'iiiHIilir ililill ■■ mm' ImmWi •ft liii -^^0^ ■a/ ^<> '^^ 7 '^'^D>3-^ THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE From a painting by Stnail GEORGE WASHINGTON CALIFORNIA STATE SERIES THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE BY CHARLES A. BEARD AND WILLIAM C. BAGLEY SACRAMENTO, 1920 California State Printing Department robert l. tei.fer, superintendent El 7 8 .1 Copyright, 1920 By The People of the State oe California. Copyright, 1918, 1919, By The Macmillan Company. isi Ed.— i2r,:\r 1020 AUG i6 1921 .0 ^C!.A622449 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE T BELIEVE in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic; a sovereign nation of many sover- eign states; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of Freedom, Equality, Justice, and Humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes. I THEREFORE believe it is my duty to my coun- try to love it; to support its Constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its Flag; and to defend it against all enemies. Authorized Version. PREFACE ONE great motive has dominated the content and arrangement of this volume : the preparation of chil- dren for citizenship through an understanding of the ideals, institutions, achievements, and problems of our country. No mere almanac of facts, dates, and names, no matter how exhaustive or how presented, can accomplish this purpose. It can be done only by teaching boys and girls to think of events and issues of the living present in the light of their historical past, by giving them above all a sense of historical continuity. We have sought to catch the deep-flowing and powerful currents of American life, to present them fairly and justly, to engage the interest of the students in them, and to show their significance to the issues of the present hour. Only in this way does history become living. Only in this way can pupils be shown why thfey should study history. Such a story of American life and labor and ideals, if rightly told, must challenge the admiration and faith of those who be- lieve that democracy is not to perish from the earth but to flourish and triumph everywhere. In carrying out our ideal we have selected those striking features of American history which bear upon and help t© explain our own age. We have conceived of the whole as a vital, moving story with certain very definite and funda- mental acts and scenes. We have sought to give to the book that unity which comes from such a controlling purpose, and have subordinated to it all details and collateral matter. In the execution of this plan we divided the whole field of American history Into periods and topics. Having agreed VI PREFACE Upon the fundamentals necessary for a book of historical instruction in citizenship, we then broke each fundamental up into its essential parts. If a famous event or time- honored story required telling, we adjusted it to the unity so planned. At no time did we permit the love of novelty or mere respect for the traditional materials of schoolbooks to betray us into sacrificing the sweep of the magnificent story to the supposed requirements of the all-comprehending "manual." This plan has necessitated the omission of many of the staples of the textbooks. For example, the space given to the North American Indians has been materially reduced. They are interesting and picturesque, but they made no impress upon the civilization of the United States. In a history de- signed to explain the present rather than to gratify curiosity and entertain, Indian habits of life and Indian wars must have a very minor position. So it is with many a famous anec- dote used to adorn our history tales. They, too, have been sacrificed, with regret but firmness, to the guiding purpose agreed upon at the outset. In a plan so conceived, the topical method of treatment inevitably takes precedence over the purely chronological method. One striking advantage of this treatment is to bring forcibly to the attention of the students the essential feature of each historical period. It helps them to think of history in terms of great interests and achievements rather than in terms of presidential administrations. The story of America cannot be cut into quadrennial sections. Nevertheless the topical method Is open to some objections, and we have tried to meet them by summaries and tables and in many instances by repetition of facts in different connections. As a result of this treatment students will not gain, for example, the impression that the people of this PREFACE Vll country, between 1820 and i860, lived either by presidential administrations or by the slavery controversy alone. American history should not be presented as a shadowy record of mysterious personages, far removed from the life and labor of the masses. Such history does not interest or inform the child. Furthermore, it is not true history. America has been made by the labors, sacrifices, and ideals of millions of men, women, and children unhonored and un- sung in the ordinary books. That is the essence of democ- racy. The fate of the nation in a very real sense lies in the hands of their sons and daughters who study its history in the public schools. They are to be the makers of history as well as the students of it, and this fact cannot be too often brought home to them. The achievements, traditions, ideals of the past — these are sources of inspiration to those who hold the future In their hands. To help make these an open book to the coming generations Is the underlying pur- pose of this volume. In thus recasting American history we think that we have not omitted an event or a date or a personality of cardinal importance. Moreover, we have endeavored to avoid any- thing that looks like distortion to meet preconceived views. We have sought to be fair to all parties and to give grounds for just judgment. If we have made errors of omission or commission, we shall be glad to learn of them and to correct our record accordingly. C. A. B. W. C. B. New York City, April 19, 1918. HOW TO OPEN A NEW BOOK HOLD the book with its back on a smooth or covered table ; let the front board down, then the other, holding the leaves in one hand while you open a few leaves at the back, then a few at the front, and so on, alternately opening back and front, gently pressing open the sections till you reach the center of the volume. Do this two or three times and you will obtain the best results. Open the volume violently or carelessly in any one place and you will probably break the back and cause a start in the leaves. Never force the back of a book. CONTENTS CHAPTKR PAGB T. European Beginnings oi' American History . . . i I. The Old World Background, i.— II. Life of the People in Europe : the Peasants, 6.— III. The Nobility, the Clergy, and the Kings ; the Merchants and Tradesmen, lo. — IV. The Development of Trade, 14. II. The Bold Explorers 20 I. The Need of a Sea-Route to Asia : the Pioneer Explora- tions of the Italian's and Portuguese, 20. — II. Christopher Columbus, 23. — III. Da Gama, Vespucci, Balboa, and Magellan, 26. — IV. The Spanish Conquests ; Further Spanish Explora- tions, 28. — V. The French and the English Explorations ; Con- flict between England and Spain, 32. III. Founding the English Colonies in America .... 38 T. Difficulties and Dangers of Settlement, 38. — II. Condi- tions in Europe which Led to the Colonization of America, 41. — III. Other Conditions in Europe which Led to the Colonization of America, 44. — IV. English Settlements in Virginia, 46. — V. English Settlements in New England, 50. — VI. Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, the Carolinas, and Georgia, 56. — VII. New York and New Jersey, 60. IV. Peopling the American Colonies 66 I. Important Causes of Immigration, 67. — II. Poverty a Cause of Immigration ; Involuntary Colonization, 71. V. The Struggle among the Powers of Europe for North America TJ I. French Explorations and Settlements, T]. — II. Differ- ences between English and French Policies of Colonization, 81. — III. The Struggle between French and English, 84. — IV. The Spaniards in Louisiana and the Southwest; the Russians in the Northwest, 90. ix X CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE VI. Life, Labor, and Liberty in America on the Eve oe the Revolution 98 I. The People and Their Occupations : Farming, 98. — IL Manufacturing, Shipbuilding, and Commerce; the Cities; Travel, 103. — IIL Differences in Government between North- ern and Southern Colonies, 107. — IV. Likenesses in Govern- ment between the North and the South, iii. — V. Education in the Colonies; Summar}', 114. VIL Causes of the American Revolution 119 L England Begins to Control Colonial Trade, 119. — IL The Protests of the Colonies against Taxation without Representa- tion, 122. — III. The Crisis Reached, 128. VIII. The War for American Independence 136 I. The Beginning of the Conflict, 136.— II. The Northern Campaigns and the Declaration of Independence, 140. — III. The Middle States Campaigns and the French Alliance. 144. — IV. The Southern Campaigns; tlie War on the Sea and in the West, 152. — V. The Treaty of Peace; Reasons for the Success of the American Cause, 156. IX. The Constitution of the United States 164 I. The Articles of Confederation and the First State Consti- tutions, 164. — IT. Government under the Confederation ; the Constitutional Convention, 167. — III. The Constitution and itJ Adoption, 170. X. The First Great Political Contest 181 I. Starting the New Government, 181. — IL Relations with Europe, 187. XL The Expansion of the United States ipS T. The Part}' of the Farmers in Power, 195. — II. The Louisiana Purchase and the Exploration of the New Territory, 200. — III. Florida; The Pacific Xorthwest, 206. XII. The Call of the Land in the Great West .... 209 I. The Western Country Prepared for Settlement: Routes across the Mountains, 209. — 11. Westward to the Mississippi, 215.— III. The Life of the People on the Frontier, 222. CONTENTS XI CHAPTER PAGE XIII. Troublesome Foreign Affairs : the War of 1812 and Latin-American Relations ... . . 229 I. The War in Europe Involves American Commerce, 229. — II. The War of 1812, 234.— III. The Spanish-American Re- publics, 240. XIV. Three Decades of Domestic Politics (1815-1845) . . . 247 I. The Protective Tariff, 247. — II. Politica. _,eadership still Centered in the East, 251. — III. Jacksonian Democracy. Power of the East Contested, 254. — IV. The Whig Party, 261. XV. Westward to the Pacific . 266 I. Missouri, Arkansas, and Iowa ; American Settlements in Texas, 267. — II. Texas a Republic; Its Admission to the Union; the Resulting War with Mexico, 271. — III. Oregon, California, and Utah, 277. — IV. Summary of the Far Western Movement, 284. XVI. The Industrial Revolution 288 I. The Development of Machinery for the Cotton and Woolen Industries, 289. — II. The Iron Industry; Farm Machinery, 295. — III. Improvements in Transportation; Canal Develop- ment, 299. — IV. The Steamboat and the Railroad, 302. — V. The Electric Telegraph ; Ocean Navigation, 307. XVII. Great Changes in American Life Brought about by THE Industrial Revolution 312 I. Changes in Working Conditions, 312. — II. The Labor Movement, 318. — III. The Growth of Cities; Foreign Trade; Conditions in the South, 322. XVIII. The Growth of Political Democracy in thB United States 328 I. The Struggle for the Right to Vote, 328.— II. The Struggle for "Women's Rights," 335. XIX. The Development of Popular Education during thK First Half of the Nineteenth Century .... 339 I. The Development of Free Elementary Schools, 340. — II. High Schools and Colleges; the Education of Women, 348. — III. The Newspapers, 352:— IV. Magazines, Pamphlets, and Books, 357. XII CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGB XX. The Great Political Conflict between the North and THE South 364 I. Slavery Becomes a National Problem, 365. — II. The Abolition Movement, 371. — III. The Compromise of 1850, 375. — IV. The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise and Its Consequences, 379. — V. The Political Situation on the Eve of the Civil War, 384. XXT. The Civil War 390 I. Secession, 390. — II. Preparations for War, 395. — III. The Campaigns of 1861 and 1862, 398. — IV. Emancipation, 403. — V. The War on Water, 408.— VI. The Campaigns of 1863, 413. — VII. The Campaigns of 1864 and 1865; the End of the War, 418.— VIII. The Cost of the War; Women and the War, 423. XXII. Reconstruction in the South I. Problems of Reconstruction, 430. — II. Grant as Presi- dent ; the Rule of the "Carpet-baggers," 434. XXIII. The Rise of the New South I. The South in Ruins at the Close of the War, 442. — II. The Development of Farming and Manufacturing, 444. — III. The Race Problem, 452. XXIV. The Growth of the Far West I. The "Far West" in i860, 455.— II. New Western States and Territories, 458. — III. The Problem of the Public Land, 466. XXV. The Triumph of Industry I. The Development of Manufacturing and Mining, 472. — II. The Development of Transportation, 477. — III. The Army of Industry : Inventors, Business Men, and Artisans, 483. — IV. The Results of Industrial Development, 488. 430 442 455 47^ XX'VI. Immigration I. The Early Sources of Immigration, 496. — II. Changes in Immigration after 1890, 500. — III. Later Efiforts to Restrict Immigration, 505. 496 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGl XXVII. Combinations of Capital and of Labor . . . 508 I. Competition in Business Leads to the Formation of "Trusts," 508. — II. The Results of Combinations of Capital, 510.— III. The Great Strikes, 514.— IV. The Rise of Social- ism, 517 XXVIII. Parties and Political Issues 522 I. The Republican and Democratic Administrations, 522. — II. The Tariff and the Income Tax, 524. — III. The Currency- Problem, 527. — IV. The Railroads ; the Trusts ; Civil Service Reform ; the Liquor Question, 532. XXIX. Foreign Affairs : The United States as a World Power 539 I. Controversies with Great Britain, 539. — II. Samoa and Hawaii ; the Growth of Foreign Trade, 542. — III. The Cuban Revolt Leads to the Spanish-American War. 544. — IV. The Results of the War; America's New Interests in the Orient, 549. XXX. Advances in Popular Education 557 I. The Development of Schools and Colleges, 557. — II. The Growth of Vocational Education ; Educational Extension ; the Higher Education of Women, 561. — III. Other Educational Agencies, 566. XXXI. The New Democracy 573 I. Causes of Increasing Interest in the Machinery of Govern- ment, 573. — II. Civil Service Reform; the Australian Ballot; the Initiative and Referendum, 575. — III. The Commission Form of City Government ; Reforms in Political Parties ; the Direct Primary, 579. — IV. Woman Suffrage, 582. XXXII. The Opening of the New Century 588 I. Roosevelt's Administration ; the Conservation Movement, 588.— II. The Panama Canal. The Treaty of Portsmouth, 592. — III. Taft's Administration and the Campaign of 1912, 598. — IV. Wilson's Administration, 602. XXXIII. The Great War 609 I. American Neutrality, 610. — II. The Submarine Outrages ; the Campaign of 1916, 613. — III. War with Germany, 617.— IV. The German Autocracy, 622.— V. A Democracy at War, 626. XIV CONTENTS PAGS Important Historical Events Arranged by Presidential Administrations . , . . 643 Appendix 647 Declaration of Independence . . . . ■ . . . . 647 Annotated Constitution of the United States 651 Reference Books 665 Index 669 GROUPING OF CHAPTERS FOR REVIEW CHAPTERS I-V VI-IX X-XIII XIV-XIX XX-XXII Exploration, Settlement, and Colonization The Struggle for Independence and the Founding of the New Nation Early Political and Territorial Growth . Development of National Democracy (1815- 1860) The Slavery Problem, the Civil War, and Reconstruction PAGES 1-97 98-180 181-246 247-363 364-441 XXIII-XXX Fifty Years of Progress 442-572 XXXI-XXXIII The New Democracy and the Great War . 573-638 (Review outlines will be found at the close of each of these groups of chapters.) COLOR PLATES FACING PAGE The Landing of Columbus at San Salvador, October 12, 1492 . . 23 The Signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 . 143 Joining the tracks of the first continental railroad at Promontory, near Ogden, Utah, in 1869 479 Building Liberty ships on the Pacific coast, 1918 . . . . . 629 COLOR MAPS Europe in the middle of the sixteenth century i English, French, and Spanish possessions in America, 1750 . . 84 North America according to the Treaty of 1783 . . . .156 The United States in 1805 201 Slave and free soil according to the Dred Scott decision, 1857 . . 385 The United States in 1861 39i Continental expansion of the United States 455 The United States in 1870 458 The United States in 1912 465 Railway combinations, 1910 50a American dominions in the Pacific 549 The Caribbean region 605 BLACK AND WHITE MAPS PAGE The old trade routes from Venice and Genoa to the Far East . . 16 The known world about the time of Prince Henry the Navigator . 22 Tire voyages of Columbus 27 Great voyages, 1492 to 1580 34 Land granted to the London and Plymouth companies ... 47 Early New England settlements 53 Early settlements in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware . . 56 Early settlements in the Carolinas and Georgia 5q Early settlements in New York and New Jersey 6^ French explorations and trading posts ....... 78" Fort Duquesne and vicinity 86 European possessions in America, 1763, with British possessions before that date indicated 89 The colonies and the extent of settlement on the eve of the Revolution 129 Boston and vicinity 140 The Revolutionary War in the North 14S' Burgoyne's expedition 148 Scene of the Revolutionary War in the South 151 XVI OUTLINE MAPS PAGE The expedition of George Rogers Clark 155 The extent of territory settled in i/go 196 The regions explored by Lewis and Clark and by Zcbulon Pike . 204 The Northwest Territory, showing the boundaries of the states that were later created from it 211 The Cumberland Road, showing also the section on the western end that was never completed 220 Scene of the War of 1812 237 Texas and the territory in dispute 273 Field of the campaigns in the War with Mexico 275 The Oregon country and the disputed boundary 278 The overland trails 280 The Erie Canal, begun under the direction of Governor DeWitt Clinton in 1817, .and con:pleted in 1825 300 The Missouri Compromise 369 The Kansas-Nebraska territory opened to slavery in 1854 . . . 380 Field of many of the battles of the war in the East .... 400 The war in the West . 402 The blockade of the southern coast to cut ofif trade between Europe and the South 409 Sherman's march to the sea 419 Cotton regions of the United States 447 The percentage of negroes in the total population of each state of the United States 452 Railroads of the United States in i860 456 Iron deposits of the United States 473 Coal deposits of the United States 476 Distribution of manufacturing in the United States (annual value) 477 Railroads of the United States in 1918 478 Transportation routes, telegraph lines and cables of the world . . 480 The westward movement of the center of population .... 490 Percentage of foreign-born combined in the total population . . 503 Federal reserve districts ... 531 Wet and dry territorial map of the United States, April, 1918 . . 535 The West Indies 546 The Orient and the Philippines 550 Suffrage map of the United States . . 585 National forests, 1918 591 The principal trade routes through the Panama Canal . . . 593 The Panama Canal Zone, the canal, and the railroad . . . .595 The Western Battle Front in France 633 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE CHAPTER I EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY The United States is one of the youngest nations of the earth. Centuries before the Declaration of Independence, there were In Europe, Asia, and northern Africa many powerful countries in which dwelt kings, nobles, priests, teachers, merchants, skilled workmen, and peasants. Our sister republic of the Orient, China, had been a civilized nation for thousands of years when the old Liberty Bell at Philadelphia rang out the tidings of the new America on July 4, 1776. I. The Old World Background The United States is the heir of all the ages. We are in- debted to the most ancient peoples, the Egyptians, Hebrews, Arabs, Greeks, and Romans, who studied the world and human life and recorded their ideas In many books. They did not invent the typewriter or the telephone; but they produced great works of art, built up long-enduring systems of law and government, created the science of mathematics, and went deeply into mechanics and navigation. They wrote learned works and mastered many of the mysteries of nature. To them we owe our religious faith and much of our wisdom, 2 -A. H. ^ THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE In the middle and later ages, the Christian religion was spread by Catholic missionaries among the barbarians of northern Europe even to the borders of Iceland; the great states of Spain, France, and England were built up out of warring principalities; universities were founded; and the light of science, which went out after the fall of Rome, was The Canter- Men and women of Chaucer's time, less than one kindled once more. The distant past was linked to an age which saw the discovery of the New World. The very language spoken by the men who sailed the ships which Columbus commanded had come down from the language of the ancient Romans. The language of the American people, the language in which this book is written, had its origin hundreds of years before any English explorers set foot on this continent. Many a good book and story had been written in it. Some of the theories which we now hold about government, the right to vote, the ownership of property, education, labor and capital, were formed long before America was discovered. EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY 3 Most of the ideas which we think new and modern had ah-eady been debated in Europe at a time when this coun- try was only a hunting ground for Indian tribes. It was the people of Europe, with religious faith, notions of gov- ernment, and habits of life already formed who founded the United States. nuRY Pilgrims. hundred years before the discovery of America. Fi m a pTiitttns, h\ R 4 Stothard America would have been discovered had there been no Columbus; but there could have been no United States had it not been for the tens of thousands of peasants, artisans, merchants, sailors, and adventurers — common men and women — who braved the dangers of long ocean voyages, cut down the forests, cleared the land, built the towns, drove back the Indians, and pushed the line of peaceful homesteads across the American continent until it touched the Pacific Ocean. Our first thought should be, therefore, about the sorts and con- ditions of men and women who first settled in the New World. 4 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Why the American Explorers and Colonists Came from Western Europe. — If we look at the map of Europe at the opening of the sixteenth century, we see many things that help us in finding out about the beginnings of American history. We discover at a glance why it was that the rival nations which fought to own the New World were, neces- sarily, Spain, France, and England. They had once been divided, like Germany and Italy, into duchies, kingdoms, and principalities; but at last the people in each of them — as the solid color of the map shows — had been united under one ruler, and were at peace among themselves. Fighting men had to seek adventure away from home. Trade flourished and merchants looked abroad for new worlds to win. All three countries likewise had long coast lines, which induced many of their inhabitants to undertake shipping, trading, and sea-roving for a livelihood. These countries were moreover far away from the sea- ports on the eastern Mediterranean through which came the silks, spices, precious stones, and other valuable articles of trade. Accordingly they had to pay heav^y tribute to the Italian merchants who brought Asiatic goods to western Europe, and they were very anxious to open up direct trade with the East. Portugal was In a similar position, but her territory was small and she fell under Spanish dominion in the sixteenth century. Therefore she was not an im- portant factor in the actual settlement of the New World, although her sailors were among the bravest explorers and founded Brazil. Conditions in Middle Europe in th3 Sixteenth Century. — As w^e move eastward along the map we find very dif- ferent conditions. Instead of the united Germany of our time, whose ships before the Great War plowed every sea, and whose busy merchants went Into every corner of the earth, we see a country divided into hundreds of petty EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY 5 States. They were all united, it is true, under what was known as the Holy Roman Empire, but the power- of the emperor was very slight and the rulers of the little states were, for practical purposes, independent. They were frequently at war with one another and often they secured foreign aid in wars upon their own neighbors. Owing to these petty conflicts trade could not flourish and the energies of the people were consumed in civil strife. Between Germany and Russia stretched the territory of Poland, which was destined, long afterward, to be divided among Prussia, Russia, and Austria, and to disappear from the map altogether. Russia then faced eastward rather than toward Europe; and about as little was known in England of the life of the Russian people as was known of the East Indies and China. The Russians had little to sell to western Europe except timber and furs, and there was not much traffic between the two sections. To the southeast, from the Black Sea to the Adriatic, lay the vast dominion of the Sultan of Turkey, who had no part in European civilization. The Smaller European Countries. — Far to the north there were the people of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, who were united under one monarch. They had not yet taken much part in Mediterranean commerce, although there were among them many seafaring men. It is true that the Swedes later set up trading posts on the banks of the Delaware River, after the other countries had shown the way to the New World, but these tiny colonies were soon lost. The Dutch, at the opening of the sixteenth century, were subjects of the Spanish king. It was not until they won their independence by heroic fighting about a hundred years later that they became formidable rivals of the other nations at sea. Far to the south on the Mediterranean dwelt the Italians. 6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Their position between Asia and western Europe and their long coast lines invited them to embark on voyages. If anyone is surprised that Italy furnished Columbus to Spain and yet was unable to accomplish anything herself in the New World, a glance at the map explains it all. Italy at the opening of the sixteenth century was broken up into tiny independent states and cities. Italy was a name, not a nation. II. Life of the People in Europe: the Peasants Such were the political conditions of Europe, which helped to determine what nations were to struggle for the possession of the New World. We must study also the social conditions of Europe to find out what kinds of men and women were ready to settle in America. The Peasants. — The first important fact is that the great majority of the people of all the European countries were peasants, engaged in farming. They were not like the American farmers who so commonly own land or rent it and are free to move about over the country at will. Very few peasants owned the fields in which they worked, and they gained little beyond a scanty living, even when they were freemen tilling their own land. Most of the peasants were serfs or half-slaves bound to the soil. Nearly all land was owned by great landlords — dukes, earls, barons, bishops, and other dignitaries — and the peasants merely had the right to cultivate certain little plots in return for payments made to their landlords in labor, produce, and money. A serf could not leave the estate on which he was born; he could not have his grain ground anywhere except at his lord's mill ; he could not marry without the lord's consent. When he died, the lord took a part of his little flock or herd from his family as a sort of inheritance tax. EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY Plowing Sowing From Prothero's English Farming, Fast and Fresent Reaping The peafants gained little beyond a scanty living, even when they were freemen, tilling their own land. 8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE In England, however, by the opening of the sixteenth century serfdom had almost disappeared; that is, the peasants had become simply renters of farm lands, "agri- cultural laborers," as they were called in that country. They were not much better off than the serfs on the conti- nent, for their rents were high and only a few of them could ever expect to own plots of land outright. The landlord looked upon them as inferior creatures, and, whenever he went by, they had to take off their hats to him. Those peasants who left their little villages and were caught wandering about in the towns without any money or occupation were liable to be arrested as "sturdy beggars," branded^ with hot irons, and sent back to the places they had left. Hozv the Peasants Lived. — The European peasants did not live in farmhouses scattered about over the country as do the farmers in the United States to-day. They dwelt huddled up together in little villages, often under the frowning walls of a great castle where their lord lived. Their houses were almost as crude as the huts of some of the North American Indians. The roofs were made of thatched straw and, more often than not, leaked when heavy rains fell. The walls of the houses were of wood and plaster and sometimes of stone. The floors were of dirt or, occasionally, stone flagging. There were no glass windows except In the houses of the well-to-do. Slits in the walls of the serf's cottage, covered with thin skins, let in enough light to enable the housewife to do her daily tasks. The work of the women was by no means all indoors, for they toiled in the fields with the men from early dawn till dusk, and m.ade "regular hands" at harvest time. The Peasantry Not Educated. — As for education, the ' An interesting story of tlie life of the English common people in those old days is told in Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper." EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY 9 peasants had none. They could not read or write, and it was an especially gifted one who could solve the easiest problem in arithmetic. It was customary for each land- lord to have a bailiff who kept the books of his estate. The idea that the peasant or his wife and children had minds of their own which were worth training, or that they had intelligence enough to do anything except the simplest farm tasks, had not entered the heads of the kings or the nobles or even of the peasants themselves. There were, of course, no newspapers. Printed books were just beginning to be circulated in small numbers, so it was a rare village which had a book of any kind or even a manuscript. The peasants had little knowledge of the world. They were, no doubt, vaguely aware that there were other countries, for often one or two members of the village had been abroad fighting, and had learned something about foreign peoples. Strange rumors and gossip concerning dis- tant parts of the south were picked up from strolling players and peddlers and at the market town, a few miles away, where the peasant bought salt, iron tools, and simple articles from traveling merchants. The Peasants Had No Part in the Government. — The peasants and serfs paid taxes, and fought in battles sometimes, but they rarely had any share in the govern- ment. The countries of Europe were almost all ruled by kings and princes who laid taxes, made laws, declared war, and concluded peace at their own will. To them the idea that the mass of the people laboring in the fields should have any voice in saying how much money they should grant to the government, or when war should be declared, was absurd. The chief duties of the peasants were to pay taxes, to work on the king's highways, and to rear stalwart sons for the king's army. 10 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE III. The Nobility, the Clergy, and the Kings; the Merchants and Tradesmen The Nobility; a Separate Caste. — Two thirds or more of the land which the peasants and serfs tilled was owned k The Feudal Castle of a Great Lord Under the frowning walls of the castle the peasants dwelt huddled up together in little villages. by nobles, great and small, who formed a distinct class known as the nobility. The nobles differed greatly among themselves. Some owned small estates from which EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY II they could scarcely wring enough to live in idleness. Others held vast domains composed of hundreds of villages and sometimes containing one or more large towns. They often fought among themselves for more land, and for a long time they furnished practically all of the fighting men for the kings when the latter were at war. From the nobles the kings drew their chief advisers and their army officers. The nobles everywhere were proud of their families, and they looked down upon the merchants and the peasants. It was hard to "break into" the nobility. Rank was a mat- ter of birth, not of labor or riches or brave deeds, though sometimes a king would make a nobleman out of a com- moner because the latter had rendered some important service or in some other way had gained royal favor. The Clergy. — Scarcely less rich and powerful than the nobility was the class composed of the clergy. At the opening of the sixteenth century, all western Europe was Catholic and under one head of the Church, the Pope at Rome. The Church was a religious or clerical govern- ment within the civil government. All western Chris- tendom was divided into districts presided over by arch- bishops and bishops owing allegiance to the Pope at Rome. Bishoprics were laid out into parishes, and the religious life of each parish was committed to the care of a priest selected, as a rule, by the lord of the village, perhaps with the con- sent of the bishop. Every country was dotted over with monasteries, where dwelt the monks of the various orders — Benedictines, Carthusians, Franciscans, and others. There were also many convents, to which women turned from the cares and dangers of the world. The Power of the Clergy. — In each country the thou- sands of priests, monks, bishops, archbishops, and other religious persons, constituted a distinct class, like the no- bility. As the clergy, they were, of course, separated from 12 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Other people on account of the religious vows which they had taken, and of their consecration to religious labors. All were bound into one great brotherhood of the faithful by spiritual ties. Furthermore, the clergy were as a class extremely wealthy. The village priest was often poor, but the clergy as a whole possessed great estates, and the bishops and archbishops sometimes ruled domains as extensive as kingdoms, kept armies, and controlled the government. It is safe to say that nearly a third of the farming lands of England, France, and Spain be- longed to the clergy. In addition to the rents and dues which they gathered from the peas- ants just like other land- lords, they collected tithes^ and fees of many kinds. The Clergy the Only Educated Class. — There were other reasons, in addition to their wealth and spiritual power, for the deep influence of the clergy over the people. Practically all learning, religious as well as secu- lar, was in their control. They wrote the books, taught in the schools, tutored princes and sons of noblemen, and did a great deal of A Monk Illuminating a Book The clergy was the only educated class. ' It was an ancient custom that a certain portion of the produce of each community should go to the support of the church. This portion, sup- posed to be about one tenth, was known as the "tithe." EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY 1 3 the legal work now intrusted to lawyers. The universities were all under clerical control, anci were, in fact, con- ducted principally for the purpose of educating clergymen — for the nobles were often quite as ignorant of literature and science as the peasants who tilled their fields. The Power of the Kings. — At the opening of the six- teenth century in England, France, Spain, and Portugal the government was in the hands of the kings. England had, it is true, a Parliament composed of a House of Lords and a House of Commons, the latter made up of represent- atives chosen by the smaller landlords of the counties and the burgesses or citizens of the towns. As a matter of fact, however, the English sovereign collected taxes, issued decrees, punished subjects, and declared war about as he pleased. If the Parliament objected seriously to the king's doings, he could easily "pack" it with servile favorites, who would do his bidding. In France, also, there was a shadow of a parliament; but it had even less power than the English legislature and early in the seventeenth century it disappeared altogether. In Spain and Portugal the power of the king was equally great. Tyrannical as the king sometimes was, he aided in the progress of his country in many ways. He kept peace within his kingdom, for one thing, by suppressing the great barons and nobles who were often not much better than brigands, preying on the travelers and merchants who passed through their domains. The king built great high- ways, developed uniform laws in all parts of his country, and created a single system of coinage. He maintained good order so that merchants and adventurers might travel in safety from one end of his realm to the- other. He often furnished money for voyages of discovery and exploration. The Merchants and Tradesmen. — In this way the king helped the growth of a new and Important class in society. 14 THE HISTORY OP THE AMERICAN PEOPLE the merchants and tradesmen who, from the sixteenth century onward, were destined to play a great part in the history of the world. They took the leadership in encouraging handicrafts at home and bringing goods from foreign lands. Thus there came to be in every country of western Europe a group of men distinct from the clergy, the nobility, and the peasants — a group which owned not land and castles and monasteries, but ships and stocks of goods and money. Being constantly engaged in traveling or bartering with peoples of other countries, the "merchant adventurers," as they were sometimes called, were better acquainted with the world than the other classes. They were prepared for almost any changes that meant an increase in business. The Artisans. — In the towns were to be found skilled iron workers, weavers, dyers, and other craftsmen engaged in making articles to sell. The artisans of each craft were organized into unions or "gilds," and exercised strict con- trol over their respective industries. IV. The Development of Trade The most desirable luxuries, such as spices, rugs, silks, porcelains, and perfumes, came from far away — from Persia, India, China, and other distant lands. These regions had been known to the Greeks and Romans, who carried on considerable trade with them; and even in the Middle Ages, when the barbarians overran the former Ro- man Empire, all that had been known of the Far East was not wholly forgotten. During the Crusades made by Christian warriors- in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries to rescue the tomb of the Savior from the hands of the Mohammedans, soldiers and travelers went as far east as Egypt and Syria. EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY 1 5 Marco Polo. — Toward the end of the thirteenth century, two famous Venetian merchants, the Polo brothers, jour- neyed so far into China that they reached Pekin, and were welcomed by the Emperor of the Mongols. Later the son of one of the merchants, Marco Polo, set out for China and stayed there many years, visiting different places and becoming acquainted with the habits and trade of the Chinese. When Marco Polo returned to Venice, in 1295, bringing diamonds, rubies, and sapphires, he excited interest among other adventurous persons. Polo not only boasted among his friends of the things he had seen, but he wrote a book in which he described at length his wonderful experi- ences in that mysterious land. In this book he told of the magnificent palace of the emperor, with its halls of gold and silver, its jeweled panels, and its gorgeous tapestries. He described the fine dress worn at the royal court — the robes of silk and beaten gold and girdles set with precious stones. Polo spread about the idea that riches fairly grew on trees in the Orient. Naturally, credulous people wanted to go and pick them. Carr5dng Eastern Goods to Western Europe. — After Polo's time the trade of Europe with the Far East increased steadily. Silks, spices, and other rich stuffs were brought along several overland routes from China, India, and Persia to the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, and thence they were carried principally to the Italian cities of Venice and Genoa. From these ports they were taken by various ways, usually overland, until they reached distant points like London, Paris, and Antwerp. In Germany there was a series of trading centers, Cologne, Bremen, and Lii- beck, largely interested in this traffic. Sometimes Italian merchants from Genoa or Venice would venture to send a shipload of the precious goods out through the gateway of i6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE the Mediterranean at Gibraltar and up along the Atlantic coast as far as Bruges (in what is now Belgium), and even to London. Trade among the Western Nations. — In addition to this eastern traffic, there was a growing trade among the nations of Europe during the Middle Ages. Great bales of wool were sent from England to France to be woven into line cloth. In the little towns like London, Paris, Wini.Eng.Co..N.T. Thi; Ow Trade Routes from Venice and Genoa to the Far East Bristol, Bruges, and Antwerp, hand manufactories began to flourish. Even the peasants in the country had to have salt and somd iron, and merchants had early begun to travel about in wagons with these supplies. It was a general practice to have markets or fairs in the principal towns, to which merchants and peasants from the outlying districts would go to trade. The county fair, so famous in the Lhiited States, is simply a relic of an ancient institution which was once a real service to the people. EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY 1 7 The Rigid Separation of Classes in Europe. — All the various classes which have just been described — nobles, clergy, peasants, merchants, and artisans — were kept quite separate in the Europe of Columbus' day. The son of a peasant was almost certain to be a peasant, the son of a merchant a merchant, the son of a nobleman a nobleman. The daughters, at the dictates of their overlords or parents, always married in the class to which they belonged. Few of them expected to rise out of the group in which they were born. Only the clergy came from the other classes. Often a clever peasant boy escaped from servitude in the iields and entered the Church, and sometimes the son of a nobleman took up the religious life. Generally speaking, there was no opportunity foi the poor person to leave the class to which he Vv^as born. This state of affairs was regarded by all as perfectly "natural," just as natural as for boys and girls to go to school in our time. Such was the Old World out of which were to come the people to settle America. Questions and Exercises I. I. Be sure that you understand what years are meant when we speak of the "fifteenth century," the "sixteenth century," etc.^ In what centuries were the following dates: 121 5, 1400, 1492, 1519, 1601, 1776? 2. Why should we know something about the history of Europe in order to understand the history of our own country? 3. What countries in western Europe at the close of the sixteenth century had about the same boundaries that they have to-day? 4. What European countries, now united, were at that time divided into smaller kingdoms and principalities? 5. Give ^ I T4th centurjH 15th century I i6th century j 17th century I 1 1301 — 1400 I 1401 — 1500 I 1501 — 1600 I 1601 — 1700 I 3-A. H. 1 8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE as many reasons as you can explaining why England, France, and Spain were the principal European countries to colonize the New World. II. I. Who were the peasants of Europe? 2. How did the European peasants in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries differ from the American farmer of to-day? III. I. How did the nobles differ from the peasants? How did the nobles differ among themselves? 2. How did a person usually become a member of the nobility? 3. How did the clergy differ from the peasants and from the nobility? 4. How did the clergy become so wealthy? 5. How did the power of the kings in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries differ from the power of the rulers to-day in most European countries? 6. How did England differ from most of the other European countries even then in its form of government? 7. In what good waj's did the European kings sometimes use their power? 8. What new social class grew up in Europe at about the time of the discovery of America? 9. How did this class differ from the peasants and the nobles? 10. What is meant by the word "artisan"? IV. I. Who was Marco Polo and what did he do that his name should be so long remembered? 2. Locate en the map the principal cities that were important as centers of trade and commerce just before the discovery of America. Revieiv. What are the disadvantages of living in a country where the classes are rigidly separated as they were in Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries? Problems for Further Study I. Draw upon the blackboard a line twenty inches long like the following shorter line, Mark upon it at the appropriate points the following events: Present 2000 1000 A.D. time. A.D. Magna Carta, 121 5 Discovery of America, 1492 EUROPEAN BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN HISTORY 1 9 Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, 1620 Declaration of Independence, 1776 Monroe Doctrine, 1823 Assassination of Lincoln, 1865 Spanish-American War, 1898 2. Our people pride themselves on the fact that there is no rigid separation of social classes in this country as there has been and still is in many of the European countries. Many of our greatest men have come from vi'hat would be considered in Europe one of the low^er social classes. Lincoln was one of these. What others can you name? Why is it well for a country to prevent classes from becoming rigidly separated? Can j^ou think of any way in which our public schools prevent this? 3. Look up additional facts about Marco Polo and be ready to give to the class a clear account of his journeys and adventures. See Nida's "Dawn of American History in Europe," ch. xxi; Southworth's "Builders of Our Country," Book I, pp. 10-23.^ 4 In the "sagas" of Icieland, it is related that Leif Ericson — "Leif the Lucky" — a Norse explorer, about the year 1000 discovered the mainland of America, calling the new country Vinland. See if you can find out more about this early discovery by the Northmen. See Harding's "Old World Background to American History" ; Bassett's "A Short History of the United States"; Guitteau's "Our United States — a History". ^ The references given for the "Problems" in this and the following chapters arc only suggestive. Pupils should be encouraged to consult other books that they may find in the school library or the public library, or that they may have at home. CHAPTER II THE BOLD EXPLORERS The Europe which we have just described was, In the main, an unchanging Europe. The nobles, clergy, artisans, and peasants were content to go about their dally occupations just as their predecessors had done for generations, I. The Need of a Sea-Route to Asia: The Pioneer Explorations of the Italians and Portuguese The Italians. — Nevertheless, there were signs of change In Columbus' day. The trade with the East continued to thrive, and many merchants — especially the Italian "middlemen" — grew rich out of the traffic In spices, silks, and other goods brought from India and China. The mer- chants of England, Prance, and Spain, seeing the Italian traders reap such a harvest of profits, began to wonder whether they could not find some way to get directly Into touch with Persia, the Indies, and China. They became very much excited about a new route to the Indies when In 1453 Constantinople, which hitherto had been in Christian hands, was captured by the Turks. After that great event the course of trade through the eastern Med- iterranean, though by no means blocked, was disturbed and hampered. It was not only the merchants of western Europe who were aroused about paying large profits to middlemen. The Italian traders were equally unhappy when they THE BOLD EXPLORERS - 21 thought of the huge tribute which they paid to the Moham- medan business men at the seaports of the eastern Mediter- ranean. There was only one solution of the problem — a new route to the Far East whence came the goods they all sought. The Italians had not been slow to realize this. Nearly two hundred years before Columbus made his first voyage across the Atlantic, courageous Italian navigators had sailed out through the straits of Gibraltar on direct voy- ages to London and Bruges. Their success in braving the terrors of the high seas encouraged them, and in a little while they went far southward along the coast of Africa in search of a way around to the Indies. The Portuguese Navigators. Prince Henry. — Since these adventurers often stopped at Lisbon, the Portuguese began to take interest in the stirring hunt for new trade routes. Indeed one may almost say that the Portuguese were the pioneers in the work of uncovering the unknown con- tinents of the New World and the distant lands of the Far East. Years before Columbus was born, the son of the King of Portugal, Prince Henry, became interested in ships and sailors and maps, and he did so much to encourage explorers to search the high seas that he won for himself the name of Prince Henry the Navigator. It took a great deal of money to build ships, and he sup- plied this money out of his own purse. As it required a knowledge of navigation to undertake long voyages on un- charted seas far from the coast, Prince Henry set up a school for seamen, where books, charts, and maps were collected and where expert seamen were trained to wrestle with the dangers of the deep, and to sail their ships according to the best plans of the time. When he died in 1460, Prince Henry left behind a large group of able sailors who kept up the good work he had so nobly begun. 22 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Old Superstitions about the Sea. — One of the most difficult of the many tasks confronting the brave spirits who set out on explorations was to drive out of the minds of the common sailors all sorts of absurd notions about the ter- rors of the ocean. Even the wisest of navigators knew little about the high seas, and the ignorance of the seamen passes The Known World at about the Time of Prince Henry the Navigator belief. There were rumors afloat to the effect that the dis- tant oceans were peopled with horrible monsters big enough to swallow a ship at one gulp ; that the sea to the southward was boiling hot; that no one could pass through the scalding waters alive; and that the west coast of Africa was a barren waste where sure death awaited any luckless shipwrecked seamen. Although the more learned navigators believed that the earth was round, the rank and file stoutly declared that it THE BOLD EXPLORERS 23 was flat, and that whoever ventured far out at sea was in danger of falling off the edge into a bottomless black abyss. It was only by gradually extending their voyages that the sailors found these ideas to be utterly false. Good ITork of the Porliigiiese Sailors. — Many of these first voyages were undertaken by the Portuguese. By the middle of the fourteenth century they had discovered the Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Azores, and had ventured down along the coast of Africa until they reached the head- lands, which they named Cape Verde (the Green Cape). At length one of the ablest of this brave school of Por- tuguese seamen, Bartholomew Diaz, sailed all the way down the west coast of Africa and, in 1487, rounded the cape. He was pleased with the success of his voyage, and the king gave to the southern point of Africa the name of the "Cape of Good Hope," the name it still bears. When Diaz returned from his long journey of thirteen thousand miles and reported that he had seen no sea monsters, and that the boiling ocean story was a myth, other sailors grew bolder. II. Christopher Columbus A Daring Plan. — The wonderful exploits of the Por- tuguese sailors stirred the soul of an Italian seaman from Genoa, who was destined to win everlasting fame — Christo- pher Columbus. As a lad of fourteen years he had begun a wandering life at sea, and in the course of his adventures he drifted to Portugal. This was a turning point in his career. No doubt he learned much from the navigators of Lisbon, and it is thought that he joineci in some of the voyages down the African coast. At all events, we know that in 1473 he married the daughter of a Portuguese sailor who had gathered a store of maps and charts. This precious collection later fell to Columbus. 24 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Columbus also had a copy of Marco Polo's book of travels, and he read therein not merely of the wonderful riches of the East, but also of a "great ocean" beyond the domin- ions of the Chinese emperor. By much deep study he figured it out that the world was round, not flat as most people thought, and that this "great ocean" was a part of the Atlantic/ Columbus then came to the conclusion that if he sailed some four thousand miles westward — a voyage of five or six weeks — he could reach Zipango, or Japan, which lay off the coast of China. Ferdinand and Isabella Aid Columbus. — Hard-headed business men, although they were anxious to find a new route, were not willing to risk any money on such an un- certain venture. On this account, Columbus was a long time in securing money for his expedition. He appealed to the King of Portugal, but in vain. He then turned to the King and Queen of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella. The Queen became deeply interested because she thought she saw an opportunity to bring the heathen of the East into the fold of the Catholic Church. So Columbus, mainly through her aid, was able to secure the money, men, and ships necessary to make the daring experiment. He chose three ships small enough to permit him to skirt along the shores and explore the rivers of the mysterious lands which he expected to visit. In August, 1492, all was ready and Columbus sailed out of the harbor of Palos in Spain for the fateful voyage on the "Sea of Darkness." Columbus Crosses the Atlantic. — The story of what hap- pened is well known — how Columbus' men grew fright- ened as they sailed on day after day across the trackless ocean; how some of them begged him to turn back; and how he kept his faith and courage when every one else ^ Of course, it should be said that Greek scholars centuries befoic Columbus had come to the conclusion that the earth was round, not flat. THE BOLD EXPLORERS 25 had given up hope. A picture of the contest between despair and determination to win, which occurred on board the captain's ship, is drawn by an American poet, Joaquin Miller, in these lines: "My men grow mutinous da)' by day; My men grow ghastly wan and weak." The stout mate thought of home; a spray Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek. "What shall I say, brave Admiral, say, If we sight naught but seas at dawn ?" '*Why, you shall say at break of day, 'Sail on! Sail on! Sail on! and on!' " From an engraving by C. M. McRae Columbus in Sight of Land Columbus Lands at San Salvador (October 12, 1492). — On they sailed until at length their weary watching was rewarded, on October 12, with the sight of a strange shore — one of the Bahama Islands. Ferdinand Columbus, 26 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE the son of the great admiral, in the Life of his father wrote of their landing: The whole company kneeled on the shore and kissed the ground for jo}^, returning thanks for the great mercy they had experienced during the long voyage through seas hitherto unpassed and their now happy discovery of an unknow^n land. Columbus named the island San Salvador (Holy Savior) and declared it to be territory of the King of Spain. Then for several weeks he sailed about among the islands of that region, discovering, among others, Haiti and Cuba; but he returned home without finding the treasures of gold and silver and precious stones or the fabled cities of the East for which he was searching. A second voyage was equally dis- appointing. III. Da Gama, Vespucci, Balboa, and Magellan Vasco da Gama Reaches India by Sea (1497). — Bit- terness was added to Columbus' cup when a Portuguese sailor, Vasco da Gama, in 1497 sailed directly around the Cape of Good Hope, crossed the Indian Ocean to Calicut (whence the term "calico") on the west coast of India, and brought back home a shipload of the spices, silks, and other goods which were so much desired in Europe. When the voyagers returned, in 1499, the King of Portugal wrote exultantly to the King and Queen of Spain, boasting of Da Gama's triumph. The news of this exploit, that the longed-for water route to India was opened at last, stirred Spain more than ever. Columbus made two more voyages across the Atlantic searching for the golden Indies, but without results. He returned home, broken and heartsick, and in 1506 he died in poverty, not knowing that he had discovered a new world. Amerigo Vespucci Writes of the New World. — Un- daunted by the failure of Columbus to find a direct route to THE BOLD EXPLORERS 27 the East, the Spaniards continued the search. They em- ployed in this work an Italian from Florence, Amerigo Ves- pucci. He sailed along the eastern shores of what is now South America, from the shoukier half-way to the southern tip. After his return from this expedition (1504) Amerigo wrote to friends in Italy: "We have found what may The Voyages oi" Columbus be called a new world." Navigators then came to the con- clusion that Columbus had not reached Asia at all, but the coasts of a wide continent which barred the way to India. It was in honor of this Italian sailor in the employ of the King of Spain that the name "America" was given to the new lands. Balboa Discovers the Pacific. — The Spanish soon began to open up the continent. The coast of the central region was explored as early as 1508 by Pinzon, who had been with Columbus on the first voyage. Five years later, in 15 13, Balboa pushed through the swamps and jungles of the Isthmus, climbed the mountains to the westward, 2 8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE and, on September 25, beheld the gleaming waters of the Pacific. Magellan's Ships Circumnavigate the Globe (1519-1522). — Two lines of enterprise now began. Some adventurers sought a way around the continent to the Indies, and others explored the new continent itself. In the former group the Portuguese sailor, Magellan, takes highest rank, for it was he who first sailed directly to the Pacific Ocean by crossing the Atlantic. In 1 5 19 this energetic captain, in the service of the King of Spain, set out for the New World. He skirted the coast of South America, pushed through the straits at the southern end which now bear his name, and then spread his sails on the broad Pacific, little dreaming what vast stretches of water lay between America and the Indies. He sailed bravely on, week after week, outrivaling the daring and endurance of Columbus on his first voyage. After a desper- ate struggle with starvation and thirst Magellan reached the islands now known as the Philippines, where he was killed in a fight with the natives. Magellan's men sailed from there in the good ship Victoria, crossed the Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and on September 6, 1522, rode into the harbor at Lisbon. Thus, in the most memorable voyage in the annals of the sea, the globe was encircled. IV. The Spanish Conquests; Further Spanish Explorations Mexico. Its Conquest by Cortes. — About the time of Magellan's voyage, Cortes, a Spanish soldier, with a small band of men, discovered the empire of Mexico. The Mexi- can natives tilled the fields and raised bountiful crops; they had many fine highways, along which a large domestic trade flowed; they had cities; they had made important begin- THE BOLD EXPLORERS 29 nings in painting pictures and writing books ; and the king and the nobles who ruled over the people had amassed great quan- tities of gold and silver and precious stones. Here was booty for the Spaniards. They fell upon the Mexicans with fire and sword, captured their capital, Mexico City, in 1521, and in a little while were in possession of a mighty domain, thickly settled, and rich in the precious minerals. Soon Christian missionaries from Spain went over to Mexico and converted the people to the Catholic faith. Monasteries or missions were built in all parts of the coun- ml r^ni ' ' mW/W The Palace of Cortes at Cuernavaca, Mexico try; a Spanish government was set up; and thus a "New Spain," as it was called, was established — a Spain very much like the old in religion, government, and the customs of the people. The strange empire thus brought under the rule of Spain is described in many entertaining letters written by the conqueror, Cortes, to his sovereign at home. One of these he devoted entirely to an account of the marvelous City of Mexico and the court life of the Mexican sovereign, Monte- zuma. In this dispatch he tells of the public squares and market places, where more than sixty thousand merchants were busy buying and selling jewels of gold and silver, lead, 30 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE brass, copper, tin, timber, precious stones, rabbits, herbs, medicines, foodstuffs of all kinds, honey, sugar, cotton thread, dyes, paints, and earthenware. He tells of temples and chapels where dwelt the priests of the heathen faith, of the palaces inhabited by the rich lords, of the wonderful gardens and balconies supported by marble columns, of the museums filled with human freaks, and of the bird houses where the emperor's servants had collected specimens of all the known species of the empire. Peru. Its Conquest by Pizarro. — While the Spaniards were busy conquering Mexico, they heard rumors of another great empire to the southward in Peru; and Pizarro, a cruel soldier, set out with fewer than two hundred men to find it. After a long and perilous journey, they came upon a country superior in many ways to Mexico, and especially rich in the booty which they were seeking. They speedily overcame the natives in battle and looted the temples, palaces, and even the tombs of the dead, carrying away all the precious metals and jewels they could find. It is esti- mated that Cortes and Pizarro wrung at least $7,000,000 from the Mexicans and Peruvians as "gifts," and took as much more by force. Explorations to the Northward. De Leon and De Soto. — The stories of fabulous riches won by the conquest of Mexico and Peru set all the other Spanish adventurers on fire with the hope of still greater adventures. So they turned to the northward, undismayed by a fruitless journey which De Leon had made into the Florida country as early as 15 13. From Cuba, De Soto, one of Pizarro's old lieutenants, went forth with a band of horsemen and soldiers, all armed to the teeth and dressed in gorgeous colors, ready to overawe and conquer any emperors and potentates whom they might chance to meet. With banners flying they landed on the , coast of Florida in 1539 looking for worlds to conquer. i THE BOLD EXPLORERS 31 How bitter was their disappointment ! Instead of Mexico cities they found miserable Indian villages. But having set out with grand expectations De Soto would not turn back. For four long years he dragged his dwindling band inland through jungles, forests, and swamps, hoping each day that the next would reveal great treasures. In 1 54 1 he reached the turbulent waters of the Mississippi, and yet he pressed on until death broke his will and stilled The Zuni Terrace In place of cities and treasure, such as Cortes and Pizarro had found, Coronado discovered only wretched Indian villages. his stout heart. His followers, in the night, dropped his body down to the bottom of the mighty river which he had discovered, hoping thus to conceal his death from the In- dians, who had been told that Christians were immortal. The remnants of De Soto's band, freed from the com- mand of their stern captain, found their way as best they could back to Spanish settlements. Coronado. — While De Soto was out on this luckless jour- ney, another Spanish adventurer, Coronado, was exploring from Mexico what is now the southwestern part of the United States. 32 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE In place of cities and treasure, such as Cortes and Pizarro had found, he, too, discovered only wretched Indian huts and villages. These were not the exploits which the Spanish soldiers were seeking, but they gave to the King of Spain a claim to vast territories. V. The French and the English Explorations; Con- flict BETWEEN England and Spain French Explorations. Verrazano. — News of the return- ing Spanish galleons bringing tons of gold and silver from the New World was not long in reaching the ears of the King of France. In fact, one of his sea captains, Verrazano, an Italian, had been lucky enough to seize two of the treas- ure ships which Cortes sent home from Mexico. The French king, stirred by wonderful tales from New Spain, fitted out, in 1524, an expedition for Verrazano, who explored the eastern coast of North America and attempted to find a northwest passage to the East Indies. This expedition gave France a claim to the northern continent. C artier and Cham plain. — A few years afterward Jacques Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence River and took posses- sion of its banks in the name of the French king. For a long time, however, French sovereigns were too busy with wars on the continent and religious disputes at home to em- bark on regular colonization in America. It was not until 1604 that the French planted their first permanent colony at Port Royal in Acadia. Four years later the great ex- plorer Champlain established the post of Quebec. Although the French, by their voyages of discovery, really laid the foundations of a New France in America, that was far from their intention at first. They, too, sought a route to India or another Peru to conquer; not a fertile land, where French peasants could have fields to till. THE BOLD EXPLORERS 33 When the French explorers found their way to the Far East blocked, they went overland westward to the regions around the Great Lakes, hoping that somewhere in that country might be discovered the cities and markets of China. Their hopes were not realized, but as we shall see they left their mark in the wilderness which they traversed. Eng-lish Explorations. John Cabot (i4gj-8). — England was the last of the great nations of western Europe to under- take regular voyages of exploration to the New World. It is true that King Henry VII sent out from Bristol John Cabot, an Italian by birth, with orders to find a way west- ward to Zipango, or Japan, whence came much of the goods highly prized by Englishmen; but nothing impor- tant came of the trip. Cabot did not discover the long- coveted passage to the East. He found, instead, the barren coast of Labrador, where, in 1497, he planted the English flag and thus gave England a shadow of a claim to the whole North American continent. Henry VII seems to have given Cabot €10 for his pains. The next year Cabot sailed again and mysteriously disappeared. Henry VIII, the son of Henry VII, took little or no interest in explo- ration and discovery. Francis Drake. — During the reign of Henry VIII's daughter, the famous Queen Elizabeth, English adventure was renewed. By that time there had grown up in Eng- land a company of daring sea captains, such as Drake, Raleigh, Frobisher, and Gilbert, whose names became house- hold words wherever the English language was spoken. Lender the leadership of these men the English navy grew, until at last England was prepared to challenge the rich and powerful kingdom of Spain, and to strike at her source of wealth — the Americas. The signal for the opening of the conflict was given in 1577 as Francis Drake spread his sails in Plymouth for 34 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE a voyage around the world — "to singe the Spaniard's beard." Though his Queen was at peace with the Spanish sovereign, Drake sailed down the eastern coast of South America and up the western coast, looting and burning the trading posts along the way, overhauling galleons, and fill- ing his own ships with bars of gold and silver. Far north he went along the Pacific shores until his sails were sheathed in ice. Then he turned back, refitted his vessels at a Wm«. Eng. Co.. N.T. Great Voyages, 1492 to 1580 point near the site of San Francisco, — little dreaming that a republic of English-speaking people would some day stretch to the sands before him, — and at last he set out toward the setting sun. Unlike poor Magellan, he was for- tunate enough to round the Cape of Good Hope in com- mand of his ships, and in November of the year 1580 rode safely into English waters. Elizabeth apologized to the King of Spain for Drake's rudeness; then knighted her faithful servant. THE BOLD EXPLORERS 35 The Defeat of the Spanish Armada. — As the news of the deeds of Drake and his countrymen slowly filtered home to Spain, the wrath of the king waxed high. There seemed to be no end to the story of ships sunk, treasure carried off, towns sacked, and settlements destroyed. Proud of his empire, on which the sun never set, and zealous in the support of the Catholic faith, the Spanish king at last determined to bear no longer the insults offered by English- men — and Protestants. The challenge had been made on the sea, and on the sea he accepted it. Fitting up a huge Armada, — the mightiest fleet of battle- ships that had ever swept the ocean, — the Spaniards rode forth to shatter the growing power of England. Elizabeth's sailors were ready. With a swiftness that dazed experienced Spanish captains, they fell upon the "Invincible Armada" and battered it to pieces. And, as if to add to English luck, a storm came down and blasted the ships which escaped the fire of English guns. This was more than a "great victory." It made way for the British Empire. Hence- forth England could plant settlements beyond the seas, and defend them against all comers. Then it was that far-sighted men, like Sir Walter Raleigh, could safely dream of a "New England," to rise in the wildernesses of North America. Questions and Exercises I. I. Why was a sea-route to Asia so eagerh' desired by the people of western Europe during the last quarter of the fifteenth century? 2. Who was Prince Henry the Navigator, and why was he so called? Why is his name remembered? 3. Locate the Madeira Islands ; the Canary Islands ; the Azores. When and by whom were these islands discovered? 4. Why did sailors hesitate to go southw^ard along the coast of Africa in the hope of finding a route to India? 5. Where is the Cape of Good Hope? How did it get its name? 4 -A. H. 36 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE II. I. How did Columbus plan to reach the Indies by sea? 2. What difficulties did he have in raising money for his first voy- age? How did he finally succeed? 3. How many voyages did he make? 4. Describe the difficulties of his first voyage. How does it happen that the New World does not bear the name of Columbus? III. I. Why was the voyage of Vasco da Gama so important? 2. What event should be remembered in connection with the name of Balboa? 3. Magellan's voyage is referred to in the text as "the most memorable voyage in the annals of the sea." Give as many reasons as you can in support of this statement. IV. I. In what important way did the work of Cortes and Pizarro differ from that of Columbus, Da Gama, and Magellan? 2. Why did the conquest of Mexico and Peru encourage the Spaniards to make further explorations in America? 3. With the discovery and exploration of what regions are the following names connected: De Leon, De Soto, Coronado? 4. Although all of these men were disappointed because they did not discover what they had hoped to find, their names are remembered in American history. Why? V. I. What explorers did France send out? What were the results of their work? 2. What did the King of England hope that John Cabot might discover? What did Cabot actually find? Why were his discoveries of importance to England? 3. How long a time elapsed between the explorations of Cabot and those of Drake? What were the Spanish doing in the way of exploring and conquering the Americas during this period? 4. In what way was Drake's work a breach of good faith on the part of England toward Spain? What was the effect in Spain? How did the King of Spain hope to punish England, and what were the results of his efforts ? Problems for Further Study 1. Carrying goods by water, even to-day, is generally cheaper than transportation by land. Why was land transportation much more inconvenient and costly in the time of Columbus? 2. Make a list of the most important advances in the art of navigation since the time of Columbus, especially regarding: (n) means of finding latitude and longitude; (b) means of avoiding THE BOLD EXPLORERS 37 dangerous coasts and finding safe channels and harbors; (c) means of propelling ships; {d) means of steering ships; (e) means of making ships secure against severe storms. • Many of the difficulties of early navigation are described in ch. xxii of Nida's "Dawn of American History in Europe," 3. Columbus, Vespucci, and John Cabot were all Italians. Why is it probable that Italy had more and better sailors at this time than Spain, Portugal, and England? 4. In addition to the facts given in the text, give a further account of Columbus' work, particularly regarding: (a) his diffi- culties in getting men and ships; (b) the dangers and difficulties of his first voyage and how he overcame them; (c) the results of his later voyages. See Nida's "Dawn of Ameiican History in Europe," ch. xxiii ; McMurry's "Pioneers on Land and Sea," ch. vii ; Southworth's "Builders of Our Country," Book I, pp. 24-36 ; Tappan's "American Hero Stories," pp. I-13 ; Stapley's "Christopher Columbus," chs. v-x, xiii— xix. 5. Find out additional facts concerning Magellan: (a) his ships and crews; (b) the details of the long voyage; (c) where and how Magellan met his death. See McMurry's "Pioneers on Land and Sea," ch. viii; Tappan's "American Hero Stories," pp. 14-24; Nida's "Dawn of American History in Europe," pp. 301-305. 6. Tell how the Spaniards treated the natives of Mexico and Peru, See McMurry's "Pioneers on Land and Sea," ch. ix; South- worth's "Builders of Our Nation," Book I, pp. 43-50; Hart's "Colonial Children," pp. 12-16; Pratt's "Cortes and Montezuma." 7. The defeat of the Spanish Armada is regarded as one of the most important events in European history. Give as many reasons as you can find for its importance. See Nida's "Dawn of American History in Europe," ch. xxviii ; Eggleston's "Our First Century," pp. 8-9; Tappan's "England's Story," pp. 201-204. CHAPTER III FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA It was an easy matter to enroll a band of soldiers for an expedition to the New World, which promised booty in gold and silver and precious stones for all who took the risk. The nobles, especially of Spain and FVance, almost always had about them a troop of fighting men, ready for any exploit that offered excitement and wealth. It was an altogether different matter to find people who were will- ing to go out and make their homes in the wilderness. No hope of riches lured them. No thought of joyful return to admiring friends and relatives gave them heart for brav- ing the perils. When the pioneer and his family turned their faces toward the setting sun, they knew that the way was long, and the reward at the journey's end, at best, scanty and uncertain. They were not to discover wonder- ful cities, but to build them themselves. In such enterprises soldiers were of little help. They were, of course, indispensable in defending the emigrants against enemies, but they did not relish hard work in forests and fields. It takes industrious workingmen and women to found settlements, build homes, rear children, and create a nation. I. Difficulties and Dangers of Settlement The Dangers of the Voyage. — There were special reasons why it was difficult to find men and women willing to settle in North America. The perils of the deep were great enough 38 FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 39 to try the bravest. Under favorable conditions the voyage required from four to eight weeks. Often storms drove them far out of their course, and their supplies of food and water were exhausted. The ships were small and built for coastwise trade rather than for long ocean voyages. Pirates I' A stockade such as the early settlers built to protect themselves from the attacks of the Indians. roved the sea, robbing and sinking mercilessly the helpless merchant and passenger ships. The Indians. — To these perils were added the dangers of attacks by Indians lurking in the forests or by the water's edge, ready to torture, scalp, and kill. It is just to say that at first the natives received the white men in a friendly manner and with childish glee traded shells, ornaments, and furs for beads, mirrors, and .other trinkets. But the whites often paid back their kindnesses in cruel deeds. By the time when regular settlement began. 40 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE the Indians in nearly every section had learned to fear and distrust the newcomers. In many places the English were able to buy at low prices large tracts of land from the Indians, and to live for a time on good terms with them ; but there was a limit to the amount of land which the Indims were willing to sell. They had to have large ranges for hunting and fishing. For every acre that the white man required for a livelihood, the Indian required a thousand. One thing, therefore, was clear. The Indians could not go on living their wild, free life, if English settlers were to fill up the country. Two alterna- tives lay before the Indian. He could change his nature and his habits, and turn to labor in the fields like the white man; or he could fight to keep his hunting grounds. The Indians, of course, could have labored for the white men, but for the proud Indians of the Atlantic seaboard that was quite out of the question. The Spaniards made serfs of many natives in Mexico and the Southwest, and the English sought to follow their example. Their experi- ments in Indian serfdom failed. The true North American Indian was restive and sullen when forced to labor in mines and fields. He did not like steady habits. He was used to having his wife or "squaw" do all the hard drudgery of raising corn and tobacco and making utensils, as well as the ordinary housework. Accus- tomed to a wild life in the forests in search of game, he did not propose to do "woman's work" for anybody. A few tribes, such as the Senecas of the Iroquois group, lived in a somewhat settled manner in "round houses" or "long houses" built of light timbers and bark or clay, but most of them preferred the wigwam of birch bark and skins which was easily portable. There was no way of inducing the Indian to adopt the white man's way of living. As the country filled up with FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 4 1 settlers who steadily encroached on the hunting grounds it became evident that armed conflicts could not be avoided. The English who went out to the New World, therefore, knew that the perils of warfare awaited them. II. Conditions in Europe which Led to the Colonization of America In view of the hostility of the Indians, and all the dangers that beset the pioneers in the New World, we may indeed wonder where were the men and women to be found ready to leave their homes in the Old World for the hazards of the New. The answer is to be found in the new conditions that had arisen in Europe. Between Columbus' day and the date of the first Eng- lish settlement in America marvelous changes had taken place in all the countries of western Europe, and in England as well. The old order of things had begun to break up, and peasants and merchants became more and more willing to leave their old ways for new, and to risk the perils of life in the wilderness. The history of these important changes is told under the following heads : ( i ) changes in religion, (2) increased hardships of the peasants, (3) changes due to the development of the art of printing, and (4) the influence of gold from the Spanish possessions in America. I. Religious Changes. The Protestant Reformation. — First among these great changes was the revolt against the Catholic Church in northern Europe. About 1521, fifteen years after the death of Columbus, a dispute began which ended in the complete separation of large portions of Germany, and all of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Holland, and England from the Catholic fold. France and Spain remained loyal to the old Church, but not until "Protes- tant" movements had made them a great deal of trouble and had been put down with heavy loss of life. 42 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE In the beginning, the dispute was, in the main, taken up by kings and princes who "protested" against the suprem- acy of the Pope; hence the term "Protestants." When a prince decided to abandon his ancient faith and turn Prot- estant, he usually decided for his subjects as well as for himself; and if some of his people resisted the change in their faith, they were liable to be severely punished or driven out of the country. As time went on, the common people began to assert what princes had asserted; namely, that they had a right to decide for themselves what religious opinion they would hold. Protestantism in England: the ''Established" Church. — In England, King Henry VIII (1509-47) broke with the Pope, declared the independence of the English Church, and placed himself at its head. A few years after Henry's death, important changes were made by law in the services and in Christian doctrines as to religious life and faith. The church thus organized under Acts of Parliament was known as the Church of England or the Established Church. The Puritans. — In the reign of Henry's daughter, Eliza- beth, some of her subjects became dissatisfied with the Established Church. They began to demand its "purifica- tion" by abolishing some of the ceremonies which had been taken from the Catholic Church, and by the removal of images from the places of worship. These "purifiers," or Puritans, as they were called, did not propose to overthrow the Established Church altogether; they believed in keep- ing the authority of the bishops and priests over the lay- men ; but they wanted to reform the Church in accordance with their notions of what was proper. The Separatists. — The Puritans had hardly begun to make trouble for the government before there appeared another group of religious reformers who were not content FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 43 with the mere purification of the State Church, who even denied its authority altogether, and asserted the right of any congregation to adopt its own kind of worship and choose its own preacher and officers. These radicals were called "Dissenters" or "Separatists." Divisions of the Disscnlcrs: Presbyterians, Baptists, V Quakers. — The Dissenters were themselves soon divided into many sects. Among these were the Presbyterians, fol- lowers of John Calvin, who established his church at Gen- eva about 1540. The Presbyterians were particularly strong in Scotland, and they were also very influential in England. Another sect, far more numerous than the Presbyterians, was that of the Baptists. John Bunyan, the author of "Pilgrim's Progress," was of this faith. He wrote his immortal book while in prison for his religious views. Shortly after the Baptists began to spread their faith in England, a third sect, popularly known as "Quakers," arose as a result of the teachings of George Fox, who began to proclaim his doctrines about 1647. The members of this new body were known as the "Friends," on account of their kindly care of one another. The Friends opposed war and violence, and rejected all religious ceremonies. -The Persecution of the New Sects Led Many to Leave England. — As new sects sprang up, the older sects looked with disfavor and distrust upon them, and began to perse- cute them. Catholics burned Protestants at the stake, and Protestants burned Catholics. In England the Established Church was almost as severe in Its treatment of the Puritans and Separatists as of the Catholics. The first Stuart king, James I, who came to the throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, was bitterly intolerant towards all of the Dissenters and determined to "harry" them out of the land. Cruel orders were issued against Puritans, Baptists, 44 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Presbyterians, and Quakers without discrimination. Their leaders were imprisoned, set in pillories, tortured, and muti- lated. Inasmuch as the Church and the government were both in the same hands in England, the Dissenters came to hate the persecuting government as much as they did the Church. No wonder that so many of them preferred the rigors of the New World to the cruelties of the Old. More- over, James was glad to be rid of them and let them depart in peace. III. Other Conditions in Europe which Led to the Colonization of America 2. Cruel Treatment of the Peasants in England. — There were other reasons why the peasants were willing to leave their country for the New World. When Henry VIII broke with the Pope of Rome, he seized the lands of the monks and nuns — millions of acres — and gave estates to his favorites. The new landlords, anxious to make all the money they could, often turned their estates into large sheep farms and drove the tenants from their homes, to starve or to hunt a new way of making a living elsewhere. England, in Elizabeth's day, was filled with wretched peasants who had been driven from the soil on which they were born. If they were caught begging, they were Im- prisoned, whipped, or branded. If they were caught stealing, they were liable to be hanged. The jails were full and the poorhouses were crowded. Although the popula- tion of England was really very small, writers began to discuss ways and means of finding an outlet for the "surplus people." A peasant harried from his home, and ordered to the whipping post by a cruel justice of the peace, was doubtless prepared to try his fortune almost anywhere else In the world. FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 45 3. The Development of the Art of Printing. — While the Protestant revolt was growing and religious persecution was spreading far and wide, other grave changes were tak- ing place. Printing, which had been invented in Europe about fifty years before Columbus set sail, had developed rapidly. Books, which had been luxuries for the few The Invention of Printing : Taking the First Impression from Types when they were all written by hand, now became so cheap that the poorer people could afford them. With the growth of Protestantism, the reading of the Bible by the working people became more common, and the various sects sought to keep the children true to their faith by founding religious schools in which were taught their views on the Bible and religion. Through books of travel a better knowledge of the world, of discoveries and adventures, spread even into the remotest villages and stirred up the more courageous to a desire to seek liberty abroad. 46 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 4. The New Supply of Gold from the Spanish Possessions. — The discoveries and conquests of the Spaniards had in- creased the gold and silver coin in circulation in Europe. This had two important effects : (a) Serfs in many parts of western Europe, who had been paying their landlords in labor and produce, began to pay in money and thus became cash renters instead of bondmen. ■ In a way the change was very much like that in our < Southern states after slavery was abolished and the slaves became renters of the land they formerly tilled as bondmen. In time the cash renter was free to journey to the towns or to the new countries. (b) Capital to invest in colonies was amassed. The in- crease in gold and silver, and the discovery of the new routes to India, made business grow by leaps and bounds. Shrewd traders sometimes made as high as one thousand or even fifteen hundred per cent on a lucky voyage to the East Indies. The landlords, who now received cash in- stead of labor and produce for rent, had some ready money to invest. In this way it came about that at the time when many causes were driving people to the point of leav- ing England, the capital was available for starting the set- tlements in the New World. IV. English Settlements in Virginia Settlements under "Companies" and "Proprietors." — As we all know, whenever any large enterprise is started, it is necessary to have labor and capital ready. There are two principal ways of getting the latter. Several persons may band together and each put in a sum of money, and perhaps add his labor as well. This we call forming a "company." Another way is for some very rich and powerful person to furnish all the money and invite others to come into the enterprise under his direction. Such a FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 47 person is called a "proprietor." These were the two ways employed in the seventeenth century to bring emigrants and capital together in order to found settlements or colonies. The London Company Founds Jamestown (1607). — The first successful settlement of the English in America was made by a company formed for the purpose, and duly authorized by King James I.