NMHMMHMMHMIIMMMMMHMNH THE EATON SZiq.E3 OF OUBo lM9Nk PUBOSHE,RS cmcAGa Class E n6 Rnnk .B>9h3 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. THE EATON SERIES BUILDERS OF OUR NATION By ALMA HOLMAN BURTON Author of the Eaton United States History and other historical works JlAI()N(5''QJMPANY3 11 ^^i!^s. Chicago] ^yl> Copyright, 1905 Copyright, 1910 EATON & COMPANY Manufactured by BROCK & RANKIN !Ci.A2(;8y8i PREFACE History as a subject for study should appeal with special force to children. The degree of interest, with which it makes its appeal, depends largely upon whether the child's introduction to the subject attracts or repels. It is the author's desire, therefore, to trace the evolu- tion of our nation, with its English speech and English traditions, so simply that the recital may be compre- hended quite as clearly by a child ten or twelve years old as by his elders. And why not teach even beginners that "the roots of the present lie deep in the past;" that before America might become a factor in human progress, the dormant energies of northern Europe, as yet without trade or manufactories, must be awakened; that the great possibilities of eastern commerce must be opened to the wistful gaze of the Atlantic seamen, whose profits had been in scanty catches of fish; that the spirit of rivalry for riches and rule must be roused in imperial breasts ? In other words, is it not well that the young readers should become acquainted with the subtle forces that prepared the way for a Columbus and learn of the conditions that sent to our shores the hardy pioneers who laid the foundation for our sturdy American manhood ? With this query in view the author has chosen for the initial chapters, periods antedating that fateful Friday morning, August 3, 1492, when the prows of three Spanish ships were set toward the west. iv PREFACE The' biographical method has been adopted be- cause immature minds are especially susceptible to the charm of personal endeavor. In each of the eighteen biographies the hero chosen is closely identified with the upward and onward tendency of the period in which he lived. The man and the nation are as closely asso- ciated as possible in the hope that the interest attaching to the one may compensate for any lack of interest in the other. Geography and chronology, the "two eyes of his- tory/' which so often stare the young reader out of countenance, are in most cases relegated to the margins of the book ; yet the dates are so profuse and the maps are in such close relation to the immediate text that the child will gain a much clearer conception of both time and place than would be possible if the citations were continually interrupting the narration. The "Builders of Our Nation," though reasonably complete in itself, is intended as a preparatory study for the "Eaton History of the United States." The beginner's book therefore dwells somewhat at length upon the periods of discovery and colonization. These periods are less fully treated in the more advanced work in order that more space may be given to the sub- sequent periods of nationality and progress. To the tactful, earnest teachers of our public schools this little book is intrusted with the hope that every child who reads its pages may be lured on and on through more intricate paths to a broad view of the History- making Present where he may one day play his part. PREFACE V Grateful acknowledgments for helpful suggestions as to the text of this book are especially due to O. T. Bright, of Chicago, Illinois, F. W. Nichols, of Evans- ton, Illinois, and Miss Cora Hamilton and S. B. Hursh of the State Normal School, Macomb, Illinois. Alma Holman Burton. CONTENTS PAGE I. Hiawatha . . , . . o \ . ^ . . . , I II. Marco Polo 14 III. Prince Henry, the Navigatoe » 23 IV. Christopher Columbus .,.,..... 29 V. Fernando De Soto ....,..,. 46 VI. Sir Francis Drake ...,»... 61 VII. John Smith , . o . , 74 vm. Miles Standish 88 IX. Peter Stuyvesant „ . . , 104 X. La Salle o » . "5 129 XI. William Penn , , . XII. William Pitt ............ . 141 XIII. George Washingion ........ • 155 XIV. Andrew Jackson . „ . 178 XV. Daniel Webster • 195 211 XVI. Abraham Lincoln XVII. Samuel Finley Breese Morse .... 224 XVIII. William McKinley 236 MOST IMPORTANT MAPS PAGE Indian Tribes of North and South America ... 6 Marco Polo's Travels 20 Voyages of Columbus ■ 38 De Soto's Travels in America 58 British Isles 62 Netherlands 90 British Possessions in America. 1764 150 United States in 1788 174 United States in 1800 . 182 Territorial Growth of U. S. . . 186 United States in 1830 190 United States in 1850 , . 210 United States in i860 ............ 218 United States in 1905 240 Cuba ...... . 241 Hawaii 244 Philippines 245 Porto Rico 246 World in 1899 248 Panama Canal Route ............ 249 vii HIAWATHA THE INDIAN PROPHET S lAWATHA was the son of the West Wind, so the poet tells us, and his young mother died when he was so small he could not remem- ber her face. No one really knows when Hiawatha Thebirthof was born. But if he ever was born his 1434 ancestors were certainly living when Henry Henry the Navigator's the Navigator's pilots first saw the black negroes'" men of Africa; yes, and more than a hun- ' -' ' 1272 -gf dred years before that, when Marco Polo Marco Poio sees the first saw the yellow men of Asia. And ages before that his race, whose skin was reddish-brown, had been wandering over the vast continents of North and South America, which the white people of Europe knew nothing about. Hiawatha belonged to the Iroquois tribe, who dwelt The iroquois in what is now central New York, and along the St. Lawrence, and the lower lakes.' His grandmother, old Nokomis, taught him to know the forest as the white boy knows his book. Even while he was a papoose, bound to the branch of a tree in a linden cradle, old No- komis crooned up to him tales of the woodlands, and the marshes, and the river that ran so swiftly past the wigwam. ^i't : I See map, page 6. A PAPOOSE Builders of Our Nation Hiawatha's education BOW AND ARROW At evening when the fire-flies fluttered, she called up to him that they were setting candles in the pine trees to light him to bed; when the slow moon rose above the hill-top, she said the watchman was coming to guard him from harm all the night. If a hooting broke the silence and he lisped out shrilly: "What is that, Nokomis?" she soothed him, gently saying it was the owl and the owlets talking in their native language. Day after day he lay there in the branches. He learned all the noises of the forest. As soon as he could toddle off among the tree trunks he found where the squirrels hid their acorns, and how the beavers built their lodges, and what made the rabbits seem so timid. Hiawatha lived alone with old Nokomis, but the woods were full of friends. He could answer the calls of the birds, and the growls of the bear, and the howls of the wolf, and the croaks of the frog, and the high, sharp neighs of the red deer. He glided like the weasel, he ran like the bison, he raised himself high like the bear when it strikes with its paw. And these creatures soon began to know him and to love him. When Hiawatha learned to make his bow of ash wood and his oaken arrows, he shot so fast and so far that if he sent ten arrows upward, the last one left the bowstring before the first had fallen. Yet, swiftly as he sent his arrows, he could shoot straight out before him and spring forward with such fleetness that the arrow would fall behind him. When he learned to build a boat of birch bark — with Hiawatha the larch-tree roots to bind it, and the fir-tree sap to glue it, and the quills of the porcu- pine stained with the juice of berries for a border — he glided up and down the river, sometimes seated, some- times standing, trailing strings of fish behind him. A crumpled rose leaf in the current, or a twisted twig that indian canoe hung above the water, often told him a long, long storv. So Hiawatha really read the forest as the white boy reads his book. After a time he wandered from Nokomis to mingle Hiawatha joins ws with the chiefs of his clan. Through the Moon of ^'""'^ Leaves and the Moon of Strawberries' he dwelt in the Iroquois tents. The Iroquois tribe was divided into five great nations. Sometimes these nations quarreled with one another, but they spoke the same language and usually went together on the warpath against hostile tribes. * Iroquois who were related formed clans — sisters and brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, grandmothers, grandfathers, great grandmothers, great grandfathers ; and second and third cousins counted too. Families in the clan, or as many as could do so, lived together in one "long house," built of wood and covered The long house over with elm bark. The house was divided into rooms. Each family occupied one room. Four rooms had one fire-pit, where four families cooked their food. If I told you Hiawatha visited in a house with ''five The months of May and June. Builders of Our Nation INDIAN TOTEM POLE that The Dakotahs The Mobilians fires," you would surely know that he was an Iroquois, and that the "long house" had tw^enty families in it. Over each house stood the totem pole of the clan. The totem pole was a kind of coat of arms with an animal for its symbol — a wolf, a bear, a tortoise, a beaver, or a red deer. In pleasant weather the warriors did not stay long in the houses. They sped down the rivers fishing or plunged deep into the forest after game, and Hiawatha was always with them. When the stars came out they lighted a fire of leaves and twigs, with flint stones, and sat around it in a circle. Then Hiawatha asked them many questions. The warriors told him between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River lived the Dakotahs,' who dwelt in skin tents and moved from place to place to hunt and fish. East of the great Father of Waters,^ and south of the Tennessee lived the Mobilians,' a confederacy of many nations ■ — the Chickasaws, who were cunning thieves; the Choctaws, who pressed their papooses' heads quite flat; the Creeks and Seminoles, far down on a gulf of the salt sea, who wove cloth from buffalo wool and wild hemp, and made pots from clay, and had nets called '^ham- mocks" for beds, which they hung between two posts. Hiawatha asked the warriors how the Creeks and Seminoles had learned to make the pots of clay and I See map, p. 6. ^ The meaning of "Mississippi." INDIAN TENT Hiawatha cloth of wool and wild hemp ; but they merely shook their heads for answer. What need had men of such things ? There were skins in plenty for the winter, and gourds and deer horns for the water! "Umph! Umph!" then went around the circle. They told him about his neighbors, the Algonquins, who did not bother about pot-making. The hunting grounds of the Algonquins stretched from the Atlantic salt sea to the Mississippi. The Algonquins went on The Algonquins the w^arpath whenever they could. Sometimes they put on paint and feathers to go to Kentucky, "The Dark and Bloody Ground." All nations hunted in Kentucky, but no nation dared to dwell there; for the warriors always brought back many scalp-locks. Some of Hiawatha's kinsmen showed long scalp- locks they had taken in Kentucky. This was Creek, and that was Choctaw, these were Seminoles, and one, with feathers still stuck in it, was from a big Algonquin chieftain. The Algonquins lived in wigwams made of bark. They painted their naked bodies, and they shaved their hair except the scalp-lock, which they trimmed and decked with feathers like a banner, and which they dared their foes to come and capture. These things and many others Hiawatha heard about his neighbors as he sat around- the camp-fires. Then he went back to his wigwam ; but he kept think- ing over w^hat the chiefs had told him. Among the kinsmen that came to see Nokomis was lagoo, famous as a story-teller. Often when the air was white with moonlight, lagoo sat alone with Hia INDIAN WARRIOR Builders of Our Nation INDIAN TRIBES OF NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA Hiawatha 7 watha. Once he told of tribes far to the south and bordering on a great salt water/ These people, said lagoo, built stone houses, with straight stone pillars like the tree trunks, carved all over with strange totems. Some of the houses were temples, where priests in long robes made sacrifices upon an altar to their god, the Sun. These houses set together made great cities. There were many cities in the southlands, said lagoo; but Mexico, on the shores of a lake, was the greatest, Mexico with straight broad stone paths that led to other cities. Between the cities were fields of maize, and cane with sweet sap like the maple. There were shrubs that bore berries which were brewed for drink. There were plants that had tufts of white down like the thistles, from which the squaws made cloth, which they dyed in colors made from roots and barks. Thousands and thousands of slaves, taken in battle, worked deep in the sides of the mountains to get metals — one yellow as the buttercups and another pale as moonbeams — which cunning artisans fashioned into necklaces and rings and wristlets. The men of the southlands lined the walls of their temples with these metals and built their altars of them Mexican temples and stored the rest away in heaps in public buildings. The people who lived in Mexico were called the i\ztecs. Their king, the montezuma, was a mighty w^arrior. He had bows and arrows that numbered like the stars to be ready if enemies came to his kingdom. When one montezuma died his oldest son or oldest brother mounted the throne, which shone like the sun. • See map, p. 6. 8 Builders of Our Nation It was a wonderful story lagoo was telling! Hia- watha did not hear the owl that hooted from a nearby fir tree. When a silence fell upon the night air he asked in a half whisper where these people learned to build stone houses, lay stone paths, dig metals, weave cloth, and plant fine gardens of fruits and flowers. lagoo, the great traveler and boaster, looked very wise as he sat there in the moonlight. He kept silent for a moment. Then he said it was tradition that ages and ages ago a child of the Sun, with skin like the snow and hair like the buttercups and eyes blue as the lake, had come to earth to teach these people in the south- lands. "And what became of the white man?" whispered Hiawatha. "He lived with them many, many summers," said lagoo. "When they needed him no longer he called them all together. He told them he was going to the great Hereafter, but some day another prophet would come down among them with a white face like his own." "Esa, esa, old lagoo! Shame upon you!" cried Nokomis, when Hiawatha told her the story. But Hiawatha could not cease his thinking, though he was always very busy. In the ]\Ioon of Falling Leaves' he joined a fishing expedition. When the snowflakes sifted through the forest he put on snow- shoes for a great hunt, and he brought back loads of skins and dried meat. But he could not cease his thinking, though he made ■ September. Hiawatha 9 things ready for the warpath with his people. He helped to build a great fire in the open. He painted his face in stripes of red and yellow, put turkey feathers in his hair, borrowed from Nokomis all her beads and feathers, and tossed the finest bear skin on his shoulders. He helped to set up a red post. With the other warriors, all in paint and feathers, he marched slowly round the post. Faster and faster went the footsteps. Someone thumped upon a drum of deer skin. Loud and louder rose the chanting, until it changed to war whoops. Hiawatha struck the red post with the others. He kicked it and stabbed it, just as he intended to do to his foes. The great warriors shouted the number of scalps they had taken and the number they intended to take before they came back to their wigwams. Hiawatha had never cut a scalp-lock. He could only boast how many he too would take when the battle was on. When dawn broke above the tree-tops he laid aside his war gear and, half naked like the others, hurried to his first real battle. The way was long. Then came blood-curdling war whoops. The ground shook with the fury of the combat. The trees swam round. The air was black with arrows. The hills hissed back the twang of bow- strings. Hiawatha shot from his quiver all his jasper- headed arrows. He kept rushing onward. He stumbled over bodies streaked with crimson. He beat and bruised about him with his war club. He did not know just what was happening till he saw himself sur- rounded by his clansmen, who were shouting "Hia- watha! Hiawatha!" INDIAN WAR CLUB lO Builders 0} Our Nation The relura home Hiawatha's fasting Then he looked and saw a string of bloody scalp- locks dangling from his belt — one, two, three, and up to twenty. No great brave who boasted at the war dance carried half so many scalp-locks. The warriors started home in triumph. One night they halted in a gully of a mountain. Fire was struck from flint stones, game was cooked, and the warriors slept in rows before the blazing logs — ■ all but Hiawatha who kept thinking. He remembered the hate in his heart when he whirled around the war post; he heard again the hiss of arrows and the tumult of the battle; he felt with his fingers the long damp scalp-locks that hung at his belt; he gazed upon his kinsmen as they lay there in the firelight with their weapons and their war gear. The feuds of ages had set upon their faces deep lines which showed beneath the war paint. The fire smouldered away to soft pink coals, like seashells; the noises of the forest hushed in sleep, but Hiawatha lay there, with his eyes half open, thinking. Presently he arose. He trod softly through the rim of sleepers. He stepped beyond the open to a wood. He stooped and dug a hollow in the leaf mould with his scalp-knife. He rose again, and one by one he smoothed the scalp-locks of his foes and laid them gently in the hollow, which he then filled with leaves and bushes. Then he trod his way into the forest to the shadow of a rock where no warrior's foot had ventured. Here he built a tent and fasted seven days and seven nights. He prayed to the Great Spirit : Hiawatha- ii Not for greater skill in hunting, Not for greater craft in fishing, Not for triumph in the battle; But for profit of the people — How to help them live like brothers. When the days of prayer and fast were over, Hia- watha went back to old Nokomis. The braves who had come home from the battle had already told Nokomis of his prowess. She ran to meet him, shouting out her welcome. He was wan and thin and haggard, but his eyes were very bright. "Where are the scalp-locks?" called Nokomis, in haste to feel them with her fingers. Hiawatha told her of his days of prayer and fasting. He said the Great Spirit had taught him how to live and toil and suffer, that the Iroquois might prosper. He cleared the streams of logs and sand bars; he dried the swamps that bred diseases; he taught the use of barks and roots and herbs for sickness and the antidotes for poisons; he tilled the soil for maize which brought forth yellow harvests so that no one need go hungry. He summoned all the nations of his language to sit with him in a council — Mohawks,' Oneidas, Cayugas, Senecas, and Onondagas. He persuaded them to stop their wrangling and to smoke the pipe of peace around a camp-fire — five great The Five Nations nations, quite united under the name of Iroquois. He painted, on smooth birch bark, shapes and figures The sign NVTiiing which had meaning, so that they might speak to one another from a distance : life was a white circle, death I See map, p. 6 . 12 Builders oj Our Nation was a black circle. The earth was a straight line. The sky was a bow above the straight line. When the space between was white it meant daytime. When there were stars it was night. A point on the right of the bow meant sunrise; a point at the top curve, midday; a point on the left meant sunset. Waving lines between the bow and straight line meant rainy weather. NDiAN SIGN WRITING' And SO Hlawatha painted on the smooth white birch bark to preserve among the Iroquois the victories of their warriors, and the adventures of their hunters, and the visions of their prophets. It is tradition that Hiawatha lived for many years doing good among his people. When he saw his death approaching he called the Five Nations to a council. He told them he must leave them; but the Great Spirit would send a race of white men in canoes of thunder,' from across the morning water, who could teach them how to weave, and build warm houses, and till the . earth for grain and fruit. If they listened to these teachings, they would flourish like the leaves in spring- time; but if they heeded not the white men's wisdom, they would scatter like the leaves in autumn. It will be interesting to read whether the red men in America listened to the counsel of their prophet. Of Hiawatha's farewell to his people Longfellow says : 1 Ships carrying guns. 2 Translation : (i) Five canoes, bearing fifty-two warriors, the chief, Kishkcmunasee, or (2) the kingfisher, leading in the first canoe, with (5) Stealth, the panther and (6) Wisdom, the serpent. The crossing occupied three days — (3) three suns under a rainbow — when land [(7) the tortoise] was reached and the band advanced with courage [(4) the eagle]. Hiawatha's prophecy Hiawatha 13 On the shore stood Hiawatha, Hiawatha's farewell Turned and waved his hand at parting; Launched his birch canoe for sailing, Whispered to it, "Westward! westward!" And the evening sun descending Left upon the level water One long track and trail of splendor, Down whose stream, as down a river. Westward, westward Hiawatha Sailed into the dusk of evening. MARCO POLO 1254-1324 The Grand Canal The commerce of Venice MARCO POLO THE FIRST GEOGRAPHER OF ASIA 1254-1324 ARCO POLO was a Venetian. Venice, you know, is a city in Italy and lies on islands in a great lagoon near the head of the Adriatic Sea. Most of the streets of Venice are canals, where boats are used ;^. instead of wagons or cars. '■"- ' These canals are crossed by bridges, and the houses along the banks have one door opening upon a narrow pavement and another upon the water, so that people may go through the city on foot or in a boat, just as they please. The Grand Canal is the principal water-street of Venice. Whenever ships drop anchor at the foot of the Grand Canal, fleets of gondolas, which are long, narrow boats with high prows, dart from the smaller canals into this larger one to meet them. In the days of Marco Polo, huge warehouses rose at the water's edge near the end of the Grand Canal. Here the gold, silver, copper, iron, and tin; the pitch and dried fish and the hemp and raw wool from all over Europe lay waiting for the ships from the far- away East. And when the ships came, an exchange was made for gems, silks, carpets, and other manu- factured articles which Europeans had not yet learned 14 Marco Polo 15 to make ; and for the dye-woods and spices which were not yet grown in Europe. People in those days did not know anything about potatoes, and they cuUivated very few other vege- tables. Breadstuffs and meats required high season- ing to keep up an appetite. So there was a great demand for cloves, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, and other spices, not only those pleasant to the taste, but also those thought to heal diseases. Some of the spices were worth their weight in gold. Marco Polo liked nothing so much as to watch the ships, with the flag of St. Mark at their prows, sail up The flag of st. to the foot of the Grand Canal. The flag of St. Mark ^'""^ showed that the ships belonged to Venice. They came laden with wares from the East. Marco's father and uncle were merchants and had gone to the THE GRAND CANAL, VENICE East bcforc lic was old enough to know anything about it. Would they ever come back ? His grandmother sighed out that they had 1)cen drowned in the Black Sea, or eaten by bears in * the forest beyond, or killed by robbers for the fine clothes they wore. But Marco could not believe that his father and uncle were dead. Day after day he paced up and down the Rialto over the Grand Canal. The Rialto was a xheRiaito curious arched bridge — high and broad with rows of booths where merchants traded, and Jews lent their i6 Builders of Our A^ation [arco studies a lap of the world money, and sea captains just in from distant ports strolled to gossip about their voyages. The sea cap- tains petted the bright-eyed little fellow who trudged so constantly at their heels. But whenever he asked timid questions about the Black Sea and the forests beyond, where his father and uncle were lost, they shook their heads slowly and said: '' 'Tis a bad voyage, lad, for a white man to make!" And that always made Marco tremble and bite his lips so the tears would not come. When he grew older he studied a map in a shop on the Rialto. This is the kind of map it was — just Europe and the north end of Africa and the west end of Asia. That was all the people of Europe, even the wisest, then knew about the geography of the world. There was no Africa except near the coast, no Australia, New Zealand, Java, or Japan. There was no North or South America nor any Pacific Ocean. Yet to Marco the world seemed very big indeed. It took months and months for caravans of camels to bring the fine things of the East to the Black Sea or to the Mediterranean Sea, and then the slow-sailing ships were a long time getting to the warehouses at the foot of the Grand Canal. Yes, the world was large, and it seemed easy enough for a man to be lost in it. He said he would learn to be a merchant, and then he would sail to the Black Sea, and go on and on until he found his father. But he had hardly begun to know one kind of silk from another when his father and uncle came home. They said they had traveled far into the Marco Polo 17 1270 East to the court of the Great Khan of China who had kept them in his service and then sent them away with rich gifts. The very next year Nicolo the father, MafSo the Marco Poio starts uncle, and Marco the son, who was then fifteen, set out together to trade where white men had never traded before. They went to Acre in Palestine, and then to the Caspian Sea. They followed the Oxus River and crossed the Desert of Kobi to a country of hills, where the Great Khan had a summer palace. The khan, which was the Tartar name for emperor, welcomed the father and the uncle with joy, for he had feared they would never return. "And who is this young stranger?" asked he, pointing to Marco, who was closely regarding his yellow skin and queer, slanting eyes. "My lord," replied Nicolo, "it is your servant, my son." "Then," said the khan, "he is welcome. I much pleased with the lad." When autumn came, the three Polos followed the court beyond the Great Wall of China to Pekin, where The Great waii the khan spent his winters. Marco, who was hand- some and clever, delighted all who knew him. He mastered the Chinese language and wore the Chinese dress, and studied Chine.se manners until no one appeared to such advantage as he. The khan trusted him and sent him on errands to the farthest cities in his empire. Whenever the young Venetian returned from a journey, he was able to give valuable informa- THE GREAT KHAN am Builders oj Our Nation War between Chin and Japan 1295 Marco Polo returns home Marco Polo gives a feast tion about the mountains and rivers and caravan routes he had seen. When China went to war with the Islands _. — of Japan he taught the Chinese armies how to make engines for throwing stones, and how to draw up in battle array as the armies of Europe did. Years came and went and still the three Polos did not return to Venice! The gossips on the Rialto said they must have been drowned in the sea or THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA gatcn by bears in the forests beyond, or killed by robbers for the fine clothes they wore. Twenty-five years passed by. One day the Polos came home. The father and the uncle were then quite old; even Marco's dark curls were ning to show some white. All three wore clothes of a foreign cut, and were so changed in appearance that when they knocked at their door the relative who opened would not let them in. "No, no!" cried he. "Such fellows as you cannot be our rich cousins. No, no, you cannot impose upon us." The three turned away. They went to the finest hotel in the city. They ordered a dinner to which they invited all of their kinsmen. The slaves who carried the invitations brought back word that each one had said he would be pleased to meet such grand gentlemen merchants as their masters seemed to be. The three Polos, clad in velvet and lace, received their guests with low bows and soft speech, but they did not give their real names. After the feast was over begin- ragged Marco Polo 19 and the slaves had withdrawn they went to an adjoin- ing room and brought forth a pile of coarse clothes. "These, our kindred," said they, "are the garments we wore coming home and you would not receive us." Without saying more they took knives and ripped open the rags. They pulled out rubies and diamonds and sapphires and pearls of great price. They heaped the gems upon the table before the astonished guests, who cried " "^sT^^W^^^y out that they must indeed be the i^Mi!^P$^l^5'./^ lost Polos — Maffio the uncle, Ni- colo the father, and Marco the son. And on the Rialto and in the palaces and in the hundreds of gondolas that sped through the canals, people talked of the wis- dom and wealth of the Polos. When the merchants of Venice ^ - a gondola came to the house to hear about their adventures, the uncle and the father always nodded to Marco. And Marco told how they had traveled on and on toward Marco Poio describes his the great northeast "for a thousand days," to the travels palace of the Great Khan. He told about China and caravan routes, and how they had at last left China by sea, escorting a princess who was to marry a king in a distant land, and how their ship sailed three months until they came to an island called Java, and how they passed over the Indian Sea and then went over-, land to Bagdad and then to Constantinople, whence they had set sail for Venice. He told about Sumatra and Borneo and the Spice Islands, and about Calicut 20 Builders oj Our Nation Marco Polo's Travels 'Lord Millions' 1298 A war between Genoa and Venice in Malabar, where the finest cotton stuffs in the world were manufactured and where Chinese ships with mats for sails unloaded their cargoes of drugs, spices, cloth of silver, and gauzes of silk for Europe. He told about the unknown islands of Japan, where the king's palace was plated over with gold as the palaces of Europe's kings were plated with lead. Indeed, he talked so much about the splendor of courts, and the glory of temples and tombs, and used the word millions so often that the Venetians nicknamed him " Lord Millions." But the merchants of Venice agreed that he had done them great service, for he had made it pos- sible for thorn to send their own agents to the far-away East, instead of depending upon the AralDS. Now, Venice had a rival in trade. Genoa, on the west coast of Italy, also sent ships to the Black Sea, or to the cast shore of the Mediterranean, for spices and silks. Whenever the fleets of the rivals met, one was sure to give chase with every sail set. Marco Polo 21 One day it was called from gondola to gondola in all the canals of Venice that a Genoese fleet had entered the Adriatic Sea. That meant an attack on the city. There was bustle and noise in the water-streets. The people rushed to the square of St. Mark's, crying: "Viva San Marco!'" The doge, who was the mayor, called The doge the council to his palace. War- ships were manned, and merchant vessels were loaded with soldiers in armor instead of cargoes of spices and silk. Even the slim gondolas hoisted the flag of St. Mark, and marshaled in battle array at the end of the Grand Canal. Marco Polo was given command of one of the ships. He buckled a st. mark's, venice breastplate over his velvet gown, put on helmet and sword, and sailed straight to the front. His ship was a galley, long and wide with high, gilded beak. Trumpeters and men in bright armor and guns for throwing stones were at the prow, and at the stern stood Marco Polo and his officers. Between prow and stern, down in the waist of the ship, were long benches where Turkish slaves, chained close together, pulled at the oars; and between ran men to lash them into hotter haste. Out into the blue Adriatic sped the Venetian ships, with Polo quite to the front. "Viva San Marco!" he cried to his men who hurled stones from their guns. Now Polo had seen gunpowder in China, but its value Gunpowder la chim was not then known and it was used only for fireworks. I Long live St. Mark! Polo in command of a galley 22 Builders oj Our Nation Marco Polo a prisoner 1200 Marco Polo dictates a book 1324 Death of Marco Polo So he lost a fine opportunity to send the stones at long range. On he sped, as fast as the wind and the exer- tions of his slaves could drive the ship. He ran along- side a Genoese galley, threw out grappling irons, and leaped aboard. Foot to foot, blade to blade, he fought. One giant man in armor struck him a blow on the helmet, another thrust a sword through his thigh. His ship sprung a leak, his slaves, fearing drowning more than the lash of their masters, dropped their oars. A Genoese trumpeter sounded a call and two more of the enemy's ships ran up. Polo and his men and his trem- bling slaves were captured and taken to Genoa. They were all put into prison; but Marco Polo, being a dis- tinguished man, was given better quarters than the rest. As soon as it became noised about that the traveler who had seen the Great Khan was in prison, people flocked to his window bars to hear him talk. He had one of the Venetian prisoners write down what he said, and when at last he was permitted to return home, his book was copied by scribes.' The books of Marco Polo were bought at a high price by merchants and princes who wanted to find out all about Persia and Thibet and China and Japan and the Spice Islands. Marco Polo lived long in the lofty palace which you may see to this day in Venice. Even before he died the trade of Europe with the East grew vastly. Priests and embassies from kings traveled safely to the rich cities described by the "First Geographer of Asia." Thf art of printing was not yet known in Europe. The mariner's compass PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR 1394- 1460 BOUT the time Marco Polo returned from Asia to show Europeans the land routes to the Spice Islands, the mariner's compass was per- fected. With the aid of the faithful compass, sailors felt pretty safe, whether the sky was fair or foul. Warriors and merchants and pirates and fishermen scoured every nook of the Mediterranean Sea. But a hundred years passed before ships ventured very far out on the Atlantic Ocean. Prince Henry the Navigator was the first prince of Europe to send ships to explore the ocean. Prince Henry's father was John the First, king of Portugal ; his mother was the beautiful Queen Philippa, granddaughter of Edward the Third of England, and his uncle was the "Black Prince," a famous English knight about whom poets loved to sing. Portugal faced the ocean with a long line of coast P°'''"sai and had tall, straight timber for ship-building; but whale oil and dried fish were about all that the ships brought into Lisbon. • Prince Henry heard at court a great deal of talk about 23 PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR 1394-1460 24 Builders oj Our Nation Lisbon I4J5 A war on the Moors Prince Henry sees riches from the East the splendors of Venice and Genoa. His mother, the queen, said England had warehouses there, though Lis- bon was a nearer port and might well be the center of trade for all Europe. The merchants of Portugal had tried over and over again to get a share in the trade of the far-away East. They would set sail from Lisbon or Oporto bravely enough, steer straight south, close to shore, and then dart through the Strait of Gibraltar' into the Mediterranean Sea. But they were sure to be chased out by the Italians, who wanted the trade for them- selves. When Prince Henry was still quite young he sailed away with his father to make war on the Moors. The Moors were Arabs who had conquered the north coast of Africa and a good part of Spain, and were trying to conquer Portugal. The Portuguese army embarked for the north coast of Africa to lay siege to Ceuta, a rich Moorish port. After many weeks the gates were torn down, and Prince Henry was one of the first to enter the city. The streets were flowing with honey and oil from the jars that had been broken during the siege; and bales of silk, caskets of jewels, and boxes of spices and perfumes that had come from the East were piled in confusion under the broken roofs of the houses. Prince Henry was amazed at the vast store of treasure he saw. "If our merchants might only trade with that far- ' .Sec map. Prince Henry the Navigator 25 away East!" he sighed. But he knew very well that it was of little use to try to compete with the countries that bordered upon the Mediterranean Sea, and he kept wondering if there were not some other route to the Spice Islands. Kino; John was so proud of his son's prowess during ^"^"^^ H^f^y '^ 1 -1 1 11- 1-1 Vta. ^""^^ ^ •'"'s^' the siege that he made him a knight, and Prince Henry chose for his motto "Ze talent de Men jaire,^^ which may perhaps be best translated: "The desire to do a thing Prince Henry's motto well." Now the thing Prince Henry wanted to do more than all others was to find a water-way to the Spice Islands. As soon as he reached Lisbon he called the chief merchants together. "We have carried our armies into this sea that you fear," he said. "Now push on to its east shore with your ships." The men shook their heads. "We have tried it, your highness," thev said; and P'^'"" Hem-y talks . . ^ ' with the sailors they told very sad stories, indeed, of plundered cargoes and ships destroyed. "Is there no other way?" asked the prince. "A straight way to India by water ? 