LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 000057^231^=] LVL'* o .0^ '^ 'O.I* '\ <. ♦.T '^>^r o "ov^ '-^tft c» * V *r^5* .-e.^^ ^« '-' * . ^^. rt • * -*-^--- *^^^^« ,.^-, -^z .-.%=?.•• ^. .^^ ^^. .. .^.55M^'. -^z ,^^, u^^^^ ,^', -^z , 1^" ^ V :♦ ^y The Student's history of Our Country For Grammar Grades BY R. G. HALL SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, CLEBURNE, TEXAS HARRIET SMITHER TEACHER OF HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY, CLEBURNE, TEXAS CLARENCE OUSLEY EDITOR OF THE RECORD, FORT WORTH, TEXAS DALLAS, TEXAS THE SOUTHERN PUBLISHING COMPANY 1912 • l-l / ,. Copyright, 1912, by THE SOUTHERN PUBLISHING CO. <^ /^ ni ^ ■ PREFACE The purpose of this book has been to present the history of our country as a growth ; each period shapes and colors the periods that follow it, and the past thus gradually blends into the present. Therefore, in the organization of the subject- matter what has seemed to be the logical development has been followed rather than a grouping of events under presidential admmistrations or other mere chronological divisions. Geog- raphy is the essential background of history and careful atten- tion has been paid to geographic features throughout the book \\ herever practicable, simple facts of government have been embodied m the text as an essential part of the pupil's knowl- edge of history. Short biographical sketches of many of our great countrymen have been given because the life of the in- dividual appeals to the child and because these leaders represent m themselves the best characteristics of the people they led Deeds of heroism and human interest have been related as space would allow. Particular stress has been laid upon social and economic history as all-powerful forces in the develop." nient of the countn-. In the preparation of tl,e text a careful study of many sources has been made a„-1777 147 Routes of Burgoyne and St. Leger, 1777 148 Howe's route to Philadelphia, 1777 152 Route of Clark 162 Revolutionary War — Campaigns in the South (colored) . . facing 166 United States at the close of the Revolution (colored) . . facing 170 Free and Slave Territory under the Ordinance of 1787 176 Routes taken by Lewis and Clark and I)y Zebulon Pike in exploring the new territory : . 208 Territory of active operations in the War of 1812 222 Territory in dispute between the United States and Mexico .... 283 Routes of United States Troops in the War with Mexico .... 287 Territory acquired by the United States between 1789 and 1853 (col- ored) facing 290 Slave and Free Territory after the Compromise of 1850 298 States controlled by Federals and by Confederates in 1861 (colored) facing 320 Movement of Armies, 1861 329 The South's First Line of Defenses (colored) facing 328 xi xii . LIST OF MAPS Campaign around Perryville 343 Hampton Roads, First Engagement between Ironclads 346 Field of operations during the seven days' fighting 352 Positions and Movements of Armies, 1863 361 Grant's Route to Vicksburg ^63 Battles of the Red River Expedition, 1864 365 Route of Sherman's March to the sea ;ijy Showing the gradual southward movement of Confederate defenses . 381 Transportation Routes, 1885 — 'Standard Time Divisions (colored) facing 418 Hawaiian Islands 433 Movement of ships around the islands 444 Line of March to Santiago 447 Philippine Islands 452 The Panama Canal and the Canal Zone 459 Successive Acquisitions of territory by the United States (colored) facing 459 Westward movement of the center of population 469 THE STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY PART I EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY PERIOD I.— DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 1492-1588 CHAPTER I THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE In the fifteenth century the center of the civihzation of the world was Southern and Western Europe, but even there the knowledge of geography was limited. Man had learned to navigate the seas, but as yet he had not pushed far out into the great oceans that encircle the continents. There were vast undiscovered lands and strange peoples of whom he knew nothing. Shape and Size of North America. North America, the part of these far-away lands with which our history is con- cerned, is shaped like a triangle, with its apex to the south. Three different oceans bound the three sides. The frozen Arctic lies to the north ; the eastern shore is washed by the waters of the Atlantic, and it is indented by bays and gulfs and by broad river mouths or estuaries that serve as fine har- bors and that seemed to welcome the early mariners ; on the west the Pacific washes a coast of such remarkable regu- larity that only three important harbors are found tliroughout its whole extent. In size North America ranks third among the continents of the earth. I 2 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY The Atlantic Coastal Plain. Looking at the interior of this continent, and going from east to west, we find stretching in- land from the Atlantic coast as far south as the Hudson River, a narrow rugged strip of country abounding in water- falls. South of the Hudson this plain gradually widens and then turns westward along the Gulf of Mexico. Its average width is about two hundred miles, and it is watered by many rivers of great length, running lazily down to the sea. The land is fertile, comparatively little broken, and well adapted to farming. Almost parallel with the Atlantic coast line lie the Appalachian Mountains, extending from southeastern Can- ada to Alabama, a distance of nearly two thousand miles. The average elevation of these mountains is two thousand feet. Mitchell's Peak in North Carolina, with an elevation of six thousand six hundred and eighty feet, is the highest point. These mountain slopes at the time of the discovery were clothed with immense forests of pine, spruce, and oak. The Great Central Plains. The Appalachian Plateau merges into the vast low central plain which is drained partly nortli- eastward, but chiefly toward the south through the Mississippi and its tributaries into the Gulf of Mexico. Nowhere on the globe is there such a great fertile region. It has almost every variety of soil and climate, and is watered by grand rivers that flow eastward and westward and pay their tribute to the noble " Father of Waters." The northern part of this area and the southern, as far west as the Ozark Mountains, were covered originally by forests of deciduous trees and the evergreens, pine and spruce. The central part stretches west- ward into rolling prairies, and still farther beyond are the great plains, high and dry, that afforded pasturage for count- less herds of buffaloes. The Western Highland. The western highland consists of five parts. First, there are the lofty Rockies, the tallest moun- tains of the continent, many of the peaks being over 14.000 feet above the level of the sea. Beyond the Rocky Mountains is the second division of the highland — the plateaus of the THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE Columbia and Colorado and the great interior basin of the far west. This part of the continent receives very scanty rainfall, and the water collects in pools and salt lakes and slowly evaporates. The largest of these inland lakes is the Great Salt Lake. Next beyond is the snow-capped Sierra Nevada-Cascade Range, and still beyond this, across a beauti- ful and fertile valley, is the Coast Range of mountains, which seem to rise almost out of the Pacific Ocean, with only a nar- row plain between the mountains and the sea. The Pacific slope, unlike the Atlantic, has but few large rivers, and these come precipitously dow n to the sea through gorges and cafions. This whole region is a veritable treasure-house of mineral wealth. Connecting all this expanse of mountain, hill, and plain, there were only a few footpaths, trails of the Indians and wild animals, and the water-ways, the rivers and lakes, on which the Indians traveled from place to place in their birch-bark canoes.^ The Indians. In this wonderful un- known land many surprises awaited the explorer. Strange birds chattered in the trees ; strange plants covered the lurked in the forests soil ; strange animals and roamed o\'er the ])lains, but stranger than all were the people who were the l)rimitive inhabitants. These natives of America were called 'The Indians used also a canoe called a dugout. Many an old Indian trail is now the route for some trunk-line railroad. INDIAN SIGN OF PEACE BETWEEN THOSE OF THE WIGWAM AND THOSE OF THE CANOE STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Indians by the early explorers, who supposed they had reached India when they sailed westward across the Atlantic from Europe. Where these In- dians came from, and how long they had been in America before the coming of the white man, are questions that have never been satisfactorily answered.^ The typical Indian is tall, graceful, and well built. His skin is red- dish-brown or copper-colored ; his cheek bones high ; his eyes small and dark ; his hair straight, black, and coarse, and his beard is scanty. The Indians were scattered thinly over the whole continent. Some of the tribes enjoyed a comparatively high degree of civilization, while others had scarcely emerged from sav- agery. ^ The Indians that have afifected most the early history of our country are the Algonquin (al-gon'kwin) family, composed of a number of tribes, living along the northern Atlantic coast; the " Five Nations " of the Iroquois (ir'o-kwoi'), living inland between Lake Erie and the 1 Thousands of mounds have been discovered in many parts of America. Some of them are shaped hke animals, birds, reptiles, etc., while others seem to be sites of villages, and still others have been places of burial. Many relics, such as pottery, kettles, pipes, axes, arrow-heads, etc., have been taken out of some of these mounds, and it has been supposed that the mound builders were people who lived in America before the coming of the Indians, but there is no authentic information to indicate that they were really a different race, though they possessed a superior^ culture. 2 In Mexico, the Aztec (az'tek) Indians had reached a high state of culture. They had their cities and their temples ; they worked in pottery and in metals. In South America the native civilization was at its great- est height. 4HBP ^ IH ^jgW ^^^ ^ wCt '," l^j6 ^m 1 n 1 Ks W^^^^^y fi^^ : J ^^■r* Tjjp jiS^jg^gi IL ■ if - m 1 wP^K^ WKb 1 III 1 1^^ w 1 n § * H 1 K'' /J ■^ 1 ^^3^B'fl Hj i^^ 1 frf'^jp^ iiiw>"'^BI":1 T ^..^^ I IbkjV/li A TYPICAL INDIAN THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 5 Hudson/ the Cherokees, a tribe of the Iroquois family that had become separated and settled in the country surrounding the present site of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the Muskogee (mus-ko'ge) family, which inckides the intelhgent and war- hke tribes of the Choctaws, Creeks, and Chickasaws (chik'a- saws), who have been properly called the civilized tribes. Life and Occupations of Indians. Indian buildings varied with the material of the different sections of the country. In one section was found the bark- or skin-co\-ered ivigivam, or WIGWAM HOGAN KEYE INDIAN DWELLINGS sometimes the long wooden house, in which many families lived ; in another section the grass lodge; in another, earth- covered poles, or the hogan (ho'gan) ; in another the brush kcyc (kee) or zuickyiip (wick'y-up) ; in the higher civilization one-, two-, and three-story houses of sun-dried brick or stone were built into pueblos (pweb'los) or villages.- 1 There were several branches of the iroquois, but only five united to form the general Iroquois Confederacy. These were the Mohawks, Senecas (sen'e-kaz), Oneidas (6-ni'daz), Onondagas (on'on-da'gaz), and Cayugas (ka-yu'gaz); later the Tuscaroras ( tiis'ka-ro'raz) from North Carolina joined them, and they were then known as the " Six Nations." 2 In the far southwest are hundreds of buildings clinging to the sides of the cliff's called Cliff Dwellings. These are frequently almost inacces- sible, and are supposed to be places of refuge to which the PucIjIo Indians fled for safety when their country was overrun by the hordes of Athapas- STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY For the most part the Indian was content with small posses- sions. He sang at his work, was fond of games and sport, and delighted to sit with his family in the evening, smoking his pipe and telling stories of the great deeds of his tribe. He INDIAN PUEBLO. — ONE OF THE SEVEN CITIES OF CIBOLA SOUGHT BY THE SPANIARDS loved to hunt and fish, knew how to imitate the sounds of birds and the cries of animals, and could glide through the forest as noiselessly and as swiftly as the deer. Though his work in agriculture was of the most primitive sort and the in- dividual fields were little more than patches, he had developed maize (Indian corn) into four edible varieties and was grow- ing it from Central South America to the fifty-fourth parallel of north latitude. This, the only cereal native to the coun- try, was grown in sufficient quantities to prove of untold value to the early settlers and explorers. Not only did it fre- quently save the li\'es of the colonists as we shall learn later, but it made possible the sustenance of the exploring Spanish armies for months at a time and for journeys covering many hundred miles. In one war the whites destroyed at one time for one tribe a million bushels of corn (probably in the can (ath-a-pas'kan) Indians from the north. That they sometimes re- mained for a generation or more in the refuge is highly probable. THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 7 car), and at another one hundred and sixty thousand bushels for another tribe. The Indians had developed a wild tuber into what is known as the Irish potato, a gourd into the squash of our gardens, some wild plant into an edible bean, and another into a melon ; cotton was grown and woven into colored cloths which Coronado (cor-o-naMo) has described as of great beauty. Little cornfields and tobacco patches were usually tilled by women or squaws, who also dressed the skins, dried the meat, and made the clothing and moccasins for the hunter and the warrior.^ The Indians, for all their backwardness in the arts known to the white man, possessed no little inventive skill. They manufactured their hatchets or tomahawks of stone, their arrowheads of flint, and their clubs for war or chase. They wove baskets, made pottery and some cloths of beautiful design and coloring, and carved pipes and utensils with rare handicraft. They had long, tapering snowshoes, which en- abled them to skim over the snow sometimes at the rate of forty miles a day. Wampum, made of small shells strung to- gether, served a number of purposes. Sometimes it was made into belts and used as an ornament; often upon these wampum belts the treaties between the tribes and the laws of the tribes were recorded. The color and pattern of the belt 1 In most of the tribes the woman was held to be inferior to the man, but in some of the tribes she had great influence, occupying a high rank, and sometimes she was elevated to the position of chief. 8 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY varied according to the purpose for which it was employed. Wampum was also used as money, or as a medium of ex- change. The Indian's birch-bark canoe was perhaps his most useful invention; this was made by stripping off the bark in one piece and fitting it over a light wooden frame/ The Indian as a Warrior. The Indian tribes, like the nations of the earth until a recent period of history, were much given to war. At first glance it might appear that the Indian's chief -aim in life was war, but when we reflect that civilized history consists in large part of wars and the conquests of one nation or one people by another, we will realize that after all the Indian was not very different from those who are pleased to boast of their superior civilization. The Indian's weapons were bows and arrows, clubs, tomahawks,- and stone knives. His endurance in war as in the chase was mar\'elous. If he were captured by his enemy, the most cruel treatment could not force a cry from his lips, and with his last breath he would defiantly chant his death song. He excelled in physical courage, but, like most primitive peoples, he was in- clined to treachery in dealing with his foes. He preferred to fight his enemy, not in open field, but to surprise him from behind trees, or to steal upon him in the dead of night and fall upon his victim with blood-curdling yells. He tortured his captives in every way that his animal cruelty could devise ; it was not uncommon to bind them to a stake and burn them. In his view, war was best brought to a speedy end, and he undertook to exterminate his enemy. Often he spared not 1 In addition to the arts practiced by the Indians as we have known them during- our history, it should be recorded that the first Spanish explorers discovered in the southwestern parts of North America evi- dences of a superior civilization practiced by the ancestors of these Indians, or by the people who preceded them on this continent. The ruins of villages, the traces of somewhat extensive irrigation works, relics of stone- ware and pottery, and even samples of weaving of cotton were found. Besides, these earlier people left written characters on a rough paper manufactured from some native plant. Whether the tribes who practiced these superior arts belonged to the same family as the Indians whom the explorers eftcountered, or were a superior people who became extinct, is uncertain. THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 9 even women and children, and he measured his prowess by the number of scalps or prisoners brought from the contest.^ Religion of the Indians. The Indians were intensely re- ligious. They believed in spirits — manitous (man'i-toos) — who governed the world. They worshiped, also, the sun and the stars, the rivers and the mountains. The rustle of the leaves, the rolling of the thunder, and the whisper of the grasses all revealed to the red man the spirits of another world. INDIAN CEREMONIAL SAND-PAINTING ( NAVAJO ) Jie believed in evil spirits, too, and to overcome these was the duty of his priests or medicine men, who sometimes danced about the fire for ten or twelve hours at a time, making hideous noises and laboring to exorcise the demons of the air. The Indians believed in the future life where the warrior would go to the " Happy Hunting Grounds," and there with his dog, his bow and arrows, and his tomahawk he would enjoy to the ^ The Indians seldom if ever practiced their cruelties on the whites without provocation, for it must be recorded that many of the early explorers, even many of the colonists, in their dealings with the Indians practiced deception, and always the tendency of the white man was to encroach upon the Indians and possess their lands by fair means or foul. lO STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY full all the pleasures, and endure none of the sorrows of this life. Indian Government. The Indians were loosely banded toi^ether into tribes, and many such blood-related tribes would make a big family or stock. These tribes held their lands in common, for the Indian had no conception of ownership of property as the white man understands it. The Indian's per- sonal belongings were his own, but all other possessions were regarded as common. It is important to remember this fact in future recitals of land transactions between the whites and the Indians. While some of the settlers in good faith " bought " the lands from the Indians, we now understand, if the settlers did not then understand, that in the Indian's conception of the trade he was granting to the white man only the right to occupy the land with him, and in no sense meant to part with his own rights to reside within the ter- ritory of his fathers. The tribe consisted of clans, which were bound together by ties of kinship. Each clan had its name — usually that of some animal or plant,, which became the emblem or " totem " of the group. The totem was sacred to all mem- bers of the clan. Some tribes had their totem poles placed in the front of their chief's wigwam, and recorded on it in crude carving the story of their achievements. Sometimes the totem was painted on the sides and roofs of their rude houses. Every clan had its sachem or civil ruler, who was elected by the members, and at least one war chief who was chosen to lead on the field of battle. The sachems and chiefs of all the clans of a tribe met in tribal council to consider im- portant matters pertaining to the tribe. On the whole, while the Indians were savages, they pos- sessed many qualities of civilization, and in their undisturbed relations they were peaceful and kindly. Indeed, they wel- comed the first white men, and were well disposed toward the settlers until they found themselves mistreated or threat- ened with dispossession. In many respects they were child- THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE II like ; in other respects they were noble ; it was when the white man set up customs that they could not comprehend and trespassed upon what they considered their everlasting in- heritance that they developed the fury of trapped animals and paid injury with cruelty and unfairness with massacre. W'hile there is much in the record of our dealings with the Indians to be excused on the ground of necessary progress in the interest of human development, there is more that makes us blush. In truth, the Caucasians, until a recent period, were almost as cruel one to another in their zeal of religious and political persecution. THOUGHT QUESTIONS I. What might liave been the effect on discovery and explorations, were the Atlantic and Pacific sea-board reversed? 2. Name some plants and animals native to North America. 3. Describe the different dwellings of the Indians. 4. In what respect may we profit by the Indian idea of honor? 5. What Indian tribes figured in the history of your state? To what family did they belong? 6. What effect do you think the Indian religion had upon his life? What effect had his life upon his religion? CHAPTER II DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS In this day of almost universal geographical knowledge it sounds a little strange to say that four hundred years ago the civilized world knew nothing of the land just descrihed, but thought of the earth as consisting of only Europe, Asia, North THE KNOWN WORLD IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY Africa, and a few islands of the neighboring seas. Beyond these known areas and adjacent waters the oceans stretched away into an unknown " Sea of Darkness," which navigators feared to penetrate and which the imagination of the ignorant peopled with hideous monsters. 12 DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS 13 Trade Relations. For immemorial ages these parts of the earth's surface had been in communication with each other and had interchanged their products in the ordinary- course of commerce. The European used the spices of the Indies to make liis food more palatable ; the fine fabrics of Cathay (China) and India were in demand for his garments, and the gold and precious gems of these far-away lands of the East were coveted by monarchs and nobles. The Medi- terranean Sea was the great highway of traffic in those days ; it was thronged with sailing vessels that brought to Con- stantinople, Venice, and Genoa, the commercial centers of Europe, cargoes of valuable wares gathered at the western ports of Asia from a vast region covered by tedious and peril- ous routes of overland transportation. But by the close of the fifteenth century Constantinople and all southeastern Europe were under the dominion of the fanatical and barbarous Turks, who, being Mohammedans, despised the Christians; and being warriors, had a contempt for traders. They refused to allow the merchants of the west to pass through their possessions, and thus cut off from Europe the products which for many generations had brought wealth to her cities. As a consequence of this interruption of traffic, commercial minds of that day began to consider whether there might not be found some other route to the " land where the spices grow." But where was the nation wealthy enough and who were the seamen bold enough to undertake such an enterprise? Italy had been the great commercial country of the middle ages, but she was divided into petty warring states, and now, with the trade routes closed, her wealth was diminishing. Still, as we shall see, though other nations contriljuted the money and the ships for the great enterprise, it was Italy's illustrious sons who furnished the greater part of the cour- age and knowledge necessary for the momentous undertaking. Germany, too, consisted of a number of little states, almost constantly engaged in civil strife, brance and England had 14 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY been at war with each other for a century, and each had l)ccn involved in domestic broils. The Scandinavian countries had been wasted by internal disorder/ Holland at this time was under the dominion of Spain, and the latter had been engaged for centuries in expelling the Moors from her borders. Thus the countries of Europe were ill prepared for the work of dis- covery. The first to take up the great task of finding a new way to India was the little kingdom of Portugal. Prince Henry. An illustrious prince of that country, known as " Prince Henry the Navigator," " first set himself seriously to the opening of a new trade route to India, and his efforts were directed toward the south and east around Africa. Grad- ually his hardy mariners, emboldened by the faithful needle," gained more and more courage as they pushed farther down the African coast and found neither fiery zone nor boiling seas filled with devouring monsters. Prince Henry's work resulted not simply in dispelling many mediaeval superstitions and in developing hardy and competent seamen, but his conception of the land formation of Africa was verified in the voyage of Vasco da Gama (vas'ko da ga'ma) around the southern cape in 1498 long after the death of the Portuguese Navigator. Marco Polo. Years before the efiforts of Portugal re- vealed somewhat the size and shape of Africa, Europe was obtaining more comprehensive and more nearly accurate knowledge of the Far East from travelers, the best known of whom in that period was Marco Polo (mar'ko poTo), a wealthy merchant of Venice, who went as far east as China. The journey covered many years, and an old chronicle tells us that ^ The Scandinavian countries are Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. The old inhabitants of these lands are called Northmen or Norsemen. The people were bold sea rovers, searching ever for new fields of adventure and plunder. They reached Greenland and Iceland in the ninth and tenth centuries, and in the year 1000 A. D. Leif Ericson, with a small crew, reached the coast of North America, sailing from Labrador to the south- ward. He called the land Vinland (or Vine Land). These primitive visitors to North America left no trace of their discoveries and nothing came of the adventure. - Prince Henry lived from 1394 to 1460. 3 The mariner's compass had just come into use. DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS ^b when he reached home he took the profits of his trip from the seams of his clothes in the form of rubies, sapphires, carbuncles, emeralds, and d i a - monds. Marco Polo wrote an account of his travels, and as printing" was invented soon afterwards the circulation of the book w a s comparatively easy. The chronicle told of the fabulous wealth of the East, of streams filled with gold, of towered cit- ies, and busy harbors on the far-away ocean of Asia, where hun- dreds of ships laden with precious wares of the Orient came and went each year. Revival of Learning. These adventures and discoveries came with the awakening of mankind from the darkness of the Middle Ages, and were a part of that revival of learning known to history and literature as the Renascence (re-nas'srns). There had been a long period of ignorance and superstition, from which at length the people of the Old World were aroused as if by an intellectual resurrection.^ This was the time when printing was invented and gunpowder came into use. By the fifteenth century scholars generally accepted the theory that the earth is not flat, as the ancients believed, but 1 It is now understood that the Middle Ages had been by no means so barren of intellectual activity and progress as was once supposed; but it is nevertheless true that a wonderful stir of new life was at this time being felt in Europe. MARIO POLO i6 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY spherical in shape. Marco Polo had seen a vast ocean east of India; there was a vast ocean west of Europe, and geogra- phers reached the opinion that they were one and the same. If that were so, then the Indies, they concluded, could be reached by sailing westward. Little did these geographers dream that two oceans and great continents lay between Eu- rope and Asia, and many years elapsed even after the voyages of discovery had been made before the world realized the greatness of its inheritance. Christopher Columbus. Europe was astir with the question of a new trade route to India, and while navigators specu- lated and pondered there was one man who dared to act. This man, Christopher Colum- bus, was the son of a poor wool weaver in Genoa, and there in that beautiful Italian city the great navigator was born about the year 1446. He early took to the sea and showed great ap- titude for geography and nau- ^^ tical science, w'hich became his lifelong studies. His first voy- age began, when he was four- teen, with the captains of Prince Henry the Navigator, and at twenty-one he was rated as a skilled mariner. About 1470 he took up his residence at Lisbon, Portugal, the land of Prince Henry, and here for a time he worked as a maker of maps and made an occasional voyage. It was in Portugal that Columbus conceived the great plan which henceforth was to be the work of his life. With other advanced thinkers of his day he believed he could reach the Indies by sailing westward and he resolved to accomplisli the CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS 17 task, but he lacked the means for an enterprise so ambitious. Therefore, he sought the aid of the various sovereigns of Europe. He appealed first to Portugal, but that nation was hopeful of finding a route around Africa, and Columbus failed to command a hearing from the Portuguese government. Then he submitted the project to Ferdinand and Isabella, the sovereigns of Spain, and about the same time sent his brother Bartholomew to ap- peal to the king of England. Ferdinand and Isabella were little impressed by the representations of one whom they regarded as a dreamer, and gave him slight attention. From Spain he turned to France and set upon his weary way on foot. Stop- ping at a convent to beg for food and water for himself and his child, he told his story to the kindly abbot, who appreciated the undertaking and immediately became his advocate before Ferdinand and Isabella. The eloquent priest moved the queen as Columbus had been unable to do. She was converted to the project and, assisted by powerful friends, defrayed the ex- penses of the voyage. In the harbor of Palos (pii'los), a little town of South- western Spain, the fleet of three small ships, the Scmfa Maria (siin'ta ma-re'a), the Piufa (pccn'ta), and the Niua (neen'ya) lay riding at anchor in the early dawn of August 3, 1492. This was the equipment furnished by the Queen of Spain for the great enterprise. Under a contract, Columbus, who was made high admiral, was to enjoy a share of all the profits of the THE CARAVELS OF COLUMBUS AS REPRODUCED FOR THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION AT CHICAGO. i8 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY undertaking. A motley crew/ about one hundred and twenty souls, had been gathered together, and two experienced seamen, the Pinzon brothers, were engaged to command the Piiita and the Nina, while the Santa Maria was the flagship under com- mand of the admiral himself. At last the little fleet set sail and left behind a weeping and wailing company of relatives and friends who feared they were taking their last look at the daring voyagers venturing upon a sea of terrors. Columbus directed his course southwest to the Canaries, where he tarried a few weeks ; and then, at the close of the first week in September, he plunged, with his three small ships, nearly due westward into the mysteries of the uncharted waste of waters. All went well at the starting, but as the voy- age stretched into weeks the strain of anxiety taxed the skeptical crew to the utmost. Soon there was a secret mur- muring, and then open grumbling, and finally the sailors threatened to throw the admiral overboard and turn back. But Columbus, never daunted, now coaxed, now threatened, now appealed to the avarice of his men with promises of great wealth and glory in store for them. Nevertheless, Columbus himself was considerably puzzled, though his faith in the un- dertaking never faltered. He kept two records of his voyage, a false one for the crew and a true one for himself, and the true record showed that he had traveled 2.700 miles and still there was no land in sight nor sign of land. Land Discovered. Changing his course slightly the ad- miral steered to the southwest, and on October 1 1 he ob- served unmistakable signs of land; birds known to live only on land circled around the ships, green twigs and weeds floated on the water, and a piece of rudely carved wood was picked up. On the same night Columbus saw a faint light in the distance moving to and fro, and in the morning to his unspeakable joy a low-lying shore was disclosed to his gaze. Soon after day- 1 Many of the crew were convicts who had been released on the con- dition that they embark upon this voyage. DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS 19 break the crew cast anchor, and the admiral, richly garbed and bearing the royal banner of Spain, put out to the shore in a small boat accompanied by the Pinzons and a few others. Columbus leaped upon the land and falling ui)on his knees thanked God that the desire of his heart was at last realized, for, as he belie\'ed, a new way had been found to India. In the name of the Most High and of his gracious sover- eigns of Spain, he took possession of the land, which he called San Salvador (siin sal'va-dor') — Holy Sa^•ior.^ He had not reached India as he thought, but had come upon one of the islands of the Bahama (ba-hcVma) group, probably Wat- ling Island; the natives called it Guanahani (gwa-nii-ha'ni). These copper-hued people, whom Columbus called Indians, came flocking to the beach at the sight of the strange vessels, which they thought to be gigantic white-winged birds, and gave reverential welcome to the visitors, who they thought were messengers or brothers from celestial spheres. From San Salvador Columbus sailed southward whither the natives had indicated he might find gold. He discovered Cuba and Hayti, and then i)reparcd for the return voyage. He carried back with him several of the natives and some of LANDING OF COLUMBUS 1 See Joaquin Miller's poem Columbus. 20 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY the products of the new lands. The return passage was stormy and the httle Nina, now his only vessel, plowed her way back through the threatening sea, carrying a company filled with rejoicing/ Columbus feared at one time that the little ship would surely be lost, and he prepared two records of his achievements. One of these he sealed in a cask bear- ing the arms and names of the sovereigns of Spain ; this he consigned to the waves, hoping it might reach Spain, but the brave' little boat weathered the storms and at last anchored in the harbor of Palos. The people of Spain welcomed the victorious voyagers with great acclaim, and gave themselves over to a long, joyous holi- day in honor of the great man who " loosed the barriers of the ocean " for Spain. The king and queen heaped many honors upon Columbus and throughout the civilized world his achieve- ment became the topic of greatest interest. Other Voyages of Columbus. During the happy days which followed, the admiral was preparing for another voyage. In all he made four journeys to the New World and discov- ered the chief islands of the .West Indies, the northern coast of South America, and Honduras in Central America. But Columbus took back to Spain neither gold, nor spices, nor the precious gems of the Orient. Besides, he proved himself to be an incapable executive and made many mistakes in the administration of his enterprises. His exploits excited the envy of other men who magnified his shortcomings and poisoned the minds of the king and queen against him. ^ The Santa Maria had run aground, and Pinzon, with the Pinta, had become separated from the Nina. COUNTRY DISCOVERED BY COLUMBUS DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS 21 Brought back from his third voyage in chains as a prisoner and returning from his last without the material success which his covetous monarchs desired, he was finally deserted Ijy all but his immediate family and died at Valladolid ( varya-thrj-leth), May 20, 1506, in poverty and obscurity. His firm belief to the day of his death was that he had reached the east- ern coast of Asia and had opened a new trade route to the Indies, but his error in nowise lessens the glory of his achievement and his tragic end demonstrates the lack of appreciation which the world too often shows with re- spect to many of its daring- souls. America Named. After Columbus had shown the way others were quick to make voyages across the western sea in search of wealth and in hope of concpiest. Among these was Americus Vespu- cius, an Italian, living, like C\ Bartholomew, the brother of Columbus, and readily grant- ed to Cabot a permit to dis- cover lands in the west. In 1497 Cabot reached the North American coast and landed somewhere in Labrador. The voyagers soon returned, but carried back with them neither gold nor spices. Many years later, when the world came to know that a new continent had been found, England laid claim to the whole of North America by virtue of Cabot's discovery.^ Balboa and Magellan. We must remember that the pri- mary aim of Europe was not to discover a new continent, but a route to the "land of the spices"; hence, most of the ex- plorers endeavored to pass through or go around these new- found lands of the sea, which were supposed to be islands lying off the coast of Asia. As a consequence of this chief purpose, there were many persevering explorations of the coast line and river mouths, which led to the discovery of that great ocean to the west, and, finally, to the demonstration of 1 In the notebook of the penurious King Henry VII of England, we find this entry, " 10, Aug. 1497. To him that found the new isle £10." JOHN CABOT DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS 23 the real physical form of the New World. Balboa, a Spaniard, was the hrst to view the great ocean west of America, which we now know as the Pacific. Hunting pearls and gold he reached the Isthmus of Panama, as it lies nearly east and west, and pushing from the northward to the southward, he ascended the mountains, and there, in 15 13, from a peak in Darien, be- held the great expanse of the new ocean which he called the South Sea. But not until 15 19 did the Spanish venture upon this new water. Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese in the service of Spain, still believed that a shorter route could be found tf) the Indies than that which Vasco de Gama had traversed around Africa in 1498. In a dar- ing voyage Ma- gellan followed the coast line of South America to the south, passed through the straits that now bear his name, and pressed onward into the great placid ocean, Balboa's South Sea, which he called the Pacific. Still pushing westward he discovered the Philippine Islands, where he was killed in a fight with the natives, and the rem- nant of his crew, in one remaining vessel, reached Spain in 1522. This was the first circumnavigation of the globe, and the first complete physical demonstration of its shape. FERDINAND MAGELLAN 24 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY The Spaniards in the South. The Spaniards early made settlements in the West Indies, but finding no gold there they used these islands as a base of operation for further explora- tions westward. During the first half of the sixteenth cen- tury these adventurers had penetrated to the north and west ROUTES OF VOYAGERS AND DISCOVERERS and to the south over an area greater by far than the whole of Europe. Ponce de Leon (pon'tha da la-on') explored northward in search of a fabled land where the natives told him he would find a wonderful " Fountain of Perpetual Youth." Ponce de Leon reached land Easter Sunday, 15 13, and named it Florida, or the Land of Easter. He lost his life in a fight with the Lidians while wandering through the forests DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS 25 in a fruitless search for the magical fountain that was to re- store youth to the aged and life to the dying. ^ Hernando Cortez (her-nan-do kor'tez) at about the same time conquered Mexico, '' the land of the Montezumas," with its cities, temples, and palaces, and at last added to the dominion of Spain this province of great wealth in gold and other minerals. His success inspired others to ex- plore northern, southern, and western lands in search of fame and fortune. One ex- , pedition under Narvaez (nar- va'eth), lured by reports of gold and towered cities among the Indians along the Gulf Coast, came to a disastrous hernando cortez end. Some of the adventurers were ship-wrecked and others were killed by hostile Indians. One of the survivors, Cabeza de Vaca (ka-ba'sa da va'ka), landed on the Texas coast and spent six years wandering among the natives.^ Equally disastrous was an expedition by De Soto, another Spanish adventurer who sought wealth in the new world. He marched northward from Florida as far as South Carolina and thence westward into Tennessee, where from the bluffs he beheld the Mississippi, the great " Father of Waters," majestically rolling to the sea. De Soto crossed this river and proceeded onward in search of treasure, but he found nothing but ])rimcval forests and liostilc Indians. At last, worn out with the hopelessness of it all and sick with a wa.st- 1 Easter is called in Spanish Pasciia dc Florida (Pas-c66'a de Flor-e'da) — festival of flowers. 2 He was perhaps the first white man to set font on Texas soil. Cabeza de Vaca at length reached the Spanish settlements in northern Mexico. 26 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY ing fever. De Soto died and his body was sunk in the waters of the Mississippi. Within a day's journey of De' Soto's route was another Spanish explorer, Coronado ( ko-ro-nii'do), who, having heard the stories of Cabeza de Vaca, set out from Northern Mexico in search of gold and the far-famed " Seven Cities of Cibola (se'bo-la)." He went as far as wdiat is now Kansas and ROUTES OF SPANISH EXPLORERS found nothing of value or interest except Indian villages, broad prairies, and huge " crooked-back cows " or buffaloes, St. Augustine and the French. The failure of these ex- plorers to discover gold or other treasure caused the Spaniards to lose interest in what is now the southern part of the United States, and thereafter to center their attention on the mineral wealth of Mexico and Peru. Spain finally established St. Augustine in 1565 on the eastern coast of Florida, but this was due to the encroachments of France who endangered Spanish settlements in the west and imperiled the passage of Spanish treasure ships from Mexico through the Gulf. DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS 27 During this period of discovery and exploration the chief energies of France were employed either in foreign warfare or in quieting internal strife. Nevertheless, the French sea- men made some discoveries and after many unsuccessful at- tempts founded a settlement in America. Verrazano (ver-ril- tsa'no), a native of Florence, was sent out in 1524 to find a passage to China. He explored the Atlantic coast and en- tered New York harbor. Ten years later Jacques Cartier -1 M ^ A il ^^^Kl ^^'^ «- A^HIvi h. ^v^ tiimA. f "^ *^S^^"'^- ' '%' ' , i> J^Cf ^ - V T" fT'^jiC^ f ri'^fc t ■ V Queen Bess," as Elizabeth was affectionately called. Continuing westward, he ^ v , ^'V 4 "s ^''^'1^(V'' reached luigland again by the ^ ^^/^k v'^'' )^^^^'\ Cape of Good Hope. In this journey Drake com])lcled, in 1580, the second circumnaviga- tion (jf the globe. By reason of his exi)loits and his fierce attacks on the Spaniards then and later, the name of tlie " Dragon," as Drake was called, for many years afterwards struck terror to the Spanish heart. The Northwest Passage. England, too, was searching for the trade route to India, and her mariners were trying to reach the East by the northwest passage. Such was the idea of Martin Erobisher ( frol/ish-er ) in sailing the waters known as Erobisher's Bay. Davis and Baffin made voyages for the same purpose and so did Henry Hudson, wlio was set adrift in the Arctic waters by a mutinous crew In the course of time the search for a northwest ])assage to China was abandoned because true knowledge oi the geography of the western world rendered such a passage of no practical value. Gilbert and Raleigh. Vnr greater than voyages to the icy n(jrth was the task of founding colonies across the sea. This was the work first conceived by Sir Humphrey Gilbert and SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 30 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY later developed by his abler half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, two farseeing and courageous Englishmen.-^ In 1583 Gilbert made an unsuccessful attempt to establish a colony on the bleak shores of Newfoundland; later many of the colonists were lost in mid-ocean on the return voyage. Sir Walter Raleigh took up the work which Gilbert had inaugu- rated, but instead of venturing into the wintry north he directed his attention to the milder lati- tudes of Chesapeake Bav, a beau- tiful region which Queen Eliza- beth caused to be named Vir- ginia ^ in honor of herself, the " Virgin Queen," as she de- lighted to be called. In 158^ a group of one hundred colonists under Raleigh's patronage landed on Roanoke Island, the southernmost of the reefs enclosing Albemarle Sound, and immediately they started to search for gold and precious gems. Like others who had attempted the same quest they found none ; and, disappointed and home- sick, they at last returned to England.^ 1 Sir Walter Raleigh was one of the greatest Englishmen of his time; he was a courtier, poet, historian, cavalier, and statesman. He was born in 1562, and from the time he reached manhood until his death his life was one of great activity and adventure. It is said that he first won the favor of Queen Elizabeth when he was yet a mere youth by spreading his coat across a muddy pathway for her to walk upon. He commanded one of the vessels in the English fleet in the memorable battle with the Spanish Armada. After the death of his queen he lost favor at court and was im- prisoned in the Tower on an unproved charge of treason. In 1618 he was beheaded for a political offense. - The term " Virginia " in that day applied to a much more extensive region than is comprised within the present state of that name. ^ Drake, who was exploring the coast in search of Spanish treasure ships, picked up the colonists and took them back to England. They car- ried tobacco, which Raleigh introduced into England, and the Irish potato, which is a native of America, but took its name in commerce by reason of the fact that it became a staple crop of Ireland. SIR WALTER RALEIGH DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS 3^ Raleigh's second colonial adventure was even more disas- trous than the first. In 1587 another little band was sent to the Carolina coast with John White as leader. A few days after the landing Virginia Dare, White's grandchild, was born, the first English child born in the New World. Governor White went back to England to secure aid for his struggling colony, but events there prevented his return until 1591. The Armada. For many years preceding this period Spain had been the dominant power of Europe and was absolute mistress of the seas until a new generation of English seamen ventured to challenge her supremacy. Smarting under the victories of Drake and others and fearing the absolute loss of her power on the sea, Spain thought to deliver a blow which would put an end to England's aspirations. Accordingly, in 1588, she fitted out the great fleet known as the Ar- mada (ar-ma'da) and undertook to land 30,000 soldiers on the shores of England and overrun the country. England hastily assembled a fleet of small vessels under Lord Howard and Sir Francis Drake and gave battle in the English Channel. The English were the better sailors and fought under better of- ficers ; they routed and dispersed the Armada in great disorder, and drove the invaders back to Spain with only fifty-four out of one hundred and thirty vessels and 10,000 out of 30,000 men. This victory, which wrested the power of the sea from Spain and gave it to England, emboldened the English to proceed rapidly and systematically with other colonies in the New World. It was the battle of the Armada and the attending circum- stances that prevented Governor White from promptly return- ing to his little colony on the Carolina coast. When he arrived, in 1 59 1, he found nothing but the deserted settlement and a mysterious inscription C-R-O-A-T-O-A-N on the trunk of one of the trees. The meaning of the inscription was not known and never again could there be found any trace of the lost colony. The English Spirit. In spite of these failures Sir Walter 32 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Raleigh never lost heart in his purpose to make Virginia a transplanted English state. Perhaps he was the first to con- ceive the idea of setting up in the New World communities of industry and development. It was the English alone of the Europeans who undertook to establish self-supporting and self-sufficient settlements. Other ventures of colonization were designed chiefly for purposes of treasure seeking and con- quest. It was in this spirit and for this reason that English settlements became stable and that English civilization ulti- mately possessed the New World. European Claims to America. The sixteenth century came to a close with three nations, Spain, France, and England, attempting" to colonize America - — all having practically failed. Spain, however, in addition to her possessions in Mexico and Peru, had a weak post at St. Augustine, in Florida, and an- other in the far west, at Santa Fe. In the new century just dawning we find France and England again taking up the work of colonization with promising success; but while Spain grew weaker, with no new achievements, she managed to maintain her hold in the south for many years. The French did not gain a per- manent foothold in America until the early part of the seventeentii century, when they established settlements in the region of the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes. After the tragic fate of the Hugue- nots in South Carolina the French directed their attention northward and in 1605 they made a firm establishment in the region of the St. Lawrence. Champlain, the " Father of New France," made a permanent settlement in Quebec in 1608 and from there led a successful invasion south- ward against the hostile Iroquois Indians. The next year he SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS 33 discovered the lake that hears his name. With the ad\cn- turous French traders were many zealous French priests, the former stimulated l)y a desire for gain and the latter inspired with missionary zeal, and the success of the French settlements was due as much to the priests as to the traders and conquer- ors. In this way France laid the foundation for what gave promise of being a large and lasting dominion in North America. Into the middle portion of the New World, between the Spanish on the south and the French on the north, came the people of England again, and this time they came to stay; they had resolved upon permanent colonization and development. A little later the Dutch and Swedes also came into this portion of the country, and the upbuilding of the territory lying be- tween the French and the Spanish constitutes the chief theme of our history. THOUGHT QUESTIONS I. What great wars did the Mohammedans cause, and why did they cause them ? 2. Explain wliy, at this time, Italy should furnish so many intelligent men? 3. Why should the Portuguese be such hardy mariners? 4. Who invented printing? Describe the first press. 5. Did Columbus originate the idea that the world is round? What did intelligent men generally believe? 6. What important event in Spanish History occurred in 1492? How did this effect Spain's career in America? 7. Why did Columbus keep two records? 8. Where was Columbus buried? Were his remains ever moved? 9. What American author has written the life of Columbus? 10. What animated the Spanish explorers? 11. Name several Italian explorers. Why did they sail under foreign flags ? 12. Why was England so slow in exploring and settling the new world? 13. Who were the Huguenots? Why so called? 14. What animated the English "Sea Dogs"? 15. What plants were introduced into Europe from America? 16. What qualities in the English gave promise tliat they would finally out- strip others in possession of America? SOURCE MATERIAL General P.eferences :. Brigham, Geographic Influences ; Scmple, Geo- graphic Conditions ; Shaler, Story of Our Contiiuiit; Farrand, Basis of 34 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY American History; Eggleston, Beginners of a Nation; Cheyney, European Background of American History; Bourne, Spain in America; Fiske, Dis- covery of America; Brooks, The Story of Marco Polo; Irving, Life of Columbus; Channing, A Student's History of the United States; Wilson, History of the American People, I; Hart, Essentials in American History; Thwaite's, France in America; Tyler, England in America; Drake, Indian History for Young Folks; Creasy, Fifteen Decisive Battles; Larned, His- tory for Ready Reference ; Cyclopedias; Starr, American Indians. Sources and Other Re.\dings: Longfellow, Hiatvatha; Bolton and Barker, With the Makers of Texas; Hart, 5"our cast ihcii' lot wilh their friends in ihc New World. The CI ill mv was dcnn icral ic in ;^o\ crnincnl ; ( lir pn iple I'lcrlcd dicir own ij;ovi'rnor and llieir own legislative as- I'UUITANS (.Ml M. |u ( II ri;(I| _ '^ semhly. I'or many years riynionlh pi-osperid ;nid linally it was merij^ed into die i^reater coloiuol Massachnsetts Hay. Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Puritans in hji,i;lanil con- stituted the lihci-al parly in chnrrh, as wh-II as in state, and Ihe despotic ( liarlcs I resoKt'd lo crnsli ihcni hecanse ihey were a hindrance (o his anloeialic rule. Sonir of (he I'milan leaders, seeing Ihe daii,m-r ihrealeniiiL;' from Ihe crown, resolvt'd to fol- low in ihe foolsleps of those who had ,L;one hefore. In idjS a mronp of wcallhv and inllnenlial I'milans formed a Iradin,;;' iicss. lie had luin ciiiliircd a fi'w years before and taken to luiropc and sold as a slave; lain lie was restored to his people by an Englishman and ever afterwards he was a firm friend of the English. ' The Narragansen chief Canonicus (ka-non'i-kns) on one occasion sent to Plynionth a snake skin cfintaining a bnndle of arrows, (jovernor l>rad- ford removed the arrows and fdled the skin wilh ])owder and shot and sent it hack, ('anonicns nnderstood the hint and was careful to keep peace with his white neighbors. NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 55 company known as the Massachusetts P>ay Company, and pur- chased from the Council for New iMif^land, which had taken the place of the Plymouth r>)m])any, a tract of land alonj^ the coast of Massachusetts from a point Ihrce miles north of the Merrimac to a j)oin1 llircc milt-s south of the f!harles, and ex- tending as far west as the Pacific Ocean. Men were sent to occupy the land under the leadership of John Endicott and they settled at Salem. In the meantime affairs were approachinj.( a crisis in iCng- land. In (629 King Charles dissolved Parliament, which was compo.scd largely of Puritans, anrl set himself finally U) have his own tyrannical way withmit interference or restraint hy a legislative body. Illegal taxes were levied and pef>ple who refused to pay them were thrown into prison. This despotic course caused many other Puritans to emigrate lo America. The Massachusetts Bay Company, in 1629, further fortified itself with a royal charter which granted to the freemen of the com- [)any the right to choose their own governor, his deputy, and the council, and to manage in every way their own affairs. ^^ One striking omission was that no seat of government for the company was sj)ecified ; it could meet in Pon- don, in Massachusetts, or anywhere else. Ac- cordingly, the company, which was incen.sed hy the high-handed conduct of the king, de- cided to move to America in a hr;dy and here to exercise its JOHN WINTHROP 36 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY charter rights. This trans toronco occurred in 1O30 and in the same \ear i.ooo persons came to ^h\ssachnsetts. The lead- ing spirit of this immigration was John W'inthrop, a weaUhy conntrv gentleman, w ho hecame the governor of the colony. The Great Immigration. Voy the next ten years immigra- tion increased in large volnme. Many thonsands left their homes in England and took np their ahode in the Xew Eng- land forests. I'hc people came not singly, nor as families, hnt whole church congregations, led hy their ministers, llocked to this promised land. S o o n M a s s a c h u - setts was dotted with towns and h a m lets a n il C h a r 1 e s - ti,nvn, r>oston. \\' a t e r t o w n. Dorchester, and many other set- tlements were made. Many of the immigrants w ere men o\ wealth and learning and some of the ministers were among the foremost preachers of the time. A college was fonnded in i(\^("> hy onler of the Massachusetts assemhly ; and when, in lo^v^. John llar\ard hcqueathed a sum of money ami his lihrary to the institution, it was called Harvard College in his honor.' Government. The government of this colonv. like that of riymonth. was tlemocratic. According to the terms of the charter the people elected their own governor and other otVi- cials. The freemen of each town met jXM-iodicallv to legislate in their local affairs, and elected representatives to the general assemhlv or general court which legislated for the whole l\n>yright IVlrvrtant and powerful of the Xew England colonies, which most provoked the king by its failure to submit to his authority. A special commis- sion was sent over from England to examine into her affairs, for her ottenses in the king's view were many. She had been acting as an independent state for so long that it was three months after the restoration before Charles was proclaimed king in Massachusetts. She had passed harsh and unjust laws agTiinst the Quakers and had also refused to tolerate any other church than the Congxeg'ational ; ^ she had „ .-^ ^ ^^ ~x,.r,,x-^ extended her jurisdiction over Xew FIXE TREE SHILLING • . Hampshire and Manie regTirdless of the claims of others to those settlements; slie coined her own money, the " pine-tree shilling." ; - she openly defied the laws of England regulating trade, and shipped her products ^ The churcli established by the Puriians m New England is known as the Congregiuional church. - The pine tree shilling was so called from the pine tree engTaved on one side. COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT — NEW GRANTS 69 where she pleased. The king suspected also that Massachu- setts was gitilty of harboring the executioners of his father. On account of these many otYenses. Massachusetts was threat- ened with dire punishment, but before it could be administered war liad broken out between England and Holland, and on account of this and other affairs in the mother country the king's attention was diverted aiul the liberties of Massachu- setts were preserved for a few years longer. It was well for the colony that she enjoyeil this breathing space, for other misfortunes were at hand. There had been no serious outbreaks of the Indians since the Pequot \\ ar in 1636 and 1637. Treaties of friendship had been formed be- tween some of the tribes and the colonies, and the mission- ary zeal of the ministers had led to the conversion of many of the red men. \'ery naturally therefore, there had come to be a sense of security even in the frontier towns. ^ King Philip's War. There were many rumors of Indian plots while Massachusetts was busy with the royal commis- sioners whom King Charles had sent out. Philip, the head sachem ot the Pokanokets ( po'ka-no'-kets ) . was plotting agTiinst the whites. This chief, the son of Massasoit, who made a treaty of peace with the Pilgrim fathers fifty years before, had become estranged from the English and was in- citing a general Indian uprising. Alexander, the brother of Philip, had died at Plymouth where he had gone to answer a charge of conspiring against the colony. Philip believed that his brother had been poisoned, though it was not true, and he enlisted the aid of the powerful Xarragansetts in a detennined effort to drive out the whites. An Indian war was always an unspeakable horror, but now it was doublv dangerous because the Indian had learned to use firearms. This war. known as King Philip's War, lasted two vears. and was one long story of burning and massacre.- The fiercer ' John Eliot, a clergA'nian and niissionan' of Roxbun-. was the chief apostle to the Indians. For many years he worked among them and trans- lated the Bible into the Indian tongne. - During tlie war Elioi"s " Praying Indians," as they were called, re- mained faitliful to the whites. JO STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY fighting began in the attack on the Httle town of Swansea, Massachusetts, in June, 1675. Many men were killed and women and children were carried into captivity or brained against the nearest trees. Following this slaughter, town after town in the southern and western parts of the colony was pillaged and burned. When the Indians attacked the town of Hadley, an aged man with a flowing white beard — so the story goes — appeared just as the settlers were ready to despair, rallied them and led them to victory. The thankful villagers took him to be an angel sent from Heaven for their deliverance, but it proved to be Goffe, one of the exe- cutioners of King Charles I, who had been hiding a long time in the village.- By the spring of 1676 the strength of the In- dians was broken and Philip had fled before his pursuers. Finally he was shot by one of his own race. The torch and the tomahawk had ravaged the land and about six hundred men had been killed or taken prisoners never to return.^ Charters Annulled. In 1684 King Charles, provoked by the religious attitude of New England and fearing its increase of power, annulled the charter of Massachusetts under which she had conducted her afi^airs for fifty- four years, and the colony became a royal province. In 1685 Charles II died and his brother, James II, another despot, executed his plans to unite the New England colonies under one governor. At last the long dreaded governor-general arrived in the person of Sir Edmund Andros, who ruled in the autocratic fashion dear to the Stuart heart. He abolished the legisla- ture, levied taxes at pleasure, and turned the " Old South Meeting House," where the Puritans had worshipped, into a Church of England chapel. Andros demanded the charter of Rhode Island and brought that colony under his rule. He also went to Connecticut and commanded the assembly to surren- der the Connecticut charter, but that body managed to pro- 1 Many of the Indians also were taken prisoners and were sold as slaves to South America and the West Indies. Among them were King Philip's wife and only son. The death of Philip broke the strength of the Indians in New England for all time. COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT — NEW GRANTS 71 long a discussion of the subject until far into the night when suddenly the lights went out, and when new lights were struck from the tinder boxes the charter had disappeared. It is re- lated that Captain John Wadsworth seized the precious docu- ment and under cover of darkness hurried it away and hid it in the hollow of a great oak.^ Of course, the written document itself was of no effect under the nullification of the crown, and Con- necticut was com- pelled to pass under the rule of Governor Andros. New York and New Jersey, but lately conquered from the Dutch, like- wise passed into the Confederation. The "Glorious Revolution." But the people of Eng- land were worn out with the Stuart des- potism and in 1688 they deposed James II and invited William, Prince of Orange, to come from Holland and to reign as joint sovereign with his wife Mary, the daughter of James II and heir to the throne. This event is known as the " Glorious Revolution," because, without the shedding of blood, the people of England overthrew a despotic sovereign and established a constitutional monarchy. When the joyful news reached New England, Andros was seized and imprisoned and the old charter government was CHARTER OAK ^ Later identified and revered as the " Charter Oak." 72 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY restored in Rhode Island and Connecticut and continued in operation long after the Revolutionary War. New Hampshire was definitely separated from Massachusetts and erected into a royal province. Heroic little Plymouth was added to Massa- chusetts, as was Maine, under a claim to that region which developed during the quarrel with Charles H. Massachusetts did not regain her full measure of liberty; she was granted a new charter in 1691 under which she chose her own legislature, but her governor was appointed by the crown. The New England colonies did not soon forget those humil- iating years under Sir Edmund Andros, and they prized all the more dearly their restored liberties. Massachusetts spent the next half century in trying to protect herself from French and Indian perils, and, like her great sister colony of the south, Virginia, in wresting privilege after privilege from the hands of her royal governors. NEW GRANTS AND EXPANSION The Dutch. Although the English did not discover Amer- ica, they made its principal settlements and obtained control of the settlements that they did not make, finally dominating all the colonies on the Atlantic and preparing the way for our great political union. The tyrannies which their rulers prac- ticed were felt in the mother country as well as in the colonies. It was against these methods, these tyrannies, and kingly persecutions that human liberty was constantly struggling throughout the civilized world. The Dutch also were a great people and were early inspired by the civil and religious reforms which the English were making. At the beginning of the seventeenth century the states of the Netherlands escaped from the dominion of Spain, at that time a cruel and dominant power in the world's affairs, and formed an independent country. It will be remembered that the Pilgrims emigrated first to Leyden in Holland, one of the states where religious freedom was allowed, and from there they came to America. COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT — NEW GRANTS 73 Henry Hudson. Just after the Pilgrims reached Leyden, Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the employ of the " Dutch East India Company," a trading corporation, undertook to solve the old problem of finding a shorter way to India, the land of silks and spices, and turned to the northwest in the hope of finding a waterway through the northern part of the LANDING OF HENRY HUDSON, THE HALF MOON IN THE DISTANCE continent/ In August, 1609, just two years after the found- ing of Jamestown, Hudson, in his ship the Half Moon, redis- covered Xew York harbor and ascended the noble river that bears his name. He engaged in traf^c witli the Iroquois Indians, and by virtue of his discovery Holland claimed the valleys of the Hudson and the Delaware and the country was called New Netherlands.^ 1 Captain John Smith had suggested to Hudson that he might find a passage through the continent in the ncigliljorliood of the fortictli degree of latitude. 2 Holland was one of the states of the Netherlands. Until recently it had been under the dominion of Spain. 74 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Trading posts were soon established ; New Amsterdam was laid out on Manhattan Island, w^hich was bought from the Indians for twenty-four dollars worth of beads and ribbons, and Fort Orange was established at the head of navigation on the Hudson. Soon the Dutch traders were growing rich out of profits in furs which they bought from the Indians for a few trinkets and sold for large sums in Europe. Hudson was not long in realizing that the Hudson River was not an open way through the continent as he had supposed when he first entered it. The Patroons. Colonists were slow in coming to the New Netherlands, so in 1629 the Dutch West India Trading Com- pany, which had succeeded to the control of that region, adopted a new policy to attract settlers. Each person es- tablishing a col- ony of fifty set- tlers over fifteen years of age re- ceived lands fronting on the Hudson River sixteen miles on one bank or eight miles on both and extending far back into the interior. The owner of such a domain was called a " Patroon," and he enjoyed almost absolute authority over his land and its occupants ; he could make the laws and hold court ; all corn should be ground at his mill and no one should hunt or fish on his property with- out his consent. The governors sent out by the company were usually men of arbitrary spirit; hence bitter disputes arose between them c I'v I 111 II. ii-it rhoto Co. THE VAN RENSSELAER RESIDENCE. TYPE OF PATROON HOME COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT — NEW GRANTS 75 PETER STUYVESANT — EARLY DRAWING and the settlers. Peter Stuyvesant was the last and most famous of these Dutch governors and is remembered for his extreme temper and his wooden leg. New Sweden. The Dutch also established trading posts in the Delaware region, but the Swedes soon took possession of that country and estab- lished posts there, the chief of which was Fort Chris- tiana near the present site of Wilmington. The Swedes had aided Holland in her struggles in Europe and, on account of the sympathy be- tween the two countries, the Swedes at first were tolerated in the region which the Dutch claimed. But in 1655 Peter Stuyvesant invaded the territory of New Sweden and the settlements were brought under Dutch control. The English Conquest. Stuyvesant had succeeded in sub- duing the Swedes, but he could not withstand the attack of the English. Holland and England were' commercial rivals, and were at war dur- ing the early part of tlie reign of King Charles II. The royal commissioners, sent over in 1664 to investigate affairs in Massachusetts, had instructions also to conduct an expedition against New Amster- dam, and an English fleet appeared in the harbor of that town demanding its surrender. Governor Stuyvesant protested with many oaths, but he surrendered, and New Amsterdam passed STREET CORNER IX 'j6 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY into the hands of the English. This was in 1664, and in the same year King Charles gave the entire region from the Delaware to the Connecticut to his brother James, Duke of York, who afterwards became King James II. Thereafter this entire region, including the town on Manhattan Island, was called New York, in honor of the Duke of York. The English were tactful in dealing with the conquered people, who were tired of the tyranny of their governors and welcomed the change in administration. The people were permitted to manage their own local affairs, and in 1683 the colony acquired the right to elect its own legislature. In 1685 New York became a royal province when the Duke of York became king, and the same year it was placed under the administration of Governor-General Andros, together with New Jersey and all New England. When the news came of the accession of William and Mary and the imprisonment of Andros in Massa- chusetts, there was great rejoicing in the colony. Jacob Leisler, at the head of the local militia, overthrew the deputy governor and ruled the colony for two years in the name of the new sovereigns, although his authority was never officially recognized. In 1691 the governor appointed by the crown arrived in New York and under misrepresentations made by his enemies Leisler, a courageous but indiscreet patriot, was put to death as a traitor. New York was unfortunate in her royal governors ; one was believed to be in partnership with a band of pirates who infested the coasts and another swindled the colonists at every turn. The colony grew rapidly after English occupation and the city on Manhattan Island became a busy mart and ultimately grew to be the commercial metropo- lis of the Western Hemisphere. New Jersey. In 1664 James, Duke of York, ceded that part of the territory conquered from the Dutch, lying between the Delaware and the sea, to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. The new grant was called New Jersey in honor of Carteret who had been governor of the Island of Jersey. The proprietors drew up a liberal constitution known Vliarlcr Colonies Proprietary i> Jioi/al >> 70 In 1695 ' FCnk PKRIDDS OF ATI.AXTIC COAST DK Vi:i.O I'M KXT COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT — NEW GRANTS "J-J as the " Concessions " and went to work intelligently to settle their colony. There were already a few Dutch in New Jersey, together with some New Englanders, and now a number of settlers were brought over from England. Some of the de- spised and persecuted Quakers came to the colony. These set- tlers of contrary habits and customs fell to quarreling among themselves and then with the proprietors over the making of laws and the payment of taxes. In 1674 Berkeley sold his share, the western half, to a company of Quakers, but by 1702 the rights of the proprietors were acquired by the crown and New Jersey became a royal province. On the north and west were strong colonies, with the result that New Jersey escaped many of the perils of frontier life and was singularly free from Indian attacks. As a consequence of these conditions New Jersey enjoyed a rapid development. The Quakers. We have heretofore spoken of the persecu- tion of the Friends or Quakers and we have noted the harsh reception accorded them in Massachusetts and other colonies. The Quakers had many ideas that were strange. They re- fused to bear arms for common defense; they would take no oath of allegiance; they believed that there should be no dis- tinctions in dress and they wore simple clothes of sober drab with plain hats ; homage and reverence they held to be due to God alone and they refused to stand with heads uncov- ered in any presence ; simple language, besprinkled with " Thee " and " Thou," was addressed to all alike. The Quak- ers were a sturdy and virtuous people and in spite of ridicule and prison walls they gained many converts. William Penn. Among the English Quakers of that day was a stanch adherent of the new faith, William Penn, the son and heir of a wealthy and worldly sailor and courtier. Penn was interested in colonization and had been one of the group of Quakers who purchased Berkeley's share of New Jersey, but finding it impossible to execute his ideas of so- ciety and government in that colony, he determined to estab- lish a colony of his own as an asylum for his people. Charles 78 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY II owed a large sum to Admiral Penn, William Penn's father, and the son inherited this claim against the crown. At Penn's request the king granted to him, in 1681, in payment of this claim, a tract of 40,000 square miles in America. This region, called Penn- sylvania by the king in honor of the Admiral, was a fertile country of great forests, beautiful rivers, and lofty mountains. Pennsylvania. As pro- prietor of the new colony Penn governed wisely and well. The laws were made with the consent of the freemen, perfect liberty of conscience was guaranteed to all, and protection was given to the rights of the Dutch and Swedes who had already settled in the new territory. Pennsylvania was widely advertised and its liberal government and the low price of land attracted many settlers. Soon large companies of English Quakers, Germans, Welsh, and Scotch found homes in Pennsylvania. A city was marked out early in 1683 on the broad peninsula between the Delaware and the Schuylkill and was named Philadelphia, the " City of Broth- erly Love." It rapidly grew to be one of the chief cities of the country. Penn and the Indians. In dealing with the Indians, Penn was scrupulously honest and gained their firm confidence and lasting friendship. A famous treaty was made in the early days of the colony under a great elm tree on the banks of the Delaware, a short distance north of Philadelphia. Here WILLIAM PENN COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT — NEW GRANTS 79 Penn and a few unarnied attendants, garbed in their Quaker costumes, made a pledge with the red men to Hve in peace and friendship " as long as the sun and the moon give light." This treaty was unbroken until long after those who made it were laid in the dust. The " Walking Purchase " was another fa- mous treaty Penn made with the Indians. Under the terms of this agreement he was to receive a tract of land as far west from the Dela- ware as a man could walk in three days. Penn and a few friends with a body of Indians covered about thirty miles in a leisurely fashion in a day and a half. Many years later the other half of the dis- tance was covered in an altogether different spirit. By this time the colonists had become greedy for land and when they undertook to define the western boundary by walking the ad- ditional day and a half they employed the fastest walkers that could be found ; sixty miles, or twice the original distance, was covered in the allotted time. The exact boundaries of Penn's grant, especially as to Maryland, were for a long time a source of vexation. The Maryland controversy continued for more than three-fourths of a century and was finally settled, as we have seen, by a com- promise at Mason and Dixon's Line in 1767. Delaware. Penn bought the three lower counties known as Delaware from the Duke of York so as to gain an outlet to the sea. Delaware and Pennsylvania had one governor until the time of the Revolution, but after 1703 these three Cpyiiglit Detroit Phot.. C. FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE 8o STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY counties had a separate legislature. The two colonies were in the hands of Penn's heirs until separation from the mother country in 1776. PENX S TREATY WITH THE INDIANS South Carolina. In 1660 there was a vast unoccupied terri- tory between Virginia and the Spanish post of St. Augustine which Spain had claimed as a part of Florida. The French Hugxienots had named the region Carolina and had tried to establish colonies there, but their efforts had ended in bloody failure. Here it was that Raleigh's ill-fated first settlers spent their strength at the time when the land was known as Virginia. In 1663 Charles II, who found it easy to reward his favorites by gifts of extensive territory in the new world, granted this region south of Mrginia to eight of his courtiers who called the countiy Carolina. At the time of the grant there were already a few immi- grants who had strayed from Virginia and settled on Albe- COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT — NEW GRANTS marie Sound. In 1664 a second settlement was made on the Cape Fear River a few miles from its mouth by English planters from the West Indies, and the rights of these early settlers were recognized by the proprietors. Soon other col- onists were sent over from England, and in 1670 a settlement was made at the junction of- the Ashley and 'Cooper riv- ers named Charleston w^hich soon became a very important com- mercial center.^ Reli- gious liberty was grant- ed to all the settlers and as a consequence there was considerable immi- gration of French Hu- guenots and Scotch Highlanders, two class- es who had great influ- ence in the development and subsec[uent history of the Carolinas.^ The Grand Model. The proprietors undertook to perfect a model government for their colony. John Locke, a cele- brated English philosopher, drew up a " Grand Model " or the " Fundamental Constitution " which proved to be wholly unsuited as a government for any community. It provided a series of classes of citizens from nobles to serfs and slaves. As a matter of fact the Grand Model w^as never put into effect, for the settlers of Carolina soon showed a determi- nation to manage their own affairs. 1 The two rivers were named for the Earl of Shaftsbury, one of the proprietors, whose name was Anthony Ashley Cooper. The town was named in honor of the king. -Little difference of religious opinion was allowed in despotic France. Dissenters from the Catholic church were forbidden to go to New France, because they might give the wrong religion to the Indians. These people, called Huguenots, escaped in great numbers to other European countries and to the English colonies in America. CAROLINA AS GRANTED BY CHARLES II 82 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY North Carolina. It was not a part of the original under- taking to plant two distinct colonies in this region, but the settlements were so far apart and communication so difficult that they could not well be united. However, it was not until CHARLESTON, I/SO 1729, when the proprietors sold out to the crown, that the settlements were formally divided into North Carolina and South Carolina. As the population of these colonies increased, the settlers pushed far into the western forests and this brought the Carolinas into fierce contact with the Indians, who were often incited to warfare by the jealous Spaniards. The safety of the Carolinas was not definitely assured until a bufifer colony was erected between them and the Spaniards on the south. Georgia. The belated colony of Georgia, which served as a buffer between the Carolinas and the Spanish in Florida, was not founded until 1732. After the Carolinas passed back into the control of the crown the unsettled country south of the Savannah River, which had been a part of the grant to the eight original proprietors of Carolina, was reserved as crown property. James Oglethorpe, a valiant soldier and a man of noble heart, conceived a plan of founding a colony in COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT — NEW GRANTS 83 America which should be an asyhini for the unfortunate poor and those oppressed by political conditions in England. In the mother country there were many miserable debtors lan- guishing in unsanitary prisons ^ and it was Oglethorpe's idea that if these persons had an opportunity to begin life anew they might grow into useful citizens. He interested other benevolent men with him and the king, George II, granted to them a tract of land between the Sa- vannah and Altamaha Rivers which the trustees called Georgia in his honor. These trustees had full control of the colony and the governor and all other officers were appointed by them; the people had no voice in the gov- ernment. There was religious toleration for all except Roman Catholics. The amount of land which each man could hold was limited and for a long time slav- ery and the traffic in rum were forbidden. At the end of twenty- one years Georgia was to revert to the crown. Settlement of Savannah ; Georgia Becomes a Crown Colony. Soon thirty-five families set sail for the new colony under Oglethorpe, who was the first governor. In tlie spring of 1733 they reached the mouth of the Savannah River and, on a high blufif overlooking the river a few miles from the sea, they founded the city of Savannah. Other colonists followed — the industrious Germans and thrifty Scotch — who made valuable additions to the population. Oglethorpe protected the colony against Spanish attack on the south, and, as he al- ways treated the Indians with kindly consideration, peace pre- vailed in that quarter and a profitable trade was established. i At this time persons could be imprisoned for debt. JAMES OGLETHORPE 84 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY But Georgia was not content with her industrial and com- mercial conditions. The people desired slaves in order that they might compete with the Carolina planters ; they suffered GEORGE WHITEFIELD in commerce by reason of the prohibition of traffic in rum which at this time was the chief article of trade with the West Indies; they insisted upon the removal of the restrictions upon land holdings, and they were impatient to have a part in their own government. In all these desires or demands they suc- ceeded and Georgia grew apace. Among the settlers of Savannah was John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church. Shortly afterwards George Whitefield, another fa- mous preacher, immigrated to Georgia and founded an orphan asylum. In 1752 the trustees surrendered their rights to the crown and Georgia became a royal province. Georgia, owing to its belated founding, was at the time of the American Revo- lution still a weak and backward settlement. THOUGHT QUESTIONS I. What famous author has told us of "King Philip"? 2. To what extent was Bacon justifiable in resisting the government? 3. What differ- COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT — NEW GRANTS 85 ent features of the Kind's plan of consolidating all the New England col- onies were objectionable to the Americans? 4. What were some partic- ular provisions of the Acts of Trade and Navigation? 5. From what source did the settlers of Carolina come? 6. Why was political discontent great for a time in the Carolinas? 7. In what respect was the history of Pennsylvania more fortunate than that of other colonies? Explain why. 8. How did it come about that we have such small colonies as New Jersey, Delaware, and Rhode Island? Was it due at all to natural condi- tions? 