^ The king, of course, claimed all of the land dis- covered by his sub- jects, and no one had any right to settle upon it with- out his permission in the form of a grant or charter. In 1606 James I issued charters to two companies, the London Company and the Plymouth L,and Granted tu the London and Plymouth „ . Companies Company, grantmg to the former an enormous tract to the southward along the Atlantic Coast, and to the latter a great tract to the ' Sir Humphrey Gilbert had plans for founding a settlement in the New- World. He landed at Newfoundland (1583) but failed to establish a colony. In attempting to return home, his ship went down in a storm, and all on board were lost. In 1584, Sir Humphrey's half brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, sent out an expedition which reached Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina. On its return home, he so highly praised the new country that Queen Elizabeth was greatly pleased with it and named it after herself (the Virgin Queen), "Virginia." and made plans for a permanent colony. Raleigh sent over many settlers, but all his efforts came to naught. His second band of colonists, including women and children, entirely disappeared and no one knows what became of them. 48 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE northward. The first of these companies raised money, equipped ships, found settlers wilhng to make the venture, and dispatched an expedition to America. This expedition reached the shores of Virginia, and in 1607 a colony was founded on the James River at Jamestown, so named in honor of the king. Hardships of the Colonists: the "Starving Time." — The plantation at Jamestown was the beginning of the colony of Virginia which was destined, in the coming years, to furnish so many well-known American leaders, like Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. For a long time, however, it gave little promise. The London Company, which had raised the capital for the experiment, looked upon it largely as a money-making venture. They expected that gold and silver would be discovered and they hoped for some return from the rich soil. But they were disappointed. Searches for precious metals were fruit- less, and agriculture did not flourish. Many of the little band of men who went out were poverty-stricken persons, idlers who had nothing to lose and proved to be restless and quarrelsome. They were not prepared for hard labor. John Smith When their courageous captain, John Smith, was injured and compelled to return home, they came so near starving that they prepared to abandon the colony. In fact they had set sail, when supplies and new settlers arrived. Thus heartened, the colonists renewed the experiment with more success. Con- vinced at length that no gold or silver could be found, they resigned themselves to earning a livelihood by tilling the soil. Wives for the Settlers. — The first settlers in Virginia did FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 49 not bring wives with them, and it was some little time be- fore any women appeared in the colony. In 16 19 a ship- load of them came over to risk their fortunes in the New World. They were taken as wives by the planters, who paid for their passage in tobacco. Labor Difficulties. — It was quite as difficult for the plant- ers to find laborers for their great fields as it was to Induce The First Women to Risk Their Fortunes in the New World women to come over to America. Many gentlemen of means and poor sons of well-to-do English parents had staked out huge estates and, unaccustomed to hard labor themselves, they were in dire straits for workmen. Large numbers of laborers who had contracted with the Company to work for the planters, finding land plentiful, refused to carry out their promises and went into farming on their own account in the interior. Slavery Introduced (i6ig). — Altogether, the "labor question" was a serious one for the gentlemen, but at last a solution of the problem seemed to be found. In 16 19 a cargo of negroes, torn from their homes in Africa by Dutch 50 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE slave traders, was brought into Virginia and sold to the planters. The slave trade soon became a profitable business tor shipowners in New England as well as in Great Britain, and in time an abundant labor supply was furnished for the plantations. Virginia Becomes a Royal Province. — As the population of the colony increased, the Virginia Company in London found it more and more difficult to manage a settlement of turbulent planters anci laborers some three thousand miles away. Th& Company's troubles were increased by quarrels with James I, and in 1624 the king revoked the charter, broke up the Company, and assumed the control himself, transforming the colony into a "royal province." The First Colonial Legislature. — There was, however, an important check on royal authority. In 16 19 the Com- pany had invited the well-to-do planters to help in the government by sending two citizens from each settlement and borough to meet with the governor and council at Jamestown. This was the first "people's" legislature on our continent. The assembly, or "House of Burgesses," as it was called, continued to share in the government of Virginia until the Revolution, Many and long were the disputes it had with the royal governor, until at last, weary of the struggle, Virginia joined with the other col- onies in declaring its independence from Great Britain. V. English Settlements in New England The Pilgrim Fathers. — Shortly before the London Com- pany was abolished by the king, it granted to a small band of English men and women, famous in our history as the "Pilgrims," permission to settle in Virginia. This little group was composed of humble folk who had "dissented" from the English Church and declared their right to form independent religious congregations and to worship God FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 5 I according to their own consciences. The views and conduct of these separatist congregations had thoroughly disgusted King James I, who did not beHeve that "Tom, Dick, Harry, and Will" had any right to decide religious ques- tions for themselves. James was so intolerant that hun- dreds of independents fled from England to Holland. The Pilgrims Reach America (1620). — Although they were generously teeated by the Dutch, the Separatists were English at heart and they longed for a land of their own. After much discussion among themselves, many of them decided to go to America, where their countrymen were founding a new nation. In July^ 1620, the Pilgrims set out from Holland in the ship Speedwell for Southampton, Eng- land, where they were joined by another party of Sepa- ratists in the famous Mayflower. The Speedwell proved to be in such a wretched state that the whole party had to put back to port. It was not until September that the Pilgrims, 102 in number, crowded in the little Mayflower, finally sailed for America. They expected to reach Virginia, where they had per- mission to settle; but they were driven by storms to Cape Cod, within the territory of the Plymouth Company, where they had no rights at all. They debated for a long time what to do. After four or five weeks of exploration along the coast, on December 22, 1620, they landed at Plymouth.^ The Mayflower Compact. — Before the Pilgrims went ashore, the men in the Company met in the cabin of the Mayflozver, and drew up an agreement to form a govern- ment among themselves, and to obey the rules made by that government. Thus they looked not to a royal charter for guidance, but to the authority established by the "Mayflower Compact," which has been called the first '_They are supposed to have stepped from their row boats to a boulder which has become celebrated in our history as "Plymouth Rock." 5-A. H. 52 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE written constitution in the world. Having guaranteed good order, the Pilgrims set about building their homes amid discouragements such as have come to few pioneers in the history of America. Early Hardships and Final Success of the Colony. — The cold, gray New England winter shut down upon them, and before summer came again one half of the devoted band was dead. Even during the second and third years the Pilgrims suffered grievously.^ Often "they knew not at night where to have a bit in the morning," but they were sustained by the belief that God would not abandon those who worshipped him with such singleness of devotion. In time their harvests became abundant, and friends from England came in such numbers that Plymouth grew into a flourishing settlement. The Puritans Establish the Massachusetts Bay Colony. — Massachusetts, like Virginia, was founded by a commercial company formed In England. It was chartered in 1629 by King Charles I, who granted to "adventurers" a large domain within the borders of the territory of the old Plymouth Company, which had failed to accomplish any- thing important. This new concern, the Massachusetts Bay Company, differed, in many ways, from the London Company which planted the Virginia Colony. In the first place, it was composed entirely of "Puritan" gentlemen who, having failed to reform the English Church to their own liking, were determined to go where they could found churches of their own (see page 42). In the second place, the Massachusetts Company did not remain in England and attempt to plant and govern a colony ' The Pilgrims early made a treaty with Massasoit, the chief of a neigh- boring Indian tribe. Later other tribes gave them some trouble which might have proved serious, had it not been for the prompt action of Miles Standish, who had been placed in charge of the military affairs of the little colony. FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 53 across the Atlantic. On the contrary, the members of the Company took the charter which the king had granted them, gathered other Puritans, together with many Early New England Settlements Wm«. Eug. Cu., N.Y. laborers and bond servants, and in 1630 came to Massa- chusetts — more than a thousand strong, in seventeen ships. Under the leadership of John Winthrop, a very rich and pious man, they planted settlements at Boston and other points around Massachusetts Bay. 54 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE John Winthrop The Character of the Puritan Settlers. — The leaders among the Puritans were, for their day, men of wealth and education. They were better equipped with ships, sup- plies, and tools than were the Pilgrims or the Virginians. More- over, they had little trouble in getting free white emigrants for their settlements. Thousands of their countrymen were only too happy to escape the persecutions of the English king and the Es- tablished Church, and were pre- pared to work hard with their own hands to clear the forests and build homes for themselves anci their children. It is true, many bond servants (p. 72) and a few thou- sand slaves were brought into New England; but the bulk of the population was composed of free farmers and their wives who had the courage to endure privations and the will to work hard for their livelihood. The few bond men brought into New England were employed as domestic serv- ants in the homes of the well-to-do. The use of African slaves in the stony fields was not profitable. Roger Williams and Rhode Island. — Although the Puritans had suffered much from persecution, they were unwilling to tolerate in their midst people who did not agree with them in religious matters. Any new sect that appeared in Mas- sachusetts was badly treated and Its members were driven out into the inland wildernesses. In 1636 Roger Williams, who had been preaching at Salem doctrines which were displeasing to the Puritans, was banished from Massachusetts. With a little band of followers, he went south and laid out the town of Provi- FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 55 dence. Other settlements, including one at Rhode Island, soon followed. Seven years later, in 1643, ^^^ inhabit- ants of this new community were able to get from the English parliament a charter forming them into an In- dependent colony, "Providence Plantations." Twenty years later, Charles II granted to Rhode Island and Provi- dence a new charter which was kept as a constitution until 1843. The Beginning's of Connecticut and New Hampshire. — About the same time other bands of dissenters, who did not ap- prove the Puritan rule in Massachusetts or were searching for better land, set out for the Connecticut River valley, and there founded three towns, Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield. Like the Pilgrim fathers in the Mayflower, the men, in 1639, drew up a plan of government and agreed to abide by it. Their most prominent leader was Thomas Hooker. Another religious leader, John Davenport, with a con- gregation of faithful followers, after a short stay in Boston, grew dissatisfied with the Puritans and took the water route to the north shore of Long Island Sound, where he planted the colony of New Haven in 1638. In 1662 New Haven was joined to the other Connecticut towns by a royal charter, and all of them were welded into the colony of Connecticut. Like Rhode Island and Connecticut, New Hampshire was an offshoot from Massachusetts. In 1679 it became a separate colony with a government of its own. The New England Confederation. — In 1643 Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and New Haven formed a union known as the "New England Confederation," but it lasted for only a short time. It was useful in defending the settlers against the Indians and it pointed the way to the final union of all the colonies. ss THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE VI. Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, the Caro- LiNAS, AND Georgia The Catholics in Maryland. — The king could give lands to one man or a few men, as well as to a company of men. In 1632 Charles I, who was kindly disposed towards Catholics, granted to a nobleman of that faith, Lord Bal- timore, a large block of land north of the Potomac. In this region the colony of Maryland was founded. It will be remem- bered that the Catholics as well as the Puritans had suffered persecution in England, and many of them were ready to settle in a new country where they could worship God in accord with the ancient faith of their fathers. They did not long enjoy their new freedom undisturbed. Protestants from New England and from Vir- ginia, fearing a Catholic colony so near at hand, poured into Maryland in such force that they soon outnumbered the original settlers. The proprietor thereupon granted com- plete religious toleration for all who professed to believe in Jesus Christ. The colony of Maryland remained under Early Settlements in Pennsylvania, Mary- land, AND Delaware FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 57 the rule of the descendants of Lord Baltimore (except for a short time) until the eve of the American Revolution. William Penn and the Quakers in Pennsylvania. — Half a century after Lord Baltimore's Maryland grant, Charles II gave a great domain west of the Delaware River to another proprietor, William Penn, a member of the Society of ■■^"^^rpf Surveyors Laying out Baltimore Friends. The Friends, like the Catholics and Puritans, had suffered persecution in England and, in fact, some of them had been hanged by the Puritans in Massachusetts on account of their religious opinions. The Quakers were therefore overjoyed at finding an escape from intolerance when Penn offered them cheap lands in the new territory of Pennsylvania, — Penn's Woods, as the king insisted upon naming it. The Quakers were very tolerant in their views and joined with the proprietor in welcoming Christians of all faiths to their colony. In addition to the Quakers, great numbers of Protestants from northern Ireland and, later, Protestants from Germany came to Pennsylvania. The Quakers were shrewd merchants and traders as well as generous in their religious opinions, and they soon had 58 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE From an old engravin, WiLIvIAM PENN a flourishing city, Philadelphia, built upon the banks of the Delaware. In order to secure a sea-coast line, Penn, in 1682, got possession of lands on the Delaware River and Bay which had been settled by • Swedes in 1638. This new territory re- mained a part of Pennsylvania until 1703, when it was formed Into a separate colony of Dela- ware, under the proprietorship of Penn. Pennsylvania and Dela- ware continued under the direc- tion of the Penn family until the Revolution.^ The Carolinas Also Settled under Proprietors. — Two English colonies in the South, North and South Carolina, were also founded under the management of proprietors. In 1663 King Charles II granted to eight noblemen a great domain south of Virginia, extending to the Spanish posses- sions of Florida. These proprietors sent out some colonists, and other settlers migrated into their territory from Vir- ginia. Charleston was founded in 1680, and before many years it became a thriving seaport. Though the settlements near Virginia and those farther to the south had little or nothing to do with each other, it was many years before the two regions were divided into separate colonies, North and South Carolina. The pro- prietors were always in trouble with the settlers over the ' The boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania was, not clearly defined in the original charters granted to Lord Baltimore and William Penn. As the colonies became settled, difficulties arose as to the location of the boundary line. In 1767 two surveyor'^. Mason and Dixon, were employed to mark a boundary which has since been known as the "Mason and Dixon line." For many years this line was frequently spoken of as dividing the Northern from the Southern states. FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 59 payment of taxes and the sale of lands. In 1729 the two Carollnas were taken over by the king, the proprietors re- ceiving a few years later a small payment of money for all their rights and claims. From 1729 until the Revolution, North and South Carolina remained royal provinces. Early Settlements in the Carolinas and Georgia James Oglethorpe and the Settlement of Georgia (1732). — The last of the English colonies was founded far to the south in the Georgia wilderness. In England, at the time of the reign of George I, there dwelt a kind man, James Oglethorpe, who took a deep interest in the poor debtors huddled- up in the English prisons, and was moved to find an opportunity for them in the New World. He or- ganized a board of trustees and secured from the king, for a term of years, a grant of land to the south of the Savan- nah River. Charitable persons were induced to give money 6o THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE for the scheme, on the ground that it would help the poor, and business men were invited to invest because the enterprise promised to be profitable. Slavery and the sale of rum were forbidden in the new colony. Every effort was made by the trustees to build up -prosperous settlements. The prisoners who were transported did not, however, prove to be very good workmen. So it was found necessary Types of Men and Women Who Came OvEr with Og[,Ethorpe to induce a different class of settlers to come into the colony. Owing to the scarcity of labor, the rule against slavery was abolished and large numbers of negroes were imported to till the plantations. At last, in 1752, the trustees gave up the experiment and turned Georgia over to the king, George II. From that time until the Revolution it remained a royal province. VII. New York and New Jersey The Dutch Settle New Amsterdam (1623), — One of the most important colonies in America was not founded by Englishmen at all, but by the Dutch. These hardy people, although their independence from Spain was not formally recognized until 1648, had been able to develop trading and colonial enterprises of their own in the East Indies and in America. Under their direction, in 1609, Henry FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 6 1 Hudson, an Englishman in command of a Dutch fleet, sailed far up the great river that now bears his name, in search of a northwest passage to the Far East where men were growing rich out of the spice trade. Although this quest ended in failure, the Dutch West India Company, a few years later (1623), planted the post of New Amster- dam on the Island of Manhattan. lilllllliilliiir. # ;/■:^•^;J;lififeliilllf■4 From Valentine's Manual The Home of Peter StuyvEsant in New Amsterdam In order to induce wealthy men to undertake the up- building of this country — New Netherland — the Dutch company granted enormous estates to "patroons," or patrons, who would undertake to bring over parties of settlers. The patroons advanced the money to pay for the passage of the men and women, and for seeds and farming implements. The immigrants, in return, were bound very much like serfs to the estates of the patroons. 62 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE The English Capture the Dutch Colony. — The Dutch were able to hold their colony for a little more than fifty years. In 1664, during a war between England and Hol- land, a British fleet rode into the harbor and compelled the "leather-sided, lion- hearted old governor," General Peter Stuyve- sant, to surrender New Amsterdam. King Charles gave NewNeth- erland to his brother, the Duke of York, and the province then be- came "New York." Englishmen soon began to settle down in large numbers among the Dutch. After the king of France, Louis XIV, started his religious per- secutions in 1685, many of his Protestant sub- jects, known as Hugue- EarivY Settlements in New York and nots, also came to the New Jersey , t-i /• 1 1 colony. 1 hey rounded New Rochelle, naming it after their old home in France. Like the Dutch, they proved to be a wise and frugal people from whom sprang many persons eminent in American history. In 1685, when the Duke of York became King James II, his colony was made a royal province. The Settlement of New Jersey. — The Dutch had also claimed the country across the Hudson River to the west and south. When they were overthrown by the English that region was granted to Sir George Carteret and Lord FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 63 Berkeley, the former assuming the office of governor. In- asmuch as he had once been governor of the Isle of Jersey in the EngHsh Chan- nel, it was thought fit- ting to name the colony "New Jersey." Some time afterward it was sold to Quaker pro- prietors, and in 1702 it became a royal province. It was at first attached to New York, but several years later (1738) it was given a royal governor of its own. ^»l>. -■^'" 5~;'S.'^Sl'4'i!:;,;' One of the First Meeting Houses in the Colonies at Newark, N. J. Questions and Exercises I. I. Why were the European soldiers not likely to make good settlers for the new lands in America? 2. In what ways did the Indians make settlement by Europeans difficult? II. I. Why did the religious changes in Europe lead people to settle in America? 2. Who were the Protestants? The Puritans? The Separatists? 3, What is mean by "intolerance" in religion? III. I. Why was the development of printing important in leading to the settlement of America, even though few people could read at that time? 2. How were the peasants treated in England at the time of Queen Elizabeth? What efEect did this have upon emigration to America? 3, It is easy to see that the American gold, poured into Europe as a result of the Spanish conquests, would have led fortune-hunters and adventurers to America; but how did it influence real settlement and coloniza- tion? \y IV. I. When and where was the first permanent English settlement made in America? 2. How was this colony governed at the outset? 3. Why did the settlement come near to failure? 64 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 4. When and why were African slaves introduced? 5. Why did this settlement become a royal colony? What is meant by that term? V. I. Who were the Pilgrims, and why did they decide to settle in America? Locate Plymouth on the map and tell how they happened to choose this place for their home. 2. What was the Mayflower Compact? Why is it important in our his- tory? 3. What other important colony was established in what is now Massachusetts? By whom? 4. Compare the settlers in New England with those in Virginia. 5. Who was Roger Williams? With what colony is his name connected? 6. Locate on the map the points at which Connecticut was first settled. Whence came the first settlers of Connecticut? VL I. What is meant by the proprietary colonies? 2. Name the proprietors and the religious denominations that should be remembered in connection with the settlement of Maryland. In Pennsylvania. 3. State how Delaware and the two Carolinas came first to be settled. 4. How did the settlement of Georgia differ from that of the other colonies? Vn. I. Why did the people of Holland establish a settlement in America? 2. Wlien and how did they lose their colony? What became of it? 3. Why does New Jersey have the name that it now bears? Review: I. Make a list of the colonies in the order of their settlement; underline the names of the colonies that were settled by people who were seeking religious freedom ; place a check ( V ) before those that were founded by companies, and a cross ( X ) before those that were founded by proprietors. 2. Copy the following names and place after each the colony with which the name is connected: — Lord Berkeley; Lord Baltimore; Sir George Carteret; John Smith; John Winthrop; William Penn; James Oglethorpe; Peter Stuyvesant. Problems for Further Study T. Find out from the dictionary the differences of meaning of the following words: religioti, denomination, sect. 2. Why is a person who is paid for his labor in money generally more independent than one who is paid for his labor in food, cloth- ing, and shelter? FOUNDING THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA 65 3. The text says, "There was no way of inducino; the Indian to adopt the white man's way of living." From a study of the life and habits of the Indians make a list of the most important differences between uncivilized and civilized peoples. Try to arrange the differences in the order of their importance. For descriptions of Indian life, see Hart's "Colonial Children," pp. 91-130; Hart's "Source Book of American History," pp. 23-26; Eggleston's "Our First Century," pp. 207-209; Smith's "The Colonies," ch. xviii ; Parkman's "Struggle for a Continent," pp. 460-472; 479-486. 4. Select one of the following topics for special study and report : (a) The Jamestown settlement: See Southworth's "Builders of Our Country," Book I, pp. 73-78; Tappan's "American Hero Stories," pp. 38-49; Eggleston's "Our First Century," chs. ii, iii, iv, v; Smith's "The Colonies," ch. i; Johnson's "Captain John Smith," chs. ix-xix. (b) The Plymouth settlement: See Southworth, pp. 89-IOO; Tappan, pp. 59-72; Hart's "Colonial Children," pp. 133-136; Tiffany's "Pilgrims and Puritans," pp. 20-91 ; Eggleston, pp. 61- 72; Brooks's "Stories of the Old Bay State," pp. 15-39. (c) The New York settlement: See Southworth, pp. 130— 141 ; Tappan, pp. 73-83 ; Eggleston, ch. x ; Smith's "The Colonies," chs. vi, vii. (d) Pennsylvania: See Southworth, pp. 187-196; Tappan, pp. 108-116; Smith, chs. xii, xiii; Eggleston, ch. xiv; Holland's "William Penn," chs. viii, ix, xii. (e) The Carolinas: See Eggleston, ch. xiii; Smith, ch. v. 5. Reference is made in this chapter to the struggle of the Dutch people for independence in the sixteenth century. One of the great figures of w^orld history was an important leader in this struggle. Find out who he was and what he did. See Nida's "Dawn of American History in Europe," ch. xxvii. CHAPTER IV PEOPLING THE AMERICAN COLONIES The history of the English colonies from the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to the eve of the American Revolu- tion is, in the main, a story of the migration of thousand's of settlers — men, women, and children — across the ocean, .fi-<.\rvui— ^9^ People of the American Colonies — CavaeiEr, Puritan, Hollander, AND Friend and of the westward movement of the people who pressed inland, clearing the forests and building homes, villages, and towns. Indian wars there were a-plenty, and many battles with the neighboring French and Spanish; but the chief business was the task of making the wilderness habit- able and securing people to do the hard work. Why the People Came. — If we try to find out why people came to this country, we discover that there were several reasons : 66 PEOPLING THE AMERICAN COLONIES 67 1. Many of the immigrants, of course, were adventurers and fortune seekers, hoping to find in America a way to get rich quickly. 2. Thousands came to seek a place where they could be- long to any church they chose, and worship God accorciing to their consciences. 3. Still others were sent away from Europe as undesirable citizens. 4. By far the greater portion came for other reasons : especially because they hoped to find business opportunities in America or to escape from poverty and wretchedness in their native land, and to make better homes for themselves and their children. I. Important Causes of Immigration I. Exaggerated Statements Made to Tempt Colonists. Land-Owners Seek Labor. — The companies, proprietors, and individuals who received land grants were anxious to secure settlers in order to increase the value of their prop- erty. Land without hands to labor on it was worth no more than mountains in the moon. In order to induce workers to go to the New World and settle, gorgeous pictures of easy life and riches in America were drawn by land agents. When William Penn secured his grant from Charles II, he advertised widely in England and Europe to attract immi- grants to his newly acquired wilderness. Moreover, wild stories about chains of gold, plates of silver, and ornaments of precious stones were spread abroad among the people. As time went on, such absurd tales were discredited; but very alluring stories of the ease with which a few hundred acres could be secured and a home built, drew thousands of English, Dutch, and German peas- ants to the New World. Tracts, poems, booklets, and handbills were printed and widely circulated, explaining I 6-A. H. 68 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE the wonderful opportunities in the colonies for those who wanted to escape serfdom and poverty in the Old World. Stimulation of Emigration by Ship-Owners. — The owners of ships soon joined with the great land-owners in encourag- ing emigration to America. Each passenger was charged from three hundred to five hundred dollars for the trip, and the more passengers the more money for the ship- pers. They therefore established offices in various ports, and persuaded people to emigrate. Their agents displayed the products of the new country ^nd asserted that plenty of good land could be had for the asking. 2. Desire for Religious Freedom. — There was perhaps less effort in New England to induce immigrants to come over than in the middle and southern colonies. The bulk of the population in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, on the eve of the Revolu- tion was composed of the descendants of the twenty-five or thirty thousand Puritans who came to seek religious free- dom, as well as opportunities to make a living. The Puritans. — No other people were better fitted for the stern task of conquering the wilderness than were the Puritans. They disliked Idleness and evil doing of every kind. They were all devoted to their church, attended its meetings regularly, and kept the Sabbath strictly. They thought "stage plays" were wicked. On Sunday many a boy was soundly thrashed by his Puritan father for whistling a merry tune when he should have been thinking of life, death, and eternity. So zealous were they In their faith that they would not permit any one who was not a member of their church to vote or take part In government. They established schools where children had to learn to read the Bible and the catechism, and colleges for the education of ministers, lawyers, and "gentlemen." PEOPLING THE AMERICAN COLONIES 69 The Puritans had a deep Influence on the thinking and the literature of America. Strains of Puritanism run through all our politics and poetry. In the eighteenth century New England furnished many leaders in the Revolution: men like James Otis, one of the first to lift his voice against the arbitrary deeds of the British Government; Samuel (RtnlliwkKM-tlL-J ' From a painting by Boughton PiivGRiMS Going to Church They were all devoted to their church, attended its meetings regularly, and kept the Sabbath strictly. Adams, whose courage heartened his countrymen In their resistance to royal authority; and John Hancock, who signed the Declaration of Independence with such a clear hand that even King George could read it. In the early nineteenth century New England gave the country many poets, Whittier, Longfellow, Bryant; historians, Bancroft, Parkman, and Prescott; and champions of freedom for the slaves, Garrison, Phillips, and Sumner. 70 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Quakers, Diinkards, and Other Sects. — Outside of New England the religious influences in colonization were less marked but still very powerful. At New Rochelle, in New York, there was a settlement of French Huguenots. In New Jersey, the Presbyterians were numerous. In Dela- ware and Pennsylvania, Quakers, Mennonites, Dunkards, Moravians, and Lutherans dwelt side by side in pros- perous settlements. The first of these, the Quakers, or the Friends, though by no means as numerous as the Puritans, proved to be a great force in American life. While strict in their habits, frugal, and stern, they were, for their time, very tolerant in reli- gious matters. They early admitted members of other churches to a voice in the government of Pennsylvania and invited all peoples to come who were "peaceably disposed." Presbyterians from Scotland and Ireland. — Another very important religious element was composed of the Presby- terian Scotch-Irish. ]Many Scotch came directly from Scotland to the New World, particularly in the eighteenth century, but most of them came by the way of Ireland. Thousands of Scotch and English settled in northern Ire- land in the seventeenth century after the English general, Cromwell, and his soldiers drove masses of the Irish from their native soil. They flourished in Ireland for a time, but after a while the English parliament began to make laws which injured their woolen industry; and they got into religious diffi- culties with the Church of England as well. They then set out for America in great numbers. Often an entire village or congregation, pastor and all, would migrate. It is estimated that at least 200,000 came in colonial times, and that when the Revolution broke out one sixth of the population was composed of the Scotch-Irish. They settled largely in the western regions of Pennsylvania, Virginia, PEOPLING THE AMERICAN COLONIES 7 1 and the Carolinas, and were counted a hardy and dogged race, equally zealous at praying, working, and fighting. The Catholics in Maryland. — Though surrounded on all sides by Protestants, the Catholics of Maryland increased in numbers and prosperity. By wise toleration of other religious sects, they pointed the way to religious freedom. Puritan Rule in England Causes Many Royalists to Emi- grate. — By a curious turn of fortune, a large number of Englishmen who had been persecuting the Puritans or had been of the party of persecution, were also driven to settle in America. The Puritans, in a famous revolution, over- threw the monarchy, beheaded King Charles I in 1649, ^^^ set up their own government under Cromwell. At this time, many of the royalists, "Cavaliers," as they were styled, left England for Virginia because they hated Cromwell's rule. They were loyal to the king and to the Church of England, the ofiicial church in Virginia. II. Poverty a Cause of Immigration; Involuntary Colonization 3. Poverty. — It would be a mistake to assume that the members of the various religious sects were all pros- perous in the Old Country and came to America merely to gain freedom of worship. On the contrary, most of them were poverty stricken and had to struggle hard to gain a foothold in the New Country. Taking the immigrants all in all, it would doubtless be safe to say that two thirds of them did not come to America because they were discontented with the churches or govern- ments of Europe, but because they sought to escape grind- ing poverty or were sent here against their will. Some- times those who came on account of religious scruples were inclined to look down upon the others as less worthy; but 72 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE who can say that it was any less honorable to come to America to find better homes and freer life than to escape religious persecution? 4. Involuntary Colonization: Slaves and Criminals. — Those who were brought here against their will were very numerous indeed. There were, of course, the negroes taken from Africa and sold as slaves. In addition to these, Europe sent to America thousands of men and women charged with crimes, in order to get rid of them. Probably most of them were the hapless victims of cruel laws and benighted judges. It was a common thing, in the eighteenth century, for a peasant to be hanged for shoot- ing a rabbit on his landlord's estate, or for filching some trifle, or for an educated person to be transported for life for criticizing the king. Doubtless many such "criminals" who were sent over proved to be as good citizens as some who came for their consciences' sake. Impressment of Immigrants. — Among those who came against their will were numbers of men and women, boys and girls, kidnapped in the streets of the cities or sold by merciless relatives. It was estimated that no fewer than ten thousand were carried off in one year from England alone. Shiploads of artisans, weavers, blacksmiths, car- penters, and other skilled workingmen were taken in this manner, and thousands of poor girls were dragged to America to be sold as wives to colonists or as household drudges. It was openly said in the English parliament that the plantations could not be maintained "without a consid- erable number of white servants." The Bond Servants. — By far the largest single class of white people who settled in the English colonies in America — larger perhaps than all the free Puritans and Cavaliers combined — was composed of "white servants," bound to labor for their masters for a term of years to pay for ^1 PEOPLING THE AMERICAN COLONIES 73 their passage across the ocean. Bond servants differed from slaves principally in the fact that their term of serv- ice was from three or four to seven or ten years, as the "^5^^4:i^>:^^ People were kidnapped in the streets of cities and sent to the New World. case might be, instead of for life. Women were generally sold at the same price as men, and commonly worked barefooted in the fields with men. Many people who were ground down by poverty in Europe were glad to sell them- 74 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE selves for a few years, in order to have a chance to get a fresh start in a new land. White bondage was common throughout the colonial period and well into the nineteenth century; in fact, until the "free labor" supply became sufficiently large to meet the growing demand for men and women on the farms and in the shops. The system began with the foundation of the colonies. The well-to-do Puritans who settled Boston and the sur- rounding regions brought many bond servants. White servitude was very extensive in Virginia in the early years of that colony and for a long time rivaled negro slavery as the source of labor supply. Slavery won at last, for slaves were easier to get and less troublesome than white servants, and besides they were bound for life instead of for a few years. Pioneer settlers in the Carolinas, Maryland, and New Jersey also brought large numbers of servants with them. In some cases as many as sixty would be found under a single master. William Penn, to stimulate the settlement of Pennsyl- vania, offered special advantages to those immigrants who would bring one or more bond servants with them. As the Quakers disliked negro slavery, white servitude seemed to offer a way out of the difficulty of securing "hands." It is estimated that two thirds of the immigrants into this colony between the years 1707 and 1784 — especially the German settlers — were bond servants. The newspapers at the time were full of advertisements like this, taken from a Philadelphia paper of 1728: "Lately imported and to be sold cheap, a parcel of likely men and women servants." Hardships of the Bond Servants. — Like the negro slaves, the bond servants were crowded into the ships that brought them over. Each captain's profits depended upon the num- ber he could herd between decks. England wished to see PEOPLING THE AMERICAN COLONIES 75 the colonies settled rapidly and the colonists were anxious for laborers. So the overcrowded conditions on ships were nothing short of dreadful. It was a common thing for the immigrant to have to supply himself with food on the voy- age; if there were long delays due to calms or storms, many died of starvation and lack of water. The lot of the servant on landing depended upon his good fortune in finding a master. Some found good masters and were generously treated; others were beaten and overworked. Cruel as the system was in many ways, it gave to tens of thousands of poor people in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Europe the opportunity to reach America. After the expiration of their terms, large numbers of bond servants settled on lands of their own and took their places among the free citizens. Colonial America a "Melting Pot" of the Races. — Some one has called America of the twentieth century the "melting pot," in which all the races of the earth and all sorts and conditions of people are welded together in one nation. Although the immigrants during the colonial period were mainly from the British Islands, America was even then a melting pot. Nearly all religious sects were represented, and with the English, Irish, and Scotch were mingled Dutch, French, Swedes, and Germans. The ma- jority of those who came brought no riches with them — only stout hearts and willingness to labor wherever they could find an opportunity. Some writers have sought to hide the humble origin of so many American citizens, as if ashamed to tell the truth. Rather should we regard it as a marvelous testimony to the dignity and worth of human nature that out of so many who came to America poor and lowly, a great nation of self-governing people could be built up. 76 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Questions and Exercises I. I. Why were companies, proprietors, and ship-owner? tempted to exaggerate the opportunities of settlers in the New World? 2. In what colonies were the settlers most largely made up of those who had left Europe to seek religious freedom? 3. Many people have thought that most of the early immigrants came to America for this purpose. Can you explain why they have held this opinion? II. I. What is meant by the term involuntary colonization? 2. What different kinds of people were brought to America against their wills? 3. What is the meaning of the term bond servant? How did bond service differ from slavery? 4. What advantages did the system of bond service offer to poor people who wished to escape the poverty of the Old World ? What were its disadvantages and dangers? Revieiv: State the important differences among the following types of immigrants to the colonies: Puritans; Cavaliers; Bond Servants. Problems for Further Study 1. Imagine yourself a passenger on a ship from England to America in early colonial times. Tell about the length of the voyage, what you would have had to eat, the characteristics of your fellow-passengers, the dangers and discomforts of the trip. See Hart's "Colonial Children," pp. 25-28, 34-35, 52-53. 2. Oliver Cromwell is mentioned in this chapter as the leader of the Puritans in the English Revolution. Find out the main facts about this revolution. Why did Cromwell's part in the revolution make him one of the great men of English history? See Warren's "Stories from English History," pp. 258-291 ; Tappan's "England's Story," pp. 235-251. CHAPTER V THE STRUGGLE AMONG THE POWERS OF EUROPE FOR NORTH AMERICA The two preceding chapters have dealt principally with the English colonies in America, but it must not be thought that other European countries were all this time unmindful of the advantages which the New World offered. In enter- prise for exploration the French were not a whit behind the English, and only the lack of settlers prevented them from making New France as strong as New England. The Spanish were all the while busy in the Southwest convert- ing Indians and making settlements. And long before the American revolution the Russians had obtained a foothold in the Northwest. I. French Explorations and Settlements French sailors from the coasts of Brittany and Normandy were as hardy and daring as their rivals across the channel. Long before the foundation of the first English colony, there Avere a hundred or more French fishing vessels off the coast of Newfoundland every year. French explorers early began a search for lake and river routes to the western ocean. As we have seen, one year after the foundation of Jamestown and twelve years before the landing of the Pilgrims, the French under Champlain had established a post far up the St. Lawrence River, at Quebec. In 1642, just a little while after the outposts of Connecticut were 77 78 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE planted, the French established Montreal farther up the St. Lawrence. The French Explore the Great Lakes and the Mississippi. — From these points of vantage in the St. Lawrence Valley, l.,4 = '. \ ^ V <^ ^ Cj ^ SCALE OF MILES_ SOO 400 600 800 1000 4^ Wim.Eiig.Co.,N.Y. 120° LoDgitude 11U° West 100° from 00° Greenwich North America according to the Treaty of 1783 THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 1 57 the early age of nineteen, he had been appointed to a post in the Virginia army; he had served capably and honorably in the campaigns against the French in the West; he had been a member of the Virginia legislature. When the Revolution broke out he was elected to the Continental Congress and then given the arduous task of commanding the patriot army. Seldom, if ever, in the history of the world has another man borne such heavy responsibilities. He had to plan and lead in the conduct of battles in the field — that is a general's duty. But Washington did more. He was forced, by the failure of the Congress, to help secure troops, to keep together a straggling army of militiamen and volun- teers, to raise money, to collect supplies, to cheer his men- by precept and example, and to suffer unnecessary woes with them. Then he had to turn aside from military affairs to guide and lead Congress in the management of public business. In defeat at Long Island, White Plains, Brandywine, and Germantown, Washington never despaired. His courage and faith kept the patriot cause alive when others gave up hope. He was the inspiration of the Revolutionary army. No wonder that after victory he looked forward to the deep joy of peace at home. But he was not to have rest. Soon he was called away to help draft a Constitution for his country, and then to serve for eight long years as president. In 1797 he laid down his public burdens, only to be summoned, a few months later, to command the army again in view of a threatened break with France. When he died in 1799, the whole nation could truly say that he was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." Aid from Distinguished Foreigners. — Americans have always cherished the memory of foreign friends who aided 158 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Benjamin Franklin them by serving In the armies of the Revolution. From France came Lafayette; from Poland, Kosciuszko; from Bavaria, DeKalb; and from Prussia, Steuben, The Civilians' Part in the Revolution. Benjamin Frank- lin. — Without detracting from the valor of the men and officers who braved the dangers of the battlefield, we should add that they were not wholly responsible for the glorious outcome. To the able representatives abroad who won for the United States the sup- port of France and the aid of Holland great credit is due. Ben- jamin Franklin, the printer from Philadelphia, found fame through- out the world as a diplomat, deep thinker, and man of science, and secured the confidence of statesmen In Europe. Robert Morris. — The civilians also who raised the money and the supplies for the army must not be forgotten. Robert Morris, "the patriot financier" of Pennsylvania, labored day and night with all his great ability to find funds to pay the bills of an almost bankrupt government. If It be said that their efforts were not always successful, it must be remembered that their resources were slight and their trials severe. Finding It impossible to collect enough gold and silver, the Continental Congress and the governments of the states Issued large sums of paper money. Such notes were mere promises to pay and fell rapidly in value, until the best of them were only worth a few cents on the dollar. Worthless as this paper was, the farmers and merchants accepted It in return for supplies and trusted to an Independent nation to redeem its promises. THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 1 59 The Work of the Women. — Women, too, did their full share. They made munitions, using their pewter dishes and cooking utensils for bullets; they spun and wove and made clothing and hospital supplies; they tilled the fields and garnered the crops while the men were away; they carried supplies to the army, often at the risk of their lives. On Washington's call they gave gold and silver, jewels, and plate to be melted down and turned into coin; they begged money for the army from door to door; they braved their lot as refugees fleeing before British soldiers; and not a few of them even served in the ranks. The spirit of these women is shown in a letter written at the time by a woman in Philadelphia to a friend in the army: I have retrenched every superfluous expense in my table and family; tea I have not drunk since last Christmas nor bought a new cap or gown since your defeat at Lexington ; and what I never did before, have learned to knit and am now making stockings of American wool. ... I have the pleasure to assure you that these are the sentiments of all my sister Americans. They have sacrificed assemblies, parties of pleasure, tea-drinking, and finery to that great spirit of patriotism that actuates all degrees of people throughout this extensive continent. Maintaining the Armies — It was hard for the patriots to keep up the military strength of the country. At the open- ing of the Revolution the armies were composed of men who volunteered for a few months at a time and were always leaving in large bodies just when they were needed most. The Continental Congress, made up of civilians who knew little about war and were afraid of strong military power, did not do anything to mend matters until, confronted with disaster, they saw that the militia system had broken down. Then they yielded to Washington's demand for a standing army of regulars, enlisted for the war and paid, according l6o THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE to a definite understanding, in money and lands. Even this plan was only partly carried out, owing to the jealousy of the states and the dislike of the militiamen for long service. Not once during the Revolution was there an adequate supply of trained men equipped with necessary war materials. Had there been a regular army of half the number of men who actually served in the Revolutionary cause, the war could have been shortened by years. As Washington himself said: To bring men to be well acquainted with the duties of a soldier requires time. . . . To expect the same service from raw and undisciplined recruits as from veteran soldiers is to expect what never did and perhaps never will happen. The Tories. — The trials of the patriots were made all the more difficult by the constant presence of enemies in their midst. As we have pointed out, no small number of Americans were loyal to the king and mother country all during the War. They gave aid and money and supplies to the British commanders at every opportunity. While Wash- ington and his heroic band were freezing and starving at Valley Forge, Tories were wining and dining with British officers in New York and Philadelphia. They laughed to scorn the "low demagogues" and "pettifogging lawyers"' — as they called the Revolutionists — who were trying to make a new nation in North America, and they did all the damage they could to the American cause. Really there was a civil war as well as a revolution, and naturally the most bitter feeling arose between the two parties. The patriots, deeply angered at those who re- mained loyal to George III, seized their property, impris- oned many, and drove hundreds out of the country. When at length the war was over, America was free from British rule ; but it was a divided, weakened, and impover- THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE l6l ished country. Order had to be restored, many wrongs righted, damages repaired, farms and homes and trade reestablished, and debts paid. A great work lay before the American people when in 1783 the news of final peace spread from hamlet to hamlet. Cheered by the success of the Revolution and inspired by a faith in the future, the country took up its new responsibilities. Questions and Exercises I. I. Why did the British authorities send troops to Lexington and Concord? How did it happen that the undrilled farmers who responded to the "Lexington alarm" could do so much damage to the British troops? IL I. What is meant by a siege? Study the map of Boston and vicinity and explain why the city could be so easily besieged from the land. Could supplies be entirely cut off from the British soldiers in Boston? Why or why not? 2. Why is the battle of Bunker Hill usually looked upon as an American victory, although the earthworks were finally captured by the British troops? 3. What reasons can you give for the action of the British com- mander in withdrawing his troops from Boston and leaving the city to the Americans? 4. What led the Americans to make the unfortunate attempt to capture Quebec? 5. The war began in April, 1775; the colonists did not declare their independence until more than a year afterward. Explain the reasons for this delay. 6, Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? Read it (see Appendix, p. 641) and tell what arguments impress you as most convincing reasons for breaking away from the mother country. HL I. Why did the British, after their failure at Boston, j:hoose New York as their next point of attack? 2. Trace on a map the movements of Washington after the defeat of the Americans at the battle of Long Island. 3. Why were the battles of Trenton and Princeton important victories for the Americans? 4. Note the location of the battle of the Brandywine. Why did the British forces approach Philadelphia from this direction? 1 62 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 5. Locate Valley Forge on the map. Why has the winter at Valley Forge been called the "darkest hour of the Revolution"? 6. What was the aim of the British leaders in planning the Bur- goyne expedition? Why was this a more difficult venture for the British troops than the capture of New York and Philadelphia? The battles around Saratoga are recognized as among the most decisive battles of the world's history. Why so important? 7. Who secured the alliance with France? What were the con- sequences of this alliance? What other foreign aid did the Americans have? IV. I. Describe the southern campaigns. 2. Why was the expedition of George Rogers Clark an important event of the war? Trace on a map the route of this expedition. 3. When, where, and how did the active fighting of the Revolution end? V. I. When and where was the treaty of peace concluded? What were its terms? 2. What were Washington's greatest services to the cause of American independence? 3, Who was Robert Morris and what part did he play in the Revolution? 4. What name was given to the Americans who sympathized with England in the war? How were these people treated by the American patriots? Problems for Further Study I. Select one or more of the following topics for further study and for report to the class: Lexington and Concord: See Coffin's "Boys of Seventy-Six," ch. i; Hart's "Camps and Firesides of the Revolution," pp. 257- 260. The Quebec Expedition: See Coffin's "Boys of Seventy-Six," ch. V. The Capture of Stony Point: See Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero Tales from American History," pp. 81-89; Coffin's "Boys of Seventy-Six," ch. xxiii ; Hart's "Camps and Firesides of the Revolution," pp. 283-285. King's Mountain: See Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero Tales," pp. 71-78; Coffin's "Boys of Seventy-Six," ch. xxviii. The Expedition of George Rogers Clark: See Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero Tales," pp. 31-41; McMurry's "Pioneers of the Mississippi Valley," ch. viii. THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 1 63 2. Tell the story of the draftin2 and signing of the Declaration of Independence. See Elson's "Side Lights on American History," vol. i, ch. i; Hart's "Source Book," pp. 147-149. 3. Find some of the events in the early life of Washington that fitted him for his great task as leader of the army in the Revolution. See Southw^orth's "Builders of Our Country," Book H, pp. 24- 47; Parkman's "Struggle for a Continent," pp. 335-337> 343-350; Wilson's "George Washington," chs. ii, iii. 4. Each member of the class may look up the story of some other hero of the Revolutionary War not treated in detail in this chapter and report on it to the class: as Lafayette, Ethan Allen, Nathan Hale, Philip Schuyler, Nathanael Greene, Daniel Morgan, John Paul Jones, John Barry. See Crowd's "Lafayette," Tooker's "John Paul Jones," Root's "Nathan Hale," etc. CHAPTER IX THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES While the patriots were busy with the problems of war, they also sought to establish lasting governments for the states and the new nation. In fact, some time before the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress advised the several colonies to set up governments of their own. On the very day that Congress selected the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence, it also chose another committee to draw up a plan for the permanent union of all the states. This was a difficult task. Being engaged in a terrible struggle to throw off British rule,- the colonists were in no mood to establish another "strong government" which might follow the example of Parliament and interfere too much with their local affairs. During the entire Revolu- tionary War, there was no vigorous national government binding together all the states. Had there been such a government, armies and supplies could have been raised with ease and the war brought to a quicker end. The states were jealous of local freedom and jealous of one another, and the Continental Congress was given little power except over foreign affairs. I. The Articles of Confederation and the First State Constitutions The Articles of Confederation, 1781. — This fear of a strong central government made the members of Congress hesitate a long time before adopting the plan of union ! 164 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 1 65 which was drawn up by the committee under the title of the "Articles of Confederation." Not until late in 1777 was the scheme agreed to and sent to the states for their approval, or ratification. The states debated the matter a long time before they would give their consent to the Articles, but finally by 178 1 all of them had agreed to the plan and it was put into effect. Weakness of the Articles. — This was thought to be a great victory, but in a little while dissatisfaction arose with the Articles of Confederation. The objections were, in the main, as follows: 1. There was no president with power to enforce the laws of the Congress throughout the United States. 2. The Congress represented states; it did not directly represent the people. Although each state could send from two to seven delegates to the Congress it had only one vote there; that is, the little state of Delaware had the same power as the big state of Virginia. 3. The Congress had no power to raise money and soldiers directly; it could only call upon the states to furnish their respective shares, or "quotas" as they were called. The states under this plan often refused to meet the demands of Congress. Consequently the national govern- ment could not secure enough men for the army or raise money to pay the interest on the debt incurred in the war. Congress could not conscript the individual citizens of any state or tax them directly. 4. The Congress had no power to regulate commerce between the states and with foreign countries, so that busi- ness, manufacturing, and trade were at the mercy of the state governments and also of foreign countries. One state could tax goods coming in from another state. When a foreign country made an unjust law against American trade, Congress was powerless to reply — except in words. l66 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 5. There were few prohibitions imposed by the Articles on the states and each state legislature was a law unto Itself. New Constitutions in the Several States. — While the patriots were planning a union of the states, they also pro- ceeded to draft constitutions for their respective state gov- ernments. In Connecticut and Rhode Island this was not a difficult problem, because all they had to do was to strike the king's name out of their charters and go on as before, electing members of the legislature, governors, and other officers. In the colonies where the governor had been the proprietor, namely Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware, or where he had been appointed by the king, as in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and all the colonies south of Maryland, it was necessary to make complete plans for government. So in these states the revolutionists drew up written constitutions setting forth the scheme of government which they thought desirable. Provisions of the First State Constitutions. — The most interesting features of these new governments, framed in the several states in the year of the Declaration of Inde- pendence or soon afterward, were as follows: 1. Being afraid of royal and proprietary governors, the constitution makers in nearly every state decided to have, the governor subject to the orders of the legislature. Only in New York and Massachusetts was the governor made elective by popular vote. Generally he was chosen by the legislature and not given many powers. In Massachusetts alone did the governor have the sole power to veto laws made by the legislature. 2. In all the states, except Pennsylvania and Georgia, the legislature was composed of two houses : a senate, which took the place of the old colonial council; and an assembly, or lower house, modeled after the colonial assembly. 3. Often these first constitutions provided that only men il THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 1 67 who were worth a stated amount of money or held cer- tain religious opinions could be elected to office. For example, the governors of North Carolina and Massachu- setts had to be worth £1000, the governor of Maryland, £5000, and the governor of South Carolina, £10,000. 4. In nearly all states the right to vote was restricted to men who owned property of a stated value or paid taxes. Many men were dissatisfied with a plan which deprived them of the vote, and within a few years there was a wide- spread agitation for white manhood suffrage. Not a few leading women were likewise dissatisfied. In March, 1776, Mrs. Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, wrote to her husband in the Continental Congress, asking him to use his influence in favor of equal rights for women. Two years later, 1778, Mrs. Corbin, sister of Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, presented her own petition for the right to vote. Only one state, however, granted women this right, namely. New Jersey, and this was taken away a few years later by the legislature. II. Government under the Confederation; the Con- stitutional Convention Growing Discontent with the Government. — Although a great many people, probably a majority, were fairly well satisfied with the Articles of Confederation, several groups, particularly in the towns along the seaboard, were thor- oughly discontented. 1. All men who wanted to see the national government strong at home and respected by other countries demanded reform. 2. Those to whom the government owed money were dissatisfied, because they did not receive any interest on their bonds and saw their chances of getting the principal growing slighter every day. 1 68 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 3. The manufacturers were aggrieved, because there was no tariff to protect their small industries against English competition, which became very keen after the Revolution. 4. Men engaged in trade and commerce were discon- tented, because Great Britain had made laws against them, and the government of the United States could not strike any blows in return against British trade to bring that country to terms. 5. Business men were distressed, because the legislatures of the states made so much paper money that the debtors could pay their debts in cheap paper. In fact, in Massa- chusetts, a real civil war broke out because the money lenders foreclosed so many mortgages and took hundreds of farms away from debtors. Some "farmers, headed by Daniel Shays, started a rebellion which almost overturned the government of the state and was put down only by very strong measures. Truly the early days of our own republic, as of all other republics, were full of troubles. Demand for a Stronger Government. — The government of the United States under the Articles of Confederation was in danger of falling to pieces. A few persons began to talk seriously of choosing a king strong enough to make the government feared and respected at home and abroad. Others, including Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison, urged the formation of a new government. Washington in a private letter said that disaster awaited if they continued to rely upon "a half-starving, limping government, tottering at every step" ; but he indignantly rejected a suggestion that he become king himself. The Ordinance of 1787. — Almost the only great piece of work done by the government of the United States under the Articles of Confederation was to prepare the western country beyond the Alleghenies for settlement. These regions, which had been claimed by states along the sea- THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 169 board, were given to the general government on condition that they should be disposed of for the benefit of all and formed later into separate states. In 1 7 84 Thomas Jefferson proposed in Congress a measure for the government of the western territory, and in 1787 Congress adopted the famous "Northwest Ordinance" or ,^ r'"-^T r£il|r^".f"T Washington was indignant at the receipt of the letter inviting him to become king. plan of government to be put into effect in that district • This celebrated document provided that ( i ) in due time states should be created in the Northwest Territory, (2) slavery should be forever prohibited there, and (3) all set- tlers there should enjoy religious freedom. Another impor- tant law, enacted in 1785, provided that one section (or 640 acres of land) in each township of thirty-six sections should be set apart for the maintenance of schools in the township. 12-A. H. 170 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE The Constitutional Convention (1787). — The year before the adoption of the Northwest Ordinance, there was held at Annapolis a conference of delegates from five states to discuss matters of trade and commerce and reform in the national government. There were so few delegates present that it was decided not to undertake any radical changes. The Annapolis convention, therefore, merely recommended that Congress call a second convention for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation. Congress complied with this request and in February, 1787, invited the states to send representatives to Phila- delphia. The legislatures of all the states except Rhode Island responded by choosing delegates. When the con- vention met it was found to contain many of the ablest men of the nation: Hamilton of New York; Washington, Madison, and Randolph of Virginia; George Read of Dela- ware; Rufus King and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts; Roger Sherman, a signer of the Declaration of Independ- ence, from Connecticut; Robert Morris, Benjamin Franklin, and James Wilson of Pennsylvania; General Charles Cotes- worth Pinckney of South Carolina; and General Davie of North Carolina. Jefferson was not a member; he was away at Paris as the minister of the United States. The Constitu- tional Convention sat behind closed doors from May to September, 1787, and after many stormy debates, which more than once threatened to end in complete disagreement, a new plan of government — the Constitution of the United States — was adopted. III. The Constitution and its Adoption The Compromises of the Constitution. — The chief disputes in the convention were between the large and the small states, between the commercial states of the North ind the agricultural and slave states of the South, and between THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES I7I those who wished to give large power to the masses of the people and those who wished to limit this power. I. The Compromise between the Large and the Small States. — The small states, Connecticut, Delaware, and New Jersey, were unwilling to surrender their equal vote in the Congress, and the large states, Virginia and Massachusetts, were determined not to give an equal power to the little states. So a deadlock arose and there seemed no way out until it was finally suggested that the states should all be equal in one house of Congress — the Senate — and that all states should be represented according to population in the lower house, the House of Representatives. 2. Representation of Slaves. — In connection with this sub- ject a contest arose as to whether slaves should be regarded as "people" in apportioning taxes and representatives among the states according to population. A compromise accord- ing to an old plan was adopted, whereby three fifths of the slaves should be counted for this purpose. 3. Commerce and the Slave Trade. — The third big con- troversy was over commerce. The North wanted to give Congress the power to regulate trade. The South was afraid that laws might be made for the benefit of the northern shipowners and manufacturers, to the injury of southern farmers and planters, and that the slave trade might be abolished. After much argument it was agreed that Congress should have the power to regulate foreign as well as interstate commerce, but that the slave trade should not be abolished before 1808. It was further agreed that the President might negotiate treaties, including, of course, commercial agreements with foreign countries, but that a two-thirds vote in the Senate should be necessary to ratification. 4. The Problem of Electing Congress and the Federal Officers. — There was also no little discussion in the 172 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE convention as to what share the voters should have directly in the government. There were some members who thought that the mass of men should have as little to do with the government as possible, and nearly all were agreed that too many popular elections were dangerous things. Out of the debate over this matter the members of the convention came to this agreement: ( 1 ) that the only branch of the government to be elected directly by the voters should be the House of Representa- tives — the qualifications for voters to be the same as those fixed by the states for voters for the lower houses of their legislatures ; (2) that the Senators should be elected, not by the voters directly, but by the legislatures of the respective states; (3) that the President should be chosen by "electors" who were, in turn, to be chosen in such manner as the legislatures of the states might direct; (4) that the Supreme Court, which has the power to declare null and void acts of Congress that are contrary to the Constitution, should be chosen by the President and Senate — the two branches of the government not elected immediately by popular vote. The Constitution Contrasted with the Articles of Confed- eration. — The great changes which the Constitution made in the plan of government set forth in the Articles of Confederation were as follows : 1. The Articles provided for no executive at all, but left the enforcement of the laws to the Congress of the United States and to the good will of the several states. The Constitution declared that there should be a President who should supervise the execution of the federal laws through- out the union, and see that they were obeyed. 2. The Articles provided for a Congress composed of one house in which each state had one vote and no more. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 1 73 The Constitution arranged, for two houses as above described. 3. Under the Articles there was no federal judicial sys- tem to decide disputes between citizens and between states arising under the Constitution and the federal laws. The Constitution provided that there should be one supreme court and such additional federal courts as Congress might deem necessary. 4. The Articles could be amended only with the consent of all the states, whereas the Constitution provided for amendment by a two-thirds vote of Congress or by a national convention, subject to the approval of three fourths of the states. The Four Important Powers of Congress. — While setting up a government composed of a Congress of two houses to make laws, a single President to carry them into effect, and a judiciary to interpret them, the Constitution gave to the Congress the right to make national laws on certain important matters (see Appendix, pp. 654-655). Among the new powers conferred on Congress, four are of special importance, namely: ( 1 ) to lay and collect taxes without asking the help of state governments; (2) to raise and support armies and naval forces directly without calling on the states for permission; (3) to regulate trade and commerce with foreign coun- tries and between the states; (4) to do all things necessary and proper to carry into effect the powers conferred by the Constitution. Thus the federal government was given the very powers necessary to make it strong at home and abroad. It could raise money to pay its debts, give protection to American manufacturing and commerce, defend the country against foreign foes, and suppress disorders at home, such as had 174 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE occurred in Massachusetts. In addition to conferring these large powers on the federal government, the new Constitu- tion forbade the states to make paper money and to do several other things which had been disturbing to business (see Appendix, pp. 651—665). The Struggle over the Adoption of the Constitution. — When at length, in September, 1787, the Philadelphia con- vention finished its work and published to the country the new scheme of government, the greater task of securing its adoption yet remained. The convention had proposed that the Constitution should be submitted for approval or dis- approval to a convention in each state, elected by the voters thereof, and that when nine states had ratified it, the new federal government should be established. As soon as the call for the elections was issued, there ^ensued a bitter political campaign. The farmers and the 'debtors seem to have been chief among the opponents of ratification. They declared that the states were in danger of losing their liberties and that the federal government would become tyrannical. The supporters of the Constitu- tion came mainly from the towns which were the centers of trade, commerce, and finance. They argued that the republic was in mortal danger of ruin owing to the weak- ness of the government. Hamilton, Madison, and Jay wrote a series of remarkable articles for the newspapers in defense of the Constitution. These were afterward reprinted as "The Federalist" — destined to become cele- brated as one of the greatest treatises on government ever written in any language. Washington wrote to his friends all over the country begging them to help secure the adop- tion of the Constitution. The Elections. — New Jersey, Delaware, and Georgia quickly ratified the Constitution with little or no opposi- tion; but in all the other states there were sharp political THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 1 75 contests. In three leading states, New York, Massachusetts, and Virginia, the battle was especially hot. In the first of these, the opponents of the Constitution won a large majority of the delegates to the state convention, and in the 1 If ■> :p ftliiss£{,..if lilt iJ f ra : If! Washington took the oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall near Trinity Church in New York City. Other two the decision was so close that the outcome was uncertain. New York agreed only on the understanding that a new convention be called to amend the Constitution. Virginia, Massachusetts, and other states demanded impor- tant amendments. By dint of the hardest labor, enough 176 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE States had been won by the summer of 1788 to put the new governmert into force. Rhode Island and North Carolina at first rejected the Constitution altogether, and it was not until they saw they would be in a dangerous position out- side of the Union that they decided to come into the fold. Great as was the excitement over the elections, only about one fourth of the white men took part in them, either because they were excluded by property qualifications on the franchise (see page 167), or because they were indifferent. Washington the First President (1789). — When the news of the adoption of the Constitution by the required number of states was received in New York, Boston, and Phila- delphia, bells were rung, cannon fired, and grand processions were held in the streets. It was agreed everywhere that Washington — "the first, the last, and the best" — should be President under the Constitution; so he was elected without a dissenting vote. In the spring of 1789, he took the oath of office in New York City, and the new government, which had been wrung from a reluctant nation, set out on its great experiment. Questions and Exercises I. I. How was the government of the United States carried on during the Revolution? What important powers did the central government lack at this time? What were the principal weak- nesses of the Articles of Confederation? 2. In what wajs did the new state constitutions safeguard the rights of the people as a whole against the possibility of a tyrannical government? In what ways were the rights to vote and to hold office restricted by the state constitutions? Why was this policy followed? II. I. What were the important provisions of the Ordinance of 1787? What states were later carved out of the Northwest Territory? 2. Why was the Constitutional Convention called? OUTLINE FOR REVIEW 1 77 When and where did it assemble? How was it made up? Who were some of the prominent leaders in the convention? III. I. What is meant by a compromise? 2. What were the most important disputes with regard to the proposed constitution? How were these disputes settled? (The preamble of the Constitu- tion should be memorized. Especial study should be made of the powers of the Congress [Article i, Section 8], and the limitations of the powers of the Congress [Article i, Section 9].) Problems for Further Study 1. The period between 1783 and 1789 is sometimes called the "Critical Period" of American history. Why? 2. Find out what part each of the following statesmen played in the constitutional convention: Washington, Hamilton, Madison. See Elson's "Side Lights on American History," vol. i, ch. ii; Sparks's "The Men Who Made the Nation," pp. 1 51-178; Wilson's "George Washington," pp. 257-262. 3. Make a list of the provisions of the Constitution that were made necessary by the existence of slavery. Outline for Review of the Struggle for Independence AND THE Founding of the New Nation (Chapters VI, VII, VIII, IX) I. The condition of the colonies on the eve of the Revolution. A. Elements of strength in the colonies. 1. The development of the spirit of independence and self- reliance. 2. The growth of the population. 3. The development of farming. 4. The beginnings of manufacturing. a. Manufacturing in the home. b. The iron industry. c. Shipbuilding. 5. The development of trade and commerce. 6. The principal cities. B. Differences between the North and the South. I. Differences in surface and climate and their relation to differences in social life and customs. 178 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 2. Local self-government in New England: the town as the unit of government. 3. The larger units of government in the middle colonies. 4. The county as the unit in the South, C. Likenesses between the North and the South. 1. Few differences in language, religion, and laws. 2. Representative government common to both sections. D. Education in the colonies. IL Causes of the American Revolution. A. The attempt of England to control American trade. 1. Objectionable laws enforced by England after the Seven Years' War. 2. Other objectionable policies of England. a. The decree limiting westward expansion. b. The Stamp Tax. B. The protest of the colonies against taxation without! representation. 1. Patrick Henry's speech. 2. The Stamp Act Congress. 3. The Stamp Act repealed. C. More vigorous protests following the passage of the] Townshend Acts. 1. The Boston Massacre. 2. The Boston Tea Party. 3. The First Continental Congress. D. English friends of America: Pitt and Burke. III. The War for Independence. J. The beginning of the struggle. 1. Lexington and Concord. 2. The Second Continental Congress. B. The northern campaigns. 1. The siege of Boston and the battle of Bunker Hill. 2. Washington assumes command of the army. 3. Crown Point and Ticonderoga. OUTLINE FOR REVIEW 1 79 4. The evacuation of Boston by the British. 5. The Quebec expedition. C. The Declaration of Independence. D. The middle states campaigns. 1. Occupation of New York City by the British forces. 2. Washington's retreat through New Jersey. 3. The battles of Trenton and Princeton. 4. Occupation of Philadelphia by the British forces. 5. The winter at Valley Forge. 6. The Burgoyne expedition: Bennington and Saratoga. E. The French alliance. F. The southern campaigns. 1. Capture of Savannah and Charleston. 2. Cornwallis's campaign in the South. a. Camden. b. King's Mountain and Cowpens. c. Guilford. 3. The siege of Yorktown and the surrender of Cornwallis. G. The war at sea: John Paul Jones and John Barry. H. The war in the Mississippi Valley: George Rogers Clark's expedition and the capture of Vincennes. 7. The Treaty of Paris. J. Some of the causes of American success in the war. 1. Washington's character, skill, and leadership. 2. Franklin's diplomacy. 3. The work of Robert Morris in financing the war. 4. The work of the women. IV. The "Critical Period" between 1781 and 1789: the Con- stitution. A. Government under the Continental Congress during the Revolution. B. The Articles of Confederation proposed {1777) and adopted (1781). C. New constitutions of the states and their principal provisions. i8o THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE D. Government under the Articles of Confederation. i 1. Discontent throughout the country: Shays's Rebellion, j 2. The Ordinance of 1787 the most important legislation under the Articles of Confederation. E. The Constitutional Convention. F. The Constitution. 1. Its compromises. a. Between large and small states, b. Regarding the counting of slaves in apportioning representatives. c. Regarding commerce and the slave trade. d. Regarding the direct share of the voters in the government. 2. Contrasts between the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation. 3. The four important powers of Congress. G. The adoption of the Constitution. H. Washington the first President. Important names: Statesmen and Leaders in Civil lyiFE American Patrick Henry Samuel Adams James Otis Benjamin Franklin Robert Morris Thomas Jefferson James Madison Alexander Hamilton Military and Naval IvEadbrs English American English William Washington Howe Pitt Greene Cornwallis Edmund Gates French Burke Schuyler Lafa3^ette Jones Rochambeau Important dates: 1765; 1775; July 4, 1 776; 1777; 1778; 1781; 1783; 1787; 1789. CHAPTER X THE FIRST GREAT POLITICAL CONTEST L Starting the New Government When the federal government began operations in 1789, the treasury was empty, debts were piling up, and the army was falling to pieces. Trying problems lay before President Washington, his advisers, and Congress. Revenues had to be raised, departments of government organized, a Supreme Court and other federal courts created, a national monetary system established, and relations with foreign countries adjusted. Moreover, it was necessary to allay the fears of those who had opposed the adoption of the Constitution on the ground that it was "dangerous to the liberties of states and citizens." The First Ameii.dments to the Constitution. — Among the first objections advanced by the opponents of the Consti- tution was that there were no express limitations In favor of personal freedom and the rights of states. In order to meet this objection, the first Congress passed a set of amend- ments to the Constitution, ten of which were soon ratified by the states and became a part of the law of the land (see page 660). These new clauses provided (i) that Congress could make no laws Interfering with freedom of religious worship, freedom of speech and press, and the right to assemble and petition the government. They also provided (2) for Indictment by grand jury and trial by jury In all 181 152 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE cases of persons charged by the federal officers with serious crimes. (3) The ninth and tenth amendments were designed to reassure those who had fears for the rights of states and the people. The eleventh amend- ment, adopted in 1798, was also written in the same spirit, because it was intended to prevent the federal courts from hearing suits brought by citizens against "sovereign states." Alexander Hamilton's Measures, — All these declarations of rights, how- ever, contributed little to setting the national house In order. That called for financial genius, and Washington Alexander Hamilton ^ i--ai itt-i 1 round it m Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton's plans for the new government were embodied in famous reports to Congress. I. The New Government Adjusts the War Debts. — One of the first things Hamilton proposed was that the new federal government should call In all the certificates, bonds, and other "promises to pay" which had been issued by the Continental Congress during the Revolution in return for money and supplies necessary to carry on the war. He wanted the government to put the entire national debt Into one lump sum and issue new bonds, payable some time In the future and drawing interest until paid. This process was called "funding" the debt. Hamilton's second proposal was that the federal govern-, ment should "assume" the debts which had been Incurred by the several states in carrying on the war; that is, take over those debts, add them to the already large national debt, and "fund" them also. Hamilton declared that the government was honor-bound to pay the entire debt at THE FIRST GREAT POLITICAL CONTEST 1 83 its full value and thus restore its credit at home and abroad.