'Twould be cheaper than the caravan route." "To the north, around England, the ice blocks the way." "To the south around Africa then?" ideas about Africa "No ships sail beyond Cape Non, my lord." "And why not beyond ?" "The ocean boils!" cried one merchant. "Hot-water monsters puff steam from their noses and swallow a ship at a gulp!" cried another. 26 Builders of Our Nation Prince Henry establishes a school of navigation at Point St. Vincent Marco Polo's book ''Aye, aye, your highness," cried a third, ''and Africa has no end." "Oh, no man can sail around Africa!" they all cried in a breath. Now Prince Henry could not argue the question with these merchants, for he really knew nothing to say. But he resolved from that moment to find out what he could about that vast mysterious ocean which stretched so far to the west and south. He went to Point St. Vincent on the south coast of Portugal. And there upon a rocky headland against which the ocean beat upon three sides he built a high tower. Then he sent to several foreign countries for teachers in map-drawing and ship-building and the arts of navigation. He spent his days in hard work. Young noblemen and plain seamen from all over Europe soon flocked to Point St. Vincent to study navigation. It was said that Prince Henry's court of the sea rivaled his father's court of fashion. One happy day his brother, Pedro the Traveler, brought him a copy of ]\Iarco Polo's book. He read all about China, Japan, and the Spice Islands, and was more determined than ever to find a way to the East. Now, the north shore of Africa lay almost in sight of the high tower where Prince Henry kept daily watch. Did Africa stretch on and on without any end, as the merchants believed ? One old Greek book said that Africa might be an island. If it should prove to be an island then ships might sail around it. Prince Henry drew maps. He adjusted new instru- Prince Henry the Navigator 1420 The Madeira Islands ments for fixing the position of the sun and the stars. He sent ship after ship from the nearby seaport of Lagos. Sometimes the pilots steered to the west. They rediscovered the IMadeira Islands and the Azores "discovered by the -' rortuguese which were soon after settled by the Portuguese. But the ocean seemed very dangerous so far from the main- ^""^ '^^°''''' land. The pilots preferred to sail nearer shore. They pushed farther and farther down the coast of Africa until one pilot sailed beyond Cape Non. No one, to capeNon any man's knowledge, had ever before gone so far south. ^'Did the water boil before your ship ?" asked Prince Henry, when the pilot made his report. "No, your highness. Yet 'tis quite as far as any sailor should go," replied the pilot. And he told how a little beyond the cape a good Christian turned so black that his own wife and child would not know him. The prince scoffed at such superstition. Sometimes he threatened and sometimes he praised. On down the African coast crept the timid pilots, until they passed Cape Bojador. They landed below the cape and discovered a race of negroes, as black as night, with thick lips and hair like black wool. They found ivory and gold dust and nuts. When the ships returned to Portugal with slaves and gold and ivory, such as were sold in the markets of the Mediterranean, p the whole kingdom of Portugal was thrown ' into a ferment of joy. A ship soon passed 1 i 1 i AZORES I . ? 1 «^^,S.*.OJ c Lieao'^ C t .' - ^ . \ LJS» n^ ;*' ftS^"'""' X'T K / / " „MADElfiA t^' ,y <=1. ^ j ISLANDS / ^ ^ /iCANARY •^y y "*o_'|ji^^3 -% •^ ■.<-'-^% •i\j: *o "'^V^ ■tV^C', S" - >>~ix ''. 62. JOHN SMITH 1579- 1631 John Smith 75 1497 The Cabots reach North America He heard among other things how King Henry the Seventh had once sent the Cabots to America — John the father, and Sebastian his son — -to find a northwest passage to India; but that the Cabots had brought back only some big, gobbling birds, which they called "turkeys" because it was thought they came from the land of the Turks. John Smith knew by this time that Turkey was much farther off, and that the "tur- keys" had come from North America. He heard how King Henry the Eighth had sent two ships toward the North Pole to find a short way to China, and how one ship was lost, and the other had returned badly crushed by the icebergs. He heard how Sir Hugh Willoughby had tried to 1553 find the passage; how his ships had been driven by sir Hugh wnioughby storms into a harbor of Lapland, and Sir Hugh himself, whom many still living in Willoughby had known well, had been found sitting in his cabin, quite dead, with his pen between his frozen fingers. Now everything the lad heard about a north passage to India sounded very forlorn indeed. But the stories about Sir Francis Drake, who was always "singeing the king of Spain's beard" in the West Indies, and about Sir Walter Raleigh, who was sending ship after ship to a fair part of America called Virginia (in honor of Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen), set the heart of the young apprentice to beating fast. SIR WALTER RALEIGH 1552 -1618 76 Builders of Our Nation John Smith begins his adventures A soldier in the Netherlands When he worked in the warehouse the smell of the spices made him wish he might see the lands where they grew. When he strolled down by the wharves the sea kept calling him to be up and away like other brave lads who had won the queen's smiles. So John Smith quit his employer to search for adven- tures. He crossed the channel and tramped for a while through France. One day he rendered a service to a Scotch gentleman, who gave him letters to some noble- men that were powerful at the English court. But he decided he would not make use of the letters until he had won a name for himself. He went to the Netherlands and fought with the Dutch against the armies of King Philip. He was a soldier two years. Then he went to Scotland with the letters, which by this time must have been rather musty. The noblemen to whom they were written offered to present him at court; but he said to himself that he would win his own way to court. He returned to Willoughby, and in a neighboring forest he built a "fairc pavilion of boughs." He had resolved to practice quite by himself until he became skilled in riding and fencing. He took to this forest retreat a horse, a servant, a lance, and some books. He worked most of the day hurling the lance through a ring suspended from a limb; cutting off branches with' his sword, and guiding his horse swiftly in and out of the forest as if the trees were enemies in battle array. The boys of Willoughby soon flocked in such num- bers to watch him that he grew tire church but spent most of their time finding fault with it. These Puritans thought too ^ much money was squandered both for worship and for fine dress. "Look ye," said one Puritan. "There's many a shilling gone up in that incense." "The candles on the altar," said another, "and the gold candlesticks and all that mum- mery is not pleasing to God." "They say," said another, "her majesty has two thousand dresses all decked out with jewels and lace. 'Tis vanity! All is vanity!" MILES STANDISH 1584-1656 Miles Standish 89 Punishment of the Puritans "Have ye heard," asked another, "how 'tis said Sir Walter Raleigh once spread his new velvet coat in the mud for her majesty to step on ? 'Twas a sinful waste, and a bad example to set for our spendthrifts." And so these Puritans kept finding fault day in and day out until the queen quite lost patience. Some were fined, some were set in the stocks, and some were thrown into prison where many of them died from hunger and cold. Little Miles Standish knew Puritans whenever he saw them. They wore sober gray clothes of plain cut. They never swore nor stopped at the ale- house, and they looked so solemn that he was a bit afraid when they crossed his path in the woods of Duxbury Hall. j As for himself, he found the Church of Eng- land quite good enough. He loved to see the pomp of the bishop in his long robes, and to sniff the sweet incense, to hear the chants of the choir boys, and to watch the candles shimmer like stars in the gloom of the great church. He knew, too, that those who favored the queen's religion were pretty sure to get along in the world, and he had some notion of being a soldier. When Miles Standish was still in his teens he was made a lieutenant in the army, and went with a red- , ^^°- ^ Lieutenant Miles coated regiment to the Netherlands to help the Dutch standish goes to the in their war with Spain. He was small in size, but wiry and quick— "a little chimney, and heated hot in a moment." He soon became a favorite with his commander, Sir Thomas A PURITAN Netherlands go Builders of Oar Nation Vere, a giant of a man with a great brown beard shaped h'ke a spade. Lieutenant Standish took his part in assaults and sorties and ambuscades. He dulled his good sword in his thrusts and his parries. More than once his helmet and breastplate were dinted by the big-whiskered Spaniards. Sometimes he waded to the top of his stout Cordovan boots in the deep, country marshes; some- times he yawned the hours away in some placid Dutch town where the streets were canals and storks flapped lazily to and fro among the high-gabled roofs of the houses. When peace came at last to the Netherlands, Captain Miles Standish started out to see something of the country he had helped to set free. He found it a curious region — just a stretch of coast land built upon a vast num- ber of canals formed from slug- gish, oozy rivers that emptied into the North Sea. He finally rambled into Leyden which was said to be the most beautiful city in the Netherlands. The water-streets of Leyden were shaded with linden trees and crossed by more than a hundred bridges, and its university was famous all over Europe. About the first person Captain Standish saw was a man in sober gray dress. He knew right away it must be one of those Puritans he had dreaded to meet Miles Standish 91 in the Duxbury woods when he was a wee bit of a lad ; but he was glad enough to meet anyone from good old England. He found that quite a number of Christians who separatists had separated from the Church of England had moved to Leyden. They were called Separatists in England, but they called themselves Pilgrims, because they had traveled so far to worship. When the Reverend John Robinson, who was the joim Robinson minister of the Leyden church, asked Standish to make himself at home with his countrymen, the captain was glad enough to take off his stiff corselet and lay by his musket and sword for a rest. The young soldier may have smiled at first over the prim, devout lives of the Pilgrims; but he stayed on with them week after week. Some say dainty little "Rose"was the real cause of the captain's long rest. However that may be, he made the pilgrim Rose his wife, and then seems to have decided to bide with his new friends, though he never joined their church. Several of the Pilgrims had been personages of wiiiiam Brewster importance in England. William Brewster had been at ^^'"'^"' Bradford Edward Winslow Queen Elizabeth s court, William Bradford had left large estates, and so, too, had Edward Winslow, who belonged to one of the best English families. Captain Standish began a friendship at Leyden with William Bradford and Edward Winslow, who were about his own age, which endured for the rest of their lives. He heard from Elder Robinson the story of the Pilgrim wanderings; how they had established a little persecutes dissenters 92 Builders of Our Nation church of their own at Scrooby' in Nottinghamshire, King James I but had bccn persecuted so much by the baiHffs of King James that they had been obliged to leave the dear fatherland. Elder Robinson said it was hard to get along in this land that had been picked bare by the king of Spain's troops. His own son had been obliged to become a ribbon weaver to keep the wolf from the door. Yet even while the good elder was telling the sad story, he paused, now and then, to praise God for leading them to a land where a man's conscience was his own. The Pilgrims remained at Leyden several years after Miles Standish came among them. Perhaps the little captain was the first to talk about moving to America; for the humdrum life of Leyden must have wearied him very much. It is pretty certain that William Bradford and Edward Winslow were always ready to argue against remaining longer in a place where so many members of the congregation found it difficult to earn their daily bread. The older men listened to these younger ones all the more willingly in that they saw their sons taking Dutch wives and their grandchildren learning the Dutch lan- guage. They were true Englishmen at heart and wished their families to remain English. Yet where should they go in America ? They heard that the Jamestown colony forced all its members to belong to the Church of England; so that it would be as difficult to have their own worship in Virginia as it had been in England. ' See map, p. 62. Miles Standish 93 Hudson River John Carver ^4:^!:^ Presently they heard that some Dutch had settled on the Hudson River near a region John Smith had The Dutch on the called New England, and that they were prospering in the fur trade. Elder Robinson wrote to friends in England for John Smith's pamphlet about New England. In the end it was decided that the youngest and strongest of the congregation should go to America to prepare the way for them all, and John Carver was accordingly sent to England to arrange for the voyage. When everything was made ready the Pil- grims met together for the last time at the home of Elder Robinson. Those who were to depart loaded their belongings upon a canal boat, and the whole cons:regation went to Delfts Haven,' where the Speedwell was waiting. As the sails of the ship swelled to the wind they all knelt on deck. Elder Robinson offered up prayer. Tearful farewells were uttered, and the Speedwell was soon on its way to England. At Southampton^ a hundred and two of the youngest The ifajv^owr sails and strongest embarked on the Mayflower. We may '"^ sept. 1")^'°" be sure Captain Miles Standish, William Bradford, and Edward Winslow were among them. John Alden was there too — tall and handsome, with light curls and keen blue eyes, the very youngest of all the young men. After a stormy voyage, lasting over nine weeks, the ship dropped anchor off Cape Cod,^ which Captain THE MAYFLOWER I See map, p. 90. ^Sce map, p. 62. 3 Sec map, p. 95. 94 Builders of Our Nation The signing of the Pilgrim constitution (Nov. 2l) John Carver, first governor of Plymouth Smith had written was "shaped like a sickle" and was a flat, well- wooded coast. Before landing, the "Pilgrim Fathers" met in the cabin of the Mayflower to write out some laws by which they agreed to govern themselves. You can almost sec them in the close little room. On the table lay the paper. The world had never seen or heard of such a paper before. It was not written by kings or nobles for their own selfish ends. It was a constitution, written by the people for the people. It was really the very beginning of that great constitution of the United States under which we are living today. John Carver, who had been elected governor, stepped to the table and set his name to the paper. William Bradford signed his name, then Edward Winslow and William Brewster. After one other had signed, Miles Stand- ish, who had been elected captain-in- chief, stepped up with the pen — Short of stature he was, but strongly built and athletic, Broad in the shoulders, deep chested, with muscles and sinews of iron. The very next one was John Alden, looking like a big schoolboy, yet old enough and lovable and brave enough to be numbered with the best. When all the men had signed this agreement to make and to obey whatever laws might be for the good of the colony, some of the men helped the women go ashore to wash the linen. Although the weather was so severe that the sea spray froze on their clothes, l^iilSiVvJQrad/orar Miles Standish 95 MAP OF PLYMOUTH you may be sure as many of the larger boys and girls as were allowed got to shore too. They carried water and kindling wood, and looked for shells, and shouted into the pine trees as loudly as they dared, for they were afraid that they might call out Indians like those seen by John Smith when he had landed at that place. Meanwhile Captain Standish, with a band of armed men, set out to explore the region. In sleet and a freezing gale he found at last a place which Smith had marked "Plymouth" on his map. Here the Pilgrims landed. They cleared away The^andingat snow drifts, cut logs, and began to build houses. Plymouth (Dec. 21) First they erected a large house for all ; then they built separate houses for family use, and a meeting-house with a cannon on a platform to protect them from hostile Indians. They mixed straw and mud together for a mortar and built wide stone fireplaces with iron spits and hooks on which kettles were hung for cook- ing; and piled up plenty of pine knots for light after dark. They brought from the Mayflower arm chairs and wooden settles, high-posted beds, cradles, dishes, spinning wheels, clothes chests, and other useful furniture. The first house set up was soon used as a hospital. Sometimes two or three of the Pilgrims Disease and death were laid under the snow in a day. At one time only seven men were able to take care of the sick. The tendercst of these nurses was the fearless captain, with William Bradford always at his side. By the end of February thirty-one of the hundred and two Pilgrims had died; among them was gentle Rose Standish. A PURITAN CRADLE 96 Builders of Our Nation Samoset 1621 Massasoit makes peace There was always danger from the Indians. Once while the men were felling trees, a shower of arrows had fallen from an ambush. But no red men ventured near until early spring, when a half-naked Indian walked boldly into the town. "Welcome," he said, with a smiling face. It was Samoset, who had learned a few English words from fishermen off the coast of Maine. Samoset became a true friend. He acted as a messenger for Massasoit, who lived at Mount Hope, about forty miles southwest of Pl3'mouth. Massasoit was chief of an Algonquin nation.' He himself, with sixty warriors in furs, feathers, and paint, came presently to pay a visit. Governor Carver was not quite sure whether the chief was coming as a friend or as a foe. He accord- ingly decided to make a fine show of arms, without using them except in case of need. Edward Winslow, unarmed, advanced into the woods to meet Massasoit. Captain Standish, in his coat of mail, with six men in corselets, headpieces, and muskets, greeted the chief at the edge of the town and escorted him with ceremony to one of the houses, where he seated him on a rug. The captain, his small, shining figure drawn to its full height, then withdrew to fetch the governor. Drums beat, trumpets blew, the cannon on Fort Hill boomed, and all the able men in the colony marched in step into the room where the chief sat on a rug. Massasoit, much impressed by this fair display, made oath to keep peace, and he never broke his pledge. ' The Wampanoags. See map, p. 102. Miles Standish 97 Hobo- Squantum, too, who had been to England in a squamum trading vessel and spoke English very well, came to Plymouth. He taught the Pilgrims to plant corn when the oak leaves were as big as a mouse's ear, and to stalk game, and to fish with spear heads, Indian fashion. But of all the friendly Indians, Hobomok was the one who pinned his perfect faith to Captain Standish. Hobomok, a stalwart, powerful war- rior, followed the little captain around as a faithful dog follows his master, and taught him the Indian language and the secrets of the Amer- ican forests. ' JOHN CARVER'S CHAIR In April the Mayflower hoisted sail, but not one of The^i/ay/?oT.rr the Pilgrims was willing to give up the new hope in his ■"'''"'■"^ '° England heart, so that only the regular crew returned to England. The day after the ship sailed Governor Carver died; Death of Governor his wife, worn-out with hardships, died soon after and was laid at his side. When William Bradford was chosen governor, he wiiuam Bradford depended more than ever upon Miles Standish and Edward Winslow. He sent Winslow to present Massasoit with a red coat and a copper chain for his neck. This was the beginning of many visits to Mount Hope. After one of the visits Massasoit volunteered to accompany Winslow home. He walked very slowly through the forest. As they neared Plymouth a sound of weeping was heard. The Pilgrims were standing in groups, talking in subdued tones. Shouts of joy burst forth at sight of Edward Winslow. Captain Standish himself was the first to wring his hand. becomes governor 98 Builders 0} Our Nation And Massasoit, the odd old fellow, explained that he had sent messengers ahead, Indian fashion, to say- that Winslow was dead, so that the rejoicing might be greater when he arrived sound and well. Not all of the Indians were so friendly as Massasoit. canonicus Canonlcus, chief of the Narragansetts, ' thought the Pilgrims were taking too much hunting-ground. He tied a rattlesnake's skin around a bundle of arrows and sent it as a threat to Plymouth. Captain Miles Standish was not frightened a bit. He advised Gov- ernor Bradford to return the skin filled with powder and shot, and thus the chief was frightened into peace. The Plymouth captain mustered the men every day at the beat of a drum. His sharp word of com- mand, his look of approval, or his swift rebuke had unfailing effect. On the Lord's Day he drew his band into line and escorted Governor Bradford and the women and children to the meeting-house, which had a fiat roof with a cannon perched upon it. Elder Brewster "prophesied" while the men sat with their muskets beside them. There were few women left after the long winter's sickness. One of the fairest of these was Priscilla Mullens, whose father and mother and brother had died. Captain Standish had watched Priscilla — sj)inning and spinning, Never idle a moment, l)ut thrifty and thoughtf-ul of others. John Alden, the youngest man in Plymouth, had watched Priscilla too. He had taken one special seat in the meeting-house where he could see her fair face; ' See map, p. 102. Miles Standish 99 he helped her with her chores during the week days; he brought her sweet wild flowers from his log-cutting in the forest. And so when blunt old Captain Standish, his best The courtship of and truest friend, told John Alden that his soldier's courage failed him in the presence of a maiden, and asked him to help induce Priscilla to change her name to Standish, the young lover was very much troubled indeed. John Alden had always obeyed his captain, and he said to himself he would not fail him now, whatever the cost. He went straight to Priscilla, who sat at her wheel. He blurted out that he carried an offer of marriage from Miles Standish, the captain of Plymouth. Now Priscilla had all these months been shyly noting the splendid, boyish John Alden. She had kept his image as fresh in her heart as she had kept his flowers. At first she listened with a pale face to the swift praise of his captain— in his haste to get over the task he hardly knew how fast he was talking— and presently she said with a blush : "Why don't you speak for yourself, John?" John Alden, without a word, rushed from the room to wander for a time by the sea, before he could face his captain . Word came that Indians were about to attack Wey- weymouth mouth, an English settlement about twenty miles north of Plymouth, on Massachusetts Bay. These Weymouth settlers were not Pilgrims. They belonged A SPINNING WHEEL loo Builders of Our Nation to the Church of England and had come to America to trade in furs. They were idle and roving; their clothes were worn to rags; they had begged from their red neighbors. All in all they had been so good for nothing that the Indians plotted to destroy them. Right in the midst of the love tangle over Priscilla, Hobomok brought news of the plot against Weymouth. The stalwart Standish buckled on his steel and with eight resolute men sailed away for the new settlement. It is a long story how after many days the captain returned with the grisly head of an Indian chief, which he set as a warning over the fort. And it is a pretty story, told by Longfellow, how the colony heard he had been killed by some Indians, and how, thinking himself free, John Alden had just married Priscilla Mullens when the doughty captain returned to give them his blessing. After all there was much for the captain of Plymouth Merrynu.uiu to do. Hc wcnt to Mcrrymount to break up a settle- ment of wild young Englishmen who were selling guns to the Indians. The half -drunken fellows defied ^'Little Captain Shrimp" to do his worst. But their leader was carried to Plymouth to be shipped back to England, with only one tipsy Merrymounter wounded on the nose. The captain of Plymouth kept Hobomok at his side wherever he went. The little white man in his bright coat of mail and the tall red man in his blanket were always chosen to explore and survey the Indian lands that were bought, to trade with the Indians, and to settle disputes with them. Miles Standish lOI JOHN WINTHROP 1588-1649 Salem Standish moved to a country seat which he called Dux- j^^, bury after Duxbury Hall in Engjland. His home was captain standish -^ _ moves to Duxbury near the bay, in full sight of Plymouth. Hobomok dwelt in a wigwam down by the beach for a time, and later brought his blanket and kettle, his arrows and bow, to the house, where he lived the rest of his days. Now and then from his quiet retreat Standish visited the English settlements along the INIassachusetts coast. Many Puritans had come to New England since the Pilgrims had pointed the way. They had settled Salem, with honest, clear-headed John Endi- cott as governor; they had planted the towns of Dor- Dorchester Chester, Roxbury, Charlestown, and Boston. And all ^iJaSown these towns had united under the name of the Massa- ^"^'""^ chusetts Bay Colony, with John Winthrop for governor. Standish may have sailed around Cape Cod to visit Hartford, on the Connecticut River, and Saybrook, at Hartford 1 r 1 • 1 -XT TT .Saybrook the mouth of the river, and New Haven — all settled by New Haven Puritans. He must have visited Providence, Rhode Providence Island, too; for it had been founded by the Baptist preacher, Roger Williams, who was a great friend of Massasoit and Hobomok and often visited at Duxbury. The Plymouth captain must have rejoiced when he read the letter from Massachusetts Bay asking the Pilgrims to join the Puritans at Boston in forming a union for mutual protection. He favored Edward Winslow for delegate to the ^nsiand union convention, and Edward Winslow was chosen at the town meeting. 1643 Thi- tir-t Xew I02 Builders oj Our Nation 165 s War with the Dutch threatened Do you not like to believe that when Winslow returned from Boston he went straight to Duxbury to talk it over with his captain, and that William Bradford dropped in, and that the three staunch friends sat together— perhaps with Hobomok in a nearby corner, half understanding what they said ? Edward Winslow told how Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, New Haven, and Plymouth, after a month of hard work, had formed a union which they called "The United Colonies of New England." Two represent- atives from each of these col- onies were to meet in a congress once every year. They were not to meddle with one another's private affairs; but were to decide matters of general interest, such as the declaration of war, treaties of peace, raising revenues, and levying troops. These three friends must have thought of the paper they had signed together in the cabin of the Mayflower — the very beginning of self-government in America. But they could not know that this New Eng- land union for self-government would lead to still another union, greater than it was within the power of man then to believe — the union of the United States of America. One day news came that England was at war with her old friend the Netherlands, and that English ships were under sail to attack the Dutch settlements along Miles Standish 103 the Hudson River. "The United Colonies of New England" called for troops to aid in the war. Miles Standish, still the captain-in-chief of Plymouth, buckled on his armor and reached for his musket and sword. He drilled his men, and was waiting for orders when news came that a treaty of peace had been made. 1655 That same year Edward Winslow died at sea. The Edward winsiow following year Captain Miles Standish ended his busy ^656 life at Duxbury. And before the close of another year standish William Bradford died. Winslow, the diplomat of ^^57 T-.1 10 T 1 • 11- ir 1 Death of William Plymouth, Standish, its soldier, Bradford, its historian Bradford — all three of these men helped to found New England, and perhaps most gratitude is due to the hot-tempered, kindly captain of Plymouth. The East India Company Amsterdam PETER STUYVESANT THE LAST DUTCH GOVERNOR 1607-1672 ETER STUYVESANT was born in a small town in Friesland.' Friesland was a prov- ince of the Netherlands — just a stretch of coast half drowned in the German Ocean. Indeed, Friesland would have been quite washed away if the thrifty Dutchmen who lived there had not built dykes of mud, stones, and sticks, as the beaver builds its dam, and set up windmills with whirring wings to pump the water out. Peter's father was a clergyman who spent more time with the things of heaven than with those of earth, and his family sometimes went hungry. The good dominie apprenticed the lad to a merchant in his town. After a time he sent him to Amsterdam' in the service of the East India Company. Amsterdam, on the Zuyder Zee, was called the Venice of the North. ^ Its streets were canals lined with tall warehouses, from which flat-bot- tomed boats sped back and forth on the seas like shuttles weaving a net- work of trade. At first Peter unloaded boats, pushed wheelbarrows, PETER STUYVESANT 1607-1672 I See map, p. 90. 2 See description of Venice, p. 14. 104 Peter Stuyvesant 105 and rolled casks; but his strong, eager face and manly ways soon won him a place in the counting-house. Here he often had a glimpse into the books of the East India Company, with long lists of many curious drugs and spices. The name he liked best was kruidnagel. That was the Dutch name for clove. Just five islands in the East Indies produced that little brown spice. The dove The Persians, the Arabs, the Chinese, and the Japanese had all, at one time or another, struggled for possession of the islands. Sometimes a single cargo of cloves had cost a thousand lives. Finahy the Portuguese secured the good will of the natives. Then King Philip of Spain seized Portugal's trade routes. ' And then the Dutch East India Company outsailed the Spaniards to carry off the clove trade. It was a real delight to Peter to see kruidnagel in the shipping list of the East India Company. He was always glad when his countrymen got the better of the Spaniards. Spanish kings had sent army after army into Friesland. They had burnt towns, and they had Spanish armies in drowned towns by opening dykes, until the hardy ' '^ ^""^ '"''"' ' Dutch joined arms with the English and set up a republic called "The United Netherlands." After the political war with Spain was over, a trade war was begun. Peter Stuyvesant longed to try his hand at giving the Spaniards a lesson or two. While still very young he took service in the West Indies, and stuyvesant goes to neither his tongue nor his sword ever rusted for want of use. He pleased his company so well that he was made governor of Curaf oa* an island in the Caribbean Sea, where the Dutch had a trading station. ' See Sir Francis Drake, p. 69. io6 Builders oj Our Nation Stuyvesant returns to Amsterdam 160Q Henry Hudson discovers the Hudson River The West India Company The States-General Governor Stuyvesant led expeditions against his Spanish and Portuguese neighbors until he was once wounded so badly that he returned to Amsterdam for medical aid. His leg was cut off, and the loss was supplied with a wooden leg, trimmed with silver bands. Stuyvesant had made both friends and enemies in Curafoa. His friends wrote home that he had shown Roman courage in his last battle. But his enemies wrote that "stiff-necked Peter" had 'carried on with such bluster that the powder was gone before the Portuguese ships had come within gunshot. The brave soldier stamped down all opposition, with his wooden leg. He married Judith Bayard, a French lady of high social rank, and said he was again quite ready for some new undertaking. Now Henry Hudson, in the service of the East India Company, while trying to find a short cut to India, had discovered a broad river in North America where Indians would sell beaver skins for just nothing at all. Furs were much used in the cold, stoveless countries of Europe and they brought a good price. Dutch merchants found the Hudson River so profitable that they organized the West India Company to trade with the Indians on a large scale. The States-General (the government of the United Netherlands) claimed a right to the country because of Hudson's discoveries. They accordingly called it New Netherlands and granted to the West India Com- pany all the land between Delaware Bay and the Con- necticut River." Fort Orange,' where Albany now I See map, p. 107. Peter Stuyvesant 107 stands, was settled. Brooklyn, on Long Island, and New Amsterdam, on Manhattan Island, where the company's governor lived, and many other thrifty trading posts flourished amazingly. The company's agents made friends with the Iroquois' who dwelt along the banks of the Mohawk River and the south shore of Lake Ontario. They carried trinkets, hatchets, beads, and blankets to Fort Orange and piled them up in the fort, to wait till the Iroquois came with their pelts. A long line of canoes would come down the Mohawk to near its mouth. The Indians and their squaws then carried their packs of furs down a narrow trail to the fort where they chaffered and yelped until everything was sold, to the great profit of the Dutch. The West India Company heard how French traders were settling the country north of them and how English Puritans were pushing their colonies toward the Connecticut River. They knew if they kept possession of New Netherlands they must increase the Dutch population. The company accord- ingly offered large tracts of land to stockholders. Whoever established a colony of fifty persons in New Netherlands, had the right to purchase from the Indi- ans sixteen miles of land along one bank of a river, or eight miles along opposite banks. He was to farm his land through tenants like the patroons (lords of Thepatroons the manor) in the fatherland. The patroon on the Hudson might trade in everything except furs and fire- NEW NETHERLANDS ' See Hiawatha, p. 6. io8 Builders of Our Nation The patroons trade in furs War with the Indians William Kieft arms, which the company reserved for their own profit. Killian Van Rensselaer and other Dutchmen of wealth planted colonies along the upper Hudson. Farms were laid out, trim little huts clustered around the great mansions of the patroons, and for a while everything in New Netherlands prospered. Meantime the fur ships of the West India Company plied continually past the farm lands. The profits of the company set the patroons to thinking how fine it would be to trade in furs on their own account, though they knew very well such trade was against the law. They exchanged a few blankets for some beaver skins; these they sent to Europe with such profit that they exchanged a few more. In the end the patroons openly defied the company's governor who lived in New Amsterdam, at the mouth of the river. They even sold guns to the Indians, which was breaking another law. Some Indians from the Connecticut River, armed with the patroon's guns, swooped down on New Amster- dam to burn, kill, scalp, and hurry away. The good burghers sent such constant complaints to the company that one governor after the other was called home in disgrace. About the time Peter Stuyvesant came back to the Netherlands with a wounded leg, the governor of New Netherlands was William Kieft. Kieft was a quarrel- some, fussy, sharp-nosed little man, who mixed himself up in everything without bringing any order. He had no control over the haughty patroons. He quarreled with the Puritan English along the Connecticut River. Peter Stuyvesant 109 He angered the Iroquois so that they threatened to dig up the hatchet they had buried under the Dutch church. Finally the complaints of the good burghers grew so loud against Governor Kieft that the company ordered him home. Who could force the patroons into obedience, build up the fur trade, and make friends with the rival colonies ? The West India Company met many times in the great guildhall of Amsterdam to discuss what man might mend their fortunes. "Why not try Stuyvesant?" asked someone at length. ''The very man!" '''Stiff-necked,' gentlemen, 'stiff-necked!' Those are the very words from Curagoa." "Aye, but 'tis a stiff neck needed to bring those patroons to terms!" "Stuyvesant's as brave as a lion; even his enemies say that." There was talk, talk, talk, and a vast deal of smoke from long pipes before a paper was signed making stuyvesant appointed Peter Stuyvesant the governor who should succeed Nethe"rkn°ds William Kieft. Across the ocean hurried the news that Peter Stuy- vesant, who had won victories in the West Indies, was coming. When his fleet drew near, all New Amster- dam was down at the Battery to greet him. Even some patroons from the upper Hudson were there to look the new governor over. The patroons had driven into town in coaches-and- no Builders of Our Nation four. They wore velvet and gold lace, with swords at their sides and curled wigs topped by broad, pointed hats. The common people drew a little apart at sight of these very grand personages. They no more thought of assuming such dress than private citizens today think of strutting about in a general's gold epaulets. The common people wore stout shoes, coarse stockings, baggy trousers to the knee, and their hair pasted fiat. Their wives, the good vrouws, wore short skirts and kerchiefs, and their boys and girls, bunched solemnly together, with sideways stares at the splendid patroons and "patroonesses," looked quite like make-believe grown-ups. And so this Dutch crowd waited at the Battery for the governor, with here and there a blanketed Indian as curious as any to see the new chief. The new governor Guns from thc crumbHng fort boomed, drums beat, a trumpeter blew a blast, a squad of soldiers presented arms, and the governor stepped ashore. He was in his regimentals. His coat was brass- buttoned from chin to waist, with its skirts turned up at the corners. His yellow breeches, his wig stiff with oil, his. wooden leg in its silver bands, his shapely left shoe with a ribbon rosette, his gold-headed cane, his bright-hilted sword, all created a very profound impres- sion as he stumped to the Battery from the boat. People shouted themselves hoarse and threw up their caps. Orange flags waved, guns boomed again. And then the new governor proceeded with rather a lofty air to the fort. Stuyvesant began a reform in New Amsterdam. arrives at New Amsterdam Peter Stuyvesant iii He set up placards that drunkenness and sabbath- Reforms breaking must cease, and that cattle and hogs must be fenced up or pastured. He ordered houses set back from the streets on a line. He organized a fire brigade. He established a ferry across the East River. He wrote to the company for schoolmasters to teach the children. When he had reduced the town to something like order, he sailed up the Hudson to Fort Orange, hauled down the flag of Patroon Van Rensselaer and hoisted the colors of the West India Company. Then he sum- moned the Iroquois to a council to see that the flag was up. And his wooden leg with its silver bands struck such awe in the hearts of the warriors that they promised to bury the hatchet deeper than ever under the little Dutch church. He went in state to Hartford, Connecticut, to settle the boundary line between the Dutch and the English, ^he Dutch and the He organized a government for New Amsterdam — ^°^^'' burgomaster (mayor), schout (sheriff), and schepens (aldermen). He gave the people of the whole province the privilege of choosing representatives to confer with himself and his council. The board did not always agree with their governor. Some called him " Plard-koppigge Piet" (Headstrong Peter), and some scoffed at ''Old Silver Leg." But the affairs of the colony flourished amazingly under his rule. Meantime a naval war had broken out between England and the Netherlands. News came that four warwnthNew English ships had reached Boston to take on New E"^'-'^ "^-^'-«^ England troops to attack New Netherlands, and that 112 Builders of Our Nation Captain Miles Standish' of Plymouth was rallying his men with the rest. It was Peter Stuyvesant's first chance to fight since he lost his leg. He set all able men to work. He built a stockade on the land side of New Amsterdam.