9. What is meant by a buffer colony? Mention a state in Europe that serves as a buffer state to-day? 10. What differences might be noted between inmates of jails, etc., of that time in England and to-day? CHAPTER VI LIFE IN THE COLONIES Population of the Colonies. Our forefathers settled in a new and strange land inhabited by wild beasts and wild men. By dint of labor and perseverance they possessed the forests and plains, established dominion over the seas, and subdued and held in check the natives who resisted their advance. By the middle of the eighteenth century they had attained a condi- tion of simple comfort and were enjoying" some of the luxuries of life. There were now thirteen colonies with a population of approximately a million and a half people distributed more or less evenly north and south of Mason and Dixon's line. Three-fourths of the white population were pure English stock and the other one- fourth was composed of several racial ele- ments. There were 300,000 negro slaves, of whom a large majority were owned in the South. The population was al- most entirely rural. In all the colonies there were only four places that deserved to be called cities, viz., Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Charleston. Philadelphia, then the largest, had only 20,000 inhabitants. Erom the seaboard the settlers had gradually advanced toward the mountains and daring traders armed with axe and rifle were ready to enter the fertile valleys beyond. Colonial Government. The difficulties of communication among the colonies caused them to have comparatively little knowledge of one another, and each lived for the most part to itself.^ Nevertheless, there were points of similarity and there was a strong bond of sympathy among these thirteen young commonwealths. They all acknowledged allegiance to 1 The New England colonies had a loose sort of union known as the New England Confederacy, but each colony preserved its independence. 86 LIFE IN THE COLONIES 87 one king over the sea, and the general form of local govern- ment was the same, though there were differences in the manner of filling the ofiice of governor. In Connecticut and Rhode Island the people elected their governors; in the proprietary colonies, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, the governors were appointed by the hereditary proprietors; and in the re- mainder of the colonies the governors were appointed by the king. The first two were called republican colonies, the sec- ond group proprietary colonies, and the third group royal colonies.^ But each had its own legislature chosen by the peo- ple and in them all there developed a firm belief in democratic institutions and a " fierce spirit of liberty " that was born of the wild freedom of the New World. Punishment of Crime. The laws against crime were much the same throughout the colonies. About one hundred of- fenses were punish- able by death.2 For other offenses cul- prits were put in the stocks or the pillory in some public place and there remained for hours in a cramped position subject to the jeers of all who chanced to pass by. The whipping post also was located in a pub- lic place in the little towns and villages, and criminals and runaway slaves were lashed on their bare backs with a cat-o'- nine-tails. The branding iron was not uncommon and often 1 Massachusetts was called a semi-royal colony as her governor was appointed by the crown, but her other officers were elected. " Pennsylvania had tried to reform the penal code and abolish the death penalty for all offenses except murder, but it was too great a departure from the customs of the times and was abandoned. NEW ENGLANDEKS DUCKING A SCOLD S8 STUDEXT'S FIISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY the loss of some member of the body, as an eye or an ear or an arm. was the pnnishment intlicted. Imprison- ment for debt was observed, and the diieking stool was the favorite punishment for scolding wives. It is difficult for ns now to reconcile the harshness of these laws with our pres- ent conception of civilized government, but we cannot judge these colonial forefathers by jiresent-day standards. We have had two hundred years more of enlightenment to teach us what is right. Means of Communication. As communication was ditYi- cult it was a rare thing- for people to take long journeys, still STAGE COACH AND \\A\>U't: IXX there were a few highways of travel. Between the larger towns the early trails of the Indians and of the hunters hat! been widened into wagon-roads, though they were almost im- passable for a large part of the year on account of the mud or the snow. In the thinly settled districts the roads were mere bridle-paths and travel was by horseback or by foot. There were few bridges spanning the streams and passage LIFE IN THE COLONIES 89 was bv ford or forr\". llio slai^ccoachcs were nulc. nncom- fortahlo boxes swung on bi^b wbeols. and Ibe traveler was fortunate if be covered forty miles a day in one of tbese lumbering" vebicles. In tbe nortbcrn and middle colonies tbere were many wayside inns or taverns, but tbere were compara- tively few in tbe Soutb wbere tbe settleiuents were not so numerous. Tbe stagecoacli usually drew u\) to one of tbese taverns at about ten o'clock at nigbt, and tbe traveler ex- cbanged misery on wbecls for misery in cold rooms and on bard beds. At three o'clock tbe next morning the driver blew bis horn and tbe journey was resumed. In 1764 a regular stagecoach line was opened between New York and Philadel- phia, and three days were required for the journey which is now covered by fast railroad trains in two hours. It was quite an achievement at that time when this distance was cov- ered in two days by a line of stages called " The Flying Machine." It then took as long to go from Boston to New York as it now takes to cross tbe Atlantic Ocean in fast steam- ers. Pack horses were generally used to carry goods from place to place, though in the middle colonies large farm-wagons known as " Conestoga " wagons were coming into use. Peo- ple residing near the rivers used rowboats, and along the coasts sailboats were common. Travel by water was much more rapid and much more ct^mfortable than by land. Mails and Newspapers. The crown bad established a postal system and had appointed a postmaster-general, though the postage rates were high and the mails irregular. Mail- carriers, on horseback, waited until they bad collected enough mail to justify a trip, and then jogged along the roads with saddlebags stuffed with letters and newspapers, and sometimes packages which they carried on their own account for small fees. Some of tbe towns received mail as often as three times a week, while some of the rural communities were fortunate to get mail once or twice a year. Tbe rate on newspapers was a few cents each and the rato on letters ran as high as twenty-five cents each. Tbe first newspaper to be published 90 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY was the Boston Nczvs Letter, established in 1704, and it was not until 1784 that the first daily newspaper of America, the Aincrican Daily Advertiser of Philadelphia, was published. Striking Differences. There were striking differences among the colonies due to climate, soil, and the racial qualities of the settlers. In New England the temperature is about the same as that of Norway and Sweden, while in the Carolinas and Georgia it is similar to that of Southern France. Differ- ence in soil was as great as the difference in climate. In the North it was rocky and thin, while the river valleys of the South possessed wonderful fertility. The Puritans had built up the New England colonies ; the Cavaliers had wielded the larger influence in the society of the South, and in the middle colonies there were more Dutch, German, and Scotch than English. Under these circumstances it was inevitable that the colonies should develop wide differences in their social and industrial life. The colonies fell easily into three distinct groups or sections; namely. Southern, New England, and Middle. Conditions in the South. The southern group consisted of the colonies south of Pennsylvania, and of these ^'"irginia was the largest and the most populous. In Virginia and ]\Iaryland the people were mostly English, while in the Caro- linas and Georgia the French Huguenots and the Scotch- Irish predominated. The fertile soil and the congenial cli- mate of the South made farming the chief industry and the people for the most part resided in the country. Great plantations, consisting of thousands of acres, stretched along the river banks and the planters constituted the ruling class. There were a few small farms, but the small farmer could easily become a great landowner in a country where land was plentiful and cheap. There was little town life in the South, and Charleston and Baltimore were the only towns of any size in the whole section at that time, these being the great shipping ports of the South. In Virginia, however, the plant- ers shipped their tobacco direct from their own wharves in LIFE IN THE COLONIES 91 ocean vessels that came up the broad tidal streams and un- loaded their variegated cargoes of manufactured goods from Europe in exchange for the products of the plantation. Tobacco was the great staple in Virginia and Maryland, while in the Carolinas and Georgia rice, pitch, and tar were the chief products. A little cotton was grown near the sea. Labor in the South. In order to develop the resources of the South the planters had to resort to forced labor consisting SHIP AT A PLANTATION LANDING of indented servants and negro slaves. In Virginia and Maryland there were, at first, many more indented servants than slaves, but by the middle of the eighteenth century many indented servants had become part of the citizenship. These indented servants, after their term of service was over, obtained farms for themselves, and became good citi- zens; a man was not likely to remain the servant of another when he could easily become a landholder. Some of these 92 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY indented servants were always a drag to the colony.^ In South CaroHna there were many more negroes than white people. The work of the slaves was comparatively easy and as a rule they were kindly treated, comfortable, and happy. In South Carolina the planters of the coast coun- try resided in the city of Charleston, as the rice lands were malarial and unhealthy except for a few months of the year. In this section the slaves were under the control of overseers. ]\Iost of the negroes were fresh from Africa or the West Indies and were somewhat unruly, and, as a con- sequence, the overseers were sometimes compelled to use harsh measures. To us to-day this condition of labor seems hard; but it appeared otherwise to the people of one hundred and fifty years ago. Many of the moralists of that day argued that if the negroes were brought from the swamps of Africa and were taught Christianity and the arts of civilization they were benefited. As a rule the masters worked as hard as the slaves. There was so much to do and so few to do it that every possi- ble means was used. Education and Religion. The scattered settlements in the South made it almost impossible to establish a general system of free schools. However, as early as 1635 Benjamin Syms left a legacy for the promotion of public education in Virginia and it became the duty of the chief officers of a parish to see to the education of the poor children.^ There were a few private schools and on nearly every plantation there was some sort of schoolhouse. In these " old field schools " little more was taught than the " three R's " and the teachers were often the ministers of the gospel in the neighborhood. It was in one of these humble institutions where George Washington 1 Some of these indented servants were people of good birth in dis- tressed circumstances, who vohmtarily bound themselves out for a term of years in order to get a fresh start in the New World ; some were con- victs that England sent over ; others were prisoners of state ; still others were boys and girls kidnaped for the purpose in the English cities. - There were other legacies for the purpose of establishing free schools. One of these ancient gifts is now a part of the support of the high school at Hampton, Virginia. LIFE IN THE COLONIES 93 learned to "read and write and cipher, too." The wealthy planters had special tutors for their children and when their sons were ready for college they were sent to William and Mary's College in Virginia or to Oxford in old England. Many of the southern planters were men of broad learning and culture, and in some of the plantation homes there were excellent libraries. The Episcopal Church was established by law in the southern colonies, but other sects were tolerated. In western Virginia and South Carolina there were many Presbyterians, while Maryland had a liberal sprinkling of Catholics. Church buildings were often substantial structures of homemade brick and many of them are standing yet. Plantation Life. The planter was a busy man. He had to manage his farm wnth its many slaves and to conduct the transactions with his London merchant in the sale of his products and the purchase of his supplies. Often he was Justice of the Peace and member of the colonial legislature. Each plantation was a little self-supporting community. The plantations were equipped wath great barns for tobacco and corn, with stables and carriage house, cattle pens, dairy, poultry house, schoolhouse, and cabins for the negroes. The slaves not only worked the fields but some of them were trained for mechanical service; there were blacksmiths, car- penters, millers, and shoemakers — in fact, the negroes were taught various industries. The household servants were trained to cook, to spin, to weave, and to sew. The mas- ter's residence, the " big house," was set in the midst of trees and flow'ers, often on a high bluff overlooking some river, with the broad green fields around and the dark forests for a back- ground. There were spacious halls and big, airy rooms, guest chambers — for southern hospitality was generous — and a kitchen with a fireplace big enough to roast an ox.^ There were many pastimes and pleasures. The southerner was fond of hunting and fishing; he was an excellent horse- ^ Stoves were practically unknown until 1750. 94 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY GUEST S CHAMBER man aiul was perfectly familiar with the forest and trails. On court days there was always stump speaking on the village green and the crowds gathered there to hear the topics of the dav discussed. The arrival of a ship from Europe was a great event, the planter and his family and all the negroes assem- bling at the wharf to see her unload. There was much vis- iting back and forth at Christmas time, at Xew Year's, and on other holidays. Up- on the convening of the colonial legisla- ture or the inaugura- tion of a new gov- ernor the wit and the beauty of the colony gatheretl at the capital to do honor to the event. There were parties and balls where gentlemen in powdered wigs and suits of olive plush or peach-bloom velvet danced the stately minuet with fair kulies resplendent in bright gowns and rich jewels. Out of this responsible living and picturesque society of the South came George \Vashington, the great soldier and statesman, \\lio won our independence and directed the first period of the country's existence. At the same time and at other times came other great soldiers and political leaders who contributed conspicuously to the success of our rcimblic. Conditions in New England. The Xew England colonies presented many sharp contrasts with conditions in the South. This group, in the middle of the eighteenth century, had a pop- ulation of about 600,000, nearly half of whom were in the single colony of Massachusetts. The people were of almost pure English stock and for the most part thrifty, industrious, and honest Puritans. There were few slaves or indented serv- LIFE IN THE COLONIES 95 ants.^ Traders, shopkeepers, and small farmers constituted a large and prosperous element. The clergy, magistrates, college professors, and other professional men constituted the ruling class. The isolated plantation life of the South was unknown in New England ; on the contrary, this region was almost a suc- cession of towns and villages. Boston was the only community NEW ENGLAND KITCHEN of considerable size. The farms scattered between were very small. The people had migrated to New England as church congregations and naturally they had settled in villages with 1 In New Eng'lanrl the farms were small and slave labor was not profita- ble. The few slaves in these colonics for the most part were household servants. Many of the New Englanders were slave traders, who obtained their slaves from Africa and sold them in the West Indies and the South. Indian captives were frequently sold as slaves in other parts of the world. 96 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY the church as a center. \\'hile the South was concerned almost entirely in agriculture, Xew England led all the colonies in the variety of her industries. The soil was poor and rocky : nowhere except in the Connecticut valley did it yield more than a poor living, and the fishing of the sea offered more profitable employment than the culture of the land. Small fishing com- munities dotted the coasts and wealth came from the rich hauls of cod and mackerel. Six hundred vessels were engaged in the trade with England and foreign ports. Cargoes of fish and cattle and timber were exported and the ships in return brought manufactured goods from Europe and molasses from the West Indies.^ The Xew England forests yielded an abun- dance of material for shipbuilding, and this became an impor- tant industry of that section, the colonial ships surpassing those built in England. Massachusetts, in one year, com- pleted one hundred and fifty ships. The thrifty New England- ers soon learned also to manufacture their furniture and their tools and, on a small scale, a great many other articles. From the earliest times New England, by reason of unprofit- able agriculture and the grouping of settlers into small com- munities, directed her energies into manufacturing and trad- ing.- Religious Conditions. It was the desire of the Dissenters for an opportunity to worship God in their own way that led to the establishment of New England, and naturally religion had a strong hold on the life of the people. In Rhode Island there was complete religious toleration, but in all the other New England colonies the CongregTitional Church was established bv law. Attendance at church was cmiipulsory, and absence was punished by a fine or a day in the stocks or the pillory. The sound of the horn or the beat of the drvmi summoned the congregation to church and they responded in spite of rain 1 The molasses was converted into rum. England had severe laws re- stricting the trade of the colonies with foreign nations, but in the first half of the eighteenth centun.- they were not rigidly enforced. - Parliament forbade the manufacture of certain articles in the colonies for export, but the colonists were free to manufacture articles for domestic use. LIFE IN THE COLONIES 97 or snow. Tlie churches were without heat, but no matter how bitter the weather the Puritans sat patiently and rever- ently and listened to a three-hour sermon and a " long praver " and several short ones. If a man or a boy dropped asleep he was awakened by a sharp rap of the titliingnian's rod; or if a woman fell asleep she was recalled from the land of dreams by having her nose or chin tickled with a rabbit's foot attached to the other end of the rod. The people were seated in the church according to their social rank and no one was permitted, under the social custom, to dress " above his degree." Toward the close of the co- lonial era the Puritans had lost some of their religious fervor and had become more worldly. About, this time there was a great religious revival in the towns of these colonies con- ducted by Rev. Jonathan Ed- wards, the most famous New England preacher of the period, and by Rev. George White- field, a missionary and evangelist from England. This revival was known as the " Great Awakening" and infused new spir- itual life into the people. Education. The Puritans held that ignorance was " one chief project of that old deluder, Satan." and next to religion they valued education. Ability to read the Bible was esteemed a necessary part of the preparation for life. They had scarcely become established in their new homes when they turned their attention to the education of their children. In 1636 Harvard College was established at Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, and in 1647 it was ordered that common schools should be established in the towns. The teacher was often JONATHAN EDWARDS 98 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY the minister and the pupils pondered for long, weary hours over the New England primer and the catechism/ There were few books or papers published in the colonies, although a printing press had been set up, at Cambridge as early as 1674. There were some writers of note among the New England ^ '"9f m m . ^ ^1^ ^'S^-'» -.^l 11% V i^i ^^^^1 "'^'■»*^'* I^BL " - v^-:'?^^^^t> > . IH^^^^^^I i<^ ^ i Pi£ JM^riir'^^' n nH C 1., Hit-lit lifti.it I'll, 1.. (.<. TRIAL OF GEORGE JACOBS. OF SALEM, MASS., FOR WITCHCRAFT ministers, the chief of whom were Jonathan Edwards and Cot- ton Mather, both writers on religious, topics. Salem Witchcraft. Massachusetts particularly suffered from the prevailing superstition of the times. In the seven- teenth century there w^as a general belief in signs, in witches, and in " the evil eye," which superstitions developed a wide- spread " witch epidemic " in Massachusetts. The trouble had 1 New England boasted four universities in colonial times. Besides Harvard there was Yale in Connecticut, established" in 1701 ; Dartmouth in New Hampshire, in 1750; and Brown in Rhode Island, in 1764. LIFE IN THE COLONIES 99 its origin in a simple incident. Some young girls who were in the habit of reading witch stories imagined they had been bewitched and accused a poor old woman of casting a " spell " on them. Other persons claimed to be under the " evil eye " of certain witches and these witches were tried in a special court conducted by the ministers. A common way to deter- mine whether or not a woman was a witch was to throw her into the water; if she sank she w^as innocent, but if she floated she was guilty. The epidemic spread and a number of persons were thrown into loathsome prisons and nineteen were hanged. At length the fanaticism subsided, and at a later ])eriod the people bitterly repented the horrors caused by this delusion. New England Towns. In the New England towns there were some fair mansions of stone and brick and some preten- tious houses of " seven gables," but most of the homes were plain though comfortable and simply furnished with home made furniture. The big yards, with their quiet shade trees, were cool and inviting in the sum- mer but bleak and desolate during the long winters. In every town there was a tavern for the ac- commodation of trav- elers, a schoolhouse, a church, and a block- house for protection against the Indians. The families gathered before the great open fireplaces in the kitchens and rehearsed stories of " dear old England." Some- times there w^ere house-raisings, and corn-huskings, and quilt- ing bees, all of which attracted the neighbors and constituted important social gatherings. Thanksgiving was the great fes- tivalof the year; then there were family reunions and fine THE HOUSE OF SEVEN GABLES lOO STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY dinners with turkey and pumpkin pie as the chief dishes. The Middle Colonies. The middle colonies differed from the other two sections in that the majority of their people WTre not of English descent. They had come in great numbers from countries of Continental Europe; the Dutch, had settled New York originally and in Pennsylvania there was a mixture of Germans. English Quakers, Scotch, and Scotch-Irish. All told there were about 400,000 people in these colonies, including indented servants and negro slaves.^ The A CONESTOGA FREIGHT WAGON middle colonies boasted two thriving towns, New York and Philadelphia. The latter was the largest city in all the colonies at that time and so remained until after the Revolution, when New York gained the ascendency. Class lines were more sharply drawn in New York than anywhere else in the middle group. At the very top of the social scale were the great landholders along the Hudson, many of whom were descend- ants of the old Dutch " Patroons." The professional men came next and then in order the merchants and laborers. In Penn- sylvania there was very nearly social equality ; there were few large estates and the people were peaceful and contented. Merchants and traders were numerous in the middle group. ^ In Pennsylvania there were very few slaves. LIFE IN THE COLONIES lOI The people who settled in the middle colonies were thrifty and industrious and with the genial climate and fertile soil they prospered greatly. Agriculture was the chief industry in the river valleys and the big Conestoga wagons, laden with grain and other products from the valleys and mountain slopes/ lumbered into the busy towns. The activity of these colonies was in lines of trade — trade with the Indians and trade with foreign countries. The Indian trade was very lu- crative ; rum and a few trinkets were exchanged for valuable furs which were sold to foreign merchants at a rich profit. Despite the fact that pirates infested the coasts, a strong for- eign trade was developed. Philadelphia employed a fleet of four hundred vessels to carry each season's surplus products from her docks, and New York did nearly as much business. Fur, grain, and flour were important articles of export. Education and Religion. In the middle colonies comparatively little attention was paid to public educa- tion, although the Dutch in New York had made some efforts in that direction. There were some excel- lent private schools in New York and Philadelphia, and the latter place early attained distinction as a center of learning. Philadelphia had two public libraries and sev- eral notable private libraries, and the city boasted a uni- versity — the University of Pennsylvania, established in 1731.- Benjamin Franklin was the leading man of letters and his fame rested chiefly on his Poor Richanfs Almanac with its homely sayings. Franklin was also a scientist ; ^ The best roads in the colonics were in Pennsylvania, and they all led to Philadelphia. - Other colleges in the middle colonies were Princeton, established in New Jersey in 1746, and Kings (now Columbia), in New York in 1754. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 102 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY he it was who discovered that lightning is electricity. Penn- sylvania had complete religious liberty; the spirit of kind- liness and toleration in all things pervaded the colony. In Xew York many of the people belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church. Manners and Customs. In the middle colonies there was both town life and country life. In Pennsylvania the people lived comfortably and with Quaker simplicity. New York society was different in many respects from that prevailing in the other colonies. ]\Iost of the people were the plodding, thrifty Dutch and they clung to their old manners and customs. The " Patroons " lived like lords on their riverside estates with their tenants scattered for miles about them. The Dutch houses had high. steep roofs with gabled ends " notched like steps " with a weather vane on top and a stoop or little porch in front. The Dutch women were famous house- keepers : their floors were always freshly scrubbed and sanded and their pewter plates and cups shone almost like silver. In the summer evenings the family gathered on the stoop, the men smoking their long Dutch pipes, the women busy with their knitting, and there they chatted until bedtime. In the winter they gathered around great roaring logs in the open fireplace and spent the evenings in cozy comfort. The Dutch loved games and merrymaking. On St. Valentine's Day, May Day, DUTCH HOME SCENE LIFE IN THE COLONIES I03 Christmas, and Xew Year's they assembled by neighborhoods for spinning" bees, balls, picnics, or horse racing. American Characteristics. The varying conditions, hard- ships and isolation of these times developed those daring, per- severing, and resonrcefnl qnalities which made the self-reliant and constrnctive people of America. In all these early set- tlers there was an intense local pritle and a strong feeling of local independence. Their remoteness from the mother coun- try taught them to depend upon themselves and inspired con- hdence in their ability to govern themselves. In the course of time, as the ditYerent peoples of the colonies came into closer contact, thev lost their original peculiarities of manner and disposition and each contributed to the common stock the best qualities it possessed. THOUGHT QUESTIONS I. What was the attitude of the British governiueiit towards slavery in the colonics, and why? 2. Why were the majority of the Southern colo- nists Church of Englamd in religion? 3. What were the so-called "blue laws" of Connecticut? 4. What was the Puritan's idea as to the relation of church and state? Illustrate. 5. What type of settler came to occupy the Ohio valley? 6. How was it that Virginia claimed the Kentucky country? 7. Describe Franklin's Alinanac. 8. Did the people read much? In 1740 how many newspapers were in the colonies? 9. Were the people of the South as well educated as those of New England? 10. Of what different classes was the population of Philadelphia? Of New York? SOURCE MATERIAL General References: Egglcston, Beginners of a Nation; Tyler, Eng- land in America; Fiske, Old I'irginia and Her Neighbors, Beginnings of New England, Dutch and Quaker Colonies in A)nerica; Thwaites, The Colonies; Lodge, A Short Story of the English Colonies in Amer- ica; Fisher, Colonial Era; James and Sandford, History of the United States; McLaughlin, History of the United States; Bancroft, History of the United States; Gay, Bryant's Popular History; Freeman, Eng- lish People in its Three Homes; William Gordon McCabe, Puritan and 104 STUDENTS HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Cavalier (.in Shurtcr's Oratory) ; A. M. Earle, Home-Life in Colonial Days, Child-Life in Colonial Days, and Stagecoach and Tavern Days. Sources and Othek Readings: Longfellow. Courtship of Miles Stan- dish; John Esten Cook. My Lady Pocahontas and Stories of the Old Dominion; Hawthorne, Grandfather's Chair; Kennedy, Rob of the Botvl; Eggleston, Pocahontas and Powhatan; Marj- Johnston, To Have and To Hold and Prisoners of Hope; Hemans, Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers; Simms, Smith and Pocahontas; Scott. Kenilzvorth; Hart, Source Reader; Canither's, Caz'oliers of Virginia; Librarj- of Southern Literattire, Letter of Captain John Smith to Queen Anne; Wilkins. Hearts Highway; J. K. Paulding, Dutchman's Fireside; Irving. Sketch Book; Stocktcm, Kate Bonnet; Marion Harland, His Great Self; Cooper, Dcerslayer. PlCTiTiES : Bmeckner, Marriage of Pocahontas and Rolfe; Lucy, Land- ing of the Pilgrims; Boughton. Pilgrims Going to Church and other Pil- grim pictures; West, Penn's Treaty zmth the Indians. See also Wilson's American People; Ogden, A Colonial Toast; Volk, A Belle of the Colo- nies and pictures in Mrs. Earle's book on colonial life. PERIOD ITT.— STRUGGLE EOR POSSESSIOX 1689-17S9 CHAPTER MI FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS ^^'e have now recorded the founding of the EngHsh colonies along the Atlantic coastal plain in an unbroken line from Acadia on the north to Florida on the south, but this was not accomplished without opposition from others who wished to possess the soil. The tirst and most persistent opponent of English settlement was the Indian, who for years vainly en- deavored to check the advance of the white man. But there were also European rivals and competitors. The Dutch had established themselves in the Hudson and Delaware valleys but they were overcome and out of their territory grew the middle English colonies. To the far south the Spaniards held Florida and with the aid of Indian allies they vainly attempted to destroy the infant life of the Carolinas and Georgia. In all these conflicts the English proved masters, but they were yet to meet their greatest rival for the possession of North America. It remained for the French seriously to contest the possession of the continent. The '* Glorious Revolution " of 16S8. which overthrew the despotic James II in England and his willing servant Sir Ed- mund Andros in Xew England, ushered in. under the reign of William and Mary on the English throne, a long period of strife with France, now the leading power in Europe. Both nations were struggling for supremacy on the sea and in 105 io6 STUDENTS HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY the lands beyond the sea, and America was one of the chief prizes of contest for seventy-five years. France and England were natural rivals and enemies ; they differed in race, in re- ligion, and in political ideals. In America their hostility was intensified by friction along the border of English and Frencli settlements and by contact with the Indians whom one people or the other incited to deeds of horror. The animosities were fvirther intensified by the desire to possess the great jNIississippi valley, toward which both nations were looking with covetous eyes. New France. While England had been busy in planting- colonies along the coast. France had not been idle. In 1605, two years before the founding of Jamestown, the French had made permanent settlements at Port Royal in Acadia (now Nova Scotia). The adventurous Champlain had as- cended the St. Law- rence River as Car- tier had done three- quarters of a century before, and penna- nent trading posts were soon estab- lished at Quebec and Montreal. Pushing farther to the south and west. Champlain discovered, in 1609. the lake that bears his name, and six years later he searched along .the shores of Lake Huron for the elusive South Sea passage. The French and Iroquois. In 1609 Champlain. in order to please his Indian neighbors upon the St. Lawrence and to explore the country to the south of the lakes, accom- panied a band of warriors and moved against the powerful CHAMPLAIX PEFE-XTIXG THE IROOrOIS FRF.XCH POSTS AXD FORTS AT THl". UKO In lMt<) Kr, oi- rill-: i-i>:i;wii wd ixdi ax w.vr FRENCH AND IX 01 AX WARS 107 Iroquois Indians vvho lived in the Hudson and Mohawk \allovs. which wore the jiateway into the heart of the continent. \\ iih his white followers, and by means of hrearnis, he put to rout a band of braves belonging to a confederacy of the Iroquois, called the Five Nations. Ry this act he brought upon the l>ench in America the inveterate hatred of the Iroquois who were perhaps the most highly civilized of the North American Indians, except the Aztecs in Mexico, and who were known and feared by all the siurounding tribes. Descent of the Mississippi. Chaniplain had leil the way into the region of the Great Lakes and other settlers soon followed. By the middle of the seventeenth century all the Great Lakes had been explored by the French dis- coverers, soldiers, traders, and priests who bore the banner of IVance and the cross of the church far into the western wil- derness. In 1073 Father Mar- quette (^niar'ket'\ a devout Catholic missionary, in company with Joliet (zho'le-a'), an ex- l^lorer and trader, reached the Mississippi by way of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers aiid drift- ed southward in a boat for hun- dreds of miles. They passed the muddy Missouri and the dear water of the Ohio and terminated their journey at the mouth of the Arkansas. ' ^'"^'^'^* ^'^"' "'-'- "^'^ In ioSj La Salle, another statue of marqvette Frenchman, completed the work thus begun and followed the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. Disembarking at the mouth of the river. La Salle took possession of the vast central basin watered bv the river and its tributaries and named it Louisi- io8 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY LA SALLE ana in honor of his king, Louis XIV, " The Grand Monarch," of France. The explorer reahzed that in order to hold this imperial domain it was necessary to establish a series of military and trading posts. At his re- quest Louis XIV furnished him with ships, men, and supplies to make a settlement at the mouth of the Mississippi River. But the navigator missed his reck- oning and went too far to the westward and landed, in 1685, on the coast- of what is now Texas. ^ . A settlement, Fort St. Louis, was made on Matagorda Bay as a base from which to search for the Mississippi. La Salle, with a few followers, un- dertook to reach a French fort at the mouth of the Illinois River. On this journey he was murdered by one of his com- panions somewhere in Texas.^ King William's War. Before France could profit by the discoveries of La Salle and obtain a foothold in the Missis- sippi valley, she was plunged into a war with England. Louis XIV aided the deposed James II of England in an un- successful attempt to regain his throne and this precipitated the war. This war was known in Europe as the war of the " Grand Alliance," ( 1 689-1 697), and was called in the colonies " King William's War." In this country the strife began with an attack by the Indians, inspired by the French governor, Frontenac, on the English settlements along the northern bor- der. The towns of Dover in New Hampshire and Schenectady in New York were destroyed by these savage marauders.^ 1 La Salle landed under the impression that he had found one of the mouths of the Mississippi River. - La Salle was murdered near where Navasota, Texas, now stands. 2 Hannah Dustin, the wife of a farmer near Haverhill, was captured, FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS 109 The colonies offered large prizes for Indian scalps and in a short time determined bands were scouring the country in LANDING OF LA SALLE ON THE TEXAS COAST search of the red men. Later, organized forces were sent out against the French and Port Royal was besieged and cap- tured by an English fleet with 1,800 militia. But in 1697 peace was made between the two nations and England re- stored the fort to France. Queen Anne's War. The peace lasted only five years but and after seeing her home burned and her infant child beaten to death, she was hurried nortlnvard with several other captives into Canada. By a ruse she learned from one of the Indians how to use the tomaliawk as a weapon of deatli, and in the dead of night slie and two companions, a woman and a boy, killed their sleeping guards and escaped. Mrs. Dustin took the scalps from the slain Indians, and her exploit was rewarded with a tidy sum from the Massachusetts legislature. no STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY they were hardly years of peace in America, for along the bor- ders the French and the Indians continued the warfare by burning homes, slaughtering the settlers, and carrying women and children into captivity.. In 1702 England and nearly all the remainder of Europe were again at war with France, this time because the aggressive Louis XIV was trying to unite the crowns of France and Spain and thereby increase his power which was already a menace to all Europe. This war of the Spanish Succession ( 1701-1713), or " Queen Anne's War," as it was called in the colonies, was, in America, a continuation of Indian atrocities. The English settlers made another attack on Port Royal, which again surrendered and this time pos- session was retained. The peace of Utrecht, in 171 3, closed the war, and while France retained Canada and Louisiana, England forced an entering wedge into the French possessions by securing Acadia, Newfoundland, and the territory around Hudson Bay. This last named region had long been a bone of contention between the two nations on account of its facilities for trade. The name Acadia was changed to Nova Scotia and Port Royal was renamed Annapolis in honor of Queen Anne.^ Struggle for Possession. Both nations realized that the peace was only temporary and the great struggle for the pos- session of America was yet to come. TJiis: interval of truce was a period of expansion by both France and England. The English settled Georgia, and as immigration continued the older colonies were pushed westward to the crest of the Alle- ■ ghenies and the colonists cast longing eyes upon the beautiful valley beyond. At the same time the French were realizing the dream of La Salle, and a long line of forts extended from Louisburg in the far north along the St. Lawrence and the lakes down the Mississippi to New Orleans at its mouth and even to Mobile. Chief among these forts were Niagara, Crown 1 The French Acadians at first were permitted to remain in their homes, but later they were considered dangerous to British interests and were scattered through the settlements along the coast. Longfellow tells the stoi-y of the dispersion of the Acadians in his beautiful poem, Evangeline. FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS III Point, Detroit, Vincennes, St. Louis, and New Orleans. The last named was founded by Bienville, a Frenchman, in 1718, and it became the metropolis of the great province of Louis- iana.^ The French were thus scattered over a vast space, while the English w^ere compactly hemmed in by the mountains and the sea. But the English had built up homes in the New World and had become practically self -supporting, while the French had established hardly more than a scries of garrisons and trading posts and were largely dependent on the mother country. King George's War. Another preliminary skirmish de- veloped in 1742, known to the colonies as " King George's War," which was an echo of the war of the Austrian Succes- SIECE OF LuUISi;URG sion ( 1 740-1 748) in Europe. The one great event of the war in America was the capture of the strong fort, Louisburg, on Cape Breton Island, commanding the entrance to the St. Law- rence. The New Englanders were amazed and indignant 1 The Enplisli likewise had endeavored to make a settlement at the moutH of the Mississippi, but had licen turned back by the French at a bend in the river eighteen miles below New Orleans, still called English Turn. 112 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY when, by the treaty of peace negotiated between the two nations in 1748, Louisburg, which their valor had won, was restored to France without their knowledge or consent. The Ohio Valley. Both France and England were awake to the immense importance of the Ohio valley which con- trolled the entrance to the very heart of Louisiana. In 1749 a land company known as the Ohio Company was formed by some London merchants and leading Virginians for the pur- pose of settling the region west of the mountains. In the very same year the French sent an expedition southward from Lake Erie down the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers to take pos- session of the land and drive out the English traders. In " taking possession " proclamations of ownership were issued, and leaden plates engraved with the arms of France were sunk along the banks of the rivers and streams, and metallic plates likewise engraved were nailed to the trees. Later the French began the erection of a chain of forts in the Ohio re- gion and one of the most important of these was Fort Duquesne (du-kan') at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela (mo-non'ga-he'la) Rivers. It was this aggres- sion that started the great struggle in the colonies in 1754, known as the French and Indian War. Fight at Fort Ne- cessity. The governor of Virginia had dis- patched Major George Washington, adjutant- general of the colonial militia, an expert frontiersman and In- dian fighter, to remonstrate with the French against their encroachment on British property.^ But Washington had his ^ Washington was a land surveyor at this time and was only twenty-one. WASHINGTON RETURNING FROM FORT ^'I'-" . DUQUESNE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS 113 dreary and perilous journey over the mountains and through tangled forests to no avail, for the French refused to withdraw. Troops, under the command of Washington, were then sent to force an abandonment, and a small fort known as Fort Necessity was erected at Great Meadows, a small valley in the mountain passes. Here the Virginians were besieged by an army of French and Indians of twice their number and they were compelled to surrender. Albany Congress. A few farsighted colonial leaders and the British Lords of Trade realized that the great struggle just beginning would not be confined like the preceding wars to New England and Canada, but that it would spread over a wide territory and involve practically all the colonies.^ Such being the case, some kind of union was regarded as nec- essary whereby the colonies could enlist men and raise money and make treaties to insure the aid of the mighty Iroquois Indians and thus defeat the common enemy. Accordingly a Colonial Congress was held in 1754, at Albany, a frontier town of 2,600 inhabitants. To this body a plan was presented by Benjamin Franklin providing for a president-general over all the colonies and a congress consisting of representatives from all.^ This plan of union was subject to the ratification of the king and of the separate colonies. The crown disap- proved it because it was too democratic, and the colonies re- fused to ratify it because they were too jealous of their rights and privileges to surrender any part of their power to a central government. Braddock's Defeat. France and England were at peace in 1 The Lords of Trade were a committee in England who had control of colonial affairs. - Franklin was forty-eight years old at the time. A printer by trade, he had risen from a poor boy to a position of great prominence in the colonies. He made many useful inventions, among them a kind of open stove known as the " open Franklin." In 1752, in experimenting with a kite, he proved that lightning was a discharge of electricity. He is our best-known colonial writer and his wise sayings and homely maxims in Poor Richard's ^Ihuanac have become everyday expressions. For the remainder of his long life he was one of the most prominent men in American political affairs. 114 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Europe but each was covetous of America and each dispatched troops to reenforce its colonies. General Braddock, a seasoned British veteran, was sent over with two regiments of British regulars to wrest Fort Duquesne from the French. Braddock was a courageous soldier, but he knew nothing of fighting In- dians, and he had too great a contempt for the raw colonial troops to take lessons from them. With his regulars and the Virginia militia under Colonel Washington, accompanied by DEATH OF GENERAL BRADDOCK fifty Indian scouts gay in war paint and feathers. Braddock marched against Fort Duquesne. He would not consent for the militia to follow their own experience and fight in Indian fashion b)' lurking behind trees and by stealthy surprise, but he drew them up in English line of battle and as they fired, seemingly at nothing, a hail of bullets was poured upon them from ambush. The English were panic-stricken and the army would have been completely destroyed had it not been that the Virginians, more experienced in such warfare, scattered and fought after the manner of the frontiersmen. Braddock FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS 115 resisted bravely but this battle was his last. Four horses were shot under him and he fell, mortally wounded. Major Wash- ington, whose uniform was riddled with bullets, succeeded to the command, and he led a retreat which saved the remnant of the little army from utter annihilation. A skirmish along the northern frontier was likewise disastrous to the English forces. War in Europe. A full year after this vain effort on the part of the English to recover the Ohio country, England and France again became involved in war known in Europe as the "Seven Years War" (1756-1763). But, until 1758, defeat attended the English arms in America. Poor com- manders, lack of cooperation among the colonies, and hostility between the regulars and the " Buckskins," as the colonial troops were called, gave victory to the united French ably com- manded by the Marcjuis de ]\Iontcalm and aided by their ever faithful Algon- quin allies. The turn in the tide came in 1758 when the conduct of mili- tary affairs was placed in the hands of William Pitt, a great English statesman, vigorous, confident, a n d determined to win. Fall of French Strong- holds. The enemy's long line of defense extended from Louisburg to the Ohio valley and Pitt planned to break this de- fense at three places. Louisburg was attacked, and by the strength of the English navy and the skill of General Amherst and General Wolfe, the downfall of this GENERAL WOLFE no STUDEXTS HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY mighty fonress was accomplished in the smmiier of 175S. Fort Diiqiiesne. the key to the Ohio valley, fell before the attack of the combined Britisli regulars and colonial militia under General Forbes, with Colonel Washington leading a force of \"irginians.^ The attack on the French center, — Fort Frontenac and the Lake Chaniplain and the Lake George regions — was led by General Abercrombie aided by Lord Howe. At Ticonderog^a (^ti-kon-^^, soon fell into the hands of the Eng- lish, and uiK>n General XW^lfe devolved the task of taking that stronghold. Situatet.1 on a high bluff rising almost venically from the river, the town could be easily approachetl only from one side and that was defendeil by the gTillant commander, Montcalm. After many months of unsuccessful siege Wolfe decided to tr\' another approach. At length he found a zig- .:ag jxithway up the cliff", and on a moonless niglit in September he moved his daring army up this height of over two hundred feet. The soldiers struggled along, hold- ing to bushes and tree stumps, and just at the peep of day they reachevl the high ground called the Plains of Abraham, and burst upon the as- tonished French defenders. After a brief and fierce engagement the English conquereil. but the two great generals of the French and Indian War were killeil in this cv^mbat. Both GEXER,\L XIOXTCAIM 1 The name of Fort Duquo;;ne \va$ chai\jrt\l to Fort Pitt in honor of the Great Commoner. Fort Pitt was the beginning of Pittsburg. Pennsyl- \-ania. FRENCH AND IX 01 AN W ARS 117 Wolfe and Monicahn received mortal wouiuls. and both died w ithin a tew honrs, Wolfe, in his dying" nionienis, expressed satisfaction at having won the victory, and Montcalm, with his dyinij words, consoled himself that he would not live to see Onelxv pass into the hands of his foes. Peace of Paris. Quebec fell in 1759. Four years later France and England enterevl into a peace treaty at Paris, under tlie teniis of which EngUuid gained all of Canada and Louis- iana as far west as the Mississippi, except Xew Orleans. This city, with all of western Louisiana, France ceded to her ally. Spain, and this last-named country g'ave Florida to Eng- roXTU\C S FIRE RAFT &EXT POWX THE KHER TO DESTROY THE SHIPS land. The French possessions had disapi>eared and Great Britain was now the ruling colonial jx^wer of the Xew World. Henceforth the colonies were free from the fear of French in\-asion. and. relieved of this anxiety, they felt less and less their de{HMidence n|x^n the mother country-. Pontiac's Conspiracy. In the same year in which jx^ace was made between France and England, a great Indian conspiracy was fomied. The red men did not approve the change in masters, and Pontiac. the powerful chief of the Ottawas i^ot'ta- Il8 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY waz), proposed a union of all the tribes to drive out the Eng- lish. His messengers, bearing a wampum belt and a red stained hatchet, enlisted all the tribes between the Allegheny and the Mississippi, and for two years there was a reign of terror along the western frontier. Garrisons were captured and their occupants were massacred, traders were waylaid in the forests and slaughtered, farmhouses were destroyed, and women and children were butchered in the most savage man- ner. Determined troops were sent out against the foe, and in 1765 Pontiac was compelled to sue for peace. Later he was murdered by one of his own race, and his body was buried in the soil where St. Louis now stands. With Pontiac con- quered, there was peace on the frontier for many years, THOUGHT QUESTIONS I. How did the Catholic Priest affect French colonization? 2. What part of America did the French claim? With what other claims did hers conflict? 3. Why should France be so anxious to control the Mississippi? 4. In what respects were English settlers superior as colonists to the French? 5. What European dispute brought England and France into war? 6. Why should Louisburg and afterward Fort Duquesne be so im- portant? 7. Explain the attitude of the Iroquois in the French-English struggle. 8. Did the colonies do their part in these wars? 9. How was Washington educated? 10. Give the population of Canada and of the English colonics at the close of the struggle. 11. What was Pitt's policy of conducting the war? CHAPTER VIII THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION : PRELIMINARIES OF THE REVOLUTION Throughout the long period of strife between France and England, the relations between the .Vmerican colonies and the British government on the whole were peaceful. The col- onists were loyal to the mother country, although they looked to her chiefly as a means of protection from foreign foes; and England, howe\-er much she desired to control the col- onies, was forced, first by civil strife and then by frequent foreign wars, to leave them largely to their own devices. This policy had developed in these transplanted Englishmen a de- \otion to civil liberty and a sense of independence nowhere equaled on the face of the globe. English Plans of Colonial Administration. Now that the French and Indian War was ended, the British government changed its policy toward the colonies and undertook to levy taxes upon them and govern them directly by acts of Parlia- ment. Pontiac's war had shown that the Indians were a seri- ous danger and that garrisons in the colonies were necessary for frontier defense, but England was heavily burdened by debt as a result of her conflicts with France and she deter- mined that the colonies should be taxed in a systematic man- ner to bear their share of the heavy expense of the British Empire. The colonists had always felt themselves eminently capable of managing their own affairs. In the long and bloody Indian wars they had successfully defended their set- tlements, and had enlisted and clothed nearly 25,000 men, thereby incurring a heavy burden of debt. The colonists had lost much of their respect for the regulars who had proved to 119 120 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY be no more effective in fighting than the colonial militia, and they deeply resented the contemptuous treatment of the " Buck- skins " by the regulars. King George III. In 1760 a new king came to the English throne, and he heartily indorsed the policy of Parliament in ruling the colonies. George III was a well-meaning man, but he had an exaggerated idea of his own importance and greatness, and he was resolved to exercise the utmost of royal power. " George, be a king " had been his mother's injunc- tion, and for years he had ridden down all opposition to his will at home and in the colonies. But in an effort to further exercise his power over his American subjects he lost for England, as we shall presently see, her fairest possessions be- yond the seas, and at home he was compelled to bow his head to the will of his subjects who demanded the exercise of the sovereignty that rests in the people. Trade and Navigation Acts. England's first act under the new policy was an attempt to enforce the laws of trade for controlling the commerce of her possessions. According to the ideas of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, colonies existed only for the benefit of the mother country. As far back as the Commonwealth period, navigation acts had been passed for controlling the entire colonial trade for the benefit of English commerce, and at that time this was the spirit of all English laws of trade. Under these laws only English or colonial ships could transport merchandise ; the chief products of the colonies, tobacco, lumber, rice, iron, and furs could be shipped only to England ; imports to the colonies must come from English ports, and no article could be manu- factured in the colonies for export in competition with like articles manufactured in England. These acts bore heavily upon all the colonies, especially New York and the New Eng- land group, and their strict enforcement meant ruin to colonial trade and industry ; ^ but the colonies openly evaded them for 1 Perhaps the hardest of the acts of trade was the Molasses Act of 1733 bv which the colonists were forbidden to buy their sugar and molasses from the French West Indies. PRELIMINARIES OF THE REVOLUTION 121 many years, and the mother country had tolerated the evasion because of her wars and other difficulties. Writs of Assistance. Now it was determined to enforce the trade acts, but the task was not easy. It was hard to se- cure evidence among the colonies of violations of these acts, and smuggled goods had a way of disappearing and escaping the vigilance of the British officers. In 1761 "writs of as- sistance " were issued to enable the customs officials of Boston to detect violations of the navigation acts. A writ of as- sistance was a sort of general search warrant good for an indefinite length of time, and it authorized officers to enter any warehouse or dwelling and ransack it from cellar to garret in search of smuggled articles. The people of Massachusetts resented this extraordinary process as a system of spying, and in a test case to determine the le- gality of the act, James Otis, a brilliant young Boston lawyer, re- signed the position of advocate (or prosecuting attorney) for the crown, to defend his countrymen of Massachusetts. In a fiery speech Otis declared the doctrine that " Taxation without representa- tion is tyranny," and that the colo- nies owed no respect to any law which they did not themselves enact. He denounced the odious writs of assistance as tyrannical measures which no act of Parlia- ment could make legal under the English constitution exercise of such power as this, he said, England his head and another his throne." The clarion note of James Otis was heard throughout the length and breadth of the land, but evidently it did not reach across the waters, or it was unheeded there, for the mother country still per- JAMES OTIS The had cost one king of 122 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY severed in her harsh and selfish pohcy of trade control.^ The Parsons' Cause and Patrick Henry. A second and a louder, note of warning came — this time from Virginia — in Avhat is known as the " Parsons' Cause," which had no con- nection whatever with the Navigation Acts or with the writs of assistance. In Virginia tobacco was the legal medium of exchange, and all salaries were paid in this commodity. When the crop was short it worked a hardship on the people. Under an act of the Virginia Assembly passed in 1758, sal- aries were fixed in money at the rate of two pence per pound of tobacco. When the price of tobacco advanced there was no increase in salary. The salary of the ministers of the Es- tablished Church, or the " parsons," as the ministers were com- monly called, had been sixteen hundred pounds of tobacco. The ministers of the colony were dissatisfied wdth this new arrangement, and appealed to England to recover the difference between their new salaries and the amount which they would have received at the current price of tobacco. The crown veto'ed the tobacco act and the clergymen brought suit in the local courts. In this action Patrick Henry, a young lawyer, defended the col- ony, and in a speech to the jury he asserted that the veto had been exercised w'ithout regard to Vir- ginia's welfare, and he declared that George III, in annulling the act of the Virginia assembly, had played the part of the tyrant and had forfeited all right of obedience from his sub- jects. The jury gave the judgment for one penny which, w^as, of course, in effect a denial of the suit and in its political bearins" a defiance of the crown. PATRICK HENRY 1 Similar writs of assistance were used in England at this time. PRELIMINARIES OF THE REVOLUTION 123 The Stamp Act. Despite the warning of these protests and acts of resistance the EngHsh government continued in its resolution to raise revenue in the colonies. Upon the recom- mendation of Lord Grenville, the prime minister, Parlia- ment enacted, in 1765, the Stamp Act, which provided that revenue stamps should be affixed to all legal documents, news- papers, wills, etc., and that the money accruing therefrom should be used for colonial defense.^ It will be seen that the revenue thus raised was to be devoted to the colonies, but they resisted the right of England to tax them and joined issue directly on the principle that they should control their own affairs. The colonists always maintained that the power of laying taxes for revenue in the colonies belonged to each colonial government and not to the English Parliament, for they were not represented in that body, and could not well be, as it sat thousands of miles away. The view advanced by the British, that they were as fairly represented by the Eng- lish members as the great majority of English people were, seemed to the colonists utterly absurd ; the American idea was that each member of the colonial legislatures represented a body of people living in some definite area, and the English idea was that the members of Parliament represented the different classes of society in the British Empire. At the same time the Stamp Act became a law, the Quartering Act was passed under which the colonists were obliged to furnish quarters and provisions to British troops stationed among them in time of peace. This law added more fuel to the rapidly rising flame of discontent. Beginning of Revolt. Opposition to the Stamp Act burst forth in a storm of fury. It was not so much the amount or the form of the tax that provoked resistance, as that it was con- trary to the American principle of self-government for a people to be taxed by a legislative body in which they were not repre- sented. Resolutions declaring opposition to the Stamp Act and proclaiming the American principles of taxation and rep- 1 A similar Stamp Act was in effect in England. 124 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY resentation were adopted by the Massachusetts assembly. In Virginia, Patrick Henry was the author of a series of resolu- tions declaring that taxation without representation was a menace to freedom and that the people of Virginia were not bound to obey any law which Parliament might pass without their consent, and he closed his memorable speech in which he presented these resolutions with the historic words, " Caesar had his Brutus, Charles I his Cromwell, and George III — ." " Treason, Treason," was shouted by some excited members of the assembly, who jumped to their feet, but Henry con- tinued without hesitation — " may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it." These resolutions were adopted by the Virginia assembly and were distributed broad- cast throughout the colonies. Stamp Act Congress. In October, 1765, the Stamp Act Congress was assembled in New York, Only nine of the colonies were represented by delegates, but the sentiment of all thirteen was unanimous in opposing the hated measure. Dread of the Indians and fear of the French had not been sufficient to bring the colonies into close union, but when they believed their liberties were threatened they came together in- stantly and with a determined purpose to make common resistance. The Congress drew up a declaration of rights and grievances and petitioned Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act. There was no threat of revolt, but the resolutions were a strong hint to England that she might strain the endurance of the colonies to the breaking point. Riot and Boycott. Popular opposition to the Stamp Act was not so dignified as the formal resolutions of the Congress. In many towns there were riots; mobs seized the revenue stamps and burned them or threw them into the sea. The revenue officials were forced to resign their offices and non- importation societies, called the " Sons of Liberty," were organized under pledges to resist the obnoxious law and to boycott English goods. When the day came for the law to go into effect newspapers appeared with a death's head where PRELIMINARIES OF THE REVOLUTION 125 the stamp was supposed to be, bells were tolled and flags floated at half-mast/ Repeal of the Stamp Act. There was stern resistance in the English Parliament to this act. The great Pitt and a group of liberal English statesmen contended for the same rights which the Americans asserted. They openly espoused the cause of the colonists and urged the repeal of the law. After a fierce debate of three months the Stamp Act was repealed in 1766, but at the same time another act was passed declaring the right of the British government to tax the colonies. This was known as the " Declaratory Act." In America the repeal of the Stamp Act was received with the wildest joy. There were celebrations in every town and there were widespread expressions of loyalty to King George III. Townshend Acts. The very next year after the repeal of the Stamp Act the cjuarrel over taxation l)roke out afresh. A new British ministry had been formed with Charles Townshend as its leader. He was determined that the Declaratory Act should be put into effect, and King George indorsed his policy. Through Townshend's influence Parliament laid im- port duties on tea, glass, paper, lead, and a few other articles imported into the colonies. The proceeds from these duties were to be used to pay the salaries of the royal governors and other colonial officers appointed by the crown, in order that the colonial legislatures could exercise no control what- ever over them. The same Parliament enacted another law which dissolved the New York assembly because that body refused to provide quarters for the British troops. A great wave of indignation spread over the land from New Eng- land to Georgia. Samuel Adams drew up for the Massa- chusetts assembly a petition to the king and a bold circular letter to all the colonists urging cooperation in protest. Vir- ginia, too, appealed for united action and boycotts were again 1 Women also formed societies, known as the " Daughters of Liberty," for the same purpose. No mutton was eaten tliat the wool might go to make cloth, and the wealthiest citizens appeared in homespun by way of example against the use of British goods. 126 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY instituted among the people against the use of English goods. The Boston Massacre. The king ordered the circular letter to be suppressed, and, by way of answer to the petition of ^Massachusetts, he sent troops to Boston to enforce the Town- shend Acts. The presence of the soldiers in the town irritated the people beyond measure and the '* Red Coats," as the Eng- lish soldiers were called, were subjected to taunts and jeers. At last one evening in ^larch, 1770. after the soldiers had rO?TOX MA; been quartered in Boston about a year and a half, a crowd of citizens attacked them with sharp pieces of ice and stones. The soldiers fired into the crowd and three persons were killed and several others were wounded. The prompt arrest of the soldiers who fired the shots was all that prevented a terrible encounter between the troops and the citi;^ens. Immediately a mass meeting was assembled in Faneuil Hall which proved to be too small to accommodate all who attended, and the PRELLMIXARIES OF THE REX'OLUTIOX 12: meeting was transferred to the Old Sonth Church, where Samuel Adams, in a tiery speech, demanded that the troops be remo\ed from the city.' As a temporary expe- dient the}' were remc^ved to a little island in Boston Harbor and the town re- joiced when the hated " Lobster Backs." another name for the English troops, were seen no m ore a m o n g them. English Oppo- sition to Town- shend Acts. There was op- position to the king's policy in England as well as in America. The refusal of the Americans to import English goods had a serious ettect upon business in London and the English merchants began to clamor for the repeal of the acts in restraint of trade. In April. 1770, before the news of the " Boston Massacre "' had reached England. Parliament removed all the Townshend taxes except that on tea. which was retained through the insistence of the stubborn and misguided king. " There must be one tax to keep the right to tax." said George. These concessions failed to satisfy the protesting colonies, and. besides, the soldiers were retained in Boston Harbor. ^ Faneiiil Hall was a market liou>e ami a public fathering place erected by Peter Faneuil as a gift to the community. It was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1761. but it was rebuilt in 1763 by the town of Boston. FAXEflL HALL 128 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY The Battle of Alamance. There was a lull for the next two or three years in the quarrel between the colonies and the mother countr}% but the discontent within the colonies did not cease ; in some of them it took form in armed resistance. North Carolina was the scene of the most serious disturbances, known as the " War of the Regulators." In this colony civil power was centralized in the hands of the governor and a few leaders who imposed heavy taxes and other burdens upon the people. The settlers in the back country formed an association known as the " Regulators " for the purpose of upholding their rights ; and, peaceful means having failed, they rose in revolt against this centralized power. Governor Tryon and his followers, who were known as " Moderators," marched against the settlers with more than a thousand mili- tia. They met in the bloody battle of Alamance, Alay i6, 1771. Here the Regulators were defeated, and seven of their number were hanged as outlaws. Many of the settlers of the back country, despairing of obtaining justice, moved west- ward and carved out new homes in the wilderness of what is now Tennessee. This struggle in North Carolina set the minds of men generally upon armed resistance to Great Briteiri.^ Committees of Correspondence. Quarrels over the pay- ment of colonial officials sent out by England caused ill feeling to become more and more intense. In jMassachusetts, Samuel Adams organized committees of correspondence which under- took to keep all the towns in the colony advised of the progress of the movements in resistance to English policy.^ The Vir- ginia House of Burgesses went further, and in 1773 adopted 1 The people of Virginia had urged that the importation of slaves into their colony be stopped, but King George III. in the interest of British merchants and sailors, forbade interference with the traffic. This intensi- fied indignation in Virginia. - Samuel Adams was one of the foremost figures in the early stages of the American Revolution. He was a fearless man, a firm believer in constitutional liberty, and a born leader of the masses. He saw almost from the outset that a quarrel with the mother country would end in sepa- ration and he was largely responsible for shaping public opinion to that end. PRELIMINARIES OF THE REVOLUTION 129 resolutions for the organization of committees of correspond- ence among the colonies. The Tea Tax. At this critical time, when the colonies were prepared to act together easily and quickly by means of the committees of correspondence, the king revived the question of taxation. The tax on tea had not been repealed, but it com- manded no revenue because the colonists refused to use tea shipped from England and what they required was smuggled in by Dutch traders. George III, with Lord North as his ready tool, decided by a clever arrangement to help the English East India Company, which was in sore straits as a result of the loss of colonial markets, and at the same time beguile the Americans into drinking English tea. By this ruse he hoped to commit the colonists to a recognition of the principle of taxa- tion by the crown. But George had not reckoned on the re- sources of Yankee shrewdness. The King's plan was to have the duty remitted at the English ports on tea shipped to the colonies where the duty was to be paid, but the tax was so slight that the price of tea plus the duty was less than the price of smuggled tea. The Tea Party. Cargoes of tea were sent to Philadelphia, Charleston, New York, and Boston late in the fall of 1773. Immediately excited meetings of citizens were held at all these points to decide what was to be done. In Charleston the tea was stored in a warehouse where it rotted. In Phila- delphia and New York the ships were sent back to England without being permitted to unload their cargoes. At Boston three tea-laden ships were riding at anchor in the harbor, but the citizens watched day and night to prevent the discharge of their cargoes. At length one clear, cold night in December an Indian w^ar-whoop pierced the air and instantly a band of fifty persons, disguised as Mohawk Indians, rushed through the c{uiet town down to the harbor, boarded the ships, and dumped the tea, bale after bale, into the sea. This drastic action in Boston was greeted with |)ublic rejoicing throughout the thirteen colonies. The Americans were determined not I30 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY to receive tea or anything" else that bore the ParHamentary tax. The Intolerable Acts. The colonists had thus flatly refused to obey the taxation laws of Parliament; they would respect only such taxes as were levied by their own legislatures, and they recognized no legislative or civil authority other than BOSTON TEA PARTY their own local governments. The irate monarch was de- termined to make an example of Massachusetts and humble the Americans once for all. Parliament passed in quick suc- cession four acts known in America as the " Intolerable Acts." First, the port of Boston was closed to the commerce of the world until the tea was paid for, and English warships were required to maintain a blockade of the port. Second, the charter of Massachusetts was annulled and free govern- ment in that colony was destroyed. Third, all persons accused of certain crimes must be sent to England for trial. Fourth. troops were to be quartered on the people of Boston. Almost PRELIMINARIES OF THE REVOLUTION 131 immediately after the passage of these acts General Thomas Gage appeared in Boston to set up a military government to force the people into submission.^ From all quarters of America came expressions of sympa- thy and proffers of aid by friends of the " Old Bay ed to arm and equip 1,000 men at his own ex- pense and march tu the relief of Boston. Provi- sions of all sorts were sent to the city and Salem of- fered the use of i'*^^ston and vicinity, showing I'itcairn's route her wharves free of charge to the Boston merchants. All the thirteen colonies realized that their own liberties were in danger and that Boston was suffering in a common cause. As a consequence of all this oppression and all this popular indignation, a general congress of the colonies was assembled in Philadelphia in 1774. This was not a body of 1 Another cause of irritation was the Quebec Act, by which the French people in the Quebec region received a grant of religious freedom and local self-government in accordance with the agreement made at the Peace of Paris in 1763. The act also extended the boundaries of Quebec southward to include the land between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, which interfered with the claims of the coast colonies. The American colonists interpreted this act as an example of the absolute rule of the monarch. 132 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY government; it was only a meeting for consultation. The delegates drew up a declaration of rights which was sent to the king and a new boycott association was formed in which all the colonies pledged themselves not to import goods from England. The First Continental Congress was in session seven weeks and adjourned to meet in May, 1775, provided there was no redress of grievances in the meantime. Lexington and Concord. While awaiting an answer from the crown to the declaration of rights, preparations were made throughout the colonies for armed resistance to the coercive acts. In Massachusetts, in particular, events were rapidly ap- proaching a crisis. General Gage, in command at Boston, was appointed royal governor for the colony of Massa- chusetts, but his author- ity was ignored beyond the city. The people still maintained their own legislature just as if their charter had not been annulled ; arms were collected, bands of minute-men were organ- ized in every town, and military drills were held quietly at eventide on the village greens. Gen- eral Gage determined to seize the ammunition that the colonists had collected and to arrest the popular leaders, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, and send them to England for trial. On the night of April 18, 1775, a body of eight hundred regulars was sent to Lexington to arrest the leaders and to move on to Concord and OLD NORTH CHURCH PRELIMINARIES OF THE REVOLUTION 133 capttire the stores which the colonists had collected there. The British had taken every precaution for secrecy but the vigilance of the patriots was equal to the occasion. Paul Revere, a valiant son of liberty, at the signal from the belfry of the North Church galloped forth into the night, shouting at every door, as he dashed along, the thrilling news, the " British are coming." ^ The regulars reached Lexington in the early morning to find a determined little band of minute-men await- ing them. " Disperse, ye villains," shouted Major Pitcairn in command of the advance guard of the British, but the Amer- RETREAT OF THE BRITISH FROM CONCORD icans stood as motionless as a stone wall and immediately the firing began.- When the smoke lifted seven patriots were lying dead and a great many others were wounded. The pa- triots were compelled to fall back and the regulars moved on to Concord, but most of the stores had been hidden and the Eng- lish encountered a large militia force who gave stubborn re- sistance. Retreat to Boston. The British were compelled to retreat 1 See Longfellow's poem, Paul Revere. 2 It has never been determined which side fired tlic first diot. 134 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY to Boston and at every point on the way tliey were assailed from behind houses, fences, and trees by patriot soldiers armed with such weapons as they could secure. A deadly fire was poured upon the Heeing- troops until they found i)ro- tectidu under the guns of the ships in Boston Harbor. The British had lost 273 ; the Americans, only 93. When the news of Lexington and Concord spread throughout New England, men seized whatever weapons they had and hastened toward Boston. Within a few weeks there were 16,000 patriot sol- diers ready for organization and action. The report of these engagements spread quickly to the other colonies and soon the whole country was in rebellion. Not a royal governor was to be found in the land. Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Exactly three weeks after the battle of Lexington the strong fortress of Ticon- deroga, which guarded the entrance to Canada, was sur- rendered to Ethan Allen and his " Green Mountain Boys," w ho demanded it in the name of the "Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress," ^ Crown Point also fell into the /L'\i\/ " " ■^liifi/INfr*!' I lands of the Vermonters. /k.''¥ ^.^MirX'J! The captured stores from these two points were dragged across the country to the mili- tia at l)Oston. h'.than Allen's allusion to the Continental Congress was an anticipation, for as a matter of fact the Congress was just then assembling 1 Tlie Green Mountain coiuilry was claimed by both New Hampsliire and New York and there was bitter contention between tlie two colonies. The people in this region refused to recognize the authority of either colony and organized themselves into a separate colony which later be- came the state of Vermont. i'ki.i.iMi.\ARi):s OF 'I'lir; in:voi.i"i fo.\ 135 ■'iii'i li;i/land at this lime? What has that dibcontentment led to? CHAPTER IX THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION I THE WAR IN THE NORTH The Second Continental Congress. On May lo, 1775, the Second Continental Congress met at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, drew up another declaration of rights, and sent another petition by special messenger across the waters to King George ; ^ but hostilities had already begun and the delegates to the new Congress found themselves compelled to prepare for action. A call was issued for recruits from the colonies to reen force the struggling militia around Boston [and constitute an army. George Washington, easily the foremost military figure of the colonies, who even then sat in the Congress in his uniform, was appointed comman- der-in-chief. This was a happy choice, for all men respected and trusted the illustrious Virginian. They remembered how in his stal- wart young manhood he had performed with daring and skill the dangerous mission to the Ohio valley, and how his courage and strategy had saved Braddock's little army from annihila- tion in the bloody fight at Fort Duquesne. Later Congress au- thorized a navy and the operation of privateers to attack the merchant ships of Great Britain. 1 This Congress was a body of delegates assembled as a conference but not as a law-making body. 136 ^» Y GENERAL WASHINGTON 76 Loii|,MtuJe 71" Wesi t fiom 72' Greenwich 70 -KKVOLlTlOXAin' W \k— CWMI'AK^.XS I X '|-H|.: XORTII THE WAR I-N THE NORTH ^37 Battle of Bunker Hill. Before the newly appointed com- mander-in-chief could reach Boston the British and the mil- itia had met in a stuhborn fight. Boston was well fortified, and in May, 1775, General Gage had been strongly recn forced by regulars under Generals Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne, and the only danger that threatened the British ])osition was the group of surrounding hills from which the patriots might cannonade the city. General Gage undertook to possess some of these dangerous heights, but the Americans an- ticipated his purpose. On the nigiit of June 16, a force of 1,500 patriots under Colonel Prescott advanced past Bun- ker Hill in Charlestown and fortified Breed's Hill, which commanded a better vantage ground of resistance to the on- coming of the British. All night long they toiled faith- fully and early morning light revealed their earthworks to the astonished British. Gen- eral Howe and 3,000 regulars attempted to take the hill by assault. Twice the courageous English soldiers dashed up the hill only to be repulsed by the deadly fire of tiic patriot marks- men. On the third charge the Americans f(nni(l their pow- der exhausted and although they fought back the enemy for a short time with stones and their gun-stocks, they were compelled finally to yield. The British gained the fort, but this fight, known to history as the Ikittle of I>unker Hill, had cost them fully one-third of their number and they real- ized something of the pluck and determinalion of these Auier- BUNKER HILL MONUMENT 138 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY jcan rchcls. Snbdnin^ siidi men was no summer's holiday.' Washington and the Army. On July 3, followinj^, under a great elm on the Cambridge common, Washington formally assumed commanrl of Ihe patriot army. While his troo])S had already engaged in a valiant light, still the army was without organization or disc-ipline, a n d Washington la- |joi-c(l for man)' nionlhs to cy the beginning of the new year the first American Hag floated over the ]ieadf|iiarlers at Cam- bridge, but the waiting army saw winter melt into spring before Washington was ready to strike another blow at l>oslon. Unsuccessful Attack on Canada. While Wasliington's army was drilling before Boston, a daring expedition was directed against Canada for the purpose of preventing invasion of the colonies fr(;m the north. (General Richard .Montgomery, who had served inider Wolfe at Ouebec, led about J, 500 men into Canada by the Lake CJhampIain route and tridge where the loyalists must pass on tlieir way to the coast. Here, on l''ebruary 27, a fierce battle oc- curred in vvliich the Americans were victorious; tluy captured a ^reat cpiantity of military supplies and nine hundred Njyalist prisoners, with their commander. .Soon io,(x«j men were anneoston, deter- mined in the early spring to make another attempt to drive (Hit the I'ritish. On the night of .March 3, 1776, with 2,of)0 men, he seized and ffjrtilied an ennnence s(nilh oi I'oston kntrrii lands, tin- pt-opU' of tiic scttlenuMits beyond tlir nionntains furnicd an indi^iHudiMit statf known as " l-'ranklin " with John Sevier as governor. North Carolina, however, claimed jnrisdiction over the region for several years and it was not nntil i7oUdrs. tVi Bearer to nr«»w ,^ Til 1 11 T r Spanifli S^^SL? ,millr(i Doi,i,*i>, ^W^ \r tic %!ui tStriil InA. UqMor.Wtvrr nc ^ (W« ofCoiWTtfj.lKlf \ J fU rt ■I'liUJ.tj.H.u, ^ hlovomlitr «, 177* (V Ul'l'OM IK SIDKh OK CONTINKNTAI, CUUKKNCV, KKUUtEU IN SIZE and a fear of I he power of any i;'o\c'ninicnt ontside their own honndaiics charactcri/ed all the statt'S. The j^overnnient org'anizcecause not all 174 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY the states were agreed to any measure of redress. Another nation with which the United States desired to make especially favorable commercial arrangements was Spain. That country was agreeably inclined, provided the states would not demand free navigation of the lower Mississippi.