^ These proposals were attacked, especially by southern members of Congress, who urged that most of the debt had been bought up by speculators at a few cents on the dollar. Opponents of the plan said that it was unjust to the persons who had originally lent money or sold supplies to the government, and unjust to the tax-payers, to give a dollar to a speculator in return for a certificate for which he had paid only ten or twenty cents. It was also said, with truth, that some members of the Congress had themselves held, or had bought for speculation, this depreciated paper, and were profiting by the transaction. It was urged against the assumption of state debts that It would weaken the states and strengthen the national gov- ernment by making the bondholders look to the latter for the payment of the interest and principal of the debt. The farmers were afraid that the holders of the bonds would become a "great money power" to which they would have to pay tribute from the produce of their land. The Compromise between North and South. — So strong was the opposition to the assumption of the state debts that Congress was deadlocked over the matter for a long time. Some of the northern men threatened to break up the Union If the southern Congressmen would not consent to Hamilton's plan. Things became so serious that at the request of Hamilton, Jefferson, who was Secretary of State, arranged a dinner at which the leaders on both sides came together and reached a compromise. It was agreed that enough southern members would vote for assumption to carry It In Congress, and that northern members would, in ' It was provided that most of the continental currency or paper money could be "funded" at the rate of one cent on the dollar. That is, if a man had $100 in paper money, he could get a new $1 government bond. Few took the trouble to do this, and so the worthless "continentals" simply disappeared. 184 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE return, vote for a law locating the new capital of the country on the banks of the Potomac River. As a part of the "trade" it was agreed, in exchange for Pennsylvania v^otes in favor of assumption, to locate the capital at Philadelphia for ten years before transferring it to the new city of Washington on the Potomac. The bar- gain was carried out to the letter. The capital was trans- ferred from New York to Philadelphia in 1790, and then to Washington in 1800. By this trade the entire war debt was "funded" by Congress. 2. The United States Bank. — Hamilton's next plan was for a great United States bank empowered to issue money. The business men of the country, in attempting to carry on trade with all sections, were exasperated beyond measure by many kinds of state notes and coins, which had varying values in different cities. They wanted a currency that would have uniform value in all regions from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Savannah, Georgia. The bank was also bitterly attacked in Congress. The farmers and planters viewed it as another part of the scheme to build up a "money power"; but, in spite of their opposition, the bank was founded in 1791 and branches were soon started in all important cities. 3. The Protective Tariff. — Hamilton's third plan was for a special duty or "protective tariff" on manufactured goods coming into the United States from foreign countries. He argued that if no duty were charged on such articles, American factory owners who were just getting a small start in business could not compete with the old and estab- lished concerns of England because they could not sell as cheaply. The protective tariff was sharply criticized, especially by Congressmen from the South. They held that the farmers would have to pay the tax. If there was no tariff, it was THE FIRST GREAT POLITICAL CONTEST 1 85 said, they could sell their wheat, corn, cotton, and other produce abroad and import cheap manufactures in return. If there was a tariff, they would have to add the tax to the European prices of the articles which they bought. In spite of the criticism, however, the very first revenue law passed by the first Congress was drawn up partly for the purpose of protecting American manufactures — at least by moder- ate taxes laid on imported goods. Hamilton's Measures Violently Opposed. — In the battle over these great measures it was clear, first, that very many men were bitterly opposed to them; and, secondly, that the strongest opposition came from the farming regions, par- ticularly of the South. The friends of the measures were j to be found in the larger cities like Boston, Providence, Hartford, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston. It took very clever management on the part of Hamilton to secure enough favorable votes in Congress to enact these laws, and even after they were passed opponents kept up their criticism. At length Thomas Jefferson, who was Secretary of State under President Washington, openly joined Hamilton's political enemies. Jefferson had assisted in the compromise which resulted in the funding and assumption of the debt, but he had violently opposed the bank. For a while he continued to hold office under Washington, even though he was an outspoken critic of the government. In 1793 he resigned and retired to his estate in Virginia, where he assumed the leadership of those who were opposed to Ham- ilton's program. The JVhisky Rebellion. — Opposition to the government broke out in an armed revolt in 1794, known as the Whisky Rebellion. In order to meet the interest on the great public debt, and to pay the expenses of the government, a tax had been laid on whisky. This angered the farmers of the 13-A. H. 1 86 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE western districts of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Caro- lina, many of whom turned their grain into whisky. When the government placed a tax on it, the farmers resented this action. In Pennsylvania some of them sacked and burned the houses of the tax collectors, just as the Revolutionists thirty years before had mobbed the British agents sent over to collect the stamp tax. Washington and Hamilton were prompt in calling out the troops and the affair passed off without much bloodshed. Nevertheless, it made many farmers criticize the federal government more severely than ever. The Rise of the Two Great Political Parties. — Out of these controversies there grew two great political parties. Those who supported Hamilton's measures — which were in fact the measures of the new federal government — were called "Federalists." Those who opposed them were called "Anti-Federalists," or "Republicans." The Federal- ists were accused of being in sympathy with Great Britain — of being "monarchists." On this account, the Anti-Feder- alists took the simpler title of "Republicans" to indicate their hatred of everything that savored of monarchy. 1. Federalist Policy. — Hamilton was the leader of the Federalists. He believed in making the national govern- ment strong, and in using it to protect commerce and indus- try against foreign competition. He wanted to build up In America an industrial as well as agricultural nation, 2. Anti-Federalist Policy. — Jefferson was the leader of the Anti-Federalists. He wanted to strengthen state rather than federal government. He thought that a free govern- ment could long endure only where the mass of the people were independent farmers owning their own land, and he deliberately made himself the spokesman of what he called "the landed interest." He opposed turning the United States into a manufacturing nation, because he believed that THE FIRST GREAT POLITICAL CONTEST 1 87 the "mobs of the great cities add just so much to the sup- port of pure government as sores do to the strength of the human body." The contest between Hamihon and Jefferson was therefore a contest over two ideals of government. II. Relations with Europe The French Revolution (1789). — While this division into political parties was taking place in the United States, momentous events were happening in Europe. A few weeks after Washington was first inaugurated, in 1789, the French king had been forced to call a national parliament. Three years later there occurred a popular uprising in France and a republic was established. The following year the king and queen, Louis XVI and M^rie Antoinette, were executed. The townspeople and peasants overthrew the monarchy, nobility, and clergy (see pp. 10—13). They drew up constitutions for their own government, and pro- claimed principles of liberty which shook the thrones of Europe. Thus the French, who had borrowed much from the American Revolutionists, joined in spirit the new Repub- lic across the sea. At the same time a war broke out between England and France, which was destined to last, with a slight intermission, until the final overthrow of Napoleon in 18 15. In America the Republicans approved the French Revo- lution, and applauded France in her war against Great Britam. Moreover, they had not forgotten that in the dark hours of the American Revolution France had helped with men and money. Troubles with England. — Although the Federalists wanted to keep out of the European conflict, American commerce abroad involved the country in grave difliculties. England claimed the right to seize American produce bound for French ports and American ships engaged in carrying 1 88 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE French goods. The Americans contended that only military supplies were liable to seizure, and that as "free ships made free goods" American vessels should not be captured merely because they happened to have French goods on board. In spite of such protests, the British continued to hold up American merchant vessels; and in addition to seizing goods and ships, they began to carry off any British-born sailors found on board. Neutrality and the Jay Treaty. — Naturally enough, this conduct on the part of Great Britain raised a hue and cry in the United States. The Republicans, who sympa- thized with France, made much of Genet, the French repre- sentative to the United States government, and openly denounced the British minister, although the United States was supposed to be neutral. The Republicans demanded war on Great Britain, or at least some kind of retaliation for the seizure of American produce, ships, and men. Washington and Hamilton, however, feared that a second war with Great Britain might be a ruinous affair, and that it would disturb the funded debt, the bank, and the tariff, which had been secured by such hard labors. Moreover, they thought that those Americans who sympathized with the French Revolutionists were dangerous citizens, likely to overturn the newly established American government. Washington requested France to recall Genet for his impru- dent conduct in this country. He also issued a famous proclamation declaring the absolute neutrality of the United States, and sent the Chief Justice, John Jay, to Great Britain to make a treaty disposing of the matters in dispute between the two countries. Jay succeeded in negotiating a treaty in which he secured very few favors indeed for the United States. Great Britain agreed to withdraw her soldiers from American posts in the northwest, where they had been since the close THE FIRST GREAT POLITICAL CONTEST 189 of the Rev^olution, and to grant a few additional concessions; but she would not stop seizing American goods and sailors on the high seas. Washington, however, was able to keep the country out of the war, though he made many enemies at the time by his stand for neutrality and the unpopular Jay treaty. John Adams Elected President. — In the midst of the bitter party fight, the time for the third presidential election arrived. Washington had been reelected in 1792 amid the hearty rejoicing of the country, and many citizens urged him to accept a third term in 1796. Although he was not opposed to another term on prin- ciple, he was growing weary of the duties of ofiice and disliked the party wrangling that was going on around him. Accordingly he refused to accept reelection. The Federalists, after casting about for a candidate, selected John Adams, of Massachusetts. The Republicans, of course, turned to Jefferson, their acknowledged leader. The political campaign which fol- lowed was a very savage one indeed; the parties roundly abused each other. Adams was elected by a majority of only three electoral votes. Jefferson, who had received the next highest number of votes, had to content himself with the office of Vice President. Before Washington laid down his burdens he delivered his famous Farewell Address, in which he warned his coun- trymen to avoid, as far as possible, becoming embroiled in the quarrels of European nations, and urged them to shun the evils of partisanship at home. John Adams 190 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Trouble with France. — By a singular circumstance Wash- ington's successor, Adams, was able to make the Federalist party very popular for a few months. The Directory, which was composed of the chief executive officers of the French Republic, was angry with the United States on account of the Jay treaty, because it had hoped that America would join France in her war on Great Britain. The Directory accordingly refused to receive the American minister until the United States made "amends." Adams thereupon sent to France a special mission of three distin- guished citizens. As soon as they arrived, the French gov- ernment demanded from them an apology for past conduct, a payment in cash, and a tribute to France as the price of continued friendship. President Adams told Congress the truth about these demands, not mentioning the names of the Frenchmen who made them, but referring to them as Mr. X, Mr. Y, and Mr. Z (hence the term, "X Y Z Mission"). The news of this insult made even the Republicans angry at France, and they joined with the Federalists in shouting, "Millions for defense; not a cent for tribute." As France, like England, was preying on American commerce with European countries, the United States felt compelled to prepare for retaliation. In the fervor of the moment, Joseph Hopkinson, of Philadelphia, wrote the patriotic song, "Hail, Columbia." Fighting on the sea actually began, and Captain Thomas Truxton in command of the American ship Constellation won the applause of the country by brilliant exploits against French ships. This informal "war" went on until 1800, when it was brought to a close by a treaty with Napoleon, who had become First Consul of France. The Alien and Sedition Laws. — If the Federalists had been more careful, they might have defeated the Republicans I THE FIRST GREAT POLITICAL CONTEST I9I again in the election of 1800; but in the excitement of their victories over the French they made some fatal political mistakes. They passed in 1798 two famous laws known as the Alien and Sedition Acts. ( i ) The Alien law gave the President the power to expel any alien from the United States who was not acceptable to the government. Although this law was not enforced, it angered many of the French and Irish who had recently migrated to this country. (2) The Sedition law, which was vigorously enforced, provided that anybody who sharply criticized the govern- ment of the United States or any officer thereof might, on conviction, be fined and imprisoned. Before long, several editors of Republican newspapers found themselves in prison or compelled to pay fines that impoverished them. Bystanders at political meetings who abused the President or Congress were seized and sent to jail. At once Jefferson and his followers rose in wrath against the law, declaring that it was a monarchical attempt to suppress freedom of the press and of speech in this country. The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. — Jefferson quickly prepared a set of resolutions condemning the Alien and Sedition laws. These resolutions were adopted by the Ken- tucky legislature and soon became famous as the "Kentucky Resolutions." In addition to condemning the laws in question and declaring that they violated the Constitution of the United States, the Kentucky resolutions announced the doctrine that the Constitution was a contract or agree- ment among the states as partners, and that any state could decide when a law of Congress violated the terms of the agreement. Kentucky even went so far as to declare that any state could compel its citizens to disobey an unconstitu- tional federal law; that is, "nullify" it. This is the doctrine of "nullification," of which we shall hear again later. At the same time, Jefferson's friend, James Madison, drafted a 192 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE set of milder resolutions, which were passed by the legisla- ture of Virginia. The legislatures of several northern states replied that the doctrine of nullification was false and that the Supreme Court of the United States alone had the final power to decide disputes between the federal government and the states. Jefferson Elected President. — During the excitement over the Alien and Sedition laws and the troubles with France and Great Britain, the election of 1800 took place. The Federalists held a "caucus" of their members in Congress and renominated President Adams, while the Republicans again put forward Jefferson for President and Aaron Burr of New York for Vice President. In the campaign which ensued, many bitter and hate- ful things were said on both sides. The Federalists made a hard fight, but they were defeated. When the electoral vote was counted it was found, however, that Jefferson and Burr each had seventy-three votes and were tied for the office of President.^ As a result of this tie, the choice of President was thrown into the House of Representatives, where the Federalists held the balance of power. It looked for a time as if Burr would be made President; but, largely by the efforts of Hamilton, the Federalists in the House were induced to cast their votes for Jefferson. ^ The original Constitution required the presidential electors to vote for two persons, without indicating which office each was to fill, and the person who received the highest number of votes (if a majority) became President. The candidate receiving the next highest number of votes became Vice President. This was changed by the twelfth amendment. See Appendix, p. 662. Thomas Jefferson THE FIRST GREAT POLITICAL CONTEST 1 93 So the great party of Washington, Hamilton, and Adams, which had guided the new government through the trials of its first years, was driven from power forever. Questions and Exercises I. I. When did the new Constitution go into effect? 2. What part of the country did not wish to have the federal government assume the debts incurred during the Revolution? Why? How was the controversy settled? 3. What was Hamil- ton's purpose in planning for a national bank? Why were his plans opposed? 4. What is meant by a "protective" tariff? Why were the farmers generally opposed to a protective tariff? 5. State the causes of the "Whisky Rebellion." n. I. What effects did the French Revolution have in the United States? What political party in this country showed especial sympathy for the revolutionists in France? Why? Why did Washington ask the French government to recall Genet? 2. De- scribe the difficulties that American commerce had to meet because of the war between England and France. Why did England claim the right to search American ships for British-born sailors? 3. What led to the troubles with France? Why are these referred to in the text as an "informal war" ? 4. What were the "alien and sedition" laws and why were they passed? Why were they opposed? 5. State the principles laid down in the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions. Revieiu: I. State the important differences betv/een the Fed- eralists and the Republicans. 2. Make a list of the most important events in the administrations of Washington and Adams. Problems for Further Study 1. Prepare and be ready to give to the class an interesting description of Washington's election and inauguration. See Elson's "Side Lights on American History," Vol. i, ch. iii ; Sparks's "The Men Who Made the Nation," pp. 181-197; Hart's "Source Book," pp. 181-183. 2. The French Revolution was one of the most important events of the world's history. Find out all that you can about it, especially about its causes and results. 194 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE See Tappan's "England's Story," pp. 313-317; Guerber's "Story of Modern France," pp. 53-119. 3. The federal government offered to redeem the paper money that had been issued by the Continental Congress during the Revolution, but at only one per cent of its original value. Why w^as the government justified in refusing to redeem this money at its face value? Interesting accounts of the depreciation of this paper money w^ill be found in Hart's "Camps and Firesides of the Revolution," pp. 218-220, and Hart's "Source Book," pp. 157-159. 4. Why is Alexander Hamilton looked upon by historians as one of the greatest of American statesmen? See Southvi^orth's "Builders of Our Country," Book U, pp. 97- 107. CHAPTER XI THE EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES I. The Party of the Farmers in Power When the news that Jefferson was elected spread through- out the country, his followers rejoiced that the "Great Revolution," so long desired, had come at last. The Federalist party — the party led by merchants, traders, manufacturers, and financiers of the seaboard — had been driven from power. The Republicans, whose leader was first of all a friend of agriculture, were in control. The Domestic Policies of Jefferson's Party. — On March 4, 1 80 1, Jefferson was inaugurated President — the first at the new capital, Washington. He discontinued the tradi- tional practice followed by Washington and Adams of reading their addresses to the assembled Houses, and adopted the plan of sending his messages to Congress in writing — a custom that was continued unbroken until 19 13, when President Wilson returned to the old example set by Washington. The Republicans then started their reforms. They had complained of the great national debt, and they began at once to pay it off as fast as possible. They had denounced commerce and a great navy to defend it, and accordingly they reduced the number of warships. They had objected to the internal revenue or excise taxes, and these they speedily abolished, to the intense satisfaction of the farmers. They had protested against the heavy expenses of the federal I9S 196 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE government, and to lower these they discharged a large number of men from the army and abolished many federal The Extent of Territory Settled in 1790 offices. Having thus swept away everything that seemed "monarchical" and "un-American," the Republicans turned their attention to what they thought would be the per- manent national Interest — agriculture. THE EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES 1 97 Instead of a "little America" along the seaboard, look- ing to Europe for trade, for the refinements of life, and, perhaps, for ideas of government, there was now to be a greater America, looking westward to rich valleys and fer- tile fields, where millions could live and work completely indifferent to the Old World, with its kings, princes, and nobles. The Federalist party had looked with alarm on the growth of the West and Southwest; the Republican party rejoiced in opening the wilderness to pioneers and planters. Prospects of Future Development Chiefly Agricultural. — Those who, like Jefferson, feared the growth of industrial cities, could now hope with more assurance than ever that the United States would always be primarily a nation of farmers. Only the most imaginative dared to picture a coming age when the population would be thirty times larger than it was when Washington was inaugurated. Only the dreamer fancied a day when all the vast stretches of forest, swamp, wilderness, and valley would be thickly settled, and when cities would spring up in lonely spots where only the low lapping of waters or the howl of the wolf could then be heard. The Ahiaidance of Land. — In the Northwest Territory, which now embraces the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota, there were, at the end of the Revolution, not more than five thousand white people. Many of them were French settlers living at the posts founded in the days of French rule. To the south in Kentucky and Tennessee, there were only about one hundred thousand white people in 1790, vigorous and hardy " pioneers who had pushed over the mountains from Virginia and the Carolinas, and established themselves in scattered settlements here and there in the wilderness. Thus it seemed, at the opening of the nineteenth century, that there 198 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE was plenty of land in the regions just west of the original thirteen states to satisfy the land hunger of the American people for a hundred years. The Louisiana Country: Napoleon Appears on the Scene. — Yet, strange to say, Jefferson had not long been in office before there was talk of buying still more land — the vast The First Capitoi. of Ohio at Marietta Louisiana Territory, stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. This great domain had fallen to Spain at the close of the Seven Years' War, in spite of the fact that its settlements were inhabited by French. French explorers, like Joliet, Marquette, and La Salle, had been the first to make extensive journeys through the Mississippi Valley, and French pioneers had established posts at New Orleans, St. Louis, and many points in the river region. The names of Baton Rouge, Iberville, Cape Girardeau, THE EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES 1 99 and other towns suggested that the territory belonged of right to France. Nevertheless it was all handed over to Spain in 1763, and held by that country for nearly forty years, when another turn of fortune brought it back for a brief period to the old owner. In 1800 Napoleon, having swept over all western Europe with his victorious armies, began to dream of a new French colonial empire beyond the seas. He had forced Spain to sign a secret treaty ceding Louisiana to France, and had started to make arrangements for landing troops at New Orleans, before his new plans were discovered by the other countries. The People of the West Covet the Louisiana Territory. — Meanwhile the people of the western part of the United States had decided that they wanted the Louisiana country for themselves. After the Revolution, some of them had gone across the Mississippi and found rich lands for settle- ment. Those who had hilly farms in Kentucky and Ten- nessee sought more fertile and level fields to the west. There was still another reason why Americans on the frontier coveted the western bank of the Mississippi. The farmers raised wheat and corn and cured bacon and hams which they exchanged in the East for manufactured goods and "ready" money. The long land journeys ov^er the Appalachian Mountains were trying and tedious, and the freight rates were very high. The only easy way to the East was down the Mississippi and around the Atlantic coast. Cloth and nails and other manufactures could be brought over the mountains, but such bulky products as grain and meat simply had to go by the water route. At the gateway of the Mississippi stood a foreign power. Naturally that power looked with misgivings upon the westward expansion of the American people and sought to put obstacles in the way. Privileges which President Wash- 200 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ington had secured from Spain in 1795 were suddenly with- drawn in 1802. Then just as suddenly came the news that Louisiana had been ceded to Napoleon, whose armies were feared throughout the world. Americans on the eastern seaboard, who had been indifferent to the clamor of fron- tiersmen about their corn and bacon, could not be blind to the dangers of a French empire at their own back door. The Crisis. — The whole country was stirred. The call for war ran throughout the western border, expeditions were organized to prevent the landing of French troops at New Orleans, and President Jefferson was flooded with petitions for instant and firm action. In the end fortune favored the United States. Napoleon changed his mind about colonies. The war in Europe, which had been stopped for a few months, was renewed, and he could not therefore spare men enough to occupy Louisiana. He came to see that it was folly for him to attempt to hold that territory as long as Great Britain controlled the seas. The hour had come for heroic action on the part of the American government, for the fate of the nation hung in the balance. IL The Louisiana Purchase and the Exploration OF THE New Territory The Louisiana Purchase (1803). — Jefferson was fully alive to the importance of the issue. He determined to open special negotiations with Napoleon looking toward some kind of settlement. He therefore sent James Monroe to Paris with power to buy New Orleans and West Florida for two million dollars. To Robert Livingston, however, belongs the real credit of securing Louisiana to the United States. He was the American Minister to France, and before Monroe arrived, he had convinced Napoleon that it THE EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES 201 would be wise to sell territory which might be wrested from him at any moment by Great Britain. Realizing that he would have to give up Louisiana, Napoleon suddenly, on April ii, 1803, offered to sell the whole domain for fifteen million dollars. He was denounced in Spain and France for betraying both countries, but he had made up his mind and nothing could change it. The Treaty of Purchase was accordingly drawn up and signed on April 30, although the American agents were not empow- ered by their President to buy so much land or spend so much money. The Reaction against the Purchase. — When the news of the treaty reached the United States, the people were filled with astonishment, and no one was more astonished than Jefferson himself. He had thought of buying West Florida and New Orleans at a cost of two million dollars; now a vast wilderness was to be turned over to the United States at more than seven times the sum he had expected to spend. A cry went up at once against the whole business. Jeffer- son's political enemies, particularly the Federalists of New England, denounced the scheme and demanded that the treaty with Napoleon be rejected by the Senate of the United States, where it had to go for approval. Jefersons Decision. — Jefferson himself was much puzzled. He doubted whether the federal government had the power to purchase new territory, because there was nothing in the Constitution about acquiring more land. He disliked add- ing so much to the national debt. On the other hand public opinion in the South and West seemed to favor the purchase, and his advisers told him that under his power to make treaties he could arrange to buy territory. He finally came to the conclusion that it was wise to close the bargain. The Senate promptly ratified the treaty. In December, 1803, the French flag was hauled down from the old government 14-A. H. 202 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE •^'^'^• The Stars and Stripes were raised over the government building in Jackson Square, New Orleans, when Louisiana Territory was formally transferred to the United States. THE EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES 203 buildings in what is now Jackson Square in New Orleans, and the Stars and Stripes were hoisted, as a sign that the land of Coronado and De Soto, Marquette and La Salle, had passed under the dominion of the United States. The Extent of the Nezv Territory. — Thus by a single stroke the original area of the United States — even then sparsely settled — was doubled. While the boundaries of the purchase were somewhat uncertain, it is safe to say that the Louisiana Territory included what is now Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and large parts of Louisiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming. The farm lands which the "little Americans" on the eastern coast declared to be a hopeless wilderness that could never be settled, were within a hundred years fully occupied, and valued at slightly less than seven billion dollars, — nearly live hundred times the price paid to Napoleon. The faith of those who looked far into the future was justified. The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806). — Jefferson at once began to prepare the way for the opening of the Louisiana Territory by sending an expedition to explore the new country, discover its resources, and lay out an overland trading route to the Pacific — an expedition which Congress had authorized before the Louisiana Purchase. After securing an appropriation from Congress to make the survey, he chose as leaders his private secretary, Meri- wether Lewis, a young man only thirty years old, who had seen military service and frontier life, and William Clark, of Louisville, an experienced frontiersman. Lewis and Clark Reach the Pacific. — Soon a party of brave adventurers was made up and went into regular training for the journey. There were carpenters for wood- work; blacksmiths for iron work; expert hunters to supply 204 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE the company with game; cooks and sugar makers. They engaged hi target practice and took daily exercise so as to be hardened for the dangerous trip. When at length they were ready, in May, 1804, they set out from their camp opposite St. Louis in three boats, one fifty-five feet long equipped with a sail and oars. Slowly they made their way against the swift and shallow current of the Missouri River, The Regions Expeored by Lewis and Clark and by Zebueon Pike always on the watch to avoid the sand bars and trunks of fallen trees. In spite of the hardships and perils of hostile Indians, they pushed upward through what is now the Dakotas. In June, 1805, they arrived at the Great Falls of the Missouri in central Montana. A young Indian woman, Sacajawea, was of great service in guiding the explorers along the upper courses of the Missouri. The party reached the mouth of the Columbia River In November, 1805. They lingered here long enough to form some notion of the country, to prepare their maps, and to finish writing their journal. The return journey was THE EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES 205 far easier, and they were able to reach St. Louis in Septem- ber, 1806, after having covered 8000 miles in two years and four months. When the story of this heroic exploit was published, the East began to realize what a mighty empire awaited the coming of the pioneer. The Explorations of Zebulon Pike. — The same year that Lewis and Clark started for the Far West, Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike, at the head of an expedition, ascended the Mississippi to Leach Lake, not far from the Canadian border. After his return from this journey he was sent out in search of the source of the Red River, which then formed the boundary between Louisiana and the dominions of Spain. While exploring in a southwesterly direction he came to the Arkansas River, where he encountered a band of Pawnees with scarlet coats, bridles, and blankets of Spanish origin. From these Indians he learned that the Spaniards had heard of his arrival and were coming to capture the entire party. Undaunted by this, Pike kept on his way \^ estward until he climbed the famous peak which now bears his name, and reached the western slope of the Rockies. There he turned southward and crossed the Rio Grande unwittingly into Spanish territory, where he was captured and taken to Santa Fe, and then south into Mexico. When the Spaniards learned from his papers that he was merely exploring the region and had no intention of seizing any of their territory, they sent him back to the Red River boundary of the United States. Thus by three expeditions, one by Lewis and Clark and two by Pike, the North, the Far Northwest, and the West were mapped out with greater accuracy than ever before, and the people of the East who were ready for migration were informed of the opportunities for trade and settlement in the Louisiana Territory, 206 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE III. Florida; The Pacific Northwest With the purchase of Louisiana, the Father of Waters was open to the sea, but all the southern states and terri- tories east of the Mississippi were cut off from the Gulf of Mexico by the Floridas, which were in the possession of Spain. The Floridas were moreover used as bases for smuggling goods into the United States and as asylums for outlaws and escaped slaves. The Florida Question, American Occupation. — A move- ment was, therefore, set on foot to take possession of West Florida, on the theory that it really belonged to the United States, and to secure East Florida by some method. President Monroe instructed General Andrew Jackson to put down an Indian disturbance in the southwest and to capture the marauders, even if it was necessary to follow them over into Spanish territory. Jackson took this as a hint that he was to occupy the Floridas. He wrote to the President that if the possession of them was desired, he could accomplish it within sixty days. Without waiting for an answer to his letter he started, and in the spring of 1818 he had practically conquered the coveted region. The Florida Purchase. — Spain made the best of the affair by handing the territory over to the United States, in return for an agreement on the part of the latter to pay American citizens certain claims against the Spanish govern- ment to the amount of five million dollars. On February 22, 18 19, the treaty of cession was signed, and the southern boundary of the United States east of the Mississippi was extended to its "natural" limits.^ At the same time the two countries agreed upon the boundary between Spanish Mexico and the United States — a line ^Florida was admitted to the Union as a state in 1845. THE EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES 207 running from the mouth of the Sabine River in a direction northerly to the Pacific Ocean. Thus, before a quarter of the new century had elapsed, the original area of the United States had been more than doubled and the boundaries pushed to the Gulf of Mexico on the south, and to the Pacific on the west. The Oregon Country in Dispute. — In the Pacific region, however, the rights of the United States were contested by Great Britain. As early as 1670 King Charles II had chartered the Hudson Bay Company, which laid claim to all the distant lands to the north and west of Canada. The Company in due time put a veritable army of hunters, trappers, and explorers in the wilderness; far and wide its agents went into the Pacific country, opening up out-of-the- way places and gathering stores of furs and skins to be sold in European markets. In 1 791-1795 George Vancouver, a navigator in the service of the British government, explored the entire west coast, and gave to the world a map of the shore from San Diego, California, to Cook's Inlet in Alaska. The island which he circumnavigated, north of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, bears his name. Citizens of the United States also were interested in the Far Northwest. While Vancouver was making his celebrated voyage. Cap- tain Robert Gray, of Boston, sailed around Cape Horn and up along the coast, discovering in 1792 the "River of the West," to which he gave the name of his good ship — "Columbia." On the basis of the explorations made by Gray and other captains, the United States undoubtedly had valid claims on the Pacific shore. Questions and Exercises I. I. Why did JefFerson refer to the defeat of the Federalists as a "Great Revolution"? In what sense did the country now "face to the west" and in what sense had it previously "faced to the east"? 2. Mark on an outline map the boundaries of the Louisiana Territory. How did Spain come into possession of this 208 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE territory? How did France regain it? 3. Why did the Ameri- can settlers west of the Alleghenies object to the ownership of the Louisiana Territory by a foreign power? Why was Napoleon willing to sell these lands to the United States? II. I. When and for what price did the United States pur- chase the Louisiana Territory? 2. What part of the country objected to the purchase? For what reasons? 3. Name a few of the resources of the territory, then little understood, that have much more than repaid the original purchase price. Give other reasons for concluding that the purchase was a very good "bargain." 4. Why did Jefferson send out the expedition of Lewis and Clark? Trace on an outline map the route that Lewis and Clark took. What territory did they explore outside of the boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase? What country claimed the ownership of this territory at that time? 5. Describe Pike's explorations. Why were they important? III. I, Locate the territory known as East and West Florida. How did the United States come into possession of this territory? 2. Why did the United States and Great Britain both claim the Pacific Northwest? Problems for Further Study 1. Make a list of the reasons for the defeat of the Federalist party in 1800. See Elson's "Side Lights on American History," ch. ii ; Sparks's "The Men Who Made the Nation," pp. 218-228; Hart's "Source Book," pp. 197-200. 2. Study in detail one of the following topics of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Imagine yourself to be a member of the expedi- tion and be ready to give to the class an account of what you might have seen and done. Topics: (a) Preparing for the journey; (h) events of the journey up the Missouri to the Great Falls in Montana; (c) the trip from the Great Falls to the mouth of the Columbia; (d) the return journey. See McMurry's "Pioneers of the Rocky Mountains and the West," ch, i; Elson's "Side Lights on American History," ch. vi; Tappan's "American Hero Stories," pp. 207-217; Hart's "Source Book," pp. 206-209; Brigham's "Geographic Influences in American History," pp. 275-276; Lighton's "Lewis and Clark" (see topics in table of contents). I CHAPTER XII THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST The last chapter contained an account of the way in' which the LTnited States overleaped the boundaries which had been set by the treaty with Great Britain at the close of the War for Independence, and reached out on the west to the Pacific Ocean and on the south to the Gulf of Mexico. We have come to a far more romantic and moving story — the story of how brave pioneers explored and settled the millions of acres unoccupied at the end of the Revolution and the additional millions acquired from France and Spain, and developed those regions into new states. I. The Western Country Prepared for Settlement : Routes across the Mountains The Older States Surrender Their Claims to Western Lands. — Before the United States could go very far in arranging for the settlement of the west it had to decide several important matters. In the first place, Virginia, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts had claims upon large areas of the region north of the Ohio and west of the Alle- ghtnies; so they were loath to see independent territories and states set up in that region. Their claims to western lands rested on old charters, royal grants, and Indian treaties. These were in many respects conflicting, but each state was determined to yield none of its pretensions. So 209 210 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE heated grew the dispute over their respective rights that It threatened to break up the Union. Eventually the contest- ants were induced to surrender their lands to the United States and permit Congress to dispose of the Northwest Territory for the good of the whole nation (p. i68). The Government of the Northwest Territory. — Congress thereupon arranged for a government, surveyed the lands, and prepared the way for settlers. By the famous Ordi- r~~ ' o q: < BA SE L INE P o z 0. _ Surveying in the Northwest Territory; the Congressionae Township nance of 1787 it was provided that there should be a governor, secretary, and judges appointed by Congress, and that when there were five thousand free males in the territory a legislature chosen by the landowners should be cet up. The spirit of a new age was found in the provisions of law to the effect that there should be no slavery in the territory; that there should be complete freedom of religious worship. Furthermore a large amount of land was reserved as a trust to supply funds for education. Out of this THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 211 territory there were later created and admitted to the Union the following states: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Thb Northwest Territory, Showing the Boundaries oi' the States THAT WERE Later Created from It The Territory South of the Ohio. — Three years after the passage of the Northwest Ordinance, namely, in 1790, the Congress of the United States arranged for the government of the territory south of the Ohio River. All that region was formed into one district for the time being, and the I people were granted the same privileges as those in the 212 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE district north of the Ohio. One important exception was made, in that slavery was permitted in the southern terri- tory. Out of this vast domain the states of Tennessee, Alabama in part, and Mississippi in part were created and admitted to the Union. Barriers and Gateways to the West. — It was one thing to provide for the government of the wilderness and another thing to get the settlers there safely. In our time, when one may leave New York City in the evening and wake up the next morning beyond the Allegheny Mountains, it is difficult to imagine the state of travel in those old days. Except at a few points nature had imposed great barriers to the overland traveler. Three of the less difficult routes across the Appalachian barrier became very important gateways to the Middle West: 1. To the north, in New York, lay a long level stretch opening into the Ohio country, through which the New York Central Railroad now runs. 2. In the middle of the barrier, the Ohio River offered gateway to the West and South, and once over the Alle- ghenies, the settler had a comparatively easy time floating on a raft to his new home. The headwaters of the Ohio, at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, where stood the little village of Pittsburgh, naturally became a point to which lines of travel from the East drew together, and from which lines of travel beyond spread out. 3. Farther to the south, the Cumberland Gap offered another gateway to the West, through which much of the emigration from the southern states poured into the back country. The Four Eras of Travel. — The ease with which travelers and pioneers could reach the western regions had much to THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 213 do with the number who went and the location of first settlements. So important were the methods of travel that historians have rightly divided the development of the western country into four periods, as follows: 1. The forest-trail and old-road era, which extended from the earliest time down almost to the end of the eighteenth century. 2. The river-route epoch, which began near the end of the American Revolution and closed when the steamboat appeared on the Ohio River. 3. The steamboat period, beginning about 1810, reach- ing its height about 1850, and declining since 1870. 4. The railway period, beginning about 1835. The American Epic. — By these methods of travel tens of thousands of men, women, and children passed from the eastern shores over the mountains and spread in every direc- tion, until they had conquered the wilderness, filled the plains, occupied the valleys and the mountain fastnesses, and at length reached the very edge of the continent at the Pacific Ocean. If the forests and plains and deserts and cafions could speak, what a story they could tell of the visitors that have passed by: singly or in pairs or companies, now blazing their way through trackless forests, now laying out treeless plains into farms, now searching for mines and treasure in the mountains, now staggering hot and thirsty across the parched deserts, conquering by will and courage all obstacles in their search for adventure or gold or a free home! The old and the young, the gay and the gloomy, the selfish and the generous, people of all races and all climes have tramped or ridden across the vast continent in search of El Dorado. Some started out with courage and high hopes and were murdered by Indians or perished of thirst 2 14 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE and starvation by the wayside. Others, poor and lowly, in seeking a way westward, found riches and fame. The stories of Jason and the Golden Fleece or of the wanderings of Ulysses or other ancient heroes are no more novel or entertaining than the countless epics and romances that may be gleaned from the pages of American history. We all read with human interest the story of the wander- ing of the Jews from Egypt into their new home, or of the Teutonic migrations which overthrew the Roman Empire and laid the foundations of modern Europe. The story of the western settlement is just as fascinating and exciting. As Indian trails are being retraced, portage paths uncovered, relics dug up, and old newspapers, diaries, and memoirs brought out of dust heaps and trunks to be reprinted, we are discovering stories of our own history as delightful and thrilling as the tales of Homer which the Greeks cherished beyond all measure. And what a setting for the story ! There was vastness beyond the comprehension of the little nations of old. There were rivers long and wide and deep — the Mississippi and its tributaries containing a volume of water greater than that of all the rivers of Europe combined, save the Volga. There were lakes like oceans — the Great Lakes alone embracing nearly half the fresh water of the earth. There were regions so far spread that the kingdoms of Europe seem like gardens by comparison — the Louisiana Purchase alone being large enough to contain England, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Norway, and Sweden, with land to spare. Precious metals were so abundant that the hoard- ings of the Mexicans and the Peruvians, which the Spaniards seized, seemed trivial by comparison. Such was the heritage that fell to our young nation at the opening of the nine- teenth century. THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 215 II. Westward to the Mississippi Although the history of western migration forms one story, it is necessary, for the sake of convenience, to tell it in several parts. The first of them we may call "Westward to the Mississippi," although, as we have seen, that chapter was not finished before a new one bearing the title "From the Mississippi to the Pacific" was opened. Jf.'RursUx'RN^ A pioneer family would place all its earthly possessions on a flatboat and would float swiftly down the current to its destination. The Region South of the Ohio First Settled. — The first part of our story "Westward to the Mississippi" embraces what we have called above the forest-trail and old-road era, a period extending from the earliest times down to the closmg years of the eighteenth century. During this period the migration was largely limited to the district south of the Ohio River. There were two main causes for this. I. Until long after the Revolution the territory to the north of the Ohio was controlled largely by the Indians, especially after the French lost it in 1763. The Red Men, anxious to save their hunting grounds, lurked along the rivers to rob and scalp the pioneers. 2l6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 2. There were special reasons why the people of Virginia and the Carolinas were ready to leave their homes and settle in the wilderness: (a) The land of those states, particu- larly along the eastern shores, was owned in great planta- tions tilled by slaves. The poor man could not compete with slave labor in the fields. (b) Cotton and tobacco rapidly destroyed the fertility of the soil and made neces- sary the opening of new lands, (c) It was easier for the frontiersmen of Virginia and the Carolinas to push over into Kentucky and Tennessee than it was for the New England farmer to journey across New York or Pennsylvania into the Ohio country. Daniel Boone. — Of the pioneers of this first era in the movement to the Mississippi, Daniel Boone is the most famous, and in his life is told the story of hundreds of others who braved the same dangers. Boone began his explorations in the Kentucky region as early as 1769, and the year before the Declaration of Independence he had established the town of Boonesboro. Before the end of the eighteenth century he found the country too "civilized" for his restless spirit and crossed the Mississippi into Missouri, saying: "It is high time to move when a man can no longer fell a tree for firewood within a few yards of his cabin door." The Movement through the Cumberland Gap. — After Boone blazed the way into the Kentucky region, others were \ not long in following. The route laid out along the trail through the Cumberland Gap in 1769 was slowly trans- j formed into a respectable wagon road. After the Revolu- tion the southern seaboard states encouraged the settlement of their western lands. In 1788 North Carolina opened a land office in the Watauga Valley and granted farms on easy terms : every head of a family could lay out 640 acres on his own account, 100 acres for his wife, and 100 acres THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 217 for each child at the low price of ten cents an acre. The next year Virginia offered cheap lands in the western regions, on condition that within a year a house be built and corn planted on each farm granted. South Carolina in 1784 invited settlers to establish homes on her Cherokee lands. Kentucky and Tennessee. — Residents on the seaboard rushed west to get these cheap lands. The blue-grass From a painting by Gilbert H'lutc Danie)!, Boone's First Glimpse of Kentucky regions were soon filled up. Kentucky, at the close of the eighteenth century, had a larger population than Delaware, Georgia, Rhode Island, or New Hampshire, among the original thirteen states. While Washington was President both Kentucky and Tennessee were admitted to the Union. No wonder that the eastern states feared that this "New West" would soon begin to rule the country. The River-Route Period. The Region North of the Ohio Opened. — The river-route period, as we have pointed out, 2l8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE began with the closing years of the eighteenth century and extended to the coming of the steamboat. While the regions to the south of the Ohio were filling up, and Louis- ville, founded in 1778, was becoming an important trading village, significant events were taking place in the North. During Washington's term as President the Indians in the Northwest Territory were defeated in several severe battles and forced to make peace in 1794. The next year the British surrendered the forts along the lake regions which ■^ Pittsburgh in 1790 From an old prin they had been holding since the Revolution. The Ohic River route was at last safe. Tlie Movement down the Ohio and Mississippi. — Soor the stream of pioneers began to flow through Pittsburgh Emigrants from the East went overland to that point carrying their household goods in wagons and driving theii cattle. At Pittsburgh any kind of boat could be bought — z light canoe for one or two passengers, or a barge tha: would carry ten tons of freight, household goods, plows horses, and cattle. When the pioneer family reached the river, it would place all its earthly possessions on a flatboat, and, guided by a printed chart of the river's rocks and snags, it would float swiftly down the current to its destlna- THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 219 "tion anywhere between Pittsburgh and the mouth of the Mississippi. Before the end of the century the banks of the Ohio were lined with flourishing trading posts. Wheeling was founded in 1769, Marietta and Cincinnati in 1788. After the Indian danger was over, these towns grew rapidly and became the centers from which people spread outward to the northwest. Into the region above the Ohio River two streams of immigration, one from the North and the other from the South, flowed together and mingled their currents in the central regions of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. These settlers were not adventurers, but industrious homeseekers who "located" their lands, built cabins, organized govern- ment, and "buckled down" to the long, hard task of creat- ing a civilization in the wilderness. Trade with the East through New Orleans. — The river movement which peopled the banks of the Ohio and the Mississippi naturally increased immensely the traffic down to New Orleans and outward to the Atlantic coast towns. Barges or flatboats holding two or three tons or even more of farm produce were floated down to the "Crescent City." When the flatboats reached New Orleans, the goods were transferred to ocean-going vessels, and the barges broken up and sold for lumber, the boatmen returning overland. The Need of a Road over the Mountains, — The people of the Ohio country, though they sold much of their produce through New Orleans, could not take back manufactured articles. These they had to buy from the merchants in the Ohio River towns, who brought most of their supplies over the mountains from the East. This was a tedious and expensive way of trading. It cost $125 a ton to carry freight from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, where it was distributed to such points as Wheeling, Cincinnati, and 15- A. H. 220 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Louisville. Often in the spring and in bad weather, the overland teams would be stuck in the muddy roads and traffic would be blocked for days at a time. The need of a well-built road from the coast into the Ohio region became apparent even before the end of the eighteenth century. After a period of agitation Congress, in 1806, passed a law providing for the construction of a great national highway binding the East and the West. The National Road Opened. — In 181 1, the first con- struction contracts were let, and within a few years fast Wms. Eog. Co., N.r. , The CumbEri^and Road, Showing also the Section on the Western End that was Never Completed Stages were running between Washington and Wheeling. This "National" or Cumberland Road started from Cum- berland, wound through Maryland and Pennsylvania to Wheeling, and then ran almost straight across Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois into Missouri. The extreme western end was never completed by the United States government because of the rise of railway transportation; but the eastern section proved to be a great boon to the pioneers in the early days. Travel East and JFest. — Along with the development of the freight business, there soon opened a rapid mail and passenger service. The United States government con- tracted with stage companies to carry mails, just as it does now with the railway companies. Every day the Great THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 221 Eastern Mail left the towns along the national road for the East, making the journey at the rate of one hundred and fifty or two hundred miles a day. In 1837 the paper at Columbus, Ohio, boasted that it was able to print the news of the death of the King of England and the accession of Queen Victoria thirty-eight days after the events had happened. When Victoria died, in 1901, the Columbus papers chronicled the news on the same afternoon. The stages seem always to have been crowded. Sena- tors, Representatives, stock buyers, traders, merchants, gamblers, cattle drivers, and pioneers traveled the long way together, cracking jokes, talking about the campaigns of Napoleon in Europe, drinking at the inns, enjoying an occasional race with a rival stage or even experiencing the excitement of a highway robbery. As the express stage would swing past, scattering letters and papers bearing news from "back home" in the East, settlers along . the way would rush out to hear the gossip and get their mail. It no longer seemed so far from the old home. Soon the less timid began to venture out and the number of settlers increased rapidly. In 1 8 10, Ohio, then a flourishing state, boasted of more than two hundred thousand inhabitants, Indiana had about twenty-five thousand, Ilhnois twelve thousand, and Michi- gan five thousand. Before another decade elapsed Indiana and Illinois were admitted to the Union. Across the Mississippi The Admission of Missouri and Louisiana to the Union. — The Louisiana Territory and the rich soil of Missouri attracted both the free farmers from the East and the southern planters with their slaves. The cotton and sugar lands to the southward, which had already been partly 222 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE developed by the French and Spanish settlers, invited slave- owning planters in large numbers. New Orleans afforded a good market, and a touch of civilization which even the hardiest pioneer did not despise. It is not surprising there- fore to find in 1810 about 75,000 inhabitants in the lower Louisiana Territory and the people demanding admission to the Union. They pointed out that the Treaty of Cession to the United States had guaranteed that they should in time be permitted to organize a state government and enjoy all the rights and privileges of American citizens. When their plea was taken up in Congress, it was violently opposed by men from the older eastern states; but the party of Jefferson was in a majority in Congress, and Louisiana was admitted to the Union in 18 12. A few years later (1821), Missouri, with a population of sixty-six thousand, found a place among the states after one of the hardest fought contests in the history of the country. Summary of New States. — By the close of 1821 nine new states had been added to the fifteen Atlantic states:^ Kentucky, 1792. Louisiana, 18 12. Illinois, 18 18. Tennessee, 1796. Indiana, 18 16. Alabama, 18 19. Ohio, 1803. Mississippi, 1817. Missouri, 1821. No wonder men of the old generation whose affections bound them to the states of the heroic period of the Revolu- tion began to talk about the subjection of the Old America to the New. III. The Life of the People on the Frontier The Essential Democracy of the West. — Most of the pioneers of the early days were poor. The great majority of them had no earthly goods except what they took over ^ Vermont, claimed by both New York and New Hampshire, had been admitted as the fourteenth state in 1791. Maine was admitted with Missouri (p. 370). ;>s THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 223 the mountains in their wagons. Few, if any, were very rich, and there was no upper class such as constituted the ruling element in the eastern and southern states. Each frontiersman could readily secure a farm of some size and thus become the possessor of his own home. No one had to work very long for any one else as a "hired hand." The farmer, secure in the possession of his land and home, could snap his fingers at the world, knowing that the doings of kings, principalities, and the powers of Europe, or the course of events beyond the Alleghenies, could not deprive him of his daily bread. There was a genuine equality of people based on similarity of occupation and opportunity, and there was a spirit of liberty unique in our history. The Pioneer Farmers. — Each family was, in fact, almost entirely independent of the outside world. In the fireplaces, built out of rough stones or logs and covered with plaster, wood from the neighboring forest was burned. In the huge Dutch ovens or before the fire on the hearth the family baking was done. In the corner of the one room of the cabin stood the spinning wheel and loom where carpets and coarse cloth were made. In the cellars or in caves stores of food for the winter were laid by. Among the rafters or in a smokehouse hung the hams, bacon, and quarters of beef cured for family use. If a farmer needed a new room to his house or a new barn, his neighbors collected on the spot, cut the trees, raised the structure, and finished it off with a celebration, enlivened by drinks from "the little brown jug." If his wife needed new bed clothes for the winter, she gathered in the women of the neighborhood and held a "quilting bee." Corn was shucked at "husking bees," where the young folks had rollicking times. When a forest was to be cleared for planting, neighbors gathered, cut the trees, and rolled the 224 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE logs up in huge piles for burning. The "log rollings" were social affairs in those early times. The Pioneer's Family. — Young people married before they left their teens. When a couple was married, it was a common thing for the neighbors to "pitch in" and build a cabin on short order; father would furnish the groom with a horse and a cow; mother would present the bride with a From an old print The women of the neighborhood gathered together and held a quilting bee. few cups, saucers, and pans; and with crude furnishings the young people would start their housekeeping. There were usually many children, and they always were welcome to help with the chores and in the fields. A traveler in Kentucky in 1802 said: "There are few houses which contain less than four or five children." A little later another traveler in Ohio declared: "Throughout the whole country when you see a cabin you see a swarm of children." There were no "leisure-class" men or women. THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 225 Every man, woman, and child had work to do in helping to support the family. Besides the hard housework, includ- ing. spinning and weaving, most of the women helped their husbands in the fields. The old lines, Man's work is from sun to sun; Woman's work is never done, applied with peculiar force to the women of pioneer days. Dangers and Discomforts of the Pioneer's Life. — All the people, men, women, and children alike, had to be courageous. Life in the wilderness was lonely. Frequently it was ten or twenty miles through the forests to the nearest neighbor. One of the authors of this book knew a pioneer woman who in her youth was accustomed to ride along blazed trails for miles, visiting those who were sick or in need, and more than once narrowly escaping being killed by panthers. When the winters were long and cold, a family might be out of touch with the world for months at a time. If a person was sick, home remedies usually had to be relied upon, for it might be a day's journey on horse to the nearest doctor. When one of the family died, the rest would make a rude coffin out of hewn boards and bury the dead, without any funeral services, save perhaps a silent prayer, under a tree or in an open field, where watch would be kept over the body against prowling wolves. One of the most touch- ing incidents in Lincoln's career is the death of his mother in a frontier settlement in Indiana in 1818; it was not until some months afterward that he could find a preacher to say a few simple words over her grave. Schools in the New Country — There was little time for the refinements of life, although the pioneers were not utterly neglectful of education. From the very first, lands were set aside to be sold or rented to furnish money for schools; but the funds were meager, and it was common for 226 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE the school teacher to add to his or her scanty wage by "boarding round" among the famiHes that sent children to the school. Naturally only the essentials — "readin', 'ritin', and 'rithmetic" — were taught at first, and the teachers were often almost as ignorant as the pupils. "Keepin' ahead of the class" was regarded as quite a feat for the young teacher. The schoolhouses were log cabins with small windows generally made of oiled skin or paper. The floor was made of "puncheons" — logs smoothed off with the ax and laid close together on the earth. Desks there were none. Each pupil sat upon a bench made out of a short log split down the center and mounted upon four legs. A fireplace furnished the heat, and generally enough smoke to make the children weep. If, in anger at their pranks, the master shut the children out of the cabin, the children would reply by placing a board over the chimney and "smoke the teacher out." It was a fortunate child that received three months' "schooling" out of every twelve. The hard labor of the house and the fields left little time for "larnin'." The Influence of Pioneer Life upon Political Opinions. — These rude and free and equal conditions of life had a deep influence on the political ideas of the people. Protecting themselves against man and beast by their own strong arms, they had little need to call on the government for help. Government meant to them more taxes; so they thought that the less the government interfered with them the better. In fact, many of them lived practically with- out a government, on the far frontier. What little they had in their counties and thinly populated states was simple. The public business was not difficult, and any fairly intelli- gent person could carry it on. It required only a few officers, — sheriffs, keepers of land records, and treasurers. So the pioneers thought that there should be a constant ^\ THE CALL OF THE LAND IN THE GREAT WEST 227 rotation in office — a passing of the offices from man to man in order to give as many as possible a share, and a chance at the "ready money" paid as salaries. The pioneers were jealous of the rich people of the East, and thought that they made too much money out of the *'jobs" with the government at Washington. Such were the political ideas of the frontiersmen of the West. Soon we shall see how they affected the politics of the whole country. Questions and Exercises I. I. In what waj^ did the claims of the older states upon the western lands delay the development of the western country? How were these claims finally settled? 2. How did the govern- ment of the territory south of the Ohio differ from the government of the Northwest Territory? 3. The Northwest Territory was laid out in townships about six miles square. In each township one section was reserved for the support of public schools. Find this section on the illustration, page 210. 4. Trace upon an out- line map the three important gateways from the seaboard states to the western country. II. I. Why was the territory south of the Ohio settled before the Northwest Territory? 2. Why was the national road con- structed? 3. Trace the course of the road from Cumberland, Maryland, through Wheeling, Zanesville, Columbus, and Rich- mond to Indianapolis. 4. Determine from a map of the middle Atlantic states the number of mountain ridges that had to be crossed before the Ohio was reached. 5. How did it happen that the westward movement continued beyond the Mississippi long before the country to the east of the Mississippi had been well settled? 6. Why was there opposition in the North and East to the admission of Louisiana? Why were the southern people more generally in favor of admitting this state? III. I. In what ways did the life of the pioneers who settled w^st of the Alleghenies differ from the life of those living in the seaboard states? Why was the pioneer likely to be more "demo- cratic"? More self-reliant? 2. Why were the pioneers not likely to consider education as important as it is considered to-day ? 228 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Problems for Further Study 1. Find out all that you can about Daniel Boone and tell what he did to make himself remembered as the most famous of the western pioneers. See McMurry's "Pioneers of the Mississippi Valley," ch. v; Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero Tales from American History," pp. 19—28; Bass's "Stories of Pioneer Life," pp. 33-45. 2. Imagine yourself a member of a family emigrating from eastern Pennsylvania to southern Indiana about 1810. Describe the journey that you might have taken from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh and thence down the Ohio by flatboat. See Hart's "How Our Grandfathers Lived," pp. 109-113; Bass's "Stories of Pioneer Life," pp. 54-68; Brooks's "Stories of the Old Bay State," pp. 174-182; Gulliver's "Daniel Boone." CHAPTER XIII TROUBLESOME FOREIGN AFFAIRS: THE WAR OF 1812 AND LATIN-AMERICAN RELATIONS The work of conquering the wilderness, undoubtedly important, was by no means the sole concern of the people of the United States during the early years of the nineteenth century. Although the farmers and planters could readily win their daily bread from the soil, they could not live by bread alone. They had to have manufactures and other goods from abroad; in order to buy they had to sell the produce of their plantations and farms. American shippers engaged in this business sailed to almost every port of the world. Their success was founded upon the right to range the seas and trade with all countries. Without this com- merce, ships would have rotted at the wharves, ship yards would have been closed, working people and merchants would have been idle, and tons of bacon, corn, cotton, tobacco, and other produce of the soil would have become worthless in the hands of the farmers and planters. For this reason, the great war raging between England and France, which threatened American commerce, was a matter of deep anxiety to our government. I. The War in Europe Involves American Commerce England and France Blockade the Coast of Western Europe. — Great Britain and France wanted to prevent each other from receiving goods from the United States. In May, 1806, England, in a determined effort to starve out France, 229 230 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE declared that the coast of Europe from the mouth of the Elbe River to Brest was blockaded. In other words, she served warning on all the other countries in the world that her ships of war and her merchant vessels fitted out as privateers would seize all ships — no matter to whom they belonged — which attempted to enter or leave any ports along the coast between these two points. Inasmuch as the United States had hundreds of ships carrying goods to France, this meant either a destruction of our French trade, or, at all events, the seizure of many American ships attempting to go into or out of those ports. This action on the part of Great Britain was resented by the Americans, for it reduced them to desperate financial straits. Napoleon Forbids Trade with the British Isles. — How- ever, they did not receive any better treatment at the hands of the French, for Napoleon, in November, 1806, replied to the English blockade by forbidding all trade with Great Britain. This meant that French war vessels would seize American ships bound to or from English ports. Since the American trade with England was much larger than the trade with France, this was a desperate blow struck at American shipowners and merchants and planters, whose property was liable to be confiscated at any time by Napoleon's men of war. Americans Protests Are in Vain. — Of course the Amer- icans made violent protest against such high-handed action. Great Britain, a year later, relaxed her strict blockade and declared that any ship bound to France that did not carry munitions of war would be permitted to complete its jour- ney, if it touched at an English port, secured a license, and paid a heavy tax. This slight gain for American interests was quickly offset, because Napoleon, a few months after- ward, announced that any ship which complied with this TROUBLESOME FOREIGN AFFAIRS 23 1 English order, by going into an English port on the way to France, would be seized by his government. Thus the Americans were in a sad plight. Their ships and goods bound for England were liable to be captured by the French. Their goods and ships bound for France were liable to be tai<:en by the English if the order about stopping and paying a tax was not obeyed. If they did stop and pay the tax they were almost certain to be seized by the French. Thousands of Americans interested in this trade, which was going to ruin, demanded war — some against France and some against England. Jefferson a Man of Peace. — Jefferson himself loved peace and hated war. Probably there was no man in the United States more anxious than he to avoid bloodshed. In fact, during the eight years of his presidency (1801— 1809) his chief troubles arose from his efforts to keep the peace. He sent Commodore Preble over, in 1803, to punish the Medi- terranean pirates who were preying on American commerce, but he wanted no war with England or France. The Embargo Act (1807) — In the emergency, Jefferson suggested a remedy which proved to be worse than the disease. In 1806 Congress had passed an act prohibiting the importation of British goods and merchandise into the United States. Jefferson then proposed a more drastic step; namely, that Congress should pass an embargo act forbid- ding all vessels to leave port. Congress accepted his scheme and enacted the law in December, 1807. Those who favored this plan thought that they would be able to bring both France and England to terms by thus cutting off their supplies from America. Hard Times the Result. — The effect of the embargo was the ruin of trade. The South and the West especially suffered, for they were completely dependent upon the exchange of cotton, tobacco, and other produce in Europe. 232 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE The North was in distress also. Shipowners let their vessels lie idle in the harbors hoping for a change of policy, thirty thousand out of forty thousand sailors were suddenly thrown out of work. The prices of foreign goods doubled. Lumbermen and fishermen were reduced to beggary, and farmers offered their lands for sale. The E^nhargo Act Repealed; the Non-Intercourse Act Passed (i8og). — The laws forbidding trade did not have '^^ British Naval Officers on Board an American Ship to Search for British-born Sailors the desired effect in bringing Great Britain and France to terms. They only exasperated American shippers and merchants all the more. Men who obeyed the laws were ruined. Hundreds refused to obey them and sent their ships out in spite of the embargo, or smuggled goods over into Canada and Florida for shipment to Europe. Con- gress was compelled to give some heed to the protests which arose. In February, 1809, it repealed the Embargo Laws, and passed instead of them a Non-intercourse Law TROUBLESOME FOREIGN AFFAIRS 233 which forbade trade with England and France while per- mitting it with all other European nations. As most of the trade was with these two countries, this measure gave little relief. England Impresses American Sailors. — In addition to the quarrel over trade, there was another source of American irritation against Great Britain. Being in great need of sailors for her navy, England had adopted the practice of stopping American ships, searching them, and carrying away British-born sailors discovered on board. England maintained the doctrine, "Once an Englishman, always an Englishman" — a doctrine not accepted by the United States. In many cases it was difficult to tell whether sailors were English-born or American-born. Both spoke the same lan- guage, and, owing to their roving life, they seldom had papers showing where they were born or to which country they belonged. The English sea captains, perhaps by mis- take, carried away scores of men who were real American citizens. It can readily be understood how incensed the American people must have been when they heard of the repeated overhauling of American ships and the seizure of American citizens to serve in the British navy. Jefferson Refuses a Third Term — In the midst of these troubles Jefferson's second term expired. Some of his friends urged him to accept another term; but he declined, saying that reelection might become habitual and election for life follow. In refusing the third term, he set an exam- ple to all succeeding presidents. James Madison Becomes President (1809-1817). — Jefferson's successor, James Madison, was not any better fitted to be President in troublous times. He was by temper a man of peace, and had been interested in civil government rather than In military affairs. He had been a member of the convention which drafted the Constitution of the United 234 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE States. He had helped In securing Its ratification. He had served many terms in the Virginia legislature, and in the Congress of the United States. After the dispute between Hamilton and Jefferson arose, he gave his powerful support to the Republican party, and as their trusted leader was elected President In 1808. Impressment Continues. The Chesapeake Affair. — When Madi- son took the oath of office on March 4th, 1809, he found that he had entered a "hornets' nest." In fact, without any declaration of war, the American and British ships were already fighting on the high seas. Indeed, two years before the British ship Leopard had fired on the American frigate Chesapeake, killed three men, wounded eighteen others, and seized four sailors. Resentment against this was still smouldering when another outrage was committed In May, 18 11. A British frigate stopped an American vessel near the New York harbor and seized another American citizen. This last affair so disturbed the Americans that even the peaceful Madison ordered a warship, the President, to go out and punish the offenders. The President sighted a British vessel and poured several broadsides Into It. James Madison II. The War of 18 12 War Declared against England. — The irregular fighting brought on a declaration of war against Great Britain. In the Congress that assembled in December, 181 1, there were a number of young men, called War Hawks, led by John C. I TROUBLESOME FOREIGN AFFAIRS 235 Calhoun, of South CaroHna, and Henry Clay, of Kentucky, who demanded immediate war on England. They moved the East by calling attention to the depredations on com- merce, and they excited the West by promising the early conquest of Canada — and more land. As a matter of fact. Napoleon, in his proclamations, had shown as little regard for American rights, but he had not di, caff M(^£o -^n^ Qnoihfr u*ioltfffefo/i 11,, jHorc are mort C, ,forH\ lied klltf keffi hfhyour J?itni and ^ ~ '' " ' allj,ov\ Wot Cartoon ok the War of 1812 had the same opportunity to carry his words into effect. The Americans had not forgotten that the French had helped the United States in the War for Independence; and it was easier to stir up hatred against the former enemy, Britain. President Madison, though opposed to war, knew that he could not be reelected if he stood out against the war party. On June 18, 18 12, he approved the declaration of war on Great Britain by Congress. In proclaiming the war the government of the United 16- A. H. 236 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE States declared: (i) that the British had been encouraging the Indians to attack American citizens on the frontier; (2) that they had been ruining American trade by their blockades; (3) that they had insulted the American flag by stopping and searching our ships; and (4) that they had illegally seized American sailors and forced them to serve on British war vessels. New England against the War. The Hartford Conven- tion. — Although this war was very popular in the West and South, it was disliked by the New Englanders because it actually meant a destruction of their trade on the high seas. It was even worse for New England shipowners and merchants than an embargo, because, in spite of the law, they had been able to slip out some goods and ships. Now that war was declared they could not even smuggle, and they were compelled to furnish money and men for a conflict which they did not approve. Some of the citizens of New England approached near to treason in resisting the attempts of the United States to levy troops there. The Senate of Massachusetts in 18 13 resolved that the war was "waged without justifiable cause." The following year a convention was held at Hartford, Connecticut, at which several amendments to the Consti- tution were proposed with a view to making it impossible for the southern and western states to control the country. Misfortunes of the American Armies. — Not only was the country divided against itself; it was ill prepared for hostilities. It relied mainly on raw, undisciplined volunteers and militiamen and could not provide even them with sufl^- cient supplies. On the land the Americans won little glory, except at New Orleans at the very close of the contest. Although they made attacks on Canada and won fame for fighting at Chippewa and Lundy's Lane, on the whole their TROUBLESOME FOREIGN AFFAIRS 237 losses in the North were greater than their gains. They were finally driven out of Canada and even compelled tem- porarily to give up Detroit to the British. The Capitol at JJ^isJi'ington Burned. — In addition to being defeated in these attempts in the North, the Ameri- cans suffered the humiliation of having their capital ravaged by the British, In August, 18 14, an expedition landed \Ems.£iie. Co., ti.J. Scene of the War of 1812 from the British fleet in the Chesapeake Bay and marched quickly to Washington, where it destroyed by fire the Capi- tol, the "White House," and several otheV public buildings. President Madison was forced to flee for his life. The British then moved on Baltimore, driving the weak Ameri- can militia before them. The British fleet, however, had been unable to reduce Fort McHenry,^ which guarded the city. The attempt was therefore abandoned. ' The attack inspired Francis S. Key to write the "Star Spangled Banner." 238 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE The Naval Exploits — The unfortunate events on land, however, were in part offset by unexpected successes on the sea. In 1813 Oliver Hazard Perry, in command of a small number of American warships on Lake Erie, defeated and captured the entire British fleet stationed there, — reporting his victory in the famous dispatch, "We have met the enemy, and they are ours." On Lake Champlain the .v» -a.f>t^ The undaunted Perry passed in an open boat from the flagship Laivrence to the Niagara in the face of the enemy. Americans were likewise successful. On the high seas the frigate Constitution, popularly known as Old Ironsides, won many victories ov?r British ships. The Argus boldly sailed Into the English Channel, and destroyed twenty-seven ships. In every battle American sailors showed skill and courage. Even when the Chesapeake was beaten by the British Shannon, the gallant American commander, Lawrence, who lay dying of mortal wounds, cheered his men by the plucky order, "Don't give up the ship." TROUBLESOME FOREIGN AFFAIRS 239 During the two and one half years of the War of 1812, the United States government commissioned more than five hundred privateers, which captured over 1300 British ves- sels, most of them merchantmen carrying valuable cargoes. The American victories at sea seriously disturbed the British, who thought their navy invincible, and in 18 14 they sent over a big fleet which put an end to such triumphs and blockaded the entire coast of the United States. Jackson's Victory at New Orleans (1815). — Indeed the war would have been discouraging in the extreme to the Americans, if it had not been for an astonishing victory at New Orleans where General Andrew Jackson was in com- mand. Hearing that the British were coming, his men hastily threw up breastworks of earth and cotton bales. On January 8, 18 15, the British assaulted the American intrenchments, only to be driven back in disorder with a loss of more than two thousand men, while Jackson lost only seventy-one. The news of this remarkable victory brought great rejoicing throughout the country, because it was about the only consolation the Americans had during the war. The Treaty of Ghent (1814) — There was a certain tragedy about this victory, because in December, before the battle was fought, American ministers had met the British repre- sentatives at Ghent and signed a treaty of peace. News of the treaty did not reach this country until February. When it did arrive, every one was surprised to find that nothing had been said about the seizure of American sailors, the searching of ships, the destruction of trade with Europe, or the stirring up of the Indians on the frontier. Both coun- tries were heartily sick of the war and glad to have peace. The omissions of the treaty, as it happened, were not serious, for the European wars were brought to a close with the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in June, 18 15. Great 240 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Britain no longer impressed sailors, searched ships, and confiscated American goods bound for the continent. Political Results of the War: The Bank and the Protective Tariff. — The chief effects of the war were to be noticed in politics at home. The unpatriotic conduct of the Federalists in New England had dicgraced the party, and after 18 16 it ceased to make nominations for the presidency. On the other hand, the followers of Jefferson adopted two leading Federalist measures : they established a second United States bank in the place of the old bank, the charter of which had expired in 181 1; and they applied the principle of a high protective tariff in their revenue law of 18 16. (See pp. 249-250.) III. The Spanish-American Republics The Latin-Americans Throw Off the Spanish Yoke. — The foreign troubles of the United States were by no means at an end on the signing of the Peace of Ghent. A storm cloud appeared in another sky. During the Napoleonic wars, the Spanish colonies in South America began to assert their independence. Between 18 10 and 1825, Mexico, New Granada (now Colombia), Venezuela, Peru, Buenos Ayres, Ecuador, Chile, and other states, following the example set by the United States in 1776, declared them- selves to be free republics. The Holy Alliance. — The Spanish king was, of course, much distressed at the loss of his colonies, but alone he could not conquer them because his army and navy had been depleted in the Napoleonic wars. The only hope for him lay in securing help from some of the neighboring European rulers; and the outlook was favorable. In 18 15, an agreement, popularly known as "The Holy Alliance," TROUBLESOME FOREIGN AFFAIRS 24 1 had been made between the rulers of Austria, Russia, and Prussia, for the purpose of suppressing in Europe just such revolutions as had happened in South America. This alliance of monarchs was regarded in the United States as a union of kings to prevent the rule of the people everywhere. American Freedom Imperiled. — The Americans thought their fears were confirmed when, in 1822, a conference composed of representatives of Russia, Austria, Prussia, and France, met to discuss revolutions which had just broken out in Spain and Italy. The Czar of Russia, who by the way coveted the west coast of North America, proposed to send an army to Spain to help the king. In fact, all the powers except England doubtless would have been glad to aid Spain in conquering her rebellious colonies. The United States at that time was a small and weak country. Only a few years before it had closed an unhappy war with Great Britain, and the British still possessed great dominions to the north. If Spanish rule had been restored by the intervention of European monarchs, a strong foreign power would have threatened the United States on the south and west. If the Czar of Russia had been permitted to make good his claims to territory along the Pacific coast, there would have been a new danger In that quarter. Had the United States been thus surrounded by countries ruled by monarchs, the future of the republic would have been In peril. Fortunately England refused to aid the Holy Alliance. The English had built up a thriving business with the new Latin-American republics, and they were in no mood to see Spanish dominion over them restored, for a Spanish monop- oly over their trade would have followed. This action on the part of the British, which really placed the British navy between the monarchies of Europe and the New World, greatly relieved the Americans. 