^ He strengthened the fort toward the water side and was just ready to say to the English, "Come on!" when peace was patched up between the two fatherlands. Years went by. The West India Company grew richer and the towns of New Netherlands prospered. The good burghers built houses of wood with high- gabled ends of black and yellow brick. There were no storks' nests on the roof-tops as at home, but there were sure to be weathercocks that turned with all the giddy winds from the bay. Within the houses were wide fireplaces, where at night the logs blazed cheerily to show the Bible pic- tures on the tiles brought from the old country. The floors were covered with white sand marked into pretty figures with the handle of a birch broom. Everything was neat and clean ; for the Dutch women were good house- keepers. They were good cooks, too, and there were great times with crullers and cakes and gingers at Easter, Christmas, and New Year. If a boy or girl and New Year jj^ Ncw Amsterdam had a birthday, it was sure to be celebrated with a cake set over with candles numl)ering the years. The good burghers were slow, and did not make so much money as the Puritans of Ncw England; but they did not spend so much. They l)uilt their own • Sec p. I02. 2 Along what is now Wall Street, New York City. Easter, Christmas, Peter Stuyvesant 113 ships to send tar, timber, and tobacco to Europe. Many had gardens just out of town, and after the work was done they sat on the stoops of the houses to smoke and talk till time to light pine knots for bed. Now the United Netherlands claimed New Nether- lands because of Henry Hudson's discoveries; but England claimed the region because of the discoveries of the Cabots. Charles the Second, King of England, believing the country to be his, granted the whole region to his brother, the Duke of York. The duke knew The Duke of York very well that he must reckon with Peter Stuyvesant before he could hope to call the land his. He accord- ingly armed four frigates and sped them away to New England to take on a land force. The United Colonies of New England promised their quota of men and the fleet sailed to New Amsterdam Bay. The commander of the expedition sent a letter to Stuyvesant to surrender his fort. "Surrender the majestic province of New Nether- lands to four Endish fris-ates ! Never!" So said Governor Stuyvesant. He tore up the insolent letter and stamped on it with his wooden leg. His council begged him to consider the matter. But he would listen to nothing anyone said. He set the burghers to work with spades, shovels, wheelbarrows, axes, and hammers. The English ships drew nearer. English guns were leveled on the fort. In the end, the doughty old soldier surrendered. What else could he do with twenty guns against ninety-four ? He marched out of the fort with the honors of war — drums beating, colors flying, and a 114 Builders of Our Nation New Netherlands becomes New York 1672 Peter Stuyvesant dies in New York bugle playing ''Wilhelmiis of Nassau," which was the national air. And so the English took possession of the Dutch colony. They changed the name of New Amsterdam to New York, and of Fort Orange to Albany. Burgo- master, schout, and schepens gave place to mayor, sheriff, and aldermen. English settlers came. But the Dutch settlers remained, and their language and customs continued in New York for many years. Even today we have the Dutch Easter and Christmas and New Year feasts. The solemn Puritans did not believe in such merriment. Peter Stuyvesant went back to Amsterdam; but he soon returned to New York where he lived on a farm, called the Bowery, with fifty slaves to work the soil. He occupied himself in church affairs and city improve- ments and never spared his advice. It was said after his death that he still lingered about — that he could be heard at midnight stumping up and down the aisles of the little church where he had been laid away to rest. But that was said in times when some people believed in witches and ghosts ! NIAGARA FALLS LA SALLE THE FATHER OF LOUISIANA TERRITORY 1643-1687 N THE gray old town of Rouen,' in the ancient French province of Nor- mandy, Robert Cavelier de la Salle went about his tasks with dreams in his head. He was maitre, or teacher, in the Jesuit^ school. He wore a long, black robe and a round, black cap. His face was grave, though he could count scarce years enough to be called a man. Maitre La Salle was severe, but just. When- ever the hour came, every boy hastened to his seat on the long bench in the church school. Not one of them all could see over the back of the bench; but Maitre La Salle could look out over their heads through a long arcade. He could see the city sloping southward and the quaint gray houses along the Seine River and the boats passing up and down. Now and then a tall, narrow, fishing smack hove into view. One day he said: ''You may go to the door, lads. Watch that sail coming in!" ' See map, p. 116. ' The Jesuits are an orticr of priests in the Roman Catholic Church. "5 1643 I.a Salle bom LA SALLE 1643 - 1687 ii6 Builders of Our Nation > n i ^ ^i- y~^^ ;:..,:_ e jLeH avre ■\ '"^Vl '■ ■'. -^^:^ ==^ Rouen ^ \ nIo R M A N D ? y' <4x- ._ ^. 1665 M;ip of the Western Hemisphere Smith America Mexico C;difornia Florida Virginia There was a rush to the door, with some spilling out under the open arcade — much to the scandal of a passing old monk. "Where has this boat been, lads?" asked Maitre La Salle. " To the cod fisheries !" "No doubt of that. But where?" "Off Norway!" "To Greenland!" "To the Eng- lish coast!" cried a chorus. "You must guess again." "'Tisold Michelet's boat," explained one of the oldest boys. "Yes! 'Tis Michelet's boat. He goes to America for his fish. He has crossed the Atlantic once every year for twenty years to bring dried fish for Lent and fast days. Look well to the dingy sails." He summoned the boys to the bench again. He held up a map — a stretch of North and South America as the geographers understood it in the year 1665. He put his lean white finger on the West India Islands, and on South America where the mines of Peru were, and on Mexico with its gold mines, and on California that bordered on the Pacific Ocean. "All these countries," he said, "are claimed by the Spaniards; and Florida, northwest of the Indies, is claimed by them, too." He pointed to the English colony of Virginia' and ' Sec map, p. 134. La Salle 117 to Maryland, which had been settled by the English Maryland Lord Calvert, a good Catholic; and to the New Nether- New York lands, a Dutch settlement, which had been seized that very year by the Duke of York and made an English province. ' Then his bony finger passed on up along the coast of New England. "All these are English," he said, with a frown. "West of them stretch lands, lads. Ah, no one knows what lands." He pointed to Acadia, "^ a great French colony near Acadia the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. "Here we are on French soil!" he cried. "Here is where old Michelet finds his cod. This little settlement on the west coast of Acadia is Port Royal. Now let us go up this splendid St. Lawrence. All the land along this river is New France. Jacques Cartier founded Montreal far up on its right bank ; and Samuel Montreal Champlain built a fort at Quebec. Both points are Quebec flourishing stations, where the pelts of the moose, the bear, the beaver, the marten, the fox, the lynx, and many other animals are purchased cheaper than anywhere else in the world." "Our Jesuit fathers follow the fur traders. They are changing the heathenish red men into good Cath- olics." The great bell in the tower of St. Oucn's chimed the hour. Maitre La Salle laid down the map and the boys ^ jesuit priest scattered to drone through a class with an old friar they did not like half so well. Perhaps it was a talk La Salle had with old Michelet that caused him to quit the Jesuit school. At any rate Port Royal Js'ew France ' See map, p. 107. 2 Nova Scotia. ii8 Builders of Our Nation 1666 La Salle goes to America The fur trader The Mississippi Kivcr Governor Frontenac he set out for America the following year. He went to Montreal, where his brother was a priest of St. Sulpice. Montreal was then only a small village, with forests — tall, dark forests — everywhere; and there was always the roar of the rapids in the St. Lawrence River which churned and foamed with such fury that the noise was heard for miles. La Salle secured a tract of land above the rapids for which he was to pay the Sulpice fathers in furs. He exchanged his long black gown for the buckskin worn by the fur traders. He built a log hut, cleared forests, and planted corn. He made friends with the Indians, and was presently carrying large packs of furs to Mont- real and Quebec. The Indians told him so much about the Mississippi, a great river in the west which flowed to the salt sea, that he began dreaming again. Did this river reach the Pacific Ocean ? Then it would be the great water- way to China and the Spice Islands ! He could not rest after this idea entered his head. He tried to persuade some of the other traders to join with him in an expedition ; but they only laughed at his ideas, and called his hut La Chine, which is the French word for China. La Salle pushed deeper and deeper into the forest, with only his faithful compass for his guide. Sometimes he was gone for weeks. Finally he paddled down the St. Lawrence to Quebec. He obtained permission from Governor Frontenac to explore French territory. Here he fitted out four canoes with supplies for fourteen men, and the priests of St. Sulpice fitted out three canoes for ten men. La Salle 119 With two additional canoes full of Indian guides, La Salle began his search for a waterway to China. He reached the River Beautiful (the Ohio), and TheOhioRher followed its westward current as far as the site of Louis- ville, Kentucky. He was quite persuaded that the river flowed straight west to the Pacific Ocean. Its valley was so beautiful, with its herds of deer and droves of buffalo and towns of velvet-coated beaver, that he hurried back to Quebec to tell Governor Frontenac all about it. "I have not reached the salt sea, your excellency," he said. "The Ohio flows west. Perchance it is what we seek. Yet we must secure the fur trade before the English find the way." He showed a map he had dtawn. ''See," he said. ''Here is Lake Ontario. All along its south shore are the Iroquois who sell furs to th( Dutch and English of New York. They go down the Mohawk to Albany.' They should go down the St. Lawrence to Montreal and Quebec.^ Give me a fort at the mouth of Lake Ontario, and the Iroquois will favor us." Now Governor Frontenac had spent a for- tune at the gay court of Louis the Fourteenth. He had come to America to try to make money enough to live his extravagant life over again. louisxiv La Salle's fur schemes promised great profit. He accordingly sent the young trader to France with let- i.a saiie goes to ters to some of his most powerful friends. La Salle's well-laid plans proved so alluring that ' See map, p. 170. ' See map, p. 123. France I20 Builders of Our Nation La Salle returns to America Father Hennepin l'"ort I'rontenac King Louis granted to him a vast tract of land bordering on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence. On the ship on which La Salle returned went Father Hennepin, a monk quite as young as himself. Father Hennepin wore the gray cloak of the Franciscans,' with a peaked hood; a cord was around his waist, and a cross hung at his side. He told La Salle he had once been sent to Calais^ at the season of the herring fisheries to beg alms for the church. He had made friends with the sailors and had become so interested in New France that he obtained leave from the fathers to go there as a missionary. La Salle and Father Hennepin became fast friends during the voyage, and when the fur trader built Fort Frontenac^ (on the present site of Kingston) he added a little chapel where the priest might say mass. Fort Frontenac had ramparts of stone with palisades of logs on the water side. Cannon were mounted on the wall. There were barracks and a guard house, a lodging for officers, a smithy, a mill, and a bakery. The land around the fort was laid out in small farms, which La Salle rented to French peasants. La Salle and Father Hennepin made peace with many of the Iroquois. The warriors came to regard La Salle as a magician. His windmill tossed its long arms around so queerly; his magnifying glass made monsters out of flies and fleas; his compass seemed trembling with life; his clock on the wall of the fort — well, his clock was surely a strange creature. The blanketed Indians squatted for hours before the clock. ' The Franciscans are an order of priests in the Roman Catholic Church. 2 See map, p. ii6. 3 See map, p. 123. La Salle 121 PERE MARQUETTE 1637-1675 They thought it was alive, and that the "tic, tack, tic, tack" was a language quite as queer as the English. "What does the captain say?" they would ask, meaning the clock. La Salle or Father Hennepin would make it say whatever seemed best. But when the clock struck four it was always understood that the captain said "Get up and go." And the warriors gravely left their hosts in peace. The fur trade at Fort Frontenac flourished amaz- ingly. Joliet, a young trader, brought word to La Salle joiiet that he and Father Marquette had reached the Mis- Father Rfarqueite sissippi River. Joliet said he had gone down the cur- rent as far as the Arkan- sas River and was sure the "salt sea" the Indians talked about was not the Pacific Ocean, but the Gulf of Mexico. A little later a "^^ trapper brought news that when Joliet reached Que- ^j^^^^^ft^ bee to tell of this great river, the bells of the town marquette going down the Mississippi clanged merrily all day long. So the Mississippi flowed to the south ? La Salle thought it all over. And then he began to dream again. He said that the Mississippi flowing into the gulf and thence into the Atlantic Ocean would make a better highway for the fur trade than the St. Lawrence River, which was frozen so many months of the year and had the falls and the rapids to obstruct the boats. 122 Builders of Our Nation I.a Salle again goes to France LOUIS JOLIET 1645-1700 Chevalier de Tonli Fort Conti The Griffin Leaving Fort Frontenac in care of a lieutenant, La Salle sailed again for France. He told the king's minister he wanted to plant forts along the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, to keep out the English traders, whose kings had granted charters from "sea to sea." He said the first link of a long chain of forts was Fort Frontenac, which was drawing the fur trade of the Iroquois. The second link of the chain should be at the mouth of Lake Erie. The English were watching Lake Erie because it was the key to the trade of the three lakes above it— Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior. In the end the king granted to him the right to build forts and explore such new countries as he might deem best. La Salle met in Paris, Chevalier de Tonti, a young officer in the French army, who had lost his hand in battle and supplied the loss with a hand of iron. Tonti burned with zeal to aid in the work of planting colonies for France. He accompanied La Salle back to the St. Lawrence, and proved his lifelong friend. La Salle called the Iroquois to a grand council. He gave them scarlet cloth, hatchets, beads, and smooth words until they permitted him to erect Fort Conti at the mouth of Lake Erie' — a second link in his long chain of foits. Above Niagara Falls he built a brigantine with a griffin carved on its prow. The Grijjin was loaded with furs to be exchanged at Fort Conti for provi- sions and materials for building other forts. ' See map, p. 123. La Salle 123 erect Meantime La Salle and Tonti explored Lake Michi- Fon Miami gan in canoes. They built Fort Miami at the mouth of the St. Joseph River — the third link in the chain of forts. Weeks passed. They watched in vain for the Griffin with the supplies for their trip down the Mississippi. At last they decided to attempt the voyage in canoes. Without waiting further they paddled up the St. Joseph to a portage, and down the Kankakee and Illinois, stopping now and then smoke the pipe of peace and to crosses in the open squares of Indian towns. They knew they must be approaching the great Father of Waters. The Indians told hor- rible stories of the fate of those who dared trust their canoes to its bosom. When they said de- mons swallowed up both men and canoes, most of the company deserted. Without men or supplies, things looked very discouraging to La Salle and Father Hennepin and to Tonti of the iron hand. Near the site of what is now the city of Peoria they built a fort, which La Salle called Crevecoeur (the broken heart) — a fourth link in his chain, and the first white settlement in the state of Illinois. I^a Salle sent Father Hennepin down the Illinois to the Mississippi to explore its upper banks, and leaving Tonti at Fort Crevecoeur to finish a boat which would carry them down the great river to its mouth, he returned to Fort Frontenac for supplies. Fort Crevecoeur 124 Builders of Our Nation At Fort Frontenac he learned that the Grijji)i with Tonii's letter jts Hch cargo of furs was lost. Then a letter from Tonti reached him. Tonti wrote that an Indian war was under way near Fort Crevecoeur. His men had deserted him, and he was alone. Fearing for his friend's life, La Salle hurried back to the fort. He found the building in ruins. Skulls lay about in the long prairie grass. Was Tonti's skull among the rest ? Skeletons bleached in the sun. La Salle said with a shudder that he would know Tonti's remains by his iron hand. With anguish in his heart he continued his search. He paddled down the Illinois to its mouth and saw for the first time the great water highway to the gulf. But he had no wish to pursue his voyage until he could learn what had been the fate of his friend. La Salle retraced his anxious way until he learned that Tonti had escaped to Green Bay. He hastened to join Tonti, and together they proceeded to Montreal, where Gov- ernor Frontenac helped fit out four new boats to explore the Mississippi. A party of fifty-four — eighteen Indian warriors, ten squaws, three papooses, and twenty-three Frenchmen From the Illinois — procccdcd to thc HHnois, and then to the Mississippi. They floated down the river between prairies and beetling crags and gloomy forests. The fresh water grew brackish. The brackish water changed to brine. Reeds as tall as the head lined the low shores. A north wind sped on the boats. Presently the gulf spread out to view. Over its placid waters skimmed birds of rare plumage. Alligators heaved heavily up River to the gulf La Salle 125 like huge, black logs. Thousands of insects buzzed incessantly. La Salle pointed to the west and to the east. "'Spain claims all this country," he said to Tonti, "but France owns it now." "Aye," said Tonti of the iron hand, "France owns it now." La Salle pointed north. "The English kings give 'sea to sea' charters," he said, "but the lilies of France' are planted." "Aye," said Tonti, "the lilies of France are planted." La Salle set up a pillar carved with the arms of .... ^"°2 France. And all the vast valley of the Mississippi — La saiie takes from the frozen north to the reed lands of the south, MSXpi°vaiiey from the Alleghanies to the Rocky Mountains — he (^p"'?) called Louisiana,^ after his king, Louis XIV. Louisiana He ascended the Mississippi and the Illinois. At Starved Rock, above the ruins of Fort Crevecoeur, and near the present city of La Salle, he built Fort St. Louis pon st. Louis — the fifth link in his chain. Then, because of their dread that the Iroquois would again swoop down from the east, the western Indians swarmed to Fort St. Louis. Twenty thousand Indians dwelt in lodges at the fort of Starved Rock — a vast army to lead south if the Spaniards of Mexico should try to hinder a French settlement at the mouth of the Mississippi! By this time La Salle was dreaming again. He left Tonti at Fort St. Louis and returned to France. The La saiie's third visit fur trader dressed himself in satin and lace and a per- '° ^'^"''^ " Lilies were the symbol of the French kings. * Also called New France. See map, p. 123. 126 Builders of Our Nation La Salle talks Louis XIV William Penn i rennsylvania'' with fumed wig. He went to the great palace of Versailles' and had audience with King Louis. It was a long audience behind closed doors. The talk was about secret affairs of state. La Salle told the king how he had planted five forts ,__-" • .^_— =...-. _^^ on the highway which led from the lakes to the Gulf of Mexico ; how the English were spreading toward the Alleghanies, and would presently cross the mountains unless the French kept them out; and how that very year VERSAILLES a rlch English Quaker, named Penn, had started another colony, and was making friends with the western Indians.' He told how he had reached the mouth of the ]\Iis- sissippi, at the place where it divided into three great channels. He had descended one channel and Cheva- lier de Tonti the second, and another of his men the third. They had reached the gulf where the Spaniards claimed everything. He said he wanted to plant forts at each mouth of the great river — three forts like three pendants to his great chain of forts. Then — here old King Louis must have looked anxiously at the closed doors — then he would lead thousands of Indians from Fort St. Louis against the Spaniards of Mexico and seize their rich mines. Now the Spaniards had been capturing French merchant vessels that tried to trade in Mexico. And • See map, p. ii6. ^ ggg William Penn, p. 134. La Salle 127 so the king listened eagerly to a plan to punish them. His majesty gave La Salle four ships. One of the ships, the Joly, carried thirty-six guns. Many colonists LaSaiie-s colony for joined the expedition. Captain Beaujeu, who was an officer of the royal navy, was put in charge of the ships, captain Beaujeu Beaujeu was jealous of La Salle from the very beginning. A half dozen quarrels were patched up between the two before the voyage began. In the Gulf of Mexico the ships became separated. La Salle mis- took Matagorda Bay' for one of the mouths of the Mississippi. He landed on the shore of the bay, and The colony on built a stockade and a fort. Presently Beaujeu came, ' '''''^°' "" ^^ but after unloading his passengers he sailed away in bad humor. La Salle and a party of men explored the country. They were gone many days. When they returned their clothes were "so tattered there was hardly a piece left large enough to wrap a farthing's worth of salt." Many in the fort had sickened and died, and the , Indians were growing unfriendly. La Salle started to go to Montreal for aid for his colony. His companions quarreled and disputed. One morning, near a branch of Trinity River, in a region now called Texas, two of Death of La saue the men shot their leader from an ambush, and left him lying on the plains. Meantime Tonti, at Fort St. Louis, heard that La Salle had entered the Gulf of Mexico with a colony. Joy ! The dream was near fulfillment. Tonti paddled down the Mississippi. He reached the gulf. Day after day he searched for the colony that was starving Tonti waits at the on IMatagorda Bay, four hundred miles to the west. ^" " See map, p. 123. 128 Builders of Our Nation He returned to Fort St. Louis; but he kept waiting for news of his friend until at last he learned of his death. Years passed. Tonti heard that a French colony had been planted at the mouth of the Mississippi by Iberville and Bienville two brothcrs, IbcrviJle and Bienville. One day, while the two brothers were busy cutting trees to lay the foundation of their fort, a canoe swept down the swift current of the Mississippi. In the boat were six red rowers with a steersman. And in their midst sat a white man of most majestic air. Presently the canoe drew near. The man leaped to shore. It was Tonti of the iron hand. The brothers welcomed the famous pioneer. For three days they talked together of La Salle and of his dreams, and of the city of New Orleans that the brothers were building on the shore of the river which the dead hero had won for France. Tonti returned to Fort St. Louis. The links in the French chain of forts kept increasing. How those forts became at last the property of the United States is another story. But the name of La Salle will always be associated with the names of the valleys he explored. "America," says Francis Parkman, "owes an endur- ing memory to La Salle, the pioneer who guided her to her richest heritage." Tonti again 1718 Mew Orleans founded Francis Parkman's tribute to La Salle 1644 William Pcnn bom (October 14) Religious persecutions THE TREATY ELM WILLIAM PENN THE FATHER OF PENNSYLVANIA I 644-1 7 18 ILLIAM PENN was born on Tower Hill, London, at a time when at least three classes of Christians in England — the Puritans, the Catholics, and -:.]!! the Quakers— were being perse- cuted because they would not con- '" England form to the rules of the Established Church. The persecuted Puritans had ceased to go to America. They had buckled on their swords to fight, not only for religious, but for political rights. They were often called " Roundheads, " be- cause they wore cropped hair instead of long curling locks. The persecuted Catholics were fleeing to America to a colony called Maryland, which Lord Baltimore had founded. The persecuted Friends (called "Quakers" because The Friends, George Fox, their leader, was always warning people to quake before the wrath of God) would not fight. Their religion forbade it. And they had no colony in America to which they could go where they might worship as they pleased. 129 The Puritans, or "Roundheads" WILLIAM PENN 1644-1718 'Quakers'' I30 Builders of Our Nation The Church of England 1649 Charles I beheaded 1653 Cromwell becomes Lord Protector (December 16) 1660 Charles 11 ascends the throne (May 29) William Penn goes to Oxford William Penn hears a Quaker preach William Penn's father was not a Puritan, a Catholic, nor a Quaker. He belonged to the Church of England. And so it would seem that there was no reason to sup- pose' that the blue-eyed baby born that day on Tower Hill would ever be persecuted on account of his religion. William's father was an admiral, and fought for his country on the high seas. Charles I welcomed Admiral Penn at his court. When Charles lost his head because he had tried to tax English freemen without their consent, Oliver Cromwell, the "Roundhead," became Lord Protector of England. Crom- well sent Penn to sea to fight the Spanish, and after the gal- lant admiral conquered Ja- maica in the West Indies, he gave him vast estates. When Cromwell's son Richard had resigned the rule, and Charles n had become king, the admiral was again set a task on the sea. And so while William Penn was growing up into a fine, sturdy lad, he had nothing to fear from either religion or politics. At fifteen he went to Oxford to school, where he was treated with great respect, partly because of his father's high rank, and partly because of his scholarly mind and his skill in boating and field sports. One day he heard a Quaker preach. The Quakers wore broad-brimmed hats and long drab coats. They ' See p. 88. OLIVERCROMWELL 1599-1658 William Penn 131 said "thee" and "thou" instead of "you." They were unwilHng to take oath in court, to go to war, or to pay taxes in support of war; and they would not bow to anyone. After WiUiam Penn heard this peculiar preaching, his habits began to change. He refused to attend religious services at Oxford, or to wear the long Penn leaves Oxford black gown such as other students wore. The admiral was grieved when he heard of this conduct. He called William home, gave him a very full purse, and sent him to Paris with some rich noble- Penn goes to Paris men who would be sure to divert his mind from serious thoughts. The young Englishman's figure was tall and well set. His eyes were full of light; his brow was broad, his mouth resolute; his hair, parted in the center, waved to his shoulders. All in all there was not a handsomer youth in France. He was presented to King Louis XTV, who was not King Louis xiv much older than himself, and he soon became a favorite at the French court. When William returned home, his father looked him over with satisfaction. He carried his sword in the French fashion; he lisped fine compliments to the ladies; he talked of his duels in the streets of Paris. The proud admiral took him to Whitehall, where Charles II held court; then he sent him to Lincoln's Inn to study law. The Black Plague broke out in London. Sometimes The Biack piague ten thousand victims died in one day. Penn began again to think of religion; but the admiral did not despair. He sent his son to Ireland to manage some Penn in Ireland Penn estates. 132 Builders of Our Nation Pcnn in prison The Tower In Dublin' Penn joined a military expedition to put down a mutiny, and he behaved with so much valor that the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland wrote to the admiral that William should have a company of his own. The young soldier was so proud of his success that he had himself painted in his armor. While on business in the city of Cork he heard another Quaker sermon. After that he went often to their meetings. One day the police broke into the meeting-house and arrested all who were there. Penn with his laces and frills and bright-hilted sword looked so different from his drab-clothed friends that the mayor of Cork offered to set him free if he would give bond not to atfend the meetings. This the new convert refused to do, and remained in prison until a powerful nobleman secured his release. It was soon noised about London that Penn had "turned Quaker or some other melancholy thing." The angry father commanded him home and implored him to abandon this ridiculous sect. Penn remained firm in his faith. He finally even gave up his beloved sword that he might better follow those who preached "peace and good will to men." The admiral turned him out of doors and for some time he lived on the secret aid of his mother. Meantime Quakers were thrown into prison, set in the stocks, and whipped in the public streets. When Penn himself was imprisoned in the Tower ' for preach- ing Quaker doctrines, his father, who had learned to admire his courage, paid his fine and received him with open arms. I Sec map, p. 62. ^ gee illustration, p. 133. William Penn m THE TOWER OF LONDON Before the admiral died, he sent for Prince James, james, Duke of York the Duke of York, to beg him to protect his Quaker son from persecution, and this the duke promised to do. Penn inherited vast estates. He traveled in Europe Penn travels in Europe to preach, and wherever he went he heard Quakers sighing ''^'^'■'' ~^\MM for a country where they might worship as they pleased. Now, as we have seen, King Charles II had giv- en to the Duke of York all of New Netherlands in Amer- ica. ' That part of the Dutch prov- ince east of the Delaware became New Jersey, and was divided into East and West Jersey by Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley, to whom the duke had given it. A Quaker company purchased West Jersey from Quakers purchase Lord Berkeley and began to send settlers there. Wil- liam Penn was made a trustee for West Jersey. He became so interested in the colony that he joined eleven other men of means and purchased East Jersey for another settlement of Quakers. Then Penn resolved to have a province all his own which should be a refuge and place of peace for himself and any other human being who was persecuted for the sake of religion. The English crown owed his father's estate a large sum of money. Penn again went to court. This tirhe Quaker Ponn goes he wore a long drab coat and a broad-brimmed hat ' See p. 113. 