^ The northern states were in favor of the proposal because navigation of the lower Mississippi was of no value to them and trade with the Spanish West Indies was much desired. But instantly the South and West were aroused ; Kentucky and Tennessee had been filling up rapidly with settlers and now these Westerners boldly threatened to secede from the Confederation if the mouth of the Alississippi was to be closed. In the face of this vehement protest no treaty was made. Our foreign rela- tions continued in this unsettled condition until after the organization of Congress under the new constitution. Interstate Troubles. Commerical relations among the states were equally unsatisfactory. Congress had no power to regulate interstate trade and each state passed its own traffic laws in its own interest without regard to the convenience or welfare of any other state. New York, in the interest of her own farmers, laid taxes on chickens and garden products from New Jersey; New Jersey retaliated by taxing New York on a lighthouse on her coast to the amount of $i,8oo a year. New York taxed all the firewood coming in from Connecticut and the merchants of that state responded with a boycott on New York. North Carolina found herself between the upper and the nether millstones, as it were, having no good ports of her own and having to ship her products at a high rate either through Virginia or South Carolina ports. These constant bickerings and conflicts were almost fatal to what little senti- ment for union had existed. Shays's Rebellion. The Confederation and the several states were heavily burdened with debt. All the " hard money " was sent out of the country for the purchase of goods 1 Spain had given England free navigation of the lower Mississippi in the Peace of Paris in 1763, and at the peace of 1783 England had agreed to transfer this right to us. Spain denied her right to make this transfer. THE CRITICAL PERIOD 175 from abroad and there was almost universal financial distress. There was a constant cry for paper money which the people seemed to think would be a cure for their ills. But paper money was only a promise to pay, and it was worth little in the absence of anything substantial in the possession of the government with which it could be redeemed. Nearly all the states issued paper money and the few that refused to yield to the public demand in this respect paid dearly for their denial. In Alassachusetts there was open rebellion, led by Captain Daniel Shays, a Revolutionary soldier. Shays, with two thou- sand angry debtor- farmers, surrounded the court house and put a stop to the proceedings of the court in order to prevent the termination of law suits against the debtors. These rebel- lious men plundered and burned ; and they gained possession of several towns in the western part of the state. Finally they were dispersed by the state militia under General Lincoln. Ordinance of 1787. Some efiforts had been made to remedy these chaotic conditions by amending the Articles of Con- federation, but no amendment was effective without the ap- proval of all thirteen states, and this never could be obtained. The times were critical ; either Congress must have more power or the union of states would cease to exist, and with disunion there was danger of foreign interference. But there was one strong common interest among the thirteen states — they owned a great piece of property, a vast public domain extend- ing from the Alleghanies to the Mississippi. This possession served to hold the states together, for it was apparent that the land could be opened to settlement and that the proceeds could be used for paying the debts of the war. The delegates of the states in Congress gave diligent study to plans for organizing this territory and at length devised the Ordinance of 1787. which was passed by the dying Congress of the Confederation and became a model for the administration of subsequent ter- ritories acquired by the United States. Provision was made for the temporary management of the land north of the Ohio and for ultimate division into new states ; personal and reli- 176 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY gious liberty was guaranteed to the settlers; means of educa- tion were to be provided, and slavery was to be forever excluded from the section north of the Ohio River. ^ Not fewer than three nor more than five states were to be carved out of the territory, and statehood was to be granted to a new territory as soon as it contained 60,000 inhabitants.- The anti-slavery provision of the ordinance was similar to one suggested in 1784 by Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, who wrote tlie Declaration of Independence and who was one of the world's greatest advocates of universal freedom. The Constitution. The need for easy communication with the new settlements of the West and the vexatious question of interstate trade developed a very important undertaking. The Virginia legislature invited delegates from all the other states to meet at Annapolis. But few delegates attended, and this meeting adjourned without considering the question, but they called a convention of all the states to be held in May follow- ing, in Philadelphia, for the purpose of amending the Articles of Confederation. There was some doubt as to how the states would receive this suggestion, but Washington approved it and as the time for the meeting approached much interest was manifested. At last fifty-five delegates assembled in Philadelphia, repre- senting all the states except Rhode Island, and here, in the same hall where the colonies had declared their independence, the convention assembled and sat in secret session for four months.^ Washington was chosen to preside and he had great influence over the members; the aged Franklin was a mem- ber, and contributed his ripe wisdom to the great cause; young James Madison of Virginia was a conspicuous member, and he contributed in such large part to the chief features of 1 Slavery existed in nearly all the thirteen states in 1787. 2 Five states were carved out of this territory; Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and a part of it went to Minnesota. '•' As soon as there were delegates present from nine states the doors were closed and a solemn pledge of secrecy was imposed on the memhers. Not until fifty years afterwards were the proceedings of the convention published. THE CRITICAL PERIOD 177 the fundamental law that he has been called the " Father of the Constitution." The delegates were the greatest men of the country, and they soon realized the impossibility of develop- ing a satisfactory plan of government upon the basis of the Articles of Confederation, and, consequently, they set them- selves to the task of constructing an entirely new plan of union. The Great Compromises. So different were the states of the several sections that three great compromises were neces- sary before the Constitution took final form. The first was the question of relative representation as between the large and the small states. Virginia proposed that the states be represented according to population in a congress of two houses, but the smaller states resisted this proposal, as it would give control to the larger states, and they contended for a con- gress which would give equal representation of the states with- out regard to population.^ The controversy was settled by a compromise, which gave equal representation to all the states in the Senate, or upper house of Congress, and representation in proportion to population in the House of Representatives, or the lower branch of Congress.^ The second compromise was between the North and the South on the matter of representation as it related to slavery. The point of controversy was on the question of counting the negroes in the census to be used as a basis of representation in the lower house of Congress. There were but few slaves in the North and the delegates from that section were bitterly opposed to counting them ; the southern delegates on the other liand were in favor of counting the negroes as population. A prolonged deadlock was finally broken by Madison's sugges- li(jn that three-fifths of the negroes be counted, and this sug- gestion was adopted. The third compromise consisted of differences between 1 Under the Articles of Confederation the vote in Congress was by- states. - The senators, two from each state, were to be selected by the state legislatures, . and the representatives in the lower house were to be elected by the people of the state, one for not fewer than every 30,000 population. 178 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY agricultural and commercial interests. The New England states wished Congress to have full control of commerce ; the South objected to this plan lest export duties be laid on her agricultural products. It was finally agreed to give Congress control over commerce with the right to levy taxes on imports but with no right to lexy taxes on exports. In connection with the problem of commerce arose the question of the African slave trade which many of the states wished to have abolished. South Carolina and Georgia objected to its immediate cessa- tion, because they had lost many of their slaves during the war and they were in need of laborers for their plantations. Some of the New England states also objected because they had been engaged in the traffic for years and many of the merchants wished time in which to find other employment for their ships. It was finally agreed that the foreign slave trade should not be prohibited before 1808. A fugitive slave law was incorpo- rated in the Constitution.^ At last the finished Constitution was adopted by Congress and submitted to the states for their acceptance or rejection. The New Union. The new Constitution differed from the Articles of Confederation in that it provided for a government of three separate departments.- There was to be an executive — the President and Vice-president ; a Legislative Department, consisting of a Congress composed of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives; and the Judicial Depart- ment, consisting of the Supreme Court and such inferior courts as Congress should create. The President was authorized to veto the acts of Congress by way of restraining rash action, though it was provided that laws could be passed over his veto by a two-thirds vote. The purpose of the Constitution thus devised was to create a government of three independent 1 Virginia was the first state North or South to prohibit the slave trade, and Georgia was the first to incorporate prohibition of the slave trade in her constitution. The Articles of Confederation had contained no pro- vision for the return of runaway slaves, but the New England Confedera- tion many years before had contained such a provision. - Under the Articles there was a Congress consisting of one house that had power to create executive committees. THE CRITICAL PERIOD 1/9 coordinate branches. The framers of the Constitution took care to avoid the exercise of absolute power in the govern- ment. Under the new Constitution the federal government came into control of commerce and ^vas empowered to levy taxes for the support of the government. Ratification of the Constitution. The great question now was the ratification of the Constitution by the several states, and this was a matter of grave doubt for a long time. To these American forefathers of ours, local self-government and personal independence were dearer than united strength, commercial privilege, and all else besides; and these must be safeguarded before the states would consent to dele- gate any part of their sover- eignty to the federal gov- ernment. Two well-defined political parties were formed as a consequence of the dif- fering opinions on this ques- tion, to wit : the Federalists, who favored the adoption of the Constitution, and the Anti-Federalists, who were opposed to it. In Virginia the Anti-Federalists were led by the brilliant Revolution- ary orator, Patrick Henry, and in Massachusetts Sam- uel Adams led the opposition to the new plan, lliese men and many others thought that the states were delegating too much of their power to the central government and feared that in time this power might be exercised to the injury of the states. The Federalists, under the leadership of such men as Washington, Madison, and Alexander Hamilton, favored ALEXANDER HAMILTON I So STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY the adoption of the Constitution, because they beheved that it was the best plan obtainable at the time, and that unless it was accepted disunion and anarchy w^ould ensue/ The Federalist view prevailed, and by 1788 all the states except two. North Carolina and Rhode Island,. had ratified the Con- stitution. Massachusetts and several others ratified it with the understanding that it should be so amended as to safe- guard the rights of the states. - Virginia and New York ratified on condition that the powers they surrendered could be resumed if it became neces- sarv to do so for their own welfare. Control of commerce and the power of taxation were too dear' and too vital to be surrendered unconditionally. North Carolina ratified the Constitution in 1789, and in 1790 Rhode Island ratified and entered the union. The Kind of Union. Just what kind of union these states formed is a question on which many of the w^isest men of America have honestly dififered. Some of them hold that it has always been an " indissoluble union " ; in the view of others the union was an agreement or compact entered into bv the states which reserved the right to secede if their inter- ests so advised. These facts may be remembered in this connection : The latter view was entertained by the states when they entered the union, or in all probability there would have never been so many as nine states to ratify the Constitu- tion. Before 1830 this view was not seriously challenged by any great leader or thinker of the country North or South. It was cherished as a principle in the South, where the right to secede was exercised in 1861, when the southern states 1 Alexander Hamilton, James ]\Iadison, and John Jay wrote a number of papers under assumed names explaining the nature of the new Con- stitution and urging its acceptance. These papers are known as the Fed- eralist Papers. - The first Congress under the Constitution submitted ten amendments to the states for ratification. The tenth expressly states that powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it TO THE STATES, ARE RESERVED TO THE STATES. Later, in I/QS, an eleventh amendment was passed recognizing the sovereignty of the states. THE CRITICAL PERIOD iSi withdrew from the union and the War Between the States was precipitated. THOUGHT QUESTIONS I. What, if anything, did the various states get in return for the ces- sions of western lands? 2. What state set the example in the cession of land? 3. How were the Articles of Confederation adopted? The Con- stitution? 4. In the eyes of Europe, what was our standing during this period? Who first suggested a convention? WTiat was perhaps the mat- ter of greatest dispute between the different states? 5. What was the original purpose of the Convention of 1787? 6. Why were the sessions in secret? 7. What were the three great compromises about? 8. What was at the bottom of all the compromises? SOURCE MATERIAL General References: Parkman. Struggle for a Continent; Hart, For- mation of the Union; Thwaites, France i)i America; Hinsdale, Old North- west; Roosevelt, The Winning of the West; Winsor, The Westzvard Movement; Bancroft, United States; Frothingham, Rise of the Republic; Van Tyne, American Revolution; JNIcLaughlin, Confederation and Consti- tution: Fiske, Tlic Critical Period, Xczv France and New England; Wilson, American People II; Van Tyne. Loyalists in the Revolution; Cooke, i'irginia; Ford, The True Benjamin Franklin; Foster, Century of Diplomacy; ^^IcMaster, United States I; Lodge, Washington; Scudder, Washington; and other biographies; Bryce, Americaji Commonzi'ealth. Sources and Other Readings: Eggleston, American War Ballads I; Longfellow, Evangeline and Paul Rcvcre's Ride; Munroe,- At War zcith Pontaic; Cooper, Last of the Mphicans and The Spy; Simms, Eutaiv; Washington's Journal describing his journey to the Ohio; Cooke, The Youth of Jefferson; also Fairfax; Kennedy, Horseshoe Robinson; Mitchell, Hugh Wynne; Franklin. Autobiography; Ford, Janice Mere- dith; Moore, Songs and Ballads of the American Revolution; Bryant, Green Mountain Boys; Abbot, Blue Jackets of '76; Hale, Thankful Blos- som; Brady, Commodore Paul Jones; Emerson, Concord Hymn; Thomp- son, Alice of Old Vincennes; Brady, For Love of Country; Churchill, Richard Carvel; Lowell, Washington From Under the Old Elm; Clark's Account of his Campaign in the Illinois country; Cornwallis's Letter to Clinton about the surrender of Yorktown; Bryant, Seventy Six; Holmes, l82 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Independence Bell; Thackeray, George III; Will Carlton, Little Black- Eyed Rebel and The Ride of Jennie McNeil; Warner, Nathan Hale; Dd^^ew, Andre and Hale; Whittier, Yorktown; Hart, Source Readers II & III ; Ford, The True George Washington; Holmes, Lexington and Ethan Allen's Own Account of the Capture of Ticonderoga; Leppard, The Death Bed of Benedict Arnold; Patrick Henry, An Appeal to Anns; T. B. Read, Tlie Rising in 1776; Hezekiah Butterworth, Crozvn Our Washington; Rufus Choate, The Birthday of Washington; George Washington, Rules cf Behavior and Journal describing his journey to the Ohio; Francis Park- man, The Heights of Abraham. Pictures: Taylor, Evangeline ; Trumbull, Death of Montgomery ; and other Revolutionary Pictures; Darley, Call to Arms; Leutze, Washington Crossing the Dclazvare; Hallowell, Betsy Ross Making the Flag; Duns- more, Washington and Lafayette at Valley Forge; Daniel French, The Minutcman (statue) ; Mac Monnies, Nathan Hale (statue) ; Faed, Wash- ington at Trenton; Fournier, Washington and His Mother; Stuart, Wash- ington, and Washington at Dorchester Heights; Peace Ball at York- town; Page, Paul Revere' s Ride; Houdon, Washington (statue). PART II UNDER THE CONSTITUTION PERIOD IV.— GENERATION OF REVOLU- TIONARY FATHERS I 789- I 829 CHAPTER XIII TWELVE YEARS OF FEDERALIST SUPREMACY George Washington, President, 1789-1797 John Adams, Vice-president, 1789-1797 John Adams, President, 1797-1801 Thomas Jefferson, Vice-president, 1797-1801 Inauguration of the New Government. In 1789 the old government under the Con- federation gave place to the new government under the Constitution. The day ap- pointed for the inauguration was the first Wednesday in March, which in the year 1789 fell upon the fourth day of the month, ^ All eyes were turned upon Washing- ton as the first President of the republic ; his name gave to the new government strength at home and dignity abroad. His election was unanimous. For Vice-presi- 1 The old Congress under the Confederation had provided for the states to choose their presidential electors on the first VVednesday in January, 183 JOHN ADAMS 1 84 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY dent a New England man was preferred, lest sectional jeal- ousy should develop in the beginning, and John Adams of Massachusetts was chosen for the place. ^ New York, the WASHINGTON PASSING THROUGH TRENTON capital at that time, made extensive preparations to receive the new officials, but the fourth of March came and went without a Congress and without a President or a Vice- president. On account of the unseasonable weather it was April before the members of Congress reached New York and the President arrived even later. Washington was escorted 1789, and for the electors to choose the President on the first Wednesday in February. ^ The people do not vote for the President directly, but for electors, each state being entitled to as many electors as she has members in Con- gress, including her two senators. These electors elect the President and the Vice-president. The original design of this system was that these se- lected men would elect the President of their own choice, but under the custom and the conduct of political parties the electors chosen in the presidential elections every four years cast their votes for the candidates named by their respective political parties, so that in effect the people, while voting for electors, really are voting for President and Vice-president. TWELVE YEARS OF FEDERALIST SUPREMACY 185 from his home at Mount Vernon in Virginia, by a guard of honor; women and children strewed flowers in his road and everywhere the people gathered to pay their respects to the ■great general who was now their first President. On April 30, on the balcony of Federal Hall in Wall Street, New York, in the presence of a vast throng of people, Washing- ton took the oath of office. He was clad in a suit of deep brown with white stockings, after the fashion of his day, and carried a sword at his side. He was visibly agitated and felt deeply the new responsibilities that rested upon RECEPTION OF WASHINGTON' AT NEW YORK CITY him. After the oath of office was administered, a great shout went up, " Long live George Washington, President of the United States." The scene was characteristic of the times and of the men who participated in the event. Formality and ceremony were observed then to a much greater extent than now; and General Washington himself was rather inclined to a i86 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY strict observance of the conventionalities of the time. He was a man of dignified bearing and commanding figure and on state occasions rode in a coach and six, and even when walking he was attended by a servant in liveiy. Formal receptions were frequently held at the President's mansion and here, in courtly fashion, Washington received his friends. Condition of the Country. The masses of the people over whom Washington was called to preside differed very little from the colonists of a quarter century before, though the population had greatly increased. The first census taken in 1790 showed upwards of four million people, about one-fourth of whom were negro slaves. This population was densest along the seaboard, but the movement that set in after the French were driven from the coveted Ohio valley now formed a constant stream westward over the Alleghanies. Pack horses followed the lonely trails, and flat boats and rafts carried new settlers with their small worldly goods into the virgin West. Soon many little log-cabin towns sprang up along the river banks and before the close of Washington's second administra- tion two new states were formed out of the western country — Kentucky in 1 792 and Tennessee in 1 796 — while from the east in 1791 came Vermont out of the Green Mountain region, over which New York and New Hampshire had quarreled for many years. ^ Cities and Industries. There were only five places in the United States — New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, and Charleston — that might be called cities and not one of these boasted as many as 50,000 population. The new republic was a land of farmers. In New England the forests still yielded staves, masts, and boards for export, and fishing was an important industry. In the South, tobacco, rice, and indigo were raised with great profit ; and cotton cultivation, to which the vast alluvial plains of the far south were peculiarly adapted, 1 Kentucky had been a county of Virginia ; Tennessee had been a part of North Carolina. When a new state was admitted to the Union, it was to enjoy the same rights and privileges as the original thirteen which had created the Union. TWELVE YEARS OF FEDERALIST SUPREMACY 187 EARLY COTTON GIN was beginning to be important. The cotton industry was greatly hindered by the expense of removing the lint from the seed by hand, but in 1793 EH Whitney, a New England school teacher residing in Georgia, invented the cotton gin. This machine at once made cot- ton-growing the greatest in- dustry of the South; it had a capacity of 1,000 pounds of lint a day, whereas one person could pick .by hand only five or six pounds a day at tlie most. From this time forward cotton became " king " in the South and this region took its place as a competitor with India and Egypt in supplying the world with this staple. At the present time the southern states produce two-thirds to three- fourths of the entire cotton output of the world. New Government. The first duty of the new administra- tion was the organization of the government. Three execu- ti\'e departments were created : the Department of State, De- partment of the Treasury, and Department of War; the heads of these departments constituted the cabinet or advisory body to the President. Washington filled these offices with able men; Thomas Jefferson was made Secretary of State; Alex- ander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury; and General Henry Knox, Secretary of War. The Post Office Department continued on its old basis and the office of Attorney-General was created.^ These officers were appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, but the first Con- gress decided that they could be removed by the President at will. The Supreme Court was organized as provided under 1 Edmund Randolph of Virginia was the first attorney-general, and Samuel Osgood of Massachusetts was the first postmaster-general. The last-named official was not admitted to the cabinet until 1829. 1 88 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY the Constitution and inferior courts were created by Congress. The Supreme Court consisted of a chief justice and five associate justices; John Jay was the first chief justice. By far the most important business of the first session of the first Congress was the raising of revenue. Under the Constitution revenue meas- ures originate in the House of Repre- sentatives and that body passed a tariff act providing an indirect tax on imports. The first tariff, which was passed in 1789, was very low, the general rate of duties being only about five per cent. Hamilton's Financial Schemes. It was not sufficient to provide only the current expenses of the government, for there was a heavy burden of debt upon the United States and upon the separate states as a consequence of the Revolutionary War and of the Confederation period. These debts and arrears in interest amounted to something like $54,000,000, which was a vast sum for that day, due to foreign and domestic creditors. It was necessary to discharge these obligations or to provide for their payment if the credit of the United States at home and abroad was ever to be estab- lished. Alexander Hamilton,^ Secretary of the Treasury, though a young man, proved to be a great financier and pro- posed a series of measures designed to restore the credit of the government and at the same time to insure a safe cur- rency. The first provision of Hamilton's plan was to refund with new bonds the foreign and domestic debt of the Confed- 1 Alexander Hamilton was born on the island of Nevis, in tlie West Indies, January 11, 1757. He served with distinction at the battles of Long Island, White Plains, Trenton, and Princeton. He was a member of the Federal Convention, but lost his influence in that body because he favored a strongly centralized, almost monarchical, goyernment. With the fall of the Federalist party in 1801, his political career was practically ended. He was killed in 1804, in a duel with Aaron Burr. JOHN JAY TWELVE YEARS OF FEDERALIST SUPREMACY 189 eration at full value ; Congress passed a law to this effect and soon the holders of government bonds were gratified to receive their interest at fixetl intervals. State Debts and Location of the Federal Capital. Another part of Hamilton's plan was for the federal government to assume the indebtedness of the separate states for the reason that it had been incurred for the common weal. Hamilton believed in a strong national government which would domi- OLI) STATE HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA nate the states, and he believed that his plan of assuming the debts of the states would encourage men of wealth to look to the central government instead of to the states. These debts were estimated at about $25,000,000. Vigorous opposition developed against this proposal, particularly from those states that had already paid a large part of their debt. The com- mercial North heartily favored the plan but the agricultural South, led by Jefferson and Madison, opposed it. The bill was defeated in Congress on its first introduction, but it was IQO STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY later revived and became a law under an agreement made by- its friends and the friends of a measure for the location of the federal capital. The southern members of Congress wished the feder'al district to be located on the Potomac River but the northern members opposed this location. The sec- tional differences on these two measures were very acute, but at length there was a compromise and both were passed. Phila- delphia became the capital for ten years, from 1790 to 1800, and after that a place on the Potomac was to be chosen. A few months later Washington selected the site of the present WASHINGTON CITY IN 1600 federal district on the northern bank of the river ^ upon land donated by the State of Alaryland. In due time the debts of the states were funded. The Whiskey Rebellion. In order to increase the current revenues, Hamilton proposed an excise tax or an internal duty on distilled spirits or liquors. This became a law in 1791. In Congress there was comparatively little opposition to this act, but in the mountain regions of the West, particularly in Pennsylvania, it was bitterly opposed because it fell most heavily upon the people of that section. These people, being far removed from the markets, and without good roads, con- 1 Virginia ceded a part of the land on the south side of the Potomac, but this was later restored. The Constitution provided that the federal district shall not exceed ten miles square. TWELVE YEARS OF FEDERALIST SUPREMACY IQT verted their corn into whiskey which was a less bulky com- mo(Hty. The hardy Westerners thought the excise bore too heavily upon them and they were soon in open rebellion. In 1/94 Washington was compelled to summon the militia to go into the western country to restore order and enforce the law, but the rebellion melted away upon the appearance of the troops. A few of the leaders were arrested but the President later issued a general amnesty, or pardon. The United States Bank. About the time when this excise tax was levied, Hamilton presented a plan for a national bank in which the United States should be a stockholder and a director.^ The purpose of the institution was to provide a deiX)sitory for government funds and to facilitate business by affording a steady and ample supply of currency. The bill aroused bitter opposition, led by Jefferson, who resisted it on the ground that the Constitution nowhere authorized the estab- lishment of such a corporation and that Congress was assuming too much power. Hamilton's forces contended that the Fed- eral government had the right to adopt all means necessary for executing its enumerated powers. The bill finally passed both houses and the first national bank was chartered in 1791. In April, 1792, Congress established a mint at Philadelphia." Political Parties. The sharp differences of opinion between the two groups of statesmen led by Hamilton and by Jefferson soon resulted in the organization of political parties. The revenues of the government under Hamilton's financial schemes increased, credit was established, and prosperity was revived, but these results did not satisfy those who feared the power of a centralized government. Hamilton and his asso- ciates believed in a liberal or loose construction of the Consti- tution ; that is, they held that the government had the right to construe the Constitution in a most generous manner. Thomas Jefferson and his associates on the other hand believed in the strict construction of the Constitution and in safeguard- 1 The stock of this bank was $10,000,000, one-fifth of which was to be- long to the government. -The first product of the new mint was the copper cent of 1793. 192 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY ing the rights of the states against all encroachments by the federal government. The Jeffersonian party became known as the Republican party, and the Hamiltonian party became known as the Federalist party. ^ Washington Reelected. In 1792 the second presidential election was held and both party leaders urged Washington to accept a reelection. The President did not ally himself with either political party, and though he had declared himself against a second term and earnestly longed for rest and re- tirement, he agreed, for the sake of harmony, to accept the office again. He was unanimously reelected and Adams was reelected to the Vice-presidency. Trouble with the Indians. While party strife was de- veloping as a result of Hamilton's financial plans and other tendencies toward centralization, there was considerable trou- ble in the west beyond the Ohio. The Indians were exasper- ated by the steady advance of the white man westward, and were encouraged in their attitude by the presence of the British, their former friends and allies, who had not yet evacuated the military posts in the Northwest. The Indians made raid after raid on the little settlements along the frontier and an army, under General St. Clair, the governor of the Northwest Territory, that was sent to subdue them and protect the settlers, was cut to pieces by the savages. They became more active and daring than ever after this success, and under the leader- ship of the famous Mohawk Chief, Joseph Brant, they de- manded that nearly all of the Ohio country be surrendered to them. At last President Washington sent an army, under General Anthony Wayne, the hero of Stony Point, who met the Indians in battle on the Maumee, not far from where Toledo, 1 The name " Democrat," which is now applied to the followers of the original Jeffersonian doctrines, was first applied to clubs modeled after the French revolutionary clubs, and it was used as a term of reproach to Jefferson and his followers. For many years afterwards the party was spoken of as the Democratic-Republican party. To-day it is known simply as the Democratic party. The Federalists were succeeded by the Whigs and later by the Republican party. At the present time the Democratic party in a general way represents Jeffersonian views, and the Republican party in a modified way represents Hamiltonian views. 1 TWELVE YEARS OF FEDERALIST SUPREMACY 193 Ohio, now stands, and gained such a signal victory that peace was insured to the western country for a long time. Foreign Affairs. From the beginning of Washington's sec- ond administration in 1793 until 181 5, there was hardly a year that the American people did not confront some serious foreign difficulty growing out of the confusion in Europe during these years. In 1789, the very year in which our government was organized under the Constitution, a terrible struggle against despotism developed in France; in September, 1792, a French republic was set up on the ruins of the ancient monarchy and soon afterwards King Louis XVI was sent to his death. Ten days later France declared war against England and Spain, tlie advocates of the old regime. When the news reached America, a wave of enthusiastic sympathy with France swept over the country. The American people rejoiced that another nation had become a republic and they felt a peculiar fondness for France on account of her aid in our war for independence. France and the United States. France expected the United States to come to her assistance in her war against Great Britain, but thoughtful American statesmen, especially Wash- ington and Hamilton, and even Jefiferson, who passionately sympathized with the struggle of the French, realized that our country was still an infant republic and was in no condition to engage in war. They agreed that the change of govern- ment in France relieved the United States of any obligation under the treaty of 1778 and accordingly on April 22, 1793, President Washington issued a proclamation of neutrality; he declared that this country would receive a minister from France, and thus recognize the sister republic; but this was as far as the United States felt warranted in encouraging or as- sisting the new government. " Citizen " Genet. In the meantime " Citizen " Genet, the new French minister, had arrived at Charleston and his jour- ney northward developed into a continued public ovation.^ 1 In the French republic, all titles of rank were abolished. The men were addressed as " Citizen," and the women as " Citizeness." 194 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Everywhere he was feted and feasted; leading citizens vied with one another in doing him honor and formed democratic chibs modeled after those in France. At last, on the very day that the neutrality proclamation was published in a Philadel- phia newspaper, Genet arrived in that city. The minister's head had been completely turned by the reception accorded him by the people and, unmindful of the proclamation and of the impropriety of his conduct, he proceeded to act as if the United States were an ally of France. He enlisted men for the French service and authorized privateers to prey upon English commerce. When the government remonstrated with Genet he insolently threatened to appeal to the people against the administration. Finally, upon Washington's request, he was recalled by his own government. The Democrats sym- pathized strongly with the French in their struggle for " Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity " ^ ; the Federalists on the other hand rather sympathized with England, hoping to gain advantages in English trade; but the misconduct of Genet ral- lied both parties to the support of President Washington in maintaining the dignity and neutrality of the government. Trade Rights of Neutrals. At the same time when the rash conduct of Genet was straining our relations with France, trouble was threatening with England. When the long war with England and France began, the latter nation threw open the trade with her colonies to neutral nations. As practically all Europe at one time or another was involved in this war, the United States was the principal neutral country to profit by France's policy. But we hardly began to enjoy the benefits of this neutral trade before the British ministry issued orders for the seizure of all vessels and cargoes engaged in traffic with the French colonies. There was no good feeling between the United States and England, and neither of them had been quite faithful to all the terms of the treaty of peace of 1783. Great Britain had contemptuously refused to make a commer- cial treaty with us; she levied unreasonable duties at her ports ^ These words constituted the slogan of the French Revolutionists. TWELVE YEARS OF FEDERALIST SUPREMACY 195 on our jjroducts and cut us off altogether from trade with the British West Indies.^ Fresh grievances were now added. England was plundering our vessels on the high seas, seizing their cargoes of provisions as " contraband of war," treating our officers with contempt, and impressing our seamen into the service of English warships on the pretense that they were British subjects. The United States claimed the right of a neutral nation and contended for the principle that neutral ships should be unmolested, or as the principle was phrased in that day, " Free ships make free goods." But England ignored the principle ; she was the strongest sea power on the globe and the United States was one of the weakest. The Jay Treaty, 1794, and the Treaty with Spain. Public indignation ran high in America and the war spirit was rife. But once more Washington's great common sense averted the danger, and negotiations for a ];eaceful adjustment were un- dertaken. John Jay, then the chief justice of the Supreme Court, was sent as a special envoy to England and a treaty was made as follows : first, both nations agreed to enforce the terms of the treaty of 1783; second, England agreed to make compensation for the capture of American vessels; third, certain commercial concessions were made, but the West India trade was not thrown open to the United States. England would not agree that '' Free ships make free goods," nor would she renounce the right of impressment. The Jay treaty w-as to expire by limitation in twelve years. When its terms became known in the United States there was a storm of public protest. The insulting grievance of impressment of our seamen had not been abated and there was widespread opposition to the ratification of the treaty. Only the great personal influence of Washington prevented its defeat in the 1 England had not evacuated the ports in the Northwest, nor had she paid for the slaves and other property carried off at the close of the kevolution. On the other hand, we had not met our obligations in that the Loyalists were mistreated, and many debts due the English merchants had not been paid. In a treaty negotiated by John Jay, England had agreed to remove her troops from the Northwest, and we agreed to settle the debts due to English merchants. 196 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Senate and it was adopted by a bare constitutional majority/ In the next year, 1795, a favorable treaty was negotiated with Spain whereby we obtained free navigation of the lower Mississippi River and she acknowledged the thirty-first parallel as the southern boundary of the United States. Copyright Detroit Photo Co. MT. VERNON, THE HOME OF WASHINGTON Washington's Farewell Address. Another presidential election was held in 1796, and, though Washington was urged to serve again, he positively refused to accept a third term and thus established a precedent which has ever since been observed. He stated that he would rather be on his farm than to be made emperor of the world; and he retired to his home at Mt. Vernon, where he spent the remainder of his days as a private citizen, attending to the affairs of his plantation and living the life of a dignified, prosperous country gentleman. In 1796 he issued his farewell address to the American people, and the new republic experienced a profound regret upon realizing that it had lost the public service of its greatest man. 1 The Constitution requires a two-thirds majority of the Senate for the ratification of treaties. TWEL\'E YEARS OF FEDERALIST SUPREMACY 197 Election of Adams. The election of 1796 was the first great party contest for the presidency. The Federalists put forth John Adams, who had served eight years as Vice-president, as their candidate, while Thomas Jefferson was the choice of the Democratic-Republicans. Adams was elected by a majority of only three votes and became President, while his opponent became Vice-president.^ Adams was a man of devoted pa- triotism and of much wisdom, and he had served his country well since the early days of the Revolution; but he was lacking in tact, did not easily make friends, and sometimes he was misunderstood and unjustly criticised.^ He was also a little sensitive about being " president by three votes." The be- ginning of his administration was marked by successful achievements, but his term ended in confusion and disaster to his party. X. Y. Z. Affair. Hardly had Adams been elected when fresh foreign complications developed. France bitterly re- sented the Jay treaty and the election of a Federalist because she looked upon that party as pro-British in sympathy. The United States had refused to help her in her war with England and it appeared to her that the new treaty established friendly terms with her great rival. Our minister, Charles C. Pinckney, was dismissed with little ceremony, the French minister to the United States was recalled, and France began seizing American 1 According to the original method, the candidate who received the majority of the electoral votes, hecame President, while tlie candidate who received the next greatest number of votes became the Vice-president. Later the method was changed, and candidates are now named for each office separately, and are so elected. 2 John Adams, the second President of the United States, was l^orn at Quincy, Massachusetts, Octol)er 30, 1735. He was a graduate of Harvard college, and began the practice of law in 1758. Throughout the period of the quarrel with the mother country, he was closely associated witli Samuel Adams, his cousin, in the political leadership of Massachusetts. He was a member of the Continental Congresses, and used his great influence in behalf of separation from the mother country. Adams was one of the committee appointed to prepare the Declaration of Independence, of which Thomas Jefferson was the chief author. He was our first min- ister to England. After the close of his term as President, he retired to his home in Massachusetts, and he died on the same day as Jefferson, July 4, 1826, just fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. i 198 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY ships and cargoes on the high seas/ Adams became President on March 4, 1797, and in May he called a special session of Congress to consider the situation. But, emulating the exam- ple of Washington, he strove to avert war and commissioned John Marshall, a Federalist, Elbridge Gerry, a Democrat, and Charles C. Pinckney, the Federalist minister whom France had dismissed, as special envoys to make a last effort to reach a peaceful understanding with France. These ministers were never formally received by the Directory, as the French ex- ecutive department was then called, but that body sent their agents to confer with the American embassy and to make it plain that they would consider terms of peace and accommoda- tion only upon the payment of a large sum of money intended for the pockets of the members of the Directory. To these overtures the American ambassadors replied that we had " mil- lions for defense, but not one cent for tribute." ^ The agents of the Directory were described anonymously in the report of the negotiations as X. Y. Z. Settlement with France. War with France now seemed in- evitable. Congress enlarged the army and made Washington commander-in-chief, established the navy, licensed privateers, and ordered the capture of French vessels. Ships of the new navy were soon at sea and for two and one-half years there was sharp retaliation which cost France dearly. Just at this time Napoleon Bonaparte began to dominate France and when he signified a desire to make peace on fair terms his o\ertures were promptly accepted.^ Alien and Sedition Laws. During the excitement over the French war, John Adams was, for the first and last time in his life, genuinely popular. Addresses were sent to him from all parts of the country in praise of his patriotism and courage. 1 France had been committing like depredations continuously since 1793, but her cruisers were not very numerous, and the trouble over her searches and seizures was never so serious as that with England. - Pinckney is said to have made this famous reply. 3 Napoleon would not agree to make compensation for the damage done to our commerce, and the " French Spoliation Claims," growing out of the affair, long remained unsettled. TWELVE YEARS OF FEDERALIST SUPREMACY 199 Songs were written in his honor, the chief of which, Hail Columbia, is preserved as one of our national airs to-day.^ But in their hour of triumph Adams and his party went too far. Democratic newspapers which had been friendly to France since the time of Genet's mission did not hesitate to criticise in the severest terms the President and the whole Federalist policy. The Federalists controlled both houses of Congress and they resolved to be rid of newly arrived aliens who were charged with formulating resistance to the govern- ment, and to stop the publication of articles that were called seditious. Drastic measures, known as the Alien and Sedition Acts, were the result of this spirit of partisan retaliation. The first of these acts empowered the President to arrest and im- prison or expel any alien or foreigner whom he should suspect of being dangerous to the government. A naturalization act was also passed raising the required terms of residence to fourteen years before a foreigner could become a citizen.^ The Sedition Act made it a crime to publish severe criticisms of the government, of Congress, or of the President. The main purpose of the law seems to have been to silence Dem- ocratic newspapers. The Federalist organs had never dealt tenderly with the opposition, but these were unmolested. Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. The Democrats of that day and the most enlightened statesmen of later times con- sidered that the Alien and Sedition laws were unconstitutional since they restrained freedom of speech and of the press. Jefferson feared that such violations of the Constitution might lead to dismemberment of the union, and he resolved to make an appeal to the people through the state legislatures. The legislature of Kentucky adopted a set of resolutions framed by Jefferson himself and a little later the legislature of Vir- ginia adopted a similar set of resolutions written by James Madison. These resolutions declared that the Constitution 1 Hail Columbia was written by Joseph Ilopkinson, 1798. It was set to the music of the President's March, which was composed for Washington's inauguration. ~ The former naturalization law had required only five years' residence. 200 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY was a compact under which the states had delegated to the federal government certain powers, but had reserved all other powers to themselves; that the states were not obliged to ob- serve an objectionable law which was held to be beyond the delegated power of the central government; and that "having no common judge, each party has equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of redress." Kentucky went so far as to assert that under such circumstances nullification (to declare void and of no effect) was the rightful remedy. Such were the famous Kentucky and Virginia resolutions. Death of Washington. While the controversy over the radical measures of the Federalists was at its point of greatest ;^ bitterness, there came a sud- den hush upon the strife. Factional clamor ings ceased, for Washington, the universally beloved, was dead.^ This great man, without whose lofty patri- otism and remarkable gen- eralship the Revolution could hardly have been won, with- out whose manliness and statesmanship the Union could hardly have been estab- lished, had passed forever from the walks of men. His fame had spread abroad and in distant lands his death was regarded 1 Washington was born in 1732, the year the colony of Georgia was estabhshcd. From the time he was twenty-one years of age, practically until his death, he was closely associated with the history of the country. His ambition had been to hold a commission in the British army, but when the break with the mother country came, he stood by his native Virginia. Washington was tall and muscular;, he was an excellent marks- man, a fine swordsman and horseman. He was a man of great personal courage, and he possessed a rugged honesty and a devoted unselfishness which endeared him to all men. While riding about his plantation he was caught in a rain and hail storm, and took a cold, which resulted in his death on December 14, 1799. WASHINGTON S FLUTE AND HARPSICHORD TWELVE YEARS OF FEDERALIST SUPREMACY 201 as a loss to mankind. He was '* first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." ^ Jefferson's Election. The Federalists, by their assumption of unwarranted power, lost their hold on the people, and the long-standing quarrel between Hamilton and Adams further weakened the party by dividing it into factions. " In the elec- tion of 1800, Adams was defeated and the Federalists for- ever lost control of the Presidency. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr were the candidates of the triumphant Democrats, but an unexpected complication arose. Precisely the same number of votes was cast for each of these candidates. In case of a tie, the President is chosen by the House of Repre- sentatives, the members voting by states. After some delay Jefferson was chosen President and Burr Vice-president. In consecjuence of this election the twelfth amendment to the Con- stitution was passed by which all candidates for the Presidency and Vice-presidency are named as such on the ballot.^ . The Midnight Judges. The election over, the Federalists spent their few remaining months of power in trying to insure the suj^remacy of their party in one branch of the government. John Marshall of Virginia was made chief justice of the Su- preme Court and for over thirty years this great jurist pre- sided over the highest court in the land. A judiciary act was passed in 1801, a few weeks before the close of the administra- tion, creating a number of new federal courts when there was little or no need for them and Adams filled all these judgeships with strong Federalists.^ The story goes that he sat up until late in the night of March 3, 1801, making the appointments, and ever afterward these judges were called the " midnight judges." 1 Henry Lee, the Light Horse Harry of Revolutionary days, delivered his eulogy in Congress, and the quoted words are from his speech on that occasion. - This amendment was passed in 1804. 3 The judiciary act was repealed during Jefferson's first administration. 202 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY THOUGHT QUESTIONS I. What was the difference between the AntifederaUsts in 1787-8 and the Republicans of 1796? 2. Was the doctrine of strict construction ap- plied to a U. S. post-ofnce or U. S. bank? Was the doctrine of loose construction applied to the same? 3. How much cotton was exported in 1793? In 1800? 4. What was the price of cotton in 1793? 5. What in- vention in England had brought about a condition to render England a great market for raw cotton? 6. Why did England oppose the French Revolution? CHAPTER XIV DEMOCRACY AND EXPANSION Thomas Jefferson, President, 1801-1809 Aaron Burr, Vice-president, 1801-1805 George Clinton, Vice-president, 1805-1809 New Party in Power. At twelve o'clock noon on the fourth of March, 1801, Thomas Jefferson, accompanied by a few- friends, walked quietly from his boarding house to the partly finished capitol at Washington and took the oath 'of office.^ Here, amid the simplest surroundings, in the straggling city of Washington, the new Democracy was installed.- Everything bespoke the republican simplicity which Jefferson loved and exemplified. In manners and ideas, the new President was quite different from his predecessors. Washington and Adams deemed it proper for the head of the government to observe much ceremony and to stand somewhat apart from the people, but Jefferson maintained intimate intercourse with the masses at all times ; he did not hold formal weekly receptions or levees 1 Thomas Jefferson was born in Virginia, in 1743. He was a student at William and Mary College at the beginning of the controversy with the mother country. In his young manhood, he was a member of the House of Burgesses, and later a member of the second Continental Con- gress. During Confederation days, he was minister to France. After the organization of the government under the Constitution, his life was inti- mately interwoven with the development of the republic. Jefferson was a man of wonderful intellect and resources. He possessed a marvelous power of leadership; was a profound student and an accomplished scholar; was deeply interested in scientific investigation, and he could read several languages with ease; our decimal system of currency was of his devising, and he was founder of the University of Virginia. He was a fine horse- man, an accomplished musician, and a successful farmer. - In 1800 the capital had been removed to the city of Washington. The corner stone of the capitol building was laid in 1793, by Washington him- self. 203 204 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY in courtly fashion, but he entertained hospitably and the White House was always open to visitors. This was most pleasing to the people who had become im- patient of the formalities prac- ticed by Federal officeholders. Jefferson cjuietly put aside another precedent of Federalist days. In- stead of opening Congress with a formal address as Washington and Adams had done, he communicat- ed his recommendations in a writ- ten message. This relieved him of the necessity of speaking in public, to which he was very much averse. Economy was the watchword of the new administration and under the able management of Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treas- ur}^, the public debt was much di- minished. The army was greatly reduced and far less was spent on the navy. Transfer of Louisiana. By far the most important event of Jefferson's administration was the purchase of Louisiana, the western half of the most valuable river valley on the face of the earth. This vast country, which La Salle's exploration at the close of the seventeenth century had given to France, had been lost to her as a consequence of the French and Indian wars; the eastern part of the valley passing to her old enemy, England, and the western half and control of the river's mouth to her friend and ally, Spain. In 1783 when the independence of the United States was acknowledged, Spain still held Louis- iana and spread consternation in the W^est by threatening to close the mouth of the great river. When Jefferson became President, Louisiana no longer belonged to Spain. Napoleon Bonaparte, the dictator of France and would-be master of all Europe, was fired with the purpose of winning back for France THOMAS JEFFERSON DEMOCRACY AND EXPANSION 205 her fomier possessions on this continent. He forced Spain to cede Louisiana to France and the mouth of the Mississippi was closed to the trade of our southern states. When this news reached the United States there was intense excitement throughout the West and the people were eager at a moment's notice to descend the Mississippi River and seize New Orleans. The situation was critical. Louisiana Copyright Detroit Photo Co. MONTICELLO, THE HOME OF THOMAS JEFFERSON in the hands of weak and inefficient Spain, and Louisiana in the hands of France under the masterful Bonaparte, were entirely different. From Spain there was little or nothing to fear, but the aggressiveness of France would be a constant danger to the Lhiited States. \¥e must obtain control of New Orleans in order to have an outlet for our western commerce, or we must enter the European wars and fight France side by side with England. Louisiana Purchase. President Jefferson sent James Mon- roe as special envoy to join Robert R. Livingston, our minister to France, in a negotiation for the purchase of the island of New Orleans and West Florida for which they were authorized 206 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY to spend ten million dollars. Much to the surprise of our min- isters, Napoleon, in 1803, offered to sell to the United States the whole of Louisiana for fifteen million dollars. His offer was promptly accepted and thus the vast country between the Mississippi River and the Mountains, Rocky extend- ing from Canada on the north to Texas on the south, fell in- to our hands and the territory of the United States was more than doubled.^ It developed that Napoleon was face to face with another war with England and the weakness of the French navy made it impossible for him to hold Louisiana, and hence he was willing to part with that territory in order to prevent it from falling into the hands of England, his bitter foe. The wily monarch congratulated himself that he had replenished his purse, and he rejoiced that he had sold Louis- iana to a country that some day might humble the proud " mistress of the seas." Everywhere throughout the United States there was rejoicing over the great event, for at last we had an outlet to the Gulf of Mexico.^ But there was one dis- cordant note. New England perceived that this vast terri- tory to the south and west would mcrease the influence of those 1 The boundaries of Louisiana remained in dispute until 1819. - In Louisiana, among the Creoles and French of New Orleans, there was much dissatisfaction over the prospect of a leveling of old class dis- tinctions by the new " democracy and equality " regime. CABILDO BUILDING, NEW ORLEANS (In this building the transfer of Louisiana by Spain to France and again by France to the United States was formally made.) DEMOCRACY AND EXPANSION 207 sections and decrease her own.^ New England leaders bit- terly denounced the purchase of Louisiana and suggested that the time had come to secede from the Union and set up an independent confederacy at the North. New Territory Explored. Within the next few years several expeditions were sent out to explore the new territory. In 1804 a party, under the command of Lewis and Clark, went into the region northwest of the M i ss issi p pi.^ They started from St. Louis, then a strag- gling village of log cabins, on May 14, 1804, and ascended the Missouri River to its head wa- ters. Thence these spirits daring made MOUNTAIN TRAIL IN THE COUNTRY LEWIS AND CLARK TRAVERSED BY their way west- ward across the summit of the Rockies and descended the Columbia River along its westward course to the Pacific, ^ Some statesmen questioned the purchase of Louisiana, because there was no specific warrant in the Constitution for acquiring territory. Presi- dent Jefferson himself desired a Constitutional amendment; but this process was looked upon as too slow, for delay might prove fatal — Xapoleon might change his mind ; so the President took the responsibility of purchasing the territory, and after the new region was acquired he suggested an amendment to the Constitution. But other Democratic states- men seemed satisfied with the approbation of the majority of the people. While the Constitution lacks a specific warrant for the purchase of ter- ritory, it is a fair assumption that the framers of the Constitution deemed it unnecessary to set out in express words a right, which in the nature of things must inhere in any government for its own protection, as well as for its own development. The Supreme Court later rendered an opinion to this effect. - This Clark was a brother of George Rogers Clark, of Revolutionary fame. 208 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY reaching the shores of that ocean in October, 1805. Soon the explorers took up their homeward journey and in September, 1806, they reached St. Louis. They had been absent nearly two years and had traveled more than eight thousand miles in boats, on horseback, and on foot. Throughout all their w ROUTES TAKEN BY LEWIS AND CLARK AND BY ZEBULON PIKE IN EXPLORING THE NEW TERRITORY journey and hardships, only one of their party had deserted, one had died, and one Indian had been killed. This explora- tion gave some idea of the vast extent and the immense wealth of the far West, and became the basis of our claim to the Oregon country.^ 1 In 1791 Captain Robert Gray, of Boston, had entered the Pacific. He discovered the Columbia River which he named for his vessel. Five years DEMOCRACY AND EXPANSION 209 Pike's Expeditions. While Lewis and Clark were in the Northwest, two other exploring parties were sent out under Colonel Zebulon Pike. The first went northward to the source of the Mississippi; later Colonel Pike ascended the Arkansas far into the West, passed through Colorado and discovered the peak which now bears his name. He went as far to the south- west as the Spanish settlements on the Rio Grande. Fulton's Steamboat. When Louisiana was purchased the common impression was that in all probability one hundred years would elapse before it would be anything more than a Fulton's first steamboat, the clermont wilderness. The regions between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi had not been settled, although the state of Ohio, the third commonwealth to be erected out of the West, had been admitted to the Union in 1803. But the first half of the nine- teenth century was to reveal many marvelous changes in the means of transportation and communication, and the West was destined to grow as if by magic. The first of these changes came while Jefferson was yet President. In 1807, Robert Fulton's invention of the steamboat ])roved to Ije successful. after the Lewis and Clark exploration. John Jacob Astor in_ 181 1 estab- lished Astoria, a fur-trading post at the mouth of the Columbia. 210 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY His first craft, the Clermont, which the people nicknamed " Fulton's Folly," undertook to make the trip on the Hudson River from New York to Albany. On the day advertised, enormous crowds gathered on the banks of the river to witness the venture, though few people entertained the slightest hope of seeing a boat move without sails or oars. The little Clermont, on her first effort, moved slowly but surely up the stream and the populace shouted in surprise, " She moves, she moves ! " The trip of 150 miles was made in thirty-two hours, which was rapid traveling in those days. It was not long before steamboats were plying back and forth on the rivers, penetrating far into the West, laden with passengers and freight, and defying wind and current.^ These queer-looking vessels, puffing forth huge clouds of fire and smoke, struck terror to the hearts of many who saw them for the first time. The superstitious thought that the end of the world was surely at hand. War with Tripoli. Jefferson was a lover of peace as well as a believer in democracy. He had dreams of universal amity ; of a time when nations would settle their differences by arbitration rather than by appeal to arms ; yet once during his first administration we had occasion to take up arms. For hundreds of years the Mohammedan princes of the Barbary States had made piracy on the Mediterranean their chief busi- ness. Tripoli and other towns on the northern coast of Africa were nests of pirates. Unless tribute money was paid to these highwaymen of the sea, they captured vessels, con- fiscated their cargoes, and either held the captives for ransom or sold them into slavery. The United States, following the custom of European nations, had paid tribute to these Barbary princes for the privilege of allowing our merchant vessels to navigate the Mediterranean in peace. But the pirates became more and more greedy in their exactions, and at last the Pasha 1 The Savannah, in 1819, made the first trip by steam across the Atlantic. She started from Savannah, Georgia. Not for twenty years afterwards, however, was ocean navigation by steam permanently established. DEMOCRACY AND EXPANSION 21 I of Tripoli insolently sent word that he would wait six months for a handsome present from us and if it were not forth- coming he would declare war on the United States. The pres- ent was sent to him rather sooner than he expected but in an unexpected way, for soon a little fleet of American vessels un- der the command of Commodore Preble appeared off Tripoli with frowning cannon. Tripoli was bombarded and the Pasha meekly agreed to live at peace with America without tribute, and soon other Bar- bary States in discretion emulated his example. This little war served to give training to our sailors, and, by a daring exploit. Lieuten- ant Decatur gained a place among our naval heroes. The American warship, P Jul ad dp Ilia, had been cap- tured by the pirates and the Mohammedan ensign took the place of "Old Glory" at her mast head. Decatur, with seventy-five men, sailed boldly into the harbor of Tripoli to rescue the ship. While the Tripolitans were looking on, he reached the Philadelphia, set fire to her, flames. Decatur and his gallant crew, amid a storm of shot from the surprised pirate port, swept out of the harbor and regained the open sea. English Orders and French Decrees. In 1804 Jefferson was reelected to the Presidency and George Clinton of New York succeeded Burr as Vice-president. Jefferson's first ad- ministration had been one of peace, except for the trouble STEPHEN DECATUR and soon she was a mass of 212 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY with Tripoli, but in his second administration he was compeUed to exercise ah his wonderful power over his party to prevent the United States from plunging headlong into the European struggle, which, since 1792, had continued with hardly a breathing space. France and England were still striving to destroy each other and each tried to force the other into sub- mission by smothering its trade. England issued a series of " Orders in Council," in which she declared practically every port of Europe in a state of blockade and forbade neutral ships to enter these harbors. These orders were to be enforced by captures at sea. Napoleon, now emperor of the French and lord of half of Europe besides, retaliated by a series of de- crees which forbade neutral vessels to enter British ports on pain of seizure and instituted a boycott upon all English goods found in France or in her allied states. The Chesapeake and the Leopard. The American ships floated almost the only neutral flag on the seas ; they had be- come the chief carriers of the world, and transported to Eu- ropean ports the products of every climate. Upon the United States, therefore, would fall the weight of this controversy be- tween France and England.^ Soon American ships were cut off from almost every port in Europe and American property was seized by the wholesale on the high seas and American seamen were impressed into British service.^ In June, 1807, the people of the United States were aroused by one particular circumstance to a martial spirit somewhat like that in the days of the X. Y. Z. affair. The British frigate Leopard met the United States frigate Chesapeake just outside the capes of Vir- 1 The Jay treaty had expired. - The harsh discipHne and poor pay in the British navy caused frequent desertions. It was a critical time. England, upholding, as she believed, the liberties of Europe, felt that she could not lose her seamen. Like all quarrels, the impressment controversy had two sides. Very often when an English ship would put into an American harbor, the whole crew would desert, take out false naturalization papers, and the English captain would find bimself without a crew. But the English captains were not always dareful whom they seized. Before the war of 1812, England had searched more than nine hundred of our ships, and impressed more than four thou- sand Americans into British service. DEMOCRACY AND EXPANSION 213 sinia and demanded the surrender of three deserters, two of whom were Americans that had been forced into the British navy and had escaped. The commander of the Chesapeake refused the demand, whereupon the Leopard opened fire and kihed and wounded more than twenty of the American crew.^ The Embargo. This outrage, coming as a chmax to the irritation produced by the Enghsh Orders and the French De- crees, provoked fierce anger among the American people and a demand for instant war, but Jeft'erson preserved his poise. To go to war with both France and England would mean suicide; to submit tamely to these injuries and insults would mean loss of honor and dignity. To save the situation Jeffer- son proposed measures of retaliation upon the trade of France and England who tormented us in punishing each other. In response to the President's recommendation Congress passed an Embargo Act, which forbade the departure of any vessel of the United States to a foreign port. If American ships could not be safe from attack on the seas, they would better stay at home. The products upon which the English mer- chants depended would be cut off and they would confront commercial ruin. The Non-intercourse Act. The Embargo Act was designed to hurt England and France, but it was soon evident that it was injuring our own trade as much as our worst enemy could wish. Shipping interests and the export trade were almost paralyzed. Fanners found that their crops had little value if they could not be sent to market. The South perhaps suffered most of all because there was little sale for her great staples, tobacco, cotton, etc. ; her capital could not be easily diverted to other channels and her negro slaves could not be discharged, but had to be supported. The people of New England were engaged chiefly in commerce and the Embargo Act so inter- fered with their business that smuggling became common and a brisk trade with Canada was developed. Congress was com- ^ Four years later, England made reparation for this outrage, by appro- priating money to the families of the slain and injured. 214 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY pelled to pass a stringent Enforcing Act, which New England resented so bitterly that she began to talk of nullifying the Em- bargo Act and of secession. So great and so general was the dissatisfaction with the Embargo Act that it was repealed in 1809, just a short time before Jefferson's second term expired. In its place Congress passed the Non-intercourse Act which forbade trade with England and France, but permitted it with other nations. The Burr Conspiracy. During" these troublous times leading to the Embargo, Aaron Burr, the former Vice-president, was tried for treason. He had lost the support of a large part of the Democrats and in 1804 the party had ignored him and elected George Clinton of New York to the vice-presidency. Burr became a candidate for governor of New York on an in- dependent ticket; but Hamilton, the great Federalist leader, exerted all his influence against him and accomplished his de- feat. Stung by this humiliation. Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel and killed him. Popular indignation over the tragedy was so great that Burr became an outcast; in 1805 he went into the Louisiana country and for the next few months his life is shrouded in mystery. He began collecting provisions, arms, and troops, but just what his plans were was never made clear. Some thought that he was endeavoring to establish a separate republic by the secession of the West from the East; others thought that he contemplated establishing an empire in the Southwest by conquering Texas or Mexico or some other of the Spanish lands. In a general way he was suspected of harboring some desperate and treasonable scheme. At last he was arrested and tried for treason, but there was not suffi- cient evidence that he had levied war against the United States, or had given aid and comfort to the country's enemies, and he was acquitted. After this Burr left the United States and went here and there over the world lonely and hopeless. After several years he returned and lived and died in obscurity. Election of 1808. Another presidential election was held in 1808. By this time the Federalists had grown weaker and DEMOCRACY AND EXPANSION 215 weaker, and there was no question that political power would remain in the hands of the Democrats. Jefferson had requests from several states to serve a third term, but he re- fused because he believed that successive reelections would lead to a life tenure, and because he ardently favored the Democratic principle of rotation in office.^ James Madison, who had been Jefferson's Secretary of State, was chosen, and on the fourth of March, 1809, cheered by thousands of people and escorted by a body of local cavalrymen, the fourth President of the United States took the oath of office. He wore a suit of home manufacture, which was made of cloth woven from the wool of merino sheep raised in the United States. THOUGHT QUESTIONS I. Name other great men of that day besides Jefferson who were Vir- ginians. 2. Describe the population of New Orleans in 1803. 3. Why were the people of Tennessee and Western Kentucky so anxious as to who controlled Louisiana? 4. Under what flags has Louisiana passed? 5. What invention had made possible the steam boat? Name the inventor. 6. Why was our country almost the only neutral power at this time? 7. How was the Embargo Act a disappointment to its authors? 8. Give evidence that the Union was still not well cemented. 9. Compare Jeffer- son's reason for refusing a third term with Washington's? 1 Jefferson's action following on that of Washington, established the two-term precedent for the presidential ofiice. CHAPTER XV THE WAR OF l8l2: FREEDOM ON THE SEAS James ]Madison, President, 1809-1817 George Clinton, \'ice-president, 1809-1813 Elbridge Gerry, Vice-president, 1813-1817 Napoleon's Trickery. Upon President Madison fell the task of upholding the honor of the country in the face of the English Orders and the French Decrees, and, like his great predecessor. Jefferson, he first tried the weapon of proclama- tion.^ The Non-intercourse Act, forbidding commerce with France and England, had been passed a few days before Jeffer- son's term of office expired. The United States agreed to re- voke this act if France and England would repeal the obnoxious Decrees and Orders, and they each in turn agreed to a repeal if the other nation would do likewise. Finally Napoleon claimed that he had revoked the Decrees, but England knew him better than we did and, doubting his good faith, refused to repeal her Orders.- The Non-intercourse Act was repealed as far as France was concerned and many of the American 1 James ]\Iadison was born in Virginia in 1751. He was graduated at Princeton College in 1771, and from that time until the close of his second term as President, he played an important part in the great events of the country. His greatest service was as a member of the Federal Con- vention in 1787, which presented the Constitution. Together with Alex- ander Hamilton and John Jay, he wrote a series of papers, known as the Federalist Papers, urging upon the states the acceptance of the Con- stitution. In 1817 Madison retired to his country home at Montpelier. where he took great interest in promoting agriculture. His wife, Dolly Madison, as her friends called her. was greatly admired for her beauty and accomplishments. Madison died in 1836. - While these matters were being considered, the United States frigate. President, met the British sloop of war, Little Belt. The vessels fired on each other, and the Little Belt came off second best. The Americans rejoiced that the firing on the Chesapeake was avenged. 216 THE WAR OF 1812 217 ships went into French ports only to find that the United States had been tricked, for the Decrees had not been repealed ; our vessels were seized and property worth millions was con- fiscated by the treacherous Napoleon. Indian Troubles. Meanwhile, events were occurring in the United States in which England seemed to play a part. The Indians in the Northwest were in a state of war. This trouble was ever old and ever new — the persistent encroachment of the whites and the stubborn resistance of the red men. Gen- eral William Henry Harrison, governor of Indiana territory, made a treaty with several tribes and purchased their lands on the upper Wabash. Tecumseh and his twin brother, the Prophet, who belonged to a tribe not interested in the cession, ignored the treaty on the contention that the lands belonged to all the tribes together and could not be alienated. Tecumseh had a deep-laid plan of uniting all the Indian tribes against the whites to check the westward movement. England was sus- pected, though unjustly, of supplying these Indians with arms and ammunition. Along the frontier there was constant ma- rauding and General Harrison marched into the Indian coun- try to punish the offenders. In a single battle at Tippecanoe the conspiracy was checked. Hundreds of the Indians crossed into Canada where they were later found fighting in the British army. The Twelfth Congress. Much as Madison struggled for peace, the country seemed to drift inevitably toward war. Al- though France had given us as much cause for resentment as England, still the large majority of the people, except in New England, were aflame with resentment against Great Britain as the party against whom the United States had the greater grievance.^ When the twelfth Congress assembled for the 1 Madison sent to Congress a collection of documents, known as the Henry Letters, for which he paid one John Henry $50,000. These letters, proved, so the President declared, that England in time of peace em- ployed a secret agent in certain states, particularly Massachusetts, to stir up opposition to the war with Great Britain, and to sound the people concerning their views as to separation from the Union, and connection of some sort with Great Britain. The letters set forth the view that 2l8 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY first time, many young men — all " war hawks " as they were called — made bold declaration of a determination not to en- dure any longer the insults heaped upon us by foreign nations. Henry Clay of Kentucky, then a young man of most attractive personality, full of daring, talented to a high degree, and typical of the western spirit, was chosen speaker of the House of Representatives. Another striking" new member was John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, grave, dignified, and a masterful debater. This Congress on June i8, 1812, declared war on England. Four main causes were recited : first, inciting the Indians to hostilities; second, interference with neutral trade through the Orders in Coun- third, searching our ships and their cargoes ; fourth, impressment of our seamen. In the fall of the year in which war was declared, Madison was reelected to the Presidency. Surrender of Detroit. At the outbreak of the war, the first object was to attack Canada as our main reliance was upon our land forces. Three campaigns were planned : one from the west by the way of Detroit, another from the center by way of Sackett's Harbor and Niagara, and the third from Lake Champlain northward. The first blow was to be struck in the West. General Hull, a Revolutionary leader then in command at Detroit, was to invade Canada, but he was intimidated by a large force of English under General Brock and Indian allies under Tecumseh. General Brock demanded the surrender of Detroit, threatening Hull with Indian atrocities if he did not yield. Finally General Hull sent out a white flag and Detroit Massachusetts, in all probability, led in such resistance and in such alliance with England. HENRY CLAY Cll confiscating THE WAR OF 1812 219 fell into the hands of the British without a blow.^ Instead of our capturing Canada, the British had captured a large part of the Northwest. Other Canadian Campaigns. General Dearborn had made an attempt to march against Montreal from the Lake Cham- plain country, but the militia refusing to go beyond Plattsburg into Canada, he was forced to turn back and go into winter quarters.- The third campaign, for the purpose of conquering the Niagara country, was equally unfortunate. Major General Stephen Van Rensselaer, of the New York militia, was in com- mand of one thousand men at Lewiston. Reen forced by five thousand troops, he made an attack on Oueenstown Heights which resulted in a serious defeat. On account of a quarrel between General V^an Rensselaer, commanding the militia, and General Smythe in command of the regulars, the army did not act together and was soon overwhelmed by the British under General Brock. ^ Fights. Al- we had de- war on the commercial Sea though -'if I ^ — ^ towLt ' -M^- iM^Ski - -^HWf ^^^tj^l^f^ ftrf II ^^M g^ ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN THE CONSTITUTION THE GUEKRIEKE clared greatest and naval power in the world and had only twelve vessels. we gave but little thought to the prep- aration of a navy. Nevertheless, these twelve ships were the best of their kind and our sailors were well trained and thoroughly disciplined. Our little navy started out gallantly in search of the enemy. Three 1 General Hull was later tried by court martial on charge of treason, cowardice, and neglect of duty. He was convicted and sentenced to be shot, but the sentence was remitted by the President, on account of Hull's previous services during the Revolutionary war. -The people of New York and New England were opposed to the war. 3 General Brock was killed in this engagement. 220 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY days after General Hull's surrender of Detroit, his nephew, Captain Hull, commanding the ship Constitution — "Old Ironsides " as she came to be called — met the British warship Guerriere in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and there the proud and boastful English were defeated. Soon the Guerriere was a dismantled hulk rolling helplessly on the waves. Within an hour after the fight the Constitution was repaired and was ready to search for new prey. This brief battle of half an hour broke the " sacred spell " of Great Britain on the seas. The Americans went wild with joy over this victory. In October the British sloop of war Frolic surrendered to the American Wasp, but both vessels were later captured by a British man-of-war. Just one week after the Wasp's victory, Captain Decatur, of the United States, captured the British frigate Macedonian off the Madeira Islands and towed her into New London, Connecticut, where she was overhauled and converted into a first-class American fighting ship. The famous Constitution once more went forth to victory before the year 1812 had closed, under the command of Captain Bain- bridge and captured the Java off the coast of Brazil. The re- sults of this wonderful six months of naval warfare surprised the world. Great Britain was filled with consternation, while American patriotism and pride were aroused to the highest pitch. Hornet and Peacock; Chesapeake and Shannon. The year 1 81 3 opened with another American victory on the seas. In February the Hornet, commanded by Captain Lawrence, cap- tured the British frigate Peacock in South American waters. After this victory Lawrence was transferred to the command of the famous Chesapeake and while this vessel lay off Boston she was challenged by Captain Broke, of the Shannon. Law- rence's crew was new and not yet well trained, but he was willing to risk an encounter. Unfortunately for us. Captain Broke had been profiting by the mistakes of the British and had a crew perfectly trained for action. The engagement was short and bloody. Lawrence was mortally wounded early in THE WAR OF 1812 221 the fight and as he was borne below deck he cried out ahnost with his dying breath, " Don't give up the ship," but the Chesapeake was compelled to surrender, and was taken as a prize to Halifax. The naval war had assumed such propor- tions that Great Britain kept a large part of her fleet in Ameri- can waters and our little navy, though considerably increased DEATH OF CAPTAIN LAWRENCE in numbers, found it impossiljle to prevent the blockading of im- portant harbors on our coast. This crippled us during" the remainder of the war, for the best of our ships were soon bot- tled up in the harbors and were unable to run the blockade. Raisin River Massacre. The land campaign of 18 13 showed some gain for the United States in the extreme west. General William Henry Harrison of Tippecanoe fame had succeeded to the command of the army and had set him- >.. i^J'o^ma,.. , ^_ _ ^^"■'^"feXCF^^'^ ■•■■ Tcrritorifo/ Orleans ^"^ Y*VVk ' ' "'"S ac/ini«cJ as (/^ 1 JAMES MONROE The Federalist party had be- come SO weak that in the presidential election of 1 8 16, its candidate, Rufus King, the last Federalist named for President, re- ceived very few votes and James Monroe, a Democrat and the Secretary of State under Madison, was elect- ed,^ Monroe was the fourth Virginian to be President and the last of the revolutionary fathers to hold that office. In the summer of 181 7 he made a tour of the northern and New England states, which had been the seat of so 1 James Monroe was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1758. A student at William and Mary College when the Revolutionary War began, he left school to enter the army. He was a captain at the battle of Trenton, and served with distinction in the principal engagements of 232 TRANSITION OF STATESMEN 233 much disaffection during the war of 1812. When the Presi- dent appeared in his revohttionary uniform, great crowds gathered to pay honor to the veteran who had fought with Washington. Monroe called a number of men of the younger generation to serve in the cabinet. John Quincy Adams, the son of the second President, was Secretary of State; John C. Calhoun was Secretary of War; and William H. Crawford of Georgia was Secretary of the Treasury. Henry Clay still held the leadership in Congress. How- ever, the man who was destined to wield the greatest influence was not in the cabinet or in Congress; this man was Andrew Jackson of Ten- nessee, the " Hero of New Or- leans." Foreign Affairs; Purchase of Florida. The points left unsettled in I'le peace which closed the sec- ond war with Great Britain were adjusted in the treaty of 1818. The boundary between the Louisiana purchase and Canada was fixed ; commercial agreements were arranged ; the right to fish on the Grand Banks was secured; and Oregon, which both powers claimed, was to be occupied jointly by the citizens of the United States and of Great Britain.