242 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE James Monroe The Monroe Doctrine (1823) — It was amid these circum- stances that President Monroe (1817— 1825) in his message of December 2, 1823, made a statement to Congress which has become famous throughout the world as "The Monroe Doctrine." He called attention to the dangers which would threaten the United States in case the kings of Europe tried to restore Spanish rule in Latin-America. He said that he regarded "any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dan- gerous to our peace and safety." The President added that we would not interfere with the existing colonies and depend- encies of European powers, but that as to the governments which had declared their independence: We could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them or controlling, in any other manner, their destiny by any European power, in any other light than a manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toivard the United States. In another part of his message President Monroe referred to a declaration issued in 1821 by the Czar of Russia claim- ing rights to North American territory extending from the Bering Straits far down along the Pacific coast. In calling attention to this claim, President Monroe warned the Old World that: The American Continents, by the free and independent condi- tion which they have assumed and maintained, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers. TROUBLESOME FOREIGN AFFAIRS 243 In Stating this doctrine, which ever since has borne his name, President Monroe took an important step. He declared, in fact, to the powers of Europe ( i ) that the United States would help to maintain the independence of the Latin-American republics, and (2) that no European power would be permitted, unopposed, to increase its terri- tory and dominions on the American continents. Under this doctrine the United States assumed the role of protector of the Latin-American countries. It also served a warning on the European nations that they could not interfere in the affairs of North or South America without involving the United States. It was a long time before the people of the United States were drawn into any more serious controversies with Euro- pean powers. From the accession of President John Quincy Adams in 1825 down to the Civil War, they were able to devote most of their attention to developing industry and agriculture at home, and peaceful trade and commerce abroad. The Czar of Russia, no doubt mindful of the Monroe Doctrine, never pressed his claims in the West. Friendly relations were established with Great Britain, even to the extent of abolishing all battleships on the Great Lakes and all forts on the Canadian border. Compared with the armed watch on the Rhine this open border between two great nations — once bitter enemies — deserves to be classed among the achievements of humanity. Questions and Exercises I. I. Why did the war between England and France so seriously affect American commerce? 2. What is meant by an embargo on exports? What were the results of the Embargo act of 1807? What were the important differences between the Em- 244 1HE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE bargo act and the Non-intercourse act? 3. How did England justify her policy of searching American ships and impressing sailors? II. I. Make a list of the events that led to the War of 1812. 2. Why were the New England states against the war? 3. Why were the Americans generally unsuccessful on land? 4. Are there any reasons why they should have been more successful on sea? 5. What were the provisions of the Treaty of Ghent? In your opinion were the Americans victorious in the War of 1812? III. I. At what time did the Spanish colonies in Mexico and South America win their independence from Spanish rule? Why was Spain unable to resist the movement toward independence? 2. What was the "Holy Alliance" and why was it formed? In what way was it a danger to democracy in America? 3. What is meant by the "A-Ionroe Doctrine"? Why was it important? Review: Find from the table of Presidents (Appendix, p. 646) the number of terms served and the dates of the beginning and ending of the administrations of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. Make a list of the important events in each administration. Problems for Further Study lo Who was Napoleon and what did he do to make his name remembered ? See Tappan's "England's Stor}^," pp. 318-322; Guerber's "Story of Modern France," pp. 127-239. 2. Tell the story of one of the following events of the War of 1812: a. The Constitution and The Guej-riere See Hart's "How Our Grandfathers Lived," pp. 243-249. b. The Capture of Washington See Hart's "How Our Grandfathers Lived," pp. 274-282. c. The Battle of New Orleans See Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero Tales from American History," pp. 139-147. 3. Give as many reasons as you can, explaining the large influ- ence that the Monroe Doctrine has had in American historv. OUTLINE FOR REVIEW 245 Outline for Review of Political and Territorial Growth OF THE New Nation (Chapters X, XI, XII, XIII) I. Starting the new government. J. The first amendments. B. Hamilton's measures for financing the government. C. Opposition to Hamilton's measures: the Whisky Rebellion. D. The development of the political parties. E. Relations with Europe. 1. Troubles with England due to the French Revolu- tion: Jay's Treaty. 2. Troubles with France. a. The X Y Z Mission. b. The "informal war" with France. F. Domestic problems growing out of the French Revolu- tion: The Alien and Sedition laws. II. The expansion of the new nation. A. The attitude of Jefferson's party toward western develop- ment. B. The Louisiana Purchase 1. Reasons for the purchase. a. The desire for more land and for a free water-route to the Gulf of Mexico. b. The danger of French dominion In the West. c. Napoleon's willingness to sell the territory. 2. Results of the purchase. a. Criticism immediately following the purchase. b. Expeditions to explore the new territory. C. The Florida Purchase, III. The organization and settlement of the Middle West. A. Surrender by the older states of their claims to western territory. B. The organization of the Northwest Territory: the Ordi- nance of 1787. C. The organization of the region south of the Ohio. D. The gateways to the West and the four eras of travel. E. The settlement of the Middle West. I. The settlement of the region south of the Ohio. 246 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 2. The settlement of the region north of the Ohio. 3. The movement down the Ohio and Mississippi. 4. The National Road and its effect upon settlement. F. The new states. G. The life of the people on the frontier. IV. The events leading to the War of 1812 and the war itself. A. Events leading to the war. 1. War between England and France and its effect on American commerce. 2. Attempts by Congress to remedy the situation. a. The Embargo Act and its results. b. The Non-Intercourse Act. 3. The impressment of American seamen. 4. The Chesapeake affair. B. The War of 18 12. 1. The declaration of war. 2. The attitude of New England: the Hartford Con- vention. 3. American disasters on land. 4. The naval exploits. 5. Jackson's victory at New Orleans. 6. The Treaty of Ghent. C. Political results of the war. V. The Spanish-American republics and the Monroe Doctrine. A. The Spanish colonies win their independence. B. The Holy Alliance formed: the danger of this Alliance to the United States. C. The Monroe Doctrine. Important names: Presidents: Washington (1789-1797), John Adams (1797-1801), Jefferson (1801-1809), Madison (1809-1817), and Monroe (1817- 1825). Political Leaders: Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. Military and Naval Leaders: Oliver Hazard Perry and Andrew Jackson. Pioneers and Explorers: Daniel Boone, Meriwether Lewis, Wil- liam Clark, and Zebulon Pike. European Leader: Napoleon Bonaparte. Important dates: 1803; 1812; 1823. CHAPTER XIV THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS (1815-1845) From the opening of President Monroe's administration (18 17) to the close of President Tyler's term (1845) every section of the country increased marvelously in wealth and power. In the Northeast manufactures went forward with giant strides; in the South and Southwest vast wildernesses were reduced to great plantations with amazing speed; and in the West the frontier rolled onward in an irresistible wave, leaving behind a broad empire of prosperous farms. This economic development made a deep mark on politics, — on the four main issues which absorbed the attention of the voters and their leaders : ( i ) the protection of American industries, (2) internal improvements, (3) the sale of public lands, and (4) the second United States bank. Before the close of the period a fifth issue appeared in full view: slavery. I. The Protective Tariff The Key to the Tariff Issue. — In order to understand the first of these issues, the tariff, it is necessary to review briefly the history of industry from the Declaration of Independ- ence to the War of 18 12. When the Revolution broke out many factories and foundries had already been started in the colonies, and as soon as all relations with England were severed the Americans simply had to manufacture for them- selves or perish. Fortunately they had the initiative and 247 248 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE skill to meet the situation. Old industries grew to large proportions and new industries were established. When peace came it was clear to far-seeing men like Hamilton that the Americans could manufacture for themselves; in other words, could become industrially as well as politically independent of Great Britain. English Competition for American Markets. — Meanwhile British merchants and manufacturers were alert. Having been unable for a period of seven years to export their wares to the New World, they found themselves over- stocked with woolens, cotton cloth, and hardware. They were so anxious to sell this surplus that, when peace was established in 1783, they offered it to the Americans at 25 per cent below the prices they asked in London. They sought in this way not only to dispose of their surplus, but to win back the American trade the wac had cost them. They were succeeding, for in the year* following the Peace of 1783, $18,397,335 worth of goods was imported into the United States, and only $3,746,725 worth exported. The Demand for Protection of American Industries. — American manufacturers accordingly asked the government to protect them at once against being undersold by the foreign manufacturers who were dumping cheap goods into the United States. The response came quickly. The very first Congress of the United States under the Constitution passed a law putting low duties on certain imported articles which competed with goods made in this country. Effect of the War of 18 12 on American Manufacturing.^ The War of 18 12 had about the same effect on trade as the Revolutionary War. It cut off goods from England again, although some were smuggled into the United States in spite of the watchfulness of the government. It forced Americans to manufacture more for themselves and got THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS 249 them into the habit of buying all kinds of American-made goods. The iron foundries and textile mills were especially busy. Hundreds of business men invested money in these concerns, and thousands of workingmen and women and children were drawn from the farms or from Europe into the towns where the mills were located. As the London Times said of the Americans: "Their first war with England made them independent; their second made them formidable." England Again ''Dumps" Goods on the American Market. — At the close of the War of 1812 the same thing happened that had occurred at the close of the Revolution- ary War. The English merchants had on hand surplus stocks of goods which they threw into the American market at a low price. The amount of importations from England in 1 8 1 6 rose higher than ever. American mills closed down and their managers were ruined. The price of wool fell in the home market, the surplus wool clip was sent to England, and many of the costly Merino sheep that had been imported from Spain were killed for mutton and tallow. Iron manu- facturers of the seaboard put out their fires. All but five of the forty plants of Morris County, New Jersey, were prostrated; the works were sold at auction and the employees scattered. The bagging industry of Lexington, Kentucky, was wrecked by the flood of cotton bagging which was brought in at a price far below the cost of production. The Tariff of 1816. — Naturally a cry went up again that the government should raise the tariff rates and protect American industries against the cheap goods of Europe. At this time the manufacturers of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania were joined ( i ) by the farmers of Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, whose wool, hemp, and flax 250 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE brought better prices in a protected American market than in England, and (2) by the sugar planters of I>ouisiana, who could not compete with those of Cuba and Jamaica. In New England sentiment about the tariff was divided. The mill owners demanded protection for industries ; but the shipowners were not in favor of it, because they wanted a brisk trade with England which would employ their ships at sea. They were afraid that building up home industries would reduce the ocean freight. The demand for protec- tion was so strong, however, that in 18 16 a law was passed raising the tariff to a height which would have shocked the members of the Congress that passed the first law of 1789. In the early days the farmers and planters generally had regarded the protective tariff as a device for the sole benefit of manufacturers. Now some of them looked upon it as a means for developing a "home market" for agricultural produce to take the place, in part at least, of the European markets which were likely to be shut off at any time by war. An Era of Speculation Ends in Financial Panic. — Between, 18 16 and 1 8 19 there was an era of feverish business enter- prise — "frenzied finance." Business men borrowed large sums of banks to embark on fanciful schemes. Manufac- turers, encouraged by the protective tariff, enlarged their plants and doubled their output. Companies bought up land in lots of thousands of acres, and borrowed money on their property in order to buy more tracts. Farmers mort- gaged their lands to make improvements. Large sums were sunk in canals and post roads that could not pay dividends. A dreadful panic was the result of this craze. Thousands of men lost all they had, and the jails were full of people who could not pay their debts. Banks issued paper money in large quantities, and there were so many kinds of money THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS 25 1 in circulation that merchants would have to say to cus- tomers when asked the price of anything: "What kind of money have you ?" 11. Political Leadership Still Centered in the East The Administrations of James Monroe and John Quincy Adams. — Although the panic was serious, the country recov- ered and in a few years prosperity set in again. The industries of New England and the middle states flourished so vigorously that the rapid growth of the West did not overcome for a time the balance of power held on the seaboard. From 1 80 1 to 1829 there were four Presidents — Jeffer- son," Madison, Monroe, and Adams. All of them were eastern men who had been brought up in cultivated families, and had had the advantages which come from the possession of wealth. None of them had ever been compelled to work with his hands. They were all known as Republicans, and expressed their sympathy with "the people"; but they were not "sons of the soil" acquainted through first-hand knowl- edge with the hardships and labors of the farmers. James Monroe, President ( 18 1'j-iSz^) : the "Era of Good Feeling." — The southern and western voters and politicians were not yet well enough organized seriously to dispute eastern leadership. From 18 16 to 1824, they put forth no candidates for President. The Federalist party disappeared from national politics entirely after 18 16, and the next few years were called "The Era of Good Feeling." When Monroe was chosen President in 18 16, there was practically no opposition to him, and he was almost unanl- 17-A. H. 252 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE mously reelected four years later. During his administra- tion of eight years there was only one political event which threatened to divide the country. That was the contest over slavery which resulted in the Missouri Compromise (see page 370). The strong action of President Monroe in getting posses- sion of Florida by seizure and by purchase in 18 19 was generally approved (see page 206). His famous message of 1823 which gave to the world the "Monroe Doctrine" (see page 242) was heartily applauded and greatly increased his popularity throughout the country. The Campaign of 1824. John Ou'uicy Adams, President. — Al- though no division into parties had occurred in Monroe's administra- tions, there was a sharp conflict among four distinguished candi- dates for the presidency in 1824, and the voice of the Southwest was heard in the campaign. The East was represented in the strife by John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, son of John Adams, the second President of the United States. Virginia, which had sup- plied three Presidents in succession, had no prominent candidate this time, but the South had three men : W. PI. Crawford of Georgia, Henry Clay of Kentucky, and Andrew Jackson of Tennessee. The contest was so close that no one received a majority, but Jackson stood first. As a result of the division of the votes, the choice of President, according to the provisions of the Constitution, was thrown into the House of Representatives; and, by a good deal of skillful maneuvering, Adams was elected. John Quincy Adams THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS 253 This deeply angered Jackson's supporters, who thought that his popular vote entitled him to the office. They were still more angry when Adams appointed Clay to the office of Secretary of State. They at once declared that there had been a "deal" by which Clay helped to elect Adams President in return for the promise of an office. The ''Tariff of Abominations." — During his administra- tion of four years, Adams was unable to overcome the popular hostility aroused by the way in which he had been chosen. Like his illustrious father, he was a stern and reserved man, not much given to seeking popularity; and like his father also, he was unable to secure a reelection at the end of his term. His troubles were notably increased by the passage of the Tariff Bill of 1828, which became known as the "Tariff of Abominations" because it placed the tariff on manufactured goods at a higher point than ever before. The southern states were greatly incensed over it, and their leaders denounced Adams as betraying the country for the benefit of the New England manufacturers. The division in the country was so marked that the "Era of Good Feeling" came to an end. Opposition to the Tariff in the South. — The tariff law of 1828 was criticized by the southern states as "sectional legislation" for the benefit of the North. Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, and North Carolina declared it to be a violation of the Constitution of the United States, and a convention was held In Augusta to protest against every form of "protection." Northern manufacturers, in fighting for the tariff, were developing the industrial life in that section. The South, on the other hand, was wholly agricultural. Its prosperity depended upon the sale of its cotton, especially in England, whose spinning mills and looms were the wonder of mankind. Manufacturing nothing, and having to buy nearly everything, the south- 254 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE erners held that they should be allowed to make their purchases freely in England, where they sold most of their produce. They claimed also that the tariff raised the price of manufactures, and that the farmers, as buyers of such goods, had to pay the difference — in other words, pay tribute to American capitalists who owned the mills. South- ern statesmen like Calhoun, who had voted for the tariff of 1 8x6, frankly abandoned the principle of protection and began to advocate "free trade" with all the world. The conflict took the form, in the main, of a struggle between southern planters and northern manufacturers. The farm- ers of the West held the balance of power. III. Jacksonian Democracy. Power of the East Contested Jackson Elected President (1828) With the South thoroughly dissatisfied about the tariff, and the West divided over the matter, Adams was defeated in the election of 1828 by his formid- able opponent, An- drew Jackson, al- though the contest was much closei than the friends of the latter had ex- pected. Jackson was truly "a man of the people." He was born in the upland regions of South Carolina in 1767. His parents were poor farmers, and he was brought up in the hard school of HUZZA FOR Gen. Jackgon! DOWN WITH THE YANKEES! Much reduced Poster Used in the Presidential Campaign OF 1828 THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS ^SS Andrew Jackson adversity. In early life he went over into the frontiers of Tennessee, where he was known as a brave man, and a quarrelsome one. He was a courageous army officer and endeared himself to his men by sharing all the hardships of campaigns with them, sleeping on the ground, and eating parched corn when nothing better could be had for the common soldiers. He was so vigorous in body that he was called "Old Hickory." When he was elected, therefore, in 1828, the common people felt that they had a true representative in the White House, and thousands journeyed hundreds of miles to see him inaugurated. According to Daniel Webster, the great crowds at the White House "upset the bowls of punch, broke the glasses, and stood with their muddy boots on the satin-covered chairs to see the people's President." His followers thought that a great revolution had come; so they began to drop the old name "Republican" and to call themselves "Democrats"— to show that they were friends of "the people." "To the Victors Belong the Spoils." — President Jackson expelled from office most of the federal employees, to make room for those who had supported him in the race foi President. This was a new custom. Other Presidents had discharged very few officers for holding different political opinions; but they had usually been careful, when vacancies occurred, to appoint men who were known to be in sym- pathy with their own views. What Jackson did was to make a clean sweep of the old employees in order to find places for a new army of par- tisans. Thus a "spoils system" on a large scale was 256 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE frankly adopted, and everywhere men began to declare that "to the victors belong the spoils of victory." In other words, men came to believe that those who worked hard to win victories in elections should have the offices if they won. The tone of politics was lowered by introduc- ing a vulgar scramble for government jobs. Statesmen denounced it and poets ridiculed it. Calhoun saw in it a grave menace to the nation. James Russell Lowell poured scorn on it by representing a candidate for President of the United States promising a citizen a position as light- house keeper in return for his vote : Ef j'ou git me inside the White House, Your head with ile I kin o' 'nint By gittin' you inside the Light-house Down to the eend o' Jaalam Pint. Nevertheless all the political parties kept up the practice. The Tariff Contest Continues. — Jackson soon became inv^olved In the great controversy which arose between the North and the South over the "Tariff of Abominations." The contest over the tariff now became so serious, that It threatened to break up the Union. The Doctrine of NiiUificatwu. — Calhoun was not content with merely talking about the effect of the tariff on the southern planters. He went further and declared that, while Congress had the power to levy customs duties on goods coming Into the United States In order to raise rev- enues, It had no right under that power to be partial to any section of the country. He also declared that the Con- stitution of the LInlted States was merely an agreement among free states, and that each state had the power to prevent the enforcement within Its borders of any federal law which It deemed to be contrary to the Constitution. This principle was known as the doctrine of "Nullification." THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS 25; The Wehster-Hayne Debate. — The whole matter of nullification was argued out in the Senate in 1830, in the famous debate between Daniel Webster, Senator from Massachusetts, and Robert Hayne, Senator from South Carolina. The latter supported, in a powerful argument, Calhoun's view that the Constitution was a mere league between sovereign states, from which each one could with- draw at will. From a Brady photografh Cai^houn, Wsbster, and Clay Webster, on the other hand, contended that the Union was not a league of states, but a solemn agreement made by the people of the United States. The federal govern- ment, he said, was "made by the people and answerable to the people." He utterly rejected the idea that a state had the right to declare null and void an act passed by Congress. "If each state," he asked, "has the right to final judgment on questions In which she is interested, is not the whole Union a rope of sand?" The theory that a state might be in the Union and still refuse to obey the laws of the Union was impatiently brushed aside. He ended his great speech with the words which were destined to become 258 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE immortal in American politics, — "Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable." His address was reprinted by the thousands and sent far and wide as the message of American nationalism, warning the country against nullification and secession. Jackson's Firmness. — Southern statesmen, however, were not won over by eloquence. They resolved not to endure Jackson's Firmness Shown in His Quelling a Mutiny among His Soldiers the "Tariff of Abominations"; and they were all the more determined when, in 1832, Congress passed another irritating tariff act. The South Carolinians, under the leadership of Calhoun, held a convention elected by the voters, which declared the tariff act null and void and pro- hibited in that state the collection of the duties. They THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS 259 thought that President Jackson, a southern man, would - not interfere with them. They had not properly reckoned with their President, for he replied that the Union must be preserved, and that if force was necessary he would send forty thousand men to South Carolina to compel obedience to the law. To a citizen of that state he said: Please give my compliments to my friends in your state and say to them that if a single drop of blood shall be shed there in opposition to the laws of the United States I will hang the first man I lay my hands on engaged in such conduct upon the first tree that I can reach. He kept his word, and dispatched soldiers and warships to South Carolina. He called upon Congress for more power, and secured the passage of the "Force Bill," which gave him better means for compelling obedience to law. The "Compromise Tariff." Henry Clay's Leadership. — However, a great many people who were not in favor of nullification sympathized with the people of South Caro- lina in resisting the tariff, and in the end a compromise was reached which the southern leaders called "a great victory." Jackson was supported in preserving the Union and enforcing the law; but the tariff act of 1832 was repealed, and another law, known as the "Compromise Tariff," was substituted for it. Under this new law the duties on goods were to be reduced until by 1 842 they were to be at the point fixed by the law of 18 16. In the arrange- ment of this compromise between the North and the South, Henry Clay, of Kentucky, took a prominent part. Internal Improvements and Public Lands The country could now turn with relief to other issues. Strange as it may seem, the question of selling the lands owned by the federal government in the West, and the question of spend- 260 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ing government money on roads and canals, were both con- nected with the tariff. The problem that faced the poli- ticians of the East and the South was this: If the government sold the lands at a high price its revenues would multipl}', and then the demand of the South for a lower tariff would resound louder than ever. If the lands were sold at a low price or given away, workmen from the East would rush out in large numbers, and the factory owners would be in straits for hands and have to pay higher wages; then they would neec a still higher tariff. For a time a compromise was reached, in the form of the expenditure of large sums on canals and roads — interna improvements — to connect the interior regions with the seaboard. This appeared to be a patriotic public purpose. It also opened markets to eastern manufacturers. Al- though the followers of Jefferson had at first favored gov- ernment action in building the national road, they latei changed their opinion. Both Madison and Monroe vetoed acts of Congress appropriating money for such enterprises, and Jackson followed their example. But the controversy over the lands and internal improvements continued long after Jackson's day. Jaxjkson Reelected; The United States Bank Controversy. — While Jackson was busy with nullification in South Carolina he had to face the fourth leading political issue of this period. In 1791 the federal government had chartered a United States Bank with branches all over the country (see page 184), and in 1816 the Second United States Bank on the same plan had been chartered for a period of twenty years. Soon after its establishment it was violently op- posed, particularly by farmers and planters of the West and South. They thought that it was a "great money power" associated with the manufacturers who benefitec from the protective tariff. THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS 26 1 Andrew Jackson shared this view. Shortly after his inauguration in 1829 he served notice that he was opposed to the Bank and would not approve continuing it after its charter expired in 1836. The friends of the Bank, under the leadership of Henry Clay, met Jackson's attack by having Congress pass an act rechartering the Bank. This law Jackson promptly vetoed, and in the election of 1832 Clay, who ran for President against Jackson, made an issue out of the question of continuing the Bank. He was badly defeated by "the Hero of New Orleans." The Bank Controversy Continues. — Jackson regarded his second election as a popular approval of his war on the Bank. Its charter, however, did not expire until 1836, and he decided to destroy it by another method. It had been the practice of the government to keep millions of dollars on deposit in the Bank and its branches. From this fund the Bank derived large profits because it was able to lend the money at a good rate of interest. In 1833 Jackson issued an order that the government should put no more money into the Bank, and that the funds then on deposit should be drawn out as quickly as possible. As the new revenues came in, Jackson provided that they should be placed in certain selected state banks owned by his friends and known as "pet banks." Financial Prosperity Ends in the Panic of 1837 The de- struction of the Bank was followed by a great panic in 1837. Hundreds of business men failed, more than six hundred banks were closed, and thousands of working people were again thrown out of employment. The panic lasted for nearly five years. IV. The Whig Party Van Buren and Clay. — When he came to the close of his second term, Jackson was able to secure the election of his 262 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE friend, Martin Van Buren, of New York, as his successor, after a close contest. In 1831 Jackson's opponents had organized a new party known as the "National Republi- cans," or more popularly the "Whigs," after the great English political party which had once stoutly resisted the power of the king. Henry Clay, of Kentucky, was a brilliant leader among the Whigs, and seemed to be destined to the presidency. But it was not to be. He had so many political ene- mies that he never reached the goal of his ambition. His party, however, suc- ceeded in winning two vic- tories — in 1 840 and in 1 848. Harrison and the Victory of 1840. — So strong was the opposition to Clay that in 1840 the Whigs even re- fused to nominate him for President. They chose as their candidate General William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, who was well known on account of his defeat of the Indians at the battle of Tippecanoe ( 1 8 1 1 ) and also for his part in the War of 18 12. As a western man, Harrison was popular among the people who loved Andrew Jackson, while Van Buren, a candidate for reelection, was attacked as an aristocrat who used gold tableware in the White House. When some Democrat declared that Harrison was a back- woodsman whose sole wants were a log cabin and a jug of cider, the Whigs took up the insult. They chose a log cabin with a coonskin stretched on the outside and a jug of cider as their election symbol. Although they put forward A Log Cabin, a Symbol of the Campaign of 1840 THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS 263 no platform showing what they stood for, they were able to elect General Harrison. John Tyler Succeeds Harrison. — The hero of Tippecanoe was not long to enjoy the fruits of victory. When the Whigs came to power, they adopted the "spoils system" introduced by Jackson, and thousands of office-seekers descended upon him. Within one month Harrison died suddenly, worn out with the troubles of his high office. He was succeeded by the Vice President, John Tyler, of Virginia, a man who was more Democrat than Whig, and had been selected as a candidate in order to draw Demo- cratic votes from the South. Tyler's Unpopularity. The W ehster-Ashhurton Treaty. — Tyler's administration had few friends. He was disliked by both Whigs and Democrats — by the former because he did not approve the establishment of another United States Bank, and by the latter because he moved so slowly in the annexation of Texas, not yielding until the closing days of his administration. (See p. 274.) During his administration there were only two events of striking importance. In 1842 a new tariff law was passed, undoing the Compromise Act which had brought about a truce between the North and the South in 1833. In that same year there was signed by Daniel Webster, as Secretary of State, and Lord Ashburton, representing Great Britain, a treaty between the two countries which settled a long-standing dispute over the northern boundaries of Maine. The United States secured a small piece of Canada north of Vermont and New York, in exchange for a section of Maine to the extreme northeast, Tyler's administration was unfortunate for the Whig party. In the contest of 1844 the Democrats succeeded in electing their candidate, James K. Polk, of Tennessee. By this time the country was coming face to face with 264 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE new issues : the annexation of Texas and the growch of slavery. Questions and Exercises I. I. In what way had the Revolution stimulated American manufacturing industries? What was the effect of peace upon these industries? 2. Compare the effect of the War of 1812 upon industry with the effect of the Revolution. Why and in what ways did the English attempt to regain the American markets after the war? 3. What is meant by a protective tariff? How was the country divided upon this issue and what were the reasons for this division? II. I. Compare the political leaders of the West with those of the East during the first quarter of the nineteenth century. 2. What is meant by the "Era of Good Feeling"? 3. State the important provisions of the Missouri Compromise. Point out on a map the region affected (see page 370). 4. How did John Quincy Adams come to be President of the United States? Find and read the provision of the Constitution which made this eleation possible. 5. Why was the tariff of 1828 known as the "Tariff of Abominations" ? III. I. Contrast Andrew Jackson with the Presidents before his time. In what ways was he typical of the western life? 2. What is meant by the "spoils system" in politics? How have the evils of the spoils system been lessened in the present organization of the federal government? What appointive officers are now generally removed when a new political party comes into power? 3. What is meant by "nullification"? What did those who defended the rights of the states to nullify acts of the Congress think of the union of the states? 4. What was Jackson's attitude toward those who threatened nullification? 5. Why did the people of the South and West generally oppose the United States Bank? What people supported the policy of the government in maintaining the Bank and why? IV. I. What important changes were made in the names of the national political parties during Jackson's administration? Which of the two great parties of to-day more closely resembles the party of Andrew Jackson? To what party did Clay belong? THREE DECADES OF DOMESTIC POLITICS 265 2. Name the important provisions of the Webster-Ashburton Treaty. Review: Find in table of Presidents (Appendix, page 646) the names, dates, and length of service, and political parties of the Presidents from Madison to Polk. Who, in your opinion, w^as the greatest of these Presidents and M^hy? Whom would you rank second and why? Problems for Further Study 1. Be ready to give the class an interesting talk about the life and vyork of Andrew Jackson. See Southworth's "Builders of Our Country," Book II, pp. 149- 157; Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero Tales from American History" (description of the Battle of New Orleans), pp. 139-147; Sparks's "The Men Who Made the Nation," ch. ix. 2. The presidential campaign of 1840 has been described as the most remarkable in the history of the country up to that time. Find some of the reasons. See Elson's "Side-Lights on American History," vol. i, ch. xii. 3. Tell the story of the Webster-Hayne Debate. See Sparks's "The Men Who Made the Nation," ch. x; Brooks's "Stories of the Old Bay State," pp. 192-199. CHAPTER XV WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC The election of Presidents, the alarms of statesmen, the fortunes of political parties did not stay or turn the tide of migration flowing westward. While Webster and Hayne debated, while Calhoun and Clay disputed over the rights of states and the schedules of tariff bills as if the fate of America hung in the balance, pioneers on the advancing frontier were laying the foundations of a new western empire. What strength ! what strife ! what rude unrest ! What shocks! What half-shaped armies met! A mighty nation moving west, With all its steel sinews set Against the living forest. Hear The shouts, the shots of pioneer, The rended forests, rolling wheels, As if some half-checked army reels. Recoils, redoubles, comes again, Loud sounding like a hurricane. — Joaquin Miller. Long before Indiana and Illinois were crowded, or Michigan and Wisconsin settled, the restless current began to press on. Vagrant spirits and home seekers alike turned to the Far West where life was full of adventure and untold acres awaited the plow. 266 WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC 267 I Missouri, Arkansas, and Iowa; American Settle- ments IN Texas. Missouri Represented Both Southern and Northern Elements. — Missouri, with Its rich lands and mild winters, attracted pioneers mainly from the South — from Virginia, the Carolinas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. To these settlers were added a goodly number from the North who came down the Mississippi In flatboats. Thus two streams of immigration flowed together. The Admission of Missouri ( 1821). — Naturally the south- ern immigrants Into Missouri, who owned slaves, took them along Into the new country. In 1820, ten thousand of the sixty thousand inhabitants were bondmen, among whom were many skilled artisans, smiths, carpenters, and masons as well as field hands. When the time came to make a state out of the». territory, a contest arose between the slave owners and the friends of freedom; but Missouri was allowed to come into the Union with slavery as a result of a compromise (see page 370). Thus assured, planters came in larger numbers than ever, and the farming land was quickly taken up. The old French post, St. Louis, grew into a thriving commercial city, enriched by the fur trade j of the West and the steamboat traffic on the Mississippi. Arkansas: a New Cotton State. — Below Missouri was the territory of Arkansas, where rich valleys suitable for cotton culture were drawing slave owners in search of more plantations. These newcomers found the country already partly occupied by "squatters," who had "just moved in" and taken possession of lands without asking the permission of any one or taking the trouble to secure deeds from the government. They had gone across the Mississippi in search of a wild free life, and many of them lived and dressed very much like their neighbors, the Cherokee 18 -A. H. 268 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Indians. The squatters and planters combined did not make a very large population, but in 1836 Arkansas was admitted as a slave state to balance the free state of Michigan, Iowa Settled from the East. — To the north of Missouri lay Iowa, where the tall grass on the prairies waved like the sea and the forests were filled with the blossoms of dogwood and wild rose. To this beautiful country came farmers and their families, mainly from New England, New York, and Ohio, who preferred to settle where the climate and the crops were about the same as those to which they were accustomed in the "old states, back home." Free men also preferred soil where there was no slave labor. Farms spread far and wide. By 1836 three trading towns, Dubuque, Davenport, and Burlington, had been founded on the Mississippi; and ten years later the state was admitted to the Union. The advancement of learning was cherished as in the old homes, for within a few years numerous academies and five colleges had been founded. Immigration Spreads to the Far West. — With the admis- sion of Iowa in 1846, a tier of states had been formed from Louisiana at the mouth of the Mississippi to Minnesota, which was not taken into the Union until 1858, ten years after Wisconsin was admitted. Settlers began to move along the great reaches of the Missouri River; then over into the Kansas and Nebraska region. To the southward, the hustling pioneers and planters of Louisiana found themselves blocked by the borders of Texas, a part of Mexico. The lands across the boundary were fertile, adapted to slave labor, and mostly unoccupied ; but they belonged to a foreign government. Texas Still Forei^ Soil. — At the time of the purchase in 1803, the boundaries of Louisiana were not well defined, and the people of that territory contended that they lay west and south of the points claimed by Spain. Llowever, J WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC 269 the disputed boundary question was settled in 18 19, when Florida was purchased, and the border line was so fixed as to surrender a lacge area claimed by Americans in the western country. The people of the Southwest were very angry about this. They declared that a part of their heritage had been given away to Mexicans and should be won back as soon as possible. From a piint of the tinier The Old French Post, St. Louis, a Thriving Commercial City American Immigration into Texas. Moses Austin. — Fortune favored them. In 18 10 the Mexicans had revolted against Spain, and, after years of fighting and disorder, they secured their independence. The United States of Mexico, a weak union, was then formed, including the coveted Texas. Very soon Americans began to cross over the line and to settle along the road from the border to San Antonio. 270 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Mexico did not at first resent this immigration. On the contrary, the Mexican government invited settlers to come and take up the unoccupied lands. It made large grants of territory to contractors who agreed to bring a given number of families into Texas. Among these contractors was Moses Austin, from Connecticut, who had been engaged in lead mining in the West. He secured in 1820 permis- sion to settle three hundred Americans near Bexar. The contract was carried out by his son, and the present town of Austin was named after him. In ten years twenty thousand Americans had gone over the border. The Mexicans were frightened, especially when the American government made attempts to buy Texas. Trouble between /Jmeriains and Mexicans in Texas. — • In a little while quarrels began to break out between the newcomers and the natives in Texas. The Mexicans, who were Catholics, complained that the American Protestants did not show the proper respect for their religion, and the Americans complained that they had no share in the gov- ernment. Fearing that the latter might seize Texas, Mexico stopped the colonization schemes, canceled most of the land grants, put a tariff on x\merican farming implements, and abolished slavery. Then the Americans already in Texas, the southern planters who wanted to move over into that rich territory with their slaves, and the pioneers of the Southwest who liked adventure for its own sake, determined to get posses- sion of Texas at all costs. Many warlike spirits went over to help. Davy Crockett, a noted frontiersman, a crack shot, and a good story teller, from Tennessee, was one of them. James Bowie, of Georgia, who was famous as the inventor of the Bowie knife, a peculiar kind of weapon, likewise joined in the American rush to Texas. Restless men of this type could not endure the thought of living under the Mexican WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC ' 27 1 government, and they soon made it known that they would be their own masters. II. Texas a Republic; Its Admission to the Union; THE Resulting War with Mexico Texas Declares Its Independence from Mexico. The Alamo. Sam Houston Defeats Santa Ana. — Although the Americans were only about one fourth of the Texas population, they revolted against the Mexican government and proclaimed their independence at a convention held in 1836. The declaration of independence was signed by fifty-six men: three Mexicans, five Americans from free states, and forty- eight from slave states. Santa Ana, the President of Mexico, hearing of this action, marched northward to punish the "rebels," and at the Alamo, an old mission on the present site of San Antonio, he absolutely destroyed the garrison of soldiers. The defense of this fort is one of the most heroic events in American military history, for the men fought with desperate bravery to the very last. Santa Ana demanded that the Texans surrender, on pain of being executed if they resisted. The commander of the Alamo answered this with a cannon shot, and true to his threat, the Mexican general kept up the fight until every member of the garrison was killed, even the sick in the hospital. A few \yeeks later. General Sam Houston, who had served in the War of 1812 and had been governor of Tennessee, put himself at the head of the Texas forces. He completely defeated Santa Ana at the San Jacinto River in April, 1836, taking even the Mexican general prisoner. President Jackson and the Texan Republic. — The power of Mexico being broken, the Texans established a republic with General Houston at the head. They then turned to the 272 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE President of the United States, Andrew Jackson, thinking that he would make a treaty with them with the consent of the Senate, and admit the republic, as a state, to the Union. But Jackson hesitated about annexation and went out of office In March, 1837, leaving Texas still uncertain as to her future. Controversy over the Admission of Texas. — There was a strong reason for urging delay. The people of the United General Sam Houston and His Texas Rangers States were divided as to the wisdom and justice of the course which Americans had pursued. William Lloyd Garrison, of Massachusetts, who was then denouncing slavery and demanding its complete aboli- tion, declared that the conduct of his countrymen in Texas had been outrageous. He urged the northern states to separate from the South and form a free country if Texas was brought into the Union. John Quincy Adams, who had been President from 1825 to 1829, likewise opposed annexation, holding that the WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC 273 Texas Revolution was a slave owners' plot to seize the terri- tory of a friendly country. Annexation, he said, was proof that the United States, like countries of Europe, was ready to follow a policy of con- quest and imperialism. On the other hand, John C. Calhoun, the great statesman of South Carolina, argued that the admission of Texas was absolutely necessary to the pres- ervation of the Union. It would give, he said, the slaveholding states a "balance of power" in the country as against the states of the North, which were rapidly growing in wealth and population. Texas Finally Admit- ted to the Union (184^). — The government of the United States for a long time took no open steps toward annexa- tion. Jackson's successor, President Van Buren, was a northern man and really opposed to slavery. During his administration, from 1837 to 1841, the admission of Texas was out of the question. It is not probable that the Whig President, General William Henry Harrison, would have brought Texas into the Union, had he lived to serve out his term (p. 263). Harrison died after he had been in office a few weeks, and Tyler, the Vice President, succeeded him. Tyler was from Virginia; he was at heart a Democrat; and he favored Texas and the Territory in Dispute 274 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE slavery. In 1844 he appointed to the office of Secretary of State John C. Calhoun, who at once made a treaty with Texas, agreeing to annex her to the United States. This treaty, however, did not receive the required two-thirds vote of the Senate. The advocates of annexation then discovered another way out. They pushed through both houses of Congress a joint resolution (which required only a majority vote) admitting Texas to the Union as a state. This occurred in February, 1845, just before Tyler's successor, James K. Polk, came into office. "The reannexation of Texas" had been one of the issues in the presidential election of 1844, and the victory of Polk, who had openly favored it, was regarded as an approval of the plan by the voters of the country. War with Mexico (1846) — Almost immediately after the annexation of Texas, a dispute arose between the United States and Mexico over the boundary line. The 'lexans claimed all of the land south and west down to the Rio Grande River. The Mexicans replied that the right boundary was the Nueces River and a line running from that river in a northerly direction. President Polk accepted the Texan view of the matter, and ordered General Zachary Taylor to the northern bank of the Rio Grande to defend the possessions of the United States. The Mexicans declared that this was an invasion of their territory, and they fired upon some American soldiers, killing and wound- ing several. President Polk thereupon proclaimed that war existed "by the act of Mexico herself," and Congress voted money to carry on the armed conflict thus begun. The Three Campaigns of the JVar. — The war which then ensued was divided into three parts : ( i ) General Taylor, operating in northern Mexico, defeated the Mexicans at Monterey and Buena Vista and occupied the chief points in the Mexican states in that region. (2) In the West, WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC 275 the American naval commanders, Sloat and Stockton, aided by the explorer, John C. Fremont, seized California. The new possession was made secure by General Kearny, who had gone overland from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, with a Field 01* THE Campaigns in the War with Mexico body of soldiers. (3) General Winfield Scott, with a large army, landed at Vera Cruz and fought his way slowly up to the gates of Mexico City, where, after some parleying with the Mexicans over peace, he stormed the heights of Chapultepec and took the capital itself. 276 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Peace Declared (1848). Results of the War. — Defeated everywhere, the Mexicans were forced to make a treaty of peace on February 2, 1848, They ceded to the victor Cali- fornia, Arizona, New Mexico, and all territory to the north and west of the Rio Grande to the borders of the United States, In return for fifteen million dollars cash and the can- General Scott Entering Mexico celing of many claims held by American citizens against the Mexican government/ Thus as a result of the war there was added to the United States 523,802 square miles — an area greater than the combined area of France and Germany in Europe. ' In 1853 the United States purchased from Mexico a strip of territory along the southern borders of Arizona and New Mexico for $10,000,000. This transaction was arranged by James Gadsden, and is known as the "Gadsden Purchase." WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC 277 III. Oregon, California, and Utah Oreg"on. — During the trouble with Mexico a controversy was carried on with Great Britain over the boundary of the Oregon country. That region was claimed by the United States because of Gray's discovery of the Columbia River in 1792 and on other grounds; but there was much uncertainty as to its limits on the north. The United States asserted that Oregon extended upward to the borders of the Russian territory of Alaska, the parallel of 54° 40'. Great Britain utterly rejected this claim, and in 18 18 the two countries agreed to hold the disputed lands in common for ten years, leaving the settlement of the affair until some future date. At the time, neither nation appreciated the importance of that far-off region. ^ Settled by New Englanders. Marcus Whitman. — It was not long, however, before citizens of the United States began to take an interest in the Oregon country. The famous exploit of Lewis and Clark had been described in their remarkable journal; and a popular edition of the work issued in 1 8 11 had made known to thousands of American citizens the existence of a country of vast resources, beyond the arid plains and the towering mountains. In that year, John Jacob Astor's fur hunters had established a post at Astoria near the mouth of the Columbia River. In 1835 Dr. Marcus Whitman was sent out to Oregon by the American Board of Missions to convert the Indians. He soon saw how rich the country was and urged Congress to act at once in order to secure American control. The follow- ing year he made a trip East, and returned to Oregon with a little company of settlers, including his wife. Six years later he made a special trip East to renew his urgent appeal for aid. It is sometimes said that he "saved Oregon," but this is a mere legend. 278 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE '""■'iSllB ^^' ^' '^A:^^^^^^^ ^*^ COMPANY'S Dispute over the Boundary. "Fifty-four Forty, or Fight." — Oregon was now becoming famous all over the United States. Missionaries of various denominations were active in taking out settlers and converting the Indians. In 1843, it is recorded that 875 emigrants crossed the famous "Oregon trail"; the next year 1800 people went; and the next year 3000 more joined the forerunners. In 1843, the pioneers in the Willamette Valley held a meet- ing at Young's Ranch (Champoeg) and formed a gov- ernment for the ter- ritory. Having braved the wilder- ness and set up their own govern- ment, the Americans naturally wanted the boundary question settled, and were ready to fight off British interference by arms if necessary. In the presidential election of 1844, the Oregon question was linked with the Texas question and the politicians talked about "the reannexation of Texas" and "the reoccu- pation of Oregon." They declared that they would have all of Oregon. "Fifty-four forty, or fight" was a slogan in the campaign. However, President Polk and his advisers, The Oregon Country and the Disputed Boundary WESTWARD TO THE PACIFIC 279 on taking counsel, decided to avoid trouble with the English. So they compromised with Great Britain in 1846 and sur- rendered all the American claims to territory above the forty-ninth parallel. This settlement, unsatisfactory as it was to many people in Oregon, at least did away with all uncertainty, and the region was organized as a regular territory in 1848. Eleven years later, after the territory of Washington had been created out of the northern and eastern portions, the southern part was admitted to the Union as the free state of Oregon. California. The Early Trade with Indians and Spaniards. — When California was brought under the Stars and Stripes by the war with Mexico, it was by no means an un- known country. Already hundreds of roving, enter- prising Americans had pushed out to the coast and traded with the Spanish, or settled down among them fn till the fprf-ilp , ,,__ J Island nri / "''''''■' 17 7 T ufu^^^J Cumbeiland GaPj^/ -^ -^/ fcMt";^ /< ^°'"'^W ^ashville Knoxv,llc^ Lewisburg ( ,, . . "as^-^o y Memphis A R IC2^ X S ^ A S ^tle Rockjj-j V^ *■€* / ^''f ,Sp -Bluff drxc Arkansas Post The War in the West THE CIVIL WAR 403 defeated the Unionists under General Lyon at Wilson's Creek in August, 1861. Southern Missouri was recovered to the Union a few months later, however, and the Confed- erate army was pushed southward into Arkansas. The Union Victory at Pea Ridge (March, 1862) practically decided the war west of the Mississippi. Farragiit Captures New Orleans. Battles of Shiloh and Murfreeshoro. — In April, 1862, the North was thrilled by the news that Admiral Farragut had steamed into the Mis- sissippi, bombarded the forts at the mouth of the river, destroyed the Confederate fleet, and captured the city of New Orleans. A month later, by a series of desperate actions, including battles at Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, and Murfreeshoro, Union troops in the West had driven their battle line down to the northern borders of Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, to the east of the Mississippi River. West of the river the battle line had moved down almost to the Arkansas River before the close of 1862. IV. Emancipation A Bold Blow at Southern Power. — In spite of the western successes and the belief that the Army of the Potomac would be able to hold the Confederate Army of Virginia, it was plain to all, at the end of twelve months' fighting, that a great struggle lay before the government of the United States, if it was to be victorious. The North was full of Southern sympathizers, "Copperheads," they were called, who urged peace at any price; and in every section there were faint-hearted loyalists who looked upon the war as a failure or at best a deadlock. In the summer of 1862, it was evident that something heroic was necessary to reassure the faith of the North, to baptize the people with a new fire, and to deliver a more 404 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE telling blow at Southern strength. Then It was that diplomacy was added to military strategy. The true source of Southern power was the devotion of the slaves who tilled the soil, kept order at home, and supplied the armies in the field. To strike at slavery was to strike at the very heart of Southern military strength. It was more than that. To abolish it was to make the war for Union, a lofty ideal in itself, still more appealing to the hearts of men and women in the North by enlarging it into a war for freedom. Lincoln Decides on Emancipation. — It required courage and faith to take the step. Idealists had long urged it upon Lincoln; military commanders in need of laborers and soldiers had demanded it; but he had held back. Not until he became convinced that it was a military measure neces- sary to the salvation of the Union did he yield to the insistent demands of the friends of abolition. In the autumn of 1862, he "vowed to God" that if General McClellan was victorious over the Army of Virginia at the battle of Antietam, he would issue a proclamation of eman- cipation. Although McClellan did not win a glorious victory, his success was regarded as a distinct gain for the North. The danger that the Army of Virginia might strike a mortal blow at the National Capital and invade the heart of the North seemed averted. On September 22, 1862, therefore, Lincoln announced that if the Confederate States did not come back into the Union before January i, 1863, he would proclaim the slaves within those states forever free. The Confederacy regarded this as an idle threat. But on January i, 1863, Lincoln, exercising his war power as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, issued the Proclamation of Emancipation, freeing all the slaves within the territory then held by the Confederate Army. Emancipation and Abolition. — Inasmuch as the emanci- pation proclamation is commonly misunderstood, attention THE CIVIL WAR 405 should be called to two special points. ( i ) The procla- mation did not abolish slavery; it merely emancipated or freed the slaves in that part of the country waging war against the government of the United States. Slavery con- tinued to exist after the proclamation in those slave states Scene in Congress at the Time of the Passage oe vhe Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution which had not seceded, namely, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri, and also in Tennessee and those parts of Louisiana and Virginia occupied by the Union army. (2) It was not certain whether this emanci- pation of the slaves could be sustained after the war was over, because Lincoln had no civil authority over slavery. As Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the United States, he could do almost anything that would help the Northern 406 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE cause. Naturally this great power would be curtailed when the armed conflict was closed. Some claimed, therefore, that emancipation could last only during the period of actual warfare. To seal it for all time, the Thirteenth Amend- ment to the Constitution of the United States was adopted in 1865, abolishing slavery throughout the United States. The Effect of Emancipation Abroad. — Emancipation gave a new aspect to the war. It stamped it as a war of freedom against bondage. All along, the Northern cause had been viewed with hostility and derision by the aristocracies and upper classes of Europe. It Is estimated that "four fifths of the British House of Lords and most members of the House of Commons" were in sympathy with the South and anxious to see the Union broken up as a "republican fail- ure." Only a few great English leaders, like John Bright, ardently gave their hearts to Lincoln and the North. With the English common people it was different. Although driven to the verge of starvation by the closing of the cotton mills, they felt that the North was right and should triumph. After emancipation they were even more fixed In this view, and their anti-slavery sentiment was largely responsible for blocking Intervention by the British government In favor of the Confederacy. More than once the French emperor. Napoleon III, had suggested Inter- ference in America, but the British authorities postponed action. Napoleon then had the effrontery to suggest It directly to the government at Washington, only to be Instantly rebuffed. He realized that he could not accom- plish the result alone, and, when British cooperation was not forthcoming, he gave up trying to aid the South in destroying the Union. Lincoln. — Never had mortal man greater burdens to carry or more trying problems to solve than Lincoln. He THE CIVIL WAR 407 • t""-~.-| \ 'iiiiMMmEiiim ■■■;;i;:;:r'';:;;;:;;;;vli!»fflfflffi" ',:,fii«iiii l-*^WMVv.■i•'.a■••^^^^i■.■.;?:"■^ .'.'- Bill '■" ^^«'iWv"":miW'!!i''i"iiirail|liiii!||lilllli»^ 'I'^'illllilliillll / Abraham Lincoln From a photograph of Borglum's statue of Abraham Lincoln in Newark. 408 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE had behind him a divided country. Thousands of North- ern people, in open sympathy with the South, did every- thing they could to hamper the raising of men and money and the successful prosecution of the war. Another large group, though loyal to the Union, was horrified by the dis- asters and the misery of war and ready on every occasion to urge peace at any price. So strong was the opposition that the Democrats, in 1864, with General McClellan as their candidate for President, were able to poll in the Union states alone 1,800,000 votes, although "the Great Emanci- pator" was reelected by a safe majority. Republican politicians nearly drove Lincoln frantic in their efforts to get "jobs" in the government for their constituents. Democrats accused him of prolonging the war in order to satisfy the munition makers and contractors who made profits out of supplies. Friends of army ofl'icers daily besieged him for promotions and favors. Mothers and fathers whose sons were sentenced to be shot for desertion or neglect of duty beset him at every turn with petitions for pardon. With simplicity of heart, toleration, infinite patience, and good nature, he endured it all, trying always to do the right as it was given him to see it. V. The War on Water The Control of the Sea the Key to Union Success. — The chief reliance of the South before the war was, as we have said, on its cotton. In i860 Southern plantations pro- duced 4,700,000 bales of cotton, a very large portion of which was sold in England. If the seas could have been kept open and the millions of bales exchanged for munitions and other supplies, the power of the South would have been more than doubled. In view of the fact that the conflict was waged on Southern soil and that the men THE CIVIL WAR 409 and equipment of the Union army had to be transported far from the Northern bases, it is certain that the South, if adequately supported by guns, food, and money, could have made the conflict infinitely more desperate, perhaps so desperate that the outcome would have been far different. Weakness of the Navy at the Outset of the War. — It was in cutting the sources of Southern supplies that the navy of the United States did its great work, and if it had been stronger at the outbreak of the war it might have reduced the struggle by many months. It is estimated that there were only about thirteen vessels, eight steamships, and five sailing ships, ready for service in American waters when war began. There were other American ships abroad, which were recalled. The entire navy, however, including even little vessels, those laid up for repairs, and those condemned as obsolete, numbered only ninety ships in all. IThe BIvOCKAde of the Southern Coast to Cut Off Trade between ,; Europe and the South The Blockade. — With this mere handful of vessels Presi- dent Lincoln determined to cut off all trade between ETurope 4IO THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE and the South. Early in 1861 he declared the coast from Virginia all the way to Texas blockaded; and he ordered warships scattered along this stretch of seashore, particu- larly at seaports, for the purpose of stopping and capturing all ships that attempted to go in or out of Southern harbors, whether they were Confederate ships or English ships or those of any other foreign country. The "Blockade Rinniers." — At first much cotton was smuggled out through the blockade and great supplies of munitions were smuggled in. In England and in the South many swift steamships, called "blockade runners," were built for the purpose of eluding the United States warships stationed off the coasts. On dark nights or when storms were raging, these "runners," heavily laden with cotton or supplies, would dash into or out of the closed ports, escap Ing the warships sent to capture them. As the Union navy increased in size, the net drawn around the Southern sea-; coast grew tighter and tighter, until at last the "blockade runners" took such desperate chances that the business ceased to be profitable. Success of the Blockade. — It is estimated that during th( blockade more than 15,000 ships were captured. In the closing year of the war the South was able to deliver onlj a few thousand bales in foreign markets. War suppliei from abroad were practically cut off, and it was impossibh to borrow more money abroad. For instance, in 186;; the Southern government negotiated a loan of $i50,ooo,oo( abroad, agreeing to redeem the bonds in cotton, but it coulc not deliver the cotton. Even if money could have been procured in sufficlen quantities abroad, it would have done the South little good because it needed not gold and silver but the supplies whicl gold and silver could buy. As a Southern leader said, th South was not defeated but "choked to death." THE CIVIL WAR 4II The work of the blockaders out at sea did not excite much i attention in the country. There were no opportunities to ' make great naval heroes out of those watchers, but they kept at their posts day and night, winter and summer, in stormy and pleasant weather. Upon the ceaseless vigilance of the sailors, as well as the valor of the soldiers, the success of the North depended. Attacks on Northern Commerce. — Although blockaded, the South was able to keep a few warships and privateers at ? sea, preying on Northern commerce. At the outbreak of the war, American merchant vessels were trading with every port in the world, and as the war went on, of course this trade increased. Seeing its own commerce destroyed, the South sought to capture and burn Northern merchant- ; men wherever they could be found. One of the Southern I, destroyers escaped from the mouth of the Mississippi in the summer of 1861, and managed to spread ruin at sea for several months. In the pursuit and capture or destruction of these ships. Northern cruisers had to fight many battles. The Alabama. — Other sea rovers were built and equipped in English ports with the connivance or toleration of the English government in violation of international law. One of these, the Alabama, was built at Liverpool, and for two years cruised the ocean, destroying two or three merchant ■ vessels every month. She was at last caught, in June, 1864, and sent to the bottom of the English Channel by the warship Kearsarge. England, as we shall see, was com- pelled to pay heavily for some of the losses inflicted on American ships by the raiders fitted out in her ports. ^ ' In 1861 a Union vessel overhauled the British ship Trent and seized two commissioners of the Confederate government. Mason and Slidell, who were bound for England. This high-handed action, which savored of ritish conduct before the War of 1812, was the subject of a vigorous protest on the /^art of Great Britain The government at Washington promptly acknowledged that it was in the wrong and nermitted the two commissioners to proceed to England. Thus the "Trent Affair" was settled. B 412 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE The Merrimac and the Monitor (1862).-.— In addition to blockading the coast and capturing ships preying on North- ern commerce, the navy of the United States had to meet a new kind of foe. The Confederates in Portsmouth, Vir- ginia, transformed a steamer known as the Merrimac Into an ironclad ram which played havoc with the old wooden warships, such as the Cumberland and the Congress. Unless a new type of ship could be devised this iron monster and Battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac, the First Battle BETWEEN Iron-Clad Ships others like it might sweep the blockading ships from the seas. Northern ingenuity was equal to Southern skill. Captain John Ericsson designed and built at New York his famous Monitor. This curious vessel had a small iron hull, and on top of the deck was built a round iron turret, carrying two guns, which could be revolved by machinery and so fired in any direction. The Southerners called the boat "a Yankee cheese box on a raft." She was taken down to Hampton Roads in the spring of 1862, just when the Mer- rimac had started on a career of destruction. On the morning of March 9, the two ironclads fought a desperate battle, as the result of which the Merrimac was THE CIVIL WAR 413 forced to withdraw in a damaged condition to Norfolk. The career of the Merrimac as a commerce destroyer was at an end and the ship was burned when the Confederates evacuated Norfolk a few weeks later. Additional moni- tors were built for the northern navy and proved their use- fulness. This battle marked the real end of the wooden navy and the beginning of the modern navy of iron and steel. Gunboats on Western Rivers — Other important services rendered by the navy included the destruction of Fort Henry on the Tennessee by Commodore Foote; the capture of New Orleans by Admiral Farragut; the cooperation of Admiral Farragut and Admiral Porter in the opening of the Mississippi River; and the seizure of several forts and posts along the coast. i VI. The Campaigns of 1863 New Disasters in the East. Chaucellorsville. — After the Proclamation of Emancipation, the war in the East and the West entered upon new and important phases. In the East, the Union armies were still unfortunate. In May, 1863, General Hooker was attacked at Chancellorsville and badly beaten by General Lee. The only bitterness in the Confed- erate cup of joy was the loss of Stonewall Jackson, who was wounded in the battle and died shortly afterward. The North was sick at heart when, in spite of the strict military censorship, the news of the defeat slowly filtered through. Lincoln was on the verge of despair. Lee Invades the North. — Then came the great terror — invasion. After the victory at Chancellorsville, the Con- federate government, with high confidence, determined to 414 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE win the war by a bold stroke. It sent Lee, at the head of a powerful army of disciplined men, down the Shenandoah Valley, across the Potomac, into Pennsylvania. Jefferson Davis had threatened to carry the war into the very heart of the North; now he was fulfilling his threat. By the end of June, Lee's advance guard was only four miles from Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, well within the Generai, Lee on His Famous Horse, Traveler rear of Baltimore and Washington. In Philadelphia busi- ness was paralyzed and hurried preparations were made for the defense of the city. All the North trembled with anxiety. Lincoln, beset by urgent appeals from every sec- tion, relieved General Hooker, who had lost Chancellors- ville, and placed in command General Meade, who had served with courage and distinction in Potomac campaigns. Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. — On July i, the opposing armies stood face to face at the little village of Gettysburg, Lee with 70,000 men and Meade with 90,000. For three long days they fought. On the first and second days the balance seemed to incline to the Southern side. THE CIVIL WAR 415 Pickett's Famous Charge. — Convinced that victory was within his grasp, Lee, on the afternoon of the third day, ordered a grand advance. Under a bkie sky, with a July sun beating down upon them in full splendor, Pickett's troops, fifteen thousand strong, chosen for the work, rose majestically over the crest behind which they were posted, descended the slopes, and in clear view of the enemy swung to the attack across the valley. Far in front on Cemetery Ridge the Union soldiers lay quietly awaiting the coming storm, while the cannon behind poured a sweeping hail of shell and canister into Pickett's men, cutting them down like grain before a sickle. On they came. In a little while sheets of flame leaped from Union rifles, adding to the havoc wrought by the artillery. Still they came, closing up their thinning ranks, until with one mighty rush the men in front were flung high upon the Union ramparts, as the spray is dashed upon a rockbound coast when a wave breaks. For a brief instant the Stars and Bars were planted in the heart of the enemy by Pickett's men, but they could not hold. Assaulted on every side, they broke, and the shattered remnants of the proud command were driven back upon their old lines. The Victory. — The day was done. Nearly forty thousand men lay dead or wounded. The "high tide of the war" had touched the Northern fields and set out to sea never to return. Nothing was left for Lee but retreat, and had Meade been able to seize the opportunity to press the South- ern forces to the utmost, he might have ended the war. But his own army was worn out and he delayed. Lincoln was sorely disappointed, and yet he was grateful to Meade for the work he had done. The North now turned again to the unfinished task, taking from the honored dead who fell at Gettysburg, "increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion." 27-A. H. 4i6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Vicksburg Surrendered. The Mississippi Open to the Sea. — While the North was rejoicing over the glorious victory at Gettysburg, the news of another Union triumph, the fall of Vicksburg on the Mississippi, was announced. On July 4 — "the best Fourth since 1776," as General Life in Cellars and Caves during the Siege of Vicksburg Sherman wrote — the Confederate commander at that post, General Pemberton, was forced to surrender to General Grant, after a memorable siege. The suffering in the beleaguered city had been horrible beyond measure. For weeks the inhabitants had lived in cellars and caves. Their food supply had steadily dimin- ished until they were driven to the necessity of eating the flesh of horses and mules. Day and night were hideous with the thunder of artillery and the noise of bursting shells and exploding mines. The "brazen glories of war" were submerged in misery, starvation, filth, and loathsome THE CIVIL WAR 417 horror. The Confederate general was simply forced to surrender by the distress of the soldiers and the people. A few days after the surrender of Vicksburg, Port Hudson, below Vicksburg, was yielded to the Union forces, and the Confederacy, thanks to the coopera- tion of the federal army and gun boats, was cut in twain. On July 16 a steamer from St. Louis landed a cargo at New Orleans, and as Lincoln phrased it, "the Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea." Chickamauga and Chattanooga. — After Gettysburg and Vicks- burg the federal gov- ernment urged General Rosecrans to begin a drive on the Confederates in Tennessee. He started out with great promise. Then, on September 19, 1863, he was attacked by strong Southern forces under General Bragg, and the following day "the great battle of the West," the terrible and bloody Chickamauga, was fought. Rosecrans was defeated and his own wing driven back to Chattanooga in a rout. Nothing but the desperate courage of General Thomas and his men on another wing prevented a complete Farragut Commanding from the Rigging OF His F1.AGSHIP, Hartford, AT THE Opening of the Mississippi 4i8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE disaster to the Union arms. General Grant was then placed in complete charge in that section. In a few weeks followed battles at Lookout Mountain — "above the clouds," — and Missionary Ridge, near Chatta- nooga, which resulted in driv^ing the Confederate forces out of Tennessee into northern Georgia. By the end of 1863 the battle line had been forced down into Mississippi, Ala- bama, and Georgia. GenErai, Grant and His Officers. Grant in the Foreground Examin- ing A Map over General Meade's Shoulder VII. The Campaigns of 1864 and 1865; the End of THE War Grant Placed in Command of All Union Armies (1864). — Only two important Confederate armies remained, one under General Lee defending Richmond, and the other in THE CIVIL WAR 419 the northern part of Georgia under General Joseph E. Johnston. Early in the spnng of the following year (1864), General Grant was called from the West, and made Lieutenant-general of all the armies of the United States, with orders to capture Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, and destroy Lee's army of Virginia. In the West, General Sherman was instructed to attack General Johnston and drive his way through Georgia. K__E fiyT "TPcr\K__L^ '^y'^'y^ ^'^ Y I K I -\ 1 A A yV~ E E./-^' , \ — _,-* .i ■^L^ .— .- . "^oll T E N N E ^ A, ^Raleigh V^^^i^ % / y^"^ N E T^ H \c A r\o L I N A ,^^ Chattanooga i 4 \ 1 ^ fi '^1 Goldsboro ^^ W \ / \ V 1 \_ ~^ V»^ '. V' C^ \ 1 \ y^ \^ -\ .^^^^^^"^^ ' \ Quanta ^^^ \s o\ u Vr H \ N. ColuinbiaV ^ Y^ *v \ \^lmington X? ^^Jport Fisher / /V / _\ AuBUEtaV CAR 0\L I nW r aeabaVv f . E o\Ai G 1 A X >^ T L A N T I c 71 MaconY^ ^ lledeeville \ Charleston^^ sJAndersonville \\ ^i ^^ ^ OCEAN ■fr/ Wmn. Ede. Co.. N.V. \ \ Savannahu*^^ SCALE OF MILES 25 60 100 150 Sherman's March to the Sea Sherman's Campaign. Atlanta and the March to the Sea. — Starting from Chattanooga, General Sherman set out on his famous expedition. The Confederate general slowly retired, with a view to wearing Sherman's army out and attacking it later when the odds against him were not so great. President Davis, annoyed at Johnston for his delays, removed him, and placed General Hood in charge, with orders to attack Sherman. This was a fatal error, for Sherman beat off General Hood's heroic assaults at Atlanta, 420 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE and with a large division of his army started on the famous march "from Atlanta to the sea," destroying bridges and railroads and property along a belt sixty miles wide. On Christmas Eve, 1864, President Lincoln received astound- ing telegraphic news from General Sherman presenting him as a "Christmas gift the City of Savannah with one hundred fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition; also about 25,000 bales of cotton." Some of the Union soldiers, on the march to the sea, needlessly pillaged residences and wrecked public and private buildings, creating a very bitter feeling in the hearts of the Southern people. Grant in Virginia. The JVildeniess and Cold Harbor. — Meanwhile General Grant had been doggedly wrestling with the task assigned to him. Although Lee's army of Virginia was only about half the size of his own forces. General Grant had no easy problem before him. He was fighting in the enemy's country; Lee's troops were familiar with every highway and byway, and were strongly Intrenched at Important points. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Grant, in May, 1864, crossed the Rapidan River and began to make his way through forests thickset with underbrush. Here he was severely attacked by the Southern army, and for four days the terrible battle of "the Wilderness" raged. The Union losses were frightful, but Grant managed to withdraw his forces. By a skillful march to the left, he pushed on to Spottsylvania Court House, and then down to Cold Harbor which was a part of the defenses of the City of Richmond. Here the desperate fighting went on without any marked gains for the Northern army. In the month's struggle from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor, Lee lost 19,000 men and Grant nearly three times as many. General Grant believed that victory would come with the wearing down of the Southern army. He had twice as THE CIVIL WAR 42 I many men as the Confederates, he had unlimited supplies behind him, and he knew that he could win in time, even if at a great cost. General Lee's losses were evidently heavy; and he could ill afford them, because the Confederacy behind him was exhausted and could not furnish more troops. The blockade was growing tighter every day. The end seemed to be only a matter of time. Early's Raid Checked by Sheridan. — Remembering that he had beaten off the Army of the Potomac two years before by threatening Washington, Lee ordered General Early with a large force to march rapidly through the Shenandoah Valley and to attack the capital. General Grant, fortunately, had troops to spare. Instead of giving up his attack on Lee's main army, he sent a division under General Sheridan to cope with Early. Sheridan defeated Early at the battle of Winchester, and swooped down the valley, destroying everything in front of him until, as it was said at the time, a crow passing over the region had to carry his rations with him. The news of General Early's defeat at Winchester on October 18, 1864, was received with great satisfaction by General Grant, for he knew now that the Confederacy had struck its last dangerous blow. With General Sherman in possession of Savannah and all of the Southwest cut off by him, no supplies could reach Lee from that quarter; it was inevitable that the Army of Virginia must soon surrender. Being in a desperate plight, the leaders of the Confederacy tried to make terms with President Lincoln. In November, 1864, Vice President Stephens met President Lincoln and Seward, the Secretary of State, on board a warship in Hampton Roads to discuss terms of peace. Lincoln called for the disbanding of the Southern armies, the submission of the seceded States to the Union, and the abolition of slavery. Rather than make these concessions, 422 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE the Confederate government decided to go on with the war. Lee Surrenders at Appomattox (April g, 1865). — The North then prepared for the final blow, and General Grant began to close in on the Southern troops around Richmond. On April 3, 1865, Lee, having come to the conclusion that he could no longer safely defend the capital of the Confed- eracy, withdrew in a southwesterly direction. On April 9, General Grant overtook him at Appomattox Court House and compelled him to surrender unconditionally. In his hour of triumph, Grant was generous to the vanquished. He did not require Lee to surrender his sword, and he permitted the officers and men to keep their horses, because, as he said, they would need them in their farm work. After the Confederate officers and men had given their word not to take up arms against the United States again, they were given a goodly supply of rations and allowed to go home. A few days later, the other important Southern army under General Johnston surrendered to General Sherman in North Carolina. The war was over. The Assassination of Lincoln (April 14, 1865). — It may well be imagined with what joy the news of Lee's surrender was received throughout the entire North. The long war was at an end; the country, torn by hatred and distracted by sorrow for so many weary years, could be at peace. The Union was preserved. Instead of two nations side by side, armed to the teeth and enemies at heart, there was one government. With thanksgiving, the great President turned to the task of reuniting the broken and embittered peoples; but fate had decreed that the work of restoration should be left to other hands. On the evening of April 14, 1865, Lincoln, while sitting in his box at the Ford Theater in Washington, was shot by John Wilkes Booth, an actor, who was half-crazed by the defeat of the South. The THE CIVIL WAR 423 President, mortally wounded, was carried across the street to a private house, where, amid his sorrowing family and official friends, he died in the early hours of the next morning. Like wildfire the news of the tragedy spread across the continent, and the greatest sorrow of the war fell like a pall over the land. It seemed too much to bear. Thou- sands of brave men and women had sacrificed and Ford's Theater, where Lincoln was Shot on April 14, 1865 4k suffered in the dragging days and years of the war, and ' now, in the hour when peace had come, the brave Captain, as the poet Whitman wrote, had "fallen cold and dead." The North had lost its trusted leader, and the South a friend who bore no malice or bitterness in his heart. VIII. The Cost of the War; Women and the War Money and Property. — Just what the war cost in men and money cannot be reckoned exactly. The national debt In 424 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE the summer of 1865 was nearly three billion dollars, most of which had been incurred for war purposes. To this must be added the expenditures of the national government out of national taxes, the money spent by Northern states, cities, and towns, the interest on the debt, and pensions. It has been estimated that the war expenditures of the government for all these purposes, between July i, 1861, and June 30, 1879, amounted to more than six billion dollars. In addition we must include the millions that have been paid and are still being paid In pensions. The debt of the Confederate government, on the other hand, was repudiated and never paid. Enormous expendi- tures amounting to hundreds of millions were made, and property of still greater value was destroyed by invading armies. It would be a safe guess that the total cost of the Civil War in money spent, property destroyed, and wages of men lost, was well over twenty-five billion dollars, a sum equal to more than fifty times the value of all the property in the United States when Washington was inaugurated President. Human Life — In human life the cost of the war is still more difficult to estimate. During the conflict, about 2,000,000 men joined the Northern armies for varying services — three months, six months, a year or more. The number in actual service reached its highest point in April, 1865, when it stood at slightly more than one million. Of this great host more than 360,000 lost their lives — 110,000 perished on the battlefield, and about 250,000 died of wounds and diseases. The records of the Confederate armies were not well kept. It is impossible to state even with fair accuracy their losses, but if they were equal to those of the Northern armies the Civil War cost outright in human life 700,000 men. This leaves out of account the crippled and permanently disabled, and those whose THE CIVIL WAR 425 lives were shortened many years by the hardships of the camp and battle field. Women and the War. — In recording the heroic deeds and splendid sacrifices of men on the field of battle, the services of the women of America in the conduct of the war must not be forgotten. All through the farming regions of the Northwest and to some extent in other sections, women took up the lines and plow handles where the men dropped them and for four years assumed responsibility for producing the crops. ■ A few days after Sumter was fired upon, the leading women of New York met at Cooper Union, under the inspiration of Miss Louisa Lee Schuyler, and organized a relief association. This led to the establishment of the marvelous United States Sanitary Commission, which col- lected food and supplies for the soldiers, looked after the health of camps, and aided in the care of the sick and wounded. Through sanitary fairs held from the Atlantic to the Pacific, women raised nearly $3,000,000 for relief. Speaking of their work, Lincoln said: I have never studied the art of paying compliments to women ; but I must say, that if all that has been said by orators and poets since the creation of the world were applied to the women of America, it would not do them justice for their conduct during this war. Thousands of women went to the front as nurses, endur- ing the horrors and hardships of camp life and battle field. Volumes could be written of their valorous deeds — gather- ing the wounded amid the storm of battle, serving at plague- , stricken posts. They were among the staffs of scouts and I spies, in prisons, on the transport ships, wherever suffering ' and human needs were to be found. Back of the battle L lines, women knitted, scraped lint, rolled bandages, and 426 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE '/(,> An Army Nurse of 1861 Ull/z/f^/ prepared comforts and necessities for the soldiers. In nearly every community there were soldiers' aid societies which held weekly and even daily meetings to raise money, supplies, and comforts for the men at the front. In the South, burdens borne by the women were even heavier. There a larger proportion of the white men were in the field and the responsibilities of the women were all the greater. They experienced the horrors of war all about them : fields laid waste, homes burned, supplies de- stroyed, hostile soldiers on every hand, starvation and misery daily, hourly staring them in the face; and yet they failed not. Southern writings are justly filled with tributes to the women for their bravery and their work. Questions and Exercises I. I. What is meant by a "civil" war? Look up the meaning of "secession." At what earlier periods in the country's history had certain of the states threatened to "secede"? 2. Why were some of the influential men of the North opposed to the use of force in bringing the seceded states back into the Union? 3. Can you think- of any reasons why President Buchanan should have decided to take no strong measures to prevent the secession of South Carolina? (Remember that South Carolina seceded in December, i860, while Buchanan was still president.) 4. In what important waj^s did the Confederate States of America differ from the original union formed in 1 789? II. I. Compare the relative advantages and disadvantages of*ij the North and the South in 1861 in carrying on a successful war I THE CIVIL WAR 427 2. What and wliere were the "Border States"? Why did the North make an especially determined effort to keep these in the Union? ^Vith what results? (Study carefully on a map the loca- tion of these Border States; note how they formed a "buffer" between the free states and the seceded states.) Why should the North have been particularly anxious lest Maryland should go with the South? What especial disadvantage would the North have suffered if Missouri had seceded? III. I. Locate Manassas Junction in Virginia (near here the Battle of Bull Run was fought). Note the direction of the rail- roads that joined at Manassas. Why should the Confederate army have chosen this as the point at which to make a stand against Northern invasion? 2. McClellan was severely criticized in the North for delaying so long in moving his army toward Richmond. Why were the Northerners especially irritated at this delay? Can you think of any reasons that may have caused McClellan to delay in spite of criticism? 3, What was Lee's object in attempting to invade the North in 1862? What was the result of this attempt? 4. From a study of the map, tell why the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson was so important to the Union cause. What would be the advantage to the Union army of controlling the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers? 5. Why was the contest for Missouri and Arkansas important? 6. Why was New Orleans an especially important city for the Union forces to occupy? IV. I. What were Lincoln's objects in emancipating the slaves held in the seceded states? 2. Why was this not the same as the "abolition" of slavery? 3. What were some of the great difficulties that Lincoln had to meet in guiding the Nation through the war? V. I. What was the object of the Union in blockading the Southern ports? From a study of the coastline of the Southern States point out the difficulties that lay in the way of this policy, and also the conditions that favored the Union navy in carrying out the plan successfully. 2. What was the purpose of the Confederacy in fitting out ships like the Alabama'^ 3. Locate Hampton Roads. Why was it particularly important to the North to control the entrance to Chesapeake Bay? Why was the battle between the Merri/nac and the Monitor important? 428 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE VI. I. What was Lee's object in his second invasion of the North (1863) ? His most advanced outposts reached the banks of the Susquehanna opposite Harrisburg, Pennsjlvania ; locate on the map. 2. Who was appointed to check Lee's invasion? Locate Gettysburg on the map. Why is Gettysburg called the "high-water mark of the Confederacy"? Why is the Battle of Gettysburg listed among the "decisive" battles of the world's history? 3. Locate Vicksburg and tell why its capture was so important to the Union cause. VIL I. Describe Grant's plan of campaign for 1864. What were the important differences between Grant's methods and those of his predecessors in charge of the Union armies? 2. Trace on the map (p. 398) the course of Grant's movements against Lee in Virginia, Note the general direction of these movements and the points where the successive battles (the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor) were fought. Why has Grant's campaign been called a "great flanking movement"? 3, What did Lee hope to accomplish by Early's raid? Why did his plans fail? 4. Locate the point where Lee surrendered. In view of the fact that Richmond had already fallen into the hands of the Unionists, where, in your opinion, was Lee trying to go when he was forced to surrender? VIII. I. Name the important results of the war. Comparing the results with the cost of the war in money, in human life, and in the suffering caused, would you say that the good accomplished was worth the sacrifice? Give reasons for your answer. 2. Describe the services rendered by women during the war. Problems for Further Study I. Select one of the following topics for study and report: The Battle of Bull Run : , See Hart's "Romance of the Civil War," pp. 287-291 ; Nicolay'si "Abraham Lincoln," pp. 225-230. The Merrimac and the Monitor: See Hart's "Romance of the Civil War," pp. 357-358; Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero Tales from-- American History," pp. i85-i95. The Gettysburg Campaign: See Elson's "Side-Lights on Ameri- can History," vol. ii, ch. v; Hart's "Source Book," pp. 323-327; Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero Tales from American History," pp. 227-236; Nicolay's "Abraham Lincoln," pp. 373-378. THE CIVIL WAR 429 Lee's Surrender at Appomattox: Sec Hart's "Source Book," pp. 329-333; Gilman's "Robert E. Lee," ch. xix ; Coombs's "Ulysses S. Grant," ch. xix; Nicolay's "Abraham Lincoln," pp. 509-515- 2. Select one or more of the following leaders of the Civil War period for study and report : Ulysses S. Grant: See Southworth's "Builders of Our Country," Book II, pp. 217-228; Hart's "Romance of the Civil War," pp. 179-183 (account of Grant as a cadet at West Point) ; Roose- velt and Lodge's "Hero Tales from American History," pp. 239-248 (account of the Vicksburg campaign) ; Nicolay's "Abraham Lin- coln," pp. 264-269 (Grant at Fort Donelson) ; Coombs's "Ulysses S. Grant." Robert E. Lee: See Southworth's "Builders of Our Country," Book II, pp. 229-237; Gilman's "Robert E. Lee." "Stonewall" Jackson: See Hart's "Romance of the Civil War," pp. 266-269; Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero Tales from American History," pp. 213-223. David G. Farragut: See Southworth's "Builders of Our Coun- try," Book II, pp. 238-248; Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero Tales from American History," pp. 303-322; Hart's "Source Book," pp. 313-315; Hart's "Romance of the Civil War," pp. 362-366. 3. Tell the story of Clara Barton as illustrating the services rendered by women as Civil War nurses. See Southworth's "Builders of Our Country," Book II, pp. 252- 255; Hart's "Romance of the Civil War," pp. 416-418. 4. Give as many reasons as you can explaining why Lincoln is looked upon as one of the great figures of history. See Nicolay's "Abraham Lincoln," ch. xxviii ; Roosevelt and Lodge's "Hero Tales from American History," pp. 324-335; Hart's "Source Book," pp. 333-335; Southworth's "Builders of Our Country," Book II, pp. 206-216; Elson's "Side-Lights on American History," vol. ii, pp. 181-182. CHAPTER XXII RECONSTRUCTION IN THE SOUTH I. Problems of Reconstruction The Freedmen. — Though bowed by the sorrows of the Lincoln tragedy, the people of the North rejoiced that at last the specter of slavery had been laid. They turned to their accustomed work in fields and factories as if every- thing was settled. The more thoughtful in both sections, however, knew that it was one thing to break the chains of the slaves and a far more perplexing thing to find for them a proper place among citizens of the country. Millions of farm "hands" who had been bought and sold and who had been absolutely at the beck and call of their masters, were now freemen, at liberty to go where they pleased. This was a strange condition of affairs. It had come suddenly, — without warning or preparation. There they stood, poor people, with empty hands and untrained minds, helpless in a world which they did not understand, at a loss which way to turn. The federal government hav- ing abolished slavery, could not ignore the fate of the freedman. The Conquered States. — That was not all. What was to be done with the former Confederate states, and with the leaders of the Confederacy? Should those who had just been in arms against the authority of the nation be restored at once to their old powers and rights as citizens and voters? On these questions there was great difference of opinion. 430 RECONSTRUCTION IN THE SOUTH 431 I. Lincoln had taken a generous view. He held that the Confederate states had never been out of the Union in fact; that they had merely attempted to withdraw and had failed. He thought, therefore, that they should resume their proper places as quickly and as peaceably as possible. The Southern Soldier and His Home after the War When the Northern armies began to occupy seceded states, he proposed that just as soon as one tenth of the voters in each state would take an oath of loyalty to the Union, they should be permitted to reorganize the state government for themselves. If Lincoln had lived, it might have been possible to settle the troublesome matter this way; but his untimely death put the work of "reconstruction" into other hands. 2. Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania, Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, and other Republican leaders were deter- 2S-A. H. 432 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE i I mined that generosity should not mark the policy of the ! government toward the Confederate states. They said that the South had brought on the war and should be pun- ished for wrongdoing. In their view all the details of restoring the Southern states were matters for the federal government to settle. The abolition of slavery throughout the country in 1865 by an amendment to the Constitution of the United States was, in their opinion, proof that the rela- tion of freedmen to their former masters was subject to national, not state, control. When Congress met in Decem- ber, 1865, the Republican leaders refused to admit Senators and Representatives from the Southern states, and undertook to solve the problems of the South in their own way. The Fourteenth Amendment. — One of their first measures was a law establishing a Freedmen's Bureau, a division of the federal government with offices all through the South, through which aid was to be distributed to the negroes. A second important measure was another amendment to the federal Constitution — the Fourteenth — passed in 1866, rati- fied by the states, and proclaimed a law two years later. This amendment provided that all persons born or natu- ralized in the United States were citizens. All question as to whether the freedmen were bona-fide American citizens was thus removed. The amendment also declared in effect that negroes should not be deprived by the states of their civil rights in any arbitrary or irregular fashion. It excluded from Congress all men who had taken an oath to support the Constitution and then aided in the war against the United States, and it forbade the payment of any of the war debt incurred by the Confederate government or the seceded states. Negro Suffrage. — Another feature of the Fourteenth Amendment was the provision that, if any state excluded any adult males from the right to vote, its representation RECONSTRUCTION IN THE SOUTH 433 In Congress should be reduced. This was designed Indi- rectly to compel the granting of the suffrage to negro men In the South and in those Northern states, like Ohio, which still withheld it. Clever Republican politicians favored this because It meant a huge increase In the vote cast for their party. Other Republicans urged it on different grounds. Sumner, for example, pointed out that all negroes had been given the civil rights enjoyed by the whites, such as the right to go and come, and to buy and sell. Then he declared that the negroes' civil rights were not "worth a rush" without the right to vote for those who made the laws and enforced them, and that the suffrage, therefore, should be conferred on the negro men. He left the women to take care of their civil rights as best they could. Under this amendment the federal government sought to force manhood suffrage, white and black, on the South. So drastic an amendment would not have secured the approval of three fourths of the states If some of the Southern States had not been forced to ratify It In order to get back Into the Union. Military Rule in the South. — Congress then passed more drastic "Reconstruction acts" designed to settle the political problems of the South. Under these acts all the seceded states, except Tennessee, were laid out into military districts, each governed by a military officer supported by troops. Under them also, governments were established in the several Southern states, and the right to vote was given to all men, white or black, over twenty-one years of age — except those who had taken part in the war against the Union. In other words, a few white men and the mass of new negro voters were authorized to set up governments and in the course of time to come back into the Union as regular states. By this arrangement, the states, one by one. 434 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE were restored to their old position, until in 1870 they were all once more within the Union. The Impeachment of Johnson. — The various Reconstruc- tion acts were violently opposed by President Andrew Johnson, who, as Vice President, succeeded Lincoln in 1865. Johnson was a native of Tennessee. He had been opposed to slavery, but he had not been in favor of giving the government of the Southern states over to the negroes. He vetoed, therefore, every important measure passed by Congress dealing with the Southern problems, and savagely attacked the members of Congress in his public addresses. The measures were passed over his veto; and in February, 1868, the House of Representatives resolved to impeach him for high crimes and misdemeanors. In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution the trial took place before the Senate. After two months of wrangling the President was acquitted — by the narrow margin of one vote. II. Grant as President; the Rule of the "Carpet- baggers" Grant Elected President. — Determined to have a Presi- dent thoroughly in accord with their views, the Republicans nominated and elected, in 1868 and again in 1872, General Grant, whose great military prowess and successful conclu- sion of the war had made him a national hero. The Fifteenth Amendment. — The Republican leaders soon found that the Fourteenth Amendment, which threatened the Southern states with the reduction of their representation in Congress in case negroes were deprived of the vote, was ineffective. In spite of the amendment and the Reconstruc- tion acts, Southern white men kept negroes away from the polls whenever they could. The Republicans thereupon RECONSTRUCTION IN THE SOUTH 435 Ulysses S. Grant decided to have a law which would guarantee the vote to negroes, and passed in 1869 the Fifteenth Amendment, which declared in express terms that the states and govern- ment of the United States should never deprive any person of the right to vote on account of "race, [color, or previous condition of servi- tude." It was ratified by the states and proclaimed a law in 1870. The Disastrous Rule of the "Carpet-baggers," — The action of the Republicans in placing South- ern governments in the hands of former slaves and a few white men, who had not taken part in the Con- federacy, did not solve the problems created by the war and emancipation. Men who could not read or write and who had never had a dollar before were elected to state legislatures to aid in restoring order to the stricken land. Many self-sacrificing and conscientious people from the North went down to help in reconstruction. With them, unfortunately, went many rascals who were bent upon mak- ing money as fast as they could, and getting back North with their loot as soon as possible. These rascals were known as "carpet-baggers" because they were said to have brought nothing but carpet-bags (old-fashioned valises) with them. Negro leaders and carpet-baggers voted away great sums of money to rebuild the railways, bridges, and industries of the states. They also enriched themselves out of public funds, incurring millions of dollars of new debts; and, shameful as it is to relate, many of them stole large sums from the public treasuries, while bribing negro voters and legislators with petty payments. With the land laid 436 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE waste and the state governments weak and corrupt, the Southern cup of bitterness was full indeed. The Ku Klux Klan. — The white men, thus excluded from a share in their own government, decided to take the law into their own hands. Some of the more resolute formed ,iiiW Scene in New Orleans during the Rule of the Carpet-baggers secret societies — such as the famous Ku Klux Klan — for the purpose of restraining the negroes and keeping them away from the polls. Dressed in masks and long white robes, the clansmen rode about at night, warning carpet-baggers and their negro friends against interfering in matters of government. Sometimes they "tarred and feathered" or RECONSTRUCTION IN THE SOUTH 437 drove away those whom they marked out as their enemies. The country was aroused by reports of cruel deeds, and Congress passed more laws intended to protect the freedmen in their right to vote — but in vain. It was impossible to stamp out the secret societies. They struck such terror into the hearts of the freedmen that thousands of them gave up all attempts to take part in elections. White rule, thus restored in the South by violence, was then sealed by laws. Laws Depriving the Negro of the Ballot. — In the nineties state after state in the South enacted laws and constitu- tional amendments taking the ballot away from the negroes. Of course they could not say that negroes as such should not vote. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments forbade that. They therefore hit upon a number of clever devices to the effect that no man should vote unless : (i) he had a certain amount of property; (2) or could read a section of the state constitution or explain it, when read to him, in such a way as to satisfy the election officers;^ (3) or had been a voter in 1867 or was the son or grandson of a person entitled to vote on or before 1867 — the famous "grandfather clause" (declared void by the United States Supreme Court) ; (4) and had never been guilty of any crime such as wife beating, stealing, or obtaining money under false pretenses. It is easy to see how these schemes deprived the negroes of the ballot. Most of them had no property and therefore were disfranchised by the first provision mentioned above. If a negro was fortunate enough to have the required amount of property, he found it difficult to read a section of the state constitution or to explain it in a way that ' Some Northern states. Massachusetts and Connecticut for instance, have similar "educational" tests for voters. 438 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE satisfied the white election officers. At the same time these provisions did not disfranchise many white men. The poorest or most ignorant white man either could show that he or his father or grandfather voted on or before 1867 or could explain some clause of the constitution in a way that satisfied his white brethren. As a result of all these provi- sions the negroes were excluded from elections, especially in the states of the far South, and the dominion of white men was once more restored and made lawful. Questions and Exercises L I. How had Lincoln planned to "reconstruct" the Southern states? Contrast his plans with those actually carried out by Congress. 2. Read the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. (See Appendix, page 662.) Why were the Four- teenth and Fifteenth Amendments needed after the Thirteenth had been adopted? 3. What were the important differences between President Johnson's attitude toward reconstruction and that of the leaders of his party in Congress? 4. What is meant by "impeach- ment"? Describe the method that is followed in impeaching an officer of the government (see Article I, Section III, of the Constitution). II. I. Describe the rule of the "carpet-baggers." In what ways did the Southerners oppose this rule? In your opinion was this kind of opposition justified? 2. Why were the Ku Klux Klans organized? What did they do? 3. In what ways did the South succeed in keeping the negroes from voting? Problems for Further Study 1. Find the important facts about the life of Andrew Johnson. What were the strong and weak points in his character? In what ways was his life like Lincoln's and Andrew Jackson's? How did he differ from each of these men? See Elson's "Side-Lights on American History," pp. 184-189. 2. Charles Sumner was a prominent Northern leader in Congress OUTLINE FOR REVIEW 439 during the war and the days of reconstruction. Find out something about him. See Brooks's "Stories of the Old Bay State," pp. 217-223; Elson's "Side-Lights on American History," vol. ii, pp. 58-62. 3. The Southern states are to-day frequently spoken of as the "Solid South." What does this term mean? In what ways did the policy of the North in its attempts at reconstruction lead to a solid South? Outline for Review of the Slavery Problem, the Civil War, and Reconstruction (Chapters XX, XXI, XXII) I. Slavery becomes a national problem. A. Constitutional provisions regarding slavery. B. Abolition of slaves in the Northern states. C. The "balance of power" between the slave states and the free states. II. Events leading to the war between the states. A. The Missouri Compromise. B. The abolition movement and its leaders. C. The development of cotton raising in the South. D. The Compromise of 1850. 1. California admitted as a free state. 2. The Fugitive-slave Law: the "Underground Railroad." E. The Kansas-Nebraska Act. 1. The Republican party organized. 2. Border warfare in Kansas. F. The Dred Scott Decision. G. The Lincoln-Douglas debates. H. John Brown's Raid. III. The political situation on the eve of the Civil War. A. The tariff and homestead issues. B. The rise of Lincoln. C. The division in the Democratic party. D. The political campaign of i860: Lincoln elected. 440 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE IV. The Civil War. A. The secession of seven Southern states and the organization of the Confederate States of America. B. Divided opinion in the North: the proposed Crittenden Compromise. C Lincoln's first inaugural. D. Fort Sumter surrendered. 1. The North aroused. 2. Four additional states join the Confederacy. E. Preparations for war: relative advantages of the North and the South. J^. The campaigns of i86i and 1862. 1. Early Union reverses in the East. 2. Union successes in the West. G. The Emancipation Proclamation. H. The war on the water. /. The campaigns of 1863. 1. Renewed disasters in the East. 2. The battle of Gettysburg. 3. Vicksburg surrendered. 4. The battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga. J. The campaigns of 1864 and 1865. 1. Grant in command of all Union armies. 2. Sherman's march. 3. Grant in Virginia. K. The assassination of Lincoln. L. The cost of the war. M. Women and the war. V. Reconstruction in the South. A. Problems of reconstruction. B. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. 1 OUTLINE FOR REVIEW 44 1 C. Military rule in the South and its consequences. D. The struggle between President Johnson and Congress: the impeachment, trial, and acquittal of Johnson. E. The campaign of 1869: Grant elected. F. The Fifteenth Amendment. G. The rule of the "carpet-baggers": the Ku Klux Klan. H. Laws depriving the negro of the vote. Important names: Presidents: Taylor and Fillmore (1849-1853), Pierce (1853- 1857), Buchanan (1857-1861), Lincoln (1861-1865), Lincoln and Johnson (1865-1869), Grant (1869-1877). Other Political Leaders: Davis, Douglas, Garrison, Fremont, Seward, Alexander H. Stephens, Greeley. Military and Naval Leaders: Grant, Lee, Sherman, McClellan, "Stonewall" Jackson, Sheridan, Johnston, Farragut, Meade, Hooker, Thomas, Early. Important dates: 1820; 1850; 1854; April 14, 1861 ; January I, 1863; July 1-3, 1863; April 9, 1865. I r CHAPTER XXIII THE RISE OF THE NEW SOUTH I. The South in Ruins at the Close of the War When the soldiers of the Northern armies returned victorious from the fields of battle, they found prosperous farms and busy factories awaiting their home coming. A Street in Richmond after the Close of the War When the soldiers of the Southern armies returned home, they found waiting for them such a task as had seldom confronted any people in all the history of the world. The scene can best be drawn in the language of a distinguished Georgian, Henry W. Grady: Let me picture to you, the foot-sore Confederate soldier as , , . he turned his face southward from Appomattox in April, 442 i I THE RISE OF THE NEW SOUTH 443 1865. . . . What does he find . . . when he reaches the home he left so prosperous and beautiful? He finds his house in ruins, his farm devastated, his slaves free, his stock killed, his barn empty, hia trade destroyed, his money worthless ... his people without law or legal status, his comrades slain, and the burdens of others heavy on his shoulders. Crushed by defeat, his very traditions j^one; without money, credit, employment, material training; and besides all this, confronted with the gravest problem that ever met human intelligence — the establishing of a status for the vast body of his liberated slaves. The Burdens of the Freedmen. — The condition of the former slaves was pitiable in the extreme. While the great war was being waged, the slaves generally remained on their masters' plantations and worked as faithfully in the fields as of old. For this devotion to their masters, Mr. Grady paid them this tribute : We remember with what fidelity for four years he guarded our defenseless women and children whose husbands and fathers were fighting against his freedom. To his credit be it said that whenever he struck a blow for his own liberty he fought in open battle, and when at last he raised his black and humble hands that the shackle: might be struck off, those hands were innocent of wrong against his helpless charges and worthy to be taken in loving grasp by every man who honors loyalty and devotion. When the war was over and the former slaves realized that they were free, the majority of them knew not where to turn; and as ancient habits of life could not be changed by a mere decree of law, they continued to live in their old cabins. Now, however, the cabins and lands belonged to their masters, and they had no right in them except as renters or wage workers. Of renting and wages they knew nothing. Ignorant of the fact that freedom did not mean idleness, many of them fondly imagined that they were to have a life of ease. In this they were encouraged by agitators, who told them that the government would give 444 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE them cabins and lands, so that they could be their own masters and work or not as they liked. The cruel joke, which was widely circulated, only made matters worse, because it disheartened them all the more to be vainly ' waiting for the "free land" that was never given to them. Those of a more adventurous turn of mind left their old plantations and flocked to the towns in search of excite- j ment or work. They wandered in the highways and byways, nearly always begging, and often stealing. When they went into the towns they crowded of necessity into the meanest quarters, living in wretched huts and shanties where many died from fevers and other diseases. Starvation in Many Places. — So great was the distress in many places that the federal government was forced to open stores for the free distribution of food to the starving, and the state legislatures voted money to feed the poor. In the state of Georgia, where bad crops added to the misery of the people, 13,000 freedmen and 38,000 whites were given aid by the government in the single month of September, 1866. II. The Development of Farming and Manufac- turing The Reconstruction of the Planting System. Breaking up the Estates. — In the midst of all these discouragements, the people of the South began the work of restoration. The first big problem confronting former masters was how to get the land tilled. Finding it difficult to secure the stock and tools and to induce the negroes to work in the old way, they were often forced to break up their plantations into small farms. In i860 the average holding of land in the South was about 335 acres; by 1900 it was less than 140 acres. The Development of the "Renter" System. — Two systems ^ of farming sprang up. One of them was the "cropper" or I THE RISE OF THE NEW SOUTH 445 "renter" system. According to this plan the plantation owner laid out his estate in small plots and rented each plot to a negro family. As the family had no live stock, tools, or seeds, the owner advanced these on the under- standing that the renter would pay for them when the crops were sold. The family had nothing to live on until the crop was harvested, and it became necessary for the owner Threshing Rice on a Southern Plantation to advance money to buy food and clothes. Thus the renter or cropper was always, or nearly always, in debt to the owner before he began to work. In return for the use of land and tools, the land-owner was to receive a certain portion of the crop raised on the plot. As the negro was unable to read and write and to keep books, he could not tell how his accounts stood. As long as he was in debt, he and his entire family had to remain and till the fields of the owner. The Independent Negro Farmer. — Notwithstanding the heavy handicaps, many negroes did manage to accumulate a few dollars and to start farming on their ovv^n land, or at least on land which they held under mortgage. By the year 1900 it was estimated from the census returns that there were nearly two hundred thousand small farms in the 446 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE South owned by negro farmers either outright or under mortgage. At the same time more than half a million negro families were still working farms as croppers or renters on the share plan. Wage Labor on the Plantations and Farms. — The remainder of the negroes, who continued to liv^e in the country, were transformed into wage workers on the plan- tations and farms. Former owners or enterprising new- comers who bought up estates were often able to secure capital and engage in farming on a large scale. In such cases, the owners of the land hired negroes for daily wages to till the fields. The wages, even if all that the owner could afford to pay, were usually low, and negroes were frequently in debt to their employers on account of advances made for food and clothes. By this system the laborer was equally bound to the soil. He could not move away until his debts were paid, and often he could not manage to catch up with his debts, especially if there was sickness or accident in his family. The Revival of the Cotton Trade. — In spite of all these obstacles, the farm produce of the South soon increased with great rapidity. By 1879 the output of cotton was about 5,000,000 bales, or equal to the output of i860 — the eve of the Civil War. By 1904 the cotton crop reached the startling figure of 13,700,000 bales. Agricultural Problems Remaining. — Nevertheless the gains of the Southern farms during the half century after the war did not compare favorably with the gains in other sections during the same period. This was due largely to the old-fashioned ways of those who tilled the soil. At the opening of the twentieth century, leaders in the South began to realize more seriously than ever that farming was a science; that untrained people, white or black, could not increase their crops as long as they clung to wasteful THE RISE OF THE NEW SOUTH 447 methods; and that laborers on the land must be educated for their work. The Industrial Revolution in the South, Cotton Manu- factoring. — The upbuilding of agriculture, Important as it was, did not constitute the sole concern of the South. More and more attention was given to founding Industries. Cotton Regions of the United States Before the war Southern leaders were the plantation owners, many of whom looked down upon what they called the "vulgar arts of trade." Anyway, the employment of slaves to manage complicated and expensive machinery was not thought practicable, and the white people were not eager to leave their farms to work In the mills. After the war, however, capitalists, often from the North, began to build cotton mills in the South, especially m the hill regions where there was coal or water power and where there was a supply of cheap white labor. In the forty years between i860 and 1900 the number of cotton spindles In. the South multiplied more than twelvefold and the num- 448 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ber of employees in the cotton mills more than tenfold. In 1905 there were nearly 100,000 wage earners in the cotton mills of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The Iron and Steel Industries. — Southern business activity was by no means confined to cotton manufacturing. The South was rich in timber for shipbuilding, in pine forests producing tar and turpentine, in clays for tile and pottery, in marble quarries, in phosphate beds for fertilizers, and in coal and iron. Before i860 the South bought nearly all of her coal from Northern mines ; by the end of the century she was shipping coal abroad. Within twenty years after the surrender of Lee at Appomattox, iron and steel manu- facturers in Alabama and Tennessee began to push their outputs into markets all over the South and even into the North. In 1880 Alabama stood tenth among the pig-iron producing states; in 1890 it stood third. By 1910 the Southern states alone put out more coal and iron than all the Union did in 1870. Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Memphis, and Birmingham were then rivaling busy North- ern cities in their manufacturing establishments and their trading concerns. Birmingham was a great coal and iron center — the Pittsburgh of the South. The percentage of increase in the number of wage earners of the south Atlantic states between 1904 and 1909 was greater than in New England or the middle Atlantic states. The Development of Transportation Facilities. — Natu- rally the building of railways kept pace with the growth of Southern industries. The railway system, which had been badly wrecked by invading troops, was all made over, partly with the help of the federal government. Through- out the whole South the mileage rose from 11,000 in 1870 to 63,000 in 1 9 10. The railways also helped to develop the industries. They created a demand for iron and wood products. They advertised the advantages of the South THE RISE OF THE NEW SOUTH 449 I and invited Northern farmers to come down and help in the development of Southern resources. Transportation of cotton on the Mississippi River was greatly aided by the federal government, which established a River Commission in 1879, and began to build a system of levees to keep the turbulent waters from overflowing I i Loading Coiion on Mibbibbippi River Boats ai ^^Ew ORi^EANb their banks and flooding the farms along the valley. The channel was dredged and straightened in many places, and by an ingenious system of dikes or "jetties" the mouth of the river was cleared and kept free from the mud which had hitherto hindered navigation. This was of great help to New Orleans, now growing into one of the important ship- ping ports of the world. With the opening of the Panama Canal, the Southern ports, especially Mobile, New Orleans, and Galveston, looked forward to a rapid growth of their shipping enterprises. Changes in the Life of the People. Industrial Wage Workers. — The great evolution in industry and agriculture 29-A. H. 450 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE deeply affected Southern life and labor. (i) It made a demand for skilled labor. When the white people went into the factories, they began to form trade unions to fight battles for higher wages, shorter hours, and better conditions in the mills, just as the workingmen of the North had done years before. (2) In some respects this widened the » ^-^prfysrs' si^r^i The Custom House at Charleston, an Exceeeent Type oe Federal Building gulf between the white people and the negroes, because the former were not willing to admit the latter to their unions or to permit them to hold the better jobs in the industries. (3) The growth of manufacturing also began to attract to the South some of the immigrants from Europe. Growth of New Problems. — The advance of industry shook thousands of Southern people out of their old habits of life and forced them to think about the industrial prob- lems which had so long disturbed the North : about trade unions, the education of all the people, the government of cities, the regulation of railways and industries, the prohibi- I I I THE RISE OF THE NEW SOUTH 45 1 tion of child labor, and kindred matters which had not troubled the South in the old days. The Planting Aristocracy Reduced in Power. — Perhaps the most significant of the many changes was the decline in the power of the planting aristocracy. There had long been in the South thousands of independent and thriving white farmers, who owned no slaves and who often looked with disfavor on the system. But for the most part they had accepted the leadership and control of the powerful planters. As a well-informed Southern writer, Edgar Gardiner Murphy, has said of the ''common people" : Many of them voted . . . but as a whole they stood aloof; they were supposed to follow where others led ; they might furnish the ballots, but the "superior" class was supposed to provide the candidates for important offices. There was no intimate or cordial alliance between their forces and the forces of the aristocracy. Multitudes of them were left wholly illiterate. When slavery was abolished and the former owners fell into poverty themselves, the white farmers and the poorer white men began to get more power in politics. They had fought gallantly in the war against the invading armies from the North, and they could no longer be denied a share in Southern leadership and control. In the struggle to over- throw negro dommion, established by the federal govern- ment during the days of reconstruction, all the white people, rich and poor, were united; and after it was over the latter were unwilling to accept the inferior position which they had formerly occupied. The power of the planter was further reduced by the rise of a class of wealthy manufacturers and business men who could not be lightly brushed aside by political leaders. Thus the strength of the old aristoc- racy was broken and the "plain people" began to rule in the South. 452 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE III. The Race Problem The Condition of the Negro on the Land. — From the days of reconstruction down to the present time, the problem of the negro has remained perplexing and troublesome. Beginning in the depths of poverty, the freedmen had a "hard row to hoe." It was not surprising that, at the end of the century, the negroes of the South, who formed The Percentage oi- Negroes in the Total Population of Each State of the United States a third of the population, owned only one fortieth of the property. Division of Opinion among the White People. — Proper treatment of the negroes is still one of the grave questions of the South, and Southern people are naturally much divided over it. There is no doubt that the "new democracy" of plain people — farmers and workingmen — is in many respects not so generous to the negro as the plant- ing aristocracy had been. Moderate people believe that I THE RISE OF THE NEW SOUTII 453 the negroes should have opportunities to earn a fair living and receive education to make them skillful in trades and farming. A third and important group of people want to see the negroes do more than merely earn a decent living; hope that they may become more intelligent and more enterprising; and are eager to aid them in improving their life at home and in the fields or factories. Division of Opinion among the Negroes. — The negroes themselves are divided as to the best way to help their race. One party chafed at the restrictions imposed on the negro — the denial of the right to vote, the separate railway coaches, and the other signs of inferiority — and demanded equality of rights at once. Another party sought to teach the negro how to work with his hands and his head, and to acquire the skill and wages or property which would give him a position of independence and self-respect in the community. Questions and Exercises I. I. Imagine yourself a Southern soldier returning to his home at the close of the Civil War. Describe the condition of the country and the changes that the war had brought. 2. Contrast with the experience of a Northern soldier returning to his home in the North or the West. 3. Make a list of the important difficulties that confronted the freedmen in gaining a livelihood. II. I. What is meant by the "renter" system? By the "wage" system? By "peonage"? 2. Why had manufacturing not been greatly developed in the South before the Civil War? What manufacturing industries grew up after the war? How did this development affect the negroes? The poorer white people? The planting aristocracy? III. I. What is the present attitude of the Southern white people toward negro suffrage? Toward the education of the negro? 2, Compare the views of negroes regarding their own problems. 454 i"^^ HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Problems 1. Find all that you can about the life and work of Booker T, Washington. Find what other colored men have gained distinction because of their services in improving the condition of their people. See Booker T. Washington's "Up from Slavery," especially chs. i, ii, iii, iv, vii, xii. 2. Compare the effects of the industrial revolution in the South after the war with the effects of the industrial revolution in the North much earlier. (See Chapter XVI.) CHAPTER XXIV THE GROWTH OF THE FAR WEST I. The "Far West'' in i860 In i860 the Great West beyond the Mississippi Valley was almost unknown to the residents on the Atlantic sea- board. Of course there had been published many tales of the grand rush to California after the discovery of gold, of the opening of the rich Comstock silver lode in Nevada in the late fifties, of occasional brushes with the Indians on the plains, and of daring travelers who had hazarded the perds of the deserts and mountains to reach the Pacific. Only a few persons, however, realized that the vast regions over which the buffalo and coyote roamed undis- turbed could soon become the seat of numerous and prosperous states. There was no railway connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific. In their westward march, railway builders had reached only as far as St. Joseph, Missouri. More than two thousand miles of trail and mountain passes lay between that straggling Missouri town and San Francisco. The journey was long and dangerous. It was the lucky traveler who escaped unscathed the perils of the desert, the snow-bound mountain passes, and the marauding Indians. The Geography of the Region. — Between the frontier states — Minnesota, Iowa, and Texas — and the two states on the Pacific, California and Oregon, which had been admitted by 455 456 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE i860, lay a vast region almost equal in area to all the older eastern states combined. C A N f 4 T /'*'^''*f'"S "^^-v-v f^ \_^ ^ "'CN 4 ^° Z^ ^^ J-' — ^ / /T _( J-' J y^^^T^ v-^ 5<^^ .^^'T^Cr^^^^^iivj n \ ^ /n/ / > ^^ "^ vv \ f ^T ^.v^'^.hA ^^)^ V- J "^ /? "^ aT \ * 1^^ ^{ / '\\. HnZ"^' I\ * vr WISCONSIN 7 ^\ ^ so^"^ W>!??K^>'> . I T^ ■™j \^ ^-,-=-_ If ^^Vv^BuBiXA \^ I XvfchH'x/iCu'''^^ ^ N MilwauW ^^. / — ^^^^Nri / U /^Z^^ ir--^"^v. ILiaiLsJ^**''* i .~e£^f>Pr^^;>^^ \ ■V ^^j^^^^"^"^ ^ IOWA ,C.^!\-^ IjJ^ ^^^^^^^'^ { ^~^^^^ iU>r fN A ', 9j^5fA^/!i$-^w^^''_. / >^^S-delp"- \ ^sj '/■ V /■ I Pl-A., txir^l ?-^^^/ J Vr ""J£?^^'''5v J'tJ^KHVPHr r^v JrCZ/- k t -NllA^^aal^*'" IND. 1 ^~^t^(~ /V ' X ,— / — /^ T^- 1 MISSOURI >A. .Jk e nJt u c k y y/ "^ y_ nTo\ — i^ ^wL r-7/savaim«I» ^ H 1 --^-_3h- K-^ 1 ^i' 1^ TEXAS Louisiana/ / ^ ^i^:^ A, .(-f? / \ -'■^_1-^.^ ^/ "» li — I — ) wuYirr,,( F ^~r-° /C\ ' (' v\4: ^Xt.J ^ — *^ yx ■*/ ^\ ^ . LJ^ ^ b=^ y OrleanB \/ ^ V ^-^e?< ^ \ ^ V y^ fe? T \ GULP £• M E ^ I Q \, ' ^ VnSs. ftfg. Co.. ■S.I. Air.uoADs cii' THH United States in i860 Much of this territory was unlike the rich prairie of the Mississippi and Missouri regions. A large part of it was THE GROWTH OF THE FAR WEST 457 composed of plains and high plateaus where litde rain fell and where the vegetation was slight; indeed there were millions of acres of sandy desert on which hardly anything but sage-brush and cactus grew. Beyond the great plains lay the Rocky Mountains and far beyond the Rockies towered the Sierra Nevada, both ranges rich in gold, silver, copper, lead, and coal. Beyond the Sierra was the fertile Pacific slope, much of which was well watered by streams, while the remainder could be tilled as soon as irrigation plants could be built. In the valleys of the Columbia, Willamette, Sacramento, and San Joaquin rivers were millions of acres as fertile for wheat growing as any of the black prairies in the Illinois or Missouri country. Communication with the Pacific Coast. — One thing was essential to the opening of the Great West. That was quicker communication. In i860 two energetic men made a start by establishing the famous "pony express." They bought six hundred bronchos and hired seventy-five light- weight riders. They laid out a line of travel along which each man should ride a hundred miles in the plains or forty miles in the mountains and then be relieved by another. Thus a continuous chain was made to the coast. At noon, on April 3, i860, the first pony express rider dashed out of St. Joseph, Missouri, amid music and cheers, carrying [with him a letter from President Buchanan to the Governor [of California. Ten days later an express rider, tired and ! dusty, galloped into Sacramento on his broncho with the dispatch. In December, i860. President Buchanan's message to Congress was published in Sacramento less than nine days after its delivery in Washington! Homesteaders and Prospectors. — The federal government helped to fill up the West by providing an easy way for the poorest of homeseekers to acquire land. In 1862 Congress 458 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE passed the famous Homestead Law permitting settlers to take up farms for themselves almost without cost. Under it any citizen, man or woman, over twenty-one, or any foreigner who had declared his intention of becoming an American citizen, was entitled to "enter" i6o acres of land on the government domain, free of all charges except a few dollars for land-office fees. Special favors were shown to soldiers and sailors of the Civil- War. While the homeseekers were hunting far and wide for fertile lands to settle, prospectors, with pick and shovel in hand, were climbing and delving in search of precious metals. In the early sixties they found great deposits of gold and silver in Nevada, Idaho, and Montana, and in a little while rich veins of copper were unearthed, especially in Montana. Silver was discovered in Utah, and thousands of miners invaded that territory, much to the dismay of the Mormons. II. New Western States and Territories Nevada. — In 1861, Nevada was separated from Utah and made a new territory. It was settled largely by miners and Mormons. Although it had only about forty thousand inhabitants, it was, three years later, admitted to the Union as a state. President Lincoln needed another state to make the three fourths necessary to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States abolish- ing slavery forever. Nebraska. — In 1867 Nebraska was admitted as a state. This region had been organized into a territory by the famous Kansas-Nebraska bill of 1854, which abolished the Missouri Compromise line, and did much to bring on the Civil War. Seven years later It was reduced In size, and when It came into the Union It had only 67,000 Inhabitants. THE GROWTH OF THE FAR WEST 459 Colorado. — A few years after Nebraska became a state, the people of Colorado asked for admission to the Union. Congress had given them territorial government in 1861, when the population consisted of several thousand miners and prospectors, many of whom had been drawn to Pike's Peak and the surrounding country by the discov^ery of gold and silver at Cripple Creek and Leadville. The capital, named Denver in honor of the Governor of Kansas, whence came some of the early settlers, was founded in 1858. Although much of the Colorado territory was broken up by high mountain ranges, there were vast plateaus and many valleys which attracted settlers and home makers, and by 1875 a population of more than one hundred thou- sand was claimed. The following year Colorado, to which has been given the name Centennial state, took its place among the states of the Union. The Western Territories in 1876. — A broad wedge of largely unoccupied territory separated the organized states of the Mississippi Valley from their sister commonwealths in the Far West. Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyo- ming, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Dakota, and Indian Territory, were still governed as territories. Their com- bined population in 1870 was under half a million — less than that of the little state of Connecticut. New Mexico with 91,000 inhabitants, and Utah with 86,000, with some show of reason, might have claimed a place among the states, because at that time Oregon was inhabited by only 90,000 people. Millers and Cattlemen. — This vast and sparsely settled region of territories was then in the second stage of its economic revolution. The firstcomers — the trappers, the hunters, and the explorers — had finished their work. Now the miners were busy with pick and shovel, ^nd the ranch- men and cowboys with their herds of cattle were roaming 460 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE over the great grazing plains, waging war on cattle-thieves and land companies. Farmers were hunting for home- steads wherever fertile fields could be discovered. Railway builders were also invading the domains of the cattle kings. Utah. — In the early eighties, Utah presented the elements of a well-settled, industrious community, but its admission to the Union was delayed on account of the continued "i^onnx^^ "^A-w .0 .v^^ Cowboys at the Round-up practice of polygamy by the Mormons, notwithstanding an act of Congress, passed in 1862, prohibiting it. In 1887 Congress passed a law authorizing the federal gov- ernment to seize the property of the Mormon Church if polygamy did not cease. Polygamy Abandoned; Utah Admitted as a State. — Meantime the "gentile" population increased in the terri- tory as industry and mining flourished. When the Mormons THE GROWTH OF THE FAR WEST 461 finally decided to abide by the law, Congress was at last induced to admit Utah as a State in 1896. Although the Mormons were early pioneers and home- stead makers in the Great West, their territory was, in fact, the last of the middle tier to receive statehood. In their search for a distant home, they had left the advancing frontier line far behind. The Dakotas. — To the northward the "course of empire" had been checked by the enormous Sioux Indian reservation in Dakota, but the discovery of gold in the Black Hills Mormon Tabernacle, Utah marked the doom of the redman's claims. Miners and capitalists demanded that the way be made clear for their enterprise, and the land-hungry were clamoring for more farms. Indeed, before Congress could act, pioneers were swarming over the regions around the Indian lands. Farmers from the other Northern states, as well as Norwegian, German, and Canadian immigrants, were planting their homesteads amid the fertile Dakota fields. 462 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE The Homesteaders in Dakota. — Under the Homestead Law of 1862 (see page 458), any thrifty person with a little money could easily establish himself and his family in a home of his own where he could make a living. Women had the same rights as men to "take up" lands. A railway advertisement of 1877, inviting settlers to come to Dakota, warned immigrants to arrive "by the first of May, if possible, in order to have time to select their land. The; Bad Lands, a Picturesque Region build a house, and be ready to commence breaking the prairie about the first of June." Many a settler, who had left the eastern coast early in the spring, found himself comfortably housed on the Dakota prairies with a fair crop laid by before snow fell. "Bonanza" Farms. — Not all the development of the Dakota country, however, was the work of small farmers and cattlemen. Often eastern capitalists bought ten, twenty, or fifty thousand acres, furnished the stock and tools, and rented the lands to tenants. Thus there sprang up in those fertile regions the large "bonanza" farms. Some of the big farmers located in Red River Valley, in Dakota, built their own barges and floated their grain to Fargo, THE GROWTH OF THE FAR WEST 463 the principal shipping point on the Northern Pacific Railroad. North and South Dakota Admitted. — In 1885, ^^e legis- lature of Dakota petitioned the Congress of the United States, asking that the territory be divided into two parts, and that each section be admitted as a state. Finding their plea for admission without avail, the voters of south- ern Dakota called a convention, in 1885, framed a constitu- tion, and threatened to come into the Union unasked. Moderate counsels prevailed. In 1887 the inhabitants voted in favor of forming separate territories, and two years later North Dakota and South Dakota were admitted to the I^Jnion. Washington and Montana. — Far over on the western coast the claims of Washington to statehood were urged. The population there had increased until it rivaled that of Oregon. In addition to rich agricultural areas, the terri- tory possessed enormous timber resources; and keen-sighted people foresaw a swift development of seaward trade. Prosperous seaport cities, Seattle and Tacoma, had grown up, competing with Portland and San Francisco to the south, and Spokane was becoming the metropolis of the "Inland Empire" between the Cascades and the Rockies. Between Washington and the Dakotas lay the plains and mountain regions of Montana, now rapidly filling up with miners and capitalists exploiting the gold, silver, coal, copper, and other mineral resources, and contesting with the sheep and cattle kings for economic supremacy. After the fashion of enthusiastic westerners, the citizens of these territories early began to boast of their "enormous" popu- lations and their "abounding" wealth, and to clamor for admission as states. On February 22, 1889, Washington and Montana were admitted to the Union at the same time as the two Dakotas. 464 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Idaho and Wyoming^. — Looking with jealous eyes upon their successful neighbors, the two territories of Idaho and Wyoming redoubled their efforts in the battle for statehood. With the rest of the new Northwest, they were making rapid strides forward. In July, 1890, they were admitted to the Union, Wyoming bringing as voters the women, to whom suffrage had been granted in 1867. Indian Territory Opened to Settlement. — The onward marching white man now began to cast his greedy eyes upon Indian Territory, which had been set apart as an Indian Reservation in 1834. For a long time speculators and "boomers," as well as prospective settlers, had been coveting the lands in the Oklahoma district of the Indian Territory, and were continually breaking over the bound- aries. The federal government, weary of driving them off the forbidden grounds, decided to buy out the Indians and to open the region as Oklahoma Territory for settlement at noon on April 22, 1889. Oklahoma. — Thousands of people were camped as near as possible to the border line, awaiting the day and the hour when the opening was to take place, ready to rush in pell- mell and stake out the best claims. A bugle blast gave the signal that the Indian lands were free for settlement, and an army of men with families in wagons, men and women on horseback and on foot, burst into the territory. The first night cities of tents were raised at Guthrie and at Oklahoma City, and in ten days frame buildmgs appeared. These towns grew with amazing rapidity. In a single year they had schools, churches, several newspapers, and well- built business houses. Other towns in the territory grew with the same speed, and many of them were of substantial growth, although a number were "boom towns," which quickly fell into decay. Within fifteen years Oklahoma t THE GROWTH OF THE FAR WEST 465 had a population of over half a million. In 1907 It was admitted as the forty-sixth state. The new state Included nfmmmpwr The Rush to Oklahoma City Oklahoma City Four Weeks Later Oklahoma Territory and the remainder of the old Indian Territory. Arizona, New Mexico, and Alaska. — In 19 12, the last of the continental territories, Arizona and New Mexico, were 30- A. H. 466 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE granted statehood, making forty-eight states in all. In the same year Congress provided a territorial legislature for Alaska, which up to that time had been governed by a governor appointed by the President and Senate under acts of Congress. Alaska had been purchased from Russia in 1867 for $7,200,000. It contained more than 590,000 square miles, that is, an area more than twice the size of Texas; but at first it was called a "worthless iceberg." However, it removed another foreign neighbor — Russia — from our immediate vicinity, which was considered an important political stroke. A short time after the purchase, wonderful gold, silver, and coal deposits were found in Alaska, as well as productive fisheries and other resources. The people then realized that the "iceberg" was one of the valuable assets of the nation. III. The Problem of the Public Land Policies of Land Disposal. — In the development of the Great West the disposal of the public lands by the govern- ment of the United States was a matter of deep concern to the whole nation. In the beginning It was the policy of the government to dispose of the public lands in large sections, sometimes embracing millions of acres, to private companies and specu- lators who, in turn, broke up their purchases Into smaller plots and sold them to actual farmers and settlers. At the same time was adopted the practice of selling small holdings directly to actual settlers or farmers at a very low rate. From time to time, down until 1862, the federal govern- ment passed new laws making it easier for poor people to acquire small holdings of public lands In the West. In 1862, as we have seen, came the great Homestead Act THE GROWTH OF THE FAR WEST 467 which enabled any person to secure practically free a farm of 160 acres. In addition to these laws, special timber and stone acts were passed, providing that lands not available for farming could be sold to lumber, stone, and mining companies and individuals at low rates. Tens of millions of acres were also given to railroad companies to help them construct railway lines in the growing West. Furthermore enormous grants were made to the states for educational purposes. The Evils of Land Monopoly. — The government's land policy helped millions of men and women in the East and in the Old World to secure free or cheap homesteads m the West. The purpose of the Homestead Act was to encourage the upbuilding of the West by free home-owning farmers. Nevertheless, land speculators and companies, often by fraudulent means, secured millions of acres of land intended for actual settlers and transformed them into great estates tilled by tenants. These speculators employed men to enter farms under the Homestead Act, and then sell the land immediately to a company. It was estimated that at the opening of the twentieth century fifty-four individuals and companies owned more than twenty-five millions of acres of western lands — an area greater than seven of the more populous eastern states. Their great domains, outrivaling in size and value the estates of the European nobility, were sometimes obtained through flat violation of the federal law. The Roosevelt Public Land Commission. — The Govern- ment Public Lands Commission, appointed by President Roosevelt, after a long and careful study of the matter said that the effect of the land law was, far too often, "to bring about land monopoly rather than to multiply small holdings by actual settlers." It also added that there were too many speculators and not enough homes on former 468 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE government lands, and that many tracts were fraudulently held. Further Disclosures. — The report of President Roose- velt's Land Commission was supplemented In 19 14 by the report of President Wilson's Industrial Relations Com- mission, which brought out the following startling facts : 1. Vast estates were tilled by day laborers, who were paid shamefully low wages. 2. Where the estates were let to small farmers, tenants often had to pay such high rents that they were scarcely able to make ends meet. 3. The owners of many huge estates lived in the East or in Europe, and seldom saw their property or took any interest in It except to secure the largest possible profits from it; in other words, the United States had "an absentee landlord" problem like that of Ireland. 4. Many of these vast estates were managed by over- seers whose principal concern was to please their employers by wringing as much profit as possible from the day laborers. The Spread of the Tenant System. — It Is not only on these great domains, originally acquired from the federal govern- ment, that tenant farming exists. Indeed, it is steadily increasing in the older eastern states as well as in the West and Southwest. In many states the number of actual home- owning farmers is steadily decreasing and their places are being taken by renters. To some extent this has been due to the fact that prosperous farmers often retire to the towns in their old age and rent their lands. In part It is due to the lack of educational opportunities and training in farm management. Whatever may have been the cause, the striking fact remains that at the opening of the twentieth century only twenty-nine per cent ot the people of the United States owned their own homes. TME GROWTH OF. THE FAR WEST 469 Wasteful Agricultural Methods. — In view of the popular indifference to the serious growth of tenant farming, it Is not surprising to find a similar indifference to all manner of waste in the treatment of the soil. As some one has said, the western pioneers "mined the land"; that Is, they planted profitable crops that took all the fertility out of the soil — just as the miners took the coal out of the earth — and left it barren, moving on to new and fertile regions. Where the timber was cut in a thoughtless way, the rains washed the rich topsoll Into the creeks and rivers, and carried down to the sea the fertile earth that would have produced millions of dollars' worth of grain and fruits. In the Far West, also, the pasture lands were often ruined by the so-called "cattle barons" who, in their haste to make fortunes out of their herds, permitted the stock to destroy all the herbage and ruin the water holes. Mismanagement of Timber and Mineral Lands. — The gov- ernment was equally careless in the disposition of timber and mineral lands. Railway and lumber companies were permitted to acquire enormous areas, to cut timber at will, and to monopolize Immense lumber resources. In the early days companies and individuals were allowed to acquire, for a pittance, great waterfalls, in order to employ the power for driving machinery or making electricity. If the government had been careful in the management of the water power on Its domains, this "white coal" would have brought millions of dollars Into the public treasury, and power sources acquired only to prevent competition might have been put to use. The same may be said of valuable mineral lands which were sold at trivial prices to private persons and companies. At the opening of the twentieth century, the government was compelled to devote a great deal of attention to correcting as far as possible the mistakes of the past and 470 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE to "conserving natural resources" for wiser uses in the future. Questions and Exercises I. I. Mark on an outline map the region of the Far West that was practically unsettled at the time of the Civil War. How large was this region as compared with the settled part of the country? 2. How was communication maintained with the Pacific coast before the days of the railroad and telegraph? 3. What were the important provisions of the Homestead law? Why was the government so generous in giving land to settlers? n. I. How did it happen that Nevada was admitted as a state so long before many of the territories to the east of it? 2. What led to the early settlements in Colorado? Why is Colorado called the "Centennial" state? 3. What people had first settled Utah? Why was the admission of Utah as a state so long delayed ? Under what conditions was it finally admitted? 4. What led the settlers at first to avoid the Dakotas? When were the Dakotas finally admitted ? 5. At what time did Washington and Montana become states? How long before this had Oregon been admitted? 6. Why was the present state of Oklahoma formerly known as "Indian Terri- tory"? How did it come to be settled by white people and admitted as a state? 7. What are the youngest states of the Union and when did they become states? 8. How did this country come into posses- sion of Alaska? What was thought of this region at the time? Why has this opinion changed? HI. I. In what way did the land companies succeed in getting possession of public lands? What were the evils of this "land monopoly"? 2. What is meant by a "tenant" farmer? Why has the number of such farmers increased during recent years? What are the dangers of having so much land farmed by those who do not own it? 3. Why should a country be particularly careful not to waste its forests? Why is it unwise to let corporations secure permanent or long-time possession of water-power? I THE GROWTH OF THE FAR WEST 471 Problems for Further Study 1. Imagine yourself taking a trip by stage coach from St. Joseph to San Francisco at the time of the Civil War. Describe how you would have traveled and what you, would have been likely to see. See Hitchcock's "The Louisiana Purchase," ch. xv; Mark Twain's "Roughing It," chs. i-viii. 2. In what different ways did the geography of the Rocky Mountain country (the surface, rainfall, rivers, etc.) influence the settlement of this region? See your geographies; also Brigham's "Geographic Conditions of American History," chs. viii and ix. 3. Look up stories of life on the homesteads and ranches of the West, such as Hamlin Garland's "Son of the Middle Border." CHAPTER XXV THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY The government, in order to keep the armies in the field during the Civil War, called for immense supplies of iron, steel, wagons, cotton and woolen cloth, hardware, railway materials, arms and ammunition, as well as immense stores of flour, bacon, and other farm produce. As a result of this extraordinary demand, the building of railways, the opening of mines, the erection of factories, and the invention of won-derful machines and labor-saving devices went on with marvelous speed. Within a few years the value of farms was far exceeded by other kinds of property; such as railroads, mills, mines, city office buildings, and investments in industries of all kinds. It is impossible in a brief book like this to describe the great strides taken in American industry and commerce since i860. There are, however, several "basic industries," so called because they are the foundations of nearly all of the other industries, which require special mention. Among these are included iron, steel, copper, coal, oil, and textile industries. I. The Development of Manufacturing and Mining The Age of Iron and Steel. — Many writers truly speak of this as the iron age, and a little thought will show how dependent the nation really is upon this industry. Without It no railway lines could bind the East and the West, the 472 THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 473 North and the South. It affords the framework for sky. scrapers in the cities, materials for bridges, factory buildings, engines, machines, and agricultural implements. Without iron and steel the United States could be only a farming country, with crude methods of farming and with stage- coaches and wagons for transporting passengers and goods. Continued Dependence on Europe. — The immense orders for guns, engines, rails, and other war materials, from MONT. . / ARIZ. / N. MEX. ! "- ^._ ! / ■ .:V-\ V / ! 1 ARK. r- \-:: :^ ^S.^-, ■■~'t -Lss.!/:". V G^•" TEXAS " >. tA. I- Wms. Eng. Co.. N.y. Iron Deposits of the United States 1 86 1 to 1865, gave a great impetus to the iron and steel industry of Pennsylvania, which was the chief seat of that business. The masters and men in the foundries, though straining every nerve to meet the increasing demands upon them, could by no means supply the home market. Before i860 the American railway companies had been compelled to look to England for most of their steel rails and locomo- tives, and for twenty years after that date the United States, in spite of the tariff, imported several hundred thousand tons of rails annually. 474 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE New Discoveries and Rapid Development. — About 1870 the iron ranges of the Lake Superior region were discov- ered and ore was shipped in huge quantities to the works at Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Chicago. The South also began to do her share, for rich deposits of iron were unearthed in West Virginia, Tennessee, and Alabama. To transform the ore into pig-iron and steel, great iron mills were erected in those regions. Steel Making in Pennsylvania Mills The iron mills of Pennsylvania also steadily enlarged their production. By 1895, the importation of steel rails from abroad had nearly ceased and thousands of tons were being sent out to supply the markets of the world. At the begin- ning of the twentieth century, the output of American steel was greater than that of Germany and Great Britain com- bined, and the annual export of steel from the United States was larger than that of the world's workshop. Great Britain. The Development of Other Mineral Industries. Oil. — The development of other mineral resources kept pace with iron and steel. Petroleum was discovered in Pennsylvania in 1859, and during the war it was extensively used by the government. The oil regions of Pennsylvania were soon I THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 475 dotted with derricks and wells. By 1872 petroleum stood fourth in rank among American exports. Refineries were early established in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and in Clev^eland, Ohio, to transform the crude oil into kerosene, gasoline, and other products. The famous Standard Oil Company operating one of two hundred fifty refineries, produced. In 1870, only about four per cent of the total out- put. Within fifteen years It had become the leading com- pany In the United States and controlled about ninety-five per cent of the supply. From the East, the oil Industry spread into the South and West, — Texas, Oklahoma, and California, where are now the most productive oil fields. Coal. — By 1890 the annual production of anthracite and soft coal and iron ore exceeded the wildest dreams of the miners of old days. New fields were opened by prospectors in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Ala- bama, and Colorado; and regions that had formerly been a wilderness or farming land, were transformed into manu- facturing and mining districts. Gold. — To the wealth drawn from the ground in the East were added the precious metals of the West. The gold fields of California had been seized when the rush of miners came In 1849; but In a little while prospectors had pushed out into the mountain ranges of Nevada, Idaho, Montana, and Colorado, where they found treasures that made the fortunes won by Cortez and PIzarro in Mexico and Peru look paltry. Copper. — About the time that the Lake Superior Iron region was opened up, copper deposits were discovered in the same district, and the mines of northern Michigan pro- duced, in 1875, more than sixteen thousand tons of copper — almost the entire output of the country. This supply was vastly Increased a few years later by the discovery of new deposits in the mountain ranges of the West — Montana, Utah, Arizona, and Colorado. 476 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE The Development of the Textile Industries. — The same story of progress may be told of cotton and woolen goods. New England manufacturers steadily increased the numbers of their spindles and looms, particularly at the great centers, — Manchester, Lawrence, Lowell, Providence, and Fall S'?^ ; ) ' '^ f N.^OAK. '■ v-ljl fi.DAK \ 1% I COLO.o"* j KAN. ^' j ^ < \r (t^-l-L-f ~ — p^; - ^--—/jy ^^ TEXAS (? ' ' "^ IH Arithracite ^•:-v'?>^ Bituminous I'-l ; .] Suhbituminous & Lignite Wtns. Eng. Co., N.V Coal Deposits of the United States River, — until by the close of the century the United States was making about ninety per cent of all the cotton cloth which it used and was exporting huge quantities. Long before the close of the century. Southern mills, mainly in North and South Carolina, began to rival the New England factories by turning out millions of pounds of cotton yarn annually. As for carpets, some one has estimated that the yearly output of American looms would stretch twice around the globe. Philadelphia became the greatest carpet- manufacturing center. The Extent of Industrial Progress. — Space will not per- mit us to record the other developments which wrought THE TRIUiMPH OF INDUSTRY 477 a revolution in the life and labor of the people, but we may sum up the results roughly: In 19 lo the value of American industries was more than six times their value in i860. In 1900 there were fifteen groups of industries each of which produced more than a billion dollars' worth of goods annually. The list included iron and steel, textiles, lumber, and food products. I \ T \ MONT. I N. DAK. \ °%^o, / \ » j (.:..< - / '°^Ho ! j S. DAK. 1 S. V.1S. WVO. ! _Z_. j ^"^ / - 1 1._ o / i NEv. j "r'~ • •\ O / OTAH /• COLO •9 \ I O j I ^r 'N \ ]• r-»i^>iT/»^e#. CW I \ IOWA j _>> ]^^^-^ M •«.>•• ^ J i„ 1 * I KAN. MO. lo!^--' KY. >v-- •j3jr^ k. • $150,000,000 © $112,500,000 to $1:0,000,000 9 $75,000,000 to $112, 500, 000 O $37,500,000 to $75,000,000 O Less than $37,500,000 \ ^^/''•^ ARK. /-■ '[~'*T { )» 1 ' \ LA.L.-, • r Distribution of Manufacturing in the Uniti;d States (Annual Vaeue) The value of the annual output of mines and factories is far greater than that of all the farms stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Moreover, the center of manufac- turing has moved slowly westward until it is now in the state of Ohio. II. The Development of Transportation The Development of Railroads. — This extraordinary revo- lution in all parts of the country would have been impossible if it had not been for the rapid building of railways and canals and the growth of coast, lake, and river shipping. 478 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE \ THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 479 In i860 there were only 30,000 miles of railway lines in the United States. By 19 10 there were 242,000 miles. The early builders of railroads naturally turned their attention to the construction of lines between important eastern cities, such as Boston and Albany, Philadelphia and Reading, New York and Buffalo. By i860 the great cities of the East like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia were connected by various routes with Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, Indian- apolis, and St. Louis; and pioneers in railway building had even advanced more than a hundred miles beyond the Mississippi. Chicago was linked with New Orleans; Savan- nah with Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Nashville, The First Transcontinental Railroad ( i86g). — The great triumph came with the opening of the Union Pacific Rail- road. The necessity of binding the country together with a "cross continent" line was early recognized by business men. In 1862 Congress chartered the Union Pacific Railway Company, giving it the right to build tracks through the public domain and making it a large loan of money and gift of land. The line was constructed by two companies: one working westward from Omaha, Nebraska; the other east- ward from Sacramento, California. The two construction companies met near Ogden, Utah, in 1869, and it was announced to the world that the East and the West were bound together by "a band of steel that would never be broken." The Fever for Railroad Construction. — While this one grand line was being built across the continent, hundreds of short lines were being constructed in every direction, north and south. People everywhere invested money in railways, expecting to get rich in a hurry. Farmers and merchants along new lines bought the stocks and bonds. Cities, town- ships, counties, and states granted lands and voted money to companies in order to secure connections with one another and with the outside world. 