134 Builders of Our Nation Charles II sells "Pennsylvania" (February 14) PENN IN QUAKER GARB which he would not remove even in the royal presence. The fun-loving king took off his own hat. ''Friend Charles," asked Penn, "why dost thou remove thy hat?" "Because," laughed the king, "wherever I am it is the fashion for but one to remain covered !" Penn, unmoved at the rebuke, asked " Friend Charles" to pay the crown debt with a grant of land west of the Delaware River, and north of Maryland where the Catholics had settled. The "merry monarch," thinking this a cheap way to settle the debt, made out a patent for a vast tract of land. What name should be written down in the patent? Penn liked "New Wales" because he had heard mountains were there like the mountains in old Wales.' But the king's secretary was a Welshman. He did not want the home of the "crazy Quakers" named after his fatherland. Penn then said the province might be called "Syl- vania" because it was well wooded. And the king smilingly added that the name should be "Penn- sylvania"— Penn's Woodland— in honor of the old admiral, whose claim against the crown was now paid. When it was known that Penn, the rich Quaker, was founding a colony in America which should be without laws against any religion, people from all over Europe wrote letters or sent agents to London to find out about it. But the courtiers of Charles laughed aloud about the "coward" Quakers who would not carry swords, going across the sea to live among Indians. ' See map, p. 62. William Penn 135 Pennsylvania The purchase of Delaware 178- They said not a soul would be alive in a week's time. A shipload of Quakers sailed to Pennsylvania in immigraiion to care of an agent. Others followed. Before the year was out nearly three thousand had sailed for Pennsylvania. The next year Penn himself set sail, but before he went he bought some more land. Dela- ware,' between the Jerseys and Maryland, lay at the mouth of the Delaware River and was a part of the province of New York. Penn wanted to control the navigation of the river, and purchased this land from the Duke of York. When he reached Newcastle, P^nn arrives at Newcastle the duke's agent, in the presence of a crowd of people (October 27) — Swedes, Dutch, and English in national dress, and Indians in blankets and skins — delivered to him a handful of soil, the twig of a tree, and a flagon of water in sign that all Delaware was his. Penn proceeded up the river to a small settlement which he called Chester. Here he took possession of Pennsylvania and called the settlers together to confer. "You shall be governed by laws of your own mak- ing," he said, "and live a free, and if you will, a sober and industrious people." He rowed in a barge to the junction of the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. Here he founded his capital city, which he called Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. Philadelphia He named its streets Cedar, Mulberry, Pine, Chestnut, and Walnut, from tj^ trees he found growing there. ' See map. 136 Builders of Our Nation 1682 La Salle takes possession of the Mississippi valley (April g) The treaty with the Dela wares Only a few months before, La Salle, the Frenchman, had taken possession of the valley' of the Mississippi and its tributaries, from the peaks of the Rocky Mountains to the Alleghany ridge, which included a part of the land purchased by Penn; but the great Quaker knew nothing of that. He believed the land had belonged to the English crown because of the dis- coveries of the Cabots. Penn made friends with the neighboring Indians. Under a spreading elm tree he negotiated a treaty of peace, which was kept by the warriors, who remained the friends of any man who wore a broad - brimmed hat. Long after Penn's death, the Delawares would meet under the treaty elm ONE OF PENN'S WAMPUM BE Penn visits New York's governor ^^^ to spread a blanket or clean pieces of bark, and lay down one by one their belts and wampum on which, were written the pledges of Penn. The new proprietor paid a visit to the Duke of York's province on the Hudson where that prince's governor was trying to make good Englishmen out of the Dutch. The restless French traders on the north were giving a great deal of trouble. They were trying to persuade the Iroquois to dig up the hatchet they had buried under the little Dutch church, and make war on the English "usurpers." Penn believed in peace. He saw that in union alone there could be peace. He said if all the English colonies would join in friendly alliance, the French would not be so bold. The governor 6f New York smiled at the very idea of a union between the colonies. Jle said he had been ' See p. 125. William Penn 137 in America long enough to know all about it. The Dutch hated the Puritans of New England ; the Puri- tans flogged Quakers away from their towns; the Church of England men in Virginia would not harbor Catholics: and so how could the Dutch, the Puritans, the Quakers, the Catholics, and the Church of England men ever agree to a union ? Penn returned to Chester, resolved to strengthen his own colony as fast as he could. He had divided his province into counties and lots and put up the land for sale at forty shillings for a hundred acres. Before Philadelphia was two years old it numbered two thou- sand inhabitants and the province nearly eight thou- sand. The Delaware River became a busy mart of trade, where ships lay at anchor from other colonies along the coast. Penn wrote home: "I have led the greatest colony into America that any man ever did upon a private credit." .„ 16S5 Meantime Charles II had died, and the Duke of Death of charies 11 York came to the throne with the title of James II. jamesii "Come and help us," wrote some persecuted Quakers from London, who had been thrown into prison. Penn, leaving his council to govern in his stead, hurried back to England. He was welcomed Penn returns to at court. His manners were so gentle and his wit and '°"''° learning so great that he influenced the king to set more than a thousand Quakers free. It was perhaps due to Penn more than to any other one man that Parliament a little later passed the great Toleration Act. In the Toleration Act the government The Toleration Act 138 Builders of Our Nation 1 763-1 767 Mason and Dixon's line established 1689 William and Mary ascend throne (February 13) War between England and France Pcnn again in prison gave up all claim to the right to force subjects to belong to the Established Church. Penn lingered in London trying to settle a boundary dispute with Lord Baltimore. In spite of all he could do, the line between Pennsylvania and Maryland remained in dispute. Many years after Penn's death the line was drawn by two surveyors named Mason and Dixon, and *' Mason and Dixon's line" became known as the division in politics between the states of the South, and the Middle and New England states. The people of England grew tired of James II, who was a tyrant over everybody except his friends. Par- liament invited William of Orange and Mary, the daughter of James, to rule in his stead. James fled to France and Louis XIV went to war with England to restore him to his throne. Of course when the two fatherlands began fighting, their children, the colonies, had a good excuse for fighting too. New York and the New England colonies rallied men and met the French in Canada. The peace-loving Quakers did not join in the fight. Comfortable farmhouses took the place of their cabins ; orchards blossomed and bore fruit; corn and wheat produced not only enough food for the settlers, but a little beside to be carried in boats to the towns on the coast. Penn wished to again visit his colony which had become the wonder and talk of all Europe; but troubles of his own kept him long in England. He was accused of receiving a letter from the exiled William Penn 139 PENN'S HOUSE IN PHILADELPHIA James, and was in prison for several months. King William claimed that on account of Governor Penn's absence his province was in disorder. France was threatening all the American ^- -^.i colonies. His majesty said Pennsylvania should have a military defense even if the Quakers did not believe in fighting. He accordingly ap- pointed a governor who tried to muster all the able-bodied men in the province. But the good Quakers refused to shoulder muskets and there was the worst sort of confusion throughout Pennsylvania. Two years later, when Penn sailed back to his colony with his wife and one of his daughters, he was surprised at the beauty and size of Philadelphia, which was now a rival of Boston. Penn had two homes, one in the city and the other in the country. His country home, Pennsburg Manor, cost him thirty-five thousand dollars. It was sur- rounded by a great park and was very elegantly fur- nished. He entertained freely whoever came — white men, Indians, or negroes. It is said that at one of the feasts in the vast dining room his visitors ate a hundred roasted turkeys. Penn did not remain long in America from England that on account of an approaching war "^*° with France all the colonies in America were to be put under governors appointed by the king, and the Penn- 1699 Penn returns to his province Pennsljurg Manor 1701 Word came Penn returns to I40 Builders of Our Nation 1702 Death of William III CMarch S) Queen Anne 1714 Death of Anne (August i) 1718 Death of Penn (July 30) 1779 The state of Pennsylvania purchases the claim? of the Penns sylvania assembly urged him to return to court to plead for his rights. King William died soon after Penn's arrival in England, and Queen Anne came to the throne. Anne had known the great Quaker all her life. She said he should remain governor of Pennsylvania as long as he lived, and that his heirs should succeed him. When Anne died, George I became king. So that eight monarchs sat on the English throne during the life of William Penn. Each of these rulers had something to do with colonial affairs in America. Do you remem- ber who they were ? Charles I Oliver Cromwell Richard Cromwell Charles II James II William and Mary Anne I George I When Penn died in England he was still the honored governor of Pennsylvania. Today his name ranks with the greatest names in our history. His descendants held office until the American colonies formed a united government. And then the new state of Pennsylvania purchased the claims of the Penns who had ruled for nearly a hundred years. lyoS William Pitt born (November is) WESTMINSTER ABBEY WILLIAM PITT THE GREAT COMMONER 1 708-1 778 'ILLIAM PITT was born in Westminster, which is now a part of London but at that time was a city in itself. The Pitt house stood hardly a stone's throw from Westminster Abbey, Westminster Abbey where Henry VII, who had sent out the Cabots to find America, lies buried. Here also, lie Eliz- abeth, who knighted Raleigh and Drake for services in ^ America, and James I, who persecuted the Puritans, and Charles I, who lost his head because he had tried to deprive Englishmen of their political rights. Many commoners without any title at all — war- riors, discoverers, statesmen, and poets — have been honored with tombs in Westminster Abbey. Sometimes William was allowed by the good beadle to wander in and out among the tall monuments, and he had to tilt high his face — a keen little face with piercing eyes and a nose like an eagle's beak — to read the names of the dead who had helped to make England great. England then ranked among the greatest nations of Europe. Since the Toleration Act' thousands of The Toreration Act persecuted Christians from France, Spain, Holland, WILLIAM PITT LORD CHATHAM 1708-1778 i68g I See p. 137. 141 142 Builders of Our Nation Pitt hears of the Indies Eton Oxford Lincoln's Inn 173s Pitt enters Parliament Pitt's first speech in the House of Commons and Germany — weavers, artists, printers, ironmasters — had migrated to England to ply their trades. The colonies in America furnished a fine market for wares manufactured in England or carried in English ships from the Indies. William Pitt's grandfather had once been governor of Madras in the East Indies. The lad often sat on his grandfather's knee to hear about the dazzling East Indies, with its camels and elephants, its ivories, silks, and spices. He heard a deal about the West Indies, too; for his grandfather had also been governor of Jamaica, and knew all about the neighboring islands owned by the Spaniards. When the boy was old enough he went to Eton to school and then to Oxford and to Lincoln's Inn, just as William Penn, the Quaker, had done. But the life of Penn was spent in bringing peace to men, while it seems to have been the mission of Pitt to send war toward all the four points of the compass. While still in his twenties Pitt entered Parliament. The English Houses of Parliament, you know, are the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The lords, in most cases, inherit their seats. The com- moners are elected by the people. The members of Parliament are supposed to enact new laws and guard old laws from abuse. Pitt was elected to the House of Commons. His first speech made him famous. Some said it was his handsome face with its piercing eyes and its nose like the beak of an eagle that attracted so much attention; others said it was his voice, so ringing and clear that William Pitt 143 even his whisper reached the farthest corner of the hall ; others said it was his display of words and the gestures he made with his long arms. "'War" was almost the first thing Pitt talked about in the House of Commons. English ships had shaken their mastheads at Spain's orders to keep away from West Indian ports, and Spaniards were capturing English seamen and throwing them into prison, "When trade is at stake," cried Pitt, "you must defend it or perish!" England declared war against Spain. When King England declares George called upon the American colonies for help, TheTo^lnTes^aiTm troops from New England and from Virginia, and even •'"' ^p"""'"^ "^'^^ from Pennsylvania, sailed to Jamaica to join Admiral Vernon's fleet. When France joined Spain in the war the American France joins spain colonies sent men north with Commodore Warren's 1745 fleet, and conquered Louisburg, a stout fort on Cape i^ouisburg captured Breton Island,' which the French had been building for years. Pitt was delighted when he heard of the brave Americans. "Much of England's glory or ruin depends on our colonies," he said. He was almost as angry as the Americans themselves, ■when the king's ministers gave Louisburg back to France in exchange for Madras, in India, which the Louisburg exchanged French had captured. He knew very well that Louis- ^"' ^^'^ '""^ burg must be taken over again. But the King's min- isters did not understand that. One of them really 'See map, p. 147. 144 Builders of Our Nation French colonies understood so little about the geography of America that he was quite surprised when he heard that Cape Breton was an island. "Well, well," said this ignorant minister, "I must go tell the king Cape Breton's an island!" Pitt very often studied the map of Amer- ica. He would begin at Cape Breton, near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, and move his finger up the river to Quebec, the capital of New France, and to Montreal, and to scores of Jesuit missions along its banks. He followed the line of French forts ' to the Missis- sippi and on down the "Great Father of Waters" to Spanish colonies Ncw Orlcans, the French trading post on the gulf; then out into the gulf and along the coast of Spanish Florida to Georgia, the youngest colony planted by the Eng- . lish, and to South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, English colonies Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and to Maine — a wilderness of many bays which belonged to Massachusetts. Thirteen colonies lay along the sea-coast, all loyal to the English crown. The English colonies abounded in corn, cattle, flax, iron, and trees fit for ship-building. The inhabitants were doubling in number every twenty years. In the southern colonies tobacco and rice were cultivated on vast plantations; in the northern colonies the people farmed the lands, engaged in fisheries, and built every year a hundred and fifty vessels to sell in Europe and the West Indies. New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia were thrifty, busy cities, and all along the sea lay towns • See map, p. 123. William Pitt 145 whose harbors were filled with trade ships from Eng- land. Truly, as Pitt said, much of England's glory depended on her colonies. But there on the map, to the north, were the French The owo vaiiey ready to seize these profitable colonies; to the south were the Spanish allies of the French; and to the west the mountains hemmed them in and to the east the sea. Pitt knew very well that the French claimed the wilderness beyond the mountains — so rich in furs and plow-land. But the English claimed it, too. Some English trappers had crossed the ridges and built their huts as though they intended to stay. Presently it was noised about London that King George had granted a patent to the "Ohio Company" Th/r''4!i charter to for a large tract of land. The land lay in a valley the omo company where two rivers formed a fork and plunged into one great stream, called by the Indians the "Ohio." "If a fort were built at the head of the Ohio," said Pitt, "the trade route of the whole valley would be easy to guard from the French." Word came to the House of Commons that while the Ohio Company was building a fort at the head of the Ohio, some French and Indians had attacked the workmen, driven them off, and built a fort for them- selves, which they called "Fort Duquesne."' Almost FonDuquesne ' •' ^ '■ built by the French the next ship into port carried news that a small com- pany of Virginia troops had been defeated near Fort Duquesne. "English blood shed by Frenchmen must be avenged," cried the excited members of the House of Commons. I See map, p. 147. 146 * Builders of Our Nation 1755 Defeat of General Uraddock 1756 The French build Fort Ticonderoga General Edward Braddock was sent across the sea with two regiments of redcoats. The lawmakers of England waited to hear from the wilderness west of the mountains. Presently word came that General Braddock had been killed in an engagement with the French near Fort Duquesne; more than half of his army had fallen, and the whole army of regulars and colonists would have been destroyed but for the skill of a young American, George Washington, who had rallied the flying remnant into an orderly retreat. Then word came that the French from Canada had sailed down Lake Champlain and built Fort Ticon- deroga' at the foot of Lake George, and meant to get possession of the Hudson River. That would split the colonies in two, and make it easy enough for the French to conquer them all. More English regulars were hurried to America. But more French troops were hurried too, and their leader was Marquis de Montcalm, one of the greatest MARQUIS DE MONTCALM gcucrals of Europc. ' ' I dread to hear from America, ' ' said Pitt, when he learned that ISIontcalm had sailed up the St. Lawrence. Montcalm soon made war-news for the English House of Commons. He captured Fort William Henry, which New Yorkers had built at the head of Lake George. Sham.e and grief and rage filled the hearts of the people of England. "One man alone," they said, "can save our colonies and redeem the national honor." "Pitt! Pitt!" they called, at the very door of the royal palace. ' Sec map, p. 147. 1757 Fort William Henry captured (August 9) William Pitt 147 1757 Pitt becomes Prime Minister of England (December 4) Pitt plans a campaign King George II was forced to dismiss his favorites King George ii from office, and William Pitt became prime minister. This time Pitt spread out the map of the whole world; for England was also at war with the French in the East Indies and the West Indies and in Africa and on the high seas. He saw clearly enough that his armies in America could reach Canada by only three routes: up the St. Lawrence from the ocean, down the St. Law- rence from the west, and down Lake Champlain from the south. He knew that the Indians would choose sides — the Hurons and other lake Indians with the French, and the Iroquois with the English — and so he learned all he could about Indian warfare. He realized that the colonists had not been treated fairly by the English generals in command, and he ordered that they should be promoted in the ranks, should act as scouts and fight Indian fashion whenever it seemed necessary. He despatched twenty-five thousand more English- men to America. He removed one officer after another untU the right man for the place was found. Swift sailboats and sweating postboys carried his orders to different camps. Soon twenty-five thousand colonials in buckskin and an equal numl^er of redcoats were changing the map of America. 148 Builders of Our Nation 1758 Fort Louisburg recaptured (July 26) Fort Duquesne becomes Fort Pitt (November 25) 1759 Fort Niagara captured (July 25) Ticonderoga and Crown Point General Wolfe JAMES WOLFE 1727-1759 ^759 Surrender of Quebec (September 18) An army under General Amherst and Admiral Boscawen captured Fort Louisburg; General Forbes and Colonel George Washington took Fort Duquesne, and changed its name to Fort Pitt. • All England saw that the master hand of Pitt would win victory from the French. Parliament voted large sums of money to carry on the war. More soldiers from Scotland,' Ireland,' and England' hurried to America, and colonial farmers in homespun left their plows to join them. Fort Niagara, the key to the Great Lakes, the Illinois River, and the Mississippi, was taken. Ticon- deroga and Crown Point, which protected Canada from the south, were seized. The gallant young General Wolfe with an army of nine thousand men sailed up the St. Lawrence. Wolfe watched Quebec, situated on a high cliff and guarded for miles with guns. Mont- calm and his army were there. Weeks passed in an effort to gain the city from below. Then Wolfe sailed farther up the river. He landed his men above Quebec,^ and they scaled the rugged cliffs by night. Daybreak revealed them drawn up in line on the Field of Abraham, facing Quebec. INIontcalm, amazed at the sight, quickly rallied his troops. The French and Cana- dians poured out of the great west gate of the city and formed in battle line. The struggle was fierce, but soon over ; and Quebec, too, came under the British flag. ' Sec may, p. 62. 2 See map, p. 144. William Pitt 149 Pitt, the terror of France, became the military wonder of the civilized world. He was called the " Great Commoner" by the people, who openly boasted The Great commoner on the streets of London that he might add France itself to the British crown. Pitt had secret information that Spain would join France in the war when some treasure-ships from South America came safely into port. He urged the king to declare war on Spain and seize the treasure on the high seas, as Elizabeth had seized King Philip's. The king by this time was young George HI, George H having died soon after the fall of Quebec. As the dead king's grandson was hurrying to London, Pitt, very splendid in a coach and six, had met the young prince and welcomed him as his king. As they entered the city, Pitt, riding behind, was cheered even more than the king. It was soon whispered about that his majesty, George lU, was jealous of his prime minister's fame and wished to dismiss him from office. Pitt boldly sent ships to the far-away Philippine Philippine islands Lslands' and to the West Indies to strike quickly when Spain should make her first move. When the king and his favorite. Lord Bute, refused Lord Bute to believe that Spain would join France in the war, Pitt resigned his office, and Lord Bute became secretary of state. The Spanish treasure reached port, and Spain (//// join France in the war; but the fleets Pitt had sent to ' See map, between pp. 248-249. GEORGE III 1738- 1820 1761 Pitt resigns his office 1762 The English capture Havana (August 14) Manila (October 6) I50 Builders of Our Nation 1763 Final treaty of peace at Paris (February 10) A lax on American colonies proposed Spanish waters captured Havana, the capital of Cuba, and Manila in the Philippines. It was Lord Bute who arranged the treaty of peace, but everybody knew that Pitt had made the wonderful treaty possible. France lost her possessions in North America, except some islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. England gained Canada and all French and Spanish lands east of the Mississippi except New Orleans. Then, to repay Spain for the loss of Florida, France gave to Spain New Orleans and the territory between the Mis- sissippi River and the Rocky Mountains. Lord Bute gave Havana and Manila back to Spain. Both Englishmen and Americans grumbled at that. They said if Pitt had made the treaty the cities would have been kept and would have brought a vast trade. The colonists felt that Pitt was the best friend they had in England. When the House of Commons dis- cussed taxing the Americans to help pay for the long war, Pitt said they had already done their share. They had lost thousands of men and paid large sums of money for a war brought on by a quarrel between England and France. "Parliament must put a tax on the Americans," persisted the king's ministers. / ff '■ / ^Mi.U' ^**=»-^^^~^ V /c ^w 'K y ~^ j^^-^^^-;:^sff<^ ^'( f >Vv) I ^» Jt \ ^~^ .^"^J / *()s S > "^S. ( t\ t'sl ^'"^^ ^ ( \ r^ \j f \ Y/'^/ii (sS \)^^ ^ \ \J ci^j'^'^ 1^1 ^ t ^ a r/TT/Kj \ yX ^ M «=• (Y r ^V/ 1) ^ C3|j ^ , == ffcOUNTfjf^-\ r ^ ^¥ (f%^sr \Swu;tV^'4 .3S' -.i*"*-'V^^^ ^ ^-<' a ^ ^ (■ ^^ \ r/)e British Possessions\%. in /Imerica ^Ss in I76t. William Pitt 151 (March 22) "They have their own parliaments, called Assem- 1765 blies," said Pitt. "Our Parliament has no right under stlmTAa' ^ heaven to lay a tax without their consent." One day while Pitt was absent, the House of Com- mons passed an act to impose a tax on Americans by requiring stamps to be placed on legal and commercial papers. All written documents must be executed on the stamped paper— marriage certificates, burial certifi- cate's, deeds, wills, transfers — everything, to be legal, must have the stamp. Alarming news reached England even before the stamps were delivered. Pitt heard it all. "Our fatherland should remember we are children and not slaves," wrote someone from Penn's land. "We will none of us import British goods until the act is repealed," wrote the mer- chants of Boston, New York, and Philadel- phia. It was said that some colonies had set up looms to weave their own cloth, and that farmers were eating no mutton that they might have wool. "All the colonies will go into manufacturing," warned the governor of Maryland. A newspaper from America was handed from bench to bench in Parliament. At the head of the newspaper was the picture of a snake divided into parts, bearing the names of the colonies and the motto : "Join or Die ! " It was even said that a congress of the colonies had met in New York City. Presently a "Declaration of Rights and Grievances" came to be read in Parliament. The declaration ^'^^'^ FRANKLIN'S JOIN OR DIE Colonial convention in New York meets (October 7) A Declaration of 152 Builders of Our Nation John Adams 1766 The House of Commons summons Benjamin FrankUn (February 13) Pitt speaks against the Stamp Act maintained that Americans were subjects of the king like other EngHshmcn, but it was the natural right of a British subject to vote his own tax. John Adams of Massachusetts wrote: ''If the great men are determined to enforce the acts, they will find a more obstinate war than the conquest of Canada." "Great Sir," said an American newspaper sent to King George, "retreat or you are ruined." The king intended to have his own way. "Enforce the Stamp Act with the sword!" he cried. "France and Spain stand ready to help the colonies," warned Pitt. "Even now France is increasing her navy." Benjamin Franklin, an editor of Philadelphia, who had given prominence to the motto "Join or Die", was called before the House of Commons. Franklin was so fearless in his defense of colonial rights that he made a great impression on the lawmakers of England. Pitt worked day and night to undo the harm that had been done. "Repeal the Stamp Act," he said to the stubborn king's ministers. "I repeat, my lords, it is not in accord with the English constitution." When at last the final vote on the repeal came, the galleries and halls of Westminster were crowded with trembling and anxious merchants who said their trade with America was ruined. "Only Pitt can put an end to this anarchy," whispered a member of Parliament, as he hurried into his seat. Presently Pitt hobbled in, swathed in flannel. His eagle face was alive with emotion. Some Americans' ' Benjamin West, the painter, was one of these Americans. See p. 227. William Pitt 153 up in the gallery coold hardly keep from cheering aloud. The debate lasted till after midnicfht. Pitt made one great speech. Others replied. Pitt spoke again. RepeLofthe The Stamp Act was repealed. . ^'''ma'ich is) When the doors were opened and Pitt appeared, caps were thrown into the early morning air and huzzas resounded from the tradesmen, who crowded about the great man's chair and escorted him to his door. King George, in spite of his jealousy, called Pitt to court and gave him the title of the Earl of Chatham. TheSariof This title gave the "Great Commoner" a seat in the ^^^'^^"^ House of Lords. Some of his old friends feared he might become a tool for the king and his favorites. But no! Lord Chatham continued to lash corruption on every side. To the end of his life he felt that the cause of the colo- nists was his own. When the colonial oppressions increased and America rose in arms, ' he plead always for liberty and justice. war breaks out The stubborn king would have his own way in '''"'"'"e" ''-"g'^nd o -' and the colonies American affairs. Because Englishmen were too slow ^'^p"' '9) in taking up arms against their kinsmen, his majesty hired some Hessian troops to help the English regulars. King George hires Chatham again spoke out in the House of Lords. "You cannot conquer America!" he said. "If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my country, I would never lay down my arms. Never, never, never!" News reached England that the Americans had met in convention and had signed a Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Franklin, who was still ' See p. 166, the Hessians 154 Builders 0} Our Nation 1777 r.urgoyne's surrender (October 17) I-ord North France recognizes the independence of the American colonies I-ord Chatham's last speech in Parliament 1778 Death of Chatham - (May II) working in London for the cause of the colonies, openly rejoiced at the courage of his countrymen. King George and his ministers sent army after army across the sea to conquer the colonies. Report came at last that General Burgoyne had surrendered to the Americans at Saratoga, with his whole force of six thousand men, among them six members of Parliament. Lord North, the prime minister, wept at the news, it is said; and his majesty "fell into agonies." But still King George would not make terms. ''Do justice to America," cried Chatham, in the House of Lords. "Do justice tonight. Do it ere you sleep! " Then news came that France, encouraged by the surrender of Saratoga, had acknowledged the independ- ence of the colonies and would furnish ships and men to aid them. The blow had fallen at last. Chatham, with the pallor of death upon his brow, appeared in Parliament for the last time. He was enraged that France, his old enemy, should humble the proud name of the England he had done so much to exalt. He urged defiance to France on the one hand and firm hold on the colonies on the other. Later he rose again as if to speak. He pressed his hand to his breast, and fell. When the great man died, the House of Commons asked for a public funeral, and voted a large sum of money for his monument in Westminster Abbey, where kings and the other makers of England lay. GEORGE WASHINGTON THE FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY 1732-1799 EORGE WASHINGTON was born on February 22, 1732, in Westmore- land County, Virginia. His father was a rich planter who died when the boy was eleven years old. Law- 1732 Birth of George Washington (February 22) rence Washijigton, George's elder brother, inherited the plantation on the Po- tomac River, which he called "Mount Vernon" Mount vemon in honor of Admiral Vernon, under whom he had once fought the Spaniards.' Lord Fairfax lived near Mount Vernon. He was a Lord Fairfax courtly old gentleman who had left England a few years before to cultivate his vast es- tate in Virginia. Before George had entered his teens, his lordship became his very firm friend. The two tramped together for days to visit plantations, or survey thick-set forests, or deer-stalk along the river. When his lordship found George was ac- curate in his measurement of land, he sent him into the Shenandoah Valley, beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains, to survey an immense tract he ,.. 7"^^ •^ ' •> \\ ashington surveying owned. The lad was barely sixteen years old, but in the shcnandoah he boldly followed the Indian trails, crossed unknown streams, climlDed unknown mountains, and passed through forests filled with wild beasts. YOUNG GEORGE WASHINGTON Valley » See p. 143. 155 156 Builders of Our Nation Public surveyor ip^ i^i^- 1753 Washington visits I'rench forts (Xovember) 1754 Return to Williamsburg (January 16) The adventure taught him the habits of the Indians and the craft of the woods which served him so well in later years. Lord Fairfax was pleased with George's report. He secured him the positions of public surveyor, and major in the Virginia militia. When Lawrence Washington died, George became the owner of Mount Ver- non and one of the richest young men in the South. '^.z^ There was much talk in Virginia about the Ohio Company, which had a charter from George II for lands along MOUNT VERNON ~ thc Ohio Rivcr. The com- pany agreed to settle a hundred families on this land within seven years. Trappers from the Ohio reported tliat the French were building forts south of Lake Erie, and would soon hold the whole valley. Governor Dinwiddle straightway sent George Wash- ington, then only twenty-one, to find out what the French plans were. Washington made a journey of a thousand miles through pathless forests, in winter time. He had narrow escapes, but after an absence of nearly three months, he returned to Williams1)urg, where the governor lived. "The only way to keep the French out," he said, "is to build forts and fill them with soldiers." Some George Washington 157 men were accordingly sent to build a fort at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers — the key to the Ohio valley. Washington, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, soon followed the workmen with two companies of the militia. He learned on the way that the French had come clown the Allegheny River, driven off the Virginians and were building Fort Duquesne. Washington fired the first shot at a squad of French soldiers. It was after- ward said that his shot was heard around the world ; for it began the war between England and France. Washington was defeated by the 1754 Defeat of Washington French near Fort Duquesne; but he near Fon Duquesne made such a gallant stand that the burgesses of Virginia gave him a vote of thanks. On General Edward Braddock came from Braddock-s staff England with his regulars to F/ m^dJ^^ take a hand in the fight for the Ohio valley. The British gen- eral appointed Washington on his staff, because he knew the road to the western fort; but he was too proud to listen to any American's advice. Washington, cjuite fine in his uniform, rode at his general's side. He tried to explain the Indian way of fighting. He said the French had red allies and would probably strike from ambush. General Braddock did hot heed a word that Wash- 158 Builders of Our Nation 1755 Braddock's defeat (July 9) 1758 Fort Duquesne becomes Fort Pitt (November 25) 1759 Washington marries Martha Custis (January 6) The House of Burgesses ington said. His men must march to music, which rang out for miles, and his flags must fly open if the thickets did tear them to shreds. The regulars in red coats, and the \"irginians in homespun, marched together through forests and swift mountain streams. But they eyed each other with distrust. About seven miles from Fort Duquesne, the French and some Indian allies fired from an ambush. The English, in solid files, were shot down by hundreds. Braddock was killed with three-fourths of his ofljcers, and only the courage of Washington saved the fleeing remnants of the army from destruction. Later, in the French war, which raged for seven years, Washington led a Virginia regiment against Fort Duquesne. With him went General Forbes and his regulars. The French were driven away and the name of the fort was changed to Fort Pitt. The hero of Fort Pitt resigned his commission in the Virginia regiment. He married Martha Custis, a young widow of wealth, and became a member of the House of Burgesses. At the very time that William Pitt' was pleading in the House of Commons for the repeal of the Stamp Act, George Washington was a member of the House of Burgesses in Virginia. The people of Virginia elected the burgesses, who met every year at Williamsburg to help the governor and his council make laws. Sometimes the king of England made laws for his colonies without asking their consent, and that did not please the Americans. 