^ In the year 181 9 Florida was added to the territory of the United States. This region was a place of refuge for hostile Indians, run-away 1777-1778. Monroe studied law under Jefferson, and there was always a strong affection between the two men. He was in public life from the formation of the government almost to the time of his death. The chief offices he filled were: governor of Virginia; minister to France in 1802, when he aided in the purchase of Louisiana ; minister to England ; Secre- tary of State under Madison; and President from 1817 to 1825. Monroe died July 4, 1831. 1 Great Britain claimed the Oregon country by virtue of the discoveries of Alexander Mackenzie, and the occupation of the country by the Hudson JOHN C. CALHOUN 234 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY slaves, and outlaws, and was a constant source of trouble to the people of Alabama and Georgia. The Seminole Indians, whose haunts were in the Florida peninsula, kept up a merci- less frontier warfare and vSpain did nothing to keep the peace. General Andrew Jackson was still in command in the South- west and was sent, in 1818, to check the marauders. Once in the field against the red men, Jackson did not stop until he had chased them far into Florida. He attacked the Spanish whom he suspected of aiding and abetting the Indians and arrested and executed two English subjects for the same offence.^ In the meantime we had been negotiating with Spain for the purchase of Florida, and this warlike advance into her territory was not conducive to a peaceful transaction. But Spain's colonies of Mexico and South America were in a state of revolt, and realizing that she could not hold Florida, she sold it to us for $5,000,000. This was in 181 9, and at the same time the boundary of the Louisiana purchase, which had been in con- stant dispute, was defined. The United States agreed to accept the Sabine, the Red, and the Arkansas rivers in a northwest- erly direction ; from the last named river to the forty-second parallel and thence along that line to the Pacific. By accept- ing this boundary we surrendered claim to Texas as a part of the Louisiana purchase.^ New States; Question of Missouri. The rapid western movement of the population in the period of the embargo and the war, led to the admission of state after state carved out of the western territory.^ While Madison was President, Louisiana (1812) and Indiana (1816) were admitted to the Bay Company. The treaty provided for joint occupation for ten years. Later the time was extended. 1 These were Ambrister, a young Englishman, and Arbuthnot, an old Scotch trader, who had long been suspected of stirring up the Indians. Both men were tried by a court martial and sentenced to death. 2 We had previously claimed that Louisiana extended to the Rio Grande on the southwest. 3 Two families that left Kentucky during these years are of particular interest to us. In 1808 Jefferson Davis was born in Kentucky. Just before the war of 1812, his father moved westward into Mississippi, and TRANSITION OF STATESMEN 235 Union, and five other states entered during the Presidency of Monroe. The first three — Mississippi (181 7), Ilhnois (1818), and Alabama (1819) — were admitted without oppo- sition, but when Missouri knocked at the door of the Union, there was an ominous outbreak of sectional feeling. Missouri was settled in large part by the masterful men of Kentucky and Tennessee, who moved across the river and carried their slaves with them, and soon there were plantations and great fields of waving grain where had been the hunting grounds of the Indians. Missouri, with a state constitution guaran- teeing the right to hold slaves, now asked to enter the Union. Northern statesmen fiercely resisted the admission of Missouri as a slave state and the southern statesmen as fiercely fought the exclusion of slavery from that state. Balance of Power Between the Sections. To understand the controversy over Missouri we must bear in mind the atti- tude of the sections toward each other. The struggle was not simply a matter of right and wrong or of different in- dustrial and social systems; it was also a cjuestion of political power between the North and the South. From the first the sections had been distinct. In colonial days the Puritan had dominated the one, while the Cavalier had directed the other. We have noted the jealousies between the sections in the for- mation of the federal union. The South had opposed, while the North had approved, Hamilton's financial plans. During the long period of troublesome controversies with the warring powers of Europe — though both sections usually supported the President in matters of national honor — the agricultural and Democratic South rather sympathized with France, while the commercial and Federalist North manifestly preferred England, and in the war of 181 2 New England had been openly hostile to the policy of the government. Though most of the Louisiana purchase lay in the North, New England opposed became a typical southern planter. In i8og Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky. In 1816 his father, a carpenter, took his family across the Ohio into Illinois, and here Lincoln grew into manhood. 236 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY the acquisition because she saw that the territory would be agricukural and she feared that in sympathy with the South it would antagonize her commercial interests. During the first quarter century of the Union, the North had outgrown the South in population, and, as a consequence, the northern states seemed destined to have a majority in the House of Repre- sentatives and thus control legislation in that body.^ In the Senate the states were represented equally without regard to population and the South realized that she must retain her strength there in order to prevent legislation hostile to her interests. Leaders of the North feared the perpetuation of southern ascendency if the West grew in power and sympa- thized with the South, while the leaders of the South sought to extend their industrial system to the West in order to main- tain a balance in the Senate. Growth of Slavery. To understand further why the admis- sion of Missouri to the Union as a slave state caused such sharp sectional antagonism, we must recall something of the growth of slavery in the United States. In the admission of states up to 1820, the slavery issue had not arisen, because by the Ordinance of 1787 slavery was prohibited in all states carved out of the Northwest Territory. No such restriction was placed upon the states organized south of the Ohio River. Circumstances were such that in the admission of states up to this time, the balance of power was preserved, for free states and slave states had been admitted alternately. At the for- mation of the Union slavery had existed in practically all the states. The Constitution recognized slavery as a domestic in- stitution and it was provided in that instrument that the slave trade was not to be forbidden until 1808, in which year a law was passed to that effect. The Constitution provided likewise for the passage of a fugitive slave law by which runaway slaves should be returned to their masters, and in 1793 Con- 1 In the House of Representatives, the people are represented according to population. The people of the South colonized the West to a large extent, and this movement checked the growth of population in the sea- board states of that section. TRANSITION OF STATESMEN 237 gress enacted such a law. However, there had been consid- erable agitation against slavery on moral grounds, and many leaders. North and South, looked forward to the gradual disappearance of the institution. It had gradually disap- peared in the North where the climate was unfavorable and where slave labor was not profitable on the small farms or in the factories of the cities. By 1820 slavery had ceased to exist or was in process of extinction in the states north of Mason and Dixon's line and of the Ohio River. But after the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney, slavery be- came more profitable than ever in the cotton fields of the lower South; it solved the labor problem, which in a new land is always vexatious. As the cotton crop increased from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of bales, and the cotton mills of Old England, and New England as well, looked to the fleecy fields of the South for their supply, it was not strange that slavery became more firmly established in the South. ^ Hence it was that men of that time in Missouri found slavery an institution ready made to their hands. Plans of gradual emancipation were considered, and, in 1816, a colonization society was established for the purpose of tak- ing free negroes back to the republic of Liberia in Africa, where they were encouraged to maintain and govern them- selves. Complete and immediate abolition of slavery would have meant danger and ruin to the South on the one hand, and on the other suffering and privation to the negroes. Meanwhile southern leaders believed that the best way to 1 Nevertheless, a great many prominent men in the South regretted the existence of slavery, and would have been glad to see some way to end it without ruining themselves financially. Some were willing to free their slaves, and did so ; but there was a great deal of opposition to this, be- cause it was generally felt that free negroes were an undesirable element in the population. It was for this reason that the colonization society was organized. It was thought that men would be more willing to free their slaves if there were some means of settling them out of the country. As negroes showed themselves capable of self-support, masters very often set them free, and there were many free negroes scattered throughout the country. For many years Madison was president of the American Colonization Society, which, between 1830 and 1850, sent seven thousand negroes to Liberia, about twenty-five hundred from Virginia alone. ^38 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY deal with slavery so as to prevent the slaves from becoming too numerons in the older states of the South, was to encour- age a movement of the negroes into the West. In this manner they would be scattered over a wider territory, and the evils of the system would be mitigated. The North, fearing southern control in the West, contested the right of holding slaves in the territory west of the Mississippi. The South, on the contrary, contended that the broad fertile valleys of the western water courses should be as free to her emigrants as to those from the North. The struggle between FREE AND SLAVE TERRITORY AS FIXED BY MISSOURI COMPROMISE the two sections over Missouri intensified sectional bit- terness, and threats of disunion were freely made from both sides. Missouri Compromise. At length, largely through the in- fluence of Henry Clay, who became known as the " Great Pacificator," the dispute over slavery in Missouri was com- promised. In 1820, Maine, which had been a part of Massa- chusetts, applied for admission as a free state, and the two states of Maine and Missouri were now admitted in one bill, TRANSITION OF STATESMEN 239 the former to be a free state, and the latter a slave state. But while Missouri was admitted with slavery, it was agreed that all states afterwards carved out of the Louisiana pur- chase north of the line thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes — the southern boundary of Missouri — should be free states. The Missouri Compromise settled the territorial feature of the slavery problem for nearly thirty years, but the bitterness engendered between the sections during the controversy sur- \ived and increased until it culminated in War Between the States.! Monroe Doctrine. Hardly had the Missouri Compromise been accomplished before the American people faced another vital question. This was the independence of the republics of the New World. Spain's colonies in Mexico and South America had revolted and had set up republican governments which Spain was too weak to subdue. Russia, Prussia, Aus- tria, and France banded themselves together into a league, known as the " Holy Alliance," for the purpose of upholding the rights of the monarchies of the Old World, and it was be- lieved that this alliance was willing to assist Spain in recover- ing her American colonies. The likelihood was, however, that these colonies, if subjugated, would not be restored to Spain, but would be divided among the nations of the Holy Alliance. Russia already claimed Alaska by right of discovery, and, if she should gain more territory on the North American con- tinent, she would be a distinct menace to our safety.^ The United States boldly opposed the policy of the Holy Alliance, and, in 1822, acknowledged the independence of the new American republics to the south. In 1823 Monroe an- nounced that the United States had no intention of interfering ^ Thomas Jefferson was opposed to slavery, but he was in favor of its extension in the West. After the Missouri Compromise was agreed upon, he said, " The question sleeps for the present but it is not dead. This momentous question, like a fire-bell in the night, awakened me and iillcd me with terror." - Russia claimed Alaska tlirough the discovery of Vitus Bering in 1741. In 1824 Russia agreed to a treaty by which the southern boundary was to be fifty-four degrees and forty minutes, and by which the fisheries of the Pacific were open to the United States. 240 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY with any European colony already established in America, but that any attempt on the part of the nations of Europe to establish other colonies on this continent, would be regarded by the United States as a manifestation of an unfriendly dis- position toward us. The President's declaration had the de- sired effect, for the plans of the Holy Alliance, whatever they were, were abandoned. The policy declared in this instance is known as the Monroe Doctrine, and has since been recog- nized throughout the world as a fixed principle in American diplomacy. Lafayette's Visit. In the year 1824 Lafayette, upon the invitation of the United States, visited the country for the first time since the close of the Revolutionary War. Every- where he went, he was hailed with the greatest acclaim. The whole people gave themselves up to a holiday, and processions and fetes of all kinds were arranged for his pleasure. At length, after a stay of over a year, he returned to France upon the new United States frigate Brandyzvine, which had been named in his honor. ^ As a token of the affection and esteem of a grateful people Congress presented him with $200,- 000 in money and a township of public land in Florida. Beginning of New Parties. Monroe had been reelected in 1820. The Federalists did not even name an opposing can- didate, and the election lacked only one vote of being unani- mous. Washington alone, of our Presidents, enjoys the distinction of having been unanimously elected. The compara- tive absence of strife between the parties of this time, caused Monroe's administration to be called the " Era of Good Feel- ing," but the good feeling was only surface deep, and before the close of Monroe's second term, contrary groups were forming within the Democratic party. One wing of the party, which became known as the National Republicans, later as the Whigs, believed in a high protective tariff, internal im- provements at federal expense, and a United States bank. ^ The battle of the Brandywine was Lafayette's first engagement in the Revolutionary War. TRANSITION OF STATESMEN 241 The other wing of the party, the Democrats proper or the Democratic RepiibHcans, as they were officially called, re- mained true to the ideas of Jefferson. They believed in a tariff for revenue, contended that internal improvements should be made at state expense, and resisted the United States bank as an unconstitutional enterprise. These measures constituted the chief points of political controversy for the next twenty years. Election of Adams. The presidential election of 1824 was a trial of strength between the factions within the Democratic party. There were many candidates in the field : John Ouincy Adams, Monroe's Secretary of State, and Henry Clay, rep- resenting the National Republicans; William H. Crawford and Andrew Jackson representing the Democrats. Calhoun was the only candidate for Vice-president. Jackson received the greatest number of electoral votes, but he did not have a majority. The Constitution provides that in such a situation, the election shall be determined in the House of Representa- tives. In the contest in the House, Clay's friends supported Adams, who, to the bitter disappointment of Jackson and his friends, was chosen President. Opposition to Adams. The new President, John Quincy Adams, belonged to the second generation of great statesmen.^ He had been in public life from his youth up, and no man could have received better training for the duties of his high office ; but, like his father, John Adams, our second President, he was cold and unbending and made few friends. Adams was very much interested in our Spanish-American neighbors. 1 John Quincy Adams was born in Massachusetts in 1767. He was the first son of John Adams. His public career began, when at the age of fourteen, he served as Secretary to the American minister to Russia. He was his father's secretary in 1783, when the Peace of Paris was negotiated. In 1788 he was graduated at Harvard College, and shortly afterward began the practice of law. At different times he was minister to Holland, Prussia, Russia, and England. In 1807 he supported Jeffer- son's Embargo, and thus broke with the Federalist parly. He was one of the Peace Commissioners at Ghent, and Monroe made him Secretary of State. After the expiration of his presidential term, he was elected, in 1830, to the House of Representatives, and served in that body for seven- teen years. He died in the Capitol, at Washington, in 1848. 242 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY A Pan-American Congress was held in Panama in 1826, to consult on the common interests of American republics, and the President urged that we send delegates, but Congress did not approve the idea, and delayed matters so long that when the commissioners were finally sent they arrived too late to participate. At every turn Adams was opposed by Congress, and little was accomplished during his four years in office. The great mass of people had not desired him for President, and they seemed to be impatient for his administra- tion to come to a close so that '' Old Hickory " might come " into his own." Erie Canal. Supported by Plenry Clay, whom he had made Secretary of State, President Adams was in favor of a system of internal improvements at federal expense, but Congress would go no further than to vote small amounts for certain highways. However, in the first year of his administration, an internal improvement of great importance was completed. This \\'3.s the Erie Canal connecting Lake Erie with the Hudson River, begun eight years before by the state of New York and completed in 1825. At the beginning of this enterprise its opponents in derision called it Clinton's " Big Ditch," but when the traffic of the West began to pour in a steady volume into New York City and the greater facility of transportation caused freight rates to be lowered, the " Big Ditch " became popular. From the time of the opening of the canal, the city of New York rapidly developed into one of the great commer- cial centers of the world. ^ Tariff-Strife. During the closing years of Adams's admin- istration jiolitical excitement reached a high pitch. The ab- sorbing question was the tariff. A panic had swept over the land in 18 19 and northern manufacturers ascribed it to the low duties of the tariff of 181 6, which they con- tended was not sufficient to protect them from foreign com- petition and they clamored for higher duties. The South was 1 In 1826 the whole country was shocked by the death of Thomas Jeffer- son and John Adams, both of whom passed away on the fourth of July, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. TRANSITION OF STATESMEN 243 opposed to the protective tariff because she felt that it operated as a hardship on her agricultural industries for the benefit of the commercial North. In 1824 the northern faction succeeded in passing a new tariff with higher duties, but some of the manufacturers were not satisfied and continued to plead for more protection until the tariff of 1828 was framed. The op- ponents of the bill, hoping to kill it, offered all kinds of amend- ments, but the bill, amendments and all, passed, and on account of its high rate of duties it became known as the "tariff of abominations." Many protests against the act were sent to Congress. Four southern legislatures, among them th^t of South Carolina, passed resolutions of opposition and the dis- sent was cjuieted only by the approach of another presidential election. Adams and Jackson were the only candidates for the Presidency. Jackson was elected President and John C. Calhoun was reelected Vice-president. Jackson's rugged honesty and his great fame as a soldier inspired the country with the hope of a vigorous and successful administration. THOUGHT QUESTIONS I. What was the effect of the War of 1812 on the Federalist party? 2. Was Jackson justified in invading Florida? 3. Who owned Texas in 1819? 4. What had kept the slavery question out of Congress until 1819? 5. Name the states of the Union at this time. 6. Did both sides accept the Missouri Compromise at the time as a permanent settlement of the slavery question so far as Congress was concerned ? 7. What states had slavery in 1820? 8. What was the amount of cotton exported in 1820? Compare with 1793. 9. What was the electoral vote of each candidate in 1824? ID. What has helped to make New York the Metropolis of Amer- ica? II. What two great men died July 4, 1826? SOURCE MATERIAL General References: Wilson, History of llic American People, III; Bassett, The Federalist System; Channing, The Jeffersonian System; Babcock, The Rise of American Nationality; Turner, The New West; McMaster, History of the United States; Burgess, The Middle Period; Thwaites, Rocky Mountain Explorations; Johnston, American Politics; 244 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Hosmer, A History of the Mississippi Valley; Stanwood, The Presidency; Hart, Formation of the Union; Mahan, War of 1812; Brooks, First Across the Continent; Biographies — Jefferson, Hamilton, Randolph, Madison, Gallatin, Monroe, etc.; Sparks, Expansion; Adams, United States; Schou- ler. United States; E. Ingle, Southern Sidelights. Sources and Other Readings : Everett, Washington's Home; Fisk.e, The Inauguration of Washington; Martineau, Peasant and Prince; Dick- ens, Tale of Two Cities ; Henty, In the Reign of Terror; Holmes, Ode for Washington's Birthday and God Save the Flag ; Jefferson, The Character of Washington; Abigail Adams, Letters; Cooke, Leather Stocking and Silk;' Kennedy, Swallow Barn; Cooper, Pioneers; James Lane Allen, Choir Invisible; Cable, The Grandissinies and Strange True Stories of Louisiana; Brady, Stephen Decatur; R. H. Dana, Two Years Before the Mast; Lee, Address in Congress on the Death of Washington; George Washington, Advice to His Nephew; Thomas Jefferson, Letters to His Daughter, to His Sister, and to Jefferson Smith; Bryant, Hunter of the Prairies; R. M. Johnston, Old Times in Middle Georgia; Kirk Munroe, Midshipman Stuart; Guerber, Story of the Great Republic; Hart, Source Readers, HI ; Joel Chandler Harris, Georgia Stories; Mrs. Madison, La^ fayette; Johnston, Lezvis Rand. Pictures : Darley, Battle of New Orleans and Emigrants Crossing the Plains; Tuckerman, U. S. Frigate Constitution. Pictures in Wilson, American People HI; Valentine, Jefferson (statue). PERIOD v.— SECOND GENERATION OF STATESMEN 1829-1850 CHAPTER XVII GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 183O-185O The United States over which Jackson was caUed to preside was vastly different from the group of stragghng states that had hailed Washington as President in 1789. Many new forces had combined to make a period of marvelous growth. Not the least of these factors was the development of the vigor- ous West, which was contesting with the North and the South for the leadership. The population had increased from about four millions in 1790 to nearly thirteen millions in 1830, and the boundaries of the country now stretched to the Gulf of Mexico on the south and to the Rocky Mountains on the west. German and Irish immigrants were arriving in considerable numbers, but the great majority of the people were of English descent. Population of Cities. The Americans were still a rural people, but the population of the cities was growing faster than ever before. New York ranked first among the states in population, Pennsylvania second, Virginia third ; while Massachusetts, second in population during the earlier period, had dropped down in the comparative scale. New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia ranked in the order named as our largest cities. Boston held fourth place. Charleston was still an important commercial point on the southern seaboard ; and New Orleans, the market of the Mississippi valley, was the chief city of the lower South. The towns of the West and the Southwest were giving promise of growth, though many 245 246 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY of them were still scarcely more than villages. Augusta, in Georgia, was an important point ; Chicago and Milwaukee were merging from fur-trading stations in the Indian country into typical western towns. Pittsburg, no longer the " Gateway of the West," was growing into a great manufacturing center, and, with the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, Buffalo and Detroit rose to prominence. Roads and Canals. Although there had developed a new feeling of unity as a consequence of the second war with Great Britain, the country even yet consisted of three well-marked and rather isolated sections : the commercial and manufacturing North; the cotton and tobacco exporting South, and the corn growing and cattle raising West. In a country so large as ours, easy means of communication and transportation are essential to unity. Before 1830, some improvements had been made, although travel was almost as uncomfortable and inconvenient as in colonial days. There was one important exception — the steamboat. River steamers had become a great factor in transportation and before many years there were regular steamer lines connecting our ports with those of Europe.^ But the lumbering stage coaches and Conestoga wagons and the mail riders still made their journeys over the rough and muddy highways ; in the far West there were trails and " girdled roads " such as there were in the East in colonial times. However, there were some good roads within the states and others leading across the mountains into the West. The eastern cities were anxious to gain some of the trade that was enriching New Orleans and about this time began to arouse public sentiment to the importance of good highways of travel. The chief interstate highway was the Cumberland road, which extended from Cumberland, in Maryland, across the Mountains in a southwesterly direction to Wheeling and on 1 Ocean navigation by steam was successfully accomplished in 1819, but the establishment of regular lines of steamers came at a much later date. John Ericsson's invention of the screw propeller to take the place of the old side wheel was a great advantage because the screw was below the water. This invention caused steam vessels to replace sailing vessels in the navies of the world. GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 1830-1850 247 into Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana. Henry Clay was an ardent advocate of internal improvements, but many of our early statesmen doubted the constitutionality of federal appropria- tion for enterprises that did not sei*ve all the states. Some of the roads were macadamized or otherwise improved and the cost of road building ranged from five hundred dollars to several thousand dollars a mile. Tolls were charged on nearly all the roads in order to pay for their maintenance. It required $5.50 to pay tolls from Philadelphia to New York besides the other expenses of the journey. Transportation by water was cheaper and easier and much quicker than by land, particularly after the steamboat had taken the place of the old flat boats and rafts. This fact early directed the atten- tion of the people to the building of canals as highways of trade and between 1830 and 1840 many canals were constructed in all parts of the country, some of which are in use at the present time. The principal of these was the Erie Canal, three hundred and sixty-three miles long, extending across New York state and connecting the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Railroads. The canals gave very much better service than the older methods of transportation, but they were soon super- seded by the railroads. The cost of laying a railway track was much less than that of digging a canal and as it defied rain and ice it could be used throughout the year. The first railroads consisted of wooden or iron rails over which cars were drawn by horses at a speed of five or six miles an hour. There were several railroads of this kind in operation in Amer- ica by 1830.^ George Stephenson, an Englishman, in 1829 perfected a locomotive called " The Rocket," which moved at a much more rapid rate than cars drawn by horses. In 1830 a locomotive designed and built by Peter Cooper, an American engineer, made a successful trip on the Baltimore and Ohio. Steam railways became one of the mightiest ' The Baltimore and Ohio road, which was established in 1827, at first used cars drawn by horses. 248 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY forces in the civilization of the world. Railroads were built from all the leading cities to the neighboring towns. A line from Charleston, South Carolina, northwest to Augusta, one hundred and thirty-seven miles in length, was, in 1834, the longest railroad under one management in the world. At first the cars were merely stage coaches drawn by steam, but with each succeeding year the comfort and speed of travel improved. The most of our engines were at first imported from England, but it was not long until American inventors «■ " i 3i i SI ; ^ S«Mi^^feji>'" • SOUTH CAROLINA S FIRST RAILKOAD were making better engines than English models.^ The con- tinuity of the railroads was broken by the rivers, for this was before the day of our great iron bridges, and ferry boats had to be used. The early railroads were built principally by private capital, although in some cases there was aid from the state governments. In 1830 there Avere only twenty-thre.e miles of railroad in operation in the United States, but by 1850 there were about 3,000 miles and ten years later there were more than 30,000 miles. Short lines were finally con- solidated into trunk lines and gradually the means of trans- portation and travel increased to such an extent that it was easier to cross the entire country than it was in Washington's time to cross a single state. The Telegraph. During this period of wonderful growth, 1 Americans made the first locomotives that could successfully travel on curves. In a few years anthracite coal was used instead of wood on steamboats and railroads, and this was a great aid, because much fuel could be kept in small space. GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 1830-1850 249 from 1830 to 1850, another device for shortening time and space was invented. This was the electric telegraph which was given to the world by the genius of Samuel F. B. Morse. ^ As early as 1832, Morse had installed a crude telegraphic ap- paratus and made a public exhibi- tion of his invention at New York. Not having any means to con- struct a regular telegraph line, he appealed to Congress for aid and after patiently waiting he finally obtained, in 1843, an appropria- tion of $30,000 to build an ex- perimental line from Washington to Baltimore which was the first telegraph line in the world. Upon its completion the first for- mal message transmitted on May 24, 1844, was " What hath God wrought." ^ Before many years the telegraph as well as the railroad connected all important cities. Other Inventions. In the development of the United States the labor problem has been as serious as the problem of easy communication, and the inventive ingenuity of the American has fashioned many labor-saving devices which have com- pletely revolutionized the industrial world. As early as revolu- tionary days spinning and weaving machinery was introduced, and in New England, after the war of 1812, cotton and woolen mills began to do the work of the home and the small shop.^ 1 Samuel F. B. Morse was born in New England in 1791. He was a painter and sculptor, but became interested in chemistry and electrical experiments. His telegraph put him in the forefront of the world's great- est inventors. He died in New York, in 1872. - This message was sent from the Supreme Court Rooms in the Capitol at Washington. 3 Machinery for use in spinning was first made in England, and that nation refused to allow the inventions to be sold to other countries. But S. F. B. MORSE 250 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY EARLY METHOD OF REAPING A great advance was made in the manufacture of iron goods, particularly after the discovery that coal could be used in foundries.^ There were many improved implements for use in agriculture and this branch of in- dustry grew apace. Before 1825 the farmer cut his wheat with the sickle , MBB,. ,x .y ^^^■^■Ms., ^ or scythe, and threshed it with the ■feK-^mtoJL^^^^^^^ Hail or trampled it on the floor. Cyrus H. McCormick, in 1834, in- vented a reaping machine, and soon binders, mowers, and threshing ma- chines came into use; plows were im- proved and farming was made easy and more profitable.^ A rotary cyl- inder printing-press was invented by Richard M. Hoe in 1846, and this improvement greatly promoted the publishing of newspapers and books. In 1846 Elias Howe invented the sewing machine which not only lightened the work of women in the home but also reduced the cost of manufactur- ing clothing and shoes. Charles Good- year about the same time discovered a process by which In- dia rubber could be converted into the commercial uses with which we are now familiar. A revolving pistol was patented by Colt in 1835, men who had worked in English shops soon learned to set up machines of their own, and often with improvements. 1 About this time large coal and oil fields were found in Pennsylvania. 2 Congress had provided, in 1790, for the granting of patents, and a gov- ernment department or bureau was established in 1836. MODERN METHOD OF REAPING, THRESHING AND SACKING GRAIN GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 1830-1850 251 and other improvements in firearms followed. The old can- dlelight of other days was supplanted by the coal oil lamp and by illuminating gas; about 1836 the friction match abolished the old clumsy tinder box and tlint. In 1842 Doctor Craw- ford W. Long, a Georgia physician, introduced ether which ])roduces unconsciousness in surgical operations/ Daguerre PLANTATION POSSIBILITIES OF THE PAST AND OF THE PRESENT (da-gair), a Frenchman, discovered a method of taking pic- tures, and this process was also patented in the United States. These are some of the many wonderful inventions which con- tributed to the development of the American people. Education. The Americans of this period made progress in public education, also. There were public schools in many of the older states and in the new states of the West a part of the public domain had been set aside for education. In all parts of the country there were private schools and academies for girls and boys. The half dozen colleges in existence in colonial days had grown to more than sixty, about half of which were in the South. Many state universities had been established and there were a number of professional schools; in some states there were normal schools for the training of teachers, and there were schools of law, medicine, and theol- ogy. One of the institutions of higher learning established about this time was Wesleyan College at Macon, Georgia, which had its beginning in 1836, the first college in the world 1 Dr. Long experimented first upon himself, and then administered the drug to patients. In 1846, Dr. Morton, a Boston physician, made public demonstration of the effect of ether. 252 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY to confer degrees upon women. The United States Mili- tary Academy had been estabhshed in 1802; the Naval Academy was established in 1846. In 1846 the Smithsonian Institution was founded by act of Congress in accordance with the will of James Smithson, an Englishman, who be- queathed an estate valued at more than $500,000 to the United States, to be devoted to the increase and dififusion of knowledge. Newspapers and Magazines. As a result of the improved printing-press many newspapers and magazines were published: They could be printed more rapidly and at a small expense so that before many years newspapers were within the reach of the humblest citizens. The federal government, recognizing the educational value of newspapers and other periodicals, re- duced the postage on them in order that they might be easily accessible to the people residing in remote districts.^ Early American Literature. Until 1830 America had pro- duced few good writers of lighter literature. Our revolu- tionary fathers were too busy making history to indulge in composing songs and romances. The aim of most of our early writers was not to please but to convince. They were authors of great constitutional papers, some of which, like the Declaration of Independence and the Federal Constitution, are reckoned among the ablest documents of the world. The Americans were given to oratory and they excelled in this kind of literature. We remember how in Revolutionary days James Otis and Patrick Henry thrilled their hearers with marvelous eloquence. American oratory reached a still higher stage in the period of Constitutional debate when great lawyers were guiding the ship of state through troubled waters.- That period developed the persuasive speeches of Henry Clay, the 1 In 1847 adhesive stamps were used for postage. The rate on news- papers was nothing for distances under thirty miles; for more than thirty and under one hundred miles the rate was one cent. Beyond the borders of the state the charge was one and one-half cents. In 1839 W. F. Harn- den began carrying parcels between New York and Boston, and out of this little enterprise grew the great express companies of to-day. - See Longfellow's poem, The Building of the Ship. GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 1830-1850 253 grand and sonorous passages of Daniel Webster, and the clear and forcible logic of John C. Calhoun. Great American Writers. Washington Irving was our first conspicuous writer of lighter literature. His delightful sketch of Rip Van Winkle and the inimitable Ichabod Crane are familiar to school children. James Fenimore Cooper was our first well-known novelist and his romances reflect the life of the frontier and of the sea. Irving and Cooper were both natives and residents of New York. Other novelists of note at this time were William Gilmore Simms, of South Caro- lina, who wrote thrilling tales of Marion and Sumter and their raids in the Carolina swamps, and John Pendleton Kennedy, of Maryland, whose best-known story is Horseshoe Robinson, a tale of Tory ascendency in South Carolina. Our first dis- tinctively American poet was William Cullen Bryant, an- other son of New York. His greatest poem, Thanatopsis, was written when he was only seventeen years old. Lines to a JVafer Fozul and the Death of the Flozuers are poems of simple beauty that appeal to the child reader. Edgar Allan Poe, one of the greatest of all American writers, belongs to the South. The beautiful rhythmic lines of TJie Raven and Annabel Lee and his weird prose tales have ranked him among the world's great writers. John Greenleaf Whittier, Henry Wads worth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and James Russell Low- ell, all New Englanders, were poets of the period from 1830 to i860. Whittier's Snozvbound, a beautiful picture of a New England winter, and Longfellow's Evangeline, a story of the dispersal of the Acadians, furnish selections for many school readers. James Russell Lowell was the first of our poets to utilize the Yankee dialect for humor. Grandmother's Story of the battle of Bunker Hill was from the pen of Oliver Wendell Holmes, the genial poet-physician ; another poem by this author is Old Ironsides, written in 1830, when it was pro- posed to destroy the famous ship. Constitution, the winner of so many victories in the war of 1812.^ Two other writers 1 In 1828 the Constitution was reported as unseaworthy, and in 1830 254 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY of New England were Ralph Waldo Emerson, the poet, essayist, and philosopher, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, perhaps the best known of American novelists. His beautiful and powerful novel, The Scarlet Letter, is among the greatest of American compositions in fiction, but to the young readers this son of the Puritans is best known by his Tanglezvood Tales and his Twice-Told Tales. There were American historians, too; among them Prescott, Bancroft, and Parkman, who have made the dead days of our own history live again. Thus we see that in the first half of the nineteenth century, our country developed a literature which challenged the attention of the world and of which every American should feel justly proud. ^ America had made a brilliant beginning in science. In the years before i860 the works of such men as Louis Agassiz, J. D. Dana, and Asa Gray were adding to tlje knowledge of the minerals and animal and plant life in America. Matthew Fon- taine Maury, the " Pathfinder of the Seas," was the first to make a chart of the winds and currents and to urge upon the government the importance of making weather forecasts, for which work he did much to prepare. The work of S. F, B. Morse has already been mentioned, and the name of John James Audubon is familiar to every lover of birds. Churches and Religious Societies. The churches of Amer- ica were a great factor in the social and intellectual as well as in the religious life of the people. The Congregational, the Episcopal, and the Presbyterian churches were the strong- est denominations in New England, the Middle West, and the older southern states; the Methodist and Baptist churches developed rapidly in the West, and later in the South, and often held great camp meetings to which the people for many miles around gathered. The Catholic church increased in she was ordered to be dismantled, but owing to the popular protest aroused by Holmes's poem, Old Ironsides, the boat was preserved. In 1833 the Constitution was rebuilt, but after 1855 she was used chiefly as a training ship. She made her last trip across the Atlantic in 1878, and in 1897 was put away in the Boston Navy Yard. 1 In 1828 Noah Webster's dictionary was published. This was the first of the great American dictionaries. GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 1830-1850 255 numbers and received accessions from the Irish immigrants who were coming into the country. The Unitarians, an off- shoot from the Congregational Church, had sprung up in New England. Sunday schools were established, and missions, both foreign and domestic, were maintained. By 1850 several of the great Protestant churches had divided on account of the slavery controversy into Northern and Southern organizations. It was a great time also for the forming of other religious societies, the two most conspicuous of which were the Shakers and the Mormons. The Shakers, so called from certain rhyth- mical motions of the body in some of their religious exercises, were founded during the Revolution, and in 1826 numbered five thousand in their communities. The Mormons, founded by Joseph Smith, in 1830, at Manchester, Vermont, held to doctrines and practices which caused them to be driven from place to place and finally, in 1846, they settled in the far west- ern wilderness beyond the Rocky Mountains. Reforms. A more merciful spirit developed with the ad- vancement of education and religion. Punishment for crime became less cruel. The whipping-post, the pillory, and the stocks were abandoned.^ The prisons were more cleanly and more comfortable, asylums were provided for the insane, homes were established for the orphans, hospitals were built, and poor- houses were better kept.^ The laws of imprisonment for debt were repealed.^ A movement against the use of intoxicating liquors was inaugurated as early as 1817, and by 1830 a num- ber of Washingtonian, or temperance, societies had been formed. So strong did the movement become that in 1850 the state of Maine adopted state-wide prohibition. The wom- an's rights movement had been started some years before to secure certain reforms in the state of Maine and by 1848 the demand was enlarged to include the right of suffrage. ^ The whipping post is still used in Delaware. 2 Prisoners had been herded together in cellars and dungeons or aban- doned mines. Under such conditions the prisoners became steadily worse in health and character. ^ A poor old Revolutionary soldier had been found who had been in jail seven years for a debt of only five dollars. 256 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Slavery in the South, The southern leaders were striving to deal with the grave responsibility of slavery, which rested on their section, in a way to preserve the best interests of both races. Complete and immediate abolition they feared for the reason that it would thrust upon the people a large class of homeless and irresponsible persons, who in some portions of the South would be a menace to society.^ There were many anti-slavery societies in the South; the majority of those in the whole country until 1827 were to be found in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. These organizations urged the gradual emancipation of the slaves with compensation to the owners, and masters often liberated their slaves without com- pensation. There were colonies of free negroes in the South, and the republic of Liberia, which has been previously men- tioned, was designed as a state for emancipated negroes.^ There were between two and three hundred thousand free negroes in the South and only about one man in fifty was a slave-holder. The slaves were better fed and better clothed than the laboring class of many other lands at that time; they were nursed in sickness and protected in old age. In many cases the negroes were taught to read and write and had the benefit of religious instruction. Public opinion bitterly con- demned the master who allowed his slaves to be abused. When a slave was severely punished, it was usually for such offences as the law now forbids, the master being called upon to act as a sort of magistrate to keep peace and order on his estate. The domestic slave trade was considered necessary for the distri- bution of slaves to the parts of the South where their labor was most needed; but the evil of separating families was avoided as much as possible. The devotion of the slaves to " Ole Mars- ter " and " Ole Miss " and their pride in their " family " were always in evidence. The black boys and the white boys often ^ England and France had emancipated their slaves in all their colonies, and in the West India Islands, where the blacks predominated, there were frequent and horrible negro uprisings. - In North Carolina alone there were over two thousand negroes eman- cipated between 1824 and 1826. GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 1830-1850 257 grew up together on the plantations and were playmates and friends. The Extreme Abolitionists. Slavery had not proved to be profitable in the North and had been gradually abolished. There had been some early movements, particularly among the Quakers, for the abolition of slavery throughout the coun- try, but, as a rule, the desire was for gradual emancipation. In the early thirties a radical and violent abolition movement developed in the North, led by William Lloyd Garrison, a fierce and uncompromising zealot. The promoters of this move- ment demanded the immediate and unconditional emancipa- tion of the slaves without regard to its effect upon the South and without compensation to the slave owners. Slavery was recognized hi the Constitution, and for this reason the aboli- tionists denounced that instrument as " a covenant with death and a league with hell," and they threatened secession from the Union, because under the Constitution union meant the continuance of slavery. They called the southern slavehold- ers criminals, and solemnly and publicly pledged themselves to continue their agitation until the slave should be free and " shall till the land of his thralldom enriched with the blood of his master." The abolition societies flooded Congress with petitions for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, in the territories, and in the states, regardless of the Missouri Com- promise of 1820, which had settled the question in the terri- tories, and contemptuous of the fact that Congress had no power over the domestic institutions in the states.^ The chief organ of the abolitionists was a paper called the Liberator, published by Garrison, in Boston, and this, as well as other aljolition publications of the times, was full of false representa- tions of the wretched condition of the slaves and the cruelties of the masters. Much' of this misrepresentation was due to ignorance, but it served to influence public opinion and to ^ In 1790 Congress had declared in express terms that it had no power whatever concerning slavery in the states. 258 STUDENT'S TTISTORV OF OUR COUNTRY inflame many good people. Some of the abolitionists resorted to desperate devices to arouse the slaves against their masters, and thus directly encouraged insurrection. At tirst the aboli- tionists Nvere tew in uunihor and there was a strong feel- ing agiiinst them in the North as well as in the South. Their meetings were often dispersed in tlie northern states and their leaders arrested. Ciradually, however, they gained adherents, and alKilition became a passionate tlemand among an increasing number of people. Dangers to the South. The southern people bitterly re- sented the attacks of the extreme abolitionists. In the tirst place they objected to interference with their domestic atfairs, owning slaves within the state being regarded as a matter that concerned the people of the state alone; in the second place, the southern people felt that the North was as much responsible as they for the existence of slavery in the cotnitry. No per- son who looked back to colonial times could consider the South responsible for the establishment of slavery. Once introduced. physical conditions in the South and the inevitable increase of the slaves tixed the system of servile labor on that region, and free hired labor was driven out. The abolitionist literature that was circulated through the mails and otherwise not only slandered the southern slave owner, but it tended to produce serious trouble among the slaves. In contirmation of the ap- prehension of the southern people, there was. in 1831, a negro uprising in Virginia, led by Nat Turner, and before it could be subdued over sixty people, most of them women and chil- dren, were brutally murdered. Many Soutlierners believed that Garrison and his followers were responsible in large measure for this uprising.^ Our greatest public men, both North and South, appreciated the seriousness of the situation growing out of the slavery agi- tation, and there was a determined etfort to quiet the conten- tion. Much bitterness of feeling was created by tlie constant petitions sent to Congress by the abolitionists, and a rule was ^ This insurrection was not dirt\tlv duo to abolition action. GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 1830-1850 259 j>assed to table all such communications. This was not deny- \n^ the right of petition, for Congress had no f>o\ver over slavery in the states, and the petitions were producing intense sectional hatred. If the people of the South had been divided on the right or the wrong of slavery, they stood together against the measures of the abolitionists, which, they thought, would bring ruin and disaster to their section. Social Conditions; Amusements. In America there were very few people who possessed great wealth, but there was, also, very little poverty. People were living in better homes and were more comfortable than formerly, though on the frontier the conditions of colonial life were repeated. Here the pioneer built his log cabin in his little clearing and got a few more acres under cultivation each year. In the West class distinctions amounted to practically nothing, and a truer de- mocracy even than that which Jefferson taught reigned su- preme. As new states grew out of the West we find fewer restrictions on the suffrage and gradually this spirit extends eastward and the older states modify their constitutions so as to remove property qualifications for voters.^ In the cities theater-going was a favorite amusement, and balls and parties still held sway. Even in New England cities, where the austerity of the early Puritans had to a large extent passed away, the people indulged in these pastimes. The peo- ple of the frontier settlements enjoyed house-raisings, husking- bees, and other diversions that our colonial forefathers had enjoyed. In the West a camp meeting was a great social as well as a religious event. People would go for miles and carry 1 From 1841 to 1843 Rhode Island was the scene of a conflict known as Dorr's Rebellion. Rhode Island was still governed according to her old charter granted by King Charles II (See Page 68). There were property qualifications for voting, and a large number of citizens had no voice in the government. A convention of the discontented citizens drew up a new constitution, which provided for liberal suffrage. Under this constitution, Thomas W. Dorr was chosen governor, and a legislature was elected. But the government under the old constitution would not yield, and for a time there were two governors and two legislatures in the state. The Dorr faction finally gave way, but their demands were soon granted through a regular state convention which adopted a liberal constitution. 26o STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY provisions enough to last several weeks, gathering together to enjoy each other's company and to listen to the preaching of some devoted missionary. The men of Jackson's time had discarded the bright-colored garments and powdered wigs of colonial days, now dressing rather simply and severely and wearing closely cropped hair. But the belles of the thirties and forties were still resplendent in flounces and bright-colored bodices, high-heeled slippers, and corkscrew curls. The American was sociable, friendly, and hospitable; he liked to talk and he was inordinately proud of his country. THOUGHT QUESTIONS I. What were the occupations of the people of Kentucky and Tennessee? 2. What states furnished the settlers of Missouri? 3. Who was the first President to advocate strongly, internal improvements? 4. Why did this problem come to be so important? What parts of the country were most interested in it? 5. Why was New Orleans an important city? Charles- ton? 6. Where was the center of population in 1830? Where is it now? 7. Locate three of the first railroad lines built. 8. What sort of farm implements were used in 1830? 10. What was the attitude of Southerners toward slavery at this time? 11. What effect did the Abolition crusade have upon this attitude? CHAPTER XVIII THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH Andrew Jackson, President, 1829-1837 John C. Calhoun, Vice-president, 1829-1833 Martin Van Buren, Vice-president, 1833-1837 Martin Van Buren, President, 1837-1841 Richard M. Johnson, Vice-president, 1837-1841 During the first forty years of our history the leading states- men were men who had participated directly or indirectly THE HERMITAGE. THE COUNTRY HOME OF ANDREW JACKSON NEAR NASHVILLE, TENN. in the Revolution or in the formation of the government; but in 1829 a new generation had come into power when Andrew Jackson was installed as the seventh President of the United 261 262 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY States.^ Not since the first election of Washington had there been such an outburst of pubHc enthusiasm; on the journey from '* The Hermitage " to \\'ashington Jackson was greeted everywhere by vast throngs of admirers who had come hundreds of miles to see " Old Hickory." Jackson himself was typical of the new generation and of the West. The rough and ready life of the frontier had developed his wonder- ful power of leadership; he was fearless and honest and pos- sessed those magnetic qualities which appeal to the great masses of mankind. His military career had made him a man of quick decision and prompt action, and these qualities he exer- cised in the executive office. The Spoils System ; the Cabinet and the Kitchen Cabinet. It had been the custom for appointive officers, such as post- masters, clerks, and marshals, to retain their positions under successive administrations as long as they gave efficient and faithful service. Jefferson had made a few changes in the civil service, so as to give both parties a share in the adminis- tration of the government, but with this exception the incoming of a President had not been followed by many removals from office. However, it was generally understood that Jackson's creed was, " To the victors belong the spoils," and that he intended to reward those friends who had loyally supported him during the campaign. As he had a multitude of deserving friends and as there were comparatively few vacancies, his inauguration made " half the officeholders in the country- quake in their slippers." In a few months he had removed more men from office than all his predecessors combined.^ 1 Andrew Jackson was born on the border between North and South Carolina in 1767. When a boy of fourteen, he fought with the patriots at King's Mountain. He was reared in poverty, and in his early life he supported himself by saddle making and by working in the fields. In 1788. he became a lawyer in Tennessee, and by his ability in leadership he won office after office in the gift of the people. He had no friendship for the English or the Indians, and his career during the war of 1812, and later in the first Seminole War in Florida, aroused popular applause. After his retirement from the Presidency he lived at "The Hermitage," his home in Tennessee, until his death in 1845. 2 Jackson's plan of filling offices was followed to a greater or less ex- THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH 263 Jackson did not originate the " spoils system," for it had al- ready existed in many of the states, but to him and his advisers belongs the responsibility of introducing it into the broader field of federal politics. Jackson chose his cabinet on the basis of service to him; the ablest member of his cabinet was the Secretary of State, Martin Van Buren, a clever New York political manager, who was called the " Little Magician." No President ever relied less on his cabinet than Jackson; he rarely held cabinet meet- ings or asked the advice of the members of that body. He had a small group of advisers on the outside, whom the news- papers dubbed the " Kitchen Cabinet," and on these men he most relied for advice. The Tariff and the Sections. At the beginning of Jackson's administration, there was a determined feeling in the South that the high protective tariffs of 1824 and 1828 should be modified. In 18 16 some southern leaders had approved a limited protection in the hope of developing manufacturing interests. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina was one of this number.^ But the experience was disappointing to the South, which was an agricultural section, and her people soon realized that their prosperity depended upon a freer move- ment of trade.^ A protective tariff enhanced the price of the manufactured goods which the South was compelled to buy, but it did not widen the markets for her staples, to- tent by succeeding Presidents until the time of the Civil Service Act in 1887. 1 At this period of the tariff discussion (1816) there was no contempla- tion upon the part of the great majority of public men that a high tariff would be maintained for many years. In fact. Clay, who after- wards became the great advocate of protection, said of it at this time, " that the object of protecting manufacturers was that we might eventually get articles of necessity made as cheaply at home as they could be im- ported, and thereby produce an independence of foreign countries." He expressed the belief that three or four years would be sufficient for a demonstration of the effect of protection, and would " place our manu- facturers on this desirable footing." It will be seen, therefore, that the concession that Calhoun and other southern statesmen made to a moder- ately high tariff was regarded as a temporary expedient and not as a permanent policy. - Slave labor was not adapted to factory work. 264 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY bacco, cotton, and rice, nor did it increase the price of her products. In 1816 the chief interest of Massachusetts lay in commerce, and with Daniel Webster as her spokesman she stood out boldly against the protective tariff and in favor of practically free trade. But in 1828 the whole of New England was a manufacturing section and ardently supported the pro- tective system. Some of the western states favored a high tariff to develop fac- tories for their raw mate- rials, and, as New England advocated internal improve- ments, which were so much needed in the West, the East and the West stood somewhat together on these issues. On the other hand, New England opposed the sale of public lands at low prices, because that policy attracted people and pro- moted settlement in the West, and the South stood with the West on this issue. Thus the West was in sympathy with the North in some respects, and with the South in others. The southern objection to the protective policy became more pronounced because it was regarded as of doubt- ful constitutionality and because it taxed the southern producers and consumers for the benefit of Northern manu- facturers. It will be recalled that several southern legisla- tures in 1828 had made protests against the " tariff of abominations." The most important of these protests was that of the South Carolina legislature, formulated into a celebrated document known as "The Exposition," defining the DANIEL WEBSTER THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH 265 nature of the Federal Union and the reserved powers of the states. This was the work of John C. Calhoun, who, after mature study of the Constitution, opposed the doctrine of protection. In 1828, however, neither South Carolina nor any other southern state went further than to issue protests and the agitation ceased for the time because the South hoped that wdien the old " Hero of New Orleans " came into his own the tariff burden would be lightened. The Great Debate. In his first message to Congress Jack- son called attention to the fact that the revenue of the federal government was greater than necessary, and suggested a re- vision of the tariff. The controversy that followed revealed with startling distinctness the wide difference be- tween the views of the two sections. Robert Y. Hayne, senator from South Carolina, as spokes- man for his state and for the South, demon- strated in a masterly ar- gument the injury to his section from the protect- ive system. Following Calhoun's arguments in the famous " Exposition," he defined the union as a compact or partnership entered into by sovereign states which delegated certain powers to the fed- eral government and re- served all other powers to themselves ; w hen Congress exer- cised powers beyond those granted and passed a law that was unconstitutional and unjust, it became the right and the duty of the state, as Hayne argued, to declare such law null and ROBERT Y. HAYNE 266 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY void within her borders until a convention of all the states could be assembled for approval or disapproval. This con- tention in its last analysis justified secession, but Havne and Calhoun hoped that South Carolina would not feel compelled to go to this length : they urged nullification as a means of protecting the states against federal aggression and thus of preserving the Union. Hayne had only re-stated the views of many of the framers of the Constitution. The Kentucky and \^irginia legislatures had expressed the same ideas in the famous resolutions of 1798. which were WTitten by Jefiferson and Madison respectively. New England had given utter- ance to the same opinion in 1803, and again during the W^ar of 1812. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, who formerly opposed protection and now favored it. replied to Hayne. He did not undertake to answer Hayne's contention that the protective tarifif was a grievous injury to the South, but he attacked the doctrine of nullification and advanced the view that the Union was not a compact of sovereign states, but that the federal gov- ernment was superior to the states; that the states could not nullify a law of Congress, and that the Union could not be dis- solved. Notwithstanding the historical facts and the pre- viously accepted view of the nature of the government, Web- ster's speech, which was a powerful and eloquent deliverance, was regarded by many people in the North as a correct ex- position of the nature and powers of the federal government. The Tariff of 1832. Two years after this great debate in the Senate a new tarifif bill was brought forward upon the suggestion of Henry Clay, who was an ardent protectionist. Instead of lowering the tarifif this bill simply eliminated from the tarifif of 1828 some of its most objectionable features and preserved the protective duties in full force. In spite of the protests of the South this bill was enacted in 1832. Nullification Ordinance. This new tariff was enacted in July: in November a convention of the people of South Caro- lina, called by the legislature, was assembled at Columbia; THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH 267 and on the twenty-fourth day of the nuMith the tariff laws of 1828 and 1832 were declared to be null and void within the state of South Carolina, and the state threatened to secede from the Union if the federal government attempted to enforce these laws at her ports. ^ This ordinance of nullification was not to go into effect until h\>bruary i, 1833. It was hoped that with time for deliberation Congress would repeal the objectionalile tariff act. Jackson and South Carolina. Jackson had urged the revi- sion of the tariff and he believed that the reserved rights of the states should be maintained, but the action of South Caro- lina roused his military instincts and he met the situation with soldierlv directness.- In a proclamation to the people of South Carolina he declared that his duty \vas to enforce the laws of the Union and this he intended to do at any cost. He warned the people that force would be employed if they attempted to resist the laws of the United States; he dispatched troops to Charleston and asked Congress to enlarge his powers for the enforcement of the law. Congress responded whh an act known as the Force Bill which was passed March i, 1833. South Carolina did not flinch in the face of these hostile measures. Hayne was called from the Senate to the governor- ship and in a stirring proclamation to the people of the state he urged them to stand firm in their resistance to the obnoxious tariff laws and if need be meet force with force. Calhoun resigned the Vice-presidency to take Hayne's place in the Senate, there to fight the battles of his state.'* With all his 1 It is said that Edward Livingston, tlic author of the nnUification ordi- nance, had James Madison, the " Father of the Constitntion," to give his opinion concerning it before it was puhHshed. The aged ex- President offered some amendments which were readily adopted. Shortly before his death in 1836. Madison expressed his admiration for Clay, and his successful compromise of the tariff differences which threatened to de- stroy the union. (Peck, The Jiu-ksoition Hfeginning of his administration Jackson had opposed the hank as unconstitutional and as an instrument of corruption in politics and he declared that the government funds were not safe in its keeping". The friends of the institution took alarm and in 1832, four years before the charter was to expire, Clay submitted to Congress a bill for its recharter.^ The bill passed both houses of Congress, but was promptly vetoed by the Presi- dent and the question went to the people as an issue in the presidential campaign. Jackson was reelected to the Presi- dency and Martin \"an Buren was elected \^ice-president. Removal of Deposits ; the " Pet Banks." Jackson re- garded his reelection as an approval of his policy toward the bank, and after the nullification storm had blown over he made resolute war on the institution. The Secretary of the Treas- ury was ordered to withhold any future government money from the bank and deposit in state banks instead. The banks selected for government deposits were managed for the most part by Jackson men and these institutions were nicknamed the " pet banks." The removal of the deposits meant the end of the United States Bank and in 1836 when its charter expired it secured another charter from the state of Pennsyl- vania and continued business as a state bank. Xjeorgia and the Indians. Another controversy came to a head during the early thirties — that with Georgia concerning the Indians. When that state gave her western lands to the federal government in 1802, it was upon the condition that the Indians should be removed from within her borders as soon as possible. The Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws, and Chickasaws possessed valuable lands in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Again and again did the state of Georgia urge tlie removal of the Indians in order to open the lands to set- ^ This bank was the second United States Bank, and had been chartered in 1816 for a period of twenty years. 270 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY tiers. In 1827 the lands of the Creeks within the state were bought by the federal government, but the Cherokees still re- mained. At last, impatient at the long delay, Georgia took the matter into her own hands and in 1828 annexed the Cher- okee lands to five adjacent counties. The Cherokees, who were the most civilized of the southern Indians, protested against this action as a violation of their ancient right to the soil and their treaty rights as well. They appealed for relief to the Supreme Court of the United States and Chief Justice Marshall sustained the Indians, but Georgia ignored the deci- sion of the court and continued to assert her rights over the lands. Jackson sustained the state. In 1835 the Indians were removed into the region beyond the Mississippi which Congress had set apart as an Indian territory. The Cherokees received five million dollars for their lands and an additional grant in their new home. Soon the other southern tribes re- linquished their claims to lands east of the great river on similar terms. Black Hawk War; War with Osceola. In 1816 the Sac and Fox Indians had ceded to the United States their lands in Illinois and Wisconsin. In 1832, under the leadership of Black Hawk, these tribes revolted and attempted to recover their lands. ^ After a wasting frontier war, the Indians were subdued and were removed to lands beyond the Mississippi. On their westward march numbers of them, including women and children, were mercilessly slaughtered. In Florida another Seminole war broke out in 1835 and continued intermittently for about seven years. However, the strength of the Seminoles was broken when Osceola, their chief, was captured.^ Then the Seminoles were taken west- 1 Black Hawk was a former pupil of Tecumseh, and had aided the British in the war of 1812. He was captured in 1832 and taken east, where he was very much impressed with the power of the white men. On the bank of Rock River in Illinois, upon a high rocky bluff, stands a colossal statue of this great Indian chief. - Osceola was one of the most inveterate of fighters. He came imder a flag of truce to General Jessup, who was in command in Florida, and was detained and sent as a prisoner to Fort Moultrie at Charleston, South THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH 271 ward to swell the number of Indians that were already in the new territory. Foreign Affairs. During Jackson's administration two im- portant questions affecting our foreign relations were settled. Great Britain from the beginning of our history had continued to place heavy restrictions on our trade with the West Indies. Jackson agreed to make certain concessions to the British and the ports of the West Indies were thrown open to us; this trade became a source of great wealth to American merchants. The other affair was the settlement of the French spoliation claims. France had refused to pay for the damage done to our commerce in the trying period preceding the war of 181 2. Jackson now insisted upon settlement and the French complied. We secured not only commercial advantages and a money indemnity, but a position of greater dignity among the nations of the earth. Internal Improvements. Jackson's first administration saw the beginning of the steam railway in America, but the system of steam railroads was yet in its infancy and the ques- tion of internal improvements — the building of roads and canals — was still a vital issue in American politics. The National Republicans, or Whigs, as they were beginning to call themselves, ardently favored the system of internal improve- ments at federal expense.^ Jackson did not believe in the con- stitutionality of such expenditures of federal revenue, but, the public debt having been extinguished by 1835, ^ ^i^^ was passed providing that after January i, 1837, the surplus in the treas- ury was to be distributed among the states in quarterly pay- ments for them to use at their discretion. Speculation and the Specie Circular. After the removal of the deposits from the United States Bank, state banks increased in number. State banks of that day did business not only upon Carolina. This violation of the flag of truce was severely censured. Osceola died of fever in Charleston in 1839. 1 They took the name of Whig because it was the name of the patriotic party during the Revolution. They were opposed to what they considered the tyranny of " king " Jackson, as the patriots had been opposed to King George. 2'J2 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY their capital and the deposits placed in them, but could issue paper money, or "promises to pay." The officers of a bank exercised their own judgment as to how much paper they would issue. The prosperity of the country, the great im- provements and inventions, and the easy means of getting money caused people to expect to get rich quickly. The busi- ness of the country grew so rapidly that more money was needed and, as there was no great amount of silver or gold, the banks thought to supply the need by issuing paper. Im- mense areas of western land were bought and paid for in state bank notes, and the government soon found itself embarrassed bv large receipts of paper money. All went well for a while, but conservative business nien knew that this could not last. Jackson, too, while he liked the state banks, did not believe in this "wild cat" banking. In July, 1836, a circular was issued by the President demanding specie or metallic money in payment for public lands. This policy bore heavily upon the banks, for paper money was plentiful and coin was scarce; this, with the further fact that the state banks carrying govern- ment deposits were under obligations to pay out to the states, on the first of January, 1837, the first installment of the surplus revenue, caused a great demand for coin. Election of Van Buren; Panic of 1837. In the presiden- tial election of 1836 the Whig vote was divided among Daniel Webster, William Henry Harrison and two other can- didates. The Democrats uniting upon Van Buren ^ as their candidate for the Presidency and Richard \l. Johnson ^ of Kentucky for the Vice-presidency, won the victory. Thus the mantle of " Old Hickory " fell on the " Little Magician " from New York. 1 Martin Van Buren was born in New York in 1782. He was United States senator from New York, and also governor of that state. His great ability as a party manager in New York politics gave him the name of the '■ Little Magician." Jackson appointed him minister to Great Britain during his first administration. In 1848 Van Buren was the un- successful candidate of the Free-Soil party for the Presidency. He died m New York in 1862. - Richard M. Johnson was the slayer of Tecumseh m the Battle of the Thames. THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH 273 Hardly was Van Buren inaugurated before a great financial storm swept over the country. There was no coin to redeem the bank notes or to pay the government for the western lands. The treasury surplus was to be distributed among the states, but there was very little to distribute.^ The purchasing power of paper money was so low that flour was eleven dollars a barrel and corn was a dollar and fifteen cents a bushel, and in the early months of 1837 there were bread riots in New York City. This condition of panic continued for more than a year and brought suffering and poverty to many people. The Independent Treasury. Van Buren called a special session of Congress to devise measures of relief and to consider some safe way of handling government funds. A law was en- acted to allow the treasury to use its own notes, or promises to pay, as legal tender to the value of ten million dollars, and this brought about some relief from the financial stringency, inasmuch as the government's obligations were accepted more readily than the paper notes of the state banks. The Whigs were very much in favor of reestablishing the United States Bank, but Van Buren, like Jackson, condemned that institution and proposed an altogether new plan for handling government finances. This was the Independent Treasury system; the government was to keep its revenues in rooms, vaults, and safes to be provided for the Treasury Department and there were to be branches of the treasury, or subtreasuries, in a few of the leading cities. This bill provoked such bitter opposition from the Whigs that it did not become a law for three years. " Tippecanoe and Tyler, too." The panic of 1837 caused the Democratic party to be defeated in the election of 1840. The Whigs put forth a soldier candidate who strongly appealed to the affections of the people. Passing over their great leaders, Webster and Clay, they named General William Henry Harrison of Ohio, the hero of Tippecanoe. John Tyler of Virginia, a discontented Democrat, was named for Vice-presi- dent. Throughout the country there was great enthusiasm 1 The states received in all three installments before the collapse came. 274 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY and the popular cry was, " Down with the administration, hurrah for Tippecanoe and Tyler, too." Public meetings were held in log cabins to emphasize Harrison's humble western life, but in some places the crowds were so large that they were measured by the acre.^ Van Buren, the Democratic candidate, could hardly get a hearing, and Harrison and Tyler were overwhelmingly victorious. THOUGHT QUESTIONS I. Who were the two popular idols at this time? 2. Why was John Quincy Adams called " Old Man Eloquent " ? 3. Why is this period sometimes called the period of the "New Democracy"? 4. How had candidates been nominated up to this time? What new method took the place of the old? 5. Have we the spoils system to-day? 6. Why was the South opposed to the high tariff? 7. Distinguish between nullification and secession. 8. What two legislatures in earlier times had passed reso- lutions stistaining the right of nullification? 1 A Baltimore newspaper suggested that Harrison would be more at home in a log cabin with a barrel of hard cider, than in the White House. The Whigs made capital of this comment, and " Log Cabin and Hard Cider " soon became another campaign slogan. Horace Greeley started a Whig newspaper in New York which he called the Log Cabin, and which immediately became popular. This paper grew into the New York Tribune in 1841. CHAPTER XIX ANOTHER PERIOD OF EXPANSION William Henry Harrison, President, 1841- John Tyler, Vice-president, then President, 1841-1845 James K. Polk, President, 1845-1849 George M. Dallas, Vice-president, 1845-1849 Death of Harrison. The Whigs, triumphant in the election, promptly set about putting their policies into effect. A special session of Congress was called, but before it assembled the Pres- ident was dead. Harrison was nearing his seventieth year and the strain and excitement of the campaign had worn him out. During the first few weeks of his term Washington swarmed with office seekers. The kind- hearted old man would not turn one away; altogether it was too much for his weak frame to bear. On April 4, 1841, just one month after the inauguration. President Harrison died.^ The country was shocked ; it was the first time a President had died in office. 1 William Henry Harrison was born in Virginia in 1773. He fought under General Anthony Wayne against the Indians of the Northwest Ter- ritory. In 1800 he was made governor oi the territory of Indiana. Dur- ing the War of 1812 he was a major-general, and distinguished himself by his defeat of Proctor and Tecumseh at the Ijattlc of the Thames. He was a member of Congress and a senator from Ohio. President Adams sent him as minister to the United States of Colombia in 1828. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON 276 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Tyler and the Whigs. John Tyler became President.^ Al- though elected on a Whig ticket, he was a Democrat and a state-rights man, who had affiliated with the Whigs for a time because of his opposition to some of Jackson's measures. The Whigs had put him on their ticket for Vice-president in the hope of gaining the votes of discontented Democrats, but they had foreseen no such awk- ward situation as " Tyler too " becoming President. It was not long before they realized to their confusion that Tyler's \exatious veto bade fair to thwart all their political plans. The special session of Con- gress which Harrison had called met in May, 1841, and then the t rouble began. The Whigs first repealed the Independent Treas- ury Act which had been passed in 1840, and Tyler permitted the bill for repeal to become a law. The next thing in order was the reestablishment of the United States Bank and a bill for this purpose passed both houses of Congress, but Tyler vetoed this and all other bank bills. The Whigs were not strong enough to override his veto and their rage knew no bounds. ^ The Whig leaders de- nounced Tyler and read him out of their party; the whole cabinet resigned in a body, except Daniel Webster, the Secre- 1 Jolin Tyler was liorn in Virginia in 1790. He was graduated at Wil- liam and Mary college in 1806. He served his state as member of Con- gress, as governor and as senator. In i84o'his opposition to the Democrats on several points gave him a place on the Whig ticket, but when upon Harrison's death he became President, he showed that he was still a Democrat and in harmony with Democratic policies. He was president of the peace conference in 1861. and served in the Confederate Congress. He died in 1862 at Richmond. 2 In order to pass a bill over the President's veto, a two-thirds majority in each house of Congress is necessary. ANOTHER PERIOD OF EXPANSION 2']'] lary of State. During the first two years of the administra- tion Congress and Tyler were constantly embroiled; neither side would yield and very little was accomplished. A new tariff, however, was passed in 1842, raising the duties which had just reached the twenty per cent level under the com- promise tariff of 1833. Webster-Ashburton Treaty. Webster remained at his post in the caljinet when his colleagues resigned, because he was engaged with Lord Ashburton, the British Minister, in the settlement of the long-standing dispute over the boundary of Maine. ^ The treaty of peace of 1783 had not fixed this boundary line, nor had the treaty with Great Britain in 1818, and there was constant agitation over the disputed territory. In August, 1842, a treaty was signed by the representatives of the two governments fixing the boundary line along the lieight of land which separates the Atlantic-flowing rivers from those whose course is northward to the St. Lawrence. In this treaty an extradition agreement was arranged by which crim- inals fleeing from either country into the other could be re- turned for trial. Our western boundary was established as far west as the Rockies ; beyond was Oregon which the United States and Great Britain continued to occupy jointly. The Story of Texas. The Whigs spurned Tyler, and the Democrats would have none of him; so without the support of either great party, he was a lonely figure in his unexpected Presidency. Tyler, nevertheless, undertook to accomplish a great thing — the annexation of Texas. This young empire to tlie southwest had been settled by the Spanish, although the French, by virtue of La Salle's ill-fated expedition of 1685, laid claim to the region as a part of the Louisiana country. In 1803, after cessions and recessions on the part of 1 An efifort was made in icS.^i to adjust tliis difference. The King of the Netherlands was called upon to arbitrate, and he awarded to Canada a strip of territory claimed by Maine. That state threatened to nullify the af^rcement if tlie federal government accepted it, and Massachusetts said she would stand by her sister state. The United States refused to accept the award of the arbitrator. 278 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Spain and France, Louisiana was purchased by the United States and we claimed that it extended on the southwest to the Rio Grande River, thus inchidinj? Texas. Spain disputed this claim, and in the treaty of 1819 with that nation we suri'endered all title to Texas and agreed to the Sabine River as our south- west boundary. In 1821 Mexico gained her inde- l)cndence and Texas as well as a vast region west of the Rockies was lost to Spain, these regions be- coming provinces of the new nation of Mexico. Texas was very sparsely settled ; with the exception of a few old Spanish mis- sions and a few trading posts here and there, the Indians held the lands and roamed over the broad prairies. After 1821 many citizens of the United States under liberal land grants from the Mexican. Government settled in Texas. 