48o THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 48 1 Government Subsidies for Building Railroads. — The fed- eral government, as well as state and local governments, paid a large part of the cost of many early railways. Congress either gave money or guaranteed bonds for rail- road companies to the amount of tens of millions of dollars, and then gave them enormous areas of land besides. Up to 1872, the federal government had granted in aid of railways 155,000,000 acres of land, an area estimated as "almost equal to the New England states, New York, and Pennsyl- vania combined; nineteen different states had voted sums aggregating $200,000,000 for the same purpose; and municipalities and individuals had subscribed several hun- dred million dollars to help railway construction." In 1890 it was estimated that the government had granted 337,740,000 acres of public lands to companies and to states for wagon roads, canals, river improvements, and railroads. This empire was equal to one sixth of the total area of the United States and three times the area of France. The Influence of the Railroads. — The great progress in American business was promoted by these lines of communi- cation running in every direction. They connected the farming regions of the western plains with the seaports of the East, enabling the farmers to rush their products into European markets and, in return, to receive the manu- factured products of the Old World and of the East. They encouraged the settlement of the far-off and back- ward regions, until almost every arable acre of the country was brought under the plow. They made it possible for the prospectors and miners who tapped the rich mineral resources of the earth to pour their heavy materials into the markets in every corner of the country. By linking all sec- tions they helped to bind them into a closer national unity. The Merchant Marine. — In aiding railway lines the gov- ernment did not overlook shipping along the American sea 482 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE coasts and on the Great Lakes. Special protection against foreign competition was granted. Between i860 and the end of the century that shipping multiplied threefold. Ship owners engaged in carrying goods from Boston to New York and to Charleston, for example, or from Chicago to Buffalo, steadily increased their business until their ships, in size, speed, and strength, were equal to the ocean-going liners. Where protection was not afforded, however — on the high seas — the tonnage of American ships engaged in foreign trade steadily declined, until about the close of the century it was less than half what it had been at the end of the Civil War. At the opening of the twentieth century more than nine tenths of the goods exported from, and imported into, the United States were carried in ships flying foreign flags. This decline of ocean-going American shipping was responsible for the constant demand that Congress should grant money to American business men who undertook to build and operate vessels across the seas. Such grants, known as "ship subsidies," were strongly opposed, chiefly by the West and South, on the ground that we should ship our goods In the cheapest way. They were warmly supported, however, in the seaboard states, and also by those who held that we should strengthen our navy by training up a body of able sailors In the merchant marine. It was not until President Wilson's administration that Congress voted money and provided aid In the construction of a high-seas marine. Changes Due to Development in Industry and Transpor- tation. — The changes in American life, which we have mentioned in Chapter XVII, became even more vital and more widespread. Instead of a handful of inventors, there was a great army; Instead of a few thousand miners and mill workers, there were millions; Instead of a few merchant princes, financiers, and captains of industry, there were THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 483 thousands. In the westward regions there was heard the roar of mills and furnaces. In the valleys and on the mountain-sides of Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Nevada, where in the days of Antietam and Gettysburg only the handiwork of nature was seen, there began to gleam the fires of the furnaces and smelters, and heaps of gray slag were piled so high that they almost rivaled the mountains. Where in Lincoln's day ran the pony express and the stagecoach, there now rushed swift trains bearing passengers and freight East and West. III. The Army of Industry : Inventors, Business Men, and Artisans The Great Service Rendered by Inventors. — Among the millions of individuals who worked in our great industries, we may put first the inventors, who are to be numbered literally by the tens of thousands. It seems hardly just to name any of them, for not one of the many inventions made in the last half century — the typewriter, tin can, telephone, phonograph, airplane, wireless telegraph, electric light, electric car, self-binding reaper, and automobile, to mention only a few — is entirely the work of a single inventor. The republic of inventors, like the republic of letters, is really universal, A need is felt, and a score or more of inventors, sometimes unknown to each other and living in different parts of the country or of the world, attempt to meet it. They gather ideas from the work of other thinkers and from writings of students. They experiment and make little gains here and there, one adding to the work of another, until at length a marvelous machine is produced. The Slow Accumulation of Improve^nents. — We associate with the name of Alexander Graham Bell, of Boston, the 31-A.H. 484 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE invention of the telephone, and we know that, in fact, he really brought it into human service, basing his achieve- ments on more than a century's experiments in the field of electricity. After Bell demonstrated the practical use of the telephone, hundreds of other inventors added to it, refining it here and there, until in 19 15 the continent was spanned, and the Mayor of New York was able to talk to the Mayor of San Fran- cisco. Who then devised the telephone which we use to- day? A thousand Inventors or more, most of them nameless and unhonored In the pages of history. What is the date of the Invention of the telephone? Super- ficial writers may fix It at 1876, when Bell made his first successful experiment over a few miles of wire; but the accurate historian will have to record that the Invention of the telephone covers more than a century, from the time when men first began to experiment with electricity, down to the latest hour. The same is true of other inventions. We speak of the Invention of the arc light by Charles H. Brush, of Cleve- land, Ohio, In 1878, and undoubtedly he was a great genius. Nevertheless his work rested upon older experiments with electricity, and was only the beginning of many Improve- ments. We associate the Invention of the Incandescent electric lamp, the phonograph, and the electric street car with Thomas A. Edison, the "Wizard of Menlo Park"; and yet justice requires us to say that Edison drew to his BelIv's First Telephone THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 485 aid the experiments and failures of hundreds of other inven- tors. He added ideas of his own. We think of the Wright brothers in connection with the airplane, but many- other inventors helped. The aluminum industry and the gas engine had to be brought to a high state of perfection before flying machines could be of practical utility. We commonly connect the invention of the wireless with the name of the Italian genius, Marconi, but he was only one among a large group of foreign and American workers who contributed to the solution of the problem. It was not until the electrical Industry was well advanced that It was possible to think of sending messages through vast spaces without the aid of wires. By the activities of hundreds of scientists and Inventors a new world of human endeavor was created. Scientific books and periodicals were published, and scientific instruc- tion was established in the schools and colleges. The thought, ingenuity, and hopes of millions were quickened, and the spirit of discovery and invention entered the very life of the nation. Thomas A. Edison. — One of the most Interesting and important facts about the Inventors Is that so many of them came from the common walks of life rather than from the "aristocracy of wealth and talent." Of this great army Thomas A. Edison may perhaps be placed at the head; although he, realizing how much there Is yet to be done in the conquest of nature's forces, is the most modest of men. He was born In 1847, ^t Milan, Ohio. He was not sent to school and college, but received such education as he had from his mother. His parents were poor, and when he reached the age of twelve he became a newsboy on the railway between Detroit and Port Huron, Michigan. His mind was always full of wonder, and he kept his eyes open watching everything that went on about him. Before he 486 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE had reached the age of twenty-one, he made two or three important Inventions. In 1869 he removed to the East, and began a long series of experiments which produced the many new devices and improvements on other inventions ( iiiji^ fi IK mmmmni n mm in mMfmm '•"''''«ifciii(ii|jjpiiiifii;i^^^ Epison in His Laboratory at West Orange, N. J. which are connected with his name; such as the incandes- cent electric light, the electric street railway, the phono- graph, the mimeograph, the storage battery, and the moving picture. The Work of the Business Men. — Before an invention can be widely used, a business must be organized to manu- THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 487 facture it in large quantities. So we must rank with the inventors the huge army of business men, merchants, manufacturers, and capitalists, who organized companies, raised the money, and brought together the supplies neces- sary to industry on a vast scale — "captains of industry" and "barons of finance" as they are sometimes called, richer and more powerful than kings of old. Some of these men had for a main purpose the making of large sums of money. Others had visions of mighty industrial organizations spanning the continent and spreading out into all portions of the world. Like the inventors, they began with little things and simple enterprises, and then advanced to larger and more difficult tasks. Take, for example, the first railway magnates. They thought that the construction of fifty or a hundred miles of railway was a great achievement. In time, however, came the Vanderbilts, the Goulds, and the Harrimans, who combined and organized thousands of miles of railways, bringing together under one company a mileage stretching more than halfway across the continent. Then there were manufacturers like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, who began with little things and gradually reached out in every direction, until they built up enormous business corporations, employing armies of workers and controlling vast resources. The Standard Oil Company is a kingdom in itself, with its innumerable wells, refineries, pipe lines, steamship"?, stores, and branch offices in ihe United States and in every part of the world. In Siam, India, China, Russia, and In the waste and out-of-the-way places of the earth, the signs of that great company may be seen. Then, again, there is the Bell Telephone Company, one of whose early managers had a vision of "a telephone link- ing every cottage, village, and city in the country." As a 488 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE result of this vision and the labors of the managers and employees, it is almost impossible to find any place of human habitation out of reach of the telephone. All this would not have been brought about if there had not risen also barons of finance like J. P. Morgan, who were able to collect millions and even billions of dollars to finance gigantic enterprises. The money power was concentrated in the business sections of cities with their stock exchanges, their brokers' ofl^ces, their banks and trust companies. The Service of the Laborers. — Last, but by no means least, was the still mightier army of laborers, men and women, skilled and unskilled, ranging from the low-paid wielder of shovel and pickax to the carefully trained scien- tist and mechanician. The industries described above could never have grown out of small proportions had it not been for the millions of laborers drawn from every clime — Irish, Germans, Poles, Hungarians, Italians, Bohemians, Czechs, Jews, Greeks, Slovaks, and the rest. Without this vast labor supply, the work of the inventors and the enterprise of the capitalists would have accomplished nothing. Without laborers, "King Industry" would have ruled over a shadow realm and his coffers would have been empty. The laborers were the people who mined his ores, dug his coal, built his railways, kept vigil at his humming machinery, operated his great furnaces, wrought his iron work, lifted up his towering sky-scrapers. They not only did his work; they peopled the industrial centers; they were the "plain citizens" upon whose conduct and character depended the very life of the nation. IV. The Results of Industrial Development The Development of the Export Trade. — Through the labors of its people the United States was enabled to take its place among the first industrial nations of the earth. THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 489 The products of mill and mine as well as those of the farm went into all corners of the earth. Business men searched for fresh opportunities to sell their goods and to invest their money, competing with the British and the Germans in Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Orient. They delivered shiploads of manufactured pro- ducts to European markets where their fathers had been only buyers. They unloaded at Liverpool steel billets at a price that frightened the English steel magnates, who, in older days, had found only customers in America. Thus the United States, in the search for markets and profitable investments, became a "world power." The "Frontier" Disappears. — Another chief result of this progress was the disappearance of the frontier and the backwoods. King Industry must view all of his dominion from the mountain top. There must be no precious metals or ores or waterfalls or mysterious places hidden to his gaze. His subjects search in the highways and byways, in the mountain passes, in the deserts and cafions, in the forests, by the seaside — everywhere, for nature's materials to transform, and for nature's resources to develop. Under his rule, railways, like a vast network of veins and arteries, run in ev'ery direction. The government comes to his aid, and by its rural free-delivery system, carries mail and gathers it up along the seldom trod pathways and in the prosperous farming regions. The governments, federal and state, spend millions of dollars building highways, open- ing up remote regions, where a generation ago the settlers for a week at a time never saw a stranger. Instead of the old toll roads of ten or twenty miles, there are stretches of macadam highways hundreds of miles long. As the backwoods regions were opened up, and cities built, the center of population moved westward. In 1800 it was a few miles west of Baltimore; In 1850 it was near 490 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE the border of southern Ohio; in 1880 it was beyond Cincin- nati; and, in 19 10, it was near Bloomington, Indiana. Business and Industry Gain on Farming The marvelous advance in industry and commerce brought in its train a revokition in American life. The United States was not to be what Jefferson had hoped: in the main, a nation of independent, home-owning farmers. The number of wage Wms.En8.Co.,N.T, Thjv Westward Movement of the Center of Population workers as compared with the farmers was to be larger and larger from decade to decade. Between i860 and the end of the century the total population of the United States increased about threefold, while the number of wage workers increased fivefold, that is, from 1,300,000 to 6,600,000. At the outbreak of the Civil War the great majority of voters were farmers and planters; at the opening of the twentieth century the business men and wage workers promised soon to outnumber the workers on the land. The Growth of the Cities. — The growth of industry also meant a steady increase in the number- of people living in THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 49 1 cities and towns. In i860, only about one sixth of the American people dwelt in towns of over 10,000. By the end of the century the proportion had grown to one third. The census of 19 10 recorded that nearly one half of the people lived in towns of 2500 and over. In Massachusetts, for example, more than nine tenths of the people lived in towns of over 2500; in New York the proportion was nearly eight tenths, and in Pennsylvania, six tenths. In the forty years between the first inauguration of Lincoln and the second inauguration of McKinley, Chicago grew from 110,000 to 1,700,000; New York from 1,200,000 to 3,400,000; and San Francisco from 57,000 to 343,000. Industrial Development Brings Many Evils. Poverty. — > The massing of the people in towns became very serious, especially because so many of them were poor immigrants who spoke no English and were accustomed to living on low wages. Being unable to seek employment themselves, they readily fell into the hands of "patrons" or "gang bosses" of their own countrymen, who farmed them out as laborers and took part of their wages. The people of each nation- ality tended to cling together and form a separate section of the population almost as much out of touch with Ameri- can life as though they were living in the Old World. Unskilled laborers often received low wages and were frequently out of employment; they were forced to live cheaply in crowded tenements; and they were the victims of poverty and disease. The industrial workers, being com- pelled to migrate from place to place in search of employ- ment, were unable to buy homes of their own, and from two thirds to nine tenths of them became permanent renters. Child Labor and Woman Labor. — The problems of the wage workers were all the more serious because the number of women, girls, and children employed out of their homes grew steadily from year to year. By 1870 about one seventh 492 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE of the women over sixteen years of age were employed in gainful pursuits, and in 1900 the number had increased to more than one fifth. In the latter year, about one third of the women of Philadelphia were employed for wages, and about one eighth of them v/ere working In factories. At the same time, 18,000 out of 42,000 women at Fall River, Massachusetts, were wage workers — about 15,000 of them in factories. Owing to the difficulties of forming unions among women, their wages, even for the same work as done by men, were in many trades very low, and their poverty was bitter in the extreme. Industrial Panics. The Panic of iSj^. — Americans rushed with such haste into constructing railroads, opening mines, and building factories, that they overdid things and every few years there was a big "smash" in business. In 1873 there came a great industrial "panic," which was attributed at the time to the building of more factories, mills, mines, and oil refineries than the demand for goods warranted. Moreover, there was so much capital invested in railroads that it was impossible for the traffic to pay interest on it. So it happened that hundreds of railroad companies were forced into bankruptcy. Some of them reduced the wages of their employees. This action brought on strikes, such as the famous strike of 1877 ^"^ ^^^ Pennsylvania Railroad. The Panic of i8g2—^. — Another great panic occurred in the early nineties, when business was paralyzed. Thousands of workmen were out of employment tramping the streets hunting for jobs, and strikes broke out all over the country. | It was then that a band of unemployed, led by "General" Coxey, marched to Washington to demand relief from the government. In such periods of business disorder serious havoc was wrought, particularly among the working people. The unemployed were often compelled to beg for bread; THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 493 homes were broken up because fathers had to go away from them to find employment; men and women, once honorable and honored, were often changed into beggars and thieves because they were in such desperate circumstances. The Waste of Natural Resources. The Forests and Mines, — While business men were pressing forward with their industries with so little heed to the lives of the working people crowded in the cities, they were equally reckless In using up the natural resources of the country. The fur- bearing animals were slaughtered to get as much immediate profit as possible for the fur dealers. All the great fishing grounds would have been ruined, had not the national and state governments established fishing commissions to re-stock the waters and keep up the supply. Millions of acres of timber were cut over In haste to make money; only the best trees were taken, and they were permitted to fall so as to Injure young growth. Careless woodmen allowed fires to sweep over thousands of acres, destroying millions of dol- lars' worth of timber. The same waste occurred in mining. In their hurry to make profits, the mining companies cut out only the best ores or the most profitable veins of coal, leaving in abandoned mines immense untouched stocks. In picturing the triumph of Industry, therefore, we must not leave out of our account the darker shades — the legacy of serious problems which it bequeathed to the future. We marvel at the ingenuity of the Inventors; we wonder at the colossal enterprises of the business men; and we admire the skill and swiftness of the Industrial workers. It Is fitting that we should do this; but we must remember that the thought and vigilance of generations of citizens will be taxed to the utmost to bring out of this mighty industrial revolution the best and happiest life for the millions who labor for their daily bread. L 494 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Questions and Exercises I. I. In what ways did the Civil War stimulate manufacturing in the North? What kinds of manufactured goods are increased in demand by war? What kinds of goods are likely to decrease in demand ? 2. State some of the reasons explaining why Pennsylvania became a great center for the iron and steel industries. Iron ore is abundant around Lake Superior, but there are few furnaces and steel mills in that region. Why? Where is the ore from the Lake Superior region turned into iron and steel products? 3. Locate on an outline map of the United States the principal regions producing: (a) iron ore; {b) copper; (c) petroleum; (d) hard coal; and (e) soft coal. II. I. Why would the industrial development have been impossible without the development of railroads and canals? 2. When was the first transcontinental railroad opened? 3. What is meant by a "subsidy" ? Why did the federal government grant subsidies for the building of railroads? 4. Why were ocean steam- ship lines also not granted subsidies? 5- ^'^ what kind of trade was our merchant marine chiefly engaged in the late nineteenth century ? III. I. Whose name is connected with the invention and development of the telephone? 2. What other great inventions have been made or developed by Americans? 3. Tell the story of Thomas A. Edison. 4. Why were the business men important in the development of industry? Who were some of the great "captains of industry"? 5. What part did the artisans and laborers play in the triumph of industry? IV. I. Name the important results of the great development of industry since the Civil War. 2. Why is export trade important to a nation? 3. What is meant by the "disappearance of the frontier"? 4. How did industrial development influence the growth of cities? 5. What were some of the evils that came with the growth of industry? 6. What is meant by an "industrial panic"? What were the two great panic years? Review. Make a list of the developments following the Civil War that made the United States into a "World Power." THE TRIUMPH OF INDUSTRY 495 Problems for Further Study 1. Think over and discuss the waj^s in which the development of one industry helps the growth of other industries: how the railroads, for example, helped agriculture, and at the same time created a large demand for steel products; how the growth of the farms helped manufacturing of all sorts ; and how the growth of railroads and manufacturing helped mining. 2. Tell the story of the telephone. See Mowry's "American Inventions and Inventors," pp. 286-29I. 3. Find out all that you can about the development of lighting from the days of the tallow candle to the invention of the incandes- cent electric light. See Mowry's "American Inventions and Inventors," pp. 67-89. 4. Look up the life of Edison in Wheeler's "Thomas Edison." 5. Look up the important dates and names in the history of aviation to find out the steps in its development and what certain men contributed. These names especially should be noted : Langley, Wright, Curtiss, Zeppelin, Read, Alcock and Brown, Scott. When was the first successful flight made by the Wright brothers? How were aircraft of various kinds used in the Great War? When and where was the Atlantic first crossed in a hydroplane? in an airplane? in a dirigible balloon? 6. Look up similarly and make a list of the steps in the develop- ment of other important inventions and industries, giving some of the principal dates and names in connection with them, such as the various uses of electricity, the rubber industry, the automobile. CHAPTER XXVI IMMIGRATION I. The Early Sources of Immigration The Population of the Early Republic. — When American Independence was declared, more than three fourths of the population, if we exclude the slaves, were of English and Scotch descent. Here and there throughout the country were scattered settlers from other nations : Germans In Pennsylvania, Swedes in Delaware, Dutch in New York, Irish and Welsh in the Middle Colonies, and a few French Huguenots at various points. If the United States however had shut out all other aliens and reserved the land for the descendants of citizens residing here at the time of the Revolution, the total population at the opening of the twentieth century, it is estimated, would have been about thirty-five millions instead of nearly one hundred millions. In the early days of the Republic there were many people who looked with disfavor on foreign immigration. Jeffer- son, for example, wanted to keep artisans and their work- shops in Europe. It was almost fifty years before other nationalities than the English and Scotch began to take an important rank. The Coming of the Irish and the Germans. — The first marked invasion, that of the Irish and the Germans, opened about the middle of the nineteenth century. Many of the Irish stopped in the cities and sought employment as manual laborers, or went out into the construction camps 496 IMMIGRATION 497 where railways and canals were being built. The Germans, on the other hand, seemed at first to prefer farming. Perhaps a major portion of them went west and bought land or entered government domains opened to settlers. The Homestead Law Stimulated Immigration There was a lull in immigration for a few years after i860; even JjSL tg^L ' ^ ^^ymf. miHtlUm, Immigrants Landing at Ellis Island, the United States Immi- gration Station those who wished to escape from oppression and starvation in Europe did not relish the idea of going to a country engaged in a desperate war. The federal government there- fore decided to make special efforts to encourage able-bodied foreigners to come to our shores. The Homestead Act of 1862 provided that aliens who declared their intention of becoming citizens could secure free homes in the West. This law also induced thousands of native laborers to move 498 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE West to become farmers, thus leaving in the mills vacant places which attracted the operatives of Europe. The Bureau of Immigration Established. — Two years later, in 1864, the government, still more anxious to increase the labor supply, passed a law making it legal for immigrants in Europe to pay their way over to the United States by pledging their wages in advance. Since a rush of foreigners was to be expected, this act provided that the President should appoint a Commissioner of Immigration to super- Intend the admission of aliens, and to protect newcomers from "sharpers" and thieves. As the authors of the law foresaw, the pent-up flood of migration broke forth again. Contractors sent agents abroad to secure laborers to work In the mines, on the railroads, and in the factories. These agents advanced money to the laborers to pay their passage, and bound them by contract to work for a certain number of months under orders until the money was paid back. Those who came under this arrangement were not unlike the bond servants who were brought into Pennsylvania in the eighteenth century. Immigration Immediately after the Civil War. The Scandinavians. — Western land, opened under the Home- stead Act, like a powerful magnet, drew thrifty peasants to our shores. For twenty years after the war, the Germans and the Irish made up the bulk of the foreign immigration; but many settlers came also from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. When Prussia with the help of Austria wrested Schleswig-Holstein away from Denmark in 1864, thousands of Danes fled to the United States. The Scandinavians took advantage of the offer of free land in the West and, by the thousands, settled in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and the Dakotas. They developed prosperous farms, built schools and churches, and founded colleges. No immigrants to these shores proved to be more worthy of their heritage than the newcomers from Northern Europe. I I IMMIGRATION 499 r.irr I !■ iilllMi. The Chinese. — In this period the Chinese began to land in large numbers on the western coast. Indeed, as early as 1852, twenty-five thousand of them were already in California. The firstcomers were mainly domestic serv- ants, laun- drymen, and day laborers. When rail- road con- struction be- gan in the Far West, contractors, casting about '-J for a labor supply, found it in China. Then Chinese im- migration increased very rapid- ly. Every inducement was offered to them to come, and they were cordially received. The Oriental, however, was willing to accept low wages, and so took work away from the native Americans or compelled them to reduce their demands in order to hold their places. As he was also willing to live in cheap houses and poor surroundings, he menaced the American standard of living. When American A Chinese Merchant in His Shop 3 2- A. H. 500 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE working men in large numbers began to settle on the coast, ill will toward the Chinese arose and steadily increased. II. Changes in Immigration after 1890 The Invasion from Southern and Eastern Europe. New Peoples. — A second era in the history of immigration opened about 1890. The new period was marked, in the first place, by a decided change in the nationality of the immigrants. The number coming from Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany fell off rapidly, and the proportion from Scandinavian countries did not increase. By 1896 the immigrants from Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Russia greatly outnumbered those from the north and west of Europe, and in 19 10 nine tenths of all the immigrants arriving in the United States were from the south and east of Europe. Jews, who by the tens of thousands were driven out of Russia and Rumania by cruel oppression, really had no choice but to flee to the United States. The following table shows by decades the proportion of immigrants coming into the United States from the various countries of the Old World : Years Country 1861-1870 1871-1880 1881-1890 1891-1900 1901-1910 Per cent Per cent Per cent Per cent Per cent Austria-Hungary . . . 0.33 2.60 6.70 16.00 24.40 German Empire . . . 35-00 25-50 28.00 14.00 3-90 Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia •51 2.00 5-90 18.00 23-30 Russian Empire and Fin- land .02 1.90 4.40 14.00 18.20 United Kingdom : 38.00 England 15.60 12.00 6.00 4.40 Ireland 15-50 12.00 10.00 3-90 Other Countries . . . 26.14 36.90 31.00 22.00 21.90 IMMIGRATION SOI The Later Immigrants Settle in the Cities. — The change in the nationality of the immigrants was accompanied by a great change In the United States itself; namely, the end of free gifts of land in the West. Between 1850 and i860, out of the public lands there could have been provided nearly four hun- dred acres for every immigrant who entered the United States, and at least half of this land would have been fertile soil. By 1906, however, the amount of available public land per Immi- il grant had fallen to less than sev- enty acres, a large part of which was semi- arid and conse- quently worthless without irrigation. In this period, there- fore, the opportunities for securing free farms were almost closed to the Immigrants from Europe. The newcomers had to settle in cities. The Russian Jews entered the ready-made garment trade hi great centers Mulberry Street, New York, Where Many Immigrants Have CoelEcted 502 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE like New York, Rochester, and Chicago. Hungarians, Italians, Slovaks, and Poles took up heavy tasks like mining and iron working, which called for more physical strength. Immigrants during this period built the rail- roads, developed the mines, manned the coke ovens and blast furnaces, made clothing, and, in fact, furnished the labor for most of the manufacturing in the country. The immense and valuable labor services rendered by the aliens, men and women, are thus eloquently summed up by a modern writer who represents the immigrant as saying: I contribute eighty-five per cent of all the labor in the slaughtering and meat-packing industries. I do seven tenths of the bituminous coal mining. I do seventj'-eight per cent of all the work in the woolen mills. I contribute nine tenths of all the labor in the cotton mills. I make nineteen twentieths of all the clothing. I manufacture more than half the shoes. I build four fifths of all the furniture. I make half of the collars, cuffs and shirts. I turn out four fifths of all the leather. I make half the gloves. I refine nearly nineteen twentieths of the sugar. I make half of the tobacco and cigars. Enormous Increase in Immigration. — A third great change in immigration was brought about by the improve- ment in the methods of travel. In former days, when the journey was long, expensive, and hazardous, the emigrants expected to leave their native land forever and to find permanent homes in the United States. When, however, it became possible to cross the Atlantic very comfortably, at a low cost, in six or seven days, and there were sailings every few hours, the ocean trip was a light matter. Great steamship companies, practically all of them foreign in ownership and utterly indifferent to the effects of their actions on America, began to force immigration. They sent IMMIGRATION 503 agents into every nook and cranny of Europe with orders to encourage, even by gross misrepresentation, every person who could scrape together a little money to migrate to "the land of milk and honey." American railway companies, equally bent on making profits by carrying immigrants West and South, eagerly cooperated in tearing the laborers and Percentage of Foreign-Born White Peopt,e and Native White PeopeE OE Foreign or Mixed Parentage Contained in the Total Population peasants of Europe from their native lands and flinging them upon our shores. As a result of all these forces, the steerage of every incoming steamer was crowded with passengers. In 1907 there arrived in this country 1,285,349 immigrants. Thus, in one year, there was collected from the nations of southern and eastern Europe an army of immigrants equal to almost half of the white population of the United States when the War for Independence was fought. By 19 10 one third of the total white population in the United States was either foreign born or of foreign parentage. 504 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Many of the Later Immigrants Not Permanent Settlers. — Having brought their ships over crowded with steerage passengers, the steamship companies were equally anxious to find passengers to fill their vessels on the return voyage. Their prosperity depended upon a continual going and coming. The low rates made it possible for workingmen A City Street in a Tenement District to come in the busy season and return in the slack season. This had a very serious effect upon citizenship in the United States. Thousands of men, leaving their wives and children behind them, came with no thought of giving up their allegiance to their former countries or of making homes in the United States. Their sole interest in this country was to get a job for a few months or a few years, and go back home when they had accumulated a little money. Having no intention of settling here permanently, they were willing to endure slums, long hours of work, and other conditions bad for their health and morals. Having no IMMIGRATION 505 permanent interest In this country, they did not care whether it was well or poorly governed. III. Later Efforts to Restrict Immigration Arguments for and Against the Restriction of Immigration.— Native Americans early protested against the wide-open door for immigrants. Some of the objections which they advanced were foolish and some were wise; some were narrow and selfish; others were based, not on ill will toward the alien, but on the desire to make America a united nation, well governed and prosperous. At the same time there were advocates of the wide- open door who objected to interference with immigration. Employers insisted that the supply of labor should be large and available as needed. Those who, like the Jews, had fled from persecution, were anxious that the door should not be closed against their countrymen yet to come. Advocates of freedom, looking upon America as "the asylum for the oppressed of every land," declared that it would be giving up our ancient principles to place bars in the way of the immigrant. Nevertheless the protest against unrestricted immigration steadily grew. Anxiety about the matter appeared before the Civil War. It weakened with the demand of mill, mine, and railroad owners for labor. In a few years It grew stronger. Native American workingmen. East and West, began to demand protection against the foreigners who at lower wages took their places away from them. They urged that it was selfish and un-American to enact tariffs to shield American mill-owners against European competition, and at the same time to refuse to shield American labor against low-paid foreigners. Other citizens urged that the number of immigrants should not be too 506 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE large, because it took time for foreigners to learn our language and to know enough about our country to share wisely in its government. Laws Restricting Immigration. — When the Federal Gov- ernment began to give attention to the matter, the Chinese were considered first. By a law of 1870 they were denied the right to become naturalized American citizens. In 1880, a treaty was made with China under which Chinese laborers could be excluded from the country, and two years later the first Chinese Exclusion act was passed. In 1882 Congress discussed the whole question of immi- gration and passed a law whereby convicts (except political refugees), lunatics, idiots, and persons liable to become public charges were excluded from the country, and the owners of vessels were required to carry back at their own expense such persons. Other laws were later enacted for the purpose of con- trolling immigration. In 1888 importation of laborers under contract was prohibited; that is, the old practice authorized by the law of 1864 was forbidden. This made it impossible for large importers of labor to break strikes and reduce wages by sending agents to Europe to collect workers. In 1891 persons having loathsome or contagious diseases were denied the right of admission to the country. Later, anarchists were excluded. In 1907 an arrangement was made with Japan for excluding Japanese laborers. In 19 13, when the Department of Labor was created at Wash- ington, the supervision of immigration and naturalization and the enforcement of immigration laws were turned ov'er to it. In 19 1 7 Congress enacted, over President Wilson's veto, a law imposing an educational test, which was designed to keep out illiterates and to reduce the number of immigrants. IMMIGRATION Questions and Exercises 507 I. I. How large would the population of the United States have been in 1900 if no immigrants had been admitted to the country after the Revolution? 2. Chiefly from what countries did the immigrants come before the Civil War? 3. In what way did the Homestead Law influence immigrants? What other law was passed that encouraged immigrants to seek homes in this country? 4. From what countries did the immigrants come in largest numbers immediately after the Civil War? H. I. What changes in immigration began about 1890? 2. Why did the coming of large numbers of immigrants from southern Europe raise problems that had not confronted the country when the immigrants came chiefly from northern Europe? 3. Why did the immigrants after 1890 settle chiefly in the cities and the industrial districts? 4. How and why did the steamship and rail- road companies encourage immigration? 5, What are the impor- tant differences between immigrants who come to make permanent homes and those who come merely to earn money and then return to their native countries? HI. I. What groups of people protested against unrestricted immigration? For what reasons? Why did other groups wish to continue free immigration? 2. Why were the first restrictions on immigration aimed at the Chinese? 3. What other restrictions were made later? Problems for Further Study 1. Find what kinds of immigrants have come to your locality in recent years, whence they came, and in what tj'pes of work they are chiefly engaged. 2. The text states that the law which requires immigrants to meet an educational test (that is, to show that they are able to read at least their own language) was passed by Congress over the veto of President Wilson. Discuss in class the advantages and disad- vantages of an educational test for immigrants. CHAPTER XXVII COMBINATIONS OF CAPITAL AND OF LABOR I. Competition in Business Leads to the Formation OF "Trusts" J The Great Industrial Trusts. — In the rush to develop the country In every direction, competition among business men became so keen that many of them were forced into bank- ruptcy. For example, there were several hundred refiners in the oil business, all of them turning out oil products in feverish haste. In time, of course, the market was clogged, prices fell, and many of the refiners were ruined. The destructive nature of this conflict, coupled with the desire to make larger profits by raising prices or reducing costs, led business men to form agreements or combinations known as "trusts." The term was applied because It was the practice of the men who united their concerns to place them in the hands of "trustees," chosen by the stockholders, and charged with the management of the entire business. The Standard Oil Interests. — As early as 1879, oil pro- ducers in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and other places began to agree among themselves on prices. In 1882, under the leadership of John D. Rockefeller, they formed a "trust" which is known as the Standard Oil Company. Six years after its formation the Company was paying to a small group of holders about $20,000,000 annu- ally, in dividends, on a capital of $90,000,000. 508 COMBINATIONS OF CAPITAL AND OF LABOR 509 Those who took part in this early combination soon began to invest in other concerns. In 1879 one of them became a director of the Valley Railroad; in 1882 another was elected a director of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Rail- road; in 1887 ^ third became connected with a syndicate which absorbed the Minnesota Iron Company; and about the same time representatives of the Oil Trust appeared in the Northern Pacific, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas, and the Ohio River railways. The same thing happened in the case of the stockholders of other companies, until scores of business concerns were brought together in one gigantic interest of which the Standard Oil Company was the center. Other Trusts. — Within a few years after the establish- ment of the Standard Oil Company, combinations were formed in cotton oil, linseed oil, lead, sugar, whisky, and cordage ; and in a little time a few great financiers had large shares of stock in the companies manufacturing staples like iron and woOlen goods. Indeed, by the close of the nine- teenth century there was scarcely an industry of any impor- tance which did not have a trust possessing enormous capital. For example, the Copper Trust, incorporated in New Jersey in 1899, had a capital of $175,000,000 within five years. The United States Steel Corporation, founded in 1901, led them all with its capital of $1,400,000,000. Railroad Combinations. — The tendency toward the union of companies appeared also In the railroad business. Com- peting lines were often united under the same company to control freight and passenger rates, and great combinations were formed to purchase trunk lines through from the East to the West or from the North to the South. By the close of the century there were several huge railroad combinations which controlled nearly all the impor- tant long lines in the United States. These were the Boston and Maine and the New York, New Haven, and Hartford 510 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE in New England; the New York Central (Vanderbllt lines) and the Pennsylvania in the Middle States, running from the seaboard to Chicago and the Mississippi; the Gould lines running from Buffalo through Kansas City to Salt Lake and the Pacific Coast; the Morgan-Hill lines in the South and in the far Northwest ; and the Harriman lines stretching from the middle Mississippi Valley to San Francisco, Port- land, and Spokane, and from New Orleans to San Francisco. The "Captains of Industry." — Out of the trusts and combinations great fortunes were made. Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, the Goulds and the Vanderbilts, to mention only a few, acquired riches such as had not been dreamed of before in the history of the world. Through their wealth they were able to control the life and labor of millions of men and women. They endowed schools, founded universities, built hospitals and libraries, and sup- ported charities. II. The Results of Combinations of Capital The "Soulless Corporation." — The growth of large com- panies seriously altered the relation of employers and work- men. In the old days when the factory was small and was owned by one man, or at best a few men who lived near by, there was usually a certain personal and friendly tie between the employer and his employees. Sometimes the master actually worked in the factory side by side with his helpers and knew them by their first names. As the factories grew in size and passed into the ownership of companies — the members of which often lived in distant cities or even foreign countries — the plants were managed • by overseers, and the personal relation between employer and employee was broken. People came to speak of COMBINATIONS OF CAPITAL AND OF LABOR 51I corporations as "soulless." By that it was meant that they were purely business enterprises, and that the owners could not be reached by the employees struggling for better wages or shorter hours. Protective Organizations of Employees. — While employers were combining their industries to stop destructive competi- tion, workingmen were building up unions to prevent under- cutting in wages. During the war, labor was scarce and wages high. A strong movement was therefore started to organize workingmen for the purpose of upholding the high wage scale. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers was established in 1863, and the following year unions were formed among cigar makers, bricklayers, and masons. By 1866 thirty or forty different trades were formed into national unions, with branches all over the country. In 1870 and 1 87 1 national labor-union conventions were held and attempts were made to create a strong society embracing all the workingmen and women of every trade. The "Knights of Labor." — The task of forming the great national union was undertaken by "The Noble Order of Knights of Labor," founded in 1869 by a group of Phila- delphia garment workers who wanted to unite all wage- earners in one body, without any distinctions of sex, trade, grade, color, or nationality. Within fifteen years, this organization had over 1,000,000 members. The demands of the Knights of Labor were: (i) an eight-hour day for all working people, (2) laws guarantee- ing them healthful and safe conditions in factories and mines, (3) weekly payment of wages in money, (4) pay- ment of damages by employers to workers injured in indus- try, (5) the establishment of state and national labor bureaus, and other reforms. The Knights of Labor pro- tested against the practice of state governments in hiring out prisoners to manufacturers and thus cutting the wages of 512 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE honest people. They protested also against employers bring- ing in large numbers of European immigrants under contract (see page 498) in order to reduce home wages. The motto of the organization was: "An injury to one is the concern of all." The Knights of Labor had great influence on the working people of the country. Although they did not start a new political party, they helped to secure from state and national governments several reforms. The Knights also led in several successful strikes against employers to increase wages; but they failed in a number of them. They then began to quarrel among themselves, and finally their national union went to pieces. The American Federation of Labor. — Meanwhile, a second national labor organization, the "American Federa- tion of Labor," was growing up. It was started in 1881, with the federation of unions in about one hundred different trades, and five years later took the name it now bears. The Federation, unlike the Knights of Labor, did not attempt to form into one grand union all sorts and conditions of work- ing people. It began with the separate trades to organize men and women into district "locals," and it permitted the members of each trade to conduct their own negotiations with their employers. The Federation intervened only in emergencies. It did not undertake general strikes of all working people in order to help those of a single trade or locality. By 19 1 7 the American Federation of Labor had 2,359,812 dues-paying members. It had accumulated large sums of money. Under, the leadership of Its president, Samuel Gompers, It won much power over wages and hours of labor in the Industries of the country. The Federation's Influence on Politics. — Although the American Federation of Labor did not organize a separate COMBINATIONS OF CAPITAL AND OF LABOR 513 political party, it often brought influence to bear upon the existing parties and compelled them to enact laws favorable to labor. For instance, in 1908 and 19 12, Mr. Gompers asked the Republican and Democratic parties to support certain laws which the workers demanded. When the former party refused, and the latter made the desired promises, he asked the members of the American Federation to vote solidly for the Democratic candidate for President. Mr. Gompers boasted that eighty per cent of the voting members of his Federation cast their ballots for the Demo- cratic candidate. Whether or not this estimate is accurate, it is certain that after the election of Mr. Wilson in 19 12, the Democratic party passed some of the laws which the Federation of Labor had demanded. Thus, by threatening to use the labor vote for or against one or the other of the political parties, the Federation was able to secure a number of its measures. When the Department of Labor was created in 19 13, an officer of the Federation was appointed as the head and was given a seat in the President's cabinet. Employers' Organizations While the trade unions increased in number and power, the employers of labor were forming organizations for the purpose of resisting some of the demands of labor and presenting to the public their side of the case. As early as 1825 an employers' association was formed in Boston. In 1872 more than four hundred employers organized a national association to oppose the attempt to establish a ten-hour day. After that time many other employers' associations sprang up. In 1903 there was established the Citizens' Industrial Association of America, a union of several national associations. Some- what later the National Manufacturers' Association was founded. It engaged agents to block the efforts of working people to secure laws in their own interests, whenever such laws were considered injurious to employers. 514 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE III. The Great Strikes Industrial Disputes. The Strikes of iS'jy and 1888. — As employers and employees began to line up against each other, there arose many a costly and tragic struggle. In 1877 an appalling railway strike on the Pennsylvania and other lines resulted in the destruction of millions of dollars' worth of property, including the railroad station at Pittsburgh. A few years later a veritable civil war broke out at the Carnegie iron works at Homestead, Pennsylvania. There was heavy loss of life on both sides, many of the strikers being killed by Pinkerton detectives employed by the mill owners. In 1886 strikes in Chicago manufacturing estab- lishments led to collisions between police and workingmen, and ended in the famous Haymarket riot in which several policemen were killed by bombs. In the Far West, par- ticularly in Colorado, Idaho, and Montana, miners and their employers were almost constantly engaged in combats over hours and wages, which were frequently accompanied by dynamite outrages, murders, and general lawlessness on the part of both contestants. The Strike of iSg^. — In 1894 there occurred the most alarming railway strike of the period. The employees of the Pullman Car Company at Chicago struck, and the American Railway Union, in order to help them, called a "sympathetic strike." In this dispute property was destroyed. The leader of the railway men, Eugene V. Debs, was imprisoned for disobeying a court injunction commanding workingmen not to interfere with the business of the com- panies. Finally, against the protests of the governor of Illinois, President Cleveland dispatched federal troops to the scene of trouble and the strike was broken. I COMBINATIONS OF CAPITAL AND OF LABOR S^S The Public and the Government Involved. — For a long time, it was generally maintained that such conflicts were mere incidents in industry and concerned only employers and employees. Gradually this view disappeared. Strikes The Arbitration Commission Appointed by President RoosEvEet to Settee the Anthracite Coae Strike of 1902 From left to right: Colcnel Carroll D. Wright, Statistician; Mr. Thomas H. Watkins, Coal Operator; General John M. Wilson, U. S. A.; U. S. Senator George Gray of Delaware; Mr. Kc'ward Parker, U. S. Geological Survey; Mr. Edward IJ. Clark, Chief of the Order of Railway Conductors; Most Rev. John L,ancaster Spalding, Bishop of Peoria. clearly involved the public at large as well as the actual combatants. When railways were tied up and mines closed, the public suffered. When disorders occurred, the lives and property of outside persons were endangered. Then, too, there were many questions involving the gov- ernment, federal and state, directly. How far should the courts be permitted to go in ordering employees to do this or abstain from doing that in connection with strikes? Under what conditions should the militia or federal troops 5l6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE be called out, and what should they be permitted to do when called out? To what extent should the police be allowed to interfere with meetings held to help strikers? What should strikers be allowed to do to persuade other workers not to take their jobs? Should labor unions be given the right to exclude non-union men from any industry and thus maintain a "closed shop"? The Demand from the Public for an Adjustment of Labor Disputes. — Many proposals were advanced with a view to solving the problem of strikes and labor disputes. In 1900 there was formed the American Civic Federation to bring together employers, professional people, philanthropists, and representatives of trade unions. The Federation recognized the right of working people to form unions and sought to make the disputes arising between employers and employees a subject for common consideration. Many citizens who had formerly denounced trade unions came to see in them an inevitable product of industrial progress. Moreover, it became a matter of grave public concern whether any employers in the United States should be allowed to pay wages so low that their employees could not live decently and become respectable American citizens. The general public suffered from the inconveniences and losses of strikes and was compelled to pay increased prices following higher wages. It therefore, began to be deeply Interested in the labor conflicts. Roosevelt's Policy. — Public interest in labor disputes became especially evident in the anthracite coal strike of 1902. The employers refused to listen to the demands of the miners, and as winter came on the country was con- fronted by a coal famine. As President Roosevelt said; The big coal operators had banded together and positively refused to take any steps looking toward an accommodation [with their employees]. They knew that the suffering among the miners was I COMBINATIONS OF CAPITAL AND OF LABOR 517 great; they were confident that if order were kept and nothing further was done by the government they would win, and they refused to consider that the public had any rights in the matter. . . . No man and no group of men can so exercise their rights as to deprive the nation of the things which are necessary and vital to the common life. A strike which ties up the coal supplies of a whole section is a strike invested with a public interest. President Roosevelt was ready to use the soldiers to take possession of the mines and have the government run them, in order to supply the country with coal. He appointed a commission to consider the demands of the miners and the claims of the employers. As a result, a settlement of the strike was reached. This affair may be said to mark a turn in the course of labor disputes, because the general public at last realized that it had an interest in, and a certain responsibility for, a struggle between employers and employees. The public slowly learned that its responsi- bility involved supporting the demand for wholesome labor conditions. IV. The Rise of Socialism Many of the leaders in the labor movements became convinced that strikes, even when successful in raising wages or reducing hours of work, would not remove all the pov- erty and misery which accompanied the growth of industry. They, therefore, urged the formation of a political party which would bring about radical legislation in the interest of labor. As early as 1872 a party known as Labor Reformers held a convention at Columbus, Ohio, and nom- inated a candidate for President. The Rise of the Socialists. — Two decades later there appeared in the country a socialistic party which appealed particularly to working people. While there was much difference of opinion among Socialists as to their plans, 33-A. H. 5l8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE there were certain general ideas running through their writings : ( i ) Modern industry necessarily creates a division in the country into capitalists on the one hand, who own the factories, mines, and railways; and on the other hand a great mass of people, owning no tools, and solely dependent upon their labor for livelihood. (2) A struggle between these two classes is inevitable, because each seeks to secure all that it can from the annual output of wealth. (3) Out of this contest the owners of capital gain wealth, luxury, and safety; and the workers, poverty, slums, hazard, and misery. The Socialists all agreed that the only solution of the problem was for the government to take possession of the natural resources and industries, forests, mines, railways, and factories, from which the rich were able to make such large fortunes, and to manage these great enterprises for the benefit of all. This meant a drastic interference with all private business and government ownership on a large scale. The Socialists did not propose, as persons some- times imagined, to divide up all property equally among the people. As an example of their theory they cited the post- office, which is owned by the government and in the use of which all share alike. It is not "divided up." Opposition to Socialist Theories. — The Socialists were strongly opposed by the other political parties, although many of the evils which they pointed out were admitted. Those who attacked Socialism contended ( i ) that the American people were not sharply divided into capitalists and wage earners since the latter often own shares in industrial companies, government bonds and homes, and nearly half the people are farmers; (2) that the interests of employer and employee are mutual, not opposed; and (3) that American working people are the most prosperous in the world. It was pointed out also that it would be difficult for the government to distribute the annual national income, in a COMBINATIONS OF CAPITAL AND OF LABOR 519 fair and satisfactory manner, among those who labored at the various industries and occupations. If all were to share equally — the able and the stupid, the idle and the indus- trious — what incentive would there be for any individual to exercise his skill and energy? On the other hand, if incomes were to be unequal, according to what rules should the shares be apportioned? Many opponents of Socialism said that the Socialist notion, that all people could dwell together in harmony and cooperation, was contrary to the laws of nature, which decreed a constant struggle among mankind in which the weak were bound to lose and the strong destined to win. The Growth of the Socialist Party. — There were many Socialists in the country before i860, particularly among the German immigrants who came over in 1-848. It was not until 1892 that a Socialist Labor Party was formed and a candidate nominated for President. This party, however, never polled as high as a hundred thousand votes. It had been in existence only eight years when a second party, known as the Socialist party, was established. The new party in 1900 nominated for its candidate Eugene V. Debs, the leader of the great railway strike of 1894. By 19 12 the Socialist popular vote had reached 898,000; but in 19 16 it fell about twenty per cent. The refusal of the party, 19 1 7, to support our war on Germany led many members to resign and discredited Socialist doctrines unrelated to the war. New Aspects of the Capital and Labor Problem. — The twentieth century opened with the extension of conflicts between employers and employees into the field of govern- ment and politics. Both sides were powerfully organized. It is true that only a small proportion of the working people were actually members of trade unions — fewer than one tenth — and hundreds of small manufacturers remained 520 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE outside of employers' associations; but in nearly all the great staple Industries and the railways, strong organiza- tions of labor and capital were in command. More and more their contests over wages and hours involved govern- mental action. All kinds of laws for the benefit and protection of both sides were proposed — the just and the unjust, the wise and the foolish. Political parties were urged to indorse them. State legislatures and Congress were besieged by agents of trade unions and employers supporting or opposing the various measures. The citizens at large were Inevitably drawn Into the controversies. In spite of the counsels of those who declared that industry was none of the government's concern, the voters at the polls were called upon to decide a multitude of matters involving labor and capital. Questions and Exercises I. I. What led to the combination of business concerns? How did these combinations come to be known as "trusts"? 2. Why did these trusts, once established, tend to reach out and gather up other lines of business? In what kinds of business other than oil produc- tion did the Standard Oil Company become interested? 3. Name some of the other great trusts. 4. Name some of the "captains of industry." II. I. Why did the growth of trusts lead to labor troubles? What is meant by a "soulless corporation"? 2. What did the workingmen do to protect their rights? What did the Knights of Labor hope to accomplish? 3. How does the American Federation of Labor differ from the older Knights of Labor? Who is the leader of the Federation of Labor? What important things has the Federation accomplished? 4. How did the employers try to block the efforts of the workers? III. I. What is meant by a "strike"? Where did some of the early strikes occur? 2. Why did the public claim a right to interfere in the conflict between capital and labor? 3. What was COMBINATIONS OF CAPITAL AND OF LABOR 52 1 President Roosevelt's policy regarding the rights of the public in this conflict? IV. I. What is meant by "government ownership"? What business enterprises does the government now control? 2. What is the difference between government ownership and "dividing up" the wealth of the country equally among all of the people? 3. What does the Socialist party hold regarding government ownership? Problems for Further Study 1. Find out about the development of the oil industry, — where petroleum is found, how it is brought out of the ground, taken to the refineries, and made into useful products. Make a list of the prin- cipal products. Give as many reasons as 3^ou can explaining why the oil industry was one of the first to be organized into a "trust." Your geographies (look up the subject in the index) will give you much information about petroleum and its products. See also Mowry's "American Inventors and Inventions," pp. 77-80. 2. Look up the story of one of the great railroad systems. Discuss in class the advantages and dangers of combining short railroad lines into large systems. Brigham's "From Trail to Railway" has interesting chapters on the New York Central (ch. v), the Pennsylvania (ch. vii), and the Baltimore and Ohio (ch. ix). CHAPTER XXVIII PARTIES AND POLITICAL ISSUES I. The Republican and Democratic Administrations Political Echoes of the Civil War. — For a long time after the Civil War, the politicians discussed principally "the Confederacy" and "the Rebellion." War talk was called "waving the bloody shirt," and as the leaders in politics devoted much time to it, it was difficult for the voters to think of anything else as more important. The Republican Party in Power. — With Southern leader- ship broken and the Democratic party accused of having sympathized with secession, the Republicans had many advantages. They were able to carry every presidential election, except two, between i860 and 19 12. Shortly after the war they selected as their candidate General Grant, who was regarded as a great hero and, next to Lincoln, the savior of the Union. They elected him President in 1868; in 1872 reelected him, the Democrats having attempted a stroke in choosing as their candidate Horace Greeley, the famous Republican editor of the New York Tribune. The Hayes-Tilden Campaign. — In the midst of defeat, however, the Democrats never gave up hope. They made such a vigorous fight m 1872 that they secured a majority in the House of Representatives, and in the presidential campaign of 1876 they thought that they had carried the day. Indeed, the result of the election was very uncertain. 522 PARTIES AND POLITICAL ISSUES S^Z Both parties claimed the victory, and the dispute grew so serious that Congress, to settle the quarrel, appointed a commission of fifteen members to examine the election returns. On this commission, the Republicans had a majority who voted solidly on important points in favor of the Republican candidate, Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, thus giving him the victory over Samuel J. Tilden, the Democratic candidate from New York. Garfield Elected and Assassinated. — Naturally the Demo- crats were deeply angered with the decision, but they . accepted it, hoping that the country would rebuke their opponents in the next campaign. In this, however, they were disappointed, because the Republicans in 1880 elected James A. Garfield by a safe majority over the Democratic candidate. General Hancock. President Garfield had hardly taken office before he was shot by a disappointed office-seeker; he died on September 19, 1881. Cleveland Brings the Democrats into Power (1885). — Garfield's suc- cessor, the Vice President, Chester A. Arthur, was not able to win the united support of his own party, and in 1884 the Republicans brushed him aside, selecting as their candidate James G. Blaine of Maine. The Democrats savagely attacked Blaine and won a victory for their leader, Grover Cleveland, of New York, the first Democratic President since Buchanan's day. The triumph was a narrow one, however, and due not so much to the popularity of Cleve- land as to a division in Republican ranks. Indeed, several prominent Republicans openly went over to the Democrats. Grover Cleveland 524 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE On account of their desertion they were called "mugwumps" — from an Indian term meaning "big chief." It was alleged that the mugwumps felt themselves above the ordinary man who voted regularly with his party. Cleveland Defeated by Harrison (1888) but Reelected in 1892. — The Democrats, having carried the country once with Cleveland as their candidate, put him forward in 1888 and again in 1892. In the former year he was defeated by Benjamin Harrison, of Indiana, the Republican candidate. In 1892 he was again elected President, over Harrison, by a very substantial majority. The Return of the Republicans. McKinley, Roosevelt, Taft. — This proved to be the last Democratic victory for twenty years. In the next campaign, 1896, William McKinley, of Ohio, was victorious over the Democratic candidate, William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska, and the Republicans were returned to power on March 4, 1897. They retained the presidency through the administrations of McKinley, Roosevelt, and Taft, until the inauguration of Wilson in 19 13. II. The Tariff and the Income Tax The Tariff Issue since the Civil War. The Protective Tariff. — During all these administrations. Republican and Democratic alike, certain questions, or "issues" as they are called, stood foremost in the minds of the voters. The first of these was the tariff (p. 247). Just before the Civil War, the Democrats had succeeded in reducing the pro- tective tariff very materially, and the Republicans, in i860, had taken up the challenge by declaring in favor of protec- tion. During the war heavy duties were levied upon imports for the sake of raising money to meet military expenses. After the war the Republicans kept many of PARTIES AND POLITICAL ISSUES 525 these duties, on the ground that they protected the manu- facturing industries of the country. The question was discussed more or less in every cam- paign between i860 and 19 16, and it became what the politicians called a "burning issue" in 1888, 1892, and 1908. President Cleveland in a message to Congress in December, 1887, vigorously attacked the tariff. He denounced it as a "vicious and illegal and inequitable" system of taxation. In 1908 Mr, Bryan led in another spirited attack upon it. The Democratic platform declared in favor of the immediate reduction of import duties, particularly on the necessities of life and articles made in the United States by the great trusts. The Various Tariff Bills. — In spite of all the agitation about the tariff, there were only six revisions of the customs duties between General Grant's second inauguration in 1873 and the close of President Wilson's first administra- tion in 19 1 7. These revisions were as follows: in 1883, under a Republican, President Arthur; in 1890, when McKinley, then a member of Congress from Ohio, intro- duced a very high protective measure which bears his name; in 1894, during President Cleveland's administration, when a slight reduction was made by the Wilson-Gorman Act in the duties on several important articles; in 1897, when the Dingley Tariff Act, passed by the Republicans, placed the duties in general at the highest point since the Civil War; in 1909, when the Republicans, in the Payne-Aldrich bill, made a general revision without material reductions; and, finally, in 19 13, when the Democrats, under President Wilson's leadership, reduced the taxes on a large number of imports without, by any means, placing the tariff on a purely "revenue basis." The Agitation for an Income Tax. — Closely connected with the problem of the tariff was the matter of the income 526 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE tax — a tax taking a percentage of the income received by all persons, excepting those whose incomes were below a certain amount. During the Civil War the government had laid a tax upon incomes temporarily. Later, as the Democrats began to urge tariff revision, they declared that when duties were taken off the imports into the United States the loss of revenues should be made up by taxes on incomes. Some of them saici that customs duties on sugar, coffee, tea, and the like were taxes upon poor people, based on the amount of goods consumed, not on incomes or wages — "ability to pay." They urged, therefore, that a part of the federal revenue should be derived from a direct tax on the well-to-do. The Income Tax Declared Unconstitutional. — Accord- ingly when the Democrats revised the tariff, in 1894, they provided for a tax on every person having an income of more than $4000 a year. The next year, however, the Supreme Court of the United States declared the law to be null and void as violating the Constitution — much to the anger of the friends of the measure. In 1896 the Demo- crats put in their platform a plank favoring a tax on incomes, and their leaders never ceased to advocate it. The Constitution Afuended to Permit an Income Tax. — Many Republicans also agreed that an income tax was just and desirable, and President Roosevelt, in one of his messages, expressed himself in favor of it. In 1909, while the Republicans were in power. Congress passed the Six- teenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, authorizing Congress to lay and collect income taxes. This amendment was duly ratified by a sufficient number of state legislatures and went into effect in 19 13. The Democrats, once more m power, immediately took advantage of the new amendment. In that very year, at the time of revismg the tariff, Congress laid an income tax. PARTIES AND POLITICAL ISSUES 527 The Tariff Still an Issue. — As a result of all this agitation and legislation it could hardly be said that anything was definitely settled with regard to the tariff. The Democrats, while severely criticizing the protective system, were by no means agreed on abolishing all protection for American manufacturers and producers. On the other hand, the Republicans, while in general favoring high tariff, often disagreed among themselves as to what industries should receive help. The Tarifl Commission. — On account of this difference of opinion within as well as between the two parties, a tariff commission, composed of a few special students of the subject, was established under Taft's administration. It was instructed to find out just how far American goods should be protected against foreign competition in order to permit manufacturers to make only "fair" profits. Under President Wilson a new commission was established in 19 1 6. Thus it appeared that no political party favored the reduction of the tariff to such a point as to afford no aid at all to American manufacturers; namely, absolute free trade. III. The Currency Problem The Redemption of the "Greenbacks," — Another public issue which occupied the attention of voters was the money problem. During the Civil War the government had issued many million dollars in paper money, known as "legal tender" or "greenbacks." This money, which was used to pay the soldiers and was received by the govern- ment for taxes and other purposes, was not redeemable in gold or silver; that is, the holder of a greenback dollar could not go to the United States Treasury and get a gold or silver dollar in return for it. As a result, this money declined in value until a greenback dollar was worth only 528 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE sixty or seventy cents in gold or silver. Some of the lead- ing men in the country favored the withdrawal of paper money altogether; others advocated continuing it in circula- tion; and still others held that it should be placed on a specie basis, whereby anybody who had a paper dollar could secure a gold dollar in exchange for It. In 1879 the greenbacks were made redeemable in coin. The Problem of Silver Money. Demonetization. — A second phase of the money problem was the coinage itself. The Constitution of the United States gave Congress the power to coin money, and forbade the states to make any- thing but gold or silver coin the lawful money in the payment of debts. In 1792 the government began to coin these two metals at the ratio of 15 to i; that is, on the theory that fifteen ounces of silver were worth one ounce of gold on the market. Later the ratio was changed to ij 16 to I. Silver came to be worth more than this price, jf however, in the outside market m relation to gold; and as a result silver dollars almost dropped out of circulation. In 1873 Congress ceased making them, or demonetized them. The Demand for Remonetization. — It happened about j this time that the price of silver began to decline steadily. Rich deposits were discovered in the western states and in a few years it took twenty-two ounces of silver to buy one ounce of gold on the market. The owners of silver mines, finding the price of their product falling, demanded that the government should restore the silver dollar, remonetize it, by coining both gold and silver at the old ratio of 16 to i. The advocates of the gold standard said that silver had fallen in market price so that it was impossible to coin it on the old plan. The advocates of silver replied that silver had not fallen, but that gold had gone up because the government had given it a monopoly and limited the market for silver. PARTIES AND POLITICAL ISSUES 529 The Controversy over the Silver Question. — The country at large was sharply divided over this question. Quite commonly, the farmers favored the free coinage of silver at the old ratio because they thought it would put more money into circulation and raise the selling price of farm products. On the other hand, the gold standard was favored largely by people who had money invested in business or in loans. The money lender said : If you increase the amount of money by coining silver dollars you really take money away from me. For example, I lent money at a time when an ounce of gold was worth seventeen or eighteen times an ounce of silver, and now you propose that I should be repaid in silver dollars worth much less than the original amount which I lent; that is, in money with less purchasing power. The farmer, on his part, replied : When I borrowed a thousand dollars on my farm, wheat was worth two dollars a bushel and I could pay the mortgage off with five hundred bushels; but now the price of wheat has fallen to one dollar, and, as a result, although the amount I owe is still one thousand dollars, it is two thousand dollars measured in terms of my labor — the wheat which I have produced. The "Greenback** and "Populist^* Parties. — Many farmers and those who sympathized with them decided to go into politics and force Congress to pass laws increasing the amount of money in circulation. In the late seventies they organized a short-lived party of their own known as the "Greenback party" which favored continuing the issue of paper money, "greenbacks." In 1892 they established the Populist party which declared for free silver. In that year their candidate for President polled more than a million votes. 530 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WlIvUAM McKlNIvEY The McKinley-Bryan Campaign of 1896. Bimetallism. — This vote disturbed the Republican and Democratic parties, for each was afraid that it could not win without the support of the discontented farmers. Many prominent Republicans believed in the free coinage of silver, or "bimetallism" as it was called; but most of the free- silver advocates were Democrats. In 1896 the free-silver men were so numerous that they captured the Democratic party at the national convention at Chicago and nominated a young and courageous advocate of free silver, William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska. The Republicans came out in favor of the gold standard. Then fol- lowed one of the hottest political campaigns in the history of the country. There had been nothing like it, except in 1800, 1828, and i860. The Republicans, with William McKinley as their candidate, were victorious. Four years later they passed a law making gold the standard for the whole monetary system of the United States. The "Federal Reserve" Banks. — Before many years had elapsed "the currency question" came up again in a new form. The men who had previously advocated free silver held to their old contention ( i ) that the money of the country was too largely concentrated in the hands of eastern capitalists, who could exact any rate of interest they pleased; (2) that there was not enough money in circulation to meet the needs of the farmers and small business men; and (3) that power over the whole monetary system was in the hands of private persons rather than of the government. PARTIES AND POLITICAL ISSUES 531 Many leaders in both parties were dissatisfied with the system and demanded currency reform. In response to this demand, Congress in 19 13 passed a nev/ banking law. Under this law the country was laid out into twelve great districts. In each district many banks were transformed into federal banks and one was selected as a Federal Reserve Bank. The control over the whole currency system was vested in a Federal Reserve Board, composed of the Secretary of the Treasury, the Comptroller, and five Federal Reserve Districts men appointed by the President and the Senate, with the power to issue money on certain conditions, and thus "expand" or increase the currency from time to time. It was thought that the leading currency problems would be solved (a) by securing federal government control; (b) by giving local banks a fair share in the management; (c) by distributing the "money power" over all sections of the country, to prevent concentration in New York City; and (d) by providing for the issue and withdrawal of notes to meet the demands of business. 532 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE IV. The Railroads; the Trusts; Civil Service Re- form; THE Liquor Question Railway Regulation as a Political Problem. — A third great political question was the regulation of railways. At first the government had helped the railway companies with huge gifts of land and money, thus stimulating the rapid building of lines in all parts of the country. At the same time, the government had permitted the railroad managers to conduct their business in their own way — to issue worth- less stocks and bonds and sell them to the innocent public, and to charge high freight and passenger rates. There was accordingly much discontent among those who shipped goods or traveled. The farmers In the West, who depended almost entirely upon the railways for carrying their wheat, corn, live stock, and other produce to the dis- tant eastern markets, began to grumble about "the extortions of railway companies." In the early seventies the farmers of several western states, among them Illinois and Wis- consin, forced the state legislatures to pass laws reducing freight and passenger rates. A state, however, could regulate only the carrying of goods or passengers from one point to another within its borders. The control of inter- state commerce was given to the Congress of the United States under the Constitution. The Interstate Commerce Laiv (iSSy). — Pressure was, therefore, put upon Congress to provide for regulating railroads engaged in interstate business. In 1887 Congress passed an important law creating a commission of five members to be appointed by the President and Senate. By this law and various amendments in later years, it was provided that the railroad rates should be reasonable and that the Interstate Commerce Commission should have the right to control the freight and passenger lates of all rail- PARTIES And political issues 533 roads engaged in interstate commerce. Thus a large power over the property of railroad companies was conferred upon the government commission. Many people called it a form of "socialism," because it amounted to such a drastic inter- ference with private business. It was clear from experience, however, that the railroad companies could not be allowed to fix any rates they pleased and to run their business m their own way regardless of the public. The example of certain European governments which owned and operated the railways was cited by those who Insisted that govern- ment regulation was only a mild form of public inter- ference. On account of war conditions, the government, in December, 19 17, took over nearly all the railroads for the time. This was confirmed by a law passed early in 19 18, placing all railroads under government management. Control of the Trusts a Political Problem A fourth issue akin to the railway question was that of controlling the "trusts." The small business men who were driven to the wall by these great concerns, and farmers and other consumers who were compelled to pay high prices for manufactures began to denounce the trusts In violent language. As a result of the criticism, Congress, in 1890, passed a law known as the Sherman Act, which declared illegal every combination to restrain and control trade or commerce among the states or with foreign nations. Anti-trust Legislation Generally Inefective. — It was thought In this way that the government could break up the trusts by prosecuting the men who formed them. The law proved, however, to be a dead letter for many years, because almost no attempt was made to enforce It until the administrations of President Roosevelt and President Taft. Then a number of great concerns, such as the Standard Oil Company and the American Tobacco Company, were '534 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE prosecuted and ordered dissolved into many smaller companies. This by no means solved the trust problem. Even after the Democrats, in 19 13, sought to make gov- ernment control more severe by passing the Clayton Anti-trust Law, combinations and trusts continued to flourish as before. Competition among small business men, such as had formerly existed, was not restored. In 19 14 a Federal Trade Commission was formed to supervise busi- ness concerns to prevent unfair practices. Civil Service Reform. Evils of the "Spoils System." — A fifth political issue was that of civil service reform. As a result of the "spoils system" (p. 255), the management of public business was often in the hands of inexperienced people, who served for short terms and whose positions were insecure. Moreover, in each political party there was always a large body of men whose principal ambition was to get paying offices in the government. These men took part in politics all the time, attending primaries and conventions, helping to nominate candidates and win elec- tions. Politics became a trade by which men made their living. The politicians looked upon the government as their private property and resented the interference of plain citizens. Government service was regarded, not as a dignified calling, but as mere spoils. Naturally, there was much disapproval of this state of affairs. The critics of the "spoils system" contended that the government service should be put on a merit basis; in other words, ( i ) that men and women should be appointed to the lower government offices only after passing examina- tions testing their fitness for such places, and (2) that after they were appointed they should not be removed on any other ground than that of neglect of duty or incapacity. The politicians ridiculed the idea and called it "snivel service" and "goody-goody reform." PARTIES AND POLITICAL ISSUES 535 Garfield's Assassination Arouses the Country to the Need of Reform. — In 1881, however, the attention of the entire country was forcibly drawn to the matter when President Garfield was assassinated by a disappointed office-seeker. Two years later Congress passed a civil service law ( i ) authorizing the President to appoint a commission to con- duct examinations for admission to the government service, >>4V--.. -r-T -) \ i ; 11 ' \ In. oak. \ mont. i \ minn. j i - (DAH0~~P«*%"'"".;7:1 S.D*K. ! -,..% ^sta-: r-^rS\ t N IOWA ^'s j COLO. I ,,,,. \KT\^r:,j:^J^--;r^. , I ARK. / \ \r N,. MEX. L. , , • , . > O^- V '- V._->iss.! ^^^- \ ( ^-^"^-i.r-^ I Vl.A.» I.. TEXAS V/x \ White indicate* territory that hot adopted Prohibition *.^ Wet and Dry Territorial Map of the United States, April, 1918. White Indicates Prohibition Territory and (2) empowering him to designate, from time to time, groups and classes of federal offices that should be taken out of the spoils system and placed on the merit basis. From time to time Presidents increased the number of offices filled by examinations, and in 19 16 out of more than four hundred thousand employees over half held positions subject to competitive appointment. There were still left, however, plenty of "jobs" to be distributed to party workers. The Liquor Question. — Attempts to prohibit the distilling and sale of intoxicating liquors began more than half a 536 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE century ago. In the decade between 1850 and i860, several states adopted prohibition. They all gave it up, however, in time, for one reason or another, and the temperance question was overshadowed by the slavery controversy. The Growth of the Prohibition Movement. — In a little while it reappeared. In 1869 ^^e National Prohibition Reform party was organized in Chicago, and in 1872 it nominated a candidate for President of the United States. Prom that time forward the Prohibitionists entered every presidential election. Their vote was never large enough to promise success, though in one campaign it reached almost a quarter of a million. State after state, meanwhile, adopted state-wide prohibition : Alabama Iowa New Hampshire South Dakota Arizona Kansas New Mexico Tennessee Arkansas Maine North Carolina Texas Colorado Michigan North Dakota Utah Florida Mississippi Ohio Virginia Georgia Montana Oklahoma Washington Idaho Nebraska Oregon West Virginia Indiana Nevada South Carolina Wyoming In other states great sections were made "dry" by what is called local option ; that is, counties and towns by a popular vote decided to close saloons. An amendment to the federal constitution providing for national prohibition was passed by the required two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress, in December, 19 17, and sent to the states for ratification. The ratification of the amendment by the required thirty- six states was proclaimed on January 16, 19 19. Questions and Exercises I. I. Why did the Republicans have an advantage over the Democrats in national elections for a long time after the Civil War? 2. What man succeeded Andrew Johnson as President? 3. How was the presidential campaign of 1876 decided? 4. How did PARTIES AND POLITICAL ISSUES 537 Arthur come to be President? What other Presidents have come into office in this way? 5. Who was the first successful candidate of the Democratic party after the Civil War? 6. Who were the "mugwumps" and why were they given this name? 7. What man held the office of President from 1889 to 1893? Who were the Presidents between 1897 and 1913? II. I. What position did the Democrats take regarding a pro- tective tariff? What are the differences between a "protective" tariff and a tariff "for revenue only"? 2. What party was in power when the McKinley tariff bill became a law? the Wilson- Gorman bill? the Dingley bill? 3. What important changes were made in the tariff during President Wilson's first administration? 4. What is meant by an income tax? When did the government first levy income taxes? What were the provisions of the income- tax law of 1894? What party had secured the passage of this law? Why did it not go into effect? 5. How was the income-tax problem finally solved? 6. In whose administration was the first tariff commission established? What were to be the duties of this commission ? III. I. Why were the "greenbacks" issued? How did they differ from the paper money that is used in this country to-day? Why did they depreciate in value? During what preceding period in our history had the government issued paper money similar to the greenbacks? (See Chapter XIV.) 2. How was the greenback problem finally solved? 3. What is meant by the statement that the government first coined silver at the. "ratio of 15 to i"? When the ratio was changed to "16 to i" did the silver miners receive more or less gold from the government for their product? For what other purposes is silver used in addition to making coins? What would be the effect if those who used silver in other ways offered the miners more than the government offered for making it into money? 4. Suppose, however, that new mines were opened and that the supply of silver suddenly increased ; what would happen to the price of silver in market? How did the actual ratio of silver to gold change when the new mines in the West began to produce large quantities of silver? Why did the miners, then, wish to have the government buy silver at the old ratio of 16 to i ? Why did the farmers join with the miners in this request? 5. Which of the two political parties in 1896 favored this "free" coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to i? Who was the candidate of this party? 538 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Who was his opponent and how did the election turn out? 6. What led to the establishment of the Federal Reserve banks? In what way did these banks help to solve the currency problem? IV. I. In what ways had the government aided in the con- struction of railways? 