'See p. 153. George Washington 159 It was said that Virginia was the most loyal province in all the colonies. But when young George III came to the throne, the Virginians had scarce stopped tossing their three-cornered hats before they saw he was deter- mined to rule them as no king had ever yet tried to do. The French war was over,' but it had cost the people of England a great deal of money. The king saw the colonies growing richer and richer. Ships came into port laden with furs, rice, tobacco, lumber, tar, and wheat. Even cotton, which it cost so much to bring from India, was beginning to be profitable in some of the colonies. "The Americans shall be taxed to help pay for the conquest of Canada," said King George. So Par- liament discussed the Stamp Act." Now the Americans were willing to help bear England's burdens, though they thought they had done their share in both money and men. They said they were willing to pay taxes if they might vote, like the freemen of England ; but if this tax were levied many others might be, and the people would soon become slaves. Almost all the colonies sent petitions to England against the Stamp Act. Virginia, too, sent a petition. But King George paid no heed to any. The Stamp Act was passed. Some of the paper came up the Potomac. What would the burgesses of Virginia do now? On a fine day in May the people of Williamsburg assembled in front of the capitol where the burgesses met once a year. They watched their lawmakers go » See pp. 145-150- * See pp. 150-15 i. 1760 George III ascends the throne of England (October 25) The Stamp Act proposed 1765 Stamp Act passed (March 22) i6o Builders oj Our Nation Peyton Randolph Richard Henry Lee Edmund Pendleton Washington in the House of Burgesses 1765 Patrick Henry introduces resolutions against the Stamp Act (May 30) up the broad portico — the dignified Peyton Randolph, the eloquent Richard Henry Lee, the astute lawyer Edmund Pendleton, the popular planter Benjamin Harrison — one after the other, alone or in groups, the "Honorables" ascended the steps. Some wore powdered wigs, and some their own hair tied in a queue, from which they kept dofFmg their hats. No one of them all brought forth such nudgings and nods as a tall young man who walked by the side of Lord Fairfax. "That's the colonel!" whispered the loiterers. "That's Washington of Mount Vernon who saved Braddock's men!" Fairfax did not enter the House of Burgesses. He stood at the door in earnest speech, and then slowly and with a troubled look set off down the street. Washington entered Assembly Hall. He took his seat before the speaker's desk. About him sat rich planters like himself, and lawyers, and some of the clergy. All were old friends, except a lank young member in homespun, newly come from a distant borough. The session began in the midst of a buzz of excite- ment. What should be done about the stamps? Some said wait and see what the other colonies would do. Others said, that since the act was now a law, it would have to be obeyed. The stranger in homespun arose. "Air. Patrick Henry of Hanover," called out the s])eaker. The young man held a paper in his hand. He read off some resolutions in a thrilling: voice. George Washington i6i These resolutions declared that an unjust law should be opposed; that the Virginians had a charter from the king granting to them the rights of English subjects; that English subjects had the right to tax themselves, and that whoever claimed that Parliament could tax the Virginians without their consent was an enemy to the colony. Some of the burgesses grew pale and fairly trembled as they listened; but George Washington nodded his head. In the fierce debate that followed, the new member arose again, ablaze with wrath. He closed his speech: "Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Crom- well, and George the Third — " "Treason! Treason!" shouted many; but Washington was not among them. The orator waited. He looked about at the pallid faces. "George the Third," he repeated, "may profit by their example. // this be treason, make the most of it.'' Most of Patrick Henry's resolutions were passed in spite of the uproar. Among those who voted in favor was Colonel Washington. But he said not a word during all the debate. He was a man of deeds, not words. * The Virginia resolutions were published in New The Virginia England and scattered through all the colonies. resolutions Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, and other agents from America, labored in England for the repeal of the Stamp Act; William Pitt used all his eloquence against the odious measure. 1766 r^, . . Repeal of the Stamp 1 he act was repealed. Act (March is) l62 Builders of Our Nation Washington the planter WASHINGTON'S COACH AND FOUR 1773 A duty on tea is laid by Parliament (May 10) Lord Fairfax said he had known all along that the king would be just to his colonies. For a time there was peace in Virginia, as well as in all America. Washington lived in quiet ease at Mount Vernon. He kept open house, with a brave show of plate and china and modish silks and bro- cades. Slaves worked in his fields. Vessels lay at his wharves, loading up with tobacco and cotton for export, or unloading all sorts of merchandise shipped straight from England. The broad veranda overlooking the river was a favorite resort of the rich planters. They came to talk about the tobacco crop, and the cotton experiments, and fox hunting, deer stalking, and cock fighting. "Yankee" peddlers from New York, Boston, and Philadelphia brought the latest gossip from along the coast ; and once in two weeks the mail from the North came lazily up the Potomac. King George was not satisfied to allow the colonies to have their own way. Parliament levied a port duty on tea. Now taxed tea seemed as bad as taxed paper. And the money to be collected from the taxes was largely to pay the expense of keeping a small English army in America. "Why," asked the colonies, "do we now need an English army ? The French have gone, the Spaniards are farther away, and besides, we can muster brave men of our own." George Washington 163 They were convinced that the redcoats were coming to compel them to do as the king and his ParHament willed. The tea was brought to the ports in the ships of the East India Company, and everybody remembered how The East india blood and money had once been spent on Louisburg ""p"""^ only to have the fortress exchanged for Madras just to please this East India Company/ Tea was denounced by many as a "pernicious weed," and dried leaves from the forest were brewed in its stead. But some of the colonists said that since the tea tax was a law, it was best to obey it. And so the people were divided into two parties. Those who were willing to obey the unjust law were called Tories, and those who refused to obey it were Tories and whigs called Whigs. One of the fiercest of Tories was old Lord Fairfax. George Washington, whom he loved like his own son, caused his lordship many a sleepless night. When Governor Dunmore dissolved the assembly Governor Dunmore for its boldness of speech, and the burgesses met imme- AssembiVcMay 25) diately after in another hall, it was George Washington who presented a resolution to import no more mer- chandise that was taxed by the English Parliament. Presently news came up the Potomac that the tea ships had arrived in port. They lay at anchor in the harbors of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston; but the people would not allow the tea to be landed in spite of all that the royal governors could do. I See p. 143. 164 Builders of Our Nation 1773 The Boston Tea Party (December 16) 1774 Parliament orders Port of Boston closed (March 7) Port closed (June i) The Quebec Bill 1774 The First Continental Congress assembles at Philadelphia (September s) Then a swift-sailing packet brought news of a "Tea Party" in Boston. The people of Boston had emptied three hundred and forty-two great chests of tea into the bay. What would King George and his Parliament do now? Washington thought that the people of Boston had been hasty in destroying the property of the East India Company; yet he knew the fierce hate of oppression that prompted the deed. But what would the king and his Parliament do ? No sound from the mother country escaped his quick ear. Word about the punishment for the Tea Party came very soon. Parliament had closed the port of Boston and passed the Quartering Bill, which made legal the quartering of troops at private houses. Virginia then, as well as the rest, might expect to have her plantations invaded by haughty British grenadiers. Parliament had also passed the Quebec Bill, which annexed the land north of the Ohio to Quebec. Vir- ginia, Massachusetts, and Connecticut claimed this land under their charters. Most of the colonies had shared the expense of winning it from the French. The hero of Fort Pitt could not restrain his rage when he heard of the new regulations. '"Join or die' is a good motto," he said. "Join or die" had by this time become the watchword of all the colonies. Letters were exchanged between them, and a congress was called to meet in Philadelphia. George Washington, whom people remembered now George Washington 165 as the hero of the French war, Patrick Henry the orator, Richard Henry I.ee, who had made a bonfire of stamps, Edmund Pendleton the lawyer, and other prominent Whigs were elected delegates from Virginia. Washington, Pendleton, and Henry rode together through dense forests and sparse settlements to the City of Brotherly Love. They reached Carpenters' carpenters' Haii Hall just in time for the meeting. Washington looked with interest upon men about whom he had heard. There was Samuel Adams of samuei Adams Massachusetts, the leader of the Boston Tea Party, and the Rutledges from South Carolina — John, and TheRmiedges Edward his brother, who had just returned from Lon- don with fine manners learned at court. But Edward Rutledge was a patriot. He said Benjamin Franklin was still working in London for the repeal of the tea tax. William Livingston from New Jersey was in the con- wiiiiam Livingston gress, and John Jay from New York, and many other men whose names were known throughout the colonies. We may be sure that the members of the first Con- tinental Congress looked with interest at the hero of Braddock's campaign. Not a few who noted his quiet, soldierly bearing must have thought that in case of war the Virginian would be the foremost man of them all. But the first Continental Congress did not talk about war above whispers. Many thought that Massa- chusetts had been too bold in resisting the king. At the beginning of the meeting there were such dift'erent views about everything that a union seemed almost impossible, 1 66 Builders of Our Nation John Jay SAMUEL ADAMS 1722-1803 Declaration of Rights 1774 General Gage forlil'ies Roston Neck (September 5) 1775 Second Continental Congress 1775 Concord and Lexington (April u;) John Jay oppose(i the motion to open the session with prayer. He said no one could expect Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Quak- ers, and Catholics to unite in worship. But Samuel Adams, from "stiff-necked" Massa- chusetts, arose and said he was "no bigot, and could hear a prayer from any patriot." If a rigid Puritan could yield his creed, all were willing to do so. Patrick Henry, in the first great speech of the congress, exclaimed: "British oppression has effaced the boundaries of the several colonies; the distinc- tions between Virsjinians, Pennsvlvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more . . . '. I am not a Virginian, but an American!" Thus joined together in good feeling, the delegates drew up a Declaration of Rights, in which they demanded to be treated as English subjects, and not as slaves. Parliament paid no heed to the "Declaration of Rights." King George sent word to all the colonial governors to prepare for war. General Gage fortified Boston Neck, and when the second Conti- nental Congress assembled at Philadelphia, a battle had taken place at Concord and Lexington. One of the delegates, fresh from the field, was John Hancock of Boston, who said three hundred redcoats had been killed in the fight. Another of the delegates was Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, who had just come from London and PATRICK HENRY George Washington 167 The Hessians A federal union knew all about the king and his Parliament. Franklin said Englishmen were unwilling to enlist against their kinsmen. It was rumored that the king would hire some troops of the Duke of Hesse. "Lord Chatham keeps warning the king against France," said Franklin. "And the Frenchmen might prove as good help for us as the Hessians for George and his Parliament," called out someone, quite loudly enough to be heard. The congress kept busy for days. A federal union was formed which might have the power to make treaties of peace or alliance; de- clare war, and regulate trade. The patriot troops before Boston were organized as the Continental army, and the delegates pledged to send more men in homespun and buckskin into its ranks. Who should command this new Conti- nental army? Who, indeed, but the hero of Fort Pitt ? The new commander-in-chief thanked the delegates Washington chosen for his election. "I do not think myself equal to the ofThTcominerl-.r command I am honored with," he said. armycjunei;) He knew very well that he was risking his own head. If the troops he called together wTre defeated, he would be the first to be tried and beheaded for treason. General Washington set out for Boston on horse- back, accompanied by a few men. On their way a sweating post-boy met them. "Another battle— at Bunker Hill!" he cried, as he TheMItL of Bunker reined in his mount: "'" ^J"°'= '7) 1775 i68 Builders of Our Nation Washington reaches Cambridge (July 2) 1775 Ethan Allen captures Ticonrlcroga (May 10) 1776 The British leave Boston (March 17) '* Did we stand the fire of the regulars ? " Washington eagerly asked. "Aye, sir," was the proud reply. "Then the liberties of the country are safe," said Washington, and he hastened on toward Boston. Washington drilled his men at Cambridge as best he could until cannon and supplies might come. Ticonderoga had been captured by Ethan Allen and his "Green Mountain Boys" of Vermont. When the cannon from Ticonderoga came to Cambridge, General Gage and his army were driven out of Boston. Washington then went to New York to prevent the English from getting control of the Hudson and thus cutting the united colonics in two. Meantime the Continental Congress kept in session in Philadelphia. Thomas Jefferson from Virginia, John Adams from Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin from Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman from Connecticut, and Robert R. Livingston from New York were appointed a committee to pre- pare a Declaration of Inde- ^. pendence. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration. On the fourth day of July, 1776, John Hancock of Massachu- THE setts, president of the con- STATE. HOUSE, . , , . . , OR INDEPENDENCE grcss, signcd his uamc m large ■..,.,.' HALL, PHILADELPHIA ^^^^^^^^ u g^ ^^^ J^J^g ^f ^^„_ land could read it without his spectacles." George Washington 169 The Declaration of Independence would be called high treason. All who signed it knew that. "We must hang together," said Hancock, who saw that some were feeling a little weak about what they were doing. "Yes," said Benjamin Franklin, who knew King George so well, "yes, we must hang together or we shall hang separately ! " A signal was given. And then the bell at the state- house rang out. It sounded loudly enough through the walls of Independence Hall. But to the people in the open, it sounded louder still. Some wept in sheer fear of what might happen when the king sent troops outnumbering theirs two to one. Others cheered in wild joy, and more bells rang, and little heaps of powder sizzled and sputtered in the streets. When Washington received a copy of the Declaration The Declaration read of Independence, he ordered it read at the head of each '° tJe^Amencan Army division of his troops. Washington's army was divided between New York City and Brooklyn Heights. General Howe encamped on Staten Island, waiting for Admiral Lord Howe with his fleet. When Admiral Howe sailed up the bay he sent a despatch to "George Washington, Esquire.'' Washington refused to receive the message. Howe then wrote to "George Washing- ton, e/{:.,e/c.,e/r." "Theand-so-forth," said the admiral, "may mean as big a title as this upstart American likes." But Washington would not degrade his office by receiving the letter. General Howe, with Admiral Howe's fleet and an 170 Builders 0} Our Nation 1776 New York City surrenders to General Howe (September 14) Washington in New Jersey Washington captures the Hessians at Trenton (December 26) army of thirty thousand British and Hessians, captured New York City. Washington, leaving a division to guard the upper Hudson, retreated to New Jersey. Lord CornwalHs pursued. Washington retreated across New Jersey ^=— T — I toward Philadelphia. ' ' Sometimes the rear of his army was in full view of the Brit- ish van. He reached the Delaware with about three thousand men, secured all the boats for miles, and crossed the river. It is said that General Cornwallis was so sure that the war was near its close that he packed up some of his equipments to return to England at an early day. Washington had not the least thought of surrender; but he knew that strategy must make up for strength. Cornwallis carelessly scattered his army in divisions on the east side of the Delaware. Washington kept his men together on the west side. On Christmas night Washington crossed the half- frozen river. Boat after boat struggled with ice and the swift-flowing current. The Americans drew up in line on the opposite shore and marched to Trenton, nine miles away. They captured a division of Hessians who were stupidly sleeping off their Christmas drinks. George Washington 171 During the month of January, Washington went into winter quarters at Morristown. All Europe was watching the struggle of proud Eng- land with her colonies. You may be sure France and Spain were never weary of watching the fray. When Benjamin Franklin was sent by Congress to France to urge King Louis XVI to acknowledge the independence of the colonies, he was well received at court. But King Louis was not at all sure that the thirteen little states could hold together, even if he should call them a nation and help them with money and men. He said he would wait and see what would happen. The young Frenchman, INIarquis de Lafayette, could not wait for his king's permission. He fitted out a ship at his own expense and sped away with some friends to America. General Howe sailed down from Staten Island to Chesapeake Bay to capture Philadelphia. Washington met Howe at the Brandywine River, but was badly defeated. Howe occupied Philadelphia, and Washington went again into winter quarters at Valley Forge, twenty miles away. His troops were half-starved and half -clad, and the weather was very severe. Young Marquis de Lafayette kept hoping that something would happen to induce his king to send over money and men. Washington waited for news from the north, where the British were fighting to con- trol the Hudson. At last the news came. And what news it was ! The 1777 Washington goes into winter quarters at Morristown (January) Benjamin Franklin at the French court THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE 1757-1834 1777 The battle of the Brandywine (September 11) 1777-1778 Valley Forge 172 Builders of Our Nation 1777 lUirgoync's suncndcr at Saratoga (October 17) The Quakers The French ships arrive Captain John Paul Jones British General Burgoyne had surrendered his army to General Gates at Fort Saratoga. Six thousand men, with vast supplies, had laid down their arms. Among them were several members of Parliament. The news of the British defeat at Saratoga traveled to far-away France. Benjamin Franklin needed few words then to persuade the French king to give aid. Money and ships were soon on the way; but Wash- ington had no means of knowing that. Without steam- ships or cables, it took a long time for news to come over the sea. The patriots at Valley Forge were in rags. The snow was reddened with the blood from their feet as they walked. Sometimes for days together they were without a morsel of bread in the camp. Few of the Quakers of Penn's land took an active part in the war. Their religion forbade it. Yet the most of these good people supported the patriot cause. One Quaker farmer carried provisions to the camp. He returned home in high spirits and said to his wife": "George Washington will succeed!" "What makes thee think so, Isaac?" asked she. "I have heard him pray, Hannah, out in the woods. The tears fell fast down his cheeks. The Lord will hear his prayer, Hannah. Thee may rest assured He will!" Spring came. The opposing armies moved again. French ships sailed into American ports. Some English ships entered, too. But John Paul Jones, a young patriot seaman, with a squadron of five ships, darted into the Irish Channel as boldly as did Sir Francis George Washington 173 Drake into the harbor of Lisbon.' He set fire to ship- ping and sunk so many vessels that a part of the royal navy was kept at home defending the British coast. Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia, sent George George Rogers Rogers Clark to the West with some troops. Clark country north of the He 1778 seized O^io from the British 1780 floated down the Ohio from Pittsburg. Kaskaskia/ Vincennes and the other British posts north of the river, except Detroit. If Clark's expedition had not succeeded, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and a part of Minnesota might even now be a part of Canada. Meantime, the backwoodsmen from beyond the Blue Ridge, in coonskin caps and buckskins, routed the red- coats and Tories at King's Mountain, South Carolina.^ Amer'kan victory at With weapons of all shapes and sizes they kept smiting '"foctobe""?)"" the foe right and left. And so the struggle went on until one proud day Washington gathered almost his entire army around Yorktown, Virginia. General Corn wallis lay there entrenched with an army of eight thousand men. A French fleet cut off the ^ British from escape by the sea. Washington's patriots and his French allies hemmed in the British by land. „ Cornwallis laid down his arms. Many Tories of surrender of Virginia fled to Canada. Lord Fairfax, now very old (October ig) and worn, wept when he heard of the British surrender, and died shortly after — some said of a broken heart. the When the news of defeat reached England, 'See p. 24. ' See map, p. 123. 3 See map, p. 180. 174 Builders of Our Nation 1783 The treaty of peace signed at Paris (September 3) House of Commons refused to vote money to continue the war with their kinsmen, and King George was forced to ask for peace. John Adams of JNIassachusetts, John Jay of New York, and Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, met the British commissioners at Paris and concluded a treaty. THE UNITED STATES BT TREATY OF 1763 (I) CLAIMED BY VA..MASS.. CONN., AND NY. England recognized the independence of the United States ; she ceded the Floridas to Spain and the rest of her land east of the Mississippi to the United States. Only Canada and Nova Scotia remained of all she had boasted as hers. Thousands of American Tories, ashamed and afraid to dwell in the new republic, emigrated beyond the St. Lawrence. The American army disbanded. The British fleet sailed away. Washington bade farewell in New York to the offi- George Washington 175 cers of his army, and hastened home to Mount Vernon Washington returns to Mt. Vernon which he had visited only once in eight long years It seemed as if the great Virginian's work was done; but work still remained. He had been first in war, and now he was to be first in peace. 1787 The Continental Congress called the states together constitutional for the purpose of forming a more perfect union. The phUIdei' hia^'cMa convention was to meet at Philadelphia, with closed doors, until a constitution should be written. All the states, except Rhode Island, were represented in the Constitutional Convention. George Washington was there, and was elected George Washington president of the convention. Benjamin Franklin was elected president of •' the convention there, and Alexander Hamilton and Roger Sherman and James Madison and many other strong, able men; but there were almost as many different opinions about what the new union should be as there were men. Tames Madison drew up a rpm,am,I pdaI,^, ,m t ^, a- -' tr BENJAMIN FRANKLIN James Madison sketch for a constitution, which 1706-1790 draws up a . constitution was adopted after many changes and much debate. The Constitution of the United States provided for The president a president and a vice-president, to be elected every four ^^"^ ingress •^ The supreme court years, a congress,' and a supreme court. No one had ever known a government like that before ; some said the states would never adopt it. Washington, as president, was the first member to The\£ngofthe sign his name. He held the pen in his hand. "Should institution (September 17) I Congress is the law-making body. It has a Senate elected by the legis- latures of the states and a House of Representatives elected by the people. 176 Builders of Our Nation The states ratify the constitution George Washington elected president of the United States 1789 WashinRton's inauguration (April 30) the states reject this excellent constitution," he said, "the probability is that an opportunity will never again offer to cancel another in peace. The next will be drawn in blood." After all had signed the document, it was submitted by the Continental Congress to the states. There was a great deal of talking ; but in the end the states ratified the constitution and elected a new Congress whose first task would be to count the votes for a presi- dent and a vice-president. Everybody said that George Wash- ington, who had saved the Union, would be president, and Thomas Jefferson, GEORGE WASHINGTON ^ _ J ' 1732-1799 who had written the Declaration of Inde- pendence, Would be vice-president. And that is just what happened. Washington was inaugurated at New York, the first capital of the new republic. He was dressed in a brown suit of American manufac- ture, white silk stockings, and shoes with silver buckles; his hair was powdered and tied in a silk bag, and a sword hung at his side. He stood on the balcony of Fed- eral Hall, high above a vast crowd of people, who cheered while he bowed again and again. When he had taken the oath, the people tossed their cocked hats and fluttered their scarfs and THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT George Washington ■ 177 kerchiefs, and cheered for George Washington, presi- dent of the United States. Four years later, Washington was inaugurated for a second term a second term; but when he was asked to stand for election a third term, he firmly refused the honor. In his farewell address he urged the states to keep Washington's farewdi peace with one another, and to obey the laws they them- "^'^"" (September) selves had made. When he returned to Mount Vernon he bore with him the love and respect of the whole young nation he had done so much to create and maintain. Two years later he died and was buried at Mount Death of Washington Vernon. At the modest tomb, on the banks of the ^'''"'"'"^'' '^^ Potomac, some of the greatest men of the world have paid reverence to the memory of George Washington — "first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen!" 1767 Birth of Andrew Jackson in North Carolina (March 15) The Jacksons remove to South Carolina ANDREW JACKSON THE UPHOLDER OF THE UNION 1 767-1845 HEN Andrew Jackson was born, the Ensjlish Parliament had already laid a tax on tea im- ported into the American colonies. The Jacksons were Scotch-Irish. They had been in America only two years and lived on a little clear- ing in the pine woods of North Carolina. Mr. Jackson died before Andrew was born, and as soon as the baby was old enough, Mrs. Jackson crossed into South Carolina to live with her brother. Little "Andy" grew to be a freckle faced, red-haired lad, with bright blue eyes and a tall, slim frame. His mother spun flax to earn money enough to send him to school. Andy did not study very well at school, but he showed no end of pluck in play. "He's so little, we can throw him three times out of four," said his mates, "but he'll never stay thro wed." He climbed to the very tips of the pine trees; he dug into the sandy black soil to see what wriggling creatures were there; sometimes he trudged with tired but eager feet along the emigrant trail toward the west. 178 ANDREW JACKSON 1767- 1845 Andrew Jackson 179 He loved to meet the trappers who had climbed the Trappers from the west mountains from the west. They had wild game slung across their shoulders, and from their belts dangled dried skins which they were going to exchange for things they could not find in the wilderness — pepper and sugar and coffee. Andy was sure they were not going to buy tea. The gruff old blacksmith in the shop near his uncle's house had told him all about tea. It was made from dried leaves brought from India by the English East India Company. It went first in great boxes to England and then was shipped to America to be brewed for a drink. Formerly the trappers from beyond the mountains had bought a little bag of tea whenever they came to town; but now they wouldn't touch it. Nobody but Tories drank tea. That was because King George had laid a tax on tea in order to collect money unjustly from the Americans. The old blacksmith said that if you were not a Tory you were a Whig. And so Andy was a Whig. One day he followed wagons and horsemen and a crowd of people on foot to the courthouse. He heard talk about a Declaration of Independence. Andy was only nine years old. He didn't understand just what a Declaration of Independence was, but when he saw how W^higs rejoiced and Tories scowled, he was sure it was a good thing, and so he threw up his cap of coon- skin and shouted with all his might. Word came that war was raging in the north. Then word came that the British were coming south, and Tories and Whigs 1776 The Declaration of Independence signed (July .,) i8o Builders oj Our Nation 1778 Savannah, Georgia, surrenders to the British (December 2q) 1780 Charleston, South Carolina, surrenders (May 12) Andy hung about the smithy to watch the Whigs of Carolina fashion swords out of old saws, and melt pewter mugs into bullets. The Whigs said the king's troops had failed to get control of the Hud- son River, and had feJ^>^feJ3^"'T failed to subdue the ^^^^^^^^^"^ ^ '.^'^"M^ \ middle colonies, but that now they were on their way to at- tempt to conquer Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, and to join them all to Florida, which belonged to the king. When at last Savannah' surrendered, Andy fixed a scythe to a pole to be ready; when Charleston' sur- rendered, he mounted his horse and rode off with a party of scouts. Tarleton, a British general, frightened many of Jackson's old neighbors into joining his army, and pinned red rags on their coats. But no red rag was pinned to Andy Jackson, though he was only thirteen years old. He fought until he was captured, and still remained unsubdued. When a haughty British officer ordered him to black some boots, he stood proudly up and said: "Sir, I am a prisoner of war. I refuse to do the work of a slave." ' See map. Andrew Jackson i»i The officer struck him on the hand with his sword, and he carried the scar and the desire for revenge all the rest of his life. The boy was thrown into a prison pen near Camden, ' Andrew jackson a where he half starved, and nearly died with the small- p"«o"«^ near camdcn. -^ South Carolina pox; but his mother, hearing of his wretched plight, secured his release and took him home. Good news came from Yorktown, Virginia, before Andy was quite strong again. George Washington had marched down from the north, and the British general, Cornwallis, had surrendered his arms. surrender of Then word came that England had made a treaty ^7ock,ber i of peace which acknowledged the independence of the 1783 United States and had ceded Florida to the Spaniards, at ParT'^ °^ '"^''" The whole country, both north and south, talked (Septembers) about what kind of government the new United States should have. In the midst of all the debating, Andrew Jackson Andrew jackson decided to become a lawyer. He succeeded so well, ''"°'"^' ^^ '^'^J'" . that the very year George Washington became the first president of the republic, he was appointed public prosecutor for the western district of North Carolina. The western district The first settlers of this district of North Carolina of North Carolina had fled beyond the Blue Ridge to escape the royal governors. They had made their own laws, which they knew how to enforce with their guns. They had cleared the forests, and fought the Indians, and built palisaded towns along the swift -flowing streams. Nashville on the Cumberland became the chief town. At the time Andrew Jackson arrived at Nash- Nashvuie ville, he counted eighty cabins. The young lawyer > See map, p. i8o. l82 Builders of Our Nation 1792 Kentucky lit-cc state (June i) A state constilulion for Tennessee The Federalists The Republicans Thomas Jefferson 1796 Tennessee admitted to the Union (June i) journeyed from court to court through the wilderness. Sometimes for days together he dared not Hght a fire or shoot needed game, lest he attract the red foes who ambushed along the trails. Jackson had much to do to keep law and order on this wild frontier. There were boundary quarrels and whisky brawls and a vast deal of breaking of heads. But he made himself one with the rude pioneers and became the owner of lands and slaves. Kentucky was admitted to the Union. "If Kentucky can send representatives to Congress, why can't we?" said Jackson and his friends. With muskets in their hands and long knives in their belts, they pushed through the forests to Knoxville, a thriving settlement on the Holston River. They framed a constitution for the state of Tennessee and asked Con- gress to admit Tennessee into the Union. Now there were two political parties in Congress — the Federalists and the Republicans. Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists said the United States government was not yet stable enough to allow western rufhans to help make laws. But Thomas JefTerson and the Republicans said they would risk the frontiersmen any time rather than the aristocrats of the east. The Republicans won in the debates in Congress. And when Tennessee was admitted as the sixteenth state, Andrew Jackson was elected to Congress. ALEXANDER HAMILTON t757-l804' Andrew Jackson 183 Congress at that time held sessions in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, the 1 .1 •IjI'i- jjI second capital of the where the president lived m great style. united states For aught we know, when Jackson rode into Phila- delphia, dusty and worn from his long trip over the mountains, he met Washington's coach-and-four with two footmen behind in scarlet and white livery. At Washington's Tuesday afternoon levees the congress- man from Tennessee stood at one side and scanned everything with his keen blue eyes. There in the center of the room stood the president in his black velvet small clothes, cutaway coat, white silk stockings, with buckles at knee and shoe, and a three-cornered hat under his arm. All about the president stood Americans high in office; ministers of state from Europe, and ladies in silks with hair piled high up and powdered. Washington believed that the head of the republic should liye in a way to thomas jefferson ^ -^ 1743-1826 be respected by the courts of Europe. But Andrew Jackson did not like all this fuss and feathers a bit. He may have said to himself that if he were president, he would live in such good republican simplicity that even his big-hearted neighbors in Ten- nessee would not blush and stand on one foot. That was just what Andrew Jackson himself was doing at President Washington's Tuesday levees. He stood there, over six feet tall and very lank, with a high, narrow brow and thick reddish hair that would not lie flat. His dress was peculiar and his manners odd in the midst of so much fashion. i84 Builders oj Our Nation lyqG President Washington's last mc5saae to Congress (September) Appropriation for the White House at Washington, D C. Andrew Jackson goes to the Senate lie returns to Tennessee American traders at New Orleans JOHN ADAMS 1735- 1826 Jackson heard President Washington deliver in per- son his last message to Congress. He saw John Adams inaugurated the second president of the United States. Adams lived in the same fine style as Washington. It was all quite too much like a king, Jackson said, and he voted in Congress against the "extravagance" of appropriating fourteen thousand dollars to furnish the new "White House," which the government was building at Wash- ington in the District of Columbia. ' The men of Tennessee were de- lighted with their congressman. They sent him to the Senate; but he soon resigned his seat to attend to private affairs. When he returned to Tennessee he brought with him pack-horses loaded with sugar, blankets, cotton, woolen goods, and many other things, which he exchanged for tallow, grain, pork, buffalo robes, and skins. These he sent from Nashville down the Cum- berland, the Ohio, and the Mis- sissippi Rivers to New Orleans, to sell for good Spanish dollars. The trip to New Orleans was more profitable than safe. Spain then owned Florida, New Orleans, and the territory west of the Mississippi. The Spaniards, who wanted the Indian trade, skulked along the banks of the Mississippi and sank ' A tract of land ten miles square ceded to the National Government by Maryland and Virginia. The land west of the Potomac was ceded back to Virginia in 1846. M A R Y L/( H a». / 4 \\ ^^^°/ J < 0^ -s^ \ { /^^kmA TON > / ^ ~^ Tf pl\ \ ^ / \ / w r^ 4 (■ ' \^ c ■^ >< ■T /y AlexandN Andrew Jackson 185 American flatboats whenever they could. The Spanish governor of New Orleans secretly encouraged the attacks on the boats. He wanted the Tennesseans and Ken- tuckians to realize how difficult it would be to trade with New Orleans unless they were under the Spanish flag. He even issued a proclamation, setting forth that his majesty, the king of Spain, would freely give large tracts of land to all settlers in west Florida and Louisi- * ana; and that all who would swear allegiance to his majesty should have special privileges in trade. His excellency pointed out how Americans could never hope to trade with the rich states east of them; for the mountains interfered, and there were no great rivers that ran from the east to the west. The Mis- sissippi, he said, was their natural highway for trade; and -from New Orleans goods could be shipped straight to the ports of Europe and South America. No doubt a few pioneers were tempted to look only at the trade side of the question. But the most of them said they had just rid themselves of one king. Why take oath to another who would never understand a word they should say ? Then to the amazement of all the settlers beyond the mountains, the United States government (which they had rather despised as a weak, pompous show) spread protection around them, like a great warm cloak in bad weather. The United States bought New Orleans and the Purchase of Louisiana territory west of the Mississippi as far west as the Rocky '' ''' """''' ''''" Mountains. This is how the first national purchase came about : 1 86 Builders of Our Nation 1801 Thomas Jefferson becomes president NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 1769-1821 Commissioners James Monroe and Robert I< Livingston at Paris The "American desert" President Jefferson, who had succeeded John Adams, wanted to keep the western settlements loyal to the Union, but he saw clearly enough that they must have a cheaper way to get their products to market. He feared, too, that even if they refused to become Spanish subjects, the Spanish governor at New Orleans might annex them by force. Jefferson accordingly resolved to make a land pur- chase along the Gulf of Mexico. Just about that time Spain ceded her possessions on the Mississippi to France. Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France, was ambitious. It looked for a while as if he might yet fulfill the dreams of La Salle, and plant French cities and towns all along the great river. But when war was threatened between England and France, Napoleon knew it would be an easy thing for the English troops in Canada to seize Louisiana. Besides, he needed money to continue his wars in Europe. And so when President Jefferson's commis- sioners, James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston, presented themselves at the French court and proposed the purchase of New Orleans, Napoleon sold all that France owned on the Mississippi and west to the Rocky Mountains for fifteen million dollars.' Thus the ''gateway" to the gulf was opened wide, and the French, Spanish, and Mexicans of New Orleans became citizens of the United States. No one in the United States knew anything about the "desert" west of the Mississippi, and President ' See following map of territorial growth. p A ^ Andrew Jackson 187 Jefferson chose Meriwether Lewis and William TiJLewislndciarke Clarke to explore it. expedition He told them to find the source of the Missouri River, cross the mountains, and reach the Pacific coast. The young men started from the trading post of St. Louis. They found what seemed to be the source of the Missouri; they crossed the divide of the Rocky Mountains. Ragged and half starved, they found their way to the Columbia River, down which they The Columbia River paddled to the sea that stretched on and on to China and Japan. Lewis and Clarke were gone two years, and traveled over eight thousand miles. They brought back much information about the west; but most people believed the country to be one, vast desert. It seemed just as well that it should be a desert. "If it were fertile beyond the Mississippi," said the politicians of Jackson's day, "our citizens would wander too far. Our republic would soon be divided." Meantime, the Ohio lands, once so far from civiliza- tion too, were attracting more attention. Ohio had TheNonhwest been cut out of the Northwest Territory and admitted Territory to the Union as the seventeenth state. ohio a°iiiicd to It took a long time to get news from the Atlantic '^^^ union coast. When a war' with England broke out the people TiJ-war^of 1812" of Tennessee did not hear much about it until word came that the British were about to attack New Orleans. Andrew Jackson, then commander-in-chief of the Tennessee militia, was ordered to muster two thousand men and march to Natchez to guard the southern frontier. When Jackson reached Natchez, he was told ' See pp. 199-202. Builders of Our Nation 1814 The Creek Indian war 1815 The battle of New Orleans (January 8 to disband his troops; for the British had changed their plans. During the march home the commander's stout courage won him the name of "Old Hickory", a nickname afterwards called out in very high places indeed. Massacres in the Creek Indian country soon set Jackson on the march again. "Until all is done, nothing is done," was Jackson's maxim in war, and he did not cease his task until the Creeks were com- pletely subdued. The war with England still raged in the north and east. It was about American com- merce on the high seas; but Andrew Jackson really cared very little what it was about. He wanted to take part in the fray. He had an old grudge against England , which the scar on his hand would not let him forget. And so it happened that as soon as he received orders from President Madison to defend New Orleans from a British attack, he rallied his men again. When Sir Edward Pakenham and twelve thousand redcoats landed near New Orleans, expecting to hoist the cross of St. George on its walls, they faced a huge breastwork of stones and logs and casks and cotton bales. Behind the wall Tennesseans, Kentuckians, Indians, negroes, and Creoles waited the command of a tall, spare man with rough, reddish hair, who rode up and down the line. JAMES MADISON 1751- 1836 Andrew Jackson 189 The British veterans stormed the rude wall. In less than half an hour, more than two thousand of them fell, with General Pakenham among the slain. Only eight of Jackson's men had been killed in this wonderful battle of New Orleans. When the news reached Washington, there were bonfires and wild huzzas for Andrew Jackson. The huzzas grew louder still when news came from Europe that a treaty The treaty of peace of peace had been signed before the battle took place. ''''^(D°'5!j|Jf„ , Men said the victory showed Europe what an Ameri- can, even out in the wilderness, could do. "And who is Andrew Jackson?" they asked. "And what state does he hail from?" The hero of New Orleans soon attracted attention again. The Indians, negroes, and pirates of west Florida scalped and plundered along the southern border. Jackson said that if Spain could not keep order in Elorida, he certainly would. He marched with a jackson invades thousand riflemen into Spain's country and seized sp^i'^'i '^'■"'°''y Fort St. Marks. He hauled down the broad red banner of Spain and put in its place the Stars and Stripes. The "Big Knife," as the Indians called Jackson, had acted too fast for the government at Washington, and the posts he had taken were returned to Spain. Some said that Congress, to avoid war with Spain, should pass a vote of censure on the general; but he was too popular for that to be done. The raid into Florida showed the Spanish kins; 1819 how useless it was to try to keep Florida, and he sold The purchase of it the following year to the United States for five million dollars.' ' See map of territorial growth, between pp. 186-187. IQO Builders of Our Nation Governor Jackson of Florida President Monroe visits Nashville i8i6 Indiana admitted to the Union 1817 Mississippi 1818 Illinois 1819 Alabama 1821 Missouri Jackson was appointed the first governor of Florida. He marched into Pensacola, where the Spanish governor lived. The Spaniards, whose lands had been sold by the king, filled ships in the harbor with their household goods and set sail for Cuba. And so American rule began in what had been a foreign province. Governor Jackson did not remain long in Florida. He returned to his home, the Hermitage — a com- fortable brick house near Nashville. Jackson often drove to Nashville in 'a carriage drawn by four iron -gray horses, with black serv- '^ ants in livery. The people of Tennessee thought he was very grand indeed. When President Mon- roe visited Nashville, a ball was given in his honor; but it was really Jackson who was the hero of the ball. He was taller than the president and dressed in full regimentals. "Ah, see our general!" whispered the ladies. "He surpasses all in the room." Meantime Indiana had been admitted into the Union as the nineteenth state, then Mississippi, then Illinois and then Alabama and Missouri; so that over half as many states as were in the original Union now lay to the west of the Alleghany Mountains. "The East has had all the presidents," said the bustling West. "Let us have a president!" THE HERMITAGE Andrew Jackson 191 Ah, who from the west could win ? Who ? Who, indeed, but "Old Hickory"? Who but the "Big Knife" of the Indians? Who but the "hero of New Orleans and Florida" ? Jackson merely laughed at first at the very idea of being a president. "No, no," he said, "I can command a body of troops in a rough way, but I am not fit to be president." In the west the friends of Jackson hurrahed for "Old Hickory". In the east the best politicians began to talk about what a champion the boastful, pushing west would be for the party that had its support. And so it came about that the plain, blunt soldier from the frontier was nominated, and was elected the Andrew jackson seventh president of the United States. ^''''"' p'"''""^''"' President Jackson had warm friends and bitter enemies. There were many questions in dispute between the political parties. One of these was the tariff question. "Away with wares made in Europe!" cried the manufacturers of New England and the middle states. "Put a high tax on the manufactures of other nations, and give us a chance to make things ourselves!" The voters in the southern states opposed a tax on a high' protective manufactured articles because they did not manu- Ify 00'^^''''^ facture anything. They wanted their cotton, tobacco, I rice, and indigo to purchase manufactured articles on the best terms possible. Whenever Congress passed measures President Jackson thought were not wise for the country, he vetoed them, which he had a perfect right to do. But thc presicspeaking When Daniel was fifteen he went to Dartmouth 1798 College, where he conquered his shyness so well that hc goes to Dartmouth for the following Fourth of July the citizens of Hanover " *"^'' selected him to pronounce the public oration. In this first great speech Webster spoke of patriotism, the greatness of the American Constitution, and the a i-ounh of juiy need of the union of all the states. After leaving Dartmouth he studied law. Then he was elected to Congress just at the time that the Union webster studies law was put to a very hard task. ^^^^ ^ ^ _ ^ Enters Congress Congress declared war against England. This is (May) the way the war came about: England had been trying to oppress Americans on the sea as she had once oppressed them on land. England had the strongest navy in the world, and . . . . . .. England's impressment claimed the right to impress into her service any sailors of American sailors 200 Builders of Our Nation 1812-1815 The War of 1812 The American navy Captain LawTcnce Commodore Perry who were even supposed to have been born under her flag. ^ British cruisers held up American ships on the high seas without hcense or leave. If the sailors spoke English they were often impressed in spite of proof that they were American born. Sometimes the whole crew were taken and the ship allowed to drift away with its valuable cargo. And so war was declared against England to protect American commerce. American troops invaded Canada. They were badly defeated and the forts north of the Ohio were surrendered to the British. But there were American victories on the sea from the very beginning. The little patriot fleet sailed boldly out to meet the great English navy. Someone afterwards said it was like David sallying forth to meet the giant Goliath. Captain James Eawrence fought an engagement off the coast of Cape Ann. Every officer on deck was either wounded or killed. Lawrence himself was struck with a bul- let. "Don't give up the ship!" called, as he was carried dying down the hatchway. "Don't give up the ship" became the motto on land and on sea. Commodore Perry collected a rude fleet on the shores of Lake Erie. He named his flagship the Lawrence, and hoisted at its staff a flag with the motto '^ DonH give up the ship'\ s victory on Lake Erie (September lo) Daniel Webster 201 In a battle on Lake Erie, the Lawrence was soon riddled by British bullets. As the hull was sinking, Perry seized the flag and entering a small boat crossed in a tempest of shot and shell to another American vessel. tSt ^ The battle raged on until the British fleet surrendered Pe„y'; — "two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and a sloop!" Out on the open sea, Americans were winning trophies too. Within six months after the war began they captured the Alert, Guerriere, Frolic, Macedonian, and Java — more ships than proud England had lost in twenty years of war with the half of all Europe ! Success on the sea inspired new zeal on land. William Henry Harrison defeated the enemy on the victory of wniiam Thames River/ and it looked for a time as if Canada urTCes'Rivlr" might be annexed to the United States. (October i) Then defeat came again. England sent over a vast fleet to blockade the coast. The sea grew white The coast blockade with the enemy's sails. Not an American merchant- man dared sail from port. The idle vessels lay at anchor, their mastheads pro- tected with tar barrels — "Madison's nightcaps," the "Madison-s nightcaps' angry New Englanders called them. The merchants of New England had opposed the war from the first. Even Daniel Webster had thought the abuses of England might be avoided without resorting to arms. A part of the British fleet entered Chesapeake Bay. A detachment of redcoats captured Wash- ^^^ ^ ^ ington and set fire to the public buildings. President The burning of Madison and the government ofiicials fled from the capital (August''24) capital. It was all very shameful, indeed. ' See map, p. 200. 202 Builders of Our Nation The Hartford Convention 1814 The treaty of peace at Ghent (December 24) 1815 The battle of New Orleans (January 8) "The Star Spangled Banner" The Union stronger than ever Some New Englanders began to say that since the government did not seem able to protect their commerce, they must try to protect it themselves. They called a convention of the Puritan states to meet at Hartford, Connecticut. It was said the dele- gates would plot to set up a government of their own. Webster was urged to take part in the Hartford Con- vention; but he loved the Union too well; and he per- suaded the New Hampshire delegates to stay at home. American victories soon came again. Then peace was made, though after the treaty, as we have seen,' a great British army was defeated at New Orleans. It was winter when the news of peace arrived. Troops fired salutes into the frosty air. Sleighs were driven through the streets of the cities with peace on the drivers' hatbands. Down at the wharves in all the ports of the coast there was bustle and good cheer, "Madison's nightcaps" were taken from the sleeping mastheads, and ship after ship, with cargoes piled to the limit, sailed prosperously forth. Soon every state in the Union was singing ''The Star Spangled Banner", which Francis Key had written while a prisoner with the British on Chesapeake Bay. Daniel Webster loved to sing the song in his rich bass voice. No doubt it strengthened even his great love for the Union, as it strengthens ours today when we sing it. The Union seemed stronger than ever after the War- of 181 2. There was really but one political party, I Sec p. 188. Daniel Webster 203 and when Tames Monroe was elected president, an The " era of good •' ■"• feeling" "era of good feeling" began. After the close of the war, Daniel Webster moved to webster moves to Boston to practice law. A few years later he was iaw°" "p"""" elected to Congress from Massachusetts. in congress The White House at Washington had been repaired ; the capitol had been rebuilt, and fine chambers were set apart for the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Supreme Court. There was much for the lawmakers in Washington " 1819 to talk about. The government purchased the Spanish Purchase of the Floridas. ' Then President Monroe acknowledged the °" '''' '^"'" ' ^''"^ independence of the Spanish colonies in South America. And because he knew how weak the new republics would be before the great powers of Europe, he sent a message to Congress which all Europe might read. The president's message declared that the United States would view as an unfriendly act any attempt of European powers to interfere with any of the govern- ments of people on any part of this hemisphere, and james monroe that North and South America should not further be '^se-isss considered subject to colonization by Europe. This "Monroe Doctrine," as you will see later on. The "Monroe had much effect in keeping American soil for Americans. Now it did not take long to overcome the bad effects of the War of 181 2. The benefits of the war grew more and more plain every year. Even during the war, while raw cotton, wool, iron, Home manufacturing and wood lay heaped on the wharves waiting to be shipped to foreign mills, our merchants began to wonder why they could not set up mills of their own. ' See map of territorial growth, between pp. 186-187. 204 Builders oj Our Nation Increase of immigration from Europe Government land sales in the West 1702 Kentucky admitted to the Union 1796 Tennessee 1803 Ohio 1812 Louisiana Some states offered prizes for the best knives and forks and the best woven cloth of American make. And just about the time Americans decided to try to have mills of their own, British cloth weavers, black- smiths, miners, masons, carpenters, and other mechanics heard from the returning British soldiers what a won- derful land this was. Presently shiploads of immigrants were corning from England, Scotland, and Ireland. One week brought fifteen hundred to five American ports. The next week only eight hundred landed, but the very next week there were over a thousand. The "American fever" presently spread to other countries of Europe. So many people wanted to come to America that the rates were high, and only the well to do could afford to pay for the passage. Some of these strangers, to be sure, did not find things to suit them, and went back home; but most of them set to work manufacturing wares, clearing forests, digging canals, or sowing vast prairies to grain. The government was soon selling millions of dollars' worth of western lands. Thousands of farmers passed through Pittsburg on their way to their new-bought farms. Almost before the people on the coast could realize that Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, and Indiana had become states, Mississippi, Illinois, Ala- bama, and Missouri were admitted into the Union. Nine states lay beyond the mountains. All over the Union new cities, towns, and villages sprang up, while the old ones kept on increasing in size and wealth. Daniel Webster 205 And so it is no wonder that Daniel Webster's heart ^^^5 Laying of the comer- swelled with pride at the laying of the cornerstone of stone of the Bunker ,1 T-, 1 TXMi . Hill monument the Bunker Hill monument. (june 17) It was a. great occasion. The Marquis de La- Laflyetr""^' fayette/ the French "boy" of the Revolution, now nearly seventy years old, sat on the platform surrounded by two hundred veterans of the Revolution. Webster's oration Webster's look as he arose seemed to foretell the splendor of the tribute he was about to pay to the Union for which those gray remnants of '75 had fought.^ He stood nearly six feet in height. His shoulders were thrown far back, his massive head, with its broad, deep brow and coal-black eyes, was held very erect. None who heard his wonderful words ever for- got the scene.' When the orator ended, more than one man rose to his feet, with tears streaming down ' ^ J. Q ADAMS his cheeks, to clasp the hand of another whom he i767-i848 had considered an enemy. It seemed as if the "era of good feeling" would al- ways last. But within a year the whole country began to Taris and internal divide on the questions of tariff and public improvements. ""P'^°''^"^'''^ John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, became john Quincy Adams president. He believed firmly in protective tariffs and Monrot^Mlrch t) public improvements at public expense. The majority in Congress had the same views. A high protective tariff was accordingly laid upon cotton and woolen goods, and on some other articles imported from Europe, which Americans were trying to make. Then, because the merchants of the east wanted to National improvements transport their wares to the growing western markets, ' Sec p. 171. * See p. 167. 2o6 Builders of Our Nation The Nationalists The Democrats 1829 Andrew Jackson president (March 4) Robert Hayne's speech on "nullification" large sums were paid out of the treasury for public harbors, bridges, and roads. Now the "New England and middle states were trying to build up manufactories; but the southern states had enough to do with their plantations of tobacco, cotton, and rice. The New England and middle states wanted rivers bridged and mountains leveled for a path to a western market; but the south- ern states had the sea to carry raw products to the factories of Europe, and they wished to exchange them for low-priced goods. And so the old Mason and Dixon's line' became pretty nearly the dividing line on the subject of tariff and on public improvements at national expense. Two parties were formed from the Republican party, which had seemed so united. The members of the tariff party called themselves Nationalists, and those of the free-trade party called themselves Democrats. The Democrats in Congress fought the high tariff with all their might. They called it the "tariff of abominations". They said, too, that public improve- ments at national expense were not in accord with the constitution. When the Democrats elected Andrew Jackson president, they hoped to abolish the "tariff of abomina- tions", but the Nationalists were still in the majority in Congress and the law remained in force. Robert Hayne, an eloquent senator from South Carolina, declared in a great speech that if a state did not like the laws enacted by the United States govern- ment, it might nullify those laws or declare them void. ' Sec p. 138. Daniel Webster 207 The advocates of "nullification" said that no Nationalist could begin to answer Senator Hayne's magnificent arguments. Daniel Webster was then in the Senate. He had only one night to prepare his reply. But he still remem- bered the constitution, word for word, as he had learned it on the handkerchief. When the hour came for the debate the Senate chamber was packed with eager politicians. Before Webster spoke, a friend anxiously said: ''Daniel, it's a critical moment. It is high time the people of this country . should know what the con- stitution is." ''Then," said the orator, " by the blessings of heaven they shall learn this day, before the sun goes down, what / understand it to be." Webster spoke for hours to the mass of almost Daniei webster-s reply to Hayne breathless listeners. He said that the Continental Congress had been a compact of states — and how well he remembered what a pitiful compact it was, with each state pulling against the others! — but that the United States was the govern- The government of . , , . . • r 1 1 T ''^^ United States ment of the whole people, as it boundary lines were -wiped out. In cases of dispute between sections the Supreme Court had the sole right to decide. A state, being only a part of the government, had no right to prevent the execution of national laws. Resistance to a federal law by a part of the people was rebellion. The debate between Hayne and Webster lasted for days. People from different parts of the country heard about it, and came for miles to listen. They filled the 208 Builders oj Our Nation John C. Calhoun's speech for secession from the Union Webster's reply to Calhoun Jackson sends menof war to Charleston galleries; they invaded the floor of the Senate chamber, and the outer lobbies and doorways. . Webster's speeches on "nullification" were printed and scattered all over the Union. Boys, who after- ward gave up their lives to preserve. the Union, de- claimed passages from them in school. But not all who heard or read Webster's speeches became Nationalists. Newspapers and conventions in the South began to talk about "state rights". When John C. Calhoun argued in the Senate for state secession from the Union, Daniel Webster w\as ready with a reply. He had reasoned that question all out, when the Hartford Convention was whispering secession behind its closed doors. And so there was another great battle of words in the Senate. Webster fought for the preservation of the Union as the cavaliers had once fought for their king.' He said there could be no secession. In a republic there must be obedience to the laws made by the whole people. Meantime a convention in South Carolina declared the high tariff null and void. The state militia was ordered to prevent the public officials from collecting the national revenues at Charleston.'' Now President Jackson hated the tariff as much as any man in his party; but he did not believe in state rule over the United States. He sent armed vessels to Charleston, which quickly brought South Carolina to a proper respect for the law. Jackson had no sympathy with the plans of the Nationalists for developing the country at public ' See p. 129. 2 See p. 193. Daniel Webster 209 expense. He vetoed so many laws passed by Congress that the Nationalists began to call themselves "Whigs". The Nationalists cau n-ii '11 • cc -rr • Ai ?i i themselves Whigs They said they were opposmg Kmg Andrew , as the earlier Whigs had opposed King George. "I have been educated from my cradle," said Webster, "in the principles of the Whigs of '76." Whigs and Democrats were soon disagreeing about Democrats nearly every public question. One subject of dispute Party iines drawn was whether slavery should be allowed in the terri- question tories owned by the United States government. The free states of the north did not want slavery carried beyond the states where it already existed. The slave states of the south were determined to extend the system. Daniel Webster realized the dangers to the Union through the slavery question. He stood with his party for freedom; but he was willing, like Henry Clay, to compromise for the sake of the Union. Union, union, union was always the cry of the great Defender of the Constitution — "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!" Daniel Webster helped to hold factions together until a party was formed which was strong enough ^g to prevent disunion. But he did not live to see the webster dies at _,. ., ^, Marshfield great Civil War. (October 24) In the latter years of his life he passed much time at Marshfield, his splendid home by the sea. It is said that when troubled with sleepless nights he would look out upon a little boat moored to the shore. On the staff of the boat hung a lantern ; and above the lantern's wavering light fluttered always the Stars and 210 Builders of Our Nation Stripes. There were thirteen stripes for the original ^^^° states and thirty-one stars for the states then in the fold. California admitted /^ i • /• . to the Union Califomia had been the last star pinned to the flag, and the "Star Spangled Banner" waved from ocean to ocean. ABRAHAM LINCOLN THE PRESERVER OF THE UNION I 809- I 865 N February 12, 1809, in a rude cabin in Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln first saw the light. It was a cheerless room in which the baby lay; and a cheerless path seemed to stretch out before him — straight from his rough cradle hewn from a log. The grandfather of little Abe had emigrated from Virginia because of his friendship for Daniel Boone, the pioneer of Kentucky. He had been killed by the Indians when his son, Thomas Lincoln, who was to become the father of the future president, was only six years old. Thomas grew up in the wilderness without knowing even how to spell. He married a young girl of the settle- ment who was much better versed in book lore than himself. And thus it was from his mother that little Abe learned how to spell. When a traveling teacher opened a school in a near-by log house, Abe marched to the head of the class, though he was only five years old, and some of his rivals were young men and women. When the lad was seven, the family moved to Indiana and settled about fifteen miles north of the Ohio River. That was two years after Francis Key wrote "The Star Spangled Banner" while a prisoner on an English ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1809-1865 Birth of Abraham Lincoln (February 12) 1769 Daniel Boone begins his explorations west of the Alleghany Mountains 1S06 Thomas Lincoln marries Nancy Hanks (June) Little "Abe" at the head of the spelling class 1816 The Lincoln family removes from Kentucky to Indiana 1 8 14 ' 'The Star .Spangled Banner" written 212 Builders of Our Nation 1815 The victory at New Orleans (January 8) 1816 Indiana admitted to the Union The "three R's" The Bible W'cem's Life of Washington ship in Chesapeake Bay. Just the year before the Lincolns moved to Indiana, Andrew Jackson defeated the British at New Orleans.' But Abe probably heard nothing about the war with England until much later on. It was a wild country he lived in. Indiana was then a territory^though soon to become a state — and bears and other wild animals were still quite numerous. The lad helped his father make a table and chairs from split logs; and beds from poles, covered with skins and corn husks. At night he climbed on pegs to the loft where the bark of a fox or the howl of a wolf often kept him awake. All day long he worked at clearing the forest for a corn field, or hunted wild game, or fished in a stream that ran near the cabin. Abe was a homely lad with large ears, coarse features, and bushy hair. He pinned his shirt with thorns and fastened his deerskin leggings with strings slit from hides, and buttons made of pebbles. After a while he started to school. He walked miles through the forest to learn "readin', writin', and 'rith- metic" — the three "R's" they were called because all sounded as though they began with "r". Some of the backwoods pioneers really thought they did. Abe wrote out his lessons at night on a pine board with a bit of charcoal. Sometimes he had a tallow candle, but more often the blaze of the logs in the open chimney was all the light there was. Among his books was the Bible. He read it through again and again. Another book was Weem's Life of Washington, which helped him to know some- thing about the history of the United States. » See p. 188. Abraham Lincoln 213 When Abe was twenty-one the family packed their 1830 possessions into an ox-cart and moved into Illinois. The Lincoln family . ^ . removes to Illinois The young pioneer helped to set up a log house on the banks of the Sangamon River a few miles from Decatur. He was very strong in the arms. He was lank and awkward, being six feet four inches tall. That was very tall, indeed. As he felled the forest and drained the swamps and planted the corn fields, he seemed like some giant in a fairy story. The boys and s:irls about him must have felt like Tom Thumbs. He was a kind, big-hearted giant, however, with a pleasant word and a broad smile for everybody; though when off by himself his homely face was always sad, nobody ever knew just the reason why. Once in a while a newspaper found its way to the settlement on the Sangamon. LINCOLN'S CABIN 1830 Abe read about PreS- President Jackson's ident Jackson off ering the famous toast : "Our Federal Union, it must be preserved!'" and about Daniel webster-s speeches Webster's famous speeches on the constitution in reply union ^°'*^°'' to Senator Hayne.^ The young giant liked to talk over the news with the men on the neighboring farms. He was invited to join in wolf hunts, and in log raisings when a whole woif hunts and log house was cut from the forest and set up in a day by many tough hands. Abe's hands were the toughest and his arms were the longest and strongest of all. He grew ashamed of his buckskins, which much too short for his legs. were Abe earns a pair of He ordered a pair of jean jeans I See p. 192. ' See p. 207. 2 14 Builders of Our Nation On a flatboaf to New Orleans The slave auction Lincoln's pkdgc 1832 Lincoln organizes a company for tlie Indian war (April 21) pantaloons and split fourteen hundred rails to pay for the weaving and making. After a time he found employment on a flatboat that carried hogs, corn, and hay down the Mississippi to New Orleans. It is said that on one of these trips he saw slaves sold at an auction. The negroes stood in rows, like so many cattle, and were "knocked off" to the highest bidders. Lincoln looked in amazement at the cruel traffic. It is said that he cried to the crew who stood near him : "Boys, let's get away from this. If I ever get a chance to hit that thing, I'll hit it hard." Years afterward, as you shall see, Abraham Lincoln became known over the whole world as the "Liberator of Slaves". When the Black Hawk Indian war disturbed the peace of Illinois, Lincoln enlisted in the state militia. He was elected captain of his company. This pleased him very much, and he resolved to fill the office with credit. He knew nothing of military rules, but his men knew less. He formed them in platoon. They marched zig-zag until they came to a fence with only a narrow opening. The young captain argued the IP question with himself long before he reached the critical spot. He said he shouldn't know how to order the company to form single Yet if he brought his men to a standstill they STREET IN NEW ORLEANS file. would laugh in his face. Abraham Lincoln 215 A clerk in New Salem They reached the fence. "Halt!" he cried. "The company is dismissed for two minutes. It will assemble again on the other side of the fence. Break ranks! " Years afterward Abraham Lincoln, still with little Lincoin-s can to 1 11 f 'Tj- 1 J. 1 j1 command in later knowledge of military rules, was to become the com- years mander-in-chief of all the Union armies. He was to direct his battalions to victory while the world looked on. After the Indian war was over, Lincoln clerked in a store at New Salem and studied law at odd times. He slept on the counter when the tavern was full. And the tavern was often full. Thousands of immigrants were landing in America every year, and as true as the honey-bee wings its way to sweet flowers, they swarmed to the prairies of the west. Abraham Lincoln helped the government surveyor a government measure the land for the settlers. As he dragged his ^"''''''^°'' chain over weary miles he kept thinking about what it meant to have the territories so rapidly made into states. He had read the speeches of Webster and Clay and Hayne and Calhoun. He understood pretty well the disputes about tariffs and public improve- ments at public expense, which divided the North and the South. But a new question had come up for debate. Should the territory west of the Mississippi be slave slavery or freedom? or free ? The territory north of the Ohio had been organized as free soil. The states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois held no slaves; and Wisconsin and Michigan would be free states. HENRY CLAY 1777-1852 2l6 Builders oj Our Nation 1820 The Missouri Compromise Treaty of peace with Mexico signed (February 2) Discovery of gold in California (January) When Missouri asked to be admitted into the Union with slaves, Henry Clay offered in Congress a com- promise which became a law. Under this law. known as the IMissouri Compromise, Missouri w^as admitted with slaves, hut slavery was prohibited in all remaining territory north of a line extending from the southern boundary line of Missouri. ' The politicians of the South said the free states would go on increasing in number till they had control in Congress. Then they would set all slaves free ; and plantations would grow weeds, and the millions of dollars invested in slaves would be lost. It was all very discouraging to the slave-holding states until Texas formed a republic and was admitted into the Union with slaves, making the slave states equal in number to the free states. A boundary dispute between Texas and INIexico brought on a "war between Mexico and the United States. When the war was over, California and vast tracts of other Mexican territory became a part of the United States.' Would this soil be slave or free? The Pacific coast seemed far away. People said that question need not trouble anybody in the least. But the treaty with Mexico had hardly been signed when reports spread abroad that gold had been found in California. Miners were washing hundreds of dollars a day from the sands. What a rush began then to the far-away coast! White canvas-topped wagons jostled through sage brush and over the mountains; ships spread sail and I See map, p. 190. ^ See map of territorial growth, between pp. 186-187. Abraham Lincoln 217 plowed througli two oceans to anchor within the Golden Gate. The little Spanish mission of San Francisco became an American town of twenty thousand inhabitants. Eighty-five thousand adventurers had made their home in the new El Dorado' before the year was out. The diggers of gold asked that their state be admitted into the caiifomiu becomes a TY ' r state Union free. Other free states in this far-away west would soon be coming in. The slave advocates became desperate in their despair. When Kansas wished admission they were determined to prevent it from coming in free. A few men, aided by President Buchanan, tried to james Buchanan force a slave clause into the Kansas state constitution ^'"(Mlrch'TJ ^^ in spite of the wishes of the majority of the citizens. This was carrying things so far that almost the whole north — Democrats as well as Whigs — cried out against it. And who do you think was one of the greatest defenders of the freemen of Kansas ? It was Abraham Lincoln of Illinois. During all the struggle since the Missouri Com- promise Lincoln had been taking part in the public debates. He had quit surveying to practice law. He had Abraham Lincoln entered the Illinois legislature. He had been sent to '^"°'"'=^ ^ p'^'""-"'^ the House of Representatives at Washington and he g had joined the Republican party which had been formed The Republican party by the Whigs, Free-soilers, and anti-slavery Democrats. "'^(February 22) Lincoln became the Republican candidate for United Lincoln in congress States senator from Illinois. ' See p. 48. 