her brave and 
 their children made several visits to her old home. One Sunday 
 her relatives persuaded her to put on a gown and bonnet and go 
 to church ; but as soon as she came back, she tossed them off and 
 went back to her Indian blanket and her Indian wigwam. 
 
 After a time of peace, word came across the ocean that France 
 and England were at war again. The governor of Louisburg, a New Eng- 
 fortress on Cape Breton Island, heard the news first, and before {fon a^eainst 
 Boston knew that war had been declared, he burned a little Eng- Louisburg 
 lish fishing village. The New Engianders were indignant, and in 
 their wrath they determined to capture Louisburg. 
 
 A skilled commander would have hesitated, for Louisburg was 
 
 LOUISBURG FROM THE NORTHEAST 
 (On the right is the Royal I'.attery, the first French outpost to be captured) 
 
 the strongest fortress in North America ; but tliis scheme had " a 
 lawyer for contriver, a merchant for general, and farmers, fisher- 
 men, and mechanics for soldiers." No one in New England knew 
 anything about besieging such a fort, and in all good faith the 
 wildest methods were proposed. Almost as an afterthought, some 
 English vessels were asked to accompany the expedition to pre- 
 vent French ships from coming to the aid of the fortress. The 
 
122 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Louisburg 
 taken 
 
 New Eaglanders landed. The cannon must be dragjjed two miles. 
 The men were up to their knees in mud, and the -cannon sank 
 out of sight. There were few tents, and not enough blankets to 
 go around. Shoes gave out, clothes were in tatters, the scahng 
 ladders were too short, two thousand men were sick ; and before 
 the troops were the stone walls of the fortress, thirty feet high. 
 Louisburg was captured, but even the colonists themselves who 
 afterwards went within the walls wondered how the deed had 
 been done. It was partly because the French commander was 
 not as bold or as wise as he should have been, and did not 
 make the proper preparations ; and partly because, \vhile 
 the besiegers knew nothing of the usual way of attack- 
 ing a fort, they had had a hard training in finding out how 
 to do things for themselves, and they made their assaults in 
 original fashions that were a continual surprise to the French. 
 " Panic seized upon us," wrote a Frenchman who was at Louis- 
 burg ; and he added mournfully, " These New Englanders 
 ^^cRoss are a singular people." All the fighting on land was done 
 
 ^"^Crg'^ndn^wTn by the coloulsts without other aid than the instructions of 
 braryr^^"^ thrcc or four gunners whom they borrowed from the fleet 
 
 to show these daring soldiers how to use the cannon ; yet, if the 
 English ships had not kept the harbor cleai- of vessels coming to 
 help the French, and if they had not captured one with a supply 
 of powder just as that of the besiegers was failing, Louisburg could 
 not have been taken. 
 
 When the terms of peace were arranged, England gave up 
 Louisburg to France. This was done that England might gain 
 some land in Hindustan, but the New Englanders were indignant, 
 for they felt as if their great victory had gone for nothing. 
 
 The question, " Who shall rule in America V " was not yet set- 
 tled, however. Before this, France and England had quarreled 
 about matters in Europe, but trouble now arose about matters 
 
 Louisburg 
 returned to 
 France 
 
THE STRUGGLE WITH THE FRENCH 123 
 
 in America. France claimed the land drained by all the rivers The French 
 that she explored. " The French king might as well claim all j^j^j 
 the lands that drink French brandy," declared an Englishman ; 
 but France went on building forts and claiming land. The Eng- 
 lish were not especially interested in the Mississippi, but when the 
 French claimed the Ohio, they were aroused. Some Virginians 
 and Londoners formed the Ohio Company and planned to make 
 settlements on the river. The French began at once to build forts 
 down the Alleghany. 
 
 At length Governor Dinwiddle of Virginia decided to send a 
 letter to warn them that they were trespassing. A young man of A youthful 
 twenty-one years was asked to carry the letter, and he set off on a "^^^^^"8®'" 
 dangerous journey of nearly one thousand miles. It was winter, 
 and the path was hidden by the deep snow. The young envoy 
 would not wait for his party, but with one companion he went 
 straight through the woods, finding his way by the compass. They 
 crossed the creeks by felling trees for bridges. The Alleghany 
 was full of floating ice, and they made a raft. In the middle of 
 the stream the messenger was jerked into the water. He was 
 fired at by an Indian not fifteen paces away, but at last he de- 
 livered his letter and came safely home again. His friends were 
 very proud of him, and they would have been still more proud if 
 they had known what he would do for his country a few years 
 later, for the young man's name was George Washington. 
 
 The only answer the French made was that the letter should be 
 forwarded to Marquis Duquesne, the governor of Canada. Then The answer 
 Governor Dinwiddle sent Washington to build a fort where Pitts- pj-ench 
 burg now stands. It was hardly begun when the French fell 
 upon the party, completed the fort themselves, and named it Fort 
 Duquesne. Washington built a small fort farther south, but 
 when the French came upon him, he had to surrender and march 
 back to Virginia. 
 
124 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 General 
 Braddock 
 takes com- 
 mand 
 
 The next year the EngUsh sent over General J^raddock to take 
 command. " I shall capture Fort Duquesne in three or four days, 
 
 and then march on to Niagara," 
 
 said he. " The Indians are 
 skillful in laying snares," mod- 
 estly suggested a wise colonist 
 of whom we shall hear more, 
 for liis name was Benjamin 
 Franklin. "Very likely they 
 are troublesome to your un- 
 trained soldiers," said Brad- 
 dock a little haughtily, "but 
 the king's Kegulars will have 
 no difficulty." Wasliington 
 tried to make him see that it 
 would not do to draw up his 
 men in lines in plain sight 
 Avhen fighting with Indians, 
 but Braddock accepted no ad- 
 vice, and wrote home that the 
 American troops were cow- 
 ardly. 
 Not far from Fort Duquesne there was a sudden attack. Brad- 
 H is defeat at dock was bravery itself, and the English soldiers would have 
 stood like a wall against an enemy whom they could see, but 
 hardly a foe was in sight. The deadly shots came from behind 
 trees and rocks, and the soldiers had no idea where to fire. They 
 were panic-stricken, and ran "like sheep pursued by dogs," 
 Washington wrote home to his mother. He added, " I had four 
 bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me." Then 
 he signed himself in the formal fashion of those days, " I am, 
 honored Madam, your most dutiful son, George Washington." 
 
 REGION ABOUT FORT nUQUESSK 
 
 Fort Du 
 quesne 
 
THE STRUGGLE WITH THE FRENCH 125 
 
 Only the skill of the young Virgmian saved any part of the 
 army. Braddock was slain, and Washington buried him secretly 
 at night, lest his grave should be insulted. The Indians strutted 
 about the battlefield, wearing the laced hats and scarlet uniforms 
 of the English ofiicers. 
 
 One of the saddest events of the war occurred in Acadia, or 
 Nova Scotia. Nearly all the settlers there were French, and they Exile of the 
 claimed to be " neutrals," that is, persons who would favor neither Acadians 
 party. The English believed that they were aiding the French, 
 and thought that if they were \ allowed to remain, Eng- 
 land would lose Nova Scotia. 1 
 Suddenly the English troops ^ 
 swept down upon the Aca- 
 dians, carried six thousand of 
 them away, and scattered 
 them among the English colo- 
 nies along the coast. In the 
 confusion, husbands were 
 parted from their wives, and 
 aiothers from their children. 
 There is a tradition that a 
 young maiden was separated 
 from her betrothed, and wan- 
 dered for many years in 
 search of him. It is upon 
 this story that Longfellow 
 
 founded his "Evangeline." ' ' ~" -- . 
 
 The exiles buried many of expulsion of the acadians 
 
 their possessions, hoping to return. Some of these things have 
 been found, and people have not yet given up diggmg in search 
 of the chapel bell of Port Royal. 
 
 Those who came to Philadelphia were in great need, until a 
 
126 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The Aca- 
 dians in 
 Philadelphia 
 
 Quebec 
 
 kind Quaker raised funds to build a row of little wooden houses 
 for them, and to provide a teacher for their children. There 
 was a strange fear of these simple, harmless people, and a young 
 Philadelphia girl wrote that she was frightened because she had 
 to go by the houses of the " French Xeutrals " at twilight. This 
 carrying people from their homes was not a new thing, and 
 
 
 n^, > >-.^ 
 
 A^rY^^ti-iffc^ 
 
 '^^f^'i^^^ 
 
 ^^^^^^^ 
 
 3r^: 
 
 
 
 fanntal 
 
 msms^ j]iiR3^ 
 
 "^ '— i« 
 
 
 i;>j£i^!£H«i.'*:,_ ■: fi - 
 
 ■s 
 
 ■_J.:i,^8fl*^j-«i''«MJ; 
 
 EI 
 
 ■ ' - ^:~' --' "' '- 
 
 j"rir-^'^ 
 
 
 - ' ;^ 
 
 THE FORTRESS OF QUEBEC AS IT IS TO-DAY 
 
 strangely enough, it is just what the French king had proposed 
 to do some years earlier if he had captured New York. 
 
 The English had won victories, but the one thing that would 
 end the French rule in America was the capture of Quebec. 
 Quebec was built on a great mass of rock that jutted out into the 
 Saint Lawrence. It was one of the strongest cities in the world, 
 and it was commanded by General Montcalm, a brave and suc- 
 cessful French soldier. The English were commanded by General 
 Wolfe, a young man who had won glory in previous fighting. 
 
 All summer Wolfe tried one plan after another to take the city, 
 but in vain. Autumn came, and he planned a final attempt. He 
 sent part of the vessels Avith a few men below the town to pre- 
 tend to be getting ready for an assault, while the other ships with 
 
THE STRUGGLE WITH THE FRENCH 127 
 
 most of the men sailed far up above the town. Montcalm was 
 
 below, and one of his officers above, each expecting an attack. 
 
 When night came, Wolfe and his men floated down stream in 
 
 the deep shadow of the high bank. It was dark, but the stars were Capture of 
 
 out. Wolfe repeated softly his favorite poem, Gray's " Elegy." Jhe^English 
 
 " I should rather have written those hues," said he, " than to take 
 
 Quebec." They came near the shore. " Who is there ? " called 
 
 the sentinel. " Provision boats," was the answer. '' Keep still, 
 
 the English will hear ! " Provision boats were expected, and the 
 
 sentinel asked no more questions. 
 
 About a mile above Quebec was a high plateau called the 
 Plains of Abraham from a pilot who lived there in the early days. 
 Wolfe had seen with liis glass far across the river a rough 
 path up the almost perpendicular cliff, and he believed that 
 his men could climb it. Montcalm, too, had noticed this 
 path, but he said, " They have not wings, and one hundred 
 men posted there could stop their whole army." So they 
 could, but the one 'in charge was careless, and while Mont- 
 calm below the town and his officer above the town were 
 each expecting an attack, Wolfe and his men were climbing 
 up the steep cliff. 
 
 In the morning Montcalm found an English army 
 drawn up in Hue on the Plains. There was a fierce 
 battle. Both commanders were mortally wounded. Wolfe 
 heard his men crying, " They run ! See them run ! " " Who 
 run?" he asked, and when he knew it was the French, 
 he said, " Now I shall die in peace." Montcalm was 
 carried to a little house in the town. " Thank God," 
 said he, " that I shall not Uve to see the surrender of 
 Quebec." 
 
 This victory in 1759 ended in America the war which lasted in 
 Europe till 1763. France gave up to England, Canada, and all 
 
 ENGLISH SOLDIER OF 
 WOLFE'S TIME 
 
128 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 DEATU OF GENEUAL WOLFE 
 (From the painting by Benjamin West) 
 
 English rule the land that the French had claimed east of the ^lississippi. 
 
 get oKl jchgH 
 
 in America During the war, England had captured Cuba and the Philippines 
 from Spain, for Spain was helping France. Now England gave 
 the islands back and took Florida in exchange. To pay Spain for 
 this loss, France had to give her New Orleans and all the land 
 between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. The questior. 
 was settled once for all that England would rule in America. 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 For nearly seventy-five years there were periods of fighting with the French 
 
 to see who should rule in America. 
 The latter part of this struggle, brought on by the attempts of the French 
 
 to seize the Ohio valley, was called the French and Indian War. 
 
TIMES BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 
 
 129 
 
 The capture of Quebec gave England the control iu America. 
 After the war, England held Canada and all land east of the Mississippi. 
 Spain held the land between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 A New England soldier writes home from Louisburg. 
 Washington's companion tells about the journey to the Alleghany. 
 An Acadian girl describes the carrying away of her people. 
 
 XV 
 
 THE TIMES BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 
 
 America in the eighteenth century was a very different country 
 from what it is to-day. In the first place, there were probably Population 
 not so many inhabitants in 
 all the English colonies as 
 there are now in New York 
 and Philadelphia, and of 
 these half a milhon were 
 negro slaves. 
 
 Slaves were held in aU the 
 colonies. Indeed, England 
 was making so much money 
 in the slave trade that she 
 forced slavery upon America, 
 and ordered her officers in 
 the New World to do all 
 that they could to encourage 
 
 the trade. In the South, a negro could live on cheap food and 
 without many clothes or much shelter, while in the North, if he 
 did not have good food, warm clothes, and a comfortable shelter. 
 
 Slavery 
 
 FIKEPLACE IX A SLA\ L ^ KITCHEN 
 
130 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 he would die. The result wus that people in the northern colo 
 nies found that slavery did not pay, and it was gradually dis 
 appearing. Even in the southern colonies there was a feehng 
 
 ; 1 that slavery would 
 
 vanish in time. 
 The Carolmas were 
 not at all pleased, 
 and even a little 
 alarmed, to have 
 so many negroes 
 in their territory. 
 
 
 £^>:-^>^^>^;5^, 
 
 A POSTRIDER • 
 (From a print in the Post Offlf;e Department) 
 
 and mail 
 
 There was no daily newspaper, and if there had been, people 
 Newspapers would not have received it promptly unless they had lived near 
 the printing-office, for even between New York and Philadelphia 
 there was a mail only three times a week, and it took three days 
 for the mail carrier, or "postrider," to make the journey. Once a 
 month the mail went to England. Sending mail from colony to 
 colony was expensive, and a letter of a single sheet sometimes 
 cost twenty or tAventy-five cents, according to the distance that it 
 was carried. Writing a letter 
 to a friend was not a business 
 to be undertaken without con- 
 sideration, and this is one reason 
 why the letters of those days 
 were so carefully and formally 
 written. 
 
 But if the colonists had few 
 newspapers and few l)ooks, they 
 read all the more carefully what 
 books they did have, and they 
 thought about what they read. 
 Most of the books were brought from England, but some were 
 
 Books 
 
 I'.riiMNi; OF Ml;. .miiN iiocei;,^ 
 I From the New England I'rimer; 
 
TIMES BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 
 
 131 
 
 written in America, chiefly volumes of sermons, discourses on 
 witchcraft, and some rhymes so dreary that no one cares to read 
 them now. 
 
 Almost the only book that the children could claim as their own 
 was a tiny volume called the " New England Primer." This con- The New 
 tained pages of Bible questions, such as, "Who was the oldest Primer 
 man ? " or " Who was the meekest man ? " There were long lists 
 of hard names, " To teach children to spell their own," said the 
 heading; and the Puritan boys and girls must sometimes have 
 wondered how learning to spell Methuselah would teach them to 
 spell John, but they would never have dared to ask. There was 
 a picture of a man tied to a stake and burning to death because 
 he did not believe in the king's church. 
 
 There were verses that this man wrote not long before he was 
 put to death, and there was an alphabet mth a picture and a 
 rhyme for every letter. This began, — 
 
 la ADAM'sFall 
 We finned alL 
 
 and ended, — 
 
 ZACcHETrshe 
 Did climb the Tfee 
 Our Lord to fee. 
 
 There, too, was the children's evening prayer, " Now I lay me 
 dowTi to sleep." This was the children's especial book, and they 
 read it and re-read it till all the early copies were so worn out 
 that there are no more to be found. 
 
 A famous book that came once a year was "Poor Richard's Poor 
 Almanac," written by Benjamin Franklin. Besides having tides, Alma^nac^ 
 eclipses, etc., like other almanacs, it had good advice put into 
 
132 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 rhyme and little stories, and such proverbs as "Great talkers, 
 little doers," and " Tongue double brmgs trouble," " Doors and 
 walls are fools' paper," and " He who pursues two hares at 
 once does not catch one and lets t' other go." There were 
 often puzzles and riddles to be answered in the next 
 number. Some households had little other reading 
 except the Bible. The children must have watched 
 eagerly for the time when the new almanac would 
 come, and they could have new stories and see if 
 their guesses of the puzzles were correct. 
 
 Getting new clothes was a weighty matter. In 
 the North the wool or flax must be raised, spun, 
 and woven. In the South, even if a gown was to 
 be bought and not groion^ it generally had to be ordered from 
 England ; and as at least three months would have to pass before 
 the buyer could receive it, deciding what to send for was a seri- 
 ous business. TraveUng was difficult. To go from Philadelphia 
 to New York took three days by stage-coach, and when it was 
 announced that one was to make the journey in two days, people 
 thought the name, the "Flying Ma- 
 chine," was well deserved. Every 
 one who visited a city expected 
 to have many commissions for 
 his friends. Stage drivers 
 and postriders "did er- 
 rands." Only three or four 
 years ago, an old lady on 
 Cape Cod said that in her eahia- amekuan .sta(;k 
 
 youth she and her friends always sent to Boston by the captain 
 of the packet boat for their bonnets. "And they were pretty 
 ones, too," she added. 
 
 Many of the things that the colonists would gladly have made 
 
 KKANKLIN'S I'KINTINCi I'JilCSS 
 (Now owned by the Bostonian Society) 
 
 Traveling 
 
TIMES BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 
 
 133 
 
 for themselves England would not allow them to make, because England 
 the English manufacturers wished to make money selling their ^anufac- 
 goods to the colonists. If the colonists began to make hammers tures 
 and axes, straightway the English manufacturers of hammers 
 and axes would get a law passed that no such things should be 
 made in America. More than this, no colony was allowed to sell 
 goods to any other colony without paying a tax. 
 They must buy of England, and whatever they pro- 
 duced must be sold to England, even if other coun- 
 tries would pay a higher price. They must not buy 
 a paper of pins from any other country, 
 no matter how much better and cheaper 
 the pins were than those made in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 These laws were unjust, and the 
 colonists broke them just as far as 
 they dared. Articles were sent from 
 one colony to another mthout the 
 payment of any tax, foreign goods 
 were smuggled into the coast towns, 
 ships that had never been near Eng- 
 land went back and forth among the 
 colonies. It seems as if the English 
 of a century and a half ago might 
 have seen that if a country was making unjust laws for its colo- 
 nies and the colonies were breaking them, there would surely 
 be trouble before many years had passed. 
 
 The French wars cost a great amount of money. France might 
 possibly try to regain the land that she had lost, and the king and England 
 his advisers thought it would be best to keep an army of British f^^^^^^ *° 
 soldiers in America to be ready to oppose the French. England colonies 
 decided to tax the colonies to help pay for the war and the new 
 
 FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON 
 
 (Called, on account of the patriotic meetings held there, 
 
 " The Cradle of Liberty ") 
 
134 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Writs of 
 assistance 
 
 standing army. The colonists answered, '' We do not wish to 
 have a standing army, and we have given more than our share to 
 the war, for we raised and paid as many men as England." The 
 colonists' objections made no difference, and England determined 
 to collect in two ways the money needed. One was by imposing 
 a few new duties and by enforcing the laws in regard to trade. 
 As long as France had power in America, England had not dared 
 to be very strict in demanding the taxes on goods brought from 
 France and Spain, or very severe in pimishing smuggling. Now 
 she determined that every penny that the laws allowed should be 
 collected. 
 
 The king's oflBcers had the right to have a warrant written b}- 
 the court allowing them to search any special house in which they 
 had reason to thuik there might be smuggled goods. Now they 
 obtained what were called writs of assistance. These allowed the 
 officers to go into as many houses as they chose without having a 
 separate warrant for each one, and if the doors were barred, they 
 could call upon the sheriff" to break in. This made the 
 colonists indignant, but it was according to an old 
 English law, and never would have caused the Revo- 
 lution. 
 
 The second way of collecting money was by requir- 
 ing every legal document, like a will or a mortgage, 
 to be written on paper stamped m England. An extra 
 price must be paid for the stamp, and if there was no 
 stamp, the document was of no value; for instance, 
 if a man bought a house, he received a deed, or writ- 
 ten paper, saying that the property was his, but if there was no 
 stamp on the deed, then he could not defend his right to tht^ 
 house in the courts. The people of the United States have 
 recently been obeying such a law to help pay the cost of the 
 Spanish War ; but the men whom we had chosen to make our 
 
 A STAMP ACT STAMf 
 
TIMES BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 135 
 
 laws were the ones who decided to raise the money in this way, 
 
 and we could find no fault. 
 
 It was different with tliis stamj) tax. In each colony there was 
 
 an assembly of men elected by the people, and only that assembly Right of 
 
 had ever imposed taxes. The colonists replied, " This is not iust. ^^^^^'°" J'V 
 ^ . House of 
 
 In England only the House of Commons can impose a tax ; so in Commons 
 America, only the assembly of each colony can tax that colony. ^"'^ 
 But, if the king asks us to help England, our assemblies will grant 
 money as we have often done before." 
 
 England was startled that mere colonies should dare to be so 
 independent. In these days a nation is proud of her colonies and How Europe 
 glad to have them prosper ; but in the earlier times the countries ^^^} ^^y^^'^ 
 of Europe felt differently. They looked upon a colony as a con- 
 venient place to send men for whom there seemed to be no work 
 and no room at home. It was also a place where a man whom 
 the king wished to favor could receive a grant of land or hold 
 some oflQce, and thus make his fortune. In matters of trade, the 
 mother country never thought of trying to help the colony ; and 
 when laws were made m old England, they always aimed at 
 getting as much money as possible from the new England across 
 the ocean. 
 
 In 1765 the Stamp Act was passed, though many clear-headed 
 statesmen in England were against it. Edmund Burke said it The Stamp 
 was unjust. WilHam Pitt, who was always a friend to America, ^^^ 
 said, " England has no right to lay a tax upon the colonies." The 
 colonies from New England to Georgia rebelled. The streets 
 were full of crowds. Images of the men appointed to sell the 
 stamped paper were hanged or burned or driven about town in 
 the governor's best coach with a figure of Satan for companion. 
 The heutenant-governor of New York threatened to fire upon the 
 rebeUious colonists. "You'll be hanged to a lamp-post if you 
 do," was the answer, and he did not fire. In some places build- 
 
136 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Opposition 
 by the 
 colonies 
 
 Repeal of 
 the Stamp 
 Act 
 
 Place to affix the 
 
 <o i_ I 
 
 ings were torn down, and every scrap of stamped paper that 
 could be found was burned or tossed into the ocean. 
 
 It was not all " mob law." The assemblies met and declared 
 that it was right to resist tyranny. 
 Lawyers agreed that no deed or will 
 should be called illegal for the lack of 
 a stamp. The newspapers came out 
 with a skull and crossbones for a head- 
 ing, or with black borders indicating 
 the death of liberty. During the French 
 and Indian wars, Benjamin Franklin, 
 then editor of a paper published in 
 NEWSPAPER IMITATION OF A Philadelphia, had printed a picture of a 
 ( From the I'.oston Gazette, Oct. 7, 1765) suakc cut iuto scvcral parts, labeled 
 with the names of the different colonies. It was an old super- 
 stition that if a snake was cut into pieces it would still live if the 
 pieces were imited, and under tliis picture Franklm printed the 
 motto, " Unite or die." Tliis design became a favorite emblem. 
 
 In one respect the colonists had matters in their own hands. 
 They said, " We will not buy English goods." No orders were 
 sent to England, and ships that crossed the ocean with goods to 
 sell had to carry them back. Then the 
 English manufacturers begged Parlia- 
 ment to give up the tax, and the act 
 was repealed. Parliament declared at 
 the same time that it had the right to 
 tax the colonies, but no one thoitglii 
 much about that, and if King George 
 III. had not been so unwise and so obstinate, there would proba- 
 bly have been no Revolution. 
 
 After a little while, new taxes were imposed, and English 
 soldiers continued to come to America. Some were sent to Bos- 
 
 FKAXKLIN'S DEVICE 
 (The initials indicate the colonies) 
 
TIMES BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 
 
 137 
 
 The "Father 
 of the Revo- 
 lution" 
 
 ton, and one night a quarrel arose between them and some of The Boston 
 the citizens. The soldiers fired and killed five. It shows how ^^ssacre 
 aroused the colonists were that they called this the "Boston 
 Massacre." It shows how anxious they were to be fair that 
 when the soldiers were tried for murder, they were defended by 
 two prominent lawyers, John Adams and Josiah Quincy, Jr. 
 Adams said a few years later that tliis was " one of the best pieces 
 of service I ever ren- 
 dered my comitry." 
 
 The colonists re- 
 fused to buy any of 
 the goods on which a 
 tax was demanded. 
 Many of them agreed 
 to buy nothing made 
 in England so long as 
 there were duties on 
 any goods. One of the 
 strong men in this par- 
 ty was Samuel Adams, 
 who has been called the 
 " Father of the Revo- 
 lution." 
 
 George III. and his "Friends," as those who supported him 
 were called, formed what they thought a very shrewd scheme. The tax on 
 The Americans used much tea, and a large part of it was smug- 
 gled from Holland. It was decided to allow tea to be sent to 
 America and sold at so low a rate that even with a duty of three 
 pence a pound it would be cheaper than the tea that was smuggled. 
 " The people will buy the English tea, and the rebellious leaders 
 will be left without support," thought the king, and the tea was 
 sent over to the large cities on the coast. 
 
 THE BOSTON MASSACRE IN KING (NOW STATE) 
 
 STREET 
 
 (From Paul Revere's engraving) 
 
 tea 
 
138 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Tea brought 
 to large 
 cities 
 
 Charleston stored the tea sent there in dam]) cellars, where it 
 soon spoiled. PJiiladelphia forbade her pilots to guide the tea- 
 ships up the Delaware. New York would not let them enter the 
 harbor. In Boston the matter was more difficult. The ships 
 were in the harbor. They could not leave without the royal 
 governor's permission, and he refused to give it. Nineteen days 
 they lay at the wharf. On the twentieth day, the custom-house 
 officers would have a legal right to unload them, the men who 
 
 had ordered the tea would pay the 
 duty, and then they would have pos- 
 session of the goods. 
 
 The people of Boston came together 
 in the Old South Meeting-House. All 
 day long they discussed Avhat it was 
 best to do. In the evening two hun- 
 dred men appeared in the street and 
 marched quietly toward Long Wharf. 
 They wore blankets, their heads were 
 nuiffled, and what could be seen of 
 their faces was copper-colored. A man 
 who saw them wrote cautiously to 
 a friend, "They say the actors were 
 Indians from Narragansett," but every 
 one knew that they were white men 
 from Massachusetts. When they came 
 to the wharf, they leaped on board 
 the tea-ships. Every man drew out a 
 hatchet from under his blanket, and 
 it was not many minutes before Boston Harbor became a vast 
 teapot, for every chest had been broken open and all the tea was 
 in the water. Then the " Indians " went quietly to their homes, 
 and the " Tea-party " was over. 
 
 PULPIT OP THE OLD SOUTH MEETING-HOUSE 
 
 The Boston 
 Tea-party 
 
TIMES BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 
 
 139 
 
 t 
 
 The brig Peggy Stewart brought to Annapohs some packages 
 of tea among other goods. The vessel could not be unloaded till 
 all taxes were paid ; therefore the owner paid the tax 
 on the tea. Before this, he had signed the agree- 
 ment not to buy or import goods taxed by England 
 for revenue, and now the people of Annapolis were 
 so angry that they threatened to destroy the brig. 
 To prevent a riot he burned his own boat, tea 
 and all. This settled the matter in Maryland. 
 
 The king was determined to punish these 
 bold colonists. Boston should suffer first, 
 he said, and in 1774 the "Port Bill" was 
 passed, which forbade ships coming to the 
 city or leaving it. Boston would lose the 
 money that she was making from trade, and 
 would soon be glad to apologize and pay 
 for the " Tea-party." So the king thought ; 
 but instead of being frightened, the other 
 colonies stood by Massachusetts and sent 
 her all kinds of provisions. Even far-away ■ t^t^j s;Z;:3i..;~^^^^^^ 
 
 South Carolina sent ship-loads of rice. Cat- caepenti:i:.s' hall, Philadelphia 
 tie and sheep were driven into Boston m flocks. England had 
 said that ships should go to Marblehead instead of to Boston; 
 but Marblehead said at once to the Boston merchants, " Use our 
 wharfs and our warehouses without charge." 
 
 England's treatment of Massachusetts aroused the colonists to 
 send delegates to a meeting called " The First Continental Con- 
 gress," which was held in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia. The 
 Carpenters' Company knew that the king's officers might take 
 their hall away for allowing the " rebels " to use it ; but the only 
 care they took was to mention no names on their record. They 
 said merely, " Voted : That, they be allowed to use our halL" 
 
 The first 
 
 Continental 
 
 Congress 
 
140 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 This Congress sent a respectful petition to the king, telhng him 
 frankly what rights they thought belonged to them and in what 
 ways they thought they had been treated unfairly. 
 
 •; ., CRIfFINS WHARF 
 «: iiHrCH ur mookec oi' i)£t IE ir>s \Mhn bRii/sn sh 
 ID OtftrvT KlHC.CEOIfCES.TIiiyifti. BUT II«*NNiC«i tnv 
 
 isroi nntn.ciWl'ovs of bosidn p*«Ti.t Oistuiseo-At . 
 
 TMr.tH Tut tnpiotS iMftEf HUNi;Kr.O AND FuKrVIllO CH 
 n,MU MbCe the WOmD RIM WiTll Th£ PaTRiiJIiC 
 
 BOSTON TEA. PARTY 
 
 TEA-PARTY TABLET 
 
 (Corner of Atlantic Ave. and Tearl St.) 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 In the eighteenth century there were not so many inliabitauts in the English 
 colonies as there are now in New York and Philadelphia. 
 
 Slavery was fast disappearing in the North, and was not always looked 
 upon with favor in the South. 
 
 Mails were slow, and postage was expensive. There were few books, and 
 England's refusal to permit manufactures was arousing discontent 
 among the colonists. 
 
 England decided to tax the colonists because of the expense of the Fi-ench 
 wars and her wish to station an army in America to guard the colonies 
 against the French. 
 
 To raise the money, the trade laws were enforced, new duties were imposed, 
 and the use of stamped paper was required. 
 
 The colonists refused to buy Engli-sh goods, and resisted the Stamp Act. 
 All taxes were repealed except that on tea. 
 
 The attempt to force English tea upon Boston resulted in the Boston Tea- 
 party. In retaliation, Parliament passed the Boston Port BUI. 
 
FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION 141 
 
 This treatment aroused the colonists to hold in Philadelphia the First Con- 
 tinental Congress, which sent a petition to the king. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 Describe the Journey of a postrider from New York to Philadelphia. 
 A man tells in 1773 why there will probably be war with England. 
 A description of the Boston Tea-party. 
 A letter of sympathy to a Bostonian after the passing of the Port Bill. 
 
 XVI 
 THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 1775. 
 
 The Americans had little hope that the king would pay any 
 regard to their petition, and they were ready to fight rather ' 
 than yield to mjustice. In almost every colony companies 
 were formed and drilled, while in various places arms and 
 ammunition were stored. General Gage, who was at 
 the head of the British troops in America, decided to 
 send eight hundred of his men to Concord, Massachu- 
 setts, to seize the powder and cannon that he knew were 
 there. Another thing that the troops were to do was to 
 seize Samuel Adams and John Hancock, that they 
 might be taken to England and tried for treason. 
 
 Tills plan would have succeeded, but the Ameri- 
 cans were on the watch, and before the British were 
 ready to start, Paul Revere galloped through the 
 darkness, past the villages and farmhouses on the 
 way to Concord, telling every one that the Regulars were coming. 
 Thousands of the Americans had become "minute men," that is. The battle of 
 they had agreed to be ready to fight at a minute's notice. When Lexington 
 
 POWDEK-HOUSE NEAU IJOSTOJJ 
 
 (Where the liiitish seized some 
 
 powder Sept. 1, 1774) 
 
142 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The retreat 
 of the 
 British 
 
 the British troops came to Lexington to seize John Hancock, there 
 stood the minute men on the green. "Disperse, you rebels!" 
 shouted the commander. " Lay doMTi your arms and disperse ! " 
 Not one laid down his gun. " Fire ! " cried the commander. In 
 a moment, seven Americans lay dead, and the Revolution had 
 begun. This was on April 19, 1775. 
 
 At Concord the British began to destroy the arms, but so many 
 minute men were upon them that there was notliing to do but to 
 retreat to Boston. The farmers pursued. Longfellow tells the 
 story of the retreat in his " Paul Revere's Ride : " — 
 
 ^^^ " How the Biitisli Regulars fired and fled, — 
 
 ^^^P How the farmers gave them ball for ball. 
 
 ^J»l / From behind eacli fence and farm-yard wall, 
 
 Ciiasing the red-coats down the lane, 
 
 Then crossing the fields to emerge again 
 
 Under the trees at the turn of the road, 
 
 And only pausing to fire and load." 
 