11ie greatest of these pioneers was Stei)hen h\ Austin, the " Father of Texas." Mexican rule was arbitrary and inconstant; first one successful revolutionist and then another ruled the country. The master- ful men who peopled Texas were Americans, coming for the most part from the southern states, and they found Mexican rule intolerable. They petitioned the Mexican government for redress of grievances but without avail, and, losing all hope of a fair hearing, these bold Texans took matters into their own hands, revolted, and proclaimed their independence on March 2, 1836. A force of several thousand Mexicans, under General Santa STEPHEN F. AUSTIN ANOTHER PERIOD OF EXPANSION 279 Anna, invaded Texas. They besieged the old fort of the Alamo at San Antonio which was defended by Travis and a band of one hundred and eighty-three daring men who resolved " never to surrender or retreat." These heroic men and mar- tyrs met death at the hands of the blood-thirsty Mexicans. A few weeks later at Goliad a force of Texans had surrendered to the Mexicans as prisoners of war, but in violation of the agree- ment they were marched out, numbering three hundred and seventy-one, and shot down in cold l)l(xj(l.' A Texan army numbering fewer than a thousand men, under General Sam Houston, retreated from Gonzales before Santa Anna's ad- vancing horde far into the south- , >— . eastern part of the state. At length at San Jacinto they turned and gave battle on the twenty-first day of April, 1836. Though aided by two small cannons, the Texans fought for the most part in true frontier fashion; after the first volley they fell upon the enemy with knives and clubl)ed rifles, and the Mexicans re- coiled in terror as they advanced with the blood-curdling cry, " Re- member the Alamo ! " " Remember Goliad!" Hundreds of the Mex- icans were killed and over seven hundred w^ere taken prisoners, including the haughty Santa Anna, the self-styled " Napoleon of the West." Movement for Annexation. With her independence won, Texas set up a republic, with a constitution fashioned after that of the United States. But it was not a part of the contempla- tion of the Texas patriots to remain a separate nation; they ardently desired annexation to the United States. In 1836 they signified this desire, but all that was accomplished was a ' The terms of surrenrlcr have recently been brought to light by Dr. Barker, of the University of Texas, and prove that the Mexicans meant one thing, while the Texans understood another. SAM HOUSTON 28o STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY recognition of the new republic by the United States.^ There was a large element in the North who opposed the annexation because it would increase the power of the South and widen the slaveholding area. The abolitionists bitterly fought an- nexation. Jackson, who favored annexation, and Van Buren, who opposed it, had both read the signs of the times and re- frained from pressing the issue of annexation to a settlement. Tyler's Annexation Treaty. President Tyler took up the cjuestion with eagerness and with John C. Calhoun as his Secre- tary of State made cjuiet overtures to Texas; in 1844 he sub- mitted to the Senate a treaty of annexation which that body promptly rejected. But Tyler had precipitated the issue on the country. New England fought the measure with all her strength ; and John Ouincy Adams said that the annexation of Texas would justify a dissolution of the Union. Garrison, the abolitionist, proposed that Massachusetts take the lead in withdrawing from the Union if more slave territory were added. The ardent annexationists of the South cried, " Texas or disunion." The year 1844 was a presidential year and the question became an issue in the campaign. Election of 1844. The Whigs rallied around their beloved " Harry of the West," Henry Clay, and again nominated him for the Presidency. Clay was opposed to the annexation of Texas. The Democrats passed by Van Buren and other avowed candidates and nominated a " dark horse," ^ James K. Polk of Tennessee ; George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania was nominated for the Vice-presidency. The Democrats boldly advocated " the re-annexation of Texas and the reoccupation of Oregon," so that ** Texas and Oregon " and " Fifty- four, forty or fight " became campaign slogans. Clay found him- self in a difficult position ; iie must not offend the Whigs of the 1 This .recognition was granted in 1837. - By the phrase " dark horse," is meant a candidate who has not been prominently before liie people prior to his nomination. The Democratic convention met at Baltimore. It was the first whose proceedings were reported by telegraph, Morse's line between Washington and Baltimore being completed. The people refused to believe the news when it flashed over the wires that Polk was chosen. ANOTHER PERIOD OF EXPANSION 281 North who were bitterly opposed to annexation and he must not offend the South and the West who ardently favored it. He wrote several letters explaining his position on the Texas question, but with each letter he explained away a few more votes, because his position was not satisfactory to either side.^ Polk and Dallas were elected.- Texas Annexed. Upon assembling in December, 1844, Congress accepted the success of the Demo- crats as a verdict of the people in favor of the annexation of Texas, and before the session closed Tyler had the satisfaction of realizing his cherished ambition of bringing the Lone Star state into the Union. On March 3, 1845, the last day of his administration, the Presi- dent signed the bill an- nexing Texas to the Union. The following james k. polk December Texas formally became a member of the Sisterhood of States, Other New States. Arkansas, a part of the Louisiana, pur- chase, had been admitted in 1835 as a slaveholding state, and in 1836 the balance between the slave states and the free states was restored by the admission of Michigan, which was carved 1 The Liberty or Abolition party would not support Clay because of his position concerning Texas. They did not poll many votes, but Van Burcn, their candidate, received enough votes in New York to prevent Clay's election. -James K. Polk was born in North Carolina in 1795. When he was a small boy his father migrated to Tennessee. Polk was a member of Congress from his adopted state for fourteen years, and twice was chosen Speaker of the House. He served as governor of Tennessee, 1839 to 1841. He died at Nashville, Tennessee, in 1849. 282 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY out of the Northwest Territory. Florida was admitted to the Union as a slaveholding state the year of the annexation of Texas. In 1846 and 1848 Iowa and Wisconsin came in and the states were thirty in number — fifteen slave and fifteen free. The Settlement of the Oregon Question. It appeared as if Polk's administration would be marked by two wars with for- eign nations. The annexation of Texas threatened to bring on hostilities wnth Mexico, and the claim to Oregon as far north as the fifty-fourth degree and fortieth minute of latitude bade fair to involve us in serious trouble with Great Britain. Fortunately, the latter difficulty was peaceably adjusted. The Oregon country included all of what is now the states of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, together with British Colum- bia as far north as Russian Alaska. The United States claimed the region on account of the discovery by Captain Gray in 1792 and the expedition of Lewis and Clark in 1804.^ Great Britain based her claim on the explorations of Alexander Mackenzie and the traders of the Hudson Bay Company. In 1818 the two governments agreed to a joint occupation of Oregon, and merchants and fishermen from both countries had grown rich in bartering with the Indians for furs and in catch- ing fish in the streams or along the coasts. The country was rapidly filling up with settlers from the United States and our statesmen resolved to hold it. A favorite cry during Polk's campaign had been " Fifty- four, forty or fight." But England had no idea of relinquish- ing her claim to the whole Oregon country ; she declared that it was all hers as far south as the Columbia River. For a time 1 Congress made appropriations for exploring the region between Mis- souri and the Rocky Mountains, which was commonly designated on the maps of that time as the " Great American Desert." John C. Fremont, known as the " Pathfinder," was in command of three expeditions into that country between 1842 and 1846. He crossed the Rockies at South Pass, and explored the Great Salt Lake region, went into Oregon and also Southern California. Marcus Whitman, a missionary among the Indians, saw that the United States should make good her claim to Oregon, or Great Britain would take possession of it. He made a journey to the East to explain conditions to our statesmen at Washington, and returned in 1843 with a party of settlers. ANOTHER PERIOD OF EXPANSION ^^3 it seemed as if war might come, but more mature counsel pre- vailed. Both sides made concessions and by the treaty of 1846 the boundary was fixed at the forty-ninth parallel. At last the northern boundary of the United States was complete from sea to sea.^ Independent Treasury and the Walker Tariff. The restora- tion of the Democrats to power was marked by a change in financial legislation. The Independent Treasury System was reestablished in 1846 and with slight modification has continued until the present day. The tariff of 1842, passed while Tyler was in ofiice, was lowered to about a rev- enue standard by the Walker Tariff of 1846.- This tariff act gave such satisfaction that the bit- ter feeling of previous times was considerably allayed. The Mexican Situa- tion. It was well that the Oregon controversy was peaceably settled, be- cause from the very be- ginning of Polk's admin- istration trouble was brewing with Mexico. That nation still claimed Texas and had declared that she would regard its annexation to the United States as equivalent to an act of war. After annexation was accomplished she re- 1 There was some further dispute as to the course of the northern h'ne after it reached the Pacific inlets. This was settled in 1871 by another treaty. 2 So named for Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, the Secretary of the Treasury. When first passed, the tariff of 1842 was little, if any, above the revenue basis, but the return of prosperity brought in more revenue. TEPiRITOKY IN DISPUTE BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO 284 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY called her minister from Washington and dismissed our minister in ^lexico.^ There was also a quarrel over the south- ern boundary of Texas; we claimed that the state extended to the Rio Grande while the ^lexicans maintained that the Xueces River bounded Texas on the southwest. Still another (Mtlerence between the countries was the fact that the Mexican government owed large sums to American citizens and the President determined to insist upon the pa}Tnent of these obli- gations in lands, if not in money. ]\Ioreover, Polk and the people of the South and West were casting longing eyes upon California and New Mexico, the vast region west of the Rockies and south of Oregon. The causes of the ]Mexican \\'ar then may be summed up as follows : first, the annexation of Texas ; second, the dispute over the Texas boundary ; third, a desire to extend our boundaries to the Pacific and thus fulfill what in the language of the day was called, " our manifest destiny." An effort was made to settle the dift'erences between the two countries peaceably ; but in view of the disturbed state of affairs General Zachary Taylor was ordered to hold the disputed strip between the Nueces and the Rio Grande and he took position at Corpus Christi. one hundred and fifty miles from the ^lex- ican border. In the meantime. President Polk sent an am- bassador to Alexico whose mission was, if possible, to settle the points in dispute, to off'er ^lexico fifteen million dollars for California and New Mexico, and also agree to cancel the in- debtedness of that government to American citizens. But the Mexicans refused to receive our representative. Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. General Zacharv Taylor soon moved southward to Brownsville on the Rio Grande opposite the ]Mexican town of Matamoras, whereupon the Mexican General Arista made demand upon Taylor to re- tire to the Nueces and crossed the river in a demonstration of force. General Taylor retreated toward Corpus Christi in 1 Such acts as these on tlie part of one nation to another arc always regarded as signifying hostile intentions. ANOTHER PERIOD OF EXPANSION 285 order not to be cut oft* from his supplies there ; but he soon turned and defeated a large INIexican force at Palo Alto and at Resaca de la Palma. The Mexicans were driven back across the river and General Taylor followed and took pos- session of the Mexican town of Matamoras. Declaration of War. These battles were fought in April. On May 12, 1846, the United States formally recognized the fact that war with Mexico actually existed. The military plan of the United States was to occupy California and New Mexico, which Polk determined to claim as indemnity, and to push onward through the northern provinces of Mexico to the capital and compel the Mexicans to come to terms. The navv was to assist on the coast of California and in the Gulf of Mexico. A call was issued for volunteers and there was prompt response chiefly in the South and \\'est. Congress appropriated sixteen million dollars for prosecuting the war. California and New Mexico. California was taken in the summer of 1846 by a fleet under Commodores Sloat and Stock- ton, aided by Colonel John C. Fremont, who had moved with a land force into California from Oregon. Shortly before this movement, however, there had been a revolt of the native Mexicans of California in July, 1846, and at the same time American settlers rose in insurrection and set up the " Bear Flag Republic." After the landing of Sloat at Monterey and the capture of San Francisco and Los Angeles the Stars and Stripes supplanted the Bear Flag. During the same summer New Mexico was invaded by an expedition from Fort Leaven- worth (Kansas), under the command of General Stephen W. Kearney, who captured Santa Fe. Thus New Mexico came under American control. Monterey and Buena Vista. In the autumn of 1846 General Taylor mox'ed from Matamoras toward IMonterey. a strongly fortified town. After three days of hard and stubborn fight- ing the town was captured on the twenty-third of September. In November General Winfield Scott, the ranking officer of the United States army, was placed in chief command in Mexico, 2g6 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY and in January General Taylor's force was reduced to five thou- sand in order to recruit Scott's army which had been sent by sea to take Vera Cruz.^ General Santa Anna, w.ith about three times as many men, attacked General Taylor at Buena Vista, February 23, 1847.^ The American troops for the most part were volunteers, but they had been drilled by their officers with BATTLE UF BUENA VISTA such skill that Taylor won a complete victory.^ Northern Mexico thus fell into the hands of the Americans. March to the City of Mexico. More than one hundred and fifty vessels bore General Scott's army to Vera Cruz, which 1 Winfield Scott was born in Virginia in 1786. He entered the army when he was twenty-two, and served with such distinction during the War of 1812 that he was made major-general in 1814, and jie became commander-in-chief of the United States army in 1841. His brilHant cam- paign in Mexico added luster to his name. General Scott was very punc- tilious, and was sometimes called " Old Fuss and Feathers." He was defeated for the Presidency in 1852. He retired from the army in 1861, and died in 1866. - See Whittier's poem, The Angels of Buena Vista, also Theodore O'Hara's Bivouac of the Dead. 3 Colonel Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was serving under Taylor, and distinguished himself by his gallant conduct in this campaign. ANOTHER PERIOD OF EXPANSION 2^7 was taken by siege in March, 1847. Scott landed his troops and immediately started on the march to the Mexican capital, two hundred miles away and over seven thousand feet above the level of the sea. Santa Anna, in a battle which took place at the nar- row pass of Cerro Gordo, endeavored to check his ad- vance, but General Scott won a complete victory, cap- turing five Mexican generals and three thousand prison- ers.^ The victorious army continued the march inland and captured stronghold after stronghold. At last the American troops came upon the capital, nestling in a beautiful mountain valley surrounded by high peaks. The fortresses guarding the city were taken one by one and at last on the morning of September ^ General Scott captured Santa Anna's carriage, containing a large amount of gold, his papers, and his wooden leg, and the haughty " Napo- leon of the West" narrowly escaped capture himself by fleeing, astride a mule, from the field. ROUTES OF UNITED STATES TROOPS IN THE WAR WITH MEXICO 288 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY 14, 1847, Scott's army marched into the city of ^Mexico and soon the Stars and Stripes supplanted the Alexican Eagle over the city of the ^Montezumas.^ In a little more than six months' time. General Scott's army had marched through a hostile coimtr}', lighting against an enemy of superior numbers, and capturing fortified towns, but the march was a steady success- sion of victories. The Mexicans fought with determined bravery, but they could not resist the pluck and daring of the Americans. - Peace of Guadalupe Hidalgo. ^Mexico and iJie United States entered upon a treaty of peace which was executed at Guadalupe Hidalgo on the second of February, 1848. Mexico recognized the Rio Grande as the southwest boundary of Texas and ceded to us New ^lexico and California, a vast territory greater than the entire area of the United States in 1783, with a magnificent Pacific harbor, the gateway to the Orient. We paid }^Iexico fifteen million dollars for this vast territory and we agreed to assume her debt of three million dollars to American citizens. Our southern boundary was now complete from sea to sea.^ Wilmot Proviso. The ^lissouri Compromise dividing slave and free territory ran only to the western boundary of the Louisiana purchase ; consequently the Mexican cession revived the question of slavery in the territories. Should slave states 1 The Montezumas were the Aztec chiefs who had ruled ]\Iexico before Cortez conquered the countrj' in 1519-21. - Captain Robert E. Lee. of Virginia, served under Scott in this cam- paign. In after j-ears General Scott was heard to say that his success in 2\lexico was due largely to the skill and daring of Lee. He went so far as to say that he was the best soldier he had ever seen on the field. Ulysses S. Grant had been with General Taylor at the_ battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, and also at the capture of Monterey. He also was with Scott on the famous march to the Cir\- of ^lexico, and for his gallant conduct was made first lieutenant and then captain. 3 In 1S53. five years after the peace with Mexico, the L'nited States purchased forty-five thousand square miles in the Gila River valley for ten million dollars. The purchase was arranged by Captain James Gads- den, of South Carolina, minister to Mexico, and is known as the Gadsden Purchase. In ]\Iarch of the same year. Congress ordered an exploration at public expense, to ascertain the best route for a railroad to the Pacific ocean. ANOTHER PERIOD OF EXPANSION 289 be erected beyond the mountains along the Pacific, or should the southern man be denied the right to migrate with his slaves into the new land ? It was the fear that the acquisition of territory to the South and \\'est would add power to the South that had caused opposition in the North to the annexa- tion of Texas and to the Mexican war. ^^'hile the war was in progress David Wilmot, a Pennsylvania Democrat, intro- duced into Congress what is known as the W^ilmot Proviso, the purpose of which was to exclude slaveiy from the IMexican cessions. The proviso never became a law and the new terri- tory was acquired without any express condition concerning slavery. However, the \\'ilmot bill produced bitter strife in Congress and served to intensify sectional antagonisms. Facing the Pacific. The IMexican cession brought up the question of the control of the routes across the narrow regions of America in order to shorten the distance between the two oceans. The journey overland to California required from three to eight months, around Cape Horn from three to four months, and both were fraught with many dangers. There were tAvo practicable short routes, one across the Isthmus of Panama, the other through the lake of Nicaragua. In 1846 we made a treaty with the United States of Colombia guaran- teeing us the use of a canal across the isthmus; in 1850 we made an agreement with England, who claimed a protectorate over some of the Central American lands, by which we secured a common use and neutral control of the Nicaraguan route. This agreement was known as the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. Our acquisition of Pacific territory also gave us ports for direct trade with the Far East. Already, in 1844, the United States had secured a desirable commercial treaty with China by which five ports were opened to our trade. In 1852 Com- modore IMatthew C. Perry was sent with a squadron of war- ships on a special mission to Japan to induce that countrs- to enter into diplomatic and commercial relations with the United States. In 1853 the fleet reached Japan and, although there was much opposition to the foreigners. Perry with quiet per- 290 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR' COUNTRY sistence remained in the harbor of Tokyo until some attention was paid to the demands of his government. At last Japan consented to a treaty by which friendly intercourse was estab- lished between the two countries and the Japanese ports were thrown open to trade. ^ Election of 1848. After the close of the Mexican War the interests of the people centered in the presidential election. The Democrats nominated Lewis Cass of Michigan for the Presidency. The Whigs were long in doubt about their can- didate. Should they put forth Clay again — "the same old coon " the Democrats called him — or should they adopt again the plan that had been so successful in 1840, namely, running a soldier candidate? They now had two to choose from, for both Scott and Taylor were Whigs. The party at last chose General Zachary Taylor, " Old Rough and Ready," as the soldiers called him. Free Soilers. A new party came into existence at this time known as the Free Soilers, composed of fomier Whigs and Democrats who supported the Wilmot Proviso. This party nominated Van Buren, and while it polled but few votes it cost the Democrats the election.^ Taylor was elected Presi- dent, and Millard Fillmore of New York Vice-president. After the election Congress again gave its attention to the burning question of organizing the new territories. Discovery of Gold in California. The new territory did not wait on the politicians. Hardly had peace been concluded with Mexico before gold was discovered in California. While a sawmill and a mill dam were being constructed at Sutter's Fort on the Sacramento River, some shining particles that proved to be gold were found in the sand. Soon there was developed such a wealth of the glittering yellow metal that California proved to be a veritable land of Midas. No such mines were ever known before. People began to flock 1 Perry's flagship, the Mississippi, was the first United States steam war vessel to circumnavigate the globe. - The Free-Soil Democrats were derisively called " Barnburners," be- cause, it was said, they were willing to destroy the Union to get rid of slavery, like the Dutchman who burned his barn to get rid of the rats. TERRITORY ACQUIRED BY THE UNITED STATES BETWEEN 1789 AND 1853 ANOTHER PERIOD OF EXPANSION 291 to California, the golden West, from all parts of the world. Long caravans of " Forty-niners " ^ trailed across the plains and over the great divide ; some went by the way of the Isthmus of Panama and sailed up the Pacific coast to the " Golden Gate " ; others went around Cape Horn, doubling the con- tinents in their search for gold. By 1850 there were upwards of one hundred thousand settlers in the country and California was applying for admission as a free state, almost before the lawmakers were ready to organize her as a territory. Other mineral wealth was soon discovered in the Mexican cession, and in other parts of the United States as well. In 1858 gold mines were discovered at Pikes Peak, Colorado, and silver mines at Virginia City, Nevada. These were the first silver mines in the United States ; since that time the West has produced most of the world's silver. Coal-bearing strata were found in various parts of the United States and within a decade rich underground oil streams were being worked in Pennsylvania, THOUGHT QUESTIONS I. How far back in the history does the controversy over the Maine boundary date? 2. Why was the campaign cry of 1844 the " reannexation " of Texas? 3. Who gained more territory in the compromise of 1846, Great Britain or the United States? 4. What had checked the movement of the South to free the slaves? 5. Why was the Mexican War unpopular in New England? 6. What famous author wrote papers satirizing it? 7. What is meant by our "manifest destiny"? 8. Was the Mexican War a war of conquest? SOURCE MATERIAL General References: Scmplc, Geographic Conditions ; Statistical At- las of the United States; Wilson, Division and Reunion; Turner, Rise of the New West; McDonald, Jacksonian Democracy; Hart, Slavery and Abolition; Garrison, Westward Extension and Texas; McMaster, United States, IV; Adams, United States, IX; Brown, Lozver South; Page, Old 1 So called because the migration occurred in 1849. 292 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY South: Rhodes, The I'nifcd States, I & II; Sparks^ Expansion; Johnston. American Orations and Ameriean Politics; Peck. Jacksonian Epoch; Houston, A Study of XuUification in South Carolina; Taussig, Taritr His- tory of the United States; Benton, Thirty Years' J'iexc: Johnston, .^Iwc-r- icon Transportation; Bancroft, United States: Tyler, Life and Times of the Tylers; H. H. Bancroft, Paeiiic States; Biographies of Jackson, Web- ster, Clav. Calhoun, etc. SofRCES AXD Other Readings : E. K Hale, StcEXTS HISTORY OF OUR COI'XTRY ence between the two governments. They were mstmcted to arrange for the purchase or transfer of federal property within the states, to adjust the national debt, to arrange for the diWsion of the territory, and for the e^-acnation of forts still held by the United States troops. But no adjust- ment was made because the northern states refused to rec- ognize the right of the southern states to secede or to regard the Cot: tevienicy ?.s an independent government. The Right of Secession. Throughout the South there was a strong attachment for the Union, the establishment and development of which had been due in large part to her statesmen and soldiers. But the Sotith's devotion to the Con- stitution, her material interests, and the peace of her people Avere sirperior to her attachment to the Union and she exer- cised the right generally recognized at the formation of the Union for each state to withdraw. From the earliest discus- sions of the relations of the states, the right of secession was regarded as reserved; had this not been understood at the time of the fonnation of the Union, it is extremely doubtful whether the Constimtion would have been adopted. Notwith- standing the fact that the right to secevie was thus understood without being expressly declared in the Constitution, three of the states. \"irginia. Xew York, and Rhode Island, affirmed in their ordinances of ratification that each state could re- stmie its delegated powers if this should become necessary to the welfare of its people.* During the first four or five decades of the Union the right of secession was proclaimed ag:\in and again.* Xew England believed that the growing power and extent of the South and the ^Vest in Congress threat- ened her interests and under iiK^re than one provocation she con- sidered seceding- Even as late as 1S45. '^^ resolutions op- posing the annexation of Texas, the Massachusetts legisla- 1 See Ratitkration ot Coivjriinriv^n. |vs^ 17a - Maj.isjchti$ciis threatened ?ece> at the time of the Louijiina I>*in:h;i*e, ami a^tm in iS" - . .^t the achnij<>ion ct the state of Louisiana, In 1S14 the i-. : :ion, in which all the Xew Eng- land states were represei. — .- ,-..> ^vvlsiderx^d \\-ithdrawai fn>m the Unkai. SECESSION AND THE CONFEDER.\CY 315 nrre claimed this right. Sonth CaroUna, in 1832. when she resisted the tarilf acts of iSj8 and 183 J. ascsened the right. Frcmi the southern standpoint the Union had alvra\-s been a federal reptiWic cvmiposed of sovereign states, and the indi- ridual citizen owed his first alkgiance to the state. So strong was the feeling of allegiance to the state that many citizens of the Sonth who opposed secession as a matter of policy felt in doty boimd to follow their states in secession. One of these was Alexander H. Stephens. \"ice-president of the Con- fevieracy. He upheld the right of secession, though he doubt evi its wisdom: and when his state seceded he gave her his alle- giance. Sentiinent at the N\r:h. At the North, while the aboKtion- ists openly rejoiced that the slaveholding states had with- drawn from the Union, the general feeling toward >; — was one of surprise and deep regret. There were c: ^ \-iews as to what should be done in the crisis, and for soir.e time the federal government seemed unable to reach a de- cision. Many people, while deploring secession. cv>nceded it as a right and they conld see no power tmder the Constitution whereby the federal government could force a state to rerani to the Union: to these there seemed iK»thing to do bin to let the seceding states " depart in peace." The Democrats of tlie Xonh hoped that even yet the ditter- ences between the sections might be compromised and the Union be preserved. Scone of the Repoblican leaders were opposed to compromise on the groimd that it would settle nothing and would onh^ postpone the final issue, Througii- out the North, and more particularly in the West, there had grown up a strong feeling of lo\-alty to the Union, rather than to the state. Daniel Webster's \'iew. presented in his great debate with Ha^ne in 1830, that the federal govern- ment is supreme and that the states are suK^rdinate, came to be generally accepted as the cv^rrect tlieon»- of tlie Union. This . change in political thought was due to altered condi- tions. The South, in 1S60, was an agricultural section as it 3i6 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY had been in 1787, but the North had become a great indus- trial section which looked to the United States government for aid under a protective tariff. The growth of the new states in the West which had been carved out of the public domain intensified the feeling of loyalty to the Union and contributed to the view of national supremacy.-^ In this man- ner and for these reasons the differences between the sections were marked not only by contrary interests and political opin- ions, but by conflicting conceptions of the nature of the federal government under the Constitution. Efforts at Compromise. During the period of time within which the several southern states seceded, attempts were made at compromise, and almost by the time the Federal Congress assembled in December, i860, measures were introduced in the hope of bringing peace. The most important of these was proposed by Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky, on December 18, i860, two days before South Carolina passed the ordinance of secession.^ Crittenden's compromise con- tained two main provisions : first, the Constitution was to be so amended that the Missouri Compromise line should be ex- tended to the Pacific;^ second, a less objectional fugitive slave law was to be passed and payment was to be made out of the federal treasury for fugitive slaves that could not be recovered. The first provision was designed to conciliate the South and the second to conciliate the North. In Con- gress the compromise was opposed and came to naught. Crit- tenden then proposed tliat the whole suljject be submitted to a direct vote of the people, but this proposition also failed. Most statesmen had come to the belief that the time for com- promise had passed. 1 In admitting new states the provision was that they should enjoy all the rights of the original thirteen states. - Senator Crittenden had two sons who achieved distinction in the war which followed ; General George B. Crittenden served in the Confederate army ; General Thomas B. Crittenden in the Union army. 3 The Dred Scott decision rendered a constitutional amendment neces- sary in order to divide the territories into slave and free, since under that decision slaves could be taken into any territory in the United States. SECESSION AND THE CONFEDERACY 317 The Peace Conference. In the meanwhile the border states delayed action ; their sympathies were with their sister states to the south but they earnestly hoped for reconciliation. Vir- ginia, in the hope of bringing about mediation, invited the states to send delegates to a Peace Conference at Washington. This body assembled on February 4, 1861, on the very day that the delegates of the seceded states met at Montgomery to frame a government for the new Confederacy. Twenty- one states were represented — fourteen from the North and seven from the South. ^ John Tyler, former President of the United States, presided over this convention and a plan of compromise was adopted similar to the Crittenden compro- mise. The recommendations of the convention were not ac- cepted by Congress and nothing came of the Peace Conference. President Buchanan and the Star of the West. President Buchanan earnestly desired to avert a clash before the close of his presidential term. He was a Democrat and his sym- pathies were largely with the South, His message to the Congress that assembled in December, i860, showed that the personal liberty laws passed by the northern states and the so-called underground railway had given the South just cause for complaint. He denied the right of secession, but at the same time he knew of no constitutional power by which the " federal government could coerce a state." But the question of federal property in the seceded states seemed to demand a speedy solution. South Carolina, immediately after her secession, sent special commissioners to Washington to nego- tiate the transfer of Fort Sumter and other federal property in the state. Major Robert Anderson, with a small detach- ment of Federal troops, was stationed at Fort Sumter, and in spite of repeated and insistent demands for its surrender by South Carolina, President Buchanan resolved to hold the fort. An evacuation he considered would be regarded as a recogni- tion of the independence of South Carolina. On the other hand, the reenforcement of Major Anderson with provisions ^ The seven southern states that had seceded were not represented. 3i8 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY and men would be an act of war from the standpoint of the South. Notwithstanding this consideration a merchant vessel, the Star of the JVest, was dispatched with troops and pro- visions for Anderson's relief, but as the vessel approached Charleston Harbor she was obliged to turn back under fire from South Carolina batteries. This was early in Tanuar)^ In the meantime every one waited anxiously to see what Presi- dent Lincoln and his Republican advisers would do. Lincoln's Inaugural. At length March 4 came and Lincoln was inaugurated President of the United States.^ Probably no man was ever inducted into this high ofifice under more trying circumstances. The country was in confusion amount- ing almost to chaos; seven states had withdrawn from the Union, and no man could foresee the end or suggest a satis- factory measure for peaceable reunion. ]\Iany of Lincoln's friends thought that in the excitement of the times his life was in danger, and for this reason he had traveled secretly from Philadelphia to Baltimore, in order to elude possible assassins. In his inaugural address the new President seemed deeply impressed with his grave responsibilities; he denied the right of secession and declared his intention to maintain the laws of the Union in all the states ; he announced that he would hold all places belonging to the government and collect all duties and imposts ; he appealed to the South to remain in the Union and said that he had " no purpose 1 Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, in 1809. His father moved to Indiana in 1816, and to Illinois in 1830. As a boy Lincoln had very few advantages, but he grew up with all the vigor of the frontier. In 1832 he served as a private and as a captain in the Black Hawk War. Failing as a merchant, he studied law and was elected to the IlHnois legislature in 1834, and again in 1836. In 1846 he was elected to the lower House of Congress on the Whig ticket, and in 1858, as candidate for the new Republican party, he was defeated by Douglas, the Democratic candidate for the I'nitcd States Senate. In spite of his defeat Lincoln's debates with Douglas made him a conspicuous figure, and in i860 won for him the Presidency as the nominee of the Republican party. Lin- coln's life from 1861 to 1S65 is bound up in the great . struggle between the North and the South. In 1864 he was reelected to the Presidency. He was shot and mortally wounded at Ford's Theater at Washington, April 14, 1865. SECESSION AND THE CONFEDERACY 319 directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states " where it already existed. Lincoln made Will- iam H. Seward his Secretary of State, and this official sug- gested an aggressive foreign policy in the hope that all the states might again rally together ; hut Lincoln with his great, quiet strength patiently watched and waited for public opinion, mindful ever of the heavy task he had set himself — to pre- serve the Union. Lincoln's statements from the standpoint of the seceded states were equivalent to a declaration of war. These states believed that they had a right to withdraw from the Union and to form a separate government and, this being the case, they held that the federal government could not continue to hold southern forts and collect duties in the South. The New Administration and the Confederate Commission- ers. It will be remembered that President Davis had ap- pointed Confederate commissioners to confer with the govern- ment at Washington concerning the transfer of forts and other property within the borders of the Confederacy, the division of territories, and the adjustment of the public debt.^ These commissioners arrived in Washington shortly after Linccjln's inauguration, but the federal government refused to give them official recognition. The government at Washington would not recognize the Confederacy and, therefore, would not re- ceive its commissioners ; but these were unofficially assured by Secretary Seward that their requests would be granted. Fall of Fort Sumter. South Carolina had regarded the at- tempt of the Star of the West to reen force the garrison at Fort Sumter as an act of war, but she had not seized tiie fort because she still hojjed for a peaceful solution of the dilhculty. Early in April, President Lincoln, on his own re- sponsibility, sent word to Governor Pickens that provisions and troops would be sent to the relief of Major Anderson. The relief squadron consisted of eight armed vessels and 1 President Davis had appointed as commissioners : A. B. Roman of Louisiana, M. J. Crawford of Georgia, and John Forsyth of Alabama. 320 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY twenty-four hundred men. The arrival of the Federal fleet was a signal for war. The leaders of the Confederacy felt that this effort should be resisted unless the new union would dissolve itself at once and be false to every principle it had declared. General P. G. T. Beauregard, who had been placed in charge of the defense of Charleston, was ordered by Presi- dent Davis to demand the surrender of Fort Sumter. Major Anderson refused and at five o'clock on the morning of April 12, 1 86 1, the Confederate batteries opened fire. Anderson gallantly defended his fort and the cannonading continued on both sides all day and far into the night. On the afternoon of the second day the fort caught fire from the bursting of its own shells and Major Anderson surrendered. On April 14, the little garrison retired from the fort with the honors of war. Not a man was killed on either side during the action, but as the Federal troops on their retirement were saluting the United States flag a cannon burst and one soldier was killed and several were wounded. Fort Sumter was in the hands of the Confederates and the long and terrible War Between the States had begun. The Call for Volunteers; Other Preparations. The news of the fall of Fort Sumter aroused both the North and the South. Everybody realized what it meant; no longer was there any hope of a peaceful solution of the sectional estrange- ment. On April 15, the day after the fall of Fort Sum- ter, President Lincoln issued a call for seventy-five thousand volunteers to enforce the laws of the Union in the seceded states and many more than this number promptly answered the call. The people of the North had no proper understand- ing of the southern view or of southern devotion to con- viction; they believed that with a little show of force the trouble would be ended. President Davis also issued a call for thirty-five thousand volunteers and the response was immediate.^ The southern people, devoted as they were to their principles and resolute ^ See Henry Timrod's poem, A Cry to Arms. STATES CONTROLLED BY FED AXI) l!V COXFI'-.nF.RATl-.S I X 1861 SECESSION AND THE CONFEDERACY 321 as they were in defending their rights, did not fully compre- hend the North's loyalty to the Union. They believed that prompt resistance would succeed and that they would soon establish the Confederacy. President Davis also issued letters of marcjue and reprisal and commissioned privateers to seize the goods and vessels of the United States. On April 19 President Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring a blockade of all the southern ports and declaring also that any persons acting under the author- ity of the Confederacy who should attack vessels of the United States should be treated as pirates. The Federal Congress made it a crime for any person either by land or by water to trade with the people of the seceded states. Secession of Four More States. Lincoln's call for volun- teers to force the seceded states back into the Union caused intense excitement in the southern states which were still in the Union, to-wit, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky Missouri, Arkansas, Tenn.essee, and North Carolina. The governors of these states refused to respond to the call for the reason that they considered the seceded states to be acting within their rights and held that the Federal government had no lawful power to coerce them. Four of these states, Arkan- sas, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee, rather than join in making war on their sister states to the south, withdrew from the Union and joined the Southern Confederacy. The mountaineers of East Tennessee and the people of Western Virginia were strongly opposed to secession and their sympa- thies were with the Union. The western counties of Virginia, held by federal troops, set up a state government gf their own and sent senators and representatives to the Federal Congress. They also provided for the division of the state. The Constitution of the United States expressly declares that a state cannot be formed out of another state "without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned, as well as of Congress." Notwithstanding this provision, the Federal government ratified the act of the people of the western coun- 322 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY ties of Virginia and the state of \\'est Virginia was admitted to the Union in 1863. The people of East Tennessee did not attempt to form a separate state, but for the most part re- COXFEDERATE CAPITOL AT RICHMOND mained in sympathy with the Union cause. By June, 1861, the Confederacy embraced eleven states and the seat of government was removed from ^lontgomery to Richmond. Virginia. The Border States. The other four border states did not secede. In Delaware there had never been a strong feeling in favor of secession, but in Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri the secessionists and the unionists were about equally divided. Within these states there were bitter struggles. In each of them the Union sentiment was strong enough to prevent the state from seceding, but they each contributed many troops to both sides. In ^Maryland there was strong sympathy for the South. \\'hen a Massachusetts regiment passed through Baltimore on April 19 on its way to Washington in response to Lincoln's call for troops, the people attacked them in the SECESSION AND THE CONFEDERACY 323 streets of the city.^ Several were killed on both sides and here was shed the first blood of this long and bitter war. Kentucky did not secede but she declared she would not join in a war against the South. In Missouri a considerable ele- ment, backed by the state authorities, were in favor of joining the Confederacy but many of the people opposed secession. This state, too, was the scene of bitter civil strife. For months Missouri hung in the balance, but in the end the Union view prevailed. Nevertheless, the Confederate Congress subse- quently admitted both Kentucky and Missouri to the Confed- eracy and these two states were represented in both Federal and Confederate Congresses. Two Points of View. Sectional strife as old as the Union had grown stronger and stronger, more dangerous, more un- reasonable. The conflict of northern and southern inter- ests had many times well-nigh broken asunder the bonds of union. The contest between the sections over slavery was the occasion for the breach. Eleven states had seceded and set up a new government ; twenty-two remained in the Union. The twenty-two denied the right of secession, and were fight- ing to maintain the Union, and to force back the seceded states. The eleven were equally determined to maintain their independence. Southerners did not fight for a redress of grievances ; secession, from their standpoint, had accomplished that. The loyal sons of the South owed their allegiance to their states and to the new union which they had formed and had sworn to uphold. Their attitude was that of a nation re- pelling dismemberment and conquest. They felt that it was their bounden duty to resist the invader, to defend their states, and to protect their homes. Thus American was fighting against American, each with a totally different conception of the war and each convinced that his cause was right and just. 1 For a time it was thought that Maryland would secede. James R. Randall, when he heard of the attack on the Massachusetts troops, wrote the beautiful poem, Morylaml, My Maryland, expressing the sentiment uf the South. This is one of the most appealing battle songs ever written. 324 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Population of the North and the South. In most respects the two belligerents were unequally matched. The population of the twenty-two northern states in i860 was about twenty- two millions, of whom fewer than one-half million were negro slaves. In the eleven states of the Confederacy there was a population of about nine millions, three and one-half millions of whom were negro slaves. With respect to the fighting population, the North was about four times as strong as the South. Many men went into the southern army from Mary- land, Kentucky, and Missouri, but these were about balanced by the number that joined the Union army from Western Vir- ginia and Eastern Tennessee. A large proportion of the white adult males of the South were brought into action at the outset of the struggle and later conscription acts were passed which at first made all able-bodied men between eighteen and thirty-five years of age liable to service ; and, before the war closed, older men and boys of sixteen were pressed into the ranks. Thus the South had to use its entire fighting popula- tion for its defense and only old men, women, children, and negro slaves were left at home to furnish the necessary sup- plies and to raise the crops upon which the southern people and armies subsisted during the war.^ Resources of the North and the South, Besides its ad- vantages in numbers, the North possessed far greater resources than the South. The population of the South was almost entirely rural ; New Orleans was the only large city within the borders of the Confederacy; there were few factories, and the people had to depend upon the outside world for their manufactured products and for arms and ammunition. The South's income came chiefly from her exports of cotton ; but before the war was half over it was almost impossible to ship 1 The abolitionists had thought that at the beginning of the war the slaves would make a wild stampede for freedom, but they remained quietly and peacefully at home at work on the plantations with no one to watch them but the women, little children, and old men. Some of the slaves also served the Confederate army as teamsters and aided in throw- ing up breastworks. SECESSION AND THE CONFEDERACY 325 cotton to market, and the value of the South's great staple sank to nothing. The blockade, moreover, prevented her from securing arms and ammunition abroad and shut out many of the necessaries of life. In the North, on the other hand, the industries were varied. The farms produced food in abundance and the factories and the foundries produced the articles needed for the life of the people and for the maintenance of the armies. The ready money and the open ports of the North put the resources of the world at her command. The population of the North and West was becoming more urban. New York City in i860 had a population of eight hundred thousand and the other northern cities were steadily growing. Immigrants had come into the country in ever-increasing numbers since 1830 and they swelled the population of the North and West, for few of them came to the South. At the outbreak of the war the Confederacy had no navy and nothing out of which to create one except its trained officers who had left the Federal service on the secession of their states. She had not a single ship of war and there were over three thousand five hundred miles of seacoast and almost two hundred river and harbor openings to protect. The navy of the United States was entirely inadequate for the blockade and the Federal gov- ernment immediately began constructing and purchasing new warships. The means of transportation within the Confed- eracy were not so good as in the northern states. The decade from 1850 to i860 had been a period of railroad building; twenty-five thousand of the thirty thousand miles in operation were built during these years, but by far the greater portion of the railroad mileage was in the North where the population was denser. Courage and Hope of the South. Despite the tremendous advantages in numbers and resources of every kind, it was by no means certain that the North would win. The' South was on the defensive and this was a point greatly in her favor. The whole South was animated by devotion to 326 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF (5UR COUNTRY principle and by the hope of a new national existence which would perpetuate the rights for which she contended and the institutions which were adapted to her material needs. The leaders of the South at once went to work to create an effi- cient army. They collected arms and ammunition and made provision for the manufacture of their supplies. Efforts were made to construct a navy; the first ironclad to enter battle was a Confederate ship; small, low, compactly built craft were designed to run the blockade. The people of the South pos- sessed a strong martial spirit ; they Were accustomed to outdoor life and physical exertion and they possessed wonderful en- durance — qualities which prove valuable in making good sol- diers — and they were fortunate in having superior officers in the army. When the states seceded the United States army seemed almost disorganized, for over three hundred officers left the old service and " went with their states." In the nature of things. the southern states had to summon all their strength from the beginning of the war, while the North with her splendid resources could prolong the struggle until the South was exhausted. The Confederacy hoped for foreign recognition and intervention, as the southern people felt con- fident that the w^orld could not long do without southern cot- ton. The sympathy of foreign nations seemed to be with the South ; moreover the blockade was a direct blow at the rich trade in which many of them were interested. Great Britain, the chief commercial power, refused to recognize the Confed- eracy as a separate government but in ]\Iay, 1861, she issued a proclamation of neutrality which in effect recognized the Confederates as belligerents, thus giving their cruisers the right to take refuge in foreigii harbors. Other European nations soon follo"wed the example of England, but the Confederacy failed of express recognition by foreign powers and conse- quently had no status among the nations of the earth. SECESSION AND THE CONFEDERACY 327 THOUGHT QUESTIONS I. State the causes of secession. 2. State the cause of the War Between tlie States. 3. Give the first area of secession. 4. Give the second area of secession. 5. On what was the Confederate Constitution modeled? Why? 6. What had been the attitude of the original thirteen states to- ward the right of secession? 7. Why did Alexander H. Stephens and some other soutliern leaders oppose secession? 8. What view did calmer men of the North take of the secession movement? .9. What events overthrew that view? 10. Why did all efforts at compromise fail? II. What did each side expect as to the length of the war? CHArXER XXII TWO YEARS OF WAR, 1861-1862 The South's Line of Defense, During the first year of the war each side was occupied for the most part in preparing- for the great struggle by collecting materials and organizing its armies. The South had the task of fortifying her long- frontier from the Potomac through Cumberland Gap and into the West to Columbus on the Mississippi, for hers was a work of resisting invasion. Troops, under Generals Benjamin Huger and John B. Magruder. were sta- tioned at Norfolk and on the l)eninsula formed by the York and the Janies rivers to guard the approach to Richmond. In the nofthern part of \^irginia General P. G. T. Beauregard was sta- tioned at Manassas Junction, which controlled two railroad lines, one leading southward to the Confederate capital, the other westward to the fertile Shen- andoah valley which was valu- able to the Confederacy as a source of supplies. General Joseph _E. Johnston, commander- in-chief of the Confederate forces in the East, was at Win- chester guarding the approach to this \'alley from the X^orth. Across the mountains the Confederates had a strong line of defense extending through southern Kentucky to Columbus on 328 GENERAL JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON THE SOUTH'S FIR pruubwick j-;,^ ^Seceded before April '•>, '";' \ Free Stales \ion States < I Slave holdiny States Route of Gen. ISragg Sherman TJ> •• " •• Hallick and (Irant — ♦ — ♦ " " Grant Railways l'. ()V IJI-'.FI'.XSI'.S TWO YEARS OF WAR 329 tlic Mississippi. General ZolIicolTcr was at Mill Spring- on the nppcr Cumberland ; and General Albert Sidney Johnston, com- mander-in-chief of the forces in the West, except in the extreme South, held Bowling Green, which controllcil the railroad line from Louisville to Nashville. Fort Henry on the Tennessee and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland were im- portant Confederate strongholds; although they were only twelve miles apart they were well manned in order to guard MOVEMENTS UK .XKMIES, l8()l the Tennessee and Cmnberland valleys, two great highways into the South. The Mississippi was fortified from its mouth to the ntirthern limit of the (On federacy. Preparations were made for the defense of important places along the coast, such as Charleston, Savannah. Mobile, New Orleans, and Galveston. Northern Plans of Operation. The North in the mean- while was i^reparing for offensixe operations. Her plan was to break through the defenses in the East and to take the Con- federate capital; to push the long frontier of the defense in the West farther and farther southward; to open up the Mis- 330 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY sissippi to the sea and thereby deprive the South of important means of transportation and divide the Confederacy. The Federal government declared a blockade iq^on all seaports in the South in order to cut off commerce with the outside world and compel the Confederacy to rely upon her own resources. Opposed to the Confederate forces along the frontier, were Federal troops at Fortress jMonroe under (General Benjamin F. Butler : the Army of the Potomac under General Irwin Mc- Dowell stationed in A'irginia just opposite Washington : and General Robert Patter- son facing General Johnston in the northern part of the Slienandoah A^alley. In the ^^'est the northern armies, under the command of Gen- eral John C. Fremont, were assembled to attack the Con- federate lines. Struggle for West Vir- ginia. Meantime the war had already begun. It will be recalled that the western counties of \'irginia were opposed to secession and had set up a new state government for themselves. About twenty thousand Federal troops, under General George B. McClellan. were sent from Ohio to hold this part of ^'i^ginia for the Union. Confederate volunteers to the number of five thou- sand, under General Robert E. Lee. were trying to hold the re- gion for the Confederacy.^ In a series of skimiishes covering but a few weeks and ending in the battle of Rich ^Mountain on GENERAL C.EORGE B. M CLELLAX 1 General Robert E. Lee had been oflFered the command of the United States army, but while " opposed to secession and deprecating: war," he declined. He declared he coidd not raise his hand against his native Vir- ginia. He then resigned his position as colonel in the United States army, and was made commander of the military forces of Virginia. THE FIRST IMPORTANT BATTLE OF THE CIVIL WAR 332 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY July 11, 1861, General !McClellan succeeded in driving the Con- federates back over the mountains, and thus \\'est Virginia was lost to the Confederacy. Battle of Manassas or Bull Run. The first great battle of the war occurred in Eastern A'irginia in July.^ In Alay, 1861. the authorities at Washington decided upon an invasion of Vir- ginia and " On to Richmond " was the popular cry throughout the North. General \\'infield Scott, who had "won fame in the Mexican War, now commander-in-chief of the Federal forces, ordered General McDowell with an army of thirty-five thousand men to begin the movement southward toward Rich- mond by attacking Beauregard at Manassas. General Pat- terson was instructed to prevent the Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston at \\ inchester from moving to the aid of Beauregard. About twenty-five miles south of Washington is Bull Run Creek, a tributary of the Potomac, and here on July 18, McDowell found the Confederates entrenched in a line about eight miles long defending seven fords and a bridge.- Beauregard's army of eighteen thousand was reenforced by troops under Johnston, who had stolen a march on General Patterson and reached IManassas in time for the battle.^ The united Confederate armies numbered about thirty thousand, although onlv about half of the forces on each side were actu- ally engaged in the battle."* On the morning of July 21, IMcDowell made an attack, which was stubbornly resisted. At first it appeared as if the Confederates would be defeated. The brigades of Generals Bee and Evans were falling back in confusion. But just then General Thomas J. Jackson's brigade came up. \Mien General Jackson was told that the enemy was beating them back he 1 The first engagement of the war was fought at Big Bethel, about nine miles from Hampton, Virginia, on June 10, 1S61. The Confederates were victorious. ■• General Beauregard and General jNIcDowell had been classmates at West Point. 3 General Johnston was the officer in command, but he left the manage- ment of the battle to General Beauregard, whose plan he endorsed. ■* Numbers of those engaged in battle and the losses are approximate throughout. TWO YEARS OF WAR 333 calmly replied, " Sir, we will give them the bayonet," and he firmly held his ground. General Bee thereupon rallied his men b\- calling to them : " See Jackson's troops standing like a stone wall. Rally around the \'irginians. Let us determine to die here and we will conquer." ^ Thenceforth the great soldier and marvelous leader, General Thomas J. Jackson, was known as " Stonewall Jackson." The Fed- eral movement was checked and the Confederates pressed forward. The Union troops, panic-stricken, finally fled from the field in a helpless and hopeless rout. There had been great enthusiasm in the North over the prospect of this engagement and a \'ast crowd had come out from Washington to " see the rebels run." After the battle these spectators joined the Federal troops in their flight and did not stop until they reached \\'ashington. Thus the first attempt to take the Con- federate capital ended in defeat.^ After Manassas the two armies remained facing each other in Northern Virginia for nearly a year and they both occupied the time in drilling their troops into effective fighting forces. General McClellan was called from his victories in West Vir- ginia to supersede General McDowell.^ Effect of the Battle. At the South the victory at Bull Run caused unbounded joy and perhaps too great a feeling of con- 1 General Bee was from South Carolina. He was killed in (his battle. ~ See Julia Ward Howe's poem, Baltic Hymn of the Refuhlic. 3 President Lincoln had stated in his blockade proclamation that any persons molesting the commerce of tlic United States should be treated as pirates. The Confederate privateer Savannah had been captured and her crew taken to New York City and put in jail to await trial. After the battle of Manassas, President Davis sent word that he would deal with an equal number of his prisoners in exactly the same manner as tlie Confederates were dealt with. After this the I'nitod States accorded belligerent rights to the Confederacy. GENERAL THOMAS J. JACKSON 334 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY fidence in the final outcome. ]\Iany of the volunteers believed that the war was practically over and returned to their homes, but the leaders of the South realized that the struggle had hardly begun and they exerted themselves to the utmost in strengthening the government within and without. In the North there was a deep feeling of gloom and humiliation and the people realized that a long and desperate war was before them. The Federal Congress authorized the enlistment of half a million men and appropriated immense sums for a more extensive campaign. Contest Over Missouri ; Battle of Wilson's Creek. IMissouri was the next great battleground of the war. Here sentiment was about equally divided and both sides were making de- termined efforts to hold the state. General Nathaniel Lyon, commanding the Federal forces, succeeded in pushing the Con- federates out of the northern and central parts of the state, but near the southern line of IMissouri the Confederates, under General Sterling Price, with reenforcements from Arkansas and Texas under General Ben IMcCulloch, held their ground. On August lo, at Wilson's Creek, near Springfield, the two forces met. General Lyon lost his life and the Confederates won the day. In October General Henry W. Halleck super- seded Fremont as commander of the Federal armies in the West and by the eiid of the year the Confederates had lost the entire state. Blockade Running. During the year 1861 the Confederacj' managed to keep in touch w-ith the outside world in spite of the fact that she had practically no navy and the Federal navy w^as blockading her ports. Daring little blockade runners, laden with cargoes of cotton, w^ould dart out of the ports and return with ammunition and necessary articles of commerce. Confed- erate privateers began early to work great damage upon the merchant ships of the North. A few Confederate vessels had been built, the chief being the Sumter and the Nashville. In order to intercept blockade runners and gain possession of some southern luirl)ors as coaling anil supply stations, Federal naval TWO YEARS OF WAR 335 expeditions were undertaken along- the ;\tlantic Coast. In 1861 Fort Hatteras in North Carohna and Port Royal ^ in South CaroHna were taken by the Federals. The Trent Affair. A serious foreign complication arose before the eventful year 1861 came to an end. The English government had issued in ]\Iay, 1861, a proclamation of neutrality, simply recognizing the Confederacy as belligerents, and other foreign nations soon followed her example. But the Confederacy was anxious to secure recognition of her independence and to obtain aid from foreign powers, especially from Fngland. President Davis sent ex-Senators James M. Mason of Virginia and John Slidell of Louisiana as commis- sioners to London and Paris respectively. They ran the block- ade at Charleston harbor at midnight, October 12, 1861, and reached Havana in safety. Here they embarked on the British mail steamer Trent for England. On November 8, the Trent was fired upon by the L^nited States man-of-war San Jacinto; the two Confederate commissioners and their secre- taries were seized and carried to Boston harbor and confined in Fort Warren as prisoners of war. This proceeding was a violation of the rights of neutrality — a principle for which we had fought in the War of 18 12. There was great rejoicing in the North over the event and Congress tendered a vote of thanks to Captain Wilkes of the San Jacinto, but in England there was an outburst of resentment at this indignity to the British flag. At once there was a demand for the surrender of the prisoners and for an apology and but seven days v^^ere allowed to the L'nited States for reparation. England threat- ened war and the situation was critical, but the United States cjuietly yielded the point and released the prisoners, who then proceeded on their way to England. The Opening of 1862. The year closed with " all quiet along the Potomac " and the James.- The Federal troops had 1 In the capture of Port Royal, General T. F. Drayton commanded the Confederate forces, while his hrolher, Captain Pcrcival Drayton, com- manded a vessel in the Union licet. - While McClellan was drilling his troops for so many months there was llashed over the wires day after day, " All quiet along the Potomac." 33(^^ STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY prevented the secession of the horder states and upheld the Union in \\'estern \irginia. The two important battles of the year, Manassas and Wilson's Creek, were victories for the South. The year 1862 opened with the northern frontier of the Confederacy still intact. But during the year the Federal armies pushed the southern defenses farther down the Mis- sissippi valley, and in \'irginia. in the region between the two capitals, the fighting was fierce and prolonged. In the \\"est the Union forces were almost universally successful. In the East the Confederates were the more successful. The amiy of the Potomac, under the command of General George B. Mc- Clellan. was still drilling and remained inactive until spring.^ In the West severe fighting began the first month of the year, and when 1862 drew to a close the two armies were still in the field. Battle of Mill Spring. The entire line of defense in the West was under the command of General Al- bert Sidney Johnston of Texas, then reputed to be the ablest of the Con- federate generals." Opposed to him were two Union armies. One con- sisted of one hundred thousand men, under General Don Carlos Buell in central Kentucky, and was consider- ably scattered; Buell himself was stationed at Louisville. The other armv, consisting of fifteen thousand men. under General GENERAL ALBERT SIDXEV JOHNSTON 1 In Xovember, 1861. General WinfieUi Scott was obliged by age to give up his position as commander-in-chief of the Union forces, and General George B. McClellan succeeded him. - Albert Sidney Johnston was born in Kentucky-, in 1S03. He was a graduate of West Point, and fought in the Black Hawk War. He resigned from the army in 1834, and emigrated to Texas where he served in the Texan War for independence. In iS.^8 he was appointed Secretary of War for the republic of Texas. He served in the Mexican War as colonel of the first regiment of Foot Rifleman of Texas. In 1S57. as a United States officer, he conducted the military expedition against the Mormons TWO YEARS OF WAR 337 Ulvsses S. Grant, was stationed at Cairo, Illinois.^ On Janti- arv 19, General George H. Thomas, coninianding a division of Buell's army, was attacked by the Confederate force at Mill Spring- on the Cumberland. The Confederates lost the battle and their leader. General Fe- lix Zollicoffer, was killed in the :!Ction. Shortly after this defeat the main body of the Confederates withdrew from Kentucky. Fall of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. The next points in the West attacked by the Federals were the two forts controlling the Ten- nessee and the Cumberland rivers, great highways which penetrated far into the South. A force from Cairo, under General Grant, trans- ported on a fleet of giuiboats com- manded by Commodore Foote, moved against Fort Henry on the Tennessee. The army at- tacked the fort by land while the gunboats shelled it from the water side. ]\Iost of the garrison, which consisted of fewer than three thousand men, escaped across the country to Fort Donelson, twelve miles distant, leaving only a hand- ful of men of the garrison under Colonel Tilghman to defend the fort. After a few days the little force was compelleil to surrender. Grant and Foote, with about thirty thousand men, next moved against Fort Donelson, a strong fortress on the (\nnberland, where there were about sixteen thousand Con- federates under Generals Floyd, Pillow, antl Buckner. with rare judgment and courage and for this service he was brevetted lirigadier-gencral. At the outbreak of the War Between the States ho was in command of the Department of the Pacific, but on the secession oi Texas he resigned his commission and entered the service of the Con- federacy. 1 General Grant had descended from Cairo and attacked Belmont on the Mississippi, but General Leonidas Polk, an Episcopal Bishop and Con- federate general, who held the strong post of Columlnis on the opposite side of the river, brought reinforcements and Grant withdrew. GENERAL ^1.VSSE^ 33^ STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY During the first day of the general engagement, February 15, the fire of Commodore P\iote*s gunboats \vas turned on the fort, but the Confederate response was so ter- rific that several of the giniboats were disabled and the fleet retired. The Confederates made a brilliant attack and opened a way of escape to Nashville, but for some strange reason were ordered back to the trenches and thus lost their vantage ground. Owing to the determination and tenacity of purpose which made Grant famous, the Federals soon gained the ad- vantage and nothing was left for the Confederates to do but to surrender or be slaughtered. To General Buckner's offer of capitulation Grant sent a demand for '* unconditional sur- render." General Buckner was forced to accept these terms and surrendered Fort Donelson, with twelve to fifteen thousand prisoners and all the stores and ammunition. Grant lost about three thousand men in the engagement.^ Shrinking of the Confederate Frontier. The loss of Buck- ner's army and the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson, which controlled two important highways into the Confederacy, were severe blows to the South. The Confederate line of defense in the \\'est now' had to be pushed two hundred miles farther south in Tennessee, extending from Memphis and Corinth and thence to Chattanooga. Columbus and other points in Kentucky were evacuated. Buell took up his 1 csition in Xashville, but not until the Confederates had de- stroyed their stores. President Lincoln now made Andrew Johnson military governor of Tennessee. The fall of Forts Henry and Donelson was the hrst victory of any importance Vvon by the Federals and there was great rejoicing in the 1 General Ulysses S. Grant was born in Ohio, in 1823. He was grad- uated at West Point in 1S43. He served gallantly under General Scott in the ^lexican War. Resigning from the army in 1854 he went into business, btit was never successful. In 1S61 he was appointed brigadier- general of Illinois volunteers, and was placed in command at Cairo. Ho won several brilliant victories in the West, and in 1864 he succeeded General Halleck as commander-in-chief of the Union armies. His series of battles against Lee and his siege of Petersburg led to the surrender of the army of northern Virginia. He was elected to the Presidency in 1868, and served two terms. He died in 18S5. TWO YEARS OF WAR 339 North. The country hccame interested for the first time in " rncomhtional Surrender Grant." Battle of Shiloh, P.v the first of April, Grant, with an army of forty thousanch had moved up the Tennessee River and was encamped at Pittsburg Landins;- in southern Tennessee. His plan was to take Corinth, an important railway point in north- ern Mississippi on the Memphis & Charleston railroad, a line of immense importance to the South. General Johnston saw that Corinth was Grant's objective point and determined to move forward by stealth and surprise the Federals at Shiloh Church before reenforcements under Buell could arrive. On Sunday morning, April 6, began the greatest battle ever be- fore fought on the western continent. At the close of the first day's fighting the advantage was with the Confederates. The Federal army was driven back to the river and the tents which they had occupied were in possession of the Confederates. The losses on both sides were very heavy, especially with the Con- federates, for they lost their great commander, Albert Sid- ney Johnston.^ This dire misfortune came just as Grant's army was about to be utterly routed, and in the confusion fol- lowing it the Confederates were unable to follow up their victory. General Beauregard, who was now in the West, took command.- Buell meanwhile came up with twenty-five thou- sand fresh troops and the weary Confederates were outnum- bered nearly two to one. On Monday they slowly retired from the field. The slaughter in this battle was terrific; the Fed- erals lost thirteen thousand out of upwards of seventy thou- sand engaged; the Confederates lost eleven thousand out of their forty thousand. Evacuation of Corinth and Opening of the Upper Missis- sippi. General Beauregard moved southward to Corinth, 1 In the afternoon, while Johnston was riding up and down his lines cheering his men. he was wounded in tlie leg, an artery being severeil. In spite of this he continued in the saddle thinking only of victory, but fainting from weakness he was taken from his horse and died in a few minutes. His body now rests in the state cemetery at Austin, Texas. - Beauregard was sick and had left his bed to take command of the army. 340 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY which the Confederates had strongly fortified. General Hal- leck. now in command of the Federal armies in the \\'est, advanced upon Corinth. On May 13. General Beauregard, being greatly outnumbered, evacuated the place in order to save his army from capture, and retired southward to Tupelo, a point controlling the railroad leading to Mobile. The taking of Corinth broke down the second Confederate line of defense and gave the Federals possession of the western end of the only railroad in the South which directly connected the Mis- sissippi River with the Atlantic seaboard. A Federal force, under General John Pope, supported by gunboats under Com- modore Foote, had succeeded, with great difficulty, in taking the Confederate fortifications on the Mississippi at Xew Aladrid and Island Xo. 10. Next, ^lemphis and Fort Pillow fell and the Federals had opened the Mississippi as far south as Vicksburg. Defense of New Orleans. There was now a period of delay in Tennessee, but in the lower Mississippi region important events were taking place. New Orleans, the metropolis of the Confederacy, was a point of great importance, controlling the entrance to the ]Mississippi, the great central waterway. In this city there were also cannon foundries which were of inestimable value to the South. About seventy-five miles below the city the Confederates had erected two strong forts on opposite sides of the river. Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, each garrisoned by a few hundred men and each provided with heavy gims. Across the river betw-een the two forts six hea\y chains were stretched, supported by a great raft of cypress logs, so that the river was completely closed. Gunboats, ironclad rams, and batteries also protected the forts and there were other batteries along the river banks as far as New Orleans, but the only ironclad warship the Confederates had — the Louisiana — was unfinished.^ The 1 The Confederates had the ironclad ram Manassas which was used in the defense of the city, but the unfinished Louisiana was tied up to her moorings during the action. TWO YEARS OF WAR 341 Confederate naval forces were now commanded by Commo- dore John K. ]\Iitchell; General Johnson K. Duncan com- manded at the forts, and ]\Iajor General Mansfield Lovell was in command of the forces within the city. Farragut's Attack on New Orleans. The Confederates had not completed the defenses of New Orleans when the most powerful naval force that the United States had ever yet mustered bore down upon the city. In February, 1862, the expedition sailed from Hamp- ton Roads. Admiral Farra- gut was in command of the fleet, which consisted of forty- seven armed vessels, eight of which were powerful sloops of war.^ Captain David D. Porter commanded the mortar boats accompanying Farra- gut's fleet, and General B. F. Butler was in command of troops to the number of about fifteen thousand to be landed on Ship Island - until the navy could open up the river. On April 18 Farragut began the bombardment of the forts and continued it six days with- out effect. At last he determined to run his ships past the forts. Some of the gunboats on a dark night had run up to the forts and cut the chains to open the way for the vessels. At two o'clock on the morning of April 24, Farragut started up the rix'er. As soon as the Confederates surmised the purpose of the Union fleet, huge fires were lighted on the 1 David G. Farragut was born in Tennessee, in 1801. He had been in the naval service since childhood. He was on the plucky little Essex in the War of 1812. When the \\'ar Between the States broke out he re- mained in the old service and won lasting fame by his capture of New Orleans. He died in 1870. - Ship Island had been taken the year before by a Federal fleet. ADMIRAL n.WID G. F.\RR.\GUT 342 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY river banks aiid fire-rafts of pine-knots were sent down stream. The river was lighted up and the Federal vessels being plainly seen were fired upon again and again. It was a terrific scene. The little Confederate fleet was destroyed. At five o'clock in the morning Farragut's vessels were beyond the forts steaming up to New Orleans.^ On May i the city surrendered, but the inhabitants first destroyed an immense quantity of cotton which they burned to prevent it from falling into the hands of the en- emy. General Butler with his troops now entered the city and set up a military administration of the severest type, but the Confederates still held Vicksburg and Port Hudson on the Mis- sissippi which controlled the mouth of the Red River, and the vast supplies of corn and cattle that were necessary for the sustenance of their armies could still be brought from Texas and Arkansas. Pea Ridge and the Sibley Expedition. West of the Miss- issippi there was but little severe fighting in 1862. In March a battle was fought at Pea Ridge, or Elk Horn, near the north- western boundary of Arkansas.- The battle was desperate and bloody and the Confederate general, Ben McCulloch, was killed.^ General Earl Van Dorn, commander of the Confed- erate forces west of the Mississippi, then marched his troops eastward to join the army in Mississippi and Tennessee. For a time there were hardly any Confederate forces in Missouri and Arkansas, but a guerrilla warfare was waged with un- speakable bitterness and cruelty. Another trans-Mississippi movement was the Sibley expe- dition. Early in the war the Confederates had tried to gain control of New Mexico. In the winter of 1862 General H. 1 The attack on New Orleans was the last engagement in which all- wooden vessels were used. - In this battle about thirty-five hundred Indians fought under Colonel Albert Pike on the Confederate side. Indians fought in several other minor engagements of the war. 3 General Ben McCulloch was born in Tennessee, in 1811. He went to Texas during her war for independence, and fought in the battle of San Jacinto. He received the first commission issued to a civilian in the Confederate army. TWO YEARS OF WAR 343 H. Sibley of the Confederate command, with a brigade of Texans, defeated the Federal troops under General Canby at \'^al Verde and then pushed on to Albuquerque and Santa Fe. His advance was checked at Apache Canon and, not having a sufficient force to hold the territory, General Sibley retired to San Antonio. Bragg's Dash into Kentucky; Battle of Perryville. After the evacuation of Corinth, in May, by General Beauregard, General Braxton Bragg was put in command of the Confederate armies in the West. He slipped around the Union forces under CAMPAIGN AROUND rERKVVILl.E Buell and moved his troops to the important position of Chattanooga in southeastern Tennessee. Making this point a base of operations, Bragg planned the reconcjuest of Tennes- see and Kentucky. Already the daring cavalry raids of Mor- gan and Forrest had spread terror among the Union forces in these two states. They cut railroads, seized telegraph offices, carried off horses and mules by the thousands, and captured ammunition and troops. Bragg now moved his army north- ward in two divisions, one commanded by himself, headed for 344 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Louisville and the other by General E. Kirby Smith who won a battle at Richmond, Kentucky. But Buell's army now moved northward along a shorter line and reached Louisville before Bragg. The Confederates turned about and as they moved southward swept the country for supplies. Buell followed and on October 8 the two armies met in an indecisive battle at Perryville. Bragg retreated to Chattanooga, while Buell took up his position at Nashville. Battles of luka and Corinth. General Halleck had been called to Washington to act as Lincoln's military adviser and as commander-in-chief of the Federal armies. Grant was now in command in the West and was holding Corinth. When Bragg moved northward into Kentucky, he left Generals Price and Van Dorn with a strong force in northern Mississippi to watch Grant. General Price seized luka. a village twenty miles south- east of Corinth, in September, and Grant sent an army under General William S. Rosecrans to dislodge him. The Confed- erates were forced back, but about two weeks later, on the third of October, the combined forces of Van Dorn and Price made an assault on Corinth, but after two days of desperate fighting they were driven back with great loss and retreated to Hollv Springs. Van Dorn was soon replaced by General John C. Pemberton. Grant was now left free to plan his campaign against Vicksburg. Battle of Murfreesboro, or Stone River. The Confederates, after their return from Kentucky, left their captured stores at Chattanooga and moved northwest to Murfreesboro, a town about forty miles from Nashville, where they went into winter quarters. After all their marching and countermarching the two armies were now face to face. General Rosecrans had taken General Buell's place at Nashville, and on the day after Christmas, 1862, with an army forty-seven thousand strong he marched against Bragg who had thirty-eight thousand men at Murfreesboro. This battle is sometimes called the Battle of Stone River, from a shallow stream which flowed between the two armies. It was a terrible conflict, lasting from December TWO YEARS OF WAR 345 31, 1862, to January 3, 1863. Fully one- fourth of the men en- gaged on hoth sides were killed and the frightful carnage ranks the hattle as one of the hloodiest of modern times. ^ Neither side gained a victory. Bragg withdrew his men to Shelhyville and Tullahoma a few miles to the south and went into winter (juarters. Both armies now remained inactive for m;my months. The Merrimac's Work of Destruction. While the land forces were waging bloody campaigns in both the East and the West during the year 1862. the navy also was playing an impor- ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN TUl', MKKKIMAC ANH TIIK IMON'ITOR taut part. The naval battle at New Orleans has already been related, but the most remarkable of all naval fights, and the one destined to revolutionize sea fighting the world over, occurred in Hampton Roads on March 19, 1862. This was the duel of the ironclads, the Mcrrimac and the Monitor. Before the War Between the States ironclad vessels had played no part in naval warfare and it was reserved for the Confederacy to bring the first iron warship into use. In 1861, when the ship ^ The Confederates lost ten thousand men while the Federals lost over thirteen thousand. '346 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY yards at Norfolk were abandoned by the Union forces, the steam frigate Merriniac was sunk to prevent her capture by the Confederates, but the vessel was raised and converted into an ironclad after the plan of Captain John M. Brooke.^ The ship was cut down to within three and one-half feet of the water line; a slanting roof covered with railroad iron formed her armor, and she carried ten guns. On March 8 HAMFTON KOADS, HERE OCCURRED THE FIRST ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN IRONCLADS this queer-looking iron-bound monster, rechristened the Vir- ginia, steamed into Hampton Roads where several of the finest United States warships lay at anchor. She first tried her strength on the Ciiuiherland and made such a hole in her side that " a horse and cart might drive through " and the ves- ^ Brooke had lieen associated with Commodore Maury when the latter was superintendent of the United States Naval Observatory. Both offered their services to the Confederacy upon the secession of their native state, Virginia. ' TWO YEARS OF WAR 347 sel quickly sank.