2l8 Builders of Our Nation STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS I8I3-I86I The Republicans nominate Lincoln for president The Democrats nominate Douglas HORACE GREELEY I8II-I872 The campaign His opponent was Stephen A. Douglas, who was nick-named the ''Little Giant", because of his low stature and great skill in debate. And so when the campaign in Illinois began, two giants were in the field — one very short, the other very tall; and both great in making speeches. Although Lincoln was defeated for the United States Senate, his debate with Douglas made him famous all over the Union. He said he did not deny the right of the slave states to hold their slaves; but the institution of slavery should not be extended into the terri- tories. The Republicans nominated Lincoln for president; the Democrats, Stephen A. Douglas. And so the two giants had a battle of words again. Lincoln spoke in the largest cities of the east. One of his speeches was at Cooper Institute, New York. Horace Greeley, the New York editor, said of it: "I do not hesitate to pronounce it the very best political address to which I ever listened." Most people in the east thought that very high praise to be given to an obscure man from the west. The Republicans boasted about the humble life of their candidate from the west. There were "rail-splitting" parades, where mauls and axes were carried; and floats of log cabins, and flatboats. After the parade was over, "Honest Old Abe" stood in the flare of the torches to talk to the voters who thronged to see him and to hear him speak. Abraham Lincoln 219 JEFFERSON DAVIS 1808- 1889 In one of his debates, Lincoln said: "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. It will become all one thing or the other." The slave advocates in the south soon saw what the end would be. When Lincoln was elected president a Charleston .^ , , paper marked "foreign" over the >j^\ /^^^ news from the north. Seven southern states organized a government of their own, called the "Confederate States of America". Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was chosen president and commander-in- chief of the Confederate army. The state militia of South Carolina seized Castle Pinckney in the harbor of Charleston. On Wash- ington's birthday Castle Pinckney fired guns for the Confederate salute, and r— rrr across the bay Fort r Y\ Ms\ Sumter fired for the United States. That same day Abra- ham Lincoln stopped in Philadelphia on his way to be inaugurated at Washington. He unfurled over Inde- pendence HalP the flag of the Union. There were thirty-four stars then and he pledged that each star should remain in its place. ' See illustration, p. 168. Abraham Lincoln elected president The secession of seven states (February 18) 1861 Two salutes in Charleston harbor (February 22) Abraham Lincoln at Independence Hall (February 22) 220 Builders of Our Nation Lincoln takes the oath of ofi&ce (March 4) Military school at West Point Naval school at Annapolis Firing on Fort Sumter (April 12) A few days later, on the eastern portico of the capitol, he placed his hand on the open Bible to repeat the oath. Washington and INIadison and Jackson had uttered the oath when the nation was in peril. "I, Abraham Lincoln," he said, "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." Now, in order to protect and defend the constitu- tion, the president is commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, whose officers are trained in a military school at West Point, New York, and in a naval school at Annapolis, Maryland. In time of war he is also commander-in-chief of the militia of the states. Commander-in-chief Lincoln of the Union army waited anxiously to see what Commander-in-chief Davis of the Confederate army would do. In April, Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter. The Republicans were fierce and strong in their wrath. The Demo- crats of the North cried out against the unnatural act, and joined hands with the Republic- .„, ,,J^ .«.«-■ ^J.^^|^^T'»^_ . -i^^ Eleven States in the Confederacy — South CaroHna Georgia AIaV)ama Mississippi Louisiana FORT SUMTER ans to preserve and defend the Union. It is a long story how great armies met together in battle. You will read about it in a larger book. Four more states in the south seceded. Yet "Honest Old Abe" held to the flag with the thirty-four stars. Abraham Lincoln 221 He was never a tyrant — not for one moment. He was more like a father who grieved over the mistakes of a child. Someone says he seemed to be always calling down from Washington to the South: "Come, let us reason together." The Confederate troops fought desperately for their new government. After a time their clothing became worn to shreds. Many marched without shoes. There was not enough food for all. Lincoln saw that slave labor in some states con- quered by Union arms was supplying the Confederates with food. He said states that had forfeited their own government belonged to the nation, and national territory should be free. And so, in what is called the Emanci- pation Proclamation, the slaves of one state after the other became free citi- zens of the United States. When Lincoln was elected president for a second term by the votes of the Union states, he set himself to his task again. With deep-sunken eyes, thin cheeks, and stooped frame he kept hoping for peace with the South. Ulysses S. Grant, commander of the Union armies, was then fighting around Richmond,' Virginia. • Jefferson Davis, president of the seceded states, was at Richmond, and General Robert E. Lee, com- mander of the Confederate armies, was defending the capital against many odds. There were sieges and marches and battles; but there were no signs of peace. ' See map, p. 173. Florida Texas Virginia North Carolina Tennessee Arkansas ■ ULYSSES S. GRANT 1822-1885 1863 The Emancipation Proclamation (January i) T865 Lincoln becomes president for a second term (March 4) ROBERT E. LEE 1807-1870 222. Builders of Our Nation 1865 General Lee's surrender (April 9) The national joy over peace The Confederate armies disband One day in April, when the early trees of Washington were putting forth new leaves, a dispatch came to the White House. It was from General Grant. This is what the commander of the Union armies said: "General Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia this afternoon on terms proposed by myself." The country was saved! Lincoln now knew that all he had dared hope to do had been done. He called his cabinet together that they too might rejoice. The news spread through the corridors of the capitol and out into the streets. Telegraph wires proclaimed Grant's message to thousands upon thou- sands of anxious homes. And, as fast as the words could travel, church bells rang and cannon boomed until the sound had reached the Pacific coast. The Confederates were allowed to disband and to keep their horses for the plows. It was said the Union armies would soon be marching into Washington to pass in review before mustering out of service. President Lincoln and his cabinet debated about the restoration of the seceded states. "We must extinguish our resentments," said Lin- coln, "if we expect to live in harmony and peace." People of the South were already beginning to see that Lincoln, the emancipator, would after all prove to be their best friend. On the afternoon of the fifth day after the message of peace had come, the president was driving with his wife. "When these four years are over, Mary," he said, "we will go back to Illinois. I will again be a country lawyer. God has been very good to us." Abraham Lincoln 223 That night he was shot by a half-crazed actor. A 1865 Assassination of President Lincoln few hours later, "with malice toward none, with charity for all," he breathed his last. (ApriUs) And while Union armies in Virginia — a hundred and fifty thousand strong — were preparing to pass in triumphant review before their commander-in-chief, his body lay in state on its way to Oakridge Cemetery, near Springfield, Illinois. Of the army that passed, few wore regimentals. Most The procession for »,.,■, . ir-i 1 burial at Oakridge 01 those m the sad procession were the fathers, mothers, near springeeid sisters, or brothers of the men in blue. Scarce one of them all but had grieved for some hero during the war. And their tears flowed afresh at this new, added grief. SAMUEL FINLEY BREESE MORSE INVENTOR OF THE TELEGRAPH 1791-1872 1701 liirth of Samuel Morse SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 1779-1872 1789-1707 George Washington president of the United States The Northwest Territory AMUEL MORSE was born at Charles- town, Massachusetts. The town was in full view of Boston Bay. When the wind was fresh the ships in the harbor spread broad canvas wings, and the water grew white with sails. But no steam whistles blew and no funnels puffed out smoke. On the land side no engines with roars and cinders rushed into the Puritan town. Heavy carts rattled over the cobble stones of the narrow streets, with now and then a fine coach for the "gentles", though most people in Charlcstown, as everywhere else, trudged along on foot with a courage as stout as their thick cow-hide boots. That was in the year 1791, when George Washington was president of the new United States. People were just beginning to find out how very far they must walk to reach the west edge of the "back pasture." "Back pasture" was the name the coast cities had given to the lands north of the Ohio. The real name of the region was the Northwest Territory. The Northwest Territory had hardly been organized before thousands of emigrants crossed the Alleghanies and set flatboats upon the Ohio River. 224 Samuel Finley Breese Morse 225 1788 Marietta founded Louisiana 1807 Robert Fulton launches the Clermont Marietta at the mouth of the Muskingum was founded, and also Losantiville, afterward called Cin- Cincinnati cinnati. Soon small towns perched here and there for miles along both banks of the river. When the Northwest Territory began to form states, Louisiana, the new territory purchased from France, was called the "back pasture". Some ambitious people said if there were only a cheap and quick way to travel, settlements could be made even west of the Mississippi ; yet the land seemed very far off. Just about that time Robert Fulton invented a steamboat. Samuel Morse of Charlestown, then sixteen years old, read in a Boston paper all about the launching of the Clermont on the Hudson River. It was a boat one hundred and thirty feet long and eighteen feet wide with mast and sail, and on each side there was a great wheel. The inventor had named the boat the Clermont; but most of the crowd lined up on shore to see it launched had called it "Fulton's Folly". The Clermont had steamed up the Hudson with the paddles throwing spray. Some sailors who met it in mid-stream had cried out in fright at the sparks of fire and the dense black smoke from the funnel. In just thirty-two hours the steamboat had made the trip from New York to the sleepy old Dutch town of Albany. Samuel Morse watched every day for more news of ROBERT FULTON 1765-1815 THE CLERMONT 226 Builders of Our Nation iSlT A steamboat on the Ohio River The patent ofTice The cotton gin A grain cutter A thrashing machine The great natural resources of America COTTON GIN ELI WHITNEY 1765-1825 the Clermont. He had been to Yale College and had made some experiments with steam ; but this boat was far beyond anything he had dreamed could be done. Four years later Morse heard that Robert Fulton had launched a steamboat on the Ohio River. "That settles it," said the young student. ''New Orleans is going to be the greatest city in the United States. The whole west will send its products down the Mississippi by steam." Morse was always interested in the inventions registered in the pat- ent office at Washington. One of the patents was for the cotton gin, invented by Eli Whitney, which had been in use long enough to show what a blessing it would be to the cotton states. One cotton gin could do the work of a thousand slaves. Another invention was a grain cutter Ijy which one man could cut five acres of wheat in a day; another was a thrashing machine which beat out as much wheat as forty men w^ith flails. He said he wished he might invent something which would help develop the resources of the country. There were swift streams for water power, and coal beds to feed furnaces, and there were cotton and wood and hemp and iron. But few people in the United States cared to take the trouble to manufacture any- thing, because England and France brought what was needed and raw materials were welcomed in exchange. Perhaps, with his odd experiments, Samuel Morse Samuel Finley Breese Morse 227 might have invented some machinery for something or other if there had been any demand for home manu- factures. However that may be, he decided to become a painter, and went to London to study. There were samuei Morse goes several American artists in London. Morse did serious work. One of his pictures was exhibited in the Royal The London Royai Academy, and a plaster statue which he modeled won ""^ ""'^ a gold medal. His best friend proved to be Benjamin West, who, Benjamin west although he was an American, was president of the Royal Academy. King George IH came sometimes King George iii to look at West's pictures. His majesty was very old. Some said he was crazy. Samuel Morse thought that nearly all Englishmen must be crazy from the way they misunderstood America. He had hardly landed before he heard talk of war with America. There was much boasting in London about what would happen if war did break out with the United States. Lord Brougham, who was called a Lord Brougham great statesman, expected that the American republic would be annexed to Canada. His lordship ridiculed "Yankees" whose "armies were still at the plow, and whose assembled navies could not lay siege to a single English sloop of war." Wlien the war of 18 12 began,' Morse trembled for The Wr of\si2 what might happen. The British navy was so great, the American ships were so few. Just fancy how he felt when he read this in an English paper: "Five hundred British vessels and three frigates have been captured in seven months by the Americans. Down to this moment not an American frigate has struck her ' See p. 200. 221 Builders of Our Nation 1815 The battle of New Orleans (January 8 ImmiKration from Europe flag. They traverse the Atlantic; they visit the West India Islands; they parade along the coast of South America. Nothing chases; nothing engages them but yields to them a triumph." All that was pleasant. reading for the young artist. And when he saw men rushing along the streets of London with the extras in their hands, crying out that the great British army had been defeated at New Orleans, he wished he might talk face to face with Lord Brougham about the "Yankee armies still at the plow." Morse returned home just after the war was over; but immigration from Europe had already set in toward the west. ''This be a main queer country," said a man from Yorkshire whose little ones tugged at the skirts of his coat. "This be a main c|ueer country; for I have asked the laboring folks along the road how many meals they eat in a day, and they all say three and sometimes four if they want them. Back in England we have but two and they are scant enough. And only think, sir, many of these people asked me to eat and drink with them. We couldn't do so in Yorkshire, sir; for we had not enough for our- selves." Thousands of immigrants unloaded their baggage in the port of Boston to pack it again on mules or in ox-carts and carry it over a road cut through the forest to Pittsburg. At Pittsburg steamboats were waiting, and in a very short time the settlers were at work in their cabins and fields. Samuel Finley Breese Morse 229 When Morse went to New York to live, he saw the ^^^^ same vast stream of immiCTants landing; there from Morse goes to New York to open a Europe. studio The artist opened a studio for portrait painting and became acquainted with many distinguished men. Among those whose portraits he painted was the Marquis de Lafayette, then on a visit to America. The great Frenchman could talk of but little else than 1824-1825 the growth of the colonies since he had helped to set LflSe'^wsitf them free. '^"''"^'' He said he had steamed up the INIississippi and then up the Ohio. Everywhere on the banks of the rivers were farm lands, and neat towns with steeples and tall Development of the roofs, and broad streets that led down to the wharves. ""'^'' He said New Orleans would probably be the greatest city in the United States, because trade would naturally follow a river. But that very year Morse saw Governor Clinton pour a keg of fresh water into the brine of New York Bay. That was a greeting from Lake Erie to the ocean. The Erie canai The Erie Canal joined the lake at Buffalo to the Hudson ""^p''^"^'' at Albany. Ten days of time and half the cost of transportation were saved by the Erie Canal. And so a busy trade began between the western states and New York City. A national turnpike was built through the moun- The national pike tains from Alaryland. Three w^agons might be drawn ''"'"^ abreast along the smooth road, with its bridges arching the rivers. Stage lines carried passengers and mail 1830 over the national pike into the states north of the Ohio. '^'^'^ '"■"' American . railway built at Then a railroad was built from Baltimore toward the Baltimore 230 Builders oj Our Nation 1829 Samuel Morse again goes to Europe west. And this brought so much trade that New York, Boston, and Philadelphia planned for western railroads too. When Samuel Morse went abroad again he tried to be modest alDout the progress the United States was making in transportation, manufacturing, and labor- saving machines; but his old friends said he boasted It quite too much. There was one thing he dared not mention in Eng- land. That was an American book. He knew hov/ American writers were held up to scorn. The Edin- burgh Review, a Scottish magazine, said: "But why should Americans write books ? Prairies, steamboats, and grist mills are their national objects for centuries to come." One evening Morse found himself in the sitting- room of a hotel with Coleridge, the great English poet. He took from his bag a book written by one of his New York friends. "What book have you, sir?" asked the poet. "Oh, it is only an American book," replied Morse. "Let me see it, please." And taking the book, Coleridge began to read. Morse retired for the night. iVt ten o'clock the "^■^-^^ next morning he found the poet bending over the ^^ book — the candles lighted and the shutters closed. '%\j^' "'lis an admirable book!" cried Coleridge, who was amazed that he had read all night. WILLIAM cuLLEN Thc book was "Knickerbocker's History of BRYANT ^^^^ York," by Washington Irving. 1794-1878 ' -^ " " From that time on, Morse had no need to be ashamed WASHINGTON IRVING 1783-1850 American books The Edinburgh Review Samuel Taylor Coleridge j/^ e^'' Samuel Finley Breese Morse 231 1777-1852 Henry Clay 1782-1852 Daniel Webster 1782-1850 1763-1847 James Kent of his countrymen in the matter of books. William Cullen Bryant, John Greenleaf Whittier, Edgar Allan Poc, James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, and Nathaniel Hawthorne were soon much read and admired by their cousins across the sea. It was not long before the statesmen of England agreed that no better orators spoke in Parliament than John c. caihoun Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun, who josepVLIy^^ spoke in the American Congress ; and no better jurists argued in the British courts than John Marshall, Joseph Story and James Kent, who argued in American courts. On one of his voyages Morse heard a gentleman describing an experiment in electricity which he had seen in Paris. The electric spark had passed through a wire which was over a hundred feet long. " How soon, do you think, the current could pass through the wire?" asked the gentleman. INIorse remembered the experiments of Benjamin Franklin, who had sent a kite into the clouds dur- ing a storm. "I think the current would pass instantly," he replied. After the conversation he kept thinking about the experiment. "Why," he asked himself, "cannot sym- bols of some kind express the alphabet and be trans- mitted by the electric fluid through a wire — not hundreds of feet only, but miles and miles — yes, around the whole globe?" The more he thought of the idea the more con- vinced he was that it could be carried out. JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER 1807-1878 The experiments of Benjamin Franklin in electricity EDGAR ALLAN POE 1809-1849 232 Builders of Our Nation Morse sketches an instrument for transmitting thought NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE 1804- 1864 1S43 Congress makes an appropriation for a trial of the telegraph (March 3) JAMES FENIMORE COOPER 1789-1851 1844 The first telegraph line pxhibitcrl (May 24) He sketched on paper an instrument for transmitting thought. He worked for years. Sometimes he was obliged to paint pictures to make money for bread. Sometimes crackers and tea were his only food for days together. At last, with instrument ready and a code for the alphabet learned, he went to Washington. Steam cars then ran between New York and the capital. He asked himself as he sped along whether he should dare hope that a wire would one day be laid along the track. After weeks of earnest effort, and the powerful support of a few faithful friends, he succeeded in getting a bill passed by the House of Representa- tives appropriating thirty thousand dollars "for a trial of the telegraph"; but the Senate must also pass the bill before it would be of any account. Some of the senators said Samuel Finley Breese ISIorse was as "breezy" as his name, and the idea of a telegraph was pure folly. But others, more thoughtful, remem- bered how the Erie Canal had been called "Clin- ton's Ditch", and it was bringing hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to New York state; and how the Clermont had been called "Fulton's Folly", yet steamboats were crossing the ocean. In the end the Senate, by a very small major- ity, voted the appropriation. The very next year a telegraph line was stretched from Baltimore to Washington. "What hath God wrought!" was the first formal Samuel Finley Breese Morse 233 message over the wire. And soon the world knew that another wonderful American invention had been made. John Quincy Adams, who had once been president of the United States, said he would "rather be a Fulton or a Morse than a hundred presidents," Morse applied for patents in most of the countries Patents in Europe of Europe. Ambassadors began to whisper court secrets in cipher; journalists, writing at sunset in a far-away land, knew that by sunrise their words could be read at home; the dying gathered his scattered family about his bed in time to bestow his blessing — every occupation in life seemed to be affected by the wonderful click of the telegraph needle. One moonlight night in October, Morse laid in New York harbor the first submarine telegraph. In a few years electric currents were passing through wire under the English Channel, the North Sea, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean. From the vine-clad hills of Italy to the snow fields of Russia ran the swift messenger given to the use of the world by Samuel Morse, the American. . „ „ Medals and banquets and public addresses became The gift of Europe .... ^ TT r ^ • to the inventor of the a common detail m the lite 01 the great inventor, telegraph Finally delegates from France, Russia, Sweden, Austria and other countries of Europe met in Paris and voted the sum of eighty thousand dollars for a gift to the man who had shown them the use of the telegraph. When Cyrus W. Field began his great work of threading the ocean with the wire in order that the New World might talk with the Old, you can fancy how interested Morse was in the plan. CYRUS W. FIELD 1819-1892 234 Builders of Our Nation Railroads Two ships started from opposite shores, along a track which had been found the best. Each ship bore coils of cable. The ships met in mid-ocean. The cables were spliced and the ends borne back to shore. jg J, After several unsuccessful efforts, communication was The first cable message finally establislicd aud presently a message of peace and good will was flashed across the sea from Queen Vic- toria to President Buchanan. Meantime railroads had been spanning the Union from state to state. And along each shining track poles were set up for the telegraph wires. Some congressmen said it was folly to try to cross the deserts and mountains in the west; others said a railroad would make the deserts bloom like a rose and banish the terrors of the ice-capped peaks. After a great deal of talking an appropriation was made to assist in building a railroad to the Pacific coast. The first ground for the Union Pacific was broken at Oinaha, Nebraska, then a small town built mostly of tents. Over arid wastes of sage brush and sand the work went smoothly enough. Then mountains were blasted and gorges were spanned. Hostile Indians whooped and brandished their knives; but the work of laying the track went on, and along the track rose telegraph poles. The last tie of the Union Pacific was laid at Prom- ontory Point north of the shores of Great Salt Lake; the last rail joined a rail of the Central Pacific, from the west. The telegraph wire clicked the news to New York, JAMES BUCHANAN 1791-1866 1865 The Union Pacific .breaks ground at Omaha 1869 The Union Pacific completed (May 10) Samuel Finley Brccse Morse 235 It must have been a happy hour for Samuel Morse. The wire clicked out all the news of the celebration; how Governor Leland Stanford had come in his car from San Francisco; how the governor had driven the spikes — two of silver and two of gold — from Montana, Idaho, California, and Nevada. "Done!" clicked the wire at 2:47 p. M. by Washington time, which was about 12:45 ^^ the shores of Great Salt Lake. Two engines — Facing on a single track Half the world behind each back — moved slowly toward each other. They touched noses, Eskimo fashion, in salute. Cheers clicked over the wires — east to the cities along the Atlantic, west to the cities on the Pacific coast — - cheers for everybody from the highest to the lowest who had had anything to do with the road. Perhaps the heartiest cheers of all were for Ulysses S. Grant, uiysses s. Gram the new president of the United States, and Samuel dghfeemhtresidt-nt F. B. INIorse, the old electrician who had abridged time °^ '!'',': ",^''^^^'^'''' and space with a little iron thread. A RAILWAY SCENE (March 4) . i843 The birth of William McKinley (January 20) 1845 The annexation of Texas 1848 Mexico cedes land to the United States i860 William McKinley in college WILLIAM Mckinley THE TWENTY-FIFTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 1843-1901 ERHAPS every mother whose son is born in the United States has the right to hope that some day her son may be presi- dent. But if Mrs. McKinley had such a hope in her heart as she bent over Wilham's cradle, she could think of his being president only as far west as the Rocky ]\Iountains. When William McKinley was born, the United States was bounded on the west by Texas, which was owned by the Spaniards; the high ridge of the Rocky JNIoun- tains, and a stretch of the Pacific Ocean along the coast of Oregon. ' Some people said the nation was even then too large for one president to rule. When William was two years old Texas was annexed to the Union. And then INIexico ceded such a vast tract of land that the whole west line of the United States bordered on the ocean. ^ William went to Allegheny College, leader in a debating society. Whenever the question was about the government he defended the expansion of our territory. He said the American flag was broad WILLIM McKINLEY 1843-1901 He became a 'See map, p. 190. 2 See map, p. 236 William McKinley 237 enough to cover all lands and all peoples that sought protection beneath its folds. In the very midst of this school-boy debating, seven states in the -south seceded from the Union' and set The confederate (. 1 . Ti. 1 1 J T i.U government organized up a government of their own. It looked as if the (February is) boasted flag were soon to be torn quite in two. When President Lincoln issued a call for troops to President Lincoln defend the Union, William McKinley, with thousands (Aprii 15) of other young men still in their teens, hurried to enlist in the Union army. j86i McKinley was a private at first, then sergeant, then McKimey enlists ■^ ^ ^ ' , , in the army (June) lieutenant, then captain. And then for service in the reserve corps at Washington he was brevetted major by the president. Though the major was only twenty-one years old, he had already shown the strong, manly character which was to make him a leader of men. ^^^5 The surrender of He rejoiced with the throng on the streets of Wash- General Robert e. Lee ington when news of peace came, and he mourned yi^/j^^jj^^, with the rest when President Lincoln was shot by an assassination of President Lincoln assassin. (April is) Little did anyone who saw the erect, stalwart young fellow in blue regimentals dream that he too would some day be president, and would also fall by an assassin's hand. After the army of volunteers was mustered out of service, McKinley studied law. He began practice in McKiniey begins the Canton, Ohio. His friends predicted that he would ^""'"'" ''"' one day be judge. When the Republicans nominated Ulysses S. Grant uiysses s. Gram for president, INIcKinley took part in the public speaking. • Sec p. 219. ' . 238 Builders of Our Nation The "Monroe Doctrine" 1864 Napoleon III sends an armv to Mexico PHILIP H. SHERIDAN I831-I888 1867 Heath of Maximilian (June 10) There was a vast deal of talk about how the seceded states should again take their place in the Union, and what should be done with the millions of black frecd- men; and whether the "Monroe Doctrine'" meant this or meant that. People were talking about the "Monroe Doctrine" because Mexico had been invaded by foreign troops. While the United States was busily occupied with the terrible war within her own borders, Napoleon III of France sent an army into Mexico, overthrew the republic and seated on a throne an Austrian prince with the title of INIaximilian I. More than one monarch in Europe watched then to see what would become of the "Monroe Doctrine", which forbade foreign occupation of American soil. The United States government quoted the doctrine in no gentle voice, and sent General Phil Sheridan to the Rio Grande with an army. Napoleon withdrew the French troops. Maximilian refused to leave Mexico and was shot by the Mexicans, who again proclaimed a republic. Some of the campaign orators said the United States should not meddle with Mexican affairs; but William McKinley defended the action of the government. He said his motto was "America for Americans". He defended the purchase of Alaska, which some people called "Seward's Folly" because William H. Seward had ' See p. 203. WILLIAM H. SEWARD I80I-1872 William McKinley 239 negotiated the purchase v/ith Russia. Alaska was a jg^ Sfreat territory in the northwest corner of North America ^we purchase of _ , Alaska from Russia with only a bit of ocean called Bering Strait between (October) it and Asia. ' Most people thought Alaska was made up of little else than icebergs and snow fields. Seven million two hundred thousand dollars seemed a large sum to pay for just snow and ice. William McKinley said Alaska was American soil and should be owned by Canada, Mexico, or the United States. He said the United States had the best govern- ment in the world, and should extend its blessings wherever it justly could. At last the speechmaking ended, and Ulysses S. uiysses s. Gram Grant was elected president. The whole country was soon divided on the question of giving the negro the right to vote at the polls. When McKinley said he was in favor of negro suffrage a friend urged him to avoid speaking about it in public. "You will ruin your chances for Congress, William," said the friend. "Be that as it may," said McKinley, "I shall james a. g'arfield speak out my views whenever I can." The fifteenth amendment to the constitution, sccur- ThJfif^°, ing to the negro the right of suffrage, was ratified by inaugiirated (March 4) 1831-1881 The fifteenth amendment ratified (March 30) the states and became a law. A few years later the 1876 fearless young Republican was elected to Congress, ^''^^^"^ey «=iected to Assassination of President Garfield He was still in Congress when James A. Garfield was issi shot by a disappointed office-seeker. And again William McKinley mourned a martyred president, with no (J^^y^) thought of a like fate for himself. ' See map of territorial growth, between jip. 186-187. 240 Builders 0} Our Nation The McKinley Tariff Bill 1892 McKinlcy inaugurated governor of Ohio (January 4) 1896 McKinley nominated for president by the Republicans WiUiam J. Bryan nominated by the Democrats WILLIAM J. BRYAN Territorial extent 1897 Discovery of gold in the Klondike McKinley introduced in Congress a bill for a high tariff which caused a great deal of discussion. He was elected governor of Ohio and served his state so well that he was re-elected for a second term. Then he practiced law until he was nominated by the Republican national convention for president of the United States. William J. Bryan, of Nebraska, was nominated by the Democratic party, and minor parties also had candidates in the field. After one of the most exciting campaigns in our history the Republican candidate was elected. At the inauguration of William McKinley, his mother, then very old, was an honored guest. The place to which her son had been called was higher than she could ever have dreamed of as he lay in his cradle. The United States extended from sea to sea. There were forty-five states and six territories, all at peace with one another and with the world. Before the summer was over reports were spread of discoveries of gold along the Klondike River, in British territory, near the boundary line of x\laska. The same mad rush for gold began that had once so quickly settled California. Thousands jostled each other to obtain ship passage for Alaska. Every available vessel was pressed into service at Seattle and other ports along the Pacific coast. IMany thousands also tramped over- land with sledges and dogs. When new gold fields were discovered in Alaska, President McKinley established a military post on the William McKinley 241 upper Yukon. Towns sprang up like magic; railroads were built; telegraph wires were laid. Presently "Seward's Folly" was asking to be represented in Congress. Meantime President McKinley was facing a war with Spain. Spanish oppression in Cuba had become unbearable. Spanish oppression The Cubans had taken up arms against the govern- ment, and the Spanish governor of the island was trying to starve them into submission to the unjust laws imposed by the Spanish Cortes.' The governor drove the country people into the cities and towns; he burned their sugar and tobacco houses and destroyed their tools and machinery; so that they might have neither money nor food with, which to prolong their war. Thousands of Cubans were starving to death. Americans who were in business in Cuba suffered with the rest. The king of Spain was Alfonso XIII. He was only Alfonso xiii, king a boy; and his mother, Maria Christina, ruled as queen ''^^^'"° reiient. KING ALFONSO 1886- ' The Cortes is the parliament which assembles at Madrid. 