 (U. 0, 
 
 Colonists 
 hasten to 
 Boston 
 
 Long afterwards, when Benjamin Frankhn was in Eng- 
 
 " land, some one said that liiding behind a wall and 
 
 firing was no way to tight. Franklin asked quietly, 
 
 but with a sly twinkle in his eye, " Did n't those stone 
 
 walls have two sides ? " 
 
 Men whose names were to become well-known hur- 
 ried to Boston, and although General Gage was in 
 command of the British troops and had been ap- 
 pointed by the king governor of Massachusetts, he was really a 
 prisoner in the city, for he was surrounded by many thousand 
 men. Among these men was Israel Putnam, of Connecticut, who 
 had left his plough in the field and started for Boston as soon 
 as the news of the battle of Lexing'ton reached him. There was 
 also Benedict Arnold with sixty volunteers. Arnold suggested 
 that Fort Ticonderoga, at the northern end of Lake George, ought 
 
 .am:, t. IE MAX 
 trench's statue at 
 Concord) 
 
FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION 143 
 
 to be captured, not only because there was in this fort a great 
 supply of powder and guns, but because if no Americans were 
 there to prevent, the British troops could come down from Canada 
 and take New York. 
 
 With the permission of Massachusetts, Arnold set out to raise 
 troops in the western part of the state ; but much to his surprise, The capture 
 he found there Ethan Allen, a sturdy Vermonter, with his "Green Ticonderoga 
 Mountam Boys," and they, too, were on the way to capture Fort 
 Ticonderoga. Allen had more men, and the " Boys " would not 
 fight under any one else, so Arnold went on, not as commander, 
 but as a volunteer. The two men and the 
 " Boys " came upon Ticonderoga when the gar- 
 rison were fast asleep without a thought of dan- 
 ger. The commander was suddenly aroused by 
 a demand to " Surrender ! " He jumped out of 
 bed, not more than half awake, and said, " To 
 whom ? By whose authority '? " " In the name 
 of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Con- 
 gress," roared Ethan Allen, and the fort was sur- 
 rendered. This was only' three weeks after the 
 battle of Lexington. 
 
 On that same day, the Second Continental Con- 
 
 gi'ess was meeting in Philadelphia. John Hancock, 
 
 whom the king was so anxious to catch, was made 
 
 president. Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, and 
 
 his cousin John Adams, Patrick Henry, the great 
 
 patriotic orator, and Washington, were all members 
 
 of this Congress. They knew that war must come, 
 
 and they adopted the forces around Boston as 
 
 the "Continental Army." A commander-in-chief 
 
 must be chosen, and every one remembered how skillfully Wash- Continental 
 
 Army organ- 
 ington had saved part of Braddock's army at Fort Duquesne ized 
 
 ETHAN ALLEN 
 
 (From the statue in the Vermont State 
 
 House, Montpelier) 
 
144 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 SAHUEL ADAMS 
 (From Copley's portrait) 
 
 when lie was only twenty-three years of age. He was from the 
 large colony of Vii-ginia, and the election of 
 a southern commander for an army wliich 
 was as yet made up wholly of northern men 
 would help to strengthen the union among 
 the colonies, so Washington was elected com- 
 mander-in-chief. 
 
 He set out on horseback for the eleven 
 days' ride to Boston, but before he had gone 
 many miles from Philadelphia, he heard what 
 had happened in the east. General Gage was 
 in Boston, and the American troops were in 
 a half circle around the city. Gage knew that 
 if they should come a little nearer and fortify 
 Bunker Hill 
 and Breed's 
 
 Hill, they could fire mto his 
 
 camp. He decided to seize Bunker 
 The battle of Hill. The Americans found out 
 
 the plan, and when Gage a^voke 
 
 June 17, 1775, ready to send men 
 
 to the hill, behold, the Americans 
 
 were putting up earthworks. 
 
 They were not on Bunker Hill, 
 
 to be sure, but they had come 
 
 even nearer and were fortifying 
 
 Breed's HiU. General Gage and 
 
 his officers thought just as Brad- 
 dock had thought, that nothmg 
 
 could withstand British Regu- 
 lars, and he decided to storm the hill. The Americans had too 
 
 little powder to waste a single charge. " Wait, boys, wait till you 
 
 Bunker Hill 
 
 JOHN ADAMS 
 ( Kiom a portrait by Trumbull) 
 
FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION 145 
 
 can see the whites of their eyes," called Colonel Prescott. Nearer 
 and nearer came the British. " Fire ! " ordered the commander, 
 and there was such a volley that the brave, well-trained Regulars 
 broke ranks and ran. Again they charged, again the Americans 
 flred, and again the Regulars fled. A third time the British 
 
 BUKNIMG OF CHA1:LE,STu\V> AMJ THE liATTI.E OF 1.1 NKi:i: HILL 
 (Drawn by a British officer at the time from Beacon Hill) 
 
 dashed up the hill. The Americans' powder had given out ; there 
 was nothing to do but to retreat ; and they retreated, not do\vn- 
 cast, but jubilant, for they, the untrained farmers and citizens, 
 had t^\ice driven back the British veterans. 
 The great elm in Cambridge under wliich Washington took Washington 
 
 t3KGs com™ 
 
 command of the army is still standing. The house m Cambridge mand of the 
 
 which was his headquarters is the one that was for so many American 
 
 forces 
 years the home of Longfellow. The poet writes : — 
 
 " Once, ah, once, within these walls. 
 One whom memory oft recalls, 
 The Father of his Country, dwelt. 
 
 Up and down these echoing stairs, 
 Heavy with the weight of cares, 
 Sounded his majestic tread ; 
 Yes, within this very room 
 
146 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The last 
 appeal to the 
 king 
 
 Montreal 
 and Quebec 
 attacked 
 
 Sat he in those hours of gloom, 
 Weary both in heart and head." 
 
 It is no wonder that he was weary. Thousands of men were 
 lookint>j up to him for ordei's. They were jubilant over Bunker 
 Hill ; they had not forgotten the glories of Louisburg, Many 
 would have been glad to plunge into another battle anywhere at 
 any moment. Washington saw that bravery alone would not 
 always win the day, that there must also be drill and training. 
 There must be powder and cannon. It was not time to fight. 
 Meanwhile Congress met again. Samuel Adams said that the 
 
 colonies had cut loose from 
 England, then why not de- 
 clare them independent? 
 Others said, " No ; let us 
 try once more." A last 
 petition was sent to the 
 king, and the man chosen 
 to carry it was a descendant 
 of William Penn. This did 
 no good, for the king would 
 not even read the paper. It 
 was not easy to get English- 
 men to fight their own peo- 
 ple in America, and he hired 
 many thousand German 
 troops called Hessians. 
 For the king to call in 
 foreigners to fight his own subjects, who felt that they were ask- 
 ing only for justice, made the Americans more indignant than 
 ever. They learned that the British meant to come by the way 
 of Lake Champlain and seize Fort Ticonderoga, so they decided 
 to attack Montreal. Beuetlict Arnold suggested marcliing up 
 
 GKEAT ELM IN CAJllJltlDUK 
 
 (Under which Washington took connnand of the 
 
 Continental army) 
 
FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION 147 
 
 through the Mame forests to capture Quebec, It was a terrible 
 journey. The men must make their way over swamps, among 
 briers, across swiftly flowing rivers, and through the tangled under- 
 brush. Many died. The others, sick, and weakened by their lack 
 of food in the wilderness, made their way to the city on the rock, 
 climbed up to the Plains of Abraham, and called upon the garri- 
 son to surrender or else come out 
 and fight. The commander would 
 do neither. General Montgomery 
 had led a second expedition by 
 way of Lake Champlain, and he 
 soon came from his victory over 
 the English at Montreal. There British cannon captuked in the revolution 
 was fighting, and if Montgomery had not been slain and Arnold 
 disabled, Quebec would probably have come into American hands. 
 This was on the last day of 1775. In that year the Americans 
 
 had taken Ticonderoga and Montreal, but they had been defeated Events of 
 
 1775 
 at Bunker Hill and at Quebec. The greatest gain of the season 
 
 was that they had lost their fear of the British Regulars. 
 
 1776. 
 
 The year 1776 began. Washington still trained his men and 
 did his best to collect powder and cannon. The Americans be- Washington 
 came impatient. "Why doesn't he do something?" they com- froops^'^ 
 plained. John Hancock, who owned many houses in Boston, said, 
 "Burn the town and drive the British out." Washington was 
 wiser than they, and he waited; eight long months he spent 
 teaching his brave fighters to become an army. March came. 
 Many cannon had been dragged all the way across Massachusetts 
 from Fort Ticonderoga, and now he could " do something." Gen- 
 eral Gage had gone back to England, and General Howe had 
 taken his place. 
 
148 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The evacua- 
 tion of 
 Boston 
 
 
 s<>f^^r^< 
 
 Uk / 
 
 'If:,- 
 
 
 ^mffl^ jf' 
 
 One night General Howe had little sleep, for Wasliington's 
 cannon roared until morning. When it was light, the astonished 
 British commander saw that all this firing had been done only 
 to keep him from fuiding out that the Americans were fortifying 
 Dorchester Heights, now a part of South Boston. " Drive them 
 from the Heights," said the commander of the fleet, " or we must 
 leave the harbor." The American fortifications grew stronger 
 every hour. The British remembered Bunker Hill, and, brave 
 
 men as they were, they did 
 not care to storm another hill 
 with Americans at the top. 
 March 17, 1776, Howe and his 
 army sailed away for Hahfax. 
 This is why Boston celebrates 
 the Seventeenth of March as 
 Evacuation Day. 
 
 The British did mol'e than 
 to take themselves away ; they 
 carried with them nearly a 
 thousand citizens who stood 
 by the king, and, either be- 
 cause of haste or because the 
 boats were crowded, quanti- 
 ties of powder and many can- 
 non were left behind. The 
 
 (On Beacon Street, neir the State House Demolished 18I..5) prCSCUCe of thcSe articleS WaS 
 
 as welcome to the Americans as was the absence of the British. 
 Howe would surely go to New York, thought Washington ; there- 
 fore he and his army went to Xew York to be ready for them. 
 
 July 4, 177(>, saw the great event of the year. On a table in the 
 State House in Philadelphia lay a document. Fifty-six men signed 
 their names to it. That was all, but this act was the beginning 
 
 
 "1 ii 
 
 
 ■-\4i, 
 
 ■<5^ri^=*^r^*- -^^^T-ytr^ 
 
 
 11 )l •-I IN L(j>ION 
 
FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION 149 
 
 of the United States, for the document was the Declaration of The Decla- 
 Independence. It named one by one tlie acts of injustice of wliich independ- 
 the king had been guilty. Then it declared, ence 
 "That these united colonies are, and of right 
 ought to be, free and independent states." 
 
 The man who wrote the Declaration was 
 Thomas Jefferson, a Virginian, and one of the 
 youngest men in Congress. He was a lawyer, 
 a musician, a skillful horseman, a student, a 
 gentle, kindly man, but firm as an oak in the 
 THE LIBERTY BELL causc of liberty. It required much courage to 
 sign this paper, for if England won, the signers would be looked 
 upon as the leaders of the rebellion and would receive the most 
 severe punishment. " We must all hang together, or we shall 
 hang separately," said Franklin. John Hancock wrote his name 
 in a large, bold hand, " So that King 
 George can read it without specta- 
 cles," he declared. When Charles 
 Carroll signed, some one jestingly 
 said, "You are safe, for there 
 are so many CarroUs in Mary- 
 land that the king will not know 
 where to find you." " I '11 show 
 him," repHed Carroll, and wrote 
 " of Carrollton " after his name. 
 
 The colonies, or rather states, 
 had declared their freedom, but 
 could they force England to ac- 
 knowledge it, and could they mn the aid of any other country? 
 No one could tell, but, nevertheless, there was great rejoicing. It The Liberty 
 began in Philadelphia with the ringing of the " Liberty Bell," as ^^^' 
 the bell of the State House was afterwards called. Strangely 
 
 OLD STATE HOUSE IN PHILADELPHIA IN 1789 
 (This building is now known as Independence Hall) 
 
150 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 (After the crayon portrait by St. Jlemin) 
 
 The king's 
 offer of par- 
 don 
 
 enough, the lettering on the bell read, " Proclaim liberty through- 
 out the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof." 
 This bell was cast just before Washington 
 carried the letter through the wilderness to the 
 French. Another message was to go to them 
 before long, but this time Franklin was to be 
 the messenger. 
 
 South Carolina had some good news to con- 
 tribute to the rejoicing. British ships had 
 appeared off Charleston, but on an island in 
 the harbor Colonel Moultrie had built a rough 
 fort of palmetto logs and sand. An officer 
 who had fought in Europe sneered at the 
 work, but when the enemy came, the little 
 home-made fort saved the city. Ever after this, the fort was 
 called P^ort Moultrie in honor of the 
 leader Avhose wisdom and bravery had 
 saved his state. 
 
 While the Declaration lay on the 
 table in Philadelphia, Admiral Lord 
 Howe, brother of General Howe, was 
 crossing the ocean with more soldiers. 
 He sent a letter to Washington ad- 
 dressed to " George Washington, Esq.," 
 but the American commander would 
 not receive it because he thought it an 
 impertinence to the states that ho should 
 not be addressed as commander-in-chief 
 of the army. An envoy came to see 
 him, and told him that the letter contained the king's offer of 
 pardon to all rebels who would cease to rebel. " We have com- 
 mitted no fault," said Washington, "and we need no pardon." 
 
 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 
 ( From a painting by DupleBSis) 
 
FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION 151 
 
 "Has your Excellency any message for Lord Howe?" asked the 
 envoy. " Only my particular compliments," answered Washington 
 courteously. 
 
 Washington had been right in going to New York, for the Washington 
 British planned to get possession of the city and the Hudson y^^j^ 
 River. The Americans had no warships, and if the British could 
 keep New England and the 
 South apart, they could 
 conquer them separately. 
 Washington held New Y^'ork 
 and two small forts, one on 
 the north end of Manhattan 
 Island and one across the 
 Hudson. He also held 
 Brooklyn Heights on Long 
 Island. General Howe 
 meant to take the Heights. 
 He had many more men, 
 and there was nothing for 
 the Americans to do but 
 to flee. In the darkness of 
 a foggy night Washington 
 sent powder, cannon, and 
 men across the river in any little boats that he could find, and 
 when General Howe cUmbed into the fort, there was nothing 
 there. 
 
 Washington could not hold New York now that the British 
 had Brooklyn Heights. He went farther up the Hudson, and the Retreat to 
 British pursued. Washington had not nearly as many soldiers as ^are ^ 
 would be needful to face them, and there was nothing to do but to 
 retreat. Such a retreat as it was. Congress had no money and 
 the men were but half-clothed and half-fed. They marched across 
 
 CENTRAL SCENE OF WAR 
 
152 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The battle 
 of Trenton 
 
 WAfeHIiJGTON CKUSSIiSti TlIK DKLAWAKE 
 (From the paintiiipr by Emanuel Leutze) 
 
 New Jersey, stopping now and then to burn a bridge behind 
 them. At last they were safe on the Pennsylvania side of the 
 Delaware River, while on the Jersey side were the British under 
 General Cornwallis. The British could not cross, for Washington 
 had taken every boat that could be found. 
 
 Christmas came. It was a sad Christmas for the Americans, 
 but the next day there was rejoicing. Twenty years earlier 
 Washington had crossed the Monongahela in the floating ice, and 
 he was not to be dismayed by the Delaware. " The war is over," 
 thought Cornwallis, and he sent his baggage to New York to be 
 ready to sail for England. The next news that reached him was 
 that this American general, who never would do what was ex- 
 pected of him, had crossed the Delaware in spite of the floating 
 ice, had marched nine miles to Trenton in a fierce snowstorm, 
 had fallen upon the Hessians, half stupefied with their Christmas 
 celebration, and had captured one thousand. Cornwallis did not 
 sail for England. 
 
FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION 153 
 
 1776 was an eventful year. It began with an untried general 
 training his men into an army. Before the year was over, the Events of 
 British had been driven from Massachusetts and Soutli Carohna, 
 the Declaration of Independence had been signed, and tlie untried 
 general had shown that he could figlit, or, if it seemed best, that 
 he could retreat in a masterly fashion, and even in his retreat 
 win a victory. 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 1775. The first bloodshed of the war took place at Lexington on April 19. 
 The battle of Bunker Hill and the capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Mon- 
 treal encouraged the colonists, though they had failed to take Quebec. 
 
 Washington took command of the American troops around Boston and 
 
 trained them into an army. 
 The king hired Hessian soldiers. 
 
 1776. The British troops were forced to leave Boston and were defeated in 
 South Carolina. 
 
 The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia by representa- 
 tives from the colonies. 
 
 The Americans abandoned Brooklyn Heights and were obliged to retreat 
 through New Jersey and across the Delaware River. 
 
 Washington showed his ability in his sudden marches and in his successful 
 attack on Trenton. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 A. boy describes the retreat of the British on April 19, 1775. 
 The commander of Fort Ticonderoga tells about the sin-render. 
 A messenger tells Washington about the battle of Bunker Hill. 
 A British soldier describes the evacuation of Boston. 
 Read, about the early Ufe of Franklin, and write its story. 
 
154 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 XVII 
 THE LATTER PART OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 1777. 
 
 The British pursued the troublesome American general, and 
 Bagging the found him on a point of land with the Delaware on the west and 
 °^ a little creek on the north. ConiAvalhs encamped just across the 
 
 creek. He thought, " My men need rest. The other forces will 
 be here in the morning. Then we can cross the creek and bag 
 the old fox." He slept the happy sleep of the man who sees a 
 successful day before liim. 
 All night long the British sentinels could see Washmgton's 
 The battle of campfires and could hear the Americans digging and throwing up 
 Princeton fortifications. When Cornwallis awoke in the morning, he heard 
 cannon ; but tli^y were not in front of him across the little creek, 
 they were behind him at Princeton. The " old fox " had marched 
 his troops around in the night, and was routing the forces that 
 Cornwallis was patiently awaitmg. The few men that had been 
 left to keep up the fires and rattle the spades had slipped away 
 through the woods at the last minute, and were helping to win 
 the day at Princeton. Cornwallis was too good a soldier not to 
 appreciate the brilliancy of this movement, and long afterwards 
 he said to "Washington, " Notliing could surpass your achieve- 
 ments in New Jersey." 
 It was not easy to follow the Americans, for they had burned 
 Washington the bridges behind them, and Washington made his way safely to 
 town^'^'^'^" ^^^® ^^^^h land of ^MorristoAvn. So long as he Avas there, the British 
 could not pass him to go to Philadelphia. They decided that the 
 
LATTER PART OF THE REVOLUTION 155 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON 
 
 (From the Trumbull portrait at Vale College) 
 
 best thing to do was to spend the winter in New York, and this 
 they did, 
 
 Washington had to meet otlier difficulties tlian battles. When 
 there is war in these days, some favor it and some do not. So it Differences 
 was in Revolutionary times. Some Americans were ready to give about"h^" 
 their lives and every penny they possessed to win independence, war 
 Others thought that it was a wrong and foolish thing to oppose 
 their lawful king. Some believed that war was always a crime. 
 
156 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The lack of 
 money 
 
 Robert 
 Morris 
 
 FLINTLOCK PISTOL 
 
 ((Jiven to Wasliington by 
 
 I>afayetle) 
 
 no matter for what reason it was fought. Some joined the army 
 for adventure, some to get the pay that was promised. People 
 
 were people then as well as now. 
 
 The lack of money was a great difH- 
 culty. Congress had i ssued paper money, 
 but paper money is of no Morth unless 
 the government that issues it is able to 
 give gold for it that will be of value any- 
 where, and no one knew whether this little company of states 
 would ever be able to pay what the bills promised. Even the 
 truest patriot hesitated to stay in the army with no money to 
 send to his wife and cliildren who were starving at home. 
 Congress had no power to make people pay taxes or to enlist. 
 One man after another gave all that he could. Franklin lent the 
 country his little savings ; Washington would accept no salary, 
 and he agreed to use his .«^^^^^^^^^^, 
 
 Sixtjj'^olfars. Noa'}U4i 
 
 ^ 2^ Bill intitPci 
 i f/ie Bearer ts recelue 
 \ Sixty Spanifh mill- 
 ed Dollars, or I 
 
 //« Value f.Sr^y^'u 
 Gold or Silver, ac- 
 ycJriiV^ fD a Refolii- X?"^ 
 .. .^^_ ion hajjci ^ Qon- 
 
 S€;,t 26tf, 1778 
 
 own fortune to pay the 
 soldiers, if Congress failed ; 
 but it was Robert Morris, 
 a rich banker of Philadel- 
 phia, who was the real 
 "financial backer" of the 
 Revolution. Washington 
 was the winner of battles, 
 but Robert Morris made it 
 possible for him to have 
 an army. Samuel Adams 
 was the " Father of the Revolution," Washington Avas the general, 
 and Morris was the banker. 
 
 Franklin fought no battles, and he had little money to give. 
 The thing that he gave was influence, the poAver to persuade men 
 to do as he wished. Not long after the Declaration, Franklin and 
 
 (ON riNKNTAL I'Al'Ei; Mii.SKV 
 (Two tliirdsof tlie real size) 
 
LATTER PART OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 157 
 
 Lafayette 
 comes to 
 America 
 
 two others had been sent to France to try to wm the help of the Franklin in 
 
 Fr3ncc 
 
 French kmg-. So long as the revolt was only a rebellion, the king 
 could have nothing to do with it ; but if there was good hope 
 of its being a successful revolution, he was ready to strike a blow 
 at the land that only twenty years before had driven Mm out of 
 his possessions in America. It began to appear that Washington 
 was a great general. There was once a Roman commander who 
 could not only fight, but who weakened his enemy by " prudent 
 delay." His name was P^abius, and 
 Washington began to be called the 
 "American Fabius." The French 
 king hesitated. 
 
 Meanwhile Franklin became the 
 fashion in France. The Parisians 
 delighted in even his whims and 
 oddities. Every one wanted to 
 see how " Poor Richard " looked 
 and to hear him talk. The govern- 
 ment moved slowly, but there was 
 a rich young nobleman named 
 Lafayette, only nineteen years old, 
 who would not wait for king or 
 councilors. He bought a ship, fitted 
 it out, invited some veterans to go 
 
 with Mm, and sailed away for the land whose independence he 
 meant to help win. The Americans rejoiced at Ms coming, and 
 he was happy with them. " I feel as if I had known them twenty 
 years," this boy of nineteen wrote home. Lafayette was a brave 
 soldier, and the veterans who came with him were of the greatest 
 help to Washington in training Ms troops ; but of most impor- 
 tance was the evidence that friends across the seas would surely 
 help America if she could only endure a little wMle longer. 
 
 LAFAYETTE 
 ( From a contemporary engraving) 
 
158 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 During the winter the British government planned for Genera] 
 Burgoyne's Howe to go up the Hudson ; for General Bui'goyne to come down 
 from Canada, capturing Fort Ticonderoga on the way, and for 
 another body of troops to come from Lake Ontario dovni the 
 Mohawk Valley. All three would meet, and the British would 
 control the State of New York. 
 
 Burgoyne captured Ticonderoga. Food, liorses, and ammuni- 
 The battle of tion had been collected m the little Vermont village of Benning- 
 Bennington ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ Burgoyne planned to send some soldiers to take these 
 supplies. The plan might have succeeded if it had not been for 
 Colonel Jolm Stark, a New Hampshire man who had fought in 
 the French and Indian wars and at Bunker Hill. In the promo- 
 tions Congress had not done liim justice. He Avas too indignant 
 
 to serve in the army ; but 
 when the British invaded 
 his owai state, for Vermont 
 was then claimed by New 
 Hampshire, he raised eight 
 hundred men, asked an 
 American officer to lend him 
 a regiment, and marched 
 out to fight. " I 'm under 
 no man's connnand," said 
 he. " I take my orders from 
 the State of New Hamp- 
 shire." His men had no 
 uniforms, and their weapons 
 were anything that they 
 could get, but they carried the day. Congress pardoned Stark for 
 making Avar all by himself and appointed liim a brigadier- gene val. 
 liurgoyne was in great danger, but if the troops could come 
 down the Mohawk, he would be saved. This expedition had 
 
 REGION OV BUKlJOYKE'S INVASION 
 
LATTER PART OF THE REVOLUTION 159 
 
 come as far as Fort Stanwix, where Rome now stands. There The Ameri- 
 had already been fightmg. The Americans had dashed out of the ^^^ ^^ 
 fort and captured five British flags. They hoisted them upside 
 down, and far above tliem tliere floated the most remarkable 
 banner that ever waved in the New York wilderness. One sol- 
 dier gave a white shirt, another an old blue jacket, and a third 
 contributed some strips of red flannel from his wife's petticoat. 
 So it was that the flag adopted by Congress was made, and for 
 the first time " Old Glory " swung out to the breeze.^ Benedict 
 Arnold had been sent to assist the soldiers at Fort Stanwix. He 
 contrived to spread the rumor ahead of him that Burgoyne had 
 been defeated. The British fled back to Lake Ontario. 
 
 These rumors became true not long afterwards, for General 
 Howe seemed to think chiefly of capturing the "rebel capital," as Burgoyne's 
 he called Philadelphia, and the paper ordering him to go up the surrender 
 Hudson and help Burgoyne lay in the desk of a man in London 
 who had gone off for a vacation and forgotten all about it. Two 
 battles were fought near Saratoga, and Burgoyne was obhged to 
 surrender. One of the soldiers wrote : — 
 " The seventeenth of October 
 
 They did capitulate; 
 Burgoyne and his proud army 
 
 Did we oiir prisoners make." 
 
 The main event of 1777, the third year of the war, was the 
 failure of the British to gain the Hudson. To prevent this. Wash- Events of 
 ington had lost Pliiladelpliia ; but the enemy could be driven from ^ ^"^ '^ 
 Philadelphia; while the British, once in full possession of the 
 Hudson, could have conquered the country at their leisure. His 
 skillful retreat across New Jersey, his victory at Princeton, and 
 liis masterly fashion of delaying the enemy when he could not 
 fight them, had won the attention of Europe, and had given his 
 ' Fiske's American Revolution. 
 
160 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 soldiers that confidence in their leader without which the most 
 competent general is helpless. Still, if Washington had known 
 what lay before him in the next few months, it seems as if even 
 he would have quailed. 
 
 1778. 
 The British forces were in Philadelphia, • comfortably housed, 
 Valley Forge well fed, giving balls, and amusing themselves. Washington and 
 his men were at Valley Forge. A small stone house which is still 
 standing was the headquarters of the commander. One room is 
 devoted to portraits of him, but in those harassing days he had 
 Uttle thought of his own portrait. It was 
 bitterly cold. The men were in huts of 
 Avoven boughs, or any rude shelter that 
 they could make. There was not even 
 straw enough for their beds, and many 
 a man sat by the fire all night because 
 he had no blanket. Shoes were lacking, 
 and the bare feet left blood on the snow. 
 jNIeat failed, sometimes bread failed. 
 The country was not poor, but Con- 
 gress had Uttle power and none too 
 , much wisdom. 
 
 The arrangements for providing 
 . the army with food were absurd, 
 Men were appointed to positions 
 which they had no idea how to 
 fill, and men whose bravery de- 
 served a great reward were passed over. A conspiracy was 
 formed against Washington. Tie knew of it, but went on calmly 
 through even the sutferings of that terrible Avinter. 
 The great gain of those dreary months was that the army was 
 
 A KEVOLCTIONAKY DANCK 
 
LATTER PART OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 161 
 
 finely drilled for future work. Baron von Steuben, a great German Baron von 
 soldier, came to America expressly to help Washington train his ^j-^g ^^^ 
 barefooted, half-naked men. France had sent him, for she had American 
 decided to help the colonies, and she wished the American army 
 to be drilled by a thoroughly competent 
 drill-master. Baron von Steuben was 
 hot-tempered. He would storm at the 
 men in a mixture of German and French, 
 and call for some one to come and scold 
 them for him in English. The next 
 minute he would applaud their quick- 
 ness in learning the difficult manoeu- 
 vres. The men were fond of the gruft\ 
 kind-hearted old soldier, and were most 
 willing learners. 
 
 When Franklin in Paris heard that 
 Howe had captured Philadelphia, the 
 old philosopher said, "Howe has not 
 taken Philadelphia, but Philadelphia has 
 taken Howe," and that was really the way it seemed. He was 
 in the city, but Washington was only twenty miles away, and Howe in 
 Howe could not well do anything but stay in the city, and feel ' ^ ^ ^ 
 as happy as possible over the fact that he had taken the " rebel 
 capital." 
 
 Spring came. A French fleet was on its way to help the Amer- 
 icans. The British had found that it was of no use to stay in Aid is corn- 
 Philadelphia, and they started to bring their forces together in '"^ 
 New York. Washington pursued. There was a battle at Mon- 
 mouth, now Freehold, and had it not been for the insolent disobe- 
 dience of a jealous officer, it would have been a great victory. 
 
 All the summer and autumn of 1778 there were no great 
 battles, but there were skirmishes in many places between small 
 
 BARON VON STEUBEN 
 
162 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Tories 
 
 Clark saves 
 the North- 
 west 
 
 Indians and bodies of troops. In one Avay some of these attacks were worse 
 than the real battles, for the British had induced the Iroquois to 
 join them. Bands of these savages, the most fierce 
 of all the Indians of the east, were led by Tories, 
 or men who still wished to be under the king. 
 They fell ui)on little settlements in New York 
 and Pennsylvania, and tortured and nmr- 
 dered the helpless people with the most ter- 
 rible barbarity. 
 
 The " far West," or what is now Indiana 
 and Illinois, was in danger. There were 
 forts and old French 
 ['''^ towns here and there, 
 and the English thought 
 they could unite the 
 Indian tribes and de- 
 stroy these settlements. -^ backwoodswaxn oi 
 
 „ „ , _ THE KEVOLUTION' 
 
 ( niortunately for then- 
 schemes, a young Virginia surveyor 
 named (^eorge Kogers Clark also had a 
 scheme. Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick 
 Henry, who was then governor of Vir- 
 ginia, approved liis plan, and he set out 
 for Indiana with a few men. When his 
 messengers returned to Virginia, they 
 had a thrilling story to tell, for the 
 adventurous young surveyor had taken 
 Vincennes and other places. He had 
 driven back the British, and had actu- 
 ally won for the United States the vast expanse of country be- 
 1 From tlie statue in Richmond of Andrew Lewis, a Revolutionary leader 
 in Kentucky. 
 
 A FKENCH FKIGATE 
 
LATTER PART OF THE REVOLUTION 163 
 
 ;ween the Ohio and the Great Lakes, and as far west as the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 Tlie Britisli had failed in tlieir two attempts to win the State 
 )f New York, tlieir plans to conquer New England had not sue- The British 
 3eeded, and now they decided to begin at the southern end of the ^^^^ <-»eor- 
 ine of colonies and try to get possession of Georgia. They were 
 juccessful, and they began to feel as if this plan would surely 
 3onquer the rebellious colonies. 
 
 The year 1778 began with the sufferings at Valley Forge, and 
 jnded with the loss of Georgia ; but, on the other hand, during Events of 
 :his year France had become the ally of America, and the " far 
 West " had been saved for the states. Such a year could hardly 
 3e called unsuccessful. 
 
 1779. 
 
 There had been many sea fights between English and Ameri- 
 3an vessels. Sometimes one side won, and sometimes the other. The Bon 
 rhe greatest naval fight was between the British man-of-war Rjchard and 
 ■^erapis and the American ship Bon Homme Richard, so called in the Serapis 
 lonor of Franklin's " Poor Richard." It took place just off the 
 3oast of England. The captain of the American vessel was a 
 Scotchman named John Paul Jones. After an hour's cannonad- 
 ng, the captain of the Serapis called, " Have you struck your 
 jolors ? " "I have n't yet begun to fight," shouted Captain Jones. 
 
 In these days a naval battle is carried on by cannon between 
 ships a long way apart, but in Captain Jones's time one vessel 
 sometimes clutched the other with grappling hooks, and there was 
 I short, savage, hand-to-hand fight on deck. So it was between 
 :hese two vessels, and the Bon Homme Richard was victorious. 
 England could endure to lose a battle on land, but to be so 
 :horoughly defeated on the ocean and just off her own coast was 
 lumiliating. It was a little embarrassing to claim to be " Mis- 
 
164 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 FlUHT KKTWEEN THE SEKAI'IS AND THE HON HOMME KICHAKD 
 (From a paintinjj hy Kicliard Paton) 
 
 tress of the Seas," when in a fair liglit one of her new men-of-war, 
 well-armed, and manned with a trained crew, had been beaten by 
 an old American ship with poorer guns and a crew from at least 
 six or eight different nations. It is no wonder that other countries 
 began to feel more and more confident that America would win. 
 
 Both Eng- 
 land and 
 America in 
 difficulties 
 
 1780. 
 
 In 1780 both America and England were in difficulties. Amer- 
 ica needed money. Had it not been for the gifts and loans of 
 France, she would have had to yield before. The paper money of 
 the Continental Congress was only laughed at, and the old phrase 
 of scorn, " not worth a Continental," has not yet gone out of use. 
 "Washington said, "It takes a wagon-load of money to buy a 
 wagon-load of provisions." England needed friends, for France 
 and several other countries had united to oppose her. 
 
 England had failed in New York, but she had succeeded in 
 Georgia, and she meant to take South Carolina and work her 
 way north. At first all went smoothly, for CornwaUis captured 
 
LATTER PART OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 165 
 
 But for Sumter Guerrilla 
 warfare in 
 
 the south 
 
 Benedict 
 Arnold 
 
 Charleston and Camden. Soon he wrote home, 
 and Marion, South Carolma would be at peace." Marion was 
 called the "Swamp Fox," but this would have been as good a 
 name for almost any of the fighters who were such a trouble to 
 Cornwallis. They lived in the swamps and on the mountains, 
 and whenever the English felt especially secure, a band of these 
 men would suddenly dash out, shoot a few " red-coats," rescue 
 a handful of prisoners, and be out of sight before the enemy had 
 a fair look at them. Indian warfare had been a good training for 
 the Americans, and the Regulars 
 never could become accustomed to 
 this exceedingly irregular fashion 
 of fighting. 
 