^ The Congress was next attacked and de- stroyed, and other ships were put to flight. The Merrimac was practically uninjured in spite of the fact that one hundred guns from the fort had been centered upon her. Night came on, and terror and the Merrimac held sway in that beautiful Virginia harbor. The Merrimac and the Monitor. The Merrimac had planned to finish her work the next day, but a new antagonist appeared — another ironclad — the Monitor. The North had learned of the reconstruction of the Merrimac and had been making preparations to meet her with an ironclad. John Ericsson, the Swedish inventor, then in New York, built a vessel on a plan of his own. The top was low and flat, and on the deck was a strong tower, or turret, holding two of the most powerful guns then known. On the morning of March 9, the Mon- itor, looking very much like a " cheese box on a raft," steamed into Hampton Roads and engaged the Merrimac in a deadly duel. For four hours the combat raged, neither vessel seeming to make much impression upon the other; although the little Monitor soon sought the protection of the guns of the fort and withdrew into shallow water whither the Merrimac could not follow. Later, when the Confederates abandoned Norfolk, the Merrimac was destroyed because she was of too deep draft to ascend the James River. Other Naval Operations. The blockade of the southern ])orts was consideral)ly strengthened during the year of 1862. The United States were steadily increasing their navy and the capture of Confederate harbors decreased the numl)er of places to be guarded. In the fall and early winter of 1862 Galveston was in the hands of the Federals, but was recaptured in Jan- uary, 1863, by General Magruder. At the end of 1862 Charles- ton and Wilmington were almost the only important points along the Atlantic held by the Confederacy. Agents of the Confederate government in England built and armed two fast sailing steamers, the Alabama and the Florida; these vessels ^ See Longfellow's poem, The Cumberland. 348 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY and others did serious damage to northern commerce. The record of the Alabama commanded by Admiral Raphael Semmes was marvelous. She swept every sea in search of her prey and made the United States flag a rare sight. The Peninsula Campaign. The first movement in the East was the peninsula campaign. By March, 1862, the Army of the Potomac, which had been stationed in the forts around Washington and which had been thoroughly drilled and dis- ciplined, was eager to be led " on to Richmond." ^ General Joseph E. Johnston, with a very much smaller army, was still at Manassas guarding the approach to the Confederate capital. General McClellan thought that the number of parallel rivers between Washington and Richmond and the swampy nature of a large part of the ground made that means of approach to the Confederate capital exceedingly difficult. He decided that the best line of advance was up the old Revolutionary fighting ground between the York and the James rivers. But he had to protect the Federal capital lest the Confederates make a dash at Washington.^ General N. P. Banks was stationed in the Shenandoah valley and General McDowell was left at Freder- icksburg in front of Washington, but the latter was to rejoin McClellan as soon as the Confederates concentrated around Richmond. Yorktown, Williamsburg, and Seven Pines, As McClellan, with more than one hundred thousand men, moved to Fortress Monroe, Johnston moved from Manassas to the peninsula. 1 General George B. McClellan was born in Philadelphia, in 1826. He was graduated at West Point in 1846. He' held the rank of lieutenant in the Mexican War and served with distinction. His successful cam- paign in West Virginia won for him the position of commanding general in 1861. He was an expert in military methods and rendered excellent service in training the army of the Potomac. He was slow in action and very cautious, and this quality not suiting the administration, in 1862 he was removed. McClellan's soldiers and officers had great confidence in him and great affection for him. To them he was " Little Mac." He ran for the Presidency on the Democratic ticket in 1864, but was defeated. He died in 1885. - The protection of the capital is always an important matter in time of war. General Lee once made the statement that he had " a crick in his neck from always having to look back over his shoulder at Richmond." TWO YEARS OF WAR 349 McClellan spent a month in the siege of Yorktown and early in ]\Iay the Confederates evacuated the place and dropped back to Williamsburg where there was an indecisive engagement.^ McClellan's slow advance w^as of great value to the Confed- erates, for they employed the time in strengthening the forti- fications of Richmond. The Federal gunboats, escorted by the Monitor, came up the James and threatened Richmond from the river as McClellan slowly con- tinued his advance until he reached the Chickahominy. At this point McDowell was ordered to reen force him and, in order not to leave Wash- ington exposed, McClellan threw only a part of his army across the river. But McDowell did not come, and General Johnston, quick to take advantage of McClellan's weak po- sition, made an attack at Seven Pines or Fair Oaks, just about seven miles from Richmond. On the first day of the battle the advantage was with the Confederates, but Johnston was struck dow'n and totally disabled. The next day General Robert Ed- ward Lee, who had been acting as military adviser to Presi- dent Davis, succeeded to the command, but at the close of the battle neither side had gained a decided advantage. Now, how- ever, the " greatest general that the English-spealderal loss ahnnl sixteen tliousa.nd.^ Siege of Chattanooga. Bragg placed his men on the heights of Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain in northern Georgia commanding Chattanooga, and the tables were turned. Rosecrans was cooped up in the town and Bragg was be- sieging him. The siege lasted about two months, and Rose- crans's army was in danger of perishing. But relief came. Thomas superseded Rosecrans in command; Sherman came with the army that had taken Vicksburg; Hooker, too, came with a detachment from the Army of the Potomac, and General Grant came to direct the operations. Meantime Bragg had weakened his forces by sending Longstreet and his corps to oppose Burnside at Knoxville. The road by which sup- plies could reach the army within the city being opened,. Grant planned to take advantage of Bragg's weakened condition and make an attack. Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. On November 23, 24, and 25, Grant's army of about eighty thousand men attacked Bragg's lofty position. On the twenty-third Or- chard Knob, Bragg's center, was captured. On the twenty- fourth Hooker drove the Confederates from Lookout Moun- tain. During the battle the mountain was enveloped in a dense mist, and the troops could not be seen in the valley below, so that the engagement on Lookout Mountain is often called the " battle above the clouds." On the third and last day the Confederates were driven from Missionary Ridge. Com- pelled to raise the siege, Bragg retreated to Dalton in northern great majority of commanders on both sides, he was a gradviate of West Point, and had seen service in the Indian wars and in the Mexican War. He fought in nearly every important engagement in the West. His skill in routing Hood at Nashville showed him to be one of the ablest generals on the Federal side. ' It was after the battle of Chickamauga that the Confederate spy, Sam Davis, was captured and gave up his life rather than betray his mission. See Ella Wheeler Wilcox's poem, Sam Davis, 368 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Georgia. The loss of Chattanooga put the eastern part of Tennessee in the hands of the Federals and opened the way to Alabama. Georgia, and the Carolinas. Grant had dis- patched Sherman to the aid of Bumside at Knoxville. Long- street had already tried to take the place by storm, but had been repulsed and, upon Sherman's approach, he retired into Virginia. Cavalry Raids and Other Operations. During the closing months of 1S63 and the beginning of 1864, there was no reg\ilar campaign east of the Mississippi. But the coun- try was still threshed by the iron tlail of war. General Sher- man marched from Vicksburg. made an attack on ]Meridian. ^lississippi, and Selma, Ala- bama, destroyed railroads, and cut telegraph lines in both states, thus preventing the Confederate army in northern Georgia from drawing supplies from that region. His plan was to attack }kIobile from the land side, but this was prevented by Forrest. Sherman's di- vision of cavalry under Gen- eral \\'. S. Smith was de- feated by the Confederate forces under General Nathan B. Forrest and driven back to Memphis.^ Forrest con- tinued his raid northward into Kentucky but was re- pulsed at Paducah. He turned into Tennessee and captured Fort Pillow, which w^as manned by negro soldiers.- The 1 The cavalry is called the eyes and ears of an army. If such a force could get into the rear of an opposing army, it could inflict serious damage by tearing up railroads and destroying supplies. - General Nathan B. Forrest and General Stonewall Jackson are ranked CEXERAL W. T. SHERMAX THE WAR FROM 1863 TO THE END 369 Union forces tried to take Florida in February, 1864, but tbey were defeated at the Battle of Olnstee. Weakened Condition of the Confederacy. The Confeder- acy was growing" visibly weaker. It was only the marvelous devotion of her people that had made her slender resources hold out so long-. The soldiers were ill-fed and half-clad and poorly armed. Very often they had to depend upon tak- ing arms off the battlefields. Munitions of war from the first had been scarce and church bells and household articles, such as brass kettles, tongs, andirons, and sometimes precious heirlooms dating back to colonial days, were melted down and made into cannon. Toward the end of the war it was no uncommon thing to gather up the bullets from the battle- field and recast them. The South was one vast, prolonged Valley Forge. The blockade and the loss of the Mississippi, which cut the states of the East ofif from the supplies of the West, made even the barest necessities of life hard to obtain. It was almost impossible to get such a common thing as paper, and newspapers were often printed on scraps of wall paper. ^ Coffee was extremely scarce and people lived well on cornbread and " turnip greens." Thorns were often used for pins. Southern girls wore homespun dresses with chinquapins for buttons, and hats made of corn shucks, and the soldiers in the field were glad to get a pair of wooden- soled shoes. Confederate money was "not worth a con- tinental " ; a dollar bill had the purchasing power of only two -cents in gold. The South had fought brilliantly and undy- ing honors were hers, but she was becoming exhausted. Conditions in the North. The North knew no such priva- tion as was everybody's portion in the South ; her resources by some English military critics as the greatest soldiers, except Lee, in either army. When Sherman was making- his famons march to the sea, Forrest so interfered with his operations that he offered promotion to the general whose troops would slay or capture him. 1 There was a law passed by the Confederate Congress forbidding the killing of sheep, in order that the wool might be used for clothing. Many people did without meat so that the wool could be preserved. Z70 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY were abundant. The war was costing her two million dollars a day, but there was ample wealth to draw from as her ports were open to the commerce of the world. The soldiers were well-fed, well-clothed, and well-armed. Associations were formed to care for the comfort of the men in the field, to provide hospitals, and to distribute food and medicines. Conscription; Draft Riots. As has been previously noted, both sides were compelled to resort to conscription. In the South, as the war continued, the age limit was extended. In the North military zeal and enthusiasm flagged as the war dragged on. A draft or conscription act was passed in May. 1863, according to which names were drawn by lot from a list of able-bodied men; these were forced to serve or to hire a substitute. There was resistance to this act in many parts of the country, and New York City, in July, 1863, was for several days at the mercy of a determined mob. Troops were sent from Gettysburg to aid in putting down the " draft riot." The North also resorted to bounties to induce men to enlist.^ The South had brought very nearly her full fighting population into the field from the beginning of the war and her ranks had been terribly thinned by losses on the field and by disease. Exchange of Prisoners. There was another condition which further weakened the ranks of the gray. The exchange of prisoners had ceased. The South had always stood ready to exchange man for man, but at the beginning of the war the North refused, because such a measure would be a virtual recognition of the Confederacy as a belligerent power. Never- theless Union generals in the field often consented to an ex- change and in 1862 exchange became the rule. The South had always been hard pressed to care for her prisoners; she had not enough supplies for her own men in the field. For this reason Federal soldiers imprisoned in the South suf- fered greatly, particularly at Andersonville, a prison near ^ A bounty was a bonus or a gift granted each man in addition to his regular pay. THE WAR FROM 1863 TO THE END 371 Macon, Georgia.^ On the other hand, the |irisoners from the South suffered indignities in northern prisons and were ill-fed in the midst of plenty. Toward tiie close of the war the system of exchang'e ceased. The scnithcrn prisoners were vahiahle because their places were harder and harder to lill. owing to the drained population of the South. The North chose to allow her men to languish in smuhern prisons rather than to return soldiers to the Confederate army. ( leneral (irant said : ** It is hard on our men held in Southern prisons not to exchange them, hut it is humanity to those left in the ranks to fight our battles. Every man released on parole or otherwise becomes an active soldier against us at once either directly or indirectly. If we commence a system of exchange which liberates all prisoners taken, we will have to fight on until the whole South is exterminated." The Final Campaign. By 18O4 both sides seemed to feel that the end was near. There were now but two chief Con- l"ederate armies in the field ; the Army of Northern \"irginia in the East, led by Lee. and the army in the West at Dalton, under Johnston who had superseded Bragg after the loss of Chattanooga. Grant was called from the West to be made cc>mmander-in-chief of all the Federal forces and to wrest vic- tor)- from Lee; with him came General Philip H. Sheridan, his best cavalry ofticer. Sherman was left in command of the armies of the West and was to begin a forward movement from Chattanooga to Atlanta and the southern seaboard. Grant and Sherman had agreed that the forward movement of the two armies should begin about the same time. Grant's Plan of Attack. Grant planned to move on to Rich- mond by the overland route from Washington, and he under- took to lead the advance himself. There were to be auxiliary movements: General Butler, with an army of thirty thousand, was sent up the James to Bermuda Hundred, a point near ^ The Confederate authorities tried to make an arrangement by wliich medicine could be sent through the linos, and pledijed themselves to use sucli supplies only for the Union soldiers in their prisons, but the Union otBcials would not agree to it. 372 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Petersburg, to attack Richmond from that direction; another army, under Generals Sigel and Hunter, was to go up the Shenandoah valley, take Lynchburg and threaten Richmond from the west. Under this plan, with overwhelming numbers to execute it, Grant resolved to *' hammer out " the Army of Northern Virginia and in so doing he turned the country from the Wilderness to the James into one vast bloody battle ground. Battle of the Wilderness. Lee's army had been keeping winter watch on the Rapidan. Never had the troops suffered greater privation than in that winter of 1863 and 1864. But they kept their spirits up if they could not keep their hunger down. In May, when the Army of the Potomac, numbering about one hundred and twenty thousand well-equipped men, began to move, Lee did not wait for an attack. With his sixty thousand tattered veterans he rushed suddenly and un- expectedly upon Grant in the " Wilderness " of thick wood and tangled undergrowth that stretched between the Rappahannock and the York and here for days the armies wrestled in a death grapple.^ Both sides suffered severe losses. Grant could be reenforced, but there was no way of filling the Con- federate lines. With grim determination and iron nerve, never faltering in his purpose. Grant wrote to Halleck : "I propose to fight it out along this line if it takes all summer." Fight at Spottsylvania Court House. Lee was forced slowly back by a flank movement of his opponent who threat- ened to cut off his communications with Richmond. Grant now moved toward Spottsylvania Court House, but he found Lee there ahead of him, and here, on the tenth of May, began another series of deadly assaults and recoils. General Lee, in one of the assaults when it looked as if the Confederates were suffering a complete disaster, rode out in front of the line bare-headed to lead his men; but the soldiers 1 General Longstreet was dangerously wounded in the battle of the Wilderness, near the same spot where Jackson had been wounded the year before. THE WAR FROM 1863 TO THE END 373 refused to advance. " Go back, General Lee ! Go back ! " thev shouted. " My Texas boys, you must charge," Lee cried ; but they answered " Go back ! " ^ A sergeant seized the bridle rein and led General Lee to the rear.- At a point known as the " Bloody Angle " the hand-to-hand fighting was fiercer than was ever known before in all the tide of war. While Grant was grappling with Lee at Spottsylvania, he sent General Sheridan on a cavalry raid around the Confederate army, and in a terrific fight on May 12, at Yellow Tavern, within seven miles of Richmond, General J. E. B. Stuart received his death wound. ^ General Wade Hampton of South Carolina succeeded him in command of the cavalry. Battle of Cold Harbor. Lee had held Grant well in check, but he had to continue to drop back in order to bar the way to Richmond. Finally the two armies reached the old penin- sula battle ground of 1862, and Lee took his stand at Cold Harbor, a strong position near the Chickahominy, from which Grant in a short and terrific battle tried to dislodge him.^ The battle lasted less than an hour and Grant lost thirteen thousand men while Lee lost hardly as many hundred. Grant had not gained his point of breaking through the Confederate lines and on June 12 he was forced to move his army south of the James, join Butler's forces, and reach Richmond by first taking Petersburg. Lee withdrew within his lines and united with General Beauregard who had been holding Butler in check at Bermuda Hundred. Grant was a great general, but he had encountered a greater. In the battles from the Wilder- ^ Sec John R. Thompson's poem, Lee to the Rear. - It was men of Gregg's Texas brigade who recognized Lee and led him to the rear. 3 General J. E. B. Stuart, commonly known as " Jeb " Stuart, was born in Virginia, in 1833. He was a captain in the United States army ; but, when his state seceded, he resigned, and was soon commissioned lieutenant- colonel of Virginia troops. He was made brigadier-general after his gal- lant service at the first battle of Bull Run. He was called the " Rupert of the Confederacy," so dashing and daring was he as a cavalry leader. * This is sometimes called the second battle of Cold Harbor; the battle of Gaines Mill being fought on almost the same spot. 374 - STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY ness to Cold Harbor Grant lost as many men as Lee had in his whole army. Butler at Bermuda Hundred. The auxiliary movements which Grant liad planned against Richmond had been unsuc- cessful. Butler's army had come up the James and landed, but was unable to go farther because General Beauregard had erected fortifications across the narrow neck of land between the James and the Appomattox and had collected an army from the Carolinas to protect this gateway to Richmond. Early and Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley. The Fed- eral forces, under Sigel and Hunter, were equally unsuccessful. General Breckenridge had defeated General Sigel at New- market.^ General Lee dispatched General Early with fifteen thousand troops to protect his communications, to clear the valley of Federal troops, and to distract Grant from Rich- mond, if possible, by threatening" Washington. Early defeated the Federals at Monocacy River, drove them into West Vir- ginia, and made a move toward Washington, but found it too strongly fortified to venture an attack. Early continued his movement into Pennsylvania, burned the town of Chambers- burg, and prepared to join Lee with supplies. Grant, seeing the danger in the Shenandoah, sent Sheridan with forty thou- sand men to drive Early out and lay waste the valley. Early's army was weakened and Sheridan defeated him near Win- chester and again at Fisher's Hill, and forced him to retreat up the valley. Sheridan's campaign in the Shenandoah was waged chiefly for the destruction of property. He made a famous raid down the valley, obliterating the growing crops, and turned the beautiful country into a desolate waste. Early's army turned and made one more attempt to recover the valley. Li the early morning the Confederates crept upon the Federals at Cedar Creek and defeated them. Sheridan was absent from his command at Winchester on his way to Washington, but he hurried back to the battlefield and his men regained the 1 In this battle the students of the Virginia Military Institute took the field and fought with great bravery. THE WAR FROM 1863 TO THE END 375 ground they had lost.^ This closed the war in the Shenandoah valley. Siege of Richmond ; Battle of the Crater. In the meantime Grant had found that the fortifications of Richmond and Peters- burg were too strong to be taken by assault. On July 30, the Federals exploded a mine under one of the Confederate forts and as the Federal batteries commenced a rapid firing, the troops rushed forward to get within the Confederate lines through this break. An opening one hundred and fifty feet long, sixty feet wide, and thirty feet deep was made, and as the Union troops rushed forward they were met by a scathing fire from the Confederates. In this battle of the Crater, the Federals had many killed and wounded and several thou- sand of them were taken prisoners. The Confederate fortifi- cations were laid in an irregular curve from below Petersburg around to the north of Richmond, a distance of thirty miles, and to defend this long line Lee had at the outside sixty thousand men. Before him was Grant with twice as many. Thus situated the armies stood for nine months. Sherman's March through Georgia. About the same time that Grant laid siege to Richmond, Sherman^ was preparing to make his march to the sea. He had an army of over one hundred thousand men, while Johnston's force numbered hardly sixty thousand. But Johnston's plan was to avoid bat- tle as much as possible and weaken Sherman by striking and retreating. Sherman's object was to reach the seaboard, cap- ture Johnston's army, or keep it busy so as to leave Grant free before Richmond. In May Sherman moved from Chat- tanooga and attacked the Confederate works at Dalton, but ^ See Thomas Buchanan Read's poem, Sheridan's Ride. 2 General William Tecunisch Sherman was born in Ohio, in 1820. He was a graduate of West Point, but after serving in the Seminole and Mexican Wars, he resigned and went into business. At the outbreak of the war, he was superintendent of a military college in Louisiana. He went North, entered the Federal army, and commanded a brigade at Bull Run. His chief service, however, was in the West where he had entire charge when Grant went cast in 1864. He ranks with Grant as one of the greatest generals on the Union side. He died in 1891. 376 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY to no effect. He then moved his army to the rear of John- ston and forced him to retreat to Resaca, and after heavy fight- ing for two days Johnston had to move southward toward Dallas. Near this point, at New Hope Church, the armies met again and the Federals suffered a decided defeat. Next Johnston strongly entrenched himself at Kenesaw Mountain, which Shemian tried to take by assault but utterly failed. In July Johnston retired into Atlanta, which he strongly forti- fied in the hope of holding it; Sherman, meantime, marched on into Georgia, living on the countiy and spreading ruin wherever he went. John- ston had made a brilliant retreat which showed him to be one of the greatest of the Confederate masters of warfare.^ He had not risked a battle except where his smaller numbers could fight to advan- tage and he had inflicted heavy losses on the enemy.^ Fall of Atlanta. But there was great dissatisfaction with Johnston because he had not checked the " advance of the enemy " and because he had abandoned such a rich part of Georgia. He was removed and General John B. Hood ^ of Texas was put in command. Hood imme- 1 General Joseph E. Johnston was born in Virginia in 1807. His father served under " Light Horse Harry " Lee and his mother was a niece of Patrick Henry. In 1825 Johnston entered West Point with nine other young Virginians, among them Robert E. Lee, who became his life-long friend. Johnston fought in several Indian wars, and was with Scott in Mexico. In 1861, upon the secession of Virginia, he resigned his com- mission in the United States Army and was soon made a general in the Confederate Army. At the battle of Manassas, he personally led a charge with the colors of the fourth Alabama regiment in his hands. After being wounded at Seven Pines, he was not fit for active service until late in 1862 when he was put in command in the West. His retreat before Sherman was one of the most skillful and successful ever executed in all the history of war. After the war he served Virginia in Congress. He was one of the pall-bearers at the funeral of General Grant and later at that of Gen- eral Sherman. He died in 1891 at Washington, D. C. - See Ticknor's beautiful poem, Little Giffcn of Tennessee. ^John B. Hood was born in Kentucky, in 1831, He was a graduate GENERAL JOHN B. HOOD THE WAR FROM 1863 TO THE END Z77 diately offered battle and by the end of July he had fought three battles around the city — at Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, and Ezra Church. Sherman was now regularly besieging At- lanta. Finally Hood decided that the place could not be held ; he destroyed the supplies which he found it impossible to re- move, blew up the magazines, and marched out. Sherman sent this message to Washington : " Atlanta is ours and fairly won. Since the fifth of May we have been in one continual battle and need rest." Sherman hacf promised that the lives and property of non-combatants should be respected. The fall of Atlanta was a terrible blow to the Confederacy.^ Battles of Franklin and Nashville. General Hood now with- ROUTE OF SHERMAN S MARCH TO THE SEA drew northward toward Tennessee in the hope that Sherman would follow and thus the seaboard of the Confederacy would be undisturbed. But Sherman had plenty of men and sent of West Point. When his state did not secede, he went to Texas and led a Texas brigade in the peninsula campaign. He fought in the West under Bragg at Chickamauga, and commanded a corps under Johnston in the retreat before Sherman. He superseded Johnston in 1864. He died in 1881, in New Orleans. ^ Atlanta was then a small town, but it contained shops for the manu- facture of arms, which were greatly needed by the Confederates, 37^ STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY General George H. Thomas after Hood, while he persevered in his main purpose of marching to the sea. Hood met a portion of Thomas's army at Franklin, where a bloody battle was fought, and he then moved to the northwest. On De- cember 15 and 16 Thomas attacked him at Nashville and defeated him. Hood's already depleted army was so shat- tered and weakened that never again was it an effective fight- ing force. March to the Sea; Fall of Savannah. On November 15 Sherman started on his • famous march to the sea. Before evacuating Atlanta he burned the town and destroyed every- thing. The Federal army marched through the country, spreading out for a distance of sixty miles. Everything that could be used was taken by the soldiers and what they could not use they destroyed. General Sherman justified his policy upon the theory that the quickest way to end the war was to lay the country in waste. There was practically no resistance to this vast confiscating horde, for the only available troops at the time were a few Georgia militia and a body of cavalry under General Joseph Wheeler. By December the Federal army had reached Savannah. General William Hardee, wdio was in command, knew that he could not successfully defend the city and abandoned it on December 21. Sherman sent this mes- sage to President Lincoln : " I beg to present, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah with one hundred and fifty heavy guns, plenty of ammunition, also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton." Coast Operations. By the end of 1864 no seaport of im- portance remained to the Confederacy except Charleston, South Carolina. In August, 1864, Admiral Farragut -had overcome the small Confederate fleet and captured the forts controlling the entrance to Mobile Bay.^ While Sherman was still at Savannah the Federals attacked Fort Fisher, which guarded the city of Wilmington, and this fort also was lost. In the same year the most famous of the Confederate cruisers, the 1 The city of Mobile was not surrendered until April, 1865. THE WAR FROM 1863 TO THE END 379 Alabama, commanded by Admiral Raphael Semmes, was en- gaged in a battle with the United States' war vessel Kearsarge seven miles off Cherbourg, France, and was sunk. One by- one the vessels of the little Confederate navy were captured or destroyed.^ Campaign in the Carolinas. Late in January, 1865, Sher- man's anny, singing John Brozvn's Body, crossed the Sa- vannah River and entered South Carolina. The plan was for Sherman to move northward and unite with Grant. The Federal army seemed filled with the desire to wreak vengeance on the state that had first withdrawn from the Union, and ruin marked every foot of the advance. Columbia surrendered to the enemy and was burned. As Sherman advanced the small Confederate garrison in Charlestoc and other coast towns hurried to join Johnston who had been reinstated in command and was trying to assemble an army to resist the invaders. By March 20, 1865, Sherman was at Goldsboro, North Carolina, and Grant was at Petersburg, just one hundred and fifty miles away. So far- Sherman had met with little resistance ; the principal difficulty in his march had been the winter rains and swollen rivers and swamps. Johnston attacked him at Ben- tonville, near Goldsboro, and for some time the battle was doubtful, but Sherman finally drove the Confederates back. Both armies waited in North Carolina for the result of oper- ations in Virginia. Battle of Five Forks. The siege of Richmond was long and weary. Grant's strong force and his ample supplies rendered his ultimate victory certain. He extended his lines farther and farther to the southwest in order to cut off Lee's supplies that came by way of the railroad going into Peters- 1 The Shenandoah, next to the .-llabania, was the Confederate cruiser that inflicted the most damage on Northern commerce. Her crew was capturing United States whaling vessels in Bering Sea three months after the fall of the Confederacy. The Florida, another Confederate cruiser, was captured by a United. States vessel in a port of Brazil. As this country was neutral, the proceeding was contrary to the customs of war- fare. Brazil protested, but before any steps could be taken in the matter, the vessel was sunk in Hampton Roads, having collided with a United States vessel. 380 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY burt;" from that direction. Lee struck one last blow in the hope of delaying the seizure of this position. General John B. Gor- don of Georgia made an assault upon the Federal fortification known as h\M-t Stedman and captured it, but he was unable to hold it.^ Grant now made a move to prevent Lee's escape southward to join Johnston, lie sent Sheridan with his cav- alry to Five Forks, a few miles from Petersburg, to seize the railroad. Lee dispatched l^ickett's division to ])rotect his com- munications and it was o\erwhelnied by numbers and several thousand Confederates were taken prisoners. Fall of Richmond. Lee's army was so reduced in numl)ers that on April 2 the Federals broke through his lines, and he saw if he would save his army there was nothing to do but to evacuate Petersburg and Richmond which he had defended so heroically. On April 3 a portitMi of the Union forces en- tered Richmond and seized the i)rize for which they had striven for four long, bloody years. Surrender at Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865. Grant left a small force in Richmontl and moved on to the southwest in pursuit of Lee. Fverywhere the Confederate conimunicaticMis wore cut tilT. Lee was tnitnumbered and sur- rouiukHl. llis supplies were captured and his men were starving. Grant met him at Appomattox Court House w'ith a large army; Lee had not si> many as thirty thousand. " After four years of arduous service marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Anuy of Northern A'irginia has been com- pelled to }ield to oxerwhelming numl)crs and res(Hirces," " 1 General Jolin B. Gordon entered the Confederate army in iS()i, as eap- lain of infantry, and rose by rapid promotions to the rank of lientenant- general. When General Lee surrendered at .Vpponiattox, General Gordon eonnnanded one wint;' of his army. He was wounded eight times during the war, five times in the single battle of Antietam. After the war he served the State of Georgia as governor, also as United States senator. .'\s a popular lecturer he became widely known, particularly through his address on The Last Days of the Confcdcraiy. General Gordon wrote Nriiiiiiisci'iiccs of the Civil Jl'ar. He died in icx)4. - 1-ee's last order to his army began with these words. After the war General Lee was made President of Washington Ihiiversity at Lexington, Virginia, and this institution after his ileath was called Washington and Lee Lhiiversity. He died in 1S70. In his closing hours he lived over again THE WAR FROM 1863 TO THE END 381 SHOWING THE GRADUAL S(JUTUVVAUI) MOVKMKNT OF (ONFEDEUATE DEFENSES and on April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered.' Grant was generous and allowed most honorable terms of surrender. Both private some of the thrilling scenes of his great life. "Tell A. P. Hill he must come up," were his last words. Read the beautiful tribute to General Lee delivered before the Southern Historical Society of Georgia in irobably lia\T been an earlier restoration of harmony between the sections, and the South would have been saved much of the suffering' she was compelled to endure in the proc- ess of retx)nstruction. The assassin of the President lost his Hfe in trying to escape.^ Andrew Johnson, the Vice-presi- dent, took the oath of office as President April 15, 1865, a few hours after Lincoln breathed his last.- Capture of President Davis. President Davis had left Rich- mond on April 2, when General Lee was compelled to evac- uate the capital. The Federal government offered a reward of one hundred thousand dollars for his arrest. He was cap- tured in Georgia May 10 and carried as a prisoner to For- tress Monroe. Here he remained for two years and the " tall chieftain who wore the gray " suffered as a substitute for his i:)eople. He was indicted for treason and for conspiring with Lee and others to make war on the United States. Although he earnestly wished to be brought to trial he was never ar- raigned, but was finally released on parole. The failure to try Mr. Davis under the forms of law seems to have been due to the fear of the Federal authorities that u])on a test of the case in the courts the right of a state to secede would be estab- lished. Cost of the War to the North. The great war was over. The Confederacy was no more. On the part of the North, the w-ar w^as a magnificent display of material resources, of strength, and of devotion to the Union. The United States government had spent a revenue of nearly eight hundred mil- lion dollars on the war and incurred beside a debt of over two billions. In order to raise this enormous amount the govern- 1 On the same night in which Lincohi was shot, an attempt was made on the life of Secretary Seward also, hut thougli he was severely wouncled, he soon recovered. Booth was killed while resisting arrest. Four of the other alleged conspirators were condenmcd upon circumstantial evidence and hanged, among them a woman, Mrs. Surratt. - See Walt Whitman's poem, O Captain, My Captain. 384 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY ment taxed nearly everything. The tariff was increased in 1 86 1, bonds were issued and an internal revenue system was established, placing an excise not only on whiskey and tobacco, but also on clothing, food, and other property. The govern- ment was also driven to issue a large volume of paper currency or *' promises to pay," called " greenbacks " on account of their color ; and during the war this paper money depreciated in pur- chasing power until it was worth only about half its face value, reckoned upon the standard of gold.^ It is difficult to estimate the losses in men. Over two and one-half millions enlisted in the Union army and three hundred and sixty thousand lost their lives in the struggle. When the surrender came there was something like a million to be mustered out of the service.^ But the North gave of her abundance. Her wealth increased and not half of her fighting population was brought into the field. The United States meanwhile had grown in size as well as in wealth. Three new states had been admitted during the period of strife: Kansas in 1861, West Virginia in 1863, and Nevada in 1864. Cost to the South. In the South the great struggle was maintained by sacrifice unparalleled in the history of war. The South spent her whole strength and not until she had ex- hausted her resources of men and supplies did she abandon the struggle. The Confederate government had amassed a debt 1 As a consequence of the war debt and of disordered finances, the government established a new national banking system which at once afforded purchasers for the national bonds and increased the volume of currency. This system differed from the United States bank of Jackson's time. The government has no stock in national banks or any part in their conduct. It supervises their business, but is not interested as it was in the original national bank. National banks buy the government bonds and are permitted to issue currency based upon these bonds. The bonds are deposited in the United States treasury as security for the notes which the bank issues. - When the war closed, the United States had more than a million sol- diers in the field. On May 24, and 25, the armies of Grant and Sher- man passed in review in the streets of Washington. They made a column thirty miles long, and for two whole days the armies were passing in front of the reviewing stand at the White House, making a compact mass in the street from curbstone to curbstone. Soon all but 60,000 were mus- tered out and returned to their homes, where there was peace and plenty. THE WAR FROM 1863 TO THE END 385 of fourteen millions and there is no way of estimating how much more was spent hy sei)arate states ; many private in- dividuals gave their all. The South had sent nine out of every ten men of fighting age into the field, yet the total enlist- ment in her armies was in all probability not many more than six hundred thousand and more than one- fourth of these lost their lives in the contest. When the end came the South- ern soldiers returned to neglected and ruined homes to take up again the occupations of peace in a land bereft and bare. THOUGHT QUESTIONS I. Why had Lee's first invasion of the North been a disappointment to him? 2. In what respect was Gettysburg the turning point of the war? 3. What Federal victory in the West came at this time? 4. What was the im- portance of this latter event? 5. By what right did Lincoln justify his Emancipation Proclamation? 6. Contrast conditions in the South and in the North in 1864. 7. Name a famous Confederate prison. A Union prison. '8. On what motto did Grant advance on Richmond? 9. Name some railroads of great importance to Lee's army. 10. Give Sherman's words that express his excuse for his destructive march through Georgia. II. What were the conditions of Lee's surrender? 12. Did Johnston also surrender? CHAPTER XXIV RECONSTRUCTION OF THE UNION Andrew Johnson, President, 1865-1869 Ulysses S. Grant, President, 1869-1877 Schuyler Colfax, Vice-president, 1869-1873 Henry Wilson, Vice-president, 1873-1877 Lincoln's Plan of Reconstruction. The problems growing out of the War Between the States were as difficult as those that caused the conflict. The most perplexing question was the relation of the seceded states to the Union. Were they still within the Union or had they forfeited their statehood and become conquered provinces to be governed at the will of Congress? Toward the close of the war, Lincoln, who held the view that the Union was unbroken, had decided upon a plan of dealing with the southern states. He issued a general amnesty to all persons who would take the oath '' to support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States " and to accept the action of the federal government in abolish- ing slavery. Those who had left the service of the Union for that of the Confederacy and those who had taken a prom- inent part in secession were to be excepted from this general amnesty. Just as soon as a number of people within a state, equal to one-tenth of the voting population in i860, should take the oath of allegiance, a state government was to be set up and the former relations of the state to the Union would thereby be restored. Such was the simple, direct, and broad- minded plan of President Lincoln. Johnson's Plan of Reconstruction, But Lincoln was dead, and his place was taken by Andrew Johnson, our third acci- dental President, and upon him rested the grave responsibility of restoring the southern states to their former places in the 386 RECONSTRUCTION OF THE UNION 387 Union. ^ Johnson was an honest, able, and fearless man, but he was lacking in tact and in the talent of persuasion. He was a Democrat and a Southerner, though, like many men coming from the mountain regions of Tennessee, he opposed secession and gave his influence to the Federal cause. Of the twenty-two senators from the seceded states, he alone retained his seat. He was bitter in his denunciation of the southern leaders and threatened vengeance upon them for the part they had taken in the war. But when he became President the grave responsibility of his position made him more temperate in his views, and he resolved to carry out Lincoln's wise and pacific plan for the reconstruction of the Union. Congress would not meet for eight months ; and Johnson, believing that the sooner the southern states were restored the sooner peace and happiness would return to the land, immediately set him- self to the task of reconstruction. On May 29, 1865, he issued a general amnesty proclamation extending pardon to almost the entire citizenship with the exception of the principal leaders and most of them were promised pardon on the condi- tion that they personally sought it. He appointed provisional governors in the southern states and instructed the white voters who had taken the oath of allegiance under the general amnesty to elect delegates to the state conventions. New con- stitutions were framed, new officers were elected, and the Thirteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution abolishing slavery was ratified by eight of the southern states. By the autumn of 1865 the process of reconstruction on the plan laid down by the President was accepted by the southern states 1 Andrew Johnson, the seventeenth President of the United States, was born in North CaroHna, in 1808. He had no opportunity to attend school while a child, and after he was married his wife taught him reading and arithmetic. Settling in Tennessee, he followed the trade of a tailor, but being a man of great ambition, he was elected to many offices in his adopted state. In 1842 he was elected to Congress ; iu 1853 he was governor of his state, and in 1857 'le became a memlser of the United States Senate. In 1862, after the defeat of the Confederate armies in Tennessee, Lincoln made Johnson military governor of that state. He was elected to the Vice-presidency in 1864 on the Republican ticket, al- though he remained a Democrat in principle. He died in 1875. SS STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY and he declared them restored to the Union and ready for rep- resentation in Congress. The Thirteenth Amendment. The Thirteenth Amendment, abohshing slavery in all parts of the United States, had been proposed in the Federal Congress as early as April, 1864, but not until January, 1865, did the measure pass both houses of Congress. As provided in the Constitution it became nec- essary then to submit the amendment to the several states and to obtain the ratification of three-fourths of them in order to make it a part of the organic law. Slavery had already been abolished in the territories and in the District of Columbia and the fugitive slave law had been repealed. But the eman- cipation proclamation had affected only those parts of the country which were occupied by Federal troops, and the pur- pose of the amendment was to complete the work of emancipa- tion in all parts of the Union. It required the votes of eight of the states that had seceded, together with the other states favoring the amendment, to make the necessary three-fourths. December 18, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment became a part of the fundamental law of the land.^ Freedman's Bureau. The people of the southern states, after framing their new governments under the President's plan of reconstruction, interested themselves in the task of dealing with the emancipated negroes. Thousands of them were without homes or means of subsistence and their condi- dition was all the more pitiable because formerly their masters had shielded them and taken care of them and now the negroes were unwilling to accept advice and were beyond control. Following the desolation throughout the South many negroes had flocked to the Federal camps for food. In March, 1865, Congress created the " Freedman's Bureau," as a branch of the war department, to exist for one year. The purpose of this bureau was to care for the negro refugees, to give them food, clothing, and shelter, and to lease to them, on easy terms, 1 The emancipation of the slaves without compensation to the owners represented a loss of about two bilHon dollars to the people of the south- ern states. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE UNION 389 the abandoned lands in the South. But the system proved to be more harmful than beneficial. The negroes began to be- lieve that they would be supported without work and that the blue-coated armies would sustain them in idleness. Southern Legislation Concerning the Negro. The South recognized such a condition as a distinct menace to govern- ment, to property, and to person. The southern men, who knew the negro's character, understood that the way to help him was to require him under direction to care for himself. Ordinary prudence demanded that the negroes be controlled and disciplined until they could learn to use their freedom and in this way only could the negro be benefited and society protected. The southern legislatures, therefore, passed laws against vagrancy and undertook to compel the negro to work. Contract laws were also passed and an apprentice system was adopted by which minor negroes were bound out to service. The purpose of these laws was to initiate the negro gradually into the full rights of his freedom. There was nothing new in such legislation; in many of the northern states similar laws were on the statute books and were enforced. Subsequent events proved this legislation on the part of the South to have been wise and beneficial, but unfortunately many people in the North regarded it as an effort to deprive the negro of his freedom. Few of the northern people at that time had any comprehension of the negro's real condition. Besides, there was a considerable element in the North who felt that the South had not been sufiiciently punished for secession and who resented this particular legislation as evidence of a re- bellious and perverse attitude. Congressional Plan of Reconstruction. No sooner had Con- gress assembled in December, 1865, than a bitter conflict arose between that body and the President as to the proper manner of dealing with the seceded states. Congress distrusted Presi- dent Johnson because he was a Democrat and a Southerner and was displeased because he had assumed the right of di- recting reconstruction without consulting the lawmakers. Al- 390 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY lowing for honest differences of opinion, it was manifest that sectional bitterness and party ambition rather than deliberate statesmanship influenced Congress in the determination to set aside the reconstruction that had already been accomplished under the President's plan. The states that had been members of the Confederacy w^ere omitted from the roll call by Con- gress and their representatives were denied their seats, not- withstanding the fact that the vote of eight of these states had been necessary for the adoption of the Thirteenth Amend- ment to the Constitution. Entirely ignoring the President's action. Congress rapidly enacted several measures of recon- struction which were promptly vetoed. The Republicans, however, had a two-thirds majority in both houses of Con- gress and easily passed the reconstruction acts over the veto. In June, 1866, Congress submitted to the states the Four- teenth Amendment to the Constitution, which made the negro a citizen of the United States and of the state in which he re- sided. This amendment excluded from office, state or federal, all those who had at any time taken the oath to support the Constitution of the United States, or who had held civil or military office either in the United States or in a state, and had afterwards served in the Confederacy.^ This provision denied to the great mass of the white citizens of the South the right to hold office; but the disability of the citizen could be removed by a two-thirds majority of Congress. The ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment was necessary for the readmission of southern states to the Union. Congress passed also an act continuing the Freedman's Bureau in the southern states for two years and enlarging its powers. The Great Reconstruction Act, March 2, 1867. Tennessee ratified the Fourteenth Amendment in 1866 and was declared entitled to the right of representation, the first of the seceded states to be readmitted under the reconstruction acts of Con- 1 This amendment provided also that if negroes were excluded from suffrage, the representation of the state in Congress would be reduced accordingly. Another provision of the amendment was that the debts of the Confederacy were declared to be illegal and void. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE UNION 391 gress. The other ten rejected the amendment and Congress construed these acts as defiance of its powers and henceforth its deaHngs with the South were as unjust as they were un- statesmanHke. Congress adopted the view that the south- ern states, by seceding, had forfeited all their rights and had become conquered provinces subject to military rule. On March 2, 1867, the great Reconstruction Act was passed over the President's veto. This provided that the ten southern states should be divided into five military districts, each under the administration of a general of the army, who was to execute the work of reconstruction. The Freedman's Bureau was to serve as the guardian of the negro. As soon as a state constitution could be framed and ratified by the voters who could qualify under a severe statutory oath, which pre- vented many white citizens from qualifying, and the Four- teenth Amendment should be ratified, the state would be read- mitted into the Union. Carpet-bag Rule in the South. This act submitted the southern people to the greatest trial they had ever endured. Under the terms of the Reconstruction Act the great majority of the white men of the South were disfranchised and the principal voters were the negroes, who were permitted to participate in the reorganization of the southern states even before the Fourteenth Amendment giving them citizenship had been adopted. But the freedman gained nothing from his newly acquired power, for the South soon swarmed with un- scrupulous adventurers from the North, who turned the ne- ^ groes against their former masters and used them for base and dishonest purposes. These adventurers were called " carpet- baggers " because they were described as having all of their belongings with them in their carpet bags or satchels. Act- ing in conjunction with the managers of the Freedman's Bu- reau and having the support of the Federal troops, they set up governments in the South that were the most corrupt the country has ever known. They controlled the legislatures and plundered the states. Taxes were increased to such an 39-2 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY extent that the already impoverished men of the South could not pay them and were compelled to surrender their lands in default.- In the state of Mississippi alone six hundred and forty thousand acres of land were forfeited on account of the exorbitant taxes which the owners were unable to pay. Enormous debts were created; state bonds were issued for public improvements which were not made or which repre- sented but a small part of the outlay. During the period of reconstruction the debt of Louisiana increased from five or six million dollars to fifty millions. In South Carolina twenty- six hundred pieces of land were sold for taxes in a single county in one year. Similar conditions prevailed throughout the South. Here and there a few southern men joined in the general plundering and these became known as " scalawags." Readmission of Seven Southern States. In 1868 seven of the southern states, through the newly made negro voters and the carpetbaggers, adopted constitutions, ratified the Four- teenth Amendment, and were declared entitled to represen- tation in Congress. These states were North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas, and for several years yet the governments of these states remained in the hands of the adventurers. This carpet-bag ratification produced the necessary three-fourths vote and in 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment was declared in force. In Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas the white voters refused for a year and a half longer to submit to the conditions of ratifi- cation.^ The Fifteenth Amendment and the Readmission of Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas. Meanwhile the radical leaders in Congress had framed and submitted the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, declaring that neither Congress nor any of the states had the power to deny the right of citizens to 1 Georgia ratified the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, and was read- mitted to the Union in that year. But statutes were passed excluding negroes from office, and Congress immediately refused to admit the repre- sentatives from Georgia until these statutes were repealed. Not until 1871 w-as Georgia fully reinstated. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE UNION 393 vote on account " of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." It was agreed that those states which had not been readmitted to the Union should be required to accept this amendment also. In 1870 Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas ratified the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments and were declared readmitted. Their ratification made up the necessary three- fourths for the Fifteenth Amendment and in 1870 it became a part of the Constitution. Early in 1871 all the states were again represented in Congress — the first time since 1861.^ The Ku-Klux Klan. In sheer desperation the white men of the South determined to regain control of their state gov- ernments and put an end to the plundering misrule of the carpetbagger. In some of the states they gained control by peaceable means, in others they took the law into their own hands, and in some instances they resorted to violence. A secret society, known as the Ku-Klux Klan, was organized Uw the purpose of overthrowing the carpet-bag governments and protecting the southern people from indignities and out- rages. This mysterious brotherhood of the Ku-Klux rode forth in the night, wearing tall pasteboard hats and hideous masks, with horse and rider draped in ghostly white and the feet of the horses muffled so as to give no warning of approach. 2 As they came and went silently these night riders spread terror through the countryside. Often a thor- ough fright would result in submission but sometimes the Ku-Klux resorted to severe measures. The society grew until in every state there were " dens " of the Ku-Klux for the pro- 1 Notwithstanding this amendment several of the Southern states, by amendments to their constitutions or by suffrage acts, have excluded from the ballot large numbers of negroes who lack the necessary qualifications for intelligent citizenship. - This organization originated among some young men of Pulaski, Ten- nessee, just for the pleasure of association and for amusement. They called themselves Kuklos, the Greek word for circle, and their actions were veiled in mystery. At first they went about the country playing harmless pranks, but when they perceived the panic of fear they pro- duced some of them began to make use of their organization to control the negroes. 394 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY tection of the South. Other secret organizations were estab- Hshed for the same purpose. The Force Bills. The carpet-bag governments made ap- peals to Congress for protection and in 1870 and 1871 laws were passed called Force Bills, the purpose of which was to put an end to the activities of the Ku-Klux and protect the negroes. These acts provided for the substitution of martial law for civil law, and under them the elections in the south- ern states were put in control of Federal officials.^ Notwith- standing these difficulties the white people gradually regained control in the South. In 1872 Congress passed a general amnesty act which removed disabilities from practically all the southern leaders, but it was not imtil 1876 that the Fed- eral troops were removed from the South. The Congressional plan of reconstruction increased the hostility between the sections. Before the war the citizens of the South were di- vided in politics according to their views of public questions, but carpet-bag misrule made a solid Democratic South. French in Mexico ; Purchase of Alaska ; Admission of Nebraska. The year 1867, which marked the beginning of the merciless Congressional reconstruction in the South, was marked also by a tragic revolution in Mexico in which the United States played a part. In 1862 and 1863 France seized an opportunity to interfere in the affairs of iMexico.^ French troops were sent into the country and set up an empire under Maximilian, the archduke of Austria. Such a step was an open violation of the established Monroe Doctrine maintained by the United States since 1823. The government at Wash- ington protested against the French occupation of Mexico but was unable, on account of the \\'ar Between the States and its 1 Most of the carpet-bag governments had created " returning boards " which were authorized to pass upon all election returns, and as these " boards " were usuallj' composed of the leading adventurers it is useless to say that all contests were decided in behalf of the carpetbaggers. - In 1861 Mexico, having just passed through a revolution, declared herself unable for the time being to pay her debts. England, Spain, and France, her chief creditors, made a joint demand upon the ]\Iexican gov- ernment, which arranged to satisfy England and Spain; but France saw an opportunity to realize her colonial ambition and refused to be satisfied. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE UNION 395 consequences, to enforce its protest until 1867, when fifty thou- sand veteran troops, under General PhiHp Sheridan, were sent to the Rio Grande frontier. Alaximihan had already found it difficult to maintain his empire against the wishes of the people of ]\Iexico and was ahle to do so only by the aid of the French troops. Louis Napoleon, the Emperor of France, realized that he could not resist the Mexican patriots and the United States government combined and immediately with- drew his troops. Without the support of the French the new empire crumbled and Maximilian was captured by the Mexican patriots and executed. Thereupon a republic was reestablished in Mexico under Benito Jaurez. In the same year, 1867. the territory of the United States was expanded by the purchase of Alaska from Russia for the sum of $7,200,000 in gold, and the number of the states also was increased by the admission of Nebraska, a part of the Louisiana purchase.^ Tenure of Office Act and the Impeachment of the President. In 1867, at the time that the Reconstruction Act was passed over the President's veto, the Tenure of Office Act became a law in the same manner. This law undertook to prohibit the President from removing any officeholder whose appointment required the consent of the Senate. From the very beginning of the government the President had exercised the power of asking the resignation of appointed officers.^ But Congress was now embittered toward President Johnson on account of his opposition to the Congressional plan of reconstruction and the majority were resolved to control even his cabinet. In spite of this act, however, the President removed Edwin M. Stanton, the Secretary of War. Stanton refused to ac- quiesce in the removal and the President suspended him from the office, and put General Grant in his place. When Congress met the Senate refused to ratify Stanton's removal. Never- ' Alaska, having an area of 599.446 square miles, is nearly twice the size of Texas, and al)out one-sixth as large as the combined area of all the states. It is our largest outlying possession. - In the first Congress a law was passed to this effect. 396 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY theless the President declared his office vacant, and again Stan- ton refused to surrender his position. Thereupon the House of Representatives brought impeachment proceedings against Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, for " high crimes and misdemeanors." He was accused of faihng in his duty and violating the Tenure of Office Act. The real cause of action was his persistent opposition to Congress and its plans of reconstruction. He was put on trial, as the Consti- tution provides, in the Senate with the Chief Justice of the Su- l)reme Court presiding, and the senators constituting the jury. The trial lasted from March 5, 1868, to May 16 following, and the President was acquitted by one vote.-*^ The Atlantic Cable. During this political turmoil there was an achievement of the most far-reaching consequences to the civilization of the world — the laying of the Atlantic cable. In 1858, during the dark days just preceding the War Between the States, the first cable was laid by Cyrus W. Field, reaching from Newfoundland to Ireland, a distance of seven- teen hundred miles, but after being in operation for several weeks it proved a failure. In 1865 Field obtained capital, chiefly from England, for another attempt, and in 1866 a British ship, the Great Eastern, was used to lay the cable which proved successful.^ The Eastern and the Western worlds were joined together, and for the purpose of communication time and space were practically annihilated. Election of Grant. Just four days after the close of Presi- dent Johnson's trial the Republicans, endorsing the reconstruc- tion policy of Congress, unanimously nominated General U. S. Grant for the Presidency and Schuyler Colfax of Indiana for the Vice-presidency. The Democrats opposed this policy and nominated Horatio Seymour of New York for the Presidency and F. P. Blair of Missouri for the Vice-presidency. Those 1 The Constitution provides that there shall be a two-thirds majority to sustain charges of impeachment. Thirty-five senators voted to depose the President, and nineteen voted against it. - Matthew F. Maury's deep sea charts were an invaluable aid to Field in his enterprise ; he said that Maury furnished the brains and he did the work. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE UNION 397 southern states that had been readmitted to the Union in 1868 were controlled by negro voters and they cast Republi- can majorities. Grant was elected and on March 4, 1869, he took the oath of office. The country hoped for peace under the plain soldier who was trusted alike by Congress and the people. Comparative Quiet in Grant's First Administration. Dur- ing President Grant's first term, Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas were readmitted in 1870 and the Union was again restored complete as before the war. The news of the Ku- Klux disturbances in the South and the appeals of the carpet- bag governments caused the sending of troops to the south- ern states and the passage of the Force Bills as heretofore related.^ .The census of 1870 showed a population of thirty- eight millions, an increase of seven millions since i860 in spite of the war. The gain in the South was about eight hundred thousand. Crops were abundant and industries were rapidly reviving. Great Fires. Terrible fires swept over different parts of the land in 1871 and 1872. In the fall of 1871, fire broke out in a stable in the w^estern part of Chicago and a high wind soon swept it over the city, producing one of the most dis- astrous conflagrations of modern times. For three days it raged, destroying two hundred million dollars in property and leaving one hundred thousand people homeless. But Chicago rose from her ashes in a marvelously short time into a larger and greater city. In the fall of 187 1 forest fires swept over Wisconsin, and in 1872 a large part of the city of Boston was burned. As the news of these disasters flashed over the wires the people responded with generous relief for the suf- fering regions and the calamities served in a large degree to revive the spirit of national sympathy. 1 General Grant responded to the appeals of the carpetbag govern- ments for troops, but it was a disagreeable duty, and he said that he was heartily sick and tired of the election troubles in the South. Grad- ually the North came to realize that a government that had to be supported by bayonets was hardly worth supporting. 398 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Treaty of Washington, 1871. In the year 187 1 a misunder- standing which had arisen between the United States and Great Britain, growing out of the war between the North and the South, was adjusted to the satisfaction of both countries. Great Britain had been neutral during the struggle, but she had recognized the Confederacy as a belligerent power and most of the Confederate privateers and cruisers had been built in English ship-yards and fitted out in English ports. The government at Washington had resented this attitude upon the part of Great Britain and now demanded that the British government pay in part at least for the damage wrought by the Confederate ships. The demands were described under the general head of the " Alabama Claims." ^ In the spring of 1871 a joint high commission was appointed, consisting of leading citizens of both countries, to sit at Washington to negotiate a settlement of this and other questions in dispute. In May, 1871, this commission reached an agreement known as the Treaty of Washington, which both countries accepted. It provided for the settlement by arbitration of the mat- ters in dispute between the two governments : first, the Alabama Claims ; second, the boundary line between Van- couver Island and the United States which was vaguely de^ fined in the treaty by which we acquired our part of Oregon ; third, the rights of American fishermen in Canadian waters. The Alabama Claims were to be settled by a board of arbitra- tion consisting of five persons appointed by five nations, to-wit : The United States, England, Italy, Brazil, and Switzerland. The board met at Geneva, in Switzerland, and in September, 1872, it reached a decision as follows : that Great Britain should pay the United States the sum of fifteen million five hundred thousand dollars in settlement of the Alabama Claims. The second matter in dispute, the boundary question, was referred to the Emperor of Germany, who decided that a small group of islands in Puget Sound belonged to the United States. ^ The Confederate cruisers that did the greatest damage to Northern commerce were the Alabama, the Shenandoah, and the Florida. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE UNION 399 The third matter, the fisheries question, was settled by a board of arbitration consisting of three persons appointed by the President of the United States and the Queen of England. These met at Halifax, Nova Scotia, but not until 1877, ^^^^ rendered their decision in the same year to the effect that the United States should pay to Great Britain five million five hun- dred thousand dollars for the right to fish inshore along the Canadian coasts. The United States paid the sum although it was considered exorbitant; in 1885 this treaty expired. Election of 1872. As Grant's first term drew to a close a faction known as the " Liberal Republicans " separated from the Republican party, condemned its reconstruction policy, and joined the Democrats in making charges of inefficient adminis- tration and corruption. The Liberal Republicans nominated Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, for the Pres- idency and the Democrats supported him.^ The Republicans again nominated Grant for the first place on their ticket, but selected Henry Wilson of Massachusetts for the second place. Grant and Wilson were elected. Pacific Railroad and the Credit Mobilier. It was not long before the country realized that the charges of corruption in the administration were well founded, though they did not touch the President himself. A number of unsavory scandals were unearthed which shocked and disgusted the people. The first case that came to public attention was the use of bribery by the Credit Mobilier.^ In 1869 the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific, two railway lines started in 1863, were com- pleted. These railroads had conquered nature's barriers of dry plains and lofty mountains of the middle continent and with bands of steel had bound together the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. A corporation known as the Credit Mobilier 1 Horace Greeley was nominated for the Presidency, and Benjamin Gratz Brown of Missouri for the Vice-presidency. Before the election Greeley's health failed as a result of the excitement of the campaign, and he died November 29, 1872. -The corporation for the construction of the Pacific Railways was modeled after a French company, known as the Credit Mobilier (kra'de' mo-be'lya'). 400 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY started these trans-continental railways and Congress had made immense grants of lands and other concessions to this com- pany.^ During the campaign charges had been openly made by the Democrats that Colfax, the Vice-president, and Wilson, the candidate for the Vice-presidency, the speaker of the House, and a number of senators and representatives had accepted shares of the stock in the construction company in considera- tion for their aid in securing grants and favorable legislation. On investigation only two members of the House and one of the Senate were found guilty of misconduct; they were formally censured but were not expelled. People generally be- lieved that more had been covered up than had been revealed. Back Salary Grab. The disgust of the people was intensi- fied by the Salary Act of Congress in 1873, popularly called the " back salary grab." The salary of the President was advanced from twenty-five thousand dollars to fifty thousand a year and the salaries of a large number of other federal officers were raised. In the case of the members of Congress the in- crease of salaries was made to date back two years. This part of the salary act was so obnoxious that it was repealed at the next session of Congress.^ The Whiskey Ring ; Impeachment of Belknap. A " whis- key ring" was brought to light in 1875. In many of the western states it was discovered that distillers and government officials had made a bargain to cheat the government out of the internal revenue on distilled spirits. In two years they de- frauded the United States in the sum of more than four million dollars. Investigation revealed the most glaring frauds and demonstrated that the Secretary of War, W. W. Belknap, had received something like twenty-five thousand dollars in bribes. Articles of impeachment were preferred by the House but 1 Other railroads were rapidly built in the West. Before the coming of the railroad all supplies had to be carried on horse back or in wagons over long and toilsome routes. Such transportation made the cost of goods very high. A hundred pound sack of flour sold for eighty-five dol- lars, and other necessaries were proportionately dear. 2 The advance in the President's salary was allowed to stand. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE UNION 401 the secretary resigned a few hours before his trial was to be- gin in the Senate. Panic of 1873; Financial Legislation. In 1873 a disas- trous panic swept over the country. In sparsely settled dis- tricts in the West railways had been built too rapidly. In all, more than a billion dollars had been spent in railway con- struction and this money was as yet yielding only slight re- turns or no returns at all. There were many commercial fail- ures and universal distress.^ In 1873 an act was passed "demonetizing" silver; that is, discontinuing the coinage of the silver dollar. Subsequently there was a decline in the price of silver and many people regarded this act as one of the causes of the panic and urged the restoration of silver coinage. In 1875 Congress passed an act for the re- sumption of specie payments ; that is, all paper money was to be redeemed in coin. This act was to go into effect within four years. Indian Troubles. President Grant desired to adopt a con- ciliatory policy towards the Indians, but in spite of his effort troubles with various tribes now beset the country. The Mo- doc Indians refused to be removed from their reservation near Klamath Lake in southern Oregon and it required nearly a year of hard fighting to drive them from their hiding-places in the lava beds of that region. In the summer of 1876 serious trouble broke out among the Sioux Indians, led by their chiefs. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Gold had been discovered in their reservation in the Black Hills on the border-line of Wy- oming and Dakota and the rush of miners into the country caused the Indians to take to the warpath. On the Little Big Horn River in Montana several thousand Sioux Indians were assembled. An army was sent against them, a detach- ment of which under General George A. Custer, a noted cav- alry leader, was surrounded and destroyed to a man. Finally, 1 In 1869 a financial crisis had developed, and on Friday, September 24, 1869 — Black Friday it was called — firm after firm failed, and fortunes were swept away almost in a breath. September 18, 1873, is known as the " Second Black Friday." 402 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY after months of fighting, the Indians were brought to terms, but Sitting Bull escaped into Canada. In 1877 gold was discovered on the Nez Perces reservation in Wallowa valley in Oregon, and as miners rushed in a new treaty was forced upon the Indians by which they agreed to surrender all but a reservation at Lapwai in Idaho. Chief Joseph refused to abide by the treaty and his refusal led to the Nez Perces War in which severe defeats were inflicted upon the United States troops. The Indians attempted to escape into Canada and their masterly retreat was much admired by the ofificers opposed to them — they marched and fought like white troops, did no scalping and killed no women or chil- dren. They were pursued one thousand and five hundred miles through Idaho and Montana and were forced to surrender by the arrival of General Miles when within a short distance of the Canadian border. Joseph surrendered on condition that the Nez Perces be allowed to return to their own country ; but they were deported to the Indian Territory where in seven days they were reduced by disease from four hundred and fifty to two hundred and eighty. They were afterwards taken north to the state of Washington. The Disputed Election of 1876. General Grant's adminis- tration was drawing to a close with a sad record of error and corruption. There was no taint upon the President himself, but the recent practices of the Republican party caused a revolt against it and the Democrats hoped much from the presidential election of 1876. Already they had a majority in the House of Representatives. Declaring their purpose to reform the government, they nominated Samuel Jones Tilden of New York for the Presidency and Thomas A. Hendricks of Ohio for the Vice-presidency. In the face of its recent mistakes the Republican party was now clearly on the defensive and it re- sorted to the device of "waving the bloody shirt;" that is, appealing to the prejudices still lingering as a result of the war. Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio was the Republican nom- inee for the Presidencv, and William A. Wheeler of New York RECONSTRUCTION OF THE UNION 403 for the Vice-presidency. Two other parties presented candi- dates for election, the Independent or Greenback party and the newly formed Prohibition party, but neither polled many votes. ^ Tilden received a popular majority of one cjuarter million votes, and the electoral vote of every Southern state except three, where the election was in dispute with charges of violence and fraud on both sides. These states were Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina. In each of these cases the Republicans, through the " return- ing boards," declared the election in their favor, and thereby secured the electoral vote for Hayes who was declared elected on the face of the returns.^ The Democrats refused to ac- cept the result, and as inauguration day approached intense excitement prevailed throughout the country. At last both sides agreed to a settlement by a committee of fifteen, known as the Electoral Commission, created by an act of Con- gress. Five of the members were to be chosen from the House, five from the Senate, and five from the Supreme Court. Seven of the commissioners were Democrats and eight were Repub- licans. The Commission, by a majority of one, declared that Hayes was elected and he w^as promptly inaugurated.^ Centennial Exposition ; Admission of Colorado. The year 1876 was the centennial anniversary of our independence, and the event was celebrated by a great industrial exposition which ^ The Greenback party nominated Peter Cooper, of New York, for President, and the Prohibitionists nominated Green Clay Smith, of Ken- tucky. - In the election of 1876, Louisiana had gone Democratic by a majority of 7,876; but a returning board of one white man and two negroes decided that some of the votes had been fraudulently cast and, therefore, threw out enough Democratic counties to give the electoral vote of the state to Hayes. The returning boards in South Carolina and Florida were equally efficient. In Oregon the three Republican electors had a majority, but, on the claim that one of them was a federal officeholder and ineligible, the Democratic governor gave a certificate of election to one Democratic and two Republican electors. The three Republican electors were certified to by the Secretary of State, who was the canvassing officer of the state by statute. ^ The final decision of the Electoral Commission was not declared until after four o'clock in the morning of March 2. Hayes took the oath of office on Saturday, March 3, and the inaugural ceremonies were held on Monday, March 5. 404 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY was held at Philadelphia.^ Foreign governments were invited to aid in making this exposition a success, and thirty-three responded. Some of these governments generously lent their treasures of art to adorn the galleries of our exposition. Great crowds attended the fair from May until Novemher, and the whole world was impressed with the vast resources of the great Republic of the West. Colorado, which was formed partly from the Louisiana purchase and partly from the Mexi- can cession, was admitted in the same year as the Centennial Exposition, and is called the Centennial State. THOUGHT QUESTIONS I. State Lincoln's plan of reconstruction. 2. State the plan of Congress. 3. What caused the quarrel between Johnson and Congress? How was this quarrel a calamity to the South? 5. \\"hat was the Freedman's Bu- reau? 6. What was its effect upon conditions in the South? 7. Who was a " carpet bagger " and why so called ? 8. What was the "' Ku Klux Klan "? 9. What effect did the " Iron Clad Oath " have upon the political situation in the South? 10. What caused the split in the Republican party in 1872? II. How had Russia acquired Alaska? 12. \\"hy was she willing to sell it? 13.' In view of recent events, has the price we paid for Alaska proved a bargain? 14. What caused the panic of 1873? 15. What great triumph in communication and what triumph in transportation came dur- ing the ten years following the war? 16. What famous southern states- man was orator at the Centennial Celebration? 17. Who wrote the cen- tennial ode for the occasion? SOURCE MATERIAL General References: Stephens, U'ar Bctzccivi the States; Davis, Rise and Fall of the dyiifederacy; Ropes. 5"/o;v of the Civil War; Smith, Parties and Slavery; Guy Carleton Lee, True History of the Civil U'ar; Reed, The Brother's U'ar; Fiske, The Mississipl^i J 'alley in the Civil War; Wilson, Division and Reunion and The American People. IV & V: Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress; Gordon, Reminiscences of the Civil War; Lee, Life and Letters of R. E. Lee; . Battles and Leaders of the Cizil JJ'ar; ^ In 1853 America held her first world's fair at New York, when Franklin Pierce was President. The countries of Europe did not respond very readily to the efforts of the United States, and financially the fair was a failure. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE UNION 405 Stamvood, The Presidency; Mahan, Gulf and Inland Waters; Forbes, Artist's Story of the Great War; Hosmer, The Appeal to Arms and The Outcome of the Civil War; Maury, Recollections of a Virginian; Long- street, Prom Manassas to Appomattox; Hood, Advance and Retreat; John- ston, Narrative of Military Operations; Trent, Southern Statesmen and The Tragedy of Reconstruction; Raphael Semmes, The Kcarsarge and the Alabama; Burgess, Civil War and Reconstruction; Taylor, Destruction and Reconstruction ; Biographies of Davis, Lincoln, Lee, Jackson, etc. Sources AND Other Readings: Carpenter, Six Months at the While House; Harrison, Recollections, Grave and Gay, in Scribner's. igii ; Harris, On the Plantation ; Cable, The Cavalier and John March, Southerner; S. E. White, The Westerners : Ticknor, The Virginians of the Valley; Henty, IVith Lee in Virginia; Church, Ericsson; Wharton, JVar Songs and Poems; Stoddard, Burial of Lincoln; Lowell, Commemoration Ode; Hub- bard, Centennial Oration; Whittier, Centennial Hymn; Gibbons, Centen- nial Prayer; Page, Two Little Confederates, The Burial of the Guns, Red Rock, and In Ole Virginia; Eggleston, American War Ballads; R. E. Lee, Letter to Governor Letcher, To the Trustees of Washington College, Resigning his Commission in the United States Army, Description of Trav- eler. Last Order to His Army; Wattcrson, Abraham Lincoln; J. G. Saxe, Hoii< Cyrus Laid the Cable; Lincoln, Inaugural Addresses and Gettysburg Address; Palmer, Stonewall Jackson's Way; Finch, The Blue and the Gray; W. H. Thompson, High Tide at Gettysburg; Hayne, The Stricken South and The Bombardment of Vicksburg; Timrod, The Cotton Boll; Allan, The Army of Northern J'irginia; Charles Scott, The Women of The Confederacy; Stephen D. Lee, Eulogy of General John, B. Gordon; John Sharp Williams, A Southern Gentleman; Daniel, A Follower of Lee and The South is Rising Up; Eggleston, Southern Soldier Stories; ^lark Twain, Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer; Stiles, Four Years Under Marse Robert; Cooke, JVearing the Gray and Hilt to Hilt and Other Stories; Avary, A Virginia Girl in the Civil War; Chestnutt, A Diary from Dixie; Grady, The Nezif South; Hall, Half Hours in Southern History; Churchill, The Crisis; Fox, Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come; Johnston, The Long Roll; Preston, The Shade of the Trees; Moore, Sam Davis; Miles, God Save the South; Dabney, The Mortal ]]\ninding of General Jackson; Davis. Fareivell Address to the United States Senate; Toombs, Farewell Address to the United States Senate. Pictures: Magazines and papers for 1911 ; St. Gaudens, Lincoln (statue) ; Valentine, Recumbent Statue of Lee. THE REUNITED STATES 1876-I912 CHAPTER XXV DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION Rutherford B. Hayes, President, 1877-1881 William A. Wheeler, Vice-president, 1877-1881 James A. Garfield, President, 1881 Chester A. Arthur, Vice-president, 1881 Chester A. Arthur, President, 1881-1885 Grover Cleveland, President, 1885-1889 Thomas A. Hendricks, Vice-president, 1885 Benjamin Harrison, President, 1889-1893. Levi P. Morton, Vice-president, 1889-1893 Grover Cleveland, President, 1893-1897. Adlai E. Stevenson, Vice-president, 1893-1897 The New Era. In a few weeks after President Hayes was inaugurated, the Federal troops were withdrawn from the South ; the period of reconstruction was at an end, and the nation entered upon a period of poHtical rest such as it had not known for fifty years. ^ Throughout the whole country there was great effort for a development of natural resources, a reconstruction of industries, a building up of the means of transportation, and a gradual knitting together of the sections. President Hayes was a sincere man, but his conciliatory policy toward the South had lost him the support of a large element 1 Rutherford B. Hayes was born in Ohio, in 1822. He was a lawyer by profession, but at the outbreak of the war, enlisted in the Federal army, and served throughout the entire four years, attaining to the rank of major-general of volunteers. At the close of the war he entered Con- gress, and, after serving two years in that body, was governor of- his state from 1868 to 1872. In 1877 he was declared President by the Elec- toral Commission. He was a man of ability, and as President, made earnest efforts to improve the public service. He died at his home in Fremont, Ohio, January 17, 1893. 