2. What control, if any, did it have in return over the operation of the railways, the sale of stock, the rates for carrying freight and passengers, and other matters of public interest? 3. Why was the control of the state governments over these matters not wholly satisfactory? 4. What commission was established by law in 1887? What powers were given to this com- mission? 5. Why did the control of the trusts become an impor- tant national problem? How did the Sherman Act attempt to solve this problem? What, in general, has been the result of the "anti- trust" legislation? 6. What is meant by the "spoils system"? In connection with what administration have we already learned some- thing of this system? (See Chapter XIV.) How did the assassina- tion of President Garfield attract public attention to the evils of the system? What important law was passed to correct these evils? If you should wish to secure an appointment in some branch of the government service now, what steps would you take? 7. What progress had the prohibition movement made before the Civil War? Can 3'ou think of any reasons why the war should have temporarily halted this movement? When was the prohibition amendment passed by Congress? When was it ratified by the States? Problems for Further Study 1. The presidential election of 1876 was the only one in our history the results of which have been seriously disputed. An interesting account of the campaign, the election, and the final decision of the electoral commission will be found in Elson's "Side- Lights on American History," vol. ii, ch. xi. 2. Next to slavery, the tariff has been most frequently a "burning issue" of national politics. Give as many reasons as you can explaining why this issue has caused so much discussion. See especially Elson's "Side-Lights on American History," vol. ii, ch. xiii. CHAPTER XXIX FOREIGN AFFAIRS: THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER I. Controversies with Great Britain The Alabama Affair — During the Civil War and the three decades following it, there were several controversies with Great Britain. The first grave difficulty arose out of "the Alabama claims." During the Civil War agents of the Confederate government were permitted to purchase warships in Great Britain, contrary to the rules of international law. One of these ships, the Alabama, built in Liverpool, for a long time preyed on merchant vessels, destroying goods and shipping and causing heavy losses to American citizens, i'he United States lodged a protest with the British govern- ment, declaring that it was responsible in allowing the Alabama to clear for the high seas. When the English government disclaimed responsibility in the matter, many leaders In this country insisted that our answer should be a declaration of war. Fortunately rash counsels did not prevail in either country. Arbitration of the Dispute. — In 1871 an agreement was made with Great Britain to submit all questions in contro- versy to a tribunal composed of five arbitrators to be selected by the President of the United States, Queen Vic- toria, the King of Italy, the Emperor of Brazil, and the President of Switzerland. This tribunal sat at Geneva and reviewed all the disputes between the United States and 539 540 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Great Britain. It awarded the sum of fifteen million dol- lars to the United States to cover the estimated losses of American citizens from ravages of Confederate ships built in England/ The Venezuela Affair — The second difficulty with Great Britain occurred in 1895. For a long time Venezuela and Great Britain had been disputing about the boundary line between the former country and British Guiana. The United States, on the appeal of the South American repub- lic, had taken an interest in the quarrel on the principle announced in the Monroe Doctrine, namely, that the United States would not permit any European power to acquire more territory in the Western Hemisphere. Great Britain asserted that she was not attempting to acquire any new territory, but was merely claiming what lawfully belonged to her, and that the Monroe Doctrine was not involved. When England and Venezuela came to a dead- lock, and Great Britain rejected the suggestion of our Secretary of State, Richard Olney, that the dispute be arbitrated, the affair reached a critical stage. Cleveland's Message to Congress. — President Cleveland, in his message to Congress in December, 1895, asked that a commission be created for the purpose of ascertaining the true boundary between Venezuela and British Guiana; and then he added in a very determined manner that it would be the duty of the United States to resist by every means in its power any attempt of Great Britain to hold lands which this American commission might decide to be ' Another dispute that arose during the Civil War was with France. While the United States was engaged in the war, Great Britain, France, and Spain 'tried to force Mexico to pay her indebtedness to citizens of those countries. France finally sent an expedition to Mexico, overthrew the gov- ernment, and established Maximilian, a brother of the Emperor of Austria, as Emperor. In 1865 Secretary Seward demanded the withdrawal of the French troops, and the French Emperor (Napoleon III) finally recalled them. The Mexicans then dethroned Maximilian, and restored their own government. I THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 54 1 Venezuelan territory. He went on to hint that war might result. England Submits the Question to Arbitration. — Presi- dent Cleveland's vigorous message was approved by many American citizens, but it was severely criticized by others on the ground that it might bring on a needless war. It was a matter for general surprise when Great Britain, instead of refusing to permit interference by the govern- ment of the United States, aided the American commission in its search for evidence as to the truth about the boundary in question, and finally yielded to the proposition that the whole matter should be arbitrated. As a result, the quarrel which brought the two countries to the very verge of war was happily settled. The tribunal of arbitration met at Paris in 1899. Ex-President Harrison was the lawyer for Venezuela. The court of arbitration, after going into the , matter carefully, rendered a decision which was, on the /' whole, favorable to Great Britain. The affair was brought to an end, President Cleveland receiving praise for his independence, and Great Britain finding consolation in getting nearly everything she claimed. Difficulties with Canadians Arbitrated. — Equally fortunate was the peaceful settlement of several controversies with Canada, particularly over the right to catch seals on the western coast, the fisheries along the eastern coast, the navigation of the Great Lakes, and above all, the Alaskan boundary. The boundary question was submitted to arbi- tration in 1903, and the claims of the United States, except in a few details, were approved as correct, the British commissioner taking the American side. The victory by the United States was regarded by many Canadians as unjust, but it was accepted by them with good grace. 542 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE II. Samoa and Hawaii; the Growth of Foreign Trade The Controversy with Germany over Samoa. — While the English and Americans were settling their quarrels by peace- ful means, important events were taking place in the Pacific Ocean. Far away to the southwest, nearer to Australia than to the United States, lay the Samoan Islands, inhabited by a number of half-savage tribes with whom the various civilized countries of the world carried on more or less trade. As early as 1878, the United States had made a treaty with a petty king in Tutuila, and secured a naval base in the harbor of Pago Pago in exchange for an agree- ment to lend assistance to him in time of need. A few years afterward a native king, Malietoa, got into a quarrel with the German consul, who had raised his country's flag there, and a number of sailors who landed from a German battleship in the harbor were killed. The British government, which had watched with alarm the conduct of Germany in the Pacific, and the government of the United States, equally anxious, sent warships to the Islands. There was some fear that war would result, but better counsels prevailed, and in 1889 the United States jomed with Great Britain and Germany in a protectorate over the Samoan Islands. This did not prove to be satis- factory. Ten years later the plan was abandoned, and the United States obtained outright possession of the Island of Tutuila, thus securing an important naval base in the southwestern Pacific. The Hawaiian Question. — The acquisition of Tutuila awakened a new interest in the Hawaiian Islands, which lie about half way between Samoa and San Francisco. For a long time American missionaries and traders had been at work in those islands, and by the middle of the nineteenth THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 543 century the Americans had more Influence there than the agents of any other government. The Annexation of Hawaii. — In 1893 some Americans in Hawaii, aided by a few natives, alleged that the queen, Liliuokalani, was ruling in an arbitrary manner, and started a revolt against her at Honolulu. They organized a gov- ernment of their own, under the protection of United States marines then stationed on a warship in the harbor, and sent agents to the United States asking for annexation. Presi- dent Cleveland, however, thought that this action by the Americans in Hawaii was very high-handed; and he steadily refused to lend support to the plan. It was not until the summer of 1898 that Congress by joint resolution declared the Hawaiian Islands to be a part of the United States. Not long afterward they were organized into a regular territory, governed by a legislature locally elected and a governor appointed by the President and Senate of the United States. American Industries Seek Foreign Markets. — Until the closing years of the nineteenth century the attention of our people had been centered largely on home affairs : the aboli- tion of slavery, the construction of railroads, the develop- ment of western lands and mineral resources, and the upbuilding of industries of every kind. Before the inaugu- ration of President McKinley, in 1897, practically all of the arable western farming lands had been occupied, and the great industries, having supplied the home demand for staple commodities, were prepared to sell immense stocks abroad wherever markets could be found. In other words, in her industrial growth the United States had arrived at a point which England had reached many decades before. American business men were looking abroad for new markets in which to sell their products, and new oppor- tunities to invest capital in profitable enterprises. 544 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE III. The Cuban Revolt Leads to the Spanish- American War The Cubans Revolt against Spain. — In 1895 there broke out another terrible revolt in Cuba, which was marked by extreme cruelty on both sides and by great loss of lives and property. The leader of the rebels ordered the destruction of plantations, burned sugar factories, and laid waste thou- sands of acres of valuable lands owned by Americans. What he left undone was finished by the Spanish general, Weyler, who not only destroyed property but gathered up the rural inhabitants and forced them to live in military camps, where they died of disease by the hundreds. Busi- ness was paralyzed, and American trade worth over one hundred millions annually was almost ruined. In a little while American citizens had filed claims against Spain amounting to millions of dollars for property which, they alleged, had been destroyed. America Sympathizes zvith the Cubans. — The cruelties of the Spanish generals stirred the sympathy of the American people. Sermons were preached against Spanish rule; orators declared that the Cuban people should be aided in -their "heroic struggle for liberty"; and radical newspapers demanded that the government of the United States inter- vene at once to secure Cuban independence. Cuban agencies were formed In American cities to raise money and secretly ship supplies and arms to the revolutionists. Many adven- turous American citizens joined the Cuban army. McKinley Protests to Spain. — During the presidential campaign of 1896, the Cuban revolt was discussed along with other Issues. The Republicans complained that Spain was unable to protect the property or lives of American citizens residing In Cuba, and declared that the American government should offer to mediate between Spain and the THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 545 insurgents. President Cleveland assumed an attitude of neutrality, although he did suggest, without avail, that an attempt should be made to settle the quarrel by mediation. The new President chosen in 1896, McKinley, shortly after his inauguration protested to Spain against her policy in Cuba and demanded that order be restored. The "Maine" Blown Up. — The United States and Spain were engaged in exchanging letters on Cuban affairs when, on February 15, 1898, the battleship Maine, which had been sent by President McKinley to protect Americans in Havana, was blown up in the harbor, and two officers and two hundred fifty-eight members of the crew were killed. The tragedy stirred the country from coast to coast. People in the streets began to wear buttons bearing the legend, "Remember the A/rt/'w^," and the advocates of war redoubled their demands for immediate action. Although Spain denied having any official knowledge of the cause of the explosion which wrecked the Maine, and the charge was never proved, many American citizens believed that Spanish officers in Cuba had been responsible for it. The Po pillar Demand for War. — For some time nego- tiations continued between the United States and Spain. The Spanish government made many promises. It agreed to restore peace in Cuba, to permit the establishment of a Cuban parliament, and to grant a certain amount of self- government to the Cubans. In short, the Spanish govern- ment claimed that it had yielded to the Cubans everything except complete independence, and had met all the demands made by the United States. President McKinley, however, refused to believe in the Spanish promises. He was urged on every hand to break off negotiations and drive Spain from the Western Hemisphere. War with Spain (1898). — On April 11, 1898, President McKinley sent a message to Congress saying that the time 54^ THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE had come to suppress the disorders in the island, and to protect American lives and property there. On April 19 Congress declared that Cuba should be free, that Spain should be compelled to withdraw, and that the President should be empowered to use military and naval forces to bring Spain to terms. While in fact declaring war on Spain, Congress added that the United States had no GULF ^^ ^ Punta GfiMa O OF '^ ^ MEXICO c\^ |f ,- V Wml. £01. Co., N.V. The West Indies intention of exercising any control over Cuba except to establish peace there and would withdraw when freedom and order were secured. Dewey's Victory at Manila Bay. — In the war which followed, the most dramatic events occurred on the sea. Admiral Dewey, in command of the Asiatic squadron of the American fleet, had been instructed, In February, to hold his ships at Hongkong and be ready at any time to sail for the Philippines. On receiving news that war was declared, Dewey left the Chinese waters and steamed into Manila Bay on the ^evening of April 30. Early on the THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 547 following morning he opened fire on the little Spanish fleet under the guns of the forts at Manila. Within a few hours he had destroyed the enemy's warships, killed nearly four hundred men, and silenced the shore batteries, — all without the loss of a single American sailor. News of the extraordinary venture reached the United States by way of Hongkong, on May 6, and the hero of the day was by popular acclaim given a place among the immortals of American naval history. The Blockade of the Cuban Ports. — Meanwhile great events were taking place nearer home. Rear Admiral Sampson, in charge of the Atlantic squadron, had blockaded the coasts of Cuba and had begun to watch for the Spanish fleet which was on the way to Cuba. Nevertheless the Spanish Admiral, Cervera, was able to slip into the harbor of Santiago on May 19, where he was at once bottled up by American ships. The battleship Oregon, which was on the Pacific coast at the outbreak of the war, made the long voyage around Cape Horn, and, "as trim as a yacht," joined the American ships in the Atlantic. El Caney and San Juan Hill. — In a short time after the arrival of Cervera the American troops, principally soldiers from the regular army, embarked from Tampa, Florida, where they had been concentrating for several weeks. They reached Cuba on June 22, and opened a campaign under General Shafter. The most serious battles occurred at El Caney and San Juan Hill, two strategic points near the city of Santiago. It was at the second of these places that the famous Rough Riders — a regiment organized by Colonel Roosevelt — distinguished themselves. After several engage- ments, in which the fortunes of the day were generally on the side of the Americans, preparations were made for the storming of Santiago. The Spanish Fleet Destroyed of Santiago. — The Spanish 548 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE fleet attempted to escape from the harbor of Santiago, on the morning of July 3, and was completely demolished by the American battleships in immediate charge of Commo- dore Schley. Within a few hours all the Spanish ships were destroyed or captured, with a loss of about six hundred killed and wounded, while the Americans had only one man killed and one man wounded. This naval victory -C. The Attack on San Juan Hihi,, an Important Point near the City oe Santiago marked the doom of Santiago, although it did not surrender formally until July 17, after two days' bombardment. The Invasion of Porto Rico. The Peace Protocol. — The fall of Santiago ended the war in Cuba, and General Miles was sent to the neighboring island of Porto Rico to destroy Spanish dominion there. His troops were rapidly gaining headway, without having to fight any battles, when the news arrived on August 1 2 that steps had been taken to restore peace between Spain and the United States. On that day Spain, acting through the good offices of the French ambas- sador at Washington, had agreed that Cuba should be free, that Porto Rico should be ceded to the United States, and that Manila should be occupied by American troops, pending American Dominions in the Pacific THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER ^49^ the final settlement. Unfortunately the news of this pre- liminary peace plan did not reach Manila until after more blood had been shed. On August 13, the day after the signing of the peace protocol, the American troops under the direction of Admiral Dewey and General Merritt took Manila by storm. IV. The Results of the War; America's New .. Interests in the Orient I The Acquisition of the Philippines, Porto Rico, and Guam. — The final terms of peace between the United States and Spain were arranged by agents of the two countries who met at Paris on October i, 1898. There was general uncertainty at first as to what should be done with the Philippine Islands, of which the American people had little knowledge at the outbreak of the war. Some citizens were opposed to the idea that the United States should follow in the footsteps of the conquering nations of the Old World and hold "imperial" dominions far across the seas. Others, however, declared that the American trade and commerce in the Far East would be aided by having a strong naval base near the Asiatic coast. It was contended that we had got into the Philippines and could not very well withdraw. At all events, the final treaty of peace, drawn up at Paris, provided that Cuba should be free, and that Porto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam should be ceded to the United States. The Filipinos Resist American Rule (1899-1902). — Before the treaty of peace was ratified, a rebellion broke out in the Philippines. For a long time the native Filipinos had been dissatisfied with Spanish rule. Just before the war began between Spain and the United States, there had been a rebellion under the leadership of a champion of Philippine 35-A. H. 550 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE .THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 55 1 independence, Aguinaldo. When the American troops stormed Manila, Aguinaldo and his followers, gathered under the banner of the Philippine Republic, had been invited to take part, and had distinguished themselves by great valor. When the native leaders heard in January, 1899, that the United States did not intend to grant them inde- pendence, but proposed to hold their islands as American territory, they were surprised and bitterly disappointed. On February 4 trouble broke out between the American soldiers and the Filipino troops. This affair marked the beginning of a rebellion which lasted nearly three years. During the struggle there were not many pitched battles. Most of the fighting occurred in wild, out-of-the-way places where the native troops picked off small bands of Ameri- can soldiers or were destroyed by American regiments. Cruel deeds were committed during the war, and the whole affair made many citizens wonder whether this new "imperialism" was in accord with American ideals of independence and self-government. The Boxer Rebellion in China (1900). — Soon after the United States had annexed the Philippine Islands, it took another step in world politics, namely, helped in suppress- ing a revolt in China. In 1900 a number of Chinese, known as "Boxers," who resented the constant interference of European powers in the affairs of their country, rose in rebellion and killed the German ambassador and a large number of foreigners at Pekin. Immediately the United States joined Russia, England, France, Germany, Japan, and other powers, in sending soldiers to suppress the Boxer Rebellion. The expedition was easily successful, and when order was restored the Chinese were compelled to pay a huge sum for damages done to the foreigners. Unlike several of the powers of the world, which had seized Chinese lands ss^ THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE and were ready to take more, the government of the United States advocated merely equal and impartial trade with China for all countries — an "open door." Moreover, the United States, finding that the damages awarded to it in the settlement were greatly in excess of the losses actually From the Detroit ''Evening Ne'ws" "Going to Stay Awhile" A cartoon of the expedition into China, 1900. incurred, instead of merely pocketing the difference, as did the other nations, decided that it should be used for the education of Chinese in American schools, "Imperialism" a Political Issue. — All these stirring events beyond the seas naturally awakened deep interest and anxiety at home, and, in the presidential campaign of 1900, "imperialism" — the use of strategy and force to acquire territory and trade abroad — was everywhere discussed. The Democrats, under the leadership of their candidate, Mr. Bryan, attacked the Republicans, saying that they had i THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 553 departed from the ideals of the Fathers of America and were following in the footsteps of old Rome by conquering and ruling subject races. The Democrats also criticized the government for waging war on a people who were striving for the right of self-government, and declared that independence at a very early date should be promised to the Filipinos. The Republicans, on their part, replied that ( i ) the Phil- ippine Islands had fallen to the United States as an unex- pected result of the war; (2) there were many different ,ra4" v\^ "'^:' m' ^.y/^^% ^; I I, \™ ,ih?\^vi ■ V / 4 .1 . , .ir# WiLUAM Jennings Bryan Lecturing at a Chautauqua Meeting tribes and peoples in the Islands in all stages of civilization, who were not prepared at all for self-government; (3) for the United States to abandon them would make the islands the prey of any covetous power; and (4) the best thing to do was to help prepare the natives for self-government by introducing order, education, trade, and industry. The Republicans were victorious in the election of 1900, and naturally assumed that the country had approved their imperial policies. 554 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE American Developments in the New Territory. — As soon as order was restored in any of the provinces of the Philip- pines, the United States established civil government and attempted to improve the condition of the masses. A great educational plan was formed, and hundreds of American teachers were sent over to give instruction to people who had never before known how to read and write. Highways and railroads were built; improved methods of cultivating the soil were introduced; and many new industries were established. In 1907 the Filipinos were granted a share in their own government. A large number of the native men were given the right to vote and to elect delegates to a general assembly in which many matters of local importance could be decided. The governor of the islands and the members of the upper house of the legislature, however, were to be appointed by the President and Senate of the United States. About the same kind of government was set up in Porto Rico. Native men having certain qualifications were granted a share in making laws, while the final control was reserved to persons chosen by the government of the United States. More Home Rule in the Dependencies. — Notwithstanding their defeats on the issue of "imperialism," the Democrats never ceased to advocate Philippine independence and more home rule for Porto Rico. When they came to power in 19 13 they immediately began to plan reforms for the dependencies. In 19 16 Congress passed a law which declared that it was the intention of this country to grant independence to the Filipinos when they were ready for it and which at the same time gave the native voters the power to elect the upper as well as the lower house of the legislature. In 19 17 a similar change was made in the government of Porto Rico, coupled with universal manhood suffrage. THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 555 Questions and Exercises I. I. What IS meant by arbitration? How were the claims of the United States against Great Britain for damages done by Confederate cruisers settled? 2. Why did President Cleveland feel justified in interfering in England's controversy with Venezuela? How was war with England avoided -at this time? 3. What diffi- culties between this country and Canada were settled by arbitration? H. I. Locate the Samoan Islands. How did the United States come into possession of the Island of Tutuila? 2. Why was the possession of the Hawaiian Islands important to the United States? In what way did the American residents in Hawaii attempt to secure the Islands for this country? What was President Cleve- land's opinion of this eflFort? When did the Islands finally become an American possession? III. I. Why did the Americans sympathize with the Cubans in their revolt against Spain? 2. What immediate event led to the Spanish-American War? 3. What great victories did the Ameri- can navy gain in this war? 4. What were the principal land battles? 5. Name the important American leaders in the war. IV. I . What new possessions did the Americans gain as a result of the Spanish-American War? 2. What disposition was made of Cuba? 3. How had the Filipinos aided the Americans in the attack on Manila? What did they do when they learned that the United States was to take over the government? 4. Why were American soldiers sent to China in 1900? What was the result of this intervention? 5. How did the United States use part of the indemnity paid by China for damages done during the Boxer Rebellion? 6. What is meant by "imperialism"? Why did some American leaders object to the acquisition by the United States of territorial possessions so far away as the Philippines? 7. What have the Americans done to help the Filipinos? How are the Islands now governed? Problems for Further Study I. Select one of the following topics for special study and report: The Cuban Revolt: See Elson's "Side-Lights on American History," vol. ii, pp. 352-358; Hart's "Source Book," pp. 373-379- 556 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE The Battle of Manila Ba}': See Elson, pp. Z^2)-Z7Z'' South- worth's "Builders of Our Country," Book II, pp. 256-259. Santiago, El Caney, and San Juan Hill: See Elson, pp. 374- ^ 390; Hart's "Source Book," pp. 387-390. 2. Why were the problems raised by the acquisition of the Philippines different from those raised by the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory, Florida, and the territory ceded to this country by Mexico at the close of the Mexican War ? I h CHAPTER XXX ADVANCES IN POPULAR EDUCATION In the midst of reconstruction in the South, the develop- ment of industry and commerce, the settlement of the Far West, and management of foreign pohtics, the American people never once lost sight of the fact that education was essential to the success of democratic government. Indeed, in the second year of the Civil War, Congress enacted the Morrill Law providing endowments for higher education throughout the Union, and with every new state in the West schools and colleges appeared. No aspect of education was neglected. Elementary schools were increased in number, facilities for training teachers were enlarged, high schools were founded, and colleges multiplied. The tasks were heavy and the obstacles in the way of universal education were great; so progress in spite of splendid labors on the part of public officers and teachers was necessarily slow. I. The Development of Schools and Colleges The Situation in 1880. — It was a long time before even elementary education was within the reach of a great majority of the children. In 1880, only ten million of the sixteen million children of school age in the country were enrolled in the schools, and the average daily attendance was far less than half the total number. About one out of every five of the voters of the United States could not read. It was estimated that not fewer than four million 557 558 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE out of the ten million voters were so poorly educated that they were unable to read intelligently the common news- papers of the day. Much of this illiteracy was in the South, where special problems had arisen as a result of the freeing of the slaves. The North, however, was in a way more open to criticism ; with two thirds of the population It had about one third of the Illiteracy. When we remember that the North was much richer than the South, we are compelled to say that it neglected its duties and could not plead poverty as a reason. Yet in every section earnest and able men and women were laboring with great zeal to Increase the number of common schools and to secure more trained teachers. Forty Years of Progress. — In the country as a whole, great progress has been made in the elementary schools In the past forty years. In 191 6 over three fourths of the children of school age in the United States were enrolled in the common schools, and three fourths of those enrolled were In actual attendance. Even then the serious problem of illiteracy was not solved, for there were still millions of people — eight per cent of the total population over ten years of age — who could not read or write. The difficul- ties of universal education were Increased by the constant arrival of foreigners from countries like Russia and Serbia, where about four fifths of the population over ten years of age could not read or write. Changes in the Attitude toward Free Schools. — During this period there occurred an important change in the spirit of the public-school system. In the early days of the com- mon schools many people, as we have seen, looked upon them as charitable Institutions for the poor. Within a few decades this spirit of contempt for them disappeared every- where, and the people came to regard education as a right ADVANCES IN POPULAR EDUCATION 559 to which every child in the United States was entitled by virtue of citizenship. The Rapid Growth of High Schools. — While the oppor- tunities for elementary education were being increased, a new and special effort was made to give to all children a ,,/M^' Mm ^•^$,'^m3-k> Students Studying in the Greenhouse, Washington Irving High School, New York City chance to learn more than the rudiments offered in the graded schools. A rapid growth of public high schools was the result. At the end of President Grant's adminis- tration, in 1877, there were only about one hundred thou- sand pupils in high schools in the United States. Three fourths of them were in private high schools, and only one fourth in those supported by public funds. Within four decades there were over eleven thousand public high schools 560 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE in the country with more than a million students, while the enrollment in the private high schools was about one hundred fifty thousand. Moreover, the education offered in the public high schools was in many respects in advance of the curriculum offered in the colleges half a century before. The State-supported Colleges. — To complete the scheme of education it was necessary to establish free colleges and universities supported at public expense. To the older eastern colleges like Harvard, Princeton, and William and Mary, had been added a number of schools in the Western States, founded principally by churches, such as Oberlin, in Ohio, established in 1833 by the Congregationalists, and Asbury, now De Pauw, in Indiana, founded by the Methodists in 1837. Although the early land grants for the support of education in the Western States were for colleges as well as common schools, only a few states like Michigan and Wisconsin had made a beginning toward a public college and university system before i860. The Morrill Act (1862). — As a further spur to education Congress, in 1862, passed the famous "Morrill Act," which set aside millions of acres of the public lands to be devoted to the support of colleges for instruction in agri- culture and mechanical arts, as well as scientific and classical subjects. These lands were apportioned among the states according to the number of their senators and representatives in Congress. Out of this great endowment were developed "agricultural and mechanical colleges" in every state in the Union. In many instances new schools were founded, but sometimes aid was given to older institutions. In the meantime, the states in the West and South were establishing colleges supported by taxes and controlled by public ofllicers. By 1878, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, ADVANCES IN POPULAR EDUCATION 56 1 Minnesota, Missouri, Colorado, California, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Oregon, and Washington had laid the founda- tions of their universities. In some of these states (such as Wisconsin, Minnesota, and California), the agricultural college was combined with the state university. In others (for example, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, and Kansas) separate agricultural colleges were built up. Many of the states, however, had made no provision for state universities, and in several cases (for Instance, Illinois, Ohio, and Maine) the agricultural colleges founded as a result of the Morrill Act later developed into state universities. II. The Growth of Vocational Education; Educa- tional Extension; The Higher Education of Women The Demand for the "Practical" Studies. — The signs of the new era In education were to be found not alone In the number of schools and colleges. Even more striking were the changes made In the subjects taught. In the old days studies were largely confined to arithmetic, grammar, history, and languages, and were not designed to prepare pupils for any special work In life. As the notion of "education for everyone" spread, there grew up a demand for a "practical education" intended to fit students for agriculture, household management, and for trades, professions, and occupations In our wonderful industrial life as well as for citizenship. Reasons for the Development of Vocational Education. — Several causes led to a gradual and profound change in the aims and purposes of education, especially In the colleges and high schools. I. In the first place, the great development of Industry that has been so frequently referred to created a demand 562 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE for technically trained men, — engineers, draftsmen, archi- tects, and chemists. Technical schools grew up very rapidly to meet this demand. 2. The Morrill act of 1862, as we have seen, gave rise to a large number of agricultural and mechanical colleges. These grew very slowly at first, for after all little was really known of agricultural science. The federal govern- ment, to meet this need, established in 188^ a vast system of "agricultural experiment stations," where men trained in chemistry and other sciences went to work to find out how best to raise crops, to increase the fertility of the soil, and to improve the various breeds of horses, cattle, sheep, swine, and poultry. Within a few years, information was available which really helped the farmer to get more from his land, and then the agricultural colleges began to attract large numbers of students. A demand also came for agri- cultural courses in the high schools of the farming districts, and even for the rudiments of agricultural science in the elementary rural schools. In 1917, the federal government instituted the practice of voting national funds in aid of vocational education in the high schools and schools of similar grade in the various states. 3. In 1876 a Centennial Exposition was held in Philadel- phia celebrating the one-hundredth anniversary of American independence. People from all over the country flocked to this exposition. Among other important lessons, many of them learned for the first time what the countries of northern Europe, — particularly Germany, France, Denmark, and Sweden, — were doing in the education of their children for the practical duties of life. It was the work in "manual training" and drawing that impressed them most, and many of the visitors went home with the firm deter- mination to have the schools of America adopt these newer ideas in education. The first manual-training high school ADVANCES IN POPULAR EDUCATION 563 was opened in St. Louis in 1880, under the principalship of Calvin Woodward, who is recognized as the pioneer in this movement in our country. Educational Extension. — There was little danger, how- ever, that American education would become entirely "practical" in character, because all sorts of new agencies for spreading general education among the people had developed before the end of the nineteenth century. These included popular lecture systems, such as that supported by public funds in New York City, which provides for evening lectures for the people on all the themes of literature, history, and science. In addition, universities and colleges offered extension and correspondence work, carrying every- where the messages of higher education to the people. Institutes were founded In all sections to help teachers and farmers prepare themselves to do better work. The Public Libraries. — Closely connected with these activities was the rapid spread of public libraries, until It was a poor town or village indeed, at least in the North, which, at the opening of the twentieth century, did not have a small library within reach of its inhabitants. Where such local supplies were wanting, state libraries sometimes stepped in and provided "circulating book boxes," thus making the best books of the day accessible even to the inhabitants in the most out-of-the-way districts. With extension systems, circulating libraries, and cheap news- papers, magazines, and books, it became possible even for the humblest of the land to have a knowledge of the world and its work. The Community Center. — Then came the community center plan for making the public school building the place around which the public life of the community revolves. There the children of the people are educated. There provision is made for play and recreation, particularly 5^4 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE for the children of the crowded districts of the great city, who are otherwise compelled to play upon the streets. There halls are provided where the adults can go to read, Children's Room in the New York Public Lihrary to play games, to listen to lectures, or to enter into the discussion of the problems of citizenship. Additional Services Assumed by the Schools. — It is impossible to name here all the other achievements in education during the last half century — better sanitation, heating, and lighting for the schools; better fire protection; more beautiful surroundings; the inspection of the health of the pupils; school nurses; separate classes for backward pupils; gymnastic courses; supervised playgrounds; courses in art; and instruction m care of the body. Higher Education for Women. Vassar College (i86j). — It was not until 1865 that a woman's college with ample ADVANCES IN POPULAR EDUCATION S^S funds — Vassar College — was established, by Matthew Vassar, at Poughkeepsie, New York. Those who organized this school decided first of all that there should be a woman's college in the East with standards as high as those prevailing in the best men's colleges. When this new col- lege was announced, the New York Evening Post said: "No institution of note has yet ventured to admit females much further than into the mysteries of the rudiments." Women in the State Universities of the JVest. — With the establishment of Vassar College, education for women became more respectable. Those who had scoffed at It before began to take it more seriously. Wisconsin, by a law enacted in 1867, admitted women to the normal depart- ment of the college; in 1870 the University of Michigan, opened in 1841, admitted them to the regular courses. Before 1890 all of the Western state universities were opened to women on the same terms as to men. Advance in East and South. — Between 1875 and 1895 many new women's colleges were opened in the East, including Smith, in Massachusetts, Barnard, connected with Columbia University, in New York, and Bryn Mawr, in Pennsylvania. By 19 17 all the Southern state universities, except Virginia, Georgia, and Florida (which has a separate women's college), were open to women. Professional Education for Women. — When they began to consider the question of training for the professions, such as law and medicine, women encountered more opposition than they had met in their effort to secure an ordinary college education. The advocates of professional education for women were not discouraged, and in 1858 they had the satisfaction of seeing the Boston Medical School for Women founded. Within five years there were more than two hundred fifty women practicing medicine. In time medical schools for men began to admit women. In 1893 566 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE one of the leading medical schools in the country, at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, opened its doors to them. The example of this great school was followed by the announcement, in 191 6, that Columbia University would admit women to its College of Physicians and Sur- geons. The progress of women's education in law was much slower; and the law schools of some of the largest universities are still closed to them. III. Other Educational Agencies Newspapers and Development in the Art of Printing No account of popular education in the United States would be complete if the newspapers and magazines were left out of consideration. In 1853 there was introduced the "web- press," which printed by means of rapidly revolving cylin- ders, drawing paper from a long roll containing two or three miles of paper in one piece. Instead of a few thousand copies an hour, this new machine could turn out a hundred thousand or more copies an hour at a slight cost per copy. For many years, however, type was set by hand. About 1900 a fast typesetting machine, enabling one man to do the work of eight or ten, was introduced. In the old days cuts or plates from which pictures were printed were laboriously made by hand on wood or copper; but about 1880 devices for making plates quickly and cheaply were invented, making it possible for papers to print pictures Illustrating their news "stories." The result of these inventions was a rapid increase in the number of newspapers and in the circulation of the dailies of the cities. By 19 15 there were 26,000 American news- papers out of a total of 62,000 published in the world, and there were many papers that issued from a quarter of a million to nearly a million copies daily. In 1882, the ADVANCES IN POPULAR EDUCATION 567 American Associated Press was founded to collect news in all parts of the world and telegraph it instantly to news- papers. Thus within a tew hours events everywhere in the world are brought to the attention of everybody for a penny or two. The Illustrated Papers. — Before the Civil War there had been only a few illustrated papers, such as Leslie's Weekly Magazine and Illustrated Newspaper and Harper's Weekly. During the war, the New York Herald surprised newspaper readers everywhere by bringing out in its morning edition maps of the previous day's battle. It was regarded as a great feat of newspaper enterprise. A little later the cartoon as a remarkable form of picture writing came into common use. There had been cartoons in pamphlets and magazines in the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth century, but it was not until about 1880 that it became a practice for the leading papers to set forth striking events in the form of serious or comic pictures. Great Sunday newspapers containing from twenty-four to seventy-two pages were the next striking development. They speedily drove almost out of the field the old-fashioned weekly. The Growth of the Magazines. — The most serious educa- tional work of the publishers has been done through the magazine. At the end of the nineteenth century there were special journals devoted to every subject in which any considerable number of people had any interest: science, education, politics, music, art, theater, inventions, trades, dentistry, medicine, law, engineering, sports, literature, agri- culture, labor, woman suffrage, and religion, to mention only a few of the most important. To these were added reviews of current events and important articles. There are now more than two million regular purchasers of monthly magazines, while one of the weeklies claims more than two million buyers. 3 6- A. H. 568 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE In 1 89 1 a law was passed making it impossible for American publishers to take copyrighted articles out of English papers without paying for them. This helped to create a demand for American writers, and contributed powerfully to the growth of "Americanism" in our papers and magazines. The old, established monthlies, like The Atlantic, Harper's^ The Century, Scribner's, and The North American Review, continued to give a distinct tone to our intellectual life. The Popular Magazine. — Before long there appeared the "popular" magazine, full of stories and pictures and sold at a low price. In this field S. S. McClure was a pioneer. He had traveled widely among the plain people of the small towns and country regions of the United States, and he knew their tastes. In 1893 he published a magazine to sell at ten cents. Through it he carried to the people, far from the great cities, pictures of distinguished men and women, historic events and stories of the deeds of the mighty. Thus farmers and their families came to know the faces of the greatest generals, politicians, and actresses, and to learn about the doings of the world's celebrated personages. About 1897, when the people were aroused over the actions of the great trusts and the politicians of the cities (see page 574), Mr. McClure began to publish articles attacking the Standard Oil Company and other big indus- trial concerns and also the political "bosses" of the cities. Writers, like Lincoln Steffens and Ida Tarbell, stirred the country with tales about the wrongdoing of many capitalists and politicians. The Cosmopolitan, Munsey's, Everybody's, Collier's, and others published stories of the same character, and an age of "muckraking" or bitter criticism of things American was ushered in. This had a deep influence on politics, for these magazines sold by the millions. ADVANCES IN POPULAR EDUCATION 569 The Chautauqua — Undoubtedly the popular magazines stimulated an interest among the people in more serious study. Out of this have come the famous Chautauquas and university extension movements. The former was established in 1874 by Lewis Miller of Akron, Ohio, and Bishop John H. Vincent of the Methodist Church. It began as a sort of Sunday school and then broadened out, carrying to the people lecturers and books on literature, art, science, travel, world movements, and social questions. In 1879 Chautauqua literary and scientific circles were organ- ized to afford people an opportunity to study systematically at home. An "assembly" was formed at Chautauqua, New York, where a few weeks in the year lectures and courses of instruction by distinguished authorities were given. In time came the establishment of the Chautauqua circuits or series of meetings in hundreds of hamlets and towns in all parts of the country. The Chautauqua system has done more than anything else to promote the idea of summer education, winter home study by correspondence, and cooperation in public improvements among the people. Thus the gateways to knowledge are wider open than ever before in the history of the world. Questions and Exercises I. I. What opportunities for education do you have that your fathers and mothers did not have? 2. What is meant by "illiteracy"? State some of the reasons why there was so much illiteracy in this country in 1880 in spite of the growth of free schools. 3. What important change took place in the attitude of the people toward free schools in the latter part of the nineteenth century? Why is it important that the children of both the rich and the poor should attend the free, public schools? 4. About how many boys and girls attended high schools in 1877? In 1913? What important difference took place between these years in the 570 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE kind of high schools which most of these pupils attended? 5. How were colleges chiefly supported and controlled in the earlier part of the nineteenth century? What was the Morrill Act of 1862 and why was it important? II. I. What is meant by vocational education? 2, Why did the development of industry create a demand for a new kind of education? 3. In what year were the agricultural experiment stations established? What is the purpose of these stations? 4. How did the Centennial Exposition of 1876 call the people's attention to the need of a more practical education? 5. What is meant by educational extension? How did the development of public libraries help the work of the schools? 6. What is meant by using the school buildings as "community centers"? 7. What have the public schools done for the people in addition to giving instruction to children? 8. Why was the establishment of Vassar College in 1865 so important? 9. In what section of the country was rapid progress first made in the higher education of women? At about what time? 10. What professional schools were first opened to women? III, I. What invention led to the rapid growth of newspapers and magazines? 2. In what way have the popular magazines served to educate the people? 3. What is meant by the Chautauqua movement, and how has it rendered service to the cause of education? Problems for Further Study 1. Give as many reasons as you can for supporting elementary schools at public expense. For supporting high schools and colleges at public expense. 2. Find out when the first high school in your town or city was established. Find where the state agricultural college of your state is located, when it was established, and what different kinds of service it gives to the farmers of the state. If your state supports a university find when it was established and how it came to be established. 3. Discuss in class the way in which the following agencies work together to educate the people: schools, newspapers, magazines, public libraries, art museums, churches, public lectures. OUTLINE FOR REVIEW 57 1 Outline for Review of the Fifty Years of Progress (Chap- ters XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII, XXIX, XXX) I. The rise of the New South. A. The situation at the close of the Civil War. B. The reconstruction of the planting system. C. The development of farming. D. The Industrial Revolution in the South. 11. The growth of the Far West. A. The Far West in i860. B. New Western states and territories. C. The problem of the public land. III. The triumph of industry. A. The development of mining and manufacturing. B. The development of transportation : railroads and ships. C. The army of industry: inventors, business men, wage- earners. D. The results of industrial development. 1. Development of the export trade. 2. Disappearance of the frontier. 3. Business and industry gain on farming. 4. The growth of the cities. 5. Evils of industrial development. IV. Immigration. A. Principal sources of immigration before 1890. 1. Early immigration. 2. Immigration after 1865. B. Later changes in immigration. 1. The influx from Southern Europe. 2. Settlement of immigrants in the cities. 3. The enormous increase in immigration. 4. Many immigrants not permanent. C. Efforts to restrict immigration. V. Combinations of capital and labor. A. Competition leads to the formation of "trusts." B. The results of combinations of capital. 1. The "soulless" corporation. 2. Protective organizations of employees. 3. Employers' organizations. 572 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE C. The great strikes. D. The rise of Socialism. VI. Parties and political issues. A. The Republican and Democratic parties. B. The tariff and income-tax issues. C. The currency problem. D. Other political problems and issues. VII. Foreign affairs. A. Controversies with Great Britain. B. Controversy with Germany over Samoa. C. The Hawaiian question. D. The growth of foreign trade. VIII. The Spanish-American War and the Boxer difficulties. J. The Cuban revolt and the destruction of the Maine. B. The war with Spain. C. The results of the war. D. Military activities in China. E. Imperialism a political issue. IX. Advances in popular education. A. Development of schools and colleges. B. The growth of vocational education. C. Educational extension. D. The higher education of women. E. Other educational agencies. Important names: Presidents: Johnson, 1865-1869; Grant, 1869-1877; Hayes, 1877-1881; Garfield and Arthur, 1881-1885; Cleveland, 1885- 1889; Harrison, 1889-1893; Cleveland, 1893-1897; McKinley, 1897-1901. Other Political Leaders: Tilden, Blaine, Bryan. Inventors: Edison, Bell, Wilbur and Orville Wright. Labor Leaders: Debs, Gompers. Leaders of Business and Industry : Rockefeller, Carnegie, Morgan. Military and Naval Leaders: Dewey, Sampson, Schley, Shafter. Important dates: 1877, 1894, 1898. CHAPTER XXXI THE NEW DEMOCRACY. I. Causes of Increasing Interest in the Machinery OF Government 1. Popular Education — In the closing years of the nine- teenth century, the people of the United States, men and women alilce, learned more about the government than ever before in the history of our country. As a result of the spread of education, more citizens read newspapers, maga- zines, and books. The news of events, great and small, was easily scattered throughout the land by the press, telegraph, and telephone, so that no part of the country could long be ignorant of what was happening in other sections. 2. Wrongdoing on the Part of Public Officers. — In the era of great business enterprise which followed the Civil War, government officers were often allowed to do wrongful acts without interference from the citizens. Sometimes the city councils were bribed to sell cheaply or even give away to companies the right to build street railways or waterworks or other public utilities. Members of state legislatures frequently made laws favorable to private persons and companies in return for payments of money. It was a common occurrence for railway companies to get valuable lands away from the government In return for very small service. Again, contractors domg public work, such as building court houses and bridges, were sometimes permitted to overcharge and so rob the public treasury. 573 574 I'ilt: HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 3. Criticism of Faithless Officials — From time to time criticism of negligent officials appeared in newspapers or in pamphlets. Widespread concern about the evils in American government was especially aroused by the publi- cation in 1888 of James Bryce's "The American Common- wealth." Bryce was an English student of government who spent several years in the United States and then wrote a long and careful account of his observations. He did more than any one else to call the attention of the American people to the exact way in which their affairs were managed and especially to the corruption prevalent in cities. Although some Americans were deeply annoyed by Bryce's book, the more serious people said that we should profit by his criticism and endeavor to "clean house." 4. Problems of the Cities. — Another cause of increased interest in government was the rapid growth of large cities. As long as the people lived in the country and supplied themselves with water from their own wells, rode to market in their own wagons and carriages, lighted their houses with oil lamps, and shipped goods by canal boats and freight wagons, there was little need for the government to inter- fere with the way in which business was carried on. When the most important public enterprise was the town pump, it did not require very much attention on the part of the citizens to keep it in working order. With the growth in population, it was necessary for cities to supply their residents with water, gas, electricity, street cars, and many other services. They did this either by building plants and running them, or by chartering com- panies to do the work under the general supervision of the city government. Naturally, as the welfare of men, women, and children came to depend, in a large part on what the government did, citizens were forced to think a good deal more about government. I THE NEW DEMOCRACY 575 5. The Education and Employment of Women A fifth cause of Increased popular concern in politics was the educa- tion of women, on the one hand, and the employment of them in larger numbers in offices, stores, and factories, on the other. As common schools and high schools were mul- tiplied throughout the length and breadth of the land, and girls were given the same opportunity as boys to learn, they began to read the same magazines and newspapers. In the factories and stores and mills, they found that they were working just as men were, and that all the regulations to safeguard the health and safety of employees affected them. Even the women who did not go out to work, but lived in their homes and took care of children, were also interested, in the new order of things. They saw that the character of the schools, the kind of water or gas supplied, or the cleanliness of the public markets depended upon the way that government officers performed their duties. So women at home and out of the home, in colleges, schools, factories, and clubs, began to read about government and to discuss public affairs. II. Civil Service Reform; the Australian Ballot; THE Initiative and Referendum Civil Service Reform in the States and Cities — As a result of this increase in public interest many reforms in the machinery of government were brought about during the last half century — one of the earliest being in the civil service. The "spoils system" presented such glaring evils that one is surprised to learn how long It endured. Many Independ- ent people criticised it from the beginning, and, as we have seen, they were able in 1883 to secure a change In the civil service of the federal government. In the same year the 576 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE m :l\ 1= %\ M isS = " 5 PS "63 PS e S« a !^£ eI Xll =11 Eil ^1 11 1 Odd^ E I ^ ^ ^ , o e S - « E & -I- " i i g I 8 E i I g S| " gii 3 fcsS w -I I I SI K c| pi sis 1^ I si^ g I ^g Si . DD D D DD nnn n n nnnnnnn nnn n o i s s 8i lag b: ego s8§ |5§ s a3S S 8 ess llM dga P. g PgBSS E Sis a?^ Issge. I Ml M^ DD D n DD nnn n n nnnnnnn nnn d I ! I i I -^ i « i S I ri ill P i ^i e S £ o I ' £ =1 ^1 ss ^ s. -i 3i ^: c2 pgi «8-^ i§^ ^ s^g I ^ !;^ i- fk.1 1\ O - i 5 § S g a ^ "2 : S I .si l§ i S " ^i5£o 3. D p n n nn nnn n d nnnnnnn nnn n si I 5 \ % 5b j sg£ N P£ i§§ ^Is i-S i =§S 6 3 tig g?« giigS i° § e n se ps g-| iss i^^m %- i?| ii £« = S Ho P t- S g g !3 a ££ :5 Kg C2 EfcR 'rilii^i • i ^ |s O n n n n nn nnn nnn nnn nnn nnn n 5 - B I'. It 11; E w nn n n nn nnn n n nnnnnnn nnn n Is |j a"^ A% t'i =? =1"* o THE NEW DEMOCRACY 577 State of New York passed a law providing that a very- large number of public employees in the state, county, and city governments should be chosen on account of their ability to pass certain examinations and tests; and further- more, that they should hold office during good behavior. In time several other states — Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and Illinois, for example — adopted civil service reform. The new system now prevails to a greater or less extent in many states and more than two hundred cities. For example, the eighty or ninety thousand employees in the city of New York, except those in the higher positions, know that no matter who wins in an election they will be able to go on with their work unless they neglect their duties. Ballot Reform. Evil Election Practices. — For a long time it was customary ^or political parties to print their own bal- lots, and as a rule, each party selected a color of its own. Thus, for example, the Republicans, in an election, would select candidates and print their names on white paper, and the Democrats would select candidates and print their names on a red ballot. These ballots were distributed freely, and if any man wanted to vote the Republican ticket he simply got one of the white ballots, walked up to the polls, and dropped it into the ballot box. The watchers standing around could readily see what ticket he voted. It was possible for party leaders to buy up voters, and be sure that they voted as they were told. A good deal of bribery and intimidation in elections was the natural consequence. The Australian Ballot. — By an important law passed in 1888, Massachusetts introduced for the first time In an American state a new kind of ballot known as the "Aus- tralian" ballot, after the country in which it was first used. Under this new system (i) the government prints "official" ballots for all elections; (2) the names of the candidates of 57^ i'HE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE all parties are placed on the same ballot; (3) the ballots can be procured only at the polling places from public officers; and (4) the voter must mark in secret the names of the candidates for whom he votes. Thus it is very diffi- cult for any one who has bribed or threatened a voter to be sure that "the goods have been delivered." This reform, along with others designed to purify elections, has done much to drive bribery and cheating from American politics. Other states in the Union followed the example of Massa- chusetts, and at the opening of the twentieth century nearly all had adopted the Australian ballot in some form. The Initiative and Referendum. — Ballot reform had not been in operation very long before some citizens, particu- larly in the western states, began to advocate other changes in government. Believing that the legislatures had passed laws which the people did not want and had refused to pass other laws which they did want, reformers insisted that the voters at the polls should have a chance to express their opinions on laws as well as to select public officers. They adopted a plan known as the initiative and referendum, in use in Switzerland, The initiative permits private citizens to draw up a bill, and, on securing the signatures of a certain percentage of the voters, to have it submitted directly to all the voters at an election. If this bill proposed by the initiative receives a sufficient majority, it becomes a law. The referendum allows citizens who do not like an act passed by the legislature to get up a petition and require the submission of that measure to the voters at the polls for their approval or rejection. These two devices consti- tute what is known as "direct government," because they enable the voters to make laws directly, without the inter- vention of any elected officers whatever. The new plan was adopted, for the first time in any state. THE NEW DEMOCRACY 579 by South Dakota, in 1898. Four years later, Oregon fol- lowed the example of South Dakota. Nevada adopted part of the plan in 1905, and other states soon followed: Mon- tana, Oklahoma, Michigan, Maine, Arkansas, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Ohio, Nebraska, Wash- ington, Idaho, and North Dakota. While these states were adopting the plan, more than three hundred cities put it into effect in the making of ordinances or local laws. The Recall. — In 1904 a new scheme for securing voters still more power, known as the "recall," was initiated at Los Angeles. The recall permits a certain percentage of the voters (25 per cent in Oregon) who are dissatisfied with a public officer to get up a petition against him at any time, and compel him either to resign or to submit himself at a new election to the judgment of his fellow citizens. The spread of this reform has not been so rapid as that of the initiative and referendum. By the year 19 16, it was in force in only eight states — Washington, California, Oregon, Arizona, Oklahoma, Nevada, Michigan, and Colorado. It was widely applied, however, in more than two hundred city governments m all parts of the country. III. The Commission Form of City Government; Re- forms IN Political Parties; the Direct Primary • The Rise of Commission Government. — While searching for better things citizens began to criticize the old-fashioned city government by mayor and councilmen. In the year 1900 a great storm, which destroyed a large portion of the city of Galveston, Texas, led to an Important experiment. A committee of citizens drew up a new scheme of govern- ment abolishing the mayor and council and putting the whole management of public business into the hands of five commissioners, one of whom, without any extra powers, 58o THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE was to serve as a Mayor-President. This "commission" plan was shortly atterward put into force in Galveston, and ' in 1908 it was adopted by the city of Des Moines, Iowa. From that time forward the spread of the plan was rapid, until by 19 16 more than three hundred cities, including some of the first rank, such as St. Paul, Memphis, Spokane, Birmingham, Newark, and Buffalo, had adopted it in one form or another. The City Manager Plan. — The commission scheme of gov- ernment had hardly been tested before an addition was made to it. It was found difficult for the five commissioners to supervise properly all the de- tails of the city's business and some one suggested that they should elect a "manager" to do this for them. So the commis- sioner-manager plan was devised. Under this scheme the commis- sioners merely act as a town council, pass ordinances, vote money, and make general plans, Commissioner-Manager Pi.an ^hile the actual carrying out of OF City Government , ,. , . . . the public busmess is intrusted to a man whom they choose, known as the city manager. The plan was adopted in 19 12 at Sumter, South Carolina, and later by larger cities, including Springfield and Dayton, Ohio, and Phoenix, Arizona. Evils in the Management of Political Parties. — Not a few of the evils which appeared in government were attributed by critical citizens to the way in which the political parties were managed. The political party had grown up as a wholly voluntary society, like a social club or an association for some special purpose. Party members were supposed to conduct their party affairs as they pleased. It was thought THE NEW DEMOCRACY 58 I to be nobody's business how they elected the chairman and other officers of their town, city, county, state, and national committees. Each party made its own plan for conducting its affairs and was permitted to select candidates for local, state, and national offices as it saw fit. Nominations by Conventions. — It was the common prac- tice until the early part of the twentieth century for each party to select its officers and candidates at "conventions." A convention was merely an assembly of party workers selected by the party voters at local caucuses or meetings. For example, the Republican national convention was com- posed of four delegates "at large"^ from each state and two delegates from each congressional district. Only those citizens who gave a great deal of attention to politics attended caucuses and conventions. As a rule only about ten or twenty per cent of the voters in each of the political parties took any interest in the selection of party officers and party candidates. The Direct Primary. — Those who had time to spare for politics naturally secured the party offices and selected the party candidates. They became known as the "bosses" or party leaders. When things went wrong in the govern- ment, they were attacked. A demand then arose that the party convention should be abolished and the "direct primary" substituted for it. Under this system, the voters of each party choose at the polls their leaders and candidates. The first state to have a general direct primary was Wisconsin, which adopted it in 1903. The other states followed rapidly, and by 19 15 nearly all the states had given up the convention in favor of the direct primary. ' That is, the four were not chosen one from each of fouv districts but simply named together on one ticket. 582 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE The Popular Election of United States Senators The progress of "direct" government brought a demand for the. election of United States Senators by popular vote instead of by the state legislatures. This reform had been urged in Congress as early as 1826; President Johnson had advo- cated it in 1868; and in 1893 the House of Representatives had passed a constitutional amendment for direct election, only to be blocked by the Senate. Failing to make head- way with the federal amendment the advocates of the new plan worked in the states, applying the principle of the direct primary to the selection of candidates for the United States Senate, in some instances binding the legislatures to accept the popular choice. By 19 10 three fourths of the states nominated candidates for the United States Senate by the direct primary. The next year both houses of Con- gress passed the long-debated constitutional amendment. It was promptly ratified by the required number of states and on May 31, 19 13, proclaimed a part of the Constitution of the United States as the Seventeenth Amendment. IV. Woman Suffrage Early Hope for a Federal Amendment. — With the awak- ening interest in popular government there came a revival of the agitation for woman suffrage. The suffragists, as we have seen, were defeated in their attempt to secure an amendment to the federal Constitution giving the ballot to women at the time that the slaves were emancipated and enfranchised. Then they realized that they must win a few states before they could get a real hearing at the national capital. Suffragists Turn to the States. — The first state campaign of importance opened in Kansas. In 1861 the right to vote in school elections had been extended there to women, THE NEW DEMOCRACY 5>i3 and six years later the proposition to grant complete suffrage was submitted to the voters. In this campaign, women speakers traveled day and night over miles of wild prairie and spoke in depots, barns, mills, churches, schoolhouses, Pioneers in the Woman Suefrage Movement Seated left to right: Mrs. Rebecca B. Spring, Miss Susan B. Anthony. Standing: Mrs. Caroline M. Severance, Mrs. Charlotte IvcMoyne Wills and in the open air on the very frontiers of civilization, wherever a few peoole could be brought together. The women were defeated, but they secured a respectable vote. Success in the West. — Their first victory was not until many years later. As a territory Wyoming had given 37-A. H. 584 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE women the vote in 1869; twenty years afterward, in 1889, it came into the Union as the first state with equal political rights for "all male and female citizens." The second state to enfranchise women was Colorado. After years of agita- tion the women won the vote in 1893. The third state was Utah. Suffrage had been granted to women when Utah was a territory, but Congress, in 1887, took it away from them. In 1896, after Utah had become a state, it established once more the principle of equal suffrage. The fourth state was Idaho, which gave the ballot to women in 1896. Decline and Revival in the Suffrage Movement. — After the adoption of woman suffrage in Idaho in 1896, there followed a long period during which no gams were made, although at least twenty campaigns were carried on in various sections of the Union. In 19 10, however, another wave of enthusiasm for woman suffrage began to sweep the cause forward. In that year the state of Washington gave women the ballot. In 191 1 California was added to the suffrage states. In 19 12 three more states granted equal suffrage — Oregon, Arizona, and Kansas. In 19 13 the terri- tory of Alaska followed their example, and the legislature of Illinois granted women the right to vote for a large number of offices, including the President of the United States. The next year, 19 14, Nevada and Montana, and in 19 1 7, New York, extended the franchise to women, thus making in all twelve states with full suffrage, and a thir- teenth, Illinois, with presidential and limited local suffrage. Some other states also enacted presidential suffrage laws. While making these great gains, the suffragists were defeated in several eastern states — Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maine, and Massachusetts. Suffrage Agitation at Washington. — As early as 1868, a proposition to establish woman suffrage by federal amend- ment had been introduced in Congress, and in January, THE NEW DEMOCRACY 585 1878, the famous "Susan B. Anthony amendment" had been proposed by Senator Sargent of California: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied by the United States or by any state on account of sex." The women founded the National Woman's Suffrage Associa- tion, and every year after 1878 they made pilgrimages to A-J.':: / S MONT. T^^ ■"} 1 t914 I 1917 ; / , , NEBR \ "* /• UTAH ! COLO h cal.\ / t8e« I °~?- ■ 1811 \. / / 1S12 IZZA Full Suffrage '"^'.^ I ♦ I Primary Suffrage - ^ EUD Presidential Suffrage 1ZZ3 Municipal Suffrage I: . . i Presidential i& Municipal Suffrage ^^ Municipal Suffrage in Charter Cities milE Schvol Bond or Tax ^^ No Suffrage Wm«. Eng. Co.. N.T. Courtesy of "7 lie H'oman Citisen' Suffrage Map of the United States Washington with petitions and arguments, asking for the passage of their amendment. In 19 13, a more radical suffrage organization, The Congressional Union, came into the field. The newcomers said to the members of Congress and to the President: "If you do not pass our national amendment, we are going into the states where the women vote and ask them not to return you to office." Progress of the Federal Amendment. — In the campaign of 19 1 6, woman suffrage became one of the prominent issues. The Republican party, "as a measure of justice to one half of the adult population," favored the extension of 586 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE suffrage to women, but recognized the right of each state to settle the question for itself. The Democratic party recommended "the extension of the franchise to the women of the country by the states upon the same terms as to men." The Republican candidate, Mr. Hughes, went beyond his platform and, in an open letter, indorsed the granting of suffrage by the federal amendment, but Mr. Wilson, who had announced his belief in woman suffrage in 19 1 5, insisted that victory should be won state by state. The growing strength of the women voters and the victory in New York forced the passage of the suffrage amendment by the House of Representatives on January 10, 191 8, President Wilson, at last, having used his influence in its favor. In the Senate, however, the amendment lacked two votes of the necessary two thirds. The amendment was therefore left for the next Congress. Questions and Exercises I. I. In what way did the development of free schools create a demand for better government? 2. What were some of the evil practices that had crept into state and city governments? 3. How did it happen that Mr. Bryce, an Englishman, could have had so large an influence in improving government in America? 4. What new problems of government came with the rapid growth of the cities? 5. What other influences led to awakened interest of the people in governmental matters? II. I. At about what time did the states begin to adopt civil service reform ? In what ways are the employees of state and city governments better off under civil service than they were before these reforms? 2. Describe the older method of providing ballots for elections. What were the dangers in the older method? 3. What is meant by the "Australian ballot"? What is meant by the "secret ballot"? How have these changes done away with many of the older evils? 4. Describe the operation of an initiative and referendum law. What are the advantages of such a law? What is meant by the "recall"? THE NEW DEMOCRACY 587 III. I. What are the principal differences between the com- mission form of city government and the older method of governing cities through a mayor and a common council or board of aldermen? 2. What is a "city manager"? In what ways is a city manager like a city superintendent of schools? IV. I. Describe the way in which candidates for public offices were nominated by political parties. What are the dangers in this system? 2. What is meant by the "direct primary" election? How does it differ from other elections? V. I. What led the advocates of woman suffrage to urge the states to adopt amendments giving women the right to vote? What were the first states to adopt such amendments? In how many states are women now permitted to vote for all important officers of the government? Problems for Further Study 1. If you live in a city, find out whether the employees of the city government are under civil service, and if not whether they are likely to lose their places whenever a new party comes into power. If you live in a small town or village, find out what officers are responsible for the public business of the community — for the roads, sidewalks^ street lights, and the like. 2. Boards of aldermen are usually elected by wards ; that is, each ward sends one or more people to represent it in the lawmaking body of the city. Under the commission form of city government, the commissioners are usually chosen "at large," that is, without reference to the particular districts of the cit}' in which they happen to live. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these two methods. 3. Organize your class under the commission form of govern- ment, using the Australian ballot system for electing the com- missioners. CHAPTER XXXII THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY I. Roosevelt's Administration; the Conservation Movement A New Type of Political Leadership. — With the inaugura- tion of President Roosevelt after the assassination of Presi- dent McKinley in September, 1901, a new period in the political history of the United States opened. For the first time there was in the White House a President who dis- cussed with great vigor and earnestness the general questions of capital and labor, riches and poverty, which had been raised by the industrial progress of his own day. During his two administrations, Mr. Roosevelt attacked "male- factors of great wealth" who grew rich by monopolies or cheated the public by various fraudulent schemes, and he denounced also "false labor leaders" who induced trade unions to commit acts of violence in times of strikes and labor disputes. He advocated taxing incomes and the inheritances of the rich, largely for the purpose of leveling down some of the great inequalities in wealth. He was especially earnest in his demand that the forests, minerals, and other natural resources of the country, which had been so lavishly used by individuals and companies, should be conserved for the generations to come. The Conservation Movement. Leading Advocates. — Thoughtful men on the western frontier had long wanted to 588 THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 589 transform vast desert areas into gardens by water from the mountains. John Wesley Powell, who had explored the Grand Canon of the Colorado, early advocated the construction of large dams for storing water from the I::;, "..; ^ President Roosevelt Discussing National, Questions mountam streams so that it could be slowly fed out to the plams. F. H. Newell, who v/as also m the government service, pointed out the importance of taking care of the forests on the mountain sides, in order to hold the soil and prevent the spring freshets from carrying down to sea thousands of tons of rich earth. Gififord Pinchot, for many 590 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE years a student of forestry and later head of the forestry bureau in the federal government, took leadership in urging the conservation of all the natural resources : forests, water supplies, and minerals, as well as the irrigation of the arid lands. Senator Newlands, of Nevada, who knew the The Arrowrock Dam above Boise on the Boise River problems of the West at first hand, year in and year out pressed upon Congress the urgent necessity for action. The Reclamation Act (igoj). — As a result of the demands of public-spirited citizens, Congress passed, on June 17, 1902, the Reclamation Act — a law for redeeming the arid regions of the West. This law provided that the money collected by the federal government from the sale THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 591 of public lands be used to build dams and store water for gradual distribution over desert areas. The lands thus reclaimed were to be sold by the government to settlers and certain charges made for the use of the water. The money secured by the government from the settlers was to be used to construct new dams and irrigation works, so that a large fund would be provided forever to bring additional lands National Forests, 1918 under cultivation. Work was immediately begun under this il plan. In the spring of 191 1 the Roosevelt Dam in Arizona ' was built, and the erection of other plants went forward rapidly. The National Forests. — While the irrigation work was I under way, attention was bemg given to the forest lands \ owned by the federal government. In 1906 the cattle rangers who turned their sheep and cattle loose to graze in the national forests were compelled to pay the government for the privilege. In the same year the government began 592 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE the practice of renting to elecfric companies the right to use the water power on the government lands, instead of either giving that privilege away or selling it at a small sum. The next year, 1907, President Roosevelt, following an example set by President Cleveland years before, by a single proclamation added to the permanent national forests a vast area of forty-three million acres. In order to pro- tect these forests against fire and marauders, a force of forest rangers was established, roads and trails were built, and telephone lines put up. By this system it was possible for the rangers to communicate rapidly with one another, spread the alarm whenever a fire broke out, and concentrate forces for fighting it. Before the new plans were adopted it was common for a single fire to sweep away thousands of acres of valuable timber. So effective was the fire-preven- tion work that in 1908 only about 15 per cent of the fires that broke out in the national forests spread over more than five acres. II. The Panama Canal. The Treaty of Portsmouth Early History. — From the day when Balboa struggled across the narrow isthmus and beheld the waters of the Pacific down to our time, men had dreamed of cutting across the strip of land which compelled ships sailmg between New York and San Francisco to take the journey around Cape Horn. Great Britain was interested in this project because she had more merchant ships on the high seas than any other country in the world; and the United States was interested in it because manufacturers and farmers, who had produce and goods to ship across great stretches of the American continent, were anxious to find lower freight rates than the railroads could grant. Indeed before the days of railroads the matter was i THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 593 seriously considered, and in 1850 the United States and Great Britain, by the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, agreed that a canal might be built by a private corporation under their joint supervision. Nothing came of this proposal. Then in 188 1 Ferdinand de Lesseps, who was celebrated through- out the world for his achievement in building the Suez Canal, organized a French company and began the work of 120° 140^ 160" 180' 160° 140° 120° 100- >iO'\A 00° W 20° 0° 20" 40' 120° lyi Wm.. Eiig. Co., U.t The Principai, Trade Routes through the Panama Canai, cutting across the Isthmus of Panama. After spending millions of francs and losing hundreds of lives, the French company gave up the task m despair. There was a lull in public interest in the canal, until the attention of the people of the United States was forcibly drawn to it again by the historic voyage of the battleship Oregon around the Horn, at the outbreak of the Spanish War. New Treaty with Great Britain. — After the Spanish War was over, many people came to the conclusion that the United States alone should control any canal which might 594 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE be built to connect the Atlantic and the Pacific. In 1901 another arrangement, known as the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, was made with Great Britain, setting aside the old agree- ment. This new contract provided that the canal should be constructed under the sole direction of the United States, either at its own cost or by a private company under its control. The United States agreed that the canal should be free and open to the vessels of all nations, and that there should be no discriminations in tolls against any nation or its citizens. Dispute over the Routes. — The next great question con- fronting the country was where and how the canal should be built. After much dispute Congress, in June, 1902, ordered that the French company's claims in Panama should be bought and that arrangements should be made with the Republic of Colombia to purchase the strip of territory through which to build the canal. It was provided, how- ever, that, if an agreement could not be made with Colombia, the route through Nicaragua should be chosen. The Panama "Revolution." — The government of the United States then undertook to acquire the canal strip, only to find Colombia unwilling to accept the terms offered. President Roosevelt was vexed by this, because he thought that Colombia was taking advantage of the opportunity to exact more money from the United States than the land was worth. Some of the inhabitants in Panama were also dis- pleased about it. They were anxious to see work on the canal begun, because it meant the spending of millions of dollars there and great prosperity for that region. In the autumn of 1903 the people of Panama, feeling certain that the United States would uphold them, revolted against Colombia. President Roosevelt, who had sent naval forces down to watch the course of events, at once acknowledged the independence of the new republic. Early in the next THE OPENING UF THE NEW CENTURY 595 year a treaty was made with Panama, authorizing the United States to construct and operate a canal through the zone. The Canal Built — The plan of the canal was then taken up and it was decided in 1906, after a long wrangle in Congress, to build great locks instead of attempting to cut through a channel level with the sea. By an order of The Panama Canal Zone, the Canal, and the Railroad January 6, 1908, President Roosevelt appointed Colonel Goethals as head of the commission to carry out the enter- prise. Way for the work had been prepared by Dr. Gorgas who had made the canal zone a place where workmen could hve with safety to their health. The failure of the French company had been partly due to the fevers and other diseases which swept men away by the hundreds. The American government, profiting by that experience, provided 59^ THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE marvelous sanitary conditions in advance. When all was ready, thousands of workingmen with engines, dredges, locomotives, and supplies were brought together, and a mighty army well equipped started to realize the grand dream. In spite of many discouragements, particularly the The Alliance Passing through Gatun Locks, Panama Canal This was the first ocean steamship to pass through the canal. slides from the mountain sides into the channel and the crumbling of foundations for the locks, the great work was brought to a successful close and in 19 13 the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific were joined. Foreign Affairs. The Russo-Japanese Treaty. — Mr. Roosevelt also took a deep interest in what was going on in all the world outside the United States. He watched with THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 597 grave concern the progress of the war between Japan and Russia which broke out in 1904, and early in the following year he came to the conclusion that the further continuance of the war "would be a very bad thing for Japan and even a worse thing for Russia." He therefore suggested to them that they should begin peace negotiations. As both of them were in dire straits for money to carry on the war, they welcomed this opportunity and sent their agents to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to confer upon the terms of peace. President Roosevelt took keen satisfaction in open- ing the conference between the representatives of the two powers, and counted among the most noteworthy events of his administration the successful ending of the war. The Journey of the Fleet around the World (1908). — Tn order to impress other nations with the interest of the United States in world affairs, President Roosevelt directed an American fleet of sixteen battleships to sail out of Hamp- ton Roads for a trip around the world by way of the Straits of Magellan, San Francisco, Australia, the Philip- pines, China, Japan, and the Suez Canal. This enterprise caught the attention of every nation, and in the United States the people learned more about the navy in a few weeks than they could have learned in any other way. The Election of 1908. — As Mr. Roosevelt's administration was drawing to a close many of his friends urged him to become a candidate for the presidency a second time. They said that he had really served only one elective term, begin- ning in 1905, ruling out of account his service as successor to President McKinley. Mr. Roosevelt refused the nom- ination, however, declaring that his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, should be selected as his successor. He was able to secure Mr. Taft's nomination by the Repub- licans in 1908. The Democrats, having failed miserably in 1904 with an eastern candidate, Judge Alton B. Parker of 598 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE New York, turned once more to the West and chose Mr. Bryan, who had already twice been their standard bearer. In the election which followed Mr. Bryan was defeated for the third time. Mr. Taft was inaugurated President on March 4, 1909. III. Taft's Administration and the Campaign OF 1912 Tariff -Revision and the Income Tax. — The first task which interested the new President upon taking the oath of office was that of revising the tariff. More than ten years had elapsed since the passage of the last tariff law — the Dingley act of 1897 — and the rapid progress which had taken place in industry suggested that the time had come to change the rates of the duty levied on many imported products. Accordingly Mr. Taft called a special session of Congress, which met on March 11, 1909, and fash- ioned a new tariff law. This meas- ure, although it reduced the duties on many goods, was on the whole highly protective. Indeed, many Republicans denounced it. Several of them, particularly from the West, broke away from the party and voted against it. The Democrats, who had advocated a decided reduction in the duties, immediately attacked the law. In addition to the tariff act Congress passed another measure of great importance in the summer of 1909; namely, a resolution amending the Constitution of the United States, to give Congress power to collect taxes on WiiuAu H. Taft i THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 599 incomes from whatever source derived (p. 526). The reso- lution was approved by three fourths of the states and put Into effect In 19 13, as the Sixteenth Amendment. Postal Savings Banks. — Two other Important laws were passed during President Taft's administration. The first of these, enacted In 19 10, provided for a system of savings banks to be conducted by the post offices of the United States government. This had long been demanded as a help to people who could make only small savings and needed some absolutely secure place to deposit them. The Parcel Post. — A law creating a system of parcel post had been urged In Congress for many years, but It was vigorously opposed, especially by the representatives of express companies. They contended that their business would be ruined If the government should undertake to carry parcels, as well as letters and papers, at a low rate. After much debate Congress, by a law which went Into effect January i, 19 13, ordered the Post Office Department to lay the country out Into zones and to provide low rates for carrying and delivering certain kinds of parcels. Dissolution of the Trusts. — Mr. Taft Insisted that some of the great trusts and combinations, like the Standard OH Company and the American Tobacco Company, were violating the Sherman Anti-trust Law of 1890, and he Instructed the Attorney General to press the prosecutions begun against these concerns In Mr. Roosevelt's adminis- tration. In May, 191 1, the Supreme Court handed down decisions declaring that these two companies were violating the law by unduly restraining or interfering with business. Each one of them was accordingly broken up mto several companies, which were supposed to compete with each other and thus prevent monopolies from arbitrarily fixing the prices of oil and tobacco products. 