 Among Washington's most 
 trusted ofiicers was Benedict Ar- 
 nold. He had helped to capture 
 Ticonderoga, he had led the march 
 through the Mame wilderness, he 
 had gone to the aid of Fort Stan- 
 wix, and he was one of the two 
 men who had forced Burgoyne to 
 surrender. Congress had not pro- the seat of w.ui in the south 
 moted him as he — and Washington — thought he deserved. 
 Instead, however, of behaving so nobly that every one would see 
 that Congress had made a mistake, he committed such a crime 
 that people felt that Congress had been in the right. 
 
 The one thing that the British wanted most was to gain control 
 of the Hudson. The strongest fort on the river was at West Arnold's 
 Point. Arnold asked Washington to give him command of it, ^'"^^5°" 
 and Washmgton did so wilhngly, and without the least suspicion 
 that his trusted ofiicer meant to surrender it to the enemy. Major 
 Andre was sent by the English to make the final plans. He was 
 
 VIRGINIA \.,l, .^T.) 
 
 -•^ :--^^^^^^^7J^ -^V 
 
 NOR T\H CAROLINA- 
 
 - —A V' Raici;!..') 
 
 Cani.iiiV^ -..^ ^-;~V WUininston () 
 
 S O L) T H \^J'-,^ /J^ < 't 
 
 , *, C A R Q L I N AT /^^""^ k ^ . > 
 
 ^ 
 
 Fort Moultrie 
 
166 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 captured, papers showing his mission were found in his posses- 
 sion, and he was hanged as a spy. Arnold escaped to the British 
 lines. He received a large amount of money and was made an 
 officer in the British army, but he was despised for being a traitor. 
 Andre was risking his life to serve his own country, and although 
 by the custom of war he was hanged, every one was sorry, and 
 wished Arnold could have been in his place. 
 The traitor is said to have asked an Ameri- 
 can prisoner what his countrymen would 
 do with him if they caught him. " They 
 would bury with the honors of war the leg 
 that was wounded at Quebec and Saratoga, 
 and the rest of you they would hang on a 
 gibbet," was the answer. 
 
 This terrible treaison of the man whom 
 he had trusted was a heavy blow to Wash- 
 ington. Tears fell from his eyes, but in all 
 his sorrow and wrath he remembered the 
 grief and anxiety of Arnold's wife, and sent 
 her a message that her husband had escaped. 
 So ended the year 1780, saddened by losses 
 in the South, by the treason of a trusted ofticer, and by suffer- 
 ings at Morristown, where Washington's army wintered, equal to 
 those at Valley Forge. 
 
 MAJOR ANDIUC 
 (From a portrait by himself) 
 
 A hard win- 
 ter at Morris- 
 town 
 
 1781. 
 
 During the winter of 1780-81 the soldiers were freezing and 
 starving, and seemed almost ready to revolt, but when British 
 spies offered high pay to any one who would desert and join the 
 English army, the men indignantly refused. 
 
 Washington was keeping close watch on the Hudson, but in the 
 South Cornwallis held South Carolina. General Greene was sent 
 
LATTER PART OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 167 
 
 THE SUJiKKISLiKK Oi COKNWALLIS 
 
 (From Trumbull's picture in the Capitol at Washington) 
 
 against him. Sometimes one lost and sometimes the other, but, 
 
 losing or winning, Greene was marching across North Carolina, 
 
 and the British were pursuing. In the middle of the summer 
 
 Cornwallis went to Yorktown, Virginia. The English ships would Cornwallis 
 
 soon bring aid from New York, he thought. So they would, but at^yorktown 
 
 the French ships were coming, too. Lafayette, whom he called 
 
 "the boy," was pressing nearer. Washington suddenly dashed 
 
 across the country and joined his ally. The French sliips were 
 
 on one side, the American forces on the other ; there was nothing 
 
 to do but to yield. October 19, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered. 
 
 The news came to Philadelphia in the night. It was the custom 
 
 for the watchman to call the hour and say, " All is well ; " but that 
 
 night he called, " Past three o'clock, and Cornwallis is taken ! " 
 
 Except for a little trouble with the Indian allies of the British, 
 
168 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 the war was over. The Americans were free, and now it re- 
 mained to be seen what they would do with their freedom, 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 1777. Washington's ability as a commander won respect in Europe. 
 Franklin gained friends in France, and Lafayette came to aid the Americans. 
 
 1778. The British took Philadelphia, but their plan to cut New England 
 from New York failed, and Burgoyne's army was captured at Saratoga. 
 
 The Americans suffered nmch at \' alley Forge from cold and hunger, but 
 France promised aid and Clark saved the Northwest for the United 
 States. 
 
 The British planned to take Georgia and work to the north. 
 
 1779-1781. The victories of the Bon Homme Ricliard increased European 
 confidence in the final success of America. 
 
 Arnold's treason was a great blow to Washington and to the country. 
 
 The surrender of Cornwallis in 1781 practically closed the war. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 One of Cornwallis's soldiers writes home what happened on the Delaware, 
 
 Describe the making of the flag at Fort Stanwix. 
 
 A day at Valley Forge. 
 
 A British soldier describes one of Marion's attacks. 
 
 XVIII 
 
 THE YEARS OF WEAKNESS 
 
 1782-1789. 
 Disagree- The thirteen colonies had stood together to resist the king, l)nt 
 
 "'^"^^ ,, now each one began to think Avhat would be best for itself. There 
 
 among the ® 
 
 colonies were many difficult questions to settle, and no one had any right 
 
THE YEARS OF WEAKNESS 
 
 169 
 
 difficulties 
 
 WASHINGTON 11ESIGNIN<; HIS COMJIISSIOS AS COJIMANDKK-rN-CHIEF 
 (From Truinliuirs painting in the Yale Art Gallery) 
 
 to settle them. The most pressing matter was how' to raise 
 money. Congress could impose taxes, but if a state did not 
 choose to pay them, there was no power to make it ; and some 
 people said, " We would not let Parliament tax us, and we will 
 not let Congress." During the war, the Americans had paid no Financial 
 debts to British merchants, and, indeed, had been forbidden to 
 pay such debts. Congress now requested the people to pay, but 
 they did not obey. England retaliated in several ways, one of 
 which was to pass laws that injured American commerce. The 
 Americans could not make any such laws against England and so 
 force that country to treat them fairly, because a law that might 
 be of advantage to one state might not be of value to another, and 
 they could not agree among themselves what laws to make. Each 
 state was looking out for itself, and there were so many disagree- 
 
170 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The North- 
 western Ter- 
 ritory 
 
 The Consti- 
 tution 
 
 The Presi- 
 dent's term 
 ")f office 
 
 ments that few people in Europe believed the union would last. 
 "They'll soon come back," thought George III., "and ask to be 
 under our rule again." Some of Wasliington's officers even began 
 to plot to have a kingdom and make their commander king, but 
 he sternly rebuked them for thinking of such a plan. 
 
 Fortunately there was one tiling in which every state was inter- 
 ested, and that was the Northwestern Territory. Several states 
 had claims upon it, but at last it was agreed to put the whole area 
 mto the hands of Congress in the hope that it could be sold to 
 settlers and the war debt paid. Any state leaving the union 
 would lose its share of the vast amount of money that, it was 
 thought, would be realized from this land. 
 
 Six years after the surrender of Cornwallis, it was decided to 
 
 hold a convention in Philadelphia " to form a more perfect union," 
 
 and then it was that our Constitution was written. This was not 
 
 an easy thing to do, for each state was guarding its 
 
 own rights, and was afraid of having less power than 
 
 the others. 
 
 How to represent the people fairly was the hardest 
 question. " A large state should have more represent- 
 atives," said one. " A small state has its all at stake 
 just the same as a large one," declared another. At 
 last it was decided that each state, whether large or 
 small, should choose two men to send to Congress, and 
 so the Senate should be made up. Men should also be 
 THE PRESIDENT'S gg^^ to fomi tlic IIousc of Keprcsentativcs, and the 
 
 ARMCHAIR IN 
 
 INDEPENDENCE numbcr of these sent from each state should depend 
 
 HALL 
 
 upon the population of the state. 
 How long the President should be in office was another hard 
 question to decide. Some said one year. " That is not long enough 
 for a man to accomplish anything," said one party. "Let us have 
 it seven years." "A dishonest president would gain too much 
 
THE YEARS OF WEAKNESS 
 
 171 
 
 The Su- 
 preme 
 Court 
 
 INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON 
 
 power in seven years," the other party declared. Fmally the term 
 
 of four years was decided upon. It was also agreed that Congress Congress 
 
 should make the laws, that the President should have power to 
 
 obUge people to 
 
 obey them, and 
 
 that the Supreme 
 
 Court, formed of 
 
 judges chosen by 
 
 the President, 
 
 should settle all 
 
 disputes about the 
 
 meaning of the 
 
 laws. 
 
 There was much 
 discussion about 
 this Constitution 
 in the different states, but at last all thirteen adopted it. Then 
 each state chose electors, or men to vote for a president. Every The first 
 one of the electors voted for Washington, and in 1789 he became President 
 the first President of the LTnited States. 
 
 1789-1817. 
 
 The first difficulty for the states to meet was the lack of money. 
 The Continental Congress had never been able to pay what it The lack of 
 borrowed, and no foreign nation would lend them a dollar. A wise "^° ^^ . 
 man named Alexander Hamilton was made Secretary of the Trea- 
 sury, and so it became his business to suggest to Congress the 
 best way to manage the money affairs of the country. He said, 
 "Let us tax all foreign goods brought into the United States 
 for sale. This will make the price higher, of course, but it will 
 yield revenue and will enable our manufacturers to make many 
 things that we now bring from Europe." Then he suggested, 
 
172 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The cotton- 
 gin is in- 
 vented 
 
 " Let us agree to jjay all the money that the Continental Congress 
 borrowed." His third suggestion was a Uttle startling, for it was, 
 " Let us promise to pay whatever each state borrowed." Finally 
 Congress agreed. These suggestions of Hamil- 
 ton's were very wise, for those whom the United 
 States owed saw that if the government did not 
 stand, they would never get their money, and 
 every creditor became a friend to the new nation. 
 Large amounts of money were soon to come 
 into the country m a way that no one had 
 thought of. A young man in Connecticut 
 was asked to go to Georgia to teach the 
 cliildren of a rich planter. When he ar- 
 rived, some one else had been engaged, and 
 he was far from home and almost penniless. 
 General Greene's widow had met liim on the 
 long journey south, and she invited him to 
 her home. In Georgia the cliief business 
 was raising rice and indigo, though of late years planters had be- 
 gun to sow cotton. Cotton had been brought 
 from India before this, and the planters were 
 sure of a high price for all that they could 
 send to market. They had little to sell, li()\\ - 
 ever, for the cotton clings fast to its small 
 seeds, and all these had to be picked out be- 
 fore it could be woven. One day a planter 
 said to Mrs. Greene, " If we only had a ma- 
 chine that would get these seeds out, we could 
 all be rich." " Here is Mr. Whitney," she said. 
 " He made me tliis embroidery frame, and if 
 any one can make such a machine, I believe 
 that he can." The result of the conversation was the invention 
 
 ALEXANDEK HAMILTON 
 (From Trumbull's portrait in Boston) 
 
 KLOWKR AND I$OI,L8 
 OF THE COTTON PLANT 
 
THE YEARS OF WEAKNESS 
 
 173 
 
 of the cotton-gin, with whicli a man could clear at least fifty times 
 as much cotton in a clay as without it. 
 
 Southern planters now began to raise much cotton. They Effect of 
 
 Pvpv thpv cotton-gin on 
 evei tney ^^^-^^^ ^^^ 
 
 low. slavery 
 
 WHITNEY'S COTTOX-GIN 
 
 did not weave it, but sold it and bought what- 
 
 needed ; therefore they wanted duties 
 
 The North raised no cotton, and a large 
 
 share of the northern income came from "■ '^^ 
 
 manufactures ; therefore the North preferred 
 
 high duties on goods that could be made in America. 
 
 The cotton-gin encouraged negro slavei-y. 
 Before this, many, even in the South, had 
 felt that it would be good to have no such 
 thing as slavery, but now large numbers of 
 workers were needed, and it was thought 
 that the negroes would not work unless they 
 were slaves. If cotton was not plenty, the mills in the North 
 would make less money, and, therefore, many Northerners were 
 willing to have slavery flourish. 
 
 John Adams became president in 1797. Before that time, 
 France declared war against England and wished the United Trouble with 
 rr^r"^ -"——•- -— ^ States to ioin her ; but our 
 
 i 
 •fff government refused to 
 
 have anything to do with 
 European disagreements. 
 France was angry and 
 began to destroy our ves- 
 sels. The French minis- 
 ter, Talleyrand, suggested 
 that this would be stopped 
 if the Americans would 
 bribe some of the officials 
 A COTTON-FIELD of the Frcuch government. 
 
 France 
 
174 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Hail, 
 Columbia 
 
 Then Charles Pinckney, who had been sent to France to repre- 
 sent the United States, declared that his country had " millions 
 for defense, but not one cent for tribute." These words were in 
 every one's mouth, just as in the Eevolution every one was say- 
 ing, " No taxation without representation." " America is not 
 scared," wrote Adams. " France shall do as she pleases." The 
 thought of another war made the union of the states stronger. 
 This was when the words of "Hail, Columbia," were written, 
 though the music had been composed several years before. The 
 tune was called " The President's March," and was first played 
 when Washington was going through Trenton on his 
 way to New York to be inaugurated. Our 
 small navy began to attack French vessels, 
 and was so successful that France soon 
 suggested that we should be friends. 
 
 In Adams's administration, in the last 
 
 month of 1799, Washington died. General 
 
 Henry Lee pronounced the funeral oration, 
 
 and then it Avas that Washington was called 
 
 " First in war, first in peace, and first in the 
 
 hearts of liis countrymen." 
 
 While Jefferson was president, there was 
 trouble Avith Africa. For several hundred 
 years the people living in the Barbary States 
 in northern Africa had been accustomed to de- 
 Suppression mand tribute from all vessels that came their way. If this tribute 
 bary pi?ates ^^''^^ ^^^t paid, they would seize the vessels. Any wealthy men 
 that might be on board were kept for ransom, and the others 
 were sold as slaves. These pirates were so fierce and savage and 
 had so many vessels that the nations of Europe had paid them 
 tribute rather than run the risk of losing their merchant ships. 
 For the lack of warships, the United States did the same thing at 
 
 IJARBARY PIRATE VESSEL 
 
THE YEARS OF WEAKNESS 
 
 175 
 
 CANNON CAPTURED FROM THE 
 BAKBAKY STATES 
 
 first, but very unwillingly. One officer, sent to pay the tribute, Suppression 
 wrote home that he hoped he should never be sent to pay tribute barv oirates 
 again unless he could deliver it from the mouth of a cannon. At 
 last warships were sent against the Barbary States, and one of 
 their chief cities was bombarded. Then the 
 ruler thought it was time to ask for a treaty c 
 with the United States, and to cease meddling 
 with American ships. 
 
 About this time the United States suddenly 
 became more than twice as large as it had 
 been before. When the French and Indian War came to an end, 
 the immense tract of land north of Texas and between the Mis- 
 sissippi and the Rocky Mountains was given to Spain. After a 
 while, France gained possession of it again. France owned also 
 some land on the east of the Mississippi at its mouth ; and, there- 
 fore, if she chose, she could prevent the Ameri- 
 cans from using the river. Jefferson sent two Louisiana 
 men to see whether Napoleon, emperor of France, ""'"^hase 
 would sell New Orleans. Napoleon was 
 about ready to make war upon England. 
 He wanted money, and he did not want 
 this land in America, for England could easily 
 seize upon it. While the two envoys were 
 thinking about New Orleans, he suddenly offered 
 them the whole territory known as Louisiana at 
 two and a half cents an acre. Such a bargain 
 as this was not to be passed, and the land was 
 bought. No one knew much about it, and 
 some said not a settler would go there for 
 MEEiwETHER LEWIS ^ ceutury ; but the purchase would give the 
 right to use the Mississippi, and it would prevent England from 
 ever holding the land, so that most Americans were glad. 
 
176 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Exploration 
 of the west- 
 ern land 
 
 The Em- 
 bargo Act 
 
 Causes of 
 the War of 
 1812 
 
 A \VAi;.sHii"s (;rx-i)KcK in isik 
 
 Jefferson sent out a party at once to explore the new territory. 
 The leaders were his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, and William 
 Clark, whose brother George had saved the Northwestern Terri- 
 tory for the Americans. They went up the Missouri, then made 
 their way to a branch of the Columbia, and so doMTi to the Pacific 
 Ocean, wliich was, as their journal says, " more raging than pacific." 
 
 The Columbia Kiver had 
 been discovered more than 
 a century before this by a 
 Rhode Island captain, who 
 gave it the name of his 
 vessel. 
 
 Again the quarrels of 
 Europe made trouble for 
 the United States. France 
 and England were at war. . Napoleon gave notice that he should 
 fire upon any vessel carrying goods to England ; and England 
 declared that she should seize any vessel carrying goods to France 
 or to any of the countries that Avere on the side of France. Con- 
 gress believed that both France and England needed our goods 
 so badly that if none made their way to either country, these 
 declarations would be withdrawn, and so they made a law called 
 the Embargo Act, forbidding any American vessel to leave port. 
 People who depended upon commerce suffered greatly by this act. 
 They spelled its name back\\ards and called it the 0-grab-me act. 
 It hurt the United States much more than France or England 
 had done, and before long it was repealed. 
 
 Madison became president. He was a gentle, courteous, schol- 
 arly man, but it was during his terra of office that a second war 
 with England was fought. One cause was the interference with 
 our commerce. Another Avas England's claim that no English- 
 man could become a citizen of any other country, and her 
 
THE YEARS OF WEAKNESS 
 
 177 
 
 exercising what was called the right of search. An Enghsh war- Right of 
 ship meeting an American vessel would signal it to stop, and would ^^^^^'^ 
 fire at it if the order was not obeyed. Then the English captain 
 would take from the crew of the American ship all the men that 
 he thought were Englishmen, even if they had become American 
 citizens. If he needed sailors, he would not be particular to make 
 sure that these men were of Enghsh birth. He would claim that 
 no one could tell an American from an Englishman, and so he would 
 carry off what men he chose, and force them to enter 
 the British navy. The United States had long been 
 indignant at this behavior of England, but had not 
 been able to prevent it for want of an army. Eng- 
 land was engaged in the war with France also^ 
 but she had a large and well- trained army and 
 sixty times as many warships as the United ,/^;v,i 
 States. Nevertheless, this country would bear 
 no more, and war was declared. The 
 contest is called the War of 1812. 
 
 The first aim of the Americans 
 was to conquer Canada, but they did 
 not succeed. As the enemy were 
 invading the Northwestern Terri- 
 tory, it began to be clear that the 
 only way to keep them out was to 
 gam possession of Lake Erie. A 
 young naval officer named Oliver 
 Hazard Perry was sent to Erie, Pennsylvania, to build a fleet. 
 
 To keep English ships from sailing up the Saint Lawrence, the 
 frigate Constitution under Captain Hull was sent at the beginning The Const!- 
 of the war to cruise about the Gulf. One afternoon he caught thJ^uer- 
 sight of the British frigate Guerriere, the ship of all ships that he rifere 
 was most eager to meet, for he had once been chased nearly three 
 
 OLD IRONSIDES 
 
 (Built in Boston, 1797, and now at tbe Charlestown 
 
 Navy Yard) 
 
178 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 days by the Guerriere and the rest of her fleet, and he meant 
 to have his revenge. The British captain was ready, for he 
 was sure that he could capture any American vessels "with a 
 bit of striped bunting at their mastheads," as he said scorn- 
 fully. The fight was not half an hour long. The masts of the 
 Guerriere were shot away, and her hull was riddled with cannon 
 balls. There was nothing to do but to surrender. The wreck 
 was not worth saving, and it was set afire. New England had 
 not favored this Avar, but Avhen Cai)tain Ilidl appeared in Boston 
 harbor, the city made ready to give him such a reception as she 
 had never given to any man before. To sink an English frigate 
 was enough to arouse the enthusiasm of this little nation with 
 its navy of sixteen vessels. One city gave Hull and his officers 
 swords, another presented silver plate. State dinners and decora- 
 tions and cheering and illuminations and the waving of flags were 
 everywhere. As for England, this victory was perhaps one of 
 the greatest surprises that she had ever known, and she became 
 more and more surprised as time passed. In the long war with 
 France she had taken hundreds of ships and lost only five ; but 
 hi the first six months of tliisWarof 1812 she "had had six naval 
 battles, had lost six ships, and had not taken one." 
 
 The Constitution won so many victories and was so little in- 
 Old Iron- jured that the name "Old Ironsides" was given her. Twenty 
 sides years afterwards the government decided that she was no longer 
 
 seaworthy and must be broken up. Then Oliver Wendell Holmes 
 wrote his famous poem, " Old Ironsides," beginning, " Ay, tear her 
 tattered ensign down ! " and so many were eager to save the ship 
 that it was repaired and sailed the ocean for many a year. It is 
 now, more than a century old, in the Xavy Y'ard at Charlestown, 
 Massachusetts. It is kept in good repair, and will, perhaps, last 
 another hundred years. 
 Perry and his company of carpenters were at Erie, cutting down 
 
THE YEARS OF WEAKNESS 
 
 179 
 
 DOl>lTGIV£UBj 
 THE S Hip I 
 
 PERIIY'S FLAG 
 
 trees as fast as they could to build a fleet. There was no time to Perry's vie- 
 
 torv on I 3.1(6 
 
 wait for timber to season, and the ships were made from lumber £j.j^ 
 that was almost fresh from the forest. The one that he chose for 
 his flagship was named the Lawrence, from a brave officer 
 who had fallen in a sea fight a year earlier. The last words 
 of Lawrence were, " Don't give up the ship ! " and this is 
 what Perry put on his flag. The young captain had never 
 seen a naval battle, but he went out boldly to meet the 
 British fleet. Capturing a flagship is about the same on 
 the water as taking the enemy's capital is on land ; l:)ut 
 even when Perry's flagship was shot so full of holes that 
 she was ready to sink, he did not surrender. He and his twelve- 
 year-old brother sprang into a boat with the eight sailors who 
 still lived, and rowed to another ship of the fleet. There was a 
 storm of bullets and cannon balls around them. More than one 
 bullet went through the boy's cap, but they reached the vessel in 
 safety. " Don't give up the ship ! " swung out from the masthead, 
 and in less than ten minutes the British fleet surrendered. Perry 
 sent a message to the government, " We have met the enemy and 
 ^ — y y^ they are ours." This 
 
 Crji^ 
 
 (^-(y^u^trmx^ 
 
 c^ <^-n£j (^ili,^^^. 
 
 victory cut the Brit- 
 ish off from further 
 mvasion of the North- 
 western Territory. 
 
 The war was more 
 serious than it other- The Indians 
 
 wise would have been ^jgjj ^ "^' 
 
 because the Indians 
 of Canada united 
 with the EngUsh, and their chief went to Alabama to induce the 
 red men there to fight against the Americans. The Indians were 
 suppressed by two men who afterwards became presidents of the 
 
 COMMODORE PERRY'S MESSAGE 
 (.By permission of Harper & Brothers) 
 
180 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 of Washing 
 ton 
 
 United States, (Teneral Harrison, Avho won victories in Canada. 
 
 and General Jackson, who was successful in the South. 
 
 When the war with France was over, England sent more sol- 
 
 The burning diers and more vessels. Suddenly word came to Washmgton that 
 
 fiftj' British ships Avere at the mouth of the Potomac. The city 
 
 had no fortifications and 
 was helpless. The invaders 
 swept into the town, burned 
 the Capitol, and even the 
 Congressional Library, and 
 took i^ossession of the White 
 House. Dolly ^Madison, the 
 President's wife, saved the 
 Declaration of Independence 
 and a valuable portrait of 
 \N'ashington. Tradition de- 
 clares that, like a good house- 
 keeper, she also carried away 
 to safety her work-bag filled 
 with silver spoons. To de- 
 stroy Washington gave no 
 military advantage. The 
 British said it was done be- 
 cause the Americans had burned Toronto. There was this dift'er- 
 ence, however, in the two acts : Toronto was burned by soldiers 
 acting without authority and the United States disapproved of 
 the deed, wliile Washington was burned under strict orders from 
 the British government. Americans maj^ well be ashamed of the 
 destruction of Toronto, but they have no such act of barbarism 
 to regret as burning a national library. 
 Attack on The British ships next appeared before Baltimore. All day the 
 
 timore cannon thundered. On board one of the ships was an American 
 
 DOLLY MADISON 
 (From a njiniature i 
 
THE YEARS OF WEAKNESS 
 
 181 
 
 NewOrleans 
 
 prisoner, Francis Scott Key. The cannonading went on through The Star- 
 the night. He watched anxiously every " rocket's red glare," lest Banner 
 he should see that the American flag had been lowered. Dawn 
 came, and the flag still floated. In his relief and joy, he wrote 
 "The Star-Spangled Banner." It was printed at once; the air 
 was a familiar one, and soon the song was. sung from one end of 
 the country to the other. 
 
 After more than two years of fighting, England planned to 
 make a fierce attack upon Xew Orleans and so gain control of the The battle of 
 Mississippi. General Jackson was sent to defend the city, and 
 wherever he went something was usually accomplished. The 
 American troops had had little experience, and they were only half 
 as many as their enemies. The British soldiers were veterans, but 
 their knapsacks, muskets, etc., were far too heavy for rapid move- 
 ment. Both sides fought bravely, but the English were terribly 
 defeated. 
 
 One especially sad fact about this battle, with its great loss of 
 hfe, is that it was fought in January, 
 1815, two weeks after the treaty 
 of peace was signed. The only 
 way for news to come from 
 England to America was 
 by sailing vessel, and there 
 were few that even with 
 fair winds could cross the 
 ocean in less than a month. 
 This treaty said not one 
 word about any rights of 
 
 the Americans to buy and sell as they chose and did not mention The treaty 
 the right of search, but after this, England never again attempted P^^^^ 
 to interfere with American commerce or to search an American 
 vessel. Before this war the United States had been looked upon 
 
 FORT McHENKY, BALTIMOKE 
 (Where " the Star-Spangled Banner " of the song waved) 
 
182 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 as a few millions of people who had banded together to free 
 themselves from England. After the war it was seen that the 
 United States was a nation, able to defend its rights, and to hold 
 an honorable place among the nations of the world. 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 After the Revolution each colony thought only of its own gain. Congress 
 
 had no power to enforce its laws. The chief thing in which all the 
 
 states had a common interest was the Northwestern Territory. 
 A convention held in Philadelphia drew up the Constitution, which gave 
 
 Congress the power to make laws, the President the power to enforce 
 
 them, and the Supreme Court the power to interpret them. 
 In 1789 Washington became the first president of the United States. 
 The government obtained money by duties on imports, and friends by 
 
 assuming tlie Revolutionary debts of the colonies. 
 The invention of the cotton-gin resulted in an increase in the production 
 
 of cotton, which caused disagreement between the North and the South 
 
 about duties, and encouraged negro slavery. 
 Our vessels were attacked by the Fj-ench because of our refusal to aid them 
 
 in a war against England. After we had captured many French vessels, 
 
 France made peace. 
 In 1799 Washington died. 
 
 The Barbary pirates were suppressed by our warships. 
 The United States bought of France the land between the Mississippi and 
 
 the Rocky Mountains, which was soon explored by Lewis and Clark. 
 The Embargo Act was passed in retaliation for tlie declarations of France 
 
 and England which injured our commerce. 
 The War of 1812 was caused by England's interference with our commerce, 
 
 and by her searcliing our ships and seizing om- sailors. 
 American attacks on Canada failed ; but American victories on Lake Erie 
 
 and elsewhere kept the British out of our Northwestern Territory. 
 Our ships won many victories on the ocean. 
 The British burned Washington, but were defeated at New Orleans after 
 
 peace had been made. 
 
WESTWARD GROWTH 
 
 183 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 A sailor describes the search of an American vessel by the British. 
 Perry's brother describes the victory of Lake Erie. 
 
 XIX 
 THE WESTWARD GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY 
 
 1817-1841. 
 
 James Monroe was the next president. Soon after he was m- 
 augurated he made a tour of the country to see the forts and navy 
 yards. Traveling was easier than 
 when Washington had to ride on 
 horseback from New York to Boston, 
 for a man named Robert Fulton had 
 invented the steamboat. Steamers 
 were already on the rivers and the 
 Great Lakes, and before Monroe's 
 term of office was over, Georgia sent 
 one to Europe. Monroe had a joyful 
 reception wherever he went. He wore 
 the blue and buff uniform and the 
 cocked hat of the Revolution. The old soldiers remembered that The " era of 
 he had been one of them and gave him a comrade's greeting. ?°°,, 
 One of the Boston papers called the times the " era of good feel- 
 ing," and that described the condition of things so well that the 
 phrase went throughout the country. 
 
 In the southeastern corner of the land there was trouble. The 
 Creek Indians of Alabama had sided with the British in the War Trouble with 
 of 1812, because they felt that the Americans were driving them JJlfies '^'" 
 away from their lands. They expected the British to secure the 
 
 FULTON'S STEAMER, THE CLERMONT 
 
184 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 land for them, and when this was not done, they were more mdig- 
 
 nant than ever. In Florida there were Seminoles, negro slaves 
 
 who had escaped from then- masters in Georgia, Spaniards, and a 
 
 few English, all of whom were willing to unite with the 
 
 Creeks against the Americans. 
 
 Monroe sent General Jackson to subdue them, and 
 
 he succeeded ; but Congress was a little startled when 
 
 it was kno^vn that he had paid no attention to the fact 
 
 that Florida was Spanish soU, and that among 
 
 the men whom he piuiished were both Spaniards 
 
 and English. There might have been trouble 
 
 if Spain had not been m need of money. The 
 
 result was that she sold Florida to the United 
 
 States. Our country then o\\Tied every foot of 
 
 what is now United States territory east of 
 
 the ]Nrississippi. West of that river the vast 
 
 tract called Louisiana was United States soU. 
 
 Spain still owned what is now Texas and 
 
 Mexico, but she agreed to give up all claim 
 
 to the "Oregon Territory," which was the 
 
 land north of California. 
 
 There was much talk about the Pacific coast just then, for 
 The Monroe Russia had taken possession of the land which we now call Alaska, 
 and had begun to build trading-posts along the California coast. 
 Other nations of Europe were looking for new territory in South 
 America. Then it was that the President announced what is now 
 called the " Monroe doctrine." It was that European nations could 
 not acquire new territory in either North or South America, and 
 that the United States would not permit any European country 
 to " interfere with any mdependent American government." 
 
 The Americans were no longer confined to a httle strip of land 
 along the coast. There were twenty-two states, and two others 
 
 OSCEOLA, CHIEF OF THE 
 
 SEMINOLES 
 
 doctrine 
 
WESTWARD GROWTH 
 
 185 
 
 were asking to be admitted. The new states had been settled Going West 
 chiefly by colonists from the older ones. There were no railroads, 
 and the only way for a family to " go West " by land was by wagon 
 or on foot. The wagon most often used was called a prairie 
 schooner. It was long and low, and was covered with white 
 canvas drawn over great wooden hoops. The emigrants would 
 ride slowly on day after day, cooking their meals in gypsy fashion 
 over out-of-door fires, and sleeping in the wagon. They would 
 pick out a good piece of laud, build a log house, cut down the 
 trees, plant corn and potatoes, raise sheep and cattle, spin, weave ; 
 and, if all went well, they 
 would have a comfortable 
 home, where the family 
 would at least be sure of 
 enough to eat and to wear. 
 The emigrant would, of 
 course, be wise enough to 
 select land that was near 
 a river, so that as soon as 
 he had any produce to 
 sell, it could be taken 
 to a market and ex- 
 changed for things that 
 he could not make. 
 Other aettlers would come, perhaps a village would grow up 
 around his house ; and he might become a rich man. 
 
 This is what every emigrant hoped, and it is no wonder that so 
 many went to the "far West," which then meant states no farther Numbers ol 
 away than Ohio or Tennessee. One man in Pennsylvania re- grants 
 ported that two hundred and thirty-six prairie schooners went 
 through his town in a single month. Some of the emigrants had 
 set out bravely on foot to find the happy land where the poorest 
 
 EMIGRANTS GOING WEST 
 
 ACROSS THE PRAIRIES 
 
186 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 If,, ... -«,id»iipwf]^ 
 
 CHICAGO AS IT WAS IN isa2 
 
 had enough. One man and his wife were seen in Pennsylvanin 
 on their way to Indiana, having ah-eady walked from ]Maiiu'. 
 They had a Uttle handcart, in which were all of their possessions, 
 and as many of their six children as were too young to make the 
 journey on foot.^ 
 These people came from all parts of the country, and an im- 
 portant question was arising because of 
 the new settlements. .Should slav- 
 ery be allowed in the newly opened 
 territory? The North said 
 "No," not only because many 
 were beginning to think slav- 
 ery wrong, but because if there 
 were more slave states than 
 free states, their representa- 
 tives in Congress would vote 
 against duties, and this Avould 
 hurt the northern manufac- 
 turers. The South said "Yes," 
 fearing that if there were more 
 
 IIKMU' CLAY'S BIRTHPLACE, HANOVER COUNTY, 
 VIRGINIA 
 
 McMaster's History of the People of the United States. 
 
WESTWARD GROWTH 
 
 187 
 
 free states, slavery might be interfered with. She hoped also to The Mis- 
 gain representatives enough to abolish duties on imported goods, promise "^ 
 Maine asked to be admitted as a state, but the South said, " No, 
 we will not have another free state." Missouri made the same 
 request, but the North said, " No, we will not have 
 another slave state." Finally Henry Clay, " the great 
 peacemaker," persuaded Congress to admit both 
 states on condition that there should never be an- 
 other slave state north of the southern boundary of 
 Missouri, that is, 36° 30'. This act was called the 
 Missouri Compromise. People felt relieved and glad. 
 " There will be no more trouble about slavery," they 
 said. 
 