406 DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION 407 of his own party. ^ Congress was Democratic and generally opposed the President's measures, but this condition did not affect the industrial and commercial progress of the people, and peace and prosperity smiled upon the land. Financial Legislation. As an evidence of prosperity the government was gradually reducing its debt and accumulating a surplus in the treasury. The Secretary of the Treasury was amassing coin in readiness for the resumption of specie pay- ments which would make the greenbacks as good as gold. For various reasons silver had been decreasing in value. The silver mine owners in Nevada and other Pacific states and territories believed that this decline in the value of their product was due to the demonetization of silver in 1873, and they urged that the silver dollar again be coined. The result of this agita- tion was the Bland-Allison Act of 1878, providing for the coinage of a certain number of silver dollars every month. ^ , Industrial Activity; Formation of Corporations. The vast forests, the rich mineral deposits of gold, silver, iron, and coal, the fertile grain fields and the cattle ranges made the West and the Middle West a veritable land of promise. In the South agriculture was still the mainstay of the people, but the coal and iron deposits in the region were developing 1 Hayes owed his election to the carpet-bag governments and their returning boards, and, as these governments existed only by reason of the support given them by Federal troops, it was noteworthy that one of the first acts of his administration was to withdraw these troops. Imme- diately after the withdrawal of the soldiers, the southern white men se- cured control of their state governments. The Force Bill, however, was not formally repealed until 1909, although portions of it were declared unconstitutional as early as 1881. - The Bland-Allison Act provided that the United States should coin not less than two million dollars worth of silver a month, nor more than four millions, at the ratio of sixteen to one compared with gold. From the first the United States has practiced what is called free coinage of gold; that is, a person having uncoined gold of required purity may take it to the mint and have it coined or exchange it for coin. As the government charges nothing for the service except the expense of the coinage, the money received in return for gold weighs but slightly less than the original gold. Until 1873 silver was coined in the same way and under the same conditions. The amount of silver that received the official stamp of a dollar was about sixteen times as heavy as the gold dollar. 4o8 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY and cotton mills were multiplying. The manufacturing in- terests of the eastern states kept pace with the growth in the other sections of the country. W^ith this great industrial activity business began to be conducted on a large scale. Pri- vate firms were changed into stock companies, and there was the beginning of the great enterprises which in these days are recognized as trusts or monopolies.-^ The railroads were quick to recognize the economic value of combination and they formed the richest and most important of the big cor- porations. Companies were organized to control a number of short lines, and many of these were linked together to form "trunk lines.'' In 1880 there were nearly ninety thousand miles of railway in the United States, and transportation was much cheapened. The invention of the Bessemer - process for making steel directly from pig iron furnished cheaper and more substantial rails. During the year 1883 a system of standard time was adopted by the railroads. Within the United States there were four divisions counting seven and a half degrees each way from the following meridians : seventy-five, ninety, one hundred and five, and one hundred and twenty ; these divisions are known as Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific time. Between every division, or for eveiy fifteen degrees of longitude, there is an hour's difference in time. This arrangement has greatly diminished the danger of railroad accidents, and standard time is now universally observed. The use of ferry transfers across the rivers had caused heavy expense and much delay, and these conditions inspired the construction of great railroad and highway bridges. The first bridge across the middle Mississippi was built at Rock Island, Illinois, in 1856, and by 1880 a dozen bridges spanned 1 Among these enormous enterprises was the Standard Oil Company, which was chartered under the laws of Ohio in 1870, under the leadership of John D. Rockefeller. It grew by consolidation with other companies until it consisted of thirty-three subsidiary corporations, which were dis- solved under decree of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1912. - The first American Bessemer works were erected at Cleveland, Ohio, and at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION 409 the " Father of Waters." The Eads steel-arch railway bridge, which ranks as one of the greatest of the world, was con- structed in St. Louis, in 1874. The greatest work in suspen- EADS BRIDGE ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI AT ST. LOUIS sion bridges was the Brooklyn Bridge from New York to Brooklyn, begun in 1870, and opened to traffic in 1883.^ Strikes and Trades-union. In the summer of 1877 there w^ere extensive strikes among the employees of several rail- roads. The first occurred on the Baltimore and Ohio, and was caused by a reduction in wages. Soon on other roads strikes followed until transportation from New York to Kansas and from Michigan to Texas w^as seriously inter- rupted. In many places the strikes were attended by rioting and bloodshed. The violence was greatest at Pittsburg, where the rioters held control of the town for several days. About one hundred lives were lost, several trains and stations were burned, and millions of dollars' worth of property was de- stroyed. Federal troops were sent to the scenes of disturbance, and, after two weeks, order was restored. Trouble broke out also among the anthracite coal miners of Eastern Pennsyl- 1 Since that time two other magnificent suspension bridges have been built connecting New York and Brooklyn. One, known as the Williams- burg Bridge, was completed in 1904, and the other, known as the Man- hattan Bridge, was opened for traffic in 1910. 4IO STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY vania, and these laborers gained an advance of ten per cent in wages. Othe'r strikes followed in many callings in which the wages of the laborers were low. As a consequence of these troubles many trades-union were organized, though for several years skilled laborers had been united for protection. The printers' union, organized in New York City, in 1853. is the oldest labor union now in existence in the United States. In 1869 the order of the Knights of Labor was founded as a general society open to working men of all trades. After 1880 organizations of laborers became stronger and more active. In 1886 the American Federation of Labor was formed. Anti-Chinese Movement. During the great railroad strike of 1877, labor troubles broke out in California also, but they were incited by a different cause. Here it was a movement against the Chinese. In the Pacific section of the country there were upwards of one hundred thousand Chinese at that time, and they formed a large part of the laboring class, work- ing in the mines and on the farms. These people lived on the poorest of foods and in the meanest of dwellings, and worked for lower wages than the white men would accept. After earning a few hundred dollars, the Chinaman would return to his native land and tell of the riches and beauties of California. ■* Hordes of Chinamen would then rush to America and repeat the process. Such conditions kept wages low and worked a hardship on the white laborers of the Pacific states and territories. The working men formed an organiza- tion, the slogan of which was " The Chinese must go." They made demonstrations by processions through the streets, with banners bearing such mottoes as " Four dollars a day and roast beef." x\ttacks were made on the Chinese, and in many cases they were run out of the towns. Congress was asked to exclude Chinese immigrants from the country, and in 1882 an act was passed which prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the United States for a period of ten years. 1 The Chinese called California by a name which signifies " Gold Hills." DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION 41 1 New Inventions. During these years of development imme- diately after the War Between the States, the progress of Amer- ica in inventions was marvelous. If George Washington or Andrew Jackson could have revisited the land he would have almost believed himself in fairyland. Hundreds of new inventions and improvements on the old ones came into use. New systems of heating buildings by steamaiid hot air took the place of the old-fashioned stoves, levators for passen- gers and freight were installed in high buildings. Riding plows were introduced and other labor-saving farm machinery was invented or improved. There were compressed-air drills for mining, and many new safety appliances to use on the rail- roads, notably the Westinghouse brake, which was introduced in 1868.^ There were improved firearms, especially the Maxim automatic machine gun, and a new explosive, dynamite, came into use. The typewriter was first put on the market in 1874; typesetting and typecasting machines were perfected about 1890, and these have cheapened the making of books and news- papers. Jetties at the Mouth of the Mississippi. A great achieve- ment of engineering was the construction of jetties for deep- ening the channel at the mouth of the Mississippi.^ Captain James B. Eads, who constructed the famous steel-arch bridge at St. Louis, proposed the jetty system which confines the water to a narrower channel and the swifter current car- ries the deposit of sediment out to the sea. In 1875 Congress appropriated a large sum of money for the work, and in four years it was completed. The largest ocean-going steamers could now go up the ri\-er to New Orleans. 1 The Westinghouse hrake, one of the greatest inventions of the cen- tury, has been of inestimable benefit in preventing accidents to employees of railroads. - Great shoals had formed at the mouth of the river by the deposit of sediment brought down the stream, and this not only hindered naviga- tion, but raised the level of the river so that every freshet poured over tlie banks and Hooded the neighboring country. A similar set of jetties was used in deepening the harbor at Galveston, which is our second largest export city. 412 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY A ship canal was built between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, around the falls of the Sault Ste. Marie, for the benefit of the enormous lake traffic in iron, coal, grain, and lumber. Harbors were improved at Chicago, Milwaukee, Buffalo, Cleve- land, and other lake ports. Electrical Development. Electricity was brought into use during this period in many new and wonderful ways. Franklin himself, who " snatched the lightning from the skies," would have marveled. The most prominent among the men who were connected with these remarkable inventions is Thomas A. Edison,, who has taken out more than a thousand patents. Elec- tricity had already been put to use in the telegraph. It was now employed for lighting houses and streets. C. F. Brush devised an arc light suitable for streets, and in 1879 lights of this kind were used in San Francisco. Li the same year Edison made the first practical incandescent light, such as we now use in our houses.^ The telephone was invented in 1876, by Elisha Gray of Chicago and Alexander Graham Bell of Boston, acting independently. - People could hardly believe their ears when they heard the voices of their friends coming from a distance over the wire. The use of the telephone soon became common and it was not long before the invention \Aas rivaling the telegraph. Edison, 1 In 1882 the first incandescent lighting plant was opened in New York City. 2 Gray and Bell applied for patents on the very same day. THOMAS A. EDISON DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION 413 C'upyright Underwood & Underwood IN A TUBE, UNDER THE ELEVATED AND SURFACE TRACKS, ARE THE " SUB-WAY " TRACKS in 1877, invented the phonograph or "sound writer," which made and reproduced records of the human voice and of musical instruments. The megaphone, a simple paper funnel through which the voice could be heard at a great distance, was invented in J 879. Rapid Means of Transportat ion. There was a great demand for rapid transportation with- in the cities as the horse-cars were not practicable for long distances. In 1876 work was begun on a system of elevated railways for the greater cities.^ In San Francisco cable cars w^ere introduced in 1879, but in twenty years they were practically supplanted by the electric trolley car which took its power from a wire overhead. The suc- cess of this invention dates back in 1880.2 The bicycle appeared in the seventies — a curious big wheel with a tiny wheel in the rear; soon it was replaced by the low wheel " safety " bicycle of to-day and this has been followed by the motor- 1 The first elevated railroad in the world was built on Greenwich Street, New York City, in 1866-67. - The first electric trolley line was established in Richmond, Virginia, in 1888, and, this proving successful, electric lines were soon built in all the leading cities of the country. AUTOMOBILE 414 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY ■^K^EOssstassSSSi&r C.ipyright Umle WRIGHT FLYING MACHINE cycle. At the close of the century the automobile found its way into the remotest neighborhoods. By the dawn of the twentieth century a still stranger means of transportation was developed, the aeroplane, or flying machine, which was first made practica- ble by the Wright Brothers of Dayton, Ohio.i Polar Exploration. The United States was interested also in Arctic explora- tion and discovery. In 1879 the New York Herald fitted out an expedition to search for the north pole. The little steamer Jeannette, under Commodore De Long, sailed from San Francisco, and for two years the expedition remained in the Arctic north. The boat was locked in the ice and the few survivors finally reached the coast of Siberia. An expedition was sent out in 1881, at government expense, under Lieutenant A. W. Greely. Nothing was heard of the party until July, 1884, when Captain W. S. Schley, with a relief expedition, rescued Greely and six of his men who were the sole survivors of the party.^ The north pole was actually discovered by Commander Robert F. Peary of the United States Navy April 6, 1909. In recognition of his achievement Congress has placed him upon the retired list wnth the rank of rear-admiral. On December 14, 191 1, the soutji pole was discovered by Captain Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian explorer. 1 In 191 1 C. P. Rodgers made a trip in a flying machine across the conti- nent from New York to Los Angeles, a distance of three thonsand two hundred and twenty miles. His machine was wrecked and repaired several times, and he had eight dangerous falls. The journey required fifty-nine days, and of actual flying about three days. On April 3, 1912, Rodgers was killed in one of his flights. - In 1878 the United States government established a life-saving service, DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION 415 Growth of Population. In 1880 the population of the United States was a little over fifty millions, which was an m- crease of eleven millions over 1870. As usual the greatest increase was in the West, and especially in the states of Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, the Dakotas, and Texas. De- velopment of agriculture and the discovery of gold and other mineral wealth were chiefly responsible for the increase in population. The cattle and the grain of the West were needed to meet the demand for food in the rapidly growing manu- facturing cities. It seemed that a city grew at the head and at the mouth of every navigable river. Only one-twentieth of the people of the United States lived in cities of over eight thousand inhabitants in 1800; in 1870 one-fifth, and in 1880 one- fourth of the population resided in such cities. In 1880 New York was the greatest city, as she has been since the first census ; Philadelphia was second ; St. Louis and Chicago were rivals for the third place, and many other cities which were hardly more than villages twenty years before had now attained large proportions. Presidential Election of 1880. The year 1880 was a presi- dential election year. General Grant had. just returned from a tour of the world and was acclaimed with great honors. Some of the Republican leaders wished to nominate him for a third term, but public opinion sustained the precedent set by Washington and Jefferson, who declared it unwise for one man to hold the ofiice for more than two terms. James G. Blaine of Maine was the most conspicuous candidate for the Republican nomination, but there was a strong faction in the party opposed to him, and, on this account, James A. Gar- field of Ohio, a " dark horse," was nominated. Chester A. Arthur of New York w^as nominated for the Vice-presidency. The Democrats nominated Winfield Scott Hancock of New York for the Presidency and \\'illiam H. English of Indiana for the Vice-presidency. The Greenback party nominated the first in the world, to be carried on as a j^overnment institution. The weather bureau was established just after the war, to give warning of storms and forecast changes in temperature. 4i6 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY James B. Weaver of Iowa and B. J. Chambers of Texas for first and second place. The Prohibitionists named Neal Dow of Maine/ Every candidate for the Presidency bore the title of general. Garfield was elected. ^ Assassination of Garfield. On March 4 the new Presi- dent took the oath of office, and the capital city was illuminated with electricity for the inaugural ceremonies. Just four months afterwards President Garfield was assassinated by Charles J. Guiteau, whom he had refused to appoint to office.^ The President lingered many weeks during the hot summer months. On the night of September 19, he died, and before day the next morning President Arthur took the oath of office at his home in New York City.^ Civil Service Reform. Garfield's tragic death at the hands of a disappointed office seeker brought forcibly to public at- tention the need for reform in the civil service. Ever since 1 The anti-liquor movement had very much strengthened since the for- mation of the Washingtonian Societies in the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1874 Frances E. Willard and other earnest women formed the Women's Christian Temperance Uliion, now the largest organization of women in the world. It has aided in the passage of anti-liquor laws, and has created public opinion in behalf of temperance. Miss Willard, as educator and temperance lecturer, was known and loved throughout the nation. There are now seven states that have prohibition, and two that have it except in certain large cities. - James A. Garfield was born in Ohio, in 1831. Left fatherless at an early age, he was forced to provide for himself even in his youth, but by alternate periods of manual labor and of study, he succeeded in obtaining an education. He was graduated at Williams College, Ohio, in 1856, and spent the years of his early manhood as a teacher. In the War Between the States Garfield served on the Union side, and rose to the rank of major-general. From 1863 to 1880 he was a representative in Congress from his native state, and in 1876 was a member of the Electoral Com- mission. In 1880 his state had elected him to the United States Senate, which position he resigned when he was nominated for the Presidency. He died in New Jersey, September 19, 1881. 3 Charles J. Guiteau was tried for murder, found guilty, and executed in Washington, June 30, 1882. * Chester A. Arthur, the fourth accidental President of the United States, was born in Vermont, in 1830. He was a graduate of Union College, and in 1853 began the practice of law in New York City. During the war he served at different times as quarter-master and inspector- general of New York state troops. In 187 1 President Grant appointed him collector of customs at the port of New York, from which position he was removed in 1878 by President Hayes. In 1880 he was elected to the Vice-presidency of the United States. He died in 1886. DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION 4I7 Jackson's time Washington had been besieged by office seek- ers with the incoming of each new President. Some effort had been made to fill positions in the civil service on the basis of merit, bnt little progress had been made to this end. In January, 1883, a Civil Service Act was passed providing for appointment to certain offices on the basis of competitive examinations. President Arthur was an earnest advocate of this reform. The number of places to be filled under the competitive system has been materially increased during suc- ceeding years. ^ " Star Route " Frauds. Another circumstance that inten- sified the demand for reform in the civil service was the " star route " frauds in the West. The " star routes " were those mail routes in the West not yet reached by the rail- roads, where the mails were carried under private contract. This name was applied because the routes were indicated on the maps by stars. Combinations of the contractors on these routes in a single year had robbed the government of half a million dollars. Upon investigation it was discovered that prominent officials were making use of their positions in the interest of these dishonest contractors and several of these were removed from office. Other improvements in the mail service were the reduction of letter postage and the beginning of the special delivery of letters.^ Tariff of 1883. During President Arthur's term the public debt rapidly diminished and a surplus was piled up in the treasury amounting, in 1882, to one hundred and forty-five million dollars. This condition of the treasury suggested a reduction of the tariff which was yielding more revenue than 1 New York established a civil service system in 1883, and soon other states followed her example. The merit system was likewise introduced into some of our cities. Several of the states passed stringent laws against bribery in elections. To protect voters the " Australian ballot " came into use by the states in 1888. This system protects the voter from interference and permits a free secret ballot. 2 In 1883 letter postage was reduced from three cents per half ounce to two cents, and later it was further reduced to two cents per ounce. Another improvement in the mail service coming much later was the establishment of rural free delivery. 41 8 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY the government needed. The high tariff of the sixties, which was largely a war measure, was still in force. In 1882 a tariff commission was appointed upon the recommendation of the President to consider the qnestion of tariff revision. The outcome of this commission was the tariff of 1883, which, while it reduced a few of the duties, left those on the neces- saries of life substantially the same. Soon there was a money crisis, and this, together with crop failures, produced general distress. The new tariff pleased no one and in the presiden- tial election of the next year tariff revision was an important issue. Expositions. There were many important events outside of political affairs during the years from 1881 to 1885 that enlisted the interest of all the people. In 1881 our second Centennial Exposition was held; this time at Yorktown, in Virginia, commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of the surrender of Cornwallis.^ At the close of this exposi- tion, in order to show our friendship for the old mother country, a general salute was fired to the British flag. The rapid growth of the southern states was shown at two ex- positions : one at Atlanta, Georgia, and the other at New Orleans, Louisiana. At the International Cotton Exposition at Atlanta, in 1881, cotton was exhibited in all its forms of production and manufacture. It was shown that the cotton seed, which had formerly been thrown away, was valuable as food and as a fertilizer. A Cotton Centennial was held at New Orleans in 1884. This exposition served to promote trade relations with Mexico and the Central American coun- tries. Democratic Victory of 1884. The presidential election of 1884 marked the return of the Democrats to power for the first time in twenty-four years. The Republicans declared in favor of a protective tariff and nominated their old leader, James G. Blaine of Maine for the Presidency and John A. ^ A inonunient commemorating this event was dedicated at Yorktown, in 1881, in the presence of many distinguished Americans and foreigners. Time when noon 3.^0 A.M at Greenwich 103° Lougitude 100° 'V^ 'JM^AXSPORTATIOX ROUTES. e.eoiA.M (ii-.-onwich STANDARD 'IM M I'. DIVISIONS DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION 419 Logan of Illinois for the Vice-presidency. The Democrats declared for tariff reform and chose a new leader, Grover Cleveland of New York for the first place and Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana for the second place. The Green- back and Prohibition parties also had candidates in the field. ^ The campaign was ex- citing and there was much '' mud slinging " on both sides. Cleveland was sup- ported not only by the regular Democrats but by a consider- able faction of the Republi- cans called the "Mug-wumps " who were opposed to Blaine. - Cleveland was elected.^ The incoming of a Demo- cratic executive was expected to inaugurate an era of re- form, but Congress was di- vided between Democrats and Republicans and it was impos- sible for the Democratic party to carry out the policies which 1 The Prohibitionists nominated John P. St. John of Kansas, and the Greenback party nominated Benjamin F. Butler of Massachusetts. Neither of these candidates received a single electoral vote. - The term " Mug-wump " is an Indian word meaning big or important man. The Republicans in derision applied this name to those of their party who ref.used to support the nominee. 3 Grover Cleveland was born in New Jersey, in 1837, in the same year that Van Buren, the only President from New York thus far, was in- augurated. In 1841 Cleveland's father, a Presbyterian minister, with his -family moved to New York. Left fatherless at sixteen, he was forced to go to work for himself, and secured his first position as teacher in the New York school for the blind. Cleveland decided to move westward and seek his fortune. He started for Cleveland, Ohio, being attracted to that point by the name, but he went no farther than Buffalo, New York. Here he secured a position with a prominent law firm. He en- tered the practice of law, and after holding several minor public offices, was elected governor of New York, and in that position showed himself fearless in works of reform. In 1884 he was elected to the Presidency, and was elected again in 1892. At the close of his second term he re- tired to Princeton, New Jersey, and died there in 1908. GROVER C'LEVEL.\ND 420 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY had won the election.^ 'The President took a firm position both in civil service reform and against unnecessary pensions. His attitude developed much opposition in Congress and during his term of office he Vetoed three hundred and one bills. Friendliness between North and South. Cleveland, at this time especially, was very popular in the South, and his administration was marked by many events that exhibited a spirit of reconciliation between the sections. Two of the President's cabinet, A. H. Garland of Arkansas and L. O. C. Lamar of Mississippi, were Confederate veterans. In 1886 a terrible earthquake brought disaster to the city of Charles- ton, South Carolina, and the people of the North and West responded with relief to the stricken city. In 1885 General Grant died at Mt. McGregor, near Saratoga, New York. His body was laid to rest in Riverside Park, New York, over- looking the Hudson. A splendid mausoleum now marks the spot. Six Confederate generals attended his funeral. In 1889, Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy, died at his home, Beauvoir, in Mississippi, and the whole South mourned the death of its great chieftain. His body was laid to rest in New Orleans, but later it was removed to Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy. A beautiful me- morial erected by the people of the South marks the spot. Repeal of the Tenure of Office Act; Presidential Succes- sion Act. Notwithstanding the fact that Congress was di- vided, Cleveland's first administration showed much serviceable legislation. In 1877 the Tenure of Office Act, which had caused such a storm of protest when it was enacted during Johnson's administration, was formally repealed. The Elec- toral Count Act was passed in 1887.- The death of Vice-president Hendricks, in 1885, brought 1 The House was Democratic but the Senate was still Republican. - The purpose of this act was to prevent the recurrence of such a crisis as occurred in the election of 1876. It provides that each state shall be the judge of its own electoral votes and, in case of a dispute, the matter must be settled by a resolution of the two houses of Congress. DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION 421 forcibly to the attention of the country the necessity of making provision for the presidential succession. The old law passed in 1792 had provided that in case of the death or disability of both the President and the Vice-president, the president pro- tempore of the Senate should succeed, and in the event of his disability the speaker of the House of Representatives. But in 1885, when the Vice-president died, Congress had not or- ganized and there were no such officers.-^ In January, 1886, a new Presidential Succession Act was passed, which pro- vided that in case of the death or disability of the President and the Vice-president the members of the cabinet should suc- ceed in the following order: Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of War, Attorney-general, Post- master-general, Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the In- terior, Secretary of Agriculture, and Secretary of Commerce and Labor.2 Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. An act of more vital importance at the time than any of the preceding was the Inter- state Commerce Act of 1887. The federal government had expended a great deal of money in the improvement of Avater ways and harbors, but until 1887 it had exercised no control over the railroads, notwithstanding the fact that the regulation of interstate commerce was vested, by the Constitution, in Congress.^ The railroads had grown into a vast network of steel, binding state to state and ocean to ocean. There were many complaints against the railroads because of high rates and discriminations in favor of large 1 Practically the same situation faced the country when Garfield died. Congress had not assembled, and there was no one to succeed to the Presidency if Arthur had died. 2 At the time of the passage of this law there were only seven cabinet positions. The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor have since been added, and were placed on the presidential succession list by special acts. 3 General discontent was expressed in the " Granger movement " in the West. The term " Granger " was first applied to members of the " Patrons of Husbandry," or the " Grange." The Farmers Alliance, a later organiza- tion of farmers, likewise voiced a protest against the rates and the prac- tices of the railroads. This organization was strong, especially in the South and West. Its national organization was not completed until 1889. 422 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY shippers. As a result of these practices the farmers in the South and West and the small manufacturers in every part of the country suffered. In 1887 Congress passed the Inter- state Commerce Act, which prohibited the railroads from mak- ing discriminations or from charging unjust rates for service, and created a commission of five persons to hear complaints against railroads and to make reports concerning their business. At first the Interstate Commerce Commission had small powers, but from time to time the act was amended and now the commission has authority to correct abuses and compel fair treatment. Labor Troubles; Hay-Market Riots. Labor troubles were beginning to grow more and more serious. There was wide- spread discontent among working men, and through their un- ions they were demanding higher wages and shorter hours. Many strikes resulted. In the early months of 1886 there were nearly five hundred disputes in various parts of the country, involving many trades. The trouble was most acute in Chicago, where a mob gathered in Hay-Market Square to listen to speeches in open advocacy of violence and an- archy. The police ordered the mob to disperse, whereupon a bomb that killed seven policemen and wounded sixty oth- ers was hurled from the crowd. -^ The country was horrified at this outrageous act. Seven of the leaders were sentenced to be executed. As this frightful crime was supposed to be the result of the teachings of foreign anarchists who had immigrated to America, an effort was made in Congress to exclude unde- sirable foreigners.^ Since 1870 a stream of immigrants from ^ In 1884 serious riots occurred in Cincinnati. Here a mob, incensed at the lax administration of justice, broke into the jail and attempted to hang some prisoners accused of murder. The attack was unsuccessful, but the rioters burned the court house and other buildings. The militia finally restored order, but not until forty-five persons had been killed, and one hundred and forty-eight wounded. - The immigration laws became more stringent. Since 1882 several acts have been passed for the exclusion of the Chinese and other undesirable classes. Persons afflicted with certain diseases have been excluded, and the head tax on immigrants was increased to two and then to four dollars. DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION 423 Italy, Hungary, Bohemia, Russia, Norway and Sweden had been pouring into the United States. A Gift from France. The majority of the immigrants who come into the country from the East enter at the port of New York, and here stands a colossal bronze statue of " Liberty Enlightening the World," which represents the teachings and ex- ample of free government in the Republic of the West. This statue, which stands on Bedloe's Island, now known as Liberty Island, was the gift of the people of the re- public of France to the people of the republic of the United States in recognition of the grateful love which the American people enter- tain for Lafayette. The gift was designed to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of Ameri- can independence, though it was not placed until 1885 and not un- veiled until October, 1886. The statue is a female figure holding aloft a torch. It is the tallest statue in the world ; it measures over one hundred and fifty-one feet and rests on a pedestal one hundred and fifty feet high. Forty persons can stand within the head, to which there is a staircase within the statue. The torch is equipped with an electric light. The statue is the work of Bar- tholdi, a distinguished French sculptor. The Tariff Question and Election of 1888. The tariff ques- tion attracted much attention during Cleveland's first adminis- tration. There was a surplus in the treasury amounting to more than four hundred and twenty-two million dollars. A bill was introduced in 1888 to reduce the duties on imports copyright Underwood & Undorw..od THE BARTHOLDI STATUE OF LIBERTY 424 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY and this was known as the Mills Bill, from its author, Roger Q. Mills of Texas, chairman of the Ways and Means Com- mittee of the House. The measure failed in the Senate where the Republicans were in the majority. The year 1888 was presidential election year and the tariff became the main issue between the two great parties. The Democrats stood for tariff reduction and renominated Cleve- land for the Presidency and Allen G. Thurman, the " Old Roman " of Ohio, for the Vice-presidency. The Republicans advocated high protective duties and nominated for the Presi- dency Benjamin Harrison ^ of Indiana a grandson of William Henry Harrison who had been President for one brief month, in 1 84 1, and Levi P. Morton of New York for the second place. Both the Prohibitionists and the Independent Labor parties had candidates in the field. Harrison was elected, receiving two hundred and thirty-three electoral votes to one hundred and sixty-eight for Cleveland." McKinley Tariff and Other Legislation. The Republican victory was followed by a new tariff act, the McKinley Tar- iff of 1890, carrying the highest duties ever imposed. The bill distinctly recognized the policy of reciprocity, by which it was provided that the United States might abolish duties on goods coming from certain countries upon the condition that these countries were to admit American goods free. Congress passed an act in 1890, known as the Sherman Anti- trust Law, for the prevention and punishment of combinations or agreements in restraint of interstate trade. It was de- signed to put a stop to the organization of all monopolies and to restore competition in business. There was decided discontent in the South and West with ^ Benjamin Harrison was born in Ohio, in 1S33. He received a liberal education, studied law in Cincinnati, and settled down to practice in Indianapolis. He entered the Federal army in 1862, and by the close of the struggle had risen to the rank of brevet brigadier-general. He served in the United States Senate from 1881 to 1887. After the end of his term as President he resumed the practice of law in Indianapolis, and died in that city in 1901. - Cleveland received a plurality of over one hundred thousand of the popular vote. DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION 425 the Bland-Allison Act, which provided for the limited coinage of the silver dollar. This act was repealed and instead the Sherman Silver Law was passed, which provided that the gov- ernment should purchase and coin a greater quantity of silver every month. ^ The Republicans made such liberal appropriations that the first Congress of Harrison's term was called the " billion dollar Congress." Its appropriations were one hundred and seventy million dollars more than the appropriations of its predecessor. A Dependent Pension Act was passed, greatly increasing the number of northern soldiers and sailors who were deemed entitled to pensions from the government; in fact the number was about doubled and the annual pension ap- propriation soon reached over a hundred million dollars.- In 1883, when President Arthur was in office, a movement to rehabilitate the navy had begun and from that time for- ward the building of new ships was authorized by each Con- gress. William C. Whitney, Secretary of the Navy under President Cleveland, gave further impetus to the development of the navy. In Harrison's time so many new ships were built that the expenditures increased from seventeen millions in 1889 to thirty millions in 1893. The United States now had an imposing " white squadron " of cruisers and a num- ber of torpedo boats and gunboats, and we rose from twelfth to fifth place among the naval powers of the world. ^ New States and Territories. The region of the plains and beyond the mountains was rapidly filling up with people as new immigrants and settlers from the old states followed the railroads westward. Colorado and Utah were settled first, 1 This act provided for the purchase of four and one-half milHon ounces of silver bullion every month. This was deposited in the Treasury as security for treasury notes which were redeemable in gold or silver. 2 In 1889, at the l)eginning of Harrison's term, the pensioners num- bered about four hundred and ninety thousand, and drew eighty million dollars a year. This amount was just about doubled at the end of Har- rison's administration. 3 In time of peace the ships of the navy of the United States are painted white ; in time of war they are painted slate color. The United States in 191 1 ranked third among the naval powers of tlic world. 426 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY and, as has been noted heretofore, Colorado was admitted to the Union in the Centennial year, 1876. Utah had been organ- ized as a territory in 1850, and in 1880 the population was nearly fifty thousand. But Utah was not to be admitted until the Mormons abandoned the practice of polygamy. In 1882 an anti-polygamy law was passed and in 1887 it was made more stringent. Utah was not admitted until 1896. Before STREET IN OKLAHOMA CITY IN I9I2 this date, however, six other new states were admitted. Da- kota- was divided and admitted as two states, North Dakota and South Dakota, in 1889; in the same year Montana and Washington were admitted, and in 1890 Idaho and Wyoming.^ 1 Wyoming granted woman's suffrage. This movement has grown until in the twentieth century five other states, namely, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Washington, and California give women the right to vote. In many other •DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION 427 The pressure of population westward made encroachment on the Indian reservations and many settlers looked with covetous eyes upon the Indian lands. In order to satisfy the demand for lands the government bought from the Indians portions of their holdings.^ The rich district of Oklahoma, a part of the Indian territory, was purchased and opened to settlement at twelve o'clock on April 22, 1889. As the blast of the bugle announced the hour there was a wild rush across the borders into the " beautiful land," ^ and in one year's time more than sixty thousand people settled in the territory of Oklahoma. In 1907 Oklahoma and Indian Territory were combined and ad- mitted to the Union as the state of Oklahoma. Foreign Complications. Several interesting matters con- cerning our foreign relations occurred during Harrison's ad- ministration. That portion of the treaty of Washington which dealt with the fishing rights off the Grand Banks had expired in 1885 and American fishermen possessed but few rights in Canadian waters. The question had been satisfactorily ad- justed during Cleveland's administration, but it was hardly set- tled before fresh trouble developed with Great Britain concern- ing the seal fisheries in Bering Sea. Seal fur was very valu- able and there was a wholesale butchering of seals by Canadian and British hunters. The United States protested against this and claimed that they had exclusive jurisdiction over Bering Sea and that no other nations had the right to hunt seals there. The matter was referred to a tribunal of arbitration which met at Paris and in 1893 decided against the United States.^ states women are allowed to vote in certain elections, ^particularly in school elections. The demand for woman's sufifrage is much stronger in the West than in the older and more conservative East and South ; but in the eastern states there has been a strong movement for the suffrage, led i)y Susan B. Anthony and other influential women. 1 This demand caused the United States government to make an effort to recover lands granted to the railroads in the West, and used by them contrary to the spirit of the law. Eighty million acres were recovered during President Cleveland's administration. -The name Oklahoma is an Indian word meaning the "beautiful land." " Nations have control of the sea three miles from their shore line and exclusive control of closed seas. The United States claimed that Bering Sea was a closed sea, but this view was abandoned before the 428 ■ STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Our friendly relations with Italy were strained by an un- fortunate occurrence in New Orleans. The chief of police of that city was treacherously assassinated, and citizens gen- erally believed that the crime was committed by Italians who were connected \yith a secret society known as the " Mafia." Eleven Italians were tried for the offense and convicted, but the people felt that the punishment prescribed was not severe enoug'h. A great crowd gathered and battered down the doors of the jail, seized the Italians, and put them to death, March, 1 89 1. Eight of these were naturalized American citizens but three of them were Italian subjects, and for these Italy de- manded reparation. Finally the United States agreed to pay twenty-five thousand dollars to the families of the slain. Chile and Samoa. In 1891 a serious break came in our relations with Chile. That country was in the throes of a revolution and one of the factions was hostile to the United States. The hostility was expressed in an attack on the sail- ors of the United States ship Baltimore who were in the city of Valparaiso on shore leave. The populace assaulted them with knives and clubs and the sailors were driven to their ship. One man was killed. The United States government immediately demanded reparation and apology for the outrage, and when Chile was slow to comply threatened war. Chile then promptly agreed to pay a money indemnity of seventy- five thousand dollars. The interest of the United States was attracted to a little group of islands in the South Pacific known as the Samoan Islands. We had a coaling station there, and, together with Germany and Great Britain, established a protectorate over the islands. In 1899 this agreement was dissolved and the United States received the island of Tutuila (too-too-e la) ; the remainder of the Samoan group was transferred to Germany. arbitration. Each party to the controversy named two arbitrators, and three other powers were requested to name one each. The decision, reached August, 1893, upheld Great Britain's claims on all points. We afterwards paid to British scalers $473,151.26 as damages to them caused by our regulation of sealing before the settlement. DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION 429 Strike among the Steel Workers. In the midst of the presi- dential campaign of 1892 a terrible labor strike broke out among the steel workers. In the summer of that year the employees of the Carnegie Steel Company at Homestead, Pennsylvania, a town near Pittsburg, struck for higher wages. As the trouble grew serious the company employed a large body of Pinkerton detectives, who marched against the strik- ers. A battle ensued in which seven detectives and eleven workmen were killed. The militia was called out to put down the disorder, and in November the strike ended. There were other labor outbreaks in New York. Election of 1892. As the election of 1892 approached there was a growing dissatisfaction with the McKinley Tariff, and in the South and West there was a demand for the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and for the free coinage of silver. The Republicans again declared in favor of a high tariff and nominated Harrison for the Presidency and White- law Reid of New York for the Vice-presidency. Grover Cleveland was again the nominee of his party, which stood for a revenue tariff. A third party, known as the Populists or " People's Party," developed a great deal of strength in this election.^ Cleveland was elected and was our first President to serve a second term that was not consecutive with the first. Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois was elected to the office of V^ice-president on the Democratic ticket. Panic; Tariff of 1894. In the summer of 1893, just a few months after Cleveland's second inauguration, a severe panic swept over the country. Many business houses failed, fac- tories were shut down, and thousands of men were thrown out of work.^ A special session of Congress was called to ^ Tlie candidates of this party were James B. Weaver of Iowa and James G. Field of Virginia. The Prohibitionists and the Socialist Labor party also had candidates in the field. -A large body of unemployed men, under the leadership of Jacob S. Coxey, and popularly described as " Co.Kcy's army," marched to Wash- ington in the spring of 1894, to urge upon Congress certain legislation which they thought would bring relief. On May i the army reached 430 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY consider measures of relief. The Sherman Silver Law was repealed and bonds were issued to be sold for gold in order to increase the aA'ailable supply of that coin for redeeming other currency. In 1894 a new tariff measure, known as the Wilson Bill, became a law; this bill reduced the duties of the McKinley Tariff. President Cleveland did not believe that the tariff bill was what the party had demanded, because it did not provide sufficient reductions, and, while he would not veto it, he would not approve it, and it became a law without his signature. Pullman Strike in Chicago. The panic of 1893 caused great suffering among the working classes. Hundreds of thousands of men were out of employment, and to add to the general dis- tress there were short crops in the South and West for several years. Business depression and a general spirit of discontent again led to strikes among the working men of various trades. Conditions were worst in Chicago. The Pullman Car Com- pany at Pullman, a surburb of Chicago, discharged some of its workmen and reduced wages on account of general hard times. The Pullman employees resisted and went on a strike, and other unions of railway men on lines of railways which used the Pullman cars decided to go out in a sympathetic strike unless the Pullman Company would consent to settle the trouble with its employees by arbitration. This demand was denied, and extensive strikes followed. Trains were stopped by mobs, Pullman coaches were burned, and much railroad property was destroyed. The rioting and bloodshed continued for several days until practically all the railroad traffic at Chicago was suspended. There was a demand upon President Cleveland to exercise the power of the federal gov- ernment on the ground of interference with the transportation of United States mails. Under the Constitution the President may send troops to put down a disturbance within a state when Washington, and in the presence of thousands of spectators marched to the capitol building. Here Coxey and two others were arrested for trespassing on the grass, and the army melted away. DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION 431 so requested by the governor or the slate legislature.^ No such request was made, but President Cleveland, in the exer- cise of his authority to protect the mails and interstate com- merce, sent Federal troops to Cliicago wlio f|uickly suppressed the rioting and restored peacc.- World's Fair at Chicago, 1893. In the midst of this period Ife^'.Vv ^-<- ■ft ,K:T^frymf^^4^'V''' i \k COURT OF HONOR, WORLD S FAIR, CHICAGO of depression the United States celebrated the four hundreth anniversary of the discovery of America. A World's Colum- ^ Governor Altgeld of Illinois resented the sending of Federal troops into the state. He said that Illinois was able to take care of herself. - The labor problem is one of the greatest of modern times. When the industries of the world were conducted upon a small scale, and employer and employee worked side by side in the same shop, the under- standing was so complete that there seldom was cause for strife. But the organization of great enterprises with millions of capital and thou- sands of employees has altered these simple conditions. The employer and the employee in large establishments may never see each other; and, lacking the sympathy and understanding of personal contact, they are more easily embittered. Moreover, advancing civilization and enlighten- ment create a proper desire among the working men for more comfort, while conditions of public health and education make a demand for shorter hours and easier terms of labor. During the last few years the increased cost of living has further fortified the claim of workingmen. The pres- ent tendency, however, notwithstanding occasional strikes, is toward con- ciliation and arbitration between capitalists and laborers. 432 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY bian Exposition was held at Chicago, in 1893.^ Its magni- tude and splendor delighted every beholder. On the borders of Lake Michigan, on a site covering more than six hundred and forty acres, the beautiful " White City," as the exposition w^as called, was erected. There were nearly one hundred and fifty buildings constructed of " staff," a material made of plaster of Paris and jute fiber, which looks like white marble. Foreign nations made generous displays at the exposition, and never before in all the world was there gathered together such a collection of the products of the arts and sciences. The success of this great fair aroused the pride of all Americans and challenged the admiration of the whole world. The Atlanta Exposition. Two years after the close of the exposition at Chicago, another exposition on a smaller scale was held at Atlanta, Georgia. This exposition revealed anew to the world the vast progress of the South. ^ Cotton was still her king, but her yield of grain and lumber and her manu- factures had grown by leaps and bounds. Her mineral wealth was being developed; in 1901 petroleum was found in large quantities in Texas, and later in Louisiana and Oklahoma. Hawaii and Venezuela. During Cleveland's second admin- istration there were two interesting events in our foreign re- lations. The Hawaiian Islands, a tiny monarchy in the Pacific Ocean about two thousand one hundred miles west of San Francisco, had been developed largely by the missionary zeal and enterprise of Americans. The country was often in a state of revolution, and finally a faction composed mostly of foreigners deposed Queen Liliuokalani (leTe-66-o-ka-la'ne) and set up a provisional government which requested annexa- tion to the United States. Just at the close of President Har- 1 The exposition was to have been held in 1892, but the preparations could not be made in time. - The growth of Birmingham, Alabama, may be taken as an illustration of the industrial development of the South. This town was laid out in June, 1871, and in the following December was chartered as a city with a population of 1,000. In 1880 it had a population of 3,086; in 1890, 26,178; in 1900, 38,415; in 1910, 132,685. The chief cause of this growth is the mineral wealth of North Alabama. DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION 433 rison's administration a treaty of annexation was sent to the Senate for ratification. Shortly after Cleveland was inau- gurated, however, the treaty was withdrawn upon his recom- mendation, and, upon investigation of conditions within the islands, President Cleveland declared that we had no right to assume the government of a people without their consent. But we established a protectorate over the islands and later, in 1898, under Cleve- land's successor, they were annexed to the United States. The other foreign af- fair grew out of trouble '\>>: ^ Hanalei ., 4 Vc^^, '"'^c '^^A^'SM*- ».'»°rv foV-O* S.^--^'" HAWAIIAN ISLANDS between Great Britain and the South American republic of Venezuela. For half a centuiy these two countries had been quarreling over the western boundary of British Guiana. Venezuela had re- peatedly appealed to the United States to interpose in her behalf. Finally, in 1895, when the aggressions of the British were becoming more marked, the United States urged that the boundary dispute be settled by arbitration. This Great Britain refused to do. Then President Cleveland issued a proclama- tion to the effect that it would be a violation of the Monroe Doctrine for the United States to permit any aggression or injustice by a foreign power against any of the American Re- publics, and that such aggression would be resisted by the United States. Acting under the authority of Congress, the President appointed a commission to determine the western boundary of British Guiana. Great Britain then manifested a willingness to settle the matter by arbitration, and in 1896 the dispute was satisfactorily adjusted. Election of 1896. As the presidential election of 1896 drew 434 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY near, it became evident that the chief issue was to be the silver question. Many people believed that the repeal of the Sherman Silver Law and the demonetization of silver were the main causes of the hard times which had prevailed for several years. The Republicans declared in favor of a gold standard, or of both gold and silver under an agreement with foreign powers that would maintain the two metals at a fixed ratio. They nominated William McKinley of Ohio and Gar- rett A. Hobart of New Jersey for the Presidency and Vice- presidency respectively. The Democrats declared in favor of the free and unlimited coinage of silver at the ratio of sixteen to one, independently of the action of any country. William Jennings Bryan, a young and ardent silver Democrat from Nebraska, was nominated for the Presidency and Arthur Sew^all, of Maine, was nominated for the Vice-presidency. The Populists endorsed the nomination of Bryan, but they named Thomas E. Watson of Georgia for the Vice-presidency. A large number of Democrats wdio opposed free silver re- fused to support Bryan and nominated John M. Palmer of IlHnois and Simon B. Buckner of Kentucky for the Presi- dency and Vice-presidency. McKinley and Hobart were elected. THOUGHT QUESTIONS I. Why did the South recover so rapidly after 1876? 2. What is meant by the "gold standard"? by the "free coinage" of silver? 3. How did the building of the trans-continental railroad bring up the question of immigration? Of labor unions? 4. Name six great" inventions by Edi- son. 5. Who invented the telephone? 6. What is meant by "civil serv- ice reform"? 7. What had been the motto with regard to appointment of government employees? Who originated it? 8. What effect did the assassination of Garfield have upon this question? Why? 9. What mainly caused Cleveland's success in 1884? 10. What was a "Mug- wump"? II. What caused trouble with Italy during this period? With England? With Chile? 12. How was each case settled? 13. What caused the panic of 1893? 14. What new party grew rapidly at this time? DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION ' 435 15. What did this show as to conditions in the country? 16. Why did Governor Altgeld object to Federal troops in the Chicago trouble of 1894? 17. What caused renewed prosperity in the later nineties? 18. Why could the United States not punish the men who lynched the Italians in New Orleans? CHAPTER XXVI SPANISH WAR AND ITS RESULTS: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS William IMcKinley, President, 1897-1901 Garrett A. Hobart, Vice-president, 1897-1899 Theodore Roosevelt, Vice-president, 1901 Theodore Roosevelt, President, 1901-1909 Charles W. Fairbanks, Vice-president, 1904-1909 William H. Taft, President, 1909-1913 James S. Sherman, Vice-president, 1909-1913 Financial Legislation. President McKinley ^ was the last of the veterans of the war between the North and the South to hold the office of chief executive of the nation. He was no sooner inaugurated than Congress set about passing a new tariff law which would raise the duties as high as the McKinley Tariff of 1890. The new tariff act was the Ding- ley Bill of 1897, which was the third tariff law within seven years. The Republicans had pledged themselves in the cam- paign of 1896 to use efforts to bring about an agreement among the great nations of the world for the free coinage of both gold and silver and the acceptance of either as legal tender in payment of debt. In April, 1897, President Mc- Kinley appointed a bi-metallic commission, called from the name of its chairman the Wolcott Commission, to confer v/ith European governments concerning the monetary problem. But no agreement was reached. By act of Congress of March 14, 1900, the gold dollar was established as the unit of value. 1 William McKinley was born in Ohio, in 1843. When the war began he was teacher in a country school, but he resigned his position and enhsted as a volunteer in the Federal army, rising to the rank of major. After the war he studied law and was elected to Congress from Ohio, in 1876, serving seven consecutive terms. In 1890 he took the principal part in framing the tariff law that bears his name. In 1891 he was elected governor of his state and in 1896. President. He was a man of great tact and deep sincerity. THE SPANISH WAR: SUBSEQUENl EVENTS 437 Trouble in Cuba. Serious foreign complications soon ar- rested public attention and completely overshadowed tariff legislation. President McKinley's first administration was marked by a war with Spain, the first foreign war the country had known for eighty- four years, except the brief strug- gle with Mexico in the late forties. The war with Spain grew out of that country's misgovernment of her colo- nies.^ The vast colonial em- pire which had made Spain one of the greatest nations of the earth in the sixteenth cen- tury — the age of discovery and exploration — had dwin- dled away until she held noth- ing in the New World except Cuba, Porto Rico, and a few adjacent islands of the West Indies. Her government of the colonies was cruelly un- just and they were almost constantly in a state of revolt. From 1868 to 1878 a desperate and wasting struggle known as the " Ten Years War " had almost prostrated the island of Cuba. For seventeen years the fires of revolution smoldered, only to break out with renewed violence in 1895. The insurrection be- gan on the eastern end of the island and within a year it had spread until all Cuba was in rebellion. Notwithstanding the fact that the United States had maintained a position of neutrality, and that President Cleveland had issued a proclamation warn- 1 For many years the United States had realized the importance of Cuba. From time to time filibustering expeditions had been fitted out at New Orleans or some other convenient port for the purpose of taking a part in Cuban affairs. While Franklin Pierce was President a decided move was made to annex Cuba, but the country was soon engrossed in the events leading up to the War Between the States, and the Cuban enter- prise was abandoned. WILLIAM MCKINLEY 438 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY ing all persons against unlawfully making war on the Spanish forces in Cuba, filibustering expeditions with arms and men were secretly sent to Cuban insurgents by a " Junta " or coun- cil of wealthy Cubans in the United States. Weyler's Concentration Policy. In February, 1896, Spain sent General W'eyler (Wi'ler) as governor-general of Cuba to crush the insurrection. But the rebel chiefs, Gomez (go^mas) and Garcia (gar-the'a), maintained a deadly and cruel warfare which laid waste the sugar plantations and devas- tated the whole island. General Weyler determined to starve the rebels into submission. At the point of the bayonet he forced the inhabitants of the island into towns and cities where they could be overawed by the soldiery. The Spanish govern- ment was unable to supply them w^ith sufficient food or prop- erly to shelter them and many died of fever and starvation. In the province of Havana alone over one hundred thousand were thus concentrated within the Spanish lines and fifty-two thousand of them died. Homes were given to the flames, crops were destroyed, and everything that might support the insurrection was swept away. In this wholesale concentration and destruction many Americans within the island suffered.^ When General Fitzhugh Lee,- the United States Consul to the island, reported the conditions that prevailed there, the desola- tion and distress, American sympathy and indignation were aroused. Our citizens generally had a kindred feeling for any people struggling for independence. The position of Cuba made her of great commercial advantage to us and the whole- sale destruction of property there was a great loss to the Americans. In 1897 President McKinley sent a special commission to 1 There was an extensive trade between Cuba and the United States, and the Americans had large sums invested on the island. General Weyler destroyed the property of the Americans as well as that of the Cuban in- surgents and many Americans were imprisoned. - General Fitzhugh Lee, a nephew of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate chieftain, was born in Virginia. He served as a cavalry officer in the War Between the States and acquitted himself with great distinction. From 1886 to 1890 he was governor of Virginia. After the Spanish war closed, he served as military governor of Havana. He died in 1905. THE SPANISH WAR: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 439 investigate affairs in Cuba, and Congress appropriated fifty thousand dollars as a relief fund for the Americans on the island. The government also warned Spain that if the wretched conditions did not improve this country would be forced to intervene for the protection of its own interests and for the sake of suffering humanity. General Weyler was re- called, and General Blanco, the new governor-general, tried to overcome the Cubans by less cruel means and win them back to Spain, but this concession came too late ; nothing short of independence would now satisfy the long-suffering Cubans. Sinking of the Maine. Blanco's policy brought no im- provement in Cuba. There was rioting in Havana and the insurgents kept up their struggle in other parts of the island. In February, 1898, a startling event occurred which shocked the whole country and precipitated the Spanish-American War. It was the destruction of the United States battleship Maine. The vessel had been sent to Cuba as a matter of precaution for the protection of Americans there, and for several weeks had been anchored in Havana harbor. About ten o'clock on the night of Febru- ary 15, an explosion sion destroyed the ship and killed two hundred and sixty-five of her officers and crew. Brief dispatches were sent to Washing- ton by General Lee and Captain Sigsbee, commander of the ill- fated vessel, announcing the terrible disaster and urging the American people to suspend judgment until the matter could be investigated. President McKinley at once appointed a naval court of Copyright Underwood & Underwood THE MAINE AS IT APPEARED WHEN RAISED FROM THE SEA IN I9I2 440 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY inquiry, and this body, aided by a strong corps of expert divers and wreckers, reported, after four weeks, that the Maine was blown up by the explosion of a submarine mine. The Span- iards claimed that the destruction of the vessel was due to an explosion of one of her magazines. It has been settled that the explosion was from a mine, but it has never been ascer- tained who was responsible for the mine.^ In the United States feeling was high and the desire for war was not con- fined to any section, although it was stronger in the South and West than in New England. " Down with Spain " — " Remember the Maine! " became the popular cry. War Declared, April, 1898. The horrible conditions in Cuba, lasting for three years, and the destruction of our battle- ship led President McKinley, on April 11, 1898, to state in I a message to Congress, that, " In the name of humanity, in the name of civilization, in behalf of en- dangered American interests which give us the right and duty to speak and act, the war in Cuba must stop." Congress passed joint res- olutions, declaring: first, that the people of Cuba, " are and of a right ought to be free and inde- pendent " ; second, that Spain should withdraw her troops and " at once relinquish her authority and government," over the island; third, that the United States had no intention of taking possession of Cuba and would restore the island to the Cubans as soon as peace and good order were restored. The recognition of Cuban independence was equivalent to a .declaration of war, and on 1 In 191 1 the wreck of the Maine was raised, and an investigation indicated that the vessel had been exploded from without. REAR ADMIR.A.L WILLIAM SAMPSON THE SPANISH WAR: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 441 April 25 war was formally declared between the United States and Spain. The President issued calls for two hundred thousand volunteers. Preparations for War. As the Cuban situation had grown more and more threatening the United States proceeded to make ready for war. Congress had already appropriated Hfty million dollars for the national defense; coast fortifications were strengthened and the principal harbors were mined. The troops, both regulars and volunteers, were assembled at Chicka- mauga, Tampa, and other places where they could be easily transported to Cuba. The navy was supplemented with sev- eral merchant ves- sels and pleasure- craft which were refitted for naval warfare.^ After the destruction of the Maine our ships in European and South Atlantic waters were ordered to Key West, where the main fleet of our navy was stationed under Rear-admiral William T. Sampson, who was placed in command of the en- tire naval force in the North Atlantic. This fleet was to block- ade the coast of Cuba. The " Flying Squadron," under Com- modore W. S. Schley, assembled at Hampton Roads- to await the appearance of the Spanish fleet in the West Indies. The Oregon, a first-class battleship, was on the coast of Washing- 1 Special interest was felt in the navy during the war. Through the efforts of Theodore Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, the men had been engaged in target practice for months. The accuracy of the gunners contributed a large part toward our success. Copyright Underwood & Underwood BATTLESHIP OREGON •/ 442 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY COMMODORE W. S. SCHLEY ton, and she was ordered on a long record-breaking voyage around Cape Horn which was to make her name and that of her captain, Charles E. Clark, fa- mous in naval history. Meantime it was known that on April 29 a division of the Spanish fleet, under Admiral Cervera (ther-va'ra), had left the Cape Verde Islands. War excitement now -reached a high pitch, and the appearance of the Span- ish ships in American waters was eagerly expected. Dewey's Victory at Manila. While the Spanish ships were on their way across the Atlantic a great battle was fought and won in the Pa- cific. The American squadron in Asiatic waters was under the command of Commodore George Dewey, and at the outbreak of the war was anchored off Hong Kong.^ As soon as war was declared Dewey was ordered to seek the Spanish fleet and capture or destroy it. He immedi- ately steamed tow^ard the Philippine Islands which were in pos- session of Spain, another relic of her colonial greatness.^ Here Dewey thought the Spanish fleet might be lurking. On the night of April 30, the American fleet, with the flagship Olympia leading, daringly slipped into Manila Bay, despite the bristling Spanish cannon that guarded its entrance and the mines within the harbor. At daybreak, on May i, the Ameri- can fleet was in sight of Manila and discovered the Spanish fleet Iving to the west protected by the guns of Cavite (kav'-i-ta), 1 George Dewey was born in Vermont, in 1837. He served under Ad- miral Farragut in the War Between the States. In i8g6 he was advanced to the rank of Commodore, and in iSgS he was appointed to the command of the Asiatic Squadron. Upon his return to America after the war, he was enthusiastically received by the American people. In 1899 he was made admiral, the. third man in our naval service to hold such rank. - The Philippines were discovered and named by Magellan in his great voyage around the world in 1519-22. THE SPANISH WAR: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 443 a town on the bay. The Spanish fleet consisted of ten inferior vessels commanded by Achniral Montojo (Mon-to-ho). Dewey had nine vessels but they were far better than those of the Spanish. 'Hk' Spaniards, however, had the protection of their shore batteries. The battle began at five o'clock in the morning and the Americans handled their gnns accurately and rapidly. The action was short and terrific. The Amer- ican fleet swung past the enemy five times, pouring broadsides into the Spanish ships. So over- whelming was the fire that by one o'clock Montojo's flagship, the Rcina Christina, and most of his other ships were in flames. Three hundred and eighty-one Spaniards were killed and many more wounded. Not an American vessel was seriously injured ; not a man was killed, and only seven were wounded. The defenses of Cavite surrendered. When the news of this victory reached Washington Americans were filled with great joy. Dewey was raised to the rank of admiral, and Congress voted him the thanks of the nation. Dewey could not take the town of Manila because he had no soldiers to hold it. Troops were sent from San Fran- cisco, under Major-general Wesley Merritt, to reenforce Copyright Umt STREET SCENE IN MANILA 444 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Dewey, but two months elapsed before they reached the Phil- ippines. Blockade of Cervera. Soon attention was diverted from Dewey and his achievement and concentrated on events as thrilling nearer home. The first thing was to locate the Span- ish fleet under Admiral Cervera, which, at the outbreak of hostilities, had started westward from the Cape Verde Islands. Admiral Sampson ^ brought his squadron from Key West to protect the coasts of Cuba, and Commodore Schley ^ was ordered to move with his Flying Squadron into West India waters. While JOO 200 300 4- IS. ^ ^ "^ ^ 3 r% >i/ s'k^ v.°-" MOVEMENT OF SHIPS AROUND THE ISLANDS our fleets were watching and waiting, Cervera slipped into the port of Santiago on the south- east coast of Cuba, a well-protected harbor. As soon as he was located, Samp- son and Schley, whose fleets had been joined by the Ore- gon,^ after her wonderful voyage of fourteen thousand miles around South America, closed in on him and " bottled him up " in Santiago harbor. There was danger, however, 1 William T. Sampson was born in New York, in 1840; was graduated at the Naval Academy in 1861, and served in the Union navy in the War Between the States. He was superintendent of the Naval Academy from 1886 to 1890. and was president of the investigation committee to ascertain the cause of the destruction of the Maine. At the beginning of the war in 1898 he was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral. He died in 1902. 2 Winfield Scott Schley was born in Maryland, in 1839. He was grad- uated at Annapolis, and later served as instructor there. He served in the Union navy during the War Between the States, attaining the rank of lieutenant. In 1884 he was in command of the third expedition sent by the United States to the relief of A. W. Greely, the Arctic explorer. He was promoted to the rank of commodore in February, 1898, and, after the war, he was made rear-admiral. He died in 191 1. 3 The Oregon left San Francisco in March, and on May 26 she reached Key West, Florida. THE SPANISH WAR: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 445 that Cervera might, on some dark night, succeed in sHpping out. To prevent this a daring plan was laid to sink the collier Mcrriuiac directly across the entrance to the harbor. This plan was executed by Richmond Pearson Hobson,^ a brave young lieutenant, and seven heroic companions. Early on the morning of June 3 the Merrimac and her little crew started in. Soon the Americans were discovered and the Span- iards opened up a terrific fire, but Hobson and his men sped on without wavering. Unfortunately, a shot carried away the rudder of the little collier and it was impossible to sink her in the spot selected. She was sunk a little to one side and thus only partly obstructed the channel. Hobson and his men were picked up by the Spaniards and held prisoners at ]\Iorro Castle ; later they were exchanged. The blockade of Cer- vera's fleet lasted a month. On to Santiago. As soon as the Spanish fleet was , sliut up in tlie har- bor at Santiago it was decided to send an army to Cuba to cooperate with the navy in capturing Cervera's fleet and the town. Thus far the war had been confined to the navy. The regular army and the two hundred thousand volunteers who had responded to President McKin- ley's calls, were in camp at Tam^ja, Florida, and other conven- 1 Richmond Pearson Hobson was born in Alabama, in 1870. He was graduated from the Naval Academy at the age of nineteen. His deed in sinking the Merrimac was one of superb daring, but it is worthy of note that practically all the men of the American fleet volunteered to perform the dangerous task. Ccpyright Underwood & Underwood SANTIAGO HARBOR — CUBA 44^ STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY ient points. Now General Nelson A. Miles ^ the commanding officer, dispatched General William R. Shafter ^ with a force of about fifteen thousand men to Cuba. Conspicuous among these troops was a volunteer regiment of cavalry popularly known as Roosevelt's " Rough Riders " ^ under the command of Colonel Leonard Wood and Lieutenant-colonel Theodore Roosevelt. The troops landed at Daiquiri (di-ke're), about seventeen miles south of Santiago, on June 22, and, together with the Cuban insurgents under General Garcia, they began their march upon Santiago.^ An advance guard of regulars under Generals Lawton and Joseph Wheeler,^ with the Rough Riders, moved rapidly through the tropical forest and met the enemy, on June 24, at Las Guasimas.' Here the dense undergrowth made it im- possible to see the enemy even a few yards away, but the Americans gained a signal victory, and in a series of desperate 1 Nelson A. Miles, the commanding officer of our army during the war with Spain, was born in Massachusetts. During the War Between the States he became a major of volunteers, and after the war he entered the regular service. He conducted seven important campaigns against the Indians. In 1900 he was made lieutenant-general. - William R. Shafter was born in Michigan, in 1835. He served in the Union army in the war between the states from 1861 to 1865. At the out- break of the Spanish War he was stationed at Tampa, Florida. ^ This regiment was organized through the energetic efforts of Theodore Roosevelt, who resigned his position as Assistant Secretary of the Navy to become its lieutenant-colonel. Dr. Leonard Wood, an army surgeon, was made colonel. The " Rough Riders " were enlisted and equipped in fifty days. The regiment was recruited from cowboys, hunters, and ranch- men of the West and Southwest, and in its ranks had more than one hundred and sixty full-blooded Indians, together with graduates of many of our best colleges. General Wood later became the ranking officer in the American army. ■* At the beginning of the war, the Cuban insurgents had received sup- plies from the Americans, and the two forces had acted together at Guantanamo (guan-ta'nii-mp), the first engagement of the war. Later joint action became difficult, and the insurgents under Garcia acted inde- pendently. ^ General Joseph Wheeler, known as " Fighting Joe," was born in Georgia, in 1836. He was a Confederate veteran and distinguished him- self as a cavalry leader. After the war he became a lawyer and a cotton planter, and served Alabama, his adopted state, for many years in the lower house of Congress. He rendered distinguished service in the Span- ish War. He died in 1906. THE SPANISH WAR: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 447 LINE OF MARCH TO SANTIAGO rushes drove the enemy before them, and captured the Span- ish position. The Americans had to face unusual difficul- ties ; the roads were rough, hardly more than bridle paths, and often the troops had to march in columns of two. The climate was terribly hard on the American soldiers; the in- tense heat and the heavy rains threatened the men with dis- ease, and to add to their troubles they had poor food, improper clothing, and bad camp accommodations. Some of the soldiers were in *actual want. On June 30 General Shaf- ter decided to advance, with- out delay, on to Santiago. General Lawton's brigade and the dismounted cavalry, under General Joseph Wheeler, on July 2 attacked El Caney, a fortified town near Santiago. Here the Spaniards, although they had fewer than a thousand men to our three thousand five hundred, defended their position with stubborn bravery, and held the Americans in check until late in the afternoon. Finally the Spanish works were carried by storm and several hundred Spaniards were taken pris- oners. On the same day an assault was made on San Juan Hill, and the Rough Riders, commanded by Colonel Roosevelt, who had succeeded to the command upon the promotion of Col- onel Wood, distinguished themselves by their pluck and daring in the mad charge up the hill. The Spaniards used smokeless powder which made it hard to locate them, while the black C.pyrigllt Ulidcnv.™,.! it Uad.iWuud SAN JUAN, SEEN FROM THE HARBOR 448 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY powder which our men used easily indicated their position. Other charges also were made on July 2, and the combined engagements are known as the battle of Santiago. It was the most important land battle of the war. About six thou- sand men in all were engaged. We lost two hundred and forty-one killed and about fourteen hundred wounded. Many of the suffering and wounded lay for hours in the brush be- fore relief could be furnished. The Spanish loss was even greater. Destruction of Cervera's Fleet, July 3, 1898. In the mean- time Sampson and Schley were standing guard at the entrance to the harbor. When the Americans advanced upon Santiago from the land side the Spanish ships determined to make a wild dash for liberty, and Cervera, with skill and bravery, tried to lead his fleet out of the harbor. About half past nine on the morning of July 3 a thin column of smoke was seen far up the bay, but the Americans were in complete readi- ness and were eager to pounce upon the enemy. Admiral Sampson was absent at the moment, conferring with General Shafter, and Commodore Schley was the ranking officer.^ Soon there was a wild running fight. As at Manila, the supe- rior marksmanship of the Americans told with deadly effect and in a few hours the Spanish fleet of six war vessels was either sunk or captured. About six hundred Spaniards were killed or drowned, and over thirteen hundred were taken prisoners, among them their brave admiral, Cervera.^ The American vessels were practically uninjured. But one man was killed- on Schley's flagship, the Brooklyn, and one wounded. Two weeks after this battle General Toral, in command of the Spanish forces at Santiago, numbering about twenty-two ^ Between the friends of Sampson and those of Schley there was a bitter controversy over this battle. The friends of the latter claimed that Schley deserved the credit and glory of the victory on account of Sampson's absence. Admiral Sampson arrived after the heavy fighting was over. 2 The Americans did heroic work in rescuing the Spaniards from their burning and sinking ships. Even while the battle was on the men were restrained from shouting over their victory by the manly words of Captain Jack Phillip of the battleship Texas, who said : " Don't cheer, boys, the poor devils are dying." THE SPANISH WAR: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 449 thousand, surrendered to General Shafter, and practically the entire island of Cuba passed into the hands of the United States. The Spanish troops were sent back to Spain. The American soldiers were suffering greatly from fever and were removed.^ Conquest of Porto Rico; Surrender of Manila, August 13, 1898. After the surrender of Santiago, General Miles, with about seventeen thousand troops, mostly volunteers, invaded Porto Rico, a fertile island some five hundred miles south- east of Cuba. General Miles landed at Ponce, and took pos- session of the town and the railroad leading to San Juan, the capital of the island. San Juan was taken and the whole southern and eastern portions of the island conquered. All hostilities were suspended by the news that on August 12 a peace protocol was signed between the United States and Spain. The news, however, did not reach the Far East for several days, and the last engagement of the war was in the Philip- pines. The fifteen thousand troops sent from San Francisco, un- der General Wesley Merritt, reached Manila the last of June. On August 13 the city was taken by the combined attack of the army and navy, and thirteen thousand Spanish soldiers were taken prisoners. With the fall of Manila Spanish au- thority in the Philippines practically ceased. Peace of Paris. The war was over. Spain sued for peace, and on August 12 a protocol or preliminary treaty was signed at Washington, the French ambassador acting in behalf of Spain. Both nations appointed commissioners to meet at Paris, France, October i, to arrange the final terms of peace. 1 The suffering of the troops in Cuba and those at home during this war with Spain led to serious criticism of the War Department. There was improper food and clothing, and typhoid fever was prevalent in the camps. The suffering of the soldiers, due in large measure to eating canned meats improperly preserved, aroused public sentiment and ulti- mately contributed to the passage of the pure food laws which forbid the use of certain chemicals in prepared foods. Dr. Wiley of the Bureau of Chemistry, a branch of the Department of Agriculture, rendered effi- cient service in the enforcement of this law. 450 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY On December lo, 1898, the following terms were agreed upon : first, Spain was to renounce all claim upon Cuba; second, Porto Rico and all other islands of the West Indies under Spanish dominion, likewise the island of Guam in the La- drones, were to be ceded to the United States; third, Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States, we agreeing to pay in exchange the sum of twenty million dollars within three months and for ten years to admit Spanish ships and goods free to the ports of the Philippines. The treaty, when sent to the United States Senate for ratification, met with much opposition on account of the clause dealing with the Philippines. Many opposed annexation, and believed that we should turn the islands over to the Filipinos themselves. Gradually the view prevailed that holding the Philippines was an obligation in order to keep them from falling into misrule even greater than that of Spain. Another phase of the ques- tion was that these new possessions would be of advantage in our trade with China and other parts of the Far East. The treaty was finally ratified, February 6, 1899. Other Results of the War. But there were other results of the war besides our gain in territory and Spain's loss of " the last memory of a glorious past." The war cost the United States about three hundred million dollars in money. A War Revenue Act was passed increasing certain internal revenue taxes and imposing a stamp tax on special articles. But the country was prosperous and during the short time these taxes were in force they were not burdensome. Great Britain had shown her sympathy for us in several ways during the war, and at its close there was a strong feel- ing of friendship between the two nations, the fair young land of the West and the mighty mistress of the main.