242 Builders of Our Nation 1898 The destruction of the Maine (February 15) k^ THE WRECK OF THE MAINE ConRress votes an appropriation for national defense (March 7) Congress declares war with Spain President McKinley thought it was possible that the real facts about the bad government in Cuba had not been reported to the queen. He accordingly sent a protest to Spain and pledged his support in any effort toward an honorable peace. Before a change had come in the inhuman treatment of the Cubans, the United States battleship Maine was blown up in Havana harbor, and two hundred and sixty- six American sailors were killed. Many Americans believed that the ship had been destroyed by Spanish officials. The whole nation cried out anew against the terrible condition of Cuba. But even then war might have been averted if Spain had ceased the barbarous methods employed in her effort to bring the island to terms. Anticipating war between the United States and Spain, Congress voted fifty million dollars for national defense. There was not a single vote in either the Senate or the House against this vast appropriation. President McKinley finally said in a message to Congress that the war in Cuba was a menace to this country, and asked authority to use such measures as might be necessary to bring it to a close. Then Congress resolved that a state of war had existed since April 21. The president called on the states for volunteers; and booths were set up in cities and towns where men were mustered into service. One booth in New York City was in Union Square — William McKinley 243 Preparation for war just beneath the bronze equestrian statue of Wash- ington, whose out-stretched hand seemed to urge men on to their mission of mercy and peace. Volunteers ralhed from the north and the south, from the east and the west, with the same earnest zeal and marched toward the Atlantic coast. Admiral Sampson and Commodore Admiral Sampson Schley hurried south to blockade Cuban commodore schiey ports. Spain hoped that some one of the great powers of Europe who held trade relations with the island would inter- vene to break the blockade. England's interests in the island were greater than those of any other foreign nation. But England refused to take any part in the war. The dignified attitude of President McKinley had challenged the respect of all the great powers. While our whole nation was anxiously waiting for news from the Cuban coast, astounding news came from Hong Kong' by cable across the Atlantic. Commodore Dewey, in command of the x\siatic squadron, had sailed to Luzon,' one of the Philip- pine Islands, and had entered Manila Bay. He had sunk ten Spanish ships without the loss of an American sailor, and held the city of Manila at his mercy. ^^ ^^^, t^ ' -' .' Commodore Dewey s A few weeks later, the fleet of the Spanish admiral, victory in Manila ' ^ ' Bay (May i) Ccrvera, in an attempt to escape from the harbor of The navai battle Santiago,^ on the southeast coast of Cuba, was pursued " (juiy'i)" ' There was no cal)le, as yet, across the Pacific Ocean. 2 See map, p. 245. 3 See map, p. 241. jHington monument union square, n. y. GEORGE DEWEY 1837- 244 Builders oj Our Nation Santiago occupied by American troops (July 17) Porto Rico formally surrenders to the United Slates (August 17) Hawaii annexed (August 12) i8g8 The treaty of peace with Spain (December 10) W. T. SAMPSON 1840- 1902 by the combined fleets of Sampson and Schley. Four Spanish cruisers and two torpedo boats were destroyed or beached with the loss of only one American sailor. Then the city of Santiago and the Spanish army of about twenty -five thousand men surrendered to General Shafter. A few days later General Miles landed on the south coast of Porto Rico.' He was marching north toward San Juan, the capital of the island, when telegraph wires ticked under the ocean the story of peace. The Stars and Stripes soon waved over San Juan without the loss of a life. Meantime the little republic of Hawaii, southwest of California, had been permitting American warships to coal at Honolulu. There was danger that Spain might attack the islands. When the Haw^aiian government asked to be annexed to the United States, Con- gress passed a - joint resolu- tion for the an- nexation. And so the territory of the Union was increased by a fme group of islands, with some of the best harljors in the world. The final treaty of peace ' Sec map, ])• 246. HA I//A U WINFIELD S. SCHLEY 1839- William McKinley 245 with Spain was signed at Paris. By this treaty Spain surrendered all claim to Cuba, ceded Porto Rico' in the West Indies, and the island of Guam, ^ one of the Ladrone Islands, to the United States. Spain also ceded the Philippine Archipelago," containing over a thou- sand islands, to the United States, surrendering all claims for the sum of twenty million dollars. Then came the last act of Spain on the splendid island she had lost. The remains of Christopher Columbus were solemnly removed from their resting * place in the cathedral at Plavana - by the returning Spanish troops. What the great admiral had found the misrule of Spain had lost, never to be re- gained. ^ As for the United States, the war with Spain had shown to the world the strong, earnest -^ qualities in American manhood. It had bound all parts of the Union together in good feeling and high aspiration. And so in helping others the people of the United States reached a more cordial understanding at home, and won the increased respect of the nations abroad. ' See map, p. 246. ^ Sec map of territorial expansion, bet. pp. 248-249. SAMAn , iSS? After the war 246 Builders 0} Our Nation Uprisings in the Philippines I goo War with China President McKinley was not deceived by the treaty of peace into thinking that his task was done. There remained a still greater work to do for the aliens who had found protection under our flag. Cuba was to be encouraged in her effort to become an independent republic; and Porto Rico and the Philippines were to be given self-government as free as any state in the Union when they had proved their worth. In the far away Philippines it seemed difficult for I] ) '■"'"^■r^f ./(JUT'? ^L 1 ;^.r-^^^M-'p-«.^^ 1*6/ ^'^^^Vr-^'Vf^f'*^)^^ P0P70 P/CO "^ ' B B e A N ^ tiii.i NELSON A. MILES 1839- the natives to realize that the iron heel which had been lifted had not been raised only that another might crush. There were uprisings all over the islands. But so firm was President McKinley' s faith in the final peace that he was not in the least dismayed. ''Rebellion," he said, "may delay but it cannot destroy the Amer- ican flag's mission of liberty and humanity." Just about this time there was another mission upon which the president sent the American flag. Several regiments carried it across the Pacific Ocean to China, to protect American citizens whose lives were endangered by the "Boxers". The Boxers were a Chinese secret society which hated foreigners and had pledged to put William McKinley 247 to death those who were living within the empire — Germans, Russians, ItaHans, Frenchmen, English- men, Americans. There were a great, many foreign merchants living in China to carry on trade, and there were many missionaries who labored to convert the heathen Chinamen to the Christian religion. The Boxers hated the missionaries because they feared they would overthrow the national religion, and they hated the merchants because they were introdu- cing the railroad, the telegraph, the steamboat and other modern inventions which seemed to take labor away from the natives. They could not understand the wonderful value of modern methods for carrying on trade. The Boxers began to destroy the railroads and cut down the telegraph poles. They massacred some natives who had professed Christianity; then they killed some white missionaries and burned their churches. Troops from the Chinese imperial army joined the Boxers until thousands of yellow madmen were marching from city to city to put foreign residents to death. And so England, Germany, France, Russia, Italy, and the United States joined together to defend their countrymen. The united armies captured Pekin and Tientsin and held them until China sued for peace, and made pledges to protect the citizens of other countries who lived within the empire. President McKinley had served the people of the President MrKiniey United States so well during almost four very eventful '■''"'■'^"'''' years that he was re-elected president, with Theodore Roosevelt, of New York, vice-president. 1900 248 Builders of Our Nation The new term began the year after the twelfth census was taken. The census of a country determines its population, wealth, and general condition. In the ^790 United States the census is reoristered every ten years. The First Census m >j . * the United States Thc first ccnsus was taken when George Washington was president. It showed a population of less than four million, and almost no manufactures. The twelfth census, during the administration of William McKinley, showed a population of over seventy - six million. The value of manufactured articles was nearly double that of agricultural products, yet the value of farm lands had increased over all former years. President INIcKinley resolved to visit the different sections of the country to see for himself the marvel- ous progress which was being made. Wherever thc president went he was received with such hearty hospi- tality that someone said another "era of good feeling" was at hand. When he reached the Pacific coast he knew well that the possible limits of his journey -had not been reached. Across a stretch of sea lay Hawaii, and farther on the Philippines with the millions of dusky, half-savage islanders. The president had vast plans for schools and churches and factories and waving fields of grain, which would soften savage nature. The thought of these islands could not fail to remind him that beyond them lie China, which Marco Polo had once revealed to Europe; and Japan, farther north, once so wrapt in isolation from all the world. Also that railroads, telegraph lines and modern ideas of every kind were awakening the Old World to a SHOWING TERRITORIAL EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES I I U.S. AND DEPENDENCIES I I U S . PROTECTORATE (CUBA) I I William McKinley 249 new and vigorous life, and opening up untold pos- sibilities in the line of commerce. When President INIcKinley, on his return to the The Pan-Amencan East, visited the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo Exposition his mind was teeming with the emotions aroused by his tour through the Union. On President's Day, in an eloquent address, he reviewed the past in our national growth. Among other things for the future he urged that an isthmian canal should be built to unite the two oceans that commerce might more freely pass to and fro between all the nations of the earth. At an afternoon reception in the Temple of Music in Buffalo President McKinley was shot by a Polish 1901 ,. *r 1 1 1 1*1 rr^i 1 The assassination of anarchist. A few days later he died. J heodore president McKiniey Roosevelt, the vice-president, at once became president, '^^''p'^"''" ^^ and pledged himself to carry out the wise plans of the great man whose name statesmen had already begun to place beside those of Lincoln and Washington. Rarely has our nation showed such honor and respect to a dead president as was shown to William McKinley. His public and his private life had been so free from reproach that when the funeral services were held at Canton, Ohio, all business was suspended throughout the United States; and at that hour, in the Spanish Islands which had been freed from oppression by his helping hand, bells were tolled and dusky faces turned in solemn silence toward the Stars and Stripes that hung at half mast above the public buildings of the towns. The most important measures that had interested President McKinley were the independence of Cuba; the self-government of Porto Rico and the Philip- 250 Builders oj Our Nation ESTRADA PALMA 1835-1908 1902 Estrada Palma inaugurated i resident of Cuba (Mciy 20) Panama Canal route pines; and the building of an isthmian canal to join the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. President Roosevelt encouraged the Cubans to establish a republic. After Estrada Palma had been elected the first president of Cuba by the votes of the Cuban people, President Roosevelt recalled our troops that had kept peace in the island since the war with Spain, and he ordered that the protecting flag of "^the United States should be taken from all the public buildings that the Cuban flag might wave over a land as free as our own. He continued the work of self-government which President McKinley had begun in Porto Rico and the PACIFIC OCEAN Philippines appointing native citizens to offices of trust wherever it seemed wise to do so. Meantime, Cuba, Porto Rico, the Hawaiian Islands, the Philippines — yes, and even little Guam' in the group INIagellan had called the Ladroncs because an Indian there had stolen one of his rowboats — were eagerly watching w^hat the United States was going to do about a canal between the two oceans. 'See map of territorial expansion, between pp. 248-249. William McKinley 251 1904 Treaty for the Panama Canal If you study the map' you will see how these different groups of islands lie in the track of ships from Europe and the east coast of the United States to Asia by way of an isthmian canal. President Roosevelt and John Hay, Secretary of State, concluded a treaty with the Republic of Panama. By this treaty the United States was authorized to build a ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama. A great army was to be called together again to invade foreign soil — an army of peace, with shovels and spades, to dig the short way to China and the Spice Islands which Christopher Columbus had so wearily sought more than four hundred years before. Vice-President Roosevelt, after the death of Presi- dent McKinley, had been quietly sworn into the ofhce of president at Buffalo, New York. He fulfilled the pledges of the dead president so well that at the next election he was chosen by the people themselves. When he was publicly inaugurated on the balcony of the capitol at Washington, he again repeated thc,,^ words 'fl do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, theodore^roosevelt and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution." No president in the history of the United States has ever proved false to this pledge which is required by the constitution and which was first uttered by George Washington when thirteen impoverished little states formed a permanent Union. 'See map of territorial expansion, between pp. 248-249. THE ADMISSION OF STATES AND TERRITORIES INTO THE UNION, AND THEIR RATIO OF REPRESENTATION BASED ON THE CENSUS OF 1900 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 4.0 41 42 43 44 45 46 States Delaware Pennsylvania. . . New Jersey .... Georgia Connecticut. . . . Massachusetts. . Maryland South Carolina. New Hampshire Virginia New York North Carolina. Rhode Island . . . Vermont Kentucky Tennessee Ohio Louisiana Indiana Mississippi Illinois Alabama Maine Missouri Arkansas Michigan Florida Te.xas Iowa Wisconsin Cahfornia Minnesota Oregon Kansas West Virginia. . Nevada Nebraska Colorado North Dakota.. South Dakota. . Montana Washington. . . . Idaho Wyoming Utah Oklahoma Ratified the Constitution 25. 26, Dec. 7 Dec. 12 Dec. 18 Jan. 2 Jan. 9 Feb. 6 April 28 May 23 June June July Nov. 21, May 29, Admitted to Union March 4 June I June I Feb. 19 .'\pril 30 Dec. II Dec. 10 Dec. 3 Dec. 14 March 15 Aug. 10 June 1 5 Jan. 26 March 3 Dec. 29 1787 1787 1787 1788 1788 Dec. May Sept. May Feb. Jan. June Oct. March Aug. Nov. Nov. Nov. Nov. July July Jan. Nov. 16 1789 175)0 the 1791 1792 1796 1803 1812 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1836 1837 1845 1845 1846 1848 1850 1858 1859 1861 1863 1864 1867 1876 1889 1889 1890 1890 1896 1907 1900 Repre- senta- tives 5 14 6 7 2 10 37 II 10 21 7 13 8 25 9 4 16 7 12 3 16 looS Elec. Votes 3 34 12 13 7 16 8 9 4 12 39 12 4 4 13 12 23 9 15 10 27 II 6 18 9 14 5 18 13 13 10 II 4 10 7 3 8 5 4 4 3 5 3 3 3 7 252 Appendix 253 Territories Organized I 2 3 4 5 District of Columbia New Mexico Arizona Alaska Hawaiian Islands March 3, 1791 Sept. 9, 1850 Feb. 24, 1863 July 27, 1868 June 14, 1900 Dependencies Acquired I 2 3 4 5 Guam Philippine Islands Porto Rico 1899 1899 1899 1899 1904 Tutuila Panama Canal Zone EUROPEAN SOVEREIGNS CONTEMPORANEOUS WITH COLO- NIAL HISTORY ENGLAND Henry VII 1485 Henry VIII 1509 Edward VI 1547 Mary 1553 Elizabeth 155S James 1 1603 Charles 1 1625 Commonwealth . . .1649 Charles II 1660 James II 16S5 ^^"illiam III and Mary II 1689 Anne 1702 George 1 1714 George II 1727 George III . .1 760-1 S20 • Charles V, Emperor of FRANCE Charles VIII 1483 Louis XII 1498 Francis 1 1 5 1 5 Henry II 1547 Francis II i559 Charles IX 1560 Henry III 1574 Henry IV 1589 Louis XIII 1610 Louis XIV 1643 Louis XV 1 715 Louis XVI 1 774 Republic . . . . 1 793-1804 Germany. SPAIN Ferdinand and Isabella i479 Charles I' 1516 Philip II 1556 Philip III 1598 Philip IV 1621 Charles II 1665 Philip \' 1700 Ferdinand VI 1 744 Charles HI i759 Charles IV ..17SS-1S08 254 Appendix RULERS OF PRINCIPAL FOREIGN COUNTRIES IN igio Country Austria-Hungary Belgium Brazil Chili China Cuba Denmark France Germany Great Britain . . . . Greece Italy Japan Mexico Netherlands Norway Persia Peru Roumania Russia Servia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ruler Francis Joseph (Emperor) Albert I (King) Nito Pecanha (President) Pedro Montt (President) Hsuantung (Emperor) Jose Miguel Gomez (President). Frederick VIII (King) Armand Fallieres (President). . . William II (Emperor) George V ( King) George I (King) Victor Emmanuel III (King). . . Mutsu Hito (Mikado) Porfirio Diaz (President) Wilhelmina (Queen) Haakon VII (King) Ahmud Mirza (Shah) A. B. Legula (President) Charles (King) Nicholas II (Czar) Peter (King) Alfonso XIII (King) Gustaf V (King) Robert Comtesse (President) . . . Mohammed V. . (Sultan) Accession 1848 1909 1909 1906 1908 1909 1906 igo6 1888 1910 1863 igoo 1867 1905 1909 1894 1903 1886 1907 1910 1909 DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR SERVICE, 1910 Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Salary $17,500 Austria-Hungary Great Britain Mexico Brazil Italy Russia France Japan Turkey Germany ENVOYS EXTRAORDINARY AND MINISTERS PLENIPOTENTIARY Salary $10,000 to $12,000 Argentine Republic Greece Persia Belgium Guatemala Peru Bolivia Havti Portugal Chili Honduras Roumania China Morocco Salvador Colombia Netherlands Siam Costa Rica Nicaragua Spain Cuba Norway Sweden Denmark Panama Switzerland Equador Paraguay Venezuela INDEX Acadia, 117 Acre, 17 Adams, John, 152, 168, 174, 184 Adams, John Quincy, 203, 233 Adams, Samuel, 165, 166, 197 Adriatic Sea, 14, 21 Africa, i. 16, 26, 42, 65 Alaska, 238. 240 Albany, 106, 22s Alden, John, 93-100 Alert, (he, 201 Alfonso XIII, 241 Algonquins, 5, 96 Alleghany Mts., 125, 224 Allegheny River, 157 Allen, Ethan. 168 America, i, 28, 36, 46 Amherst, Jeflfrey, 148 Amsterdam, 104, 109 Annapolis, 220 Anne, Queen, 140 Arabs, 20, 24, 34, los Arkansas River, 121 Arnold, Benedict, 197 Atlantic Ocean, 23 Australia, 16 A Vila, Don Pedro de, 46, 55, 60 Azof, the Sea of, 78 Azores, the, 27, 30 Aztecs, 7 Bagdad, 19 Balboa, 47, 81 Baltimore, Lord, 129, 138 Baptists, loi, 166 Baratha, Monastery of, 28 Barcelona, 40 Bayard, Judith, 106 Beaujeu, Captain, 127 Beavers, 2, 104, 119 Belgium, 64 Berkeley, Lord, 133 Bienville, Sieur de, 128 Black Hawk Indians, 214 Black Plague, the, 131 Black Prince, the, 23 Black Sea, 15, 16, 20, 30 Blackwall, 79 Blue Ridge Mts., 155, 173 Boabdil, 34 Bonaparte. Napoleon, 186 Boone, Daniel, 211 Borneo, 19 Boscawen, Admiral, 148 Boston, 87, loi. HI, 139, 144 Boston Neck, 166 Boston "Tea Party," 164 Bowery, the. N. Y. City, 114 "Boxers", the Chinese, 246 Braddock. Edward, 146, 157-138 Bradford, William, 91-103 Brandywine River, 171 Brazil, 48 Brewster, William, 91-98 Brooklyn, 107 Brougham, Lord. 227 Bryan, William J., 240 Bryant, WilUam CuUen, 231 Buchanan, James, 217 Bunker Hill, 167, 205 Burgoync, John, 154, 172 Bute, Lord, 149 Cabinet, the President's, 222 Cable, the Atlantic, 233 Cabot, John. 42, 75 Cabot, Sebastian, 75, 113, 136 Cadiz, 70 Calais. 70, 120 Calhoun, John C, 208 Calicut, 19, 43, 70 California, 68, 116, 210. 216, 233 Calvert, Lord, 117 Cambridge, 168 Canada, 148, 130 Canals, 14, 16, 229, 249 Canary Islands, 31, 36, 79 Canoes, Indian, 3 Canonicus, 98 Canton, O., 237 Cape Ann, 83, 200 Cape Bojador, 27 Cape Breton Island, 143 Cape Cod, 83, 93, loi Cape Fear River, 79 Cape Horn, 68 Cape Non, 23 Cape of Good Hope, 42, 49 Cape Tragabigzanda, 85 Capitals of the United States, 176, 183, 184 Caracas, 72 Caravans, 19 Caribbean Sea. 44, 48 Carpenters' Hall, 163 Carteret, Sir George, 133 Cartier, Jacques, 1x7 Carver, John, 93, 94, 96 Caspian Sea, 17 Castle Pinckney, 219 Catholics, 63, 113-129 Cebu, 49 Census, the, 248 Cervera, Admiral, 243 Ceuta, 24 Chagres River, 67 Charles I of England. 130, 141 Charles II of England, 113, 130, 137 Charles I of Spain, 48, 30, 33, 39 Charleston, S. C, 193, 219 Charlestown. 87, loi, Chatham, the Earl of, 133-154 Cherokees, the, 193 Chesapeake Bay, 79, 83 Chester, 133 Chicago, 43 Chickahominy River, 80, 81 Chickasaws, 4 Chimneys, 30, 61 China, 17, 73, 105, 118, 246 Choctaws, 4 255 256 INDEX Christian Religion. 53, 65, 77, 91 Church of England, 80, Sg. 92, 100, 130 Cincinnati, 225 Cinl War. 219-222 Clans, Indian, 3 Clark, Geo. Rogers. 173 Clarke, William. 187 Clay, Henry, 209, 216 Clermon!, the, 225 Columbus, Bartholomew, 20, 32, 42-44 Columbus, Christopher, 28, 29-45, 245 Columbus, Diego, 29, 41 Compass, 23, 82. 118. 120 Compromise, the Mis.souri, 216 Concord, Battle of, 166 Confederate States, 219, 220, 221 Congress. Continental, 165, 166-176, 19s Connecticut, 102 Connecticut River, 101, 106 Constantinople. 19. 30. 78 Constitutional Convention, 175-196 Constitution, the U. S., 94, 175 Conti. Fort. 122 Convention, the Hartford. 202, 208 Cooper, James Fenimore, 231 Cork, Ireland, 132 Cornwallis. Lord Charles, 170, 173 Cortes, the Spanish. 241 Cortez, Hernando, 49 Cortez, Martin. 66 Corvo, the Island of, 31 Cotton, 159, 226 Cotton Gin, 226 Creeks. the, 4, 188 CrcveccBur, Fort, 123 Cromwell, Ohver, 130, 161 Cromwell, Richard, 130 Cuba. 39. 49. 150. 241-249 Cumberland River, 181 Curafoa. 105 Custis, Martha, 158 Cuzco, SI. 54 Dakotalis. 4 Dartmouth College, 199 Davis, Jefferson. 219. 221 Declaration of Independence, 153, t68 Declaration of Rights, 151, 166 Delaware, 135, 144 Delaware Bay, 106 Delaware River, 133, 135, 170 Delfts Haven, 93 Democratic Party, 206. 209, 217 Deptford, 69 De Soto, Fernando, 46-60, 80 Detroit, 173 Devonshire, Eng., 63 Dewey, George, 243, 244 Diaz, Bartholomew, 35, 42 Dinwiddle, Robert, 156 District of Columbia, 184 Doge of Venice, 21 Don River, 78 Dorchester, 87. loi Douglas, Stephen A., 218 Dover, 70 Drake, Sir Francis, 61-73 Dublin, 132 Dunmorc, Lord, 163 Duquesne, Fort, 145, 157, 158 Dutch, the. 76.89,93, 102, 104-114, 133. i35 Duxbury Hall,Eng.,88 Dtixbury, Mass., 101, 102 Easter Celebration. 112 East India Company. Dutch, 104 East India Company. English. 163, 179 East Indies. 49, 61, 69, 74, 142 East Jersey, 133 East River, 11 1 Edward III of England, 23 ¥.\ Dorado. 48, 50, 217 Electricity, 231-235 Elizabeth. Queen, 64-78, 88, 141 Elm, the Treaty. 129. 136 Emancipation Proclamation, 221 Endicott. John, 87 England, 24. 45. 61, 87, 150 English Channel, 65 English Settlements, First, 80, 126 Episcopalians. 166 "E Pluribus Unum", 194 Erie Canal. 229 Erie, Lake. 122 Eton College, Eng., 142 Europe. 1,15 Expansion, Territorial, 236-250 Fairfax, Lord. 155-173 "Father of Waters", 4 Federal Hall. N. Y., 176 Federalists, the, 182 Ferdinand. King, 33, 40, 44 Field, Cyrus W., 233 Five Nations, i. 3. 11, 107-9, 120, 136. 147 Flag, the American, 202, 210, 219, 248 Florida, 55-59. 80. 150, 189 Fort Duquesne, 145-157, 158 Fort Niagara, 148 Fort Orange. 106. in, 114 Fort Pinckney, 219 Fort Pitt. 148 Fort St. Louis. 125 Fort Saratoga, 154, 172 Fort Sumter, 219 Fort Ticonderoga. 146 Fort William Henry, 146 "Fountain of Youth", 55 Fox. George, i.-g France. 45, 107, 139, 150, 167. 172 Franciscaps, the. 120 Franklin. Benjamin, 152, 153, 161, 165, 167, 168. 174, 175, 194, 106, 231 Free Soil Party. 217 "Free Trade", 206 French Fleet in Revolutionary W;ir, 172, 17^ Friends, the, 129 Friesland, 104 Frolic, the, 201 « Frontenac. Count de, 1 18-124 Fulton. Robert, 225 Fur Trade, 106 Gage, Thomas. 166 Gama, Va.sco da, 28, 43 Garfield. James A.. 239 Gates, Horatio, 172 Genoa, 20, 24, 29, 30. :i3 "Gentlemen", 80 George I, 140 George II. 143, 147. 140 George III, 149, 159, 227 Georgia, 144 Gla.ss. 61 Gold. 39. 44. 48, 55- 216, 240 Golden Hind, the, 69 Gondolas, 14, is. i9 INDEX 257 Government of the U. S., 175 Government, Self, q4, 102 Granada. 34 Grand Canal, Venice, 14, 15 Grant, Ulvsses S., 221, 222, 235 Great Wall, the, 17, 18 Greeley. Horace, 218 Green Bay, 124 Greenland. 31 Griffin, the, 122, 123 Guam, Island, 249 Cuerriere, the, 201 Guinea, 31, 65 Gulf of Mexico, 56, 121, 126-128 Gunpowder, 21 Hamilton, Alexander, 17s, 182, 196 Hancock. John, 166 Harrison, Benjamin, 160 Hartford, loi, m Hartford Convention. 202, 208 Harvard College, 103 Havana, 150 Havana Bay, 30, 242 Hawaiian Islands. 244 Hawkins. Sir John. 65 Hawthorne. Nathaniel, 231 Hay. John. 249 Hayne, Robert, 206-208 Hayti, 39, 41, 47 Hennepin. Father, t20 Henry VII of England, 42, 75, 141 Henry VIII of England, 63, 75 Henry, the Navigator, i, 23-28, 30 "Hermitage", the, 190, 194 Hessians, the, 153, 167, 170 Hiawatha, 1-13 Hobomok, 97-102 Holland, 64, 195 Holland. Pilgrims in. 91-93 Holston River, 182 Holy Land, 77 Hongkong, China, 243 Honolulu. 244 House of Burgesses. 86, 158 House of Commons. 142, 151, 152, 158, 174 House of Lords, English. 142, 153 House of Representatives, 175 Howe. Admiral Lord. 169 Howe. Sir William, 169 Hudson, Henry, 106, 113 Hudson River, 93, 106, 136, 168 Hung.ary, 77 Huron, I^ake, 122 Hurons, the, 147 lagoo, s Iberville, Sieur d', 128 ' Idaho, 235 Illinois. 173, 190 Illinois River, 123 Immigration, Am., 204, 215, 229 Impressment of American Sailors, 200 Inca, the, 50-54 Independence Hall, 168 India, 25, 32, 34 Indiana, 173, 190 Indians, 1-13, 38, 40, 80, 96, 100, 106, i^'i, 136 Indian Sea, 19 Indian Territory, 193 Internal Improvement, 206, 229 Invincible Armada, 70 Ireland, 71, 131, 148 Iroquois, the, 1-13, 107, 109, 120, 136, 147 Irving, Wa.shington, 230 Isabella, Queen, ;}i, 40, 44 Isthmus of Panama, 44, 47, 50, 67, 240 Italians, 24 Italy, 14, 20. 77 Jackson, Andrew, 178-194, 206 Jamaica, 130, 142 James I, 78, 83, 92, 141 James II, 137-140 James, Duke of York, 113, 133, 135, tj7 James River, 79, 80 Jamestown, 80, 86, 92 Japan, 16, 18, 20, 105 Java, 16, 19 Java, the, 201 Jay, John, 165, 166, 174 Jefferson, Thomas, 168, 176, 182, 186 Jesuits. 115 John, King of Portugal, 23, 32 "Join or Die", 151 Joliet, Louis, 121 Joly, the. 127 Jones. John Paul, 172 Judith, the, 65 Kansas, 217 ' Kaskaskia, 173 Kent, James, 231 Kentucky, 5, 182 Key, Francis Scott, 202 Khan, the Great, 17, 19, 36, 39 Kieft, William, 108 King's Mountain, 173 Kingston, 120 Klondike River, 24a Knoxville, Tenn., 182 Kobi, Desert of, 17 Ladrone Islands, 48. 245, 249 Lafayette, Marquis de, 171, 205, 229 Lagos, 27 Lake Champlain. 146 Lake George. 146 Lake Ontario. 107 Lancashire. Eng., 88 Lapland, 75 La Salle, Cavelier de, 115-128, 136 Las Flores, 31 Lawrence. James, 200 Lawrence, the, 200 Lee. Richard Henry, 160 Lee, Robert E., 221 Leif the Lucky, 31 Leon, Ponce de, 55 Lewis, Meriwether, 187 Lexington, Battle of, 166 Leyden, 90 "Lilies of France", 125 Lima, 55, 67 Lincoln, Abraham, 211-223 Lincoln's Inn. 131, 142 Lisbon, 23, 70 Literature, American, 230, 231 Livingston, Robert R., 168, 186 Livingston, William, 165 London. 65. 78. 131 London Company. 79. 83 Longfellow. Henry W., 12, 100 Long House. Indian. 3 Long Island, 107 258 INDEX "Lord Millions", 20 Louis XIV of France, 119, 120, 131. 138 Louis X\I, 171 Louisburg, 143 Louisiana, 1 15-128, i8s Luzon, 243 Lynn, Eng., 74 Macedonian, the, 201 McKinley Tariff, 240 McKinley, William, 236-250 Madeira Islands, 27 Madison, James, 175, 188, 196 Madras. India, 142, 143 Magellan, 48 Maine, 96, 144 Maine, the, 242 Maize, 7, 11 Malabar, \g Mandeville, .Sir John, 31 Manhattan Island, 107 Manila, 150, 243 Manila Bay, 243 Manufactures, American, 204 Maria Christina, Queen, 241 Marietta, Ohio, 225 Mariner's Compass, 23 Marquette, Father, 121 Marseilles. 77 Marshall, John, 231 Mary II. Queen of England, 138 Maryland, 129. 144 Mason and Dixon "s Line, 138, 206 Massachusetts, loi, 102, 144 Massasoit, 96, loi Matagorda Bay. 127 Mavilla (Mobile), 58 Maximilian. Emperor, in Mexico, 238 Mayflower, the, 87 Mediterranean Sea, 16, 20, 23 Memphis. 58 Merrymount, 100 Mexico, 44. 45. 49, 216, 238 Miami. Fort. 123 Michigan. 173 Miles. Nelson A., 244 Minnesota, 173 Mississippi River, 59, 118, 136 Missouri River, 60 Mobilian Indians, 4 Mohawk Indians, 11 Mohawk. River. 107 Monongahela River, 157 Monroe Doctrine, 203, 238 Moru-oe, James, 186, 190, 203 Montana, 235 Montcalm, Marquis de, 146 Montezuma, 7, 49 Montreal, 117 Moors, 24, 34. 46 Morristown, N. J., 171 Morse, S. F. B., 224-235 Mount Hope, 96 Mount V'ernon, 155, 156, 175, 177 Mullens, Priscilla, 98 Muskingum River, 225 Napoleon Bonaparte, 186 Napoleon III, 238 Narragansetts, the, 98 Nashville, Tenn., 181, 190 Natchez. 187 Nationalists, the, 206-209 National Pike Road, 229 Navy, the U. S., 200, 220 Negroes, 27, 65, 215, 221, 239 Netherlands, the, 64, 76, 89, 102, 104-114 Nevada, 235 New Amsterdam, 106-114 Newcastle, 135 New England, 85, 93-103, 206 Newfoundland, 56 New France, T17 New Hampshire, 195 New Haven, loi, 102 New Jersey, 133, 144 New Mexico, 216 New Netherlands, 106-114 New Orleans, 128, 150, 186-189 New Orleans. Battle of, 188 Newport, Christopher, 79, 81, 83 New Year Celebration, 112 New York, 114, 135, 138, 144 New York City, 144. 168 Niagara Falls, 115, 122 Niagara. Fort, 148 Nina, the, 36, 40, 45 Nokomis, 2-1 1 Normandy, 115 North America, 16 North Carolina, 144 North, Lord, 154 North Sea, 74, 90 North Virginia, 79, 85, 94-103 Northwest Territory, 187, 224 Nottinghamshire, 92 Nova Scotia, 1 1 7 Nullification Doctrine, 207, 208 Ohio, 173, 187 Ohio Company, 145, 156 Ohio River, 119, 145, 156 Ohio N'alley, 157 Oneidas, 11 Onondagas. 11 Ontario, Lake, 119, 120 Oporto, Portugal, 24 Oregon, 236 Orinoco River, 43 Oxford University, England, 131, 142 Pacific Ocean, 16. 47, 48, 118, 248 Pakenham, Sir Edward, 188 Palestine, 17 Palma. Estrada, 248 Palos, 45 Panama Canal, 44, 249 Panama, Isthmus of. 44, 47, 50, 67 Panama Republic, 249 Paris. Treaty ot (1783), 174 Parkman, Francis, 128 Parliament, the English, 137, 142, 151-154, 172 Patagonia, 48 Patroons, 107 Pedro the Traveler, 26 Pekin, 17, 36, 247 Pendleton, Edmund. 160 Penn, Admiral Sir William, 130-133 Penn, William. 129-140 Pennsylvania, 134-140, 144 Penobscot River, 85 Peoria, 111., 123 Perry, Oliver H., 200 Persia, 22, 105 Peru, 44, 50-55.67 INDEX 259 Philadelphia, 135, 164, 175, 183 Philip I of Spain, 64, 67, 76, 105 Philippa, Queen, 23 Philippine Islands, 49, 68, 149-50, 243-250 Pilgrims. 87, 91 Pinckney, Castle, 219 Pin/a, the, 36, 40, 45 Pitt, Fort. 145. 148, 157, 158 Pitt, William, 141-154 Pittsburg, 204 Pizarro. Francisco, 50-55 Plain, or Field, of Abraham, 148 Plymouth Company, 79, 85 Plymouth, England. 63. 65, 79 Plymouth, Mass,, 95, 112 Pocahontas. 82. 84. 86 Poe, Edgar Allan, 231 Point St. Vincent, 26, 30 Ponce de Leon, 55 Porto Rico, 55, 244-249 Port Royal, 117 Portugal, 23-28, 45, 61, 69, IDS Potomac River. 83, 15s Powhatan, 82, 83 Presbyterians, 166 President of U. S., 175 Protestants, 63 Providence, R. I. .101 Puritans, 87, 88-103, 107, 129 Quakers, 129-140 Quebec, 117, 121, 148 Quebec Bill, 164 Railroads, 229, 234 Raleigh, Sir \V alter, 75, 79, 89 Randolph, Peyton, 160 Red River, 59 Representatives, House of, 17s. Republican, Democratic-, Party, 206 Rep'.ibhcan, Nationalist-, Party, 206 Republican Party, Original, iSz Republican Party (1856). 217 Republican, Whig-, Party, 209 Revolution, the American, 162-175 Revolution, the Cuban. 241-245, 248 Rhode Island, loi, 144, 175 Rialto. the, 16, 19 Richmond, Va., 221 Robinson. John. 91, 93 Rocky Mountains, 4 Rolfe. John, 86 Roosevelt, Theodore, 247-250 "Roundheads", 129 Roxbury, Mass., 87, loi Russia, 239 Rutledge, Edward, 165 Rutledge, John, 165 St. Augustine, Fla.. 56 St. Joseph River (Mich.), 123 St. Lawrence River, 117 St. Louis, 187 St. Mark's Square (Venice), 20 St. Ouen's Cathedral (Rouen), 117 St. Sulpice (Canada), 118 Salamanca, Council of, 33 Salem, Mass., loi Samoset. 96 Sampson, William T., 243 Sangamon River, 213 San Juan, 244 San Lur-j, 56 San Salvador, 38 Sanla Maria, 35, 30, 39, 45 Santiago de Cuba, 56, 243 Santo Domingo, 43 Saratoga, Battle of, 172 Savannah, Ga., 180 Say brook, 101 Scalp-locks. 5, 10 Schley, Winfield S., 243, 244 Schuylkill River, 135 Scotland, 148 Scrooby, 92 "Sea to Sea" Charters, 122 Secession of States, 219, 220 Seine River, 115 Seminoles, 4 Senate, U. S., 175 Sendall, Sir Thomas, 74 Senecas, 11 Separatists, 91 Seville, 44, 55 Seward, William H,, 238 Shafter. WilUam R., 244 Shenandoah Valley, 155 Sheridan, Philip, 238 Sherman, Roger, 168, 175 Sigismund, Prince, 78 Sign Writing, Indian, 12 Slavery Question, 65, 215-221 Smith, John, 74-87, 93, 94 Soto, Fernando de, 46-60 South, the, U. S., 138 Southampton, Eng., 93 South Carohna, 144 "South Sea"j 48, 81 » South Virginia, 79 Spain, 24. 33 46, 48, 61, 89, 105, 130 Spanish Main, 72 Speedwell, the, 93 Spices, 15, 20, 25, 118 Spinning Wheels, 95, 99 Squantum, 97 StampTa.x, 151 159-161 Standish Hall, 83 Standish, Allies, S8-103, 112 Standish, Rose, 91, 95 Stanford, Leland, 235 "Star Spangled Banner", 202 Staten Island, 171 Steamboats, 225, 226 Stocks, the, 89, 132 Story, Joseph, 231 Strait of Gibraltar, 24 Stuyvesant, Peter, 104-114 Submarine Cable, 233 Sumatra, 19 Sumter, Fort, 219 Superior, Lake, 122 Supreme Court, 175 Tampa Bay, 56 Tariff, the Protective, 191-193, 205, 240 Tavistock, 63 Tea Tax. 162-164, i79 Telegraph, the, 231-235 Tenncs.sce, 182 Tennessee River, 4 Texas, 127, 216 Thames River, Canada, 201 Thames River, England, 79, 86 Thibet, 22 Ticonderoga, Fort, 146, 168 Tobacco, 65, 113 26o INDEX Toleration Act, 137. 141 Tonti, Chevalier de, 122-128 Tories. 163, 173, 179, 19s Toscanelli, 32 Totems. Indian. 4 Tower of London, 132, 133 Trade. 20, 24. 105, 113, 117, 137, 144 Tragabigzanda, Cape, 85 Treaties: Paris (1783), 174; Spanish Amer- ican, 245 Trenton, N. J., 170 Trinity River, 127 Turkeys, 75 Turnpike Road, National, 229 Union, Federal, the, 213 Union Pacific Railroad, 234 United Colonies of America, 94, 102, 164-176 United Colonies of New England, loi, 102 United Netherlands, 105 Valladolid, .Spain, 44, 55 Valley Forge, 171 \'an Rensselaer, Killian, 108, in Venice, 14, 24, 29, a Vera Cruz, 49 Vere, Sir Thomas, go V'ermont, 168 Versailles, 126 Vice-President of the U. S., 17s Victoria, Queen, 234 Vincennes, Fort, 173 Virginia, 79-87 Virginia Resolutions, 161 Wales. Europe, 134 Wampanoags, the, 96 Wampum. 136 War, Moorish, 34, 35 Warren, Commodore, 143 Wars: American. 111-114, 143, 145-150; American Revolution, 166, 174; 1812, 200-202,227; Civil War, 219-222; Mexi- i can War, 216; Spanish, 242-245 Wars, Chinese, 18, 246, 247 Wars, Dutch, 76, 89, 102, 105, 111-14 Wars, English, 69-70, 102, 143, 166-174 Wars, French, 143, 145-150 Wars, Indian, 5-9, 49, 54, 57, 99, jgg, 2,^ Wars, Japanese. 18 Wars. Portuguese, 24, 69 Wars, Turkish, 30, 34, 35, 77 Wars. Venetian. 21. 29 Washington, D. C. 184 Washington, George, 148, 155-177 Washington, Lawrence, 155-156 Webster, Daniel. 195-210 West, Benjamin, 227 West Indian Company, the Dutch, 106-114. West Indies, 45, 79, 105, 130 West Jersey, 133 West Point, 197, 220 Weymouth, 99 Whigs, 163, 179, 209 Whitehall, 131 White House, the, 184 White Oak Swamp, 81 Whitney, Eli, 226 Whittier, John G., 231 William of Orange, 138-140 Williamsburg, Va., 156, 158 Williams, Roger, loi Willoughby, 74 Willoughby, Sir Hugh, 75 Windward Islands, 41 Winslow, Edw,ard, 91-103 Winthrop, John, 87 Wisconsin, 173 Witchcraft, 114 Wolfe. James. 148 World's Fair, Chicago, 45 Yale College, 226 York, the Duke of, 113, 133, 13, Yorktown, 173 Yukon River, 241 AUG 15 1910 One copy del. to Cat. Div. iiill °0" 413 076 ■*;| 'i ii'tit' '■II. I'ii- :i5.ii.ii-' -i iii'lii.iULIiilUii " liilillii liiiiili I I ill; iiiiillilllliiilliii' lliiiillililiii mdh. f. iKiini liiiitilWlliiliilittiliiSliiiilili