 In 1824, four years after the Missouri Compromise, 
 the United States "had company." Lafayette was 
 invited to visit the country as the guest of the whole 
 nation. Such rejoicings as there were, and such 
 welcomes, not only from the old soldiers who 
 had fought under " the boy," but from 
 every one who loved his country and appre- 
 ciated the help that Lafayette had given so 
 generously to win its freedom. He visited 
 each one of the twenty-four states, and 
 was greeted everywhere as the friend of 
 the nation. From each railroad train that comes into Boston from Lafayette's 
 the north the tall gray stone monument that stands on Bunker ^'^'^ 
 Hill may be seen. Its corner-stone was laid by Lafayette, June 
 17, 1825, just fifty years after the battle, and many veterans were 
 present who, as young men, had stood on that hill waiting to " see 
 the whites of their eyes." 
 
 When Lafayette was ready to return to France, Congress gave 
 him a generous sum of money and more than one half as much 
 
 BUNKER HILL MONl'MENT 
 
188 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The fiftieth 
 Fourth of 
 July 
 
 Death of 
 Adams and 
 Jefferson 
 
 land as there is in the District of Columbia. A new frigate was 
 named the Brandywine in honor of the battle in which he was 
 wounded, and this was sent to the mouth of the Potdmac to carry 
 
 him across the ocean. 
 
 John Quincy Adams becanu 
 " president in 1825. Wher 
 July 4, 1826, drew near 
 great preparations 
 were made through- 
 out the land to cele- 
 brate th'e fiftieth 
 anniversary of the 
 signing of the De- 
 claration of Inde- 
 pendence. There 
 were speeches and 
 cheers and music. Guns 
 were fired and bells were rung. When 
 night came, the country was ablaze with 
 bonfires and illuminations. The use of gas was 
 beginning to be common in some of the large cities, and its light 
 was so much brighter than that given by candles and whale- 
 oil lamps that it was looked upon as a marvel. Audiences would 
 gaze with wonder and delight when the gas in a theatre or con- 
 cert hall was suddenly turned up. 
 
 The whole land was jubilant, but a few days later word came 
 that on July 4, while the country was happy in its celebration 
 of independence, two men who had done much to win that inde- 
 pendence had died. They were Thomas Jefferson in Virginia 
 and John Adams in Massachusetts. Grief took the place of joy, 
 and black drapings were hung where such a little while before 
 there had been only brightness. 
 
 STAGE-COACH 
 
WESTWARD GROWTH 
 
 189 
 
 To-day the death of a famous man would be flashed over the Slow travel- 
 world in a few minutes, but seventy-five years ago news traveled *"^ 
 slowly, for there were no steam railroads and no telegraph. The 
 only way that a message could be carried from New York to 
 Pittsburg, for instance, was by 
 a man on horseback or by stage- 
 coach. When the people in 
 Ohio wished to send their pro- 
 duce to market, they usually 
 carried it in wagons to Pitts- 
 burg, and theji it went by boat 
 down the Ohio and the Missis- 
 sippi to New Orleans. Goods 
 sent from New York to south- 
 ern Ohio had to be carried by wagon across Pennsylvania, or else 
 by boat up the Hudson and the Mohawk, across Lake Ontario 
 and a part of Lake Erie, and then down the Alleghany to Pitts- 
 burg.^ The part of this journey that could not be made by water 
 was made in great wagons or ox-carts. 
 
 New York and the other Eastern cities knew that there must 
 
 AN OLD-FASHIONED CHAISE 
 
 FREIGHT WAGON 
 (Trom an old freight bill) 
 
 be a cheaper way to carry goods to the West, or else the new states The Erie 
 
 Canal 
 would make all their purchases m New Orleans and bring them 
 
 ^ McMaster's History of the People of the United States. 
 
190 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Opening 
 the canal 
 
 of 
 
 up the Mississippi in steamboats. It was proposed to dig a canal 
 from Albany to Buffalo. There was no dynamite for heavy blast- 
 ing and no steam machinery for digging. Every pound of dirt 
 must be lifted by a man with a shovel. It was a great under- 
 taking. Governor Clinton of New York was much interested in 
 its success, and the people who did not believe in the canal called it 
 " Clinton's big ditch." " How shall you get back the millions that 
 
 it will cost? "one asked. "We will tax 
 every boat that goes through it," 
 Ht _A Clinton answered. " You '11 have 
 nothing but mud for your 
 pains," another grumbled ; 
 but Governor Clin- 
 ton kept bravely 
 at work, and after 
 eight long years 
 the " big ditch " 
 was done. 
 
 There was a 
 great celebration 
 in Buffalo, and the 
 Erie Canal was for- 
 mally declared to 
 be open. A cannon was fired, then another five miles farther down 
 the canal, and so on all the way to New York city. Probably no 
 news had ever before traveled five hundred miles so rapidly. Gov- 
 ernor Clinton and others went on board some canal boats, fresh 
 and new, and made gay with flags and streamers. Horses walking 
 the " tow-path " towed the boats along to Albany. Then they went 
 down the Hudson to New York city and out into the bay. Two 
 kegs of water, brought from Lake Erie, were poured into the sea 
 to show that Lake Erie and New York Bay were united. 
 
 A CANAL SHOWING HUKSK.s, TUW-HOATS, AND LOCKS 
 
WESTWARD GROWTH 
 
 191 
 
 KEG r.iiorGHT 
 THROUGH THE 
 ERIE CANAL 
 
 The canal was used so much that even the first year the tolls Enthusiasm 
 paid nearly twice the interest. Freight grew cheaper each year, bu^^fng^' 
 and it was not long before one dollar would carry 
 as much weight from Albany to Buffalo as fifteen 
 had formerly done. Towns were soon built all along 
 the canal. Other canals were dug, and each one of 
 them made it possible for new towns to be built 
 and new manufactures to be engaged iu. There 
 was such enthusiasm over canals that some people 
 declared it would not be long before there would 
 be a waterway from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
 Canal boats were cheap and safe, but their speed was only four 
 miles an hour, and people began to question whether it would not The early 
 be better to build railroads. The idea of a railroad was not new. railroads 
 Wooden rails had been laid in several places to carry stone or 
 earth, and wagons had been dragged on these rails by horses; 
 but the use of steam locomotives on railroads we owe to an Eng- 
 lishman named George Stephenson. He tried for a 
 
 long time before any one would believe in his 
 invention. People laughed at 
 it just as they had laughed 
 at the "big ditch." "What 
 should you do, Mr. Stephen- 
 son," asked one man, "if your 
 engine was going at full speed 
 and a cow got in front of it ? " 
 cow," said the inventor gravely. 
 America 
 
 BOSTON AXD WORCESTER RAILROAD TRAIN OF ISiv 
 
 ■ It would be very bad for the 
 The new engines were tried in 
 They went- very well on level ground, but they could 
 not climb a hill that was at all steep. The road must either go 
 around the hill, or else there must be machinery at the top to pull 
 the cars up by ropes. The speed was not so very much greater 
 than that of a steamboat. The rails were of wood with strips 
 
id2 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Who shall 
 pay? 
 
 of iron on top. The passenger cars looked almost exactly like 
 stage-coaches, and part of the passengers had to ride backwards. 
 Improvements came rapidly. Every year the trains went a little 
 faster, the roadbeds, rails, and locomotives were a little better. 
 It was easier for people to go about the country. They learned 
 new ways of doing things. They saw new sights and thought 
 new thoughts. 
 
 Men had to think new thoughts in those days, for several diffi- 
 cult problems were coming up to be solved. There were the two 
 old ones, about slavery and about duties, and there was a new 
 one, " Who shall pay for these canals and railroads ? " The South 
 said, " Let each state pay for its own ; " the 
 North said, "They are for the gain of the 
 whole country, and therefore the whole 
 country should pay for them." 
 
 When it was time to elect a new presi- 
 dent, Andrew Jackson, the sturdy old In- 
 dian fighter, was chosen. He was a straight- 
 forward, upright man, with a frank, cordial 
 manner. He liked to please people and to 
 do everything in the simplest way. His 
 good-heartedness led him to do one deed 
 that was an injury to the country. Reso- 
 and];ew JACKSON lute as he was, it was always hard for him to 
 
 Jackson and refuse a friend's request. When he became president, every one 
 who had the least claim upon him begged for some position in the 
 government employ, and he could not say No. The only way to 
 find positions enough was to turn out the men who were then in 
 office. This fashion of favoring one's friends is called the " spoils 
 system" from a remark made in jest that "to the victor belong 
 the spoUs." 
 
 The hardest question that Jackson had to meet was in regard 
 
 the spoils 
 system 
 
WESTWARD GROWTH 
 
 193 
 
 
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 jt^^^^^^fflp^gi jiif^B 
 
 
 
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 WEBSTER MAKINQ,HIS FAMOUS SPEECH 
 (From the painting by Healy in Faneuil Hall, Boston) 
 
 to what was called " nullification," or making of no force. Con- Nullification 
 gress voted to impose duties large enough to make imported 
 goods cost more than those made in the United States. South 
 Carolina said, " This is an unjust law, for it makes us poor while 
 it makes the northern manufacturers rich. It is right for us to 
 refuse to obey it, and therefore we shall nullify the act." This 
 statement was made in the Senate. Daniel Webster replied in 
 the famous speech that closes, " Liberty and Union, now and for- 
 ever, one and inseparable." President Jackson did not like the 
 large duties, but he meant that the laivs of the land should be 
 obeyed, and he sent forces to South Carolina to see that the 
 duties were collected. Soon after this, Henry Clay, the "great 
 peacemaker," persuaded Congress to lessen the duties, and there 
 was no outbreak. 
 
 If a government is strong, and people feel safe and have time 
 to devote to education, books are sure to be written. In the colo- 
 
194 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Our first nial.days few books were written in America whose reading" still 
 carTwriters*' Si^es pleasure. Even after the Union was formed, people across 
 the ocean used to say with a smile, "Not even the Americans 
 read the American books ; " but before Jackson's time three Amer- 
 ican writers became known whose works were read with pleasure 
 on both sides of the Atlantic. They were Irving, Cooper, and 
 Bryant. One great difference between their writings and those 
 of most of the American authors that had come Tjefore them was 
 that they did not try to imitate English writers. When Bryant 
 described a landscape, he put in American flowers and trees and 
 birds ; while the .\merican poets before him 
 wore inclined to put in larks and night- 
 ingales and primroses and "crimson- 
 tipped '■ daisies, without stopping to 
 think whether these birds and flowers 
 could be found m America. Cooper 
 had little to say about lords and 
 princes ; he hked best to write 
 about the Indians of his own land. 
 So it was with Irving. When he 
 wrote "l^ip Van Winkle," he did 
 not make his hero live in some old 
 English castle, but in a New York village ; and Kip's strange 
 adventures all took place on the New York mountains. 
 
 In 1837 Jackson's term of office was over. He Avas the last 
 President that had had anything to do with the Revolutionary 
 War. Not one man was living who had signed the Declaration 
 of Independence. The men who had made the country were 
 dead, and the land was left in the hands of those that had come 
 after them. 
 
 When Van Buren's name is mentioned, the first thought that 
 comes to mind is " hard times," that is, times when no one seemed 
 
 fm^y ■iffp^'S^ev^ 
 
 BRYANT'S HOME AT IJOSLYN 
 
 Close of 
 
 Jackson's 
 
 term 
 
WESTWARD GROWTH 195 
 
 to have money to pay his debts. The government had received Martin Van 
 for pubhc lands and duties many milhon dollars more than it ^^^^ 
 needed to use, and had deposited the money in various banks. 
 These banks had loaned it to speculators, and to men who wished 
 to build railroads or canals or to buy western lands. Suddenly 
 the government decided to divide this money among the states- 
 and ordered the banks to return it. The banks called upon the 
 speculators and others to bring it back. 
 
 To do this at once was often difficult or impossible; for in- 
 stance, men who had borrowed money to buy land where they Hard times 
 expected a railroad would be built could not sell their land at a 
 fair price till the road was completed, and had no money with 
 which to pay the banks. Another trouble was that the govern- 
 ment had declared that men who bought western land must pay 
 for it in gold or silver ; and, therefore, much coin had gone West. 
 The banks united, and said that for the present they would not 
 give coin for their bills, and they would make no new loans. No 
 one knew what to-morrow's value of the paper money, or " rag 
 money," t\s it was called, would be. Every one wanted coin, and 
 whoever had any coin held on to it. Business firms failed, banks 
 failed, mills stopped, work stopped, poverty and suffering were 
 everywhere. The acts that caused the trouble came before Van 
 Buren's term of office, but as the trouble itself appeared while he 
 was president, it was always associated with his name. 
 
 After a while the money difficulties passed away, but there was 
 another difficulty that was growing worse all the time, and that Anti-slavery 
 was the difference of opinion about slavery. Anti-slavery socle- ^°^*^ '^^ 
 ties were formed in the North. William Lloyd Garrison had for 
 several years been publishing a paper called the "Liberator," 
 whose object was to arouse people to do away with slavery. " It 
 is wrong," said these societies, "for one man to hold another as 
 his slave." "It is right," said the South, "for us to hold the 
 
196 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 negro. He is happier and better cared for than he would be as 
 a free man." The societies sent pictures and pamphlets through- 
 out the land to persuade people that slavery was wrong. The 
 South declared that these papers would' make the slaves rebel, 
 and demanded that the government should forbid such acts in 
 order to prevent the danger of a slave insurrection. 
 
 Not all northerners sympathized with the anti-slavery societies 
 Differences by any means. Probably most men in the North thought that it 
 the North would be better if there were no such thing as slavery, but many 
 believed that each state had the right to do as it chose in the 
 matter, and some who would have done anything in their power 
 to keep slavery out of a new state thought that no one had a 
 right to interfere where it already existed. Anti-slavery papers 
 were sometimes taken from the mails and destroyed. A hall in 
 which an aciti-slavery meeting had been held was burned, and the 
 offices of the "Liberator " and other publications of the sort were 
 raided. 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 During Monroe's term of office, the Seminoles were subdued, Florida was 
 acquired, Spain gave up all claim to the Oregon Territory, and the 
 Monroe doctrine was proclaimed. Emigration to the West increased, 
 and the Missouri Compromise postponed the slavery trouble. Lafay- 
 ette became the guest of the nation. 
 
 While John Quincy Adams was president, the fiftieth birthday of the 
 nation was celebrated. Jefferson and John Adams both died on the 
 day of the celebration. 
 
 The success of the Erie Canal brought about the building of many other 
 canals and railroads, which made new towns and manufactures possible. 
 
 Jackson's enforcement of the law and a decreased tariff prevented nullifica- 
 tion in South Carolina. 
 
 Irving, Cooper, and Bryant wrote the first great American books. 
 
 Van Buren's administration was marked by hard times and by increasing 
 difference of opinion about slavery. 
 
TROUBLE ARISES OVER SLAVERY 197 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 Fulton's difficulties in making the first steamboat. 
 Governor Clinton tells why he favors the Erie Canal. 
 A ride on one of the early railroads. 
 
 XX 
 
 TROUBLE ARISES OVER SLAVERY 
 
 People suffered so much while Van Buren was in office that, 
 although he was not to blame for their misfortunes, they wished Harrison 
 to have a man who belonged to another political party. Wilham ^" ^ ^^ 
 Henry Harrison was chosen president and Jolui Tyler vice- 
 president. Harrison was a brave, faithful, upright man, who had 
 always done his best and could be trusted to do well whatever 
 he undertook. Just before the War of 1812, he had subdued the 
 Indians at Tippecanoe in Indiana, and before the election took 
 place his friends used to sing an absurd song, which ran : — 
 
 " Oh, what has caused this great commotion 
 
 Our country through? 
 It is the ball that 's rolling on 
 
 For Tippecanoe and Tyler, too ; 
 And with them we '11 beat little Van, Van, Van ! 
 
 Van ! oh, he 's a used-up man, 
 And with them we '11 beat little Van ! " 
 
 Perhaps what helped Harrison most was a remark made by 
 a newspaper that was opposed to him. It was that Harrison The "log- 
 would feel more at home in a log cabin than in the White House, date""^^"*^'* 
 '' That is just what we want," said his friends. " A man who can 
 live in a log cabin, plough his own field, and build his own 
 
198 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Tyler 
 
 succeeds 
 
 Harrison 
 
 The Lone 
 Star State 
 
 house— he's the man for us." Pictures of log cabms appeared 
 
 on flags and medals. Real 
 
 ones were drawn in the torch- 
 light processions by stout 
 horses or oxen. Mammoth 
 log cabins were built for the 
 meetings held by Harrison's 
 friends, and the "log-cabin 
 candidate " was elected. 
 
 Just one month after Har- 
 rison was inaugurated he 
 died, and John Tyler took his 
 place. The chief subject about 
 which people were talking was 
 the annexation of Texas. The 
 land southwest of the United 
 States which formerly be- 
 longed to Spain had become 
 free and taken the name of 
 Mexico was Avilling that settlers from other nations 
 
 PICTURE FROM THE HARRISON CAMPAIGN 
 ALMANAC 
 
 Mexico. 
 
 should form colonies on her soil, and it came to pass that more 
 than twenty tliousand people from the United States settled on 
 the land between the Red Kiver and the Gulf 
 of Mexico, called Texas. After a while the de- ><Sy^-^^XA 
 mands of the Mexican government became too 
 severe to please the Texan-Americans. Just as 
 Mexico had fought herself free from Spain, so 
 Texas fought herself free from Mexico. She 
 then asked to become a state, but for several seal of texas 
 years her request was not granted, and she was a state alone by 
 herself. This is why Texas is called the " Lone Star State." 
 There were various reasons why people wished or did not wish 
 
TROUBLE ARISES OVER SLAVERY 199 
 
 to have Texas admitted, but the most important one was the ques- The admis- 
 tion of slavery. Texas held slaves, and if it became a state, the jg^as 
 slave states would gain in power because they would have more 
 votes in Congress. There was a long discussion in Congress, l)ut 
 finally the state was admitted. The South was triumphant; 
 but the abolitionists, as those were called who wished to abolish 
 slavery, set to work with more energy than ever. 
 
 People were not thinking about slavery alone. Many a man was 
 at work on some invention that would l)e a gain to the country. Great inven- 
 The sewing machine had been invented long before, but it was a ^'^"^ 
 clumsy affair. Elias Howe succeeded in making machines that 
 were practical. Ilubber shoes had been used, but they were thick 
 and heavy and they had a fashion of melting when they were left 
 in a warm place. Charles Goodyear found a way to vulcanize the 
 rubber so it would not melt. " Daguerreotypes " of buildings had 
 been taken, but now a way was found to take pictures of persons. 
 A vast amount of suffering was prevented by the discovery that 
 by inhaling sulphuric ether the most severe opera- 
 tion would be painless. Samuel F. B. Morse worked 
 for many years to find out the way to send mes- 
 sages by electricity. Even after he was sure that 
 he could do it, so few believed in him that it was a 
 long time l^efore he could persuade Congress to give 
 
 ,. ,, <ui-iiT £ J. 1 1 Aj- A TELEGRAPH SOUNDER 
 
 hnn the money to build a Ime of telegraph. At 
 
 last the line was built, and the reverent message, "What hath The first 
 
 God wrought ! " was sent from Washington to Baltimore. ^^ egrap 
 
 " Telegraph " means " far-writing," and it was a great mystery 
 how writing could be done so far from where the message was 
 given. Some did not believe any news that the telegraph brought 
 until letters had come to prove that it was true. Some believed 
 that the wonderful invention could not only carry the news, but 
 collect it, and it is said that one woman objected to having a tele- 
 
200 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Territory 
 
 graph pole set up near her house because, as she declared, she 
 did not want people all over the country to know what she was 
 doing. 
 
 While Tyler was in oflBce, there was much discussion about 
 The Oregon what was caUed the Oregon Territory, that is, the land that now 
 forms Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and parts of Wyoming and 
 Montana, and extends as far north as Alaska. A Rhode Islander 
 had discovered its chief river, the Columbia; a Virginian had 
 explored the stream ; and a New Yorker had sent out a colony, 
 England, too, claimed the land, and for many years the two coun- 
 tries had held it in common. 
 
 The southern limit of Alaska is latitude 54° 40', and when it 
 was time to elect a new president, one of the political par- 
 ties took for a campaign cry, "Fifty-four forty or fight.'" 
 The candidate of this party, James K. Polk, was chosen 
 president. When he was elected, he declared, "One thing 
 that must be done while I am in office is to settle the 
 Oregon boundary." In his inaugural address he said that 
 the title of the United States to Oregon was clear, that emi- 
 I grants were going from the east to the extreme west, and 
 that the government ought to protect them and their 
 interests. A little later he urged that an overland mail 
 should be established to go to Oregon at least once a 
 
 month. 
 "^ Only a few years earlier it had been a disputed 
 question whether it was possible to cross the moun- 
 tains in wagons, and whether the Oregon country 
 was worth the effort. Few had thought that much 
 of it was of any value. In Congress a senator had 
 declared, " For agricultural purposes I would not 
 give a pinch of snuff for the whole Oregon Territory." The pre- 
 sident's address did much to increase the number of emigrants. 
 
 -MONUWICNT AT CHAMPOEG, 
 OREUOls 
 
 (To coinnieiiiorate the orKaniza- 
 tion tliere on Jlay L', IM"., of 
 the first Ameiican Koverniiient 
 on the Pacific coast) 
 
TROUBLE ARISES OVER SLAVERY 
 
 201 
 
 The trains of cattle drawing wagons loaded with furniture, tools, 
 food, and clothing grew longer and more frequent. Many of these 
 trains went to Oregon. It was a long journey ; it took six months 
 to go from the Missouri to the Willamette, but the very fact that 
 it was farther from the east than any other part of the country to 
 which emigrants had begun to go was one reason why so many 
 went, for some people had the feeling that the farther they trav- 
 eled, the more successful they would be. 
 
 The number of emigrants increased so that it grew more 
 and more important to both England and the United States 
 that the boundary line should be settled. Both countries were 
 finding out that a part, at least, of the Territory was a rich, 
 fertile land; but after all, the chief thing desired by each 
 country was to get possession of the Columbia River and the 
 inlet south of Vancouver Island. President Polk made it clear 
 that this country would not give up any territory south of 49°. 
 There was great excitement, and again the cry was heard, 
 " Fifty- four forty or fight." After much discussion England 
 offered to surrender all claim to the mamland south of 49°. 
 This was agreed to, and our northern boundary, at 49°, was 
 then completed. From the Lake of the Woods to the Pacific, 
 it was marked by iron pillars placed one mile apart, and by 
 piles of stones. 
 
 Although there was no fighting with England, the United States 
 did have a war while Polk was in office, and it came about because The Mexican 
 of the " Lone Star State," for Texas had at last been admitted to 
 the Union. The Texans claimed the Rio Grande as their westerij 
 boundary, but Mexico declared that the new state extended only 
 to the Nueces. It was because of that strip of land, one hundred 
 miles wide, lying between the two rivers, that the war took place. 
 
 General Zachary Taylor was sent to the banks of the Rio 
 Grande to defend the American claims. The story is told that 
 
 A MEXICAN BOY 
 
202 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Campaigns 
 of the war 
 
 Acquire- 
 mentof new 
 territory 
 
 before the fighting began the Mexican leader said to one of the 
 American officers, " If General Taylor will surrender, I can pro- 
 mise him good treatment." " General Taylor never surrenders," 
 said the officer indignantly, and that speech became the watch- 
 word of the campaign. In these Mex- 
 ican battles many a man fought whose 
 name was to become familiar a few 
 years later. Among these men were 
 I". S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and Jeffer- 
 son Davis. General Taylor was uni- 
 formly successful along the Rio 
 Grande. One division of the Amer- 
 ican forces conquered California, and 
 another marched from eastern Kansas 
 to California, capturing Santa Fe by 
 the way. Finally General Winfield 
 Scott made a wonderful march from 
 Vera Cruz through the enemy's coun- 
 try to the city of Mexico. The city 
 was captured, and the war was ended. 
 One condition of peace was that 
 Mexico should sell to the United States California and the land of 
 which Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and part of Wyommg, Colorado, 
 and New Mexico have been formed. American laws and customs 
 were introduced at once into the new territory, and little attention 
 was paid to the wishes of the people who were living on the land. 
 Even if there had been no question that all American laws were 
 better than Mexican laws, these changes were made so suddenly 
 and so harslily that they brought about much suffering. Mrs. 
 Jackson's story of "Ramona" was written to picture the life of the 
 Mexicans at the first coming of the Americans into the territory. 
 Part of this land was California. It was known to have a 
 
 DISl'LTKD TKKKITOKY UF HIE 
 MEXICAN WAK 
 
TROUBLE ARISES OVER SLAVERY 
 
 203 
 
 delightful climate and a fertile soil. After a while it was dis- ^J^Jgred^in 
 
 covered that bits of gold were to be found in the beds of gravel California 
 
 on the hills and in the valleys. A man could fill a pan with 
 
 earth, pour on water, wash the gravel over the top of the pan, 
 
 and find in the bottom grains of shining gold. 
 
 When the report of this discovery reached the East, there was 
 
 a wild rush for the " Golden State." Some sailed around Cape The " Forty. 
 
 niners " 
 Horn, some risked the deadly fevers of the Isthmus of Panama, 
 
 others went across the country, in "prairie schooners," in ox- 
 carts, on horseback, or even on foot. The overland route was 
 marked not only by goods that had been thrown away when the 
 horses became too weak to carry them farther, but by skeletons 
 of horses and cattle, and by the headboards , 
 
 of hastily made graves. It was 1849 
 
 when these first gold-seekers went, -X' 
 
 and they called themselves the ;^: 
 
 " Forty-niners." 
 
 While the Forty-niners were ,.^ 
 hurrying to California, Zachary 
 Taylor, who " never surren- 
 dered," was chosen president. 
 In a few months he died in office, 
 and Millard Fillmore, the Vice- 
 President, took his place. Fill- 
 more was followed by Franklin 
 Pierce, and after him came James 
 
 Buchanan. During the terms of office of these presidents the 
 laws in which people were most interested all dealt with slavery. 
 
 The first one came about because so many Forty-niners went to 
 California that one year later the territory asked to come in as a 
 free state. Much of California was south of 36° 30', and there 
 was the same discussion that there had been in 1820 when Mis- 
 
 SA]S! FliAN CISCO IN lS4'.i 
 (From an engraving published in 1855) 
 
204 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 souri wished to come in as a slave state, but in 1850 it was even 
 The compro- more bitter. In 1820 "the great peace-maker,'" Henry Clay, had 
 proposed the Missouri Compromise, and now in 1850 he brought 
 forward another compromise. "To please the Xorth," he said, 
 "let us admit California as a free state. To satisfy the South, 
 let us pass a new fugitive slave law, and decree that if a slave 
 escapes to a free state the United States government shall seize 
 him and return him to his master." The third proposal that he 
 made was, "Let us agree that the rest of the land which was 
 bought from Mexico shall be free or slave territory, just as the 
 people who may live there shall decide." Men who settled upon 
 land to which they had no title were sometimes called " squatters," 
 and this law allowing the settlers to decide whether slavery should 
 exist in their territory was spoken of as " squatter sovereignty." 
 
 The compromise was agreed upon, and California was admitted. 
 Daniel Webster and many others who did not believe in slavery 
 The under- voted for this law, because they feared that the country would be 
 road '^^' " tli'^'ic^ed if they refused. The slaveholder said, " This negro is 
 my property. I paid for him, and I have a right to claim him 
 wherever I can find him ; " but when a negro who had made his 
 escape appeared before the door of a man who believed that 
 slavery was wrong, that man was much inclined to help the fugi- 
 tive, even if the government did order that he should be given up. 
 Anti-slavery men would hide these runaway slaves, and pass them 
 on from one to another, concealed in all sorts of ways, until they 
 were safe in Canada. This system was so secret and so success- 
 ful that it was spoken of as the " underground railroad." 
 
 People were talking of slavery more than anything else, and 
 
 Uncle Tom's into the midst of the discussion came ]Mrs. Stowe's "Uncle Tom's 
 
 ^ '" Cabin," painting the life of the slave in the darkest colors. The 
 
 North believed that it was a truthful picture and opposed slavery 
 
 more than ever. 
 
TROUBLE ARISES OVER SLAVERY 205 
 
 The Missouri Compromise declared that all territory north of Bleeding 
 36° 30' should be free; but now, influenced by the friends of 
 ''squatter sovereignty," Congress voted that, although Kansas 
 and Nebraska were north of the line, yet when they wished to 
 come m as states, they might be free or slaveholding, as they 
 chose. Then there was a struggle to win the new territories. 
 Settlers from the slave states round about pressed into Kansas. 
 Anti-slavery men in the North became colonists or gave money to 
 help to send others. Both parties were sure that they were in 
 the right ; both were eager and excited. There were battles be- 
 tween them, and for several years there was so much bloodshed 
 in the territory that it was called " bleeding Kansas." In a battle 
 at Osawatomie, one of the fighters was John Brown, of Connecti- 
 cut, who fought so fiercely that he was afterwards often called 
 " Osawatomie Brown." The one aim of liis life was, as he said, to 
 wage " eternal war with slavery," and he had gone to Kansas to do 
 everything in his power to make the territory into a free state. 
 
 In 1857 .James Buchanan became president; in the next four 
 
 years there was one act that especially aroused the North and one The Dred 
 
 Scott Deci' 
 that alarmed the South. The first was what was known as the gjQ^ 
 
 "Dred Scott Decision." Dred was a slave. His master kept him 
 in Illinois several years, and then carried him back to Missouri. 
 In Missouri, Dred was flogged. He said, " No man is a slave in 
 Illinois; therefore, when I was there, I became free, and my 
 master must pay for flogging me." The case went from one 
 court to another, and at last the Supreme Court of the United 
 States, whose business it is to tell what the laws mean when 
 people differ, said, " A slave is not a person ; he is property, and 
 his master may take him anywhere." The North cried indig- 
 nantly, " That is not only protecting slavery in the states where 
 it already exists, it is forcing slavery upon us ; " and the opposition 
 to it became even more determined. 
 
206 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Two years later came the act that alarmed the South. " Osawa- 
 John ^ tomie Brown " had left Kansas to live near Harper's Ferry in 
 
 Virginia. He thought that with the aid of a few friends it would 
 be possible to fortify some place in the mountains where fugitives 
 might be safe, and that after a while the slaves might be united 
 in a general revolt. To get arms, he seized upon the United 
 ___. ,_, States arsenal at Har- 
 
 ^' per's Ferry. A fight 
 
 followed ; John BroM^i 
 was captured by 
 United States troops 
 led by Kobert E. Lee, 
 tried for treason and 
 murder, and executed. 
 He had broken the law 
 of the land, and his 
 punishment was law- 
 ful ; but so much sym- 
 pathy was felt in the 
 North with his eagerness to free the negroes that his death 
 strengthened the northern hatred of slavery. 
 
 In the South it was thought possible that John BroAvn was 
 supported by many northerners. There might be a general revolt 
 Seven states of the slaves, pillage, burning, and murder. The South was fear- 
 ful of the horrors that might come, and more angry than ever 
 with the North. It was near the end of Buchanan's term. Many 
 southerners declared that the South would leave the Union if 
 the next President should oppose slavery. " Must a state be kept 
 in the Union against its AvillV" they asked. "Has it not a right to 
 secede?" Abraham Lincoln was elected, and the watchword of 
 his party was " No more slave states." Seven states, Soutli Caro- 
 Ihia, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas 
 
 HAUPEK'S KEKUY 
 
 secede 
 
TROUBLE ARISES OVER SLAVERY 207 
 
 left the LTnion. Franklin's great-granddaughter was present when 
 the senators of these seven states withdrew from Congress. Jef- 
 ferson Davis was one of the senators, and he told her that the new 
 government and the old would live side by side and be friendly to 
 each other. " The Xorth will never flight the South," he said. " You 
 see how quietly they have let us go." 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 Texas freed herself from Mexico and was admitted to the United States. 
 A quarrel over her boundary brought this country into a war with 
 Mexico. 
 
 The telegraph was invented. 
 
 The conflicting claims of the United States and Great Britain to Oregon 
 were settled, and the northern boundary of our country was marked. 
 
 California and a vast area of land east of California were ceded to the 
 United States by Mexico. The discovery of gold in California caused 
 a great westward migration in 1849. California was admitted as a 
 fi-ee state, and to satisfy the South the Fugitive Slave law was passed. 
 Squatter sovereignty did away with the Missouri Compromise. 
 
 The question of slavery became more violent. " Uncle Tom's Cabin " and 
 the " Dred Scott Decision" aroused the North; while John Brown's 
 raid alarmed the South. Finally, seven states seceded. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 INIorse tells Congress how valuable the telegraph will be. 
 
 A day's ride with a western emigrant. 
 
 A Forty-niner describes his journey to California. 
 
208 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The South- 
 ern Confed 
 eracy. 
 
 CONFEDEUATK 
 BATTLE FLAG 
 
 Lincoln's 
 determina- 
 tion 
 
 The attack 
 on Fort 
 Sumter 
 
 XXI 
 THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 1861. 
 
 The seven seceding states formed a union, or confederacy, and 
 in a little while four others joined them. These eleven were 
 ffhiia, . Xortli Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, 
 Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkan- 
 sas, and Tennessee. Jefferson Davis, who had fought 
 bravely in the Mexican War, was chosen president. 
 A flag was adopted wliich had a red field crossed di- 
 agonally by wide bars of blue outlined with white. In 
 the bars were eleven stars for the seceding states and 
 two more for Missouri and Kentucky, which the Confeder- 
 ates • expected Avould secede because those states had sent 
 representatives to the Confederate congress. 
 Jefferson Davis had said that the northern states would not 
 tight, and he had much reason to think so, for President Buch- 
 anan was not sure that the government had any right to force a 
 state to remain in the Union, and many people in the North agreed 
 with him. When Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated, he said 
 that he should not interfere with slavery where it already ex- 
 isted, but that he should protect the T'liioii and the property of 
 the Union. 
 