^ Still another result of the war was the closer and deeper sympathy between the North and South and the realization of the oneness of this great nation of ours. Not only had we developed in a spirit of unity and national consciousness, but 1 See Alfred Austin's poem, Britain's Tribute to the Americans. THE SPANISH WAR: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 451 we had also risen in the esteem of the great nations of the world. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the United States was a feeble third-rate power; at the dawn of the twen- tieth it is recognized as a world-power of the first impor- tance and the guardian of democracy and liberty. Our New Possessions. The colonial possessions of the United States in 1898 were not only those which we received from Spain but the Hawaiian Islands as well. These islands were annexed in 1898 by a joint resolution of the two houses of Congress, and put under territorial government. Of our Spanish acquisitions, Guam was small and important mainly as a coaling station. Porto Rico was at first put under military government, but in April, 1900, a territorial govern- ment was established ; the President appoints a governor and council for the island, and the people select their own legis- lature, and send a delegate to Congress; free trade is es- tablished with the United States. In August, 1899, a ter- rible hurricane swept over the island, destroying fruit and coffee plantations and other property to the value of twenty- two million dollars. The people of the United States gener- ously aided the destitute islanders. Since their change of government the Porto Ricans have greatly prospered, having made progress in education, in domestic products, and in commerce. Philippine Insurrection. The Philippine archipelago, an- other of our acquisitions at the close of the Spanish- American War, contains three thousand one hundred and forty-one is- lands, only about three hundred and forty-two of which are inhabited. Luzon, the largest in the group, is about the size of Tennessee. The soil is fertile and the chief products are sugar, manila hemp, tobacco, coffee, and indigo. At the close of the war the islands were under military control. General Otis and Admiral Dewey being in command. But the native Filipinos who, under their brave young leader Emilio Agui- naldo (a-ge-nal'do), had rebelled against Spanish rule, now resisted the terms of peace, saying that they were fighting 452 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY for their independence and not for a change of masters. So determined was their resistance that President McKinley had to send ten thonsand additional troops to aid in the subjuga- tion of the islands. The natives, driven from their position near Manila, took to guer- rilla warfare, and for two years a ferocious and cruel struggle was maintained. There were hundreds of petty engagements and the Americans succeeded in gradually pushing their way into remote parts of the island. At length in March, 1 90 1, Aguinaldo was cap- tured by a band of soldiers under General Frederick Funston and took the oath of allegiance to the United States. Soon thousands of his followers did likewise and the insurrection was at an end.^ J^idge William H. Taft was made governor of the islands, and during his two years and a half of service did much to restore order and contentment among the Filipinos. Schools have been es- tablished and hundreds of American teachers have gone to the islands. The " Open Door " ; the " Boxer " Uprising. Our occu- pation of the Philippines and our rapidly increasing commerce have given the United States a position of prominence in the affairs of the Far East. Some of the European nations, look- ing with covetous eyes upon China, demanded for their own 1 General Lawton who had distinguished himself in the fights in Cuba, was killed at the battle of San Mateo, in 1899, fighting against the Filipinos. s^ SEA \ " Zamboanga^ \ .r .9 X . ■• . ^'■■SULU BRITISH"^ X.. N NUKIH 2Py:\ f 'SLANDS BORXEOu /^^*^^ " CELEBES SEA PHILLIPPINE ISLANDS THE SPANISH WAR: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 453 enrichment certain portions of Chinese territory and certain exckisive trading rights and privileges. These demands that nation was too weak to refuse. The United States insisted that the partition of China be stopped and also insisted on the " Open Door," that is, that the great powers guarantee to all nations equal trading rights in China. The selfish scramble for territory on the part of the Euro- pean nations aroused in the Chinese a bitter feeling toward foreigners which culminated in a serious outbreak. In 1900 a powerful secret society, the " Boxers," which was organized seemingly for the practice of athletics, began a determined war on foreigners. Armies of the Boxers, joined by the im- perial forces, spread terror throughout the country. Mission- aries and native Christians were murdered, likewise hosts of foreigners, among whom were many American citizens. The German minister in Peking was assassinated and other foreign ministers were shut up in the buildings of the British legation and besieged for weeks by a bloodthirsty horde. For a time all communications with the outside world were cut off, and the situation was critical in the extreme. Finally, in August, 1900, an allied relief force made up of Americans, Europeans, and Japanese hurried to the relief of the foreign ministers in Peking. The Boxers were dispersed by this army and soon the uprising was at an end. The Chinese government agreed to the following terms: first, the payment of a large indem- nity for the property destroyed ; second, the leaders were to be punished; third, China gave assurance that in future such out- breaks would be prevented. Reelection of McKinley. The year 1900, marked by the horrible Boxer uprising, was a presidential election year. The main issue between the Democrats and the Republicans was the question of the free coinage of silver, and each party took the same stand as in 1896. Another issue was imperialism, or the disposal of the Philippines. The Republicans had com- mitted themselves in favor of retaining them; the Democrats urged that they be made independent, with a promise on our 454 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY part to protect them against foreign powers. The Republi- cans renominated McKinley for the Presidency, while for the Vice-presidency they chose Theodore Roosevelt, then governor of New York, who had won fame as colonel of the " Rough Riders " during the Spanish-American War.^ The Democrats again chose their popular leader, William Jennings Bryan, for the first place on their ticket; former Vice-president, Adlai E. Stev- enson, was named for second place. The silver Republi- cans and one faction of the Populists supported Bryan. The Republican campaign cry was " the full dinner-pail " as an evidence of prosperity under McKinley's administration. The Republicans were victorious. Pan-American Exposition; Assassination of McKinley. McKinley was inaugurated for the second time March 4, 190 1, and on May i of that year a great Pan-American Exposition was opened at Buffalo.^ This exposition was for the purpose of exhibiting the resources of the American republics. The main feature of the whole exposition was the electrical dis- play, which made the most glorious night-scene the world has ever beheld. 1 Vice-president Hobart had died in 1899. - Several Pan-American congresses have been held. The first was in 1826, at Panama, but the delegates of the United States did not arrive in time for the proceedings. In 1889 a second Pan-American congress was held at Washington. In 1901 a third was held in Mexico City. Still another met at Rio Janeiro in igo6. These congresses were simply ad- visory bodies whose purpose was to promote friendly feelings among the American republics. A stately building has been erected in Washington, largely through the generosity of Andrew Carnegie, for an International Bureau of American Republics. WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN THE SPANISH WAR: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 455 But the gay throng of sightseers at Buffalo were turned to mourners, when, on September 6, President McKinley was shot by an assassin. In the afternoon, the President was hold- ing a reception in the Temple of Music, and in the long line of citizens with whom he was shaking hands there was one who had his hand covered with a handkerchief as if it were wounded. This was merely the means of concealing a pistol and when the anarchist, Leon Czolgosz (shorgosh), by name, came up to the President he shot him twice. For eight days the nation was in suspense, hoping against hope that McKin- ley 's life would be spared. On September 14, he died; the third of our Presidents within forty years to be shot down by assassins. Czolgosz was tried for murder and executed. Theodore Roosevelt, the Vice-president, took the oath of office at Buffalo a few hours after McKinley 's death. ^ Protests Against Foreigners. The death of President McKinley at the hands of a Polish anarchist caused a renewal of the agitation against anarchism and led to the passage of a law by Congress excluding anarchists from the persons permit- ted to immigrate into the United States. The question of im- migration in all its phases has grown to serious proportions. In 1882 was passed the first act excluding the Chinese, and in 1902 was passed the last, which made all prepeding acts perpet- ual in duration and prohibited the immigration of Chinese la- borers from the island territories to the mainland. In 1904 a movement began among labor organizations on the Pacific Coast to exclude Japanese immigrants also, because they were regarded as a menace to the interests of the people in that section, and the California state legislature urged that the 1 Theodore Roosevelt, the twenty-sixth President of the United States, was born in New York City, in 1858. He was graduated from Harvard in 1880, and, after holding various minor political offices in New York, he moved, in 1884, to North Dakota where he lived the life of a ranchman. When Benjamin Harrison was President, Roosevelt was on the civil serv- ice commission, and did a great deal toward the extension of the merit system. His service during the Spanish- American War made him im- mensely popular. He was elected governor of New York on the Republi- can ticket, and in 1900 he was elected Vice-president. 456 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY United States government limit the further immigration of Japanese laborers. The city of San Francisco adopted a sys- tem by which the Japanese and the Americans were segregated in the public schools. This was a blow to Japanese pride and immediately the government of Japan protested. Though fall- ing upon deaf ears in California, the protest received instant attention in Washington. California stood upon her rights as a state to regulate her schools in her own way; but finally, in a spirit of compromise, the offending regulation was repealed.^ The Republic of Cuba. Early in President Roosevelt's ad- ministration we fulfilled our pledge concerning Cuba, made at the outbreak of the war, and turned the island over to the inhabitants. In January, 1899, the Spanish soldiers had evacu- ated the island and the United States then set up a military government, which lasted until 1902. Under the direction of Major-general Wood order was quickly restored and the prog- ress of Cuba during these years of military government was marvelous. An effective system of taxation was established, likewise a system of public schools. Cuban industries that had been paralyzed during the war, particularly sugar grow- ing, were once more put upon a profitable basis. The sanita- tion of the cities was a wonderful work for the health and prosperity of tlie people. For the first time in one hundred and forty years Havana was free from yellow fever.^ The Cubans framed a constitution, modeled after that of the United States, in which they agreed that no foreign power 1 Another phase of the race question was shown in a riot which broke out in 1906 in Brownsville, Texas, between the colored soldiers stationed there and the citizens of the town. One man was killed and two wounded. An investigation of the affair showed that some of the soldiers were guilty, and that others were shielding them. The entire battalion was discharged by President Roosevelt. 2 Epidemics of yellow fever had broken out from time to time in our port towns, and in 1878 it spread as far inland as Memphis. Nearly fifteen thousand people were taken off. Later by quarantining rigidly the disease was kept in check in the ports of the United States. The magnif- icent work done at Havana was largely due to Walter Reed, and other surgeons of the United States army, who established the fact that the disease is transmitted by the bite of a mosquito. The United States gov- ernment spent ten million dollars for the sanitation of Cuba. THE SPANISH WAR: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 457 could acquire or control any of their territory, and that the United States would have the right to maintain, by force if necessary, the independence of Cuba. Tomas Estrada Palma was elected President, and on May 20, 1902, the United States withdrew their officials and the Republic of Cuba entered upon her independent career. In 1903 a reciprocity agreement was arranged by which the duties of the Dingley Tariff Act, which had been passed in 1897, were changed so as to permit a reduc- tion of twenty per cent on Cuban goods imported into the United States and Cuba permitted certain American goods to enter her ports at reduced rates. In 1906 again an insurrec- tion broke out in Cuba and the United States had to set up a provisional government once more. It lasted, however, for only a short time, and in 1909 Cuba was again restored to the Cubans. The Isthmian Canal. In Roosevelt's administration one of the greatest public works of recent years was launched — the building of the Panama Isthmian canal. For many years, ever since we gained our first territory on the Pacific, the United States had considered the building of a canal to connect the two oceans. In 1850 Great Britain and the United States formed an agreement knov.n as the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, to build and control a canal through Nicaragua; but neither nation had taken any steps toward the accomplishment of the plan. In 1880 a French company started work on a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, but in 1889 operations were sus- pended. For some time many people had come to realize that the commercial interests of our country would be benefited by a canal shortening the distance between the East and the West, and during the Spanish- American War the value of such a canal from the naval standpoint was keenly realized by the people while they waited those anxious weeks when the Oregon was making her voyage around the Horn. The canal now came to be regarded as a necessity and public sentiment demanded that it be constructed and controlled by the United States. 458 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY In 1900 the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty was abrogated, and a new treaty known as the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty was signed in 1901, by which the United States was to have the sole power " to construct, control, and defend an isthmian canal for the benefit of the commerce of the world." Instead of cutting the canal through Nicaragua, the United States pur- chased from the French their works at Panama, for forty mil- lion dollars, and proposed to pay the United States of Colom- bia ten million for exclusive control of a strip of land across the isthmus for the building of a canal. Colombia refused to make a treaty grant- ing the necessary land, and this re- jection caused the people of Panama, a state within the United States of Colombia, to feel that their interests had been sacrificed, and to secede and set up the independent republic of Panama, November 3, 1903. On November 6, the new republic received official recognition from the United States, and on November 18 a new canal treaty was negoti- ated known as the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty. This treaty granted to the United States the exclusive control of a zone of land ten miles wide for the construction of a canal in return for the sum of ten million dollars, and an agreement to pay a yearly sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars at the expiration of nine years. The canal was estimated to cost n6t over one hundred and thirty million dollars, though the final cost will be much more, and was to be finished by 1915.^^ It will be of in- 1 The principal reason for the faikire of the French in their efforts to Copyright UmKuvuud i, UiiUtuvoud SECTION OF PANAMA CANAL ,igi2 SUCCESSIVE ACQUISITION OF TEKKITOKY OF UNITED STATES THE SPANISH WAR: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 459 estimable advantage to the commercial world. ^ The distance by sea from New York to San Francisco, now over thirteen tiiousand miles, will be reduced to a little over five thou- sand.^ The final success of the inter-oceanic canal project will be THE PANAMA CANAL AND THE CANAL ZONE in large measure due to General John T. Morgan, senator from Alabama, 1877- 1900. He was a vigorous and per- sistent advocate of the Nicaraguan route in preference to dig the Panama canal was their inabiHty to create proper health con- ditions in the Tropics. But the science of medicine has made great ad- vances since that day, and one of the first steps taken by the United States was an effort to drive out malarial and yellow fever from the canal zone. Dr. W. C. Gorgas, who had conducted the " clean up " cam- paign with such signal success in Havana, was placed in charge of the sanitary department on the isthmus, and by his tact and ability he has achieved one of the greatest successes in the history of medicine. Panama has a better health record than New York, Philadelphia, or Washington ; malarial fever has been practically exterminated; yellow fever is now unknown ; all sickness has been reduced to a minimum ; and the working power of the employees is kept at the highest point possible. When the canal is finished, our success will be due, in no small measure, to the efficiency of Dr. Gorgas and his assistants in the sanitary department. 1 This canal will be of special benefit to Southern ports. 2 In 1903 the Pacific cable from San Francisco to Hong Kong by way of Hawaii and Manila was completed, another link binding us to the nations of the Pacific. On July 4, 1903, President Roosevelt sent the first message, and in four minutes' time it had flashed around the world. Another invention was the Marconi wireless telegraph. On January 8, 1903, President Roosevelt sent the first wireless message across the At- lantic. 46o STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY the one across the Panama; but, though failing in his im- mediate object, he created pubhc sentiment which made possible the digging of a canal. Alaskan Boundary Fixed, 1903. In 1903, while we were engaged in our isthmian diplomacy, we settled our last bound- ary dispute with Great Britain. When Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867 the boundary line between that region and Canada had never been fixed. The discovery of gold in 1897 in the Klondike region on the upper tributaries of the Yukon caused a rush of miners into the country. The deposits were exceedingly rich, and despite the hardships of the climate and of the overland route, Alaska filled up with gold seekers and the experience of the " forty-niners " in California was repeated. The Canadians laid claim to a portion of the Alas- kan country which the Americans likewise claimed and for a time there was a deal of bitterness between the respective settlers. The question was submitted by the two countries to a board of arbitration, who in their decision of 1903, sus- tained the American claim. In June, 1900, Alaska was erected into a civil and judicial district by Act of Congress and its government has been much improved. A Decade of Expositions. The first ten years of the twen- tieth century was a decade of fairs and centennial expositions. In 1901 there was held at Charleston, South Carolina, what was known as the South Carolina and Interstate and West Indian Exposition, which revealed anew the progress of south- ern industry and art and the value of the West Indian trade. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition was held at St. Louis, in 1904, in commemoration of the centennial of the purchase of Louisiana from France and was the most important in- dustrial exhibit ever organized in America except the World's Columbian Fair at Chicago in 1893. The St. Louis Fair opened April 30, 1904, and closed December i. About sixty foreign countries and nearly every state and territory in the Union were represented in the exhibits. The architecture, sculpture, and landscape gardening were of a high order of THE SPANISH WAR: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 461 excellence and the showing of the latest scientific discoveries was among the most interesting features of the exhibit. The next year an American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair was held at Portland, Oregon, in commemoration of the first exploration of the American continent from the Missis- sippi to the Pacific by Lewis and Clark. This exposition was particularly interesting in showing the wonderful natural re- sources of the Northwest. The Irrigation Building, which SCENE AT THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION AT ST. LOUIS showed by elaborate models something of the reclamation work of the United States government, and the Forestry Building, made of mighty logs of fir and cedar, were among the most at- tractive features of the fair. Two years later, in 1907, a tercentennial exposition was held at Norfolk, Virginia,, to celebrate the three. hundredth anni- versary of the first permanent English settlement in America. The chief feature of this exposition was the naval display; battle-ships of many nations were assembled in Hampton Roads, presenting a superb spectacle. 462 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY In September, 1909, a celebration was held at New York, commemorating the tercentenary of Henry Hudson's discov- ery of the Hudson River and the centenary of Robert Fulton's invention of the steamboat, though the latter was belated by two years. The people of Holland joined in the celebration and sent over to New York an exact reproduction of Hud- son's little ship the Half-Moon. The Clermont, too, was re- produced. These two quaint vessels were in striking contrast with the huge warships and ocean-liners that lay in the har- bor. To make the scene even more dramatic airships rode high over all, encircling the Statue of Liberty and darting here and there above the city. Disasters. It was a decade of disasters as well.^ In 1900 the city of Galveston was visited by a terrible hurricane. Winds and waves swept the island and the adjacent coasts and fully six thousand people lost their lives. From all parts of the country help was sent to the stricken city. The grade of the city has been raised and a sea-wall built to protect it from future inundation. - In 1904 the city of Baltimore was swept by a terrible fire which raged for thirty hours. Over twenty-six hundred build- ings in the heart of the city were laid in ashes. On April 18, 1906, the coastal region of middle California was shaken by a violent earthquake. Its most disastrous effect was due to the fires that were started in San Francisco and the destruction of the pipe system which sup- plied the city with water. More than three hundred mil- lion dollars' worth of property was destroyed and two hundred 1 In 1889 Johnstown, a city of 30,000 inhabitants in Pennsylvania, seventy- eight miles east of Pittsburg, had been completely submerged as a result of the breaking of a dam. More than two thousand lives were lost and much property was destroyed. The town quickly recovered and is the center of an e.xtensive iron and steel industry. - In order to meet the emergency created by this disaster, Galveston se- cured a charter that abolished her city government as formerly constituted and placed her affairs in the hands of a commission of five citizens. Tlieir businesslike administration of the affairs of the city was so remark- ably successful that the " commission form " of government for cities has become popular in all parts of the country. THE SPANISH WAR: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 463 and fifty thousand people were rendered homeless. The burnt district covered three thousand four hundred acres. For days the food of the entire city was cooked over camp fires in the streets. Election of 1904. At "the time that the Louisiana Purchase Exposition was in progress, the country was interested in the Presidential election of that year. The Republicans nom- inated Theodore Roosevelt for the Presidency and Senator Charles W. Fairbanks of In- diana for the Vice-presidency. The Democrats chose Judge Alton B. Parker of New York for the first place and Henry G. Davis of West Virginia for the second. Other parties had their candidates in the field : Thomas E. Watson of Georgia represented the Popu- lists or People's Party ; Eugene V. Debs of Indiana repre- sented the Socialists, and Silas Swallow the Prohibitionists. The election turned on the questions of tariff reform and the trusts, the two great parties holding about the same positions as in 1900. The Republicans were again victorious. Peace of Portsmouth. Early in President Roosevelt's sec- ond administration he rendered a distinguished service to the cause of civilization in acting as mediator in a great struggle between Russia and Japan. Notwithstanding the agreement made with China after the Boxer uprising, Russia had not withdrawn her forces from Manchuria, a province of Northern China. This provoked the hostility of Japan, and in 1904 the two nations went to war. For a year and a half i-x THEODORE ROOSEVELT 464 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY Japan startled the world by her victories on land and on sea. At length President Roosevelt persuaded the Russian and Jap- anese governments to open negotiations for peace. The en- voys of the two nations met at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on August 23, 1905, and agreed upon the terms. Cruise of the Battle Fleet Around the World, 1907 to 1909. Since our war with Spain, the United States had paid much attention to strengthening both the army and the navy. Many new battle-ships were built and on December 16, 1907, our battle fleet started from Hampton Roads on a cruise around the world. The first part of the journey w-as a circuit of the American continents from the Atlantic to the Pacific shores of the United States. From San Francisco the journey was to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, China, and Japan. The home voyage was through the Indian Ocean, the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Strait of Gibraltar. Everywhere the fleet was received with enthusiasm, it was a stately picture. There were sixteen large battle-ships in four divisions with the vessels two hundred and fifty yards apart. After having traversed about forty-five thousand miles of the sea the fleet returned to Hampton Roads on February 22, 1909, one year, two months, and six days from the time it started. This was the first battle fleet to circumnavigate the globe. ^ Second Peace Conference, 1907. In spite of wars and the building of vast armaments and fleets, there has developed a strong sentiment toward peace among the nations of the earth. In 1899, at the suggestion of the Czar of Russia, the first Peace Conference was held at The Hague in Holland for the purpose of promoting peace and diminishing the great expense of maintaining navies and amiies.- There were twenty-seven 1 The fleet was tinder the command of Rear-admiral Robley D. Evans until it reached San Francisco, where ill health forced him to relinquish the command to Rear-admiral Charles S. Sperry. - The United States pays out more than two-thirds of the national revenue in pensions, in interest on war debt, and in support of the army and navy. In the year 1910 the number on the pension list was nearly 900,000, and the expenditure was over one hundred and fifty million dollars. THE SPANISH WAR: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 465 nations represented at the conference, the United States being prominent among the number. The conference agreed to sub- mit disputes wherever possible to an international arbitration court as a step toward bringing about universal peace. ^ Presi- dent Roosevelt proposed a second Peace Conference in Octo- ber, 1904. Delegates from forty-four nations assembled at The Hague in 1907 and their deliberations further aided the cause of peace.- Internal Affairs. From time to time our Presidents had extended civil service reform, and President Roosevelt made further additions to the offices to be filled under the merit system.^ A desperate strike, lasting for five months, occurred among the anthracite coal miners of Pennsylvania. President Roose- velt induced both sides to submit their differences to arbitra- tion and soon the strike was ended. The growth of our commerce and the importance of labor in this period of our history caused a new executive depart- ment to be created in 1903, the Department of Commerce and Labor. This increased the members of the President's cabinet to nine. There was growing among the people a decided sentiment in favor of the enforcement of the Sherman Anti-trust Law, passed in 1890. Combinations of railroads were brought to trial for violating this act, and several trusts have likewise 1 This court held its first session in 1902, to hear the case of the United States versus Mexico in the matter of the "Pious Fund" of the Cali- fornians. While California was a province of Mexico, that country had given a certain sum for the support of the missions among the California Indians. This sum was the income from a fund known as the " Pious Fund," established for that purpose while Spain owned Mexico. When California was ceded to the United States, Mexico ceased to pay the income due to the California Missions. The United States took up this claim, and in 1902 referred it to the Hague Triliunal for arbitration. The decision required Mexico to pay over a million dollars, Mexican money, in past dues, and to pay in the future over forty thousand dollars annually. - A National Peace Congress in the United States assembled at New York in 1907. 2 In 1910 there were 384,088 employees in the United States civil service. 466 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY been prosecuted and ordered to dissolve, notably the Standard Oil Company and the American Tobacco Company. In 1903 a more stringent act, known as the Elkins Law, was passed, and in 1906 another Interstate Commerce Act was passed more comprehensive than that of 1887/ A bill was passed raising the salary of the President to seven- ty-five thousand dollars a year and increasing the salaries of other Federal officials.- Conservation of Our Natural Resources. A question that was brought forcibly to the public mind by President Roose- THIS PICTURE, FROM PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE SAMT LAND, REVEALS WHAT CHANGE THE RECLAMATION SERVICE IS MAKING IN THE DESERT velt was the conservation of our natural resources, that is, the preservation of the forests, water supply, soil, fuel, and minerals. As a people we have been extremely wasteful in the use of these endowments. The preservation of the forests is important not only from the standpoint of their use as building material and fuel, but also from the standpoint of their influence upon the flow of water. A separate Bureau ^ Several of the states likewise passed laws against trusts, and for the regulation of railroads. - Taft was the first President to receive this increase of salary. A former bill had set other salaries as follows : Vice-president and Speaker of the House, $12,000; senators and representatives, $7,500. The President was voted an allowance for traveling expenses. Each senator and repre- sentative is allowed liberal mileage, $1,500 for a clerk, and certain office expenses also are paid. THE SPANISH WAR: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 467 of Forestry was created and made a part of the Department of Agriculture. Gifford Pinchot, for several years head of tliis bureau, did much effective work in the matter of conserva- tion. The Reclamation Service has also done valuable work. Streams have been diverted from their original channels and made to water and transform arid lands. Dams have been built and reservoirs constructed for storing up water so that the lands of the West may yield their increase. Proceeds from the sale of public lands in Arizona, New Mexico, and Colo- rado have been devoted to the Reclamation Service. In May, 1908, the President called a conference of governors to meet at the White House to consider the question of conservation; governors were present from forty states besides many other leaders of both state and nation. Election of igo8. Another presidential year had rolled around, and the tariff and the trusts were still the main issues before the country. The Democrats again nominated William Jennings Bryan, with John Kern of Indiana for the Vice- presidency.^ The Republicans nominated William Howard Taft - of Ohio for the Presidency and James S. Sherman of New York for the Vice-presidency. The Populists and Social- ists put forth the same candidates for the presidency as in 1904. The Prohibitionists nominated Eugene W. Chafin of Illinois, while a new party, known as the Independent Demo- crats, organized by William R. Hearst of New York, nomi- ^ William Jennings Bryan was born in Illinois, in i860. He was grad- uated from Illinois College in 1881, and from Union College of Law i i Chicago, in 1883. In 1887 he moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he practiced law. From i8gi to 1895 he was in Congress from Nebraska, and soon attracted attention as a public speaker and as advocate of free silver and tariff reform. He delivered an eloquent speech at the Demo- cratic National Convention in 1896, and this won for him the nomination for the Presidency. During the Spanish-American War he served as colonel of volunteers. - William Howard Taft was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1857. He was graduated from Yale in 1878, and admitted to the bar two years later. He was at one time professor of law in the University of Cincinnati, and later served on the F'edcral bench. He was governor of the Philippines, which position he resigned to become Secretary of War under President Roosevelt. He was appointed provisional governor of Cuba in 1906 and served a short while. 468 STUDENT'S HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY nated Thomas L. Hisgen, of Massachusetts.^ Taft received three hundred and twenty-six electoral votes to one hundred and fifty-seven for Bryan. Taft's Administration. As the tariff was one of the main issues in the election and the Republican party had pledged itself to tariff revision, Pres- ident Taft called a special session of Congress shortly after his inauguration. After months of heated discussions Congress passed the Payne- Aldrich Tariff bill, which be- came a law on August 5, 1909. This was a highly protective tariff and an evidence of its disfavor with the people was shown in the Democratic vic- tories in many of the states and congressional districts in the election of 1910. In fact, the second Congress of President Taft's adminis- tration contained a Demo- cratic House and a Senate that was Republican by only a small majority. A faction of the Republicans, known as Insurgent Republicans, are opposed to the high protective system and are particularly strong in the West. A bill passed both houses of Congress and was signed by the President in 191 1 providing for reciprocity with Canada. The people of Canada, however, defeated the measure when it was submitted to them in a general election in September of the same year. The thirteenth census taken in 191 o showed a population of 91,000,000 within the United States and over 100,000,000 in- 1 In the campaign of 1908, eight political parties had candidates in the field. WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT THE SPANISH WAR: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 469 eluding the territories and dependencies. The Union of States was made complete from sea to sea in 191 1 by th3 admission of New Mexico and Arizona, as the forty-seventh and forty- These two states were parts of eighth States of the Union Chicag^^^^^^ 1 , o ■>-. ^ a! p t; u o u ;:^-J u bo bo w ^ .ti °« .-ti =^ S x; t rt t "Stj ^ CL» C oj C rt r- ^ o^g ^^ en rt t« rt S 5 ^^ &^ >..2. U ^ u . 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M PO ro q VO ^_ ^„ 1--^ t^ to -J-) r^ i-i_ ro i-i rOMD CO 01 •— < *^ \o^ ci ci oP pT i-T m' m" ►-T m " JN^ Tj-i-H TtrotoO\^i-i rot^ C^CO 0\QtoioO\'-' >-< Tf >-'O^^^^N^O\^-•O^O^o^>-'C5to 0\CO O •^ ro O to r^ fOioO troO_^0\rO r^CO m rOfOt^t->.foror<2 pf lo cT of oT -f of of of '^ of co" of C\ T? o'vo'co" r^ ^ 0\ O 0\ 1^ iO>0 Tf- Tj- M ONOO 01 oo tTCO >0 J^ 0\ 01 >oOO>^OOtoOOtotoOOOQtoOOQON TT On ^ 00 t^ toco O^ O ■^■^TTM'ONtOi-HCQ a\I^O\ rO\0 0) CO ^ v3 to Tf -^ q o)_ to t^^o^ J^oq_o "^oo^ '^'^., ^1 "2 "..'^ ^ 9^ 00 1- CO to ■^ to Q\ ■'f >-f "^ O»o' f^ O^ tovo' ^ t-C of o\ of a^' ro t< 1^2 to ID t^ O\00 04 O t^ O t^ l^ '^^ 00 O^CO ^ 0) " 0) M W ,_, M l-l l-H to " « ^ >> -b ^ •es Moine Madison acrament( St Paul Salem Topeka Wheeling irson Cil Lincoln Denver Bismarck Pierre Helena Olympia Boise Cheyenne It Lake Ci • Guthrie Santa Fe Phoenix ^_3 a; O -1 w ^ ^ MDOO OCO 0\i-i O0-1- f^\0 0\ Cf\ O^ Q\ Q O^ t^'-' >^ S-d oo o (LI > O bO ernment LInder civil gov- ernment Tf Tt to lo too vo o ^o t^co cococo&qnonOi-im mj; cooocococoa5coco(X)oocca5ooooco « Nebraska Colorado North Da South Da Montana Washingtc bo Oklahoma New Mex Arizona 5 ci < > r 5 5 Q 1:5 o O t! «« S o c t« 00 o '"00 •o-z: .-.2 -St:- -2 CO 1- _ .^ 2- 4J ^ ^ Index Abbey, 471 Abercrombie, General, 116 Abolitionists, 257-259; oppose annexation of Texas, 280; at the outbreak of the Civil War, 315; 324-n. Acadia, settled, 106; ceded to England, no Adams, John, in the Second Continental Congress, 141; Vice-President, 184; President, 197; sketch, 197-n.; death, 242-n. Adams, John Quincy, Secretary of State, 233; President, 241; sketch, 24i-n.; on annexation of Texas, 280 Adams, Samuel, draws up Circular Let- ter, 125; demands removal of troops, 127; organized committee of corre- spondence, 128; opposed constitution, 179 Aeroplane, 414 iVgassiz, Louis (ag'ase), 254 Agricultural Machinery, 250; 411 Aguinaldo, Emilio (e-mel'yo ii-ge-nal'do), 451 Alabama, admitted, 235; seceded, 310; re- admitted, 392 Alaba)na, Confederate cruiser, 347; battle vi'ith Kcarsarge, 379 " Alabama Claims," 398 Alamance, battle of, 128 Alaska, Russian Claim to, 239; purchase of. 395; boundary fixed, 460 Alamo, fall of, 279 Albany Congress, 113 Alert, 226-n. Algonc|uin (al-gon'kwin), location, 4; in Frencii and Indian War, 115 Alien and Sedition Laws, 198-199 Allen, Ethan, 134 Altgeld, Governor, 431-n. ^Ambrister, 234-n. Amendments, the first ten and the eleventh, i8o-n.; twelfth, 201; thir- teenth, 388; fourteenth, 390-392; fif- teenth, 392-393 American Colonization Society, 227 American Federation of Labor, 410 American Flag, 150 American party, 302 " American System," 268 American Tobacco Company, 466 Amherst, General, 115 Anmnilsen, Koald (ro'ald a'mun-scn), 414 Anderson, Major Robert, 317; 319 Andre, Major John (an'dra), 159 Andros, Sir Edmund, 70-71; 76 Anthony, Susan B., 426-n. Anti-Chinese movement, 410 Antietam or Sharpsburg, battle of, 353 Anti-federalists, 179 Anti-Xebraska men, 302 Anti-slavery societies, 256 Appalachian plateau, 2 Appomattox Court House, Lee surren- ders at, 380-382 Acjuidneck, island of, 59 Arbitration, Bering Sea controversy set- tled by, 427; Venezuelan boundary set- tled by, 433; Alaskan boundary settled by, 460; international court of, 465 Arbuthnot, 234-n. Arc light, 412 Arista, General (a-res'ta), 284 Arizona, admission of, 469 Arkansas, admitted, 281; seceded, 321; readmitted, 392 Armada (ar-ma'da), 31 Armistead, 361 Army disbanded, 173 Arnold, Benedict, march through Maine, 138-139; campaign in New York, 150- 151; treason, 158-160; death, i6o-n. Arthur, Chester A., 415-416; sketch, 416-n. Articles of Confederation, 1 71-172 Asia, European trade with, 13-15 Assurnption of State debts, 189-190 Astoria, 209-n. Athapascan Indians (ath-a-pas'kan), 5-n. Atlanta, fall of, 376-377; exposition, 432 Atlantic cable, 396 Atlantic Coastal Plain, 2 Audubon, John James, 254 Augusta, 246 Austin, Stephen F., 278 Australian ballot, 417-n. Austrian Succession, War of, in Automobile, 414 Aztecs, 4-n. B " Rack Salary Grab," 400 Bacon, Sir Francis, 35 Bacon, Nathaniel, 66-67 Baffin, 29 Bahama Islands, 19 Bainbridge, Captain, 220 479 48o INDEX Balance of power between sections, 235- 236 Balboa, 22-:;3 Baltimore, Lords, 47-48 Baltimore, Colonial City, 90; in 1790, 186; attack on, 225-226; in 1830, 245; fight in the streets of, 322; fire, 462 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 247 Bancroft, 254 Bank, First United States, 191 ; second, 230; Jackson and, 268-269; Tyler and, 276; new national banks, 384-n. Banks, General N. P., 348; 364-365 Barbary pirates, war with, 210-21 1; dur- ing War of 1 8 12, 229-n. Barclay, Commodore, 223 Barnburners, 290-n. Bartholdi, 423 Battle fleet, cruise of, 464 " Bear Flag republic," 285 Beauregard, General P. G. T. (bo're- gard), at Fort Sumter, 320; at Manas- sas, 332; in the West, 339-340; at Bermuda Hundred, 374 Belknap, W. W., 400 Bell, Alexander Graham, 412 Bell, John, 307 Belmont, 337-n. Bennington, battle of, 150 Bentonville, battle of, 379 Bering Sea, seal fisheries, 427 Berkeley, Lord John, 76-77 Berkeley, Governor William, 46; 65-67 Bessemer, 408 Beverley Ford, battle of, 360 Bicycle, 413 Bienville, 1 1 1 Big Bethel, battle of, 332-n. Bi-metallic commission, 436 Birmingham, 432-n. " Black Friday," 401-n. Black Hawk War, 270 Blaine, James G., 415; 418-419 Blair, F. P., 396 Blanco, General, 439 Bland-Allison bill, 407 Blockade, in War of 1812, 224; in Civil War, 321 Blockade runners, 326 " Body of Liberties," 57 Bonaparte, Napoleon, 198; sells Louisi- ana, 205-206; trickery of, 216; abdica- tion of, 224 Boone, Daniel, 161 Booth, John Wilkes, 382 " Border ruffians," 301 Border states, 322-^23 Boston, founding of, 56; colonial city, 86; closing of port, 130; evacuation of, 139-140; in 1790, 186; in 1830, 245; fire, 397 Boston massacre, 126-127 Boycott Associations, 124; 132 Boxer uprising, 452-453 Braddock, General, 114-115 Bradford, William, 52 Bragg, General Braxton, dash into Ken- tucky, 343-344; in Tennessee, 366-368 Brandywine. battle of. 152-153 Brandywijic, Tlie, 240 Brant, Joseph, 150; 192 Breckinridge, John C, 303; 374 Breed's Hill, 137 liritish idea of representation, 123 Brock, General, 218; 219-n. Broke, Captain, 220 Brooke, John M., 346 Brooke, Lord, 60 Brooklyn Bridge. 409 Brooklyn Heights, capture of, 144 Brooklyn, The, 448 Brown, General Jacob, 225 Brown, John, in Kansas, 302; raid at Harper's Ferry, 305-306 Brownsville riot, 456-n. Brush, C. F., 412 Brjan. William Jennings, 434; 454; sketch, 467-n. Bryant, William Cullen, 253 Buchanan, James, 3.03; 317 Buckner, General Simon B., 337-338; 434 Buell, General Don Carlos, 336; 339; 343-344 Buena \'ista (bwa'na ves'ta), battle of. 285-286 Bunker Hill, battle of, 137 Bureau of Chemistry, 449-n. Bureau of Forestry, 467 Burgoyne, General John, invasion of, 148-151 Burnside, General Ambrose E., 354 Burr, Aaron, Vice-President, 201; con- spiracy, 214 Butler, General B. F., in New Orleans, 341-342; at Bermuda Hundred, 374; Greenback candidate, 419-n. Cable cars, 413 Cable, George W., 470 Cabot, John, 22 Calhoun, John C, a "war hawk," 218; Vice-president, 241; 243; tariff and nullification, 263-268; Compromise of 1850, 296; sketch, 296-n. California, conquest of, 285 ; discovery of gold in, 290-291; admitted, 297-298; the Japanese in, 455 Camden, battle of, 166-167 Campbell, Colonel, 165 Canada (New France), settlement of, 106; ceded to England, 117; attack on, 138; War of 1812, 219; reciprocity, 468 Canal Zone, 458 Canby, General, 343 Canonicus (ka-non'i-kus), 54-n. Capital, Federal, 189-190 Carolina, Huguenots in, 28; English set- tlement, 80-82 Carnegie, Andrew, 454-n.; 470 '■ Carpet Bag " Government, 391-392 Carteret, Sir George, 76 Cartier, Jacques (zhak kar'tya'), 27 Carver, John, 52 Cass, Lewis, 290 Catholics, in Maryland, 47-48; in Eng- land, 50 Cavaliers, 46 Cavite (kav-i-ta'), 442-443 INDEX 481 Cayugas (ka-yu'gaz), 5-n. Cedar Creek, battle of, 374 Cedar Run, battle of, 352 Cemetery Ridge, 360 Cerro Gordo, battle of (ser'o-gor'do), 287 Cervera, Admiral (ther-va'ra), 442; 444; 448 ( haffin, Eugene W., 467 Chambers, B. J., 416 Chambersburg, 374 Cham]ilain, Samuel de, 32-33; 106-107 Champion Hill, battle of. 364 Chancellorsville, battle of, 357 Charles (13, 35; 45-46; 57; (II), 46; 66-68; 75; 77; 80 Charleston; South Carolina, founding of, 81; colonial city, 86; attack on, 143; fall of, 165; in 1790, 186; earthquake, 420 " Charter Oak," 71 Chattanooga, siege of, 367 Cherokees, 5; Georgia and the, 269-270 Cherry Valley, massacre at, 161 Oicsafcake, The, 212; and Shannon, 220 Chicago, fire at, 397 Chickamauga, battle of, 366 Chickasaws (chick'a-saw), 5; 269 Chickasaw Bayou, battle at, 362 Chile, 428 China (Cathay), 13; commercial treaty with, 289; the " open door," 452-453 Chip|)e\va (chip'e-wa), battle of, 224 Choctaws, 5; 269 Cibola (se'bo-la), seven cities of, 26 Cincinnati riots, 422-n. Cities, in the colonies, 86; in 1790, 186; in 1830, 245; in 1880, 415; improve- ment of, 471 Civil Service Reform, 416-417 Claiborne, William, 48-49 Clark, Captain Charles E., 442 Clark, George Rogers, 162 Clark, William, 207 Clay, Henry, " war hawk," 218; the " (Ireat Pacificator," 238; Secretary of State, 242; on the tariff, 266-268; the bank, 268-269; campaign of 1844, 280; Compromise of 1850, 295-296; sketch, 296-n. Clayton-Bulwer, treaty, 289; abrogation of, 458 Clermont , The, 209 Cleveland, Grover, first election, 418; sketch, 419-n.; second election, 429; sends troops to Chicago, 430-431 Cliff dwellings, 5-n. (.'linton, De Witt, 242 Clinton, George, Vice-president, 214 Clinton, Sir Henry, in the South, 139; withdraws from Charleston, 143; in Philadelphia, 156; in New York, 157; in the South, 165 Cold Harbor, battle of, 373 Colfax. Schuyler, 396 Colleges, in the colonies, 56; 67; 98-n.; loi-n.; in 1830, 251-252; in 1900, 469- 470 Colorado, admitted, 404 Columbia, 379 Columbus, Christopher, 16-21 Commerce and Labor, Department of, 465 Commission form of Government, 462-n. Committees of Correspondence, 128-129 Compromise of 1850, 297-298 Concord, fight at, 132-133 Conestoga wagons, 89; 246 Confederacy, cabinet of, 313-n.; commis- sioners of, 313; constitution of, 313; flag of, 312; 353-n.; hardships in, 369; organization of, 310-313 Confederation, government under, 172- 173; foreign relations, 173-174; inter- state troubles, 174; troubles with the soldiers, 173 Conference of Governors, 467 Congress, destroyed by Merrimac, 347 Congressional Library, 470 Congressional plan of reconstruction, 389-391 Connecticut, settlement, 59-61 ; under Andros, 70-71; western lands, 171-n. Conservation of our natural resources, 466-467 Conscription, 370 Constitution, defeats the Guerriere (gar'- ri-ere'), 220 Constitution, Federal, great compromises of, 177-178; nature of, 178-179; ratifi- cation of, 179-180; kind of union, 180- 181 Continental Congress (First), 1 31-132; (Second), 136; inefficiency of, iS5-n. Continental Currency, 146-n. " Contrabands," 355-n. Conway Cabal, 156 Cooper, James Fenimore, 253 Cooper, Peter, 247; 403-n. Corcoran Art Gallery, 470 Corinth, evacuation of, 339-340; battle of, 344 Cornwallis, Lord, campaign in New Jer- sey, 145-148; at Brandywine, 152; in the South, 165-170 Coronado (ko-ro-na'do), 26 Corporations, formation of, 407-408 Cortez, Hernando (her-nan'do kor'tez), 25 Cotton-gin, 187 Cowpens, battle of, 168 Coxey's Army, 429-n. Crater, battle of the, 375 Crawford, W. H., 233 Crazy Horse, 401 Credit Mobilier (kra'de' mo-be'Iya'), 399 Creek Indians, 5; 226; 269 Creoles, 206-n. Crittenden Compromise, 316 Croatoan, 32 Cromwell, Oliver, 35; 46; 57; 65 Crown Point, no; Ethan Allen takes, 134; Burgoyne captures, 149 Cuba, discovery of, 19; Spain's mis- government of, 437-439; independence recognized by United States, 440; re- public of, 456-457 Gulp's Hill, .360 Cumberland, sunk by the Merrimac, 346 482 INDEX Cumberland Road, 230-n.; 246-247 Custer, General George A., 401 Czolgosz, Leon (shol'gosh), 455 D Daiquire Cdi-ke're), 446 Daguerre (da-gair'), 251 Dale, Sir Thomas, 42 Dallas, George M., 280 Dalton, Confederate works at, 375 Dana, J. D., 254 "Dare, Virginia, 31 " Dark Horse," 280-n. " Daughters of Liberty," 125-n. Davenport, John, 61. Davis, search for northwest passage, 29 Davis, Henry G., 463 Davis, Jefferson, 234-n.; in the Mexican War, 286-n. ; on the compromise of 1850, 297; President of the Confed- eracy, 311; sketch, 311-n. ; imprison- ment, 383; death, 420 Davis, Sam, 367-n. Dearborn, General, 219 Debs, Eugene V., 463 Decatur, Commodore Stephen, war with Tripoli, 211; in War of 1812, 220; sub- dued Barbary pirates, 22g-n. Declaration of Independence, 140-141 Declaratory Act, 125 Decrees, French, 211-212 Delaware, Dutch and Swedes in, 75 ; Penn bought, 79-80 Delaware, Lord, 42 DeLong, Commodore, 414 Democratic party, beginning of, 191-192; name, 192-n. Demonetization of silver, 401 Dependent Pension Act, 425 Deposits, removal of, 269 Detroit, surrender of, 218-219; taken by Harrison, 224 Dewey, Admiral George, victory at Ma- nila, 442-443; sketch, 442-n. Directory, 198 Dissenters, 50 Distribution of surplus, 271; 273 District of Columbia, 190 Donelson, Fort, fall of, 337 Dorchester Heights, 139-140 Dorr rebellion, 259-n. Douglas, Stephen A., on Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 300-301; sketch, 300-n. ; debates, 304-305; candidate for Presidency, 307 Dow, General Neal, 416 Dowling, Lieutenant Richard, 364 Downie, Commodore, 225 Draft riots, 370 _ • Drake, Sir Francis, 28-29; 31 Drayton, General T. F. and Captain Percival, 335-n. Dred Scott decision, 303-304 Duncan, General Johnson K., 341 Dunmore, Lord, 1 39 Duquesne, Fort (dii-kanO, 112-115 Dustin. Plannah, io8-n. Dutch, settlements in Hudson and Dela- ware valleys, 72-75; conquered by English, 75-76; in the middle colonies, 100-103 Dynamite, 411 Eads bridge at St. Louis, 409 Eads, James B., 411 Early, Jubal A., 358; 374 Eaton, Theophilus, 61 Edison, Thomas A., 412 Education, in the colonies, 92-93; 97-98; 101-102; about 1830, 251-252; about 1900, 469-470 Edwards, Jonathan, 97-98 Elections, presidential, first, 183-184; method of, 184-n.; 197-n.; second, 197; of Jefferson, 201; of 1808, 214-215; of Monroe, 222; of John Ouincy Adams, 241; of 1828, 243; Jackson's reelection, 268-269; "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too," -73-274; of 1844, 280-281; of 1848, 290; of 1856. 303; of i860, 306-307; Lmcoln's reelection, 382; of Grant, 396-397; of 1872, 399; disputed elec- tion of 1876, 402-403; of 1880, 415- 416; of 1884, 418-419; of 1888, 423- 424; of 1892, 429; of 1896, 433-434; reelection of McKinley, 453-454; of 1904, 463; of 1908, 467-468 Electoral Commission, 403 Electoral Count Act, 420 Electricity, 412-413 Elevated railways, 413 Elevators, 411 Eliot, John, 69-n. Elizabeth. Queen of England, 29; 35 Elkins Law, 466 Emancipation proclamation, 355-356 Embargo Act, 213 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 254 Emigrant Aid Societies, 301 Endicott, John, 55 Enforcing Act, 214 England, claim to America, 22; impress- ment, 194-195; 212; treaty of 1818, 233; during Civil War, 326; during Spanish War, 450 English, W. H., 415 " Era of Good Feeling," 240 Ericsson, John, 246-n. ; 347 Ericson, Leif, 14-n. Erie Canal, 231; 242 Essex, captures the Alert, 226-n. Evans, Admiral Robley D., 464-n. Evans, General, 332 Everett, Edward, 307 Ewell, General Richard S., 359 Exchange of prisoners, 370-371 Excise law, 190 Executive departments, established, 187 Expositions, Centennial at Philadelphia, 403-404; America's first world's fair, 404-n. ; Centennial at Yorktown, 418; at Atlanta, 418; Cotton Centennial, 418; World's Columbian, 431-432; At- lanta, 432; Pan-American, 454; at INDEX 483 Charleston, 460; Louisiana Purchase, 460-461; at Portland, 461; at James- town, 461; Hudson-Fulton, 462 Extradition of criminals, -'77 Ezekiel, Moses, 471 Fairbanks, Charles W., 463 Faneuil Hall, 126; 127-n. Farmer's Alliance, 421-n. Farragut, Admiral, David G., 341-342; sketch, 341-n.; at Mobile, 378 Federal Convention, 177-178 Fcilcralist Papers, i8o-n. Federalists, supporters of the Constitu- tion, 179-180; party, 191-19-; Ferdinand and Isabella, 17 Ferguson, Colonel Patrick, 167 Field, Cyrus, 396 Field, James G. 4J9n. Fillmore, Millard, Vice-president, .'go; President, 297; sketch, J97-n.; candi- date of American party, 303 Firearms, improvements in, 250; 411 Fisher, Fort, capture of, 378 Fisheries, Grand Banks, treaty of 1783, 170; treaty of 18 18, 233; treaty of Washington, 399; seal, 427 Fiske, John, 471 Five Forks, battle of, 379-380 " Five Nations," 4; 107 Florida, discovery of, 24; ceded to Eng- land, 117; re-ceded to Spain, 170; pur- chase of, 233-234; admitted, 282; se- ceded, 310; readmitted, 392 Florida, Confederate cruiser, 347; 379-n. Floyd, General, 337 " Flying Squadron," 441 Foote, Commodore Andrew H., 337 Forbes, General, 116 Force Bills, 394; 407-n. Ford, J. F., 471 Forest fires, 397 Forrest, (leneral Nathan B., 362; 368 " Forty-niners," 291 France, settlements in America, 26-28; 106-108; iio-iii; loss of America, 117; aids United States, 154; the French Revolution, 193; in Mexico, 394-395 Franklin, Benjamin, writer, 101-102; pro- posed Albany plan, 113; sketch, ii3-n.; agent to France, 154; in Federal Con- vention, 176 Franklin, state of, 171-n. Frazier's l-"arm, battle of, 351 Fredericksburg, battle of, 354 Freedman's Bureau, 388-389 Free Soil party, 200 French & Indian War, 112-117 French, Daniel, 471 Friction matches, 251 Frobisher, Martin (frob'isher), 29 Frolic captured by H'asf, 220 Frontenac, Governor, 108 Fugitive slave law, provision for, 178; of '793. ^36; of 1850, 298 Fulton, Robert, 209 " Fundamental Orders " of Connecticut, 61 Funston, General Frederick, 452 Gadsden purchase, 288-n. Gage, General Thomas, 131; 132; 137 Gaines's Mill, battle of, 351 Gallatin, Albert, 204 Galveston, in Civil War, 347; jetties at, 41 i-n. ; flood, 462 Gama, Vasco da (vas'ko da gii'mii), 14 (iarcia, tieneral (gar-the'aj, .jj8 Garfield, James A., "dark hjrse," 4 1 f, : assassination of, 416; sketch, 416-n. (Garland, A. H., 420 Garrison, William Lloyd, 257; 280 Gates, General Horatio, succeeds Schuy- ler, 151; at Camden, 166-167 Genet, "Citizen," 193-194 (Jeography, limited knowledge of, 12-16 George, King (II), 83; (III), 120 Georgia, settlement, 82-84; western lands. 172-n.; and the Indians, 269; seceded, 310; readmitted, 392 Germans, in Pennsylvania, 78; in Georgia, 83 r.ermantown, battle of, 153 Gerry, Elbridge, 198 Gettysburg, battle of, 360-362 Client, peace of, 228-229 Gdbert, Sir Humphrey, 29-30 "Glorious Revolution," 71-72 Gold, discovery of in California, 290- 291; in Black Hills and in (Oregon, 401-402; in the Klondike, 460 Gold coin, 407-n.; unit of value, 436 Gomez, General, 438 Goodyear, Charles, 250 Gordon, General John B., 380 Gorgas, Dr. W. C., 459-n. (Irand Alliance, war of, 108 " (;rand Model," 81 " Grangers," 421-n. Grant, General U. S., in Mexican War. 288-n.; in the West, 337-3391 344; 3(>- 364; 367; in the East, 37^-37-; 379- 382; President, 396-397; deat!i,' 420 Grasse, Count de, 169 Gray, Asa, 254 (iray, Elisha, 412 Gray, Captain Robert, 208-n.; 282 " Great Awakening," 97 Great Debate, the, 265-266 (ireely, A. W., 414 G'reeley, Horace, 399 Greenbacks, issued, 384; the partv. 403n.; 415 Greene, General Nathaniel, 168 Grenville, Lord, 123 Guadalupe Hidalgo, peace of (gwa-da- 166'pa hc-dal'go), 288 Guam (gwrim), 450 Guanahani (gwa-nji-ha'ni), 19 Guantanamo (gwan'ta-na'mo), 446-n. Gucrricre, the, 220 Guilford Court House, battle of, 168 Guiteau, Chas. J., 416 484 TNDEX H Hadley, attack on, 70 Hale, Nathan, 144 Half-Moon, the, 73 Halleck, General Henry W., in the West, 334: military adviser, 344 Hamilton, Alexander, supports Constitu- tion, 179-180; Secretary of the Treas- viry, 187; financial schemes, 188-191; sketch, i88-n.; party, 191-192; death, 214. Hamilton, Colonel, 162 Hamlin, Hannibal, 307 Hampton, General Wade, 373 Hancock, General W. S., 361; 415 Harbors, improvement of, 411-412 Hardee, General William, 378 Harnden, W. F., 252-n. Harper's Ferry, raid at, 305-306: Jackson took, 353 Harris, Joel Chandler, 470 Harrison, Benjamin, 424; sketch, 424-n.; 427 Harrison, William Henry, at Tippecanoe, 217; War of 1812, 221-224; President 275; sketch, 275-n. Harte, Bret, 470 Hartford, 58; 60 Hartford Convention, 229 Hatteras, Fort, 335 Hawaii (ha-wi'e), 432; 451 Hawkins, Captain John, 28 Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 254 Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty (bii-no' va-re'- ya), 458 Hay-Pauncefote Treaty (pons'foot), 458 Hayes, Rutherford B., 402-403; sketch, 406-n. Hayne, Robert Y., 265-266 Hearst, William R., 467 Hendricks, Thomas A., 402; 419; 420 Henry, Fort, fall of, ay Henrv Letters, 217-n. Henry, Patrick, on the Parson's Cause, 122; opposes Stamp Act, 124; for in- dependence, 141; governor of ^'lr- ginia, 162; opposes constitution, 179 Henry, the Navigator, Prince, 14 Herkimer, General Nicholas, 150 Hermitage, the, 262 Hessians, 140; 147 Hill, General A. P., 359 Hisgen, Thomas L., 468 Plobart, Garret A., 434; 454-n. Hobson, Lieutenant Richmond P., 445 Hoe, Richard M., 250 Hogan (ho'gan), 5. Holland, 14; 72; 75; 154 Holly Springs, 362 Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 253-254 " Holy Alliance," 239-240 Hood, General John B., 376-378 Hooker, General Joseph, 354; 337-358 Hooker, Thomas, 60 Hornet, captured the Peacock, 220 Horse Shoe Bend, battle of, 227 Houston, General Sam, 279 Howe, Elias, 250 Howe, General Robert, 116 Howe, General William, at Bunker Hill, 137; evacuation of Boston, 139-140; takes New York, 143-145; in Philadel- phia, 151-153 Howells, William Dean, 470 Hudson, Henry, under the English flag, 29; under the Dutch flag, 73 Huger, General Benjamin (ij-je'), 328 Huguenots (hij'ge-nots), massacred by the Spanish, 27-28; in South Carolina, 80- 81 Hull, Captain Isaac, 220 Hull, General William, 218-219 Hunter, General, 372 Hutchinson, Mrs. Anne, 58-59 I Idaho, admitted, 426 Illinois, conquest of, 162; admitted, 235 Illuminating gas, 251 Immigration, the Great, 56; about 1830, 245; Chinese, 410; restriction of, 422- 4-^3; 455-456 Impressment, 194-195 Incandescent light, 412 Indented servants, 44; 91-92; 94; 100 Inde])endence Hall, 136 Independent Democrats, 467 Independent Treasury, 273; 276; 283 India, trade relations with, 13-16 Indiana, admitted, 234 Indians, general sketch of, 3-1 1 ; and the colonists, 44; 45; 53; 54; 60; 69; 70; in the French and Indian Wars, 105- 118; in the American Revolution, 161- 162; in the Northwest, 192-193; 217; in the War of 1812, 226-227; in Florida, 233; 270; in Georgia, 269-270; In Illinois, 270; in the Civil War, 342-n.; in the Northwest, 401-402; in the Spanish-American War, 446-n. Indian Territory, 270; admitted as part of Oklahoma, 427 Initiative, referendum, and recall, 469-11. Insurgent Republicans, 468 Internal improvements, after War of 18 1 2, 230-231; under J. Q. Adams, 242; under Jackson, 271 Interstate Commerce Act, 421-422 " Intolerable Acts," 130-131 Iowa, admitted, 282 Iron-clad vessels, 325; 342-n.; 345-347 Iroquois (ir'o-kwoi'), 4-5; 33; 107 Irving, Washington, 253 Island No. 10, capture of, 340 Isthmian Canal, treaties concerning by 1850, 289; building of, 457-460 Italy, 13; 428 luka, battle of, 344 Jackson, Andrew, in the War of 1812, 226-228; in Florida, 234; in the elec- tion of 1824, 241; election of, 243; sketch, 262-n.; and the spoils system, 262-263; and South Carolina, 267-268; and the bank, 268-269; and the Georgia Indians, 269-270; and foreign affairs. L\DEX 485 271; and internal improvements, 271; and Texas, 280 Jackson, Fort, 340 Jackson, General Thomas J. (Stonewall), at first battle of Manassas, 33-'-333; the' valley campaign, 350; sketch, 350-n.; with Lee in 1862, 351-354; at Chancellorsville, 357-358; death, 358- 359 ^ James, King (I), 35; 45; (II), as Duke of York, 76; as King, 70-71; 105; 108 Jamestown, 37-4J Japan, treaty with, 289-290; and Cali- fornia. 455-456 Jasper, Sergeant, 143 Java, captured by the Constitution, 220 Jay, John, 188 Jay Treaty, 195-196 Jefferson, Thomas, draws up Declaration of Independence. 141; Secretary of State, 187; opposed Hamilton, 188-192; election, 201; sketch, 203-n.; purchase of Louisiana, 205-207; and the Bar- bary pirates, 210-21 1; and the Em- bargo, 213-214; on the Missouri Com- promise, 239-n.; death, 242-n. Jetties, 411 Johnson, Andrew, military governor of Tennessee, 338; Vice-president, 382; President, 383; plan of reconstruction, 386-388; sketch, 387-n.; impeachment, 395-396 Johnson, Herschel v., 307 Johnson, Richard M., 272 Johnston, General Albert Sidney, quells Morman uprising, 304; in command in the West, 329; sketch, 336-n.; death, 339 Johnston, General Joseph E., in com- mand in the East, 328; at Manassas, 332; wounded at Seven Pines, 349; at Vicksburg, 363-364; retreating before Sherman, 375-376; superseded in the command, 376; sketch, 376-n. ; in the Carolinas, 379 Johnstown flood, 462-n. Joliet (zho'le-a'j, 107 Jones, John Paul, 162-163 Juarez, Benito (ba-ne'to hwa'ras), 395 Judiciary Act, 201 Junta, C'uban, 438 Kalb, Baron de, 153; 166 Kansas, struggle for, 301-302; admitted, 302 Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 300-301 Kearney, General Stephen W., 285 Kcarsarge defeats the Alabama, 379 Kentucky, settlement of, 162; threatened secession from Confederation, 174; ad- mitted, 186 Kentucky and N'irginia Resolutions, 199- 200 Kern, John W., 467 Keyc (kce), 5 King, William R., 300-n. King, Rufus, 232 King George's War, 111-112 King Philip's War, 69-70 King's Mountain, battle of, 167-168 King William's War, 108-109 " Kitchen Cabinet," 263 Klondike, 460 Knights of Labor, 410 Know-nothing party, 303-n. Knox, Henry, 187 Knoxville, siege of, 368 Kosciusko, 153 Ku-Klux Klan, 393-394 Labor Union, 410 Labor troubles, 409-410; strike among steel workers, 429; Pullman strike, 430- 431; anthracite miners, 465 Lafayette, Marquis de, 153; at Yorktown, 168-170; visit, 240 Lake Champlain, discovery of, 33; 106; battle of, 225 Lake Erie, battle of, 22^-22^ Lamar, L. Q. C, 420 Lane, Joseph, 307 Lanier, Sidney, 470 La Salle (la sal'J, descended the Mis- sissippi, 107-108; landed on Texas coast, 108 Las Guasimas (las gwas'e-mas), 446 Laivrence, the, 223 Lawton, General, 447; 452-n. Leavenworth, Fort, 285 Lee, General Charles, in New York, 145- 146; disobedience of, 156 Lee, (General Fitzhugh, 438 Lee, Fort, 144-145 Lee, General Henry, " Light Horse Harry," 158-n.; 168; 201-n. Lee, Richard Henry, 141 Lee, General Robert E., in the Mexican War, 288-n.; at Harper's Ferry, 306; in West Virginia, 330; in command of the Army of Northern X'irginia, 349; sketch, 350-n.; first invasion of the North, 353-354; second invasion of the North, 359-361; surrender, 380-382; death, 380-n. Lee, General Stephen D., 362 Leisler, Jacob, 76 Leon, Ponce de (pon'tha da la-on'), 24- 25 Leopard, defeats the Chesapeake, 212 Lewis and Clark expedition, 207-208 Lexington, battle of, 132-133 Liberator, The, 257 Liberia, 22j Life-saving service, 414-n. Liliuokalani, Queen (leTe-66-6-ka-lii'nc), .432 • Lincoln, Abraham, 234-n.; debates with Douglas, 304-305; election, 307; sketch, 317-n.; reelection, 382; assassination, 382-383; plan of reconstruction, 3S6 Lincoln, (icneral Benjamin, 165; 175 Lincoln-Douglas debates, 304-305 Literature, in the colonies, 98; 10 1; about 1840, 252-254; about 1900, 470-471 486 INDEX Little Belt defeated by the President, 2i6-n. Livingstone, Robert R., 205 Locke, John, 81 Logan, John A., 419 Long, Dr. Crawford W., 251 Longfellow, Henry W., 253 Long Island, battle of, 144 Longstreet, General James, 367; 372-0. Lookout Mountain, battle of, 366 Lords of Trade, i 13 London Company, 35-37 < 45 Louisburg, capture of, 111-112; i 15-116 Louisiana, discovered by the French, 107- 108; passed to Spain and England, 117; transferred to France, 204-205; pur- chase, 205-207; admitted, 234; seceded, 310; readmitted, 392 Louisiana, the, 340 Lovell, General Mansfield, 341 Lowell, James Russell, 253 Loyalists (Tories), 145 Lundy's Lane, battle of, 225 Luzon, 451 Lyon, General Nathaniel, 334 M McClellan, General George B., in West Virginia, 330; in command Army of the Potomac, 34S-351; 353-354: sketch, 348-n.; presidential candidate, 382 McComb, General, 225 McCormick, Cyrus IL, 250 McCullough, General Ben, 334; 342 Macedonian, captured by the United States, 220 McHenry, Fort, 226 Mackenzie, Alexander, 233-n. McKinley, William, election of. 434; sketch. 436-n. ; assassination, 455 McMaster, J. B., 471 Madison, James, in the Federal Conven- tion, 176-177; 179-180; President, 215; sketch, 216-n. Magellan, Ferdinand (ma-jel'an), 22-23 Magruder, General John B., 328; 347 Mails, in the colonies, 89-90 Maine, admitted, 238-239; statewide pro- hi,T)ition, 255; boundary. 277 Maine, the sinking of, 439-440 Malvern Hill, battle of", 351 Manassas, or Bull Run, first battle of, 33^-333; second battle of, 351-353 Manhattan Island, bought from the In- dians, 74 Manhattan Bridge, 409-n. Manila, battle of, 442-443; surrender of, 449 Mansfield, or Sabine Cross Roads, battle of, 365 Manufactures, after War of 18 12, 229- 230 Marconi wireless telegraph, 459-n. Marco Polo, 14-15 Marion, Francis, the " Swamp Fox," 166 Marque and reprisal, letters of, 321 Marquette, Father (mar'kef), 107 Marshall, John, minister to France, igS; Chief Justice, 201; sustained Indians, 270 Maryland, settlement of, 47-49; 67; ratifi- cation of the Articles of Confedera- tion, 171-172 Mason and Dixon's line, 67-68; 79 Mason, James M., 335 Massachusetts, settlement, 54-57; reli- gious dissensions, 57-58; emigration from, 58-60; Indian Wars, 60-61; 69- 70; loss of charter, 70-71; Glorious Revolution in, 71-72; loss of charter, 130-131 Massasoit (mas'a-soit), 54 Matamoras, 285 Mather, Cotton, 98 Maury, Matthew Fontaine, 254 Maximilian, emperor of Mexico, 394-395 Mayflower, the, 52-53 Meade, General George G., 360-362; sketch, 360-n. Mechanicsville, battle of, 351 Mecklenburg Declaration of Independ- ence, 140 Megaphone, 413 Meigs, Fort, 223 Memjihis, fall of, 340 Menendez (ma-nen'deth), 28 Mcrrimac (Virginia), 345-347 Merrimac, the collier, 445 Merritt, General Wesley, 443-449 Metropolitan Museum, 470 Mexican War, 283-288 Mexico, conquest of, 25; 394-395 Michigan, admitted, 281 Middle Colonies, life in, 100-103 " Midniglit Judges," 201 Miles, General Nelson A.. 402; 446 Military Academy at West Point, 252 Military review, 384-n. Miller, Joaquin. 470 Mill Spring, battle of, 336-337 Mills, Roger Q., 424 Minims, Fort, massacre at, 226 Minnesota, admitted, 307 Mint establislied, 191 Missionary Ridge, battle of, 367 Mississippi River, discovery of, 25 Mississippi, admitted, 235; seceded, 310; readmitted, sg2 Missouri, question of, 234-238: the com- promise, 238-239; contest over. 334 Mitchell. Commodore John K., 341 Mitchell's Peak, 2 Mi)l)ile, founding of, 110; capture of, 378 " Moderators," 128 Modoc War, 401 Mohawk Indians, s Molasses Act, 120-n. M '•nitor, 347 Monmouth Court House, battle of, 156 Monroe Doctrine, proclaimed, 239-240; Mexico and, 394-395; Great Britain and, 433 Monroe, Fortress, 330 Monroe, James, envoy to France, 205; President, 2^2; sketch, 232-n. Montana, admitted, 426 INDEX 487 Montcalm, Marquis de, 115; 117 Monterey, capture of, 285 Monteomery, Alabama, the capital of the t^onfederacy, 311 Montgomery, General Richard, 138-139 Montojo, Admiral (mon'to-ho'). 443 Moore's Creek, fight at, 139 Morgan, General Daniel, 150; 168 Morgan, General John H., 366-n. Morgan, John T., 459-460 Mormons, founded, J55; uprising, 304; law against, 426 Morris, Robert, 145-146 Morristown. 148 Morse, Samuel F. B., 249 Morton, Levi P., 424 Motorcycle. 413 Moultrie, Colonel, 143 Mound builders, 4-11. Mount \'ernon, 196 " Mugwump," 419 Murfreesboro or Stone River, battle of, 344-345 Muskogee Indians (mus-ko'ge), s N Narragansetts (nar-ra-gan'setts), 58-60; 69 Narvaez (nar-va'eth), 25 Nashville, battle of, 378 Naslrrille, the. Confederate cruiser, 334 Nat Turner Insurrection, 258 Naturalization Act, 199 Naval Academy at Annapolis, 252 Navigation Acts, 120-121 Navy of the United States, 425 Nebraska, admitted, 395 •Necessity, Fort, fight at, 11 2-1 13 Nevada, admitted, 384 Nevin, Ethelbert, 471 New Amsterdam, 74-75 Newburgh address, 173 New England, life in, 94-100 New England Confederation, 61-62 New France. 106 New Hampshire, separated from Massa- chusetts. 72 New Haven, 61; 68 New Jersey, settlement of, 76-7y; cam- paign, 14s New Market, battle of, 374 New Mexico, admitted, 469 New Orleans, founded, 1 10-111; passed to Spain, 117; battle of, 227-228; fall of, 340-342 Newport, Captain Christopher, 37 Newspapers and magazines, in the col- onies, 89-90; about 1840, 252; about 1900, 470 New York, discovery of harbor of, 27; settlement of, 74-75; Englisli conquest of. 75-76; assembly dissolved, 125; campaign in, 143-145; 148-151; west- ern lands, 171; capital, 184; riots, 370 Nez Perces, 402 Niagara, the, 224 Nina, the (neen'ya), 18 Non-importation societies, 132 Non-intercourse Act, 213-214 Norfolk, burning of, 139 North, population and resources in i860, 3-4-325; point of view of, 323; plan of operations, 329—330 North, Lord, 129 North Carolina, settlement of, 82; se- ceded. 321; readmitted, 392 North Dakota, admitted, 426 Northmen, 14-n. North Pole, discovery of, 414 Northwest territory, 171-172; 175-176; 192 Nullification, 266-268 o Ocean steamships, 210-n.; 246-n. Oglethorpe, James, 82-83 Ohio Company, 112 Ohio, admitted, 209 Oil in Pennsylvania, 250-n.; 291; in Texas and in Oklahoma, 432 Oklahoma, admitted, 426 Olustee, battle of, 369 Olympia. Dewey's flagship, 442 " Omnibus Bill," 296 Oneidas (6-nI'daz), 5-n. Onondagas (on'on-da'gaz), 5-n. Opechancanough (o-pech-an-ka'no), 44 Open door," 452-453 Orange, Fort (Albany), 74 "Orders in Council," 211-212 Ordinance of 1787, 175-176 Oregon, claim of United States to, 208- 209; treaty for joint occupation, 233, question settled, 282-283; admitted, 307 Oregon, the, 441 Oriskany, battle of, 150 Osceola, 270 Osgood, Samuel, 187-n. Otis, James, 121 Otis, General, 451 Ottawas (ot'ta-waz), u Pacific cable, 459-n. Pacific Ocean, discovery of, 22-23 Pacific railroads, 399 Page, Thomas Nelson, 470 Pakenham, General, 227-228 Palma, Tomas Estrada, 457 Palmer, John M., 434 Palmito (pal-me'to), battle of, 382-n. Palo Alto (pa'lo al'to), battle of, 284-285 Panama, French works purchased, 457- 458; secession of, 458; canal, 458-460 Pan-American Congresses, 242; 454-n. Panic, of 1819, 242; of 1837, 273; of 1873, 401; of 1893, 4^9- Paper money. Continental Congress is- sues, 146; states issue, 174-175; by state banks, 271-272; Confederate, 369; by the United States, 384; made re- deemable, 401 Paris, peace of 1763, 117; peace of 1783, 170; peace of 1898, 449-450 488 INDEX Parker, Alton B., 463 Parkman, Francis, 254 Parsons' Cause, 123 Patents, 250-n. Patroons, 74 Patterson, General Robert, 330 Peace Conference at Washington, 317 I'eace Conference at The Hague, 464-465 Peacock, captured by the Hornet, 220 Pea Ridge or Elk Horn, battle of, 342 Peary, Commodore Robert F., 414 Pelham, Major John, 3s8-n. Pemberton, General John C, 363-364 Peninsula campaign, 348-350 Penn, William, 77-80 Pennsylvania, 78-79 Pensions, 464-n. Pequot War, 60 Perry, Matthew C, 289-290 Perry, Oliver Hazard, 223-224 Perryville, battle of, 343 Personal Liberty laws, 298-299 " Pet banks," 269 Philadelphia, founding of, 78: campaign, i5i~i53; evacuation of, 156 Philadelpliia, the, 211 Philippines, discovery of, 23; ceded to United States, 450; insurrection in, 451-452 Philip, Captain Jack, 448-n. Phonograph, 413 Pickens. Andrew, 166 Pickett's division, 361; 380 Pierce, Franklin, 299; sketch, 299-n. Pike, Colonel Albert, 342-n. Pike, Colonel Zebulon, 209 Pilgrims, 51-53 Pillow, General, 337 Pillow, Fort, 368 Pinchot, Gifford (pin'cho), 467 Pinckney, Charles C, 197 Pinta (peen'ta), 17 Pinzon brothers (peen-zon'), 18 Pious fund, 465-n. Pitcairn, Major, 133 Pitt, Fort, ii6-n. Pitt, William, 115; 125 Pleasonton, General, 360 Plymouth, colony founded, 53-54; added to Massachusetts, yz Pocahontas, 41-n. Poe, Edgar Allan, 253 Polar exploration, 414 Polk, James K., 280-281; sketch, 281-n. Polk, General Leonidas, 337-n' Pontiac's conspiracy, 11 7-1 18 Poor Richard defeats the Scrapis, 162- 163 Pope, General John, 340; 351 Population, in the colonies, 86; in 1790, 186; in 1830, 245-246; in i860, 324; in 1880, 415; in 1910, 468 Populist party, 429; 434: 463; 467 Porter, Captain David D., 341 Port Hudson, 363 Porto Rico, 449; 451 Port Royal (S. C), Huguenot settlement, 27-28; taken by the Federals, 334: (Nova Scotia), taken by the English, 1 10 Portsmouth, Peace of, 463-464 Postal rates, about 1830, 252-n.; about 1880, 417-n. Powhatan, 41 Preble, Commodore, 211 Prescott, Colonel, 137 Prescott, W. H., 254 President, the, defeats the Little Belt, 2i6-n. Presidential Succession Act, 420 Prevost, General, 225 Price, General Sterling, 334; 344; 365 Princeton, battle of, 147-148 Printing, improvement in by 1830, 250; about 1880, 411 Prisons, reforms in by 1830, 255; war, 369-370 Privateers, in the Revolution, 162; m War of 1812, 226; in Civil War, 331 Proclamation of Neutrality, of 1793, 193; England's, 326 Proctor, General, 223 Prohibition movement, about 1830, 255- 256; about 1880, 416-n. Prophet, the, 217 Proprietary colonies, 87 Pueblo Indians, s-n. Pulaski, 153 Punishment of crime, in the colonies, 87- 88; about 1830, 25s Pure Food Law, 449-n. Puritans, in England, 50; settle Massa- chusetts, 54-56 Putnam, General, 144 Q Quakers, persecuted in Massachusetts, 63; in Pennsylvania, 77-78 Quartering Act, 123 Quebec, settlement of, :i:i; fall of, 116- 117; Arnold's attack on, 138-139 Quebec Act, 131-n. Queen Anne's War, 109-110 Queenstown Heights, battle of, 219 R Railroads, from 1830 to 1850, 247-248; 399-400; 407 Raisin River massacre, 221-223 Raleigh, Sir Walter, 29-32 Randolph, Edmund, 187-n. Reciprocity, in 1890, 424; in 1897, 457i with Canada, 468 Reclamation service, 466-467 Reconstruction Act, 390-391 Red River expedition, 364-365 Reed, Walter, 456-n. " Regulators," 128 Reina Christina (ra-e'na chris-te'na), 443 Religious conditions, in the colonies, 92- 93; 9(i-97\ 101-102; about 1830, 254- 255 INDEX 489 Removal of deposits, 269 Republican colonies, 87 Republican party, 302 Resaca de la Palma (ra-sa'ca da la' pal'- maj, 284-285 Resumption of Specie Payments Act, 401 Returning boards, 394-n. Revival of Learning, 15-16 Revolution, American, causes of, 119- 135; principal e\'ents of, 135-170; re- sults of, 170 Reynolds. General John F., 360 Rhode Island, settlement of, 59; not in Federal Convention, 176; ratifies Con- stitution, 180 Rich Mountain, battle of, 330 Richmond, battle of, 344 Richmond, capital of the Confederacy, 32 J ; siege of, 375; fall of, 380 Riley, James Whitcomb, 470 Roanoke Island, Raleigh's colonies on, 30-31 Robertson, James, 161 Rochambeau, Count de (ro'sham'bo), 169 Rockefeller, John D., 408 " Rocket," the, 247 Rodgers, C. P., 414-n. Rolfe, John, 41-n.; 43 Roosevelt, Theodore, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 441-n. ; in the Spanish- American War, 446-447; \'ice-])resi- dent, 454; President, 455; sketch, 455-n- Rosecrans, General William S., 344; 366 Ross, General, 225-226 " Rough Riders," 446-n. Royal colonies, 87 Sabine Pass, attack on, 364 Sac and Fox Indians, 270 St. Augustine, 26-28 St. Clair, General, 192 St. Gaudens, 471 St. John, J. P., 419-n. St. Leger, Colonel, 148-150 St. Philip, Fort, 340 Salaries of President and other officials, 400; 466 Salem witchcraft, 98-99 Samoa, 428 Samoset (sam'o-set), 53 Sampson, Rear Admiral William T., in command of naval force in Atlantic, 441; blockade of Cervera, 444-445; 448; 449; sketch, 444-n. Sandys, Sir Edwin, 43 San Francisco, earthquake and fire, 462 San Jacinto, battle of, 279 San Jacinto and the Trent. 335 San Juan (san hwan), battle of, 447 .San Juan, Porto Rico, 449 San Salvador (san sal'-va-dor), 19 Santa Anna, General, in Texas Revolu- tion, 279; in Mexican War, 286 Santa Fc, settlement, 32; in Mexican War, 283 Santa Maria (san'ta ma-re'a), 17-18 Santiago, battle of (san-ti-a'go), 445-448 Santiago, blockade of, 444-445 Saratoga, battle of, 151 Sargent, John, 471 Savage Station, battle of, 351 Savannah, founded, 83; captured by Brit- ish, 165; fall of, 378 Savannah, the, 210-n. Saybrook, founded, 60 " Scalawags," 392 Schley, Commodore W. S., 414; in com- mand of "Flying Squadron," 441; at Santiago, 444-445; 448-449; sketch, 444-n. Schuyler, General Philip, 149; 151 Scott, General Winfield, in the War of 1812, 225; in Mexican War, 285-288; in War between the States, 332 Secession, West threatens, 174; 207; New England threatens, 229; 280; of the South, 310; 314; 321 Sedgewick, General, 357 Seminary Ridge, 360 Seminole War, 234; 270 Semmes, Admiral Raphael, 348; 379 Senecas (sen'e-kaz), 5 Separatists or Independents, 50-51 Scrapis, the, 163 Seven days' battles, 3'^\ Seven Pines or Fair Oaks, battle of, ^40 Sevier, John, 161 ^ Sewall, Arthur, 434 Seward, W. H., on Compromise of 1850, 297; Secretary of State, 319 Sewing machine, 250 Seymour, Horatio, 396 Shafter, General William R., 446 Shakers, 255 Shannon, the, 220 Shays's Rebellion, 174 Shenandoah, the. 379-n. Sheridan, General Philip H., in the final campaign, 371; 374; 379-380; on Rio Grande frontier, 395 Sherman Anti-Trust Law, 424; 465-466 Sherman, James S., 467 Sherman Silver Law, 425; repealed, 430 Sherman, General William T., in Vicks- burg camiiaign, 362-364; march through _ Georgia, 375-378; sketch, 375-n.; in the Carolinas, 379 Shiloh Church, or Pittsburg Landing, bat- tle of, 339 Sibley expedition, 342-343 Sigel, General, 372 Sigsbee, Captain, 439 Silver discovered in the West, 291 Simms, William Gilmore, 253 Sioux Indians, 401-402 Six Nations, 5-n. Slavery, in the colonies, 43-44; 56-n.; 70-n.; 84; 86; 91-92; 95; 100; Vir- ginia opposes, 128-n.; Ordinance of 1787, 175-176; and the Constitution, 177-178; the Missouri question, 236- 238; about 1830, 256-257; and aboli- tion, 257-259; and annexation of 490 INDEX Texas, 280; and the Mexican War, 288-289; the Compromise of 1850, 293- 298; Kansas question, 300-302; and the parties, 302-307; during the War, 3-'4; 355-356 Slidell, John, 335 Sloat, Commodore, 285 Smith, General E. Kirby, 344; 365 Smith, Green Clay, 403-n. Smith, Captain John, 40-41 Smith, Joseph, 255 Smith, General W. S., 368. Smithsonian Institute, 252 Smythe, General Alexander, 219 Socialist party, 463 Social life, manners and customs, in the colonies, 93; 99-100; 102-103; in 1790, 185-186; about 1830, 259-260 " Sons of Liberty," 124 Soto, Ferdinand de, 25-26 South, population and resources in i860, 324-325; point of view, 323; courage and hope of, 325-326; line of defense, 328-329 South Carolina, settlement of, 80-82; se- ceded, 310; readmitted, 392 South Dakota, admitted, 426 South Pole, discovered, 414 Spain, in the New World, 18-28; treaty of i8ig and cession of Florida, 233- 234 Spanish- American War, causes, 4^7-440; chief events, 442-449; results, 449- 451 Spanish Succession, War of, iio Specie Circular, 270-271 Spoils System, 262-263 Spottsylvania Court House, battle of, 372 Squanto (skwan'to), 53-n. Squatter sovereignty, 300 Stamp Act, passage, 123; repeal, 125 Stamp Act, Congress, 124 Standard Oil Company, 408-n.; 466 Standard Time, 408 Standish, Captain Myles, 52 Stanwix, Fort, 150 Star of the West, 317 "Star-route" frauds, 417 " Starving time," 41-42 Stark, John, 150 Statue of Liberty, 423 Steamboat, Fulton's first, 209-210 Steam for heating, 411 Stephens, Alexander H., sketch, 311-n. ; on secession, 315 Stephenson, Fort, 223 Stephenson, George, 247 Steuben, Baron von (fon stoi'ben), 153; '55 Stevenson, Adlai E., 429; 454 Stockton, Commodore, 285 Stony Point, capture of, 157-158 Stowe, Mrs. Harriet Beecher, 299 Strikes, 409-410; Hay-Market riots, 422- 423; Pullman, 430-431; anthracite miners, 465 Stuart, General J. E. B., at Chancellors- ville, 357-358; second invasion of the North, 359-360; death, 373; sketch, 373-n. Stuyvesant, Peter (sti've-sant), 74 Sullivan, General, 144; 146; 161. Sumter, the, Confederate cruiser, 334 Sumter, Fort, fall of, 319-320 Sumter, Thomas, the " South Carolina Game-cock," 166 Susan Constant, the, 37 Swallow, Silas, 463 Swedes in the Delaware valley, 75 Syms, Benjamin, 92 Taft, William H., in Philippines, 451; President, 467; sketch, 467-n. Tariff, first, 188; first protective in 1816, 229-230; of 1824 and the " tariif of abominations," 242-243; and the sec- tions, 263-265; of 1832, 266; and nul- lification, 266-268; of 1842, 277; of 1846, 283; of 1861, 384; of 1883, 417- 418; McKinley, 424; of 1894, 430; Dingley, 436; Payne-Aldrich, 468 Tarleton, British cavalry leader, 168 Taylor, General Richard, 365 Taylor, Zachary, in Mexican War, 284- 286; President, 290; sketch, 293-n. ; death, 297 Tea tax and the " tea party," 129-130 Tecumseh, at Tippecanoe, 217; in War of 1812, 224 Telegraph, 248-249 Telephone, 412 Temperance movement (Washingtonian societies), 255; about 1880, 4i6-n. Tennessee, ceded by North Carolina, 171-n.; admitted, 186; seceded, 321; re- admitted, 390 Tenure of Office Act, passed, 395; re- pealed, 420 Texas, story of, 2yj-27<)\ movement toward annexation, 279-280; annexed, 281; seceded, 310; readmitted, 392 Thames, battle of, 224 Thomas, General George H., at Mill Spring, 337; in Tennessee, 366-367; 377-378 Thomas, Theodore, 471 Thurman, Allen (j., 424 Ticonderoga, Fort (ti-kon'de-ro'ga), cap- tured by Ethan Allen, 134; captured by Burgoyne, 149 Tilden, Samuel J., 402 Tilghman, Colonel, 337 Timrod, Henry, 470 Tippecanoe, battle of, 217 Toleration Act, in Maryland, 49 Tompkins, Daniel D., 232 Toombs, Robert, 295-n. Toral, General (to-ral'), 448 Totem, 10 Townshend Acts, 125-126 Travis, William B., 279 Trent, the, 335 INDEX 491 Trenton, battle of, 146-147 Tripoli, war with, 210-jii Trolley cars, 413 Trusts, 408 Tuscaroras (tus'ka-ro'raz), 5-n. Tutuila (too'too-e'la), 428 Twain, Mark (Samuel Clemens), 470 Tyler, John, elected Vice-president, J73- _'74; and the Whigs, 2y()-2yy; and Texas, 280; president peace conference, 317 Typewriter, 411 u ■ Uncle Tom's Cabin, 299 Underground railways, 299 l.'nited States of Colombia, 4.s3 Utah, Mormon uprising, 304; admitted, 426 Utrecht, Treaty cf, no V Vaca. Cabeza de (kaba'sa da va'ka), 25 '\'alentine, Edward, 471 Valley Forge, 154-156 Van Buren, Martin, in Jackson's cabinet, 263; Vice-president, 269; President, 272; sketch, 272-n.; candidate of aboli- tion party, 281-n.; candidate of Free Soilers, 290 \'an Dorn, General Earl, 342-344; 362 Van Rensselaer, General Stephen, 219 Venezuela controversy, 433 Vera Cruz, 286-287 \'ermont, claimed by New Hampshire and New York, 134-n.; admitted, 186 Verrazano (ver-ra-tsa'no3. 27 \'espucius, Americus (,a-mer'i-cus ves-pu'- cius), 21-22 Vicksburg, capture of, 362-364 \'incennes (vin-senz'), 162 Vinland, 14-n. Virginia, founding of, 35-47: develop- ment of, 65-67; and the western lands, 171-n.; secedes, 321; readmitted, 392 Vulture, the, 159 W Waldseemiller, Martin (walt'za-mul-ler), 2i-n. VVampanoags (wom'pa-no'ag), 54 Wampum, 7-8 War between the States, events leading' to, 309-326; principal events of, 328- 385 , „ " Warhawks, 218 War of 1812, causes of, 216; principal events of, 218-229 War Revenue Act, 450 Washington city, in 1800, 190; Capital removal, 203-n.; British attack, 225; beauty of, 470 Washington, Fort, 144 Washington, George, in the French and Indian War, 112-116; commander-in- chief of the Continental Army, 136; and the army before Boston, 138-140; defense of New York 'and the New Jersey campaign, 1 43-1 48; around Phil- adelphia, 151-157; at Yorktown, 168- 170; in the Federal Convention, 176; President, 185; 196; death, 200-201; sketch, 200-n. Wasliington, state of, admitted, 426 Washington, treaty of, 398-399 ll'asfi, the, 220 Watling's Island, 19 Watson, Thomas E., 434; 463 Wayne, General Anthony, at Stony Point, 157-158; in Northwest, 192-193 Weather bureau, 41 5-n. Weaver, James R., 416; 429-n. Webster-Ashburton Treaty, 277 Webster, Daniel, tariff and the Great De- bate, 264-266; in Tyler's cabinet, 2y;: on the Compromise of 1850, 295-297; sketch, 297-n.; Capon Springs speech, 299-n. Webster, Noah, 254-n. Wesley, John, 84 West, the, emigration to and growth of, in 1790, 186; War of 1812, 230; about 1830, 245; 259; about 1880, 415 West Indies, trade with, 174; 271 Westinghouse brake, 411 West Virginia, struggle for, 330-331; ad- mitted, 322 Weyler, General, the concentration pol- icy, 438-439 Wheeler, General Joseph, in Civil War, 378; in Spanish War, 446 Wheeler, William A., 402 Whigs, in the American Revolution, 138-n.; beginning of the party, 240 Whiskey Rebellion, 1 90-191 Whistler, James McNeil, 471 White, John, 31-32 Whitefield, George, 84; 97 White House, 471 White Oak Swamp, battle of, 351 White Plains, battle of, 145 Whitman, Marcus, 282-n. Whitney, Eli, 187 Whitney, William C, 425 Whittier, John G., 253 Wickyup (wick'y-up), 5 Wigwam, s Wilcox, General, 362-n. Wilderness, battle of, 2^2 Wilkes, Captain, 335 Wiley, Dr. Harvey S., 449-n. Wilkinson, General James, 224 Willard, Frances E., 416-n. William and Mary, 71; 105 Williams, Roger, 58-59 Williamsburg, battle of, 349 Williamsburg bridge, 409-n. Wilmot Proviso, 288-289 Wilson, Henry, 399 Wilson's Creek, battle of, 334 Wilson, Woodrow, 471 Winclicster, battle of, 360 Winthrop, John, 56 492 INDEX Wireless telegraphy, 459-n. Wisconsin, admitted, 282 Wolfe, General James, 115-117 Woman's suffrage, 426-n. Wood, General Leonard, in Spanish War. 446; in Cuba, 456 Wright Brothers, 414 Writs of assistance, 121-122 Wyoming Valley massacre, 161 Wyoming, admitted, 426 X, Y, & Z X Y Z affair, 198 Yellow fever, 456-n. Yellow Tavern, battle of, 373 Yorktown, surrender of, 169-170; of, 348-349 Zollicoffer, General Felix, 337 W61 OCT 25 1912 %'^--/ *^^'-!^\/ %*^-'/ V' V^\/ %*^-'/ 'V-^\/ '% o. .* c^ .n^ » Or ^-^^^ o_ * '•• **,.** :'MS^^ \/ :^^^'' -^^ -* *•' #u *•-"'