38-A. H. 6oO THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Growing Dissatisfaction with Republican Rule. — Notwith- standing President Taft's work in securing a revision of the tariff, prosecuting the trusts, and urging such reforms as the postal savings-bank law, there was much discontent in the country with the Republican party. In the House of Representatives the Democrats complained that the Speaker, Joseph G. Cannon, of Illinois, conducted business in an arbitrary manner and did not give the ordinary member of the House a chance to be heard. Some Republicans shared this view, and in March, 19 lo, after stormy and exciting scenes, the House reduced Speaker Cannon's power by ousting him from the committee on rules and depriving him of the right to appoint its members. In the autumn of 19 10 the discontent among the voters was so widespread that the Republicans were turned out of power in the House and a majority of Democratic representatives was elected. Quarrels between Congress and President Taft.- — The remaining years of Mr. Taft's administration were marked by dissensions between himself and Congress. The Demo- crats in the House, as a matter of course. Insisted on having a revision of the tariff which would materially reduce the duties, particularly on woolen goods, sugar, agricultural Implements, and iron and steel products. Indeed, with the aid of Independent Republicans In the Senate, tariff-reform measures were passed, only to be vetoed by the President. The President was sorely disappointed when. In 19 11, a large number of Republicans voted against his plan to establish reciprocity of trade with Canada. After it was finally adopted by Congress, Canada rejected It. He was able to secure no other important legislation, with the Demo- crats in power in the House of Representatives and a large number of Republicans dissatisfied with his policies. The Progressive Republicans. — A group of Mr. Taft's party colleagues who opposed his administration called THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 6oi themselves Progressive Republicans, and as early as 191 1 began to hold meetings with a view to preventing his renomination. Senator LaFoUette, of Wisconsin, took the leadership in this movement and became a candidate for the nomination. In February, 19 12, Roosevelt also entered the lists against Taft. The Republican Presidential Primary. — A number of states, including Oregon, California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, had passed presidential-primary laws giving the voters the right to express their choice for President directly at the polls. Taking advantage of the opportunity to appeal directly to the party voters, Roose- velt and Taft took the stump, each endeavoring to secure a majority of delegates. When the Republican convention met at Chicago it was found that many of the states had sent two contesting delegations, one instructed for Roosevelt and the other for Taft. The Split in the Republican Convention. — At once there arose a dispute over the right of these contesting delegates to sit in the convention. After a long dispute enough of Taft's delegates were seated to assure his nomination. Thereupon Roosevelt's friends "bolted" the convention, declaring that their rights had been "stolen" from them. After the "bolters" were gone, the remaining delegates proceeded to choose Taft as the Republican candidate for President. Formation of the Progressive Party. — So strong was the opposition of Roosevelt's friends to the conduct of the Republican convention that they decided to found a new organization known as the "Progressive Party." They called a convention of Progressive delegates at Chicago in August. The Progressives at their first national assembly nominated Roosevelt for the presidency and put forward a platform favoring many doctrines that had formerly been advocated 602 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE only by minor parties. They indorsed such reforms as direct presidential primaries, the initiative and referendum, popular election of United States Senators, the short ballot, and woman suffrage. They approved, also, many measures in favor of labor, such as the prohibition of child labor, minimum wages for women and children, and the protection of the working people by laws safeguarding their health and safety. The Progressives also denounced all attempts to break up the great trusts and combinations, and urged instead that these should be so regulated as to prevent them from charging exorbitant prices and mistreating competitors. The Democrats Nominate Woodrow Wilson. — The split in the Republican Party was greeted with joy by the Democrats, whose convention met at Baltimore on June 25th. When the convention assembled it was discovered that, while Champ Clark, of Missouri, had a majority of all the delegates, he could not secure the nomination because jt required a two-thirds vote. After a long contest, Mr. Bryan threw his support to Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey and secured his nomination. In the election which followed, the Democrats were easily victorious. IV. Wilson's Administration New Laws. — When Mr. Wilson was inaugurated on March 4, 19 13, certain tasks lay clearly before the Demo- cratic party; and under President Wilson's open and vigorous leadership Congress enacted an unusually striking program of legislation: I. The Tarif. The first task was the fulfillment of the pledge to revise the tariff, and accordingly the President called a special session to undertake that work. After many months of debate and the firm insistence of the Presi- dent that there should be no neglect of duty, Congress THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 603 passed the Underwood-Simmons bill, which for the^ first time in decades materially reduced the tariff on many- important commodities. 2. Income Tax. With the tariff measure Congress coupled a law imposing a tax on incomes, making up, in part at least, for the revenue lost by the reduction of the tariff. 3. Clayton Law. Congress then enacted the Clayton Anti-trust Law, which was designed to destroy the great monopolies and trusts by breaking them up into small concerns and by prohibiting underselling and unfair methods of many kinds. The same law declared that labor was not a commodity, and that labor unions were not trusts or combinations in restraint of trade, liable to prosecution for interference with wages and conditions of employment. Congress also provided that whenever the judge of a federal court issued an order or injunction forbidding strikers to carry out their plans, he could not imprison them for disobeying without affording them the right of trial by jury. 4. Federal Reserve Law. The law against the trusts was followed by an act creating a new federal banking system designed among other things to reduce the power of great banking centers like New York (p. 531). Troubles with Mexico. — On the day of his Inauguration President Wilson faced serious troubles with Mexico. In 191 1 a revolution had broken out there and General Porfirio Diaz, who, as president, had long ruled the country with an iron hand, was overthrown. His successor, Fran- cisco Madero, was hardly installed before he was assas- sinated and a dictatorship set up under General Huerta in February, 19 13. American Interests in Mexico. — The disturbances in Mexico were of serious moment to the United States. Many American citizens in that country were killed in the course 604 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE of the civil war, and the lives of others were in constant jeopardy. Americans who had millions of dollars invested in Mexican mines, oil wells, plantations, and other ventures found their incomes cut off and their property destroyed or seized. During Mr. Taft's administration the situation had already become so serious that he felt impelled to warn the Mexican government against violating American rights. His warning was without effect, and Mr. Wilson, on assuming authority, was urged to send troops into Mexico to protect American interests and restore order. The Vera Cruz Expedition. — From the very beginning, however, President Wilson insisted that the Mexicans had a right to settle their own problems and that the United States government ought not to wage war on them. It was argued that the tyrannical government of General Diaz and the cruel treatment of peons or serfs on the plan- tations had been largely responsible for the revolution, and that the Mexicans should be permitted to work out their destiny in their own way. Of course, this meant that there would be much disorder, and perhaps some loss of American property and life. President Wilson, however, refused to recognize Huerta as president, attempted settle- ment by negotiations with revolutionary leaders, and sent an expedition to Vera Cruz, which resulted in the flight of Huerta. United States Troops Sent into Mexico. — ^The President's patience was exhausted in the spring of 1916 when a Mexican bandit. Villa, with a small troop, crossed into New Mexico and deliberately murdered a number of American citizens. It was apparent that the Mexican president, Carranza, who in the counter-revolution of 19 13 had succeeded Huerta, was unable to prevent such outrages, and President Wilson dispatched divisions of the regular army and the national guard to the border. He ordered THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 605 General Pershing to follow Villa and seize him if possible. Under this order, American troops penetrated more than a hundred miles into Mexico, but they were unable to capture the troublesome bandit. The prospect of war with Germany early in 19 17 made it impossible for the United States to give so much attention to Mexican affairs and American troops were withdrawn. President Carranza was given a free rein in his efforts to bring peace and good order to his distracted country. The Caribbean. The Nature of American Interests. — The policy of non-intervention was not pursued by Presi- dent Wilson in the case of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where disorders were raging about the same time. The island of Haiti is a part of the important Caribbean region, one of a long chain of islands stretching from the coast of Florida to the coast of South America. It lies in a direct line between Cuba, now under the protection of the United States, and the island of Porto Rico. It also lies athwart the route from Europe to the Panama Canal, and if it should fall into the hands of a hostile European power it would be a source of danger to American interests. The Dominican Republic. — The significance of the island had long been understood by American statesmen. In 1905 the Dominican Republic, which occupies the eastern portion, was in a state of financial distress, and France and Italy were preparing to collect by force of arms, if necessary, debts due their citizens. President Roosevelt, on the request of the Dominican president, assumed the role of mediator. By a treaty of 1907 the government of the United States undertook to manage the revenues of the little republic and pay the creditors, thus forestalling European intervention. Four years later, one of the 6o6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE periodical revolutions from which the republic suffers — there were twenty between 1865 and 1895 — broke out, and continued until President Wilson came into office. In October, 19 14, American officers and marines were instructed to "supervise" the elections in the republic. Later, American troops were employed to put down a revolt which arose in connection with the elections. It became evident, therefore, that the government of the United States had adopted the policy of keeping order there, and for practical purposes the Dominican Republic was a "protectorate" of this country. Haiti. — A similar condition of affairs obtained in the neighboring republic of Haiti. In the summer of 19 15 a revolution broke out, — one of a continuous series lasting from 1804 to the opening of the twentieth century — and American marines were landed to restore order. In September, 19 16, a treaty was made with Haiti by which the United States undertook to control the police and manage the finances. The Purchase of the Danish West Indies. — In line with this policy of guarding American interests in the Caribbean was the purchase of the Danish Islands just off the eastern coast of Porto Rico, in 19 17. Twice before, the United States had arranged to buy these islands: once in 1867, when the American Senate refused to agree to the purchase, and again in 1902, when the Upper House of the Danish parliament, no doubt under the influence of Germany, voted against the plan. When the last treaty of purchase was made with Denmark, Germany, being engaged in a life and death struggle, was in no position to interfere. So in the summer of 19 17 the Stars and Stripes were hoisted over the Virgin Islands, — St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John. THE OPENING OF THE NEW CENTURY 607 Questions and Exercises I. I. What is the meaning of the phrase "conservation of natural resources"? What natural resources have been needlessly wasted in this country? This waste has been called a "crime against posterity"; what is meant by this statement? 2. What is meant by "irrigation"? How is the irrigation of arid lands usually accomplished ? What are the advantages of farming under a system of artificial irrigation as compared with farming where one depends upon rainfall? What are the disadvantages? II. I. When and by whom was the first attempt made to con- struct a Panama canal? What led to a renewal of interest in this project? 2. From a study of the map of Central America find what advantages the Nicaragua route for the canal between the oceans had over the Panama route. What were its disadvantages? 3. How did the United States come into possession of the Canal Zone? 4. When was the American work on the canal begun? When was the canal opened ? 5. Whose name is connected with the digging of the canal, and what difficulties did this man over- come ? 6. What war was ended by the Treaty of Portsmouth ? III. I. Why was there so keen a demand for postal savings banks? For the "parcel post"? Why were these extensions of the government's service to the people opposed? 2. What great "trusts" were "dissolved" in 1911? What did this "dissolution" mean? 3. What were the causes of President Taft's difficulties with Congress? 4, What new party was formed in 1912? What led to its organization? 5. What is the difference between the "popular" vote for President and the "electoral" vote? Why did the framers of the Constitution provide for the election of the President by means of the "electoral college" ? Under what con- ditions is a candidate likely to be elected without receiving a majority of the popular vote? (Lincoln, Cleveland, and Wilson have been "minority" presidents, each in one of his two terms.) IV. I. What important laws were passed in the early part of Mr. Wilson's first administration? 2. How did the trouble with Mexico begin? 3. Mr. Wilson's policy of "watchful waiting" in the Mexican troubles between 1913 and 1916 was severely criticized 6o8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE by many persons. What were their reasons for desiring intervention and what were his reasons for not intervening? 4. What control does the United States exert over the Dominican RepubHc and Haiti? 5. How did the Virgin Islands come to be American possessions? Review: Make a table of the Presidents from 1865 to 1917, and under each President give a list of the important events that happened during his administration. Problems for Further Study 1. Topics for individual study and report: The duties of the forest rangers. See Wheeler's "The Boy with the U. S. Foresters." The Panama canal. Early work of the French. The service of Gorgas in making the Canal Zone safe for the workman. The digging of the canal. The construction of the locks. The "slides" and methods of dealing with the problem. The influence of the canal on commerce. See Hall and Chester's "Panama and the Canal." 2. Find in Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution, the clause with which the Supreme Court held the income tax law of 1894 to be inconsistent. 3. Give as many reasons as you can explaining why the Mexican people have so far been much less successful in establishing a demo- cratic government than have the people of the United States. What in your opinion are some of the important things that must be done by any people if a truly democratic form of government is to be successfully established? CHAPTER XXXIII THE GREAT WAR Europe on Fire. — During the opening days of August, 19 1 4, the people of the United States were startled by the dreadful news that the great powers of Europe were at war. It seemed impossible; but it was true. Austria had accused Serbia of taking part in a plot which resulted in the assas- sination of Archduke Ferdinand (the heir to the Austrian throne) and his wife, and had made humiliating demands upon the Serbian government. Russia, unwilling to see Serbia destroyed, made serious objections. Germany, armed to the teeth, assured Austria that her support would be forthcoming at all costs. France knew that to abandon Russia in that hour would leave herself Isolated and help- less before Germany at some later time. On the first of August the conflict began, with England still hanging in the balance. Soon the Kaiser's hosts were sweeping into neutral Belgium, whose safety had been guaranteed by all the powers, and driving at the heart of France. The German military staff had planned to seize the French capital, thus paralyzing the Republic by one swift and stunning blow; and then, with the aid of Austria, to destroy Russia at leisure, making the German Empire the master of Europe. Great Britain, knowing that a victori- ous Germany, standing over the prostrate forms of France and Belgium, would soon challenge her very existence as well as her world empire, sprang to their aid. 609 6lO THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE I. American Neutrality The President's Proclamation. — Overcome by the horror of it all, the people of the United States were for a time like dazed spectators, unable to appreciate the red terror that was devastating Europe, hoping without encourage- ment that the storm would soon pass. President Wilson on August 1 8, 19 14, issued a proclamation advising all citizens to "act and speak in the true spirit of neutrality which is the spirit of impartiality and fairness and friend- liness to all concerned." This was advice difficult to follow. Many Americans of German birth or parentage instinctively sympathized with the Fatherland, and many Irish, remembering their struggle for home rule, joined them in wishing defeat to Great Britain. Americans of the old native stock, deeply moved by Germany's cruelty to Belgium and rem.embering their ties to England and their gratitude to France for aid in the American Rev^olution, took the other side. They grew more and more pronounced in their support of the Allies agamst Germany and Austria as the Germans began to bomb English open towns and destroy merchant ships and their crews at sea. Between the groups was a large third party of citizens who sought at all costs to keep the United States from becoming embroiled in the struggle. Arguments for American Inaction. — When it was urged that the United States could not be indifferent to the out- come of the war, advocates of non-intervention replied that the war was simply another case of the "pot calling the kettle black," that England and France had seized colonies in all parts of the world and oppressed other nationalities in India, Africa, and China, and that they were now object- ing to Germany's attempt to follow their own example. It was repeatedly said also that the Russian autocracy was I THE GREAT WAR 6ll at least equally responsible with Germany for the war. As between the Romanoffs in Russia and the Hohenzollerns m Germany, there appeared to them to be little to choose. All in all, those who took such views In one form or another declared that under no circumstances should the United States join in "a selfish scramble for spoils and power." Difficiilties in the Way of a Strict Neutrality: Trade Rela- tion with the Allies. — To the pacifists, it seemed a simple matter for this country to close its doors and windows and let the storm rage, but in truth It was not at all a simple matter. The United States had long carried on a large and varied trade with all the countries of Europe — those at war and those at peace — belligerents and neutrals. Ships plying between our ports and those of Europe, trans- Atlantic cables, mails, and wireless telegraphy bound us to the Old World nations with a thousand ties. With war raging these could not remain undisturbed. It had long been recognized by all nations that a belliger- ent has the right to blockade the ports of his enemy if he can. This right the government of the United States had exercised with telling effect against the Southern states during the Civil War. It had also long been recognized that a belligerent has the right to intercept all war supplies (contraband goods) destined for his enemy, no matter by whom carried and to what port immediately shipped, even that of a friendly power. Great Britain immediately took full advantage of these rights. She swept German ships from the ocean, block- aded the German ports, searched ships bound to neutral countries for war supplies destined to Germany, and thus throttled German foreign commerce. British triumph at sea gave enormous advantages to the Allies. Trade could flow without Interruption to their ports, because Germany, having 6l2 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE no battleships on the seas, could not blockade their ports or disturb their merchant vessels. The Trade in Food-supplies and Munitions. — During the opening months of the war the citizens of the United States built up a huge trade with England and France in foodstuffs and war supplies. Seeing the fruits of the triumph at sea gathered by the Allies, the Germans both in this country and in Germany began to protest vigorously. To Americans of pacific leanings it seemed dreadful for our manufacturers to be engaged in selling billions of dollars' worth of death-dealing instruments to England and France. The German government did not officially protest, however, because German munition-makers had been the chief pur- veyors of war materials during previous wars. They could not with a straight face object to American manufacturers following in their footsteps. That was not all. This country could not deny the right of a neutral government to sell arms to belligerents without laying up trouble for itself in the future. If a nation cannot expect to buy military supplies from other countries in time of war, then it must make huge preparations for the future by turning its indus- tries into gigantic munitions plants, in order to be ready for the greatest emergency that may arise. Such was the reply made to Austria when that country addressed the United States on the subject. An Embargo on Exports Impossible. — There was only one way that the United States could fully satisfy the friends of Germany. That was by following the example set by Jefferson more than a hundred years before and destroying all foreign trade by an embargo. But that would have put the government of the United States In a dilemma equally trying: it would have been a direct blow at England and France. They would have considered It as an "unfriendly" THE GREAT WAR 613 act to cut off their trade after they had bottled up the Ger- man navy and made way for that trade. Moreover, an embargo would have been a confession that American shippers, traders, and manufacturers had no rights of trade abroad that any country was bound to respect. If the United States had renounced its rights of trade with the Allies, it would have been an unwarranted favor to Ger- many and an equally unwarranted wrong to England and France. No matter which way the government of the United States turned, trouble lay in the path. American Protests to England. — As to American trade with the Allies on the open seas, the German government had no grounds for objection; but it was justified, undoubt- edly, in protesting against the manner in which Great Britain exercised her rights of blockade and search. British officers rummaged Dutch, Danish, Swedish, and other neutral ships for war supplies, letters, papers, and other valuables destined for Germany and seized many things that were lawfully sent. Against this action on the part of the British government, the United States protested, and demanded a discontinuance of the illegal practices. Even if Great Britain had kept always within the narrowest limits of the law, her control of the sea would have practically destroyed the ocean-borne trade of the German empire. II. The Submarine Outrages; the Campaign of 191 6 Germany Adopts a Ruthless Submarine Policy. The ^'Ltisitania" Sunk (May y, igi^). — Germany, finding her- self thus throttled, attempted to break Great Britain's hold. In the winter of 19 15 the German government announced that its submarines would sink British merchant vessels wherever found on the high seas. Under international law It had long been agreed that warships should not destroy 6 14 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE merchantmen belonging to an enemy (unless, of course, they resisted) without providing for the safety of the passengers and crew. American citizens thus had the right to expect to travel with safety not only on American merchant vessels but also on those of the warring countries of Europe. So things stooa when, on May 7, 19 15, a German submarine startled the world by destroying, without warning to the captain, a great British passenger vessel, the Liisitania, and killing hundreds of innocent passengers and members of the crew, including a number of American citizens — men, women, and children. In a few weeks German submarines had gathered in a deadly harvest of merchant ships, some of them owned by Americans and manned by American crews. Germany Agrees to Modify Submarine Warfare. — The destruction of the Lusitania and innocent non-combatants, including American citizens, horrified the people of the United States, even some who had sympathized with Ger- many In her struggles. President Wilson in a few days dispatched to the German government a note asking it to disavow such acts, make reparation for the injuries done, and take steps to prevent similar occurrences in the future. The President added the solemn warning that the United States would not "omit any word or act necessary to the performance of Its sacred duties of maintaining the rights of the United States and of safeguarding their free exercise and enjoyment." Germany's reply was evasive. President Wilson wrote a second note, and it was September i before Germany promised not to sink merchant vessels without warning and agreed to provide for the safety of the passen- gers whenever such ships were sunk. Criticism of President JVilson's Course. — During the exchange of notes with the German government, very strong emotions were aroused In this country. The view THE GREAT WAR ' 6l$ was widely held that the sinking of the Liisitania was not merely gross violation of the rights of American citizens, but an inhuman act which called for breaking off all rela- tions with the German government, if not the immediate declaration of war. On the other hand, some people were angry because President Wilson was so insistent in his protests against the destruction of American lives by sub- marines, and yet unwilling to threaten Great Britain with armed force for searching American mails bound to and from Europe. In spite of the criticism from both sides the President steered an even course, determined apparently to keep the country out of war — at least until it was clear that peaceful negotiations with Germany were useless. The Political Campaign of 1916. — In the midst of this turmoil came the election campaign of 19 16. Naturally all eyes were turned toward the Progressives. Mr. Wilson's chances for reelection seemed to depend to a considerable extent upon the possibility of continued division among his opponents. Signs of reunion appeared when it was stated that the Republican and Progressive conventions would be held in Chicago at the same time. There were some who hoped that the Republicans would nominate Mr. Roosevelt, but Charles E. Hughes, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court and a former governor of New York, was chosen on the third ballot. The Progres- sives then nominated Mr. Roosevelt. As he declined, the national committee of the party thereupon indorsed Mr. Hughes with the hope of reuniting the two factions. The Democratic convention at St. Louis renominated Mr. Wilson by acclamation. Issues of the Campaign. — In the campaign which fol- lowed. President Wilson's policies with regard to Mexico and Germany were, of course, widely discussed, both parties 6l6 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE taking a rather uncertain position as to both countries. There were, in addition, several other issues which received attention : Congress had ( i ) passed a law against child labor in mines, quarries, and factories; (2) It had fixed the work day for trainmen on railroads at eight hours; (3) It had provided for a banking system to loan money to farmers at a low rate of interest; (4) it had enacted a law designed to encourage the upbuilding of the American mer- chant marine; and (5) It had declared the intention of the United States to free the Philippine Islands as soon as the people there were ready for self-government. The eight- hour law for trainmen had been enacted in the summer of 19 1 6, when the railway unions were threatening the country with a general strike. President Wilson, refusing to recom- mend the arbitration of the matter, declared in favor of the principle of an eight-hour day and urged Congress to pass the law In spite of the protests of the railway companies. Mr. Hughes, without attacking the eight-hour day, denounced the method employed to secure It. The Issue of woman suffrage was also brought into the campaign. President Wilson Reelected. — The election of November, 19 1 6, proved to be a general surprise. Mr. Hughes carried all the great Industrial and commercial states of the North and East except Ohio, and on the early returns from these states his election was conceded. Then the tide turned. It was found that Mr. Wilson, in addition to carrying the "solid South," which In presidential elections has been Democratic, had gained immensely in the West. In that part of the country the Progressives had not gone back to the Republican fold. Even California, which elected the Republican candidate to the United States Senate, Governor Hiram Johnson, by a large majority, cast a small but safe margin of votes in favor of Mr. Wilson. The President's popular vote showed a gain of about 2,000,000 over that THE GREAT WAR 617 of 19 1 2, and was quite naturally regarded as a great personal tribute to him, especially in view of the fact that the Democrats almost lost their majority In the House of Representatives. The Socialist vote fell considerably below that of the preceding presidential election, largely on account of the fact that many Socialists approved Mr. Wilson's policy in dealing with labor and In keeping the country out of war. III. War with Germany Germany Renews Unrestricted Submarine Warfare. Bernstorff Dismissed. — More than a month before Mr. Wilson's second inauguration arrived, namely on January 31, 19 1 7, Count von Bernstorff, the German ambassador, informed the President that his government. In spite of pre- vious pledges, would renew the submarine war on merchant ships with greater vigor than ever. Without any further parleying, the President sent Ambassador von Bernstorff home, broke off all communications with the German imperial government, and waited to see whether hostile acts would be committed by Germany against American citizens and shipping. He was loath to believe that Germany would smk merchant ships of all countries on sight without attempting to save the lives of crews or passengers. In explaining why he had severed relations with the Kaiser, he said: We are the sincere friends of the German people and earnestly desire to remain at peace with the government which speaks for them. . . . God grant that we may not be challenged by acts of wilful injustice on the part of the government of Germany. The hope was vain, for the German government resumed Its policy of sinking American ships and destroying Ameri- can lives without warning and without pity. The challenge had gone forth. 3 9- A. H. 6l8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE President Wilson Speaking bei-ore Congress, Aprie 2, 1917 THE GREAT WAR 619 German Intrigue in the United States. — This was but the climax of a long chain of difficulties which the United States had encountered in dealing with Germany and Austria. Through their official representatives they had hired agitators to foment labor troubles in American indus- tries and engaged desperate men to blow up munition fac- tories, killing hundreds of American men, women, and children. They had employed agents to set bombs in the holds of ships bound to England and France; they had paid newspapers and writers to advocate the German cause and defame the Allies; they had used every means which they could devise to disturb our peace within and our relations with England and France. These were not the deeds of a few "cranks" but the deliberate acts of calculating men. The charges against them are not hearsay stories. The records of criminal courts. East and West, and the records of prisons bear convincing testimony to Austrian and German violations of American security at home as well as abroad. So active did these foreign agents become before the break with Ger- many that the President was compelled to send the Aus- trian ambassador home and to order the removal of sub- ordinates attached to the Germany embassy at Washington. Not content with attempts to set Americans at war with one another, the German government plotted troubles in Mexico. On January 19, 19 17, two weeks before President Wilson was informed that Germany would not keep her submarine pledges, the German Foreign Secretary, Herr Zimmermann, had written to the German minister in Mexico, telling him of the coming submarine warfare and instructing him to offer a "restoration" of Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, if the Mexican government would join with Japan in an attack on the United States. This last act was so far beyond the bounds of reason that it dispelled the 620 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE doubts of those American citizens who had not been able to beheve that the German government was guilty of the plots and deeds ascribed to it. With a government so bent upon following its own paths, without regard to the rights and feelings of other nations, compromise or further negotiation was Impossible. Only one course lay before the President, and resolutely he set out in it. War Declared (April 6, 1917)- — On April 2, 19 17, Presi- dent Wilson invited Congress to assemble in joint session. He explained to It the duty of the United States in the pending crisis. He recited the deeds of Germany which had horrified mankind and made Impossible peaceful relations with the Kaiser: WooDRow Wilson Vessels of every kind, whatever their flag, their character, their cargo, their destination, their errand, have been ruthlessh' sent to the bottom without warning and without thought of help or mercy for those on board, the vessels of friendlj^ neutrals along with those of belligerents. Even hos- pital ships and ships carrying relief to the sorely bereaved and stricken people of Belgium . . have been sunk with the same reckless lack of compassion or principles. He then told how the German government had filled our unsuspecting cities with spies and carried on criminal Intrigues against American peace and Industry; how Ger- many had plotted In Mexico to stir up enemies at the very doors of the United States. With a power so indifferent to American rights and so unscrupulous In Its conduct, defying the laws of humanity and the pleas of common sense, friendly relations could no longer be maintained. Indeed the United States had been already assailed by THE GREAT WAR 621 ^e^-iifi^ Congress sf t|e itmttb States of ^mtma; Begup u4 luld at the Qty of Waahlngtoa oa Monday, the wcood day of April, cne thoiuand nine hundred and scvcnteca. JOINT RESOLUTION Declaring that a state of war exists between the Imperial German Government ftnd tlie Qovemment and the people of the United States and making provision to prosecute the same. Whereas the Imperial German Government has committed repeated acts of , war against the Government and the people of the United States of America: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House oj Representalkes ef the United States fij America i>i Congress assembled, That the state of war between the United States and the Impeoal Gennan Government which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared ; and that the President be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources uf the Govenmient to carry on war against the Imperial German Govemnent; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States. Speaker 0} the Mouse 0] Representatives. Vice President oj (he United Slates and President 0/ the Senate. The Resolution that Brought Us into the Great War German power, its ships had been sunk and its citizens killed. President Wilson, therefore, merely asked Congress to recognize the fact that the recent course of the imperial 62 2 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE German government was indeed "nothing less than war against the government and people of the United States." After a few days' debate Congress solemnly declared, on April 6, that a state of war existed between Germany and the United States/ The War against the Government, Not the People, of Germany. — In advising Congress to take this course, Presi- dent Wilson was careful to point out that our quarrel was with the autocratic government of Germany, not with the people of that country. We have no quarrel with the German people. We have no feeling towards them but one of sympathy and friendship. It was not upon their impulse that their government acted in entering this war. ... It was a war determined upon as wars used to be determined upon in the old, unhappy days when peoples were nowhere consulted by their rulers, and wars were provoked and waged in the interests of dynasties or of little groups of ambitious men who were accustomed to use their fellow men as pawns and tools. ... In such a government, following such methods, we can never have a friend. IV. The German Autocracy The German Government an Autocracy. — In order that we may understand the meaning of President Wilson's dis- tinction between the people towards whom we were friendly and the autocracy on which we made war, it is necessary for us to examine for a moment the nature of the govern- ment of Germany. The German empire was a federation of twenty-two kingdoms, duchies, and principalities, and three "free cities." The king of Prussia was the German emperor by virtue of his right as king. There was an imperial parliament consisting of the imperial council com- posed of agents of the several kings, princes, and dukes and the three free cities, and also a lower house or Reichstag ^ War was not declared on Austria until December. 1917 THE GREAT WAR 623 composed of representatives elected by universal manhood suffrage. There was a high minister, the chancellor, who was chosen by the emperor and was responsible to him alone, not to the representatives of the voters as in England and France. Laws could not be made without the consent of the Reichstag, but that was about as far as its power extended. War was made by the emperor, who possessed absolute command of the army and navy. It is true that an "offensive" war required the approval of the imperial council, but that was a mere formality. The popular branch of the government had no control over the declaration of war under any circumstances. It has been correctly called a "talking machine." The emperor appointed officers and ministers without consulting it, and usually found it pliant when he called upon it for grants of money. Prussia Practically an Absolute Monarchy. — It must be remembered also that the German emperor possessed great powers as king of Prussia, which contained more than one half the population and territory of the empire and sent seventeen of the sixty-one members of the imperial council. It had a "constitution" which was "graciously" granted by the king to the people in 1850. Under this constitution the government of Prussia was in the hands of the king and a few great landlords ("Junkers") and rich men. There was, it Is true, a "popular branch" composed of delegates elected by the voters, but the election system was so arranged that two thirds of the "popular" representatives were chosen by a small group of wealthy men, while the great mass of the voters could select only one third of the delegates. In Prussia the king ruled by divine right. There he was "King, by the Grace of God." The people were his "subjects" in name and in fact. The inhabitants of Prussia had protested against this system for many years before the war, but without effect. The Kaiser and the 624 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Prussian ruling class were determined to keep their power and to beat down the democratic aspirations of their subjects. The Iron Rule of the Hohenzollerns in Prussia. — The history of Prussia and this system of government is mainly the history of one ruling family, the House of Hohenzol- lern, which began more than three hundred years ago to build the little district of Brandenburg into a great kingdom. By devoting enormous sums to the army and treating the people as mere taxpayers and "food for cannon," the Hohenzollerns succeeded in establishing a strong military power. They seized the territory of their neighbors without qualms and without apologies. They made war first upon one country and then upon another, always in the hope of gaining more territory. By this method they and their barons were able to form the German empire and bring the whole country under their dominion. While other nations were throwing aside kings or reducing their power to a shadow, the Hohenzollerns waxed stronger and stronger, commanding the army with an iron hand, teaching in the schools obedience to kings, and putting down popular uprisings with sternness and cruelty. In theory and in fact Germany was ruled by the German emperor, king of Prussia, and a handful of generals and barons. The voice of the people was nothing but a voice crying in the night. The Hohenzollerns' Dream of World Dominion. — As long as the Hohenzollerns confined their seizures of property to their German neighbors they made little trouble for the rest of the world. In 1871, however, after fomenting a war with France, they tore Alsace-Lorraine away from that country, as Bismarck frankly said, for the purpose of weak- ening the republic and sowing seeds of bitterness and warlike feeling there, thus giving an excuse for maintaining German military power. After the establishment of the German THE GREAT WAR 625 empire in 1871 and the remarkable growth of German com- merce and industry, the imperial government began to look upon the army and the navy as means for getting possession of more territories beyond the seas and destroying the British empire. Victorious over Denmark in 1864 and over Austria in 1866, triumphant over France in 1871, the Hohenzollern dynasty was looking for new worlds to con- quer. German editors, professors, and publicists began to write about "world power," to be won by force of arms. With soldiers drilled, disciplined, and equipped with instru- ments of destruction as no soldiers had ever been before, the HohenzoUerns looked forward with confidence to the overthrow of Great Britain and the extension of their power throughout the world. With colonies in Africa, posts in China, coaling stations in the Pacific, banks and industries everywhere in Latin-America, there seemed no limit to German ambitions if Great Britain could be beaten down, sooner or later. The Need of Crushing German Militarism Recognized. — It was against a government conceived in military despotism and dedicated to the proposition that kings can do no wrong that President Wilson asked his country to take up arms. To say that the outcome of the war in Europe was of no concern to the United States was to ignore forty years of German history. Thousands of peaceful citizens, though looking with horror upon the thought of war, were slowly and reluctantly driven by events to the conclusion that a German victory in Europe meant danger for the United States in the coming years. They realized that, with Great Britain beaten and her colonies annexed by Germany, America would not be spared by a power founded on the sword. They remembered the hundred years of peace which we had maintained with the British empire; they recalled 626 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE the three thousand miles of border between this country and Canada, without a fort or battleship or patrol; and they could not bring themselves to believe that with the Hohenzollerns entrenched anywhere in this hemisphere the United States could go on her way undisturbed by German intrigues, spies, and military ambitions. To them the tri- umph of the German war machine, dominating all Europe, would make vain and foolish two centuries of struggle for popular government, for popular control over the power of kings and aristocracies, for the extension of the suffrage and the advancement of democracy on the earth. They took the ground that it was an economy of time, blood, and treas- ure to crush Prussian militarism, while so many other nations were ready to help. Thus the fear of German Ideals and German militarism brought Europe to our doors and the battle fields of France near to Lexington and York- town. Some Americans could not see it in this light, and clung with desperation to peace at all costs; but the mass of the American people believed that the President had seen a true vision and made a call which could not be denied. V. A Democracy at War No doubt the task before the United States was stagger- ing in its size. With their best energies for three hundred years devoted to preparation for war, the Hohenzollerns were well equipped for frightfulness. Though blocked in the West by the armies of Great Britain and France and in the East by the armies of Russia, they were able to keep at bay such military forces as the world had never seen before. The work to be done was serious and the govern- ment of the United States took it seriously. The Army and the Navy. — The Great War was a war of nations, not of armies alone; and the first question confront- THE GREAT WAR 627 ing the American government was whether it should rely upon V'olunteers or follow in the footsteps of France and England and summon all the people to arms or war work. Although it was an old principle that the duty of aiding in national defense rests upon every male capable of bearing arms, the principle had been seldom applied, the notable exception being the draft of the Civil War (p. 397), and many Americans believed conscription of men contrary to American traditions and Ideals. Those who held to this view urged that the draft should be the last resort, to be used only in case the call for volunteers failed to raise the required armies. Others believed that the burdens of war should be distributed as equitably as possible and that to defend democracy was a duty as well as a privilege. The counsels of the latter prevailed. On May 18, 19 17, Congress enacted the selective draft law declaring that the national army should be impartially chosen from among all males between the ages of 21 and 3 1 inclusive. By proclamation, June 5 was fixed as the day for national military registration. In August, 19 18, Con- gress passed a supplementary law extending the period of years to Include all men between 18 and 45 inclusive, and September 12 was appointed the day for registration. The regular army of the United States and the naval forces were materially Increased by volunteers. When the armistice was sig'ned on November 11, 1918, General Pershing reported that there were in Europe and on the way from the United States more than two million American soldiers, less our losses, besides about the same number in camps at home. Our losses in killed, wounded, prisoners, and missing were more than 225,000. Raising the Money. — With the conscription of men came a demand for the 'conscription of wealth." Heretofore wars had been paid for mainly out of borrowed money and 62 8 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE the cost thus shifted to future generations. That is, the soldiers gave their lives on the field of battle and the rich lent their money to the government at a good rate of interest. As soon as the war with Germany broke out, there came a plea from all sections of the country that Congress avoid this old practice and provide for paying at least a large share of the war bills out of current taxes, especially out of taxes imposed upon the large profits of industries and the incomes of the rich and well-to-do. Under the old plan a man who had a thousand dollars could lend it to the gov- ernment and receive his annual interest, and the return of the principal in due time. Under the new system, the gov- ernment would take from him a large share of his thousand dollars and give him neither interest nor principal in return for that share. In response to the popular demand, Congress imposed heavy taxes on incomes, on inheritances, and on the excess profits of industries. The rest of the money, running into the billions, was raised by Liberty Loans (that is, by the sale of interest-bearing bonds to the people) and also by the sale of War Savings Stamps. The great mass of the people joined in buying bonds, large and small, the government having made provision for little bonds of the denomination of $50. It is estimated that there were 4,500,000 sub- scribers to the First Liberty Loan and 21,000,000 to the Fourth Loan. In spite of the heavy taxes and the sale of bonds and stamps, the people gave hundreds of millions to the Red Cross, the Young Men's Christian Association, the Knights of Columbus, the Jewish agencies, and other great war work associations. Food and War Supplies. — In order to furnish adequate supplies to the troops and aid in the fair distribution of food and fuel among the people at home, Congress enacted, on August 10, 19 1 7, a drastic food and fuel control law. THE GREAT WAR 629 This law forbade (i) the wilful destruction of the neces- saries of life for the purpose of increasing prices; (2) restricting and hoarding food supplies and committing waste; (3) attempting to monopolize supplies or to limit facilities for producing or transporting supplies; and (4) limiting manufacture with a view to increasing prices. The President of the United States was authorized ( i ) to requi- sition food or other supplies for the support of the army and navy; (2) to lay down rules governing the marketing of foodstuffs; (3) to fix the price of wheat; (4) to seize and operate, if necessary, factories, mines, packing houses, and other plants; (5) to fix the prices of supplies for military purposes; and (6) to fix the price of coal and coke. Mr. Herbert Hoover, who had won fame in Belgian relief work, was made national food administrator. Labor. — As President Wilson declared early in the war, "the men who remain to till the soil and man the factories are no less a part of the army that is in France than the men beneath the battle flags." For this reason he appealed to American labor to man the factories and mines with unin- terrupted vigor. He pledged his word that the conditions of labor would not be made more onerous and that steps taken to improve labor conditions would not be blocked or checked. Mr. Samuel Gompers, speaking for the American Federation, pledged the loyal support of organized labor. A National War Labor Board, headed by Ex-President Taft and Mr. Frank Walsh, was created for the purpose of adjusting, by arbitration and conciliation, the disputes arising in industry. Railways and Shipping. — The problem of transporting guns, ammunition, and other supplies to the Eastern sea- ports for shipment beyond the seas and of supplying fac- tories with materials and cities with food presented grave difficulties. On April 11, 19 17, the great railway companies 630 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE joined In a plan to unite all their lines in aid of the govern- ment. In December of that year the railways were placed under government control and operation by presidential proclamation. In March, 19 18, Congress passed a railroad control bill providing the terms and conditions under which the government was to operate the roads during the war and for a period of 21 months after the proclamation of peace. In July, 19 18, the express companies were brought under government supervision; in August, the telephone and telegraph companies were taken over; and later the cable lines passed into the hands of the government. Shipping was, of course, of equal importance with rail- ways, and the President was authorized by law to buy and build ships practically without limit. Every available ship- yard was brought into Immediate service and new yards were built. In a little while the launching of ships for ocean carrying was a daily occurrence. At the time of the decla- ration of war all German ships in American waters had been seized. In April, 19 18, President Wilson added to the government's strength by taking over all the ships engaged in coastwise traffic and placing them under government management. In spite of all our efforts, however, we were compelled to depend to a large extent upon British ships to transport our soldiers and supplies beyond the seas. The Insurance Act. — Congress passed, in October, 19 17, an insurance act appropriating huge sums of money to be used for three main purposes : ( i ) to pay allowances to the families of soldiers and sailors dependent upon their earn- ings; (2) to compensate officers and enlisted men for dis- abilities incurred in the war, or their families In case of death; (3) and to provide a relatively inexpensive system of insurance for those in active service, enabling them to make further provisions for themselves or those left behind. The Espionage Law. — On June 15, 19 17, Congress passed THE GREAT WAR 63 1 a drastic law providing punishment for those who commu- nicated Information to foreign nations to the Injury of the United States, made false reports with a view to interfering with our military and naval operations, attempted to cause disloyalty, refused duty in the military and naval forces, or obstructed the recruiting and enlistment services of the United States. This law was vigorously enforced, not only against those who sympathized with the enemies of the United States, but also against Socialists and others who opposed the war or criticized the government for entering the war. Among the prominent men convicted under the law were Eugene V. Debs, a former Socialist candidate for President (pp. 515 and 519), and Victor Berger, of Wisconsin, a former member of Congress. The Alien and Foreign Born. — During the preparations for the great conflict the question naturally arose as to whether the country could really count upon the allegiance of citizens of alien origin. It was forcibly driven home that the easy-going policy of free immigration had brought into the country millions of aliens who cared nothing about the nation and took no interest in its government. It was realized also that citizens of alien origin could not be expected to surrender altogether their affection for their native lands, and stand as wholly impartial judges In time of international controversies and wars. Congress, appre- ciating as never before the need of restricting Immigration to those who can be counted upon as American citizens, passed in 19 17, over the President's veto, a law Imposing a literacy test on aliens coming into this country in the future. It was a severe test that was imposed upon the Americans of German origin during this period. Their fathers, sons, and brothers were falling on the field of battle, and the strain upon their affections and sympathies made their burden heavy to bear. Disapproving in many cases the 632 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE invasion of Belgium or the destruction of the Liisitania, they could not believe that the German government would finally wage war on American merchant vessels. With the entrance of the United States into the conflict, there was uncertainty as to the stand which these citizens would take; but President Wilson was right when he said "they are, most of them, as true and loyal Americans as if they had never known any other fealty or allegiance." Although some leading foreign-language newspapers scarcely concealed their hopes for a German victory, the mass of their readers accepted the grave responsibilities which the war imposed upon them. When the agents of the German imperial government were removed from the country, the most serious disturbances from German sources disappeared. Thousands of Germans, particularly the descendants of those who more than sixty years ago had fled before the tyranny of Prussia, openly rejoiced in the pros- pect of overthrowing the Hohenzollern military power, although they naturally grieved at the thought of ruin to the German nation. Those who feared serious internal disturbances from Americans of German birth were happily disappointed. Only the Socialist party officially went on record as opposing the government in the war, and it was rent in twain, many of its prominent leaders withdrawing and denouncing its conduct as unintelligent and treasonable. Americans on the High Seas and Battle Front. — At the earliest moment after the declaration of war the government took steps looking to speedy action against the Germans on land and sea. At home naval contingents patroled the coast waters, guarding ports and shipping against submarines. Other naval contingents, under Admiral Sims, were sent abroad to cooperate with the Allied navies against German sea power, while other forces helped in the convoy of troop and supply ships across the ocean. THE GREAT WAR 633 Preparations were likewise made for war on land. General John J. Pershing was appointed commander-in-chief of the American Expeditionary Forces. In May, 19 17, President Wilson directed the dispatch of a force to France, and in June General Pershing and his staff arrived in Paris. During the latter part of that month American troops began to pour NORTH SEA Zeeb , - Dunkirk , -^ Calais / A'^P" Boulogne ypVis^At /'□ . Ci^^ ^ -^ B Armem /Tir Paris^ Fl St.Quentjn 'K^ " CantlgnyV ° ^p^ (^ , MontdidieX NoVon oj'^ *"',' \^ a^eUauny o taon . Rheun .Melun Epernaj-j>-. chaloDB-'l' \St. »j.V.... M Mihiell ^Bar-le■Du-o^ ]>S. ,'?^°"^o\ ^*^n,. ^) St'^Sburg PTrojea WESTERN BATTLE FRONT July 15, 1918 SCAI.E or MIL£S 10 20 40 60 SO Battle Line, July IS, 191S into France and go into training for their duties at the front. On October 27 it was announced that they had fired their first shot In trench warfare. Most of the winter, however, was spent In training. By March 21, 19 18, the day when the great German drive on Paris began, there were four divisions of men ready to meet the demands of battle action. On March 28 General Pershing placed the American troops at the disposal of Marshal Foch, chief of all the 634 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE forces fighting in France against the Germans. The Ameri- cans speedily distinguished themselves in the Montdidier section and at Cantigny. In July, when the Germans seemed almost on the point of taking Paris, the Americans at Chateau-Thierry and along the Marne helped the heroic French turn the tide of battle, which then began to roll steadily northward. The first American offensive on a large scale opened at the St. Mihiel salient, which was crushed in during September, 19 1 8. From that time forward, American soldiers con- tinued their main work at the Meuse-Argonne section of the line, where, by stubborn and dogged fighting against the most determined resistance, they steadily drove the Germans back, as the French and English were rolling up the north- western end of the line into Belgium. Of the conduct of the American men on the field of battle nothing finer has been said than was said by General Pershing in his report of December, 191 8: "When I think of their heroism, their patience under hardships, their unflinching spirit of offensive action, I am filled with emotion which I am unable to express. Their deeds are immortal, and they have earned the eternal gratitude of our country." The Russian Revolution. — The struggle on the western battle front was made all the more severe for the Allies and the Americans by the withdrawal of Russia from the war. In March, 19 17, the Czar was overthrown by a revolution. In November the moderate government which followed the autocracy was in turn overthrown by the radical Socialists known as the Bolsheviki, who made peace with the Germans, giving up great portions of the former Czar's dominions. In August, 19 1 8, the United States joined England, Japan, and France in sending troops into Russia to protect supplies. Steps Looking toward Peace. — While the war was being won on the battle field, there was carried on a steady THE GREAT WAR 635' exchange of views between the warring countries and a continuous discussion of ways and means for preventing wars in the future. On Inquiry it was found that trade and commercial rivalry among nations was one of the fruitful sources of war in all ages. Nations with various climates and natural resources inevitably turn to the exchange of goods, and the enterprising merchants and manufacturers of each country seek markets far and wide. The question then resolved itself to this: "Shall each country pursue its own way, gaining trade and commerce at all costs — using the sword to compel other people to buy its goods and to drive out competitors; or shall there be some agreement among nations as to the rules by which trade can be con- ducted and backward countries managed, so preventing recourse to arms?" The cost of the war, sweeping away the commercial gains of generations, made people think about this more seriously than ever. When it was possible to seize a colony or conquer a province by sending out a small expedition no one thought much about it; but when Germany let loose a world war by drawing the sword to conquer territory and win markets the attention of mankind was forcibly drawn to the necessity of a new kind of agreement. President Wilson early grasped the significance of the relation of commercial rivalry and territorial ambition-s to war, and pressed the matter upon the attention of his countrymen and of the entire world. In calling upon Con- gress to take up arms in national defense against German aggression, he firmly declared that the United States desired no conquest, no dominion, no indemnities for itself, no material compensation. Again in his message to Russia in May, 19 17, he reiterated this declaration, saying: "No people must be forced to live under a sovereignty under which it does not wish to live. No territory must change 40-A. H. 636 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE hands except for the purpose of securing those who inhabit it a fair chance of life and Hberty. No indemnities must be insisted on except those that constitute payments for mani- fest wrongs done. . . , And then the free people of the world must draw together in some common covenant, some genuine and practical cooperation that will in effect combine their force to secure peace and justice in the dealings of nations with one another." In his message to Congress on January 8, 19 18, President Wilson laid down his famous "Fourteen Points," constitut- ing the war aims of the_ United States, and thus informed Germany and Austria of our principles and policies. These he later supplemented. In brief. President Wilson's war aims may be summarized as follows: the abolition of secret treaties between nations, freedom of navigation upon the seas, equality of trade conditions among nations, reduction of armaments to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety, fair adjustment of colonial claims, restoration of Russian territory taken away by Germany and freedom for Russia to develop "institutions of her own choosing," restoration of Belgium, righting the wrong done by Germany to France In 1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, read- justment of the frontiers of Italy along lines of nationality, bringing under Italian government Italian peoples now under other rule, restoration of Serbia, Rumania, and Montenegro, security for other nations now under Turkish rule, freedom of navigation of the Dardanelles, an Inde- pendent Poland, and a league of nations bound together In a common brotherhood to guarantee political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike. Although President Wilson was making clear to the world the principles upon which he believed the war could be brought to an end and a lasting peace concluded, he advo- cated force to the utmost on the battle field until German THE GREAT WAR 637 military autocracy was overthrown. On September 19, 19 1 8, the world was startled by the news that Bulgaria had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, thus breaking the eastern front of the Teutonic powers. On October 5 the German chancellor asked the President to take steps looking toward a truce and peace. For a month negotia- tions went on, Germany becoming more and more anxious as her armies were being roundly beaten on the field of battle. At last, on November 11, an armistice was signed bringing the war to a close amid such rejoicing as the world had never seen. In a few days the German Kaiser was forced to abdicate, the Crown Prince to flee, and the German autocracy came crashing to the ground. On December 4 President Wilson set sail for Europe to attend the grand conference of the powers at which the final terms of peace were to be made. The Treaty of Peace, Signed June 28, 1919. — All through the winter, with brief interruptions, work on the great treaty with Germany went on at Paris and, despite many rumors of disagreements, the document was completed early In May. The Germans by protesting against many provi- sions secured a few slight modifications, and on June 28, 19 19, they joined the other powers in signing the treaty. The general settlement at Paris, including the later treaty with Austria, embraced, among other things, three funda- mental features : reparation on the part of Germany for the wrongs done and the wanton damage inflicted; impor- tant territorial changes ; and a League of Nations. Alsace and Lorraine were restored to France; the Independence of Poland, Finland, Czechoslovakia and Jugoslavia was recog- nized; the boundaries of Belgium, Denmark, and Italy were enlarged; German rights In Shantung, China, were trans- ferred to Japan; and the Austria-Hungarian Empire dis- solved, Austria and Hungary, reduced in size, becoming 638 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE independent. The League of Nations covenant which Is a part of the treaty provides for a union of the allied and associated governments for the settlement of international disputes, to which the other powers may be admitted when their governments are stable and their intention of obeying treaty obligations is demonstrated. Early in July, President Wilson returned to the United States and took up the task of securing from the Senate the ratification of the setdement reached at Paris. He found, however, strong opposition, especially among Republican senators, to several features of the treaty and at the present time (October 27, 1919) the Senate has not reached a decision. Questions and Exercises I. I. What events were the immediate causes of the Great War? What eight nations were first involved in the fighting? 2. What is meant by neutrality in war? Why was it difficult for the American people to be strictly neutral? 3. Name some of the important "munitions" of war. Why was an embargo on the export of munitions from the United States impossible? II. I. What led to the sinking of merchant vessels by Ger- many? How did this submarine warfare differ from the inter- ference with an enemy's commerce in earlier wars? 2. Why did the sinking of the Lusitania especially anger the Americans? What steps did President Wilson take as a result of this event? 3. Who were the important candidates for the presidency in 1916? Name the principal issues of the campaign. What were some of the unexpected results of the election? III. I. Why did President Wilson dismiss von Bernstorff? 2. What is meant by "intrigue"? State some of the ways in which Germany plotted against the Americans even before war was declared between the two countries. When was war finally declared? IV. I. What is meant by an "autocracy"? How does autocracy in government differ from democracy? 2. Name some of the advantages of living in a democratic country as compared with THE GREAT WAR 639 living under an autocratic ruler. 3. Why is it necessary for the free peoples of the world to crush the "militarism" of the German empire ? V. I. What is meant by a military "draft"? When before in our history have armies been raised in this way? (See Chapter XXI.) 2. What is the justification for using this method of raising an army in a democracy? 3. What steps did Congress take to provide money for carrying on the war? 4. What provision did Congress make to provide adequate food and fuel supplies during the war? Why was this necessary? 5. How did organized labor help win the war? By what method were industrial disputes settled during the war? 6. Why were the railroads placed under government control during the war? What action was taken for the control of express companies, telephone and telegraph lines? Why? 7. How was ship building encouraged? Why? 8. For what purposes was an insurance act passed by Congress? 9. Why was it necessary to pass the Espionage Law? lO. What was the attitude toward the war of most foreign-born citizens? 1 1. Relate briefly America's part in the war. 12. Trace briefly the steps leading to peace. 13. State briefly the main features of President Wilson's "Fourteen Points." Problems for Further Study 1. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 had a very important bearing upon the Great War. A brief account of this earlier war will be found in Guerber's "Story of Modern France," pp. 294-309. 2. Name some of the important differences between the Great War and the other wars that this country has fought. 3. Read the War Address of President Wilson, and other related addresses. See "From Washington to Wilson," Macmillan Pocket Classics. 4. Let each member of the class look up and report on one of the following topics: Chateau-Thierry, the taking of the Argonne Forest, the American advance to the Rhine. 5. Look up important facts about some of the principal leaders of the American military and naval forces. 6. Look up the new methods of warfare employed in this war, such as the use of aircraft, tanks, gas, submarines. 640 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Outline for Review of the Recent Events and the Great War (Chapters XXXI, XXXII, XXXIII) I. The New Democracy. A. Causes of the increasing Interest in the machinery of government. 1. Popular education. 2. Wrongdoing on the part of public officers. 3. Criticism of faithless officials. 4. Problems of the cities. 5. The education and employment of women. B. Political reforms. 1. Civil service reform. 2. Ballot reform. 3. The initiative, referendum, and recall. 4. The "commission" form of city government. 5. The "city-manager" plan. 6. Reforms in the organization of political parties. 7. The direct primary. 8. Woman suffrage. II. The early years of the twentieth century. A. Roosevelt a new type of president. B. The conservation movement. 1. Its leaders. 2. The Reclamation Act. 3. The Forest Reserves. C. The Panama Canal. 1. Early history. 2. Treaty with Great Britain. 3. Dispute over routes. 4. The Panama "revolution" and the cession of the Canal Zone. 5. The building and opening of the canal. D. Foreign affairs. 1. The Treaty of Portsmouth. 2. The iournev of the fleet around the world. OUTLINE FOR REVIEW 64I E. The election of 1908. F. Taft's administration. 1. Tariff revision and the income tax. 2. Postal savings banks, 3. The parcel post. 4. Dissolution of the "trusts." G. The campaign of 19 1 2. 1. Dissatisfaction with Republican rule. 2. The organization of the Progressive party. 3. The nomination of Woodrow Wilson by the Democrats. H. Wilson's first administration. 1. New laws: tariff, income tax, anti-trust, Federal Reserve banks. 2. Troubles with Mexico. a. Civil war in Mexico. b. The Vera Cruz expedition. c. The difficulties with Villa. 3. American protectorates in Haiti and San Domingo. 4. The purchase of the Virgin Islands. III. The Great War. A. Europe on fire. B. American neutrality 1. The President's proclamation. 2. Reasons for American neutrality. 3. Difficulties in the way of strict neutrality. C. The submarine outrages. 1. The Lusitania torpedoed and sunk. 2. America's protest and Germany's agreement to modify her practices. D. The campaign of 1916: President Wilson reelected. E. War with Germany and Austria. 1. Germany renews unrestricted submarine warfare. 2. German intrigue in the United States. 3. War declared. 642 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE J F. The German autocracy. ' :' 1. Nature of the German empire. '; 2. Prussia practically an absolute monarchy, 3. The Hohenzollern rule and its dreams of world domination. 4. The need of crushing German militarism. G. A democracy at war. 1. The draft. 2. War taxes. 3. National control of food, fuel, and transportation. 4. Adjustment of industrial disputes. 5. Encouragement of ship building. 6. Soldiers' insurance. 7. Americans on the high seas and on the battle front. 8. Steps leading up to the armistice. Important names: Presidents: Roosevelt (1QOI-1909), Taft (1909-1913), Wilson (1913- )• Important dates: 1914; April 6, 1917; Nov. II, 1918. Important Historical Events Arranged by Presidential Administrations I. Washington, George (1789-1797) Adams, John Topics: Founding the Federal Government, p. 181 ; Amend- ments to the Constitution, first ten, p. 181 ; Measures pro- posed by Hamilton, pp. 182-185; Rise of two great political parties, pp. 186-187; Trouble with France and England, pp. 187, 188; Invention of cotton gin, p. 291; Washington's Farewell Addiess, p. 189. 2. Adams, John (1797-1801) Jefferson, Thomas Topics: Troubles with France, p. 190; Alien and Sedition Laws, pp. 190, 191. 3. Jefferson, Thomas (1801-1809) \ r^^^' ^J^" ^ -^ [Cimton, George Topics: Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, p. 192; Agricultural development of the country, pp. 197, 198; Purchase of Louisiana (1803), pp. 198-203; Lewis and Clark Expedition, p. 203 ; Explorations of Pike, pp. 203- 205; The first steamboat (1807), p. 302; Trouble with England and France, pp. 229-233. A/T J- T / o o -\ [Clinton, George 4. Madison, James (1809-1817) \r^ I.,, . ,^ ^ '' \ J / 1 [Gerry, Elbridge Topics: War with England, pp. 234-239; Hartford Conven- tion, p. 236; Beginning of the struggle of the Spanish- American countries for freedom, pp. 240, 241 ; Tariff of 1816, p. 249; Financial panic, p. 250. 5. Monroe, James (1817-1825) Tompkins, Daniel D. Topics: Purchase of Florida, p. 206' Monroe Doctrine, pp. 242-243 ; Missouri Compromise, pp. 254, 368, 369. 6. Adams, John Quincy ( 1825-1829) Calhoun, John C. Topics: The tariff question, p. 253; Opening of the Erie Canal (1825), p. 299; First railway, p. 304. T T A 1 zoos f Calhoun, John C. 7. Jackson, Andrew ( 1829-1837) |v,„ guren, Martin Topics: The "Spoils System," p. 255; The tariff, pp. 256, 259; The doctrine of nullification, pp. 256—259; Controversy over the United States Bank, pp. 260, 261 ; Texas asks admission, p. 272 ; Improvement in farm machinery, p. 296. 8. Van Buren, Martin (1837-1841) Johnson, Richard M. Topic: Panic of 1837, P- 261. 643 644 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 9. Harrison, William Henry, and Tyler, John (1841-1845) Topics: The tariff of 1842, p. 263; Webster- Ashburton Treaty, p. 263 ; Admission of Texas, p. 274 ; Invention of the telegraph, p. 307. 10. Polk, James K. (1845-1849) Dallas, George M. Topics: The Mexican War, pp. 263, 264; The Oregon bound- ary, pp. 278, 279 ; First Women's Rights Convention, p. 336. 11. Taylor, Zachary, and Fillmore, Millard ( 1 849-1853) Topics: The Compromise of 1850, p. 376; The admission of California, pp. 281, 282, 375. 12. Pierce, Franklin (1853-1857) King, William R. Topics: Laying the Atlantic cable, p. 308; The organization of labor, p. 320; Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), pp. 379, 380, 13. Buchanan, James (1857-1861) Breckenridge, John C. Topics: Dred Scott Decision (1857), pp. 381, 382; John Brown's Raid, p. 383 ; Lincoln-Douglas debate, pp. 382, 383 ; The first secession, p. 390; The formation of the "Confederate States of America," p. 391. 14. Lincoln, Abraham (1861-1865) Hamlin, Hannibal Topics: The second group of states secedes, p. 395; The Civil War: Preparation for, pp. 395-398; Campaigns, pp. 398- 423 ; War on the water, p. 408 ; Emancipation, p. 403 ; Development of industries, pp. 472-477. 15. Lincoln, Abraham, and Johnson, Andrew (1865-1869) Topics: Close of the war, p. 422; Assassination of Lincoln (April 14, 1865), p. 422; Cost of the war, p. 423; Recon- struction, pp. 430-434; Amendment to the Constitution, p. 432; Impeachment of Johnson, p. 434; Rise of the New South, p. 442; Industrial development of the North, p. 477. , „ TTi o / o/; o \ f Colfax, Schuyler 16. Grant. Ulysses S. ( 186^1877) | Wilson, Henry Topics: Reconstruction problems, pp. 434, 440; Amendment to the Constitution, p. 434; Rise of the New South, pp. 442- 453; Industrial development, pp. 472-492; The problem of silver money, p. 528 ; Railroad across the Rocky Mountains completed, p. 479 ; Industrial panic, p. 492 ; Arbitration agreement, p. 539. IMPORTANT HISTORICAL EVENTS 645 17. Hayes, Rutherford B. (1877-1881) Wheeler, William A. Topics: Problems of immigration, p. 505; Great strikes, p. 514; Invention of the electric light and telephone, p. 484. 18. Garfield, James A., and Arthur, Chester A. ( 1881-1885) Topics: The assassination of Garfield (Sept. 19, 1881), p. 523; The tariff of 1883, pp. 524, 525; Civil service reform, p. 535. 19. Cleveland, Grover (1885-1889) Hendricks, Thomas A. Topics: The tariff issue, pp. 524, 525; Interstate Commerce Law, p. 532. 20. Harrison, Benjamin (1889-1893) Morton, Levi P. Topics: The tariff of 1890, p. 525; Trust legislation, the Sher- man Law^, p. 533. 21. Cleveland, Grover (1893-1897) Stevenson, Adlai E. Topics: The tariff revision, p. 526; The Venezuela affair, p. 540; The Hawaiian question, p. 541. 22. McKinley, William (1897-1901) Hobart, Garret A. Topics: Annexation of Hawaii, p. 542; Cuban revolt against Spain, p. 544; War with Spain (1898), pp. 545, 551; Ac- quisition of Philippines, Porto Rico, Guam, pp. 549, 551; The Boxer Rebellion, p. 552 ; The silver question, p. 529. 22,- McKinley, William, and Roosevelt, Theodore ( 1901-1905) Topics: The assassination of McKinley, p. 588; The Conserva- tion Movement, pp. 589, 590; Reclamation Act, p. 590. 24. Roosevelt, Theodore (1905-1909) Fairbanks, Charles W. Topics: First legislation, p. 588; Conservation Movement, pp. 591, 592; The Panama Canal project, pp. 593-595; Russo-Japanese Peace, p. 596 ; Journey of the fleet around the world, p. 600. 25. Taft, William Howard (1909-1913) Sherman, James S. Topics: Revision of the tariff, p. 598; Income tax proposed, p. 398; Postal Savings Banks established, p. 599; Parcel post discussed, p. 597; Formation of the Progressive party, p. 601; Trouble with Mexico, p. 602. 26. Wilson, Woodrow (1913- ) Marshall, Thomas R. T epics: Six new laws, pp. 602, 603; Troubles with Mexico, p. 601; American interests in the Caribbean, pp. 605, 606; Woman Suffrage Movement, p. 582; The Great War, pp. 609-637. f646 THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE n >. \ o 2 o. ■• E u ij - r ■-^ a S aJfH n 60 bcT3 ^ , ^"^ « ^ « |s < l- ti'C u O -SSE V- V re j: CH - • ■ a . 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M" in in ca i^ r^ i>^ ^ I^t^ i^ r^ r^ t^ ^ t^ 00 00 1^ OC 00 00 CO 00 00 u c« m ■ ' ■ u ■ u < • m V J£ see na Drk amps Ivan «J .V4 '5 £-5>hKS' m >, >H > '5> w'Si 00 '5 S !- re >_o bo E.- ^ K. E E 3 5 P C c ^^ .2.2 ^ ^.2 &.2 ^ .2 5 >l> XX V IJX >^ H ^0>f-iJ^^P^ >~* ^p ocls^o^o ^ Olz H z Q W « 1 . c .E • ^ •5 Mit- re p oj ^ 6 Z West, settlement of, to the Mississippi, 209- 221; beyond the Mississippi, 221-222; the Far West, 284-286; industries of, 298- 299; growth of the Far West, 455-458; geography of, 455, 457; homesteaders and prospectors in, 457; oil industry in, 475 West Point, 150 West Virginia, formation of, 395; admitted to the Union, 395; iron deposits, 474 Western lands, state claims to, 209-210 Whig party, 261-263, 379 Whisky Rebellion, 185-186 White Plains, battle of, 145 Whitman, Dr. Marcus, 277 Whitney, Dli, 291-292 Whittier, John Greenleaf, 359 Wilderness, battle of, 420 Willard, Fmma, 344-345 William and Mary College, 116 Williams, Roger, 54 Wilmot, David, 375 Wilson, Woodrow, 195; Industrial Relations Commission, 468; new Tariff Commission, 527; Governor of New Jersey, 602; nomi- nated for the presidency, 602; adminis- trations of, 602-606; in the Great War 609-637 Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act, 525 Winchester, battle of, 421 Winthrop, John, S3, 54 Wisconsin, in the Northwest Territory, 211; reached by the westward movement of population, 266; admitted to the Union, 268; civil service reform in, 577; direct primary adopted in, 581; woman suffrage movement in, 584 Wolfe, General James, 87 Women, first, in Virginia, 48-49; and early manufacturing, 104; in the American Revolution, 159; pioneers, 22i-22'i; in settlement of the West, 285; in factories, 315-316; wages of, 319; organized, 320; early discriminations against, 335; pro- test against discriminations, 335-336; women's rights, convention of 1848, 336; suffrage and the slavery agitation, Zil; p education of, 350-351 ; and the Civil War, 425-426; labor of, 491-492; higher edu- cation of, 564-565; education and em- ployment of, 575; suffrage, 582-586 Woolen industry, colonial, 103; machinery in the, 293-294 VVorkingman, see Labor Wright, Frances, 320, ZZ^, 345 Wright, Martha, 336 Wyoming, in Louisiana Territory, 203; ad- mission to Union, 464, 584; first state ;o grant woman suffrage, 583-584 -K Y Z Affair, 190 Vale College, 116 York, Duke of, obtains grant of New York 62 Yorktown, siege of, 153 Young, Brigham, 283 Young's Ranch, lli Zencer, Peter, and free press, 354 (o' A * ^^ •■ r.^ c » " ' » ^^ n^ • ^ ' * . o A^ ° " " » ■<5\j,