 Among these pieces of property were the forts, one of which. 
 P^ort Sumter, was on an island at the mouth of Charleston harbor. 
 In April, 18G1, the Confederates demanded its surrender, and 
 when Major Anderson refused, General Beauregard fired upon it. 
 
THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 209 
 
 Copjrigbt, 1891, by M. V. Rice 
 
 ABKAHAM LINCOLK 
 (From an original ne^;ative made in 1864, when President Lincoln com- 
 miBsioned General (irant Lieutenant-fleneral and commander of all 
 the armies of the repnblic) 
 
 The Union men held out for two days. So much of the fort was 
 on fire that the defenders had to lie on the ground with handker- 
 chiefs over their mouths to keep from being suffocated. The 
 powder was nearly gone. There was nothing to eat hut salt 
 pork. Then Major Anderson surrendered. The flag on the fort Surrender of 
 had been shot through and through. Anderson saluted the tat- Sumter 
 tered banner with fifty guns, and the little company wliich had 
 
210 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 formed the garrison marched out with drums beating and colors 
 
 flying. 
 The first gun fired upon Fort Sumter aroused the whole 
 
 country. Before that 
 men tallced about what 
 might happen. 'Now 
 sometliing had hap- 
 pened, and every man 
 in tlie land must stand 
 for the Union or against 
 
 FORT SUMTER IN ISiJl 
 
 it. Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand men to serve in the 
 army, and more than that number offered themselves. Most 
 people in the North supposed that the revolt would soon be 
 suppressed, and Lincoln asked the men to serve for three months. 
 The South, too, raised an army at once, and made ready to 
 defend the border line of the seceded states. 
 Richmond was chosen as the Confederate capi- 
 tal. If the Union men could take Richmond 
 or the Confederates could take Washington, 
 it Avould be a great gain to the victors, it might 
 even bring the war to an end. Week aftei 
 week passed. "" On to Washington ! " cried the 
 Confederates. " Why does n't General Scott do 
 something ? " complained the Unionists. " He 
 could fight in the Mexican War. Why does 
 he stand still now ? On to Richmond ! " 
 
 The two armies pressed a little nearer to- 
 gether. Neither was ready to fight, but 
 each commander felt that he must pay 
 A UNION SOLDIER gouic regard to the wishes of his people. -^ confederate 
 
 In Virginia, not far from Washington, is a little river called Bull 
 Run, and just beyond it is a railroad that runs from Washington 
 
THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 211 
 
 to the southwest. If the southern army held this railroad, they Battle of 
 could bring men and arms and provisions from the South easily " "" 
 and quickly, and thus threaten Washington. The North meant 
 to prevent the capture of the road, and that is why the first great 
 battle of the war was fought near Bull Run. General Beauregard 
 
 THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY AND ADJACENT UNION STATES 
 
 had come from Charleston, and was in command of the Con- 
 federate forces. He had been educated at the United States 
 Military Academy at West Point. Among his classmates was 
 Irvin McDowell, and it was McDowell who stood on the other 
 side of the little stream, leading the Union army. Another West 
 Point graduate, General Jackson, was on the field, fightmg for 
 
212 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 the Confederacy. It seemed at first as if the Union men would 
 win, and as they pushed forward upon Jackson, an oflBcer shouted 
 to his troops, " Look at Jackson and his men standing there Uke 
 a stone wall." Soldiers always nickname their favorite command- 
 ers, and from that day the brave general was known among them 
 as " Stonewall " Jackson. 
 There was a fierce battle, and thousands of men were slain. 
 Defeat of the The Confederates were victorious, and the retreat of the Union 
 "'°" soldiers was a wild stampede. Men, horses, army- wagons, gun- 
 
 troops 
 
 Making an 
 army 
 
 Blockade 
 runners 
 
 carriages, sutlers' teams, dashed along the road in the maddest 
 confusion, while tents, cannon, and provisions were scattered 
 along the way. The two chief reasons for the Union defeat were, 
 first, that the soldiers had expected to win the day easily ; sec- 
 ondly, that they were "green," as Lincoln said, and had no idea 
 of the training and obedience required of a soldier. General 
 McDoweU said that on the march to Bull Run it was hard to 
 keep these untrained warriors from leaving the ranks to pick 
 blackberries. 
 
 After Bull Run it was clear that the conflict would be long and 
 serious. Lincoln called for seven times as many men as at first. 
 Another thing that was clear was that bravery alone would not 
 make a soldier. The troops must be drilled. General McClel- 
 lan spent week after week in training his men. In the autunm 
 of 1861 there were thousands of men who wished to fight for the 
 Union; in the spring of 1862 these men had become an army. 
 
 The Confederates had felt almost sure of the favor and support 
 of England, for English mills were using large quantities of 
 southern cotton, and cotton could not be sent so long as there 
 was war. A Union warship watched every important port, and 
 a vessel trying to enter or leave the harbor was in great danger 
 of being captured. Those that did attempt it were called block- 
 ade runners. The risk was so great that an enormous price was 
 
THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 213 
 
 affair 
 
 charged for the goods that they carried ; and before the war was 
 
 over a pound of cotton that cost four cents in Soutli Carolina 
 
 could be sold for two dollars and a half in England. Two men The Trent 
 
 were appointed by the Confederates to go to England and try to 
 
 persuade both that country and France to help them. They were 
 
 on board the Trent, a 
 
 British mail - steamer. 
 
 A Union captain obliged 
 
 the Trent to stop, 
 
 and carried away the 
 
 two men. Thoughtless 
 
 people throughout the 
 
 North rejoiced, but 
 
 Lincoln declared that 
 
 this- was exercising the right of search, and the men must be given 
 
 up. They were set free with an explanation to England that their 
 
 capture was not approved by the United States government. 
 
 A CONFEDEKATE BLOCKADE RUNNER 
 (This vessel, the A. D. Vance, was captured Sept. 10, 1S64) 
 
 1862. 
 
 The United States government now planned to get control of 
 the Mississippi. That would cut Texas, Arkansas, and most of The capture 
 Louisiana from the other Confederate states, and would make it Orleans 
 easy to transport men and supplies from the North. The first 
 step was to take New Orleans, which would prevent blockade 
 runners from landing there arms and ammunition or anything 
 else that would help the Confederates. 
 
 There was a naval officer named David Farragut who had gone 
 to sea as a midshipman when he was only eleven years old. He 
 had stood firmly by the Union, but some were afraid to trust 
 him because he was of southern birth. The government be- 
 lieved in him, and gave him command of the fleet that would, 
 it was hoped, succeed in taking New Orleans. The city was 
 
214 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The Merri- 
 mac 
 
 AX ATGUST MORNING WITH FARRAGIT 
 (From \V. H. Overend's painting showing Karragut in the rigging) 
 
 defended by two forts, by sixteen gunboats, by chains stretched 
 across the river, and by rafts of logs. Flat-boats loaded with 
 pine-knots or with cotton were set afire and let loose to drift 
 down among the ships ; but Farragvit avoided the fire-boats, 
 broke the chains, cut his way through the rafts, silenced the 
 forts, and captured New Orleans. No one distrusted Farragut 
 after this. 
 
 While Farragut was on his way to New Orleans, a new sort of 
 battle was being fought off the mouth of the James River. A 
 Virginia navy yard had been seized by the Confederates at the 
 beginning of the war. The Merrimac, a Union frigate taken at 
 that time, was cut do\vn to the water's edge and covered with a 
 sloping roof of iron, pierced with holes for the cannon. This new 
 kind of craft attacked the wooden vessels of the Union. One 
 sank, another surrendered, a third, the Minnesota, ran aground. 
 
THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 215 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 m 
 
 
 f^:> 
 
 m 
 
 
 -4l 
 
 and the iron-clad left her destruction until the morning. Should 
 she be abandoned ? Trains of powder were laid that she might 
 be left and blown up. " Wait," ordered the captain. " And he 
 did more than or- 
 der," said one who 
 was there. "He 
 almost begged us 
 to stay. We had 
 heard about the 
 Monitor, though 
 we did not know the iiKKuiMAc 
 
 whether the Monitor was coming or whether it Avould amount to 
 anything if it did come, but a man does not like to leave his ship, 
 and we stayed." Morning came, and with it the queerest little 
 vessel that was ever seen. " A cheese-box on a raft," the Con- 
 federates called it. This was the Monitor, invented by a Swede, 
 John Ericsson. It was made of iron, it carried two guns, and 
 the " cheese-box " could be turned so that the guns might be fired 
 in any direction. The battle was a severe one, but neither ves- 
 sel was destroyed. 
 Xext day the Mer- 
 rimac came out, 
 but as the ]Monitor 
 was needed to pro- 
 tect ^Vashington, 
 it did not engage 
 in another battle. 
 
 THE MONITOR j^^^^^, ^j^^ (.^^^j.^^, 
 
 erates were forced to evacuate Norrfolk, and destroyed the Merri- 
 mac. This battle made it necessary for all countries to build iron- 
 clad naval vessels instead of the wooden vessels that had been used. 
 ""On to Richmond!" was still the cry, and a plan was made 
 
 The battle 
 
216 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 for McClellan to land near Yorktown, march up the Peninsula, 
 as it was called, between the Y'ork and the James rivers, meet 
 McDowell, and press on to Richmond. " Stonewall " 
 Jackson was carrying on a brilliant campaign in 
 the Shenandoah Valley, where small bodies of 
 Union troops were stationed. Up and down the 
 valley Jackson swept, making marches as un- 
 expected as Washington's sudden moves, and 
 so rapid that people called his army " Stone- 
 wall's foot-cavalry." It would not do to let 
 McDowell and his troops leave Washington, 
 for it was possible that Jackson might suc- 
 ceed in reaching that city, and therefore Mc- 
 Clellan had to do as best he could ^\athout 
 them. Richmond was alarmed, and Jefferson Davis's 
 niece wrote to a friend, " Uncle Jeff thinks we had 
 better go to a safer 
 
 attempt to 
 take Rich- 
 mond 
 
 GENERAL KOBERT E. LEE 
 
 McClellan 's place than Richmond." After 
 much fighting, McClellan was 
 driven back toward the sea; 
 and as there was still fear for 
 the safety of Washington, he 
 was ordered to come nearer the 
 capital. 
 
 There was reason for alarm. 
 
 General Lee for the Confederates were evi- 
 dently planning to carry the 
 war into the North. General 
 Robert E. Lee was now at the 
 head of the Confederate army. 
 He was the son of a famous 
 Revolutionary officer, a West 
 
 P E ^'n N S^y L V^^N 1 A 
 
 THE SCENE OF WAR NEAR WASHINGTON 
 AND RICHMOND 
 
THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 217 
 
 Point graduate, and he had served with honor in Mexico. When 
 the war broke out, he knew that a position in the Union army 
 which might tempt any soldier, would be offered him, but Lee was 
 not the man to do what he t]i'>imiit wr'^nm- f-T tb" <ak" "f i>'><i- 
 tion. It was a strug- '-" 
 gie for him to choose 
 on which side to stand, 
 but he decided that 
 as a citizen of Virginia 
 he ought to follow the 
 bidding of his state. 
 This was the man 
 who was pressing to- 
 ward Washington. He 
 thought that the peo- 
 ple of Maryland would 
 be glad to join him, 
 and that with them he 
 could march against 
 the capital ; but the 
 Marylanders did not wish to join him. There was a terrible fight 
 at Antietam in Maryland, and Lee withdrew into Virginia. 
 
 During the year 1862, the great gains of the L^nion forces had 
 been the capture of New Orleans, the securing of the command 
 of the sea, and the withdrawal of Lee from Antietam. On the 
 Confederate side, Jackson had swept the Union troops from the 
 Shenandoah Valley, and Lee had kept McClellan from Richmond. 
 
 BRIDGE OVKR ANTIFTAM CPvEEK 
 (From Battles and Leaders of the Civil War) 
 
 Battle of 
 Antietam 
 
 1863. 
 
 Civilized nations have adopted a rule that private property 
 must not be touched in war except in times of great necessity Contrabands 
 unless it is plainly intended to be used for military purposes, ^^"^ 
 
218 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 as in the case of guns or anininnition. It is then called con- 
 traband, or illegal, and it may be seized by the opposing side. 
 Wherever the Union army appeared, runaway slaves flocked to 
 the camp, and what to do with them was a little puzzling. Gen- 
 eral Butler, a shrewd man with a keen sense of humor, finally 
 solved the problem. When a "master" came to him and de- 
 manded the return of some runaway slaves on the ground that 
 they were private property, the general said, " Xo. You will use 
 them in making fortifications and in raising corn to support the 
 Confederate army. They are contraband of war." After this, 
 the negroes were often called ''contrabands." 
 
 In time of civil Avar the President, as commander-in-chief of 
 the army of the United States, can do very nearly what he thinks 
 
 The Emanci- wise, provided the greater part of the people approve of his acts. 
 
 pation Pro- -^yj^gj^ h^q j^^.^i day of 1863 came, Lincoln signed a paper that is 
 almost as famous as the Declaration of Independence. It is called 
 the Emancipation Proclamation, and it declared that all slaves of 
 those who were resisting the Union government were free. 
 
 Thousands of slaves did not hear of their freedom for months, 
 but the Proclamation made it clear to the world, and especially 
 to England, that whoever helped the Confederacy would be help- 
 ing slavery; and as England had abolished slavery in all her 
 colonies, she could hardly sup])ort it in America. 
 
 She did, however, give nnu-h indirect aid to the Confederates, 
 for although she had promised to help neither side, she allowed 
 them to build at the English shipyards swift blockade runners, 
 and armed privateers to destroy Union vessels. The most power- 
 
 The ful of these was called the Alabama. She destroyed a warship, 
 
 Alabama captured a mail-steamer, and either sank or burned more than 
 sixty other American vessels, chiefly merchantmen. She was 
 finally sunk by a Union ship. 
 
 The year 1SG8 began with the Emancipation Proclamation. In 
 
THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 219 
 
 May, the Confederates were victorious at Chancellorsville in Mary- 
 land ; but they met with a loss that was worse than a defeat, 
 for through a mistake " Stonewall " Jackson was shot by his 
 own men. In the month of July there were two great northern 
 victories. The first was at Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, for Lee Gettysburg 
 again invaded the North. Up the valley of the Shenandoah he 
 marched, across the Potomac, 
 through Maryland, and into 
 Pennsylvania. He planned 
 first to take Harrisburg, 
 then Philadelphia. He 
 came to Gettysburg, lying 
 in a peaceful valley, with 
 orchards, green fields, farm- 
 houses, and away to the 
 west the blue mountains. 
 Here he met the Union 
 forces and fought the 
 most terrible battle of 
 the war. For three days 
 it raged. One man out 
 of every four — some say 
 one out of every three union line meeting pickett's charge at Gettysburg 
 
 W'l^ killpfl W'Olinrlpfl (From the Gettysburg Cyclorama, by permission of the National Panorama Co.) 
 
 or missing. Such was the slaughter that men threw themselves 
 on the ground and held up bits of white paper to show that they 
 had surrendered. Lee was driven back, and retreated into Vir- 
 ginia. 
 
 The day after the battle was spent by both sides in ])urying 
 the dead. Four months later, a part of the battleground was set Lincoln's 
 apart as a national cemetery. Lincoln made on the day of the speech 
 dedication a short, simple speech, so fidl of thought and feeling. 
 
220 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 and appreciation of tlie honor due to those who had given their 
 hves for their country, that it will never be forgotten. 
 
 The siege of The second great Union victory was at Vicksburg. If that 
 
 Vicksburg ^^^^^.j^ .^j^j l>^jj.t Hudson could 
 
 be taken, the Mississippi would 
 be in the hands of the Union ; 
 but it was not easy to take 
 Vicksburg, The city stood on 
 a bluff so high that shot could 
 not be thrown to it from ves- 
 sels on the river, while the 
 city guns could easily smk any 
 ship that attempted to pass. 
 For three months General mortar for throwing shells 
 Grant and General Sherman tried to get into a position to attack 
 the town. At last they succeeded, and the siege of seven Aveeks 
 began. Day and night the shells were falling. People dug caves 
 into the side of the hill to be safe from flying fragments. A lady 
 who lived in one of the caves wrote that even the mules in the 
 
 town seemed wild, and the dogs would 
 
 howl madly when a shell exploded. 
 
 Food was scanty. By and by it gave 
 
 out altogether, and finally the brave, 
 
 suffering, starving people surrendered. 
 
 ; The Confederate flag was hauled 
 
 down, and the banner of the Union 
 
 run up. The whole Union army 
 
 witnessed the scene, but not a cheer 
 
 A UNION river gunboat was given, says General Grant, so 
 
 deeply were the courage and endurance of the people respected. 
 
 One member of the victorious army was the war-eagle, "Old 
 
 Abe," the pet of a Wisconsin regiment. He was in many a bat- 
 
THE CIVIL WAR 221 
 
 tie, and when the noise and confusion were greatest, he would 
 flap his wings and scream as if war was his chief deUght. 
 
 A few days later Port Hudson, which lies between Vicksburg 
 and New Orleans, yielded, and the Mississippi was in the hands The Mis- 
 of the Union. This capture prevented the bringing of troops and unlorf '" 
 supplies from Texas and Arkansas to the aid of the Confederate hands 
 states east of the Mississippi. The Confederacy had now no way 
 to communicate with Europe. It was shut in upon itself. 
 
 The greater part of the Confederate army was now divided 
 between Virginia and the northwestern corner of Georgia. It 
 was in Georgia that the hardest fighting of the last six months 
 of the year took place. One battle was at Chickamauga. The 
 Union forces lost, but it would have been a far more terrible 
 defeat if the bold stand made by General Thomas had not 
 prevented the rout of the army. The Confederates had had 
 a " Stonewall " Jackson. Now the Unionists had a " Rock of 
 Chickamauga," for this was the name that the soldiers gave 
 to General Thomas. 
 
 Several other battles were fought in that part of the coun- 
 try. The last one was called the " Battle above the Clouds." It 
 took place on Lookout Mountain, and the heavy mist settled down 
 so darkly that while the eager watchers in the valley could hear 
 the sound of the cannon, they could only guess who w^ere losing 
 and who were winning. The Union forces won. "" God bless you 
 all ! " came over the wires to General Grant from the weary, 
 anxious President in Washington, for every victory brought 
 nearer the coming of peace for which he prayed. 
 
 The end of 18G3 came. During this year the Confederates 
 had been successful at Chancellorsville and Chickamauga, but 
 they had lost General Jackson. Lee had kept the Union sol- 
 diers from Richmond, but the repulse at Gettysburg had driven 
 him from Pennsylvania. The Mississippi had fallen into the 
 
 OLD ABE 
 
222 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The plan to 
 end the war 
 
 fl -^1^ f, 
 
 hands of the Union, and Union troops had been successful in 
 Georgia. 
 
 1864. 
 
 Two men now stood out as the most successful generals in 
 the Union army, Grant and Sherman. Grant was put at the 
 head of all the Union forces. The two generals formed a plan 
 ^^^^^^ that they hoped would end- the war. Grant was 
 ^^^^Bji^^ to face Lee and try to take Richmond; 
 
 ■ ^ Sherman was to cut his way through Geor- 
 
 gia to the sea. 
 
 Grant Avent into Virginia from the 
 north, swept ai-ound to the east of 
 Richmond, then to the south. There 
 were terrible battles. There were 
 two days of fighting in a dark, 
 gloomy forest called the 'Wilder- 
 ness. The woods caught fire, and 
 wounded men were burned to death 
 in the blazing timber. There were 
 explosions of trains of ammunition. 
 There were dense clouds of the 
 smoke of powder. Suffering men 
 lay moaning. The underbrush was crackling in the fire. Men 
 shot at their opponents in the darkness, or took aim by the 
 glare of the flames. It is thought that about 30,000 men were 
 killed. Neither side could claim a victory. 
 
 General Grant pressed on till he was at Petersburg, south of 
 the Confederate capital. Lee had not men enough to drive him 
 Vanev"'^°^^ away, but he could keep him from advancing upon Richmond. 
 He even made the government fear another invasion of the 
 North, for he sent General Early through the Shenandoah Val- 
 ley toward IMaryland. 
 
 Copyright. 1691. bj M. P. Rice 
 
 GENERAL U. S. GRANT 
 
 (From a picture taken in ism wlien he was 
 
 commLssioned corainauder-in-chief) 
 
 Battles of 
 the Wilder- 
 ness 
 
 In the 
 
THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 223 
 
 CONFEDERATE CAI'ITIM,, KICHMOND 
 
 Sheridan marched out to oppose him. Early had once been 
 witliin a few miles of Washington and had burned Chambers- 
 burg, but now his opponent 
 went through the valley with 
 orders to destroy everything 
 which would feed man or 
 beast, that there might be no 
 more raids upon Pennsylva- 
 nia. It was not long before he 
 reported to Grant, "If a crow 
 should want to fly through 
 the valley, he would have to 
 carry his food Avith him." 
 
 Sheridan was called to Washington, and when he returned to 
 Winchester, he heard firing far away. lie put spurs to his great Sheridan's 
 black horse and galloped on. He met men running to the town. ^^^^ 
 " General Early has attacked us," they cried, " and we are beaten." 
 " Back ! " ordered Sheridan. " We '11 beat them yet. Face about ! " 
 
 he shouted to the retreating cav- 
 alry. They did face about. Early 
 was driven away, and the disas- 
 ter was prevented. This was the 
 '' Sheridan's ride " which the 
 poem by that name has made 
 famous. 
 
 But while Grant was before 
 Richmond and Sheridan was in Where was 
 the Shenandoah Valley, where Sherman ? 
 was Sherman? He was attack- 
 ing the Confederate forces in 
 northwestern Georgia. The Con- 
 federate general, Johnston, had not men enough to meet Sher- 
 
 SHERMAN'S ROUTE TO THE SEA 
 
224 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 man, but he retreated after the masterly fasliion of Washington 
 in New Jersey. Sherman had to leave guards behind him to 
 protect the railroads, and Johnston meant to continue the re- 
 treat until so many men had been left that the two armies could 
 fight on equal terms. After two months of this retreating, the 
 Confederate War Department gave Johnston's command to Gen- 
 eral Hood. Hood made bold attacks on 
 Sherman, but was obliged to retreat, 
 leaving Sherman in possession 
 of Atlanta. Then began Sher- 
 man's famous " march to 
 the sea." He marched 
 southeast through the 
 state in four col- 
 umns, twenty -^^ 
 miles apart, cut- 
 ting a swath ^^^' 
 sixty miles wide. "'^ . 
 He burned At- 
 lanta with its CORDUROY ROADS IN SOUTH CAROLINA 
 
 mills nnd foundries. He destroyed railroads and bridges, leaving 
 a pitiful ruin behind him. The object of this march was not only 
 to cut the Confederacy in two, but to destroy everytliing that 
 would help the Confederates to carry on the Avar. Just before 
 Christmas he entered Savannah, and sent to President Lincoln 
 the message: — 
 
 I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah, 
 with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammuni- 
 tion ; also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton. 
 
 W. T. Sherman. 
 
 So ended the year 1864. The Confederates had burned Cham- 
 
THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 225 
 
 bersburg", but Sheridan had devastated the valley of the Shenan- 
 doah, Sherman had made a wide path of ruin through Georgia 
 to Savannah, and Grant had pushed on toward Richmond as far 
 
 as Petersburg. 
 
 1865. 
 
 The year in which the war was to end began. Sherman had a 
 hard march before him, and he would not leave Savannah until The end 
 his men were rested. They were impatient to go on, and when he 
 
 P™l ■^n*~«' i£r^ 
 
 WASHINGTON MUNLrMENT AND CAPITOL SQUARE, RICHMOND 
 
 rode about the camp, they would call out, " Uncle Billy, Grant is 
 waiting for us at Richmond." P'inally the march through South 
 Carolina began. The streams were swollen, the swamps flooded, 
 and the roads were often only long lines of mud. The men 
 waded, they built bridges, they made " corduroy roads." At last 
 they were in North Carohna. Both Sherman and Grant had many 
 more men than the Confederate commanders near them, and 
 they believed that one more battle would end the war. 
 
226 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Lee's sur- 
 render 
 
 Lee was one of the great commanders of history, and his sol- 
 diers trusted him and loved him ; but his army was reduced to 
 26,000 men, and many of those were so weak from exposure and 
 want of food that they could not lift their nniskets to their 
 shoulders. The most skilful general is helpless without strong 
 men and food and supplies. Lee could no longer protect the 
 Confederate capital. " Richmond has surrendered," was tele- 
 graphed to Washington, and on the 9th of April Lee's whole 
 force surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, a little 
 village west of Richmond. The two generals met to discuss 
 terms. It was agreed that the Southern soldiers should lay down 
 their arms and return to their homes in peace. The horses Grant 
 
 CopyrigM, 1887. by tV 
 
 APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE 
 (From a war-time pliotograpli) 
 
 left with the cavalry. " I hope this will be the last battle of the 
 war," he said, "and they will need the liorses to work their 
 farms." Lee's men had been living for days on parclied corn, 
 and not very nuich of that. (^ rant's first action was to send a 
 generous supply of food to the men. 
 
THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 227 
 
 This surrender was the real close of the war. On April 14th, 
 just four years after the fall of Fort Sumter, Anderson was 
 
 Copjright, 1887, bv The Centurj Co. 
 
 UNION SOLDIERS SHARING THEIR RATIONS WITH CONFEDERATES 
 AFTER LEE'S SURRENDER 
 
 sent to take command of the fort a second time. The same old 
 flag was hoisted, pierced with the holes of the first shots of the 
 war. Late that evening, in the midst of the rejoicings of the The assassi- 
 defenders of the Union, the telegraph flashed over the country president 
 the message, " President Lincoln has been assassinated," and all Lincoln 
 the joy was turned into sorrow. He was shot by 
 a man who fancied that he was avenging the 
 " wrongs of the South." In reality he was mur- 
 dering the true friend of the South. Only six 
 weeks before, when Lincoln was made President 
 for the second time, he said in his inaugural 
 speech : — 
 
 " "With malice toward none, with charity for 
 all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us 
 
 ° AN ARMY 
 
 power to see the right, let us strive to finish the canteen 
 
228 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 work we are in ... to do all which may achieve and cherish 
 a just and lasting peace among ourselves." 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 1861. The Civil War began with the capture of Fort Sumter. The Union 
 forces were defeated at Bull Hun. The capture of the Confederate 
 commissioners on the Trent nearly made trouble with England. 
 
 1862. The Union forces capture New Orleans. The contest between the 
 Monitor and the Merrimac took place. Jackson swept the Shenan- 
 doah Valley. !McClellan failed to reach Richmond, and Lee withdrew 
 from Antietam. 
 
 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation was signed. The Alabama did 
 much damage to Union shij^s. The Confederates were victorious at 
 Chancellorsville, but Lee was repulsed at Gettysburg. The Union 
 forces gained control of the Mississippi by the capture of A'icksburg 
 and Port Hudson. The Confederates were successful at Chickanuiuga. 
 
 1864. Grant pressed on to Petersburg. Early had burned Chambersburg, 
 and to prevent such raids Sheridan devastated the Shenandoah Valley. 
 Sherman marched through Georgia to Savannah. 
 
 1865. Lee was forced to abandon Richmond, and to surrender at Appo- 
 mattox Court House April 9th. Four years from the day when Fort 
 Sumter fell President Lincoln was assassinated. 
 
 SUG(JESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 A soldier writes about the attack upon Fort Sumter. 
 
 A boy describes the siege of Vicksburg. 
 
 Two sailors on the Minnesota discuss the possible coming of the Monitor. 
 
EVENTS SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 229 
 
 XXII 
 THE EVENTS SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 After the war, the government had to decide a difficult ques- 
 tion 
 to leave the Union 
 
 Tliis was, Will it be safe to allow the states that wished The position 
 
 of the 
 seceded 
 
 THE WHITE HOTTSE 
 
 (The official residence of the President as it appears to-day. The 
 corner-stone was laid by Washington, Ovt. 13, 1792) 
 
 to send represent- states 
 
 atives to Congress 
 and help make the 
 laws for the coun- 
 try?" Lincoln's be- 
 lief was, " No state 
 ca?ileavethe Union. 
 Some persons have 
 raised an insurrec- 
 tion, but this has 
 been suppressed. These states as states have not forfeited their 
 right to send representatives." 
 
 When Lincoln died, the Vice-President, Andrew Johnson, be- 
 came president. His belief was almost the same as Lincoln's, but Andrew 
 where Lincoln would persuade men, Johnson would try to compel *'°""s°'^ 
 them, and all through his term of office there were quarrels be- 
 tween him and Congress, and many of the laws made at that time 
 were made not with the President's consent, but in spite of his 
 opposition. 
 
 An addition was made to the Constitution which is known as The Thir- 
 the Thirteenth Amendment. It forbids slavery in the United Amendment 
 States or in any place governed by the United States. A law 
 
230 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Carpet- 
 baggers 
 
 The negro 
 vote 
 
 was passed requiring every man who wished to hold office in the 
 South to take what \\as called the " iron-clad oath," declarmg that 
 he had taken no part in the war. This was an unwise demand, 
 for almost everj^ respectable man in the seceding states had taker 
 part in the war; and the result of the act was that worthless 
 
 men from the North 
 persuaded or bribed 
 the negroes to vote 
 them into office. These 
 men were called " car- 
 pet-baggers," because 
 they usually had no 
 property, and often no 
 baggage except a car- 
 THE GREAT EASTERN LATiKG THE ATLANTIC CABLE pet-ba"". For a Con- 
 siderable time the northern adventurers and the ignorant negroes 
 were in power in the South. 
 
 In order to send representatives to Congress, the Confederate 
 states had been obliged by the government to grant the negroes 
 the right to vote ; but it was not long before the whites had the 
 power in their own hands again, for in many places they would 
 either frighten the negroes or bribe them, and so keep them away 
 from the polls. United States troops were then sent South to 
 protect the negroes in their right to vote and to support the men 
 who had been lawfully elected ; but the soldiers did not like this 
 duty, the whites were angry, and the negroes often suffered more 
 than before the troops came. Matters were made a little better 
 by the pardoning of those Confederates who had taken part in the 
 war, and restoring to nearlv all the right to hold office. Though 
 there are even now some hard questions to settle about the ne- 
 groes, it is probable that very few men in our country, even in 
 the South, would be willing to have the days of slavery return. 
 
EVENTS SINCE THE CIVIL "WAR 
 
 231 
 
 In 1866, while Johnson was still in office, Europe and America 
 came nearer together. It took Columbus ten weeks to cross the The Atlantic 
 Atlantic. The Pilgrims spent nine weeks in sailing from Eng- 
 land to Massachusetts. In 1812, even a swift sailing vessel 
 needed a month. Before the Civil War, the invention of steam- 
 boats had made it possible to send a message from England to 
 America in ten or eleven days. A persevering man named Cyrus 
 W. Field was now convinced that a telegraph wire miglit be laid 
 across the Atlantic Ocean. The first attempt failed, the second 
 failed, the tliird time all went well, but in a few days the cable 
 broke. Field's money was gone, and his friends had no more 
 that they wished to invest. At last Congress voted to help him. 
 This time the cable succeeded. The wire was laid from Ireland 
 to Newfoundland, and instead of the New World and the Old 
 being ten weeks apart, whatever was done in one continent 
 could be known in the other in a very 
 few minutes. Whittier wrote of. 
 this new wonder : — 
 
 " And round the world the thought 
 of all 
 Is as the thought of one." 
 
 So it was that in Johnson's 
 time the Atlantic grew nar- 
 rower ; but at the same time 
 the United States grew wider, 
 for Alaska was bought of Rus- 
 sia. Every time that the coun- 
 try has bought a piece of land, 
 there have been citizens who opposed the purchase for one reason 
 or another ; and when Alaska was bought, some declared that it 
 was a foolish, extravagant deed, that the country could "keep 
 
 Photograph by VT II Partridge 
 
 SITKA, ALASKA. 
 
 The pur- 
 chase of 
 Alaska 
 
232 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The 
 
 Alabama 
 
 claims 
 
 house " without a " refrigerator." This " refrigerator," however, 
 is just the place for fur-bearing animals, and in a few years the 
 fur companies had paid for the right to collect furs much more 
 than Alaska had cost. The recent discovery of gold in the Klon- 
 dike district of Alaska has greatly increased the value of this 
 possession. 
 
 Few were pleased with Johnson's management, and in 1868 
 General Grant was elected to succeed hmi. While Grant was 
 in office, an unportant war question was settled in regard to the 
 " Alabama claims," whether or not England ought to pay for the 
 damage that the Alabama and other privateers built in that 
 country had done to American shipping. For less cause than 
 this, nations have fought long and bloody wars, but both coun- 
 tries agreed that the matter should be left to five men who 
 would not favor either party. The men met at Geneva in S^vitzer- 
 land. They decided that England should not have allowed the 
 boats to be built, and that she must pay to the United States 
 
 fifteen and one half 
 million dollars to make 
 good the harm that 
 they had done. 
 
 The Atlantic cable 
 had brought Europe 
 nearer to America, but 
 the Americans had felt 
 for many years that 
 eastern and western 
 America ought to be 
 Travel in the joined together. Gold and silver had been found east of the 
 far west Rocky Mountains. Emigrants were going westward by thou- 
 sands. There were railroads as far as the Missouri, but no regu- 
 lar way of sending letters or goods from the Missouri to the " far 
 
 THE CONFEDEUATE PKIVATEEU ALABAMA 
 (From Official Kecords of the Union and Confederate Navies) 
 
EVENTS SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 233 
 
 West," now that this " far West " had moved from the Mississippi 
 to the Pacific. The days of the postrider returned, and tlie " pony- 
 express" was introduced. Each mail carrier rode seventy-five 
 miles, finding a fresh horse awaiting him every twenty-five miles. 
 Then another man took the mail and galloped away. The next The Union 
 plan for carrying mail and passengers was by stage-coach ; but Ranro*Li 
 whUe in Revolutionary days this would have been thought a 
 luxurious way to travel, it was entirely too 
 slow for the sons and grandsons of the 
 Revolutionary heroes. A rail- 
 road ought to be built across 
 the continent, so the people 
 said, and the Union Pacific 
 Railroad was begun. There 
 were mountain ranges to 
 be climbed, vast expanses 
 of prairie to be crossed, 
 and rivers to be bridged, 
 seven years to buUd the road, but 
 at last the golden spike was driven that 
 marked its completion. Every year the 
 
 trains go a little faster, and to-day one can cross the continent in 
 less time than it would have taken the New Yorker of a century 
 earlier to go to Boston and return. 
 
 The time soon came when it was natural to look back a century, 
 for the hundredth anniversary of the days when the thirteen col- The 
 onies were becoming a nation was at hand. In 1873 a tea-party 
 was given in Philadelphia in memory of the Boston Tea-party of 
 1773. Lowell wrote a poem about the fight at Concord bridge, 
 and the men — 
 
 " Who did great things, not knowing they were great." 
 
 One event after another was commemorated in song or in cele- 
 
 It took 
 
 THE PONY EXPRESS' 
 
 Centennial 
 
234 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 bration; but the great celebration came in 1876, the hundredth 
 birthday of the nation. The Declaration had been signed in 
 Philadelphia, and there the Centennial Exposition was held. All 
 the nations of the world were invited to come to the celebra- 
 tion of the United States, and to bring specimens of Avhat they 
 could make or produce. One guest was the war-eagle, " Old Abe." 
 The exhibition was most interesting, and it was a great help to 
 our manufactures, for it gave us new ideas, and taught us new 
 methods. The United States had no need to be ashamed of her 
 own exhibit, for although she was the youngest nation repre- 
 sented, her list of recent useful inventions was longer than that 
 of any other country. 
 In 1877 Rutherford B. Hayes became president. There was no 
 Greenbacks important treaty while he was in office, there was no war and no 
 discovery of gold, but a great event took place, for the treasurer 
 of the United States announced that he was ready to exchange 
 gold for "greenbacks." Just as in the Revolution the colonies 
 
 issued paper money, so 
 
 in the Civil War, when 
 
 the government needed 
 
 money, it issued bills, 
 
 called " greenbacks," be- 
 
 cause the backs Avere 
 
 in-inted with green ink. 
 
 Ill]: ti;i:asl :i;v building, washixgtox These bills were only 
 
 the promise of the government to pay in gold or silver the amount 
 
 named, and people knew that if the government should fall, they 
 
 would never be paid. When the Union won a battle, the value 
 
 of the greenbacks would rise, but if the Union lost, it would fall ; 
 
 and at one time it cost nearly three dollars in greenbacks to buy 
 
 one dollar in gold. The government needed so much money 
 
 during the war that a clock ticking sixty times a minute would 
 
 become as 
 good as 
 gold 
 
EVENTS SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 235 
 
 have to run for more than ninety years before it could tick off, 
 
 once for every dollar, the money borrowed. After the war, the Paying for 
 
 til 6 WHr 
 
 United States began straightway to pay the debt; the green- 
 backs rose in value, and when finally the Secretary of the Trea- 
 sury offered to give gold in exchange for greenbacks, people did 
 not care to accept the offer, because the promise of the United 
 States had become literally " as good as gold," 
 
 In 1881 James A. Garfield was elected president/ A few 
 months later he was shot, and Chester A. Arthur, the Vice- 
 President, became president. This murder was 
 partly due to a mistake made fifty years be- 
 fore by honest, faithful Andrew Jackson. The 
 kind-hearted old warrior could not bear to re- 
 fuse a friend who asked for a position, and to 
 make room for these friends he turned out 
 large numbers of those who were in office. 
 This act grew mto a custom. Every man 
 who had tried to help elect the successful 
 candidate thought he ought to have the re- 
 ward of a government position. Hayes did 
 not believe in this custom, and Garfield did 
 not. Men who had voted for Garfield expected the usual reward, 
 and were angry when it was not given them. It was one of these 
 disappointed seekers after ofiice who shot President Garfield. 
 
 This crime aroused Congress, and a law was made . requiring 
 many offices to be filled only by men who had successfully passed Civil Service 
 an examination. Another law, which applied to many thousand 
 subordinate positions, provided that men who were working for 
 the government well and faithfully should not lose their places 
 when the party that appointed them went out of power. These 
 laws were a long step in the direction of justice and fairness. 
 They were passed while President Arthur was in power, so that 
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD 
 (Died September 19, 1881) 
 
 Reform 
 
236 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 his term of office was marked by the beginning of what is called 
 Civil Service Keform. 
 
 It was at this time that two expositions somewhat like the 
 Centennial were held in the South, and the whole country was 
 glad to see the prosperity of the southern states. The South 
 had feared that the negroes would not work if they were 
 free, but now it was proved that far more cotton was raised 
 in proportion to the number of the negroes than before 
 the war. More tobacco and sugar were also raised and 
 much more corn and wheat. Manufacturing was now 
 carried on m the South. The southerners were also look- 
 ing below the surface of the ground as they had never 
 done before; and, behold, there were great beds of coal 
 and of iron. Cotton seed used to be thrown away, but 
 now every state that raises cotton receives a large income from 
 the sale of the oil that is pressed out of the seed. 
 
 It was in Arthur's time that a great change was made in a 
 
 small thing. A law was passed that mstead of asking three 
 
 cents for a letter stamp, the government should charge but 
 
 SUGAR-CAKE two. This law applies to all land owned by the United 
 
 Two-fcent States, and that is why we can send a letter to the Philippines 
 
 postage £q^ ^^^^q cents, wliile it costs five cents to send one to England. 
 
 After Garfield was shot and all knew that there Avas little 
 hope of his recovery, the Vice-President also became seriously ill. 
 Succession There was nothing in our Constitution to decide who should 
 dencv '"^^^'' become president if both died ; but under Grover Cleveland, the 
 next President, a law was made that if both the President and 
 Vice-President should die, the Secretary of State should rule, and 
 if he died, the Secretary of the Treasury should take his place, 
 and so on through the cabinet. As the cabinet is made up of 
 men chosen by the President, they would be likely to carry out 
 his ideas and the wishes of the people who had elected him. 
 
EVENTS SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 237 
 
 While Cleveland was in office the Chinese were forbidden to 
 enter the United States, Our country is so large that for many The Chinese 
 years it did not occur to Americans to shut out any one who ^^^ ^ 
 wished to come in, but after a while it was found that some of 
 the European states were sending paupers across the ocean, be- 
 cause it was cheaper to pay their fare than to support them at 
 home. This was forbidden, and the government began to look a 
 little more closely at the kinds of people who were landing on 
 our shores. It was found that the Chinese differed from other 
 immigrants in two respects. One was that they were willing to 
 work for very small wages ; and the workingmen of the Pacific 
 coast said, " There are so many Chinese, and they work so cheap, 
 that employers are refusing to pay us the wages that we have 
 been receiving." The other difference was that while most men 
 from other nations would stay in the United States and become 
 citizens, the Chmese would stay only until they had made a cer- 
 tain amount of money and would then go home, carrying their 
 money with them. A law was passed forbidding the Chinese to 
 come into the land. Many persons thought that this law ought 
 not to be made, because we had a treaty with China allowing the 
 Chinese the same rights as other nations, but the Supreme Court 
 decided that Congress had a right to say who should be allowed 
 to enter the land. 
 
 France had not forgotten her old friendship of a century 
 earlier, and in token of this and of her respect for the United The statue 
 States, she presented the country with a colossal statue of Lib- Liberty 
 erty. It stands on an island in New York harbor. It is so large 
 that a room in the head of the figure will hold forty persons. In 
 one hand is a torch which may be hghted by electricity. 
 
 Cleveland's term of office expired in 1889, and he was suc- 
 ceeded by Benjamin Harrison, the third man by the name of 
 Harrison who has been famous in our country's history. One 
 
238 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The McKin- 
 ley tariff 
 
 STATUE OF LIBERTY 
 .Designed l)y Bartholdi and pre- 
 sented by France to tile Unitt-d 
 States. It was completed in 
 
 Indian 
 troubles 
 
 signed the Declaration of Independence ; his grandson, nicknamed 
 "Tippecanoe," was elected president in 1841; and in 1889 the 
 grandson of "Tippecanoe" became president. In 1841 there was 
 much discussion about the tariff. One party said, "The dut^ 
 on imported goods ought to be just liigh enough to pay the 
 expenses of the government, and then prices Avill be low." The 
 other said, "If imported goods are too cheap, our manu- 
 facturers will either go out of business or else they will 
 pay our Avorkmen no higher wages than the workmen in 
 Europe receive." When Benjamin Harrison became presi- 
 dent, people were discussing this same question, William 
 McKinley, of Ohio, proposed in Congress a bill whose 
 aim was to impose a high duty upon imported goods that 
 could be manufactured in tliis country. This biU became 
 a law. 
 
 The right was also given to the President to change 
 
 the duty on certain articles, if the country sending those 
 
 articles should impose unfair duties upon our products. 
 
 This principle was called reciprocity, and by this means 
 
 we could be sure of fair treatment, for we had become 
 
 so largie and so rich a nation that other nations were 
 
 eager to win the privilege of selling their goods m this 
 
 country. 
 
 Millions of people from Europe had come to make 
 their homes in America. Instead of thirteen little 
 colonies clinging to the Atlantic coast, our nation 
 spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and great 
 cities had sprung into life where half a century earlier there had 
 been only a wilderness. In the movement of population to the 
 westward there had sometimes been trouble with the Indians. 
 They were here first, but most people have come to feel that 
 roaming over a land does not give a ^claim to it, and that civilized 
 
EVENTS SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 239 
 
 of Oklahoma 
 
 nations have a right to take possession of " wild land." The 
 Indians were gathered into tracts called reservations, in places 
 where it was thought no white men would wish to live; and 
 then as these tracts became valuable, the Indians were moved, 
 not once, but many times. It is no wonder that they tried to 
 resist, and that there were bloody massacres. 
 
 In the year that Benjamin Harrison became president, the In- 
 dians were moved from Oklahoma, and one April day there was The opening 
 a strange scene acted on the border of the new territory. Thou- 
 sands of men had gathered together from all parts of the country. 
 Just at noon a bugle sounded ; men ran, horses galloped, wagons 
 swayed wildly to and fro. Everybody was frantically struggling 
 to get possession of a 
 bit of land, for the gov- 
 ernment had agreed 
 that whoever was first 
 on a lot might have it 
 for his own on pay- 
 ment of a small sum, 
 much less than the 
 land was worth. This 
 was so unfair a way 
 to grant property that 
 when the time came 
 to open another terri- arapahoi: ca.mp, inuiax tkimmtuhv 
 
 tory to settlers, the plan was tried of allowing them to draw lots 
 for the pieces of land. 
 
 After Harrison's term of office was over, Cleveland was again 
 elected. In his first term he had done all that he could to help Civil Service 
 on Civil Service Reform, and during this second term he sue- ^^^^"""^ 
 ceeded in putting many more offices under the merit system. 
 
 Before Cleveland's second election there was much discussion 
 
240 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The Colum- about the best way to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary 
 bian Exposi- ^^ ^^^ landing of Columbus. In 187G the Centennial had cele- 
 brated the one hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of 
 Independence, and it was now decided to hold an exposition in 
 Chicago. The buildings of the exposition were exceedingly beau- 
 tiful. So many of them were white that they Avere known as 
 the "White City." In Chicago there were more than a mil- 
 lion inhabitants, but many a man went to the Columbian Ex- 
 position, as it was called, who could remember when the city 
 consisted of a fort and a few Uttle huts. The celebration should 
 have been held just four hundred years after the coming of 
 
 Columbus, but the 
 plan was not made 
 early enough, and 
 the doors could 
 not be opened un- 
 til 1893. 
 
 When people 
 were calling Co- 
 lumbus the " crazy 
 man," how sur- 
 prised he would 
 have been if some 
 one had whis- 
 pered, " Four hun- 
 dred years hence 
 the greatest celebration that the world has known Avill be held 
 in your honor on a continent of which you laiow nothmg." And 
 when Franklin was flying his kite and finding out that electricity 
 and lightning were the same thing, how it would have pleased 
 him if he had been told that the knowledge which he was gaining 
 would help to give to the celebration its greatest beauty and 
 
 THE PEl;i.^l 1 l.r, AND FRENCH'S STATUE OF LIBERTY 
 AT THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION 
 
EVENTS SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 241 
 
 charm, for the thousands of electric Ughts made the "White 
 City " a fairyland by night. 
 The next president was William McKinley, the Ohio congress- 
 man whose plans for A hopeful 
 the tariff had been outlook 
 adopted seven years 
 before. Forty- 
 five states had 
 been admitted 
 to the Union, 
 busmess was flourish- 
 ing, the crops were 
 '■«' ^''"'"^^'^^-^ large, and throughout 
 
 A CUBAN HOMESTEAD 1 
 (This was later burned by the Spaniards) the COUUtry tnCre 
 
 seemed to be good reason to expect a peaceful, prosperous time. 
 
 One hundred miles off" our coast, however, there was trouble, 
 and it was soon plain that this trouble would affect the United 
 States. Cuba belonged to Spain, and the island had been ruled 
 so harshly that the Cubans had tried many times to free them- 
 selves from Spanish control. Soon after McKinley became 
 president, they tried again and fought more desperately than 
 ever. Spain could not suppress the revolt, and her command- 
 3rs treated the Cubans so savagely that the United States 
 believed it was time to interfere. Another reason for inter- 
 ference was that the Cubans and their friends were trying to 
 fit out vessels in the United States to carry arms and sup- 
 phes to the island. The only way to prevent this was for 
 our government to keep ships sailing up and down our long 
 Qoast, and the expense of such patrolling was very great. 
 A third reason was that many Americans owned property ueneual gomezi 
 on the island, and this war was breaking up their business 
 1 From Marching with Gomez, by Grover Flint. 
 
 ' Leader of the Cu- 
 ban patriots) 
 
242 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 The Span- 
 ish fleet in 
 the East 
 destroyed 
 
 Copyright, 1899, by J. C. Hcmment 
 
 THE MAINE ENTERING HAVANA HAKBOI 
 (llorro Castle appears on the right) 
 
 and causing them much loss. To protect them if need should 
 
 come, the United States battleship Maine was anchored in the 
 
 harbor of Havana. 
 It was blown up. 
 There was suspi- 
 cion that Span- 
 iards had caused 
 the disaster. Spain 
 had shown herself 
 unfit to ride over 
 Cuba, and war was 
 declared. 
 
 Spain was sup- 
 posed to have a formidable navy, but if this could be destroyed, 
 
 she would be powerless. One of 
 
 her fleets w^as in the Pacific, in the 
 
 harbor of Manila, the chief city of 
 
 her Philippine colonies. Commo- 
 dore Dew^y was off the coast of 
 
 China in command of an American 
 
 fleet of six warships. The order 
 
 came to him, "Capture [Spanish] 
 
 vessels or destroy." Mines that 
 
 would explode at a touch were 
 
 scattered about Manila harbor, but 
 
 Dewey steamed in one night, and 
 
 destroyed ten Spanish warships and 
 
 one transport without losing a 
 
 man. The power of Spain in the 
 
 Pacific vanished in a day. 
 
 Spain then sent a fleet across the 
 
 Atlantic 
 
 -^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 o 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 
 
 Oj 
 
 
 
 \lU20N 
 
 ^ 
 
 Maniw l"^ 
 
 C I F TC 
 
 VTx/ 
 
 MINDOROj. i Xi^7 
 
 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 
 
 The United States vessels kept close watch, and it was 
 
EVENTS SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 243 
 
 JAMAICA^^ % 
 
 - ^ A S 
 
 learned that the Spaniards had gone mto Santiago de Cuba for Fighting at 
 coal. An American fleet guarded the mouth of the harbor where ciba^^° ^^ 
 the Spanish ships were " bottled up," and American soldiers were 
 
 sent to capture the town. 
 There were white troops and 
 negro troops. There were 
 men who had fought for the 
 Union, and there were men 
 who had fought against the 
 Union. One interesting regi- The Rough 
 ment commanded by Colonel ^'"^''^ 
 Leonard Wood had been raised 
 THE WEST INDIES by Licutenant-colonel Theo- 
 
 dore Roosevelt. He had graduated at Harvard, had lived on a 
 western ranch and in New York city. He was an enthusiastic 
 student and had ^vritten many books. He had also tamed vicious 
 broncos, pursued thieves, been at the head of the New York 
 police commission, and was, at the begin- 
 ning of the war. Assistant Secretary of 
 the Navy. His regiment was made up of 
 "cowboys" from the West, policemen, 
 millionaires, men who had fought more 
 than one mid battle with the Indians, 
 and men who knew far more about dan- 
 cing than fighting. In one respect they 
 were all alike, for every one of them was 
 a brave man, and was ready to follow 
 " Teddy," as they nicknamed their leader, 
 into danger or death. Some one called 
 them the '' Rough Riders,"" and they were 
 
 rarely spoken of by any other title. All a kough rider 
 
 these men were in Cuba. An attack was (From a photograph of captain Kane) 
 
244 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Victory at 
 Santiago 
 
 Terms of 
 peace 
 
 Copyright, 1898, by J. C. Hemmcnl 
 
 WRECK OF THE SPANISH FLAGSHIP REINA MERCEDES 
 (Morro Castle, Santiago, is seen in the background) 
 
 made upon Santiago, and the Spaniards saw that it must sur- 
 render. Orders were sent for the Spanish fleet to sail out of "the 
 bottle " and attack 
 the American ves- 
 sels. This was 
 done, but the fleet 
 was completely de- 
 stroyed. The rest 
 of the Spanish 
 navy had to stay 
 at home to defend 
 the coast, and soon 
 Spain asked for 
 peace. 
 
 She agreed to give freedom to Cuba and to surrender Porto 
 Rico to the United States as well as Guam, a small island in the 
 Ladrones. The Philippines she was to sell to the United States 
 for twenty million dollars. The treaty was 
 signed in December, 1898, and Spain no longer 
 owned a foot of land in the western hemi- 
 sphere. What were supposed to be the 
 remains of Christopher Columbus were re- 
 moved to Spain from the cathedral of Ha- 
 vana. While the war was going on, the 
 Hawaiian Islands asked to be annexed to 
 the United States, and the request was 
 granted. 
 
 The war with Spain soon ended, but the 
 natives of the Philippines for a time resisted 
 our rule. A degree of self-government was early granted the 
 Filipinos. In 1900 we had trouble with China. A Chinese society 
 called the " Boxers," feeling sure that the empress of China shared 
 
 WILLIAM Mckinley 
 
 (Died September 14, 1901) 
 
EVENTS SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 245 
 
 Six months later, the 
 
 The assassi- 
 nation of 
 McKinley 
 
 their hatred of all foreigners, set out to massacre them. An army- 
 was formed of English, Americans, Japanese, and others to rescue 
 their missionaries and protect their citizens and business inter- 
 ests. Two of the principal cities in China, Pekin and Tientsm, 
 Avere captured, and the Chinese yielded. 
 
 In 1901 McKinley was again elected, 
 message was telegraphed over the 
 world for the third time within 
 forty years, "Our President has 
 been assassinated." A great wave 
 of sorrow swept over the land. 
 The hatred aroused by civil war 
 had caused the death of Lincoln; 
 the " spoils system " had taken the 
 life of Garfield ; McKinley, how- 
 ever, fell by the hand of an an- 
 archist, one who declares that no 
 country should have a government, 
 but that every man should do as 
 he chooses. The sympathy of the whole world was with the 
 United States. Only a few months earlier, America had shared 
 the grief of Great Britain at the death of Queen Victoria, and 
 now England shared oi^r sorrow. Her flags were put at half- 
 mast, badges of mourning were worn, and memorial services were 
 held, not only in the great English cathedrals, but even in the 
 little country churches. 
 
 A few hours after the death of William McKinley, the Vice- Theodore 
 President, Theodore Roosevelt, repeated gravely the presidential Roosevelt 
 oath: — president 
 
 "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of 
 President of the United States ; and will, to the best of my ability, 
 preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United 
 States." 
 
 THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
246 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Increased 
 influence 
 abroad 
 
 Industrial 
 prosperity 
 
 In 1905 President Roosevelt was elected. A few months later 
 he succeeded in persuading Japan and Russia to end the fierce 
 warfare that had been raging between them and to agree upon 
 terms of peace. Their commissioners met at Portsmouth, New 
 Hampshire, and in August a treaty was signed. Cuba had been 
 made free, but her government was not strong enough to main- 
 tain order, and she now appealed to our country for help. In the 
 autumn of 1906 the United States took temporary control of the 
 island and appointed a governor. At about the same time our 
 Secretary of State paid friendly visits to the South American 
 republics. 
 
 Since the Spanish war all sorts of manufactures have pros- 
 pered. Prices have been high, work plenty, and wages in most 
 kinds of employment have risen. Enormous fortunes have been 
 made, and people have come to feel that they are not comfortable 
 unless they have more luxuries than ever before. When a coun- 
 try is growing and changing as rapidly as the United States, 
 new questions are constantly arising, and the greatest wisdom is 
 needed to settle them in such a way that all will ])e treated with 
 fairness. One of the most difficult problems of the present day 
 is how to divide the profits of any undertaking between capital 
 and labor. The capitalist furnishes the money for buildings, ma- 
 chinery, and materials, and also the brain for managing, advertis- 
 ing, and enlarging the business ; the wage-earner furnishes the 
 hands for the actual work. Neither party can succeed without 
 the other ; but what share of the gain each ought to receive is no 
 easy matter to decide. There is a general belief that a tremendous 
 fortune cannot be made unless the rights of the people have been 
 violated in some way. One of the most important acts of Presi- 
 tion of great dent Roosevelt's administration has been the inquiry by the Gov- 
 ernment into the methods by which some of the great corporations 
 have become so wealthy. One charge was, for instance, tliat rail- 
 
 Investiga- 
 
EVENTS SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 247 
 
 roads had been induced to carry the goods of the large producers 
 at much lower rates than those of the small producers, and that 
 the great companies were thus " killing out " rival concerns and 
 preventing a fair competition. The rights of the people have also 
 been guarded by an examination of the way in which some of 
 the large insurance companies were managing the vast sums of 
 money intrusted to their care. The President himself has been 
 at the front in these movements. He has also used his personal 
 influence as well as that of his position to bring to an end the 
 serious industrial strikes that have arisen, and to forward the 
 work of the Panama Canal. 
 
 The power and influence of the United States in the affairs of 
 the world has become much more apparent during the last few 
 years. Fortunately for all concerned, the relations of this country 
 to others were guided by John Hay, Secretary of State until his John Hay 
 death in 1905, who established what was almost a new principle, 
 namely, that dealings between nations should be as frank and 
 honorable as those between individuals. 
 
 So it is that with many problems yet to solve, but with a national 
 determination to maintain honesty and justice at home and in our 
 relations to foreign countries, the United States prepares to enter 
 upon the second decade of the twentieth century. 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 President Johnson thought that the seceded states should be allowed to 
 send representatives to Congress, but Congress demanded the " iron- 
 clad oath." Slavery was forbidden, and the right to vote was given to 
 the negroes ; but the whites often prevented them from voting. The 
 Confederates were soon pardoned and allowed to hold office. 
 
 Between the Civil War and the Centennial of 1876, which marked the 
 nation's progress during its first century, the Atlantic cable was laid, 
 Alaska was purchased, England paid for the damage done by the 
 Alabama, and the Union Pacific Pailroad was built. 
 
248 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Between the Centennial and the Columbian Exposition of 1893, our " green- 
 backs " became as good as gold, much was done to farther Civil Service 
 Reform, the South became more prosperous, the succession to the presi- 
 dency was assured, the Chinese were excluded, a tariff for protection as 
 well as revenue, and the doctrine of reciprocity won the vote of the 
 majority, and much land in the West was thrown open to settlers. 
 
 The inability of Spain to govern Cuba properly brought this country into a 
 war with Spain which resulted in our acquiring Porto Kico, Guam, and 
 the Philippines. During the war the Hawaiian Islands became, at 
 their own request, part of the territory of the United States. 
 
 President McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist. During President 
 Roosevelt's administration, the war between Japan and Russia came to 
 an end, the United States took temporary control of Cuba, all kinds of 
 manufactures prospered, the methods of great corporations were investi- 
 gated, and the power of the United States in the affairs of the world 
 became more apparent. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 One of the unsuccessful men describes the opening of Oklahoma. 
 
 Why should the landing of Columbus be celebrated ? 
 
 Is it desirable for us to own the Philippines ? 
 
 Why should the Declaration of Independence be celebrated ? 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER 
 
 VIRGINIA 
 
 Not long after the settlement of Jamestown the colonists 
 
 learned that the best way to make money from their land was Why Vir- 
 
 ,. ., -,1 -ii J 1 Tj J. einia had no 
 
 to plant as much of it as possible with tobacco. It was not easy villages 
 
 for a man to care for these great farms, or plantations, if his home 
 was far away, therefore each planter built his house on his plan- 
 tation. That is why, even Avhen 
 Virginia was a century old, there 
 was hardly a village in the coun- 
 try. 
 
 Whether large or small, this 
 house was always known as the 
 "great house," to distinguish it 
 from the smaller houses, or cab- 
 ins, in which the workmen lived. 
 In later times these workmen 
 were negro slaves, but in the 
 
 earlier days of the colony white men sent over from England 
 were employed. Most of them were " redemptioners," that is. The 
 
 poor men who wished to try their fortune m a new land. When ^. '"^''^"^P" 
 ^ -^ tioners 
 
 they reached Virginia, some planter was always ready to pay the 
 cost of their passage on condition that they should work for him 
 till the value of their labor had " redeemed " the amount. Some 
 of these redemptioners were well-educated, enterprising men ; and 
 in that case they had a good opportunity to become tenants or 
 even to gain estates of their own. 
 
 y- 
 
 ^Wt 
 
 f -.VI 
 
 i\ 
 
 
 ^L 
 
 ■^•^w 
 
 
 m 
 
 -Ml 
 
 ■M 
 
 ll^K 
 
 ) ggj^i^tr 
 
 IHL 
 
 j^hhI 
 
 1 
 
 If 
 
 %wg 
 
 m 
 
 B 
 
 LOWER BRANDON. AN OLD PLANTATION HOME 
 
250 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 Guests were always welcome on the plantations, and a visit in 
 Virginia those times was not an afternoon call, but a stay of several days 
 ospi a 1 y ^^ ^ week or a month. This hospitality was ottered as freely to 
 strangers as to friends. A traveler had only to stop his horse at 
 any door, and he was sure of a welcome and a night's entertain- 
 ment. It was so customary to entertain travelers free of cost 
 that the law forbade even innkeei)ers to make any charge for food 
 and lodging unless they had told the guest in advance that he 
 would be expected to pay. If a planter. was going away from 
 home, he would tell his agent to see that any stranger who might 
 ask for hospitality should be welcomed and given every comfort 
 that the plantation attorded. If we may trust the old stories, it 
 was not always necessary even to ask, for it is said that some- 
 times a sociable planter would station a servant where he would 
 be likely to meet travelers and give him orders to invite them to 
 stop and pay a visit. 
 
 Such a visit must have been well worth making, for on the 
 The "great larger plantations there was much to see that Avould interest a 
 stranger. After the earliest daysi the houses grew larger to suit 
 the hospitable notions of the colonists, and many of them con- 
 tained expensive furnishings that had been brought across the 
 Atlantic. There was always a hall that was used as a dining- 
 room and general living-room. The walls were sometimes hung 
 with tapestry or built up with oaken panels. There was a long 
 dining-table of course, and a cupboard well filled with china. 
 There was pewter, too, and silver ; spoons, forks, saltcellars, can- 
 dlesticks, and snuft'ers. There was sure to be at least one great 
 chest, sometimes plain, sometimes carved, full of snowy linen nap- 
 kins and tablecloths. On one side of the room was a great lire- 
 place in which enormous logs cheerily blazed and roared up the 
 chimney. A sitting-room and parlor usually opened ott" the hall ; 
 but the hall was the heart of the home, and it was of the hall and 
 
VIRGINIA 
 
 251 
 
 the family gathered about the open fire that the homesick Vir- 
 ginian tliouglit when he was on the other side of tlie ocean. 
 
 The kitclien was a little way from the house. There was always 
 a great fireplace, sometimes ten or twelve feet long, with crane The kitchen 
 and pothooks and all sorts of arrange- 
 ments for roasting and baking and fry- 
 ing. There was room enough in such 
 a fireplace to cook for even the large 
 gatherings of friends that so often 
 came together in this land of visits. 
 Virginia had a most generous supply 
 of food. Oysters, fish, chickens, beef, 
 and venison were exceedingly cheap. 
 Cream and butter and milk were plen- 
 tiful, and all sorts of fruit and vegeta- 
 bles grew most luxuriantly. 
 
 There was much to see outside of the 
 house. A plantation was like a little 
 town, for whatever was needed must 
 either be made on the spot or ordered 
 from England. Most of the large plan- 
 tations had among the servants car- 
 penters, blacksmiths, tanners, weavers, 
 shoemakers, and coopers. A planter's 
 own men could build sheds and barns 
 and keep them in repair. Hides and 
 wool were raised on the place. The tanners and shoemakers and On the 
 weavers made shoes and clothes for the negroes, and much of the P'^^f'^^'O" 
 cloth that was used for common purposes at the " great house." 
 When finer articles were needed, an order went to England. With 
 whole forests of wood at hand, even chairs, tables, boxes, bowls, 
 and wheels came across the ocean, for the time and strength ne- 
 
 IN COLONIAL DAYS 
 
252 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 cessary to make these articles would cultivate much more than 
 enough tobacco to pay for importing them. 
 
 A very important part of the things ordered from England 
 Colonial were articles of dress. These Virginians, colonists though they 
 dress were, did not propose to give up the London fashions, and they 
 
 sent for gowns of brocaded silk or satin or velvet, or calico lined 
 with silk — for calico was expensive in those days. They had 
 petticoats of silk, often shot with threads of silver. They had 
 laces of silk and of gold, scarfs of all colors, silk stockings, scarlet 
 sleeves, and crimson mantles. This gorgeousness was not limited 
 to the women, for the men were just as desirous of fine clothes. 
 The coat was of broadcloth, often olive or some other color, and 
 dazzling with buttons of polished silver. Ruffles fell over the 
 hand. The waistcoat was of any color that struck the fancy of 
 the wearer. The breeches were of plush or fine broadcloth. Silver 
 buckles were worn on the shoes. If the day w^as cool, a handsome 
 mantle of Ijlue or scarlet was thrown over this array. Such was 
 the gala dress of the colonists. Imagine a ballroom glowing with 
 all this brilliancy in the clear, soft light of dozens of myrtle Avax 
 candles ! 
 
 How were children educated on the plantations ? There were 
 Education a few free schools supi)orted, not by the colony, but by individuals. 
 The houses, however, were too far apart for district schools to 
 flourish, but frequently the children on adjoining plantations 
 were taught by some educated man of the neighborhood, perha])S 
 the minister of the parish, or perhaps a redemptioner. Often 
 a tutor was engaged to come fi'om England to live in a planter's 
 family and teach his children. When the sons grew older, they were 
 sometimes sent to Cambridge or to Oxford. Virginia had plans 
 only fourteen years after the founding of Jamestown for estab- 
 lishing not only a free school but a university. Indians as well as 
 whites were to become pupils. Money was raised and a president 
 
VIRGINIA 
 
 2S2a 
 
 was chosen. An Indian massacre and the overthrow of the Lon- 
 don Company prevented these plans from being carried out imme- 
 diately ; but even then, the college of William and Mary, founded 
 
 EARLY VIEW OF WILLIAM AM) MAIIY COLLI^'-^i. 
 
 in 1692, was, save for Harvard, the first college in America. A 
 place was chosen for its home which was also to be the capital of 
 the colony. It was named Williamsburg, and the original plan 
 was to lay its streets out in the shape of a W and an M, in honor 
 of the sovereigns of England. The students were always few, but 
 three presidents of the United States have been among them, and 
 governors, judges, and other public officials without number. 
 
 So it was that life went on in Virginia in "good old colony The planter 
 times." The planter's wife, with the large house to superintend, 
 was a busy woman. The planter was like a monarch, for on his 
 own plantation his word was law. In one way he had a very 
 easy life, for he was never obliged to do anything for himself that 
 a servant could do for him. On the other hand, there was con- 
 stant need of the master's watchful eye to prevent the waste and 
 neglect that would soon ruin the wealthiest planter. ]V[rs. Wash- 
 ington once said that she wished " George " would stay at home 
 
252b 
 
 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 tion 
 
 and attend to his plantation instead of going off to fight Indians. 
 The planter had to learn how to attend to many things at once, 
 how to decide questions quickly and independently, in short, 
 how to command ; and this ability was of the utmost value to 
 the country. 
 The record of Virginia in history is a noble one. When the 
 Virginia in Stamp Act was passed, the eloquence of Patrick Henry moved the 
 ti!fn House of Burgesses to vote that the General Assembly of Vir- 
 
 ginia alone had the right to 
 tax Virginians. This was open 
 rebellion, and it ushered in the 
 Revolution. I diehard Henry 
 Lee moved in Congress "that 
 these united colonies are and 
 of right ought to be, free and 
 independent states." Thomas 
 Jefferson Avrote the Declara- 
 tion of Independence, and 
 JEFFERSON'S HOME AT MONTicELLo Gcorge Washiugtou bccauie 
 
 commander-in-chief of the American forces. 
 
 The services of Virginia to the United States did not end with 
 the Revolution. George Rogers Clark saved the Northwestern 
 Territory. Virginia generously gave uj) her claim to it ; and to 
 win a share in this vast amount of land was a motive that had 
 much to do with holding some of the states in the Union. P'our 
 of our first five presidents were from Virginia, and three of them 
 had pews in the little church in liruton Parish. John Marshall, 
 our first chief justice, was a Virginian. Thomas Jefferson i)lanned 
 in almost every detail the University of Virginia at Charlottes- 
 ville. This was the first American college to introduce the elec- 
 tive system of studies, student government, and the honor system 
 in examinations. From the beginning it has stood for a simple, 
 
 Virginia 
 since tlie 
 Revolution 
 
VIRGINIA 
 
 252c 
 
 dignified, scholarly student life. When the days of the Civil War 
 drew near, it was not easy for Virginia to leave the Union that 
 she had done so much to found and to strengthen. For months 
 she hesitated. General Lee said, "If I o^vned the four million 
 slaves in the South, I would sacrifice them all to the Union, but 
 how can I draw my sword on Virginia, my native State ? " The 
 Convention finally voted to secede, but the western part of the 
 State refused to accept the decision, and became West Virginia. 
 
 Since the war, the commercial growth of Virginia has been sur- 
 prising. Many manufactories have been built, and new ones are 
 constantly being erected. A great shipbuilding company employs 
 more than six thousand workmen. The old quiet and leisure of 
 the State are departed, but a new State is arising. The old tradi- 
 tions are not dead, and we may confidently expect Virginia to 
 have as noble a history in the future as she has had in the past. 
 
 LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA 
 
252d OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 Because of the plantation life Virginia had few villages. 
 
 The workmen on the i»lantation wei-e at first '• redemptioners ; " later, negro 
 slaves. 
 
 Guests were always welcome, and a visit to a plantation was most inter- 
 esting. 
 
 Most of the articles of dress were ordered from England. 
 
 Children were generally taught by tutors. William and Mary College was 
 founded in 1692. 
 
 The planter's wife had much to do. The planter had to learn to com- 
 mand. 
 
 Virginia has a noble record in history and has given generous service to the 
 country. Since the Civil "War, her growth in manufactures has been 
 surprising. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 
 
 Write an account of a visit to a plantation. 
 A redemptioner's letter to England. 
 One day in the life of a plauter'.s wife. 
 
INDEX 
 
 AND PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY 
 
 Key to Peonunciation. — Marked vowels are pronounced like the same vowels similarly marked 
 in the following words : fate, fat, father, fall, cSre ; theme, ySt, h§r ; pine, pin; bone, nSt, 6rb; moon, 
 foot ; tnne, biit, bflrr. The obscure vowels are pronounced like a in Durham, e in Jerusalem, 6 in 
 Burton, and occur only in unaccented syllables, g is like g in go. 
 
 Abraham, Plains of, 127. 
 
 Adams, John, in the second Continental 
 Congress, 143 ; portrait of, 144 ; becomes 
 president, 173 ; his death, 188. 
 
 Adams, John Quincy, events of his presi- 
 dency, 188-192. 
 
 Adams, Samuel, father of the Revolution, 
 137 ; addresses the town meeting before 
 the Boston Tea-party, 138 ; attempt to 
 seize him at Lexington, 141 ; in the sec- 
 ond Continental Congress, 143 ; portrait 
 of, 144 ; opposes a final appeal to the 
 king, 146. 
 
 Alabama (al-a-ba'ma), the privateer, 219 ; 
 claims against England on her account, 
 232 ; picture of, 232. 
 
 Alaska (a-las'ka), bought from Russia, 
 231. 
 
 Albany (al'ban-T), situation of, reached by 
 Hudson, 89 ; fort built at, 90 ; location, 
 91 map; 119 map. 
 
 Albemarle (al'be-marl), location, 109 map; 
 CaroUna first settled at, 109. 
 
 Alleghany (al'e-ga-ni), valley of, occupied 
 by the French, 123. 
 
 Allen, Ethan (e'than), captures Tieonder- 
 oga, 143 ; statue of, picture, 143. 
 
 America, Norse and Swedish voyages to, 
 2 ; Columbus reaches, 9, 10 ; who named 
 for, 15 ; Hakluyt's reasons for planting 
 colonies in, 27 ; growing interest in, 33 ; 
 question of who shall rule in, 119-129 ; 
 life in, before the Revolution, 129-132. 
 
 Anderson, Major, at Fort Sumter, 208, 
 209 ; sent back to the fort, 227- 
 
 Andr^ (an'dra), Major, hanged as a spy, 
 1(15, 1G6 ; portrait of, 166. 
 
 Annapolis (au-nap'6-lis), Md., location, 102 
 map; founded, lOG. 
 
 Antietam (an-te'tam), Lee repulsed at, 
 217 ; bridge over the creek, picture, 
 217. 
 
 Anti-slavery movement, 195. 
 
 Appomattox (ap-po-mat't6ks)CourtHouse, 
 location, 216 map; Lee's surrender at, 
 226, 227 ; picture of, 226. 
 
 Arapahoe (a-rap'a-ho) camp, Indian Ter- 
 ritory, picture, 239. 
 
 Arcadia (ar-ka'di-a), position of, 119 map ; 
 attack on, 125. 
 
 Arcadians (ar-ka'di-anz), exile of, 125 ; 
 picture, 125. 
 
 Armada (ar-ma'da), the Spanish, defeated, 
 30 ; picture of, 30. 
 
 Array canteen, picture, 228. 
 
 Arnold (ar'nold), Benedict (ben'e-dict), 
 comes to Boston, 142 ; starts to capture 
 Ticonderoga, 143 ; leads an attack on 
 Quebec, 147 ; relieves Fort Stanwix, 
 159 ; gets command of West Point, 165 ; 
 his treason, 165, 166. 
 
 Arthur, Chester A., becomes president, 
 235. 
 
 Asia (a'shia), trade with, in the fifteenth 
 century, 2 ; caravan travel in, 3 ; trade 
 with, stopped by the Turks, 3. 
 
254 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Atlanta (at-lan'ta), captured by Sherman, 
 224 ; location, 224 j/iap. 
 
 Atlantic (at-lan'tik) cable, Great Eastern 
 laying the, picture, 230 ; put in opera- 
 tion, 231. 
 
 Atlantic Ocean, early fear of, 12 ; Colum- 
 bus plans to cross, 3. 
 
 Authors, first really great American, 
 1!14. 
 
 Backwoodsman, a, of the Revolution, 
 
 picture, 162. 
 Baltimore (bal'ti-mor), first Lord, founds 
 
 Maryland for the Catholics, 105 ; dies, 
 
 10(j. 
 Baltimore, second Lord, portrait of, 105 ; 
 
 begins the settlement of Maryland, 100 ; 
 
 deprived of his colony and reinstated, 
 
 108. 
 Baltimore, Md., attack on, during the war 
 
 of 1812, 181. 
 Baltimore sixpence, picture, 106. 
 Barbary (biir'ba-ri) pirate vessel, picture, 
 
 174. 
 Barbary States, war with, 174 ; cannon 
 
 captured from, picture, 175. 
 Beauregard (bo'ri-gard). General, attacks 
 
 Fort Sumter, 208 ; commands at Bull 
 
 Run, 211. 
 Beaver, picture of, 71. 
 Bennington (ben'ing-ton), Vt., battle of, 
 
 158 ; location, 158 map. 
 Bergen (ber'gen), N. J., location, 91 map; 
 
 founded, 95. 
 Berkeley (berk'li), Lord, obtains part of 
 
 New Jersey, 97 ; sells it to the Quakers, 
 
 98. 
 Blockade runners, 212 ; picture of one, 
 
 213. 
 Blockhouse in Maine, picture, 73. 
 Bon Homme Richard (French bon-om-re- 
 
 shar'), battle with the Serapis, 163; pic- 
 ture of, 164. 
 Books, in America before the Revolution, 
 
 130 ; the first great American writers 
 
 of, 194. 
 Boston, Mass., founded by the Winthrop 
 
 colony, 63 ; first town house in, picture, 
 
 65 ; massacre in, 137 ; the Tea-party, 
 138; punished by the Port Bill, 139; 
 siege of, 142-148. 
 
 Boston and Worcester Raikoad train of 
 1835, picture, 191. 
 
 Boston Massacre, 137 ; Paul Revere's pic- 
 ture of, 137. 
 
 Boston Port Bill, 139. 
 
 Boston Tea-party, 138. 
 
 Bowery, The, why so named, 92. 
 
 Braddock (brad'ok). General, scorns ad- 
 vice, 124; his line of march, 124 map; 
 his army routed, 124 ; killed, 125. 
 
 Bradford, William, in the Pilgrim ex- 
 ploring party, 55 ; his armchair, pic- 
 ture, 57 ; defies Canonicus, 58 ; picture, 
 59; stops a Christmas celebration, 59, 
 60. 
 
 Brooklyn (brook'lin) Heights, Howe drives 
 Washington from, 151. 
 
 Brown, John, in Kansas, 205 ; liis raid, 
 206. 
 
 Bryant, William CuUen, 194 ; his home at 
 Roslyn, picture, 194. 
 
 Buchanan (bu-kan'an), James, president, 
 203, 205. 
 
 Bull Run, battle of, 210-212. 
 
 Bunker Hill, fortified by the Americans, 
 
 144 ; battle of, 145 ; view of the battle, 
 
 145 ; the monument erected, 187 ; pic- 
 ture of the monument on, 187. 
 
 Burgesses ( bur' jes-ez). House of, in Vir- 
 ginia, established, 50. 
 
 Burgoyne (bfir-goin'). General, his inva- 
 sion of New York, 158 ; the region of 
 his invasion, map, 158 ; his surrender, 
 159. 
 
 Burke, Edmund, objects to the Stamp 
 Act, 135. 
 
 Burning of Charlestown and the Battle of 
 Bunker Hill, picture, 145. 
 
 Cabot (k3.b'6t), John, his voyage to Amer- 
 ica, 13, 14 ; describing his voyage, pic- 
 ture, 14. 
 
 California (kal-i-f or'ni-.-v), discovery of gold 
 in, 203 ; trouble over its admission as a 
 state, 204. 
 
INDEX 
 
 255 
 
 Canal showing horses, tow-boats, and 
 locks, picture, 190. 
 
 Cannon captured in the Revolution, pic- 
 ture, 147 ; captured from the Barbary 
 States, picture, 175. 
 
 Canoe (ka-nob'), making a, 36. 
 
 Canonicus (ka-non'i-kus), hostile to Plym- 
 outh, 58 ; receives Roger WilUams, 75 ; 
 prevented by WiUiams from joining the 
 Pequots, 80. 
 
 Cape Breton (bret'on) Island, 121. 
 
 Capture of Hannah Duston, picture, 120. 
 
 Carolinas (kar-o-li'naz). See North and 
 South Carolina. 
 
 Carolinas and Georgia, The, map, 109. 
 
 Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, picture, 
 139. 
 
 Carpet-baggers, 230. 
 
 Carroll, Charles, of Carrollton, signs the 
 Declaration of Independence, 149. 
 
 Carteret (kar'te-ret), Sir George, obtains 
 New Jersey, 97. 
 
 Carteret, Philip, cousin of Sir George, his 
 reception in New Jersey, 98. 
 
 Cartier (kar-tya'), Jacques, sails to the St. 
 Lawrence, 20 ; claims the territory for 
 France, 21. 
 
 Carver (kar'ver), John, in the Pilgrims' 
 exploring party, 55. 
 
 Catholics, persecution of, in England, 104, 
 105 ; Maryland founded for, 105. 
 
 Centennial Exposition, 234. 
 
 Chaise (shaz), an old-fashioned, picture, 
 189. 
 
 Chaleurs, Bale des (ba da sha-l§r'), discov- 
 ered, 20. 
 
 Chambersburg (cham'berz-burg), location, 
 216 map ; burned, 223. 
 
 Champlain (sham-plan'), his early years, 
 114 ; explores the St. Lawrence, 114 ; 
 joins the Indians opposed to the Iro- 
 quois, 115. 
 
 Charles I., grants a charter to Puritans to 
 form the Massachusetts Bay Company, 
 61 ; portrait of, 61 ; his despotism, 62, 
 grants Maryland to Lord Baltimore, 
 105. 
 
 Charles II., provoked over the sale of 
 
 Maine to Massachusetts, 73 ; annuls the 
 Massachusetts charter, 74 ; Penn's con- 
 duct to, 100 ; grants Pennsylvania to 
 Penn, 101 ; portrait of, 101 ; grants Car- 
 olina to a company, 109. 
 
 Charleston (charlz'ton), located, 109 map; 
 165 map ; first settlement in South Caro- 
 lina, 110 ; entrance of the harbor, pic- 
 ture, 110 ; British defeated at, 150. 
 
 Charter Oak episode, 82. 
 
 Chicago as it was in 1832, picture, 186. 
 
 Chickamauga (chik-a-ma'ga), battle of, 
 221 ; location, 224 map. 
 
 Chinese, exclusion of, 237. 
 
 Christmas celebrations not allowed among 
 the Pilgrims, 59. 
 
 Civil Service Reform, 235, 239. 
 
 Clark, George Rogers, drives the British 
 out of the Northwest, 162. 
 
 Clark, WiUiam, sent to explore the North- 
 west, 176. 
 
 Clark's Island, landing of Pilgrims on, 
 55. 
 
 Clay, Henry, his birthplace, picture, 186 ; 
 urges the Missouri Compromise, 187 ; 
 and the Compromise of 1850, 204. 
 
 Clinton, Governor, of New York, inter- 
 ested in the Erie Canal, 190. 
 
 Codfish, picture of a, 33. 
 
 Columbian Exposition, the, 240 ; peri- 
 style at, picture, 240. 
 
 Columbus (ko-lum'bus), Christopher, bom 
 at Genoa, 2 ; plans to cross the Atlantic, 
 3 ; his armor, picture, 3 ; refused assist- 
 ance and deceived by Portugal, 4 ; goes 
 to Spain, 4 ; at La Rabida, 5 ; his de- 
 mands, 5, 6 ; aided by Queen Isabella, 
 6 ; his voyage, 7, 8 ; his ship, picture, 8 ; 
 lands on San Salvador, 9 ; picture of the 
 landing, 10 ; his reception in Spain, 10, 
 11 ; makes an egg stand on end, 11 ; his 
 later voyages, 11 ; his death and charac- 
 ter, 12 ; statue of, 12. 
 
 Companion of Governor Nicolls, picture, 
 97. 
 
 Compass, varies on Columbus's voyage, 8; 
 picture of an early, 8. 
 
 Compromise of 1850, 204. 
 
256 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Concord, fight at, 142. 
 
 Confederacy, the, organized, 208 ; map of, 
 211 ; shut in by the capture of the Mis- 
 sissippi, 221 ; ctit in two by Sherman, 
 225 ; comes to an end, 22G, 227. 
 
 Confederate, a, picture, 210. 
 
 Confederate battle flag, picture, 208. 
 
 Confederate capitol, Richmond, picture, 
 223. 
 
 Congress of the United States, how made 
 up, 170 ; power of, 171. 
 
 Connecticut (kon-et i-kut), beginnings of, 
 77, 78 ; Hooker's party goes to, 79 ; 
 Davenport's party founds New Haven, 
 81 ; education in, 82 ; preservation of 
 the charter, 82. 
 
 Connecticut Valley settlements, map, 82. 
 
 Constantinople (kon-stan-ti-uo'pl), eastern 
 trade through, 2 ; captured by Turks, 3. 
 
 Constitution of the United States, prepa- 
 ration and adoption of, 170, 171 ; Thir- 
 teenth Amendment to, 229. 
 
 Constitution, the, picture of, 177 ; her fight 
 with the Guerri^re, 178. 
 
 Continental (kon-ti-nen'tal) Congress, the 
 meeting of the first, 139 ; of the second, 
 members of it, 143 ; its lack of money, 
 156. 
 
 Continental money, picture of, 15G ; its 
 depreciation in value, 164. 
 
 Contrabands, what they were, 217 ; pic- 
 ture of, 218. 
 
 Cooper (koop'er), J. Fenimore, 194. 
 
 Corduroy roads in South Carolina, pic- 
 ture, 225. 
 
 Cornwallis (korn-w.al'is). Lord, drives 
 Washington across New Jersey, 152 ; 
 beaten at Trenton, 152 ; and Princeton, 
 154 ; his operations in South Carolina, 
 164 ; goes to Yorktown, 167 ; surrender 
 of, 167 ; picture of the surrender, 167. 
 
 Cotton, raised in Georgia, 172 ; picture 
 of, 172 ; cotton field, picture of, 173 ; ex- 
 port of, by blockade runners, 212. 
 
 Cotton-gin, invented by Whitney, 172 ; 
 picture of, 173 ; effect of, on slavery and 
 duties, 173. 
 
 Coureura de bois {French, kob-rSr' de 
 
 bwa'), who they were, 116 ; picture of 
 
 one, 116. 
 Cuba (ku'ba), trouble over the revolution 
 
 in, 241; location, 243 7nap, 247 map; 
 
 given her freedom, 244. 
 Cuban homestead, a, picture, 241. 
 Cup given by Winthrop to the First 
 
 Church, picture, 64. 
 
 Dare, Virginia, 29. 
 
 Davenport (da'ven-port). Rev. John, leads 
 his church to New Haven, 81. 
 
 Davis, Jefferson, in the Mexican War, 
 202; chosen president of the Confeder- 
 acy, 208. 
 
 De Soto (da so'to), discovers the Missis- 
 sippi, 21-23 ; picture, 22. 
 
 Debtors, condition of, in England, 111. 
 
 Declaration of Independence, signed, 148 ; 
 incidents of its signing, 149. 
 
 Deerfield (der'feld), Mass., location, 80 
 ma}^, 119 map; attack on, 120. 
 
 Delaware (del'a-war), Swedes in, 93, i)4 ; 
 conquered by the Dutch, 94, 95. 
 
 Delaware River, location, 151 map; 
 Washington's retreat across the, 152 ; 
 Washington crossing the, picture, 152. 
 
 Dewey (du'i). Commodore, captures the 
 Spanish fleet at Manila, 242. 
 
 Dinwiddle (din-wid i). Governor, of Vir- 
 ginia, sends Washington to Fort Du- 
 quesne, 123. 
 
 Doughoregan Manor, Maryland, picture, 
 107. 
 
 Dover (do'ver), N. H., location, 62 map, 
 119 map; settled, 72. 
 
 Dred Scott Decision, 205. 
 
 Duston (dus'ton), Mrs. Hannah, capture 
 and escape of, 120. 
 
 Dutch, make settlements on the Con- 
 necticut, 77, 78 ; Hudson River explored 
 for, 89 ; settle in New Netherlands, 90- 
 93 ; conquer New Sweden, 94 ; over- 
 thrown by the English, 95. 
 
 Dutch flag, picture, 91. 
 
 Dutch West India Company, activities 
 along the Hudson River, 90 ; introduce 
 the patroon system, 91. 
 
INDEX 
 
 257 
 
 Eakly (erl'D, General, 223. 
 
 Early settler's house, picture, 84. 
 
 Eliot, John, preaches to the Indians, 66, 67. 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, story of, and Raleigh, 
 26 ; portrait of, 27 ; her reasons for not 
 aiding Raleigh's expedition, 28 ; picture 
 of her coach, 28. 
 
 Elm in Cambridge, under which Washing- 
 ton took command of the army, picture, 
 146. 
 
 Emancipation (e-man-si-pa'shun) Procla- 
 mation, signed, 218. 
 
 Embargo (em-bar'go) Act, passed, 176. 
 
 Emigrants going West across the prairies, 
 picture, 185. 
 
 England, Cabot sails from, 14 ; her claims 
 in North America, 24 ; advantages to her 
 of colonies in America, 27, 28 ; defeats 
 the Spanish Armada, 30 ; religious per- 
 secution in, 52 ; condition of poor debtors 
 in. Ill ; contest with France in America, 
 119; her supremacy in America settled, 
 128 ; passes laws oppressive to America, 
 133 ; tries to keep a standing army in 
 America, 133, 134 ; writs of assistance, 
 134 ; attitude toward the colonies, 135 ; 
 passes the Stamp Act, 135 ; repeals it, 
 136 ; imposes the tea tax, 137 ; revolu- 
 tion against, 141-168 ; causes of the war 
 of 1812 with, 176 ; attitude of, toward 
 the Confederacy, 212 ; influence of the 
 Trent affair on, 213. 
 
 English soldier, of 1603, picture, 44 ; of 
 Wolfe's time, picture, 127. 
 
 Ericsson (er'ik-son), John, inventor of the 
 monitor, 215. 
 
 Erie Canal, building of, 190. 
 
 Fakeuil (fan'el or fun'el) Hall, picture 
 of, 133. 
 
 Farragut (far'a-gut), David, sent to take 
 New Orleans, 213, 214 ; an August morn- 
 ing with, picture, 214. 
 
 Ferdinand (fer'di-nand). King, of Spain 
 considers Columbus's plans, 4 ; builds a 
 tomb to him, 12. 
 
 Field, Cyrus (si'rus) W., puts through the 
 Atlantic cable, 231. 
 
 Fillmore (fil'mor), Millard (mfllard). Pre- 
 sident, 203. 
 
 First meeting-house in Salem, picture, 
 74. 
 
 First town house in Boston, picture, 
 65. 
 
 Fishhooks of bone, 38. 
 
 Flax wheel, picture, 87. 
 
 Florida, explored by Ponce de Leon, 16 ; 
 claimed by Spain, 24; bought by the 
 United States, 184. 
 
 Foot-stove, picture of, 85. 
 
 Fort Christiana, built, 94 ; location, 102 
 map. 
 
 Fort Duquesne (doo-kan'), built, 123 ; loca- 
 tion, 124 map; Braddock's defeat at, 
 124, 125. 
 
 Fort McHenry, Baltimore, picture, 181. 
 
 Fort Moultrie, location, 165 map. 
 
 Fort Stanwix (stan'wix), location, 158 
 map ; siege of, 159. 
 
 Fort Sumter (siim'ter) besieged, 208 ; sur- 
 rendered, 209; in 1861, picture, 210; 
 location, 211 map; retaken, 227. 
 
 Fort Ticonderoga. See Tieonderoga. 
 
 Fortress of Quebec, the, as it is to-day, 
 picture, 126. 
 
 " Forty-niners," 203. 
 
 " Fountain of Youth," 16. 
 
 France, sends out Jacques Cartier, 20 ; 
 her claims in North America, 24 ; ex- 
 plorations, 114 ; contest with England 
 in America begun, 119 ; pushes her set- 
 tlements into the Ohio valley, 123 ; her 
 supremacy in North America ended, 
 127, 130 ; attempts to win her aid for the 
 colonies, 157 ; sends a fleet to America, 
 161 ; trouble with the United States. 
 173 ; sells Louisiana, 175 ; presents the 
 Bartholdi Statue of Liberty to the 
 United States, 237. 
 
 Franklin (frank'lin), Benjamin, his advice 
 to Braddock, 124 ; his Poor Richard's 
 Almanac, 131 ; his device to represent 
 union or death, picture, 136 ; his re- 
 mark about Concord fight, 142 ; in the 
 second Continental Congress, 143 ; signs 
 the Declaration of Independence, 149 ; 
 
258 
 
 INDEX 
 
 portrait of, 150 ; sent to France, 157 ; 
 his remark about Howe in Philadelphia, 
 1(31 ; his contribution to the Columbian 
 Exposition, 246. 
 
 Franklin's printing press, picture, 132. 
 
 Freight wagon, picture, 18U. 
 
 French frigate, a, picture, 1(32. 
 
 French frontier in the North, map, 119. 
 
 Fugitive-slave law, 204. 
 
 Fulton (fiirton), Robert, invents the 
 steamboat, 1S3 ; picture of his boat, 183. 
 
 Fur trade, in Maine, 71 ; between Maine 
 and Massachusetts, 72 ; in New Nether- 
 lands, 90, 91 ; forbidden to patroous, 91, 
 92. 
 
 Gage (gaj'), General, sends British troops 
 from Boston to Concord, 141 ; besieged 
 in Boston, 142 ; decides to storm Bunker 
 Hill, 144. 
 
 Garfield, James A., elected president, 
 235 ; assassinated, 235 ; portrait, 235. 
 
 Garrison (gar'ri-son), WiUiam Lloyd (loid), 
 publishes the " Liberator," 195. 
 
 Geneva (jen-e'va), 232. 
 
 Genoa (jen'o-a), birthplace of Columbus, 
 2 ; interested in Asiatic trade, 2 ; re- 
 fuses to assist Columbus, 3. 
 
 Gentleman of 1610, a, picture of, 46. 
 
 Georgia (joi-'ji-a), why chosen for settle- 
 ment, 112 ; first settlement in, 112 ; in- 
 dustries of, 113 ; given up to the kuig, 
 113 ; captured by the British, 163. 
 
 Gettysburg (get'iz-burg), location, 216 
 map ; battle of, 219 ; Union line meet- 
 ing Pickett's charge at, picture, 219. 
 
 Gomez {Spanish, go'meth), General, pic- 
 ture, 241. 
 
 Gorges, Sir Ferdinando (fer-di-nan'do 
 gor'jez), becomes interested in Maine, 
 71 ; associates with Mason, 72 ; takes 
 Maine in the division of land, 73. 
 
 "Grand Model," Locke's code of law for 
 Carolina, 110. 
 
 Grant, General U.S., in the Mexican War, 
 202 ; takes Vicksburg, 220 ; put at the 
 head of the army, 222 ; portrait of, 222 ; 
 presses on toward Richmond, 223; forces 
 
 Lee to surrender, 226 ; becomes presi- 
 dent, 232. 
 
 "Greenbacks," 234. 
 
 Greene, General, opposes Cornwallis in the 
 South, 1(36, 167. 
 
 Greenland, Norse and Swedish voyages 
 to, 2. 
 
 Guam (gwam), ceded to the United States, 
 244 ; location, 248 map. 
 
 Guerri^re (French, gar-ri-arr'), sunk by the 
 Constitution, 177, 178. 
 
 Gunboat, Union river, picture, 220. 
 
 "Hail-, Columbia," written, 174. 
 
 Hakluyt (hak'lit), Richard, his recom- 
 mendations about America, 27, 28 ; ad- 
 vice to emigrants to America in 1(307, 43. 
 
 Half-Moon, Hudson's vessel, 89 ; picture 
 of, leaving Amsterdam, 89. 
 
 Hamilton (ham'il-ton), Alexander, his sug- 
 gestions as secretary of the treasury, 
 171 ; portrait of, 172. 
 
 Hancock, John, attempt to capture at Lex- 
 ington, 141 ; member of the second Con- 
 tinental Congress, 143 ; recommends the 
 burning of Boston, 147 ; his house in 
 Boston, picture, 148 ; signs the Declara- 
 tion of Independence, 149. 
 
 Harper's Ferry, John Brown captured at, 
 20(3 ; picture, 20(3 ; location, 216 map. 
 
 Harrison (har'i-son), Benjamin, elected 
 president, 237, 238. 
 
 Harrison, William Henry, his presidential 
 campaign, 197; his death, 198. 
 
 "Harrison Campaign Almanac," picture 
 from the, 198. 
 
 Hartford (hart'ford), Conn., English drive 
 the Dutch from, 78 ; Thomas Hooker 
 founds the city, 79 ; first meeting-house 
 in, picture, 79 ; location, 80 maji. 
 
 Harvard (har'vard), John, gives his library 
 to the college, (36 ; statue of, picture, 
 66. 
 
 Harvard College founded, (!6. 
 
 Haverhill (ha've-ril\ Mass., location, 119 
 map; Indian attack on, 120. 
 
 Hayes, Rutherford (ruth'er-ford) B., 
 elected president, 234. 
 
INDEX 
 
 259 
 
 Henry, Patrick, at the second Continental 
 
 Congress, 143 ; governor of Virginia, 
 
 162. 
 Hessians (hesh'anz), hired to fight in 
 
 America, 146 ; beaten at Trenton, 152. 
 Holland, life of the Pilgrims in, 53 ; flag 
 
 of, picture, 91. 
 Hooker (hook'er). Rev. Thomas, leads a 
 
 party to Hartford, Conn., 79. 
 House where Yale College was founded, 
 
 82. 
 Howe, General, takes General Gage's 
 
 place, 147 ; evacuates Boston, 148 ; 
 
 drives Washington from New York, 
 
 151. 
 Hudson (hud'son), Henry, early life, 88 ; 
 
 discovers the Hudson Kiver, 89 ; lost, 
 
 89. 
 Hudson River, discovered, 89; Dutch 
 
 colonists on, 90, 91 ; settlements about, 
 
 map, 91 ; British plan to get control of, 
 
 151, 158. 
 Huguenots (hii'ge-nots), emigration of, to 
 
 the Carolinas, 110. 
 Hull, Captain, defeats the Guerri^re, 177, 
 
 178. 
 
 Independence Hall, picture of, 149 ; 
 President's chair in, picture, 170. 
 
 India, theories of reaching, by crossing 
 the Atlantic, 1. 
 
 Indian baby's cradle, picture, 37. 
 
 Indian corn, picture, 47. 
 
 Indian fur-traders, picture, 78. 
 
 Indians (in'di-anz), why so named, 10, 34 ; 
 first picture of a South American, 11 ; 
 picture of a Mexican, 20 ; their charac- 
 teristics, 34 ; their dwellings, 35 ; squaws 
 and braves, 35, 36 ; the papoose, 36, 37 ; 
 children's education, 37 ; weapons, 38 ; 
 games of the boys, 38 ; method of fight- 
 ing 39; wampum, 39,40; religion, 40; 
 conduct toward whites, 41 ; attitude to- 
 ward colonists at Jamestown, 45, 47 ; at 
 Plymouth, 57 ; John Eliot's service to, 
 66, 67 ; under King Philip attack the 
 English, 68 ; Pequot War, 80, 81 ; Penn's 
 treatment of, 102, 103 ; Champlain's 
 
 conduct toward, 115 ; the Jesuit feeling 
 for, 116 ; general attitude of the French 
 to, 116 ; attack Schenectady, 119 ; 
 Haverhill and Deerfield, 120 ; help the 
 Tories against the Americans, 162 ; 
 stirred up by the English in the war of 
 1812, 179 ; Seminole War, 183 ; troubles 
 with, in the West, 238. 
 
 Internal improvements, question of pay- 
 ing for, arises, 192. 
 
 Iroquois (ir'o-kwoi), Pennsylvania Indians 
 tributary to, 103 ; rendered hostile to 
 the French by Champlain's attack, 115. 
 
 Irving, Washington, 194. 
 
 Isabella (iz-a-bel'la), queen of Spain, 4; 
 helps Columbus, 5, 6 ; portrait of, 7 ; 
 received Columbus on his i-eturn, 11. 
 
 Jackson, Andrem', wins the battle of 
 New Orleans, 181 ; sent against the Serai- 
 noles, 184 ; events of his presidency, 
 192-194 ; portrait of, 192. 
 
 Jackson, " Stonewall," at Bull Run, 212. 
 
 James I., king of England, courts the 
 favor of Spain, 31 ; grants Virginia to 
 the London and Plymouth Companies, 
 42 ; persecutes the Puritans and Separa- 
 tists, 52, 53. 
 
 Jamestown (jamz'town), founded, 44; 
 hardships at, 44 ; John Smith becomes 
 governor, 46 ; colonists obliged to work, 
 47 ; " starving time " in, 48 ; picture of, 
 in 1622, 49 ; location, 102 wap. 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, author of the Declara- 
 tion of Independence, 149 ; portrait of, 
 150; events of his term as president, 
 174-176 ; his death, 188. 
 
 Jesuit (jez'ii-it) explorer, a, picture, 115. 
 
 Jesuits, their zeal for missions and explo- 
 rations, 116, 117. 
 
 Johnson, Andrew, becomes president, 229. 
 
 Joliet {French, zho-lya'), explores the Mis- 
 sissippi with Marquette, 117. 
 
 Jones, John Paul, captures the Serapis, 
 163. 
 
 Kansas (kan'zas), trouble over slavery 
 in, 205. 
 
260 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Keg brought through the Erie Canal, 101 . 
 Key (ke), Francis Scott, author of "The 
 
 Star-Spangled Banner," 181. 
 King PhUip. See Philip. 
 
 La Plata (la pla'ta) River, visited by Ma- 
 gellan, 17. 
 
 La Rabida (la ra'be-da), convent of, 
 Columbus received at, 5 ; picture of, (i. 
 
 La Salle (la sal'), explores the Mississippi 
 to its mouth, 117 ; attempts to plant a 
 colony at its mouth, 118 ; murdered, 11" . 
 
 Ladrones (la-dronz'), location, 18 wap; 
 discovered by Magellan, 19 ; one of them 
 taken from Spain by the United States, 
 244. 
 
 Lafayette (Iji-fa-yet'), portrait of, 157 ; 
 comes to America, 157 ; at the sur- 
 render of Cornwallis, 167 ; visits 
 America, 187. 
 
 Lee, General Henry, pronounces Washing- 
 ton's funeral oration, 174. 
 
 Lee, General Robert E., in the Mexican 
 War, 202 ; captures John Brown, 200 ; 
 portrait of, 216 ; in command of the 
 Confederate army, 216 ; withdraws from 
 Antietam, 217 ; defeated at Gettysburg, 
 21i) ; surrenders at Appomattox, 226. 
 
 Lewis (lu'is), Meriwether (me'ri-weth-er), 
 picture of, 175 ; explores the North- 
 west, 176. 
 
 Lexington, battle of, 142. 
 
 Liberty, statue of, presented to the United 
 States by France, 237 ; picture of, 238. 
 
 Liberty Bell, picture of, 149. 
 
 Lincoln (link'on), Abraham, elected presi- 
 dent, 206 ; portrait of, 209 ; calls for 
 volunteers, 210 ; signs the Emancipation 
 Proclamation, 218 ; his Gettysburg 
 speech, 220 ; assassinated, 227. 
 
 Locke, John, formulates the " Grand 
 Model " for Carolina, 110. 
 
 London (lun'don) Company, grant to, 42 ; 
 map of grant, 43 ; founds Jamestown, 
 43, 44 ; foolish demands upon the colony, 
 47 ; sends a shipload of women to Vir- 
 ginia, 49 ; agrees to permit a legislative 
 assembly in Virginia, 50. 
 
 " Lone Star State," 198. 
 
 Long Island, battle of, 151. 
 
 Long Wharf, the Tea-party at, 138 ; tab- 
 let on, picture, 140. 
 
 Lookout Mountain, battle of, 221. 
 
 Louisburg (lob'is-burg), location, 119 map ; 
 attacked by New England troops, 121 ; 
 view of, from the northeast, 121 ; cap- 
 tured, 122 ; cross captured at, picture, 
 122. 
 
 Louisiana (lob-e-zi-a'na) Territory, pur- 
 chased from France, 175 ; explored, 
 176. 
 
 McClellan (mak-klel'lan). General, 
 trains the Union army, 212 ; advances 
 on Richmond and is repulsed, 216. 
 
 McDowell (m;ik-dow'elj, Irvin, Union 
 commander at Bull Run, 211. 
 
 McKinley (raa-kin'li), William, proposes 
 a protective tariff, 238 ; made president, 
 
 241 ; portrait of, 244 ; reelected and 
 assassinated, 245. 
 
 Madison (mad'i-son), Dolly, her escape 
 from Washington, 180 ; portrait, 180. 
 
 Madison, James, events during his term 
 as president, 176. 
 
 Magellan (ma-jel'an), portrait of, 17; sails 
 from Spain, 17; discovers Magellan's 
 Straits, 18 ; killed in the Philippines, 19. 
 
 Magellan's Straits, discovered, 18 ; natives 
 of, 19. 
 
 Mail system, before the Revolution, 130. 
 
 Maine, The, entering Havana Harbor, 
 picture, 242. 
 
 Maine, beginnings in, 70, 71 ; why so 
 named, 72 ; settlements in, 72 ; separated 
 from New Hampshire and bought by 
 Massachusetts, 73 ; admitted as a state, 
 187. 
 
 Manhattan (mSn-hSt'tAn) Island, first set- 
 tlement on, 90. 
 
 Manila (ma-nll'a), battle of, 242 ; location, 
 
 242 map; 247 map. 
 
 Maps : the one Columbus used, 4 ; showing 
 re.al position of the continents, 5 ; of 
 Columbus's route, 9 ; showing the old 
 idea of a southern continent, 15; the 
 
INDEX 
 
 261 
 
 route of Magellan's ships, 18 ; grants to 
 the London and Plymouth companies, 
 43 ; New England coast settlements, t)2 ; 
 Connecticut valley settlements, 80 ; set- 
 tlements about the Hudson River, 91 ; 
 the middle colonies, 102 ; the Carolinas 
 and Georgia, 109 ; the French frontier 
 in the North, 119; region about Fort 
 Duquesne, 124 ; central scene of the Rev- 
 olutionary War, 151 ; region of Bur- 
 goyne's invasion, 158 ; seat of war in the 
 South, 165 ; disputed territory of the 
 Mexican War, 202 ; the Southern Con- 
 federacy, 211 ; scene of war near Wash- 
 ington and Richmond, 216; Sherman's 
 route to the sea, 224 ; the Philippine 
 Islands, 242 ; the West Indies, 243 ; the 
 United States and its possessions, 248. 
 
 Marion (mar'i-6n), Francis, his guerrilla 
 ■warfare in South Carolina, 165. 
 
 Marquette {French, mar-ket'), explores the 
 Mississippi, 116, 117 ; statue of, picture, 
 117. 
 
 Maryland (mer'i-land), granted to Lord 
 Baltimore, 105 ; why named, 105 ; first 
 emigrants to, 106 ; first settlement in, 
 106 ; religious freedom in, 107 ; planta- 
 tion life in, 107; Puritan rebellion in, 108. 
 
 Mason (ma'son). Captain John, helps 
 Gorges in Maine, 72 ; takes New Hamp- 
 shire in the division of land, 73. 
 
 Massachusetts (mas-sa-chii'sets), founded, 
 61, 62 ; Roger Williams expelled from, 
 65 ; trouble with Quakers in, 67 ; at- 
 tacked by King Philip, 68 ; witchcraft 
 delusion, 69 ; buys Maine, 73 ; charter 
 of, annulled, 73, 74 ; made a royal pro- 
 vince, 74 ; people from, go to Connecti- 
 cut, 78, 79. 
 
 Massachusetts Bay Company, chartered, 
 61 ; holds its meetings in New England, 
 62 ; charter of, annulled, 73, 74. 
 
 Massasoit (mas'a-soit), makes a treaty with 
 the Pilgrims, 57 ; receives Roger Wil- 
 liams, 75. 
 
 Matchlock and rest, picture, 81. 
 
 Mayflower, Pilgrims come to America in, 
 54 ; picture of, 55. 
 
 Merrimac (mer'i-mSk), the, 214; picture 
 
 of, 215 ; battle with the Monitor, 215. 
 
 Mexican boy, picture, 201. 
 
 Mexico (mex i-ko), has trouble with Tex- 
 as, 198 ; war with, 201, 202 ; map of the 
 disputed territory, 202 ; territory ceded 
 by, 202. 
 
 Middle colonies, map of, 102. 
 
 Minute man, the, picture, 142. 
 
 Mississippi (mis-sis-sip'pi) River, discov- 
 ered, 22 ; explored by Marquette and 
 Joliet, 117 ; by La Salle, 117, 118 ; set- 
 tlement at the mouth of, in 1719, pic- 
 ture, 118 ; Union plan to get control of, 
 213 , plan succeeds, 221, 
 
 "Missouri (mis-ob'ri) Compromise, The," 
 187, 
 
 Monitor, the, 215 ; picture of, 215 ; fight 
 with the Merrimac, 215. 
 
 Monmouth (mon'muth), location, 151 map; 
 battle of, 161. 
 
 Monongahela (mo-non-ga-he'la), 152, 
 
 Monroe (mun-ro), James, events during 
 his presidency, 183-187. 
 
 " Monroe Doctrine, The," 184. 
 
 Montcalm (mont-kam'). General, in com- 
 mand of Quebec, 126 ; defeated by 
 Wolfe and killed, 127. 
 
 Montgomery (mont-gum'er-i). General, 
 captures Montreal but is slain at Que- 
 bec, 147, 
 
 Montreal (mon-tri-al'), visited by Cartier, 
 21; location, 119 maj), 158 map; cap- 
 tured by Montgomery, 147. 
 
 Monument at Champoeg, Oregon, picture, 
 200, 
 
 Morris (mor'is), Robert, the financial 
 backer of the Revolution, 156. 
 
 Morristown (mor'ris-towii), location, 151 
 map ; winter at, 154 ; second winter at, 
 166. 
 
 Morro (mor'ro) Castle, Havana, picture, 
 242 ; Santiago, picture, 244. 
 
 Morse, Samuel F. B., invents the tele- 
 graph, 199. 
 
 Mortar for throwing shells, picture, 220. 
 
 Moultrie (mob'tri or mobl'ti'i). Colonel, de- 
 feats the British at Charleston, 150. 
 
262 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Napoleon (na-po'18-6n), sells Louisiana 
 to the United States, 175. 
 
 Narragansetts (nar-a-gan'sets) threaten 
 Plymouth, 58. 
 
 Nehraska (ne-bras'ka), trouble over slav- 
 ery in, 205. 
 
 Neutrals, French, 125, 126. 
 
 New Amsterdam (am'ster-dam), founded, 
 90 ; first view of, picture, 90 ; location, 
 91 map; how governed, 9tl ; view of, 
 picture, 93 ; becomes New York, 97. 
 
 New England, first colony in, 52 ; coast of, 
 explored by John Smith, 53 ; coast set- 
 tlements of, map, 62 ; confederacy of, 
 76 ; early homes in, 83, 84 ; furniture, 
 85 ; home manufactures, 86, 87. 
 
 New England kitchen, picture, 85. 
 
 "New England Primer," picture from, 
 130 ; its contents, 131. 
 
 New England stockade, picture, 81. 
 
 New Hampshire, first settlement in, 72 ; 
 why named, 73; cut from Maine and 
 under the protection of Massachusetts, 
 73 ; made a royal province, 74. 
 
 New Haven (ha'vn). Conn., location, 80 
 map; founded by John Davenport, 81. 
 
 New Jersey, first settlement in, 95 ; Nic- 
 oUs sends a colony to. 97 ; given to 
 Berkeley and Carteret, 97 ; turned over 
 to the Quakers, 98 ; Washington's re- 
 treat across, 152. 
 
 New Netherlands (neth'er-landz), why so 
 named, !K) ; English and Dutch claims 
 to, 93 ; becomes New York, 97. 
 
 New Orleans (or'le-anz), attempt to buy, 
 results in the Louisiana Purchase, 175 ; 
 battle of, 181 ; location, 211 map; cap- 
 tured by Farragut, 214. 
 
 New Sweden, founded, 93; captured by 
 the Dutch, 94, 95. 
 
 Newspapers before the Revolution, 130. 
 
 New York city, New Amsterdam be- 
 comes, 97 ; Washington takes his army 
 thither, 148. 
 
 Nieolls Cnik'olz), Richard, sent to take 
 New Netherlands for England, 96 ; be- 
 comes governor of New York, 97. 
 
 Nifia (nen'ya), one of Columbus's ships, 7. 
 
 North America, first seen by John Cabot, 
 1 4 ; early views about, 19 ; French, Ejig- 
 lish, and Spanish claims in, 24 ; the Pa- 
 cific coast explored, 32 ; Indian inhab- 
 itants of, 34, 35. 
 
 North Carolina (kar-o-ll'na), grant of, 
 109; first settled at Albemarle, 10{) ; 
 Huguenot emigration to, 110; laws of , 
 110 ; industries of. 111 ; separated from 
 South Carolina, 111. 
 
 Northwest Passage, search for, 19, 32. 
 
 Northwestern Territory, all the states in- 
 terested in, 170. 
 
 Norwegian (nor-we'jan) ship, picture of, 2. 
 
 Nueces (nwa'ses), disputed boundary, 201 ; 
 location, 202 map. 
 
 Nullification, suppressed by Jackson, 193, 
 
 Oglethokpe (ogl'thorp). General James, 
 portrait of, 111 ; plans to relieve the 
 debtors and prisoners in England, 112; 
 chooses Georgia for his settlement, 112 ; 
 his expectation for the colony, 113. 
 
 Ohio (o-hi'o), valley of, claimed by France, 
 123. 
 
 Oklahoma (o-kla-ho'ma), opened to settle- 
 ment, 239. 
 
 "Old Abe," picture, 221. 
 
 "Old Glory," first appearance of, 159. 
 
 "Old Ironsides," picture, 177. 
 
 Old South Meeting-House, picture of, 
 72 ; picture of the pulpit, 138. 
 
 Old State House in Philadelphia, picture, 
 149. 
 
 Olives, prospect of raising in Georgia, 113 ; 
 branch of, picture, 113. 
 
 Oregon (or'e-gon), interest in aroused, 200 ; 
 boundary of, settled, 201. 
 
 Osawatomie (os-a-wat'o-me), 205. 
 
 Osceola (os-se-o'la), chief of the Semi- 
 noles, picture, 184. 
 
 Otis (o'tis), James, defends the soldiers of 
 the Boston Massacre, 137. 
 
 Pacific (pii-sTf 'ik) Ocean, first crossed by 
 
 Magellan, 18. 
 Palos (pa'lds), location, 5 map; Columbus 
 
 starts from, 6, 7. 
 
INDEX 
 
 263 
 
 Panama (pS,n-4-ma'), Isthmus of, 203. 
 
 Papoose (pap-Jos'), treatment of, 36 ; pic- 
 ture of, 37. 
 
 Patroon (pa-trobn') system, introduced 
 along the Hudson River, 91. 
 
 Pemaquid (pem'a-kwid), location, 62 map ; 
 settled, 72. 
 
 Penn (pen), Admiral, disappointed in his 
 son, 99, 100. 
 
 Peun, William, early years, 99 ; portrait 
 of, at twenty-two, 99 ; turns Quaker, 
 100; conduct toward the king, 100; 
 obtains Pennsylvania, 101 ; decides to 
 pay the Indians for the land, 101, 102 ; 
 founds Philadelphia, 102 ; makes friends 
 of the Indians, 102, 103 ; autograph and 
 seal, picture, 103 ; returns to England, 
 103 ; his house, picture, 104. 
 
 Pennsylvania (pen-sil-va'ni-a) granted to 
 Penn, 101; settled by Quakers, 102; 
 bought from the Indians, 102, 103 ; edu- 
 cation in, 103, 104. 
 
 Pequots (pe'kwotz), make war on the Eng- 
 lish, 80; defeated, 81. 
 
 Perry, Commodore 0. H., builds a fleet on 
 Lake Erie, 177 ; captures the British 
 fleet, 178, 179 ; his flag, picture, 179 ; 
 his message, 179. 
 
 Petersburg, location, 216 map; Grant at, 
 223. 
 
 Philadelphia (fil-a-del'fi-a), founded, 102; 
 becomes the largest city in the colonies 
 104 ; French Neutrals in, 12G ; first Conti- 
 nental Congress meets in, 139 ; British 
 forces take, 160. 
 
 Philip, king, makes war on the English, 
 68 ; killed, 69 ; picture of, 69. 
 
 Philippine (fil'i-pen) canoe, picture of, 19. 
 
 Philippine Islands, discovered by Magel- 
 lan, 19 ; map of, 242 ; sold to the United 
 States, 244 ; location of, 247 map. 
 
 Pierce (pers or purs), Franklin, president, 
 203. 
 
 Pilgrim cradle, picture of, 56. 
 
 Pilgrim dress, picture of, 52. 
 
 Pilgrims, who they were, 52 ; escape to 
 Holland, 53 ; plan to come to America, 
 53 ; their departure from Holland, pic- 
 
 ture, 54 ; their voyage in the May- 
 flower, 54 ; search for a home, 55 ; suf- 
 ferings of, 56 ; relations with the In- 
 dians, 57, 58 ; going to church, picture, 
 58 ; their religious feelhig, 60. 
 
 Pillory, the, picture, 68. 
 
 Pinckney (pink'ni), Charles, his defiance 
 of France, 174. 
 
 Pinta {Spanish, pen'ta), one of Columbus's 
 ships, 7. 
 
 Pipe, an Indian, picture of, 40. 
 
 Piscataqna (pis-kat'a-kwa) River divides 
 Maine and New Hampshire, 73. 
 
 Pistol, of Ponce de Leon's time, picture, 
 16 ; Dutch flintlock, picture, 94 ; flint- 
 lock given by Lafayette to Washington, 
 156. 
 
 Pitt, William, objects to the Stamp Act, 
 135. 
 
 Plymouth (plmi'oth), Mass., reason for 
 the colony begun at, 52 ; named by 
 John Smith, 55 ; landing of Pilgrims at, 
 56 ; first winter at, 56 ; first Thanksgiv- 
 ing at, 58 ; town meeting begun at, 59 ; 
 location, 62 map ,• people of, establish a 
 post at Windsor, Conn., 78. 
 
 Plymouth Company, grant to, 42 ; map of 
 grant, 43 ; sells Massachusetts to the 
 Massachusetts Bay Company, 61. 
 
 Plymouth Rock, picture of, 56. 
 
 Pocahontas (po-ka-hon'tas), saves John 
 Smith, 46 ; marries John Rolfe and goes 
 to England, 48. 
 
 Polk (pok), James K., events of his presi- 
 dency, 201-203. 
 
 Ponce de Leon (Spanish, pon'tha da la-on'), 
 explores Florida, 16. 
 
 "Pony Express, The," 233; picture of, 
 233. 
 
 " Poor Richard's Almanac," 131. 
 
 Population of America in the eighteenth 
 century, 129. 
 
 Port Hudson, La., location, 211 maj} ; cap- 
 tured, 221. 
 
 Port Royal, N. S., location, 119 map. 
 
 Porto Rico (por'to re'ko), location, 243 
 7nap, 247 map; ceded to the United 
 States, 244. 
 
264 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Portsmouth (ports'muth), N. H., settled, 
 72 ; location, 62 map. 
 
 Portugal (por'tu-gal), refuses to aid Co- 
 lumbus, 3 ; tries to prevent his voyage, 
 7 ; refuses to aid Magellan, 17. 
 
 Postrider, a, picture, 130 ; days of, in the 
 far West, 2;«, 
 
 Powder house near Boston, picture, 141. 
 
 Powhatan (pow-ha-tan'), releases John 
 Smith, 4(5 ; sends representatives to 
 England with Pocahontas, 49. 
 
 President of the United States, how 
 chosen, 170 ; power of, 171 ; succession 
 in case of his death, settled, 236. 
 
 President's armchair in Independence 
 Hall, picture, 170, 
 
 Princeton (prins'ton), location, 151 map ; 
 battle of, 154. 
 
 Printz (prints). Governor, of New Sweden, 
 94, 95. 
 
 Providence (prov'i-dens), location, 62 map ; 
 founded, 75. 
 
 Puritans (pur'i-tanz), who they were, 52 ; 
 decide to found a colony in America, 
 61 ; have trouble with the king in Eng- 
 land, 62 ; found Boston, 62, 63 ; their 
 virtues and faults, 64 ; drive out Roger 
 Williams, 65 ; and the Quakers, 67, 68. 
 
 Putnam (put'nim), Israel (iz'ra-el), hur- 
 ries to Boston, 142 ; at Bunker Hill, 145. 
 
 Quaker (kwa'ker) dress, picture, 67; 
 portrait of a, 100. 
 
 Quakers, trouble with, in Massachusetts, 
 67 ; expelled, 68 ; buy New Jersey, 98 ; 
 their advanced ideas, 100; Penn gets 
 Pennsylvania for, 101 ; pay the Indians 
 for their land, 103 ; views on education 
 contrasted with those of the Puritans, 
 104. 
 
 Quebec (kwe-bSk'), Champlain's picture 
 of, 114; named by him, 115; location, 
 119 map; fortress of, picture, 126; at- 
 tacked by Wolfe, 126 ; captured by the 
 English, 127; Arnold's expedition to,147. 
 
 Quincy (kwin'zi), Josiah, defends the sol- 
 diers concerned in the Boston Massacre, 
 137. 
 
 Railroads, introduction of, 191. 
 
 Raleigh (ra'li), Sir Walter, story of, and 
 Queen Elizabeth, 26 ; birthplace of, 26 ; 
 his first colony, 29 ; second colony, 29, 
 30 ; imprisoned by King James, 31 ; 
 gives up his claim on Virginia, 42. 
 
 "Ramona " (ra-mo'na), 202. 
 
 Region about Fort Duquesne, map, 124. 
 
 Region of Burgoyne's invasion, map, 158. 
 
 Reina Mercedes (Spanish, ra-e'na ^mar 
 tha'das), wreck of the, picture, 244. 
 
 Revere, Paul, his ride, 141, 
 
 Revolutionary dance, picture, 160. 
 
 Revolutionary War, causes, 133-140 ; first 
 two years, 141-153; latter part of the 
 war, 154-168. 
 
 Rhode Island, beg:innings of, at Provi- 
 dence, 75 ; on Rhode Island, 76 ; ob- 
 tains a charter, 7(), 77. 
 
 Rice, picture of, 111 ; staple product of 
 South Carolina, 111. 
 
 Richmond (rich'mond), chosen capital of 
 the Confederacy, 210; McClellan's ad- 
 vance on, 216; location, 216 map; 
 Grant's advance on, 222, 223 ; Confed- 
 erate capitol in, picture, 223 ; captured 
 by Grant, 226. 
 
 Rio Grande (Spanish, re'o gran'da), quar- 
 rel over boundary along, 201 ; campaigns 
 on, 202 ; location, 202 map. 
 
 Roanoke (ro-a-nok') Island, first colony 
 on, 29 ; second, 29, 30 ; colony disap- 
 pears, 30 ; location, 43 map, 109 map ; 
 search for colony required by the Lon- 
 don Company, 47. 
 
 Rolfe, John, marries Pocahontas, 48. 
 
 Roosevelt (ro'ze-velt), Theodore, charac- 
 ter (5f, 243; leads the Rough Riders, 
 243 ; becomes president, 245. 
 
 Rough Riders, the, 243 ; picture of one, 243. 
 
 Saint Augustine (a'grus-ten), Fla., 
 
 founded, 25 ; location, 109 map. 
 Saint Lawrence (la'rens) River, explored 
 
 by Cartier, 21; valley of, claimed by 
 
 France, 24. 
 Saint Mary's, Md., location, 102 map ; first 
 
 settlement in Maryland, 106. 
 
INDEX 
 
 265 
 
 Salem, Mass., founded, 61 ; location, 62 
 inap ; first meeting-house in, picture, 74, 
 
 Samoset, welcomes the English at Plym- 
 outh, 57. 
 
 San Francisco (fran-sis'ko) in 1849, pic- 
 ture, 203. 
 
 San Salvador (san sal-va-dor'), where Co- 
 lumbus landed, 9. 
 
 Santa Maria (Spanish, san'ta ma-re'a), one 
 of Columbus's ships, 7 ; picture of, 8. 
 
 Santiago de Cuba (Spanish, san-te-a'go 
 da kob'ba), Spanish fleet at, 242 ; Amer- 
 ican troops sent there, 243 ; location, 
 243 map ; battle of, 244. 
 
 Saratoga (sar-a-to'ga), location, 158 map ; 
 Burgoyne's surrender at, 159. 
 
 Sassafras (sas'sa-fras), 33 ; picture, 32. 
 
 Savaimah (sa-van'a), location, 109 map, 165 
 map, 211 7nap ; founded, 112; in 1741, 
 picture, 112 ; taken by Sherman, 225. 
 
 Scalplock, the, 39. 
 
 Scene of Civil War near Washington and 
 Richmond, map, 216. 
 
 Schenectady (ske-nek'ta-di), location, 
 119 7nap; attacked by French and In- 
 dians, 119, 120. 
 
 Scott, General Winfield, his success in 
 Mexico, 202 ; commands at the begin- 
 ning of the Civil War, 210. 
 
 Sea of Darkness, old idea of, 1 ; six- 
 teenth century picture of, 1. 
 
 Seat of Revolutionary War in the South, 
 map, 165. 
 
 Secession of Southern States, 206. 
 
 Seminole (sem'i-nol) War, 183, 184. 
 
 Separatists, who they were, 52. 
 
 Serapis (se-ra'pis), battle with the Bon 
 Homme Richard, 163 ; picture of, 164. 
 
 Shenandoah (shen-an-do'a) Valley, Gen- 
 eral Early in, 223 ; General Sheridan's 
 devastation of, 223. 
 
 Sheridan (sher i-dan), Philip, devastates 
 the Shenandoah Valley, 223 ; his ride, 
 223, 224. 
 
 Sherman (sher'man). General, at Vicks- 
 burg, 220 ; his march to the sea, 224 ; 
 marches northward through the Caro- 
 linas, 226. 
 
 Sherman's foragers coming in, picture, 224. 
 
 Sherman's route to the sea, map, 224. 
 
 Silkworm, picture of, 25. 
 
 Sitka (sit'ka), Alaska, picture, 231. 
 
 Slavery, introduced into America, 51 ; in 
 the colonies, 129 ; efPect of the cotton- 
 gin on, 173 ; questions on, begin to arise, 
 186 ; the Missouri Compromise, 187 ; 
 increasing antagonism to, 195, 196 ; con- 
 sidered in the admission of Texas, 199 ; 
 the compromise of 1850, 204 ; the Dred 
 Scott Decision, 205. 
 
 Slaves at work, picking cotton, pic- 
 ture, 173 ; declared contraband of war, 
 217. 
 
 Smith, Captain John, picture of, 44 ; early 
 career, 45 ; saved by Pocahontas, 46 ; 
 activity as governor of Virginia, 46, 47 ; 
 returns to England, 48 ; sails for Gorges 
 and is captured by the French, 71, 72. 
 
 South Carolina (kar-o-li'na), first settled 
 at Charleston, 109, 110 ; Huguenot em- 
 igration to, 110 ; laws of, 110 ; indus- 
 tries of. 111 ; separated from North 
 Carolina, 111. 
 
 Spain, Columbus received in, 4 ; his re- 
 ception in, after his voyage, 10, 11 ; 
 sends out Magellan, 17 ; derives wealth 
 from Mexico and South America, 20 ; 
 her claims in North America, 24 ; her 
 armada defeated, 30 ; war of the United 
 States with, 242-244. 
 
 Spanish gentleman of the armada period, 
 picture, 31. 
 
 Spanish helmet, picture, 16. 
 
 Spanish treasure seeker, picture, 25. 
 
 Spanish treasure ships, picture, 29. 
 
 "Spoils system" introduced by Jackson, 
 192. 
 
 Squanto (skwan'to), aids the Pilgrims, 57 ; 
 kidnapping of, 70, 71. 
 
 " Squatter sovereignty," 205. 
 
 Squaw, picture of, 35 ; her duties, 35. 
 
 Stage, early American, picture, 132. 
 
 Stage-coach, picture of, 188. 
 
 Stamp Act, what it was, 134 ; passed, 135 ; 
 opposition of the colonies, 136 ; re- 
 pealed, 136. 
 
266 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Stamp Act stamp, picture of, 134 ; news- 
 paper, imitation of, picture, l.'JG. 
 
 Standish, Miles, in the Pil},'rinis' explor- 
 ing party, 55 ; his sword, picture, 57 ; 
 leads the Pilgrim forces, 59 ; his army, 
 picture, 60. 
 
 " ytar-Spangled Banner, The," written, 
 181. 
 
 Stark, Colonel John, beats Burgoyne's 
 men at Bennington, 158. 
 
 "Starving time " in Virginia, 48. 
 
 Stephenson (ste'ven-son), George, inventor 
 of the steam locomotive, 191. 
 
 Steuben (stu'ben or, German, stoi'ben). 
 Baron von, drills the American army, 
 161 ; portrait of, 161 . 
 
 Stone axe, picture of, 35. 
 
 Stowe (stn), Mrs., 204. 
 
 Strand, the, now Whitehall Street, New 
 York, in 1673, picture, 95. 
 
 Stuyvesant (sti've-sant), Governor, last of 
 the Dutch governors of New Amster- 
 dam, 92 ; conquers New Sweden, 94, 95 
 resolved to oppose the English, 95, 96 
 tears up Nicolls's letter, picture, 91) 
 forced to yield, 97; his "Bowery 
 House," picture, 98. 
 
 Sugar-cane, picture, 236. 
 
 Sumter (suin'ter), Tliomas, his guerrilla 
 warfare in South Carolina, 1()5. 
 
 Supreme Court, how made up, 171. 
 
 Swedes, settle in Delaware, 94 ; conquered 
 by the Dutch, 94, 95. 
 
 Tankard, Dutch, picture, 94. 
 
 Taylor, General Zachary, his success in 
 the Mexican War, 202 ; elected presi- 
 dent, 203, 
 
 Tea, tax imposed on, in the colonies, 137 ; 
 sent to America, 138'; the Boston Tea- 
 party, 138. 
 
 Telegraph, invented, 199 ; picture of a 
 sounder, 199. 
 
 Texas (teks'iis), frees herself from Mexico, 
 198 ; seal of, picture, 198 ; admitted to 
 the Union, 199. 
 
 Thomas, General, the Rock of Chicka- 
 mauga, 221. 
 
 Ticonderoga (tl-k5n-de-ro'gA), Fort, cap- 
 tured by Ethan Allen, 143 ; recaptured 
 by Burgoyne, 158 ; location, 158 map. 
 
 Tinder box, picture, 86. 
 
 Tippecanoe (tip-e-ku-nob')i 197, 
 
 Tobacco, picture of, 28 ; culture of, begun 
 in Virginia by John Rolfe, 48 ; culture 
 of, in Maryland, 107. 
 
 Toronto (to-ron'to), burning of, 180. 
 
 Town meeting, begun at Plymouth, 59 ; 
 held in Boston, 66. 
 
 Transportation in 1825, 189. 
 
 Traveling, in America before the Revo- 
 lution, 132 ; in 1825, 189. 
 
 Treasury Building, Washington, picture 
 of, 2:34. 
 
 Trent affair, the, 212, 
 
 Trenton (tren'ton), N. J., location, 151 
 ma]) ; battle of, 152. 
 
 Turks, cut off trade with the East, 3 ; John 
 Smith and the, 45. 
 
 Tyler (tiler), John, made vice-president, 
 197 ; becomes president, 198. 
 
 Underground Railroad, 204. 
 
 Union Pacific Railroad finished, 232. 
 
 Union soldier, picture, 210. 
 
 Union soldiers sharing their rations with 
 Confederates after Lee's surrender, pic- 
 ture, 227. 
 
 United States, declared free, 149 ; finan- 
 cial troubles after the Revolution, 169 ; 
 Hamilton's suggestions for the payment 
 of debts of, 171 ; trouble with France, 
 173; suppre;, ies Barbary pirates, 174; 
 buys Louisiana, 175 ; War of 1812, 176- 
 181; westward growth, 183-196 ; troubles 
 over slavery, 197-207 ; the Civil War, 
 208-228 ; recent events in, 229-246. 
 
 United States and its possessions, the. 
 map, 247. 
 
 Valley Forge, location, 151 map ; win- 
 ter at, 160. 
 
 Van Buren (vSn bu'ren), Martin, events 
 during his presidency, 194-196. 
 
 Vera Cruz (vera krobz), 202 ; location, 
 202 map. 
 
INDEX 
 
 267 
 
 Vespucius (vSs-pu'sh&s), Americus {&- 
 mer i-kus), sails along South America, 15. 
 
 Vicksburg (viks'burg), location, 211 map; 
 capture of, 220. 
 
 Vincennes (vin-senz') captured by the 
 Americans, 162. 
 
 Virginia, derivation of name, 28 ; granted 
 to Raleigh, 28, 29 ; taken over by the 
 London and Plymouth companies, 42 ; 
 colonists sent to, 43 ; " starving time " 
 in, 48 ; culture of tobacco begun, 48 ; 
 women sent to, 49 ; House of Burgesses 
 established in, 50 ; slavery introduced 
 into, 51. 
 
 Virginia Indian, picture of, 46. 
 
 Wall Street, why so named, 92. 
 
 Wampum (wam'-pum), 39 ; picture of, 40. 
 
 War dance, picture of an Indian warrior's, 
 41. 
 
 War of 1812, causes of, 176; events of, 
 177-181 ; close of, 181. 
 
 Warship's gun-deck, picture, 176. 
 
 Washington (wosh'ing-ton), George, sent 
 to Fort Duquesne with a message, 123 ; 
 his experience with Braddock, 124 ; 
 made commander-in-chief of the Conti- 
 nental Army, 143, 144 ; takes command 
 of the army in Cambridge, 145 ; his 
 cares, 146 ; urged to attack Boston, 147 ; 
 drives the British from Boston, 148 ; 
 refuses to receive a letter not addressed 
 to the commander-in-chief, 150 ; driven 
 from New York, 151 ; crossing the Del- 
 aware, picture, 152 ; beats the Hessians 
 at Trenton, 152 ; eludes Cornwallis at 
 Princeton, 154 ; winters at Morristown, 
 154 ; portrait of, 155 ; accepts no salary, 
 156 ; the " American Fabius," 157 ; con- 
 spiracy against, 160 ; at the surrender of 
 Cornwallis, 167 ; resigning commission, 
 picture, 169 ; elected president, 171 ; 
 inauguration of, picture, 171 ; dies, 174. 
 
 Washington, city of, burned by the Brit- 
 ish, 180 ; location, 216 /nap. 
 
 Watling's (wot'lingz) Island, Columbus's 
 supposed landing place, 9, 10 ; location, 
 9 map. 
 
 Weapons the Indians used, 38. 
 
 Webster, Daniel, opposes nullification, 
 193 ; making his famous speech, picture, 
 193 ; votes for the compromise of 1850, 
 204. 
 
 West Indies, map, 243. 
 
 Wethersfield (weth'erz-feld). Conn., found- 
 ed, 79 ; location, 80 map. 
 
 White, Peregrine, 56. 
 
 Whitehall Street, New York, in 1673, pic- 
 ture, 95. 
 
 Wliite House, picture, 229. 
 
 Whitney, Eli, invents the cotton-gin, 172, 
 173. ■ 
 
 "Wigwam Church," 106. 
 
 Wilderness, battle of, 222. 
 
 Willamette River, 201. 
 
 Williams, Roger, driven out of Massachu- 
 setts, 65 ; flees from Salem, 74 ; founds 
 Providence, 75 ; statue of, picture, 76 ; 
 character of, 77 ; prevents Canonicus 
 from joining the Pequots, 80. 
 
 Windmill in Holland, picture of, 53. 
 
 Windsor (win'zor). Conn., founded, 79; 
 location, 80 map. 
 
 Winthrop (win'throp), John, comes to New 
 England, 62, 63 ; arrival of his colony in 
 Boston, picture, 63 ; his character, 64 ; 
 cup given by, to the first church, pic- 
 ture, 64 ; warns Roger Williams, 65, 74 ; 
 goes to New York with Richard Nic- 
 olls, 96. 
 
 Witchcraft delusion in Massachusetts. 69. 
 
 Wolfe (woolf). General, commands the 
 English forces at Quebec, 126 ; killed, 
 127. 
 
 Wolpi, pueblo of, picture, 34. 
 
 Wool spinning wheel, picture, 87. 
 
 Writs of Assistance, 134. 
 
 Yale College, founded, 82 ; house where 
 it was founded, picture, 82. 
 
 York, Duke of, obtains New York, 97 ; 
 gives New Jersey to Berkeley and Car- 
 teret, 97. 
 
 Yorktov/n, Va., location, 165 map; cap- 
 ture of Cornwallis at, 167. 
 
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